Lead Time

A lead time is the latency (delay) between the initiation and execution of a process. For example, the lead time for ordering a new car from a manufacturer may be anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months. This is due to the ‘Just in Time” production system that we employ in the United States (And that much of the world utilizes as well). The lead time takes into account the amount of time it will take to get the parts necessary to build the automobile.

Lead time is a necessary component of communicating your message, event or product to your target market as well. For example I attended a couple of Army-Navy football games in the past, since my son attended one of the service academies. As a result they will send me emails announcing when tickets are available for sale. They generally do this several months ahead of time. This year they sent my email announcing availability of season tickets and individual game tickets on February 25^th. The earliest I recall ever receiving such an email. Seven months ahead of the regular football season and a full ten months prior to the month that the Army-Navy game. 

So what factors go into determining when to start communicating your message, product or event? Well, no doubt due to the economy, many organizations are making you aware of what they are offering earlier than usual. They know that people have limited dollars to spend so they are trying to get their event or product offering to you first. But generally you have to consider the launch date of your event or product offering and work backwards from that date. Items to consider that will determine your lead time are:

•  The size of the target market you are trying to reach.
•  The time it would take for them to receive any targeted advertising,
•  The time it would take to create the media you will utilize.
•   And the time for that media to be delivered.

It’s been my experience that too long a lead time can be detrimental to your creativity, as you tell yourself that you have plenty of time to work on a project. The flip side is that if you don’t give yourself a long enough lead time, you will end up getting overly stressed out and again you may settle for a creative campaign that isn’t your best. 

This is why it is essential to plan out your business year with a broad creative communication campaign, taking note of the major calendar events that impact your market. This frees you up to concentrate on the details of the media you are creating during your actual launch lead time, which results in your being able to creatively communicate to your target market.