Table of Contents
Overview
Media buyers can use the Schedule grid to define the tactical details of a campaign and quickly build out different media schedule options. The Schedule grid is a spreadsheet-like interface that combines user-entered data with pre-defined reference data records and formulas, and is located on the Schedule tab.
Once an agency is ready to move forward with a particular schedule option, they can commit lines on the Schedule grid and start the next step of the OneStrata campaign management workflow.
This page contains information about terms and concepts related to schedules in OneStrata.
Types of Schedule Grid Lines
There are six types of lines that can be added to the Schedule grid:
| Buy Type | Schedule Grid Line Type | Description | Graphic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media | Placement | A Placement represents the purchase of a single ad unit, with one format and one set of format dimensions. There are three types of Placements:
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| Media | Media Package | A Media Package represents a group of (children) Placements that are purchased together as a package, from the same vendor. Flight dates, the number of units, the cost per unit, and the rate type are set at the parent Media Package level, and all children Placements inherit those values. There are two types of Media Packages:
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| Media | Cost Package | A Cost Package represents a group of (secondary) Placements and/or (secondary) Media Packages that are purchased together at a single and fixed total cost, from the same vendor. Flight dates, the number of units, and the rate type of each secondary Placement or Media Package can be independently defined. |
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| Non-Media | Entered Fee | The fee is completely manually added to a media schedule, and has no pre-defined values. There is no pre-existing Fee record, and all values of the Entered fee are specified by the user within the schedule. |
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| Non-Media | Central Fee | The fee is added to a media schedule, with some pre-defined values. A pre-existing Central Fee record defines how the cost of the Central fee is calculated. Depending on an additional setting, the calculated fee cost can or cannot be changed by the user within the schedule. |
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| Non-Media | Assigned Fee | The fee is assigned to a specific Placement line. A pre-existing Assigned Fee record defines how the cost of the Assigned fee is calculated, and the calculated fee cost cannot be changed by the user within the schedule. |
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About Cost Lines
The phrase "Cost Line" is the general term for a Schedule grid line that has associated costs. Not all Schedule grid lines are Cost Lines, because not all types of Schedule grid lines have costs.
For example, a child Placement that is purchased as part of a Media Package is not a Cost Line, because the Media Package (which is a Cost Line) is paid for as a single item, and the individual children Placements are not paid for separately. Within a cost package or a standalone media package, the top-most line (the Cost Package line or the Media Package line) is always a Cost Line.
The costs of a Cost Line are divided into monthly intervals called billing periods. Cost Lines and their billing periods are the level at which costs are actualized, clients are billed, and vendors are invoiced.
Other important actions in OneStrata also occur at the Cost Line level, for example:
- Committing: Costs Lines are committed
- DSP, Search, and Social integrations: Cost Lines can be linked to DSP insertion orders, Search campaigns, and Social campaigns
The following table describes which types of Schedule grid lines are Cost Lines:
| Schedule Grid Line Type | Cost Line? | Cost Line Type |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone Placement | Yes | Media Cost Line |
| Child Placement | No | N/A |
| Secondary Placement | No | N/A |
| Standalone Media Package | Yes | Media Cost Line |
| Secondary Media Package | No | N/A |
| Cost Package | Yes | Media Cost Line |
| Entered / Assigned / Central Fee | Yes | Non-media Cost Line |
Cost Line Cost Methods
The cost method of a Cost Line defines what type of cost-related fields are available or editable within the Cost Line, and how they are calculated. Each Cost Line can have a different cost method, depending on what cost methods are enabled within the OneStrata enterprise.
| Cost Line Cost Method Type | Description |
|---|---|
Standard Cost Line | A Cost Line that uses the Standard cost method (the Cost Method value of the Cost Line is Standard). |
Margin Cost Line | A Cost Line that uses the Margin cost method (the Cost Method value of the Cost Line is Margin). |
Allocated Cost Line | A Cost Line that uses the Allocated cost method (the Cost Method value of the Cost Line is Allocated). |
About Flight Periods, Billing Periods, and the Unit Calendar
Schedule grid lines can be divided into flight periods and/or billing periods, which are managed through the Unit Calendar.
