A finished MKT-415 Topic 4 reach and frequency media plan example, comparing two equal-weight schedules for a dated event and defending the frequency it chose over wider reach. Searches like "mkt 415 topic 4 assignment example", "mkt415 topic 4 sample" and "mkt-415 topic 4 example" land here.
What a finished MKT-415 Topic 4 reach and frequency media plan looks like
The finished plan starts from the constraint, an illustrative budget of $90,000 for the four weeks before the show opens, and treats every later number as a way of spending it. Two schedules are built. Schedule A spreads the money across local television, two radio formats and outdoor boards, reaching an estimated 80 percent of target homeowners an average of three times. Schedule B drops television, concentrates on drive-time radio and streaming audio, and reaches about 60 percent an average of four times. Both come to roughly 240 gross rating points at the assumed costs per point, and the multiplication is shown so the equivalence is visible. Because the show has fixed dates a listener must remember, the plan chooses B and accepts that the lost 20 points of reach are homeowners it will miss.
How an MKT-415 Topic 4 example is structured
The plan is organized so the trade-off sits at its center. An opening section states the event, its dates, the audience defined in the previous topic and the budget ceiling. A second section defines reach, average frequency and gross rating points in a paragraph each, at the descriptive level most sections expect, and shows that the third equals the product of the other two. Schedule A and Schedule B then appear as parallel tables listing outlets, dayparts, weeks and the estimated reach and frequency each delivers. A comparison passage explains why equal rating points can conceal unequal effects. The choice follows, argued from the event's fixed date and the message's need to be recalled on one particular weekend. A flighting chart shows spending rising through the four weeks. The plan closes by listing the estimates it relies on and where each came from.
The budget stated before any outlet
The illustrative $90,000 ceiling for four weeks comes first, so every schedule that follows is a way of dividing a fixed sum rather than a wish list.
Rating points shown as multiplication
Eighty percent reach at an average of three exposures and sixty percent at four both total about 240 points, and the plan writes out both products.
Equal weight, unequal effect
Identical totals can mean many people hearing a date once or fewer people hearing it often enough to remember, and the plan explains which matters here.
Frequency chosen for a dated event
A show that exists for one weekend needs its dates remembered, so the plan buys repetition and accepts that a fifth of the target will never hear it.
Spending built toward opening weekend
The flighting chart puts the heaviest weeks just before the doors open, when a homeowner deciding on Saturday plans is closest to acting.
Where marks go in MKT-415 Topic 4
A plan that picks outlets it likes and never estimates what they deliver loses the most, because the topic is about the trade and a list of stations shows none. Reporting only gross rating points is almost as costly, since a single total hides whether the schedule bought breadth or repetition. Drafts frequently claim maximum reach and high frequency together on a fixed budget, which the arithmetic in their own tables will not allow. Definitions copied from the textbook and never applied to the schedule add length without analysis. A reason for the choice, tied to the product or the message, is what markers commonly want, and a preference for reach stated as common sense does not supply one. Leaving out where the reach estimates came from makes every figure in the plan unverifiable.
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Send the MKT-415 Topic 4 instructions and the rubric your classroom posts, with the budget, audience and media options your section provided. We write a custom example to those criteria, with reach, frequency and rating points applied, two equal-weight schedules compared, the trade-off chosen for a stated reason and estimates sourced, in 24 to 48 hours. The first one is free.
MKT-415 Topic 4 questions, answered
What are gross rating points?
A measure of total media weight, found by multiplying reach, the percentage of the target audience exposed at least once, by average frequency, the number of times those reached are exposed. A schedule reaching 60 percent an average of four times delivers 240 points. The total says how much advertising was bought but not how it was spread, so the example reports reach and frequency separately as well.
Why can a fixed budget not maximize both reach and frequency?
Because each exposure costs money whether it goes to a new person or to someone already reached. Spending more on new people leaves less for repeating the message to anyone, and the reverse holds too. Different outlets change the price of each kind of exposure, but the ceiling stays where it is. A plan claiming both at their highest has usually skipped the arithmetic.
What is flighting?
Scheduling advertising in bursts separated by periods with little or none, as opposed to running at a steady level all year. It suits purchases that happen at particular times. A home show held on one weekend has no reason to advertise in July, so the example spends in a four-week flight that grows heavier as opening day approaches. Continuous schedules suit products bought in every season.