TV Schedule Builder

The Problem

A Frequence partner needed a faster way to generate TV schedules tailored to their audience. Sales representatives currently have to work across two systems to create these schedules. Choosing which TV networks to run is time-consuming and can take hours. They need an end-to-end solution that enables them to generate custom TV schedules quickly and in one place.

Objective

Create an end-to-end solution to this problem by leveraging our experience in data-driven targeting & optimizations.

Discovery

At first, we needed to figure out the main parts that went into generating a TV schedule. These include:

• Advertiser audience
• Advertiser budget
• TV dayparts
• Network viewership
• TV rates

We then needed to determine how to generate these TV schedules within the platform. The best course of action was to implement the solution using SmartProposal, a feature that allows users to automatically create sales proposals for their clients. We also decided to use the site rank algorithm, OTT, and the network rank algorithm to generate the schedules. Finally, we created a flow to showcase all that would go into these recommendations to show to the client:

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Design

I started off by creating low-fidelity wireframes with a product manager that would showcase the end-to-end flow. These were made using Whimsical. We showed these low-fidelity wireframes to get final approval on the flow by stakeholders, and then moved on to working on the high-fidelity wireframes

Below is the key flow showcasing some of the (many) final wireframes:

1. Account executive starts filling out proposal details

2. Account executive receives recommendations for their proposal

3. Recommendations complete → user lands on targeting page

4. User scrolls to TV Schedule widget - selects “generate schedule”

5. Account executive fills in TV schedule details (TV zones, start week, end week, budget)

6. Schedule generated, widget fills out

After this, the completed proposal would be presented to the client, now including the newly generated TV schedule.

Iterations

The designs were well received with clients so we had move quickly. Ended up doing more iterations after the designs shipped.

Update #1: Increase font sizes:

We decided to increase font sizes across the platform to improve legibility for our users. The TV schedule builder was affected by this, so it got "super-sized."

Update #2: Ability to generate multiple TV schedules on one proposal:

Another update that users wanted was the ability to generate more than one TV schedule, so they could show their client different options on their sales proposal. This gives users the option to show clients different TV schedules for different budgets.

Response & Conclusion

The TV schedule builder was well received by clients. The launch partner loved it, and 30 TV schedules were generated in 2 weeks. The first order was submitted in 4 days, and 30-50 operational hours were saved 2 months after launch. Advertisers now get more bang for their buck, and our partners get higher margins for TV.