Advertising

Learning Objectives Upon completion of this chapter the student will be able to:

• Describe the types of advertising and the advantages and disadvantages of advertising.

• Discuss the roles of the target market, objectives, and the budget in the advertising plan.

• List the types of advertising and creative strategies used when developing advertising plans.

• Explain the Five W’s of media planning and define common media terms.

• Describe the media planning process including selection of media and development of a media plan.

4

© Ekaterina VoinovaiStock/Thinkstock

Pre-Test Chapter 4

Pre-Test 1. The purpose of advertising is to

a) give the correct target audience the most effective message at the best price possible. b) communicate with research-specified target market segments in a personal manner. c) effectively market and sell unique products at the highest profit margins possible. d) efficiently communicate a message about a company or product through the use of

unpaid publicity. 2. Most of the money in an advertising budget is used for

a) production costs. b) advertising agency salaries. c) media planner salaries. d) media buys.

3. Which type of advertising strategy is most often associated with humor? a) Brand imaging b) Brand positioning strategy c) Affective strategy d) Resonance strategy

4. refer(s) to the number of people a media buy reaches in the primary target audience, combined with the frequency. a) Gross rating points (GRPs) b) Targeted rating points c) Ratings d) Cume

5. What helps determine where to place ads in order to reach the largest audience at the lowest cost? a) Key media problem b) Media vehicles c) Media kit d) Media objectives

Answers 1. a) give the correct target audience the most effective message at the best price possible. The

correct answer can be found in Section 4.1 2. d) media buys. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.2 3. c) Affective strategy. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.3 4. b) Targeted rating points. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.4 5. a) Key media problem. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.5

Introduction Chapter 4

Introduction Pepsi MAX ran an ad that showed NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon disguised as a geek. He went to a car dealership and chose a flashy sports car to test drive and then took the salesperson on a wild ride that scared him. The salesperson was so upset that he wanted to get police involved. Viewers thought the video was hilarious and spread the word for others to watch. While this video ad cam- paign may have appeared to be an amateur video, a lot of thought and planning occurred prior to the launch of this campaign. The video on YouTube was very successful with over 36 million views (The top 20 most-shared video ad campaigns for March 2013—pranks & hoaxes 2013).

Pepsi MAX Test Drive This video shows the popular ad featuring NASCAR driver, Jeff Gordon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5mHPo2yDG8

In this chapter we discuss planning for advertising, one of the executions of an IMC plan. The IMC plan will have numerous subplans that call for the execution of IMC tactics (marketing commu- nications mix). Keep in mind that not all companies include advertising in their IMC mix. Some companies may for example, include only public relations, direct marketing, and personal selling. The IMC mix is determined by looking at objectives, strategy, and budget.

IMC planners typically develop their subplans simultaneously and then the plans are added to the overall IMC plan. What does this mean? This means that IMC professionals develop the overall IMC plan with input from subject experts in each of the tactical areas, which include advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and publicity, direct marketing, electronic and Internet marketing, and branding.

For smaller businesses the overall IMC plan may be developed by the same person. In that case, the individual responsible for the plan’s development must create and execute all the tactical areas. In this case, the IMC professional typically begins with the advertising plan, adding the sales plan and then inserting other areas such as the sales promotion plan, the direct marketing plan, the electronic/social media plan, the public relations and publicity plan, and the brand plan. Plans developed for the tactical executions follow the same format as the overall IMC plan.

Once the marketing plan and budget are reviewed, the development of the IMC program begins. A plan must be developed for each of the IMC tactical areas. Each tactical area contains the same components (objectives, strategy, execution, and budget). So the advertising plan would include advertising objectives, advertising strategy, advertising execution(s) (message, media, and advertis- ing tactics), and the budget.

Once the individual plans are in place, it’s up to the chief marketing officer (CMO) or the chief marketing communications officer (CMCO) to integrate all of the plans into one cohesive plan. Once the plan is developed and in place, the plan is executed. At this point all the IMC mix strate- gies are integrated, the ads are produced, the media time and space purchased, and a system for evaluation and control is put into place. The evaluation and control function is to make sure all objectives are being met and to evaluate the effectiveness of the overall IMC plan. If things aren’t

Types of Advertising, Advantages and Disadvantages, and the Advertising Plan Chapter 4

going “according to plan,” the IMC head must create systems and tasks that allow for the control of the program with methods of making changes to the overall plan built into the evaluation and control function.

To better understand each of the tactical areas in the IMC plan we have devoted a chapter to each. We begin with the advertising area.

4.1 Types of Advertising, Advantages and Disadvantages, and the Advertising Plan

Welcome to the world of advertising. Advertising is one of the tools considered for the develop- ment of the integrated marketing communications program. Once the IMC mix is determined, most of the integrated marketing communications planning is done simultaneously by profes- sionals in each of the content areas (advertising, sales promotions, public relations, and the other areas). When not done simultaneously, advertising is typically the first content area of IMC that gets planned. Once the advertising is developed, other areas of IMC are integrated into the basic advertising plan to create the overall IMC plan.

It’s the job of the IMC manager to make sure each of the areas of IMC is totally integrated in a seamless fashion. Saying this is easy; trying to integrate with elements of synergy is a bit harder. In this chapter we will explain the components of a basic advertising plan. The plan will include the media recommendations as well as the creative recommendations for all advertising communication.

Although advertising was defined in Chapter 1, let’s take a closer look. When you tell someone you work in marketing, the first thing that typically comes to that person’s mind is advertising or selling. Advertising is not selling or marketing. Rather, advertising is a tactic used by marketers to communicate with their various stakeholders and other audiences (Ogden and Rarick, 2010). Advertising has the following characteristics:

a) The purpose of advertising is to provide the best possible selling message to the right tar- get audience at the best possible price.

b) Advertising is paid. Therefore, advertisers have full control of the content and media placement of the advertisements.

c) Advertising is a nonpersonal way of communicating to a large audience.

There are two forms of advertising: institutional advertising and product advertising. Product advertising is a form of advertising that focuses on the end user. Its purpose is to communicate with large numbers of end users. End users will be made aware of an idea, product, or service. The advertising typically focuses on the consumer wants and needs that are satisfied by the product or service.

Institutional advertising promotes a company or organization instead of a specific product or service. Institutional advertising is used to build or enhance an image or reputation, promote goodwill, advocate a philosophy, or create awareness of an organization. When an organization promotes a point of view or philosophy it is called advocacy advertising, a subset of institutional advertising. Institutional and advocacy advertising overlap with public relations. The difference is that a company must pay for institutional and advocacy advertising while a company may not pay for some public relations efforts.

Types of Advertising, Advantages and Disadvantages, and the Advertising Plan Chapter 4

Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising There are several advantages to using advertising as part of a company’s IMC mix. It is advertis- ing’s job to inform, persuade and remind consumers about business and organizational products and other offerings. Advertising can be used to educate people. The government often uses adver- tising to educate people on health and social issues such as the importance of getting a flu shot. Advertising also helps people with their day-to-day shopping experiences by informing shoppers about sales.

Another advantage of advertising is its ability to reach a mass audience. For example, over 100 million people watched the Superbowl in 2012. The ads that played dur- ing the game were discussed and were rewatched on social media. Advertising can be used to drive imme- diate responses (sales, traffic, likes) from consumers. Advertising is also a great tool to help create or maintain brand or company awareness. Brand loyalty is almost always a goal of good advertising. Advertising can also initiate customer feedback, both positive and negative. For example, many advertisers remove ads when their customers find the ads offensive or in poor taste.

The primary disadvantage of advertising is the cost. While advertising reaches a large audience, which can reduce the cost per contact, the out-of-pocket expense is very high. High costs can prohibit smaller businesses from advertising. Another disadvantage is clutter. There are many estimates on how many advertisements a person is exposed to on a daily basis. Depending on the source, the figure can be as high as 6,000. A more realistic figure is provided by Marah Creative (www.marahcreative.com), a digital design firm out of Portland Oregon, which states that 287 advertisements a day is a more reasonable figure

© Feng Yu/iStock/Thinkstock

▲▲ Classified advertising is an example of product advertising. PRNewsFoto/Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc.

▲▲ This is an example of advocacy advertising, a type of institu- tional advertising. Kenneth Cole Company is making a social statement about voting in the primary elections.

Advertising Archive/Courtesy Everett Collection

▲▲ This is an example of advertising used to inform peo- ple on antibiotic misuse. What other advertisements have you seen that inform the public?

Types of Advertising, Advantages and Disadvantages, and the Advertising Plan Chapter 4

(Koller, 2011). Even with the more conservative estimate, people can’t escape advertising. Clutter means there is more competition to get noticed by consumers. Many consumers may not notice an advertisement because it gets lost in the clutter.

Advertising can also hurt a brand when there is poor execution. Abercrombie & Fitch came under criticism for its line of shirts that featured unflattering stereotypes of Asians. Although the com- pany pulled the shirts, many felt the company was racist for selling the shirts in the first place. Advertising has also been criticized for promoting materialism, especially in children. According to a study of Dutch children, “Ads exacerbate kids’ desire for material things, and this desire gradu- ally leads them to equate consumer goods with happiness and success” (Jacobs, 2013). Table 4.1 summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of advertising.

Related to poor execution are ethical considerations. While ethics was covered in Chapter 2, it’s worthwhile to mention the importance of ethics when developing advertising strategy and tactics. Current laws define rules and regulations and help guide ethical decisions. For example, laws make it illegal to sell cigarettes and alcohol to minors. Often when vulnerable populations such as chil- dren or the economically disadvantaged are targeted, the organization’s values and ethics are put to the test. The usage of sexual images to sell products is also a gray area, which many believe can border on unethical behavior. While there are self-regulatory bodies in the advertising industry, such as the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (www.asrcreviews.org), it’s often up to consumers to make sure companies are accountable for advertising messages. Social media gives consumers a platform to voice concerns.

Table 4.1 Advantages and disadvantages of advertising

Advantages Disadvantages

• Ability to inform, persuade, remind, and educate customers about a product, company, brand, event, or cause

• Capacity to reach a large audience

• Drives customer response

• Builds brand recognition and loyalty

• Initiates customer feedback

• High total cost

• Small companies may not have resources to use advertising

• Clutter

• Can damage brand if poor execution

• Can be misleading

• Reputation for adding to a materialistic society

The Advertising Plan The development of an effective advertising program is contingent on the development of an out- standing advertising plan. The advertising plan focuses on issues involved in the development and execution of messages aimed at targeted customers. The advertising plan is built in much the same way as the overall IMC plan; however, the focus is on advertising alone.

There are numerous steps in the development of the advertising plan. This written document is used as a guide by advertisers in the development of the overall communication program. Prior to developing the plan, an advertiser wants to have as much information as possible. Additionally, the planner must understand the internal and external marketing environments that may have an impact on the advertising’s effectiveness. It is also important to make sure that the plan is inte- grated in a seamless way with other areas of the marketing plan. Figure 4.1 depicts the steps in advertising plan development.

Stating the Target Market, Developing Objectives, and Creating the Budget Chapter 4

In the following sections, we will examine each of these steps in more detail.

›  Learning Check Reflect on your learning by answering the following questions:

1. What is the definition of advertising? 2. What is advertising’s purpose? 3. What are the types of advertising? 4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of advertising? Do you think the advantages out-

weigh the disadvantages? Why or why not? 5. What purpose does the advertising plan serve? 6. What are the components of an advertising plan?

4.2 Stating the Target Market, Developing Objectives, and Creating the Budget

Putting together an effective advertising plan begins with stating the target market, developing the advertising communication objectives, and creating a budget. In this section, we will examine these first three steps.

State the Target Market and Define the Target Audience Step one is to state the target market (TM). A description of the target market using one or more of the four “ics” (geographics, psychographics, demographics, and behavioristics) is provided and can typically be obtained from the company’s marketing plan. The target market description should be used to drive the development of all of the tactical plans. Because it’s important for the IMC plan- ner to know why the target market was chosen, it’s a good idea to include the TM rationale when stating the target market.

f04.01_OMM651.ai

Steps 1 and 2 • State the target

market • Develop the

advertising communication objectives

Steps 3 and 4 • Create the

advertising budget

• Develop advertising strategies (focus on the creative strategy)

Steps 5 and 6 • Include creative

execution examples

• List the media recommendations

Steps 7 and 8 • State the key

problem • Develop

media objectives

Steps 9 and 10 • Develop the

media strategy • Develop the

media plan

Figure 4.1 Steps in creating an advertising plan

Stating the Target Market, Developing Objectives, and Creating the Budget Chapter 4

In this step the target audience is also determined. As you may recall from an earlier chapter, the target market refers to those consumers toward whom the marketing plan is aimed. The target audience, on the other hand, is the group of people toward whom the advertising plan is aimed. Often the target audience is different from the target market because the company wants to reach only a subset of the target market with the advertising plan.

It’s also helpful to include a typical customer profile in the target market and target audience state- ments. As stated in a previous chapter, a typical customer profile is a short statement that describes the organization’s average customer. It is not uncommon to have more than one profile, especially for firms that have high market expertise and are very good at market segmentation.

Develop the Advertising Communication Objectives Objectives are very important to include in all IMC tactical plans. The advertising objectives will drive the development of objectives for the other areas of execution. When developing the objec- tives keep these two questions in mind:

1. What is the advertising supposed to do? Does it support the IMC plan? Does it lead the IMC campaign?

2. What impact is the advertising going to have on the TM? How is it integrated into the overall campaign in order to achieve the overall IMC objectives?

Old Spice Advertisement After watching the video, can you determine the target market for this commercial?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu5jL-6Z_Js&list=PLoF_PWSjd6xXR5bEE8GXByeLbEhSbipZB

If you guessed men with an active lifestyle, you are correct.

Advertising objectives should flow from the overall marketing objectives. Because of that, we rec- ommend a programmed approach to developing advertising objectives as described in the steps below.

Step 1: State the Key Fact The key fact is a simple statement that provides the planner information on the product or service being offered, the advertising and marketing environment, competitors, and the target market.

The key fact should

• be written from a consumer perspective, thus the use of marketing and advertising research to understand the consumer is an important aspect of the key fact;

• indicate why consumers purchase or do not purchase (if available) the product or service; • be about one paragraph and written in consumer language; • serve as a guide to the development of the rest of the objectives.

Hypothetical key fact example:

Toyota Camry is a mid-size vehicle known for safety and reliability. Families like the mid-size car because it is affordable and has a sporty look. The car is dependable and long lasting with great gas mileage that makes it appealing to the 35–54 age demographic.

Stating the Target Market, Developing Objectives, and Creating the Budget Chapter 4

Step 2: Define the Key Problem The key problem is the main problem that the advertising campaign will attempt to solve. Potential problems include the following:

1. Awareness problem—consumers are unaware of the products and services offered. 2. Image problem—IMC practitioners want to change or modify a public image of a person,

product, or service. 3. Product or service problem—there may be quality issues with the product or service which the

ad campaign will address. 4. Problems exist in other tactical areas such as public relations.

The key marketing problem should be written from the marcom manager’s point of view and should be a paragraph or less in length. The key problem should be related to a situation where advertising can impact the solution. If the advertising function is not able to solve the key market- ing problem, it may be left to the other areas of IMC or to the marketing department. Keep in mind that advertising can’t solve all problems, especially in other tactical areas. For example, problems with pricing are rarely solved by advertising.

Hypothetical key problem example:

Research performed for Toyota Camry revealed that many consumers no longer connect with the brand and are choosing other brands instead. This perception has to be overcome to increase the number of consumers who choose Camry over other vehicles. In addition, brand loyalty for the Toyota Camry has dropped in the last few years. Toyota Camry needs to improve the connection with current customers to keep customers from defecting to other brands.

Step 3: List the IMC Communications Objectives This step explains why the advertising program will have an impact on the consumer. The explana- tion should be limited to two or three paragraphs and include a bulleted list to make it easy to read and understand. Questions to consider include the following:

• What message are you trying to convey to the target market? • How do you think the customers will respond to the message?

Hypothetical IMC communications objectives example:

The objective of the “Connections” campaign is to increase brand loyalty and sales among current users from 600,000 units per year to 1,000,000 units per year. The message of the campaign is to celebrate the lives of people who own a Camry and to entice others to join the Camry social experience (Saatchi & Saatchi, 2012). Viewers of the ads should identify with the emotional scenes depicted and want to be part of the Toyota Camry experience.

