The only variables which are taken into consideration in both media audience surveys and product market surveys are the socio-economic characteristics of the individuals in question. To define a target population for the purposes of an advertising campaign we have therefore been obliged to use these socio-economic characteristics as relay variables. But these variables have shown themselves to be insufficiently predictive of consumption or ownership of products. Consequently, research workers have turned to surveys in which individuals are questioned at one and the same time on their behaviour with respect to media and their consumption of merchandise; these are called media-product surveys. The ill-considered use of such surveys can lead to disappointing results. We therefore propose a method in which the definition of a target population is seen as a series of reasoned decisions and not as the simple reflection of the present market for a given category of products. The media-product survey retains its utility; it complements major media audience surveys and market surveys, without claiming to replace them.
The only variables which are taken into consideration in both media audience surveys and product market surveys are the socio-economic characteristics of the individuals in question. To define a target population for the purposes of an advertising campaign we have therefore been obliged to use these socio-economic characteristics as relay variables. But these variables have shown themselves to be insufficiently predictive of consumption or ownership of products. Consequently, research workers have turned to surveys in which individuals are questioned at one and the same time on their behaviour with respect to media and their consumption of merchandise; these are called media-product surveys. The ill-considered use of such surveys can lead to disappointing results. We therefore propose a method in which the definition of a target population is seen as a series of reasoned decisions and not as the simple reflection of the present market for a given category of products. The media-product survey retains its utility; it complements major media audience surveys and market surveys, without claiming to replace them.
The correlation that may exist between advertising pressure and effectiveness can be expressed as a response function for marketing purposes, perhaps the most interesting relationship is that which may exist between media exposure and sales, and it is in this context that the term "response function" is used here. The allocation of expenditure between different media and the problem of intermedia comparisons can, by relating the different response functions, move the solution from an area of subjective estimation to one of scientific method. An equally attractive prospect for planning with individual media makes it worthwhile investigating the utility of product/media exposure patterns. Such relationships may enable the media planner to construct 'optimum' schedules against 'target' audiences, defined in terms of probability of purchase. Both areas of investigation are exciting, both raise the possibility of introducing scientific measurement to replace more subjective methods of analysis. The problem of measurement in both cases depends on data collected through product/media surveys from the same individuals about their exposure to various media, and their purchasing behaviour over a range of product fields. Before these exercises could be attempted however, there were two problems to be solved. These may be described in terms of the validity and stability of the information to be used.
Our paper is about the principles of data collection and usage. The integration of media and product research, the construction of a computer data bank, an explicit model of how media reach people, closer blending of media buying with media planning, the evaluation of advertising performance - we believe that all these are desirable. We outline examples of advances in technique but these are not given in detail and in any case are not beyond improvement. We do not describe just one computer program, but a family of programs with a variety of objectives. They are linked by the data they use and by their systematic approach to the media planning problem.