Flight

Flight is a period of time during which advertising is unscrewed continuously. The term comes from media planning on television and radio and literally means “takeoff”: a campaign rises, runs for a given period and sits down.

Flying is a strategy in which periods of activity alternate with pauses. The opposite of it is continuous, continuous placement all year round. The third option, pulsing, keeps a constant minimum level and adds bursts at the desired periods.

The practical meaning of flying is that after a certain frequency of contact, the increase in recognition almost stops, and the budget continues to be spent. The “work for two weeks, pause for a week” scheme with the same annual budget retains recognition longer than even promotion. This is especially noticeable in outreach channels: outdoor advertising, radio, video advertising.

In the media plan, the flight is specified by the start and end dates, weight in GRP or budget and goal. In a chessboard of placements, it looks like a continuous stripe in the line of the site. A line that is evenly shaded for all weeks most often does not mean a strategy, but a plan compiled on a residual basis.