What is CPRP in Advertising and Media Planning ?

Media Planning is a wide area of study largely of which is untouched at any B-School or any training program. A whole world of media terminologies exists which are not easy to comprehend. Also, it is important to understand the logic behind these advertising terms to take cognitive actions. CPRP in Advertising and Media planning is one such term that needs to be succinctly understood. Misunderstanding the term may lead to adverse effects on the media plan in a specific and entire marketing campaign in general.

1. CPRP – Cost Per Rating Point

CPRP in Advertising and Media Planning stands for Cost Per Rating Point. While planning media, it is important to assess the cost being incurred to reach one individual in the TG (Target Group). Different marketers have a varied school of thought while planning media. A majority of them consider CPRP in Advertising – Cost Per Rating Point. CPRP is an indicative figure which gives the media planner an idea of the cost he/she is incurring to pass on the message to one single individual falling the TG. However, as it is practically impossible to assess the exact number of individual viewers, media planners resort to rating points for an average but accurate measure.

2. How to calculate CPRP in Advertising?

Before exploring the methodology behind the calculation of CPRP, it is important to understand how does one calculate rating points. Below is an illustration;

TVR (Television Rating Points), more popularly called as TRP is a time average percentage of the audience universe across a defined time period and is calculated as below illustration:

Total duration of program = 30 mins; Total Respondents = 10

TRP = [(10/30 + 4/30 + 5/30 + 25/30)/10] X 100 = 15 TVR

The sum of all TRPs is called GRP i.e. Gross Rating Point. GRP is a relative number and has no meaning standalone.

CPRP is the amount spent by the media buyer to achieve one rating point. i.e. Total Expenditure/GRP. As CPRP is derived from GRP, even CPRP in Advertising is a relative number and doesn’t have a significance standalone.

e.g. GRP (i.e. Sum of all TRPs/TVRs) = 30 TVR; Total amount spend on the TV Campaign = Rs 5,00,000. Then CPRP = 5,00,000/30 = 16,666.67

3. CPRP Vs CPT

Though CPRP is widely used while planning media there have been a school of thoughts supporting the globally more popular CPT measure of media effectiveness. CPT i.e. cost per thousand effectively measures the amount spent to reach 1000 viewers. Thereby CPT takes into account the absolute number of people reached and therefore clearly shows the change in the number of individuals watching television or a program. CPRP, on the other hand, is a relative measure which has the backing of advertisers and media agencies, where the money is spent to reach a certain proportion of the audience. As CPRP, the buying metric for TV takes into account the percentage of the base which has been exposed to communication, it is less impacted by the ever-changing universe.

However, will CPT be the future of TV media buying is yet to be seen?

Read More on Will CPT be the way forward for TV media buying?