INSTRUCTOR MANUAL for Advertising & IMC Principles and Practice 10e Sandra Moriarty Nancy Mitchell W by digitaldownload87

INSTRUCTOR MANUAL for Advertising & IMC Principles and Practice 10e Sandra Moriarty Nancy Mitchell William Wells

Part 1

Principle: Back to Basics This is one of the most exciting times to take an advertising course because of all of the changes in the industry – new technology, new media, new types of consumers and media users, new ways of looking at brand communication, and new economic challenges. It is also a great time to study the basics of advertising and brand communication because this is the era of “back to basics.” Unchanging Truths in Times of Change Rather than redefine the field to accommodate changing times, Bill Weintraub, one of the book’s advisory board members and a marketing export who led teams at several CPG organizations, insists that the basic truths in marketing communication are immutable. He continues, “Regardless of the economy, new media, changes in culture, etc., I don’t accept that these superficial changes in the marketing environment are relevant in terms of how intelligent business practices should be conducted.” The Basic Truth: Understand Your Brand Advisory board member Regina Lewis, a leader in the area of consumer insights says, “There is a need for brand authenticity. With social media’s power, brands are tasked with – among other things – achieving perfect transparency.” Lewis also believes that the basics of successful branding lie with connecting with consumer values. She sees that ‘uniquely positioning your brand is essential.” But that’s just the foundation of successful branding; the structure of a successful brand is built on effective communication. The Enduring Principles As you will see in this book, effective advertising and marketing communication are founded on basic, enduring principles. These principles are central themes in this textbook: 1. Brand. Build and maintain distinctive brands that your customers love. 2. Position. Identify your competitive advantage in the minds of consumers. 3. Consumer. Focus on consumers and match your brand’s strengths to consumer needs and wants. 4. Message. Identify your best prospects and engage them in a brand conversation. 5. Media. Know how to best reach and connect with your target audience. 6. Integrate. Know how to connect the dots and make everything in the marketing communication toolkit work together. 7. Evaluate. Track everything you do so you know what works.

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That does not mean that brand communication is unchanging. In fact, the practices are dynamic and continually adapting to changing marketplace conditions. But the basic principles are unchanging even in times of change.

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Chapter 1 Advertising ◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. What is advertising, how has it evolved, and what does it do in modern times? 2. How have the key concepts of marketing communication developed over time? 3. How the industry is organized – key players, types of agencies, and jobs within agencies? 4. Why and how is the practice of advertising changing?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter defines advertising, explains its basic functions and key components, defines the role it plays in our society, and identifies eight different ways in which it is practiced today. The industry’s evolution is explored, along with the role of the advertising agency, how they are organized and how they function. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the practice of advertising is changing.

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHAT IS ADVERTISING? • The purpose of advertising has always been to sell a product, which can be goods, services or ideas. Although there have been major changes in recent years, the basics of advertising remained unchanged even in the face of economic downturns and media convulsions. •

We can summarize a modern view of advertising with the following definition: Advertising is a paid form of persuasive communication that uses mass and interactive media to reach broad audiences in order to connect an identified sponsor with buyers (a target audience), provide information about products (goods, services, and ideas), and interpret the product features in terms of the customer’s needs and wants.

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This definition has a number of elements and the definition is changing because of new technology, media shifts, and cultural changes. ▪

Advertising is usually paid for by the advertiser who has a product to sell, although some forms of advertising, such as public service announcements (PSAs), use donated space and time.

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Not only is the message paid for, but the sponsor is identified.

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Although advertising began as one-way communication, digital media has introduced new forms of two-way and multiple-way brand-related communication.

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Advertising generally reaches a broad audience of potential consumers, either as a mass audience or smaller targeted groups. However, direct response advertising, especially those practices that involve digital communication, has the ability to address individual members of the audience. So some advertising can deliver one-to-one communication to a large group of people.

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In traditional advertising, the message is conveyed through many different kinds of mass media, which are largely non-personal messages. This non-personal characteristic, however, is changing with the introduction of more interactive types of media.

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A great deal of emphasis is now placed on word-of-mouth, which is now defined as personal communication through new media forms rather than “scripted messages in a paid format,” according to agency CEO Richard Edelman.

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Most advertising has a defined strategy and seeks to inform consumers and make them aware of a brand, company, or organization. In many cases, it also tries to persuade or influence consumers to do something. Persuasion may also involve emotional messages.

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A product can be a good, service, or an idea. Nonprofits, for example, use ads to sell memberships, inform about a cause, or advocate on behalf of its position or point-ofview.

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Advertising is not the only tool in a brand’s promotional toolkit, although it may be the biggest. It is a more than $500 billion industry worldwide and a $174 billion industry in the United States. It is often seen as the driving force in marketing communications because it commands the largest budget as well as the largest number of agencies and professionals.

What Are Advertising’s Basic Functions? • Identification. Advertising identifies a product and/or the store where it’s sold. This goes back as far as ancient times. Some of the earliest ads were simply signs with the name or graphic image of the type of store – cobbler, grocer, or blacksmith. •

Information. Advertising provides information about a product. Advances in printing technology at the beginning of the Renaissance spurred literacy and brought an explosion of printed materials in the form of posters, handbills, and newspapers. The

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word advertisement first appeared around 1655 and by 1660, publishers were using the word as a heading in newspapers for commercial information. •

Persuasion. Advertising persuades people to buy things. The Industrial Revolution accelerated social change, as well as mass production. It brought the efficiency of machinery not only to the production of goods, but also to their distribution. For widespread marketing of products, it became important to have a recognizable brand name. Also, large groups of people needed to know about these goods. P.T. Barnum and patent medicine makers were among the advertising pioneers who moved promotion from identification and information to a flamboyant version of persuasion called “hype” - graphics and language characterized by exaggeration or hyperbole.

What Are the Key Components of Advertising? • Strategy: This is the logic behind the advertisement. It is stated through objectives that may focus on areas such as sales, news, psychological appeals, emotion, branding and brand reputation, as well as the position and differentiation of the product from competition, and segmentation and targeting of the best prospects. •

Message: This is the concept behind a message and how that message is expressed based on research and consumer insights, with an emphasis on creativity and artistry.

• Media: Various media have been used by advertisers over the centuries including print, broadcast, outdoor, and now digital media. Targeting ads to prospective buyers is done by matching their profiles to media audiences. Advertising agency compensation was originally based on the cost of buying time or space in the media. • Evaluation: Effectiveness means meeting objectives, and in order to determine if that has happened, there must be testing. Standards are set by professional organizations and companies that rate the size and makeup of media audiences, as well as advertising’s social responsibility. Common Types of Advertising • Different types of advertising play different roles. We can identify eight different types of advertising: 1. Brand advertising, the most visible type of advertising, is also referred to as national or consumer advertising, focuses on the development of a long-term brand identity and image. 2. Retail advertising or Local Advertising: This type of advertising focuses on retailers, distributors, or dealers who sell their merchandise in a certain geographical area. Retail advertising has information about products that are available in local stores. The objectives focus on stimulating store traffic and creating a distinctive image for the retailer. Local advertising can refer to a retailer, such as T.J. Maxx, or a manufacturer or distributor who offers products in a fairly restricted geographic area. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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3. Direct-Response Advertising tries to stimulate an immediate response by the customer to the seller. It can use any advertising medium, particularly direct mail or the Internet. The consumer can respond by telephone or mail, and the product is delivered directly to the consumer by mail or some other carrier. 4. Business-to-Business Advertising: Business-to-business (B2B) advertising, also called trade advertising, is sent from one business to another. It includes messages directed at companies distributing products as well as industrial purchasers and professionals, such as lawyers and physicians. Advertisers place most business advertising in professional publications or journals. 5. Institutional Advertising, also called corporate advertising, focuses on establishing a corporate identity or winning the public over to the organization’s point of view. Tobacco companies, for example, run ads that focus on the positive things they are doing. Ads for a pharmaceutical company showcasing its leukemia treatment are another example of this type of advertising. 6. Nonprofit Advertising: Not-for-profit organizations, such as charities, foundations, associations, hospitals, orchestras, museums, and religious institutions use nonprofit advertising to reach customers, members, and volunteers. It is also used to solicit donations and other forms of program participation. 7. Public Service Advertising provides messages on behalf of some good causes, such as stopping drunk driving (as in messages from Mothers Against Drunk Driving) or preventing child abuse. Advertising professionals usually create these advertisements, also called public-service announcements (PSAs), pro bono (free of charge) and the media often donate the necessary space and time. 8. Specific advertising areas, such as health care, green marketing, agribusiness, and international address specific situations or issues and have developed specialized advertising techniques and agencies. •

Despite their differences, there are many commonalities among these seven categories. All types of advertising demand creative, original messages that are strategically sound and well executed, and all are delivered through some type of media.

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Advertisements can be developed as single ads largely unrelated to other ads by the same advertiser. Or they can be developed as a campaign, a term that refers to a set of related ads that are variations on the same theme.

Is Advertising the Only Tool in the Promotional Toolkit?

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Advertising’s original purpose was to sell something, but over the years, other promotional tools with different sets of strengths have developed to help meet that objective. They include publicity or public relations, direct-response advertising, and sales promotion.

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In other words, a variety of tools can be used to identify, inform, and persuade. The proper name for this bundle of tools is marketing communication (marcom), an umbrella term that refers to various types of promotional tools and communication efforts about a brand that appear in a variety of media.

What Roles Does Advertising Perform? • In addition to marketing communication, advertising also has a role in the functioning of the economy and society. This is illustrated in the ‘1984” commercial that launched the Apple Macintosh. As you read about this commercial in the Matter of Practice feature in this chapter, note how it demonstrated all four functions – marketing, communication, social and economic. Marketing and Communication Roles • In its marketing and communication roles, advertising transforms a product into a distinctive brand by creating an image and personality that goes beyond straightforward product features. As advertising showcases brands, it also creates consumer demand and makes statements that reflect social issues and trends. Economic and Societal Roles • Advertising flourishes in societies that enjoy economic abundance, in which supply exceeds demand. In such societies, advertising extends beyond a primarily informational role to create a demand for a particular brand. Creating buzz - getting people to talk about the brand – has become an important goal of marketing communication in this era of social media. •

Most economists presume that because it reaches large groups of potential consumers, advertising brings cost efficiencies to marketing, and thus, lowers prices to consumers. As demand grows, as well as competition, prices begin to drop.

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Two contrasting points of view explain how advertising creates economic impact. In the first, the rational view, advertising is seen as a vehicle for helping consumers assess value through price cues and other information, such as quality, location, and reputation. Advocates of the first viewpoint see the role of advertising as a means to objectively provide price/value information, thereby creating more rational economic decisions. The second approach appeals to consumers making a decision on nonprice, emotional appeals. This type of advertising is believed to be so persuasive that that it decreases the likelihood a consumer will switch to an alternative, product, regardless of the price charged.

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Advertising mirrors fashion and design trends, thereby adding to our aesthetic sense. It also has an educational role in that it teaches us about new products. It may also expose social issues and help us shape an image of ourselves by setting up role models with which we can identify. It also presents images that capture the diversity of the world in which we live. These social roles have both negative and positive dimensions.

How Did Current Practices And Concepts Develop? Figure 1.2 in the textbook provides a timeline reflecting how the principles and practices of this multibillion dollar industry have evolved. The timeline divides the evolution of advertising into five stages, which reflect historical eras and the changes that lead to different philosophies and styles of advertising. The Early Age of Print: • Industrialization and mechanized printing spurred literacy, which encouraged businesses to advertise beyond just their local places of business. Ads from these early years look like what we call classified advertising today. Their objective was to identify products and deliver information about them, including where they were being sold. The primary medium of this age was print, particularly newspapers, although handbills, posters, and hand painted signs were also important. The Early Age of Agencies • The 19th century introduced the beginning of what we now recognize as the advertising industry. During this era, the first ad agency was opened in 1848 in Philadelphia and P.T. Barnum embarked one of the first campaigns. The commission system for placing ads was begun and the account executive position was created. •

As advertisers and marketers became more concerned about ads that worked, professionalism in advertising began to take shape. This is also when it became important to have a definition or a theory of advertising.

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On the retail side, department store owner John Wanamaker hired a full-time copywriter. Also, the newly founded McCann agency developed a philosophy that emphasized the agency’s role in crafting the ad message, and the industry’s first trade publication appeared in 1888.

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By the end of the 19th century advertisers began to give their goods brand names. The purpose of advertising during this period was to create demand, as well as a visual identity for these new brands. Inexpensive brand name products, known as packed goods, began to fill the shelves of grocers and drug stores. The questionable ethics of hype and puffery came to a head in 1892.

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In Europe, the visual quality of advertising improved dramatically as artists who also were illustrators brought their craftsmanship to posters and print ads, as well as magazine illustrations. Because of the artistry, this period is known as The Golden

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Age. The artist role moved beyond illustration to become the art director in 20th century advertising. The Scientific Era • In the early 1900s, professionalism in advertising was reflected by the beginnings of a professional organization, which was officially named the American Association of Advertising Agencies in 1917. •

In the early 20th century, modern professional advertising adopted scientific research techniques. Advertisers believed they could improve advertising by blending science and art. During the 1930s and 1940s, Daniel Starch, A.C. Nielsen, and George Gallup founded research organizations that are still a part of today’s advertising industry.

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Targeting, the idea that messages should be directed at particular groups of prospective buyers, evolved as media become more complex. In 1914, the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) was formed to standardize the definition of paid circulation for magazines and newspapers. Media changes saw print being challenged by radio advertising in 1922. Radio surpassed print in ad revenue in 1938.

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The world of advertising agencies developed rapidly after World War II, led by the J. Walter Thompson agency. The agency’s success was due largely to its creative copy and the management style of the husband and wife team of Stanley and Helen Resor, who introduced quite a few of the advertising concepts and practices still with us today.

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Television commercials came on the scene in the early 1950s and brought a huge new revenue stream to the advertising industry. In 1952 the Nielsen rating system for TV advertising became the primary way to measure the reach of TV commercials. This period also saw marketing practices, such as product differentiation and market segmentation incorporated into advertising. The idea of positioning was developed in 1969.

The Creative Revolution • The creative power of agencies exploded in the 1960s and 1970s, a period marked by the resurgence of art, inspiration, and intuition. Largely in response to the previous emphasis on research and science, this revolution was inspired by three creative geniuses: Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy, and William Bernbach. The Era of Accountability and Integration • Starting in the 1970s, the industry-wide focus was on effectiveness. Clients wanted ads that produced sales, so the emphasis was on research, testing, and measurement. To be accountable, agencies and other marketing communication agencies recognized that their work had to prove its value. The economic downtown and dotcom crash toward the end of the 20th century reinforced this imperative. Advertisers now demanded proof that their advertisements accomplished its objectives as stated in the strategy. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Social responsibility is also another aspect of accountability. In 1971 the National Advertising Review Board was created to monitor questions of taste and social responsibility. As the digital era brought nearly instantaneous means of communication spreading word-of-mouth among a social network of consumers, companies became even more concerned about their practices and brand or corporate reputation. At the same time, consumers became even more concerned about business ethics.

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This is also the era when integrated marketing communication became important. Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is another technique that managers began to adopt in the 1980s as a way to better coordinate their brand communication. Integration and consistency makes marketing communication more efficient and thus more financially accountable.

The Social Media Era • Advertising and marketing communication practices have been turned upside down in the years since 2008. Digital and online communication became important earlier in the new century with brands and companies setting up websites and experimenting with online advertising worldwide. With the launch of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other vehicles for sharing thoughts, photos, and videos, the structure of consumer communication has been radically altered.

THE ADVERTISING WORLD Who Are the Key Players? • As we discuss the organization of the industry, consider that all of the key players also represent job opportunities they may wish to consider. The players include the advertiser or client, the agency, the media, and suppliers who provide expertise. •

The A Matter of Practice feature about ‘1984’ the greatest commercial ever made, introduced a number of these key payers and illustrated how they all make different contributions to the final advertising. Another way to get a peek into the field is through the lens of television, such as the Mad Men show. The A Matter of Principle feature in this chapter explains how Bruce Vanden Bergh analyzed the cultural relevance of this popular award-winning drama.

The Advertiser • Advertising begins with the organization behind the promotion message, or the advertiser. The advertiser is the number one key player. Management of advertising function usually lies with the organization’s marketing or advertising department. •

The list of top advertisers in the United States usually begins with Procter and Gamble (P&G). Other leaders that appear on that list vary from year to year.

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Most advertisers have an executive or a department that initiates the advertising effort by identifying a marketing problem that advertising can solve. The marketing executive hires the advertising agency and other marketing communication agencies as needed. In professional jargon, the advertiser becomes the agency’s client. As the client, the advertiser is responsible for monitoring the work and paying the agency for its work on the account.

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The marketing team, sometimes including the agency account people, makes the final decisions about strategy, including the target audience and the size of the advertising budget. The client team approves the advertising or marketing communication plan, which contains details outlining the message and media strategies.

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Although big companies may have hundreds of agencies working for them, they normally have an agency-of-record that does most of their business and may even manage or coordinate the work of other agencies.

The Agency • The second player is the advertising agency (or other types of marketing communication agencies) that creates, produces and distributes the messages. The working arrangement is known as the agency-client partnership. An advertiser uses an outside agency because it believes the agency will be more efficient in creating advertising messages than the advertiser would be on its own. •

Not all advertising professionals work in agencies. Large advertisers, either companies or organizations, manage the advertising process either by setting up an advertising department (sometimes called marketing services) that oversees the work of agencies or by setting up their own in-house agency, as we see in Figure 1.3.

The Media • The third player in the advertising world is the media. The emergence of mass media has been a central factor in the development of advertising because mass media offers a way to reach a widespread audience. In traditional advertising, the term media refers to all of the channels of communication that carry the message from the advertiser to the audience and from consumers back to the company. •

We refer to these media as channels because they deliver messages, but they are also companies, such as your local newspaper or radio station. Some of those media conglomerates are huge, such as Time Warner and Viacom. Media vehicles are the specific programs, such as 60 Minutes or The Simpsons, or magazines such as Advertising Age or Woman’s Day.

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Also, note that media is plural when it refers to various channels, but singular— medium—when it refers to only one form, such as a newspaper.

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Each medium has a department that is responsible for selling ad space or time. These departments specialize in assisting advertisers in comparing the effectiveness of various media as they try to select the best mix of media to use.

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The primary advantage of advertising’s use of mass media is that the costs to buy time in broadcast media, space in print media, and time and space in digital media are spread over the tremendous number of people that these media reach. One of the biggest advantages of mass-media advertising is that it can reach a lot of people with a single message in a very cost-efficient form.

Professional Suppliers and Consultants • The fourth player in the world of advertising includes artists, writers, photographers, directors, producers, and printers as well as self-employed freelancers and consultants. In addition, there are freelance copywriters and graphic artists, songwriters, printers, market researchers, direct-mail production houses, telemarketers, and public relations consultants. The Inside Story feature in this chapter highlights the career of a freelance creative director. •

This array of suppliers mirrors the variety of tasks required to put together an ad. Why would the other advertising players hire an outside supplier? There are many reasons. The advertiser or the agency may not have expertise in specialized areas, their people may be overloaded with work, or they may want a fresh perspective.

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In the new world of digital media, another type of supplier has emerged, and this consumers who supply user-generated content.

Types of Agencies • We are primarily concerned with advertising agencies in this chapter, but other areas such as public relations, direct marketing, sales promotion, and the Internet have agencies that provide specialized promotional help, as well. •

The A-List awards by Advertising Age recognize cutting-edge agencies that rank high in three areas – they are creative, fast growing, and their work is effective. A brief description of the top ten agencies on the A-List can be found in the textbook.

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In addition to agencies that specialize in advertising and other areas of marketing communication, there are also consulting firms in marketing research and branding that offer specialized services to other agencies, as well as advertisers.

Full Service Agencies • A full-service agency includes four major staff functions — account management, creative services, media planning, and account planning, which includes research. A full-service advertising agency also has its own finance and accounting department, a traffic department to handle internal tracking on completion of projects, a department for broadcast and print production, and a human resources department.

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In-House Agencies • An in-house agency produces ads and places them in the media, also. The difference is that the agency is a part of the advertiser’s organization, rather than an outside company. Companies that need closer control over their advertising have their own internal agencies. Specialized Agencies • Many agencies do not follow the traditional full agency approach. Instead they specialize in certain functions, audiences, industries, or markets. In addition, some agencies specialize in other marketing communication areas, such as branding, direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations, events and sports marketing, packaging, and point-of-sale promotions. ▪

Creative boutiques. These are ad agencies, usually small, that concentrate entirely on preparing the creative execution of idea, or the creative product. A creative boutique has one or more writers or artists on staff, but generally no staff for media, research, or strategic planning. They usually serve companies directly, but are sometimes retained by full service agencies that are overloaded with work.

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Media-buying services. These agencies specialize in the purchase of media for clients. They are in high demand for many reasons, but three stand out. First, media has become more complex as the number of choices has grown. Second, the cost of maintaining a competent media department has escalated. Third, media-buying services often buy media at a low cost because they can group several clients’ purchases together to get discounts based on volume.

Agency Networks and Holding Companies • Agency networks are large conglomerations of agencies under central ownership that operate under one agency name. Examples include DDB Worldwide and BBDO Worldwide. Holding companies include one or more advertising agency network, as well as other types of marketing communication agencies and marketing services consulting firms. How Are Agency Jobs Organized? Agency jobs are broken down into five functional areas: Account Management • The account management function acts as a liaison between the client and the agency. The account team summarizes the client’s communication needs and develops the basic “charge to the agency.” Once the agency and client together establish the general guidelines for the campaign, the account management team supervises the day-to-day development of the strategy. •

Account management in a major agency typically has three levels: the management supervisor, who provides leadership on strategic issues and looks for new business opportunities; the account supervisor, who is the key executive working on a client’s

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business and the primary liaison between the client and the agency; and the account executive, who is responsible for day-to-day activities and operates like a project manager. A smaller agency will combine some of these levels. The A Day in the Life feature in this chapter highlights the day-to-day job activities of a management supervisor at an A-list ad agency. Account Planning and Research • Full service agencies usually have a separate department specifically devoted to planning and sometimes to research as well. Today, the emphasis in agency research is on gaining insights into consumer thinking and behaviors in order to develop messages that focus on the consumer’s perspective and relationship with the brand. •

The account planning group gathers all available intelligence on the market and consumers and acts as the voice of the consumer. Account planners are strategic specialists who prepare comprehensive information about consumer’s wants, needs, and relationship to the client’s brand.

Creative Development and Production • A creative group include people who write (copywriters), people who design ideas for print ads or television commercials (art directors), and people who convert these ideas into television or radio commercials (producers). Media Research, Planning and Buying • Agencies that don’t rely on outside media specialists have a media department that recommends to the client the most efficient means of delivering the message to the target audience. That department has three functions: research, planning and buying. Because the media world is so complex, it is not unusual for some individuals to become experts in certain markets or types of media. Internal Operations • The departments that serve the operations within the agency include the traffic department, print production, as well as financial services and human resources. The traffic department is the lifeblood of the agency, and its personnel keep track of everything that happens. How Are Agencies Paid? • Advertising agencies are big business. Agencies derive their revenues and profits from three main sources: commissions, fees, retainers, and performance incentives. For years, a 15 percent commission was the traditional form of compensation. For those few accounts still using a commission approach, the rate is rarely 15%. It is more likely lower and subject to negotiation between agency and client. •

Many advertisers now use a fee system either as the primary compensation tool or in combination with a commission system. The fee system is comparable to the way advertisers pay their lawyers or accountants. An agency may also be put on a monthly or yearly retainer. The amount billed per month is based on the projected amount of

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work and the hourly rate charged. This system is most commonly used by public relations agencies. •

A more recent trend in agency compensation is for advertisers to pay agencies on the basis of performance. One approach to this performance incentive is to pay the agency either a percentage of the client’s sales or a percentage of the client’s marketing budget. Another approach is that agencies share in the profits of their client when they create a successfully campaign, but that also means a greater financial risk if the advertising does not create the intended impact.

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Another innovation in agency compensation is called value billing, which means that the agency is paid for its creative and strategic ideas, rather than for executions and media placements.

HOW IS THE PRACTICE OF ADVERTISING CHANGING? Because of the great recession, things will never quite be the same again within the industry, according to an industry commentator. But there are still some exciting changes that open up opportunities for new professionals entering the field. Consumer in Charge • “The days of pounding people with images and shoving those images down their eyeballs are over,” according to Procter and Gamble’s former global marketing officer Jim Stengel. This change is causing some shifts in the way the advertising business operates. •

User generated content got started as a trend in 2009 when CareerBuilder dismissed its agency and took its advertising in-house because they wanted ordinary consumers to create its ads. This move saved the company an estimated 15%-20% of its annual marketing costs and brought more opportunities for consumer-generated advertising.

Blurring Lines and Converging Media • One of the biggest changes impacting the advertising industry is the changing media environment. The big bomb that has fragmented the media world is digital media, which appear in so many different forms that it’s impossible to keep up with them. The newspaper industry has been particularly wounded. The new personal media, such as iPhones, iPods, iPads, BlackBerries, and Kindles are real game-changers. The line is also blurring between traditional marketing communication functions and tools. Accountability and Effectiveness • Efficiency is an advantage in this new marketing communication world. Agencies that are creative in finding new ways to deliver cost efficiencies have a real advantage in their client dealings.

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There is also a concern about effectiveness. Effective ads are ads that work. That is, they deliver the message the advertiser intended and consumers respond as the advertiser had hoped.

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The Effie award, named for a shortened form of the word effective, is given by the New York Chapter of the American Marketing Association to advertising and other forms of communication that have proven to be not only creative but, more importantly, effective. That means the campaigns were guided by measurable objectives and the evaluation after the campaign determined that the effort did, in fact, meet or exceed the objectives.

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Other award shows may focus on other aspects of advertising, such as creative ideas. Not all award shows focus on effectiveness. The Clios and the Cannes Lions Award focus on creativity. Awards are also given for media plans, art direction, and other professional areas such as clever promotional ideas and outstanding public relations efforts.

Integrated Marketing Communication • Integration is a concept that is discussed throughout this text book. The search for effective communication has led many companies to focus on the consistency of their brand communication in order to more efficiently establish a coherent brand. We call this practice integrated marketing communication (IMC) - the primary tool of brand communication.

End-of-Chapter Support REVIEW QUESTIONS 1-4. Analyze the Old Spice campaign discussed in this chapter and compare its key aspects to the modern definition of advertising. The Old Spice campaign illustrates how advertising has evolved in complexity over the past four decades. When the current campaign is contrasted to its original from 1953, changes can be easily observed. The revived campaign did an excellent job of sparking word-of-mouth communication among its target audience by using a former NFL athlete to deliver the brand’s message. The hilarious and over-the-top tone of the ad brought life to the brand and moved it into a contemporary realm. Along with television commercials, Procter and Gamble used YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and the brand’s website to get people talking about the brand. In addition, wordof-mouth buzz was generated by letting the audience ask questions of their brand spokesperson, who was dubbed as “the man your man could smell like.” This two way interaction between the brand and its consumers was key in convincing younger consumers that the brand was cool.

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The modern definition of advertising embraces interactivity between brand and consumer, the importance of word-of-mouth, and the effective use of digital and social media. The Old Spice campaign illustrates how each of these can be used to effectively strengthen brand communication to create a winning brand.

1-5. Advertising plays four general roles in society. Define and explain each one in the context of the “1984” commercial featured in the chapter. Advertising plays a marketing, communications, economic and social role in our society. The 1984 commercial transformed a product into a brand by creating an image and personality for the Macintosh, as well as meaning for the brand. This is an example of advertising’s marketing role. That brand image was effectively communicated to consumers through a television ad that was run during the Super Bowl and Internet web sites, an example of advertising’s communication role. Its success in generating strong demand for the product among large groups of people, resulting in a high level of sales, is indicative of its economic role. It also evoked social commentary by presenting an image of Big Brother and subtly implying the need for resistance to such notions of conformity, an example of its social role. 1-6. What are the four components of advertising and what key concepts and practices do they represent? The four key components of advertising are: Strategy: This is the logic and planning behind the advertisement. It is stated through objectives that may focus on sales, differentiation of the product from competition, segmentation and targeting, branding, or other business priorities. Message: The concept behind a message and how it is expressed based on research and consumer insights with an emphasis on creativity and artistry. Media: Various media have been used by advertisers over the centuries including print, broadcast, outdoor, and now digital media. Targeting ads to prospective buyers is done by matching their profiles to media audiences. Advertising agency compensation was originally based on media. Evaluation: Effectiveness means meeting objectives. In order to determine if objectives have been met, there must be testing. Standards are set by professional organizations and companies that rate the size and makeup of media audiences, as well as the advertising’s social responsibility. 1-7. Trace the evolution of advertising and the current developments that shape the practice of advertising. What are the most important periods in the development of advertising and what changes did they bring?

Chapter 1: Advertising

The evolution of advertising is divided into five stages. They are: The Early Age of Print: Mechanized printing spurred literacy levels, which encouraged businesses to broaden the reach of their advertising. Ads from these early years look like what we call classified advertising today. Their objective was to deliver information. The primary medium of this age was print, particularly newspapers, although handbills, posters, and hand-painted signs were also important. The Early Age of Agencies: The 19th century introduced the beginning of what we now recognize as the advertising industry. During this era, some of the largest American ad agencies were founded, and many of the roles that still exist within agencies, such as account executives, copywriters, and art directors emerged. Also, it was during this era that advertisers first began to give their goods brand names. The Scientific Era: In the early 20th century, modern professional advertising adopted scientific research techniques. Advertisers believed they could improve advertising by blending science and art. During the 1930s and 1940s, Daniel Starch, A.C. Nielsen, and George Gallup founded research organizations that are still part of today’s advertising industry. The practice of target marketing evolved as media became more complex. And when television commercials came on the scene in the early 1950s, a huge new revenue stream was introduced to the industry. The Creative Revolution: The creative power of agencies exploded in the 1960s and 1970s, a period marked by the resurgence of art, inspiration, and intuition. Largely in response to the previous emphasis on research and science, this revolution was inspired by three creative geniuses: Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy, and William Bernbach. The Era of Accountability and Integration: Starting in the 1970s, the industry-wide focus was on effectiveness. Clients wanted ads that produced sales, so the emphasis was on research and measurement. Agencies recognized that their work had to prove its value. The economic downtown and dotcom crash toward the end of the 20th century reinforced this imperative. Advertisers now demanded proof that their advertisements accomplished their strategic objectives. The Social Media Era: Advertising and marketing communication practices have been turned upside down with the emergence of digital and social media. Digital and online communication became important in the early part of the new century when brands and companies began setting up websites and experimenting with online advertising. A few years later with the launch of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other vehicles for sharing thoughts, photos, and videos, the structure of consumer communication was radically altered. 1-8. Who are the four key players in the world of advertising, and what are the responsibilities of each?

Chapter 1: Advertising

The Advertiser: Advertising begins with the advertiser, the company or organization that uses advertising to send out a message about its products. The advertiser initiates the advertising effort by identifying a marketing problem that advertising can solve. The advertiser also makes the final decisions about the target audience and the size of the advertising budget. This person or organization approves the advertising plan, which contains details outlining the message and media strategies. The Advertising Agency: Advertising agencies create, produce and distribute the messages. Advertisers hire independent agencies to plan and implement part or all of their advertising efforts. This working arrangement is known as the agency-client partnership. An advertiser uses an outside agency because it believes the agency will be more efficient in creating an advertisement or a complete campaign than the advertiser would be on its own. Not all advertising professionals work in agencies. Large organizations often manage the advertising process by setting up either an advertising department (sometimes called marketing services) or by setting up their own in-house agency. The Media: The media is composed of the channels of communication that carry the message from the advertiser to the audience. We refer to these media as vehicles because they deliver messages, but they are also companies, such as your local newspaper or radio station. Also, note that media is plural when it refers to various channels, but singular—medium—when it refers to only one form, such as a newspaper. Professional Suppliers and Consultants: The fourth player in the world of advertising includes artists, writers, photographers, directors, producers, and printers as well as self-employed freelancers and consultants. 1-9. We discuss five categories of agency jobs. Explain each one and identify where your own personal skills might fit in. Account Management The account management department acts as a liaison between the client and the agency. It ensures the agency focuses its resources on the client’s needs. The account team summarizes the client’s communication needs and develops the basic “charge to the agency.” Once the general guidelines for the campaign have been established, the account management team supervises the day-to-day development of the campaign or ad. Account management in a major agency typically has three levels: management supervisor, who provides leadership on strategic issues and looks for new business opportunities; account supervisor, who is the key executive working on a client’s business and the primary liaison between the client and the agency; and the account executive, who is responsible for day-to-day activities and operates like a project manager. Sometimes a fourth level may exist—the account director, who is above the account supervisor. Because account management is often responsible for providing the entire agency team with vision and direction, persons who possess strong

Chapter 1: Advertising

leadership and communication skills and are good at motivating others tend to be highly effective in these positions. Account Planning and Research The account planning group gathers all available intelligence on the market and consumers and acts as the voice of the consumer, making recommendations based on the consumer’s wants, needs, and relationship to the client’s brand. Jobs in this area may be preferred by persons who enjoy the detail-oriented, scientific approach toward problem solving that market research requires. Creative Development and Production A creative group includes people who write (copywriters), people who design ideas for print ads or television commercials (art directors), and people who convert these ideas into television or radio commercials (producers). Persons who are artistic, creative, and possess strong visual-spatial skills are often drawn to this area. Media Planning and Buying Agencies that don’t rely on outside media specialists have a media department that recommends to the client the most efficient means of delivering the message to the target audience. That department has three functions: research, planning and buying. This is such a complex task that it is not unusual for some individuals to become experts in certain markets or types of media. Logical thinkers who enjoy mathematical operations would fit well in this arena. Internal Operations The departments that serve the operations within the agency include the traffic department, print production, as well as financial services and human resources. The traffic department is the lifeblood of the agency, and its personnel keep track of everything that happens. Persons working in this area of the agency must have strong organizational skills and enjoy multitasking. 1-10. What are the three major challenges affecting the current practice of advertising? How does each contribute to the changing landscape of the industry? One of the biggest changes impacting the advertising industry is the changing media environment. The big bomb that has fragmented the media world is digital media, which appear in so many different forms that it’s impossible to keep up with them. The newspaper industry has been particularly wounded. The new personal media, such as iPhones, iPods, iPads, BlackBerries, and Kindles are real game-changers. This has caused the lines to blur between traditional marketing communication functions and tools and their newer technology-driven counterparts. Another major change is the emergence of user generated content, which got started as a trend in 2009 when CareerBuilder dismissed its agency and took its advertising in-house because they wanted ordinary consumers to create its ads. This move not only engaged consumers, but also saved the company an estimated 15%-20% of its annual marketing Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 1: Advertising

costs. As a result, the popularity of consumer-generated content as a brand communication tool continues to grow within the industry. The concern about effectiveness continues. Effective ads are ads that work, that is, they deliver the message the advertiser intended and consumers respond as the advertiser had hoped. Advertising works only if it has achieved its intended objectives. Often, the marketing managers who hire agencies are under pressure from their superiors to defend their advertising expenditures by proving its anticipated effectiveness amongst consumers and positive impact on the company’s bottom line. Efficiency is an advantage in this ever evolving marketing communication world. Agencies that are creative in finding new ways to deliver cost efficiencies have a real advantage in their client dealings.

Discussion Questions 1-11. Many industry experts feel that Apple’s “1984” commercial is the best television commercial ever made. Watch it online on Youtube.com and analyze how it works. How many of the basic advertising practices and concepts that we introduced in the historical timeline of Figure 1.1 does it demonstrate? Why do you think the experts are so impressed with this ad? This ad is an excellent example of the principles that accompanied the Creative Revolution, a period marked by the resurgence of art, inspiration, and intuition. The ad used a creative blend of inherent drama, cultural archetypes, and symbols to build an enduring brand. Each of these elements is an indicator of advertising history’s Creative Era. Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO at that time, wanted to launch the Macintosh with an inspiring commercial that was as revolutionary as the product itself. Unlike most advertising, it was neither the most heartwarming spot nor a big laugh getter. However it fulfilled Mr. Jobs’ demand while also setting a new commercial standard for production values and cinematic style in the advertising industry. The ad was clearly effective, since it turned a little known product into a major brand that continues to thrive. This is why experts were so impressed. 1-12. In class, Mark tells the instructor that all this “history of advertising” stuff is irrelevant. The instructor asks the class to consider why it is important to understand the historical review of advertising definitions and practices. What would you say either in support of Mark’s view or to change his mind? One side: History can teach us some important lessons in advertising. For thousands of years, advertising has been about creating a message and sending it to someone in the hope that he or she will react in a certain way. If the consumers react as the advertiser intended, then the ad is presumed to be effective. This principle still applies in the 21st century. Also, the mercantile definition of advertising, with its emphasis on basic commercial communication, shows us how advertising began centuries ago. A review of the “Identification,” “Information,” “Promotion,” and “Sales” definitions of advertising in this chapter provide additional support for historical significance. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 1: Advertising

The other side: Although history is always relevant, society and technology have changed so much that we live in a different advertising world today. The components of modern advertising found in this chapter (advertising strategy, creative idea, creative execution, media planning and buying), tell us much more about business and demographic realities of the 21st century. They recognize that advertising is a complex, sophisticated profession requiring creative strategies and executions based on unique consumer insights. Finally, effective advertising today is increasingly channeled through interactive media that did not exist even a decade ago.

Take-Home Projects 1-13. Leo Burnett, a giant of the advertising industry, always kept a file he called “Ads Worth Saving,” ads that struck him as effective for some reason. This was his portfolio of ideas. He explained that he would go through that file, not looking for ideas to copy, but because these great ads would trigger thoughts about how to solve some problem. So throughout this book, we will invite you to start your own portfolio. In some cases the assignments will ask you to find good (or bad) work and explain why you evaluate them as you do. In other cases, we’ll ask you to actually do something—write, design, propose—or create something that you could take to an interview that demonstrates your understanding of the principles we talk about in this book. Students should be encouraged to begin their own portfolio, based upon their individual understanding of what makes an advertisement effective, as opposed to ineffective. Because students must employ their own judgment in selecting ads, portfolios will vary widely. A Facebook Profile: For this first assignment, choose one of the people from the historical discussions in this chapter, someone you believe influenced the development of modern marketing communication. Research this person on the Internet and build a personal profile including samples of work if you can find some. Present your report as if it were a Facebook page. Make sure your presentation explains why you believe this person was important. Historical personalities that could be profiled by students include John E. Kennedy, Albert Lasker, Claude Hopkins, John Caples, Daniel Starch, A.C. Neilson, George Gallup, Raymond Rubicam, Stanley and Helen Resor, Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy, and William Bernbach. 1-14. Mini-Case Analysis:: Every chapter in this textbook opens with an awardwinning case. For this assignment you will be asked to analyze why it was effective and, in many cases, come up with ideas for how that campaign could be extended to another year or another market. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 1: Advertising

Reread the Old Spice campaign that was introduced at the beginning of this chapter and wrapped up at the end of the chapter. Go online and see if you can find any other information about this campaign. What are the strong points of this campaign? Its weak points? Why has it won awards and why was it deemed effective? If you were on the Old Spice team, would you recommend that this campaign be continued or is it time to change it? In other words, what happens next? Is there a spin-off? Develop a one-page analysis and proposal for the next year. There are numerous articles about this ad campaign on the Internet. In addition to a Grand Effie, it has amassed many awards and heaps of critical acclaim. P&G has run three series of commercials around the “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” theme. Also, elements of these ads were used as part a co-branding advertising strategy with other P& G products. For insight into the strengths of this campaign from the perspective of some of its agency’s executives, suggest that students visit http://www.dandad.org/learning/casestudies/old-spice-response-campaign. While there have been a few contrarians who bashed aspects of “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign by labeling them as nothing more than a series of clever social media stunts, it is hard to argue with the tremendous growth in sales the campaign produced. Opinions regarding potential benefits of continuing of this ad will vary among students. However, it appears than in early 2012, the Old Spice brand moved on to a new campaign entitled ‘Believe in Your Smell”. TRACE North America Case Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 1-15.

In class discuss the following: a.

In what ways does the TRACE case reflect the expanded definition of what advertising is? b. How does the case illustrate the various roles that advertising campaigns can perform, as well as the role of advertising in the broader area of marketing communication? 1-16. Write a one page explanation of the campaign.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Is advertising a simple or a complex endeavor? Why?

Chapter 1: Advertising

It can be viewed both ways. From one standpoint, advertising is a complex form of communication that operates with objectives and strategies leading to various types of impact on consumer thoughts, feelings, and actions. Viewed the other way, advertising is really quite simple. It’s about creating a message and sending it to someone in the hope that he or she will react in a certain way. 2. Do you believe that advertising is ancient or a modern practice? How so? Although the advertising industry as we know it was spawned in the early 20th century, its roots are ancient. Advertising in the form of a sign dates back thousands of years. The invention of moveable type in 1455 made it possible for advertisers to create handbills, posters, and newspapers. The word “advertisement” first appeared in newspapers around 1660 and, by the late 1700s, the Industrial Revolution made manufactured goods available to consumers on a wide basis. However, the concept of a “brand” did not emerge until the mid-19th century. 3. Define modern advertising according to your textbook authors. This definition of advertising includes the following basic elements: •

Advertising is usually paid for by the advertiser, although some forms of advertising, such as public service announcements (PSAs), use donated space and time.

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Not only is the message paid for, but the sponsor is identified.

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Although advertising began as one-way communication, digital media has introduced new forms of two-way and multiple-way communication.

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Advertising generally reaches a broad audience of potential consumers, either as a mass audience or smaller targeted groups. However, direct response advertising, especially those practices that involve digital communication, can deliver one-to-one communication with a large group of people.

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Traditionally, the message is conveyed through many different kinds of mass media, which are largely non-personal messages. This, however, is changing with the introduction of more interactive types of media. A great deal of emphasis is now placed on word-of-mouth, which is now defined as personal communication through new media forms rather than “scripted messages in a paid format,” according to agency CEO Richard Edelman.

4. Define and discuss one major role of advertising. Here is a brief definition for each one:

Chapter 1: Advertising

Marketing Role: In its marketing role, advertising transforms a product into a distinctive brand by creating an image and personality that goes beyond straightforward product features. Communication Role: Advertising communicates to the consumer information about brands to consumers through the media in formats that are imaginative, informative, and persuasive. Economic Role: Advertising extends beyond a primarily informational role to create a demand for a particular brand. Because it reaches large groups of potential consumers, advertising brings cost efficiencies to marketing and thus lowers prices to consumers. Social Role: Advertising also mirrors fashion and design trends, thereby adding to our aesthetic sense. It may also expose social issues, help us shape an image of ourselves by setting up role models with which we can identify, and capture the diversity of the world in which we live. These social roles have both negative and positive dimensions. 5. What is public service advertising? Who produces it? Provide at least one example of this type of advertising. Public service advertising communicates a message on behalf of some good cause, such as stopping drunk driving (as in messages from Mothers Against Drunk Driving) or preventing child abuse. Advertising professionals usually create these advertisements, also called public-service announcements (PSAs), free of charge and the media often donate the necessary space and time. 6. Describe the different types of agencies that exist within the advertising industry. Full Service Agencies: A full-service agency includes four major staff functions — account management, creative services, media planning, and account planning, which includes research. A full-service advertising agency also has its own accounting department, a traffic department to handle internal tracking on completion of projects, a department for broadcast and print production, and a human resources department. In-House Agencies: An in-house agency produces ads and also places them in the media. The difference is that the agency is a part of the advertiser’s organization, rather than an outside company. Companies that need closer control over their advertising have their own internal agencies. Specialized Agencies: Many agencies do not follow the traditional full agency approach. Instead they specialize in certain functions, audiences, industries, markets, or marketing communication areas, such as branding, sales promotion, packaging, etc.

Chapter 1: Advertising

Creative boutiques: These are ad agencies, usually small, that concentrate entirely on preparing the creative execution of client marketing communications. They usually serve companies directly, but are sometimes retained by full-service agencies that are overloaded with work. Media-buying services: These agencies specialize in the purchase of media for clients. They are in high demand because media has become more complex as the number of choices has grown, and the cost of maintaining a competent media department has escalated. Media buying services often buy media at a low cost because they can group several clients’ purchases together to develop substantial buying power. Agency Networks and Holding Companies: Agency networks are large conglomerations of agencies under central ownership that operate under one agency name. Examples include DDB Worldwide and BBDO Worldwide. Holding companies include one or more advertising agency network, as well as other types of marketing communication agencies and marketing services consulting firms. 7. Discuss the emergence of consumer society in the late 19th century, and how it influenced the rise of the modern advertising era. By the end of the 19th century, advertisers began to give their goods brand names, such as Baker’s chocolate and Ivory soap. The purpose of advertising during this period was to create demand for these new brands, and to distinguish them from competitors. This period marked the beginning of what we now recognize as the advertising industry. This movement was led by Lord & Thomas, an early agency whose principal Albert Lasker positioned advertising as “salesmanship in print.” This mantra became the guiding principle for the industry, and gave rise to scientific research techniques which the advertising began to use in the early 20th century.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Search magazines and newspapers to find examples of ads that fill each of the four primary roles of advertising. Create a portfolio of these ads and caption each ad with a description of how it fulfills each role. 2. Research the Web to locate information about recent winners of various award shows, such as the Effie Awards, the Clios, and the Cannes Lion Award. Upon what was receipt of each award based and what are qualities within each ad you think led to its being selected as winner? Use your findings to prepare a 500-word paper that could be presented to your class. Think-Pair-Share

Chapter 1: Advertising

1. In pairs, research and discuss the concept of Integrated Marketing Communication and its significance to the advertising industry. In particular, what does it mean to achieve “synergy” in an advertising campaign? Have the students discuss their findings with the class.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Go online and view “Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920,” a presentation by Duke University. The website can be found at: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/index.html Explore the entire website and concentrate on areas that are most interesting to you. Then, assemble a brief PowerPoint presentation contrasting your findings with the Development of Advertising” section in Chapter 1. You should focus your attention on the Early Age of Agencies, The Scientific Era, and The Creative Revolution. Finally, present your findings to the class, either individually or in groups. 2. Locate and interview an advertising or marketing professional who specializes in Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). If possible, do the interview in person and “shadow” him or her for part of a day on the job. Find out what, specifically, is different about IMC, and the role that advertising plays within it. Ask for specific samples (print or online) that illustrate the use of IMC in a given campaign. Then, write a 1,000-word report addressing the concept of IMC and how it is used in this professional’s work setting. Make sure that you draw upon specific examples that you obtained in your interview.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

Chapter 2 Integrated Brand Communication

◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

What is the difference between marketing communication and brand communication? How is marketing the marketing mix related to marketing communication? What is integrated marketing communication? How does marketing communication contribute to the development of a brand? What current trends affect marking and brand communication?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter opens by providing a definition of both marketing communication and brand communication, and then discussing brand communication’s role in marketing. The marketing mix is discussed, along with other basic principles of strategic market planning, such differentiation, competitive advantage, push strategy, pull strategy and added value. Next, integrated marketing communications (IMC) is defined, and then the role of communication in branding is explained. In this section, the various elements of branding strategy are explored, including brand meaning, brand transformation, brand position, and brand promise. An emphasis on the role of effective communication in building strong, viable brands is woven throughout this discussion, and also the importance of monitoring all brand communication tools to ensure a singular, unified message is reinforced. The chapter closes with a discussion of brand communication in a time of change and how the practice of marketing is evolving, especially in this new social media period. .

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHAT IS BRAND AND MARKETING COMMUNICATION? • Marketing communication (marcom) involves the use of a variety of tools and functions, such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct response events and sponsorships, point of sale, digital media, and the communication aspects of packaging, as well as personal sales and a number of new forms of online communication that have recently emerged. •

They deliver a complex system of brand messages we refer to as brand communication – all various marketing communication messages and brand experiences that create and maintain a coherent brand.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

•

Principle: The challenge is to manage all of the messages delivered by all aspects of marketing communication so that they work together to present the brand in a coherent and consistent way.

BRAND COMMUNICATION’S ROLE IN MARKETING •

Marketing is designed to build brand and customer relationships that generate sales and profits or, in the case of nonprofits, memberships, volunteers and donations. Traditionally, the goal of most marketing programs has been to sell products, defined as goods, services, or ideas. This is accomplished by matching a product’s availability and the company’s production capabilities to the consumer’s need, desire, or demand for the product.

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Marketing accomplishes its goal by managing a set of operations and strategic decisions referred to as the marketing mix, also called the four Ps. These include the design and performance of the product, its distribution, its pricing strategies, and its promotion.

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Marketing also focuses on managing customer relationships to benefit all of a brand’s stakeholders, i.e., all individuals and groups who have a stake in the success of the brand, including employees, investors, the community, business partners and customers.

Who Are the Key Players? The marketing industry is a complex network of professionals. The four categories of key players include 1) marketers, 2) suppliers and vendors, 3) distributors and retailers, and 4) marketing partners, such as advertising agencies. ▪

The marketer, also referred to as the advertiser or the client, is any company or organization behind the product, that is, the organization, company, or manufacturer producing the product and offering it for sale.

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The materials and ingredients used in producing the product are obtained from other companies, referred to as suppliers or vendors. The phrase supply chain is used to refer to this complex network of suppliers whose product components and ingredients are sold to manufacturers.

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The distribution chain or distribution channel refers to the various companies that are involved in moving a product from its manufacturer into the hands of its buyers. Suppliers and distributors are also partners in the communication process.

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Marketing relationships also involve cooperative programs and alliances between two companies that work together as marketing partners to create products and promotions.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

What Are the Most Common Types of Markets? • The word market originally meant the place where the exchange between seller and buyer took place. Today, we speak of a market not only as a place but also as a particular type of buyer — for example, the youth market or the motorcycle market. The phrase share of market refers to the percentage of the total market in a product category that buys a particular brand. •

•

As Figure 2.1 shows, the four main types of markets are 1) consumer, 2) businessto-business (or industrial), 3) institutional, and 4) channel. We can further divide each of these markets by size or geography. ▪

Consumer markets (B2C) refers to businesses selling to consumers who buy goods and services for personal or household use. As a student, you are considered a member of the consumer market for companies that sell jeans, athletic shoes, sweatshirts, pizza, music, textbooks, backpacks, computers, education, checking accounts, bicycles, travel, and vacations, along with a multitude of other products that you buy at drug and grocery stores, which the marketing industry refers to as packaged goods. In Europe, these are called fast-moving consumer goods.

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Business-to-business markets consist of companies that buy products or services to use in their own businesses or in making other products. Advertising in this category tends to be heavier on factual content, but can also be beautifully designed. The Day in the Life feature in this chapter describes the job of a marketing and communication manager who works on the client side in the B2B organization.

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Institutional markets include a wide variety of profit and nonprofit organizations, such as hospitals, government agencies, and schools that provide goods and services for the benefit of society. Ads for this category are very similar to B2B in that they are heavy on copy and light on visuals and emotional appeals.

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Channel markets include members of the distribution chain, which is made up of businesses that we call resellers. Channel marketing, the process of targeting a specific campaign to members of the distribution channel, is more important now that manufacturers consider their distributors to be partners in their marketing programs. As giant retailers, particularly Wal-Mart, become more powerful, they can dictate to manufacturers what products their customers want to buy and how much they are willing to pay for them.

The consumer market is only one of four types of markets. The other three are reached through professional and trade advertising.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

•

Most marketing communication dollars are spent on consumers markets, although B2B advertising is becoming almost as important. Firms usually reach consumer markets through mass media and other marketing communication tools. They typically reach the other three markets – industrial, institutional, and channel or reseller – through trade and professional advertising in specialized media.

How Does the Marketing Mix Send Messages? • Marketing managers construct the marketing mix, also called the four Ps, to accomplish marketing objectives. These marketing mix decisions are key elements of marketing strategy. •

To a marketing manager, marketing communication is just one part of the marketing mix, but to a marcom manager all of these marketing mix elements also send messages that can sometimes contradict planned messages or even confuse consumers.

•

Principle: Every part of the marketing mix – not just marketing communication – sends a message.

Product: • The focus of the four Ps is the product (goods, services, ideas). Design, performance and quality are key elements of a product brand’s success. When a product brand performs well, this sends a positive message that this brand is okay to repurchase. A positive brand experience also motivates the buyer to recommend the brand to others, extending the reach of the positive experience into personal communication, which we refer to as ‘word of mouth.’ •

Some brands are known for their design, which becomes a major point of differentiation from competitors. When this point of difference is of significant importance to customers, it also becomes a competitive advantage.

•

A product launch for a new brand depends on announcements in the media, usually involving both publicity and advertising. The goals of the communication are to build awareness of the new brand, explain how this new product works, and how it differs from competitors.

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Principle: Product performance sends the loudest message about a product or brand and determines if it will be purchased again.

Pricing • The price a seller sets for his product sends a ‘quality’ or ‘status’ message. The price is based not only on the cost of making and marketing the product, but also on the seller’s expected margin of profit, as well as the impact of the price on the brand image.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

•

Ultimately, the price of a product is based upon what the market will bear, the competition, the economic well-being of the consumer, the relative value of the product, and the consumer’s ability to gauge the value, which is referred to as price/value proposition.

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Psychological pricing strategies use marketing communication to manipulate the customer’s judgment of value.

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Principle: The treatment of the price in marketing communication cues a meaning that puts the price/value proposition in perspective.

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Advertising is often the primary vehicle for telling the consumer about price. The term price copy, which is the focus of much retail advertising, refers to advertising copy devoted primarily to this type of information.

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Recession, fast-food chains, as well as Wal-Mart and discount and dollar stores, depend on value pricing strategy. Promotional pricing is used to communicate a dramatic or temporary price reduction through terms such as sale, special and today only.

Place (Distribution) • Distribution includes the channels used to make the product easily accessible to its customers. There are many routes to distribution and marketing managers consider a variety of channels when developing distribution strategies. A common distribution strategy involves the use of intermediaries, such as retailers. •

Direct marketing companies distribute their products directly to a consumer without the use of a reseller. “Clicks or bricks” is a phrase used to describe whether a product is sold online or in a traditional store.

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A push strategy offers promotional incentives, such as discounts and money for advertising to retailers. Distribution success depends on the ability of these intermediaries to market the product, which they often do with their own advertising.

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In contrast, a pull strategy directs marketing communication efforts at the consumer and attempts to pull the product through the channel by intensifying consumer demand.

Other Factors in the Mix • Personal selling relies upon face-to-face contact between the marketer and a prospective customer, rather than contact through the media. It is particularly important in B2B marketing and high-end retail. Marketers use personal selling to create immediate sales to shoppers.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

•

Marketing communication works as partner with sales programs to develop leads, the identification of potential customers or prospects. Lead generation is a common objective for trade promotion and advertising.

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Customer service refers to the help provided to a customer before, during, and after a purchase. It also refers to the company’s willingness to provide such help. Many companies now provide more assistance to customers through online connections than face-to-face.

Added Value • Added value refers to a strategy or activity that makes the product more useful or appealing to the consumer as well as distribution partners. Added value is the reason consumers are willing to pay more for one brand over its competition. Advertising and other marketing communication not only showcase the product’s value but also may add value by making the product appear more desirable. WHY INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS? •

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is the practice of coordinating all marketing communication messages as well as the messages from the marketing mix decisions. One of the important things that IMC does is send a consistent message about the brand.

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Principle: IMC is like a musical score that helps the various instruments play together. The song is the meaning of the brand.

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IMC is still evolving, and both professionals and professors are engaged in defining the field and explain how it works. Integration means every message is focused and works together, which creates synergy. When the pieces are effectively coordinated, the whole has more impact than the sum of its parts.

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The problem arises when the marcom tools are not aligned with other marketing mix communication messages that deliver brand communication. The point is that marketing communication is at the center of brand communication, and the effectiveness of the brand communication depends on how well all the pieces are integrated.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN BRANDING? •

A brand is more than a product. Responsibility for developing and maintaining a successful brand lies with the marketing or corporate function called brand management. Branding is a communication function that creates the intangible aspects of a brand that make it memorable and meaningful to the consumer.

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A brand can be defined as a perception, often imbued with emotion that results from experiences with and information about a company or a line of products.

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Other definitions point to a mixture of tangible and intangible attributes as well as the identity elements that stand for the brand. Wendy Zomnir, creative director and founding partner at Urban Decay Cosmetics discusses her experiences in brand building in The Inside Story featured in this chapter. •

Branding also differentiates similar products from one another. Companies make products but they sell brands. A brand differentiates a product from its competitors and makes a promise to its customers.

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All organizations with a name can be considered brands, and that includes organization brands, which are distinct from product brands.

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Principle: An organization cannot ‘not’ communicate. People create brand impressions whether or not the branding process is managed by the organization.

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Giep Franzen and his team of researchers identified three components of brand perception for organizations: organization identity, brand framework, and consumer/customer/stakeholder characteristics.

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One thing that makes the practice of IMC different from traditional advertising is its focus on branding and the totality of brand communication. Through IMC that considers all possible brand messages, marketing communication managers are able to ensure that the perception of their brand is clear and sharp.

How Does a Brand Acquire a Meaning? •

Principle: A brand is an integrated perception derived from personal experiences with and messages about the brand.

A Brand is a Perception • A brand, then, is basically a perception loaded with emotions and feelings (intangible elements), not just a trademark or package design (tangible elements). Tangible features are things you can observe or touch, such as a product’s design, size, shape, and performance. Intangibles include the product’s perceived value, its brand image, positive and negative impressions and feelings, and experiences customers have with the brand. •

All impressions created by the brand’s tangible and intangible features come together as a brand concept. Such impressions are particularly important for parity products, products with few distinguishing features. For these products, feelings about the brand can become a critical point of difference.

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The meaning of a brand is an aggregation of everything a customer sees hears, reads or experiences about an organization or a product brand. This meaning however, cannot be totally controlled by management.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

Branding Transforms Products • A basic principle of branding is that a brand communication transforms a product into something more meaningful than the product itself. Brand transformation creates the difference by enriching the brand meaning. •

Principle: A brand transforms products into something more meaningful than the product itself.

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The development of the Ivory Soap brand by Procter and Gamble in 1879 represented a major advance in branding because of the way it transformed a parity product into a meaningful brand concept. You can read about this in the A Matter of Principle feature found in this chapter.

How Does Brand Transformation Work? Brand Identity • A critical function of branding is to create a separate brand identity for a product within a product category. Brand identity cues are generally the brand name and the symbol used as a logo. •

Principle: If a branding strategy is successful, consumers refer to a specific brand name, rather than a generic category.

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The choice of a brand name for new products is tested for memorability and relevance. The easier it is to recognize the identity cues, the easier it will be to create awareness of the brand. Successful brand names have several characteristics: ▪

Distinctiveness. A common name that is unrelated to a product category ensures there will be no similar names creating confusion, such as Apple Computers. It can also be provocative, such as Virgin Airlines.

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Association. Subaru, for example, chose Outback as the name for its rugged SUV, hoping the name would evoke the adventure of the Australian wilderness.

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Benefit: Some brand names relate to the brand promise, such as Slim-Fast for weight loss.

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Heritage: Some brand names reflect their maker, such as H&R Block, Kellogg’s, and Dr. Scholl’s. The idea is that there is credibility in a product when makers are proud to put their names on it.

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Simplicity. To make a brand name easier to recognize and remember, brand names are often short and easy to pronounce, such as Bic, Tide, and Nike.

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With global marketing on the rise, it is also important that names properly translate into other languages. •

While brand names are important, recognition is often based on a distinctive graphic. A logo is similar to a cattle brand, in that it stands for the product’s source. A trademark is a legal symbol that indicates ownership. Trademarks are registered with the government and the company has exclusive use of it, as long as it is used for that product alone.

•

Problems can arise when a brand name dominates a product category, such as Kleenex and Xerox. In such situations, the brand name becomes a substitute label for the category label. Some branded products lost the legal right to their names when they became generic category names.

Brand Position and Promise • Positioning is a way to identify the location a product or brand occupies in the consumers’ minds relative to its competitors. Related to brand position is brand promise. The value of a brand lies in the promise makes. The brand, through its communication, sets expectations for what a customer believes will happen when the product is used. •

Principle: Brand communication sets expectations for what will happen when the product is used through the virtual contract of a brand promise.

•

Consistency is the backbone of that promise. The promise needs to be delivered not just by the advertising but at all points of contact with a brand. Many weak brands suffer from over-promising. Successfully identifying and then delivering the promise are part of the platform for building a long-term brand relationship with customers.

Brand Image and Personality • A brand image is a mental picture or idea about a brand that contains associations, as well as emotions. These associations and feelings result primarily from the content of advertising and other marketing communications. Exhibit 2.21 illustrates how Celestial Seasonings uses its distinctive packaging to send messages to consumers about its brand image. •

A brand personality humanizes an organization or a brand. It symbolizes personal qualities of people you many know, such as bold, fun, studious, geeky, daring, etc. Each brand sends a different message because of the image or personality it projects through its marketing communication.

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Principle: Brands speak to us through their distinctive images and personalities.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

Brand Value and Equity • Another type of added value for a brand can come from associating the brand with a good cause, a practice called cause marketing. A spike in cause-related work is occurring as marketers increasingly strive for their brands to be ‘purpose-driven’ and demonstrate their commitment to social responsibility. The A Principled Practice feature in this chapter illustrates how cause marketing contributes to the value of a brand. •

Brands are also valued by the financial community. Branding not only differentiates products, but also increases their value. A brand and what it symbolizes can affect how much people are willing to pay for it.

Brand Value • The value of branding lies in the power of familiarity and trust to win and maintain consumer acceptance. If a well known brand name has been tested over time, it is familiar and dependable, plus it carries the associations created through the marketing communication. •

Brand value comes in two forms – the value to a consumer and the value to the corporation. The first is a result of the experiences a customer has had with a brand. The second is a financial measure, which is called brand equity.

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Brand relationship programs that lead to loyalty are important strategies, since powerful brands are those that retain customers who repeatedly buy the product or service. Brand loyalty programs offer rewards for repeat business.

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Brand equity is the intangible value of the brand based on the relationships with its stakeholders, as well as intellectual property, such as product formulations. When a company is sold, a figure is calculated to determine the value of its brands.

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Principle: Brand relationships drive brand value.

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The part of brand equity that is based on relationships is referred to as goodwill. It lies in the accumulation of positive brand relationships, which can be measured as a level of personal attachment to the brand that has revenue-producing potential.

Leveraging Brand Equity • People who manage brand marketing and communication, who we call brand stewards, will sometimes leverage brand equity through a brand extension, which is the labeling of a new, related line of products with an established brand name. Because the brand name is known, it carries with it associations and feelings, as well as a certain level of consumer trust. The disadvantage is that the extension may dilute the meaning of the brand or may even boomerang negatively. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

•

Co-branding is a strategy that uses two brand names owned by two separate companies to create a partnership offering. An example is the brand name Mileage Plus, which carries the identities of both Visa and United Airlines. The idea is that the partnership provides customers with value from both brands.

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Through a practice called brand licensing, in effect, a partner company rents the brand name and transfers some of its brand equity to another product. The most common example comes from sport teams whose names and logos are licensed to makers of shirts, caps, mugs, and other memorabilia.

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Another way to leverage a brand is through ingredient branding, which refers to the use of a brand name to identify a component used in a product’s manufacturing process. A well known example of this is the “Intel Inside” phrase and logo used by computer manufacturers to call attention to the quality of chips within its products.

•

The point of reviewing branding practices is to reinforce that the way a product is made or how it performs is no longer the primary differentiating point. Ultimately, the stronger the brand, the more value it has to all of its stakeholders. Understanding how brands are built and managed requires an understanding of relationship-building communication.

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Principle: Most of the added value that comes from an effective brand strategy and accumulates as brand equity is driven by marketing communication.

BRAND COMMUNICATION IN A TIME OF CHANGE Brand Relationships • Relationship building communication programs are used to build strong relationships between loyal customers and the brands they purchase and repurchase. This kind of focus shifts the marketing strategy from focusing on one time purchases to also include repeat purchases and the maintenance of long term brand loyalty. Accountability • Marketing managers are being challenged by senior management to prove that their decisions lead to the most effective marketing strategies. They are under pressure to deliver business results measured in terms of sales increases, increase in market share percentages, and corporate return on investment (ROI). Global Marketing • The growth in global marketing activities is increasing dramatically. In most countries, markets are composed of local, regional, international, and global brands. A local brand is one marketed in a single country. A regional brand is Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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one marketed throughout a region, such as North America, Europe, or Asia. An international brand is available in a number of countries in various parts of the world. A global brand is available virtually anywhere in the world, such as CocaCola. •

International marketing and marketing communication is not the exclusive province of large companies. The choice of an agency for international marketing depends, in part, on whether the brand’s messages are standardized across all markets or localized.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing • A powerful new force, word-of-mouth communication, has emerged because of its inherent persuasiveness. The goal is to get the right people talking about the brand and having them say things in support of the brand strategy. •

Word-of-mouth communication is also called buzz, which means people are talking about a brand. Buzz may be the most important factor in consumer decision making because the recommendations of others are so highly persuasive. Some marketing plans are specifically designed to generate excited talk about something new, particularly if the strategies can reach influential people whose opinions are valued by others.

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The power and reach of personal communication has been driven in the 21st century by social media. Some marketing messages are spread not only in face-toface conversation but also online. When messages are quickly spread on the Internet through a wide network of contacts, it is referred to as viral marketing.

End-of-Chapter Support Review Questions 2-4. What is the difference between marketing communication and brand communication? Marketing communication (marcom) involves the use of a variety of tools and functions, such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct response events and sponsorships, point of sale, digital media, and the communication aspects of packaging, as well as personal sales and a number of new forms of online communication that have recently emerged. Marketing communication tools deliver a complex system of brand messages we refer to as brand communication – all various marketing communication messages and brand experiences that create and maintain a coherent brand.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

2-5. What is the definition of marketing, and where does marketing communication fit within the operation of a marketing program? Marketing is the way a product is designed, tested, produced, branded, packaged, priced, distributed, and promoted. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines it as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Marketing managers manipulate the marketing mix, also called the 4Ps, which refers to product, price, promotion, and place. A key component of marketing management is the building of successful brands. Marketing communicators manage a multiplicity of interrelated activities and programs that work together with other elements of the marketing plan, for the purpose of building and sustaining a strong, viable brand. Without marketing communication, brand building would be extremely difficult. Conversely, when marketing communication efforts fit together perfectly with other elements of the marketing plan, brand meaning is generated and brand value is created. 2-6. In general, outline the structure of the marketing industry and identify the key players. The marketing industry is a complex network of professionals. The four categories of key players include 1) marketers, 2) suppliers and vendors, 3) distributors and retailers, and 4) marketing partners, such as advertising agencies. The marketer, also referred to as the advertiser or the client, is any company or organization behind the product, that is, the organization, company, or manufacturer producing the product and offering it for sale. The materials and ingredients used in producing the product are obtained from other companies, referred to as suppliers or vendors. The phrase supply chain is used to refer to this complex network of suppliers whose product components and ingredients are sold to manufacturers. The distribution chain or distribution channel refers to the various companies that are involved in moving a product from its manufacturer into the hands of its buyers. Suppliers and distributors are also partners in the communication process. Marketing relationships also involve cooperative programs and alliances between two companies that work together as marketing partners to create products and promotions.

2-7. Explain how marketing communication relates to the four key marketing concepts and to the marketing mix. The four key marketing concepts highlighted in this chapter are the marketing concept, exchange, competitive advantage, and added value. To adhere to the marketing concept, marketers must first determine through research consumer needs and wants. Typically, some form of marketing communication is used to collect consumer feedback so that marketers can develop products that respond to those consumer wants and needs that were identified. Marketing communication is required Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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to teach consumers about a product’s points of differentiation and competitive advantage. The creation of added value is the result of a marketing communication activity that presents the product as more valuable, useful or appealing to a consumer. Prior to any economic exchange, a communication exchange must first occur. Also, some type of marketing communication is needed to bring the buyer and seller together, which creates the opportunity for customer-company interaction. The marketing mix, also called the 4Ps, refers to product, pricing, place (distribution), and promotion strategies. The primary goal of marketing communication is to build awareness of the new brand, explain how a product works, and illustrate its superiority over competitors, thereby supporting product strategy. Advertising is often the primary vehicle for telling consumer about price, and the meaning of price to the consumer is often dependent upon the context provided by the marketing communication, which puts the price in perspective. When using direct marketing as a distribution strategy, the sales generation is totally dependent upon the effectiveness of the marketing communications within the direct response appeal. Similarly, the effectiveness of push and pull strategies is dependent upon the effectiveness of marketing communication efforts directed toward the trade or the consumer. Promotion includes advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, events and sponsorships, point of sale, digital media, the communication aspects of packaging, as well as personal sales and new forms of online and place-based communication that have emerged recently. 2-8. Define integrated marketing communication and explain what integration contributes to brand. Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is the practice of coordinating all marketing communication messages as well as the messages from the marketing mix decisions. One of the important things that IMC does is send a consistent message about the brand. IMC is like a musical score that helps the various instruments play together. The song is the meaning of the brand. It is still evolving, and both professionals and professors are engaged in defining the field and explain how it works. Integration means every message is focused and works together, which creates synergy. When the pieces are effectively coordinated, the whole has more impact than the sum of its parts. A problem arises when the marcom tools are not aligned with other marketing mix communication messages that deliver brand communication. The point is that marketing communication is at the center of brand communication, and the effectiveness of the brand communication depends on how well all the pieces are integrated.

2-9. Explain how brand meaning and brand value are created and how they relate to brand equity.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

Brand meaning evolves through the transformation of a product into something unique and distinctive and by making a promise that establishes customer expectations of the product. The impressions created by the brand’s tangible and intangible features come together as a brand concept. Intangibles are very important because they create the emotional bonds people have with their favorite brands, are impossible for the competition to copy, and can lend monetary value and legal protection to the brand’s unique identity. Brand identity, positioning, image and personality are also important contributors to a brand’s meaning. Brand value comes in two forms – the value to a consumer and the value to the corporation. The first is a result of the experiences a customer has had with a brand. The second is a financial measure, which is called brand equity. How much a consumer is willing to pay for a brand is determined by what it symbolizes to them and their emotional connection with it. Hence effective branding, in addition to differentiating products, also increases their monetary value. Brand equity is the intangible value of the brand that stems from relationships with its stakeholders, as well as intellectual property, such as product formulations. When a company is sold, a figure is calculated to determine the value of its brands.

Discussion Questions 2-10. Apple is one of the most recognized brands in the world. How did the company achieve this distinction? What has the company done in its marketing mix in terms of product, price, distribution, and marketing communication that has created such tremendous brand equity and loyalty? How have advertising and other forms of marketing communicated aided in building the brand? Below is a brief summary of key elements of Apple’s marketing strategy, reflecting each of the 4Ps. Student responses to this question should reflect the key points discussed here. Product Strategy: Apple releases few but highly anticipated high-end products that reflect innovative technology and sleek design. Steve Jobs’ strategy was to develop and sell brand new, innovative products of which blended art and technology in order to provide a simple and streamlined user experience. This strategy skyrocketed Apple to the forefront of the smart phone market, making Apple a force to be reckoned with beginning with their original release of the iPhone in 2007. Promotion: Apple has done a superior job of creating a brand personality and building an emotional connection with its customers through marketing communication. Apple’s advertising has been instrumental in making Apple the iconic brand that it has become. In 1984, Apple created a commercial for the Macintosh that is now regarded as a watershed event in the history of the brand. In later years, Apple’s advertisements established “traits” such as ‘creative’ (for example the “Think Different” campaign in late 1990s) and “intelligent” (for example, the “Get a Mac” campaign that told viewers

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

why Macs were better than PCs). qualities such as “hip and cool.”

Today, Apple’s advertisements try to highlight

Apple’s logo is an equally significant contributor to success of its brand communication campaign. Initially Apple was marketed as “Apple Computer Co.,” with the imagery of Newton sitting under an apple tree. In 1976, this complex logo was replaced with a simpler but more colorful rainbow “bitten” apple logo. In 1998, the colors were sacrificed in favor of the monochrome logo that we now see on millions of iPods and iPhones. The current logo reflects the minimalist design philosophy that Apple has made its own. Distribution Strategy: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Apple, like other consumer electronics companies, was dependent on big-box retailers to sell its products. While this strategy made sure that Apple products were widely available, it gave the company little control over point-of-sale customer experience as the retailers’ staff was usually not trained in selling Apple products. To address this problem, Apple launched what it prefers to call as significant stores. These stores, with amazing architecture, are located in prime locations of major cities such as New York, London, Paris, Shanghai, etc. The sales staff that man these stores are trained not to sell. Instead they are asked to respond to customer queries and provide solutions to customers’ problems. In these stores, you’ll find “The Genius Bar,” where specially trained staff offers one-on-one training to customers on how they can maximize their use of their Apple products. Pricing Strategy: According to Forbes Magazine, Apple uses a “high price, high margin strategy.” Some feel that the company’s insistence on this strategy is limiting profit growth, since they clearly could sell more phones at a cheaper price. Clearly, this pricing strategy sends a message to consumers about the product’s quality and status.

Sources: http://www.saleschase.com/blog/2012/04/17/how-apples-branding-strategy-made-it-anicon/#sthash.UXOEvy8f.dpuf by Dave Bui, Travlos, Darcy. "Apple: Product Commoditization?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 15 May 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/darcytravlos/2012/05/15/apple-productcommoditization. “The Cost of Apple’s High Price, High Margin Strategy”, printed in Forbes Magazine website. May 6, 2013, Apple’s Innovative Distribution Strategy Revealed,” written by Dave Bui, April 9, 2012.

2-11. When identical products carry different labels, people will pay more for the recognized brand. Explain why that is so. Because it is brand relationships that drive brand value, how much a consumer is willing to pay for a brand is determined by what it symbolizes to them and their emotional connection with it. This is especially true for parity products, products with few distinguishing features. For these products, impressions created by the brand’s tangible and intangible features as well as feelings and emotional attachment to the brand can become a critical point of difference. 2-12. List your favorite brands and from that list do the following analyses: Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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a. Think about the categories where it is important to you to buy your favorite brand. For which categories does the brand not make a difference? Why is that so? While student responses will vary, product categories in which branding and associated brand meaning plays a major role include soft drinks, face soap, toothpaste, children’s toys, athletic shoes, breakfast cereals, etc. It is challenging to think of consumer product categories in which manufacturer branding does not play a role. A couple of examples may be household hardware products such as screws and nails, and some desk supplies such paper clips and rubber bands. b. In those categories where you have a favorite brand, what does that brand represent to you? Is it something that you’ve used and liked? Is it comfortable familiarity – you know it will be the same every time? Is it a promise – if you use this, something good will happen? Is it something you have always dreamed about owning? Why are you loyal to this brand? While student responses will vary, product categories in which branding and associated brand meaning plays a major role include soft drinks, face soap, toothpaste, children’s toys, athletic shoes, breakfast cereals, etc. It is challenging to think of consumer product categories in which manufacturer branding does not play a role. A couple of examples may be household hardware products such as screws and nails, and some desk supplies such paper clips and rubber bands.

TAKE HOME PROJECTS 2-13. Portfolio Project: Look through the ads in this textbook or in other publications and find an example of an advertisement that you think adds value to a brand and another ad that you think does not effectively make the brand valuable to consumers. Compare the two and explain why you evaluated them as you did. Copy both ads and mount them and your analysis in your portfolio. Added value refers to a strategy or activity that makes the product more useful or appealing to the consumer, as well as distribution partners. Added value is the reason consumers are willing to pay more for one brand over its competition. Advertising and other marketing communication not only showcase the product’s value but also may add value by making the product appear more desirable. This concept should be reflected in (or missing from) ads reflected selected by students. 2-14. Mini-Case Analysis: In the “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign, McDonalds needed a theme that was wide enough and broad enough to speak to all of its various audiences both in the United States and around the world. This is a classic brand building campaign. Go online and read what you can about the effectiveness of this effort. What are its strong points? Are there any points of criticisms? Consider the Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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components of a brand described in this chapter and analyze. How do you think this campaign should be continued, or is it time to update or change the message? Develop a one-page proposal for next year, including your analysis that supports your ideas. "I'm Lovin' It” was launched in the fall of 2003 under the direction of Larry Light. It is now the company's most successful and longest-running campaign, surpassing the iconic "You deserve a break today," and "Food, Folks and Fun," both in longevity and sales gains. After more than a year of consumer research and agency brainstorming under the direction of CMO Mary Dillon, who took over McDonald's global marketing in 2005, an updated take on its iconic, 7-year-old "I'm Lovin' It" campaign was unveiled in April 2010. "We’re making sure that we build both brand equity and drive sales with every piece of advertising,” according to Ms. Dillon. According to her, strengths of this campaign include increased authenticity, increased saturation in consumer insights and emotion, and "a framework that gives us a consistent point of view about our brand." It celebrates those uniquely McDonald's moments, and is also funnier, more emotional and better grounded in a storyline, while communicating key points such as family bonding, and fun with food. Its objectives of unifying the brand globally and creating a contemporary image, while also increasing sales, were obtained. The company has come under fire from critics who say its food plays a role in the nation's obesity problem. In response, the “I'm Lovin' It” marketing campaign was modified in March 2005 to promote physical activity as part of a balanced life. The theme was: "It's what I eat and what I do ... I'm lovin' it." McDonald's said the new campaign was not a response to criticism, but instead an attempt to keep up with customers' concerns about health. Student opinions will vary concerning if this campaign should be updated, changed, or whether it should be continued at all. TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Multicultural Millenials Read the Trace case in the Appendix before coming to class. 2-15. What aspects of the marketing mix are relevant to a campaign to Multicultural Millennials? 2-16. Why do you think TRACE would want a campaign directed to Multicultural Millennials? 2-17. Prepare a one page statement explaining how the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Experience” campaign will actually help TRACE sales among Multicultural Millennials.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Who are the key players in the world brand communication? The marketing industry is a complex network of professionals. The four categories of key players include 1) marketers, 2) suppliers and vendors, 3) distributors and retailers, and 4) marketing partners, such as advertising agencies. The marketer, also referred to as the advertiser or the client, is any company or organization behind the product, that is, the organization, company, or manufacturer producing the product and offering it for sale. The materials and ingredients used in producing the product are obtained from other companies, referred to as suppliers or vendors. The phrase supply chain is used to refer to this complex network of suppliers whose product components and ingredients are sold to manufacturers. The distribution chain or distribution channel refers to the various companies that are involved in moving a product from its manufacturer into the hands of its buyers. Suppliers and distributors are also partners in the communication process. Marketing relationships also involve cooperative programs and alliances between two companies that work together as marketing partners to create products and promotions. 2. Select one of the four main types of markets and explain how it works. Answers will vary. Here are several possibilities: Consumer Markets: Consumer markets consist of people who buy products and services for personal or household use. As a student, you are considered a member of the consumer market for companies that sell jeans, athletic shoes, sweatshirts, pizza, music, textbooks, backpacks, computers, education, checking accounts, bicycles, travel, and vacations, along with a multitude of other products that you buy at drug and grocery stores, which the marketing industry refers to as package goods. Business-to-Business (Industrial) Markets: Business-to-business (B2B) markets consist of companies that buy products or services to use in their own businesses or in making other products. Ads in this category usually are heavier on factual content than on emotional appeals. Institutional Markets: Institutional markets include a wide variety of profit and nonprofit organizations — such as hospitals, government agencies, and schools —that provide Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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goods and services for the benefit of society. Ads for this category are very similar to business-to-business ads in that they are heavy on copy and light on visuals and emotional appeals. Channel Markets: The channel market is made up of members of the distribution chain, which is made up of businesses that we call resellers, or intermediaries. Resellers are wholesalers, retailers, and distributors who buy finished or semi- finished products and resell them for a profit. Microsoft and its retailers are part of the reseller market. Companies that sell such products and services as trucks, cartons, and transportation services (airlines, cruise ships, and rental car agencies) consider resellers their market. Channel marketing, the process of targeting a specific campaign to members of the distribution channel, is more important now that manufacturers consider their distributors to be partners in their marketing programs. As giant retailers, particularly Wal-Mart, become more powerful, they can even dictate to manufacturers what products their customers want to buy and how much they are willing to pay for them.

3. What is the distribution chain or channel? Explain its role in marketing. The distribution chain or distribution channel refers to the various companies that are involved in moving a product from its manufacturer into the hands of its buyers. These resellers, or intermediaries, are needed to make the product easily accessible to its customers. They may actually take ownership of the product and participate in the marketing of it. Channel members often play a role in brand communication, especially when the marketer has employed a push strategy. There are many routes to distribution and marketing managers consider a variety of channels when developing distribution strategies. Direct marketing companies distribute their products directly to a consumer without the use of a reseller. “Clicks or bricks” is a phrase used to describe whether a product is sold online or in a traditional store. 4. What is a brand, how is it defined, and who is responsible for building brands? A brand is more than a product. Branding is a communication function that creates the intangible aspects of a product, thereby making it memorable and meaningful to the consumer. All organizations with a name can be considered brands, and that includes organization brands, which are distinct from product brands. A brand can be defined as a perception, often imbued with emotion that results from experiences with and information about a company or a line of products. Other definitions point to a mixture of tangible and intangible attributes as well as the identity elements that stand for the brand. Branding also differentiates similar products from one another. Companies make products but they sell brands. In addition to differentiating a product from its Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

competitors, they also make a promise to its customers. Responsibility for developing and maintain a successful brand lies with the marketing or corporate function called brand management. 5. What is meant by brand transformation and how does it work? A basic principle of branding is that a brand communication transforms a product into something more meaningful than the product. Brand transformation creates this difference by enriching brand meaning. Brand meanings are more complex than impressions because of what they symbolize. To transform a brand, first a separate identity must be created for it within is product category. Important brand identity cues are the brand name and the brand logo. Also establishment of a brand position, promise, image and personality play a critical role in the transformation process.

What is word-of-mouth communication and why has it become such a powerful force in the world of brand communication?

Word-of-mouth communication, also called buzz, means people are talking about a brand. Its goal is to get the right people talking about the brand and having them say things in support of the brand strategy. Word-of-mouth communication has emerged as a powerful new force not only because of its inherent persuasiveness, but because it is frequently powered by social media. This means that these days, many word-of-mouth marketing messages are spread not only in face-to-face conversation, but also online. When a message quickly spreads on the Internet through a wide network of contacts, the phenomenon is referred to as viral marketing. Because the recommendations of others are so highly persuasive, and it is now often coupled with social media, word-of-mouth communication has been elevated to a new status in the world of brand communication. Some marketing plans are specifically designed to generate excited talk about something new, particularly if the strategies can reach influential people whose opinions are valued by others. 7. What is the “accountability” trend in the marketing industry? Why has it become important? Marketing managers are being challenged by senior management to prove that their decisions lead to the most effective marketing strategies. They are under pressure to deliver business results measured in terms of sales increases, the percentage share of the market the brand holds, and corporate return on investment (ROI).

Chapter 2: Brand Communication

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Have students select one of their favorite brands. It can be either a product or a service. Then have them consider what sort of image the brand carries in their minds. How did this image come about, and what was the role of advertising in creating it? Students should share their answers to the class in 2- to 3-minute presentations. To enhance their presentations, students can also pull up their organization’s website to show the class. 2. Ask each student to interview the owner or manager of a local small business to find out how he or she competitively markets against larger, nationally based competitors. How must this business market its products or services differently than the “big boys”? A review of “The Marketing Plan” section of this chapter is useful here. Each student should write a 500-word report detailing their findings. Think-Pair-Share 1. Have students pair off to interview each other regarding a negative experience they can recall with a specific brand of product or service. Drawing upon the principles of Integrated Marketing Communications in this chapter, determine what went wrong. How did it happen? What contradictory brand messages were conveyed? What was the result of this breakdown in communication? Did the student remain as a customer with the company, or was the brand relationship severed? Once the interviews are complete, each student should draft a brief report outlining their findings. 2. Have students get together and recall a marketing campaign that incorporated a form of digital media or personal media into its marketing communication efforts. What was the product or service, and what was especially unique about the marketing strategy? How well did it seem to work?

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Go online. Using any search engine you like, enter the term “Integrated Marketing Communications.” Locate an agency or organization that explains this concept particularly well. Draft a 750-word report explaining what you have learned. Be sure to contrast it with what you read on this subject in Chapter 2. 2. Choose a company or organization in your community to visit. Gather as many samples of their five marketing efforts as possible and analyze them carefully. Examples could include product brochures, print advertisements, DVDs, direct mail correspondence, or a website. Then, present a 10-minute “samples analysis” to your class, commenting on the samples’ strengths, weaknesses, continuity and brand messages from a marketing standpoint. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

Chapter 3 Brand Communication and Society ◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. What is the social impact of brand communication? 2. What ethical and social responsibilities do communicators have? 3. Why and how is advertising regulated?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter explores the impact of brand communication on society. Ongoing debates concerning the impact of brand communication on society are presented. Also, a checklist of issues that can have a negative impact on a brand is provided, if that brand’s communication is disrespectful of the audience or is misaligned with the desired brand image. Next the brand communicators’ ethical responsibilities are explored. The chapter closes with an examination of the legal aspects of advertising and the regulatory processes that are in place to ensure that harmful communication is minimized.

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHAT IS THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF BRAND COMMUNICATION? •

Brands take on meaning when consumers see that all areas of marketing communication about the brand are consistent and authentic. Communicators want the recipients of their messages to feel positive about the brand but not at expense of doing what is right both ethically and legally.

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Most of the time, advertising is used for neutral or good purposes, meaning they value a brand’s social responsibility. Brand stewards work hard to protect the integrity of their brands and make sure the communication about the brand is consistent. A problem can occur with brand consistency when there are ethical questions about practices that undercut the brand.

What Are the Key Debates about Impact on Society? Three topics generate debate about advertising and marketing communication’s role in society. They focus on demand creation, shaping versus mirroring of social trends, and materialism.

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Can Advertising Create Demand? Some critics charge that advertising causes demand creation, which results when an external message drives people to feel a need or want – sometimes unnecessarily. Others reject this notion. •

If people do not want the products being marketed, they do not buy them. Advertising may convince a person to buy a product once. If they don’t like it, they won’t buy it again. Therefore, advertising does create demand, but to a limited extent.

Does Advertising Mirror Social Values or Shape Them? • At what point does advertising cross the line between reflecting social values to creating them? Critics argue that advertising has repeatedly crossed this line, influencing vulnerable groups such as children and teenagers too strongly. •

Critics of advertising argue that advertising can create social trends and has the power to dictate how people think and act. Others contend that effective brand communication spots trends and develops messages that connect target audiences with the trends.

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The shaping-versus-mirroring debate is the most central issue we address in considering advertising’s role in society. Because advertising and society’s roles are probably interactive, the answer to this debate may simply be that advertising both mirrors and shapes values.

Does Advertising Cause People to Be Too Materialistic? • Some argue that advertising heightens expectations and primes the audience to believe that the answer is always a product. Consumers, however, are not always passively doing what advertisers tell them. They have the power to refuse to buy what is being sold. Should Some Audiences Be Protected from Advertising? • Marketing to youth is one of the most controversial topics in the industry. One reason why advertising to children attracts so much attention is that children are seen as vulnerable. Children do not always know what is got for them and what is not. •

Principle: If people do not want the products being marketed, they do not buy them.

What are the Key Debates and Issues about Brand Communication Practices? Diversity and Stereotypes • A stereotype is a representation of a cultural group that emphasizes a trait or group of traits that may or may not communicate an accurate representation of the Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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group. Sometimes the stereotype is useful and aids communication by using easily understood symbolic meaning. But when stereotypes rely upon on a characteristic that is negative and exaggerated, an entire group is reduced to a caricature. •

Stereotyping also raises the shape-versus-mirror question discussed earlier in the chapter. Intentionally or not, communicators choose how they portray people in their ads. The Inside Story featured in this chapter by Sonia Scappaticci offers a good example of Pepsi’s efforts to create culturally relevant programs to reach its Hispanic market.

Cultural Differences in Global Advertising • In the global economy, advertisers seek worldwide audiences for their products. As they do so, they sometimes make the mistake of overlaying their world view on that of another culture without thinking about the impact of their advertising. •

Concerns about the homogenization of cultural differences are expressed as marketing imperialism or cultural imperialism. These terms used to describe what happens when Western culture is imposed on others, particularly the Middle Eastern, Asian, and African cultures. Respect for culture and local customs is so important that insensitivity to local customs can make an ad completely ineffective.

Sex Appeal and Body Image • Advertising that portrays either gender as sex objects is considered demeaning and sexist, particular if sex is not relevant to the product. The ethical question is how sexy is too sexy? Sometimes ads use sex appeal that is relevant to the product, such as Victoria’s Secret. Explicitly using sex appeal to sell may not always be appropriate. •

Playing on consumers’ insecurities about their appearance presents advertisers with a classic ethical dilemma because self-image advertising can be seen as contributing to self-improvement. However, sometimes such advertising is questionable because it leads to dangerous practices.

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The same problem of physical appearance exists for men. The standard of attractiveness is a socio-cultural phenomenon that both mirrors and shapes our ideals. Responsible advertisers, therefore, have begun using models of more normal size and weight as a way to reduce the pressure on young people.

Poor Taste and Offensive Advertising • Although certain ads might be in bad taste in any circumstance, viewer reactions are affected by factors such as sensitivity to the product category, timing, and other circumstances, such as whether the person is alone or with others when viewing the message.

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Also, questionable ads become offensive in the wrong context. Advertisers and media outlets must try to be sensitive to such objections.

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We all have our own ideas about what constitutes good taste. Unfortunately, these ideas vary so much that creating general guidelines for good taste in advertising is difficult. Different things offend different people at different time and tastes change over time. Today’s questions of taste center on the use of sexual innuendo, nudity, vulgarity, and violence.

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An ad can be offensive to the general public, even if the targeted audience accepts it. Brand communicators would be wise to conduct research to gauge the standards of taste of the general population as well as of a specific target audience. If they fail to do so, they risk alienating potential consumers.

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Principle: Good taste is a difficult standard to apply because different things offend different people at different times.

Is Advertising Honest and Transparent? Most advertisers try to create messages that communicate fairly and accurately. Advertising claims are considered to be unethical if they are false, misleading, or deceptive. In a drive to find something to say about a product that will catch attention and motivate the audience to respond, advertisers sometimes stretch the truth. False advertising, which is a type of misleading advertising, is a message that is simply untrue. •

Misleading claims and puffery. The target that receives the greatest amount of criticism for being misleading is weight-loss advertising, as well as other back-ofthe-magazine, self-improvement advertisements for health and fitness products. Misleading claims are also a problem outside of the United States. Not all exaggerated claims are considered misleading. Puffery is defined as advertising or other sales representations that praise the item to be sold with subjective opinions, superlatives, or exaggerations in a vague and general way, while stating no specific facts. In this chapter’s Principled Practice feature, read about Ivan Preston, who has dedicated his professional life to the study of puffery and misleading claims.

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Comparative advertising. Although it is perfectly legitimate to compare a marketer’s product favorably against a competitor, regulations govern the use of comparative advertising. Advertisers face the common threat that competitors will misrepresent their products. Comparative advertising that is misleading can be challenged. Advertisers have legal recourse to object to unfair comparisons. U.S. law permits award of damages from an advertiser who “misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities or geographic origin in comparative advertising.” Those

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

who engage in comparative advertising know that research in support of their competitive claims must be impeccable. Under the law, companies/plaintiffs are required to prove five elements to win the false advertising lawsuit about an ad containing a comparative claim. They must prove that: 1. False statements have been made about either product. 2. The ads actually deceived or had the tendency to deceive a substantial segment of the audience. 3. The deception was “material” or meaningful. 4. Falsely advertised goods are sold in interstate commerce. 5. The suing company has been or likely will be injured as a result of the false statements, either by loss of sales or loss of goodwill. •

Principle: Advertising claims are unethical if they are false, misleading, or deceptive.

Endorsements and Demonstrations • An endorsement or testimonial is any advertising message that consumers believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, or experiences of an individual, group, or institution. However, if consumers can reasonably ascertain that a message does not reflect the announcer’s opinion, the message isn’t an endorsement and may even be misleading. •

The increasing prominence of digital media raises another ethical dilemma. Is it acceptable for company representatives to pose as consumers or pay bloggers to post endorsements as customer reviews online? The Word of Mouth Association says no. Its ethics code explicitly prohibits consumers from taking cash from manufacturers, suppliers, or their representatives for making recommendations, reviews or endorsements. We’ll probably see lots more examples of blogola, also referred to as flogging (sponsored conversations) in the future.

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Federal regulations require that endorsers must be qualified by experience or training to make judgments, and they must actually use the product. If endorsers are comparing competing brands, they must have tried those brands as well. Those who endorse a product improperly may be liable if the government determines there is a deception.

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Product demonstrations in television advertising must not mislead consumers. One technique some advertisers use to sidestep restrictions on demonstrations is to insert disclaimers, or “supers,” verbal or written words in the ad that indicate exceptions to the advertising claim.

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What Are Some Product Specific Issues Related to Social Responsibility? • Marketers need to consider carefully what they choose to produce and advertise. Some key areas of concern include controversial products, unhealthy or dangerous products such as alcohol and tobacco, and prescription drugs. Controversial products • Marketing communication reflects the marketing and business ethics of its clients and, because of its visibility, sometimes gets the blame for selling controversial, unsafe, or dangerous products. In cases where the agency works on a controversial account, there are still ethical ways to approach the business. Unhealthy or dangerous products • One way to make ethical decisions is to choose the route that minimizes potential harm. For example, McDonalds and Wendy’s have reacted to charges of culpability in the nation’s obesity problem by making changes in their menu items. •

One of the most heated advertising issues in recent years has been restrictions on tobacco advertising. Proponents of the ban on cigarette advertising argue that because cigarettes have been shown to cause cancer as well as other illnesses, encouraging tobacco use promotes sickness, injury, or death for the smoker and those inhaling secondhand smoke. They argue that further restricting the advertisement of those products would result in fewer sales and fewer health problems for America as a whole.

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Opponents of advertising bans counter with the argument that prohibiting truthful, nondeceptive advertising for a legal product is unconstitutional and a violation of free speech rights. In recognition of the growing public concerns about cigarette marketing, tobacco companies have voluntarily curbed their advertising and pulled ads from magazines with high levels of youth readership and from most outdoor billboards.

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The ethics of advertising liquor is another concern. The biggest issue for the spirits industry is charges of advertising to underage drinkers. Liquor executives contend that they follow voluntary advertising guidelines to avoid images and time slots that appeal to kids. That stance has been hard to keep, however, because every major brand is trying to win over young consumers.

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The Distilled Spirits Council, a trade organization representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the United States, offers a model for industry self-regulation. Its Code of Responsible Practices encourages members to follow the guidelines set forth in the code when promoting their products.

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The beer industry has been the target of strong criticism for several years. Some companies sensitive to public opinion have initiated proactive programs that educate and discourage underage drinkers.

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Principle: The ethics of selling a controversial or unsafe product lies with the marketing department. However, marketing communication may be criticized because it is the visible face of marketing.

Prescription Drugs • In 1997, the government loosened its controls on pharmaceutical advertising. As a result, the amount of prescription drug advertising has skyrocketed. While these ads have been very successful in increasing sales, various consumer groups, government agencies, and insurance companies have been quite critical of them. •

Some doctors claim they are being pressured to write inappropriate prescriptions because their patients are influenced by the drug ad claims. Other doctors appreciate that the advertising has caused consumers to become more active in managing their own health and more informed about their drug options.

COMMUNICATOR’S ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES •

Ethics are the “shoulds” and “oughts” of behavior. They are “the right thing to do.” Morals are frameworks for right actions and are more the domain of religion and philosophy. When faced with an ethical decision, the difficulty often lies in making choices from equally compelling or competing options. These issues are explored in this chapter’s Practical Tips feature that focuses upon a Benetton campaign that challenged personal and professional ethics.

Personal and Professional Ethics • Ethical decisions are usually complex and involve navigating a moral maze of conflicting forces. They demand the ability to engage in what ethicists call “moral reasoning.” •

As a professional, you must be aware of industry standards as well as ethical questions that underlie the core issues already discussed in this chapter. More importantly, however, personal judgment, moral reasoning resting on an intuitive sense of right and wrong, and a moral compass must be used to determine when an idea is misleading, insensitive, too over the top, or too manipulative.

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Professionals in advertising by and large see themselves as ethical people. However, the polls indicate that the public does not. In a recent poll conducted by the Gallup organization, advertising practitioners ranked near the bottom, with nurses, doctors and pharmacists at the top. Read the Matter of Practice feature in this chapter and begin to think about how you might improve society with your life’s work.

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

Professional Code of Ethics • Industry standards can help with a decision about ethical behavior. Many professions have written a code of ethics to help guide practitioners toward ethical behavior, including the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the Public Relations Society of America, and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. •

In an effort to help advertisers build consumer trust and brand loyalty in a global and digital economy, the Institute for Advertising Ethics created eight Principles for Advertising Ethics, which emphasize the importance of transparency and the need to conduct business relationships with consumers in a fair, honest, and forthright manner. (See Figure 3.1.)

International Standards and Codes • Standards of professional behavior are found not only in the United States or other Western countries. Many other countries around the globe have codes related to ethics or professional behavior.

WHY AND HOW IS BRAND COMMUNICATION REGULATED? • Various systems are in place to monitor the social responsibility of advertising and other brand communication, including laws, government regulations and their regulatory bodies, professional oversight groups, and industry self-regulation. Figure 3.2 in the textbook identifies the organizations with oversight responsibility for advertising and groups them in terms of five specific categories: government, media, industry, public or community groups, and the competition. Brand Communication’s Legal Environment • Making and enforcing laws is the domain of the government. Congress makes laws and regulatory agencies in the executive branch of the federal government enforce laws related to advertising. The following list summarizes important advertising legislation, most of which shows the growing authority of regulatory bodies, such as the FTC, to regulate advertising. ▪

The Pure Food and Drug Act forbids the manufacture, sale or transport of adulterated or fraudulently labeled foods and drugs in interstate commerce.

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The Federal Trade Commission Act establishes the commission, a body of specialists with broad powers to investigate and to issue cease-and-desist orders to enforce Section 5, which declares that “unfair methods of competition in commerce are unlawful.”

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The Wheeler-Lea Act prohibits unfair and deceptive acts and practices regardless of whether competition is injured and places advertising of foods and drugs under FTC jurisdiction.

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The Lanham Act provides protection for trademarks from competitors and also encompasses false advertising.

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The Magnuson-Moss Warranty/FTC Improvement Act authorizes the FTC to determine rules concerning consumer warranties and provides for consumer access to means of redress, such as a class action lawsuit. It also expands FTC regulatory powers over unfair or deceptive acts or practices and allows it to require restitution for deceptively written warranties costing the consumer more than $5.

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The FTC Improvement Act provides Congress with veto power over FTC regulation rules. It was enacted to limit FTC powers to regulate “unfairness” issues in designing trade regulation rules on advertising.

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The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Protection Act specifies that telemarketers may not call anyone who requests not to be contacted.

Trademark and Copyright Protection • A trademark is a brand, corporate or store name, or distinctive symbol that identifies the seller’s brand and thus differentiates it from the brands of other sellers. A trademark must be registered through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) of the Department of Commerce. •

Audio trademarks are protected, as are uniform resource locators (URLs).

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A copyright gives an organization the exclusive right to use or reproduce original work, such as an advertisement or package design, for a period of time. Common designs or symbols, however, cannot be copyrighted. Controls for copyright protection are provided by the Library of Congress.

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Copyright infringement can occur when a product is used in an ad without proper permission. Copycat ads that use the message strategy of another advertiser may also be subject to copyright infringement charges.

Brand Communication and the First Amendment • The most basic federal law that governs advertising is the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that Congress shall make no law “. . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; . . .” First Amendment protection extends to commercial speech, which is speech that promotes commercial activity. •

Protection of advertising as commercial speech has varied over the years. A number of cases have attempted to change the common view of advertising as commercial speech. Although no one expects advertising to have the same constitutional protection of free speech that is given to individuals, courts throughout the country are narrowing the gap.

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Essentially, the Supreme Court has ruled that only truthful commercial speech is protected, not misleading or deceptive statements. Because the nation’s courts continue to reinterpret how the First Amendment applies in different cases, advertisers need to keep close track of legal developments.

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Within the chapter is a list of thirteen decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that amend the First Amendment rulings on commercial speech, thus impacting advertising.

International Laws and Regulations • As advertisers, agencies, and media become more and more global, it will be imperative that the players understand the local ethical standards and laws in the countries in which they operate. Marketing practices, such as pricing and price advertising, vary in their legal and regulatory restrictions. Some product categories, such as OTC drugs, are particularly difficult to work with because regulations about their marketing and advertising are different in every country. Advertising for certain types of products is banned. •

There are also differences in the legal use of various marketing communication tools. A contest or promotion might be successful in one country and illegal in another. Different laws and self-regulatory codes about direct marketing exist in different European Union countries. Because of the difficulty in complying with widely varying laws, international advertisers often work with either local agencies or with international agencies that have local affiliates and experts.

The Regulatory Environment • In addition to specific legislation that affects the practice of marketing communication, there are also government bodies that oversee the application of these laws and establish standards and regulations that marketers must meet. The FTC is the primary body that oversees marketing communication, but a number of other agencies are also involved in regulating the messages sent to consumers. They are summarized in a table in the text. Along with the FTC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Communications Commission are dynamic components of the regulatory environment. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) • The FTC is the primary agency governing the advertising industry. Its main focus with respect to advertising is to identify and eliminate ads that deceive or mislead the consumer. Some FTC responsibilities include: ▪ ▪

Unfairness: Initiate investigations against companies that engage in unfair competition or deceptive practices. Deception: Regulate acts and practices that deceive businesses or consumers and issue cease-and-desist orders where such practices exist. Cease-and-desist

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orders require that the practice be stopped within 30 days; an order given to one firm is applicable to all firms in the industry. Violations: Fine people or companies that violate either (1) a trade regulation rule or (2) a cease-and-desist order given to any other firm in the industry.

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Specifically, the FTC oversees the false advertising. In recent years, that oversight has focused on health and weight-loss business practices, 900 telephone numbers, telemarketing, and advertising targeting children and the elderly. The FTC hosts the National Do Not Call Registry and monitors the ratings system and advertising practices of the film, music, and electronic games industries. The FTC’s reports to Congress cover advertising on television and websites, as well as print media.

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The existence of a regulatory agency such as the FTC influences advertisers’ behavior. Although most cases never reach the FTC, advertisers prefer not to risk long legal battles with the agency. Advertisers are also aware that competitors may complain to the FTC about a questionable advertisement. Such a move can cost the offending organization millions of dollars.

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The FTC revised its guidelines governing testimonial advertisements, bloggers, and celebrity endorsements in October 2009 for the first time since 1980. These guidelines toughen rules for endorsements and testimonials by requiring that results touted by endorsers are likely to be typical.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) • The FDA is the regulatory division of the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees package labeling, ingredient listings, and advertising for food and drugs. It also determines the safety and purity of foods and cosmetics. It is a watchdog for drug advertising, specifically in the controversial area of directto-consumer ads for prescription drugs. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) • The FCC is designed to protect the public interest in radio and television broadcast communications and can issue and revoke licenses to broadcasting stations. The agency monitors only advertisements that have been the subject of complaints and works closely with the FTC to eliminate false and deceptive advertising. Other Regulatory Bodies Below is a list of other key regulatory agencies. •

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms: Regulates deception in advertising and establishes labeling requirements for the liquor industry.

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U.S. Postal Service: Regulates direct mail and magazine advertising and has control over the areas of obscenity, lotteries, and fraud. The postmaster general also has the power to withhold mail that promotes lotteries.

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States’ Attorneys General: Seeks to regulate advertising at the state level.

The Impact of Regulation • In our discussion of issues we mentioned several that have spurred governmental regulation, such as children’s advertising, deception, and claim substantiation. In this section we discuss these regulations in terms of the government agencies taking responsibility for them. The FTC and Children’s Advertising • Developing responsible advertising aimed at audiences of children is a critical issue. The FTC and other governmental agencies have gotten involved with the regulation of marketing to children. •

After a 1978 study found that the average child viewed more than 20,000 television commercials per year, a heated debate ensued. One side favored regulation because of children’s inability to evaluate advertising messages and make purchasing decision. The other side opposed regulation, arguing that many self-regulatory mechanisms already existed and the proper place for restriction of advertising to children was in the home.

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In 1990 Congress passed the Children’s Television Act, which placed 10.5minute-per-hour ceilings for commercials in children’s weekend television programming and 12-minute-per-hour limits for weekday programs. The act also set rules requiring that commercial breaks be clearly distinguished from programming and barring the use of program characters to promote products.

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Advocates for children’s television continue to argue that many stations made little effort to comply with the 1990 act and petitioned the FCC to increase the required number of educational programs to be shown daily. In 1996, an agreement was reached requiring all TV stations to air three hours of children’s educational shows a week.

Regulating Deception • Deceptive advertising is advertising intended to mislead consumers by making claims that are false or failing to make full disclosure of important facts or both. The current FTC policy on deception contains three basic elements: ▪ ▪

Misleading: Where there is representation, omission, or practice, there must be a high probability that it will mislead the consumer. Reasonableness: The perspective of the “reasonable consumer” is used to judge deception. The FTC tests reasonableness by looking at whether the consumer’s interpretation or reaction to an advertisement is reasonable.

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Injurious: The deception must lead to material injury. In other words, the deception must influence consumers’ decision making about products and services.

Regulating Substantiation • Claim substantiation is an area of particular concern to the FTC in determining whether or not an advertisement is misleading. The advertiser should have a reasonable basis for making a claim about product performance or run the risk of an FTC investigation. In determining the reasonableness of a claim, the FTC considers: ▪ Type and specificity of claim. ▪ Type of product. ▪ Possible consequences of the false claims. ▪ Degree of reliance on the claims by consumers. ▪ The type and accessibility of evidence. ▪ What substantiation is reasonable? Remedies for Deception and Unfair Advertising ▪ The common sources of complaints concerning deceptive or unfair advertising practices are competitors, the public, and the FTC’s own monitors. After determination that the ad is deceptive, the first step in the regulation process is to issue a consent decree. If justified, the commission can proceed with the following courses of action: ▪

Cease-and-desist orders. If an advertiser refuses to sign a consent decree and the FTC determines deception is substantial, this order is issued.

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Corrective advertising. The FTC may require this when consumer research determines than an advertising campaign has perpetuated lasting false beliefs.

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Consumer redress. By law, the FTC is empowered to obtain consumer redress when a person or a firm engages in deceptive practices. A judge can order cancellation or reformation of contracts, refund of money or return of property, payment of damages, and/or public notification.

Media Review of Advertising • The media attempts to regulate advertising by screening and rejecting ads that violate their standards of truth and good taste. Most networks have a Standards and Practices Department that screens every ad and gives approval before the ad can run. Each medium has the discretion to accept or reject a particular ad. •

The First Amendment gives any publisher the right to refuse to publish anything the company does not want to publish, and this sometimes creates battles between media companies and advertisers.

Self-Regulation Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Responsible advertisers take the initiative and establish individual ethical standards that anticipate and even go beyond possible complaints. Such a proactive stance helps the creative process and avoids the kinds of disasters that result from violating the law or offending members of society.

Self-Discipline • In an organization, such as an advertising agency, exercises self discipline when it develops, uses, and enforces norms within its own practices. Virtually all major advertisers and advertising agencies have in-house ad review procedures, including reviews by agency and client attorneys. Industry Self-Regulation • When the development, use, and enforcement of norms comes from within the industry, the term industry self-regulation is used. The most effective attempts at pure self-regulation have come through industry groups, such as the Advertising Review Council (ARC) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). •

In 1971, the National Advertising Review Council, now known as the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council was established. It attempts to negotiate voluntary withdrawal of national advertising that professionals consider deceptive. The two operating arms of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council are NAD and NARB. Neither is a government agency.

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The National Advertising Division (NAD) is made up of people from the field of advertising. In evaluates complaints submitted by consumers, consumer groups, industrial organizations, and advertising firms. NAD attempts to settle disputes, but when a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached, NAD refers the case to NARB.

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The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) is a 50-person regulatory group that represents national advertisers, advertising agencies, and other professional fields. When an advertiser appeals a case to NARB, it faces a panel of five people who attempt to resolve the issue. Although neither NAD nor NARB have any real power other than threatening to invite government intervention, these groups have been effective in controlling cases of deception and misleading advertising. Figure 3.3 illustrates the NARB appeal process.

Self-Regulation by Public and Community Groups The advertising industry voluntarily involves non-industry representatives or the media in the development, application and enforcement of norms. •

Local groups. At the local level, self-regulation has been supported by the BBB. Although the BBB has no legal power, it receives and investigates complaints and maintains files on violators. It also assists local law enforcement officials in prosecuting violators.

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Consumer activist groups. Consumer groups of all kinds monitor advertising practices.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 3-4. Explain the debate over whether advertising shapes or mirrors society. If you were to take a side in this debate, which side would you choose? The second half of the 20th century was notable for the rise of a materialistic consumer culture in the Western world. Did advertising create this culture, or did it simply reflect it? At what point does advertising cross the line between reflecting social values and creating them? Critics argue that advertising has repeatedly crossed this line, influencing vulnerable groups such as children and young teenagers too strongly. This shape-versus-mirror debate is the most central issue we need to address in considering advertising’s role in society. What drives consumers to behave or believe as they do? Is it advertising, or is it other forces? Advertisers believe advertising mirrors values rather than sets them. In fact, advertising and society’s values are probably interactive so the answer to the debate may simply be that advertising both mirrors and shapes values. Students will have differing opinions on this issue. The debate will surely be lively.

3-5. What do you consider the most pressing ethical issues facing advertisers? Explain. In the early 21st century, advertisers face a range of pressing social issues. Critics argue that advertising leads people to be too materialistic and that it has contributed to a rise in materialistic culture in the Western world. Others contend that advertising primes an audience to believe that the answer to any problem is always a product. Is this a healthy orientation for a modern society? As the line blurs between news and advertising in media, audiences may not know whether stories are free from editorial pressure from sponsors. A growing number of product placements further complicate this issue. Other pressing social issues for advertisers include: taste and offensive advertising, stereotyping, body- and self-image problems, targeting strategies, problems with advertising claims and other message strategies, and the issues surrounding the marketing of controversial products.

