Your Brand lives in the Middle-of-the-Funnel

Building a brand is an eclectic process. A label is launched and it takes a lot of curation in the minds of consumers for that label to become a brand. Brand Custodians have always played this game of moulding  brands and getting consumers to rally around them. Because, ultimately it's the brand that is wanted and it is the brand that consumers pay (premium) for.

But, as the 'concept of time' has changed - the time that a business allows for a brand to be built or the time that a consumer gives to a brand to stay in his or her life - both have reduced considerably. This has certainly made the life of CMOs and Brand Managers so much more complicated and has had a huge impact on what we see brands doing in Media.

If, I were to simplistically breakup the typical brand Funnel into Top, Middle and Bottom: 

• at the Top, we see a lot of broad advertising in Mass Media aimed at creating awareness for the brand; 
• in the middle is where we typically measure brand metrics such as 'consideration', 'preference', 'affinity', etc;
• at the Bottom, we see hard-core sales efforts which, in the digital world today take the form of Performance Advertising measured on Conversions to "Sales Metrics"

Each stage of the brand funnel is important, its never abut one over the other - but, it is about the balance between all stages of the consumer journey. 

While. the "Heritage" brands (those than have been there for long) are often accused of too much "Top Funnel" focus often referred to as 'spray & pray' - but, its to do with their distribution structure and the "distance" between the advertising stimulus and the opportunity to purchase or the point of purchase.  Of Course! we see a shift happening towards a more 'performance' mindset.  

On the other hand, the new age D2C Brands start with a huge "bottom-funnel" focus and as they grow, they steer towards sporadic but, high intensity & bold out-bursts on the top-funnel. Cant say, if it is right or wrong as the actions are defined basis the 'end-game' that the promoters have in mind. 

In both the scenarios, the Brand lives in the Middle-of-the-Funnel. Its what the brand does in the middle that defines sustainable success. The Top & Bottom are often the easiest to deploy as they are very tangible. 

The Top-Funnel is easily measured on the basis of media deliverables - reach/ grps, impressions, contacts, etc and also costed for the media deliverables. However, it is very distant from "end-sales'  and its effectiveness is often a mystery - best measured basis awareness measures or using complicated and long-term market-mix models to derive the actual ROI of such investments. Not to say that these investments are futile but, while media delivery measures are easy; effectiveness measures are difficult.

At the bottom of the funnel, usually sales or conversions is the last mile metric and is easy to measure. The measures are usually the amount of media deployed and the sales, transactions, conversions generated, The measures though easy, are often "mis-leading" as conversion measures just tell you 'the percentage of the consumers that crossed a stage' and not, the causality of the media investments or the effectiveness of the media investments. These measures have a lot of misattribution and unless brands managers are prudent - money gets spent on media that has a low ROI.

So, Top Funnel & Bottom Funnel measures and KPIs apparently are very tangible and hence, its an easy (not best) decision to spend on these. But, the Brand building happens in the Middle of the Funnel and that is the toughest space to manage. Brand Love/ Brand Preference/ Brand Image/ etc are intangibles and its also very difficult to assess what media placements will affect what aspects of the brand.

Irrespective of the 'Time-frame' Brand Building is essential. If there is a clear Brand Value which is what the consumers buy the brand for - then, the Top Funnel only Amplifies this Brand Identity to attract larger audiences to the Brand; and the Bottom-Funnel only monetises this Brand Asset by generating transactions for the Brand. Without a strong middle - both, Top Funnel as well as Bottom Funnel become unsustainable and fail to spur growth for the brand.

There is a continued debate in the market about the balance between "Performance" and "Brand" investments and rightly so - Feed the middle of the funnel else, the "Label" will never turn into a strong "Brand".  

Recipe for a Media Plan

Of the things that I am passionate about - "media" is what I do professionally and "cooking" is another which I dabble in occasionally at home. There are a few more vocations that excite me but, today I am limiting the discussion to drawing some parallels between media and cooking :-).Lets talk a bit about the art of cooking first!!

