Traditional Media Planning and Buying

Introduction

Traditional media remain important instruments in brand management because they can deliver scale, public visibility, contextual relevance and repeated exposure. Television, radio, print, outdoor media, cinema and sponsorship are often described as “traditional” because they predate digital platforms, but they continue to serve contemporary purposes. A national television schedule may build rapid awareness; radio may provide frequency at relatively low cost; outdoor media may dominate a geographic route; print may offer credibility and detailed information; cinema may create an immersive brand experience; and sponsorship may transfer associations from an event, cause or institution to a brand.

Media planning is the process of deciding which media, vehicles, audiences, timing and delivery levels should be used to achieve communication objectives within a budget. Media buying is the commercial process of securing that exposure through negotiation, insertion orders, contracts and monitoring. Effective planning is not simply a search for the lowest price. It is a decision problem involving audience quality, reach, frequency, attention, context, timing, flexibility, measurement and brand safety.

A brand manager therefore asks two related questions: Who must be reached, and what role should each medium play in moving those people toward the desired response? The answer produces a media mix rather than an isolated media choice.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Explain the roles and characteristics of television, radio, print, outdoor, cinema and sponsorship.
2. Distinguish reach, frequency, impressions, ratings, gross rating points and cost per thousand.
3. Calculate and interpret basic media-delivery and cost measures.
4. Construct a media mix that connects audience, message, timing and budget.
5. Evaluate scheduling alternatives, including continuity, flighting and pulsing.
6. Negotiate traditional-media placements using audience, value and contractual evidence.
7. Identify measurement, ethical, regulatory and operational limitations in traditional media.

1. The Media-Planning System

A professional plan normally follows this sequence:

1. Business and communication diagnosis: clarify the business problem, campaign objective, brand position and required consumer response.
2. Audience definition: specify demographic, geographic, behavioural or lifestyle characteristics, while recognizing that media audiences are usually estimates rather than exact individuals.
3. Media objectives: set desired reach, frequency, timing, geography, environment and efficiency.
4. Media strategy: assign roles to media classes and determine the balance between broad coverage and repeated exposure.
5. Vehicle selection: choose specific programmes, stations, publications, sites, cinema chains, events or sponsorship properties.
6. Scheduling and buying: select dates, dayparts, positions, formats, lengths and quantities; negotiate price and added value.
7. Implementation and control: issue contracts, verify delivery, manage substitutions and monitor performance.
8. Evaluation: compare planned and delivered audiences, costs and outcomes, then apply learning to future campaigns.

A media objective should be operational. “Increase awareness” is incomplete. “Reach at least 65% of urban adults aged 18–34 in four weeks, with an average opportunity for three exposures, while maintaining a cost per thousand below the approved ceiling” is more useful because it identifies audience, time, delivery and efficiency.

2. Core Audience and Delivery Measures

Reach and frequency

Reach is the number or percentage of different members of the target audience exposed at least once during a defined period. If 420,000 different target consumers see a campaign in a target population of 1,000,000, reach is 420,000 people or 42%.

Frequency is the average number of exposures among those reached. It is not the number of different people reached. At a simplified aggregate level:

where total impressions are exposure opportunities and net reach is the number of different individuals reached. If impressions are 1,260,000 and reach is 420,000, average frequency is 3 exposures. This calculation assumes that the impressions and reach refer to the same audience, period and exposure definition.

Reach and frequency are related but not interchangeable. A launch campaign may prioritize reach to create awareness quickly. A complex product, behavioural change campaign or competitive category may require more frequency. Excessive frequency can cause irritation, waste or wear-out, while insufficient frequency may fail to establish memory.

Impressions and gross impressions

An impression is one exposure opportunity delivered to one member of the defined audience. Total impressions count exposures, including repeated exposures to the same person. They therefore differ from reach, which counts people only once.

A campaign can have 100,000 impressions with 100,000 people reached once, or 100,000 impressions with 20,000 people reached five times. The strategic consequences are different.