About Flight Periods and Billing Periods
The following table describes flight periods and billing periods in OneStrata:
| Term | Description | Notes | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Flight Period | A flight period defines the period of time that a media activity purchase runs for, as well as the number of units purchased during that time frame. Standalone / Secondary Placements and Media Packages have at least one flight period. Child Placements, Cost Packages, and Fees do not have any flight periods. |
| Imagine a standalone Placement that runs from March 15th to May 22nd, with 300 units. By default, this Placement has three flight periods:
If the default cost distribution setting of the campaign is Pro Rata:
If the default cost distribution setting of the campaign is Even:
For more information on cost distribution settings, see: |
Billing Period | A billing period defines the committed financial details (the amount that a vendor should be paid or that a client should be gilled) of a given month of service for a Cost Line. All Cost Lines have at least one billing period. |
| Imagine a standalone Placement that runs from March 15th to June 30th, with the following flight periods:
This Placement, and any fees assigned to the Placement, has three billing periods, one for each month with at least one flight period:
There is no billing period for April, because there are no flight periods in April. |
About the Unit Calendar
The flight periods and billing periods of a Schedule grid line can be viewed and managed through the Unit Calendar. The Unit Calendar has two parts:
- Unit Calendar bars: A high-level summary and visual representation of a Schedule grid line's flight periods or billing periods
- The Unit Calendar widget: A detailed list of a Schedule grid's line flight periods or billing periods. Flight-level adjustments, like changing the start or end date of a flight period, can be made through the Unit Calendar widget.
| Unit Calendar Part | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Unit Calendar bars | A high-level summary of a Schedule grid line's flight periods or billing periods. If the Schedule grid line is a standalone / secondary Placement, Media Package, or Cost Package:
If the Schedule grid line is a Fee:
The cost of the flight period or billing period is displayed in the primary cost type, which is either Vendor Net or Vendor Gross. Primary cost type is an enterprise-level setting that is managed on the Administration > Cost Model Settings page. | Hover over a Unit Calendar bar to view more information:
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Unit Calendar widget | A detailed list of a Schedule grid line's flight periods and/or billing periods. If the Schedule grid line is a standalone / secondary Placement or Media Package:
If the Schedule grid line is a Cost Package or Fee:
For more information about the Flight Periods grid or Billing Periods grid, see Unit Calendar Widget Reference. | Open the Unit Calendar widget for a specific Schedule grid line by double-clicking its Unit Calendar bars, on the Schedule grid. Make flight-level adjustments through the Unit Calendar widget: |
About Committing
Once a Schedule grid line has been filled out and customized as desired, the line can be committed.
Committing a Schedule grid line indicates that the line is ready to move from a draft state to a "real" state, with financial implications. Once a Schedule grid line is committed, it becomes available throughout the rest of the OneStrata platform:
When schedule lines are committed on the Schedule grid, located on the Schedule tab, OneStrata automatically does the following:
- On the Schedule tab: Enables automatic flight period soft locking
- On the Orders tab: Groups committed lines with the same Order ID into orders on the Orders grid
- On the External Integrations tab: For Placement lines with a Technology Assignment value, creates one or more Ad Placement lines on the Ad Server grid
- On the Actualization tab: Creates one or more Order, Cost Package, Media Package, Placement, Fee, and Billing Period lines on the Actualization grid
About Soft Locks and Hard Locks
Once a Schedule grid line has been committed, its flight periods are automatically soft locked, as each flight period begins.
In OneStrata, there are two types of locks, soft locks and hard locks. Items that are soft locked or hard locked must be unlocked before they can be edited, ensuring that any changes with potential financial impacts are done carefully.