The examples above were based on Toyota Camry’s “Connections” campaign.

Since objectives are written and used for evaluative purposes, they must be clear and concise and follow the guidelines for developing objectives explained in Chapter 3. Advertising objectives may be short-, medium-, or long-term. In the development of IMC and advertising objectives, the objec- tives are developed for the duration of each IMC campaign, typically one year.

Objectives are difficult to develop and write, but have a lasting impact on the campaign and are used as one of the evaluative tools. When writing objectives, a desired outcome should be

Stating the Target Market, Developing Objectives, and Creating the Budget Chapter 4

associated with each objective. Therefore, marcom managers need to know which communication effects they’re trying to achieve. There are common words often associated with objectives. These words will strengthen the value of those objectives. Words often used in writing advertising objec- tives include awareness, brand loyalty, understanding, trust, image, or attitude. Remember there are numerous individuals and groups that are creating plans based upon objectives. They are also used to provide personnel raises and evaluations.

Create the Advertising Budget The advertising budget is used to track financial obligations of the advertising department. Budgeting for advertising occurs in exactly the same way it does for the marketing and IMC plans. Typically in advertising, a bottom-up budgeting system is used; however, many advertisers use a top-down approach depending on their strategy and operational needs and wants. It is important to spend time looking at the budget as it will determine the scope of advertising activities.

The majority of the advertising budget will cover activities associated with media buys. In addition, monies must be set aside for the production of advertisements. The advertising budget comes out of the total IMC budget, and advertising shares the budgeted amounts with the other tactical areas of IMC. In order to achieve true integration, advertisers must leave enough monies to execute other integrated marketing communications functions such as direct marketing and sales promotions. This is the basis for choosing bottom-up budgeting.

Other considerations need to be taken into account as well. For example, the market size will have an impact on the budget. Typically the larger the market, the more resources are necessary to reach

Case in Point: Pepsi Fights to Regain Market Share In 2011, PepsiCo was losing market share to Coca-Cola® and in an effort to regain market share, launched a new ad campaign. At the time the brand was third in sales after Coke and Diet Coke. To combat the loss in market share, PepsiCo increased TV advertising for North America by 30%. The com- pany also entered into a $60 million sponsorship deal with The X Factor, a popular talent search television show (Stafford, 2012).

Investors had expressed concerns that CEO, Indra Nooyi, is spending too much time on healthier brands (fruit juice and food) and not enough time on the sodas. Ms. Nooyi’s goal is to double the rev- enue of nutritious products to $30 billion by 2020 (Stafford, 2012).

Despite featuring Beyoncé in the advertising, as of 2013, PepsiCo is still in third place. In a conference call with analysts, CEO Nooyi stated, “The cola category continues to be a challenge” (Choi, 2013).

Reflection Questions: 1. Why do companies focus on market share when developing ad campaigns? 2. Does increasing the budget automatically increase market share? Why or why not? 3. What advice would you give PepsiCo?

Marka/SuperStock

▲▲ Coca-Cola® remains the top soda in terms of sales and market share.

Developing the Advertising and Creative Strategy Chapter 4

consumers in the market. Market share is also an issue. Market share is the percent of the overall market owned by a particular company. Most objectives contain return-on-investment goals or market share goals. In order to increase market share, additional resources are usually required. Areas or markets that are underserved and offer future revenue potential may need additional funding.

One of the reasons an advertising budget is developed is to match it with the overall IMC budget and compare it to the other IMC tactical budgets. Whenever available, advertisers want to take advantage of the economies of scale offered by making larger media buys. The ability to do this depends upon how integrated the IMC plan is and how the IMC budgets were developed.

The objectives of the campaign help to determine the resources needed and aid in budget alloca- tion. Once the advertising budget has been developed, an overall advertising strategy is developed that focuses on achieving the stated objectives.

›  Learning Check Reflect on your learning by answering the following questions:

1. Why is it important to restate the target market in the advertising plan? 2. What are the steps involved in developing advertising communication objectives? 3. How is an advertising budget developed?

4.3 Developing the Advertising and Creative Strategy Once the target market has been stated, the advertising objectives have been developed, and the budget has been created, the next step in creating an advertising plan involves developing an over- all advertising and creative strategy. This includes providing creative execution examples to your stakeholders.

Advertising Strategy The advertising strategy guides advertisers as they begin to develop their tactical executions. The strategy provides all IMC planners enough information so that the campaign becomes integrated. The strategy helps direct everyone toward the achievement of the advertising objectives. The devel- opment of an advertising strategy is especially tricky because this is the area of advertising that requires creativity. Creativity involves generating new and novel ideas that offer a unique view of a product, service, or idea. According to advertising professionals, creativity includes divergence and relevance (Till and Baack, 2005). When an advertisement includes elements that are different or unusual it has divergence. Relevance refers to the impact or degree to which the elements of an advertisement are meaningful, useful, or valuable (MacInnis and Jaworski, 1989). If an advertise- ment has relevance and divergence, it’s said to be creative. Higher degrees of divergence and rele- vance in an ad make the ad more creative. Generally, the most successful ads contain these elements.

The Creative Strategy The main section of the advertising strategy is the development of the creative strategy (also referred to as creative message strategy or copy platform). The creative strategy is an executive summary

Developing the Advertising and Creative Strategy Chapter 4

of the message the advertiser wants to communi- cate to its various audiences. This strategy should be used by all personnel involved in the develop- ment of the IMC campaign and program. The creative strategy comes out of the creative brief. The creative brief may contain objectives, infor- mation on the target market and key influencers, competitors, product or service features, a single basic benefit of the product or service, support for benefit claims, the tone of the advertising, current audience behaviors and perceptions, desired audi- ence behaviors and perceptions, and desired con- sumer action. The brief helps the advertiser create the creative strategy. The creative strategy is one of the most important areas of the IMC plan and is detail oriented. A few simple steps can be fol- lowed in order to make sure the creative strategy is developed with a systems-based approach. The following paragraphs discuss elements of a cre- ative brief.

Restate the target market. Because the target mar- ket is at the center of all decisions (marketing concept) it is stated and restated many times so that every person on the team knows and the cus-

tomer is kept at the center of all decisions. Often this information is already developed. As empha- sized before, the four “ics” and the typical customer profile help one understand the audience.

List the principal competition. A competitive analysis should have been completed in a situation analysis. For this section, the comprehensive list is not necessary, but the market leader and major competitors should be included. If there are secondary competitors that have significant market share, they should be listed as well. It is important to identify the product market in which the brand is competing as well as the key players in the market. The brand’s advantages and disadvan- tages should be compared to key competitors. This section is brief (one or two paragraphs). Use charts and graphs if available to reduce the amount of text.

Provide a consumer promise. This is where the promise to the customer is explained. In this sec- tion a specific, two-sentence promise to the consumer is stated. The promise must be a solution to a consumer problem. In addition, it should generate a strong motivation to induce the consumer to act. Finally, the promise must be believable to the consumer.

Provide a “reason why.” Based upon the consumer promise, give the audience a reason to buy the product or service. The reason should include facts and documentation to back up the consumer promise. This statement should be able to back up any product claims made by the advertiser. Make facts relevant and informative. It must be interesting to the consumer as well. For example, “9 out of 10 dentists recommend Colgate” gives a fact that is both relevant and informative.

PRNewsFoto/Sears Holdings Corporation

▲▲ Ads that are creative are unusual (divergence) and have impact (relevance).

Developing the Advertising and Creative Strategy Chapter 4

GoPro Camera After watching this video can you determine what the consumer promise is? Why would people buy the camera? Even though the advertisement is over

five minutes long there are still over 20 million views of the ad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3PDXmYoF5U

List any corporate or organizational requirements. Does the corporation require a certain color palate? Do they require tag lines? Does the logo belong in the ad? Are there legal restrictions or implications that will impact the advertising campaign? Restrictions or mandatory information should be included.

The creative brief is specific to the product, company, organization, or service, so each brief will contain different elements. The elements above are typically the minimum required for a creative brief. Although the creative brief is short (thus the name), it has relevant information that will guide all decisions. Once the brief is completed, it’s time to generate the overall creative strategy. Often the strategy will be in both written and graphic format (Figure 4.2). The creative strategy will provide a road map for the other IMC areas as well as for advertisers. See Template: Creative Strategy Development.

f04.02_OMM651.ai

Message: You deserve a

break! Let RoboVacuum clean for you!

Product: RoboVacuum: A robot vacuum cleaner

that runs by itself

Competition: Primary: Roomba

Secondary: Traditional vacuums

Objective: Make RoboVacuum a

household name. Increase sales by 10% in one year.

Strategy: Resonance strategy to

showcase how happy users are with the product.

Company: RoboVacuum Project: Magazine Ad Deadline: Tomorrow

Positioning: Value: Best quality;

lowest price

Mandatory • Social media tie-in • Warning for pet safety

Reason why • Rated the best new

product of 2013 • Improved battery that lasts 10 hours • Saves time and effort • Best price in comparison to competition • Picks up toughest dirt • Transitions to carpet easily

Figure 4.2 Visual example of a creative brief

Developing the Advertising and Creative Strategy Chapter 4

Types of Strategy Although there are many different strategies available to the advertiser, there are main categories used for advertising planning. Sometimes an ad can use more than one strategy to communicate to consumers. The main strategies are shown in Table 4.2.

Table 4.2 Main types of advertising strategy

Strategy Example

Affective. This includes the reliance on emotions to influence consumers. Humor and fear are typical approaches with an affective strategy.

Anti-smoking campaign—This ad from the CDC uses viewer’s emotions such as fear and love for family, to influence the consumer to quit smoking.

Brand Imaging. In brand imaging, the advertiser tries to create an overall image or personality for the brand or product based upon psychological claims.

Stuart Weitzman—This ad associates the brand with sexy high-end fashion.

Template: Creative Strategy Development Creative Strategy

Target audience

Competitive considerations

Creative objective

Advertising strategy

1. The promise

2. Reason why

3. Product, brand, service positioning

4. Corporate, organizational, legal requirements

Rationale for the strategy

PRNewsFoto/Stuart Weitzman

AP Photo/CDC

(continued)

Developing the Advertising and Creative Strategy Chapter 4

Strategy Example

Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This strategy looks at a physical feature of a product or service that is stronger or better than the competition. There must be proof of superiority when utilizing this strategy. This strategy gets to the concept of a value proposition; generate value for the product or service then communicate that value to the audience. It’s always a good idea to know the USP and value proposition even if different strategy is undertaken.

Tide Detergent—This ad uses research to substantiate the product claims that Tide gets clothes cleaner than any other soap.

Resonance. In a resonance strategy the advertiser attempts to connect with the consumer utilizing a consumer’s experiences with a product. The idea is to communicate to the consumer that this brand is the “one to buy.” A show-and-tell execution often accompanies this strategy.

SodaStream—This is an image still from a SodaStream commercial that depicts people who are typical of the target market to show-and-tell how fun and easy it is to use the product.

Product or Brand Positioning. This is a long-term strategy that relies on relation- ship marketing. It allows the advertiser to develop a unique position for its brand and to “position” the brand in the consumer’s mind in relation to the brands offered by competitors. This strategy works well with many consumer products as consumers tend to rank brands and products in their minds based upon preconceived ideas and notions about the product such as quality, price, or longevity.

Subaru—Subaru has positioned its brand as one for young, active consumers who care about their families and pets. Loyalty is a key component of their brand posi- tioning strategy.

Generic. When entering a new market, advertisers have little information to help them assess the environment and may opt for a generic strategy. This strategy provides a straightforward product benefit claim. There is no claim of superiority over the competition. This strategy is very effective in situations where there is no or little competition.

Shine ’n Jam PomWave—In this ad the company explains why the product should be purchased. The ad depicts a person with styled hair who is typical of the target market.

Advertising Archive/Courtesy Everett Collection

AP Photo/SodaStream

PRNewsFoto/Subaru of America, Inc.

PRNewsFoto/Ampro Industries, Inc.

Developing the Advertising and Creative Strategy Chapter 4

With the creative brief and strategy in hand, it’s time to work on the development of some samples to show the client.

Creative Executions When developing the IMC plan, most clients want to see examples of what the advertising is going to look like prior to the actual rollout of the campaign. Additionally, the creative department staff need to see physical renditions of what they plan to use in the advertising campaign to research and make sure no errors exist. Therefore most advertising professionals will include creative samples or examples within the advertising plan. When the account is pitched the client will always want to look at examples. There are many different creative executions that can be included within an advertising plan. Provide many samples of executions to give decision makers and clients the big idea for the campaign. The examples must be tied with the media plan and only contain executions of media that are being considered. Samples of creative executions that will appear in traditional media as well as new media should be included. Media options typically found in an advertising plan include the following.

Traditional Media

• Print layout • Copy (text that will be used in the ad) • Radio scripts • Out-of-home mock-up ads • Storyboards for television ads • Press release samples

New Media

• Screen shots • Sample blogs • Satellite radio copy • Samples of instant messaging communications • Email copy • Sample viral videos • Games to be embedded • M-commerce advertisements • E-commerce advertisements • Podcast samples

This is a partial list of suggested sample executions. There may be more, or more often, fewer sam- ples. Issues involved with new media and electronic media will be discussed in a later chapter.

Ford™ B-Max Take a look at what goes on behind the scenes at the filming of a Ford B-Max commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCvP6A6YQFY

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Concurrently, when developing sample executions, media must also be developed. As previously mentioned, the creative executions should be developed with the media in mind. Let’s take a look at what it takes to develop a media plan.

›  Learning Check Reflect on your learning by answering the following questions:

1. What is the difference between advertising strategy and creative strategy? 2. What are the types of strategy used to develop communication messages? 3. How are vehicles for creative executions determined?

4.4 Media Planning Basics In addition to creative strategies, another key component of the advertising plan is the development of a media plan. The media plan is closely tied to all aspects of the advertising plan and decisions made on media often support other IMC tools such as newspapers needed for the delivery of cou- pons (sales promotion IMC tactic). We’ll begin by examining some common components of the media plan.

The Five W’s of Media Planning When developing a media plan it is important to concentrate on the reasons behind the plan’s development. In order to make sure you have all of the relevant content in the plan it is useful to ensure it includes the five W’s of media planning. The five W’s associated with the development of the media include who, when, why, what, and where. Each of these areas must be included some- where in the advertising plan, and the most advantageous place is the media plan.

Who? Who refers to the target audience. The target market and target audience are generally very similar, but not always. Often the target audience is different from the target market because the company wants to reach only a subset of the target market with the message. Think of advertis- ers involved in the cereal industry. Many cereals are consumed by children. Since many children do not have the ability to buy cereal, parents typically make purchases. The parents purchase the cereal, which is consumed by the children. Children may have some influence on the parent’s pur- chase. Because of that, many cereal advertisers include children in their target audience because kids often see an ad about product and then persuade parents to purchase the product. In this case, the target market is adults, but the target audience is children.

When? When represents the best times to advertise. Most products have buying times or buying seasons associated with them. Marketers and advertisers must be ready to sell products when the consumer is ready to purchase. Advertising when consumers aren’t engaged in the purchase or don’t see a need or want for the product is a waste of time, effort, and money. Because of this, media buys are timed. The result is a media flighting chart or media schedule.

Why? Why refers to the rationale in making the media purchase. Why is one vehicle (type of medium) better than another? Why is the timing for the advertising selected? These decisions help create a more efficient advertising plan.

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What? What indicates the items that need to be communicated to the target audience. What spe- cifically, is the advertiser trying to tell the audience? What unique aspect of the product or service would the audience like to know?

Where? Where indicates resource allocation. Typically this refers to the budget and available mon- ies that can be spent on each of the various media under consideration. At some point in the plan, the advertiser must indicate how much money will be spent on the individual media buys and the total media buys.

Now let’s take a look at the terms used in media planning and buying.

Common Media Terms As stated earlier, one of the problems with developing a media plan and communicating the plan to clients and managers is the inconsistency in media terminology. Below are explanations for the major terms used in media planning and buys. While reach and frequency were introduced in an earlier chapter, it helps to expand upon them here.

