One of the criteria in developing a resource based retainer model is the number of hours one person could be reasonably expected to bill in a year. This becomes their 100% billable time level or one FTE (Full time equivalent).

Take a year = 52 weeks.

In Australia 4 weeks of that year are for annual leave (so no billing there)

2 weeks a year, or more precisely ten working days, for sick leave (heaven forbid)

A week of public holidays (go on count them up, in most states there is a little more than five)

Suddenly we are down to 45 weeks of work a year.

Continue reading "How many billable hours are there in a year?" »

There are many pseudo-scientific terms used in marketing, especially in market research and strategy. But lets look at what these terms actually means:

Hypothesis: A tentative explanation of observed facts.

Theory: A hypothesis tested by experiements and to which exceptions have been found.

Scientific Law: A theory that has been verified mathematically.

Model: A mathematical or visual picture (physical)  of a particular set of phenomena. Models are never perfect and may be continually updated on the basis of new observations.

Postulate or axiom: A generally accepted principle or proposition.

Theorem: A statement of a mathematical truth together with any quantifing conditions.

System: A part of the material world selected for study and experiementation.

Anyone that tries to apply scientific rigour to the system of marketing and advertising process quickly realises that they are operating in the world of hypothesis and models. The lack of true and valid experimentation in this space means there are no theories, laws or theorems. At best it is observation and hypothesis.

No wonder Bill Bernbach said "I warn you against believing that advertising is a science. Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art".

In developing models of structure, remuneration, process and benchmarking, P3 uses observation and forms hypothesis to develop models. The value in the process comes in the deversity and volume of these observations and hypothesis.

Author: Darren Woolley

While many advertisers ask P3Media to benchmark their media buying, it is more important to make sure your media strategy is right, because buying the wrong thing cheap is no bargain.

In this edition of P3 e-news Stephen Wright discusses how P3Media Strategy Benchmarking can provide advertisers and their agencies with a measure of their media strategy.

In this P3 e-news:
- benchmarking - the right strategy
- P3TV workshops - they're back
- benchmark your media strategy today
- looking for a speaker?

The right strategy is more important than the right price

Cheap media can be like discount beef for a Hindu or half price pork for a Hasidic Jew. There is no point saving a fortune on the buy if the product you are buying is wrong for the audience.

Yet many marketers can be so obsessed with how much they are paying for media they forget to consider if what they are buying is right.

Almost anyone can buy for a good price these days

With a collection of major buying groups, client specific media agreements and buying strategies depending on the state of the media market, most advertisers are in a position to buy cost effectively.

In fact, in four years of media buying benchmarking, the only time we had an advertiser who was buying above the market rate was because they had poor buying processes in place.

Based on this experience, at best, marketers need to ensure they have the appropriate processes in place to ensure they are buying media effectively.

Media options are expanding and changing rapidly

The issue of media strategy has become critical in the face of unprecedented audience fragmentation and the ever-increasing number of media options available to advertisers.

While much of the discussion is about the emergence of the digital platform and the many channel options this has provided, traditional media channels are embracing technology to expand the options they offer.

The increasing number of new channels and the corresponding decrease in the effectiveness of traditional media means that developing effective media strategies is becoming more complex.

Many advertisers are being left behind in the rapid change

The problem is that many advertisers and their media planning and buying providers are still working within a traditional paradigm. Focusing primarily on media cost overlooks the increasing importance of strategy in ensuring the right media is being selected.

Even at the lowest possible price, the wrong media selection is no bargain. Therefore it is important to focus on ensuring the right strategy process and resources are in place.

The right strategy process delivers maximum value

P3Media has developed a benchmarking process to ensure advertisers and their agencies have the most robust and effective media planning and strategy process.

The P3Media Strategy Benchmarking evaluates both the advertisers process in creating a platform from which the media strategy can be developed and then evaluates the media strategy process to ensure the agency is delivering the full potential of that platform.

Scores are provided for all elements of the strategic process providing absolute clarity on the quality of the media planning process undertaken.

To find out if your media strategy is delivering the right outcome, contact P3Media in Melbourne 03 9682 6800 or Sydney 02 9279 4997 or by email on people@p3.com.au

P3TV workshops - they're back

2007 P3TV Production Workshops for Advertisers are planned in the coming months, for Melbourne and Sydney.

These half day workshops fill fast and cover all aspects of the television production process from briefing your agency to approving a rough cut to despatching final dubs.

Booking forms will be posted soon, so make sure we have your correct postal address by emailing georgia@p3.com.au

Media strategy benchmarked

Wondering about the effectiveness of your media strategy process? Want to benchmark your media planning process?

Then talk to Stephen Wright about P3Media's Strategy Benchmarking.

Stephen has more than fifteen years experience in media strategy and is the senior media consultant and a director of P3Media.

Contact Stephen by email at stephen@p3.com.au

At a conference near you

What are the top 10 mistakes advertisers make?

Darren Woolley of P3 provides an entertaining and informative presentation of 30 - 45 minutes on 'The top mistakes advertisers make and how to avoid them', based on seven years of advising some of Australia's largest advertisers.

To organise to have Darren speak at your next conference, workshop or event email georgia@p3.com.au to check his availability.

P3 - helping people achieve commercial purpose through creative process

This is not the story of the old bull and the young bull, except that in the end of both stories someone will get screwed. No this is the story of the difference between the old school of Art Director and the new school of Art Director.

The wise and talented old school art director

He walks into the art studio with the layout he has drawn and briefs the finished artist on what is required. He has selected his shots, selected his fonts and knows exactly what is required. The briefing takes about 20 minutes and he agrees with the finished artist as to when he should return to review the work.

He returns a couple of hours later at the appointed time and takes away a print out of the finished art, returning later with any changes marked up. He sits and discusses with the finished artist the changes he wants and the process may happen two of three times more while he explores tweaks to the finished art to increase readability and visual impact.

The whole process takes perhaps four hours of studio time, three or four A3 print outs and no more than two hours of art director time. Total cost = $1,200

The hands on new school of art director

Meanwhile the new school of art director walks into the art studio and sits with the finished artist. He has his layout mocked up on his own computer but rightly they have to start again because none of the specifications are suitable for publication.

He sits with the finshed artist for the next three - four hours selecting fonts, making decisions on leading and kerning and positioning the images and logos for both location and size. They have printed out three or four copies to see how it looks in printed form because you can never really judge print on screen. They sit and talk about the job, the agency gossip and plans for the weekend, while the copywriter pops in and out of the studio to see when the art director will be finished and to re-write a coupel of lines to make the copy fit the layout.

Eventually, perhaps four or five hours later the art director leaves the studio with the finished art he wants. The whole process takes perhaps four hours of studio time, three or four A3 print outs and four or maybe five hours of art director time. Total cost = $1,800 - 30% increase on the old school!
So who gets screwed?

There is no need for an art director to sit with the finished artist for all of the process and yet that is what so many art directors do. The problem is that it consumes resources and drives up costs, which the advertiser ends up paying. There are more effective ways of managing production for both print, television and digital. The problem is that it is often seen in agencies as old school.

Why?

Cynically to increase cost and revenue.

Or perhaps because in the eletronic finshed art world many art directors cannot direct the finished artist to do the work for them, like the old school does, and so they end up sitting there next to the finished artist doing it by proxy themselves.

Author: Darren Woolley