A fixed $850,000 is split by market, channel and week in GB531's Unit 7 budget allocation model, which compares three timings on reach at three exposures. Searches like "gb 531 unit 7 assignment example", "gb531 unit 7 sample" and "gb531 unit 7 example" land here.
What a finished GB531 Unit 7 budget allocation model looks like
Five pages and a spreadsheet. Step one splits working media across markets by target adults multiplied by an outage index: Houston 51.2 percent, $435,109; Tampa-St. Petersburg 32.1 percent, $272,492; New Orleans 16.8 percent, $142,399, the highest spend per target adult at $0.59 because outages there run longest. Step two holds 10 percent for mail and 10 for search. Step three compares timing for the remaining 80 percent, measured as reach at three or more exposures within a four-week window. Continuous weight over eighteen weeks gives 142 points per window and 19.8 percent at three-plus. One six-week burst gives 426 points and 67.5 percent, then nothing. The chosen split, 72 percent in a May burst, 20 in an August pulse and 8 held back, gives 53.3 percent in May and a reminder in August.
How a GB531 Unit 7 example is structured
The model runs in the order a planner decides, markets first, then channels outside the rating-point math, then timing, so each step works inside the total fixed by the one before. Market weights use target adults multiplied by an outage index built from utility reliability reports, and the paper states why outage history, not population alone, predicts interest. Timing is the core of the model, and its measure is defined before anything is compared: reach at three exposures within four weeks, the window in which the audience profile found households move from interest to a quote request. The three options are run through the same simulation used in the media plan. The recommendation gives up fourteen points of May reach against the single burst in return for an August presence and a reserve, and the paper argues that trade openly.
Markets weighted by outage history
Target adults multiplied by an outage index, 1.10 for Houston, 1.00 for Tampa-St. Petersburg and 1.35 for New Orleans, set each market's share. Population alone would have starved the market where outages last longest.
The measure fixed first
Three or more exposures within four weeks is chosen before any option is modeled, drawing on the effective frequency debate from Krugman onward and on the profile's finding about how long consideration takes.
Continuous weight, thinly spread
Eighteen even weeks put 142 points into any four-week window, reaching 68.4 percent once but only 19.8 percent three times. The paper explains why recency arguments for continuity fit poorly with a purchase planned before a season.
A burst, then silence
Six weeks at full weight reach 67.5 percent three or more times, the best May figure, but leave August empty, just when a storm near the coast revives interest among households whose plans stalled.
Burst, pulse and a reserve
Seventy-two percent in May and June, twenty in a three-week August pulse, eight held for markets after a long outage once power returns. The reserve's release rule is written into the model, not left to judgment.
Where marks go in GB531 Unit 7
Splitting a budget by habit or by population, with no stated logic, is where GB531 allocation models most often fail, since the unit's task is trading one kind of coverage against another on purpose. Comparing options on different measures, one on total reach and another on frequency, hides the trade the unit is testing. Models that never define effective frequency, or define it without a reason, lose credit in many sections. Spreadsheets whose totals drift from the stated budget draw immediate deductions. Timing chosen without reference to how the category is bought, especially a heavy flight when purchase is impossible, suggests the audience work was skipped. A reserve with no release rule reads as unallocated money. The strongest models say what was given up, and why.
Get a GB531 Unit 7 example written to your instructions
Tell us the total budget, which markets it covers and the purchase cycle your GB531 campaign faces, and include the rubric that goes with the Unit 7 prompt. A custom allocation model comparing timing options on one measure comes back in 24-48h, the first free. Market indices built from public data are sourced, and anything else is labeled.
GB531 Unit 7 questions, answered
What is effective frequency, and how do I choose a number?
It is the number of exposures within a period thought necessary for an ad to work on a person. Three within a purchase cycle is a common starting point, from research going back to Krugman, but the right figure depends on the product and the message. State your number, give a reason tied to your audience, and apply it consistently across options.
Should the budget be split by market population?
Population is a starting point, not a finish. Weight by whatever predicts response for your product: sales history, category development, competitive pressure or, for this example, outage history. Show the weights, the data behind them and the resulting dollars, so a reader can see what changed from a simple population split.
How many allocation options should the model compare?
Two or three is usual. One option is a plan, not a model, and more than four tends to blur the comparison. Make the options genuinely different, such as spread against concentrated, and measure every one of them on the same criterion so the trade-off is visible at a glance.