The Missing Media Metric: Reach Velocity — Part 1

Why would velocity matter If one has chosen media wisely and the brand is reaching most of its true purchaser prospects every week not many brands are doing that these days what difference does it make how rapidly that reach builds upAs I said this is really a corollary to Recency Letamp8217s dig into itWorking with Erwin Ephron we compiled a list of media variables itamp8217s important to optimize These variables were listed in my acceptance speech when I received the Erwin Ephron Demystification Award and are listed in the next paragraph Working with RMT our current team has created a protocol involving nine levers one can pull to get more ROI from marketingadvertising considering not just media but also creative The whole EphronHarvey media optimization list of key variables is included in this protocol which Steve Fajen calls APP for Advertising Planning ProtocolHowever it also appears this APP is still incomplete Budget Size CPM Reach Recency True Purchaser Targeting Optimal Frequency Distribution Optimal Media Environment Experience Sequencing aka Path to Purchase Hyperlocal Opportunities Creative Metatagging move over Thereamp8217s at least one more media lever to pull amp160amp160amp160Erwin emphasized that people can go out to buy something at any time and he loved the word amp8220propinquityamp8221 which is the rubric for temporal readiness to buy If reach is high but it built up slowly amp8211 say if you put all of your money into monthly magazines not to knock their value in other dimensions then in any twoday period the percent who received messages will be lowWhy did I bother to mention a amp8220twodayamp8221 periodThe Ebbinghaus forgetting curve describes the temporal footprint of advertisingamp8217s effectiveness it drops off sharply for the first two days and then gradually after that This undoubtedly reflects biological mechanisms in the brain that are hardwired into human beings and will be fully documented somedayLeslie Wood deserves the credit for showing how this affects the sales produced by advertising in CPG Consumer Packaged Goods In my November 1989 newsletter I showed the following table created by Leslie via her brilliant analysis of Arbitron ScanAmerica data the precursor of Apollo and one of the noble experiments in the development of true singlesource ScanAmerica was invented by Bill McKenna and I was privileged to consult on its developmentThe global paramilitary community uses the term amp8220doubletapamp8221 to refer to the firing of two bullets in quick succession Apparently there is also a doubletap effect in CPG advertising If two exposures are delivered in the two days before a shopping trip this doubles to triples the sales effect This can be seen in Leslieamp8217s table above For example Brand C captured 62 of all shopping trips overall in other words 62 of the time a shopper on a supermarkettype shopping trip bought Brand C But among just those people who had been exposed two or more times to Brand Camp8217s advertising in the 48 hours before the shopping trip that 62 became 200This is what makes Reach Velocity important It is the best media metric to use in order to maximize the doubletap effect The faster reach grows the higher the reach will be in any twoday period under the reach curve whether the reach curve is over a week four weeks or the whole campaign length And the higher the reach in a twoday period the higher the reachat2frequency will be in a twoday periodIn the next post weamp8217ll analyze which are the fastreach mediaMy thanks to Tony Jarvis for his contributions to this articleI will be speaking from the main stage on Tuesday June 16 at the ARF annual Audience Measurement conference and also copresenting a different paper with Turner and TiVo at noon Hope to see you thereThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage management or associated bloggers

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The Missing Media Metric: Reach Velocity — Part 1

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Bill Harvey

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The Missing Media Metric: Reach Velocity — Part 1

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