Rating and rating points

A rating point represents 1% of a specified population or target audience. If a television programme has a target-audience rating of 8, it is estimated to be viewed by 8% of that target audience, subject to the measurement provider’s definitions.

For one advertisement or placement:

For a schedule, gross rating points (GRPs) are the sum of ratings for all spots:

Under a simplified, internally consistent schedule, GRPs can also be expressed as:

This identity applies when reach, frequency and ratings use the same target population, period and exposure definition. GRPs are gross because they count repeated exposure. A schedule of four spots rated 6, 8, 5 and 7 has 26 GRPs. It does not mean that 26% of people were reached; net reach requires duplication analysis.

Cost per thousand and cost efficiency

Cost per thousand (CPM) expresses the cost of delivering 1,000 impressions:

If a placement costs $18,000 and delivers 900,000 impressions:

CPM is useful for comparing delivery efficiency, but it does not measure attention, persuasion, audience quality or contextual suitability. A low CPM may be unattractive if the audience is poorly matched or the message is rarely noticed.

For a schedule purchased using rating points, a related measure is cost per rating point (CPP):

If a schedule costs $52,000 and delivers 26 GRPs, CPP is $2,000. CPP should be compared only across schedules with comparable audiences, markets, periods and measurement conventions.

Worked example: interpreting a schedule

A campaign targets 500,000 adults. Three television spots deliver ratings of 10, 8 and 6. The station estimates that the schedule reaches 20% of the target audience. The cost is $30,000.

The schedule delivers:

• GRP = 10 + 8 + 6 = 24 GRPs.
• Average frequency = GRP ÷ reach percentage = 24 ÷ 20 = 1.2 exposures among the reached audience.
• Estimated impressions = 24% × 500,000 = 120,000 impressions, assuming ratings are percentages of the same target population.
• CPM = ($30,000 ÷ 120,000) × 1,000 = $250.
• CPP = $30,000 ÷ 24 = $1,250 per rating point.

The 24 GRPs do not imply 24% net reach. The estimated net reach is 20%, and repeated exposure accounts for the difference.

Audience quality and effective delivery

Quantitative delivery is only one dimension of value. Planners also consider:

• Audience composition: the proportion of a vehicle’s audience belonging to the target.
• Affinity: the degree to which a vehicle over-indexes among the target compared with the general population.
• Attention: whether people notice and process the message.
• Context: whether the editorial, programme or physical environment supports the brand.
• Geographic fit: whether coverage corresponds to distribution and sales priorities.
• Waste: exposure delivered outside the target or outside the serviceable market.

A placement with a higher CPM can be preferable if it delivers a more concentrated, attentive or strategically valuable audience.

3. Traditional Media Classes

Television

Television combines sight, sound, movement and narrative. Its principal strengths are rapid mass reach, demonstration, emotional storytelling and the ability to create shared cultural moments. It is especially useful for launches, brand-building, products requiring demonstration and campaigns that benefit from audiovisual identity.

Limitations include high production and placement costs, audience fragmentation across channels and platforms, commercial avoidance, clutter and uncertain attention. Television ratings normally estimate viewing, not guaranteed attentive processing. A planner should distinguish a programme’s total audience from the target audience and should examine daypart, geography, content environment and audience duplication.

Common buying variables include spot length, programme or genre, daypart, position in break, market, season, sponsorship rights and make-goods for under-delivery. Prime time may provide scale but at a premium. Daytime, late-night or specialist programming may offer efficient access to selected segments.

Radio

Radio offers sound, portability, local relevance and relatively flexible production. It can build frequency economically, support retail or promotional timing, and reach audiences during commuting, work or routine activities. Local stations may provide geographic precision and presenter credibility.

Its limitations include the absence of visual demonstration, background listening, fragmented station audiences and short message duration. Effective radio creative usually uses a clear brand name, a distinctive audio device, a simple proposition and an appropriate call to action. Buying decisions involve station, programme, daypart, spot length, frequency, market and presenter or endorsement arrangements.

