Outdoor Media Detail

CONVENTIONS

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OUTDOOR MEDIA DETAIL

CurrentTrack® contains several tools to help you keep track of new and revised media buy parameters, as well as allow Accounting, members of the account service team, Clients, and media Vendors to review critical information. The Outdoor Media Detail outlines everything from No. of Boards and Panel No. to Illumination and Cost per Period, as well as Monthly Billing Projections. It essentially serves as a Media Buyer’s “worksheet.” CurrentTrack allows you to input figures in Net or Gross and takes into account Media Commission.

The Printer Friendly Detail will bear either an (n) or (g) symbol beside the Report Type field, indicating whether you’re looking at Net or Gross numbers. From within the View screen of the Detail, you can quickly create an Outdoor Insertion Order.

 

CREATING AN OUTDOOR MEDIA DETAIL

To create an Outdoor Media Detail, go to Clients & Jobs — Client — Job One Sheet — I Want To: Create Outdoor Media Detail. You can also click  at the top of the screen. 

TIP: When navigating via the  menu, the Job field on the initial Create screen of the Detail is content-sensitive. Enter as many job Title keywords as possible to narrow down the list more quickly and eliminate unnecessary scrolling.

You’ll be guided through a series of questions/fields in order to build the most accurate Detail. You must include a Subject (e.g. “Louisville Market,” “Women 30+,” etc.). If the desired Vendor doesn’t appear in the drop-down menu, on the second Create screen, you’ll need to first add them by going to Address Books — I Want To: View Vendor Address Book. Click on the Add Vendor link located at both the top and bottom of the page. Enter their Name, Tax Rate, etc.; click Add Vendor. Once submitted, the information will be included in the Address Book and then be accessible from the Create Detail screen. You may need to refresh your browser in order to see the Vendor in the drop-down menu.

When you’re through, click Submit.

SHARING AN OUTDOOR MEDIA DETAIL WITH CLIENTS

If you’d like to share your Detail with a Client, at the bottom of its Create (or Edit) screen, indicate the specific Client Viewable User(s). If e-mail addresses have been associated with selected User(s), they’ll appear in the Notify Client by E-mail field once a specific User(s) is indicated. To alert internal Employees via their Message box, simply add their names to the cc: field. External contacts will receive an e-mail that reads:

“The document ‘[Subject]’ has been posted by [Employee] for your review. To view it, please click on the following link and enter the Agency, User name, and Password supplied to you by your agency representative.

[Link]

To provide comments regarding the document, click its corresponding Add Comment link. Should you need further assistance, please contact your agency representative.”

Clients will be directed to the Client Interface where they can sign in using your Agency name and the User name and Password you’ve assigned within their Client Spec Sheet.

They’ll also need to check the box beside Client and enter their corresponding ID number. This number can be found within the Client Spec Sheet.

Clients can return comments via the Add Comment links beneath both Attachments and posted documents. Comments are automatically sent to the CurrentTrack Messages box of the Account Executive and Coordinator specified in the Client’s Spec Sheet, as well as Employees listed in the Default and Client-specific Notifications areas. A copy of the Comments are also saved in the [job] Documents Folder, beneath its parent document, and is viewable by everyone in your agency.

SHARING AN OUTDOOR MEDIA DETAIL WITH VENDORS

If you’d like to share your Detail with a Vendor, check the appropriate box beside Viewable, at the bottom of the form. Click the pop-up box to the right of the Vendor User(s) field. The Vendor Address Book will appear. Simply click the appropriate name(s) and close the box. Next, check the box beside Notify Vendor by E-mail. If addresses have been associated with the selected Vendor User(s), they’ll appear in the box. Manually enter (or remove) addresses, separated by commas. To alert internal Employees via their Message box, simply add their names to the cc: field. External contacts will receive an e-mail that reads:

“The document ‘[Subject]’ has been posted by [Employee] for your review. To view it, please click on the following link and enter the Agency, User name, and Password supplied to you by your agency representative.

[Link]

To provide comments regarding the document, click its corresponding Add Comment link. Should you need further assistance, please contact your agency representative.”

Vendors will be directed to the Client Interface where they can sign in using your Agency name and the User name and Password you’ve assigned them within the Vendor Address Book. 

They’ll also need to check the box beside Vendor and enter their corresponding ID number. This number can be found within their Vendor Address Book profile.

Vendors can return feedback via the Add Comment link located beneath each posted document. Feedback is automatically sent to the CurrentTrack Messages box of the Account Executive(s) and Coordinator(s) specified in the Client’s Spec Sheet as well as to Employees listed in the Notifications areas. A copy of the Feedback is saved in the [job] Documents Folder, beneath its parent document, and is viewable by everyone in your agency.

 

VIEWING AN OUTDOOR MEDIA DETAIL

To View an Outdoor Media Detail internally, go to Clients & Jobs — Client — Job One Sheet — I Want To: Open Documents Folder.

Click on the View link beside the Detail. To view its Printer Friendly version, click on the printer icon at the top of the page.

 

EDITING AN OUTDOOR MEDIA DETAIL

No doubt, at some point in the future, you’ll need to revise the media buy you’ve entered. And, you’ll probably need to keep the old information on file as well. CurrentTrack will save a duplicate document for each round of revisions at your direction (simply check Save as Revision when submitting changes). They’ll all be on file when the Client changes their mind… again.

TIP: When making revisions, include a note in the Brand/Market field (e.g. Brand Y/Louisville (ver. 1.1)).

