Updated New Book to Help Navigate the New Frontiers of Media Planning

There is no easy app for advertising media planning, especially in a world where search engines, social media, mobile technology and DVR’s are changing the media landscape.

But—thanks to Draftfcb’s Roger Baron—there is the new, updated, seventh edition of Advertising Media Planning, the indispensable industry classic that for 30 years has provided basic knowledge and valuable insights for those looking to navigate the ever-growing maze of new frontiers in media planning.

The new book, earlier editions of which have been translated into multiple languages including Russian and Chinese, has just been published by McGraw-Hill.

“The media planner’s desk has become ground zero in the explosion of media options for advertisers,” said Baron. “With more financial pressure than ever before on ad budgets, today’s media planner must evaluate all options in order to craft an effective plan. Yet despite the multiple new media forms, age-old questions must still be answered: Who are my best prospects? Which medium is most effective? Where is the best place to advertise? When is the best time? What’s the best way to schedule the ads? How often do I show the ad? What’s the competition doing? etc.”

Viewed as the bible for college students and entry-level media folks as well as a resource for seasoned practitioners and marketers, AMP7 helps those who need to get smart about media to move quickly forward. In addition to all the basics of traditional media, brought up-to-date with the latest industry practices and illustrated with major advertiser case histories, Baron’s new edition provides extensive coverage of the new digital media and planning technologies. These include organic and sponsored Google search, cell phone mobile media, Internet display banners and rich media, multi-platform campaigns, computerized channel planning, interactive television, data fusion, international competitive expenditure analysis, the DVR’s impact on TV commercials and more.

“As our social media, fragmented, 24×7, blog-filled, overcrowded, consumer-contented, viral-inspired world of media continues to explode, this new edition will help practitioners develop a focused approach to creating effective media plans,” Baron said.

The new volume represents Baron’s second turn (he also did the 6th edition in 2001) at updating the planning primer first authored in the 1980s by the late Jack Sissors, Northwestern University professor of media planning and strategy. The book is available from retail booksellers, Mcgraw-Hill professional, Borders.com, BN.com, Amazon.com, and other online sources.

About Roger Baron
Roger Baron is Senior Vice President, Director of Media Research for Draftfcb, based in Chicago. He joined the agency in 1987 as Media Research Director following five years at Leo Burnett and twelve at D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in escalating media research roles. He holds a B.A. in Communications and Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.A. in Telecommunications from the University of Southern California.