Media planning must be backed by brand metrics, not just media KPIs: OMD

Currently, media planning approaches are largely based on pure media metrics, such as reach and frequency (R&F) and cost per rating point (CPRP), and are imperfect. For example, sales ROI modelling suffers from a lack of data sufficiency and other factors that could impact sales, such as price and distribution. Regression analysis still does not address multimedia effectiveness.

In addition to the above media KPIs, OMD's approach considers five brand objectives, including brand awareness (including top of mind and total), ad awareness, purchase intent and next purchase.

It also takes into account real market scenarios, as media costs in Shanghai, Beijing and other locations differ. The optimised media plan for each market is unique, based on media consumption, media costs and consumer response. OMD's tool enables city-specific planning across the top 60 markets in China.

"The OMD Response Planning tool will attempt to establish a closer link to brand KPIs, and will be able to deliver a more accountable solution to clients,” said Bhasker Jaiswal, managing partner of the agency's business intelligence specialist unit. “The tool can be used by all clients, regardless of their data constraints”.

To power the tool, OMD appointed market research company IFOP Asia to measure consumer responses to 90 brands across nine categories, and collaborated with Kantar Media TGI for data sources using target group ratings (TGRs) and the CNRS-TGI advertising 'trade currency'.