Reach, Frequency, and GRPs Reach refers to the number of people exposed to a particular medium’s communication at least once during an advertising campaign. This is often expressed as a percentage. Time lengths for this percentage and for the corresponding time frame, in media, are typically in four-week peri- ods. Every person exposed to the advertising message during that four-week period is said to have been reached. Although many people may have been exposed to this message more than once, each person is only counted once when calculating total reach. Media planners will often use words like unduplicated reach, cumulative audience (referred to as cume) and net coverage to describe reach. Because advertisers want to reach as many people in the target audience as pos- sible, they will usually use more than one media vehicle. An advertising campaign may include television such as Dancing with the Stars, The Voice, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as well as magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Rolling Stone. Often media planners want to extend their reach so they will use outdoor media, radio, or perhaps integrated forms of social media. When developing objectives based on reach it helps to remember that as reach is increased, adver- tising costs go up.

Reach only indicates the percentage of people exposed to the advertising message, it doesn’t indicate how many times that person was exposed. To understand how many times people were exposed to the message (or the exposure rate) advertisers need to plan for frequency.

Frequency, a key to creating effective advertising, is the average number of times the targeted audi- ence was exposed to a given advertising message during the media planning period, usually a four- week period. Because the number used to indicate frequency is an average, media planners will often use the term average frequency.

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Calculating Frequency Let’s take a look at an example of calculating frequency. Let’s say that 90% of the targeted audience has been reached at least one time. Let’s also say that, out of that 90%, 20% were reached three times, 20% were reached four times, 10% were reached five times, and 50% were reached only once. What is the total frequency?

Answer (20 × 3) + (20 × 4) + (10 × 5) + (50 × 1) = 240 = 2.67 90 90

The frequency for the advertising message was 2.67. This means that the targeted audience was exposed to the ad an average of 2.67 times in the four-week period.

Gross Rating Points (GRPs) are referred to as grips. Gross rating points combine reach with fre- quency to develop a metric or summary measurement that provides a weight for a given media schedule. The GRPs will give the media planner an idea of how much weight is needed to generate sufficient reach and frequency to meet the media objectives. Message weight is the total number of advertising messages delivered by a vehicle in a given schedule and indicates the size of the adver- tising effort being placed per vehicle. The GRPs indicate the gross coverage, or duplicated audience for a particular media schedule. Keep in mind that reach refers to unduplicated audience coverage (also known as net coverage). To calculate the GRPs you multiply reach times frequency (r × f).

In the previous example the reach was 90% (or 90), and the frequency was 2.67, which creates 240.3 GRPs (90 × 2.67 = 240.3). It’s the job of the media planner to decide how many GRPs are needed to deliver the required reach and frequency. Because the media schedule is developed prior to obtain- ing the reach and frequency numbers, ratings are used as indicators of reach. Ratings represent the percentage of the population that has been exposed to a broadcast or single edition of a particular medium (newspapers, television, radio, magazines, etc.). A media vehicle will provide the media planner with reach figures. Many companies specialize in the research, development, and report- ing of reach. For example, Nielsen provides ratings (reach) for television, and Arbitron provides ratings (reach) for radio.

Because GRPs rely on reporting total audience reach using duplicated reach estimates, there is often wasted coverage. In order to eliminate the wasted coverage, another metric may be used which is called targeted rating points (or trips). Targeted rating points (TRPs) focus on the number of people in the primary target audience the media buy will reach, along with the frequency. Because of this, media coverage waste is avoided. Waste occurs when the targeted market is overexposed to a message. The dollars spent on that media schedule are wasted.

Continuity Another common and important media objective is continuity. Each media planner must create continuity within the media plan. Continuity is created by addressing the timing of the advertis- ing campaign. In other words the media planner must determine how the advertising is to be located and executed throughout the entire advertising or marketing communication campaign. The central decision is to use research resources to determine when the advertising should run. Should the advertising run throughout the entire campaign which is typical for many consumer convenience goods, or should the planner opt to frontload the campaign (i.e., spend heavily upfront when the campaign is launched and then reduce expenditures throughout the remainder of the

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campaign)? The decision is based upon the type of product or service being advertised along with professional opinions of the marketing and advertising managers in conjunction with the media planner. Improper planning may render the advertising campaign ineffective. For example, if the media schedule is uniform there may not be enough weight to impact the audience during impor- tant buying seasons or periods. A front-loaded or concentrated campaign may leave the advertiser with little or no advertising during certain periods of the year. Generally the media planner will look at three areas when creating continuity for the campaign: 1) continuous scheduling, 2) pulsing and 3) flighting.

Continuous scheduling provides an equal amount of advertising expenditure throughout the entire campaign. With continuous scheduling, the assumption is that consumption of the prod- uct occurs evenly throughout the year or campaign period. Food retailers often use continuous schedules for the sale of bread, milk, and other staples. If the product or service consumption is not uniform, or continuous (i.e., if there are high periods of consumption followed by lower periods) a continuous schedule is probably not the most efficient or best schedule to employ in order to create continuity.

Another choice is pulsing. When using pulsing, some advertising runs throughout the campaign period but this advertising is supplemented with additional advertising in high-consumption peri- ods. This keeps the brand in front of the consumer during the entire campaign, but takes advantage of times when the consumers are more willing to part with their dollars. Many children’s products such as toys are placed in a pulsing schedule in order to keep the consumers aware of the products, but then during the high-consumption period (usually October through December) additional advertising is run to take advantage of the consumer’s propensity to spend during this time period.

When using a flighting schedule, there may be no advertising during certain periods, but large expenditures during other periods. In the example above, a small toy company may not have enough money to advertise using a continuous or pulsing schedule. The company may opt to spend the majority of its money during holiday seasons and little or no advertising during low- consumption periods. There is some similarity between pulsing and flighting, but in pulsing, some advertising is run during the entire period while in flighting that does not occur. As mentioned, advertising is limited by resources, in particular financial resources. All advertising campaigns are limited by budget. In order to get the biggest bang for their advertising dollars, media planners must compare the effectiveness of the various media and figure out which medium (or media) will deliver the greatest number of consumers for the least amount of money. Comparisons between media costs and effectiveness may be measured by the cost per thousand metric.

Cost per Thousand Cost per thousand (or CPM) will help the advertiser compare costs across media. The CPM refers to the cost of reaching 1,000 people through an identified medium. Typically the media planner will want to calculate the costs associated with reaching 1,000 people in the target audience, mak- ing the CPM representative of the advertiser’s unique market. There may be a major difference in the CPMs calculated for all media versus the CPM calculation for a targeted audience. In order to reduce confusion, the CPM measurement for the target market or target audience is identified as CPM-TM (cost per thousand for the target market). The calculation of a CPM is relatively easy. The cost of the advertisement to be placed is divided by the number of total contacts for the medium. In the case of CPM-TM the number of the total targeted audience should be used.

CPM = Cost of the advertisement/Number of contacts (in thousands)

CPM-TM = Cost of the advertisement/Number of targeted contacts (in thousands)

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The cost per thousand method is relatively safe to use if the media planner is comparing CPMs for a given media category (such as broadcast or print), but may not be as effective when comparing data across media categories and vehicles (comparing the CPM for radio versus the CPM for televi- sion). A calculated CPM for radio may be lower than television; however, radio may not be able to deliver a function needed for effective advertising such as show and tell. An additional caveat about comparing CPMs is that there are different costs associated with media buys even within a given medium. For example, it may not be wise to compare a CPM for radio drive time versus a morning radio buy. There are also different costs associated with the purchase of color ads versus black and white ads within a magazine. Advertisers should keep CPM in mind, but make sure they get the impact they’re looking for in terms of their creative executions.

Creating a Balance When media planners develop their media objectives of cost, reach, frequency, weight (GRPs), and continuity, they realize that each of the objectives may have an adverse or inverse relationship with each other. In other words, to generate greater reach, frequency must be sacrificed, and to generate greater frequency, reach may have to be sacrificed. Keep in mind that media planners work within a fairly strict budget so they need to decide which of the objectives are the most important. Marketers seek measurable results for every dollar they spend. With planning, the ad may generate a lot of continuity but what is the impact on the CPM? Do marketers want to increase frequency during heavy consumption times? What is the impact of the product? Does the product or service lend itself to one particular medium or do all the media have the same effectiveness for the product?

›  Learning Check Reflect on your learning by answering the following questions:

1. What are the five W’s of media planning and why are they important? 2. How are reach, frequency, and GRPs related? 3. What is continuity?

Case in Point: The Media Kit—Cosmopolitan Most organizations that sell advertising space prepare media kits. The media kit is a document that provides advertisers and advertising agencies with information concerning rates, readership, and publication requirements. Although the kits can be in paper format, more companies are placing their media kits online.

Cosmopolitan (Cosmo) is a women’s magazine that targets women ages 18–49. As can be seen from the media kit, the majority of readers (58.7%) are women between the ages of 18–34. The media kit also lists CPM for a four-color page (P4C) in comparison to competitors. To check out the media kit go to www.cosmomediakit.com.

Reflection Questions: 1. What is the education level for Cosmo readers? 2. Which of the competitors of Cosmo has the least expensive CPM? The most expensive? 3. How can a media kit help sell advertising space?

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4.5 The Media Planning Process Now that we’ve defined some basic components of the media plan, such as the five W’s and other important terms, we will build on that foundation by discussing how those terms and components come together in the media planning process. Advertising media communicate with consumers using tools such as newspapers, radio, television, Internet, and billboards. Just as in the develop- ment of the overall advertising plan, the media plan includes objectives and specifies a key problem that the media plan will attempt to solve. The media key problem and objectives are related to the overall advertising plan’s key problem and objectives, only more specific to media.

List the Media Recommendations In the media portion of the advertising plan, the advertiser must lay down the overall plan for media buys and utilization. The major premise of the media plan is to be as exhaustive as possible in media inclusion, yet the plan must be as brief as possible. In new product or service campaigns the media plan will be very detailed. Media development for current products and services can use past media patterns thus reducing the overall detail of the plan. In any given media plan, the key media problem, media objectives, and overall strategy should be included. Always include a ratio- nale as to why the various media have been selected.

The key media problem deals with the situations that can be solved by the media plan (i.e., the vehicles used to get the overall message through the media and to the targeted audience). The key media problem helps the media planner decide where, in the media mix, emphasis should be placed in order to reach the highest number of audience members at the lowest cost. The media mix will include all of the various media vehicles intended for use during the campaign. A media vehicle refers to a specific message carrier within a given media category. Thus, USA Today and The New York Times are print vehicles, while Sullivan and Son and NCIS are broadcast vehicles. The key media problem can also help the media planner by defining media terms that will be used for the campaign. Problems occur during the development, planning, and presentation of media if incon- sistent terms are used to create the media plan. Because terminology inconsistences often exist in the media world, the section on media terms will help to generate an understanding of verbiage media planner’s use. Additionally, problems will occur if planners have insufficient data and infor- mation to develop the plan, insufficient time to put together the plan, and insufficiently developed systems to track the effectiveness of any given media campaign.

Develop Media Objectives Prior to executing the media plan, media planners must develop objectives they feel will solve the key media problem and help the media buyers generate and select the correct media vehicles. The reason media objectives are developed is to help advertisers and media planners translate the overall marketing objectives into communication objectives that media can achieve. Additionally, clients want to know if the objectives they’ve provided the advertisers are being met. Checking to see if the objectives were achieved assists in this purpose. Media objectives must be realistic and achievable as well as quantified. If one can’t measure the objectives, one can’t manage the media.

Media objectives use media jargon and at first seem difficult to understand. The following are vari- ous areas (minimally) that media managers need to address when developing their objectives:

• Reach and frequency • Continuity

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• Geographic, cyber, or market weighting • Budget constraints and media availability • Targeted markets and targeted audiences • Gross rating points • Targeted rating points • Length of campaign • IMC mix integration • Flexibility • Sustainability

A rationale for each objective must also be provided to give decision makers a better view and “rea- son why” to accept the objectives.

Develop the Media Strategy When developing the media plan, planners need to create media strategies and rationale for each of the strategies. When putting the plan together, each of the media they plan to use is listed and a rationale is provided in support of why they are using each specific medium. They relate the media strategies to the media objectives. This allows planners to control the media by making sure they are functioning and performing the way they’ve planned. They may also have to explain why they’re not using particular media. Although not exhaustive, the following list provides informa- tion that needs to be addressed somewhere in the media plan.

• The type of media selected (i.e., media classes) • Rationale for the utilization of the media and for strategic decisions • Criteria used to select the media • CPM • Market weighting • Allocation of the budget to various media classes including the dollar amounts and the per-

centages of the total budget assigned to each media class • Budget allocation strategy for the various geographic regions of the audience and the geo-

graphic coverage of the media • Time-period budget allocation (yearly, monthly, four-week, quarterly, etc.) • Reach and frequency levels and the corresponding GRPs or TRPs • Market sizes for the primary and secondary markets and any other markets to be reached • Media units that will be used (15-, 30-, or 60-second broadcast advertisements; full page; half

page; quarter page advertisements, etc.) • Media schedule • Key competitors and a key competitor analysis • The relationships of the strategies

Since the media strategies deal with how media objectives will be achieved, they are expressed in a series of statements. These statements are measured against the campaign results to see if they were successful or had limited or no success. Monetary allocations for the plan must be shown so that the marketing communication managers can allocate the budgeted monies according to seasonal- ity, geographic markets with the highest level of sales, target audiences (focusing on heavy users,

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brand loyalty, etc.), and other important areas. The media plan will have the following basic infor- mation: 1) the media mix, 2) media classes (and format of those classes), 3) geographics, 4) flighting versus continuity issues, and 5) media seasonality.

The Media Mix The first choice made when deciding on which media to use is “do you want a mix of media, one medium, or no media?” Decisions are guided by the pros and cons of each medium available. Media planners have many options when it comes to the purchase of media. The budget will guide which of the options are available for use. The options are summarized in Table 4.3.

Table 4.3 Pros and cons of selected media

Print (e.g., newspapers, magazines, playbills, directories, organizational publications, trade publications, tabloids)

Newspapers Pros:

• Good reach/high circulation.

• The longevity is good

• High acceptance and credibility for many markets

• Short lead-times for placing and providing finished advertisements

• Great medium for FSIs (Free-standing inserts) and couponing

• Differing sections (sports, entertainment, etc.) offer demographic targeting

• Can create different size and shapes for advertisements

Cons:

• Clutter. Often have information overload for some consumers

• Very little exclusivity or protection from competing ads

• Subscription and newsstand sales, for many newspapers, are diminishing due to the online presence of other news content as well as the newspapers own online editions

• Rates are on the rise

• Newspapers are a passive medium which offers little engagement for the reader

• High levels of local and national competition

Magazines Pros:

• Unique advertising spaces and technologies for advertisers who want to cut through the clutter by using stickers, pre-printed inserts, pop-up ads, fold-outs, etc.

