Advertising Planning Protocol (aka The APP)

Introducing The APP: A new way to quickly and inexpensively real-life test all the critical elements in an advertising program to guarantee a ROI improvement.

For decades a preferred method to determine the most appropriate budget level, creative message and media mix was to do real-life in-market testing. At the time testing was linked to return on investment (ROI) only by implication. Because testing was both costly and time-consuming, once advertising science evolved to modeling, real-life testing was abandoned in favor of the more synthetic approach. This saved a bit of time and money. Results were linked algorithmically to ROI.

Now, advertising science and ROI performance has evolved to another level of excellence. Not since Recency was introduced twenty years ago by Professor John Philip Jones and Erwin Ephron has there been a major advance in media planning. Now it is here in the form of The Advertising Planning Protocol, aka The APP.

The APP introduces a way to once again real-life test for advertising’s most critical elements, but this time very quickly and for very little money. The results can be directly linked to sales, creating a realistic ROI.

The Protocol is made possible because of set-top box data, cable systems, supermarket scanning data and the integration of all three elements right down to more than 41,000 zip codes. It is inexpensive because tests can be performed in matching zip codes for very little money. It is fast because Big Data allows us to understand the implications of a test very quickly. It is also self-correcting because it calls for re-optimization much the same way direct marketing does.

The APP all but guarantees a ROI uplift, because it is built into the system. There are nine steps in the protocol. One need not take all nine, however a logical place to start is with budget and work through all the elements, selecting what you need, until the ninth step. All through automation. Imbedded in the steps are proprietary tools, which have been developed and offered by Research Measurement Technologies (“RMT”). Each step can be tested resulting in an ROI uplift.

1. Optimal budget size and media mix
2. Most precise purchaser targets
3. Most effective creative messaging
4. Optimal reach and frequency across time
5. Leveraging critical geographies
6. In-depth creative understanding by meta-tagging
7. Integration for maximum ROI
8. Continuous re-optimization of all elements
9. Full automation of everything (except creative)

To learn more about The Advertising Planning Protocol contact RMT Founders Bill Harvey (bharvey@rmt.solutions), Bill McKenna (bmckenna@rmt.solutions) and Lucas Tanner (ltanner@rmt.solutions).

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