Advertising Practice PDF

r Wells | Moriarty | Burnett
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PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
seventh edition
Advertising
Principles & Practice
Advertising
Principles & Practice
7th edition
William Wells
University of Minnesota
Sandra Moriarty
University of Colorado
John Burnett
University of Denver
LIBRARY
PEARSON GRANT MacEWAN
COLLEGE
Prentice
Hall Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wells, William, 1926-
Advertising : principles & practice / William Wells, John Burnett, Sandra Moriarty.— 7th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-13-146560-0
1. Advertising. I. Title: Advertising principles & practice. II. Title: Advertising principles and practice. III. Burnett, John, 1944- IV. Moriarty,
Sandra E. (Sandra Ernst) V. Title.
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ISBN 0-13-146560-0
We wish to dedicate this book to all our students present, past, and future
who have taught us about how people respond to advertising, as well as
inspired us to better understand these responses.

Brief Contents
PART 1 FOUNDATIONS
1 to A/k/erfeg 5
2 29
3 I-".wSociety 59
PART 2 PLANNING AND STRATEGY
4 Ho// Advertising Works 27
5 25
6 Strategic teecrc*. 55
7 Strategic Plorwrag 179
PART 3 EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA
a Print and OuftHiome Mels 209
9 Oroodcost Mecto 241
10 Interactive 0ml Afterncfe ieifl W
11 Medio PtoiMiifffj mi Bopg 291
PART 4 EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MESSAGES
12 Too Crect'/e 5i5e *rd Vesseger/'":%! 525
13 Copywriting 355
14 Pesip ond Prwfocfes 555
PART 5 INTEGRATION AND EVALUATION
15 Direct Response 421
16 Soie: ters%i, E/rfs,rs Sporaîcs 45'
17 Poiic Rekrfkms 475
13 Specie? Adirer:S \r r: 5S5
19 hz s/r <: ?V//eress 53'
Glossary 557
Contents
Preface XXI
PART I FOUND AT IONS
1 Introduction to Advertising
Volkswagen Sings a New Song With iPOD® 3
WHAT IS ADVERTISING? 5
Defining Modern Advertising, 5 • The Key Concepts of Advertising, 5
THE ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING 6
The Marketing Role, 8 • The Communication Role, 8 • The Economic Role, 8 • The Social Role,
10 • The Functions of Advertising, 10
THE KEY PLAYERS 10
The Advertiser, 10 • The Advertising Agency, 13 • The Media, 15 * The Suppliers (Vendors),
16 • The Target Audience, 16
TYPES OF ADVERTISING 17
WHAT MAKES AN AD EFFECTIVE? 19

The Important Role of Objectives, 19 • Effectiveness and Award Shows, 20
THE EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING 21
THE CURRENT ADVERTISING SCENE 21
An Expanded View of Advertising, 21 • Integrated Marketing Communication, 22 • Globalization,
23
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Driving on the Road of Life 9
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: The Greatest Commercial Ever Made 12
THE INSIDE STORY: Why Do I Love Advertising? 14
IT'S A WRAP: Effective Advertising Drives Volkswagen's Success 24
Summary 25
Key Terms 26
Review Questions 26
Discussion Questions 26
Class Project 26
Hands-On: Introduction to Advertising 27
2 Advertising's Role in Marketing 30
Puma Is One Cool Cat 30
WHAT IS MARKETING? 31
Key Concepts in Marketing, 31 •The Marketing Concept: Focus on Customers,
31 • The Concept of Exchange, 32 • The Concept of Branding, 33 * The Concept of Added Value,
35
THE KEY PLAYERS AND MARKETS 37
The Marketer, 37 • Suppliers and Vendors, 38 • Distributors and Retailers, 39 • Types of Markets,
39
IX
X CONTENTS
THE MARKETING PROCESS 41

Marketing Research, 42 * Key Strategic Decisions, 42 * Marketing Mix Strategies, 42
HOW AGENCIES WORK 45

Types of Agencies, 47 • How Agency Work is Organized, 49 • How Agencies Make Money, 51
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING 52
Organizing for International, Marketing, 52 * International Marketing Management, 52
THE DYNAMICS OF MODERN MARKETING 52

A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: It's Pure and If Floats 34
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Marketing a Passion for Doughnuts 46
THE INSIDE STORY: The Day-to-Day Job of an Account Executive 50
IT'S A WRAP: Puma Leaps Forward 53
Summary 54
Key Terms 54
Review Questions 55
Class Project 55
Hands-On: WWP's Owner—a British Knight with
Every (Marketing) Weapon at His Disposal 56
3 Advertising and Society 59
Advertising's Social Role 6l

Advertising's Role in Shaping or Mirroring Society, 61 • Social and Cultural Considerations in
International Advertising, 62
REVIEW AND REGULATION OF ADVERTISING 62

Advertising's Legal Environment, 62
ADVERTISING'S REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT 66

The FTC, 66 • Food and Drug Administration, 70 • Federal Communications Commission, 70 • Other
Regulatory Bodies, 70 • International Laws and Regulations, 70
MEDIA REVIEW OF ADVERTISING 72

Self-Regulation, 72 * Self-Discipline, 73 • Industry Self-Regulation, 73 • Public and Community
Review, 74
ADVERTISING ETHICS 75
Poor Taste and Offensive Advertising, 75 • Reinforcing Stereotypes, 76 • Body Image and Self-
Image, 79 • Targeting Children, 79 • Misleading Claims and Other Message Strategies, 80 •
Advertising Controversial Products, 84
DETERMINING WHAT IS ETHICAL 86

The Social Ethic, 86 * Professional Ethics, 87 • International Standards and Codes, 88 • Personal
Ethics, 88
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: Cheesecake or Good Targeting? 77
THE INSIDE STORY: Breaking Info Madison Avenue 89
IT'S A WRAP: Lessons from the Losers 90
Summary 90
Key Terms 91
Review Questions 91
Class Project 92
Hands-On: Boycott This! 92
PART-ENDING CASE Chick-fil-A: Foundations 94

CONTENTS XI
PART II PLANNING AND STRATEGY
4 How Advertising Works 97
SignBoy Is a Hole in One for FootJoy 97
HOW ADVERTISING WORKS AS COMMUNICATION 99

The Communication Model, 99 • Advertising as Communication,
100 • Adding Interaction to Advertising, 102
THE EFFECTS BEHIND ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS 102

The Simple Answers, 102 • The Facets Model of Effective Advertising, 103
PERCEPTION 104
The Components of Perception, 104 • The Subliminal Issue, 106
COGNITION 106
The Components of Cognition, 106
THE AFFECTIVE OR EMOTIONAL RESPONSE 109

The Components of Affective Response, 109
ASSOCIATION no
The Components of Association, 110 • Brand Transformation, 111 • Association Networks, 113
PERSUASION 113
The Components of Persuasion, 113* Involvement's Role in Persuasion, 116
BEHAVIOR 116
The Components of Behavior, 116
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: Does Subliminal Advertising Work? 107
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: It's Green, It's Squishy, It's Guacamole! 112
THE INSIDE STORY: The Curiosity-arousing Function of Antidrug Ads 118
IT'S A WRAP: SignBoy is a Sign of Success for FootJoy 119
Summary 120
Key Terms 120
Review Questions 121
Class Projects 121
Hands-On: How Advertising Works: If It Walks Like the Aflac Duck 122
5 The Consumer Audience 125
So What Do You Crave? 125
HOW DOES CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WORK? 126

The Consumer Audience, 127
CULTURAL AND SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER DECISIONS 127

Culture, 128 • Subcultures, 129 • Social Class, 129 • Reference Groups, 129 • Family,
130 • Demographics, 131
PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES THAT MOTIVATE CONSUMERS 135

Perception and State of Mind, 135 • Motivations, 139 • Attitudes and Values, 139 • Personality,
139 • Psychographic Influences, 140
BEHAVIORAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER DECISIONS 144

Usage Behavior, 144 • Innovation and Adoption, 144
THE CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS 145

Influences on B2B Decision Making, 146
SEGMENTING AND TARGETING 147

To Segment or Not to Segment? 147 • Targeting the Right Audience, 150
XII CONTENTS
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Choice Hotels Says "Thanks for Traveling" 136

THE INSIDE STORY: The Grand Myth of Early Adoption 143
IT'S A WRAP: Making Cravers One of Ours 151
Summary 151
Key Terms 152
Class Projects 152
Hands-On: Toyota Goes After Tuners 153
6 Strategic Research 157
Leaping Over Learning 157
RESEARCH: THE QUEST FOR INTELLIGENCE AND INSIGHT 157

Types of Research, 157
THE USES OF RESEARCH 162

Market Information, 162 * Consumer Insight Research, 162 • Media Research, 163 • Message
Development and Evaluation Research, 163
RESEARCH METHODS USED IN ADVERTISING PLANNING 165

Background Research, 165 Consumer Research, 166 • Choosing a Research Method, 171
RESEARCH CHALLENGES 172

Globalization, 172 • New Media Technology, 172 • Internet and Virtual Research,
173 • Embedded Research, 173 * Insightful Analysis, 174
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: The Army Marches to a Different Drummer 164
THE INSIDE STORY: The Power of Design Personas 167
IT'S A WRAP: Leap Into a Total Learning System 174
Summary 175
Key Terms 175
Class Projects 176
Hands-On: What Lies Beneath? Making a Choice 176
7 Strategic Planning 179
The Legendary Service of Citizens Bank 179
STRATEGIC PLANNING 181

The Business Plan, 182 • The Marketing Plan, 183 • The Advertising or IMC Plan, 184
BASIC STRATEGIC PLANNING DECISIONS 185

Typical Advertising or IMC Plan Outline, 185 • Situation Analysis, 186 • Advertising Objectives
and Strategies, 188 • Segmenting and Targeting, 189 • Positioning Strategy, 190 • Budgeting,
193 • Evaluation: Determining Effectiveness, 194
ACCOUNT PLANNING: WHAT IS IT? 194

The Research Foundation, 195 • Consumer Insight, 195 • The Communication Brief,
198 • Personal Characteristics of a Planner, 199
THE INSIDE STORY: Exploiting the Dot—Repositioning a Luxury Coffee Brand 192
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Everybody's Favorite Soul Food 196
CONTENTS XIII
IT'S A WRAP: Proving That a Bank Is Not Typical 201

Summary 202
Key Terms 202
Class Projects 203
Hands-On: Unscrambling the NASCAR Fon 203
PART-ENDING CASE Chick-fil - A: Planning and Strategy 204
PART III EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA
8 Print and Out-of-Home Media 209
Apple Tops the Charts with Digital Music 209
THE MEDIA INDUSTRY 211

BASIC MEDIA CONCEPTS 212
Planning and Buying, 212 • Reach and Frequency, 212 • Impressions,
212 • Media Key Players, 213
PRINT MEDIA 213
NEWSPAPERS 214
The Structure of the Newspaper Industry, 214 • Types of Newspaper Advertising,
217 • Newspaper Readership, 218 • The Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising
in Newspapers, 219 • The Future of the Newspaper Industry, 220
MAGAZINES 220
Types of Magazines, 221 • Distribution and Circulation, 223 • Magazine Advertising,
223 • Magazine Readership Measurement, 224 • Advantages and Disadvantages of
Advertising in Magazines, 225 * The Future of Magazine Advertising, 226
PACKAGING 226
OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING 227

Outdoor Advertising, 227 • On-Premise Signs, 230 • Posters, 230 • Transit Advertising, 231
DIRECTORY ADVERTISING 233
USING PRINT ADVERTISING 235

A MATTER OF PRACTICE: International Truck Delivers the Goods 222
THE INSIDE STORY: Kellogg's Special K 2-Week Challenge 232
IT'S A WRAP: iPod® Dances to Tunes 235
Summary 236
Key Terms 236
Class Projects 237
Hands-On: Next Month's Issue: Credibility 238
XIV CONTENTS
9 Broadcast Media 241
A Drugstore Goes Online 241
BROADCAST MEDIA 243
RADIO 243
The Structure of the Radio Industry, 243 • Radio Advertising, 244 • The Radio Audience, 246 •
Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising on Radio, 248 • Using Radio Effectively, 249 • Trends
in Radio/Audio Advertising, 249
TELEVISION 249
Structure of the Television Industry, 250 • Television Advertising, 255 • The Television Audience, 257
• Advantages of Advertising on Television, 259 • Disadvantages of Television Advertising, 259 •
Changes and Trends in Broadcast Television, 261
FILM AND VIDEO 262

Advantages and Disadvantages of Movie Advertising, 262
PRODUCT PLACEMENT 263

Advantages and Disadvantages of Product Placements, 263
USING BROADCAST ADVERTISING EFFECTIVELY 263

A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Starbucks Makes TV Less Intrusive 256
THE INSIDE STORY: Selling a Political Party with Humor 260
IT'S A WRAP: Using TV to Demonstrate Convenience 264
Summary 265
Key Terms 265
Class Projects 266
Hands-On: Will Radio Listeners Finally Get Sirius with Howard Stern? 266
10 Interactive and Alternative Media 269
eBay Reinvents the Marketplace 269
INTERACTIVE MEDIA 271
THE INTERNET 271

E-Business and Marketing Communication, 271 • The Internet and Marketing Communication, 274
INTERNET ADVERTISING 276

Purpose of Internet Advertising, 277 • Types of Internet Advertising, 277 • Off-line Advertising for
Web Sites, 278 • The Internet Audience, 278 • Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet
Advertising, 279 • The Web in International Advertising, 280 • Changes and Trends in Internet
Advertising, 280
E-MAIL ADVERTISING 281

Spam, 281 • Viral Marketing, 282
ALTERNATIVE AND NEW MEDIA 282

Advertainment, 282 • New Internet Practices, 283 • Video Games, 284 • Wireless Communication,
284 • Nonelectronic New Media, 285 • Guerilla Marketing, 285
THE INSIDE STORY: Entertaining the User Through Web Site Redesign 272
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: Cookies and G-Mail 273
IT'S A WRAP: eBay Rewrites the Rules for e-Marketers 286
Summary 287
Key Terms 287
CONTENTS XV

Class Projects 288
Hands-On: BMW Knows the ABC's of C to B 288
11 Media Planning and Buying 291
Archipelago Rings the Bell 291
MEDIA PLANNING AND BUYING 293

The Aperture Concept, 293
THE MEDIA PLAN 293

Media Research: Information Sources, 293
MEDIA OBJECTIVES 297

Exposure and GRPs, 297 • The Reach Objective, 298 • The Frequency Objective, 299 • Effective
Frequency, 300
MEDIA STRATEGIES 300

Delivering on the Objectives, 300 • Target Audience Strategies, 301 • Media Mix Selection, 303 •
Cost Efficiency: CPM and CPP, 305 • Scheduling Strategies, 306 • The Media Budget, 308 • Global
Media Planning, 308
A SAMPLE MEDIA PLAN FOR PIZZA HUT 310

Situation and Consumer Analysis, 310 • Media Objectives and Aperture Strategies, 310 • The
Media Mix, 310 • The Flowchart: Scheduling and Budgeting Allocation, 312
MEDIA BUYING 313

Media Buying Specifics, 313 • Global Media Buying, 316
MEDIA PLANNING CHANGES AND CHALLENGES 316

Unbundling Media Buying and Planning, 316 • Online Media Buying, 317 • New Forms of Media
Research Needed, 317
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Polaroid Zones In 302
THE INSIDE STORY: The Reality of Budget Cuts 309
IT'S A WRAP: The Open Show Opens the Door for Archipelago 317
Summary 318
Key Terms 318
Class Projects 319
Hands-On: P&G Puts the Medium Before the Message 319
PART-ENDING CASE Chick-fil-A: Effective Advertising Media 321
PART IV EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MESSAGES
12 The Creative Side and Message Strategy 325
MSN Takes Wing 325
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING 327

The ROI of Effective Advertising, 327 • Creative Thinking, 330 • The Creative Process: How to Gel
an Idea, 332
CREATIVE STRATEGY 334

Message Objectives, 334 • Head and Heart Strategies, 334
XVI CONTENTS
FACETS OF CREATIVE STRATEGY 336

Messages That Drive Perception, 336 • Messages That Drive Cognition, 338 • Messages
That Touch Emotions, 340 • Messages That Persuade, 340 • Messages That Transform
a Product into a Brand, 342 • Messages That Drive Action, 344 • Message
Approaches, 344 • Delivering on the Objectives and Strategies, 345
PLANNING AND MANAGING CREATIVE STRATEGY 345

The Creative Brief, 345 • Message Execution, 347 • Managing the Global Creative Strategy,
348 * the Go/No-Go Decision, 349
THE INSIDE STORY: How Does a Quintessential^ American Brand Introduce
Itself en Espanol? 343
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: Finding a Universal Truth About Cats 349
IT'S A WRAP: MSN's Butterfly Emerges as a Winning Big Idea 350
Summary 351
Key Terms 351
Class Projects 352
Hands-On: How Do You Put a Price on Great Creative?
Ask McCann-Erickson 353
13 Copywriting 355
Frontier's Tales About Tails 355
COPYWRITING: THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING 357

The Copywriter, 357 • Advertising Writing Style, 358
COPYWRITING FOR PRINT 360

How to Write Headlines, 360 • How to Write Other Display Copy,
363 * How to Write Body Copy, 364 • Print Media Requirements, 365
HOW TO WRITE RADIO COPY 367

The Tools of Radio Copywriting, 368 • The Practice of Radio Copywriting,
369 • Planning the Radio Commercial: Scripts, 369
HOW TO WRITE TELEVISION COPY 369

Tools of Television Copywriting, 374 • Planning the TV Commercial, 376
WRITING FOR THE WEB 378

Banners, 378 • Web Ads, 380 * Other Web Formats, 380
COPYWRITING IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT 380

THE INSIDE STORY: Selling Newspaper Classifieds on the Radio 370
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: "Hello. London Calling with
a Jaguar Just for You." 375
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: The Ocean Speaks 379
IT'S A WRAP: Talking Animals on the Tarmac 381
Summary 381
Key Terms 382
Class Projects 383
Hands-On: Beautiful Just the Way You Are, Finds Ogilvy 383
CONTENTS XVII
14 Design and Production 385
The Work of a Lifetime 385
VISUAL COMMUNICATION 386

Visual Impact, 387 * The Art Director, 387
PRINT ART DIRECTION 389

Illustrations and Photos, 389 • Color in Print, 390 • Typography, 391 • Layout and Design, 394
PRINT PRODUCTION 399

Print Media Requirements, 399 • Art Reproduction, 400
TELEVISION ART DIRECTION 404

Video Graphics, 405 • TV and Film Requirements, 406
BROADCAST PRODUCTION 407

Producing TV Commercials, 407 • The TV Production Process, 408
EFFECTIVE WEB DESIGN 412

Action and Interaction, 413
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Kitty Slickers and Cat Herders 404
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: Honda "Cog" Gets It Right, But Not the First Time 411
THE INSIDE STORY: The Best and Worst of Site Design 413
IT'S A WRAP: Imagine a Legendary Lifestyle 414
Summary 414
Key Terms 415
Class Projects 416
Hands-On: The Future Definition of Advertising 417
PART-ENDING CASE Chick-fil-A: Effective Advertising Messages 418
PART V INTEGRATION AND EVALUATION
15 Direct Response 421
What's Holding You Back from a Harley? 421
THE PRACTICE OF DIRECT MARKETING 423

Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Marketing, 424 • Direct Marketing and Direct-response
Advertising, 424
DATABASE MARKETING 428

Lists, 429 • Data-driven Communication, 430 • Customer Relationship Management (CRM), 432
THE KEY PLAYERS 432

The Advertisers, 432 • The Agencies, 433 • The Media Companies, 433 • The Customers, 433
THE TOOLS OF DIRECT MARKETING 435

Direct Mail, 435 • Catalogs, 437 • Telemarketing, 438 • Direct-response Advertising, 440 * The
Internet and Direct Response, 442
INTEGRATED DIRECT MARKETING 443

Linking the Channels, 444 • Creating Loyalty, 444
GLOBAL CONSIDERATIONS IN DIRECT MARKETING 445

A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: The Principles of Data-driven Relationships 431
THE INSIDE STORY: Shaping the World of Miss Hall's School 434
XVIII CONTENTS
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: GEICO Delivers a "Good News" Story 441

IT'S A WRAP: Living the Harley Dream 445
Summary 446
Key Terms 446
Class Projects 447
Hands-On: I Won't Be Calling, But Let's Talk: Telemarketers Respond to the Do-Not-Call
Registry 448
16 Sales Promotion, Events, and Sponsorships 45i
History's Lost and Found Auction Block 451
THE PRACTICE OF SALES PROMOTION 453

Changes in the Promotion Industry, 453 • Reasons for the Growth of Sales Promotion, 454 •
Categories of Sales Promotion, 455
CONSUMER PROMOTIONS 455

Types of Consumer Promotions, 455 • How to Use Consumer Promotions, 458
TRADE PROMOTIONS 461

Types of Trade Promotion, 461 • How to Use Trade Promotion, 462
PROMOTIONS THAT CROSS THE LINES 464

Sponsorships and Event Marketing, 464 • Other Promotional Support, 465 • Interactive and Internet
Promotions, 465 • Loyalty Programs, 466 • Partnership Programs, 466
PROMOTION STRATEGY 467

Promotion Objectives, 468 • The Issue of Brand Building, 468 • Promotion Integration, 469 •
Promotion Effectiveness, 470
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Brown Sugar and Honey: I Love Those Links! 457
THE INSIDE STORY: The Phaeton Test Drive Program at W Hotels™ 459
IT'S A WRAP: History Channel Finds a Winning Promotion Idea 471
Summary 471
Key Terms 472
Class Projects 472
Hands-On: Upromise Uses Values Marketing to Pay for College 473
17 Public Relations 475
Kids Are Hungry. Believe It! 475
THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS 477

Public Opinion, 478 • Reputation: Goodwill, Trust, and Integrity, 478 • Comparing Public Relations
and Advertising, 478 • Types of Public Relations Programs, 480
PUBLIC RELATIONS PLANNING 483

Research and SWOT Analysis, 483 • Targeting, 484 • Objectives and Strategies, 484 • The Big
Idea, 486 • PR's Role in IMC, 486
PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS 487

Advertising, 487 • Publicity, 489 • Publications, 492 • Videos/DVDs, CDs, and Books, 493 •
Speakers and Photos, 493 • Displays and Exhibits, 493 • Special Events and Tours, 493 * Online
Communication, 496
CONTENTS XIX
EFFECTIVENESS AND PR EXCELLENCE 497

Excellence in Public Relations, 498
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: "I Love Smoke-Free NYC" 479
THE INSIDE STORY: The Spokane Stampede: A Sales Mission to Calgary 495
IT'S A WRAP: P&G Works Globally 499
Summary 499
Key Terms 500
Class Projects 500
Honds-On: Oprah Helps People Live Their Wildest Dreams, with Some Help from Pontiac
501
18 Special Advertising Situations 503
Novell Speaks Your Language 503
RETAIL ADVERTISING 504

Retail Advertising Strategies, 505 • Creating tbe Retail Ad, 507 • Tbe Media of Retail Advertising, 509
BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS ADVERTISING 51 o
Types of Business-to-Business Advertising, 510 • 828 Buying Behavior, 513 • Creating B2B
Advertising, 513 • B2B Advertising Media, 514
NONPROFIT OR SOCIAL MARKETING 515

Cause and Mission Marketing, 516 • Nonprofit Marketing, 516
INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AND MARKETING COMMUNICATION 518

Stages of Market Development, 518 • The Global Versus Local Debate, 519 • Planning Global
Marketing Communication Programs, 521 • Planning a Global Advertising Strategy, 523 • The IMC
Factor in Global Advertising, 525
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Fred Makes the IT Manager a Hero 511
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: The Great American Bake Sale Cooks Up Donations 517
THE INSIDE STORY: The "Mr. CONTAC" Campaign in Japan: A Case Study 524
IT'S A WRAP: Giving Voice to the Bottom Line 527
Summary 527
Key Terms 528
Class Projects 529
Hands-On: A New Alliance Turns Google Yellow 529
19 Evaluation of Effectiveness 531
Changing Perceptions from the Mailroom to the Board Room 531
EVALUATING EFFECTIVENESS 533

Types and Stages of Evaluation, 533 • Factors to Be Evaluated, 534 • Copy-testing Services, 534
STAGES OF COPY TESTING 535

Message Development Research, 536 • During Execution: Concurrent Testing, 537 • Posttesting:
After Execution Research, 540
MEDIA EVALUATION 542

Evaluating Audience Exposure, 542 * Advertising ROI and Media Efficiency, 543
XX CONTENTS
CAMPAIGN AND IMC EVALUATION 544

Marketing Communication Evaluation, 544 • IMC Consistency, 548 • Special Advertising Situations,
548
THE INSIDE STORY: Volvo Road Tests the "Starting a Family" Campaign 536
A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Research Finds Moments of Truth for IBM 538
IT'S A WRAP: What Can Brown Do for You? 550
Summary 551
Key Terms 551
Class Projects 552
Hands-On: Lovin' It at McDonald's Again 552
PART-ENDING CASE Chick-fil-A: Integration and Evaluation 554
Glossary 557
Credits 571
Notes 575
Index 58i
retace
WHAT MAKES ADVERTISING EFFECTIVE?
During the 2005 Super Bowl an ad for Anheuser-Busch called “Applause” showed people
in an airport spontaneously applauding a group of American troops returning home. Even
the audience watching from their living rooms was inclined to join in with applause as part
of this graceful display of respect and appreciation. It was touching. Memorable.
Beautifully photographed. And the people seemed real. But was it an effective ad? What
was it trying to accomplish?
Advertising can cause you to stop and watch, or even stop and think. It can make you
laugh, or squirm in your seat, or bring tears to your eyes. It can inspire you to read about a
new product or remember a favorite brand when you’re walking down the aisle in a super¬
market. Advertising can also leave you free to change the channel or turn a page without
being aware of having seen the ad at all.
So what is effective advertising? Is it advertising that gets talked about? Is it adver¬
tising like the Anheuser-Busch commercial that inspires you to applaud? In other words, is
it advertising that affects people or is it advertising that gets results and can be measured?
What, exactly, does it mean to say that an advertisement “works?” Ultimately advertising
is evaluated on its ability to generate a desired consumer response based on meeting a set
of carefully crafted objectives.
In most cases, you have little idea what the objectives of an ad were because that
information generally isn’t made public. However, we contacted the winners of various
effectiveness award programs and wrote the stories in this book based on the “briefs,” the
documents advertisers write to explain the decisions behind their advertising. That means
the strategy becomes more transparent and you can actually read the objectives, as well as
the results. These aren’t hypothetical campaigns or stories clipped from magazines. We
work with the real planning documents and we talk to the people who developed the
advertising.
Advertising is part inspiration and part hard work. In this 7th Edition of Advertising:
Principles and Practice we take you behind the scenes of many award-winning campaigns
to uncover the hard work and explain the objectives, as well as the inspiration behind some
great advertising campaigns. You will see how the ideas come together; you will live
through the decision-making; and you will understand the risks that the creators of the
advertising faced.
XXI
XXII PREFACE
THE FACETS MODEL: PICTURING

/
/ \
\
Perception
Exposure,
ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS
/ \ Selection, Attention
/ \ Interest, Revelance Advertising is complex and there are many different
/ \ Awareness t
/ \ Recognition / ways advertising can “affect” people. At the most basic
/ Cognition \ /
/ (Needs) \ /Affective/Emotion \ level, advertising works if people pay attention to it,
/ Information \ / (Wants) \
/ Cognitive Learning \ / Liking become aware of the brand, and remember both the brand
\
/ Differentiation \ / Emotions \
/ Recall \ / Resonance and the advertising. That’s impact at the perceptual level.
\
\ Association / \ Persuasion / But an advertisement may also be designed to create five

\ Symbolism / \ Attitudes /
\ Conditional Learning / \ Argument /
other general types of responses: It may provide useful
Involvement /
\ Brand Image and / \
Motivation /
information, touch emotions, give a brand a personality,
\ pers°nali*y / Behavior \
\ / Try, Buy, \ change consumer attitudes, and cause people to act.
\ / Repeat Buy, \
\ / Others: Visit,
v Loyalty / The 7th Edition of Advertising: Principles and
\ / Call, Click.
\ / Refer, Practice has organized this discussion of advertising
\ / Adovocate
effects for you in the form of a Facets Model. This illus¬
tration and the ideas it represents are used throughout the
book to help you remember what we mean by effective¬
ness when we explain such things as how advertising works, how objectives are decided
upon, and how an advertisement is evaluated based on its objectives.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES AND THEMES

Table of Contents
The book is the same length in terms of the number of chapters, however, there are two
new chapters dealing with interactive media and evaluation of effectiveness. The interna¬
tional and campaigns chapters have been eliminated as separate chapters; however, their
content has been integrated throughout remaining chapters.
Part 1: Foundations
In the 7th edition, former chapters 2 and 3 exchange places. The new organization provides
the platform to discuss practicing advertising and marketing communication in socially
responsible ways.
Chapter 1: Introduction to Advertising

Chapter 2: Advertising’s Role in Marketing
Chapter 3: Advertising and Society
Part 2: Planning and Strategy

We begin with Chapter 4, “How Advertising Works,” which was Chapter 6 in the previous
edition. We also introduce a new model of how advertising works—The Facets Model—
that will be used in other chapters, such as planning and message strategy.
Chapter 4: How Advertising Works

Chapter 5: The Consumer Audience
Chapter 6: Strategic Research
Chapter 7: Strategic Planning
Part 3: Effective Advertising Media

This part now consists of four chapters with a free-standing interactive chapter. In addition,
the more complex discussion of planning and buying has been moved to the end of this
section.
Chapter 8: Print and Out-of-Home Media

Chapter 9: Broadcast Media
Chapter 10: Interactive and Alternative Media
Chapter 11: Media Planning and Buying
PREFACE XXIII
Part 4: Effective Advertising Messages

The three creative chapters continue here as before, with the direct-response chapter mov¬
ing to Part V.
Chapter 12: The Creative Side and Message Strategy

Chapter 13: Copywriting
Chapter 14: Design and Production
Part 5: Integration and Evaluation

The three other functional areas of marketing communication—direct response, sales pro¬
motion, public relations—continue in this book but are now grouped together in Part V.
Retail, business-to-business and international are now combined into one chapter focusing
on special advertising situations. The former campaign chapter, which dissected a cam¬
paign in-depth, has been eliminated on the advice of our reviewers, and the content that
framed the discussion of the campaign is now in the Strategic Planning chapter. We added
a summary chapter on evaluating effectiveness.
Chapter 15: Direct Response

Chapter 16: Sales Promotion, Events, and Sponsorships
Chapter 17: Public Relations
Chapter 18: Special Advertising Situations
Chapter 19: Evaluation of Effectiveness
Strong Brand Focus

The launch of the iPod is one example of how the 7th edition addresses strong brands with
advertising and IMC. In Chapter 8 you will learn about how the iPod was launched with great
print and broadcast ads. The introduction also included partnership programs with companies
like Volkswagon and the launch of iTunes, its sister music system. You’ll learn about the
importance of iPod’s buzz marketing programs and the variety of marketing communication
tools utilized to get people talking about the new product. Advertising has reached the stage
where it sometimes isn’t enough to have a great commercial, slogan or jingle. The industry
has moved to integrated marketing commu¬
nication (IMC), which coordinates all the
ways an organization communicates about
&
its products, services, or ideas.
Advertising: Principles and Practice
was the first advertising or promotion text
to feature the topic of IMC. We give it even
greater emphasis in this edition by thread¬
ing the IMC perspective throughout the
book. That’s why Advertising: Principles
and Practice has always contained chap¬
ters on direct marketing, sales promotion,
and public relations. It is important that
advertising be planned and evaluated as
one element, albeit an important one,
within this constellation of messages. Here
are some related concepts and techniques
used in support of an integrated campaign:
“ ---
Account Planning: Effective advertis¬
ing, as well as effective marketing communication in all its forms, is based on an under¬
standing of consumers—what they want from a product, how they relate to a brand, and
how they respond to various types of brand messages. Consequently, effective advertising
and IMC programs rely on practices, such as account planning, which is a research and
planning technique designed to uncover insight into consumer beliefs and behavior. This
XXIV PREFACE
edition of Advertising: Principles and Practices has

increased the coverage of account planning in an attempt
to better explain how planners derive insight from
research. The KFC story in Chapter 7 about how the
meaning of the quintessentially American brand was
adapted to appeal to British consumers provides insight
into the thinking of account planners.
International Context: Chapter 13 explains how

Jaguar uses a “London Calling” theme to sell its distinctive
British cars in the U.S. As electronic communication has
exploded around the globe, advertising has been embed¬
ded in a web of international marketing strategies. Even if
an advertiser isn’t operating internationally, there’s a good
chance the competition is, which adds to the complexity of
the planning, particularly for brands that are being marketed internationally and creates a chal¬
lenge for a consistent brand strategy—what to change and what to keep the same?
Because of the importance of the international context, we have included an interna¬
tional discussion in most of the chapters. In addition, the basic discussion from the old
international chapter is now included within Chapter 18, Special Advertising Situations.
The goal is to make the international perspective a seamless part of all the discussions. To
that end, various chapters have chapter opening stories, A Matter of Practice boxes, and
Inside Stories from outside the U.S.
EFFECTIVENESS
It’s clear from the headlines in industry publications that advertisers want to know if their
ads and other marketing communication efforts work. But of equal concern is the return
advertisers get on their investment in advertising. Accountability is the word. Advertising
costs money—a lot of money in many cases—and advertisers want proof that their adver¬
tising and marketing communication is efficient, as well as effective. That’s why we make
the claim—and, yes, this is an advertisement—that:
ADVERTISING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE Is the book to read to learn

about effective advertising
You will learn in this book that all

advertising claims need to be
supported. We are making a bold
claim, but here is how we back it up:
The Creative Side and *4 p' The Effectiveness Award Winners

Message Strategy Every chapter opens with a story about
work that has been recognized as effec¬
tive, such as the development of the but¬
terfly mascot for the Microsoft network
(MSN), which is featured in Chapter 12.
Most of these stories are EFFIE award¬
winning campaigns recognized by The
New York American Marketing
Association as outstanding examples of
morion sorvtco*, advanced comn
effectiveness, the Direct Marketing
Microsoft [ocad a roal challenge establishing MSN bocogse of
the enlranchod position of AOL with ils domination of rho category
ond strong awareness Tharo was also, o serious problem with con*
Association’s Echo Awards, the Public
Sumer inertia' It’s a to! of trouble lo switch nternol providers. Thrs for¬
get audienco moy nol wont lo change, but if II behoves ihol o belter
Relations Society of America’s Silver
Anvil, and the Sales Promotion
Association’s Reggie Awards.
PREFACE XXV
It's a Wrap
At the end of each chapter we loop back to the opening IT'S A WRAP
campaign story and show you why it was successful. We
match the results to the objectives and provide the data MSN'S BUTTERFLY EMERGES AS A
WINNING BIG IDEA
used by professionals to determine whether the advertis¬
N o matter how much the creative people or the client or the account executive may like an
ing worked. In the MSN “butterfly” story, for example, idea, if it doesn't communicate the right message or the right product personality to the
right audience at the right time, then it is not effective. That's the science of advertising mes¬
sages; the art side comes from creative Big Ideas that have stopping power and break
we document the success MSN had with this campaign through the competitive clutter.
MSN's "Butterfly" campaign is a good example of both the art and science of advertis¬
in acquiring new customers for its Internet service. ing. It was designed to motivate consumers to consider MSN as an alternative to AOL ond to
sign up for the new service. By tapping into what consumers truly want from their Internet ser¬
vice provider—a more useful experience—the McCann team developed an impactful adver¬
tising campaign. It has been recognized as effective because it delivered on its objectives:
• Generate switching momentum from AOL to MSN: The campaign resulted in 715,000
A Matter of Practice •
AOL users switching to MSN.
Increase Internet subscriptions: The total MSN subscriptions grew 31 percent with a sig¬
nificant increase during the six-week online campaign.
We continue to feature the “A Matter of Practice” box,
which discusses effective professional practice. These
boxes examine effectiveness tactics, such as the
Starbucks’ foray into television advertising using a
technique that is less intrusive than the usual TV commercial.
A Matter of Principle
Staying true to the book’s title—Advertising: Principles and Practice—every chapter also
features principles that guide the industry of advertising, as well as the issues that compli¬
cate it. These boxes may feature a discussion on subliminal advertising in Chapter 4 and
the use of cookies in email in Chapter 10. Other times, a principle is a simple statement of
a fundamental truth that draws together the discussion of a key point and summarizes it as
an important rule that guides professional practice.
Inside Story
Catch the spirit of Sonia Montes, an account executive at Young and Rubicam and gradu¬
ate of the Michigan State University advertising program, who tells you in her own words
why she loves advertising. One of the reviewers’ favorite
features of Advertising: Principles & Practice is The
Inside Story, which are boxes that spotlight the thoughts
and experiences of young advertising professionals. You’ll
enjoy the insights of these professionals from agencies big 6 -
and small, as well as other companies from all parts of the

United States and abroad.
Showcase Work
We collected examples of outstanding work contributed
by young professionals who have been nominated by their
faculty. We included ads like these in past editions, but
this time we are showcasing the work in order to give
more credit to these people and the schools and professors
who trained them.
Practical Tips
These are ideas that you can apply on the job, in an intern¬
ship, or in your coursework. Building on past editions, the
Tips in this edition include when to use print and broad¬
■ I ■
cast media, tips for creating original ideas, and how to cre¬ Gander Mountain carries a wide selection of supplies and gear at great prices.
The employees at the stores are all outdoor experts who don't just sell gear;
ate effective direct mail pieces. they also use it as they participate in outdoor activities themselves. The agency
determined that communication for Gander Mountain should focus on these
"outdoor experts" as well as on customers and their outdoor experiences. This
Hands-On Cases ad was contributed by Trent Walters, a graduate of the University of North
Texas advertising program, where he was selected by the American
This popular feature continues in the 7th Edition. At the Advertising Federation as one of its "Most Promising Students." He is now an
account supervisor at the Richards Group in Dallas, Texas.
end of the chapter, you have the chance to become adver¬

tising decision makers yourself by analyzing a real-world
XXVI PREFACE
advertising case. You will be challenged to think crit¬

ically about the many pieces of the puzzle that must
work together to create successful ads. New compa¬
nies examined include Wal-Mart and its corporate
image advertising in Chapter 1, AFLAC’s duck in
Chapter 4, and the BMW “Films” campaign which is
Parti revolutionizing Internet advertising in chapter 10.
Foundations
Part-Ending Cases
Every part ends with an updated Chik-fil-A case.
These cases illustrate how the key topics of every
chapter must work together to create an advertising
campaign with a consistent message.
S. Truett Cathy founded Chick-fil-A with the vision that his chicken-sandwich company
would be a leader in the quick-service restaurant industry. Successes continue year after
year with quality products, employees, and customer service. But Truett would say that he
has attained success in other areas as well.
Truett's strongest passion is the Chick-fd-A Corporate Purpose, which is “To glorify
God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have u positive influence on
Suggested Class Projects
all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A." This statement is part of the company’s defini¬
tion of its social responsibility. While those are pretty big words on which to pattern one's To really understand what effective advertising is and
life, Truett Catby sets a faithful example of how it can be done—not just for himself, but
for the rest of the company as well. For instance. Chick-fil-A always has been and always
will be closed on Sundays. Some argue that the company misses sales by closing the stores
how it is done, you have to do it yourself. We help by
one day each week. Truett believes that he gains more by allowing his employees a day of
worship or time with family. providing Suggested Class Projects at the end of each
Another example of the Corporate Purpose put into action is team member scholar¬
ships. Any team member (employee) ul a Chick-fil-A store who meets the set criteria is eli¬
gible for a S 1,000 scholarship that applies toward the expense of his or her education.
chapter that allow you to work together in teams as
Since 1973, Chick-fil-A has awarded more than SIS million in S1.000 scholarships to eli¬
gible students. And through the WinShape Centre® Foundation, started in 1984 as a small, advertisers do. They also invite you to learn how to
long-term foster care program, Truett helps children and adults alike, working to "shape
them into winners." The program has grown to encompass summer camps for boys and
girls, a scholarship program, and a marriage retreat center.
use the Internet as a research and creative tool. For
The Chick-fil-A definition of social responsibility is a little different from other
firms'. At some companies, people may speak about a purpose and vision, but at Chick- example in Chapter 7 you are asked to create a posi¬
fil-A. they strive to live the words through their actions.
Sourer Information courtesy of Mike Buemo, The Richards Group. tioning statement for car models, in Chapter 12 you
Consider This are asked to brainstorm about creative concepts to
1. Given the social focus on Chick-fil-A advertising, how would you classify
their advertising? encourage people to use alternative transportation,
2. Can such an approach confuse the consumer ond make ads less effective?
and in chapter 13 you are asked to transform print

ads into broadcast commercials.
SUPPLEMENTS FOR INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

Instructor's Manual
Contains chapter overviews and key points, plus detailed chapter outlines, incorporating
key terms from the text. Also includes support for end-of-chapter material, along with
additional class projects and assignments.
• New feature: “Outside Examples” offer instructors additional lecture material for each
chapter. The examples may include extensions of concepts or company examples
briefly mentioned in the chapter, or new material that further develops a key concept in
the text.
• New feature: “Professors on the Go!” was created with the busy professor in mind.
This helpful feature brings key material upfront in the manual, where instructors who
are short on time can take a quick look and find key points and assignments to incorpo¬
rate into a lecture without having to page through all the material provided for each
chapter.
Test Item File

Contains over 2,800 questions. Each chapter consists of multiple-choice, true/false, essay,
and short-answer questions, with page references and difficulty levels provided for each
question.
• New feature: An entire section dedicated to application questions. This resource pro¬
vides real-life situations that take students beyond basic chapter concepts and vocabu¬
lary and asks them to apply their advertising knowledge.
PC/MAC TESTGEN
Prentice Hall’s test generating software is available from the Instructor’s Resource Center
(IRC) Online (www.prenhall.com/wellsburnett) or from the IRC on CD-ROM.
• PC/Mac compatible; preloaded with all of the Test Item File questions.
• Manually or randomly view test bank questions and drag-and-drop to create a test.
• Add or modify test bank questions using the built-in Question Editor.
• Print up to 25 variations of a single test and deliver the test on a local area network
using the built-in QuizMaster feature.
Free customer support is available at media.support@pearsoned.com or 1-800-6-PRO-

FESSOR between 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 PM. CST.
NEW! Instructor's Resource Center

All instructor resources are password protected and available for download via
www.prenhall.com/wellsburnett. For your convenience, these resources are also avail¬
able on the Instructor’s Resource CD-ROM.
• Instructor’s Manual: View this resource chapter-by-chapter or download the entire

manual as a .zip file.
• Test Item File: View chapter-by-chapter or download the entire test item file as a .zip
file.
• TestGen for PC/Mac: Download this easy-to-use software; it’s preloaded with the
Seventh Edition test questions and a user’s manual.
• Image bank (On CD only): Access many of the images, ads, and illustrations featured
in the text. Ideal for PowerPoint customization.
• PowerPoints: When it comes to PowerPoints, Prentice Hall knows one size does not fit
all. That’s why we offer instructors more than one option.
• PowerPoint BASIC: This simple presentation includes only basic outlines and key
points from each chapter. It integrates no animation or forms of rich media, which
makes the total file size manageable and easier to share online or via email. BASIC was
also designed for instructors who prefer to customize PowerPoints and who want to be
spared from having to strip out animation, embedded files, or other media rich features.
• PowerPoint MEDIA RICH (On CD only): This media rich alternative includes basic
outlines and key points from each chapter, plus advertisements and art from the text,
images from outside the text, discussion questions, Web links, and embedded video
snippets from the accompanying video library. It’s the best option if you want a com¬
plete presentation solution. Instructors can further customize this presentation using the
image library featured on the IRC on CD-ROM.
Color Overheads
Features 15-20 color acetates per chapter selected from the Media Rich set of PowerPoints;
includes images from text.
Video
In order to enrich your advertising course, the accompanying video library offers a variety
of video segments. Some segments take students on location, profiling well-known com¬
panies and their marketing and advertising strategies. Others offer a behind-the-scenes
look at a typical day in the life of various advertising employees at different levels in the
agency, providing insight into what skills are really needed to succeed in the field.
Additionally, a collection of commercial advertisements are included in the video library.
These serve as a great tool to demonstrate to your students what works—and what does¬
n’t—in the field of advertising. You may download the Video Guide from the Instructor’s
Resource Center.
New! Media Guide
Are your students still struggling with the media aspect of advertising? Are you looking
for an innovative new way to introduce the various forms of media to your students?
Brand new to this edition, the Media Guide, complete with rate cards, gives an in-depth
explanation of each form of media. In addition, you will have many short- and long-term
project options to choose from, geared around each of the media channels discussed. After
reviewing the various forms of media, your students will then be asked to rate which is
best, given the information in the guide, ensuring that they understand the form that can
best suit their future business’s needs. For electronic manipulation, the rate cards can be
downloaded from the Companion Website at www.prenhall.com/wellsburnett. At the
request of the professor, the Media Guide can be packaged for FREE with new copies of
this textbook. Contact your Prentice Hall representative for the package ISBN.
Companion Website
This FREE site serves as a valuable resource for students in preparing for exams. Two stu¬
dent quizzes per chapter are offered. The Concept Check Quiz is administered prior to
reviewing the chapter, in order to assess the students’ initial understanding. The Concept
Challenge Quiz is administered after reviewing the chapter to assess the students’ compre¬
hension. Also featured on the site is the text glossary. You can reach the Companion
Website by visiting www.prenhall.com/wellsburnett.
Contributors
The Practice idea in the book's title—Advertising: Principles and Practice—is supported in
this edition by involving many professionals from a variety of areas. Professionals were used
in the initial planning to review chapters in their own areas of expertise and provide infor¬
mation to update the book. Young professionals are also writing the Inside Story boxes and
their creative work is shown in the Showcase feature. We appreciate the work and contribu¬
tions of these people and would like to thank them in this section.
PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS Sports and Event Marketing. He is currently on the Board

of Directors of the Association for Consumer Research.
Constance Cannon Frazier Marty has Bachelors and Masters Degrees in
Communications from the University of Connecticut.
Senior Vice President, AAF Mosaic
Center and Education Services Adam S. Kruse
Constance Cannon Frazier joined the Senior Research Analyst, MPG
American Advertising Federation (Media Planning Group), Boston
(AAF) AS senior vice president, AAF
Mosaic Center and education services. As leader of these Adam S. Kruse is a Senior Research
vitally important programs, Frazier oversees continuing Analyst in the Research and Modeling
efforts to promote multiculturalism in the industry, as well as group at MPG (Media Planning
steer the AAF's educational programs, which include the Group) in Boston, MA. Before MPG, he was a Research
Most Promising Minority Students and the AAF Mosaic Analyst in Media Research at Starcom in Chicago. He is a
Awards. As head of the AAF's education services, Frazier Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the William Allen White
promotes the organization's 210 college chapters and School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. He also
oversees programs such as the National Student received his M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications
Advertising Competition. She also heads the AAF's intern¬ at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
ship and scholarship programs, encouraging students to
pursue advertising as a career. In addition to extensive pro¬ Susan Mendelsohn, Ph.D.
fessional experience in the advertising industry, Frazier President, Susan Mendelsohn
achieved an outstanding record in advertising education at Consultants, Chicago
Howard University, where she was the coordinator of the
advertising and public relations sequence. The American Susan is President of Susan
Advertising Federation (AAF), which is headquartered in Mendelsohn Consultants, a Chicago-
Washington, D.C., is the trade association that represents based company that specializes in
50,000 professionals in the advertising industry. brand building and developing creative and integrated
communication strategies. She possesses exceptional
account planning experience including planning in the
Marty Horn
profit and not-for-profit sectors with clients and brands in
Senior Vice President, Group over 60 industries. Client experience includes Chock full
Director—Strategic Planning & o'Nuts, Quaker (Gatorade, snacks, all cereals), The Field
Research DDB, Chicago Museum, Jim Beam brands, Sesame Workshop, Hasbro,
Marty Horn is a Senior Vice President, The Goodman Theatre and P&G. Susan is also an adjunct
Director of Brand Planning at DDB, professor of marketing for The School of the Art Institute of
one of the country's—and one of the world's—largest Chicago. Prior to that, she was Executive Vice President,
advertising agencies. He directs all consumer research and Director of Planning for Young & Rubicam and Senior Vice
development of creative strategies for State Farm and ALL¬ President, Group Planning Director for FCB Worldwide
TEL. In addition to his client duties, Marty oversees the DDB both in Chicago. Before that, Susan worked in New York
Life Style Study, the largest and longest-running survey of its City for Saatchi & Saatchi, Griffin Bacal Inc., DMB&B. Her
kind on American attitudes, interests and desires. Marty doctorate and MS degrees are in Human Development
has published articles in the Journal of Advertising, Journal from Syracuse University. She earned her BA cum laude in
of Advertising Research and the International Journal of Psychology from the University of Denver (Phi Beta Kappa).
Susan currently serves as Chairman for the Midwest APG
XXIX
(Account Planning Group) and is a frequent speaker and received her Ph.D.. In New York she applied her training to
writer in her field. marketing research for a variety of client companies while
at Omnicom (BBDO Advertising) and then at Young &
Ivan L. Preston Rubicam Advertising. Her client work includes GE "We
Bring Good Things to Life," and the launch of two new
Journal Communications Professor
brands: Lever 2000 soap and Colgate Total Toothpaste. At
Emeritus, University of Wisconsin
Y&R Dr. Wright-lsak was the corporate reputation specialist
Ivan L. Preston is Journal Commu¬ for clients such as DuPont, Kodak, and Johnson & Johnson.
nications Professor Emeritus at the In 1 998, at the request of several clients, Dr. Wright-lsak
University of Wisconsin-Madison after launched the strategic market research firm Northlight
being on the faculty for 31 years. His Ph.D. is from Marketing, Inc. In 1999, the Advertising Research
Michigan State. He previously worked in advertising and Foundation awarded her a Gold Ogilvy, the industry's
has written two books on deceptive advertising (The Great highest award for outstanding research, for her contribu¬
American Blow-Up and The Tangled Web They Weave), tion to the launch of Colgate Total. Throughout her business
along with a number of law review articles. He has partic¬ career, she has continued to be an active participant in the
ipated in law cases on behalf of advertisers and govern¬ academic community by conducting independent research
ment regulators, and also spent time in Washington as in- and publishing in academic journals. Most recently she
house consultant to the Federal Trade Commission. has joined the faculty of Florida Gulf Coast University to
teach Marketing and Advertising courses.
William H. Weintraub
Chief Marketing Officer (retired),
SHOWCASE CONTRIBUTORS
Coors Inc., Boulder CO We would like to thank the following professionals who
contributed their work to illustrate the book with Showcase
Bill received his B.S. in Commu¬
features.
nications from the University of Illinois
and his M.B.A. in from Northwestern. Mike Dattolico is a freelance art
He began his career at Procter & Gamble, managing a director and a graduate of the
range of brands for 15 years. Over the next 20 years, Bill University of Florida. Since earning
was Chief Marketing Officer at Kellogg, then Tropicana, degrees in Advertising & English
and then Coors. Through his career, Bill received a number Literature, Michael ventured to
of awards, including BrandWeek's Marketer of the Year. England and is finishing up a post¬
He now teaches at the University of Colorado, while serv¬ graduate degree in Creative
ing on various boards. Advertising. On finishing, he will further pursue a career as
an Art Director in London. In addition, he is in the process
Karl Weiss of publishing his first book, "Broken Roses: a poetic tale."
Dattolico's work was nominated to be featured in this book
President/CEO, Market Perceptions,
by Professor Elaine Wagner, University of Florida.
Inc.
Karl Weiss, founder and president of

Chris Hutchinson is an art director
at Wieden + Kennedy in Portland,
Denver-based Market Perceptions, Inc.
Oregon. He started at Bulldog-
has 15 years experience in marketing
Drummond in San Diego after graduat¬
research, with special expertise in research design and sta¬
ing from the University of Oregon with
tistical analysis. Karl holds an MBA with an emphasis in
a degree in advertising. In his spare
marketing research and B.S. degrees in marketing and sta¬
time he makes films. Hutchinson was
tistics. His background in statistical methods, coupled with
experience in marketing research, provides clients with nominated by Professor Charles Frazer, University of
Oregon.
expertise ranging from defining study objectives to design
and analysis. Karl's goal in founding Market Perceptions Ingvi Logason is a principal in his
was to build a research firm that allowed clients to become own firm, HER&NU Marketing
closer to their research, "experience their data" rather than Communications in Reykjavik, Iceland.
be subjected to it. By turning traditional printed research A graduate of Western Florida
reports into multimedia presentations with integrated voice University, he was nominated by
and data, Market Perceptions brings clients to a much Professor Tom Groth.
closer understanding of how their companies and brands
are perceived by the outside world.
Lara Mann is a copywriter at FHB

Christine Wright-lsak Advertising in Orlando, Florida. A
Ph.D. Founder and President, 2001 advertising graduate from the
Northlight Marketing, Inc. University of Florida, she was nomi¬
nated by Professor Elaine Wagner,
Dr. Wright-lsak was educated at the University of Florida.
University of Chicago, where she
Amy Niswonger is a 2001 gradu¬ Karl Schroeder, Copywriter, Nonbox, Portland, Oregon
ate of Miami University, Oxford,
Peter Stasiowski, Art Director, Gargan Communica¬
Ohio, where she was named Most
tion, Dalton, Massachusetts
Promising Minority Student by the
American Advertising Federation Eric Telchin, Designer, Washingtonpost.com Entertain¬
(AAF). She is a graphic designer at ment Guide, Washington D.C
the Cleveland, Ohio-based Nova
Creative Group. Using both her marketing and graphic
Carson Wagner, Assistant Professor, University of Texas
design degrees, she is creating unique pieces for the
agency's regional clients. She was nominated by Connie ACADEMIC REVIEWERS
Frazier, Senior Vice President, AAF Mosaic Center and We would like to thank the following professors for their time
Education Services. in reviewing the sixth edition and for their valuable com¬
Trent Walters, a 1997 graduate of ments in shaping the seventh edition. We would especially
the University of North Texas, is an like to thank Mike Weigold for his creative work and tireless
account supervisor at The Richards energy in writing the Hands On Cases for this edition.
Group in Dallas. Fie has worked on a Susan Alessandri, Syracuse University
number of the agency's major
accounts including Nokia, the STARZ! Andrew Aylesworth, Bentley College
Movie channel, AT&T Broadband,
Frederick DeCasperis, Siena College
and Motel 6, in addition to his current assignment with the
Gander Mountain account. Walters was also named a Olan Farnall, California State University at Fullerton
Most Promising Minority Student by the American
Jooyoung Kim, Iowa State University
Advertising Federation (AAF). He and his work were nomi¬
nated by Professor Sherri Broyles, University of North John Murphy, University of Texas at Austin
Texas.
Ronald Stanton, Emerson University
INSIDE STORY CONTRIBUTORS Michael Weigold, University of Florida
Other contributors include the professionals who wrote sto¬

ries about their work, which are featured in the Inside Story
boxes. Their biographies are included at the end of their
Inside Story, but we would like also to thank them here on
the contributors page.
Ryan Ali, Account Executive, Ziccardi Partners Frierson

Mee, New York
Cheri Anderson, Principal Consultant, SRI Consulting,

Menlo Park, California
Masura Ariga, Strategic Planning Director, Dentsu,

Tokyo, Japan
Heather Beck, Media Coordinator, Stern Advertising,

Cleveland, Ohio
John Butler, Senior Marketing and Communication

Strategist, Witeck-Combs Communications, Washington
D.C.
Tammie DeGrasse, Account Supervisor, McCann-

Erickson, New York
Amy Hume, Associate Media Director, Starcom

Worldwide, Chicago
Ingvi Logason, Principal, HER&NU Marketing

Communications, Reykjavik, Iceland
Harley Manning, Research Director, Site Design and

Development, Forrester Research Jennifer Montague,
National Accounts Director, Swivel Media San Francisco
Sonia Montes, Account Executive, Young & Rubicam,

Chicago
XXXI
1 FOUNDATIONS
The Mandate for Effectiveness

At a big meeting of advertising executives, Peter Sealey, former senior executive at Coca-Cola and
Apple Computer and now a consultant, observed that "We are on the threshold of making advertis¬
ing accountable." Advertising Age editor Ranee Crain responded, "That's easier said than done."
Today, advertising finds itself in a serious bind. With a continuing weak economy, the tragedy of
9/11, and new technology that may threaten the way advertising operates, there is a need to justify
the huge amounts of money spent of advertising.
Advertising will only survive and grow if it focuses on being accountable. Advertisers expect
results. They want to know that their advertising works; is effective. That means the objectives they
state for their advertising are being met. Clients expect proof, and, for the most part, that proof must
lead to or actually produce sales.
The basic premise of this book is that advertising must be effective. To that end, we teach you
about the complexities and intricacies of advertising strategies that produce effective results—ads
that work, ads that touch people's emotions, stick in their minds, and move them to action. Because
we are so concerned about effectiveness, we will introduce most chapters with an ad that has won
an award that recognizes the effectiveness of the message.
Advertising is part art and part science and there are no easy answers to the questions of
accountability and effectiveness. The industry has some things figured out but it is still searching for
answers. As we journey through this story of advertising principles and practices you will join in the
search.
In Chapters 1 and 2, the first part of the book, we will introduce the two professional areas of
advertising and marketing. We will define them, identify their principles, and describe their
practices. Chapter 3, the last chapter in Part I, will look at these two professional areas in terms of
their place in society—the contributions they make as well as the criticisms they elicit.
Part I provides the "big picture" of advertising. The rest of the book will provide the depth and
detail you need to be an informed user, or maybe even creator, of the advertising you see all around
you. It's a fascinating business and we hope you will love the stories we have to tell about how great
ads come to life.
Source: Ranee Crain, “Change in Air at ANA, MPA; Problem is How to get There,” Advertising Age, November 3, 2003, p. 23.
ipp
CHAPTER KEY POINTS
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
1. Define advertising and explain its key components.
2. Discuss the roles and functions of advertising within society and

business.
3. Identify the key players and their roles in creating advertising.
4. Explain the different types of advertising.
5. Summarize the characteristics of effective advertising and explain

why it is always goal directed.
6. Analyze the changes affecting the advertising industry.

Volkswagen Sings a
New Song with iPod®
Client:
Volkswagen of America
Agency:
Arnold Worldwide, Boston
T he good times roll for Volkswagen when its advertising, under
the guidance of the Boston-based agency Arnold Worldwide,
is winning awards. And Volkswagen's advertising has been
on a hot streak since the mid-1990s, winning bookcases full
of prizes for advertising effectiveness, as well as for creativity.
Campaign:
"Pods Unite" Most recently, an award-winning promotion offered an Apple
iPod with the purchase of the New Beetle hardtop. The headline
Award: capitalized on the design, functional, and technological similarities
Cold Effie®, Silver Reggie* between the iPod and the New Beetle, as a way of reminding peo¬
*The EFFIE® award is given for advertising effec¬ ple about what makes the New Beetle special.
tiveness. It is awarded by the New York American
Here's how the campaign evolved.
Marketing Association. The REGGIE award is given
by the Promotion Marketing Association. By 2003 Volkswagen and its agency Arnold Worldwide real¬
ized that the New Beetle was becoming old news since it was now
3
4 PART 1 • FOUNDATIONS
five years old. New products like the Mini Cooper were stealing its position as
the "gotta have it" car. The successful launch of the new Beetle convertible ear¬
lier in the year had also cannibalized sales of the hardtop New Beetle.
To make things even more difficult, auto sales in general were down, and
the marketplace was dominated by what Volkswagen saw as extravagant
financial incentives like 0% down and thousands of dollars in rebates. Many
manufacturers were sacrificing profits in order to gain, or simply maintain, mar¬
ket share.
Volkswagen opted not to join the incentive-and-discount fray, which
would risk turning the most unique car on the road into a commodity. The mar¬
keting challenge and the advertising agency's objective, then, was to find a
way to make the New Beetle hardtop seem fresh and more of a value than the
competition.
So Arnold took a different path and found inspiration not in traditional auto¬
motive marketing, but in the practices of other unique brands. When looking at
the Apple brand, for example, Arnold planners felt as though they were looking
in a mirror. Both Apple and Volkswagen were "underdog" brands with a focus
on leading design and technology. The consumers in VW's market, which it
calls "Drivers," are active, confident, and independent people who love to
drive. Further research confirmed that Volkswagen's "Drivers" love music and
are early adopters of emerging technology. Comparing them to Apple's iPod
users, Arnold found that they were a perfect match in terms of their interests and
lifestyles.
By joining forces with Apple, VW capitalized on the obvious synergies
between the two brands. Arnold found a way to add more tangible value to the
New Beetle by including an iPod and a custom car-connectivity kit with the pur¬
chase of every New Beetle hardtop sold during the campaign. The headline of
the campaign read, "Pods Unite."
The measurable objectives were to reach a sales goal of 5,200 units in two
months and document that each sale came through the New Beetle/iPod pro¬
motion. Other measurable objectives included generating test drives at the deal¬
erships by qualified customers who received a targeted direct-mail piece, and
attracting apple.com users to the promotion's mini-Web site.
Source: Adapted from 2004 EFFIE Awards Brief for Volkswagen New Beetle + iPod: “Pods Unite” campaign. The brief was
provided by Volkswagen of America and Arnold Worldwide; Alison Overolt, “The ‘Pods Unite’ Ad,” Fast Company (October
2003); 36.
VW is an example of advertising that has been highly effective over the years. To see why,
and to appreciate why the “Pods Unite” campaign was so successful, in this chapter we
will examine what advertising is, how it is defined, and how it works.
The chapter starts with a definition of advertising and an explanation of some of
advertising’s most basic concepts. Then it provides some basic information about the
roles and functions of advertising, the key players in advertising, and the various types of
advertising. Here at the beginning of the twenty-first century we find an emphasis in the
industry on advertising’s effectiveness, and that concept is also introduced in this chap¬
ter. Finally, the chapter concludes with a review of advertising as a dynamic profession,
identifying changes today and tomorrow that may affect the way advertising is defined in
the future.
CHAPTER 1 • INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTISING 5
WHAT IS ADVERTISING?
You have been reading, watching, listening, and looking at advertising since you were a
child. So it may seem a little silly to ask, “What is advertising?” An educated observer,
however, looks at advertising as something more than a sales message that occupies the
space in and around news stories, magazine features, and TV programs. In fact, it’s a com¬
plex form of communication that operates with objectives and strategies leading to various
types of impact on consumer thoughts, feelings, and actions. In this book, we’re interested
in great advertising and what principles and practices make it successful and effective.
Effectiveness is a theme in this book and that means we will focus our attention on ads that
create the consumer responses desired by the advertiser.
In a way, advertising is simple. It’s about creating a message and sending it to some¬
one, hoping they will react in a certain way. You’ve seen it all your life in the many thou¬
sands of commercials you’ve watched on television and the ads you’ve read in magazines,
on billboards and the Internet, and in other places.
Advertising becomes controversial when questions arise about how it influences peo¬
ple and whether that is a good thing. Some say they hate it and that it makes us do things
we don’t really want to do. Others see it as a fashion guide or as entertainment with good
jokes, great music, and fascinating images. We’ll examine some of these issues later in the
book, beginning with Chapter 3. But there is no doubt that advertising can be effective at
influencing people. Advertising has evolved as society has changed: It has had an effect on
society and at the same time society has had an effect on advertising.
Defining Modern Advertising

A standard definition of advertising has five basic components:
• Advertising is a paid form of communication, although some forms of advertising,

such as public service announcements (PSAs), use donated space and time.
• Not only is the message paid for, but the sponsor is identified.
• Most advertising tries to persuade or influence the consumer to do something,
although in some cases the point of the message is simply to inform consumers and
make them aware of the product or company. In other words, it is strategic communi¬
cation driven by objectives, and these objectives can be measured to determine
whether the advertising was effective.
• Advertising reaches a large audience of potential consumers.
• The message is conveyed through many different kinds of mass media, which are
largely nonpersonal. What that means is that advertising isn’t directed to a specific
person, although this is changing with the introduction of the Internet and more inter¬
active media.
A modern definition, then, would be: Advertising is paid persuasive communication

that uses nonpersonal mass media—as well as other forms of interactive communication—
to reach broad audiences to connect an identified sponsor with a target audience.
The Key Concepts of Advertising

In describing advertising we refer to four broad factors: strategy, creative idea, creative
execution, and creative media use. (Figure 1.1) All demand creative thinking from the
advertising professionals who are responsible for their development and implementation.
We’ll refer to these dimensions often, and you will soon understand them as rich concepts
that serve as a foundation for the practice of advertising.
These are also the fundamental elements professionals use to analyze the effective¬
ness of their advertising efforts. In other words, professionals critique the strategy, the
creative idea, the execution of their advertising ideas, and the way the message is delivered
through appropriate media.
Let’s see more specifically what these four elements are.
• Advertising strategy. Strategy is the logic and planning behind the advertisement that
gives it direction and focus. Every effective ad implements a sound strategy. The
Four Fundamental Elements

of Advertising
Strategy, the creative idea, the
advertising executions, and the
media must work together for an
ad to be truly effective.
advertiser develops the ad to meet specific objectives, carefully directs it to a certain

audience, creates its message to speak to that audience’s most important concerns, and
runs it in media (print, broadcast, or the Internet, for instance) that will reach its audi¬
ence most effectively.
• Creative idea. The creative concept is the ad’s central idea that grabs your attention
and sticks in your memory. The “Pods Unite” campaign for VW, for example, con¬
nects two innovative products in a way that relates to the emotional connection
Volkswagen owners have with their cars. The word creative describes a critical aspect
of advertising that drives the entire field of advertising. Planning the strategy calls for
imaginative problem solving: The research efforts need to be creative, and the buying
and placing of ads in the media require creative thinking.
• Creative execution. Effective ads are well executed. That means that the details, the
photography, the writing, the acting, the setting, the printing, and the way the prod¬
uct is depicted all reflect the highest production values available to the industry.
Advertising often sets the standard or establishes the cutting edge for printing, broad¬
casting, and Internet design because clients demand the best production their budget
allows.
• Creative media use. Every message has to be delivered somehow. Most advertisers use
media—communication channels that reach a broad audience, such as television, mag¬
azines, or the Internet. Deciding how to deliver the message sometimes can be just as
creative as coming up with the big idea for the message, a point we’ll discuss more in
Part 3.
Good advertisers know that how you say something and where you say it is just as
important as what you say. What you say and where you say it comes from strategy,
whereas how you say it is a product of creativity and execution. Strategy, the creative idea,
its execution, and the media used all determine the effectiveness of an advertisement.
ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING

Over time, as the practice of advertising has evolved, it has played many different roles. It
started out as a way to identify the maker of goods and that continues to be an important
role today. As technology, such as the printing press, made it possible to reach a wider
audience, advertising became more focused on providing commercial information along
with identification of the product’s maker.
Because of the advances of industrialization, which made it possible to produce more
goods than the local market could absorb, advertising took on the role of creating demand
for a product, which was done through two techniques: hard-sell approaches that use rea¬
sons to persuade consumers, and soft-sell approaches that build an image for a brand and
touch consumers’ emotions. An ad trumpeting a special reduced price on a tire is an exam¬
ple of a hard-sell approach; the long-running Michelin ad campaign that shows a baby sit¬
ting inside a tire is soft sell. (It’s selling the tires’ durability and reliability without saying
that specifically; rather it symbolizes reliability with an image that touches your emotions.)
In effect, these two approaches represent the art and science of advertising.
■ as
These ads use unexpected visuals—a parody on a common package for a
soap detergent and a can of soup—to call attention to a special promotion on
CDs by Virgin Megastores. These ads were contributed by Chris Hutchinson, a
graduate of the advertising program at the University of Oregon and an art
director at Weiden + Kennedy in Portland, Oregon.
But as the proliferation of media made it more difficult for any one message to get peo¬
ple’s attention, a need developed for more creative techniques that would make an impact,
such as the ads for Virgin Megastore. Creativity remains a key factor in evaluating the
impact of an advertising idea and is an important characteristic of successful advertising.
In the early 2000s, as the economy slowed down, marketers have become concerned
about accountability and the return they are getting on the money they invest in advertis¬
ing. As a result, advertising professionals find themselves needing to prove that their work
is effective—that it delivers the results the marketer has specified for the advertising. This
intense emphasis on accountability is the reason that effectiveness is a key theme in this
book. Every chapter opens with a case that details an example of effective work and ends,
in It’s a Wrap, with a discussion of the results of the work—in other words, how the adver¬
tising professionals determined or proved that the work was, in fact, effective. In order to
better understand how advertising works, let’s consider the four roles advertising plays in
business and in society:
1. Marketing
2. Communication
3. Economic
4. Societal
8 PART 1 FOUNDATIONS
The Marketing Role

The process a business uses to satisfy consumer needs and wants by providing goods and
services is called marketing. The marketing department or manager is responsible for
selling a company’s product, which can be goods (computers, refrigerators, soft drinks), a
service (restaurant, insurance, real estate), or an idea (support an organization, believe in
a candidate). Products are also identified in terms of their product category. By cate¬
Principle gory, we mean the classification to which the product is assigned that is, Levi s is in the
A product can be services and jeans category, Harley-Davidson is in the motorcycle category. The particular group of
ideas, as well as goods. consumers thought to be potential customers for the goods and services constitute the
target market.
The tools available to marketing include the product (the way it is designed, pack¬
aged, and how it performs), its price, and the means used to distribute or deliver the
product to a place where the customer can buy it. Marketing also includes a method for
communicating this information to the consumer called marketing communication, or
promotion. These four tools—product, price, place (distribution), and promotion—are col¬
lectively referred to as the marketing mix or the four Ps, and we will discuss them in more
detail in the next chapter. Advertising, of course, is one of the most important marketing
communication tools.
Marketing professionals are also involved with the development of a brand, which is
the distinctive identity of a particular product that distinguishes it from its competitors.
Colgate, for example, is one brand of toothpaste and Crest is another. They are produced
by different companies and compete directly against one another. The Matter of Practice
box explains how VW used brand-building advertising in support of its marketing program
for the New Beetle hardtop.
The Communication Role

Advertising is a form of mass communication. It transmits different types of market infor¬
mation to connect buyers and sellers in the marketplace. It both informs and transforms the
product by creating an image that goes beyond straightforward facts. The broad term
marketing communication includes advertising, but it also includes a number of related
communication techniques used in marketing—such as sales promotion, public relations,
direct response, events and sponsorships, packaging, and personal selling. Table 1.1
summarizes the strengths of advertising.
The Economic Role

Advertising tends to flourish in societies that enjoy some level of economic abundance, in
which supply exceeds demand. In these societies, advertising moves from being primarily
informational to creating a demand for a particular brand.
1.1 Strengths of Advertising as a Marketing Technique

Strengths Examples
Can reach a mass audience A commercial on the Super Bowl reaches
150 million consumers.
Introduces products Windows 98 was simultaneously intro¬
duced in multiple world markets.
Explains important changes MTN Cellular’s ads explain changes in its
technology.
Reminds and reinforces Pepsi-Cola has been advertised continu¬
ously over the last 50 years.
Persuades Nike campaigns have helped increase
sales by 300% during the last decade.
ft MATTER OF PRACTICE
Driving on the Road of Life
Given that Volkswagen is one of the greatest brands in the there are passengers and there are drivers. Drivers
history of marketing, it is hard to believe that it almost wanted."
went out of business in North America. "Drivers wanted" is much more than a catchy phrase.
When Arnold Worldwide took over the Volkswagen It carved out a place in the market that Volkswagen could
account in 1994, its research discovered that consumers own; it defined a distinctive target audience. Demo-
perceived the brand as unreliable and of poor quality. graphically, its "Drivers" were younger, more educated,
Volkswagen's heritage as an affordable, well-engineered and more affluent than average consumers. But most
car for people with a unique attitude toward life had got¬ importantly, they loved to drive. They were different and
ten lost. Deep down, Arnold planners knew that if they proud of it. They were active participants in life. They were
could tap into this heritage and deliver on Volkswagen's Drivers.
key strengths, the brand could be brought back to life. After all, the "Drivers Wanted" theme reflects a spirit
The agency's research uncovered the affection that rooted in Volkswagen's DNA: fun-to-drive cars for active
Volkswagen loyalists continued to hold for the brand. It also people. And from the start, it resonated with the target
discovered there was a position in the marketplace between audience.
overpriced European cars and the everyday driving experi¬ The campaign's measurable objectives focused on
ence offered by Asian and domestic competitors. increasing sales, brand awareness, intention to purchase,
The agency's breakthrough "Drivers Wanted" cam¬ and the recall of its new advertising campaign. In effect, it
paign was launched in 1995-1996 and continues as the sought to establish a unique and memorable relationship
umbrella theme for all Volkswagen advertising. This with a distinctive target audience.
award-winning theme captured the spirit of Volkswagen's The results? Sales turned around immediately and the
tribe of loyal drivers and effectively rebuilt demand for the most important measures of the brand's health—based on
brand. the objectives of awareness, purchase consideration, and
Arnold's creative team brought the theme to life by ad recall—skyrocketed. Every measure of advertising
telling stories that were half about driving and half about effectiveness continued to rise year after year. Today,
living—about energetic, young people actively driving "Drivers wanted" is the most recognizable brand slogan in
and experiencing their cars, feeling the road and every¬ the auto industry.
thing around them. It placed the reader or viewer inside
the car. And it placed the car in drivers' lives. The cam¬ Source: Adapted from The 2003 EFFIE Awards Brief; provided by
paign all came together with the line "On the road of life, Volkswagen of America and Arnold Worldwide.
There are two points of view about the way advertising creates economic impact. In
the first, advertising is seen as a vehicle for helping consumers assess value, through price
as well as other information—such as quality, location, and reputation. Rather than dimin¬
ishing the importance of price as a basis for comparison, advocates of this school view the
role of advertising as a means to objectively provide price-value information, thereby cre¬
ating a more rational economy.
In the second perspective, advertising is seen as so persuasive that it decreases the
likelihood that a consumer will switch to an alternative product, regardless of the price
charged. In other words, by focusing on other positive attributes, the consumer makes a
decision on nonprice benefits—such as a psychological appeal. This is presumed to be the
way images and emotions can be used to influence consumer decisions.1 Neither of these
perspectives on the role of advertising has been verified. It’s likely that advertising plays
both roles.
The Societal Role

Advertising also has a number of societal roles. It informs us about new and improved
products, helps us compare products and features, and generally keeps us informed about
innovations and issues. It mirrors fashion and design trends and adds to our aesthetic sense.
It has an educational role in that it teaches about new products and how to use them. It
helps us shape an image of ourselves by setting up role models that we can identify with,
and it gives us a way to express ourselves in terms of our personalities and sense of style
through the things we wear and use. There are both negative and positive dimensions to
these social roles, which we will discuss in more detail in Chapter 3.
The Functions of Advertising

Looking at advertising’s roles in society has given us the big picture, but now we need to
focus more closely on what an advertiser might expect to get from advertising—why, in
other words, it chooses to use advertising. From the advertiser’s perspective, advertising, in
general, performs seven basic functions:
• Builds awareness of products and brands

• Creates a brand image
• Provides product and brand information
• Persuades people
• Provides incentives to take action
• Provides brand reminders
• Reinforces past purchases and brand experiences
Consider This
o
1. Do the four roles—marketing, communication, economic, and societal—
describe advertising as you see it?
2. Can you think of other roles advertising plays?
THE KEY PLAYERS

The advertising industry is complex because it has a number of different organizations
involved in making decisions and executing advertising plans. The accompanying Matter
of Principle box about the greatest television commercial ever shown introduces a number
of these key players and illustrates how they all make different contributions to the final
advertising. The players include the advertiser or client, the agency, the media, the sup¬
plier, and the audience. They all have different perspectives and objectives and a great
advertisement is produced only when they come together as a team with a common vision.
Let’s look at each of these in turn.
The Advertiser
Advertising begins with the advertiser, the person
or organization that uses advertising to send out a
message about its products. In the “7984” story in
the matter of principle box, the Apple company was
the advertiser and Steve Jobs, the company’s CEO,
made the final decision to run the controversial
commercial. The list in Table 1.2 shows the biggest
U.S. advertisers in terms of their categories.2
The advertiser initiates the advertising effort
by identifying a marketing problem that advertis¬
ing can solve. The VW story is an example of how
an advertiser struggles to maintain its position in a
changing market, and also how its agency helps as
a partner in developing a communication strategy
to address the problem.
To better understand how that works, consider
how VW’s advertising evolved. Ask anyone who
grew up in the 1960s and they can provide a litany Think small.
of the legendary ads created by the Doyle Dane Ow liltia </v, iss’t s* mm of a n«v.
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Beetle affectionately known as “the Bug.” They r »>’•« Tfwjfs ijecees® owe you got used ft> Thfex » ov*r.
fondly remember such lines as “Think Small,”

“Lemon,” “The Egg Car,” “Ugly is Only Skin
Deep,” “Mass Transit” (a group of nuns in the bus),
and, on television, “How does the snow plow driver get to his snow plow?” With such a tra¬ The creative genius behind the
dition as an advertising leader, how does VW and its current agency continue this legacy of early VW Beetle ads made the
success? In fact, VW went through some hard times and was almost ready to drop out of car an advertising icon. Ads
the U.S. market. That’s why the “Drivers Wanted” campaign was so important. like this one are frequently
cited in lists of the greatest
advertising because they turned
automotive marketing upside
Biggest U.S. Advertisers in Terms of Categories down by advertising smallness
when everyone else was
1. Automotive advertising largeness.
2. Retail
3. Movies, media, and advertising
4. Food, beverages, and confectionery
5. Medicines and proprietary remedies
6. Financial services
7. Telecommunications
8. Toiletries, cosmetics, and personal care
9. Airline travel, hotels, and resorts
10. Restaurants
11. Direct-response companies
12. Home furnishings, appliances, supplies
13. Insurance and real estate
14. Computers, software, Internet
15. Government, politics, and organizations
16. Apparel
17. Beer, wine, and liquor
18. Audio and video equipment and supplies
19. Sporting goods, toys, and games
20. Entertainment and events
The Greatest Commercial Ever Made
The advertiser was Apple, the product was its new The 7 984 commer¬
Macintosh, and the client—the person handling the adver¬ cial is one of the most
tising responsibility and making decisions—was Steve talked about and most
Jobs, Apple's CEO and co-founder, who wanted "a remembered commer¬
thunderclap" ad. The agency was California-based cials ever made—the
Chiat/Day. The medium was television's Super Bowl. The best of the decade, the
supplier was legendary British film director Ridley Scott of best 50 commercials
Alien and Blade Runner fame. The audience was the 96 ever made, etc. Every
million people watching Super Bowl XVIII that day in time there is a list of the
January 1984, and the target audience was all those in the best commercials, it sits
audience who were trying to decide whether they should at the top, and it contin¬
buy a personal computer. ues to receive accolades
It's a basic principle in advertising: The combination into the twenty-first cen¬
of the right product at the right time in the right place with tury. If you haven't seen
all the right people involved can create something magi¬ it, then check it out on
cal—Jobs's thunderclap. In this case it also required a apple-history.com or
cast of 200 and a budget of $900,000 for production www.uriah.com/apple-qt/1984.html and decide for
and $800,000 for the 60-second time slot. So it wasn't a yourself.
small effort. And remember, the commercial ran only once—
The storyline was a takeoff on George Orwell's admittedly it was a very expensive spot on the television
science-fiction novel about the sterile mind-controlled program that has the highest viewership of the year, but it
world of 1984. An audience of mindless gray-skinned was seen only once by its target audience.
drones (actually skinheads from the streets) watch a mas¬ But it did turn the Super Bowl from just another foot¬
sive screen image of "Big Brother" spouting an ideological ball game into the advertising event of the year. What
diatribe. And then an athletic young woman in bright red added to its impact was the hype before and after it ran.
shorts runs in, chased by helmeted storm troopers, and People knew about the spot because of press coverage
throws a large sledgehammer at the screen. The destruc¬ prior to the game and they were watching for it. And post¬
tion of the image is followed by a burst of fresh air blow¬ coverage of the game was as likely to talk about "1984"
ing over the open-mouthed drones as they "see the light." as the football score. Advertising became news and
In the last shot the announcer reads the only words in the watching the commercial became an event. That's why
commercial as they appear on screen: "On January 24th, Advertising Age's critic Bob Garfield calls it "the greatest
Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see TV commercial ever made."
why 1 984 won't be like 1984." The debate continues about whether the "Big Brother"
Was it an easy idea to sell to the client? character was designed to represent IBM. What do you
First of all, some of the Apple executives who first saw think?
the commercial were terrified that it wouldn't work because
it didn't look like any commercial they had ever seen. After Consider This
viewing it, several board members put their heads down in o-
their hands. Another said, "Who would like to move on fir¬ 1. Why is " 7 984" considered to be a great commercial?
ing Chiat/Day immediately?" Supposedly Apple's other 2. Does this commercial fit the classic definition of adver¬
founder, Steve Wozniak, took out his checkbook and told tising? Identify and explain the elements in the commer¬
jobs, "I'll pay for half if you pay for the other half." The cial that lead you to your conclusion.
decision to air the commercial finally came down to Jobs,
whose confidence in the Chiat/Day creative team gave
him the courage to run the ad.
Sources: Kevin Money, "Apple's '1984' Super Bowl Commercial Still Stands
Was it effective?
as Watershed Event," USA Today [January 28, 2004 3B; Liane Hansen,
On January 24 long lines formed outside computer host, "Steve Hayden Discusses a 1984 Apple Ad Which Aired During the
stores carrying Apples, and the entire inventory sold out Super Bowl," National Public Radio Weekend Edition, February 1, 2004;
in one day. The initial sales goal of 50,000 units was eas¬ Cleveland Horton, "Apple's bold '1984' Scores on All Fronts," Advertising
Age, (January 1, 1990) 12, 38; Bradley Johnson, " 10 Years after'1981':
ily surpassed by the 72,000 units sold in the first 100
The Commercial and the Product That Changed Advertising," Advertising
days and more would have been sold if Apple had been Age, (June 1994) 1, 12-14; Curt's Media, "The 1 984 Apple Commercial:
able to keep up with the demand. The Making of a Legend," http://www.isd.net/cmcalone/cine/1984.html.
WHEN THE ADVERTISER DOESN’T HAVE AN IN-HOUSE WHEN THE ADVERTISER HAS AN IN-HOUSE AGENCY
AGENCY
SampIle Structures of the Advertising Process
The advertiser also makes the final decisions about the target audience and the size of
the advertising budget. This person or organization also approves the advertising plan,
which contains details outlining the message and media strategies.
Finally, the advertiser hires the advertising agency; in other words, the advertiser
becomes the agency’s client. As the client, the advertiser is responsible for monitoring the
work and paying the bills for the agency’s work on its account. That use of the word
account is the reason agency people refer to the advertiser as “the account” and the agency
person in charge of that advertiser’s business as “the account manager.”
The Advertising Agency

The second player in the advertising world is the advertising agency or department that
creates the advertising. Advertisers hire independent agencies to plan and implement part
or all of their advertising efforts as Chiat/Day did for Apple and the Arnold company did
for Volkswagen in the opening story. This working arrangement is known as the
agency-client partnership. The “7954” story demonstrates how important it is to cultivate
a strong sense of trust between these two partners.
In 2002-2003 ad agency gross income was $10.6 billion worldwide, according to
Advertising Age's annual agency report. The top three U.S. ad agencies were J. Walter
Thompson, Leo Burnett, and McCann-Erickson Worldwide. Japanese-based Dentsu, Inc.
is the largest agency in the world. Arnold Worldwide of Boston is the agency that produced
the most recent EFFIE-winning campaign work for VW; it is ranked fourteenth among
U.S. agencies and had billings of $1.2 billion in 2003.
An advertiser uses an outside agency because it believes the agency will be more effi¬
cient in creating an advertisement or a complete campaign than the advertiser would be on
its own. Successful agencies such as Arnold Worldwide typically have strategic and cre¬
ative expertise, media knowledge, workforce talent, and the ability to negotiate good deals
for clients. The advertising people working for the agency are experts in their areas of spe¬
cialization and passionate about advertising, as the Inside Story illustrates.
There are several ways advertisers organize to manage their advertising. Large advertis¬
ers—either companies or organizations—participate in the advertising process either through
their in-house agencies or through their advertising departments, as we see in Figure 1.2.
The Advertising Department Most large businesses have advertising depart¬

ments. Their primary responsibility is to act as a liaison between the marketing department
and the advertising agency (or agencies) and other vendors. Depending on the business, the
VIST 8 feB
SIDE STO DV
Why Do I Love Advertising?
Sonia Montes, Senior Account Executive, Leo Burnett/Lapiz
I always knew I wanted to be in the solve. Having analytical, writing, and presentation skills
ad business. As a child I filmed "commer- and the ability to reason through problems and think from
7 cials" with my parents' video camera. other people's point of view is a necessity. While this is
Throughout high school I admired Angela exciting, I always remember that someone else can do it
Bower (Who's the Boss) and thought better, which makes me work harder to stay competitive.
Amanda Woodward (Me/rose Place) had the best life. In You need to thrive on stress and challenges to survive
college, I did well in my advertising classes and became advertising.
heavily involved with the American Advertising Federation
(AAF) student chapter. Although by graduation I should "It's the Real Thing."
have had an inclination of what to expect, I still had a very o-
So why do I stay in advertising? Well, I'm lucky. I work in
glamorized image of the ad business. No textbook or TV
a creative environment with young, passionate, forward-
show could have prepared me for what I was about to
thinking people. It's a challenging field that keeps me on
learn.
my toes daily. Above all, advertising is fun. I've learned
that it's not surprising to be asked to wear a hot-pink wig
"Where's the Beef?"
o- or to see an art director stand on top of a table during
There are no 3-hour-long lunches in the ad business. At client meetings. While my co-workers' hairstyles range
least not since I've been in the industry. Most days, I'm from Mohawks to shaved heads, many of us have one
lucky if I have a quick lunch at my desk . . . while I'm work¬ thing in common. We are die-hard advertising addicts,
ing. Long hours and late nights are practically an industry constantly blazing our way to a brighter tomorrow with
standard. I try to remind myself that most of my friends style and good company.
experience similar workdays in their business fields.
Sonia graduated from Michigan State University in 2000 with a BA in ad¬
"Think Different." vertising. While at MSU, she was president of her student AAF chapter, the
o- largest chapter in the country at that time, and she was named one of the
One of the hardest things about being in the advertising 25 Most Promising Minority Students in Communications 2000 by the AAF
business is actually describing to others what I do on a She began her career at FCB Chicago and has worked on such brands as
daily basis. Advertising is a dynamic, fast-paced environ¬ S. C. Johnson and Kraft. She is currently a Senior Account Executive at
Leo Burnett/Lapiz.
ment, so every day my job is different. There are always
new ideas, new creative strategies, and new problems to Nominated by Professor Carrie La Ferle, Michigan State University
involvement of the marketing department can vary tremendously from company to com¬
pany. The individual in charge of the advertising department may carry a title such as
Director of Advertising or Advertising Manager. Typically, that person has extensive expe¬
rience in all the facets of advertising. In fact, many have had jobs on the agency side, so
they may have worked with advertisers in various capacities and are familiar with their
operations.
As indicated, the task of the advertising manager and the staff is to facilitate the inter¬
action between the company’s marketing department and the agencies. Many companies
may have hundreds of agencies working for them, although they normally have an agency-
of-record, which does most of their business and may even manage the other agencies.
Tasks performed by the advertising department include the following: It selects the agen¬
cies; coordinates activities with vendors, such as media, production, photography, fulfill¬
ment; makes sure the work gets done as scheduled; and determines whether the work has
achieved prescribed objectives.
The In-House Agency Companies that need closer control over their advertising
have their own in-house agencies. Large retailers, for example, find that doing their own
advertising provides cost savings as well as the ability to meet deadlines. Some fashion
companies, such as the Ralph Lauren company, also create their own advertising in house
in order to maintain complete control over the brand image and the fashion statement it 1
Big Media
Company Revenue and Employees Businesses
Time Warner $39.57 billion America Online, HBO, Time Inc., Turner Broadcasting,
New York 80,000 Time Warner Cable, Time Warner Books, Warner Bros.
Entertainment, Warner Music Group, New Line Cinema
Disney $27.06 billion ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, ABC Radio, Radio Disney, ABC
Burbank, CA 112,000 News On-Demand (video), WDIG (wireless news), theme parks
(Walt Disney World and EPCOT, Disneyland, Disneyland in
Paris, Tokyo Disney), Walt Disney Studios including Touchstone
Pictures, Miramax, and Buena Vista
Viacom $26.59 billion CBS, MTV, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television,
New York 122,770 Blockbuster, Simon & Schuster, Nickelodeon, Showtime,
Infinity Radio and Outdoor, Spelling Television, UPN, BET cable
and BET Jazz, Paramount Parks, and 19 TV stations
Comcast $18.35 billion Cable, broadband Internet, SportsNet, E! Entertainment
Philadelphia 59,000 Television, The Golf Channel, Style, Outdoor Life Network,
G4, CN8—The Comcast Network, Comcast SportsNet (Phila¬
delphia and Mid-Atlantic), Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), Phila¬
delphia Flyers (NHL), two Philadelphia indoor sports arenas
News Corp. $17.47 billion DirecfTV, Fox, 20th Century Fox, HarperCollins, Fox News
Sydney, Australia 36,900 Channel, Fox Sports, XFX, Sky Television, Fox Television, The
Australian, New York Post, Times of London, Smartsource,
donna hay
Source: Adapted from "Big Entertainers," Wall Street Journal (February 1 2, 2004): A8; Emily Nelson &joe Flint, "Comcast's Big Play for Mickey," Wall
Street Journal {February 12, 2004): Bl; http://www.timewarner.com; http://www.viacom.com; http://www.newscorp.com.
makes. An in-house agency performs most, and sometimes all, of the functions of an out¬
side advertising agency.
The Media
The third player in the advertising world is the media. The media player is composed of
the channels of communication that carry the message from the advertiser to the audience,
and in the case of the Internet, it carries the response from the audience back to the adver¬
tiser. (Note that media is plural when it refers to various channels, but singular—medium—
when it refers to only one form, such as newspaper.)
The development of mass media has been a central factor in the development of
advertising because mass media offers a way to reach a widespread audience.
We refer to these media as channels of communication or media vehicles but they are
also companies, such as your local newspaper or radio station. Some of these media con¬
glomerates are huge, such as Time Warner and Viacom (see Table 1.3).
Each media vehicle (newspaper, radio or TV station, billboard company, etc.) has a
department in place that is responsible for selling ad space or time. Each medium tries to
assist advertisers in comparing the effectiveness of various media as they try to make the best
choice of media to use. Many of the media organizations will assist advertisers in the design
and production of advertisements. That’s particularly true for local advertisers using local
media, such as a retailer preparing an advertisement for the local newspaper. Principle
The primary advantage of advertising’s use of mass media is that the costs for time in Mass media advertising can be
broadcast media, for space in print media, and for time and space in interactive and support cost effective because the costs
media are spread over the tremendous number of people that these media reach. For exam¬ are spread over the large number
ple, $2 million may sound like a lot of money for one Super Bowl ad, but when you con¬ of people reached by the ad.
sider that the advertisers are reaching more than 500 million people, the cost is not so
extreme. So one of the big advantages of mass-media advertising is that it can reach a lot
of people with a single message in a very cost-efficient form.
A media sales representative typically meets the advertiser or the advertiser’s represen¬
tative (probably an advertising agency) and tries to convince this person that the medium is a
good delivery vehicle for the advertiser’s message. For example, a marketing representative
for media provider Qwest Dex (Yellow Pages directory) calls on hundreds of prospective
users of the Dex directory. The purpose of the visit is to describe the research supporting the
use of this medium as an advertising vehicle, discuss the various advertising designs, offer
assistance in designing an ad, and outline the conditions of buying space in the directory.
The Suppliers (Vendors)

The fourth player in the world of advertising is the group of service organizations that
assist advertisers, advertising agencies, and the media in creating and placing the ads: the
suppliers, or vendors, who provide specialized services. Members of this group include
artists, writers, photographers, directors, producers, printers, as well as self-employed free¬
lancers and consultants, among others. In the “7984” story, the movie director Ridley Scott
was a supplier in that Chiat/Day contracted with him to produce the commercial.
The array of suppliers mirrors the variety of tasks that it takes to put together an ad.
Other examples include freelance copywriters and graphic artists, photographers, song¬
writers, printers, market researchers, direct-mail production houses, telemarketers, and
public relations consultants.
Why hire a vendor? For many reasons. The advertisers may not have expertise in
that area; they may be overloaded, or they may want a fresh perspective. Another reason to
rely on vendors is cost: Vendors’ services are often cheaper than the services of someone
in-house.
The Target Audience

All advertising strategy starts with the identification of the customer or prospective cus¬
tomer—the desired audience for the advertising message.
The character of the target audience has a direct bearing on the overall advertising
strategy, especially the creative strategy and the media strategy. The task of learning about the
target audience is laborious and may take thousands of hours and millions of dollars to
accomplish. Fortunately, we now have data-gathering technology that not only reduces the time
and cost of doing the research but also improves the accuracy of information about customers.
This information is collected every time you buy products using a scanner, complete a warranty
target audience/guarantee card, join a book or CD club, or sign up for America Online.
Purchasers are not always the product users. In the case of cold cereal, for example,
parents may purchase the cereal but kids consume it and definitely influence the pur¬
chase. Kellogg might actually have two target audiences for a children’s cereal and 1
would, therefore, design one ad for the kids

target audience and another for the parents
target audience. It’s critical, then, that adver¬
tisers recognize the various target audiences
they are talking to and know as much about
them as possible.
Interactive technology has created a new
world of targeting and ads can now be cus¬
tomized to individual consumers to some
extent. This customization is growing and will
make it even more important to know the tar¬
get audience and create ads that speak to indi¬
vidual needs. When you go to the Web site
Amazon.com, for example, it can greet you
with a suggestion on a book or album that
might be of interest based on what you have
purchased in the past.
The Loyal Volkswagen Tribe Understanding the unique relationship Volkswagen

has with its owners was a key to the success of the “Drivers Wanted” campaign. In taking
over the struggling account in 1994, Arnold’s planners went to work and uncovered an
interesting insight: There was a loyal tribe of Volkswagen owners who loved their vehicles,
even through the difficult years. These people were younger, more educated, and more
affluent than average automotive consumers. But most importantly, they loved to drive—
their cars were more than utilitarian objects designed to get from point A to point B. They
were active participants in the driving experience—they were Drivers!
In the “Pods Unite” campaign, this audience was tightened. Because of the need to
make an immediate impact on sales, the iPod “Drivers” market was further defined as
those intending to purchase within the next three months. The creative and media strategies
were then designed to connect with these “in-the-market buyers” who were actively con¬
sidering a purchase and specifically targeted to those among the in-the-market buyers who
were interested in music and new technologies.
TYPES OF ADVERTISING
Advertising is complex because so many different advertisers try to reach so many differ¬
ent types of audiences. Considering all these different advertising situations, we can iden¬
tify seven major types of advertising.
• Brand. The most visible type of advertising is national consumer, or brand advertising.
Brand advertising, such as that for Volkswagen’s New Beetle, the Apple Macintosh,
or Polo focuses on the development of a long-term brand identity and image.
• Retail or Local Advertising. A great deal of advertising focuses on retailers or manu¬
facturers that sell their merchandise in a certain geographical area. In the case of retail
advertising, the message announces facts about products that are available in nearby
stores. The objectives tend to focus on stimulating store traffic, and creating a distinc¬
tive image for the retailer. Local advertising can refer to a retailer, such as T.J. Maxx, or
a manufacturer or distributor who offers products in a fairly restricted geographic area.
• Direct-Response Advertising. Direct-response advertising can use any advertising
medium, including direct mail, but the message is different from that of national and
retail advertising in that it tries to stimulate a sale directly. The consumer can respond
by telephone or mail, and the product is delivered directly to the consumer by mail or
some other carrier. Of particular importance in direct-response advertising has been
the evolution of the Internet as an advertising medium.
• Business-to-Business Advertising. Business-to-business advertising (B2B) is sent from
one business to another. For example, it includes messages directed at companies dis¬
tributing products, as well as industrial purchasers and professionals such as lawyers
and physicians. B2B is not directed at general consumers. Advertisers place most business
Cool leather.
Soft suede.
Hot savings. Hurry.
Fashion never waits. That's why
now’s the time to shop TJ.Maxx
for the latest leather and suede
at simply incredible prices.
Think jackets, shirts, and skirts
in all the coolest colors, plus
classic browns arid blacks.
Fashion forward to TJ.Maxx.
Starts Sunday, August 8
T|'fTKD*t
you should go*
Retailers sometimes advertise

nationally but much of their
advertising in professional publications or journals. The ad for Interland is an example
advertising is targeted to a
specific market, such as this of a typical business-to-business ad.
direct-mail piece for T.J. Maxx. • Institutional Advertising. Institutional advertising is also called corporate advertising.
These messages focus on establishing a corporate identity or winning the public over
to the organization’s point of view. Many of the tobacco companies are running ads
that focus on the positive things they are now doing, and the leukemia ads for
America’s Pharmaceutical Companies are also adopting that focus.
• Nonprofit Advertising. Not-for-profit organizations, such as charities, foundations,
associations, hospitals, orchestras, museums, and religious institutions, advertise for
customers (hospitals, for example), members (the Sierra Club), and volunteers (the
Red Cross), as well as for donations and other forms of program participation.
• Public Service Advertising. Public service announcements (PSAs) communicate a
message on behalf of some good cause, such as stopping drunk driving (for example,
messages from Mothers Against Drunk Driving) or preventing child abuse. These
advertisements are usually created by advertising professionals free of charge and the
media often donate the necessary space and time.
We see, then, that there isn’t just one kind of advertising. In fact, advertising is a large
and varied industry. Table 1.4 summarizes the types, roles, and functions of advertising
that we have just examined. All types of advertising demand creative, original messages
that are strategically sound and well executed. But most of all, they must be effective, so
let’s close our introduction to advertising with a more in-depth discussion of what we
mean by effectiveness.
Advertising Types, Roles, and Functions: A Summary

Types Roles Functions
Brand Marketing Brand/product awareness
Retail/local Communication Brand image
Direct-response Economic Product/brand information
Business-to-business Societal Persuation
Institutional Incentives to take action
Nonprofit Reminder/reinforcement
Public service
WHAT MAKES AN AD EFFECTIVE?