• Targeted readership in terms of psycho- graphic and demographic interests

• Allow for regionally directed ads (even in national consumer magazines)

• Geographic selectivity in larger markets (city by city)

• Printed on high quality paper which allows higher quality photographs and illustrations

• Great for branding and image campaigns

• Long shelf life and high pass-along value (multiple readers for each magazine); some magazines are collected and coveted

Cons:

• Advertising space is expensive

• Frequency is typically limited because many are published monthly forcing the advertiser to wait to change the advertising message

• There is a high ratio of advertising to editorial content adding to clutter

• The lead time for ad placement and prepara- tion of copy is long

• Many magazines are going online (called e-zines) which has reduced the need and want for print versions

• Magazine readership, in relation to other print media, is low; only about 3% of consumer’s leisure time engaging with media is spent on reading a magazine

• Magazines reach a low percentage of the overall target market

(continued)

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Broadcast (also known as electronic, includes radio and television)

Television Pros:

• Used by more people

• The duration of time for television use is the highest for any medium

• Typically this medium has excellent reach

• Television, because of its show-and-tell ability, has high impact

• Has potential to increase viral marketing because more television programs and advertisements are shown online and through social media such as YouTube and Hulu

• Allows for creativity

• Useful for branding and image campaigns

• Multiple variations of advertising messaging can be used

• Television has day parts allowing for messaging during different times of day

• Advertising rates are low for the amount of reach generated

Cons:

• Technologies allow consumers to record different programming without having to watch advertisements

• Viewing is seasonal

• Production costs for television ads are high

• The CPM is high

• Television requires more frequency than other media because of the low viewer recall

• Consumers often zap and zip or skip and surf during television commercials

• Overexposure of an ad can occur which irritates consumers

Radio Pros:

• Day parts can be targeted

• There is a low CPM

• Reach is very good

• Frequency is easily maximized because of lower costs

• Allows for a longer message

• Allows for more elaborate messaging

• Typically geographically targeted, although there is also national radio allowing the advertiser to reach the entire country

• Production costs are relatively low

• Advertising is flexible and easily changed

• Advertising is locally relevant to consumers

Cons:

• Consumers can skip commercials or change stations during advertisements

• Radio is a passive medium; most listeners are engaged in other activities when listening to the radio

• Different day parts often deliver different types of listeners making it somewhat difficult to reach an exact audience (even on the same station)

• Radio stations overlap significantly with other stations in a market, which increases costs when the advertiser has to purchase spots on multiple stations

(continued)

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Out-of-Home (including billboard, transit, and bus shelter ads)

Outdoor Pros:

• Advances in outdoor advertising, especially billboards, have opened up more possibili- ties such as tri-boards or tri-wave boards that change messages in five-to-eight second intervals; additional attention-getting digital displays create high resolution much like television

• The CPM for outdoor is relatively low

• Advertising is very large and attention getting (high impact)

• Geographic areas can be targeted

• Simple advertisements are effective

• Useful for reminder advertising

• Advertisements can embed other technolo- gies like temperature and time

Cons:

• The advertising message must be very brief

• Advertising space is limited

• Changing messages or correcting errors are difficult and expensive

• Inventory (or space) is limited in many of the major markets and good locations

• Recall of ads (especially billboards) can be low

• Brand, product, or company image can be damaged based on the location of the billboard and its immediate surroundings

• Effectiveness and total reach are both relative to the traffic patterns, traffic flow, and weather

• Effective to provide directions to a site

Online (banner and block ads, video pre-roll, pay per click links, paid positioning, search optimization)

Online

This will be discussed in a later chapter.

Pros:

• Advertising messages can be changed easily

• Online advertising can be engaging to the consumer

• Costs associated with advertising online are relatively low

• Number of people spending time online increases every year

• Demographic, geographic or psychographic targeting is possible online, more so than on other media

Cons:

• Clutter—there are millions of websites (and more being generated every year) to choose from

• Effectiveness is difficult to measure

• Most people don’t go online for the adver- tising and view ads as intrusive

• Although changing, the advertiser (or agency) is responsible for tracking click- throughs, hits, and the actions taken from online advertising

Sources: Ogden and Rarick, 2010; Ogden and Crescitelli, 2008; Ogden, 1998

Media Classes The second area to look at when developing the strategy is which media classes to choose. Media classes are subgroups of the media mix. For example, if using television as a medium should it be national television? Should it be network? Cable? Which print media should be used? Will the Hollywood Reporter be sufficient or are additional magazines needed to present the message?

Media Geographics When analyzing media geographics one needs to concentrate on the geographical areas where the advertising message is going to be delivered. What specific geographical markets will receive the message? Any methodologies developed that have identified advantageous areas should be included in this section. Most advertisers will refer to the brand development index (BDI) and category development index (CDI) to help make a research-based geographic decision as to where the advertising should run.

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Media Seasonality As stated earlier, advertising messages should run when the consumers are ready to make a pur- chase. Most products and services have seasons when consumers have more interest in a product or service. Think about athletics and sports. When would be the best time to sell baseballs? At the end of the professional baseball season consumers have less want or need for the products. Thus adver- tising baseballs in January is a waste of time, energy, and money. Although not normally the case, advertising may run during slow seasons to try and stimulate demand for a product or service. Clearance sales for off-season merchandise are an example of advertising to stimulate demand.

Flighting versus Continuity Any and all strategic decisions in regard to flighting and continuity must be consistent with the other strategies. A statement of how the media plan will achieve the media objectives, which in turn show how the IMC strategies will be achieved, is beneficial. A useful statement dealing with flighting and continuity may read “to use pulsing throughout the entire campaign allowing for front-end loading to launch the new product during the introductory period of the campaign.”

Develop the Media Plan The last step in planning media is to put everything in writing in the form of a media plan. All information discussed above is inserted into the plan with specific information on how the entire plan will come together to achieve the desired objectives. The media plan should also provide graphic information about what the plan will look like using a series of Excel spreadsheets, dia- grams, charts, graphs, and tables. The information in the media plan will vary depending upon the product, service, and desires of the advertiser and advertising, or marcom agency. Media buyers and others involved in the marketing communication function will want to see an overview of the plan and be able to access the information at a glance. Each media plan should minimally have the following sections or information:

1. Media vehicles 2. Reach, frequency, and GRPs 3. Costs (especially CPMs) 4. Tables or charts (for each individual market a separate media plan is needed) that provide

information on media used, when the ads will appear or run (i.e., a time line), advertising sizes, day parts (if needed), and GRP or TRP levels as well as seasonality, planned expenditures, and reach and frequency levels

5. Additional information such as sales-to-advertising comparisons; ROAE (return on advertis- ing expenditures) projections; user analyses; and reviews of competitive sales, media time, and creative messaging

Graphs and charts are especially useful when reporting media plans. They allow the readers (especially media buyers) to make decisions about the media and which media to include in the campaign.

Figure 4.3 shows part of a media plan. This media plan is targeted toward males age 24–54. There are media choices in cable and national television (heavy on sports-related channels). Network radio is also used. Most of the advertising is during March and April. The media plan generated 430 GRPs for national television and 240 GRPs for radio for a total of 670 GRPs. The total cost for national television was $4,491,622 and $297,438 for radio for a total of $4,789,060. The plan also shows a breakdown of expenditures by period.

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Rationale When presenting a media plan to upper management or to the client, it is essential that data are included that help defend the plan. Rationale explains the reason why a specific vehicle and execu- tion was chosen. The rationale can be long and extensive; however, it is more often short and obvi- ous to the readers and decision makers. Media planners should include supporting documentation from outside research that helps strengthen the concepts and the plan. Enough information must be provided to allow the decision makers the ability to understand what is being accomplished and the “big picture” of the advertising campaign.

f04.05_OMM651.ai

31 7 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

GRPs $ Net 14 21 28 4 11 18 25 4 11 18 25 1 8 15 22 29 6 13 20 27 3 10 17 24

National TV National TV–Male Cable: 30s National TV–Male Cable: 15s Total Male Cable National TV–Scripps: 30s National TV–Scripps: 15s Total Scripps National TV–TWC: 30s National TV–TWC: 15s Total TWC Blended Sports: 30s Blended Sports: 15s Total Blended Sports MLB: 30s MLB: 15s Total MLB ESPN: 30s ESPN: 15s Total ESPN Total National TV GRPs Total National TV Spend

$812,901 $262,993

$1,075,894 $913,594 $418,989

$1,332,582 $166,246

$75,918 $242,164

$495,511 $263, 780

$759,291 $313,371 $372,128

$685,500 $281,388 $114,803

$396,191

$4,491,622

Network Radio Network Radio: 15s Network Radio: 30s Network Radio: 60s Total Network Radio Total Network Radio Spend

$82,049 $48,809

$166,580

$297,438

104 65

169 42 37 79 16 14 30 31 33 64 16 38 54 19 15 34

430

110 80 50

240 $97,438 $200,000

$1,896,198 $2,595,424

Target: M25–54 Spot Radio Day part Mix: AMD–35%, PMD–35%, WKND–20%, DAY–10% Nat’l TV Day part Mix: Cable–40%, Scripps–18% TWC–7%, BL Sports–15%, MLB–12%, ESPN–8%

41 41 16 6 9 9 14 17 16

50 50 30 23 16 12 12 10 8 6 6 5 7 13

18 18 15 15 13 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 6 6 6 6 6 6

11 8 5 7

8 8 10 10 5 7

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Figure 4.3 Portion of a media plan

Post-Test Chapter 4

›  Learning Check Reflect on your learning by answering the following questions:

1. What are pros and cons of print media? 2. How does broadcast media compare to print media? 3. What are media classes? 4. How are flighting and continuity related?

Summary and Resources In this chapter the concept of advertising and advertising’s place in the integrated marketing com- munication plan were discussed. Overall, it’s important to understand the target market and target audience for products and services as these are the bases for the creation of the advertising and media plans. Information was provided to assist the advertiser in the development of the overall advertising campaign and where that campaign integrates with the marketing plan. The chapter also focused on explaining the differences between advertising and marketing and the interrela- tionship between those concepts.

The five W’s of media planning and media execution were presented and definitions of media ter- minology and concepts were also presented. The chapter closed with information on how to put the media plan together and where the media plan is used within the overall advertising and IMC plan.

Post-Test 1. The purpose of advertising is to

a) give the correct target audience the most effective message at the best price possible. b) communicate with research-specified target market segments in a personal manner. c) effectively market and sell unique products at the highest profit margins possible. d) efficiently communicate a message about a company or product through the use of

unpaid publicity. 2. Most of the money in an advertising budget is used for

a) production costs. b) advertising agency salaries. c) media planner salaries. d) media buys.

3. Which type of advertising strategy is most often associated with humor? a) Brand imaging b) Brand positioning strategy c) Affective strategy d) Resonance strategy

Post-Test Chapter 4

4. refer(s) to the number of people a media buy reaches in the primary target audience, combined with the frequency. a) Gross rating points (GRPs) b) Targeted rating points c) Ratings d) Cume

5. What helps determine where to place ads in order to reach the largest audience at the lowest cost? a) Key media problem b) Media vehicles c) Media kit d) Media objectives

6. What is the biggest disadvantage associated with advertising? a) It does not drive consumer responses immediately. b) It is expensive. c) It initiates feedback from customers. d) It does not do a good job of educating people.

7. If twice as many people purchase Brand A tortilla chips than Brand B tortilla chips, Brand A is said to have a larger a) market share. b) market size. c) budget. d) target audience.

8. Which of the following is NOT a usual element of a creative brief? a) A discussion of the major competition b) Budget information about the campaign’s costs c) A solution to a consumer problem d) Legal or corporate requirements for the campaign

9. A media planner has decided to run a television ad regularly throughout most the campaign period, but increase its frequency during the winter holiday shopping season. This can best be described as an example of a) continuous scheduling. b) pulsing. c) flighting schedule. d) uniform scheduling.

10. In a media plan, a newspaper such as the Washington Post is known as a a) broadcast vehicle. b) print vehicle. c) key media problem. d) media kit.

Key Ideas Chapter 4

Answers 1. a) give the correct target audience the most effective message at the best price possible.

The correct answer can be found in Section 4.1. 2. d) media buys. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.2. 3. c) Affective strategy. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.3. 4. b) Targeted rating points. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.4. 5. a) Key media problem. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.5. 6. b) It is expensive. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.1. 7. a) market share. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.2. 8. b) Budget information about the campaign’s costs. The correct answer can be found in

Section 4.3. 9. b) pulsing. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.4.

10. b) print vehicle. The correct answer can be found in Section 4.5.

Key Ideas • Advertising requires planning just as marketing and IMC does. An advertising plan guides

advertisers in the development of an advertising campaign that is synergistic and seamless in regard to the other IMC variables.

• When creating an IMC plan, advertising is typically the first area explored as it reaches the largest number of consumers.

• Product advertising features a product and is aimed toward the end user. Institutional adver- tising features a company, organization, or some other type of institution and its intent is to develop goodwill for the company or organization.

• An advertising plan should always focus on the consumer or targeted audience. • A key fact is used to help develop the creative portion of the advertising plan. A key fact is a

simple statement (in consumer language) that provides immediate information on the prod- uct or service being offered to the marketplace.

• A key problem is an issue that the IMC plan, and advertising in particular, is attempting to solve. The key problem serves as a base for the development of the overall advertising plan.

• Because money is limited, a budget needs to be created that explains where all advertising expenditures will be made. The budget should be integrated into the overall IMC budget and should have line items in order to assess the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. Budgets should also include discretionary amounts in order to take advantage of media sales (or other activities offered to an advertiser).

• Marketers and advertisers are cognizant about market share. Market share gives an indica- tion of how well an advertiser and the company he or she represents are doing in the market- place. Market share is the amount of a market owned by a company or organization.

• It is essential to have an advertising strategy that is integrated into the overall IMC strategy. The advertising strategy is used to guide all advertising executions. In advertising, advertis- ers also develop a creative strategy or copy platform that is also used as a guide in the devel- opment of the campaign.

• Creative executions are samples of what the overall advertising campaign may look like. When looking at utilizing television, storyboards are created to give planners an idea of what

Key Terms Chapter 4

the commercials will look like once they’re aired. A storyboard is an example of a creative execution.

• The guiding principal of media planning is using the five W’s. They are who, what, where, why, and when. Each of these questions should be answered prior to executing a campaign.

Key Terms advertising plan A written document that will be used to guide advertisers in the development of the overall communication’s program.

advocacy advertising A type of institutional advertising that occurs when an organization pro- motes a point of view or philosophy.

copy platform Another term for the creative summary.

continuity Maintaining a stable and continuous advertising schedule during a campaign.

continuous scheduling Scheduling an equal amount of advertising expenditures throughout an entire campaign.

cost per thousand (CPM) The amount of money expended to reach 1,000 consumers. CPM is used to compare the cost of media.

creative brief An outline of basic advertising steps used to develop the overall advertising strategy.

creative strategy A creative strategy is developed to generate the message an advertiser wants to send to its consumers; the creative strategy is also referred to as the creative message strategy or simply the copy platform.

divergence One element of creativity associated with advertising; if the advertisement’s elements are different or unusual, the ad is said to have divergence.

flighting When planning media, flighting is a pattern where there is no advertising during some periods of an advertising campaign, but large expenditures on advertising during times when consumers are ready to purchase and there is high product or service consumption.

gross rating points (GRPs) Reach × frequency for an overall audience.

institutional advertising Focuses on communicating issues about a business or organization as opposed to a product or service.

key fact A simple statement that provides the planner information on the product or service being offered, the advertising and marketing environment, competitors, and the target market.

key problem Defining the area where the advertisers feel they need to use human and financial resources that will best create an effective plan.

market share The percent of the overall market owned by a particular company.

media classes Subgroups of the media mix.

media kit A document that provides advertisers and advertising agencies information concern- ing rates, readership and publication requirements.

Critical Thinking Exercises Chapter 4

media mix The different types of media vehicles that will be used in an advertising campaign.

media vehicles The specific message carriers within a media category.

message weight The total number of advertising messages delivered by a vehicle in a given schedule; indicates the size of the advertising effort being placed per vehicle.

product advertising A type of advertising where the advertiser focuses on the end user.

pulsing A pattern in which advertising runs consistently throughout an entire campaign, with additional advertising during high consumption periods.

ratings The percentage of people exposed to a particular broadcast or print medium.

relevance The inclusion of various elements in an advertisement that tend to be useful or mean- ingful to the consumer; they help drive value for the consumer.

target audience The consumers toward whom the advertising is aimed.

targeted rating points (TRPs) Reach x frequency for the people in the target audience; targeted rating points differ from gross rating points by assessing only the consumers in an organization’s target market.

Discussion Questions 1. What are the main types of advertising and when are they used? 2. What are the main sections in an advertising plan? 3. How is an advertising budget developed? 4. Explain the different types of creative strategies used by companies to develop an

advertisement. 5. What are the five W’s of media planning and why are they important?

Critical Thinking Exercises 1. Find six advertisements that illustrate the strategies listed below and explain why you believe

they are good examples.

• Affective • Unique selling proposition • Brand imaging • Resonance • Product or brand positioning • Generic

2. Select an advertising campaign on television or the Internet and identify the target market and target audience. What other media could be used to reach this market?

3. Select three advertisements and define the problem that you think the ads are designed to solve. Develop two communication objectives that you think the ad is designed to accomplish.

Continuing Project Chapter 4

Continuing Project Below is a template for a media plan. Continue using the product you selected in Chapters 1–3 and develop a media plan. Insert the appropriate information and save the plan to be used as part of the advertising plan (that template can be found within the chapter). Remember that the media plan and the entire advertising plan will become part of the overall IMC plan.

