The SAARF All Media and Products Survey (AMPS) is a really valuable source of data for our industry. It covers the total adult population of SA (now from 15 years plus), is a single source survey, and has the added strong point of having the benefit of intense industry involvement through the years, which resulted in an ever-changing product that has kept up with the fast changing South African landscape.
To my mind, this wealth of information represents the single most valuable source of data to inform media decisions. Yet this veritable gold mine is largely untapped by the industry. Is it because media planners have lost sight of this venerable source of information, and if so, have they done so through lack of training or pure laziness?
As Gordon Muller said, “We need to open up AMPS as a gold standard currency again".
I recall how AMPS data saved the day when I was a young planner, and was presented with a brief for furniture polish. The client had a particular idea as to who the target market should be. By delving into the AMPS data, I was able to challenge the client's assumptions however, and dramatically reposition the target market, resulting in a winning campaign.
A further illustration: we recently used AMPS to optimise a client's strategy. The client was under the impression that the Internet should be a major component of their media mix. By simply using the AMPS topline data correctly, we were again able to reposition the client's perspective on the media mix by informing them that the Internet was nowhere near the significant channel they believed it to be against their target market.
AMPS can also fuel creative output as much as it does media strategies. For example, would you have guessed that 63% of people who own, rent or use cellphones happen to favour gospel music, followed by house (30%) and kwaito (29%)?
While obvious associations are supported by AMPS such as SuperSport viewers displaying a higher propensity for buying sports clothing, less expected and highly valuable findings are also to be found.
AMPS can help marketers blend traditional and digital communication campaigns. An example of a mixed media strategy, supported by AMPS data, would be to drive your Classic FM and Talk Radio 702 listeners to your website.
Just as information is the currency of the Internet, so AMPS data is the currency of the advertising industry, yet many people, from media owners to marketers to planners, aren't getting anywhere near the return on their investment that they could be getting. (After all, we all fund this research, we should leverage it to the fullest.)
Media planning demands a fair level of expertise before it can be effective. One of our biggest challenges in South Africa is the severe lack of training and subsequent low levels of expertise in the media industry. I am constantly reminded of this when consulting with new clients.
Often, media owners don't bother to understand the facts about their medium and consumption thereof and, as a result, often misrepresent the statistics. Media planners frequently accept these claims because they are ill-equipped to question them.
I believe that every media planner and media researcher should undergo an AMPS survey, as a respondent, so that they can then appreciate the wealth of information embedded in AMPS data. Even when specific questions are not covered by the questionnaire, a smart planner can nevertheless uncover useful insights by extrapolating variables that are covered.
It's all right there at our fingertips. Gut feel is important, but it needs to be grounded with the right data, interpreted properly.
