The factors considered during the media planning process: a case of advertising agencies operating in Kenya

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the factors considered by advertising agencies in choosing the media channels to use for advertising. From the findings of the survey, three factors were identified as Media Environment, Media Product Campaign, and Media Planning Strategy. This was a census survey of all the advertising agencies found in Kenya. The collection of data was done using a questionnaire and data was analyzed by frequencies, percentages and factor analysis using SPSS version 10. The media environment was found to consist of components like the reach of the media channel, the competition, and the attention the channel attracts, the cost efficiency and the size and characteristics of each medium audience. In the Media Product Campaign it was fond to consist of components like the mechanical production costs, the budget for the campaign, the geographic coverage, the government control and the 4P's of the product. In the Media Planning Strategy, the components included the overall campaign objective and strategy, the various approaches available for media selection and the target audience. The study found out that in the advertising agency industry, majority of those employed in the industry are young between 25 - 34 years (66.7%) and are female (72.2%) and have university Education (72.2%). Those agencies, which participated in the study, slightly over half of them are relatively small in terms of the number of employees with 20-50 employees. These firms mostly advise the advertisers on the sutable media vehicle to use. The survey also identified that advertising works. Creativity was identified as the most important reason to consider when choosing an advertising agency. In choosing media vehicle, government control is a big factor to consider in choosing the media vehicle to use. This may be due to cost factors and the geographical coverage.