Great ads are effective ads and effective ads are ads that
work—they deliver the message the advertiser intended and
consumers respond as the advertiser hoped they would.
Ultimately, advertisers such as Volkswagen and Apple want
consumers to buy and keep buying their goods and services.
To get to that point, ads must first communicate a message
that motivates consumers to respond in some way.
What are the characteristics of effective ads that impact
on consumer response? To move consumers to action, they
must gain their attention, which was the purpose of the riv¬
eting story in the “7984” commercial. The ad must then
hold their interest long enough to convince consumers to
change their purchasing behavior and try the product, which
sometimes means switching brands, and then stick with the
product and buy it again. For a restaurant or car dealer, the
real measure of the advertisement’s effectiveness is whether
the customers come back again. That depends upon their
satisfaction with the product, but it also is a function of the
power of the advertising to remind customers of the brand
and their positive feelings about it.
In general, an ad or campaign works if it creates an
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from the competition in the mind of the customer. Chapter 4

America's Pharmaceutical Companies
explains these effectiveness characteristics in more detail.
Initially, consumers may be interested in watching an
ad for its entertainment value, as happened with the “7984”
commercial. If the ad is sufficiently entertaining, they may
remember it. However, they may also learn that the ad
relates to a personal need and provides them with relevant This institutional ad for a trade
information about how to satisfy that need. The ad may also offer enough incentive for association uses a heart-tugging
consumers to risk change because it shows how to satisfy their needs without worrying visual and copy to show
about unexpected consequences, such as dissatisfaction with the product. Further, ads may consumers the value of the
reinforce product decisions and remind customers of how their needs have been satisfied. organization's activities:
These are all different types of effects that an advertising message can achieve and there¬ producing pharmaceutical
drugs that help save lives.
fore they can be seen as characteristics of effective advertising.
The Important Role of Objectives

The one characteristic that is most important in terms of effectiveness is the idea that
advertising is purposeful; it is created to have some effect, some impact on the people who
read or see the message. Determining effectiveness, in other words, depends on setting a
goal in terms of the impact advertisers hope to create in the minds of the people who read,
view, or listen to the ads. We refer to this as advertising’s effects, the idea being that effec¬
tive advertising messages will achieve the advertiser’s desired impact on the target audi¬
ence. The desired impact is formally stated as an objective, which is the measurable goal
or result that the advertising is intended to achieve. The advertising works if it achieves
that objective.
Ads and their goals work on two levels. First, they satisfy consumers’ objectives by
engaging them with a relevant message that catches their attention, speaks to their inter¬ Principle
ests, and remains in their memories. And second, from the company’s perspective, the ads When an ad "works," that means
achieve the company’s marketing objectives, which are usually related to growth and sales it delivers specific results that meet
and contribute to the success of the business. Also, the advertising achieves its own objec¬ its stated objectives.
tives, which are creating the communication effects in terms of the consumer responses
that support the marketing objectives.
To analyze the relationship

between objectives and results,
consider the VW “Drivers
Wanted” campaign. Over the
years, the campaign has been
driven by three types of objec¬
tives: brand awareness, ad recall,
and consideration (intend to
buy). It first won an EFFIE
award in 1998 for its effective¬
ness in accomplishing these
three objectives.
“Drivers Wanted” was rec¬
ognized again in 2002 with an
EFFIE award for its long-term
impact on the brand. This award
recognizes a special category of
advertising effectiveness called
“Sustained Success” and it is
given to only a few of the most
successful advertising cam¬
paigns that are truly outstanding
year after year.
So what were the results
To dramatize the connection
that garnered this Sustained Success award for Volkswagen and its agency partner, Arnold
between the Volkswagen New
Worldwide? Over the seven-year period since the “Drivers Wanted” campaign launched in
Beetle and the iPod, the
1995, Volkswagen sales increased 213 percent. Brand awareness, a measure that is difficult
campaign used the idea of
to move, rose dramatically, increasing 218 percent. Purchase consideration, a measure of
logical pairs, such as ketchup
and french fries, to dramatize the target audience’s intention to buy the brand, climbed 200 percent. Finally, advertising
the connection between the two. recall more than doubled, moving up 250 percent since the beginning of the campaign. In
the end, however, the campaign has been successful for a decade because it established a
more meaningful and intimate dialogue with its customers and it serves as an effective plat¬
form for continuing promotional ideas, such as the “Pods Unite” campaign.
Effectiveness and Award Shows

This chapter opened with the VW “Pods Unite” campaign, which was identified as award¬
winning advertising. The EFFIE award, which is a shortened form of the word effective, is
given by the New York Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) to adver¬
tising that has been proven to be effective. That means the campaigns were guided by
measurable objectives, and evaluation after the campaign ran determined that the effort
did, in fact, meet or exceed the objectives. Other award shows that focus on effectiveness
are the Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness (AME) awards by the New York
Festivals company and the Institute of Practitioners Award (IPA) by a London-based
advertising association.
But are all award-winning ads effective ads? Not necessarily. There are a number of
other award shows that judge other factors such as creative ideas (the CLIOS by a private
award show company, the One Show by a New York-based advertising association, and the
Cannes Awards by a French award show company), media plans (Adweeks Media Plan of
the Year), and art direction (the New York Art Director’s Award Show).
Other professional areas also have award shows that reward such things as clever
promotional ideas (the REGGIES given by the Promotion Marketing Association) and
outstanding public relations efforts (the Silver Anvil by the Public Relations Society of
America [PRSA]). There are many other award shows that may be mentioned in this
book, but this quick introduction should give you some idea of the effort marketing com¬
munication professionals make to recognize outstanding work. We’ll be referring to these
awards throughout this book because we like to use these award winners as cases, and
hopefully you will be able to learn about various types of best practices from these award
winners. Another way to learn about great advertising is to look at how these best prac¬
tices have evolved.
Award shows have been around for a long time, as has the search for new ways to do
great advertising. The next section gives you a brief review of how the practice of advertis¬
ing has evolved.
Consider This
1. In your own words, explain what makes effective advertising.
2. Analyze the opening VW story based on your explanation of effectiveness.
THE EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING

Now that we have discussed the types, functions, and players of advertising, let’s investi¬
gate how the principles and practices of advertising developed.3 The practice of advertising
as it has evolved has been dynamic, as noted in Figure 1.3. The figure divides the evolution
of advertising into six stages. The first stage is the “Age of Print.” Ads were primarily like
classified advertising in format and print media carried them. Their objective was to
deliver information. The primary medium of this age was the newspaper.
The second stage we label “Industrial Revolution and Emergence of Consumer
Society,” a period when advertising grew in importance and size because of numerous
social and technological developments. The purpose of advertising was to devise an effec¬
tive, efficient communication system that could sell products to a widely dispersed mar¬
ketplace. National media developed as the country’s transportation system grew.
The “Modem Advertising Era” is the third stage in the evolution of advertising. The
Agency Era is the period when the advertising industry grew and organizations specializing
in modem professional advertising developed. To compete in a crowded marketplace and
build demand for brands the Creative Era showcased an emphasis on new creative practices.
In the early 1970s the “Accountability Era,” which is the beginning of the industry¬
wide focus on effectiveness, emerged. Clients wanted ads that produced sales so the
emphasis was on research and measurement. In the early 1990s, the advertising industry
recognized that advertising had to pay its own way and prove its own value.
Finally, the tragedy of September 11, 2001, is still very much on the minds of citizens
around the world. Advertising has changed in some obvious ways. Immediately following
the attacks, the advertising industry rushed to change ads that were seen by the public as
insensitive. Also, advertisers ran fewer ads, as the economy faltered in the wake of the
tragedy and the boom, then bust, of the Internet economy. Accountability became even
more important in a tight economy and advertisers demanded proof that their advertising
was truly effective.
THE CURRENT ADVERTISING SCENE

Advertising continues to be a dynamic profession that is constantly changing. What are the
current issues and trends, and what’s ahead for the advertising industry? Above all, what is
“the new advertising”?
An Expanded View of Advertising?

Electronic media, such as the Internet and wireless communication, are changing the
media landscape and making more intimate, interactive, and personalized forms of com¬
munication much more important to advertisers.
A big debate at the Cannes Festival several years ago, for example, centered on
whether the innovative BMW “Hire” campaign, which was primarily based on the use of
short action films on the Internet, counted as advertising. It was creative; it got attention; it
sold cars—but it didn’t look like advertising. So is it advertising? Of course it is. It’s just
the next step in the evolution of advertising. And advertisers are pushing their agencies to
keep up with these changes.
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Ad-Wholesaling agency used testimonial
from a satisfied customer to promote the agency.
This is where real creativity lies—not just in the development of a big idea for a mag-
■ RB Advertising Timeline azine ad or a television commercial, but in the use of new ways of reaching and communi-
eating with people. The BMW “Hire” campaign also used events, such as a gathering of
faithful viewers on a corner in New York City in a live-action scene related to one of the
online mini-movies. Such novel ideas create buzz, which means people talk about the
event, the idea, and the brand.
Likewise, Jeep has had great success with its summer camps; it invites its owners to
come and learn how to drive off-the-road and test themselves in such driving conditions. Is
the objective to sell Jeeps? Yes, in a way. These satisfied owners might buy another Jeep
the next time they buy a car, but the camp idea is more about building a strong customer
relationship. Jeep knows that these people become advocates for the brand and they are the
best salespeople Jeep can have. They spread the word, and word of mouth is one of the
strongest forms of persuasion that exists. Is Jeep’s camp advertising? It’s creative; it’s mar¬
keting communication; and it sells cars—so it must fit somewhere into the new world of
“advertising.” Of course, it’s not traditional advertising in nonpersonal mass media, but it
expands the activities that engage the creative ideas of advertising professionals who seek
new ways to connect with consumers.
“New advertising,” then, is more personal and interactive and more likely to employ
creative new uses of communication opportunities beyond the traditional mass media.
Integrated Marketing Communication

One of the biggest trends affecting advertising is the development of the integrated mar¬
keting communication (IMC) approach, which also is expanding the scope of what we
have referred to as the “new advertising.” We mentioned earlier that advertising is only one
type of marketing communication. As you might imagine, keeping all these various com¬
munication tools coordinated is a major task. In some cases advertising uses these other
forms of marketing communication such as sales promotion to build consumer interest,
and in other cases it merely interacts with them—advertising, for example, is used to
announce the Jeep camp, which stands on its own as a major promotional event.
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Modern Advertising Era Age of Agencies
After WW1, “I wanted to be happy”

was the call of consumer, and jazz
and dancing became popular, as this
ad for Victor Talking Machine Co.
illustrates.
The important thing to remember is that all these other areas deliver messages, just as
advertising does, and it is important to have them all work together if there is to be a coher¬
ent brand message. Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is the practice of uni¬
fying all marketing communication tools so they send a consistent, persuasive message
promoting company goals.
In addition to the profusion of marketing communication tools, the brand’s stake¬
holders—all those groups of people who have an interest in the brand—includes employees,
vendors and suppliers, distributors, investors, government and regulators, the community,
watchdog groups, the media, and so forth. So the audience is as complex as the tools used
to reach them.
In companies that use IMC, marketers coordinate all these marketing communication
messages to create synergy, which means each individual message has more impact work¬
ing jointly to promote a product than it would working on its own. The goal is to create
strategic consistency across all messages a customer receives.4
But IMC also considers all messages that consumers receive about a brand, whatever
the source. And it includes messages to—and from—all stakeholders who are involved
with the brand. So the communication world for a brand becomes dramatically more com¬
plex than just doing a single advertisement.. Advertising is part of this new world and, in
the eyes of many advertising professionals, it should be the lead function.
The practice of advertising will continue to evolve as the dynamic industry adjusts to
changes in its environment with less emphasis on the nonpersonal and mass-media ele¬
ments and more on interactive communication, as well as more sense of advertising’s place
within a coordinated program of communication efforts. There are other trends related to
the widening of the definition of advertising and the growth of IMC.
Globalization
The IMC trend and technological improvements in communication have made it possible
for companies to have more of a dialogue with their customers, moving marketing com¬
munication—and advertising—further away from the one-way model of communication
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In the 1950s - TV becomes an This ad created by Bill Bernbach Who can forget Pepsi's use of celebrity Due to the 9/11 attacks, advertising
important advertising medium. reflects his appeal to emotions. endorsements in the 1980s? takes on a new responsibility.
that has dominated its evolution. This trend is complicated by the increasing globalization
of marketing programs. In the early 1990s the trade barriers throughout much of Europe
came down, making it the largest contiguous market in the world. Eastern Europe, India,
Russia, and China have at least partially opened their markets to international marketing.
As advertisers move into these markets, ad agencies are forming huge multinational oper¬
ations with international research and media-buying capabilities.
The advertising question is whether to practice global or local advertising: Should
advertisers standardize ads or advertising strategies across all cultures or should they adapt
their strategies to local markets? How much consistency does a brand and its advertising
need to maintain as it moves across borders? Because of the importance of understanding
the underlying cultural issues that affect advertising, we devote Chapter 19 to the topic of
international advertising.
IT'S A WRAP
r
EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING DRIVES

VOLKSWAGEN'S SUCCESS
E ffective advertising is recognized in a number of ways: through sales results, through com¬
munication impact, and in awards won. Throughout this book we will feature brand stories
that represent award-winning marketing communication. In the case of Volkswagen's "Pods
Unite" promotion with the Apple iPod, the campaign was recognized by industry awards,
winning both the EFFIE and the Promotion Marketing Association's REGGIE awards.
In addition to the awards, the "Pods Unite" campaign was effective in surpassing the
sales goal of 5,200 by 14 percent, which also reversed the negative sales trend that had
been noted before the campaign began. The response to the direct-mail piece was at a 3
percent level, which was 200 percent above the objective. Approximately 750,000 unique
apple.com users clicked on the "Pods Unite" minisite.
Not only did the promotion meet its objectives, it also resulted in great publicity with
mentions on The Today Show, as well as articles in Fast Company, USA Today and The
Chicago Tribune. Such free publicity not only caught attention and added to the buzz about
the "Pods Unite" campaign, it helped keep the Volkswagen New Beetle top of mind without
costing the company its precious marketing dollars.
The story about Volkswagen told throughout this chapter makes the point that advertising
has played an important role in the ups and downs of the company. The Beetle ads of the
1960s by the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency are classic examples of some of the best adver¬
tising that has ever been created. And the more recent award-winning work in the 1990s by
the Arnold agency has helped rebuild the VW brand in the United States and put it back on
the road to profitability. The important lesson from that experience is that if the cars aren't
attractive to their market, then the advertising will probably not be effective no matter how
creative it is. But when the product connects with the consumer, the advertising can have
tremendous impact on the target audience.
It's not an accident that the great VW ads of the 1960s and the 1 990s have coincided
with periods of great sales for the car company. Effective advertising delivers the right mes¬
sage in the right way through the right medium at exactly the right time to touch the hearts
and move the minds of the target audience.
■ ■■Summary
1. Define advertising and identify its key components. 5. Summarize the characteristics of effective advertising
Advertising is (1) paid (2) persuasive communication that and why it is goal directed. Effective ads work on two
uses (3) nonpersonal mass media and other forms of inter¬ levels: They engage the mind of the consumer and at the
active communication to reach (4) broad audiences to con¬ same time deliver a selling message. Effective advertising
nect (5) an identified sponsor with (6) a target audience. is purposeful, which means it accomplishes its objectives.
2. Discuss the roles and functions of advertising within 6. Analyze the changes affecting the advertising industry.
society and business. Advertising fulfills a (1) marketing Advertising is a dynamic industry that changes as the con¬
role, (2) communication role, (3) economic role, and (4) a sumers, technology, and the marketplace change. This
societal role. chapter discusses three types of changes: (1) The definition
3. Identify the key players and their roles in creating of advertising is expanding as technology makes it possible
advertising. The five key players in the advertising industry for “new advertising” to be more personal and interactive.
are advertisers, advertising agencies, media, vendors, and (2) Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is also
the target audience. A firm’s advertising can be handled expanding the scope of advertising by involving it more
either internally by an in-house agency or externally by an closely in a mix that uses various marketing communica¬
advertising agency. Companies often have advertising tion tools to deliver a consistent message and brand image.
departments to either handle the firm’s advertising or over¬ (3) Globalization demands that international advertisers
see the work of an agency. consider whether their messages should be standardized
across all cultures and localized and adapted to local mar¬
4. Explain the different types of advertising. There are
kets. Localization is more personalized but complicates the
seven types of advertising and they are appropriate for cer¬
consistency problem.
tain distinct marketing communication situations. They are:
(1) brand, (2) retail or local, (3) direct-response, (4) busi-
ness-to-business (B2B), (5) institutional, (6) nonprofit, and
(7) public service,
■ ■ ■ Key Terms
direct-response advertising, local advertising, p. 17 public service advertising,
advertiser, p. 11
p. 17 marketing, p. 8 p. 18
advertising, p. 5
effects, p. 19 marketing communication, retail advertising, p. 17
advertising department,
hard-sell, p. 6 p. 8 soft sell, p. 6
p. 13
in-house agency, p. 15 marketing mix, p. 8 stakeholders, p. 23
agency-of-record, p. 14
institutional advertising^. 18 media, p. 15 suppliers, p. 16
brand, p. 8
integrated marketing nonprofit advertising, p. 18 target audience, p. 16
brand advertising, p. 17
business-to-business (B2B) communication (IMC), objective, p. 19 target market, p. 8
advertising, p. 17 p. 23 product category, p. 8 vendors, p. 16
buzz, p. 22
■ ■ ■ Review Questions
1. Explain the five key components of the advertising 4. List and describe the seven types of advertising introduced
definition. in this chapter.
2. Define marketing and explain advertising’s role in 5. Why is effectiveness important to advertisers?
marketing. 6. What is IMC and why is it important for advertisers?
3. Who are the five key players in the world of advertising and
what are the responsibilities of each?
■ ■ ■ Discussion Questions
1. “I’ll tell you what great advertising means,” Bill Slater, a group’s board of directors that explains the concept of
finance major, said during a heated discussion. “Great advertising effectiveness. In this situation, what would be
advertising is the ability to capture the imagination of the effective and what wouldn’t be? What are the kinds of
public—the stuff that sticks in the memory, like the effects you would want the advertising to achieve? How
Budweiser Frogs, or that Aflac duck—that’s what great is,” would you know if it works?
he says. “Bill, you missed the point,” says Phil Graham, a 3. Chris Jameson has just joined the advertising department
marketing major. “Advertising is a promotional weapon. faculty in a university after a long professional career. In an
Greatness in advertising means commanding attention and informal talk with the campus advertising club, she is put
persuading people to buy something. No frills, no cute¬ on the spot about career choices. The students want to
ness—great advertising has to sell the public and keep them know which is the best place to start: with an advertiser (a
sold,” he adds. How would you enter this argument? How company) or with an advertising agency. How should she
do you define great advertising? respond? Should she base her answer on the current situa¬
2. You belong to an organization that wants to advertise a spe¬ tion or on how she reads the future? What factors in the
cial event it is sponsoring. You are really concerned that changing dynamics of advertising would affect her recom¬
the group not waste its limited budget on advertising that mendation?
doesn’t work. Outline a presentation you would make to the
* ■ ■ Class Project
1. Form groups of five or six students. Have a spokesperson contact one or two advertising
agencies. Question one or more key people about the changes that have taken place in their
agencies and the industry during the last five years. (Prepare a list of questions ahead of
time.) What kinds of changes do they expect in the next five years? Meet to write a three-
to five-page report.
2. Consult the Web site of any advertising agency. Does the agency in any way make a claim
about accountability or effectiveness for the work it produces for its clients?
Introduction to Advertising CAS*
The Day That Wal-Mart Dropped benefits, noting that full-time company employees are paid
an average of $9.68—substantially higher than what is
the Smiley Face
required by federal law ($5.15). The copy also notes that
a majority of Wal-Mart employees said benefits were
Retail giant Wal-Mart annually spends close to a half bil¬
important to them when they chose to take a job at the
lion dollars on advertising, so the company's decision in
retailer. Complementing the ads is a public relations cam¬
the first month of 2005 to run full-page ads in more than
paign in select cities using employees and press confer¬
100 newspapers was not really surprising. What was sur¬
ences. In Tampa, Florida, for example, employee Michael
prising was the copy in those ads, which said nothing
Martin told reporters, "I'm making more after working four
about low-priced toasters or new music CDs. Instead, the
years at Wal-Mart than I did after nine years at Winn-
ads featured a photo of workers in their blue Wal-Mart
Dixie." Martin, a department manager, noted, "I left
smocks and a letter from Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott. Scott's
Winn-Dixie because I couldn't get a promotion. Here I got
letter was blunt and to the point: "When special-interest
one after six months."
groups and critics spread misinformation about Wal-Mart,
Why is the company using a new approach? "For too
the public deserves to hear the truth. Everyone is entitled to
long, others have had free rein to say things about our
their own opinions about our company, but they are not
company that just are not true," said Lee Scott, president
entitled to make up their own facts."
and chief executive officer. "Our associates [Wal-Mart
Not the sort of message many would expect from
speak for employees] are tired of it and we've decided to
a company whose television ads often feature a yellow
draw our own line in the sand." It is too soon to know if
"smiley-face" flying around a Wal-Mart store lowering
the campaign will succeed, although some are already
prices. But it is a clear sign that Wal-Mart believes it can
skeptical. According to retail marketing consultant Jordan
no longer afford to ignore several societal trends that
Zimmerman, aggressive image campaigns like Wal-Mart's
threaten the company's success and profitability.
are rare and costly. And ads that directly address the com¬
Wal-Mart is the largest and most successful retailer in
pany's critics will not likely replace the company's regular
the world. It employs more people than any other private
brand advertising (including the smiley face), which is not
company in the United States (almost 1.2 million) and has
scheduled to change any time soon. But the new ads do
world-wide sales of over a quarter trillion dollars, more than
constitute a small change in the nature of the dialogue
four times that of its nearest competitor. The foundation of
Wal-Mart has with consumers and society. Only time will
this impressive record is the company's ability to keep its
tell if they help Wal-Mart to stay on top.
promise of customer-friendly service and low prices.
But with success comes attention and not all of it
good. Several lawsuits claim Wal-Mart shorts overtime
Consider This
pay and one lawsuit claimed female employees face dis¬
O-
crimination in pay and promotions. Wal-Mart's expansion 1. What is Wal-Mart doing with its latest campaign?
plans have also run into trouble, as some cities and states, What are the difficulties involved in such an effort?
citing concerns ranging from low wages, inadequate ben¬ 2. A recent Advertising Age article noted that Wal-Mart
efits, environmental damage, and harm to local econ¬ customers are less likely to read newspapers and
omies, have passed laws to make it difficult or impossible more likely to watch television than the population
for Wal-Mart to build its giant superstores. as a whole. Why, then, did Wal-Mart choose news¬
In response to past criticisms of its diversity policies, papers for its new campaign?
Wal-Mart created company-wide postings of promotional 3. Analyze this Wal-Mart campaign and explain its
opportunities, created a new position for a director of purpose referring to the discussion in this chapter of
diversity, and slashed the bonuses of managers who fail to the roles and functions of advertising. What is its pri¬
achieve diversity hiring targets. Scott himself stands to lose mary purpose? Do you think it will be effective at
$600,000 from his annual bonus if Wal-Mart does not accomplishing that purpose?
meet diversity goals. Recent years have also seen the CEO
spend more time meeting with investors, community
groups, and the media.
But in recent years Wal-Mart has begun to use adver¬ Sources: Claire Atkison, "Prices and People Sfressed in Retail Titan's Advertising,"
Advertising Age (October 6, 2003): 3; Jack Neff, "Store Ads Still Treated as Promotion,"
tising as a way of addressing criticisms that the company Advertising Age (February 9, 2004): 44; Kourfney Stringer, "In Ad Blitz, Wal-Mart
is not a good employer. At first, much of this advertising Counters Public Image as Harsh Employer," Wall Street Journal (January 14, 2005): B3;
"Our Commitment to Communities," http://walmartstores.com/wmstore/wmstores/
was "soft-sell," emphasizing happy Wal-Mart employees.
Mainnews.jsp; Mark Albright, "Wal-Mart Fires Back." St. Petersburg Times (January 1 3,
The new campaign is clearly more direct: The copy seeks 2005); Ann Zimmerman, "Wal-Mart to Hit Latest Sales Goal After Late Surge," Wall Street
to address misperceptions about employee wages and Journal (January 4, 2005): B2.
wmmmm
*
CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Define the role of advertising within marketing.
2. Explain how the four key concepts in marketing relate to

advertising.
3. Identify the key players in marketing and how the organization of

the industry affects advertising.
4. List and explain the six critical steps in the marketing process.
5. Summarize the structure of the advertising agency industry and

how agencies work with their clients on the marketing side.
Puma Is One Cool Cat 6. Analyze the changes in the marketing world and what they
portend for advertising.
P
Award:
Prophet's 2003
Branding Hit
Cool Brand leader by the uma and its leaping cat logo are cool. The German athletic
UK's Brand Council
shoe company's innovative retro designs are intended to
appeal to trendy individualists who like to make a style state¬
Company:
Puma ment with its stylish low-top sneakers. Puma's success in a
crowded market is what led Prophet—a leading management con¬
Agency: sulting firm that specializes in the integration of brand, business,
Gyro Worldwide and marketing strategy—to name it one of its top three brands.
The German-born CEO, Jochen Zeitz, explains why individual¬
Campaign:
ism is so important to the shoe company: "Like the puma as an ani¬
The Puma and Mini
Marketing Partnership mal is not a herd animal, we also want people and our brand to
stand for individuality and as such, we position the brand so it
[blends] sport, lifestyle, and fashion in a unique way."
29
The brand stays hip through design innovation and also by linking up with
other hot icons, such as outfitting the tennis great Serena Williams, which cre¬
ated a distinctive brand attitude. Puma's brand consulting company, Gyro
Worldwide, is a Philadelphia-based agency that works under the consumer s
radar to attract cutting-edge trend influencers.
Similarly Puma's Nuala yoga collection is a successful partnership with
model Christy Turlington. Puma's sponsorship of the Jamaican Olympic team
through 2008 is promoted in print ads featuring the colorful H. Street shoe in
magazines such as Spin and Vibe.
In the partnership with the BMW Mini praised by the Prophet folks, Puma sells
a black, two-piece driving shoe called the "Mini Motion" shoe, which is marketed
as an accessory to the car. The shoe is similar in design to a Formula 1 racing
shoe with a flexible inner slipper and a sturdier outer shoe that provides ankle sup¬
port and traction. The slipper provides comfort on long trips, or even around the
house, and the outer shoe can be worn outdoors, as well as in city traffic where it
combats the strain from frequent shifting of gears.
As part of the collaborative effort, the Mini car used functional footwear ele¬
ments, like air mesh, for the seats. Puma's logo and its signature "formstripe" is
used on the car's exterior.
Another new line features boots inspired by 1950s boxing shoes, as well
as black shoes stitched to look like old-time hockey skates. Apparel is equally
fashionable, with a line of unisex garments patterned after martial arts robes.
Even though its ideal target is a style-conscious person who values individual¬
ism, Puma knows it has to also reach a wider audience—a more mainstream con¬
sumer—in order to stay in business. To do that it uses a television campaign linked
to the Athens Olympics. The company expects to earn growth from this market by
reminding audiences of Puma's traditions in soccer, track, and baseball.
Although its worldwide sales are approaching $1.7 billion, Puma is still a
small player in the U.S. athletic footwear market. SportScan, an independent
market research firm, says Puma has a 0.25 percent market share and is
dwarfed by giants Nike and Reebok. Its growth trends have erased the 1980s
image of the company as a commodity product with no distinctive image—a
strategy, or rather lack of one, that almost destroyed the brand.
Puma is also growing because of its unusual approach to distribution and
its market segmentation. Its marketing strategy delivers both exclusivity and a
mass market audience, selling its edgy designs to trendy retailers and then plac¬
ing its more mainstream products in stores like Foot Locker. Foot Locker might
sell the GV special, a style based on a retro Puma tennis shoe from its glory
days 30 years ago; at the same time an independent fashion store might carry
a basketball shoe in fabrics like snakeskin or lizard.
The same innovative spirit drives Puma's marketing communication that
often uses nontraditional ways to connect with customers. Retailers praise Puma
for its creativity in designing eye-catching in-store merchandising displays.
Recognizing the importance of word of mouth, guerilla marketing programs pro¬
mote the brand on the street and on the feet of its devotees. Puma also uses viral
marketing, a technique that spreads the word about new products through an
online network of users.
CHAPTER 2 • ADVERTISING'S ROLE IN MARKETING 31
Clever ideas include promotions at sushi restaurants during the 2003

World Cup, which was held in Japan and South Korea. Puma got a well-known
sushi chef to create a special Puma sushi roll that was served in select Japanese
restaurants in cities around the world. These restaurants also discreetly
announced the sponsorship in its Puma-branded chopsticks, sake cups, and
napkins. At the same time, Puma partnered with the Terence Conran design
shop to sell an exclusive version of its World Cup soccer boot, holding weekend
sushi-making events at the home furnishings store.
An advertiser like Puma needs an effective campaign to help its products succeed in the
marketplace. However, to succeed a product must also offer customers value, and much of
the value is created by marketing decisions that determine the product’s design and ease of
use, as well as its distribution, pricing, and marketing communication. Because advertising
is just one part of the total marketing effort, it’s unlikely that an advertising person could
create effective advertising without a thorough understanding of the client’s marketing
program.
This chapter explains the basic principles of marketing but it does so from the per¬
spective of advertising’s role in marketing. It also takes a look at the advertising agency, its
variations, and its structures, and it examines the key role the client-agency relationship
plays in executing an integrated marketing communication strategy.
WHAT IS MARKETING?
Marketing is the way a product is designed, tested, produced, branded, packaged, priced,
distributed, and promoted. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines it as “an
organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering
value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the orga¬
nization and its stake holders.”1
Traditionally, the objective of most marketing programs—such as Puma’s—has been
to sell a product (athletic shoes) or a service or an idea, in the sense that the United Way
and the Army are trying to convince people to donate, volunteer, or sign up. The goal has
been to match a product’s availability—and the company’s production capabilities—to the
consumer’s need, desire, or demand for the product.
Key Concepts in Marketing

The practice of marketing is still evolving. However, some concepts are critical to our
understanding of it as it is today: the marketing concept and the concepts of exchange,
branding, and added value. All of these have important implications for advertising and for
advertising’s role in marketing. Let’s look briefly at each.
The Marketing Concept: Focus on Customers

Historically marketers developed a product and then tried to find a market for it. More
recently successful marketers try to include the customer in the product design and devel¬
opment process. The marketing concept is an approach that suggests marketing should
focus first on identifying the needs and wants of the customer, rather than on finding ways
to sell products that may or may not meet customers’ needs. The product- or corporate-
focused approach is still used, particularly in areas where product innovation is important, Principle
such as high technology. A company that operates with a
Today, marketers know that to compete effectively they must focus on their cus¬ marketing concept philosophy
tomers’ problems and try to develop products to solve them. Some of the businesses that focuses on satisfying its customers'
have adopted this perspective include Harley Davidson, Intel, and United Parcel Services needs and wants.
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These two ads both by United

Airlines, demonstrate a (I PS), all now recognized as leaders in customer-focused marketing. Consider how you
consumer focus in the United buy a computer from Dell. Online you check the various options and then you specify w hat
Escapes vacation-planning ad you want. You pay for it. and Dell builds it for y ou and delivers it 10 days later. Why aren't
versus a corporate orientation more companies like Dell selling products that arc designed to really meet their customers'
in the Mileage Plus frequent
needs?-
flyer ad.
The marketing concept suggests two marketing steps. First, determine what the cus¬
tomer needs and wants. Second, develop, manufacture, market, and sen ice goods that fill
those particular needs and wants—that is. create solutions for customers' problems. Both
these steps are addressed in ad\ ertising planning through consumer research and the meth¬
ods used by planners to develop insight into consumer decision making. This information
feeds back into marketing plans w here it can stimulate new product dev elopments that we
better designed to meet customer needs.
In advertising, the difference lies in the focus of the ad: Is it on the consumer, or on
the company ? Although a customer focus is thought to be the strongest approach, there are
still times w hen a product oi cempany-focused approach is appropriate. United Airlines
uses a customer-focused approach for its Escapes v acation-planning service and a product
focus for its Mileage Plus frequent fly er program.
The Concept of Exchange

Marketing helps to create exchange, that is. the act of trading a desired product or service
to receive something of v alue in return. The company makes a product and offers it for sale
* certain price: the customer gives money to the company to buy that product. Monev is
exchanged for goods.
M hat do we exchange? Marketers use the word product to refer to goods Kb* cars,
refrigerators, and computers: to services provided by restaurants and sellers of insurance
and real estate: and to ideas generated in politics, universities, and nonprofit asairiaiiniK
There are a number of

meanings associated with the
Harley-Davidson brand. We
know that Harley is a biker's
bike and it appeals to people
who live on the edge and aren't
concerned with convention and
traditional values.
So in using the word product we are referring to this larger world of things that are sold in
exchange for something from the customer. The company, for example, could be an
orchestra and the experience of attending a concert is given in exchange for the price of a
ticket. In political advertising, a donation may be given in return for a sense of affiliation
with and support for a particular political philosophy.
In addition to economic exchange, marketing also facilitates communication
exchange. Advertising provides information, as well as the opportunity for customer-
company interaction. So exchange has two meanings in marketing, with the communica¬
tion aspect being particularly important to advertising. In other words, people have to
know about it before they can buy it or sign up for it or donate to it. Thus marketing is only
as effective as the communication practices that make people aware of its products.
The Concept of Branding

Branding is the process of creating a special meaning for a product, one that makes it dis¬
tinctive in the marketplace and in its product category, just as your name makes you unique
in your community. That special meaning, or brand image, is the result of communica¬
tion, as well as your own personal experiences with the product.
Harley-Davidson, for example, carried an “outlaw” image from its early association
as the bike of choice for the Hell’s Angels. More recently that meaning has been shaded so
that it still has an edgy, slightly dangerous image but it’s now acceptable for everyone from
accountants to lawyers and even college professors to be seen riding one.
Branding transforms a product into a brand, which is a distinctive identity for a prod¬ Principle
uct. Think about the importance of a brand when you give a gift to a loved one. There’s a Effective branding transforms a
big difference between giving a watch in a Tiffany box and giving one in a Wal-Mart box. product by creating a special
The Tiffany box and logo signals a high-quality, status product. meaning for it.
Tiffany’s brand image also sends messages. A brand can signal status, quality, or
good value; sometimes it’s a “cool factor.” Why is a Coach handbag worth $150 dollars
when a nearly identical one without that brand name sells for $15? The reason is the
value we place on the Coach brand as well as the brand’s meaning as a quality, high-
status product.
A brand, and the advertising behind it, creates familiarity: We’re more comfortable
buying brands we know. For that reason, a familiar brand is important when we make
It's Pure and It Floats
A basic principle of branding is that a brand takes on

meaning when it makes a product distinctive within its
product category. The Procter & Gamble company accom¬
plished that by creating identity elements for its brand,
Ivory, before anyone had thought of making a bar of soap
a distinctive product. The Ivory brand identity system also
called attention to innovative features of the product.
Here's the background story about how Ivory came to be
one of the first and most successful brands of all time.
Before the Civil War, homemakers made their own
soap from lye, fats (cooking grease), and fireplace ashes.
It was a soft, jellylike yellowish soap that would clean
things adequately, but if it fell to the bottom of a pail, it dis¬
solved into mush. In Victorian times, the benchmark for
quality soap was the highly expensive castile bar—a pure
white soap imported from the Mediterranean and made
from the finest olive oil.
William Procter and James Gamble, who were part¬
ners in a candle-making operation, discovered a formula
that produced a uniform, predictable bar soap, which they
provided in wooden boxes to both armies during the Civil
War. This introduced the concept of mass production and
opened up a huge market when the soldiers returned to
their homes with a demand for the bars of soap. But the
bars were still yellow and sank to the bottom.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) hired a chemist to create a
white bar equivalent to the legendary castile bar, which
was the first use of science-based research and develop¬
ment (R&D) to design a product. In 1878 P&G's white
soap was invented. It was a modest success until the com¬
pany began getting requests for the "soap that floats." It
turns out that an accident in whipping the ingredients
together had added enough air to some of the bars to
make them lighter than water. This production accident led
to one of the world's greatest statements of a product ben¬
efit: "It floats."
Consider This
Other decisions also helped make it a branding o-
breakthrough. In 1879 one of the P&G family was in 1. What made Procter & Gamble's Ivory Soap special?
church listening to a scripture about ivory palaces and What separated it from its competitors in the bar soap
proposed that the white bar be renamed Ivory Soap. So a category? is there an actual point of difference?
great product now had a great name as well as a great 2. Marketers believe that people will pay a higher price
product benefit. Rather than asking for soap—soap was for a successfully branded product. Do you agree or
soap—and taking a bar from the barrel, customers could disagree? Explain, based on your experiences as a
now ask for a specific product that they liked by name. consumer.
But that wasn't the end of P&G's branding innovative¬
ness. A grandson, determined to match the quality of the
legendary castile soap, again turned to a chemist to deter¬
mine the purity of both castile and Ivory. The research
found that the total impurities in Ivory added only to 0.56
percent, which was actually lower than the castile bars. By
Sources: Charles Goodrum and Helen Dalrymple, Advertising in America
turning that to a positive, P&G could make the claim that
(New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990); Laurie Freeman, The House That Ivory
its Ivory is "99 and 44/100 percent pure" and thus was Built: 150 Years of Procter & Gamble,' Advertising Age (August 20, 1987):
born one of the most famous slogans in brand history. 4-18, 164-220; P&G History: History of Ivory, ’ www.pg.com, June 2004.
[ 2.1 Top 25 Corporate Brands
Corp Brand Sales

Corp Brand Value ($ billion) ($ billion)
1. Procter & Gamble 107.4 47.0
2. Microsoft 103.1 34.3
3. Merck 91.3 22.5
4. Intel 80.2 30.1
5. Eli Lilly 76.4 12.6
6. IBM 71.0 89.1
7. Cisco Systems 69.6 19.8
8. Medtronic 61.4 8.6
9. UPS 58.2 33.5
10. PepsiCo 56.1 27.0
11. General Electric 54.2 132.9
12. Goldman Sachs 46.6 23.6
13. Coca-Cola 45.6 21.0
14. Anheuser-Busch 43.0 14.1
15. Pfizer 41.8 45.2
16.Johnson & Johnson 37.9 41.9
17. Viacom 37.0 26.6
18. Citigroup 35.5 94.7
19. Kimberly-Clark 31.3 14.3
20. Colgate-Palmolive 29.4 9.9
21. Aflac 20.3 11.4
22. Nike 19.7 11.2
23. General Mills 17.5 10.8
24. Kellogg 16.2 8.8
25. Harley-Davidson 15.7 4.6
Source: "Top U.S. Corporate Brands," Forbes (April 2, 2004), www.Forbes.com.
major purchases such as cars and home appliances, because we have a sense that there is
less risk in buying them than in choosing products whose makers we don’t know.
Branding is particularly useful to consumers buying clothing and fashion items, such
as Polo (Ralph Lauren), Rolex, Gucci, Diesel, Oakley, and Doc Martens, where self-
identity may also be linked to the brands we buy and wear. These brands are
fairly complex psychological messages whose meanings are built up over time
through advertising.
The basic principles of branding evolved initially through the marketing
innovations of Procter & Gamble, particularly the development of its Ivory Soap
brand. As the Macintosh “7984” commercial in Chapter 1 represents one of the
all-time great ads, Ivory represents one of the all-time great marketing stories.
When a brand name or brand mark is legally protected through registra¬
tion with the Patent and Trademark Office of the Department of Commerce, it
becomes a trademark. The trademark Intel Inside has become an important part
of Intel’s marketing strategy. Brand equity is the reputation, meaning, and value
that the brand name or symbol has acquired over time. It measures the financial
value the brand contributes to the company.
The Concept of Added Value

The reason marketing and advertising activities are useful, both to consumers and
to marketers, is that they add value to a product. Added value means a marketing
or advertising activity makes the product more valuable, useful, or appealing. A motorcycle
is a motorcycle but a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy or Road King is a highly coveted bike
because of its brand image. Here are examples of other factors, in addition to advertising,
that provide added value: The more convenient the product is to buy, the more valuable it is
to the customer. Likewise, the lower the price, the more useful features a product has, or the
higher its quality, the more a customer may value it. Ensuring the product’s utility and con¬
venience is one of the tasks of customer-oriented marketing, as we discussed above.
Advertising not only can showcase the product’s value but it also may add value by
making the product appear more desirable or more of a status symbol. Providing news and
useful information of interest to consumers is another way that advertising adds value, as
shown in the YMCA “New Equipment” ad.
Basic business practices also add value. Local retailers that compete with big chains
such as Wal-Mart, Office Depot, or Home Depot can survive only if they find some way to
offer value other than price. For example, a small Oklahoma chain of office supply stores
called SPC Office Products holds its own against Staples and Office Depot by having more
knowledgeable employees on the floor to answer customer questions than its giant com¬
petitors do.’ The additional service adds value for its customers.
Branding is a special case of added value because the value it adds is purely psycho¬
logical. Nike’s image, which focuses on the performance of outstanding athletes, has been
constructed primarily through advertising. The “swoosh” logo is recognized worldwide by
customers who like Nike’s products and associate themselves with outstanding athletic
performance.
■ ■ I
A shipment of fitness equipment delivered to YMCA centers wasn't just new; it
was state of the art. A series of print ads, direct mail, and in-center banners put
a spotlight on the flashy new equipment. This ad was contributed by Lara
Mann, a graduate of the University of Florida advertising program, who is now
a copywriter at FHB Advertising in Orlando, Florida.
Consider This
1. Experts believe that a successfully branded product can ask a premium
price. What is the logic behind trial notion. Where do you see it working or
not working?
2. Do you buy branded products? If so, in what product categories and why?
THE KEY PLAYERS AND MARKETS

The marketing industry is a complex network of professionals, all of whom are involved in
creating, producing, delivering, and selling something to customers. There are four impor¬
tant categories of key players including the marketer, suppliers or vendors, distributors and
retailers, and agencies. We’ll discuss the first three here and agencies will be discussed in
more depth in the last section of this chapter.
The Marketer
The marketer, also referred to as the advertiser or the client (from the agency’s point of
view), is any company or organization behind the product—the organization, company, or
manufacturer producing the product and offering it for sale. The 10 top global marketers,
in respect to media spending, are displayed in Table 2.2.
In most companies of any size, the marketing function is handled by a marketing
department and represented in the coiporate hierarchy by a vice president or director of
marketing. The marketing function is usually set up as a department with a number of peo¬
ple managing brands, products and product lines, and marketing services, which includes
suppliers such as marketing researchers and marketing communication agencies.
Marketing is also a function in nonprofit and governmental organizations, such as hospi¬
tals, museums, zoos, orchestras, Junior Achievement, and the United Way.
Some companies may have a product or brand management organizational struc¬
ture with managers who handle the marketing responsibility. A product or brand man¬
ager is the person responsible for all the strategic decisions relating to the brand’s prod¬
uct design and manufacture as well as the brand’s pricing, distribution, and marketing
communication. Procter & Gamble was a pioneer in establishing the brand management
concept.
2.2 Top 10 Global Marketers by Media Spending

Rank Spending Total Ad
2002 2001 Advertiser Headquarters (in millions)
1 1 Procter & Gamble Co. Cincinnati $4,479

2 3 Unilever London/Rotterdam 3,315
3 2 General Motors Corp. Detroit 3,218
4 6 Toyota Toyota City, Japan 2,405
5 5 Ford Motor Co. Dearborn, Mich. 2,387
6 4 Time Warner New York 2,349
7 7 DaimlerChrysler Auburn Hills, Mich./ 1,800
Stuttgart, Germany
8 10 L’Oreal Paris 1,683
9 9 Nestle Vevey, Switzerland 1,547
10 16 Sony Tokyo 1,513
Source: "Top 100 Global Marketers," Advertising Age (November 10, 2003): 28.
Suppliers and Vendors

The materials and ingredients used in producing the product are obtained from other com¬
panies, referred to as suppliers and vendors. Their work also determines the quality of the
final product, and the ingredients they provide, as well as the cost of their materials, and is
a big factor in determining the product’s price. This can be very complex. Think about the
automotive industry and all the pieces and parts that go into a car. The phrase supply chain
is used to refer to this complex network of suppliers who produce components and ingre¬
dients that are then sold to the manufacturer. Sometimes other companies acting as brokers
are involved in selling the supplies to the manufacturer and other companies may be
employed to deliver the goods.
In marketing theory, every contribution from the supply chain adds value to the prod¬
uct. In marketing practice these suppliers and vendors are partners in the creation of a suc¬
cessful product. They are also partners in the communication process and their marketing
■ ■ ■
Gander Mountain carries a wide selection of supplies and gear at great prices.
The employees at the stores are all outdoor experts who don't just sell gear;
they also use it as they participate in outdoor activities themselves. The agency
determined that communication for Gander Mountain should focus on these
outdoor experts as well as on customers and their outdoor experiences. This
ad was contributed by Trent Walters, a graduate of the University of North
Texas advertising program, where he was selected by the American
Advertising Federation as one of its "Most Promising Students." Fte is now an
account supervisor at the Richards Group in Dallas, Texas.
communication may relate to the brand, particularly in the practice called ingredient
branding, which means acknowledging a supplier’s brand as an important product feature.
Think about how important the reputations of Gore-tex and Intel are to manufacturers who
use these ingredients.
Distributors and Retailers

The distribution chain or distribution channel refers to the various companies that are
involved in moving a product from its manufacturer into the hands of its buyer. These
resellers, or intermediaries, may actually take ownership of the product and participate in
the marketing, including the advertising. Similar to the supply chain, everyone involved in
the distribution chain—distributors, wholesalers, brokers, dealers, and retailers—adds
value to the product. They also are involved in a chain of advertising.
Wholesalers and retailers, for example, are important parts of the channel and each is
capable of influencing, supporting, and delivering advertising messages. The primary
strength of the wholesaler is personal selling. Wholesalers do not advertise often; however,
in some instances they may use direct mail, trade papers, or catalogs to reach retailers. The
advertising copy tends to be simple and straightforward, and the focus is on product, fea¬
tures, and price. Conversely, retailers are quite good at advertising, especially local adver¬
tising. Retailers’ main concern is that the advertising be directed at their customers as
opposed to the customers of the manufacturers.
The Gander Mountain story showcases the importance of advertising by retailers
and the manufacturers whose products they sell. Gander Mountain is a hunting, fishing,
and camping retailer located in the upper Midwest. The print ad shown here focuses on
actual employees of the company who give voice to the advertising’s tagline, “We live
outdoors.”
Types of Markets
In addition to reviewing the key players, let’s also consider the types of markets in which
these advertising professionals and their companies work. The word market originally
meant the place where the exchange between seller and buyer took place. Today we speak
of a market not only as a place (the Rocky Mountain market), but also as a particular type
of buyer—for example, the youth market or the motorcycle market. The phrase share of
market (or market share) refers to the percentage of the total market in a product category
that buys a particular brand.
When marketing strategists speak of markets, they generally refer to groups of peo¬
ple or organizations. As Figure 2.1 shows, the four main types of markets are (1) con¬
sumer, (2) business-to-business (industrial), (3) institutional, and (4) reseller. We can
The Four Main Types of Markets

The consumer market is only one of
four markets.
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This group of ads demonstrates advertising directed at the four types of markets: consumer (Keds), business-to-business (FedEx), institutional
(GE aircraft engines), and channel (Sunkist Growers, Inc.)
further divide each of these markets by size or geography, such as local, regional,
national, or international.
• Consumer markets. Consumer markets consist of people who buy products and ser¬
vices for personal or household use. As a student, you are considered a member of the
consumer market for companies that sell jeans, athletic shoes, sweatshirts, pizza,
music, textbooks, backpacks, computers, education, checking accounts, bicycles,
travel and vacations, along with a multitude of other products that you buy at drug and
grocery stores, which the marketing industry refers to as package goods.
• Business-to-business (industrial) markets. Business-to-business markets consist of
companies that buy products or services to use in their own businesses or in making
other products. General Electric, for example, buys computers to use in billing and
inventory control, steel and wiring to use in the manufacture of its products, and clean¬
ing supplies to use in maintaining its buildings. Ads in this category usually are heav¬
ier on factual content than on emotional appeals.
• Institutional markets. Institutional markets include a wide variety of profit and non¬
profit organizations—such as hospitals, government agencies, and schools—that pro¬
vide goods and services for the benefit of society. Universities, for example, are in the
market for furniture, cleaning supplies, computers, office supplies, groceries, audiovi¬
sual material, and paper towels and toilet paper, to name a few. Such ads are very simi¬
lar to business-to-business ads in that they are heavy on copy and light on visuals and
emotional appeals.
• Channel markets. The channel market is made up of members of the distribution
chain, which is what we call resellers, or intermediaries. Resellers are wholesalers,
retailers, and distributors who buy finished or semifinished products and resell them
for a profit. Microsoft and its retailers are part of the reseller market. Prestone is a
wholesaler that distributes its de-icing fluid and other products to retailers. Com¬
panies that sell products and services such as trucks, cartons, and transportation ser¬
vices (airlines, cruise ships, and rental car agencies) consider resellers their market.
Channel marketing is more important now that manufacturers consider their distribu¬
tors to be important partners in their marketing programs. Giant retailers, particularly
Wal-Mart, are becoming more powerful and can even dictate to manufacturers what
products their customers want to buy and how much they are willing to pay for them.
Businesses spend most of their advertising dollars on consumer markets, although

business-to-business advertising is becoming almost as important. Firms usually advertise
to consumers through mass media such as radio, television, newspapers, general consumer
magazines, and direct-response advertising media (that is, direct mail and online). They
typically reach the other three markets—industrial, international, and reseller—through
trade and professional advertising in specialized media, such as trade journals, profes¬
sional magazines, and direct mail.
THE MARKETING PROCESS

Marketing is a process for doing business. The process begins with marketing research,
which leads marketers to make a set of key strategic and tactical decisions that guide the
deployment of the marketing mix. These steps are listed below followed by brief explana¬
tions of each. In later chapters on research and planning we’ll explore these topics in
more detail.
Step 1: Research the consumer market and the competitive marketplace and develop a
situation analysis.
Step 2: Set objectives for the marketing effort.
Step 3: Assess consumer needs and wants relative to the product, segment the market
into groups that are likely to respond, and target specific markets.
Step 4: Differentiate and position the product relative to the competition.
Step 5: Develop the marketing mix strategy: Select product design and performance
criteria, pricing, distribution, and marketing communication.
Step 6: Evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy.
Marketing Research
The marketing process begins with research into markets, consumers, and the competitive
situation. The objective for planners is to know as much as they can about the marketplace
so they can make informed and insightful strategic decisions. Part of marketing research is
focused on gathering information from already existing and published secondary
Principle research and from primary research, which is original research undertaken to answer
Marketing research is about specific questions.
more than just the compilation But the second part of research is situation analysis, which identifies the brand’s
of information; it also produces strengths and weaknesses, as well as corporate and market opportunities and threats.
insights into marketing situations Interpreting marketing information in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
and consumer behavior. threats (SWOTs) helps managers turn data into insights. The goal of marketing research is
both information and insight.
Key Strategic Decisions

Marketing planners use research to develop strategies for approaching their markets. These
strategies in turn give direction to the planning of advertising. There are three key strategic
decisions:
Objectives The marketer’s first step after the research is done is to set objectives for the
marketing effort. Usually these objectives are business measures, such as increased sales
levels or share of market,
Segmenting and Targeting The next step is to assess whether there are identifiable
groups within the market whose needs and wants intersect with the product and its fea¬
tures—this is called segmentation. In customer-focused marketing the product may actually
have been designed with the involvement of a particular segment. Then planners assess the
needs of these groups, as well as their propensity to respond and decide which groups to tar¬
get, which means they become the focus of the marketing communication efforts.
Differentiation and Positioning Planners also assess the competition and decide
where their product’s point of differentiation lies and then make some decisions about
how to present or position the product within this competitive environment relative to con¬
sumer needs. Positioning refers to how consumers view and compare competitive brands
or types of products—how they see a brand relative to the other brands in the category.
Setting objectives, targeting, segmentation, differentiation, and positioning are basic
marketing strategy decisions but they are also critical factors that affect advertising strate¬
gies. So although we briefly introduce these key marketing strategic decisions here, we’ll
discuss them in much more detail in later chapters where we introduce advertising plan¬
ning and message strategies. These key strategic decisions are also important because they
give direction to the marketing mix decisions.
Marketing Mix Strategies

As Figure 2.2 shows, marketers use the four main elements of the marketing mix to
achieve their objectives. We referred to these in Chapter 1 as the four Ps and we’ll describe
their relationship to advertising following the list below. The marketing communication
mix or promotion, which includes advertising, is one of these marketing elements; to a
marketing manager communication is just one part of marketing, no more important than
product, price, or distribution (place).
1. Product. Includes product design and development, product operation and perfor¬
mance, branding, and the physical dimensions of packaging.
2. Place (Distribution). Includes the channels used in moving the product from the
manufacturer to the buyer.
CHAPTER 2 ADVERTISING'S ROLE IN MARKETING 43
Product Distribution
• Design and Development • Distribution Channels
• Branding • Market Coverage
• Packaging • Storage The Four Elements of the
• Maintenance
Marketing Mix
These four elements, and their
related tools, serve as the basics of
Price Communication marketing.
• Price Copy • Personal Selling
• Psychological Pricing • Advertising
• Price Lining • Sales Promotion
• Value Determination • Direct Marketing
• Marketing/Public Relations
• Point-of-Sale/Paekaging
3. Price. Includes the price at which the product or service is offered for sale and the
level of profitability the price establishes.
4. Promotion (Marketing Communication). Includes personal selling, advertising, pub¬
lic relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, events and sponsorships, point-of-sale,
and the communication aspects of packaging.
We introduced advertising and markting communication in Chapter 1, but let’s review

the other three marketing mix elements.
The Product The product is both the object of the advertising and the reason for mar¬
keting. A product exists within a product category, which is a class of similar products—
for example, Puma is in the athletic shoe category, as are Nike and Reebok. Marketing
begins by asking a set of questions about the product offering. In line with the marketing
concept, these questions should always be asked from the consumer’s perspective: What
product attributes and benefits are important? How is the product perceived relative to
competitive offerings? How important is service? How long should the product last?
Customers view products as “bundles of satisfaction” rather than just physical things, so
what are the meanings they attach to the product and its competitors?
Distribution It does little good to manufacture a fantastic product that will meet cus¬
tomers’ needs unless you have a mechanism for delivering and servicing the product and
receiving payment. The two channel factors that affect advertising reflect the distance
Celestial Seasonings uses its

distinctive packages to send
messages to consumers about its
marketing position. How do you
think the package reinforces the
brand image?
CONTAINS CAFFEINE • 20 TEA BAGS * NET WT1.2 OZ [35g]

Push Pull Combination
Flow of marketing
communication
• Mass advertising
• Coupons
• Sampling
• Publicity
Flow of marketing
communication
• Trade deals
• Personal selling
• Mass advertising
• Sales promotion
• Public relations
Push, Pull, and Combination Strategies

Advertising and other communication strategies are a major part of both a pull and push strategy.
between the manufacturer and the customer. Direct-marketing companies, such as Lands’
End and Burpee Seeds, distribute their products directly without the use of a reseller. What
you are more familiar with is more properly described as indirect marketing, where the
product is distributed through a channel structure that includes one or more resellers. The
products you see in a supermarket or discount store are all marketed indirectly through a
complex channel marketing system.
Manufacturers often expect retailers in these indirect channels to participate in adver¬
tising programs. Through cooperative (or co-op) advertising allowances, the producers
share with the reseller the cost of placing the advertisement.
A number of strategic distribution decisions develop from the overall marketing strat¬
egy, and these in turn affect advertising strategy.
• Market Coverage Strategy. Market coverage means the geographic distribution of the
product, which is particularly important for the media strategy.
• Push and Pull Strategies. A pull strategy directs marketing efforts at the consumer
and attempts to pull the product through the channel by intensifying consumer demand.
Marketers using this strategy emphasize consumer advertising, along with incentives
such as coupons, rebates, free samples, and sweepstakes. Little is expected from
resellers other than to stock the product. In contrast, a push strategy directs marketing
efforts at resellers, and success depends on the ability of these intermediaries to market
the product, which they often do with advertising. Advertising may be targeted first at
resellers to gain their acceptance, then at consumers through joint manufacturer-reseller
advertising. Most marketers use a combination strategy of push and pull. Figure 2.3
summarizes these strategies.
Pricing The price a seller sets for a product is based not only on the cost of making and
marketing the product but also on the seller’s expected profit level. Certain psychological
factors also affect the price. Ultimately, the price of a product is based on what the market
will bear, the competition, the economic well-being of the consumer, the relative value of
the product, and the consumer’s ability to gauge the value.
With the exception of price information delivered at the point-of-sale, advertising is

the primary vehicle for telling the consumer about price. The term price copy, which is the
focus of much retail advertising, designates advertising copy devoted primarily to this type
of information. A number of pricing strategies influence advertising strategy.
• Customary or expected pricing uses a single, well-known price for a long period of
time. Movie theaters and manufacturers of candy use this pricing strategy. Advertisers
communicate a dramatic or temporary price reduction through terms such as sale, spe¬
cial, and today only.
• Psychological pricing strategies use advertising to manipulate the customer’s judg¬
ment of value. For example, ads showing prestige pricing—in which a high price is
set to make the product seem worthy or valuable—are accompanied by photographs of
the “exceptional product” or by copy consisting of logical reasons for this high price.
Psychological pricing is often used when a marketer is targeting affluent consumers.
Marketing Communication and Personal Sales We talked about marketing

communication in the previous chapter but one type of communication is particularly
important to marketing programs. Personal sales uses face-to-face contact between the
marketer and a prospective customer. In contrast to most advertising, whose effects are
often delayed, marketers often use personal selling to create immediate sales to people
who are shopping for some product. Personal sales is also used in business-to-business
marketing to reach key decision makers within a company who can authorize a purchase.
The different types of personal selling include sales calls at the place of business by a
field representative (field sales), assistance at an outlet by a sales clerk (retail selling), and
calls by a representative who goes to consumers’ homes (door-to-door selling).
Marketing Strategy Evaluation

Most of the steps outlined in this discussion of the marketing process are contained in a doc¬
ument called a marketing plan, prepared usually for a year’s activity. Once the planning
period has been completed, marketers generally make an effort to evaluate the plan based on
how well it met its stated objectives. This is the last step in the marketing process, and it mea¬
sures the effectiveness not only of the marketing strategy, but also of the advertising effort.
Consider This
o 1. What are the steps in the marketing process and how do they relate to
advertising?
2. Why do marketers consider the competition when making their key
marketing strategy decisions?
In this section we examined the marketing process and how advertising supports the
marketing function. Let’s stop for a moment to consider the story of Krispy Kreme® and its
marketing program. After this, we conclude the chapter with the role and structure of
advertising agencies and how they work with a client and its markting department.
HOW AGENCIES WORK

We’ve talked about the marketing process and identified points in the marketing effort where
advertising is particularly important. So who does the work of advertising, and how do these
professionals work with the marketing department or the company behind the marketing?
A marketer may have a contractual relationship with one agency, called the agency-of-
record (AoR), or with many. Usually marketers have different agencies for different types of
marketing communication tasks, but sometimes they hire several agencies in the same area
because they believe the competition will result in better work. Regardless of the arrangement,
the agency-client relationship and contract is one that takes a lot of nurturing in order to work
effectively. Ideally, the relationship is a partnership working together on behalf of the brand.
IH|
:W. I PRACTIC
Marketing a Passion for Doughnuts
■ ■ ■ When Krispy Kreme opened its first store in the Fort

Worth, Texas, market 40 people were waiting in a line at
5 AM. to ensure they'd be among the first to sample the
legendary hot, freshly made doughnuts. What makes
Krispy Kreme such a hit with its customers?
As with all good marketing plans, it starts with the
product: The proprietary recipe for the yeast dough and
glazing, along with the company-designed equipment that
produces a perfect doughnut shape and cooks it to the
perfect point of softness is at the heart of the success of
Krispy Kreme.
The result is a perfect doughnut with a taste that some
of its passionate fans say is addictive.
Krispy Kreme's stores are another element that attracts
Krispy Kreme fanatics. Its trademark glass and chrome
architecture is actually a doughnut bakery with a retail unit
added in front. The stores even have a viewing window so
you can see your favorite indulgence being made as you doughnuts in grocery and convenience stores, even
watch. department stores, such as the legendary Harrod's store in
Since its customers are so loyal to the brand and other London. The off-premise boxes of Krispy Kremes also offer
prospective customers have been presold on Krispy an opportunity for people who have never visited a Krispy
Kremes by their friends, price doesn't seem to be a factor. Kreme store to sample the product.
In other words, like most big brands, Krispy Kremes can More recently the company has been outfitting spe¬
charge a premium price because people value the product cially designed trucks as mobile stores complete with view¬
so highly. ing windows to bring the hot, fresh doughnuts to fairs and
Distribution procedures continue to evolve. The com¬ other major events. The management is also experiment¬
pany started off in the 1930s as a bakery that distributed ing with centralized bakeries in order to bring the hot-
its doughnuts to other stores to sell. Soon after, people fresh, doughnut concepts to small stores in locations where
began stopping by to ask whether they could buy hot a full-size store might not be feasible.
doughnuts fresh from the plant. The demand was so great For many years the success of Krispy Kreme was due
that company founder, Vernon Carver Rudolph, cut a hole to word of mouth by customers who were passionate
in the wall of the factory in order to sell the hot doughnuts about its doughnuts. Its primary marketing communication
direct to his delighted customers. was with nonprofit organizations who sold Krispy Kreme
Marketing communication has also been innovative. doughnuts in their fund-raising efforts.
What made customers really seek out Krispy Kreme was In its early years, therefore, Krispy Kreme used very
the opportunity to get a hot doughnut fresh out of the fryer. little advertising to build the business. However, after sign¬
In order to get the word out that fresh goods were avail¬ ing up with GSD&M, a high-profile agency in Austin,
able, a franchise owner in the 1970s bought a window Texas, known for its creative product, Krispy Kreme is
shade and had a sign company print "Hot Doughnuts determining how to advertise in ways customers will
Now" on it. When his store finished a batch of doughnuts, respect and that don't diminish the image and personality
he'd pull down the window shade. Now all stores have of the brand.
neon signs that are turned on to proclaim the same mouth¬
watering message. Consider This
Today Krispy Kreme produces more than 7.5 million o-
doughnuts a day and more than 2.7 billion a year. It has 1. How has Krispy Kreme used the elements of its market¬
more than 310 stores in 41 states, as well as in interna¬ ing mix to build its business?
tional locations in Canada, Mexico, Asia, Europe and 2. Do you think Krispy Kreme's marketing strategies are
Eastern Europe, and Australia. It saw solid growth until the faithful to the marketing concept? Why or why not?
anti-carbohydrate craze affected some of its customer Sources: Scott Livengood, "Krispy Kreme Looks to Its Global Roll-Out,"
base. But that downturn in the U.S. market has been com¬ Financial':Times (March 1 5, 2004): 6; Krispy Kreme online press kit,
pensated for by growth in international markets. www.krispykreme.com, February 2004; Aetna Smith and Barry Shlachter,
"Krispy Kreme Phenomenon Continues to Be a Sweet Deal," Denver Post
But Krispy Kreme isn't sitting on its glazed laurels; it
(March 3, 2003): 1C, 8C; Scott Hume, "Model Behavior," Restaurants and
continues to innovate, particularly in the area of distribu¬ Institutions (July 1, 2001): 28-38; Tim O'Brien, "Krispy Kreme Deliver at the
tion. You've probably noticed packages of the company's Ohio .State Fair,"'Amusement Business (September 2, 2002): 12.
Why should a company sign a contract with an advertising agency? Hiring an agency
has four main benefits: It provides specialized services, objective advice, experienced
staffing, and tailored management of all advertising activities and personnel.
Ultimately, the primary benefit of hiring an ad agency is that it can implement the cre¬
ative vision of the client, and help it to reach its advertising goals. Each agency tends to
have its own style—one for which it is known. Note the ads of three different agencies for
the three branches of the U.S. military. Do you perceive a difference in style? Which do
you think would be most effective?
Types of Agencies
We are primarily concerned with advertising agencies in this book, but other areas such as
public relations, direct marketing, sales promotion, and the Internet also have agencies that
provide specialized services (and since they are all part of an integrated marketing com¬
munication approach, we have separate chapters on these functions later in this book).
The top or biggest agencies are what we call full-service agencies, but there are other
ways that agencies organize their services for their clients, including specialized agencies
and media-buying services. As discussed in Chapter 1, advertising also can be handled
internally by the advertiser either in an in-house agency or an advertising department.
Full-Service Agencies In advertising, a full-service agency is one that includes the

four major staff functions: account management, creative services, media planning and buy¬
ing, and account planning, which is also joined with research. A full-service advertising
agency will also have its own accounting department, a traffic department to handle internal
tracking on completion of projects, a department for broadcast and print production (usually
organized within the creative department), and a human resources department.
The top agency brands worldwide are shown in Table 2.3. They are all full-service
agencies.
Specialized Agencies Many agencies do not follow the traditional full-service

agency approach. They either specialize in certain functions (writing copy, producing art,
or media buying), audiences (minority, youth), industries (health care, computers, agricul¬
ture, business-to-business communication), or markets (minority groups such as Asian,
African American, or Hispanic). In addition, there are specialized agencies in all marketing
communications areas, such as direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations, events
2.3 World’s Top 10 Agency Brands

Rank Worldwide Gross Income
2003 2002 Agency Headquarters 2003 2002
1 1 Denstu Tokyo $1,864.1 $1,442.6

2 3 BBDO Worldwide New York 1,237.5 1,062.7
3 2 McCann-Erickson Worldwide New York 1,220.1 1,176.5
4 4 J. Walter Thompson Co. New York 1,178.5 996.9
5 5 Publicis Worldwide Paris 1,066.0 1,040.9
6 6 DDB Worldwide Communications New York 1,214.6 1,176.9
7 7 Leo Burnett Worldwide Chicago 1,072.3 1,029.3
8 9 TBWA Worldwide New York 771.0 665.9
9 8 Euro RSCG Worldwide New York 756.1 733.3
10 10 Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide New York 1,135.4 1,109.4
Notes: Figures are in millions of U.S. dollars. Worldwide agency brands are defined as international networks associated with the agency and the
agency's U.S. brand. Specialty units (direct marketing, sales promotion, research, etc.) and independent subsidiaries are excluded at both the U.S. and
international levels.
Sources: "World's Top 10 Core Agency Brands," Advertising Age (April 19, 2004): SI 3.
and sports marketing, and packaging and point-of-sale. There are also one-client agencies
such as the Focus agency in Dallas that serves only GTE.
Recall from Chapter 1 that there are also in-house agencies and freelancers. Here we
will discuss creative boutique and media buying-services.
• Creative boutiques. Creative boutiques are ad agencies, usually small (two or three
people to a dozen or more), that concentrate entirely on preparing the creative execu¬
tion of client marketing communications. The focus of the organization is entirely on
the idea, the creative product. A creative boutique will have one or more writers or
artists on staff. There is no staff for media, research, or strategic planning. Typically,
these agencies can prepare advertising to run in print media, outdoors, and on radio
and television. Creative boutiques usually serve companies but are sometimes retained
by advertising agencies when they are overloaded with work.
• Media-buying services. Agencies that specialize in the purchase of media for clients
are called media-buying sendees. They are in high demand for many reasons but three
reasons stand out. First, media has become more complex as the number of choices
grows—think of the proliferation of new cable channels, magazines, and radio sta¬
tions. Second, the cost of maintaining a competent media department has escalated.
Third, media-buying services often buy media at a low cost because they can group
several clients’ purchases together to develop substantial buying power.
How Agency Work Is Organized

If the agency is large enough, it usually has a chief executive officer, perhaps one or two
vice presidents, and several different functional areas. We concentrate here on five of those
areas: account management, creative development and production, media planning and
buying, account planning and research, and internal services.
Account Management The account management department acts a liaison

between the client and the agency. It ensures that the agency will focus its resources on the
client’s needs. It develops its own point of view regarding the research and strategy, which
the account manager presents to the client. The account manager is also responsible for
interpreting the client’s marketing strategy for the rest of the agency. Linda Wolf, the pres¬
ident of the Leo Burnett advertising agency, described an account management executive
as needing “financial acumen, a passion for the creative product, and the ability to build
client relationships.”4 The Inside Story focuses on the work of an account executive.
Once the client (or the client and the agency together) establishes the general guide¬
lines for a campaign or advertisement, the account management department supervises the
day-to-day development within these guidelines. Account management in a major agency
typically has three levels: management supervisor, who provides leadership on strategic
issues and looks for new business opportunities; account supervisor, who is the key execu¬
tive working on a client’s business and the primary liaison between the client and the
agency; and the account executive (as well as assistant account executives), who is respon¬
sible for day-to-day activities and operates like a project manager.5 Sometimes a fourth
level may exist: the account director, who is above the account supervisor. A smaller
agency will combine some of these levels.
Creative Development and Production The creative members of the agency

are the creative directors, creative department managers, copywriters, art directors, and
producers. In addition to these positions, the broadcast production department and the art
studio are two other areas where creative personnel can apply their skills. Generally, the
creative department has people who create and people who inspire (creative directors). A
creative group includes people who write (copywriters), people who design ideas for print
ads or television commercials (art directors), and people who convert these ideas into tele¬
vision or radio commercials {producers). Many agencies will employ an art director and a
copywriter who work well together, and build a support group around them.
Media Planning and Buying Agencies that don’t rely on outside media specialists
will have a media department that recommends to the client—or another department—
i M
SIDE STORY
The Day-to-Day Job of an Account Executive
Tammie DeGrasse, Account Supervisor, McCann-Erickson, New York
So what exactly do you do in advertis¬ include watching a handful of celebrities read our scripts
ing?" That is by far the most common in a recording session and even having myself featured in
question I am asked once someone finds a national newspaper ad (Hey, anything to get the job
out I'm in Account Management. "Do you done, right?).
create the ads?" "Do you choose the actors?" Nonetheless, it's been amazing so far and a valuable
"Do you decide which magazines to run in?" To be hon¬ learning experience every step of the way.
est, I don't think my own mother has it figured out, yet. I've For those of you considering entering the advertising
since realized that the best way to define what we, as industry, deciding which area to concentrate in can be dif¬
account people, do in advertising is . . . make it all hap¬ ficult. Every department is so equally appetizing; anyone
pen. To use a simple analogy, an account manager is like would have trouble figuring out what the best fit for him or
the supervisor in a car factory's assembly line. We don't her might be. Being that I possess leadership qualities,
physically connect part A to part B; but we do make sure enjoy strategizing, and like to get my hands in just about
every department fully understands what the car is sup¬ everything, Account Management seemed like my perfect
posed to look like and how it should run to ensure that it fit. For others it may not be so easy, so I strongly suggest
will be created effectively and efficiently, so it can sell. learning more about the specifics of every group. Keep in
That's just the big picture; my day-to-day duties aren't mind that there are pros and cons to each and only you can
so lofty. Now, I could break it down and give you an idea decipher which end of the factory assembly line you would
of my typical 9-to-5 day; but to be honest, in advertising be best to work on. That's all for now—have to run . . .
there's no such thing as "typical" or "9-to-5." My day client dinner in ten minutes. Best of luck to all of you!
entails anything and everything to make sure the job gets
done. Whether it's literally running tapes to NBC, viewing
Tammie DeGrasse graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University,
casting reels for the next commercial, researching our in the spring of 2000. She then began her career at McCann-Erickson as
clients' top competitors, watching focus groups describe an Assistant Account Executive, working on two multimillion-dollar accounts
what they think makes a good ad (that's always fun), or (Gateway and Burger King); she was promoted to Account Executive after
a little more than a year on the job and is now an Account Supervisor.
attending television shoots ... my days are anything but
typical. Some highlights during my career at McCann Nominated by Professor Kartik Pashupati, Florida State University
the most efficient means of delivering the message to the target audience. That department
has three functions: planning, buying, and research. These media experts may represent
one-half of the physical space occupied by an ad agency. Because media is so complex, it
is not unusual for some individuals to become experts in planning, others in buying, and
still others in doing research about trends and examining characteristics of consumers
using different media.
Account Planning and Research A full-service agency usually has a separate

department specifically devoted to planning and sometimes to research. Today the emphasis
in agency research is on developing an advertising message that focuses on the consumer’s
perspective and relationship with the brand. An account planner is a type of planner who
gathers all available intelligence on the market and consumers and acts as the voice of the
consumer. Account planners are strategic specialists who prepare comprehensive recom¬
mendations about the consumer’s wants, needs, and relationship to the client’s brand, and
how the advertising should work to satisfy those elements based on insights they derive
from consumer research. Most major agencies conduct consumer research to make the
advertising more focused and appropriate to the target audience. They also purchase
research from companies that specialize in this area.
Internal Agency Services The departments that serve the operations within the
agency include the traffic department and print production, as well as the more general
financial services and human resources or personnel.
Total
Commission on Media
Fixed Annual Fee
Project Fee Agency Compensation

Agencies derive their revenues from
Labor-based Fee
two main sources: commission and
Monthly Retainer fees.
Source: Jack Feuer, “What Clients Think about

Commission on Production
Media,” Adweek (June 4, 2001): 42.
Hourly Fee
Other Methods
No Answer
The traffic department is responsible for internal control and tracking of projects
to meet deadlines. The account executive works closely with the assigned traffic coordi¬
nator or traffic manager to review deadlines and monitor progress. The traffic department
is the lifeblood of the agency, and its personnel keep track of everything that is happening
there. Taking a layout, a visual, and a page of copy and turning them into a four-color
magazine page or a full-page newspaper advertisement is the work of the print produc¬
tion department. Thanks to versatile graphics software, much of this work is now done
on the computer.
How Agencies Make Money

Agencies derive their revenues and profits from three main sources: commissions, fees,
and retainers. A commission is the amount an ad agency charges the client as a percentage
of the media cost. For example, if the $85,000 cost of media to the agency has a 15 percent
commission allowance, the agency adds $12,750 to the $85,000 when billing the client.
The standard 15 percent commission has been criticized by clients as being too high and a
practice that pushes agencies to use more expensive media. For those accounts still using a
commission approach, this rate is rarely 15 percent; it is more likely subject to negotiation
between agency and client.
Most advertisers now use a fee system either as the primary compensation tool or in
combination with a commission system. The fee system is comparable to the means by
which advertisers pay their lawyers and accountants. The client and agency agree on an
hourly fee or rate. This fee can vary by department or it could be a flat hourly fee for all
work regardless of the salary level of the person doing the work. Charges are also included
for out-of-pocket expenses, travel, and other standard items. All charges are billed to the
client, and no commission is added to the media cost. Figure 2.4 shows the use of commis¬
sion and fees as compensation for U.S. ad agencies.
There are also instances where an agency is put on a monthly or yearly retainer. The
amount billed per month is based on the projected amount of work and the hourly rate
charged. This system is most commonly used by public relations agencies.
The most recent trends in agency compensation are for advertisers to pay agencies on
the basis of their performance. One consultant recommends that this arrangement be based
on paying the agency either a percentage of the client’s sales or a percentage of the client’s
marketing budget. Procter & Gamble is the pioneer in trying to apply this new system.6
Consider This
1. What are the major areas in an agency? Explain their work responsibilities.
2. If you were to apply for a summer job in an agency, in which department
would you want to work? Why? Which of your own skills are relevant to
that area?
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
In most countries markets are composed of local, regional, and international brands. A
local brand is one marketed in a single country. A regional brand is one marketed
throughout a region (for example, North America or Europe). An international brand is
available virtually everywhere in the world. Advertising that promotes the same product in
several countries is known as international advertising. It did not appear in any organized
manner until the late nineteenth century.
Saturation of the home country market isn’t the sole reason companies venture outside
the home market. International marketing and advertising is also prompted by research that
shows market potential for products in other countries, by mergers and acquisitions with for¬
eign businesses, and by moves into other markets to preempt development by competitors.
Export marketing and advertising are not the exclusive province of large companies.
Bu Jin, an innovative company in Boulder, Colorado, creates and markets martial arts
products. With only eight full-time employees, its products fill a high-end international
market worldwide. Most of Bu Jin’s business is driven by its catalog. Many service
providers also market internationally. Airlines and transportation companies that serve for¬
eign markets, such as UPS, are in effect exporting a service.
Organizing for Infernationa! Marketing

Once the exporter becomes nationalized in several countries in a regional bloc, the com¬
pany often establishes a regional management center and transfers day-to-day manage¬
ment responsibilities from the home country to that office. For instance, Coca-Cola has
several regional offices around the world to support its international markets.
A company that has domestic operations and established regional operations in Europe,
Latin America, North America, the Pacific, or elsewhere, faces the question of whether to
establish a world corporate headquarters. Part of the reason for making such a decision is to
give the company a truly global perspective: a corporate philosophy that directs products and
advertising toward a worldwide market. Unilever and Shell (both of which have twin world
headquarters in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands), IBM, Nestle, and the advertising
holding company Interpublic have changed to a global management structure.
International Marketing Management

Regardless of the company’s form or style of management, the shift from national to interna¬
tional management requires new tools for advertisers, including one language (usually
English), one control mechanism (the budget), and one strategic plan (the marketing strategy).
The choice of an advertising agency for international advertising is influenced not
only by many of the same considerations as the choice of a domestic agency, but also by
the decision on whether to standardize its messages across all markets or localize them to
accommodate local cultural differences. If the company wants to take a highly standard¬
ized approach in international markets, it is likely to favor an international agency that can
handle advertising for the product in both the domestic and the international market. A
localized advertising effort, by contrast, favors use of advertising agencies in many coun¬
tries for both planning and implementation of the advertising.
THE DYNAMICS OF MODERN MARKETING

