How Do Media Buying Services Operate?

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name's Mark and today we're going to look at how media buying services operate. The primary responsibility of a media buyer is to advise, discuss and buy advertising space on behalf of their clients. Now advertising space really means we're looking at the main above the line media which could be television, radio, magazines, newspapers or what we call print media. Or an outdoor advertising ad or space. And their main function is to advise on the best formats available for their client. They work hand in hand with media planners. Media planner's job is to look at the strategic elements of the marketing campaign. And basically the best times, the best places and of course strategically how to, to roll out the campaign. The media buyers must also be very aware of the segmentations of and requirements of their clients. The buying habits and who in fact the target audience is of their clients. And therefore they must understand the demographics, the socio, the socio geographic demographics of their clients. Media buying outfits historically are part of the whole service of of the buying advertising agency. Times have moved on, economic changes are taking place and now these operators now are individual businesses. They offer both planning and buying services, strategic planning and buying of media space. This doesn't mean however that advertising agencies don't offer this service, they do. They have their own departments, media buying departments as well. They're also freelance people who offer this service based on their own experience within the market place. So if you're looking for media planner buyer or or an organization that offers this service it really depends on what your requirements are. Now how do these media buyers actually earn their money? Firstly they can work through the actual media owner such as the press or the outdoor organizations or television companies and buy directly there by getting commission for buying directly from this organization. They can also buy an advance for wholesale and what that means is they're buying huge amounts of space, volume amounts of space and utilizing that to sell on to their clients. And the other way is by basically charging a fee or retainer."