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Finally, there is concern about ethical issues that are emerging as a result of the Internet, according to a survey of industry leaders. The checks and balances in place for traditional media do not exist for the Internet and blogosphere. Nor is there a well established consensus concerning what constitutes ethical behavior for the Web.

3-6. Explain how trademarks and copyrights are legally protected and why the First Amendment is important to advertisers. A trademark is a distinctive symbol or a brand, corporate, or store name that identifies the seller’s brand and thus differentiates it from the brands of other sellers. A trademark must be registered through the United States Patent and Trademark Office of the Department of Commerce, which gives the organization exclusive use of the mark, as long as the trademark is maintained as identification for a specific product. A copyright gives an organization the exclusive right to use or reproduce original work, such as an advertisement or package design, for a period of time. Because trademarks and copyrights are critical communication devices for products and services, they are important in advertising. The most basic federal law that governs advertising is the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that Congress shall make no law “. . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; . . .” First Amendment protection extends to commercial speech, which is speech that promotes commercial activity. The U.S. Supreme Court does permit some restrictions on commercial speech. The Court has held that false or misleading commercial speech can be banned. Because the Supreme Court continues to reinterpret how the First Amendment applies in different cases, advertisers need to keep close track of legal developments.

3-7. In addition to the FTC, what other governmental bodies are involved in regulating advertising practices? Other governmental bodies include the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, the Patent Office, the Library of Congress, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the U.S. Postal Service, and the States’ Attorneys General.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 3-8. The Dimento Game Company has a new basketball video game. To promote it, “Slammer” Aston, an NBA star, is signed to do the commercial. In it, Aston is shown with the game controls as he speaks these lines: “This is the most challenging court game Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

you’ve ever tried. It’s all here—zones, man-to-man, pick and roll, even the alley-oop. For me, this is the best game off the court.” Is Aston’s presentation an endorsement? Should the FTC consider a complaint if Dimento uses this strategy? What would you need to know to determine if you are safe from a challenge of misleading advertising? Aston appears to be delivering his genuine, personal experience with the game and offering his opinion and assessment. It is his endorsement of the product. The FTC should have no quarrel with the strategy unless there is some evidence the product description originated from a source other than Aston’s own familiarity with the video game. To be misleading there must be a high probability that representation, omission, or practice will mislead the consumer. 3-9. Zack Wilson is the advertising manager for the campus newspaper. He is looking over a layout for a promotion for a spring break vacation package. The headline says, “Absolutely the Finest Deal Available This Spring—You’ll Have the Best Time Ever if You Join Us in Boca.” The newspaper has a solid reputation for not running advertising with questionable claims and promises. Should Zack accept or reject this ad? Take one side of this issue and write a short 1-2 page position paper explaining your viewpoint. In a class discussion, determine how many of your classmates agreed or disagreed with your view. Zack can run the ad without fear of losing his reputation. The headline is a prime example of puffery—vague, exaggerated, superlative claims—and “reasonable consumers” understand that “Finest Deal” and “Best Time Ever” are claims they should not expect to be specifically delivered. Zack should accept the ad.

TAKE HOME PROJECTS 3-10. Check the Websites of three big-name companies such as: • • • • • •

McDonald’s (www.mcdonalds.com) Avon (www.avon.com) Ben & Jerry’s (www.benjerry.com) Starbucks (www.starbucks.com) Body Shop(www.thebodyshop.com) Target (www.target.com)

Write a two- to four-page report on their efforts to be socially responsible. How is the company’s social responsibility position reflected in its advertising? It will be interesting for the students to learn how easy or difficult it was to find information about businesses and their efforts toward social responsibility. How prominent was the information within a website? Do the company’s efforts seem realistic and results-oriented, or is more effort focused toward public relations? Do the students have any direct experience with the socially responsible efforts?

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

3-11. Mini-Case Analysis: Imagine that you are now working for Starbucks. What does the company do that provides evidence that it is socially and environmentally responsible? What other ways can you think of for the company to expand these efforts? To learn about Starbucks’ commitment to social responsibility, students should visit http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility. The company is committed to helping communities thrive, ethical sourcing, minimizing its environmental footprint, and in general, being a good corporate citizen. Since 2001 the company has publicly reported its goals and performance in the area of corporate social responsibility. By first reading about Starbucks’ current activities in each of these categories of social responsibility, perhaps students can then brainstorm ways the company could expand its effors in each. TRACE North America Case Multicultural Ethics and Issues Multicultural Innovation Read the Trace case in the Appendix before coming to class. Then answer the following questions: 3-12: Does the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign communicate its brand message of innovation without using ideas, words, or images that are offensive or insensitive to the target audience? 3-13: Give an example that demonstrates how the TRACE campaign is socially responsible. 3-14: What evidence in this case leads you to believe that that the advertising team that created this campaign understood Multicultural Millennials? Can you identify any additional insights? Hands-On Case P1-1. After reading about “Green Works in the case and on the web, do you think this product line is a believable attempt by Clorox to improve the environment? Why or why not? Student responses to this question will vary. Some will see no reason to believe that Clorox was insincere in its efforts to contribute to the green movement by creating a line of eco-friendly products. Skeptics, however, may argue that Clorox viewed this enduring trend of ‘eco-consciousness’ as an opportunity to enter a segment of their market in which products commanded a higher price point while knowing that their product line could not fully deliver the benefits its touted.

P1-2. Does Green Works represent an attempt to mirror a trend in society or create one?

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

This is an effort by Clorox to mirror a trend that has been embraced by consumers for a very long time. According to Advertising Age Magazine, green marketing is a movement so hot that not even a deep recession could kill it. P1-3. Had you been the product manager, would you have put the Clorox name on Green Works products, as the company did? Explain your response. In hindsight, it is evident that individual branding may have been a better choice than family branding for GreenWorks. By using an individual branding strategy, the GreenWorks brand would have been distanced from its owner, Clorox, and Clorox’s reputation of manufacturing and marketing products that potentially damage the environment. P1-4. Do you think that green marketing is an enduring movement? Why or why not? Yes, this movement began in the late 1960s and has already endured over 50 years. It will continue to evolve.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are the key debates concerning the impact of marketing communication on society? Three topics generate debate about advertising and marketing communication’s role in society. They focus on demand creation, shaping versus mirroring of social trends, and materialism. Some critics charge that advertising causes demand creation, which results when a marketing message drives people to feel a need or want, sometimes unnecessarily. Others reject this notion. Others ask “does advertising mirror social values or shape them”? Or in other words, at what point does advertising cross the line between reflecting social values to creating them? This set of critics argues that advertising has repeatedly crossed this line, influencing vulnerable groups such as children and teenagers too strongly. They contend that advertising can create social trends and has the power to dictate how people think and act. Finally, there are some who criticize advertising because they think it causes people to become too materialistic. They argue that advertising heightens expectations and primes the audience to believe that the answer is always a product. These three arguments have led many to believe that children should be protected from advertising. This topic is subject to much debate.

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

2. What are some ways in which brand communication can avoid hurting its brand’s image and showing a lack of respect for its audience? Brand communication should avoid stereotypes, which are a representation of a cultural group that emphasizes a trait or group of traits that may or may not communicate an accurate representation of the group. Stereotypes are harmful because they rely upon on a characteristic that is typically exaggerated and sometimes negative to define a group, thereby reducing that entire group to a caricature. In the global economy, as advertisers seek worldwide audiences for their products, they sometimes make the mistake of ignoring cultural differences and instead overlaying their world view on that of another culture in their marketing messages. Marketing imperialism or cultural imperialism, terms used to express concerns about the homogenization of cultural differences, should be avoided. Respect for culture and local customs is so important that insensitivity to local customs can make an ad completely ineffective. Also, advertising that portrays either gender as sex objects is considered demeaning and sexist, and therefore should be avoid. Explicitly using sex appeal to sell is often seen an inappropriate, especially if sex is not relevant to the product. Similarly, playing on consumers’ insecurities about their self-image is questionable because it can lead to dangerous and unhealthy practices. In general marketers should avoid advertising that is in poor taste or offensive. They should strive for advertising that is honest and transparent, and be make sure that their messages communicate fairly and accurately.

What are ethics and what are ethical responsibilities of marketing communicators?

Ethics are the “shoulds” and “oughts” of behavior. They are “the right thing to do.” When faced with an ethical decision, the difficulty often lies in making choices from equally compelling or competing options. Ethical decisions are usually complex and involve navigating a moral maze of conflicting forces. They demand the ability to engage in what ethicists call “moral reasoning.” As a professional, you must be aware of industry standards as well as ethical questions that underlie the core issues that may arise in your profession. You must also learn to rely on personal judgment, moral reasoning resting on an your intuitive sense of right and wrong, and your moral compass to determine when a marketing message is misleading, insensitive, too over the top, or too manipulative. Industry standards can help with a decision about ethical behavior. Many professions have written a code of ethics to help guide practitioners toward ethical behavior, including the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the Public Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

Relations Society of America, and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. In an effort to help advertisers build consumer trust and brand loyalty in a global and digital economy, the Institute for Advertising Ethics created eight Principles for Advertising Ethics, which emphasize the importance of transparency and the need to conduct business relationships with consumers in a fair, honest, and forthright manner.

4. What are some product–specific issues related brand communicators must consider, as it relates to social responsibility? Is it ever acceptable for an advertising agency to market an unhealthy or dangerous product? If yes, under what conditions? Before an agency can create an ad for a client, it must consider the nature of the client company and its mission, marketing objectives, reputation, available resources, competition, and, most importantly, its product line. Can the agency and its staff honestly promote the products being advertised? In cases where the agency works on a controversial account, there are still ethical ways to approach the business. One way to make ethical decisions is to choose the route that does no one harm. Marketers are now being forced to consider the social, as well as nutritional, impact of their products. In the past, consumers were considered responsible for the products they chose to buy, but in a new era of social responsibility, principled marketers are now more responsible for the negative effects of the products they choose to sell. 5. Why is it important that advertising be regulated as a business? While it would be ideal if individuals and companies always made socially responsible choices and everyone could agree that those choices resulted in right actions, sometimes that does not occur and there is a need for regulatory or legal action. Various systems are in place to monitor the social responsibility of advertising, including laws, government regulations and their regulatory bodies, professional oversight groups, and industry self-regulation. 6. What is a trademark? What are the rights and responsibilities of the owner? A trademark is a brand, corporate or store name, or a distinctive symbol that identifies the seller's brand and thus differentiates it from the brands of other sellers. A trademark must be registered through the Patent and Trademark Office of the Department of Commerce, which gives the organization exclusive use of the mark, as long as the trademark is maintained as an identification of a specific product. Under the Lanham Trademark Act of 1947, the Patent Office protects unique trademarks from infringement by competitors. Because trademarks are critical communication devices for products and services, they are important in advertising.

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

7. Discuss the First Amendment, and how it protects commercial speech. What are its limitations? First Amendment protection extends to commercial speech, which is speech that promotes commercial activity. However, that protection is not absolute; it is often restricted and the Supreme Court generally applies a different standard to commercial speech. Although no one expects advertising to have the same constitutional protection of free speech that is given to individuals, courts throughout the country are narrowing the gap. Although there is freedom in the U.S. for commercial free speech, it is not as widely valued as other forms of free speech such as that enjoyed by the press and filmmakers. In essence, the Supreme Court has ruled that only truthful commercial speech is protected, not misleading or deceptive statements. Because the Supreme Court continues to reinterpret how the First Amendment applies in different cases, advertisers must keep close track of legal developments. 8. What is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and what does it do? How does the agency influence advertisers’ behavior? Established by Congress in 1914 to oversee business, the FTC is the primary agency governing the advertising industry. Its main focus with respect to advertising is to identify and eliminate ads that deceive or mislead the consumer. Some FTC responsibilities are to: a) initiate investigations against companies that engage in unfair competition or deceptive practices, b) regulate acts and practices that deceive businesses or consumers and issue cease-and-desist orders where such practices exist, c) fine people or companies that violate either (1) a trade regulation rule or (2) a cease-and-desist order given to any other firm in the industry, and d) fund the participation of consumer groups and other interest groups in rule-making proceedings. Specifically, the FTC oversees false advertising of such items as foods, drugs, cosmetics, and therapeutic devices. The FTC hosts the National Do Not Call Registry to help citizens keep from receiving unwanted telemarketing calls. The FTC monitors the ratings system and the advertising practices of the film, music, and electronic games industries. Periodically it issues progress reports to Congress on youthoriented entertainment advertising to make sure that ads for products with potentially objectionable content - primarily violent or sexual content - are not seen on media targeted to youth. The FTC's reports to Congress cover advertising on television and websites as well as print media. The existence of a regulatory agency such as the FTC influences advertisers' behavior. Although most cases never reach the FTC, advertisers prefer not to risk long legal battles with the agency. Advertisers are also aware that competitors may

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

complain to the FTC about a questionable advertisement. Such a move can cost the offending organization millions of dollars.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Locate an advertising agency professional of your choice and interview them on the subject of law or ethics in advertising. Build a list of questions based on the main principles you are learning in Chapter 3. Possible areas to explore: •

The extent to which legal constraints dictate what agency professionals can and cannot do.

•

How the agency polices its own activities, from both legal and ethical standpoints.

•

How this person approaches ethical dilemmas posed by advertisers or the media. Try to get specific examples. Write a 500-word report on your findings, contrasting them with material from your textbook.

2. During a normal evening of television viewing, record three commercials that utilize sex appeal to sell a product or service. Then present them to the class. Who would you guess the target audience is? Why does the advertiser use sex appeal? Do you believe this is an effective strategy? If so, how? What changes, if any, would you suggest? Think-Pair-Share 1. In pairs, go online or flip through magazines to locate examples of the blurring line between news, advertising, and entertainment. How do you know what is news and what is entertainment? Why should you care? Is this approach fair to news readers and viewers? Discuss with the class. 2. What are the similarities and differences between law and ethics in the advertising business? Discuss how the two are related, and how they are different. Which one is more important and how do the two combine to influence advertisers’ behavior?

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Visit www.adbusters.org to see a real-life example of an organization that appears to be actively working against the conventional advertising industry. Read the organization’s mission statement and view the “spoof ads,” which poke fun at a range of advertisements. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 3: Brand Communication and Society

Prepare a brief class presentation on this topic, contrasting your findings with what you have learned in Chapter 3. Why do you imagine this organization has thrived? Which specific legal or ethical arguments do you suppose Adbusters might make against the advertising industry? You may use PowerPoint slides or show the class examples from the Adbusters website. 2. Visit the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) online at www.aaaa.org Scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on “About the Association” link to locate the organization’s Constitution and Bylaws, Mission Statement and Standards of Practice. Compare what you find with your Chapter 3 readings. Consider: •

Similarities and differences in terms of ethical approaches to the advertising business.

•

Self-regulation. Is this an example of effective industry self-regulation? If so, how? If not, how could these documents be strengthened?

Prepare a 350-word report on your findings, integrating viewpoints from both AAAA and your textbook.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

Part 2 Principle: Be True to Thy Brand – and Thy Consumer

Part II of this textbook focuses on how brand communication works, why and how consumers make the decisions they do, and how a winning strategy – one that reflects how consumers think and feel – can be developed. A basic principle is that brands must be true to themselves and to the consumers who buy them. Regina Lewis explains this principle in her essay entitled “Brands Are Built on Human Foundation” that follows. In her essay, she outlines five enduring principles to which she, along with her marketing team and agencies always adhere. These principles will be explained further in the chapters that make up Part II. Chapter four answers the big picture question of “How does advertising and other marketing communication work?” Effectiveness factors are spelled out using the Facets Model of Effects. Building on that discussion as a foundation, chapter five introduces the consumer audience and discusses how targeting works. Chapter six introduces the basics of research used to understand consumers and the marketplace. Finally, chapter seven explains how an understanding of what makes advertising effective, combined with insight into how consumers think and behave, come together to develop a strategic plan.

Chapter 4 How Marketing Brand Works

◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. How does brand communication work both as a form of mass communication and interactive communication? 2. How did the idea of advertising effects develop, and what are the problems in traditional approaches to advertising effects? 3. What is the Facets Model of Advertising Effects, and how does it explain how brand communication works? What are the key Facets of brand communication effectiveness?

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

CHAPTER OVERVIEW The chapter opens with an explanation of how communication works by first discussing the SMCR model, and then exploring the impact of interactive communication upon that model. Next, the effects behind advertising effectiveness are explored. First, two traditional models, along with their limitations, are discussed. Then a different approach entitled Moriarty’s Domains model, that eliminates the shortcomings of the traditional models is introduced. Each of the six components of Moriarty’s domains model is outlined in detail. The chapter then closes with a debate between the “Strong Theory” versus the “Weak Theory” regarding advertising impact.

CHAPTER OUTLINE HOW DOES BRAND COMMUNICATION WORK? •

At its most basic, brand communication is a message to a consumer about a brand. It gets attention and provides information, and sometimes even entertainment. It is purposeful in that it seeks to create some kind of response, such as an inquiry, a sale, a visit to a website, or a test drive.

•

Most traditional advertising is not as personal or interactive as a conversation because it relies on mass communication. However, there are other forms of marketing communication, such as personal selling and telemarketing, can deliver the personal contact of a conversation.

The Mass Communication Approach • Mass communication is a process, as depicted in the SMCR model in Figure 4.1a. The process begins with (1) a source, a sender who (2) encodes or puts it in words and pictures as a (3) message. The message is presented through (4) channels of communication, such as a newspaper, radio, or TV. The message is then (5) decoded or interpreted by (6) the receiver, who is the reader, viewer, or listener. The last step is (7) feedback, which is obtained by monitoring the response of the receiver to the message. The entire process is complicated by what we refer to as (8) noise, things that interrupt the sending as well as the receiving of the message. •

If the communication process fails to work and the consumer does not receive the message as intended by the advertiser, then the communication effort is ineffective. The brand communication model shown in Figure 4.1b describes how this communication process works.

•

External noise, which hinders the consumer’s reception of the message, includes technical and socio-economic trends that affect the reception of the message. Examples include the economic downturn or changing health trends. Problems with the brand’s marketing mix can also have impact on the consumer’s response.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

•

External noise can also be related to the advertising media. It can be as simple as bad broadcast or cell phone reception. A more likely cause of noise is clutter, which is the multitude of messages all competing to get the consumer’s attention.

•

Internal noise includes personal factors that affect the reception of an advertisement, such as the receiver’s needs, language skills, purchase history, information-processing abilities, and other personal factors. Distraction from competing brand messages can also be a source of internal noise.

•

Feedback is the reaction the audience has to a message. It can be obtained through research or through customer-initiated contact with the company. Both of these are important tests of the effectiveness of marketing communication messages. It is important to remember that this process is not foolproof or even dependable.

Adding Interaction to Marketing Communication • Mass communication is traditionally seen as a one-way process with the message depicted as moving from the source to the receiver. However, interactive communication is two-way communication, and marketing communication is moving in that direction. •

The difference between one-way and two-way communication is that in two-way communication process the source and receiver change positions as the message bounces back and forth between them. If marketers want to overcome the impersonal nature of mass communication, they need to learn to receive it (i.e., listen to) as well as send messages to customers. Figure 4.2 illustrates an interactive communication model.

•

Another way to describe interactive communication is to modify and extend the formula introduced in Chapter 2, where we described B2C and B2B marketing. With consumer initiated communication, that formula would turn around to become C2B.

•

Communication is more complicated now because of the increasing use of social media and word of mouth, which can be represented as B2C2. C2 refers to a network messages with the communication shared among a network of friends. However, shared communities could also drive the communication. In this case, people talk about a brand and then send messages to the company.

•

Marketers’ use of word of mouth, buzz marketing, and social media are indicators of the need for message integration. The important difference is that consumers are talking to one another in a circle of comments about products and brands. That raises the bar on the need for consistency in company-produced brand communication, whatever the format and medium.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

•

Interactive communication is also making the classic two-step or multistep flow of communication model more relevant. In this model, people identified as opinion leaders talk to other people and influence the formation of attitudes and behaviors. This model helps to explain how word of mouth intersects with public relations and new media in brand communication, according to one professor.

•

Principle: In interactive communication, there are multiple conversations occurring in a network with people contacting companies as well as talking to one another and companies listening and responding as well as sending messages.

Interactions and Interactive Experiences • A final point is that interactive communication is the building block of the customer-brand experience, which can determine the likelihood of repeat business and brand loyalty. The importance of interactions is underscored in the “Inside Story’ feature about Office Depot in this chapter. You can hear a discussion about customer service and the cases in this textbook at www.outsidein.forrester.com. Other Aspects of Communication • It’s important to recognize that nonverbal communication can be just as powerful as word-based forms. Many commercials are essentially nonverbal, relying on the impact of compelling visuals. •

Brand signals include slogans, but they are dominated by logos, imagery, and color. Signaling is particularly important in the clutter and chaos of the Internet, where attention is shortened and recognition happens in an instant.

What Are The Effects Behind Effectiveness? • The most important characteristic of brand communication is that it is purposeful. Ads are created to have some effect, some impact on the people who read or see their message. We refer to this as effects. •

This desired impact is formally stated as a set of objectives, which are statements of the measurable goals or results that the message is intended to achieve. In other words, the brand message works to achieve its brand objectives.

•

The theme of this book is that good advertising – and brand communication – is effective when it achieves the advertiser’s desired response. Thus, understanding what kinds of effects can be achieved with a marketing communication message is essential to anyone engaged in planning advertising or other forms or marketing communication.

•

Principle: The intended consumer response is the message’s objective, and the message is effective to the degree that it achieves this desired response.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

Traditional Views on Impact • When we ask “how it works,” we are talking about the impact an advertisement has on receivers of the message, that is, how they respond to the message. What are these effects that determine whether an advertisement works? Here are two traditional approaches that outline the impact of advertising. ▪

AIDA. The most commonly used explanation of how advertising works is one referred to as AIDA, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Because AIDA assumes a predictable set of steps, it is also referred to as a hierarchy of effects model.

▪

Think/Feel/Do. This model was developed in the 1970s and is also referred to as the FCB model. The idea is that advertising motivates people to think about the message, feel something about the brand, and then do something, such as try it or buy it. This view is supported by recent research.

•

One problem with these approaches is that they are based on the concepts of a predictable process that consumers go through in making decisions, beginning with exposure to a brand message. In reality, however, we know that consumers sometimes buy out of habit, and in other situations, they buy on impulse.

•

A different approach that attempted to solve the problem of linear steps is found in Moriarty’s Domains Model. It is based on the idea that messages have an impact on consumer responses, not in steps, but simultaneously. The three key effects, or domains, identified in this approach are: 1) perception, 2) learning, and 3) persuasion. The idea is that a message can engage consumers’ perceptions (attention, interest), educate them (think, learn), and persuade them (change attitude and behavior) all at the same time. The Port of Vancouver ads in Exhibit 4.3 provide an example of how these effects interact.

•

Yet another approach to analyzing what works in brand communication is presented in Armstrong’s Persuasive Advertising book, which identifies 194 principles based on research findings over the years.

•

Principle: Not all purchases begin with a search for information. Some purchases are made out of habit or on impulse.

WHAT ARE THE FACETS OF IMPACT? • Our objective in this chapter is to present the Facets Model of Effects, which does a more complete job than previous models of explaining how advertising creates impact. Effective marketing communication speaks to us about things that we want to know in ways that we like.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

•

The solution to our search for a new model is to build on the effects identified in the think/feel/do model and add the missing categories, such as perception, association, and persuasion. Thus, we propose a six-factor model that should be useful both in setting objectives and in evaluating the effectiveness of the advertising.

•

Our answer to the question of how advertising works is to propose that effective advertising creates six types of consumer responses: 1) see/hear, 2) feel, 3) think/understand, 4) connect, 5) believe, and 6) act/do—all of which work together to create a response to a brand message. These six consumer responses and the categories of effects to which they belong are represented in Figure 4.3.

The Perception Facet: See/Hear • Every day we are bombarded with stimuli, such as faces, conversations, scents, sounds, advertisements, news announcements. Yet, we actually notice only a small fraction. Why? The answer is perception. Perception is the process by which we receive information through our five senses and assign meaning to it. If an advertisement is to be effective it, first of all, has to get noticed. It has to be seen or heard, even if the perception is minimal and largely below the level of awareness. The challenge is to create breakthrough messages that get attention and stick in the mind. Principle: Breakthrough messages grab (get attention) and stick (lock in memory.) •

Perception is a meaning-making process that involves two approaches. One is the Gestalt viewpoint, which means that messages are understood as a unified whole. The other approach involves a moment-by-moment analysis of the interconnected strong of words and images in a commercial or in a series of strategic messages.

•

Either or both approaches lead to a brand impression in memory. Our minds are full of impressions that we have collected without much active thought or concentration. Breakthrough Advertising is brand communication that breaks through our perceptual filters, engages our attention, and makes a lasting impression on the audience.

•

Principle: Breakthrough advertising breaks through perceptual filters, engages attention, and makes a lasting impression.

Factors That Drive Perception • Consumers select the messages to which they pay attention, a process called selective perception. Here’s how perception works: Some ads for some product categories battle for attention because people do not choose to watch them. However, if the message breaks through the disinterest and is selected and attended to, then the consumer may react to it with interest if it is relevant. The Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

result is awareness of the ad or brand, which is filed in memory, at least to the point that the consumer recognizes the brand or ad. The key factors driving perception are exposure, selection and attention, interest, and relevance, awareness, and recognition. Below is a brief review of these terms and how they relate to advertising impact. •

Exposure. The first test of perception is when a marketing communication message is seen or heard. In advertising, this is called exposure, which is an important goal of media planners who try to find the best way to connect consumers to a message.

•

Selection and Attention. This is the process by which a receiver of a message chooses to attend to a message. Amidst all the clutter in the media environment, selection is a huge problem. The ability to draw attention that brings visibility to a brand is one of advertising’s greatest strengths. Advertisements, particularly television commercials, are often designed to be intrusive, which means they intrude on people’s perception and grab attention.

•

Interest. A factor in crossing the selection barrier is interest, which means the receiver of the message has become mentally engaged in some way with the ad and the product. Ad messages are designed not only to get attention, but also to hold the audience’s interest long enough for the audience to register the point of the ad—that level of interest and attention is sometimes referred to as stickiness, particularly for websites.

•

Relevance. One reason people are interested in something is relevance, which means the message connects on some personal level.

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Curiosity. Another reason people pay attention is curiosity, which results from questioning, wanting to know more, or being intrigued by something. However, research indicates that curiosity may also create a problem for certain types of advertising campaigns.

•

Awareness. When you are aware of something, you know that you have seen it or heard it before. In other words, awareness results when an advertisement makes an impression and something registers. New product campaigns, for example, seek to create high levels of brand awareness.

•

Recognition. Advertisers are interested in two types of memory: recognition, which means people remember seeing the ad and recall, which means they remember what the ad said. Recognition is a measure of perception and is used to determine awareness. Recall is a measure of understanding and we will talk about that in a later section on cognitive effects. Recognition relies on simple visuals that lock into memory, such as logos (Nike’s Swoosh), as well as colors (IBM’s blue), jingles and sounds (Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for United Airlines),

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

characters (the Energizer bunny), key visuals (Polo’s ponies or the disbelieving look of the Aflac duck), and slogans (Altoids - The Curiously Strong Mints). Memory depends heavily upon repetition to anchor the impression in the mind. •

The Synergy Requirement. We mentioned earlier Preston’s idea that the end result of effective marketing communication is an integrated perception. In campaigns that use an IMC approach, marketers coordinate all marketing communication messages to create synergy, which means individual messages have more impact working jointly to promote a product than they would if working on their own. This happens whether or not the marketer plans for integrated communication.

•

IMC Principle: People automatically integrate brand messages and experiences. Synergy occurs when all of the messages work together to create a coherent brand perception.

The Subliminal Issue • Subliminal effects are message cues given below the threshold of perception. In other words, they don’t register. They are designed to get past your perceptual filters by talking to your subconscious. In contrast to the views of most professionals and professors in advertising, critics who believe in subliminal advertising presume such messages to be intense enough to influence behavior, and they consider it to be unfair manipulation of unaware viewers. •

There is a continuing debate about whether subliminal advertising really exists. However, it is impossible to convince devout believers that it does not. Whether or not it is an effective advertising tool is a more important question. Professor Sheri Broyles at the University of North Texas describes the research and thinking about this topic in the A Principled Practice feature in this chapter.

The Emotional or Affective Facet: Feel • Affective responses mirror our feelings about something – anger, love, fear, hate. The term affective describes something that stimulates wants, touches the emotions, creates liking, and elicits feelings. A lesson learned from the recent economic downturn is that positive brand communication is important. •

Feelings and emotions can be positive or negative. Generally, brand communication seeks to wrap a positive halo around a brand and a purchase decision. The CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi describes the passion that loyal customers feel for their favorite brands as “lovemarks.”

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The importance of positive responses has been institutionalized by Facebook with its famous ‘like’ button. Sometimes, however, a brand message arouses different emotions, such as fear or dislike. Some ads are designed to make you feel negative about something, such as smoking, bugs in your home, or a political

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candidate. In the case of irritating advertising, you may respond by disliking the ad or the product. •

Look back at the Facets of Effects model in Figure 4.3 and notice how perception and emotion sit side-by-side at the top of the model. Although this isn’t a linear model, the perceptual process begins with perception if a message registers at all. Emotion is a driving factor because it is closely related to perception.

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Erik du Plessis, the CEO of a global advertising research firm, makes the argument in his book, The Advertised Mind, that attention is driven by emotion. He says our emotional responses to a message determine whether or not we pay attention. The key task of an ad then is initially to evoke an emotional response.

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A question arises, however, about the power of a negative message, one that aims to generate negative responses, such as dislike and loathing. Negative political advertising, for example, is a huge area of debate.

Factors That Drive the Emotion • Emotional responses are powerful, not only because they drive perception, but also because they break through disinterest. Furthermore, positive emotional responses drive memory as well. The affective response drivers are wants and desires, feelings, liking, and resonance. Emotion causes us to “feel” something. ▪

Wants and Desires. “I want something” implies desire. Wants are driven by emotions and based on wishes, longings, and cravings. Impulse buying is a good example of the motivational power of wants. When you are standing in line at a store and see a display of candy bars, you may want one, but that doesn’t mean you need it. It’s strictly desire and that is driven by emotion.

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Excitement. A step above interest in terms of intensity of response is excitement. If we are excited about something, we are agitated or energized and more willing to participate or make a commitment.

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Feelings. Our passions and feelings are addressed in a number of ways in advertising, such as humor, love, or fear. Ads that rely on arousing feelings are referred to as emotional appeals. Research supports the idea that emotional appeals have more impact than rational approaches on both attitudes and behavior.

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Liking. Two important affective responses to a message are liking the brand and liking the ad. Liking reflects the personality of the brand or the entertainment power of the ad’s execution. The assumption is that if you like the ad, then that positive feeling will transfer to the brand and if you feel positive about the brand, you will be more likely to buy it.

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Principle: A positive response to an ad is important because marketers hope that liking the ad will increase liking the brand. ▪

On the opposite side of liking is brand aversion, which means people avoid buying a brand because they don’t like the ads or what they associate with the brand. For example, we don’t like to see condom ads, so they aren’t often found in the mass media.

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Resonance. Effective advertisements sometimes create resonance where the message “rings true.” Like relevance, messages that resonate help the consumer identify with the brand on a personal level. These sympathetic vibes amplify the emotional impact by engaging a personal connection with a brand.

The Cognitive Facet: Think/Understand • Cognition refers to how consumers search for and make sense of information, as well as learn and understand something. It’s a rational response to a message. Some call this a left-brain approach, based on the left-right brain ways of thinking that evolved from brain hemisphere research. Right-brain thinking is presumed to be more emotional and creative. •

The opposite of understanding is confusion and misunderstanding, which is equally of concern to brand communicators. Sometimes the information is too complex, and sometimes there is brand confusion because too many messages from too many marcom functions are not consistent with one another.

Factors That Drive the Cognition • Information processing – thinking things through – leads to a cognitive response. A consumer may need to know something in order to make a decision, and the information gathered in response to that need leads to understanding. The information has to be perceived and then filed in memory but can be recalled when needed. Advertising and other marketing communication often provide information about products, usually facts about product performance and features, such as size, price, construction, and design. •

Principle: Information processing leads to a cognitive response such as understanding – the information is filed in memory and can be recalled when needed.

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The informative nature of advertising is particularly important for products that are complex (appliances, cars, insurance, computers and computer software) or that involve a high price or high risk (motorboats, vacations, medical procedures).

The key drivers of a consumer’s responses are need, cognitive learning, comprehension, differentiation, and recall.

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Need. Generally, needs are basic biological motivations but they are also something you think about, while wants tend to be based more on feelings and desires. When we refer to needs, we are usually talking about a message that describes something lacking in consumers’ lives and that often stimulates a cognitive response. Advertisers address consumer needs through informational ads that explain how a product works and what it can do for the user, that is, the benefits it offers to the user.

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Cognitive Learning. Consumers learn about products and brands through two primary routes: cognitive learning and conditioned learning. Cognitive learning occurs when a presentation of facts, information, and explanations leads to understanding. Consumers who are trying to find information about a product before they buy it are taking the cognitive learning route.

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Comprehension is the process by which people understand, make sense of things, and acquire knowledge. Confusion, on the other hand, is the absence of understanding and is usually the result of logic problems.

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Differentiation. Differentiation is the consumer’s ability to separate one brand from another in a product category. Distinguishing between competing brands is what happens when consumers understand the explanation of a competitive advantage.

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Recall. This is a measure of learning or understanding. When you recall the ad message, you not only remember seeing the ad and hopefully the brand, you also remember the copy points, which is the information provided about the brand. To recall information presented in an ad, you must have concentrated on it and thought about it as the information was being presented or afterward.

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Thinking and Feeling. Even though this section is on cognitive processing, note that feeling and thinking always work together. A frequent question asked by researchers is this: Which is more important in brand communication - thinking or feeling? This is discussed by a professor at Boston College in this chapter’s A Matter of Principle. ▪

Principle: In all actions of perception and communication, emotion comes first and thought comes second. Although researchers now recognize the significance of emotion in effective brand communication, it is important to note that the two responses of think and feel also work together.

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Principle: Communication that makes consumers both think and feel provides better support for a brand image; thought without emotion or emotion without thought makes it difficult to anchor the brand in memory.

The Association Facet: Connect

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Association is the technique of communicating through symbolism – we might say that symbolic meanings are transferred through the process of association. Association is the primary tool used in brand communication and guides the process of making symbolic connections between a brand and desirable characteristics and qualities, as well as people, situations, and lifestyles that cue the brand’s image and personality.

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The idea is to associate the brand with things that resonate positively with the customer. It’s a three-way process: 1) the brand relates to 2) a quality that 3) customers value. Brands take on symbolic meaning through this association process. Professor Ivan Preston in his Association Model of advertising believes that you can explain how advertising works by understanding how association works.

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Sometimes association can be powerful because they are unexpected, and sometimes association can backfire.

Factors That Drive the Association • The goal of association is to use symbolic connections to define the brand and make it distinctive. Brand linkage reflects the degree to which the associations presented in the message, as well as the consumer's interest, are connected to the brand. The association drivers are symbolism, conditioned learning, and transformation. •

Symbolism. Through association a brand takes on a symbolic meaning, which means the brand stands for certain qualities. It represents something, usually something abstract. For instance, Bisquick pancakes shaped like hearts convey the heart healthy message symbolically.

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Conditioned Learning. Although advertisements sometimes use a cognitive strategy, they are frequently designed to elicit non-cognitive associations through conditioned learning, the process by which a group of thoughts and feelings become linked to the brand through repetition of the message. For example, beer advertising directed at a young male audience often uses images of sporting events, beach parties, and good looking young women. People also learn by watching others, which is called social learning.

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Transformation. The result of the brand association process is transformation. This is what happens when a product takes on meaning and is transformed from a mere product into something special. It is differentiated from other products in the category by virtue of its brand image symbolism and personality cues. For example, Bisquick HeartSmart is more than just flour; it rises above the average product in the category and stands out as something unique and healthy. That transformation in a consumer’s mind is a perceptual shift, one that is created by the associations cued through advertising messages.

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Association Networks • The association process is built on a network of associations, called a knowledge structure. Solomon in his book on consumer behavior describes these networks as spider webs, where one thought cues other thoughts. Researchers seeking to determine the meaning of a brand will ask people to talk about their associations with a brand and to recreate these association networks in order to understand how a brand’s meaning comes together as an impression in people’s minds. The Persuasion Facet: Believe • Persuasion is the conscious intent on the part of the source to influence or motivate the receiver of a message to believe or do something. Persuasive communication—creating/changing attitudes and creating conviction—are important goals of most marketing communication. An attitude is a state of mind, tendency, propensity, inclination, or mental readiness to react to a situation in a given way. Since advertising rarely delivers immediate action, surrogate effects, such as changing an attitude that leads to a behavior, are often the goal of advertising. Many scholars see attitudes as the most central factor in persuasion. •

Attitudes can be positive, negative, or neutral. Both positive and negative attitudes, particularly those that are embedded in strong emotions, can motivate people to action—or away from action.

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Attitudes are both rational and emotional. Rational information processing is important for certain types of ads. When people are convinced of something, their attitudes are expressed as beliefs. Some attitude change strategies attempt to extinguish beliefs. Attitude change strategies often use the tools of logic and reasoning, as well as arguments and counterarguments, to intensify the feeling on which beliefs are built.

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Persuasion, in other words, is an area in which cognitive and affective factors are interrelated. Persuasion works both through rational arguments and by touching emotions in such a way that they create a compulsion to act. Persuasive strategies can be used to touch both the head and the heart. Negative advertising, or attack ads, are good examples of how people form opinions at the same time they process information that is presented within an emotional frame.

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Principle: Brand communication employs both rational arguments and compelling emotions to create persuasive messages.

Factors That Drive Persuasion There are many dimensions to persuasion, but advertisers identify the following factors to explain how persuasion affects consumers:

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

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Motivation. A factor in creating a persuasive message is motivation. Underlying motivation is the idea that something, such as hunger or a desire to be beautiful or rich, prompts a person to act in a certain way. This sets up a state of tension, and the product becomes a tool in achieving that goal and thus reducing the tension.

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Influence. If you think you need to lose weight or stop smoking, how much of that decision is based on your own motivations and how much of your motivation results from messages from others? Some people, known as opinion leaders, may be able to influence other peoples’ attitudes and convince them of the “right” decision. The idea is that other people—friends, family, teachers, experts such as doctors—may affect your decision making. Testimonies—from real people, celebrities, in addition to experts—are often used to change attitudes. Bandwagon appeals—messages that suggest that everyone is doing it—are also used to influence people’s decisions. Word-of-mouth communication has always been recognized as the most powerful form of persuasion, and that’s why strategies that engage influencers are so important.

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Involvement. Advertisers distinguish between products, messages, and media on the basis of the level of involvement they require from the buyer. Involvement refers to the degree to which you are engaged in attending to an ad and the process you go through in responding to a message and making a product decision. Some products call for a more involved process than others, such as cosmetics as compared to toothpaste. High involvement products are considered purchases that generate a more intense level of engagement, such as buying a computer or deciding which university to attend. Low involvement products are such things as aspirin, paper napkins, envelopes, paper clips, milk, and lettuce.

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Engagement: The idea of engagement is that a consumer is more than just interested in something. Rather, they are “turned on.” Engagement cultivates passion.

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Conviction. Effective persuasion results in conviction, which means consumers agree with a persuasive message and achieve a state of certainty—a belief—about a brand. A factor in conviction is the power of the argument, which uses logic, reason, and proof to make a point and build conviction. Understanding an argument is a complex cognitive process that demands the audience “follow through” with the reasoning to understand the point and reach a conclusion.

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Preference and Intention. When consumers marry belief with a preference for or an intention to try or buy a product, they are motivated by conviction. Intention can be heightened with reward strategies, such as good deals, sale pricing, and gifts. Good intentions are the motivations behind cause marketing and social responsibility.

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Loyalty. When we talk about a “favorite” brand, we are discussing preference, but also brand loyalty, which is both an attitude (liking, respect, preference) and an

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action (repeat purchases). It is a response to brand communication that crosses over between thinking, feeling, and doing. It is a response that is built on customer satisfaction. Providing information about warranties, customer service, and technical support for technology products is an important part of brand loyalty strategies. The idea is to reduce risk and put the customer’s mind at ease. Incentives are also used in loyalty programs, such as frequent flyer or frequent buyer programs. •

An important issue in persuasion is believability, which refers to the credibility of the arguments in a message. Related to believability is credibility, which is an indication of the trustworthiness of the source. Source credibility means the person delivering the message, such as an expert, is respected, trusted, and believable.

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Credibility is one of the big advantages of public relations because publicity stories delivered through a supposedly unbiased news medium have higher credibility than advertising, which is seen as self-serving. Advertising can use a credibility strategy to intensify the believability of its message. Using data to support or prove a claim, for example, gives consumers a reason to believe the advertising.

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The A Matter of Practice feature in this chapter explains how Chuck Young, president of Amertest, analyzes the impact of a brand message and identifies key drivers of a persuasive message.

The Behavior Facet: Act/Do • Behavior can involve different types of action in addition to trying or buying the product – for example to visit a store, return an inquiry card, call a toll-free number, join an organization, donate to a good cause, or click on a website. •

We must distinguish, however, between direct action, which represents an immediate response, and indirect action, which is a delayed response to advertising. Advertising almost by definition is characterized by indirect action.

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Principle: Advertising has delayed effects in that a consumer may see or hear an advertisement but not act on that message until later when in a store.

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There is also purposeless action, which became a fad during the 2000s when viral e-mail messages were used to generate a sudden and conspicuous gathering of people. Called flash mobs, these public spectacles included a worldwide day of pillow fights in public places in 2008. Flash mobs demonstrate the power of the Internet and buzz to engage people and drive them to action, even if the action is largely meaningless.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

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In terms of media, one behavior that worries marketers is the tendency to avoid brand messages. Ad skipping is available through a number of technologies and millions of television viewers do it.

Factors That Drive Behavioral Response The behavioral response involving action of some kind is often the most important goal of marketing communication, particularly for tools such as sales promotion and direct marketing. Factors that drive a behavioral response include: •

Mental Rehearsal. The mental rehearsal of behaviors is made possible by showing visuals of people doing things. Visualization is an imagined action, but one that is the predecessor to the behavior with which the advertiser hopes the consumer will feel comfortable and familiar.

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Trial. The first step in making a purchase is often to try the product. Trial is important for new products and expensive products because it lets a customer use the product without committing initially to a purchase. In other words, the risk is lessened. Sales promotion is particularly good at driving trial through special price deals, sampling, and incentive programs that motivate.

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Buying. The objective of most marketing programs is sales. In advertising, sales are sometimes stimulated by the call-to-action at the end of the ad, along with information on where to purchase the product. From a customer perspective, a sale means making a purchase. In customer-focused marketing programs, the goal is to motivate people to try or buy a certain brand. But in some marketing programs, such as those for nonprofits, the marketing program may be designed to encourage the audience to sign up, volunteer, or donate. Sales, however, for many managers, is the gold standard for effective advertising. They feel that, even if they are funny, memorable, or entertaining, ads are failures if they don’t help sell the brand. The problem is that it may be difficult to prove that a marketing communication message is the singular factor in the marketing mix that delivered the sales. They could have been induced by price, distribution, or product design and performance.

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Contacting. Responding by making contact with the advertiser can be an important sign of effectiveness. Initiating contact is also valuable, particularly in IMC programs that are designed to maintain brand relationships by creating opportunities for customer-initiated dialogue, such as encouraging customers with a complaint, compliment, suggestion, or referral to contact the company.

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Advocating and Referrals. One of the behavioral dimensions of brand loyalty is advocacy, i.e., speaking out on a brand’s behalf and referring to it when someone asks for a recommendation. Contacting other people is a valuable response, particularly when a satisfied customer brings in more business for the brand by providing testimonials to friends, family, and colleagues on behalf of the brand.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

Referrals, which occur when a satisfied customer recommends a favorite brand, is a form of word-of-mouth that can be incredibly more persuasive than advertising, which is viewed as self-serving. A recommendation to buy a specific brand is the ultimate test of the bond between consumers and their favorite brands. And the opposite, brand aversion, can be disastrous if the dissatisfied customer shares his or her dislike with other people. •

Prevention. In some social action situations, advertising messages are designed to deter behaviors, such as clean-air campaigns that hope to reduce car use. This is a complicated process that involves counter-arguing by presenting negative messages about an unwanted behavior and creating the proper incentives to stimulate the desired behavior. Because the effects are so complicated, the impact of such campaigns is not always clear.

THE POWER OF BRAND COMMUNICATION • The six-factor Facets Model of Effects is our answer to the question of how advertising works. These six factors, when working together, can create a coherent brand perception. There are two important things to remember about how this model works: (1) the effects are interdependent and (2) they are not all equal for all marketing communication situations. •

In terms of effects interaction, we have already suggested that cognitive and emotional responses work together. Consider that memory is a function of both attention (the perception facet) and emotion (the affective facet). The stronger the emotional hook, the more likely we’ll attend to and remember the message.

Strong and Weak Effects • Some professionals believe that sales are the only true indication of message effectiveness. The power of advertising, in other words, is determined by its ability to motivate consumers to buy a brand. Some believe that advertising is so powerful, it can motivate people to buy things they don’t need. •

Others, including the authors of this textbook, believe communication effects include a wide range of consumer responses to a message. Those responses may be just as important as sales because they lead to the creation of such things as brand liking and a long-term brand relationship. The debate over the power of brand communication is analyzed in terms of strong and weak effects.

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Principle: Effects other than sales are important because they lead to long term brand relationships.

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Those differences explain why some experts believe that communication effects, such as emotion, knowledge and persuasion, are merely ‘surrogate’ effects – communication effects that can be measured more easily than sales but are less important to marketing managers. Others believe these communication effects

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

are important in and of themselves because of what they contribute to brand strength. •

Complicating the issue is the recognition that the impact of traditional advertising is seldom immediate. In other words, advertising is a victim of delayed effects. Messages are seen at one point in time and may or may not come to mind at a later date when you are in a purchase situation. Advertisers must keep the delayed effects problem in mind when relying on consumer attention, interest, motivation, and memory to bring the message to mind days or weeks later.

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Principle: Effects other than sales are important because they lead to long-term brand relationships.

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The important conclusion to the big question about how brand messages work is that we know that advertising and other marketing communication does work when its carefully planned and executed, and it can work in a variety of ways. It may not work in every situation, and every ad may not be equally effective, but if it is done right, then brand communication can have impact on consumer responses.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 4-4. What are the key components of a communication model and how do they relate to brand communication? Mass communication is usually thought of as a process that begins with a source, a sender who encodes a message and puts it in words and pictures. The message is presented through channels of communication, such as a newspaper, radio, or TV. The message is then decoded or interpreted by the receiver, who is the reader, viewer, or listener. Feedback is obtained by monitoring the response of the receiver to the message. And the entire process is complicated by what we refer to as noise, things that interrupt the sending as well as the receiving of the message. To translate the communication model to advertising, consider that the source typically is the advertiser assisted by its agency. Together they determine the objectives for the message—the advertisement or commercial—in terms of the effects they want the message to have on the consumer receiver, also known as the target audience. The advertiser’s objectives in advertising are focused on the receiver’s response; they predict the impact the message will have on the target audience. That impact is what we measure to determine whether the message met its objectives and was effective. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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In advertising, noise hinders the consumer’s reception of the message. On a macro level noise includes consumer trends and problems with the product’s marketing mix. On a micro level external noise could be bad radio or TV reception or clutter, which is the multitude of messages all competing to get your attention. 4-5. Why is it important to add interaction to the traditional communication model? Mass communication is traditionally seen as a one-way process with the message depicted as moving from the source to the receiver. However, interactive communication is two-way communication, and marketing communication is moving in that direction. The difference between one-way and two-way communication is that the two-way communication process is interactive, and the source and receiver change positions as the message bounces back and forth between them. The interest in buzz marketing is an indication of an important trend in marketing communication strategy that is moving beyond the two-way communication model. “We are living through the largest expansion of expressive capability in the history of the human race,” according to one telecommunications expert. Permission marketing also reflects this desire for more interactive and sensitive communication. The idea behind permission marketing is that you ask people if it is okay to contact them or you rely upon them to contact you first. Interactivity has become important because, in addition to making a purchase, today’s consumers can react to marketing communication in many other ways, such as responding with comments, phone calls, and e-mail inquiries. Consumers now can initiate communication as well as receive it. The Internet has changed our conversation in other ways, also. For example, texting uses a shorthand code with an entirely new set of spelling rules and Twitter has limited conversation to 140 characters, thus making brevity cool. Also, the use of hashtags has created a new way of organizing information. Some companies have moved beyond capturing feedback by designing programs specifically to solicit ideas from customers and even get them involved in product design. Websites, blogs, Facebook, and even Twitter are used to accomplish this. In summary, the shift from one-way to two-way communication is a way to build a respectful relationship with a customer. Interaction, or two-way communication, is one of the objectives of an IMC-focused program because it leads to a long-term relationship with a brand.

4-6. What are the six categories of effects identified in the Facets Model? What does each one represent in terms of a consumer’s response to an advertising message? • See/Hear (perception) • Feel (affective/emotion) • Think/Understand (cognitive) • Connect (association) Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

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Believe (persuasion) Act/Do (behavior)

4-7. Explain the difference between recall and recognition. What facets does each represent? Advertisers are interested in two types of memory: recognition, which means people remember seeing the ad and recall, which means they remember what the ad said. Recognition is a measure of perception and is used to determine awareness. Recognition relies on simple visuals that lock into memory, such as logos (Nike’s Swoosh), as well as colors (IBM’s blue), and jingles or sounds (Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for United Airlines). Recall is a measure of learning or understanding, hence cognition. When you recall a brand message, you not only remember seeing the ad and hopefully the brand, you also remember the copy points, which is the information provided about the brand. To recall information presented in an ad, you must have concentrated on it and thought about it as the information was being presented or afterward.

4-8. Explain the difference between brand responses that involve thinking and feeling. Affective responses mirror our feelings about something. The term affective describes something that stimulates wants, touches the emotions, creates liking, and elicits feelings. Feelings and emotions can be positive or negative. Generally, marketing communication seeks to wrap a positive halo around a brand and a purchase decision. The CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi describes the passion that loyal customers feel for their favorite brands as “lovemarks.” Factors that drive emotional/affective responses include wants and desires, excitement, liking, and resonance. On the other hand, cognition refers to how consumers search for and respond to information, as well as learn and understand something. It’s a rational response to a message. Some call this a left-brain approach, based on the left-right brain ways of thinking that evolved from brain hemisphere research. Right-brain thinking is presumed to be more emotional and creative. The informative nature of advertising is particularly important for products that are complex (appliances, cars, insurance, computers, and software) or that involve a high price or high risk (motorboats, vacations, medical procedures). The key drivers of a consumer’s cognitive response include, need, wants, differentiation, comprehension, and recall.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

4-9. This chapter identifies six major categories of effects or consumer responses. Find an ad in this book that you think is effective and explain how it works, analyzing the way it cultivates responses in these six categories. When answering this question, students should make sure that the each of the following categories is analyzed: • See/Hear (perception) • Feel (affective/emotional) • Think/Understand (cognitive) • Connect (association) • Believe (persuasion) • Act/Do (behavior) 4-10. Eva Proctor is a planner in an agency that handles a liquid detergent brand that competes with Lever’s Wisk. Eva is reviewing a history of the Wisk theme “Ring around the Collar.” In its day, it is one of the longest-running themes on television, and Wisk’s sales share indicates that it has been successful. What is confusing Eva is that the Wisk history includes numerous consumer surveys that show consumers find “Ring around the Collar” to be boring, silly, and irritating advertising theme. Discuss why Wisk is such a popular brand even though its advertising campaign was so disliked? Wisk’s consumer surveys that seemingly contradict the long-running success of the “ring around the collar” theme demonstrate the significance of advertising relevance—isolating a point that resonates with consumers. Wisk solved and continues to solve a distinctive problem for consumers. The taunting chant of “ring around the collar, ring around the collar,” may have been annoying, but it made a simple, believable claim and delivered on that claim when consumers tried the product. Consumers could trust Wisk to remove dark stains on shirt collars. Because Wisk focused on a believable selling point, performed in a way that consistently delivered the promise, and advertised in a fashion that associated Wisk exclusively with removing stubborn stains on collars, consumers found they could believe and trust the product. Wisk achieved brand loyalty. 4-11. You have been asked to participate in a debate in your office about three different views on advertising effects. Your office has the assignment to introduce a new electric car. A copywriter says informing consumers about the product’s features is most important in creating effective advertising. An art director argues that creating an emotional bond with consumers in more important. One of the account managers says that the only advertising performance that counts is sales. Your client wants to be single-minded and tells you to pick one of these viewpoints to guide the new marketing communication. Develop a position on one side or the other and discuss your point of view.

Chapter 4: How Brand Communication Works

These three professionals are arguing about what makes brand communication purposeful, which is referred to as ‘effect.’ Ads are created to have an effect, that is, some impact on the people who read or see their message. The art director will probably argue that the stronger the emotional hook, the stronger the ad’s impact and the more likely it is that the consumer will remember the message. Informative messages are made more memorable when if they are presented with an emotional story. The copywriter believes that the most effective advertising is cognition based. In other words, information processing – thinking things through – leads to a cognitive response such as understanding. The information is then filed in memory and can be recalled when needed. This informative approach toward advertising is particularly important for products that are complex such as cars or computer software or that involve a high price or high risk, such as vacations or medical procedures. The account manager embraces a sales oriented philosophy toward adverting effects, which suggests that advertising can move the masses to action. He believes that sales are the only true indication of message effectiveness and the power of advertising is determined by its ability to motivate consumers to buy a brand. By increasing consumer knowledge and changes consumer’s attitudes, advertising is capable of persuading people who had not formerly bought a brand to buy it, at first once and then repeatedly. 4-12. Your small agency has been invited to work on a new product called Wikicells, which are shell like packaging systems that can be eaten. Milk for example, could be packaged in a strawberry or chocolate flavored pouch that you could wash and eat, like the skin of an apple. Even if you decide to toss, it is biodegradable. The first product to be introduced using this new packaging system will be yogurt and ice cream. Your assignment is to come up with a brand name and write a one page brief on how to launch these new items. Consider the relevant facets in preparing your proposal. (This is from a list of new products published by the New York Times under the headline “Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow.” It ran June 1, 2012. See www.nytimes.com) Students might consider such issues as the nature of the product, how the product is used, risk associated with the product, complexity of the product, and visibility of the product. In addition they might discuss whether or not the product meets a need or a want and what type of brand identity would be required to connect with consumers.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 4-13. Portfolio Project: From current magazines, identify five advertisements that have exceptionally high stopping power (attention), five that have exceptionally high Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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pulling power (interest), and five that have exceptionally high locking power (memory). Make photocopies of these ads to turn in. Which of these advertisements are mainly information and which are mainly emotional and focused on feelings? Which are focused on building a brand or creating associations? Do any of them do a great job of creating action? Choose what you believe to be the most effective ad in the collection. Why did you choose this one, and what can you learn from it about effective advertising? Student responses to this assignment will vary. 4.14. Mini-Case Analysis: We discussed some aspects of the “Imported from Detroit” campaign for the Chrysler turnaround in the chapter. Briefly summarize the key decisions behind this campaign. Now apply the Facets Model of Effects to analyze how the campaign worked and explain your conclusions about what did or didn’t make this an effective campaign. Write a short analysis (no more than two double-spaced pages) that explains your thinking. Key decisions included the goals, objectives, the big idea, and message strategy, each of which is identified in the case study at the beginning of this chapter. The campaign focused primarily upon three of facets identified in Moriarty’s Domain model: the Emotion (feel) Facet, the Cognition (think/understand) Facet, and the Persuasion (believe) Facet. As stated in the case study, this campaign was designed first and foremost to build a strong emotional connection with consumers by grabbing people’s emotions and heart. The national campaign was augmented with regional advertising that made a more rational appeal by giving consumers details about the cars’ attributes, thus focusing on cognition. The music, words, and images were all designed to change consumer’s beliefs, i.e., persuade them that Chrysler automobiles can compete with the quality and luxury offered by foreign manufacturers.

TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Multicultural Communication Effectiveness Read the Trace case in the Appendix before coming to class. 4-15. Explain how brand communication works in the case of the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign. 4-16. How could you strengthen the target audience’s participation in the campaign? 4-17. Analyze the campaign in terms of the Facets Model of Effects. Based on the model, what might be done to strengthen the campaign’s desired effect? Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. How does the interactive communication model differ from the basic communication model? What advantages does it offer advertisers? The basic communication model is based on a one-way model of mass communication with the source (advertiser) sending a message to a receiver, the targeted audience. In more interactive marketing communication, these roles switch back and forth. When consumers respond to a marketing communication message, they initiate a new message because a response is a type of message. Dialogue also creates new ways to listen to customers. 2. Discuss the major problems with the traditional approaches to defining the effects of advertising. There are two problems with the traditional approaches: 1) the presumption of a set of steps as a predictable pattern of response and 2) missing effects. Because we know evaluation is linked to the setting of “measurable” objectives, then our notion of how advertising works also should consider the key advertising effects researchers attempt to measure. 3. How is the concept of selective perception important in understanding the mind of the consumer? Provide a specific example. Consumers select messages to which they pay attention. Some ads for some product categories—personal hygiene products, for example—have a battle getting attention because people don’t choose to watch them. However, if the message is selected and attended to, then the consumer may react to it with interest if it is relevant. The result is awareness of the ad or brand, which is filed in memory at least to the point that the consumer recognizes the brand or ad. 4. Describe the significance of the affective or emotional facet in motivating consumers to pay attention to brand communication. Affective or emotional facets of advertising can stimulate wants, touch the emotions, create liking, and elicit feelings. The Facets of Effects model places perceive and feel side-by-side at the top of the model. Emotion is also a driving factor because it is closely related to perception. Advertising expert Erik du Plessis argues that attention is driven by emotion. He says our emotional responses to a message determine whether or not we pay attention. The key task of an ad then is initially to evoke an emotional response. This view is supported by recent research in the neurosciences. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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5. What is subliminal advertising and what are the issues that surround it? Subliminal effects are message cues given below the threshold of perception. In other words, they don’t register. They are designed to get past your perceptual filters by talking to your subconscious. People who believe in subliminal advertising presume such messages to be intense enough to influence behavior and they consider it to be unfair manipulation of unaware viewers. There is a continuing debate about whether subliminal advertising really exists. However, it is impossible to convince devout believers that it does not. Whether or not it is an effective advertising tool is a more important question. Research has repeatedly shown that subliminal advertising does not work. 6. What is the role of brand loyalty as a factor in driving persuasion? Brand loyalty is both an attitude (liking, respect, preference) and an action (repeat purchases). It is a response to brand communication that crosses over between thinking, feeling, and doing—a response that is built on customer satisfaction. If you try a product and like it, then you will be more likely to buy it again. If you don’t like it, is there a return policy or guarantee that frees you from risk when you buy something for the first time? The idea is to reduce risk and put the customer’s mind at ease. 7. Explain the behavior facet of persuasion. Is a direct action the only way for a consumer to act on an advertising message, or can indirect actions also be useful to advertisers? Behavior is the action response and it can involve a number of types of action in addition to trying or buying the product. The goal is to get people to act, such as try or buy the brand, visit a store, return an inquiry card, call a toll-free number, or click on a website. Direct action represents an immediate response (cut out the order form and send it back by return mail). Indirect action is a delayed response to advertising (recall the message later in the store and select the brand). Both types of action can be useful to advertisers. 8. How does the six-factor Facets of Effects Model explain the power and impact of advertising messages? The six factors interact to create a coherent brand perception. In terms of effects interaction, both cognitive and emotional responses work together. Consider that memory is a function of both attention (the perception facet) and emotion (the affective facet). The stronger the emotional hook, the more likely we’ll attend to and remember the message. Even informative messages can be made more memorable if they are presented with an emotional story. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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9. Describe the “Strong Theory” approach to explaining advertising affects. Some people believe that sales are the only true indication of message effectiveness. The power of advertising, in other words, is determined by its ability to motivate consumers to buy a brand. According to those who believe in the “Strong Theory” of advertising effects, advertising increases people’s knowledge and changes people’s attitudes and therefore it is capable of persuading people who had not formerly bought a brand to buy it, at first once and then repeatedly.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Have students prepare a brief PowerPoint presentation explaining the role of “feel” or the affective/emotional facet of advertising effects. How important are emotional responses in determining whether or not we pay attention to an advertisement? 2. Have students find an example of a negative ad in the press. Instruct each to give a ten-minute presentation to the class that describes how both rational arguments and compelling emotions are being evoked by the ad to create a persuasive message.

Think-Pair-Share 1. Send students to the computer lab for some quick research on neuroscience and the role of the left brain and the right brain. What does each side represent, and how do research findings inform the creative work of advertisers? Student teams can then share their findings with the class (either online or on paper) in two-minute minipresentations. 2. Pair up students and have them review the “strong effects” and “weak effects” arguments in explaining advertising effects. In a two-minute debate format, have each student prepare and advance an argument to support their side. It would be useful for the students to write down their arguments on 4” x 5” note cards for easy reference.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Locate a consumer activist and interview them on the subject of advertising effects on consumers. The interview could be done either in person or on the phone. Discuss the Facets of Effects Model with them. Is it healthy for advertisers to know this much about how we think, feel and act? How can this knowledge be used for good or for ill? What are the limitations of the model?

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2. Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, describes the passion that loyal customers feel for their favorite brands with the term “lovemarks.” Visit www.lovemarks.com and watch several of the website videos on which consumers describe their relationships with their favorite brands. Describe how these consumers are illustrating some the concepts introduced and discussed in this chapter, as well as previous chapters.

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Chapter 5 Segmenting and Targeting the Audience ◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. How does the consumer decision making process work? 2. What cultural, social, psychological, and behavioral influences affect consumer responses to advertising? 3. How does targeting work and how is it different from market segmentation? 4. What characteristics are used to segment markets and target consumers? .

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter opens by attempting to explain how consumers make brand decisions and what factors influence them during the decision making process. Several decision making models are provided as explanations, along with cultural, social, and psychological factors that influence the process. Next, segmentation is defined and six broad categories used to segment markets are listed. Then target marketing strategy is explained, as well as the practice of profiling target markets using demographics, psychographics, and behavioral patterns. The chapter closes with a discussion of Seekers, the name given to consumers who search, share and initiate marketing communication and brand relationships. Ideas concerning how segmentation strategies can be expanded to include them are introduced.

CHAPTER OUTLINE Starting the Conversation •

There are more than 315 million people in the United States, not all of whom are in the market for every product and every service. How do you find the consumers who are most likely to be interested in your brand, and then how do you start a conversation with them?

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Communication begins by knowing everything possible about a brand’s consumers, then speaking to them with a tone and message that resonates emotionally with what moves them.

How Do Consumers Make Brand Decisions? • The traditional view of consumer decision making is based on a linear, informationprocessing approach. It suggests that most people follow a decision process with Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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fairly predictable steps: (1) need recognition - the goal of brand communication at this stage is to activate or stimulate this need; (2) information search – marcom messages help the search process by providing information and making that information easy to find as well as to remember; (3) evaluation of alternatives – brand communication helps sort out products on the basis of tangible and intangible features; (4) purchase decisions - in-store promotions such as packaging, point-ofpurchase displays, price reductions, banners and signs, and coupon displays affect consumer choices; (5) post-purchase evaluation – guarantees, warranties, and easy returns are also important for reducing the fear of a purchase that goes wrong. •

The set of steps is hierarchical and suffers from the limitations discussed in Chapter 4. There are other paths to brand decisions.

The Paths to a Brand Decision • The Think/Feel/Do model of consumer response to a message can also be used to analyze the various ways in which consumers make decisions. The amount of information needed, for example, varies between low-involvement and highinvolvement situations and products. (See Figure 5.1). •

A chart in the textbook summarizes six ways consumers make decisions relative to their need for information. The point is that the path to a decision depends on the type of product and the buying situations.

• In B2B marketing, businesses buy goods and services for two reasons: (1) they need ingredients for the products they manufacture, and (2) they need goods for their business operations. Many of the influences that affect consumer buying also are reflected in business-to-business marketing. Buying decisions are often made by committees on behalf of the people who use the products, and the actual purchase is negotiated by a specialist in that category called a buyer. What Influences Consumer Decisions? • Consumer behavior describes how individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products as well as the needs that motivate these behaviors. Cultural Influences • Culture is made up of tangible items (art, literature, buildings, furniture, clothing, and music) and intangible concepts (history, knowledge, laws, morals, customs, and even standards of beauty) that together define a group of people or a way of life. Culture is learned and passed on from one generation to the next. •

Generally culture is seen as providing a deep-seated context for marketing communication, but popular culture – what we see on television, sports, fashion, and music, among other areas - is dynamic.

Norms and Values Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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The boundaries each culture establishes for “proper” behavior are norms, which are simply rules that we learn through social interaction that specify or prohibit certain behaviors. The source of norms is our cultural values, which represent our underlying belief systems. Values are few in number and hard to change.

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Advertisers strive to understand underlying core values that govern people’s attitudes and guide their behavior. A message’s primary appeal aims to match the core values of the brand to the core values of audience. Here are ten basic core values: ▪ A sense of belonging ▪ Excitement ▪ Fun and enjoyment ▪ Warm relationships ▪ Self-fulfillment ▪ Respect from others ▪ A sense of accomplishment ▪ Security ▪ Self-respect ▪ Thrift Thrift was recently the hallmark of the recession of the late 2000s when polls found that Americans tightened their belts, saved more, spent less and borrowed less.

Cross Cultural Factors • International or global marketing programs also have to consider multicultural differences that might derail communication. Dutch scholar Gaert Hofstede insists that the impact of national culture on consumption patterns is huge and should be accommodated in marketing and advertising programs. •

An example of how difficult it is to manage brand communication across cultures comes from Professor Sunny Tsai, who describes in the A Matter of Principle feature how the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign was reworked for Taiwanese consumers.

Corporate Culture • The concept of culture applies to B2B as well as B2C marketing. Corporate culture is a term that describes how various companies operate. Some are very formal with lots of procedures, rigid work hours, and dress codes. Others are more informal. Social Influences • In addition to the culture in which you were raised, you also are a product of your social environment, which determines your social class or group. Reference groups, your family, and your friends also are important influences on your opinions, as well as your consumer behavior, and affect many of your habits and Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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biases. For example the Inside Story feature in this chapter explains how a brand character was developed based on insights into consumer attitudes and opinions about others in the neighborhood. Social Class • Social class is the position you and your family occupy within your society. Social class is determined by such factors as income, wealth, education, occupation, family prestige, value of home, and neighborhood. Brand communication assumes that people in one class buy different goods for different reasons than people in another social class. Reference Groups • A reference group is a group of people you use as a model for behavior in specific situations. Examples are teachers and religious leaders, as well as members of political parties, religious groups, racial or ethnic organizations, clubs based on hobbies, and informal affiliations such as fellow workers or students— your peers. •

Brand communities, such as the Harley Owners Group (HOG) for Harley Davidson are groups of people devoted to a particular brand. For consumers, reference groups have three functions: (1) they provide information, (2) they serve as a means of personal comparison, and (3) they offer guidance. Ads that feature typical users in fun or pleasant surroundings are using a reference group strategy.

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Sociologist David Reisman describes individuals in terms of their relationships with other people as inner-directed (individualistic) or outer-directed (peer group and society). Advertisers are particularly interested in the role of peers in influencing their outer-directed friends’ wants and desires. On the other hand, inner-directed people are more likely to try new things first.

Family • The family is the most important reference group because of its formative role and the intensity of its relationships. According to the U.S. Census, a family consists of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption, and live in the same household. A household differs from a family in that it consists of all those who occupy a dwelling whether they are related or not. •

For the first time in U.S. history, single-person households outnumber married couples with children. This reflects a growing trend in America over the past 30 years to marry later in life, divorce, or never get married at all.

Psychological Influences Needs and Wants • Underlying driving forces that motivate us to do something reflecting basic survival, such as choosing a motel (shelter) or restaurant (food) when traveling Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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are called needs. Primary needs (biological) include the need for water, food, air, and shelter. Satisfying these needs is necessary to maintaining life. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is illustrated in Figure 5.3. •

Needs we learn in response to our culture and our environment are called acquired needs. These may include needs for esteem, prestige, affection, power, learning, and beauty. Because acquired needs are not necessary to your physical survival, they are considered secondary needs.

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Principle: An item we need is something we think is essential or necessary for lives; an item we want is something we desire.

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A want occurs when we desire or wish for something. We don’t die if we don’t get it, but it can still provide a strong motivation to try or buy something new. Research has uncovered the power of new and novel. This is particularly true in fashion areas, such as clothing and music. Desire is the driving force behind demand. Successful brands focus more on what we want than on what we need. Brian Martin, the founder of Brand Connections, has built a list of ten desires that successful brands satisfy. ▪

Satisfaction. A feeling of satisfaction is only one possible response to attending to a message. More troublesome is dissatisfaction or doubt. People can pay attention to a commercial, buy a product, and be disappointed.

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Dissonance. Cognitive dissonance refers to a conflict between two thoughts which creates a state of tension. Buyer’s remorse is a related form of such tension. When there is a difference between reality and facts, people engage in a variety of activities to reduce cognitive dissonance.

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Motivations. A motive is an internal force, such as the desire to look good, that stimulates you to behave in a particular manner. This driving force is produced by the tension caused by an unfulfilled need. People strive to reduce the tension. At any given point, you are probably affected by a number of different motives.

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Research into motivation uncovers the “why” questions—why did you buy that brand and not another? What prompted you to go to that store? Understanding buying motives is crucial to advertisers because the advertising message and the timing of the ad should reflect the consumer’s motivations.

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Professor Ann Marie Barry describes the emerging field of neuroscience in Chapter 4. Neuromarketing, a new brain-science approach to understanding how people think, provides a deeper understanding of the way low-attention processing actually works and motivates people into unconscious, intuitive decision making.

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Influences on B2B Decision Making • Many of the influences that affect consumer buying also are reflected in B2B marketing. We know that B2B decision making tends to follow the information path. Emotion may still be important in certain situations, but ultimately these decisions are more rational than emotional for the following reasons: ▪

In organizational buying, many individuals are involved in reviewing the options, often with a buying committee making the final decision.

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Although the business buyer may be motivated by both rational and emotional factors, the use of rational and quantitative criteria dominates most decisions.

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The decision is sometimes made based on a set of specifications to potential suppliers who then bid on the contract, and typically the lowest bid wins.

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Quality is of huge importance and repeat purchases are based on how well the product performs.

HOW DO WE SEGMENT CONSUMER GROUPS? • Cost efficiency and effectiveness demand that marketers: 1) segment the market and 2) target the group that is most likely to respond. Segmentation means dividing the market into groups of people who have similar characteristics in certain key product-related areas. Segmenting does two things: it identifies those people who are in the market, but it also eliminates those who are not. There are various ways to segment a market. Segmentation Strategies • Political columnist David Brooks recently asked, “Are people more alike than different?” Why is this question important to brand communication? According to Brooks, our era is ‘the segmentation century.’ It’s not about convergence of values but rather about diverging opinions, interests, and tastes. •

At one point in its history, Coca-Cola viewed the U.S. market for its brand as homogeneous and used general appeals designed for all consumers. That was considered an undifferentiated strategy.

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Principle: Segmenting is efficient and cost effective when it identifies those people who are in the market but also eliminates those who are not.

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Few examples of homogeneous markets exist in contemporary marketing, so most strategies are based on market segmentation strategies. By using a segmentation strategy, a company can more precisely match the needs and wants of the customer with its products. That is why Coke and Pepsi introduced product variations to appeal to different consumer segments, such as diet, caffeine-free, and flavored versions of their basic products.

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•

Principle: Buyers may not be the users and users may not be the buyers. Buyers and users often have entirely different needs and wants.

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Instead of marketing to a big undifferentiated market, marketers target narrow segments, such as single women in the international traveler category. Although marketing has gone global to reach large markets, at the same time many marketers have moved toward tighter and tighter niche markets. Niche marketers are companies that pursue market segments of sufficient size to be profitable although not large enough to be of interest to large marketers.

Types of Segmentation In general marketers segment their markets using six key consumer characteristics (see Figure 5.4). •

Demographic segmentation divides the market using such characteristics as age, gender, ethnicity and income.

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Life-stage segmentation is based on the particular stage in a consumers’ life cycle, which includes such categories as children, young people living at home, college students, singles living on their own, couples, families with children, empty nesters, and senior singles living alone.

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Geographic segmentation uses location as a defining variable because consumers’ needs sometimes vary depending upon where they live—urban, rural, suburban, East, West, and so on. Defining variables are world or global, region, nation, state, city, or zip code.

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Psychographic segmentation is primarily based on studies of how people spend their money, their patterns of work and leisure, their interest and opinions, and their views of themselves. This strategy is considered richer than demographic segmentation because it combines the psychological information with lifestyle insights.

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Behavioral segmentation divides people into groups based on product category and brand usage.

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Values and benefits-based segmentation groups people based on tangible and intangible factors that reflect their underlying value system. Values segmentation reflects consumers’ underlying value system – spiritual, hedonistic, thrifty, and so forth. Benefit segmentation strategy is based upon the consumer’s needs or problems. The idea is that people buy products for different benefits they hope to derive.

International marketers need to answer three basic segmentation questions: Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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1. What countries? This is generally the easiest to answer because it is driven by where the brand is distributed. 2. Market Development Level. Countries, especially developing countries, vary greatly in market infrastructure, literacy levels, economic level and level of media development. 3. Cultural Cohorts. A cultural cohort is a segment of customers from multiple countries sharing common characteristics that translate into common wants and needs. Targeting the Best Audience • Regardless of whether the marketing communication uses one-way or two-way communication strategies, planners still need some sense of who they are talking to and with. Through targeting, the organization can design specific communication strategies to match the audience’s needs and wants and position the product in the most relevant way to match their interests. •

The target is first described using the segmentation characteristics that separate a group of prospective consumers from others who are not as likely to buy the brand. Then the descriptive variables are added until an ideal consumer group is identified. As Figure 5.5 illustrates, each time you add a variable, you narrow the market as you come closer to the ideal target audience. The objective is to get the largest group that can be defined in such a way that you can direct a message that will speak to people in that group and you can reach with specific media.

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Principle: Each time you add a variable to a target audience, you narrow the size of the target audience as you try to find the largest group to whom you can direct a relevant message and reach with specific media.

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A targeting practice that has emerged from political campaigning is called microtargeting, which refers to using vast computer databanks of personal information to direct highly targeted messages to narrow slices of a segment. This data mining practice, which enables advertisers to direct highly tailored marketing messages to narrow slices of a segment, has been used by candidates of both political parties.

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This practice of using data banks that contain collections of personal information is controversial. Another example of microtargeting based on location comes from retailers who use ‘geofencing’ – drawing a perimeter around a location – to reach customers via cell phone who are in the neighborhood of the store.

PROFILING MARKETS AND TARGET AUDIENCES • Profiles are built for typical customers or prospects in order to make the brand communication more personal and relevant. Profiles are descriptions of the target audience that read like a description of someone you know. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Targeting and Profiling Using Demographics • The statistical, social, and economic characteristics of a population, including such factors as age, gender, education, income, occupation, race, family size, and sexual orientation, are called demographics. These characteristics serve as the basis for identifying audiences. Knowing these factors helps advertisers in message design and media selection for their target market. The first place to start when analyzing and compiling demographics is the U.S. Census Bureau. Age • The most important demographic characteristic used by marcom planners is age. People of different ages have different needs and age often determines product choice. The following list describes some of the more common age-related categories that are used by marketers: ▪

Referred to as The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw in his book by that name, this generation, born in the 1910s through the late 1920s, fought World War II. A small group, these seniors are in their last years. They opened up college education to the middle class after the war and lived frugal yet financially satisfying lives.

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Known as the Silent Generation or traditionalists, this group of people, who were born in the late 1920s to the war years, are now active seniors. They were described in a national poll as the ones having the most “positive impact” on the American economy for fueling the post-war economic boom.

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Baby Boomers, people born between 1946 and1964, represent the largest agerelated category in the U.S. The 78 million consumers are now in the final years of their careers, having made a huge population bulge as they have moved through the life cycle. While they were growing up, Boomers’ numbers affected first schools, then the job market, and now retirement programs and health care. This generation has been influenced by significant social movements and scientific breakthroughs.

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A boomer subgroup called Generation Jones is made up of the younger Baby Boomers who were born from the mid- to late-1950s through the mid-1960s. The Jones reference comes from their continuing need to chase the dream of affluence by trying to “keep up with the Joneses.”

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Gen X, also known as baby busters is the group whose 49 million members were born between 1962 and 1981. Now adults, they have been described as independent-minded and somewhat cynical. They are concerned with their physical health (they grew up during the AIDS outbreak) and financial future (the job market became more difficult just about the time they entered).

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Born between 1980 and 1996, Generation Y is also known as Echo Boomers because they are the children of Baby Boomers. They are important to marketers because they are next in size to the boomer generation with more than 74 million members. They are also described as the Digital Generation or Net Generation because they grew up with computers and are seen as more technologically savvy than their predecessors. They were the first generation to grow up with cell phones and e-mail, and are also environmentally conscious.

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Millennials, who overlap with GenY, include the children and young people born from the late 1980s into the beginning decade of the new century. Also called the iGeneration, these young people are digital natives and spend considerably more time texting and using social media than even the older Net Generation. This is the generation that most marketers are desperately trying to understand.

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Age also is a key factor in media plans because age usually determines what media you watch, listen to, or read. The older the age group, the more likely it is to use traditional media daily or several times a week, and the more likely they are to read newspapers.

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Age is driving a fundamental shift in U.S. marketing strategy. Since the 1960s, marketers focused on reaching young people, but now with the Boomer bulge moving into retirement, marketers realize that wealth and numbers belong to this active senior market.

Gender and Sexual Orientation • An obvious basis for differences in marketing and advertising is gender. Because women account for 85 percent of all consumer purchases in the United States, they are an important target for many marketers. •

Gender stereotypes have been a problem in advertising for decades and some believe that may be because the majority of the work has been created by men writing for women.

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During the past decade, LGBT households have become far more visible in the economy. The A Matter of Practice feature in this chapter explains how this group has impacted the wedding market.

Education, Occupation, and Income • According to the 2009 census, U.S. males are falling behind females in attaining higher levels of education. Generally, white U.S. consumers attain higher levels of education than blacks and Hispanics. Education tends to correlate with the type of medium consumers prefer. Consumers with lower levels of education are higher users of television, especially cable. Consumers with higher levels of education prefer print media, the Internet, and selected radio and cable stations. Likewise, education dictates the way copy is written and its level of difficulty.

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•

Most people identify themselves by what they do. In the United States, there has been a gradual trend away from blue-collar occupations and towards white-collar occupations. There have also been shifts within white-collar work from sales to other areas, such as professional, technical and administrative positions. The number of service-related jobs continues to increase.

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Another key demographic indicator for many advertisers is income, which relates to both education and occupation. The updated census income data reported in 2011 showed a shift toward fewer people in the top third (6%) and more people in the bottom third of income distribution (72%). The remaining 21% is made up of the shrinking middle class.

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Principle: Income is a key demographic factor because consumers are meaningful to a marketer only if they have the resources needed to buy the product advertised.

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Although the demand for luxury goods continued to be healthy because of the increasing wealth of the top group, the retail winners for the rest of the population were dollar stores and low price retailers such as Wal-Mart.

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European consumers are even more frugal, as many of their countries are in economic trouble and suffering from government austerity programs that have drastically increased unemployment and reduced income levels. In contrast, the middle class in China has been growing dramatically during the 2000s, although it is slowing down as the worldwide recession hits Asian markets.

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Advertisers track trends in discretionary income, which is the amount of money available to spend after paying taxes and buying basic necessities such as food and shelter. Discretionary income has been found to be a more reliable predictor of spending than income, although it is most vulnerable during times of economic downturn.

Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Status • In the United States, ethnicity is a major factor for segmenting markets. According to the 2011 update, Hispanics now comprise 16.3 percent of the population and have overtaken African Americans at 13% as the largest ethnic group. African Americans, however, have seen a dramatic increase of more than 55 percent in their buying power since 2000. Asians comprise 5 percent of the U.S. population. The United States is more multicultural than ever. •

Because of the large size of the Hispanic and African American markets, special brand communication programs are often designed for them. Marketers are wise to note that Latinos are a category based on language rather than race and are not a homogenous group. Latinos and blacks make up more than half of the births in the U.S. population. According to the Census Bureau, whites now account for only 49.6% of all births and minorities accounted for 92% of the nation’s population growth in the decade that ended in 2010.

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•

Media use differences may also be based on ethnicity. For example, Hispanic viewers are more likely to watch commercials in their entirety, in comparison to nonHispanic viewers. Many marketers are employing multicultural strategies to better serve their customers. Self-identity is also affected by race and ethnicity, which is another reason that diversity is so important in advertising. This point is underscored in the Principled Practice feature in this chapter.

Geography • Geographic segmentation is an important strategy for marketers because marketers are often tied to locations where their products are sold. Also, marketers study the sales patterns of the country because people residing in different regions need certain products. Differences also exist between urban areas and suburban or rural areas. The use of designated marketing areas (DMAs) in describing media markets also highlights the importance of geography. A DMA is identified by the name of the dominant city in that area and it generally aligns with the reach of local television signals. Religion • Religion connects culture to demographics. Christianity is the largest religion both in the United States and the world, while Islam is one of the fastest growing. There is also a large percentage of the population, U.S. and worldwide, that is secular or unaffiliated with any organized religion. •

Depending on the product category, religion can be a key factor in identifying those who are or are not in the market for a good, service or idea. Some religions forbid certain products, and religion sometimes affects people’s choice of clothing and adornment.

Targeting and Profiling Using Psychographics • Just as demographics relates to social characteristics, psychographics summarizes personal factors. This term refers to lifestyle and psychological characteristics, such as activities, interests, and opinions. Sometimes complex psychographic factors are more relevant in explaining consumer behavior than are demographics. •

Principle: Often differences in consumer behavior lie in psychographics – consumers’ interests and lifestyles – rather than in demographics.

Attitudes • An attitude is a predisposition that reflects an opinion, emotion, or mental state directed at some object, person, or idea. Advertisers are interested in attitudes because of their impact on motivations. Because attitudes are learned, we can establish them, change them, reinforce them, or replace them with new ones. However, most attitudes are deeply set, reflect basic values, and tend to be resistant to change. You can hold an attitude for years or even decades. Attitudes

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are important to advertisers because they influence how consumers evaluate products, institutions, retail stores, and advertising. •

Principle: Strategies that are designed to affect attitudes focus on establishing, changing, reinforcing, or replacing them.

•

Ethical consumerism, which refers to consumers who buy according to their conscience, is an example of a trend that depicts changing attitudes. A Time magazine poll found that 40% of those queried said they purchased a product because “they liked the social or political values of the company that produced it.’’

Lifestyles • Psychographic analysis looks at lifestyles in terms of patterns of consumption, personal relationships, and leisure activities. Some of the most common lifestyle patterns are described by such familiar phrases as Yuppies (young urban professionals) and Yuppie Puppies (their children). These terms are group identifiers but they also refer to a set of products and the settings within which the products are used. These terms are group identifiers but they also refer to a set of products and the setting in which they are used. •

DDB advertising agency has been conducting lifestyle research annually in the United States since 1975. As part of their services to clients, some research firms create lifestyle profiles that collectively reflect the whole culture. The Yankelovich MONITOR has been tracking consumer values and lifestyles since 1971. Although the database can be used to custom design segments for individual clients, its MindBase tool has identified eight general consumer groups. They are: I Am Expressive, I Am Down to Earth, I Am Driven, I Am Sophisticated, I Am at Capacity, I Measure Twice, I Am Rock Steady, and I Am Devoted.

•

The VALS system, developed by research firm SRIC-BI, categorizes U.S. and Canadian adults age 18 or older into distinctive consumer groups on the basis of an individual’s responses to attitude questions to correspond to consumer behavior and a proprietary algorithm. Figure 5.7 in the textbook shows the eight VALS groups.

•

VALS explains why different consumer groups exhibit different behaviors and why various groups exhibit the same behavior but for different reasons. In addition to the U.S. framework, VALS frameworks are available for Japan, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and China.

Socio-demographic Segments • Age groups also connect with lifestyles. Generation X and Y, as well as the Baby Boomers, are important demographic segments, but their socio-demographic characteristics may represent more consistent lifestyle differences. Seniors are Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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referred to as the Gray Market and divided into two categories—young seniors (6074) and older seniors (75 plus). Other terms that have been used to describe demographic and lifestyle segments include the following: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Dinkies: double income young couples with no kids Guppies: gay upwardly mobile professionals Skippies: school kids with purchasing power Ruppies: retired urban professionals; older consumers with sophisticated tastes and a generally affluent lifestyle Mini-Me: Infants and toddlers of affluent parents and grandparents who spend large amounts on luxury brands with parents wanting their kids to reflect their taste and style.

Trends and Fads • The phenomenon of trends and fads is related to lifestyle and psychographic factors, as well as the fascination with choice in a consumer culture. Young people are particularly involved in trends. Trend spotters are professional researchers hired by advertisers to identify trends that may affect consumer behavior. Cool hunters are trend spotters who specialize in identifying trendy fads that appeal to young people. Targeting and Profiling Using Behavioral Patterns • Behavioral targeting is a practice used by online marketers who track customers’ activities – sites visited and products bought – to predict consumer interest in a product and design personalized brand communication message. Examples of behavioral targeting come from both Google and Orbitz. Behavior is related to feelings (impulse) or thoughtful search. Brand Usage and Experiences • There are two ways to classify usage: usage rates and brand relationship. There are two ways to classify usage: usage rates and brand relationship. Usage rates refer to quantity of purchase: light, medium, or heavy. Heavy users typically buy the most of a product category or a brand’s share of the market. Switchers are people with low levels of brand loyalty who are willing to leave a brand to try another one. •

Principle: In many product categories, 20 percent of the users buy 80 percent of the products.

Innovation and Adoption • Another type of behavior has to do with how willing people are to be innovative and try something new. Researcher Everett Rogers developed the classic system, called the Diffusion of Innovation Curve, to identify adoption behavior for new ideas. This adoption process is identified in terms of the speed with which consumers are willing to try something new, such as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. This system reflects the speed of diffusion of new ideas. See Figure 5.8 for an illustration of this model.

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•

Risk taking is a characteristic of one’s personality but it combines with behavior in the area of trying a new product. Perceived risk is your view of the relationship between what you gain by trying something new and what you have to lose if it does not work out.

•

SRI researchers found that contrary to popular belief, there is no one single innovator or early adopter group. Instead, adoption patterns vary with the product category. Early adopters are in different strata and roles in society and cannot be identified by demographics alone. Seeking Seekers Segmenting and targeting works differently in the 21st century. The traditional approach, which involved identifying groups of people and directing messages to them using mass media, is today only one piece of brand communication. This new and more complex communication system recognizes the increased importance of word of mouth, where consumers talk among themselves about brands. Furthermore, companies are much more involved in listening and responding to consumers, rather than just targeting them. What this means is that we not only need to rethink targeting, but also the way consumers interact with brands. •

In terms of targeting strategy for this new category of Seeker, there are three types of searching (see Figure 5.9): ▪ ▪ ▪

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Information. A search for specific content – Where can I get the lightest notebook computer? How do I return a product and get a refund? Interaction. Friends, fellowship, belonging, respect and admiration, or something to talk about and share Entertainment, experiences, and stimulation. Surprises, challenges, love and liking, happiness, rewards, something to believe, the newest thing, or ways to become smarter or more attractive.

In terms of expanding segmentation strategies that include Seekers, we can distinguish between two communication behaviors that reflect these new types of brand relationships: targeting and responding. Within those two basic categories are variations that lead to seven new consumer approaches.

Targeting Strategies: 1. New customers who you want to see or hear a specific message, such as sales prices, new location, or that a product will last longer 2. Current customers who you want to see or hear a specific message, such as incentives to repurchase or advocacy rewards. 3. Seekers of product information who are searching for general category information or maybe as followers and looking for something to talk about and share.

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4. Seekers of interaction, who are embedded in networks in networks of friends, may as opinion leaders, or maybe as followers and looking for something to talk about and share. 5. Seekers of experiences and stimulation who are looking for surprises, challenges, friends, love and liking, happiness, belonging, respect and admiration, rewards, something to believe, the newest thing, or way to be smarter or more attractive. Response Strategies 6. Connect with those who response to a brand message. 7. Connect and respond to those who initiate contact with a brand. •

The Seeker breed of consumer is personally independent but socially dependent: they are frequently in contact and frequently in touch both with other people and with web sites. It’s a curious blend of individual search and communal sharing. For Seekers, marketing communication is like a video game and successful marketers will offer exciting, engaging and even mesmerizing brand experiences.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 5-4. In what ways does the culture in which you grew up affect your consumer behavior? Describe and explain one purchase you have made recently that reflects your cultural background. The culture and the society in which you were raised affect your values and opinions. The boundaries each culture establishes for “proper” behavior are norms, which are simply rules that we learn through social interaction that specify or prohibit certain behaviors. The source of norms is our values, particularly cultural values, which represent our underlying belief systems. For example, in the United States, we value freedom, independence, and individualism. In other countries, people value families and groups more than individualism. For the second part of this question, encourage students to consider all possible purchases they may have made recently – products or services, online or in person. 5-5. What are reference groups? List the reference groups to which you belong or with which you associate yourself. Reference groups are groups of people you use as a model for behavior in specific situations. Examples are teachers and religious leaders, as well as members of political parties, religious groups, racial or ethnic organizations, clubs based on hobbies, and informal affiliations such as fellow workers or students—your peers. For consumers, Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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reference groups have three functions: (1) they provide information, (2) they serve as a means of personal comparison, and (3) they offer guidance. For the second part of this question, encourage students to consider all possible sources of their reference groups, including community, school, clubs, and even Internet-based “virtual” reference groups. 5-6. What is the difference between needs and wants? Give an example of something you have purchased in the past week that represents a need and another that represents a want. Needs are underlying driving forces that motivate us to take action because it is necessary for basic survival. Examples include choosing a motel (shelter) or a restaurant (food) when traveling. Primary needs (biological) include the need for water, food, air, and shelter. Acquired needs are those needs we learn in response to our culture and environment. These may include needs for esteem, prestige, affection, power, learning, and beauty. Because acquired needs are not necessary to your physical survival, they are considered secondary needs. A want occurs when we desire or wish for something. However, if we don’t get it, consequences will not be fatal. Both wants and needs can provide a strong motivation to try or buy something new. Items recently purchased by students to satisfy primary needs might include fast food meals or bottled water. Anything purchased by students to satisfy belonging, esteem or self-actualization needs is satisfying a secondary need. An example might be a new cell phone, to make it easier to keep in touch with friends and family when away on campus. Items recently purchased to satisfy wants might include a DVD of a recent movie or a new article of clothing that is consistent with the latest fashion trend. 5-7. What are your key demographic and psychographic characteristics? Build a profile of yourself and give an example of how each one might be used in planning an advertising campaign targeted to someone like you. For this question, first make sure that students understand the key differences between demographics and psychographics. 5-8. What are the key steps in the adoption process, and how do they relate to product purchases? Who do you know who might qualify as an early adopter? As a laggard? Profile those two people and discuss the key characteristics that make them different in their orientation to new ideas or products. Researcher Everett Rogers developed the Diffusion of Innovation Curve, which allows marketers to classify consumers in terms of the speed with which they are willing to try something new. Categories into which consumers can be placed, based upon their purchase behavior, are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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majority, or laggards. This system reflects the speed of diffusion of new ideas. Early adopters tend to be opinion leaders. They are willing to take a calculated risk, but have some concern about failure. Laggards, on the other hand, tend to be relatively set in their ways and adopt innovations with reluctance. Profiles created by students based on their family and friends will vary, depending upon that person’s openness to purchasing new innovations.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 5-9. Analyze the corporate culture at various agencies and clients. Start with the statement on www.ogilvy.com/about/our-history/corporate-culture.aspx for an inside view of how this agency articulates its view of its own corporate culture. Then find at least one other agency or client website that refers to its corporate culture, and compare that statement with Ogilvy’s. (Look first at companies whose websites have been mentioned in this chapter or previous chapters.) Discuss where you prefer to work and why. Another agency that describes its corporate culture on its website is the Russo Group (therussogroup.com). In addition, an article written by agency partner Jaci Russo that focuses on this agency’s culture can be read on Advertising Age’s website. The article is entitled “Why We Focus So Much on Corporate Culture.” In it, Ms. Russo states that in order to attract employees who take pride in their work and are true believers in the agency’s mission and future, it was necessary for her agency to undergo a radical transformation in culture. The flavor of the agency’s new culture can be observed first hand by viewing the videos it has on youtube.com entitled “The Russo Brand Song” and “Russo-Baby Got Brands.” 5-10. We discuss inner and outer-directed personalities in this chapter. Check out the following articles about Reisman’s theory on these or other websites and then and write a profile for yourself and your best friend. Compare and contrast your orientation toward your peers. See (www.helium.com/items/232453-are-you-inner-orouter-directed and fredasadventures.com/everyday-life/are-you-an-inner-or-outerdirected-person).

Sociologist David Reisman describes individuals in terms of their relationships with other people as inner-directed (individualistic) or outer-directed (peer group and society). Both websites are very thorough in their descriptions of both personality types, so students should find more than enough information upon which to predicate a profile of themselves and a friend. 5-11. Consider the social factors that influence consumer decisions. Identify two demographic or psychographic factors that would be most important to these productmarketing situations: Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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a. Dairy product company (milk, cheese, or ice cream) offering an exclusive packaging design that uses fully degradable containers. b. A new SUV that is lighter in weight, runs on ethanol, and gets better gas mileage than the average SUV. c. An athletic clothing company that is sponsoring the next Pogopalooza, the world championship of extreme pogo.

Students will offer a variety of answers. Demographic factors related to age, family status, education, income, and occupation will be important to discuss. However, psychographic insights, more so than demographics, may provide the greatest insight into target market identification. Socio-demographic segments should also be considered. 5-12. What age group category do you and your friends fall into? Gen Y? Millennial? There is always a debate about characteristics of those population groups, yet there are usually some general characteristics that help identify interest, attitudes, and behaviors. So develop a profile that fits yourself and your friends who are in the same age group. Try to identify characteristics that represent this group. This question will probably generate vigorous discussion, since there are always persons who feel that the general description assigned to their age cohort does not fit them as an individual. Students may find it interesting to compare the profile they create to that created by professional demographers, and then discuss reasons for differences and similarities.

5-13. Discuss the decision making involved in choosing your college. a. Interview two of your classmates and determine the influences upon them that led to their decision to attend this school. b. How did you and the people you interviewed go about making this decision? Is there a general decision making outline that you can outline? Where are the points of agreement, and where did you and your classmates differ in approaching this decision? c. Draw up a target audience profile for students attending your college. How does this profile differ from another school in your same market area? To answer these questions, students should probe their interviewees for information on social influences such as social class, reference groups, family, and demographics. They should also probe for demographic information such as age, gender, family status, race Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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and ethnicity, education, and parents’ occupation and income. Psychological factors would be worth exploring as well. 5-14. You are working on a new account, a bottled tea named “Leafs Alive,” that uses a healthy antioxidant formulation. The sale of bottled tea, as well as healthy products, is surging. Analyze your market using the following questions: a. What consumer trends seem to be driving this product development? b. What cultural, social, psychological, and behavioral factors influence this market? c. Plot the consumer decision process that you think would best describe how people choose a product in this category. d. Choose one of the VALS or Yankelovich Monitor’s MindBase groups that you think best describes the target market for this product. Explain your rationale. Increased health consciousness and demand for healthy food products, such as organics, are the primary consumer trends driving demand for this product. Students can draw from a range of cultural, social, psychological, and behavioral factors outlined in the textbook to identify additional influencers. Regarding the consumer decision process, students may select the traditional, linear based model or one of the paths to a brand decision depicted in Figure 5.1. Brief descriptions of the psychographic segments identified by both VALS and Yankelovich’s Monitor’s MindBase can be found in the textbook. For more detailed explanations, students can visit the websites of the research firms that conduct these studies.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 5-15. Portfolio Project: Choose two VALS and two MindBase categories. Find one print advertisement that appears to be targeted to people in each category. Explain why you think the ad addresses that audience. Do you believe that the categories are mutually exclusive? Can consumers (and ads directed to them) be classified in multiple categories? Why or why not? Student responses will vary. 5-16. Mini-Case Analysis: Review the chapter opening and closing story about Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign. How does this campaign reflect a cultural or social insight? What psychological insight helps explain the thinking behind this campaign? From what is presented in this mini-case, develop a profile of an individual member of this target audience. The provocative copy in the Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” campaign challenged cultural norms and values regarding the definition of beauty. Its culturally relevant Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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message sought to redefine beauty by eliminating the obsession with stick-thin bodies and Barbie doll images that typically characterize the depiction of beauty in western culture. The campaign took a brave step by addressing the self-esteem and self-actualization needs of the vast number of women (96%) who could not see their own beauty, knowing that the potential for realization of these needs by these women provided motive for purchasing the brand. Dove’s original target was all women of all ages and sizes. In 2012, the target market was extended to include pre-teen girls.

TRACE North America Case Multicultural Innovation 5-17. From the case study and your own personal experiences in college, what factors do you believe most strongly influence Multicultural Millennials in their decision making? 5-18. What campaigns targeted to African Americans, Chinese, and Hispanics are you aware of, and do you believe they are successful? Why or why not?

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are norms and values and how are they connected to culture? What are some of core values held by consumers? The boundaries each culture establishes for “proper” behavior are norms, which are simply rules that we learn through social interaction that specify or prohibit certain behaviors. The source of norms is our cultural values, which represent our underlying belief systems. Values are few in number and hard to change. Advertisers strive to understand underlying core values that govern people’s attitudes and guide their behavior. Here are ten basic core values:

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

A sense of belonging Excitement Fun and enjoyment Warm relationships Self-fulfillment Respect from others A sense of accomplishment

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▪ ▪ ▪

Security Self-respect Thrift

Thrift was recently the hallmark of the recession of the late 2000s when polls found that Americans tightened their belts, saved more, spent less and borrowed less. 2. Distinguish between needs and wants, and provide a few examples of each. The basic driving forces that motivate us to do something that reflects basic survival, such as choosing a motel (shelter) or restaurant (food) when traveling, are called needs. They are what we feel for more essential items, such as food and shelter. A want occurs when we desire or wish for something—we don’t die if we don’t get it, but it can still provide a strong motivation to try or buy something new. This is particularly true in fashion areas, such as clothing and music. 3. Explain how influences on B2B decision making can differ from B2C decision making. In B2B marketing, businesses buy goods and services for two reasons: (1) they need ingredients for the products they manufacture, and (2) they need goods for their business operations. While many of the influences that affect consumer buying also are reflected in business-to-business marketing, we also know that B2B decision making tends to follow the information path. Emotion may be important in certain situations, but ultimately these decisions are more rational than emotional for the following reasons: 1) In organizational buying, many individuals are involved in reviewing the options, often with a buying committee making the final decision, 2) although the business buyer may be motivated by both rational and emotional factors, the use of rational and quantitative criteria dominates most decisions, and 3) the decision is sometimes made based on a set of specifications to potential suppliers who then bid on the contract, and typically the lowest bid wins, and 4) quality is of huge importance and repeat purchases are based on how well the product performs. Also, buying decisions are often made by committees on behalf of the people who use the products, and the actual purchase is negotiated by a specialist in that category called a buyer. 4. What are some of the various ways to segment consumers and target a market? There are various ways to segment consumers and target a market. One way is to divide them by the type of market, either business-to-business (B2B) or business-toconsumer (B2C). Another way to categorize consumers is as either 1) those who shop for and purchase the product, 2) those who actually use the product (users), or 3) influencers, people who help the buyer make a brand choice. This distinction is important because purchasers and users can have different needs and wants. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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5. What are the six key consumer characteristics marketers use to segment their markets? The six key characteristics are: • Demographic segmentation, which divides the market using such characteristics as age, gender, ethnicity and income. •

Life-stage segmentation, which is based on the particular stage in a consumers’ life cycle, which includes such categories as children, young people living at home, college students, singles living on their own, couples, families with children, empty nesters, and senior singles living alone.

•

Geographic segmentation, which uses location as a defining variable because consumers’ needs sometimes vary depending upon where they live—urban, rural, suburban, East, West, and so on. Defining variables are world or global, region, nation, state, city, or zip code.

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Psychographic segmentation, which is primarily based on studies of how people spend their money, their patterns of work and leisure, their interest and opinions, and their views of themselves. This strategy is considered richer than demographic segmentation because it combines the psychological information with lifestyle insights.

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Behavioral segmentation, which divides people into groups based on product category and brand usage.

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Values and benefits-based segmentation, which groups people based on tangible and intangible factors that reflect their underlying value system. Values segmentation reflects consumers’ underlying value system – spiritual, hedonistic, thrifty, and so forth. Benefit segmentation strategy is based upon the consumer’s needs or problems. The idea is that people buy products for different benefits they hope to derive. 6. What questions do international marketers need to answer when attempting to segment a market?

When segmenting a market, international markets need to answer these three questions: 1) what countries are my target market? This is generally the easiest to answer because it is driven by where the brand is distributed, 2) what is the level of Market Development? Countries, especially developing countries, vary greatly in market infrastructure, literacy levels, economic level and level of media development. 3) Are there cultural cohorts? A cultural cohort is a segment of customers from multiple countries sharing common characteristics that translate into common wants and needs.

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7. What is microtargeting and what makes it controversial? Microtargeting refers to using vast computer databanks of personal information to direct highly targeted messages to narrow slices of a segment. This data mining practice, which was first used by political candidates, enables advertisers to direct highly tailored marketing messages to narrow slices of a segment. This practice of using data banks that contain collections of personal information is controversial. Another example of microtargeting based on location comes from retailers who use ‘geofencing’ – drawing a perimeter around a location – to reach customers via cell phone who are in the neighborhood of the store.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Locate an advertisement for a recent product or service that you purchased. Then review the Chapter 5 list of core values that govern people’s attitudes. Which ones does this advertisement bring out in you? Share your answers with the class. 2. Write a demographic profile of a family member. Base your report on some combination of the following factors: age, population category, gender, family status, race and ethnicity, education, occupation. What sort of consumer does this profile reveal? Think-Pair-Share 1. With classmates, discuss any online, Internet-based reference groups to which you belong. How did your involvement start with them? How are they more powerful than conventional, face-to-face reference groups? Share your websites with the entire class and discuss. 2. On a poster board, draw a diagram of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. To the left side, brainstorm and list relevant products at each need level. To the right side, list familiar advertising slogans that match each need level. Discuss as a group.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Go to effie.org to view Allstate Insurance Company’s two award-winning ad campaigns targeting Hispanic consumers. For both the 2010 and 2012 campaign, read the summary and watch the video clips. Explain how these ads display sensitivity to the cultural values and norms of the Hispanic culture and how Allstate has integrated those factors into their brand message.

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2. Review the “Psychological Influences” section of Chapter 5. Then, interview a psychology professor on your campus to gather their thoughts on the role and power of psychology in advertising. You may structure the interview however you wish, but useful discussion points might include: • • • • • •

Perception and state of mind Needs and wants Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Motivations Attitudes Personality

Once your interview is complete, write a 500-word narrative paper describing your findings.

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Chapter 6 Strategic Research

◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. What are the basic types of strategic research, and how they are used? 2. How do brand communicators use research? 3. What are the most common research methods used in advertising?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Strategic research is critical since all brand decisions, including those regarding brand communications, should be driven by thoughtful and detailed consumer analyses and insights. First and foremost, marketers and brand communicators must listen closely to what consumers have to say to ensure that all marketing strategies and communication efforts are responsive to and reflective of consumer wants and needs. For marketers, research is the tool of listening. This chapter opens with an explanation of the different categories of research used to uncover consumer insights. This is followed by a discussion of how that research is used to develop messages, and then an exploration of the most commonly used research methods. The chapter closes with a discussion of research trends and key challenges facing marketing communication researchers.

CHAPTER OUTLINE HOW DO YOU GET INSIGHTS INTO CONSUMER BEHAVIOR? •

Knowing your customer listening is the first step in understanding consumers. Brand strategy begins with consumer research – the tools of listening. Consumer research investigates attitudes, motivations, perceptions, and behaviors. The research findings then lead to analysis and insights, which are explanations for why people think and behave as they do.

•

In-house researchers or independent research companies hired from outside of the company usually handle a client’s research needs. The objective is always to answer this question: “What do we need to know to make an informed decision?”

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Listed below are various types of research used in planning advertising and marketing communication strategies:

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Market research compiles information about the product, the product category, and other details of the marketing situation that will impact on the development of advertising strategy.

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Consumer research is used to identify people who are in the market for the product in terms of their characteristics, attitudes, interests, and motivations.

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Brand communication research focuses on all elements of advertising, including message development research, media planning research, evaluation, and information about competitors’ advertising. IMC research is similar except it is used to assemble information needed in planning the use of a variety of marketing communication tools.

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Strategic research uncovers critical information that becomes the basis for strategic planning decisions for both marketing and marketing communications. In brand communication, it covers all of the factors and steps that lead to the creation of message strategies and media plans.

What Are the Basic Types of Research? New advertising assignments always begin with some kind of informal or formal background research into the marketing situation. This is called secondary research, which we will compare with primary research, which is original research conducted by the company or brand. Secondary Research • Background research that uses available and published information about a topic is called secondary research. When advertising people get new accounts or new assignments, they start by reading everything they can find about the product, company, industry, and competition. They are looking for important facts and key insights. It’s called secondary because it is information that has been collected and published by someone else. •

A typical advertising campaign might be influenced, directly or indirectly, by information from a variety of sources including in-house agencies and outside research suppliers. Some of the more traditional sources of secondary information are: ▪

Government Organizations. Governments, through their various departments, provide an astonishing array of statistics that can enhance advertising and marketing decisions. Many of the statistics concerning a population’s size, geographic distribution, age, income, occupation, education, and ethnicity come from census records.

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•

▪

Trade Associations. Many industries support trade associations – professional organizations whose members all work in the same field – that gather and distribute information of interest to association members. Examples include the American Frozen Food Institute or the Game Manufacturers Council.

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Secondary Research Suppliers. Because of the overwhelming amount of information available through secondary research, specialized suppliers gather and organize that information around specific topical areas for other interested parties.

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Secondary Information on the Internet. For any given company, you are bound to find a website where you can learn about the company’s history and philosophy of doing business, check out its complete product line, and discover who runs the company. These sites offer credible information for account planners and others involved in market research. Other sources of Internet information are blog sites and chat rooms where you can learn about people’s reactions to brands and products.

There are also many industry related sites for marketing that report on research, essays, and best practices. They include: ▪ BrandEra (www.brandera.com) offers information by product category. ▪ MarketPerceptions (http://marketperceptions.com) represents a research company that specializes in health care. ▪ Forrester Research (www.forrester.com) provides industry research into technology markets. ▪ Greenbook.org (www.greenbook.org) is a worldwide directory of marketing research focus group suppliers. ▪ Cluetrain (www.cluetrain.com) publishes new ways to find and share innovative marketing information and ideas.

Primary Research • Information that is collected for the first time from original sources is called primary research. To obtain it, companies and their agencies do their own tracking and monitoring of their customers’ behavior. An example of a company that took on its own research is Perdue Farms and its classic “tough man” campaign, featured in Exhibit 6.4. In another example of a company doing its own primary research, Toyota undertook a huge two-year study of ultra-rich consumers in the United States to better market its upscale Lexus brand. •

Primary research suppliers (the firms that clients hire) specialize in interviewing, observing, recording, and analyzing the behavior of those who purchase or influence the purchase of a particular good or service. The primary research supplier industry is extremely diverse.

•

Many advertising agencies subscribe to large-scale surveys conducted by the Simmons Market Research Bureau or by Mediamark Research, Inc. These two

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organizations survey large samples of American consumers and ask questions about the consumption, possession, or use of a wide range of products, services, and media. These reports are intended primarily for use in media planning, but because these surveys are so comprehensive they also can be mined for unique consumer information, which makes them primary sources. See Figure 6.1 to get an idea of what media data looks like from a sample MRI report. Basic Research Designs Primary research can be designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative Research • Quantitative research delivers numerical data such as number of users and purchases, their attitudes and knowledge, their exposure to ads, and other marketrelated information. It also provides information on reactions to advertising and motivation to purchase, sometimes called purchase intent. Quantitative methods that investigate the responses of large numbers of people are useful to test ideas to determine if the market is large enough or if most people really think or behave that way. •

Two primary characteristics of quantitative research are (1) large sample sizes and (2) random sampling. The most common qualitative research methods include surveys and studies that track such things as sales and opinions. Quantitative research is usually designed to either accurately count something, such as sales levels, or to predict something, such as attitudes. To be predictive, however, this type of research must follow careful scientific procedures.

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One of the biggest problems in using quantitative methods to study consumer decision processes is that consumers are often unable to articulate the reasons they do what they do because their reasons may not fit into answers provided in a survey. Furthermore, most people are not tuned in to their own thoughts and thinking process to the extent that they are comfortable saying yes or no or checking a space on a rating scale. Also, respondents have a tendency to give the answers they think the researcher wants to hear.

Qualitative Research • The goal of qualitative research methodologies, therefore, is to move beyond the limitations of what consumers can explain in words or in responses to pre-planned questions. It provides insight into the underlying reasons for how consumers behave and why. •

Common qualitative research methods include such tools as observation, ethnographic studies, in-depth interviews, and case studies. They trade large sample sizes and scientific predictions for greater depth of insight. They probe to seek understanding to such questions as: ▪

What types of features do customers want?

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▪ ▪ ▪

What are the motivations that led to the purchase of a product? What do our customers think about our advertising? How do customers relate to our brand and what are their emotional links to our brand?

