Making Headlines: An Overview of Key Happenings in Media Planning, Buying, and Research from 1985–1991

Abstract

Recent years have evidenced signficant changes in how marketers view advertising media planning and buying. While much of the change has been positive, questions remain on the future of the media function within advertising. The purpose of this article is to examine the most important media-related events of the past five years to identify those which have had the greatest impact. These include sales promotion growth, changes in media consumption, new audience methodologies and measurements, and the advent of cross-media and cross-discipline packages. These developments have not only altered the planning and buying operations but also raise questions of how these functions should be organized in the future.