• State the key media recomme

ndations (make sure these reco

m-

mendations com e from the IMC

plan and object ives):

• State the key media problem:

• State the me dia objectives:

• Develop and i nsert the media

strategies:

• Rationale:

• Media tactics (This is the ove

rall media plan. Include any flig

ht-

ing schedules, m edia flowcharts

, media schedule s, and other

information incl uding rationale,

which will assis t the planners a

nd

advertisers in u nderstanding wh

at you hope to a ccomplish):

Case Study Chapter 4

Additional Resources Redbooks—Contains profiles of 13,500 international advertising agencies, including informa-

tion on their accounts, specialization, gross billings, and contact information: http://www. redbooks.com/

Ad Council—The site of the leading producer of public service advertising: http://www.adcouncil.org/

Ad Age—Provides industry news, statistics, and a career center: http://www.adage.com

Creativity—View newly released TV commercials: http://creativity-online.com/

Advertising Educational Foundation—Features information for advertising instructors and students: http://www.aef.com/index.html

American Advertising Agencies—Link to advertising agencies by city: http://www.american adagencies.com/

Case Study: Aflac and its Duck Companies put a lot of time and effort into developing their brand through advertising and other IMC tactics. Often celebrity spokespeople and mascots are used to strengthen the brand message. What does a company do when its spokesperson acts in ways that are inconsistent with the brand? Aflac found itself in a precarious situation in 2011 when Gilbert Gottfried, the distinctive voice of the insurer’s quacking duck in the United States, behaved unprofessionally.

After an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in March 2011, Gottfried used Twitter to post a string of tasteless jokes about the event. Company spokespeople immediately fired Gottfried, who had been the voice for the duck since 2000. The actions were upsetting for the company and many customers, in part, because one in four homes in Japan buys insurance from Aflac.

After Gottfried was fired the company was faced with an advertising dilemma: What should be done about the voice of the mascot? The company held a contest and 12,500 people tried out. After a month of auditions, the company chose Dan McKeague of Hugo, Minnesota. Aflac’s advertising agency, The Kaplan Thaler Group, helped the company find the new voice. In addition to passing a background check, contestants had to convey a range of emotion while quacking the word, “Aflac” (Anderson, 2011). McKeague got a one-year contract in the low six figures which will be renewed if successful. The first commercial with the new duck voice aired May 1, 2011.

The duck is an important part of the Aflac brand and has become an internationally recognizable figure and voice. The Aflac duck is enshrined on Madison Avenue’s Walk of Fame in New York City as one of America’s Favorite Advertising Icons. Aflac is also known for advertising creativity. A 2013 ad campaign from Aflac featured an injured duck that can’t quack because of a fractured beak which put him in the hospital. The spot uses humor to show customers that injury can happen to anyone and how Aflac insurance can help. According to Jay Williams, advertising agency creative director, “The duck has become so well-known and well liked. We wanted to find a new way to harness that affection. The thought came to us: The duck is a working actor. This is what he does. He’s in commer- cials, and he talks about the brand. So, we thought there could be a humorous way to make the duck a metaphor for the people Aflac helps” (Nudd, 2013).

In a follow-up to these initial ads, a new advertising campaign called “Speech Therapy” was aired. In the commercial the Aflac duck is training with an enthusiastic speech pathologist played by

(continued)

Case Study Chapter 4

actress Jammie Patton. The duck is trying to relearn how to quack “Aflaaaaac.” Aflac Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Michael Zuna said. “The ad will make you laugh, but it also car- ries a serious message about why millions of Americans use Aflac to help protect themselves and their families from the financial impact of an unexpected accident or illness” (Aflac Press Release, 2013). Social media was also used to encourage people to send the duck a get well card.

To watch one of the spots follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzj741z4q1k

Critical Thinking Questions 1. What role do mascots play in advertising campaigns? 2. Does humor make serious issues more acceptable when used in advertising? 3. How do you think Aflac handled the tweeting by Gottfried? 4. What precautions do international businesses have to take with advertising? 5. Describe Aflac’s advertising strategy and why it is or is not effective.

Evaluation, Control, Laws, and Ethics

Learning Objectives Upon completion of this chapter the student will be able to:

• Describe the processes involved with evaluation and control of the IMC plan.

• Understand where and how measurement is used in assessing an IMC plan.

• Explain why ethics are important and the different laws and legal constraints that may impact the IMC plan.

• State the importance of self-regulation and the primary functions of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council.

11

© William Bon 2012/William Andrew/Photographer’s Choice

Introduction Chapter 11

Pre-Test 1. Why do many companies make the mistake of not undertaking the process of IMC plan

evaluation? a) There are too many variables that cannot be controlled. b) It is costly in terms of both time and money. c) They lack the expertise to carry out an effective evaluation. d) They wrongly believe that it will not help them improve.

2. Which of the following is true about qualitative research? a) It can be generalized to an entire population. b) It is most useful for research with a clearly defined problem. c) It is a more structured and less flexible form of research. d) It is useful for exploratory research with relatively small samples.

3. In which perspective on profits and principles do companies weigh both profits and principles and seek the best balance between the two? a) The win-win perspective b) The license-to-operate perspective c) The acceptable-profit perspective d) The integrated perspective

4. When was the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) formed? a) 1925 b) 1971 c) 1998 d) 2006

Answers 1. b) It is costly in terms of both time and money. The correct answer can be found in

Section 11.1 2. d) It is useful for exploratory research with relatively small samples. The correct answer can

be found in Section 11.2 3. d) The integrated perspective. The correct answer can be found in Section 11.3 4. b) 1971. The correct answer can be found in Section 11.4

Introduction Jessica Alba is a television and movie actress. After becoming a new mother, she found it difficult to find safe yet stylish products for her baby. She partnered with Brian Lee, a successful entrepre- neur, and Christopher Gavin, a children’s health expert, to launch The Honest Company in January 2012.The company sells children’s clothing that is free of chemicals and safe for the environment. According to the company website (www.honest.com), a monthly subscription service of baby products is available. It includes the most often used products (diapers, bath supplies, skin care).

Evaluation and Control of the IMC Plan Chapter 11

Even startups that have money and famous executives can run into problems. After launching, the company received notice of a trademark infringement from HonestBaby, a small clothing manufacturer. The parties were able to come to an agreement and the issue was dropped.

The Honest Company then initiated a trademark infringe- ment suit against Honest Toddler, a humorous blog and social media feed owned by Bunmi Laditan. At first, these two companies coexisted peacefully but when Honest Toddler filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark office for the Honest Toddler blog and website, The Honest Company requested Honest Toddler to withdraw the application and cease all activities that infringe on Honest Company’s established trademarks.

No agreement has yet been reached and both sides are fight- ing to retain their company names. The negative buzz on social media does not help either company (Frankel, 2013). While the companies continue with their marketing com- munications, the legal issues interrupt their efforts.

Although a lot of work and effort go into the development of the IMC plan, the execution of the plan can be difficult to manage. Objectives help guide the development of the plan. Company executives, or in some cases the client, will also use objectives to see if the plan is performing the way it was presented. Once the plan is in play, the job of the IMC manager is to make sure the plan is performing and delivering value. If the plan isn’t on track to achieve the desired objectives, changes must be made and adjust- ments in each of the variables may be required.

This chapter focuses on the evaluation and measurement of an IMC plan and suggests changes that can be made during the plan’s duration (called control). Although a thorough understanding of methods needed to develop integrated marketing communications metrics is not required, an understanding of what those metrics mean is required in order to effectively manage the plan.

11.1 Evaluation and Control of the IMC Plan The information necessary to generate a comprehensive integrated marketing communications plan has been provided in this text. For example, to create a plan, a company will have generated information and data to successfully execute a campaign. The company will have determined mis- sion, vision, and objectives. Marketing experts will have assessed the market and selected media. Tactical executions and dates and times have been placed into a flowchart. It is time to execute and manage the plan.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Evaluation Using a system of evaluation and control allows managers to control the plan and make the required changes in order to achieve the objectives. Three major advantages occur when an IMC plan under- goes a thorough evaluation process:

PRNewsFoto/The Honest Company

▲▲ The Honest Company makes and sells nontoxic and eco-friendly items for infants.

Evaluation and Control of the IMC Plan Chapter 11

1. Different perspectives add value. Often hardworking and creative professionals are caught up in the day-to-day operation of the business. This creates myopia on the part of IMC profession- als. An outside view of their work and an evaluation process points out to professionals where they’re doing great work and where they need to adjust their plans.

2. Mistakes can be avoided. Any mistake in integrated marketing communications is costly. Industry expenditures in advertising and IMC are in the billions of dollars. By creating a plan and inserting evaluation areas, the IMC planner can be sure that the dollar investment is spent correctly and that time is saved (Ogden and Rarick, 2010).

3. The effectiveness of the overall IMC, advertising tactics, and strategies can be measured to create integration. Because the executions are measurable, IMC planners, over time, begin to understand what works and what doesn’t. Additionally, the media expenditures tied to the budget can be assessed. If poorly developed strategies are highlighted in the evaluation, these can be deleted from the plan. If the executions aren’t working, they can be deleted or modified in order to strengthen the plan (Ogden, 1998).

Although evaluation should occur throughout the campaign, the end of a campaign is most often the time to measure success.

A disadvantage of evaluation and control is that there are other variables that impact a campaign (weather, natural disasters, competition). These variables often affect the achievement of objec- tives and are difficult to measure. Competitors may change their executions or devote money and other resources to their marketing communications operations. The economy may take a down- turn, causing businesses to fail to achieve objectives. When assessing and evaluating the objectives, managers must make sure the reasons for achieving or not achieving the objectives are understood.

Another disadvantage is the lag time between the end of the campaign and when the company experiences results. Campaign results may not be realized until months or years later. Finally, one of the biggest disadvantages of undergoing evaluation and control is the high cost in terms of money and time. Because of the costs associated with the functions of evaluation and control, many companies do not undertake this process. This is a mistake. Although it takes time, money, and effort to do an evaluation, the effort will result in future savings of time and money.

Whose Job Is It to Evaluate an IMC Plan? An important issue that often comes up in the evaluation process is who should conduct evaluations. One of the advantages of using an agency is that agency staff often perform the evaluation process. Almost all advertising and IMC agencies will help track ad placements and audience members. They can also help with make-goods (discussed in the next paragraph), preevaluations and other evalua- tion processes that will help make the campaign more effective. In addition to using outside sources, it is recommended that an inside evaluation be undertaken. Because IMC managers know the busi- ness and audiences, their insight is invaluable. The more evaluation and control methods that are built into the campaign, the more effective the marketing communications will be.

There are many areas in IMC that must be managed. Usually, each division that developed a por- tion of the plan manages that portion of the plan. For example, the media department makes sure that the ads they’ve purchased actually appear in print, online, or are broadcast. Just because a company representative scheduled media, doesn’t mean that the execution (advertisement, com- mercial, magazine ad) will run as scheduled. For example, suppose you just booked a 60-second television commercial on NBC. Right before the commercial runs there is “breaking news” so the network breaks in to air the news and your commercial doesn’t appear where and when it’s

Evaluation and Control of the IMC Plan Chapter 11

supposed to appear. If you’re doing your job, you know that the commercial didn’t air, so you request a make-good. A make-good is a commercial or ad credit the media gives due to an error in the running of the intended advertisement. Although make-goods are a fairly common occurrence, other issues also pop up that will impact the plan, as illus- trated by the introduction regarding The Honest Company’s legal issues. IMC man- agers must think fast and have a strategic response ready for problems and issues that creep into the IMC plan.

It is the job of the IMC vice president or man- ager to make sure all sections of the plan are evaluated, and to approve any changes made to the plan. IMC professionals typically use systematic evaluation and control to make sure they’re on plan.

Evaluation and Control Processes Evaluation processes help determine whether the IMC plan is operating the way it was envisioned. Each piece of the plan is assessed and compared to the objectives. If objectives aren’t being met, the IMC manager must take steps to correct this problem. Taking the necessary corrective steps in the process is known as control. It’s not enough to simply identify what is going wrong with the plan, the IMC manager must step in and correct the problems. Often, especially when dealing with the creative executions, steps are taken to test the creative executions prior to the launch of the full-scale campaign. There are numerous ways to test the creative elements. Many of these will be discussed in the next section.

Typically, the process used when evaluating the IMC plan is to start from the bottom of the IMC flowchart (tactics) and work back to the beginning (mission and vision). It’s less expensive to cor- rect the tactical executions than it is to change overall strategy. By assessing and evaluating the plan from the bottom to the top, IMC planners save time and money as most errors in the plan occur during executions and creative development.

With a process in hand, the next step is to determine what should be evaluated and when the evalu- ations should occur. There are four key times when evaluations should be performed (Ogden and Rarick, 2010).

1. At the beginning of the campaign. 2. At the end of the development of the creative platform. 3. During the IMC campaign period (especially when assessing and evaluating the media place-

ments and media executions). 4. After the IMC campaign has been executed (post-testing).

Each period offers the IMC planner an opportunity to create the evaluation and put controls into play. If the campaign isn’t working, changes can be made. When evaluating a plan, IMC managers

© Galina Peshkova/iStock/Thinkstock

▲▲ While all IMC professionals are involved in evaluation, it is the IMC executives’ role to ensure it occurs.

Measurement and Testing Chapter 11

use measurement tools and metrics to help them create averages from which to compare the cam- paign effectiveness. A measurement is a dimension, a quantity, or a capacity ascertained by mea- suring. It’s a reference standard that is used for comparison purposes. A metric, on the other hand, is a system that helps to quantify a trend, dynamic, or characteristic (Farris et al., 2009). Although there are literally thousands of measurements and metrics that can be used to evaluate the effec- tiveness of the IMC plan, this text focuses on those that are the most popular.

Typically, objectives are measured and evaluated for every area of the IMC plan. Measurement tools and systems help collect and compare the data. A manager may want to know how the com- pany performed last quarter compared to this quarter. Comparing the company to competitors is a common area of evaluation. Comparisons can be made on sales, profits, and IMC expenditures. These and other areas of measurement will help the IMC planner create better campaigns in the future. Taking frequent measurements keeps the plan on track.

In the next section, we will discuss the process of measuring a campaign and some popular metrics used in that evaluation.

›  Learning Check Reflect on your learning by answering the following questions:

1. What are advantages and disadvantages of evaluation and control? 2. Why do you think many companies do not invest in evaluation and control? 3. Who should be responsible for evaluation and control of IMC areas?

11.2 Measurement and Testing Measurement and testing are activities used to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of an IMC campaign. In addition to the main campaign objectives, objectives for each of the tactical execu- tions are measured. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the media objectives, the creative objectives, the public relations and publicity objectives, the personal selling objectives, and so on. Each of the objectives must be evaluated to learn why these objectives were reached, and perhaps more worth- while, why the objectives weren’t reached.

Concept Tests It is always a good idea to begin the measurement process prior to executing the campaign. In that regard, the first measurement to run is a concept test. A concept test uses qualitative data and sometimes quantitative data to evaluate an idea before it’s launched. Concept tests should be run after the IMC plan has been completed, but prior to actually executing the plan. The concept test will provide an indication of the audience’s reaction to the campaign. Audience members are recruited in a variety of ways including online, in person, or by phone. When choosing audience members it is important to select people in the target market.

In a concept test, a sample of the IMC execution is provided to the audience. Ideally, this is in the fin- ished form, but more often companies use storyboards or animation because it is expensive to invest money in an execution that may be changed. The audience is informed of the benefits and unique sell- ing proposition of the brand or product. In addition, price ranges are given for the product or service. Based upon the data, audience members record, either verbally or on paper, how they see the product.

Measurement and Testing Chapter 11

Concept Test This is a video of how a storyboard is used to concept test an ad prior to full production:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YXBPBNhMBk

Concept tests generate a lot of data and information. The test may also indicate how the product would perform in the marketplace. In order to generate a concept test, statistics and research meth- odologies are employed. Many methods for generating data for a concept test are provided in Table 11.1. Keep in mind that these methodologies can be used elsewhere in the overall IMC plan, and in particular for evaluation and control.

Table 11.1 Methods of generating concept test data

Type Description Example

Focus groups Perhaps the most common method used in concept testing is the focus group. Focus groups are small groups of people that represent the target market (or population sample) who are brought together to talk about issues related to a product or brand.

A group of 6–12 individuals that provides ideas and opinions to the focus group facilitator about a new brand of watches. IMC executives use this insight to assess the effectiveness of their plan, their messaging, or some other component of the IMC plan that is under study.

Delphi technique

The Delphi technique is a specialized form of executive opinion research that is used in conjunction with other research tools. The process is secretive and each member of the sample does not know who the other members are.