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Qualitative methods are used early in the process of developing a brand communication plan or message strategy for generating insights, as well as questions and hypotheses for additional research. They are also good at confirming hunches, ruling out bad approaches and questionable or confusing ideas, and giving direction to message strategy.

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Because qualitative research is typically done with small groups, researchers cannot project their findings to the larger population. Rather than drawing conclusions, qualitative research is used to answer the question why, as well as to generate hypotheses that can be tested with quantitative methods.

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Principle: Qualitative research provides insight into underlying reasons and motivations.

Experimental Research • Experimental research is designed using formal hypothesis testing techniques that compare different message treatments and how people react to them. The idea is to control for all factors except the one being tested—if there is a change in the results, then the researcher can conclude that the variable being tested caused the difference. It’s used to test marketing factors as well as advertising appeals and executions in such areas as product features, price, availability, and various advertising creative ideas. The Principled Practice feature in this chapter explains how a researcher used experimental studies to determine the impact of advertising on behavior. •

Sometimes in experimental research the measurements are electronically recorded using such instruments as MRI or EEG machines or eye-scan tracking devices. Electrodes can be used to monitor heart rate, pulse, and skin temperature to determine if people have a physical response to a message that they may not be able to put in words. In particular, emotional responses that are hard to verbalize may be observable using these types of sensors.

How Do We Use Research? • Most research has become so specialized that independent research companies, as well as in-house client research departments, are the most likely research sources. •

As markets have become more fragmented and saturated, and as consumers have become more demanding, the need for research-based information in advertising planning has increased. Figure 6.2 summarizes the seven ways in which research is used in marketing communication planning:

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▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Market Information Consumer Insight Research Brand Information Media Research Message Development Research Advertising or IMC Plan Evaluation Research

Market Information • Formal research used by the marketing department for strategic planning is called marketing research. It includes surveys, in-depth interviews, observational methods, focus groups, and all types of primary and secondary data used to develop a marketing plan and, ultimately, provide information for a brand communication plan. A subset of marketing research, known as market research, is research used to gather information about a particular market. •

Market information includes everything a planner can uncover about consumer perceptions of the brand, product category, and competitors’ brands. Planners sometimes ride with sales and listen to sales pitches, tour manufacturing plants to see how a product is made, and work in a store or restaurant to evaluate employee interaction with customers.

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Brand information includes an assessment of the brand’s role and performance in the marketplace. This research also investigates how people perceive brand personalities and images. Common methods used to gather information about a brand and the marketplace are: ▪

The Brand Experience: When an agency gets a new client, the first thing the agency team has to do is learn about the brand through brand research. That means learning where the brand has been in the past in terms of the market, its customers, and its competitors. Researchers may also go through all the experiences that a typical consumer has in buying and using the product.

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Competitive Analysis: It’s also important to do a competitive analysis. You may want to do your own personal comparative test to add your personal experiences to your brand analysis.

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Marketing Communication Audit: Either formally or informally, most advertising planners will begin an assignment by collecting every possible piece of advertising and other forms of marketing communication about the brand, as well as its competitors, and other relevant categories that may have lessons for the brand. This includes a historical collection as well.

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Content analysis: The advertising audit might include only informal summaries of the slogans, appeals, and images used most often, or they might include more formal and systematic tabulation of competitors’ approaches and

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strategies called a content analysis. By disclosing competitors’ strategies and tactics, analysis of the content of competitive advertisements provides clues to how competitors are thinking and suggests ways to develop new and more effective campaigns. •

Principle: Do your homework about your brand. There is nothing more embarrassing than proposing a great new advertising idea only to find out it was used a couple of years ago by a competitor, or even worse, your client.

Consumer Insight • Both the creative team and the media planners need to know as much as they can, about the people they are trying to reach and in as much depth and detail as possible. •

Principle: Insight research is designed to uncover the whys of the buys, as well as the why nots.

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Collecting Feedback. Feedback can be obtained from customers as a part of interactive customer contact - systematically recording information from customer service, technical service, inbound telemarketing calls, and online sites. Some businesses use the Internet to involve customers in making decisions about product design, distribution, price, and company operations using online surveys, blogs, online communities, and other social media.

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Monitoring Buzz and Tracking Behavior. The Internet has made it easy to track comments about a brand. Many marketers monitor chats and blogs and also do more general scanning for key words to find out what people are saying about their brands and products.

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Neuromarketing. Marketers have turned to neuroscience, which uses highly technical equipment to scan the brain as it processes information and makes decisions. Neuromarketing is the application of this research technology to consumer behavior. For example, Campbell’s Soup used neuromarketing and biometrics to analyze consumer responses to brand communication.

Media Information • Media planning begins with consumer research and questions about media behavior that help with the media selection decision. Media planners often work in conjunction with the information account planners to decide which media formats make the most sense to accomplish the objectives. •

Next, media research gathers information about all the possible media and marketing communication tools that might be used in a campaign to deliver a message. Media researchers then match that information to what is known about the target audience. The MRI data shown earlier in Figure 6.1 illustrate the type of information media researchers consult to develop recommendations.

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Message Development and Diagnostics • As planners, account managers and people on the creative team begin the development of a message strategy, they involve themselves in various types of informal and formal message development research. They read all of the relevant secondary research information available to become better informed about the brand, the company, the competitors, the media, and the product category. •

As writers and art directors begin working on a specific creative project, they almost always conduct informal research of their own. They may visit retail stores, talk to salespeople, and watch customers buy. They may also look at previous advertising, especially that of competitors, to see what others have done before. This personal research has a powerful influence on what happens later in the message development process.

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The next step is to produce and test different ‘big ideas’ both informally within the team and through more formal structured research. Creative development research often uses qualitative methods to assess the idea’s effectiveness. Called concept testing, it can help evaluate the relative power of various creative approaches. The idea is to test the Big Idea to see if it communicates the strategy behind the message, and also test various executions of this big idea.

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Another technique used to analyze the meaning of communication is semiotic analysis, which is a way to take apart the signs and symbols in a message to uncover layers and types of meanings.

Evaluation • Concept testing is actually the first level of evaluation. After an advertisement or any other type of marketing communication message has been developed and produced, it can be evaluated for its effectiveness both before and after it runs as part of a campaign. Pre-testing is research on an execution in its finished stages but before it appears in media. While creative development research looks at the power of the advertising idea, pretesting looks at the way the idea is presented. The idea can be strong, but the target audience can dislike the execution. •

Evaluative research is done during a campaign and afterward. If it’s used during a campaign. If it is used during a campaign, the objective is diagnostic: to adjust the brand messages to make them strong. This is sometimes referred to as copy testing. The goal of posttesting research is to determine the effectiveness of the ad or campaign.

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON RESEARCH METHODS? This section focuses on the types of research used in message development and the research situations where these methods are typically applied. Consumer research methodologies are often described in terms of the ways researchers contact their Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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respondents. The contact can be in person, by telephone, by mail, through the Internet or cable television, or by a computer kiosk in a mall or store. Ways of Contact: Quantitative Methods • Most quantitative research in marketing communication is survey based. However, consumers can also be contacted in malls where they are invited to participate in experimental research. Survey Research • Survey research is a quantitative method that uses structured interviews to ask large numbers of people the same set of questions. The questions can deal with personal characteristics, such as age, income, behavior, or attitudes. The surveys can be conducted in person, by phone, by mail, or online. •

Incentives are important when doing surveys. Different audiences have different interests, so make your incentive appealing to them. Be careful, however, not to bias your results in the process.

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There are two big questions to consider in designing a survey: how to build a representative sample of people to be interviewed and what method is best to collect the data.

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Principle: Careful scientific procedures are used in survey research to draw a representative sample of a group in order to accurately reflect the population’s behavior and attitudes.

Sampling and Data Collection • Sampling is used because, in most cases, it is cost prohibitive to interview everyone in the population or target market. Instead, the people are a representative sample of the larger group, a subset of the population that is representative of the entire population. For survey research to be an accurate reflection of the population of interest, those who participate must be selected at random, where every person who belongs to the population that is being surveyed has an equal likelihood (probability) of being chosen to participate. Online Survey Research • The way research is collected from respondents has seen almost constant change as new technologies continue to make the process more cost efficient. Online surveys now make up half of the $3.3 billion spent on market research. In addition to survey research, the Internet can also be a useful tool for monitoring online behavior.

Ways of Contact: Qualitative Methods While some types of surveys are best suited as quantitative research methods, other types can be used for probing and gathering more insightful responses.

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In-Depth Interviews • In-depth interviews are conducted one-on-one using open-ended questions that require the respondents to generate their own answers. The primary difference between an interview and a survey is the interviewer’s use of a more flexible and unstructured questionnaire. Interviewers use a discussion guide, which outlines the areas to be covered during the session. The discussion guides tend to be longer than surveys with questions that are usually very broad. They use smaller sample sizes than surveys, their results cannot be generalized, and they are subjected to statistical tests. Focus Groups • A focus group is a group of 6 to 10 users of a product who are gathered around a table to have a discussion about some topic, such as a brand, product category, or advertising. The objective is to get them talking in a conversational format so researchers can observe the dialogue and interactions among the participants. In this directed group interview, a moderator supervises the group by providing direction through a set of carefully developed questions. •

Focus groups can be used at any step in the planning process. However, they are typically used in the early stages of information gathering to probe for patterns of thought and behavior that are then tested using quantitative research tools, such as surveys.

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A friendship focus group takes place in a comfortable setting, usually a private home, where the participants have been recruited by the host. This approach is designed to break down barriers and save time in getting to more in-depth responses.

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The Web is a tool not only for online surveys but also for online focus groups, based on the idea of getting together a group of brand loyalists as a password protected online community. Online focus groups can also be a form of crowdsourcing, which refers to the aggregating of the wisdom of Internet users in a type of digital brainstorming in a search for collective intelligence.

Suggestions and Comments • Dialog creates new ways to listen to customers. While informal feedback has always been available in stores through suggestion boxes and customer satisfaction cards, this practice has evolved to another level. For example, Target took the idea online by publishing an ad in the Wall Street Journal asking customers to “Tell us what more we can do for you,” to which approximately 627 respondents e-mailed suggestions. Target then published the suggestions, along with the company’s responses to them in two-page ads. Another example is Starbucks, which uses an online suggestion box incorporating the practices of crowdsourcing. My Starbucks Idea is a website for Starbucks customers to contribute ideas, join the discussion, and vote on the ones they like the best. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Panels • An expert panel gathers experts from various fields into a focus group setting. This research tool can stimulate new ways of looking at a brand, product, or customer pattern. •

A consumer research panel is an ongoing group of carefully selected people interested in a topic or product category. A standing panel can be maintained over time by a marketer as a proprietary source of information or by a research company whose clients provide topics for the panel members’ consideration. Panels can gather in person or be contacted by mail, phone, or Internet.

Observation Research • Observation researchers study the actual behavior of consumers in settings where they live, work, shop, and play, acting as professional snoops. Direct observation research is closer and more personal than most other forms of research. Researchers use video, audio, and disposable cameras to record consumers’ behavior at home (with consumer consent), in stores, or wherever people buy and use their products. A marketer may rely on observation in the aisles of grocery, drug, and discount stores to watch people as they make product selections. •

Cool watchers, researchers who keep tabs on trends, also use observational research when visiting places and events where their target market gathers. A variation of observational research is participant observation. In this research method, the observer is a member of the group being studied. The idea is that by immersing themselves in the activity, observers have an inside view and perhaps a more empathetic view of their groups’ experiences.

Ethnographic Research • Ethnographic research involves the researcher living the lives of the people being studied. Observers immerse themselves in a culture to study the meanings, language, interaction, and behavior of the people in a group. This method is particularly good at deriving a picture of a day in the life of a typical consumer. •

Principle: Direct observation and ethnographic research methods reveal what people actually do rather than what they say they do, but they also lack the ability to explain why these people do what they do.

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Direct observation and ethnographic research have the advantage of revealing what people actually do, as distinguished from what people say they do. The biggest drawback to direct observation is that it shows what is happening, but not why. Therefore, the results of direct observation often are combined with personal interviews afterward to provide a more complete and understandable picture of attitudes, motives, and behavior.

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Diaries • Sometimes consumers are asked to record their activities through the use of diaries. These diaries are particularly valuable in media research because they tell media planners exactly what programs and ads the consumers watched. Beeper diaries are used as a way to randomize the recording of activities. Consumers participating in the study are instructed to grab the diary and record what they are doing when the beeper goes off. Other Qualitative Methods • To arrive at useful consumer insights, some researchers employ a variety of interesting and novel research methods. These research methods often involve pictures and stories, since cognitive psychologists have learned that human beings think more in images than in words. They are referred to as projective techniques, meaning that they ask respondents to generate impressions rather than respond to more controlled quantitative surveys and rating systems. •

Professor Zaltman at the Harvard Business School believes that the conventional approach to consumer research, e.g., surveys and interviews, is only good for getting back predictable answers, which may not be an adequate description of how consumers really feel.

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Word association is a projective technique that asks people to respond with thoughts or other words that come to mind when they are given as stimulus word. The idea is to uncover the network of associations in their thought patterns. Brand perceptions are tested this way to map the structure and logic of these association networks.

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Below is a collection of some of the more imaginative ways qualitative researchers use projective techniques to gather insights about people’s relationships with the brands they buy. These methods can be combined. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

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Fill-in-the-blanks is a form of attitude research in which people fill in the blanks in a story or balloons in a cartoon. Sentence completion tests give respondents the beginning of a sentence and ask them to finish it. These are good at eliciting descriptions, causes, results and the meanings in personal experiences. Purpose-driven games allow researchers to see how people solve problems and search for information. Problem-solving strategies may be identified. Theater techniques. Games also can be applied in a theater setting where researchers have people use a variety of exercises to understand how people think about their brands, tell stories about products, and convince others to use a brand. Sculpting and movement techniques. Positioning the body as a statue can be a source of insight in brainstorming for creative ideas and new product ideas. Story elicitation. Consumers are asked to explain the artifacts of their lives, providing insights into how and why people use or do things.

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▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Artifact creation is a technique that uses ideas as life collages, day mapping, and the construction of instruction books as ways to elicit stories that discuss brands and their role in daily life. Photo elicitation. Similar to artifacts, visuals can be used to elicit consumer thoughts and opinions. Photo sorts. Consumers are asked to sort through a deck of photos and pick out visuals that represent something, such as typical users of the product or situations where it might be used. Metaphors. Insight into how people perceive brands through connections comes from exploring the link between the two concepts. Exhibit 6.18 features a metaphoric ad.

These methods can be combined, according to Professor Zaltman, founder of a firm that uses metaphors and visual images to uncover patterns in people’s thinking. How Do You Choose a Research Method? • Determining the appropriate research method to use is an important planning decision. Two important research criteria include validity and reliability. Validity means that the research actually measures what it says it measures. Reliability means that you can run the same test again and get the same answer. •

Quantitative researchers are concerned about being faithful to the principles of science. For this reason, selecting samples that are truly representative of the population and avoiding poorly worded questions are major concerns. The problem with experiments is twofold: 1) experiments are limited by the small number of people in the experimental groups, and 2) they are conducted under artificial conditions.

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Most researchers use a variety of research methods - quantitative, qualitative, and occasionally experimental designs. Which method should you choose? The answer depends on what questions you need to answer.

RESEARCH TRENDS AND CHALLENGES Marketing communication researchers face a number of challenges: globalization and new media technology are reshaping the industry. Practices are changing as the industry searches for ways to gain more insightful analyses and the move into IMC planning. Sampling Challenges • With the increasing use of new media and the Internet, research experts are struggling to find ways to find samples that are representative. Global Issues • The key issues that global researchers face include how to manage and communicate global brands in widely different localities and how to shift from studying differences to finding similarities around the world. The biggest problem is cross-cultural communication and how to arrive at an intended message without Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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cultural distortions or insensitivities. Researchers are becoming more involved in figuring out cultural meanings and testing advertising messages for cultural sensitivity in different countries. IMC Research Challenges • The deluge of data further complicates IMC planning, which requires research into many stakeholder groups and contact points. Strategic consistency in IMC planning suggests that different audiences, as well as media, need different messages.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 6-4. Distinguish between marketing research and market research. Why is it important to understand the difference? Formal research used by the marketing department for strategic planning is called marketing research. It includes surveys, in-depth interviews, observational methods, focus groups, and all types of primary and secondary data used to develop a marketing plan and, ultimately, provide information for a brand communication plan. A subset of marketing research, known as market research, is research used to gather information about a particular market. 6-5. Discuss the difference between primary and secondary research. Information that is collected for the first time from original sources is called primary research. To obtain it, companies and their agencies do their own tracking and monitoring of their customers’ behavior. Primary research suppliers (the firms that clients hire) specialize in interviewing, observing, recording, and analyzing the behavior of those who purchase or influence the purchase of a particular good or service. The primary research supplier industry is extremely diverse. Background research that uses available, published information about a topic is called secondary research. It’s called secondary because it is information that has been collected and published by someone else. 6-6. What types of information are obtained from quantitative, qualitative and experimental research designs? How are those three categories of research different? Quantitative research delivers numerical data such as number of users and purchases, their attitudes and knowledge, their exposure to ads, and other market-related information. It also provides information on reactions to advertising and motivation to purchase, sometimes called purchase intent. Quantitative methods that investigate the Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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responses of large numbers of people are useful to test ideas to determine if the market is large enough or if most people really think or behave that way. Qualitative methods are used early in the process of developing a brand communication plan or message strategy for generating insights, as well as questions and hypotheses for additional research. They are also good at confirming hunches, ruling out bad approaches and questionable or confusing ideas, and giving direction to message strategy. Experimental research is designed using formal hypothesis testing techniques that compare different message treatments and how people react to them. The idea is to control for all factors except the one being tested—if there is a change in the results, then the researcher can conclude that the variable being tested caused the difference. It’s used to test marketing factors as well as advertising appeals and executions in such areas as product features, price, availability, and various advertising creative ideas. 6-7. What is survey research and how is it conducted? How do in-depth interviews differ from surveys? Survey research is a quantitative method that uses structured interviews to ask large numbers of people the same set of questions. In-depth interviews are conducted oneon-one using open-ended questions that require the respondents to generate their own answers. The primary difference between an interview and a survey is the interviewer’s use of a more flexible and unstructured questionnaire.

6-8. Use a current advertising campaign to discuss the seven ways research is used in brand communication. In their response to this question, students should discuss each of the seven ways research can be used in brand communication. ▪ Market Information ▪ Consumer Insight Research ▪ Brand Information ▪ Media Research ▪ Message Development Research ▪ Advertising or IMC Plan ▪ Evaluation Research 6-9. Discus when to use the following research methods: focus group, in-depth interviews, observational research, ethnographic research, panels, and diaries. ▪

A focus group should be used when researchers wish to probe for patterns of thought and behavior. They are also useful in testing advertising ideas or exploring various alternatives in message strategy development.

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In-depth interviews should be used when researchers wish to ask broader, openended questions that require the respondents to generate their own answers.

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Observational research should be used when researchers wish to study the actual behavior of consumers in settings where they live, work, shop, and play.

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Ethnographic research should be used when researchers wish to live the lives of the people being studied, and when it is important to discover what people actually do, as distinguished from what people say they do.

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Panels are an ongoing group of carefully selected people interested in a topic or product category. A standing panel can be maintained over time by a marketer as a proprietary source of information or by a research company whose clients provide topics for the panel members’ consideration. Panels can gather in person or be contacted by mail, phone, or Internet.

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Diaries should be used when researchers are interested in the daily activities and direct observations of consumers.

6-10. Explain the difference between validity and reliability, and explain how these concepts affect brand communication research. Validity means that the research actually measures what it says it measures. Reliability means that you can run the same test again and get the same answer. Quantitative researchers, particularly those doing experiments and surveys, are concerned about being faithful to the principles of science. Selecting a sample that truly represents its population increases the reliability of the research. Poorly worded questions and talking to the wrong people can hurt the validity of surveys, and of focus groups.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 6-11. Consult the MRI data found in this chapter to conduct the following analysis: Look first at the four Index columns and find the highest viewing category of late evening weekend news and compare that with the highest viewers of early evening weekend news. If you were advertising a new hybrid car, which category and time slot would deliver the greatest percentage of viewers who might be in the market? Now analyze the size of the category to determine which of the high viewing categories delivers the greatest number of viewers. The MRI data in the text book breaks down the 18-34 age market into four market segments and describes the television viewing habits of each. A review of this data shows that when considering the entire age category, late evening network weekend news delivers the highest indices and early evening network news delivers the greatest volume. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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If we examine the four age segments of the 18-34 age group, we find that for the single person and “married with children under age 6: segments, professional football specials deliver the greatest number of viewers. Within the “children over age 6” segments, football delivers the greatest number of viewers, and within the “no children” segment, professional basketball specials deliver the greatest number of viewers. However, if the automaker wants to reach the greatest number of viewers within the general population, adverting in professional football specials, professional basketball specials, and prime tie private detective, suspense, mystery, police dramas, as well as comedies should be considered. 6-12. You have been hired to develop and conduct a research study for a new upscale restaurant chain coming into your community. Your client wants to know how people in the community see the competition and what they think of the restaurant’s offerings. It uses an unusual concept that focuses on fowl—duck, squab, pheasant and other elegant meals in the poultry category. A specialty category, this would be somewhat like a seafood restaurant. One of your colleagues says the best way to do this study is with a carefully designed survey and a representative sample. Another colleague says, no, what the client really needs is insight into the market; she believes the best way to help the client with its advertising strategy is to use qualitative research. Review the strengths of the various research tools and match them to this new product launch. Be prepared to present your recommendations in a class discussion. Here is one possible answer: Quantitative research delivers numerical data such as number of users and purchases, their attitudes and knowledge, their exposure to ads, and other marketrelated information. While it is valuable when quantifiable data are needed, qualitative research is probably the best approach here because it provides insight into the underlying reasons for how consumers behave and why. In this case, we need to know more about consumer food preferences in a restaurant setting. Qualitative research is also preferable here because it is used early in the process of developing an advertising plan or message strategy for generating insights, as well as questions and hypotheses for additional research.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 6-13. Portfolio Project: Assume you are working for Gerber baby foods. Your assignment is to identify the relevant trends that are forecast for U.S. birth rates between 2008 and 2012. Identify Internet sources that would provide that information. Gather as much information as you can from these sites and write a onepage report on the trends you find. Two reliable sources of birth rate information on the Internet are the Center for Disease Control (cdc.gov) and Pew Research (pewsocialtrends.org). Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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6.14. Mini-Case Analysis: What were the key research findings that led to the Dominos rebranding campaign? You have just been assigned to the Dominos team for the next year of the campaign. What research would you want to do before planning the next year’s efforts? Identify a list of key research questions that have to be answered before the campaign can move forward. Key insights that Dominos learned through its research were that: 1) speed of delivery was no longer as important to customers as it used to be, 2) consumers cared primarily about the taste of the product, and most felt Domino’s pizza tasted awful, and 3) Dominos was considered an impersonal company and consumers value personal relationships with companies. Now that its successful turnaround has been completed, the brand must make sure that sales growth continues, consumer attitudes toward the brand continue to improve, and consumers preference toward Dominos brand, as compared to its competitors, continues. Research questions composed by students will vary and may utilize differing methodologies.

TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Read the TRACE Case in the Appendix before coming to class. 6-15. How did the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” team use research to better understand the problem they were trying to solve? 6-16. How did the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” team use research to inspire a creative solution to the Nissan marketing challenge? 6-17. What other methodologies would you recommend to the team to better understand the success of its program in the market?

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are the four types of research used in planning advertising and marketing communication strategy? Give an example of each one. The four various types of research used in planning advertising and marketing communication strategies are:

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Market research compiles information about the product, the product category, and other details of the marketing situation that will impact on the development of advertising strategy. Consumer research is used to identify people who are in the market for the product in terms of their characteristics, attitudes, interests, and motivations. Advertising research focuses on all elements of advertising, including message development research, media planning research, evaluation, and information about competitors’ advertising. IMC research is similar except it is used to assemble information needed in planning the use of a variety of marketing communication tools. Strategic research uncovers critical information that becomes the basis for strategic planning decisions for both marketing and marketing communications. In advertising it covers all of the factors and steps that lead to the creation of message strategies and media plans. 2. How does a marketing communication professional conduct secondary research, and where does one go to get started? When advertising people get new accounts or new assignments, they start by reading everything they can find on the product, company, industry, and competition: sales reports, annual reports, complaint letters, and trade articles about the industry. Other possible sources include: ▪ Government Organizations ▪ Trade Associations ▪ Secondary Research Suppliers ▪ Secondary Information on the Internet There are also many industry-related sites for marketing that report on research, essays, and best practices. They include: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

BrandEra: MarketPerceptions: Forrester Research: Greenbook.org Cluetrain:

www.brandera.com www.marketperceptions.com www.forrester.com www.greenbook.org www.cluetrain.com

3. Define media research and explain how the process works. Media research gathers information about all the possible media and marketing communication tools that might be used in a campaign to deliver a message. Media researchers then match that information to what is known about the target audience. 4. Discuss the various ways in which advertising is evaluated. Concept testing is the first level of evaluation. After an advertisement or any other type of marketing communication message has been developed and produced, it can be evaluated for its effectiveness both before and after it runs as part of a campaign. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Pre-testing is research on an execution in its finished stages but before it appears in media. While creative development research looks at the power of the advertising idea, pretesting looks at the way the idea is presented. The idea can be strong, but the target audience can dislike the execution. Evaluative research is done during a campaign and afterward. If it is used during a campaign, the objective is diagnostic: to adjust the brand messages to make them strong. This is sometimes referred to as copy testing. The goal of posttesting research is to determine the effectiveness of the ad or campaign.

5. Discuss the relationship between a population and a sample in survey research. What are the most important considerations in sampling? In a survey research project, the people interviewed can be from an entire group, or population, or they can be a representative sample of a much larger group, a subset of the population that is representative of the entire population. For survey research to be an accurate reflection of the population of interest, those who participate must be selected at random, where every person who belongs to the population that is being surveyed has an equal likelihood (probability) of being chosen to participate.

6. What new challenges are marketing communication researchers facing? With the increasing use of new media and the Internet, research experts are struggling to find ways to find samples that are representative. Also, global researchers are challenged to learn how to manage and communicate global brands in widely different localities and how to shift from studying differences to finding similarities around the world. Researchers are becoming more involved in figuring out cultural meanings and testing advertising messages for cultural sensitivity in different countries. Finally, the deluge of data further complicates IMC planning, which requires research into many stakeholder groups and contact points.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Through an interview with a professor on your campus, explore the differences between qualitative and quantitative research. What are the main uses, strengths and weaknesses of each approach for advertisers? Write a 750-word report summarizing your findings. 2. Conduct secondary research on one of your favorite products or services. Start with the Internet and your university library. What can you find that is positive, negative or useful about the product, the brand or its company? Synthesize your findings and share them in a brief report to the class. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Think-Pair-Share 1. Pair off with a classmate and construct a five-item survey to find out which cellular provider their classmates prefer and why. Pilot the surveys in class, allowing everyone to try them and examine their strengths and weaknesses. How might each survey be improved? 2. Choose any product. Then, conduct background research on the brand experience by buying and using that product a few times. What did you learn that would be impossible to gather in a survey or interview? Conversely, what are the limitations of this form of research? Write a 500-word report detailing your findings.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Visit the website for MarketPerceptions, a research company that specializes in health care research, at www.marketperceptions.com. Then address the following issues: 1) How is focus group research particularly useful for advertising campaigns in health care? What does it accomplish that quantitative research cannot? 2) Watch the video one this website entitled ‘The Future of Marketing Research.’ Identify the key points that it makes and discuss how they reflect principles introduced in this chapter. Prepare a brief PowerPoint presentation to share your findings on both issues with the class. 2. The U.S. Census Bureau contains a wealth of demographic information for communities in every region of the United States. Visit them online at www.census.gov and explore the website. Once you have taken a look around, use the web tools to locate information on your community and create a demographic profile of the average consumer who lives in your city or town. Who are they and what do they “look” like? What valuable clues about their lifestyle, income and occupation are buried in this data? What types of marketers do you suppose would be interested in a consumer of this sort? Compile your findings in a 500-word report.

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Chapter 7 Strategic Planning

◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. What are the differences between objectives, strategies, and tactics in strategic planning, and how are the four levels of planning connected? 2. What are the key strategic decisions, and why are they central to brand communication planning? 3. What is account planning and how it is used in advertising?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Marketing and brand communication strategies are chosen from a wide array of possible alternatives. Given this, the task of all engaged in strategic market planning, including brand communicators, is to identify the best strategies to accomplish the brand objectives. In this chapter, strategic planning is presented as a series of cascading objectives, flowing from the corporate business plan to the marketing plan to the brand communication/IMC plan to finally, brand communication/IMC tactics. Making key strategic decisions that guide marcom plans is explored through the prism of the Facets Model introduced in Chapter 4. Also, factors to be considered when making strategic decisions regarding target audience selection, brand identity, and brand positioning, and consumer insights are discussed. The chapter closes with an overview of the account planner’s job and explains this person’s critical role in determining consumer insights that lead to message and media strategies.

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHAT IS STRATEGIC PLANNING? • For marketing communication, strategic planning is the process of identifying a problem that can be solved with marketing communication, then determining objectives (what you want to accomplish), deciding on strategies (how to accomplish the objectives), and implementing the tactics (which make the plan come to life). This process occurs within a specified timeframe. •

Strategic thinking is just as creative as coming up with a Big Idea for a brand communication idea. Pat Fallon and Fred Senn, cofounders of the legendary agency Fallon Worldwide, have identified seven principles that link creative thinking and strategic planning to business results. They are: 1) always start from scratch, 2) demand a ruthlessly simple definition of business problems, 3)

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discover a proprietary emotion, 4) focus on the size of the idea, not the size of the budget, 5) seek out strategic risks, 6) collaborate or perish, and 7) listen hard to your customers and then listen some more. •

Principle: Coming up with a big problem-solving idea in strategic planning is just as creative as coming up with a Big Idea for a brand communication campaign.

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Strategic planning occurs in a complex business environment which includes four levels of plans: the business plan, the marketing plan, the brand communication plan, and plans for specific areas of marketing communication, such as advertising or public relations.

The Business Plan • Strategic planning is a process that starts with the business plan. From there it moves on to the various functional areas of the company, including marketing, where a marketing plan is developed that outlines objectives, strategies, and tactics for all areas of the marketing mix. A business plan is a snapshot of the company and the environment is which it operates. •

A business plan directs the operations of the entire company, or in larger organizations, a specific division called a strategic business unit (SBU), which is a line of products under a single brand name. It is also a document given to investors. Figure 7.1 depicts a framework for a business plan.

Mission Statement and Business Philosophy • A business plan begins with a description of the business itself - the history of the company, its products, the scope of its offerings, its corporate strengths, and its organizational structure and management team. A vision statement may also be used to describe where the business is headed. A more general direction of the company is expressed in a mission statement. •

A company’s business philosophy is the fundamental principles that guide the operations of the business. For most companies, the philosophy is simply to make a profit. A societal marketing philosophy describes the operations of companies whose corporate mission reflects their desire to do good. If a commitment reflects a company’s core business strategy as described in its mission statement, it is called mission marketing.

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Principle: Embedding social responsibility principles in the corporate mission, business plans, and operations imbues the brand image with integrity.

Research • In business plans, it is particularly important to look both inside and outside the organization to identify strengths and weaknesses, both corporate and brand. Being able to foresee market changes, business opportunities, and technological Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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breakthroughs determines a company’s long term success. The Principled Practice feature in this chapter about antismoking campaigns provides insight into the role research plays in tracking consumer trends. Goals and Objectives • Business goals, which are long-term and general, provide direction to business plans. Often these plans are stated in 5-to 10 year time frames and outline the financial side of the business. •

The objectives for planning at this level tend to focus on maximizing profit and return-on-investment (ROI). ROI is a measurement that shows whether, in general, the costs of conducting the business—the investment—are more than matched by the revenue produced in return. The revenue above and beyond the costs is where profit lies.

Strategies, Tactics, and Controls • Strategies are plans that will achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. Tactics are specific activities that make the strategies come to life. Every company operates with budgets, audits, time sheets, and quality control procedures. These management tools keep programs on strategy and track the effectiveness of strategic decisions and implementation programs. This information feeds back into the planning process and is used to adjust future plans. The Marketing Plan • A marketing plan is developed for a brand or product line and evaluated annually, although sections dealing with long-terms goals might operate for a number of years. To a large extent, a marketing plan mirrors the corporate business plan, although strategies are focused on a specific brand rather than the larger organization. •

Figure 7.2 illustrates the strategic decisions found in a marketing plan. We can summarize these decisions in terms of the following steps: Step 1: A situation analysis assesses the external and internal environments that affect marketing programs—the company’s history, products, and brands, as well as the competitive environment, consumer trends, and other marketplace trends that affect the product category. A set of “what’s going on” questions structure this market analysis. Answers to these questions help define the key marketing problem through a SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These questions include: • What is happening with the brand and the category? • How is it happening? • Where is it happening? • When is it happening?

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• To whom is it happening? Step 2: Set objectives, which at the marketing level tend to be focused on sales levels and share of market, measurements referring to the percentage of the category purchases that are made by the brand’s customers. Other objectives deal with specific areas of the marketing mix. J. Scott Armstrong, in his book Persuasive Advertising, believes that objectives should be designed to have a good return on the brand communication investment. Step 3: Assess consumer needs and wants relative to the product, segment the market into groups that are likely to respond, and target specific audiences and uncover insights about their thoughts and behaviors. Step 4: Develop the brand strategy, differentiating and positioning the product relative to the competition. Step 5: Develop the marketing mix strategy, selecting product design and performance criteria, pricing, distribution, and marketing communication. Step 6: Implementation of tactical programs that execute the strategic decisions. •

For marketing communication managers, the most important part of the marketing plan is the discussion of the brand strategy, which gives direction to the strategy for all brand communication programs. In addition, the marketing mix strategy, which includes decisions about the target market, brand position, product design and performance, pricing, and distribution, as well as marketing communication, are all important in planning brand campaigns.

The Brand Communication/IMC Plan • Brand communication planning operates with the same concern for objectives, strategies, and tactics that we’ve outlined for business and marketing plans. It outlines all of the communication activities needed to deliver on the business and marketing objectives, in terms of communication objectives, strategies, tactics, timing, costs, and evaluation. Briefly, a marcom planner’s goals can be stated as: ▪ Who are you trying to reach and what insight do you have about how they think, feel, and act? How should they respond to your brand message? ▪ What do you say to them? What directions from the consumer research are useful to the creative team? ▪ How and where will you reach them? What directions from the consumer research are useful to the media team? •

Principle: A brand communication plan seeks to match the right audience to the right message and present the message in the right medium to reach that audience.

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The SPAR story in this chapter’s A Matter of Practice feature lets you see inside the mind of a planner as he works through a series of strategic decisions. •

The various levels of planning set up a cascade of goals and objectives. As illustrated in Figure 7.4, the business and marketing plans provide direction to the brand communication (IMC) plan as well as to specific plans for specialist areas, such as advertising and other areas of marketing communication.

Plans for Marketing Communication Functions • Advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and other marcom areas all operate with their own plans. Most often, these are campaign plans and outline a series of activities to be undertaken during a specificed period of time. They begin with the same strategic decisions found in a marketing or brand communication (IMC) plan. •

The tactics section of these plans identifies specific activities that will be undertaken, such as a series of ads in key media scheduled at critical times. Three key elements target audience insight leading to a Big Idea, message strategy, and media strategy – are at the heart of communication planning and make up the key sections in these functional area plans.

KEY STRATEIC DECISIONS Key strategic decisions that guide marcom plans include the analysis and statement of communication objectives, the target audience, brand position, and consumer insights. The Communication Objectives • After planners have examined the external and internal environments and defined the critical areas that need to be addressed, they can develop specific communication objectives to be accomplished during a specified time period. The six categories of the Facets Model of Advertising Effects can also be used to identify the most common consumer-focused objectives. They are: perception, emotion, cognition, persuasion, association, and behavior. See the textbook for examples of ads or campaigns that reflect each of these six facets. The Target Audience 1. Marketing communication strategy is based on accurately targeting an audience that will be responsive to a particular type of message, one that will deliver objectives. The decision about the target audience is made possible because of a deep knowledge of consumers. This research-based knowledge identifies what makes specific groups of consumers different from people in other groups. These characteristics also identify how consumers are similar to others in ways that characterize a specific type of viewpoint or lifestyle. Diversity and Empathy 2. There is more to targeting than just identifying and profiling a possible audience. Multicultural communication demands an appreciation of diversity, and the empathy Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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that results from such appreciation. To deal with this problem, agencies are adding multicultural specialists as well as creating or buying firms that specialize in multicultural marketing. 3. Professor Peggy Kreshel defines diversity as “the acknowledgement and inclusion of a wide variety of people with differing characteristics, attributes, beliefs, values, and experiences.” In advertising, diversity tends to be discussed primarily in terms of representations of gender, race, and ethnicity in the advertising content, although diversity goes beyond the images used in ads, but Kreshel points out that diversity goes far beyond the images used in ads. Brand Identity Strategy • A brand identity must be distinctive. In other words, it represents only one particular product within a category, so it needs to be recognizable and therefore memorable. Recognizing the brand means that the consumer knows the brand’s identification markers—name, logo, colors, typeface, design, and slogan—and can connect those marks with a past experience or message. •

To better understand how a brand can become an integrated perception, this textbook proposes an outline of the communication dimensions of branding using the same six effects presented in the Facets Model in Chapter 4. •

Brand personality and Liking. Brand personality - the idea that a brand takes on familiar human characteristics - contributes an affective dimension to the meaning of a brand. It is important to measure the way these personality traits are associated with a brand or a competitor’s brand.

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Brand Position and Leadership. What does the brand stand for? A brand must stand for stand for something and it has to be something that matters to consumers. Brand essence is also apparent when a brand dominates or defines its category. Category leadership often comes from being the first brand in the market—and with that comes an ownership position.

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Brand image. Understanding brand meaning involves understanding the symbolism and associations that create brand image, the mental impression consumers construct for a product. The richness of the brand image determines the quality of the relationship and the strength of the associations and emotional connections that link a customer to a brand. Advertising researchers call this brand linkage.

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Brand Promise and Brand Preference. A brand is sometimes defined as a promise because it establishes an expectation based on familiarity, consistency, and predictability.

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Brand Loyalty. A personal experience with a brand can develop into a brand relationship, which is a connection over time that results in customers preferring the brand--thus brand loyalty—and buying it over and over. People have unique

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relationships with the brands they buy and use regularly and this is what makes them brand loyal. The company’s attitude toward its customers is another factor in loyalty. •

By putting all this together, we see that a brand perception is created by different fragments of information, feelings, and personal experiences with a brand. One could say that a brand is an integrated perception—in other words, all of these different aspects of brand communication work together to create brand meaning.

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Principle: A brand is an integrated perception that includes fragments of information, feelings, and personal experience, all of which come together to give the brand meaning.

Brand Positioning Strategy • A position is how consumers define the product or brand in comparison to its competitors. A position is based upon two things. First, it is based on a particular feature or attribute. Second, that feature must be important to the consumer. •

Principle: The goal of positioning is to locate a product in the consumer’s mind based on its features and advantages relative to its competition.

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A position is based upon some notion of comparison. It is about locking the brand in the consumers’ mind, based on some quality relevant to them where the brand stands out. If that point of relevance changes, then the position may need to be adjusted.

Product Features and Attributes • An initial step in crafting a position is to identify the features of the brand, as well as those of the competition, in order to determine where the brand has an advantage over its competitors. That means a marketer carefully evaluates the product’s tangible features and other intangible attributes in order to identify the dimensions of the product that are relevant to consumers and make it different from its competitors. •

Principle: Positioning identifies the features that make a brand different from its competitors and relevant to consumers.

Differentiation and Competitive Advantage • Most markets involve a high level of competition. A company competes in a crowded market by using product differentiation, a strategy designed to focus attention on differences that distinguish the company’s product from all others in the eyes of consumers. Products that really are the same, such as milk and unleaded gas, are called undifferentiated or parity products. Creation of a unique brand image is the most obvious way to differentiate one product from another.

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A technique called feature analysis helps structure an assessment of features relative to competitors’ products in order to identify where a brand has an advantage. Instructions for conducting such as analysis are provided in the text.

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Using the two factors of importance and performance, competitive advantage is found where 1) the product has a strong feature 2) in an area that is important to the target and 3) where the competition is weaker.

Locating the Brand Position In addition to specific product attributes, a number of other factors can be used to locate a position for a brand. They include: • • • • • • • •

Superiority Position: Jack Trout suggests that positioning is always easy if something is faster, fancier, safer, or newer. Preemptive Position: Being first in the category often creates category leadership and dominance. Value Position: Wal-Mart and Hyundai have both used this very successfully. Psychological Position: Often brands are designed around non-product differences. Volvo, Coke, and Hallmark are examples. Benefit Position: How does the product help the consumer? Usage Position: How, where, and when is the product used and who is using it? Competitor’s Strategy: How can the product go head-to-head or move completely away from the competition? Category Factors: Is the competition coming from outside the category and, if so, how does the brand compare to these other categories and how does that change the analysis of strengths and weaknesses?

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Principle: Strong brands are known for one thing. The test is: What do you think of when you hear the brand’s name?

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Many campaigns are designed to establish the brand’s position by giving the right set of cues about these decision factors to help place the brand in the consumer’s mind relative to the competition. If a position is a point in a consumer’s mind, planners can map that. The way planners compare positions is by using a technique called a perceptual map, which plots all of the competitors on a matrix based on the two most important consumer decision factors.

Repositioning • Positions are difficult to establish and are created over time. Once established, they are difficult to change. Category dominance is important. Positioning experts Al and Laura Reis recommend the difficult challenge of repositioning when there is a marketplace change or new targeting opportunities arise. In their view, repositioning can only work if the new position is related to the brand’s core concept. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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The principle in repositioning is to move ahead while at the same time retaining the brand’s essence. The role of brand communication in a repositioning strategy is to relate the product’s position to the target market’s life experience and associations. A classic example of an effective repositioning campaign is 7UP, which is described in the Matter of Practice feature in this chapter.

CONSUMER INSIGHT AND ACCOUNT PLANNING • The concept of consumer insight is the last of our key strategic decisions. It may also be the hardest decision that planners make because it calls for solid research and thoughtful analyses that leads to, in many cases, unexpected conclusions about the direction the brand communication should take. •

Consumer insights and the account planning function responsible for identifying them has transformed marketing research as well as communication planning. It calls for “deep insight into consumer minds and hearts,” according to Regina Lewis, a member of this textbook’s advisory board. “It’s not just about how people think but it’s what is in their minds and hearts – their mental and emotional mindsets,” according to Ms. Lewis.

Account Planning •

Account planning analyzes the research to uncover consumer insights. Insights are what happens when the light bulb goes off and the planner sees something in a new way. From this insight clues come concerning how and when to best reach the target audience and what to say.

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Account planning is the research and analysis process used to gain knowledge of the consumer that is expressed as a key consumer insight. An account planner, then, is a person in an agency who uses a disciplined system to research a brand and its customer relationships in order to devise advertising (and other marketing communication) message strategies that are effective in addressing consumer needs and wants. Account planning agencies are based in research but focus on deriving meanings about consumers.

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Principle: The account manager is seen as the voice of the client, and the account planner is seen as the voice of the consumer.

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Account planners do not design the creative strategy for an ad, as this is usually a team process that requires the participation of the creative department. Rather, the planner evaluates the consumer’s relationships with the brand and with media to determine the kind of message to which they might respond. The objective is to help the creative team come up with a better idea – making their creative process easier and faster.

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Susan Mendelsohn, a leader in the U.S. account planning industry explains the account manager’s task as follows: 1) understand the meaning of the brand, 2) understand the target audience’s relationship to the brand, 3) articulate communication strategies, 4) prepare creative briefs based on an understanding of the consumer and brand, and 5) evaluate effectiveness of the communication in terms of how the target reacts to it.

The Consumer Insight Process • Through the process of strategic and critical thinking, the planner interprets the consumer research to find a key consumer insight that will help move the target audience to respond to the message. Consumer insights reveal the inner nature of consumer’s thinking, including such things as mindsets, moods, motivations, desires, aspirations, and motives that trigger their attitudes and actions. Research: Brand Intelligence • Insight begins with research. The objective is to puzzle out a key insight that will help move the target audience to respond to the message. Insight research, in other words, is about asking and listening and then asking more questions to probe deeper into thoughts, opinions, attitudes, desires, and motivations. •

Planners use a wide variety of research tools to arrive at insights that lead to an intelligent strategic decision. In a sense they are social anthropologists who are in touch with cultural and social trends and understand how they take on relevance in people’s lives. To accomplish this, the planner must be an integrator, who brings all of the information together, and a synthesizer, who expresses what it all means in one startlingly simple statement.

Insights: The Fuel of Big Ideas • Account planners look at advertising as an insight factory. Insight mining— finding the “aha” in a stack of research reports, data, and transcripts—is the greatest challenge for the account planner. The Account Planning Group Association describes this process as “peering into nooks and crannies without losing sight of the big picture in order to identify a key insight that can transform a client’s business.” •

Understanding the brand/consumer relationship is important because account planners are taking the position of the agency’s brand steward. The account planning toolkit is made up of questions that lead to useful insights that are culled from research. Kelley and Jugenheimer recommend seven topics or questions you might ask to begin in your search. They can be found in the text.

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Here is a set of questions that can lead to useful insights: ▪ ▪

What is a realistic response objective (perception, knowledge, feelings, attitudes, symbolic meanings, behavior) for this target group? What are the causes of their lack of response?

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▪ ▪ ▪ •

What are the barriers to the desired response? What could motivate them to respond in the desired way? What is the role of each element in the communication mix to motivate them or remove a barrier?

The important dimensions that account planners seek to understand in planning brand strategies are the relationship, the perceptions, the promise, and the point of differentiation. Most importantly, planners are looking for clues about the brand’s meaning, which is usually phrased in terms of the brand essence (core, soul), personality, or image.

The Communication Brief • The outcome of strategic research usually reaches the agency’s creative department in the form of a strategy document called a communication brief or creative brief, which explains the consumer insight and summarizes the basic strategy decisions. The brief is an outline of the message strategy that guides the agency’s work and helps keep their creative ideas strategically sound. As the planner’s main product, it should be clear, logical, and focused. •

Here is an outline of a typical communication brief: ▪ Problem: What’s the problem that communication can solve? ▪ Target audience: To whom do we want to speak? ▪ Consumer insights: What motivates the target? What are the “major truths” about the target’s relationships to the product category or brand? ▪ Brand imperatives: What are the important features? What’s the point of competitive advantage? What’s the brand’s position relative to the competition? Also, what is the brand essence, brand personality and/or image? ▪ Communication objectives: What do we want customers to do in response to our messages? ▪ The Proposition or Selling Idea: What is the single thought that the communication will bring to life in a provocative way? ▪ Support: What is the reason to believe the proposition? ▪ Creative direction: How can you best stimulate the desired response? How can we best say it? ▪ Media imperatives: Where and when should we say it?

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The brief is strategic but it should also be inspirational. It is designed to ignite the creative team and give a spark to their idea process. A good brief does not set up limitations and boundaries but rather serves as a springboard.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 7-4. Define objectives, strategies, and tactics and explain how they differ. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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For marketing communication, strategic planning is the process of identifying a problem that can be solved with marketing communication, and then determining objectives (what you want to accomplish), deciding on strategies (how to accomplish the objectives), and implementing the tactics (which make the plan come to life). 7-5. What information does a brand communication plan derive from the business plan or marketing plan? A business plan is a snapshot of the company and the environment is which it operates. It directs the operations of an entire company, or in larger companies, a specific division called a strategic business unit (SBU), which is a line of products under a single brand name. A business plan begins with a description of the business itself - the history of the company, its products, the scope of its offerings, its corporate strengths, and its organizational structure and management team. A vision statement may also be used to describe where the business is headed. A more general direction of the company is expressed in a mission statement. For marketing communication managers, the most important part of the marketing plan is the marketing mix strategy, although close attention must also be paid to challenges from competitors. These marketing strategies, which are undergirded by a comprehensive marketing analysis, link the overall strategic business plan with specific marketing programs, including advertising and other IMC areas. 7-6. What is a situation analysis, and how does it differ from a SWOT analysis? A situation analysis assesses the external and internal environments that affect marketing programs—the company’s history, products, and brands, as well as the competitive environment, consumer trends, and other marketplace trends that affect the product category. A set of “what’s going on” questions structure this market analysis. Answers to these questions help define the key marketing problem through a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strengths and weaknesses are internally focused and the opportunities and threats lie in the external marketing environment. Based on information identified by the SWOT analysis, strategies should be developed that address a brand’s weaknesses and threats and leverage its strengths and opportunities.

7-7. Discuss the cascading concept in planning and setting objectives. Business planning involves a set of cascading objectives and strategies. Corporate objectives and strategies are achieved through planning at the level of marketing, and marketing objectives and strategies give direction to brand communication programs

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and finally to plans for specific marketing communication areas. (See Figure 7.4 in the textbook for an illustration.) 7-8. What are the key decisions involved in establishing a brand and planning brand strategy? Key strategic decisions that guide marketing communication plans include the analysis and statement of communication objectives, the target audience, brand position, and consumer insights. After planners have examined the external and internal environments and defined the critical areas that need to be addressed, they can develop specific communication objectives to be accomplished during a specified time period. Marketing communication strategy is based on accurately targeting an audience that will be responsive to a particular type of message, one that will deliver objectives. The decision about the target audience is made possible because of a deep knowledge of consumers. Brand positioning clarifies what the brand stands for and consumer insights is research based knowledge that provides a deep understanding of how consumers think and what is in their minds and hearts. 7-9. What is a position and how is it established? A position is how consumers define the product or brand in comparison to its competitors. It rests upon a particular feature or attribute that is important to the consumer. It is also based upon some notion of comparison. It is about locking the brand in the mind, based on some quality relevant to consumers. If that point of relevance changes, then the position may need to be adjusted. Positions are difficult to establish and are created over time. Once established, they are difficult to change.

7-10. What is an insight and how is it uncovered? What is insight mining? Insight begins with research. The objective is to figure out a key insight that will help move the target audience to respond to the message. Insight research, in other words, is about asking and listening and then asking more questions to probe deeper into thoughts, opinions, attitudes, desires, and motivations. Insight mining is the process of finding the “aha” in a stack of research reports, data, and transcripts. It is the greatest challenge for the account planner. The Account Planning Group Association describes this process as “peering into nooks and crannies without losing sight of the big picture in order to identify a key insight that can transform a client’s business.” 7-11. What is account planning and what does the account planner bring to an advertising plan?

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Account planning is the tool that analyzes the research to uncover consumer insights. Insights are what happen when the light bulb goes off and the planner sees something in a new way. Account planning is the research and analysis process used to gain the knowledge of the consumer that is expressed as a key consumer insight. An account planner, then, is a person in an agency who uses a disciplined system to research a brand and its customer relationships in order to devise advertising message strategies that are effective in addressing consumer needs and wants. Account planners are often described as “speaking with the voice of the consumer.” The account planning function develops the marketing communication strategy with other members of the client and agency team and guides its implementation in the creative work and media planning. Account planners do not design the creative strategy for an ad, as this is usually a team process that requires the participation of the creative department. Rather, the planner evaluates the consumers’ relationships with the brand and with media to determine the kind of message to which they might respond. Leaders in the U.S. account planning industry explain their task as follows: 1) understand the meaning of the brand, 2) understand the target audience’s relationship to the brand, 3) articulate communication strategies, 4) prepare creative briefs based on an understanding of the consumer and brand, and 5) evaluate effectiveness of the communication in terms of how the target reacts to it.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 7-12. The owners of the Vico brand of organic coconut water believe that it is the next big trend in the bottled water category. It uses the clear liquid inside young, green coconuts (not coconut milk that is derived from pressing the coconut pulp). Healthy and natural, the product is popular in South America and is becoming a niche market in New York City and other cities with South American immigrant populations. Outline a preliminary situation analysis and objectives, and targeting, positioning, and branding strategies. In each section, explain what additional information you would need to fully develop this plan. The marketing plan outline developed by students will vary, based on the amount of research data each collects and how they interpret and choose to use it. However, each student’s outline must include the following components: • • •

A situation analysis, which contains background research and a SWOT analysis. Business objectives that clearly articulate what they intend to achieve. Next, students must target their audience by identifying the group of customers most likely to be interested in their product offering, developing a demographic profile of them, and attempting to learn what’s going on in their heads and hearts.

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From there the product must be positioned. That is, the features that differentiate their product from competitors must be effectively communicated to consumers so that a place in their minds can be established based upon it. Other branding strategies students should develop include brand identity, brand personality, brand image, and brand promise.

7-13. You are in a meeting about the strategy for an automotive client who is proposing a new upscale luxury version of an electric car. One of your team members says positioning is an old strategy and no longer useful for modern products because the market is so complex and changes so fast. Another person argues strongly that you need to understand the position in the consumer’s mind before you can even begin to develop an advertising strategy. Discuss one side of this issue for the launch of this new product and develop your position to present and defend in a class debate. Students may argue successfully for either position. Here are two perspectives: In favor of positioning: A position is a place in a consumer’s mind where the product or brand is located in comparison to its competitors. In the automotive market, this strategy is critical in order to stand out from a multitude of competitors. How do customers see the brand in the marketplace? Ultimately, positioning is about locking the brand in the mind based on some quality relevant to consumers. This is especially important to do in the automotive market. Against positioning: Students may argue against positioning by favoring other strategies. One alternative strategy could be the brand communication strategy, and the six effects from the Facets Model: Consumer’s Response Perceive Feel Think Associate Believe Do

Advertiser’s Objective Create brand identity Cue brand personality Cue brand position Cue brand image Create brand promise and brand preference Inspire brand loyalty

In other words, brand perception is created by a number of different fragments of information, feelings, and personal experiences with a brand. You could say that a brand is an integrated perception—in other words, all these different aspects of brand communication work together to create brand meaning. A positioning strategy does not account for such a holistic, consumer-oriented view of brands and how they are created.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 7-14. Portfolio Project: Examine the following websites: www.lexus.com, www.infiniti.com, and www.mercedes-benz.com. Based on what you find on these sites, Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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compare the positioning strategies for these top-of-the-line SUV models. Analyze the product features, competitive advantage, and points of differentiation.

Student responses to this assignment will vary. However, all students should identify both tangible and intangible features of each brand to determine points of differentiation. They may also wish to conduct a feature analysis and create a positioning map to assist in identification of each brand’s competitive advantage.

7-15. Mini-Case Analysis: Review the Chick-fil-A case that opened and closed this chapter. Assume you are working on this account and have been asked to pull together a presentation for the brand team for the next year of this campaign. What research would you recommend conducting in order to decide if the campaign should be continued? What do you need to find out in order to make this decision?

Have each of the original objectives established for the Chick-fil-A brand been fully reached? The decision whether or not to continue the campaign rests upon the answer to this question. If the answer is yes, then going forward the brand may want to begin shifting toward reminder advertising to retain its presence in the consumer’s mind. However, if a substantial portion of the target market has not yet been convinced to switch from burgers to chicken sandwiches, it makes sense to continue the campaign as it is. This may be the case since as of 2013, this southern based company was still in midst of a national roll-out of its restaurants.

TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Planning for Multicultural Communication Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 7-16. Develop a creative brief based on what you believe an account planner would have developed. Keep it to one page. 7-17. Develop at least three business objectives and strategies, three communications objectives and strategies, and three media objectives and strategies based on this case study. Hands-On Case P2-1. Compare and contrast these two campaigns. What lessons can you learn from these cases that might help you communicate to diverse audiences? Both cases illustrate how important it is that brand communicators understand the norms, values, and cultural influences that impact consumer decision making of diverse target audiences, and that those factors be integrated into the brand’s communication strategy. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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P2-2: Explain how these campaigns work using the facets model. How do these campaigns help communicate brand meaning? Student responses to this question may vary. Kraft’s Oreo campaign made Hispanics aware of the tradition of the Oreo ‘ritual’ (perception), focused heavily on the close emotional bond between parent and child (affect), and illustrated how usage of their product reinforces currently held cultural norms (association & persuasion). Gospel music engenders an emotional response in many African Americans (affect) and is likely to evoke a high level of involvement and engagement in the ad (persuasion). Verizon’s objective was to align their product with a component a very important component of African American culture (association). P2-3: Evaluate Kraft’s strategy of reaching parents in less acculturated Hispanic households by linking the fun of the Oreo ritual with the valued relationship between parents and their children. Often less acculturated Hispanics (first and second generation immigrants) do not speak English very well, if at all, and remain wedded to the traditions and beliefs of their country of origin. By linking the fun of the Oreo ritual with the valued relationship between parents and their children, Kraft was able to overcome any language barrier issues that may exist and encourage less acculturated Hispanics parents to learn a new tradition associated with their new homeland.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What is strategic planning, and how can strategic planning be linked to the creative process? Strategic planning is the process of identifying a problem that can be solved with marketing communication, then determining objectives (what you want to accomplish), deciding on strategies (how to accomplish the objectives), and implementing the tactics (actions that make the plan come to life). This process occurs within a specified timeframe. Strategic thinking requires creativity and a process of searching for ideas to solve problems. Pat Fallon and Fred Senn, cofounders of the legendary agency Fallon Worldwide, have identified seven principles that link creative thinking and strategic planning to business results. They are: 1) always start from scratch, 2) demand a ruthlessly simple definition of the business problems, 3) discover a proprietary emotion, 4) focus on the size of the idea, not the size of the budget, 5) seek out strategic risks, 6) collaborate or perish, and 7) listen hard to your customers and then listen some more.

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2. What kinds of questions are important to ask in a market situation analysis? How do the answers help advertisers? A set of “what’s going on” questions help structure this market analysis: • What is happening with the brand and the category? • How is it happening? • Where is it happening? • When is it happening? • To whom is it happening? Answers to these questions help define the marketing problem and, ultimately, the area of message opportunity. 3.

Discuss the concept of targeting. Marketing communication strategy is based on accurately targeting an audience who will be responsive to a particular type of message, one that meets the advertising objectives. There is more to targeting than just identifying a possible audience and profiling them. Advertising planners also want to know what’s going on in people’s heads and hearts—what motivates them to attend to a message and respond to it. Understanding a target audience demands an appreciation of diversity, which can be defined as “the acknowledgement and inclusion of a wide variety of people with differing characteristics, attributes, beliefs, values, and experiences.” In advertising, diversity tends to be discussed primarily in terms of representations of gender, race, and ethnicity in the advertising content, although diversity goes beyond the images used in ads.

What are the various approaches that can be used to locate a brand position? A technique called feature analysis helps structure an assessment of features relative to competitors’ products to identify where a brand has an advantage. Instructions for conducting such as analysis are provided in the text. From there, a competitive advantage can be identified, and positioning can be based upon this advantage. In addition to specific product attributes, a number of other factors can be used to locate a position for a brand. They include: • • • • •

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• • •

Usage Position: How, where, and when is the product used and who is using it? Competitor’s Strategy: How can the product go head-to-head or move completely away from the competition? Category Factors: Is the competition coming from outside the category and, if so, how does the brand compare to these other categories and how does that change the analysis of strengths and weaknesses?

5. What is the account planner’s mission? Account planning analyzes the research to uncover consumer insights. It is the research and analysis process used to gain knowledge of the consumer that is expressed as a key consumer insight. An account planner, then, is a person in an agency who uses a disciplined system to research a brand and its customer relationships in order to devise advertising (and other marketing communication) message strategies that are effective in addressing consumer needs and wants. Account planning agencies are based in research but focus on deriving meanings about consumers. The account planner is seen as the voice of the consumer. Account planners do not design the creative strategy for an ad, as this is usually a team process that requires the participation of the creative department. Rather, the planner evaluates the consumer’s relationships with the brand and with media to determine the kind of message to which they might respond. The objective is to help the creative team come up with a better idea – making their creative process easier and faster. Susan Mendelsohn, a leader in the U.S. account planning industry explains the account manager’s task as follows: 1) understand the meaning of the brand, 2) understand the target audience’s relationship to the brand, 3) articulate communication strategies, 4) prepare creative briefs based on an understanding of the consumer and brand, and 5) evaluate effectiveness of the communication in terms of how the target reacts to it.

6. What is a creative brief (or a communication brief), and how is it typically outlined? The outcome of strategic research usually reaches agency creative departments in the form of a strategy document called a creative brief or a communication brief. It explains the consumer insight and summarizes the basic strategy decisions.. Here is an outline of a typical communication brief: ▪ ▪

Problem: What’s the problem that communication can solve? Target audience: To whom do we want to speak?

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▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Consumer insights: What motivates the target? What are the “major truths” about the target’s relationships to the product category or brand? Brand imperatives: What are the important features? What’s the point of competitive advantage? What’s the brand’s position relative to the competition? Also what is the brand essence, brand personality, and/or image? Communication objectives: What do we want customers to do in response to our messages? The proposition or selling idea: What is the single thought that the communication will bring to life in a provocative way? Support: What is the reason to believe the proposition? Creative direction: How can you best stimulate the desired response? How can we best say it? Media imperatives: Where and when should we say it?

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Through online research, locate and interview an advertising account planner at an advertising agency. What are their main responsibilities and challenges? How do these items relate to the material found in Chapter 7? Write a 750-word report describing your findings. 2. Create a situation analysis for a product or service that is familiar to you. This may require some online research. Detail your findings in outline form. Think-Pair-Share 1. Working with a classmate, invent a product or service and then devise a set of objectives for it based upon the six categories of the Facets Model of Advertising Effects. Present your objectives to the class in a 5-minute presentation. 2. Work with a classmate to identify a company that embraces a societal marketing philosophy. Examine that company’s business plan, marketing plan, and brand communication plan brand communication tactics to determine how that company’s social commitment is reflected in each level of its strategic planning.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES

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1. Through an Internet search, locate a brand manager and interview them on the subject of brand communication strategy. How does the process work at their agency? Discuss products or services that the brand manager has helped launch, basing your questions on the following table: Consumer’s Response See/Hear Feel Think/Understand Connect Believe Act/Do

Advertiser’s Objective Create brand identity Cue brand personality and liking Cue brand position and understanding Cue brand image Create brand promise and brand preference Inspire brand loyalty

For example, if a certain product advertisement was designed to encourage the consumer to feel a certain way, how did the brand manager cue brand personality in their advertising campaign? Write a 750-word report detailing the results of your interview. 2. In this chapter, the textbook states that “multicultural communication demands an appreciation of diversity, and the empathy that results from such appreciation.” Why is that the case? Exactly what is multicultural marketing and why is it necessary? Conduct some research on the topic of multicultural marketing and prepare a three page paper that responds to the two questions above. Also, visit aef.org to view ads that have won awards for multicultural excellence over the last few years. In your paper, use some of these ads as examples of effective targeting of diverse markets and explain how multicultural marketing can contribute to an organization’s attainment of its goals and strategies.

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Part 3 PRACTICE: DEVELOPING BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS IN THE DIGITAL AGE The new century has created a huge challenge for brand communication creatives who have to develop breakthrough messages that will not get lost in the media explosion of the 21st century. As Professor Karen Mallia explains, “We are in a second creative revolution that challenges creative thinkers to reimagine the way they work.” The Second Creative Revolution: Magical Thinking Meets Bits and Bytes • New brand communication can be anything from sponsored tweets to a charmingly retro 30 second television spot. Increasingly, campaigns consist of media channels that are layered and interwoven in clever and complex ways. •

The entire process of making brand communication has undergone a massive shift, the likes of which the industry has never seen before. Digital tools and emerging platforms disrupt the creative department paradigm, now that creative is married to technology.

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However, the underlying principles behind making brilliant work have not changed much.

Enduring Creative Truths • Professor Mallia lists nine enduring creative truths in the textbook. The new creative truth is that great work now takes a village – not just one or two geniuses. Creating for digital media requires diverse talents of more than just a writer and art director. The key is collaboration.

Chapter 8 The Creative Side ◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. How do we explain the art and science of creative strategy as well as the logic and important parts of a creative brief? 2. What are some key message strategy approaches? 3. How is creative thinking defined, and how does it lead to a Big Idea? 4. What characteristics do creative people have in common, and what is their typical creative process? Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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5. What issues affect the management of creative strategy and its implementation?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Effective advertising is both an art in its creativity and a science in its strategy. This chapter explores how the two of those come together as creative strategy, which is the logic behind the message. We’ll also examine a planning tool called a creative brief, which provides direction for the execution of the Big Idea and for the evaluation of the creative strategy. Next, we explore the characteristics of creative people and the process of creative thinking, with the aim of showing how you can become a more creative thinker. We end with a discussion of extension, adaptation, and evaluation as a means of managing creative strategies.

CHAPTER OUTLINE SCIENCE OR ART? • Effective marketing communication is a product of both logic and creativity. The logic is built on fresh insight that comes from research. The message itself translates the logic of the planning decisions into a creative idea that is original, attention getting, and memorable. •

Effective advertising is successful because the right media delivers the right message to the right target audience at the right time. Like two hands clapping, media and message need to work together to create effective advertising. In fact, planning the message usually happens simultaneously with planning the media. Figure 8.1 diagrams this relationship.

Who Are the Key Players? • All agencies have copywriters and art directors who are responsible for developing the creative concept and crafting the execution of the advertising idea. They often work in teams, are sometimes hired and fired as a team, and may work together successfully for several years. •

Broadcast producers can also be part of the team for television commercials. The creative director manages the creative process, plays an important role in focusing the strategy of ads, and makes sure the creative concept is strategically on target. Of course, the account planner originally put the strategy together in the form of a creative brief, so that person may also be involved in providing both background and direction to the creative team.

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The agency environment is particularly important. Agencies represent the perfect “think tank” to inspire creativity and infuse research into creative thinking. Sasser’s research has found that agencies are natural incubators in terms of the 3P’s of innovation: place, person, and process.

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Although agencies offer an environment designed to stimulate creative thinking, professionals working on their own find that the varied nature of their management assignments and projects create their own challenges, as Jennifer Cunningham describes in this chapter’s A Day in the Life feature.

What is the Role of Creativity? • The art and science of advertising come together in the phrase creative strategy. A winning marketing communication idea must be both creative (original, different, novel, and unexpected) and strategic (right for the product and target and meeting the objectives). •

Advertising creativity is about coming up with an idea that solves a communication problem in an original way. Professors Stuhlfaut and Berman remind us that creativity is directed at achieving objectives. Creative strategy solves problems and problem solving demands creative thinking – the mental tools used in figuring things out. Both Big Ideas and Big Plans both call for creative thinking.

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Media planners, market researchers, copywriters, and art directors are all searching for new ideas. Creative people are found in business, science, engineering, advertising, and many other fields. But in advertising, creativity is both a job description and a goal. Figure 8.2 contains a mini-test to evaluate your own creative potential.

The Creative Brief • The creative brief (or creative platform, worksheet, or blueprint) is the document prepared by the account planner to summarize the basic marketing and advertising strategy. It gives direction to creative team members as they search for a creative concept. •

Creative strategy, or message strategy, is what the advertisement says. Execution is how it is said. The following outline summarizes the key points in a typical brief: ▪

A problem that can be solved by communication.

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The target audience and key insights into their attitudes and behavior.

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The brand position and other branding decisions, such as personality and image.

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Communication objectives which specify the desired response to the message by the target audience.

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A proposition or selling idea that will motivate the target to respond.

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Media considerations about where and when the message should be delivered.

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Creative direction that provides suggestions on how to stimulate the desired consumer response. These aren’t creative ideas but may touch on such execution or stylistic direction as the ad’s tone of voice.

• Different agencies use different formats, but most combine these basic advertising strategy decisions. The point is that advertising planning—even planning for the creative side—involves a structured, logical approach to analysis, which may leave out the intuitive, emotional message effects. Message Objectives • What do you want the message to accomplish? What message objectives would you specify? Below is a review of some of common advertising objectives that relate to the Facets Model of Effects. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

See/hear - Create attention, awareness, interest, recognition Feel - touch emotions and create feelings Think/learn/understand - deliver information, aid understanding, and create recall Connect - establish brand identity and associations, transform a product into a brand with distinctive personality and image Believe - change attitudes, create conviction and preference, stimulate trust Act - stimulate trial, purchase, repurchase or some other form of action, such as visiting a store or website

Targeting • The target decision is particularly important in planning a message strategy. It is essential to understand what moves this group. Branding and Positioning • The demands of the brand are also important considerations. Brand positions and brand images are created through message strategies and brought to life through advertising executions. Finding the right position is difficult enough, but figuring out how to communicate that position in an attention-getting message that is consistent across multiple executions and various media further heightens the challenge. The classic “Think Small” campaign that launched the VW Beetle shown in the textbook is an example of advertising that created a powerful brand name at the same time as it carved out a unique position in a cluttered auto market. •

Advertising and other forms of marketing communication are critical to creating what brand guru Kevin Keller calls brand salience, that is, the brand is visible and has a presence in the marketplace, consumers are aware of it, and the brand is important to its target market.

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In addition to brand salience – measured by top-of-mind awareness – another objective for branding and positioning campaigns is to create trust. We buy familiar brands because we’ve used them before and we trust them to deliver on their promises.

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MESSAGE STRATEGIES • Once you have objectives stated, how do you go about translating those goals into strategies? Remember, there is no one right way to do advertising—in most cases there are a number of ways to achieve a communication objective. •

Planners search for the best message design – the approach that makes the most sense given the brand’s marketing situation and the target audience’s needs and interests.

Which Strategic Approach to Use? First, let’s review some simple ways to express a strategic approach—head or heart and hard or soft sell. Then we’ll look at some more complex models that get a little deeper into the complexities of message strategy. Head and Heart • In the Facets model the cognitive objectives generally speak to the head and the affective objectives are more likely to speak to the heart. However, sometimes a strategy is designed to inform the mind as it touches the emotions. •

Another way to refer to head and heart strategies are hard- and soft-sell approaches. A hard sell is an informational message that is designed to touch the mind and create a response based on logic. The assumption is that the target audience wants information and will make a rational product decision.

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A soft sell uses emotional appeals or images to create a response based on attitudes, moods, and feelings. The assumption with soft-sell strategies is that the target audience has little interest in an information search and will respond more favorably to a message that touches their emotions or presents an attractive brand image. A softsell strategy can be used for hard products.

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However, there are examples of ads designed to stir emotions that did not work because they were too manipulative or raised inappropriate emotions. It is possible to manipulate emotions in a way that viewers and listeners resent. But sometimes high emotion works.

Systems of Strategies • Head or heart, hard sell or soft sell—these terms all refer to some basic, simple ideas about message strategy, but creative strategy is often more complex. Frazer’s Six Creative Strategies and Taylor’s Strategy Wheel offer more complex approaches. •

Professor Charles Frazer proposed a set of six creative strategies that address various types of message situations. Although not comprehensive, these terms are useful to identify some common approaches to strategy. They are preemptive, unique selling proposition, brand image, positioning, resonance, and affective/anomalous.

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A description of each strategy and its uses is detailed in a table in the textbook. The preemptive strategy shows up in competitive advertising where one competitor tries to build a position or lay a claim before others enter the market. We saw an example of this when the coffee wars between Starbucks and McDonald’s erupted after McDonald’s introduced its McCafe line of fancy coffees at lower prices.

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Professor Ron Taylor developed a model that divides strategies into the transmission view, which is similar to the more rational “head” strategies, and the ritual view, which is similar to the more feeling-based “heart” strategies. He then divides each into three segments: rational, acute need, and routine on the transmission side and ego, social, and sensory on the ritual side. In the A Matter of Principle feature in this chapter, Professor Taylor explains his model in detail.

Strategic Formats Even though advertising is a search for a new and novel way to express some basic truth, there are also some tried and true approaches that have worked over the years. These tried and true approaches are outlined below. Lectures and Dramas • Most advertising messages use a combination of lecture and drama to reach the head or the heart of the consumer. A lecture is a serious instruction given verbally. The speaker presents evidence and uses a technique such as an argument to persuade the audience. Lectures are relatively inexpensive to produce, and are compact and efficient. The phrase talking head is used to refer to an announcer who delivers a lecture about a product. •

Drama relies on the viewer to make inferences about the brand. Usually the drama is in the story that the reader has to construct around the cues in the ad. Through dramas, advertisers tell stories about their products; the characters speak to each other, not to the audience. Viewers learn from commercial dramas by inferring lessons from them and by applying those lessons to their everyday lives.

Psychological Appeals • The psychological appeal of the product to the consumer is also used to describe a message that primarily appeals to the heart. An appeal connects with some emotion that makes the product particularly attractive or interesting, such as security, esteem, sex, and sensory pleasure. Although emotion is at the base of most appeals, in some situations, appeals can also have a logical dimension. Appeals generally pinpoint the anticipated response of the audience to the product and the message. Selling Strategies • A selling premise states the logic behind the sales offer. A premise is a proposition on which an argument is based or a conclusion is drawn. To have a practical effect on customers, managers must identify the product’s features or attributes in terms of those that are most important to the target audience. Another type of selling premise

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is a claim, which is a product-focused strategy that is based on a prediction about how the product will perform. •

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Here is a summary of rational customer-focused selling premises: ▪

Benefit. The benefit emphasizes what the product can do for the user by translating the product feature or attribute into something that benefits the consumer.

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Promise. A promise is a benefit statement that looks to the future and predicts that something good will happen if you use the product.

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Reason why. A type of benefit statement that gives you the reason why you should buy something, although the reason sometimes is implied or assumed.

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Unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is a benefit statement that is both unique to the product and important to the user. The USP is a promise that consumers will get this unique benefit by using this product only.

Most selling premises demand facts, proof, or explanations to support the sales message. The proof, or substantiation, needed to make a claim believable, is called support. In many cases, this calls for research findings. With claims, and particularly with comparisons, the proof is subject to challenge by a competitor as well as industry review boards.

Other Message Formulas • In addition to the basic categories of selling premises, some common message formulas emphasize different types of effects. The planner uses these terms as a way to give direction to the creative team and to shape the executions. Here are some of them: ▪ A straightforward factual or informational message conveys information without any gimmicks, emotions, or special effects. ▪

A demonstration focuses on how to use the product or what it can do for you.

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A comparison contrasts two or more products to show the advertiser’s brand superiority. The comparison can be either direct or indirect.

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In a problem solution format, also known as product-as-hero, the message begins with a problem and the product is the solution. A variation is the problem avoidance message format, in which the product helps avoid a problem.

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Advertisers use humor as a creative strategy because it is attention-getting and they hope that people will transfer the warm feelings they have as they are being entertained to the product.

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The slice-of-life format is an elaborate version of a problem solution staged in the form of a drama in which “typical people” talk about a common problem and resolve it.

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In the spokesperson or endorser format, the ad features celebrities, created characters, experts we respect, or someone “just like us” whose advice we might seek out to speak on behalf of the product to build credibility. A recent FTC rule makes endorsers as well as advertisers liable for false or unsubstantiated claims, so spokespersons have to be very careful about what they say about products they advertise.

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Teasers are mystery ads that don’t identify the product or don’t deliver enough information to make sense, but they are designed to arouse curiosity. These are often used to launch a new product.

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The use of celebrities as spokespersons, endorsers, or brand symbols is an important strategy because it associates the brand positively – or negatively – with a famous person and qualities that make that person a celebrity. In the past, celebrities were often reluctant to appear for a brand because they feared it might tarnish their image. More recently, advertisers have worried about celebrities they have signed who tarnish the brand’s image.

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There are a number of ways to measure a celebrity’s appeal or influence, such as the E score, the Q score, and the Davie Brown Index. These scores are not just related to conventional celebrities. In social media, anyone who attracts a lot of followers can be identified as an ‘influencer.’ Klout and PeerIndex are rating services for social media.

Matching Messages to Objectives What types of messages deliver which objectives? The Facets Model can be helpful in thinking through objectives and their related strategies. •

Messages that get attention. To be effective, an advertisement needs to get exposure through the media buy and get attention through the message. Getting consumers’ attention requires stopping power. Creative advertising breaks through the old patterns of seeing and saying things—the unexpectedness of the new idea creates stopping power. Intrusiveness is particularly important in cluttered markets, and curiosity is particularly important for teaser strategies.

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Messages that create interest. Keeping attention reflects the ad’s pulling power. An interesting thought keeps reader or viewer attention and pulls them through to the end of the message. Ads that open with questions or dubious statements are designed to create curiosity.

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Messages that resonate. Ads that amplify the emotional impact of a message by engaging a consumer in a personal connection with a brand are said to resonate with the target audience.

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Messages that create believability. Advertising sometimes uses a credibility strategy to intensify the believability of a message. Using data to support or prove a claim is critical.

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Messages that are remembered. Not only do messages have to stop (get attention) and pull (create interest), they also have to stick (in memory), which is another important part of the perceptual process. Most advertisements are carefully designed to ensure that these memory traces are easy to recall.

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Principle: A message needs to stop (get attention) and pull (create interest. It also has to stick (be memorable).

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Repetition is used in both media and message strategy to ensure memorability. Jingles are valuable memorability devices because the music allows the advertiser to repeat a phrase or product name without boring the audience. Clever phrases are useful not only because they grab attention, but also because they can be repeated to intensify memorability.

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Brand communication uses slogans for brands and campaigns, such as “Get Met. It Pays” (MetLife) or Nike’s slogan “Just Do It.” Taglines are used at the end of an ad to summarize the point of the ad’s message in a highly memorable way. Many print and interactive ads and most television commercials feature a key visual, a vivid image that the advertiser hopes will linger in the viewer’s mind. Color may be a memory cue, as with Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum.

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Messages that touch emotions. Emotional appeals create feeling-based responses such as love, fear, anxiety, envy, sexual attraction, happiness and joy, sorrow, safety and security, pride, pleasure, embarrassment, and nostalgia. Appetite appeal uses mouth-watering food shots to elicit feelings of hunger and craving, like the photo in the Quaker Trail Mix Bar print ad. A more general emotional goal is to deliver a message that people like in order to create liking for the brand.

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Messages that inform. Companies often use news announcements to provide information about new products, to tout reformulated products, or even let consumers know about new uses for old products. The news angle, which is often delivered by publicity stories, is information focused. Comparison ads are often heavy on information and used to explain a product’s point of difference and competitive advantage.

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Messages that teach. People learn through instruction so some advertisements are designed to teach, such as demonstrations that show how something works or how to solve a problem. Educational messages are sometimes designed to explain

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something. Learning is also strengthened through repetition, which is why repetition is such an important media objective. •

Messages that persuade. Persuasive messages are designed to affect attitudes and create belief. Endorsements by celebrities or experts are used to intensify conviction. Conviction is often built on strong, rational arguments that use such techniques as test results, before-and-after visuals, testimonials by users and experts, and demonstrations to prove something. Celebrities, product placements, and other credibility techniques are used to give the consumer permission to believe a claim or selling premise.

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Principle: When advertising gives consumers permission to believe in a product, it establishes the platform for conviction.

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Messages that create brand associations. The transformative power of branding, where the brand takes on a distinctive character and meaning, is one of marketing communication’s most important functions. Image advertising is used to create a representation of a brand, an image in a consumer’s mind through symbolism. Advertising’s role is to provide the cues that make these meanings and experiences come together in a coherent brand image.

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Messages that drive action. Even harder to accomplish than conviction is a change in behavior. It often happens that people believe one thing and do another. Sales promotion, for example, works in tandem with advertising to stimulate immediate action using sampling, coupons, and free gifts as incentives for action.

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Most ads end with a signature of some kind that serves to identify the company or brand, but it also serves as a call to action and gives direction to the consumer about how to respond, such as a toll-free number, a website URL, or an e-mail address.

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Ultimately, advertisers want loyal customers who purchase and repurchase the product as a matter of habit or preference. Reminder advertising, as well as distributing coupons or introducing a continuity program, is designed to keep the brand name in front of customers to encourage their repeat business.

CREATIVE THINKING: SO HOW DO YOU DO IT? • Professor Mark Stuhlfaut has identified the significant elements of creativity, which begins with novelty but include appropriateness as well as authenticity and relevance. He adds that, “if it’s creative, it is also generative; in other words, it leads to other new ways of thinking.” So creativity can be defined as generating novelty or uniqueness that makes something ring true.

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Marketing communication and advertising are creative idea businesses. An idea is a thought or a concept in the mind. It’s formed by mentally combining pieces and

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fragments of thoughts into something that contains a nugget of meaning. Advertisers creatives sometimes use the term concepting to refer to the process of coming up with a new idea. Big Ideas are also called creative concepts. •

To understand what creativity is, it may be helpful to understand what it is not. What’s the opposite of creative? In advertising, clichés are the most obvious examples of generic, non-original, non-novel ideas. To help you understand how creative people think about strategy and advertising ideas, ten tips are offered by Professor Tom Groth.

Big Ideas • What we call a Big Idea or creative concept becomes a point of focus for communicating the message strategy. But Big Ideas can be risky because they are different and, by definition, untested. So risky is good for edgy Big Ideas, but how far on the edge is a difficult question. •

Principle: Big Ideas are risky because, by definition, they are new, unexpected, and untested.

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Where do Big Ideas come from? James Webb Young, a founder of the Young & Rubicam agency, explained in his classic book that that an idea is a new or unexpected combination of thoughts. He claims that “the ability to make new combinations is heightened by an ability to see relationships.” An idea, then, is a thought that comes from placing two previously unrelated concepts together.

The ROI of Creativity • A Big Idea is more than just a new thought because in advertising it also has to accomplish something—it has a functional dimension. According to the DDB agency, an effective ad is relevant, original, and has impact—which is referred to as ROI of creativity. In traditional business ROI stands for return on investment, but it means something very different here. According to DDB’s philosophy, ideas have to relevant and mean something to the target audience. Original means one of a kind – an advertising idea is creative when it is novel, fresh, unexpected and unusual. To be effective, the idea must also have impact, which means it makes an impression on the audience. •

The essence of a creative idea is that no one else has thought of it. Thus, the first rule is to avoid doing what everyone else is doing. In an industry that prides itself on creativity, copycat advertising—that is, using an idea that someone else has originated—is a concern.

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Principle: An idea can be creative for you if you have not thought of it before, but to be truly creative it has to be one that no one else has thought of before.

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We know that many ads just wash over the audience. An idea with impact, however, breaks through the clutter, gets attention, and sticks in memory. A

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breakthrough ad has stopping power and that comes from an intriguing idea—a Big Idea that is important and relevant to consumers. The Creative Leap • Divergent thinking is a style of thinking that jumps around exploring possibilities rather than using rational thinking to arrive at the “right” or logical conclusion. The heart of creative thinking, divergent thinking, uses exploration (playfulness) to search for alternatives. Another term for divergent thinking is right-brain thinking, which is intuitive, holistic, artistic, and emotionally expressive thinking in contrast to left-brain thinking, which is logical, linear (inductive or deductive), and orderly. •

How can you become a more creative thinker? First, think about the problem as something that involves a mind-shift. Instead of seeing the obvious, a creative idea looks at a problem in a different way, from a different angle. That’s called thinking outside the box. Second, put the strategy language behind you. Finding the brilliant creative concept entails what advertising giant Otto Kleppner called the creative leap—a process of jumping from boring business language in a strategy statement to an original idea. This Big Idea transforms the strategy into something unexpected, original, and interesting.

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Principle: To get a creative idea, you must leap beyond the mundane language of the strategy statement and see the problem in a novel and unexpected way.

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Since the creative leap means moving away from the safety of a predictable strategy statement to an unusual idea that has not been tried, before, this leap is a creative risk.

Dialing up Your Creativity • Creative advertising people may be weird and unconventional, but they can’t be eccentric. They still must be purpose driven, meaning they are focused on creating effective advertising that’s on strategy. Coming up with a great idea that is also on strategy is an emotional high. Advertising creatives describe it as “one of the biggest emotional roller coasters in the business world.” •

Principle: Getting a great advertising idea that is also on strategy is an emotional high.

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Research has found that most people can sharpen their skills and develop their creative potential by understanding and strengthening certain personal characteristics. Research also indicates that creative people tend to be independent, assertive, self-sufficient, persistent, self-disciplined, curious, and possess a high tolerance for ambiguity. They are also risk takers with powerful egos that are internally driven. Here are a few of the key characteristics of creative people who do well in advertising:

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Problem solving. Creative problem solvers are alert, watchful, and observant, and reach conclusions through intuition rather than through logic.

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Playful. Creative people have fun with ideas; they have a mental playfulness that allows them to make novel associations.

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The ability to visualize. Most of the information we accumulate comes through sight, so the ability to manipulate visual images is crucial for good copywriters, as well as designers.

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Open to new experiences. Over the course of a lifetime, openness to experience may give you many more adventures from which to draw. Those experiences would, in turn, give a novelist more characters to write about, a painter more scenes to paint, and the creative team more angles from which to tackle an advertising problem.

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Conceptual thinking. It’s easy to see how people who are open to experience might develop innovative advertisements and commercials because they are more imaginative.

The Creative Process: How to Get an Idea • Only in cartoons do light bulbs appear above our heads from out of nowhere when a good idea strikes. In reality, most people who are good at thinking up new ideas will tell you that it is hard work. The unusual, unexpected, novel idea rarely comes easily—and that’s as true in science and medicine as it is in advertising. •

However, most experts on creativity realize that there are steps to the process of thinking up a new idea. The classic approach to the creative process is portrayed by the following series of steps: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

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Step 1: Immersion. Read, research, and learn everything you can about the problem. Step 2: Ideation. Look at the problem from every angle; develop ideas; generate as many alternatives as possible. Step 3: Brainfag. Don’t give up if, and when you hit a blank wall. Step 4: Incubation. Try to put your conscious mind to rest to let your subconscious take over. Step 5: Illumination. Embrace the unexpected moment when the idea comes, often when your mind is relaxed and you’re doing something else. Step 6: Evaluation. Does it work? Is it on strategy?

Another approach comes from Professor Linda Correll, who developed Creative Aerobics. This four step idea-generating process opens new doors and windows for ideas to enter your mind.

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Brainstorming • As part of the creative process, some agencies use a thinking technique known as brainstorming in which a group of 6 to 10 people work together to come up with ideas. One person’s idea stimulates someone else’s, and the combined power of the group associations stimulates far more ideas than any one person could think of alone. The group becomes an idea factory. •

The secret to brainstorming is to remain positive and defer judgment. Negative thinking during a brainstorming session can destroy the informal atmosphere necessary to achieve a novel idea.

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The following list builds on our previous discussion of creative thinking. It can also be used as an outline for a brainstorming session. To create an original and unexpected idea, use the following techniques: ▪

What if? To twist the commonplace, ask a crazy “what if” question— for example, what if wild animals could talk?

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An unexpected association. In free association you think of a word and then describe everything that comes into your mind when you imagine that word.

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Dramatize the obvious. Sometimes the most creative idea is also the most obvious.

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Catchy phrasing. Isuzu used “The 205-Horsepower Primal Scream” for its Rodeo headline.

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An unexpected twist. A road crew usually refers to people who work on a road project, but for the Road Crew campaign, the phrase was twisted to refer to limo drivers who give rides to people who have had too much to drink.

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Play on words. For example, under the headline “Happy Camper,” an ad for cheese showed a picture of a packed sports utility vehicle with a huge wedge of cheese lashed to the rooftop.

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Analogy and metaphor. Used to see new patterns or relationships, metaphors and analogies by definition set up juxtapositions. HarleyDavidson compared the legendary sound of its motorcycles to the taste of a thick, juicy steak.

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Familiar and strange. Put the familiar in an unexpected situation: UPS showed a tiny model of its familiar brown truck moving through a computer cord.

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A twisted cliché. They may have been great ideas the first time they were used, but phrases such as “the road to success” become trite when overused.

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But they can regain their power if twisted into a new context. The “Happy Camper” line was twisted by relating it to an SUV.

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Twist the obvious. Avoid the predictable, such as a picture of a Cadillac on Wall Street or in front of a mansion. Instead, use an SUV on Wall Street (“fast tracker”) or a basketball hoop in front of a mansion (“slam dunk”).

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Exaggeration. Take a common situation and exaggerate it until it becomes funny.

To prevent unoriginal ideas, avoid or work around the following: ▪ The look-alike. Avoid copycat advertising that uses somebody else’s great idea. Hundreds of ads for escape products (resorts, travel, liquor, foods) have used the headline “Paradise Found.” It’s a play on “Paradise Lost” but still overused. ▪ The tasteless. In an attempt to be cute, a Subaru ad used the headline, “Put it where the sun don’t shine.” An attempted twist on a cliché, but it doesn’t work.

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Getting the Big Idea for marketing communication campaigns has always been the province of creative teams in agencies. Recently, however, with the development of new crowdsourcing practices, marketers are finding ways to enlist the collective ideas of thousands to come up with great ideas.

MANAGING CREATIVE STRATEGY Next, let’s look at three management issues that affect the formulation of creative strategies: extension, adaptation, and evaluation. Extension: An Idea with Legs • One characteristic of a Big Idea is that it gives legs to a campaign. By that we mean that the idea is strong enough to serve as an umbrella concept for a variety of executions in different media talking to different audiences. It can be endlessly extended. Extendibility is a strength of the Chick-fil-A, Geico, and Frontier Airlines’ talking-animal campaigns. Adaption: Taking an Idea Global • The opportunity for standardizing the campaign across multiple markets exists only if the objectives and strategic position are essentially the same. Otherwise a creative strategy may call for a little tweaking of the message for a local market or even major revision if there is a great deal of cultural and market difference. •

In a case in which core targeting and positioning strategies remain the same in different markets, it might be possible for the central creative idea to be universal across markets. Although the implementation of this idea may vary from market to market, the creative concept is sound across all types of consumers. Even if the campaign theme, slogan, or visual elements are the same across markets, it is

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usually desirable to adapt the creative execution to the local market. Cultural differences often require nuanced and subtle changes in ads if they are to be acceptable beyond the country of their origin. Evaluation: The Go/No-Go Decision • How do you decide if the creative idea is strong enough to justify the expense of creating a campaign based on it? Whether local or global, an important part of managing creative work is evaluation, which happens at several stages in the creative process. Structural Analysis • The Leo Burnett agency utilizes a three-step approach for analyzing the logic of the creative strategy that goes beyond just evaluating strategy. It is used to keep the message strategy and creative concept working together, along with the head and the heart appeals. This method, called structural analysis, relies upon three steps: 1. Evaluate the power of the narrative or story line (heart). 2. Evaluate the strength of the product claim (head). 3. Consider how well the two are integrated—that is, how the story line brings the claim to life. Copy Testing • Copy testing is the formal method to evaluate the effectiveness of an ad, either in a draft form or after it has been executed. To evaluate the results, the objectives need to be measurable, which means they can be evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the creative strategy. Copy testing uses a variety of tools to measure and predict the impact of the advertisement. Chapter 19 in this book will explain these tools in more detail. •

A problem that Big Ideas can face is that the message is sometimes so creative that the ad is remembered but not the brand. That is called vampire creativity, and it is one reason some advertisers shy away from really novel or entertaining strategies.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 8-4. This chapter argues that effective advertising is both a science and an art. Explain what this means and give examples of each.

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Effective advertising is a product of both science (persuasion) and art (creativity). The message plan, for example, is a rational analysis of a problem and what is needed to solve that problem. However, this logical plan must be translated into a creative idea that is original, attention getting, and memorable. There are many examples throughout this textbook that illustrate the effective combination of both persuasion and creativity to create highly effective advertising. One example is the “thank you sharp objects” online video for the Save a Life campaign featured at the beginning of chapter 8. It brings the campaign’s strategy to life in an attention getting and memorable way. 8-5. How do various strategic approaches deliver on the objectives identified in the Facets Model of Effects? Common message objectives that relate to the Facet Model of Effects are listed below: • See/hear—create attention, awareness, interest, recognition • Feel—touch emotions and create feelings • Think/learn/understand—deliver information, aid understanding, and create recall • Connect—establish brand identity and associations, transform a product into a • brand with distinctive personality and image • Believe—change attitudes, create conviction and preference, and stimulate trust • Act—stimulate trial, purchase, repurchase, or some other form of action, such as visiting a store or website 8-6. Explain the four types of selling premises. Here is a summary of rational customer-focused selling premises: ▪

Benefit. The benefit emphasizes what the product can do for the user by translating the product feature or attribute into something that benefits the consumer.

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Promise. A promise is a benefit statement that looks to the future and predicts that something good will happen if you use the product.

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Reason why. A type of a benefit statement that gives you the reason why you should buy something, although the reason sometimes is implied or assumed.

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8-7. What is a Big Idea and what are its characteristics? Behind every effective advertisement is a Big Idea, that is, a creative concept that implements the advertising strategy so that the message is both attention-getting and memorable. Big Ideas can be risky because they are different and, by definition, untested. So risky is good for edgy Big Ideas, but how far on the edge is a difficult question. A Big Idea is more than just a new thought because in advertising it also has to accomplish something—it has a functional dimension. 8-8. When a creative director says your idea needs to make a “creative leap,” what does that mean? A creative leap means moving from the safety of a predictable strategy statement to an unusual idea that hasn’t been tried before. Typically, this requires divergent thinking, a style of thinking that explores possibilities rather than using rational thinking to arrive at the “right” or logical conclusion. Another term for divergent thinking is right-brain thinking, which is intuitive, holistic, artistic, and emotionally expressive thinking in contrast to left-brain thinking, which is logical, linear (inductive or deductive), and orderly. 8-9. Describe the six steps in the creative process. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Step 1: Immersion. Read, research, and learn everything you can about the problem. Step 2: Ideation. Look at the problem from every angle; develop ideas; generate as many alternatives as possible. Step 3: Brainfag. You may hit a blank wall and want to give up. Step 4: Incubation. Try to put your conscious mind to rest to let your subconscious take over. Step 5: Illumination. Embrace the unexpected moment when the idea comes, often when your mind is relaxed and you’re doing something else. Step 6: Evaluation. Does it work? Is it on strategy?

8-10. Explain how brainstorming is used in advertising. As part of the creative process, some agencies use a thinking technique known as brainstorming, in which a group of 6 to 10 people work together to come up with ideas. One person’s idea stimulates someone else’s, and the combined power of the group associations stimulates far more ideas than any one person could think of alone. The secret to brainstorming is to remain positive and defer judgment. Negative thinking during a brainstorming session can destroy the informal atmosphere necessary to achieve a novel idea. 8-11. List five characteristics of creative people. How do you rate yourself on those factors?

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Research indicates that creative people tend to be independent, assertive, selfsufficient, persistent, and self-disciplined, with a high tolerance for ambiguity. They are also risk takers with powerful egos that are internally driven. They don’t care much about group standards and opinions and typically have inborn skepticism and strong curiosity. Following is a list of key characteristics of creative people who do well in advertising: ▪

Problem solving. Creative problem solvers are alert, watchful, and observant, and reach conclusions through intuition rather than through logic. They also tend to have a mental playfulness that allows them to make novel associations.

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The ability to visualize. Most of the information we accumulate comes through sight, so the ability to manipulate visual images is crucial for good copywriters, as well as designers.

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Openness to new experiences. Over the course of a lifetime, openness to experience may give you many more adventures from which to draw. Those experiences would, in turn, give a novelist more characters to write about, a painter more scenes to paint, and the creative team more angles from which to tackle an advertising problem.

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Conceptual thinking. It’s easy to see how people who are open to experience might develop innovative advertisements and commercials because they are more imaginative.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 8-12. Divide the class into groups of 6 to 10 people and discuss this problem: Your community wants to encourage people to get out of their cars and use alternative forms of transportation. Brainstorm for 15 minutes as a group, accumulating every possible idea. How many ideas are generated? Here’s how to run a brainstorming group: ▪ Appoint one member to be the recorder who lists all the ideas as they are mentioned. ▪ Appoint another member to be the moderator and suggest techniques described in this chapter as idea starters. ▪ Identify a cheerleader to keep the discussion on the positive and find gentle ways to discourage critical or negative comments. ▪ Work for 15 minutes, throwing out as many different creative concepts as your team can come up with regardless of how crazy or dumb it might initially sound. ▪ Go back through the list as a group and put an asterisk next to the 5-10 ideas that seem to have the most promise.

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When all the groups reconvene in class, each recorder should list the group’s best ideas on the blackboard. As a class, pick out the three ideas that seem to have the most potential. Analyze the experience of participating in a brainstorming group and compare the experiences of the different teams. Here, it would be helpful to review the concept of brainstorming with students. A group of 6 to 10 people work together to come up with ideas. One person’s idea stimulates someone else’s, and the synergistic power of the group interaction stimulates far more ideas than any single person could think of alone. The group becomes an idea factory. 8-13. The following are from actual brand communication campaigns. If you were involved in a go/no go decision, what would you decide? For each idea, explain your analysis. ▪

You are assigned to develop a Super Bowl ad for the Groupon Internet coupon website that advertises daily deals in local media. The company has been using a “Save the Money” campaign with Hollywood stars talking about a cause they support and then connecting that to a deal they got off Groupon. So what to do for the Super Bowl? A colleague suggests using a star speaking about the plight of the Tibetan people and their culture with pictures of snow capped mountains and dancing children, followed by a scene with the star in a Himalayan restaurant talking about what he saved on his meal. What do you think about this idea?

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Zappos, an online apparel retailer with a quirky, brash culture, has received a proposal from its agency. You are on the Zappos management team. The idea is to show naked models doing everyday things, such as jogging, playing Frisbee, hailing a cab, and riding a Vespa – all with censor bars strategically placed. Although using naked people to sell clothing is a little literal, the agency argues that it also is highly attention getting. What do you think?

This question requires students to evaluate the strength of two creative ideas. Deciding if a creative idea is strong enough to justify the expense of creating a campaign based on it is an important part of managing creative work. First, from Chapter 3, students should recall problems created by ads that society could see as offensive or culturally insensitive. After settling these social responsibility concerns, students can next use the Leo Burnett agency’s three-step approach, called structural analysis, as a framework to further evaluate the creative merit of these ideas.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS

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8-14. Portfolio Project: Find at least two newspaper or magazine advertisements that your team believes are bland and unexciting. Rewrite them, first to demonstrate a hardsell approach, and then to demonstrate a soft-sell approach. Explain how your rewrites have improved the original ad. Also explain how hard-sell and soft-sell appeals work. Which do you believe is the most effective for each ad? If you were a team of professionals working on these accounts, how would you go about evaluating the effectiveness of these two ads? In other words, how would you test your intuitive judgment of which one works best? When preparing this exercise, students must remember that a hard sell is an informational message that is designed to touch the mind and create a response based on logic. The assumption is that the target audience wants information and will make a rational product decision. A soft sell uses emotional appeals or images to create a response based on attitudes, moods, and feelings. The assumption with soft-sell strategies is that the target audience has little interest in an information search and will respond more favorably to a message that touches their emotions or presents an attractive brand image. A soft-sell strategy can be used for hard products. 8-15. Mini-Case Analysis: Summarize the creative aspects of the “Save a Life” effort. What makes this effort and its promotion creative? Brainstorm on an idea for a new commercial that would extend the campaign’s theme and develop this new Big Idea as a proposal to present to your instructor. The Save a Life campaign, created by copywriter Graham Douglas, is creative on several levels. The product, a box of bandages the includes a self-contained kit consumers use to swab their blood and send a sample of it to a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of blood cancer, is very novel. The message, which communicates to consumers that they are lucky when accidentally scratched because an opportunity is created to potentially use their blood to help others, certainly grabs attention and creates interest. By initially promoting this message through a quirky online video, Douglas was able to attract publicity from major networks and magazines that helped spread his message about bone marrow donation. Students will be challenged as they attempt to extend the campaign’s theme in way that matches the creativity of the current one, yet remains on strategy.

TRACE North America Case Creative Multicultural Communication Read the Trace North America case in the Appendix before coming to class. 8-16. What is the Big Idea behind the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign? 8-17. How would you describe the campaign’s message strategy? Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Who are the key players on the creative side of the advertising agency? All agencies have copywriters and art directors who are responsible for developing the creative concept and crafting the execution of the advertising idea. They often work in teams, are sometimes hired and fired as a team, and may work together successfully for several years. Broadcast producers can also be part of the team for television commercials. The creative director manages the creative process, plays an important role in focusing the strategy of ads, and makes sure the creative concept is strategically on target. Of course, the account planner originally put the strategy together in the form of a creative brief, so that person may also be involved in providing both background and direction to the creative team.

2. What is a creative brief and what kind of information is typically found in it? The creative brief (or creative platform, worksheet, or blueprint) is the document prepared by the account planner to summarize the basic marketing and advertising strategy. It gives direction to creative team members as they search for a creative concept. The following outline summarizes the key points in a typical brief: ▪

A problem that can be solved by communication.

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The target audience and key insights into their attitudes and behavior.

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The brand position and other branding decisions, such as personality and image.

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Communication objectives which specify the desired response to the message by the target audience.

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A proposition or selling idea that will motivate the target to respond.

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Media considerations about where and when the message should be delivered.

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Different agencies use different formats, but most combine these basic advertising strategy decisions. The point is that advertising planning—even planning for the creative side—involves a structured, logical approach to analysis, which may leave out the intuitive, emotional message effects. 3. How does creative strategy differ from creative executions? People who create advertisements make a distinction between creative strategy and creative executions. Creative strategy, or message strategy, is what the advertisement says—execution is how it is said. 4. What role does targeting, branding and positioning play in the development of message strategy? The target decision is particularly important in planning a message strategy. It is essential to understand what moves this group. The demands of the brand are also important considerations when developing message strategy. Brand positions and brand images are created through message strategies and brought to life through advertising executions. Finding the right position is difficult enough, but figuring out how to communicate that position in an attention-getting message that is consistent across multiple executions and various media further heightens the challenge.

5. Regarding creative strategy approaches, what does it mean when advertisers refer to “head or heart strategies”? Two basic approaches are sometimes referred to as head or heart strategies. In the Facets model the cognitive objectives generally speak to the head and the affective objectives on the right are more likely to speak to the heart. Another way to refer to head and heart strategies is hard- and soft-sell approaches. A hard sell is an informational message that is designed to touch the mind and create a response based on logic. A soft sell uses emotional appeals or images to create a response based on attitudes, moods, and feelings. 6. What are the different types of messages that advertisers can create to deliver various objectives? ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Messages that get attention Messages that create interest Messages that resonate Messages that create believability Messages that are remembered Messages that touch emotions Messages that inform

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▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Messages that teach Messages that persuade Messages that create brand associations Messages that drive action

7. Discuss the concept of utilizing lectures and dramas as a strategic format. Most advertising messages use a combination of lecture and drama to reach the head or the heart of the consumer. A lecture is a serious instruction given verbally. The speaker presents evidence and uses a technique such as an argument to persuade the audience. Lectures are relatively inexpensive to produce and are compact and efficient. The phrase talking head is used to refer to an announcer who delivers a lecture about a product. Drama relies on the viewer to make inferences about the brand. Usually the drama is in the story that the reader has to construct around the cues in the ad. Through dramas, advertisers tell stories about their products; the characters speak to each other, not to the audience. Viewers learn from commercial dramas by inferring lessons from them and by applying those lessons to their everyday lives. 8. In advertising, what is meant by ROI? According to the DDB agency, an effective ad is relevant, original, and has impact— which is referred to as ROI of creativity. In traditional business ROI stands for return on investment, but it means something very different here. According to DDB’s philosophy, ideas have to relevant and mean something to the target audience. Original means one of a kind – an advertising idea is creative when it is novel, fresh, unexpected and unusual. To be effective, the idea must also have impact, which means it makes an impression on the audience.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Visit www.effie.org and peruse some of the IMC campaigns that have won this prestigious award over the past view years. Choose three campaigns to compare and contrast, in terms the various creative strategies used. For each, discuss its message objectives, message strategies, and identify the Big Idea. Prepare a 15 minute PowerPoint presentation to relate your findings to your class. 2. Read again “A Matter of Principle” by Ronald Taylor in this chapter. Working with a partner, use his framework to generate six potential different message strategies for a new line of washers and dryers that your client plans to launch in the near future. Present your ideas in a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to the class and allow them to vote for the message strategy they like best. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Think-Pair-Share 1. According to Professor Sheila Sasser, advertising agencies represent the perfect “think tank” to inspire creativity, and her research has found agencies to be natural incubators in terms of the 3Ps of innovation. With a classmate, review those 3Ps of innovation: place, person, and process. Then come up with a 5-minute presentation for the class explaining each of these elements, and how they are important to creatives. Provide specific examples for each one. 2. As a class, review the “Practical Tips” page in this chapter by Tom Groth. Divide the class into small teams so that one team covers each of the 10 tips. Then, have each team select a product they regularly use and apply their assigned tip to that product to extend the creativity level of its current brand message. How far can each team stretch their creativity? Finish this exercise with 2-minute presentations from each team.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1.

Revisit Chick-fil-A’s ‘Eat Mor Chikin’ campaign that was introduced in the previous chapter, this time evaluating it from a creative perspective. Describe the message design that was selected to address the brand’s situation and the target audience’s needs and interests. What do you see in its ads that reveal both “head” and “heart” strategies in advertising? What message strategies are being used and in what way were those messages matched to campaign objectives? In what ways does this campaign reflect DDB’s ROI philosophy of advertising? Prepare a brief PowerPoint presentation that summarizes your findings.

2. Go to YouTube.com and watch the clip entitled Bill Bernbach on Creative Qualities posted by TribalDDBKorea. Listen closely to his point of view and then compare it with principles discussed in this chapter. Where do you see similarities? Prepare a 10 minute presentation for your class that summarizes your findings.

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Chapter 9 Promotional Writing

◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. What are the basic word, language, and writing skills that distinguish brand communication? 2. How is advertising copy written? 3. Which copy elements are essential to a print media pieces? 4. How can we characterize the design and tools of radio advertising? 5. What are the major elements of television commercials? 6. How do writers design Internet messages?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Words and pictures work together to produce a creative concept. However, the idea behind a creative concept in advertising is usually expressed in some attention-getting and memorable phrase. Finding these “magic words” is the responsibility of writers who search for the right way to warm up a mood or soften consumer resistance. This chapter describes the role of the writer and explains the practice of copywriting in different types of media. It also describes the work of writers for other marketing communications areas, such as public relations and direct response.

CHAPTER OUTLINE THE WRITER’S ROLE IN BRAND COMMUNICATION Advertising copywriting is a major job category but writers are also important in other areas, such as public relations and direct marketing. All of these areas have specialists, but in some agencies and corporate departments, writers are expected to handle all different types of marketing communication. The Language of Brand Communication • The most important word selection in marketing communication is the brand or corporate name, and this responsibility can lie with the advertising department, corporate communication, or an outside branding consultant •

There is a science to letters, as well as words. Research has determined that letters with a hard edge like T or K suggest effectiveness, X and Z relate to science, and C, L, R, P and S are calming and relaxing.

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Sometimes more than just a name is created by marketing communicators. For example, the “uncola” position was created for 7UP and, more recently, the True Value hardware chain has proclaimed itself “masters of all things hardwarian,” a phrase that suggests mastery of a traditional art or skill.

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The word tagline is often used to refer to a slogan, but technically it means a line at the end of an ad that wraps up the creative concept. It’s more of a campaign theme than a brand slogan, so it is less enduring than a slogan.

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The best slogans have a close link to the brand name. A good slogan is enduring – they are rarely changed. They also have to be original. A list of distinct and memorable slogans is featured in the textbook.

Writing Styles Writing in brand communication can be formal or informal, personal or impersonal, and it uses all possible types of media. We discuss three types of promotional writing in this chapter: advertising, public relations, and direct response. Advertising • In almost all situations, advertising has to win its audience, which is no small task, given that it usually competes in a cluttered environment and the audience is generally inattentive and uninterested. For that reason, the copy should be as simple as possible. •

Every word counts because both space and time are expensive. Ineffective or overused words and phrases waste precious space. Ad copy is usually written in a conversational style using the language of real people. Copywriters try to write the way the target audience thinks and talks, often with personal language and direct address.

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You can listen to the legendary David Ogilvy talk about his views on advertising on Youtube.com.

Public Relations • A variety of styles of writing are used in public relations because that area uses so many different types of communication tools. Publicity, for example, is designed for new media and uses the basic stylistics of journalism, while corporate publications may sometimes be more unconventional. Press releases and video news releases are more like television news but corporate videos may function more like films with action and dramatic stories.

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Public relations departments also produce brochures that can also vary from informational to technical, depending upon the target audience. Public relations departments sometimes produce public service advertising, as part of public relations campaign.

Direct Response • There are also a number of media formats used in direct-response writing – everything from direct-mail letters and brochures to online social media and customer service or technical support. For that reason, the writing style can be more or less formal, depending on the target audience. Strategy and Legal Imperatives • One thing that is common to all forms of brand communication is that it always has an objective and is designed to reach a particular audience. Beautiful writing has to make strategy sing. •

In addition, claims must be tested to meet the basic requirements of the truth. Are consumers being led astray by health claims on food packages, websites, and advertising? This is a public relations, as well as an advertising problem.

TYPES OF BRAND COMMUNICATION WRITING We will start with copywriters because the other marketing communication areas also use advertising as part of their campaigns. Furthermore, many of the advertising writing practices apply to all forms of promotional writing. The Ad Copywriter • The person who shapes and sculpts the words in an advertisement is called a copywriter. Copy is the text of an ad or the words that people say in a commercial. Copywriters begin with the strategy and creative brief. Then, working with an art director and perhaps a creative director, the creative team searches for Big Ideas that translate the strategy into a message that is attention getting and memorable. A truly great Big Idea comes to life through the interaction between the words and pictures. •

Although advertising is highly visual, words are crucial in four types of advertisements: 1. Complex. If the message is complicated, words can be more specific than visuals and can be read over and over until the meaning is clear. 2. High involvement. If the ad is for a high-involvement product, meaning the consumer spends a lot of time considering it, then the more information the better, and that means using words.