Marketing continues to be challenged to prove its effectiveness. The only defense against such
challenges is a concerted effort to demonstrate the accountability of marketing and its positive
impact on the organization’s return on investment. There are also several changes in the way
marketing is conducted that are making marketing more accountable, efficient, and effective.
They include integrated marketing, relationship marketing, and permission marketing.
• Integrated marketing. Similar to IMC, integrated marketing is focused on better coor¬

dinating marketing efforts.7 Integrated marketing means all areas of the marketing mix,
including marketing communication, work closely together to present the brand in a

coherent and consistent way. The basic premise is that everything communicates
something about the brand—the price delivers a message, the place where you buy the
product delivers a message, the way it handles or performs delivers a message. And, of
course, the marketing communication delivers messages. The objective of integrated
marketing, then, is to manage all these messages so they are consistent.8
Relationship marketing. Another trend in modern marketing is relationship marketing,
which means marketing that considers all the firm’s stakeholders, whether employees,
distributors, channel members, customers, agencies, investors, government agencies,
the media, or community members. Relationship marketing is driven by communica¬
tion and therefore is best accomplished through an IMC program. Customer relation¬
ship management (CRM) is a recent trend that uses databases to drive communication
with customers and keep track of their interactions with a company.
Permission marketing. The practice of inviting prospective customers to sign up or
self-select themselves into a brand’s target market in order to receive marketing com¬
munication is referred to as permission marketing. This practice has become more fea¬
sible with the development of interactive communication technologies, such as the
Internet, that allow firms to customize their marketing messages. Advertising can con¬
tribute to this change, such as when it announces a new product and invites interested
consumers to contact the company for additional information.
Consider This
1. How do trends in the marketing industry, such as integrated marketing,
affect advertising?
2. Can advertising be a factor in relationship-marketing or permission¬
marketing programs? In what way?
IT'S A WRAP
PUMA LEAPS FORWARD
T he opening story about Harley touched on a number of key concepts in marketing plan¬
ning, such as the customer-focused marketing concept, the concepts of exchange, added
value and, most importantly, the concept of branding. The story also referred to many of the
key players in marketing such as customers, dealers, and its advertising agency.
Puma, a small player in the athletic shoe market, does not attempt to outspend its com¬
petitors. Instead it uses a highly strategic marketing effort to set the brand apart and give it a
distinctive personality. Its market communication creates an attitude for the brand, as well as
sales.
Puma's internal marketing philosophy is a factor in the brand's resurrection. The CEO
calls it the "blue mountain strategy." He explains, "We may not be the biggest or tallest moun¬
tain, but if we want to differentiate ourselves, we want to be the blue mountain that stands out
not for its size but for how we do things."
That philosophy has guided everything from advertising budgets, to product distribution
and promotional partners. Puma, for example, spends around $4 million on advertising in
the United States, compared to around $1 30 million for Nike and $45 million for Reebok. In
spite of the relatively tiny ad budget, Puma reported a 48 percent sales increase in 2002.
Puma's sales jumped to $1 21 million, up from $82 million in 2001 and $58 million in 2000.
■ ■■Summary
1. Define the role of advertising within marketing. Under¬ 4. List and explain the six critical steps in the marketing
standing how marketing works and the role advertising plays process. The six steps in the marketing process include: (1)
within the marketing strategy is essential for successful researching the consumer market and the competition to
advertising. The success of marketing depends on whether a develop a situation analysis; (2) setting the marketing
business can create a competitive advantage that results in an objectives, which are usually expressed in terms of sales
exchange and advertising showcases those advantages. and market share; (3) assessing consumer needs and wants
Advertising helps a company to match a product’s availabil¬ and using that information to segment the market into
ity—and the company’s production capabilities—to the con¬ groups of likely prospects for the product, and then target¬
sumer’s need, desire, or demand for the product. ing specific markets that are most likely to be profitable;
2. Explain how the four key concepts in marketing relate to (4) differentiating and positioning the product relative to
advertising. The four key marketing concepts are the mar¬ the competition; (5) developing the marketing mix strategy
keting concept, and the concepts of exchange, branding, and in terms of product design and performance, pricing, distri¬
added value. The (1) marketing concept focuses first on the bution, and promotion; and (6) evaluating the effectiveness
needs of the consumer in designing product offerings rather of the marketing strategy.
than the goals and needs of the company. (2) Exchange refers 5. Summarize the structure of the advertising agency
to the way a company makes and offers something and what industry and how agencies work with their clients on
a consumer gives in return to obtain that product (good, ser¬ the marketing side. The advertising industry is organized
vice, or idea). Advertising offers an information exchange in into full-service agencies, specialized agencies such as
support of the marketing exchange. (3) Branding uses adver¬ creative boutiques and media-buying services, as well as
tising to create a special meaning for a product that makes it in-house agencies and advertising departments within the
distinctive in the marketplace. (4) Added value means a mar¬ marketer’s company. In advertising agencies, work is
keting or advertising effort makes the product more valuable, handled by account managers who are the liaison with
useful, or appealing to a consumer. the client; creative departments who write and design
3. Identify the key players in marketing and how the orga¬ the advertising; media planners and buyers who place
nization of the industry affects advertising. The four the advertisements in the media; account planners and
important categories of key players in marketing are the researchers who develop research to obtain insights about
marketer, suppliers or vendors, distributors and retailers, consumer behavior and preference; as well as other internal
and agencies. The marketer is the advertiser—the company agency services that help the company operate its business.
or organization that produces the product and offers it for 6. Analyze the changes in the marketing world and what
sale. Suppliers and vendors are companies that provide the they portend for advertising. In addition to an increase in
materials and ingredients used in running a business and international marketing, some of the other marketplace
producing a product. The distribution chain or channel changes that affect the way advertising operates within a
refers to the various companies—distributors, wholesalers, marketing program include integrated marketing—which is
brokers, dealers, and retailers—involved in moving a prod¬ a focus on integrating all the marketing mix decisions and
uct from its manufacturer to the buyer. Agencies are the communication—relationship and permission marketing.
marketing communication companies that help marketers
promote their products.
account management, 49 business-to-business market, distribution channel, 39 marketer, 37
account planner, 50 41 exchange, 32 marketing communication
added value, 36 channel market, 41 fee, 51 mix, 42
agency of record (AoR), commission, 51 full-service agency, 47 marketing concept, 31
45 consumer market, 41 indirect marketing, 44 marketing plan, 45
brand, 33 cooperative (co-op) ingredient branding, 39 media-buying services, 49
brand equity, 35 advertising, 44 institutional market, 41 package goods, 41
brand image, 33 customer relationship integrated marketing, 52 permission marketing, 53
brand management, 37 management (CRM), 53 international advertising, 52 personal sales, 45
brand mark, 35 differentiation, 42 international brand, 52 positioning, 42
brand name, 35 direct marketing, 44 local brand, 52 price, 44
branding, 33 distribution chain, 39 market, 39 price copy, 45
primary research, 42 pull strategy, 44 retainer, 51 SWOTs, 42

print production department, push strategy, 44 secondary research, 42 trademark, 35
51 regional brand, 52 share of market, 39 traffic department, 51
product category, 43 relationship marketing, 53 situation analysis, 42
product management, 37 reseller, 39 supply chain, 38
* ■ ■ Review Questions
1. Where does advertising fit within a marketing program? 4. Outline the key steps in the marketing process.
2. What are the four key marketing concepts that give direc¬ 5. Explain how agency work is organized. In other words,
tion to advertising? what are the primary functions or professional areas found
3. In general, outline the structure of the marketing industry in an agency?
and explain where advertising fits and how it relates to the 6. Explain relationship marketing and permission marketing.
various key players.
1. Find an example of an advertisement that you think demon¬ 4. As this chapter states, Coca-Cola is the most recognizable
strates the marketing concept and another ad that you think brand in the world. How did the company achieve this?
does not represent an effective application of the marketing What has the company done in its marketing mix in terms
concept. Compare the two and explain why you evaluated of product, price, distribution, and marketing communica¬
them as you did. tions that has created such tremendous brand equity and
2. Professor Baker tells her advertising class that advertising’s loyalty? How has advertising aided in building the brand?
relationship to marketing is like the tip of an iceberg. As the You might want to visit Coca-Cola’s Web site for help:
class looks puzzled, she explains that most (80 percent) of www.coca-cola.com
the iceberg cannot be seen. “It’s the same with the con¬ 5. Imagine you are starting a company to manufacture fudge.
sumer’s perception of how much of marketing is advertising- Consider the following decisions:
related,” Baker explains. What is Baker trying to illustrate a. Describe the marketing mix you think would be most
with the iceberg analogy? effective for this company.
3. This chapter stressed integration of advertising with other b. Describe the marketing communication mix you would
components of the marketing mix. If you were in marketing recommend for this company.
management for Kellogg cereals, how would you see adver¬
c. How would you determine the advertising budget for
tising supporting product, price, and place? Could advertis¬
your new fudge company?
ing improve each of these functions for Kellogg? Explain
d. What brand image would you recommend for your
your answer.
fudge?
■ ■ ■ Class Project
1. Interview the manager of a large retail outlet store in your area, such as Target, Kmart, or
Wal-Mart. Assess how the retailer uses various elements of the marketing communication
mix. Study a few diverse products, such as food items, blue jeans, and small appliances.
You might even talk to the automotive service department. Write a report, making conclu¬
sions about how advertising comes into play.
2. Assess the Web sites of three ad agencies. What differences in offerings do you observe?
(See Table 2.3 for some agency names. Do a search for their home pages on a search
engine such as Yahoo! or Google.)
WPP's Owner—a British Knight with Every (Marketing)

HANDS-ON M °AS*
Weapon at His Disposal
To the uninformed, nothing about Martin Sorrell or his good idea." But nobody familiar with Martin Sorrell was
company, the WPP group, may be quite what it seems. surprised when at the end of the day he convinced Grey to
Although he was awarded a knighthood, Sir Martin is sign with WPP and persuaded Procter & Gamble to stay
anything but a reserved aristocrat. And while WPP is one as well.
of the four largest agency holding companies in the world, Unlike many of his peers, Sorrell has never written a
the initials actually stand for Wire & Plastic Products, the word of copy, nor has he ever penciled a print design or
British company Sorrell used to gobble up some of the directed a broadcast commercial. Sorrell's talents are
world's most famous advertising agencies. The roster of organizational and strategic; although he is an expert in
agencies now under the WPP's wing includes industry the world of finance, Sir Martin cautions, "I may be a
leaders Ogivly and Mather, Burson-Marsteller, Hill & bean counter, but I'm not an accountant." To drive home
Knowlton, Young & Rubicam, and J. Walter Thompson, to the point he posed for WPP's annual report surrounded by
name just a few. lima and pinto beans.
Large conglomerates like WPP made frequent head¬ So how does Martin Sorrell continue to win in the
lines in the 1990s, a period of great consolidation in the high-stakes agency world? His vision, developed years
advertising industry. Faced with harsh economic and busi¬ before most of his rivals caught on, that twenty-first-century
ness realities, individual advertising agencies chose to clients would want a complete menu of marketing commu¬
give up independent existence in order to become parts of nication services, all of which work synergisfically, is one
large communication companies that offered clients all the important reason for his success. Tenacity, energy, focus,
tools for an integrated campaign, including advertising, and a willingness to do whatever is needed to win are
direct marketing, public relations, and sales promotion. In also traits that come to mind. All these are illustrated in the
the new millennium, dealing with one (or several) of the story of Sorrell's drive to land Korean giant Samsung when
four large holding companies, WPP Group (England), the company put its advertising up for review in the spring
Interpublic (U.S.), Publicis Groupe (France), and Omnicom of 2004. Samsung spends almost $400 million each year
(U.S.), is the way the world's biggest advertisers do busi¬ supporting its brands, which is reason enough for agen¬
ness. cies to salivate for the account. Sorrell believes that the
While each of the conglomerates is led by a charis¬ company holds even greater appeal because of his fore¬
matic and dynamic individual, none appears to have an cast that advertising growth in the twenty-first century will
edge on Sorrell, who was described in a recent Fortune come disproportionately from Asia.
article as ", . . confident, witty, and a tad arrogant, talking So Sorrell did whatever he could to attract Samsung's
rapidly about the future of advertising and the challenges attention. Like any savvy agency head, he assigned his
of keeping fractious clients and ad agencies happy." best people to generate creative ideas to pitch to Samsung
Fortune also noted that "In an industry populated by executives. But unlike most agency heads, he didn't stop
shameless schmoozers, the 59-year-old Sorrell is in a there. After discovering that a Samsung-financed museum
league of his own." was having a grand opening in Seoul, Sorrell jumped on
These characteristics have served Sorrell well. In a plane and ended up being the only agency person
2004 he squared off against rival Publicis Groupe and its there. Samsung executives found themselves receiving e-
CEO, Maurice Levy, in pursuit of one of the last great inde¬ mails from Sorrell at all times of the day and night. Peter
pendent agencies, Grey Advertising, New York. During Stringham, marketing director of HSBC, a company that
the battle Advertising Age opined that Publicis had a big Sorrell landed after several years of trying, commented,
advantage because Levy and Grey chair Edward Meyer "Martin can be quite persistent. He was there from the first
were friends and had spoken about merging in the past. In meeting to the last. He'd pitched to us a couple of times
addition, both Grey and Publicis created ads for consumer before and not gotten the account, but he'd had his eye on
giant Procter & Gamble, while WPP agency Ogilvy & it for years."
Mather counted P&G's competitor Unilever among its most Needless to say, in the fall of 2004, Samsung
important clients. (It is customary for agencies not to work announced it was awarding its account to WPP. In the new
for competing accounts.) A Unilever spokesperson, asked millennium, British knights may not wear armor, carry a
for h is thoughts about the possibility of working with an crest, or rescue damsels in distress. But Sir Martin Sorrell
agency that created ads for his most important rival, sug¬ knows how to triumph in the competitive world of advertis¬
gested that "In the past, we've not seen it to be such a ing agencies.
Consider This
O-
1. Why do large clients like Samsung wish to work
with giant holding companies like WPP instead of
Sources: "Sorrell Cashes In on $30M Incentive Bonus," Advertising Age (September 27,
with smaller agencies? 2004); Brian Steinberg and Erin White, "Grey Global Could Go Many Ways; Advisers
2. What qualities help Sorrell to be successful? Why Explore Options; Publicis Link Is Possible, as Both Firms Serve P&G," Wall Street Journal
(Eastern edition) [June 29, 2004): B3; Nelson D. Schwartz, "Bigger and Bigger: Martin
are these qualities so important for his company's
Sorrell Wants WPP to Be the World's Largest Marketing Machine. With His Most Recent
success? Acquisition, He's Almost There," Fortune (November 29, 2004): 146; Erin White, "WPP
3. Explain how Martin Sorrell wins clients and builds Group's Tough-Love Artist; Neil French's Role Includes Making Candid Appraisals of
Agencies' Global Talent," Wall Street Journal (October 20, 2003): B9; Erin White, "WPP
positive agency-client relationships. How does he Deal Puts Pressure on Havas; Pact to Buy Grey Solidifies Power of Four Big Firms, Leaving
see the agency's role in marketing? French Rival in Cold," Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition) (September 14, 2004): B14.
i ■ m ■
CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Discuss the shape-versus-mirror debate.
2. Analyze the legal topics that guide advertising practice.
3. List the key regulatory agencies and their responsibilities.
4. Explain the way the advertising industry regulates itself.
5. Critique the key ethical issues that challenge the practice of

advertising.
6. Outline three ways to determine if an advertising decision is

The most offensive ethical.
and dumbest ads

of the decade
I n 2003 Adweek ran a feature on what it described as "the low¬

est moments in advertising" during the previous decade. Many
of these advertisements are on the list because, in their search for
creative ideas and attention-getting images, they challenge the
ethical standards of the industry. Whatever the reason, they have
been dubbed winners, or rather losers, in an award show that most
advertisers would rather not enter.
Most of the advertisements are on the list because they are taste¬
less, insensitive, or offensive. For example, at the top of the list was
Calvin Klein's notorious 1995 campaign that used a style of lighting
and staging reminiscent of a porn movie to show prepubescent teens
59
in their underwear. The ads for CK jeans were pulled under threat of criminal
charges from the FBI and the Justice Department.
There has been a remarkable range of insensitive ideas. In the emotional
days after 9/1 1, a number of advertisers tried to find ways to tie in with sensi¬
tivity to the traumatic event; one that grated was a billboard for Kenneth Cole
that proclaimed, “God Dress America!" Viewer complaints forced Fox Sports
Net to pull an ad for its Best Damn Sports Show Period that featured heavy¬
weight boxer Mike Tyson as a baby-sitter; the fact that Tyson is a convicted
rapist, is known for biting off part of the ear of Evander Holyfield, and has
threatened to "eat the children" of another rival didn't seem to occur to Fox
Sports Net.
Benetton has used ads that shock as a way to position itself as a fashion
house that cares about social issues, but Adweek described its ad supplement
featuring death-row prisoners as over the top. The features used celebrity-style
photos and a sympathetic interview style that seemed to glamorize its subjects,
even as it exploited them. Part of the outrage was because the victims didn't
even rate a mention although the killers were memorialized.
Other ads on the list were offensive because they played with stereotypes.
For example, a Super Bowl spot for Just for Feet shows a barefoot black man
running through the wilderness tracked by a patrol in a Humvee. Adweek
wondered why no one realized that there's something wrong with the Great
White Hunter tracking a black African as a wild beast. The client became
the first to sue its agency for malpractice. Similarly a postcard campaign for
the Toyota RAV4 showed a male African American mouth, exaggerated
lips, white pearly teeth, and a gold Toyota Rav4 SUV emblazoned on one of
the teeth. The Reverend Jesse Jackson observed that "All that's missing is a
watermelon."
An ad for the Nike ACG Air Goat made fun of the handicapped. It
promised the shoe would help the runner avoid running into trees and becoming
a "drooling, misshapen nonextreme trail-running husk of my former self."
Consumers, the disabled, and their advocacy groups were outraged. Nike and
the agency apologized and said, "We have stepped over the line with this
advertisement, and there is no excuse for it."
When you read stories like this, you can’t help but ask yourself why these advertisements
were ever made. It’s unlikely the advertiser or agency was trying to deliberately engage in
offensive and insensitive practices, so what is behind the decision to use such questionable
strategies? The answer lies in the driving need to produce something that is creative and
attention getting. These ads may get attention, but it’s the wrong kind of attention. Some of
these ads have even generated action by governmental regulators, as well as outcries from
the public.
This chapter, which is focused on advertising’s role in society, will look at two
topics: advertising regulation and advertising ethics. First we’ll review the various
types of regulation and regulatory bodies involved in overseeing the practice of adver¬
tising. Then, because ultimately the problem lies not with regulation but with a sense
of professional ethics, we will review the key ethical issues that concern advertising
practitioners.
(
CHAPTER 3 • ADVERTISING AND SOCIETY 61
ERTISING'S SOCIAL ROLE

rtising takes place in a public forum in which business interests, creativity, consumer
and government regulations meet. Sometimes ads are controversial. And sometimes
are just bad, as the Adweek list illustrates. But some criticisms of advertising go
;;r and take us to the core of advertising’s visible social role.
The excessive, misleading, and false claims made by patent medicine makers in the
. twentieth century generated the first regulation of advertising through the Pure Food
)rug Act of 1906. Advertising’s economic role also has been criticized in the way it cre-
lemand, which means people want or feel a need to buy and use a product. Demand
tion, which means using an external message to drive people to feel a need or want, is
Economic force that drives progress and the search for better products. Advertising plays
important role in creating and sustaining that force. Viagra™ is a good example of a
product that exists only because advertising created demand for it. Demand creation
becomes a question of ethics when social critics charge that the demand is artificial and the
products really aren’t needed—that people’s wants are being manipulated unnecessarily.
Advertising is also a factor in the increased cost of branded products. Some argue that
the costs are offset by the efficiencies that come from mass production and marketing, but
economic as well as social and cultural concerns remain.
We know, however, that advertising also supports brands we like, as well as teaches us
how to use new products that make our lives easier and our health better. Advertising is
used in social marketing to support good causes. In and of itself, advertising is not evil. So
why are there so many questions and dilemmas in looking at the social role of advertising?
Although we believe advertising is a force for good in society, we will discuss the social
concerns and ethical questions in order to provide a larger framework for a discussion of
the role it plays in modern society.
Advertising's Role in Shaping or Mirroring Society

The second half of the twentieth century is notable for the rise of a materialistic consumer
culture in the Western world. Did advertising create this culture, or did it simply reflect it?
At what point does advertising cross the line between reflecting social values and creating
them? Critics argue that advertising has repeatedly crossed this line, influencing vulnera¬
ble groups, such as children and young teenagers, too strongly.
This shape-versus-mirror debate is the most central issue we need to address in con¬
sidering advertising’s role in society. What drives consumers to behave or believe as they
do? Is it advertising, or is it other forces? Why do women buy cosmetics, for example? Are
they satisfying a deep cultural need for beauty or were they manipulated by advertising to
believe in the hope that cosmetics offer? Or have their family and friends socialized them
to believe they look better with cosmetics than without?
Can advertising manipulate people? In general, critics of advertising tend to believe
that advertising has the power to shape social trends and the way people think and act.
Some critics argue that advertising has the power to dictate how people behave. They
believe that even if an individual ad cannot control our behavior, the cumulative effects of
nonstop television, radio, print, Internet, and outdoor ads can be overwhelming.
On the other hand, advertising professionals tend to believe that the best they can do
is spot trends and then develop advertising messages that connect with them. If people are
interested in saving money, then you will see ads that use frugality as an advertising strat¬
egy. Advertisers believe advertising mirrors values rather than sets them.
In fact, advertising and society’s values are probably interactive, so the answer to the
debate may simply be that advertising both mirrors and shapes values. Advertising plan¬
ners spend huge amounts of money and time trying to identify people’s motivations before
they develop message strategies. They must, then, be searching for something deeper than
the impact of a previous ad.
We also know that advertising planners search for insights into consumer behavior.
Do people save money for their retirement, or spend on more luxurious bathrooms—and
why? What leads people to be concerned for their future financial health or encourages
them to look upon their homes as “cocoons,” a nest or place where they can retreat from
the world? How interested are they in environmental issues? These tendencies are social
trends that marketers and advertisers have found from their research and then used to
develop advertising strategies.
Social and Cultural Considerations in International Advertising

Many oppose the move to a global perspective because of concerns about the homogeniza¬
tion of cultural differences. Marketing imperialism or cultural imperialism is a term
used to describe what happens when Western culture is imposed on others, particularly cul¬
tures such as the Middle East, Asian, and African cultures. Some Asian and Middle Eastern
countries are critical of what they see as America’s materialism and disrespectful behavior
toward women and elders. They worry that international advertising, as well as interna¬
tional media, will encourage their young people to adopt these viewpoints.
Cultural differences are very real and we will talk more about them in Chapter 5; con¬
sider, however, that respect for culture and local customs is so important that insensitivity
to local customs can make an ad completely ineffective. Customs can be even stronger than
laws. When advertising to children age 12 or over was approved in Germany, for example,
local customs were so strong that companies risked customer revolt by advertising. In
many countries, naming a competitor in comparative advertising, as we do, is considered
bad form.
Customs are often more subtle and, as a result, are easier to violate than laws. Quoting
an obscure writer or poet would be risky in the United States, where people would not
respond to the unknown author. In Japan the audience would respect the advertiser for
using the name or become embarrassed at not knowing a name they were expected to rec¬
ognize. A campaign that made such a reference might irritate U.S. audiences and engage
Japanese consumers.
Companies starting to do business in the Middle East have to learn new selling meth¬
ods because the region is so devoutly religious. There are major restrictions on how women
are presented in advertising. Many Asian cultures emphasize relationships and social,
group, or community context. In some Asian cultures it is not considered proper for a
young person to have direct eye contact with an older person; likewise, touching can be
inappropriate. To be effective, the advertising message must recognize these cultural dif¬
ferences, and that can only be done by having as a partner a local agency or consultant who
knows the culture well enough to identify potential cultural gaffes.
Consider This
o
1. If you were to develop your own definition or statement of advertising's
social role, how would you word it based on what you have read?
2. What is cultural imperialism and how might that be a problem in
international advertising?
REVIEW AND REGULATION OF ADVERTISING

Advertising is regulated or monitored by a number of bodies and groups. Figure 3.1 iden¬
tifies the organizations with oversight responsibility for advertising and groups them in
terms of five categories: government, media, industry, public or community groups, and
the competition.
Advertising's Legal Environment

Let’s look first at governmental oversight, which includes two topics: law and regulation.
Congress legislates laws, while courts interpret those laws in specific situations to create
case law. In this section, we examine two pivotal areas of case law—trademarks and copy¬
right protection, and the First Amendment—as they pertain to advertising.
(
Advertising Review
and Regulation
Trademark and Copyright Protection A trademark is a brand, corporate, or

store name or a distinctive symbol that identifies the seller’s brand and thus differentiates it
from the brands of other sellers. A trademark must be registered through the Patent and
Trademark Office of the Department of Commerce, which gives the organization exclusive
use of the mark, as long as the trademark is maintained as an identification for a specific
product. Under the Lanham Trademark Act of 1947, the Patent Office protects unique
trademarks from infringement by competitors. Because trademarks are critical communi¬
cation devices for products and services, they are important in advertising.
Even an audio trademark is protected, as a case in the European Union illustrates. A
distinctive audio sound based on the noise of a cock crowing and the way it was repre¬
sented in Dutch had been registered with the EU’s trademark office. When this sound
“trademark” was used by a different company, the first company sued for trademark
infringement.1
A recent trademark issue is protection for uniform resource locators (URLs), which
are Internet domain names. Advertisers must remember that URLs have to be registered
and protected just like any other trademark. They are issued on a first-come, first-served
basis for any domain name not identical to an existing brand name.2
A copyright gives an organization the exclusive right to use or reproduce original
work such as an advertisement or package design for a period of time. Common designs
or symbols, however, cannot be copyrighted. Controls for copyright protection are pro¬
vided by the Library of Congress. Advertising is a competitive business in which me-too
ads abound. Copyrighting of coined words, phrases, illustrations, characters, and pho¬
tographs can offer some protection from other advertisers who borrow too heavily from
their competitors.
Copyright infringement can occur when a product is used in an ad without proper per¬
mission. For example, the retailer Gap was sued by On Davis, a maker of high-priced
metal eyewear, when the eyeglasses were used in a Gap ad without permission. The
designer behind the glasses explained that he wanted Gap to not include his eyewear
because his high-status glasses “aren’t compatible in my mind with jeans and sweatshirts.”
He also claimed the image of his high-end fashion product was hurt by being associated
with a mass retailer, such as Gap.3
Copycat ads that use the message strategy of another advertiser may also be subject to
copyright infringement charges. For example, a commercial for a Sega NBA videogame
was a scene-by-scene copy of Nike’s “Frozen Moment” ad from 1996 that featured
Michael Jordan. The spot shows fast-paced basketball action and then shifts to slow
motion to show riveted fans neglecting things that are going on around them. The ad then
returns to normal speed and closes with a Jordan slam dunk. Nike ads have been parodied
in the past but the company choose to fde a lawsuit because the Sega ad was not a com¬
mentary but rather a direct steal of a creative idea.4
Advertising and the First Amendment The most basic federal law that governs
advertising is the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment states
that Congress shall make no law “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” How
have courts applied the First Amendment to advertising? First Amendment protection
extends to commercial speech, which is speech that promotes commercial activity.
However, that protection is not absolute; it is often restricted and the Supreme Court gen¬
erally applies a different standard to commercial speech.
Protection of advertising as commercial speech has varied over the years. In 1980,
in conjunction with its ruling on Central Hudson Gas and Electric v. Public Service
Commission of New York, the Supreme Court established a test that determines to what
extent the government can restrict advertising. This decision also stipulated the degree to
which advertising is considered commercial speech.
A number of cases have attempted to change the common view of advertising as
commercial speech. Most notably, the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law
that restricted tobacco advertising. Free speech advocates applauded the decision while
critics of tobacco companies lamented. Although no one expects advertising to have the
same constitutional protection of free speech that is given to individuals, courts throughout
the country are narrowing the gap.
Although there is freedom in the United States for commercial free speech, it is not as
widely valued as other forms of free speech such as that enjoyed by the press and film¬
makers. The Supreme Court believes that there is a “commonsense difference” between
commercial speech and other types, such as news; however, the “commonsense difference”
is not defined and hard for advertisers to identify.5
In other words, the Supreme Court does permit some restrictions on commercial
speech. For example, the Court has held that false or misleading commercial speech can be
banned. Even truthful commercial speech can be restricted if the government can prove the
public good demands such restrictions.6 The courts have also ruled that such acts as the
federal ban on junk faxes are valid and that businesses’ right to commercial speech does
not include printing their advertisements on other people’s fax machines.7
Essentially, the Supreme Court has ruled that only truthful commercial speech is pro¬
tected, not misleading or deceptive statements. Because the Supreme Court continues to
reinterpret how the First Amendment applies in different cases, advertisers need to keep
close track of legal developments. Table 3.1 lists some key First Amendment Court deci¬
sions that affect advertising.
Two recent cases show how varied First Amendment case law can be. The Supreme
Court’s 1996 decision in 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island signaled strong protection for
companies under the First Amendment. The Court struck down two Rhode Island statutes
created to support the state’s interest in temperance. Both statutes banned the advertise¬
ment of alcohol prices. The first statute prohibited advertising alcohol prices in the state
except on signs. The second statute prohibited the publication or broadcast of alcohol price
ads. The Supreme Court held that Rhode Island’s statutes were unlawful because the ban
abridged the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech.
In contrast, a sharply divided (5-4) Supreme Court rejected a First Amendment chal¬
lenge by California fruit growers who objected to part of a federal agricultural marketing
3.1 First Amendment Rulings on Commercial Speech

Valentine v. Christensen (1942)
First Amendment does not protect purely commercial advertising because that
type of advertising does not contribute to decision making in a democracy.
Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976)
States cannot prohibit pharmacists from advertising prices of prescription drugs
because the free flow of information is indispensable.
Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation v. Public Service Commission of New
York (1980)
Public Service Commission’s prohibition of promotional advertising by utilities is
found to be unconstitutional, placing limitations on government regulation of
unlawful, nondeceptive advertising.
Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico (1986)
Puerto Rican law banned advertising of gambling casinos to residents of Puerto
Rico.
Cincinnati v. Discovery Network (1993)
Court ruled that the Cincinnati City Council violated the First Amendment’s pro¬
tection of commercial speech when it banned news racks of advertising
brochures from city streets for aesthetic and safety reasons, while permitting
newspaper vending machines.
Edenfield v. Fane (1993)
Court ruled that Florida’s prohibition of telephone solicitation by accountants was
unconstitutional.
44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996)
Court ruled that two Rhode Island statutes that banned advertising for alcohol
prices were unconstitutional.
Glickman v. Wiliman Bros. (1997)
Court ruled that a mandatory generic advertising program, issued in accord with
marketing orders of the Agricultural Marketing Act, did not infringe upon the free
speech rights of fruit growers.
agreement that mandated they spend a certain amount of their federal money on generic
product advertising and promotion (Glickman v. Wiliman Bros. & Elliott, Inc.). Does this
decision diminish the protection of advertising under the First Amendment? Some legal
experts contend that the focus on coerced speech rather than commercial speech suggests
otherwise.
Nike has been involved in an important corporate speech case that involves a company’s
right to defend itself in the court of public opinion.8 The issue revolves around a California
Supreme Court ruling that Nike’s public statements about its overseas labor practices were
subject to claims of false and deceptive advertising. The press releases and ads in question
said the company was doing a good job with its overseas labor practices but could do better.
Nike’s supporters said the California court’s action amounted to applying a gag order—mak¬
ing it impossible for companies to respond to charges and defend themselves. The judge said
that Nike’s defense was no more than another form of advertising and deserved only limited
First Amendment protection. Supporters of the Court’s decision believe that advocacy press
releases and ads should be subject to the same standards that govern other types of ads, and
that includes review for possibly misleading and deceptive statements. As this chapter was
written, this litigation is still working its way through the courts.
Changes in who sits on the Supreme Court as well as the makeup of the regulatory
commissions can also influence the interpretation of First Amendment protection for
advertisers.
Consider This
1. What are trademarks and copyrights and why is there legal protection for
them?
2. Does your university or college have a legally protected trademark? How is
it monitored?
ADVERTISING'S REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT

In addition to the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the
Federal Communications Commission are dynamic components of the advertising regula¬
tory environment. Let’s look in more depth at their missions, and the type of advertising
practices that they regulate.
The FTC
Established by Congress in 1914 to oversee business, the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) is the primary agency governing the advertising industry. Its main focus with
respect to advertising is to identify and eliminate ads that deceive or mislead the consumer.
Some FTC responsibilities are to
• initiate investigations against companies that engage in unfair competition or deceptive

practices.
• regulate acts and practices that deceive businesses or consumers and issue cease-and-
desist orders where such practices exist. Cease-and-desist orders require that the prac¬
tice be stopped within 30 days (a cease-and-desist order given to one firm is applicable
to all firms in the industry).
• fine people or companies that violate either (1) a trade regulation rule or (2) a cease-
and-desist order given to any other firm in the industry.
• fund the participation of consumer groups and other interest groups in rule-making
proceedings.9
Specifically, the FTC oversees false advertising of such items as foods, drugs, cos¬
metics, and therapeutic devices. That oversight includes such things as health and weight-
loss business practices, 900 numbers, telemarketing, and advertising that targets children
and the elderly. The FTC monitors the ratings system and the advertising practices of the
film, music, and electronic games industries. Periodically it issues progress reports to
Congress on youth-oriented entertainment advertising to make sure that ads for products
with potentially objectionable content—primarily violent or sexual content—are not seen
on media targeted to youth. The FTC’s reports to Congress cover advertising on television
and Web sites as well as print media.
The existence of a regulatory agency such as the FTC influences advertisers’ behav¬
ior. Although most cases never reach the FTC, advertisers prefer not to risk long legal bat¬
tles with the agency. Advertisers are also aware that competitors may complain to the FTC
about a questionable advertisement. Such a move can cost the offending organization mil¬
lions of dollars.
Table 3.2 lists important advertising legislation, most of which shows the growing
authority of the FTC to regulate advertising.
Regulating Deception Ultimately, advertisers want their customers to trust their

products and advertising, so many take precautions to ensure that their messages are not
deceptive, misleading, or unreasonable. Deceptive advertising is advertising intended to
mislead consumers by making claims that are false or by failure to make full disclosure of
important facts, or both. The current FTC policy on deception contains three basic ele¬
ments:
1. Misleading. Where there is representation, omission, or practice, there must be a high

probability that it will mislead the consumer.
3.2 Advertising Legislation

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
Forbids the manufacture, sale, or transport of adulterated or fraudulently labeled
foods and drugs in interstate commerce. Supplanted by the Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act of 1938; amended by Food Additives Amendment in 1958 and
Kefauver-Harris Amendment in 1962.
Federal Trade Commission Act (1914)

Establishes the commission, a body of specialists with broad powers to investi¬
gate and to issue cease-and-desist orders to enforce Section 5, which declares
that “unfair methods of competition in commerce are unlawful.”
Wheeler-Lea Amendment (1938)

Prohibits unfair and deceptive acts and practices regardless of whether competi¬
tion is injured; places advertising of foods and drugs under FTC jurisdiction.
Lanham Act (1947)

Provides protection for trademarks (slogans and brand names) from competitors
and also encompasses false advertising.
Magnuson-Moss Warranty/FTC Improvement Act (1975)

Authorizes the FTC to determine rules concerning consumer warranties and pro¬
vides for consumer access to means of redress, such as the “class action” suit.
Also expands FTC regulatory powers over unfair or deceptive acts or practices
and allows it to require restitution for deceptively written warranties costing the
consumer more than $5.
FTC Improvement Act (1980)

Provides the House of Representatives and Senate jointly with veto power over
FTC regulation rules. Enacted to limit the FTC’s powers to regulate “unfairness”
issues in designing trade regulation rules on advertising.
The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud Act and Abuse Protection Act (1994)
Specifies that telemarketers may not call anyone who requests not to be
contacted. Resulted in the Telemarketing Sales Rules.
2. Reasonableness. The perspective of the “reasonable consumer” is used to judge

deception. The FTC tests reasonableness by looking at whether the consumer’s inter¬
pretation or reaction to an advertisement is reasonable.
3. Injurious. The deception must lead to material injury. In other words, the deception
must influence consumers’ decision making about products and services.2 3 * * * * * * 10
This policy makes deception difficult to prove because the criteria are rather vague and
hard to measure. It also creates uncertainty for advertisers who must wait for congressional
hearings and court cases to discover what the FTC will permit.
Regulating Substantiation Claim substantiation is an area of particular concern to

the FTC in determining whether or not an advertisement is misleading. The advertiser
should have a reasonable basis for making a claim about product performance or run the
risk of an FTC investigation. Food claims, such as those focused on calories or carbohy¬
drates, have to be supported by research about nutrition. Consequently, an advertiser
should always have data on file to substantiate any claims it makes in its advertisements.
Also, it is best if this research is conducted by an independent research firm.
The FTC determines the reasonableness of claims on a case-by-case basis. In general,
the FTC considers these factors:
• Type and specificity of claim made. For example, Computer Tutor claims you can
learn the basics of using a computer by simply going through its three-CD set.
• Type of product. FedEx promises a certain delivery time, regardless of weather,
mechanical breakdown, and so forth. This product has a great many uncontrollable
variables compared to Heinz ketchup, which the company promises will be thick.
This ad for Planters Peanuts

makes a claim of "3 grams of
net carbs" that the company • Possible consequences of the false claims. A Web site that claims it is secure can
must be able to substantiate. cause serious damage to its customers if. in fact, it is not secure.
Food marketers do extensive • Degree of reliance on the claims by consumers. Business-to-business customers
research in order to determine depend on the many claims made by their vendors. Therefore, if XPEDX (yes, that’s
what health claims they can how it’s spelled), a manufacturer of boxes and other packages, claims in its ad that it
prove for their products. can securely deliver any size product, it had better deliver.
• The type and accessibility of evidence available for making the claim. The ty pe of
evidence could range from testimonials from satisfied customers to complex product
testing in multiple laboratories. It could be made available through an 800 number
request or online.
Remedies for Deception and Unfair Advertising The common sources of

complaints concerning deceptive or unfair advertising practices are competitors, the pub¬
lic, and the FTC’s own monitors. If a complaint seems justified, the commission can follow
several courses of action: consent decrees, cease-and-desist orders, fines, corrective adver¬
tising, substantiation of advertising claims, and consumer redress.
• Consent Decrees A consent decree is the first step in the regulation process after the
FTC determines that an ad is deceptive. The FTC simply notifies the advertiser of its find¬
ing and asks the advertiser to sign a consent decree agreeing to stop the deceptive prac¬
tice. Most advertisers do sign the decree to avoid the bad publicity and the possible
$10,000-per-day fine for refusing to do so.
Duracell® was forced to modify one of its ads after Energizer® complained that the ad
inferred that Duracell CopperTop batteries would last three times longer than other heavy-
duty and super-heavy-duty batteries. The ad didn’t mention Energizer by name, but
Energizer charged the ad was “false and misleading” because consumers would think the
comparison was with other alkaline batteries, such as Energizer. In fact, the CopperTop
does not last longer than other alkaline batteries. The ad was modified with a disclaimer.11
Sometimes the remedy can be more costly than simply modifying an ad. Federal mar¬
shals banned two health products—Crave Away and Aide Creme—after the company was
accused of false advertising. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, the products’ claims
weren't approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and hence they were “mak¬
ing false and unsubstantiated claims.”12
• Cease-and-Desist Orders When the advertiser refuses to sign the consent decree and
the FTC determines that the deception is substantial, it issues a cease-and-desist order.
The process leading to the issuance of a cease-and-desist order is similar to a court trial.
An administrative law judge presides. FTC staff attorneys represent the commission, and
the accused parties are entitled to representation by their lawyers. If the administrative
judge decides in favor of the FTC, the judge issues an order requiring the respondents to
cease their unlawful practices. The advertiser can appeal the order to the full five-member
commission.
• Corrective Advertising The FTC may require corrective advertising when consumer
research determines that an advertising campaign has perpetuated lasting false beliefs.
Under this remedy, the FTC orders the offending person or organization to produce mes¬
sages for consumers that correct the false impressions the ad made. The purpose of cor¬
rective advertising is not to punish an advertiser but to prevent it from continuing to
deceive consumers. The FTC may require a firm to run corrective advertising even if the
campaign in question has been discontinued.
A landmark corrective advertising case is Warner-Lambert v. FTC. According to the
FTC, Warner-Lambert’s campaign for Listerine mouthwash, which ran for 50 years, had
been deceiving customers, leading them to think that Listerine could prevent or reduce the
severity of sore throats and colds. The company was ordered to run a corrective advertis¬
ing campaign, mostly on television, for 16 months at a cost of $10 million. The case is
significant for two reasons. First, the Supreme Court gave the FTC the power to apply
remedies to both past and ongoing campaigns to curtail future deceptions. Second, the
Court rejected the argument that corrective advertising violates the advertiser’s First
Amendment rights.
Interestingly, after the Warner-Lambert corrective campaign ran its course, 42 percent
of Listerine users continued to believe that the mouthwash was being advertised as a rem¬
edy for sore throats and colds, and 57 percent of users rated cold and sore throat effective¬
ness as a key reason for purchasing the brand.13 These results raised doubts about the effec¬
tiveness of corrective advertising and have affected recent court decisions.
The 1998 decision also prompted the commission (specifically Commissioner Orson
Swindle) to publish a statement on the logic of the practice of corrective advertising. In
addition to concurring that there is no evidence that corrective advertising works,
Commissioner Swindle also noted that the assumption that corrective advertising should
run the same length of time as the deceptive ad had run is erroneous.
• Consumer Redress The Magnuson-Moss Warranty-FTC Improvement Act of 1975

empowers the FTC to obtain consumer redress when a person or a firm engages in decep¬
tive practices. The commission can order any of the following: cancellation or reforma¬
tion of contracts, refund of money or return of property, payment of damages, and public
notification.
• Advertising Agency Legal Responsibility With the resurgence of the FTC has come a
new solution for deception within the FTC and in the federal courts: Make the ad agency
liable instead of the advertiser. To quote former FTC chairperson Janet Steiger, “An
agency that is involved in advertising and promoting a product is not free from responsi¬
bility for the content of the claims, whether they are expressed or implied. You will find
the commission staff looking more closely at the extent of advertising involvement.”14
Essentially, an agency is liable for deceptive advertising along with the advertiser when
the agency is an active participant in the preparation of the ad and knows or has reason to
know that it is false or deceptive.
Agencies should heed the FTC’s warnings. Several FTC actions and court cases in the
early 1990s show that agencies must be prepared to defend their advertising practices. For
example, a federal court found that Wilkinson, the maker of the Ultra Glide® shaving sys¬
tem, intended to make misleading claims about Gillette and halted the campaign. The court
awarded Gillette damages of nearly $1 million, to be paid by Wilkinson, and another $1
million to be paid by Wilkinson’s agency, Friedman Benjamin.
Consider This
o- 1. What are the primary responsibilities of the FTC?
2. Do you think the remedies for deceptive and unfair advertising are
adequate? Why or why not?
Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the regulatory division of the Department of
Health and Human Services that oversees package labeling, ingredient listings, and adver¬
tising for food and drugs. It also determines the safety and purity of foods and cosmetics.
In particular, the FDA is a watchdog for drug advertising, specifically in the controversial
area of direct-to-consumer ads for prescription drugs. Its job is first to determine whether
drugs are safe and then to see that these drugs are marketed in a responsible way.
Marketing includes promotional materials aimed at doctors, as well as consumers.
For pharmaceutical companies, advertising is a commercial free speech issue and the
industry has brought pressure on the FDA to make direct-to-consumer advertising rules for
prescription drugs more understandable, simpler, and clearer.15
Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), formed in 1934 to protect the public
interest in radio and television broadcast communications, can issue and revoke licenses to
broadcasting stations. The FCC also has the power to ban messages, including ads, that are
deceptive or in poor taste. The agency monitors only advertisements that have been the
subject of complaints and works closely with the FTC to eliminate false and deceptive
advertising. The FCC takes actions against the media, whereas the FTC is concerned with
advertisers and agencies.
Other Regulatory Bodies

In addition to the FTC, the FDA, and the FCC, several other federal agencies regulate
advertising. Most other federal agencies that regulate advertising are limited to a certain
type of advertising, product, or medium, as we see in Table 3.3. We have already discussed
the Patent Office and the Library of Congress and their roles in protecting copyrights and
trademarks. Let’s now look at other key regulatory agencies.
Bureau of Alcohol/ Tobacco, and Firearms The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,

and Firearms (BATF) within the Treasury Department regulates deception in advertising
and establishes labeling requirements for the liquor industry. This agency’s power comes
from its authority to issue and revoke annual operating permits for distillers, wine mer¬
chants, and brewers. Because there is a danger that public pressure could result in the ban¬
ning of all advertisements for alcoholic beverages, the liquor industry strives to maintain
tight controls on its advertising.
The U.S. Postal Service The Postal Service regulates direct-mail and magazine
advertising and has control over the areas of obscenity, lotteries, and fraud. Consumers
who receive advertisements in the mail that they consider sexually offensive can request
that no more mail be delivered from that sender. The postmaster general also has the power
to withhold mail that promotes lotteries. Fraud can include a number of activities that are
questionable, such as implausible, get-rich-quick schemes.
The States' Attorneys General The National Association of Attorneys General

tries to regulate advertising at the state level. Members of this organization have successfully
brought suits in their respective states against such advertising giants as Coca-Cola, Kraft,
and Campbell Soup. More recently, numerous attorneys general have led the way against the
tobacco industry and have supported the advertising restrictions discussed earlier.
International Laws and Regulations

As advertisers, agencies, and media become more and more global, it will be imperative
that the players understand the local ethical standards and laws in the countries in which
they operate.
Marketing practices, such as pricing and price advertising, vary in their legal and reg¬
ulatory restrictions. Distribution is particularly troublesome in some local markets, partic-
Agency Effect on Advertising

Federal Trade Commission Regulates credit, labeling,
www.ftc.gov packaging, warranties, and
advertising.
Food and Drug Administration Regulates packaging, labeling,
www.fda.gov and manufacturing of food and
drug products.
Federal Communications Commission Regulates radio and television
www.fcc.gov stations and networks.
U.S. Postal Service Controls advertising by monitoring
www.usps.gov materials sent through the mail.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the U.S. Treasury
www.atf.treas.gov Department that regulates
advertising for alcoholic
beverages.
U.S. Patent Office Oversees trademark registration
www.uspto.gov to protect against patent
infringement.
Library of Congress Provides controls for copyright
www.loc.gov protection.
ularly those that operate with many small retailers. In Japan, distribution arrangements are
handled through long and complicated negotiations that often involve the participation of a
local business partner. Such problems with pricing and distribution can affect the way a
brand is presented and the brand image itself can be affected.
Some product categories, such as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, are particularly dif¬
ficult because regulations about their marketing and advertising are different in every
country. There are also bans on advertising for certain types of products. Thailand has laws
banning tobacco ads, as does Hungary. In Hong Kong, outdoor display advertising of
tobacco products was banned. Malaysia has banned most forms of tobacco advertising,
including print, TV, radio, and billboards. However, these bans are fairly ineffective as a
result of indirect advertising—advertising that features a product other than the primary
(controversial) product. Examples of these techniques in Malaysia are quite plentiful.
Billboards with the Salem, Benson & Hedges, and Winston names dot the landscape, but
they’re not advertising cigarettes. They’re advertising their travel, clothing, and restaurant
businesses.
International advertisers do not fear actual laws; they fear not knowing those laws.
For example, a marketer cannot advertise on television to children under 12 in Sweden or
Germany, cannot advertise a restaurant chain in France, and cannot advertise at all on
Sunday in Austria. In Malaysia, jeans are considered to be Western and decadent, and
advertising for them is prohibited. A commercial can be aired in Australia only if it is shot
with an Australian crew; likewise in Malaysia all the production has to be done in the coun¬
try and the talent have to be Malaysians.
There also are differences in the legal use of various marketing communication tools.
A contest or promotion might be successful in one country and illegal in another. Direct
marketing is also considered an invasion of privacy in some European countries and is
forbidden.
Because of the difficulty of understanding the legal situation in each country, interna¬
tional advertisers try to work with either local agencies or with international agencies that
have local affiliates. The important thing is to have someone in the country who knows the
local laws and can identify potential legal problems.
MEDIA REVIEW OF ADVERTISING

The media attempts to regulate advertising by screening and rejecting ads that violate their
standards of truth and good taste. Most networks have a Standards and Practices
Department that screens every ad and gives approval before the ad can run. Each individ¬
ual medium has the discretion to accept or reject a particular ad. For example, The
Reader’s Digest does not accept tobacco and liquor ads, and many magazines and televi¬
sion stations do not show condom ads. In the case of the major television networks, the
standards and guidelines designed by the Advertising Review Council (ARC), an industry
group, serve as the primary standard.
The First Amendment gives any publisher the right to refuse to publish anything the
company does not want to publish and this sometimes creates battles between media com¬
panies and advertisers. For example, some billboard companies in Utah are refusing to run
billboards for a Wasatch Beer company brand named Polygamy Porter. The brand’s slogan
“Why have just one!” and headlines like “Take Some Home for the Wives” are deemed
offensive to the state’s Mormon population. A similar brouhaha arose when the state’s
Brighton Ski Resort promoted its four-person lifts with a billboard during the Salt Fake
City Olympics that said, “Wife. Wife. Wife. Husband.” The billboard company that banned
the beer ads received letters both for and against its stand, which indicates the difficulty of
such decisions.16
The FTC is pressuring magazines and newspapers, in particular, to stop running ads
for weight-loss products that it says are misleading. Publishers, however, jealously guard
their decision-making rights and resist being pressured by either government agencies or
advertisers. But there are some debatable areas where the media have restricted advertis¬
ing. For example, in 2003 a case was brought before the Superior Court of New Jersey
demanding that an injunction be issued to keep CNN from refusing to run ads for the IDT
telecommunication company. The IDT commercials claimed that its giant competitors—
AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and WorldCom—charge more because of bad business decisions
and that’s why IDT can charge less. IDT says the ban was discriminatory and contrary to
the government’s policy of encouraging competition.
More recently a political advocacy group, MoveOn, sponsored a contest to find the
best commercial opposed to the George Bush presidency and hoped to run it during the
Super Bowl. The winning ad, “Child’s Play,” was a polished, subtle, sobering spot ques¬
tioning the Bush administration’s rampant deficit spending. After the winner was named,
CBS refused to air the ad claiming it was too controversial, even though it had accepted an
ad from the White House.17 A newspaper editorial that protested what it called the
“myopic” CBS decision said it was sad that “outlandish propaganda spots by the White
House were accepted but not a respectful, if hard-hitting, political ad.”18
SELF-REGULATION
Rather than wait for laws and regulatory actions, responsible advertisers take the initiative
and establish individual ethical standards that anticipate and even go beyond possible
complaints. Such a proactive stance helps the creative process and avoids the kinds of dis¬
asters that result from violating the law or offending members of society.
Advertisers regulate themselves more stringently than do government agencies. There
are three types of self regulation:
• Self-discipline. An organization, such as an advertising agency, develops, uses, and

enforces norms within its own practices.
• Industry self-regulation. The industry develops, uses, and enforces norms.
• Self-regulation with outside help. The advertising industry voluntarily involves nonin¬
dustry people, such as the Better Business Bureau or the media, in the development,
application, and enforcement of norms.
(
CBS refused to allow the

MoveOn organization to buy
Self-Discipline
space on the Super Bowl for an
Virtually all major advertisers and advertising agencies have in-house ad review procedures ad that won its anti-Bush
including reviews by agency and client attorneys. Typically the attorneys are concerned advertising contest. What do
with the claims—how they are phrased and substantiated. Are the claims verifiable? Is there you think: Should the media
research and data to prove the truth of the claims? Is there anything in the wording that have the right to refuse political
could be misinterpreted or is misleading? Is there anything deceptive in the visual images? statements like these?
Several U.S. companies (Colgate-Palmolive, General Foods, AT&T) have their own
codes of behavior and criteria that determine whether advertisements are acceptable.
Companies without such codes tend to have informal criteria that they apply on an ad-by-
ad basis. At a minimum, advertisers and agencies should have every element of a proposed
ad evaluated by an in-house committee, lawyers, or both.
Industry Self-Regulation
In the case of both advertisers and advertising agencies, the most effective attempts at pure
self-regulation have come through industry groups, such as the Advertising Review
Council (ARC) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). In 1971 several professional adver¬
tising associations in conjunction with the Council of Better Business Bureaus established
the National Advertising Review Council, which negotiates voluntary withdrawal of
national advertising that professionals consider deceptive. The National Advertising
Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the National Advertising
Review Board (NARB) are the two operating arms of the National Advertising Review
Council. None of these are government agencies.
The NAD is a full-time agency made up of people from the field of advertising. It
evaluates complaints submitted by consumers, consumer groups, industrial organizations,
The NARB Appeal Process

Consumers or groups submitting a
complaint to NAD and NARB go
through this process. The ultimate
power of NAD and NARB is the
threat of passing the claim to the
FTC. Usually, cases are settled
before that point.
and advertising firms. NAD also does its own industry monitoring. After NAD receives a
complaint, it may ask the advertiser in question to substantiate claims made in the adver¬
tisement. If such substantiation is deemed inadequate, NAD representatives ask the adver¬
tiser to change or withdraw the offending ad. When a satisfactory resolution cannot be
found, NAD refers the case to NARB.
The NARB is a 50-member regulatory group that represents national advertisers,
advertising agencies, and other professional fields. When the advertiser appeals a case to
NARB, it faces a review panel of five people: three advertisers, one agency person, and one
public representative. This NARB panel reviews the complaint and the NAD staff findings
and holds hearings to let the advertiser present its case. If the case remains unresolved after
the process, NARB can (1) publicly identify the advertiser and the facts about the case and
(2) refer the complaint to the appropriate government agency (usually the FTC). Although
neither NAD nor NARB has any real power other than threatening to invite government
intervention, these groups have been effective in controlling cases of deception and mis¬
leading advertising. Figure 3.2 summarizes the NARB appeal process.
Competitive Complaints Not only do the media and agencies screen ads; the com¬
petition is also on the lookout for deceptive claims and advertising strategies that reflect
poorly on the brands. Comparative advertising, which we’ll discuss later in this chapter, is
a big red flag and advertisers that engage in this practice know that their research in sup¬
port of their competitive claims has to be impeccable.
But there are other ways an advertisement can harm a brand. For example, Absolut
Vodka pulled an ad after Vail Resorts threatened to sue. The ad showed the distinctive
vodka bottle, which has been used for a decade, to put a twist on a visual pun in the shape
of a cast for a broken leg. The words “Absolut Vail” were scrawled across it.19
Public and Community Review

The public is also involved in the advertising review process through actions by commu¬
nity, local business, and consumer activist groups.
• Local Groups At the local level, self-regulation has been supported by the Better
Business Bureau (BBB). The BBB (www.bbb.org) functions much like the national
regulatory agencies, and also provides local businesses with advice concerning the
legal aspects of advertising. Approximately 250 local and national bureaus, made up of
advertisers, agencies, and media, have screened hundreds of thousands of advertise¬
ments for possible violations of truth and accuracy. Although the BBB has no legal
power, it does receive and investigate complaints and maintain files on violators. It
also assists local law enforcement officials in prosecuting violators. The ease with
which the BBB can be accessed on the Internet has prompted businesses to be more
careful about complying with its standards.
• Consumer Activist Groups Activist groups of all kinds monitor advertising practices.
The Action for Children’s Advertising group follows the practices of advertisers who
market to children and will file complaints with industry boards or regulatory agencies
if they see advertisements that they consider questionable. The consumer group Public
Citizen inspired the FDA to require warnings on print ads for certain types of nicotine
products. Groups that are focused on media literacy also review the performance of
advertisers. For example, the Cultural Environment Movement is a nonprofit coalition
of independent organizations and individuals that focuses on fairness, diversity, and
justice in media communication.20
Consider This
1. In what ways does advertising regulate its own practices?

2. Do you think the advertising industry is sincere in trying to regulate its own
practices? How could the industry prove to you that this is a serious
industry-wide concern?
ADVERTISING ETHICS
Advertising law and regulations can only go so far in ensuring ethical practices by adver¬
tising. Ultimately professionals in the industry have to be guided by their own ethical
principles. Ethics is a set of moral principles that guide actions and create a sense of
responsible behavior. It’s about being able to analyze ethical questions and dilemmas in
professional decision making in terms of the concepts of right and wrong to determine
one’s obligation and responsibility to do the right thing.21
Is it ethical to include in an ad an offensive double meaning or illustrations that por¬
tray people in negative stereotypical situations? Is it all right to stretch the truth when mak¬
ing a claim about a product? Can you criticize a competitor’s product even though you
know it is basically the same as your own?
It’s fairly easy to see the right answers in these situations. However, in most market¬
ing and advertising decisions, the right path is not as easy to discern. Business ethics auto¬
matically refocus business decisions on a higher plane than the expediencies of the bottom
line. McDonald’s decision, for example, to eliminate its super-sized products is an exam¬
ple of doing the right thing even if it means losing some business opportunities.
To help you better understand how ethics applies to advertising decisions, we will dis¬
cuss a variety of ethical issues that challenge the standards of advertising professionals.
Then we’ll conclude with a discussion of how an advertising professional makes ethical
advertising decisions. We’ll discuss six key issues: taste and offensive advertising, stereo¬
typing, body and self-image problems, targeting strategies, problems with advertising
claims and other message strategies, and the issues surrounding the marketing of contro¬
versial products.
Poor Taste and Offensive Advertising

Although certain ads might be in bad taste in any circumstance, viewer reactions are
affected by such factors as sensitivity to the product category, the time the message is
received (for example, in the middle of dinner), and whether the person is alone or with
others when viewing the message. Some things on television, for example, that might not
bother an adult when alone would make that person uncomfortable if children were watch¬
ing. Also, questionable ads become offensive in the wrong context. Advertisers and media
outlets must try to be sensitive to such objections.
We all have our own ideas about what constitutes good taste. Unfortunately, these
ideas vary so much that creating general guidelines for good taste in advertising is diffi¬
cult. Different things offend different people. In addition, taste changes over time. What
was offensive yesterday may not be considered offensive today. A 1919 Ladies Home
Journal deodorant advertisement that asked the question, “Are you one of the many
women who are troubled with excess perspiration?” was so controversial that 200 readers
immediately canceled their subscriptions. By today’s standards that advertisement seems
pretty tame. Today’s questions of taste center on the use of sexual innuendo, nudity, vul¬
garity, and violence.
The Breckenridge Ski Resort pulled an ad campaign that was designed to appeal to
young men with lines like “The hill may dominate you. But the town will still be your
bitch.” Some young skiers in the resort’s target market saw no problem with the language,
although the campaign was criticized as distasteful by women’s groups, community lead¬
ers, residents, and business leaders.22
One beer company was sued for violating public taste by using the slogan, “Good
beer. No Shit.” The argument against it charged that such language is offensive to many
people and particularly inappropriate for children who cannot be protected from seeing
and hearing the slogan.
Sex in Advertising Although the use of sex in advertising is not new, the blatancy of
its use is. Advertising that portrays women (or men) as sex objects is considered demean¬
ing and sexist, particularly if sex is not relevant to the product. Ads for cosmetics and lin¬
gerie fall into a gray area because sex appeals for these products are usually relevant; the
ethical question, then, is: How sexy is too sexy? Advertising Women of New York
(AWNY) sponsors an annual award to showcase advertising that features women in sexist
or offensive ways. The practice of using cheesy images is discussed in the Matter of
Principle box.
Reinforcing Stereotypes
A stereotype is a representation of a cultural group that emphasizes a trait or group of
traits that may or may not communicate an accurate representation of the group (blondes
are dumb, Italians are sexy). Sometimes the stereotype is useful (athletes are fit) and aids
communication by using easily understood symbolic meanings, but sometimes the
stereotype relies on a characteristic that is negative or exaggerated and, in so doing,
reduces the group to a caricature. That’s what Nike accomplished with its ad lampooning
Principle the disabled.
Stereotyping is negative when it The issue of stereotyping also raises the shape-versus-mirror question. For example,
reduces a group of people to a stereotyping women as sex objects is a practice that is deeply embedded in our culture.
caricature. When a woman is portrayed as a sex object in an advertisement it is reflecting or linking to a
cultural value, however negatively some might see that value. On the other hand, using such
a strategy also makes advertising a participant in shaping and reinforcing that cultural value.
Diversify Issues If we believe that advertising has the ability to shape our values and
our view of the world, then it is essential that advertisers become aware of how they portray
different groups. Conversely, if we believe that advertising mirrors society, advertisers have
a responsibility to ensure that what is portrayed is accurate and representative. Diversity has
become an issue as advertisers struggle to target, as well as portray, people outside the
white, straight mainstream market.
A few adventurous companies have even begun to show images suggesting homosex¬
uality in advertising to general audiences through mass media. Such images have appeared
fairly extensively in mainstream fashion advertising for brands such as Calvin Klein,
Benetton, and Banana Republic. The coming-out episode of ABC’s Ellen was ground¬
breaking in more ways than just programming: It was the first time advertisers used prime¬
time network TV to reach gay and lesbian viewers.
Commercial Closet is a nonprofit journalistic and educational organization that seeks
to raise awareness about how the gay community is portrayed in advertising. Its Web site
primarily analyzes mainstream commercials that represent the gay community as a minor-
Cheesecake or Good Targeting?
Women have appeared partially undressed on calendars

and other advertising for decades. However, the use of
what's sometimes called a "cheesecake" strategy has
come under fire from women for just as long a time. This is
one practice that continues to challenge the industry
because the technique tends to succeed at getting the
attention of men who are the target for these ads.
So what if it offends women? They aren't the target,
right? Like most ethical questions, this one gets caught up
in business decisions.
The issue got a new life recently when several beer
advertisers began running ads with scantily clad women.
The one that got the most criticism was a Miller Light com¬
mercial aimed at male sports fans and called "catfight,"
which was the winner of the "Grand Ugly" award by the
Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) for portraying
women in the most offensive manner (see it at aef.com
museum under the "Good, Bad, and Ugly" awards).
The spot, which was presented as a fantasy dreamed
up by two guys in a bar, was described by Adweek critic
Barbara Lippert as showing "two buxom bimbos" in swim¬
suits mud-wrestling, a match that degenerated into some¬
thing she described as having lesbian overtones. To try to
keep it on the side of political correctness, the girlfriends of
the two guys at the bar looked on with scorn as their guys
enjoyed the fantasy play.
It isn't just in the United States where concern about
sexism has to be considered by advertisers. In France,
where nudity in advertising has been much more accept¬ Consider This
able, the advertising industry has agreed to a tough new o-
code of conduct to ensure "respect for the dignity of 1. What are the ethical issues underlying debates about
women" and has set up a hot line for the public to use to sexism in advertising?
complain if they are offended by vulgarity or sexism. 2. Do you think marketers whose products are targeted at
The issue is whether the sex appeal is gratuitous; in young men should also consider the reactions of
other words, is it relevant to the product? Even if it is rele¬ women when reviewing an advertising idea that might
vant—and some will argue that sexy "babes" appeal to be considered sexist? Why or why not?
beer-drinking males—does it degrade women (or men, in Sources: John Lichfield, "French Advertisers Promised a Cover-up in Battle over
those cases where a "hunk" is used to appeal to women)? Nudity," The Independent (November 29, 2003): 17; Hillary Chura, "Miller
What's degrading to one person may not be offensive to Set to Roll Catfight Sequels," Advertising Age (February 1 7, 2003): 1, 35;
Hillary Chura, "Miller: Another Round of Raunch,” Advertising Age (March
another, so this decision needs to be made based on
17, 2003): 1, 30; Lisa Sanders, "'Catfight' Wins AWNY 'Grand Ugly' Ad
research that determines whether most people believe it to Award," Advertising Age (April 1, 2003); Christopher Lawton, "Miller, Coors
be degrading or offensive. Finally, is the brand meaning Still Bet Sex Sells Beer," Wall Street Journal (June 10, 2003): B3; Barbara
sullied when the advertising uses cheesecake? Lippert, '"Taste'-less," Adweek (January 20, 2003): 16.
ity. The Commercial Closet Web site is devoted to “raising awareness of something no
one has thought of before: How the gay community is portrayed as a minority group in
advertising.”
Gender Roles Television is a powerful socializing agent and is particularly influential

in the area of gender identity. One of the most important lessons it teaches is how people fit
into culturally shared gender and racial roles. The way women are cast as characters in
commercials, as well as programs, can create or reinforce cultural stereotypes.23
Historically, advertising has portrayed gender in distinct and predictable stereotypes.
Men are usually shown as strong, independent, and achievement oriented, women are
shown as nurturing and empathetic, but softer and more dependent, and they are told that
the products being advertised will make their lives less stressful and more manageable.
Men are often negatively stereotyped as well. For example, in a Wyeth Flu-mist® ad, a
bumbling dad sends his kids to school in summer clothes during a snowstorm, and in a
Honda Pilot ad, the father acts like a drooling wolf. The Society for the Prevention of
Misandry in the Media has been formed to protest such silly portrayals.24
Harmful female stereotypes take a number of forms. Women are portrayed as indeci¬
sive, childlike, frivolous, and only interested in shopping; obsessed with men or their own
physical appearance; submissive to men; or simple housewives, superwomen, and sexual
objects. Such stereotypes aren’t just the province of beer and tire ads. An example of an
upscale advertisement that plays with women’s stereotypes is a newspaper ad for IWC
Schaffhausen, a high-end Swiss watch. The headline says, “Almost as complicated as a
woman. Except it’s on time.” The ad ran in the London Times, among other prestigious
publications.
A study of gender representation in 1,300 prime-time commercials in the late 1990s
found that although women make most purchases of goods and services, they are still
underrepresented as primary characters during most prime-time commercials, except for
health and beauty products. Women are still cast as younger, supportive counterparts to
men. Older women are still the most underrepresented group. Television commercials, in
other words, still perpetuate traditional stereotypes of women and men.25
However, some advertisers are recognizing the diversity of women’s roles. But with
the effort to portray women as more than housewives came a different problem. Beginning
in the 1980s, advertisements focused on briefcase-toting professional women. Consider
the commercial in which a NASA engineer, who is also a working mother, tells us the ben¬
efits of serving her children a powdered breakfast drink. The image of Supermom has been
displaced by the image of Superwoman.
A Chicago conference hosted in 2003 by the Advertising Educational Foundation
asked, “How Is Advertising Shaping the Image of Women?”26 The answer, in spite of the
number of women moving into leadership positions in the advertising industry, is that
advertising doesn’t seem to be any freer of sexual stereotypes. University of Illinois pro¬
fessor Linda Scott said that although things had been improving, ground has been lost in
the last 10 years.
Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes Critics charge that racial and ethnic groups are
stereotyped in advertising. Even though most in the industry would deny it, that charge was
evident in the “Just for Feet” ad that showed a black man being hunted down like a wild
animal. In one study of the prototypical images of African Americans, the researchers
found that blacks are portrayed in commercials as staying in the background and having
little to say (except in ads designed exclusively for black publications). Men are athletic,
tall, dark, handsome, fashionable, outgoing, and not family connected. Women like to shop
and are seen as fair-skinned with wavy hair, quiet, petite, and supportive. The most fre¬
quently used black images are of black children or teenagers.27
A study of Asians in television commercials found that they were treated similarly to
females in general. In other words, they were underrepresented and given lesser roles.
Even the more frequent use of younger Asian characters isn't culturally sensitive.
One myth is that members of minority groups are all the same. The Hispanic market
is a case in point. In 2000 the Hispanic population in the United States was over 30 million,
15 percent of the total. Still, there is a misconception that all Hispanic consumers are alike,
when nothing could be further from the truth: There are major differences in groups whose
ancestry is Spanish, Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, or from a South American country,
such as Colombia or Argentina.
Senior Citizens Another group that critics say is often subject to stereotyping is senior
citizens, a growing segment of the population with increasing amounts of disposable
income. Critics often object to the use of older people in roles that portray them negatively.
Barbara Champion, president of Champion & Associates, a research firm specializing

in the maturing market, made the following observation: “The needs of maturing con¬
sumers, depending on mental and physical acuity as well as life-stage factors, are often dif¬
ferent from one another. Whether a consumer is an empty-nester whose children have
grown up and left home, a grandparent, a retiree, a widow, or one in need of assisted living,
for example, will greatly affect how, when, and why goods and services are purchased.”28
Many of the ads for Viagra speak to a specific segment of the population, and do so in a
tasteful, tactful way.
In a focus group of women in their 50s, participants had trouble keeping their com¬
ments polite when viewing a series of health care ads that showed older women in primar¬
ily sedentary activities. One explained that even though she has arthritis, she still wants to
see ads show arthritis sufferers working out in a gym, rather than “silver-haired couples
walking along the beach with a golden retriever.”29
Consider This
1. What ethical values does the use of stereotyping violate?

2. Do you think stereotyping is a real problem or are some people overly
concerned about political correctness? Defend your viewpoint.
Body Image and Self-Image

Advertising has been criticized for glorifying glamorous looks in both men and women. In
an interview on NPR, author Jean Kilbourne, who is the author of Can’t Buy My Love:
How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel, said that “ads are aimed at the very
heart of girls’ insecurities” because of the ideal image of beauty that they portray—“an
absolutely perfect-looking young woman who’s incredibly thin.”30
Playing on consumers’ insecurities about their appearance presents advertisers with a
classic ethical dilemma because self-image advertising can also be seen as contributing to
self-improvement. Sometimes, however, such strategies are questionable because they lead
to dangerous practices. Some critics charge that women place their health at risk in order to
cultivate an unrealistic or even unhealthy physical appearance.
To discover how flagrant or subtle this message is, a group of researchers tested the
“thin ideal” on college-age women, the group most vulnerable to this message and to high
incidences of eating disorders. They found that students did not perceive any danger in
advertisements using excessively thin fashion models as a stereotypical portrayal of
beauty. The respondents in the study reacted strongly to other female stereotypes but were
far less concerned about images promoting the “thin ideal.” The authors concluded that
although there are many female stereotypes used in advertising that are irritating, offen¬
sive, and demeaning, none is potentially more dangerous to health than the “thin ideal.”31
The same problem of stereotyping based on physical appearance exists for men, partic¬
ularly young men, although the muscular body ideal—V-shaped body with a well-developed
chest and arm muscles and wide shoulders tapering down to a narrow waist—may not lead
to the same health-threatening reactions that young women face, unless men resort to
steroids. Other stereotyped male images are the rugged western Marlboro man and the clue¬
less Dagwood type.
The standard of attractiveness is a sociocultural phenomenon that advertising mirrors,
as well as shapes. Responsible advertisers have, therefore, begun using models of more
normal size and weight as a way to reduce the pressure on young people, who seem to be
the most open to messages about cultural standards of beauty and physical attractiveness.
Targeting Children
As the earlier story about the Breckenridge Ski Resort illustrated, an ad can be offensive to
the general public even if it’s accepted by the target audience. Advertisers would be wise to
conduct the necessary research to gauge the standards of taste for the general population as
well as the specific target audience.
Principle Because mass media are seen or read by people outside the target audience, such test¬
Testing is needed to find the right ing can be tricky. The problem is that if you aim to satisfy everyone, you may not connect
balance when one group that sees with the primary target audience. This is a serious dilemma in creating advertising, and one
the advertisement finds the not easily resolved. An even more serious problem is targeting vulnerable groups, such as
message offensive, even though children.
the primary target may think the Advertising to children continues to be one of the most controversial topics in the indus¬
message is appropriate. try. After a 1988 study found that the average child saw more than 20,000 TV commercials
per year, a heated debate ensued. One side favored regulation because of children’s inability
to evaluate advertising messages and make purchase decisions. The other side opposed regu¬
lation because members of that group believed many self-regulatory mechanisms already
existed and the proper place for restricting advertising to children was in the home.
In response, the FTC initiated proceedings to study possible regulations of children’s
television. Despite the FTC’s recommendations, the proceedings did not result in new fed¬
eral regulations until 1990. In the interim, self-regulation in the advertising industry tried
to fill this void.
The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus
set up a group charged with helping advertisers deal with children’s advertising in a manner
sensitive to children’s special needs. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU),
established in 1974, evaluates advertising directed at children under the age of 12.
In 1990 Congress passed the Children’s Television Advertising Practice Act, which
placed 10.5-minute-per-hour ceilings for commercials in children’s weekend television
programming and 12-minute-per-hour limits for weekday programs. The act also set rules
requiring that commercial breaks be clearly distinguished from programming, barring the
use of program characters to promote products.
Advocates for children’s television continue to argue that many stations made little
effort to comply with the 1990 act and petitioned the FCC to increase the required number
of educational programs to be shown daily. In 1996, broadcasters, children’s advocates,
and the federal government reached an agreement requiring all TV stations to air three
hours of children’s educational shows a week.
Marketing alcohol to black teens is an issue because of the use of rappers like Ice-T to
promote malt liquors and the dozens of pages of alcohol ads that appear in black youth-
culture magazines such as Vibe. A Georgetown University study says the alcohol beverage
industry is marketing far more heavily to African American young people than to others in
that age group.
Misleading Claims and Other Message Strategies

Advertising claims are considered to be unethical if they are false, misleading, or decep¬
tive. We talked about misleading and deceptive ads in the discussion of FTC regulation. In
the drive to find something to say about a product that will catch attention and motivate the
audience to respond, advertisers sometimes stretch the truth. False advertising, which is a
type of misleading advertising, is simply untrue.
For an example of false and deceptive advertising, consider how Sony Pictures made
the Adweek losers list after it invented a movie reviewer named David Manning. The myth¬
Principle ical reviewer, of course, gave Sony’s pictures great reviews. Newsweek investigated and
Advertising claims are unethical Sony Pictures admitted its marketing department had invented Manning. As Adweek
if they are false, misleading, or observed, overnight he went from “poster personality to a poster boy for deceptive adver¬
deceptive. tising.” The state of Connecticut launched an investigation into a potential violation of its
Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The target of the heaviest criticism for being misleading is weight-loss advertising, as
well as other back-of-the-magazine self-improvement advertisements for health and fitness
products. In a study of 300 weight-loss ads, the FTC found that ads for weight-loss prod¬
ucts sometimes make “grossly exaggerated” claims and that dieters need to beware of ads
for dietary supplements, meal replacements, patches, creams, wraps, and other products.
The study found that 40 percent of the ads made at least one representation that was almost
certainly false and 55 percent made a claim that was very likely false or at least lacked ade¬
quate substantiation.32
CHAPTER 3 ADVERTISING AND SOCIETY 81
Misleading claims are not just a problem in the United States. The London-based
Barclays credit card company was forced (by the U.K. Office of Fair Trading, which is
equivalent to the FTC in the U.S.) to withdraw an advertising campaign that promised “0
percent forever." The ad was deemed deceptive because borrowers would enjoy the 0 per¬
cent interest rate for only as long as it took for the balance to be cleared. In other words, all
new spending on the card would be charged the standard interest rate.33
Manipulative Advertising Most advertising is designed to create demand and

touch the emotions. So in a sense, a manipulative message is a natural outcome of persua¬
sion. However, there are times and situations where ethical issues arise. For example, there
can be manipulative ads that play on the emotions in order to create inappropriate or overly
intense feelings. A radio commercial that recorded the last moments of a child and his
father before they died in a car accident was criticized as emotionally manipulative, even
though the ad was part of a buckle-up campaign.
Another area that gets attention in the media is subliminal advertising. Generally, we
assume that messages are seen and heard consciously. However, it is also possible to com¬
municate symbols that convey meaning but are below the threshold of normal perception.
These kinds of messages are called subliminal. A subliminal message is transmitted in
such a way that the receiver is not consciously aware of receiving it. This usually means that
the symbols are too faint or too brief for the consumer to clearly recognize them. We’ll dis¬
cuss subliminal advertising in terms of how it works, or doesn’t work, in the next chapter.
Puffery Not all exaggerated claims are seen as misleading. Puffery is defined as
“advertising or other sales representations, which praise the item to be sold with subjective
opinions, superlatives, or exaggerations, vaguely and generally, stating no specific facts.”34
Campbell Soup, for example, has used the slogan “America’s Favorite Food,” which is
vague and exaggerated and can’t really be proven or disproved. It’s a classic example of
puffery, generally deemed to be of little concern to regulators looking for false or mislead¬
ing claims because it is so innocuous.
Because obviously exaggerated “puffing” claims are legal, the question of puffery is
mainly an ethical one. According to the courts, consumers expect exaggerations and
inflated claims in advertising, so reasonable people wouldn’t believe that these statements
(“puffs”) are literal facts. Virtually everyone is familiar with puffery claims for certain
products: Sugar Frosted Flakes are “g-r-r-r-eat,” send Hallmark cards if you “want to send
the very best,” and “nothing outlasts an Eveready battery.”
However, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of puffery is mixed. Some research Principle
suggests that the public might expect advertisers to be able to prove the truth of superlative Puffery may be legal, but if it
claims, and other research indicates that reasonable people do not believe such claims. turns off the target audience then
Advertisers must decide what claims are and are not socially responsible and when the nothing is gained by using such a
message strategy.
puffery is unbelievable or over the top.35
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a set of laws that govern sales and other
commercial matters, distinguishes between mere “puffing” and statements about a prod¬
uct’s performance or qualities that create an “express warranty.” Under the UCC, a general
statement praising the value of a product (such as “the Best Seafood Restaurant”) does not
create an express warranty. More concrete representations, however, might (for instance,
“our fish are never frozen”).
The UCC recognizes that advertisers cannot be expected to prove or live up to every
general, glorifying statement made about a product. After all, it’s only a company’s opin¬
ion that its product is the best on the market. No one would want to, or could, prove the rea¬
sonableness or rationality of such opinions. However, a proposed draft of UCC sections
relating to express warranties would make all statements about a product part of the sale
agreement. This could mean that all product statements create an express warranty, which
could transform advertising as we know it.
Comparative Advertising Although it is perfectly legitimate to use comparative

advertising that compares the advertiser’s product favorably against a competitor, there are
regulations for those uses that are challenged as misleading. Advertisers face the common
threat that competitors will misrepresent their products, prices, or some other attributes.
This TV commercial
demonstrates the acceleration
While no one expects a competitor to be totally objective, there are certain guidelines for
speed of the Volvo 850 Turbo
protecting advertisers from unfair comparisons. The Lanham Act seeks damages from an
Sportswagon compared to the
BMW 328i. What legal issues advertiser who “misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin in
do you think the company and comparative advertising.”
its agency had to consider with Comparative advertising is permitted in the United States, but the ads must compare
this type of ad? similar products. Also, companies can’t claim that their prices are lower than the competi¬
tion unless they can prove that the same products are sold at other places for higher prices.
Under the Lanham Act, companies or plaintiffs are required to prove five elements to win a
false advertising lawsuit about an ad containing a comparative claim. They must prove that:
1. False statements have been made about either product.

2. The ads actually deceived or had the tendency to deceive a substantial segment of the
audience.
3. The deception was “material” or meaningful. In other words, the plaintiff must show
that the false ad claim is likely to influence purchasing decisions.
4. Falsely advertised goods are sold in interstate commerce.
5. The suing company has been or likely will be injured as a result of the false state¬
ments, by either loss of sales or loss of goodwill.
In addition to the Lanham Act, consumers also may rely on state laws governing
unfair competition and false ad claims if the consumer is the victim of a false comparative
claim. In California, for example, the Business and Professional Code prohibits “unlawful,
unfair, or fraudulent business practices” and “unfair, deceptive, untrue, or misleading”
advertising.
3.4 American Association of Advertising Agencies’ Ten Guidelines for

^^Comparative Advertising
1. The intent and connotation of the ad should be to inform and never to dis¬
credit or unfairly attack competitors, competing products or services.
2. When a competitive product is named, it should be one that exists in the
marketplace as significant competition.
3. The competition should be fairly and properly identified but never in a man¬
ner or tone of voice that degrades the competitive product or service.
4. The advertising should compare related or similar properties or ingredients of
the product, dimension to dimension, feature to feature.
5. The identification should be for honest comparison purposes and not simply
to upgrade by association.
6. If a competitive test is conducted, it should be done by an objective testing
service.
7. In all cases the test should be supportive of all claims made in the advertis¬
ing that are based on the test.
8. The advertising should never use partial results or stress insignificant differ¬
ences to cause the consumer to draw an improper conclusion.
9. The property being compared should be significant in terms of value or use¬
fulness of the product to the consumer.
10. Comparisons delivered through the use of testimonials should not imply that
the testimonial is more than one individual’s, unless that individual represents
a sample of the majority viewpoint.
Source: James B. Astrachan, "When to Name a Competitor," Adweek (May 23, 1988): 37. Copyright
American Association of Advertising Agencies. Reprinted by permission.
The American Association of Advertising Agencies has 10 guidelines that advertisers

should follow to ensure truthful comparative advertising. These are shown in Table 3.4.
Endorsements A popular advertising strategy is the use of a spokesperson who

endorses a brand; that’s a perfectly legal strategy, unless the endorser doesn’t actually use
the product. An endorsement or testimonial is any advertising message that consumers
believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, or experiences of an individual, group, or institution.
However, if consumers can reasonably ascertain that a message does not reflect the
announcer’s opinion, the message isn’t an endorsement and may even be misleading.
Because many consumers rely on endorsements to make buying decisions, the FTC
investigates endorsement advertising. Endorsers must be qualified by experience or train¬
ing to make judgments and they must actually use the product. If endorsers are comparing
competing brands, they must have tried those brands as well. Those who endorse a product
improperly may be liable if the FTC determines there is a deception.
Demonstrations Product demonstrations in television advertising must not mislead

consumers. This mandate is especially difficult for advertisements of food products
because such factors as hot studio lights and the length of time needed to shoot the com¬
mercial can make the product look unappetizing. Think about the problems of shooting ice
cream under hot lights. Because milk looks gray on television, advertisers often substitute
a mixture of glue and water. The question is whether the demonstration falsely upgrades
the consumers’ perception of the advertised brand. The FTC evaluates this kind of decep¬
tion on a case-by-case basis.
One technique some advertisers use to sidestep restrictions on demonstrations is to
insert disclaimers or “supers”—verbal or written words in the ad that indicate exceptions
to the advertising claim made. One example is a 30-second spot for Chrysler’s Jeep
Cherokee that begins with bold shots of the vehicle and music swelling in the background.
Suddenly, the message is less clear; for several seconds five different, often lengthy dis¬
claimers flash on the screen in tiny, eye-straining type, including “See dealers for details
and guaranteed claim form” and “Deductibles and restrictions apply.”
Consider This
1. What is the biggest ethical problem that advertising claims may face?
2. Evaluate the potential of comparative advertising, endorsements, and
demonstrations to cause ethical problems. In each case, what would you
look for as a "red flag"?
Advertising Controversial Products

Advertising reflects the marketing and business ethics of its clients and, because of its vis¬
ibility, sometimes gets the blame for selling controversial, unsafe, or dangerous products.
Principle For example, products that were once considered not suitable to advertise—such as
The ethical responsibility for firearms, gambling, hemorrhoid preparations, feminine-hygiene products, pantyhose and
selling a controversial or unsafe bras, laxatives, condoms, and remedies for male erectile dysfunctions—have become
product lies with the marketing acceptable, although advertising for them may still be offensive to some people.
department; however, advertising
is often in the spotlight because it Unhealthy or Dangerous Products Before an agency can create an ad for a
is the visible face of marketing. client, it must consider the nature of the client company and its mission, marketing objec¬
tives, reputation, available resources, competition, and, most importantly, product line.
Can the agency and its staff honestly promote the products being advertised? Several agen¬
cies have resigned from profitable tobacco-advertising accounts, for example, because of
the medical evidence about the harm cigarettes cause. But obviously not every agency has
made the same decision. In cases where the agency works on a controversial account, there
are still ethical ways to approach the business. One way to make ethical decisions is to
choose the route that does no one harm.
Because there has been so much negative publicity about the health effects of eating a
steady diet of heavily processed food, food companies—particularly fast-food producers
such as McDonald’s and KFC—have reacted to charges of culpability in the nation’s obe¬
sity problem. Kraft, for example, pulled a TV commercial for its Oreo cookies because it
portrayed a too-sedentary lifestyle that is not in line with the company’s new set of adver¬
tising guidelines. The company also has allocated millions of dollars to fund public-educa¬
tion projects about nutrition and obesity and launched a variety of what the company
claims are healthier versions of existing products.36
The point is that marketers are now being forced to consider the social, as well as
nutritional, impact of their products. It used to be that consumers were considered respon¬
sible for the products they chose to buy, but in a new era of social responsibility, principled
marketers are now more responsible for the negative effects of the products they choose to
sell. Responsibility has become a new business principle in some industries that never
thought they were the focus of ethical questions.
Tobacco One of the most heated advertising issues in recent years has been proposed
new restrictions on the advertising of tobacco. Cigarette advertising on television and radio
has been banned since 1971. Proponents of the ban on cigarette advertising argue that
since cigarettes have been shown to cause cancer as well as other illnesses, encouraging
tobacco use promotes sickness, injury, or death for the smoker and those inhaling second¬
hand smoke. The restriction of advertising on those products would result in fewer sales
and fewer health problems for America as a whole.
In recognition of the growing public concerns about cigarette marketing, tobacco
companies have voluntarily curbed their advertising and pulled ads from magazines with
high levels of youth readership and from most outdoor billboards. Most major tobacco
companies also run antismoking ads aimed at teenagers. Critics charge that these efforts
aren’t enough.
Opponents of advertising bans counter with the argument that prohibiting truthful,
nondeceptive advertising for a legal product is unconstitutional. They feel that censorship
is more of a problem than advertising a legal, although unhealthful, product. Opponents of
the ban also cite statistics demonstrating that similar bans in other countries have proved
unsuccessful in reducing tobacco sales.
In 1996 the FDA established a set of restrictions applicable to tobacco advertisers.