The art of cooking is traditionally classified into different Cuisines which have evolved over generations. Each cuisine has its characteristic methods, cooking utensils/ tools, there are some characteristic ingredients and also a distinctive serving style. Then, there are different Chefs, each having their own signature style inspired from various cuisines; some play on dishes within a genre while some experiment across genres. The ingredients are universal and barring some limitations are available across borders to anyone who would want any ingredient. 

The success of a dish rests in the hands of the Chefs who have acute Knowledge of the cuisines, tools, ingredients and the cooking process or the recipe. They have trained over years and acquired Skills to craft the imagined dish using the tools/ ingredients. The dish to be cooked can only be imagined well if the Chef has a full appreciation of the wants and desires of the "Customers" to whom the dish is to be served. And finally, its the "Setting & Service" that makes the Experience worthwhile for the Customers.

The dish served is just not a "collection" of ingredients but ingredients - each treated in a specific manner; each ingredient fused into the dish at a different stage of the cooking process in a specific way that does best for the dish. A dish is only as good as the process of making the dish has been. Its the recipe that makes all the difference. It is the recipe that is guarded by chefs as that is proprietary.

It is the same for media planning too.

The ingredients for media planing - the creatives and the touch-points across media, are available for all to buy; but, what one does with these ingredients is the difference that makes a campaign successful or not. It is the process of making a plan that determines how good a plan is; it is the recipe of the plan that is the most important part of media planning.

Each Media agency has an underlying  philosophy that drives their thinking  and  that differentiates one agency from another. This philosophy gives a distinctive style to each agency just as each Cuisine has a distinctive style.

Each Agency has inherent knowledge and tools that are shared across the network and all planners are trained to adopt skills so that they can use this knowledge and tools proficiently in doing their daily business.

And, for using the knowledge and tools in the best way, the planners need to have a very sharp understanding of the ingredients (media touchpoints) and the customers taste (target group). 

So, a planner will be a Master-Planner only if, working on specific categories/ customers/ markets each planner develops ones own style of media planing within the recommended philosophy/ process of the media agency. 

Needless to say, a Master-Planner will always dish out media that makes a difference to the business of the clients.

Clients need to stop evaluating the ingredients of a media plan and start appreciating the recipe, knowledge, tools and skill set of the team that eventually make a plan successful. Yes, we do have to have an eye on the right side of the Menu, in view of our wallet but, the order has to be on the basis of which dish is the best.

Mobile - the new kid on the block is taking over the media megaliths!!

Of Course! TV and Print have a long life ahead. but, Mobile as a media is rapidly making a place for itself.

 

One could have an unending debate on the above statement, as opinion today is very divided on the issue. Print in India has been around for over a century and is still growing. The advent of TV about 30 years ago started a debate on similar lines but even today both coexist and both are still growing. When Internet began its journey, again the market was abuzz with its omnipotent nature and how it would end the dominance of TV and Print. Its been about 20 years since but the balance of power has still not changed. Mobiles too, set foot in India about a decade ago and while their numbers have surpassed every other media, their role as a media has been marginal.

 

Yes, the above is true if one looks at the matter at a macro level ie at the All India level. However, if one were to look at specifc markets and segments the story is very different.  

 

Affluent Youth in Metros are a very attractive segment for media and marketers. This is a very small segment which constitutes not more than 5% of the population but is a very significant segment since consumers in this segment are very high on consumption of paid products and services, have voracious media consumption and are early adopters, influencers and change agents in society. This is an aspirational segment and a vast majority in India looks up to emulate their lifestyle. Their current media behaviour is a very good view of what the vast majority would be like in the near future.

 

Without delving too much into the numbers, lets just paint a picture of their relationship with various  media. A Smartphone or a Tablet is the primary media device in their life. They are connected 24x7 to the internet through this universal media device (UMD).