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3. Explanation. Information that needs definition and explanation, like how a new wireless phone works, is better delivered through words. 4. Abstract. If a message tries to convey abstract qualities, such as justice and quality, words tend to communicate these concepts more easily than pictures. Love of Language • A successful advertising copywriter is a savvy marketer and a literary master, sometimes described as a “killer poet.” Many copywriters have a background in English or literature. They love words and search for the clever twist, the pun, the powerful description, the punch, the nuance, as well as the rhythm and rhyme of speech. •

In addition to having an ear for the perfect phrase, copywriters listen to the way people talk and identify the tone of voice that best fits the target audience and the brand.

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Like poets, copywriters may spend hours, even days, crafting a paragraph. After many revisions, others read the copy and critique it. It then goes back to the writer, who continues to fine tune it. Copywriters must have thick skins, as there is always someone else reading their work, critiquing it, and asking for changes. Versatility is also a common trait in copywriters.

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According to Professor Karen Mallia, copywriters can rejoice because even with the new visual media, the power of words remains strong. She explains, “the power of words does not rest in their volume, but in their clever combination. In fact, the fewer the words, the more important every single one becomes. The skill, she explains, is to “distill a thought down to its most concise, precise, and unexpected expression. That’s the reason that great copywriters will always be in demand.”

How to Write Effective Copy • The tighter the writing, the easier it is to understand and the greater its impact. Simple ads avoid being gimmicky, full of clichés, or too cute; they don’t try too hard or reach too far to make a point. The following list summarizes some of the guidelines for writing effective copy: ▪

Succinct. Use short, familiar words, short sentences, and short paragraphs.

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Single minded. Focus on one main point.

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Specific. Don’t waste time on generalities. The more specific the message, the more attention-getting and memorable it is.

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Personal. Directly address your audience whenever possible as “you” rather than “we” or “they.”

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Single focus. Deliver a simple message instead of one that makes too many points. Focus on a single idea and support it.

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Conversational. Use the language of everyday conversation. The copy should sound like two friends talking to one another, so don’t shy away from incomplete sentences, thought fragments, and contractions.

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Original. To keep your copy forceful and persuasive, avoid stock advertising phrases, strings of superlatives and brag-and-boast statements, and clichés.

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News. News stories are attention-getting if they announce something that is truly newsworthy and important.

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Magic phrases. Phrases that grab and stick add power and memorability.

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Use variety. To add visual appeal in both print and TV ads, avoid long blocks of copy in print ads. Instead, break the copy into short paragraphs with subheads. In TV commercials, break up monologues with visual changes, such as shots of the product, sound effects, and dialogue.

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Imaginative description. Use evocative or figurative language to build a picture in the consumer’s mind.

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A story with feeling. Stories are interesting and they have a structure that keeps attention and builds interest. But most importantly, they offer an opportunity to touch emotions.

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To develop the right tone of voice, copywriters write to the target audience. If the copywriter knows someone who fits the audience profile, he or she may write to that person as if they were in a conversation. If the writer does not know someone, one trick is to go through a photo file, select a picture of the person who fits the description and write to that person.

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Humor is a type of writing that copywriters use to create entertaining, funny ads. The idea is that if the humor works, the funny copy will lend a positive aura to a brand. It is particularly important to master funny writing if you are trying to reach an audience that is put off by conventional advertising, such as young males. The Practical Tips feature provides some suggestions on how to use humor in brand communication.

Grammar and Adese • Copywriters are attuned to the niceties of grammar, syntax, and spelling, although sometimes they will play with a word or phrase to create an effect, even if it’s grammatically incorrect. To be avoided are meaningless words and words made meaningless by overuse. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Formulaic advertising copy is one problem that is so obvious that comedians parody it. This type of formula writing, called adese, violates all the guidelines for writing effective copy. It is full of clichés, superlatives, stock phrases, and vague generalities.

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The pompous, overblown phrasing of many corporate statements doesn’t work – it does not get attention, it’s not memorable, and it is not read. We call it yourname-here copy because almost any company can use those words and tack their signature on the end.

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Another type of adese is brag-and-boast copy, which is “we” copy written from the company’s point of view with a pompous tone. Because people are so conditioned to screen out advertising, messages that use this predictable style are easy to ignore or parody if you’re a comedian.

Public Relations Writing • In public relations, news stories are written for both internal corporate media, such as newsletters and magazines, and for external media, such as newspapers and television stations. News and feature stories may be written and distributed in a ready-to-publish format called a news release. •

The primary criterion for a news story is newsworthiness. Editors judge news value based on such considerations as timeliness, proximity, or impact. For news stories, the traditional journalism “five W’s” is followed. In other words, the first sentence clearly states the facts in such a way that the focus, as well as the importance of the news, is immediately obvious.

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Video news releases are distributed to broadcast media with footage that explains the story. Feature stories are less reliant on news and more focused in human interest. Although the formats may differ slightly, news and feature stories are written for and distributed to print and broadcast media, as well as the Internet.

Direct Response Writing • Direct response messages are often longer and contain more explanation and detail than other forms of marketing communication. That is because if the message does not provide enough information and motivate the receiver to respond in some way, the message is wasted. •

Because direct response messages can be individually targeted, the more personalized the message, the better. Most importantly, the message needs to counter consumers’ reluctance to buy. Most will include copy intended to put the buyer’s mind to rest. Guarantees and warranties are important, but other strategies, such as testimonials, are used to reassure buyers about the company’s reliability.

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WRITING FOR VARIOUS MEDIA Different types of media have different styles, restrictions, and audiences. Writers adjust their presentation to accommodate the stylistic differences of the medium. Basics of Writing for Print Media • The two categories of copy that print uses are display copy and body copy (or text). Display copy includes all elements that readers see in their initial scanning. These elements - headlines, subheads, call-outs, and taglines - are usually set in larger type sizes than body copy and are designed to get attention and to stop the viewer’s scanning. Body copy includes the elements that are designed to be read and absorbed, such as the text of the ad message and captions. •

Although we have suggested that ad copy should be succinct, some respected copywriters, such as David Ogilvy and Howard Gossage, were successful in writing long copy ads that intrigued their audiences.

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The most common tools in the print writer’s toolkit are: ▪

The headline is a phrase or sentence that serves as the opening to the ad. It’s usually identified by larger type or a prominent position, and its purpose is to catch attention.

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Overlines and Underlines are phrases or sentences that either lead into the headline or follow up on the thought of the headline. They are usually set in smaller type that the headline.

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Body Copy is the text of the ad. It’s usually smaller sized type and written in paragraphs or multiple lines. Its purpose is to explain the idea or selling point.

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Subheads are used in longer copy blocks to begin a new section of the copy. They are usually bold type or larger than the body copy. Their purpose is to make the logic clear to the reader. They are usually used by people who scan copy.

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Call-outs are sentences that float around the visual, usually with a line or arrow pointing to specific element in the visual that they name and explain.

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Captions are sentences or short pieces of copy that explain what you are looking at in a photo or illustration. Captions are not used very often in advertsing because the visuals are assumed to be self-explanatory.

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Taglines are short phrases that wrap up the creative idea or creative concept. They usually appear at the end of the body copy and often refer back to the headline or opening phrase in an ad.

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Call to action is a line at the end of an ad that encourages people to respond and give information on how to respond. Typically, the response information is an address, e-mail address, toll free number, or a web address.

Display Copy • The headline is a key element in print pieces. It conveys the main message so that people get the point of the message. It also works with the visual to get attention and communicate the creative concept. Headlines come across best when a picture and words are working together. •

People who are scanning may read nothing more, so advertisers want to at least register a point with the consumer. The point has to be clear from the headline or the combination of headline and visual. That is particularly true with outdoor boards. Researchers estimate that only 20 percent of those who read the headline in advertising go on to read the body copy, so if they take away anything from the ad, it needs to be clear in the headline.

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Headlines need to be catchy phrases, but they also have to convey an idea and attract the right target audience. Agencies copytest headlines to make sure they can be understood at a glance and that they communicate exactly the right idea. Split-run tests (two versions of the same ad) in direct mail have shown that changing the wording of the headline while keeping all other elements constant can double, triple, or quadruple consumer response.

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Because headlines are so important, some general principles guide their development and explain the particular functions they serve:

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Target. A good headline will attract only those who are prospects. Headlines should be used to tightly target the right audience.

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Stop and grab. The headline must work in combination with the visual to stop and grab the reader’s attention.

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Identify. The headline must also identify the product and brand and start the sale.

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The headline should lead readers into the body copy.

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Change scanning to reading. The headline should lead readers into the body copy. For this to happen, readers have to stop scanning and start concentrating. This change in mindset is the reason why only 20 percent of scanners become readers.

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into the message if they are not captivating enough. Indirect-action headlines are not as selective and may not provide as much information but may be better at drawing the reader into the message and building a brand image. •

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Some common types of direct-action headlines are: ▪

Assertion: An assertion is a headline that states a claim or a promise that will motivate someone to try the product.

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Command: A command headline politely tells the reader to do something.

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How-to heads: People are rewarded for investigating a product when the message tells them how to use it or how to solve a problem.

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News announcements: News headlines are used with new-product introductions, but also with changes, reformulations, new styles, and new users. The news value is thought to get attention and motivate people to try the product.

Some common types of indirect-action headlines are: ▪

Puzzles: Used strictly for their curiosity and provocative power, puzzling statements, ambiguities, and questions require the reader to examine the body copy to get the answer or explanation. The intention is to pull readers into the body copy.

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Associations: These headlines use image and lifestyle to get attention and build interest.

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Sometimes indirect headlines are called blind headlines because they give so little information. A blind headline is a gamble. If it is not informative or intriguing enough, the reader may move on without absorbing any product name information. But if it works as an attention getter, it can be very effective.

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Next to the headline, captions have the second-highest readership. In addition to their pulling power, they provide information. Copywriters also craft subheads that continue to help lure the reader into the body copy. Subheads are considered display copy in that they are usually larger and set in different type than the body copy. Subheads are sectional headlines and are also used to break up a mass of gray type into a large block of copy.

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Taglines are short catchy phrases and particularly memorable phrases used at the end of an ad to complete or wrap up the creative idea.

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Body Copy • The body copy is the text of the ad and its primary role is to maintain the interest of the reader. It is the persuasive heart of the message. It develops the sales message, states the argument, summarizes the proof, and provides explanation. It is the persuasive heart of the message. The Matter of Principle feature in this chapter explains the logic and message strategy behind Nike’s women’s campaign, which focuses on self-awareness. •

Two paragraphs get special attention in body copy: the lead paragraph and the closing paragraph. The lead, the first paragraph of the body copy, is another point where people test the message to see if they want to read it. Closing paragraphs in body copy serve several functions. Usually the last paragraph refers back to the creative concept and wrap up the Big Idea. Direct-action messages usually end with a call to action with instructions on how to respond.

Print Media Requirements • Media in the print category, which include newspapers, magazines, outdoor boards, and product literature, all use the same copy elements, such as headlines and body copy. However, the way these elements are used varies with the objectives for using the medium. •

Magazines offer better quality ad production, which is important for brand image and high-fashion advertising. Consumers may clip and file advertising that ties in with the magazine’s special interest as reference information. This type of magazine ad can be more informative and carry longer copy than do newspaper ads. Publicity writers and copywriters take care to craft clever phrasing for the headlines and the body copy, which may sometimes read more like poetry.

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Directories that provide contact information, such as addresses or phone numbers, often carry display advertising. In writing a directory ad, copywriters advise using a headline that focuses on the service or store personality unless the store’s name is a descriptive phrase. Complicated explanations don’t work well because of space limitations. Putting in information that is subject to change can become a problem because the directory is published only once a year.

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Posters and outdoor boards are primarily visual, although the words generally try to catch consumers’ attention and lock in an idea, registering a message. The most important characteristic of copywriting for outdoor advertising is brevity. The copy must catch attention and be memorable. An effective poster is built around a creative concept that marries the words with the visual.

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Sometimes called collateral materials because they are used in support of a campaign, brochures, pamphlets, and other materials provide details about a product, company, or event. They can be as varied as hang tags in new cars or bumper stickers.

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Typically, product literature is a heavy-copy format or at least a format that provides room for explanatory details along with visuals; the body copy may dominate the piece. For a pamphlet with folds, the writer must also consider how the message is conveyed as the piece is unfolded.

Radio Messages and How to Write Them • Ads that are broadcast on either radio or television are usually 15, 30, or 60 seconds in length, although 10- and 15-second spots may be used for brand reminders or station identification. This short length means the commercials must be simple enough for consumers to grasp, yet intriguing enough to prevent viewers from switching the station. That’s why creativity is important to create clutter-busting ads that break through the surrounding noise and catch the listener’s attention. •

Radio is pervasive in that it surrounds many of our activities, but it is seldom the listener’s center of attention. Because radio is a transitory medium and listeners are usually in the car or doing something else, the ability of the listener to remember facts is limited. That’s why copywriters repeat the key points of brand name and identification information.

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Radio’s special advantage, referred to as theater of the mind, is that the story is visualized in the listener’s imagination. Radio copywriters imagine they are writing a musical play that will be performed before an audience whose eyes are closed. The copywriter has the theatrical tools of voices, music, and sound effect, but no visuals.

Tools of Radio Copywriting In radio advertising, the tools are the audio elements the copywriter uses to craft a commercial: voice, music, and sound effects. •

The most important element in radio advertising is the human voice, which is heard in songs, spoken dialogue, and announcements. Most commercials use an announcer either as the central voice or at the closing to wrap up the product identification. The voices specified by the writer helps listeners ‘see’ the personalities in the brand message.

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In radio, speaking style should match the speech of the target audience. We talk in short sentences, sentence fragments, and use run-ons. We use contractions that would drive an English teacher crazy. Effective copywriting picks up the nuances of people’s speech so it will sound natural.

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Principle: Radio copywriters try to match their dialogue to the conversational style of the target audience.

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Music is as important as the voice in radio writing. It can be used behind the dialogue to create mood and establish the setting. The primary use of music is a

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jingle, which is a commercial in song. Radio copywriters understand the interplay of catchy phrases and “hummable” music that creates little songs that stick in our minds. •

Organizations can have a piece of music composed for a commercial or borrow it from previously recorded songs. Numerous music libraries sell stock music that is not copyrighted. In addition to customer-made jingles, many jingle houses create “syndicated” jingles made up of a piece of music sold to several different local advertisers in different markets around the country. One of the most famous jingles of all time was the song, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” produced for Coca-Cola in 1969 by its agency, McCann-Erickson. Surveys continue to identify it as one of the best commercials of all time.

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Sound effects are the icing on the radio message. The sound of seagulls, automobile horns honking, and the cheers of fans at a stadium all create images in our minds to cue the setting and drive the action. Sound effects help make a commercial attention-getting and memorable. Sound effects can be original, but more often they are taken from sound-effect libraries on CDs or online.

The Practice of Radio Copywriting Below is a list of guidelines for writing effective radio commercials that address the distinctive characteristics of radio advertising: ▪

Keep it personal. Radio advertising has an advantage over print – the human voice. The copy for radio ads should use conversational language – as if someone is talking with the consumer rather than selling to the consumer.

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Speak to listeners’ interests. Radio offers specialized programming to target markets. Listeners tune in to hear music, but talk radio is popular too. Copywriters design commercials to speak to that audience interest and use the appropriate music and tone of voice.

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Wake up the inattentive. Most people who are listening to the radio are doing something else at the same time. Radio spots are designed to break through and capture attention in the first three seconds with sound effects, music, questions, commands, or something unexpected.

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Make it memorable. To help the listener remember what you are selling, commercial copy should mention the name of the product emphatically and repeat it. An average of three mentions in a 30-second commercial and five mentions in a 60-second commercial are recommended, as long as the repetition is not done in a forced and/or annoying manner.

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Include call to action. The last thing listeners hear is what they tend to remember, so copywriters make sure the product is it. In radio, this is

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especially important since there is no way to show a picture of the product or its label. ▪

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Create image transfer. Radio advertisements are sometimes designed to link to a television commercial. Called image transfer, the visuals from the television version are recreated in a listener’s mind by the use of key phrases and ideas from the television commercial.

Writers working on a radio commercial use a standard radio script format to write the copy to certain time blocks—all the words, dialogue, lyrics, sound effects, instructions, and descriptions. The instructions and descriptions are to help the producer tape the commercial so that it sounds exactly as the copywriter imagined. The script format usually has the source of the audio written down the left side and the content on the right. The instructions and descriptions, anything that isn’t spoken, are typed in capital letters.

Television Messages and How to Write Them • Television writers understand that it is the moving image—the action—which makes television so much more engaging than print. The challenge for the writer is to fuse the images with the words to present not only a creative concept, but also a story. One of the strengths of television is its ability to reinforce verbal messages with visuals or reinforce visuals with verbal messages. •

Principle: In great television commercials, words and pictures work together seamlessly to deliver the creative concept through sight, sound, and motion. Television’s ability to touch our emotions and to show us things – to demonstrate how they look and work – make television highly persuasive.

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Effective television messages are written to maximize the dramatic aspects of moving images and storytelling, as the A Matter of Practice feature in this chapter explains about the emotional pivot in a story.

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Dramatic stories with high emotion, as well as demonstrations, are just a few of the techniques used in television writing. Others are: ▪

Action. Good television messages use the effect of action and motion to attract attention and sustain interest.

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Demonstration. Seeing is believing. Believability and credibility, the essence of persuasion, are high because we believe what we see with our own eyes.

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Storytelling. Television is our society’s master storyteller because of its ability to present plot and the action that leads to a conclusion in which the product plays a major role.

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Emotion. The ability to touch the feelings of the viewer makes television commercials entertaining, diverting, amusing, and absorbing.

Tools of Television Writing • Television writers have two primary toolkits: audio and visual. Both words and pictures are designed to create exactly the right impact. Because of the number of visual and audio elements as well as the many ways they can be combined, a television commercial is among the most complex of all brand communication forms. It is also ideal for storytelling. •

When we watch a commercial, we are more aware of what we are seeing than anything else. Copywriters keep in mind that visuals and motion, the silent speech of film, should convey as much of the message as possible. Likewise, emotion, which is the effect created by storytelling, is expressed convincingly in facial expressions, gestures, and other body language. Because television is theatrical, many of the copywriter’s tools, such as characters, costumes, sets and location, props, lighting, optical and computerized special effects, and on-screen graphics, are similar to those you would use in a play, television show, or movie.

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As in radio, the three audio elements are music, voices, and sound effects, but they are used differently in television commercials because they are connected to a visual image.

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A common manipulation of the camera-announcer relationship is the voice-over, in which an announcer who is not visible describes some kind of action on the screen. Sometimes a voice is heard off camera, which means you can’t see the speaker and the voice is coming from the side, behind, or above.

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Dialogue, both in radio and television, is an interesting challenge for writers who try to keep the words natural and the interaction interesting. In some ads, the repartee between characters is as important to the message as the words themselves. Dialogue between Jack the Rabbit and Larry the Lynx from the “Leather Seats” commercial is featured in the textbook as an example of this.

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Music is also important. Sometimes it is just used as background, other times the song is the focus of the message. In recognition of the role of music in advertising, Universal Music released a CD called “As Seen on TV: Songs from Commercials.” It is a collection of tunes that have become popular, or have been resurrected, thanks to their use in television commercials.

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Other creative tools that support the story line are the setting, casting, costumes, props, and lighting, all of which the writer must describe in the script. The setting, or set, is where the action takes place. It can be something in the studio, from a simple tabletop to a constructed set that represents a storefront or the inside of a home, or it can be a computer creation layered behind the action. Video shot

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outside the studio are said to be filmed on location, which means the entire crew and cast are transported somewhere away from the studio. •

For many brand messages, the most important element is the people, who are called talent. Finding the right person for each role is called casting. People can be cast as announcers, spokespersons, character types, or celebrities.

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Costumes and makeup can be an important part of the story, depending upon the characterizations in the commercial. The director usually manipulates the lighting, but the writer might specify special lighting effects in the script.

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Writers might have to specify the commercial’s pace—how fast or slow the action progresses.

Planning the TV Commercial • Writers must plan how long the commercial will be, what shots will appear in each scene, what the key visual will be, and where and how to shoot the commercial. In addition, the copywriter has to consider the length, number of scenes, and key frames. Other key decisions the copywriter must consider in planning a commercial are the length, number of scenes, and key frames. •

The common lengths of TV commercials are 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 seconds. The 10-, 15-, and 20-second lengths are used as reminders and product or station identification. The 60-second spot, which is common in radio, has almost disappeared in television because of the increasing cost of airtime. The most common length for a TV commercial is 30 seconds.

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A commercial is planned in scenes—segments of action that occur in a single location. A scene may include several shots from different angles. A 30-second commercial usually is planned with four to six scenes, but a fast-paced commercial may have many more. Because television is a visual medium, the message is often developed from a key visual that contains the heart of the concept. The key frame is that visual that sticks in the mind and becomes the image that viewers remember when they think about the commercial.

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Writers need to answer many questions such as: How much product information should be in the commercial? Should the action be fast or slow? Is it wise to defy tradition and create an unusual, even controversial ad? How intrusive should the ad be?

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Two documents are used to plan commercials: a television script prepared by the copywriter and a storyboard drawn by the art director. Similar to a radio script, a TV script is the written version of the commercial’s plan. It contains all the words, dialogue, lyrics, instructions, and descriptions of the details. The key to the structure of a television script is the relationship between the audio and the video.

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A storyboard, which is the visual plan or layout of the commercial, is drawn by hand or on the computer to show the number of scenes, the composition of the shots, and the progression of the action. A photo board uses photographic stills instead of art to illustrate the progression of images. It is created from the still photos or frames from the filming and is used to present to clients.

The Internet and How to Write for It • The Web is more interactive than any other mass medium. Not only does the viewer initiate the contact, but they can respond as well. This makes the Internet more like two-way communication, and that’s a major point of difference from the other advertising forms. As a result, the Internet writer is challenged to attract people to the site and to manage a dialogue-based communication experience. •

It is true, however, that there are forms of Internet advertising that look like more traditional ads, such as banners, sidebar ads, and pop-ups. E-mail and video ads, as well as mobile ads on smart phones, all require variations of traditional copywriting techniques. Most of these formats end with a link to the sponsor’s website where the user can participate in a more interactive experience.

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Principle: To write great copy for the Web, copywriters must think of it as an interactive medium and open up opportunities for dialogue with the consumer.

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In this complicated, fast-changing medium, there aren’t a lot of rules. In fact, marketing communication that uses text messaging and Twitter may even throw out the rules of spelling with vowel-free words. Internet writers write everything from catchy phrases for banners to copy that works like traditional advertisements, brochures, or catalogs.

Websites • The challenge for Internet writers is to understand the user’s situation and design messages that fit their needs and interests. However, the Web is an informational medium and users come to it, in some cases, for reference information – formats that look a lot like catalogs or even encyclopedias. Keywords are used to help visitors or surfers search for the site online, as well as within the site for the information they need. Creativity is also valued both to entice visitors, but also to keep them actively involved with the site. Banners • The most common form of online advertising are small banner ads containing text, images, and perhaps motion (animation). Banners in this small format have to be creative to stand out amidst the clutter on a typical Web page and, similar to outdoor advertising, they have to grab the surfer’s attention with few words. Effective banners arouse the interest of the viewer, who is often browsing through other information on the computer screen. It is critical to make the site easy to navigate.

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COPYWRITING CHALLENGES • The copywriter’s job is to find a memorable way to express the creative concept. All of the copywriter’s talent will do no good if the audience cannot understand the “magic words.” This is particularly complicated in global brand communication. Writing for a Global Brand • Language affects the presentation of the message, which is a problem for global campaigns. English is more economical than many other languages. Standardizing the copy content by translating the appeal into the language of the foreign market is fraught with possible communication blunders. It is rare to find a copywriter who is fluent in both the domestic and foreign language and familiar with the culture of the foreign market. •

Headlines in any language often rely on humor, a play on words, or slang. Because these verbal techniques don’t cross borders well, writers remove them from international campaigns unless the meaning or intent can be recreated in other languages. For this reason, international campaigns are not literally translated. Instead, a copywriter usually rewrites them in the second language.

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The major distinction in cross-cultural communication is between high-context and low-context cultures. In high-context cultures, a message can be best understood when interpreted within contextual cues. In a low-context culture, a message can be understood as it stands.

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Experience suggests that the most reasonable solution to the language problem is to use bilingual copywriters who understand the full meaning of the English text and can capture the essence of the message in the second language. A back translation of the ad copy from the foreign language into the domestic one is always a good idea, but it seldom conveys a complete cultural interpretation.

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The most recent announcement on the global stage is the opening up of the Internet to non-Roman letters, such as those used in Chinese, Korean, and Arabic. It’s a challenge to develop translations for these languages so that a posting can be read in its original language, as well as in Roman-letter alphabets. However, technology is making this possible.

◆END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 9-4. What qualities make a good tagline or slogan? Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Slogans are a long term brand or corporate identity effort. They must be catchy and memorable. It is a distinctive catchphrase that serves as a motto for a campaign, brand, or company and is used across a variety of marketing communication platforms and over an extended period of time. The best slogans have a close link to the brand name. A good slogan is enduring – they are rarely changed. They also have to be original. The word tagline is often used to refer to a slogan, but technically it means a line at the end of an ad that wraps up the creative concept. It’s more of a campaign theme than a brand slogan, so it is less enduring than a slogan. They are short phrases that wrap up the creative idea or creative concept. They usually appear at the end of the body copy and often refer back to the headline or opening phrase in an ad.

9-5. Discuss the differences in writing for advertising, public relations and direct response. In almost all situations, advertising has to win its audience, which is no small task, given that it usually competes in a cluttered environment and the audience is generally inattentive and uninterested. For that reason, the copy should be as simple as possible. Every word counts because both space and time are expensive. Ineffective or overused words and phrases waste precious space. Ad copy is usually written in a conversational style using the language of real people. Copywriters try to write the way the target audience thinks and talks, often with personal language and direct address. However, a variety of writing styles are used in public relations because that area uses so many different types of communication tools. Publicity, for example, is designed for new media and uses the basic stylistics of journalism, while corporate publications may sometimes be more unconventional. Press releases and video news releases are more like television news but corporate videos may function more like films with action and dramatic stories. Direct response messages are often longer and contain more explanation and detail than other forms of marketing communication. That is because if the message does not provide enough information and motivate the receiver to respond in some way, the message is wasted. Because direct response messages can be individually targeted, the more personalized the message, the better. Most importantly, the message needs to counter consumers’ reluctance to buy. Most will include copy intended to put the buyer’s mind to rest.

9-6. Describe the various copy elements of a print ad.

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The two categories of copy that print uses are display copy and body copy (or text). Display copy includes all elements that readers see in their initial scanning. These elements - headlines, subheads, call-outs, and taglines - are usually set in larger type sizes than body copy and are designed to get attention and to stop the viewer’s scanning. Body copy includes the elements that are designed to be read and absorbed, such as the text of the ad message and captions. Other common tools in the print writer’s toolkit are headlines, overlines and underlines, subheads, call-outs, captions, taglines, and calls to action. 9-7. What is adese and why is it a problem in advertising copy? Formula writing, a well-known problem called adese, violates all the guidelines for writing effective copy. It is full of clichés, superlatives, stock phrases, and vague generalities. Another type of adese is brag-and-boast copy, which is “we” copy written from the company’s point of view with a pompous tone. Because people are so conditioned to screen out advertising, messages that use this predictable style are easy to ignore or parody if you’re a comedian. 9-8. What is the primary role of body copy and how does it accomplish that? The body copy is the text of the ad and its primary role is to maintain the interest of the reader. It is the persuasive heart of the message. It develops the sales message, states the argument, summarizes the proof, and provides explanation. It is the persuasive heart of the message. Two paragraphs get special attention in body copy: the lead paragraph and the closing paragraph. The lead, the first paragraph of the body copy, is another point where people test the message to see if they want to read it. Closing paragraphs in body copy serve several functions. Usually the last paragraph refers back to the creative concept and wrap up the Big Idea. Direct-action messages usually end with a call to action with instructions on how to respond. 9-9. One principle of print writing is that the headline catches the reader’s eye but the body copy wins the reader’s hear and mind. Find an ad that demonstrates that principle and explain how it works. Print ads selected by students will vary. When selecting their example, students should be guided by the premise that well written headlines interrupt the readers’ scanning and grabs their attention, and well written body copy persuades the reader through its sales message, argument, and explanation.

9-10. What are the major characteristics of TV ads? Describe the tools of television commercial copyrighting.

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In great television commercials, words and pictures work together seamlessly to deliver the creative concept through sight, sound, and motion. Television’s ability to touch our emotions and to show us things – to demonstrate how they look and work – make television highly persuasive. The challenge for the writer is to fuse the images with the words to present not only a creative concept, but also a story. One of the strengths of television is its ability to reinforce verbal messages with visuals or reinforce visuals with verbal messages. Television writers have two primary toolkits: audio and visual. Both words and pictures are designed to create exactly the right impact. Because of the number of visual and audio elements as well as the many ways they can be combined, a television commercial is among the most complex of all brand communication forms. It is also ideal for storytelling. 9-11. Describe how Internet advertising is written. The Internet is more interactive than any other mass medium and that’s a major point of difference from the other advertising forms. The Internet writer is not only challenged to attract people to the site, but also to manage a dialogue-based communication experience. To write great copy for the Web, copywriters must think of it as an interactive medium and open up opportunities for dialogue with the consumer. There are forms of Internet advertising that look like more traditional ads, such as banners, sidebar ads, and pop-ups. E-mail and video ads, as well as mobile ads on smart phones, all require variations of traditional copywriting techniques. Most of these formats end with a link to the sponsor’s website where the user can participate in a more interactive experience. However, in this complicated, fast-changing medium, there aren’t a lot of rules. In fact, marketing communication that uses text messaging and Twitter may even throw out the rules of spelling with vowel-free words. Internet writers write everything from catchy phrases for banners to copy that works like traditional advertisements, brochures, or catalogs.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 9-12. Creative directors say the copy and art must work together to create a concept. Consider all of the ads in this chapter and the preceding chapters and identify one that you believe best demonstrates that principle. Explain what the words contribute and how they work with the visual. Students will select different advertisements to discuss, but within the variety of samples they should cover several similar points.

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Art and copy must have a single focus. Readers should receive the same message from both of the advertisement’s elements. Impressions gleaned from the art must be reinforced in the copy and vice versa. Although art and copy have to work together, each performs a different function in an ad. Art tends to be the element that stops readers and pulls them into the ad, and, with hope, invites them to read the copy. Visuals tend to communicate faster and be remembered longer than copy. Art cannot, however, deliver details and explanations. Copy lends its particular strengths in communicating complicated messages, informing about high-involvement items, explaining how to use products, clarifying abstract qualities, and locking in key phrases. Different products will require different combinations of art and copy, and the most effective ads will strike the appropriate balance between visual and text. 9-13. What do we mean by tone of voice, and why is it important in advertising? Find a magazine ad that you think has an appropriate tone of voice for its targeted audience (the readers of that particular magazine) and one that doesn’t. Discuss your analyses of these two ads. Copywriters listen to the way people talk and identify the tone of voice that best fits the target audience and the brand. To develop the right tone of voice, often copywriters write to the target audience. If the copywriter knows someone who fits the audience profile, he or she may write to that person as if they were in a conversation. This information should guide students as they are making selections from various magazines. 9-14. Select a product that uses a long copy format in print. Examples might be businessto-business and industrial products, over-the-counter drugs, and some car and appliance ads. Now write a 30-second radio and a 30-second TV spot for that product. Present your work to the class, along with an analysis of how the message design changed—and stayed the same—when you moved from print to radio and then to TV. Although responses to this question will vary, all students should remain cognizant of the following principles: Radio: Radio copywriters try to match their dialogue to the conversational style of the target audience. Radio advertising relies on conversational style and vernacular language. An ear for the distinctive patterns of speech of the target audience is important, since spoken language is different from written language. Effective copywriting picks up the nuances of people’s speech so it will sound natural. Television: In great television commercials, words and pictures work together seamlessly to deliver the creative concept through sight, sound and motion. Copywriters must plan how long the commercial will be, what shots will appear in each scene, what the key visual will be, and where and how to shoot the commercial. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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In addition, the copywriter has to consider the length, number of scenes, and key frames. Other key decisions the copywriter must consider in planning a commercial are the length, number of scenes, and key frames. 9-15. Critique the following (choose one): a. Jingles are a popular creative form in radio advertising. Even so, there may be as many jingles that you don’t want to hear again as there are ones that you do. Identify one jungle that you really dislike and another that you like. Analyze why these jingles either work or don’t work effectively for you and present your critique to your class. Student responses to this question will vary. However, radio copywriters understand that effective jingles are those in which an interplay between catchy phrases and “hummable” music work together to create little songs that stick in our minds. The best jingles are those that consumers can sing along with, thereby helping them to remember and get involved with the message. b. Surf the Web and find one banner ad that you think works to drive click-throughs and one that doesn’t. Print them out and prepare an analysis that compares the two banner ads and explains why you think one is effective and the other is not. Present your critique to the class. Student responses to this question will vary. However, Internet copywriters understand that banners in this small format have to be creative to stand out amidst the clutter on a typical Web page and, similar to outdoor advertising, they have to grab the surfer’s attention with few words. Effective banners arouse the interest of the viewer, who is often browsing through other information on the computer screen. The key to stopping surfers is vivid graphics, motion, and clever phrases.

TAKE HOME PROJECTS 9-16. Portfolio Project: In the discussion questions at the end of Chapter 6, you were asked to consider the research needed for a new upscale restaurant chain that focuses on fowl—duck, squab, pheasant and other elegant meals in the poultry category. Now your creative team is being asked to develop the creative package for the restaurant chain. As a specialty category, this would be somewhat like a seafood restaurant. You have been asked to develop the creative package to use in launching these new restaurants in their new markets. Develop the following: ▪ The restaurant’s name ▪ A slogan for the restaurant chain ▪ A list of five enticing menu items ▪ A paragraph of copy that can be used in print to describe the restaurant ▪ The copy for a 30-second commercial to be used in radio Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Student responses to this assignment will vary. When completing it, however, their work should reflect the following: ▪ The most important word selection in marketing communication is the brand or corporate name. ▪ Slogans are a long term brand or corporate identity effort. They must be catchy, memorable, and original. The best slogans have a close link to the brand name. A good slogan is enduring – they are rarely changed. ▪ When writing for print media, both display copy and body copy is used. The print copywriter’s toolkit includes headlines, subheads, call-outs, captions, overlines, underlines, and taglines. ▪ Tips given in the textbook for writing effective radio ads include keep it personal, speak to listeners’ interests, wake up the inattentive, make it memorable, include call to action, and create image transfer. 9-17. Mini-Case Analysis: Summarize the creative strategy behind Frontier’s “Whole Different Animal” position as well as the “Flip to Mexico” and “Frontier’s Next Animal” campaigns. Explain how the Big Idea works and how it is expressed in the copy. What makes the writing so engaging? Analyze the structure and writing in the “Leather Seats” commercial in Chapter 8. Come up with an idea for another Frontier ‘one-shot’ ad, (i.e., like Leather Seats, an ad that is not part of the campaign) and draft the copy. The Big Idea was to differentiate this regional airline based in Denver from its competitors by focusing upon its western heritage. Since the images of the untamed West recalled by most Americans includes wild animals roaming the plain, this airline’s marketing messages are delivered in a fun way to its target market by some of that habitant’s original residents - animals. This humorous ad campaign is quite different from the buttoned-up approach used by most of Frontier’s competitors. As a result, customers have built an emotional attachment to the brand and its spokesanimals. In 2006, when a rival airline emerged from bankruptcy with a multi-million dollar ad campaign, the Flip to Mexico campaign was developed to steal the spotlight by creating a competitive diversion. Its new service to Mexico was promoted with an ad in which Flip the Dolphin delivered an ultimatum to the Frontier: Either they send him to Mexico, or he would quit. As the airline expanded, the original campaign was further extended with the “Leather Seat” commercial, designed to announce the airline’s acquisition of new aircraft, new destinations, and new seats. Brilliant copy captivates the audience as Jack the Rabbit and Larry the Lynx ponder why there are no cows on the tails of the planes. They conclude tails with cows probably would be inappropriate, given the new leather seats. Ideas generated by students to further extend this campaign with a ‘one-shot’ ad will vary. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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TRACE North America Case Writing for a Multi-cultural Audience Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 9-18. The case briefly discusses the tonality (voice) of the communications. Write a one-page directive to the creative team explaining what the tonality should be and giving rationale for your recommendation. Keep in mind the target audience and your client, Nissan.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1.

What is a copywriter and what is their job?

The person who shapes and sculpts the words in an advertisement is called a copywriter. Copy is the text of an ad or the words that people say in a commercial. Copywriters begin with the strategy and creative brief. Then, working with an art director and perhaps a creative director, the creative team searches for Big Ideas that translate the strategy into a message that is attention getting and memorable. A truly great Big Idea comes to life through the interaction between the words and pictures.

2. What are the most important skills and personal qualities for a copywriter? A successful advertising copywriter is a savvy marketer and a literary master, sometimes described as a “killer poet.” Copywriters love words and they search for the clever twist, the pun, the powerful description, the punch, the nuance—for words that whip and batter, plead, sob, cajole, and impress. They are experts on words, or, rather, students of them. They know meanings and derivations, as well as the moods and feelings of words and the reverberations and vibrations they create in a reader’s mind. Many copywriters have a background in English or literature. In addition to having an ear for the perfect clever phrase, they listen to the way people talk and identify the tone of voice that best fits the target audience and advertising need. Versatility is a common trait of copywriters. They can move from toilet paper to Mack trucks and shift their writing style to match the product and the language of their target audience. Like poets, copywriters spend hours, even days, crafting a paragraph. Copywriters have to have thick skins as there is always someone else reading their work, critiquing it, and making changes. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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3. In general, what are some of the guidelines for writing effective copy? The following list summarizes some guidelines for writing of effective copy: ▪ Be succinct. Use short, familiar words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. ▪

Be single minded. Focus on one main point.

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Be specific. Don’t waste time on generalities. The more specific the message, the more attention getting and memorable it is.

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Get personal. Directly address your audience whenever possible as “you” rather than “we” or “they.”

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Keep a single focus. Deliver a simple message instead of one that makes too many points. Focus on a single idea and support it.

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Be conversational. Use the language of everyday conversation. The copy should sound like two friends talking to one another, so don’t shy away from incomplete sentences, thought fragments, and contractions.

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Be original. To keep your copy forceful and persuasive, avoid stock advertising phrases, strings of superlatives and brag-and-boast statements, and clichés.

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Use news. News stories are attention getting if they announce something that is truly newsworthy and important.

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Use magic phrases. Phrases that grab and stick add power and memorability.

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Use variety. To add visual appeal in both print and TV ads, avoid long blocks of copy in print ads. Instead, break the copy into short paragraphs with subheads. In TV commercials, break up television monologues with visual changes, such as shots of the product, sound effects, and dialogue.

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Use imaginative description: Use evocative or figurative language to build a picture in the consumer’s mind.

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Tell a story – with feeling. Stories are interesting and they have a structure that keeps attention and builds interest. But most importantly, they offer an opportunity to touch emotions.

4. What are the two categories into which headlines can be grouped and how do they differ?

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Headlines can be grouped into two general categories: direct-action and indirectaction. Direct action headlines are straightforward and informative and often link the brand with a benefit. They are highly targeted, but may fail to lead the reader into the message if they are not captivating enough. Indirect-action headlines are not as selective and may not provide as much information but may be better at drawing the reader into the message and building a brand image. Sometimes indirect headlines are called blind headlines because they give so little information. A blind headline is a gamble. If it is not informative or intriguing enough, the reader may move on without absorbing any product name information. But if it works as an attention getter, it can be very effective. 5. What are some the unique qualities of radio? Radio is pervasive in that it surrounds many of our activities, but it is seldom the listener’s center of attention. Because radio is a transitory medium and listeners are usually in the car or doing something else, the ability of the listener to remember facts is limited. That’s why copywriters repeat the key points of brand name and identification information. Radio’s special advantage, referred to as theater of the mind, is that the story is visualized in the listener’s imagination. Radio copywriters imagine they are writing a musical play that will be performed before an audience whose eyes are closed. The copywriter has the theatrical tools of voices, music, and sound effect, but no visuals.

6. What are the guidelines for writing effective radio commercials that address the distinctive characteristics of radio advertising? The guidelines for writing effective radio ads are: ▪ Keep it personal. Radio advertising has an advantage over print – the human voice. The copy for radio ads should use conversational language – as if someone is talking with the consumer rather than selling to the consumer. ▪

Speak to listeners’ interests. Radio offers specialized programming to target markets. Listeners tune in to hear music, but talk radio is popular, too. Copywriters design commercials to speak to that audience interest and use the appropriate music and tone of voice.

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Make it memorable. To help the listener remember what you are selling, commercial copy should mention the name of the product emphatically and

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repeat it. An average of three mentions in a 30 second commercial and five mentions in a 60 second commercial are recommended, as long as the repetition is not done in a forced and/or annoying manner. ▪

Include call to action. The last thing listeners hear is what they tend to remember, so copywriters make sure the product is it. In radio, this is especially important since there is no way to show a picture of the product or its label.

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Create image transfer. Radio advertisements are sometimes designed to link to a television commercial. Called image transfer, the visuals from the television version are re-created in a listener’s mind by the use of key phrases and ideas from the television commercial.

7. What are the challenges involved when writing for a global brand? Language affects the creation of the advertising, which is a problem for global campaigns. English is more economical than many other languages. This creates a major problem when the space for copy is laid out for English and one-third more space is needed for French or Spanish. However, English does not have the subtlety of other languages such as Greek or French. Standardizing the copy content by translating the appeal into the language of the foreign market is fraught with possible communication blunders. It is rare to find a copywriter who is fluent in both the domestic and foreign language and familiar with the culture of the foreign market. Headlines in any language often rely on a play on words, themes that are relevant to one country, or slang. Because these verbal techniques don’t cross borders well, copywriters must remove them from the advertising unless the meaning or intent can be re-created in other languages. For this reason, international campaigns are not literally translated. Instead, a copywriter usually rewrites them in the second language.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Locate two magazines containing body copy that is too wordy. Redesign the ads, cutting body copy to brief “bullet” points and revamping other elements (headline, subhead, visual, etc.) to better reflect the appeal of the ad. In a brief presentation to the class, explain how the ad has been is improved by cutting body copy. 2. An electric log splitter has been introduced on the market. Its target market is do-ityourselfers and homeowners who occasionally split firewood for home use. The benefit of this product is that it is light, quiet and doesn’t bother users with the noise, fumes, and fuel consumption of gas-powered models. Also, a two-handed handle Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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design ensures safe operation. Your job is to first come up with each of the following: a brand name, a slogan, display copy, and body copy for a print ad. Think-Pair-Share 1. In groups, debate which element of a print advertisement is most important – the headline, subhead, body copy, visual, or call to action. Working together, how do these elements complement one another? 2. What unique creative considerations must the copywriter consider when writing Internet ads? What is different about an online audience that will directly affect how copy is written? Discuss in pairs and debrief as a class.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. What accounts for the phenomenal success of the “Smokey the Bear” advertising campaign? In your estimation, what turned this simple Big Idea into an American icon? Go online to the www.adcouncil.org and type ‘wildfire prevention’ into the search box to learn all you can about the campaign and its creative themes. Also review some of the ‘Smokey the Bear’ ads on www.youtube.com, especially the older ones. Prepare a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation for the class that discusses the creative strengths of this campaign. 2. Prepare 500-word report that summarizes how this campaign’s writers have met the challenge of fusing images with words to present not only a creative concept, but also a story. Recall what you learned in chapter 8 entitled “The Creative Side”, and also consider the major principles discussed this chapter regarding writing for television, such as: ▪ The emotional pivot ▪ Techniques used to create drama ▪ Use of various audio and visual tools 3. Many people are proficient copywriters, but how does one become an excellent copywriter? The Web is full of articles and resources on this subject. Using your favorite search engine, run a keyword search and learn everything you can about the art of great copywriting. How does it contrast with the material you have read in this chapter? Prepare a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation for the class. In it, share your major findings and advice for becoming an excellent copywriter. You can even include examples of copy written for specific campaigns, as long as you credit the original sources.

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◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. What is the role of visual communication in brand communication messages? 2. What is the difference between layout and composition, and why are those concepts important? 3. How are art and color reproduced in print advertising? 4. What are the steps in planning and producing video? 5. What are the basic techniques of Web design?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter is about the visuals used in advertising—how they are designed and what they contribute to the meaning of the ad. First we review some basic ideas about visual impact, both in print and broadcast, and the role of the art director. Then we consider print art production, video production, and end with a discussion of the design of Internet advertising.

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHY IS VISUAL COMMUNICATION IMPORTANT? • In effective advertising, both print and television, it’s not just the words that need to communicate the message – the visuals need to communicate, too. Visuals do some things better than words, such as demonstrate something. •

The effective use of visuals in advertising can be related to a number of the effects we have outlined in our Facets Model of Effects. 1. Grab attention. Generally visuals are better at getting and keeping attention than words. 2. Stick in memory. Visuals persist in the mind because people generally remember messages as visual fragments, that is, as key images that are filed easily in their minds. 3. Cement belief. Seeing is believing. Visuals that demonstrate add credibility to a message. 4. Tell interesting stories. Visual storytelling is engaging and maintains interest.

5. Communicate quickly. Pictures tell stories faster than words. 6. Anchor associations. To distinguish undifferentiated products with low inherent interest, advertisers often link the product with visual associations representing lifestyles and types of users. •

In general, print designers have found that a picture in a print ad captures more than twice as many readers as a headline does. Furthermore, the bigger the illustration, the more the message grabs consumers’ attention. Layouts with pictures also tend to pull more readers into the body copy. Initial attention is more likely to turn to interest with a strong visual.

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Principle: The visual’s primary function in an advertisement is to get attention.

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People not only notice visuals, buy they also remember ads with pictures more than those composed mostly of type. Both the believability factor and the interest-building impact of a visual story are reasons why visuals are anchored so well in memory. Attention, interest, memorability, believability – these factors help explain the visual impact of advertising messages.

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The A Principled Practice feature in this chapter explains the issues surrounding the use of provocative or shocking images in advertising and other marketing communication.

Brand Image and Position • Marketing communication plays an important role in the creation of brand images. Much of that contribution comes from the visual elements—the symbolic images associated with the brand and the elements that define the brand, such as the trademark and logo. •

A logo, which is the imprint used for immediate identification of a brand or company, is an interesting design project because it utilizes typography, illustration, and layout to create a distinctive and memorable image that identifies the brand.

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Brand icons are characters associated with a brand, such as Mr. Peanut, Uncle Ben, and Ronald McDonald. If they are effective, they become an enduring symbol of the brand. Over time, however, they may need to be updated as the Betty Crocker image has been a number of times.

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Package design is another area where brand image is front and center. The package design accommodates strategic elements with positioning statements, flags that reference current campaigns, recipes, and pricing announcements, as well as economic and popular cultural events.

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A brand position is often thought to be tied to words. However, Laura Ries argues that one of the best ways to nail down a position is with a visual. In her iBook, she explains that visuals are powerful “because they hold emotional power that sticks.”

Visual Storytelling • In visual storytelling, the image sets up a narrative that has to be constructed by the reader or viewer. Visual storytelling is important even for abstract concepts, such as “empowered,” “inspired,” or “inventive.” •

Art directors in particular design images that tell stories and create brand impressions. The art – the image or visual elements – in a marketing communication message can touch emotional buttons. Our ethics discussions in this book often focus on the appropriateness of an image and the story it tells about the brand.

Emotion and Visual Persuasion • We’ve talked about the visual impact and the power of visual storytelling. Both come together in persuasive messages that are designed to touch the emotions and ‘move’ the consumer to respond favorably to the brand. Research suggests that not only are images moving, but they are also becoming increasingly dramatic and controversial. •

In many situations, emotion is the key driver of a prospect being ‘tuned in’ to a message. In the A Matter of Principle feature, a professor explores why emotionally loaded visuals are particularly useful in certain types of environmental messages.

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Emotion is a ‘hook’ that helps engage the attention of a viewer and contributes to the depth of the memory traces left behind by the brand message. The stronger the feelings elicited by a message, the more likely the viewer will find meaning in a message and link that meaningful experience to a brand. A visual can be the cue that turns on this brand linkage process.

WHAT IS ART DIRECTION? • The person most responsible for creating visual impact, as well as brand identification elements, is the art director. The art director is in charge of the visual look of the advertisement, both in print and TV, and how it communicates mood, product qualities, and psychological appeals. The art director and copywriter team usually work together to come up with the Big Idea, but the art director is responsible for bringing the visual side of the idea to life. •

Specifically, art directors make decisions about whether to use art or photography in print and film or animation in television and what type of artistic style to use. They are trained in graphic design, including art, photography, typography, the use of color, and computer design software.

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Although art directors generally design the ad, they rarely create the finished art. If they need an illustration, they hire an artist. Newspaper and Web advertising visuals are often clip art or click art, images from collections of copyright-free art that anyone who buys the clip-art service can use.

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In addition to advertising, art directors may also be involved in designing a brand or corporate logo, as well as merchandising materials, store or corporate office interiors, and other aspects of a brand’s visual presentation, such as shopping bags, delivery trucks, and uniforms. A graphic designer explains in this chapter’s Inside Story feature how she views the working environment of graphic designers.

The Designer’s Toolkit • One of the most difficult problems that art directors and those who work on the creative side of advertising face is to transform a concept into words and pictures. During the brainstorming process, both copywriters and art directors are engaged in visualization, which means they are imagining what the finished ad might look like. •

The art director, however, is responsible for translating the Big Idea into a visual story. To do this, the art director relies upon a toolkit that consists of illustrations or animation, photos or film shots, color, type, design principles, layout (print), and composition (photography, video, or film) among other visual elements.

Illustrations and Photos • When art directors use the word “art,” they usually mean photographs and illustrations, each of which serves different purposes in ads. Photography has an authenticity and credibility that make it powerful, since most people believe that pictures don’t lie (even though they can be altered.) •

The decision to use a photograph or an illustration is usually determined by the advertising strategy and its need for either realism or fanciful images. Generally, a photograph is more realistic and an illustration is more fanciful. Illustrations, by definition, eliminate many of the details in a photograph, which can make it easier to understand since what remains are the “highlights” of the image. This ease of perception can simplify the visual message because it can also focus attention on key details of the image. Illustrations also use artistic techniques to intensify meanings and moods, making illustrations ideal for fantasy.

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It is also possible to manipulate a photograph and turn it into art, a technique that brought recognition to Andy Warhol, among others. These practices have become popular with the advent of the Internet and the availability of easy-to-find digital images, some of which are copyrighted.

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Another issue involving digitized images in a global environment revolves around the ability of software programs, such as Photoshop, to manipulate specific content within a photo.

Color • In addition to photos and illustrations, another important visual element that art directors manipulate is color. Color attracts attention, provides realism, establishes moods, and builds brand identity. Art directors know that print ads with color, particularly those in

newspapers, get more attention than ads without color. Most ads – print, broadcast, and Internet – are in full color, especially when art directors use photographs. •

Color is particularly important in branding. In print, some designers use spot color in which a second color in addition to black is used to highlight important elements. The use of spot color is highly attention-getting, particularly in newspaper ads.

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Color can help convey a mood. However, color associations are culturally determined and therefore can vary in other cultures.

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Black and white is also an important choice in image design because it lends dignity and sophistication to the visual. When realism is important to convey in an ad, full-color photographs may be essential.

Typography • Not only do art directors carefully choose colors, but they also specify the ad’s typography, which is the appearance of the ad’s printed matter. In most cases, good typesetting does not call attention to itself because its primary role is functional. Type or lettering has an aesthetic role, and the type selection can, in a subtle or not so subtle way, contribute to the impact and mood of the message. •

Principle: Type has a functional role in the way it presents the letters in words so they can be easily read, but it also has an aesthetic role and can contribute to the meaning of the message through its design.

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Ad designers choose from among thousands of typefaces to find the right one for the ad’s message. Designers are familiar with type classifications, but it is also important for managers and other people on the creative team to have some working knowledge of typography to understand what designers are talking about and to critique the typography and make suggestions.

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Here are some of the many decisions the art director makes in designing type: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

The specific typeface or font. The way capitalization is handled, such as all caps or lower case. Typeface variations that come from manipulating the shape of the letterform. The edges of the type block and its column width. The size in which the type is set (vertical height). Legibility or how easy it is to perceive the letters.

A set of different sizes for the Times Roman typeface is shown in the textbook. •

Generally, logos are designed to last for a long time, but sometimes brands change the design and typography in an attempt to modernize the look or match the mood of the country. An example comes from the recent recessionary period when a number of major

brands, such as Kraft and Wal-Mart, among others, moved from their all-caps presentation to lower case. The idea was to make their logos look softer and less stiff. Design Principles, Layouts, and Styles • The arrangement of the pieces in a print ad or video shot is called a layout, and it is governed by basic principles of design. The design of an ad has both functional and aesthetic needs. The functional side of a layout makes the message easy to perceive; the aesthetic side makes it attractive and pleasing to the eye. •

These design principles guide the eye by creating a visual path that helps the viewer scan the elements. How all of the elements come together is a function of the unity and balance of the design. Direction or movement is the way the elements are positioned to lead the eye through the arrangement.

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Simplicity is also a design principle, one that is in opposition to visual clutter. In general, the fewer the elements, the stronger the impact—and idea expressed in the phrase “less is more.” Another saying is KISS, which stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”

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Principle: Design is usually improved by simplifying the number of elements. Less is more.

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For print advertising, once art directors have chosen the images and typographic elements, they manipulate all of the visual elements on paper to produce a layout. A layout is a plan that imposes order and at the same time creates an arrangement that is aesthetically pleasing.

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Different layouts can convey entirely different feelings about a product. Here are some common types of ad layouts the art director might use. These apply to brochures and magazines, as well as ads. ▪

Picture window. One of the most common layout formats is one with a single, dominant visual that occupies about 60 to 70 percent of the ad’s space. Underneath it is a headline and a copy block. The logo or signature signs off the message at the bottom.

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All art. The art fills the frame of the ad and the copy is embedded in the picture.

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Panel or grid. This layout uses a number of visuals of matched or proportional sizes. If there are multiple panels all of the same size, the layout can look like a window pane or comic strip panel.

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Dominant type or all copy. Occasionally, you will see layouts that emphasize the type rather than the art or even an all-copy advertisement in which the headline is treated as type art. A copy-dominant ad may have art, but it is either embedded in the copy or placed in a subordinate position, such as at the bottom of the layout.

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Circus. A layout that combines lots of elements—art, type, color—to deliberately create a busy, jumbled image. This is typical of some discount-store ads or ads for local retailers, such as tire companies.

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Nonlinear. This contemporary style of layout can be read starting at any point in the image. In other words, the direction of viewing is not ordered. This style of ad layout works for young people who are more accustomed to nonlinear forms.

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These layout categories are functional, but there are also stylistic categories that designers will sometimes use to refer to their approach. These include art nouveau, art deco, modern, postmodern, grunge design, and most recently ‘beautiful messy.’ Art directors use these various historical styles to communicate certain types of messages.

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The stages in the normal development of a print ad may vary from agency to agency or from client to client. This ad went through thumbnail sketches, which are quick, miniature, preliminary sketches; rough layouts which show where design elements go; semicomps and comprehensives that are drawn to size and used for presentation either inside or to the client, and mechanicals which assemble the elements in their final position for reproduction. The final product that is used for actual production of the ad is a high-resolution computer file.

Composition • Layout describes how the elements in print ads are arranged. Composition refers to the way the elements in a picture are arranged or framed through a camera lens. Photographers and videographers handle composition in two ways: 1) they may be able to place or arrange the elements in front of their cameras and 2) they may have to compose the image by manipulating their own point of view if the elements can’t be moved. •

Similar to the way layouts are developed by using sketches, video images are also drawn and presented as storyboards, which are sketches of the scenes and key shots in a commercial. The art director imagines the characters and setting as well as how the characters act and move in the scene. The art director sketches in a few key frames to provide the visual idea for a scene and how it is to be shot and how one scene links to the scenes that follow. In addition, the storyboard sketches reflect the position and movement of the cameras recording the scene, a description of which is spelled out both in the script and on the storyboard.

Environmental Design • Think about the last time you went to a sit-down restaurant versus your experiences in fast-food places. What is the difference in the way these spaces are designed both inside and outside? What do these design features say about the personality of the restaurant? •

Environmental design is entirely different from the usual marketing communication pieces. Architectural design and interior ambiance contribute to brand personality. In a Polo store, you might notice details of the environment that make that space different

from Sears. Nike stores have been described as retail theater with displays and spaces that showcase not only the shoes and apparel, but also the sports with which they are connected. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRODUCTION? Art directors need to understand print media requirements and the technical side of production because these aspects affect both the look of the printed piece and its costs. Print Media Requirements • Different media put different demands on the design, as well as the production, of advertising. Newspapers and directories are printed at high speed on an inexpensive, rough-surfaced, spongy paper called newsprint that quickly absorbs ink on contact. Newsprint is not a great surface for reproducing fine details, especially color photographs and delicate typefaces. •

Most newspapers offer color to advertisers, but because of the limitations of the printing process, the color may not be perfectly in registration, i.e., all of the colored inks may not be aligned exactly, creating a somewhat blurred image.

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Magazines have traditionally led the way in graphic improvements because their glossy paper is a higher grade than newsprint. Excellent photographic and color reproduction is the big difference between newspapers and magazines. Magazine advertisements are also able to take advantage of more creative, attention-getting devices, such as pop-up visuals, scent strips, and computer chips that play melodies when the pages are opened.

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The key to an effective poster or outdoor board is a dominant visual with minimal copy. Billboards must make a quick and lasting impression from far away so their layout should be compact with a simple visual path. The Institute for Outdoor Advertising (IOA) recommends these tips for designers. ▪

Graphics. Make the illustration an eye-stopper.

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Size. Images in billboards are huge—a 25-foot-long pencil or a 43-foot pointing finger. The product or the brand label can be hundreds of times larger than life.

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Colors. Use bold, bright colors. The greatest impact is created by maximum contrast between two colors such as dark colors against white or yellow.

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Figure/Ground. Make the relationship between foreground and background as obvious as possible. The background should never compete with the subject.

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Typography. Use simple, clean, uncluttered type that is easy to read at a distance by an audience in motion. The industry’s legibility research recommends avoiding allcapital letters, fanciful ornamental letters, and script and cursive fonts.

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Product identification. Focus attention on the product by reproducing the label or package at a huge size.

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Extensions. Extend the frame of the billboard to expand the scale and break away from the limits of the long rectangle.

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Shape. For visual impact, create the illusion of three-dimensional effects by playing with horizons, vanishing lines, and dimensional boxes. Inflatables create a better 3-D effect than most billboards can, even with superior graphics.

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Motion. Add motors to boards to make pieces and parts move. Use revolving panels, called kinetic boards, for messages that change.

Print Art Reproduction • There are two general types of printed images: line art and halftones. A drawing or illustration is called line art because the image is solid lines on a white page. Photographs, referred to as continuous tone or halftone, are much more complicated to reproduce because they have a range of gray tones between the black and white, as shown in Figure 10.2. •

Printers create the illusion of shades of gray in converting photos to halftones by shooting the original photograph through a fine screen, which converts the image to a pattern of dots that gives the illusion of shades of gray—dark areas are large dots that fill the screen and light areas are tiny dots surrounded by white space. The quality of the image depends upon how fine the screen is: newspapers use a coarse screen and magazines use fine screens.

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Screens are also used to create various tint blocks, which can either be shades of gray in black-and-white printing or shades of color. A block of color can be printed solid or it can be screened back to create a shade.

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Full-color images are reproduced using four distinctive shades of ink called process colors, in a process called four-color printing. These colors are magenta, cyan, yellow, and black. Printing inks are transparent, so when one ink overlaps another, a third color is created and that’s how the full range of colors is created. The process printers used to reduce the original color image to four halftone negatives is called color separation. Figure 10.4 illustrates the process of color separation.

Digitization • If an ad is going to run in a number of publications, there has to be some way to distribute a reproducible duplicate of the ad to all of them. The duplicate material for offset printing is a slick proof of the original mechanical. More recently, digitization of images is used to distribute reproducible images. This is also how computers now handle the color reproduction process. These digitized images can then be transmitted electronically to printers or by satellite. Agencies also use this method for transmitting ad proofs within the agency network and to clients.

Digitization • If an ad is going to run in a number of publications, there has to be some way to distribute a reproducible, duplicate of the ad to all of them. The duplicate material for offset printing is a slick proof of the original mechanical. More recently, digitization of images has been used to distribute reproducible images. This is also how computers handle the color reproduction process. •

Digitization makes it possible to create some spectacular effects in out-of-home advertising. Some outdoor boards have become digital screens complete with changing and moving images. A new technique in transit advertising comes from Atlanta where the city’s buses are wrapping their sides with something called “glow skin.” The ads use electroluminescent lighting to make the ads glow at night and appear to jump off the sides of the buses.

Binding and Finishing Art directors can enhance their ads and other printed materials by using a number of special printing effects. Mechanical techniques include: •

Die-cutting. A sharp edged stamp or die is used to cut out unusual shapes. A common die-cut shape you are familiar with is the tab on a file folder.

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Embossing or debossing. The application of pressure to create a raised surface (embossing) or depressed image (debossing) in paper.

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Foil-stamping. The process of foil stamping involves molding a thin metallic coating to the surface of the image.

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Tip-ins. A tip-in is a separate, preprinted ad provided by the advertiser that is glued into a publication as the publication is being assembled or bound. Perfume manufacturers, for example, use tip-in samples that are either scratch-and-sniff or scented strips that release a fragrance when pulled apart.

3D Printing • The latest printing technology innovation which began making headlines in 2013 is 3D printing. Experts predict a new Industrial Revolution from this developing technology.

What Does An Art Director Need To Know About Video Production? •

Where does an art director start when putting together a video for a commercial, a video news release, or some other kind of corporate film or video? Obviously, the first consideration is the nature of the image. The art director can arrange for filming on a constructed set or in a real location. The image is composed through the lens of the camera, just as in still pictures, but the challenge lies in the way the moving image takes shape.

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Another option is to use stock footage, which is previously recorded images—either video, still slides, or moving film. Animation, stop motion, and 3D are other film production techniques that can be used instead of stock footage or live filming.

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Working within the framework of the creative strategy, art directors also create to look of the video or commercial. Other graphic elements such as words, product logos, and still photos are digitized or computer generated right on the screen. A crawl is computergenerated letters that appear to be moving across the bottom of the screen. All of these are designed or specified by the art director.

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The big change has been the move from film to digital images. Computer graphic artists brag that they can do anything with an image. They can look at an object from any angle or even inside out. One creative video technique is called morphing, in which one object gradually changes into another. Photographs of real objects can change into art or animation and then return to life.

Filming and Editing • Most local retail commercials are simple and inexpensive, and are shot and taped at the local station. The sales representative for the station may work with the advertiser to write the script, and the station’s director handles the taping of the commercial. •

Creating a national TV commercial is more complex and requires a number of people with specialized skills. The ad agency crew usually includes the copywriter, art director, and producer. The producer oversees the production on behalf of the agency and the client and is responsible for the budget, among other things. The director, who is the person responsible for filming the commercial, is usually someone from outside the agency. This person takes the art director’s storyboard and makes it come to life on film.

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The producer and the director make up the core of the production team. The commercial’s effectiveness depends on their shared vision of the final commercial and the director’s ability to bring it to life as the art director imagined it. A list summarizing the responsibilities of broadcast production personnel can be found in the textbook.

The Process of Producing Videos • Originally film was shot on 35mm film or videotape and then digitized, after which the editor transfers the image to videotape for dissemination, a process called film-to-tape transfer. Digital technology has changed the process. With modern filmmaking, images are transferred to hard drives, eliminating the use of film or videotape. Art directors work closely with editors who assemble the shots and cut the film to create the right pacing and sequence of images as outlined in the storyboard. Filming Techniques • Animation is another filming technique that is often used in commercials. The technique of animation traditionally meant drawing images on film and then recording the images one frame at a time. Animation is traditionally shot at 16 drawings per second. Low-

budget animation uses fewer drawings, so the motion looks jerky. The introduction of computers has accelerated the process and eliminated a lot of tedious handwork. •

Animation is similar to illustration in print in that it abstracts images and adds a touch of fantasy and/or mood to the image. Animation effects can also be used to combine animated characters, such as the little green Geico gecko, with live action figures, or even with other animated characters. A technique called “mental ray” was used in a Levi Straus ad featuring 600 stampeding buffalo. Mental ray is so good that it not only created lifelike images but even added realistic hair on the animals.

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Another type of animation is stop motion, a technique used to film inanimate objects like the Pillsbury Doughboy, which is a puppet. The little character is moved a bit at a time and filmed frame-by-frame. The same technique is used in claymation, which involves creating characters from clay and then photographing them one frame at a time.

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3D is a type of film production that creates the illusion of depth using special motion picture camera and projection hardware. Viewers also have to wear special glasses. The 3D technique has been around for many years.

Music and Action • Specifying the music is usually done as part of the copywriting. However, matching the music to the action is an art director’s or producer’s responsibility. In some cases, the music is the commercial. Other times it is used to get attention, set a mood, and lock the commercial into memory. The TV Production Process For larger, national commercials, the steps in the TV production process fall into four categories: message design, preproduction, the shoot, and postproduction. Figure 10.5 shows the steps in the process. Preproduction • The producer and staff first develop a set of production notes, describing in detail every aspect of the production. These notes are important for finding talent and locations, building sets, and getting bids and estimates from specialists. •

Once the bids for production have been approved, the creative team and the producer, director, and other key players hold a preproduction meeting to outline every step of the production process and anticipate every problem that may arise. Then the work begins.

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The talent agency begins casting the roles, while the production team finds a location and arranges site use with owners, police, and other officials. If sets are needed, they have to be built. Finding the props is a test of ingenuity, and the prop person may wind up visiting hardware stores, second-hand stores, and maybe even the local dump. Costumes must be made, located, or bought.

The Shoot • The director shoots the commercial scene by scene, but not necessarily in the order set down in the script. Each scene shot is called a take, and after all the scenes in the storyboard have been shot, they are assembled through editing. If the director films the commercial on videotape, it is played back immediately to determine what needs correcting. Film, however, has to be processed before the director can review it. These processed scenes are called dailies. Rushes are rough versions of the commercial assembled from cuts of the raw film footage. The director and the agency creative team view them immediately after the shoot to make sure everything’s been filmed as planned. •

The film crew includes a number of technicians, all of whom report to the director. For both film and video recording, the camera operators are the key technicians. Other technicians include the gaffer, who is the chief electrician, and the grip, who moves props and sets and lays tracks for the dolly on which the camera is mounted. The script clerk checks the dialogue and other script details and times the scenes. A set is a busy and crowded place that appears at times to be total confusion and chaos.

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The audio director records the audio either at the time of the shoot or, in the case of more high-end productions, separately in a sound studio. If the sound is being recorded at the time of shooting, a mixer, who operates the recording equipment, and a mic or boom person, who sets up the microphones, handles the recording on the set. In the studio, audio is usually recorded after the film is shot, so the audio has to be synchronized with the footage.

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In some rare cases, an entire commercial is shot as one continuous action rather than as individual shots edited together in postproduction. Probably the most interesting use of this approach is “Cog,” an award-winning commercial for the Honda Accord.

Postproduction • For film and video, much of the work happens after the shoot in postproduction, when the commercial begins to emerge from the hands and mind of the editor. The objective of editing is to assemble the various pieces of film into a sequence that follows the storyboard. Editors manipulate the audio and video images, creating realistic 3-D images and combining real-life and computer-generated images. The postproduction process is extremely important in video because so many digital effects are being added to the raw film after the shoot. •

Another goal of video editing is to manipulate time, which is a common technique used in commercial storytelling. For example, condensing time might show a man leaving work, then a cut of the man showering, then a cut of the man at a bar. The editor may also extend time. All of these effects are specified by the art director in the storyboard.

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The result of the editor’s initial work is a rough cut, a preliminary edited version of the story that is created when the editor chooses the best shots and assembles them to create a scene. The editor then joins the scenes together – in contemporary film production, all of this happens digitally. After the revision and re-editing have been completed, the editor

makes an interlock, which means the audio and film are assembled together. The final version with the sound and film mixed together is called an answer print. The answer print is the final version printed onto a piece of film. For the commercial to air on hundreds of stations around the country, the agency has to make duplicate copies, a process called dubbing. The dubbed copies are called release prints.

WEB DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS • Visuals are just as important on websites and Internet ads as they are in print ads and outdoor boards. Photos on company websites are particularly important in terms of what they say about the corporate or brand image. Since websites are often created on the cheap, viewers may find themselves looking at product images that are fuzzy or confusing. •

Web design includes creating ads that run on the Web as well as the website itself. Banner ads are designed more like outdoor boards than conventional print ads because their small space puts intense requirements on the designer to make the ad communicate quickly and succinctly and yet attract attention and curiosity to elicit a click-through response. You can see some banner ads online at http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffathelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/banner.html.

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Designers know that Web pages, particularly the first screen, should follow the same layout rules as posters: The graphics should be eye-catching without demanding too much downloading time; type should be simple, using one or two typefaces and avoiding all capitals and letter spacing which can distort words. Because there is a lot to read, organizing the information is critical. In terms of legibility, black type on a high-contrast background is usually best; all of the design elements – type and graphics - should be big enough to see on the small screen.

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What makes Web design different from print designs is the opportunity to use motion, animation, and interactive navigation. While attention getting, these can also be irritating. Professor Mallia reminds us that online ads can succeed or fail because of their design as well as their copy. Even in the highly visual online world, it is still important for the art and copy to work together to attract attention and build interest.

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Usually the illustrations are created by artists but sometimes, for low-budget projects, the illustrations and photos are obtained from clip-art services, or rather click art. Any image can be scanned and manipulated to create a Web image, which is causing copyright problems for the artists and others who originally created the images. Because of the magic of digitizing, Web pages can combine elements and design styles from many different media: print still photography, film, animation, sound, and games.

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The combination of interactive navigation, live streaming video, online radio, and 360degree camera angles creates Web pages that may be more complex than anything you see on TV, which is why ease of use is a factor in website design.

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Web designers use a completely different toolbox than other types of art directors. Animation effects, as well as sophisticated navigation paths, are designed using software programs. It is such a rapidly changing design world that it is difficult to keep track of the most recent innovations in Web design software. The use of animation effects and streaming video has made websites look more like television and film.

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For more examples of excellence in website design and reviews of the top websites, visit: www.webawards.com, www.worldbestwebsites.com, www.clioawards.com, www.100bestwebsites.org, www.oneclub.com, www.topsiteslinks.com, and www.webbyawards.com.

Action and Interaction • Web advertisers are continuing to find ways to bring dramatic action to the small screen in order to make the imagery more engaging. Because users can create their own paths through the website, designers have to make sure that their sites have clear navigation. Users should be able to move through the site easily, find the information they seek, and respond. •

Navigation problems really turn off viewers. Eye tracking research has found that if the navigation is cluttered or unclear, viewers will give up and move on to some other site. Ideally, users who visit a site regularly should be able to customize the site to fit their own interests and navigation patterns.

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Online video has also expanded the avenues for action on the small screen on minicomputers, personal digital assistants, and cell phones. Web video is becoming a new business opportunity for businesses that want to use videos to display their products. The secret is to plan these videos specifically for a small screen and not just try to use regular television or film images.

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If a site is well designed, people may want to interact with the organization sponsoring the site. For example, Texture/Media, a Colorado web design firm, created a sevenepisode series over five months for one of its clients. The objective was to make the consumer a participant in the client’s brand stories.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 10-4. Explain in what ways visuals add impact to brand communication. Visual impact in an advertisement has the ability to: •

Grab attention: Generally, visuals are better at getting and keeping attention than words.

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Stick in memory: Visuals persist in the mind because people generally remember messages as visual fragments, that is, key images that are filed easily in their minds. Cement belief: Seeing is believing. Visuals that demonstrate add credibility to a message. Tell interesting stories: Visual storytelling is engaging and maintains interest. Communicate quickly: Pictures tell stories faster than words. A picture communicates instantly, while consumers have to decipher verbal/written communication word by word, sentence by sentence, and line by line. Anchor associations: To distinguish undifferentiated products with low inherent interest, advertisers often link the product with visual associations representing lifestyles and types of users.

10-5. What are the responsibilities of an art director? The person most responsible for creating visual impact as well as brand identification elements is the art director. The art director is in charge of the visual look of the advertisement, both in print and TV, and how it communicates mood, product qualities, and psychological appeals. The art director and copywriter team usually work together to come up with the Big Idea, but the art director is responsible for bringing the visual side of the idea to life. Specifically, art directors make decisions about whether to use art or photography in print and film or animation in television and what type of artistic style to use. They are highly trained in graphic design, including art, photography, typography, the use of color, and computer design software.

10-6. Compare the use of black and white, spot color, and full color in terms of visual impact. Color is used to attract attention, provide realism, establish moods, and build brand identity. Print ads with color get more attention than ads without color. Some ads use either full color, which helps convey realism; black and white, which lends dignity and sophistication to a visual; or spot color, in which a second color is used in addition to black. Spot color is highly attention-getting, particularly in newspaper ads. Color can help convey a mood. However, color associations are culturally determined and therefore can vary in other cultures.

10-7. List the design principles and explain each one. The arrangement of the pieces in a print ad or video shot is governed by basic principles of design. The design of an ad has both functional and aesthetic needs. The functional side of a layout makes the message easy to perceive; the aesthetic side makes it attractive and pleasing to the eye. These design principles guide the eye by creating a visual path that helps the viewer scan the elements. How all the elements come together is a function of the unity and

balance of the design. Direction or movement is the way the elements are positioned to lead the eye through the arrangement. Simplicity is also a design principle, one that is in opposition to visual clutter. In general, the fewer the elements, the stronger the impact—an idea expressed in the phrase “less is more.” Another saying is KISS, which stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” The Frontier Airlines “Caribou” ad in Exhibit 10.21 is a powerful image because of its use of a simple horizontal photo across a two-page spread. An important principle to remember is: Design is usually improved by simplifying the number of elements. Less is more. 10-8. What’s the difference between line art and halftones? There are two general types of printed images: line art and halftones. A drawing or illustration is called line art because the image is solid lines on a white page. Photographs, referred to as continuous tone or halftones, are much more complicated to reproduce because they have a range of gray tones between the black and white.

10-9. What does the phrase four-color printing mean? What are the four process colors? What does the phrase color separation mean and how does that work? Full-color images are reproduced using four distinctive shades of ink called process colors, in a process called four-color printing. These colors are magenta, cyan, yellow, and black. Printing inks are transparent, so when one ink overlaps another, a third color is created and that’s how the full range of colors is created. The process printers use to reduce the original color image to four halftone negatives is called color separation.

10-10. Explain the following video terms: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Stock footage: Previously recorded images—either video, still slides, or moving film. Crawl: Computer-generated letters that appear to be moving across the bottom of the screen. Morphing: One object gradually changes into another. Animation: The technique of animation traditionally meant drawing images on film and then recording the images one frame at a time. The introduction of computers has accelerated the process and eliminated much tedious hand work. Stop motion: A technique used to film inanimate objects like the Pillsbury Doughboy, which is a puppet. The little character is moved a bit at a time and filmed frame by frame. Claymation: Involves creating characters from clay and then photographing them one frame at a time.

10-11. Explain the four steps in the video production process. Step 1 is message design. This was discussed in a previous chapter.

Step 2 – Preproduction: The producer and staff first develop a set of production notes, describing in detail every aspect of the production. These notes are important for finding talent and locations, building sets, and getting bids and estimates from specialists. Once the bids for production have been approved, the creative team and the producer, director, and other key players hold a preproduction meeting to outline every step of the production process and anticipate every problem that may arise. Then the work begins. The talent agency begins casting the roles, while the production team finds a location and arranges site use with owners, police, and other officials. If sets are needed, they have to be built. Also, props must be found and costumes must be made, located, or bought. Step 3 – The Shoot: The director shoots the commercial scene by scene, but not necessarily in the order set down in the script. Each scene shot is called a take, and after all the scenes in the storyboard have been shot, they are assembled through editing. Film has to be processed before the director can review it. These processed scenes are called dailies. Rushes are rough versions of the commercial assembled from cuts of the raw film footage. The director and the agency creative team view them immediately after the shoot to make sure everything’s been filmed as planned. The film crew includes a number of technicians, all of whom report to the director. For both film and video recording, the camera operators are the key technicians. Other technicians include the gaffer, who is the chief electrician, and the grip, who moves props and sets and lays tracks for the dolly on which the camera is mounted. The script clerk checks the dialogue and other script details and times the scenes. A set is a busy, crowded place that appears at times to be total confusion and chaos. The audio director records the audio either at the time of the shoot or, in the case of more high-end productions, separately in a sound studio. If the sound is being recorded at the time of shooting, a mixer, who operates the recording equipment, and a mic or boom person, who sets up the microphones, handle the recording on the set. In the studio, audio is usually recorded after the film is shot so the audio has to be synchronized with the footage. Step 4 – Postproduction: This is when the commercial begins to emerge from the hands and mind of the editor. The objective of editing is to assemble the various pieces of film into a sequence that follows the storyboard. Editors manipulate the audio and video images, creating realistic 3-D images and combining real-life and computer-generated images. The postproduction process is extremely important in video because so many digital effects are being added to the raw film after the shoot. Another goal of video editing is to manipulate time, which is a common technique used in commercial storytelling. For example, condensing time might show a man leaving work, then a cut of the man showering, then a cut of the man at a bar. Such effects are specified by the art director in the storyboard. The result of the editor’s initial work is a rough cut, a preliminary edited version of the story that is created when the editor chooses the best shots and assembles them to create a scene. The editor then joins the scenes together. After the revision and re-editing have been completed, the editor makes an interlock, which means the audio and film are assembled together. The final version with the sound and film mixed together is called an answer print. The answer print is the final version printed onto a piece of film. For the commercial to air on hundreds of stations around the country, the agency has to make duplicate copies, a process called dubbing. The dubbed copies are called release prints.

10-12. Draw up a list of guidelines to use in designing a website. Designers know that Web pages, particularly the first screen, should follow the same layout rules as posters: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

The graphics should be eye-catching without demanding too much downloading time. Type should be simple—using one or two typefaces—and avoid words in all capitals and letter spacing that distorts the words. Because there is often a lot to read, organizing the information is critical. In terms of legibility, black type on a high-contrast background is usually best. All the design elements—type and graphics—should be big enough to see on the smallest screen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 10-13. One of the challenges for creative ad designers is to demonstrate a product whose main feature cannot be seen by the consumer. Suppose you are an art director on an account that sells shower and bath mats with a patented system that ensures that the mat will not slide (the mat’s underside is covered with tiny suction cups that grip the tub’s surface). Brainstorm some ways to demonstrate this feature in a television commercial. Find a way that will satisfy the demands of originality, relevance, and impact. This exercise will be fun for students and generate a number of different responses that will help them understand the challenge of demonstrating features not visible to the eye. This exercise will encourage students to use their creativity in problem solving. 10-14. Choose one of the following design critique problems: a. Print: What principles govern the design of a magazine ad? Collect two sample ads, one that you think is a good example of effective design and one that you think is not effective. Critique the two ads and explain your evaluation based on what you know about how design principles work in advertising layouts. Make suggestions for how the less effective ad could be improved. The principles that govern magazine ad design are the same as those that govern all good design. Direction creates a visual path for readers. A dominant element establishes a focal point in the ad, and unity ensures the all the elements appear to be a consistent package. White space can frame an element, help create unity, or separate elements that should not be viewed together. Though it may seem to contradict the need for unity, a design also needs a degree of contrast to reduce sameness of art, type, or placement. Equal distribution of optical weight, whether formal or informal, creates balance in an ad, and proportion divides ad spaces into visually pleasing unequal segments. As with all design, simplicity generally strengthens rather than diminishes an ad.

In addition to general principles of design, a magazine is usually considered to have some of the strongest print design, with excellent photography, fidelity of color reproduction, and innovative graphics. Students will select a number of different magazine samples, but their critiques should analyze the effective and the ineffective ads in terms of the principles of design. b. Television: Find a television commercial that you thought was creative and entertaining. Then, find one that you think is much less creative and entertaining. Analyze how the two commercials work to catch and hold your attention. How do the visuals work? What might be done to make the second commercial more attention getting? You can also use online sources to find commercials at http://www.adcritic.com. There is an abundance of possible samples from which students may select, and their analyses will be varied, but they should be clear about what devices they saw as strongest in gaining attention.

10-15. You have been asked to design a web page for a local business or organization (choose one from your local community). Go to www.flickr.com or www.1StopPictures.com and choose a visual to illustrate the website by trying to match the personality of the organization to a visual image. Then, identify the primary categories of information that need to be included on the page. Develop a flow chart or map that shows how a typical user would navigate through the site. What other image could you find that might be used on inside pages to provide some visual interest to this business’s online image? Now consider interactivity: How could this site be used to increase interactivity between this company and its customers? Create a plan for this site that includes the visual elements and a navigation flow chart. Student responses to this assignment will vary. 10-16. You have a new client who has a new hand lotion for men, one that is designed to help men whose hands take a beating in their jobs. One of your colleagues, a photographer, believes the only way to visualize a product and its use in an ad is through photography. Another colleague, an artist, argues that there are times when art is a much better way to illustrate a product than photography, and that this production is a good example. Analyze the differences between using an illustration and using a photograph. What are their roles and how do they create different types of effects? Are there certain product categories where you would want to use an illustration or a photograph and vice versa? Which would work best for this new product? Develop a quick presentation for your class that explains which approach you would use for this assignment. When art directors use the word art, they usually mean photographs and illustrations, each of which serves different purposes in ads. Photography has an authenticity that makes it powerful. Most people feel that pictures don’t lie. For credibility, photography is a good medium. A photograph is more realistic and an illustration is more fanciful. Illustrations eliminate many of the details in a photograph, which can make it easier to understand

because what remains are the “highlights” of the image that we use most often in recognizing what it represents. This ease of perception can simplify the visual message but it can also focus attention on key details of the image. It can also intensify meanings and moods, making illustrations ideal for fantasy. The decision to use a photograph or an illustration is usually determined by the advertising strategy and its need for realism or fanciful images. Students will offer a variety of viewpoints as to whether art or photography works best for this product. The information above will help narrow their suggestions.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 10-17. Portfolio Project: Select a product that is advertised exclusively through print. Examples of such products are business-to-business and industrial products, school supplies, many overthe-counter drugs, and some food items. Your objective is to develop a 30-second television spot for this product. Develop a creative brief (see Chapter 8) to summarize the ad’s strategy. Brainstorm about ways to develop a creative idea for the commercial. Then write a script and develop a storyboard to present your idea for this product. In the script include all the key decisions a producer and director would make. 10-18. Mini-Case Analysis: Summarize the creative strategy behind Altoid’s “Curiously Strong Mints” campaign. Explain the critical elements of both the copy and the visuals. The brand management team has proposed developing a new (sugar-free) line of cough drops. How would you adjust this strategy to appeal to this new market? Design a launch ad that presents your copy ideas and a new visual. Accompany the ad with a statement that explains your thinking. The brand’s original slogan was “The Original Celebrated Curiously Strong Peppermints.” The Leo Burnett creatives captured the brand essence with a shorter, wry slogan: “The Curiously Strong Mint.” The campaign tone features a type of amusing, rather British, selfdeprecation, as if the brand doesn’t take itself seriously. That approach struck a nerve with the largely cynical, sometimes sarcastic Generation X and Y males who have been the brand’s most loyal fans. Burnett’s memorable ads from this classic campaign have featured a muscle builder with the line “Nice Altoids,” a 1950s teenager with oversized braces and the headline “Brace Yourself,” and a stern-looking nurse carrying the little red-and-white Altoids tin with the headline “Now, This Won’t Hurt a Bit.” Another ad proclaimed, “No Wonder the British Have Stiff Upper Lips.” When designing a launch ad for the new cough drop line, it is critical that students recognize the value of the brand’s heritage and acknowledge that the brand’s strong, consistent look has strengthened its business performance over the years. The brand’s iconic look must be retained.

TRACE North American Case Designing Multicultural Visual Communication Read the TRACE Case in the appendix before coming to class. 10-19. Write a design memo that describes the ‘look’ of the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign. What elements would you make mandatory (e.g., typeface, colors, etc.) and which would you allow individual campuses to personalize in their own colors?

Hands-On Case Creative Coffee Wars Brewing P3-1. It is easy to see how McDonald’s used words and pictures in some of its traditional advertising, like billboards. How are words and pictures used effectively on the www.unsnobbycoffee.com website? Words and visuals are effectively combined to illustrate the contents of McDonald’s McCafe coffee, thereby communicating to customers its ability to make beverages that measure up to the high quality ingredients that epitomize its primary competitor, Starbucks. This is important since traditionally Donald’s is associated with standardized, unimaginative menu choices. The hand-drawn sketches of McCafe beverage contents anchor the association between the product quality sought by this segment of the coffee market and McDonald’s ‘unpretentious’ positioning. These sketches stick in the memory and help to cement belief in the product. P3-2. How does the McDonald’s campaign make a relevant connection with its audience and sell its coffee in an unexpected way? McDonald’s decision to attack a competitor by calling it unflattering names such as snobbish and elitist was totally unexpected, given the company’s image as a wholesome, family-friendly organization. The negative image that McDonald’s painted of Starbucks struck a chord with many consumers by reminding them of one of their core values - simplicity. As an example of the strength of this American core value, consider basic, down-to-earth lifestyle of Warren Buffet, the richest man in America. P3-3. How could you extend the concept of ‘unsnobby’ coffee to use it for a variety of executions in different media? Student responses will vary. A variety of opportunities exist to further extend the ‘unsnobby’ campaign in paid, owned, and interactive media categories. P3-4. Compare and contrast this campaign with Starbucks’ approach. What is the Big Idea of both campaigns? Why and how do they work? Starbucks’ strategic approach is rooted not only in its positioning as the premium product offering superior taste, but also as a ‘lifestyle’ brand, i.e., a brand that reflects the attitudes,

values, and aspirations of its target audience. It has also taken advantage of being the first mover in the ‘designer’ coffee market, which created category leadership and dominance for the brand. As the underdog who decided to enter the well established ‘premium’ coffee market late in the game, McDonald’s used comparative advertising to attack not the physical attributes of its competitor’s product, but instead the image and culture connected with it.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Describe the importance of visual communication in print and television advertising. In most marketing communication, the power to get attention primarily lies with the visual. The excitement and drama in a television commercial is created through moving images. It is an intriguing idea that grabs attention and remains in memory. This is particularly true for larger formats, such as posters and outdoor boards. An important principle to remember is that the visual’s primary function in an advertisement is to get attention. In general, print designers have found that a picture in a print ad captures more than twice as many readers as a headline does. Furthermore, the bigger the illustration, the more the message grabs consumers’ attention. Ads with pictures also tend to pull more readers into the body copy. Initial attention is more likely to turn to interest with a strong visual. People not only notice ad visuals, they remember ads with pictures more than those composed mostly of type. Both the believability factor and the interest-building impact of a visual story are reasons why visuals are anchored so well in memory. Attention, interest, memorability, believability – these factors help explain the visual impact of advertising messages. 2. What is the relationship between visual communication and brand image? Much of advertising’s role in the creation of a brand image comes from the visual elements—the symbolic images associated with the brand, as well as the elements that define the brand, such as the trademark and logo. A logo, which is the imprint used for immediate identification of a brand or company, is an interesting design project because it utilizes typography, illustration, and layout to create a distinctive and memorable image that identifies the brand. Brand icons are characters associated with a brand, such as Mr. Peanut, Chester the Cheetah, Uncle Ben, and Ronald McDonald. If they are effective, they become an enduring symbol of the brand. Over time, however, they may need to be updated. Package design is another area where brand image is front and center. Sometimes the brand link is the shape of the packaging or it may be in the stylistics. The package design also accommodates strategic elements with positioning statements, flags that reference current campaigns, recipes, and pricing announcements.

3. Discuss the major tools in the designer’s toolkit. The art director’s toolkit for preparing advertising includes the following: ▪

Illustrations and photos. When art directors use the word “art,” they usually mean photographs and illustrations, each of which serves different purposes in ads. The decision to use a photograph or an illustration is usually determined by the advertising strategy and its need for realism or fanciful images.

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Color. Color is used to attract attention, provide realism, establish moods, and build brand identity. Print ads with color get more attention than ads without color. Some ads use either full color; black and white, which lends dignity and sophistication to a visual; or spot color, in which a second color is used in addition to black.

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Typography. The ad’s typography is the appearance of the ad’s printed matter. Type also has an aesthetic role, however, and the type selection can contribute to the impact and mood of the message.

4. What is a print ad layout? What are the most common types of layouts? A layout is a plan that imposes order and at the same time creates an arrangement that is aesthetically pleasing. Here are some common types of ad layouts: ▪

Picture window. One of the most common layout formats is one with a single, dominant visual that occupies about 60 to 70 percent of the ad’s space. Underneath it is a headline and a copy block.

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All art. The art fills the frame of the ad and the copy is embedded in the picture.

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Panel or grid. This layout uses a number of visuals of matched or proportional sizes. If there are multiple panels all of the same size, the layout can look like a window pane or comic strip panel.

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Dominant type or all copy. Occasionally, you will see layouts that emphasize the type rather than the art or even an all-copy advertisement in which the headline is treated as type art.

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5. What are some of the creative and logistical differences in filming a local television commercial versus a national commercial? Most local retail commercials are simple and inexpensive, and are shot and taped at the local station. The sales representative for the station may work with the advertiser to write the script, and the station’s director handles the taping of the commercial. Creating a national TV commercial is more complex and requires a number of people with specialized skills. The ad agency crew usually includes the copywriter, art director, and producer. The commercial’s effectiveness depends on their shared vision of the final commercial and the director’s ability to bring it to life as the art director imagined it. 6. Define stop motion and claymation as animation techniques for television commercials. Stop Motion is used to film inanimate objects like the Pillsbury Doughboy, which is a puppet. The little character is moved a bit at a time and filmed frame-by-frame. The same technique is used in claymation, which involves creating characters from clay and then photographing them one frame at a time. Both have been popular with art directors who create advertising where fantasy effects are desired, although new computer effects are also simplifying these techniques. 7. What unique challenges do web ads present to advertising designers? Web design includes creating ads that run on the Web as well as the website itself. Banner ads are designed more like outdoor boards than conventional print ads because their small space puts intense requirements on the designer to make the ad communicate quickly and succinctly, and yet attract attention and curiosity in order to elicit a click-through response. The graphics must be eye-catching without demanding too much downloading time; type should be simple, using one or two typefaces and avoiding all capitals and letter spacing that distorts the words. Because there is often a lot to read, organizing the information is critical. The combination of interactive navigation, live streaming video, online radio, and 360-degree camera angles creates web pages that may be more complex than anything you see on TV, which is why ease of use is a factor in website design.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Study the role of color and contrast and its effects on readers by trying out The Poynter Institute’s Interactive Color Tool exercise. To get there, go to http://www.newsu.org/courses/color-news-design online and complete the exercise. Then, summarize what you learned in a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation for the class. Be sure and discuss how your findings impact the work of the brand communications designer.

2. Locate the advertising director at your local newspaper and interview him/her about their creative responsibilities. How does he/she produce creative, effective advertising under daily pressure? What considerations and restrictions does the newspaper format impose upon the design process? Write a 500-word report detailing your findings. Think-Pair-Share 1. Professor Karen Mallia, a contributor to this textbook, states that not only are visual images moving, they are also becoming increasingly dramatic and controversial. She has studied the use of religious imagery in marketing communication and observes that “the change in tenor is best illustrated with the use of priests in advertising.” Consider the following examples: In 1975, Xerox’s “Brother Dominick” spot starred a sweet, earnest monk invoking a “miracle” in duplicating 500 illuminated manuscripts. Fast-forward to 1991, when Benetton shocked the world with a priest and nun kissing. In 2005, Stella Artois’ “Skating Priests” award-winning spot used surreal, almost sinister humor as you realize that a group of priests would rather see their fellow priest drown than lose a beer. In 2006, Pirelli tire launched a worldwide campaign with “The Call,” an Internet film starring John Malkovich as a priest called upon to exorcise a car, and Naomi Campbell as the devil. Mallia concludes that “The Call,” with its dramatic tone, brings a new level of darkness to advertising featuring priests. Go to www.youtube.com and type “Pirelli the call” into the search box to find the film and watch it. Then, in pairs, debate the following questions: Are images like these effective? Should religious images be avoided or are there times when they are relevant or appropriately dramatic? What is your opinion of this practice? In what ways, if any, does this film strengthen or reinforce the brand’s image? 2. Along with a classmate, visit an upscale retailer or restaurant in your vicinity. Observe the various elements of environmental design, while keeping in mind that “everything communicates.” In what ways do the architecture and interior design contribute to the retailer’s (or restaurant’s) personality? Pay close attention to the colors, surfaces, and type of furniture, as well as the surrounding area immediately outside of the space. In general, what is this business attempting to visually communicate to consumers? Prepare a 5-slide PowerPoint that provides a comprehensive discussion of the retailer’s or restaurant’s environmental design strategy for classroom presentation.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Research the art of newspaper design with a visit to the Society of Newspaper Design at http://www.snd.org. Explore all of the links, especially those that relate to advertising design. How is the world of newspaper design unique, and what special considerations must the advertising designer observe here? Write up your findings in a 500-word report.

2. Visit www.crewcuts.com, which was designated as the Best Website by the Internet Professional Publisher’s Association several years ago. Using principles from this chapter, write a 2-page paper that justifies the website’s receipt of this accolade.

Chapter 11: Media Basics

Part 4 Practice: Where Are Media Headed? We talked about creating messages in Part 3. In Part 4 we turn to the delivery of messages. Note that people consume media, as well as products. They push buttons, touch screens, click their fingers on links and turn pages – electronic as well as paper. Their fingers are always in control of the media relationship. To explore dynamic media environment, our book’s advisory board members Larry Kelley and David Rittenhouse share their thoughts on how media is changing. Below is a summary of their comments. •

A major change is the blurring of media as traditional media forms morph into digital formats and new functions. According to Kelley, “Media convergence is more than just providing content in a variety of forms. It is about the convergence of content, branding, and consumer engagement.” Convergence is the definitive word in 21st century media.

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Kelley also says that media are the conduits through which brand information is presented to audiences. In this new world, media actually makes two-way communication possible. We need ways to describe new patterns of media use.

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Rittenhouse refers to ‘established’ channels, such as broadcast, out of home, print, and even online search and display. This contrasts with ‘emergent’ channels, such as social, mobile and online video. He also describes media as physical/digital – in other words digital layers are being added to physical content.

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Kelley also points out that consumer engagement may be just as important as the delivery of a message using traditional push media. Media is all about connection. If the connection is successful, it will have high levels of experiential or emotional engagement.

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The point is that people come in contact with a brand message in many different ways. Kelley says, ‘Everything is multiplatform.’

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Consumers sometimes use multiple media channels simultaneously, which Rittenhouse defines as ‘coviewing.’

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Chapter 11 MEDIA BASICS ◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. How do media work in marketing communication and how is the industry organized? 2. What are the key strategic media concepts and how would you define them? 3. Why and how is the media landscape changing?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter presents an introduction to the basics of media strategy and the changes in the media industry. It opens with a survey of the media landscape and an explanation of various media types and terms. Next, the evolution of media forms and functions is traced and the functions of key players in the industry are detailed. This is followed by a discussion of the fundamentals of media strategy and the basics of media buying. The chapter closes with a summary of the many changes in the industry, such as shifts in consumer usage patterns and increased inclusion of alternative media forms such as search and mobile marketing, branded entertainment, guerilla marketing, and product placement in IMC campaigns.

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHAT DO WE MEAN BY MEDIA? •

Media refers to the way messages are delivered to target audiences and, increasingly, back to companies, as well as among audience members themselves. Media make up the channel step in the communication model, conveying the message and connecting source and receiver, that is, the company or brand and its customers.

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Historically, the basis for most media was a way to present the news to the public, and advertising made presenting the news possible because it supported the costs of producing and distributing print or broadcast media. Of course, some revenue is derived from subscriptions, but in the United States the bulk of media revenue comes from advertising. As a result, over the years the word media has been associated with advertising, leading many to think that media are used only or primarily for advertising. Nothing could be further from the truth!

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Media delivers messages. In traditional mass media, this is a one-way process from the

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source to the receiver. In another sense, media are interactive because they offer opportunities for dialogue and two-way conversation. Interactive communication is a hallmark of IMC programs that aim to build brand relationships, which is why this expanded view of media is so important to IMC planners. •

“Sometimes the new way to present a message demonstrates creativity in the use of media as much as it does in the design of the message. The nature of creative ideas has changed with the development of new, more engaging media,” according to industry professional Ingvi Logason.

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Media also offer opportunities for engagement, a media buzzword that refers to the captivating quality of media that the audience finds engrossing. Media experts describe engagement as the closeness of fit between the interest of viewers and the relevance of the media content. The principle of engagement is illustrated in the A Matter of Principle feature in this chapter.

IMC and Media •

In IMC programs, media are also contact points in that they connect a brand with the audience and ultimately touch their emotions as well as engage their minds. The difference between delivery and connection is significant. Delivery is the first step in connecting. Delivery is a one-way concept, while connecting is a partnership.

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Principle: IMC plans are multiplatform (use a variety of marcom areas), multichannel (use a variety of media, and multi-targeted (engage a variety of stakeholders).

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Effectiveness depends on coordinating all of these efforts around some central concept, such as the brand position, or in the case of a campaign, the Big Idea. To get a picture of the scope of media, see the list in the textbook, which includes goes beyond conventional mass media to include personal experiences with events salespeople and customer service as well as word-of-mouth messages.

The Media Industry •

The recession, combined with the explosion of online media, seriously hurt traditional media. Even though they still dominate in terms of dollars, all traditional media saw decreases in their ad revenues. This was partly because of an overall decline in media advertising but also because marketers were increasingly turning to the Internet for visibility at less cost.

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Newspapers were the biggest losers and many major papers closed. Others were reduced in size, staff and news coverage. Magazines suffered as well.

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In spite of the recession, traditional mass media advertising continues to be a huge industry with $144 billion spent on advertising in measured media at the end of 2011.

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Television continues to dominate media budgets, partially because it’s more expensive than other media. It is also more cost effective because it reaches more people. •

On the other hand, the Internet may seem to be a minor player in terms of spending. That is partially because of the difficulty of measuring its impact and revenues, as well as its much lower cost in comparison to traditional mass media.

Media Types and Terms •

The plural noun media is an umbrella term for all types of print, broadcast, out-of-home, and Internet communication. The singular noun medium refers to each specific type. A media vehicle is a specific TV program, newspaper, magazine, or radio station or program. When a company buys media, it is really buying access to the audiences of specific media vehicles. The forms that those “buys” take are “space” (print, outdoor boards, or the Internet) and “time” (radio and television).

Size and Profile of Audience • Media, particularly those used in advertising, are referred to as mass media, the communication channels through which messages are sent to large, diverse audiences. A mass medium reaches many people simultaneously and it uses some technological system or device to reach them, as opposed to personal communication. In contrast, the new computer-based media of the digital revolution are essentially personal and messages are individually delivered. •

The size of the audience is the reason we refer to radio and television as broadcasting media - they cast their audio and visual signals broadly to reach mass audiences. In contrast, niche media are communication channels through which messages are sent to niche segments – identifiable groups of people with a distinct common interest, such as El Nuevo Herald or Advertising Age. Both serve a subset of the more general newspaper and magazine category. The distinction between mass and niche is not necessarily based on size.

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Measured media refers to the ability of media planners to analyze the cost of a media buy relative to the size of the medium’s audience. The following categories identify the primary types of measured media: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

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Television: network, cable, syndication, spot (local), Spanish language Magazines: Consumer, business to business, Sunday, local, Spanish language Radio: Network, national spot, local Newspapers: national, local, Spanish language Freestanding Inserts

Metrics are available for traditional media, either from the medium itself or from external auditing agencies. However, such figures are much harder to find the new and nontraditional media because the auditing procedures for them have not yet been developed.

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Targeted and Interactive Conduits • Another category refers to the way the media transmits messages. The placement of the message is an important factor in targeted media plans. The other categories of media refer to the way the media transmit the messages. The Internet, mail, and the telephone are called addressable media because they are used to send brand messages to specific geographic and electronic addresses. Interactive media, such as the phone and online social media, allow conversations between companies and customers, as well as between and among consumers. Corporate versus Consumer Use of Media • So far, we have been discussing media primarily from the viewpoint of companies and their brands. However, companies as well as consumers use media. Mass media may be good for delivering brand messages, but interactive media may be more useful for engaging consumers in a brand related conversation, assuming that the conversation is relevant to their interests. Paid, Owned, and Earned Media Categories • Paid media are the traditional measured media, such as print and broadcast, where ad placements are bought by the company or organization. These established media channels are distinctive in that the advertising spending on them, as well as the size of their audiences is tracked by media research services. •

The various categories of paid media are print (newspapers, magazines, inserts, directories), broadcast (radio, television, movie trailers), placed based (billboards, transit, kiosks, painted buildings and cars, movie trailers, event and sponsorship ads, stadium and aerial ads), and online (banner and display ads and search advertising.)

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Owned media are channels that are controlled by the organization and that carry branded content, such as websites, direct mail e-mail lists, Facebook sites, blogs, public relations publications, and catalogs, along with other forms. We also include communication platforms that rely on one-on-one communication, such as personal sales or customer service in this category. See the textbook for a detailed listing.

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Earned media are channels where brand communication is spread by outsiders such as social media users or news media that carry publicity. Examples include publicity (hits and mentions in the news media), word of mouth (e-mail, texting, buzz, and viral communications, business-to-consumer-to consumer influence), social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), and interest sharing (YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, and social games).

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A chart in the textbook summarizes these three media categories and how media professionals use them to make sense of the changing media landscape in which media forms are converging, blurring, and changing their shapes.

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The Evolution of Media Forms and Functions • People in our contemporary society live in a world of media-delivered news and information, which traditionally has been supported by advertising. Over several hundred years, media have evolved from print to radio, then television, and now the Internet. Newspapers, magazines, and posters provided the visual dimension of communication, and radio added an audio dimension. Television enabled messages to heard and seen with moving images. •

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Today we have the Internet, which has basically combined television and the personal computer, thus providing the added dimension of interactivity. We can summarize these changes in technology as eras: ▪

The Print Era: Ink and print images reproduced as newspapers, magazines, and posters

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The Broadcast Era: Visual and audio information in the form of radio and television programs originally transmitted through air waves but now also distributed by cable and satellite

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The Digital Era: Electronic information transmitted through the Internet, but like broadcasting, now also distributed through cable and satellite

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The Social Media Era: Social networks connecting friends and contacts. Also where users can become publishers and generate their own content, some of which may be brand related.

The point is that media have been and continue to be changing in form and function. This changing is occurring rapidly, which makes it difficult to keep up.

Adaptation • Every technological advance has threatened the older media whose managers feared their medium was on the edge of extinction. Instead, the media adjusted to their new circumstances by emphasizing what they do best. The new media take on some of the characteristics and roles of the old at the same time that they add to the richness of the communication experience. •

A more dramatic shift, however, is occurring in the 21st century as computers and the Internet personalize media and bring changes unlike any ever encountered in the history of media. The only medium that is even more multidimensional than the Internet is personal selling, which is also a lot more expensive for commercial communication.

Convergence • Although new media tend to launch themselves by adapting the forms of media that preceded them, the older media also adapt by adopting some of the advances of the new Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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media. For example, nearly every media vehicle has one or more websites, and that creates convergence. This makes it very hard to categorize media. •

Although we discuss convergence primarily as shape-shifting where traditional media take on characteristics of new electronic media, there is actually more to it than that, according to Larry Kelley, one of the textbook’s advisory board members. He observes that promotional areas such as advertising and public relations are morphing together in integrated brand planning. He insists that “media convergence is more than just providing content in a variety of forms. It is about the convergence of content, branding, and consumer engagement.” The brand, the message and the media are all interwoven in contemporary media strategies.

The Contemporary Media Landscape • There have always been evolution and change in the shape and forms of media. However, the speed of change has increased, as has the number media available for use in brand communication. This has created pressure for more coordination and integration. There has also been a change in delivery systems. •

The modern media landscape includes up to 200 television channels in some markets, a huge number of special interest publications, millions of websites, and new and novel media forms that were not even imagined 20 years ago.

Key Media Players In terms of jobs and career opportunities in media, there are professionals who both sell and buy media. It is important that you understand the difference. First let’s look at the professionals who sell space or time in media. •

Media salespeople work for a specific vehicle with the objective of building the best possible argument to convince media planners to use the medium they represent. Currently, media conglomerates dominate media sales. CBS, for example, created a coordinated ad-selling division, called CBS RIOT, which stands for radio, Internet, outdoor, and television. The new division was designed to serve primarily local markets and offers cross-media (also called cross-platform or multichannel) integrated deals. Disney is reorganizing its ad sales to deliver a similar cross-media ad sales program for its kids’ media properties.

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Media brokers are people (or companies) that sell space (in print) and time (in broadcast) for a variety of media. If an agency wants to buy space in all of the major newspapers in the West, for example, the agency’s buyer could contract with a media rep firm whose sales rep and brokers handle national sales for all of those newspapers. This allows the media buyer to place the buy with one order.

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On the buying side, media planners, buyers, and researchers work primarily for agencies, although they can also be found working for marketers who handle their own media work in-house. Their challenge is to determine the best way to deliver a message, which is called media planning. The job functions are as follows:

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Media researchers compile audience measurement data, media costs, and availability data for the various media options being considered by the planners.

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Media planners develop the strategic decisions outlined in the media plan, such as where to advertise geographically, when to advertise, and which type of media to use to reach specific types of audiences.

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Media buyers implement the media plan by contracting for specific amounts of time or space. They spend the media budget according to the plan developed by the media planner. Media buyers are expected to maintain good media supplier relations to facilitate a flow of information within the fast changing media marketplace. This means there should be close working relationships between planners and buyers, as well as media reps, so media planners can tap this source of media information to better forecast media changes, including price and patterns of coverage.

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Media buying companies are independent companies that specialize in doing media research, planning, and buying. They consolidate media buying in order to get maximum discounts from the media for the volume of their buys. They then pass on some of this saving to their clients.

WHAT ARE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF MEDIA STRATEGY? Media is often the largest single cost item in a marketing communication budget, especially for consumer goods and services. The Media Plan • The challenge that marketing communicators face is how to manage all of the media opportunities and yet maximize the efficiency of budgets that are inevitably too small to do everything the firm would like to do to reach every current and potential customer. All of these decisions come together in a media plan, which identifies the best media to use to deliver an advertising message efficiently to a target audience. •

Principle: The goal of media planning is to maximize impact while minimizing cost.

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The media plan is a subsection within a marcom plan and has its own objectives, strategies, and tactics. It is also developed in tandem with message planning, the topic of Chapter 8. Figure 11.3 illustrates these relationships.

Key Strategic Media Concepts This section is about the language of media. Basic concepts in media strategy and planning include: Media Mix

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•

In IMC plans you will find, in addition to traditional measured media advertising, a variety of other tools being used, such as events, social media (such as Facebook and Twitter), branded entertainment (such as films or video games in which the brand is the hero), product placement, and guerilla marketing.

Targets and Audiences • One of the biggest challenges in developing a media plan is matching the advertiser’s target audience with the audience of a particular medium. An important principle to remember is: Media planners match the target audience with the audience of a particular medium. •

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Media audiences are grouped into four useful categories by generation. Dramatic differences are seen in the media experiences of these groups: ▪

Traditionalists grew up with newspapers, magazines, and radio, with little or no television, no cell phones, computers, or Internet.

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Baby Boomers, who are in their 50s and 60s, always had those three types of media. They also grew up with television, but still no cell phones, computers, or Internet.

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GenXers, who are now in their 30s and 40s, grew up not only with the media of the preceding generations, but also with tape recorders, portable radios, video games, VCRs, and cable TV, but still no cell phones, computers or Internet.

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GenYers, who are 20-somethings, had all of the above media. In addition, they grew up with the computer, as well as satellite TV, the Internet, CDs, and cell phones.

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Millennials, the most recent generation, have grown up with DVDs, TiVo, satellite radio, iPods, smart phones, most recently, the introduction of Facebook, and Twitter.

Diego Contreras in this chapter’s The Inside Story feature discusses his work as art director on a YouTube video for the Converse brand. The media planners’ challenge is to know which media best reach which audiences, whatever their ages.

The Basis of the Buy • Decisions about which media to use are based on the profile of the audience that reads, views, listens, or visits a medium. Media planners use a variety of terms to identify and measure audiences, some of which are explained below. Exposure • Media effects all begin with exposure. We know from the discussion in Chapter 4 that Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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the first step in making an impact is perception. You have to be exposed to a message before any other effect is possible. Exposure is similar to circulation for television in that it’s a rough estimate of the number of households watching a program. However, just because the television is on doesn’t mean you are paying any attention to the program, let alone the advertising that surrounds it. •

Media exposure is related to the idea of corporate and consumer control of media. Companies may control the media buy, but they do not control what their target sees. In this cluttered media environment, consumers control what they read and watch, and media analysts recognize that with the hundreds, maybe thousands, of media choices, control of media exposure now lies with the consumer.

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Exposure, in other words, doesn’t equate to readership or viewership. At the most basic level, however, media planners estimate the number of exposures delivered by a media mix.

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Principle: Exposure does not equate to readership or viewership; just because the television is on does not mean anyone is paying attention to it.

Circulation • Impressions are different from circulation, because impressions (at least in print) estimate the readership or rather the opportunity to be exposed (delivery to the household or a newsstand purchase), rather than just the circulation, which refers to copies sold. Impressions An impression is one person’s opportunity to be exposed one time to an ad in a specific vehicle. Impressions can be added up as a measure of the size of the audience either for one medium or for a combination of vehicles in a media mix. Gross Impressions • Circulation does not tell you much about the actual exposure of a print ad. For example, a magazine may have a circulation of 1 million, but it might be read on average by 2.5 people per issue. This means impressions for that issue would be 2.5 million. If the ad ran in three consecutive issues, then the estimate of total impressions, called gross impressions, would be 7.5 million. •

Similarly, the number of viewers watching a program might be greater than the number of households reached since there may be more than one viewer watching and the commercial may be repeated several times in a program. Media planners add up all of those watching and multiply that times the numbers of placements to estimate gross impressions for TV.