Radio is often a frequency medium rather than a sole launch medium. It can reinforce a television or outdoor campaign by repeating a mnemonic, offer or location cue.

Print

Newspapers, magazines, trade publications, directories and special-interest titles can provide information, authority, targeting and physical permanence. Magazines may offer strong audience affinity and high-quality reproduction; newspapers may offer timeliness, local coverage and retail responsiveness; trade publications can reach professional decision-makers.

Print planning must distinguish circulation, readership and pass-along readership. One copy may be read by more than one person, but readership estimates are not equivalent to guaranteed attention. Important buying variables include size, colour, page position, section, insertion frequency, editorial adjacency, issue date and geographic edition.

Print is valuable when consumers need detail, comparison, instructions, coupons or evidence. Its limitations include declining or uneven circulation in some markets, long lead times, static presentation and variable quality of reproduction.

Outdoor media

Outdoor, or out-of-home media, includes billboards, street furniture, transit formats, retail-area displays, airport media and place-based screens. Its strengths are repeated exposure along predictable routes, geographic dominance, high visibility and proximity to purchase locations. It can make a brand physically present in a city or shopping environment.

Outdoor messages must be understood quickly. Short copy, strong contrast, legible typography, a recognizable brand asset and a single central idea are generally more effective than dense information. Planning considers location, traffic or pedestrian volume, visibility, dwell time, illumination, direction of travel, distance from point of sale and environmental context.

Outdoor audience estimates are usually modelled from movement and visibility data. They should not be treated as identical to confirmed attentive impressions. Weather, obstruction, construction, competing signs and changes in traffic patterns can affect delivery.

Cinema

Cinema advertising provides a large screen, sound, darkness and a comparatively captive environment. It is suitable for emotional storytelling, entertainment-related brands, youth audiences in selected markets and campaigns requiring audiovisual impact. Cinema can also support geographic targeting by theatre, film genre, session and release period.

Its reach is usually lower than mass television, and frequency may be limited unless attendance is high or the schedule is repeated. Buying variables include theatre group, location, film classification, genre, screen, session, spot length and on-screen or foyer placement. Planners should check whether audience estimates refer to admissions, individuals or exposure opportunities.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is a negotiated association in which a brand provides money, products, services or expertise in exchange for rights and opportunities connected with a property such as sport, music, culture, entertainment, education or a social cause. Rights may include naming, signage, broadcast mentions, tickets, digital content, hospitality, athlete or artist appearances and category exclusivity.

Sponsorship is not merely a media placement. Its value depends on the fit between brand and property, the credibility of the association, activation quality and the audience’s experience. The sponsorship fee is only one part of the investment; activation, content, hospitality, measurement and risk management may be substantial additional costs.

A strong evaluation asks whether the property helps the brand achieve a distinctive communication task. High audience numbers alone do not establish sponsorship effectiveness. Poor fit, controversy, ambush marketing, rights ambiguity or inadequate activation can reduce value.

4. Scheduling Strategies

A schedule determines when exposures occur. Three classic patterns are useful:

• Continuity: advertising appears consistently throughout the campaign. This supports ongoing categories, habitual purchase and steady availability.
• Flighting: advertising alternates between active and inactive periods. This may concentrate budget around launches, seasons or promotional windows.
• Pulsing: a continuous base level is combined with heavier bursts at important times. This is common when a brand needs presence but also has seasonal peaks.

Scheduling should reflect purchase cycles, sales availability, competitive activity, cultural events, message decay, budget timing and the likely interval between exposure and action. A campaign for a weekly retail offer may require tight timing; a long-consideration service may need sustained presence and reinforcement.

Reach accumulation is not necessarily linear. The first placements may reach many new people, while later placements increasingly repeat exposure among those already reached. The planner therefore needs reach-and-frequency estimates, not only total rating points. Frequency distribution—how many people receive one, two, three or more exposures—can be more informative than average frequency alone.