Among these were a ban on outdoor ads within 1,000 feet of a school or playground and
a rule that limited ads to black-and-white, text only, in magazines with 55 percent reader-
ship under the age of 18. The restrictions also stipulated that $150 million be provided to
fund antismoking ads targeting children. Following the 1996 action, 46 states have
received initial payments from the $206 billion Master Settlement Agreement to be sup¬
plied by tobacco companies over a 25-year period. Approximately half the money goes to
fund TV and print ads warning children about the dangers of smoking; the other half pays
for promotions such as loyalty cards, all-expenses-paid teen summits, and various
events.37
Banning tobacco advertising is not unique to the United States. In fact such restric¬
tions are even greater in Europe and Asia. More than 20 countries in Europe have
adopted prohibitions or outlawed tobacco advertising.38 A near-total advertising ban in
the United Kingdom took effect in early 2003 and in 2005 a similar European Union ban
will take effect.
Alcohol Television advertising for liquor hasn’t been banned; however, there has been
a voluntary restriction on such advertising by the companies themselves and most net¬
works have also refused to accept alcohol advertising. However, in 2002 Smirnoff broke
the taboo and began running “responsible drinking” ads on Saturday Night Live and
Comedy Central.
The biggest issue for the spirits industry, however, is charges of advertising to under¬
age drinkers. In 2003 the FTC became so concerned that it asked a number of the major
companies to detail their marketing practices and target audiences, as well as explain how
they had implemented the promises made in the FTC’s 1999 report to Congress.39 About
the same time a lawsuit fded in the District of Columbia charged that alcohol marketers are
actively engaged in trying to establish brand loyalty among underage consumers.40
Liquor executives contend that they will follow voluntary advertising guidelines to
avoid images and time slots that appeal to kids. That promise has been hard to keep
because every major brand is trying to win over young consumers.
The beer industry has been the target of strong criticism for several years. Anheuser-
Busch pulled its beer advertising from MTV to avoid drawing fire for marketing to underage
drinkers, and moved its spots to VH-1, a similar network that targets 25- to 49-year-olds.
This decision was partly the result of a study by Advertising Age that tracked MTV commer¬
cial viewership and found that 50 percent of the viewers were underage.41 Although it is
unlikely that beer advertising will be banned, some companies sensitive to public opinion
have initiated proactive programs that educate and discourage underage drinkers.
Prescription Drugs In 1997 the FDA loosened its controls on pharmaceutical

companies, and as a result, the amount of prescription drug advertising has skyrocketed.
While these print and TV ads have proven very successful in terms of increased sales,
various consumer groups, government agencies, and insurance companies have been
quite critical of them. In one study, for example, the National Institute of Health Care
Management found that direct-to-consumer prescription advertising has led to an
increase in requests for costlier drugs, when the less expensive generic drug would be
just as effective.42
Also, some doctors claim that they are being pressured to write inappropriate pre¬
scriptions because their patients are influenced by the drug ad claims; other doctors appre¬
ciate that the advertising has caused consumers to become more active in managing their
own health and more informed about their drug options.
Consider This
o
1. In your opinion, what is the most critical ethical issue faced by advertising
professionals?
2. What is advertising's role in the advertising of controversial, unsafe, and
dangerous products? Explain how you arrived at your answer.
o
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■ ■ ■
To solve a local image crisis, Shell used a campaign based on the slogan
"Shell—with you all the way." The campaign demonstrated how Shell was
involved and "traveled" with you from youth to adulthood, from your work to
your home, from the present to the future and to the end of your destination—
shaping society that you wanted to build, with you. This ad was contributed by
Ingvi Logason, principal in HER&NU, Reykjavik, Iceland, who got his degree in
advertising from Western Florida University.
DETERMINING WHAT IS ETHICAL

How do we evaluate advertising’s ethical performance? There are laws and regulations
governing the practice of advertising, but there are also codes of conduct, as well as per¬
sonal and professional decision-making guidelines. One set of guidelines spells out these
three types of criteria that need to be considered when making an advertising decision.43
1. The social ethic. The Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you.)
2. The professional ethic. What would be viewed as proper by an objective panel of my
professional colleagues?
3. The personal ethic. Would I feel comfortable explaining this action to the general
public on TV? ( A variation is: Would I be comfortable explaining this decision to my
mother?)
The Social Ethic

Our concept of right and wrong is based on moral rules, personal and professional stan¬
dards, and cultural values. In Western cultures the values most often association with ethics
are morality, honesty, virtue, fairness, respect, and integrity. The Golden Rule—do unto
others as you would have them do unto you—is a cardinal principle of ethics. On another
level responsibility based on the Golden Rule could be rephrased as “do no harm.”
Looking at ethics from the opposite side of the coin, unethical practice usually involves
illegal or questionable practices, such as lying, misleading, deceiving, or harming other
people through insensitivity, confusion, irritation, or a conflict of values.
Applying ethical values and principles to marketing and advertising is necessary if
these fields are to be socially responsible. Social responsibility—a corporate philosophy
based on ethical values—motivates a business to perform a useful function within society
and to make its impact on society positive rather than negative—and that includes its
advertising, as well as other business practices. Oil companies often find themselves
charged with practices that contribute to ecological problems. After a series of bad public¬
ity articles in Iceland about Shell Oil, the company realized it needed to emphasize the
company’s positive environmental programs. Overall the campaign was a success story;
the company reported a 20 percent increase in “very positive to the company” responses
and a 40 percent positive increase in answers to the question “I experience the company
positively/negatively.”
Social responsibility includes treating employees and other stakeholders with sensi¬
tivity, as well as avoiding practices that hurt the environment, the community, or society.44
Social responsibility also motivates businesses to support good causes. Johnson &
Johnson, for instance, supports the Susan G. Komen Foundation and its breast cancer
research and awareness-building campaigns. (We will further discuss social responsibility
in the section on social marketing in chapter 17.)
Professional Ethics
Professionals in advertising by and large see themselves as ethical people. However, the
public tends to see them differently, as the polls show. In an Honesty and Ethics Poll by the
Gallup organization, advertising practitioners ranked forty-third out of 45 occupational
categories.45 That suggests the public is not persuaded that advertising professionals are
guided by ethical standards. Industry standards can provide help with a decision about
what is or is not ethically correct.
Professional ethics are often expressed in a code of standards that identifies how
professionals in the industry should respond when faced with ethical questions. The
American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) begins its “Standards of Practice”
with the line: “We hold that a responsibility of advertising agencies is to be a constructive
force in business.” The core of the statement is called The Creative Code and it is repro¬
duced here in Figure 3.3.
In the wake of highly public business scandals such as the collapse of Enron, many
firms are responding with their own codes of ethics. If this subject interests you, you can
We, the members of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, in addition to

supporting and obeying the laws and legal regulations pertaining to advertising,
undertake to extend and broaden the application of high ethical standards.
The 4As Creative Code
Specifically, we will not knowingly create advertising that contains:
• False or misleading statements or exaggerations, visual or verbal
• Testimonials that do not reflect the real opinion of the individual(s) involved
• Price claims that are misleading
• Claims insufficiently supported or that distort the true meaning or practicable appli¬
cation of statements made by professional or scientific authority
• Statements, suggestions, or pictures offensive to public decency or minority seg¬
ments of the population.
We recognize that there are areas that are subject to honestly different interpretations
and judgment. Nevertheless, we agree not to recommend to an advertiser, and to dis¬
courage the use of, advertising that is in poor or questionable taste or that is deliber¬
ately irritating through aural or visual content or presentation.
Comparative advertising shall be governed by the same standards of truthfulness,
claim substantiation, tastefulness, etc. as apply to other types of advertising.
look up these codes in a collection compiled by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the
Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology: http://ethics.iit.edu/codes/.
International Standards and Codes Standards of professional behavior are

not found only in the United States or other Western countries. Singapore, for example,
has an ad code specifically designed to prevent Western-influenced advertising from
impairing Asian family values. Malaysia’s requirement that all ads be produced in the
country not only keeps that country’s advertising aligned with its own standards and cul¬
tural values, it also cuts back dramatically on the number of foreign ads seen by its pub¬
lic. Advertisers who violate the ethical code of conduct in Brazil can be fined up to
$500,000 or given up to a five-year prison sentence. This punishment would certainly
prompt an advertiser to be careful.
In the Netherlands, industry members have encouraged the formation of an “ethical
office” to oversee all agencies, advertisers, and media. That office is responsible for
reviewing advertisements to ensure that they comply with the Dutch Advertising Code and
general ethical principles. In Swedish advertising agencies, an executive known as the
“responsible editor” is trained and experienced in marketing law; that editor reviews all the
advertisements and promotional materials to ensure that they are legally and ethically
acceptable.
Personal Ethics
In advertising, a code of ethics is just a starting point. Ethical decisions are usually com¬
plex and involve navigating a moral maze of conflicting forces—strategy versus ethics,
costs versus ethics, effectiveness versus ethics, etc. They demand the ability to do what
ethicists call “moral reasoning.”46 In the end, if you are an advertising professional making
a decision about a strategy or an executional tactic to be used in an advertisement, you
must be aware of industry standards, as well as the ethical questions that underlie the core
issues we have discussed in this chapter.
Principle But more importantly, personal judgment and moral reasoning rests on an intuitive
Decisions about ethics are made sense of right and wrong, a moral compass that tells you when an idea is misleading, insen¬
based on laws and regulations, sitive, too over-the-top, or too manipulative. And then you need the courage to speak up
on professional codes, but more and tell your colleagues. An understanding of advertising’s ethical issues will help you
importantly, on an internal moral develop that sense. If you feel you fit this challenge, consider the recommendations in the
compass that senses when Inside Story box on how to find a job in advertising.
something is right or wrong. The Practical Tips box suggests some ethical questions professionals in advertising
can ask themselves as they confront an ethical dilemma. Note that the list is organized into
three categories: The first covers the big picture of social impact, followed by the two areas
of most concern in the actual practice of advertising—decisions about advertising strate¬
gies and their execution tactics.
q Practical Tips
An Ethics Checklist for Advertisers
In terms of its social impact, does advertising . . .
• violate pubic standards of good taste?

• reinforce negative stereotypes?
• damage people's self-image and create insecurities?
• promote materialism?
• create false wants and false hope?
• contribute to cultural pollution?
• market dangerous products?
In terms of its strategic decisions, does an advertisement . . .
• target vulnerable groups?

• harm children?
ibr im
SIDE STORY
Breaking Into Madison Avenue
By Ryan Ali, Account Senior Executive Ziccardi Partners Frierson Mee, New York
The word graduation often brings fear and anxiety to good chance that your professor still has some connec¬
many seniors who speak the phrase, or for that matter, tions with some former students who will agree to meet
begin to think about life after college. But for many of you, with you.
who journey to the top ad agencies in New York, that will 4. Find a recruiter. Human Resource departments are
start much earlier than the day that you hear your name inundated with resumes. If you're a catch, a top indus¬
called. You have to break through the clutter of thousands try recruiter can help your resume reach the desk of an
of students, all of them headed to New York, because they HR Manager.
think they are the best of the best. 5. Consider freelancing. It's all about timing. Whether or
Here is some advice to help make the transition from not an agency wins an account can determine their
classroom to boardroom a smooth one: need to hire. Wet your feet early on. Many agencies
and marketing departments would consider hiring free¬
1. Even before you say goodbye to college, start doing
lancers for short-term work. This is an excellent way to
your research as early as six months prior to gradua¬
make connections, and if a position opens up, HR
tion. What type of agency do you want? You can target
might call you first.
smaller boutique agencies or aim for a larger, more
6. Follow up. Even if you run into someone, ask for a
corporate environment. Keep in mind that you will be
card. The thank-you note is a very important aspect of
working twelve-hour days your first year at any agency,
the interview/meeting process. From my experience,
and the culture is very important.
it's the personalized written notes that have received
2. Did I mention research? Trade publications are a great
the most attention.
way for you to immerse yourself into the world of adver¬
tising. Pick up AdAge and Adweek, and register at sites This is probably one of the most cut-throat, aggres¬
that post creative materials such as www.agency- sive, and demanding industries to work in. Luckily, you
compile.com. Mentioning a recent article or a new cre¬ have already started to prepare for the journey by making
ative review could bring new insight into your interview. contacts, and this will ultimately land a job at a top adver¬
3. Establish contacts. Whether it's alumni, people at a bar, tising agency.
or even people on the subway, you never know who
could point you in the right direction. Once you have a
contact, which doesn't have to be in HR, ask to meet Ryan Ali graduated in 2000 from Florida State University with degrees in
over coffee or something casual. This is an excellent Communications and Graphic Design. His first job was also in New York
with TBWA/Chiat Day.
way for you to gain some insider perspective, not to
mention help you get your resume to HR. There is a Nominated by Professor Kartik Pashupati, Florida State University
• appeal to base motivations such as envy and greed?

• drive demand for unnecessary purchases?
• prey on people's fears unnecessarily?
• undercut people's self-image and self-concept?
• make unsubstantiated claims?
In terms of its tactics, does an advertisement . . .
• use ideas, words, or images that are offensive or insensitive?
• use inappropriate stereotypes?
• manipulate people's emotions unnecessarily?
• make false, deceptive, or misleading claims?
• use unfair comparisons?
• create endorsements or demonstrations that exaggerate or lie?
• use scare or shock tactics?
• use puffery?
Consider This
1. The 4As Creative Code lists unethical behaviors. What positive, ethical
behaviors does the code implicitly recommend?
2. Create a personal code of ethics for a group to which you belong. Identify
the key values, as well as actions you think would be a violation of the
code. Do you believe such a code can have any impact on the organi¬
zation and its members? Why or why not?
IT'S A WRAP
LESSONS FROM THE LOSERS
M ost of the top winners on the Adweek list of losers were there because they were offen¬
sive—the Calvin Klein kiddie porn ads, the Kenneth Cole "God Dress America" bill¬
board, the Benetton death-row supplement, and the Mike Tyson commercial for Fox Sports
Net. Stereotyping was also a problem in the "Just for Feet" commercial, the Nike spot, and
the Toyota postcard. The Sony Pictures Entertainment movie posters that featured great
reviews by a nonexistent movie reviewer was a lie—false, as well as deceptive.
Some of the ads on the Adweek list, however, were there because they simply were
dumb. For example, muffler giant Midas used an ad with an elderly woman standing with her
back to the camera in front of two Midas employees. As they explained the company's life¬
time guarantee, the senior pulled down her top and asked the surprised guys, "What can you
do with these?"
Finally, a commercial for Nuveen Investments that starred Christopher Reeve, the late
actor who became a paraplegic due to a spinal cord injury, showed the Superman star rising
out of his wheelchair and walking. The point of the ad was that "in the future, so many things
will happen in the world." It was described by Adweek as creepy, emotionally exploitive, as
well as confusing and a source of false hope for other paralyzed people.
What all the Adweek losers have in common is a lapse in judgment by the people who
created the ads. Somewhere there was a breakdown in that internal moral compass that tells
advertising professionals when they have gone over the line.
The increasing power of advertising, both in terms of money (we spend more annually
educating consumers than we spend educating our children) and in terms of communication
dominance (the mass media can no longer survive without advertising support), has made
these concerns more prominent than ever. The evidence demonstrating the manipulative
power of advertising may be shaky because so many other factors contribute to the choices
we make. Still, some advertisers are not objective and often slant or omit information to their
benefit, as well as use their advertisements to deceive the public. That's why the industry has
a complex set of regulations, self-regulations, and oversight bodies that keep watch for these
unethical practices.
■ ■■Summary
1. Discuss the shape-and-mirror debate. The shape-versus- In fact, advertising and society’s values are probably inter¬
mirror debate is a central issue in considering advertising’s active, so the answer may simply be that advertising both
role in society. Critics of advertising tend to believe that mirrors and shapes values.
advertising has the power to shape social trends and the way
2. Analyze the legal topics that guide advertising practice.
people think and act; advertising professionals tend to
The are two pivotal areas of case law—trademarks and
believe that advertising mirrors values rather than sets them.
copyright protection, and the First Amendment—that per¬ National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better
tain to advertising. The Patent Office protects unique trade¬ Business Bureau, and the National Advertising Review
marks from infringement by competitors; the Library of Board (NARB). Other bodies include the various media
Congress protects copyrights, the distinctive symbols that review boards, competitors who are concerned about unfair
identify brands. The First Amendment generally protects advertising that might harm their brands, and public and
commercial speech, which is speech that promotes commer¬ community groups that represent either local or special-
cial activity, but the protection is qualified and subject to interest groups.
some limitations.
5. Critique the key ethical issues that challenge the prac¬
3. List the key regulatory agencies and their responsibilities. tice of advertising. A number of advertising practices gen¬
• The FTC is the agency primarily concerned with identi¬ erate ethical questions in such areas as offensive advertis¬
fying and eliminating deceptive advertising. ing, stereotypes, body image, advertising to children, false
• The FDA oversees advertising related to food and drugs. and misleading advertising, and questionable practices sur¬
• The FCC monitors advertising broadcast by radio and rounding such message strategies as puffery, comparative
television stations. advertising, endorsements, demonstrations, and the adver¬
• Other regulatory bodies with some advertising oversight tising of controversial or dangerous products.
include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms,
6. Outline the ways professionals determine if an advertis¬
the U.S. Postal Service, the Patent office, the Library of ing practice is ethical. Ultimately ethical decision making
Congress, and the states’ Attorneys General offices. comes down to a personal sense of what’s right and what’s
4. Explain the way the advertising industry regulates itself. wrong. To help with these decisions professionals consider
Advertising agencies have in-house ad review procedures social responsibility, professional codes and standards, and
and legal staff that monitor the creation of advertising. The personal moral reasoning.
industry has a number of bodies that review advertising,
such as the Advertising Review Council (ARC), the
cease-and-desist order, 68 copyright, 63 endorsement, 83 social responsibility, 87
code of standards, 87 corrective advertising, 69 ethics, 75 stereotype, 76
commercial speech, 64 cultural imperialism, 62 indirect advertising, 71 subliminal message, 81
comparative advertising, 81 deceptive advertising, 66 marketing imperialism, 62 testimonial, 83
consent decree, 68 demand creation, 61 puffery, 81 trademark, 63
1. Explain the debate over whether advertising shapes or mir¬ 4. Explain the three ways in which self-regulation operates in
rors society. If you were to take a side in this debate, which the advertising industry.
side would you be on? 5. Define ethics and explain how it relates to advertising.
2. Explain how trademarks and copyrights are legally pro¬ 6. How do you determine what is ethical? If you are called
tected, and why the First Amendment is important to upon to make a decision about the promotion of an event
advertisers. for one of your groups, where does the ultimate considera¬
3. In addition to the FTC, what other governmental bodies are tion lie?
involved in regulating advertising practices?
1. Zack Wilson is the advertising manager for the campus newspaper has a solid reputation for not running advertis¬
newspaper. He is looking over a layout for a promotion for ing with questionable claims and promises. Should Zack
a spring break vacation package. The headline says, accept or reject this ad? Why?
“Absolutely the Finest Deal Available This Spring—You’ll 2. The Dimento Game Company has a new basketball video
Have the Best Time Ever If You Join Us in Boca.” The game. To promote it, “Slammer” Aston, an NBA star, is
signed to do the commercial. In it, Aston is shown with the 4. A pharmaceutical company has repackaged a previously
game controls as he speaks these lines: “This is the most developed drug that addresses the symptoms of a scientifi¬
challenging court game you’ve ever tried. It’s all here— cally questionable disorder affecting approximately 5 per¬
zones, man-to-man, pick and roll, even the alley-oop. For cent of women. While few women are affected by the
me, this is the best game off the court.” Is Aston’s presenta¬ “disorder,” the company’s advertising strategy is com¬
tion an endorsement? Should the FTC consider a complaint prehensive, including dozens of television, radio, and maga¬
if Dimento uses this strategy? What would you need to zine ads. As a result, millions of women with symptoms
know to determine if you are safe from a challenge of mis¬ similar to those of the disorder have sought prescriptions for
leading advertising? the company’s drug. In turn, the company has made billions
3. Find an ad that you think is deceptive or offensive. What of dollars. What, if any, are the ethical implications of
bothered you about the ad? Should the medium have carried advertising a remedy to a mass audience when the affected
it? Who would act more effectively in judging a case like group is small? Is the company misrepresenting its drug by
this: the government or the advertising industry? Explain. conducting a “media blitz”? Why or why not?
■ ■ ■ Suggested Class Project

1. Select three print ads that you feel contain one or more of the ethical issues discussed in
this chapter. Ask five people (making sure they vary by gender, age, or background) how
they feel about the ads. Conduct a short interview with each of your subjects; it would be
helpful to have a list of questions prepared. Write a report on their opinions and response to
your questionnaire. Don’t be afraid to include your own conclusions about the ads. What
differences or similarities do you see across the responses?
2. Check the Web sites of three big-name companies such as:
• Me Donald’s (www.mcdonalds.com)
• Avon (www.avon.com)
• Ben & Jerry’s (www.benjerry.com)
Write a two- to four-page report on their efforts to be socially responsible. How is the com¬
pany’s social responsibility position reflected in its advertising?
A recent ad for a Nike hiking shoe used copy that was

probably intended to be humorous. The copy sug¬
Boycotts are certainly one way for consumers to let
advertisers know when they've gone too far. While some
gested that Nike's shoe could help the user avoid turning advertisers, notably Benetton, delight in creating contro¬
into "... a drooling, misshapen non-extreme-trail-running versy, the vast majority try to avoid the unwanted attention
husk of my former self, forced to roam the earth in a motor¬ and possible loss of sales that a boycott might bring.
ized wheelchair with my name embossed on one of those Armed with this knowledge, consumers and interest
cute little license plates you get at carnivals. ..." Marcie groups regularly threaten boycotts and there are several
Roth, an advocacy director for the National Council on Web sites that track the dozens of product boycotts that
Independent Living, didn't find it funny. "Nike is trying to are occurring at any given time. Recently the Web site
be sensationalist, and they're doing it on the backs of the "Ethical Consumer" listed boycotts of Adidas (for allegedly
disabled," thundered Roth, adding, "We won't tolerate it." using kangaroo skin in the manufacture of some boots),
Nike apologized and immediately pulled the ad. But Roth Air France (for allegedly transporting primates), Bayer (for
announced that her group was interested in more than just allegedly supporting policies favoring the use of geneti¬
an apology, because the disabled, in Roth's words, had cally modified crops), and even entire nations (Israel,
been "dissed." Nike was asked to include disabled actors China, Morocco, and Turkey).
in its ads and hire a greater number of disabled workers. Although Ethical Consumer's rationales for support¬
Otherwise, suggested Roth, Nike could expect a boycott. ing boycotts appear motivated by left-leaning or progres-
sive concerns, conservative groups use them too. The Pepsi's decision did not mark the end of the controversy.
American Family Association, based in Tupelo, After the announcement, Ludacris and the Hip-Hop Summit
Mississippi, has sent tens of thousands of e-mails threaten¬ Action Network, an organization run by his producer,
ing boycotts to advertisers Geico, Best Buy, Foot Locker, Russell Simmons, threatened their own boycott. Following
and Finish Line. The AFA is not upset with the ads placed several days of negotiations, the second boycott was
by these companies, but rather with the program in which called off. Ludacris would not be a spokesperson for Pepsi,
the ads appear: South Park. The AFA claims its e-mail but the soft-drink giant agreed to a deal to make a multi-
campaigns caused Lowe's, Tyson, ConAgra, and million-dollar donation over several years to the rapper's
Kellogg's to stop placing ads in ABC's surprise hit foundation.
Desperate Housewives.
Some companies resist boycott pressures. Proctor & Consider This
Gamble ignored AFA pressure to stop its support for gay- O-
friendly legislation in Cincinnati. Subway Vice President 1. What do you think about consumer boycotts? Are
Chris Carroll said his company ignored threatened boy¬ they unhealthy attempts to infringe on the speech
cotts caused by the company's decision to run ads in a rights of others? Or are they a healthy sign that
documentary that was unflattering to Democratic presiden¬ consumers can take action against the ethical
tial nominee John Kerry. lapses of advertisers?
And then there's Pepsi. In 2003 the brand signed hip- 2. How should a company respond to the threat of
hop artist Ludacris to appear in a "fun-oriented" cam¬ a boycott? Consider the different responses of
paign, but outspoken cable show host Bill O'Reilly imme¬ Nike, Subway, Lowe's, Proctor & Gamble, and
diately ripped Pepsi and urged ". . . all responsible Pepsi. How well do you think each of these com¬
Americans to fight back and punish Pepsi for using a man panies reacted to boycott pressure? Did any of
who degrades women, who encourages substance abuse, the companies hurt their brand because of the
and does all the things that hurt... the poor in our society. way they reacted to boycotts?
I'm calling for all Americans to say, 'Hey, Pepsi, I'm not 3. How would you review advertising ideas that
drinking your stuff. You want to hang around with you suspect are controversial and might generate
Ludacris, you do that, I'm not hanging around with you.'" a backlash? Is it ever justified to "push the enve¬
A Pepsi representative appearing on O'Reilly's show lope" in the areas of good taste and social
denied that the artist's provocative lyrics (one album fea¬ responsibility? How would you decide if such
tured a song called "Move Bitch") were relevant to the approaches are effective?
Pepsi campaign. But the following day Pepsi canceled the
campaign. For viewers of a certain age, the entire affair
Source: Associated Press, "Hip-hop Group Calls Off Pepsi Boycott," February 1 3, 2003;
was reminiscent of the controversy that erupted several
Candice Choi, "Nike Ad Spurs Disabled to Boycott," Diversitylnc.com, October 24,
years earlier when Pepsi canceled ads featuring Madonna 2000; Jack Neff, "Christian Group Spooks Advertisers," Advertising Age (October 25,
after she appeared in a controversial music video. But 2004); Ethical Consumer, http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/boycotts/boycotts_list.htm.
S. Truett Cathy founded Chick-fil-A with the vision that his chicken-sandwich company
would be a leader in the quick-service restaurant industry. Successes continue year after
year with quality products, employees, and customer service. But Truett would say that he
has attained success in other areas as well.
Truett’s strongest passion is the Chick-fil-A Corporate Purpose, which is “To glorify
God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on
all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” This statement is part of the company’s defini¬
tion of its social responsibility. While those are pretty big words on which to pattern one’s
life, Truett Cathy sets a faithful example of how it can be done—not just for himself, but
for the rest of the company as well. For instance, Chick-fil-A always has been and always
will be closed on Sundays. Some argue that the company misses sales by closing the stores
one day each week. Truett believes that he gains more by allowing his employees a day of
worship or time with family.
Another example of the Corporate Purpose put into action is team member scholar¬
ships. Any team member (employee) at a Chick-fil-A store who meets the set criteria is eli¬
gible for a $1,000 scholarship that applies toward the expense of his or her education.
Since 1973, Chick-fil-A has awarded more than $18 million in $1,000 scholarships to eli¬
gible students. And through the WinShape Centre® Foundation, started in 1984 as a small,
long-term foster care program, Truett helps children and adults alike, working to “shape
them into winners.” The program has grown to encompass summer camps for boys and
girls, a scholarship program, and a marriage retreat center.
The Chick-fil-A definition of social responsibility is a little different from other
firms’. At some companies, people may speak about a purpose and vision, but at Chick-
fil-A, they strive to live the words through their actions.
Source: Information courtesy of Mike Buemo, The Richards Group.
Consider This
o
1. Given the social focus on Chick-fil-A advertising, how would you classify
their advertising?
2. Can such an approach confuse the consumer and make ads less effective?
94
Peeling an Onion
Developing an advertising plan depends upon how well you understand how consumers think and
act. This general area is called consumer behavior, a topic we will consider in the first two of these
four chapters in this section on planning.
The first chapter considers how consumers respond to advertising messages; the second chapter
focuses on defining and targeting the consumer audience considering the various factors that
influence their behavior. The third chapter presents the important role of research in providing
information about customers, as well as their responses to advertisements. The last chapter in the
section pulls everything together in a discussion of how the information about how consumers think,
act, ana respond to advertising messages drives the development of an advertising plan.
It should be clear that all four of these chapters reflect this book's customer focus perspective. They
overlap in so many ways. Consumer insight, for example, is critical to planning, and yet it is derived
from an understanding of consumer behavior that is only acquired through research. We'll discuss
consumer insight in the planning chapter, however, as you will see, it is a central concept for all these
chapters.
The central topic, in other words, is the consumer and these chapters, like peeling an onion, will
uncover various aspects and details of consumer behavior. The customer focus, however, always
remains at the core of the discussion.
B FOOTJOY
(17 out of 22 year to date)
fOO'V]OV.
comp^lf 0
is an °Pe o *«# *“■*'■
omw-
How Advertising
Works
CHAPTER KEY POINTS
After reading this chapter; you will be able to:

1. Demonstrate why communication is a key factor in advertising
effectiveness.
2. Explain the Facets Model of Advertising Effects to show how

brand advertising works.
3. List the six key effects that govern consumer response to

advertising messages.
SignBoy Is a Hole in
One for FootJoy
Award:
I f you're like most Americans, your closet probably contains more
recreation shoes than dress shoes. We have become a society of
shoe specialization, especially as far as our recreation is con¬
cerned: shoes for walking, others for running, and still others for
EFFIE® Cold
other sports.
FootJoy (FJ) has been making top-of-the-line golf shoes since
Company:
FootJoy® golf shoes 1 857, and has been the number-one shoe on the PGA Tour since they
started keeping tabs on shoe counts in 1945. FootJoy has also been
Agency: the market leader since that time, leading the market with shares of
Arnold Worldwide greater than 50 percent on average. In the late 1 990s, however, the
company saw a decline in market share. This 2 percent drop was pri¬
Campaign:
marily because new competitors were entering the market and were
FootJoy "SignBoy"
introducing golf shoes with contemporary designs and technology.
Nike was one of these strong new competitors, with its huge
marketing budget and the endorsement of Tiger Woods. Nike's
brand of golf shoes was positioned as cool and stylish, while the
FootJoy brand was perceived as a golf shoe your father or mother
97
98 PART 2 • PLANNING AND STRATEGY
might wear. Nike was a fearful rival with deep pockets in sporting goods, but
Footjoy was still the giant in golf.
The challenge was clear. Footjoy had to retain its position as the shoe of
choice for the world's best golfers, while creating a new image of being young,
cool, and with-it. If it could match the Nike image and continue to offer a supe¬
rior product, it could increase sales and build on its market share.
In partnership with the advertising agency Arnold Worldwide, Footjoy cre¬
ated the SignBoy character in 1 998 to present the Footjoy message in an enter¬
taining and fun manner. In a golf tournament the sign boy is the standard bearer
who carries the sign with the scores behind the group of pros playing together
on a fairway.
Footjoy's SignBoy character is not only that, but represents an overly enthu¬
siastic fan who aspires to be a sign boy on Tour someday. FJe's enamored with
golf, knows all the professional golfers and details of each tournament, and
knows everything about Footjoy's golf shoes, as well as other golf products,
such as Footjoy's outerwear and StaSof gloves.
A superfan who is funny, loveable, silly, and a little naive, the FJ SignBoy
character drives a beat-up old Impala, lives at home in a room decorated with
golf posters, photos of professional players, and memorabilia (for example, a
little plastic bag with a divot from the eighteenth fairway in Augusta and a
giant cardboard check given to one of the Footjoy pros, which he tried to cash
at an ATM).
SignBoy knows all the Footjoy products and the pros who wear them.
SignBoy has made up nicknames for them or uses their nicknames, such as
"DL3" for Davis Love III or "Lumpy" for Tim Herron. In return, the SignBoy char¬
acter is loved by Footjoy pros and other golf enthusiasts.
He has become the spokesperson across all Footjoy's media and creative
messages. His dialogue with the pros, both real and imagined, provides the
opportunity to talk about the product features and benefits in an entertaining,
even funny, manner. He can deliver technical discussions about the shoe and do
it in a way that is interesting and memorable. Of course, he says Footjoy over
and over in the commercials so the repetition creates high memorability. The
SignBoy campaign has been a huge success for Footjoy and helped the brand
continue in its leadership position with 58 percent of the market, an increase of
12 percent since SignBoy's inception. We explain more about the effectiveness
of this campaign in the It's a Wrap section at the end of this chapter.
Great advertising is advertising that has an impact. It is effective because it creates the
desired effect on the audience and generates the intended response. Advertisers, however,
can’t evaluate the effectiveness of their advertising unless they have some idea what effects
these messages are designed to achieve.
In this chapter we’ll look at the effects behind the concept of effectiveness. First
we’ll look at advertising as communication, focusing on some key communication con¬
cepts that are used to analyze the effectiveness of advertising. Then we’ll look at various
types of consumer responses to advertising and other marketing communication mes¬
sages in order to identify the key message effects, which we present as a model of adver¬
tising effects.
CHAPTER 4 • HOW ADVERTISING WORKS 99
A Basic Communication Model
An Interactive Communication Model
(b)
CRB A Basic Communication Model and an Interactive Communication Model

Mass communication (a) is a one-way process: The message moves from the source to the receiver. Interaction communication (b) is a
conversation or dialogue and the source and receiver change positions as the message bounces back and forth between them.
HOW ADVERTISING WORKS AS COMMUNICATION

Advertising is, first of all, a form of communication. In a sense, it is a message to a con¬
sumer about a product. It gets attention, provides information and sometimes a little bit of
entertainment, and tries to create some kind of response, such as a sale. The legendary
David Ogilvy, founder of the advertising agency that bears his name, explained his view of
advertising as conversation:
I always pretend that I’m sitting beside a woman at a dinner party, and she asks me
for advice about which product she should buy. So then I write down what I would
say to her. I give her the facts, facts, facts. I try to make it interesting, fascinating, if
possible, and personal—I don’t write to the crowd. I try to write from one human
being to another.. . . And I try not to bore the poor woman to death, and I try to make
it as real and personal as possible.1
In reality, however, advertising is not a conversation. Most advertising is not as per¬

sonal or as interactive as a conversation because it relies on mass communication, which is
indirect and complex. Although other forms of marketing communication—such as per¬
sonal selling and telemarketing—can deliver the personal contact of a conversation,
Ogilvy’s comparison ignores the challenge that advertising faces in getting the attention of
a largely disinterested audience.
The Communication Model

Mass communication is usually thought of as a process, sometimes referred to as the SMCR
model of communication. In Figure 4.1a it is depicted in a communication model that out¬
lines the important players and steps. It begins with a source (S), a sender who encodes a
message (M)—puts it in words and pictures. The model explains how communication works:
The message is presented through channels of communication (C), such as a newspaper,
100 PART 2 PLANNING AND STRATEGY
i|pyri Advertising Communication Model

The model of advertising communication translates the standard parts of a communication model into the advertising context. It still begins
with the advertiser (source) and ends with the consumer or target audience (receiver).
radio, or TV. The message is decoded, or interpreted, by the receiver (R), who is the reader,
viewer, or listener. Feedback is obtained by monitoring the response of the receiver to the
message. And the entire process is complicated by what we refer to as noise, things that inter¬
rupt the sending as well as the receiving of the message, such as a bad connection.
Mass communication is generally a one-way process with the message depicted as
moving from the source to the receiver. However, interactive communication—the per¬
sonal conversation Ogilvy wanted to emulate—is a form of two-way communication, a
dialogue. The difference between one-way and two-way communication is that the latter
communication process is interactive and the source and receiver change positions as the
message bounces back and forth between them. Figure 4.1b is a model of how a conversa¬
tion or dialogue works.
Advertising as Communication
To translate the communication model to advertising, consider that the source typically is
the advertiser assisted by its agency, such as the FootJoy company and Arnold
Worldwide. Together they determine the objectives for the message—the advertisement
or commercial—in terms of the effects they want the message to have on the consumer
receiver, also known as the target audience. The Advertising Communication Model is
shown in Figure 4.2.
Principle The advertiser’s objectives are focused on the receiver’s response; they predict the
Effective advertising is evaluated impact the message will have on the target audience. That impact is what we measure to
in terms of the impact it has on determine whether the message met its objectives and was effective. It makes good sense
the consumer response to the
to use this yardstick in customer-focused marketing, where all communication is evaluated
message.
in terms of consumer response. Communicating well with customers is the reason the
SignBoy campaign has continued to win awards.
In advertising, as in communication in general, noise hinders the consumer’s recep¬
tion of the message. External noise on a macro level includes consumer trends—health
trends harm the reception of fast-food messages—and problems with the product’s mar¬
keting mix (product design, price, distribution, marketing communication). Martha
Stewart’s trial, for example, created negative noise for her company, Martha Stewart
Living Omnimedia, but it also had

a negative effect on business part¬
ner Kmart, which carries Martha
Stewart-branded products.
On a micro level, external
noise could be as simple as bad
radio or TV reception, but a more
important factor is clutter, which
is the multitude of messages all
competing to get your attention.
More specifically, it is all the ads
that you see on television and in
print media, as well as in unex¬
pected places, such as in imprints
on the sand on the beach (see page
283). The massive number of ads
makes it harder and harder for any
one ad to get the attention of its
audience.
People use many techniques
to avoid clutter and information
overload. They filter messages
they don’t want to see, such as
turning the page, switching the chan¬
This ad calls attention to a tiny
nel, hitting the mute button, tossing unopened mail that looks like an ad, and deleting spam black New Beetle in the line of
without looking at it. Other avoidance techniques such as e-mail fdters, “no-call” laws, and cars. The simple copy line "Hey,
direct TV that skips commercials are creating new dilemmas for marketers. Many marketers there's a black one," causes the
are experiencing lower response rates to their campaigns as a result of filters and other reader to study the visual to find
avoidance techniques. Viral marketing, which relies on consumers to pass messages about the new Beetle. This is one of
products among themselves—typically through e-mail—and consumers’ direct involve¬ several executions in this
ment in product making are possible solutions to the dilemma.2 campaign that used this same
Internal noise includes personal factors that affect the reception of an advertisement, visual technique to intrigue
consumers and spark their
such as the target audience’s needs, purchase history, information-processing abilities, and
interest.
level of avoidance of advertising in general. If you are too tired to listen or your attention
is focused elsewhere, then your fatigue creates noise that hinders your reception of the
message.
The message, of course, is the advertisement or other marketing communication tool,
such as a press release, store sign, brochure, or Web page. The message may be spelled out
in the words, but in most advertising the visual elements also carry meaning. In fact, some
advertising messages, such as the VW ads for the new Beetle, are primarily visual.
The medium is the vehicle that delivers the message and, in advertising, that tends to
be newspapers and magazines in print, radio and TV in broadcasting, the Internet, and
other forms of out-of-home vehicles, such as outdoor boards and posters. An example of
interesting use of media are the massed iPod posters that Chiat/Day placed on the long
walls next to escalators in London tube stations. Other media include the phone, the fax,
specialty items (mugs, T-shirts), in-store signs, brochures, catalogs, shopping bags, inflat-
ables, and even sidewalks and toilet doors.
We’ve talked about the basic parts of a communication model—the source, the mes¬
sage, noise, and the media—in terms of how they relate to advertising. The last category
we’ll talk about is the receiver, or in advertising terms the consumer, and how the consumer
decodes, or responds to, the message, which is what the rest of this chapter will discuss.
In customer-focused marketing and advertising, understanding what motivates the
audience is critical to creating effective advertising. The SignBoy character was designed
to appeal to golfers of all levels of skill. He also appeared in association with various golf
pros and they became part of FootJoy’s message reaching golfers who were interested in
improving their game.
Adding Interaction to Advertising

Note that this discussion about advertising as communication—and the traditional com¬
munication model—is still based on the idea of a one-way model of mass communication
with the source (advertiser) sending a message to a targeted audience. In more interactive
marketing communication (IMC), these roles switch back and forth with the consumer ini¬
tiating the message as well as responding to the advertiser’s message. Two-way communi¬
cation is one of the objectives of an IMC-focused program because it leads to a long-term
relationship with a brand. If advertisers want to overcome the impersonal nature of mass
communication, they need to learn to listen to, as well as send messages to, customers.
In the traditional communication model, customers’ response was called feedback,
and it was gathered primarily through research studies, but in newer approaches to com¬
munication feedback occurs in an environment of give-and-take communication. That’s
achieved by using more interactive forms of marketing communication (personal selling,
telemarketing, online marketing) and through response devices such as toll-free numbers
and e-mail addresses that encourage dialogue. Figure 4.1 included an Interactive Com¬
munication Model that shows the back-and-forth nature of a conversation, and this applies
to customer dialogue as well.
Consider This
1. What are the key elements in a communication model, and how do they
relate to advertising?
2. How does the communication model change when interactivity is added to it?
THE EFFECTS BEHIND ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS

Advertisers have been trying for years to answer the question: How does advertising work?
They want to know how it works in order to make it work better. When we ask, “How does
it work?,” we are talking about the impact an advertisement has on the receiver of the mes¬
sage. Message effects, then, are found in the various types of consumer responses pro¬
duced by the advertising message.
People generally respond to a message in predictable ways, so advertisers try to
design advertisements—and think carefully through the strategy behind the ad—in order
to create a message that will deliver a desired response. This intended response is the ad’s
objective. So what are these effects that determine whether an advertisement works or not?
The Simple Answers

The most common and long-standing explanation of advertising effects is one referred to
as AIDA, which stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. The idea is that first an ad
gets attention, then it creates interest, then desire, and finally stimulates action. It’s a sim¬
ple model that identifies four effects and makes a prediction about how they are related in
a hierarchy of steps. Because AIDA assumes that consumers start with attention and wind
up with a decision, it is referred to as a hierarchy-of-effects model.
There are a number of these hierarchical models that advertisers use to plan their
advertising.3 The problem with these models is that advertisers now know that people don’t
always proceed through steps in this predictable fashion. Sometimes you may just buy
something because you’re hungry or the product catches your eye at the check-out counter;
in other situations, however, you may do research and consider and compare different alter¬
natives before making a decision. This considered purchase is a fairly rational approach and
it works for some products, such as major purchases. This rational, information-driven
process is what the AIDA model describes. However, with the impulse purchase you almost
work the AIDA model backward: You buy the product and then you think about whether
you like it or not. And sometimes you may be driven by an emotional need that defies logic
and rational thinking. So AIDA isn’t adequate as a model of the various types of effects
advertising can create.
Path Goal Example Advertising’s Objective

think—feel—do learning, interest computer game, CD, DVD provide information, emotion
think—do—feel learning, understanding college, a computer, a vacation provide information, arguments
feel—think—do needs a new suit, a motorcycle create desire
feel—do—think wants cosmetics, fashion establish a psychological appeal
do—feel—think impulse a candy bar, a soft drink create brand familiarity
do—think—feel habit cereal, shampoo remind of satisfaction
Another relatively simple answer to how advertising works, one that tries to get
around the hierarchical problem, is the model commonly referred to as think-feel-do. The
idea here is that advertising motivates people to think about the message, feel something
about the product, and do something, such as try it or buy it. This model has been used to
identify various patterns of responses (see Table 4.1) depending, again, on the type of
product and the buying situation.
When you look at Table 4.1 with all its paths, you realize that maybe the answer to
how advertising works is really not all that simple. Your intuition is right, because none of
these approaches include several other types of responses that advertisers know are impor¬
tant to effective advertising. One of those is association, which explains how brand com¬
munication works, and the other is persuasion. We’ll be exploring each in detail later in
this chapter.
We present the AIDA and think-feel-do models here because you’ll hear references to
both of them in advertising agencies, as well as in advertising classes, and so you should
understand what they represent. The problem with both of these, however, is that, because
of their simplicity, neither approach really answers the how-advertising-works question
very well. The solution, then, is to build on the effects identified in these approaches and
add in the missing categories of consumer responses to advertising.
The Facets Model of Effective Advertising

Our objective is to develop a model of advertising effects that does a better job of explain¬
ing how advertising creates various types of consumer responses. The effects identified in
the AIDA and think-feel-do models are important, but we also need to include other criti¬
cal objectives that professionals use in their work—such as persuasion and association.
Our answer to the question of how advertising works, then, is to say that effective
advertising creates six types of consumer responses. These six effects, and the categories
of effects to which they belong, are represented in Figure 4.3. In terms of consumer
responses, they are:
1. perceive (perception)
2. understand (cognition)
3. feel (affective/emotion)
4. connect (association)
5. believe (persuasion)
6. act (behavior)
These are facets, polished surfaces like those of a diamond, that come together to
make up the unique consumer response to an advertising message. The factors, or aspects,
within each effect category in Figure 4.3 give definition to the way that facet is con¬
structed. The effects are holistic, leading to an impression or what Preston calls an “inte¬
grated perception.”4 An effective message, then, has a diamond-like quality that represents
how the message effects work together to create the desired consumer response.
One of the things you might note about the model is that impact can be created in a
number of different ways. For example, a brand message may get attention, explain new
Perception
Exposure,
Selection, Attention
Interest, Revelance
The Facets Model of Awareness
Advertising Effects Recognition
Cognition
(Needs) 'Affective/Emotion
Information (Wants)
Cognitive Learning Liking
Differentiation Emotions
Recall Resonance
Association Persuasion
Symbolism Attitudes
Conditional Learning Argument
Brand Image and Involvement
Personality Motivation
Behavior Influence
Try, Buy, Conviction
Repeat Buy, Loyalty
Others: Visit,
Call, Click,
Refer,
Adovocate
information, and convince consumers to try the brand—in other words, it created impact in
the perception, cognitive, persuasive, and behavioral areas of effects. Another message
might create awareness, stir up an emotion, and link a product to a lifestyle—which means
it created perception, affective, and association effects. Both can be equally effective; they
just touched the consumer in entirely different ways.
Let’s now explore the six categories of effects in more detail. We’ll start with percep¬
tion, which is where the consumer response begins.
Consider This
1. What are the six effects that describe how advertising works?
2. How does the Facet Model differ from the AIDA and think-feel-do models?
PERCEPTION
Principle
For an advertisement to be Every day we are bombarded with stimuli—faces, conversations, buildings, advertisements,
effective, it first has to get noticed. news announcements—yet we actually notice only a small fraction. Why? The answer is per¬
ception. Perception is the process by which we receive information through our five senses
and assign meaning to it. If an advertisement is to be effective, it, first of all, has to get noticed.
The Components of Perception

Advertising creates visibility for a product or brand through exposure. Consumers respond by
selecting messages to which they pay attention, a process called selective perception. (Some
ads for some product categories—condoms, personal hygiene products—have a battle getting
attention because people don’t choose to watch them.) If the message is selected and attended
to, then the consumer may react to it with interest if it is relevant. The result is awareness of
the ad or brand, which is filed in memory at least to the point that the consumer recognizes the
brand or ad. The key components of perception and their roles in effectiveness are:
Exposure. Making contact

Selection and Attention. Creating stopping power
Interest and Relevance. Creating pulling power
Awareness. Making an impression

Recognition. Making a mental note
Would you slop to give someone directions'

Exposure Exposure, which means being seen
if you were w alking that way,
or heard, is an important goal of media planners would you guide them?
What if it was out of your way?
who try to find the best way to expose the target
One mile.
audience to the message. Exposure also is important f wo miles.
to IMC planners who consider all contacts a con¬ Two thousand miles.
directly inland from the Skeleton C oast.
sumer has with a company or brand as a contact
to a one-room schoolhouse in the foothills of Namibia.
point where messages are delivered. That goes Wliat if you were the teacher in that schoolhouse?
Would you travel that far to touch someone?
beyond traditional advertising media to include such
Ib learn something yourself?
things as customer service, delivery trucks and their
drivers, the company’s lobby and building design, as Peace C orps.
Life is calling. How far will you go?
well as all interactions with employees and other
stakeholders. Whereas the impact from exposure to
traditional marketing communication messages can
be generally predicted, the messages delivered at
other contact points may be much harder to control
or predict. The effectiveness of media plans is evalu¬
ated based on the exposure levels they actually
achieve after the advertising has run.
Selection and Attention The ability to draw

attention, to bring visibility, to a product is one of
advertising’s greatest strengths. In advertising nov¬
elty or surprise are often used to get attention. A bank
in New York used comedian Verne Troyer, who plays
Mini-me in the ‘Austin Power” movies, to promote a
home-equity credit line called “Flexline.” Because
banks rarely use humor in advertising, the advertis¬
ing not only got a high level of attention, it achieved
a huge behavioral response, with participation 85
percent ahead of the bank’s previous campaign.5 One
way to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising, then,
is to measure the attention level produced by the
advertising. (Of course, even more useful to marketers are the business-building results, such Messages that are relevant
as the participation measure, but we’ll discuss that later in the section on behavioral impact.) speak to a consumer's special
interests.
Interest and Relevance Another factor in perception is interest, which means the
receiver of the message has become mentally engaged in some way with the ad and the
product. Ad messages are designed not only to get but also to hold the audience’s interest.
A critical factor in interest is relevance, which means the message connects on some
personal level. When it appeals to your self-interest, then a message is said to be relevant. For
example, the Peace Corps launched a national recruiting campaign with a theme: “Fife is
calling. How far will you go?” This public-service campaign was introduced in English and
Spanish through commercials, print ads, a 15-minute recruitment video, brochures, and a
Web site (www.peacecorps.gov). It was designed to address more relevant personal issues for
potential volunteers and tell them what they could get back from the volunteer experience.
Awareness When you are aware of something, you know that you have seen it or
heard it before. In other words, awareness results when an advertisement initially makes
an impression. After the ad has run, do consumers know about the brand? You may not be
able to remember much about the product or what the ad said, but you are aware of having
seen the ad or heard of the product. Most evaluations of advertising effectiveness will
include a measure of awareness as an indicator of perception; but that still doesn’t tell us
very much about the actual impact of the advertisement, so evaluations of effectiveness
usually include other measures beyond simple awareness. Awareness is important, but it is
considered to be a relatively low level of response, or a weak response, in comparison to

behavioral responses, such as trying or buying a product.
Memory: Recognition Another factor in perception is memory, which refers to the

way people file information away in their minds. Advertisers are interested in two memory
factors: recognition, which means people remember seeing the ad, and recall, which
means they remember what the ad said. Recognition is a measure of perception; recall is a
measure of understanding and we will talk about that in the next section. When we mea¬
sure recognition it can be aided recognition (or recall); for example, a researcher might
page through a magazine (or use some other medium) and ask respondents whether they
remember seeing a particular ad. Unaided recognition (or recall) means respondents are
asked to tell what they remember without being prompted by seeing the magazine (or other
medium) to refresh their memories.
The Subliminal Issue

Subliminal advertising is a perceptual issue. Generally, we assume that advertising mes¬
sages are seen and heard consciously. However, we are largely unaware of some of the
ways advertising influences us, such as the use of color in an ad, sound effects in a com¬
mercial, or symbols that cue associations. That raises the issue of subliminal advertising.
So let’s distinguish between those influences that we don’t think about, and subliminal
advertising, which claims to motivate people to do things with messages that you can’t see.
Subliminal effects are message cues given below the threshold of perception; in other
words, you can’t easily perceive them—they are too brief to see or they are disguised in
some way. The idea is that they are designed to get past your perceptual filters by talking to
your subconscious. People who believe in subliminal advertising presume such messages
to be intense enough to influence behavior. Defenders of advertising respond that sublimi¬
nal perception is not only a joke, it’s a contradiction in terms.
The debate began in the 1950s in a movie theater experiment with subliminal effects. The
message “Drink Coke” was flashed on the screen in a theater, but it was embedded between
frames on the film and passed by so quickly that you couldn’t actually see the message unless
the film was paused. The original study, which found some suggestion of influence, has been
criticized because no one has been able to replicate that effect in subsequent studies.
Most advertising professionals and professors, however, believe that there is no real
support for subliminal advertising, as the Matter of Principle box discusses. The idea is that
if you can see it, it isn’t subliminal; if you can’t see it, then the chances of it having an effect
are slight. Still there are advertising critics who love to claim that advertising can manipulate
people subconsciously and cause them to buy things they don’t want and don’t need.
COGNITION
Perception is the first effect of an advertising message and occurs before any of the other
effects can happen. After that, however, an advertisement may generate any of the other
responses: understanding, feeling, association, believing, or acting. For our discussion in
this chapter, we’ll talk next about the cognitive impact and then the emotional or affective
impact; those are the two key effects identified in the think-feel-do model. Note that the
order doesn’t mean anything; we could just as easily talk about the emotional effects first
and then the cognitive effects. The point is: Some messages make us think about the brand;
others create a feeling about the brand; and some do both simultaneously. But we do have
to talk about one or the other first, so let’s begin with cognitive impact.
The Components of Cognition

Cognition refers to how consumers respond to information, learn, and understand some¬
thing. It’s a rational response to a message. A consumer may need something or need to
know something, and the information gathered in response to that need leads to under-
Does Subliminal Advertising Work?
Author Wilson Key maintains in his book Subliminal

Seduction that subliminal "embeds" are placed in ads to
manipulate purchase behavior, most often through
appeals to sexuality. For example, he asserts that 99 per¬
cent of ads for alcohol use subliminal embeds that are
buried so skillfully that the average person does not con¬
sciously notice them unless they are pointed out.6 Since
there has been little documentation of such practices in the
industry, and no one has been able to replicate Key's stud¬
ies, most advertising scholars look upon these charges
with suspicion.
Professionals just laugh at the notion and say that if
such practices existed, then there would be a number of
people involved with the production of the message and
undoubtedly someone would come forth with stories
about it. The stories haven't appeared, because no one in
the industry knows of any instances of subliminal mes¬
sages being used in advertising, other than as a joke. A
campaign by one of the liquor companies, for example,
showed ice cubes with shapes in them and deliberately
called attention to these "subliminal" messages. Of
course, they weren't subliminal because you could see
the images. The whole campaign was a spoof on Key's
theories.
PEOPU HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND THE
Physiological limitations make it difficult to believe
BREASTS IN THESE ICE CUBES SINCE 1957.
The advertising industry is hidden in the patterns of light doesn't exist. Overactive imagma-
sometimes charged with sneaking refracted by tire ice cubes. tions, however, moat certainly do.
that subliminal messages can affect behaviors, such as seductive little pictures into ads. Well. if ym really searched So if anyone claims to see
Supposedly these pictures you probably amtd see the breasts, breasts in that drink up there, they
causing people to buy, because if they are below the per¬ can get you to buy a product with- h>r that matter, you could also see aren’t in the ice cubes,
out your even seeing them. Millard Fillmore, a stuffed pork They’re in the eye of the beholder.
ceptual threshold, any impact they have will be very low- Consider the photograph
above. Aceordnre to some people.
chop and a 19*16 Dodge.
The point is that socalted
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there's a pair of remate breasts “subliminal advertising’’ simply A*WTT^vvo«DFO«FRffl)OMC»o*<>iCL
level. Professionals wonder why, when it is so hard to get AinetKXt n( AgtK*?*
people's attention and move them to action with messages

that can be seen, anyone would want to gamble on a mes¬
sage that works below the threshold of perception. Time is The advertising industry considers accusations of subliminal
also a factor; the impact of any subliminal message is advertising to be both damaging and untrue.
unlikely to last until some later date when a consumer is
shopping for a product.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Democrats
Today column on subliminal advertising described it as a
accused the Republican National Committee of running
fable from the 1950s,8 and a Web site that publishes legal
a subliminal message. In a TV commercial that attacked
cases noted that allegations of subliminal advertising that
Al Gore's plan to add prescription drugs to Medicare,
result in legal cases are "few and far between."9
the word RATS appeared on the screen for a split sec¬
ond. The Republicans denied the accusation and
explained that the word was just part of the word
BUREAUCRATS. Even though the FCC concluded the ad
was not subliminal, the Republican National Committee
pulled the commercial.
Experts in the ad industry contend that it's silly to think
Consider This
such techniques would work. "I'm not saying it might not o-
have been true," says Stephen A. Greyser, Professor of 1. Why do supporters of Wilson Bryan Key find reason to
Marketing at Harvard Business School. "But there is no become alarmed about the way advertising images are
methodically believable research that supports the notion presented?
that it works. Besides, advertising wants to impact on peo¬ 2. Explain the views of critics of Key. Why do they dis¬
ple's consciousness, not their unconsciousness."7 A USA agree with his concerns?
standing. The information is filed in memory but can be recalled when needed. The key
components of cognition and their roles in effectiveness are.
Needs. Matching product features to consumer needs
Information. Facts about products and their features
Learning. Creating understanding

Differentiation. Understanding the differences between competitive products
Recall. Locking information in memory
Needs Advertisers talk a lot about consumer needs and wants. By and large, needs are
something you think about and wants are based on feelings and desires. So when we refer
to needs, we are usually talking about the cognitive impact of an advertising message. A
cognitive ad will explain how a product works and what it can do for the user, which is the
way advertisers address consumer needs. For example, a virus protection program is some¬
thing computer users need but they still may want an explanation of how the program
works and what kind of protection it provides. The objective is to provide information
related to a product that meets consumer needs in order to develop their understanding,
which is a cognitive response.
Information Advertising often provides information about products, usually facts

about product performance and features, such as size, price, construction, design, and so
forth. The informative nature of advertising is particularly important for products that are
complex (appliances, cars, insurance, computers, software) or that involve a high price or
high risk (motorboats, vacations, medical procedures).
Cognitive Learning Consumers learn about products and brands through two pri¬
mary routes: cognitive learning and conditioned learning. Cognitive learning occurs when
a presentation of facts, information, and explanations leads to understanding. Conditioned
learning, however, takes place when the learner links one thing with another. This is a
process of association, and association, which we’ll talk about later, is established through
repetition, as in the famous Pavlovian experiment where the dog learned to associate food
with the sound of a bell.
The cognitive learning route is used by consumers who are trying to learn everything
they can about a product before they buy it. That’s typically true of large purchases, such
as cars, computers, and major appliances. Advertisements that use demonstrations and
comparisons are attempting to help consumers learn by showing how something works and
explaining its competitive advantages.
Differentiation A key function of advertising is differentiation of one brand from

another, which is what happens when consumers understand the explanation of a competi¬
tive advantage. In order for that to happen, a consumer has to understand the features of a
brand and be able to compare them with the features of competing products. In a major
study of effective television commercials, the researchers concluded that one of the most
important effectiveness factors was a brand-differentiating message.10
Memory: Recall We mentioned that recognition is a measure of perception and recall

is a measure of learning or understanding. What that means is that the memory trace goes
deeper with a cognitive response to an advertisement. When you remember the ad mes¬
sage, not only do you remember seeing the ad, you remember the copy points, which is the
information provided about the product. In order to recall information presented in the ad,
the consumer must have thought about it either as the information was being presented or
afterward. Thinking about it is a form of information processing that helps to anchor the
ideas in memory.
When you see an ad for a new product that catches your attention, such as a new
music group or CD, and you concentrate on the message, then you have made more of an
effort to understand. You may even think about the ad later when you find yourself walking
by a music store. So your memory is involved in recalling not just the ad, but the content of
the message. That’s why we say the impact on memory is deeper with recall than with
recognition.
This also explains advertising’s delayed effects—how messages are seen at one time Principle
(at home in front of a TV, in the car on the radio, in the doctor’s office in a magazine ad) Advertising has delayed effects in
and come back to mind at a later date when the consumer is in a purchase situation (in a that a consumer may see or hear
store, at a restaurant). Most advertisements are carefully designed so that these memory an advertisement but not act on
traces are easy to recall. That’s what sound bites do in political messages, but ads use jin¬ that message until later when in a
gles, slogans, catchy headlines, intriguing visuals, and key visuals in television in order to store.
make this recall process as easy as possible.
THE AFFECTIVE OR EMOTIONAL RESPONSE

Affective responses mirror our feelings about something. Affective describes something
that stimulates wants, touches the emotions, and creates feelings. Liking the brand or the
ad is an important affective response that advertisers monitor. The American Airlines ad
shown here demonstrates the difference between a cognitive and an emotional advertising
message.
To creatively communicate its

The Components of the Affective Response new seating in coach, American
The components of the affective response and their roles in effectiveness are: Airlines used a picture of a
brain with the left brain
Wants. Creating desire representing cognitive thinking
Emotions. Affecting feelings and the right brain illustrating
an affective response.
Liking. Creating positive feelings for
the ad and the brand
Resonance. Appeal to self-interest
Wants Whereas needs are seen as

being more cognitive, wants are depicted
as influenced more by emotion or desire.
“I want something” implies more of
desire, which is based in the emotions,
than a rational analysis of a need. Desire I've
heard
is based on wishes, longings, and crav¬
American
ings. Impulse buying is a good example. is creating
When you are standing in line at a store more room
throughout
and see a display of candy bars, you may the Coach cabin
want one but that doesn’t mean you think by removing seats
(over 7000) from Cool.
about whether or not you need it. Need
their entire fleet I can now cross
isn’t really relevant in this situation. (over 700 aircraft). my legs in Coach.
And that in October,
Emotions Advertisers have long virtually every plane in
their domestic fleet
thought that rational approaches were the
will be reconfigured.
most effective in persuasion, and persua¬ Thereby enabling
sion tests often focus on arguments and American to offer
more room for more
how they affect the target audience’s Hi : Coach passengers
beliefs. However, more recent research by than any other
airline.
advertising scholars has determined that
emotion may have more impact than ratio¬
nal approaches on both attitudes and -> ' i
behavior. A similar finding came from a
University of Florida study based on ana¬
lyzing 23,000 consumer responses that
found the emotional response is more pow¬
More Room Throughout Coach. Oni.y On AmericanAirlines
erful than cognition in predicting action.11 Coach Has Mori; Cj-ass*
Emotion, which agitates our passions www.aa.com
or feelings, appears in a number of forms

in advertising, such as humor, love, or fear.
Ads that rely on arousing these feelings
are referred to as emotional appeals. Negative ads in political campaigns are an example of
an affective strategy that seems to work by putting an opponent on the defensive. Most peo¬
ple dislike them, however, because they sometimes seem unfair or, in the case of political
advertising, mean-spirited.
Liking A major study of advertising testing methods by the Advertising Research

Foundation (ARF) found that liking a brand (or ad) was the best predictor of consumer’s
Principle behavior.12 Liking is measured in terms of two responses: liking the ad or liking the brand.
A positive response to an ad is The assumption is that if you like the ad, then that positive feeling will transfer to the
important because advertisers brand. It is possible, however, for consumers to like the ad and not even be able to remem¬
hope that liking the ad will ber the brand, so the positive feeling generated by the ad may not always transfer to the
increase liking of the brand. brand. IMC planners argue that brand liking is determined by all the contacts a consumer
has with a brand, so the accumulation of positive experiences eventually builds a positive
feeling about a brand.
Affective responses, such as “I like it” or “I hate it,” also inspire people to share their
experiences with their friends and that’s how “buzz” happens. The iPod launch benefited
from a high level of buzz as people who are computer savvy and into music shared their
excitement about iPod, and later iTunes, with their friends.
Resonance Advertisements that create resonance where the message “rings true,”
help the consumer identify with the brand on a personal level. Resonance is stronger than
liking because it involves an element of self-identification. The women’s campaign for
Nike does a good job of speaking to women in a way that addresses their concerns. If a
woman identifies with this message, then it is said to resonate for her. Messages that res¬
onate provide the foundation for an enduring brand relationship.
ASSOCIATION
Association is communication through symbolism. It is the process of making symbolic
connections between a brand and characteristics, qualities, or lifestyles that represent the
brand’s image and personality. For example, you see association at work in advertising in
the linking of Mountain Dew with teenage fun. The idea is to associate the brand with things
that resonate positively with the customer. It’s a three-legged stool: The brand relates to a
quality that customers value; then the brand takes on symbolic meaning through such asso¬
ciations. Professor Ivan Preston in his association model of advertising believes that you can
explain a lot about how advertising works by just focusing on association.13
The Components of Association

Association uses symbolism as well as conditioned learning to make the connections in a
consumer’s mind between a brand and certain desired qualities that define the brand and
make it distinctive. When the connection is successfully established, a brand takes on
meaning and is transformed from a generic product to a brand with a unique image. The
components of association and their roles in effectiveness are:
Symbolism. Something that stands for something else, such as a quality or value
Conditioned Learning. Creating links and bonds through repetition
Brand Transformation. Creating brand meaning
Symbolism The association takes on a symbolic meaning, which means the brand
stands for a certain quality—a Rolex watch, for example, means or symbolizes quality,
luxury, and status. In successful branding, a bond or relationship is created between a cus¬
tomer and a brand based on these symbolic meanings. The SignBoy was designed to be a
funny, but lovable, brand character who would connect the FootJoy brand with golf pros.
Conditioned Learning We mentioned earlier that conditioned learning, which is the

way association implants an idea in a consumer’s mind, is important because it explains
much of the impact of advertising. People learn about a product or brand in a largely
noncognitive, even nonrational way. Although

advertisements sometimes use a cognitive strategy,
they frequently are designed to elicit a network of
noncognitive associations. Beer advertising
directed at a young male audience, for example,
often uses images of sporting events, beach parties,
and good-looking young women, and those images
are repeated so much that the associations become
a predictable formula.
Brand Transformation
Several times in the preceding chapters we have
mentioned advertising’s important role in creating
and maintaining a brand image through symbolism
and associations. This is a basic principle of
branding. Creating brand impression was the goal
of the SignBoy campaign for FootJoy golf shoes.
The SignBoy campaign uses the antics of the char¬
acter, as well as his interactions with golf pros, to
add an element of excitement and enthusiasm to
what might otherwise be seen as a relatively mun¬
dane product—golf shoes and other accessories,
such as gloves.
Transformation, as explained by DDB
Needham’s Bill Wells,14 means a brand takes on
meaning when it is transformed from a mere prod¬
uct into something special, something that is differ¬
entiated from other products in the category by
virtue of its brand identity and image. Nike is more
than just an athletic shoe; it rises above the average
product in the category and stands out as something
unique and special. That transformation in a con¬
-—
sumer’s mind is a perceptual shift, one that is cre¬
ated almost exclusively by advertising. The
“California Avocados” campaign (see the Matter of Practice box) is an example of an FootJoy uses the SignBoy as a
attempt to transform a product into a brand. superfan to call attention to the
golf pros, who are FootJoy
Components of Brand Communication There are many terms used by brand endorsers.
managers to explain how they think a brand works, but there isn’t a common set of terms
to describe the effects of communication on the branding process. To better understand
how this branding process works, the communication dimensions of branding can be out¬
lined using the same six effects that we presented in the Facets Model. Principle
Advertising is used to create
Perceive. Brand identity brand meaning through
Understand. Brand position symbolism and association.
These meanings transform a
Feel. Brand personality
generic product into a specific
Connect. Brand image brand with a distinctive image
Believe. Brand promise and personality.
Act. Brand loyalty
All six of these facets of a brand are driven by communication. Consider the following:
Brand Identity A brand identity must be distinctive. In other words it only represents
one particular product within a category, and it must be recognizable and, therefore, mem¬
orable. Recognizing the brand means that the consumer knows the brand’s identification
markers—name, logo, colors, typeface, design, slogan—and can connect those marks with
a memory of a message about the brand or a past experience using it.
M Vi tfi CTIC
It's Green, It's Squishy, It's Guacamole!
■ What fruit is black outside and

green inside—and why would
you want to eat it? The
ADO FACIAL
California Avocado Commis¬
sion is not only trying to con¬
OUT OF NAPKINS?
vince people to buy and eat
avocados (that's called a
"generic sell" because it's V'S 'Viifl ‘i
i
focused on the category); it AVOCADOS AVOCADO.ORG

also is trying to convince us
that the California version is
"unlike anything else." Making California Avocados a dis¬
tinctive brand is important because competitors from Chile,
Mexico, and New Zealand are making inroads into the
U.S. avocado market.
So what's involved in selling the category, as well as
the brand? It's not as easy as it sounds because the com¬
munication challenge calls for creating multiple types of
impact for two different types of audiences: nonusers and
light users, as well as frequent users of avocados.
The overall campaign objective was to increase con¬
sumption of California avocados. To do that, the cam¬
Alaska and the Sahara, ended with the line that California
paign sought to maintain the level of use by heavy users,
as well as move light and medium users up into the heavy- Avocados are unlike anything else because of the "beauti¬
ful sunny weather that makes them so perfect." The
user category.
The key message for all these consumer groups is a California connection resonates with consumers because
reminder, says Michelle Spelman, marketing director of they know that great agricultural products come from
the avocado commission, telling consumers that avocados California and recognize it as a badge of quality.
are "versatile, and they're good for you." Spelman also And for those prospective avocado aficionados, the
explained that, based on consumer research, humor is a ads also led them to the organization's Web site where
good way to deliver the reminder message because "con¬ information about the health benefits was available, as
sumers like it, it's catchy, and memorable." well as more recipes and tips for using the green fruit.
Colby & Partners, the Commission's agency, recom¬ The list of desired consumer responses, then, included
mended getting attention and creating liking for California exposure, attention, interest, understanding, liking, brand
Avocados by using tongue-in-cheek lines, such as "The pit associations, recognition, recall, and trying and buying
lets you know when to stop eating," "Just tell everyone the product. All these responses were elicited to signifi¬
they're grass stains," and "We also have a support group cantly increase California Avocado awareness among its
called A.A." various target audiences and create a fun personality for
The campaign was designed to create various types the green fruit, as well as loyalty to the "Genuine
of consumer responses. California Avocado."
On the information front, the California Avocado
Commission wanted people to know about the quality of Consider This
o-
the California variety, as well as its health benefits, and all
1. How many different effects did the "California
the different ways it can be used. But that informational
Avocado" campaign hope to create? Which one do
approach could be deadly dull, so how do you inform and
you think is most important?
educate without boring the audience?
2. In what way do the headlines quoted in this story
By stimulating interest, the campaign planners also
deliver the desired effects?
hoped to reach light or nonusers and get them to try avo¬
cados. For the more important group of users, however,
the campaign needed to remind consumers not only that
avocados are good, as well as good for you, but also that
they should look for the California variety. Sources: Adapted from Stuart Elliott, "The Marketing CaliforntaiAvooado'sA.
Personality," New York Times, February 17, 2004 (www.NWimes.com.);
The campaign used print, radio, and outdoor adver¬
"California Releases Nutrition Study Results," OnRamp Communications Press
tising to deliver the message. The radio spots, which Roam,, September 1 1, 2002 (wwwonrampcgrtirmcom/newsrpom}; ;
focused on unlikely locations to grow avocados, such as California Avocado. Commission Web site (www.avocado.org).
Brand Position Understanding the brand meaning requires the consumer to learn what
the brand is and what it stands for relative to its category and its competition. For example,
Red Lobster = seafood restaurant, which links the brand to the category. The brand posi¬
tion states what the brand is all about, its essence. However, in many cases, brand position,
or essence, moves beyond the category link to include the values the brand represents, such
as MTV’s connection with the edgy, off-the-wall mind-set of the youth market.
Brand Personality Brand personality—the idea that a brand takes on familiar human
characteristics, such as friendliness, trustworthiness, or snobbery—contributes an affective
dimension to the meaning of a brand. It reflects how people feel about a brand. Green
Giant, for example, built its franchise on the personality of the friendly giant who watches
over his valley and makes sure that Green Giant vegetables are fresh, tasty, and nutritious.
Brand Image Understanding brand meaning involves understanding the symbolism

and associations that create brand image, the mental impression consumers construct for
a product. Meaning is created for a brand by creating associations that connect the brand to
lifestyles, types of people who use the product, and other qualities, such as value and sta¬
tus. The richness of the brand image determines the quality of the relationship and the
emotional connections that link a customer to a brand.
Brand Promise A brand is sometimes defined as a promise because it establishes a

familiar image and an expectation level based on familiarity, consistency, and predictabil¬
ity. That's what has driven McDonald’s to its position as a worldwide leader in the fast-
food category. You know what to expect when you walk into a McDonald’s store anywhere
in the world—quality fast food at a reasonable price.
Brand Loyalty A personal experience with a brand can develop into a brand relationship,
which is a connection over time that results in brand loyalty. People have unique relation¬
ships with the brands they buy and use regularly and this is what makes them brand loyal.
Association Networks
In association tests, which are used in planning brand and positioning strategies, people are
asked what they think of when they hear a cue, such as the name of a product category.
They respond with all the things that come to their mind, and that forms their network of
associations. Brand perceptions are tested this way to map the structure and logic of these
association networks, which lead to message strategies. For example, what do you think of
when you think of Taco Bell? Wendy’s? Arby’s? Each restaurant should bring to mind
some things in common (fast food, cheap food), but they also have distinct networks of
associations based on type of food (Mexican, hamburgers, roast beef), restaurant design,
logo and colors, brand characters, healthfulness, and so forth. Each restaurant, then, has a
distinctive profde that can be determined from this network of associations.
PERSUASION
Advertising attempts to develop and change attitudes and behaviors through rational argu¬
ments or by touching emotions in such a way that they create belief and a compulsion to Principle
act. Persuasion is the conscious intent on the part of the source to influence or motivate Advertising employs both rational
the receiver of a message to believe or do something. It’s central to how advertising works arguments and compelling
emotions to create persuasive
because persuasion can be produced by both rational arguments and compelling emotions.
messages.
The Components of Persuasion

Persuasion is designed to change attitudes and behavior and build beliefs. There are many
dimensions to persuasion and advertisers identify the following components to explain
how persuasion works in advertising:
Attitudes. A state of mind, tendency, propensity, position, inclination

Argument. Reasons, proof
Involvement. Engagement; intensifies brand relationships
Motivation. Incentive or reason to respond

Influence. External people or events that shape attitudes and behavior
Conviction and Preference. Creating agreement and consideration (intend to try or buy)
Loyalty. Repeat purchase; satisfaction; advocate
Attitudes An attitude is mental readiness to react to a situation in a given way.

Attitudes are seen by many scholars as the most central factor in persuasion.1'’ Attitudes can
be positive, negative, or neutral. Both positive and negative attitudes, particularly those
that are embedded in strong emotions, can motivate people to action—or to lack of action.
A negative attitude toward smoking, for example, may keep teenagers from trying ciga¬
rettes. Marketing communication is used to establish, change, or reinforce attitudes.
Arguments An argument is based on a cognitive strategy. It uses logic, reasons, and

proofs to make a point and build conviction. This is a complex process that demands the
audience “follow through” the reasoning to understand the point and reach a conclusion.
Advertising that deals with problems and their solutions often relies on argument, as does
advocacy advertising that presents a company’s point of view.
Motivation Another factor in persuasion is motivation. The idea is that something,

such as hunger or a desire to be beautiful or rich, prompts a person to act in a certain way.
How strongly do people feel about acquiring something or about taking a certain kind of
action, such as applying to graduate school or signing up for the Peace Corps? In order to
intensify the consumer’s level of motivation, advertising and other marketing communica¬
tion areas such as sales promotion use incentives—gifts, prizes, contests—to encourage
people to respond.
Conviction and Preference Effective persuasion results in conviction, which

means consumers believe something to be true. In terms of advertising effects, belief is indi¬
cated when consumers develop a preference for, or an intention to try or buy a product.
Credibility is an important factor in believing something and that’s one of the big
advantages of public relations. Publicity stories delivered through a supposedly unbiased
news medium are believed to have higher credibility than advertising, which is sometimes
seen as self-serving. However, advertising can use a credibility strategy to intensify the
believability of its message; using data to support or prove a claim is critical. Another way
is to rely on what is called source credibility, which means that the person delivering the
message, such as a doctor, is respected and believed. The use of brand characters such as
the Maytag repairman and Colonel Sanders for KFC, who was a real person and the creator
of the famous chicken recipe (“11 herbs and spices”), are designed to give consumers a
reason to believe in a brand by cementing conviction.
An example of persuasive work designed to create conviction are the ads for the
Orlando, Florida, YMCA contributed by Lara Mann, a graduate of the University of Florida
who is now a copywriter at FHB Advertising in Orlando. The ads were designed to create
conviction and inspire members to commit to the YMCA, as well as to their own health.
Loyalty Brand loyalty, which is measured both as an attitude (preference) and by

repeat purchases, is an important response that crosses over between thinking, feeling, and
doing. It is a response that is built on customer satisfaction. If you try a product and like it,
then you will be more likely to buy it again.
Hewlett-Packard promotes its recycling program, which was recognized as “state-of-
the-art” practice, to increase the satisfaction of its customers. According to Gary Elliott,
HP’s Vice President of global branding and marketing communications, this PC-recycling
program is “a complete chain of interaction for customer satisfaction.” In other words,
customers are attracted to HP products because the company assumes responsibility for
recycling its old products. That’s a benefit for customers and leads to higher customer sat¬
isfaction and loyalty to the HP brand.16
Loyalty programs, such as frequent flyer or frequent buyer programs, are designed to
retain customers, as well as increase their business. “The whole idea of frequent-flyer pro-
o
SHOWCASE
I COMMIT TO GETTING MY
HEART RATE UP - ON PURPOSE.
w.w Ce;itralFloi idaYMCA erg
For the Orlando, Florida, YMCA's latest membership drive, the objective was
not just to get new members, but to keep them. At the time, the popular
perception was that the YMCA was like any other gym. In reality, the YMCA is
a family center focused on developing a balanced lifestyle. To resolve these
perception issues, the FHB agency developed a campaign highlighting real
members' commitments to mind, body, and spirit. With its bold, graphic look,
the campaign stood out and was well received.
grams was to artificially induce travelers to change their behavior,” says Mark J. Coleman,
a longtime airline marketing executive.17 However, airlines have found such programs to be
expensive and sometimes wonder if they are worth it.
Loyalty is of value because it can lead to other behavioral responses, such as advo¬
cacy for the brand—that is, speaking out on its behalf—and referrals. (And the opposite—
brand aversion—can be disastrous if the dissatisfied customer shares his or her dislike with
other people.) In terms of the impact of referrals, the Apple computer’s success is credited
to some extent to its passionate customers who, as evangelists for the brand, spread the
word among their friends and co-workers. This form of word of mouth can be incredibly
persuasive, more so than advertising, which is more autonomous.
Involvement's Role in Persuasion

Advertisers can distinguish between products, messages, and media on the basis of the
level of involvement they require from the buyer.18 Involvement refers to the degree to
which you are engrossed in attending to an ad or making a product decision. Creating a
sense of involvement in a marketing communication program is a persuasive tactic
because it gets people engaged with a message about a brand. In the case of a special
event, participation involves customers with the brand and allows them to have a much
more personal contact with the brand. A high level of involvement intensifies the
brand-customer relationship.
Involvement is built on relevance—on how much a product message connects with
your life and interests. Various types of media are intrinsically more or less involving.
Television, for example, is considered to be less involving than print, which demands more
concentration from its readers. An advertisement can be more or less involving depending
on both the creative strategy used in the message and the medium.19
The idea is that you think about some products and reflect on the advertising you see
for them; with other products you don’t spend much time thinking about them before you
buy them. Nor do you pay much attention to their advertising, which you may perceive and
fde away or even ignore without much thought.
High-involvement products are major purchases, such as cars, computers, and uni¬
versities to attend, as well as things you care about a lot like clothes and cosmetics. Low-
involvement products are such things as aspirin, paper napkins, brown envelopes, paper
clips, milk, and lettuce.
BEHAVIOR
The behavioral response involving action of some kind is often the most important goal of
advertising. In other words, in many campaigns advertising’s effectiveness is measured in
terms of its ability to motivate people to do something, such as try or buy a product, or
respond in some other way, such as visit a store, return an inquiry card, call a toll-free num¬
ber, or click on a Web site. The “I Want You” poster from World War I is a classic example
of an advertising message that was designed to create action.
The Components of the Behavioral Response

Behavior is the action response and it can involve a number of types of action in addition
to trying or buying the product. The components of the behavior response are:
Try. Initiating action through trial

Buy. Making it easy to buy
Contact. Responding by visiting, calling, sending back a card, clicking on a Web site,
and so forth
Prevention. Discouraging unwanted behaviors
Try and Buy The objective of most marketing programs is sales; the customer view of
that is purchase. So in customer-focused marketing programs, the goal is to motivate peo¬
ple to try a product, or buy it. But some marketing programs, such as those for nonprofits,
may not be selling goods, so the action response may be to sign up, volunteer, or donate.
Trial is important for new products and expensive products because it lets a customer
use the product without investing in its purchase. In other words, the risk is lessened.
Sales promotion is particularly good at driving trial through sampling and incentive pro¬
grams (a free gift when you go to a dealer to test-drive a new car).
Drug advertising is a controversial area precisely because it may lead to action_doc¬
tors fear their patients might be so influenced by pharmaceutical advertising that they
demand piesciiptions even if the drug isn t what the doctor might otherwise prescribe. One
A highly effective poster

designed to create action, this
ad was used during World
War I to convince young
people to join the military.
Most modern advertising is
more subtle than this but the
motivation to inspire action is
still the same.
FOR U.S.ARMY
NEAREST RECRUITING STATION
study found that a third of the patients interviewed said they responded with action: They
had a discussion with their doctors as a result of seeing a consumer ad. But another study
of doctors found that these discussions were more beneficial than problematic because
their patients were more informed by the ads and this led them to ask their doctors for more
information.20 In any case, pharmaceutical advertising has been proven to be effective in
stimulating action by patients, whether doctors like it or not.
Contact Trying and buying may be the marketer’s dream response, but there are other
actions that can also be important measures of an advertisement’s effectiveness.
Responding by making contact with the advertiser can be an important sign of effective¬
ness. For example, many ads give a toll-free number, e-mail address, or Web site URL, or
contain a response card to send back.
Initiating contact is also valuable, particularly in IMC programs that are designed to
maintain brand relationships by creating opportunities for customer-initiated dialogue,
such as when a customer contacts a company with a complaint, compliment, suggestion, or
referral. Contacting other people is another valued response, particularly when a satisfied
customer brings in more business for the brand or company by providing testimonials to
friends, family, and colleagues on behalf of the brand.
11 r i ai
SIDE STO DV
The Curiosity-arousing Function of Antidrug Ads
Carson B Wagner, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Texas
When I first entered graduate school, perhaps the first ted $195 million per year to antidrug ads. The following
(and most important) lesson I learned from my mentor was May, I presented my findings at a conference, and the
that the best kind of research reveals "differences that idea seemed to agitate some of those in the crowd. Then,
make a difference." The more counterintuitive the research one day in September, I got a call from a radio show in
finding, the more value it has in the development of Los Angeles. They wanted me to be a guest and discuss
knowledge, and small differences that make big differ¬ my study. A bit dumbfounded, I then found several e-mails
ences are better yet. Ideas for studies like this, he said, waiting for me asking to send a copy of the thesis. It turns
usually come from everyday observations and from imag¬ out the Libertarian Party had distributed a press release
ining what the implications would be if our assumptions attacking the federal government for spending taxes to
were turned upside down. encourage drug use—citing my study.
Then one weekend, my father, who is an advertising Over the next few weeks, I was a guest on different
executive, and I got into a conversation about how it talk shows, and a number of news and wire stories
seemed every time a news story aired about illicit drugs, a appeared. One in particular quoted, "You have to watch
small epidemic of drug use would ensue. Of course, your source in studies like this, and you have to watch
there's been a lot of research done about the ways media what people will do to rationalize their findings when you
can encourage drug use, but most of that is about popular know where they are coming from." Of course, Mr.
media such as movies and music. News programs and Weiner, spokesman for U.S. Drug Czar Gen. Barry
antidrug ads that are meant to show illicit drugs in a neg¬ McCaffrey, didn't know. But Congress called to find out,
ative light, we'd think, shouldn't lead people toward and they requested the study be presented in their first
drugs. But, as almost any student of communication has review of antidrug ad spending. Since then, a large-scale
learned, media don't tell us what to think—they tell us government-sponsored survey examining the first five
what to think about. years of the campaign uncovered similar relationships
So, I decided to test the idea on antidrug ads—the [between antidrug advertising and drug use], but unfortu¬
most counterintuitive possibility—in a small experiment for nately it doesn't seem to have gotten any better reception
my master's thesis. I scoured prior research, but I couldn't than mine did.
find anything saying such a thing might happen [that
antidrug ads would lead to drug use]. Almost all studies
showed that drug attitudes became more negative. But, Carson B Wagner earned his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at
Boulder in 2002, and he received his master's from Penn State in 1998. He
the psychology of curiosity literature suggested something
grew up with and has worked in his father's ad agency, Orrico & Wagner,
else, for one because if antidrug ads make people think and he served with Bill Clinton's advance team in the 1992 presidential pri¬
drug use is widespread, they might become curious about maries. He's now beginning his academic career as Assistant Professor of
experimenting themselves. Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin, where his research continues
to receive honors and grant monies.
The curiosity literature was correct, and oddly
enough, I defended my thesis the day after Congress allot¬ Nominated by Professor Sandra Moriarty, University of Colorado.
Prevention There are social-action situations where advertising messages are

designed to deter behaviors, such as limiting car use due to clean-air campaigns and anti¬
smoking and antidrug campaigns for teens. This is a complicated process that involves
counterarguing by presenting negative messages about an unwanted behavior and creating
the proper incentives to stimulate the desired behavior.
Because the effects are so complicated, the impact of such campaigns is not always
clear. The national “Just Say No” campaign claims to have had an impact on teenagers’
drug use. However, as the Inside Story box explains, sometimes antidrug advertising can
boomerang because it publicizes the unwanted behavior. The Inside Story author, Carson B
Wagner, became a media star when, as a graduate student, he challenged conventional wis¬
dom about the power of antidrug advertising to teenagers.
MY CHILD IS NOT AN HONOR STUDENT.

HE SMOKES POT AND CAN’T CONCENTRATE
OR REMEMBER WHAT HE STUDIES.
There are lots ol reasons Kids don'? do well in school, and !he (acl is marijuana could
be one ol them. Today, pot is stronger and could bo more:harmful to Kids Ilian ever,
ft can affect grades by Impairing- eoncenlratlon and short-le.'in memory. And morn teens
enter treatment lor marijuana abuse Ilian lor nil oilier illicit drugs combined.
For further information, visit ittcantuifug.com or call 1-800-788-2800 for a nee brochure. PARENTS.
Do these ads work? The "Just Say No" campaign believes they do change the behavior
of teens and convince them to avoid drugs. Other researchers believe such ads just make drug taking
more attractive. What do you think?
SIGNBOY IS A SIGN OF SUCCESS

FOR F 0 0 T J 0 Y
G iven the complexity of advertising effects, it's amazing that advertisers can actually prove
the effectiveness of their advertising. That's why the EFFIE awards, and other award shows
that recognize effectiveness, are so valuable. The "SignBoy" campaign, however, has been
deemed to be effective not only by the Footjoy company, but also by EFFIE judges. It has
proved to be the most successful campaign in Footjoy's history and has kept the company
prominently in front of the golf shoe target audience. Overall sales has continued to increase;
but more importantly market share increased from 46 percent in 1998 to 58 percent in 2003.
That market share increase is a huge story for a number of reasons. For one, it's difficult
for a market leader to increase share very much, particularly when the market is getting more
crowded with competitors. Another reason the market share increase is noteworthy is that
Footjoy is a relatively small company, compared to big marketers like Nike who have more
visibility and much larger advertising budgets. It takes a breakthrough message to make an
impact for a smaller, less-well-known company.
The captivating character of the SignBoy also helped Footjoy capture a much higher per¬
cent of the younger market. Footjoy's new shoe use among golfers under 30 increased 1 0.2
percent after the campaign's first year, while Nike dropped 3.3 percent in the same year.
This pattern has continued into 2004 and Footjoy continues to dominate the golf shoe cate¬
gory. Overall, Footjoy was able to widen its market by changing its image to appeal to
younger aspiring golfers even as it maintained its leadership position as the shoe of choice
for the world's best golfers.
On the perceptual level, the campaign created impact and got the attention of golfers by
creating interest in the antics of the SignBoy, a character that was highly memorable. In terms
of cognitive effects, the SignBoy created differentiation between Footjoy and other golf shoes
and apparel lines and made the Footjoy brand stand out. Through association with the lov¬
able but goofy SignBoy, the campaign transformed the brand and gave it a fun-loving per¬
sonality. The campaign was persuasive because it highlighted the professional golfers who
use Footjoy—and those pros are the models for ordinary golfers who look to them for lead¬
ership in golf decisions. So it affected their attitudes and preferences, which ultimately led to
the sales and market share results detailed above. The SignBoy campaign is a standard
bearer for the industry and that is why is has been recognized with an EFFIE award.
■ ■■Summary
1. Demonstrate why communication is a key factor in 3. List the six key effects that govern consumer response
advertising effectiveness. Advertising is, first of all, a form to advertising messages. Perception involves how con¬
of communication—a message to a consumer about a prod¬ sumers are exposed to a message and how they select infor¬
uct. Its effectiveness is determined by its success in follow¬ mation to which they pay attention. This is based on such
ing the traditional steps in a communication model: (1) the personal factors as interest and relevance, as well as on
source (the advertiser and its agencies) effectively encode, how the consumer retains an awareness of a brand or mes¬
(2) a message in the form of an advertisement or other type sage in memory. Cognition is based on a consumer’s needs,
of marketing communication, which is (3) presented suc¬ particularly for information, and they way that information
cessfully through some channel of communication, and then is learned in order to create a sense of differentiation for a
(4) received by a consumer (a media reader, viewer, lis¬ product—something that will be recalled when the con¬
tener) who then (5) responds in some way providing feed¬ sumer needs to make a product decision. The affective
back (sales, research findings) back to the source. The response is based on feelings—what consumers want and
process can be complicated at any point by noise, which like and how product messages resonate with their emo¬
refers to things that distract or impair the communication tions. Association sets up a network of symbols for prod¬
process. ucts that people connect with the brand through condi¬
2. Explain the Facets Model of Advertising Effects to show tioned learning—which transforms a product into a
how brand advertising works. Advertising effects are the distinctive brand with a personality and image. Persuasion
ways consumers can respond to an advertising message. is based on attitude change, influenced by arguments, and
They can be grouped into six categories: (1) perception, personal motivation and involvement that leads to convic¬
(2) understanding or a cognitive response, (3) feeling or an tion and preference. A behavior response involves buying
emotional or affective response, (4) associations that set up and trying a product, as well as other forms of action such
connections in the consumer’s mind, (5) belief which is the as contacting a company.
result of persuasion, and (6) action or behavior.
affective responses, 109 aided recognition, 106 association, 110 attitude, 114
AIDA, 102 argument, 114 attention, 105 awareness, 105
brand image, 113 feedback, 100 motivation, 114 resonance, 110

brand loyalty, 114 hierarchy-of-effects model, needs, 108 selective perception, 104
channels, 99 102 network of associations, 113 source, 99
clutter, 101 high involvement, 116 noise, 100 source credibility, 114
cognition, 106 interactive communication, perception, 104 subliminal, 106
cognitive learning, 108 100 persuasion, 113 symbolic meaning, 110
conditioned learning, 108 interest, 105 preference, 114 think-feel-do model, 103
conviction, 114 involvement, 116 recall, 106 transformation, 111
delayed effects, 109 liking, 110 receiver, 100 unaided recognition, 106
emotional appeals, 110 low involvement, 116 recognition, 106 viral marketing, 101
exposure, 105 message, 99 relevance, 105 wants, 108
■ ■« Review Questions
1. What are the key components of a communication model, 3. What are the six categories of effects identified in the
and how do they relate to advertising? Facets Model? What does each one represent in terms of a
2. Explain how the Facets Model of Advertising Effects can be consumer’s response to an advertising message?
used to describe how brand advertising works. What are the
key components of brand messages, and how do they relate
to the basic advertising effects?
1. What is breakthrough advertising? Give an example and What is confusing Uma is that the Wisk history includes
explain how it works. Find an example of an ad that you numerous consumer surveys that show consumers find
don’t think is breakthrough advertising and explain why “ring around the collar” to be a boring, silly, and altogether
you evaluate it that way. irritating advertising theme. Can you explain why Wisk is
2. This chapter identifies six major categories of effects or such a popular brand even though its advertising campaign
consumer responses. Find an ad that you think is effective has been so disliked?
and explain how it works, analyzing the way it cultivates 4. You have been asked to participate in a debate in your
responses in these six categories. office about two different approaches to advertising. The
3. Uma Proctor is a planner in an agency that handles a liquid question is: Which is most important in creating effective
detergent brand that competes with Fever’s Wisk. Uma is advertising—informing consumers about the product’s fea¬
reviewing a history of the Wisk theme, “ring around the col¬ tures or creating an emotional bond with consumers? Take
lar.” It is one of the longest-running themes on television, one side or the other and develop an argument in support of
and Wisk’s sales share indicates that it has been successful. that view.
■ ■ ■ Class Projects
1. From current magazines, identify five advertisements that have exceptionally high stopping
power (attention), five that have exceptionally high pulling power (interest), and five that
have exceptionally high locking power (memory). Which of these advertisements are mainly
information and which are mainly emotional and focused on feelings? Which are focused on
building a brand or creating associations? Do them any of them do a great job of creating
action? Rank what you believe are the top 5 most effective ads in the collection of 15. Why
did you choose those five and what can you learn from them about effective advertising?
2. Organize the class into five teams and refer to the “sticky” Web sites listed in the table. Each
team should take one of the five categories of Web sites. Check out those sites that don’t
require you to subscribe and analyze them in terms of the four categories of effectiveness:
perception, learning, persuasion, and behavior. Can you determine from this analysis why
these sites are “sticky” Web sites? Which one does your team rate as the most effective? Why?
122 PART 2 • ADVERTISING BACKGROUND, PLANNING, AND STRATEGY
Sticking around Web Sites

Automotive autos.msn.com
kbb.com
autotrader.com
cars.com
autoweb.com
Shopping amazon.com
eBay.com
barnesandnoble.com
priceline.com
cdnow.com
Travel mapquest.com
maps.yahoo.com
travelocity.com
expedia.com
travel.yahoo.com
Entertainment disneygo.com
windowsmedia.com
uproar.com
ticketmaster.com
webshots.com
Financial Finance.yahoo.com
cbs.marketwatch.com
moneycentral.msn.com
etrade.com
quicken.com
Adapted from "Sticking Around." Brandweek's IQ Interactive Report, June 15, 2000, p. IQ66.
How Advertising Works

If It Walks Like the Aflac Duck In many ways Thaler's ads hearken back to the
1960s, when it was common to feature "sex, schmaltz,
You've probably never heard of the American Family Life chirpy jingles and 'talking' babies and animals," as the
Assurance Co., nor are you likely to be familiar with its pri¬ New York Times's advertising columnist Stewart Elliott puts
mary service: supplemental workplace medical insurance, it. Industry insiders have been known to snipe at Thaler's
a type of insurance that is used by people to help cover work, and few would describe her campaigns as "edgy."
the many loopholes and deductibles in their primary insur¬ But as Maurice Levy, CEO of the giant advertising com¬
ance coverage. Then again, if you are like 90 percent of pany Publicis, observes, "There are people who do adver¬
U.S. consumers, maybe you have heard of the company. tising for what I call the advertising village and people
In its advertising it calls itself "AFLAC." who are doing advertising for the consumer. She is doing
The four-year AFLAC campaign is the work of Linda advertising much more for the consumer." Thaler herself
Kaplan Thaler, owner of the New York agency that bears notes, "We're doing our job when we find ways to get
her name. Thaler's ads are not known for their subtlety. people to buy things."
Among her credits are the Toy's R Us jingle "I don't want to Thaler's AFLAC ads, by almost any measure, are her
grow up," and the successful campaign for Clairol Herbal best. Almost all feature a white duck desperately scream¬
Essences, featuring an "orgasmic" hair-washing experi¬ ing "AFLAC!" at people who need supplemental insur¬
ence. The Herbal Essences ads strike some as funny, others ance. Unfortunately, the duck's audience never quite
as quite possibly offensive, but sales of the product have seems to hear him. Most of the ads contain a fair amount
skyrocketed to almost $700 million a year. of slapstick, usually at the expense of the duck, whose
exasperated-sounding voice originates with former spends almost $700 million every year, AFLAC's ad bud¬
Saturday Night Live cast member Gilbert Gottfried. "He's get is only $45 million a year. There is no denying that
got the right answer but nobody is listening, and that's a Thayler's work for AFLAC is a triumph of both effectiveness
situation that resonates with people," says Kathleen and value.
Spencer, director of AFLAC's corporate communications.
"There's also just something inherently comical about a Consider This
duck." O-
The campaign has been enormously successful. Since 1. Some viewers don't like the AFLAC ads. Can an ad
the ads first began running, brand name awareness has still accomplish its intended purposes if people find it
increased from 15 percent to 90 percent. Over the same annoying?
period year-to-year sales increases have almost doubled. 2. The AFLAC campaign is more than four years old. In
Dan Amos, CEO for AFLAC, believes that "our name your opinion, will the campaign stay effective for the
recognition with our advertising campaign and our strong foreseeable future?
sales force together have combined to truly help our com¬ 3. What makes AFLAC ads so effective? Is it something
pany." In 2003 Ad Age named the commercial featuring more than their entertainment value? If so, what else
the duck and the Amazing Kreskin (who hypnotizes a man contributes to their success?
into thinking he is a chicken) the most-recalled spot in
America.
But what makes the AFLAC campaign truly remark¬
able is how little it has cost the company. The duck has a
Sources: "Top Spots," Advertising Age [January 1 3, 2003); Stuart Elliott, "Why o Duck?
higher Q score (a measure of a character's familiarity and Because It Sells Insurance: Kaplan Thaler Puts Consumers Ahead of Peer Approval," New
appeal) than both Ronald McDonald and the Energizer York Times [June 24, 2002): Cl 1; David Haffenreffer, "AFLAC Inc.—CEO Dan Amos,"
CNN Money Morning, Transcript #102301cb.l29, October 23, 2002; Theresa
Bunny, but whereas Energizer has spent almost a billion Howard, "AFLAC Duck Gives Wings to Insurers Name Recognition," USA Today (May
dollars over 15 years on advertising, and McDonald's 17, 2001): 9b.
I ■ ■
The Consumer
Audience
CHAPTER KEY POINTS
1. Assess cultural and social influences on consumer responses.
2. Demonstrate how psychological influences motivate consumers.
3. Explain the behavioral characteristics that describe consumer

responses.
4. Describe how the consumer decision process works.
5. Differentiate between segmenting and targeting and trace these

planning tools to their sources in cultural, social, psychological,
and behavioral factors.
M
So What Do You Crave?
Award:
EFFIE® Cold
cDonald's has more than 13,000 locations; Burger King
Company: has 8,300; Wendy's has 5,300 ... but White Castle has
White Castle only 360 restaurants. McDonald's spends more than $660
million on advertising; Burger King spends $300 million;
Agency: Wendy's spends $230 million. White Castle spends only $ 10 million.
J. Walter Thompson White Castle is outnumbered and outspent by its competition. Its only
option, then, is to outsmart them. White Castle limits its menu. White
Campaign:
Castle offers a unique, steamy, oniony taste unlike any others in the
"What You Crave —
One of Ours" fast-food hamburger category. Competitors use lots of mainstream

television and reach everyone. White Castle's television ads are seen
in the odd hours when its devoted fans are craving its burgers.
White Castle succeeds in the increasingly fierce fast-food cate¬
gory because it defies common wisdom and charts its own course
for its own special group of customers. The chain's relationship with
125
its customer is different from that of other fast-food chains. Researchers made the
discovery that White Castle is more than a full feeling in the stomach; its cus¬
tomers have an emotional attachment to the brand. As one customer explained,
"I crave White Castle more than anything else. When I get a craving, I just have
to have it." That insight came from an ethnographic study that followed White
Castle customers through a day in their lives and observed their behavior. That
statement became the source of the White Castle brand idea. The chain's
response to its competitive challenge was to leverage this emotional connection
its core target audience—the "Craver"—has with the brand.
Under the guidance of the J. Walter Thompson (JWT) agency, White
Castle's "Crave" advertising has been a consistent EFFIE winner. In 2003 it was
recognized for advertising that delivered higher sales based on improving its
level of purchase intent—the number of people who say they intend to stop at
White Castle. The specific objectives of the campaign were to:
• Improve future purchase intent among the target audience by 10 percent

(based on how consumers rate this statement: "It [the advertising] makes
me want to go to White Castle.").
• Translate this purchase intention into sales by achieving, on a percentage

basis, an annual sales growth 25 percent greater than the average sales
growth of McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Taco Bell combined.
What is it that drives this special brand relationship? One factor is the tiny
juicy hamburger smothered with onions that people consider a treat, in spite of
onion breath (a result lampooned in some of the chain's commercials). But the
real difference is the production of the hamburger, which is cooked with onions
on a hot griddle for a short period of time. The result has a distinctive taste that
brings its faithful back for sacks of what the chain calls Slyders®. Devoted
Cravers, who are the advertising's most important target audience, are a cultlike
following with a passion for the steamy Slyders. The success of the "What You
Crave" campaign is detailed in the It's a Wrap section at the end of this chapter.
White Castle has an unusual relationship with its customers. In order to better understand
that bond, this chapter will look at influences on consumers’ behavior—in other words,
what motivates them as they make purchase decisions—and then discuss how these factors
help define groups of people who might be profitably targeted with an advertising mes¬
sage. The study of influences on consumers helps advertisers design effective campaigns
through careful targeting of the message.
HOW DOES CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WORK?