Ratings • Gross impression figures become very large and difficult to work with, which is why television and radio industries use ratings (percentage of exposure), which is an easier measurement to work with because it converts the raw figure to a percentage of Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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households. When you read about a television show having a rating of 20.0 that means 20 percent, or one fifth of all of the households with television were tuned in to that program. Planners describe this program as having 20 rating points. Share • A better estimate of impressions might be found in a program’s share of audience, which refers to the percent of viewers based on the number of sets turned on. The share figure is always larger than the rating, since the base is smaller. Reach and Frequency • The goal of most media plans is to reach as many people in the target audience as often as the budget allows. Reach is the percentage of the media audience exposed at least once to the advertiser’s message during a specific time frame. •

Equally as important as reach is frequency, which refers to the number of times a person is exposed to the advertisement. There’s a rule of thumb that you have to hear or see something three times before it makes an impact, which is why frequency of repetition is so important in many advertising campaigns. Different media have different patterns of frequency.

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An important principle to remember is: The goal of most media plans is to reach as many people in the target audience as often as the budget allows. Most media plans state both reach and frequency objectives and the media mix is designed to accomplish both of those goals.

Intrusiveness • Intrusiveness, the ability of a medium to grab attention by being disruptive or unexpected, is the primary strategy for countering clutter. Because of the high level of commercial message clutter, companies in the past have valued all the help they can get in attracting attention to their messages. •

Media, as well as messages, vary in their degree of intrusiveness. The most intrusive medium is personal selling because the sales representative’s presence demands attention. The least intrusive media are print because users choose when and to what extent to use them. If a message is too disruptive or irritating, it may not help build a positive brand relationship.

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Principle: The more intrusive a medium, the more it can be personalized, but the more costly it is to use.

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There are ways to minimize intrusiveness. One is to choose media whose target audience is intrinsically interested in the product category. To have visibility without being intrusive is one of the reasons why product placements at events are popular. Another way is by giving customers the option to opt-in or opt-out when receiving brand information digitally.

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CHANGING PATTERNS OF MEDIA USE • Marketing communication media are in an incredible state of flux, partially because of the introduction of the computer and the Internet but also because of the way people choose to spend their time. Consumer Use of Media • Consumer use of media is changing as technology changes. It used to be that most Americans were involved with three television networks, a newspaper, and one or two magazines. The modern media landscape includes up to 200 television channels in some markets, a huge number of special interest publications, millions of websites, and new electronic media such as Kindles, iPads, and Twitter. Here are some other trends:

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Consumer Control. Consumers are much more in control of their own media and designing their own media landscapes, from video games to Twitter. The people formerly known as “audiences” are creating their own content, a practice referred to as consumer-generated content, such as homemade videos and commercials seen on YouTube and personalized audio listening on their iPods and other MP3 players. Entertainment is as much a driving force for modern digital media as news was for traditional media.

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Media Driven Lives. A major change in media use is the increase in media-driven lives and media multi-tasking. In their youthful days, the lives of traditionalists and baby boomers were dominated by work and family activities. In contrast, more recent generations spend more time with media of all kinds, and those channels are more intertwined with their family, work, and leisure time.

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Media Multitasking. People not only spend more time with media but also use more than one medium at a time. David Rittenhouse, a member of this book’s advisory board, explains the importance of multi-screen viewing in the A Matter of Practice feature in this chapter.

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Social Media. Traditionally most media involved a solitary experience – reading a paper or listening to the radio, for example, but this has truly been transformed by social media. The immediacy and intimacy of a phone conversation has exploded into millions of interactions via Twitter. (Think about this: If you send one million tweets, are you broadcasting? Since you probably do not know those one million recipients, has Twitter become a form of mass media?)

Probably the biggest change is found in the increase in interactive media. We’ve always had interactivity in personal selling and direct marketing by telephone, but technology changes have forced traditional media to change their forms. Social media have opened up entirely new dimensions of interactivity that challenge brand stewards to keep up with their possibilities.

Alternative Media Forms Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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We use the term nontraditional media to refer to media forms and forms of contact other than traditional advertising media. The point is that there are other ways to present promotional messages besides traditional marketing communication. Melissa Lerner, a specialist in new media planning at a pioneering out-of-home media company, describes nontraditional media in the A Matter of Principle feature as a creative opportunity for innovative thinkers.

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The search for nontraditional media—that is, new ways to reach target audiences—is particularly important for advertisers trying to reach the elusive youth market, since teens are often the first to experiment with new media forms. In some ways, this search for innovative ways to deliver messages is just as creative as the message concepts developed on the creative side of advertising. That’s why one of the principles of this book is that the media side can be just as creative as the creative side of advertising.

Product Placement • For years we have been exposed to product placement, in which a brand appears in a television program, movie, or even in print as a prop. With product placement, a company pays to have verbal or visual brand exposure in a movie or television program. •

Product placement has become important because it isn’t as intrusive as conventional advertising, and audiences can’t zap the ads as they can for television advertising using the remote control or a DVR. At the same time, it may make the product a star—or at least be associated with a star. Television programs have also gotten into the product placement game.

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The greatest advantage of product placement is that it demonstrates product use in a natural setting (depending on the movie) by people who are celebrities. It’s unexpected and if it’s a subtle use, may catch the audience when their resistance to advertising messages is dialed down. It’s also good for engaging the affections of other stakeholders, such as employees and dealers, particularly if the placement is supported with its own campaign.

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The biggest problem is that the placement may not be noticed. There is so much going on in most movies that unless you can overtly call attention to the product, its appearance may not register. A more serious problem occurs when there is not a match between the product and the movie or its audience. Another concern is that advertisers have no idea whether the movie will be a success or failure as they negotiate a contract for the placement. If the movie is a dud, what does that do to the brand’s image?

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Another problem is an ethical one—when is a product placement inappropriate? For example, some pharmaceutical marketers have found that a product “plug” can be a way around the FDA’s requirements on the disclosure of side effects. Public policy critics warn that it’s not just drugs; the problem exists for weapons, alcohol, tobacco, and gambling, among other product categories that raise social concerns. Product placement has been called “stealth advertising,” by the Writers Guild of America who argued that “millions of viewers are sometimes being sold products without their knowledge … and

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sold in violation of governmental regulations.” Branded Entertainment • Similar to product placement, the use of the media of entertainment to engage consumers with brands is referred to as advertainment or branded entertainment. In some cases, companies may produce films for the Internet where the brand is integrated into the storyline. •

An example of branded entertainment is described in the Inside Story feature in this chapter, which explains how an animated program was created for the male grooming brand Axe. The integrated launch campaign was a 360-degree promotional effort, and the show included the following: launch parties, a dedicated website, text messaging, interactive billboards, in-store video trailers, and a sweepstakes.

Search and Mobile Marketing • Because approximately 97% of consumers use computers to search for product and store information, marketing strategies are designed to assist in this process. Mobile search using cell phones is one of the fastest growing media forms. •

For many companies this means their communication programs have added responding, as well as targeting, to their brand communication strategies. Another new practice that responds to this increase in consumer control over the contact point is search marketing, which refers to the placement of online ads near topics of interest that people search on their computers, tablets, or smart phones. Search engine advertising is driven by the key words that consumers use in their search for information or entertainment.

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Mobile marketing is an exciting new platform for location-based messages that, among other uses, can reach consumers with a promotional message when they are in the neighborhood of a store.

Word of Mouth • Since we recognize the power of personal communication in decision making, creative folks are challenged to come up with exciting new ways to generate buzz and convey brand messages through word of mouth. Buzz is important because it means people are talking about a brand, and when it gets passed rapidly through a network of friends, we call that viral communication. This buzz may be the most important factor in consumer decision making because the recommendations of others are more persuasive than any advertisement. Guerilla Marketing • Exciting and involving personal experiences are designed to reach people on the street and in public places through a practice known as guerilla marketing, a really hot area of alternative marketing communication. This place-based strategy creates unexpected personal encounters with a brand, such as painted messages on streets or costumed brand characters parading across a busy intersection. Effective guerilla marketing uses surprise and curiosity to catch attention and create excitement as well as buzz about a brand. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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The idea is to use creative ways to reach people where they live, work, and walk to create a personal connection and a high level of impact. If it works, the encounter gets talked about, creating a buzz moment. Guerilla marketing is so much fun that it inspires creative people to come up with great ideas.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 11-4. Trace the evolution of media forms and explain how the new Digital Era is different from previous media environments. We can summarize the evolution of media forms through the following eras: ▪

The Print Era: Ink and print images reproduced as newspapers, magazines, and posters

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The Broadcast Era: Visual and audio information in the form of radio and television programs originally transmitted through air waves but now also distributed by cable and satellite

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The Digital Era: Electronic information transmitted through the Internet, but like broadcasting, now also distributed through cable and satellite

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The Social Media Era: Social networks connecting friends and contacts. Also where users can become publishers and generate their own content, some of which may be brand related.

The digital era represents a more dramatic shift because it has introduced changes unlike any ever encountered in the history of media. There have always been evolution and change in the shape and forms of media. However, the speed of change has increased, as has the number media available for use in brand communication. This has created pressure for more coordination and integration. There has also been a change in delivery systems. The modern media landscape includes up to 200 television channels in some markets, a huge number of special interest publications, millions of websites, and new and novel media forms that were not even imagined 20 years ago, such as the iPad, the Kindle, and smart phones.

11-5. Explain the roles of media salespeople, media planners, media buyers, and media researchers.

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Media salespeople work for a specific vehicle with the objective of building the best possible argument to convince media planners to use the medium they represent. Currently, media conglomerates dominate media sales. Media reps or brokers are people (or companies) that sell space (in print) and time (in broadcast) for a variety of media. If an agency wants to buy space in all of the major newspapers in the western United States, for example, the agency’s buyer could contract with a media rep firm whose sales rep and brokers handle national sales for all those newspapers. This allows the media buyer to place the buy with one order. •

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Media researchers compile audience measurement data, media costs, and availability data for the various media options being considered by the planners.

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11-6. What is a media mix and how does the mix differ for an IMC campaign?

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In most cases a media plan will outline a set of media, and therefore is a media mix. This media mix is the way various types of media are strategically combined to create a certain kind of impact. Because of the breadth of IMC plans, the term multiplatform has become popular to describe multichannel and multi-marketing communication areas. In IMC plans you will find, in addition to traditional measured media advertising, a variety of other tools being used, such as events, social media (such as Facebook and Twitter), branded entertainment (such as films or video games in which the brand is the hero), product placement, and guerilla marketing.

11-7. What is the difference between reach and frequency? Reach is the percentage of the media audience exposed at least once to the advertiser’s message during a specific time frame. Frequency refers to the number of times a person is exposed to the advertisement. There’s a rule of thumb that you have to hear or see something three times before it makes an impact, which is why frequency of repetition is so important in many advertising campaigns. Different media have different patterns of frequency. The goal of most media plans is to reach as many people in the target audience as often as the budget allows. Most media plans state both reach and frequency objectives, and the media mix is designed to accomplish both of those goals. 11-8. Explain what is meant when we say IMC is multiplatform, multimedia, and multi-targeted. IMC plans are multiplatform, meaning that they use a variety of marcom areas. They are multi-channel, meaning that they use a variety of media, and multi-targeted, meaning that they engage a variety of stakeholders. Effectiveness depends on coordinating all of these efforts around some central concept, such as the brand position, or in the case of a campaign, the Big Idea. 11-9. In what ways are consumer media patterns changing and how does that affect marketing communication? Marketing communication media are in an incredible state of flux, partially because of the introduction of the computer and the Internet but also because of the way people choose to spend their time. Consumers are much more in control of their own media and designing their own media landscapes, from video games to Twitter. The people formerly known as “audiences” are creating their own content, a practice referred to as consumer-generated content. Another major change in media use is the increase in media-driven lives and media multitasking. In their youthful days, the lives of traditionalists and baby boomers were dominated by work and family activities. In contrast, more recent generations spend more time with media of all kinds, and those channels are more intertwined with their family, work, and leisure time.

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These days, people not only spend more time with media but also use more than one medium at a time. And while traditionally most media involved a solitary experience – reading a paper or listening to the radio, this has been completely transformed by social media. The immediacy and intimacy of a phone conversation has exploded into millions of interactions via Twitter. Probably the biggest change is found in the increase in interactive media. Social media have opened up entirely new dimensions of interactivity that challenge brand stewards to keep up with their possibilities.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 11-10. What is the difference in perspective between how companies and consumers use media? Give an example from your own experience where these two perspectives either align or are at odds. Companies as well as consumers use media. More and more, we see companies using interactive media, such as the phone and online social media, as a channel for engaging in conversations with their customers about their brand. In contrast, mass media have traditionally been the way in which companies deliver one way messages to consumers about their brands. The way consumers use media has changed as technology has changed. It used to be that most Americans were involved with three television networks, a newspaper, and one or two magazines. The modern media landscape includes up to 200 television channels in some markets, a huge number of special interest publications, millions of websites, and new electronic media such as Kindles, iPads, and Twitter. Also, the people formerly known as “audiences” are creating media content on their own for public consumption, a practice referred to as consumer-generated content. Entertainment is as much a driving force for modern digital media as news was for traditional media. In addition, younger generations spend more time with media of all kinds, and those channels are more intertwined with their family, work, and leisure time. We now see consumers using more than one medium at a time, for example texting about what they are watching on television. Also, consumer usage of media is no longer a solitary experience. The immediacy and intimacy of sitting alone reading a paper or listening to the radio has been transformed by the ability to initiate communication with millions, via Twitter for example. 11-11. This chapter sets up a way to organize media in terms of paid, owned, and earned categories. Define each and explain how they are different. Give an example of each and explain why and when you would use that type of media.

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Paid media are the traditional media, such as print and broadcast, where ad placements are bought by the company or organization. These established media channels are distinctive in that the dollar amount of advertising spending on them, as well as the size of their audiences is tracked by media research services. This is why they are also referred to as measured media. The paid media are media are print (newspapers, magazines, inserts, directories), broadcast (radio, television, movie trailers), placed based (billboards, transit, kiosks, painted buildings and cars, movie trailers, event and sponsorship ads, stadium and aerial ads), and online (banner and display ads and search advertising.) Owned media are channels that are controlled by the organization and that carry branded content, such as websites, direct mail e-mail lists, Facebook sites, blogs, public relations publications, and catalogs, along with other forms. We also include communication platforms that rely on one-on-one communication, such as personal sales or customer service in this category. Earned media are channels where brand communication is spread by outsiders such as social media users or news media that carry publicity. Examples include publicity (hits and mentions in the news media), word of mouth (e-mail, texting, buzz, and viral communications, business-to-consumer-to consumer influence), social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), and interest sharing (YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, and social games). 11-12. You have been asked to help your family’s restaurants rethink their media planning, which includes two upscale Italian restaurants and a small chain of five grilled panini sandwich shops. Is there any difference in how they might use traditional advertising versus the new online forms of brand communication? What media mix would you recommend for each type of restaurant? Explain the thinking behind your recommendations. It is important that the media mix be targeted toward local community. Here are some ideas: Spot television, which allows for a mouth-watering visual presentation of the restaurant’s dishes, can be used, if the expense is within the budget of this family owned business. Spot radio buys during drive-time could take advantage of the ‘theater of the mind,’ allowing commuters to visualize tasty lunch and dinner meals. A free standing insert containing a coupon or some other type of promotion, would provide local consumers with an incentive to visit soon. Also consider place-based advertising and promotional activity, such as billboards, transit, events and sponsorships. Invite local food critics and food bloggers to the restaurant as a means of generating publicity. Creation of a Facebook fan page, exposure on consumer review sites such as Yelp, and frequent tweets regarding daily menu specials and other promotional activity will help generate word-ofmouth buzz. Finally creation of a website that allows potential patrons to preview the menu, read comments posted by satisfied customers, and interact with the restaurant by asking questions and receiving personalized responses is critical.

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TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 11-13. Portfolio Project. Collect a set of three promotional messages in three different types of media. Analyze what you believe to be the target for each piece. Now analyze the media in which each message appears. Research what you can about the media form to determine its audience. Compare your analysis of the targeting with the reach of the medium. Do you think they match? Explain why or why not? Student responses to this project will vary. 11-14. Mini-Case Analysis: Reread the Axe story at the beginning of this chapter. What was the problem this brand faced and how did that affect the media planning? What were the objectives of both the initial campaign and its follow-up? What was the Big Idea that drove the second campaign and how did that affect the media mix? Do you think this effort was driven by reach or frequency? Considering all of the new media reviewed in this chapter, what other media might Axe use in the next year of this campaign? The objective of Unilever’s initial campaign was to expand its line of men’s grooming products by targeting a new shower gel to the 18- to 34-year-old male market, and the objective of the second campaign was to fend off the intense competition from P & G’s Old Spice brand, while continuing to effectively communication with an audience not typically persuaded by television advertising. The Big Idea behind the initial campaign, which was that Axe Shower Gel would do more than clean guys physically - it would help clean their spirits as well, d did not change. It was extended with the introduction of an accessory product called The Detailer. This bathroom scrubber was looked like a car tire and had a cool, masculine appeal. Promotion of the Detailer successfully extended Axe’s emotion embedded messages to its target audience. Unilever and its agency used both traditional and nontraditional media to accomplish its objectives. To reach its target audience, television commercials ran on programs like Baywatch, The Real World, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Print ads were placed in Maxim, Playboy, and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Axe also turned up at two of the largest spring break destinations for college guys. Shower gel messages were everywhere—on bar posters, hotel shower curtains, floor stickers, and bus wraps. The www.theaxeeffect.com website also entertained the guys. This effective use of integrated marketing communications (traditional media, a website, social media, and nontraditional communication) allowed both reach and frequency objectives to be met. To maintain communication with its young, digitally savvy target audience in the future, Unilever and its agency may want to consider using interactive media as a means of engaging in two-way brand conversations, branded entertainment such as webisodes and video games, and mobile marketing.

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TRACE North America Case Multicultural Media Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 11-15. What medium do you believe would be most impactful in the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign? Why? 11-16. What target market insights led to the development of the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” media plan?

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What do we mean by media? Media refers to the way messages are delivered to target audiences and, increasingly, back to companies, as well as among audience members themselves. Media make up the channel step in the communication model, conveying the message and connecting source and receiver, that is, the company or brand and its customers. Historically, the basis for most media was a way to present the news to the public, and advertising made presenting the news possible because it supported the costs of producing and distributing print or broadcast media. Media delivers messages. In traditional mass media, this is a one-way process from the source to the receiver. However, media can also be interactive if it offers opportunities for dialogue and two-way conversation. Because interactive communication is fundamental to IMC programs that aim to build brand relationships, we see its role in brand communication expanding. Media also offer opportunities for engagement, which refers to the captivating quality of media that the audience finds engrossing. Media experts describe engagement as the closeness of fit between the interest of viewers and the relevance of the media content.

2. Discuss some of the various ways media are classified. Media can be classified in a variety of ways. A distinction is made between mass media and personal media. A mass medium reaches many people simultaneously and it uses some technological system or device to reach them, as opposed to personal communication. In contrast, the new computer-based media of the digital revolution are essentially personal and messages are individually delivered.

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Classification can also be based upon audience size. The size of the audience is the reason radio and television is referred to as broadcasting media, i.e., they cast their audio and visual signals broadly to reach mass audiences. In contrast, niche media are communication channels through that send messages to much smaller market segments, such as El Nuevo Herald or Advertising Age. Both are a subset of the more general newspaper and magazine category. The distinction between mass and niche is not necessarily based on size of the publication. Television, magazines, radio, and newspapers, along with their free standing inserts are considered measured media because media planners are able to analyze the cost of a media buy relative to the size of the medium’s audience. The metrics required to do so are available for these traditional media either from the medium itself or from external auditing agencies. However, such figures are much harder to find the new and nontraditional media because the auditing procedures for them have not yet been developed. Another form of categorization is based upon way the media transmits messages. The Internet, mail, and the telephone are called addressable media because they are used to send brand messages to specific geographic and electronic addresses. Interactive media, such as the phone and online social media, allow conversations between companies and customers, as well as between and among consumers. A distinction is also made between paid, owned, and earned media categories. are the traditional measured media, such as print and broadcast, where ad placements are bought by the company or organization. These established media channels are distinctive in that the advertising spending on them, as well as the size of their audiences is tracked by media research services. 3. How do media planners go about segmenting consumer audiences, and which type of media is each segment most comfortable with? Media planners are responsible for matching the brand’s target audience with the audience of a particular medium. Their challenge is to know which media best reach which audiences, whatever their ages. The most frequently used approach toward segmenting consumer audiences is as follows: ▪

Traditionalists grew up with newspapers, magazines, and radio, with little or no television, no cell phones, computers, or Internet.

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Baby Boomers, who are in their 50s and 60s, always had those three types of media. They also grew up with television, but still no cell phones, computers, or Internet.

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GenYers, who are 20-somethings, had all of the above media. In addition, they grew up with the computer, as well as satellite TV, the Internet, CDs, and cell phones.

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▪

Millennials, the most recent generation, have grown up with DVDs, TiVo, satellite radio, iPods, smart phones, most recently, the introduction of Facebook, and Twitter.

4. What is meant by “intrusiveness” and why is it important? Intrusiveness, the ability of a medium to grab attention by being disruptive or unexpected, is the primary strategy for countering clutter. Most media use intrusiveness to some degree as a way to grab the attention of inattentive media consumers. Media, as well as messages, vary in their degree of intrusiveness. The most intrusive medium is personal selling because the sales representative’s presence demands attention. The least intrusive media are print because users choose when and to what extent to use them. If a message is too disruptive or irritating, it may not help build a positive brand relationship. The more intrusive a medium, the more it can be personalized, but the more costly it is to use. There are ways to minimize intrusiveness. One is to choose media whose target audience is intrinsically interested in the product category. To have visibility without being intrusive is one of the reasons why product placements and events are popular. Another way is by giving customers the option to opt in or opt out when receiving brand information digitally. 5. What is meant by the term ‘convergence’? A major change is the blurring of media as traditional media forms morph into digital formats and new functions. Larry Kelley, one of the textbook’s advisory board members, defines this occurrence as convergence. According to him, “Media convergence is more than just providing content in a variety of forms. It is about the convergence of content, branding, and consumer engagement. Convergence is the definitive word in 21st century media. “ Although we discuss convergence primarily as shape-shifting where traditional media take on characteristics of new electronic media, there is actually more to it than that, according to Kelley. He observes that promotional areas such as advertising and public relations are morphing together in integrated brand planning. He insists that “media convergence is more than just providing content in a variety of forms. It is about the convergence of content, branding, and consumer engagement.” The brand, the message and the media are all interwoven in contemporary media strategies. Although new media tend to launch themselves by adapting the forms of media that preceded them, the older media also adapt by adopting some of the advances of the new media. For example, nearly every media vehicle has one or more websites, and that creates convergence. This makes it very hard to categorize media. 6. What is the relationship between word of mouth and viral communication, and why is buzz so important?

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Since we recognize the power of personal communication in decision making, creative folks are challenged to come up with exciting new ways to generate buzz and convey brand messages through word of mouth. Buzz is important because it means people are talking about a brand, and when it gets passed rapidly through a network of friends, we call that viral communication. This buzz may be the most important factor in consumer decision making because the recommendations of others are more persuasive than any advertisement. 7. What are the advantages and limitations of product placement? Product placement is when a brand appears in a television program, movie, or even in print as a prop. With product placement, a company pays to have verbal or visual brand exposure in a movie or television program. This has become important because it isn’t as intrusive as conventional advertising, and audiences can’t zap the ads as they can for television advertising using the remote control or a DVR. At the same time, it may make the product a star—or at least be associated with a star. Television programs have also gotten into the product placement game. The greatest advantage of product placement is that it demonstrates product use in a natural setting (“natural” depending on the movie) by people who are celebrities. It’s unexpected and, if it’s an obvious use, may catch the audience when their resistance to advertising messages may be dialed down. It’s also good for engaging the affections of other stakeholders, such as employees and dealers, particularly if the placement is supported with its own campaign. The biggest problem is that the placement may not be noticed. There is so much going on in most movies that unless you can overtly call attention to the product, its appearance may not register. A more serious problem occurs when there is not a match between the product and the movie or its audience. Another concern is that advertisers have no idea whether the movie will be a success or failure as they negotiate a contract for the placement. If the movie is a dud, what does that do to the brand’s image? Another problem is an ethical one—when is a product placement inappropriate? For example, some pharmaceutical marketers have found that a product “plug” can be a way around the FDA’s requirements on the disclosure of side effects. Public policy critics warn that it’s not just drugs; the problem exists for weapons, alcohol, tobacco, and gambling, among other product categories that raise social concerns. Product placement has been called “stealth advertising,” by the Writers Guild of America who argued that “millions of viewers are sometimes being sold products without their knowledge … and sold in violation of governmental regulations.” 8. What is search marketing and what is mobile marketing? Because approximately 97% of consumers use computers to search for product and store information, marketing strategies are designed to assist in this process. Mobile search using cell phones is one of the fastest growing media forms. Search marketing refers to the placement of online ads near topics of interest that people search on their computers, tablets, Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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or smart phones. Search engine advertising is driven by the key words that consumers use in their search for information or entertainment. Mobile marketing is an exciting new platform for location-based messages that, among other uses, can reach consumers with a promotional message when they are in the neighborhood of a store.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Make arrangements to interview a professional who is employed in the media planning division of an advertising agency. Use this opportunity to seek information about this person’s day-to-day activities and responsibilities, the clients for whom he or she has worked, the relationships they have developed in the media industry, major challenges they have faced on their job, and how they prepared for this profession. Write a 500-word report summarizing your findings. 2. Conduct secondary research on one of your favorite consumer brands by exploring the following questions: What type of media does this brand use to communicate its message to and develop relationships with consumers? What is the media plan that seems to be in place? Specifically, does the brand rely primarily on traditional media, or are digital and/or nontraditional media also used? Synthesize your findings and share them in a brief report to your class. Think-Pair-Share 1. Pair off with a classmate and construct a five-item survey to find out which media students on your college campus are using most frequently. Also, develop and include at least one question that assesses the impact of word of mouth on their consumer decision making. Tabulate your data to determine if your findings are consistent with the trends and patterns regarding consumer media usage that were discussed in this chapter. Summarize this information and prepare a PowerPoint to present to your class.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Explore the website for CBS RIOT (www.cbsriot.com) which was mentioned in this chapter and then respond to the following questions: 1) What markets are being served, and why do you think that this company is taking a “local” approach? 2) In your opinion, does this business have growth potential? Justify your response. Next, watch at least three of the case studies featured on the website. For each, answer the following questions: 3) Who was the client and what were their objectives? 4) What combination of media did CBS use in its

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multiplatform approach? 5) What criteria should be used to determine if this campaign was successful? 2. Go to www.adage.com and locate their list of the most popular viral videos. Next, go to www.youtube.com and view at least three of them. Then answer the following questions for each video that you watched: 1) What is it about this video that sparked people’s interest and made them want to pass it along to others? 2) How does this video support or enhance the brand’s image? 3) Does this video in any way help to “sell” the product to consumers? If yes, how? If no, then what purpose does the video serve?

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Chapter 12 Paid Media ◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. What should marketers know to make effective decisions about advertising in

2. 3. 4. 5.

published media, such as newspapers and magazines? How do radio and television work as marketing communication media? What factors do media planners consider when making place-base (out-of-home) media advertising decisions? How do marketers use movies and other video formats, such as video games, for brand communication? How does online advertising work?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter will review the paid media category. It will discuss the traditional advertising media industries, sometimes called legacy media, which dominate the paid media category. The chapter also discusses the role and impact of online advertising and other not so traditional media types. The chapter provides an overview of traditional media, their characteristics, and their strengths and weaknesses. It also discusses how traditional media is changing. Not only are these traditional media formats changing, so are the ads that appear in them. The chapter details how all media have some type of digital and interactive component and this will only make media selection more challenging. The chapter looks at newspaper, magazines, directories, as well as radio and television, in all of its varied forms. The uses, structure, audiences, advantages, disadvantages and the advertising sales of each media are also explored. The chapter also provides a review of film, video formats and place based media. And finally, the chapter closes with an in depth look at online advertising.

CHAPTER OUTLINE TRADITIONAL PAID MEDIA OF ADVERTISING • Traditional advertising media includes print, broadcast, out-of-home, and online media as well as other nontraditional or alternative forms. Those are the major groups of the paid media category used in brand communication, and they usually demand a big share of the brand communication budget. They also play a huge role in creating brand visibility. •

There are also specific media tools from the marketing communication areas of public relations, promotions, sales, and merchandising that are traditional in the sense that they’ve been around for a long time and are widely used.

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•

Paid media are used primarily in advertising. Advertisers pay a fee to media in order to present brand messages in their various vehicles—usually space and time in print, broadcast, out of home, or online. Paid media can provide wide reach, as in television audiences, or they can be tightly targeted, as in outdoor boards or magazines directed to small niche audiences.

•

The advertiser controls the size and timing of the message placement, but has no control over whether readers or viewers will notice the ad. There tends to be lots of clutter in traditional media. This can lead to avoidance by the media user— turning the page, leaving the room when television ads come on, changing channels, or zipping through television ads.

Published Print Media • Print media vehicles include newspapers, magazines, brochures, and other printed surfaces, such as posters and outdoor boards. Magazines and newspapers have expanded their message delivery online but billions of dollars are still spent on traditional print media. •

In terms of our Facets Model of Effects, print media are often used to generate cognitive responses. If you want someone to read and understand something new, a newspaper or magazine ad is useful since readers can take as much time as they need

•

Principle: Print media generally provide more information, rich imagery, and a longer message life than other media forms.

•

Consumers also find that reading a print publication is more flexible than watching or listening to broadcast because they can stop and reread, read sections out of order, or move through the publication at their own speed and on their own time. Because the print message format is less fleeting than broadcast and more concrete, people tend to spend more time with print and absorb its messages more carefully. Print is also highly engaging when targeted toward audiences that have a special interest in the publication’s content.

Published Media: Newspapers • Newspapers’ primary function is to carry news. Marketers with news to announce, such as a special sale or new product, may find newspapers to be a comfortable environment. Studies have found that people consider many ads— that is, commercial information—to be news too. •

Principle: A basic principle of newspaper publishing is that people read newspapers as much for the ads as they do for the news stories.

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With more than 6,400 national and local papers in the United States, newspapers

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remain an important but primarily local medium. However, big dailies in the 500 largest markets account for only 1,400 of those papers, which means that most newspapers are small, and many of them are rural and suburban weeklies. •

The problem with the major daily newspapers is that readership has been declining, especially among young people, for years, as readers have moved online. Complicating the readership problem, the recession of the late 2000s brought double-digit- percentage declines in advertising that caused a rash of newspaper closures.

• Other sources of revenue besides advertising include reader subscriptions and single-copy sales at newsstands. Circulation is the primary way newspapers’ reach is measured and compared with the reach of other media.

• The primary characteristic of circulation is geography—whether the publication is national, regional, or local. The Wall Street Journal and USA Today are national newspapers and have the two highest circulations. Both have gone through major redesign programs to update their looks and appeal more to younger audiences. •

Newspapers are used by advertisers trying to reach a local market, as most newspapers, other than USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, are identified by the geography of the city or region they serve. The New York Times serves the New York region, but it also has a national circulation, particularly for its Sunday edition. Local papers are struggling to survive but their readers still value them for their coverage of local politics, education, crime, sports stories, local events, church news, and local people features.

•

Decreasing subscriptions, however, have been a problem as readers have migrated to online versions and dropped their print subscription. We can’t ignore the impact of the digital revolution on newspapers with devoted readers wondering if their cup-of-coffee-and-morning-newspaper ritual is coming to an end. The demise of newspapers, should that happen, also impacts the profession of journalism and the coverage of local politics and community issues.

Industry Structure • Newspapers can be categorized according to their publication frequency, such as dailies, weeklies, and Sunday editions. Retailers like to place ads and press releases in daily newspapers because their lead time (the advance time needed to produce a publication) is short. Food stores, for example, can change offers and pricing quickly depending on product availability. •

Although newspapers go to a mass audience, they offer some market selectivity, which allows them to target specific consumer groups. Examples of market selectivity are special-interest newspapers (e.g., for coin collectors); ethnic editions, such as Spanish-language papers; special- interest sections (business,

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sports, and lifestyle); and special editions delivered to particular ZIP codes or zones. Newspapers also exist for special-interest groups, religious denominations, political affiliations, labor unions, and professional and fraternal organizations. For example, Stars & Stripes is the newspaper read by millions of military personnel. The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times are considered specialty newspapers because they concentrate on financial news. Newspaper Advertising • Newspaper formats come in two typical sizes: broadsheet and tabloid. The broadsheet format—think any large metropolitan or national paper, such as the New York Times or USA Today—is typically 11 to 12 inches wide and 20 or more inches long. Tabloids are smaller and typically measure around 11 by 17 inches. Tabloids are popular in urban areas where readers may read them on buses or subways. •

Newspaper advertising is sold based on the size of the space. The charges are published on rate cards, which are lists of the charges for advertising space and the discounts given to local advertisers and to advertisers who make volume buys. National advertisers are quoted a different, and higher, rate

•

Most advertising sales is handled locally by the sales staff of the newspaper, however newspaper representatives (called “reps”) sell space for many different newspapers. This saves an advertiser or its agency from the need to make a multitude of buys to run a national or regional campaign in newspapers. The system is known as one-order, one-bill. The Newspaper National Network (www.nnnlp.com) is a partnership of newspaper companies that place ads in newspapers across the country. Google has also gotten into this business, allowing advertisers to buy ads in daily newspapers through its website.

•

In the early 1980s, the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the Newspaper Advertising Bureau introduced the Standard Advertising Unit (SAU) system. The latest version of the SAU makes it possible for newspapers to offer advertisers a great deal of choice within a standard format. An advertiser can select one of the 56 standard ad sizes and be assured that its ad will work in every newspaper in the country.

•

Another alternative that allows national advertisers to pay the local rate is cooperative (co-op) advertising with a local retailer. Co-op advertising is an arrangement between the advertiser and the retailer whereby the retailer buys the ad and then the manufacturer pays half—or a portion depending upon the amount of space the manufacturer’s brand occupies.

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Types of Newspaper Advertising Three types of advertising are found within the local newspaper: retail/display, classified, and two types of inserts (magazine supplements and preprints). Most of these are found online as well as in the print form of the newspaper: •

Display The dominant form of newspaper advertising is display advertising. Display ads can be any size and can be placed anywhere in the newspaper except the editorial page. Display ads can even be found in the classified section. Display advertising is further divided into two subcategories: local (retail) and national (brand). Advertisers who don’t care where their display ads run in the newspaper pay the run-of-paper rate (ROP). If they want more choice over the placement, they can pay the preferred-position rate, which lets them select sections in which the ad will appear.

•

Classified Two types of classified advertising include advertising by individuals to sell their personal goods and advertising by local businesses. These ads are arranged according to their interest to readers, such as “Help Wanted” and “Real Estate for Sale.” Classified ads have represented approximately 40 percent of total newspaper advertising revenue in the past, but local online services, such as Craigslist, have almost destroyed newspaper classified advertising. That has created a huge bottom-line problem for local newspapers.

•

Supplements Newspaper supplements are magazine-style publications inserted into a newspaper, especially in the Sunday edition, that are either syndicated nationally or prepared locally. Syndicated supplements, such as Parade and USA Weekend, are provided by an independent publisher that sells its publications to newspapers. These supplements also carry national advertising.

•

Preprints Preprints are a type of supplement, freestanding inserts (FSI) are advertisements, such as the grocery or department store ads, that are inserted into the newspaper. Also called circulars, these preprinted advertisements, which range in size from a single page to more than 30 pages, are often printed elsewhere and then delivered to the newspaper. Newspapers charge the advertiser a fee for inserting a supplement. Next to local ads, preprints are the second largest revenue stream with estimates of up to 70 percent of the Sunday newspaper revenues coming from preprints. Preprints, however, are threatened not only by a shift to online digital formats but also by a Postal Service rate cut that will make it cheaper to mail certain types of national retail preprints.

•

Self promotion, or house ads, is the type of advertising used by newspapers—and other media—to promote themselves. House ads in newspapers are usually set up in advance to help fill the layout where there is space left after the news stories and other ads have been placed. But newspapers may also use other media forms to promote themselves.

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Published Media: Magazines Most American adults read at least one magazine per month, and they spend more time with magazines than with other print media. Similar to other mass media, magazines were hurt by the recession but seem to be slowly bouncing back. •

The more than 6000 magazines published in the United States appeal to every possible interest. Most magazines aim at niche markets with a focus on a particular hobby, sport, age group, business category, or profession. These special-interest publications generally have small circulations but there are exceptions. The number-one magazine in terms of circulation is AARP, The Magazine, which is sent free to anyone over age 50.

•

Quality of reproduction is one of the biggest strengths of magazines. It allows the advertiser’s products and brand image to be presented in a format superior to the quality of newspapers.

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Principle: People spend more time with magazines because the ads and articles usually are more relevant to their interests.

•

Readers also spend more time reading a magazine than they do reading a newspaper, so there is a better opportunity to provide in-depth information.

The Magazine Industry • The magazine industry hasn’t suffered as much from the recession and changing media environment as newspapers, although, like most print media, it has been threatened by the digital revolution. A number of well-respected magazines have disappeared, but one of the most surprising was the announcement in 2012 that Newsweek would no longer appear in print, only online. •

Despite the high risks associated with the magazine business, new publications continue to emerge, especially those that target business markets and growing market niches.

•

Magazine revenues come from advertising, subscriptions, and single-copy sales. According to the Magazine Publishers Association, advertising contributes 55 percent of magazine revenue and circulation is 45 percent (subscriptions 32 percent; single-copy sales 13 percent). Some publications, such as People, are more dependent on single-copy sales, which tend to be impulse buys.

•

Traditional delivery, called controlled circulation, is through newsstand purchases or home delivery via mail. These are measured media, and their circulation or sales can be determined.

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•

Nontraditional delivery, referred to as uncontrolled circulation, means that the magazine is distributed free to specific audiences. In addition to mail, other nontraditional delivery methods include hanging bagged copies on doorknobs, inserting magazines in newspapers (such as Parade magazine), delivering through professionals’ offices (doctors and dentists), direct delivery (company magazines or those found on airplanes), and electronic delivery, which is being used by organizational and membership publications, such as university alumni magazines.

•

Sophisticated database management lets publishers combine the information available from subscriber lists with other public and private lists to create complete consumer profiles for advertisers. These databases, combined with new technologies, have made personalized publishing a reality. For example o Selective binding combines information on subscribers kept in a database with a computer program to produce magazines that include special sections for subscribers based on their demographic profiles. o Ink-jet imaging allows a magazine such as U.S. News & World Report to personalize its renewal form so that each issue contains a renewal card already filled out with the subscriber’s name, address, and so on. Personalized messages can be printed directly on ads or on inserts

•

Satellite transmission, along with computerized editing technology, allows magazines to print regional editions with regional advertising. This technology also permits publishers to close pages (stop accepting new material) just hours before press time (instead of days or weeks, as in the past) so that advertisers can drop up-to-the-minute information in their ads.

Types of Magazines The focus of the audience interest is the number one factor in classifying magazines. The two main types of audiences that magazines target are consumer and business audiences. •

Consumer magazines are directed at consumers who buy products for personal consumption.

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An important principle to remember is: If you want to start a successful magazine, create a special-interest publication aimed at a narrow or niche audience.

•

Business magazines target business readers; they include the following types of publications: ▪ ▪ ▪

Trade papers aimed at retailers, wholesalers, and other distributors Industrial magazines aimed at manufacturers Professional magazines aimed at physicians, lawyers, and other professionals

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▪ ▪ •

•

Farm magazines are aimed at those working in agriculture Corporate publications produced by companies for their customers and other stakeholders

Business magazines are also classified as vertical or horizontal publications. ▪

Vertical publications present stories and information about an entire industry. Women’s Wear Daily, for example, discusses the production, marketing, and distribution of women’s fashions.

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Horizontal publications deal with a business function that cuts across industries, such as Direct Marketing.

In terms of vehicle selection, the following factors influence how media planners fit magazines into their media. ▪

Geography. Geographic editions help encourage local retail support by listing the names of local distributors in the advertisements. Most national magazines also offer a zoned edition that will carry different ads, and perhaps different stories, depending on the region of the country.

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Demographics. Demographic editions group subscribers according to age, income, occupation, and other classifications.

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Editorial content. Each magazine emphasizes a certain type of editorial content. The most widely used categories are general editorial, women’s service, shelter, business, and special interest.

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Physical Characteristics. Media planners and buyers need to know the physical characteristics of a magazine because ads containing various elements of words and pictures require a different amount of space.

Media planners look for readership patterns that match their target audience and positioning strategy. For both female and male targeted magazines, their positions are different relative to their readership. The patterns in both the male and female magazine category are equally competitive and complex.

Magazine Advertising • Advertising in magazines is generally highly targeted because most magazines are designed to reach consumers through their special interests. Magazine advertising benefits from much higher production values than in newspapers, and that makes them good for brand-image advertising, although the format is also good for long messages since readers spend more time reading magazines than newspapers. •

The emphasis on graphics encourages creativity, good design, and interesting production technique.

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•

Magazine ad costs are based on the size of the ad and the circulation of the magazine. Although the format may vary from magazine to magazine, all magazines share some format characteristics. For example, the back cover and inside front cover are the most costly for advertisers because they have the highest level of exposure compared to all the other pages in a magazine. The inside back cover is also a premium position.

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Normally, the largest unit of ad space that magazines sell is the double-page spread, in which two ad pages face each other.

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A double-page ad design must bridge or jump the gutter, the white space running between the inside edges of the pages, meaning that no headline words can run through the gutter and that all body text is on one side of the spread or the other.

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A page without outside margins, in which the color extends to the edge of the page, is called a bleed page.

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Magazines can sometimes offer more than two connected pages that fold in on themselves. This kind of ad is called a gatefold.

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Another popular format is a special advertising page or section that looks like regular editorial pages but is identified by the word “advertisement” at the top. Called advertorials, the content is usually an article about a company, product, or brand that is written by the corporation’s publicity department. The idea is to mimic the editorial look in order to acquire the credibility of the publication’s articles. Multiple-page photo-essay ads are also common in magazines.

•

A single page or double page can be broken into a variety of units called fractional page space (for example, vertical half-page, horizontal half-page, halfpage double spread, and checkerboard in which an ad is located in the upper left and the lower right of a double-page spread).

Published Media: Directories • Directories are books like the Yellow Pages that list the names of people or companies, their phone numbers, and their addresses. In addition to this information, many directories publish advertising from marketers who want to reach the people who use the directory. •

Corporations, associations, and other organizations, such as nonprofits, also publish directories either in print or online that include members as well as other stakeholders. These are often provided as a service to members as part of a corporate communication program.

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•

One of the biggest advantages of advertising in directories is that if people have taken the initiative to look for a business or service, then the listing is reaching an audience already in the market for something and ready to take action. Directory advertising doesn’t have to create a need because it is a number one shopping aid.

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Directory advertising’s biggest advantage is directional advertising: it tells people where to go to get the product or service they want. As the Matter of Principle feature in the textbook explains, directory advertising is the main medium that prospects consult once they have decided to buy something they need or want.

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The key difference between directory advertising and brand-image advertising is this: Directory advertising reaches prospects, people who already know they have a need for the product or service, whereas brand-image advertising seeks to create a need as well as an attractive personality for a brand.

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Almost 90 percent of those who consult the Yellow Pages follow up with some kind of action.

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Principle: The principle behind directory advertising is that it is directional—it tells people who already are in the target market where to go to get the product or service they want. The biggest change for this medium is the advent of online directory information as well as the decline in landline phones because of the increase in cell phones. Directories are expensive to print, so it is becoming harder for phone companies to justify the costs of community-wide distribution of the residential books. Some directory providers are using an “opt-in” program for those customers who prefer the book to the computer, but the Yellow Pages and business White Pages are still in business, although U.S. spending on Yellow Pages advertising has been on a steep slide.

Broadcast Media: Radio The reason advertisers like radio is that it is as close as we can come to a universal medium. Most every American listens to radio in some form either over the air or streaming from Internet-based services, such as Pandora or Spotify. Virtually every household in the United States (99 percent) has at least one radio, and most have multiple sets. And almost everybody listens to radio at some time during the day. •

Radio’s audience continues to increase. Weekly listening has grown in the 2000s from 224 million to 242 in spite of the economic downtown and the new patterns of

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electronic listening. In spite of its popularity, however, the $17.4 billion radio advertising industry isn’t growing much in revenue. •

Radio’s biggest advantage is that it is tightly targeted based on musical tastes (for example, rock, country, and classical) and special interests (for example, religion, Spanish language, and talk shows).

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Broadcast media messages—both radio and television—are fleeting, which means they may capture attention for a few seconds and then disappear, in contrast to print messages, which can be revisited and reread.

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Radio is a talk, news, or music-driven medium where advertisements can also engage the imagination to create stories in the mind. In terms of our Facets of Effects Model, broadcast media are often more entertaining, using drama and emotion with audio to attract attention and engage the feelings of the audience.

•

If done right, radio can engage the imagination more than other media because it relies on the listener’s mind to fill in the visual element.

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The radio listening experience is unlike that of any other media, creating both challenges and opportunities for radio advertisers. It can be a more intimate experience because we tend to listen to it alone, particularly for people wearing headphones.

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In cars, where many people listen to radio, it offers advertisers something close to a captive audience. And it’s relatively inexpensive both to produce commercials and to buy airtime. Check out the Radio Ranch website at www.radio-ranch.com for a look behind the scenes of radio commercial production.

The Radio Industry There are more than 10,000 commercial radio stations, and most of them, except for the new Internet stations, serve a local market. In recent years the industry’s growth has been slow. Radio is tightly targeted based on special interests (religion, Spanish language, and talk shows) and musical tastes. About 85 percent of the radio stations are focused on music. Program formats offered in a typical market are based on music styles and special interests, including hard rock, gospel, country and western, top-40 hits, soft rock, golden oldies, and non-music programs, such as talk radio and advice, from car repair to finances to dating. •

Traditional radio stations are found on the AM/FM dial and most serve local markets. Other options for radio listeners include public radio, cable and satellite radio, lowpowered stations, and Web radio. Stations with a broadcast range of approximately 25 miles are considered local stations. Regional stations may cover an entire state or several states.

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In addition to digital forms, radio stations in the United States broadcast signals in several formats: •

Cable radio Launched in 1990, cable radio technology uses cable television receivers to deliver static-free music via wires plugged into cable subscribers’ stereos.

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Satellite Radio can deliver your favorite radio stations, regardless of where you are in the continental United States. For a monthly fee, the system allows you to access more than 100 channels.

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Low-Power FM If you’re a college student, you probably have a low-power FM station on your campus. These nonprofit, noncommercial stations serve a small market, with a reach of three to five miles.

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Web Radio provides audio files downloading or streaming through a website called netcasting. This makes it possible to broadcast radio (and television) online. If the receiver is an iPod or other type of portable media player, the reception is called podcasting. Podcasting is possible because of the convergence of three technologies: an audio source (the radio station or music source, such as Spotify or Pandora), a Web connection, and a portable media player or cell phone.

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Public Radio Stations are usually affiliates of National Public Radio (NPR) and carry much of the same programming, although they have to buy or subscribe to the NPR services. For that reason, some local public radio stations might carry a full range of NPR programming, while others that are less well funded may carry only a partial list of NPR programs. o Public radio stations are considered noncommercial in that they rely on listener support for most of their funding. In recent years, however, they have slowly expanded their corporate sponsorship messages or underwriting, which has increased along with the audience size. Public radio is one of the few media that can deliver an audience of well-educated, affluent consumers.

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Radio networks are groups of affiliated stations. The network system produces programs and distributes them to their affiliates who contract with the system.

Radio Advertising Media planners use radio to deliver a high level of frequency because radio commercials, particularly jingles, which are commercials set to music, lend themselves to repetition. There are three types of radio buys: network, spot, and syndicated. Local advertising revenues account for approximately 75 percent. Network revenues are by far the smallest category, accounting for approximately 5 percent of total radio revenues. National spot advertising makes up the remainder. Let’s review the categories of national radio buys:

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Network Radio Advertising can be bought from national networks that distribute programming and advertising to their affiliates. A radio network is a group of local affiliates connected to one or more national networks through telephone wires and satellites. The five major radio networks are Westwood One, CBS, ABC, Unistar, and Clear Channel. The largest network by far is Clear Channel, with more than 1,200 stations. Many advertisers view network radio as a viable national advertising medium, especially for food and beverages, automobiles, and over-the-counter drugs.

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Spot Radio Advertising—Both Local and National Spot advertising lets an advertiser place an advertisement with an individual station rather than through a network. Spot radio advertising makes up nearly 80 percent of all radio advertising. In large cities, 40 or more radio stations may be available. Local stations also offer flexibility through their willingness to run unusual ads, allow last-minute changes, and negotiate rates. Buying spot radio and coping with its non-standardized rate structures can be cumbersome.

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Syndicated Radio Advertising This is the original type of radio programming that plays on a large number of affiliated stations, such as the Paul Harvey show, which is broadcast on some 1,200 stations. Program syndication has benefited network radio because it offers advertisers a variety of high-quality, specialized, and usually original programs. Both networks and private firms offer syndication. Advertisers value syndicated programming because of the high level of loyalty of its audience. Dayparts Advertisers considering radio are most concerned with the number of people listening to a particular station at a given time. Radio audiences are grouped by the time of day when they are most likely to be listening and the assumption is that different groups listen at different times of the day. The typical radio programming day is divided into five segments called dayparts: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

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Morning Drive Time: Midday: Evening Drive Time: Evening: Late Night:

6-10 a.m. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. 3-7 p.m. 7 p.m.- midnight Midnight – 6 a.m.

The 6-10 a.m. segment is called morning drive time and it is the period when the greatest numbers of listeners are tuned in to radio.

Broadcast Media: Television Television has become a mainstay of American society. Television approaches the universality of radio with 98 percent of American households having one or more television sets. In over half of U.S. households, the TV is on “most” of the time. The U.S.

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television audience, however, is highly fragmented, tuning in to 100 or more different channels. •

Television is primarily an entertainment medium with its drama and emotional impact as well as its moving images. In-home theaters with their large-screen televisions are popular with viewers from all income level.

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Through video streaming, programs can also be seen on computers, tablets, smart phones, etc. Television’s use expanded with the introduction of the Wii, which makes the home television screen a facilitator in exercise programs as well as games. As computers begin to use television screens to project their content, this cross-channel merger will open up entirely new uses for home televisions.

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The economic model of broadcast television is generally based on an advertisingsupported approach, at least for the traditional networks. The model relies on producing programs that attract a large audience advertisers want to reach. Advertising, plus revenue from the programs that are syndicated after they go off air, has supported network television since its beginnings, although that model is in serious trouble with the development of cable and the splintering of the viewing audience.

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Television advertising is embedded in programming, so most of the attention in media buying, as well as in the measurement of television advertising’s effectiveness, is focused on the performance of various shows and how they engage their audiences.

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In the 1950s and 1960s, the three networks virtually controlled the evening viewing experience, but that dominance has shrunk in recent years with the rapid increase in the number of cable channels.

Structure of the Industry Considering TV’s structure and programming options helps to better understand how television works. The main types of television delivery systems include network, subscription (cable and satellite), pay programming, local and public television, and syndication. •

Broadcast network is a distribution system that provides television content to its affiliated stations. Currently, there are four national, over-the-air television networks in the United States: the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and Fox Broadcasting.

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Network Television dominates the television landscape with its $9.15 billion in advertising revenue, and 150 affiliates. The networks sell commercial time to national advertisers for placement on programs that play throughout the network.

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Some time is left open for affiliates to fill with local advertising. Affiliates pay their respective networks 30 percent of the fees they charge local advertisers. In turn, affiliates receive a percentage of the advertising revenue (12 to 25 percent) paid to the national network. Advertising is the primary source of affiliate revenues.

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In addition to local affiliates, independent stations not affiliated with networks are found in local markets. Costs for local advertising vary, depending on the size of the market and the demand for the programs carried. Most advertisers are local retailers, primarily department stores or discount stores, financial institutions, automobile dealers, restaurants, and supermarkets.

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National advertisers sometimes buy local advertising on a city-by-city or stationby-station basis, using spot buys. They do this to align the buy with their product distribution, to “heavy-up” a national schedule to meet competitive activities, or to launch a new product in selected cities.

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Other forms of television service include the following: ▪

Subscription television is a delivery system that carries the television signal to subscribers either by cable or satellite. People sign up for television service and pay a monthly fee.

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Cable television is a form of subscription TV. It has grown into a national network of channels that provide highly targeted special-interest programming options. The impact of cable programming has been to fragment the audience and make it difficult to reach a large, mass audience. Cable has become a significant threat to the financial health of the networks.

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Satellite television is similar to cable in that it’s a competing delivery system. In addition to cable channels, it also carries superstations such as WTBSAtlanta and WGN-Chicago.

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On-demand programming is available to subscribers for an additional monthly fee. This type of programming offers movies, specials, and sports. Pay networks do not currently sell advertising time.

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Online Video Traditional forms of network television are challenged by their online counterparts. Netcasting works for television. The television network or station broadcasts programs, many times these are previously run episodes of hit shows, online to a computer, tablet, or other type of portable media player.

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Public television is still considered to be commercial free by many, but this is not the case. The FCC allows the approximately 350 Public Broadcasting

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System (PBS) stations some leeway in airing commercial messages, called program underwriting. ▪

Syndication provides an important revenue stream for networks and cable channels. As in radio programming, television syndication refers to content providers that sell their programs to independent firms and other cable channels to replay as reruns.

Television Advertising • Television is used for advertising because it works like the movies—it tells stories, engages the emotions, creates fantasies, and it can have great visual impact. Because it’s an action medium, it is also good for demonstrating how things work. It brings brand images to life and adds personality to a brand. •

Principle: If you are going to use television, design a message that takes advantage of its visual and emotional impact.

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The first decision in designing a television ad is determining its length, which is usually 10, 15, 30, or 60 seconds. The most common length is 30 seconds because for most advertisers the 60-second spot is considered too expensive. The 10second ad is like a billboard and simply announces that a program is “brought to you by…” the advertiser.

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Long-form ads, which are of various lengths, are seen on late-night TV as “infomercials,” when the cost of broadcast time is much lower than at other times of day. The actual form of a television commercial depends on whether a network, local, or subscription service schedule is used.

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The price of a commercial is based on the rating of the surrounding program (note the rating is for the program, not the commercial). The price is also based on the daypart during which the commercial is shown. The following table shows the Television Standard Dayparts. The most expensive time block is prime time. Standard Television Early morning Daytime Early fringe Prime access Late news Late night Saturday morning Weekend afternoon

Dayparts M–F 7–9 a.m. M–F 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. M–F 4:30–7:30 p.m. M–F 7:30–8 p.m. M–S 8–11 p.m. Su 7–11 p.m. M–Su 11–11:30 p.m. M–Su 11:30 p.m.–1 a.m. Sa 8 a.m.–1 p.m. Sa–Su 1 p.m.–7 p.m.

Note: All times are Eastern Standard Time

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Although these time slots are important to media planners, they are vulnerable to consumers who not only change channels but also change viewing times using

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time shifting and zipping and zapping. •

Avoidance of television advertising is easy to do with your remote control. ▪

Time-shifting using a DVR such as TiVo, allows users to record favorite television shows and watch them whenever they like. The technology makes it possible to record the programming, letting users pause, do instant replays, and begin watching programs even before the recording has finished.

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With DVR-recorded programs, consumers can zip past (fast-forward through) commercials completely or zap them by changing to another channel. These practices are forcing advertisers to rethink the design of their ads, recognizing that they only have a few moments win the attention of viewers.

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Advertisers and television executives are alarmed over the increasing popularity of time-shifting and zipping and zapping. The DVR industry estimates that viewers zip past about 6 percent of television commercials—an estimated waste of some $5 billion in ad spending. A Nielsen study, however, found that viewers are not zipping through commercials as much as advertisers feared.

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TiVo has also announced that it is considering a service that will provide secondby-second data about which programs the company’s subscribers are watching and which commercials they are skipping.

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Satellite television networks and networks are battling over the ad-skipping. The Auto- Hop feature available on Dish and other DVR systems is seen as copyright infringement by the networks.

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Principle: The television audience has become very good at avoiding commercials unless the ads are intrusive or highly engaging.

Type of Television Commercials • Participations (network) are how most commercial are sold. In this situation, network advertisers pay for commercial time during one or more programs. The advertiser can buy any time that is available. This approach, which is the most common one used in network advertising today, provides a great deal more flexibility in market coverage, target audiences, scheduling, and budgeting. One problem that media buyers must negotiate is the fact that the “time avails” for the most popular programs are often bought up by the largest advertisers or media-buying agencies, leaving fewer good time slots for small advertisers. •

Spot Announcements (local) are slots that appear in the breaks between programs, which local affiliates sell to advertisers who want to show their ads

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locally. Commercials are sold on a stationby-station basis to local, regional, and national advertisers. However, local buyers dominate spot television. •

Sponsorships require the advertiser to assume the total financial responsibility for producing the program and providing the accompanying commercials. The Hallmark Hall of Fame program is an example of a sponsored program. Sponsorships represent less than 10 percent of network advertising. Sponsorships can have a powerful effect on the viewing public, especially because the advertiser can control the content and quality of the program as well as the placement and length of commercials. However, the costs of producing and sponsoring a 30 or 60-minute program make this option too expensive for most advertisers. Several advertisers can produce a program jointly as an alternative to single sponsorship. This plan is quite common with sporting events, where each sponsor receives a 15-minute segment.

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Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are spots created by agencies that donate their time and services on behalf of some good cause. PSAs are distributed to stations for local play based on the station’s time availability. If time is available, PSAs run for free on radio and television stations.

Target Audiences and Viewers • Targeting occurs by matching the programs with information about their viewership. Some programs are media stars and reach huge audiences—the Super Bowl is a good example. Other programs reach small but select audiences, such as The News Hour on PBS. •

An overlooked television audience is the 50-plus boomer crowd. As younger viewers move to online venues, these older folks stay loyal to their televisions, remote controls, and shows like 60 Minutes, NCIS, and Blue Bloods.

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The Latino market is another audience group that is increasing in size and importance. Served primarily by Spanish-language programing through cable networks such as Univision. A new development is the partnership between ABC and Univision, which will create a 24-hour cable news channel that will broadcast in English. It will offer a blend of hard news and lifestyle programming along with an accompanying website.

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Principle: Television advertising is tied to television programming and the ad’s effectiveness is determined by the popularity of the television program.

New Television Technology New technology is having an impact on programming options, as well as on distribution patterns and systems. Innovations such as high-definition TV and

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interactive TV expand advertising opportunities. •

High-definition TV (HDTV) is a type of TV standard that delivers moviequality, high-resolution images. As stations upgraded their equipment and moved to HDTV by 2009, the increased availability of HDTV programming made it necessary for consumers to upgrade to HDTV sets.

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Interactive television means you’re watching your favorite program and a commercial comes on for a product that interests you. A button pops up on the screen that you can click with your remote, and you are asked questions about whether you want more information or a coupon or to give some other response. The technology requires that advertisers give their ads to a DVR service, such as TiVo, where codes are embedded. When the ad airs, the DVR boxes pick up the coding and turn on the interactive component for that subscriber. Several cable companies are experimenting with technology that provides viewers with a remote control they can use to request samples or promotional offers to be sent to their homes. It’s also a lead-generation opportunity and the cable company boasts a high conversion rate tracking the number of viewers who click a second time to actually make an order.

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Addressable television uses a type of television that makes it possible for individual homes to receive targeted and personalized advertising. The ability to address ads to different homes through cable and other subscription services is becoming more feasible, particularly for local video-on-demand programming. Cablevision provides viewers with a remote control they can use to request samples or promotional offers to be sent to their homes.

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3-D Television. A number of researchers are testing the feasibility of bringing 3D television to living rooms by improving on current technology and its use of special glasses. The logistics are difficult but 3-D may finally be on its way to home television sets.

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Streaming video is a process by which video programs—television, movies, YouTube creations, even video games—are sent to computers and other electronic devices, such as smart phones and tablets. This practice has created a nightmare for television measurement services that have been scrambling to estimate program viewing in these new media formats. In 2013, the ratings firm Nielsen announced that it had developed the technology to begin measuring viewership on these new broadband-enabled devices.

Movie Advertising Movie theaters, sell time at the beginning of their film showings for commercials, called trailers. Most of these trailers are previews advertising upcoming films, but some are

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national commercials for brands, ads for local businesses, PSAs, or other forms of sponsored programs. •

Targeting is possible based on the appeal of the film. Some films are for children (and their parents); others draw an audience that is heavily female; and action films, such as the Matrix series, draw more males.

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DVD, Blu-ray, NetFlix, and other video distribution systems also place ads before their movies. The targeting strategy is the same as that for trailers, where the ad is matched to the film’s audience.

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The cost of placing a trailer is based on the number of theaters showing the spot and their estimated monthly attendance. Generally, the cost of a trailer in a firstrun theater is about the same as the cost of a 30-second television spot in prime time. The reason trailers are valued by marketers is that they play to a captive audience with their attention on the screen, not reading or talking to other people. The attention level is higher for these ads than for almost any other form of commercials.

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The captive audience dimension is also the biggest disadvantage of movie advertising because people resent the intrusion. They feel they paid for the ticket, so they shouldn’t have to pay with their time and attention to watch commercials.

Video Game Advertising • Marketers and media planners have been frustrated trying to reach young people with traditional ads on mainstream media. That has led to an increased focus on unusual media that are clearly the province of young people, such as video games. •

Now a global multi-billion dollar industry, the video game business is developing as a major new medium for advertisers to target 12- to 34-year-old males, although girls are getting into the act as well. And, Wii is bringing in an older adult audience of both men and women with its sports and exercise programs.

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The iPad made the video game market mobile. Video games offer opportunities for advertising but also for product placement. Marketing communication opportunities are mined both by creating online games and by placing products within games.

Place-Based Media • A situational or place-based media can target specific people with specific messages at a time and place when they may be most interested. As mass media have decreased in impact, place-based forms, such as outdoor, have become more attractive to many advertisers. •

Out-of-home media or place-based media includes everything from billboards to hot-air balloons. That means ads on public spaces, including buses, posters on

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building walls (barn roofs in the old days), telephone and shopping kiosks, painted and wrapped cars and semis, taxi signs and mobile billboards, transit shelters and rail platforms, airport and bus terminal displays, hotel and shopping mall displays, in-store merchandising signs, grocery store carts, shopping bags, public restroom walls, skywriting, in-store clocks, and aisle displays. Blimps and airplanes towing messages over your favorite stadium as well as inflatables that weave and wave in the wind at grand openings and other special events. Figure 12.1 is a depiction of the breadth of the outdoor and place-based media world. Outdoor Advertising Of the nearly $6 billion spent on outdoor advertising, billboard ads accounted for approximately 60 percent; street furniture, such as signs on benches, and transit ads brought in the rest. Outdoor advertising refers to billboards along streets and highways, as well as posters in other public locations. An advertiser uses outdoor boards for two primary reasons. First, for national advertisers, this medium can provide brand reminders to the target audience. A second use is directional; billboards are a primary medium when the board is close to or gives information about a company’s location. • •

In terms of size and format, there are two traditional kinds of billboards: printed poster panels and painted bulletins, as well as digital LED boards. Printed posters are created by the advertiser or agency, printed, and shipped to an outdoor advertising company. They come in two sizes based on the number of sheets of paper used to make the image: 8 sheet (5 by 11 feet) and 30 sheet (12 by 25 feet).

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Painted outdoor bulletins, differ from posters in that they are normally created on site and vary in size or shape, although their standard size is 14 by 48 feet. However, posters can be painted on the sides of buildings, on roofs, and even natural structures, such as the side of a mountain.

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Designers can add extensions to painted billboards to expand the scale and break away from the limits of the long rectangle. These embellishments are sometimes called cut- outs because they present an irregular shape.

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Digital and LED boards are brightly lit plastic signs with electronic messaging. These signs come in a variety of sizes, colors, and brightness. Digital displays use wireless technology, which allows them to be quickly changed to reflect an advertising situation or the presence of a target audience member. o The outdoor landscape was dominated by large roadside billboards, but is now experiencing a paradigm shift as static ad displays are being converted to digital units.

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o For advertisers the conversion to digital, in addition to digital’s lower production costs and shorter lead times, provides greater availability, scalability, and flexibility on content. Digital boards are developing a true communication channel, controlling the content (owned, earned, and paid), its distribution, and consequently the depth and breadth of audience connection. •

Advertisers can purchase any number of units (75, 50, or 25 showings daily are common quantities). Boards are usually rented for 30-day periods, with longer periods possible. Painted bulletins are bought on an individual basis, usually for one, two, or three years.

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The cost of outdoor advertising is based on the percent of population in a specified geographical area exposed to the ad in one day. Based on a traffic count, the number of vehicles passing a particular location during a specified period of time is called a showing. The number of boards required for a 100 showing varies with the size of the city.

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Because of the very short time consumers are normally exposed to a traditional billboard message (typically, three to five seconds), the message must be short and the visual must be very attention getting. No more than 8 to 10 words is the norm.

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The “Practical Tips” box identifies key features of outdoor media and provides suggestions on how to design effective attention-getting messages for this “gigantic canvas.”

New and Novel Forms • Innovation is important for the out-of-home industry with some boards now equipped to run mini-movies and ads electronically. Some digitally enhanced outdoor boards can be hooked up to the Web. Creative thinking is necessary to brainstorm and plan ‘never-been-done before’ OOH campaigns. All types of interactive and unusual billboards have immense attention-getting power and are captivating audiences. Posters and Kiosks • Posters are posted on bulletin boards, the sides of buildings, and even vehicles. The walls of the subway are lined with posters advertising all kinds of products. The repetition of the images created a strong billboarding effect. Empty storefronts in prime downtown locations and major thoroughfares have become the latest venue for posting posters. With their large expanse of window space, abandoned retail stores have become a frugal way to deliver a big message during the recession. •

Special structures called kiosks are designed for public posting of notices and posters. Kiosks are typically located in places where people walk, such as a many-

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sided structure in a mall or near a public walkway, or where people wait. The location has a lot to do with the design of the message. Transit Advertising • This is mainly an urban mass advertising form that places ads on vehicles such as buses and taxis that circulate through the community as moving billboards. Transit advertising also includes the posters seen in bus shelters and train, airport, and subway stations. •

Most of these posters must be designed for quick impressions, although people who are waiting on subway platforms or bus shelters often study these posters, so here they can present a more involved or complicated message than a billboard can. More recently, these walls have become the site for large-scale interactive digital advertising.

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Another type of transit advertising is naming rights; by that, a station, for a fee, may carry the designation of a nearby business, such as Times Square Station at 42nd Street in New York, which refers to the New York Times.

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There are two types of transit advertising - interior and exterior. o Interior transit advertising is seen by people riding inside buses, subway cars, and taxis. These are primarily posters or car cards, sometimes with coupons or other forms of tear-off information that can be taken away. These can be designed like outdoor boards with simple messages, but because the riders are largely a captive audience, interior posters often carry more complex messages. o Exterior transit advertising is mounted on the side, rear, and top exteriors of these vehicles so pedestrians and people in nearby cars see it. Even windows can be covered with see-through silk screen images that carry commercial messages. Exterior transit advertising is reminder advertising; it is a frequency medium that lets advertisers get their names in front of a local audience who drive a regular route at critical times such as rush hour.

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Painted vehicles make up another type of transit advertising. More recently, recession-weary drivers have been tempted to sign up to have their cars and trucks wrapped with ads. Some of these use striking graphics, such as the brand-image designs on the sides of many trucks, both long haul and delivery.

Event Advertising and Sponsorships Ads at events and stadiums are another type of out-of-home media. Some are electronic, but many are printed posters. Ads also appear all over cars at races as well as on their driver’s outfits. Companies pay huge fees, as sponsors, in order to get their logos in prominent positions.

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ONLINE ADVERTISING • Internet advertising can be delivered to a website as a traditional display ad, or it can be presented in other formats, such as banner ads across the top or bottom of a Web page. The percentage of most marketing communication budgets spent on Internet advertising is still relatively small, but growing fast. In the United States, online advertising spending overtook print in 2012. •

The greatest percentage of Internet advertising is found on a small group of large, established sites that operate as electronic publishers, such as www.nytimes.com, www.wsj.com, and www.espn.com, as well as on major search engines and service providers, such as Google and Yahoo!. These media and search organizations have established reputations, and they know how to sell advertising.

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Social media sites, such as Facebook, also accept advertising, and Facebook has a section on its site about how to create Facebook advertising (www.facebook.com/advertising). In 2013, Twitter announced that it was beginning to offer advertising space.

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With over a billion users, Facebook has a lot of viewers whom advertisers would like to reach. The Facebook philosophy seeks to protect its user experience of friends and conversations. To be true to its mission, it prizes subtle advertising and advocates using such ad forms as sponsored stories that look like Facebook posts. This philosophy tends to create tension with big advertisers as well as criticism. Advertisers would like a bigger presence on Facebook pages but can’t prove advertising effectiveness. Marketers and investors are also reluctant to promote Facebook as an advertising platform.

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Facebook suggests measurement should focus not on “clicks” but rather on brand advertising image and relationship building. To capture more advertising dollars from its huge trail of user data, Facebook has created Facebook Exchange (FBX), which provides local sales links to targeted customers. Using behavior targeting, FBX retargets consumers who have made previous purchases or shown purchase intention on the Web.

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Google has been the most successful at attracting advertising, leading in search engine advertising, display advertising, and mobile advertising. Google also dominates the search ad industry and sells display ads, along with search ads, for thousands of sites. Google and Yahoo! bring in about $88 in revenue per person for its search engine users, while Facebook only makes about $15 per user.

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Digital media have benefited from innovations in interactivity that we call rich media, which means viewers are able to participate in the ads or manipulate them by clicking or rolling over parts of the image. Viewers can also download streaming video or brand-related apps. Tablets, particularly the iPad, have taken advantage of the rich-media technology.

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Although online advertising continues to be a hot topic at industry seminars, there are some critics who question its effectiveness. Some people believe that people’s behavior on the Web and how they interact with advertising is different from traditional media, and that online advertising has less impact. The word is still out on the effectiveness of online advertising.

Cell Phone Advertising • In addition to being essential communication, information, and entertainment tools in most people lives, cell phones provide new avenues for commercial communication. •

Phones can be used for paid ads, which look like small banners tucked into the corner of a Web page or spread across the top or bottom of the screen. Because of the screen size cell phone display ads are a challenge for ad designers. Mobile advertisers have found that context—the website or game—is particularly important for this medium, as intrusive ads seeking to attract attention have little room to work their magic on the small screen.

Website Advertising • Small ads on other Web pages that lure visitors to switch pages are called banner ads. Visitors can click on them to move to the advertised website, Banner ads are easy to create and are usually placed on a website featuring complementary products or related topics. Display ads are larger than banners and include text and images in their designs. The design of other forms of display internet advertising is constantly changing as the industry advances. Here are some common, as well as novel, formats: • Skyscrapers are the extra-long, skinny ads running down the right or left side of a website. Response rates for skyscrapers, which began to be used aggressively by more companies in the early 2000s, can be 10 times higher than for traditional banner ads. •

Pop-ups and pop-behinds burst open on the computer screen either in front of or behind the opening page of the website. They are seen as intrusive and annoying, so some internet advertisers have moved away from this format, and some computer software programs block them.

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Micro-sites or mini-sites are small websites that are the offspring of a parent website, such as the TDI Diesel site on the corporate VW site. For marketing purposes, the micro-site may cover particular products, campaigns, events, or promotions. Microsites tend to be more tightly focused than their parent sites and may be transitory because the reason for the site might have a time frame and expire. Another variation allows advertisers to market their products on other branded websites without sending people away from the site they’re visiting. This

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type of advertising generally gets a higher click rate than banners or display ads; about 5 percent of the people who see the sites click on them. •

Superstitials are thought of as the “Internet’s commercial” and are designed to work like television ads. When you go from one page on a website to another, a 20-second animation appears in a window.

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Widgets are tiny computer programs that allow people to create and insert professional-looking content into their personal websites and also onto their television screens. They include news notes, calculators, weather feeds, stock tickers, clocks, book or music covers, or other Web gadgets that can be a brandname promotional offer. It’s a way to get a nonintrusive brand reminder ad on the desktop, website, or blog. o Widgets also refer to mini-applications that pull content from some other place on the Web and add it to your site. In addition to getting onto cell phone screens and social media pages, they also can monitor contacts when someone clicks on the feature.

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As advertisers have searched for more effective ways to motivate site visitors to stay longer, they have used animation to become more entertaining with games and contests, interviews with celebrities, and even musical performances.

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Originally, internet ads were jazzed up using relatively simple animation techniques to make elements move. New technologies provide even more active components. Research generally finds that the click-through rate nearly doubles when motion and an interactive element are added to a banner or display ad.

Click-Throughs • The measure of the success of an online ad or banner is the number of times viewers click on the link to check out the advertiser or the message. These clicks usually take viewers to the website of the advertiser or to some other special interesting feature. •

Online banner ads continue to be a major part of online advertising, but the overall click-through rate has dropped to less than 1 percent. The most successful banner ads achieve 5 to 7 percent click-through and can help build brand awareness even if they don’t deliver a high level of response.

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The difference in click-through response lies in the creativity and attention-getting power of the banner ad or ad and where it is placed. The more related and relevant a site is to the brand, the more likely it will generate a higher level of clickthroughs.

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Principle: The click-through rate nearly doubles when motion and an interactive element are added to a banner ad—or to any form of online advertising.

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•

Pay-per-click is a type of online advertising that is driven by consumer search. The advertiser pays when a viewer clicks on an accompanying ad that takes them to the advertiser’s site. Similar to search advertising, pay-per-click relies on key words that relate to a brand or product and bring the Seeker to the search. Each time a Seeker clicks on your ad, you pay the negotiated click-through price.

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Principle: The more relevant a website is to the brand, the more likely an ad will generate a higher level of click-through.

Online Video Ads • Website visitors or viewers watching video downloads also confront a variety of online video ads. There are about 30 formats available, so advertisers who want to use video are struggling to find the best platform for their ads. The most common are in a pre-roll format, which forces viewers to watch a video ad before viewing video clips. •

Other formats include interactive video ads that drop down over the screen and allow viewers to click for more information and videos that allow viewers to click on hot spots or buttons within the video to learn more about a product.

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The lack of standardization means that agencies have higher production costs as they try to adapt to different delivery systems.

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A recent study tested a number of these formats and concluded that the best way to deliver video ads is through an ad selector, a feature that offers a group of ads and invites viewers to choose one. The test found that consumers are more likely to watch and remember video ads if they are able to pick the ones they watch.

Online Classified Ads • A small part of the online advertising is classified advertising, whether through local media websites or Craigslist. The move to online “want ads” has been a big reason why local newspapers are in trouble financially. •

Craigslist is a community exchange for people who either want to sell something or are looking for something. Its business model is to operate as a public service. It doesn’t accept advertising but does charge for real estate listings and open-job postings. Craigslist does have a problem with spammers who have automated the mass posting of ads.

Search Advertising • People do hundreds of millions of searches a day on their computers, smart phones, tablets, and other electronic devices. Estimates for the percentage of internet advertising that goes to sites connected with search advertising range from 50 to 80 percent, which indicates how important the search function is for consumers and the marketers who are trying to reach them.

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The reason the consumer search function is so important is that it provides the marketer with an opportunity to position a brand message adjoining the list of sites (articles, blogs, and Wikipedia entries) that is compiled in response to a key word by search engines. This practice is called search advertising or search marketing.

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Because consumers initiate the search, the adjoining ads are not perceived to be as intrusive as other forms of advertising. In 2013, the Federal Trade Commission expressed concern that search engines would often bring up content that might not be identified as paid advertisements and laid out guidelines to help visitors more clearly distinguish ads from other types of information.

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Principle: Search marketing is important because it allows ads to be positioned on sites that are associated with key words, which are topics of interest to the consumer doing the search. It is the ultimate in brand linkage and interest association.

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A benefit of online consumer searches is that they leave a trail of clues about products, features, and advertising approaches. This behavior can be mined for insights that lead to new products.

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AOL uses massive amounts of tracking data to tell what Web search topics are most likely to attract audiences. Search providers, such as Google, MSN, Bing, and Yahoo!, auction off positions that let advertisers’ ads be seen next to specific search results. These related ads are priced based on the number of consumer clicks on the ad, with rates averaging around 50 cents per click.

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Microsoft’s Bing.com and Google’s “Goggles” also offer visual searches that display search results as pictures rather than words.

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A recent development is Google’s foray into real-time search, which not only produces the usual search results but also lets Google supplement the results with updates posted each second on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. This mix of search and social media will only increase the speed with which brand messages spread and will challenge the ability of companies to monitor their brands’ online presence.

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The practice of maximizing the link between topics and brand-related websites is called search optimization. Companies try to affect their search engine rankings in order to drive more traffic to their websites. They want their ads to appear as close to the top of the list as possible in order to have maximum visibility. An important first step for marketers in creating a viable website is getting it registered with popular search engines so that it shows up early on the list provided by the search engine.

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•

Another type of consumer search using smart phones is based on a quickresponse code, which is a type of two-dimensional bar code that uses a scannable matrix design of square dots. You see them in ads and articles, on packages, and the sides of buildings, anywhere a company wants to post this code as a scannable link to its website. The point is that this is just one more way consumers can search for information using their mobile phones.

Online Advertising Sales Selling online advertising space is complicated. Major sites, such as MSNBC.com and History.com, sell ads on their pages charging premium prices because they are on hightraffic sites. They can cost from $10 to $50 per thousand viewings, depending on the visibility of the position. •

Advertisers and their media buyers get access to internet sites through providers such as DoubleClick, an internet advertising service owned by Google that places more than 60 billion online ads per month. DoubleClick provides reports on the placement and performance of these ads to both publishers and advertisers and also helps create ads and widgets.

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Middlemen companies act as brokers for online ad space that they aggregate across different sites and package as single buys, in effect setting up an ad network. This ad networker offer less well designed sites and positions and may sell space for less than a dollar per thousand viewers. They are criticized for flooding the internet with cheap and sometimes tacky ads.

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Data-mining companies like Blue Kai and eXelate Media collect data on how visitors move around among sites and then sell access to advertising on groups of sites that attract similar visitors.

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Google, Microsoft, and AOL have set up ad exchanges that allow advertisers to bid directly on available ad space on large groups of websites. In effect, they are cutting out the middlemen. Other big websites, such as ESPN, Turner Broadcasting, and Forbes magazine, have stopped doing business with the ad networks in order to gain better control over the quality of the content on their sites.

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The Online Publishers Association, which represents major publishers of web content, reported on a study that found that ads on portals, as well as ads bought from ad brokers, were significantly less effective than the ads that the premium sites offer. The idea is that the portals and ad networkers’ ads may be cheaper, but they appear in formats that are less interesting and thus are less likely to connect with visitors.

Digital Issues for Traditional Media • Print media, as well as broadcast, have been struggling with competition from online media, as well as decisions on how to support online versions of their own Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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publications, particularly since tablets have made online print versions much more readable. •

Some newspapers and magazines have “bundled” subscriptions that include print, digital, and apps for smart phones and tablets. Others offer separate subscription rates for print, digital, and/or app packages.

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Another problem is Google’s practice of displaying media headlines without any charges—either to the media company or to the viewer. Google receives online advertising revenue at the same time print media advertising is in a steady decline.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 12-4. Explain how newspapers vary based on frequency of publication, format and size, and circulation. Most newspapers are published either daily or weekly. Daily newspapers are usually found in cities and larger towns and have morning editions, evening editions, or allday editions. Newspapers typically are available in two sizes. The first, called the tabloid, consists of five or six columns, each of which is about 2 inches wide and has a length of approximately 14 inches. The standard size, or broadsheet newspaper, is twice as large as the tabloid size, usually eight columns wide and 300 lines deep or 22 inches deep by 14 inches wide. More than 90 percent of all newspapers use standard size. The word circulation refers to the number of copies a newspaper sells and is the primary way newspapers’ reach is measured and compared with the reach of other media. A few newspapers have a national circulation. Some newspapers try to reach certain target audiences by publishing Spanish-language editions or editions aimed at African Americans, Chinese, Russians, and so forth. Special newspapers also exist for special interest groups, religious denominations, political affiliations, labor unions, and professional and fraternal organizations. 12-5. Explain how newspaper readership is determined and measured, and how readership differs from circulation? Newspapers measure their audiences to assess their performance and spot growth opportunities. They also use readership data to attract advertisers who want to reach their readers. Newspapers obtain objective measures of newspaper circulation and readership by subscribing to one or both of the following auditing companies, the Auditing Bureau of Circulation (ABC) and Simmons-Scarborough. Circulation is the primary way newspapers’ reach is measured and compared with the reach of other media. It is the number of copies that are distributed, either via newsstands and/or Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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through home or business delivery. Readership is always larger than circulation because a newspaper is often read by more than one person. 12-6. What are the advantages of magazine advertising? Most American adults read at least one magazine per month, and they spend more time with magazines that with other print media. Color and quality of reproduction are the biggest strengths of magazines. They allow the advertiser’s products and brand image to be presented in a format superior to the quality of newspapers. People tend to pay more attention to magazine advertising and stories because they are concentrating more on the medium and the messages are generally more relevant to their interests. Readers also spend more time reading a magazine so there is a better opportunity to provide in-depth information. 12-7. What is the greatest advantage of using outdoor advertising? Directory advertising? Outdoor advertising has the advantage of being a high-impact medium offering larger-than-life visuals, on a hard-to-ignore structure. It is valued as a directional medium because it tells someone how to find a business establishment. It can also serve as a brand reminder and can reinforce a creative concept employed in other media. Finally, outdoor boards and signs are the least expensive of all major media, especially in light of their long life. Because people have taken the initiative to look for a business or service, the listing is reaching an audience already in need of something. Therefore, directory advertising doesn’t have to create a need because it is the number one shopping medium. This is its greatest advantage. 12-8. How can radio be used most effectively, and what are the advantages and limitations of advertising on radio? To maximize the impact of a radio spot, timing is critical and depends upon understanding when the target audience is most likely to be responsive. For example, restaurants run spots before meals; auto dealerships run spots on Friday and Saturday, when people are free to visit showrooms; jewelry stores run spots before Christmas. Radio buys can be used at the local level to supplement national television and cable and can act as a reminder. The advantages of radio are that it is highly targeted and inexpensive. Although radio may not be a primary medium for most businesses, it does have excellent reminder and reinforcement capability and is great about building frequency through repetition, particularly if the message can be delivered through a jingle. It’s a great tool for targeting audiences through specialized programming, such as talk shows and musical interests. It also sparks the imagination because of its ability to stimulate mental imagery through the theater of the mind, which uses humor, drama, music, and sound effects to tell a story. Radio is also flexible and allows for easy changes to schedules.

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One problem for radio is that it plays in the background for many of our activities. Although the radio is on, the multitasking listener may not really be listening to or concentrating on the message. Listeners tend to tune in and tune out as something catches their attention, which is why effective radio advertising is designed to “break through” the surrounding clutter. 12-9. How can television be used most effectively, and what are the advantages and limitations of advertising on television? A media buyer must be thoroughly familiar with all of the various television options, including network, local, and cable. For example, networks allow sponsorships, participations, and spot announcements through their affiliates. In turn, local affiliates allow local sponsorships, spot announcements, and national spots. Cable systems allow system (national) spots and local spots. Finally, interactive television allows (national) spots and local spots. Advantages: Because of its mass appeal and wide reach, television advertising is the most cost-effective way to deliver a mass media message to a large audience. Television also has a buzz factor with viewers talking with friends about their favorite programs. In addition, television advertising makes a strong visual and emotional impact. The interaction of sight, sound, color, motion, and drama creates a stronger emotional response than most other forms of advertising media. Television is particularly good at creating messages that generate viewer engagement. It is also good for delivering things that need action and movement. Limitations: The commercial breaks between programs can be difficult time slots for advertisers because there is a great deal of clutter from competing commercials, station breaks, and public service announcements. Wasted reach, or communication directed at an audience that may not fit the advertiser’s target market, is another problem. In addition, viewers may become disinterested and zip (fast forward) or zap (change channels) commercials if they don’t have TiVo. Also, television advertising is expensive relative to other media, both for time and production costs. Production costs are higher than ads in other media, as well. A final problem is clutter and its stepchildren, intrusiveness and irritation. As clutter has increased, advertisements are becoming more intrusive in order to grab attention from a disinterested and irritated audience. 12-10. What are trailers and how are they used as an advertising form? Movie theaters, particularly the large chain theaters, sell time at the beginning of their film showings for commercials, called trailers, which are movie previews. Most of these trailers are advertising for upcoming films, but some are national commercials for brands or local commercials for local businesses. These ads can be targeted to a certain extent by the nature of the film and the rating.

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12-11. How can movie advertising be used most effectively, and what are its advantages and limitations? Movie advertising can be targeted to a certain extent by the nature of the film and the rating, such as G or PG. Some films, such as The Five Year Engagement, drew an audience that was heavily female, while other action films, such as Dredd 3D, draws more males. DVD and video distributors are also placing ads before their movies, as well as on the cases. The targeting strategy is the same as that for theater ads where the ad is matched to the movie audience. Advantages: Movie trailers are one of the fastest growing types of advertising because of advances in digital technology. Trailers are valued by advertisers because they play to a captive audience, one that is not able to do other things, like read or talk to other people. The attention level is higher for these ads than for almost any other form of commercial. Limitations: The captive audience dimension is also the biggest disadvantage of movie trailers because people who have paid $6-$15 for a ticket resent the intrusion. They feel they paid for the ticket so they shouldn’t have to pay with their time and attention to watch commercials. 12-12. What is a website, and how does it differ from other forms of advertising? A website is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. With web advertising, you can search for information additional, communicate to vendors and purchase products and/or services without delay, and you do not have to use another media to complete the process. 12-13. Define and describe a banner ad. Some experts say the effectiveness of banner ads is declining. Why would that be? Small ads on other Web pages that lure visitors to switch pages are called banner ads. Visitors can click on them to move to the advertised website. Banners have become commonplace on websites, so they are not as engaging as they once were. And, as advertisers search for more effective ways to motivate site visitors to stay longer, they are using advanced animation to become more entertaining ways to engage the audience – games, contests, interviews with celebrities, and even musical performances. When motion and an interactive element are added to a banner ad there is more response.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 12-14. You are the media planner for an agency handling a small chain of upscale furniture outlets in a medium-sized metro market that concentrates most of its advertising in the Sunday supplement of the local newspaper. The client also schedules display ads in the daily editions for special sales. Six months ago a new, high-style metropolitan magazine approached you about advertising for your client. You deferred a decision by

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saying you’d see what reader acceptance would be. Now the magazine has shown some steady increases. If you were to include magazines on the ad schedule, you’d have to reduce the newspaper media somewhat. What would be your recommendation to the furniture store owner? The decision to switch some of the newspaper budget to the new magazine can come only after assessing the situation a little more. The upscale magazine is a better editorial match for the upscale store environment. Is the magazine circulation duplicating newspaper readership or is it exposing new audiences to the furniture store? If media objectives are to build reach, the magazine would have to be contacting new viewers, but if media goals are to build frequency, then the magazine would need to be contacting the same readers as the newspaper. How often does the magazine publish? Would it be weekly like the Sunday supplement or only monthly? Neither a weekly nor monthly publication would be appropriate for the special sales advertised in the daily editions. Because magazines have a longer lead time than newspapers, it couldn’t be used for sales events or promotions that aren’t planned well in advance. The editorial compatibility of the magazine makes it an attractive medium that merits at least a trial for the furniture store, but it is not likely to replace the newspaper schedule. 12-15. You are a sales rep working for a college newspaper that has an online version. How would you attract advertising? One of your colleagues says there is no market for online advertising for the paper, but you think the paper is missing an opportunity. Consider the following questions in deciding whether online advertising for the paper makes sense: What companies would you recommend to contact? How can Internet sites like your online newspaper entice companies to advertise on them? What competitive advantage, if any, would Web advertising for your paper provide? The Internet as an advertising medium is very viable as an additional channel of communication that will continue to have a place in the media mix. Internet sites can attract advertisers with reasonable rates and assistance in creating an effective ad, but the one predominant element missing in bringing advertising to the Internet is accurate monitoring of audiences. It is inconsistent that a medium with such strong ability to track users has difficulty establishing reliable audience measurements. Interactivity is the strongest advantage of Internet advertising and tends to be the most misused or unused aspect of the medium. Advertisers are still exploring ways to engage computer users once they find their way to a website. A second advantage of Internet advertising is its ability to customize messages to individuals who are using computers. Through research we know that young people use the Internet extensively and in fact are willing to try new associated technologies. As a sales rep, you need to appeal to businesses that students are buying from, that are willing to try new promotional techniques, and whose product will benefit from the use of the technology.

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Newspapers have been pioneers in Internet advertising. As the text tells us, bigger spaces—such as that provided by skyscrapers—and rich media make it easier for advertisers to design messages with impact.

12-16. You are a major agency media director who has just finished a presentation to a prospective client in convenience food marketing where you recommend increasing the use of local radio and television advertising in spot markets. During the Q-and-A period, a client representative says: “We know that network television viewers’ loyalty is nothing like it was ten or even five years ago because so many people now turn to cable, VCRs, and the Web. There are smaller audiences per program each year, yet television time costs continue to rise. Do you still believe we should consider commercial television as a primary medium for our company’s advertising?” Another member of the client team questions whether broadcast is effective given the clutter on both radio and television with long commercial pods. “Why shouldn’t we decrease our use of broadcast advertising?” How would you answer? Develop an argument in support of either increasing or decreasing the use of broadcast advertising for this client. Everything the representative said is true, but they are not reasons to abandon commercial network and network affiliate advertising. Commercial television is still a mass medium that has the power of impact and the ability to deliver mass audiences, appropriate approaches for a convenience food market. Although the absolute cost is high, television is a cost-efficient medium. The marketer should continue to use network and affiliate television as primary media that can be supplemented effectively with cable and print media.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 12-17. Portfolio Project: You have been asked by the director of your school’s student union to make a chart of all the traditional media serving your market to use in promoting the center’s 50th anniversary events. Develop a profile for each medium giving the key characteristics, such as type of programming (for broadcast), the type of audience reached, the products commonly advertised, and the appropriateness of this medium as an advertising vehicle for the center’s special celebration. At the end of your media analysis, identify the top three that you would recommend and explain why. Information needed to prepare the chart can be readily obtained from the various chapters in the textbook that discuss media. In order to prepare an effective analysis you must consider the dynamics of each media. Review the audience selectivity, reach potential, speed of audience accumulation, geographic flexibility, and the lead time needed to buy the media. You must also compare audience delivery, impressions and, production and advertising costs before determining and recommending the top three media. 12-18. Mini-Case Analysis: Aflac has been an award-winning campaign for years. How

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important do you think the “voice of the brand” is? Why not have multiple quacking ducks? Explain how its media use has contributed to its success. In particular, describe how the media mix has evolved. If you were a member of the team planning the next year’s campaign, what other media might be useful? The duck has a voice that is essential to the brand awareness. When the duck’s voice was silenced, the company and agency moved with lightning speed to restore it with a multiplatform communication effort, asking America to “answer the duck’s call” at the aptly named Quackaflac.com website or the audition sites in six cities. The single duck approach has been incredibly successful, so why change what doesn’t need fixing. Today the duck is considered one of the best-known brand icons. A combination of traditional (TV and print) and new media (Aflac website) was used to first develop awareness of the brand and then move the consumer toward brand comprehension. Television is still Aflac’s dominant medium, however this traditional media and interactive digital media have become inexorably intertwined and critical to the success of the brand. For future campaigns, radio could be added to the traditional media mix to provide updates on the duck, as well as to enhance and supplement the TV message. And, an expanded web presence, through the Aflac website and continued use of the Facebook and Twitter dialogue, between users and the duck, can be used to reinforce what the consumer knows about Aflac.

TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Multicultural Advertising Media Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 12-19. In what ways do traditional advertising media contribute to the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign? Why? 12-20. How can online advertising be used in support of this campaign?

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are the traditional paid media of advertising? What are some of its characteristics? Traditional advertising media includes print, broadcast, out-of-home, and online media as well as other nontraditional or alternative forms. Those are the major groups of the paid media category used in brand communication, and they usually demand a

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big share of the brand communication budget. They also play a huge role in creating brand visibility. Paid media are used primarily in advertising. Advertisers pay a fee to media in order to present brand messages in their various vehicles, usually space and time in print, broadcast, out of home, or online. Paid media can provide wide reach, as in television audiences, or they can be tightly targeted, as in outdoor boards or magazines directed to small niche audiences. The advertiser controls the size and timing of the message placement, but has no control over whether readers or viewers will notice the ad. There tends to be lots of clutter in traditional media. This can lead to avoidance by the media user—turning the page, leaving the room when television ads come on, changing channels, or zipping through television ads.

2. What are the various types of magazines? What contributes to the continued success of the magazine industry? The focus of the audience interest is the number one factor in classifying magazines. The two main types of audiences that magazines target are consumer and business audiences. Consumer magazines are directed at consumers who buy products for personal consumption. The largest growth area for consumer magazines is for specialinterest publications aimed at narrow or niche audiences. Business magazines target business readers. They include the following types of publications: trade papers aimed at retailers, wholesalers, and other distributors, industrial magazines aimed at manufacturers, professional magazines aimed at physicians, lawyers, and other professionals, farm magazines aimed at those working in agriculture, and corporate publications produced by companies for their customers and other stakeholders. Business magazines are also classified as vertical or horizontal publications. Vertical publications present stories and information about an entire industry. Women’s Wear Daily, for example, discusses the production, marketing, and distribution of women’s fashions. Horizontal publications deal with a business function that cuts across industries, such as Direct Marketing. 3. What is directory advertising and what are its benefits? Directories are books like the Yellow Pages that list the names of people or companies, their phone numbers, and their addresses. In addition to this information, many directories publish advertising from marketers who want to reach the people who use the directory. Corporations, associations, and other organizations, such as nonprofits, also publish directories either in print or online that include members as well as other

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stakeholders. These are often provided as a service to members as part of a corporate communication program. •

Directory advertising is designed to get attention, communicate key information about the organization, reinforce the company’s brand image and position, and drive behavior, the hardest of all facets of advertising effects to achieve. One of the biggest advantages of advertising in directories is that if people have taken the initiative to look for a business or service, then the listing is reaching an audience already in the market for something and ready to take action. Directory advertising doesn’t have to create a need because it is a number one shopping aid. Another advantage is directional advertising: it tells people where to go to get the product or service they want. Almost 90 percent of those who consult the Yellow Pages follow up with some kind of action.

4. What are the three different ways in which radio can be purchased? How do they differ? There are three types of radio buys: network, spot, and syndicated. Network Radio Advertising can be bought from national networks that distribute programming and advertising to their affiliates. A radio network is a group of local affiliates connected to one or more national networks through telephone wires and satellites. The five major radio networks are Westwood One, CBS, ABC, Unistar, and Clear Channel. The largest network by far is Clear Channel, with more than 1,200 stations. Many advertisers view network radio as a viable national advertising medium, especially for food and beverages, automobiles, and over-the-counter drugs. Both local and national spot advertising lets an advertiser place an advertisement with an individual station rather than through a network. Spot radio advertising makes up nearly 80 percent of all radio advertising. In large cities, 40 or more radio stations may be available. Local stations also offer flexibility through their willingness to run unusual ads, allow last-minute changes, and negotiate rates. Buying spot radio and coping with its non-standardized rate structures can be cumbersome. Syndicated radio advertising is the original type of radio programming that plays on a large number of affiliated stations, such as the Paul Harvey show, which is broadcast on some 1,200 stations. Program syndication has benefited network radio because it offers advertisers a variety of high-quality, specialized, and usually original programs. Both networks and private firms offer syndication. Advertisers value syndicated programming because of the high level of loyalty of its audience. 5. In addition to broadcast network television and its local affiliates, what are some other forms of television service? Other forms of television service include the following: Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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Subscription television is a delivery system that carries the television signal to subscribers either by cable or satellite. People sign up for television service and pay a monthly fee.

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Satellite television is similar to cable in that it’s a competing delivery system. In addition to cable channels, it also carries superstations such as WTBSAtlanta and WGN-Chicago.

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On-demand programming is available to subscribers for an additional monthly fee. This type of programming offers movies, specials, and sports. Pay networks do not currently sell advertising time.

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Public television is still considered to be commercial free by many, but this is not the case. The FCC allows the approximately 350 Public Broadcasting System (PBS) stations some leeway in airing commercial messages, called program underwriting.

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6. What are the concerns regarding television ad avoidance? Avoidance of television advertising is easy to do with your remote control. Time-shifting using a DVR allows users to record favorite television shows and watch them whenever they like. The technology makes it possible to record the programming, letting users pause, do instant replays, and begin watching programs even before the recording has finished. With DVR-recorded programs, consumers can zip past (fast-forward through) commercials completely or zap them by changing to another channel.

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Advertisers and television executives are alarmed over the increasing popularity of timeshifting and zipping and zapping. These practices are forcing advertisers to rethink the design of their ads, recognizing that they only have a few moments win the attention of viewers. The DVR industry estimates that viewers zip past about 6 percent of television commercials, an estimated waste of some $5 billion in ad spending. A Nielsen study, however, found that viewers are not zipping through commercials as much as advertisers feared. 7. How is evolving technology impacting television programming option? New technology is having an impact on programming options, as well as on distribution patterns and systems. Consider the following innovations: High-definition TV (HDTV) is a type of TV standard that delivers movie-quality, high-resolution images. As stations upgraded their equipment and moved to HDTV by 2009, the increased availability of HDTV programming made it necessary for consumers to upgrade to HDTV sets. Interactive television means you’re watching your favorite program and a commercial comes on for a product that interests you. A button pops up on the screen that you can click with your remote, and you are asked questions about whether you want more information or a coupon or to give some other response. Addressable television uses a type of television that makes it possible for individual homes to receive targeted and personalized advertising. The ability to address ads to different homes through cable and other subscription services is becoming more feasible, particularly for local video-on-demand programming. Cablevision provides viewers with a remote control they can use to request samples or promotional offers to be sent to their homes. A number of researchers are testing the feasibility of bringing 3-D television to living rooms by improving on current technology and its use of special glasses. The logistics are difficult but 3-D may finally be on its way to home television sets.

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Interior transit advertising is seen by people riding inside buses, subway cars, and taxis. These are primarily posters or car cards, sometimes with coupons or other forms of tear-off information that can be taken away. Because the riders are largely a captive audience, interior posters often carry more complex messages. Exterior transit advertising is mounted on the side, rear, and top exteriors of these vehicles so pedestrians and people in nearby cars see it. Even windows can be covered with see-through silk screen images that carry commercial messages. Exterior transit advertising is reminder advertising. It is a frequency medium that lets advertisers get their names in front of a local audience who drive a regular route at critical times such as rush hour.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Research the development of the TV viewing via the internet such as Netflix and Hulu. How has it fundamentally changed television programming? What new challenges and opportunities does it present to advertisers? Write a 750-word paper summarizing your findings. 2. Locate and interview a radio station manager. He/she could be in AM, FM, cable, satellite, or Web radio. Ask about the future of the industry in your market. What are the anticipated trends? What will be different about the industry one year, five years, and 10 years from now? What new advertising challenges and opportunities will it bring? What is the station doing to prepare for changes? Write up your findings in a brief report. 3. Go online and visit the websites of one consumer magazine and one business magazine. Analyze the information provided by each site regarding the target market served. Write a short paper describing the market served by each magazine. For each magazine, list at least three companies that might advertise in the magazine based on the identified target market. Think-Pair-Share 1. Together, record any 60-minute television show of your choice. Then, review the commercials. List the sponsors and tabulate the commercials in terms of length, number of airings, and times between commercial breaks. Taken as a whole, what does this information tell you about clutter, intrusiveness, and irritation in television advertising? As the consumer, what is your response to these advertisements? Summarize your findings in a PowerPoint presentation for the class. 2. Pair off with a classmate and select a product or service that you enjoy using. Then, select two out-of-home advertising vehicles that you might use to promote it.

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Consider buses, posters on walls, telephone and shopping kiosks, painted and wrapped cars and semi-trucks, taxi signs and mobile billboards, transit shelters, and other options outlined in this chapter. Explain the logic of your advertising vehicle. Who is its target audience and what are its advantages?

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Many people think of Nielsen as only the TV ratings company, but Nielsen provides so much more research data. Go to www.nielsen.com and click on the Solutions tab. What types of research tools are available to assist planners and buyers in making strategic media decisions? Does Nielsen provide information that is helpful when building a multiplatform campaign? As you explore, also consider as the media landscape continues to change, what other types of information could Nielsen provide that would be helpful in media planning and buying. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation to share with the class.

2. Go online and visit the Internet Advertising Competition site at www.advertisingcompetion.org. Browse the site and review the guidelines for entry. Then, go the winners section and select three contest winners. Review their entries. What elements did their campaigns include? Based on the judging criteria, why were the campaigns you reviewed “winning” campaigns? Based on your findings write 1,000 word paper on how to create an effective internet campaign.

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◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. What do we mean by owned media that organizations control and manage? 2. What are the interactive owned media that are also managed by organizations, and why is that interactive element important? 3. What are earned media, and how do organizations relate to brand discussions that are beyond their control? 4. How does multiplatform brand communication work, and why is it important?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW In this chapter, we will discuss the important developments in digital media and how online media has changed the face of marketing communication. In particular, we will discuss the implications of media owned and controlled by the brand, as well as a number of interactive media forms shape-shifting media and both the challenges and opportunities they create for marketing communication.

CHAPTER OUTLINE Beyond Paid Media We will review a wide variety of media forms and organize them into three categories: owned, interactive, and earned. • Owned media are created and controlled by the organization. • The interactive owned media include two forms—media programs designed by the organization to unlock two-way communication between the brand and consumers and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. • Earned media, historically has been a public relations concept, and refers to mentions in the news media. However, in this day of digital media, the concept of earned mentions has been expanded to include comments in social media. So we’ll talk about social media both as a type of interactive owned corporate medium in the sense that a company can have a Facebook page that creates a profile for a brand, similar to any user, and as an interactive earned medium where users engage in conversations that can be monitored for brand mentions.

Owned Media: We Own It; We Control It Owned brand messages are delivered from a company to consumers through channels controlled by the company. The biggest advantage of owned media is control, but there are other reasons to

consider using this category of media. They are versatile and can be created for diverse audiences, contact points, and time frames. They can be used to address various objectives, but one of the most important is loyalty and the development of consumer–brand relationships. •

Principle: These media represent a constellation of contact points that can be strategically designed to present a consistent brand image.

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A limitation of owned media is that, although you may own the publication or website, you have little or no control over consumer exposure to it. Supplemental efforts are needed to drive traffic and get your audience to come to you. For that reason, some online programs, such as websites, are supported with offline traditional advertising.

The sections that follow are not inclusive; rather, we compiled a variety of different ideas to inspire you to think broadly about brand communication opportunities. Corporate Presence Media • By corporate media, we are talking about things such as the design of a building or a delivery truck. In IMC planning, we recognize that these are important contact points that create the visual face of an organization or brand. How they present the brand image sends an important message. Environmental Design What a building looks like—both inside and outside—may reflect the image of the company and make a brand statement. The point is that design, decor, and physical appearance send messages about the style and personality of the brand. •

Buildings merit recognition for their visual branding. The highly recognized Chrysler building in New York City, for example, is a classic skyscraper with its dramatic art-deco crown and spire. It often appears as a logo or graphic image that represents New York.

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It’s not only the exteriors that speak to corporate image; the interiors of buildings and public spaces also convey messages. McDonald’s is updating its image. In the past few years, the company has achieved success both in updating its look and feel and expanding its target market without losing core customers. McDonald’s immense brand equity makes it possible to update its interior design, from kiddy classic to a destination for all ages, without taking a hit to its brand persona and hence to its market share.

Signage • A form of out-of-home media, retail and corporate signs are owned rather than paid. Onpremise signs that identify stores have been with us throughout recorded history and are today the most ubiquitous form of brand communication. In this complex environment, an effective sign may be relatively simple, like McDonald’s giant “M,” or more complex, like those found on the strip in Las Vegas with their large illuminated and animated visual extravaganzas.

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Some on-premise signs also act like billboards. On the opposite end of the signage continuum are inexpensive forms, such as yard signs, bumper stickers, and buttons— the media of political campaigns. Yard signs are temporary and used by real estate agents as well as politicians. Although they can be tacky, yard signs are public statements and perform an important function as either a reminder or a motivation to action.

Appearance • Uniforms as well as delivery trucks are a type of communication media. That’s why many companies with their own fleet of trucks use unique designs and insist that drivers keep the trucks clean. •

The appearance, attitude, and conduct of staff, who in many businesses are the front line of customer contact, send other types of messages—both positive and negative. That’s why most companies have training programs for new employees. Training is reinforced by ongoing employee relations programs, usually run by either public relations or human resources.

Branded Media • To take advantage of the value-added power of branding, companies find endless opportunities in media tools that bear the brand’s name. Using entertainment, for example, to engage consumers with brands is referred to as branded entertainment. The goal is to associate the brand with a fun, entertaining experience that creates positive feelings for the brand. Film, Fun, and Games • Promotional video networks run sponsored programs and commercials, such as the channels you see in grocery stores, doctor’s offices, and truck stops, that distribute commercials by video or satellites to in-store televisions. •

McDonald’s is creating its own M Channel with exclusive news, informational, and entertainment content that will play in McDonald’s stores nationwide. In some cases, companies may produce films for the Internet where the brand is integrated into the story line, such as an award-winning and groundbreaking series of eight mini-films for BMW titled “The Hire.” Similar to television programs with recurring episodes in a developing story, these webisodes created a new form of Web advertising.

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Branded games, in addition to product placement and ads, can showcase a brand name—an actual video game that is designed around a brand experience. The game is created and owned by the company.

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In addition to films, other media carrying the brand name of a sponsor include events such as lecture series and exhibits. Samsonite has produced high-quality photographic desk diaries. Nestlé created a “Milkybar Kid to the Rescue” mass-market paperback for the children’s market.

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Principle: Branded entertainment associates the brand with a fun experience that creates positive feelings for the brand.

Naming Rights • Another high-visibility area of branded media is naming rights for events and buildings. The objective is brand visibility; the benefit to the organization or municipality is a hefty payment. Naming rights dominate football bowl games and sports arenas. Heinz Field in Pittsburgh and Coors Field in Denver connect their towns with local companies, which makes a logical fit for the brand. Universities name buildings, as well as classrooms, conference rooms, and academic programs, after alumni and local leaders who give sizable donations. •

Principle: Naming rights deliver high visibility for a brand and an association with an important gathering point, such as sports arenas and public buildings.

The Media of Retail The retail store is a world of promotion. Packages proclaim brand identities and merchandising materials attract attention and deliver motivating sales messages. Packaging • A package is both a container and a communication vehicle. It is the last ad a customer sees before making the decision to buy a brand. In an attempt to win over undecided consumers at the point of purchase, many manufacturers create innovative, eye-catching packages. Even if you can’t afford a big advertising budget, you’ve got a chance to grab shopper attention if your product has a compelling image on the shelf. •

Although the industry has never developed a standard for measuring impressions from a shelf, advertisers are aware of the billboarding effect of a massed set of packages, a practice that Pepperidge Farm uses to good effect. Once on the shelf at home or in the office, the package is a constant brand reminder.

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Packages can also deliver customer benefits. For example, recipes for Quaker Oats’ famous Oatmeal Cookies, Nestlé’s Tollhouse Cookies, Chex Party Mix, and Campbell’s Green Bean Bake all started as promotional recipes on the product’s packaging and turned into longtime favorites in homemakers’ recipe boxes. There is even a website for these classic recipes (www .backofthebox.com) that features more than 1,500 recipes found on packages.

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Sometimes, the package itself is the focus of the advertising, particularly if there is a new size or innovation. Some packages, such as CD covers, can be artwork in and of themselves. The “A Matter of Principle” feature explains the principle of culturally specific design as it is used in promotional communication.

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Principle: A package is the last ad a customer sees before making a purchase decision.

Merchandising Materials • Merchandising materials are the media used in promotions for a store, product, or event. Manufacturers often provide brand-related window banners, posters, and freestanding

displays. In addition to posters and banners, other media used by retailers include shelf talkers (signs attached to a shelf that give brand information and also can invite the consumer to take away some piece of information, such as a recipe or coupon). Point-ofsales materials, sometimes called point-of-purchase, provide a special reason to buy. •

Other store-based media include end-of-aisle displays, display cartons, banners, signs, and mechanical product and sample dispensers. All of this is important to motivate impulse buys.

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In terms of store-based merchandising, think about all the different materials that carry the brand logo and maybe even other information— tray liners, table tents, coffee cups and sleeves, napkins, and coasters. Posters, signs, or other art are usually on the walls— sometimes art may be a part of the store’s environmental design, but signs may also be used to announce special promotions.

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Bags and sacks—grocery bags, shopping bags, and other retail bags—are important brand reminders. Even the stuffers that you find when you open up a pizza box delivered to your home are part of the merchandising program.

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Department stores will sometimes have theme or seasonal promotions where they bring together related products and create settings in which to display them, such as beach parties or graduation celebrations. All these props and supporting signage become theme-related media for the merchandising event.

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Principle: The objective of point- of-sale materials is to increase brand visibility, but they also bring together all the elements of a sale, including the consumer, the product, and often price deals.

