The role of media brands in media planning

Brand management is well established in the media industry. However, little research exists on the role of a media company's brand in the media planning process. Exploring the brand's relevance from a theoretical perspective, we argue that it is linked to other qualitative criteria. The results of our exploratory study show that for media planners in Austria and Switzerland, the media brand is most important when advertising for specialty goods, in the premium market segment and in magazines and newspapers. We conclude by presenting implications for media companies' brand management to fully exploit their brands' potential.