This is “Decide What You Can Afford to Say: msnbc.com Sets the Budget”, chapter 7 from the book Advertising Campaigns: Start to Finish (v. 1.0). For details on it (including licensing), click here.

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Chapter 7 Decide What You Can Afford to Say: msnbc.com Sets the Budget

Figure 7.1 Nine Months to Launch!

Before the SS+K team could set off to develop their marketing recommendations, Catherine Captain had to set a budget for their efforts. It was important for Russell and Amit to understand the parameters of the work at hand; creative, media, and promotional recommendations would be vastly different for a $2 million effort versus a $20 million effort.

Once they were informed of the blanket budget to cover all SS+K related initiatives, it was up to them to work with Catherine to recommend the best way to make every dollar sing. But before the budget is split up, the client has to determine the total. As the VP of Marketing, Catherine had to request a certain amount of money from the board of msnbc.com—and justify why she wanted it. In the ad biz, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.