The Owned Media of Public Relations and Promotions There are a variety of promotional media that are used both in public relations and sales promotion programs. Here are a few of them: Videos and Publications • DVDs, flash drives, podcasts, and online video can be used to distribute corporate videos and films for public relations and promotional programs. Costing $1,000 to $2,000 per minute to make, videos are not inexpensive. However, they are an ideal tool for distributing in-depth information about a company or program. Some companies have taken stock of the YouTube phenomenon and are using online video to reduce costs and draw attention to messages on corporate websites. •

Companies produce huge amounts of publications and literature of various kinds. Corporate publications include books, magazines, newsletters, special reports, annual reports, catalogs, and collateral materials, such as brochures. They may be sent to key stakeholders as part of a corporate communication program. High-quality brochures are often produced for new car lines or high-end real estate developments.

o They can be used as promotional tools and corporate reputation builders. A number of advertising and marketing communication agencies have published corporate history books that focus on the thoughts of their founders and the philosophies of their agencies. Traditionally, books have been printed, but with the advent of simplified electronic publication, e-books are now being produced for tablets as well as Nook and Kindle readers. Publicity Media • Publicity media is designed to encourage news media coverage and is used to support all types of brand communication programs. Press releases and video news releases (VNRs) are prepared news stories and features sent to print and television news media. •

Public relations offices assemble press kits that contain such pieces as news releases, fact sheets, histories, maps, photos, artwork, and position papers, among other collateral materials designed for different audiences and prepared, perhaps, in different languages. These pieces may also be on DVDs, flash drives, or online.

Brand Reminders and Rewards • A premium is a tangible reward for a particular act, usually purchasing or repurchasing a product. Common premiums that reward behaviors are the matchbooks and mints given away in restaurants. Events use T-shirts as well as an endless list of freebies, such as cups, caps, stuffed animals, and other souvenirs, most of which carry the brand’s logo. These are rewards, but they are also brand reminders. •

Premiums and prizes also recognize relationships. If you work on a Habitat for Humanity work site, for example, you may receive a T-shirt or a cap or maybe an energy bar. Premiums are also used as incentives to add value to a product or event.

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Corporate communication and public relations programs, as well as high-end sales programs, may use gifts. Industry data, for example, may be given to a B2B prospect on a logodecorated flash drive. Executive gifts, which are usually high-end expensive items, are used as special recognition for good B2B customers and sales contest winners. Sales programs often use competitions to increase excitement among the sales staff. The prizes can include big-ticket rewards, such as trips to resorts, beaches, and islands.

Place-Based Media • Place-based media like street-based media and guerilla marketing, create unexpected personal encounters with a brand, such as painted messages on streets, or people employed in places with a lot of foot traffic to hand out sales materials, such as coupons or samples. Sign spinners, or “human directionals,” are hired by local businesses to stand on street corners with signs and banners that promote their stores or special marketing events. To get drivers’ attention, they may appear in costumes or do little dance routines. •

Another form of human media is the flash mob, which began as rehearsed groups of performers who show up in unexpected places and put on concerts and dances. Some of these are for fun, but some are commercial.

Owned But Interactive: Let’s Talk •

Interactive media are those forms that invite users to participate in or respond personally to the message. The media format, such as e-mail and Twitter, allows the organization to initiate communication with consumers, customers, and other stakeholders. Engagement beyond just exposure is the goal when organizations use interactive media. Some media, such as texting, are just naturally more interactive and thus more engaging than owned media.

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There are also experiments with traditional media, such as television, that make it possible for viewers to interact with television messages through a set-top box or computer-accessible television. Television is not just limited to viewing programs but has become the center of the digital living room with viewers enjoying new experiences, such as games and exercise via their Wii players and other video games that now can be seen on the television screen.

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Principle: With interactive media, engagement is the goal.

Corporate Interactive Media A useful and sometimes exciting type of owned but interactive medium is the digital display, which invites viewers to interact with data represented graphically on a screen in front of them on kiosks in public places and lobby walls. •

Interactive electronic kiosks with LCD touch-screen computers, databases of information, full graphics, maps, product photos, and online access are moving into the aisles in many stores—and malls—where they provide information about more products than the store can ever stock on its shelves. Viewers can sometimes order merchandise directly from these kiosks.

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New kiosk advances add cameras, and, using facial-identity software, can estimate the user’s age and gender, making it possible to do more customized responses.

Direct Response Media • The first marketing communication area to recognize the value of interactivity in brand communication was direct-response marketing (also called direct advertising). The traditional media of direct response have been mail (letters, flyers, and catalogs), phone, and now online messages, all of which have some kind of response device built into the message delivery. •

Most direct-response programs are designed to generate transactions. The goal is to motivate customers to take action and place an order. Advances in digital technology make it possible to personalize messages and target tightly to prospects who are known to be interested. Even some advertising in print and television carries offers and reply forms to generate a sale.

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The big technological changes that made personalized communication possible was online media combined with databases of consumer information. Such advances make it possible to target prospects based on their past behavior (what they bought and what sites they visited).

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Technological innovations bring all kinds of new media into direct-response brand communication. Wi-Fi connected billboards can be interactive and create one-on-one brand communication opportunities. Tablet and smart phone users can interact with companies via electronic posters and quick-response (QR) codes. For example, bus stops can offer users free Internet access to download apps, games, video ads, or coupons and may even lead to on-the-spot product sales.

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Principle: Direct-response media are designed to generate a transaction without a sales person by motivating a customer to take action and place an order.

Personal Contact Media • Employees and other stakeholders can deliver brand messages. When a friend, family member, or someone you respect tells you something about a brand, you are likely to believe it. That includes employees who are often asked for their advice or opinions on a product or brand. Employee communication programs are designed to help employees convey strategic information in these critical personal conversations. Other important avenues for personal communication in business are found in sales and customer service operations. Personal Sales • In addition to conversation with employees, word-of-mouth communication can occur in more structured selling situations. Salespeople in stores are trained to answer product questions and help customers find things. •

Retail sales employees use personal communication to relay information about a product and give reasons to buy it. These reasons can be personalized to match the person and his or her interests.

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In B2B marketing, sales reps often work from a scripted sales message to make sure they hit on the right selling points and convey the most important strategic information. They also are provided with sales kits that contain product specifications, photos, diagrams, and other information useful in decision making by business customers. More recently, all these data are available online and may be given to the prospect on a DVD or flash drive.

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Sales kits are packets of information prepared to support personal sales efforts. A sales rep who covers a region or several states will carry along all the information needed to make a pitch to a prospective customer. Sales kits can contain a variety of materials; they include such materials as selling strategies, presentation materials, information about the customer, profiles of the customer’s market, and pricing charts. They can appear in print, on flash drives, or online.

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Media sales reps in advertising will have media kits that include profile information about the people who watch, listen, or read the medium, along with numbers describing audience size and geographical coverage.

Training Materials

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Training materials are used to train B2B sales reps or other employees. Employee training materials may contain information about new projects or products or special promotions with presentation visuals, exercises, and background data. They can be in print, but most professional training sessions use PowerPoint slides, and the materials may be distributed online or on a flash drive.

Customer Service • Customer Service or tech support in the technology industries, is another environment where personal communication is critical. Effective communication can cement customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. What makes customer service different from other forms of commercial media is that customers can initiate the dialogue either in person, by phone or online. •

Principle: If it’s a positive experience, customer service can strengthen the brand relationship; if it’s negative, it can lead to or increase customer dissatisfaction.

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Customer service is the front line of consumer attitude change about a brand experience. Traditional media used to elicit customer feedback are shoppers’ surveys and comment cards. Mystery shoppers, a proactive form of customer service, are used to personally analyze and report on the shopping experience in a store.

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More recently, customer service is being driven by social media and cell phones. Customer service is a specific department that handles questions and complaints, but it also refers to a company’s attitude toward customers during these interactions. How the company behaves in solving a problem and the way the interaction is handled send some of the most impactful brand messages that customers receive.

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If the interactive experience in either sales or customer service is positive, it can strengthen the customer’s long-term relationship with the brand; if it is negative, it can weaken or even destroy a customer’s brand relationship. Because customers have so many choices of brands and shopping outlets, how a company treats customers can be the major reason for choosing one over the others.

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Principle: Brand communication planners don’t manage customer service, but they can monitor the messages being sent and identify potential problems.

Interactive Promotional Material • Brand-sponsored gatherings connect people who are customers, prospective customers, employees, suppliers, or other types of stakeholders. An interesting variation on interactive advertising is “live” or performance-based where traveling performers present live infomercials from mobile stages to a large and growing population of international brandfocused customers. Promotional efforts also involve campaigns for good causes. Speeches, Conferences, and Tours • These are events that can generate questions and answers about an organization’s programs, policies, and actions. An informational tour involves stakeholders in personally engaging

situations. A grand opening for a new airport or concert hall, for example, may include tours with trained guides to explain the building’s functions and design. •

There are interactive publicity media, news conferences, for example, that are designed as interactive experiences for the news media. Press representatives are invited to hear a spokesperson present information on some newsworthy topic or event and answer media questions.

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Media tours are a conference on wheels for media representatives that involve an itinerary and a traveling spokesperson. They may tour a location associated with a news topic, such as a new office or manufacturing plan that has achieved an award for its energy efficiency.

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Other types of promotional media engage people in interactive experiences. Sampling, for example, is a way for the consumer to try a product or service before buying it. The foodsampling tables at stores like Costco, for example, are staffed by people who prepare the food samples and provide information about the product and how to buy it, as well as answer consumer questions.

Trade Shows, Displays, and Exhibits • A trade show is a promotional event where B2B companies within the same industry gather to present and sell their merchandise, demonstrate their products, and take orders. Displays and exhibits along with product literature and signage are the media used in these sales and meeting events. Booths are spaces that are designed to showcase the product and allow salespersons to speak personally to attendees. A conference sponsored by an organization may be a named brand event. •

Many types of media are used to publicize and support the event—name tags, programs, publicity materials, bags, and all kinds of take-home tchotchkes (samples, trinkets, and souvenirs), to name just a few.

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Displays and exhibits may be important parts of sales promotions, events, and public relations programs. Displays include signage and booths, racks, and holders for promotional literature. Exhibits tend to be larger than displays; they may have moving parts, sound, or video and usually are staffed by company representatives who deliver personal sales messages and demonstrate the product.

Owned Digital Media Let’s review the evolution of this technology and how its various formats are used in corporateowned brand communication. E-Mail • It evolved from the days when we used to log on and off our computers and check messages in bursts. Some users still operate that way, but with newer technologies, many users are always online, and messages are constantly streaming into their personal media. That has changed the function as well as the speed of online connections.

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One of the attractive features of using e-mail for brand communication is that it is inexpensive. All it takes is a list of e-mail addresses and an Internet connection. Constant Contact is an e-mail service provider that distributes group e-mails and handles the back end of correspondence with prospective customers.

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An example of a branded e-mail effort is the announcement by Amazon of the Kindle Fire, which featured a contest to win the new device. Amazon users received e-mails with the announcement, photos, product specifications, and contest information.

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This interactive capability has grown exponentially when mobile phones, called smart phones, began to act like mini-computers.

Websites • A company’s website is a communication tool that blurs the distinction between marketing communication forms, such as advertising, direct marketing, and public relations. It is the online face the organization presents to the world. In some cases, it looks like an online corporate brochure, or it may function as an online catalog or shopping site for e-commerce. •

The Web reaches people with specific interests. In fact, the Internet is the ultimate niche medium in that people turn to it to find out about any topic that interests them. The website can also be an information resource with a searchable library of stories and data about products, product categories, and related topics

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Principle: A website’s critical function is to support an organization’s identity and reinforce the brand image and position.

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Forrester Research has developed methods for evaluating the brand-building function of websites. The company tracks effectiveness of website performance not only in terms of making a brand promise but also in terms of also delivering easy-to-find and easy-to-use information. Research has found that, on average, sites did a better job of making the brand promise than they did of meeting customer needs. An explanation of how this research is used is explained in this chapter’s A Matter of Practice feature.

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Whether or not the website is effective depends on several factors—one is stickiness, and the other is its ease of navigation. A “sticky” website is one that is engaging—it encourages visitors to “stick around” instead of bouncing to another site because it is interesting and offers meaningful interactivity. The interest level is determined by what’s “above the fold,” to use a newspaper metaphor. Decisions about whether to leave or stay and investigate the site’s content depends on what’s visible without scrolling downward. Research has shown that 75 percent of the content “below the fold”—that you have to scroll down to see—goes unnoticed.

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Some people may find a marketer’s website after doing a search using a search engine; others may come across the website address in some other communication, such as an ad or brochure, often with QR codes that link cell phone users directly to the website. But another way is to encounter a link on a related site usually in the form of an ad with enough impact to

entice the visitor to leave the original site and move to this new one. Internet strategists are keenly aware of the difficulty of enticing people to click-through to a different website. Blogs • Some 100 million digital essayists worldwide create Web blogs to talk about things that interest them. Historically, bloggers used their blogs for creative expression and opinion pieces for a generally anonymous audience. Some are interested in making money, and others are into news or politics. These personal publishing sites also contain links to related sites the bloggers consider relevant. Most blogs also invite comments that are shared with other readers stimulating conversations, if not debates, among them. •

Bloggers often have higher levels of credibility than ads or corporate websites. Corporations use blogs to engage stakeholders of all kinds. Corporate blogs are a way to keep employees and other stakeholders informed, but employees may also be encouraged to have personal blogs.

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Sales staffs have found that blogs are changing the sales process by making more experiences with a product available to prospects and keeping customers current with fast-changing technological trends. A problem with blogs is that they are sometimes criticized as “stealth advertisers.”

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Paid posts, where bloggers plug a product in return for cash or freebies from the company, have caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. These endorsements are being addressed by new advertising guidelines that require bloggers to post “clear and conspicuous” disclosures that they have received compensation or freebies.

Socialtizing • This refers to the use of the media of social marketing as a promotional tool. It’s a hybrid between advertising and corporate-driven social chatter. Facebook and Twitter, are sites that allow users to share personal information with friends. But a Facebook site can also be set up by a company to feature a brand with a brand profile just like any other member. Some 11 million businesses have Facebook pages. Facebook marketers hope to make friends with interested consumers who visit their sites. Services like Off-the-Wall software by Resource Interactive make it possible for companies to sell directly from their Facebook wall, which expands a social media presence into e-commerce. •

Principle: Organizations use social media to engage customers and create relationships as well as reach a network of people.

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To successfully place a brand within a communication environment like Facebook, planners have to think strategically about the unique voice of the brand. The point is that every brand has a personality—caring and committed, off- the-wall zany, or badass—and that needs to come through in online posts. Some brands use one person who knows exactly how to speak in the persona of the brand; others use a team of employees who know how to match dialogue to the brand personality. In all cases, these people need to “stay on brand” as they explore the give- and-take of social communication.

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Experts recommend that a company have a plan for being present regularly on its social media sites—once or twice a day—and that the interactions be authentic and relevant both to the brand and to its followers. Posts across various social media should be unique for each outlet because the sites are used in different ways by people with different interests. Scheduling and planning posts can be managed through tools, such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck that help manage all the social media outlets in a coordinated way.

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Research on Facebook usage provides interesting insights about how best to post on the social media site. For example, weekends are better than weekdays and posts at 8 A.M. and before and after lunch are more likely to be shared.

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Facebook provides ideas about how to increase engagement (comments, likes, and sharing) on its site. It suggests that although touchy- feely conversations are okay, there are stronger responses from posts on topics relevant to the brand. Facebook finds that photos and videos generate the most sharing, which is more meaningful because it taps into the friend-of-a-fan network.

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Marketers use these new social media tools to promote brands, engage customers, and create brand relationships—and most of these efforts are cheap compared to other forms of marketing communication. They are not only a point of connection—a digital touch point— but they also engage a “social web,” a network of people connected through the social media site.

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Social media sites open up a new environment of conversation-based marketing communication, creating opportunities for entirely different forms of nearly instantaneous customer engagement with a brand.

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Given that social media generates individual posts, are the numbers of people reached through social media worth an organization’s time? In an ideal world, Brandon Bornancin of Resource Interactive estimates that the average Facebook user has 130 friends, and if a brand has 100,000 fans on its e-commerce site, then a brand post potentially can be shared with 13 million Facebook users. That’s a lot of reach for one click.

Mobile Marketing Mobile marketing makes the cell phone a personal point-of-sale device with a strategy designed to contact people on the run. The A Matter of Practice feature in this chapter explains why this is such an attractive medium for advertisers. Our Mobile Future • Mobile messaging will continue to evolve. Faster speeds allow for better viewing of mobile video content, streaming movies, television, and advertising and bring mobile interactions closer to reality. But faster speeds will come at a cost. All major U.S. wireless carriers will have high-speed broadband networks by 2014, and new larger-screen mobile tablets and phones, while improving viewer experiences, will gobble up larger swaths of expensive bandwidth.

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The future of mobile devices is in their role of connecting users with products, services, and media in an unprecedented way. With branded mobile websites or apps, mobile users can access product information and make transactions anywhere and anytime. Mobile users can compare product prices in stores with offerings online, which not only creates a new shopping experience for consumers but also intensifies the competition among different outlets, thus transforming the retailing business fundamentally.

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Mobile devices can serve as a bridge between the users and conventional advertising media. For example, mobile users can scan a QR code or key in a ** number from a magazine or billboard to access digital content right on their mobile device.

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Texting, for example, is a way marketers can contact customers and customers can contact companies. Organizations can text their members with announcements which involves group text messaging software, which moves individualized communication into a form of mass communication.

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Mobile marketing involves more than phone calls and text messages. It is defined as the use of wireless media, primarily cellular phones and personal digital assistants, such as RIM’s BlackBerry. The explosion in brand communication possibilities came with the introduction of Smart phones. Communication planners are interested in smart phones because they can be used in highly targeted mobile marketing strategies to deliver personal ads to folks on the go.

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Mobile marketers have found several important uses for smart phones with search advertising claiming 49 percent of the advertising spending. Banner ads are next with 33 percent, followed by messaging at 12 percent and video ads at 6 percent, totaling $2.6 million in 2012.

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Another device in the mobile marketing space is the iPad, which energized the tablet market. It is a wireless tablet hybrid that has some of the capabilities of smart phones but also combines some of the features of a laptop or notebook computer as well as an e-reader (books, newspapers, and magazines), a video viewer, and a video game player. Branded apps for cell phones and tablets, which are generally free, prominently link to a brand. Most new media provide apps that carry news feeds, some with a video. Even small stores can use apps for in-store customers that let them view merchandise or bypass the cash register and pay for their products on their mobile phones.

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Although cell phone advertising is sometimes seen as an invasion of privacy, that puzzles marketers because it is an opt-in channel of communication. As in other forms of advertising, the way to be less intrusive is to be more relevant and offer opt-in options. Mobile marketing can provide use of wireless communication (WiFi) combined with GPS locational devices to reach nearby customers with its geotargeting capabilities. A form of “push marketing,” these opt-in devices increase engagement between brands and their fans.

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Principle: Through its geotargeting capability, mobile marketing can reach willing customers in the area with product and promotional news and announcements.

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Mobile marketing involves more than just cell phones, it also includes laptop computers and even portable game consoles as vehicles that can deliver content and encourage direct response within a cross-media communication program. Mobile marketing delivers instant messaging, video messages and downloads, and banner ads on these mobile devices.

EARNED INTERACTIVE MEDIA: LET’S LISTEN •

Earned media are mentions or stories about a brand, through either publicity, social media, personal contact, or word of mouth. The term has been used in public relations to distinguish between paid advertising messages and unpaid brand mentions in the news media. In recent years the word “earned” has also been used to describe the way social media and word of mouth convey comments about brands.

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The various media in the earned category carry conversations, complaints and criticisms, praise, and questions—all of which can and should be monitored by brand stewards. Most importantly, they all impact the brand reputation, which is determined by what others say about the brand. That’s a critical concept in IMC, and media strategies are particularly important in determining the strength of the brand’s reputation as well as a positive impression.

Earned Publicity • Publicity is an important type of earned media. In publicity, media-relations specialists seek to persuade media editors to carry stories about an organization or brand. These experts have no control over the media but can only hope that their stories are newsworthy and interesting enough to receive coverage. The result is a hit when a story or significant parts of it appear in the media. •

Reporters may mention a company or brand in a story they are researching and writing. Since mentions can be either positive or negative, public relations specialists who monitor media coverage can only hope the mentions are positive. If they are negative, they may (should) prompt a strategic response by the organization.

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Because hits and mentions are not determined by the brand, they are seen as having higher levels of credibility than advertising and other forms of owned media. The reason is that publicity relies on what we call an implied third-party endorsement—communication that is not initiated by the company.

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Principle: When news media run a story or give a positive mention to a brand, it creates a halo of respect for the message because of the perceived objectivity of the medium.

Word of Mouth • Interactivity starts with personal communication, and that’s why word of mouth has caught the attention of brand communication planners. The point is that the closer the medium is to a

dialogue or the more users can generate or manipulate the content, the more the brand communication moves away from traditional advertiser-controlled one-way advertising. •

The core of interactivity is personal conversation, and why it is important in brand communication. A study of media use by the BIG research firm, found that the most influential form of communication is word of mouth. The finding was supported by other research that has found word of mouth to be the most important influence on consumer decision making—considerably more important than traditional media advertising.

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Rather than top down, word-of-mouth brand messages flow side to side, creating a network of shared brand experiences and impressions that interconnect within extended communication networks—both personal and professional. In other words, friends (and business colleagues) talk to friends, and each person has his or her own network of contacts through which messages can spread.

Principle: The more interactive a medium and the closer it is to a dialogue, the more personal and persuasive the communication experience. Buzz and Viral Communication • Brand communication planners have developed a growing respect for media that generate buzz—a cycle of word-of-mouth interactions, either personal or online, within a network of friends. The idea is to get people talking about a brand because we recognize that the most important factor in consumer decision making, next to personal experience with the brand, is the opinions of others. •

Buzz is best generated by disrupting common patterns of thinking—in other words, the idea needs to be new and surprising. The information also generates buzz when it is “interesting.” In face-to-face communication, the topics are more conversational and not as focused on “interesting” ideas. Being interesting is more important for certain types of social media, but in personal conversation, the focus is more on top-of-mind personal experiences.

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Marketers should match the medium with the message in a word-of-mouth strategy— interesting idea for face-to-face communication and experiential for social media.

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The term viral communication describes the way a message spreads on the Internet through interconnected networks of acquaintances. The spread of messages depends totally on consumers creating buzz through their own e-mails and social media chatter.

B2C2C Influence • Some media plans are specifically designed to reach influential or early adopters whose opinions are valued by others. These strategies focus on finding the right individuals to deliver a message—that is, the best-connected people at the hub of an extended social network who will like a brand or brand message and promote it among the people they know. •

It takes sophisticated sociographic networking mapping to find them, but generally they are described as community or fashion leaders, well-known experts, or people you turn to for

advice. This word-of-mouth marketing strategy is known as brand advocacy or customer referral. The idea is not just to create buzz but also to connect with influential, high- quality contacts that will spread the brand’s story. •

An expansion and modification of the traditional B2C marketing concept proposes that a marcom message may emanate from a business and then move to key customers and influencers who then talk about it with other consumers in the target market. The important part of this model of word-of-mouth influence is the C2C aspect. Because of the interactive network, messages move back and forth between and among consumers. The messages may even recirculate back from consumers to key influential customers who are in touch with the business or maybe directly back to the business. The point is that this model identifies not only how messages circulate but also how influential people in the network make their opinions known and spread their influence.

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This B2C2C model illustrates the important role of a brand advocate—that key customer or stakeholder— who has positive things to share about a brand within a circle of friends and contacts. These are critical earned mentions, and that’s why organizations track social media conversations to identify these important interactions.

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Principle: A B2C2C strategy is designed to move a message from a business to key influential customers who then talk about it with other consumers—and messages may use the same route to come back to the business.

Social Media Mentions • At its core, social media is online word of mouth that allows users to express themselves, interact with friends, publish their own content on the Internet, and refer to brands and products they like. Certain characteristics of social media—personal content, user engagement, social relationships, and group dynamics—create social engagement that helps individuals, particularly young people, develop a sense of self, according to one professor. Digital conversations among friends create opportunities for researchers to get raw, unfiltered brand impressions from consumers.

Twitter or Microblogs These permit posts of fewer than 140 characters. These mini-posts, called tweets, invite users to share their daily doings and immediate thoughts with followers of the microblog. Generally, the followers are people known to the tweeter, although in the case of fans, they may approach the size and scale of a large mass audience. •

Twitter posts are searchable based on their hashtags, which operate like key words. Tagging by inserting a hash symbol (#) before a word in a tweet makes that word a category or topic that can be tracked. People tweeting about a brand or company will tag their post with the hash symbol plus the company name. Brand stewards can follow the tag to see the stream of related mentions. Brands can’t assume that sponsored hashtags will generate the desired response.

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Twitter has become the medium of choice for complaints. Customers can spend many minutes on the phone waiting to talk to customer service—or get lost in the menu options; however, Twitter messages are quick and easy. Plugged-in companies follow these tweets and are quick to respond— often with a telephone call, which beats waiting in a phone queue for a customer service person to answer.

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Advertising messages also can appear on Twitter as part of a user’s stream of messages. A growing group of tweeters have signed up to allow advertisers to send commercial messages under their name. Sometimes the ads are testimonials embedded in a person’s regular stream of tweets; others turn over their stream to an ad broker that inserts messages for brands and organizations.

Reviews and Comments • The development of social media has seen reviews pop up all over the Web. Amazon features customer-contributed reviews of its books and other products. A secondary industry has even built up around paid reviews by ordinary people for e-commerce sites. Another type of mention is the comments section that follows at the end of stories and blogs in the online news media. If it’s a business-related topic, these comments are also important to monitor by brand stewards. Consumer reviews are powerful because, they offer the illusion of truth. The Media of Sharing • People talk about brands online. Fan pages exist for many brands where communities of people, usually loyal users, focus on or follow a favorite brand, and share good brand experiences. Advertisers use video clips, quizzes, downloadable gifts like ringtones and icons, and, of course, links to their own websites, on their fan pages. •

Fans also share negative experiences and complaints. There are even hate sites for some brands where critics gather to complain.

Online Communities • Fans are an example of an online virtual community organized around a topic, brand, or shared interest. Brand communities are also ways to develop loyalty and strong brand relationships in partnership with the brand. The Harley Owners Group (HOGs) is probably the best-known brand community and one of the biggest, with more than 1 million members. In addition to local groups, the HOG community is supported with its own website, www.hog.com. •

Social media are international and sites based on sharing are important. Sites that engage communities include Flickr, which is an online image and video management website; YouTube, the giant video posting service; and Tumblr, which is a blog-hosting platform where millions of users post their blogs that get re-posted as “tumblogs.” Instagram is a photo-sharing social network that is known for its photo-editing capabilities. Google+ invites viewers to share games and streaming images as well as photos, hangouts, and events. SoundCloud is a Facebook app that lets users share sounds—voices, music, or other audio forms. Pinterest, which is the third most popular social site after Facebook and Twitter,

allows users to pin images, videos, and other things that they find interesting to their pinboards. It’s a sharing site in that images can be “repinned” and passed along to friends. Marketers can join these online communities by buying ads or by posting images or blogs. •

Social games are the most popular type of shared-interest app on Facebook, which inspired Google+ to jump into this market. Facebook players spend, on average, about 45 minutes with a game.

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Social games amass a dedicated community of players who spend money on game currency they can use to buy virtual products. They also engage in business as they buy and sell things. Brands can enter into the game in various ways, but usually they participate by buying a location from which they, too, can do business.

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Some of these online and mobile video games charge for a download, but many bring in revenue from selling ads and sponsorships or selling products within the game. The next change will see “cloud” games that live on the Internet and are streamed to computers or handheld devices.

• Social media relationships offer opportunities for brand messages, particularly as people serve as viral marketing agents. You may have already seen some movie trailers and album posters on the pages of your friends. These trailers and posters may actually represent usergenerated ads, that is, content of commercial nature that is created or posted on the pages of users in social media that promotes a product, service, or cause. Crowdsourcing • This is a tool used by researchers for extended focus groups. That’s also how the online encyclopedia Wikipedia was developed by mobilizing a digital crowd to provide collective intelligence. In marketing, crowdsourcing can be used by shoppers to discover and select products as well as generate ideas for new products. Earned and Interactive Media Considerations The opportunities brought to brand communication by word of mouth and social media are exciting; however, there are some things to think about in deploying media strategies in these new areas, such as dealing with negative communication and fake messages as well as estimating the true price of digital media messages. Dealing with Negatives and Fakes • An unhappy customer is more than just one person’s bad experience, particularly in retailing, because of the power of word of mouth. People share these experiences, and those conversations get passed on. •

Research has found that although 6 percent of unhappy shoppers will contact the store with their complaints, 31 percent will tell other people about the unhappy experience. And, half of the people in the study reported that they have avoided a store because of someone else’s negative experience. The study concluded that if 100 people have a bad experience, a retailer stands to lose between 32 and 36 current or potential customers. It’s important for marketers to intervene in some way to turn the negative impression into a positive one.

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Another problem is fake sites that can damage brand reputation. The Internet in most Western countries is a wide-open system with little policing. Phony likes and paid reviews damage trust even if some brand supporter is behind the effort to puff up the brand’s positive mentions. Fakes and phony likes also undermine the credibility of the site.

Cheap but Not Free • Charges for the use of digital media, particularly in the owned, interactive, and earned categories, are relatively low compared to media budget busters like television. At the same time, they don’t have the reach that mass media like television have. But that doesn’t mean they are free. Most of the digital media demand resources, such as staffing, hardware and software systems, maintenance and operational support, and, perhaps, fees. In all cases, Internet marketers must budget for the brand monitoring systems that cull mentions from the Internet. •

These listening systems also need metrics to track volume and determine the level of the impact. A word of caution: Social media opens up opportunities for those valuable referrals where one friend talks to another about a brand. It’s hard to know, however, how much that happens. It is difficult tracking referrals, as well as calculating the value of online buzz.

Multiplatform Brand Communication •

Media forms are constantly changing shape and moving across what used to be commonly understood categories. It wasn’t that long ago that we would plan a television campaign or an out-of-home campaign with a message strategy dominated by the strengths of a primary medium. But no longer. Owned and earned just aren’t nice and neat like media categories were in the simpler eras of media planning. It’s a messy business. Now we talk about how various media function and how these functions are interrelated and can be used to extend each other’s reach and impact.

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We use the word platforms—to talk about big functions, such as public relations, promotions, direct marketing—and big packages of media, such as print, broadcast, social media, viral media, search media, and mobile media. They are all platforms. Multiplatform media planning is complicated because sometimes the same types of media—paid, owned, and earned—are used in these different platforms.

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One of the biggest differences in 21st-century media is that media planning now operates not only across a variety of media but also across a multitude of platforms and marcom areas. The multiplatform use of blogs, linked social networks, and online communities (sports and celebrity fans and brand communities), as well as traditional media to engage customers and other stakeholders, is designed to engage them personally and build brand relationships.

Viral Marketing • Viral marketing combines the marketing perspective with social media to create brandfocused viral communication strategies and campaigns. Designed to deliver a groundswell of opinion, buzz, or marketplace demand for a product, viral marketing initiates online

communication to circulate a brand message among and between family, friends, and other contacts. •

Principle: Conversation-based social media through such sites as Facebook and Twitter is word-of-mouth advertising on steroids.

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Depending on public interest in the topic, this practice can distribute a message to an everwidening network, and messages can flash across the Internet like wildfire. Viral video technology has made it possible for interesting videos from a variety of sources (ads, films, and YouTube) to be sent from one friend to another in a vast network of personal connections.

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Viral communication has a dark side, too. A worry for planners is that viral messages can also spread negative stories or even be used to organize a boycott against a brand. Negative word of mouth moves like a flash flood through the Internet. It probably moves even faster than the fun stuff and can do immense damage to a brand’s reputation.

Social Media Marketing • Social media marketing mixes different kinds of media together in a strategy to drive consumer interaction and build widespread brand visibility and awareness, in a way similar to viral marketing. Brands can sometimes instigate the viral process, but there’s no guarantee the word will spread, and the brand can certainly not control it. •

Principle: Marketers who use social media recognize the value in conversations and customer relationship – building communication.

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The reason social networking sites are so attractive to marketers is that they engage the power of friendship-based influence. Because of these relationships, network members are more likely to respond to messages on the sites, including ads, if they are effective at becoming part of the social context. Social media also are good with local campaigns, particularly for small businesses.

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A limitation is that social media’s posts and conversations may not convert prospects to customers as well as a more directly associated tool, such as search marketing. Another aspect of social media and viral communication is that, for better or worse, these media mentions and viral videos can live forever.

Integration of Platforms • Brand communication is more diverse and complex than ever before. Not only do brand messages move from one medium to another, but they start in one form, say print or television, and wind up as a YouTube video that you can watch on your cell phone. •

But we haven’t seen anything yet. A New York Times article described new media forms, such as Internet-connected glasses and wearable computers, not to mention voiceactivated assistants like the iPhone’s Siri or Microsoft’s experiments with gesturerecognition computer programs. The idea is that computer-accessible instant information

will become ubiquitous, and the computers that drive these new media forms will be able to do much more than search on command. •

Although these technological fantasies will open up unexplored and new opportunities for brand communication, we shouldn’t fail to note that the media we have are also changing their shapes, and that, too, opens up new opportunities. In this chapter’s A Matter of Principle feature, a member of this book’s advisory board looks into the future to see even more changes as the shape-shifting continues with old media, morphing into new types of digital forms.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 13-4. Explain the differences between owned and earned media. Give an example of each. Owned brand messages are delivered from a company to consumers through channels controlled by the company, like a company website or brochure. These media represent a constellation of contact points that can be strategically designed to present a consistent brand image. The biggest advantage of owned media is control, but there are other reasons to consider using this category of media. They are versatile and can be created for diverse audiences, contact points, and time frames. By “earned,” we mean media that carry mentions or stories about a brand, through either publicity, social media, personal contact, or word of mouth. The term “earned media” has been used in public relations to distinguish between paid advertising messages and unpaid brand mentions in the news media. It’s only in recent years that the word “earned” has also been used to describe the way social media and word of mouth convey comments about brands. 13-5. What are branded media, and why are they important? Branded media tools bear the brand’s name. To take advantage of the value-added power of branding, companies find endless opportunities to put their name on anything from a napkin to a building to create a consumer connection. The use of the media of entertainment, for example, to engage consumers with brands is referred to as branded entertainment. The goal is to associate the brand with a fun, entertaining experience that creates positive feelings for the brand. 13-6. Explain how interactive owned media differ from owned media. Give an example of interactive owned and explain why the interactive element is important. Owned brand messages are delivered from a company to consumers through channels controlled by the company. It can be anything from the environmental design of the building, signage, branded media, games or packaging. Interactive media are those forms that invite

users to participate in or respond personally to the message. Some of these are similar to owned media in that the organization pretty much controls them, but the media format, such as e-mail and Twitter, allows the organization to initiate communication with consumers, customers, and other stakeholders. Interactive media involves the consumer Engagement beyond just exposure. 13-7. In the owned category, what are the media of personal contact? Employees and other stakeholders can deliver brand messages. When a friend, family member, or someone you respect tells you something about a brand, you are likely to believe it. That includes employees who are often asked for their advice or opinions on a product or brand. Employee communication programs are designed to help employees convey strategic information in these critical personal conversations. Other important avenues for personal communication in business are found in sales and customer service operations. 13-8. What are the primary types of owned digital media? How are they used? E-mail – many users are always online, and messages are constantly streaming into their personal media. That has changed the function as well as the speed of online connections. In addition to speed, one of the attractive features of using e-mail for brand communication is that it is inexpensive. All it takes is a list of e-mail addresses and an Internet connection. A company’s website is a communication tool that blurs the distinction between marketing communication forms, such as advertising, direct marketing, and public relations. It is the online face the organization presents to the world. Corporations use blogs to engage stakeholders of all kinds. Corporate blogs are a way to keep employees and other stakeholders informed, but employees may also be encouraged to have personal blogs. Sales staffs have found that blogs are changing the sales process by making more experiences with a product available to prospects and keeping customers current with fast-changing technological trends. A Facebook site can be set up by a company to feature a brand with a brand profile just like any other member. Some 11 million businesses have Facebook pages. Facebook marketers hope to make friends with interested consumers who visit their sites. 13-9. What is mobile marketing? Why is it important? Mobile marketing makes the cell phone a personal point-of-sale device with a strategy designed to contact people on the run. With branded mobile websites or apps, mobile users can access product information and make transactions anywhere and anytime. Mobile users can compare product prices in stores with offerings online, which not only creates a new shopping experience for consumers but also intensifies the competition among different outlets, thus transforming the retailing business fundamentally. Mobile devices can serve as a bridge between the users and conventional advertising media. For example, mobile users

can scan a QR code or key in a ** number from a magazine or billboard to access digital content right on their mobile device. 13-10. What are online communities, and how are they used in brand communication? Fans are an example of an online virtual community organized around a topic, brand, or shared interest. Brand communities are also ways to develop loyalty and strong brand relationships in partnership with the brand. Other sites that engage communities include Flickr, which is an online image and video management website; YouTube, the giant video posting service; and Tumblr, which is a blog-hosting platform where millions of users post their blogs that get re-posted as “tumblogs.” Instagram is a photo- sharing social network that is known for its photo-editing capabilities. Google+ invites viewers to share games and streaming images, as well as photos, hangouts, and events. SoundCloud is a Facebook app that lets users share sounds—voices, music, or other audio forms. Pinterest, which is the third most popular social site after Facebook and Twitter, allows users to pin images, videos, and other things that they find interesting to their pinboards.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 13-11. Does your school have a naming rights program? Where do you see it operating on campus? Can you find out how much revenue was or is produced by this program? How does the association help or hinder the school or academic program’s image? Check out the names on stadiums, arenas, buildings/wings, recreational areas, are they named after brands, companies or people that have supported the school financially? Check out annual reports for funding information. Also, surf the web to find information, news articles, etc. (pro or con) on the naming rights at your school. 13-12. This chapter used the Geico Gecko YouTube photos as an example of expressing a brand personality online. Find another brand that uses YouTube to create a brand personality. Critique its effectiveness. Search YouTube for brand- related videos. Things to think about: What are they promoting? What type of company vibe/image does it present? How does the video relate to the company? Do you a have a positive, negative or neutral opinion of the company/provide after seeing the video. Why? 13-13. Your small agency works for a local retailer (pick one from your community) that wants to make the most effective use of its tool kit of owned media. The retailer has very little money to use on advertising. Your agency team agrees that there might be more the firm could do to strengthen the media it controls. Brainstorm among yourselves and come up with a list of at least five ideas for making better use of these opportunities.

Ideas can include anything from starting a blog, tweeting information about the company, and e-mail blasts, to joining a chat room to discuss the retailer and the available products. The company could also focus on great customer service. Retail sales employees, for example, use personal communication to relay information about a product and give reasons to buy it. These reasons can be personalized to match the person and his or her interests. Salespeople in stores are trained to answer product questions and help customers find things. 13-14. You are the media planner for a cosmetics company introducing a new line of makeup for teenage girls. Your research indicates that the Internet might be an effective medium for creating awareness about your new product line. How do you design a brand communication strategy that will reach your target market successfully using owned and earned forms of social media? What other media would you recommend using as part of this campaign and why? Teens spend a lot of time online and texting. The Internet advertising strategy would include a combination of search ads with social media. A variety of teen health and beauty sites as well as social networks (Facebook, Twitter) could be utilized. The campaign would integrate conversation and customer relationship building components. A combination of banner and display ads could be used, along with pop-ups to draw attention to the ad and micro-sites and widgets to provide information about the product line and how the product should be used. Mobile advertising could be used to deliver coupons or special offers. TV and magazine can be used to complement Internet campaigns. 13-15. A new restaurant is planned that specializes in low-fat and low-carb healthy food. You have been asked to create a multiplatform campaign for the grand opening. Evaluate various media and platforms in terms of strengths and weaknesses for this marketing situation. Identify how well each connects with the people you think would be the target market for this restaurant. What more do you need to know to determine the appropriateness of these media ideas for this new restaurant? In your response, begin by stating your brand communication goals and your presumed target audience profile, then put together your proposal for a multiplatform media mix for this restaurant. Before starting to create your multiplatform campaign, you need a clear understanding of the low-fat and low-carb marketplace, as well as their consumers. This will help you to determine your target audience. Information needed to evaluate the strengths and weakness of each medium (traditional, owned, interactive and earned) can be readily obtained from the various chapters in the textbook that discuss media. In order to prepare an effective analysis you must consider the dynamics of each media. Review the audience selectivity, reach potential, speed of audience accumulation, geographic flexibility, and the lead time needed to buy the media. You must also compare audience delivery, impressions, and production and advertising costs before determining and recommending the media. The multiplatform use of blogs, linked social networks, and online communities as well as traditional media to engage customers and other stakeholders, is designed to engage them personally and build brand relationships. You can also consider the use of store-based merchandising that carry the brand logo and other information as a part of your overall approach.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 13-16. Portfolio Project: Portfolio Project: Collect online mentions for three major media outlets. Choose from such media as the New York Times (www.nytimes.com), the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/home-page), FOX News (www. foxnews.com), ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com), the Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com), USA To- day (www.usatoday.com), MSNBC (www.msnbc.msn. com), AOL (www.aol.com), Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com), NPR (www.npr.org), and PBS (www.pbs.org). What is being said about each one? From what you find, develop a brand reputation profile for each. The various media in the earned category carry conversations, complaints and criticisms, praise, and questions about a brand. They all impact the brand reputation, which is determined by what others say about the brand. This information helps in determining the strengths and weaknesses of the brand’s reputation. 13-17. Mini-Case Analysis: Troy Library’s levy campaign was deemed to be successful even in a period of strong anti- tax sentiment. • • •

What made the Library supporters’ effort effective in delivering their message? What elements contributed to a change in the perceptions about voting for a levy? This was a low-budget campaign. How was it able to be so successful? What have you learned from this case?

The library supporters’ efforts were effective because the campaign “was audacious”. The thought of a “book-burning party” enflamed the citizens and prompted them to act. The campaign focused on saving the library and away from the tax hike. The campaign began with word of mouth and inexpensive yard signs which encouraged voters to close the library. The signs drove viewers to a Facebook page where they could add their comments. Only one owned media ad was placed during the campaign, a 2- by 3.5-inch classified ad in the Troy Times soliciting the services of clowns and ice cream vendors for the book burning party. The communication tools, while inexpensive, engaged the people and gave them a voice. You don’t always have to have a lot of money to impact an audience. It also demonstrates the power of an idea to incite action through interactive media

TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Multicultural and Multiplatform Communication Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 13-18. Develop an idea that you believe would reach the Nissan target market of Multicultural Millennials (ages 18–29) for these media types: a. Owned media

b. Owned but interactive media c. Earned interactive media d. Multiplatform brand communication

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are the advantages and limitations of owned media? Owned brand messages are delivered from a company to consumers through channels controlled by the company. The biggest advantage of owned media is control, but there are other reasons to consider using this category of media. They are versatile and can be created for diverse audiences, contact points, and time frames. They can be used to address various objectives, one of the most important being loyalty and the development of consumer–brand relationships. A limitation of owned media is that although you may own the publication or website, you have little or no control over consumer exposure to it. Supplemental efforts are needed to drive traffic and get your audience to come to you. For that reason, some online programs, such as websites, are supported with offline traditional advertising.

2. Describe the kinds of media that are used in the retail environment. The retail store is a world of promotion. Media used in the retail environment include packaging and merchandising materials. Packages proclaim brand identities and merchandising materials attract attention and deliver motivating sales messages. Packaging is the last ad a customer sees before making the decision to buy a brand. In an attempt to win over undecided consumers at the point of purchase, many manufacturers create innovative, eye-catching packages. Even if you can’t afford a big advertising budget, you’ve got a chance to grab shopper attention if your product has a compelling image on the shelf. Although the industry has never developed a standard for measuring impressions from a shelf, advertisers are aware of the billboarding effect of a massed set of packages. Packages can also deliver customer benefits, such as recipes that started as promotional pieces on the product’s packaging and turned into longtime favorites in homemakers’ recipe boxes.

Merchandising materials are the media used in promotions for a store, product, or event. Manufacturers often provide brand-related window banners, posters, and freestanding displays. In addition to posters and banners, other media used by retailers include shelf talkers (signs attached to a shelf that give brand information and also can invite the consumer to take away

some piece of information, such as a recipe or coupon). Point-ofsales materials provide a special reason to buy. Other store-based media include end-of-aisle displays, display cartons, banners, signs, and mechanical product and sample dispensers. All of this is important to motivate impulse buys. In general, the objective of point- of-sale materials is to increase brand visibility, but they also bring together all the elements of a sale, including the consumer, the product, and often price deals. 3. Discuss some of the different types of interactive promotional material used as media by marketers to communicate with others about their brand. Interactive promotional material used by companies to communicate with others about their brand includes the following: Speeches, Conferences, and Tours These are events that can generate questions and answers about an organization’s programs, policies, and actions. An informational tour involves stakeholders in personally engaging situations. A grand opening for a new airport or concert hall, for example, may include tours with trained guides to explain the building’s functions and design. Interactive publicity media such as news conferences are designed as interactive experiences for the news media. Press representatives are invited to hear a spokesperson present information on some newsworthy topic or event and answer media questions. Media tours are a conference on wheels for media representatives that involve an itinerary and a traveling spokesperson. They may tour a location associated with a news topic, such as a new office or manufacturing plan that has achieved an award for its energy efficiency. A Trade Shows is a promotional event where B2B companies within the same industry gather to present and sell their merchandise, demonstrate their products, and take orders. Displays and exhibits, along with product literature and signage, are the media used in these sales and meeting events. Booths are spaces that are designed to showcase the product and allow salespersons to speak personally to attendees. A conference sponsored by an organization may be a named brand event. 4. What does the term ‘socialtizing’ mean? What management issues must first be considered in order to use this media effectively? Socialtizing refers to the use of the media of social marketing as a promotional tool. It’s a hybrid between advertising and corporate-driven social chatter. Facebook and Twitter, are sites that allow users to share personal information with friends. But a Facebook site can also be set up by a company to feature a brand with a brand profile just like any other member. Some 11 million businesses have Facebook pages. Facebook marketers hope to make friends with interested consumers who visit their sites. Services like Off-the-Wall software by Resource Interactive make it possible for companies to sell directly from their Facebook wall, which expands a social media

presence into e-commerce. In general, the goal of organizations is to use social media to engage customers and create relationships as well as reach a network of people. To successfully place a brand within a communication environment like Facebook, planners have to think strategically about the unique voice of the brand. The point is that every brand has a personality and that needs to come through in online posts. Experts recommend that a company have a plan for being present regularly on its social media sites, at the minimum once or twice a day, and that the interactions be authentic and relevant both to the brand and to its followers. Posts across various social media should be unique for each outlet because the sites are used in different ways by people with different interests. Scheduling and planning posts can be managed through tools, such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck that help manage all the social media outlets in a coordinated way. 5. What can mobile phone marketers do to appear less intrusive? Mobile phone advertising is sometimes seen as an invasion of privacy. The way to be viewed as less intrusive is to be more relevant and offer opt-in options.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Find two blogs that are part of an organization’s website. Evaluate each one. Then, write a paper that describes the content and subject matter of each, and also addresses the following questions: In what way(s) is this blog contributing to overall brand communication? Which groups of stakeholders is it attempting to engage? Could this blog be accused of “stealth advertising?” 2. Review the A Matter of Principle feature entitled “Using Chinese Folk Arts in Promotional Designs” in this chapter. Identify a product or campaign the successfully or unsuccessfully integrates cultural elements into their advertising campaign. Summarize your findings in a one-page paper.

Think-Pair-Share 1. Promotional efforts also involve campaigns for good causes. With a classmate, search the Internet for a social media project/campaign, then review the Inside Story feature in this chapter entitled Farmers Ending Hunger. Compare and contrast the communication strategy for each of the campaigns, then discuss what types of things you would do if additional funds were added to your media budget. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation to share with your class. 2. With a classmate, review the A Matter of Principle feature entitled Advertising at the Intersection of Digital and Physical Media in this chapter. Then, debate the main concerns

that David Rittenhouse outlines in it. One of you will assume the role of an overwhelmed consumer, and the other will assume the role of a savvy advertiser. Is there a possible intersection of interests or “middle ground” in this debate? If so, what is it?

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. The term corporate presence media refers to things you might not think of as media, such as the design of a building or a delivery truck. Within each of three categories of corporate presence media outlined in this chapter (environmental design, signage, and appearance), find at least two examples. Explain how each of your examples is contributing to the brand’s overall communication strategy. Give a fifteen minute presentation to your class that discusses your findings.

2. Find at least two examples of branded entertainment on the Internet. (Do not use any of the examples cited in this textbook, please!) Analyze the communication strategy behind your examples and explain how they add value to the brand. Give a fifteen minute presentation to your class that discusses your analyses.

Chapter 14: Media Planning and Negotiation

Chapter 14 Media Planning and Negotiation

◆CHAPTER CONTENT Chapter Key Points 1. What is the role of media research in developing media plans? 2. What are the four steps in media planning? 3. What are the responsibilities of media buyers? .

Chapter Overview Media planning is a problem-solving process. The problem: How can media choices help meet the marketing and advertising objectives? The ultimate goal is to engage the target audience with the right message in the best possible way at the best possible time in the most efficient way possible. In this chapter, we review how a media plan is developed, that is, how media planners set objectives and develop media strategies. We then explore the media buying function and explain how media buyers execute the plan.

Chapter Outline How Are Media Plans Created? •

Media planners are in the connection business. Their work connects brand messages with customers and other stakeholders. They identify and activate the points of contact where brand messages touch consumers and engage their interest.

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The Iceland cancer campaign was multiplatform, including traditional media, particularly print and outdoor, but also websites, internet videos, social media and viral marketing, a theatrical play, and party hosting. This media plan involved a lot more than advertising, which supports the point we made in Chapter 11 that all forms of marketing communication use media.

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Engagement-making connections that resonate with the audience is the hallmark of effective marketing communication.

Media Engagement Research If the right media aren’t in play, no matter how great the message, nobody sees or hears it.

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Media Sources Before planning can begin, media researchers gather information on the media that might be used to engage the audience. Figure 14.1 and the list below illustrate the wide range of media information sources and the critical role media research plays in the overall advertising planning process: •

Client Information: The client is good source for various types of information media such as demographic profiles of current customers (both light and heavy users), response to previous promotions, product sales and distribution patterns, and, most importantly, the budget or how much can be spent on media. Geographical differences in category and brand sales also affect how the media budget is allocated. With consumer goods and services especially, rates of consumption can differ greatly from one region to another.

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Market Research: Independently gathered information about markets and product categories is another valuable tool. Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI), Scarborough (local markets), and Mendelsohn (affluent markets) are research companies that provide this service. This information is usually organized by product category (detergents, cereals, snacks, and so on) and cross tabulated by audience groups and their consumption patterns. Accessible online for a fee, this wealth of information can be searched and compared across thousands of categories, brands, and audience groups.

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Competitive Advertising Expenditures In highly competitive product categories, such as packaged goods and consumer services, marketers track how much competing brands spend on media compared to how much they are spending on their particular brand. This is called share of voice. Marketers want to know which, if any, competing brands have louder voices (i.e., are spending more) than they do.

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Media Kits The various media and their respective media vehicles provide media kits, which contain information about the size and makeup of their audiences. Although media-supplied information is useful, keep in mind that this information is assembled to make the best possible case for advertising in that particular medium and media vehicle. Nielsen Media Research audits national and local television, and Arbitron measures radio. Other services, such as the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly known as Audit Bureau of Circulations), Simmons, and MRI, monitor print audiences, and Media Metrix measures internet audiences. All of these companies provide extensive information on viewers, listeners, and readers in terms of the size of the audience and their profiles.

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•

Media Coverage Area The broadcast coverage area for television is called a designated marketing area (DMA). The coverage area is referred to by the name of the largest city in the area. This is a national market analysis system, and every county in the United States has been assigned to a DMA. The assignment of a county to a DMA is determined by which city provides the majority of the county households’ television programming. Most DMAs include counties within a 50 to 60-mile radius of a major city center.

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Consumer Behavior Reports are useful in planning media strategies. For example, media planners use such services as the Claritas PRIZM system, Nielsen’s ClusterPlus system, and supermarket scanner data to locate the target audience within media markets.

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Media planners must gather, sort, and analyze volumes of data and information before media planning can begin. Media research begins with collections of data about the readership and viewership of various media. Here’s a quick summary of the key concepts and standard sources of the data.

Newspaper Readership •

Nearly half of all adults receive home delivery of a Sunday or weekday newspaper; delivery levels are highest in small and medium-size cities and lowest in rural locations and larger metropolitan areas. Newspaper reading tends to be highest among older people and people with a higher educational and income level. It is lowest among people in their late teens and early 20s and among lower-education and lowerincome groups.

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Newspaper readership tends to be selective, with a greater percentage reading specific sections rather than the whole paper. Business and professional newspapers, such as Ad Age, have particularly high readership levels.

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Newspapers measure their audiences in two ways: circulation and readership. Readership is always a larger number than circulation because when a paper is delivered to a home or office, it is often read by more than one person. This type of information facilitates the media planner’s ability to match a certain newspaper’s readership with the target audience.

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Agencies obtain objective measures of newspaper circulation and readership by subscribing to one or both of the following auditing companies: ▪

The Alliance for Audited Media is an independent auditing group that represents advertisers, agencies, and publishers. This group verifies statements about newspaper circulation and provides a detailed analysis of the newspaper

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by state, town, and county. Its members include only paid-circulation newspapers and magazines. ▪

Simmons-Scarborough provides a syndicated study that annually measures readership profiles in approximately 70 of the nation’s largest cities. The study covers readership of a single issue and the estimated unduplicated readers for a series of issues.

Magazine Readership • Magazine rates are based on the guaranteed circulation that a publisher promises to provide. Magazine circulation is the number of copies of an issue sold, not the readership of the publication (called “readers per copy”). A single copy of a magazine might be read by one person or by several people, depending on its content. •

The Alliance for Audited Media is responsible for verifying circulation numbers. Created in 1914, this group audits subscriptions as well as newsstand sales and also checks the number of delinquent subscribers and rates of renewal.

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MediaMark, which provides a service called MRI, is the industry leader in magazine readership measurement. MRI measures readership for many popular national and regional magazines (along with other media). Reports are issued to subscribers twice a year and cover readership by demographics, psychographics, and product use.

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The Simmons Market Research Bureau provides psychographic data on who reads which magazines and which products these readers buy and consume. Other research companies, such as Starch and Gallup and Robinson, provide information about magazine audience size and behavior.

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One problem with these measurement services is the limited scope of their services. Without the services of an objective (outside) measurement company, advertisers must rely on the data from the magazines themselves, which may be biased.

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One interesting change in magazine measurement is the move, which is supported by the MPA, to quantify the “experience” of reading the magazine. A major study to pilot test this concept found that the more engaged people were in the magazine experience, the more impact the advertising had.

The Radio Audience • The radio industry and independent research firms provide several measures for advertisers, including a station’s coverage. This is simply the number of homes in a geographic area that can pick up the station clearly, whether those homes are actually tuned in or not. •

A better measure is station or program ratings, which measures the percent of homes actually tuned in to the particular station. Factors such as competing programs, types of programs, and time of day or night influence the circulation figure.

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•

The Arbitron Ratings Company estimates the size of radio audiences for more than 250 markets in the United States. Arbitron uses a seven-day, self-administered diary to capture listening data.

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A new technology called the Portable People Meter is a pager-size device that detects codes embedded in the audio programming regardless of where the device—whether traditional radio, computer, or cell phone—is located. The device has been found to be quite effective at predicting audience interest, even leading to some major format changes

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The Television Audience A great number of advertisers consider television their primary medium. Can television deliver a target audience to advertisers effectively? What do we really know about how audiences watch television? Is it a background distraction? Do we switch from channel to channel without watching any single show? Or do we carefully and intelligently select what we watch on television?

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Television viewers are sometimes irritated by the intrusiveness of advertising and switch channels or zip through commercials on prerecorded programs. Clutter is part of the problem advertisers face, and the audience has become very good at avoidance, unless the ads are intrusive or highly engaging. The Super Bowl is one of the few programs where viewers actually watch commercials.

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A.C. Nielsen is the research company that dominates the television measurement industry. Exposure in television measures households with sets turned on, a population referred to as households using television (HUT). But a HUT figure doesn’t tell you if anyone is watching the program.

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We defined an impression as one person’s opportunity to be exposed one time to the advertising in a program. The impressions from television—the number of viewers exposed to a program—might be greater than the number of households reached since there may be more than one viewer watching and the commercial may be repeated several times in a program or during a time period. We add all of these impressions up and call them gross impressions. For television programs, the exposure is estimated in terms of number of viewers

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Other forms of television viewing measurement include ratings and share. Ratings (percentage of exposure) are used because gross impression figures are so large. A rating of 10 means that 10 percent of HUT were tuned to the program carrying a brand’s ad. Since one rating point equals 1 percent of the 114 million homes in the United States, a 10 rating would be around 11 million households.

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Another way to look at viewership is in terms of the share of the audience, which is based on the number of televisions turned on. The share is larger than a rating because the base figure (televisions turned on) is smaller than HUT. A rating of 10 for

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a Sunday night program might, for example, be a share of 20, which means that 20 percent, or one-fifth, of the 11 million televisions turned on were tuned to the program carrying the brand’s ad. •

Independent rating firms, such as A. C. Nielsen, provide the most commonly used measures of national and local television audiences. Nielsen periodically samples a portion of the television viewing audience, estimates the size and characteristics of the audiences watching specific shows, and then makes these data available, for a fee, to advertisers and ad agencies, which use them in their media planning. Nielsen’s calculations are based on audience data from about 5,000 measurement instruments, called people meters, which record what television shows are being watched, the number of households that are watching, and which family members are viewing. The company also uses viewer diaries mailed out during the sweeps period, which are quarterly periods when more extensive audience data and demographics are gathered. About 1 million diaries are returned each year to collect demographic data.

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A new locally based meter system would allow Nielsen to identify the age, race, and sex of viewers on a nightly basis. These ratings are based on programs and are not measures of specific advertisements.

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One interesting finding from an analysis of ratings is that even in this age of DVRs, the lead-in show matters. Another finding during the recent recession is the power of ethnic media. For example, the number-one television station in Los Angeles isn’t one of the networks; rather, it’s the Spanish-language KMEX. Something not measured by all of these metrics is the dedication of a program’s superfans.

Outdoor Viewership • Outdoor advertising reaches people as they travel by a sign’s site. The advertiser is interested in the percentage of the population of the total market (based on car or pedestrian counts) who, within a 24-hour period, are exposed one or more boards carrying the brand message. •

Traditionally outdoor boards have been purchased and measured in terms of showings, which are estimates of the percentages of the population who had the opportunity to see the sign.

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These showings are usually stated as 25, 50, or 100 percent. The number of signs carrying the brand message is determined by the percentage of the audience that the media planner hopes to reach. A 50 showing, for example, means that 50 percent of the market’s population was exposed to one or more of the outdoor brand messages in one day.

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Media planners may convert the showing to something equivalent to rating points in order to make it easier to compare the weight of the various media buys.

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Online Audiences • Media planners are interested in estimates of the number of visits to a website, how much time was spent on the site, and new and repeat visitors as well as supplemental information, such as more sophisticated analytics that are provided by ad-buying services and the sites themselves. •

Google and Yahoo! have built impressive models and ad-buying programs to help media planners. For ads and banners, data are collected about the number of clickthroughs that moved the user from the ad to the advertisers’ site.

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Various types of software programs are available that can be integrated into the advertiser’s information technology system that collect these types of usage data, which are then transmitted to companies that specialize in providing these measurement systems.

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Nielsen and comScore have digital ratings program, as do Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. These systems record activity, but not demographics, so the data are not as useful as planners might like.

Key Steps in Media Planning •

The media plan is a written document that summarizes the objectives and strategies pertinent to the placement of a company’s advertising messages. The goal of a media plan is to find the most effective and efficient ways to deliver messages to a targeted audience.

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When IMC planners develop a media plan, they also take into consideration the media of all the marketing communication functions as well as consumer and target audience contact points. Contact points include exposure to traditional mass media as well as word of mouth, place-based media, in-store brand exposures, and the new, interactive media.

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Media planning is more than just choosing from a long list of media options. Traditional measured media are chosen based on such metrics as GRPs and CPMs. The new media lack similar metrics and are characterized more by such considerations as the quality of the brand experience, involvement, and personal impact.

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•

Old-line advertising media planners are intent on buying reach and frequency, but the problem is that many of their clients are looking for more effective outcomes, such as engaging experiences and brand-building relationships.

The four basic steps in media planning are targeting, setting media objectives, developing media strategies, and analyzing the metrics of a media plan. Step 1: Target Audience • A key strategic decision is identifying a target audience. The challenge is to select media vehicles that (1) are compatible with the creative executions and (2) whose audiences best match those of the brand’s target audience. Does the group of people who read this magazine, watch this television program, or see these posters include a high proportion of the advertiser’s ideal target audience? If so, then these media vehicles may be a good choice for the campaign, depending on other strategic factors, such as timing and cost. •

The breadth of the target, as defined in the marketing communication plan, determines whether the media planner will be using a broad mass media approach or a tightly targeted and highly focused approach.

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Principle: The tighter the focus on a target market, the easier it is to find appropriate media to deliver a relevant message.

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Every media vehicle’s audience is different and therefore varies regarding what percentage of its audience is in the brand’s target audience. The internet is the ultimate niche medium in that people turn to it to find out about any topic that interests them.

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In addition to information compiled by the team’s media researchers, consumer insight research also is used to identify and analyze the target audience’s media use patterns. Industry research helps. For example, research has determined a major shift in media use with online media taking over from traditional media forms as the beginning spot in the search process.

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Even though search begins online—and that’s true for B2B as well as consumer purchases—researchers say most customers still make purchase decisions using a combination of old media, new media, and old-fashioned conversations.

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Consumer insight research is used to identify and analyze the target audience’s media use patterns. This type of research, which asks consumers what they think influences their behavior, is best used when combined with other consumer behavior findings. Why? Because most consumers don’t really know what influences them.

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A note about the changing dynamics of media planning: This traditional approach to media that we’ve been describing is based on exposures, but newer approaches,

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particularly those coming from an IMC perspective, focus on moments when a message becomes a relevant brand experience. •

IMC planners have talked about consumer-based moments of truth for years, but now that concept is making its way into media planning. Procter & Gamble used the term FMOT, which refers to first moment of truth—the initial point of contact with a brand, say, is on a shelf; the second moment of truth is later when the product is used.

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More recently, planners are focusing on what Google has called the zero moment of truth—the point when consumers search for information online or share brand experiences in a discussion with a friend. That moment typically precedes the first moment, hence the zero designation.

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Advertising has always “exposed people to products before they see them in person. The Internet provides more in-depth communication about products.” You can see how this shifts the focus away from traditional targeting of households. Modern views of planning find ways to engage personally with consumers as individuals rather than as a member of a household at important moments when they are forming brand impressions. Interactive communication, the targeting concept expands to include consumer initiation of messages to friends as well as to the brand organization. All of these new ways of looking at consumers are shifting the concept of targeting and have implications for how media planners look at their media opportunities.

Step 2: Communication and Media Objectives • Marketing communication objectives describe what a company wants target audiences to think, feel, and, most importantly, do, and provide guidance to media planners. With the increasing variety of media options available, smart clients and agencies are having up-front cross-functional planning meetings that include creatives, media planners, and account executives. The point is that the media and message strategies are interdependent and decisions in one area affect decisions in the other. •

Media objectives describe what a company wants to accomplish regarding the delivery of its brand messages and their impact on the target audience. The two basic media objectives are reach and frequency.

The Reach Objective • The percent of people exposed to a brand message one or more times within a specified period of time is called reach. A campaign’s success is due in part to its ability to reach as much of the targeted audience as possible within a stated budget and time period.

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Principle: Reach is the first place to start when setting objectives for a media plan.

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Using demographic and lifestyle data, planners can focus on reaching specific types of households. This enables planners to better match media profiles with the characteristics of the campaign’s target audience.

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Most media reach large numbers of people who are not in the target market. However, most marketers are more interested in targeted reach, which is the percentage of a vehicle’s audience that matches the brand’s target market. Targeted reach is particularly important to calculate in order to estimate the amount of wasted reach, which is the number of people in the vehicle’s audience who are neither customers nor prospects.

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Assessing the media for target audience opportunities is a major challenge for media planners.

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Consumers are now being viewed as participants in brand conversations, so planners are thinking less about reach and more about finding the appropriate way to connect.

The Frequency Objective • Frequency refers to the repetition of message exposure. You should keep in mind that the frequency number for a media buy is actually the average number of exposure opportunities of those reached. •

Because frequency is an average, it can be misleading. Average frequency, then, can give the planner a distorted idea of the plan’s performance because all of those people reached vary in the number of times they have the opportunity to be exposed to a message.

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For this reason planners often use a frequency distribution model that shows the percentage of audience reached at each level of repetition. A frequency quintile distribution analysis divides an audience into five groups, each containing 20 percent of the audience. Employing media-usage modeling, it is then possible to estimate the average frequency for each quintile.

Effective Frequency • Because of the proliferation of information and clutter, there should be a threshold, or minimum frequency level, that produces some type of effect, such as a request for more brand information, a change in attitude toward the brand, or the most desired effect—purchase of the brand. •

A standard rule of thumb is that it takes 3 to 10 exposures to have an effect on an audience. The “right” frequency number is determined by several factors,

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including level of brand awareness, level of competitive “noise,” content of the message, and sophistication of the target audience. •

Because so many different things can impact a response (i.e., an effect), audience response research is necessary. If the desired effect/response is not achieved, you may need to increase frequency of exposure or change the message. Research diagnostics, such as tracking studies, provide direction.

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Principle: Effective frequency means you add frequency to reach until you get to the level where people respond.

Media Waste • There are two sides to waste, both reach and frequency. The goal of media planning is to maximize media efficiency, which is to eliminate excessive overlap or too much frequency. Efficiency is achieved by reducing media waste. When additional media weight ceases to increase the response, it produces waste. Writing Media Objectives Usable media objectives focus on the relationship between reach and frequency. Here are some examples of media objectives: 1. Reach 60 percent of target audience with a frequency of 4 within each fourweek period in which the advertising runs. 2. Reach a maximum percentage of target audience a minimum of five times within the first six months of advertising. 3. Reach 30 percent of the target audiences where they have an opportunity to interact with the brand and users of the brand. 4. Reach category thought leaders and influencers in a way that will motivate them to initiate measurable word-of-mouth (WOM) and other positive brand messages. •

The first objective recognizes that you can seldom ever reach 100 percent of your target audience. It also acknowledges that a certain level of frequency will be necessary for the brand messages to be seen/heard/read.

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The second objective would be for a product where the message is more complex; through research (and judgment) it has been decided that prospects need to be exposed to the message at least five times to be effective. In this case frequency is more important than reach.

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Objectives 3 and 4 deal directly with impact. To achieve these objectives, media buyers will have to find media vehicles and contact points, such as events and sponsorships, where interaction with the brand and its users is possible as opposed to using more passive media such as traditional mass media. Note that objective 4 is not measurable, as stated.

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Step 3: Media Strategies • Strategic thinking in media involves a set of decision factors and tools that help identify the best way to deliver the brand message. The goal is to reach the right people at the right time with the right. There are always multiple ways to reach an objective. The difficult question is which way is the best. Media Mix Selection • Traditional media planning is a process of selecting advertising media to reach a certain audience and accomplish reach and frequency objectives is based on the advantages and limitations of the available media to the needs of the campaign strategy. •

Most brands use a variety of targeted media vehicles, called a media mix, to reach current and potential customers. Media mixes are used for a number of reasons. The first is to reach people not reached by the first or most important medium. Using a variety of media vehicles distributes the message more widely because different media tend to have different audience profiles. Other reasons for spreading the plan across different media include adding exposure in less expensive media and using media that have some attractive characteristics that enhance the creative message.

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The reason for choosing a particular medium or a set of media vehicles depends on the media objectives. What media will best deliver what effects—and can you reinforce and extend those effects with a mix of media? If audience reach is an objective, then television still reaches the largest audience; if frequency is important, then radio may be the best media vehicle to use. Print and television are considered more trustworthy, so they might be used by a media planner for a campaign that seeks to establish credibility for a brand or believability for a product claim.

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The choice of media in the media mix is based on an analysis of their strengths and limitations and how those factors relate to a specific marketing situation. Figure 14.3 summarizes the various media in terms of their strengths.

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Part of the problem is that in the past, media plans have been dominated by one medium—a television-based campaign, for example. With media fragmentation and the diversity of consumer media use, these kinds of campaigns are rarely found anymore. Almost all are integrated with a wide variety of media, including social media and other online vehicles.“Silo-driven campaigns” have given way to integrated campaigns focused on brand experiences rather than specific types of media forms.

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Media choices are sometimes designed to deliver the strategy of using one medium to deliver an audience to another medium or marketing communication tool. For example, mass media have frequently been used to promote special

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events and sales promotions. The emergence of the Internet has intensified what you might call a two-step media platform. Print and broadcast, which are basically informative and awareness building media forms, are often used to drive traffic to a brand’s website, which is more interactive and experiential. Geographical Strategies • Planners analyze the target audience using geography. Are potential customers found all over the country, therefore calling for a national campaign, and does the client have the budget to afford such an extensive media plan? In most cases, the media plan will identify special regions or DMAs to be emphasized with a heavyup schedule, which means proportionately more of the budget is spent in those areas. The company’s sales coverage area (i.e., geography) is a major factor used to make this decision. Most national or regional marketers divide their market geographically. The amount of sales produced in each geographic market will vary, and marketers try to match advertising investments with the amount of forecasted sales or the sales potential. •

To determine which geographical areas have the highest (and lowest) rate of consumption for a particular product category, marketers compute a category development index (CDI) for each market in which they are interested. Then they calculate a brand development index (BDI), which estimates the strength of their brand in the various geographical areas. A CDI is calculated for product categories. It is an index number showing the relative consumption rate of a product in a particular DMA or region as compared to the total universe (national or regional). A BDI is an index of the consumption rate of a brand in a particular market.

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Principle: The CDI tells where the category is strong and weak, and the BDI tells where the brand is strong and weak.

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Planners typically don’t make heavy allocations in weak sales areas unless strong marketing signals indicate significant growth potential. Conversely, strong sales markets may not receive proportional increases in advertising unless clear evidence suggests that company sales can go much higher with greater advertising investment. When there is a lot of competitive activity, a heavy-up strategy may be used to defend the brand’s market share.

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Another change resulting from the digital revolution is that media plans are deemphasizing national campaigns and focusing on local connection points. Media planners are looking at local marketing in the same way they are looking at consumers as initiators of brand contact rather than just targets.

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Search advertising and mobile marketing are driving this local trend. Google has found that almost three- fourths of all online activity is related to local content, meaning that, for marketers, “local is no longer just a nice add-on option” and “more and more marketing is moving to the local level.” The term for this new

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emphasis on local marketing is SoLoMo (which stands for the convergence of social with local and mobile marketing), described as “the perfect storm of popular technologies and platforms that promises to deliver information you want where you are, usually via social apps.” Scheduling Strategies • Scheduling strategies are designed to identify the best times for consumers to come in contact with a brand message. For many product categories, prospective customers have one or more ideal times or places at which they are most receptive to receiving and paying attention to a brand message. This ideal time/place is called an aperture, and becomes an important factor in scheduling media placements. •

Principle: Advertising is most effective when it reaches the right people at the right time and place with the right message.

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Media planners manipulate schedules in various ways to create the strongest possible impact given the budget. Three scheduling strategies involve timing, duration of exposure, and continuity of exposure. ▪

Timing Strategies: When to Advertise? Timing decisions relate to factors such as seasonality, holidays, days of the week, and time of day. These decisions are driven by how often the product is bought and whether it is used more in some months than in others. Timing also encompasses the consumers’ best aperture and competitors’ advertising schedules. Another consideration is lead time, or the amount of time allowed before the beginning of the sales period to reach people when they are just beginning to think about seasonal buying.

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Lead time also refers to the production time needed to get the advertisement into the medium. There is a long lead time for magazines, but it is shorter for local media, such as newspapers and radio.

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Duration: How Long? For how many weeks or months of the year should the advertising run? If there is a need to cover most of the weeks, advertising will be spread rather thin. If the amount of time to cover is limited, advertising can be concentrated more heavily. Message scheduling is driven by use cycles. For products that are consumed year-round, such as fast food and movies, advertising is spread throughout the year. In general, if you cannot cover the whole year, you should heavy up the schedule in higher purchase periods.

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Another question is how much is enough? At what point does the message make its point? If the advertising period is too short or there are too few repetitions, then the message may have little or no impact. If the period is too long, then ads may suffer from wearout, which means the audience gets tired of them and stops paying attention.

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Continuity: How Often? Continuity refers to the way the advertising is spread over the length of a campaign. A continuous strategy spreads the advertising evenly over the campaign period.

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Two other methods to consider are pulsing and flighting. A pulsing strategy is used to intensify advertising before a buying aperture and then to reduce advertising to lower levels until the aperture reopens. The pulse pattern has peaks and valleys, also called bursts. Pulsed schedules cover most of the year, but still provide periodic intensity.

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After a media schedule has been worked out in terms of what media will run when and for how long, these decisions are plotted on a media flow chart. Across the top is the calendar for the period of the campaign and down the side is the list of media to be used in this campaign. Bars are then drawn across the calendar that identifies the exact timing of the use of various media. When the chart is complete, strategies such as pulsing and flighting are easy to observe.

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A flighting strategy is the most severe type of continuity adjustment. It is characterized by alternating periods of intense advertising activity and periods of no advertising, called a hiatus. This on-and-off schedule allows for a longer campaign. The hope in using non-advertising periods is that the consumers will remember the brand and its advertising for some time after the ads have stopped.

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If the flighting strategy works, there will be a carryover effect of past advertising, which means consumers will remember the product across the gap until the next advertising period begins. The critical decision involves analyzing the decay level, the rate at which memory of the advertising is forgotten.

Step 4: Media Metrics and Analytics • Media plans are driven by questions of accountability. And because media decisions are based on measurable factors, identifiable costs, and budget limitations, media planners are engrossed in calculating the impact and efficiency of their media recommendations. Impact: GRPs and TRPs • Among the most important tools media planners use in designing a media mix is a calculation of a media schedule’s gross rating points and targeted rating points. Reach and frequency are interrelated concepts that, when combined, generate an estimate called gross rating points. Gross rating points, or GRPs, indicate the weight, or efficiency, of a media plan. The more GRPs in a plan, the more “weight” the media buy is said to deliver. •

To find a plan’s GRPs, you multiply each media vehicle’s rating by the number of ads inserted into each media vehicle during the designated time period and add up the total for the vehicles. Once the media vehicles that produce the GRPs have been identified, computer programs can be used to break down the GRPs into

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reach and frequency (R&F) numbers. These R&F models are based on consumer media use research and produce data showing to what extent audiences, viewers, and readers overlap. •

A good media planner will look at several different mixes of programs that reach the target audience, figure the GRPs for each, and then break this calculation into R&F estimates for each plan. While gross rating points include exposure duplication, knowing the GRPs of different plans is still helpful in choosing which plan delivers more for the money budgeted.

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How do you decide which is best? If a brand has a tightly targeted audience and wants to use repetition to create a strong brand presence, then a plan that has a higher frequency would be important. If a brand has a fairly simple message where frequency is less important, a planner would probably choose a plan with higher reach.

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Principle: Reach and frequency are interrelated: when reach increases, frequency decreases, and vice versa, within the constraints of the advertising budget.

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For products that have a mass-market appeal, households are often used in targeting. However, for more specialized products, target audiences can be more narrowly defined. Since the total audience obviously includes waste coverage, the estimate of targeted rating points (TRPs) adjusts the calculation to exclude the waste coverage so it more accurately reflects the percentage of the target audience watching a program. Because the waste coverage is eliminated, the TRPs are lower than the total audience GRPs. Targeted rating points are determined by media usage research data, which is available from syndicated research services like MRI and from the major media vehicles themselves.

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Another reason to tightly describe a target audience, especially in terms of lifestyle, is to take advantage of the many media vehicles such as magazines, TV programs and channels, and special events that connect with various types of lifestyles.

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As important as ratings have been in traditional media plans, this computation may not be as important with individual contact media used by social and mobile advertising. It’s the nature of the engagement rather than the breadth of the exposure that determines the effectiveness of the media impact.

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New media plans also are substituting GRPs with something called total audience impressions, which are designed to better estimate the impact of an integrated campaign—including digital impressions as well as those delivered by measured media. Total audience impressions are derived from impression management efforts in public relations. These new methods attempt to do a better job of estimating the impact of multiplatform campaigns.

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Cost Efficiency • As mentioned earlier, one way to compare budgets with the competition is called share of voice. It sets the budget relative to your brands and your competitors’ market share. For example, if your client has a 40 percent share of the market, then you may decide to spend at a 40 percent share of voice in order to maintain your brand’s competitive position. To calculate this budget level, you need to find the total ad spending in your category, as well as the share of market owned by your brand and your key competitors. For example, if the category ad spending totals $10 million, and you want your share of voice to be 40 percent, then you would need to spend $4 million. •

At the end of the planning process, after the media mix has been determined, the media planner will prepare a pie chart showing media allocations, a term that refers to allocating the budget among the various media chosen. The pie chart shows the amount being spent on each medium as a proportion of the total media budget. The pie chart visualizes the media mix and the relative importance of each vehicle in the mix.

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It is useful to note that the other IMC disciplines are also concerned about proving their efficiency. The A Matter of Practice feature located in this chapter explains how important it is to integrate not only media planning, but also evaluations of efficiency, comparing these other areas with advertising media planning. The concept of earned media, in contrast to purchased and measured media is also introduced.

CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs • Sometimes media decisions are based on cost. Advertisers compare the cost of each proposed media vehicle with the specific vehicle’s ability to deliver the target audience. The cheapest vehicle may not deliver the highest percent of the target audience, and the highest priced vehicle may deliver exactly the right target audience, so the selection process is a balancing act between cost and reach. •

The process of measuring the target audience size against the cost of reaching that audience is based on calculations of efficiency, cost per thousand (CPM) and cost per point (CPP). Cost per thousand is the cost to expose 1,000 audience members to an ad message. CPM is used when comparing the cost of vehicles within the same medium. It is also important to base it only on the portion of the audience that has the target characteristics. This is called targeted cost per thousand (TCPM).

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Some planners prefer to compare media on the basis of rating points instead of impressions. Although both efficiency calculations are used, many planners favor cost per point (CPP) because of its simplicity.

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Both the CPM and the CPP are relative values. Although we can use these efficiency analyses across media, we make such comparisons carefully. CPM and CPP are more valid when used to compare vehicles within a medium. Media planners are constantly balancing cost with audience characteristics to decide if the media vehicle makes sense given the target audience size and characteristic.

Media Optimization • Tools that help estimate the most optimum use of various media plans using computer models involve calculating the weight of a media schedule and optimizing the schedule for the greatest impact. These optimization techniques enable marketers to determine the relative impact of a media mix on product sales and optimize the efficiency of the media mix. •

Generally the models can create an unlimited number of media combinations and then simulate the sales produced by each. Using optimization models, the media planner can make intelligent decisions, given factors such as budget, timing, and so forth. The issue of media optimization, however, is bigger than just numbers and estimates of efficiency. It also involves questions of media overload and consumer irritation.

How Do Media Buying And Negotiation Work? Once the plan directions are set, media buyers convert objectives and strategies into tactical decisions. They select specific media vehicles and negotiate and contract for the time and space in media. A media buyer has distinct responsibilities, as outlined in Figure 14.5. Media Buying Basics • Buying is a complicated process. The American Association of Advertising Agencies lists no fewer than 21 elements of a media buy. The most important one, however, is matching the media vehicle to the strategic needs of the message and the brand. Following is a discussion of the most important media buyer activities. Providing inside information • Media buyers are important information sources for media planners. They are close enough to day-to-day changes in media popularity and pricing to be a constant source of inside current information. •

Principle: Media buyers should be consulted early in planning as they are a good source of information on changes in media.

Selecting media vehicles • The media planner determines the media mix, but the buyer is responsible for choosing the specific media vehicles. •

Online media buying is usually handled through ad networks and the big portals. AOL, Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft are four of the five biggest online ad networks,

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and the Microsoft Media Network is the fastest-growing service. Online vehicles are also offering programmatic buying, which means that algorithms are used to target individual viewers, not just aggregated audiences based on their digital tracking data. •

Armed with the media plan directives, the buyer seeks answers to a number of difficult questions as various media vehicles are considered. Does the vehicle have the right audience profile? Will the program’s current popularity increase, stabilize, or decline? How well does the magazine’s editorial format fit the brand and the message strategy (see the V8 example)? The answers to those questions bear directly on the campaign’s success.

Negotiation Costs • A media buyer negotiates for the best prices. The key questions are whether the desired vehicles are available and whether a satisfactory schedule and rates can be negotiated. Aside from finding the aperture of target audiences, nothing is more crucial in media buying than securing the lowest possible price for placements. In buying network television time, typically about 80 percent of the prime-time inventory is presold at a negotiated discount rate for the upcoming season during the up-front market. Networks sell the rest of their inventory in the scatter market, which means that the buys are made closer to the date. •

Every traditional medium has a published rate card, but media buyers often negotiate special prices for volume buys. The buyer must understand the trade-off between price received and audience objectives. Here are some other negotiation considerations: ▪

Bargaining for preferred positions: The locations in print media that offer readership advantages. How many additional exposures might that ad get? Because they are so visible, preferred positions often carry a premium surcharge, usually 10 to 15 percent above standard space rates.

Demand extra support offers: Buyers often demand additional promotional support called value-added media services. These can take any number of forms, including contests, special events, merchandising space at stores, displays, and trade-directed newsletters. The “extra” depends on what facilities each media vehicle has and how hard the buyer can bargain. Monitoring Performance • A media buyer’s responsibility to a campaign does not end with the signing of space and time contracts. The media buyer is responsible for tracking the performance of the media plan as it is implemented, as well as afterward, as part of the campaign evaluation. Buyers must also fix problems. Poorly performing vehicles must be replaced, or costs must be modified. •

Buyers also check the publication issues to verify whether advertisements have been placed correctly. Buyers make every attempt to get current audience research to

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ensure that schedules are performing according to forecast. Media buyers are even found out “riding the boards,” which means they check the location of the outdoor boards to verify that the client is receiving the outdoor exposure specified in the plan. •

Here are other responsibilities of media buyers: ▪ Post-campaign evaluation: Once a campaign is completed, the planner’s duty is to compare the plan’s expectations and forecasts with what actually happened. ▪

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Monitor billing and payment: Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the advertiser to make payment for the various media. However, the agency is contractually obligated to pay the invoice on behalf of the client. Keeping track of the invoices and paying the bills is the responsibility of the media buyer in conjunction with the accounting department.

Another complexity is the growth of online media, most of which call for entirely different media-buying techniques. The basis for the buy includes such new measures as click-throughs, and the data are monitored through services such as Nielsen Net Ratings and comScore. Google provides analytic data for search users as well as new or repeat viewers and time spent on the site. The Practical Tips feature in this chapter provides additional ideas on how to buy interactive media. Media buyers also have to deal with situations that crop up and complicate the planning. They are also troubleshooters. Temporary snags in scheduling and production are sometimes unavoidable. A policy of compensating for such errors is called “making good on the contract,” known as make goods. Here are some examples: ▪

Program preemptions: Special programs or news events often interrupt regular programming and the commercial scheduled is also interrupted. In the case of long-term program preemptions, such as war coverage, buyers may have difficulty finding suitable replacements before the schedule ends

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Missed closings. Magazines and newspapers have clearly set production deadlines, called closings, for each issue. Sometimes the advertising materials do not arrive in time. If the publication is responsible, it will make good. If the fault lies with the client or the agency, there is no restitution by the publication.

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Technical problems. Technical difficulties are responsible for numerous goofs, glitches, and foul-ups that haunt the advertiser’s schedule. Bleed throughs (the printing on the back side of the page is visible and conflicts with the client’s ad on the front side) and out-of-register colors (full-color printing is made from four color plates, which sometimes are not perfectly aligned). For newspapers, torn billboard posters, broken film, and tapes out of alignment are typical problems.

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Multichannel Buying (and Selling) • It should be clear from this review of media buyers’ responsibilities that this is a challenging job. A number of media services are available to help make buying for complicated media plans easier. General Electric and NBC Universal, for example, promoted media opportunities using a multichannel plan that includes broadcast, cable, and the Internet, as well as original programming on its own channels. • Newspapers have long offered simplified buys through such companies as Nationwide Newspapers and can handle classified and display advertising in more than 21,000 newspapers. The Newspaper National Network is a trade association representing some 9,000 newspapers that also handles ad placement. •

In the digital world, DoubleClick’s DART for Advertisers service helps advertisers manage online display and search marketing campaigns across online channels. All of these services not only place ads but also provide performance data to help optimize a buy as well as report on the effectiveness of a marketer’s specific plan.

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The cross-media buy, which is made easier by media companies, sells combinations of media vehicles in a single buy. This approach makes it easier to buy media across all of these platforms with a single deal rather than six phone calls. These multichannel deals are a result of media convergence. As content moves across these various forms of new media, so does advertising. Giant media groups, such as Viacom and Disney, are packaging “deals” based on the interests of the target audience.

Global Media Planning • A true global medium does not currently exist, which means that global media plans have to piece together worldwide coverage using a variety of media tools. No one network controls this global transmission. •

The definition of global media buying varies widely, but everyone agrees that few marketers are doing it yet. However, many are thinking about it, especially computer and other information technology companies that are being pursued by media such as AT&T.

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Today, the growth area is media buys across a single region, but as media becomes more global some marketers are beginning to make the leap across regions.

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Satellite transmission now brings advertising into many homes, but its availability is not universal because of the footprint (coverage area of the satellite), technical limitations, and regulations of transmission by various governments. Satellites beam signals to more than one country in Europe, the Asian subcontinent, North America, and the Pacific, but they are regional, not global, in coverage.

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The North American, European, Asian, and Latin American markets are becoming saturated with cable TV companies offering an increasing number of international

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networks. But an advertiser seeking global exposure must still deal with different networks and different vehicles in different countries. •

In Europe, the rise of buying “centrals” came about with the emergence of the EU and the continuing globalization of trade and advertising. Buying centrals are media organizations that buy across several European countries. These firms have flourished in an environment of flexible and negotiated rates, low inflation, and a fragmented advertising market.

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The important thing, however, is to be able to consider cultural implications in media use. For that reason, media planning and buying companies are also specializing in or buying companies that understand specific cultures, such as the Hispanic market in the U.S. and the Chinese market in Asia.

Media Planning and Buying Trends Advertising experts have been proclaiming the demise of mass media advertising for a number of years. The media landscape is dynamic and changing so fast that it’s hard to keep track of how the media business is practiced. All of these changes create new ways of operation and new opportunities for innovative media planners and buyers. Unbundling Media Buying and Planning • Occurring in the media industry is a shift in the way the industry is organized. This shift is called unbundling media services. Because media companies can aggregate the buying function across many different clients, that enables them to negotiate better rates for their clients. Because these companies control the money, they have become a powerful force in the advertising industry, leading to a tug-of-war over control and planning. •

Some of these media companies are now offering consolidated services, which means bringing the planning and buying functions back together. To take advantage of this consolidation argument, some media companies are also adding special planning teams for other related areas, such as events, product placement, Internet, and guerilla marketing programs.

Online Media Buying • A bigger threat to agencies than media buying services comes from Google and Yahoo!, which, although not ad agencies, are making inroads into media buying and selling. Google is using its website to sell ads primarily to small advertisers and publishers who find its automated advertising network, Google Adworks, to be a costeffective way to connect with one another. Agencies are trying to figure out if Google and Yahoo! are friends or enemies and what their move into online media buying will do to the revenue stream. Google, however, is betting that its expertise in search advertising, which matches ads to user interests, will give it an advantage over traditional ad media services.

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New Forms of Media Research • One challenge media planners face is the lack of reliable audience research and measurement metrics for the new media. The metrics for online media - hits and clicks - don’t really tell us much about impact, and comparing TRPs and clicks is like comparing apples and oranges. •

Search advertising on the Internet is also complicating things because, if it’s successful, it steals viewers away from the original site. So, search advertising may make sense as a form of direct marketing, but it is a nightmare for content publishers who sell advertising on their pages.

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Viral marketing is equally difficult to measure. Analytic data helps media planners assess the impact of the video-sharing site. Viral monitoring services have been established to assess the impact of YouTube and other multiple online platforms. As such services mature, marketers will become smarter about selecting marketing communication messages with the most viral video potential.

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Another problem is that media research is based on each medium as a silo, that is, separate studies for separate media. Most of the research services are unable to tell you much about the effectiveness of multiplatform media programs.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 14-4. Explain the differences between media planning and media buying. Media planning is a problem-solving process, devised jointly by the agency’s media department, the account and creative teams, and the marketer’s brand management group. Once the plan is formed, a media buying unit executes the plan. 14-5. What is aperture and how is it used in media planning? Finding the right moment to deliver a message is called the media aperture. The goal of the media planner is to expose the target audience to the advertiser’s message at the critical point when a consumer is receptive to the brand message. 14-6. How are gross impressions and gross rating points calculated? Gross impressions are the sum of the audiences of all the media vehicles used during a certain span of time. The summary figure is called “gross” because the planner has made no attempt to calculate how many different people were in the audience or whether the same person saw the ad several times. To get the sum of gross impressions, the media planner finds the audience figure for each vehicle used, Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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multiplies that figure by the number of times the vehicle was used, and adds the vehicle figures. 14-7. Explain the differences among continuous, flighting, and pulsing schedules. To avoid the huge numbers, media planners convert impressions to gross rating points in order to compare the efficiency of different media schedules. Gross rating points are calculated by multiplying the rating by the number of messages.

A continuous schedule spreads the advertising evenly over the campaign. A pulsing strategy means ads run all the time, sometimes more often than not. A flighting continuity strategy means ads alternate between running intensely for a period and then not at all for a period. 14-8. Explain the difference between GRPs and TRPs. How are they used to estimate the impact of a media plan? GRPs indicate the weight delivered when you sum the total audience coverage ratings. TRPs refer to the weight of the target audience after the audience waste has been excluded. Both indicate the weight of a media schedule and can be broken down to show a plan’s reach and frequency.

14-9. Explain the differences among CPMs, TCPMs, and CPPs. How are they used to estimate the cost efficiency of a media plan? Both CPMs and TCPMs indicate the cost to purchase 1,000 impressions in a given program. The CPM is a calculation of a total audience while TCPMs represent a more precise audience and exclude waste, or people not being targeted by a specific product or service. CPP (Cost per point) measures the cost of purchasing one rating point for the program being purchased. Both CPMs and CPP are used to compare the cost of different media vehicles. They are best used when comparing the same media (for example TV show to TV show; radio station to radio station). 14-10. What do media planners do? Once the plan directions are set, media buyers convert objectives and strategies into tactical decisions. They select specific media vehicles and negotiate and contract for the time and space in media.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 14-11. You have just begun a new job as a media planner for a new automobile model from General Motors. The planning sequence will begin in four months, and your media director asks you what data and information you need from the media research

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department. What sources should you request? How will you use each of these sources in the planning function? To begin with we will need to know who is in the target market. We will need to know the objectives of the media plan. We will need details about the entire marketing plan. We will need every bit of available information about the target market’s media habits. What do they watch, read, or listen to? What times of day and times of year are they tuned in? How are they using media? Are they using new technology such as TiVo and interactive TV? What is the budget? What information is available concerning psychographics? This is just a start of questions that can be asked. Sources to request include, but are not limited to Consumer Behavior reports, Nielsen data for TV, Arbitron data for radio, Simmons-Scarborough data for newspapers, Media Metrix and comScore information for internet. All of this information will be pooled together and reformulated to help define the media plan and mix. 14-12. In performing an aperture analysis, choose one of the following products: video games (Nintendo, for instance), men’s cologne (such as Axe), computer software (such as PhotoShop), or athletic shoes for aerobics (Reebok, for example). For the brand you selected, analyze the marketing situation and give your intuitive answers to the following questions: a) How does aperture work for this product? b) Which media vehicles should be used to maximize and leverage the prospect’s media aperture? c) Explain how the timing and duration of the advertising can improve the aperture opportunity. For many product categories, prospective customers have one or more ideal times or places at which they are most receptive to receiving and paying attention to a brand message. The answer should address the ideal time/place as well as the appropriate media for the selected product. Students should also explain how and when a product/service is used and purchased and how media scheduling and placement become important factors. TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 14-13. Portfolio Project: You have been asked to develop a media plan for a new reality show that you have created. Focus on the Internet as a primary medium for this launch. Go to both www.google.com/adsense and http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com. Indicate how you would use the information provided by these sites in developing your media plan for this new reality TV show. Write a one- to two-page report.

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Reality TV is a relatively new form of TV that attracts a younger, tech savvy audience. The use of both www.google.com/adsense and http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com provides a variety of publishing, search websites, mobile web pages, and applications that can be used to promote the reality show and engage the viewers. These online vehicles offer traditional banners, display, video and RSS opportunities. If Web video is used, there is a possibility of the video going viral and WOM advertising further enhancing the advertising campaign. Both sites offer assistance in building and executing an effective advertising plan. 14-14. Mini-case Analysis: Outline the key decisions in the Icelandic Men’s cancer campaign. What were the media strategies that contributed to the success of this campaign? Using your analysis as a model, develop a proposal for a media plan for a media pan for next year’s follow.-up campaign. The Icelandic Men’s cancer campaign challenged the target to get comfortable with their bodies so that they would perform self-examinations, detect male-related cancer and seek medical assistance when needed. The aim was to create a campaign that literally broke every rule in the book. It was to get people talking, sharing, touching their body, laughing, poking, fondling their balls, viewing, searching, raising money, giving money, and growing mustaches all for the fight against cancer The campaign encouraged men to sport a mustache in March, giving visual support for the fight against cancer and starting conversations. Heavy emphasis was placed on hilarious television advertising. Limited print advertising was also used to communicate the message. A website was set-up where men could show their mustache and raise money through donors/sponsors. The campaign also included strong public relations tactics and social media discussions about male-related cancer. The plan for year two should continue with many of the strategies and tactics from year one. The campaign should also incorporate stories about men that detected and were successfully treated, as well as statistics on lives lost because no preventative measures were taken. The plan should also heavily promote the website as an important resource and a place for one-on-one communication between men and healthcare providers.

TRACE North America Case Planning and Buying Multicultural Media 14-15. Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 14-15. What media would you recommend to reach the Nissan target market of Multicultural Millennials (ages 18 to 29)? 14-16. Based on TRACE’s $100 million advertising budget, draw your own pie chart indicating the media you would select with a dollar figure attached to each medium.

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HANDS-ON CASE: Making Milk Cool P4-1. What advice about media would you give to someone who wanted to market to teens? The media must engage the teen consumer, not interrupt their lives. While digital media strongly impacts teens, don’t totally discard traditional media. Broadcast TV played a significant role in reaching teens, during the “Got Milk” campaign, as well. P4-2. Describe the brand experience. How did this campaign combine the use of digital and traditional media? Was it effective? Teens were exposed to the “Got Milk” message through the power of digital media and through the influence of pop culture. Teens connected with the created rock band called White Gold and enjoyed the “bizarre and random” humor of the campaign. The campaign used both digital and TV advertising (in select shows) to deliver the “musical magic” and message provided by White Gold. The campaign was an overwhelming success. P4-3. In what ways were the media choices for this campaign creative? The creation of White Gold provided a musical platform for the milk message. It resulted in reviews, band history, discographies and music videos, which was supported effectively using the internet as well as broadcast TV. The message was creative, not necessarily the media. P4-4. Visit www.gotmilk.com to see the latest evolution of the “got milk?” campaign. Who seems to be the intended audience? How effectively does the Web presence communicate with the intended audience? The website seems to be targeting an older demographic with a drinking milk before bedtime message. The site is easy to navigate and contains some humorous elements, but is no bizarre or random type of humor and no focus on music or pop culture, which would excite a younger audience The site features, news and information regarding the milk campaign, recipes and helpful hints for why drinking milk is important. An older demographic would probably respond favorably to the site.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are the various categories of information compiled by media researchers and from where do they obtain it?

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Before planning can begin, media researchers gather information that can help ensure that they do the best job possible of engaging the audience. The list below illustrates the wide range of media information sources and the critical role media research plays in the overall advertising planning process: ▪

Client Information: The client is good source for various types of information media such as demographic profiles of current customers, response to previous promotions, product sales and distribution patterns, and, most importantly, the budget or how much can be spent on media.

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Market Research: Independently gathered information about markets and product categories is another valuable tool. Companies such as Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI), Scarborough), and Mendelsohn provide such research that usually can be obtained online for a fee.

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In highly competitive product categories, marketers track competitive advertising expenditures, that is, how much competing brands spend on media compared to how much they are spending on their particular brand. This is called share of voice. Marketers want to know which, if any, competing brands have louder voices (i.e., are spending more) than they do.

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Media Kits: The various media and their respective media vehicles provide media kits, which contain information about the size and makeup of their audiences. Although media-supplied information is useful, keep in mind that this information is assembled to make the best possible case for advertising in that particular medium and media vehicle.

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Nielsen Media Research audits national and local television, and Arbitron measures radio. Other services, such as the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly known as Audit Bureau of Circulations), Simmons, and MRI, monitor print audiences, and Media Metrix measures internet audiences. All of these companies provide extensive information on viewers, listeners, and readers in terms of the size of the audience and their profiles.

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Consumer behavior reports are useful in planning media strategies. Media planners use such services as the Claritas PRIZM system, Nielsen’s ClusterPlus system, and supermarket scanner data to locate the target audience within media markets.

2. How magazine readership is measured and how are rates determined? What are some of the challenges to media planners in this? Magazine rates are based on the guaranteed circulation that a publisher promises to provide. Magazine circulation is the number of copies of an issue sold, not the readership of the publication (called “readers per copy”). A single copy of a magazine might be read by one person or by several people, depending on its content. The Alliance for Audited

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Media is responsible for verifying circulation numbers. Created in 1914, this group audits subscriptions as well as newsstand sales and also checks the number of delinquent subscribers and rates of renewal. MediaMark, which provides a service called MRI, is the industry leader in magazine readership measurement. MRI measures readership for many popular national and regional magazines (along with other media). Reports are issued to subscribers twice a year and cover readership by demographics, psychographics, and product use. In addition, The Simmons Market Research Bureau provides psychographic data on who reads which magazines and which products these readers buy and consume. Other research companies, such as Starch and Gallup and Robinson, provide information about magazine audience size and behavior. One problem with these measurement services is the limited scope of their services. Without the services of an objective measurement company, advertisers must rely on the data from the magazines themselves, which may be biased. One interesting change currently in motion in magazine measurement is the move to quantify the “experience” of reading the magazine. A major study to pilot test this concept found that the more engaged people were in the magazine experience, the more impact the advertising had. 3. Who are some of the companies that provide media planners with data regarding the measurement of online audiences? Media planners are interested in estimates of the number of visits to a website, how much time was spent on the site, and new and repeat visitors as well as supplemental information, such as more sophisticated analytics that are provided by ad-buying services and the sites themselves. Google and Yahoo! have built impressive models and ad-buying programs to help media planners. For ads and banners, data are collected about the number of click-throughs that moved the user from the ad to the advertisers’ site. Various types of software programs are available that can be integrated into the advertiser’s information technology system that collect these types of usage data, which are then transmitted to companies that specialize in providing these measurement systems. Nielsen and comScore have digital ratings program, as do Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. These systems record activity but not demographics, so the data are not as useful as planners might like. 4. What is a media plan and what are the questions it is designed to answer? A media plan is a written document that summarizes the objectives and strategies pertinent to the placement of a company’s advertising messages. Its goal is to find the most effective and efficient ways to deliver messages to a targeted audience.

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Media plans are designed to answer the following questions: (1) who (target audience), (2) what for (objectives), (3) where (the media vehicles used), (4) where (geography), (5) when (time frame), (6) how big (media weight), and (7) at what cost (cost efficiency). The first three are media objectives and the second group represents media strategies. 5. Explain the concept of effective frequency. Because of the proliferation of information and clutter, there should be a threshold, or minimum frequency level, that produces some type of effect, such as a request for more brand information, a change in attitude toward the brand, or the most desired effect— purchase of the brand. A standard rule of thumb is that it takes 3 to 10 exposures to have an effect on an audience. The “right” frequency number or effective frequency level is determined by several factors, including level of brand awareness, level of competitive “noise,” content of the message, and sophistication of the target audience. And since there are so many different things can impact a response (i.e., an effect), audience response research is necessary. If the desired effect/response is not achieved, you may need to increase frequency of exposure or change the message. Research diagnostics, such as tracking studies, provide direction. In summary, we can say that effective frequency means you add frequency to reach until you get to the level where people respond. 6. What is a media mix and what factors must be considering when creating it? Most brands use a variety of targeted media vehicles, called a media mix, to reach current and potential customers. Media mixes are used for a number of reasons. The first is to reach people not reached by the first or most important medium. Using a variety of media vehicles distributes the message more widely because different media tend to have different audience profiles. Other reasons for spreading the plan across different media include adding exposure in less expensive media and using media that have some attractive characteristics that enhance the creative message. The reason for choosing a particular medium or a set of media vehicles depends on the media objectives. What media will best deliver what effects—and can you reinforce and extend those effects with a mix of media? If audience reach is an objective, then television still reaches the largest audience; if frequency is important, then radio may be the best media vehicle to use. Print and television are considered more trustworthy, so they might be used by a media planner for a campaign that seeks to establish credibility for a brand or believability for a product claim. The choice of media in the media mix is based on an analysis of their strengths and limitations and how those factors relate to a specific marketing situation. 7. Describe how the organization of the media industry is shifting. Occurring in the media industry is a shift in the way the industry is organized. This shift is called unbundling media services. Because media companies can aggregate the buying

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function across many different clients, that enables them to negotiate better rates for their clients. Because these companies control the money, they have become a powerful force in the advertising industry, leading to a tug-of-war over control and planning. Some of these media companies are now offering consolidated services, which means bringing the planning and buying functions back together. To take advantage of this consolidation argument, some media companies are also adding special planning teams for other related areas, such as events, product placement, Internet, and guerilla marketing programs. 8. What is the current status of global media buying? A true global medium does not currently exist, which means that global media plans have to piece together worldwide coverage using a variety of media tools. No one network controls this global transmission. The definition of global media buying varies widely, but everyone agrees that few marketers are doing it yet. However, many are thinking about it, especially computer and other information technology companies that are being pursued by media such as AT&T. Today, the growth area is media buys across a single region, but as media becomes more global some marketers are beginning to make the leap across regions. Satellites beam signals to more than one country in Europe, the Asian subcontinent, North America, and the Pacific, but they are regional, not global, in coverage. The North American, European, Asian, and Latin American markets are becoming saturated with cable TV companies offering an increasing number of international networks. But an advertiser seeking global exposure must still deal with different networks and different vehicles in different countries. In Europe, the rise of buying “centrals” came about with the emergence of the EU and the continuing globalization of trade and advertising. Buying centrals are media organizations that buy across several European countries. These firms have flourished in an environment of flexible and negotiated rates, low inflation, and a fragmented advertising market. The important thing, however, is to be able to consider cultural implications in media use. For that reason, media planning and buying companies are also specializing in or buying companies that understand specific cultures, such as the Hispanic market in the U.S. and the Chinese market in Asia.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Research and write a report on the current state of media planning, and the upheaval in traditional media approaches that is now under way. How is nontraditional, interactive media changing this process? Begin your research by going online and

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using keyword searches. You should also interview a media planner or buyer in the nearest major community. Write a 500-word report on your findings. 2. Locate any major consumer magazine. Request a copy along with an advertising kit, and speak with the advertising representative. Who is the target audience for this publication? What kind of demographic information is contained in the kit to support his/her conclusions, and how was it obtained? What kinds of advertisers appear to be a good match for this target audience? Based on your findings, prepare a ten-minute presentation for the class. Submit the magazine and media kit along with the report.

Think-Pair-Share 1. According to your textbook, media buying these days is about more than just choosing from a longer list of media options. Clients are looking for engaging experiences and brand-building relationships. What are some examples of this, and how might it be measured using newer, nontraditional media? Debate this question as groups, and then debrief as a class. 2. What is the relationship between reach and frequency, and what are the tradeoffs that media buyers must consider when making a purchase? Discuss your ideas in small groups for five minutes, and then discuss them as a class.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Visit the website of Attensity at http://www.attensity.com. Here, the company writes, “Attensity helps our customers deliver a superior customer experience by enabling them to drive better relationships with their customers – transforming them into loyal advocates. In order to stay competitive, businesses today need a fast, comprehensive, and reliable way to gather and analyze the vast amount of external information that exists in the market about an organization, its brands, its competitors, and its products.” Explore the links at the top of Attensity’s homepage. Read about who they are, the types of services they offer, and how all of this matches the material you are encountering in this chapter. Then answer the following questions: a) What is fundamentally different about this business and the way it approaches media planning and buying? b) What new advantages does “market intelligence” bring to clients? c) What hard data can Attensity supply to support its claims of superiority? d) Finally, what does this new research-based approach indicate for the future of media planning and buying? Draft a 750-word research report detailing your findings. 2.

The role of media planning is focused heavily on media engagement connections. It generally includes a multiplatform approach that involves activating the points of contact where brand messages touch consumers and engage their interest. Read an article entitled “Are Traditional Media Planning Jobs Going the Way of the

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Dinosaurs?” written by Daisy Whitney and published on November 12, 2012 on www.adage.com. Evaluate this article to determine how it reinforces issues of media engagement as discussed in Chapter 14 of the text. Also, to help you further understand what is going on right now in the media industry and the world of media planners, type ‘media planning’ into this website’s search box and peruse the list of articles that appear. Create a 500 word report to give to your classmates that relates your findings.

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Part 5

Principle: IMC and Total Communication Hundreds of different communication activities deliver brand messages both formally through planned communication programs and informally through other activities. This section provides a framework for you to understand how all of these programs and tools can work together to engage target audiences with consistent, persuasive messages that get people talking about a brand. In this part, we describe a collection of key marketing communication tools whose activities need to be coordinated as part of an integrated brand communication program. It includes chapters on public relations, direct response marketing, and promotions, events, and sponsorships. To help you understand how this works to deliver effective brand communication, consider what Professor Tom Duncan, one of the early leaders in IMC education, has to say about IMC. We then tie everything up with a chapter on the IMC umbrella which reviews all of the IMC principles and practices, as well as the big picture of total communication. The last chapter focuses upon how the effectiveness of each of these tools is evaluated. Building Brands, Brand Relationships, and Brand Equity •

Because marketing communications functions have become so sophisticated and the media so fragmented, brand message clutter has significantly increased, making it more difficult and costly to manage brand communication. Companies are finding it increasingly difficult to reach prospects and retain current customers.

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These changes have resulted in customers becoming more business savvy and at the same time having greater brand expectations than ever before. As these changes take place, competition becomes more intense, and top management demands more and more accountability and results from marketing communication expenditures.

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Recognizing this new marketing environment, smart companies have intensified their efforts to integrate their marketing communication and all other brand messages because this is the most cost effective way to build brand relationships and brand equity.

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Originally, IMC was about creating ‘one voice, one look’ across all messages on a campaign. We now know that a more effective approach to IMC has moved from this narrow execution focus to a much broader focus on branding and customer brand perceptions.

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Although IMC has been around for 25 years, few understand the breadth and depth of this communication focus. It’s not just advertising, and it’s not just marketing communication. Rather, it’s everything a brand says and does.

Chapter 15 Public Relations ◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

What is public relations? What are the different types of public relations programs? What key decisions do public relations practitioners make when they create plans? What are the most common types of public relations tools? Why is measuring the results of public relations efforts important and how should that be done?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter focuses upon the role of public relations in an organization and explores how goodwill can be developed effectively in a marketing communication program. It discusses the different types of public relations programs, planning and tools, and also ways of gauging their effectiveness.

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHAT IS PUBLIC RELATIONS? •

Public relations is a fundamental communications discipline covering a wide range of functions that helps an organization connect with the people it touches. Those functions include internal relations, publicity, advertising, press agentry, public affairs, lobbying, issues management, investor relations, and development.

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Public relations is used to generate goodwill for an organization. It is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends. It is a field that is rapidly evolving and growing. Public relations

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is increasingly used to build and maintain reciprocal relationships through dialogue and two-way communications in our networked society. •

Public relations focuses on all of the relationships an organization has with its various publics. By publics, we mean all of the groups of people with which a company or organization interacts: employees, members, customers, local communities, shareholders, other institutions, and society at large. Another term for this is stakeholders, which refers more specifically to people who have a stake, financial or otherwise, in a company or organization.

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Public relations is practiced by a wide range of organizations: companies, governments, trade and professional associations, nonprofit organizations, the travel and tourism industry, educational systems, labor unions, politicians, organized sports, and the media. Most organizations have in-house public relations departments that handle the organizations’ public relations work, although many also hire outside public relations agencies. Public relations is a dynamic, global profession.

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On one level, public relations is a tactical function that produces a variety of communication tools to achieve corporate image objectives. On a higher level, it is a management function that monitors public opinion and advises senior corporate managers on how to achieve positive relationships with various audiences in order to effectively manage the organization’s image and reputation. Publics may be external and internal.

Public Opinion • Public relations programs are built on an understanding of public opinion on issues critical to the organization, such as the company’s impact on the environment and its local community or workers’ rights and how the company deals with employees. •

Principle: Public relations is the conscience of the company, with the objective of creating trust and maintaining the organization’s integrity.

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The public relations strategist researches the answers to two primary questions about public opinion to design effective public relations programs. First, which publics are most important to the organization, now and in the future? Second, what do these publics think?

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Public opinion differs from mass opinion in that public opinion examines specific subgroups rather than a more general mass audience. Particular emphasis falls on understanding the role for each of the publics of opinion leaders, important people who influence the opinions of others.

Reputation: Goodwill, Trust, and Integrity

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Public goodwill is the greatest asset any organization can have. A well-informed public with a positive attitude toward an organization is critical to the organization’s survival. This is why creating goodwill is the primary goal of most public relations programs.

