A MAXIMIN PROCEDURE FOR THE OPTIMAL INSERTION TIMING OF AD EXECUTIONS

It has been recommended that dominant brands should not suffer from lo ng periods with little or no advertising. For such brands in a product category which is not subject to seasonality, it is important not to let the minimum effectiveness level fall too low. Toward this end, we present an analytical model for determining the optimal insertion timi ng pattern of a long run ad campaign which consists of a number of var ying executions. We develop a computational procedure to calculate the time between the insertions within a pulse in order to maximize the m inimum effectiveness level at any point in time. The focus of the proc edure is to provide conceptual insights and on benchmark solutions, wh ich can reduce the computational burden of simulations, rather than on providing an exact solution. We also provide a theoretical justificat ion for the two common economic axioms of nonsatiation and diminishing marginal returns, in the context of an advertising model with exponen tial forgetting.