5. Constructing a Media Mix

A media mix is a deliberately coordinated combination of media classes and vehicles. The process begins with communication tasks rather than media habit.

Step 1: Define the audience and geography

Specify the priority audience, secondary audience, serviceable markets and exclusions. A national brand may still weight investment toward cities with distribution, retail availability or competitive pressure.

Step 2: Assign communication roles

For example:

• Television: broad awareness and emotional brand meaning.
• Radio: repetition, local reinforcement and promotional reminders.
• Outdoor: visibility and proximity to retail.
• Print: detail, credibility and response mechanisms.
• Cinema: immersive launch storytelling.
• Sponsorship: association, experience and community legitimacy.

Roles should be complementary. Repeating the same low-attention exposure across every medium is not automatically integration.

Step 3: Set delivery and budget constraints

Determine the minimum acceptable reach, desired frequency range, campaign dates, market weights and maximum investment. Include production, research, agency fees, sponsorship activation and contingency costs, not just media space.

Step 4: Compare vehicles

Use audience composition, affinity, delivery estimates, CPM or CPP, context, attention, flexibility and brand safety. A vehicle should be assessed against the target and objective rather than against an abstract industry average.

Step 5: Model duplication and synergy

The same consumer may be reached by television, radio, print and outdoor. Simple addition of each medium’s reach will overstate net reach. In practice, planners use research databases, panel data, media-mix models or cross-media estimation methods. Synergy is also possible: an outdoor cue may improve recognition of a television commercial, while radio may prompt action after a television introduction.

Illustrative media-mix allocation

Suppose a regional beverage launch has a budget of $200,000. The brand seeks rapid awareness among adults aged 18–34, with strong emphasis on three metropolitan markets. An illustrative allocation might be:

This is not a universal formula. The allocation must be tested against actual audience delivery, distribution, creative readiness and measurement. Print might replace cinema if detailed product information were central; radio might receive more weight if the campaign objective were repeated retail response.

6. Media Buying and Negotiation

Buying converts strategy into contractual delivery. A buyer should establish a clear brief containing target audience, market, dates, formats, desired positions, budget, measurement standard, cancellation terms and brand-safety requirements.

Negotiation principles

1. Negotiate the total value, not only the rate. Value includes audience quality, position, flexibility, bonus spots, production support, research, content rights, make-goods and cancellation options.
2. Use comparable evidence. Compare CPP, CPM, audience composition and delivery history across equivalent vehicles.
3. Separate guarantees from estimates. A seller may estimate audience delivery, whereas a contract may guarantee only placement or number of spots.
4. Request added value strategically. Bonus inventory is useful only if it reaches the target and does not create excessive frequency or clutter.
5. Protect flexibility. Include provisions for cancellation, substitution, postponement, under-delivery and changes in programme or event status.
6. Clarify sponsorship rights. Define category exclusivity, logo use, content approvals, talent access, hospitality, data rights, measurement and termination for reputational events.
7. Document make-goods. If delivery falls below the agreed threshold, specify equivalent replacement inventory, credit or refund.
8. Verify invoices and proof of performance. Confirm dates, times, positions, versions, audience estimates and photographic or broadcast evidence where appropriate.

A low negotiated price can be false economy if it produces poor placement, late delivery or an audience outside the target. Conversely, a premium placement may be justified when attention, context or scarcity is central to the campaign.

7. Measurement and Evaluation

Evaluation should occur at three levels:

• Delivery: spots, insertions, attendance, estimated impressions, reach, frequency, ratings and cost.
• Communication: awareness, recall, recognition, perceived fit, brand associations and message comprehension.
• Business: store visits, enquiries, sales, distribution, market share or other outcomes, interpreted with appropriate controls.

Post-buy analysis compares planned versus delivered activity. It should identify missed spots, programme changes, audience under-delivery, incorrect creative versions, make-goods and geographic discrepancies. Survey research can examine recall, but recall is not identical to causation. Sales changes may also reflect price, distribution, competitors, seasonality and promotions.

