CBS and Pepsi have stepped up media planning and pushed it to the next phase. Some 10-15 years ago, the best media types were selected, costs were evaluated and budgets were allocated. Often these campaigns included only one media type. The next phase was to schedule the media in such a way that the specific qualities of each medium were best utilised; newspapers, for example, were used to kick-off a campaign. Then clients and agencies launched the concept of integration, 360-degree campaigns and consumer touch points. Media planning was driven by how best to reach the consumer via a perfect integration of all channels.

The new phase of planning media means dealing with hybrid media: media that are no longer what they seem to be. We have seen newspapers migrating to the Internet, sometimes even in the same layout as the printed version. But more spectacular is the integration of other media ‘genes,’ such as the use of e-ink in the anniversary issue of Esquire in 2008, or the integration of RFID in the French Magazine Amusement. Both examples offer advertisers and readers an enhanced reading experience. A new example of a hybrid medium will be shown in next week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly. CBS and Pepsi are running an ad in the magazine that includes a small video screen built into the page. The magazine integrates, so to say, the qualities of the television medium, and thus transforms itself into a truly hybrid medium.

These applications show that media planning is entering a new and exciting phase by the inclusion of other media in print media, and moving from a ‘gadget level’ to mainstream communication.