Think about something you bought last week. How did the purchase process happen? Was
it something you needed—or just something you wanted? Did you set out to go to a spe¬
cific store or just go shopping? Or was it something you saw online or in an ad? Had you
been planning the purchase for a while? Did somebody tell you about it, or have you talked
to someone about it now that you’ve made the purchase? These are the kinds of questions
marketers ask about their customers. And good advertisers also have to be good students of
consumer behavior. Consumer behavior describes how individuals or groups select,
CHAPTER 5 THE CONSUMER AUDIENCE 127
Influences on Consumer
Decision Making
purchase, use, or dispose of products—as well as describing the needs that motivate these
behaviors. So as we proceed through this chapter, keep asking yourself questions about
your own consumer behavior, as well as that of your friends and family.
The Consumer Audience

In this chapter we look at consumers as the audience for the communication process and
we seek to give you more insight into how this consumer response to a message affects
their product decision making. Consumers are people who buy or use products to satisfy
their needs and wants. Customers are specific types of consumers; they are people like
White Castle’s devoted fans who buy a particular brand or patronize a specific store.
There are various ways to categorize consumers. One way is to divide them by the
type of market—either business or consumer. As we discussed in Chapter 2, these are usu¬
ally referred to as business to-business (B2B) or business-to consumer (B2C). Another way Principle
to categorize consumers is as either those who shop for and purchase the product (pur¬ Buyers may not be the users and
chasers or customers) or those who actually use the product (users). This distinction is users may not be the buyers.
important because purchasers and users can have different needs and wants. In the case of Buyers and users often have
entirely different needs.
children’s cereals, parents (the purchasers) often look for nutritional value and a decent
price. In contrast, children (the users) look for a sweet taste and a package with a prize
inside or a game on the outside.
In the case of business-to-business (B2B) marketing, customers may be purchasing
agents who are professional buyers for their companies; other workers actually use the
products that purchasing agents buy. Computers, for example, can be used by everyone in
a company for all kinds of specialized jobs, but the computer purchase may be made by the
company’s purchasing agent. Figure 5.1 is a general model of consumer behavior. It is also
a visual roadmap for this chapter.
CULTURAL AND SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER DECISIONS

Many factors affect the way you make product decisions in response to an advertising mes¬
sage. The culture and the society in which you were raised affect your values and opinions.
Likewise, you are a product of the family in which you were raised, and many of your
habits and biases developed in the family environment. Your friends also are important
This ad for Tide exhibits the

effective targeting of the
influences on your opinions, as well as your consumer behavior. The cultural and social
Hispanic culture. ("The salsa is
forces that impact on your behavior as a consumer fall into five major areas: (1) culture,
something you dance, not what
(2) social class, (3) reference groups, (4) family, and (5) demographics.
you wear.")
Culture
Culture is made up of tangible items (art, literature, buildings, furniture, clothing, and
music) and intangible concepts (history, knowledge, laws, morals, and customs) that
together define a group of people or a way of life. Culture is learned and passed on from
one generation to the next, and the boundaries each culture establishes for behavior are
called norms. Norms are simply rules that we learn through social interaction that specify
or prohibit certain behaviors. The source of norms is our values, which come from our
immersion in a specific culture. Values, particularly cultural values, represent our underly¬
ing belief systems. In the United States we value freedom, independence, and individual¬
ism; in other countries, particularly some Asian countries, people value families and
groups more than individualism. Of course, there are some universal: Most people value
good health. Values are few in number and hard to change. They are also internal, and they
guide behavior. Advertisers strive to understand the underlying core values that govern
people’s attitudes and refer to them when selecting an ad’s primary appeals; the core val¬
ues of the brand should match the core consumer values. One simplified list consists of
nine core values:
1. A sense of belonging
2. Excitement
3. Fun and enjoyment
4. Warm relationships
5. Self-fulfillment
6. Respect from others
7. A sense of accomplishment
8. Security
9. Self-respect
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Subcultures Sometimes, a culture can be further broken down into smaller groups
called subcultures. Hispanics living in Southern California, Texas, Miami, and New York
City can be quite different, and they are all distinct subcultures of the overall Hispanic cul¬
ture. Subcultures can be defined by geographic regions or by shared human characteris¬
tics such as age, values, language, or ethnic background. In the United States there are
many different subcultures: teenagers, college students, retirees, southerners, Texans, ath¬
letes, musicians, and working single mothers, to name a few.
Corporate Culture Culture applies to B2B marketing as well as B2C (business-to-

consumer). Corporate culture is a term that describes how various companies operate.
Some are very formal with lots of procedures, rigid work hours, and dress codes. Others are
more informal in terms of their operations as well as their communication. The same patterns
exist in the way businesses make purchasing decisions: Some rigidly control and monitor
purchases; others are loose and easygoing and purchases may be less controlled. Likewise
there are norms and values in companies, particularly after the Enron and other scandals, that
govern corporate behavior and the buying decisions of agents. Certainly the debates about
outsourcing labor and buying from third-world countries where workers may not be treated
fairly have become cultural issues for purchasing departments in many corporations.
Social Class
Another influence you experience as a consumer is social class, the position you and your
family occupy within your society. Social class is determined by such factors as income,
wealth, education, occupation, family prestige, value of home, and neighborhood. Every
society has a social class structure. In more rigid societies, such as those of India, people
have a difficult time moving out of the class into which they were born. In the United
States, although people may move into social classes that differ from their families’, the
country still has a class system consisting of upper, middle, and lower classes. Marketers
assume that people in one class buy different goods from different outlets and for different
reasons than people in other classes.
Reference Groups
A reference group is a group of people we use as a guide for behavior in specific situations.
Examples are political parties, religious groups, racial or ethnic organizations, clubs based
on hobbies, and informal affiliations such as fellow workers or students—your peers. David
Reisman describes individuals in terms of their relationships to other people as inner-
directed (individualistic) or outer-directed (group and society). Advertisers are particularly
interested in the role of peers in influencing their outer-directed friends’ wants and desires.
On the other hand, inner-directed people are more likely to try new things first.
For consumers, reference groups have three functions: (1) they provide information;
(2) they serve as a means of comparison; and (3) they offer guidance. Ads that feature typi¬
cal users in fun or pleasant surroundings are using a reference group strategy. You also may
be attracted to a particular reference group and want to be like the members of that group
out of respect or admiration. Advertisers use celebrity endorsements to tap into this device.
White Castle “Cravers” recognize that they are part of a unique group. Their sense of
being a “Craver” is an important facet of their self-image as an individualist and a fun part
of their social lives. They experience life in their own ways; they get it in ways others just
don’t understand. “Same old, same old” mainstream burgers just don’t have the attitude a
“Craver” demands. This resonated with the idea of consuming a sack of 10 Slyders almost
as a bragging right.
Family
The family is the most important reference group because of its longevity and the intensity
of its relationships, as depicted in the Sony ad. Other reference groups such as peers, co¬
workers, and neighbors tend to change as we age. According to the U.S. Census, a family
consists of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption, and live in
the same household. A household differs from a family in that it consists of all those who
occupy a dwelling whether they are related or not. The family is responsible for raising and
training children and establishing a lifestyle for family members. Your lifestyle is the way
you spend your time and money and the kinds of activities you value.
Advertisers need to understand the structure, changes, and workings of the family in
order to communicate effectively. For example, for the first time, one-person households
outnumber married couples with children.1 This reflects a growing trend in America over
the past 30 years to marry later in life, divorce, or never get married at all. Marketers and
their advertisers have been right on top of this familial trend. Banks have created special
Sony tries to portray families in

a realistic way and use the
appeal to a family as a selling
strategy for its Point of View
Handycam.
CHAPTER 5 • THE CONSUMER AUDIENCE 131
5.1 Home Ownership by Age

Householder by Age % Owing a Home
15-24 18
25-34 46
35-44 66
45-54 75
55-64 80
65-74 81
75-84 77
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000, as reported in "No Place Like It," American Demographics, March
2002, p. 48.
mortgages, builders are providing homes and apartments to meet the needs of the single,
and food marketers have introduced “single” portions.
Demographics
Demographics are the statistical, personal, social, and economic characteristics used to
describe a population including age, gender, education, income, occupation, race, and fam¬
ily size. These characteristics serve as the basis for most advertising strategies and know¬
ing them assists advertisers in message design and media selection for the target market.
Age People in different stages of life have different needs. An advertising message must
be geared to the target audience’s age group and should be delivered through a medium
that members of that group use. How old are you? What products did you use 5 or 10 years
ago that you don’t use now? Look ahead 10 years. What products might you be interested
in buying then? Consider home ownership as a factor of age; the older people are, the more
likely they are to own a home. In Table 5.1, note that the largest increase happens when
people reach the 25-34 age group.
Age is a key factor in media plans because age usually determines what media you
watch, listen to, or read—as Table 5.2 shows. The table breaks down media usage in terms
of common age groupings used by advertising planners. Note that young people are hard to
reach with any of the traditional media. Young adults 25-34 can be reached best through
radio and online. Similar to young adults, midlife adults 35—44 spend more time with radio
or online but they are also the most involved with media of all kinds. The predominant
media that advertisers use to reach the highly attractive youth market and young adults are
the Internet, radio, and magazines that can be delivered via the Internet.
_ ___
5.2 Media Usage by Age
Age Radio TV Cable Magazines Newspapers Online
18-24 16% 11% 13% 17% 7% 13%
25-34 23 18 20 21 13 23
35-44 25 19 22 23 21 28
45-54 17 16 17 18 21 22
55-64 9 13 12 10 15 9
65-plus 10 24 15 10 23 5
Overall usage patterns for each medium vary by age group. This table shows the percentage of persons in each age group who are heavy users of the
individual medium. For instance, 16 percent of heavy radio listeners are in the 1 8-24 age bracket.
Source: Reprinted with permission from the February 26, 2001, issue of Advertising Age. Crain Communications Inc. 2001.
Age is driving a fundamental shift in U.S.

marketing. For 50 years, marketers have focused
on reaching young people not only because they
are in the formative years of making brand
choices, but also because the youth market dur¬
ing that era was huge in terms of numbers. Baby
boomers, the 76 million consumers born between
1946 and 1964 and now in the final years of their
careers, have made a huge population bulge as
they have moved through the life cycle. As they
grew up, the numbers affected first schools, then
the job market, and now retirement programs and
health care. The emphasis on youth marketing is
changing as proportionately fewer babies are
being born and the baby boomers age. Seniors
are becoming a much more important target mar¬
ket as these age patterns change.
Gender Gender is an obvious basis for dif¬

ferences in marketing and advertising. The gen¬
der breakdown in the 2000 Census was 48.9
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more than the other. Wearing perfume and
shaving legs are secondary traits associated
with women. The primary gender traits of men
and women create demands for products and
services directly associated with a person’s sex;
for example, many consumers consider certain
As the baby boomers reach brands to be masculine or feminine. It is unlikely that men would use a brand of cologne
retirement, many companies, called “White Shoulders.” The Gillette Company found that the majority of women would
such as insurance giant MetLife,
not purchase Gillette razor blades, so they introduced brands exclusively for women, such
are developing new strategies
as the Sensor and Daisy disposable razors.
to reach them.
Sexual Orientation In the last decade gay and lesbian consumers have become seri¬
ous target markets. Because some heterosexuals are still offended by the gay lifestyle, adver¬
tisers must determine the best way to target gay consumers. Companies that advertise in gay
media, such as GayDish TV network, Freshmen, and Digital Gay World, include Sony,
Apple, Banana Republic, American Express, Hiram Walker, Miller Brewing, Coors, Subaru,
and Visa, to name a few. Some companies that target gays run the same ad campaign in both
straight and gay media. For a company like furniture retailer IKEA, the risks are great. If its
ads are obviously gay in content or visually, they might lose the heterosexual market. Other
companies such as Volvo have opted to produce two different campaigns. For these compa¬
nies, the challenge is to create ads that are an accurate portrayal of the gay lifestyle.
Race and Ethnicity In the United States, ethnicity is becoming a major criterion for
segmenting markets. According to the Census Bureau, the number of African Americans
will increase by 15 percent during the next 20 years; Asian Americans by almost 68 percent,
and Hispanics by about 64 percent; while the Caucasian population will grow by 13 percent.
Even so, consumer habits within each ethnic segment will differ, based on factors such as
age and income, and in the case of immigrants, how long they have lived in the United States.
The 2000 U.S. Census provided the statistics in Table 5.3 on American race and ethnicity.
Few cultures are more important to U.S. marketing than the Hispanic culture. The
Hispanic market is becoming a huge opportunity because it is growing faster proportionately
than other ethnic groups. Researchers have found that Hispanics spend more per shopping
Race and Ethnicity % of Population*

White 79.2
Black or African American 12.4
American Indian/Alaskan .2
Asian .4
Native Hawaiian .001
Hispanic or Latino 12.3
Other .01
*Note that the percentages add up to more than 100 percent. This is due to the continuing difficulty the
Census Bureau is having in capturing all the elements of race. Simply, some respondents check more than
one category. Although the situation is closer to resolution, there are still potential problems with the validity
of the data.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000.
trip than non-Hispanics and that store signage and product labels in Spanish promote
stronger brand loyalty.2 Hispanics also believe in using cash rather than credit cards and are
willing to spend proportionately more money on their kids and their clothing than their
Anglo-Saxon counterparts. For that reason. Old Navy is launching Spanish-language cam¬
paigns to attract the growing Hispanic store traffic.3 Two-thirds of the U.S. Hispanic popula¬
tion came from Mexico and brought their brand perceptions with them. Colgate outperforms
Procter & Gamble brands such as Crest among U.S. Hispanics because Colgate dominates
the Mexican market. The same success applies to Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart Stores. Chinese
immigrants also have their own preferences for brands based on their family traditions.4
There are also media use differences based on ethnicity. For example, a Nielsen study
found that 36 percent of Hispanic viewers watch commercials in their entirety compared to
an average of 19 percent of non-Hispanic viewers who do so. Nielsen has found that
Hispanic audiences are more influenced by advertising than other U.S. consumers. They
are more likely to base their purchasing decisions on advertisements; they are less cynical
about marketing.5
If we look at the African American population, certain additional U.S. demographic
information might prove useful to the advertiser:
• The African American population, with a median age of 30, is five years younger than
the U.S. population, on average.
• The African American population is expected to grow more than twice as fast as the
Caucasian population between 1995 and 2020, reaching 45 million.
• In 1998, 55 percent of African Americans lived in the South, yet the cities with the
highest African American population are not in the South.
• In 2000, there were 8.7 million African American households, nearly half of them
married.6
For Merrill Lynch, all this information, plus its own proprietary information, helped
to design an advertising campaign targeting affluent African Americans. The company
identified two clear priorities: the need for more community involvement from companies
African Americans do business with and the need for more education about financial ser¬
vices. Merrill Lynch developed a series of financial-education programs for affluent
African Americans in Chicago and hosted three seminars—one targeted to small-business
owners, another for individual investors, and the third designed for clergy and nonprofit
organizations.7 More than 1,300 African Americans participated in the three seminars and
Merrill Lynch acquired over $200,000 in new business.
Education The level of education attained by consumers is also an influence on the

advertising strategy. According to the 2000 Census (Figure 5.2) statistics show that U.S.
High school diploma or more 2000 1940 High school graduate

All races 84.1% 24.5% Male $33,184
White 88.4 26.1 Female $23,061
Black 78.9 7.7 Some college

Hispanic 57.0 N/A Male $39,221
Female $27,757
Four years of college or more 2000 1940
All races 1111111118 25.6% 4.6% Bachelor’s degree or more
White ' ISSill1 28.1 4.9 Male 8 1 $60,201
Black ■ISStf 16.6 1.3 Female MMI $41,747
Hispanic HH 10.6 N/A
Doctoral degree
Male JU wmm1 $8i,687
Female H $60,079
Educated Americans
According to the 2000 Census, Americans are better educated than they were in 1940. Also, as the level of education rises, so does salary.
males attain higher levels of education than U.S. females. Also, income corresponds with
gender, regardless of level of education. As far as race is a factor, generally white U.S. con¬
sumers attain higher levels of education than blacks and Hispanics.
For advertisers, education tends to correlate with the type of medium consumers pre¬
fer, as well as the specific elements or programs within a medium. Consumers with lower
education are higher users of television, especially cable. Consumers with higher education
prefer print media, the Internet, and selected radio and cable stations. Likewise, education
dictates the way copy is written and its level of difficulty. Examine ads in Fortune or Forbes
and you will find words, art, and products different from what you will find in People or
tabloid publications. Advertisers don’t make value judgments about these statistics. Their
objective is to match advertising messages to the characteristics of then- target markets.
Occupation Most people identify themselves by what they do. In the United States
there has been a gradual movement from blue-collar occupations to white-collar occupa¬
tions during the last three decades. There have also been shifts within white-collar work
from sales to other areas, such as professional specialty, technical, and administrative posi¬
tions. The number of service-related jobs continues to increase, especially in the health
care, education, and legal and business service sectors. Much of this transition is a direct
result of advanced computer technologies, which have eliminated many labor-intensive,
blue-collar occupations. This shift has affected advertising in a number of ways: Today,
advertisements seldom portray blue-collar jobs.
income The most-used demographic indicator for many advertisers is income. You are
meaningful to a marketer only if you have the resources to buy the product advertised.
Figure 5.3 shows the median household incomes in the United States from the 2000
Census. The median household income (that means half of the households earn more, half
earn less) fell from $42,900 in 2001 to $42,409 in 2002, according to a U.S. Census report
released in September of 2003. Study the patterns of income distributions in Figure 5.3 and
notice which categories tend to make the most money.
Principle Affordability correlates strongly with income: If a marketer knows that an annual
Your income is a key demo¬ income of $125,000 is needed to purchase a BMW, that is important information. It sug¬
graphic factor because you are gests that the setting of the ad should be upscale (country club, executive office tower), and
meaningful to a marketer only the media employed should match the reading habits of the income group (Fortune,
if you have the resources needed Money, Wall Street Journal, Town & Country). Income is correlated with other factors such
to buy the product advertised. as education, occupation, and gender. Men, for example, still make more than women in
comparable jobs. Age is also a factor in income. The mature population in the United The median household income -
meaning half earn more, half earn
States controls 70 percent of all the country’s wealth and represents 50 percent of all dis¬
less - rose to $42,148 in 2000 from
cretionary spending.8 $40,816 in 1999. Median incomes
Advertisers track trends in income, especially discretionary income, which is the for various groups:
amount of money available to a household after taxes and basic necessities such as food and Household types
shelter are paid for. Some industries, such as movie theaters, travel, jewelry, and fashion, Married
couples $59,346
would be out of business if people didn’t have discretionary income. Discretionary income
has found to be a more reliable predictor of spending than income.9 Those living alone:
Male HUBBUB $26,720

Geography The area in which a target market lives correlates with several demo¬
Female IBBMl $18,163
graphic characteristics and is important to advertisers. Marketers study the sales patterns of
different parts of the country because people residing in different regions need certain Number of persons in household:
products. For example, someone living in the Midwest or the Northeast is more likely to $54,199 $61’852
$44,526
purchase products for removing snow and ice than a Floridian would be. Differences also
$21,467
exist between urban areas and suburban or rural areas. Swimming pools that sell well in a
residential suburban neighborhood would not be in demand in an urban neighborhood
filled with apartment buildings. To plan advertising, marketers must predict geographic
trends and understand how those trends can affect their marketing
Consider This
1. What are the most important cultural and social factors that influence Non- Black Asian/ Hispanic
purchase decisions? Hispanic Pacific
white Islander
2. Why is culture such an important influence?
Geography
Northeast $45,106
PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES THAT MOTIVATE CONSUMERS Midwest $44,646
We have analyzed cultural, social, and demographic influences on consumer behavior. South $38,410
Now let’s look at the internal elements that make you an individual. Advertisers are par¬ West $44,744
ticularly interested in understanding what psychological factors motivate people to Outside $32,837
respond as they do. The psychological factors discussed here are the stuff of our motiva¬ metro
areas
tions. They include state of mind, attitudes and values, and personality.
Age
$44,473
Perception and State of Mind
$53,240
Your state of mind affects the way you perceive information as well as determines your
$58,218
particular pattern of consumer behavior. Your past experiences with a brand, as well as
$44,992
what your friends say about it, can color your feelings and make you more or less receptive
$23,048
to a brand message. Other mental states, such as anger, fatigue, hunger, excitement, or
lethargy, can also affect your behavior because they can create internal noise that gets in
the way of your reception of a message or provide the impetus to drive you to buy some¬
thing.
Most travel-related companies found their advertising complicated by a negative con¬
sumer mind-set after the 9/11 tragedy. Choice Flotels, which includes eight major hotel Demographic Medians of
chains, such as Comfort Inn®, Sleep Inn®, EconoLodge®, and Rodeway Inn®, serves over Household Income
16 million guests per year in more than 4,800 hotels across 43 countries. The hotel chain Because income corresponds with
used a “Thanks for traveling” campaign theme to speak to the emotions of its guests and to purchase capability, it is an important
become a flag waver for the industry. demographic for advertisers to
understand and track.
Needs arid Want's The basic driving forces that motivate us to do something, such
as choose a motel when traveling, are called needs. Each person has his or her own set of
unique needs; some are innate (biological), others are acquired. Innate needs include the
need for water, food, air, shelter, and sex. Because satisfying these needs is necessary to
maintaining life, they are also called primary needs. In the case of the needs pyramid devel¬
oped by psychologist Abraham Maslow (see Figure 5.4), these are called physiological and
‘Win
TTCD
OF PRACTIC
Choice Hotels Says "Thanks for Traveling
■ If you worked for a chain of hotels, how would you have

changed your advertising plans after the events of the
September 1 1 tragedy in 2001? What about the follow¬
ing years? The entire country has been consumed by eco¬
nomic uncertainty, security concerns, and the threat of
future terrorist acts. This was the marketing problem faced
by Choice Hotels International® and its advertising
agency Arnold Worldwide.
Choice Hotels is the second-largest hotel franchise in
the world. Selecting a hotel is often a combination of ratio¬
5%
nal and emotional needs. Arnold's research found that Average Daily Rate (ADR) Performance vs. Industry
Choice's core customers have a unique and distinct emo¬ 0%

tional mind-set. These "True Travelers" are focused on
value and quality in their accommodations, without any
-5%
fancy pretences or services they will be charged extra for. -7.3% -6.6% -4.9%
-7.7%
In the words of the True Traveler, "It's as much about the -8.1%
-10%
journey as the destination." Thus the Choice Hotels brand | CHI m Industry
personality had to reflect the same emotional qualities and -15%

mind-set of its core audience.
The "Power of Being There" campaign was launched 5%
in 2001 to establish Choice Hotels as the "True Traveler" Occupancy Performance vs. Industry
Oct 01 , Nov 01 . Dec ‘01 . Jan 02 t Feb '02 , Mar '02
brand. Initial ads titled "Face To Face, Not Fax To Fax" 0%
addressed the importance of being there in person for a

business meeting. But "Being There" became a lost oppor¬
! 11 1L 1 -5%
tunity after the events of 9/1 1. The entire travel industry - 10%
-10.8%
sustained devastating losses as a result of the national
-15%
tragedy and Choice Hotels wasn't immune to the effects. In CHI H Industry
spite of its strong rational and emotional connections - 20%

through its ad campaign, Choice Hotels' occupancy levels Source: EFFIE brief provided by Choice Hotels and Arnold Worldwide.
plummeted along with the category, making the new mar¬

keting challenge twofold: campaign followed using TV, print, out-of-home, interac¬
tive, point-of-purchase and collateral, direct response,
1. Encourage people to travel again while appearing
event marketing, and internal communications.
compassionate and selfless.
The campaign was effective and its slogan "Thanks
2. Provide travelers with a compelling reason to stay at a
for Traveling" became a rallying cry for the entire travel
Choice Hotels property.
and tourism industry, generating over a $5 million value
Choice market research led to a consumer insight that in consumer and trade PR. Choice Hotels CEO Chuck
was particularly appropriate for this new environment: Ledsinger was invited to appear on Capitol Hill in support
Choice customers and prospects were very patriotic. of new tourism legislature and the White House invited
Arnold's proprietary Mood & Mindset survey established Mr. Ledsinger to attend the signing of the Airport Security
that Americans wanted to maintain the continuity of their Bill. The success established Choice as the industry leader
everyday lives following 9/11. Thus Arnold's creative without making the company appear to be opportunistic. It
direction evolved to position travel as an inherently also united more than 3,500 franchised properties into a
American freedom that was reinforced by the "Power of single message during a time of crisis. Even other hotels
Being There" message. The new work elevated the notion outside the Choice Hotels system were displaying "Thanks
of travel as an American right worth sustaining after 9/11, for Traveling" banners, posters, and stickers.
positioning Choice as a natural leader within the industry. In terms of business figures, Choice still experienced
This new strategy came together with the central idea, major occupancy declines, although at a rate significantly
"Thanks for Traveling," which was emblazoned on less than the industry. Many competitors tried to lure trav¬
15,000 banners outside Choice Hotel properties and elers by drastically cutting rates. Despite widespread deep
along highways, bridges, and tollbooths. The campaign discounting tactics across the industry, Choice ADR (aver¬
was officially launched at the reopening of the Reagan age daily rate) held up to seasonal norms. Finally,
National Airport in Washington, D.C., with the involve¬ Choice's operating performance (as measured by revenue
ment of national political figures, including U.S. Secretary per available room) experienced declines approximately
of Transportation Norman Mineta. A fully integrated ad half as severe as the rest of the industry.
Be Inspired I Be Inspired |
Visit Washington, I Visit Washington, P,C.| ppen for Business |
"Thanks for § Welcome BacV. ’$mrA
traveling
!9
*3 «XI
travel!
Revelant Products / \ Example

/ SELF- \
/actualization/
/ Self-Fulfillment \
Hobbies, travel, education / Enriching Experiences \ u.S. Army- "Be all you can be."
/ EGO NEEDS \
Cars, furniture, credit cards, / Prestige, Status, \ Royal Salute Scotch- "What the
stores, country clubs, liquors / Accomplishments \ rich give the wealthy."
BELONGINGNESS
Clothing, grooming products, / Love, Friendship, \ Pepsi- "You're in the
clubs, drinks / Acceptance by Others \ Pepsi generation."
Insurance, alarm systems/ SAFETY \ Allstate Insurance- "You're

retirement, investments / Security, Shelter, Protection \ in good hands with Allstate."
Medicines, staple / PHYSIOLOGICAL \ Quaker Oat Bran- "It's

items, generics / Water, Sleep, Food \ the right thing to do."
frEM' Levels of Needs in the Maslow Hierarchy

Source: Motivation and Personality, 2nd ed., by A. H. Maslow, 1970. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
safety needs. Let’s distinguish between needs and wants. Needs are what we feel for more
essential items, particularly the primary needs, such as food and shelter. A want occurs
when we desire or wish for something—we don’t die if we don’t get it, but it can still pro¬
vide a strong motivation to try or buy something new. This is particularly true in fashion
areas, such as clothing and music. According to Maslow needs must be satisfied before
wants can be addressed.
Acquired needs are those we learn in response to our culture and environment. These
may include needs for esteem, prestige, affection, power, and learning. Because acquired
Principle needs are not necessary to your physical survival, they are considered secondary needs.
An item we need is something
Maslow called them social, egoistic, and self-actualizing. White Castle has built its entire
essential for life; an item we
campaign, as well as its continuing sales success, on an understanding of its customers’
want is something we desire or
wants, which it has showcased in its cravings advertising theme. A crave is the ultimate want.
wish for. Needs must be satisfied
before wants come into play as Selective Perception: Screens and Filters As we discussed in the previous
consumer motivations.
chapter, ultimately in the perceptual process we select some stimuli and ignore others
because we cannot be conscious of all incoming information at one time. The general term
for that is selective perception. The more clutter there is, the harder it is to sort out those
messages that we find relevant to us. Here are the steps in the selection process:
• Selective exposure is the way our minds filter incoming information. We naturally
tend to notice messages that are pleasant or sympathetic with our views and avoid
those that are painful or threatening. Advertising is particularly vulnerable to this fil¬
tering process. In fact, one study found that consumers filtered out 96 percent of the
advertisements they saw.10 In other words, they may have been exposed to the message
but they didn’t pay attention to it. Making messages relevant is the key to getting past
this selection and filtering problem.
• Selective distortion happens when we are exposed to a message that conflicts with
what we believe. We just naturally modify incoming information to fit into our own
personal pattern of interests.
• Selective retention is the process we go through to save information for future use. A
large part of what the brain processes is lost after only an instant. Advertising can aid
this process by using repetition, vivid images, easily remembered brand or product
names, jingles, high-profile spokespeople, music, and so forth.
Satisfaction A feeling of satisfaction is only one

possible response to selection. More troublesome is
dissatisfaction or doubt. People can pay attention to a
commercial, buy a product, and be disappointed.
One of the reasons is that advertising sometimes
raises consumers’ expectations. If they actually try or
buy the product and it doesn’t meet their expecta¬
tions, they may be dissatisfied. According to the the¬
ory of cognitive dissonance, we tend to compensate
or justify the discrepancies between what we actu¬
ally received and what we thought we would receive.
People engage in a variety of activities to reduce cog¬
nitive dissonance. Most notably, we seek out infor¬
mation that supports our decisions and ignore and
distort information that does not. Advertising can
play a central role in reducing dissonance. For exam¬
ple, IBM uses testimonials by satisfied customers.
There is a huge category of automotive service called
“aftermarketing,” which is designed to keep cus¬
tomers happy after they buy a car.
Motivations
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person’s motivations are individual; however, we are
influenced by all the social and cultural factors we
just discussed, as well as a raft of personal experi¬
ences. A motive is an internal force that stimulates
you to behave in a particular manner. This driving
The motivation is obvious for a
force is produced by the tension caused by an unfulfilled need. People strive to reduce the product that helps you avoid
tension, as the Airborne ad demonstrates. At any given point you are probably affected by catching a cold when you
a number of different motives. For example, your motivation to buy a new suit will be travel. This ad also features the
much higher if you have several job interviews scheduled for the next week. motivation of the product's
Research into motivation uncovers the “why” questions: Why did you buy that brand creator.
and not another? What prompted you to go to that store? Understanding buying motives
is crucial to advertisers because the advertising message and the timing of the ad should
coincide with the consumer’s motivation priorities. Unfortunately motivations operate
largely at an unconscious level. Some of the reasons may be superficially apparent: You
go to a restaurant because you are hungry. But what else governs that choice—the loca¬
tion, the interior decorations, a favorite menu item, the recommendation of a friend?
Attitudes and Values

Advertisers are interested in attitudes because of their impact on motivations. Because atti¬
tudes are learned, we can establish them, change them, reinforce them, or replace them
with new ones. However, most attitudes are deeply set and tend to be resistant to change;
you can hold an attitude for months or even years. Attitudes also vary in direction and
strength; that is, an attitude can be positive or negative, reflecting like or dislike, or it can
be neutral. Attitudes are important to advertisers because they influence how consumers
evaluate products, institutions, retail stores, and advertising. Principle
Strategies that are designed
to affect attitudes focus on
Personality establishing, changing,
Who is your best friend and how would you describe that person? We typically describe reinforcing, or replacing
people—and brands—in terms of their personalities, the distinctive characteristics that them.
The line "interesting life" refers

to both the target audience for
Men's Journal as well as the
content of the magazine.
make them individual and unlike anyone else we know. These are also the qualities that you
find appealing or interesting. In the psychological literature, personality refers to consis¬
tency in behavior in terms of how we react to events and situations and behave in various
roles. The Men’s Journal ad is directed at a certain type of personality. The idea of person¬
ality traits—old-fashioned, lively, efficient, glamorous, rugged, romantic, helpful, snobbish,
sophisticated, warm, dependable—has also been adapted to brands with the idea that brand
personalities can be created that will make them distinctive from their competitors.
Psychographic Influences
Psychographics refers to lifestyle and psychological characteristics, such as attitudes,
interests, and opinions. The term combines the psychological factors with other consumer
characteristics that may have a bearing on how people make decisions. Consumers who
have different values, attitudes and beliefs, opinions, interests, motivations, and lifestyles
make their product decisions in different ways.11 Here are some of the major components
called AOI (attitudes, opinions, interests) that are used to construct psychographic profiles
of consumers:12
• Activities. Work, hobbies, social events, vacation, entertainment, club membership,

community, shopping, sports
• Opinions. Self, social issues, politics, business, economics, education, products,
future, culture
• Interests. Family, home, job, community, recreation, fashion, food, media, achievements
Sometimes these complex psychographic factors are more relevant in explaining con¬
sumer behavior than are the simpler demographics. For example, two families living next
door to each other with the same general income, education, and occupational profiles may
Principle have radically different buying patterns. One family may be obsessed with recycling while
Often differences in consumer their neighbors rarely bother to even keep their newspapers separate from their trash. The
behavior lie in psychographics— differences lie not in their demographics but in their psychographics—their interests and
consumers' interests and lifestyle.
lifestyles—rather than in Advertisers use psychographics in order to understand fairly complex consumer pat¬
demographics. tern groupings. For instance, there are libraries of psychographic measures that can be
Lifestyle Components
Products are linked to lifestyles in
the way they reflect the interests of
people and the settings in which the
products are used.
purchased from research firms, or a company and its advertising agency can create its own
set of psychographic measures to fit its particular product. These psychographic measures
can then be used to describe customers (such as heavy users of blended coffee), its adver¬
tising message (taste comparison ads), or media choices (heavy users of the Internet).
Lifestyles One type of psychographics is lifestyle analysis, which looks at the ways
people allocate time, energy, and money. The Men’s Journal ad is a good example of a
visual that represents a target audience’s lifestyle. Some of the most common lifestyle pat¬
terns are described by such familiar phrases as yuppies and yuppie puppies (their children).
These terms are group identifiers but they also refer to a set of products and the setting
within which the products are used. For example, yuppies were characterized as aspiring to
an upscale lifestyle, so products associated with this lifestyle might include Rolex watches
and BMW cars. Figure 5.5 Illustrates the interactions between the person, the product, and
the setting in which a product is used.
The VALS System Some research firms have taken lifestyle factors one step further
by creating lifestyle profiles that collectively reflect a whole culture. One example is the
work of SRI International and its Values and Lifestyle System (VALS). VALS is a con¬
ceptual model that categorizes people according to their values and then identifies various
consumer behaviors that go with these values. It then groups consumers according to
shared values. Advertisers correlate these VALS groups with their clients’ products, and
use this information to design ads and select media. SRI has discovered that the relation¬
ship between values and purchase is not very strong, so it has developed VALS 2, which
groups values and other psychological traits. As we see in Figure 5.6 the system, VALS 2,
arranges psychographic groups in a rectangle. They are stacked vertically by resources
and horizontally by self-orientation (principle, status, or action oriented). Resources
include income, education, self-confidence, health, eagerness to buy, and energy level.
Consumers’ positions along the resource and self-orientation axes determines which
of eight classifications they fall into: Actualizers, Fulfilleds, Achievers, Experiencers,
Believers, Strivers, Makers, or Stragglers. Members of each group hold different values
and maintain different lifestyles. Actualizers, for instance, have the highest resources,
including income, self-esteem, and energy. Actualizers are difficult to categorize by self¬
orientation because their high resources allow them the freedom to express many facets of
their personalities. Image is important to them. Because of their wide range of interests and
openness to change, actualizers’ purchases are directed at the finer things in life.
Obviously, knowing the psychographic orientation of consumers is a valuable asset to an
advertiser in deciding to whom the messages should be targeted.
The VALS Network

VALS 2 is a psychographic model. Advertisers use it when designing targeted advertisements.
One of the leaders in the area of consumer research is SRI Consulting, which created
the well-known VALS segmentation system. In the Inside Story, Cheri Anderson describes
one of the lessons she’s learned working with the VALS data.
A new tool is iVALS, a project that focuses on the attitudes, preferences, and behav¬
iors of online service and Internet users. Early results of iVALS reinforce the idea of a
dual-tiered society, but one based on knowledge, not income. Education is the critical fac¬
tor in who participates in the Internet and to what degree.
VALS is only one of the most highly regarded psychographic models. Another useful
model is Yankelovich Partners Inc.’s Monitor MindBase™ that segments consumers by
values, attitudes, and mind-sets. In essence, the program uncovers the underlying psychol¬
ogy of consumer behavior on an individual level by segmenting consumers into categories
with varying degrees of materialism, ambition, orientation to family life, cynicism, open¬
ness to technology, and a host of other elements.13 Understanding these mind-set segments
11 r i m
SIDE STORY
The Grand Myth of Early Adoption
Cheri L. Anderson, Principal Consultant, SRI Consulting
Our most creative research assignments strata and roles in society and cannot be identified by
come from clients who want to preview demographics alone.
the future today. These clients want to Using VALS, we have identified three early adopter
know what innovative products to put on groups with different psychological characteristics. The
the shelf in the future and who is most likely to "digerati" early adopters seek novelty, are attracted to
be the early adopters of their innovative products. risk, and tend to be more fashion conscious. They have a
At SRI, we use the VALS psychographic segmentation desire for emotional and physical excitement, all the way
system to identify consumers most likely to be early to the extreme. The "ego-oriented" early adopters desire
adopters in the client's category. In addition, VALS is used leadership and enhanced personal productivity. These
as a framework to do primary research on the lifestyle and consumers have a need to feel superior within their peer
psychological characteristics of early adopters. Our find¬ groups. The "sage-tronic" early adopters are intense infor¬
ings show that early adopters mation seekers and global in perspective. They have a
deep need to know and are expertise focused.
• are people involved in unusual activities and whose
We pursue research on early adopters (and other pro¬
level of activity will disproportionately affect the behav¬
grams of research) with the objective of using psycho¬
iors of others.
graphics to understand why consumers do what they do.
• have many weak social contacts.
By understanding what motivates and demotivates differ¬
• are masters of their own universes.
ent early adopter groups, we can help our clients identify
• are high media users.
targets and steer their brands for successful market entry."
• have a more complex history of personal and sexual
relationships.
Before joining SRI Consulting's Values and Lifestyles Program, Cheri Anderson
Although there are similarities among early adopters, was a strategic planner at DDB Needham Worldwide. She earned her doc¬
our VALS research found some important differences. torate in mass communication/consumer behavior from the University of
Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no one innovator or
early adopter group. Early adopters are in very different Nominated by Professor Bill Wells, University of Minnesota.
can be helpful in crafting a marketing communication program. For example, a cross¬

selling opportunity for a financial services product can be improved by understanding the
type of message that will grab each recipient.
Trends The phenomenon of trends and fads is related to lifestyle and psychographic
factors, as well as the fascination with choice in a consumer culture. The way teenagers,
for example, dress and talk and the products they buy are driven by a constant search for
newness and coolness. Trend spotters are professional researchers hired by advertisers
to identify trends that may affect consumer behavior. Cool hunters are trend spotters
who specialize in identifying trendy fads that appeal to young people. They usually work
with panels of young people in key trend-setting locations, such as New York, California,
urban streets, and Japan. Loic Bizel, for example, hunts Japanese super trendy fads as a
consultant for many Western companies and designers. Through his Web site, www
.fashioninjapan.com, you can have a taste of those cool ideas and fashion in Japan’s street
and life.14
Consider This
o 1. What are the most important psychological factors that influence consumer
decision making?
2. What insights in consumer decision making do you get from
psychographics that you don't get from demographics?
BEHAVIORAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER DECISIONS

In the previous chapter we used the phrase think-feel-do to describe how people respond to
a message. The behavioral component of that model is a key factor in describing the rela¬
tionship consumers have with a product category or a brand and one that is almost always
used in profiling consumers.
Usage Behavior
A critical behavior predictor called usage refers to how much of a product category or
brand a customer buys. Consumers can be described in terms of their relationship with a
product category, as well as a brand. There are two ways to look at usage: usage rates and
brand relationship, as Table 5.4 illustrates. Usage rates refers to quantity of purchase: light,
medium, or heavy. Heavy users typically buy the most of a product category or a brand s
Principle share of the market. There’s an old rule of thumb called the Pareto Rule that says 20 per¬
In many product categories, cent of the market typically buys 80 percent of the products. That explains why the heavy-
20 percent of the users buy user category is so important to marketers and why planners will make special efforts to
80 percent of the products. understand this key customer group.
Brand relationship refers to past, present, or future use of the product by nonusers,
ex-users, regulars, first-timers, and users of and switchers from—or to—competitive prod¬
ucts. People who buy the same brand repeatedly are the ones who display the most brand
loyalty. Heavy users and brand-loyal buyers are usually a brand’s most important cus¬
tomers and the ones who are most difficult for competitors to switch away from a brand.
Switchers are people with low levels of brand loyalty who are willing to leave a brand to
try another one.
innovation and Adoption

Another type of behavior has to do with how willing people are to be innovative and try
something new. Rogers developed the classification system in Figure 5.7, which he called
the Diffusion of Innovation Curve, to identify these behaviors:15
This adoption process is identified in terms of the personal behavior of people and
how their behavior reflects the speed with which they are willing to try something new.
People are grouped based on these behaviors, such as innovators, early adopters, early
majority, late majority, and laggards.
The innovator category, which is the group of brave souls willing to try something
new, only represents about 2.5 percent of the population. Obviously this, and the early-
adopters category, are important groups for marketers launching new products. What these
innovation categories represent are people’s willingness to experiment with something new
and to take risk. Risk taking is a characteristic of your personality but it combines with
behavior in the area of trying a new product. Perceived risk is your view of the relationship
between what you gain by trying something new and what you have to lose if it doesn’t
work out. In other words, how important is the consequence of not making a good decision.
Price is a huge barrier for high-involvement products; personal status and self-image may
be a risk barrier for a fashion product.
5.4 Consumer Categories Based on Product Usage

Quantity Brand Relationship Innovation
Light users Nonusers Innovators
Medium users Ex-users Early adopters
Heavy users Regulars Early majority
First-timers Late majority
Loyal users Laggards
Switchers
The Diffusion of Innovation
Source: Adapted from Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 3rd ed. (New York: The Free Press, 1983).
Consider This
1. What are the primary categories of behavior that influence consumer
decision making?
2. Why is the adoption-of-innovation model important to advertisers?
THE CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS

Although every consumer makes different decisions in different ways, evidence suggests
that most people follow a similar decision process with fairly predictable steps in the deci¬
sion process: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase
decision, and postpurchase evaluation.
As we discussed in earlier chapters, the process consumers go through in making a
purchase can vary somewhat between low-involvement and high-involvement purchase
decisions. The generally recognized stages for both are highlighted in Figure 5.8 and the dif¬
ferences noted where appropriate. The stages are (1) need recognition, (2) information
search, (3) evaluation of alternatives, (4) purchase decision, and (5) postpurchase evaluation.
1. Need recognition occurs when the consumer recognizes a need for a product. This
need can vary in terms of seriousness or importance. The goal of advertising at this
stage is to activate or stimulate this need.
2. Information search can be casual (reading ads and articles that happen to catch your
attention) or formal (searching for information in publications such as Consumer
Reports). Advertising helps the search process by providing information and making it
easy to find, as well as remember. For low-involvement products, particularly prod¬
ucts purchased on impulse, this stage may not occupy much time or thought or may be
skipped altogether. Other ways to describe consumers’ behavior in terms of their infor¬
mation needs include such terms as searchers and impulse buyers. Searchers are peo¬
ple who are driven by a need to know everything they can about a product before mak¬
ing a purchase, particularly for major purchases. People who buy on impulse generally
do so without much thought based on some immediate need such as thirst or hunger.
Low Involvement High Involvement
The Low- and High-Involvement

Decision Processes
Both high- and low-involvement
decision making are part of every
consumer’s need-satisfying process.
(Information Search May Be

Skipped)
Usually there’s not much at stake, so the risk of making a bad decision is small. It is
true, however, that some major purchases, such as cars, can be made on the spur of the
moment by people who are not dedicated searchers for information.
3. Evaluation of alternatives is the stage where consumers compare various products
and features and reduce the list of options to a manageable number. They select cer¬
tain features that are important and use them to judge alternatives. Advertising is
important in this evaluation process because it helps sort out products on the basis of
tangible and intangible features. Even with low-involvement products there may be
what we call an evoked set of brands that are all considered permissible. These are
the first brands that come to mind when you think of a product category. What are
your favorite candy bars? That’s your evoked set.
4. The purchase decision stage is often a two-part decision. Usually, we select the
brand first and then select the outlet from which to buy it. Is this product available at
a grocery store, a discount store, a hardware store, a boutique, a department store, or
a specialty store? Sometimes we select the outlet first, particularly with impulse pur¬
chases. In-store promotions such as packaging, point-of-purchase displays, price
reductions, banners and signs, and coupon displays affect these choices.
5. Postpurchase evaluation is the last step in the process and the point where we begin
to reconsider and justify our purchase to ourselves. As soon as we purchase a product,
particularly a major one, we begin to reevaluate our decision. Is the product what we
expected? Is its performance satisfactory? This experience determines whether we
will keep the product, return it, or refuse to buy the product again. This process may
be skipped in a low-involvement decision. Even before you open the package or use
the product, you may experience doubt or worry about the wisdom of the purchase.
We referred to cognitive dissonance earlier, in the discussion of satisfaction. It is also
an important factor in the postpurchase evaluation step. Many consumers continue
to read information even after the purchase, to justify the decision to themselves.
Advertising, such as copy on package inserts, helps reduce the dissonance by point¬
ing out key features or how to best use the product or how many product users are
satisfied.
Influences on B2B Decision Making

Many of the influences that affect consumer buying also are reflected in business-to-
business marketing. We mentioned earlier that corporate cultures operate in distinctive
ways and affect the way different companies do business. Although some of the consumer
factors are relevant in business purchases, there are some differences, as well.
• In organizational buying, many individuals are involved in making the decision, often
with a buying committee making the final decision.
• Although the business buyer may be motivated by both rational and emotional factors,
the use of rational and quantitative criteria dominates most decisions.
• The decision is sometimes made based on a set of specifications to potential suppliers
who then bid on the contract; typically the lowest bid wins.
• The decision may span a considerable time, creating a lag between the initial contact
and final decision. On the other hand, once a decision is made it may be in place for a
long time and sometimes is supported by a contract.
• Quality is hugely important and repeat purchases are based on how well the product
performs.
Personal selling is also important in B2B marketing, so advertising often is used to open
the door and generate leads for the sales force. The salesperson may serve as a consultant in
helping the buying organization use a product to solve an operations problem. Sometimes the
product is custom designed if the organization is a large buyer of the product or service.
Consider This
o 1. What are the key steps in the consumer decision-making process?
2. How does involvement affect the decision process?
SEGMENTING AND TARGETING

The reason it is important to understand consumer behavior is that advertisers address their
messages to certain audiences that they believe will be good prospects for the product or
service. We rarely broadcast messages to everyone without any consideration of people’s
different interests. In other words, advertising that is interesting, relevant, and attention
getting is aligned with the audience’s interests. So understanding consumer behavior is the
first step in identifying a logical target for a brand message.
Most products don’t have unlimited funds to spread their messages in all directions.
Instead, efficiency—and effectiveness—demands that marketers do two things: segment the
market and target the right audience group. Segmenting means dividing the market into groups
of people who have similar characteristics in certain key product-related areas. Targeting
Principle
means identifying the group that might be the most profitable audience, the one most likely to
Segmenting means dividing the
respond to marketing communication. These decisions are central to both the message and
market into groups of people who
media strategies that are outlined in advertising plans, a topic we’ll discuss in Chapter 7. have similar characteristics in
The idea behind segmenting people into groups is that groups of people to whom common; targeting is identifying
advertisers direct their messages are defined by certain key characteristics—usually demo¬ the group that is most likely to
graphics and psychographics—and these characteristics make them more alike than differ¬ respond to the brand message.
ent. Furthermore, those characteristics also define how they are different from other people
who may not be as ideal a market for a product. A motivation researcher explained that
“when we are part of a group a whole structure of viewpoints is gradually internalized to
become a part of our fundamental psychic system, so that we act and see differently” from
people in other groups.
To Segment or Not to Segment?

The first decision is whether to treat the market as homogeneous (that is, as a single, undif¬
ferentiated, large unit) or as heterogeneous (a market composed of separate, smaller groups
known as segments). When planners treat the market as homogeneous, they purposely
ignore differences in the market and use one marketing strategy that will appeal to as many
people as possible. This market strategy is known as an undifferentiated strategy or
market aggregation strategy. At one point in its history, Coca-Cola viewed the U.S. mar¬
ket as homogeneous and used general appeals—such as “Coke is it!”—for all consumers.
But even Coke is sold in different types of places, and people hear about Coke through dif¬
ferent types of media. Therefore customers are grouped almost by definition, based on their
contact points with the product. And, of course, there are differences in age: There has to be
a big difference between an old Coke drinker and a teenager and that difference affects how
you address them in advertising, as well as how you reach them in different media.
In other words, few examples of homogeneous markets exist. Often, companies take
an undifferentiated approach because they lack the resources to target different market seg¬
ments. For certain types of widely consumed items, such as gasoline, the undifferentiated
market approach may make sense because the potential market is large enough to justify
possible wasted resources. At one time, the bottled water industry used this approach.
Clearly, that has changed as the market for bottled water has grown and evolved.
Market segmentation is a much more common market approach. It assumes that the
best way to sell is to recognize differences within the broad market and adjust marketing
strategies and messages accordingly. In a segmentation strategy, marketers divide the
larger heterogeneous market into segments that are homogeneous within these small mar¬
kets. From these segments, the marketer identifies, evaluates, and selects a target market,
a group of people with similar needs and characteristics who are most likely to be receptive
to the marketer’s product and messages. For White Castle, the JWT team segmented the
target audience into several groups. The highest priority groups were termed Ultimate and
Committed Cravers. These folks, although only 14 percent of the overall customer base,
account for 63 percent of White Castle’s annual revenue.
By using a segmentation approach, a company can more precisely match the needs
and wants of the customer and generate more sales. That’s why soft-drink manufacturers
such as Coke and Pepsi have moved away from the undifferentiated approach and have
introduced product variations to appeal to different segments, such as diet, caffeine-free,
diet caffeine-free, and flavored versions of their basic products. This approach also allows
a company to target advertising messages more precisely.
Types of Segmentation In general marketers segment their markets using five broad
categories based on the consumer characteristics that have been described in this chapter.
The five approaches, which are illustrated in Figure 5.9, include demographics, geograph¬
ies, psychographics, behavioral, and benefits (need based). Which approach or combination
of approaches is best to use will vary with the market situation and the product category.
• Demographic segmentation means dividing the market using such characteristics as

gender, ethnicity, income, and so forth. Age is often the first characteristic to be used
in defining a market segment.
• Geographic segmentation uses location as a defining variable because consumers’
needs sometimes vary depending upon where they live—urban, rural, suburb, East,
West, and so forth. The most important variables are world or global, region, nation,
state, or city. Factors that are related to these decisions include climate, population
density, and the urban-rural character. Geography affects both product distribution and
its marketing communication.
• Psychographic segmentation is primarily based on studies of how people spend then-
money, their patterns of work and leisure, their interest and opinions, and their views
of themselves. It is considered richer than demographic segmentation because it com¬
bines the psychological information with lifestyle insights.
• Behavioral segmentation divides people into groups based on product category and
brand usage.
• Benefit segmentation is based on consumers’ needs or problems. The idea is that peo¬
ple buy products for different benefits they hope to derive. For example, car buyers
might be grouped based on whether they are motivated by concerns for safety, gas
mileage, durability or dependability, performance and handling, luxury, or enhancement
of self-image.
Sociodemographic Segments One common approach to demographic segmenta¬

tion, one that has entered mainstream vocabulary, refers to people in terms of when they
were born. Although these categories are age driven, they also refer to lifestyle differences.
Segmentation Approaches
Market segmentation is based on identifying the factors that best identify the characteristics of people who would be in the market for the product.
The most important of these sociodemographic categories is the baby boomers, who make
up the largest age-related category in the United States.
Gen X, also known as the Baby Busters, is the group whose 45 million members
were, born between 1965 and 1979. Now adults, they grew up with television and have
been described as independent minded and somewhat cynical. They are concerned with
their physical health (they grew up during the AIDS outbreak) and financial future (they
suffered the most from the dot-com bust).
Born between 1980 and 1996, Generation Y are also known as Echo Boomers
because they are the children of baby boomers. They are important to marketers, because
they are next in size to the boomer generation. Also described as the Digital Generation
because they are seen as more technologically savvy, this group is now the youth and
young adult market that marketers want most to reach because they are in the formative
years of their brand relationships. They are prime targets for technology, travel, cars,
homes, and furniture. The Millennium Generation are those children born around 2000 and
in the beginning years of the new century.
Older than the baby boomers, seniors are referred to as the Gray Market and divided
into two categories: young seniors (60-74) and older seniors (75 plus). This is another
huge market in the United States at least, and also a wealthy one. With baby boomers mov¬
ing into their retirement years, the senior market will become even larger relative to the rest
of the population.
Other fun terms that have been used to describe demographic and lifestyle segments
include the following:
• Dinkies. Double-income young couples with no kids

• Guppies. Gay upwardly mobile professionals
• Skippies. School kids with purchasing power
• Slackers. This term has been recycled from referring to high school kids in the 1990s
(as in the Slacker movie) who don’t care much and don’t do much. More recently the
term refers to 20-something burnt-out dot-comers who are unemployed and enjoying a
laid-back life.
• Bling bling generation. Coined by rappers and hip-hoppers, the term refers to flashy
people with a high-rolling lifestyle and costly diamonds and jewelry.
Niche Markets Although advertising has gone global to reach large markets, many
advertisers have moved toward tighter and tighter niche markets, which are subsegments
of a more general market. Individuals in the niche market, such as ecologically minded
mothers who won’t use disposable diapers, are defined by some distinctive trait. Instead of
Gender and Age
Narrowing the Target
Geography
Income Mothers 18-35

and Urban
Education Affluent
College educated
marketing to the masses, they target narrow market segments, such as single women trav¬
elers, hockey fans, classical-music enthusiasts, skateboarders, or ethnic business owners.
Although large companies may develop niche strategies, niche marketers are companies
that pursue market segments that are of sufficient size to be profitable although not large
enough to be of interest to large marketers. Elderhostel, for example, markets to seniors
who are interested in educationally oriented travel experiences.
Targeting the Right Audience

Through targeting, the organization is able to design specific communication strategies to
match the audience’s needs and wants and position the product in the most relevant way to
match their interests. The target is first of all described using the variables that separate this
prospective consumer group from others who probably are not in the market.
Profiling the Target Audience The target audience is then profiled using descrip¬
tive information based on the factors we’ve discussed in this chapter: What’s their age,
income, education, and where do they live? What motivates them? Profiles are descrip¬
tions of the target audience that read like a description of someone you know. These are
used in developing media and message decisions. The White Castle target audience is a
cultlike following united by their craving for the one-of-a-kind, distinctive, steamed-on-a-
bed-of-onions burgers. They share a bond that bridges age—gender, ethnicity, and social
status. The taste, the smell, the shape: All are why “Cravers” believe that there is nothing
else like a White Castle burger. The target is defined by its multisensory addition.
Pretend you’re launching a new diaper service. Mothers of infants, for example, are
Principle not all alike. What makes one group different from another set of mothers? Some of them
Each time you add a variable to a are affluent, others are poor and struggling to get by. Are those important factors for the
target audience definition, you brand? You build a profile by starting with the most important characteristic. For the diaper
narrow the size of the target service it would be gender, of course, and also age—let’s say women 18-35, for example.
audience.
Then you add other factors, such as income, urban dwellers, education, or whatever are
found in research to be the most important predictive variables. As Figure 5.10 illustrates,
each time you add a variable you narrow the market as you come closer to the ideal target
audience. The objective is to get the largest group that still holds together as a group in
such a way that you can direct a message that will speak to all or most of the people in that
group. Once these predictor variables have been sorted out, then it should be possible to
build an estimate of the size of this target market.
Consider This
o-
1. What is a market segmentation strategy?
2. What kind of information is used is creating a target audience profile?
IT'S A WRAP
MAKING CRAVERS ONE OF OURS
In this chapter we identified several key audience traits and behaviors that are relevant to
advertisers as they decide how to effectively segment the market and target the audience.
Keep in mind that we haven't examined all possible traits and behaviors. Furthermore, those
who work on the design and implementation of an advertisement may interpret these traits
differently. The point is that the key to effective customer-focused advertising is staying sensi¬
tive to the consumer and understanding how they think, act, and feel.
In the White Castle case, the advertising is built on an important consumer insight about
how devoted customers crave the hamburger. The idea was expressed in the slogan "What
You Crave." The message strategy behind the "Crave" theme focused on the burger's indul¬
gent qualities, the self-indulgence that comes from enjoying a guilty pleasure—such as con¬
suming a sack of 10 burgers smothered with onions. The Craver's self-identity as an individu¬
alist who is loyal to a different kind of burger was linked to White Castle's image as a
hamburger chain that makes its burgers in a nontraditional way. The goal is to make White
Castle Cravers identify themselves with the chain as "one of ours."
In terms of results, the first campaign objective for the "Crave" campaign was to
improve future purchase intent by 10 percent. A brand-tracking study by the Millward Brown
research company found that the number of individuals who said that the advertising makes
them want to go to White Castle increased by 19 percent, which was nearly double the
original objective.
The campaign had even more impact on the sales objective, which called for sales
growth 25 percent greater than the competition. In fact, the "Crave" campaign delivered a
sales growth that was 1 00 percent greater than competitors, which is four times the goal (an
increase of 400 percent). A highly effective campaign, results like these are the reasons
White Castle's "Why You Crave" advertising continues to be an EFFIE winner year after year.
■■■Summary
1. Assess cultural and social influences on consumer important. The innovativeness of people in the group in
responses. The social and cultural influences on consumer terms of their willingness to try something new is another
decision making include society and subcultures, social important behavioral factor influencing decision making.
class, reference groups, age, gender, family status, educa¬ 4. Describe how the consumer decision process works. The
tion, occupation, income, and race. decision process involves five stages: need recognition,
2. Demonstrate how psychological influences motivate con¬ information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase
sumers. Psychological influences on consumers include decision, and postpurchase evaluation.
perception, learning, motivation, attitudes, personality, 5. Differentiate between segmenting and targeting and
psychographics, and lifestyles. Advertisers identify au¬ trace these planning tools to their sources in cul¬
diences in terms of demographics and psychographics. tural, social, psychological, and behavioral factors.
Demographic profiles of consumers include information on Segmentation involves dividing a market into groups of
population size, age, gender, education, family situation, people who can be identified as being in the market for the
occupation, income, and race. Psychographic profiles product. Targeting is identifying the group that would be
include information on attitudes, lifestyles, buying behavior, the most responsive to an advertising message about the
and decision processes. product. Both segmenting and targeting use the social and
3. Explain the behavioral characteristics that describe con¬ cultural, psychological, and behavioral characteristics to
sumer responses. Quantity of usage is an important charac¬ identify these critical groups of people.
teristic of a profitable market. The relationship the con¬
sumer has with the brand in terms of use and loyalty is also
■ * * Key Terms
acquired needs, 138 family, 130 perceived risk, 144 subculture, 129
cognitive dissonance, 139 household, 130 personality, 140 target market, 148
consumer behavior, 126 innate needs, 135 profiles, 150 targeting, 147
core values, 128 lifestyle, 135 psychographics, 140 undifferentiated (market
corporate culture, 129 lifestyle analysis, 141 reference group, 129 aggregation) strategy, 147
culture, 128 market aggregation strategy, segmenting, 147 usage, 144
customers, 127 147 selective distortion, 138 VALS, 141
demographics, 131 market segmentation, 148 selective exposure, 138 values, 128
discretionary income, 135 niche market, 149 selective retention, 138
evoked set, 146 norms, 128 social class, 129
* ■ ■ Review Questions
1. What are the key cultural and social influences that affect your decision about where to go in terms of the behavioral
consumer responses to advertising? factors.
2. What are the key psychological factors that influence con¬ 4. Outline the steps in the basic consumer decision-making
sumer decision making? process.
3. What are the key behavioral influences on consumer behav¬ 5. Define targeting. How does it differ from segmenting?
ior? You want to go out to eat this coming Friday; analyze
mmmDiscussion Questions
1. Choose four VALS 2 categories and find one or more print graphic, psychographic, or attitude and motive studies are
advertisements that appear to be targeted to people in each best for developing a creative profile of the TCA target
category. Explain why you think the ad addresses that audi¬ audience. If the choice were yours, on which body of
ence. Do you believe that the categories are mutually exclu¬ research would you base a creative strategy? Explore the
sive? Can consumers (and ads directed to them) be classi¬ strengths and weaknesses of each.
fied in multiple categories? Why or why not? 5. Consider the social-class segments discussed in this chapter.
2. You are working as an intern at the Williams Russell agency Select two demographic or psychographic factors that would
and the agency has just gotten a new account, a bottled tea be most receptive to these product-marketing situations:
named Leafs Alive. The sale of bottled tea is surging with the
a. Full line of frozen family-style meals (for microwaving)
industry reaching $5.5 billion in sales in 2003. What con¬
that feature superior nutritional balances
sumer trends seem to be driving this product development?
b. Dairy product company (milk, cheese, ice cream) offer¬
3. What are the stages of the consumer decision process? Give
ing an exclusive packaging design that uses fully
examples of how advertising can influence each stage. Find
degradable containers
an ad that addresses the concern of consumers in each stage.
c. A new SUV that is lighter in weight and gets better gas
4. Sean McDonnell is the creative director for Chatham-
mileage than the average SUV '
Boothe, an advertising agency that has just signed a con¬
6. Draw up a target audience profile for students attending
tract with Trans-Central Airlines (TCA). TCA has a solid
your college. How does it differ from another school in
portfolio of consumer research and has offered to let the
your same market area?
agency use it. McDonnell needs to decide whether demo¬
■ * * Class Projects
L Visit one or more stores that sell stereo systems. Report on the sales techniques used (check
on advertising, point-of-purchase displays, store design, Web site, and so forth). What
beliefs concerning consumer behavior appear to underlie these strategies?
2. Bottled water is an outgrowth of the health and fitness trend. It has recently moved into
second place in the beverage industry behind wine and spirits and beating out beer and
coffee. The latest twist on bottled water is the “enhanced” category with designer waters
that include such things as extra oxygen, vitamins, or caffeine. The emerging brands are
Evamor from New Jersey and Trinity Springs from Idaho. Go to the Web site United
Business Media (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com). Track down a set of secondary data
results. Indicate how you would use this information to design an ad for one of these
products.
HANDS-ON
Toyota Goes After Tuners CAS4
Young people with limited incomes often look for a great siasts to play games and enter contests for prizes, as it in
deal on a new car. One way to save some money is to turn collected names and e-mail addresses. GM's focus on
forgo options and upgrades, like a sunroof or a CD relationship marketing makes sense because tuners don't
player. But when Toyota introduced its funky "Scion" watch a lot of TV. Both Mitsubishi and Ford believe the
brand, it considered offering a version without something best way to reach them is with product placements in
most people assume comes standard: paint. Although they movies (Mitsubishi bought air time in the popular film "2
ultimately decided against the idea, at one point Toyota's Fast 2 Furious"). But even companies selling products unre¬
plan was to sell the brand with just gray primer. lated to cars are interested in the tuner lifestyle. Pepsi has
Toyota wasn't really targeting people so cheap they hired tuners to customize some of its promotional vehicles.
wouldn't spend money on paint. Just the opposite—the car Which brings us full circle back to Scion. Toyota's
company was going after a group with money to burn, goal is to make the new car an immediate hit with tuners.
called tuners. Tuners are young car buyers who live to cus¬ So rather than spend a great deal of money on network
tomize their cars. The trend really began among young television, Toyota decided to sponsor a 22-minute movie
Asian Americans, who typically bought inexpensive On the D.L. The movie is a comical docudrama that tells
Asian import cars and then spent thousands of dollars cus¬ the story of a pair of musicians trying to obtain their first
tomizing them. The hobby has spread to other young peo¬ drivers licenses. The stars are musicians from youth-
ple, so that today Asian Americans are a minority of oriented bands: Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, from the
tuners. But Japanese brands remain the cars of choice Roots, and DJ King Britt, who played for the Digable
among those dedicated to creating a work of art on Planets. The film premiered at the Tribeca film festival,
wheels. Explaining the idea of a "no paint" option, Jim after which segments were shared on peer-to-peer net¬
Farley, Scion general manager, says, "As much as possi¬ works such as Kaazaa. Toyota hopes that enthusiasts will
ble, we want to give them [tuners] a blank canvas." download the segments and share them with friends.
What does a tuner do with his car? He (or she;
women make up almost 20 percent of the tuner subculture) Consider This
might take a basic Honda, add a large and loud exhaust O-
system, paint the intake manifolds, and add ride-lowering 1. Why are tuners so attractive to marketers, even
springs. Other popular add-ons are technologies that after accounting for their spending power?
increase vehicle speed, like turbochargers, superchargers, 2. Evaluate Toyota's strategy of targeting tuners with
and nitrous kits. And there are some serious bucks the Scion campaign. What are the difficulties for
involved. The Specialty Equipment Market Association a large company in marketing effectively to a
estimates that auto after-market spending (spending on youth-oriented subculture? What techniques do
car accessories after the original car purchase) increased you think companies like Toyota are using to try
from $295 million in 1997 to $2.3 billion in 2002. The to understand their market?
motivation? "You build a car for yourself," says one 20- 3. Explain how "tuner" campaigns, such as those by
something tuner who plans to one day install an Acura GM and Toyota, work. Analyze these campaigns
RSX Type-S engine into his Honda Civic. "The satisfaction using the Facets Model to identify the effects they
is in making it your own and knowing that nobody will are designed to achieve. How would you deter¬
ever have something that's the same." mine if these campaigns are effective?
The amount of money tuners spend is reason enough
to attract the attention of marketers. GM hoped to interest Sources: Jean Halliday, "Tune In, Trick Out Trend Turns On Carmakers," Advertising Age
(November 3, 2003); Jean Halliday, "Toyota's Scion Goes to Tribeca Film Fest,"
tuners in its Saturn Ion, Chevrolet Cavalier, and Pontiac
Advertising Age (April 26, 2004); Gail Kachadourian, "What's Hot with Tuners?,"
Sunfire when it launched a "Tuner Tour" of 10 National Automotive News (November 4, 2002); Richard Truett, "Scion Considers a No-Paint
Hot Rod Association races. GM allowed young car enthu¬ Option," Automotive News (November 3, 2003).
CHAPTER KEY POINTS
1. Discuss the types of strategic research.
2. Identify the four uses of research in advertising.
3. List the common research methods used in advertising.
4. Explain the key challenges facing advertising research.
r ix years ago, Mike Wood, a corporate lawyer at a San

Leaping Over Learning Francisco law firm, was searching for a product to help his
son learn to read. Mike's son, Mat, was struggling with the
Award: relatively complex concept of phonics—the idea that every let¬
Effie® Grand Prize
ter makes its own unique sound. Eventually, Mike stopped looking
Company: for the right product and his frustration drove him to simply make
LeapFrog Enterprises one in his garage. Tinkering with gadgets in his spare time, he cob¬
bled together a prototype using voice technology from a tdlking
Agency: greeting card. Lo and behold, it worked and Mat began to under¬
Ackerman McQueen,
stand the concept of phonics.
Dallas, Texas; San
Introduced in 1997, LeapFrog had sales of just $10 million. By
Francisco, California; and
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 2002, LeapFrog had expanded from one product (Mike's Learn to
Read Phonics Desk) to 134 learning products.
Campaign: Children's learning materials are about as exciting as broccoli
"Learn Something New on a kid's plate. In contrast, products like Razor Scooters and Yu-Gi-
Every Day"
Oh focus solely on fun and have become huge must-have brands for
kids. In recent years, licensing has fueled category growth, with
155
items like Harry Potter, SpongeBob, and Spider-Man. So how can educational
products compete with the big toy brands?
The preschool section is dominated by a few big, albeit "sleepy," brands
such as Fisher-Price, Playskool, and Sesame Street. These names have been fix¬
tures in American families for generations and are rewarded with unaided brand
awareness levels above 95 percent. Each of these brands has fostered a strong
and emotional bond with consumers—defined by such qualities as "wholesome¬
ness," "trust," and "fun." The challenge to LeapFrog's agency, Ackerman
McQueen, was to make LeapFrog competitive against such venerable brands.
To make the situation more challenging, two of the leading preschool
brands, Fisher-Price and Playskool, have deep pockets. These brands are
owned by the two largest toy manufacturers in the United States—Mattel ($4.9
billion revenue) and Hasbro ($2.8 billion revenue). LeapFrog, an unknown
startup with just one product, would have to go head-to-head with these well-
funded and entrenched conglomerates.
Consumer Research
The Ackerman McQueen team wanted to uncover what, beyond the conven¬
tional demographic data on moms who buy educational materials, really makes
LeapFrog moms tick. The team analyzed industry research, as well as con¬
ducted an in-home ethnographic study with moms across the country in con¬
junction with an annual quantitative Brand Tracker study.
The studies determined that LeapFrog moms don't differ much in terms of
demographic variables like educational status, income, or where they live. What
distinguishes a LeapFrog mom is the fact that she, regardless of her own educa¬
tional level, consistently values education highly. She understands that stimulating
childrens' minds at the earliest age will give them a better chance in life.
The research found that the LeapFrog mom is adventurous, confident, and
discerning. In terms of her attitudes and lifestyle, she is different from the typical
toy buyer. The purchase of a LeapFrog product is planned, versus the spontane¬
ity of most toy purchases. She will also spend more than five times the industry
average ($7) for a LeapFrog product ($40). Lastly, two-thirds (66 percent) of
moms will "hand on" or "pass down" LeapFrog products to another child in the
household, in contrast to the disposable nature of most toy products.
Ackerman McQueen's qualitative research also found that mom continues
to be the primary protector, mentor, and teacher in her child's life. Research
revealed that the declining state of the educational system, the pressure to suc¬
ceed, and the desire to offer her children the best "leg up" all weighed heavy
on mom's mind. This is true even at the earliest preschool age. The agency's
approach was to play directly to moms' sensibilities, aspirations, and desires to
offer her child "only the best." This subtly taps into her fears and needs (plus a
tiny dose of guilt) by offering an important solution to teaching young minds.
Walk into any major retailer of children's products today and you'll see
that LeapFrog owns the aisle. So how did LeapFrog's research and marketing
communication create such a strong brand presence for this upstart company?
Check the It's a Wrap section at the end of this chapter to read about the
results.
CHAPTER 6 • STRATEGIC RESEARCH 157
In order to understand consumer response to an advertising message and to plan advertis¬

ing that has impact on consumers, marketers such as LeapFrog need to do research. This
effort, which includes market and competitive research, as well as consumer research,
becomes the foundation for the advertising plan, which we discuss in Chapter 7. In this
chapter we will discuss some key research concepts, beginning with an explanation of the
two most basic categories of research—primary and secondary—and the two categories of
research tools—quantitative and qualitative.
RESEARCH: THE QUEST FOR INTELLIGENCE AND INSIGHT

Market and consumer research is usually handled by the advertiser’s marketing depart¬
ment. That research, however, is the foundation for many advertising decisions, so discus¬
sion of it is included in this chapter. Market research compiles information about the
product, the product category, and other details of the marketing situation that will impact
on the development of advertising strategy. Consumer research is used to identify people
who are in the market for the product in terms of their characteristics, attitudes, interests,
and motivations. Ultimately this information is used to decide who should be the targeted
audience for the advertising. In an integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan, the
consumer research is enlarged to acquire information about all the relevant stakeholders.
Advertising research focuses on all the elements of advertising, including message
development research, media-planning research, and evaluation, as well as information
about competitors’ advertising. IMC research is similar except it is used to assemble
information needed in planning the use of a variety of marketing communication tools.
Strategic research uncovers critical information that becomes the basis for strategic
planning decisions. In advertising it covers all the factors and steps that lead to the creation
of (1) message strategies and (2) media plans. Think of strategic research as collecting all
relevant background information needed to make a decision on advertising strategy.
You were engaged in strategic research, for example, when you were looking for an
acceptable college to attend. You conducted market research (what information is avail¬
able?), strategic research (what factors are most important in making a decision and how
do the schools stack up?), and evaluative research (how will I know I made the best deci¬
sion?). An advertising plan goes through similar stages of development with research
being the first step.
Types of Research
New advertising assignments always begin with some kind of informal or formal back¬
ground research into the marketing situation. This is secondary research.
Secondary Research Background research that uses available published informa¬

tion about a topic is called secondary research. When advertising people get new accounts
or new assignments, they start by reading everything they can find on the product, com¬
pany, industry, and competition: sales reports, annual reports, complaint letters, and trade
articles about the industry. What they are looking for is important facts and key insights.
It’s called secondary because it is information that has been collected and published by
someone else. Many secondary information sources are available to advertisers doing
strategic research.
Government Organizations Governments, through their various departments, provide an

astonishing array of statistics that can greatly enhance advertising and marketing deci¬
sions. Many of the statistics come from census records on the population’s size, geo¬
graphic distribution, age, income, occupation, education, and ethnicity.
Trade Associations Many industries support trade associations (such as professional

organizations whose members all work in the same field) that gather and distribute infor¬
mation of interest to association members. For instance, the American Association of
Advertising Agencies (AAAA) issues reports that help ad agencies monitor their own
performance and keep tabs on competitors. The Radio Advertising Bureau publishes
H© http ://vw.cwjgtôv/ H. L .
Demographic information
of this kind is fundamental
to decision making about
advertising targets and market
segmentation. An advertiser
US. 295,226,208
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Frequently Astred Questions (FAQs) •
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pfinnip Estimates • American Community Sunrey • Income • Poverty • HeaffiL
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reports that help advertisers
make better decisions. American FactFinder Rusinoce Economic Census ■ WAIC.S • Sujyey.ftLBuslness Owner? • Soyaianafli •
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Radio Facts, an overview of the commercial U.S. radio industry, the Account Planning
Group (APG) conducts seminars and training sessions for account planners, and the
American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) serves the professional
needs of opinion researchers.
Secondary Research Suppliers Because of the overwhelming amount of information

available through secondary research, firms called secondary research suppliers gather
and organize information around specific topic areas for other interested parties. Key
secondary research suppliers are FIND/SVP, Off-the-Shelf Publications, Inc., Dialog
Information Services, Inc., Lexis-Nexis, Dow Jones News/Retrieval, and Market Analysis
Information Database, Inc.
Secondary Information on the Internet For any given company, you’re bound to find a
Web site where you can learn about the company’s history and philosophy of doing busi¬
ness, check out its complete product line, and discover who runs the company. Several
sites offer credible information for account planners or others involved in market research.
However, it is unlikely that all the needed information will be found on these sites.
Practical Tips
o
Web Sites for Advertising Research
Here's a sampling of Web sites that contain information that might be useful to
you if you are doing background research for an advertising assignment:
• BrandEra (www.brandera.com) offers information by product category.

• Business Wire (www.businesswire.com) is an electronic distributor of press
releases and business news.
• Census Bureau (www.census.gov) contains the U.S. Census database,
press releases, a population clock, and clips from its radio broadcasts.
• IndustryClick (www.industryclick.com) is a collection of business publica¬
tions categorized by industry.
• Cluetrain (www.cluetrain.com) is a site that publishes new ways to find and
share innovative marketing information and ideas.
United States
Survey of Current Business: Basic operational statistics on U.S. business. (Bureau of Economic
Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce)
Requirements of Laws and Regulations Enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: A Sample of Government
Laws and regulations affecting food and beverage advertising. (U.S. Department of Health and Reports That Interest Advertisers
Human Services, Food and Drug Administration) An advertiser may find government
Children’s Information Processing of Television Advertising: How children react to television reports to be an invaluable source of
commercials. (National Technical Information Services, U.S. Department of Commerce) research information.
Canada
Statistical Profile of Canadian Communities. (Office of the Chief Statistician of Canada)

The Economy in Detail. (Statistics Canada)
Canadian Social Trends. (Statistics Canada)
European Union
Shopping around Europe: European Economic Area. (European Union Eurostat Memo)
Key Data on Relations between the EU and Asian ASEM Countries. (European Union Eurostat
Memo)
More Babies Born in the EU. (European Union Eurostat Memo)
A typical advertising campaign might be influenced, directly or indirectly, by infor¬

mation from many sources, including outside research suppliers, as well as agency
research.
Primary Research Information that is collected for the first time from original
sources is called primary research. Companies do their own tracking and monitoring of
their customers’ behavior and they also hire research firms to do this research. Firms that
specialize in interviewing, observing, recording, and analyzing the behavior of those who
purchase or influence the purchase of a particular good or service are called primary
research suppliers. The primary research supplier industry is extremely diverse. The com¬
panies range from A. C. Nielsen, which employs more than 45,000 workers in the United
States alone, to several thousand entrepreneurs who conduct focus groups, individual inter¬
views, prepare reports, and provide advice on specific advertising and marketing problems
for individual clients.
Some companies either h ire

outside research firms or do
their own tracking and
monitoring of consumer
behavior.
Many advertising agencies subscribe to large-scale surveys conducted by the Simmons

Market Research Bureau (SMRB) or by Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI). These two orga¬
nizations survey large samples of American consumers (approximately 30,000 for each
survey) and ask questions about the consumption, possession, or use of a wide range of
products, services, and media. The products and services covered in the MRI survey range
from toothbrushes and dental floss to diet colas, camping equipment, and theme parks.
Strictly speaking, both SMRB and MRI are secondary data sources: They conduct
their own original research, but they publish their findings, which are available to their
clients. These reports are intended primarily for use in media planning; however, because
these surveys are so comprehensive, they also can be mined for unique consumer informa¬
tion, which makes them primary sources. Through a computer program called Golddigger,
for example, an MRI subscriber can select a consumer target and ask the computer to find
all other products and services and all the media that members of the target segment use.
The resulting profile provides a vivid and detailed description of the target as a person—
just the information agency creative teams need to help them envision their audiences.
Figure 6.2 shows a sample MRI report of the types of TV programs adults aged 18 to
34 watch. The report breaks down the 18-34 market into four market segments based on
size of household and age of children, if any.
Quantitative and Qualitative Research Primary research can be both quanti¬

tative and qualitative. Qualitative research provides insight into the underlying reasons
for how consumers behave and why. Common qualitative research methods include such
tools as observation, ethnographic studies, in-depth interviews, and case studies. These
exploratory research tools are useful for probing and gaining explanations, insight, and
understanding into such questions as:
• What type of features do customers want?