To Edit a Detail, go to Clients & Jobs — Client — Job One Sheet — I Want To: Open Documents Folder. Click the Edit link beside the desired Detail. Once you’ve made your changes, click Submit. Remember to check the box beside (re)cc if you want to re-send notification to everyone in its mailing list.

 

MAKING FIGURES APPEAR IN FINANCIAL REPORTS

There are two ways to make the dollar figures of your Detail appear in CurrentTrack‘s various financial reports. The method used varies between non-QuickBooks Connector users and those who use the Connector to complete their billing.

If your agency does NOT use the QuickBooks Connector, and the Client has approved the buy, go to Clients & Jobs — Client — Job One Sheet — I Want To: Open Documents Folder. Edit the desired Detail and check the box beside Final Revision. Click Next Step until you see the Enter Monthly Billing Projections Next option, at the bottom of the page. Check the box and click Submit. Enter the dollar figure(s) to be billed (or that have already been billed); click Submit.

If your agency IS a QuickBooks Connector user, and the Client has approved the buy, go to Clients & Jobs — Client — Job One Sheet — I Want To: Open Documents Folder. Edit the desired Detail and check the box beside Go Directly to Billing Worksheet; submit. Within the Media Billing Worksheet, on the following screen, enter the Station(s), Date(s) and Amount(s) to be billed; Submit.

MOVING AN OUTDOOR MEDIA DETAIL

Should you happen to misfile a Detail, go to Clients & Jobs — Client — Job One Sheet — I Want To: Open Documents Folder.

Click the Detail’s corresponding Move link. Select the correct Job Number from the drop-down menu; click Submit.

 

DELETING AN OUTDOOR MEDIA DETAIL

A Detail can be deleted in two different ways — From within the Documents Folder of the job and from within the actual Detail itself.

To delete a Detail from within the Documents Folder of the job, go to Clients & Jobs — Client — Job One Sheet — I Want To: Open Documents Folder. Click the Delete link beside the desired document. At the prompt, click OK. 

To delete a Detail from within the document itself, go to Clients & Jobs — Client — Job One Sheet — I Want To: Open Documents Folder. Click the Edit link beside the desired document. Once inside, click Delete, at the bottom of the page.

SCENARIO

What’s the best way to enter a year-long (52-week) buy in CurrentTrack?

Typically, the information is entered on a month-by-month basis (i.e. a total of 12 separate Details under the respective job). The reasoning being that it not only makes it easier for the Client to discern what’s airing and when, but it also makes reconciliation easier. Yet another convenience is that you won’t have to look at a 52-week long Detail and manually calculate how many dollars were placed during a given month. By entering each month in a separate Detail, totals are auto-calculated.

SCENARIO

I’m entering a buy for two months in two separate Details. Can I save a copy of my original Detail and just tweak it for the second month or do I need to re-enter the information?

To create a copy of your Detail, follow these steps:

1. Create a Detail as you normally would (e.g. “January 2017 Media Buy”).

2. Once saved, navigate to the Detail via the [job] Documents Folder; click Edit.

3. On the third screen, click Save As Revision; Submit.

4. Click Edit beside the duplicate Detail in the [job] Documents Folder.

5. Change the Brand/Market field (and any other fields)(e.g. “February 2017 Media Buy”); click Submit.

If you need to move the newly named Detail to another job, simply click Move from within the [job] Documents Folder and select the new Job Number from the drop-down menu.

SCENARIO

Should I consider advance billing?

Yes. Place the boards with the appropriate media Vendor(s) and then pre-bill the Client for the full amount (e.g. March through May). Or, if you’d rather, send a bill on the last day of the month for the upcoming month (e.g. send a bill on February 28th for March 2017 boards). Waiting to bill the Client until after boards have posted could potentially cause cash flow issues. Lets say, for example, you wait two weeks (or more) for the boards to post. You receive an Invoice from the Vendor a week later. At that point, you bill the Client and wait another week or more for payment. Before you know it, a month has passed without the money being in-house. By pre-billing, it could feasibly be in-house in two weeks or less. Make goods could always be credited after the fact.

SCENARIO

Why don’t Media Detail figures flow into the job’s Production Estimate?

Keep two things in mind, as related to CurrentTrack:

1. A Production Estimate is, “an estimation of the production costs associated with a job” (e.g. the Art Director’s time, price of color outputs, etc.).

2. A Media Detail is, “an estimation of the media costs associated with a job” (e.g. air time, magazine space, etc.).

Print Estimate contains several Vendor quotes for printing. Once you decide which figure(s) to go with, you edit the Estimate and check the box beside the figure(s). The figure(s) then flows into the larger Production Estimate for the job. These figures DON’T flow into the [job] Financial Report as it’s a snapshot of incurred costs, to date. Printing costs are only reflected in the Financial Report once a  has been entered.

A Media Detail — whether Broadcast, Circular, Digital, Outdoor, or Print — is a “worksheet” in which possible media combinations are outlined. Once your Client approves the buy, the Detail is edited and either Monthly Billing Projections are entered or a QuickBooks Worksheet is prepared. The Detail then becomes an incurred cost. The figures DO flow into the Financial Report of the job as it’s a snapshot of incurred costs, to date. It wouldn’t make sense for the figure(s) to flow back into the Production Estimate.

A workaround would be to create a Production Estimate that reflects your Media Buyer’s time, for example, along with any other costs (e.g. press clipping service, research, etc.). Create a Media Detail as you normally would, arriving at a Grand Total for the buy. Edit your Production Estimate and enter the Grand Total in a Work Code Sub-Item field (e.g. Media Buy Amount). Then, your “recommended” media costs will be reflected in the overall Estimate for the job.

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