Most work on recency has been carried out for TV advertising but with the development of poster panels at supermarket entrances and shopping malls (Retail Posters), the remit of recency becomes even more relevant to the outdoor market. However whether poster advertisement or TV slot, the principles of recency remain the same.
Recency planning is based on the idea that most advertising works by influencing the brand choice of consumers who are ready to buy. A theory which is in line with the more sober view of the power of advertising - and our more recent appreciation of the consumer's unique contribution to making ads work.
We now appreciate that in most cases it is events in the consumer's life - the empty cereal box, the high telephone bill, the broken dishwasher, the expiring car lease - that gets consumers to consider making a purchase, not the repetition of advertising messages.
This new 'weak' model of advertising differs from the old 'strong' model because it says that while consumers may be reminded by advertising for established brands, they usually don't learn much because the advertising is often for products and brands they already know. The old model suggests advertising messages control consumers. The new model says consumers control messages by screening out some and selecting those that are relevant to them at that time.
Recency planning starts with the idea that when rather than how many is the critical variable - in other words, advertising effects can also be controlled by when the message is received. In media terms this could be comparing the effect of reaching consumers sitting in front of the TV, to that of delivering the message to shoppers within the shopping environment.
”There is a window of advertising opportunity preceding each purchase. Advertising's job is to influence the purchase. Media planning's job is to place the message in that window."
So when Recency is applied to media planning for established products or services, it appears that the first casualty is 'effective Frequency' and major recipient is 'Cover'. Since for some categories purchases are made every week and planners don't know who will make them, the media goal is to reach as many different consumers as possible in as many different weeks as possible. Not being there with a message for consumers who are ready to buy is like being off the supermarket shelf.
However it is important to note that Recency does not eliminate Frequency. When John Philip Jones found that a single advertising exposure close to the point of purchase can trigger a response, this is not the first exposure, but the most recent in a series of exposures. Similarly, Maiden's (now Titan Outdoor) work on 'the effect of Point of Sale posters on short term sales effect' considers the impact of the last exposure, not the only exposure. Within the Recency model, Frequency provides a presence for the product or service but the most recent exposure reminds the consumer, who is ready to buy, about the brand.
"Recency is sometimes characterised as saying 'all you need is one exposure' - an obviously extreme and indefensible view."
As always there are 'horses for courses'. The importance of Frequency in brand launches and building new brands is a completely different issue. Certainly Frequency is needed and in this case more continuous advertising may enhance the media strategy. But Recency still has a role to play - to focus us on the next purchase. Because after all, whether for an established brand of cereal or for a new car launch, you will always need enough next purchases.
So the role of Recency in conjunction with certain Frequency and Reach seems an appropriate one - and one which Retail posters (posters at supermarkets and shopping malls) can deliver to a host of media schedules.
Excerpts taken from 'Recency Planning; Journal of Advertising Research, Erwin Ephron