Upper level executives (or experts) are asked their opinions about issues related to a specific IMC problem. Results are tallied and the research results are shared with all members of the IMC staff who will benefit.

Scaling or rating scales

Scaling is used when researchers are trying to ascertain the strength of some type of a relationship between variables.

Someone has indicated interest in purchasing a new product a company plans to market. Although this person has an interest in the product, what is not known is how strong that interest is. Scaling can provide an indication of how strong the need or want is for that consumer. In advertising, scales are widely used and there are different types of scales that can be developed. Here is a scale question: On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 equal to “will defi- nitely purchase” and 1 equal to “will definitely not purchase,” how likely are you to buy the product?

(continued)

Measurement and Testing Chapter 11

Type Description Example

In-depth interviews

In-depth interviews are used to generate additional, deeper information. Customers provide in-depth information on their likes and dislikes of a campaign, brand, or any other topic under study. Additionally, IMC researchers may uncover other ideas to help in the communication of the brand. If the best customers like the product or brand’s concept, the brand has a good chance of succeeding in the market place. Because a small amount of customers typically provide the majority of revenue for a business, IMC professionals may wish to speak to only the best customers (defined as those who purchase the highest quantities of goods and services) to gain insight about a new IMC campaign.

A researcher interviews the top 50 customers of a bank to determine what likes and dislikes were associated with the banking services.

Questionnaires Questionnaires allow IMC researchers to generate data from the entire target market or population under study. Perceptions, opinions, and ideas can be discovered from questionnaires. Developing a questionnaire is a difficult task. The researcher must correctly word and sequence the questions. The length of a questionnaire is important in order to generate the responses needed. Questionnaires are typically sent to large sample groups and are used to represent the projected population (or target market).

A questionnaire is sent to a sample of 100 customers to determine their perceptions of the company’s public relations efforts.

Paired comparison tests

As on a rating scale, consumers are asked to give their opinions about brands, products, media, etc. Each of the responses is “paired” with a brand in the product category. Paired comparison tests allow IMC planners and managers to measure consumer preferences based upon competing products. It gives the advertiser an idea of which products or brands are preferred over others and why.

The respondent may be asked which type of peanut butter tastes thicker: Peter Pan or Jif®?

Projective techniques

IMC professionals often want respondents or consumers to project their own ideas or thoughts into a situation where a product or brand is used. This technique is also effective in testing media channels. The goal is to discover opinions, feelings, or attitudes about a company, product, or brand.

A group of consumers is shown an advertisement and asked to build a story about what they see.

Although the techniques listed in Table 11.1 are widely used, they’re not the only techniques avail- able (Wilson and Ogden, 2008). IMC professionals often leverage new technologies when developed.

Qualitative Versus Quantitative Measurement Because concept testing involves the generation of ideas and opinions and uses a relatively small sample, the data generated are referred to as qualitative data. These types of data cannot be easily quantified, but can be used to get an idea of how well the campaign’s concept will be received by the targeted audiences. Qualitative data are soft data, based on opinions and attitudes. The find- ings can’t be generalized to the entire population under study. Qualitative data are used more for exploratory research, or research in which a problem is not clearly defined. This type of research is less structured and more flexible in comparison to quantitative data methods. Drawbacks to quali- tative data methods include differences in data interpretation between researchers, small sample sizes, and coding tends to be subjective. Coding involves condensing verbal data into variables and categories that can be more easily entered into a database for analysis.

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To create hard numbers that are representative of the entire population (in this case the target mar- ket) quantitative data must be generated. The focus is on results that are valid and reliable. Valid results mean the measurement is accurate. Reliable results mean that the measurement instrument consistently performs the same when multiple tests are conducted. With quantitative data, statis- tics are generated through the use of a scientific or experimental design. Findings from quantitative data are generalizable to the general public and are germane to the population and target market (Clow and James, 2014). Because of that, quantitative data are most often used to make marketing and marketing communication decisions. When a consumer takes a customer satisfaction survey, the data generated are quantitative. The company compiles the results and develops averages on the responses to provide information for improvement. Drawbacks to quantitative research include researcher bias, tools that don’t correctly measure what they are supposed to measure, a sample that is not random, and error that may appear in the results.

Copy Tests After the initial concepts tests are completed and sample executions created, a copy test is often run. Copy testing is used to evaluate the effectiveness of a marketing communication’s copy to deter- mine potential impact. Based on the results, changes may be made to change the tone or improve the comprehension of the ad. Almost all major advertising includes some type of copy testing. Copy tests are also helpful in selecting one execution from among several choices. Summaries of the techniques used in copy testing are shown in Table 11.2. Keep in mind that IMC researchers will often use multiple methods rather than rely on only one measure.

Table 11.2 Techniques used in copy testing

Type Description Example

Memory tests There are two types of memory tests: recall and recognition. With recall testing, subjects are asked whether they are able to recall any of the ads in the relevant product category. If the person recalls seeing an ad without help, it is called “unaided recall.” If the person is given a prompt or hint, it is called “aided recall.” With recognition tests, subjects are asked if they recognize an IMC execution among several presented.

Consumers are contacted via telephone to determine whether they watched a television drama and if so, what commercials they can recall.

Theater tests IMC executions (and in particular advertise- ments) are tested in a movie theater setting. Theaters are chosen based upon the demo- graphics of their audiences and their geographical setting or location. Subjects are asked recall and recognition questions the next day or after a predetermined time has passed.

A group of consumers are contacted the day after watching a movie to determine if they recognize ads that they were exposed to before the movie was shown.

Central location tests Respondents or test subjects are asked to report to a central location where everyone is tested. The benefit to central location tests is that the researchers can exercise more control in a laboratory-type setting.

A group of college students is recruited to view social media communication efforts. They report to a computer lab on campus where everyone is shown the same content.

(continued)

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Type Description Example

Television (TV) tests TV tests are run directly through an audience’s television set with a device that measures what is being viewed. Researchers select the respondents or subjects for the study based upon the target market or audience.

A group of consumers who agree to participate in a television test are asked questions the day after an evening of television viewing to determine recall (memory) of commercials viewed.

Direct response Direct response tests measure whether consumers behave differently as a result of exposure to the IMC execution. Often the execution contains a telephone number, email or website address, which allows a company to measure the response.

A direct mail piece for a new product encouraged a group of consumers to go to the company website for more information. The company can measure how effective the piece was by counting the number of people who logged on to the site.

Persuasion tests These tests measure the effectiveness of an IMC execution on changing attitudes and behavioral intentions.

Prior to being exposed to a magazine advertisement, people are asked about their attitudes regarding the product and the probability of purchasing the product within the month. After exposure to the ad, the same questions are asked to determine if attitudes or behavioral inten- tions to purchase the product changed as a result of exposure to the ad.

Continuous measure- ment tests

A group of viewers are given hand-held devices that contain a dial or other measurement device. As each person views or listens to an IMC execution, they indicate their dislike or like by twisting the dial.

A group of people use devices to indicate like or dislike of an ad for a new brand of potato chips.

Physiological measures

These tests measure involuntary responses from consumers such as eye movement, pupil dilation, skin response, or brain waves.

Consumers are asked to view magazine advertisements while hooked up to a galvanic skin- response measuring device.

When copy testing IMC executions, the closer the execution is to the finished form, the more useful the results will be.

The Use of Eye Tracking Measurements This video explains how companies use eye tracking measurements to measure advertising effectiveness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b72j1n1qwJ4

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Concurrent Tests When testing IMC executions companies can opt for concurrent tests. Concurrent testing and evaluation are used while an IMC campaign is up-and-running. The idea of utilizing concurrent testing is that the advertising and other IMC executions can be changed or modified according to the research or test results. There are two key methods of concurrent testing. These are referred to as coincidental studies and tracking studies.

In coincidental studies, the audience is tested while being exposed to the various IMC media. The most effective and the most common types of coincidental studies are used for broadcast media. This method was popularized by Claude E. Hooper, a pioneer in audience measurement. A random group of people is called and asked three questions.

1. Are you listening to the radio or watching television? 2. What program are you listening to or watching? 3. Which station or channel is it?

There has been a decline in the usage of coincidental studies in recent years because of what has been termed, “the cell phone challenge.” As shown in Figure 11.1, as cell phone use increases many families are eliminating the landline telephone. This creates a problem for survey researchers. Adding consumers who use cell phones to the sample costs more and it is more difficult to obtain cooperation (Christian, Keeter, Purcell, and Smith, 2010). With fewer people having landlines, noncoverage bias increases, which means that the results can’t be trusted because a large portion of the population is not included in the survey. Sometimes the cost of additional information or data is simply not worth it to the IMC planner. Other approaches are used such as the use of handheld devices with a dial that helps respondents indicate like or dislike of an IMC execution.

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Jan–Jun Jan–Jun Jan–Jun Jan–Jun Jan–Jun Jan–Jun Jan–Jun Jan–Jun Jan–Jun Jan–Jun 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

45

40

35

30

25

P e rc e n t

20

15

10

5

0

Adults with no telephone service

Children with no telephone service

Adults with wireless service only

Children with wireless service only

40.6

34.0

2.2 1.9

Figure 11.1 Increase in wireless telephone service

Wireless only means there are no telephone landlines in the household.

Source: Blumberg, S. J., Luke J. V. (2012). Wireless substitution: Early release of estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, January–June 2012. National Center for Health Statistics. (December). Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm.

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The second type of concurrent study is called a tracking study. Tracking studies help measure behavior and are typically conducted throughout the integrated marketing communications campaign. Researchers generate information on the effect of the campaign and the amount of actual exposure (as opposed to forecasted exposure) the campaign is generating for the tar- geted audience.

A popular method for tracking studies is using the Internet. Respondents are shown some images from an IMC execution and asked to answer questions relating to recognition and awareness.

The use of the Internet makes tracking easier because it is easy to determine if a sale or other action occurred as a result of a banner ad, pop-up ad, social media request, or other type of execution. Several browser companies such as Google offer an ad tracking service. Advertising agencies also have their own tracking systems, as do other third party companies that specialize in this area.

With tracking studies, the schedule for study execution is developed prior to the campaign and should be followed. Data from tracking studies can help the IMC professional by providing data and information on

• product satisfaction or dissatisfaction, • consumer awareness (or lack of), • attitudes of the market, • consumer desires, • how the product is used or other product usage data, • media habits, and • other consumer feedback.

Because of the value of the information obtained, there are many different methods of collecting data. The methods are summarized in Table 11.3.

Table 11.3 Tracking methods

Type Description

Consumer diaries Consumers are asked to keep a diary and record types of products, brands, coupon use, etc.

Dustbin checks Consumers are asked what types of products and services they’ve used over an extended period of time. The researchers physically remove the packages from the trash or dustbin and count the different types of brands and products in order to determine product usage.

Mall intercept studies Researchers generate data by interviewing consumers in a mall. While not typically used in tracking studies, it can be useful for determining attitudes and satisfaction after purchase.

Pantry checks Researchers physically go to consumers’ homes (with permission) and record what types of brands, products, and services the consumers are using.

Scanner data Large companies generally hire Symphony IRI or Nielsen Media Research, who use optic scanners like the ones that scan grocery purchases at check-out counters, to generate information and data on consumers’ purchase patterns and habits.

TV panels and elec- tronic monitoring

Nielsen is the leader in tracking television-viewing habits. They use electronic tech- nology, which tracks viewing behavior down to the second. Audience measurement is integrated across TVs, PCs, and mobile phones. Families participating agree to have their electronic devices monitored.

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Concurrent testing is very useful. It allows IMC planners to get the big picture of their IMC cam- paign in real time. Concurrent evaluation and testing allows IMC planners to make changes to a plan in real time (while the campaign is running). Because of these benefits, companies save resources on their IMC initiatives. Although concurrent testing is beneficial and useful, it should be used in conjunction with the other measurement techniques.

Post-Testing In addition to the use of copy testing, concept testing, and concurrent testing, IMC researchers also utilize post-testing to generate additional insight into individual IMC execution and overall cam- paigns. Although the concept and execution of post-testing is much the same as the processes used in concurrent testing, post-testing takes place after the IMC campaign has run. The idea behind concurrent testing and post-testing is to assess the impact of the campaign during exposure and after the audience has been exposed to the message. Researchers try to measure the impact of the communications with the audience and they may wish to measure behavioral changes that have occurred as a result of the IMC campaign. In order to test changes in behavior, researchers must look at sales and product inquiries. The communication efforts are measured by the use of recogni- tion and recall. Associated with recall and recognition is, to some extent, awareness and attitude of the consumers. Because of this association, awareness and attitude are often studied as well.

Industry Metrics Marketers and integrated marketing communications professionals need to be able to see how well their plan is doing when compared to their competitors’ efforts. This task can be accom- plished utilizing industry metrics. Some of these metrics have been covered in earlier chapters because they are used to evaluate individual IMC areas. Industry metrics provide data and infor- mation on the competition, which provides valuable benchmark data. Investors, managers, and executives like to know how well their dollars are performing. IMC workers can generate this information by comparing their data against industry metrics. Agency or third-party providers often compute commissions based on industry metrics, which makes reliability important. The following metrics are useful in helping an IMC planner know how well the plan is performing (Farris et al., 2009).

Market Share. Market share can be calculated to determine the level of competitiveness a company has in relation to the industry. Market share can be calculated in sales or units. For market share in sales, managers look at the sales revenue as a percentage of their market sales (revenues). In assess- ing unit market share, the unit sales are looked at as a percentage of the market’s unit sales.

Relative Market Share. Many times managers want to know how their market strength compares to that of their competition. In order to generate a relative market share metric, brand market share is divided by the largest competitor’s market share. This can be accomplished using either revenues or unit sales.

Brand Development Indices (BDI). Because brands perform differently in different markets, man- agers want to know which markets provide the best sales for their brands. Using a BDI, manag- ers can determine differences in consumption and purchases for each of their market segments. In developing a BDI, brand purchases and consumption in each segment are compared to the overall market.

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Category Development Indices (CDI). Much like a BDI, a category development index allows man- agers to look at market segment differences or regional differences for an entire product category. With this information, managers may determine why their brands aren’t performing in areas where they should be performing better.

Heavy Usage Index. Businesses like to know where their heavy brand or product users are located. The heavy usage index measures the usage (by customers) of a category for a specific brand. Managers look at the category purchases by customers for specific brands. This is compared with purchases of other brands in that category by comparing other average customer purchases and usage. Both revenue and unit sales may be measured. For example, a company is interested in heavy usage of “Quench Plus” bottled water (a high-end brand of water) by students. Over the period of one semester the average purchases by students of Quench Plus was 10 six-packs of 12-ounce bottles. The average purchase of any type of bottled water for this market was five six-packs of 12-ounce bottles. When the Heavy Usage Index is calculated (10/5 = 2), we find that for this particular mar- ket Quench Plus is preferred over other water brands. The students in this market are heavy users of Quench Plus. In fact, these students buy twice as much Quench Plus than the average consumer buys of any brand of bottled water.

Awareness, Attitudes, and Usage (AAU). Because consumers don’t purchase products they’re not aware of, IMC planners like to know the awareness levels of their customers. Once awareness is understood, IMC planners will seek information on the consumers’ attitudes toward the brand, and finally, their usage levels. These three terms go hand-in-hand when assessing this metric. Thus, the IMC planner may want to know the awareness level of a brand and will ask the consumer if he or she has heard of the brand. If the consumer has heard of the brand, the IMC planner would then like to know what the consumer’s attitude is about the brand. They may ask a consumer for a brand’s strengths and weaknesses. Does the consumer like the brand? Is the brand for him or her? Why does the consumer like the brand? Once planners understand the brand attitude, an assess- ment of how often consumers use the product will help in the IMC executions. The IMC planner or researcher may ask, “How often do you use this brand?” in order to generate this information. If a customer is aware of a brand, the IMC planner may seek to generate more information by assessing where the brand is in the customer’s mind. Is it top-of-mind awareness? These results are compared against other brands in the category. By measuring how many consumers identify a company’s brand, one can assess the brand awareness level of the customer(s).

Customer Satisfaction. It’s important to know a customer’s level of satisfaction with a product. Repeat purchases are made only when a customer is happy or satisfied with the brand he or she pur- chased. By identifying what customers don’t like about a product or brand, changes can be made to the brand (or the marketing of the brand) that will enhance customer satisfaction. Typically, data are generated through primary research studies that use either a 1–5 or 1–10 point scale. Customer satisfaction levels can be compared to direct competitors in the industry (when known).