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Sometimes a totally unexpected crisis can threaten an organization’s respect and trust. Beyond responding to immediate issues, a public relations program that is tuned to creating goodwill operates as the conscience of the organization. Creating goodwill demands that both public relations professionals and the clients they represent act with integrity.

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To underscore the importance of acting with integrity as a prerequisite to creating goodwill, most public relations organizations have created codes of ethics. The Public Relations Society of America’s Code of Professional ethics spells out core values of conduct, such as truth, accuracy, fairness, and responsibility to the public.

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A reputation of integrity involves more than image. Image is a perception based on messages delivered by the advertising and other marketing communication tools. Reputation, however, is based on an organization’s actual behavior. Image mirrors what a company says about itself, but reputation reflects what other people say about the company.

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Principle: Reputation is earned based on what you do, not what you say about yourself.

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The value of a good reputation is hard to measure. Although considered a soft asset, one that is not usually included in a company’s financial statements, it can be significant in determining company and brand value.

How Public Relations Contributes to Brand Perception •

Public relations, like advertising, contributes significantly to brand perceptions. In integrated programs, advertising and public relations aim at selected targets with different but complementary messages. Advertising and public relations specialists share a joint responsibility to promote a brand, and at times their efforts converge.

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Advertising creates consumer awareness and that delivers sales. The goal of public relations specialists is to communicate with various stakeholders and manage the organization’s image and reputation, creating positive public attitudes, and building strong relationships between the organization and its constituents.

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Ultimately, the difference between the two is that public relations takes a longer, broader view of the importance of image and reputation as a corporate

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competitive asset and addresses more target audiences. Public relations and advertising also differ in how they use the media, the level of control they have over message delivery, and their perceived credibility. •

Here are some specific differences between public relations and advertising: ▪

Media use: In contrast to buying advertising time and space, public relations people seek to persuade media gatekeepers to carry stories about their company. Gatekeepers include writers, producers, editors, talk-show coordinators, and newscasters.

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Although public relations has a distinguished tradition, it is often mistaken for publicity, which refers to getting news media coverage. Publicity is focused on the news media and their audiences, which is just one aspect of public relations, and its carries no direct media costs. The message focuses on the organization, with little or no attempt to sell a brand or product.

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Control: In the case of news stories, the public relations strategist is at the mercy of the media gatekeeper. There is no guarantee that all or even part of a story will appear. Public relations writes the story, sends it to the media, and cross their fingers that this story will appear. Read the A Matter of Practice feature in this chapter in which a professor discusses what she sees as an emerging opportunity for employment in the public relations field.

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Credibility: The public tends to trust the media more than they do advertisers. This consumer tendency to confer legitimacy on information simply because it appears in the news is called the implied third-party endorsement factor.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMS •

The word relations in public relations refers to relationships with various stakeholders. In fact, the main subspecialties in the field—public affairs, media relations, employee relations, and financial relations—call attention to important relationships with such groups as the general public, the media, employees, and the financial community. Figure 15.1 outlines the various publics, or stakeholders, for a multinational company. The term relationship marketing introduces a point of view in marketing planning that evolved from public relations.

Aspects of Public Relations that Focus on Relationships • The key publics addressed by relationship management programs in public relations are media, employees, members, shareholders, others in the financial community, government, and the general public. Here are the specialty areas that focus on these relationship programs:

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▪

Media relations. The area that focuses on developing media contacts, that is, knowing who in the media might be interested in the organization’s story, is called media relations. A successful relationship between a public relations person and editors and producers is built on a public relations person’s reputation for honesty, accuracy, and professionalism. If that reputation is tarnished or lost, the public relations person can no longer function effectively as a liaison between a company and the media.

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Employee relations. Programs that communicate information to employees are called employee relations. A related program is called internal marketing, which deals with communication efforts aimed at informing employees about marketing programs and encouraging their support.

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Financial relations. All of the communication efforts aimed at the financial community, such as press releases sent to business publications, meetings with investors and analysts, and the annual report, are referred to as financial relations.

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Public affairs. Corporate communication programs with government and with the public on issues related to government and regulation are called public affairs. Public affairs includes lobbying, which occurs when a company provides information to legislators in order to get their support and vote on a particular bill. It also includes communication efforts with consumer or activist groups who seek to influence government policies. Issue management is another term for this function. In addition to government relations, public affairs programs also monitor public opinion about issues central to the organization’s interest and develop programs to communicate with the public about these issues.

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Recruitment. Public relations professionals are sometimes involved in employee recruitment, working with human resources and also membership recruitment for organizations. This may involve preparing ads, websites, and literature on the company or organization, as well as arranging events.

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Fundraising. The practice of raising money by collecting donations is called fundraising. It is used primarily by nonprofits and directed to potential donors. Professional fundraisers know how to make the initial contacts and use other marketing communication tools in a way that inspires people to participate. Sometimes fundraising is called development or strategic philanthropy.

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Cause marketing. When companies associate themselves with a good cause by providing assistance as well as financial support, the practice is called cause marketing.

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Aspects of Public Relations that Focus on particular Functions • Other areas of public relations, such as corporate reputation management, crisis management, marketing public relations, and public communication campaigns are distinctive because of their focus rather than their target audience. Corporate Reputation Management • The area that focuses on an organization’s image and reputation is called corporate relations. The overriding goal of reputation management in a corporate relations program is to strengthen the trust that stakeholders have in an organization. Because corporate reputation is a perception, it is earned through deeds, not created by advertising. Crisis Management • There is no greater test for an organization than how it deals with a crisis. The key to crisis management is to anticipate the possibility of a disaster and plan how to deal with the bad news and all the affected publics. •

Preparing for a potential crisis helps organizations weather the storm. By analyzing the potential for emerging crises and identifying resources to cope with them, an organization can be ready to respond quickly and meaningfully. A quick response is essential.

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An effective crisis plan can help both to avoid crises and ease the damage if one occurs. A plan outlines who contacts the various stakeholders who might be affected, who speaks to the news media, and who sets up and runs an on-site disaster management center.

Public Communication Campaigns • Used as a way to change public opinion, public communication campaigns also discourage socially harmful behaviors, such as driving in areas with air pollution problems. Sometimes they are engaged in countermarketing as they try to negate the impact of other advertising messages. Taken to the global level, public relations intersects with public diplomacy. Marketing Public Relations • One area in which advertising and public relations overlap is marketing public relations. Tom Harris, author of The Marketer’s Guide to Public Relations, defines marketing public relations as the process of planning and delivering programs that encourage sales and contribute to customer satisfaction by providing communication that addresses the needs and wants of consumers. He also says marketing public relations is the fastest growing area of public relations. •

Marketing public relations is different from a more general public relations approach in its consumer, brand, and sales focus. However, the need to establish a credibility platform is similar in both. Marketing public relations supports

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marketing’s brand and sales focus by increasing the brand’s credibility among consumers. •

Is public relations the career for you? A short exercise appears in the text to help students answer that question.

WHAT KEY DECISIONS GUIDE PUBLIC RELATIONS PLANS? •

Planning for a public relations campaign is similar to planning an advertising or IMC campaign. The plan should complement the marketing and brand communication strategies so the organization communicates with one clear voice to its various publics. The plan also identifies the various key publics and the public relations activities the PR people use to address the interests of its various publics. In addition to identifying key targets, public relations plans specify the objectives that give direction to the public relations program or campaign.

Research and SWOT Analysis • Research is used by an organization, as well as outside public relations agencies, throughout the planning and implementation of a public relations plan. It’s also used afterward to determine if the effort was successful and if the organization is spending its money wisely on the public relations efforts. •

The public relations effort may also begin with a more formal type of background research, called a communication audit, to assess the internal and external PR environment that affects the organization’s audiences, objectives, competitors, and past results. An annual audit or a campaign specific audit can be used to ensure that a program is on track and performing as intended. Often benchmarking is used to identify baselines from previous audits or audits of other related companies and industries, so there is a point of comparison. A gap analysis measures the differences in perceptions and attitudes between groups.

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Practitioners categorize publics so they can develop effective public relations plans to address issues. They consider latent publics to be those who are unaware of their connection to an organization regarding some particular problem. Aware publics are those who recognize the connections between the problem and themselves and others but who do not communicate about it. Active publics are those who communicate and organize to do something about the issue or situation.

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Since public opinion is so central to public relations programs, companies often use ongoing research to monitor opinions and attitudes. One such example is the companies that monitor voting behavior, such as Gallup, CNN and Google.

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A public relations plan begins with background research leading to a situation analysis or a SWOT analysis that evaluates a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis reflects a general understanding of the

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difficulty of changing people’s attitudes about such issues as corporations and their role in protecting the environment. Understanding the nature of the problem makes it easier to determine the appropriate communication objectives and the target stakeholder audiences, or publics, who will be addressed by the public relations efforts. •

In public relations planning, the situation analysis can include such topics as changes in public opinion, industry and consumer trends, economic trends, governmental regulations and oversight programs, and corporate strategies that affect a company’s relationships with stakeholders.

Targeting • As in other marketing communication areas, it is important to understand the target audience before designing the campaign. Research is conducted to identify the appropriate publics to which to address the public relations message. •

Principle: Before changing behavior, a communication program may need to change beliefs, attitudes, and feelings.

Objectives and Strategies • A variety of objectives guide a public relations plan and the company can use a number of strategies to carry out the plan. Public relations objectives are designed by PR planners to make changes in the public’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to a company, brand, or organization. Usually, these objectives focus on creating credibility, delivering information, and building positive images, trust, and corporate goodwill. The A Matter of Practice feature in this chapter illustrates the thinking behind an image campaign for the University of Colorado at Denver. •

A company may also seek to change behavior, but that is a difficult task. Before changing behavior, a communication effort may be needed to change people’s beliefs. In many public relations efforts, these communication effects are easier to accomplish and measure than behavior change. Typical public relations objectives include: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Creating a corporate or organizational brand Shaping or redefining a corporate reputation Positioning or repositioning a company or brand Moving a brand to a new market or a global market Launching a new product or brand Disseminating news about a brand, company, or organization Providing product or brand information Changing stakeholder attitudes, opinions, or behaviors about a brand or company

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▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Creating stronger brand relationships with key stakeholders, such as employees, shareholders, and the financial community, government, members (for associations), and the media Creating high levels of customer (member) satisfaction Creating excitement in the marketplace Creating buzz (word-of-mouth) Involving people with the brand, company, or organization through events and other participatory activities Associating brands and companies with good causes

Change-Agent Strategies • Changing the attitudes that drive behavior is central to public relations programs. Change agent programs can be internal strategies focused on employees (sometimes called internal marketing) or external and focused on other publics, such as customers or other stakeholders. Involvement Strategies • Public relations uses participation to intensify stakeholder involvement with a company or brand. Involvement can create interest and a feeling of excitement but, more importantly, it can drive loyalty. Getting people to participate in an action plan is one way to drive behavior change. The Big Idea • Creative ideas are just as important in public relations as in advertising and for the same reason—to get attention. Public relations stunts designed to get publicity are also part of the promotional arsenal, such as Janet Jackson’s big exposure during the 2004 Super Bowl. Some critics say the overexposure was in poor taste, while others say it was an example of a stunt that will be talked about for years. •

Flash mob marketing is another version of a publicity stunt. Sometimes public relations stunts generate negative publicity, such as the attempt by Pizza Hut, which offered a lifetime of free pizza to anyone at one of the 2012 presidential debates brave enough to ask either candidate which topping he preferred. When the media caught wind of the dare, they were outraged by the mockery of the political system. Was this an example of effective public relations? Is any publicity good publicity?

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS? •

Public relations uses a variety of marketing communication tools just as advertising does. Advertising is particularly useful in corporate image and reputation programs. Direct marketing is sometimes useful in sending out corporate books and DVDs. The Internet is important because the corporate website is one of the primary ways to disseminate information about an organization. Public relations activities such as publicity and special mailings of DVDs can help drive traffic to the corporate website. Sales promotion is used in support of public relations activities, such as special events.

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•

When researchers asked marketers in what roles they considered public relations effective, they responded that it was most effective at raising awareness (83%), followed by providing credibility (67%), reaching influencers (63%), educating consumers (61%), prompting trial use of products (28%), persuading skeptics (22%), and driving sales (22%). They also indicated that the most important contribution to marketing programs is providing media contacts (67%).

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The same study suggested that public relations and advertising need to merge or at least find common ground, as the media fragments and consumers gain more control of their time and media habits. While messages aimed at reaching mass audiences in the shifting media environment are less effective, new opportunities are emerging for public relations, publicity, and product placements to be integral parts of IMC programs.

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The public relations practitioner has many tools, which we can divide into two categories: controlled media and uncontrolled media. Controlled media include house ads, public service announcements, corporate (institutional) advertising, inhouse publications, and visual presentations. The sponsoring organizations pay for these media. In turn, the sponsor maintains total control over how and when the message is delivered.

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Uncontrolled media include press releases, press conferences, and media tours. The most recent new media are electronic, which might be categorized as semicontrolled. Corporations and businesses control their own websites, but other websites (particularly those that are set up by critics and disgruntled exemployees), blogs, and chat rooms about the company are not controlled.

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Likewise, companies set special events and sponsorships in place, but participation by the press and other important publics is not under the control of the sponsoring company. Word of mouth, or buzz, is important to PR programs because of the persuasive power of personal conversation. PR programs, particularly employee communication programs, may be designed to influence what people say about the company, but ultimately the comments are outside the company’s control. Table 15.1 summarizes all of the public relations tools.

Advertising Public relations programs sometimes employ advertising as a way to create corporate visibility or increase its goodwill with its various stakeholder audiences. The primary uses of advertising are house ads, public service announcements, and corporate advertising.

House Ads

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A company (or a medium such as a newspaper, magazine, or broadcast station) may prepare a house ad, which is an ad for use in its own publication or programming. Consequently, no money changes hands. These house ads are often managed by the public relations department.

Public Service Announcements • The ads for charitable and civic organizations that run free of charge on television or radio or in print media are public service announcements (PSAs). These ads are prepared just like other print ads or commercials, and in most instances ad agencies donate their expertise and media donate time and space to run them. The Advertising Council represents a PR effort for the entire advertising industry and has produced most of the PSAs you see on television and in print. •

Getting donated time and space is not easy. The PSA directors at various media receive a barrage of public-service campaigns every week on different issues and they have to choose which ones to run. There is no guarantee which markets will see the campaign elements and there is no guarantee that the same people will see the print and TV versions of a campaign. Some PSA campaigns do not get any airtime or print placements.

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Studies of PSA effectiveness help guide nonprofit organizations. Professor Herb Rotfield recognizes that many campaigns have produced effective PSAs to help address social ills in the A Principled Practice feature in this chapter. PSAs can help make people aware of social problems, but they may not eliminate them.

Corporate Advertising • With corporate advertising, a company focuses on its corporate image or viewpoint. There is less emphasis on selling a particular product unless it is tied in to a good cause. For that reason, the ad or other campaign materials may originate in the public relations department rather than the advertising department. •

Corporate identity advertising is another type of advertising that firms use to enhance or maintain their reputation among specific audiences or to establish a level of awareness of the company’s name and the nature of their business.

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Sometimes companies deliver point-of-view messages called advocacy advertising. One example of this is GE’s Ecomagination campaign that has been previously mentioned. Another example is P&G’s campaign for Dawn liquid dishwashing soap. The soap, known to be tough on grease yet gentle connects naturally with its advocacy effort to rescue birds and marine mammals harmed by oil spills. This campaign, which aims to inspire people to get involved, proved timely in light of the massive BP oil spill in 2010. Donating 12,000 bottles of Dawn to animal rescuers on the Gulf Coast, P&G enhanced its reputation and built goodwill based on its longstanding marketing relationship between wildlife rescue organizations and the brand.

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Publicity • Next, we will move away from controlled messages and consider the various tools and techniques used by media relations specialists to get publicity in the news media on behalf of a company or a brand. •

Media relations is seen as the most important core competency for PR professionals. Media relations specialists know media that would be interested in stories about their companies. They also develop personal contacts with reporters and editors who write regularly on topics related to their organization’s industry. In addition to personal contact, the primary tool used in media relations is the news release, along with press conferences and media tours.

News Releases • The new release is the primary medium used to deliver public relations messages to the various external media. Although the company distributing the news release controls its original form and content, the media decide what to present and how to present it. What the public sees, then, is not necessarily what the originating company had in mind, and so this form of publicity offers less control to the originating company. •

The decision to use any part of a news release at all is based on an editor’s judgment of its news value. News value is often based on timeliness, proximity, impact, or human interest.

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News releases must be written differently for each medium, accommodating space and time limitations. Traditional journalism form is followed. The more carefully the news release is planned and written, the better the chance it has of being accepted and published as written.

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The news release can be delivered in a number of ways—in person, by local delivery service, by mail, by fax, or by e-mail. Sometimes a company is hired that specializes in distribution, such as U.S. Newswire. Originally these companies sent news releases by mail or delivery services, but today news releases are more likely to be distributed electronically through satellite and web-based networks.

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If your organization decides to use e-mail, here is a set of guidelines for delivery. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Use one reporter’s name and address per “to” line. Keep subject line header simple. Boldface “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” on the first line above the date. Catch attention with a good headline. Limit length (shorter than print’s 500 word limit.) Use the 5W format. Do not include attachments. Link to a URL, where other background information and photos are posted.

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▪ ▪ ▪ •

Remember readability and use short paragraphs, bullets, numbers, and lists to keep it scannable. Put contact information below the text. Close with conventional end signs such as “30” or ####.

Video news releases (VNRs) contain video footage for a television newscast. They are effective because they show target audiences the message in two different video environments: first as part of a news report and then later in an advertisement. Of course, there is no guarantee that such a release will be used.

Pitch Letters • Ideas for feature stories, which are human interest stories rather than hard news announcements, have to be “sold” to editors. This is done using a pitch letter that outlines the subject in an engaging way and sells a story idea. Companies use this form to feature interesting research breakthroughs or corporate causes. Not only is the distribution of press releases moving online, but the letters pitching editors with story ideas are moving online also. Press Conferences A press conference—an event at which a company spokesperson makes a statement to media representatives—is one of the riskiest public relations activities because the media may not see the company’s announcement as being real news. Companies often worry whether the press will show up for a press conference. Also, they wonder if the press will ask the right questions or instead will ask questions the company cannot or does not want to answer. •

To encourage reporters to cover press conferences, companies may issue a media kit, usually a folder that provides all the important background information to members of the press, either before or when they arrive at the press conference. The risk in offering media kits (also called press kits) is that they give reporters all the necessary information so that the press conference itself becomes unnecessary.

Media Tours • A media tour is a press conference on wheels. The traveling spokesperson makes announcements and speeches, holds press conferences to explain a promotional effort, and offers interviews. Publications • Organizations may provide employees and other publics with pamphlets, booklets, annual reports, books, bulletins, newsletters, inserts and enclosures, and position papers. The SEC requires that all publicly held companies publish an annual report. The annual report is targeted to investors and may be the single most important document the company distributes.

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Some companies publish material in print and online, often called collateral material, to support their marketing public relations efforts. Corporate publications, marketing, and sales promotion departments and their agencies also produce training materials and sales kits to support particular campaigns.

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eZines provide another outlet for businesses. At the eZinearticles.com website, contributors write their own content and publish it online, making it available for others to publish on their own sites as well. The site doesn’t like overtly promotional content, but the company can provide a service piece related to its business.

Other Tools In addition to advertising, publicity, and publications, public relations practitioners have various types of materials and activities in their professional toolkits. DVDs, CDs, Podcasts, Books, and Online Video • DVDs and podcasts have become major public relations tools for many companies. Corporate books have also become popular with the advent of simplified electronic publication. Videos are not inexpensive. However, they are an ideal tool for distributing in-depth information about a company or program. Speakers and Photos • Many companies have a speaker’s bureau of articulate people who will talk about topics at the public’s request. Displays and Exhibits • Displays and exhibits, along with special events and tours, may be important parts of both sales promotion and public relations programs. Displays include signage and booths, racks and holders for promotional literature. Exhibits tend to be larger than displays; they may have moving parts, sound, or video and usually are staffed by a company representative. Booth exhibits are important at trade shows, where some companies may take orders that generate much of their annual sales. Special Events and Tours • Some companies stage events to get maximum publicity and generate positive attitudes toward the sponsors by celebrating milestones, such as key anniversaries and introductions of new products. These are high-visibility activities designed to get maximum publicity. A classic special event is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day period, a tradition started in 1924. Corporate sponsorship of various sporting events has evolved into a favorite public relations tactic. •

The late Steve Jobs is considered to be one of the world’s greatest public relations people, according to industry executive Thomas Harris. When Jobs took the stage to announce the Apple iPhone, the product launch generated an estimated $400 million in free publicity. By the time the iPhone went on sale six months later, it

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had already been the subject of 11,000 print articles and had generated 69 million hits on Google. •

Events can also be important in internal communication. Learning objectives and employee buy-in are often accomplished through meetings, seminars, and workshops sponsored by a company, typically in conjunction with training materials and other publications. To facilitate internal marketing, town hall forums are sometimes used. Forums provide management with an opportunity to make a presentation on some major project, initiative, or issue and invite employees to discuss it.

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In addition to media tours, tours of all kinds are used in public relations programs, such as plant tours and trips by delegates and representatives. The campus tour used by colleges in recruiting new students is another example.

Online Communication While the Internet and social media have changed communications forever, they have not replaced human relationships as the essence of societal communication. Nor have the new techniques replaced human relationships as the essence of the practice of public relations, according to public relations practitioner and author Fraser Seitel. •

Intranets (which connect people within an organization), extranets (which connect people in one business with its business partners), e-mail, Internet advertising and promotions, websites, social media such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter have opened up avenues for public relations activities. The A Matter of Practice featured in this chapter illustrates how social media can be a useful tool in public relations because it stimulates word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful communication tools available to marketing communicators, and particularly to public relations campaigns.

External Communication • A conference speaker at a workshop on the Web’s usefulness in public relations notes, “The World Wide Web can be considered the first public relations mass medium in that it allows managed communication directly between organizations and audiences without the gatekeeping function of other mass media.” •

Corporate websites have become an important part of corporate communication. These sites can present information about the company and open up avenues for stakeholders to contact the company. Website newsrooms distribute a company’s press releases to the media and other interested stakeholders.

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In addition to websites, the Internet has become the favorite tool of media relations professionals as well as journalists. Most press releases are now distributed online either by sending them directly to reporters or to such services

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as PR Newswire, which then handles mass distribution online to appropriate publications. Internal Communication • E-mail is a great way for people at separate sites to communicate. You can get a fast reply if people at the other end are checking their e-mail regularly and it is inexpensive. A public relations downside is that e-mail can be used in court. Some of the most damaging evidence the federal government presented against Microsoft in its 1998 antitrust suit came from e-mail messages exchanged within the company. •

Internal company networks do have great benefits. Intranets and corporate portals encourage communication among employees in general and permit them to share company databases, such as customer records and client information.

Web Challenges • The Internet presents at least as many challenges to public relations professionals as it does opportunities. Search engine optimization is a major issue for online experts who continually try to improve the process of key word searching that leads interested Web users to their sites. •

While the Internet makes it possible to present the company’s image and story without going through the editing of a gatekeeper, it is much harder to control what is said about the company on the Internet. It used to be that you could control the information because you’d have one spokesman who represented the company. Now, where you have thousands of employees who have access to an email site, you have thousands of spokesmen. All employees have “an inside view” of their company, whether sanctioned by the public relations department or not.

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Gossip and rumors can spread around the world within hours. Angry customers and disgruntled former employees know this and have used the Internet to voice their complaints. Unhappy people have set up websites such as I Hate McDonald’s and Toys R Us Sucks. As a defense against this negative press, some companies are registering domain names that might cause them trouble. Some companies monitor the Internet to see what is being said about them so they can respond to protect their reputations.

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How should organizations respond to negative information on the Internet or social media? Entrepreneur Mark Suster warns about the dangers of overreacting. “If you make a major mistake, own it early,” he advises. “If negative information is posted and you believe your company is in the right, see if the story gets much reverberation. If it’s not picked up repeatedly in the media, social or otherwise, resist the temptation to respond because the response itself might make people aware of the issue unnecessarily.”

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END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 15-4. Explain why public opinion is important to the success of public relations. Public relations programs are built on an understanding of public opinion on issues critical to the organization, such as the company’s impact on the environment and its local community or workers’ rights and how the company deals with employees. The public relations strategist researches the answers to two primary questions about public opinion to design effective public relations programs. First, which publics are most important to the organization, now and in the future? Second, what do these publics think? Public opinion differs from mass opinion in that public opinion examines specific subgroups rather than a more general mass audience. Particular emphasis falls on understanding the role for each of the publics of opinion leaders, important people who influence the opinions of others. 15-5. Compare and contrast the practice of advertising with the practice of public relations. The objective of advertisers is to create a level of consumer awareness and motivation that delivers sales. The goal of public relations specialists is communicating with various stakeholders, managing the organization’s image and reputation, and creating positive public attitudes and goodwill toward the organization. Ultimately, the difference between the two is that public relations takes a longer, broader view of the importance of image and reputation as a corporate competitive asset and addresses more target audiences. Public relations and advertising also differ in how they use the media, the level of control they have over message delivery, and their perceived credibility. 15-6. In analyzing PR tools, compare the use of controlled and uncontrolled media. Explain the difference between the two categories. The public relations practitioner has many tools, which we can divide into two categories: controlled media and uncontrolled media. Controlled media include house ads, public service announcements, corporate (institutional) advertising, in-house publications, and visual presentations. The sponsoring organizations pay for these media. In turn, the sponsor maintains total control over how and when the message is delivered. Uncontrolled media include press releases, press conferences, and media tours. The most recent new media are electronic and they can be categorized as semicontrolled. 15-7. What are the primary tools of publicity?

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Publicity is an uncontrolled message, and media relations is seen as the most important core competency for PR professionals. The news release is the primary medium used to deliver public relations messages to the various external media. Although the company distributing the news release controls its original form and content, the media decide what to present and how to present it. What the public sees, then, is not necessarily what the originating company had in mind, and so this form of publicity offers less control to the originating company. The decision to use any part of a news release at all is based on an editor’s judgment of its news value. News value is often based on timeliness, proximity, impact, or human interest. Video news releases (VNRs) contain video footage for a television newscast. They are effective because they show target audiences the message in two different video environments: first as part of a news report and then later in an advertisement. Pitch letters, press conferences, and media tours are used as well. 15-8. In evaluating the effectiveness of public relations, explain the difference between output and outcome evaluations. Public relations practitioners track the impact of a campaign in terms of output (how many news releases lead to stories or mentions in news stories) and outcome (attitude or behavior change). Such tracking is done to prove the effectiveness of the PR program and to learn from their efforts and fine-tune future campaigns. To get a comprehensive picture of PR’s impact, practitioners evaluate process (what goes out) and outcome (media use, effect on the target audience).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 15-9. Why is public opinion so important to the success of public relations? In how many different ways does it affect the success of a program like Häagen-Dazs’s Love Honey Bees campaign? Public relations practitioners need to monitor and to mold public opinion. The overarching charge of public relations is to manage an organization’s image and reputation. Image is based on perceptions and impressions of the ways organizations conduct their business. Expression of those perceptions is public opinion. Public opinion must be monitored in order to understand what various publics think about an organization, that is, to grasp their perceptions. Programs can then be enacted to try to mold public opinion in ways that benefit the organization and support its mission. Public relations objectives are designed to make changes in the public’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to a company, brand, or organization. Usually, these objectives focus on creating credibility, delivering information, and building positive images, trust, and corporate goodwill, as well as changing corporate values, as Häagen-Dazs’s Love Honey Bees campaign demonstrates. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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15-10. A few years ago, Oprah Winfrey suggested to her viewers that they could get a free meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken if they printed out an Internet coupon. Oprah’s endorsement created demand from 4 million new customers that franchises could not meet. Is all publicity good publicity? Or was this just a bad idea that hurt the client? Organize into a team, pick a point of view, and prepare to present it to your classmates. You might also propose how you would handle such a situation. Some students will take the point of view that ‘all publicity is good publicity’ and focus upon the huge amount of free media exposure KFC received as a result of this incident. Others will describe this incident as a debacle that resulted from poor planning and quite possibly damaged consumer perception of the brand, as well as the company’s reputation. Regardless of which side is taken, students must acknowledge that a crisis ensued that required immediate attention by the company. KFC responded by allowing disappointed consumers to receive a replacement coupon entitling them to a free meal at a later date. This ameliorated the pressure placed on their franchisees to give away free product, while also allowing the company to make good on its original offer to its consumers.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 15-11. Portfolio Project: Identify a small business in your community that might benefit from a public relations plan. Study the organization’s situation, identify a problem that can be addressed with public relations, and outline a plan to help the organization. Prepare your proposal in a 3-page (maximum) paper. Students may want to incorporate some of the following tips for small businesses to communicate their messages more effectively. They are: • Wrap your story around a bigger idea. Find a broader context or news hook for your product or service and show how your company fits into it. • Keep it short and personal. When reaching out to journalists, a few quick sentences via e-mail, free of industry jargon and explaining who you are and what your business is, will usually suffice. Try to keep the first e-mail readable without having to scroll down. Also, referring to past works by journalists shows you understand their area of coverage. • Pay attention to Web basics. Building a website and getting good rankings on search engines such as Yahoo! and Google can help customers find businesses – especially new ones. Consider blogging as a way to tell your story and interact with the public.

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• Host events. These don’t have to be expensive, but small themed events with food and drink for customers can be a good draw, particularly on streets crowded with multiple merchants. • Seek out brand ambassadors. Find customers willing to talk up your product to others and encourage their word-of-mouth marketing with discounts or first looks at new products and sales. • Publish a newsletter. It sounds old fashioned, but with so much information coming to people online these days, a mailed paper newsletter to customers can seem more personal than mass e-mails and help your business stand out. 15-12. Study Häagen-Dazs’s efforts to solve the problem of the disappearing honeybee colonies on its website. Look at the corporate social responsibility program on Ben & Jerry’s website. Compare and contrast their efforts to be good corporate citizens. On the Häagen-Dazs website, students will find a link to www.helpthehoneybees.com, which outlines in detail this brand’s efforts to deal with the honeybee problem. On Ben & Jerry’s website, students will find the company’s “activism mission statement,” along with a wide range of socially responsible activities in which the company is involved, including fair trade, environmental stewardship, and observation of Peace Day.

TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Read the Trace case in the Appendix before coming to class. 15-13. Reviewing the public relation tools in this chapter, identify at least two tools you could use effectively on a national basis to increase the impact of the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign.

◆ ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Provide a basic definition for public relations. Public relations is a fundamental communications discipline covering a wide range of functions that helps an organization connect with the people it touches. Those functions include internal relations, publicity, advertising, press agentry, public affairs, lobbying, issues management, investor relations, and development. Public relations is used to generate goodwill for an organization. It is the management Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends. It is a field that is rapidly changing and growing. Public relations is increasingly used to build and maintain reciprocal relationships through dialogue and two-way communications in our networked society.

2. How are publics and relationships important to the practice of public relations? Public relations focuses on all the relationships that an organization has with its various publics. By publics, we mean all the groups of people with which a company or organization interacts—employees, members, customers, local communities, shareholders, other institutions, and society at large. Another term for this is stakeholders, which refers more specifically to people who have a stake (financial or not) in a company or organization.

3. What role do reputation, goodwill, and integrity play in a public relations program? Public goodwill is the greatest asset any organization can have. A well-informed public with a positive attitude toward an organization is critical to the organization’s survival. This is why creating goodwill is the primary goal of most public relations programs. Sometimes a totally unexpected crisis can threaten an organization’s respect and trust. Beyond responding to immediate issues, a public relations program that is tuned to creating goodwill operates as the conscience of the organization. Creating goodwill demands that both public relations professionals and the clients they represent act with integrity. A reputation of integrity involves more than image. Image is a perception based on messages delivered by the advertising and other marketing communication tools. Reputation, however, is based on an organization’s actual behavior. Image mirrors what a company says about itself, but reputation reflects what other people say about the company. The value of a good reputation is hard to measure. Although considered a soft asset, one that is not usually included in a company’s financial statements, it can be significant in determining company and brand value. 4. What role does integrity play in the media relations process? The area that focuses on developing media contacts, that is, knowing who in the media might be interested in the organization’s story, is called media relations. A successful relationship between a public relations person and editors and producers is built on a public relations person’s reputation for honesty, accuracy, and professionalism. If that reputation is tarnished or lost, the public relations person can no longer function effectively as a liaison between a company and the media. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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5. What is a crisis management plan? There is no greater test for an organization than how it deals with a crisis. The key to crisis management is to anticipate the possibility of a disaster and plan how to deal with the bad news and all the affected publics. Preparing for a potential crisis helps organizations weather the storm. By analyzing the potential for emerging crises and identifying resources to cope with them, an organization can be ready to respond quickly and meaningfully. A quick response is essential. An effective crisis plan can help both to avoid crises and ease the damage if one occurs. A plan outlines who contacts the various stakeholders who might be affected, who speaks to the news media, and who sets up and runs an on-site disaster management center. 6. What are the key strategic decisions in public relations planning? Planning for a public relations campaign is similar to planning an advertising or IMC campaign. The plan should complement the marketing and brand communication strategies so the organization communicates with one clear voice to its various publics. The plan also identifies the various key publics and the public relations activities the PR people use to address the interests of its various publics. In addition to identifying key targets, public relations plans specify the objectives that give direction to the public relations program or campaign.

7. What is marketing public relations, and how does it differ from other forms of public relations, such as corporate relations? One area in which advertising and public relations overlap is marketing public relations. Marketing public relations is defined as the process of planning and delivering programs that encourage sales and contribute to customer satisfaction by providing communication that addresses the needs and wants of consumers. It is different from a more general public relations approach in its consumer, brand, and sales focus. However, the need to establish a credibility platform is similar in both. Marketing public relations supports marketing’s brand and sales focus by increasing the brand’s credibility among consumers. 8. Discuss the role of research in public relations. Research is used by an organization, as well as outside public relations agencies, throughout the planning and implementation of a public relations plan. It’s also used afterward to determine if the effort was successful and if the organization is spending its money wisely on the public relations efforts.

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ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Locate a public relations professional with a nonprofit organization in your community. Interview that person to learn about the role of public relations in their organization, and how it helps advance and maintain relationships with key publics in the community. Why is public relations critical in a nonprofit organization that is often operating on a limited budget? Write a 500-word report on your findings. 2. Using the tools and techniques discussed in this chapter, create an outline for a public relations campaign plan for a student organization on your campus. How will the plan be conceived, implemented and carried out? Finally, how will it be evaluated? Share the plan outline with the student organization’s key leaders and gauge their reaction to it. Think-Pair-Share 1. In small groups, review the GE Ecomagination campaign by visiting www.ecomagination.com, watching the accompanying ad on www.youtube.com, and visiting related websites. Why do you suppose GE has launched this campaign? What was the strategic objective of the GE Ecomagination Challenge, in your opinion? Does this campaign appear to have been successful? Is it possible to turn a profit and go “green” at the same time? What are the possible long-term rewards for a company like GE going green? 2. Consult the two teen-targeted anti-smoking Web sites listed here and compare them in terms of their appeal to a teen audience. Which one do you think is the most interesting to this age group? Which one is the least interesting? Compile the best ideas from both of them and write a report to your instructor on why the ideas are good and what else a website can do to reach a teen market. • •

http://www.thetruth.com http://www.generationfree.com

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OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Learn more about the emerging role of ethics in public relations by visiting the Public Relations Society of America online at http://www.prsa.org. From the homepage, type “Ethics” in the search box and read the code of ethics. What does it tell you about the state of the PR profession and the ethical dilemmas that practitioners encounter every day? Compare and contrast these ethical guidelines with the ethical guidelines governing advertising that were presented in Chapter 3 of this textbook. Summarize your findings in a 500-word report. 2. This chapter describes Howard Rubenstein, founder and CEO of Rubenstein Public Relations, Inc., as an elder statesman in the public relations profession. Go to YouTube.com to watch him in an interview with Douglas Simon. What are the key points Mr. Rubenstein makes in this interview and in what ways do they reflect the principles discussed in this chapter of the textbook? Also visit Rubenstein Public Relations, Inc.’s website (rubensteinpr.com). Review the entire site, while paying special attention to the services offered and the case studies. In general, how does this firm contribute to an organization’s brand communication efforts and add value to a brand? Summarize your findings in an eight slide PowerPoint presentation to your class.

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Chapter 16 Direct-Response Marketing ◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. 2. 3. 4.

How does the direct-response marketing process work and who are the key players? What are the primary tools and media available to direct-response programs? How are databases used in direct marketing? What are the trends and challenges facing direct-response marketing?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Marketers use direct marketing in every consumer and business-to-business category. In this chapter we’ll discuss the practice and process of direct-response marketing communication (DBC), the key players, the tools and media of direct response, and the principles of integrating direct marketing into the total brand communication effort.

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHAT IS DIRECT-RESPONSE MARKETING COMMUNICATION? • As the Internet and mobile communication devices have become more pervasive and sophisticated, marketers are shifting bigger portions of their marcom budgets into direct-response brand communication (DBC). Because this type of messaging is specifically designed to motivate an immediate response, it is sometimes also called direct-response marketing. •

Because DBC is designed to generate immediate responses, this means it is also easy to tell quickly if the messages are meeting their objectives. Unlike mass media advertising and public relations, the effects of DBC are more immediate and more measurable.

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The Direct Marketing Association is the professional association for this category of marketing communication. Direct-response marketing is defined as a multichannel system of marketing that uses a variety of media to connect sellers and customers who deal with each other directly rather than through an intermediary, such as a wholesaler or retailer.

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As noted in Figure 16.1, direct marketing includes a strong focus on market research to guide strategy and database development to better target customers and prospects

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and invite them to interact with a company. Using an interactive communication model, the contact is designed to elicit an immediate response. •

The most important function of direct response marketing is that it opens up the door for interactivity. Interactivity, or two-way communication, is the heart of DBC since it drives the ability to create engaging, relationship-building contacts. If marketing is a conversation with consumers about a brand, then one of the most intimate marcom tools in the toolkit is DBC.

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Some marketers see direct response as more limiting than brand or image advertising because it does not reach as many people or, if it does, the traditional cost of reaching each individual is higher per impression. Proponents justify the higher costs by noting that the objective is action rather than recall or attitude change. Action is the most desired and also the hardest impact to achieve. Today, the higher cost argument is weak, since the Internet and mobile media eliminate the cost of message delivery.

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Principle: Direct marketing may have higher costs per impression than mass media, but it is less expensive in the long run because its messages are tightly targeted to reaching prime prospects.

Who Are the Key Players? The four main players in direct-response marketing communication are: (1) marketers who use direct response to sell products or services; (2) agencies that specialize in directresponse communication; (3) phone, mail, or Internet media that deliver messages; and (4) consumers who are the recipients of the information and sometimes the initiators of the contact. Marketers • Traditionally, the types of companies that have made the greatest use of direct marketing have been book and record clubs, publishers, insurance companies, sellers of collectibles, gardening firms, and e-marketers. •

Direct marketing can contribute to the brand impression. If the contact is irritating, the message may be negative. But if the messages are well crafted and targeted to appropriate audiences, they may be appreciated, particularly if the recipient has opted in and is willing to be contacted.

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Research findings indicate that the appearance of a direct-response message – the character and personality communicated by the graphics – can enhance or destroy not only the brand image, but also the credibility of the product information.

Agencies and Media Companies The four types of firms in direct-response advertising are:

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Advertising Agencies: Most major agencies whose main business is mass media advertising either have a department that specializes in direct response or own a separate direct-response company.

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Direct-Marketing Agencies: Independent direct-marketing agencies specialize in creating the DBC messages, arrange for their delivery to a target audience, and evaluate the results.

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Service Firms: Service firms specialize in supplying printing, mailing, list brokering, and data management.

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Fulfillment Houses: This business is responsible for making sure consumers receive whatever they request in a timely manner, be it a catalog, additional information, or the product itself.

Customers and Prospects • Although people might dislike the intrusiveness of direct-response advertising, many appreciate the convenience. It is a method of purchasing goods in a society that is finding itself with more disposable income but with less time to spend it. Although there is some risk in ordering a product you cannot see, touch, feel, or try out, more and more consumers are confident and willing to take a chance buying online. What Is Included in the DBC Process? • As outlined in Figure 16.2, there are five basic steps in direct response marketing: (1) the establishment of objectives and strategic decisions, (2) the communication of an offer by the seller through the appropriate medium, (3) response, or customer orders, (4) fulfillment, or filling orders and handling exchanges and returns, and (5) relationship building through maintenance of the company’s database and customer service. Objectives and Strategies • DBC planning begins by delineating the specific objectives. Direct marketing can be used to: (1) provide in-depth product information, (2) drive traffic to a store or website, (3) develop leads for follow-up sales contacts or other direct-response efforts ( lead generation, also called prospecting), (4) drive a response, (5) retain or strengthen customer relationships, and (6) test offers to predict their effectiveness. •

The most typical DBC objective is to create sales or some other action by convincing customers to order products, make payments, or take some other action. Conversion rates are the percentage of contacts who actually take action, and this is the most important metric used in evaluating DBC programs. Relationship building is also important since, in most cases, profit comes from subsequent sales.

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Principle: Relationship building is critical because direct marketers seldom make a profit on the first sale to a new customer. Profit comes from subsequent sales.

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Nonprofits are also big users of direct-response marketing practices, using them to generate donations, memberships, and volunteers. An example is UNICEF, whose goal was to save child soldiers fighting in a war they did not understand and give them an opportunity to rejoin society.

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Direct marketers make these basic objectives more specific by spelling out such factors as timing, amount of increase, and the acquisition of information about consumers’ specific behavior.

Targeting • One of the most important decisions made in direct marketing is selecting those who are to receive the offer. For those DBC messages conveyed via catalog, phone calls, and mail, the CPM is high. Therefore, if the DBC effort is to have a positive return on investment (ROI), it is critical that the target prospects have a higher-than-average interest in the brand offer. •

The best customer prospects of direct marketers are current customers. Current customers have already been sold on the brand, so it is much easier to motivate them to buy again.

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Direct marketers have identified three criteria that help them predict who is most likely to repurchase: recency, frequency, and monetary (RFM). The more recently customers bought from a company, the more likely they are to buy again. Also, the more money customers have spent buying from a company, the more likely they are to buy again. Computer models are used to conduct ongoing analyses of customers’ buying behaviors and to produce lists using these criteria. Similar to media planning, this modeling is also called optimization.

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Principle: The more recently customers have bought from a company, the more frequently they have bought, and more they have spent all increase the odds that they will buy again.

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For acquiring new customers, a targeting strategy is to profile current customers and then look for potential customers who have similar profiles from databases of customer information.

The Offer and Response • All direct-marketing messages contain an offer, typically consisting of a description of the product, terms of sale, and payment, delivery, and warranty information. In its offer, a successful DBC campaign must communicate benefits to buyers by answering the enduring question: “What’s in it for me?” Also, many DBC offers include an incentive for responding quickly.

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All of the variables that are intended to satisfy the needs of the consumer are considered part of the offer. These variables include the price, the cost of shipping and handling, optional features, future obligations, availability of credit, extra incentives, time and quality limits, and guarantees or warranties. The offer is supported by a message strategy, a media strategy, and the database.

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Because DBC messages are tightly targeted, they are often longer, personalized, containing sufficient information to help a consumer make a decision. They also try to reduce rick, usually with guarantees or warranties.

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To maximize the response/order rate, the DBC message must make it as easy as possible for customers to respond. One way to do this is to offer a variety of ways in which to respond—online, mail, phone, and fax. To create urgency, the directmarketing message may also include a promotional device such as a gift or limited-time-only price deal.

Fulfillment and Customer Maintenance • The next step in the direct-marketing process is called fulfillment, which is responding to customers’ responses by getting the product to those who ordered it. Fulfillment includes all of the back-end activities of processing the transaction, including delivering the product, receiving payment, and providing customers with tracking numbers. The most critical aspect of successful direct marketing, however, is maintaining a customer relationship. Relationship Building • Direct marketers use a database to track customer interactions and transactions, the final step in Figure 16.2. Measuring and evaluating consumer behavior helps the direct marketer understand how the customers have responded to direct marketing messages, and it also helps to predict their future behavior. •

Direct marketing (DM) is not a “shot-in-the-dark” approach. DM professionals continually evaluate and accurately measure the effectiveness of various offers in a single campaign. Because of this constant evaluation, there is an emphasis in DM on learning what is most effective and employing that information in succeeding efforts. Such accurate measurements and adjustments are largely responsible for DBC’s success.

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Principle: Because direct-marketing messages are constantly being measured, it is good practice to learn what works and to modify succeeding campaigns based on results.

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WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY TOOLS AND MEDIA OF DBC? In this section, we will review a number of the tools and media used in direct-response communication, starting with personal sales. Personal Sales • Personal selling is the original and most effective, but also most expensive form of direct marketing. Companies that have used personal selling very successfully include Mary Kay, Tupperware, Fuller Brush, Avon, and Amway. •

Beyond personal sales, direct marketing employs five primary tools to achieve its objectives: (1) direct-response advertising, (2) direct mail, (3) catalogs, (4) telemarketing, and (5) online-based e-marketing. Professor Karen Mallia observes that “direct marketers have known for years that people considering expensive or complex products want information, and people will be persuaded when that information is delivered in copy that sells while it tells.”

Direct Response Advertising Media In addition to direct mail, catalogs, and telemarketing, direct marketers use a variety of traditional and nontraditional media, which is discussed below. Print Media • Ads in the mass media are less directly targeted than are direct mail and catalogs, but they can still provide the opportunity for a direct response. Ads in newspapers and magazines can carry a coupon, an order form, an address, or a toll-free number. A classic example of the power of direct-response advertising is the “97Pound Weakling” ads for the Charles Atlas body building mail-order courses. Broadcast Media • A direct-response commercial on radio or TV can provide the necessary information for the consumer to request information or even make a purchase. Radio’s big advantage is its highly targeted audience. In contrast, television is a good medium for direct marketers who are advertising to a broadly targeted product. As more national marketers move into the medium, the direct-response commercial is becoming more general in appeal. •

Direct-response TV also makes good use of the infomercial format that blurs the lines between retail and direct response. They have been around since the emergence of the cable industry and have become a multibillion dollar industry.

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Today the infomercial is viewed as a viable medium because: (1) consumers now have confidence in infomercials and the products they sell, (2) with the involvement of upscale advertisers, the quality of infomercial production and supportive research has improved, (3) consumers can be better segmented and infomercials are coordinated with respect to these audiences, and (4) infomercials can easily be introduced into foreign markets. Marketers are more likely to use the

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infomercial format if their product needs to be demonstrated, is not readily available through retail outlets, and has a relatively high profit margin. •

Cable television lends itself to direct response because the medium is more tightly targeted to particular interests. QVC and HSN reach more than 70 million households and service their calls with huge phone banks.

Direct Mail • Of those organizations that use direct marketing, direct mail is the most popular method. Advertising mail represented more than 63 percent of all mail received to households, according to the U.S. Postal Service’s Household Diary Study. •

A direct-mail piece is a print advertising message for a product or service that is delivered by mail. With advances in digital printing, it is now possible to personalize not only the address and salutation on the letter, but also other parts of the information as well as the offer. Called variable data campaigns, these marketing messages can be highly targeted, even unique to the recipient.

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The following guidelines can be helpful for putting together directmail pieces: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Get the attention of the targeted prospect as the envelope comes from the mailbox. Create a need for the product, show what it looks like, and demonstrate how it is used. Answer questions, as a good salesperson does, and reassure the buyer. Provide critical information about product use. Inspire confidence, minimize risk, and establish that the company is reputable. Make the sale by explaining how to buy, how to order, where to call, and how to pay for the purchase. Use an incentive to encourage a fast response.

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Most direct mail is sent using a third-class bulk mail permit, which requires 200 identical pieces. This is cheaper than first class, but it also takes longer for delivery. Estimates of non-delivery of third-class mail run as high as 8 percent. The response rate for direct mail can vary from .01 to 50 percent, but it’s typically in the 2 to 3 percent range. The primary variables are the offer and target audience. Offers mailed to current customers generally have a higher response rate than those sent to noncustomers.

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Because of the high level of non-response, direct mail is also a fairly costly tool in terms of CPM. It can be cost efficient, however, because it can be designed to reach a highly targeted audience with an offer of interest. It is also much easier to calculate the actual payout rate, which is why it is considered so much more

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accountable than other forms of marketing communication. A table in this chapter summarizes the advantages and limitations of direct mail. Direct-Mail Message Design • How the direct-mail piece looks is as important as what it says. The most critical decision made by the target is whether to read the mailing or throw it away, and that decision is based on the attractiveness and attention-getting power of the outer envelope. The envelope should spark curiosity through a creative idea. Ideas about using direct mail creatively are offered in this chapter’s Inside Story feature. •

The functions of a direct-mail message are similar to the steps in the sales process. The message must move the reader through the entire process, from generating interest to creating conviction and inducing sales. It is all done with a complex package of printed pieces.

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Most direct-mail pieces follow a fairly conventional format. They usually consist of an outer envelope, a letter, a brochure, supplemental flyers or folders, and a reply card with a return envelope. These can be one-page flyers, multipanel folders, multipage brochures, or spectacular broadsheets that fold out like maps big enough to cover the top of a table.

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Historically, the letter has been the most difficult element in a direct-mail package and therefore the focus of much research. Over the years, many techniques have proven effective in getting consumers to read a direct-mail letter, flyer, or brochure. Here are some hints for writing an effective direct-response letter: 1. Get Attention. To grab attention or generate curiosity, use pictures and headlines that tout the product’s benefits. 2. Be Relevant. Send the right message to the right person. 3. Personalize. Use a personalized salutation. If the individual’s name is not available, the salutation should at least be personalized to the topic, such as “Dear Cat Lover.” 4. Use a Strong Lead-in. Begin the letter with a brief yet compelling or surprising statement—“Dear Friend: I could really kick myself!” 5. The Offer. Make the offer as early in the body of the letter as possible. 6. The Letter. Explain the details of the offer and use testimonials or other particulars that clearly describe benefits to the customer. 7. Drive to Website. Use short pieces and drive interested prospects to the website for details.

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8. The Closing. End by repeating the offer and stating additional incentives or guarantees and a clear call to action. 9. Test, Test, Test. Check every single element – small changes can boost conversion rates dramatically. •

One advantage of direct mail is that it has a tactile quality that is missing in most other forms of marketing communication.

Test, Test, Test • The secret behind effective direct mail is scale. In other words, enough pieces are sent using various strategies to determine what increases the response and what does not. Issue: Trees, Water, and Waste • Critics of direct mail cite its environmental impact. Production of direct mail is estimated to use 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water annually. And untold millions of dollars are spent for disposal and recycling. •

Is there a need for an aggressive ban on direct mail? Does the waste and irritation factor of “junk mail” justify a ban on this form of marketing communication? On the other side of the debate, might banning direct mail infringe on the right to commercial free speech? What’s fair, what’s right, and what is the responsible thing for marketers to do?

Catalogs • Catalogs have been effective direct-response marketers for as long as there has been mail. A catalog is a multipage direct-mail publication that shows a variety of merchandise. Following the explosion of digital media, however, catalogs also evolved into easy-to-use online publications. •

The growth in the 21st century is in specialty catalogs, which are aimed at niche markets. There are catalogs for every hobby and more general interests. The traditional catalogs contain a variety of brands and products, but there are also brand catalogs whose merchandise is all from the sponsoring brand, such as J. Crew and the Marriott Hotel.

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Another factor in the effectiveness of catalogs is the nature of the interactions between customers and the company, whether over the phone or the Internet. Lands’ End has been a model of customer care that leads to not only brand loyalty, but brand love.

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Some catalog retailers have their own stores, such as Williams-Sonoma and Tiffany’s. Banana Republic, which began as a catalog marketer and then moved into retailing, is now launching its first catalog since 1988.

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Many large retailers are now multichannel, using catalogs, websites, and stores. A number of marketers are using video or CD catalogs because these provide more information about their products.

Telemarketing • Before telemarketing calls were greatly limited by government-supported do-notcall lists, more direct-marketing dollars were spent on telemarketing phone calls than on any other DBC medium. That’s because telemarketing is a form of personal sales, but a lot less expensive. •

An in-person sales call may cost anywhere from $50 to $1,000, after factoring in time and transportation. In comparison, a telephone call ranges from $2 to $15 per call. That is still expensive if you compare it to the CPM of an advertisement placed in any one of the mass media. However, the returns are much higher than those generated by mass advertising because they are intrusive, personalized, and interactive. The caller also can respond to buyers’ objections and make a persuasive sales argument.

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A typical telemarketing campaign usually involves hiring a telemarketing company to make a certain number of calls using a prepared script. Callers work in call centers, which are rooms with large banks of phones and computers. Most calls are made from databases that contain prospects that were previously qualified on some factor, such as an interest in a related product or a particular profile. Occasionally cold calling is used, which means the call center staff are calling random numbers. This practice has a much lower response rate.

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There are two types of telemarketing: inbound and outbound. An inbound or incoming telemarketing call is initiated with a customer. The consumer can be responding to an ad, catalog, e-mail, or fax. Calls originating from the firm are outgoing or outbound. Outbound calls generate the most consumer resistance because they are uninvited, intrusive, and unexpected.

Telemarketing Message Design • The key point to remember about telemarketing messages is that they need to be simple enough to be delivered over the telephone. If the product requires a visual demonstration or a complicated explanation, then the message might be better delivered by direct mail. The message must also be short.

Issues: Intrusion and Fraud • Telemarketing has its drawbacks. Perhaps the most universally despised telemarketing tool is predictive dialing. Predictive dialing technology makes it possible for telemarketing companies to call anyone, even those with unlisted numbers. Special computerized dialing programs use random dialing.

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Telemarketing’s reputation has also been tarnished by fraudulent behavior. In response to abuses in telemarketing, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enacted the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) in 1995 to protect consumers. Recently, FTC regulations have required telemarketing firms to identify themselves on caller ID.

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The most serious restriction on telemarketing was implemented by state and national “do-not-call” lists. Telemarketing companies responded by challenging the legality of these lists in court, based on what they believed to be an illegal restriction on commercial free speech. In 2004, however, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that the industry’s free speech rights were not violated.

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The do-not-call lists do not restrict companies from calling their own customers. They do allow nonprofits to continue calling and also allow market research firms to continue conducting phone surveys. Telemarketers subscribe to the database and check the list at least monthly for numbers they need to delete from their call lists.

The Internet and New Forms of Direct Response •

Much Internet advertising is simply direct marketing in electronic form. Direct marketers saw the Internet’s potential early. Because of its interactive dimension, the Web is moving direct marketers much closer to one-to-one marketing, and social media are accelerating that trend.

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Online catalogs cross the line between e-commerce and direct marketing. Consider Amazon.com. The website operates like a direct-mail catalog but its interactivity makes it much more useful than a print version could be.

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The technology of the Internet has also produced dramatic changes in the directmail industry. At the most basic level, the Internet has facilitated the ease of producing and distributing traditional direct mail by e-mail. Assistance is available from companies such as Constant Contact, which offers a streamlined process that allows customers to point-and-click their way to creation of mailers.

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Another feature of Internet direct marketing is greater sampling opportunities. Online music stores now have hundreds of thousands of music clips for shoppers to listen to before making a purchase. It also sends them e-mail messages offering special prices on items based on their past purchasing patterns.

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Today, the use of extensive database information and innovative e-mail technology, combined with creative marketing strategies, has brought the benefits of highly personalized, inexpensive messages to far-reaching mass campaigns. Three basic types of e-mail campaigns are used in marketing communication: (1)

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addressable to current customers, (2) addressable to prospects, and (3) unsolicited and often unwanted, or spam. •

An option in the “addressable” category that is still evolving is the idea of sending automated direct-marketing messages via GPS-enabled mobile devices, such as iPhones.

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The most exciting advances in Internet direct response, however, are found in the areas of mobile marketing and social media. With mobile phones, marketers are able to meet people ‘where they are.’ Social selling, also known as network marketing, utilizes the reach and persuasiveness of social media and its endless and continuous conversations. Businesses are finding opportunities in this human need to connect and share.

Issue: Spam • Although e-mail marketing has enjoyed increased success, the practice has received intense criticism for generating too much unwanted e-mail, otherwise known as spam. The FTC has determined that 90 percent of all spam involving business and investment opportunities contains false or misleading information. •

Retailers can be seen as spammers. The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2011, the nation’s top 100 e-commerce retailers sent customers an average of 177 emails each.

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Twitter has filed complaints in federal court against companies and individuals who it claims violate the antispam provisions in its user agreement. Amazon has filed lawsuits in U.S. and Canadian courts to stop a practice known as spoofing. To combat the problem of spam, Facebook began offering its users a complimentary six month subscription to McAfee’s Internet Security Suite.

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Critics would like to see the government close down the bulk of e-mail operations. There are technological problems in controlling these practices, however, and spammers have proven creative in finding ways to get through filters. It has become a global problem as spammers from outside of the United States have helped to double the volume of unwanted e-mail.

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Is spam cost effective? It can be, considering that the cost of getting into the business is simply a computer and an Internet connection. A list of ways that consumers can reduce the amount of unwanted direct mail or spam can be found in this chapter.

Permission Marketing • Because spam is a huge problem for legitimate e-mail marketers, they are now using an approach called permission marketing. This approach attempts to address the spam problem by asking potential customers for permission to send them email. Opt in means that all bulk mailers have to get your permission before

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sending a promotion. Opt out means that e-mailers can send the first e-mail but must give recipients the means to refuse any further e-mails from that business. The concept at the heart of permission marketing is that every customer who opts in to a campaign is a qualified lead. •

Principle: Opt-in and opt-out strategies make e-mail campaigns more acceptable because customers give permission to marketers to contact them. At the heart of permission marketing is the idea that every customer who opts into a campaign is a qualified lead.

DATABASES: THE FOUNDATION OF DBC •

Direct marketers use databases to keep track of customers and identify prospective customers. They are also a segmentation tool to communicate relevant offers to customers and prospects. Another benefit for companies that keep track of their customer’s online behavior is that they are better able to personalize their DBC messages.

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Big data, a term that became popular in 2013, refers to use huge computer data storage capabilities combined with analytic software to do highly strategic targeting.

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A database is at the heart of direct marketing and of the practice of behavioral marketing, which means that individuals are targeted based on what they have done in the past – products they’ve bought, shows they have watched, sites they have visited, etc.

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Data driven communication has been defined as a strategy that delivers customer focused objectives by treating different customers differently. Through the use of databases, a learning relationships evolves that stems from customer dialogue. Carnival Cruise Lines is an example of a company that uses databases to manage customer relationship, and Carlson Marketing is an example of a company that uses a database to segment its customers and develop a different marketing strategy for each segment.

Databases Create a Circular Process • A database is important at both the beginning of the direct-marketing process where it where it captures and updates information for the next interaction. It’s a circular process. If an important objective is to build relationship programs, then the information gathered through customer interaction feeds back into the process and becomes an input for the next round of communication efforts. •

Principle: DBC is a continuous process beginning and ending with a database of prospect and customer information.

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DBC is possible because of innovations in computer technology that have helped companies keep up with their customers. The purpose of the database is to produce up-to-date information on customers and prospects as well as their interactions with the company. According to the DMA, a marketing database has these primary objectives: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Record names of customers, expires (names no longer valid), and prospects. Store and analyze responses. Store and analyze purchasing performance. Continue direct communication with customers.

• These objectives also set up categories of data that need to be collected, stored, and manipulated in order to develop direct-response strategies. According to Forrester Research, there are four categories of data being collected by marketers. They are: 1) Individual identity data that includes name, social security number, driver’s license number, and IP address that identifies the user’s computer. 2) Behavioral data that includes transaction data, Internet browsing history, and location information from mobile devices. 3) Derived data such as credit scores and personas are computed or compiled by modeling and profiling. 4) Self identified data that consists of information provided by the user, such as purchase intent, ‘likes’, product opinions, and personal profiles from professional and social media. • The goal is for a marketer to know its customers better in order to direct relevant messages and offers to them. Messages targeted on behavior are more than twice as effective as more general advertising in convert in website visitors to buyers. • The six stages of the database management process is illustrated in Figure 16.3 in the text. Lists • Customer and prospect lists that contain contact information are used by all areas of direct marketing. Direct-mail lists that match market segments identified in the marketing communication plan can be purchased or rented from list brokers who maintain and sell thousands of lists tied to demographic, psychographic, and geographic breakdowns. Lists are further classified on such characteristics as hobbies, affiliations, and personal influence. •

Marketers either own lists or rent them. There are three types of lists:

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A house list is made up of the marketer’s own customers or members, its most important target market. This is its most valuable list.

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A response list is made up of people or households who have responded to some type of direct-response offer. The more similar the product to which they responded is to the marketer’s product, the more valuable this list.

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A compiled list is of some specific category, such as sports car owners, new homebuyers, graduating seniors, new mothers, association members, or subscribers to a magazine, book club, or record club.

Data Mining • The practice of sifting through and sorting information captured in a company’s database in order to target customers and maintain a relationship with them is called data mining. Such information includes comprehensive profiles based on demographics, lifestyle, and behavior, as well as basic contact information. •

How is data mining used? Marketers collect information about their customers in order to better target customers who might really be interested in their offers. This is called behavioral targeting. Data mining is also used to spot trends and patterns and profile prospects based on key characteristics of current customers.

Issue: Privacy One of the unexpected facts about life with social media is that your friends and associates can share information about you on all of their online social networks. It’s a new life in the ‘nothing’s private anymore’ universe. Marketing and Privacy • Privacy is a huge concern for all direct marketers, not just those engaged in ecommerce and it has generated fierce debate among consumer privacy advocates, marketing and advertising associations and federal regulators. Companies are increasing the amount of data they collect on their customers to do better behavioral marketing — sometimes with their permission and knowledge, but often without customers even being aware of the practice. •

The lack of privacy on social media is an issue, particularly when it is combined with gathering of marketing information. Larry Ellison, president of Oracle points out that when a company launches a product, it is easy to look at a Facebook or Twitter feed and find out what you and other users are saying about

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that product. That may sound like good research being used to collect useful insights, but privacy activists see huge problems with these practices. •

The unknown tracking is the problem with cookies, little files installed on user’s web browsers without users’ knowledge, to track their online behavior. The use of cookies is increasing as the number of data trackers collecting information on consumers has increased. Research shows that 100 of the most popular websites had 6,485 cookies. Most were installed by third party users, not the websites themselves.

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David Rittenhouse, an expert in digital marketing, observed that “a huge ad tech industry is dependent on consumers and lawmakers not getting too excited about data collection and privacy.” He continues, “At this moment, in my opinion, consumers have no idea how much data is being collected on them from their web browsing.”

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And what about marketing to kids? The original 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act has not kept up with technology. The old rules required parents to give permission on how data were collected from children, but it’s possible with some iPhone games for kids to join social networks that collect data without parental permission.

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From its beginning, Facebook has promised users that their personal data would be kept private. However, its trillion member user base is its most valuable asset, so the company has been in a quandary trying to figure out how to make information available to marketers without violating its covenant with its users.

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Many browsers come with a ‘do not track’ option. Google got in trouble with the FTC in 2012 when it was demonstrated that Google bypassed these privacy settings for Apple’s Safari users and presented personalized web pages through its DoubleClick web network. The company was fined $22.5 million.

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To be fair, many customers appreciate the relevance of the brand messages they receive through these practices. And while many customers are willing to give permission to marketers to collect personal data, concerns arise if there is any thought that a company is spying on them or collecting personal information without permission. Research has found that 90% worry about their online privacy.

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Privacy is particularly an issue with data mining. At what point is efficiency of targeting compromised by privacy concerns? What is the impact of privacy concerns on consumer’s purchasing behavior? This issue is discussed in the A Principled Practice feature located in this chapter.

Regulation

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These concerns translate to regulation or perhaps self regulation. Although the FTC does not have the authority to write new privacy rules, it hopes to spur the industry to regulate itself. Action items include: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Do Not Track: Control data collection as well as data use Mobile Tracking: Ask the mobile industry to improve privacy protections and use disclosures. Data Brokers: Creating legislation to make these business and their practices more transparent. Self Regulation Codes: The FTC will work with the Department of Commerce to create specific codes of conduct for different business sectors.

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In terms of self regulation, the Digital Advertising Alliance, a consortium of organizations in the advertising and marketing industries, has created the AdChoices program, which includes a code of conduct, as well as training and certification programs that encourage companies to commit to the code of conduct.

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In an attempt to avert regulation, the direct-marketing industry has developed an icon to use on ads and other online messages that use behavioral marketing.

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The TRUSTe organization also authorizes companies to use its privacy seal when they are certified as following FTC guidelines and the Digital Advertising Alliance code of conduct.

DBC TRENDS AND CHALLENGES • Direct marketing offers a great opportunity to convey the essence and personality of a brand in a one-on-one conversation with a customer or prospect. So what needs to be done to develop and protect this brand voice? Planning an integrated approach is critical, and keeping the message consistent across international borders is also important. •

An important principle to remember is: Direct marketing conveys the essence and personality of a brand in a one-on-one conversation with a customer or prospect.

Integrated Direct Marketing • Historically, direct marketing was the first area of marketing communication that adopted an integrated marketing approach. In fact, some people refer to DBC as integrated direct marketing (IDM). •

Two reasons integration plays so well in the direct-response market is because of its emphasis on the customer and its measurability. The coordination problem is a challenge due to the deluge of data bombarding customers from many different channels. The only way to manage the information is to focus it around customer needs and interests. By using databases, companies can become more sensitive to

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customer wants and needs and less likely to bother them with unwanted commercial messages. Linking the Channels • Instead of treating each medium separately, as some advertising agencies tend to do, DBC companies seek to achieve precise, synchronized use of the right media at the right time, with a measurable return on dollars spent. The principle behind integration is that not all people respond the same way to direct-response messages. One person may fill out an order form while another may immediately call an 800 number. Most people, if a DBC message grabs them, tend to put it in the pending file that often goes in the garbage at the end of the month. But if a phone call or e-mail follows the direct-mail piece, the marketer may get the wavering consumer off the fence. •

A common problem with IDM is that direct-marketing messages and advertising messages often do not reinforce each other as well as they should. This is because the two functions, advertising and direct marketing, which are often handled by different agencies, don’t talk to one another. This will change, however, as clients demand more coordination of their marketing communication programs.

Creating Loyalty • One of the best practices is the development of solid customer-brand relationships. When one-on-one communication leads to a customer retention strategy that ultimately increases brand loyalty, the customer relationship is strengthened. Direct response is a highly targeted form of marketing communication that lets planners focus on their best customers and inform, encourage, or reward them for their brand loyalty. •

Perhaps the most ambitious attempt to create consumer loyalty is through a concept called lifetime customer value (LCV). LCV is an estimate of how much purchase volume companies can expect to get over time from various target markets. LCV is the financial contribution through sales volume of an individual customer or customer segment during a length of time. The calculation is based on known consumption habits plus future consumption expectations.

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Consumer resistance to direct marketing must be considered in efforts to build loyalty. Changing consumers’ attitudes about direct marketing has not been easy because consumers resent companies that know too much about them. If a company can demonstrate that it is acting in the customer’s best interest rather than just trolling for dollars, it might gain consumers’ loyalty.

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The most important goal, however, is supporting brand building, and some marketers have been concerned that DBC’s emphasis on accountability and on driving sales has made it less focused on the brand presence.

Global Considerations in DBC

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The direct marketing industry is growing fast in many Far Eastern and European countries, in some places, even faster than in the United States. The global trend is fueled by the same technological forces driving the growth in the United States: the increasing use of computer databases, credit cards, toll-free phone numbers, and the Internet, along with the search for more convenient ways to shop.

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Direct marketing is particularly important in countries that have tight restrictions on advertising and other forms of marketing communication. Privacy issues are even more intense in some other countries than they are in the United States. In some countries, lists are not available or they may be of poor quality.

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Some countries have instituted outright bans on direct marketing, although these restrictions seem to be loosening up. Governmental regulation of the U.S. Postal Service may also place limitations on the use of direct mail. For example, language and characters can be a problem. Computers and typesetting systems have to accommodate these differences. Presorted mail in a wrong format may result in charges to the end user that significantly raises the cost of mailing.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 16.4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of direct response marketing communication? Because DBC is designed to generate immediate responses, this means it is also easy to tell quickly if the messages are meeting their objectives. Unlike mass media advertising and public relations, the effects of DBC are more immediate and more measurable. Also, direct response marketing opens up the door for interactivity. Interactivity, or two-way communication, is the heart of DBC since it drives the ability to create engaging, relationship-building contacts. If marketing is a conversation with consumers about a brand, then one of the most intimate marcom tools in the toolkit is DBC. Additional advantages include the fact that direct response marketing messages can be personalized, which makes them much more persuasive than non-personalized (mass media) messages, and that direct marketing results are measurable so the return on investment (ROI) is easily known. Some marketers see direct response as more limiting than brand or image advertising because it does not reach as many people or, if it does, the traditional cost of reaching each individual is higher per impression. Proponents justify the higher costs by noting that the objective is action rather than recall or attitude change. Also, in today’s media environment, the higher cost argument is carries much less weight,

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since the Internet and mobile media eliminate the cost of message delivery. Other disadvantages include the annoyance is associated with direct response marketing, such as too many catalogs, junk mail, and calls during dinner, and the fact that many consumers are still reluctant to purchase a product sight unseen.

16.5. Discuss the five steps of the direct response marketing process. The five basic steps in traditional direct response marketing are: • Setting objectives and making strategic decisions. • Communication of an offer by the seller through the appropriate medium. • Response or customer ordering. • Fulfillment or filling orders and handling exchanges and returns. • Maintenance of the company’s database and customer service.

16-6. What are the five media tools of direct marketing and how do they differ? Beyond personal sales, direct marketing employs five primary tools to achieve its objectives: (1) direct-response advertising, (2) direct mail, (3) catalogs, (4) telemarketing, and (5) online-based e-marketing. Direct Response Advertising Ads in the mass media are less directly targeted than are direct mail and catalogs, but they can still provide the opportunity for a direct response. Ads in newspapers and magazines can carry a coupon, an order form, an address, or a toll-free number. A direct-response commercial on radio or TV can provide the necessary information for the consumer to request information or even make a purchase. Radio’s big advantage is its highly targeted audience. In contrast, television is a good medium for direct marketers who are advertising to a broadly targeted product. As more national marketers move into the medium, the direct-response commercial is becoming more general in appeal. Direct-response TV also makes good use of the infomercial format that blurs the lines between retail and direct response Marketers are more likely to use the infomercial format if their product needs to be demonstrated, is not readily available through retail outlets, and has a relatively high profit margin. Finally, cable television lends itself to direct response because the medium is more tightly targeted to particular interests. QVC and HSN reach more than 70 million households and service their calls with huge phone banks. Direct Mail Of those organizations that use direct marketing, direct mail is the most popular method. Advertising mail represented more than 63 percent of all mail received to households, according to the U.S. Postal Service’s Household Diary Study. With advances in digital printing, it is now possible to personalize not only the address and salutation on the letter, but also other parts of the information as well as the offer. The

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response rate for direct mail can vary from .01 to 50 percent, but it’s typically in the 2 to 3 percent range. The primary variables are the offer and target audience. Offers mailed to current customers generally have a higher response rate than those sent to noncustomers. Because of the high level of non-response, direct mail is also a fairly costly tool in terms of CPM. It can be cost efficient, however, because it can be designed to reach a highly targeted audience with an offer of interest. It is also much easier to calculate the actual payout rate, which is why it is considered so much more accountable than other forms of marketing communication. Catalogs Catalogs have been effective direct-response marketers for as long as there has been mail. Following the explosion of digital media, however, catalogs also evolved into easy-to-use online publications. The growth in the 21st century is in specialty catalogs, which are aimed at niche markets. There are catalogs for every hobby and more general interests. The traditional catalogs contain a variety of brands and products, but there are also brand catalogs whose merchandise is all from the sponsoring brand, such as J. Crew and the Marriott Hotel. Telemarketing • Before telemarketing calls were greatly limited by government-supported do-notcall lists, more direct-marketing dollars were spent on telemarketing phone calls than on any other DBC medium. That’s because telemarketing is a form of personal sales, but a lot less expensive. There are two types of telemarketing: inbound and outbound. An inbound or incoming telemarketing call is initiated with a customer. The consumer can be responding to an ad, catalog, e-mail, or fax. Calls originating from the firm are outgoing or outbound. Outbound calls generate the most consumer resistance because they are uninvited, intrusive, and unexpected. Online Based e-Marketing Much Internet advertising is simply direct marketing in electronic form. Because of its interactive dimension, more and more direct response marketing is taking place on the Web, and social media are accelerating that trend. Direct response marketing, particularly catalog marketing, is the model for e-commerce, and online catalogs cross the line between e-commerce and direct marketing. Consider Amazon.com. The website operates like a direct-mail catalog but its interactivity makes it much more useful than a print version could be. The technology of the Internet has also produced dramatic changes in the direct-mail industry. The Internet has facilitated the ease of producing and distributing traditional direct mail by e-mail. It also provides greater sampling opportunities. For example, online music stores now have hundreds of thousands of music clips for shoppers to listen to before making a purchase. However, the most exciting advances in Internet direct response, however, are found in the areas of mobile marketing and social media. With mobile phones, marketers are able to meet people ‘where they are.’

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Social selling, also known as network marketing, utilizes the reach and persuasiveness of social media and its endless and continuous conversations. Businesses are finding opportunities in this need to connect and share.

16-7. What is spam and how is it being handled by marketers? Spam is the practice of generating and sending unwanted e-mail. The FTC has determined that 90 percent of all spam involving business and investment opportunities contains false or misleading information. Twitter has filed complaints in federal court against companies and individuals who it claims violate the anti-spam provisions in its user agreement. Amazon has filed lawsuits in U.S. and Canadian courts to stop a practice known as spoofing. To combat the problem of spam, Facebook began offering its users a complimentary six month subscription to McAfee’s Internet Security Suite. Critics would like to see the government close down the bulk of e-mail operations. Technology is unable to control these practices, and spammers have proven creative in finding ways to get through filters that have been erected. It has become a global problem, as spammers from outside of the United States have helped to double the volume of unwanted e-mail.

16-8. What is a database and how do direct marketers use it? Direct response marketers use databases to keep track of customers and identify prospective customers. They are also a segmentation tool to communicate relevant offers to customers and prospects. Another benefit for companies that keep track of their customer’s online behavior is that they are better able to personalize their DBC messages. A database is at the heart of direct marketing and of the practice of behavioral marketing, which means that individuals are targeted based on what they have done in the past – products they’ve bought, shows they have watched, sites they have visited, etc. Carnival Cruise Lines is an example of a company that uses databases to manage customer relationships, and Carlson Marketing is an example of a company that uses a database to segment its customers and develop a different marketing strategy for each segment.

16.9. If you are using data mining to develop a prospecting program for a client, what would you be trying to accomplish? The practice of sifting through and sorting information captured in a company’s database in order to target customers and maintain a relationship with them is called

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data mining. Such information includes comprehensive profiles based on demographics, lifestyle, and behavior, as well as basic contact information. Marketers collect information about their customers in order to better target customers who might really be interested in their offers. Data mining is also used to spot trends and patterns. It can also be used to profile prospects based on key characteristics of current customers, a practice called prospecting. 16.10. Explain the privacy issues that involve direct response communication. Privacy is a huge concern for all direct marketers, not just those engaged in ecommerce and it has generated fierce debate among consumer privacy advocates, marketing and advertising associations and federal regulators. Companies are increasing the amount of data they collect on their customers to do better behavioral marketing — sometimes with their permission and knowledge, but often without customers even being aware of the practice. Unknown tracking of consumers while online takes place through the use of cookies, little files installed on user’s web browsers without users’ knowledge, to track their online behavior. The use of cookies is increasing as the number of data trackers collecting information on consumers has increased. Research shows that 100 of the most popular websites had 6,485 cookies. Most were installed by third party users, not the websites themselves. David Rittenhouse, an expert in digital marketing, states that “at this moment, in my opinion, consumers have no idea how much data is being collected on them from their web browsing.” Many browsers come with a ‘do not track’ option. Google got in trouble with the FTC in 2012 when it was demonstrated that Google bypassed these privacy settings for Apple’s Safari users and presented personalized web pages through its DoubleClick web network. The company was fined $22.5 million. To be fair, many customers appreciate the relevance of the brand messages they receive through these practices. And while many customers are willing to give permission to marketers to collect personal data, concerns arise if there is any thought that a company is spying on them or collecting personal information without permission. Research has found that 90% worry about their online privacy. Although the FTC does not have the authority to write new privacy rules, it hopes to spur the industry to regulate itself. In terms of self regulation, the Digital Advertising Alliance, a consortium of organizations in the advertising and marketing industries, has created the AdChoices program, which includes a code of conduct, as well as training and certification programs that encourage companies to commit to the code of conduct. Also, the direct response marketing industry has developed an icon to use on ads and other online messages that use behavioral marketing, in an attempt to avert regulation.

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16.11. What is the objective of data-driven relationship programs? Using the insights captured from previous interactions to create data-driven communication, companies are better able to respond to and interact with their customers. Ultimately, the knowledge in the database is the tool used to build and maintain customer relationships. Data driven communication has been defined as a strategy that delivers customer focused objectives by treating different customers differently. Through the use of databases, a learning relationship evolves that stems from customer dialogue. A company can use databases to manage customer relationships and to segment its customers so that a different marketing mix can be developed for each.

16.12. What does RFM stand for and how is this concept used in target marketing? Direct marketers have identified three criteria that help them predict who is most likely to repurchase: recency, frequency, and monetary (RFM). The more recently customers purchased from a company, the more likely they are to buy again. Also, the more money customers have spent buying from a company, the more likely they are to buy again. Computer models are used to conduct ongoing analyses of customers’ buying behaviors and to produce lists using these criteria. Similar to media planning, this modeling is also called optimization. 16.13. Discuss permission marketing. What strategies can be used to overcome the problems of spam? Because spam is a huge problem for legitimate e-mail marketers, many are now using an approach called permission marketing. This approach attempts to address the spam problem by asking potential customers for permission to send them e-mail. Opt in means that all bulk mailers have to get your permission before sending marketing materials. Opt out means that e-mailers can send the first e-mail but must give recipients the means to refuse any further e-mails from that business. The concept at the heart of permission marketing is that every customer who opts in to a campaign is a qualified lead. 16.14. How is integrated direct marketing used in an IMC program? Historically, direct marketing was the first area of marketing communication that adopted an integrated marketing approach. In fact, some people refer to DBC as integrated direct marketing (IDM). Two reasons integration plays so well in the direct-response market is because of its emphasis on the customer and its measurability. The coordination problem is a challenge due to the deluge of data bombarding customers from many different channels. The only way to manage the information is to focus it around customer

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needs and interests. By using databases, companies can become more sensitive to customer wants and needs and less likely to bother them with unwanted commercial messages. Instead of treating each medium separately, as some advertising agencies tend to do, DBC companies seek to achieve precise, synchronized use of the right media at the right time, with a measurable return on dollars spent. The principle behind integration is that not all people respond the same way to direct-response messages. A common problem with IDM is that direct response marketing messages and advertising messages often do not reinforce each other as well as they should. This is because the two functions, advertising and direct response marketing, which are often handled by different agencies, don’t talk to one another. This will change, however, as clients demand more coordination of their marketing communication programs. 16.15. What is a loyalty program and how does LCV enter into the planning for such a program? A loyalty program rewards loyal customers for their business. Perhaps the most ambitious attempt to create consumer loyalty is through a concept called lifetime customer value (LCV). LCV is an estimate of how much purchase volume companies can expect to get over time from various target markets. LCV is the financial contribution through sales volume of an individual customer or customer segment during a length of time. The calculation is based on known consumption habits plus future consumption expectations. The estimate of the contribution is defined as return on investment. By knowing your consumer’s past behavior, you can decide how much you want to spend to get them to purchase and then repurchase your product, and you can track your investment by measuring the response.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 16.16. Most people hate telemarketing. Let’s say you work for the local campus environmental organization. How could you conduct a campus and community telemarketing effort that would not generate resistance? Apply your ideas to developing a telemarketing program to promote campus fundraising for a good cause, such as a campus Habitat for Humanity project. Your primary targets are students, faculty, and staff. Telemarketing messages are often regarded as intrusive at the outset, before the first word is spoken. To overcome resistance, students must isolate the benefit they offer that will resonate with their audience. Write the benefit in a compelling way that can

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be presented within a two- to three-minute phone call. Stick with short sentences and place calls at the least intrusive times of the day. Another approach would be to conduct an inbound campaign rather than an outbound one. Distribute flyers around the campus and the community, and place ads in local mass media stating your cause and asking interested individuals to contact your organization. Inbound calls, because they originate with the prospect, meet with little resistance. The organization would have to be equipped to handle calls that would be coming in on an irregular schedule, not just at one time of day, or that would come in bursts following ad exposure. If your primary targets are students, faculty and staff, make sure that your database allows for direct targeting of this group. Whether or not you host an event or simply conduct telemarketing is a question that can be answered in various ways. Students will need to defend their decision. 16-17. Kali Johnson, a recent college graduate, is interviewing with a large gardenproduct firm that relies on television for its direct-response advertising. “Your portfolio looks very good. I’m sure you can write,” the interviewer says, “but let me ask you what is it about our copy that makes it more important than copy written for Ford, or Pepsi, or Pampers?” What can she say that will help convince the interviewer she understands the special demands of direct-response writing? Kali, as a good writer, has much to offer the garden-product firm. All advertising stems from some similar concepts—understanding the customer, isolating the strongest aspects of a product, and translating the product points into attentiongetting and interesting expressions. What Kali needs to impress upon her interviewer is that she understands the difference between writing to produce changes in thinking toward Pepsi, Ford, or Pampers and the action results desired in direct marketing. Advertising for the garden-product company is directly linked to sales and, therefore, to the viability of the firm. Pepsi, Ford, and Pampers expect to wait for long-term mental impacts, whereas the company with which Kali is interviewing relies on immediate, measurable results. 16-18. One of the smaller, privately owned bookstores on campus is considering a directresponse service to cut down on its severe in-store traffic problems at the beginning of each semester. What ideas do you have for setting up some type of direct-response system to take the pressure off store traffic? The bookstore could adopt any number of direct-marketing techniques to reduce crowding in the store when students purchase books and supplies at the beginning of each semester. First would be a straightforward direct-mail campaign encouraging students to order by mail and have books delivered to their homes. A single mailing of this nature to an

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entire student body would be cost prohibitive for a small store, but the store might work with their own client list and get good results. Ads in campus media could spell out details of how to order books and supplies through the mail, and they could also contain a Web address to drive students to a website where orders could be completed. Cards describing the mail-order book plan could be dropped into the bags of students who make purchases at the bookstore throughout the semester. The bookstore might offer incentive discounts to students who place book orders by a certain time or to anyone who drops off book requests during pre-registration. A “speed checkout line” card could be mailed to the store’s customer list granting faster checkout to students who have placed orders online. There are many, many possibilities for the bookstore to use direct marketing. 16-19. The success of infomercials helps validate direct marketing as a revenue generator. What characteristics of a product must you consider when determining whether to use an infomercial to promote it? When deciding whether or not to use an infomercial, one needs to consider whether or not the product can be demonstrated accurately and in an appealing fashion. In addition, if the audience is segmented, cable television might be an excellent media choice. If the product is not readily available through retail outlets or has a relatively high profit margin, infomercials might be a good choice. Students may present additional considerations, as well. 16-20. How does the recent fervor surrounding personal privacy affect direct marketing—specifically, telemarketing and e-mail advertising? You are designing a direct response marketing campaign for a local business that wants to use telemarketing and e-mail advertising, but your client is concerned because of privacy issues. Argue either for or against the use of these tools in this situation. Working with a small team of your classmates, develop a brief presentation to explain your recommendation to the client. When constructing their arguments, students should consider each of the following: •

Privacy is one of the greatest inhibitors to direct response marketing of any type. Consumers are generally wary of releasing information they consider personal. Computers, with their ability to share information widely and quickly, and issues of telemarketing fraud and scams, have garnered mistrust among consumers.

•

On the other hand, with improved data-collection techniques, direct marketers are gaining a great deal of power that helps them tailor product offers to the most promising prospects. In doing so, however they also run the risk of getting personal and intrusive with the information that is available to them. Their client must be sure to establish some standards concerning the use of information versus invasion of privacy.

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•

Telemarketing is a form of personal sales, but a lot less expensive. The response rate is good, relatively speaking, because it is intrusive, personalized, and interactive. The caller also can respond to buyers’ objections and make a persuasive sales argument. However, they generate a great deal of consumer resistance because they are uninvited, intrusive, and unexpected.

•

Through the use of a database and innovative e-mail technology offered by companies such as Constant Contact, the client can possibly benefit by sending highly personalized, inexpensive messages to very large number of potential consumers. Of the three basic types of e-mail campaigns, this client would probably prefer ‘addressable to prospects.’ However, the client must beware of possibility that his unsolicited emails may never be opened, because this form of direct response marketing is associated with spam.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 16-21. Portfolio Project: Check out a set of three catalogs and their companion websites in a particular category (such as www.llbean.com, www.eddiebauer.com, and www.landsend.com). In what ways are they similar and different? Pick one of the brands and: • Identify what direct marketing strategies the company employs. Which do you think are the most successful? Why? What are the least effective? • Analyze the brand image as presented in the catalog and online. Develop a proposal to make the brand image more distinctive and yet consistent across the two media formats. Student responses to this question will vary. 16. 22. Mini-Case Analysis: Explain how GEICO operates as a direct-to-consumer insurer in the auto insurance market. Why would you think humor would be an effective creative strategy in this situation? You may also remember that we have suggested that being single-minded is a wise strategy. Why, then, does GEICO use different approaches? If you were on the GEICO team and had been asked to submit ideas for the next year’s campaign, what would you recommend? Develop and explain an idea that you think would continue the unusual strategy GEICO is using.

GEICO is the leading direct-response auto insurer in its category. It uses a direct-toconsumer business model to deliver its product to consumers at a cost much lower than rivals Allstate and State Farm. How? GEICO strategically uses its endearing icon, the gecko, to accomplish a critical task that its rival auto insurers employ an army of sales middlemen to achieve – generating inquires for rate quotes. According to its executives,

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GEICO has always relied upon a superior technology model to generate its competitive advantage. In the ’70s it was direct mail; in the ’80s and ’90s, it was a telephone; and in the last 10 years, it has been the online delivery of rates to consumers. GEICO must use a variety of creative approaches to accommodate the diversity of its target audience, which includes just about anyone who drives a car. The different creative approaches are tied together by using a common humorous tone. Student ideas regarding future campaigns will vary.

TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 16-23. What is the chief advantage of direct marketing with this target audience? What is the main disadvantage? 16-24. Create at least five direct-response materials that you feel will make this campaign more effective.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIALS WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. How do your textbook authors define direct-response marketing? Direct-response marketing is defined as a multichannel system of marketing that uses a variety of media to connect sellers and customers who deal with each other directly rather than through an intermediary, such as a wholesaler or retailer. There are two pieces to the direct-marketing business: first, direct marketing relies on communication that is sent in some form directly to the consumers. Secondly, the response (sales, sign-up, request for information) comes directly back to the source. In both cases, there is no intermediary, such as retailers. 2. Who are the key players in the direct response marketing industry? The four main players in direct-response marketing communication are: (1) marketers who use direct response to sell products or services; (2) agencies that specialize in directresponse communication; (3) phone, mail, or Internet media that deliver messages; and (4) consumers who are the recipients of the information and sometimes the initiators of the contact. 3. What is the difference between a one-step offer and a two-step offer?

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A DBC message should reflect whether the offer is a one-step offer or a two-step offer. Because a one-step offer asks for a direct sales response, it must include a mechanism for responding to the offer. A two-step offer is designed to gather leads, answer consumer questions, and drive customers to a website or retail store. 4. Explain the “circular process” of database use in direct marketing. A database is important both at the beginning of the direct-marketing process where it is a critical source of information and at the end of the process where it captures and updates information for the next interaction. It’s a circular process—if you look at relationship-driven communication programs as the ultimate goal of direct-response marketing, then the information gathered through customer interaction feeds back into the process and becomes an input for the next round of communication efforts. 5. Describe the planning process involved in DBC. DBC planning begins by delineating the specific objectives. Direct marketing can be used to: (1) provide in-depth product information, (2) drive traffic to a store or website, (3) develop leads for follow-up sales contacts or other direct-response efforts ( lead generation, also called prospecting), (4) drive a response, (5) retain or strengthen customer relationships, and (6) test offers to predict their effectiveness. The most typical DBC objective is to create sales or some other action by convincing customers to order products, make payments, or take some other action. Relationship building is also important since, in most cases, profit comes from subsequent sales. 6. Describe the four types of agencies involved in direct marketing. •

Advertising agencies: Agencies whose main business is mass-media advertising either have a department that specializes in direct response or own a separate direct-response company. Even if there isn’t a special division or department, the staff of the agency may still be involved in producing direct-marketing pieces.

•

Direct-marketing agencies: The independent, full-service, direct-marketing agencies specialize in direct response, and many of them are quite large. The largest direct-marketing agencies include some firms that specialize in only direct response and others that are affiliated with major agencies.

•

Service firms: Service firms specialize in supplying printing and mailing and list brokering.

•

Fulfillment houses: The fulfillment house is a type of service firm that is vital to the success of many direct-marketing strategies. This is a business responsible for making sure consumers receive whatever they request in a timely manner, be it a catalog, additional information, or the product itself.

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7. What are the different types of lists that direct marketers use? How are new lists created? Marketers own their own lists or rent lists. There are three types of lists: ▪

A house list is made up of the marketer’s own customers or members, its most important target market. It is its most valuable list.

▪

A response list is made up of people or households who have responded to some type of direct response offer. The more similar the product to which they responded is to the marketer’s product, the more valuable this list.

▪

A compiled list is a of some specific category, such as sports car owners, new homebuyers, graduating seniors, new mothers, association members, or subscribers to a magazine, book club, or record club.

New lists can be created by merging and purging. A company can hire database management firms whose sole purpose is to collect, analyze, categorize, and market an enormous variety of detail about customers. Relational databases, that is, databases that contain information useful in profiling and segmenting as well as contact information, can be purchased from a variety of companies. 8. What are some of the guidelines that should be followed when putting together a direct mail piece? The following guidelines can be helpful for putting together direct-mail pieces: ▪ Get the attention of the targeted prospect as the envelope comes from the mailbox. ▪ Create a need for the product, show what it looks like, and demonstrate how it is used. ▪ Answer questions, as a good salesperson does, and reassure the buyer. ▪ Provide critical information about product use. ▪ Inspire confidence, minimize risk, and establish that the company is reputable. ▪ Make the sale by explaining how to buy, how to order, where to call, and how to pay for the purchase. ▪ Use an incentive to encourage a fast response. How the direct-mail piece looks is as important as what it says. The most critical decision made by the target is whether to read the mailing or throw it away, and that decision is based on the attractiveness and attention-getting power of the outer envelope. The envelope should spark curiosity through a creative idea.

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9. What are some of the global considerations in direct-marketing communication? The direct marketing industry is growing fast in many Far Eastern and European countries, in some places, even faster than in the United States. The global trend is fueled by the same technological forces driving the growth in the United States: the increasing use of computer databases, credit cards, toll-free phone numbers, and the Internet, along with the search for more convenient ways to shop. Direct marketing is particularly important in countries that have tight restrictions on advertising and other forms of marketing communication. Privacy issues are even more intense in some other countries than they are in the United States. In some countries, lists are not available or they may be of poor quality. Some countries have instituted outright bans on direct marketing, although these restrictions seem to be loosening up. Governmental regulation of the U.S. Postal Service may also place limitations on the use of direct mail. For example, language and characters can be a problem. Computers and typesetting systems have to accommodate these differences. Presorted mail in a wrong format may result in charges to the end user that significantly raises the cost of mailing.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Locate a friend or community member who has been involved in telemarketing at some level. Interview them and discuss their experiences. What products or services did they sell, and how was telemarketing a useful direct-marketing channel for it? Summarize your findings in a 350-word report. 2. In its discussion of privacy issues, this chapter mentioned an organization called TRUSTe several times. Conduct some research on the organization to determine exactly what they do and the role they play in world of ‘big data.’ Summarize your findings in a 300 word report. Also, visit their website, click on the ‘privacy tips’ link, read it, and include in your report on anything new you learned about protecting your personal information. Think-Pair-Share 1. In pairs, debate the environmental and social issues associated with direct mail. What is its environmental impact? What is in consumers’ best interests? What are the advertisers’ rights to commercial free speech? 2. Group the class into pairs or small clusters. Each pair or cluster should select a consumer product that normally is not sold through direct marketing, but could be.

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Create a direct-marketing campaign for this product. Be sure to specify your objectives and indicate the parts of the offer as well as the medium used. Develop a mock-up of some of the campaign’s pieces that illustrates your ideas about message design.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Visit a few direct-marketing organizations online, such as: The Direct Marketing Association at http://www.the-dma.org; DM News at http://www.dmnews.com; and the Direct Response Marketing Alliance at http://responsemagazine.com. Pick an issue that, judging from these sites, is a threat to direct response marketing. Explain what you, as a direct response marketing team, would do to overcome this threat. Write up the results in a 500-word report. 2. Amazon.com is one of the best known direct marketers on the Internet. Browse the company’s website and identify what direct-marketing strategies the company employs. Which do you think are the most successful? Why? What are the least effective? Why? Summarize your responses in a 5-slide PowerPoint presentation to the class.

Chapter 17: Promotions

Chapter 17 Promotions

◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. 2. 3. 4.

What are the current trends and practices in planning promotions? What are the tools of consumer promotion and how are they used? What are the types and purposes of trade promotions? How do multiplatform promotions - sponsorships and events, loyalty programs, and partnership programs - work? 5. What are the critical promotional practices in integration?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter is about the fun, creative, and exciting ideas that the promotion industry uses to spur action and build strong brand relationships. This chapter explains the difference between consumer and trade promotions, as well as other programs, such as loyalty programs, tie-ins, and sponsorships that integrate advertising, public relations, and promotion efforts.

CHAPTER OUTLINE WHY SALES PROMOTION? •

When a marketer increases the value of its product or brand by offering an extra incentive to purchase it, the marketer is creating a sales promotion. In most cases, the objective of sales promotions is to encourage action by adding value to the brand. Also called ‘marketing’ at the retail level, sales promotion works with other aspects of the marketing mix to motivate consumer action and maximize the marketing investment.

•

The professional sales promotion industry, with annual revenues of about $12 billion, is estimated to include some 8,000 companies representing advertising and large marketing firms that specialize in sales promotion, such as Carlson Marketing.

•

The Promotion Marketing Association (PMA) is the professional organization serving this industry. Founded in 1911, the organization promotes excellence in promotion marketing and showcases such practices in its Reggie Awards programs.

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•

Although the breadth of the industry has exploded with the new opportunities provided by the Internet, a simple definition identifies the key elements of promotion marketing as follows: “The media and non-media marketing pressure applied for a predetermined, limited period of time at the level of consumer, retailer, or wholesaler in order to stimulate trial, increase consumer demand, or improve product availability.”

•

By further examining this definition, we see that: 1) it acknowledges that consumers are an important target for promotions, but so are other stakeholders, 2) media are carriers of a message that motivates the target and that media can be nontraditional or even human, such as sales staff, and 3) sales promotions are a set of techniques prompts members of three target audiences, i.e., consumers, sales reps, and the trade, to take action, preferably immediate action.

•

Sales promotion affects demand by offering an incentive to act, usually in the form of a price reduction, but it also may offer an additional amount of product, cash, prizes and gifts, premiums, special events, and so on.

•

Principle: Sales promotion is primarily designed to affect demand by motivating people to act.

Why Is Sales Promotion Growing? • In many marketing savvy companies, sales promotion budgets are larger than advertising budgets. Until the early 1980s, advertising was the dominant player, but during that decade more marketers found themselves driving immediate bottom-line responses through the use of sales promotion. Accountability • In terms of the need for accountability for marketing communications efforts, most U.S. companies focus on immediate profits, a drive that sales promotion satisfies. Because the benefits of advertising are often more apparent in the long term, companies invest more money in sales promotions because they want quick results. Product managers are under pressure to generate quarterly, or even monthly or weekly, sales increases. The pressure for short term profits leads to bigger sales promotion budgets. •

Another aspect of accountability is result driven. Sales promotions are relatively easy to evaluate in terms of their impact on sales and whether a sales promotion strategy has accomplished its objectives. Because promotions operate in a finite time frame and deliver action, it is relatively easy and quick to evaluate their success because there is usually an immediate response of some kind.

•

It is also easier to compute a return on investment (ROI) for promotions than for advertising. This process, known as payout planning, means that the results

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derived from a promotion can be estimated and compared to the projected costs of the effort. If the promotion does not deliver more than it costs, it is not a good idea, at least financially. While there may be other reasons for conducting a promotion, the go/no-go decision is based on the effort’s ROI. Media Shifts • Advertisers also cite other economic reasons for the shift. Traditional media costs have escalated to the point where alternative types of media must be considered. As networks have raised their advertising prices, their share of prime-time television viewers has dropped dramatically. The proliferation of media and competition for audiences’ attention also factor into the need for accountability. Advertisers, therefore, are exploring marketing communication forms that cost less and produce immediate, tangible results. Sales promotion can deliver these results. •

Global incentive programs are also experiencing explosive growth, and much of that relates either to IMC or changes in global media. Some of the reasons for this growth include the interest of multinational corporations in aligning all units with corporate goals, increasing bottom line efficiency, and taking advantage of the rise of the Internet.

Marketplace Changes • Other reasons for the move to sales promotion match changes in the marketplace such as these: ▪

Consumer behavior: Shoppers today are better educated, more selective, and less loyal to brand names than in the past, which means they are more likely to switch brands.

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Pricing: Consumers have come to expect constant short-term price reductions, such as coupons, sales, and price promotions.

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Market share: In most industries, the battle is for market share rather than general product growth. Sales promotion encourages people to switch products, thus increasing market share.

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Parity products: Sales promotion is often the most effective strategy for increasing sales of a parity product when the products in the category are largely undifferentiated. When products are similar, promotions become the tiebreaker in the consumer’s decision making.

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The power of the retailer: Dominant retailers, such as Safeway, Wal-mart, Toys“R”Us, and Home Depot demand a variety of promotional incentives before allowing products into their stores.

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From the consumer’s perspective, sales promotion reduces the risk associated with a purchase by giving them something of added value, such as a coupon, rebate, or discounted price.

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Principle: Sales promotion reduces the risk of trying a new product by giving something of added value to motivate action.

Sales Promotion Planning Similar to advertising and other marcom areas, promotions are developed with a plan, sometimes called a creative brief. This summarizes the usual planning decisions, such as the SWOT, brand positioning strategy, promotional objectives, targeting and consumer insights, budget, scheduling and timing. Promotional Objectives • As part of any integrated program, sales promotion has different functions than other marcom tools. Advertising is usually viewed as a longer-term investment, since it builds brand equity by establishing a consistent image or feeling about the brand over time. In contrast, sales promotions are more immediate, involving a finite time period. In return for taking action, sales promotions offer consumers something more tangible. •

Many of the reasons for using sales promotion focuses around new product launches and how sales promotions can deliver trial. Sales promotion can make consumers more brand aware and generate trial as well as persuade them to buy the product again once they have tried it. It can push the product through the distribution channel by generating positive brand experiences among resellers and buyers. It is also good building traffic for a retailer.

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Promotions can also build a brand over time by reinforcing advertising images and messages. Promotions can create an affinity between brands and buyers by creating brand involvement and positive experiences that people associate with the brand. When used for brand building, the primary objective in most marketing communication programs is to build brand awareness as well as drive behavior.

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Promotions are not effective in achieving all marketing objectives. For example, promotions cannot do much to change negative attitudes toward a product, overcome product problems, or reposition a brand.

The Issue of Brand Building • For years, a heated debate has focused on sales promotion and brand building. Advertisers claim the strength of advertising is creating and maintaining brand image and the price deals emanating from sales promotions negate all of their hard work by diverting the emphasis from the brand to the price. The result, sales promotions critics claim, is a brand-insensitive consumer.

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“Too many marketers no longer adhere to the fundamental premise of brand building, which is that brand franchises are not built by cutting price but rather by offering superior quality at a reasonable price and clearly communicating that value to consumers,” according to a Procter and Gamble manager.

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The problem is that brand building is a long and time-consuming process of establishing the brand’s core values. Promotion is relatively short term and can undermine the brand’s established values if not handled carefully.

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Sales promotion experts argue that their practices can help to build brand image. They refer to the many loyalty programs that have been used by rental car companies, hotels and airlines to enhance their image. They also acknowledge that continuous price promotion does not work well with brand building.

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According to one industry expert, the solution to the debate is to make advertising more accountable and promotion more brand focused. In other words, advertising and promotion need to work more closely together, and greater integration is needed when planning marketing communication programs.

The Primary Sales Promotion Targets • The most common sales promotion strategies target the three audiences of promotions: consumer, trade, and sales force. The first two - customer sales and trade support - have direct implications for advertising and marketing communication. The third category - sales force promotions - is also important in building trade support. •

The third category, sales force promotion, is also important in building trade support. Sales force promotions include two general sets of activities. The first set of activities includes programs that better prepare salespeople to do their jobs, such as sales manuals, training programs, sales presentations, and supportive materials. The second set of activities deals with promotional efforts or incentives for retailers to use as in-store promotions and other programs that motivate salespeople to work harder, such as contests.

Estimating Performance • Because promotions are so focused on action, it makes sense that sales are the primary measure of their effectiveness. Response rate is also important to sales promotions, as are redemption rates. •

An important dimension of sales promotion effectiveness is payout planning. The goal of creating a payout plan is to produce promotions that increase sales and profits. Needless to say, a promotion should not cost the company more money than it brings in. The trade press is full of stories about poorly designed or performing promotions. Such failures hurt companies’ reputations, waste money, and sometimes even hurt customers.

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Promotional Big Ideas • From this document promotional planners develop their ideas. In fact, a Big Idea is just as important for sales promotion as it is for advertising. In many cases, the promotion is part of a bigger integrated marketing communication plan, and therefore one of the requirements is that the promotion’s Big Idea must support the campaign’s creative idea. •

The challenge is to come up with exciting and interesting promotional ideas that are involving and capture the attention of the target market, and that includes consumers as well as trade partners in the industry.

CONSUMER PROMOTIONS • Although trade promotion claims the greatest percentage of the promotion budget, most people are more familiar with consumer promotions. Consumer sales promotions are directed at the ultimate user of a good or service. They are intended to provide an incentive so that when consumers go into a store they will look for a particular brand. The primary strengths of consumer sales promotions are their variety and flexibility. •

Principle: Consumer promotions provide an incentive so consumers will look for a particular brand.

Tools of Consumer Promotions Following is a summary of common types of consumer promotions: •

Price deals. A popular sales-promotion technique is a price deal—a temporary price reduction or a sale price, or even freebies. Freebies, however, can be killers if the company does not adequately predict the consumer response. One result of price deals can be price wars. There are four common price deals: 1. A cents-off deal is a reduction in the normal price charged for a good or service (for example, “was $1,000, now $500,” or “50 % off”) announced at the point of sale or through mass or direct advertising. 2. Prize-pack deals provide the consumer with something extra through the package itself—a prize in a cereal box, for instance. 3. Bonus packs contain additional amounts of the product free when consumers purchase the standard size at the regular price. 4. Banded packs are more units of a product sold at a lower price than if they were bought at the regular single-unit price. Sometimes the products are physically packaged together, such as bar soap and six-packs of soft drinks.

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Refunds and rebates. A refund or rebate is a marketer’s offer to return a certain amount of money to the consumer who purchases the product. Sometimes the refund is a check for a certain amount of money, while at other times it may be a coupon to encourage repeat use.

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Sampling. Allowing the consumer to try the product or service is called sampling. Advertisers can distribute samples to consumers in numerous ways. Sampling tables, particularly for food products, can be set up in stores. Small samples of products can show up with newspapers, on house doorknobs, in doctors’ and dentists’ offices, and, most commonly, through the mail. Advertisers can design ads with coupons for free samples, place samples in special packages, or distribute samples at special in-store displays. Product samples influence consumers more than other types of in-store promotions, according to one survey. Sampling is not just an in-store activity. It has also become a mainstay of interactive promotions on the Internet.

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Premiums. A premium is a tangible reward for a particular act, usually purchasing a product or visiting the point-of-purchase. Premiums are a type of incentive that works by adding value to the product. Examples of premiums are the toy in Cracker Jacks, glassware in a box of detergent, and a radio given for taking a real-estate tour. Premiums are either free or low in price. The two general types of premiums are direct and mail. Direct premiums award the incentive immediately at the time of purchase. There are four variations of direct premiums: (1) store premiums, given to customers at the retail site; (2) inpack premiums, inserted in the package at the factory; (3) on-pack premiums, placed on the outside of the package at the factory; and (4) container premiums, in which the package is the premium. Mail premiums require the customer to take some action before receiving the premium. A self-liquidator premium usually requires that a payment be mailed in along with some proof of purchase before the customer receives the premium. The payment is sufficient to cover the cost of the premium. Another type of mail premium requires the customer to save coupons or special labels attached to the product that can be redeemed for merchandise.

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Coupons. There are two general types of coupons that provide a discount on the price of a product: retailer and manufacturer coupons. Retailer-sponsored coupons can be redeemed only at the specified retail outlet. Manufacturer-sponsored coupons can be redeemed at any outlet distributing the product. They are distributed directly (direct mail, door-to-door), through media (newspaper and magazine ads, freestanding inserts), in or on the package itself, or through the retailer (co-op advertising). Manufacturers pay retailers a fee for handling their coupons. Coupons have also moved online.

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Contests and sweepstakes. Contest and sweepstakes promotions create excitement by promising “something for nothing” and offering impressive prizes. Contests require participants to compete for a prize or prizes based on some sort of skill or ability. Sweepstakes require only that participants submit their names to be included in a drawing or other chance selection. Sweepstakes are now offered via mobile marketing. A game is a type of sweepstakes. It differs from a one-shot drawing type of sweepstakes because the timeframe is longer, so it establishes continuity requiring customers to return several times to acquire additional pieces (such as bingo-type games) or to improve their chances of winning.

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Specialties: Specialty advertising presents the brand’s name on something that is given away in an attempt to remind consumers about the brand. Items include calendars, pens and pencils, T-shirts, mouse pads, tote bags, and water bottles. The ideal specialty is an item kept out in the open where other people can see it, such as a coffee mug.

Promotional Media • The types of sales promotions just listed can be delivered in various media, including print, broadcast, and online. Direct mail has dominated the delivery of special promotions but much of that has moved online. The Internet is particularly useful for distributing coupons, inviting participation in games and sweepstakes, and even in sampling. In-store promotions using posters, shelf talkers, displays, and other types of signage are particularly effective at reaching people who are making a purchase decision. •

Internet promotion is one of the hot areas of sales promotions. Many advertising campaigns include a campaign-dedicated website designed as a tie-in. Coupons can also be delivered via the Internet, and several sites have been designed for this, such as Catalina’s ValuePage website (www.valupage.com).

Promotional Campaigns • Special promotions are usually approached as a campaign because they involve a variety of media and reach many stakeholders. They also have a limited time frame. Promotional planners are continually looking for new ways to engage consumers. The Internet has opened up new opportunities, particularly with viral media, that drives a high level of social interaction that reinforces the involvement dimension of promotions. Big Ideas are critical to effective promotional campaigns.

How Are Consumer Promotions Used? • Although an action response is the goal of most sales promotions, some programs are designed to build awareness first, but always with action as the ultimate goal. Promotions can deliver on a number of our Facets of Effects and drive a specific set of objectives. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Awareness • The first challenge is to create awareness of the brand, which is a real strength of advertising and the first step in consumer decision making. However, sometimes awareness can be increased when advertising is combined with an appropriate promotion to call attention to the brand name in order to get people to try the product. Trial •

Creating awareness will only take the product so far, however. Consumers must also perceive the brand as offering some clear benefit compared to the competition. Sales promotion does this by arranging for experiences such as special events where people can try the product or see it demonstrated. Trial is one of the most important objectives of sales promotions, but it is essential to get the right people, the target audience, involved with the product.

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Sales promotion has other tools that lead to trial such as sampling. Sampling is an effective strategy for introducing a new or modified product or for dislodging an entrenched market leader by enticing potential users to try the product. As a general rule of thumb, retailers and manufacturers maintain that sampling can boost sales volume as much as ten times when used with a product demonstration and 10 to 15 percent thereafter. Sampling is generally most effective when reinforced on the spot with product coupons. Consumers like sampling because they do not lose money if they dislike the product.

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Coupons mainly encourage trial, induce brand switching, and reward repeat business. The main advantage of the manufacturer’s coupon is that it allows the advertiser to lower prices without relying on cooperation from the retailer to distribute them. Advertising for these deals include sales, flyers, newspaper ads, and broadcast ads.

Maintain or Increase Market Share • In addition to encouraging trial of a new product, another purpose of price deals is to convince prospective users to switch from an established competing brand. A price deal can also be used to reward loyal users in order to encourage their repeat business. Price deals are particularly effective in those situations where price is an important factor in brand choice or if consumers are not brand loyal. •

To maintain a brand’s presence, increase its market share, or accomplish countercompetitive actions, marketers use promotional tools such as coupons, premiums,

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special events, and contests and sweepstakes. In addition to serving as a reward for buying a product, premiums, for example, can enhance an advertising campaign or a brand’s image. Brand Reminder • In addition to new product launches, promotions are also used at the reminder stage. This means that you change advertising copy to remind customers about the positive experience they had with the product and use sales promotions to reinforce loyalty with coupons, rebates, and other rewards. Specialty advertising serves as a reminder to the consumer to consider the product. Advertisers use specialty items to thank customers for patronage, to reinforce established products or services, and to generate sales leads.