 

Yes, they read newspapers but, not the print editions. They access their favourite news brands either through their websites or news-apps installed on their smartphones. Of course! this is only when they have not already been updated through their social networks. They have special apps dedicated to each of their key interests that mash information from multiple sources and provide it in an easy snacking format that this segment is preferential to. Holding a newspaper every morning to start their day is really not a behaviour that they are habituated to and getting to read a paper edition is just incidental and not at all necessary.

 

Televsion still forms a significant part of their daily life. but, they are not unaccostomed to reaching out on their phone for their favourite content via youtube and various other mobile tv applications that are getting created everyday. Regulation of TV content and the limiting quality of display on a mobile (small size) are a barrier to them taking on to TV in a big way. However, it is just a matter of time before most of their TV viewing too shall be through their smartphones which are fast evolving into high quality multi-media devices.

 

Movies, music, socializing, information gathering, window shopping, actual shopping.. all are done via their smartphones. They value the content of the media houses across Radio, Cinema, TV & Print but interact with all the content only through their mobile phone or tablet.

 

Media companies have also seen all this but are at different stages of acceptance of this imminent reality. Their responses vary from a state of absolute denial to some who are very rapidly evolving their content and formats to suit mobile consumption.

 

Of course! the traditiional TV and Print are still the  mainstay for them from todays revenue perspective but, the situation will be very different in the near future. Mobile phones will constitue a dominant portion of their content consumption. Media brands that do not evolve will be relegated to the stone age.

 

Amongst all cell phone owners in India, smartphone ownership is less than 5% today. Imagine the situation when this ownership moves to double digit figures...

 

Mobile, is the most recent media. It is the new kid on the block. But, it is the medium which is growing at the fastest rate. And, with its growth it is phasing out other physical formats of media driving a convergence of all other media into its small screen.

 

If this scenario is too optimmistic for mobiles, let us look at a diametrically opposite segment such as the rural consumers.

 

Rural India still has a large population which is described as 'media dark' as they have extrmely low access to mass media. However, mobiles are reaching them at a faster rate everyday. In the absence of other media and various other infrastructure, this mobile is taking on a very central role in their lives. It is fast becoming their only mode of communication, information gathering and transacting. It is not long before cell phones in rural India too become their primary media devices.

 

No matter which way you take a peek at the future, the mobile is taking centrestage. Acceptance of the change is the first step for survival in the future. Media Houses, need to prepare for this future. Advertising and Communication have to upgrade their tools, techniques and philosophy to address a mobile-empowered consumer.

 

For the non-believers, I want to share this video which I saw in 2006. To many, at that time, it seemed a fantasy that would never become reality. See the video now and ponder on how much of that has already come true in the past 7 years.

 

 

The evolution and the impact of mobile on our lives and on the media business is going to be even more rapid and even more intense.

 

Yes, the mobile is taking over the media monoliths.

Client Delight to Consumer Delight

The purpose of a brand is to add value to the life of a consumer. Anything and everything that a brand does should work towards this purpose. And, in return for this value addition to one’s life in a manner better than what other brands do; consumers patronize the brand resulting in increased market share and hence higher value for the stakeholders in the brand/ company.

But then, this is the ideal cycle of value exchange between the consumers and the stakeholders. The connection between these two ends – consumer on one end and stakeholder on the other, is not direct and simplistic. The various players between these two have their own agenda, priorities and compulsions which often vitiate this value exchange.

Nor is the consumer very discerning in the short term to really choose the brand that is the best in value addition. Most of the times, there is not much differentiation in the brand alternatives and hence the choice between brands is based on some very superficial parameters. In such a scenario, either the brand custodians work on re-engineering the brand to build better value than competitors or at least in the short term resort to tactics to enhance their brand choice over the others. It is these latter methods that brands use which often become insensitive to the brand code of “adding value” and drive brand preference even at the risk of irritating, annoying or alienating the consumers. The tragedy is that many a times, in the short term these tactics at the aggregate level do result in value addition for the stakeholders thus encouraging this behavior more and more.