• What are the motivations that lead to the purchase of a product?
• What do our customers think about our advertising?
• How do consumers relate to the brand? What are their emotional links to the brand?
Qualitative methods are used early in the process of developing an advertising plan or
message strategy for generating insights, as well as questions and hypotheses for addi¬
tional research. They are also good at confirming hunches, ruling out bad approaches and
questionable or confusing ideas, and giving direction to the message strategy. Because
qualitative research is typically done with small groups, advertisers are not able to draw
conclusions about or project their findings to the larger population.
Quantitative research delivers numerical data such as number of users and pur¬
chases, their attitudes and knowledge, their exposure to ads, and other market-related
information. It also provides information on reactions to advertising and motivation to pur¬
chase (sometimes called purchase intent or intend-to-buy). Quantitative methods that
investigate the responses of large numbers of people are useful to test ideas to determine if
the market is large enough or if most people really think or behave that way.
Two primary characteristics of quantitative research are (1) large sample sizes (typi¬
cally from 100 to 1,000 people) and (2) random sampling. The most common quantitative
research methods include surveys and studies that track such things as sales and opinions.
In contrast to qualitative research, quantitative is usually designed to either accurately
count something, such as sales levels, or to predict something, such as attitudes. In order to
be predictive, however, this type of research has to follow careful scientific procedures.
Qualitative research should not be used to draw conclusions, which is the province of
quantitative research, but instead to better understand a market and generate hypotheses
that we can test with quantitative methods.1 As Sally Reinman, Worldwide Market Planner
at Saatchi & Saatchi, observes, research is more than numbers. She explains:
Research processes are more varied and exciting than ever before. Examples include
asking consumers to draw pictures, create collages, and produce home videos to
show how they use a product.
Respondent 18-34 Respondent 18-34 Respondent 18-34 Respondent 18-34

1-Person Household and Married, no children and Married, Youngest Child <6 and Married Youngest Child 6+
A B C D A B C D A B C D A B C D
Total
u.s. % O/o o/o O/o o/o O/O o/o O/O
Base: Adults 000 000 Down Across Index 000 Down Across Index 000 Down Across Index 000 Down Across
Index
All Adults 184274 5357 100.0 2.9 100 7559 100.0 4.1 100 18041 100.0 9.8 100 4978 100.0 2.7 100
Program-Types: Average Show
Adven/Sci Fi/West-Prime 19969 590 11.0 3.0 102 875 11.6 4.4 107 2303 12.8 11.5 118 694 13.9 3.5 129
Auto Racing-Specials 6590 *226 4.2 3.4 118 *242 3.2 3.7 90 634 3.5 9.6 98 *251 5.0 3.8 141
Awards-Specials 16490 397 7.4 2.4 83 514 6.8 3.1 76 1576 8.7 9.6 98 *451 9.1 2.7 101
Baseball Specials 28019 806 15.0 2.9 99 1128 14.9 4.0 98 2671 14.8 9.5 97 *506 10.2 1.8 67
Basketball-Weekend-College 7377 *222 4.1 3.0 104 *244 3.2 3.3 81 531 2.9 7.2 74 *183 3.7 2.5 92
Basketball Specials-College 17096 529 9.9 3.1 106 694 9.2 4.1 99 1459 8.1 8.5 87 *423 8.5 2.5 92
Basketball Specials-Pro. 32470 1057 19.7 3.3 112 1369 18.1 4.2 103 3128 17.3 9.6 98 886 17.8 2.7 101
Bowling-Weekend 16808 312 5.8 1.9 654 744 9.8 4.4 108 1476 8.2 8.8 90 *386 7.8 2.3 85
ComedyA/ariety 26254 930 17.4 3.5 122 1150 15.2 4.4 107 3257 18.1 12.4 127 999 20.1 3.8 141
Daytime Dramas 7621 *192 3.6 2.5 87 *287 3.8 3.8 92 845 4.7 11.1 113 *343 6.9 4.5 167
Daytime Game Shows 7747 *97 1.8 1.3 43 *194 2.6 2.5 61 734 4.1 9.5 97 *235 4.7 3.0 112
Documen/Information-Prime 22514 532 9.9 2.4 81 504 6.7 2.2 55 1739 9.6 7.7 79 *454 9.1 2.0 75
Early Morning News 12226 280 5.2 2.3 79 *429 5.7 3.5 86 1065 5.9 8.7 89 *330 6.6 2.7 100
Early Morning Talk/Info/News 14681 258 4.8 1.8 60 580 7.7 4.0 96 1291 7.2 8.8 90 *268 5.4 1.8 68
Early Eve. Netwk News-M-F 25946 596 11.1 2.3 79 836 11.1 3.2 79 1822 10.1 7.0 72 *594 11.9 2.3 85
Early Eve. Netwk News-Wknd 11338 *197 3.7 1.7 60 *208 2.8 1.8 45 795 4.4 7.0 72 *187 3.8 1.6 61
Entertainment Specials 19630 408 7.6 2.1 71 701 9.3 3.6 87 1719 9.5 8.8 89 *494 9.9 2.5 93
Feature Films-Prime 17232 371 6.9 2.2 74 *538 7.1 3.1 76 1209 6.7 7.0 72 *475 9.5 2.8 102
Football Bowl Games-Specials 13322 369 6.9 2.8 95 *381 5.0 2.9 70 1512 8.4 11.3 116 *245 4.9 1.8 68
Football Pro.-Specials 44804 1471 27.5 3.3 113 1766 23.4 3.9 96 4555 25.2 10.2 104 1104 22.2 2.5 91
General Drama-Prime 19880 581 10.8 2.9 101 571 7.6 2.9 70 2095 11.6 10.5 108 *555 11.1 2.8 103
Golf 5161 *102 1.9 2.0 68 *152 2.0 2.9 72 *324 1.8 6.3 64 *15 .3 .3 11
Late Evening Netwk News Wknd 5146 *146 2.7 2.8 98 *114 1.5 2.2 54 *293 1.6 5.7 58 *104 2.1 2.0 75
Late Night TalkA/ariety 9590 313 5.8 3.3 112 *297 3.9 3.1 75 1009 5.6 10.5 107 *198 4.0 2.1 76
News-Specials 14508 234 4.4 1.6 55 510 6.7 3.5 86 1297 7.2 8.9 91 *212 4.3 1.5 54
Pageants-Specials 22025 439 8.2 2.0 69 952 12.6 4.3 105 2503 13.9 11.4 116 547 11.0 2.5 92
Police Docudrama 23575 726 13.6 3.1 106 1179 15.6 5.0 122 2309 12.8 9.8 100 731 14.7 3.1 115
Pvt Det/Susp/Myst/Pol.-Prime 28183 673 12.6 2.4 82 763 10.1 2.7 66 1739 9.6 6.2 63 *493 9.9 1.7 65
Situation Comedies-Prime 19097 598 11.2 3.1 108 919 12.2 4.8 117 2737 15.2 14.3 146 688 13.8 3.6 133
Sports Anthologies-Weekend 4847 *218 4.1 4.5 155 *232 3.1 4.8 117 *403 2.2 8.3 85 *108 2.2 2.2 82
Sunday News/Interview 5809 *70 1.3 1.2 41 *116 1.5 2.0 49 *214 1.2 3.7 38 *97 1.9 1.7 62
Syndicated Adult General 10444 *271 5.1 2.6 89 462 6.1 4.4 108 766 4.2 7.3 75 *221 4.4 2.1 78
Tennis 10033 338 6.3 3.4 116 380 5.0 3.8 92 826 4.5 8.2 84 *105 2.1 1.0 39
Sample of an MRI Consumer Media Report

A report such as this one from Mediamark Research can be a source of primary data.
Source: Mediamark Research, Inc.

As consumers around the world become better informed and more demanding,
advertisers that target different cultures need to find the “commonalities” (or common
ground) among consumer groups from these cultures. Research for Toyota s sport-
utility vehicle (SUV), the RAV 4, showed that consumers in all the targeted countries
had three common desires: They wanted an SUV to have style, safety, and economy.
To find these commonalities, I work with experts to learn the cultural meaning
of codes and symbols that people use to communicate. The experts I work with
include cultural and cognitive anthropologists, psychologists, interior decorators,
and Indian storytellers. Anyone who can help me understand consumers and the con¬
sumer decision-making process is fair game.
THE USES OF RESEARCH

In the 1950s, major advertising agencies began developing large, well-funded, highly pro¬
fessional research departments. Some large advertisers, as well as big agencies, still have
in-house research departments. These departments collect and disseminate secondary
research data and conduct primary research that ultimately finds its way into advertising.
As markets have become more fragmented and saturated, and as consumers have
become more demanding, there has been an increased need for research-based information
in advertising planning. There are five ways research is used in advertising planning:
1. Market Information
2. Consumer Insight Research
3. Media Research
4. Message Development
5. Evaluation Research
Market Information
Marketing research is formal research, such as surveys, in-depth interviews, observa¬
tional methods, focus groups (which are like in-depth interviews with a group rather than
individuals), and all types of primary and secondary data used to develop a marketing plan
and, ultimately, provide information for an advertising plan. A subset of marketing
research, known as market research, previously discussed, is research used to gather infor¬
mation about a particular market—consumers, as well as competitive brands.
Market information, then, includes everything a planner can uncover about consumer
perceptions of the brand, product category, and competitors’ brands. Planners sometimes
ride with the sales force and listen to sales pitches, tour manufacturing plants to see how
a product is made, and work in a store or restaurant to evaluate the employee interaction
with customers. In terms of advertising, planners test the brand’s and its competitor’s
advertisements, promotions, retail displays, packaging, and other marketing communica¬
tion efforts.
Brand information includes an assessment of the brand’s role and performance in the
marketplace—is it a leader, a follower, a challenger, or a subbrand of a bigger and better-
known brand? This research also investigates how people perceive brand personalities and
images.
Consumer Insight Research

Both the creative team (which creates messages) and the media planners (who decide how
and when to deliver the messages) need to know as much as they can, in as much depth and
detail as possible, about the people they are trying to reach. Demographic and psycho¬
graphic information is used to describe the target audience.
The objective of most consumer research is to puzzle out a key consumer insight that
will help move the target audience to respond to the message. Through qualitative and quan¬
titative research, for example, LeapFrog’s agency found that there was tremendous “confu¬
sion” at retail when moms shopped the LeapFrog Feaming Center. The brand’s rapid growth
The Use of Research in

Advertising Planning
was the primary culprit. In the last six years, LeapFrog had grown from one platform to seven
(and 134 products total), targeting different age groups. To codify this for the consumer and
the retailer, the agency spearheaded a new “systems” approach called “LeapLevels: The right
stage for the right age.” This made it possible to simplify age grading of platforms and inte¬
grate the products into a cohesive “total learning system.” This program is communicated
through point-of-sale signage, floor graphics, shelf blades, and retailer circulars.
Identifying the consumer insight is the responsibility of the account planner, and that
role and process will be described in more detail in the planning chapter. For example, the
Matter of Principle box describes the research conducted by and for the Army that provided
the justification for moving from the “Be all you can be” campaign to the “Army of one.”
Media Research
Media planning begins with media research that gathers information about all the possible
media and marketing communication tools that might be used in a campaign to deliver a
message. Media researchers then match that information to what is known about the target
audience. Figure 6.3 illustrates the type of information media researchers consult and how
they use that information to make recommendations.
Message Development and Evaluation Research

As planners, account managers, and people on the creative team begin the development of
an advertisement, they involve themselves in various types of informal and formal
research. They read all the relevant secondary information provided by the client and the
planners to become better informed about the brand, the company, the competition, and the
product category.
Furthermore, as writers and art directors begin working on a specific creative project,
they almost always conduct at least some informal research of their own. They may do
k'jfi
TTCD
OF PRACTIC
The Army Marches to a Different Drummer
H A basic principle of advertising is that you need to under¬

stand your target audience before changing a successful
strategy. The Army faced that challenge is assessing the
future of its well-known "Be all you can be" campaign
theme.
The 1990s started out with the Army in good shape—
meeting its recruitment goals and riding on the effective¬
ness of the highly successful "Be all you can be" campaign
theme. By the end of the decade things had changed and
the recruitment numbers started to fall—with the Army
missing its recruitment goals three out of five times
between 1995 and 1999.
In response, Congress called for "aggressive, innova¬
tive experiments" to find new soldiers. A study by Defense
Secretary William Cohen sought to find out why the
recruiting effort was failing. A new agency, Leo Burnett,
was assigned to the account; it undertook a major study to
identify the barriers to recruiting and the consumer insights
that would lead to a new recruitment strategy. In response
to this research, the Army created a new marketing divi¬
sion and embraced a consumer-driven philosophy. ronment, had changed and a new message strategy was
The Burnett team had a difficult decision: Should it needed. In terms of changes in the Army, the new military
keep the 20-year-old "Be all you can be" campaign that relied on high-tech weaponry—and that meant a need for
had such huge visibility and awareness or should it rein¬ a very specialized force with highly trained individuals,
vent the Army through a new campaign? It was, after all, not just raw recruits who could easily be trained to carry
one of the most successful and recognizable campaigns guns and do other low-skilled jobs.
ever created. The Army's research uncovered some insights In terms of the target audience, a different mind-set
about the "Be all you can be" campaign. Highly memo¬ was driving the recruitment decisions of new service mem¬
rable and successful in the past, the message no longer bers. Although the Burnett team still considered the "Be all
seemed to resonate with the Army's target audience. you can be" theme to be an important truth about the
Army, it had lost its power to speak to contemporary
Burnett's Research youth, who were concerned about giving up their individ¬
o- uality to become an anonymous cog in the Army's machin¬
The Burnett agency conducted a full-scale research project ery. The old theme offered its target audience a chance to
to uncover the barriers to recruitment, using numerous improve themselves, which is an important value.
quantitative and qualitative research methods including a However, Burnett's research found that today's youth
detailed segmentation study. Its findings pointed to the fol¬ wanted a job that allowed some degree of individualism
lowing problems, some of which mirrored the results of the and empowered them as take-charge individuals. Burnett's
Army's own study. planners translated these insights into what they called the
• Perceptions of the Army. The Army didn't have a strong "Me. Now." philosophy. Young people want to live in a
brand identity; it was seen as faceless and a place for world where they are "in control—doing things [they]
losers. The target market didn't understand how the want to do, not things [they're] told to do."
Army was different from the other services. This became a key insight: The target's need for
• The "Be all you can be" theme. The theme was wearing empowerment paralleled the Army's need for highly
out and losing its power. The target market didn't trained individuals who could think for themselves as they
understand what it meant.
operated the sophisticated new technology. Having uncov¬
• The current "$50,000" ads. The current advertising, which
ered this truth, Burnett's next challenge was to translate
focused on the value of military service, was seen as pro¬
that into a theme that would resonate with this market.
viding money for college and didn't appeal to many of the
target market who weren't considering college. Sources: Jacob Hodes and Emma Ruby-Sachs, "America's Army Targets
Youth," The Nation (August 23, 2002); U.S. Army, "U.S. Army Recruiting
Command: Advertising and Public Affairs Overview for Students 2002,"
Analysis of the Research October 1 2, 2001; James Dao, "Ads Now Seek Recruits for 'An Army of
o-
One,v" New York Times (January 10, 2001); Steven Lee Myers, "Army, Its
Both the Army's and Burnett's research concluded that the Recruiting Not All ft Could Be, Decides to Overhaul Its Advertising," New
target market, as well as the Army and its competitive envi¬ York Times (January'8, 2000).
their own personal observational research and visit retail stores, talk to salespeople, and
watch people buy. They may visit the information center, browse through reference books,
and borrow subject and picture fdes. They will look at previous advertising (especially the
competition’s) to see what others have done, and in their hearts they will become
absolutely convinced that they are able to create something better than, and different from,
anything that has been done before. This informal, personal research has a powerful influ¬
ence on what happens later in the advertising process.
Research is also used in development of the message strategy to evaluate the relative
power of various creative ideas, which is called concept testing, and the relative effective¬
ness of various approaches to the sales message, which is called copy testing.
Strategic and evaluative research share some common tools and processes, which we
will briefly describe in this chapter, although a formal discussion of advertising evaluation
and its role in determining effectiveness will be the focus of Chapter 19.
RESEARCH METHODS USED IN ADVERTISING PLANNING

This section focuses on the use of research in message development. We’ll bring together
the research situations with the types of methods typically used. The three stages in mes¬
sage development where research is used are preparation research, consumer research, and
development research.
Background Research
Background research of a variety of types is used to familiarize advertising planners with
the market situation. Secondary research includes reading everything that is published or
reported on the market, the competition, and consumers. Primary research involves, among
other things, personally buying and using the product.
The Brand Experience When an agency gets a new client, the first thing the agency team
has to do is learn about the brand. That means, if possible, going through all the experi¬
ences that a typical consumer has buying and using the product. If you were taking on a
pizza restaurant account, for example, you might try to work in the store, as well as visit
it as a customer. It’s also a form of commitment: The parking lots of agencies that have
automotive accounts are usually full of cars of that make.
Competitive Analysis It’s also important to do a competitive analysis. If you handle a

soap account, you obviously want to use that brand of soap, but you may also buy the
competitors’ and do your own personal comparative test just to add your personal experi¬
ences to your brand analysis.
An Advertising Audit Either formally or informally most advertising planners will begin
an assignment by collecting every possible piece of advertising and other forms of mar¬
keting communication by the brand, as well as its competitors’, and other relevant cate¬
gories that may have lessons for the brand. This include a historical collection, as well.
There’s nothing more embarrassing than proposing a great new advertising idea only to
find out that it was used a couple of years ago by a competitor.
Content Analysis The advertising audit might include only informal summaries of the
slogans, appeals, and images used most often, or it might include more formal and sys¬
tematic tabulation of competitors’ approaches and strategies called a content analysis. By
disclosing competitors’ strategies and tactics, analysis of the content of competitive
advertisements provides clues to how competitors are thinking, and suggests ways to
develop new and more effective campaigns. Planners also try to determine what mental
territories or positions are claimed by competitors and which are still available and rele¬
vant to the brand.
Semiotic Analysis Another technique used to analyze advertisements is semiotic

analysis, which is a way to take apart the signs and symbols in a message to uncover lay¬
ers and types of meanings. The objective is to find deeper meanings in the symbolism and
meanings, particularly as they relate to different groups of consumers. Its focus is on
determining the meanings, even if they are not obvious or highly symbolic, that might
relate to consumer motivations.
For example, the advertising that launched General Motors’ OnStar global position¬
ing system (GPS) used a Batman theme. The commercial featured a conversation between
Batman and Alfred, his trusty butler, during which most of the features and uses of the
OnStar system were explained. By looking at this commercial in terms of its signs and
symbols, it is possible to determine if the obvious, as well as hidden, meanings of the mes¬
sage are on strategy. For example, the decision to use a comic book hero as the star created
a hero association for OnStar. However, Batman is not a superhero, but rather more of a
common person with a lot of great technology and cool gadgets (remember Jack Nicholson
as the Joker and his famous comment: “Where does he get all those wonderful toys?”). The
“bat beacon” then becomes OnStar for the average person. Batman is also ageless, appeal¬
ing to young people who really read comic books, as well as older people who remember
reading them in their youth.2 A highly successful effort, this “Batman” OnStar campaign
won a David Ogilvy Research Award.
Consumer Research
Consumer research is used to better understand how users, prospects, and nonusers of a
brand think and behave using both qualitative and quantitative methods. From this
research, segments and targets can be identified, and profiles can be drawn. An example of
how this works comes from the Forrester Research company and is called “design per¬
sonas.” Harley Manning, research director for Web site design, explains the concept in The
Inside Story.
Ways of Contact Before moving to a discussion of specific types of consumer

research methodologies, let’s talk about ways to contact consumers when conducting adver¬
tising research. The contact can be in person, by telephone, by mail, through the Internet or
cable TV, or by a computer kiosk in a mall or store. In a personal interview the researcher
poses questions to the consumer directly. These interviews are often conducted in malls and
downtown areas where there are lots of people. With telephone contacts the concept is
described or the copy is read and the consumer is asked several questions about the ad via a
phone call. Mail contacts are similar but in this method the test ad is mailed to the consumer
along with a set of questions, which the consumer is expected to return promptly. Contacts
through the Internet require access to the consumers via e-mail or instructions on how to
click through to a research site in order to view the test ad. Concurrently, consumers are sent
a set of questions about the ad, which they can return electronically.
FKtrniutH^v!'
Survey research can be
conducted over the phone
or in public places such as /•- ,'W .
a supermarket aisle.
■ I (ppHjd
Trr . 1
11 r i Li v
The Power of Design Personas

Harley Manning, Research Director, Site Design and Development, Forrester Research
in 1 999, software inventor Alan Cooper Evaluation criteria

introduced the concept of personas in his Based on direct study of users Score
book The Inmates Are Running the Asylum.

1. Is the persona based on primary research with target users? 1=3
-2 Based solely on surveys, customr profiles, anecdotal evidence
Forrester first referenced this idea in a -1 Based on interviews of stakeholders with direct user contact (sales reps, service reps)
1 Based on interviews of target users
2001 report on design methodologies. We 2 Based on interviews and observation of users at the location where they use the product
quickly realized that the concept had captured the imagi¬ 2. Can all key elements of the persona be traced back to user research?
-2 Most elements of the persona can't be traced back to research about the target users
nations of both designers and their clients. So in 2003 we -1 At least one important element can't be traced back to research about the target users
began research for a report focused on best practices for 1 Every element of the persona can be traced back to research about the target users
2 As above, plus an interactive version of the persona links to underlying data
creating and using personas. Presented as a real story about a real person
3. Is the persona formatted as a narrative?
What is a persona? It's a model of a customer's
-2 Formatted as a data set (charts, graphs, tables)
goals, needs, attitudes, and behaviors distilled from inter¬ -1 Formatted as a presentation (bullet points)
1 Formatted as a narrative (written in paragraphs with illustrative stories woven in)
viewing and observing real people in a market segment.
2 As above, plus accompanied by a realistic name, photo, age, and quote or vignette
The end result guides designers and their clients by replac¬ 4. Do stakeholders with direct customer contact recognize the persona?
ing dry data about "the customer" with a vivid profile of a -2 Sales and service reps don't recognize the persona as one of their customers.
-1 Sales and sen/ice reps recognize the persona but disagree with one or more of its goals.
person. 1 Sales and service reps recognize the persona and agree with its goals after additional
explanation and discussion.
Well-crafted personas are crisp, accurate, and sound 2 Sales and service reps immediately recognize the persona and agree with his/her goals.
like a description of someone you know. As a result, Focused on enabling design decisions _ _
5. Is the persona significantly different from other persona?
they're easy to both understand and relate to. For exam¬ -2 All major goals or behaviors overlap with two or more personas.
ple, "Stanley" is a persona used by J.P. Morgan to model -1 All major goals or behaviors overlap with one other persona.
1 At least one major, product-related goals or behavior is different from that of all other persona.
its active, savvy investors who won't be satisfied by a sim¬ 2 The persona represents a unique cluster of needs, goals, and behavior.
ple account summary and instead want advanced portfo¬ 6. Is the persona focused on the current project?
Does not include relevant user needs, goals, and behavior.
lio details, such as net liquidating value. Software giant Focused on demographics and psychographics of the user. Includes some needs, goals, and
behavior.
SAP created three personas to inform the design of its call Focused on user needs, goals, and behavior that are relevant to the current project.
center software, including "Tina Ferraro-Smith," a telesales As above, plus zeroes in on three to four key goals.
Total score
agent with personal goals that include putting clients first
Scoring per question: Overall score:
and going home in a decent mood.
-2 Little or no value for designers -12 to -7 Not a persona - start over
We began our research by contacting a variety of -1 Does not qualify as a persona -6 to 0 Seriously flawed - seek help
1 Qualifies as a persona 1 to 6 Promising, needs improvement
agencies to find out which ones used personas. We fol¬
2 Best practice 7 to 12 True persona
lowed up with hour-long interviews of creative directors,
researchers, and account managers at firms ranging from
interactive specialists like R/GA to diversified agencies
■ ■ ■
like ZIBA Design, which creates everything from marketing
This is an example of the coding sheet used by Forrester
strategies to physical environments like the FedEx Retail
Research to evaluate the strength of the personas they uncover
Service Centers. We also interviewed the agencies'
for various types of consumers.
clients—such as American Express, Ford, Reuters, and
Travelocity—to determine why they bought into personas,
how they used them, and what results they achieved.
We found that personas are getting very popular,
very quickly. Although they started out as a tool for soft¬
Leading the Site Design and Development group at Forrester Research, Harley
ware designers, they're now being used to create market¬ Manning's work focuses on interactive media. Manning came to Forrester
ing campaigns, sales training, Web sites, products, and after 1 8 years of designing and building interactive services for Dow Jones,
even call center scripts. We also found that companies that AT&T, MCI, Prodigy, and Sears. He received a Master of Science degree in
Advertising from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1977.
use them correctly report compelling results. This led us to
conclude that personas are here to stay and will be Nominated by the late Kim Rotzell, former dean, University of Illinois College
increasingly important for all types of design efforts. of Communication
In-depth interviews are

conducted one-on-one with
open ended questions that
permit the interviewee to give
thoughtful responses. The
informal structure of the
questions also allows the
interviewer to follow up and
ask probing questions to dig
deeper into attitudes and
motivations.
Survey Research In a survey, questionnaires are used to obtain information about

people’s attitudes, knowledge, media use, and exposure to particular messages. Survey
research is a quantitative method that uses structured interviews to ask large numbers of
people the same set of questions. The questions can deal with personal characteristics,
such as age, income, behavior, or attitudes. The surveys can be conducted in person, by
phone, by mail, or online.
The people interviewed can be from an entire group, or population, or they can be a
representative sample of a much larger group, a subset of the population that is represen¬
tative of the entire population.3 Careful scientific procedures are used in drawing the
sample to guarantee the representativeness of the group in order to be able to project the
findings to the larger population.
In-depth Interviews An in-depth interview is a qualitative method conducted one-

on-one using open-ended questions that require the respondents to generate their own
answers. The primary difference between an interview and a survey is the interview’s use of
an unstructured questionnaire.4 Interviews use a discussion guide, which outlines the areas
to be covered during the session; they tend to be much longer than surveys, with questions
that are usually very broad. An example is: “What do you like or dislike about this prod¬
uct?” or “What type of television programs do you like to watch?” Interviewers probe by
responding to the answer with “Why do you say that?” or “Can you explain in more detail?”
Interviews are considered qualitative because they typically use smaller sample sizes than
surveys and their results are not generalizable and subject to statistical tests.
Focus Groups Another qualitative method is a focus group, which is a group of 8 to 10

users or even up to 15 potential users of a product who are gathered around a table to have a
discussion about some topic, such as the brand, the product category, or advertising. The
objective is to get them talking in a conversational format so researchers can observe the dia¬
logue and interactions among the participants. It’s a directed group interview.5 A moderator
supervises the group providing direction through a set of carefully developed questions that
stimulate conversation and elicit the group members’ thoughts and feelings in their own
words. Other qualitative tools can also be used with groups such as verbal and nonverbal
exercises, having participants create things such as posters, diaries, or day mapping (mapping
a day’s activities), poems, and memory associations (what comes to mind when you think of
something, such as a brand, situation, or location).
Focus groups can be used at any step in the planning process but they are often used
early in the information-gathering process to probe for patterns of thought and behavior
Focus groups are conducted

around a conference table
with a researcher as the
moderator who has prepared
discussion questions. The
session is usually held in a room
with one-way glass so the other
team members from the agency
and client can observe the way
the respondents answer the
questions.
that are then tested using quantitative research tools, such as surveys. They are also useful
in testing advertising ideas or exploring various alternatives in message strategy develop¬
ment. For example, when Kellogg Co. wanted to test the idea of “Corn Flakes as a high-
fiber alternative,” it conducted nearly a hundred focus groups of people from 40 to 55 years
old throughout the United States.
Friendship focus groups6 are used in a comfortable setting, usually people’s homes,
where the participants have been recruited by the host. This approach is designed to break
down barriers and save time in getting to more in-depth responses. For example, one study
of sensitive and insensitive visuals used in advertising to black women found that a self-
constructed friendship group was easier to assemble and yielded more honest and candid
responses.7
Observation Research Like anthropologists, observation researchers study the

actual behavior of consumers in naturalistic settings where they live, work, shop, and play,
acting as what Sayre refers to as “professional snoops.”8 A qualitative form of research,
direct observation research is closer and more personal than quantitative research. It
takes researchers into natural settings where they note the behavior of consumers using
video, audio, and disposable cameras to record consumers’ behavior at home (with con¬
sumer consent), in stores, or wherever people buy and use their products.
A marketer will often use observation in the aisles of grocery, drug, and discount stores
to watch people making their product selection. The observer is able to watch how people
walk the aisle, where they stop, how much effort they make in reading labels, and so forth.
An example of a major observational research project that opened the door for this type
of research in marketing was the Consumer Behavior Odyssey that put a team of researchers
in a Winnebago on a trip from Los Angeles to Boston. Along the way, the team used a vari¬
ety of observational techniques to watch and record people behaving as consumers.9
Ethnographic Research Related to observation, ethnographic research involves

the researcher in living the lives of the people being studied. Ethnographers have elevated
people watching to a science. In ethnographic research in anthropology, which is the home
of this research method, observers “go native” and immerse themselves in a culture in
order to study the meanings, language, interaction, and behavior of the people in the
group.10 Sometimes the observations are supplemented by field interviews. This method is
particularly good at deriving a picture of a day in the life of a typical consumer.
Major companies like Harley-Davidson and Coca-Cola now use ethnographic
research to get close to their customers. These companies hire marketing professors trained
in social science research to observe and interpret customer behavior at rallies. These par¬
ticipant observers then meet with the company’s managers, planners, and marketing staff
to discuss their impressions.11
The case of Best Western International provides an example. In the spring of 2000, the
company paid 25 couples who were over age 55 to tape themselves on their travels across
the United States. The purpose of the research was twofold. First, the hotel chain wanted to
learn how seniors decide when and where to stop for the night. Second, based on this infor¬
mation, the company wanted to determine whether it should increase its 10 percent senior
discount. The tapes certainly were revealing. Seniors who talked the hotel clerk into a better
deal didn’t need the lower price to afford the room; they just liked making the deal. Best
Western marketers concluded that increasing the senior discount was not a good idea.1-
Today, virtually all major agencies offer their clients the opportunity to conduct ethno¬
graphic research. In fact, at Averett, Free & Ginsberg, 9 out of 15 large clients have opted
for the service. “Ethnography is the intimate connection to the consumer,” says Bill Abrams,
founder of Housecalls, a New York consultancy that worked on the Best Western effort.1'
Direct observation and ethnographic research have the advantage of revealing what
people actually do, as distinguished from what people say they do. It can yield the correct
answer when faulty memory, desire to impress the interviewer, or simple inattention to
details would cause an interview answer to be wrong. The biggest drawback to direct
observation is that it shows what is happening, but not why. Therefore, the results of direct
observation often are combined with the results of personal interviews to provide a more
complete and more understandable picture of attitudes, motives, and behavior. '4
Diaries Sometimes consumers are asked to record their activities through the use of
diaries. These diaries are particularly valuable in media research because they tell media
planners exactly what programs and ads the consumers watched. If comment lines are pro¬
vided, then the activities can also be accompanied by thoughts. Beeper diaries are used as
a way to randomize the recording of activities. In other words, consumers participating in
the study will grab the diary and record what they are doing when the beeper goes off.
Diaries are designed to catch the consumer in a more realistic, normal life pattern than you
can derive from surveys or interviews that rely on consumers to remember accurately their
activities. This can also lead to the re-creation of a day in the life of a consumer.
Other Qualitative Methods Advertising planners are always probing for reasons,
feelings, and motivations behind behaviors and what people say. To arrive at useful con¬
sumer insights, they use a variety of interesting and novel research methods. In particular,
they use stories and pictures.
Cognitive psychologists have learned that human beings think more in images than
words. But most research has to use words to ask questions and obtain answers, so the
object with visual-based research opens up new avenues of expression that may be better
able to uncover people’s deep thoughts. To overcome this problem, researchers try through
pictures to uncover mental processes that guide consumer behavior.
Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman believes that the conventional
wisdom about consumer research, such as using interviews and focus groups that rely on
talking to people and grilling them about their tastes and buying habits, is only good for
getting back predictable answers. If you ask people what they think about Coke, you’ll
learn that it is a “high-energy, thirst-quenching, fun-at-the-beach” kind of drink. But that
may not be an adequate description of how people really feel about the soft drink.15
Here is a collection of some of the more imaginative ways qualitative researchers are
getting insights about people’s relationships to the brands they buy.
• Fill-in-the-Blanks. A form of attitude research in which people fill in the blanks in a

story or balloons in a cartoon. Their perceptions will sometimes come to the surface in
the words they use to describe the action or situations depicted in the visuals.
• Purpose-driven Games. These are used by researchers to see how people solve prob¬
lems and search for information.16 Games can make the research experience more fun
and involving for the participants. It also uncovers problem-solving strategies that may
mirror their approach to information searching

or the kinds of problems they deal with in cer¬
tain product situations.
Story Elicitation. Consumers are asked to
explain the artifacts of their lives—what you
see in photos of their homes, as well as the
things in their lives that they treasure. These
stories can provide insights into how and why
people use or do things.
Artifact Creation. This technique uses such
ideas as life collages, day mapping, and the
construction of instruction books as ways to
elicit stories that discuss brands and their role
in daily life. These projects are also useful later
in explaining to others—clients, the creative
team, other agencies—the triggers behind the
consumer insights.17
Photo Elicitation. Similar to artifacts, visuals
can be used to elicit consumer thoughts and
opinions. Sometimes consumers are asked to
look at a set of visuals or they are instructed to
visually record something with a camera, such
as a shopping trip. Later, in reviewing the visu¬
als, they are asked what the photo brings to
mind or to explain what they were thinking or
doing at the time the photo was taken.
Photo Sorts. Another visual technique is called
a photo sort where consumers are asked to sort
through a deck of photos and pick out visuals
that represent something, such as typical users
of the product, or situations where it might be
used. In identifying typical users, they may be
asked to sort the photos into specific piles, such
as happy, sad, angry, excited, or innovative people. This ad equating evian
Metaphors. Some researchers believe that metaphors can enrich the language con¬ sparkling water with a
sumers use to talk about brands. A metaphor says one thing—a brand, for example—is mermaid tries to add a touch
like something else, as in the evian ad shown here. The insight into how people per¬ of originality to the evian
ceive brands through such connections comes from exploring the link between the two brand image.
concepts. Metaphor games are used in creativity to elicit new and novel ideas, but
they can also be used to analyze cognitive patterns in people’s thinking. Harvard pro¬
fessor Gerald Zaltman is the creator of ZMET (pronounced ZEE-met), the Zaltman
Metaphor Elicitation Technique, which uses metaphors and visual images to uncover
patterns in people’s thinking.18 For Coca-Cola in Europe, for example, Zaltman asked
volunteers to spend a week collecting at least a dozen pictures that captured their feel¬
ings about Coca-Cola from magazines, catalogs, or other printed materials. Then they
discussed the images in personal interviews. Finally, the volunteers created a summary
image—a digital collage of their most important images—and recorded a statement
that explained its meaning. The ZMET team found that Coke is not just about feelings
of high energy and good times, but that it also has an element of calm, solitude, and
relaxation.
Choosing a Research Method

Determining the appropriate research method to use is an important planning decision. It
might help to understand two basic research criteria: validity and reliability, which are
derived from what researchers call the “scientific method. ” Validity means that the
research actually measures what it says it measures. Any differences that are uncovered by
the research, such as different attitudes or purchasing patterns, really reflect differences
among individuals, groups, or situations. Reliability means that you can run the same test
again and get the same answer.
Quantitative researchers, particularly those doing experiments and surveys, are con¬
cerned about being faithful to the principles of science. Selecting a sample that truly rep¬
resents its population, for example, increases the reliability of the research. Poorly
worded questions and talking to the wrong people can hurt the validity of surveys, and of
focus groups.
The problem is that experiments are limited by the small number of people in the
experimental group and the sometimes artificial conditions in which they are conducted.
The information you get from surveys of a broad cross section of a population is limited
to your ability to develop good clear questions that everyone can understand and answer.
This tight control makes it harder to ask questions around the edges of a topic or elicit
unexpected or unusual responses. On the other hand, focus groups and in-depth inter¬
views, which permit probing, are also limited by small numbers and possible problems
with representativeness.
In other words, there are three big objectives in advertising research: (1) test hypothe¬
ses, (2) get information, and (3) get insights. Each has strengths and weaknesses.
Generally quantitative methods are more useful for gathering data (how many do this or
believe that?) and qualitative methods are better at uncovering reasons and motives (why
do they do or believe?). For these reasons, most researchers believe in using a variety of
research methods—quantitative, as well as qualitative.
RESEARCH CHALLENGES
Advertising researchers face five key challenges: globalization, new media technology,
Internet and virtual research, embedded research, and insightful analysis. We examine each
challenge briefly.
Globalization
Advertisers are becoming increasingly redemdant global. Multinational advertisers and
their marketing communication agencies are expanding all over the world. In-depth under¬
standing of the economic and cultural conditions, government regulations, and communi¬
cations media of each country is more important than ever before. The key issues that
global researchers face include how to manage and communicate global brands in different
local regions and how to shift from studying differences to finding similarities around the
world. The biggest problem is cross-cultural communication and how to arrive at an
intended message without cultural distortions or insensitivities. Researchers are becoming
more involved in puzzling out cultural meanings and testing advertising messages for cul¬
tural sensitivity in different countries.
New Media Technology

The expansion from three on-air television networks to a plethora of cable channels
changed television programming, television program audiences, and television advertising
throughout the United States. The merger of the telephone, the TV, and the home computer
will also change advertising. Wireless phones are now operating like personal data assis¬
tants (PDAs), as well as cameras and text-messaging sytems.
Changes in media technology will alter the meaning and consequences of almost all
of our most familiar research constructs: involvement, brand equity, attitude toward the ad,
emotional processing, and cognitive processing, to name a few. Advertising research today
focuses largely on full-page print ads, 30-second television commercials, and more
recently Web sites. As technology changes in the media unfold, the old research measures
will become increasingly invalid. Multimedia research, for example, allows automated
Call center phone feedback

is used as an ongoing research
tool that can capture immediate
consumer responses.
testing of concepts, storyboards, and designs in multiple markets. That’s a lot simpler and
cheaper than having staff develop actual prototypes or multiple sets of storyboards.
Because of media fragmentation, researchers and planners must strive to develop
message strategies as well as new research methods that enable media planners to reach
consumers most effectively. That includes using multiple product messages in multiple
media vehicles: Internet for interactivity, print for details, direct mail for personalization,
and TV for creating an emotional connection. New media technology is also opening the
door to new ways to do and test permission and relationship marketing.
Another factor is the emergence of genuine two-way communication opportunities.
Advertising and marketing communication has always been focused on the design and
measure of one-way communication from a source (company) to the receiver (target audi¬
ence), but all that is changing. As consumers take charge of more of their exposure oppor¬
tunities through new media, how will researchers undertake developmental research
designed to open up opportunities for interactivity? What measures are appropriate for
developing message strategies designed to generate consumer-initiated messages?
Internet and Virtual Research

Another aspect of new media is the feasibility of virtual research that gathers real-time
information through online media and streaming video. The low cost and quick speed of
gathering research data online has made the Internet a popular survey tool with companies.
Hershey’s uses online research to test its new products, as well as its marketing and adver¬
tising concepts, an award-winning project that has been recognized by the industry.19
Even in a more traditional one-way communication model, creating effective ads for
the new interactive media is a particular challenge. Numerous companies provide informa¬
tion about Internet use, but some sources are more valid than others. Some companies use
true random surveying to generate figures. Other companies depend on information pro¬
vided voluntarily by Internet users or industry sources (which often have a vested interest
in promoting good news). Those who want to plan or evaluate Internet ads must stay
abreast of the latest developments in research on this interactive medium because the meth¬
ods are still in their infancy.20
Embedded Research
The development of embedded research is related to virtual research. In this case, the
research methods are embedded directly into real purchase and use situations, so that the
consumer is a recipient and direct beneficiary of the information. A non-Internet example

of embedded research comes from Nordstrom’s Personal Touch Program, which uses a
team of personal shoppers who are fashion consultants on one level, but on another level
they are trained to gather information from their clients to feed back into the company’s
business planning and marketing.
Call centers, both inbound (customer calls to complain or get assistance) and out¬
bound (telemarketing), can also be used as research centers to gain real-time feedback
about the brand and its marketing and advertising strategies. In other words, whenever a
call is made, for whatever purpose, that contact provides an opportunity to ask a brand-
related question.
The most common Internet approach is to use this method for product reviews,
where customers enter the Web site and select from an array of product categories they
would like to know about. The opinions of reviewers can be accessed with a click. You see
this on the Amazon.com site where reviews of music and books are posted on the page
with the product information. Reviews come from other customers, who report their own
experience.
Insightful Analysis
Marketers are inundated with information, so getting information is less of a problem than
is making sense of it. The challenge is not information but rather intelligence. Information
overload is a fact in marketing and advertising and it complicates planning. In analysis,
data from one source often take on new meaning when compared with data from other
sources. For example, the Army could look at the awareness levels of its “Be all you can
be” theme and conclude that the advertising is working. But when those data are compared
with relevance scores, then a gap may be seen between what is promised and what the tar¬
get audience perceives the meaning to be.
The magic in research, then, lies in the interpretation of the findings to uncover unex¬
pected or unrealized insights into consumers, products, and the marketplace situation.
That’s the gift of people called account planners; these we will discuss in the next chapter.
IT'S A WRAP
LEAP INTO A TOTAL LEARNING SYSTEM
In a short six years, LeapFrog established a strong brand presence as a leader in children's
learning materials. Its objectives were to continue increasing sales at a 25 percent rate,
increase its brand awareness by 20 percent, and, in general, own the educational brand
position by building an emotive, focused brand.
Its marketing communication surpassed all three of the measurable objectives. By 2003
sales were increasing at a 37 percent rate, making LeapFrog the third-largest toy manufac¬
turer in the United States. At the same time, brand awareness increased 21 percent. In terms
of dominance, three of the best-selling toys in the United States were from LeapFrog (LeapPad
Books, LeapPad, and My First LeapPad). More importantly, the top-rated "toy" was actually a
book and it beat out established favorites like Hot Wheels, Bratz, and Spider-Man.
Not only did the research effort, as well as the marketing communication program devel¬
oped by Ackerman McQueen, make LeapFrog dominant in children's educational materials;
it also became a dominant player in the larger toys category, elevating the entire concept of
educational materials. That's why LeapFrog was named an EFFIE® winner in 2003.
■ ■■Summary
1. Discuss the types of strategic research. Secondary group interviews that operate like conversations directed by
research is background research that gathers already pub¬ a researcher. Observation is research that happens in the
lished information, and primary research is original store or home where researchers watch how consumers
research of information that is collected for the first time behave. Ethnographic research is an anthropological tech¬
from original sources. Quantitative research is statistical nique that involves the researcher in participating in the
and uses numerical data to investigate how people think and day-to-day lives of consumers. Diaries are records of con¬
behave; qualitative research is exploratory and uses probing sumers’ behavior, particularly their media use. A number of
techniques to gain insights and identify questions and other qualitative methods are used to creatively uncover pat¬
hypotheses for further quantitative research. terns in the way consumers think and act.
2. Identify the four uses of research in advertising. 4. Explain the key challenges facing advertising research.
Research is used to (1) develop an analysis of the marketing Globalization complicates the way research is conducted
situation; (2) acquire consumer information and insights for for global products because it adds a cultural dimension, as
making targeting decisions; (3) identify information about well as legal restrictions. New research techniques are
available media in order to be able to match the media to being created as a result of new media technology, as well
the target audience; (4) develop message strategies and as the Internet, which offers opportunities for virtual inter¬
evaluate their effectiveness. views. Embedded research is a way to get immediate feed¬
3. List the common research methods used in advertising. back that comes from the process of buying or using the
Survey research is used to amass quantities of responses product. Beyond the accumulation of numbers and infor¬
from consumers about their attitudes and behaviors. In-depth mation, the search for insight is a driving force in advertis¬
interviews probe the reasons and motivations consumers ing research.
give to explain their attitudes and behavior. Focus groups are
■■■ Key Terms

advertising research, 157 ethnographic research, 169 observation research, 169 reliability, 172
concept testing, 165 focus groups, 168 open-ended questions, 168 sample, 168
consumer research, 157 friendship focus groups, 169 population, 168 semiotic analysis, 165
content analysis, 165 IMC research, 157 product reviews, 174 strategic research, 157
copy testing, 165 in-depth interview, 168 purchase intent, 160 survey research, 168
diaries, 170 market research, 157 qualitative research, 160 validity, 171
embedded research, 173 marketing research, 162 quantitative research, 160 virtual research, 173
1. Explain the value of strategic research. How is it used in 3. Describe the most common research methods used in
advertising? advertising.
2. What are the four uses of research in advertising? Give an 4. Explain how advertising is changing and the challenges it
example of each one. faces.
■■« Discussion Questions

1. Every year Copper Mountain must decide how much 2. Suppose you are developing a research program for a new
emphasis to put on front-range day skiers, skiers from the bookstore serving your college or university. What kind of
Denver market who stay overnight, and skiers from outside exploratory research would you recommend? Would you
Copper Mountain’s geographic area. What research infor¬ propose both qualitative and quantitative studies? Why or
mation would help Copper Mountain’s managers make why not? What specific steps would you take?
those decisions? Where would they get that information?
3. The research director for Angelis Advertising always intro¬ 5. A new radio station is moving into your community.
duces her department’s service to new agency clients by Management is not sure how to position the station in this
comparing research to a roadmap. What do maps and market and has asked you to develop a study to help them
research studies have in common? How does the analogy of make this decision.
a map reveal the limitations of research for resolving an a. What key research questions must be asked?
advertising problem? b. Outline a research program to answer those questions
4. Research professionals recommend using focus groups to that uses as many of the research methods discussed in
help develop a campaign strategy or theme, but many are this chapter as you can incorporate.
opposed to using focus groups to choose finished ads for
the campaign. Is this advice self-contradictory? Why or
why not?
1. Run a focus group. Brainstorm to come up with something the class would like to adver¬
tise, such as new audio equipment. Divide into researchers and the consumer group (you
can run two groups and trade roles, if you’d like). Meet to decide on questions and format.
Make assignments for note taking, facilitating, and collecting and organizing feedback.
Write a one- to two-page report on the process and the group’s findings.
2. Assume you are working for Gerber Baby Foods. Your assignment is to identify the rele¬
vant trends that are forecasted for U.S. birth rates between 2003 and 2010. Identify Internet
sources that would provide that information. Select one and write a one-page report on the
trends you find.
What Lies Beneath? Making a Choice

"If you have a 'buy button' in your brain," the New York ment to the power of brands. "At issue," wrote the Times
Times headline asked, "what pushes it?" The Times article reporter, "is whether marketers can exploit advances in
summarized a recent study in which neurologists monitored brain science to make more effective commercials."
the brain activity of participants as they sampled unmarked Advertisers have long been fascinated with technolo¬
cups of Coke and Pepsi over several trials and indicated gies that promise richer and deeper insights into how peo¬
their preference. The scientists observed that participant ple think and feel than do focus groups and surveys, which
brain activity was confined to "reward centers" associated may fail to capture key aspects of how consumers choose.
with reactions to the pleasurable taste of the beverages. These traditional methods may fall short not because con¬
The scientists also observed that the participant preferences sumers won't tell marketers what they think, but rather
were evenly split between Coke and Pepsi. because they can't. This intriguing claim is offered by
Then the scientists changed the procedure a bit by Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, who
clearly marking the samples as Coke or Pepsi. Different believes that most thinking occurs below our level of con¬
regions of the participants' brains were now activated and sciousness. In Zaltman's view, what we understand as
"overrode" the reward center responses that the conscious thought represents only about 5 percent of all
researchers had observed earlier. And this new pattern of cognitive processes. The other 95 percent, which is a
activity seemed to change the participants' sensory expe¬ more important influence on consumer decision making,
rience of the samples, because at the end of the second occurs outside our awareness. In Zaltman's view, "the
wave of trials respondents showed a decided preference unconscious mind represents a significant frontier where
for Coke, choosing it 75 percent of the time. marketers may establish secure beachheads of competitive
These results are viewed with great interest by scien¬ advantage. Certainly no firm can claim to understand con¬
tists and advertisers alike, because they are a clecr testa¬ sumers without colonizing this land of opportunity."
But tapping into the subconscious is not easy. Zaltman

Consider This
believes marketers should consider abandoning traditional
O-
techniques for new methods, including the technologies for
1. A great deal of current research assumes that peo¬
measuring brain activity described earlier—as well as less
ple can consciously describe why they do things and
expensive approaches such as metaphor elicitation and
what they intend to do in the future. Do you think
response latency techniques. In metaphor elicitation, such
Zaltman is correct in criticizing this assumption?
as Zaltman's ZMET technique, consumers are asked to
2. The New York Times article mentioned above also
bring a photograph or other symbol of a concept (such as
presented views from a strong critic of this kind of
the perfect home) to a depth interview. The interviewer's
research. The critic believes that it is dangerous for
role is to try, in a nondirective way, to help the consumer
companies to learn how to affect consumer subcon¬
explore and articulate the meaning of the picture.
scious thinking because future campaigns could then
In response latency approaches, mental relationships
be used to affect consumers without their recogni¬
and links are explored by measuring the relative speed of
tion. For the critic, this is a violation of the con¬
word recognition. Cognitive psychology has demonstrated
sumers' free will. What do you think? What limits, if
that people recognize a word faster when the word fol¬
any, should there be on campaigns developed from
lows a related concept or idea (for instance, people rec¬
this new knowledge?
ognize the term cream cheese faster when it appears after
3. How do research methods, such as the "brain sci¬
bagel than when it appears after Kansas.). Advertising
ence" methods discussed here, help advertising
researchers can use this phenomenon to determine
planners gain insights into consumer attitudes and
whether a brand name or symbol speeds recognition of
behavior? How would you determine if the research
attributes believed to be associated with the brand. For
helped create more effective advertising?
instance, they might test whether showing people Honda,
speeds up recognition of the word reliable.
Sources: Sandra Blakeslee, "If You Have a 'Buy Button' in Your Brain, What Pushes It?"
New York Times (October 19, 2004); Gerald Zaltman, How Customers Think: Essential
Insights into the Mind of the Market (Cambridge, AAA: Harvard Business School Press,
2004).
CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Differentiate between objectives, strategies, and tactics in
strategic planning.
2. Identify the six basic decisions in an advertising plan.
3. Explain how account planning works.
4. Outline the key factors in an IMC plan.
■Af
The Legendary Service H mm h ên Citizens Bank, the second-largest bank in New
of Citizens Bank If Mm England, announced its purchase of Mellon Bank, a 1 50-
V Iff year-old Pennsylvania bank, it faced a serious loss of cus¬
Award: tomers. Mellon's customers had been dissatisfied for
EFFIE® Silver years and were more likely to switch banks than the customers of
any other bank in the region.
Company:
Citizens Bank The good news was that Citizens Bank had a strong reputation
for outstanding customer service in its home market, although this
Agency: reputation hadn't reached the Mellon market. The problem then was
Arnold Worldwide to stabilize Mellon's vulnerable, dissatisfied customer base long
enough for Citizens to demonstrate its superior customer service.
Campaign:
The Arnold Worldwide agency restated that challenge as objec¬
"Legendary Service"
tives for a new image-building campaign for the bank. The objec¬
tives were:
1. Minimize customer attrition during the acquisition keeping it
under 1 0 percent.
179
2. Quickly build awareness through advertising.
3. Reduce customers' intentions to leave the bank.
The Mellon customer was described as adults 35-54 with a household

income of $50,000-$ 150,000. Arnold's research found a general indifference
among these customers, a sense that the acquisition was just another in the long
drumbeat of takeovers in the banking industry. With nearly a quarter of the cus¬
tomers "likely" or "highly likely" to switch, it was clear many were ready to
leave at the next sign of trouble. Interestingly, some consumers mixed their neg¬
ative expectations of fee increases and branch closures with a "wait and see
attitude. "How much worse can it get?" many asked.
Arnold's strategy was to make the Citizens brand promise so irresistible
and different that customers would be compelled to give the bank a try. Here's
how they stated the bank's new customer-focused philosophy:
Citizens Bank is "Not your typical bank." It's a bank

that believes in quality customer service, quick response,
and treating its customers with a uniquely high level of respect.
This message was communicated in stages, first with a series of TV ads that
re-created true incidents of great service by Citizens bankers, with a humorous,
self-deprecating twist. This stage was designed to build awareness and set cus¬
tomer expectations high.
Given the boldness of the "not typical" promise, the next stage was to make
the promise real and tangible. It was important to have as many people as pos¬
sible experience this level of customer service, as soon as possible. So as open¬
ing day approached, an extensive promotion was developed in Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh. On opening day, commuters in each market experienced
Citizens' "Legendary acts of service" firsthand with free transit rides, coffee,
pastries, even meter feeders and squeegee squads.
Citizens' opening day was an event, one that included filming and editing
four documentary-style TV spots in time to air on that evening's news. Unlike
slick, traditional bank advertising, Citizens' reality-TV approach captured actual
customers and employees reacting to the opening-day events. They were sur¬
prising and fresh and clearly reinforced that Citizens was setting a new stan¬
dard of customer service.
The promotion was advertised via radio, newspaper, and transit posters.
The events themselves also gained media coverage, as well as becoming mate¬
rial for use in subsequent television ads.
The Results
The "Not Typical" campaign was highly successful in taking Citizens and
Mellon customers through the transition and successfully protected the value of
the customer franchise Citizen was acquiring. Here is the evaluation of the cam¬
paign's three objectives:
1. Minimize customer attrition keeping losses under 10 percent: During the

six-month period of the merger, Mellon Bank and Citizens experienced vir-
CHAPTER 7 • STRATEGIC PLANNING 181
tually no customer attrition and the bank enjoyed a net increase in

deposits, a response that is nearly unheard of in a bank acquisition.
2. Quickly build advertising awareness: During this period, the integrated

communication efforts helped drive Citizens' awareness in the new market
from zero to 31 percent in just a few short weeks, and to 60 percent by
opening day.
3. Reduce customers' intentions to leave the bank: During the three-month

period leading up to opening day, the proportion of Mellon customers
likely to switch banks was cut in half (from 24 percent to 1 2 percent) and
continued to drop through the next six months.
Sources: 2003 EFFIE Awards Brief provided by Citizens Bank and Arnold Worldwide; “Citizens Bank’s Legendary Service
Campaign Wins EFFIE Award lor Arnold Worldwide,” PR Newswire, July 20, 2002, http://www.prnewswire.com.
Marketing and advertising strategies are chosen from an array of possible alternatives.
Often in advertising there is no completely right way, but if you understand how advertis¬
ing works, you may be able to identify the best strategy to accomplish the objectives. This
chapter will explain strategic planning, as well as basic planning decisions used in busi¬
ness, marketing, and IMC and advertising plans. It will also introduce the concept of
account planning and explain its critical role in determining the consumer insights that
lead to message and media strategies.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Strategic planning is the process of determining objectives (what you want to accom¬
plish), deciding on strategies (how to accomplish the objectives), and implementing the
tactics (which make the plan come to life). This process occurs within a specified time
frame.
Even those experienced in advertising sometimes have a hard time telling the differ¬
ence between an objective and a strategy. Remember, an objective is a goal to be accom¬
plished, and in advertising they are determined by the effects you want to achieve, which
were explained in Chapter 4. A strategy is the means, the design, or the plan by which the
objective is accomplished—the advertising message and media strategies, for example. In
advertising the tactics are the way the ads (and other marketing communication efforts) are
executed—how they are designed and what they say.
In the Citizens Bank case, the objective was to use advertising to make the acquisition
as successful as possible without losing a lot of the Mellon customers. The strategy was to
focus on Citizens’ high level of customer satisfaction. The tactics were to demonstrate the
customer focus in initial ads that featured true examples of Citizens’ personal service, then
in reality-TV ads shot and run on opening day, and by personal experiences of Citizens ser¬
vice that were tied in with the opening-day celebration.
To sort out the difference between objectives, strategies, and tactics consider a hypo¬
thetical situation. If a marketer’s objective is to reinforce brand loyalty for its product, its
planners could use any number of strategies. They could set up a frequent buyer club; they
could use direct marketing to reach customers individually; they could use advertising to
remind customers to repurchase the brand; or they could use sales promotion to encourage
buyers to repurchase. For each strategy a different set of tactics would be needed to imple¬
ment the strategy. Before we develop the idea of advertising planning in more depth, let’s
review the basics of business and marketing planning, which are also concerned with
objectives, strategies, and tactics.
Strategic Planning from

Top to Bottom
Strategic planning reaches all
levels of an organization, from
the corporate level to tactical daily
operations.
The Business Plan

Strategic planning is a three-tiered process that starts with the business plan, then moves to
functional areas of the company such as marketing where a marketing plan is developed
that outlines objectives, strategies, and tactics for all areas of the marketing mix. As illus¬
trated in Figure 7.1, both the business plan and the marketing plan contribute direction
to specific plans for specialist areas, such as advertising and other areas of marketing
communication.
A business plan may cover a specific division of the company or a strategic business
unit (SBU), such as a line of products or all the offerings under a single brand name. These
divisions or SBUs share a common set of problems and factors. Figure 7.2 depicts a widely
used framework for the strategic planning process in business. The objectives for planning
MWm The Business Strategic Planning Process

For most organizations, strategic planning starts by formulating a business mission statement.
Source: Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, 10th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000), 76.
HZ3
This mission statement for Tom's
of Maine helps its managers
develop specific business
objectives and goals. It also
guides all of the company's
marketing communication
efforts.
The Tom's of Maine Mission

TO serve our customers by providing safe, effective, innovative
natural products of high quality.
TO build relationships with our customers that extend beyond

product usage to include full and honest dialogue, responsiveness to
feedback, and the exchange of information about products and
issues. Downloadthe Tom's of Maine
Charter as a PDF file
TO respect, value, and serve not only our customers but also our
coworkers, owners, agents, suppliers, and community; to be
concerned about and contribute to their well-being; and to operate
with integrity so as to be deserving of their trust.
TO provide meaningful work, fair compensation, and a safe,

healthy work environment that encourages openness, creativity,
self-discipline, and growth.
TO contribute to and affirm a high level of commitment, skill, and

effectiveness in the work community.
Internet zone
at this level tend to focus on maximizing profit and return-on-investment (ROI). ROI
means that, in general, the costs of conducting the business—the investment—should be
more than matched by the revenue produced in return. The revenue above and beyond the
costs is where profit lies.
Note that the business planning process starts with a business mission statement that is
unique, focused, and differentiating, one that supports the broad goals and policies of the
business unit. Tom’s of Maine states its mission clearly on its Web site.
Through the years, we have been guided by one simple notion—do what is right, for
our customers, employees, communities, and environment. We call this Natural
Care—a philosophy that guides what we make and all that we do.
The Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is developed and evaluated annually, although sections dealing with
long-term goals might operate for a number of years. To a large extent, the marketing plan
parallels the business strategic plan and contains many of the same components, as we see
in Figure 7.3, which illustrates the steps involved in creating a marketing plan.
wWm Steps in the Marketing Plan

The marketing plan parallels the business strategic plan and contains many of the same steps.
A market situation analysis assesses the

external and internal environments that affect the
marketing operations. This analysis looks at the
company’s history, products, and brands, as well as
the competitive environment, consumer trends, and
other marketplace trends that affect the product
category. A set of “What’s going on?” questions
fepililMf t help structure this market analysis. Answers to
these questions help define the marketing problem
and, ultimately, the area of message opportunity.
P®FT!\ifi?aR
I'M COMFORTAEUffiElN'l MRONG SOMETIMES
• What is happening with the brand and the cate¬
iames j. cramer. gory?
tinancial guru,
founder of the street,com • How is it happening?
• Where is it happening?
• When is it happening?
• To whom is it happening?
We could answer those questions for Citizens

Bank by summarizing the market situation as a dif¬
ficult merger with a set of unhappy customers who
have been disappointed in the service received
from their original bank. The new bank wants to
address this dissatisfaction by bringing its own
high level of customer service to their attention.
The objectives at the marketing level tend to be
be comfortable, uncompromise, start with your feet. focused on sales levels and share of market, which
refers to the percentage of the category purchases
that are made by the brand’s customers. Other
objectives deal with specific areas of the marketing
This ad for Rockport's shoes mix, such as distribution, where an objective might
determined that consumers were detail how a company is going to open a new territory.
interested in comfort. This For advertising managers, the most important part of the marketing plan is the
became the focus of the ad and marketing mix strategy. It links the overall strategic business plan with specific marketing
a key product attribute that loyal programs, including advertising and other IMC areas. The brand loyalty problem dis¬
users appreciate. cussed earlier is an example of strategies that a marketing manager might consider in solv¬
ing the objective of increasing loyalty. Using a frequency club in an advertising campaign
or a sales promotion reflects marketing communication decisions that come under the
review of the marketing manager.
The Advertising or IMC Plan

Advertising planning operates with the same concern for objectives, strategies, and tactics
that we’ve outlined for business and marketing plans. An example of a company that effec¬
tively brought all these elements together is Rockport, which has been making comfortable
walking shoes since 1971. After doing research on existing customers, the company con¬
cluded that Rockport users are actively seeking comfort on every level: physical, emotional,
and spiritual. The core Rockport strategy emphasized the need for comfort by challenging
the consumer: If you compromise your comfort, you compromise yourself. To challenge
consumers, Rockport’s agency invented a rallying cry: “Uncompromise,” and launched an
integrated marketing communication plan featuring print and TV advertising that used the
umbrella theme of “Be comfortable, uncompromise. Start with your feet.”1
Consider This
o
1. What is strategic planning, and how is it used in marketing and
advertising?
2. How does an advertising plan relate to a marketing and a business plan?
BASIC STRATEGIC PLANNING DECISIONS

A firm may operate with an annual advertising or IMC plan that outlines all the advertising
or marketing communication activities. In addition to or instead of an annual plan, a firm
may develop a campaign plan which is more tightly focused on solving a particular mar¬
keting communication problem. A campaign plan, which we will focus on in this chapter,
typically includes a variety of messages carried in different media and sometimes targeted
to different audiences. Below is an outline of the sections, and the decisions they represent,
in a typical advertising campaign plan.
Typical Advertising or IMC Plan Outline

I. Situation analysis
• Background research
• SWOTs: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
• Key advertising problem(s) to be solved
II. Key strategic decisions
• Advertising/IMC Objectives and Strategies
• Target audience (or stakeholder targets in an IMC Plan)
• Brand position: product features and competitive advantage
• Brand image and personality
• Budget
III. Media strategy (or Points of Contact in an IMC Plan)
• Media objectives
• Vehicle selection and budget allocation
• Scheduling
IV. Message strategy
• Key consumer insight (Brand Relationship Insight in IMC)
• Selling premise
• Big idea
• Executions
V. Other tools (in an IMC Plan)
• Sale promotion
• Public relations
• Direct marketing
• Personal selling
• Sponsorships, merchandising, packaging, point-of-purchase
• Integration strategy
VI. Evaluation of effectiveness
To illustrate how one concept can be carried across different media and message
strategies in a campaign, consider how the Gander Mountain campaign is developed under
the slogan “We live outdoors.” Trent Walters, account supervisor at The Richards Group in
Dallas, Texas, explains the campaign as follows:
Gander Mountain is a hunting, fishing and camping retailer located in the upper
Midwest that carries a wide selection of supplies and gear at great prices. The
employees at the stores are outdoor experts. They don’t just sell gear; they also use it
as they participate in outdoor activities themselves. However, few people knew this
about the brand.
After conducting initial research, management interviews and meetings with
Gander Mountain’s marketing team, we determined that the Gander Mountain brand
was all about “creating outdoor memories.” All our future communication efforts
should tell customers about the “great gear at great prices” and “employees who are
outdoor experts” and who can help make the customer’s outdoor experiences “more
fulfilling.” From this new strategy we developed television, radio and print executions.
SHOWCASE
Gander Mountain used this campaign to establish its brand identity and
differentiate itself among the other outdoor retailers in the marketplace.
Situation Analysis
The first step in developing an advertising plan, just as with a marketing plan, is not
planning but backgrounding—researching and reviewing the current state of the busi¬
ness that is relevant to the brand and gathering all relevant information. As discussed in
Chapter 6, advertising planning is preceded by research of market, product and com¬
pany, and likely consumer. After the research is compiled, analysis begins; it is some¬
times referred to as a situation analysis. Planners collect and analyze information about
the company, the brand, the competition, as well as consumers in general and the brand’s
customers specifically.
SWOT Analysis The primary tool used to make sense of the information is a SWOT
Principle analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strengths
Analysis of SWOTS means finding and weaknesses are internally focused and the opportunities and threats lie in the external
ways to address the weaknesses marketing environment. In strategic planning the idea is to leverage the strengths and
and threats and leverage the opportunities and address the weaknesses and threats, which is how the key problems and
strengths and opportunities.
opportunities are identified.2
• The strengths of a business are its positive traits, conditions, and good situations. For
instance, being in a growth industry is a strength. Planners ask how they can leverage
this strength in the brand’s advertising.
• The weaknesses of a business are traits, conditions, and situations that are perceived as
negatives. Losing market share is a weakness and planners ask how they can address it
with advertising.
• An opportunity is an area in which the company could develop an advantage over its
competition. Often, one company’s weakness is another company’s opportunity. Planners
strive to identify these opportunities and leverage them in the brand’s advertising.
• A threat is a trend or development in the environment that will erode business unless
the company takes action. Competition is a common threat. Advertising planners ask
themselves how they can address this threat if it is a critical factor affecting the success
of the brand.
In the Citizens Bank case, the strength of the new bank would lie in its customer ser¬
vice, although the weakness is the customer dissatisfaction that lingers in the minds of
the Mellon customers. The opportunity exists to transfer Citizens Bank’s excellent rep¬
utation for customer service to the new merged bank. The threat is the high level of
switching that the Mellon customers report and the fact that they might switch before
Citizens Bank has time to establish its reputation and business operations among the
Mellon customers.
Key Problems and Opportunities The key word in the title of this section is
analysis, and that means making sense of all the data collected and figuring out what the
information means for the future success of the brand. Advertising planners must analyze
the market situation for any communication problems that affect the successful marketing
of a product, as well as opportunities that advertising can create or exploit. Analyzing the
situation and identifying the problem that can be solved with an advertising message are at
the heart of strategic planning.
For example, DDB Needham searches for “Barriers to Purchase.”3 These barriers are
reasons why people do not buy any or enough of a product. The American Dairy Asso¬
ciation asked DDB Needham to find out why cheese consumption was declining. A study
identified one barrier that was most easily correctable through an advertising message: the
absence of simple cheese recipes for homemakers. Ads as well as the Association’s Web
site (ilovecheese.com) offer many such recipes.
Advertising can solve only message-related problems such as image, attitude, per¬ Principle
ception, and knowledge or information. It cannot solve problems related to the price of Advertising can solve only
the product, availability, or quality. However, a message can speak to the perception that message-related, or perception,
the price is too high. It can portray a product with limited distribution as exclusive. In problems.
other words, advertising can affect the way consumers perceive price, availability, and
quality.
http ://ww. I lovecheese com/
DDB Needham agency found

that a "barrier to purchase"
HOME ENTERTAINING } FOR CHEESE LOVERS
cheese was the lack of good
recipe ideas using cheese
I love Cll06S€ .com Gotta Ricotta!
products. The American Dairy
the ultimate site for Association responded by
heese getting more recipes out there
lovers through advertising and by
everywhere! posting them on its Web site.
You gotta love fskotta, the unforgettable

edible, creamy and spreadable, soft &
smooth cheese. What do you do when
you gotta have Ricotta?
Guest Chef:
Marlena Spieler America's Greatest
Sit down with Cheese Recipe Awards
renowned cookbook Looking for some new
author Marlena ,Spieler , cheese recipes? Good
. Her book Grfflad nows....siii tasty necip^s j
Chaos a: SO kacipas to that made it to the
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(Chronicle Books) Is Off® Contest have been
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twists on the old-Ameri the four Cheese Award-winning recipes.
favorite like Spinach,
and Dill IfAVArti,
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winter with two new cookbooks: Greet Afv Let our Cheesftmakire.
CrilM Chaasa by Laura Werlin and Mae! guide you on a tour
GrihW Chaasa: SO Koapos to Maka you / \ of dairy farms from coast
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Effects-based Advertising
Strategies
Advertising Objectives and Strategies

After the planners have examined the external and internal environment and defined the
critical areas that need to be addressed, they can develop specific objectives to be accom¬
plished during a specified time period. Remember from Chapter 4 that there are six cate¬
gories of effects in the Facets Model of Message Effectiveness (see a summary in Figure
7.4). These main effects are perception, cognition, affective or emotional, association, per¬
suasion, and behavior. These main categories of effects can be used to identify the most
common advertising and IMC strategies, which are in italics in Figure 7.4.
Although a rule of thumb for advertising is that it should be single-minded, we also
know from Chapter 4 that multiple effects are sometimes needed to create the desired
impact. Some ads may use an emotional strategy; others are informational. But sometimes
the message needs to speak to both the head and the heart. That was particularly true for
the Citizens Bank campaign where it was important that Mellon customers become aware
of and understand the customer service message, but more than that, they needed to feel
that they were respected as customers.
The Logic of Objectives Given the huge amounts of money spent on advertising, it
is important for advertisers to know what to expect from a campaign or an ad. The cate¬
gories of main effects also can be used as a template for setting advertising objectives, as
Table 7.1 shows. Objectives are formal statements of the goals of the advertising (or other
marketing communication) and outlines what the message is designed to achieve and how
it will be measured. Note that some of the objectives are tightly focused on one particular
effect, but others, such as brand loyalty, call for a more complex set of effects. In order to
create brand loyalty, for example, an advertising campaign must have cognitive and affec¬
tive effects, as well as move people to repeat buying. That’s one reason brand loyalty is a
type of long-term impact that is developed over time from many experiences that a con¬
sumer has with a brand and brand messages.
The advertiser’s basic assumption is that advertising works if it creates an impression,
influences people to respond, and separates the brand from the competition. Note also that
communication objectives may be important, even if they aren’t focused directly on a sale.
For example, Expedia.com is a travel consulting company and it views its advertising as a
way to draw attention to itself, create name recognition, and create understanding of the
products and services it sells.
7.1 Analyzing Advertising Objectives

The objective is this advertising message is to. Percp Cog Aff Asoc Beh Rers
grab attention and create awareness •
establish brand identity • • •
establish or cue the brand position •
establish or cue the brand personality, image • •
create links to associations • •
cue the emotional or psychological appeal • •
stimulate interest •
deliver information •
aid in understanding features, benefits, differences •
explain how to do something •
touch emotions •
create brand liking •
stimulate recognition for the brand •
stimulate recall of the brand message •
stimulate desire; brand preference, intent to buy •
create conviction, belief •
stimulate change of opinion or attitudes •
stimulate behavior (buy, call, click, visit, etc.) •
stimulate repeat purchases •
stimulate brand loyalty • • •
remind of brand • • •
create buzz, word of mouth •
create advocacy and referrals •
Measurable Objectives We cannot overstate the importance of delineating specific

advertising objectives. Every advertising campaign, and the ads in it, must be guided by
specific, clear, and measurable objectives. We say measurable objectives because that’s
how the effectiveness of the advertising is determined. It is critical that an objective state¬
ment be specific, quantified, and benchmarked, which means using a comparable effort to
predict a logical goal. There are five requirements for a measurable objective:
1. A specific effect that can be measured

2. A time frame
3. A baseline (where we are or where do we begin)
4. The goal (a realistic estimate of the change the campaign can create; benchmarking is
used to justify the projected goal)
5. Percentage change (subtract the baseline from the goal; divide the difference by the
baseline)
Segmenting and Targeting

As we know from Chapter 5, a market segment is a group of consumers having similar
characteristics. The segments the planner selects become the target audience. In the
Citizens Bank case, the Mellon customers could be identified with demographics—
adults 35-54 with a household income of

$50,000-$ 150,000—but the critical group to
reach was those people who were in the “likely
to switch” category. The Citizens planners esti¬
mated that was one-quarter of the Mellon cus¬
tomer base.
But there is more to targeting than just
identifying a possible audience and profiling
them. Advertising planners want to know what’s
going on in people’s heads and hearts—what
motivates them to attend to a message and
respond to it. Getting deeper insight into con¬
sumers is the responsibility of the account plan¬
ning function. We’ll return to that role later in
this chapter and explain how account planners
use research to add depth to the understanding
of what motivates consumers to think and act as
they do.
Positioning Strategy
Another key area in the advertising plan is the
analysis of the product in comparison to com¬
peting products. Determining what place a prod¬
uct should occupy in a given market is called
positioning. The objective is to establish a loca¬
tion in the consumer’s mind based on what the
product offers and how that compares with the
competition, as the Nokia ad illustrates. Before
we explain positioning strategy in more depth,
you need to understand some other concepts
Nokia is known as a leader in related to how we define the competitive situation: product features and attributes, differ¬
the cell phone market but this entiation, and competitive advantage.
ad demonstrates how it is
trying to reposition the product
Product Features The first step in crafting a position is to identify the features of your
as a personal organizer, as brand, as well as the competition to determine where the brand has an advantage over its
well as a phone. competitors. That means a marketer carefully evaluates the product’s tangible features (such
as size, color, ease-of-use) and other intangible attributes (such as quality, status, value,
fashion, safety) in order to identify the relevant dimensions of the product that make it dif¬
ferent from its competitors. The opening story provides an example of a bank taking advan¬
tage of its strength in customer service to overcome the potential problems of a merger.
Principle A technique called feature analysis helps structure this analysis. First, you make a
The point of positioning is to chart of a client’s product and competitors’ products, listing each product’s relevant features
establish a location in the as Table 7.2 illustrates. For example, taste is important for sodas, and trendiness is important
consumer's mind based on the for fashion watches. Then evaluate how well the product and the competitors’ products per¬
product's features and its form on that feature. Is it a strong point or a weak point? Next, evaluate how important each
advantages relative to its
feature is to the target audience based on primary research. In other words, do consumers
competition.
care about these various features, and which ones are most important to them?
Competitive Advantage Using the two factors of importance and performance,

competitive advantage lies where the product has a strong feature in an area that is impor¬
tant to the target and the competition is weaker. So if the product in Table 7.2 was tableware,
then it would compete well on both price and style against competitor X, on price against
competitor Y, and on style against competitor Z. Competitor X seems the most vulnerable on
the two features, price and style, that consumers rate as most important decision points.
Differentiation Most markets contain a high level of competition. How does a com¬
pany compete in a crowded market? It uses product differentiation, a strategy designed to
create product differences that distinguish the company’s product from all others in the
7.2 Feature Analysis

Feature Importance to Prospect Product Performance
Yours X Y Z
Price 1 + — — +
Quality 4 - + - +
Style 2 + - + -
Availability 3 - + - -
Durability 5 - + + +
eyes of consumers. Branding, the creation of a unique image for a product, is the most
obvious way to differentiate one product from another. Those perceived differences may be
tangible (design, price) or intangible (quality). We refer to products that really are the same
(examples include milk, unleaded gas, and over-the-counter drugs) as undifferentiated or
parity products. For these products marketers often promote intangible, or psychological,
differences. The popular Swatch watch differentiates itself as a fashionable watch at a
modest price.
Locating the Brand Position Let’s return now to the concept of a position. A com¬
pany or brand’s position is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about a prod¬
uct based on a particular feature or attribute. Volvo owns the safety position, while ESPN
owns the sports information position. A position, then, is a location in a consumer’s mind
where the product or brand is placed relative to its competitors on the basis of the key fac¬
tors the consumer uses to make a decision, such as fashion (high, low) or price (high, low).
Think of a map; in fact, the way planners compare positions is by using a technique called
a perceptual map that plots all the competitors on a matrix. Figure 7.5 illustrates how posi¬
tions can be mapped for automobiles.
Many ad campaigns are designed to establish the brand’s position by giving the right
set of cues that will help locate the brand in someone’s mind. Another common objective
for advertising is to reposition a brand. That’s the challenge explained in the Inside Story
feature about an advertising campaign in Iceland. After nine successful years of branding
Rubin as an upscale coffee the brand seemed to have tapped out.
Upscale/Luxury
Mercedes BMW Porsche

a ■ a
Lmcoln Lexus Infiniti
Town Car B A Perceptual Map for
a
■ Automobiles
Volvo
■
Buick
® Toyota
Camry
Maxda Ford
Mustang
626
91 a
Pontiac
Saturn 1
■
Volkswagon
m
Chevrolet Ford
Corsica Fiesta
n a
Practical/Economy
SIDE STQ DV
Exploiting the Dot—Repositioning a Luxury Coffee Brand
Ingvi Logason, Principal, HER & NU Advertising, Reykjavik, Iceland,
I always remember this one exercise we did back in col¬ The Rubin Strategy
lege in advertising class. It was called "exploiting the dot,"
the objective being to reposition a brand of your choice. It
was always good for a few laughs but little did I know
then how useful it would be in repositioning the Rubin
brand.
The market was stagnant and coffee drinking was
transferring from homes to cafes. To increase sales and
infuse the brand with new life, a risky strategic decision
was made to transfer the brand image of Rubin coffee
from the upscale to the daily market—in other words, to
go "downmarket." At the same time it was important to
attract more men to the brand, without losing women buy¬
ers (the existing majority) as research showed that men
were the driving force in the daily market
With just two-thirds distribution of the competition and
only a fraction of their shelf space, it was clear that adver¬
tising would have to carry the load of increasing the sales.
The marketing objective was set at 55 percent sales
increase within a two-year time period. Three ambitious
communication objectives were set:
The Rubin Strategy
• Transfer the brand image of Rubin to correspond better
Shift existing Rubin users along with the brand from the upscale
with the daily market.
coffee market to the daily coffee market and attract new users.
• Increase brand awareness and trial of Rubin among
heavy coffee drinkers.
• Put more emphasis on men in the execution to increase
usage proportionally more among men from 48 per¬ The big idea "Without Rubin?" hit home with the exe¬
cent to 50 percents cution of the strategy. It connected on an emotional level,
After researching the coffee market, we decided to with the target group pairing Rubin coffee to everyday
direct our message at heavy coffee drinkers since we scenes where you would want a coffee. All ads asked the
would need to convert fewer people that way to increase question "Without Rubin?" for various interesting situa¬
sales. This decision was made even though these users tions, hinting that you would not want that without Rubin.
were generally more brand loyal than other coffee The results of the campaign were beyond expecta¬
drinkers, thus making the work even more challenging. tions. After only 1 8 months sales had already gone up 69
The strategic solution had to overcome one big chal¬ percent (the objective was 55 percent in two years). Over
lenge: It had to change the brand image, which had been 85 percent of the increased usage came from heavy users
Rubin's biggest selling point so far, without scaring away and male usage went from 48 percent to 57 percent.
existing buyers. Our solution was to create micromarkets These were very good overall results that contributed to
within the coffee market and our target groups and tie our making those two years some of the most profitable ever
brand to them. Then we would steer those micromarkets for the producers of Rubin coffee.
and combine them in a larger market until we had one big
target market—big enough to bring us economies of scale
in advertising.
The media buy would start in media with small spe¬
cific reach, and then gradually move upward to media
with high reach. This would allow us to tailor-make adver¬
tisements early on and transform the groups until we had a A principal in his own agency, HER & NU Advertising, in Reykjavik, Iceland,
big enough market to send out a single message. Still it Ingvi Logason graduated with a degree in advertising from Western Florida
was important to have one big idea that could be fitted to University.
any special interest. Nominated by Professor Tom Groth, Western Florida University
Without Without
Rubin? Rub i n ?
The advertising shapes the position, but personal experiences anchor it in the target
audience’s mind. The role of the advertising strategy, then, is to relate the product’s posi¬
tion to the target market’s life experience and associations. In fact, positioning represents
one of advertising’s most critical tasks.
Budgeting
The budget is a critical part of planning an advertising campaign. A $50,000 budget will
only stretch so far and probably will not be enough to cover the costs of television
advertising in most markets. The budget also determines how many targets and multiple
campaign plans a company or brand can support and the length of time the campaign
can run.
Determining the total appropriation allocated to advertising is not an easy task. Often
a dollar amount, say $370,000, is budgeted for advertising during the budget planning
process (just before the end of the fiscal year). The big budgeting question for both the
marketing mix and marketing communication-mix is: How much do we need to spend?
Let’s examine five common budgeting methods to help answer that question.
• Historical Method. Historical information is the source for this common budgeting
method. A budget may simply be based on last year’s budget, with a percentage
increase for inflation or some other marketplace factor. This method, though easy to
calculate, has little to do with reaching advertising objectives.
• Objective-Task Method. The objective-task method looks at the objectives for each
activity and determines the cost of accomplishing each objective: What will it cost to
make 50 percent of the people in the market aware of this product? This method’s
advantage is that it develops the budget from the ground up so that objectives are the
starting point.
• Percentage-of-Sales Method. The percentage-of-sales method compares the total
sales with the total advertising (or marketing communication) budget during the previ¬
ous year or the average of several years to compute a percentage. This technique can
also be used across an industry to compare the expenditures of different product cate¬
gories on advertising. For example, if a company had sales figures of $5 million last
year and an advertising budget of $1 million, then the ratio of advertising to sales
would be 20 percent. If the marketing manager predicts sales of $6 million for next
year, then the ad budget would be $1.2 million. How can we calculate the percentage
of sales and apply it to a budget? Follow these two steps:
past advertising dollars „ ,

Step 1: ----= % of sales
past sales
Step 2: % of sales X next year’s sales forecast = new advertising budget
• Competitive Budgets. This method uses competitors’ budgets as benchmarks and

relates the amount invested in advertising to the product’s share of market. This sug¬
gests that the advertiser’s share-of-advertising voice—that is, the advertiser’s media
presence—affects the share of attention the brand will receive, and that, in turn, affects
the market share the brand can obtain. Here’s a depiction of these relationships:
Share of _ Share of _ Market

media voice consumer mind share
Keep in mind that the relationships depicted here are only a guide for budgeting.
The actual relationship between share-of-media voice (an indication of advertising
expenditures) and share of mind or share of market depends to a great extent on factors
such as the creativity of the message and the amount of clutter in the marketplace.
• All You Can Afford. When a company allocates whatever is left over to advertising, it
is using the “all-you-can-afford” budgeting method. It’s really not a method, but rather
a philosophy about advertising. Companies using this approach don’t value advertising
as a strategic imperative. For example, a company that allocates a large amount of its
budget to research and has a superior product may find the amount spent on advertis¬
ing is less important.
Evaluation: Determining Effectiveness

Evaluation is an important section in an advertising plan because it is the process by which
the effectiveness of the campaign is determined. All of these procedures and techniques
will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 19.
Consider This
o
1. What are the six categories of strategic decisions found in most advertising
and IMC plans?
2. How do strategies and objectives relate to what we know about advertising
effects?
ACCOUNT PLANNING: WHAT IS IT?

In general, an advertising plan matches the right audience to the right message and presents
it in the right medium to reach that audience. These three elements are at the heart of an
advertising plan and the agency’s planner is responsible for making the following decisions:
• Consumer Insight. Whom are you trying to reach and what insight do you have about
how they think, feel, and act? How should they respond to your advertising message?
CHAPTER 7 STRATEGIC PLANNING 195
• Message Strategy. What do you say to them? What directions come from the con¬
sumer research that are useful to the creative team?
• Media Strategy. How and where will you reach them? What directions come from the
consumer research that are useful to the media team?
The account planning function develops the advertising strategy and guides its imple¬
mentation in the creative work. Account planning is the research-and-analysis process
used to gain knowledge and understanding of the consumer, understanding that is
expressed as a key consumer insight into how people relate to a brand or product. An
account planner, then, is a person in an agency who uses this disciplined system to
research a brand and its customer relationships in order to devise advertising (and other
marketing communication) message strategies that are effective in addressing consumer
needs and wants. The KFC story in the Matter of Practice box illustrates how one account
planner approached a client’s image problem. We’ve featured the EFFIE awards in most of
these chapters, but this story is an Account Planning Group (APG) award winner.
Account planners are often described as “speaking for the consumer” or “speaking
with the voice of the consumer.” As London’s Account Planning Group (APG) explains it,
“Their job is to ensure that an understanding of consumer attitudes and behavior is brought
to bear at every stage of communications development via continuous involvement in the
process.”4
An account planner doesn’t solely design the creative strategy for an ad—this is usu¬
ally a team process—but instead evaluates consumers’ relationships with the brand and
with media to determine what kind of message they might respond to and when and how
they would be most likely to respond favorably to an ad. Ultimately the objective is to help
the creative team come up with a better idea—making their discovery process easier and
faster. Susan Mendelsohn, a leader in the U.S. account planning industry, explains the
account planner’s task as follows:5
1. Understand the meaning of the brand.