CPM and CPP are efficiency measures, not complete effectiveness measures. A planner should report both quantitative and qualitative evidence and should state uncertainty where estimates are modelled.

8. Ethical, Regulatory and Governance Issues

Traditional media planning operates within advertising, consumer-protection, broadcasting, privacy, sponsorship, intellectual-property and sector-specific rules. Requirements vary by jurisdiction, but common principles include truthful claims, substantiation, clear identification of paid communication, responsible targeting of children and avoidance of discriminatory or harmful content.

Important governance concerns include:

• misleading price, health, environmental or performance claims;
• undisclosed paid endorsements or sponsored content;
• inappropriate placement beside harmful, extremist or offensive material;
• exploitation of children or vulnerable groups;
• unauthorized use of music, images, trademarks or personality rights;
• ambush marketing around sponsored events;
• conflicts of interest in media buying and undisclosed rebates;
• inaccurate audience reporting or manipulated delivery evidence.

A brand manager should maintain approval records, substantiation files, rights documentation, version control and escalation procedures. Sponsorship due diligence should assess the property’s governance, financial integrity, safety, legal standing and reputational exposure.

9. Technology and Contemporary Developments

Traditional media increasingly operate within a hybrid measurement and buying environment. Television may be viewed through broadcast, connected television and on-demand services; outdoor networks may use digital screens and time-based scheduling; radio may be distributed through streaming and podcasts; print publishers may combine physical and digital editions; cinema may use customer and attendance data.

Technology can improve planning through audience databases, geographic mapping, automated scheduling, image recognition, traffic modelling and marketing-mix analysis. Artificial intelligence can assist with scenario modelling, copy adaptation, inventory forecasting and anomaly detection. However, AI outputs depend on data quality and assumptions. It may reproduce biased audience classifications, infer sensitive characteristics or create opaque recommendations. Human review, privacy compliance, explainability and contractual accountability remain necessary.

Cross-media measurement is difficult because each medium defines exposure differently. A television rating, a radio listening estimate, an outdoor visibility estimate and a cinema admission are not automatically comparable. The planner should document definitions, time periods, populations and estimation methods before combining them.

10. Illustrative Case: Launching a Regional Healthy Snack Brand

Background

“TrailBite” is a fictional healthy-snack brand entering three metropolitan markets. It is stocked in supermarkets and convenience stores but has low awareness. Its core audience is adults aged 18–34 who work or study outside the home. The campaign budget is $240,000 for six weeks.

Problem

The brand must create awareness quickly, make the product relevant to active routines and support trial near retail locations. A national mass-media plan would waste money outside the distribution area. The brand also lacks a distinctive visual identity, so creative consistency is essential.

Analysis

Television can establish the brand story but may be expensive relative to the regional audience. Radio can reach commuters repeatedly and can deliver a simple “grab-and-go” message. Outdoor can place the product near supermarkets, stations and gyms. Cinema can provide a memorable launch environment but will reach fewer people. A sponsorship of a local recreational event could provide sampling and community credibility, although activation costs must be controlled.

Approach and solution

The team adopts a pulsing schedule. Television runs heavily in the first two weeks, with a smaller reminder presence in weeks five and six. Radio runs continuously, with increased drive-time weight during the first and final weeks. Outdoor is placed on routes near stores for the full six weeks. Cinema runs during the launch fortnight. A weekend fitness event is sponsored, with sampling rights, signage and social content included in the contract.

The buyer negotiates a regional television package with audience guarantees and make-goods, obtains bonus radio spots only in the priority markets, and secures outdoor replacement panels for sites obstructed by construction. The sponsorship contract specifies category exclusivity, brand-safety termination rights, permission for sampling, content approvals and post-event attendance reporting.

