When media placement doesn’t quite get placed as planned.

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We know there is a lot of strategy that goes into media planning and placement.  Which media will best reach our desired clients?  What position will achieve the highest recall?  Where can I put my message as consumers are making their buying decisions?  All great questions that media buyers strategically plan out leading up to making a buy and securing placement.
Even though we can control almost every aspect of placement, there are always times when something that you can’t control, such as editorial content or other advertisers, derail your well thought out and strategic placement, and land you in an unfortunate ad placement article.
In a fair number of these, the buyer and the creative team should have been aware.  If you are wrapping a bus and your creative includes the upper half of a lady, shouldn’t you ask where the umm, tires, are going to be placed?
In other cases, such as the Nestle girl licking the garbage or the three felons on the loose in Monroeville, you can only chalk these placements up to bad timing.
However, if it’s a situation where you’ve placed your “Ahhhh, marital separation” ad, and the team in charge of layout, positions you right below the “man plunges to his death” article, you’ve got a qualified makegood on your hands.  Someone either over looked the inappropriateness of the placement, or simply enough, thought it would be funny.  While it is funny to the rest of us, probably not for the marketing team responsible for the ad.
While buyers do often requirement a minimum level of separation between competitors and possible offensive content, you can’t request separation between yourself and every advertiser, who is only offensive when they are positioned beside you.  I think most sales reps and sales managers would easily offer a makegood of at least one free ad placement, but you’ve got to catch the error in judgement by reviewing tear sheets and requesting photos for OOH placement.  If not, the next unfortunate ad placement article may feature one of your ad placements.

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Ed Sharp

Ed brings 15 years of traditional and digital media sales experience to the agency, giving us a perspective most agencies don’t have. When he’s not working or seeking new knowledge, Ed hangs out with his wife, two kids, two dogs, one cat, and a hamster. And yes, the cat and hamster are best friends.

Chaney Given

Chaney is a talented and accomplished designer and illustrator, who has expanded his skill set to include motion graphics and video editing. With nearly a decade of experience, his client work includes Waterstep, Baptist Health, the Archdiocese of Louisville Catholic Schools, First Harrison Bank, and many more