TRADE PROMOTIONS •

Consumer awareness and desire mean nothing unless the product is available in places that the consumer expects to see it. Therefore, marketers know that they must engage the trade in programs if their consumer promotions are to be effective. In such programs, trade refers to all the people involved in the channel of distribution—buyers, brokers, distributors, wholesalers, dealers, franchisees, and retailers.

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Principle: Consumer promotion is of little use if the product is not available where the consumer can find it.

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Trade promotions are usually directed at distribution channel members, a practice that is sometimes referred to as channel marketing. It can also be used in any kind of situation where one business is promoting its services to another, which also includes personal sales and materials used in sales presentations. Typically, companies spend more than half of their total promotion budget on promotions directed at the trade.

Types of Trade Promotion • Trade advertising directed at wholesalers and retailers provides trade members with information about new products and their selling points. In addition, trade promotion techniques, especially price discounts, point-of-purchase displays, and advertising allowances, motivate retailers to provide shelf space for products and consumer promotions. Here are the most common types of trade promotions: •

Retailer (dealer) kits. Materials that support retailers’ selling efforts or that help representatives make sales calls on prospective retailing customers are often designed as sales kits. The kits contain supporting information, such as detailed product specifications, how-to display information, and ad slicks—print ads that are ready to be sent to the local print media as soon as the retailer or dealer adds identification, location, promotion price, or other information.

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Trade incentives and deals. Similar to consumer price deals, a manufacturer may reward a reseller financially for purchase of a certain level of a product or support of a promotion. These promotional efforts can take the form of special displays, extra purchases, superior store locations, or greater local promotion. In return, retailers can receive special allowances, such as discounts, free goods, gifts, or cash from the manufacturer. The most common types of trade deals are buying allowances for increasing purchases and advertising allowances, which include deals on cooperative advertising and display allowances, that is, deals for agreeing to use promotional displays.

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Contests. As in the case of consumer sales promotion, advertisers can develop contests and sweepstakes to motivate resellers. Contests are far more common than sweepstakes, mainly because resellers find it easy to tie contest prizes to the sale of the sponsor’s product. A sales quota is set, for example, and the retailer or person who exceeds the quota by the largest percentage wins the contest.

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Point-of-purchase promotions. According to the Point-of-Purchase Advertising International Association (POPAI), the marketing-at-retail industry includes two forms: (1) manufacturer-designed displays distributed to retailers who use the displays to showcase products and create a personality for their stores, and (2) signs and displays used by retailers to cue their brand images and differentiate their stores from those of competitors. These are referred to as point-of-purchase (PoP) materials. Although PoP forms vary by industry, they can include special racks, display cartons, banners, signs, price cards, and mechanical product dispensers, among other tools.

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Trade shows and exhibits. The trade show is a place where companies within the same industry gather to present and sell their merchandise, as well as to demonstrate their products. Exhibits are the spaces that are designed to showcase the product. This chapter’s Inside Story features a copywriter and content strategist and an iPad based game he designed as part of an interactive trade show booth exhibit.

How Is Trade Promotion Used? • The ultimate gauge of a successful trade promotion is whether sales increase. Trade promotions are primarily designed to get the cooperation of people in the distribution channel and to encourage their promotion of the product to the consumer. Sales promotion brings resellers to that point of conviction. There are two primary roles for a trade promotion: 1. Trade support. To stimulate in-store merchandising or other trade support (for example, feature pricing, superior store location, or shelf space). 2. Excitement. To create a high level of excitement about the product among those responsible for its sale. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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In addition, trade promotion is also used to accomplish other marketing objectives, such as manipulating levels of inventory held by wholesalers and retailers and expanding product distribution to new areas of the country or new classes of trade.

Demand: Push and Pull Strategies • To understand the role of trade promotion, consider how sales promotion is used in push and pull strategies. Consumer and trade promotions interact through complementing push and pull strategies. •

If consumers really want to try a product, based on what they have heard in advertising and publicity stories, they will ask their local retailers for it, which is called a pull strategy; that is, by asking for it they will pull the product through the distribution channel.

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Principle: Consumer and trade promotions interact through complementing push and pull strategies.

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A push strategy pushes the product through the channel by convincing (motivating or rewarding) members of the distribution network to carry a product. Here are the most common types of incentives and trade deals used with retailers as part of a push strategy. ▪

Bonuses. A monetary bonus, also called push money or spiffs, is paid to a salesperson based on units that salesperson sells during a period of time.

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Dealer loaders. Loaders are premiums (comparable to a consumer premium) that a manufacturer gives to a retailer for buying a certain amount of a product. A buying loader rewards retailers for buying the product. Display loaders reward retailers by giving them the display after the promotion ends.

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Buying allowances. A manufacturer pays a reseller a set amount of money or a discount for purchasing a certain amount of the product during a specified time period.

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Advertising allowances. The manufacturer pays the wholesaler or retailer a certain amount of money to advertise the manufacturer’s product. This allowance can be a flat dollar amount or it can be a percentage of gross purchases during a specified time period.

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Co-Op advertising. In a contractual arrangement between the manufacturer and the resellers, the manufacturer agrees to pay a part or all of the advertising expenses incurred by the retailers.

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Display allowance. A direct payment of cash or goods is given to the retailer if the retailer agrees to set up the point-of-sale display. Before issuing the payment, the manufacturer requires the retailer’s signature on a certificate of agreement.

Attention • Some trade promotions are designed not only to get the attention of the trade members, but also to grab the attention of customers. PoP displays are designed to get the attention of shoppers when they are in the store and to stimulate impulse purchases. They are used by retailers, but provided by manufacturers. •

The importance of PoP continues to increase, as we move to a self-service retail environment in which fewer and fewer customers expect help from sales clerks. POPAI has found that the PoP forms that have the greatest impact on sales are displays that tie in with entertainment, sports, or charities. In the Practical Tips feature located in this chapter, a marketing consultant explains how to best plan effective PoP promotions.

Motivation • Most trade promotions are designed to, in some way, motivate trade members to cooperate with the manufacturer’s promotion. Incentives such as contests and trade deals are used. Trade incentive programs are used to stimulate frequency and quantity of purchase and encourage cooperation with a promotion. Information • Trade shows, which are an information-rich environment, display products and provide an opportunity to sample and demonstrate products, particularly for trade buyers, the people who buy for stores. Trade shows also permit companies to gather information about their competition.

MULTIPLATFORM PROMOTIONS This section focuses on sponsorships, event marketing, loyalty programs, and comarketing or partnership promotions. Many of these promotional techniques, such as sponsorships and event marketing, cross over to other areas of marketing and blur the line between promotions, advertising, and public relations. Sponsorships and Event Marketing • Sponsorships occur when companies support an event, such as a sporting event, concert, or charity, either financially or by donating supplies and services. Event marketing means building a product’s marketing program around a sponsored event, such as the Olympics or a golf tournament. •

Sponsorships and event marketing include sports, entertainment tours and attractions, festivals, fairs and other annual events, cause marketing, and support

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for the arts. Cause marketing sponsorship is a growth area with spending at around $1.6 billion in 2009. •

Companies undertake sponsorships to build brand associations and to increase the perceived value of the brand in the consumer’s mind. The important thing is that the event must project the right image for the brand. Companies that use sponsorships focus their efforts on supporting causes and events that matter most to employees and customers. Although the most common sponsorships are around events, particularly sporting events, brands can also sponsor product related websites that are particularly effective at creating sales or recruiting people. The importance of sponsorships is growing worldwide.

Event Marketing • The term event marketing describes the marketing practice of linking a brand to an event. Marketers use related promotional events, such as a tour or appearance of the product or its spokesperson at a mall or sporting event, to gain the attention and participation of people in the target audience who attend the event. The event showcases the brand, often with sampling, coupons, other incentives, and attention-getting stunts. To be successful, the event must match the brand to the target market’s lifestyle. Events can also be used to build goodwill. •

Business-to-business promotions also use events to reach trade audiences, which can include sales staff, distributors, retailers, and franchisees. These stakeholders are invited to participate in the event as a reward for their support.

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The granddaddy of all events is the Super Bowl. The ads are the most expensive on television; prices can top $3 million for a 30-second commercial, which does not include production costs. These costs make sense because of the huge audience that is reached.

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Its not just the commercials, however, that get the attention of marketers. Brands buy a Super Bowl spot to participate in all the frenzy that surrounds the event both before will pre-teaser ads, curing the game, and post-game coverage. The television spots create the opportunity for wide-ranging promotional activity that involve publicity, point of purchase displays, video clips, website and social media, search engine ads, and relationship programs with important partners, such as retailers and shareholders. The A Matter of Principle feature in this chapter makes the point that even in big-event advertising, it is still the big idea that counts.

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Ambush marketing is the term given to promotional stunts used at events, such as the Olympics and the soccer and rugby World Cups, by companies that are not official sponsors. Ambush marketing typically occurs when one brand is trying to undermine the presence of a rival that is sponsoring an event. If the stunt can create enough confusion, it can reduce the return on the official sponsor’s investment, and at the same time, pick up additional visibility through publicity.

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Other Promotional Support • Advertisers have used blimps, balloons, inflatables, and even skywriting planes to capture attention and create an aura of excitement at events. Loyalty Programs •

Another type of program that crosses the line between advertising and promotion is frequency, or loyalty programs. A loyalty program, also called a continuity or frequency program (such as airline frequent flyer programs), is a promotion to increase customer retention. Typically the higher the purchase level, the greater the benefits.

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Today, loyalty programs are synonymous with the word frequent. The frequent flyer club, first created by United Airlines in 1981, is the model for a modern continuity program. Continuity programs work in competitive markets in which the consumer has difficulty perceiving real differences between brands. The key to creating a successful loyalty program is offering memorable incentives that consumers want.

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Marketers like membership programs because they also generate information for customer databases, which can be used to more specifically target customers with promotions and advertising materials.

Partnership Programs Another promotion tool that crosses the lines is the partnership program. Co-marketing involves manufacturers developing marketing communication programs with their main retail accounts, instead of for them. If done right, these partnerships strengthen relationships between manufacturers and retailers. Co-marketing programs are usually based on the lifestyles and purchasing habits of consumers who live in the area of a particular retailer. Co-branding • When two companies come together to offer a product, the effort is called cobranding. Both companies are equally present in the product’s design and promotion, and both get to build on the other company’s brand equity.

Licensing • With licensing, legally protected brand identity items, such as logos, symbols, and brand characters, must be licensed, that is, a legal contract gives another company the right to use the brand identity element. In brand licensing, a company with an established brand “rents” that brand to other companies,

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allowing them to use its logo on their products and in their advertising and promotional events. Tie-ins and Cross-Promotions • Another type of cooperative marketing program is a tie-in or cross-promotion, which is an effective strategy for marketers using associations between complementary brands to make one plus one equal three. The intent is to spur sales. Ads are also designed to tie the two products together, and the sponsoring companies share the cost of the advertising. •

The biggest cross promotions are arranged around movies and other entertainment events. Tie-ins succeed because brands can leverage similar strengths to achieve a bigger impact in the marketplace. Typically, marketers align themselves with partners that provide numerous complementary elements, including common target audiences, purchase cycle patterns, distribution channels, retailer penetration, and demographics to drive their products and promotions through retail channels and into the minds of consumers.

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An interesting, although questionable, promotion was Bud Light’s use of “Fan Cans. “It raised questions about rogue “tie-in” strategies that were not sanctioned by the schools. Others complained that it promoted drinking among students, many of whom were underage.

Sales Promotion and Integration • Similar to direct response and other marcom tools, promotions are strategically designed to work within a mix of brand messages and experiences to build brand strength and presence. When all the marketing tasks are driven by a common strategy and shard objectives, the company communicates with the consumer in a single voice with a consistent creative approach. •

An example of a multiplatform promotion that demonstrates how a variety of media and tools can work together was the Voyeur Project for HBO that won a Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 17-4. Define sales promotion and explain how it differs from other marcom areas. When a marketer increases the value of its product or brand by offering an extra incentive to purchase it, the marketer is creating a sales promotion. In most cases, the objective of sales promotions is to encourage action by adding value to the brand. Also called ‘marketing’ at the retail level, sales promotion works with other aspects Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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of the marketing mix to motivate consumer action and maximize the marketing investment. The Promotional Marketing Association provides the following definition: “The media and non-media marketing pressure applied for a predetermined, limited period of time at the level of consumer, retailer, or wholesaler in order to stimulate trial, increase consumer demand, or improves product availability.” Sales promotions differ from other marcom tools in that it is primarily designed to affect demand by motivating people to act.

17-5. Why is sales promotion growing? In many marketing savvy companies, sales promotion budgets are larger than advertising budgets. Until the early 1980s, advertising was the dominant player, but during that decade more marketers found themselves driving immediate bottom-line responses through the use of sales promotion. Most U.S. companies focus on immediate profits and sales promotion satisfies that drive. Companies invest more money in sales promotions because they want quick results. The pressure for short-term profits leads to bigger sales promotion budgets. Also, sales promotions are relatively easy to evaluate in terms of their impact on sales and whether a sales promotion strategy has accomplished its objectives. Because promotions operate in a finite time frame and deliver action, it is relatively easy and quick to evaluate their success because there is usually an immediate response of some kind. Finally, it is also easier to compute a return on investment (ROI) for promotions than for advertising. This process is known as payout planning. Networks have raised their advertising prices, while their share of prime-time television viewers has dropped dramatically. The proliferation of media and competition for audiences’ attention is also a concern. Advertisers, therefore, are exploring marketing communication forms that cost less and produce immediate, tangible results. Sales promotion can deliver these results. Additional reasons for the growth in sales promotion can be explained by shifts in the marketplace. Shoppers today are better educated, more selective, and less loyal to brand names than in the past, which means they are more likely to switch brands. Consumers have come to expect constant short-term price reductions, such as coupons, sales, and price promotions. In most industries, the battle is for market share rather than general product growth. Sales promotion encourages people to switch products, thus increasing market share. Dominant retailers demand a variety of promotional incentives before allowing products into their stores. And finally, sales promotion is often the most effective strategy for increasing sales of a parity product when the products in the category are largely undifferentiated. When

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products are similar, promotions become the tiebreaker in the consumer’s decision making.

17-6. Explain the three audiences for sales promotion and the two primary categories used to reach the third audience. The most common sales promotion strategies target the three audiences of promotions: consumer, trade, and sales force. The first two, consumer sales and trade support, have direct implications for advertising. The third category, sales force promotions, includes two general sets of promotional activities directed at the firm’s salespeople to motivate them to increase their sales levels. The first set of activities includes programs that better prepare salespeople to do their jobs, such as sales manuals, training programs, sales presentations, and supportive materials—training films, slides, videos, and visual aids. The second set of activities deals with promotional efforts or incentives that motivate salespeople to work harder, such as contests. 17-7. What are the primary objectives that consumer promotions can deliver? Consumer promotes can help to create awareness, stimulate, trial, maintain or increase market share, and serve as a brand reminder. The first challenge is to create awareness of the brand, which is a real strength of advertising and the first step in consumer decision making. However, sometimes awareness can be increased when advertising is combined with an appropriate promotion to call attention to the brand name in order to get people to try the product. Creating awareness will only take the product so far, however. Consumers must also perceive the brand as offering some clear benefit compared to the competition. Sales promotion does this by arranging for experiences such as special events where people can try the product or see it demonstrated. Trial is one of the most important objectives of sales promotions, but it is essential to get the right people, the target audience, involved with the product. Sales promotion has other tools that lead to trial such as sampling. Sampling is an effective strategy for introducing a new or modified product or for dislodging an entrenched market leader by enticing potential users to try the product. As a general rule of thumb, retailers and manufacturers maintain that sampling can boost sales volume as much as ten times when used with a product demonstration and 10 to 15 percent thereafter. Sampling is generally most effective when reinforced on the spot with product coupons. Consumers like sampling because they do not lose money if they dislike the product.

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Another way sales promotion can motivate people to try a new product is to offer a price deal. These price deals are usually done through coupons, refunds, rebates, or premiums. Refunds and rebates are effective because they encourage consumers to purchase a product before a deadline. In addition, refunds stimulate sales without the high cost and waste associated with coupons. Coupons mainly encourage trial, induce brand switching, and reward repeat business. The main advantage of the manufacturer’s coupon is that it allows the advertiser to lower prices without relying on cooperation from the retailer to distribute them. Advertising for these deals include sales, flyers, newspaper ads, and broadcast ads. In addition to encouraging trial of a new product, another purpose of price deals is to convince prospective users to switch from an established competing brand. A price deal can also be used to reward loyal users in order to encourage their repeat business. Price deals are particularly effective in those situations where price is an important factor in brand choice or if consumers are not brand loyal. To maintain a brand’s presence, increase its market share, or accomplish countercompetitive actions, marketers use promotional tools such as coupons, premiums, special events, and contests and sweepstakes. In addition to serving as a reward for buying a product, premiums, for example, can enhance an advertising campaign or a brand’s image. In addition to new product launches, promotions are also used at the reminder stage. This means that you change advertising copy to remind customers about the positive experience they had with the product and use sales promotions to reinforce loyalty with coupons, rebates, and other rewards. Specialty advertising serves as a reminder to the consumer to consider the product. Advertisers use specialty items to thank customers for patronage, to reinforce established products or services, and to generate sales leads. 17.8. What are the key objectives of trade promotions? Trade promotions are directed at distribution channel members also referred to as the trade. This includes buyers, brokers, distributors, wholesalers, dealers, franchisees, and retailers. Trade promotions are designed to create a high level of excitement about the product among those responsible for its sales and to encourage their cooperation in the promotion of the product to the consumer. Marketers understand that because channel members play a pivotal role in the execution of marketing strategy, efforts must be taken to ensure they remain enthusiastic and actively engaged. Trade promotions are designed to achieve this objective. Typically, companies spend more than half of their total promotion budget on promotions directed at the trade. 17-9. List the primary tools of consumer promotions and trade promotions.

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Consumer promotion tools: ▪ Price deals, such as cents-off deals, prize packs, and banded packs ▪ Coupons ▪ Refunds and rebates ▪ Sampling ▪ Contests and sweepstakes ▪ Premiums ▪ Specialties Trade promotion tools: ▪ Point-of-purchase displays ▪ Retailer (dealer) kits ▪ Trade incentives and deals ▪ Contests ▪ Trade shows and exhibits 17-10. What media are used to communicate about sales promotions? Sales promotions can be delivered using print, broadcast, and online media. Direct mail has dominated the delivery of special promotions but much of that has moved online. The Internet is particularly useful for distributing coupons, inviting participation in games and sweepstakes, and even in sampling. Many advertising campaigns include a campaign-dedicated website designed as a tie-in. Some sites offer price promotions only to online purchasers. The promotions might be discounted prices, rebates, or free offers such as frequent flyer miles. Coupons can also be delivered via the Internet.

17-11. Why are sponsorships and events used by marketers? Sponsorships occur when companies support an event, such as a sporting event, concert, or charity, either financially or by donating supplies and services. Event marketing means building a product’s marketing program around a sponsored event, such as the Olympics or a golf tournament. Companies undertake sponsorships to build brand associations and to increase the perceived value of the brand in the consumer’s mind. The important thing is that the event must project the right image for the brand. Companies that use sponsorships focus their efforts on supporting causes and events that matter most to employees and customers. Although the most common sponsorships are around events, particularly sporting events, brands can also sponsor product-related websites that are particularly effective at creating sales or recruiting people. The importance of sponsorships is growing worldwide. Marketers use events, such as a tour or appearance of the product or its spokesperson at a mall or sporting event, to gain the attention and participation of people in the target audience who attend the event. The event showcases the brand, often with Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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sampling, coupons, other incentives, and attention-getting stunts. To be successful, the event must match the brand to the target market’s lifestyle. Events can also be used to build goodwill. 17-12. Define loyalty programs and explain why they are useful. A loyalty program, also called a continuity or frequency program (such as airline frequent flyer programs), is a promotion to increase customer retention. Typically, the higher the purchase level, the greater the benefits the participant receives. Continuity programs work well in competitive markets in which the consumer has difficulty perceiving real differences between brands. The key to creating a successful loyalty program is offering memorable incentives that consumers want. 17-13. How and when are partnership promotions used? Partnership programs, such as co-branding, licensing agreements, and cross promotions, are designed to build stronger relationships between manufacturers and retailers and between two brands that market related products to a similar target audience.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 17-14. You have been named promotion manager for Maybelline, a well-known brand of cosmetics. You know the brand has been successful in using sales promotion plans lately, but you are concerned about how to use promotions successfully without harming the brand. How is sales promotion considered weak in building and maintaining a brand, and how can it be used to strengthen a well-known brand? What kind of promotions would you suggest for maintaining and strengthening this brand franchise? Your new responsibility presents an excellent case study in the strengths of advertising and of promotion and the need to integrate the two. Cosmetics in general tend to be products that garner brand loyalty. Once makeup users find brands that satisfy them, they don’t switch easily. Cosmetics are products in which image and emotion are important in convincing and holding customers. It is advertising that establishes image and makes emotional connections. Although a strong case exists for the use of brand-building advertising, do not reject promotion! It is important to consider promotions that stimulate trial, such as couponing, sampling, or banding products, for example, an existing and recognized foundation with a new eye cosmetic. You can capitalize on existing consumer loyalty with programs that reward customer behavior. Customer purchases could earn points toward future free or discounted products. Premiums such as makeup bags or mirrors could tie in to product purchases and keep the company name in front of users with each application of the cosmetics. A newsletter with makeup tips or a series of workshops on proper Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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cosmetics application and makeovers might attract consumers. In summary, you may want to emphasize advertising, while concurrently integrating appropriate promotions to strengthen this older but vibrant brand. 17-15. You have just been named product manager for a new FDA-approved pharmaceutical, a diet pill, that helps reduce hunger. Should you use a push or pull strategy to introduce this new product? Organize into small teams with each team taking one side or the other. Prepare a short paper that explains your point of view and present it to your classmates. Any new product must be made available on store shelves before consumers can purchase it. Ensuring shelf space is the task of push strategies. Diet pills, however, fall into a highly competitive product category that, without promotional support on the pull side, has little chance of success. Diet pills are parity products with little real differentiation among brands, but consumer promotions can set a brand apart. Neither push nor pull strategies should be planned to the exclusion of the other. Push strategies will make the new product available at retail outlets, and pull strategies will stimulate consumer demand that will move the diet pills off store shelves. A combination of push and pull is most desirable.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 17-16. Portfolio Project: Select a print ad for a national marketer. Redesign the ad, including the use of a consumer sales promotion. Now design a second version, orienting the ad to a trade audience. Write a one-paragraph explanation for each ad that summarizes the objectives and strategy you are proposing. 17-17. Mini-Case Analysis: Why do you think the Susan G. Komen “Pink” campaign has been so successful over the years? What lessons might you learn about promotional planning from this case? If you were on the Pink team, what would you do next to continue the momentum? Come up with a big idea for a new promotion for the next year and explain how it would work and what it would accomplish.

The pink ribbon campaign is one of the most successful co-branding promotional efforts ever launched. What makes it remarkable is the number of companies that found synergy in joining this important cause as they simultaneously promote their products. Delta Airlines, Yoplait, Avon, NASCAR, and Panera Bread are examples of the major brands that have joined forces with Nancy G. Brinker, the founder and CEO of this nonprofit. First Brinker made the message about breast cancer more optimistic, convincing women that there is hope for surviving the disease. She realized the importance of teaching her target audience that their hope depended on encouraging women to get mammograms, as well as investing in research directed toward finding a cure. Then she promoted this message across the country by enlisting 121 affiliates to participate in their annual event entitled ‘Race for a Cure.’ By associating their brand with this good cause, companies have generated goodwill for their brands, as Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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well income that was donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Lessons learned from this case study include the importance of building strong partnerships and the willingness of major brands to associate themselves with causes that will generate goodwill for their brand. Big Ideas generated by students to extend the campaign into the future will vary.

TRACE North America Case Multicultural Promotions Read the TRACE case in the appendix before coming to class. 17-18. What promotional efforts in the case do you believe will be most successful? Develop at least two new promotional efforts to strengthen this campaign. 17-19. Create at least three promotional ideas that you feel will make this campaign more effective. Explain how they would work in a one-page proposal for each. Include sketches of your idea, if appropriate.

◆ ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. How can promotions help to achieve brand objectives? Many of the reasons for using sales promotion focuses around new product launches and how sales promotions can deliver trial. Sales promotion can make consumers more brand aware and generate trial as well as persuade them to buy the product again once they have tried it. It can push the product through the distribution channel by generating positive brand experiences among resellers and buyers. It is also good building traffic for a retailer. Promotions can also build a brand over time by reinforcing advertising images and messages. Promotions can create an affinity between brands and buyers by creating brand involvement and positive experiences that people associate with the brand. When used for brand building, the primary objective in most marketing communication programs is to build brand awareness as well as drive behavior. Promotions are not effective in achieving all marketing objectives. For example, promotions cannot do much to change negative attitudes toward a product, overcome product problems, or reposition a brand. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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2. Discuss the debate focused on brand building and sales promotion. For years, a heated debate has focused on sales promotion and brand building. Advertisers claim the strength of advertising is creating and maintaining brand image and the price deals emanating from sales promotions negate all of their hard work by diverting the emphasis from the brand to the price. The result, sales promotions critics claim, is a brand-insensitive consumer. In response, sales promotion experts argue that their practices can help to build brand image. They refer to the many loyalty programs that have been used by rental car companies, hotels and airlines to enhance their image. They also acknowledge that continuous price promotion does not work well with brand building. According to one industry expert, the solution to the debate is to make advertising more accountable and promotion more brand focused. In other words, advertising and promotion need to work more closely together, and greater integration is needed when planning marketing communication programs. 3. What are the two different types of premiums and what is a selfliquidator premium? The two general types of premiums are direct and mail. Direct premiums award the incentive immediately at the time of purchase. There are four variations of direct premiums: (1) store premiums, given to customers at the retail site; (2) in-pack premiums, inserted in the package at the factory; (3) on-pack premiums, placed on the outside of the package at the factory; and (4) container premiums, in which the package is the premium. Mail premiums require the customer to take some action before receiving the premium. A self-liquidator premium usually requires that a payment be mailed in along with some proof of purchase before the customer receives the premium. The payment is sufficient to cover the cost of the premium. Another type of mail premium requires the customer to save coupons or special labels attached to the product that can be redeemed for merchandise. 4.

How is the effectiveness of sales promotions evaluated?

Because promotions are so focused on action, it makes sense that sales are the primary measure of their effectiveness. Response rate is also important to sales promotions, as are redemption rates. An important dimension of sales promotion effectiveness is payout planning. The goal of creating a payout plan is to produce promotions that increase sales and profits. Needless to say, a promotion should not cost the company more money than it brings in. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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The trade press is full of stories about poorly designed or performing promotions. Such failures hurt companies’ reputations, waste money, and sometimes even hurt customers.

5. Discuss the various types of point-of-purchase displays. According to the Point-of-Purchase Advertising International Association (POPAI), the marketing-at-retail industry includes two forms: (1) manufacturer-designed displays distributed to retailers who use the displays to showcase products and create a personality for their stores, and (2) signs and displays used by retailers to cue their brand images and differentiate their stores from those of competitors. Although point-of-purchase forms vary by industry, they can include special racks, display cartons, banners, signs, price cards, and mechanical product dispensers, among other tools.

6. List the most common types of incentives and trade deals used with retailers as part of a push strategy. Here are the most common types of incentives and trade deals used with retailers as part of a push strategy. ▪

Bonuses. A monetary bonus, also called push money or spiffs, is paid to a salesperson based on units that salesperson sells during a period of time.

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Buying allowances. A manufacturer pays a reseller a set amount of money or a discount for purchasing a certain amount of the product during a specified time period.

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Co-Op advertising. In a contractual arrangement between the manufacturer and the resellers, the manufacturer agrees to pay a part or all of the advertising expenses incurred by the retailers.

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Display allowances. A direct payment of cash or goods is given to the retailer if the retailer agrees to set up the point-of-sale display. Before issuing the payment, the manufacturer requires the retailer’s signature on a certificate of agreement.

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7. In addition to stimulating demand, what other objectives can trade promotions sometimes achieve? In addition to stimulating demand, trade promotions can also grab attention, provide motivation, and provide information. PoP displays are designed to get the attention of shoppers when they are in the store and to stimulate impulse purchases. They are used by retailers, but provided by manufacturers. The importance of PoP continues to increase, as we move to a selfservice retail environment in which fewer and fewer customers expect help from sales clerks. Most trade promotions are also designed to motivate trade members to cooperate with the manufacturer’s promotion in some way. Incentives such as contests and trade deals are used. Trade incentive programs are used to stimulate frequency and quantity of purchase and encourage cooperation with a promotion. Trade shows, which are an information-rich environment, display products and provide an opportunity to sample and demonstrate products, particularly for trade buyers, the people who buy for stores. Trade shows also permit companies to gather information about their competition. 8. What is ambush marketing? Ambush marketing is the term given to promotional stunts used at events, such as the Olympics and the soccer and rugby World Cups, by companies that are not official sponsors. Ambush marketing typically occurs when one brand is trying to undermine the presence of a rival that is sponsoring an event. If the stunt can create enough confusion, it can reduce the return on the official sponsor’s investment, and at the same time, pick up additional visibility through publicity.

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments

1. Identify a recent co-marketing promotion and analyze it by attempting to answer the following questions: What are the promotional objectives of the two organizations involved? Are they a good match for each other, or does one organization appear to benefit more so than the other? In general, what must the two organizations have in common, if a co-marketing promotion is to be effective? 2. Create an IMC campaign for King Corn by building on the promotional ideas for this fictional new product already introduced in this chapter. Focus on integration by Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

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ensuring that additional marcom tools you suggest are strategically designed to be compatible with existing promotions, so that the outcome is a unified message with shared objectives and a common strategy.

Think-Pair-Share 1. In pairs, explore the following: Are you a “brand loyalist” or a “promotion chaser?” In other words, what does it take to get you to switch to new products and services? What does it take to keep you loyal to one brand? As a consumer, how have sales promotions impacted your thinking, and more importantly, your purchase behavior? Do your responses to these questions vary by product category? If so, why is that the case? 2. Learn more about a Kat candy bar promotion by visiting www.worldsbestcasestudies.com, typing “Jesus loves Kit Kat” into the search box, and watching the video about it. This viral promotion was developed by the brand’s Holland ad agency and took place in that nation. What is your opinion of it? Which promotional objectives, if any, was it effective in accomplishing for the Kit Kat brand? Which marcom tools, in addition to promotion, come into play? How is media used? Does it raise any social or ethical issues? Debate the various opinions that may arise within your small group.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Visit the website of the Promotion Marketing Association (www.pmalink.org) to learn more about the Reggie Awards. Exactly what are these awards? What are the various categories in which they are offered? Browse the website’s database of past winners to find three promotions that especially appeal to you. Analyze each in terms of its Big Idea, level of creativity, excitement and interest, and its ability to spur action and create or strengthen brand relationships. What media were used? And, most importantly, will this promotion help pull the brand through the channel to create sales? Share your findings with the class in a 10-minute oral presentation. 2. Visit www.jeep.com and find information about the Jeep Jamboree by typing “Jeep Jamboree” into the site’s search box. Exactly what are these events and how do they work to build and reinforce both brand and customer relationships? Find another company that also uses event marketing to create a relationship-building program. Explain how that program works and compare it to Jeep Jamboree. Which do you believe is the most effective event marketing activity and why?

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Chapter 18 The Principles and Practices of IMC

◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. 2. 3. 4.

What are the eight key IMC concepts and why are they important? How would you outline the key parts of an IMC campaign plan? Which strategic decisions underlie effective international marketing communication? What do we mean by 360 degree communication programs?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter will review the basics of IMC principles, many of which were introduced in previous chapters. Then it will describe the formalities planning for an IMC campaign, followed by an introduction to the challenges of managing an IMC program.

CHAPTER OUTLINE KEY IMC CONCEPTS Integrated marketing communication is an important business concept as well as a set of principles and practices. This chapter begins with key concepts that separate IMC plans and programs from more traditional advertising. Stakeholders and Brand Relationships • A customer focus is critical in most IMC strategies. Although we use the word ‘customer’, we are really referring to all stakeholders who impact on that customer relationship. Relationship marketing, a concept that originated with public relations, shifts the focus from the objective of a one-time purchase to the maintenance of long term involvement from and by all of the firm’s critical stakeholders, whether they be employees, distributors, channel members, agencies, investors, government agencies, the media, or the community. •

Principle: Interactive communication is the glue that joins brands and their stakeholders in respectful long term relationships.

•

Relevant messages delivered through media that drive positive experiences create value for consumers. This value adds up over time and emerges as loyalty – the ultimate goal of relationship marketing programs. Brand relationships are indicators of brand value. Negative impact, however, can come from mishandling

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the type and amount of messages directed to stakeholders, as the A Matter of Principle feature in this chapters explains. •

Although we talk about stakeholders as if they were independent groups, in fact, they may overlap. It is important that that a brand not say one thing to one stakeholder group and something opposite or contradictory to another, especially in this time of instant Internet communication.

•

The growth of permission marketing, a practice that invites consumers to sign up for messages and thereby self-select into a brand’s target market, mirrors the shift from one-way to two-way communication. This is significant as brands become more involved in social communication where online technology permits contacts that move beyond the frequently intrusive and unwanted forms of mass media advertising.

Total Communication • Media planning includes all of the traditional as well as nontraditional media. In 360° communication planning, there are other message delivery points included within a company’s business practices. Older views of IMC focused primarily on coordinating marketing communication, but we now recognize that that the entire marketing mix delivers messages. Integrating marcom tools is futile if contrary and more powerful messages are being sent by other brand actions. Channels to Contact Points • The concept of contact points has redefined and broadened our understanding of media as a message delivery system. Contact points are the various ways a consumer comes in contact with a brand. In previous advertising-dominated media plans, these experiential contacts were not generally considered to be media. •

These opportunities are found in a huge variety of vehicles. The list is endless and can only be identified by studying the lives of customers to spot the points where they come in contact with a brand or an opportunity for a brand experience or brand conversation.

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Contact point management, then, is the way marketing communication planners develop systems of message delivery, both to and from all key stakeholders. The objective is to maximize and leverage the good contact points and minimize the bad ones.

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A brand touch point is a brand experience that delivers a message that touches emotions leading to positive and negative judgments. It has a more emotional impact that a regular contact point. A critical touch point is one that connects the brand and customer on an emotional level and leads to a yes or no decision about a brand relationship.

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•

Sometimes referred to as experiential marketing, touch-point strategies and programs use events and store design, among other means, to engage consumers in a personal and involving way. The goal is to intensify active involvement beyond the more passive activity of reading, viewing, and listening to traditional media.

Message Synergy • The point is that brand communication is not about single messages but rather about the impact of various impressions and brand meanings that evolve as the messages interact and reinforce one another. In other words, messages that reinforce one another have a multiplier effect that not only cements a brand impression but also polishes and magnifies it. •

At every point of contact with every stakeholder, the essence of the brand should be the same. Strategic consistency drives synergy and synergy drives the brand impression. Therefore, brand stewards and IMC planners are insistent on strategic consistency – the core or essence of the brand is clear in every message if they are tailored to the particular interests of various stakeholders.

A Brand is an Integrated Perception • Message synergy is the basis for seeing a brand as an integrated perception. People automatically integrate brand messages and experiences as part of the natural process of perception formulation. Brand impressions are created as a stew of information that comes together as an integrated perception. Unified Brand Vision • There is an art and a science to IMC management. The vision of the brand steward and how that unified vision is communicated to all of the agents involved in the complex system of brand communication determines the effectiveness of a brand communication program. •

In other words, marketing communicators are managing a multiplicity of brand activities and programs that are interrelated. They work well only to the extent that they are working together in a single unified vision. The pieces and parts fit together perfectly, generating meaning and creating something of value.

Internal Integration • Brand management involves creating and monitoring a complex set of philosophies and activities. A brand cannot be integrated externally if it is not integrated internally. Cross-functional management across department lines delivers unity of vision, which is the foundation for the consumer’s integrated brand perception.

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Brand Integrity • An integrated brand is one that has brand integrity. Crisis communication is always a test of brand and corporate integrity. The fifteen basic principles that guide IMC practices are listed in the textbook.

IMC CAMPAIGN PLANNING Stan Richards explains the process his agency goes through in planning an integrated campaign. He calls it spherical branding, which means no matter what your angle of vision, the brand always looks the same. We call this 360° planning. Richards’ brief outline that follows is a good starting point for building a complete campaign plan. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Three Part Positioning: Target audience? Competitors? Most meaning brand benefit? Brand Personality: Five or six words that define the brand’s personality Affiliations: What club do you join when you adopt the brand? Brand Vision: A statement of the brand’s ‘highest calling’

What is a Campaign Plan? • An IMC campaign is a complex set of interlocking, coordinated activities that has a beginning and an end. It outlines the objectives and strategies for a series of different but related marketing communication efforts that appear in different media, use different marcom tools, and convey different but complimentary brand consistent messages to a variety of stakeholders. • The objective is to make the most effective and consistent use of all marcom functions and to influence or control the impact of their communication elements. Here is a typical outline: I.

Situation Analysis • Background research • SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats • Key communication problem(s) to be solved

II.

Key Strategic Campaign Decisions • Objectives • Target and engaging stakeholders • Brand positioning strategy

III.

Marcom Mix • Platforms and objectives • Synergy

IV.

Message Strategy • Key consumer and brand relationship insights

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• Message direction • Strategic consistency V.

IMC Media and Contact Points • Multimedia and multichannel • Multiplatform • Contact Points

VI.

Management and Campaign Controls • Budgeting • Evaluation of Effectiveness

The outline is useful as a guide for the planning document but more importantly, it also identifies the key strategic decisions that guide various sections of an IMC campaign plan. The A Matter of Practice feature in this chapter explores the strategy behind the comprehensive campaign to brand Billings, Montana. Situation Analysis • This first step in developing an advertising plan is backgrounding - researching and reviewing the current state of the business that is relevant to the brand and gathering all pertinent information. After the research is compiled, planners try to make sense of the findings, a process referred to as a situation analysis. The goal is to identify a problem that can be solved with communication. SWOT Analysis • The primary tool used to make sense of the information gathered and identify a key problem is a SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strengths and weaknesses are internally focused and the opportunities and threats lie in the external marketing environment. • The strengths of a business are its positive traits, conditions, and good situations. For instance, being in a growth industry is a strength. Planners ask how they can leverage this strength in the brand’s advertising. • The weaknesses of a business are traits, conditions, and situations that are perceived as negatives. Losing market share is a weakness. If this is an important weakness, then planners ask how they can address it with advertising. • An opportunity is an area in which the company could develop an advantage over its competition. Often, one company’s weakness is another company’s opportunity. Planners strive to identify these opportunities and leverage them in the brand’s advertising. • A threat is a trend or development in the environment that will erode business unless the company takes action. Competition is a common threat. Advertising

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planners ask themselves how they can address a threat if it is a critical factor affecting the success of the brand. Key Problems • Planners must analyze the market situation for communication problems that affect the successful marketing of a product, as well as opportunities the advertising can create or exploit. Analyzing the SWOT and identifying any problems that can be solved with an advertising message are at the heart of strategic thinking. An example of locating a timing opportunity is illustrated by the Special K “2 Week Challenge” discussed in the textbook that capitalized on consumers’ goals to lose weight after the holidays. •

IMC can solve only message-related problems such as image, attitude, perception, and knowledge or information. It cannot solve problems related to the price of the product, availability, or quality, although it can address the perception of these marketing mix factors.

Campaign Strategy • The general strategy that guides a campaign can be described in a number of ways. For example, a strategy can focus on branding, positioning, countering the competition, or creating category dominance. Maybe the strategy is designed to change the consumers’ perception of the brand’s price or price-value relationship. It may also seek to increase what marketers call “share of wallet,” which means increasing the amount customers spend on the brand. Other marketing efforts might involve launching a new brand or a brand extension or moving a brand to a new market. •

Another common focus is the role and importance of the brand’s competitive position and how to respond to competitors’ messages. This is a strategy that is often seen in economic downtowns, which analysts describe as a ‘dogfight’ for market share.

•

The important thing to remember is that planners have to first analyze the situation to arrive at a great strategy before racing ahead to think about tactics. What’s the difference between strategy and tactics? The decision to expand the market (strategy) by increasing share of wallet (objective) is implemented through promotional tactics (‘buy four and get one free.”)

•

The situation analysis is the first step in developing the IMC campaign strategy. There are a number of related strategic decisions that follow from the situation analysis. Three of them are objectives, targeting, and brand position.

Objectives • Given the huge amounts of money spent on brand communication, it is important for marketers to know what to expect from a campaign. Although a rule of thumb for advertising is that it should be single-minded, we also know that multiple effects are often needed to create the desired impact, especially in IMC planning. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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•

Although some objectives are tightly focused on one particular effect, others, such as brand loyalty, call for a more complex set of effects. To create brand loyalty, for example, both cognitive and affective effects are needed, and it must move people to repeat buying.

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Communication objectives may be important, even if they aren’t focused directly on a sale.

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Every advertising campaign must be guided by specific, clear, and measurable objectives. The effectiveness of advertising is determined based on its measurable objectives. A measurable objective has a starting baseline and a goal – the distance between those two points is what is measured. The starting point can be a benchmark, which means the planner used a comparable effort to predict a logical goal. A measurable objective includes five requirements: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

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A specific effect that can be measured A time frame A baseline (where we are or where we begin) The goal Percentage change

Targeting and Engaging Stakeholders The term stakeholder refers to any group of people who have a stake in the success of a company or a brand. These potential audiences include all of those who might influence the purchase of products and the success of a company’s marketing program, as the table in the textbook shows. Employees are particularly important and their support or “buy in” for marketing, advertising, and marketing communication programs is managed through an activity called internal marketing.

•

The targeting or engagement strategy identifies the most important audience groups. Research by account planners will help to flesh out the interests of these folks and provide critical insights. Insights into consumer, customer, and stakeholder relationships with the brand allow identification of specific groups who might respond to brand messages. From this, a list of primary and secondary targets is built, along with profiles of typical members of this group.

•

The existence of overlapping membership complicates message strategy and demands that there be a certain core level of consistency in all brand messages from both the company and also within stakeholder conversations.

Brand Strategy • Message consistency has to have a central concept around which various messages can be unified. We refer to this as brand essence. It describes what makes the brand different and distinctive from all other brands in its product category. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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•

There are times, however, when the brand position is adjusted for different markets. For example, if a brand is moving into a new country and represents a category of product that is new or unknown, the campaign strategy would need to be based on launching a category as well as a brand.

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Effective IMC plans lead to profitable long-term relationships. But how do you engage the most profitable stakeholders the first time, and how does the brand conversation continue and evolve? What are the links and connections in the relationship that must be built and protected?

The IMC Mix • The decision about which marcom tools to use in a campaign is based on an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses as well as consumer insights to determine how these functions can best be employed to meet the campaign’s objectives. •

A list in the textbook provides an outline of the tools and their objectives. As you look over the list, think about what is required to launch a new product. In that situation, which tools would you select as the most appropriate? That’s the type of thinking planners use at this point to initially decide which marcom tools would be most useful in meeting the campaign’s objectives.

•

In times past, these functional areas were often little empires with their own ideas and programs. Sometimes the programs conflicted, for example, a special promotion might be planned at the same time as an event or big advertising campaign but with an entirely different theme. We refer to that approach as silos, which means they operated on their own with little concern for what others areas were doing. IMC has sought to break down the walls between these functional areas and coordinate their activities with brand focused planning.

Message Strategy • Chapter 8 explored the ins and outs of message strategy. Good Big Ideas are valued because they may be enduring and they lend themselves to extendibility, which means they ‘have legs.’ By that we mean the idea is strong enough to serve as an umbrella concept for a variety of executions or mini-campaigns. The A Matter of Practice” feature in this chapter explains how Frontier’s animals can be endlessly extended. •

Message strategy decisions support the overall campaign objectives and direction. For example, the campaign strategy might involve the long term use of a celebrity spokesperson that becomes the face of the brand. This creates positive associations for the brand and to the extent the celebration is a superstar, the reputation of a winner is associated with the brand image.

•

Strategic consistency comes from the creative theme and the consistent presentation of the brand position and personality, even when the different

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stakeholder groups receive different types of messages and interact with the brand in different ways. Consistency is a standard built into a carefully designed multiplatform and multimedia plan. •

In most cases, the drive for brand consistency is a strategic need but at other times it reflects cost efficiency. IMC programs can be more effective because of their repetition, and this reinforcement creates more cost efficient campaigns as well as more effective message strategies.

IMC and Contact Points • Media planning in an IMC context does more than just deliver target messages: media also involve, engage, and connect consumers to the brand and to one another. Figure 18.1 in the textbook summarizes the various roles that media play in a comprehensive IMC media plan. Multichannel and Multiplatform • Media planning involves using media as planners have done for years – by employing all different types of traditional media, a practice identified as multichannel or multimedia. •

When IMC planners think about media, they think about message delivery systems, and that includes all of the media used in all the various marketing communication functions. We reviewed many of these in Chapter 13 under the title multiplatform.

Contact Point Management • Another distinctive feature of IMC media plans is its emphasis on every important contact point. These can include a variety of experiential media as well as conventional media. •

In the textbook there is a case study of how one agency’s ‘Contact Point Management” works. The Tokyo-based Dentsu agency has a strong IMC orientation, which shows up in the way Dentsu planners create IMC media plans. Dentsu Contact Point Management is a section of its IMC 2.0 model that identifies a wide diversity of contact points. Let’s take a closer look at it: ▪

The objective of Dentsu’s Contact Point Management planning is to select the most effective contact points required to achieve the desired communication goals and implement optimum integrated communication programs that eliminate waste. The focus is upon two critical strategies: 1) identify the value contact points and 2) move from a B2C model to a more interactive B2C2C model.

▪

Media selection recognizes that 1) contact points that work well must differ depending on the communication goal and 2) contact point

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effectiveness will differ from product category to product category and from target to target. ▪

The various contact points considered are evaluated and ranked using a proprietary contact point planning system called VALCON, and the final decisions about media usage are based on the roles and effects of the various media.

▪

The details of such a plan are illustrated in the text using an automotive campaign as an example, in which two target audiences have been identified, a father and a daughter.

Cross Media Integration • Media selection also considers message needs. This is where media planning and message planning intersect. The challenge is to create cross-media integration, which means the various media work together to create coherent brand communication. In traditional media, this synergistic effect is sometimes called image transfer and refers to the way radio, in particular reinforces and recreates the message in a listener’s mind that was originally delivered by other media, particularly television. •

An example of cross-media integration comes from the revitalization campaign for the Atlantic Monthly magazine. In this case, the media became the message, according to media scholar Marshall McLuhan. It was very successful, since the magazine saw a double digit increase in readership and the number of visitors to its website increased by 27% over the previous year.

Management Campaign Controls • In order to manage IMC, whether of a campaign or a program, a manger must keep up with an incredibly complex set of tasks. Sometimes this task is performed by a brand manager, and on other cases, by a consulting firm. The Inside Story feature in this chapter describes how one consultant with a marketing communications background views his job. •

In addition to keeping track of everything, all campaigns are designed to operate within a certain set of parameters, such as budgets, schedules, and evaluation. These controls keep the activities on track, on budget, and on strategy.

Budgeting and Scheduling • How much should an organization spend on a campaign? It depends on the organization, the area it serves, the time frame, the stakeholders to be reached, as well as its need for big, expensive media. •

Determining the total appropriation allocated to a campaign is not an easy task. Typically, a dollar amount is budgeted for marketing communication during the annual budget planning process. The big budgeting question at the marketing mix,

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as well as marcom mix, level is: How much do we need to spend? Let’s examine five common budgeting methods that are used to answer that question. ▪

Historical method. Historical information is the source for this common budgeting method. A budget may simply be based on last year’s budget, with a percentage increase for inflation or some other marketplace factor. This method, although easy to calculate, has little to do with reaching brand objectives.

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Objective-task method. The objective-task method looks at the objectives for each activity and determines the cost of accomplishing each objective. This method’s advantage is that it develops the budget from the ground up so that objectives are the starting point.

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Percentage-of-sales method. The percentage-of-sales method compares the total sales with the total advertising (or marketing communication) budget during the previous year or the average of several years to compute a percentage. This technique can also be used across an industry to compare the expenditures of different product categories on advertising.

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Competitive budgets. This method uses competitors’ budgets as benchmarks and relates the amount invested in advertising to the product’s share of market. This suggests that the advertiser’s share-of-advertising voice—that is, the advertiser’s media presence—affects the share of attention the brand will receive, and that, in turn, affects the market share the brand can obtain.

▪

All you can afford. When a company allocates whatever is left over to advertising, it is using the “all you can afford” budgeting method. It’s really not a method, but rather a philosophy about advertising. Companies using this approach, such as new high-tech startups that are driven by product innovation, don’t value advertising as a strategic imperative.

Evaluation • Advertising and other marketing communication agencies are creating tools and techniques to help marketers evaluation the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing communication expenditures. The issue of accountability is made more complicated by the growing practice of global marketing. INTERNATIONAL IMC CAMPAIGNS •

Agencies involved with international campaigns need an international organizational structure as well. Organization depends on whether the client company, as well as its agencies, is following a standardization or a localization strategy.

•

All of these approaches fall into three groups: 1) tight central international control, 2) centralized resources with moderate control, or 3) a match of the

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client’s organization – if the client is highly centralized, then the agency account structure will be highly centralized. Strategic Decisions The problem of managing brand consistency limits most objectives to awareness and recall, although more specific objectives may be needed in individual markets. •

Positioning is one of the key strategic elements that brands usually try to keep consistent from country to country. Particularly important is a good understanding of consumer buying motives in each market, which is almost impossible to develop without locally based consumer research. If analysis reveals that consumers’ buying behavior and the competitive environment are the same across international markets, it may be possible to use standardized positioning throughout.

Setting the Budget • All the budgeting techniques previously mentioned apply to foreign markets. When preparing a single plan for multiple markets, many companies us an objective-task budgeting approach that entails a separate budget for each foreign market. This technique adds some flexibility to localize campaigns as needed. •

However, local practices also may affect the budget decision. Most notably, the exchange rate from country to country may affect not only the amount of money spent in a particular market but also the timing of the expenditures.

Central Control versus Local Adaptation How are global campaigns created? International advertising campaigns have two basic starting points: (1) success in one country and (2) a centrally conceived strategy. Planning approaches also include variations on the central campaign and bottom-up creativity. •

Local initiative. A successful campaign conceived for national application is modified for use in other countries. Many companies have taken successful campaigns from one country and transplanted them around the world, a practice called search and reapply. This strategy provides additional motivation for local agencies, since it is a major ego boost when a local campaign is taken beyond its original country’s borders.

•

Centrally conceived campaigns. The second approach, a centrally conceived campaign, was pioneered by Coca-Cola and is now used increasingly in global strategies. Although the centralization concept is simple, the application can be difficult. Cost is also a huge factor. A work team, task force, or action group assembles from around the world to present, debate, modify, if necessary, and agree upon a basic strategy as the foundation for the campaign.

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•

Variations on central campaigns. Variations on the centrally conceived campaign also exist. The office that develops the approved campaign would be designated the lead agency. It would develop all of the necessary elements of the campaign and prepare a standards manual for use in other countries. Because photography, artwork, television production, and color printing are costly, developing these items in one location and then overlaying new copy or rerecording the voice track in the local language saves money.

•

Bottom-up creativity. Sometimes competition may be used to find the best idea. For example, to extend one of its campaigns, McDonald’s held a contest among its various agencies around the world.

Planning International Strategies Assuming that the campaign has been approved centrally with a local application approach, its execution must be adapted to suit the local market and that may involve modifying basic strategy decisions, such as objectives, targeting, and perhaps even positioning. International Objectives • The problem of managing brand consistency is largely responsible for limiting most global marketing objectives to awareness and recall, two effective yet easily attainable marketing communication measures, although more specific objectives may be needed in individual markets. Executing the International Campaign • The execution of a global campaign is usually more complex than a national plan. The creative may need to be reshot with local models and settings, as well as language. Language is always a problem for a campaign that is dependent on words rather than visuals as the primary meaning carrier. A team of language experts may be needed to adjust the terms and carry over the meanings in the different languages. Product names can even be a problem. •

Government approval of television commercials can be difficult to secure in some countries. As advertisers move into international and global advertising, they also face many of the same ethical issues that advertisers deal with in the United States. They may also have to deal with questions about the Americanization or Westernization of local cultures.

•

Social responsibility is taken seriously in some countries and with the Internet and e-mail, consumer concerns can create a huge issue.

The IMC Factor in International Campaign Planning • To create a coherent brand impression on the global level requires horizontal and vertical coordination. The vertical effort represents the coordination of the key planning decisions, such as targeting, positioning, objectives, strategies, and

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tactics across all the various tools used. The horizontal level requires coordination across all countries and regions involved in the plan. •

Because of this complexity, it takes a dedicated manager to ensure that all of the various marketing communication activities remain consistent to the brand and campaign strategy. Because of the complexity, IMC planners use planning grids to plot strategic coordination of messages across countries and across marcom programs. A table in this chapter illustrates how such a grid might be constructed. The messages are plotted indicating how they may vary locally for different cultures, as well as what brand elements are used to maintain consistency. For each country, the planner describes the following brand message variations: country specific changes, audience specific changes, and brand consistency elements (the unchangeables).

Managing 360-Degree Communication Programs • IMC is a way of managing a brand with a singular vision of what the brand stands for. Unlike the short-term IMC campaign approach, this is a philosophy that delivers total communication over the life of a brand. It is called 360-degree communication because a unifying brand vision surrounds all of the brand’s interactions with all of its stakeholders, and this vision must be shared by everyone involved with the brand. Cause and Mission Marketing • Concern for social issues is increasingly important for for-profit companies because they want to be seen as socially responsible. Adopting a good cause and helping in its fundraising and other community-oriented efforts is called cause marketing. The founder of the Cone Agency, which specializes in cause marketing, calls such efforts passion branding because they link brands to causes for which people feel passion. •

“In addition to operating with a sense of social responsibility, marketers engage in philanthropy through cause marketing. The primary goals are to help communities and nonprofit organizations while generating goodwill, positive word-of-mouth, and the hope that people will look more favorably on these brands when making their next purchase decision,” according to Professor Scott Hamula.

•

If a commitment reflects a company’s core business strategy, it is called mission marketing. Mission marketing links a company’s mission and core values to a cause that connects with the company’s and its consumers’ interests.

•

Mission marketing also contributes to synergy through what we identified earlier as brand integrity. The integration triangle identifies three key aspects of brand communication that must work together to create integration as well as integrity: 1) what brand company or brand says about itself (say), 2) how the company or brand performs (do), and 3) and what other people say about it (confirm). Figure 18.1in the textbook shows these relationships.

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Internal Integration • The problem of departmental silos with each marcom function going its own way is a barrier to integrated planning both at the marketer level and within agencies. The solution is cross-functional management with a team of functional area personnel who coordinate all of their activities. •

Another concern is coordinating all the agencies involved in creating the various brand messages. The CEO of the Publicis Groupe criticized this occurrence in his organization by asking, “ How do we stop confusing clients with contradictory points of view coming from teams each defending their little piece of turf – to the detriment of the client’s interests?”

•

To implement an approach to management that overcomes this problem, a crossfunctional brand focused team must be created involving members from all of the relevant parts of a company that interact with customers, other stakeholders and outside agencies. Its members represent all of the areas and tools that control contact points and brand interactions.

•

The cross functional team operates with a singular brand vision as it plans marketing communication, monitors its impact, and tracks consumer response. Ed Chambliss, Vice President and Team Leader at the Phelps Agency, discusses in this chapter’s A Matter of Principle feature how his partnership works as well as the qualifications needed to be an IMC manager, whether on the client or the agency side.

An Organizational Case Study • An example of the organizational structure behind an IMC program comes from the Tokyo based Dentsu agency, which has provided total communication service to its clients for decades. To truly operate with an IMC orientation, Dentsu underwent a total reorganization and designed a comprehensive new IMC tool kit, which it calls IMC 2.0. •

To engineer this turnaround, it first held an IMC audit to determine the agency’s IMC strengths and weaknesses internally, as well as in the eyes of key clients. From there, it created an IMC Development Division which has 90 to 100 staff members dedicated to basic research in the IMC process.

•

An IMC Planning Center with 350 people from a variety of media and marcom areas was established. The staff members assigned to this department were given intensive IMC training so that they have the skills to work in cross-functional IMC teams on client projects brought to them by various account groups. These planners help educate clients on the goals of IMC and establish a common language for planning.

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END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 18-4. Explain the difference between planning an IMC campaign and planning a 360-degree total communication program. 360 degree total communication programs take a much broader, long term approach than a typical IMC campaign. 360 degree total communication programs work to ensure that a unifying brand vision surrounds all of the brand’s interactions with all of its stakeholders for the entire life of the brand. At this “total communication” level, a manager’s goal is to monitor all brand experiences to ensure they are working together to support the brand vision. IMC planning has a beginning and an end. Its emphasis is limited to the development of objectives, strategies, and tactics that will make the most effective and consistent use of all marcom functions, so those specific brand objectives that were initially outlined by the manger can be achieved. 18-5. What do we mean when we say that media planning in an IMC campaign plan moves from channels to contact points? Traditionally, media channels such television, radio, magazines, etc. were relied upon to deliver brand messages from the advertiser to the consumer. However, the concept of contact points has redefined and broadened our understanding of media as a message delivery system. Contact points are the various ways in which a consumer comes in contact with a brand, and can include everything from television to a tee shirt to tweets on Twitter. This list is endless and can be identified only by studying the lives of customers to spot the points where they come in contact with a brand.

18-6. Why is a brand an integrated perception? People automatically integrate brand messages and experiences as part of the natural process of perception formulation. Hence, brand impressions are created as a stew of information that comes together as an integrated perception. This is why at every point of contact with every stakeholder, the essence of the brand should be the same. Message synergy is the basis for seeing a brand as an integrated perception. Messages that reinforce one another have a multiplier effect that not only cements a brand impression but also polishes and magnifies it.

18-7. What are SWOTs, and how are they used strategically in analyzing a marketing situation? Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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The primary tool used to make sense of the information gathered and identify a key problem is a SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strengths and weaknesses are internally focused and the opportunities and threats lie in the external marketing environment. Planners must analyze the market situation for communication problems that affect the successful marketing of a product, as well as opportunities the advertising can create or exploit. Analyzing the SWOT and identifying any problems that can be solved with an advertising message are at the heart of strategic thinking. 18-8. What is cross-media integration and why is it important? Media planning in an IMC context does more than just deliver targeted messages. It must also engage, involve, and connect consumers to the brand and to each other. Media selection must also consider message needs, and this is where media planning and message planning intersect. IMC media is typically multiplatform as well as multichannel. Another distinctive feature of IMC media plans is its emphasis on every important contact point, traditional as well as experiential. All of this creates the need for cross-media integration, which means that various media work together to create coherent brand communication so that a synergistic effect will be created.

18-9. What are the two types of controls used in the management of an IMC campaign? In order to manage an IMC campaign or a program, a manger must keep up with an incredibly complex set of tasks. Sometimes the brand manager is able to do this, but another alternative is to hire a consulting firm that specializes in managing big projects. In addition, all campaigns are designed to operate within a certain set of parameters, such as budgets, schedules, and evaluation criteria. These controls keep the activities on track, on budget, and on strategy. 18-10. Explain how a global IMC program is more complex than an IMC program operated nationally. First of all, agencies involved with international campaigns need to have an international organizational structure. Also, there are many strategic considerations to made. In global IMC programs, often the problem of managing brand consistency limits most objectives to awareness and recall, although more specific objectives may be needed in individual markets. Positioning is one of the key strategic elements that brands usually try to keep consistent from country to country. Particularly important is a good understanding of consumer buying motives in each market, which is almost impossible to develop without locally based consumer research. If analysis reveals that consumers’ buying

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behavior and the competitive environment are the same across international markets, it may be possible to use standardized positioning throughout. Although the same budgeting techniques used nationally can also be used in foreign markets, local practices also may affect the budget decision. Most notably, the exchange rate from country to country may affect not only the amount of money spent in a particular market but also the timing of the expenditures.

18-11. What is internal integration? To achieve internal integration, a cross-functional team that operates with a singular brand vision as it plans marketing communication, monitors its impact, and tracks consumer response is required. The need for internal integration stems from the problem of departmental silos operating within agencies and other marketing organizations, each with its own marcom function and its own agenda going in its own direction. These silos created a barrier to integrated planning both at the marketer level and within agencies. To implement an approach to management that overcomes this problem, a crossfunctional brand focused team must be created involving members from all of the relevant parts of a company that interact with customers, other stakeholders and outside agencies. Its members, who represent all of the areas and tools that control contact points and brand interactions, must make brand communication decisions as a team so that consistency required for a unified, singular vision is achieved.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 18-12. Choose a restaurant in your community. What types of people does it target? Would you recommend that its advertising focus on price or image? What is (or should be) its image? Which media or marcom area should it use? Student answers will vary but should take into consideration that the needs and wants of the target market should match price as well as image. They should also keep in mind that the company’s image is impacted by the advertising and media used. 18-13. You have gotten a new assignment to be on the launch team for an upscale pen made in Switzerland under the brand name of Pinnacle. Its primary advantage is that it has an extremely long-lasting cartridge, one that is guaranteed to last for at least five years. The pen is available in a variety of forms, including roller ball, felt tip, and a variety of widths from fine to wide stroke. Analyze the globalization or localization options for launching this pen first in Europe and then globally. What would your recommendation be on standardizing the advertising?

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The best solution here is probably the combination approach, which reasons that a combination of standardization and localization may produce the most effective advertising. Because the pen comes in so many combinations, it is likely that it may be used on all three continents. Therefore, some elements of brand identity and strategy may be standardized, but advertising executions may need to be adapted to the local culture. The challenge for advertisers is to balance variations nationally or regionally with a basic global brand plan that maintains brand consistency. 18-14. You work for a sporting goods chain that would like to focus all of its local philanthropic activities in one area. You believe the company could benefit from a mission marketing program. What should be in a proposal for the marketing VP that explains mission marketing? Why do you think a mission marketing project might work for the company? Mission marketing links a for-profit organization’s mission, core values, and business strategy to a cause that connects with a cause to which the company is committed and its consumers care about. Mission marketing would probably interest this marketing VP because he wants to focus all of its local philanthropic activities in one area, and by engaging in this type of social marketing, his company would be perceived by the public as socially responsible. Student proposals should mention all of the above in their proposal. In addition, the mission-marketing plan must also emphasize the relevancy of the cause to the target market as well as to the sporting goods company. Examples of relevant causes might be the problem of obesity and lack of exercise in young children. 18-15. Luna is a regional producer of frozen pizza. Its only major competitor is Brutus Bros. The following is a brief excerpt from Luna’s situation analysis for the next fiscal year:

Units Sold $ Sales Brutus $ Sales

Actual Last Year 120,000 420,000 630,000

Estimates Next Year 185,000 580,000 830,000

Estimate the next year’s advertising budgets for Luna under each of the following circumstances: a. Luna follows a historical method by spending 40 cents per unit sold in advertising, with a 5 percent increase for inflation. b. Luna follows a fixed percentage of projected sales method, using 7 percent. c. Luna follows a share-of-voice method. Brutus, their primary competitor, is expected to use 6 percent of sales for its advertising budget in 2006. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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a. Luna’s advertising budget for next year, using the historical method: Luna’s last year’s budget based on .40 per unit 120,000 x .40 = $48,000 Luna’s projected budget for 2006 using a historical 5 percent increase $48,000 + ($48,000 x 5%) = $50,400 OR $120,000 x [.40 + (.40 x 5%)] = $50,400 The $50,400 figure is a classic historical method using last year’s budget plus 5 percent inflation increase. If, however, Luna calculated the advertising budget based on sales projections for the coming year, they would have a more substantial budget of $77,700 than the historical method that produced $50,400. Luna’s advertising budget based on next year’s unit estimate: 185,000 x [.40 +(.40 x 5%)] = $77,700 b. Luna’s advertising budget for next year based on 7 percent of projected sales: 580,000 x 7% = $40,600 c. To calculate a share-of-voice budget, the sales of the frozen pizza category are needed. Using the data available, however, if Luna were to emulate Brutus and use 6 percent of the sales figure, they would establish a budget of $34,800 (580,000 x 6%), compared to Brutus’ $49,800 (830,000 x 6%). Clearly, budgeting is not a simple task even with the aid of mathematical formulas. Using only these three methods, Luna’s ad budget could range from a low of $34,800 to a high of $77,700.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 18-16. Portfolio Project: Compare the brand positioning and customer-focused content of three of three of the following corporate sites: www.accenture.com, www.ibm.com, www.nielsen.com, www.forrester.com, and www.strategicbusinessinsights.com. Analyze the three sites you selected in terms of their brand vision and position, as well as their commitment to a customer focus philosophy. What would you recommend to improve their online brand presence? Although student responses will vary, responses should emphasize the importance of Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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delivering messages that drive positive experiences to create value for customers. This value adds up over time and emerges as loyalty. It also provides the foundation upon which brand value is built, that is, what the brand is worth to both the company and its customers. 18-17. Mini-Case Analysis: How has Chipotle built its reputation? Who does it target? What is its brand essence or core brand concept? Explain how its “Cultivate” campaign brings the brand’s vision to life. What might you suggest to continue to improve the impact of this series of campaigns? Chipotle created its reputation by embracing sustainable agriculture, family farming and the importance of healthy eating. It defines its target market as conscientious eaters, i.e., those consumers who care where their food comes from. The centerpiece of its “Cultivate” campaign is an animated video that illustrates the company’s corporate values through a story about a farmer whose conscience forces him to do what is right instead of what is conventional. This multichannel, multiplatform message did an excellent job of moving across multiple touch points and building a single voice across all of those touch points, according to one of the Cannes jurors. Ideas from students regarding how to improve the impact of this campaign will vary.

TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE Multicultural IMC Read the Trace case in the Appendix before coming to class. 18-18. How could you increase the consistency of the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign so that the overall impact was greater? 18-19. If you wanted to go global with this campaign, what would you need to learn about each new market before you ran the campaign?

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Describe the importance of stakeholders and brand relationships to IMC. A customer focus is critical in most IMC strategies. Although we use the word ‘customer’, we are really referring to all stakeholders who impact on that customer relationship. Relationship marketing, a concept that originated with public relations, shifts the focus from the objective of a one-time purchase to the maintenance of long term involvement from and by all of the firm’s critical stakeholders, whether they be

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employees, distributors, channel members, agencies investors, government agencies, the media, or the community. 2. What is message synergy and why is it important? Brand communication is not about single messages but rather about the impact of various impressions and brand meanings that evolve as the messages interact and reinforce one another. In other words, messages that reinforce one another have a multiplier effect that not only cements a brand impression but also polishes and magnifies it. At every point of contact with every stakeholder, the essence of the brand should be the same. Strategic consistency drives synergy and synergy drives the brand impression. 3. List the important components of an IMC outline. Why is such an outline important? Although it will vary somewhat from agency to agency, what follows is a typical outline of an IMC campaign. The outline is useful as a guide for the planning document but more importantly, it also identifies the key strategic decisions that guide various sections of an IMC campaign plan. VII.

Situation Analysis • Background research • SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats • Key communication problem(s) to be solved

VIII.

Key Strategic Campaign Decisions • Objectives • Target and engaging stakeholders • Brand positioning strategy

IX.

Marcom Mix • Platforms and objectives • Synergy

Message Strategy • Key consumer and brand relationship insights • Message direction • Strategic consistency

XI.

IMC Media and Contact Points • Multimedia and multichannel • Multiplatform • Contact Points

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XII.

Management and Campaign Controls • Budgeting • Evaluation of Effectiveness

4. What are some of the typical strategies that may guide an IMC campaign? The general strategy that guides a campaign can be described in a number of ways. For example, a strategy can focus on branding, positioning, countering the competition, or creating category dominance. Maybe the strategy is designed to change the consumers’ perception of the brand’s price or price-value relationship. It may also seek to increase what marketers call “share of wallet,” which means increasing the amount customers spend on the brand. Other marketing efforts might involve launching a new brand or a brand extension or moving a brand to a new market. Another common focus is the role and importance of the brand’s competitive position and how to respond to competitors’ messages. This is a strategy that is often seen in economic downtowns, which analysts describe as a ‘dogfight’ for market share. 5. Discuss the role of objectives in the development of an IMC campaign strategy. Every advertising campaign must be guided by specific, clear, and measurable objectives. The effectiveness of advertising is determined based on its measurable objectives. A measurable objective has a starting baseline and a goal – the distance between those two points is what is measured. The starting point can be a benchmark, which means the planner used a comparable effort to predict a logical goal. A measurable objective includes five requirements: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

A specific effect that can be measured A time frame A baseline (where we are or where we begin) The goal Percentage change

6. What are the five most common budgeting methods used when developing an IMC campaign strategy? The five most common budgeting methods are: ▪

The historical method. Historical information is the source for this common budgeting method. A budget may simply be based on last year’s budget, with a percentage increase for inflation or some other marketplace factor. This method, although easy to calculate, has little to do with reaching brand objectives.

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▪

The objective-task method. The objective-task method looks at the objectives for each activity and determines the cost of accomplishing each objective. This method’s advantage is that it develops the budget from the ground up so that objectives are the starting point.

▪

The percentage-of-sales method. The percentage-of-sales method compares the total sales with the total advertising (or marketing communication) budget during the previous year or the average of several years to compute a percentage. This technique can also be used across an industry to compare the expenditures of different product categories on advertising.

▪

7. Describe some of the unique considerations to be made in connection to the execution of a global IMC campaign. The execution of a global campaign is usually more complex than a national plan. The creative may need to be reshot with local models and settings, as well as language. Language is always a problem for a campaign that is dependent on words rather than visuals as the primary meaning carrier. A team of language experts may be needed to adjust the terms and carry over the meanings in the different languages. Product names can even be a problem. Government approval of television commercials can be difficult to secure in some countries. As advertisers move into international and global advertising, they also face many of the same ethical issues that advertisers deal with in the United States. They may also have to deal with questions about the Americanization or Westernization of local cultures. Social responsibility is taken seriously in some countries and with the Internet and e-mail, consumer concerns can create a huge issue. 8.

What are the various planning approaches that can be used when creating a global campaign?

When planning an international advertising campaign, there are two options concerning basic starting points: (1) success in one country and (2) a centrally

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conceived strategy. Planning approaches also include variations on the central campaign and bottom-up creativity. Local initiative: A successful campaign conceived for national application is modified for use in other countries. Many companies have taken successful campaigns from one country and transplanted them around the world, a practice called search and reapply. This strategy provides additional motivation for local agencies, since it is a major ego boost when a local campaign is taken beyond its original country’s borders. Centrally conceived campaigns: The second approach, a centrally conceived campaign, was pioneered by Coca-Cola and is now used increasingly in global strategies. Although the centralization concept is simple, the application can be difficult. Cost is also a huge factor. A work team, task force, or action group assembles from around the world to present, debate, and modify, if necessary, and to agree upon a basic strategy as the foundation for the campaign. Variations on central campaigns: Variations on the centrally conceived campaign also exist. The office that develops the approved campaign would be designated the lead agency and would develop all of the necessary elements of the campaign and prepare a standards manual for use in other countries. Because photography, artwork, television production and color printing are costly, developing these items in one location and then overlaying new copy or re-recording the voice track in the local language saves money. Bottom-up creativity: Sometimes a competition may be used to find the best idea. For example, to extend one of its campaigns, McDonald’s held a contest among its various agencies around the world. 9. What is the integration triangle? The integration triangle identifies three key aspects of brand communication that must work together to create integration as well as integrity: 1) what brand company or brand says about itself (say), 2) how the company or brand performs (do), and 3) and what other people say about it (confirm).

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments 1. Surf the Web and locate an agency that specializes in IMC. Explore all of the links, learning everything you can about what they do, and how their work integrates elements of advertising, public relations and marketing. Contrast

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your findings with what you have learned in this chapter, and summarize your findings in a 350-word report. 2.

Visit www.aef.com/industry/careers/2026 to view the classic Wall Street Journal campaign that has run for more than 30 years and is mentioned in this chapter. What do you think its primary objective(s) have been over the years? What strategic decisions are driving it? What is the message strategy? Also generate some ideas that if implemented could move this ad campaign from an individual media channel (the WSJ) to a multichannel, multiplatform IMC campaign.

Think-Pair-Share 1. To demonstrate the problems of language in advertising, divide the class into teams of five or six. Each team should choose a print advertisement it believes would have universal appeal. Take the headline and one paragraph of body copy to a language professor or someone who is proficient in a language other than English. See whether you can do this for up to five different languages. Next, take that translation to another professor or native language speaker of the same language and ask for a “back translation” into English. Compare and report on how well the concept translated. 2. Identify a major brand for which an effective IMC campaign has been executed. With your partner, discuss what additional steps must be taken to transition the IMC campaign into a 360 degree communication program.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1. Identify a for-profit organization that is involved in cause marketing. Collect samples of their marketing communications efforts that demonstrate their commitment to their cause. First, determine if the business you have identified is involved in cause marketing or mission marketing. Then, analyze the samples you have collected and compare them to each other in terms of intended objectives, target audiences, strategic approaches, brand consistency, and overall strengths and weaknesses. Also generate ways that both experiential as well as traditional media could be used to strengthen this campaign’s impact. Create an eight slide PowerPoint presentation for your class that outlines your findings and suggestions.

2. Go online and explore the world’s biggest international marketing blunders. Using your favorite search engine, enter the keywords, “international marketing blunders.” Select any website that is interesting to you and explore it thoroughly. Focus on one or two high-profile cases. After finishing your research, compile your findings into a 10-minute oral presentation for the class, explaining how

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your findings tie into concepts presented in this chapter regarding international IMC campaigns.

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Chapter 19 Evaluating IMC Effectiveness

◆CHAPTER CONTENT CHAPTER KEY POINTS 1. 2. 3. 4.

Why is it important to evaluate brand communication effectiveness? What role do campaign objectives play in the measurement of campaign? What are the key ways in which campaign evaluation is conducted? What are some key challenges faced in evaluating IMC effectiveness?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Throughout this text, it has been emphasized that effective campaigns do more than win awards for creativity. They also work hard to achieve the campaign’s communication and marketing goals. This chapter discusses the establishment of campaign objectives against which campaign success can be evaluated and examines the many types of effectiveness measurement that are.

CHAPTER OUTLINE BRAND COMMMUNICATION IMPACT: DID IT WORK? What makes an IMC campaign effective? Is it the fact that people like it or that it moves people to some kind of action? Or is it something else altogether? First Things First: The Campaign Objectives • Typically, a brand communication campaign has multiple objectives. It is critical that the stated objectives be established up front because they provide the allimportant framework for evaluating if a campaign is a success. This is true for social media, also. The Campaign Purpose: Brand Building • Many executives feel advertising works only if it produces sales. One researcher, Professor John Phillip Jones, contends that “advertising must generate an immediate jolt to sales before it can be expected to produce any further effect.” Simon Broadbent, another leading figure in effectiveness research and a former proponent of sales impact, came to realize that ‘long and deep’ effects of advertising, or its brand building effects, also are important. Many other experts agree with this view, and it is the perspective supported by this text. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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First, determining effectiveness based on sales can be difficult because of the impact of other environmental factors. Second, sales are not the only reason brands advertise. One of the major objectives of advertising is to create higher levels of brand awareness among consumers.

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Because campaigns often have multiple objectives and because there are so many ways of measurement available in the IMC tool kit, there are multiple ways to assess the effectiveness of marketing communication campaigns.

Why Evaluation Matters • Some evaluation of brand communication is informal and based on the judgment of an experienced manager. There is always a need for the intuitive analysis of experienced professionals. The important thing, however, is to recognize very early in the campaign planning stages the need for multiple, formal evaluation mechanisms. •

Structured evaluation not only determines the success of a campaign from an objective perspective but also provides valuable feedback as brands plan campaigns for the future. The A Matter of Principle feature in this chapter builds on the idea of a cycle beginning and ending with research.

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From the business perspective, formal evaluation of brand communication is a must. The first reason is because the stakes in making an advertising misstep are high. The second reason is because advertising optimization, i.e., reducing risk by testing, analyzing, tracking performance, and making changes where possible to increase the effectiveness of the communication, ensures success.

How Evaluation Fits into the Stages of Brand Communication Testing • A complete understanding of the strength of your brand communication is accomplished through testing, monitoring and measurement. Ideally the result of preliminary testing should be available before large sums of money are invested in finished work or in media buys. In this chapter, our focus is upon measurement – how we evaluate actual effects and results after a campaign effort has been completed.

EVALUATING THE IMC MESSAGE • Questions about impact are critical and must be addressed. If they are not, there is no proof that a campaign worked, so companies may be tempted to make the mistake of cutting communication spending that is driving their business. •

Since any attempt to measure the impact of brand messaging by looking only at sales numbers poses challenges, the impact of brand messaging is typically measured in terms of its communication effects – the mental responses to a message - which become surrogate measures for sales impact. Positive postcampaign changes in measures such brand awareness, knowledge of what the

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brand offers, liking of the brand, and intent to purchase all suggest that the advertising message or some other form of brand communication is making a positive contribution to an eventual purchase decision. •

When campaigns don’t work, a very important role of post-campaign message testing involves understanding what went wrong. Some messages confuse the audience, while others fail to get consumers’ attention or fail to resonate with them. In these situations, campaign message evaluation must bring these issues to light. Solid campaign evaluation measurement tells us precisely what a campaign has and has not accomplished.

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Table 19.1 in the text clusters key message effectiveness measures and then matches them to the types of research questions that are used to determine effectiveness.

Experts in Message Evaluation • Many research companies, in addition to some large agency research departments, specialize in measuring the various dimensions of effectiveness described in Table. 19.1. The most successful of these companies have conducted so many tests that they have developed norms for common product and service categories. Norms allow the brand agency managers to determine whether a particular campaign message has performed above or below the category average in terms of “moving the needle” on items such as those listed in Table 19.1. •

Most large measurement companies also have developed diagnostic methods that identify the strong and weak aspects of an IMC campaign. This is important because understanding what worked and what did not work is what makes us able to make campaigns better over time.

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The most prominent communication evaluation companies are: Ameritest, Ipsos, Millward Brown, TNS Global, GfK, and Sapient. Also, major online companies such as Google provide myriad tools for campaign evaluation, from straightforward analytic tools that are relatively easy to use to more complex tools that allow marketers to create experiments.

Message Evaluation Techniques Next we will examine the most common research techniques used. Different types of measurement are required because brand managers are likely to set different objectives for different types of campaign messages. Tracking Studies • Communication tracking studies are conducted from the time a campaign is launched until after it has concluded and involve the collection of information from random samples of consumers who live in markets where they were exposed to a campaign. Research questions that focus on recall, recognition, comprehension, and relevance are staples of communication tracking surveys. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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Tracking surveys also include specific questions about how consumers perceive the personality of the brand, self-identification with the brand, purchase intent, and purchase rate. If a campaign did not cause consumers to feel increased affinity with the brand and/or increase their likelihood of buying it, IMC campaign effectiveness is certain to come under question. At its most basic level, a tracker includes the components shown in Figure 19.2 of the textbook.

Scanner Analysis • Another common component of posttest evaluation is scanner research. Many retailers use electronic scanner data to tally up purchase data and collect consumer buying information. Scanner research is also used to see what type of sales spikes are created when certain ads and promotions are used in a given market. •

Sometimes retailers will also establish a consumer panel so it can track sales among various consumer groups. In this instance, a consumer would be asked to join a panel, which might contain hundreds of other customers. The panel questionnaire will include questions regarding media used by each reporting panel member, so media performance can also be evaluated.

Single Source Data • Using scanner data and the cooperation of local cable networks, researchers are closer to showing a causal relationship between IMC programs and sales because of single source research. Single-source research companies, such as A.C. Neilson, arrange to have test commercials delivered to a select group of households within a market to compare changes in behavior to a control group of households. •

The purchasing behavior of each group of householders is collected by scanners in local stores. Because brand communication is the only manipulated variable, this method permits a fairly clear reading of cause and effect. Data collected in this way is called single-source data because brand communication exposure and brand purchasing data come from the same household source.

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Although fairly expensive, single-source research can produce dependable results. However, a drawback is that single-source research is better for short-term immediate sales effects and does not capture very well other brand-building effects.

Memory Tests • Memory tests are based on the assumption that a brand communication leaves a mental residue with the person who has been exposed to it or, in other words, the audience has learned something. One way to measure an advertisement’s effectiveness, then, is to contact consumers who saw the ad and find out what they remember. Memory tests fall into two major groups: recognition tests and recall tests.

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One way to measure memory is to show a magazine advertisement, for example, to people and ask them whether they remember having seen it before. This kind of test is called a recognition test. In a recall test, respondents who have read the magazine are asked to report what they remember from the ad about the brand. In an aided recall test, the interviewer may go through a deck of cards containing brand names. Obviously, recall is a more rigorous test than a recognition test.

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Similarly, a TV commercial is run on network television within a regular primetime program. The next evening, interviewers make thousands of random phone calls until they have contacted about 200 people who were watching the program at the exact time the commercial appeared. The interviewer then asks a series of questions, such as the following: ▪ ▪ ▪

Do you remember seeing a commercial for any charcoal briquettes? If no, then, do you remember seeing a commercial for Kingsford Charcoal briquettes? (Memory prompt) If yes to either of the previous questions, then, what did the commercial say about the product? What did the commercial show? What did the commercial look like? What ideas were brought out?

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The first type of question is called unaided recall because the particular brand is not mentioned. The second question is an example of aided recall, in which the specific brand name is mentioned. The answers to the third set of questions are written down verbatim.

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If the test requires the respondent to link a specific brand name, or at least a specific product category, to a specific commercial, a brand linkage test is being performed. This method was used to measure campaign impact on consumers in this chapter’s opening case.

Inquiry Tests • A form of action response, inquiry tests measure the number of responses to an advertisement or other form of brand communication. The response can be a call to a toll-free number, an e-mail, a website visit, a coupon return, a visit to a dealer, an entry in a contest, or a call to a salesperson. Inquiry tests are the primary measurement tool for direct-response communication, and they are also used to evaluate advertisements and sales promotions when the inquiry is built into the message design. Inquiry tests are also used to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative advertisements using a split-run technique in magazines, where there are two versions of a magazine printed, one with ad A and the other with ad B. Evaluating the Performance of Various IMC Tools •

IMC synergy exists when all campaign components work together to create a solid and understandable brand meaning. Before overarching campaign synergy

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can be measured, evaluation is usually conducted on a tool-by-tool basis. Specific objectives must be set for every IMC tool used in the mix and the effectiveness of each tool must be measured. •

Advertising may be the most visible IMC tool, but other brand communication tools may be better at achieving the objective of getting people to respond with an immediate purchase. Most IMC tools have their own metrics through which their performance is measured at a campaign’s close. Below we explain in more detail how a few IMC tools are measured in terms of their effectiveness.

Advertising • Table 19.2 in the text shows that advertising has the potential to be particularly effective in accomplishing a number of objectives. The most common posttesting or campaign evaluation technique used to evaluate advertising is the tracking study, which we previously discussed. Although communication tracking studies represent very large investments on the part of marketers, given the cost of creating advertising, thorough campaign evaluation represents money well spent. Public Relations • Public relations typically track the impact of a public relations campaign in terms of successful output e.g., how many news release led to stories or mentions in news stories) and outcome, e.g., attitudinal or behavioral change due to the impact of materials produced. •

The search for methods to tie public relations activities to bottom line business measures, such as return on investment (ROI) is like the quest for the Holy Grail. A surrogate ROI measure can be based on shareholder value, which can be seen as a company or brand’s reputation capital.

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Although some still argue that not all the value of public relations programs in measurable, others claim that it is possible to increase the use of metrics to determine the impact a public relations campaign is having on consumer engagement – especially in the digital arena.

Consumer, Trade, and Point-of-Purchase Promotions • Sales promotion managers for packaged goods and other products that use distribution channels need to evaluate both the impact of consumer (or end user) directed promotions and promotions targeted at retailers and other channel members. At the most basic level of evaluation, managers require proof of execution. One responsibility of the sales force is to do store checks to verify that stores are doing what they promised. At the most important level of promotion evaluation, however, the behaviors and types of involvement that promotions are designed to stimulate must be measured. •

Promotions that contain a response device, such as coupons, have a built-in evaluation measure. Beyond response and redemption rates, however, brand

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managers often also measure consumer awareness of promotions, sales force participation in promotions, and appropriate forms of online consumer reaction. What is measured depends on promotional objectives. •

The efficiency of a sales promotion can be evaluated in terms of its financial returns more easily than can the impact of advertising. We compare the costs of the promotion, called a payout analysis, to the forecasted sales generated by the promotion. A break-even analysis seeks to determine the point at which the total cost of the promotion exceeds the total revenues, identifying the point where the promotion was not productive. Figure 19.3 depicts this analysis.

Direct Marketing • The primary objective of direct marketing communication is to drive a transaction or generate some other type of immediate behavioral response, such as a donation or visit to a dealer. What makes this marketing communication tool so attractive to marketers is that response is so easily measurable. In many ways, directmarketing mechanisms are the easiest IMC tools to evaluate both in terms of the message efficiency and in terms of return on marketing investment. Evaluation of Digital IMC Components • Many IMC efforts are conducted online. Some performance indicators are website traffic volume, such as page views or the simple number of visitors to a site. Banner advertising and other online ads are evaluated using click-through rates. One thing the industry has learned is that this form of advertising is decreasing in effectiveness. Pop-up banners in particular can get more attention, but they are also seen as more irritating. •

Instead of click-through rates, some advertising uses a cost-per-lead metric that records how well the click-through generates prospects, an attempt to get at ROI. A more important metric, however, is conversion rate, which is the percentage of visitors to a site who complete a desired action, such as playing a game, signing up for a newsletter, or buying something. Of course, online sales are an important measure of digital effectiveness.

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The most important thing to understand in considering evaluation of online efforts is that while websites used to be the primary digital properties for connecting with targets and the place where the most digital interaction was happening, that is no longer true. Today, digital communication is multichannel and multiplatform.

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What this means is that in addition to evaluating digital efforts through looking at conversion rates and sales, experts are now evaluating digital campaign components in terms of their ability to generate awareness and consideration. These are measures that used to be applied only to traditional media.

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Evaluating the Performance of Media Vehicles Brand communication has little chance to be effective if no one sees it. That is why analyzing the effectiveness of the media plan is another important part of campaign evaluation. Media Optimization • When a brand manager optimizes the mix of IMC tools used, the resulting brand perception becomes stronger. One of the biggest challenges in media planning is media efficiency - that is, getting the most out of your money invested. The goal of media optimization is to optimize the budget – that is, to get the most impact possible with the least expenditure of money. •

Media planners operate with computer models of media optimization that are used in making decisions about media selection, scheduling, and weights. Because models are always theoretical, actual performance of a media plan must be compared with the results projected by model.

Evaluating Exposure • For major campaigns, agencies do post-buy analyses, which involve checking the media plan against the performance of each media vehicle. •

Verifying audience measurement estimates is a challenge. As media choices become more and more complex, media planners are being asked to prove the wisdom of their recommendations in areas where the data they use are sometimes suspect or unreliable, particularly if there are problems with the media measurement companies’ formulas and reporting systems.

Vehicle-by-Vehicle Evaluation To better understand the obstacles encountered in media evaluation, we will first look at a few areas where media performance is hardest to estimate: out-of-home media, digital media, and alternative media. Out-of-Home Media • Accurately measuring the audience for outdoor advertising is challenging. Although traffic counts can be gathered, the problem is that traffic does not equal exposure. •

To address this issue, Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement, Inc., has created the TAB visibility research program, which uses eye-tracking technology to determine how a billboard’s format and angle to the road affect the likelihood that it will be noticed. It even takes into account the speed limits of the roads on which the signs have been placed.

Digital Media • It used to be the case that digital tracking was tough and offline tracking was stronger in showing the relationship between IMC spending and results. Today, Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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however, this has changed, as web analytic firms are developing much more sophisticated evaluation programs. Alternative Media • Alternative media programs, such as word-of-mouth, social media, and guerilla marketing campaigns are even harder to evaluate, and media planners continue to search for reliable indicators of exposure numbers that equate to the performance measures for traditional media. Newspaper Readership Measurement • For newspapers and other traditional media, assessment is more straightforward. Newspapers measure their audiences in two ways: circulation, or number of subscribers, and readership, or number of readers. These same measures are revisited in post-campaign evaluation. Magazine Readership Measurement • Magazine rates are based on guaranteed circulation and total audience. Post campaign evaluation requires verification of the circulation of magazines, along with the demographic and psychographic characteristics of specific readers. MRI verifies readership for many popular national and regional magazines, and covers readership demographics, psychographics, and product use. Measuring the Broadcast Audience • A station’s coverage is revisited to ensure that the medium delivered. For television, Nielsen data is used. Ratings, along with shares, households using televisions, and gross impressions are revisited so that a comparison of anticipated and actual audience delivery can be conducted.

IMC Campaign Evaluation Challenges •

The major challenge in overall IMC program evaluation is to pull everything together and look at the big picture of campaign performance. As companies move from solely an evaluation mindset that considers measures such as impressions to one that also looks closely at conversion rates and consumer engagement, they are getting closer to a true measure of overarching campaign success.

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Which metrics companies choose to combine for evaluation and how those metrics are weighted with regard to their individual importance differs from brand to brand and remains an area of intense debate.

Measuring ROI • Advertisers continue to improve how they measure brand communication ROI, which compares the cost of creating and running brand communication to the revenue it generates. However, since the dollar impact of brand communication is Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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difficult to measure, so is the cost-to-sales ratio. ROI is much easier to calculate for sales promotions and direct marketing. •

One question related to ROI is this: How much spending is too much? That is, how do you determine whether you are overadvertising or underadvertising? The best way to answer this question is through the use of test marketing.

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A University of Southern California professor reminds us that advertising not only has instantaneous effects (the consumer responds immediately) but also carryover effects (delayed effects.) Any evaluation of campaign effectiveness needs to be able to track both types of effects over times.

The Synergy Problem • Another challenge with evaluating campaigns, particularly IMC campaigns, is estimating the impact of synergy. Intuitively we know that multichannel communication with messages that reinforce and build on one another will have more impact than single messages from single sources; however, that can be difficult to prove. •

If the campaign planning is well integrated, which means each specialty area cooperates with all the others in message design, delivery, and timing, there should be a synergistic effect. This means that the overall results are greater than the sum of the individual functional areas if used separately.

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A number of studies have attempted to evaluate IMC impact by comparing campaigns that use two or three tools to see what is gained when more message sources are added to the mix. Studies of both the platforms and components of IMC are beginning to tease out the effects of synergy, but they are a long way from evaluating the effects of a total communication program.

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A final complication in evaluating programs is the need to consider other messages and contact points beyond the brand campaign. Brand experiences such as those involved with customer service and word-of-mouth may be even more important than the planned communication campaign. The A Principled Practice feature in this chapter demonstrates how these unconventional message effects can have important impact on the brand.

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In the A Principled Practice feature, its author makes three salient points: o

1) Key management decisions count for a lot. No amount of promotion hype can compensate for an inferior product offering. o 2) Social media cannot be ignored or taken lightly. To disregard the impact of social media is to make a huge management error. o 3) Managing the brand involves more than just having a good promotion strategy. Guarding the brand as well as the image of the firm generally

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involves an integrated management strategy in which promotions are called upon to deliver specific objectives. Digital Challenges • There are several challenges marketers face when attempting to capture the success of digital marketing communication efforts. First, marketers often want to skip straight to digital measurement without having a clear sense of their business objectives. •

Second, marketers must develop the right digital key performance indicators, which tell whether or not digital communications are driving the business toward success. This measure can be either direct or indirect, but either way, success indicators must be succinctly defined.

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Finally, digital communication evaluation must be phrased in a way and in a language that broader business leaders can understand.

International Challenges • International brand communication is difficult to evaluate because of market differences (e.g., language, laws, and cultural norms) and the acceptability of various research tools. There may also be incompatibilities among various measurement systems and data analysis techniques that make it difficult to compare the data from one market with similar data from another market. An international evaluation program for advertising should focus, at least initially, on pretesting because unfamiliarity with different cultures, languages, and consumer behaviors can result in major miscalculations. Pretesting helps the advertiser correct major problems before miscommunication occurs. •

After a campaign has concluded, international evaluation remains critical yet difficult. It can be complicated by the fact that different countries may have had very different starting points (pre-campaign measurements) with regard to brand awareness and affinity. Also in different countries, consumers approach rating scales differently. A final challenge lies in the fundamental communication challenges that all multinational companies experience in getting managers across countries ‘on the same page.’

Back to the Big Picture: Did the Campaign Work? The ultimate measure of campaign performance is the answer to one seemingly simple question: Did the campaign achieve the objectives that were set at the very beginning of the planning process? Connecting the Dots • Competent brand communication managers return to the campaign objectives, and then adequately and realistically measure the campaign’s performance against those objectives. An example of how UPS successfully faced this challenge is discussed in detail in this chapter. Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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Bringing It All Together • Beyond connecting the objectives to the measurements, advertisers continue to search for methods that will bring all the metrics together and efficiently and effectively evaluate brand communication effectiveness. •

Ultimately, the goal is to arrive at holistic, cross-functional metrics that are relevant for integrated communication. Many pieces are still missing in the evaluation of complex IMC programs. Research think tanks are struggling to find better ways to measure consumers’ emotional connections to brands and brands’ relationships with their customers and how those connections and relationships are affected by various types of marketing communication messages.

END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT REVIEW QUESTIONS 19-4. Why is setting campaign objectives important? Typically, a brand communication campaign has multiple objectives. It is critical that the stated objectives be established up front because they provide the all-important framework for evaluating the success of a campaign. This is true for social media, also. Although evaluation of brand communication is sometimes informal and based on the judgment of an experienced manager, it is important to recognize very early in the campaign planning stages the need for multiple, formal evaluation mechanisms. Formal, structured evaluation not only determines the success of a campaign from an objective perspective but also provides valuable feedback as brands plan campaigns for the future. Such structured evaluation is based upon the objectives that were put in place at the beginning of the campaign. 19-5. Why is campaign measurement becoming more important? A complete understanding of the impact of an IMC campaign can only be gained through testing, monitoring and measurement. From the business perspective, formal evaluation of brand communication is a must because the stakes in making an advertising misstep are high. Also advertising optimization, e.g., reducing risk by testing, analyzing, tracking performance, and making changes where possible to increase the effectiveness of the communication, is the best way to ensure success. 19-6. What is single-source research, and how scanner data relate to it?

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Using scanner data and the cooperation of local cable networks, researchers are closer to showing a causal relationship between IMC programs and sales because of single source research. Single-source research companies, such as A.C. Neilson, arrange to have test commercials delivered to a select group of households within a market to compare changes in behavior to a control group of households. The purchasing behavior of each group of householders is collected by scanners in local stores. Because brand communication is the only manipulated variable, this method permits a fairly clear reading of cause and effect. Data collected in this way is called single-source data because brand communication exposure and brand purchasing data come from the same household source. Although fairly expensive, single-source research can produce dependable results. However, a drawback is that single-source research is better for short-term immediate sales effects and does not capture very well other brand-building effects. 19-7. What is media optimization and how do we evaluate how close we are to achieving it? One of the biggest challenges in media planning is media efficiency - that is, getting the most out of your money invested. The goal of media optimization is to optimize the budget – that is, to get the most impact possible with the least expenditure of money. When a brand manager optimizes the mix of IMC tools used, the resulting brand perception becomes stronger. Media planners operate with computer models of media optimization that are used in making decisions about media selection, scheduling, and weights. Because models are always theoretical, actual performance of a media plan must be compared with the results projected by model. For major campaigns, agencies do post-buy analyses, which involve checking the media plan against the performance of each media vehicle. However, verifying audience measurement estimates is a challenge. As media choices become more and more complex, media planners are being asked to prove the wisdom of their recommendations in areas where the data they use are sometimes suspect or unreliable, particularly if there are problems with the media measurement companies’ formulas and reporting systems.

19-8. Why is an IMC campaign difficult to evaluate? An IMC campaign employs various brand communication, such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, digital, etc. Each of these tools has its own metrics by which performance is measured, and some are much more precise than others. Even though an IMC campaign is evaluated in terms of its overall impact on a brand, the pieces of the mix must be evaluated individually to determine the effectiveness of its specific performance.

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For this reason, the major challenge in overall IMC program evaluation is to pull everything together and look at the big picture of campaign performance. As companies move from solely an evaluation mind-set that considers measures such as impressions to one that also looks closely at conversion rates and consumer engagement, they are getting closer to a true measure of overarching campaign success.

19-9. What are some unique challenges connected with the evaluation of digital marketing communication efforts? There are several challenges marketers face when attempting to capture the success of digital marketing communication efforts. First, marketers often want to skip straight to digital measurement without having a clear sense of their business objectives. Second, marketers must develop the right digital key performance indicators, which tell whether or not digital communications are driving the business toward success. This measure can be either direct or indirect, but either way, success indicators must be succinctly defined. Finally, digital communication evaluation must be phrased in a way and in a language that broader business leaders can understand.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 19-10. Most clients want a quick and easy answer to the question of whether an IMC campaign works. Advertising professionals, however, tend to believe that sales-only approach to evaluation is not appropriate. Why do they feel that way? If you were helping an agency prepare for a presentation on its campaign results, what would you suggest the agency say to explain away the idea that you can evaluate a campaign on a single measure? This client needs to be reminded that the intention of brand communications is to accomplish a variety of goals. While marketers are certainly pleased when advertising contributes to sales increases, an immediate increase in sales is never the singular objective to be pursued. For example, the goal of a nonprofit may be to make donors more knowledgeable of how their donations are spent and therefore more engaged. The goal of a packaged goods team may be to increase brand awareness or further develop the brand’s relationship with its consumers. This agency should be reminded that advertising’s effectiveness should be based upon an evaluation of its overall brand building impact. 19-11. You are hiring a research consulting company to help a client evaluate the effectiveness of its communication efforts. One of the consultants recommends using focus groups to evaluate their effectiveness. Another consultant suggests that focus groups aren’t very effective for campaign evaluation and recommends other measures. Which viewpoint do you believe is most insightful? For campaign evaluation purposes, is qualitative or quantitative research used most often? Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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Tracking studies are one of the most commonly used research techniques in the evaluation of brand communication efforts. Other research techniques used include analysis of scanner data, single source research, memory tests, and inquiry tests. The collection, summarization and analysis of large amounts of quantitative data are key components of the research design in each of these methods. 19-12. Explore the websites of two IMC evaluation companies, such as Ameritest (www.Ameritest.net), Ipsos ASI (www.ipsos.com), Millward Brown (www.millwardbrown.com) or Sapient (www.sapient.com), and compare the services they offer. If you were looking for a company to evaluate a campaign for recall, which one would you prefer? Why? What about if you were looking for a company to evaluate a campaign for digital impact? Why? While student responses will vary depending upon which two of these four companies they decide to compare, their responses should reflect the differences in types of measurement tools each organization provide. For example, Amertest and Ipsos offer brand linkage, recall and attention evaluation, while Sapient focuses upon advanced analytics, and storytelling across digital channels. Major online companies such as Google provide myriad tools for campaign evaluation, from straightforward analytic tools that are relatively easy to use to more complex tools that allow marketers to create experiments.

TAKE-HOME PROJECTS 19-13. Portfolio Project: Put together a portfolio of 10 ads for a set of product categories targeted to a college audience. Set up a focus group with participants recruited from among your friends and ask them to look at the ads. In a test of unaided awareness, ask them to list the ads they remember. Identify the top performing ad and the bottom ad in this awareness test. Now ask the focus group participants to analyze the headline, the visual, and the brand identification of each ad. How do the two ads compare in terms of their ability to get attention and lock the brand in memory?

19-14. Mini-Case Analysis: Reread the chapter opening story about LiveWell. Explain what is meant when we say the point of this campaign is to build a brand relationship. How did this campaign succeed in that objective? How was effectiveness determined? If you were on the marketing team and were asked to develop a broader set of evaluation tools, what would you recommend and why? This campaign not only built strong brand awareness, but was also successful in spreading knowledge and changing attitudes. This could have only happened as the result of a strong brand relationship. We know the campaign was effective because it attracted more than 100,000 visitors to the LiveWell website, a 540% increase compared the traffic prior to the campaign, and the LiveWell Facebook page experienced an Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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increase in 13,000 fans. Also, a post campaign research study indicated significant changes in awareness and attitudes toward obesity awareness and the importance of healthy living. To broaden the set of evaluation tools, usage of memory tests could be considered as a supplement to the pre-campaign and post-campaign tracking studies already in place.

TRACE North American Case Evaluating Campaign Effectiveness Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class. 19-15. If you worked for TRACE, how would you pretest this campaign prior to using it across the country? 19-16. What methods would you use to conduct concurrent and post-testing of the campaign? 19-17. If you worked for TRACE, how would you evaluate the market success of the “Hard to Explain, Easy to Experience” campaign from year to year?

Hands-On Case The Company You Keep P5-1. What advice would you give to a client who wanted to hire a celebrity spokesperson? The use of celebrities as spokespersons, endorsers or brand symbols is a frequently used strategy in the field of advertising. The idea is to associate the brand with a famous person and the personal qualities that make that person important. Celebrity endorsers are especially effective when the famous person has a direct connection with the product, since this presents an opportunity for the brand’s credibility to be enhanced. However, this strategy must be employed carefully because if a celebrity spokesperson behaves badly, they can do great harm to the brand. Clearly the client has an investment to protect and no one wants their brand to be tarnished by allowing it to be associated with illegal, unethical, or distasteful behavior by their spokesperson.

P5-2. What effect can spokespeople have on brands their relationship to consumers? Is any publicity good publicity? In the best of situations, a celebrity spokesperson can immensely strengthen the relationship between brands and their consumers by increasing brand credibility, brand liking, and serving as a persuasive element. In the worst of situations, however, a Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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celebrity spokesperson can disrupt that relationship if their bad behavior ‘rubs off’ on the brand, leading to an erosion of brand liking or trust by consumers. Some students will take the point of view that ‘all publicity is good publicity’, meaning that any amount of free media exposure is a good thing regardless of its content. However, public relations professionals seldom agree with that point of view, arguing that celebrity spokespersons who behave badly can do great harm to not only the consumer’s perception of the brand, but also the company’s reputation.

◆ADDITIONAL MATERIAL WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. What are the different types of memory tests and how are they used? Memory tests are one of several types of evaluation techniques that can be used to measure the impact of brand communication. One way to measure memory is to show a magazine advertisement, for example, to people and ask them whether they remember having seen it before. This kind of test is called a recognition test. In a recall test, respondents who have read the magazine are asked to report what they remember from the ad about the brand. In an aided recall test, the interviewer may go through a deck of cards containing brand names. Obviously, recall is a more rigorous test than a recognition test. Similarly, a TV commercial is run on network television within a regular prime-time program. The next evening, interviewers make thousands of random phone calls until they have contacted about 200 people who were watching the program at the exact time the commercial appeared. The interviewer then asks a series of questions. Some are unaided recall because the particular brand is not mentioned, while others are aided recall in which the specific brand name is mentioned. The answers to a third set of questions are written down verbatim.

2. How is the impact of public relations typically tracked? What are the challenges associated with evaluating this specific brand communication tool? Public relations typically track the impact of a public relations campaign in terms of successful output e.g., how many news release led to stories or mentions in news stories) and outcome, e.g., attitudinal or behavioral change due to the impact of materials produced. The search for methods to tie public relations activities to bottom line business measures, such as return on investment (ROI) is like the quest for the Holy Grail. A Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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surrogate ROI measure can be based on shareholder value, which can be seen as a company or brand’s reputation capital. Although some still argue that not all the value of public relations programs in measurable, others claim that it is possible to increase the use of metrics to determine the impact a public relations campaign is having on consumer engagement – especially in the digital arena.

3. Describe the financial analyses that can be used to determine the efficiency of a sales promotion. The efficiency of a sales promotion can be evaluated in terms of its financial returns more easily than can the impact of advertising. We compare the costs of the promotion, called a payout analysis, to the forecasted sales generated by the promotion. A break-even analysis seeks to determine the point at which the total cost of the promotion exceeds the total revenues, identifying the point where the promotion was not productive. 4. How can digital IMC components be evaluated? Many IMC efforts are conducted online. Some performance indicators are website traffic volume, such as page views or the simple number of visitors to a site. Banner advertising and other online ads are evaluated using click-through rates. One thing the industry has learned is that this form of advertising is decreasing in effectiveness. Pop-up banners in particular can get more attention, but they are also seen as more irritating. Instead of click-through rates, some advertising uses a cost-per-lead metric that records how well the click-through generates prospects, an attempt to get at ROI. A more important metric, however, is conversion rate, which is the percentage of visitors to a site who complete a desired action, such as playing a game, signing up for a newsletter, or buying something.

5. Discuss the new techniques that have been developed to accurately measure the impact of out-of-home media. Accurately measuring the mobile audience for outdoor advertising is challenging. Although traffic counts can be gathered, the problem is that traffic does not equal exposure. Just because a car drove by a board does not mean that the driver and/or passengers actually saw it. To address this issue, Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement, Inc., has created the TAB visibility research program, which uses eye-tracking technology to determine how a billboard’s format and angle to the road affect the likelihood that it will be noticed. This technology even takes into account the speed limits of the roads on which the signs have been placed.

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6. What are the unique challenges of evaluating the impact of an IMC campaign? A challenge that is specific to the evaluation of IMC campaigns is the estimation of the impact of synergy. Intuitively we know that multichannel communication with messages that reinforce and build on one another will have more impact than single messages from single sources; however, that can be difficult to prove. If the campaign planning is well integrated, which means each specialty area cooperates with all the others in message design, delivery, and timing, there should be a synergistic effect. This means that the overall results are greater than the sum of the individual functional areas if used separately. A number of studies have attempted to evaluate IMC impact by comparing campaigns that use two or three tools to see what is gained when more message sources are added to the mix. Studies of both the platforms and components of IMC are beginning to tease out the effects of synergy, but they are a long way from evaluating the effects of a total communication program. A final complication in evaluating programs is the need to consider other messages and contact points beyond the brand campaign. Brand experiences such as those involved with customer service and word-of-mouth may be even more important than the planned communication campaign. 7. What are some of the unique challenges associated with evaluating the impact of international brand communication? International brand communication is difficult to evaluate because of market differences (e.g., language, laws, and cultural norms) and the acceptability of various research tools. There may also be incompatibilities among various measurement systems and data analysis techniques that make it difficult to compare the data from one market with similar data from another market. An international evaluation program for advertising should focus, at least initially, on pretesting because unfamiliarity with different cultures, languages, and consumer behaviors can result in major miscalculations. Pretesting can help the brand communicator correct major problems before a miscommunication occurs. After a campaign has concluded, international evaluation remains critical yet difficult. It can be complicated by the fact that different countries may have had very different starting points (pre-campaign measurements) with regard to brand awareness and affinity. Also in different countries, consumers approach rating scales differently. A final challenge lies in the fundamental communication challenges that all multinational companies experience in getting managers across countries ‘on the same page.’

ASSIGNMENTS Individual Assignments Copyright@2015 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall.

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1. Record three television commercials for products or services of your choice. Then gather five of your friends together to form a focus group. After they view each commercial, have group members evaluate each one on: a. b. c. d.

Attention. How did the ad grab your attention? Engagement. Did this ad engage you? If so, how? Memory. Which key points can you remember five minutes later? Sixty minutes? Emotion. How did this ad make you feel?

Once you have interviewed all participants, summarize your major findings in a 500word report. 2. Locate five IMC samples for a product or service of your choice, and evaluate their effectiveness as part of an overall campaign. Your samples will vary, but they could include: • Print advertisement • TV or digital advertisement • Product packaging • Public Relations /publicity in the media • Consumer promotions and/or point-of-purchase displays Prepare a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation for the class to highlight your findings. Pass the samples around as you speak, and tell the class whether you think the pieces were successful individually and as a whole. Did they create “synergy”? If so, how? As a brand communicator, how would you evaluate this campaign? Think-Pair-Share 1. In small groups, conduct some very informal market research that focuses upon the overall effectiveness of television advertisements. On youtube.com find five relatively current 30 or 60 second television ads for five different consumer packaged goods products. Then construct a survey instrument by selecting one question from each of Table 19.1’s categories. Next, identify a group of eight to ten survey participants and instruct each to watch each of your youtube.com ads only once. The following day, contact each survey participant and administer your survey, which should be structured in a way that allows you to determine which ads they remember and the extent to which they recall the ad’s content. As a group, tabulate your data and report your findings to the class. 2. Social Media Explorer LLC , along with its founder, is mentioned in this chapter. Visit this company’s website at www.socialmediaexplorer.com. Scroll downward to the website’s listing of articles by category and select at least two articles each from the categories of Social Media Marketing and Social Media Monitoring. With a classmate, identify the key points made in each article and discuss how they support

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or conflict with concepts discussed in Chapter 19 regarding the evaluation of social media’s impact on business.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLES 1.

Read “Why Metrics Are Killing Creativity in Advertising,” a commentary posted on www.adage.com on March 4, 2010. Outline the premises upon which the writer’s point of view is predicated. With which of his arguments do you agree and with which do you disagree? In what ways does this writer’s commentary align and/or conflict with the perspective conveyed in Chapter 19? Discuss these issues with your classmates during an informal presentation.

2. Watch “Life Lessons from an Ad Man,” and “Sweat the Small Stuff,” two online videos featuring Rory Sutherland, who was mentioned at the very end of this chapter. You can find the videos by going to www.ted.com and typing his name into the search box. Make a list of the life lessons that Mr. Sutherland is attempting to convey, and then compare that list to the IMC principles in your textbook. As you do so, consider the following questions: (a) Where do the two lists converge and diverge? Pinpoint and discuss the similarities. (b) What are the fundamental principles regarding human behavior, economics, and the practice of marketing that Mr. Sutherland cautions us not to lose sight of? Why do you think it is so easy for marketing and advertising professionals to stray from them? (c) How could adherence to Mr. Sutherland’s lessons help a young professional advance their marketing or advertising career? Discuss these issues with your classmates during an informal presentation.

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