2. Understand the target audience’s relationship to the brand.
3. Articulate communication strategies.
4. Prepare creative briefs based on understanding of consumer and brand.
5. Evaluate the effectiveness of the communication in terms of how the target reacts to
it (so that planners can keep learning more about consumers and brand communi¬
cation).
Principle
Account planning was designed to bridge the client perspective and the consumer perspec¬ The account manager is seen as
tive. Account planners, then, became the voice of the consumer or the consumer advocate the voice of the client and the
within the agency and the campaign planning process. account planner is seen as the
voice of the consumer.
The Research Foundation

Consumer research is at the core of all account planning. Account planners use research to
get inside the consumers’ heads, hearts, and lives. Research and the analysis of its findings
is used in three phase of the advertising planning process: strategy generation, creative
development, and campaign evaluation.6 As discussed in the previous chapter, planners use
a wide variety of research tools to do “insight mining” including secondary sources, as
well as primary research. They are particularly interested, however, in developing innova¬
tive qualitative research tools that provide methods for deep probing into consumer
attitudes and motivations. In a sense they are social anthropologists who are in touch with
cultural and social trends and understand how they take on relevance in people’s lives. To
do that the account planner is an integrator (bringing all the information together) and syn¬
thesizer (what does it all mean in one startlingly simple statement?).
Consumer insight
Advertising is sometimes thought to be an idea factory but account planners look at adver¬
tising as an insight factory. As Mendelsohn explains, “Behind every famously great idea,
there is a perhaps less flashy, but immensely powerful insight.” Insights are the fuel that
i'jfi tv: CTIC

Everybody's Favorite Soul Food
How do you sell American-style southern fried chicken to mined that in the United
Brits? That was the assignment the London-based Bartle Kingdom the essence of
Bogle Hegarty agency took on when it won the Kentucky soul food is not limited to
Fried Chicken account. America, black culture, or
Although KFC was a major player in the fast-food the South. In fact, most cul¬
market, research into its loyalty profile uncovered what tures contain something
Alistair Green, the planner on the KFC account, described equivalent to soul food and
as "suspicious" findings: The majority of KFC's users were many are composed of
light users and a high percentage of them were lapsed chicken: Jamaican Jerk
users, which means it may be months between KFC visits. Chicken, French Coq au
The KFC profile was considerably different from that of Vin, Indian Chicken Korma,
other fast-food brands, all of which exhibited much higher Ukranian Chicken Kiev,
levels of loyalty. So why were there so many lapsed KFC and the proverbial Jewish
customers? mother's chicken soup. And
The consumer insight that Greene discovered was a that multicultural map of
lack of "brand regard," which meant that when customers chicken-based "soul food" also was a good reflection of
were asked to describe the brand meaning, they had very British society. In other words, the meaning of soul food
little to say about it. In contrast, when asked to describe could easily travel and have relevance to U.K. consumers.
McDonald's, consumers gave lots of responses rich in So that became the heart of the brief given to BBH
imagery and brand values. Green not only asked for creatives: to use the strong emotional component of soul
descriptions of the brand, he also asked consumers to cre¬ food, which was derived directly from the roots of Colonel
ate a "brand world" using images they cut out of maga¬ Sanders's chicken, to build a new brand world for KFC.
zines. Again the competitors' "brand worlds" were rich Did the "soul food" campaign for KFC in the United
with imagery but there was very little that the consumers Kingdom work? In terms of key objectives, the brand's
found to paste on a KFC poster. Greene's conclusion was share of the fast-food market grew while competitors'
that most KFC users related to KFC with little emotion, shares fell. Advertising awareness, which is a precursor to
empathy, or feeling. loyalty, reached the highest levels that the KFC brand had
The BBH research into the legend of Colonel Sanders seen for the previous 1 8 months. But more importantly, the
found a rich historical legacy but the details were not par¬ BBH tracking research confirmed that the "soul food" cam¬
ticularly relevant to the British market. What Green did paign had grown its heavy-user base. The ad tracking
spot was the cultural environment in which the Colonel data also showed KFC gaining market share, outperform¬
developed his cuisine—the social spirit and soul-satisfying ing all of its competitors in the fast-food category, which is
flavors of dishes that originally developed in the American why it was recognized as an APG winner.
Deep South. Referred to colloquially as "soul food," it
means "comfort food" that satisfies not just the stomach,
but also the head, heart, and soul.
Although the "soul food" phrase in the United States Source: APG brief provided by KFC and Bartle Bogle Regarty; personal inter¬
is more linked to American black culture, Green deter¬ view with Alistair Green, November 2003,
fires the ideas. A great insight always intersect with the interests of the consumer and the
features of the brand, as the Crest Whitestrips ad illustrates. It identifies the value that the
brand has for the consumer.
Through the process of strategic and critical thinking, the planner interprets the con¬
sumer research in terms of a key consumer insight that uncovers and showcases the rele¬
vance factor, the reason why a consumer cares about a brand message. Consumer insights
reveal the inner nature of a consumer’s thinking—including such things as mind-sets,
moods, motivations, desires, aspirations, and motives that trigger their attitudes and actions.
insight Mining Insight mining—finding the “Aha!” in a stack of research reports,

data, and transcripts—is the greatest challenge for an account planner. The London-based
Account Planning Group (APG ) describes this process as “peering into nooks and cran¬
nies without losing sight of the big picture in order to identify a key insight that can trans¬
form a client’s business.”
Mendelsohn describes insight mining as “a

deep dive” into the meaning of a brand looking for
“major truths.” She explains that the planner
engages in unearthing the relationship (if any) a
target audience has with a brand or product—
and what role that brand plays in their lives.
Understanding the brand-consumer relationship is
important because account planners are taking on
the position of the agency’s brand steward. Abigail
Hirschhorn, chief strategic planning officer at DDB
Needham, explains that “Our work puts our clients
in touch with the souls of their brands.”7 The
emphasis on brand building is one reason account
planning is moving beyond advertising and being
used in IMC campaign planning. Jon Steel, author
of a book on advertising and account planning, says
that planning works best when it is integrated into
the entire communication mix.8
The account planning toolkit is made up of
questions that lead to useful insights that are culled
from research. Here is a set of questions that can
lead to useful insights:
• What is a realistic response objective (percep¬

tion, knowledge, feelings, attitudes, symbolic
meanings, behavior) for this target group?
• What are the causes of their nonresponse?
• What are the barriers to the desired response?
• What could motivate them to respond in the
desired way?
• What is the role of each element in the commu¬
nication mix to motivate them or remove a
barrier?
Here’s an example of how data analysis works: Imagine you are working on a cookie Crest Whitestrips claims that
account. Here’s your brand share information: it whitens teeth in 7 days and
equates that to a consumer's
2003 share (%) 2004 share (%)
wish to take off 14 years of
Choco Nuts (your brand) 50 40 staining.
Sweet’n Crunchy (your main competitor) 25 30
What’s the problem with this situation? Obviously your brand is losing market share
to your primary competitor. So one of your goals might be to use a marketing communica¬
tion mix that could drive higher levels of sales. But that goal is so broad that it would be
difficult to determine whether communication is sufficient to solve the problem. So let’s
dig deeper and consider another set of data about household (HH) purchases in a year.
2003 HH purchases 2004 HH purchases
Choco Nuts 4 3
Sweet ’n Crunchy 2.5 3
What’s the problem identified here? It looks like your loyal brand users are reducing
their purchases at the same time Sweet ’n Crunch customers are increasing their purchases,
although only slightly. It may even be that some of your customers are switching over to
Sweet ’n Crunchy. So a strategy might be to convince people that your brand tastes better
and also to remind your loyal customers of the reasons they have preferred your brand.
Those are goals that can actually be accomplished by marketing communication.
But when you combine the two pieces of information and think about it, another
insight might explain this situation. Perhaps people are simply eating fewer cookies. If
that’s a problem, then the communication opportunity lies in convincing people to return to
eating cookies. That is more of a “category sell” problem (sell cookies), rather than a com¬
petitive sell (set the brand against the competition). Here’s a summary of these two differ¬
ent strategic approaches. Which do you think would be more effective?
Competitive Sell Category Sell
What? Challenger brand Leader brand

Who? Loyal buyers Medium/light/lapsed buyers
What effect? Compare cookie brands Compare against other snacks
Objective? Increase share of wallet Increase total category sales
Message? “Our cookies are better “Cookies are better than
than theirs” candy, or salty snacks”
The important dimensions that account planners seek to understand in planning brand
strategies are the brand relationship, the perceptions, the promise, and the point of differ¬
entiation. Most importantly, planners are looking for clues about the brand’s meaning,
which is usually phrased in terms of the brand essence (core, soul), personality, or image,
as the Pacific Life ad illustrates.
The Communication Brief

The outcome of strategic research usually reaches agency creative departments in the form
of a strategy document called a communication brief or creative brief, which explains
the consumer insight and summarizes the basic strategy decisions (position, targeting,
objectives, brand strategy). Although the exact form of this document differs from agency
to agency and from advertiser to advertiser, most have six major parts: the marketing
objective, the product, the target audience, the promise and support, the brand personality,
and the strategy statement.
The brief is an outline of the message strategy that guides their work and helps keep
their creative ideas strategically sound. It is the planner’s main product and it should be
clear, logical, and single focused. It’s strategic, but it also should be creative. It is designed
to ignite the creative team and give a spark to their idea process. A good brief doesn’t set
up limitations and boundaries, but rather serves as a springboard. It is the first step in the
creative process. Here is an outline of a typical communication brief.
Communication Brief Outline*

• Problem. What’s the problem that communication can solve? (establish position, repo¬
sition, increase loyalty, get people involved, increase liking, etc.)
• Target Audience. Who do we want to speak to? (brand loyal, heavy users, infrequent
users, competition’s users, etc.)
• The Brand Position. What are the important features? What’s the point of competitive
advantage? What’s the brand’s position relative to the competition?
• Brand Imperatives. Brand essence, brand personality and image. Ogilvy & Mather
says, “What is the unique personality for the brand? People use products, but they
have relationships with brands.”
• Communication Objectives. What do we want them to do in response to our messages?
(perception, knowledge, feelings, symbolic meanings, attitudes and conviction, action)
• Consumer Insight. What motivates the target? What are the “major truths” about the
target’s relationship to the product category or brand?
• The Proposition or Selling Idea. What is the single-minded thought that the commu¬
nication will bring to life in a provocative way?
• Support. What is the reason to believe the proposition? Ogilvy & Mather explains,
“We need to give consumers ‘permission to believe’—something that allows them to
rationalize, whether to themselves or others, what is in reality an emotionally driven
brand decision. The support should be focused on the insight or proposition, the truths
that make the brand benefit indisputable.”
*This outline was compiled from one contributed by Susan Mendelsohn, as well as from the creative brief
outline developed by the Ogilvy and Mather advertising agency and presented on its Web site.
• Creative Direction. How can you best stimulate the

desired response? How can we best say it?
• Media Imperatives. Where and when should we say it?
Personal Characteristics of a Planner

What makes a good account planner? Obviously that person
has to be proficient in research and strategic thinking, but
some also argue that an account planner has to be a creative
thinker as well because the job demands an ability to do prob¬
lem solving. The APG Web site has a hypothetical job descrip¬
tion for account planner recruitment. It includes the personal
characteristics identified in the Practical Tips. Test yourself
against these qualities and figure out if account planning
would be a good job for you.
q Practical Tips
Test Yourself: Would You Make a Good Account
Planner?
• Curiosity about what makes people act and think

the way they do.
• Questioning—accepting nothing at face value.
• Ability to look at a problem from different angles
without losing sight of the big picture—a creative,
as well as critical, thinker.
• Eclectic information searcher—desire to draw on
all types and sources of information. An informa¬
tion sponge. Wide range of interests.
• Capable of taking a creative idea and making a
reasonable guess its intended effects and its effec¬
Pacific Life has used the image
tiveness.
of a leaping whale to reflect its
• Able to describe a target audience without relying on demographics. image of a confident insurance
• Ability to numerate—to use numbers, visualize the meaning of numbers, company that works with other
and generate hypotheses and draw conclusions from numbers. great companies.
• Team player: can appreciate and use inputs from others; knows when to
push and when to relax.
• Must like an informal, loosely structured work environment.
• Must be able to handle criticism and disagreement; not territorial, defen¬
sive, or paranoid.
Source: Adapted from "The ideal Account Planner—Recruitment Specs," Account Planning Group Web site
(http://vAvw.apg.org.uk).
Consider This
o 1. What is account planning?
2. What is a communication brief and what information is usually included in it?
PLANNING FOR IMC

An IMC plan follows the same basic outline as an advertising plan. The difference, how¬
ever, lies with the scope of the plan and the variety of marketing communication areas
involved in the effort. The more tools used, the harder it is to coordinate them and maintain
consistency across a variety of messages. The objective in IMC planning is to make the
most effective use of all marketing communication functions and to influence or control
<>BU
Corporate Marketing Marketing

Level Level Communication Level
Employees Consumers Target audiences
Investors, financial Customers Target stakeholders

community (analysts Stakeholders Employees
brokers, and the Market segments Trade audiences
financial press) Distributors, dealers, Local community
Government bodies retailers, and others in Media (general, special
and agencies the distribution channel interest, trade)
Regulatory bodies Suppliers and vendors, Consumer activist
Business partners including agencies groups
Competitors General public
Opinion leaders
the impact of other communication elements. Effective IMC plans are the ones that lead to
profitable long-term brand relationships.
Differences in IMC Strategic Decisions

There are three main areas where an IMC plan is different from an advertising plan: stake¬
holders, contact points, and objectives.
Stakeholders The target market in an IMC plan includes more than just consumers.
Stakeholder refers to any group of people who have a stake in the success of a company or
a brand. These audiences include all those who might influence the purchase of products
and the success of a company’s marketing program, as Table 7.3 shows. Employees are par¬
ticularly important and their support or “buy in” for marketing, advertising, and marketing
communication programs is managed through an activity called internal marketing.
The important thing to remember is that stakeholders overlap. Employees, for exam¬
ple, may also be customers, as well as shareholders and members of the local community,
perhaps even elected officials. That complicates message strategy and demands that there
be a certain core level of consistency in all messages.
Contact Points IMC programs are designed to maximize all the various types of con¬
tacts that a consumer and other stakeholders might have with a company or brand. Contact
points, also called touch points, are all the ways and places where a person can come into
contact with a brand; all the points where a message about the brand is delivered. The point
to remember is that everything a brand does—and sometimes what it doesn’t do—delivers
a message.9
IMC Objectives IMC objectives are tied to the effects created by the various forms of
marketing communication. All the various marketing communication tools have strengths
and weaknesses. You use public relations, for example, to announce something that is
newsworthy and sales promotion to drive immediate action. Therefore an IMC plan oper¬
ates with a set of interrelated objectives that specify the strategies for all the various tools.
Each area will have a set of objectives similar to those outlined in Table 7.1 (see page 189)
for advertising; those will be presented in more detail in later chapters. But for discussion
at this point, let’s just consider the main areas in terms of their primary effects, as outlined
in Table 7.4.
(
7.4 Area Objectives

Marketing
Communication Area Typical Objectives
Public Relations Announce news; affect attitudes and opinions; maximize credibility and likability;
create and improve stakeholder relationships
Consumer Sales Promotion Stimulate behavior; generate immediate response, intensify needs, wants, and
motivations; reward behavior; stimulate involvement and relevance; create pull
through the channel
Trade Sales Promotion Build industry acceptance; push through the channel; motivate cooperation;
energize sales force, dealers, distributors
Point-of-Purchase Increase immediate sales; attract attention at decision point; create interest; stim¬
ulate urgency; encourage trial and impulse purchasing
Direct Marketing Stimulate sales; create personal interest and relevance; provide information; create
acceptance, conviction
Sponsorship and Events Build awareness; create brand experience, participation, interaction, involvement;
create excitement
Packaging Increase sales; attract attention at selection point; deliver product information;
create brand reminder
Specialties Reinforce brand identity; continuous brand reminder; reinforce satisfaction;
encourage repeat purchase
IT'S A WRAP
PROVING THAT A BANK IS NOT TYPICAL
A dvertisers don't create messages by relying on whimsy or a sudden flash of inspiration.

They formulate messages to achieve specific objectives that will overcome real problems
that are hurting an organization's marketing program. Then they develop strategies to
achieve those objectives and tactics that implement the strategies. It's a process designed to
help advertising planners make intelligent decisions.
The strategic decisions—researching and analyzing the marketplace, setting objectives,
targeting the right audience and uncovering consumer insights, identifying a competitive
advantage and creating a brand position, budgeting, and implementing and evaluating the
strategy—are the foundation for the development of effective advertising messages and
media plans. Here is the evaluation of the campaign's three objectives:
1. Minimize customer attrition keeping losses under 10 percent. During the six-month
period of the merger, Mellon experienced virtually no customer attrition and the bank
enjoyed a net increase in deposits, a response that is nearly unheard of in a bank
merger.
2. Quickly build advertising awareness. During this period, the integrated communication
efforts helped drive Citizens' awareness in the new market from zero to 31 percent in
just a few short weeks, and to 60 percent by opening day.
3. Reduce customers' intentions to leave the bank. During the three-month period leading
up to opening day, the proportion of Mellon customers likely to switch banks was cut
in half (from 24 percent to 1 2 percent) and continued to drop through the next six
months.
The "Legendary Service" merger campaign plan was highly successful in taking Citizens
and Mellon customers through the transition and successfully protected the value of the cus¬
tomer franchise Citizens was acquiring.
■ ■■Summary
1. Differentiate between objectives, strategies, and tactics insight, selling premise, big idea, execution ideas); other
in strategic planning. Objectives are what you want to IMC tools; and evaluation of effectiveness.
accomplish, a goal; strategies are how you will accomplish 3. Explain how account planning works. Account planning
the objectives, the design or plan; and tactics are the ways matches the right message to the right audience and identi¬
you implement the strategies, the executions. fies the right media to deliver that message. The three key
2. Identify the six basic strategic areas in an advertising or factors are: consumer insight, message strategy direction,
IMC plan. An advertising or IMC plan summarizes the and media strategy direction.
strategic decisions in the following areas: situation analysis 4. Outline the additional key factors in an IMC plan. The
(background research, SWOTs, key problem); key strategic three additional factors that you find discussed in an IMC
decisions (objectives, targeting, positioning, brand image, plan are the stakeholders, the contact points, and a wider
budget level); media strategy (objectives, vehicle selection, set of objectives that identify the interwoven effects of the
budget allocation, scheduling); message strategy (consumer various marketing communication tools.
account planning, 195 feature analysis, 190 position, 191 strategic business unit (SBU),
benchmarked, 189 internal marketing, 200 positioning, 190 182
campaign plan, 185 marketing plan, 183 product differentiation, 190 strategic planning, 181
communication brief, 198 mission statement, 183 return on investment (ROI), strategies, 181
competitive advantage, 190 objective-task method, 193 183 SWOT analysis, 186
contact points, 200 percentage-of-sales method, 194 situation analysis, 186 tactics, 181
creative brief, 198 touch points, 200
1. Define objectives, strategies, and tactics, and explain how 3. What is account planning, and what does the account plan¬
they differ. ner bring to an advertising plan?
2. Explain the six basic strategic planning decisions in an 4. What is the difference between an advertising plan and an
advertising plan. IMC plan?
1. Think of a product you purchased recently. How was it c. Luna follows a share-of-voice method. Brutus is
advertised? Which strategies can you discern in the adver¬ expected to use 6 percent of sales for its advertising
tising? Did the advertising help to convince you to purchase budget in 2003.
the product? Why or why not? Actual Estimates
2. In Luna Pizza’s situation analysis for 2005, we find: Luna is Last Year Next Year
a regional producer of frozen pizza; its only major competi¬ Units sold 120,000 185,000
tor is Brutus Bros. Estimate the year 2005 advertising bud¬ $ Sales 420,000 580,000
gets for Luna under each of the following circumstances: Brutus $ Sales 630,000 830,000
a. Luna follows a historical method by spending 40 cents 3. Using resources such as the Wall Street Journal online, find
per unit sold in advertising, with a 5 percent increase for an example of a company whose strategy matches its mis¬
inflation. sion. What leads you to believe its strategy matches its mis¬
b. Luna follows a fixed percentage of projected sales sion ? Next, find an example of a company whose strategy
method, using 7 percent. does not seem to match its mission. What leads you to
believe its strategy does not match its mission? Support gic decision-making process. What do you need to do in
your arguments with points from this chapter. order to put together a useful brief for the creative team?
4. You are assigned to the account for a new hybrid automo¬ 5. Pick one of your favorite brands. Analyze its strategy using
bile. Use the Communication Brief outline and list the the Facets Model of Advertising Effectiveness.
research that you need to conduct for each step in the strate¬
1. With some classmates, select two print ads, one for a consumer product and one for a business-
to-business product. Working from the ads, determine the selling premise, the product posi¬
tion, the product image, the competitive advantage, and the specific target audience. What
were the objectives? Were they achieved? Determine where the strategy was clear and
where it was unclear.
2. Examine the following Web sites: fordvehicles.com/suvs, hondasuv.com and
cadillacsuv.com. Based on what you find on these sites, compare the positioning strategies
for their top-of-the-line SUV models. Analyze the product features, their competitive
advantage, and their points of differentiation.
Unscrambling the NASCAR Fan

What's America's favorite sport, at least in terms of atten¬ In the first two months Linkler's company had distrib¬
dance? That's easy, football. How about the second uted more than a million decoders, and almost 26,000
biggest? Would you guess baseball? Basketball? fans had gone to the Web site to play. The race promoters
How about car racing? There are about 35 million are thrilled with the results and plan to put the data to
NASCAR enthusiasts in the United States, and a large per¬ good use. NASCAR marketing spokesperson Keith Karbo
centage of them are avid fans. That's why lots of companies gives an example, "If we know that a race fan likes to fish,
pony up big bucks to be NASCAR sponsors, including then one way to reach that fan is to use outdoor media."
Nextel, which has committed $700 million over the next 10 He adds, "If we have data on that, we can approach fish¬
years as sponsor of the sport's championship cup. In 2004 ing-related companies and ask them to become sponsors."
more than 100 Fortune 500 companies were NASCAR Future plans also include targeted e-mails sent to fans on
sponsors; together they spent almost a billion dollars. the basis of responses to lifestyle questions.
Small wonder, then, that NASCAR is anxious to keep
its sponsors happy. One way to do that is to help sponsors Consider This
better understand the fans that turn out each weekend to O-
watch the races. But obtaining data on fans is not easy. 1. Do you see any drawbacks to obtaining fan data
Companies sometimes learn about lifestyle segments by pur¬ this way? How can NASCAR avoid alienating
chasing readership data from lifestyle-relevant media, but some of its fans, who might be worried about pri¬
no existing magazine targets the NASCAR audience (Time vacy or who might not wish to receive e-mail
Inc. is readying one to launch, however, titled Racing Fan). advertisements?
Enter Josh Linkler and his decoder. Make that his e- 2. What is attractive about NASCAR sponsorship to
decoder. Linkler's company makes an e-decoder that looks companies? How can a decision to sponsor a
nothing like the rings kids used to get out of Cracker Jack race team or NASCAR be justified as a part of a
boxes. This one looks like a square, bearing the phrase company's marketing mix?
"Race to Win. Grand Prize $10,000 cash." Owners of the 3. Evaluate NASCAR's strategy for getting data
e-decoder are instructed to go to a special Web site and about its fans. Why might this data be so appeal¬
hold the device against their screen to see whether they ing to sponsors? How can it be used in planning
have won NASCAR prizes. Prizes are awarded every day an advertising campaign?
during the NASCAR season. But there is a catch: Fans have
to give a small amount of personal information each time Source: Jon Fine, "Time Breaks into NASCAR Territory", Advertising Age (November 29,
2004). Kris Oser, "Speedway Effort Decodes NASCAR Fans," Advertising Age (May 1 7,
they play. Someone who plays regularly can end up giving
2004); Rich Thomaselli, "Sponsors Sweat New NASCAR Scoring System," Advertising
responses to more than 150 questions, and not all the ques¬ Age (February 2, 2004); Rich Thomaselli, "Nextel Antes Up $70 million to Leverage
tions deal with racing. Some deal with race fan hobbies NASCAR," Advertising Age (February 9, 2004).
such as camping and others are meant to find out where

fans shop.
There are three key components to building a powerful brand—positioning,
personality, and affiliation.
Building the Chick-fil-A brand is a top priority for both Chick-fil-A and its advertising
agency, The Richards Group. Agency and client agree that of all the things Chick-fil-A
owns, nothing is as important as its brand. Its brand is its future, and great brands have the
potential to continue forever.
The Richards Group defines a brand as a promise made to consumers through every¬
thing they can observe about a product, like logos, the color of a package, signage, the
store appearance, and the employees. To fully understand a client’s brand, the agency uses
a tool it developed called Spherical® Branding.
The first step in the Spherical Branding process is to accurately identify the client’s
business and formulate a brand vision—an ongoing goal that a brand should continually
strive to achieve. Here is the brand vision by which Chick-fil-A measures itself:
“To be America’s best quick-service restaurant at winning and keeping customers.”
The next step is to identify three branding strategies that work together: brand posi¬
tioning, brand personality, and brand affiliation. The development of a brand-positioning
strategy is not done by mere consensus. It requires thorough data analysis and primary
research. It must define the target audience, a competitive frame of reference, and the most
meaningful point of difference for the brand. Here is how Chick-fil-A defines its brand:
Chick-fil-A Brand Positioning: To choosy people in a hurry,
t
(target audience)
Chick-fil-A is the premium fast-food restaurant brand
t
(frame of reference)
that consistently serves America’s best-loved chicken sandwiches.
t
(point-of-difference)
204
Next is the task of identifying the brand personality. What are the human traits your
brand portrays to the consumer? To illustrate, Chick-Til-A’s personality is:
Caring, genuine, clean-cut, dependable, and unexpectedly fun.
The final branding strategy is brand affiliation. In essence, brand affiliation answers
the question, “How are other people going to perceive me as a result of my using this
brand?” Chick-fil-A brand answers it this way:
“I don’t mind paying a little more because it’s worth it. I appreciate a nicer, better
experience. I like associating with a company that has good values.”
These three strategies affect the mind (positioning), heart (personality), and ego (affilia¬
tion) of the consumer. All three strategies are necessary in order for consumers to build
conviction for a brand. Spherical Branding provides everyone in the company, no matter
what the department, with a framework for developing consistent communication to the
consumer.
After all, it’s not just the marketing and advertising departments that are responsible
for communicating to consumers and building the brand.
Consider This
1. Although the brand is very important, do you feel the definition offered by
Chick-fil-A is clear and concise?
2. How do employees represent the brand and what is their role in
accomplishing the Spherical Branding plan?
205
EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA
Finding Creative Ways to Connect

The previous section discussed planning and strategy. The next two sections focus on how advertis¬
ing is done—both through the creation as well as the delivery of an advertising message. Even
though we examine media planning before creative planning, they are parallel processes that con¬
stantly influence one another.
Media decisions and message decisions are interdependent. The creative people planning the
advertising message must understand the media opportunities before they are able to develop their
creative plans. For example, is television going to be used or not? There's a big difference between
developing an advertising message for print and television, so there has to be some sense of what
media are going to be used before the creative people can even begin their work.
Likewise, some of the media decisions are based on the nature of the message, therefore creative
decisions also influence media strategies. In other words, media and message planning are two
strategic tracks that have to be planned simultaneously recognizing that these decisions are
interdependent.
Creativity is also important to the media side, as well as the creative side. Media planners are
creative problem solvers. As the media landscape becomes more complex and customers become
more resistant to traditional advertising, innovative new media are being designed that open up
unexpected ways to deliver messages that are appropriate and sensitive to consumer interests.
Another key change is the reframing of media planning as connection planning. Modern media
planning philosophy sees media as more than a delivery system but rather as a way to connect with
consumers. To carry that out, a new breed of planners closely related to account planners is being
added to media staffs. Called a connection planner (or context planner in some agencies), these
strategists bring the account planner's dedication to consumer insight to media planning. Their role is
to unaerstand the basis for the media connection by evaluating consumers' relationships with media.
Media planners must understand the context within which brand messages connect with
consumers—how, where, and when consumers experience products, as well as experience
messages about the product. The emphasis is on finding contact points where a message is
welcomed by consumers, and then connecting with the hearts and minds of that audience. Media
planners are moving beyond just attracting eyeballs. If a positive connection is established between
the brand and the consumer, then the brand relationship will be strengthened.
Source: Aaron, Barr, “A New Face at Media Shops: The Account Planner,” Adweek (March, 31, 2003): 10.
i
CHAPTER KEY POINTS
1. Explain the key concepts of media planning and buying.
2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of newspapers as an

advertising medium.
3. Describe the key factors that advertisers should know to make

effective decisions about advertising in magazines.
4. Analyze why packaging is such an important advertising

opportunity.
5. Discuss factors that advertisers should consider in making out-of¬

home media decisions.
Apple Tops the Charts
with Digital Music 6. Outline the factors that advertisers use to make decisions about
using directory advertising.
Award:
Advertising Ages
Marketer of the Year
Magazine Publishers
of America Kelly Award
Grand Prize
T he iPod is cool. That's why hip DJs in cool clubs are holding
iPod parties where lucky participants are selected to design
iPod playlists. In effect, the DJs—without any incentive from
Apple, iPod's maker—are conducting iPod seminars for their
Company: clubbers. And as the trendy clubbers twist and shout, Apple dances
Apple to meet the demand for the sleek digital music players that have
been flying off the shelves.
Agency:
TBWA/Chiat/Day The iPod holds the largest share of the fragmented portable dig¬
ital MP3 music player market at 50 percent, but giant competitors
Campaign: such as Wal-Mart, Sony, and Microsoft are also entering the market.
iPod and iTunes Paired with the revolutionary iTunes Music Store, however, Apple
209
210 PART 3 • EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA
offers the only holistic digital music system combining both player and song
delivery. With an easy-to-use iPod plugged into a computer (PC or Mac), songs
automatically transfer from iTunes.
iTunes, iPod's dance partner, solves a huge Napster-created downloadable
music problem—giving the troubled music industry a new lease on life. For a
reasonable 99 cents per tune, iTunes Music Store customers can legally down¬
load and copy the songs from Apple's enormous music library. There's no
monthly fee or hidden charges. Once you buy your song, it's yours to burn onto
a CD, load onto an MP3 player like iPod, or transfer to some other computer.
The iPod/iTunes partnership also is a vehicle to expand the Apple brand into
entirely new space occupied by the music-obsessed youth market. The portable
players, which can store between 2,500 and 10,000 downloaded songs, were
only a beachhead for Apple. Starting with its loyal Macintosh base, Apple then
launched a PC version of its iTunes. The music delivery system, however, was
priced cheaply enough so that it could build a new generation of Apple enthusi¬
asts for the more profitable iPod and the newer, more colorful iPod mini.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the new product news and created the ini¬
tial buzz that started an effective word-of-mouth campaign among music and
computer fans. This public relations effort was phenomenally successful with more
than 6,000 iPod and iTunes stories in major publications around the world. (Buzz
marketing is a great tool for Apple, which has achieved incredible brand loyalty
and an army of passionate advocates who spread the word on Apple's behalf.)
Apple then launched a combination of iconic print advertising and posters.
The ads creatively present the digital player, and its player, as cool. It uses sil¬
houettes of people dancing against brightly colored neon backgrounds.
The print campaign was followed by an equally interesting television cam¬
paign using the same graphic image that featured iPod's distinctive silhouetted
dancing figures. Most importantly, these ads needed to sell the idea that iPods
and iTunes would work with PCs, as well as Macs.
Total spending for the iPod print ads in the first half of 2003 was $9 million,
according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, up from $4 million in all of 2002.
Overall Apple spent $125 million in 2003 advertising iTunes and iPod on bill¬
boards, TV shows, and in mainstream print magazines.
The distinctive ads got attention and built awareness by creating buzz and
by resonating with the interests and lifestyles of its target audience.
IPod and iTunes—a big hit on the pop charts.
Sources: Adapted from Jefferson Graham, “Music Moves Apple Up Charts," The Denver Post (December 29, 2003): 5L;
Michelle Kessler, “Wal-Mart to Challenge iTunes Store,” The Denver Post (December 29, 2003): 5L; Alice Z. Cuneo, "Marketer
of the Year: Apple," Advertising Age (December 15, 2003): 1; “Apple Emerges from the Pod," BBC News Magazine, December
16, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.Uk/go/pr/fr/-/hi/magazine/3321943.stm; “Prophet's List of 2003 Branding Hits Topped by
Apple on Digital Music Front,” PR Newswire, December 1, 2003, http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0m4PRN/2003_Dec_l/
110672217/pl/article.jhtml.
IPod and iTunes used space in magazines and posters to create attention-getting images
that connected with the trendy buyers of its products. This chapter and the three that fol¬
low will explain the side of the media advertising story that you don’t see: how the
advertising gets placed and why you see the ads that you do when you watch, listen, or
read your favorite kinds of mass media. In particular, this chapter will present the world
of print advertising in all its varied forms—from newspaper and magazine ads to
CHAPTER 8 • PRINT AND OUT-OF-HOME MEDIA 211
8.1 Ad Spending by Medium
2002 2003
Media (in million $) (in million $) % Change % of Media
Newspapers $45,341 $46,256 2.0 23.8
Local newspaper 20,994 $21,341 1.7
National newspapers 7,210 7,797 8.1
Free-standing inserts 1,239 1,317 6.3
Classifieds 15,898 15,801 -0.6
Magazines 26,047 27,280 4.7 14.0
Consumer magazines 17,254 18,347 6.3
B-to-B magazines 7,227 7,277 0.7 .
Sunday magazines 1,264 1,331 5.3
Local magazines 311 325 4.6
Directories 13,776 14370 4.1 7.3
Television 52,666 54,462 3.4 28.0
Network TV 20,016 20,375 1.8
Spot TV 17,165 16,244 -5.4
Cable TV 10,593 12,251 15.6
National syndication 2,946 3,396 15.3
Spanish-language network TV 1,946 2,196 12.8
Radio 9,993 10,368 3.8 5.3
Local radio 6,575 6,732 2.4
Network radio 966 1,001 3.6
National spot radio 2,452 2,635 7.5
Outdoor 2,475 2,673 8.0 1.3
Internet 5,613 6,495 15.7 3.3
Other 30,730 32,320 4.9 16.6
Total: $165,144 $175,048 6.0
Sources: Adapted from Noreen O'Leary, "'03 a Bumper Year for Ads," Adweek (March 15, 2004): 14; "Media," 2003 Marketing Fact Book (July 7,
2003): 17; Newspaper Association of America Web site, May 2004, www.naa.org.
packages on the grocery store shelf, outdoor boards, posters, and ads that you look up in
phone directories. But first we will start with a quick review of the media industry and
basic media concepts.
THE MEDIA INDUSTRY

People in contemporary society live in a web of media-delivered news, information, and
the advertising that makes the news and information possible. Advertising media is a huge
industry with almost $195 billion in spending, as Table 8.1 shows. Although media ad
spending has been slumping during the economic downturn in the early 2000s, it began to
show a turnaround in 2003 with an overall spending increase of 6 percent from the previ¬
ous year. Note that the Internet, cable TV, syndicated TV programming, and directory
advertising led this resurgence. Newspapers and network television stayed even, but local
(spot) television continued to decline.
This chapter is focused on print media, which includes newspapers, magazines, pack¬
aging, out-of-home media, and directories. Let’s first consider some of the basic concepts
that drive the media advertising industry.
BASIC MEDIA CONCEPTS

A media mix is the way various types of media are strategically combined in an advertis¬
ing plan, such as using newspapers and posters to announce a new product as the iPod
managers did, followed by television advertising that shows how to use the product, and
billboards that remind people to look for it when they go to the store. A media vehicle is a
specific TV program (60 Minutes, The Simpsons), newspaper (USA Today, Wall Street
Journal), magazine (Woman’s Day, GQ), or radio station or program (NPR’s All Things
Considered, Rush Limbaugh’s talk show).
Planning and Buying

The iPod launch campaign is a great example of creative use of media opportunities to
connect with people who might be in the market for an MP3 player. A media plan, which
identifies the best media to use to deliver an advertising message to a targeted audience, is
a subsection within an advertising plan. The media plan will have its own objectives,
strategies, and tactics; the challenge is to determine the best strategy for delivering a mes¬
sage. The execution of the media plan is done through media buying. Media planning is
the way advertisers identify and select media options based on research into the audience
profiles of various media; planning also includes scheduling and budgeting. Media buying
is the task of identifying specific vehicles, such as TV programs or Web sites, negotiating
the costs to advertise in them, and handling the details of billing and payment.
Reach and Frequency

The goal of most media plans is to reach as many people in the target audience as often as
the budget allows. Reach is the percentage of the media audience exposed at least once to
the advertiser’s message during a specific time frame. When we say that a particular media
vehicle, such as the Super Bowl, has a wide reach, that means a lot of people are watching
the program. When we say it has a narrow reach, such as a cable program on oil painting,
Principle we mean that a smaller percentage of the TV viewing audience is watching that show.
The goal of a media plan is to The idea for the iPod launch was to reach not just everyone who likes music, but those
reach as many people in the technologically sophisticated people who would know how to assemble a music playlist on
target audience as often as the a computer for use on the iPod. They also would need to have enough discretionary income
budget allows. that the initial cost of the iPod would not be a negative factor. That audience profile leads
to a young-adult target of innovators, people who are into cool things and love music.
As important as reach is frequency, which refers to the number of times a person is
exposed to the advertisement. Different media have different patterns of frequency, as well
as of reach. Radio commercials, for example, often are able to achieve high levels of fre¬
quency because they can be repeated over and over to achieve impact.
Impressions
An impression is one person’s opportunity to be exposed one time to an ad in a broadcast
program, newspaper, magazine, or outdoor location. Impressions can be added up as a
measure of the size of the audience either for one medium (one announcement in broadcast
or one insertion in print) or for a combination of vehicles in a media mix as estimated by
media research.
The idea of impressions is different from circulation, because impressions (at least in
print) estimate the actual readership, rather than just the circulation, which refers to copies
sold. In broadcast media, impressions estimate viewers for television and listeners for radio.
Television exposure, which is similar to circulation, measures households with sets turned
on, called HUT (households using television). For example, a magazine may have a circula¬
tion of 1 million but it might be read, on the average, by 2.5 people per issue. That means
impressions for that issue would be 2.5 million. If the ad ran in three consecutive issues, then
the estimate of total impressions, or gross impressions, would be 7.5 million. Similarly, the
impressions from television, or the number of viewers watching a program, might be greater
than the number of households reached since there may be more than one viewer watching.
These gross impression figures become very large and difficult to work with, which is
why the television industry uses ratings (percentage of exposure), which is an easier mea¬
surement to work with because it converts the raw figure to a percentage of the population
or households. We’ll work with these concepts later when we talk about media objectives.
Media Key Players

In the media industries, there are professionals who both sell and buy advertising. Media
salespeople work for a medium, such as a magazine or local television station, and their
objective is to build the best possible argument to convince media planners to use the
medium they represent. A media salesperson is responsible for putting packets of informa¬
tion, or sales kits, together on the medium he or she represents, which usually means com¬
piling profile information about the people who watch, listen, or read the medium, along
with the numbers describing audience size and geographical coverage.
There are also media reps, who are people or companies that sell space (in print) and
time (in broadcast) for a variety of media. If an advertising agency wants to buy space in all
the major newspapers in the West, for example, the agency’s buyer would not need to con¬
tact every newspaper individually, but instead could contract with a media rep firm that han¬
dles national sales for all those newspapers. That allows the media buyer to place the buy
with one order.
On the agency side, media planners, buyers, and researchers work primarily for agencies,
although they can also be found working for marketers who handle their own media work in
house. Media planners make the strategic decisions outlined in the media plan. Media buyers
implement the media plan. They are in regular contact with the media suppliers with whom
they do business on behalf of the client or agency. Media buyers are expected to maintain good
media supplier relations to facilitate a flow of information about the dynamic media market¬
place. This means there should be close working relationships between planners and buyers so
media planners can tap this source of media cost information to better forecast media price
changes. Media researchers compile audience measurement data, as well as media costs and
availability data for the various media options being considered by the planners.
As was mentioned in Chapter 2, media-buying services are independent companies
that specialize in doing media research, planning, and buying. These agencies are taking
over the media role that used to be the responsibility of advertising agency media staff. In
many cases, they are the media department that spun off from a full-service agency. They
consolidate the media buying in order to get maximum discounts from the media for the
volume of their buys. They then pass on some of this saving to their clients. Now let us turn
to our review of the print media.
Consider This
1. What are the basic concepts in advertising media use?
2. Some ads work best when marketers maximize their frequency. Are there
other kinds of advertising that do not lend themselves to a high-frequency
schedule? What are they, and why are they effective at low frequency?
PRINT MEDIA
Print advertising includes printed advertisements in newspapers, magazines, brochures,
and on other printed surfaces, such as posters and outdoor boards. Readers find that read¬
ing a publication is more flexible than watching or listening to broadcast because they can
stop and reread, read sections out of order, or move through the publication at their own
speed. Because the print message format is less fleeting than broadcast and more concrete,
people tend to spend more time with print and absorb its messages more thoroughly. Print
provides more detailed information, rich imagery, and a longer message life. That’s why
advertisers trying to reach an audience of adult women with an ad about tood or health
may find magazines such as Country Home or Family Circle to be useful.
She spent $4.7 billion on beauty products in the past year. Plus, she spent another $17-2 billion
on home remodeling, $11.7 billion on clothing, and $88.7 billion on food. She's the Family Circle
reader, and she’s never looked better to a growing group of marketers. For a beautiful boost in
sales, reach her and the 20.5 million just like her.
It gets read * it gets lived.
These ads for Country Home

and Family Circle ran in
Advertising Age as a way to
NEWSPAPERS
promote the publication to Newspapers are used by advertisers trying to reach a local market because most newspa¬
media planners and buyers and pers, other than USA Today, are identified by the city or region they serve. Newspapers’
make a statement about the primary function is to carry news, which means that advertisers with news to announce,
kind of people who read the such as a special sale or sale price, may find them a comfortable environment. Studies have
magazine.
consistently found that people consider ads—commercial information—to be news, too,
and they read newspapers as much for the ads as for the news stories.
Newspaper readership has been declining for years, although it remains a fairly
healthy advertising medium. If you just look at local newspapers and compare them to net¬
work TV, then newspapers continue to be the largest single medium, as Table 8.1 showed.
Principle However, when you summarize the categories, the newspaper category appears to be los¬
A basic principle of newspaper ing ground to television when you add in cable and all the other TV options. The two
publishing is that people read largest U.S. newspapers, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, saw circulation increases
newspapers as much for the ads in 2004, although circulation continues to erode for many local newspapers.1
as for the news stories. Although newspapers go to a mass audience, they do have market selectivity that
allows them to target specific consumer groups using these methods. Examples of market
selectivity are special interest newspapers, special interest sections (business, sports,
lifestyle), and advertising inserts delivered only to particular zip codes or zones.
The Structure of the Newspaper Industry

Newspapers can be classified by three factors: frequency of publication (daily, weekly, and
so on), format and size, and circulation. Each factor helps the media planner to better fit
newspapers into the overall media mix.
Frequency of Publication Most newspapers are published either daily or weekly.

About 1,530 dailies and 8,000 weeklies currently exist in the United States. Daily news¬
papers usually are found in cities and larger towns, and have morning editions, evening
editions, or all-day editions. Daily papers printed in the morning deliver a record of the
previous day s events, including detailed reports on local and national news, and on busi¬
ness, financial, and sports events. (Some daily newspapers also have morning editions, as
well as editions that come out later in the day.) Evening papers follow up the news of the
day and provide early reports of the events of the following day. Evening papers tend to
depend more on entertainment and information features than do morning papers. The San
Francisco Examiner is an example of a daily evening paper.
Approximately 30 percent of the dailies and a few of the weeklies also publish a
Sunday edition. Sunday newspapers are usually much thicker and contain a great deal of
news, advertising, and special features. For a media planner, matching the timing of the
advertising message with the time the target audience is available is crucial. Knowing, for
example, that your target audience spends twice as much time with the Sunday edition as
with the daily edition suggests the best placement for many local advertisers is in the
Sunday paper. There is a trade-off, however, as the Sunday paper is also more cluttered
with competitive advertising.
Weekly papers appear in towns, suburbs, and smaller cities where the volume of hard
news and advertising is insufficient to support a daily newspaper. These papers emphasize
the news of a restricted area; they report local news in depth but tend to ignore national
news, sports, and similar subjects. Beverly Review is an example of a weekly circulated in
a Chicago neighborhood. National advertisers often shun weeklies and are not heavy
advertisers in daily papers. They use local papers indirectly through advertising placed by
local retailers, dealers, or franchisees. Another type of weekly paper is the advertiser or
penny saver publications that are distributed free. These are usually found in suburban
areas and they contain mostly classified advertising.
Business, trade, and organizational newspapers, such as Advertising Age, may be pub¬
lished weekly, monthly, or on some other schedule such as quarterly, bimonthly (every
other month), or semimonthly (twice a month).
Format and Size Newspapers typically are available in two sizes. The first, called
the tabloid, consists of five or six columns, each of which is about 2 inches wide and has a
length of approximately 14 inches. The Chicago Sun-Times uses this size, as does the New
York Daily News, the National Enquirer, and the Star. The standard size, or broadsheet
newspaper, is twice as large as the tabloid size, usually eight columns wide and 300 lines
deep, or 22 inches deep by 14 inches wide. More than 90 percent of all newspapers, includ¬
ing the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, use this standard size.
The success of USA Today indicates that newspapers can and will adjust to changing
consumer tastes in order to compete for consumer attention. USA Today stories are brief
and breezy, dressed up with splashy graphics and full color in every section, and they
include an array of charts and graphs to simplify the day’s events for readers. USA Today
was designed with jazzy graphics to be more attention getting because it relies heavily on
newsstand sales, rather than subscription.
Apart from the size and publishing schedule of a newspaper, advertisers pay close atten¬
tion to newspapers’ required advertisement format. Until the 1980s national advertisers shied
away from using newspapers because each paper had its own size guidelines for ads, making
it impossible to prepare one ad that would fit every newspaper. In the early 1980s, however,
the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the Newspaper Advertising Bureau
introduced the Standard Advertising Unit (SAU) system to solve this problem. The latest
version of the SAU, shown in Figure 8.1, made it possible for newspapers to offer advertisers
a great deal of choice within a standard format. An advertiser can select one of the 56 stan¬
dard ad sizes and be assured that its ad will work in every newspaper in the country.
Circulation For the most part, newspapers are a local mass medium and their primary
advertising revenue comes from local retail advertising and classified advertising. Other
sources of revenue include reader subscriptions and single-copy sales at newsstands. The
word circulation refers to the number of copies a newspaper sells and is the primary way
newspapers’ reach is measured and compared with the reach of other media.
A few newspapers have a national circulation, such as the Wall Street Journal and
USA Today, which is the largest newspaper in the United States. USA Today is different
1 col. 2-1/16" 2 col. 4-1/4" 3 col. 6-7/16" 4 col. 8-5/8" 5 col. 10-13/16" 6 col. 13"
Depth In Inches
IQ"
-<-
1 x FD 2 x FD 3 x FD 4 x FD 5 x FD 6 x FD
FD
1 x 18 2x18 3x18 4x18 5x18 6x18
18%
15.75" 1 x 15.75 2 x 15.75 3 x 15.75 4 x 15.75 5 x 15.75
1 x 14 2x14 3x14 4x14 5x14 6x14
14"
13" 1 x 13 2x13 3x13 4x13 5x13
10.5" 1 x 10.5 2 x 10.5 3 x 10.5 4 x 10.5 5 x 10.5 6 x 10.5
7" 1 x7 2x7 3x7 4x7 5x7 6x7
5.25" 1 x 5.25 2 x 5.25 3 x 5.25 4 x 5.25
3.5" 1 x 3.5 2 x 3.5
3" 1 x3 2x3
2" 1 x2 2x2
1.5" 1 x 1.5
1" 1 x 1
1 Column 2-1/16" Double Truck 26-3/4" (two pages) Tabloids: Size 5 x 14 is a full page tabloid for
2 Columns 4-1/4" There are four suggested double-truck sizes: long-cut-off papers. Mid cut-off papers can
3 Columns 6-7/16" 13 X FD 13 X 18 13 X 14 13 X 10.5 handle this size with minimal reduction. The N
4 Columns 8-5/8" *FD (full depth): Can be 21" or deeper. size measuring 9-3/8 x 14 represents the full-
5 Columns 10-13/16" Depths for each broadsheet newspaper are page size-the size for tabloids such as the New
6 Columns 13" indicated in the Standard Rate and Data Service York Daily News and Newsday and other short
(SRDA). All broadsheet newspapers can accept cut-off newspapers. The five 13-inch-deep
21" ads, and may float them if their depth is sizes are for tabloids printed on 55-inch wide
greater than 21
tt
presses such as the Philadelphia News. See
individual SRDS listings for tabloid sections of
broadcast newspapers.
The Expanded Standard Advertising Unit System

The Standard Advertising Unit system offers a number of choices in sizing within a standardized format, which makes it easier for national
advertisers to plan their ads and buy space.
Source: Guide lo Quality Newspaper Reproduction, joint publication of the American Newspaper Publishers Association and Newspaper Advertising Bureau, 1986.
from other daily newspapers in that it is targeted to travelers and its primary sales is either
single-copy sales, rather than subscriptions, or to hotels that buy a million copies a day in
bulk to give to their guests.2 Table 8.2 illustrates the difference in circulation patterns
between USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.
Some newspapers try to reach certain target audiences in other ways. Publishers are
trying to build circulation by publishing Spanish-language editions, such as El Nuevo
Herald, a Spanish daily published in Miami. Hoy is an attempt by the Tribune Company to
build a national Spanish-language brand by launching dailies in major Hispanic cities
under the Hoy name (Hoy is Spanish for today).3 More than 200 newspapers in the United
States are aimed primarily at African Americans. In New York City alone, there are
Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Yiddish, German, and Vietnamese newspapers.
Special newspapers also exist for special interest groups, religious denominations,
political affiliations, labor unions, and professional and fraternal organizations. For exam-
8.2 Newspaper Circulation Patterns

Distribution Method USA Today Wall Street Journal New York Times
Circulation 2,162,454 1,820,600 1,130,740
Home delivery 14% 75% 63%
Single copies 40% 8% 29%
Hotel/guest copies 23% 4% —
Third Party (restaurants, airlines, etc.) 20% 9% 1%

Source: "A Snapshot of USA Today," Time (July 21, 2003): 50.
pie, Stars & Stripes is the newspaper read by millions of military per¬
sonnel. The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times are considered
specialty newspapers because they concentrate on financial business
information.
In South Florida,
journalistic
Types of Newspaper Advertising excellence in
Mirroring the circulation patterns, advertising can also be categorized
as national or local. Table 8.3 breaks out these categories in terms of espanol means,..
sources of ad revenue. Note that the declining state of revenues from
2000 to 2001 reversed in 2002 and 2003.4
The pricing for newspaper advertising is sold based on the size of Cinta re®gp
the space used. The charges are published on rate cards, which is a list 1
of the charges for advertising space and the discounts given to local
advertisers and to advertisers who make volume buys. There are three
types of advertising found within the local newspaper: classified, dis¬
play, and supplements. El Nuevo Herald is proud to be recognized as the best
Spanish-language newspaper in the United States, reaching
Classified There are two types of classified ads: advertising by more than a half million readers over the course of a week.
individuals to sell their personal goods and advertising by local busi¬ Your advertisement in any of our award-winning sections
is the sure way to be on the spotlight of the nation’s third
nesses. These ads are arranged according to their interest to readers,
and most affluent Hispanic market with a whopping buying
such as “Help Wanted,” “Real Estate for Sale,” and “Cars for Sale.” power of $13 billion plus a year!
Many business advertisers use classifieds to sell their business or hire The fact is, no other daily newspaper has a higher
new employees. Classified ads represent approximately 40 percent of penetration in a Hispanic market nationwide!
total newspaper advertising revenue. Many analysts feared that classi¬ For current rates and information call our
Advertising Department at (305) 376-4951.
fied advertising would move from print to online media, and that clas¬
sified spending will shrink. What seems to be happening, however, is
that newspapers have taken their own classified ads online themselves
and thus have participated in the switch to online.
El Neuvo Herald is one

Display The dominant form of newspaper advertising is display advertising. Display
example of a successful
ads can be any size and can be placed anywhere in the newspaper except the editorial page.
newspaper targeted at a
Display ads can even be found in the classified section. Display advertising is further
specific ethnic group, in this
divided into two subcategories: local (retail) and national (general). Local businesses, case the Spanish-speaking
organizations, and individuals that use local display advertising pay a lower, local rate. consumer.
Advertisers who don’t care where their ads run in the newspaper pay the run-of-
paper (ROP) rate. If they want more choice over the placement, they can pay the
preferred-position rate, which lets them select the section in which the ad will appear.
Sometimes local advertisers are also able to specify a position on a page, such as near the
top or near a special feature, such as the weather box.
Some newspapers discount for frequency or as an incentive to attract certain cate¬
gories of advertising. To retain current profitable customers, some newspapers offer hybrid
rates to regular national advertisers (such as airlines, car rental companies, and hotels) that
are lower than the national rate but higher than the local rate.
One alternative that allows the national advertiser to pay the local rate is cooperative
(co-op) advertising with a local retailer. Co-op advertising is an arrangement between the
advertiser and the retailer whereby the retailer buys the ad and then the manufacturer pays
half—or a portion depending on the amount of space the manufacturer’s brand occupies.
8.3 Newspaper Advertising Expenditures (in millions $)

Type 2001 % change 2002 % change 2003 % Change
National $7,004 -8.5 $7,210 2.9 7,797 8.1

Local/Retail 20,679 -3.4 20,994 1.5 21,341 1.7
Classified 16,622 -15.2 15,898 -4.4 15,801 -0.6
Source: "Media," 2003 Marketing Fact Book (July 7, 2003): 17; Newspaper Association of America Web site, May 2004, www.naa.org.
A newer system designed to avoid the rate differential and ease the difficulty ot mak¬
ing a national newspaper buy is known as one-order, one-bill. Essentially, media rep firms
sell newspaper advertising space to national advertisers on behalf of many different
newspapers. This company handles all rate negotiation and billing with the individual
newspapers. Because the rep firm has so many newspaper clients, it can offer lower rates
for newspaper ad space. The advertisers not only benefit from lower rates, but they also do
not have to deal with the hassle of placing orders in many single newspapers. In the past,
national advertisers buying space from 150 newspapers would receive as many as 150
pieces of paper using 150 different accounting methods.
Supplements Newspaper supplements can carry both national and local advertising.
Supplements are syndicated, which means an independent publisher sells its publications
to newspapers throughout the country, or they are local full-color advertising inserts that
appear throughout the week and especially in the Sunday edition of newspapers.
Independent publishers create and distribute syndicated supplements to newspapers
throughout the country. The logo for the publisher and the local paper appear on the flag
(usually at the top of the page). The best-known syndicated supplements are Parade and
USA Weekend. Whether syndicated or locally edited, magazine supplements resemble
magazines more than newspapers in content and format.
A free-standing insert (FSI) is the set of advertisements, such as the grocery ads,
that are inserted into the newspaper. These preprinted advertisements range in size from a
single page to more than 30 pages and may be in black-and-white or full color. This mate¬
rial is printed elsewhere and then delivered to the newspaper. Newspapers charge the
advertiser a fee for inserting the supplement into the newspaper. FSI advertising is growing
in popularity with retail advertisers for three reasons: (1) It allows greater control over the
reproduction quality of the advertisement; (2) it commands more attention than just
another ad in the paper; and (3) advertisers can place free-standing inserts in certain news¬
papers that are delivered to certain neighborhoods, or even certain people. The Houston
Post does this for retailers such as Arby’s and Kohl’s by distributing a Spanish-language
insert to neighborhoods where Spanish is the dominant language.
Newspaper Readership
By all demographic standards, the newspaper is a solid mass-market medium, reaching
about 68 percent of the adult population.5 Nearly half of all adults receive home delivery
of a Sunday or weekend newspaper; delivery levels are highest in medium-size cities and
lowest in rural locations and larger metropolitan areas. Frequent readers of daily newspa¬
pers tend to be the most regular readers of the Sunday paper. Historically, newspaper
reading tends to be highest among older people and people with a higher educational
level. It is lowest among people in their late teens and early twenties. Newspaper reader-
ship tends to be selective, with a greater percentage reading specific sections rather than
the whole paper. Figure 8.2 shows more information about newspaper readership for one
particular age group.
Measuring the Newspaper Audience Newspapers measure their audiences to

assess their performance and to spot growth opportunities. They also use readership data to
attract advertisers who want to reach their readers. This type of information facilitates the
media planner’s ability to match a certain newspaper’s readership with the target audience.
Newspapers obtain objective measures of newspaper circulation and readership by sub¬
scribing to one or both of the following auditing companies:
• The Auditing Bureau of Circulations (ABC). The ABC is an independent auditing

group that represents advertisers, agencies, and publishers. This group verifies state¬
ments about newspaper circulation statistics and provides a detailed analysis of the
newspaper by state, town, and county. ABC members include only paid-circulation
newspapers and magazines. Newspapers that do not belong to an auditing organization
such as the ABC must provide prospective advertisers with something official, such as
a publisher’s statement about the number printed or a Post Office statement about the
number mailed.
CHAPTER 8 PRINT AND OUT-OF-HOME MEDIA 219
General news 51%
Entertainment
Classifieds
Selective Readership Patterns
Sports
(for Baby Boomers)
Business/finance Like most adults, baby boomers
(ages 38-57) read newspapers
Editorial
selectively. Only 21 percent of those
Comics surveyed read every section of the
newspaper. Shown here is section or
Food
page readership data for this age
Home group.
RadioTTV listings
• Simmons-Scarborough. Simmons-Scarborough Syndicated Research Associates pro¬

vides a syndicated study that annually measures readership profiles in approximately
70 of the nation’s largest cities. The study covers readership of a single issue and the
estimated unduplicated readers for a series of issues. Simmons-Scarborough is the
only consistent measurement of audiences in individual markets.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising in Newspapers

The newspaper medium has numerous advantages, which is why newspapers are still the
number-one medium in respect to ad billings.
• Range of Market Coverage. Advertisers can reach local or metro markets, special-
interest groups, and racial and ethnic groups in a cost-efficient manner.
• Comparison Shopping. Consumers use newspapers for comparison shopping, so they
are especially useful for advertisers that have products with an obvious competitive
advantage.
• Positive Consumer Attitudes. Readers generally perceive newspapers, including the
advertisements, to be current and credible information sources.
• Flexibility. Newspapers offer geographic flexibility: Advertisers can choose to
advertise in some markets and not in others. Newspapers also offer production flex¬
ibility. Unusual ad sizes, full-color ads, free-standing inserts, different prices in dif¬
ferent areas, sample products, and supplements are all newspaper advertising
options.
• Interaction of National and Local. Newspapers provide a bridge between the
national advertiser and the local retailer. A local retailer can easily tie in with a
national campaign by using a similar advertisement in the local daily. In addition,
quick-action programs, such as sales and coupons, are implemented easily through
local newspapers.
Like every other advertising medium, newspapers also have disadvantages. The most
problematic issues in newspaper advertising include:
• Short Life Span. People tend to read newspapers quickly and only once. The
average life span of a daily newspaper is only 24 hours, so the life span of the ad is
limited.
• Clutter. Most newspapers are cluttered with ads, particularly on supermarket advertis¬
ing days and on Sundays, when information overload reduces the effect of any single
advertisement. Even supplemental inserts are now so thick that they represent addi¬
tional newspaper clutter.
• Limited Coverage of Certain Groups. Although newspapers have wide market cover¬
age, certain market groups are not frequent readers. For example, newspapers tradi¬
tionally have not reached a large part of the under-20 age group. Newspapers often
cannot provide total market coverage for national advertisers because of cost and the
fact that there are few national newspapers.
• Poor Reproduction. Despite the introduction of new production technology, with the
exception of special printing techniques and preprinted inserts, the reproduction qual¬
ity of newspapers is poor, especially for color advertisements, compared to magazines,
brochures, and direct mail. In addition, the speed necessary to compose a daily news¬
paper prevents the detailed preparation and care in production that is possible with
weekly or monthly publications.
The Future of the Newspaper Industry

The increased costs of newspaper production have resulted in a general consolidation in
the newspaper industry. This consolidation has helped the industry implement new tech¬
nologies and delivery mechanisms. Some technology advances include online circulation
information systems, electronic libraries, and database publishing. The emergence of the
Internet as a mechanism for delivering a newspaper, or part of a newspaper, has had a
tremendous impact on the newspaper industry. Virtually every major newspaper and many
medium-size newspapers are now online. In addition to conventional Internet sites, stories
are now being distributed through Web-enabled phones, pagers, e-mail, and Palm Pilots.
Busy executives are now able to download stories from the Wall Street Journal and the
New York Times via a cell phone anytime and anywhere.
Newspapers are by no means obsolete. The traditional benefits to an advertiser are
obvious, but today’s customers expect more. Whether the industry as a whole can deliver
on these expectations remains to be seen, but there is potential for positive change. Now
let’s look at magazines.
Consider This
a 1. What are the key advantages of using newspapers as an advertising
medium?
2. Does it surprise you that younger people are less likely to read a
newspaper? Why or why not?
MAGAZINES
There are thousands of magazine titles and a few of them today—Time, Newsweek,
Reader’s Digest—reach a general audience. But most magazines today are special interest
publications aimed at narrower target markets. There are magazines for every hobby, every
sport, every age group, every business category, and every profession. These special inter¬
Principle est publications, however, are not necessarily small. The number-one magazine in terms of
If you want to start a successful
circulation is Modern Maturity with a circulation of almost 18 million, followed by
magazine, create a special
Reader’s Digest at 12.5 million.
interest publication aimed at a
As Table 8.4 illustrates, specialty magazines, such as the brides’ magazines, seem to
narrow or niche target audience.
have an edge over more general publications in terms of maintaining their growth. The
business publications, such as Forbes and Fortune, were clearly hurt by the economic
downturn of the 1990s and early 2000s. Upscale magazines provide an ideal place for the
image advertising of luxury products. For example, magazines such as Gourmet,
Architectural Digest, and Conde Nast Traveler have increased their ad pages in the last 10
years. In terms of advertising revenue and ad pages, People is the leader followed by the
New York Times Magazine according to Advertising Age. Note that a special interest publi¬
cation for brides is in the third position. Table 8.4 rank-orders these publications, using the
2003 ad pages total as the primary leadership indicator.
Historically, more than half of all new publications fail. Despite the high risks associ¬
ated with the magazine business, new ones do continue to emerge, especially those that tar¬
get business markets and growing market segments such as computer users and skate¬
boarders. The teen market, which was seen as a growth area, has begun to slump because
of too much competition even as the number of titles proliferates. Within this changing
environment, publishers are investing more money than ever in existing titles to hold on to
8.4 Magazine Advertising Leaders

Magazine 03 Pages % Change 03 Revenue % Change
1. People 3,705 .2 $744,245,218 4.3
2. The New York Times Magazine 3,363 1.5 234,703,794 10.4
3. Bridal Guide 3,128 35.1 56,869,011 5.2
4. Forbes 3,124 -10.8 246,102,559 -12.4
5. Fortune 3,054 -8.3 279,204,933 -4.9
6. In Style 3,045 0.5 292,756,724 10.7
7. Business Week 3,034 -9.0 336,112,450 -4.4
8. Vogue 2,958 2.4 274,944,082 13.2
9. Bride’s Magazine 2,956 5.4 161,840,483 3.4
10. Transworld Skateboarding 2,496 -13.5 24,786,585 -5.6
11. New York Magazine 2,457 -2.2 64,165,120 -10.1
12. TV Guide 2,453 -0.2 381,603,743 8.4
13. Time 2,350 0.8 604,865,803 6.3
14. Sports Illustrated 2,338 -6.4 644,468,454 -0.4
15. The New Yorker 2,280 2.2 175,886,753 15.4
Source: "Data Center: Magazine Ad Page Leaders," Advertising Age (January 26, 2004).
market share. One growth area, however, is the business publication market. The
International Truck case in the Matter of Practice box illustrates how this category works
as an advertising medium.
Types of Magazines
Advertisers that want to target their ads to specific audiences use many types of magazine
classifications when planning and buying print media and when creating print ads.
Audience Focus The three main types of audiences that magazines target are con¬
sumer, business, and farm audiences. Consumer magazines, directed at consumers who
buy products for personal consumption, are distributed through the mail, newsstands, and
stores. Examples are Reader’s Digest, Lear’s, Time, and People. Business magazines target
business readers; they include the following types:
• Trade papers aimed at retailers, wholesalers, and other distributors. Chain Store Age is
an example.
• Industrial magazines aimed at manufacturers. One example is Concrete Construction.
• Professional magazines aimed at physicians, lawyers, and other professionals.
National Law Review targets lawyers, for instance.
Business magazines are also classified as vertical or horizontal publications. A

vertical publication presents stories and information about an entire industry. Women’s
Wear Daily, for example, discusses the production, marketing, and distribution of women’s
fashions. A horizontal publication deals with a business function that cuts across indus¬
tries—such as Direct Marketing. Farm magazines, the third audience category, targets
farmers and those engaged in farm-related activities. Peanut Farmer is an example of a
farm magazine.
Other Classifications The following factors also explain how magazines are
classified.
• Geography. Many magazines cover certain sections or regions of the country or have
regional editions. The area covered may be as small as a city (Los Angeles Magazine
and Boston Magazine) or as large as several contiguous states (the southwestern
m F PRACTIC
International Truck Delivers the Goods
■ How do you sell a delivery truck? More importantly, how

do you reach owners of medium-size businesses who buy
delivery trucks—such as commercial bakers, furniture store
owners, landscapers, or beverage distributors? That was
the problem Fallon Worldwide faced in handling advertis¬
ing for its client International Truck.
Delivery trucks are a major capital investment and
operating cost for International's business customers. If the
truck is off the road for repairs, it's not delivering the
goods and that cuts into profits. But few business owners
are experienced buyers.
The medium-size business owner is International's
bread and butter, but increased competition from bigger
truck manufacturers, such as GMC and Ford, have created
bumps in International's road. The big boys offered the
reassurance of scale and a huge network of distributors.
They also have deep pockets for business-to-business
advertising, as well as a halo effect from their consumer
advertising.
International knew it needed to improve awareness of
its products among truck buyers. Furthermore, it had to dif¬
ferentiate International on three key factors that drive cus¬
tomer reassurance: having the right trucks, the best ser¬
vice, and immediate parts availability.
The problem was to reach a diverse audience.
Previous advertising had been in truck trade magazines,
but International's customers—business owners from
florists to bakers—aren't professional truckers, so they
were unlikely to be reading trade magazines. Fallon
media planners sorted out the trade publications to find
the most profitable business segments for delivery trucks.
By significantly reducing duplication in the truck industry
magazines, they freed up the budget to fund media Consider This
o-
beyond the trucking trade publications. 1. What were International's points of differentiation?
The media budget was flat from the previous year, but 2. Why did International's agency recommend maga¬
this broader approach to targeting created greater zines, and what was the primary switch in the strategy
impact, as well as reach. Even though International was for using trade magazines?
outspent by up to 3:1 by key competitors, it achieved its
objectives.
The new advertising helped International increase its
awareness by 20 percent. In fact, International moved to
second-highest unaided awareness in the category, sec¬
ond only to Ford, and closing that gap.
In terms of the reassurance message, the creative
approach connected to consumers with a commonsense
approach focused on trucks that got the job done in a
straightforward and honest way. No chest beating and
"glamour chrome." This approach vaulted International Source: Adapted from ''International,'' Fallon Effies 2004 (Minneapolis: Fallon
past its chief competitors on all three measures. Advertising, 2004], 45-47.
edition of Southern Living Magazine). Geographic editions

help encourage local retail support by listing the names of
local distributors in the advertisements. Most national mag¬
azines also offer a zone edition that will carry different
ads—and perhaps different stories—depending on the
region of the country.
• Demographics. Demographic editions group subscribers
according to age, income, occupation, and other classifica¬
tions. Some magazines for example, publish a special “ZIP”
edition for upper-income homes that is sent to subscribers
who live in a specific zip code and typically share common
demographic traits, such as income. Newsweek offers a col¬
lege edition and Time sends special editions to students,
business executives, doctors, and business managers.
• Editorial Content. Each magazine emphasizes a certain
type of editorial content. The most widely used categories
are general editorial (Reader’s Digest), women’s service
(.Family Circle), shelter (House Beautiful), business
{Forbes), and special interest (Ski).
• Physical Characteristics. Media planners and buyers need
to know the physical characteristics of a magazine because
ads containing various elements of words and pictures
require a different amount of space. The most common
magazine page sizes are 8Z x 11 inches and 6x9 inches.
Ads run in Reader's Digest, which is a 6 x 9-inch format,
allow for fewer visuals and little copy.
• Ownership. Some magazines are owned by publishing
companies (Glamour, Gourmet, Vanity Fair, and The New Magazines reach a carefully
Yorker are owned by Conde Nast), and some are published by organizations, such as defined target audience with a
the AARP’s Modern Maturity. There are also magazines published by consumer com¬ special interest. This publication
panies, such as Kraft’s Food & Family, that sell ads plus carry stories and ads for many by Kraft (Food & Family) is
of their own products, surf & turf is a publication jointly sponsored by athletic com¬ produced in partnership with
Shape magazine to reach
pany REI and Shape magazine.
women who are interested
cooking and baking.
Distribution and Circulation
Media planners and buyers also pay attention to a magazine’s distribution so they can
assess circulation potential and determine whether the correct audiences will be reached.
Traditional delivery is through newsstand purchases or home delivery via the U.S. Postal
Service. Nontraditional delivery methods include hanging bagged copies on doorknobs,
inserting magazines in newspapers (such as Parade magazine), delivering through profes¬
sionals (doctors’ and dentists’ offices), direct delivery (company magazines or those found
on airplanes), and electronic delivery, which is being used by organizational publications,
such as university alumni magazines. Nontraditional delivery is referred to as controlled
circulation, meaning the magazine is distributed free to specific audiences.
Magazine Advertising
By their nature, magazines must fill a niche with unique editorial content to satisfy specific
groups of readers. Readers also tend to spend more time reading a magazine than they do
reading a newspaper, so there is a better opportunity to provide in-depth information.
Quality of reproduction is one of the biggest strengths of magazine advertising because it
allows the advertiser’s products to be presented in a format superior to newspapers. In
deciding in which magazines to place ads, advertisers need to consider factors such as for¬
mat and technology.
Format Although the format may vary from magazine to magazine, all magazines
share some format characteristics. For example, the inside and back cover pages are the
most costly for advertisers because they have the highest level of exposure compared to all
the other pages in a magazine. The inside back cover is also a premium position.
Normally, the largest unit of ad space that magazines sell is the double-page spread,
in which two ad pages face each other. A double-page ad design must bridge or jump the
gutter, the white space (needed in the printing process) running between the inside edges
of the pages, meaning that no headline words can run through the gutter and that all body
text is on one side of the spread or the other. A page without outside margins, in which the
color extends to the edge of the page, is called a bleed page.
Magazines can sometimes offer more than two connected pages (four is the most com¬
mon number) that fold in on themselves. This kind of ad is called a gatefold. Car manufac¬
turers often use four- to six-panel gatefolds inside the front cover of major magazines. The
use of multiple pages that provide photo essays is really an extension of the gatefold concept.
Another popular format for advertisers is a special advertising page or section that
looks like regular editorial pages but is identified by the word “advertisement” at the top.
The content is usually an article about a company, product, or brand that is written by the
advertiser. The idea is to mimic the editorial look in order to acquire the credibility of the
publication’s articles.
Photo essay ads also are becoming more common in magazines such as Fortune and
Business Week; these magazines may present a 20-page ad for a business in a foreign coun¬
try. Finally, a single page or double page can be broken into a variety of units called
fractional page space (for example, vertical half-page, horizontal half-page, half-page
double spread, and checkerboard in which ads are located on double-page upper left, lower
right, on both pages).
Technology New technologies have enabled magazines to distinguish themselves

from one another. For example, selective binding and ink-jet imaging allow publishers to
personalize issues for individual subscribers. Selective binding combines information on
subscribers kept in a database with a computer program to produce magazines that include
special sections for subscribers based on their demographic profiles. Ink-jet imaging
allows a magazine such as U.S. News & World Report to personalize its renewal form so
that each issue contains a renewal card already filled out with the subscriber’s name,
address, and so on. Personalized messages can be printed directly on ads or on inserts
(“Mr. Jones—check our new mutual fund today”).
Satellite transmission, along with desktop publishing technology, allows magazines
to print regional editions with regional advertising. This technology also permits publish¬
ers to close pages (stop accepting new material) just hours before press time (instead of
days or weeks as in the past) so that advertisers can drop up-to-the-minute information in
their ads. Sophisticated database management lets publishers combine the information
available from subscriber lists with other public and private lists to create complete con¬
sumer profiles for advertisers. This process has come under close scrutiny with the public’s
increasing concern for personal privacy.
Magazine Readership Measurement

For the media planner and buyer it is critical to know whether magazine readers have
unique characteristics and, if so, whether there is a way to verify these facts. We know, for
instance, that 92 percent of all American adults read at least one magazine per month, and
80 percent of these readers consider magazine advertising “helpful as a buying guide.” In
general, media planners know that people tend to pay more attention to magazine advertis¬
ing than to television advertising because they are concentrating more on the medium.
Several companies attempt to verify the paid circulation of magazines, along with
demographic and psychographic characteristics of specific readers. Media planners and
buyers rely heavily on this information when making choices.
Magazine rates are based on the circulation that a publisher promises to provide, or
the guaranteed circulation. Magazine circulation is the number of copies of an issue sold,
not the readership of the publication. A single copy of a magazine might be read by one
person or by several people, depending on its content. As with newspapers, the ABC is
responsible for verifying circulation numbers. The ABC audits subscriptions as well as
newsstand sales and also checks the number of delinquent subscribers and rates of renewal.
MediaMark, which provides a service called MRI, is the industry leader in readership
measurement. MRI measures readership for many popular national and regional magazines
(along with other media). Reports are issued to subscribers twice a year and cover reader-
ship by demographics, psychographics, and product use. The Simmons Market Research
Bureau (SMRB) provides psychographic data on who reads which magazines and which
products these readers buy and consume. Other research companies, such as Starch, Gallup,
and Robinson, provide information about magazine audience size and behavior.
One problem with these measurement services is their limited scope. MRI, for exam¬
ple, measures only about 210 magazines, although there are thousands in the marketplace.
That leaves media buyers in the dark regarding who is actually seeing their ads in those
other magazines. Without an objective outside measurement company, advertisers must
rely on the data from the magazines themselves, which may be biased.
One interesting change in magazine measurement is the move, which is supported by
the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA), to quantify the “experience” of reading the
magazine, rather than just the circulation of the title. A major study to pilot test this con¬
cept was conducted by the Northwestern University Media Management Center, the
Magazine Publishers Association, and the American Society for Magazine Editors
(ASME). The study identified a set of 39 types of experiences that people report having
with their magazines. More importantly, the study found that the more engaged people
were in the magazine experience, the more impact the advertising had.6
Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising in Magazines

The benefits of magazine advertising include the ability to reach specialized audiences,
audience receptivity, a long life span, format, visual quality, and the distribution of sales
promotion devices.
• Target Audiences. The ability of magazines such as Men’s Health, Fast Company, and
Seventeen to reach specialized audiences is a primary advantage of magazines. For
example, B-to-B would be very effective in reaching people interested in business-to-
business Internet marketing.
• Audience Receptivity. Magazines have a high level of audience receptivity. The editor¬
ial environment of a magazine lends authority and credibility to the advertising. Many
magazines claim that advertising in their publication gives a product prestige.
• Long Life Span. Magazines have the longest life span of all the media. Some maga¬
zines, such as National Geographic and Consumer Reports, are used as ongoing refer¬
ences and might never be discarded. (Other publications, such as TV Guide, are used
frequently during a given period of time.) In addition, magazines have high reach
potential because they are passed along to family, friends, customers, and colleagues.
People also tend to read magazines at a comparatively slow rate, typically over a cou¬
ple of days, so they offer an opportunity to use detailed copy.
• Format. The magazine format also allows creative advertising variety through multiple
pages, inserts, and other features.
• Visual Quality. The visual quality of magazines tends to be excellent because they are
printed on high-quality paper that provides superior photo reproduction in both black-
and-white and color as fashion advertisers, in particular, appreciate.
• Sales Promotions. Advertisers can distribute various sales promotion devices, such as
coupons, product samples, and information cards through magazines. A 1987 U.S.
Post Office ruling allowed magazines to carry loose editorial and advertising supple¬
ments as part of the publication if the magazine is enclosed in an envelope or wrapper.
Magazines are limited by certain factors. The most prominent disadvantages are lim¬
ited flexibility, lack of immediacy, high cost, and difficult distribution.
• Limited Flexibility. Ads must be submitted well in advance of the publication date. In
some instances advertisers must have camera-ready full-color advertisements at the
226 PART 3 EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA
printer more than two months before the cover date of a monthly publication. As noted
earlier, magazines that have adopted desktop publishing and satellite transmission can
allow advertisers to submit ads just hours before press time. Magazines also limit the
choices for ad locations. Prime locations, such as the back cover or inside front cover,
may be sold months in advance.
• Lack of Immediacy. Some readers do not look at an issue of a magazine until long
after it comes to them, so the ad may take a long time to have an effect on the reader.
Even if you might keep a National Geographic for many years, advertisers hope you
will read it immediately.
• High Cost. The third disadvantage of magazine advertising is its high cost. For a
general-audience magazine such as Newsweek, advertising rates are quite high, and
magazines of this type do not compare favorably with other media such as network TV
in terms of the cost to reach a broad mass audience. However, magazines with care¬
fully segmented audiences, such as Byte, can be cost efficient because they reach a
tightly targeted audience.
• Distribution. The final disadvantage of magazines is their limited distribution. With
the exception of magazines such as Woman’s Day and People, which are distributed on
newsstands throughout the United States, many of the 2,500 different magazines that
exist typically are not distributed to a broad spectrum of potential audience members.
The Future of Magazine Advertising

Magazine editors are under constant pressure to include product placements in their edito¬
rial content. That means marketers would pay the magazine for running an article that fea¬
tures a product, usually just seen in a visual, as part of the story. The Magazine Editors
Association is against this but has conceded that it will probably happen soon.
As with newspapers, emerging technology—particularly online technology—is
changing the magazine industry. For example, Salon is a virtual magazine distributed only
on the Internet. These virtual magazines do not rely on paper or postage, and have no
length limitations.7 There are also questions by circulation experts who doubt Internet sub¬
scription sales will be large enough to supplant more traditional methods.
An interesting irony about magazines going into the Web has been the reversal of that
pattern since the dot-com bust in 2000-2001. Not long ago the Internet was supposed to
ruin print media. However, at least seven Web sites have created a print magazine, includ¬
ing Nerve.com, Space.com, and the travel site Expedia.
Magazines and newspapers have existed for several years in their current format
because they provide interesting writing that’s portable. The Web is most certainly not that
yet, which begs the question: Will people really want their newspapers and magazines
online after the novelty has worn off?8 The question is not the inherent superiority of the
Internet over traditional print. The question is which works better as part of an intelligently
developed media strategy.
Consider This
1. What are the key reasons for using magazines as an advertising medium?
2. How are publishers attempting to personalize their publications for
individual subscribers, and do you think this is an effective practice?
PACKAGING
In today’s marketing environment, a package is both a container and a communication vehi¬
cle. In particular, it is the last ad a customer sees before making the decision to buy a product
Principle and once on the shelf at home or in the office it is a constant brand reminder. That’s the rea¬
A package is the last ad a son we include it in this chapter. An article in Advertising Age explained the importance of
customer sees before making a the package as a communication medium: “Even if you can’t afford a big advertising budget,
decision on which brand to buy. you’ve got a fighting chance if your product projects a compelling image from the shelf.”9
Impact on the shelf is the goal of packaging

strategy. In an attempt to win over undecided con¬
sumers at the point of purchase many manufacturers
are focusing on creating innovative, eye-catching
packages. A prominent example is Heinz’s attempt
to win over kids by offering ketchup in a range of
colors in brightly decorated squeeze bottles.
Although the industry has never developed a stan¬
dard for measuring impressions from a shelf, adver¬
tisers are aware of the “billboarding” effect of a
massed set of packages, a practice that Pepperidge
Farm uses to good effect.
The package serves as a critical reminder of
the product’s important benefits at the moment the
consumer is choosing among several competing
brands. Sometimes, the package itself is the focus
of the advertising, particularly if there is a new size
or innovation, such as Coca-Cola’s introduction of
a plastic bottle in its classic curved shape. In sum,
packaging is a constant communicator, an effective
device for carrying advertising messages, and a
strong brand reminder.
Pepperidge Farm, with its
When the package works in unison with consumer advertising it catches attention,
consistent design and distinctive
presents a familiar brand image, and communicates critical information. The packages can brand image, dominates the
also deliver customer benefits. For example, recipes for Quaker Oats famous Oatmeal cookie shelf because of the
Cookies, Nestle’s Tollhouse Cookies, Chex Party Mix, and Campbell’s Green Bean Bake power of its repeated design
all started as promotional recipes on the product’s packaging and turned into long time across all the brand's variations.
favorites in homemakers’ recipe boxes. There is even a Web site for these classic recipes
(www.backofthebox.com), which features more than 1,500 packaging-related recipes.10
OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING
Out-of-home advertising includes everything from billboards to hot-air balloons. That
means ads on buses, posters on walls, telephone booths and shopping kiosks, painted semi¬
trucks, taxi signs, transit and rail platforms, airport and bus terminal displays, shopping
mall displays, in-store merchandising signs, grocery store carts, shopping bags, public
restroom walls, skywriting, in-store clocks, and aisle displays. And don’t forget blimps and
airplanes towing messages over your favorite stadium. The only thing that’s standard is
that the image is applied using some form of printing process.
Today total spending on out-of-home media is estimated to be more than $5 billion.
Out-of-home advertising is situational: It can target specific people with specific messages
at a time when they are most interested. A sign at the telephone kiosk reminds you to call
for reservations at your favorite restaurant; a sign on the rail platform suggests that you
enjoy a candy bar while riding the train; and a bus card reminds you to listen to the news
on a particular radio station.
Outdoor Advertising
One of the growth areas in the out-of-home category is outdoor advertising, which refers
to billboards along streets and highways, as well as posters in other public locations. In
2003 outdoor advertising increased 5.7 percent from the previous year.11 Total outdoor ad
revenue increased during the 1990s and leveled off in the early 2000s, as Figure 8.3 illus¬
trates. Of the $5.2 billion spent on outdoor advertising, billboard ads accounted for approx¬
imately 60 percent, while street furniture, which is signs on benches and the like, and tran¬
sit ads brought in the rest.12
Size and Format In terms of size and format, there are two kinds of billboards:
poster panels and painted bulletins. Printed posters are a type of billboard created by
designers (provided by the advertiser or agency), printed, and shipped to an outdoor-
advertising company. They are then prepasted and applied in sections to the poster
panel’s face on location, much like applying wallpaper. They come in two sizes based on
the number of sheets of paper used to make the image: 8 sheet (5x11 feet) and 30 sheet
(12 x 25 feet).
The other kind of billboard is the painted bulletin. Painted bulletins differ from
posters in that they are normally created on site and are not as restricted as billboards in
size or shape, although their standard size is 14 x 48 feet. They can be painted on the sides
of buildings, on roofs, and even on natural structures, such as the side of a mountain.
Designers can add extensions to the painted billboards to expand the scale and break
away from the limits of the long rectangle. These embellishments are sometimes called
cutouts because they present an irregular shape.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
An advertiser would use a billboard for two primary reasons. First, it would supple¬
ment a mass-media strategy by providing reminders to the target audience. A second use
for billboards is to act as primary medium when the board is in close proximity to the
product. Most common are billboards directing travelers to hotels, restaurants, resorts,
and gas stations.
Because of the very short time consumers are normally exposed to a billboard (3 to
5 seconds), the message must be short and the visual must have “stopping power.” No
more than 8 to 10 words is the norm. An example of an unusual billboard with immense
attention-getting power is the Adidas “Football (Soccer) Challenge.”
Buying Outdoor Space The outdoor advertising industry has increased its pro¬ Two live players play a game of
fessional standards and become more competitive with other media. The industry uses a vertical soccer in the Adidas
system based on showings, which refers to a standard unit for space sales based on the "Football challenge" outdoor
opportunity a person has to see a particular outdoor board. This is typically based on a board that captivated audiences
traffic count, that is, the number of vehicles passing a par¬ in Japan.
ticular location during a specified period of time. If an
advertiser purchases a 100 showing, the basic standard unit
is the number of poster boards in each marketing that will
expose the message to 100 percent of the market population
every day. If three posters in a community of 100,000 peo¬
ple achieve a daily exposure to 75,000 people, the result is a
75 showing. Conversely, in a small town with a population
of 1,200 and one main street, two boards may produce a
100 showing.
Advertisers can purchase any number of units (75, 50,
or 25 showings daily are common quantities). The number of
boards required for a 100 showing varies from city to city.
Boards are usually rented for 30-day periods, with longer
periods possible. Painted bulletins are bought on an individ¬
ual basis, usually for one, two, or three years.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Outdoor

Advertising Although it is rare for a media strategy to
be built around outdoor advertising, it does offer several
advantages. Most notably, it is a high-impact medium offer¬
ing larger-than-life visuals, on a hard-to-ignore structure. It
is valued as a directional medium because it tells someone
how to find a business establishment. It can also serve as a
brand reminder and it can reinforce a creative concept
employed in other media. Finally, outdoor boards and signs
are the least expensive of all major media, especially in light
of their long life.
There are some disadvantages to using outdoor advertis¬
ing. As previously noted, because consumers pass on-premise
Las Vegas is the home of

many highly creative on¬
premise signs.
signs and outdoor boards very quickly and are often distracted, the message could fail to be
seen or have any impact. Outdoor advertising is a very passive medium, which means that if
the billboard is some distance away from the road, it can be very easy to miss.
Historically, many people have been critical of outdoor advertising because it creates
visual pollution. Several states, such as Oregon and Hawaii, have banned billboards, while
other states have restricted locations. Both outdoor and on-premise signs may also be reg¬
ulated by local or federal laws depending on their location.
On-Premise Signs
Retail signs that identify stores have been with us throughout recorded history and are
today the most ubiquitous form of advertising. Signs are found on small independent
businesses, restaurants and chains like Starbucks, hospitals, movie theaters, and other
public facilities like zoos, and large regional shopping centers. In this complex environ¬
ment an effective sign may be relatively simple—like McDonald’s giant M—or more
complex—like those found on the strip in Las Vegas with their large illuminated and ani¬
mated visual extravaganzas. Signs that are mounted on a store or its property are
described as directional, as well as informational. The Signage Foundation describes
them as “The Speech of the Street.” Without signs consumers would find it difficult to
locate the shops they patronize and, likewise, businesses would become largely invisible
to their prospective customers. For some businesses, a sign along with an ad in the local
phone directory may be the most important forms of advertising. For businesses that serve
travelers, such as fast-food restaurants, gasoline stations, and motels, the sign is their pri¬
mary way to attract business.13
Posters
Posters are used on the sides of buildings and vehicles, as well as on bulletin boards and
kiosks. In London, daily hand-lettered posters are used to announce newspaper headlines
and the walls of the subway or tube stations are lined with posters advertising all kinds of
products, but particularly theater shows. The iPod was launched in London with the walls
that tube riders encounter coming up or down the exit stairs being papered with the dis¬
tinctive silhouetted images against their neon backgrounds. The repetition of the images
created a strong billboarding effect.
Posters more enduring than the hand-lettered London newspaper signs are printed by
lithography, which is a high-quality color printing process. Lithography created the
“golden age” of the poster beginning in the late 1880s when posters were the work of seri¬
ous artists. These posters are now considered art and valued as collector items, as are
movie posters both historic and contemporary.
Obviously the impact of a poster is derived primarily from its striking design. In most
cases there are few words, although posters designed for places where people wait, such as
transit stops and kiosks, may carry longer messages, as well as take-along materials such
as tear-off coupons. The impact of a poster is also determined by its location. The Special
K story in the Inside Story is an example of an award-winning media idea that was recog¬
nized as Media Plan of the Year by the MediaWeek trade magazine.
Kiosks Special structures called kiosks are designed for public posting of notices and
advertising posters. Some of these locations are high-traffic places such as a many-sided
structure in a mall or near a public walkway; others are places where people wait. The
location has a lot to do with the design of the message. Some out-of-home media serve the
same function as the kiosk, such as the ad-carrying bus shelter.
Transit Advertising
Transit advertising is mainly an urban advertising form that places ads on vehicles such as
buses and taxis that circulate through the community. Some of these graphics are striking,
such as the designs on the sides of the Mayflower moving trucks. Transit advertising also
includes the posters seen in bus shelters and train, airport, and subway stations. Most of
these posters must be designed for quick impressions, although posters on subway plat¬
forms or bus shelters are often studied by people who are waiting, so they can present a
more involved or complicated message than a billboard.
There are two types of transit advertising: interior and exterior. Interior transit adver¬
tising is seen by people riding inside buses, subway cars, and some taxis. Exterior transit
advertising is mounted on the sides, rear, and tops of these vehicles, so pedestrians and
people in nearby cars see it. Transit advertising is reminder advertising; it is a high-
frequency medium that lets advertisers get their names in front of a local audience at criti¬
cal times such as rush hour and drive time.
The Transit Audience Transit messages can be targeted to specific audiences if the
vehicles follow a regular route. Buses that are assigned to a university route will expose a
higher proportion of college students, while buses that go to and from a shopping mall will
expose a higher population of shoppers. Mercedes-Benz busboards were used in a local
market although they were designed to have a national look and feel.
Transit media, in all their various forms, offer the same advantages and disadvantages
as outdoor media. The strategic rationale is much the same as well. Used primarily as a
reminder or supplement to other media, it would be a minor part of the media mix unless
the product and the ad are in close proximity. Also, transit media do not have the size
advantage of outdoor media, but the consumer has more time to view the message.14
Consider This
1. What are the key reasons for using out-of-home media?
2. Why do you think it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of outdoor
advertising? Can you think of any ways to improve the measurement
process?
INSIDE STO DV
Kellogg's Special K 2-Week Challenge
Amy Hume, Associate Media Director, Kellogg's Cereal Starcom Worldwide, Chicago
Each year, Kellogg's competitors' complicated diets that

■ supports its Special K utilized only traditional vehicles to
1\ cereal with marketing ensure consumer understanding. The
efforts during the New wallboards also distributed a take-
Year's Resolution time home brochure that the dieter used to
frame, capitalizing on consumers' keep track of his or her results.
goals to lose weight after the holidays. The total plan was a $7 million
In January 2002 Special K had pro¬ effort that included television, maga¬
moted a 2-Week Challenge event with zines, and online advertising, but the
a campaign touting "lose up to 6 wallboards were only $250,000.
pounds in 2 weeks by replacing two The schedule included 924 wall-
meals with Kellogg's Special K or board postings across 15 markets.
Special K Red Berries cereal and eat¬ The plan reached 17 percent of U.S.
ing a sensible third meal." households but because of its careful
It was a very successful effort targeting, it reached 22 percent of
when launched that year, and thus the Special K high-volume users. The
Kellogg had even higher goals for the following summarizes the placements
effort in 2003. As an agency we were for the wallboards:
challenged with generating aware¬ • Doctors offices: 325 per month for
ness and trial among both consumers 3 months
who had participated in 2002 and • Hair and nail studios: 125 per
those who hadn't been interested in month for 1 month
the program previously. While the • Bridal stores: 125 per month for 1
message itself can be one way to month
attract new consumers, our goal at • Health clubs: 319 per month for 1
Starcom was to come up with a differ¬ month
ent way to contact and connect with • Department stores: 30 per month
consumers via ad placement. for 1 month
As consumers are typically bom¬ National TV also was utilized in
barded in TV with weight-loss mes¬ support of the wallboards to generate
sages around the New Year's quick, mass reach with magazines
Resolution time period, our idea was extending reach further within rele¬
to reach them in targeted locations vant Resolution/Weight Loss editor¬
where they are conscious of their ial. Additionally we had an Internet
weight and appearance and therefore component that established an online
are most receptive to our message. To community where consumers could
further strengthen the communication, interact to discuss the 2 Week
the media plan drove the creative, Challenge and receive daily tips on
with Kellogg's tailoring the message to sticking with it.
each location. Reaching consumers at the mo¬
The subsequent communication ment they are in need of a weight-loss
surrounded the consumer on wall- solution and dePvering a simple c:e*
boards positioned within locations where people were in the context of their environment was very effective:
actively thinking about their weight and appearance—in Business results show an overall lift in wai coord markets
the department store dressing room, health club doctor's of 20 percent over nonwaliboard markets.
office, hair or nail salon, and bridal salon. The message
Ar. -femegracfccssc com Ur\«s?vofCokxodc 2o.ce- teg ... — ~
was tailored to each iocation through tag lines such as 2$ - jot -a i~ — an e-'tmesi ~ -c.e - ; ~c. She hes nee" — Skycotrt
"The doctor will see (less of you) now. Believing that the • .ocaice er.cocc 5 . ■ ■ ■ vt" ce - t a c. -e -a e
medium is the message, we wanted consumers to think: If \ ~ee~cc Cbdetfsons arc , : o 5.00. =c ■ Va~Z%-e.
the entire diet can be communicated on a board, it must A me Xdhg$ a~c mgr ta kox cm Vea'c 2 racier veocc .
be easy enough for me to follow.' This contrasted with

■ ■ ■
Mercedes-Benz is often seen as elite and unapproachable. This campaign is
promoting the safe and affordable nature of the C-Class. The tone and humor
of the copy help make the dealerships seem like a group of nice people with a
fun personality. These busboards were contributed by Karl Schroeder, a copy¬
writer at Coates Kokes in Portland, Oregon, and a graduate of the University
of Oregon advertising program.
DIRECTORY ADVERTISING
Directories are books like the Yellow Pages that list the names of people or companies,
their phone numbers, and their addresses. In addition to this information, many directories
publish advertising from marketers who want to reach the people who use the directory.
This is a prime audience and one of the biggest advantages of advertising in directories;
because people have taken the initiative to look for a business or service, the listing is
reaching an audience already in need of something. Directory advertising doesn’t have to
create a need because it is the number-one shopping medium. Principle
Directory advertising is described as directional advertising because it tells people The principle behind directory
where to go to get the product or service they want. There is a key difference between direc¬ advertising is that it is
tional advertising and brand-image advertising. Directory advertising reaches prospects, directional—-it tells people who
people who already know they have a need for the product or service; brand-image adver¬ already are in the target market
where to go to get the product or
tising seeks to create a need. If you are going to move across town and you want to rent a
service they are looking for.
truck, you will consult the local phone book. Directory advertising is the mam medium that
prospects consult once they have decided to buy something they need or want.
The most common directories are those that a community’s local phone service pro¬
duces. The listings and ads in the Yellow Pages are a major advertising vehicle, particularly
for local retailers. National advertisers such as Pizza Hut also use them extensively. In fact,
the Yellow Pages is Pizza Hut’s second-largest media expenditure after TV. A single line
for each Pizza Hut store is considered a unique ad.
Yellow Pages The Yellow Pages, which lists all local and regional businesses that
have a telephone number, is a $14 billion industry." In addition to the phone number list¬
ing, retailers can buy display space and run a larger ad. The industry s core advertisers are
service providers (restaurants, travel agents, beauty parlors, and florists, for example). For
some small businesses, the Yellow Pages is the only medium of advertising, because it s
where customers find out about them and it’s affordable.
Because AT&T never copyrighted the name “Yellow Pages,” any publisher can use
it. As recently as 1995, the local phone companies controlled around 96 percent of
Yellow Pages, but now they control only around 86 percent and are losing share because,
in many cities, there are competing directories.16 In fact, there are so many competing
directories in some areas that publishers of Yellow Pages advertise their directories to
build customer loyalty.
Almost 90 percent of those who consult the Yellow Pages follow up with some kind of
action. Because a Yellow Pages ad is the last step in the search for a product or service by
a committed consumer, the ads are not intrusive. Consequently, Yellow Pages users spend
more per year than most advertisers’ average customers do.17
Since the Yellow Pages are filled with ads, the level of clutter is quite high. Finding
that breakthrough concept or graphic image is really the key to creating impact. Other
decisions are driven by the budget and competition, such as decisions about ad size, use of
color, and listings in several sections of the directory.
Other Directories In addition to the Yellow Pages, an estimated 7,500 directories

exist that cover all types of professional areas and interest groups. For example, the
Standard Directory of Advertisers and Advertising Agencies (known as the Red Books) not
only lists advertisers and agencies; it also accepts advertising targeted at those who use the
directory. The Creative Black Book, another directory used by advertising professionals,
also takes ads for photographers, illustrators, typographers, and art suppliers.
The ads in trade and professional directories usually are more detailed than those in
consumer directories because they address specific professional concerns, such as qualifica¬
tions and scope of services provided. Trade directories also use supplemental media such as
inserts and tipped-in cards (glued into the spine) that can be detached and filed or sent back.
Most of the directories can be transformed into an electronic version accessible
through the Internet. Electronic directories provide convenience and speed to customers
who have the right technology. The dominant directory remains the Yellow Pages, which
can be either an area-wide or a neighborhood directory, as well as electronic.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Directory Advertising Like all the

media we have discussed so far, directories offer certain advantages to advertisers. Most
prominent is the fact that directories are a shopping medium, meaning that consumers ini¬
tiate the search process when they have a need or want. If done correctly, therefore, a direc¬
tory ad can be a very effective selling tool. Directories are inexpensive and provide a return
on investment of 1:15; every dollar spent on a directory ad produces $15 in revenue.
Directories also offer a great deal of flexibility in respect to size, colors, and formats.
Finally, directories have a long life.
The primary weakness of directories is competitive clutter. Literally hundreds of
look-alike ads are listed on a single page, often forcing advertisers to purchase larger ads
they cannot afford. Ads cannot be changed for several months, meaning that if a business
changes location or phone number, its ad may be wasted, so there’s a flexibility problem.
Linally, there are consumers, such as non-English speakers or the illiterate, who cannot
easily use directories.
Consider This
o
L Based on what you have read in this section on directory advertising, what
are the key reasons for using this type of media?
2. Some local businesses advertise only in the Yellow Pages. When might this
be a sufficient form of advertising?
USING PRINT ADVERTISING

Now that we have explored the main types of print media and their strengths and weak¬
nesses, we can determine how to use these media effectively. Advertisers should always
ask their media planner the cost of each medium, its ability to meet their advertising objec¬
tives, its ability to accommodate the style of message, and how targeted the audience is.
The Practical Tips box provides guidelines for print media decision makers.
Practical Tips
When to Use Print
Use Newspapers If... Use Magazines If... Use Out-of-Home If... Use Directories If...
You are a local business You have a well-defined You are a local business You are a local
target audience that wants to sell locally business or can serve
local customers
You want extensive You want to reinforce or You are a regional or national You want to create
market coverage remind the audience business that wants to action
remind or reinforce
You sell a product that is You have a product that You have a product requiring You want to allow
consumed in a predictable does not have to be little information and little comparisons or
manner demonstrated, but must demonstration provide basic inquiry
be shown accurately and purchase
and beautifully information
You do not need to You need to relate You have a small to moderate You have a small to
demonstrate the product moderate to extensive budget moderate budget
product information
You have a moderate to You have a moderate
large budget to large budget
IT'S A WRAP
IPOD DANCES TO ITUNES
O ver the years, Apple has struggled to move from its niche position in the computer mar¬
ket into the mainstream of the computer industry. It was the success of iPod and iTunes in
opening a new market for Apple that brought recognition by Prophet, a leading management
consulting firm, as well as Advertising Age, which named Apple Marketer of the Year.
Prophet CEO Michael Dunn says about the Apple beachhead strategy, "We're betting this
will fuel substantial growth for Apple and may even increase the chances of some PC users
considering Apple for their next purchase." It's only a short step from the elegantly designed
iPod to the grown-up Macintosh. Lee Clow, chairman of TBWA Worldwide, Apple's longtime
ad agency, notes that "We all understood strategically that iPod is a window for the whole
world to come to an Apple product."
Since it was first introduced in October 2001, Apple sold more than 1.5 million iPods,
or about 300,000 by 2003. In two years, Apple achieved the sales rate for the iPod that it
took 25 years to achieve with its PCs. It's become the top-selling MP3 player, with a 50 per¬
cent market share, according to market research NPD Group.
iTunes was launched in late April 2003 and by the end of the year, more than 25 million
songs had been purchased and downloaded off Apple's site. As iTunes moved out beyond its
Mac base, more than 1 million tracks were sold in the first week the service became avail¬
able to Windows users. In recognition of its highly successful launch, Time magazine hailed
iTunes as the "Coolest Invention of 2003."
■ ■■Summary
1. Explain the key concepts of media planning and buying. 4. Analyze why packaging is such an important advertis¬
A media mix is the way various types of media are strategi¬ ing opportunity. Packaging is the last ad a customer sees
cally combined in an advertising plan. A media plan, which before making the decision to buy. It can provide a critical
is prepared by a media planner, is a document that identifies reminder of the product’s important benefits at the moment
the media to be used to deliver an advertising message to a the consumer selects a product. The package is a good
targeted audience. Media buying is the identification of spe¬ brand reminder.
cific vehicles and the negotiation of costs and details to 5. Discuss factors that advertisers should consider in mak¬
advertise in them. Reach is the percentage of the media ing out-of-home media decisions. Out-of-home advertis¬
audience exposed at least once to the advertiser’s message ing includes everything from billboards to hot-air balloons.
during a specific time frame and frequency is to the number A type of out-of-home advertising is outdoor advertising,
of times a person is exposed to the advertisement. which refers to billboards along streets and highways, as
2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of newspapers as well as posters. Outdoor is a high-impact and directional
an advertising medium. The strengths of newspapers medium; it’s also good for brand reminder and relatively
include local market coverage with some geographic flexi¬ inexpensive with a long life. Other forms of out-of-home
bility plus an interaction with national news and the ability advertising include on-premise signs, posters, and transit
to reach shoppers who see the paper as a credible source. advertising.
Weaknesses include a relatively short life span, clutter, lim¬ 6. Outline the factors that advertisers use to make deci¬
ited reach to some groups, and rather poor reproduction of sions about using directory advertising. Directories are a
images. shopping medium for consumers who are searching for a
3. Describe the key factors that advertisers should know to product or service. They are inexpensive with a long life
make effective decisions about advertising in magazines. but are inflexible once printed. They are also a highly clut¬
Magazines reach special interest audiences who have a high tered environment in which it is difficult for an advertise¬
level of receptivity to the message. People read them slowly ment to stand out.
and they have long life and great image reproduction. They
have long lead times, a low level of immediacy, limited flex¬
ibility, and generally do not reach a broad mass market.
■■■Key Terms
bleed, 224 free-standing insert (FSI), 218 media mix, 212 ratings, 213
broadsheet, 215 frequency, 212 media planning, 212 reach, 212
circulation, 212 gatefold, 224 media reps, 213 run-of-paper rate, 217
classified ads, 217 gross impressions, 212 media salespeople, 213 SAU (Standard Advertising
consumer magazine, 221 gutter, 224 media vehicle, 212 Unit), 215
controlled circulation, 223 horizontal publication, 221 out-of-home advertising, 227 showings, 229
co-op advertising, 217 HUT (households using outdoor advertising, 227 supplements, 218
cutouts, 228 television), 212 painted bulletins (outdoor), tabloid, 215
display advertising, 217 impression, 212 228 vertical publication, 221
double-page spread, 224 market selectivity, 214 preferred position rate, 217 Yellow Pages, 234
exposure, 212 media, 211 printed posters (outdoor), 228
extensions, 228 media buying, 212 rate card, 217
1. What is the difference between media planning and buying? 4. Why is packaging such an important advertising opportu
What are the key concepts that guide their decisions? nity?
2. What are the key advantages and disadvantages of using 5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of outdoor
newspapers as an advertising medium? advertising?
3. What are the key advantages and disadvantages of using
magazines as an advertising medium?
1. You are the media planner for an agency handling a small about newspaper reader studies that prove how wrong the
chain of upscale furniture outlets in a top-50 market that audience is for me. Readership is too adult—mostly above
concentrates most of its advertising in the Sunday supple¬ 35 years of age,” he said. “And besides, readers of newspa¬
ment of the local newspaper. The client also schedules dis¬ pers are families with higher incomes—the wrong market
play ads in the daily editions for special sales. Six months for our used disc business,” he continued. If the Globe is a
ago a new, high-style metropolitan magazine approached typical metropolitan daily, could the store manager be cor¬
you about advertising for your client. You deferred a deci¬ rect? In any event, how should Wilcox try to counter the
sion by saying you'd see what reader acceptance would be. manager’s views?
Now the magazine has shown some steady increases (its 3. Since his freshman year in college, Phil Dawson, an adver¬
circulation is now about one-quarter of the newspaper’s). If tising major, has waited tables at Alfredo’s, a small family-
you were to include the magazine on the ad schedule, you’d operated restaurant featuring excellent food and an intimate
have to reduce the newspaper use somewhat. What would atmosphere. A Yellow Pages representative approaches the
be your recommendation to the furniture store owner? owner to run a display ad. The owner asks Phil for advice
2. Petra Wilcox, a display ad salesperson for the Daily Globe, on whether such an ad would help, and if so, what the ad
thought she had heard all the possible excuses for not buy¬ should look like. What should Phil recommend?
ing newspaper space until she called on the manager of a
compact-disc store that sold new and used discs. “I heard
1. As a class make a decision on where advertising should be placed for a new restaurant in
town that specializes in low-carb menus. Have different members of the class contact as
many media as possible in the community: Consider a medium-to-large newspaper, maga¬
zines, outdoor, or directory advertising business. Collect all the relevant information on ser¬
vices provided to advertisers. Ask as many questions as you need to. Compare the types of
information and services available. Was the customer service helpful? Is this the right
media choice for your company? Analyze the results in a brief report; begin by stating
your advertising goals, then state what you might or might not accomplish by advertising
in the publication.
2. Collect Web site versions of three online newspapers or magazines. Write a one- to two-
page report on how these vehicles could be better advertising mechanisms. What might
they do to reach potential advertisers?
2. What are advertisers trying to get from the blend¬

ing of product promotion and magazine content?
What are some long-term effects that are likely to Sources: Brian Steinberg, "Blurring the Line? Magazines Face New Pressure as Marketers
Seek to Blend Advertising with Content," Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition) (August 9,
result from this blending?
2004): B1; Brian Steinberg, "Taking a Stand as Lines Blur between Editorials and Ads,"
3. Is there some other way, besides pressuring mag¬ Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition) (August 1 8, 2004): 1; Brian Steinberg and Emily
azines to blur content and advertising, that adver¬ Nelson, "Unit of WPP Will Own Stake in ABC Shows," Wall Street Journal (Eastern edi¬
tion) (December 1, 2003): B1; Suzanne Vranica, "Advertising: Hollywood Goes Madison
tisers can achieve the same goals? What other Avenue; Television Shows Have Met the Sponsor: It Is them," Wall Street Journal (Eastern
print tools might be used? edition) (December 15, 2003): B5.
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Broadcast Media
CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Describe the structure of radio, how it is organized, its use as
an advertising medium, its audience, and the advantages and
disadvantages of radio advertising.
2. Explain the structure of television, how it is organized, its use as

an advertising medium, the TV audience, and the advantages and
disadvantages of TV advertising.
3. Outline how advertisers use fdm and video.
4. Identify advantages and disadvantages of using product

placements.
T
A Drugstore Goes
Online
Award: he dot-com bust in the early years of the 2000s saw a number
EFFIE® Gold, of Internet businesses come unplugged. One that survived was
Health Care category drugstore.com, the leading online drugstore and information
site for healthy, beauty, wellness, personal care, and phar¬
Company:
drugstore.com™ macy products. It wasn't easy, however, and the company didn't
have a profitable quarter until 2004. So how did drugstore.com
Agency: weather the economic storms that accompanied its startup?
Fallon Worldwide Although drugstore.com™ was the first Internet drugstore when
it was introduced in 1999, it soon faced ferocious competition from
Campaign:
a variety of dot-coms looking to hit it big offering drugs via the
"A Very Healthy Way
to Shop"™ Internet. With most of them stocking many of the same products, it
became clear that online drugstore retailing was becoming a high-
cost, inventory management nightmare, and that drugstore.com
241
would have to become an expert in customer service if it was going to survive.

