Creative Schedules

Overview

Custom Creative Schedules allow precise control over when each creative displays within a campaign without needing multiple bookings. This feature lets you assign specific dates, days of the week, and times for individual creatives within a single booking, optimising timing to reach your audience effectively.

Getting Started

• Enabling Creative Schedules: To enable the Creative Schedules feature, please contact [email protected] for access first.
• Player Version Requirements: Players must be on Version 5.4.3 or higher. If frames in the booking use older versions, you’ll be prompted to update or remove incompatible frames.

Permissions

Users need specific permissions to manage Creative Schedules. These can be assigned under Roles:

• System Roles: Administrator, Manager, Scheduler, and Content Scheduler roles automatically include permission for Creative Schedules.
• Custom Roles: Admins must manually add the ‘Manage Creative Schedules’ permission by navigating to Roles > Permissions and toggle it on to enable it for any custom roles they wish to have.
• Note: For more information, refer to User Permissions & Roles.

Adding Creative Schedules

1. Enabling Custom Schedules in Bookings

• Navigate to Bookings > Custom Schedules and toggle it to Enabled to start setting up Creative Schedules.
• Note: For details about the ‘Weighted’ toggle option, refer to Creative Weighting.

2. Adding Creative Schedules via the Calendar Icon

• Step 1: Click the calendar plus icon to add a new creative schedule.
• Step 2: Drag to select times in half-hour increments, or click a time block to open the ‘Edit Schedule Block’ prompt and manually enter start and end times.
  • Note: In cases of overlapping hours, you can choose to merge or replace schedules.

Scheduling Flexibility

Creative Schedules offer flexibility and precise control over when individual creatives will play. Here’s what you can do:

• Assign Specific Days and Times:
  • Select the exact days and times for each creative.
  • _Example: _Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 24 hours.
• Add Additional Schedules for the Same Creative:
  • To add secondary schedules for a single creative, click the calendar icon again and input additional days and times.
  • This allows you to play the same creative on different days of the week or different times of the day for different date ranges.
  • Example: Play Tuesday and Thursday, 8 AM - 12 PM for 1st week, then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10 AM to 2 PM for the 2nd week.
• Notes:
  • Number of Schedules: Once added, this will appear in a blue circle next to the creative in the dropdown list, allowing you to see how many schedules have been set.
  • Viewing Detailed Schedule Information: Click the grey area next to a schedule to display more detailed information, such as the exact times and days the creative will play.

Understanding Creative Scheduling

Multiple and Overlapping Creative Schedules

When you assign multiple schedules to the same creative, the content will play during each scheduled time.

Default Behaviour

If no custom schedules are added, the creative will inherit and play according to the original booking schedule.

Interaction Between Creative Schedules and Booking Schedules

Creative Schedules must align with the overall Booking Schedule. Here’s how they work together:

Date Restrictions

• Creative Schedules can only be set within the start and end dates of the Booking Schedule.

Adjusting Booking Dates

• Extending the Booking: Creative Schedules will remain within their original dates unless manually extended to the new booking end date.
• Shortening the Booking: If the new booking end date excludes any Creative Schedule dates, a prompt will ask you to adjust or ignore the schedule conflict.

Overlapping Schedules

• For a creative to display, both the Booking Schedule and Creative Schedule must be active. The creative will only play during times when both schedules intersect.
  • Example 1: Date Range Overlap
    • Booking Schedule: November 1st to November 30th
    • Creative Schedule: November 20th to December 31st
    • Playback: The creative will play only from November 20th to November 30th, the period where both schedules overlap.
  • Example 2: Day-of-Week Overlap
    • Booking Schedule Days: Monday to Thursday
    • Creative Schedule Days: Wednesday to Saturday
    • Playback: The creative will play only on Wednesday and Thursday, as these are the overlapping days.

Interaction between Creative Schedules and the Inventory Report

The Inventory Report is based on the full booking schedule, not specific Creative Schedules. This means:

• Full Booking Period: Even if creatives have custom schedules which only play on specific days, the Inventory Report will show the slots as fully booked for the entire period.
• Example: If a booking covers a full week, but the creative only plays on weekends, the report will still mark the entire week as booked.

This approach ensures that once a booking is confirmed, its slots will not become available for other bookings, regardless of the specific play days. For further details, please refer to Inventory Reports.

Troubleshooting

Conflict Prompts

Issue: A Creative Schedule falls outside the adjusted Booking Schedule.
Solution: The system will prompt you with options to update or ignore the discrepancy.

Unsupported Devices & Frames

Issue: Some frames are greyed out and cannot be selected.
Solution: Update the player version on these frames to 5.4.3 or higher, or remove unsupported frames to enable Creative Schedules.

Issue: Unable to assign unsupported frames to Creative Schedules.
Solution: If unsupported frames are selected, the system will prompt you to either remove the frames or disable

Creative Schedules Issues

Issue: I cannot enable Creative Schedules even though I can see the option.
Solution: Check your role permissions to ensure you have the necessary access to enable Creative Schedules.

Issue: My creative schedule is not applying.
Solution: Verify that the assigned frame supports Creative Schedules. If it doesn’t, a warning will appear for that frame in the booking, indicating that the frame does not support this feature.

Issue: I cannot select dates within ‘Add Creative Schedule’.
Solution: When adding a Creative Schedule, dates outside the Booking Schedule are greyed out and cannot be selected. Update the Booking Schedule first to include the desired dates.

If you have any further questions or need assistance, please contact our Support Team: [email protected]