What's Your (Power)Point?

“I don’t like that slide,” said my boss. We were reviewing a PowerPoint presentation we were set to give hours later to an important client. “I don’t get the point of it.”

“It talks about how if there is a mismatch between consumption of a medium, and the advertising spent on that medium, it makes sense to shuffle budget around to media where the consumption outpaces the spend. The advertising hasn’t oversaturated the channel, in other words.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that consumers consume media, like the Internet and Television, at various rates. If the…”

“I know what media is, you don’t have to be condescending.”

“I’m not, just bear with me.”

“Fine.”

“Anyway, if advertising spend on one media is greater than the advertising spend on another media, as a percentage of total advertising budget, then the consumption of that media should also be higher.”

“Ok.”

“So, if people consume media at a rate faster than advertisers spend, the medium is not fully saturated, and you can get more bang for your advertising buck.”

We were in his office. He was leaning back in one of those office chairs that has seventeen levers and comes with a user guide. It is the kind of chair that contorts office workers into 138 different uncomfortable, yet ergonomically flawless positions. His arms were crossed; he was weighing my explanation.

“How much time do we have for this presentation?”

“One hour.”

“Let’s just say mobile is very effective, and advertisers aren’t spending enough on it,” he said, “then you point at the chart. They won’t even question it.”