Outcome

The campaign is evaluated using delivered reach and frequency, aided awareness, store-level sales, sampling volume and distribution-weighted comparisons with similar stores not exposed to the event. The team avoids claiming that every sales change was caused by advertising; it examines timing, availability, price and competitor activity. The final report finds that radio and outdoor generated the most consistent local presence, while television contributed the strongest awareness lift. Cinema produced high recall among attendees but limited total reach. Sponsorship was valuable because sampling and association, rather than media impressions alone, supported trial.

Learning points

1. Media roles should follow the consumer journey and distribution reality.
2. Regional planning can be more effective than simply scaling down a national plan.
3. Sponsorship value depends on rights and activation, not only event attendance.
4. Make-goods and proof-of-performance clauses protect the buyer.
5. Outcome interpretation requires controls and caution about causality.

Challenges and Limitations

Traditional media planning faces fragmented audiences, uncertain attention, inconsistent measurement, clutter, changing consumption habits and limited ability to identify individuals across media. Reach estimates may contain sampling and modelling error. Average frequency can conceal harmful concentration among a small group. CPM can reward cheap but low-quality inventory. Sponsorship can expose a brand to events outside its control. Print and broadcast schedules may have long lead times, while outdoor conditions can change after purchase.

These limitations do not make traditional media obsolete. They require disciplined definitions, triangulation of evidence, appropriate guarantees and integration with other communication channels. The central professional skill is judgment: interpreting imperfect data in relation to the brand’s audience, message, market and objective.

Best-Practice Checklist

Before approving a plan, confirm that:

• the target audience and geography are operationally defined;
• each medium has a clear communication role;
• reach, frequency, impressions and ratings use compatible definitions;
• the plan accounts for duplication and waste;
• the schedule reflects purchase timing and message requirements;
• production, activation, research and contingency costs are included;
• negotiated delivery, make-goods and cancellation rights are documented;
• sponsorship rights and reputational protections are explicit;
• creative is adapted to the strengths of each medium;
• delivery, communication and business outcomes will be evaluated separately;
• legal, ethical, privacy and brand-safety requirements are satisfied.

Chapter Summary

Traditional media planning is a strategic process linking audience, objective, message, timing, vehicle and budget. Television offers audiovisual scale and emotional storytelling; radio supports local relevance and frequency; print provides information and credibility; outdoor creates repeated geographic visibility; cinema offers immersion; and sponsorship builds associations and experiences through negotiated rights.

Reach counts different people exposed at least once, while frequency describes repeated exposure among those reached. Impressions count exposure opportunities, ratings express audience percentages, GRPs aggregate ratings, and CPM measures cost per thousand impressions. These metrics are useful only when their populations, periods and definitions are consistent. Efficiency measures should be interpreted alongside audience quality, attention, context, brand safety and strategic fit.

Continuity, flighting and pulsing provide alternative scheduling patterns. A well-designed media mix assigns complementary roles to media and accounts for duplication, geography, distribution and purchase timing. Professional buying requires evidence-based negotiation, guarantees, make-goods, rights clarity and proof of performance. Ethical practice requires truthful communication, responsible targeting, transparent sponsorship and sound governance. Contemporary technology can improve planning, but cross-media comparability, privacy, bias and measurement uncertainty remain important limitations.

Key Terms

Reach: The number or percentage of different target-audience members exposed at least once.

Frequency: The average number of exposure opportunities among people reached.

Impression: One exposure opportunity delivered to one audience member.

Rating point: One percent of a specified population or target audience.

Gross rating points (GRP): The sum of rating points delivered by a schedule.

CPM: Cost per thousand impressions.

CPP: Cost per rating point.

Audience composition: The proportion of a vehicle’s audience belonging to the target.

Affinity: The relative concentration of a target audience in a media vehicle.

Vehicle: A specific programme, station, publication, site, theatre, event or property.

Daypart: A defined period of the day used for media scheduling and buying.

Continuity: A schedule with relatively consistent advertising presence.

Flighting: Alternating active and inactive advertising periods.

Pulsing: Continuous base advertising combined with heavier bursts.