| Lock-related term | Description | Items That Can Be Locked |
|---|---|---|
Soft lock
| Once a flight period that is part of a committed Schedule grid line begins (its start date is in the past), the flight period is automatically soft locked. Flight periods that are part of a Schedule grid line that has not been committed are not automatically soft locked, because non-committed lines are considered drafts that can be freely edited without financial impact. However, flight periods can be manually soft locked at any time, whether they are part of a committed Schedule grid line or not. Schedule grid lines can also be manually soft locked. Soft locked items are indicated by a dark grey lock icon, and can be unlocked within OneStrata. To unlock a soft locked item, click the lock icon. | Schedule grid
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Hard lock Invoice lock  | Once a billing period has been invoiced (by actualizing the corresponding Billing Period line and matching or clearing its invoice in the external financial system), the billing period, any paired flight periods, and the corresponding Billing Period line are automatically hard locked. Hard locked items are indicated by a light gray lock icon, and cannot be unlocked within OneStrata. To unlock a hard locked item, unlock its corresponding invoice within the external financial system. | Schedule grid
Actualization grid
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The following table describes the impact of soft locking or hard locking an item:
| Item | UI Location | Lock Status | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flight period | Flight Periods grid | Locked (soft locked or hard locked) | A locked flight period cannot be manually changed by the user or indirectly changed by a unit or cost redistribution. In other words, the units or cost values of a locked flight period do not change, even if the units or cost of the entire Schedule grid line changes. |
| Schedule grid line | Schedule grid | Soft locked If every flight period in a Schedule grid line is locked, the Schedule grid line is soft locked. | The following values of a soft locked Schedule grid line cannot be changed, on the Schedule grid:
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| Schedule grid line | Schedule grid | Partially soft locked If at least one flight period, but not all, in the Schedule grid line is soft locked, the Schedule grid line is partially soft locked. | The following values of a partially soft locked Schedule grid line cannot be changed, on the Schedule grid:
The number of units or vendor cost of a partially locked Schedule grid line can be changed. However, since locked flight periods are protected from unit or cost redistribution, the new units or cost value of the Schedule grid line cannot be less than the lowest minimum value, the sum of the units or cost of any locked flight periods. The difference in units or cost is redistributed among the unlocked flight periods, according to the default cost distribution setting (Pro Rata or Even) of the media campaign. |
| Billing period | Billing Periods grid | Hard locked If the Invoice Status of a billing period is Matched or Cleared, the billing period is hard locked. | When a billing period is hard locked, the following items are also hard locked:
A Schedule grid line that has one or more hard locked billing periods cannot be canceled. |
| Billing Period line | Standard Actualization grid, Margin Actualization grid | Hard locked If the Invoice Status of a Billing Period line is Invoiced, the Billing Period line is hard locked. | A hard locked Billing Period line cannot be edited. |
About Secondary Units
Schedule grid lines are required to have a rate type, which indicates the primary ad metric being tracked or purchased and its cost per unit. Schedule grid lines can also track other ad metrics, referred to as secondary units.
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
Rate Type | The primary unit type and cost per unit negotiated between an agency buyer and a vendor for a media purchase. For a Schedule grid line, its Rate Type value indicates what type of unit is represented in the Units value, and is required before entering rate, units, or cost information. For a Fee record, its Rate Type value indicates how the fee is calculated (whether the fee is a flat fee, a percentage-of-media-cost fee, or a volume-based fee). See also: |
Secondary Unit Secondary Unit Type | An additional unit type that is tracked alongside the primary unit type. For example, the primary unit type of a placement might be impressions, but the agency might also want to track clicks, views, or acquisitions.
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About Schedule Options
A campaign can have multiple schedule drafts, in order to map out and consider different budgets and tactics during the planning process. These different options can be shared and reviewed with clients, and iterated on until a specific option is approved.
When one or more lines on a specific schedule option are committed, that schedule option becomes "active". Any other schedule options are immediately archived and become read-only.
Moving forward, any changes to the campaign's media schedule can only be done on the active schedule option, now referred to simply as "the schedule". A campaign that has an active schedule cannot create new schedule draft options.
There are three schedule option types/statuses:
| Schedule Option Status | Description |
|---|---|
Draft Schedule | When a media campaign is first created, the campaign automatically has a single draft schedule option. During the initial planning phase, draft schedule options can be freely created, deleted, and renamed within the media campaign. However, as soon as one or more lines on a specific draft are committed, any other draft schedule options within the campaign become archived, and no new draft schedule options can be created. See also: |
Active Schedule | An active schedule has one or more committed lines, and any number of uncommitted lines. A media campaign has at most one active schedule. |
Archived Schedule | During the initial planning phase, a media campaign may have multiple draft schedule options. When a specific draft is chosen and moved forward, and one or more lines on that draft is committed, any other draft schedule options become archived. Archived schedules are read-only and cannot be edited or deleted. |