Here, in this note we shall have a closer look at the manifestation of these short term tactics in the realm of advertising and communication.

In the Indian context, the structure of trade favours brands that are "more visible" than their competitors. To a large extent, the consumers also attribute a higher value to brands that are more conspicuous in their advertising. Advertising on certain media or properties does undeniably add more credibility to brands otherwise lesser known. In short, driving brand awareness in itself at times is enough to drive brand preference.

There is no harm in a brand trying to drive awareness; it is the manner of doing so which needs to be reviewed.

Not many of us have been spared of the discomfort caused by brand advertising across media. A newspaper ‘Jacket’ which is a delight for the Clients is the most irritating thing that a reader encounters early in the morning. The ‘half-jacket’ is even more irritating. Yes, these “innovations” are impossible to miss but are also often just taken off and kept away from the main newspaper. The increasing clutter in newspapers has often made us flip pages just because there are too many advertisements on the page. Of course! It is now customary behavior to shake off and drop out all loose inserts from newspapers and magazines before one settles down to read. The ‘text-pushers’, the ‘island ads’, the ‘full page ads’ are all very noticeable but all cause a disruption, an interruption and irritation for the consumer. Could each of these brand interventions have in some way added delight for the consumer instead of irritation?

The situation is not very different in other media. Flipping channels on TV to avoid advertisements is our natural response and a way of saying that “I don’t appreciate your interruption of my television viewing”. Don’t we all hate the ‘aston bands’ and ‘advertising tickers’ or ‘screen pop-ups’ that intrude while we are in the midst of watching our favourite programs?  Verbose and irritating RJs on Radio, the extremely annoying intrusions on websites, the hordes of marketing mailers, EDMs, SMSes, etc are all examples of daily brand intrusions that consumers hate but are a delight for the brand custodians at the Client side.

The sad part is that we, at the communication agencies are party to this state of affairs. During, our studies we are taught of the principle of a ‘Marketing Organization’ and imbibe the merits of ‘Consumer-Delight’ but, in practice succumb to ‘Client-Delight’ instead. Of Course! The Agency and Client, all have valid justifications and compulsions that lead them to the said behavior but, the consumer does not need excuses.. the consumer just wants value addition to his/ her life.

It is critical that Agencies focus on Consumer Delight and develop tools and techniques now to convince Clients of the merit of communication solutions that work towards the brand purpose in a manner that delights the consumer. It is important that all our brand initiatives deliver Brand-Good instead of just focusing on Brand-Speak.

Brand Experience encapsulates each and every facet of the interactions that a brand creates with its consumers. Product consumption is only one of these interactions. The interactions that brands create in media are critical parts of the brand experience and in some categories even more important than the final consumption. If we accept this role that media plays in building brand experiences, only then we will start looking at ‘media as an ingredient’ and not an  add-on used just for short-term promotion of the brand.

It is also critical for us to understand that awareness has a high decay if it is built using just superficial brand exposure but remains un-eroded if it is inculcated by building memorable and pleasant experiences for the consumers. Hence, marketers need to focus on Brand Engagements and achieve a healthy balance between plain brand exposure and value adding brand experiences. 

The onus is on all Brand Custodians to shift the focus from “Client Delight” to “Consumer Delight” and the results will show growth for the brands that do this consistently.

Advertising - a ritual !!

The effectiveness of advertising is always under question but still brands continue to advertise again and again and again. So, despite limited proof of success in the past nor a certainity of results in the future - many continue to follow the practice of advertising and spend valuable resources doing this. Now, I would suppose that when the "result" of advertising is so uncertain - brands would be extra careful about making advertising decisions.