Make-good: Replacement inventory or compensation for under-delivery or non-delivery.

Sponsorship rights: Contractual benefits obtained through association with a property.

Activation: Activities that turn sponsorship rights into consumer or stakeholder experiences.

Net reach: The unduplicated number or percentage of people reached.

Audience duplication: Overlap between audiences exposed through different placements or media.

Proof of performance: Evidence that contracted media activity was delivered as agreed.

Review Questions

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the difference between reach and frequency?
2. Why do GRPs not equal net reach?
3. State two strengths and two limitations of radio advertising.
4. What is a make-good in media buying?
5. Why should sponsorship be evaluated on more than audience size?

Long Answer Questions

1. Explain how television, radio, print, outdoor, cinema and sponsorship can perform different roles in an integrated media mix.
2. Describe the process of developing a traditional media plan from audience definition through post-buy evaluation.
3. Explain continuity, flighting and pulsing, and identify circumstances in which each may be appropriate.
4. Discuss why CPM and CPP are useful but incomplete measures of media effectiveness.
5. Analyse the ethical, regulatory and governance responsibilities of a brand manager purchasing traditional media.

Analytical / Application Questions

1. A schedule reaches 30% of a target audience and delivers 75 GRPs. Calculate its average frequency and explain what the result does and does not reveal.
2. A regional retailer has limited distribution, a six-week promotion and a need for repeated local reminders. Construct a media mix using at least three traditional media classes and justify each role, timing pattern and buying priority.
3. Compare two sponsorship proposals: one has a larger audience but weak brand fit; the other has a smaller audience, strong fit and sampling rights. Develop a decision framework and state which additional evidence you would request before choosing.

Multiple Choice Questions with Answers

Question 1

A campaign delivers 1,200,000 impressions to 400,000 different people. What is the average frequency?

A. 2 exposures

B. 3 exposures

C. 4 exposures

D. 6 exposures

Correct Answer: B. 3 exposures

Question 2

A television schedule contains ratings of 8, 5 and 7. What are its GRPs?

A. 13

B. 15

C. 20

D. 56

Correct Answer: C. 20

Question 3

A placement costs $12,000 and delivers 600,000 impressions. What is its CPM?

A. $2

B. $20

C. $50

D. $200

Correct Answer: B. $20

Question 4

Which measure counts different audience members exposed at least once?

A. Reach

B. Frequency

C. Impressions

D. GRPs

Correct Answer: A. Reach

Question 5

Which scheduling pattern combines a continuous base level with heavier advertising bursts?

A. Flighting

B. Pulsing

C. Duplication

D. Rotation

Correct Answer: B. Pulsing

Question 6

Which traditional medium is generally strongest for repeated geographic visibility near retail locations?

A. Outdoor

B. Cinema

C. Trade print

D. National radio only

Correct Answer: A. Outdoor

Question 7

Why can a low CPM be insufficient evidence for selecting a vehicle?

A. CPM measures only production quality

B. CPM ignores whether the audience and context are strategically valuable

C. CPM is calculated only for sponsorships

D. CPM always excludes impressions

Correct Answer: B. CPM ignores whether the audience and context are strategically valuable

Question 8

A schedule delivers 24 GRPs and has an estimated reach of 20%. What is its average frequency under consistent definitions?

A. 0.83

B. 1.2

C. 4.0

D. 44

Correct Answer: B. 1.2

Question 9

Which contract provision most directly protects a buyer when a medium under-delivers its agreed audience?

A. A make-good clause

B. A colour specification

C. A creative slogan

D. A circulation headline

Correct Answer: A. A make-good clause

Question 10

Which statement best describes sponsorship?

A. It is only the purchase of standard commercial spots

B. It is an association with a property obtained through negotiated rights and often requiring activation

C. It guarantees sales regardless of brand fit

D. It is measured exclusively by CPM

Correct Answer: B. It is an association with a property obtained through negotiated rights and often requiring activation