Comment: Timing is paramount for today's digital marketers

by Paul Biggins, chief executive officer of Dialogue DLKW, Revolution UK 19-May-06

The IPA's TouchPoints Survey, launched in March, brings into focus the changes in media consumption, highlighting the profound effect that digital technology is having on the marketing communications industry and wider society. Costing more than £1million and taking over years to compile, the survey studied a week in the life of 5,000 UK adults, who gave half-hourly updates on their lifestyle and media use.

From a marketer's view, one of the key findings is that multi-tasking
behaviour is now the norm, with digital media a primary driver. For
example, while texting, 32 per cent of 15 to 24-year-olds are also

watching TV, 18 per cent are listening to the radio, 10 per cent are

browsing the internet and six per cent are reading.

With consumers using a variety of media, often at once, it makes sense
not to rule out any relevant channel when planning a marketing
campaign.

Indeed, considering that adults in full-time employment consume eight
hours of media during an average day - a mix of TV, radio, web and
reading - the case for integrated marketing is clear.

However, the advent of multi-tasking tied to the huge rise in
cross-media consumption has brought an added complication to the table.
Until recently, the key questions in any marketer's lexicon were 'who is
your target market?' and 'how are you going to reach them?'. The new
question is not just 'who' and 'how' but also, crucially, 'when'?

This is critical given that the IPA survey found that single-focused or
distraction-free media consumption mainly occurs after the 9pm
watershed.

With adults consuming 3.9 hours of TV, 1.3 hours of radio and nearly an
hour of online time each weekday, the clear challenge for integrated
marketers is to ascertain the best time of day to reach their target
market per marketing channel. A huge task.

The 'when' of marketing means that planning is once again taking
centre-stage as the key component in the advertising landscape, both on
and offline.

The recent rush by digital agencies to acquire a planning capability
either organically or by acquisition is a tacit recognition of this
fact.

But, it is not enough to line up the planning function alongside other
agency functions as an equal bed partner.

Today's advertising landscape demands that planning sits above all other
agency functions as the strategic umbrella from which all other
departments take their lead. Real integration in the modern digital era
demands nothing less than the very best planning. The IPA survey
confirms it.