But, for a lot of brands - advertising is just a ritual. It is done because it has always been done and needs to be done in a certain way because it has always been done in that way. It is only in the case of rituals that we do things without questioning them - again and again in the same that they have been done in the past. I remember reading an article where they defined a ritual as  - a task done regulary and religiously  without any link to the outcome :-). And, this ritualistic treatment of advertising has got us to a situation that is so well captured in this video.

Brands, needs to very carefully re-look at their consumers. These consumers are changing very fast and unless Brands understand them and appreciate the transformation that they are going through - all communication from advertisers will be a waste. Brands need to make a conscious decision to not do what they did last year and crtically review communication plans for the future.

Do not look at advertising as a ritual - take a fresh view.

Happy advertising!

Media Fragmentation - an Opportunity.

It is the era of choices for the consumer in every sphere of their lives. And, as the consumer exercises these choices - the consumers life is becoming more and more fragmented. And, it is this fragmentation of the consumers life that is the cause of the phenomenon called media fragmentation.

For each role that the consumer plays in life, for every community that the consumer is engaged with, for every mood that the consumer feels daily, for every task that the consumer needs to complete - there is a different set of media that the consumer interacts with. In each of the above scenarios not just the set of media but also the manner of interaction with the media changes. The expectations from the media are different, the affinity that the consumer feels for different media changes and the effect that each media has on the consumer also varies.

Thus, the term media fragmentation doesnt encompass just the multiplicity of media but also the complexity of its relationship with the consumer. And, in such a scenario the task of the brand manager remains the same as ever - to create an affinity for the brand in the mind of the consumer.

For a mind addicted to the limited means of communication using conventional TV and Print - this scenario is a certain threat but to one who looks at the consumer and media landscape afresh everyday this is a great opportunity. Differentiation is key to brand building and in yester years it was only the creative that offered the key to differentiation in communication while now the choice of media and the manner of use of the media to communuicate with the consumer play as much a role in creating this differentiation for a brand.

In the era of limited media - basis the reach of media first the media to be used for communication was identified and the creative was developed specific to the media. Of course!! Reach of the media is critical but the first step now is to develop an 'idea' for the consumer and then layer this idea with media that best suits the idea. Communication Planning has turned inside-out.

It is this 'idea' that strings together the activity done with each media. In the absence of the connecting idea - the consumer just sees a set of dis-connected exposures/ activities at different times. But, if all the fragmented media activites have the idea at the core then these together form a beautiful collage with each media working in tandem - and to the consumer it is all 'one story'.

Brand managers today interact with so many partners each bringing to them capabilities of working on specific media and in this 'variety' of partners the connnecting idea is very vulnerable to getting diluted. Companies, cannnot afford that this conecting idea gets diluted as it would impact the communication ROI. While, on reach and cost metrics the individual media plans may perform brilliantly - the overall communication effectiveness could be adversley affected.  And, this is where 'media strategists' have a key role to play in organizations. While, the brand managers are best equipped to decide on the 'connecting idea'; it is the media strategists who can best work on its execution along with the multitude of media/ agency  partners.

So, to conclude - media fragmentation is here and only increasing. For brands to utilize it as a opportunity rather than to see it as a threat there is need for an increased focus on communication design vis-vis media planning. To the consumer, only an ill-designed campaign appears fragmented.  

Stop Media Pollution - Go Green!!

This thought has been building in my mind for quite some time now and I am convinced enough of its significance to share with all of you and to seek your view on the subject.

We are all aware of 'pollution' which the dictionary defines as "the presence or introduction into the environment of a substance or a thing that has harmful or poisonous effects". We encounter pollution everyday in our lives and supposedly more so in the urban areas. We hear of water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution and so many more. Here, I place before you the thought of 'media pollution' ie the pollution caused in the media that we consume everyday. Media pollution can be  'in-content' or 'around-content'. the in-content pollution causes a degradation of content while the around-content pollution largely refers to the pollution due to increasing advertising. Here, I will discuss the around-media pollution that relates to advertising.