Return on Investment (ROI). Return on investment is a good metric because it allows IMC execu- tives to compare how well their dollars are performing in comparison to competitors. It also allows the executives to explain to their clients how well the plan is working. ROI forces accountability and has been used as an overall metric for corporate or business performance. With marketing however, the ROI metric is a bit harder to define. “Little agreement can be found regarding what ‘ROI’ means when applied to a marketing program” (Clow and Baack, 2014, p. 429). We recom- mend that IMC planners use the overall ROI coupled with a return-on-sales (ROS) metric and a return-on-marketing investment (ROMI) metric. The easiest way to generate a ROMI metric is to divide the generated sales by the marketing spending. For example, divide the sales generated by a direct mail piece by the cost of the direct mail piece.

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Other metrics such as impressions, gross rating points, net reach, frequency, share of voice, click- through rate, cost per click, etc., are used in the development of the media plan. The more metrics that can be generated, the better idea a manager will have on how effective the plan is or was.

›  Learning Check Reflect on your learning by answering the following questions:

1. When should qualitative measurements be used instead of quantitative measurements? 2. How can copy tests be useful? 3. Why is it important to use industry metrics?

11.3 Laws and Ethics It can be difficult to determine the line between right and wrong. Many unethical activities are also illegal. However, in some instances, an act is legal but unethical and in others, an act is illegal but ethical. If you are confused, you are not alone. Every year marketing professionals release IMC content that falls in gray areas of acceptable ethical and legal activities.

IMC professionals must consider both laws and ethics when developing content. Often the “right” answer is not clear. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the field of ethics involves “systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior” (Fieser, 2001). The concept of what is right or wrong is often based on religious beliefs and moral codes of conduct. In contrast, laws are rules established by society. One problem in studying ethics is that people may not always agree on what is right and wrong. A person faced with making a judgment about another person’s moral conduct bases that decision on his or her own system of ethics; when these systems differ, disagreement arises about whether a particular action is moral (Forsyth, 1980).

Ethics The study of ethics is divided into three general categories: (1) metaethics, (2) normative ethics, and (3) applied ethics (Fieser, 2001). Metaethics is the study of the origin of ethical concepts and theories. Normative ethics involve deciding whether certain behaviors are right or wrong. It tells us what a person should do when confronted with a particular situation. It also assumes there is only one criterion to guide right and wrong behavior. The criterion could be a single rule such as the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”). Alternatively, the criterion could be a set of principles that guides behavior, such as a code of ethics adopted by an advertiser. Applied ethics involve analyzing specific ethical dilemmas. IMC examples include deceptive advertising, developing fake websites, using unfair competitive practices, using hard sell techniques, and not fulfilling promises made to consumers.

Differences in Ethical Perspectives One problem in studying ethics is that people may not always agree on what is right and wrong. An IMC professional faced with making a judgment about another person’s moral conduct bases that decision on his or her own system of ethics; when these systems differ, disagreement arises about whether or not a particular action is moral (Forsyth, 1980). To help explain differing perspectives, a classification of ethical ideologies has been developed and is presented in Figure 11.2.

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The relativism dimension describes the extent to which a person rejects universal moral rules in favor of relativism. On the high end of the relativism dimension, an individual rejects the idea that there are universal codes to which one must adhere. On the low end, an individual believes there are universal rules of conduct that apply to all people. The idealism dimension describes the extent to which a person is idealistic in anticipation of outcomes. On the high end of the idealism dimension, an individual believes one can always realize desirable consequences by making the right decision. On the low end, a person believes that undesirable actions are often mixed with desirable actions.

Situationists are high in both relativism and idealism. These individuals reject universal moral rules and advocate analysis of moral problems by considering the situation and context in which the behavior occurs. They also believe that with the right action, desirable consequences are obtain- able. For example, a situationist would be optimistic about the outcome of a company scandal if management comes clean. The situationist would also believe that the overall situation and context of the environment must be understood to explain why managers at the company broke laws or ethical standards.

Subjectivists are high in relativism but low in idealism. People in this category reject universal moral rules in favor of personal values and perspectives to guide behavior. They also believe that there are bound to be undesirable consequences mixed in with desirable consequences. Subjectivists would view a company scandal in terms of the personal ethics that guided management’s behavior. Individuals in this category do not believe there are universal rules of right and wrong. Instead, ethical behavior is guided by a person’s perspective. Subjectivists would expect undesirable conse- quences, even when right actions are taken.

Absolutists are low in relativism and high in idealism. People in this category assume the best pos- sible outcome can always be achieved by following universal rules. An absolutist would say that if company executives follow laws, the company will experience good outcomes. This person does not believe that context is important.

Exceptionists are low in both relativism and idealism. These individuals believe that moral universal rules guide conduct but that the consequences of the action must also be considered to determine

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Relativism

Idealism

Low Subjectivists Exceptionists

High Situationists Absolutists

High Low

Figure 11.2 Difference in ethical perspectives

Source: Forsyth, D. R. (1980). A Taxonomy of Ethical Ideologies, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39:1 (1980) pp. 175–184.

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whether or not the behavior is moral. Exceptionists are pessimistic, believing that undesirable con- sequences will likely occur even when rules are followed. An exceptionist would say that when executives do not follow laws of behavior, to determine whether their behavior is ethical, a full examination of the consequences of the behavior would need to be conducted, because even when the rules are followed, there can be undesirable consequences.

A person’s decision as to whether a particular behavior is right or wrong depends on his or her ideology. For clarification, consider the following IMC example: Is it morally right for an IMC pro- fessional to create an ad that overly exaggerates product capabilities? The situationist would say it depends on why the IMC professional created the ad. Perhaps the person knows that the competi- tion is also exaggerating claims and chooses to match their actions.

The subjectivist would also examine the situation to determine what is right or wrong. The subjec- tivist would most likely believe that undesirable consequences would result from the exaggeration. The absolutist would say that a universal moral rule is to tell the truth. People in this category would agree that telling the truth (and not using exaggeration) is the best course of action in all circumstances. Finally, the exceptionist would say that moral absolutes guide judgments but that consequences should be considered; if necessary, exceptions should be made to universal standards of conduct. Thus, if exaggerating product capabilities were the best for all parties concerned, the exceptionist would agree that is the best course of action.

The Profit–Principle Relationship According to the marketing concept, companies should strive to satisfy customer wants and needs at a profit. Sometimes ethical conflicts arise because the retailer is under pressure from stockhold- ers and other publics to show profits. Four perspectives clarify the relationship between profits and principles (Graafland, 2002). The interplay of profits and principles varies depending on the perspective a particular company employs.

1. The win-win perspective assumes that the more ethically a business operates, the higher the profits for the business. Therefore, no conflict exists between ethics and profits. Instead, profits and principles reinforce each other. This perspective is the most ideal situation.

2. According to the license-to-operate perspective, a company maximizes profits under the condi- tion that the level of principles adhered to by the company is enough for it to receive a “license” from society to operate. The license stands for the acceptance of a company’s operations by all stakeholders (i.e., customers, stockholders, government) who can impact the profitability of the company. This perspective recognizes that not all ethical behavior will increase competitive advantage, especially when others are operating unethically. In the license-to-operate perspec- tive, firms strive to maximize profits as opposed to principles.

3. The acceptable-profit perspective assumes that companies want to maximize principles but are restricted because the market demands that profitability reach a level required by the capital market to ensure financial continuity. In this perspective, firms strive to maximize principles as opposed to profits, but they are restricted by the need to generate a minimum level of profits to ensure the company survives.

4. The integrated perspective attaches an optimum intrinsic value to both profits and principles, and the company selects the optimal balance between the two. The optimal balance depends on the relative weights of profits and principles in company operations. This perspective is the most balanced of the four.

These divisions are not clear-cut, because changes in the environment may alter outlooks. But they provide a framework for viewing profit-principle conflicts.

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Culture and Ethical Perspectives A country’s culture can have a significant effect on ethical perspectives. More and more compa- nies are becoming global through the Internet and global expansion. Therefore, it is increasingly important to be aware that cultural differences exist. In addition, marketing professionals must understand the international laws that may affect the company.

Companies encounter difficulties when it is not clear which standards the company should follow: those of the home country or those of the country in which it conducts business. The importance of understanding the laws and ethical codes of the country in which the company operates cannot be overestimated. Globalization is forcing companies to examine their laws and ethical codes of conduct; in the future there may be international standards, which will make ethical choices easier.

Offensive Advertising Pushes Ethical Boundaries This segment is from an Australian news program. It discusses offensive advertising and how com- panies are pushing the boundaries to get noticed. The video also displays offensive advertising from

the Australian viewpoint. Warning. The video contains offensive advertising.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_C3nH2VzdY

Laws Because of the fact that marketing communications permeate everyone’s life, every day, IMC gen- erates a lot of attention. Because of this attention, many laws and regulations impact the execution of IMC plans.

There are essentially two schools of thought in regard to consumer protection. In a capitalist soci- ety, the public generally views business operations as a necessity to keep the economy growing and moving. Consumers are expected to research and understand the products and services that they’re purchasing. This school of thought subscribes to the theory of caveat emptor, a Latin phrase meaning “let the buyer beware.” Consumers began to complain about products that were defective or didn’t perform as stated. In the early 1900s, the U.S. Congress passed numerous laws to pro- tect consumers from deceptive and exploitive business practices. As such, the consumer mantra became caveat vendor, meaning “let the seller beware.”

The Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in 1906. In 1938 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act went into effect. These Acts were the beginning of consumer protection laws that protected consumers from adulteration of food and misbranding of food, drugs, and cosmetics (as well as therapeutic devices).

Consumer Protection In the 1960s and 1970s, consumers were gaining more momentum and power, and the U.S. govern- ment enacted numerous acts that focused on consumer protection (Ogden and Ogden, 2005). These early regulations, acts, and laws had a huge impact on the development and execution of integrated marketing communication initiatives. Below are some of the major acts, laws, and regulations that affect the development of IMC plans. Please keep in mind that there are many more local, regional, and state laws that will also impact a plan. All these laws must be monitored and evaluated to ensure that the IMC plan is in compliance with all laws and regulations.

Table 11.4 summarizes the key regulations.

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Table 11.4 Key consumer protection laws

Regulation Description

The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1966

The law prohibits deceptive product labeling. This law also requires product information to be placed on a package to allow consumers to compare products.

The Truth in Lending Act of 1968

Creditors must disclose all costs and terms of credit in a clear manner. This law mainly affects financial institutions and how they market their products.

The Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972

This Act forces monitoring and regulation in regard to product safety issues, safety guidelines, and banning and recalling products.

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975

Requires warranties to be written in clear, easy-to-understand language.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission Improvement Act of 1976

This Act allows consumers to file suit against the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Mail or Telephone-Order Merchandise Rule

This rule requires that any business using the telephone or catalogs as a channel ship products as promised or within 30 days. If a business cannot ship when promised, it must notify the customer, who then has the right to cancel the order. The Rule was amended in 2011 to make clear that Internet purchases were included. The FTC frequently files suit against companies that are in violation of this rule.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

This Act makes it illegal to collect information from children under 13 years of age without parental permission. Any company operating on the Internet that targets children must supply notice of its information collection practices, the type of information it collects, how it is used, parental permission prior to collection of personal information, and information on confidentiality of the information (Davis, 2002). The Act was revised in 2013 with stricter rules.

Market Place Fairness Act Recent laws have been proposed that will force online retailers to collect sales tax on purchases sold to people in states that collect sales tax. If passed, online retailers will need to make major adjustments to billing practices and consumers will no longer be able to avoid paying taxes. IMC promotions will also have to be adjusted to inform patrons of the new law.

Testimonials and Endorsements Many laws and guides have been developed that limit how testimonials and endorsements may be used in the development of IMC executions. Testimonials and endorsements must reflect typical consumer experiences unless otherwise clearly communicated. Testimonials and endorsements cannot be made unless the advertiser can substantiate all claims made in the advertisement and the advertiser must reveal any relationships between the endorser and the company. It must be disclosed if actors in the ad are compensated.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) This video explains the COPPA act and best practices:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ1I1XQk0HQ

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Antitrust Laws Marketers operate under many antitrust laws. These laws include the Sherman Act, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act, and the Clayton Act. Additionally, the Lanham Trademark Act of 1946 deals with issues of trademarks and copyrights. This Act has a major influence on how trade- marks, brands, and service marks are developed. The laws are summarized in the following feature.

Summary of Antitrust Laws Antitrust laws describe unlawful practices in general terms, leaving it to the courts to decide what specific practices are illegal, based on the facts and circumstances of each case.

• Section 1 of the Sherman Act outlaws “every contract, combination ..., or conspiracy, in restraint of trade,” but long ago, the Supreme Court decided that the Sherman Act prohibits only those contracts or agreements that restrain trade unreasonably. Determining what kinds of agreements are unreasonable is up to the courts.

• Section 2 of the Sherman Act makes it unlawful for a company to “monopolize, or attempt to monopolize,” trade or commerce. As that law has been interpreted, it is not necessarily illegal for a company to have a monopoly or to try to achieve a monopoly position. The law is violated only if the company tries to maintain or acquire a monopoly position through unreasonable methods. For the courts, a key factor in determining what is unreasonable is whether the practice has a legitimate business justification.

• Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act outlaws “unfair methods of competition” but does not define unfair. The Supreme Court has ruled that violations of the Sherman Act are violations of Section 5, but Section 5 covers some practices that are beyond the scope of the Sherman Act. It is the FTC’s job to enforce Section 5.

• The Wheeler-Lea Act of 1938 allows the FTC to investigate deceptive practices and to regulate advertising.

• Section 7 of the Clayton Act prohibits mergers and acquisitions where the effect “may be substan- tially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.” Determining whether a merger will have that effect requires a thorough economic evaluation or market study.

• Section 7A of the Clayton Act, called the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, requires the prior notification of large mergers to both the FTC and the Justice Department.

Source: The Federal Trade Commission Fact Sheet http://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/antitrust-laws.

Truth in Advertising Much of marketing communication falls under the truth-in-advertising Federal Trade Commission Act (Advertising FAQs . . . , 2013) which says

• advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive, • advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims, and • advertisements cannot be unfair.

Additional laws apply to ads for specialized products like 900-telephone numbers, and products sold through mail order or telephone sales. Every state also has consumer protection laws, which apply to ads running in that state.

An ad is deceptive if it contains a statement—or omits information—that

• is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances; and • is “material”—that is, important to a consumer’s decision to buy or use the product.

Laws and Ethics Chapter 11

A business practice is unfair if • it causes or is likely to cause substantial consumer injury which a consumer could not rea-

sonably avoid, and • it is not outweighed by the benefit to consumers.

In 2011, in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over false advertising claims, Reebok® agreed to pay $25 million (Eleazar, 2011). The FTC said the Reebok made unsupported claims that walking in Easy Tone footwear was “proven” to tone buttocks 28% and calf muscles by 11% more than other shoes. Before a company runs marketing communication, it has to have “reasonable basis” for any claims. This means there is objective evidence to sup- port the claim. Reebok did not have proof of its claims. Expert witnesses, proof of study results, or scientific evidence can be pro- vided as proof.

Often companies use puffery to develop IMC materials. Puffery is the use of an exagger- ated claim about a product or brand. In gen- eral, puffery is allowed as long as the claim is general and is not quantifiable. A coffee shop may advertise “the world’s best cup of coffee,” for example. It would be difficult to quantify whether the cup of coffee is the best in the entire world! Of course, most reasonable people know that these types of claims are not based on research. The court holds that a reasonable person is not likely to take puffery seriously. In Pizza Hut, Inc. v. Papa John’s International Inc., the courts recognized that Papa John’s claims of “better ingredients, better pizza” was puffery. The terms used were generic and did not name specific competitors (Gurnani and Talati, 2008). Had the claim included a specific reference to Pizza Hut the courts may have ruled differently.

