Reach. Frequency. Continuity

15Jun09

Reach is the number of different individuals or households percent of the audience that is exposed to the medium during a period of time. With the addition of media the reach can be increased. Although reach is not restricted to individuals that respond to the message, it can help in measuring the expected effect from advertising in a given medium with a given message.

Frequency, however, is used to measure the intensity of a media schedule. It is essentially the average number of times a person or household sees or hears the message. The significance of reach is in the fact that repetition is key to memory. The more times the audience is exposed to the ad the better chance they will recognize the brand on the shelf.

Continuity is the duration of an advertising message or campaign over time. Few companies evenly concentrate their marketing efforts across a given year, and in most cases they fluctuate according to seasons. While frequency is useful for retaining memory, continuity is used to sustain it.

All three elements of good media planning have inverse relationships. This means that in an attempt to increase one objective there has to be a decrease in the other objectives to balance the planning.

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Tags: continuity, frequency, Marketing, media, reach, scheduling