Advertising serves a purpose and has a social and a commercial reason for existence. However, all will agree that there is too much of it in the recent years. As the markets have become more fragmented, the need to make a "sale" to the limited low-hanging affluent consumers has brought about this ever increasing use of competitive advertising. The driving force is the popular concept of  increasing "Share of Voice" which is actually very contrary to an otherwise conservative Indian culture. In an attempt to out-shout competing brands more and more advertising noise is polluting our media environment.

Go to any busy shopping area in any city large or small and just look around and you will see how shabby and deplorable our landscape looks due to all types of hoardings, kiosks, dealer boards, banners, etc. At some places there is actually no landscape visible. Television which is the advertisers darling media forces an average user to see advertising for over 2 hours a week which may be as much as 25% of the viewers total TV viewing for the week. In some newspapers especially supplements, it takes an effort even to locate content as the pages are full of advertising messages. Innovations in publications seem more like irritations. Spam emails and messages in our computers and mobiles are already issues that require intervention from the governement to curb the meance. Brand call centres have people dedicated to calling consumers for un-solicited sales offers. As consumers move out of home, they are easy prey for ooh events and activation teams of brands who assault their privacy and peace of mind at malls and other venues.

On an average an urban indian is bombarded by hundreds of advertising messages everyday and these advertising messages are creating a lot of pollution in media all around us. The Indian consumer is very tolerant and neither does he get irritated nor is culturally tuned to being rude to anyone easily and hence is silent about this overdose of advertising. But, the consumer is becoming more discerning and assertive and will penalize brands that are not "within limits" of prudent advertising. Already, there is talk of ad-free paid content in different media. It is but a matter of time when the affluent consumers will choose to align with such ad-free distribution systems.

Brands need to re-look at the manner in which they approach brand comunications. Brands have a purpose beyond their sales and that purpose is to improve the life of their consumers. The least that a brand can do is to avoid participating in actions that cause pain to consumers or disrupt their peace of mind. Can the brands turn to advertising philosophies that add value to the brand-consumer ecosystem and do not vitiate the media environment?

Yes, it is not easy. Yes, it may not result in a tactical or a short term benefit. But, the consumers understand and value brands that care for them and a more considerate approach to brand communications will strengthen the bond with the consumer much better than the "me-too" SOV increasing tirade of brands.

Advertise responsibly!! Make a difference not just to the brand sales but to the lives of the consumers. Go Green!

Soon, I will write about the tenets for Green Advertising.

Media Strategists - To Be Hired

Media is evolving...changing.. adapting.. we all know that.. there is enough said and written about it and continues to be written.... That is not what I intend to talk about in this writeup. What is more interesting is what the 'stakeholders' are doing about these changes.. or maybe rather what they are not doing about it.

The Media Ecosystem is comprised of the Media Owners, Media Agencies, Creative Agencies and Media Researchers and some other emerging and secondary businessess too. For all of them these changes that are happening in media are affecting their business at the core and each is responding to the challenges in their own way. But what is affecting the lives of all of the above the most is the way in which the 'Advertisers' are responding to the changes in media.

The increasing number of brands catering to similar need sets with ever decreasing differentiation in the functional deliverables has consistently increased the imporance of creating brand value for the advertisers. Communication and Media have palyed a pivotal role in aiding the brands in strengthening brand value. Media is increasingly becoming an even more important ingredient for the brands. In terms of the spends on various elements for a brand in its marketing efforts - the percentage allocated to media has been gradually increasing.

As the leverage that media therefore has in transforming brands has increased what has also increased is the absolute amount of money being spent by the advertisers on media. And, it is the latter that has triggered off more reactions amongst the advertiseres as it is a more tangible effect. 'Increassed levarage on the brand' is a very debateable claim but 'increased media spends' is recorded in every balance sheet. Now, this increased media spending has kicked off a series of changes at the advertisers end.