As consumerism increases there will be more legislation passed. A lot of the legislation will be aimed at marketers and advertisers. Certain pieces of legislation require research and evaluation. In order to make sure one is in compliance with all laws and regulations, IMC professionals need to become experts on laws that will impact them or their clients. A general assessment of the govern- ing bodies may help in the quest for these types of data. While it is not in the scope of this text to cover all laws, IMC professionals must be aware of laws that cover the issues listed here:

• Postal fraud laws • The Copyright Act of 1976 • Bait-and-switch advertising • State consumer sales practices act(s) • State uniform deceptive trade practices act(s) • Impacts of product liability on advertising and IMC • Rights of privacy • Right of publicity

© Ruaridh Stewart/ZUMA Press/Corbis

▲▲ Companies should be able to support their product’s claims. Reebok® paid $25 million to settle a false advertising suit related to Easy Tone shoes. There was no evidence to support the product’s claim that it increased muscle activation.

Self-Regulation Chapter 11

• Rules and regulations pertaining to contests and lotteries (note that the U.S. Postal Service; The Federal Communications Commission; The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and the Federal Trade Commission all have jurisdiction and regulatory power over lotteries and contests)

• Nondisclosure agreements • Client–Agency law • Breach of contract • Children’s advertising • Alcohol and tobacco advertising

11.4 Self-Regulation During the early 60s and into the 70s, debates began to emerge about the ethical behavior of adver- tisers. Truth-in-advertising became important and several groups were formed to help self-regulate the industry. In 1971, the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) was formed as an offshoot of the Better Business Bureau to help ensure that the industry was operating in an ethical man- ner. The NARB changed its name and is now the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) (www.asrcreviews.org). The ASRC is a result of a partnership among the Association of National Advertising Agencies, The American Advertising Federation, Council of Better Business Bureaus, Electronic Retailing Association, Direct Marketing Association, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The self-regulatory system is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The five compliance units of ASRC are as follows:

1. Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU)—Reviews advertising directed to children 2. Electronic Retailing, Self-Regulation Program (ERSP)—Reviews truthfulness and accuracy of

national direct-response advertising 3. Online Interest-Based Accountability Program (Accountability Program)—Determines

whether companies comply with industry principles for transparency and online interest- based advertising

4. National Advertising Division (NAD)—Evaluates complaints involving truth and accuracy of national advertising

5. National Advertising Review Board (NARB)—An appeals court that hears appeals of NAD and CARU cases.

Self-regulation helps to develop standards and gain consumer trust.

›  Learning Check Reflect on your learning by answering the following questions:

1. What complications do organizations run into when laws and ethics are different for people and cultures?

2. What is the relationship between profits and principles? 3. What are three laws that impact IMC executions? 4. How does the FTC determine if an ad is deceptive?

Summary and Resources Chapter 11

Summary and Resources This chapter focused on the methods of evaluating and controlling the plan’s execution. For each section of the plan, assessment tools are used to make sure the plan is performing as expected. Laws and ethics are an important part of all IMC actions. Often decisions concerning right and wrong are not clear. Many of the laws and regulations that impact advertising and IMC were discussed. It was pointed out that effective IMC professionals must have knowledge of the legal environment in order to make sure the IMC is in compliance with country, regional, and local regulations. Evaluation and control is a long-term commitment and requires a monetary and time investment. When done properly, evaluation and control can guide a company in creating better IMC execu- tions, and in many cases, help to avert disaster.

In the next and last chapter, tips on putting together the final IMC plan are presented and environ- mental trends that impact IMC planning are discussed.

Priceline® Started by entrepreneur Jay S. Walker in 1998, Priceline.com is a web-based service that helps users get discount rates for travel-related purchases (airline tickets, hotels, cruises). Today, the Priceline.com brand includes Booking.com (hotel reservations), Priceline.com, Adogda.com (Asia-based hotel reservations), Rentalcars. com (multinational rental car service) and KAYAK (travel price-comparison website) (Priceline.com Letter to Shareholders, 2013).

Priceline.com introduced the innovative “Name Your Own Price” system. Initially the program received com- plaints because the customer, when bidding, did not know the exact location until after the purchase had been completed. Often the travel accommodations were not as expected. The system was improved to identify the name of the location prior to bidding.

In 2000, Priceline and its main officers were charged for violating the Securities and Exchange Act. The class action complaint alleged that the defendants issued “materially false and misleading information regarding Priceline’s financial condition and prospects.” Specifically, the complaint charged that defendants misrepre- sented that the company would soon be profitable, that the company’s customer loyalty was accelerating, and that the company’s business model would continue to be effective. In 2007, Priceline.com announced that it had agreed to settle the complaint for $80 million in return for a release of all claims against the company.

Actor William Shatner agreed to be the company spokesperson in exchange for stock in the company. The series of commercials that featured Shatner as the “Priceline Negotiator” were very successful and helped Priceline increase sales. The company tried to “kill” Shatner in one of the commercials but fans missed the spokesperson so much that he was resurrected later. The company’s stock price rose 1.8% when the company announced Shatner’s return (Scherzer, 2012).

Reflection Questions 1. How do lawsuits impact a company? 2. What is the role of a spokesperson in an IMC campaign? 3. Why do companies use spokespeople and what are reasons to get rid of a spokesperson?

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Post-Test Chapter 11

Post-Test 1. Why do many companies make the mistake of not undertaking the process of IMC plan

evaluation? a) There are too many variables that cannot be controlled. b) It is costly in terms of both time and money. c) They lack the expertise to carry out an effective evaluation. d) They wrongly believe that it will not help them improve.

2. Which of the following is true about qualitative research? a) It can be generalized to an entire population. b) It is most useful for research with a clearly defined problem. c) It is a more structured and less flexible form of research. d) It is useful for exploratory research with relatively small samples.

3. In which perspective on profits and principles do companies weigh both profits and principles and seek the best balance between the two? a) The win-win perspective b) The license-to-operate perspective c) The acceptable-profit perspective d) The integrated perspective

4. When was the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) formed? a) 1925 b) 1971 c) 1998 d) 2006

5. In IMC planning, “control” refers to a) evaluating every aspect of the IMC plan and having power of approval over all changes. b) using focus groups, including control groups, to research the IMC tactics before the plan

is launched. c) taking the steps necessary to correct problems when the plan’s objectives are not being

met. d) being able to predict consumers’ responses to the tactics in the IMC plan.

6. Which type of testing is useful for choosing one execution for a campaign out of several choices? a) Concept testing b) Copy testing c) Concurrent testing d) Coincidental studies

Key Ideas Chapter 11

7. Which criterion is used to determine whether a statement in an ad is deceptive? a) Whether any consumer viewing the statement is misled and makes a decision to buy a

product b) Whether the statement is likely to mislead reasonable consumers and is important in the

decision to buy the product c) Whether a consumer makes a purchase based on the statement and is dissatisfied with

the product d) Whether the Federal Trade Commission Act rules that the ad is likely to cause substan-

tial consumer injury, which outweighs its benefits 8. Which unit of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) handles appeals regarding

commercials targeting children? a) Electronic Retailing, Self-Regulation Program (ERSP) b) Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) c) Public Safety Advertising Division (PSAD) d) National Advertising Review Board (NARB)

Answers 1. b) It is costly in terms of both time and money. The correct answer can be found in

Section 11.1. 2. d) It is useful for exploratory research with relatively small samples. The correct answer can

be found in Section 11.2. 3. d) The integrated perspective. The correct answer can be found in Section 11.3. 4. b) 1971. The correct answer can be found in Section 11.4. 5. c) taking the steps necessary to correct problems when the plan’s objectives are not being

met. The correct answer can be found in Section 11.1. 6. b) Copy testing. The correct answer can be found in Section 11.2. 7. b) Whether the statement is likely to mislead reasonable consumers and is important in the

decision to buy the product. 8. d) National Advertising Review Board (NARB). The correct answer can be found in

Section 11.4.

Key Ideas • All integrated marketing communications campaigns must be evaluated to understand

their effectiveness. Metrics must be tied to campaign elements to allow for this evaluation. Remember, if you can’t measure your success (or failure) you can’t manage it.

• In evaluating a plan, IMC planners look to make sure the plan was executed exactly as designed. They look at the objectives to see if they were achieved, and if not, why.

• Control of the plan refers to making changes where executions (or strategies and objectives) were ineffective.

• In order to produce value to employers, each individual working in IMC must make sure the best plan possible is developed. The responsibility of evaluating the campaign falls not only on the top managers, but also on the individuals responsible for each element of the IMC plan such as media, creative, or account development.

Key Terms Chapter 11

• There are four key times to evaluate an IMC campaign: 1) at the beginning of the campaign, 2) at the end of the development of the creative platform, 3) during the campaign period (while the IMC campaign is being executed), and 4) after the campaign has been executed (post-testing).

• Metrics are systems that help quantify a trend, dynamic, or characteristic. Both metrics and measurements are important in planning and assessing IMC campaigns.

• There are numerous types of tests associated with IMC evaluation and control. One of the most important tests is called a concept test, which is used to test concepts prior, during, and after campaigns have been run.

• Researchers generate two types of data that are turned into useful information. These data types are called quantitative and qualitative data. Qualitative data are exploratory in nature and are typically used to generate ideas or additional questions that need answers. Quantitative data are typically hard numbers that represent some environmental variable.

• There are many laws that impact IMC workers. Each IMC professional should be aware of the laws that will impact them.

• Ethics are personal to individuals. Ethics help guide IMC planners in the development of their campaigns. The ethics of the target market, as well as the organization that executes the IMC campaign must be understood in order to create an effective campaign. Keep in mind that people do not always agree on what is right or wrong.

Key Terms applied ethics The study of ethics that involves analyzing specific instances of ethical dilemmas.

caveat emptor Latin for “let the buyer beware.” A school of thought that does not allow the buyer of a product or service recourse if the product or service is defective.

caveat vendor Latin for “let the seller beware.” A school of thought that protects the consumer from exploitive business practices through the use of acts, laws, and regulations.

coincidental studies Measurement of IMC effectiveness in which the audience is tested while being exposed to the various IMC media.

concept test A concept test uses qualitative data to evaluate an idea before it’s launched.

concurrent testing IMC testing that is undertaken while a campaign is in progress; the two major types of concurrent testing include coincidental studies and tracking studies.

consumer diaries Consumers are asked to keep a personal diary that deals with the products and brands purchased, how decisions are made, how much IMC they have been exposed to, cou- pon usage, etc. The data are used in the evaluation and control phase of an IMC plan.

copy testing Used to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing communication copy to determine potential impact.

Delphi technique A qualitative research technique or method used to generate opinions or ideas from higher level executives.

Key Terms Chapter 11

direct response tests Direct response tests measure whether consumers behave differently as a result of exposure to the IMC execution; the execution contains a telephone number, email address, or website address, which allows a company to directly measure the response.

dustbin checks A type of tracking study where the researchers physically pick up consumer packages that have been thrown away and count the different types of brands and products to ascertain levels of consumer product usage.

focus group A research methodology employed to explore or generate ideas. A focus group is typically a sample of the population with 6–12 members of the sample; focus groups generate qualitative data.

in-depth interviews In-depth interviews are one-on-one interview sessions typically with a business’s best customers; the interviews allow researchers to generate deeper meaning from their customer base as well as uncover new ideas.

make-good A commercial or ad credit the media gives due to an error in the running of the intended advertisement.

mall intercept studies Researchers physically intercept consumers shopping at a mall to gather information and data on their products, shopping habits, media usage, etc.

measurement A reference standard used in IMC for comparative purposes in campaign evaluation.

metaethics The study of the origin of ethical concepts and theories.

metric A measuring system used to explain, diagnose, and evaluate campaign effectiveness.

normative ethics The study of ethics using criteria to determine whether certain behavior is right or wrong.

paired comparison test A type of rating scale used to get opinions from consumers by pairing responses with brands.

pantry checks A research method (typically in a tracking study) where the researcher physically goes to consumers’ homes and records the brands of products and services they use.

persuasion tests These tests measure the effectiveness of an IMC execution on changing atti- tudes and behavioral intentions.

projective techniques Methods used to generate insight about consumer thoughts or ideas.

puffery To make exaggerated claims about a product that a reasonable person does not take seriously.

qualitative data Used in exploratory research, qualitative data are soft data that include the opinions and attitudes of the respondents; these types of data are not scientific and will not gener- ate objective information.

quantitative data Data that can be quantified; it is often collected through a scientific process, usually using statistics to understand the entire population.

scaling or rating scales The use of scales in questionnaire development to facilitate the interpre- tation of results.

Continuing Project Chapter 11

scanner data Research information and data generated from the use of electronic scanners. SymphonyIRI and Nielsen Media Research are the leading companies that deal with scanner data research.

theater tests IMC executions (and in particular advertisements) are tested in a movie theater setting.

tracking studies A series of interviews undertaken with members of the targeted audience dur- ing an IMC campaign. The interviews are used to generate data and information for campaign evaluation and control.

Discussion Questions 1. Why are evaluation and control so important? What happens when companies do not invest in

evaluation and control? 2. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative measurement tech-

niques to three copy test methods. 3. Why do many companies violate truth-in-advertising laws? 4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of running concurrent tests?

Critical Thinking Exercises 1. Find a company on the Internet that does a good job of evaluating its IMC executions and

explain how the company does this. 2. Explore the following website on becoming a family that helps Nielsen develop television rat-

ings. What is the process? Would you become a panel member? Why or why not?

Nielsen website: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/about-us/nielsen-families.html

3. Find a company that uses puffery in the IMC executions. Explain the execution and describe why it is not considered false advertising.

4. Find three advertisements from different countries and explain how culture and ethics play a role in understanding the ads.

Continuing Project Using the following template, fill in each area with the evaluation and control methods you want to use for your IMC plan.

What measurement tools are you using to evaluate the campaign? What metrics will be associated with the evaluation? What will you do to control unexpected issues?

Additional Resources Chapter 11

Additional Resources Search Engine List–Lists all search engines on the Internet: http://www.thesearchenginelist.com/

Moody’s–Provides credit ratings and research on global companies: https://www.moodys.com/

S&P Capital IQ–Research company: https://www.capitaliq.com/home.aspx

Small Business Administration–Resources for small companies: http://archive.sba.gov/aboutsba/ sbaprograms/sbdc/

Advertising Research Foundation: http://thearf.org/

Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov/

Institute for Global Ethics: http://www.globalethics.org/

Measurem ent Tools:

Overall

IMC

Advertisin g

Direct Ma rketing

Branding

Electronic /Internet

Sales Prom otion

Personal S elling

Public Rel ations/Pub

licity

List the sp ecific mea

surement tools to be

used:

Indicate w hen the m

easureme nts will be

taken:

Case Study Chapter 11

Case Study: Dove and the Campaign for Real Beauty In 2004, Dove® released a study that they used as a springboard to launch their Campaign for Real Beauty. Among the findings of the study, were the following statistics (Only two percent . . . , 2004):

• Only 2% of women describe themselves as beautiful.

• Sixty-three percent strongly agree that society expects women to enhance their physical attrac- tiveness. Forty-five percent of women feel women who are more beautiful have greater opportunities in life.

• More than two-thirds (68%) of women strongly agree that “the media and advertising set an unre- alistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve.”

• The majority (76%) wish female beauty was por- trayed in the media as being made up of more than just physical attractiveness.

• Seventy-five percent went on to say they wish the media did a better job of portraying women of diverse physical attractiveness, including age, shape, and size.

The campaign was successful in part because it opened up conversations about the definition of beauty. Instead of the traditional models used in campaigns to exemplify beauty, Dove used women of all shapes, sizes, and color. Dove’s message was that beauty is found in all women. Publicity over the campaign generated free exposure. The Oprah Winfrey Show aired the campaign daily for one week. The campaign’s return on investment was $3 for every $1 spent and generated double-digit growth for Dove (Falcione and Henderson, 2007).

Not all people celebrated the campaign. For example, Richard Roeper, a movie reviewer for the Chicago Sun Times stated, “I find these Dove ads a little unsettling. If I want to see plump gals baring too much skin, I’ll go to Taste of Chicago, OK? . . . When we’re talking women in their underwear on billboards outside my living room windows, give me the fantasy babes, please. If that makes me sound superficial, shallow, and sexist—well yes, I’m a man” (Pozner, 2005).

Critical Thinking Questions: 1. How did the Dove campaign change perception? 2. How would you describe Dove’s strategy? 3. Describe the target market for Dove’s campaign. 4. Do you think Roeper’s comments helped or hurt the campaign? Explain. 5. What measurements were used to evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness?

Press Association via AP Images

▲▲ The models of Dove’s® Campaign for Real Beauty.