1. With the increasing time and media knowledge required to manage the media purchase the advertisers created the position of a 'media coordinator'.

2. The 'finance/ procurement' departments of companies started taking an active interest in the buying of media

3. There is an increased involvement of the brand managers in the actual buy of media

While, I do have a perspective on how each of the above are dealing with the challenge of buying media and how they can do better, I will leave that for another day.

What is important to understand is that all of the above are genereally speaking intersted in the act of 'media buying'. However, there is an important aspect that needs more focus from the advertisers and that is the aspect of 'media strategy'.

I define media strategy as the role of structuring the right media solution to address the brand challenges. At present, this task of media  design is falling somewhere between the 'brand manager' and the 'media coordinator' and is in no way being aided by the transgression of the procurement department into the buying of media.

Media startegist as a role requires to take inputs from the brand managers, media coordinator, media agency, OOH agency, digital agency, creative agency, analytics team and other components of the marketing mix to deliver integrated communication solutions for the portfolio of brands. At present, this function which is inherent to a media agency is not getting its due because, there is no one on the advertisers side to resonate with this approach to media solution design. The current point of daily interaction for a media agency is the media coordinator who has a totally different KRA while the Brand Manager just does not have enough bandwidth to address this requirement.

So, while the advertisers continue to spend more and more on media, they are yet not reliazing the full potential of media. I look forward to advertisers addressing this and creating this role of 'Media Strategists' in their ranks.

In my subsequent posts, I will talk more of the current baises in making media plans and how the nature of media solutions can change with the intervention of media strategists.

Syndicated Research is not enough

At any media symposium - bashing of media research (and subtly the media research agencies) is always a planned session. While media representatives enjoy detailing without any understanding of the science of media research, how erronours and unrepresentative the research is; the media research users (primarily agenices) reiterate how important it is to consolidate the different researches into one single entity so that they have to buy only one research. The media research agencies on their part just play the victims saying that they could do better if they had more money.

And, it is the same story that I have been seeing for the past 8 - 9 years that I have been around in the media industy. .. but nothing has changed as yet excepting the continuous reduction in the value realization of their product for all.. media research, media agency and media itself.

The media research design that we are currently (very unhappily) using was not forced upon us. At one time it was very relevant and was a game changer and the media agencies based all their methods and practices on the provided metrics. Media developed content to deliver on the metrics so that they could have a high profitability. Media research agencies flourished. But, now 10 years or so have passed and all are unhappy with the state of affairs.

'Access to media' was the variable that was of most importance and all media research delivered that metric. There was no need for any other parameter as media was scarce and differentiation amongst media was not of great consequence. The consumers consumed what media they could get. Today, consumers have immense choice and are consuming multiple media - each in a different manner and for a differenet purpose and 'access to media' information is not enough. For communication planners to reach their desired consumers they need to differentiate between media based on the same variables that are in use for differentiating between brands.

The whole media ecosystem consists of the media, media agencies, media research exists to enable brands to seek consumer and to cater to them. And, an understanding of how media connects with consumers is the vital knolwledge that will enable media professionals build brand communication plans that do justice to the brands that they serve.

Hence, for this ecosystem to prosper the critical question is not if we need one research agency or two (that is best left to the research agencies and market forces to decide). But, the critical question is what data do we need for making relevant and impactful communication plans. The answer to this question will differ across products and brands and so it would be naive to expect some piece of syndicated research to cater to the need of every brand's communication planning.

The brand has the most at stake. If the media research available is not good, ultimately the brands money gets wasted based on media strategies based on sub-optimal media plans. It is therefore for each brand to start looking at ways in conjunction with their media agency and media partners to setup information systems that deliver 'media knowledge' to build their communication plans.

Syndicated research will not be enough for communication planning. The era of syndicated research (or even conventional market research) is over. It is time for brand-dedicated consumer behaviour capture systems to be deployed that will enable the next generation of communication planning.

Think!!