Its strategic partnerships with amazon.com, Rite Aid, GNC, and Cigna® helped
it deliver on its promise.
Furthermore, it had to reach a fairly broad audience in order to build the
volume of sales needed to make the company viable. Based on research, drug¬
store.com targeted head-of-household women, known as gatekeepers because
they make most purchase decisions for the entire family. Also, unlike men,
women actually enjoy shopping for drugstore products, but they hate the long
lines and the medical environment.
So drugstore.com positioned itself as a comfortable way for women to buy
pharmaceuticals online. This position was based on research that indicated that
women prefer not to make multiple trips to the drugstore. A second round of
research showed that this need to limit shopping trips was very much tied to
their greater concern for saving time.
On the basis of these two rounds of research, the company's agency, Fallon
Worldwide, designed a campaign around the tagline "A very healthy way to
shop."™ The agency positioned drugstore.com as a premier online shopping
alternative, less taxing and more convenient than driving to a drugstore.
The initial campaign identified eight top Internet markets including New
York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The campaign placed television commer¬
cials in those cities in conjunction with the Academy Awards telecast. The first
30-second spot featured a woman who runs her entire life while relaxing in her
bathtub. Ads that followed during the next four months showed a series of
vignettes highlighting how a woman can solve her problems as well as those of
others by using drugstore.com.
These spots also had a secondary purpose. Customers and potential cus¬
tomers were not quite sure what drugstore.com did and how it worked.
Drugstore.com management thought that the slice-of-life vignettes would indi¬
rectly provide this information as well as support the ease-of-use positioning
strategy. The ads showed what products drugstore.com carried. How the com¬
pany delivered them and the reliability of product quality were demonstrated in
a variety of creative ways through the television commercials.
How did drugstore.corn's new campaign do? Check the It's a Wrap section
at the end of this chapter.
Source: EFFIE brief provided by Fallon Worldwide and drugstore.com, as well as the drugstore.com Web site,
www.drugstore.com, December 2004; Tom Taulli, “Drugstore.com Cowboy, The Motley Fool, October 12, 2004,
www.Fool.com; Rick Aristotle Munarriz, “Drugstore Now, Boy,” The Motley Fool. January 21, 2004, www.Fool.com;
Kevin Newcomb, “Drugstore.com Offers Best Site Search,” Jupiterimages, October 21, 2004, www.clickz.com/news/
article.php/3424911; “First Data and Drugstore.com Offer ‘Paperless’ Purchases,” First Data press release, October 4, 2004,
http://news.firts data.com/media/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=148306.
Television delivered a powerful message to a mass audience for drugstore.com and helped
the company position itself as a convenient way to shop. In this chapter, we explore the
uses, structure, audiences, and advantages and disadvantages of radio and television as
advertising media. We will also review film and video formats that use advertising, as well
as the use of product placement in film and television.
CHAPTER 9 BROADCAST MEDIA 243
BROADCAST MEDIA
Broadcast media, which transmit sounds or images electronically, include radio and tele¬
vision. Print is a static medium bought by amount of space, such as column inch; broadcast
media are dynamic and bought by amount of time (seconds, minutes). Broadcast media
messages are also fleeting, which means they may affect the viewer’s emotions for a few
seconds and then disappear, in contrast to print messages that linger and can be revisited
and reread.
Broadcast media messages differ from print advertising messages in large part
because broadcast engages more senses than reading and adds audio as well as motion for
television.
RADIO
Even with the advent of television there are still more than 10,000 commercial radio sta¬
tions. And the industry remains healthy with a 27 percent increase in ad revenues in the
five-year period between 1998 and 2003.
The Structure of the Radio Industry

The basic structure of radio is shown in Figure 9.1. The traditional radio stations are found
on the AM/FM dial and serve a primarily local market, but that’s only the beginning of the
radio listener’s options, which also include public radio, cable and satellite radio, low-
powered stations, and Web radio.
AM/FM Stations with a broadcast range of approximately 2.5 miles are considered
local stations. Regional stations may cover an entire state or several states. The most pow¬
erful stations are called “clear channel” stations and can deliver signals for long distances.
Radio stations are delivered by two different ranges of signals or radio wave frequen¬
cies: AM or FM. The strength of an AM signal depends on the transmitting power the FCC
grants the station, but AM signals tend to be stronger, sometimes reaching as far away as
600 miles. An FM station typically sends a signal that travels 50 miles. The tonal quality of
an FM signal is superior to that of AM, which is why music stations prefer FM and talk
radio and stations that broadcast sporting events are often found on AM. An advertiser can
achieve better targeting by knowing the advantages and disadvantages of AM and FM radio
and determining the technical quality needed for the transmission of the radio commercial.
Public Radio Public radio is very much like its television counterpart and must abide
by the same rules and regulations. Focal public radio stations are usually affiliates of
National Public Radio (NPR) and carry much of the same programming, although they
The Structure of Radio

As seen here, the structure of the
radio industry has expanded to
include cable, public, Web, and
satellite radio.
LDFM
have to buy or subscribe to the NPR services. For that reason, some local public radio sta¬
tions carry a full range of NPR programming and some that are less well funded may carry
only a partial list of NPR programs.
These stations are considered noncommercial in that they rely on listener support for
most of their funding. In recent years, however, they have slowly expanded their corporate
sponsorship messages.
Although public television is losing market share to the many new cable competitors,
public radio is growing relative to its competitors. Public radio audience size increased by
nearly 60 percent during the 1990s.
Likewise, corporate underwriting (sponsorship) has increased along with the audi¬
ence size because public radio is one of the few media that can deliver the well-educated,
affluent consumer. “It’s a desirable audience that’s difficult to find in a lot of commercial
broadcasting,” says James Harman, manager of corporate giving for General Electric,
which underwrites Marketplace, a PBS show that discusses business trends and issues.1
There are a number of other ways that the radio industry is configured in the United
States.
• Cable Radio. Launched in 1990, cable radio technology uses cable television receivers
to deliver static-free music via wires plugged into cable subscribers’ stereos. The
thinking behind cable radio is that cable television needs new revenue and consumers
are fed up with commercials on radio. The service typically is free of commercials and
costs $7 to $12 per month. An example of cable radio is Digital Music Express, which
offers CD-quality sound in 30 music formats (rock, classical, etc.) around the clock.
• Satellite Radio. The newest rage in radio technology is satellite radio. It can deliver
your favorite radio stations, regardless of where you are in the continental United
States. New York City-based Sirius Satellite Radio and Washington, D.C.-based XM
Satellite Radio introduced their systems in 2002. For $12.95 a month, the system
allows you to access 100 stations. A few car manufacturers offered three-band radios
(AM/FM/SAT) in several of their high-end models. The retailers Circuit City, the WIZ,
and others are beginning to market satellite-compatible car radios.2
• LPFM. If you’re a college student, you probably have a low-power FM (LPFM)
station on your campus. These nonprofit, noncommercial stations serve a small mar¬
ket, with a reach of 3 to 5 miles. Although the FCC has not allowed these stations to
carry advertising, many have positioned themselves in case this ruling is changed.
Advertising would provide revenue to the stations, and local advertisers would enjoy a
new, affordable outlet. Often, these stations provide unusual programming unavailable
through other radio venues.3
• Web Radio. Web radio provides Webcasting, which is audio streaming through a Web
site. Webcasting station operators, from giant Clear Channel Communications down to
smaller station groups such as Buckley Broadcasting and Emmis Communications, all
provide radio programming through the Web. Still, Web radio does offer thousands of
stations as well as highly diverse radio shows that play mostly to small select audi¬
ences. Moreover, Web-based radio could offer advertisers spots that run only in certain
parts of a city, something impossible with broadcast radio. Such localization would
open up new opportunities for smaller advertisers and help them handle their budgets
more efficiently.
Radio Advertising
The radio listening experience is unlike interaction with any of the other media, which
creates both challenges and opportunities for radio advertisers. It can be a more intimate
experience, because we tend to listen to it alone, particularly for those people wearing
Principle headphones. It can also engage the imagination more because it relies on the listener’s
Radio advertising has the power mind to fill in the visual element. That means radio dramas and ads can involve the audi¬
to engage the imagination and ence on a more personal level. And radio can deliver a high level of frequency because
communicate on a more personal radio commercials, particularly jingles, which are commercials set to music, lend them¬
level than other forms of media. selves to repetition.
CHAPTER 9 • BROADCAST MEDIA 245
SHOWCASE
ANNCR: If you want an easy, fast and convenient way to buy, sell, job-hunt or hire, nothing works better than
the Register-Guard Classifieds. Well, actually, there is maybe one easier way:
SFX: Knocking. Door opens.
NEW GUY: Hello, I’m your new neighbor. I brought you an apple pie.
WOMAN: Well, come in! I’ll give you a tour of the house!
NEW GUY: Oh lovely! Say, hard wood floors!
WOMAN: Upstairs and downstairs. 3 bedrooms, two baths. Care to take it off my hands?
NEW GUY: What?
WOMAN: Buy it. It’s for sale.
NEW GUY: But I just bought the house next door.
WOMAN: Do you have an out-of-state mother-in-law?
NEW GUY: Good point. I’ll take it- Oooh, a gazebo!
ANNCR: Yes, they could walk right up to your doorstep, ready to buy, but, really, how many rich, apple-pie
toting neighbors can you expect in a month? 3, tops, right?
Yes, better to stick with the premiere marketplace of Western Oregon. With more listings and read¬
ers than all the competition combined, nothing connects buyers with sellers better than the
Register-Guard Classifieds, with fresh listings in print and online every day.
SFX: Knock, knock. Door opens.
NEW GUY: Sorry, deal’s off. The other neighbors have a pool!
WOMAN: Darn it! Those Johnsons!
ANNCR: The Register-Guard. Get more out of it.

Move those homes and make some money! Call 342-twelve-twelve today!
■ ■ ■
Karl Schroeder, copywriter at Portland, Oregon-based Coates Kokes and a
graduate of the University of Oregon advertising program, contributed this
script. He explained that the strategy development began with research to
compare The Register-Guard's perception of itself with consumers' perceptions.
One insight the agency gained is that people will say they don't read the
newspaper and then admit they read certain sections, such as the TV section.
The campaign's objectives were to make the newspaper more approachable
by using humor and to remind the one-section readers that the paper also had
a useful Classifieds section.
Radio can be effective at creating humorous minidramas that capture the listener’s
attention. It can also be used in a local market to reach people who aren’t reading the news¬
paper, which is why local newspapers frequently advertise on radio as the script for the
(Portland, Oregon) Register-Guard newspaper Classifieds illustrates.
One problem is that radio also plays in the background for many of our activities. So
although the radio is on, the multitasking listener may not really be listening to, or concen¬
trating on, the message. Listeners tend to tune in and tune out as something catches their
attention, which is why effective radio advertising is designed to “break through” the sur¬
rounding clutter.
Radio advertising is available on national networks and in local markets. Its revenue is
divided into three categories: network, spot, and local. Network revenues are by far the
smallest category accounting for approximately 5 percent of total radio revenues. Local
advertising revenues account for 77 percent, and national spot advertising makes up the
remaining 18 percent.4 We will now examine network, syndicate, and spot radio advertising.
Network Radio Advertising Radio advertising can be bought from national net¬
works who distribute programming and advertising to their affiliates. Network radio is a
group of local affiliates connected to one or more national networks through telephone
wires and satellites. There are five major radio networks: Westwood One, CBS, ABC, and
Unistar. The largest network, however, is Clear Channel with more than 1,200 stations.
Satellite transmission has produced important technological improvements that also make
it easier to distribute advertising to these stations. Many advertisers view network radio as
a viable national advertising medium, especially for food and beverages, automobiles,
and over-the-counter drugs. The growth of network radio has contributed to the increase
in syndicated radio, creating more advertising opportunities for companies eager to reach
new markets. In fact, syndication and network radio have practically become inter¬
changeable terms.
Spot Radio Advertising In spot radio advertising an advertiser places an adver¬

tisement with an individual station rather than through a network. Although networks
broadcast blocks of prerecorded national advertisements, they also allow local affiliates
open time to sell spot advertisements locally. (Note: National media plans sometimes buy
spots at the local level rather than through the network, so it is possible to have a national
spot buy.) Thanks to the flexibility it offers the advertiser, spot radio advertising makes up
nearly 80 percent of all radio advertising. With so many stations available, spot messages
can be tailored for particular audiences. In large cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los
Angeles, 40 or more radio stations are available. Local stations also offer flexibility
through their willingness to run unusual ads, allow last-minute changes, and negotiate
rates. Buying spot radio and coping with its nonstandardized rate structures can be very
cumbersome, however.
Syndicated Radio Advertising Program syndication has benefited network

radio because it offers advertisers a variety of high-quality, specialized, and usually origi¬
nal programs. Both networks and private firms offer syndication. A local talk show, such as
Rush Limbaugh, may become popular enough to be “taken into syndication.” Here we’re
not talking about reruns of Seinfeld, which is the kind of programming that makes up syn¬
dicated television, but original radio programming playing on a large number of affiliated
stations. Advertisers value syndicated programming because of the high level of loyalty of
its audience.
The Radio Audience

Because radio stations are so tightly targeted based on special interests (religious, Spanish
language, talk shows) and musical tastes, radio is a highly segmented advertising medium.
Principle Program formats offered in a typical market are based on music styles and special interests
Media planners use radio for including hard rock, gospel, country and western, top-40 hits, soft rock, golden oldies, and
tight targeting of narrow, highly other nonmusic programs such as talk radio and advice, from car repair to finances to dat¬
segmented markets.
ing. Virtually every household in the United States (99 percent) has at least one radio and
most have many sets.5
Radio listeners can be separated into four segments: station fans, radio fans, music
fans, and news fans. Station fans make up the largest segment of radio listeners. They have
a clear preference for one or two stations and might spend eight hours or more each day lis¬
tening to their favorites. Most station fans are women between the ages of 25 and 44. Radio
fans represent a third of the listeners. They may listen to four or five different stations per
week, and they show no preference for one particular station. Most are under 35 years of
age, although many women aged 55 and older are radio fans.
Only 11 percent of the audience is classified as music fans—people who listen
exclusively for the music being played. Men between the ages of 25 and 45 are most
likely to be music fans, although many elderly adults fit into the profile. Finally, a per¬
centage of radio listeners choose their stations based on a need for news and information.
They have one or two favorite stations, listen in short segments, and are almost exclu¬
sively aged 35 or older.
Experts contend that much of the future success of radio comes from its ability to
reach kids and teens. Recent research has provided some findings that bode well for radio.
Measuring the Radio Audience Advertisers considering radio are most con¬
cerned with the number of people listening to a particular station at a given time. Radio
audiences are grouped by the time of day when they are most likely to be listening. The
typical radio programming day is divided into five segments called dayparts as follows:
6-10 A.M.
10 A.M.—3 P.M.
3:00-7:00 p.m.
7:00 P.M.-midnight
midnight-6 A.M.
The 6-10 A.M. segment is called morning drive time and it is the period when the
most number of listeners are tuned in to radio. This drive-time audience is getting ready for
work or commuting to work and radio is the best medium to use to reach them.
The radio industry and independent research firms provide several measures for adver¬
tisers, including coverage, which is similar to circulation for print media. The most basic
measure is the station's coverage. This is simply the number of homes in a geographic area
that are able to pick up the station clearly, whether those homes are actually tuned in or not.
A better measure is a station or program’s ratings, which measures the percentage of
homes actually tuned in to the particular station. Factors such as competing programs, the
types of programs, and the time of day or night influence the circulation figure.
Arbitron is one of several major

audience-rating services in the
advertising industry. It estimates
the size of radio audiences for
over 250 U.S. markets.
Several major audience-rating services operate in the advertising industry.
• Arbitron. The Arbitron Ratings Company estimates the size of radio audience for
more than 250 markets in the United States. Arbitron uses a seven-day self-adminis¬
tered diary that the person returns to Arbitron at the end of the week. Editors check
that each diary has entries for every day and that the postmark shows the diary wasn’t
mailed before the week was over.
• RADAR. A second audience-rating service is Radio’s All-Dimension Audience
Research (RADAR). This company (owned by Arbitron) deals with both local and net¬
work radio. For RADAR, Statistical Research calls 12,000 respondents for seven con¬
secutive days and asks about network radio listening done the day before. The com¬
pany contacts respondents before beginning data collection, asking them to pay close
attention to their listening habits.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising on Radio

Radio is not for every advertiser, and it is important to understand its advantages and dis¬
advantages.
• Target Audiences. The most important advantage radio offers is its ability to reach
specific audiences through specialized programming. In addition, radio can be adapted
for different parts of the country and can reach people at different times of the day. For
example, radio is the ideal means of reaching people driving to and from work. Pizza
Hut, for instance, reached out to its target audience of women making dinner choices
by using radio during the 4:00-7:00 p.m. time slot.
• Affordability. Radio may be the least expensive of all media. The costs of producing a
radio commercial can be low, particularly if a local station announcer reads the mes¬
sage. Radio’s low cost and high reach of selected target groups make it an excellent
supporting medium.
• Frequency. Because radio is affordable, it’s easier to build frequency through repeti¬
tion. Media plans that use a lot of radio are designed to maximize high levels of fre¬
quency. (Planners use buys on multiple stations in order to build any kind of reach at
all.) Another reason why radio is a good frequency medium is the nature of the radio
message. Reminder messages, particularly jingles and other musical forms, are easier
to repeat without becoming irritating.
• Flexibility. Radio offers advertisers flexibility. Of all the media, radio has the shortest
closing period: Copy can be submitted up to airtime. This flexibility allows advertisers
to adjust to local market conditions, current news events, and even the weather. For
example, a local hardware store can quickly implement a snow shovel promotion the
morning after a snowstorm. Radio’s flexibility is also evident in the willingness of sta¬
tions to participate in promotional tie-ins such as store openings, races, and so on.
• Mental Imagery. Radio allows the listener to imagine. Radio uses words, sound
effects, music, and tone of voice to enable listeners to create their own pictures. For
this reason, radio is sometimes called the theater of the mind.
• High Level of Acceptance. The final advantage is radio’s high acceptance at the local
level. Radio is not normally perceived as an irritant. People have their favorite radio
stations and radio personalities, which they listen to regularly. Messages delivered by
these stations and personalities are likely to be accepted and retained.
Radio is not without its drawbacks as an advertising medium. Here are five key dis¬
advantages:
• Listener Inattentiveness. Because radio is strictly a listening medium, radio messages

are fleeting, and listeners may miss or forget commercials. Many people think of radio
as pleasant background and do not listen to it carefully.
• Lack of Visuals. Developing radio ads that encourage the listener to see the product
is a difficult challenge, and clearly, products that must be demonstrated or seen to be
appreciated are inappropriate for radio advertising. Experts believe that humor, music,
and sound effects may be the most effective way to create visualization.
• Clutter. The number of radio stations has increased, and

so has the heavy repetition of some ads. The result is
tremendous clutter in radio advertising.
• Scheduling and Buying Difficulties. Advertisers seeking
to reach a wide audience often need to buy time on sev¬
eral stations, complicating scheduling and ad evaluation.
The bookkeeping involved in checking nonstandardized
rates, approving bills for payment, and billing clients can
be a staggering task. Fortunately, computers and large-
station representatives have helped to ease much of this
burden.
• Lack of Control. Most of radio’s recent growth has come
from talk shows. There is always the risk that a radio per¬
sonality will say something that offends the audience,
which would in turn hurt the audience’s perception of an
advertiser’s product.
Using Radio Effectively

We have seen that radio is highly targeted and inexpensive.
Although radio may not be a primary medium for most busi¬
nesses, it does have excellent reminder and reinforcement
capability. To maximize the impact of a radio spot, timing is
critical. Restaurants run spots before meals; auto dealerships
run spots on Friday and Saturday, when people are usually
free to visit showrooms; jewelry stores run them before
Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day. For a com¬
pany like Pizza Hut, radio buys at the local level supplement
national television and cable. Radio acts as a reminder, with
30-second spots concentrated from 11:00 a.m. to noon and
4:00 to 7:00 p.m. The messages focus on the location of local
Pizza Hut restaurants and any special promotions. Lids can be CDs. Used to
promote new music albums,
the "enhanced" multimedia
Trends in Radio/Audio Advertising CDs can not only sample
Exciting new opportunities for audio advertising are showing up in novel new formats. songs, but also provide video
For example, mini-CDs are now being embedded in the lids of soft drink cups at movie clips and other content viewable
theaters and theme parks.6 In an entirely different area of audio surprises, supermarket on computers. In case you're
wondering, the straw fits
shoppers may be caught off guard when they walk down an aisle and a voice addresses
through the hole in the middle
them from the shelf. Narrowly targeted laserlike sound beams can pinpoint individual
of the disk.
shoppers with prerecorded messages encouraging them to try or buy some product. The
audio messages also can be combined with plasma screens carrying electronic visual
messages.7
Consider This
1. Why does radio continue to be a viable advertising medium?
2. From a strategic viewpoint, when would you be inclined to include radio in
a media plan?
TELEVISION
Television advertising is embedded in television programming, so most of the attention in
media buying, as well as in the measurement of television advertising’s effectiveness, is
focused on the performance of various shows and how they engage their audiences. Some
programs are media stars and reach huge audiences: The Super Bowl is a good example
with its 130 million viewers. Others

reach small but select audiences, such as
The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.
It’s become popular to measure the
size of the final viewing audience for
well-loved programs such as M*A*S*H,
Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, and Frasier
as a gauge of the program’s popularity.
Table 9.1 gives you not only program
comparisons, but also an indication of
how the size of viewing audiences has
changed over the years. Three of every
five homes tuned in to the final episode
of M*A*S*H, for example, which set
the record for final episodes. As the tele¬
vision audience has fragmented, audi¬
ences that size are increasingly difficult
to attract. Note also that the price of a
30-second ad has increased as the size
of the audience has gotten smaller.
When people are engaged In order to better understand how television works, let’s first consider its structure and
in watching a program, programming options. Then we’ll look at television as an advertising medium and the way
advertisers assume that it connects with its audience, as well as its advantages and disadvantages.
concentration carries over
to the commercials that
Structure of the Television Industry
surround the program.
The key types of television delivery systems are wired and unwired network, local stations,
public stations, cable and subscription. Specialty, syndicated, interactive television, and
TiVo offer different types of programming and ways to manipulate the programming.
Figure 9.2 shows these options.
Network Television A broadcast network exists whenever two or more stations are
able to broadcast the same program that originates from a single source. Networks can be
over-the-air or cable. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) defines a network
as a program service with 15 or more hours of prime-time programming per week
between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m.
9.1 Final Episodes

Viewers Av Price/
Show Date Aired (in thousands) 30 sec ad
M*A*S*H February 1983 105,467 $450,000
CBS *846,000
Cheers May 1993 80,401 650,000
NBC *843,000
Seinfeld May 1998 76,260 1.5 million
NBC *1.72 million
Friends May 2004 50,000 2 million
NBC
*Adjusted for inflation
Source: Suzanne Vaniccr, '"Friends' Costly Farewell,' ' Wall Street Journal, (April 27, 2004): B1.
The Structure of the TV Industry

Advances in technology have
expanded the number of television
options advertisers can use to deliver
their messages to audiences.
Currently, there are four national, over-the-air television networks in the United
States: the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Columbia Broadcasting System
(CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and Fox Broadcasting. ABC, CBS,
and NBC own 15 regional stations. The remaining 600 regional stations are privately
owned affiliates that have a contractual relationship with the broadcasting company (each
network has about 150 affiliates). The cost of the network and station operations are paid
for from the local and national advertising carried on these channels. WB and UPN are
cable-delivered networks and their operational costs are supported in part by advertising
and in part by subscriptions.
The major networks originate their own programs and provide the programming to
the local affiliates who, in return, provide the audience. The affiliate station signs a con¬
tract with the national network agreeing to carry network-originated programming during
a certain part of its schedule. Some of the commercial time is sold by the network to
national advertisers, and some is left open for the affiliates to fill with local advertising.
Affiliates pay their respective networks 30 percent of the fees they charge local advertisers.
In turn, affiliates receive a percentage of the advertising revenue (12 to 25 percent) paid to
the national network. This advertising is the primary source of affiliate revenues.
In over-the-air network scheduling the national advertiser contracts with a national
network to show commercials on a number of affiliated stations. Sometimes an advertiser
purchases only a portion of the network coverage, known as a regional leg. This type of
purchase is common with sports programming, in which different games are shown simul¬
taneously in different parts of the country.
The problem facing network TV is that its audience—at least the audience for the big
networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC—continues to erode as other viewing opportunities
make inroads on their audiences. As Bob Garfield, ad critic for Advertising Age, observes,
“Television networks are in a panic, because a decade-long erosion of audience has
become more like a tectonic shift.” Some 1.5 million men aged 18-24 simply disappeared
from the television audience in 2003, throwing off the television ratings industry and puz¬
zling media buyers, as well as television sales reps.8
Others speculate that these young male viewers, who are a critical target audience for
a number of product categories such as as MTV, Pepsi, Coke, or Sony Playstation, are now
playing videogames or surfing the Internet.9 Although young people, on the average,
devote four hours to media consumption, the consumption patterns are switching away
from television.
Cable and Subscription Television The initial purpose of cable television was to
improve reception in certain areas of the country, particularly mountainous regions and
large cities. However, cable systems have grown rapidly because they provide highly tar¬
geted special-interest programming options. Cable is the most familiar example of subs¬
cription television, which means that people sign up for service and pay a monthly fee.
Currently, two out of three homes subscribe to cable through traditional cable delivery
9.2 Cable Subscribers and the Services They Select

Household Income Premium Channels Satellite Dish
Less than $25,000 23% 9%

$25,000-$49,999 33% 14%
$50,000-$74,999 40% 15%
$75,000 or more 44% 17%
All households average 34% 13%
Source: "I Want My MTV," American Demographics (March 2003): 8.
systems. Research has also determined that subscription levels increase with household
income, as Table 9.2 illustrates.
Cable is also stealing ad revenue from network TV. The data show that network tele¬
vision had increased its ad dollars by 2.5 percent from 1998 to 2003 but cable increased 82
percent during the same five-year period. Clearly cable is a significant threat to the finan¬
cial health of the networks. One reason is that cable stations have started to develop pro¬
grams that get high viewership, such as The Sopranos on HBO. Viewing time for cable
also is increasing. The average American watches cable or satellite for nearly as many
hours as network TV.
Some cable stations develop and air their own programs in addition to programs initi¬
ated by other stations. Pay programming, available to subscribers for an additional
monthly fee, offers movies, specials, and sports under such plans as Home Box Office,
Showtime, and The Movie Channel. Pay networks do not currently sell advertising time.
Another form of subscription television is satellite TV. Launched in 1994, DirectTV
offers the equipment, including the satellite dish, to access some 125 national and local
channels. Satellite television is particularly useful for people who live in rural areas with¬
out local service.
About 8 percent of cable programming comes from independent cable networks and
from independent superstations. These networks include Cable News Network (CNN), the
The highly successful show Disney Channel, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN), and a
The Sopranos has brought new group of independent superstations whose programs are carried by satellite to cable opera¬
power and visibility to cable tors (for example, WTBS-Atlanta, WGN-Chicago, and WWOR-New York).
station HBO. The two categories of cable
scheduling are network and local.
Network cable scheduling runs com¬
mercials across the entire subscriber
group simultaneously. With local
cable scheduling, advertisers can show
their commercials to highly restricted
geographic audiences through inter¬
connects, a special cable technology
that allows local or regional advertis¬
ers to run their commercials in small
geographic areas through the intercon¬
nection of a number of cable systems.
Interconnections offer small advertis¬
ers an affordable way to reach certain
local audiences through television.
Local Television Most local tele¬

vision stations are affiliated with a net¬
work, as explained above, and carry
both network programming and their
own programs. There are also local
stations called independent stations because they are not affiliated

with a network. Costs for local advertising vary, depending on the
size of the market and the demand for the programs carried. For
example, a major station in Houston may charge local advertisers
$2,000 for a 30-second spot during network prime time. This same
time slot may cost $50 in a smaller town. The local television mar¬
ket is substantially more varied than the national market. Most
advertisers for the local market are local retailers, primarily depart¬
ment stores or discount stores, financial institutions, automobile
dealers, restaurants, and supermarkets. Advertisers buy time on a
station-by-station basis.
National advertisers sometimes buy local advertising on a city-
by-city basis, using spot buys. They do this to align the buy with
their product distribution, to “heavy-up” a national schedule to meet
competitive activities, or to launch a new product in selected cities.
Public Television Although many people still consider public

television to be commercial-free, in 1984 the FCC liberalized its
rules and allowed the public broadcasting system (PBS) stations, of
which there are approximately 350, some leeway in airing com¬
mercial messages, which are called program sponsorships. The
FCC says these messages should not make a call to action (ask
for a purchase) or make price or quality comparisons. PBS is an
attractive medium for advertisers because it reaches affluent, well-
educated households. It also attracts households with children as
the Sesame Street ad demonstrates. In addition, PBS still has a
refined image, and PBS advertisers are viewed as good corporate
citizens because of their support for noncommercial TV.
Current FCC guidelines allow ads to appear on public televi¬
sion only during the local 2.5-minute program breaks. Each station
maintains its own acceptability guidelines. Some PBS stations
accept the same ads that appear on paid programming. However,
most PBS spots are created specifically for public stations. Some PBS stations will not Television programs advertise
accept any commercial corporate advertising, but they do accept noncommercial ads that in other media in order to build
are “value neutral”—in other words, ads that make no attempt to sell a product or service. their audiences. This ad for
Sesame Street was placed in
USA Weekend. To acknow¬
Programming Options ledge PBS's reluctance to
Different types of programming options and distribution formats are available to stations, advertise, the ad also functions
as well as advertisers. as a poster.
Specialty Television The FCC has licensed low-power television (LPTV) to provide
programming outlets to minorities and communities that are underserved by full-power sta¬ Principle
tions. LPTV stations have signals that cover a radius of 15 miles. (Full-power stations reach If you want to reach an otherwise
viewers in a 70-mile radius.) Homes pull in LPTV signals through special antennas and difficult-to-reach target—the well-
LPTV carries advertising for local retailers and businesses. Hotels and restaurants use mul¬ educated, affluent household—
tipoint distribution systems (MDS) to provide guests with movies and other entertainment. one way to do it is to use public
television program sponsorships.
Although specialty systems like these can carry ads, they are a minor delivery system.
Pay-per-view This is another type of special television programming delivered by

satellite. Usually used for major sporting and music events, commercial customers, such as
bars, as well as home viewers subscribe for live delivery of the events without any com¬
mercials. Some experts predict that this business will increase because people who are irri¬
tated by the blizzard of commercials on regular television will change over to pay-cable
and satellite channels and rely less on “free” television.10
Program Syndication Independent TV and cable stations have grown to fuel the
syndication boom. Table 8.1 in the previous chapter showed that syndication was one of
the biggest growth areas in the media industry. Syndicated programs are television
programs purchased by local stations to fill time in open

hours. Off-network syndication includes reruns of network
shows, like M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, Star Trek,
ER, and Seinfeld.
Seinfeld went into syndication in 1998. Each episode
was sold for $6 million, meaning that the 160 episodes gener¬
ated nearly $1 billion, $50 million of which went directly to
Jerry Seinfeld as producer. Everybody Loves Raymond went
into syndication during the summer of 2001, and also has
been a huge success. Sometimes network shows that did not
meet the minimal number of episodes, such as Too Close for
Comfort, It’s A Living, and Rescue 911, are purchased from
the networks by syndication distributors, such as Starcom
Worldwide or Viacom, and moved into syndication even as
the shows’ owners continue to produce new episodes. This
process is called first-run syndication.
Interactive Television An interactive TV set is basi¬

cally a television with computer capabilities. With some sys¬
tems it is possible to do everything you can do online, except
that the monitor is either the TV screen or a picture-in-picture
configuration that lets you watch one or more television pro¬
grams while surfing the Internet. Interactive television
development appears to be taking off, thanks to broadband.
Simply defined, broadband has more capacity to send data
and images into a home or business through a cable television
wire than does the much smaller capacity of a traditional tele¬
phone wire or television antenna system.
Time Warner took the plunge into interactive television in
"Everybody Loves Raymond" 2000. It provided 5,000 homes in Oahu, Hawaii, with video-
went into off-network syndi¬ on-demand. By the fall of 2001, the Ocean Cable system had more than 30,000 subscribers,
cation in the summer of 2001 who each paid $52 a month. While the current system provides movies-on-demand, pro¬
That means local TV stations gram blocking, and banner ads, there is the promise that features such as high-speed Web
can purchase the program. browsing, e-mail, and digital storage are on the horizon. The new medium’s big advantage
is that it is two-way. Audience measurement can be based on a census, not a sample. And
programs that require viewers to log in can contain highly targeted messages, since the
sender will know the recipient. A sponsor could theoretically “buy” a specific audience.
High-Definition TV (HDTV) Like interactive TV, high-definition TV (HDTV) has

been slow to build demand, although that seems to be changing. HDTV is a type of TV set
that can play back movie-quality, high-resolution images. Of course, the station or network
has to broadcast the program in an HDTV format. It’s been a struggle getting enough pro¬
gramming to build demand on the consumer side. As stations upgrade their equipment,
however, they are moving to HDTV and the availability of programming is now making it
more desirable for consumers who are buying new TV sets. Advertisers have been watch¬
ing this development and will provide HDTV ads as demand builds.
Digital Video Recorders (DVR) Another new technology that is expected to have
a profound effect on television programming and the way people watch television are
digital video recorders (DVRs). Introduced by Replay TV and TiVo in 1999, DVR systems
allow users to record favorite TV shows and watch them whenever they like. Users get a
TiVo “box” and subscribe to a service that distributes programming. The revolutionary
technology makes it possible to record the programming without the hassles of videotape,
letting users pause, do instant replays, and begin watching programs even before the
recording has finished. This is known as time-shifting. More than 3.5 million U.S. house¬
holds had DVR technology by the end of 2003. Devoted users of DVR describe it as “life¬
changing.”11
Here’s the rub for advertisers: The owner need not fast-forward through a commercial
because the viewer can set the recording to program out commercials as the shows are
recorded. TiVo is a substantial threat to marketers

because it allows consumers to skip commercials com¬
pletely. Advertisers are alarmed over the increasing
popularity of the technology, as are television execu¬
tives. It calls into question audience measurement num¬ With TiVo, you'll never
bers: If 20 percent of the audience is recording West
Wing on Wednesday night only to watch it Saturday
morning commercial-free, then is the Wednesday night
have to watch bad TV
measurement accurate?
It also raises the issue of how advertisers should
again. Unless, of course,
respond. Should they seek legislation to block such
technology? After all, ads are what keep television (rel¬
you really like watching
atively) free, at least on network TV. Or should they
seek new ways to send messages? Coca-Cola, for exam¬
bad TV.
Hey. it’s your time. Spend it watching whatever you want to. You
ple, has created ads that appear on screen when a DVR
tell TiVo what shows you like, and TiVo takes care of it. Records
user pauses a program for a few minutes. 'em all, no questions asked (or iudgments rendered), so you can
watch 'em later, like alter you finish dinner.
TiVo DVRs are like VCRs, but with a hard disk and without the
Television Advertising hassles of videotape. It hooks up to cable, satellite or antennae and

digitally records up to 60 hours of your favorite stuff.' And it's very
easy. Just buy the box ($399), subscribe to the TiVo service, and
Television is used for advertising because it works like
call it a night—whatever kind of night you like Still say you can live
the movies: It tells stories, engages the emotions, cre¬ without it7 Ask any TiVo subscriber.
ates fantasies, and can have great visual impact.

Because it’s an action medium, it is also good for
.v_r VJ .1
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demonstrating how things work. It brings brand images Order now to get Free Shipping and a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
at www.tivo.com/MH07 or call 1-877-BUY-TiVO (289-8486) Code: MH07.
to life and adds personality to a brand.
Season Pass' Cdfitrol live 11? WishList Series2 DVR
Forms of Television Advertising The actual Choose your tavoriw shows end the . With TtVO rau<i«p*.s?. Sot i taverit* acta? $p#c»!hoN?j1 Mow, up ic 60 hours |
TiVo service v>iN eutometicefy row) rewind, sod sfc-cw (m IV, Ths TiVo seiwce v-nl tna and recon) recording &ntr. .<
form of a television commercial depends on whether a every episode, wfrer-aver it ass. programs hasstl on your inter ests.
network, local, or cable schedule is used, as we see in

Figure 9.3. Networks allow sponsorships, participations,
and spot announcements through their affiliates. In turn,
local affiliates allow local sponsorships, spot announce¬
ments, and national spots. Cable systems allow system DVR technology poses a
(national) spots and local spots. Finally, interactive tele¬ challenge for advertisers
vision allows (national) spots and local spots. since it enables consumers
to bypass commercials.
Sponsorships In program sponsorships, the advertiser assumes the total financial
responsibility for producing the program and providing the accompanying commercials.
The Hallmark Hall of Fame is an example of a sponsored program. Sponsorship can have
a powerful effect on the viewing public, especially because the advertiser can control the
content and quality of the program as well as the placement and length of commercials.
I’iri if: CTIC

Starbucks Makes TV Less Intrusive
H Starbucks coffee is now sold in grocery stores but how showed scenes from the movie and 20 seconds promoted
many people realize it? To get that message out, the well- Starbucks as the movie sponsor.
known coffee house chain needed to reach its customers Other promotional activities were also used in sup¬
nationwide with that message. port of the campaign. One month before the movies aired,
Television commercials would be the obvious way to a $ 1 -off coupon for a bag of Starbucks Coffee was sent to
reach those people, but Starbucks' management knew that 3 million targeted consumers around the country, along
their customers are not big fans of television commercials with a viewer guide introducing the Starbucks-sponsored
and resent the interruption of their favorite program. That's independent movie festival.
why Starbucks has been such an infrequent advertiser on Starbucks billboards also appeared during the movie
TV. Its on-air promotional activities have been limited pri¬ month coinciding with the Independent Spirit Awards, the
marily to radio and its only previous use of TV had been independent film industry's annual telecast, which aired
support announcements on public TV. on both Bravo and IFC.
That was the problem facing Starcom's MediaVest The innovative Bravo partnership wound up not only
group. The agency used a creative solution: It recom¬ increasing sales of Starbucks Coffee by 15 percent for the
mended a partnership with the Bravo cable network. month the campaign ran, but also increased viewership on
Bravo would run four Independent Film Channel (IFC) Bravo by 33 percent. These results led the campaign to be
movies on Friday nights for a month and Starbucks would named a Media Plan of the Year by Adweek magazine.
buy all the commercial time surrounding the movie airings.
The MediaVest team knew that Bravo's "IFC Friday" Consider This
night films would be a good way to reach the stakeholder o---
1. What was the problem Starbucks wanted to overcome
audience because research had described that customer
in order to effectively advertise that its coffee brand
base as people who are up on the latest trends, like to
was available in supermarkets?
attend live performances of the arts, are apt to see a
2. How did the partnership work? Is there anything you
movie during the weekend it opens, and generally are
could recommend that would extend the reach of this
interested in cutting-edge things. MediaVest calls this cus¬
campaign?
tomer "the attuned explorer."
Even though Starbucks bought all the commercial
time, the MediaVest team recommended letting the movies Source: John Consoli, "MediaVest Media Plan of the Year: Best Use of Cable
run uninterrupted. Starbucks' advertising message was TV," Adweek Media Plan of the Year Special Report [June 17, 2002):
SRI 8-20; "EyeballNYC's Packages 'IFC'," January 2003 Friday's on Bravo,"
delivered in supporting Bravo promotions of the movies
May 2002, www.eyeballnyc.com/recentwork/archive_index.html; Eugene
during each week leading up to the Friday night telecast. Hernandez, "The IFC? Sundance Channel?-*—It's Up to You New York, New
About 40 seconds of each 60-second preview spot York," IndieWIRE (July 2002),
However, the costs of producing and sponsoring a 30- or 60-minute program make this
option too expensive for most advertisers. Several advertisers can produce a program
jointly as an alternative to single sponsorship. This plan is quite common with sporting
Principle events, where each sponsor receives a 15-minute segment. The Starbucks story in the
If you are going to use television, Matter of Practice box explains another way to maximize TV sponsorship opportunities,
design a message that takes while addressing a television problem. In order to make television commercials more
advantage of its visual and
effective, advertisers must connect with people in ways they appreciate—and that often
emotional impact.
means being less intrusive.
Participations Sponsorships represent less than 10 percent of network advertising.

The rest is sold as participations, where advertisers pay for 10, 15, 20, 30, or 60 seconds
of commercial time during one or more programs. The advertiser can buy any time that is
available. This approach, which is the most common one used in network advertising
today, provides a great deal more flexibility in market coverage, target audiences, sched¬
uling, and budgeting. Participations do not create the same high impact as sponsorships,
however. Finally, the “time avails” (available time slots) for the most popular programs
are often bought up by the largest advertisers, leaving fewer good time slots for small
advertisers.
Early morning M-F 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m.

Daytime M-F 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Early fringe M-F 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Prime access M-F 7:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Prime time M-Sa 8:00 p.m.-I 1:00 p.m
Su 7:00 p.m.-I 1:00 p.m.
Late news M-Su 11:00 p.m.-I 1:30 p.m.
Late night M-Su 11:30 p.m.-I :00 a.m.
Saturday morning Sa 8:00 a.m.-I :00 p.m.
Weekend afternoon Sa-Su 1:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m
Note: All times are Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Spot Announcements The third form a television commercial can take is the spot
announcement. (Note that the word spot is also used in conjunction with a time frame,
such as a 30-second spot, but don’t confuse those with spot announcements.) Spot
announcements are commercials that appear in the breaks between programs, which local
affiliates sell to advertisers who want to show their ads locally. Commercials are sold on a
station-by-station basis to local, regional, and national advertisers. However, local buyers
dominate spot television. The commercial breaks between programs are not always the
best time slots for advertisers because there is a great deal of clutter from competing com¬
mercials, station breaks, and public service announcements. Commercial breaks also tend
to be the time when viewers take a break from their television sets.
The price of a spot or set of spots is based on the rating of the surrounding program
(note the rating is for the program, not the commercial) and the daypart during which the
commercial is shown. Table 9.3 shows the Television Standard Dayparts. The most expen¬
sive time block is prime time.
The Television Audience

Television has become a mainstay of American society, with 98 percent of American
households having one or more television sets, although this audience is highly frag¬
mented, tuning in to a hundred or more different channels in the United States. A great
number of advertisers consider television their primary medium. Can television deliver a
target audience to advertisers effectively? What do we really know about how audiences
watch television? Is it a background distraction? Do we switch from channel to channel
without watching any single show? Or do we carefully and intelligently select what we
watch on television? Television viewers are often irritated by what they see, particularly
the advertising, and are not reluctant to switch channels, zip through commercials, or avoid
them altogether using TiVo. Clutter is part of the problem and the audience has become
very good at avoidance, unless the ads are highly engaging.
Measuring the Television Audience Several independent rating firms periodi¬

cally sample a portion of the television viewing audience, assess the size and characteris¬
tics of the audiences watching specific shows, and then make these data available (for a
fee) to advertisers and ad agencies, who use them in their media planning. Currently, A. C.
Nielsen dominates this industry and provides the most commonly used measure of national
and local television audiences.
Nielsen measures television audiences at two levels: network and spot. Nielsen uses
two measuring devices for local measurement, one of which is the audiometer. This
instrument records when the TV set is used and which station it is tuned to, but it cannot
identify who is watching the program. The second measurement device is the viewing
diary, which provides data on who is watching which shows. Diaries are mailed each week
during survey months to sample homes in each of the 211 television markets, amounting to
approximately 1 million diaries returned per year.
Ratings When you read about a television show having a rating of 20.0 that means that
20 percent, or one-fifth of all the households with television, were tuned in to that program.
Note: One rating point equals 1 percent of the national’s estimated 1,084,000 TV homes;
that’s why planners describe this program as having 20 rating points, or percentage
points. A 20 rating is actually a huge figure, since the fragmentation of cable has diversi¬
fied television watching and made it very difficult to get 20 percent of the households
tuned to any one program. It’s also a bit misleading, since media planners are more con¬
cerned about the number of people watching rather than merely the number of households
with televisions turned on, the HUT estimate.
Share A better estimate of impressions might be found in a program’s share of audi¬

ence, which refers to the percentage of viewers based on the number of sets turned on. The
share figure is always larger than the rating, since the base is smaller. For example a Super
Bowl might get a rating of 40 (40 percent of all households with television) but its share
might be 70 (70 percent of all televisions turned on were tuned to the Super Bowl). As this
was written the 2000 Super Bowl held the ratings record with a 43.3 rating. In 2004, the
game was seen by 143.6 million viewers and recorded a rating of 41.3, which was the per¬
centage of the 1.084 million TV homes with sets on.12
To illustrate how the concepts of viewers, ratings, and share are calculated for use by
media planners, consider the data in Table 9.4. This Nielsen data are for a few of the pro¬
grams shown on one Tuesday evening at 8:00 and 9:00 in December in 2003. Note how the
share figure is larger than the rating.
Gross Rating Points The sum of the total exposure potential (i.e., total ratings)
expressed as a percentage of the audience population is called gross rating points
(GRPs) GRPs are calculated by dividing the total number of impressions by the size of
the audience and multiplying by 100. GRPs are used by media planners to compare the
impact of various alternative media schedules.
To demonstrate GRP calculations, consider a program as having 100,000 viewer
impressions. Suppose there were a total of 500,000 possible viewers (total number of
households with televisions, whether the sets are on or off) at that hour. The 100,000 view¬
ers watching the show out of the possible 500,000 would represent 20 percent of viewers,
9.4 Viewers, Ratings, and Share Data

Viewers Rating Share
(in millions) (HH) (HH)
8:00
8 Simple Rules (ABC) 9.4 6.0 11
Tracy Morgan Show (NBC) 7.0 4.3 8
That 70s Show (Fox) 6.5 4.0 7
A Home for the Holidays (CBS) 6.2 4.1 7
One on One (UPN) 3.0 1.9 3
Gilmore Girls (WB) 2.9 1.9 3
9:00
According to Jim (ABC) 9.4 5.6 10

Frasier (NBC) 7.6 4.9 8
American Idol Christmas (Fox) 7.3 4.4 8
The Guardian (CBS) 6.4 4.0 7
Rock Me Baby (UPN) 2.2 1.3 2
Source: Adapted from "Nielsen Ratings," USA Today (December 31 , 2003): 4D.
CHAPTER 9 BROADCAST MEDIA 259
or a 20.0 rating. The gross rating point total for four telecasts would be 80 (20 rating x 4
telecasts). Planners can use the sum of rating points to calculate the total gross rating
points for any schedule, whether actual or proposed.
People Meters In 1987 Nielsen Media Research began to measure not only what is
being watched but who is watching which shows nationally. It replaced its audiometer and
supplemented the diary system with 5,000 people meters, which record what television
shows are being watched, the number of households that are watching, and which family
members are viewing. The recording is done automatically; household members indicate
their presence by pressing a button.
Nielsen continues to add people meters in its top markets to track local viewing pat¬
terns. Currently, people meters determine audience demographics on only a national basis.
On a local basis meters are used only to determine what show is being watched, and not the
specific demographics of who is watching it. Instead diaries are relied on. The new locally
based meter system will also allow Nielsen to identify the age, race, and gender of viewers
on a nightly basis, which is a significant improvement over the old measuring system, and
it will make the viewing audience measurements more reliable at the local level.13
Advantages of Advertising on Television

Television has three key advantages.
• Pervasiveness. Television is in almost every home and some homes have televisions in
almost every room. Furthermore, these televisions are turned on for a great part of the
Principle
day. Consequently television can have an influence on the kinds of topics we think
Network television is an expensive
about, the fashions we wear, the homes we live in, and the way we raise our kids. This
medium, but because of its
social impact was discussed in Chapter 3. traditionally high reach to a mass
• Cost-Efficiency. Many advertisers view television as the most cost-effective way to audience it is considered cost-
deliver a mass-media message because it has such a wide reach. Even though a televi¬ efficient.
sion buy is expensive in sheer dollars, this mass coverage can be extremely cost-
efficient because the costs are spread across so many viewers. For an advertiser
attempting to reach an undifferentiated market, a 30-second spot on a top-rated show
may cost a penny or less for each person reached.
• Impact. Television makes a strong impact. The interaction of sight, sound, color,
motion, and drama creates a strong emotional response. Television is also good for
delivering demonstrations and dramas, as the Inside Story illustrates, showing how it is
easier for people to buy their own home.
Disadvantages of Television Advertising

Despite the effectiveness of television advertising, it has four problems: the cost of pro¬
duction, clutter, nonselective targeting, and inflexibility.
• Production Costs. The most serious limitation of television advertising is the

extremely high cost of producing and running commercials. Although the cost per per¬
son reached can be relatively low, the absolute cost can be restrictive, especially for
small and even midsize companies. Production costs include filming the commercial
(several thousand to several hundred thousand dollars) and paying the talent—writers,
directors, and actors. For celebrities, the price tag can be millions of dollars. Media
time for 30-second prime-time spot averages about $185,000. Special shows, such as
the Super Bowl, World Series, or Academy Awards, charge much more. Table 9.5
shows the ad rates for the top TV shows from 1980 to 2004. The 2004 Super Bowl
charged $2.25 million for 30-second commercial, which was a new record. For that
charge, advertisers had the opportunity to reach an estimated 131.7 million viewers.
• Clutter. Television suffers from commercial clutter. In the past, the National
Association of Broadcasters (NAB) restricted the allowable commercial time per hour
to approximately six minutes, but the Justice Department overturned this restriction
and the number of commercials has increased. As the number of commercials
increases, the visibility and persuasiveness of television advertising diminishes.
Till1 III
SIDE sm DV
Selling a Political Party with Humor

Ingvi Logason, Principal, HER&NU, Reykjavik, Iceland
Advertising for political parties in an elec¬

tion campaign process is one of the most
challenging assignments in the advertising
business. The window of opportunity is
very narrow; the competition is far more
fierce and ruthless than in any consumer category; and the
media is saturated with political ads making it hard to
stand out. That's true in the U.S. political arena, but it's
also true in elections in other countries as well.
That job befell the HER&NU agency (in dose cooper¬
ation with SagaFilm and Dixil) for the Icelandic parlia¬
mentary election in 2003 (in Iceland there is a multiparty
system where usually two parties join in an alliance to
form the government). The campaign for the Framsokn
political party was hugely successful and won a gold
EFFIE award in 2003, which is highly unusual for political
commercials.
Framsokn, historically one of the three largest political
parties in Iceland, found itself in a downward spiral in
popularity for the parliamentary election in 2003.
According to research, the party's image was old,
"heavy," negatively conservative, rural, and out of sync
with what the true party was. Even though it had been a
successful government for 12 years running, it received no
credit for the positive economic and social changes in the
country. Opinion polls showed that the party registered an
all-time low in among voters.
Furthermore, Framsokn received more negative pub¬
licity and had more negative stories written and broad¬
casted about it than any other Icelandic political party. To
make matters worse, the party was in the forefront of vari¬
ous unpopular issues supported by the government such as
industrial and environmental issues and supporting the
invasion of Iraq.
The objective as defined by HER&NU marketing com¬ Analysis of the party's research resulted in a targeting
munication was to correct the image problem, inspire vot¬ strategy based more on lifestyle than demographics. The
ers with a vote of confidence in the party, aim for 17 per¬ objective was skewed to acquiring new voters from the
cent of voters' support (up from 10 percent), and obtain an ranks of young people and women, at the same time hold¬
increased number of seats in parliament. ing on to existing followers.
So what do you do to completely turn around the vot¬ One of the strategic decisions was to focus on TV
ers' image of a political party? advertising as the cornerstone of the campaign because of
You do humor with a serious selling point. You do its ability to reach a broad target audience, as well as to
"product advertising" for a political race and you support deliver the image message and resonate in a gently
it with a top-notch communication program. And you use humorous way with the concerns of voters. TV counted for
engaging television ads. 65 percent of the media budget.
The agency's mission was to break the mold of politi¬ Not only was the party a winner, the campaign was
cal advertising with a new, fresh approach to politics: recognized as having turned around the party's image
Political ads don't have to be boring, serious, and and as the best political campaign that year—and possi¬
"gloomy." With a fully integrated, multilayered campaign, bly ever in Iceland.
we took more of a "consumer advertising" approach. All
Source: Contributed by Ingvi Logason, principal in HER&NU Marketing
advertisement had to pass the "what's in it for me" test and
Communications. A graduate of Western Florida University, his work was
have a strong selling point. nominated by Professor Tom Groth.
Time Is Money: The Top Shows by Ad Rates

2004 $/:30
Friends $473,500
Will & Grace $414,500
2001 $/:30
ER $425,400
Friends $353,600
1998 $/:30
Seinfeld $575,000
ER $560,000
1992 $/:30
Murphy Brown $310,000
Roseanne $290,000
1987 $/:30
The Cosby Show $369,500
Cheers $307,000
1980 $/:30
M*A*S*H $150,000
Dallas $145,000
Sources: Joe Mandese, "The Buying and Selling," Advertising Age
(Spring 1995): 20; "Top 10 Shows by Ad Rates," Advertising Age
(September 15, 1997): S2.
• Wasted Reach. Television advertising includes a great deal of wasted reach:

communication directed at an unresponsive (and often uninterested) audience that Principle
may not fit the advertiser’s target market characteristics. Cable television is much As the number of commercials
more targeted than network and spot television, so it has less waste. increases, the visibility and
• Inflexibility. Most network television is bought in the spring and early summer for the persuasiveness of television
next fall season. If an advertiser is unable to make this up-front buy, only limited time advertising diminishes.
slots remain available. Also, it is difficult to make last-minute adjustments in copy and
visuals. Production of a TV commercial takes weeks for local spots and sometimes
months for national network commercials.
• Intrusiveness. Television commercials intrude into the programs and are therefore
more irritating than other forms of advertising. The high irritation level is what has led
viewers to mute and zap commercials and use DVRs that make it possible to eliminate
the advertising altogether.
Changes and Trends in Broadcast Television

New forms of television advertising are increasing with sponsorships, product placements,
and advertiser-controlled programming. Wieden & Kennedy, the agency for Nike, is
actively developing itself into an entertainment company with the goal to make its client a
content provider on television, rather than just an advertiser or sponsor. Similarly in
London, the MindShare media unit of advertising conglomerate WPP is developing shows
for its clients. With clutter and the rising cost of network TV, media and advertising plan¬
ners are finding that they need to offer clients a very different way of marketing brands.14
Second, the telecommunication industry and the cable industry are battling over who
will control digital TV technology. Digitization (the transfer of analog pictures, text, and
video into a series of ones and zeros) will allow information to flow into households just as
electricity does today. As a result, tomorrow’s viewers may see only what they want to see.
Switching channels will be a thing of the past because TVs will be programmed to send
only programs preselected by the viewer. The question is then which medium (telephone
or cable) is better able to deliver this new technology.
The implications of these changes for the media planner are significant. Most notably,
the advantage of traditional network television to deliver a message to a mass audience is
quickly disappearing. Instead, television is becoming an increasingly fragmented medium,
which means that reaching a mass audience will be increasingly difficult.
Consider This
1. How are television audiences measured?
2. From a strategic viewpoint, when would you be inclined to include
television in a media plan?
FILM AND VIDEO

Movie theaters, particularly the large chain theaters, sell time at the beginning of their
The Cinema Advertising
Council (CAC) is an film showings for commercials, called trailers that are movie previews. Most of these
organization devoted to trailers are advertising upcoming films, but some are national commercials for brands
advertising in movies. This or local commercials for local businesses. These ads can be targeted to a certain extent
ad was placed in Advertising by the nature of the film and the rating, such as G or PG. Some films, such as The
Age to reach media buyers Calendar Girls, drew an audience that was heavily female, while other action films,
and remind them of the power such as the Matrix series, draws more males. The cost of the trailer is based on the num¬
of cinema advertising to reach ber of theaters showing the spot and their estimated monthly attendance. Generally the
moviegoers.
cost of a trailer in a first-run theater is about the
same as the cost of a 30-second television spot
in prime time
Videocasette and DVD distributors are also
placing ads before their movies, as well as on the
packaging cases. The targeting strategy is the
same as that for theater ads where the ad is
matched to the movie audience. Unlike the the¬
aters, rental videos tend to carry more brand
advertising than movie previews. Even some bill¬
boards are now equipped to run minimovies and
ads electronically. The job-search company
HOW YOU TALK TO THEM IS Monster.com has been successful with trailers
YOUR BUSINESS. KNOWING WHERE
that replay as electronic signboard messages.
TO REACH THEM IS OURS.
There are also promotional video networks
that run programs and commercials, such as the
THEY RE AT THE channels you see in grocery stores, doctor’s
offices, and truck stops that distribute commer¬
MOVES cials by video or satellites. The Kmart in-store

channel, for example, is sent by satellite to 2,300
stores.15
They grew up on joysticks. Their headphones are always on. Constantly on-the-move, they live in a cyber world and tune the
real one out. They are today’s media consumers. And while you may know who they are, what they like and even how to talk
to them, do you really know where to reach them? We do. They’re at the movies. And we have the numbers to prove it.
To learn more about cinema advertising, visit the Cinema Advertising Council at cinemaadcouncil.org.
Advantages and Disadvantages
of Movie Advertising
The reason trailers are valued by advertisers is
that they play to a captive audience, one that is
n not able to do other things, like read or talk to
Sponsored by CAC members National Cinema Network (NCN) 800.SCREEN1, Regal CineMedia 212.931.8100, and Screenvision 866.749.0766.
other people. The attention level is higher for
these ads than for almost any other form of com¬
mercials. But the captive-audience dimension is
also the biggest disadvantage of movie advertising because people who have paid $6—$10
for a ticket resent the intrusion. They feel they paid for the ticket so they shouldn’t have to
pay with their time and attention to watch commercials.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
What was the company that was featured in the Tom Hanks’s, movie Castawayl In that
story, as you may remember, Hanks played a Federal Express deliveryman who wound up
on a desert island and ultimately, after his rescue, delivers the package. Some movie critics
joked that the whole movie was really a FedEx commercial. In fact, it’s a good example of
a practice known as product placement, in which a company pays to have verbal or visual
brand exposure in a movie or television program.
Product placement is becoming popular because it isn’t as intrusive as conventional
advertising and audiences can’t zap the ads, as they can for television advertising using the
remote control or a DVR like TiVo. At the same time, it makes the product a star.16
Sometimes the product placement is subtle, as when a particular brand of aspirin is shown
in a medicine chest or a character drinks a particular brand of beverage. In other cases, like
FedEx, the brand is front and center. That happened with the prominent role of BMW Z28,
which became a star in the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough. The movie place¬
ment, in fact, was the car’s launch vehicle.
Television programs have also gotten into the product placement game. An example is
the use of well-known stores and products in the Fab Five makeover series, A Queer Eye
for the Straight Guy. Both the Coca-Cola brand and the Ford Motor brand have been
embedded into the successful talent show American Idol. And the Target bull’s-eye is fre¬
quently seen as part of the action sets and props on Survivor.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Product Placements

The greatest advantage of product placement is that it demonstrates product use in a
natural setting (“natural” depending upon the movie) by people who are celebrities. It’s
also unexpected and catches the audience when their resistance to advertising messages
may be dialed down. It’s also good for engaging the affections of other stakeholders,
such as employees and dealers, particularly if the placement is supported with its own
campaign.
The biggest problem is that the placement may not be noticed. There is so much going
on in most movies that you need to call attention to the product in order for its appearance
to register. A more serious problem occurs when there is not a match between the product
and the movie or its audience. But equally serious is the problem that the success or failure
of a movie is not known when the contract for the placement is being negotiated. If the
movie is a dud, what does that do to the brand’s image?
Consider This
1. What are the opportunities for advertising using movies?
2. From a strategic viewpoint, when would you be inclined to include product
placement in a media plan?
USING BROADCAST ADVERTISING EFFECTIVELY

Now that we have reviewed television and radio media and their strengths and weaknesses,
we can now determine how to use broadcast media effectively. The Practical Tips box pro¬
vides guidelines for broadcast media decisions.
Practical Tips
Q-—-
When to Use Broadcast Media for Advertising
Use radio if... Use television if... Use movie ads if... Use placement if...
You are a local business You want to reach a wider You are advertising a You want your brand to
mass audience national brand and have be associated with the
You need a highly targeted the budget to do high- movie’s story and stars
local audience Your audience’s interests quality commercials
align with a certain type of The people in the
You have a relatively small cable television program You want your brand audience match your
advertising budget to be associated with the brand’s target audience
You have a relatively good movie’s story and stars
You want to build frequency advertising budget There is a natural fit
The people in the audience between the product and
You know the timing You have a product that match your brand’s target the movie’s storyline
when your audience is needs both sight and audience
considering the purchase sound,such as an There is an opportunity for
emotional message, a Your commercial has the brand to be a star
Your audience’s interests demonstration, or a drama enough visual impact and
align with certain types of quality production that it The placement will appeal
music, advice programs, You want to prove some¬ will look good next to to the brand’s
or talk shows thing so the audience can the movie previews stakeholders
see it with their own eyes
You have a personal You have the budget for a
message that uses the You want the halo effect of campaign to support the
power of the human voice a big TV ad to impress placement
other stakeholders, such
You have a message that as dealers and franchisees
works well in a musical form
or one that is strong in You need to create or
mental imagery reinforce brand image and
personality
You need a reminder
message
IT'S A WRAP
USING TV TO DEMONSTRATE CONVENIENCE
T hroughout this chapter we have described the benefits and problems attached to the two
primary broadcast media: television and radio. One of the most prominent drawbacks is
the actual cost of producing and sending broadcast advertising. In the case of
drugstore.com, the company spent far less on its television-based campaign compared to
what its competitors spent on advertising at the same time. Yet, the company’s objectives
were quite ambitious and readily met because the media buy made it possible to effectively
reach the relatively broad target audience of women.
In the case of each goal outlined in the EFFIE brief, drugstore.com reached or exceeded
its goals. In fact, the majority of the goals were reached within six months. With the help of
the campaign, drugstore.com increased brand awareness in the various target markets and
average weekly visits to the site increased from the previous year. The most satisfying surprise
was the leap in the number of consumers who perceived the site as a convenient place to
shop for their drugstore items.
Convenience is definitely one of the site's strengths. In addition to winning a Gold EFFIE,
drugstore.com was also recognized in 2004 as having the best site search experience by the
prestigious Jupiter Research, an Internet research company. Also in 2004, drugstore.com

partnered with electronic commerce and payment leader First Data Corp. to create a more
simplified shopping and bill-paying process.
Most importantly, however, drugstore.com survived in terrible economic times, led the
industry in innovation, educated its customers about online shopping and health care prod¬
ucts, and provided a convenient way to shop for drugstore and personal-care products.
■ ■■Summary
1. Describe the structure of radio, how it is organized, its impact. TV audiences are fragmented and often irritated by
use as an advertising medium, its audience, and the advertising and prone to avoidance. Audiences are mea¬
advantages and disadvantages of radio advertising. The sured in terms of ratings share and gross rating points.
traditional radio stations are found on the AM/FM dial and TV’s greatest advantage is that it is pervasive and cost-effi¬
serve a primarily local market, but that’s only the beginning cient when reaching a large number of viewers Because of
of the radio listener’s options, which also include public the special-interest aspect of cable programming, it is also
radio, cable and satellite radio, low-powered stations, and becoming good at reaching more narrow target audiences.
Web radio. It is used primarily to reach a local audience. 3. Outline how advertisers use of film and video. Movie
Listeners can have a very intimate relationship with radio theaters sell time for advertisements before their films.
and can be quite loyal to their favorite stations, but radio Advertising is also carried on videocassettes and DVDs, as
also serves as background. well as in the lobbies. Video-generated commercials can
2. Explain the structure of television, how it is organized, also be seen in other environments, such as in supermar¬
its use as an advertising medium, the TV audience, and kets, transit stations, and waiting rooms for professional
the advantages and disadvantages of TV advertising. services such as in doctor’s offices.
The key types of television delivery systems are: wired and 4. Identify advantages and disadvantages of using product
unwired network, local stations, public stations, cable, and placements. Product placement, which shows a product
subscription. Specialty, syndicated, interactive television, embedded in a movie or TV program, is popular because it
and TiVo offer ways to manipulate the programming. isn’t as intrusive as conventional advertising.
Television is useful as an advertising medium because it
works like a movie with story, action, emotions, and visual
audiometer, 257 interconnects, 252 people meters, 259 spot buy, 253
broadband, 254 jingles, 244 prime-time, 250 spot radio advertising, 246
broadcast media, 243 local cable, 252 product placement, 263 subscription television, 251
call to action, 253 low-power FM (LPFM), 244 program sponsorships, 253 syndication, 246
coverage, 247 morning drive time, 247 rating points, 258 time-shifting, 254
dayparts, 247 network, 250 ratings, 247 trailer, 262
first-run syndication, 254 network cable, 252 share of audience, 258 wasted reach, 261
gross rating points (GRPs), network radio, 246 signals, 243 Webcasting, 244
258 off-network syndication, 254 sponsorship, 255
interactive television, 254 participations, 256 spot announcement, 257
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of advertising 3. In what ways are film and video used by advertising (other
on radio? than TV commercials)?
2. What are the four types of television delivery systems, and 4. What is product placement, and why has it become popular
how are they different? as an advertising medium?
266 PART 3 • ADVERTISING MEDIA
■ ■■ Discussion Questions
1. You are a major agency media director who has just fin¬ time costs to reduce the frequency and length of commer¬
ished a presentation to a prospective client in convenience cial interruptions. Others argue that broadcasting should
food marketing. During the Q-and-A period a client repre¬ reduce the number of commercials sold and also reduce
sentative says: “We know that network television viewers’ program advertising even if it means less profit for broad¬
loyalty is nothing like it was 10 or even 5 years ago because casters. Which of these remedies would be better?
so many people now turn to cable and VCRs. There are 3. You are the media planner for a cosmetics company intro
smaller audiences per program each year, yet television¬ ducing a new line of makeup for teenage girls. Your
time costs continue to rise. Do you still believe we should research indicates that television advertising will be an
consider commercial television as a primary medium for effective medium for creating awareness about your new
our company’s advertising?” How would you answer? product line. How do you design a television advertising
2. Message clutter affects both radio and television advertis¬ strategy that will reach your target market successfully?
ing. Advertisers fear that audiences react to long commer¬ What stations do you choose? Why? What programs and
cial groupings by using the remote control for the television times do you choose? Why? Do you consider syndicated
set or the tuner on the radio to steer to a different channel. television? Why or why not? What advertising forms do
Some have proposed that advertisers should absorb higher you use and why?
■ ■ * Class Projects
1. Each student should make a chart for five radio stations. List the type of station (easy lis¬
tening, top 40, classical, and so on), the products commonly advertised, and the probable
target markets for these products. Note the time of the day these products are advertised.
Now put all of the products in a hat and, in teams of three, have each team draw one out.
Each team is now responsible for choosing the radio stations for its product. Each team
needs to allocate a budget of $2,500 among the five stations for a week’s worth of program¬
ming. Assume 30 seconds of air time costs $250. Have the teams present their work and as
a class compare the different patterns of radio use.
2. Examine the various ads found on www.nike.com,www.IBM.com, and www.Sears.com.
Which ads did you find most appealing? engaging? motivating? Which ones do you think
could easily be used as television commercials? as radio commercials? Write a one- to two-
page report on your assessment.
HANDS-ON
ill Radio Listeners Finally Get Sirius with Howard Stern? cAs*
There has been no shortage of excitement for communica¬ the company announced it would pay close to $200 mil¬
tions company Sirius during its short history. Sirius is trying lion for the rights to carry NFL football telecasts. And in
to change the way people listen to radio by convincing possibly its biggest move to date, Sirius announced that in
them to pay a monthly fee (around $13) for almost 200 January 2006 radio personality Howard Stern would
channels of radio, much of it commercial free. But Sirius is leave the radio airwaves and bring his program to Sirius.
not alone in the satellite radio business, and the first two The signing is an audacious gamble for Sirius. The
years of competition have largely favored competitor XM original "shock jock," Howard Stern describes himself
Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., which claims 2.5 million sub¬ somewhat tongue-in-cheek as the "King of Media." His
scribers to Sirius's 600,000. In 2003 Sirius almost went daily audience of close to 8 million loyal listeners attracts
under before finding investors willing to help the company enough advertising to bring current employer Viacom
pay off its substantial debt. And from 2000 to 2004 shares between $80 and 90 million in ad revenue annually. So
of Sirius stock fell from a high of $66.50 to under $5. Sirius knew the bidding would be high, and the deal with
Sirius is hardly out of the picture, however. It has Stern is expected to cost it up to half a billion dollars over
inked partnerships with DaimlerChrysler and Ford to offer five years.
satellite radio as an option for new car models. In 2004
Sirius executives say that for the deal to be profitable Consider This
Stern must bring 1 million new subscribers to the network. O-
Can such a large number of people, who currently listen to
1. Stern is one of the highest-paid and highest-
the show for nothing on inexpensive radios, be convinced
profile entertainers in radio. What are the impli¬
to pay a monthly fee and buy equipment that can cost a
cations of his signing for Sirius and for satellite
couple of hundred dollars? Sirius claims their research
radio in general? Ffas the signing meant that
shows an even greater number of Stern's current audience
satellite radio has entered a new phase in its
will follow him to satellite when his contract with Viacom
development?
expires. And that may happen sooner rather than later.
2. Assume Stern does bring in excess of a million
Stern has used his morning show to announce the "end of
new listeners to Sirius. Can you think of other
broadcast radio," and suggests that Sirius may buy out the ways that the deal might still be risky for Sirius?
remainder of his Viacom contract.
For Stern?
Former Viacom executive and Stern fan Mel Karmazin 3. Cable television changed the face of tele¬
thinks attracting talent like Stern is just what satellite radio vision broadcasting. In your opinion, does
should do. Karmazin points to Fox's expensive acquisition satellite radio offer the same possibility for
of the rights to broadcast NFL games as the moment it the radio industry? How would you determine
became a major network. But even if Stern brings listeners its effectiveness?
to Sirius, the deal is not without risk. Stern's raunchy show
received unwanted attention from the FCC when it fined
Viacom for broadcast indecency. The move to largely
unregulated satellite will bring less federal scrutiny, but it
may raise the ante for Stern to push the limits of taste even
further. And XM, with its larger subscriber base, is still in
the picture. Shortly after the Stern signing, XM announced Sources: Krysten Crawford, "Howard Stern: I May Be Out Soon," CNN/Money,
November 1 1, 2004; Emmanuel Legrand, "The World According to Karmazin," Billboard
it had acquired the rights to broadcast Major League (November 10, 2004); Jube Shiver, "With Howard Stern, Sirius Hopes to Make Waves,"
Baseball games beginning in summer 2005. Los Angeles Times (October 10, 2004).
Manual. Automatic.
Whatever it is you're looking for, do it eBay.
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Whatever it is you're looking for, do it eBay.
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CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Determine the difference between interactive media and more
conventional mainstream media.
2. Explain how the Internet works as a business and as marketing

communication.
3. Discuss how Internet advertising works.

4. Describe how e-mail advertising works.
5. Show how the different forms of interactive and alternative new
eBay Reinvents
the Marketplace
Award:
Number 2 on Business 20's
e media are changing the way advertising works.
Bay® is more than just a dot-com auction. The powerhouse

Web merchant has become the world's largest online market¬
place—a worldwide bazaar of individual buyers and sell¬
"Fastest Crowing ers—and it has invented a new form of doing business. There
Companies" are no shops, no booths, no displays, just a phone line and a com¬
puter screen.
Company: It started as an online flea market or garage sale—a way to
eBay
clean out garages, basements, and attics. Then it began attracting
Agency: collectors looking for a specific brand or item, such as Zippo
Goodby, Silverstein & lighters, Pez dispensers, antique toys, Beanie Babies, cigar boxes,
Partners or Star Trek memorabilia.
eBay began its business in 1995 through word of mouth and
Campaign: didn't start advertising until 2002. In total contradiction to the free-
"Do it eBay"
spending glory days of the dot-com boom when e-businesses were
throwing money at big-budget advertising media such as the Super
269
270 PART 3 * EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA
Bowl, eBay built its business from the ground up through the testimonies of its
passionate users.
Using a campy rewrite of the Sinatra standard, "My Way," the company
began its television advertising with a brand-building effort. The "Do It eBay
commercials feature a balding Sinatra look-alike belting out an eBay version of
the song as he dances through various scenes and croons funny lines about
mainstream retailers.
The objective was to move eBay from being seen as an online flea market
to a broad-based Web marketplace. The campaign also was designed to
remind users of the entertainment value of eBay, what the company calls "the
gaming aspect of it." This campaign's budget of $51.3 million wasn't a big
effort when compared to the company's extensive press coverage. A little
more than half—$28 million—went to magazines and another $15 million to
television.
Even eBay's approach to advertising is nontraditional and honors the com¬
pany's customer-focused core values. Using the eBay live event, which brought
10,000 faithful eBay users to Orlando, Florida, for a live auction, eBay's adver¬
tising agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, presented the advertising concept
and its storyboards to the auction participants for their review and critique. The
participants were pleased to be consulted, as well as pleased with the cam¬
paign idea.
Staying true to its collaborative nature, eBay also partners with other com¬
panies in its advertising, such as UPS, which offers shipping services to sellers.
The eBay Entertainment section, which sells DVDs, CDs, and other memorabilia,
is promoted jointly with E! Entertainment.
In addition to its consumer advertising campaign, eBay also has a B2B
advertising effort for its eBay Business, which was launched as a subsite in
2003 (www.ebaybusiness.com). The first ads targeted the restaurant, metal¬
working, office technology, and test and measurement industries. By monitoring
its searches eBay determined that these categories have been pulling a great
deal of business from B2B marketers. The integrated effort includes ads aimed
at business decision makers run in print, direct mail, online, and e-mail. eBay is
running a more general version of the B2B campaign in Entrepreneur Magazine
and regional business journals.
So what is the secret to eBay's success as an online retailer? Check the It's
a Wrap feature at the end of the chapter for a discussion of eBay's phenomenal
growth, as well as the factors that have led to the company's success, and the
role advertising is now playing in maintaining that growth.
Sources: Ed Finkel, “eBay’s Old-School Business Wisdom,” Kellogg World, Summer 2004, http://www.Kellogg.Northwestem
,edu/kwo/sum04/indepth/ebay2.htm; Chip Bayers, “Growth Dispenser,” Business 2.0 (October 2003): 107; Catharine Taylor,
“The eBay Way: Brand It Now,” Brandweek (October 20, 2003): PM20; Tobi Elkin, “4 with Vision: eBay,” Ad Age Special
Report: Marketer of the Year (December 15, 2003): S-4; Alice Cuneo, “Latest Campaign Casts eBay as Daily Destination,”
Advertising Age (November 11, 2002): 4; Kate Maddox, “eBay Makes Big b-t-b Push,” B to B (May 5, 2003): 3^4.
CHAPTER 10 • INTERACTIVE AND ALTERNATIVE MEDIA 271
eBay is an example of a company conducting its business totally online, taking advantage
of the Internet’s ability to create personal interaction between buyers and sellers. In this
chapter we will discuss a number of interactive media, including the Internet and e-mail.
We’ll also talk about alternative and new media—formats that open up novel ways to
deliver advertising messages and connect with consumers.
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Interactive media refers to communication systems that permit two-way communication,
such as a telephone call or an e-mail message. There is a range of interactivity, however.
Some people consider a television commercial with a toll-free number or e-mail address to
be interactive. Contact information like that does open up the door for interactivity, but the
television ad itself is not interactive (although that’s changing with new advances in inter¬
active TV technology).
The point is: The closer the medium is to a dialogue, or the more a user is able to Principle
manipulate the content, the more it can properly be described as interactive communica¬ The more interactive a medium
tion. Two-way communication is believed to be the most persuasive type of communica¬ and the closer it is to a dialogue,
tion available to marketers. With interactive media, such as the Internet or the phone, it is the more personal and persuasive
the communication experience.
possible for a consumer to use the medium to contact the company and get a personal
answer, as well as interact with the information provided on a Web site.
The Internet is interactive because users are involved in selecting the information they
attend to and they can contact the company and other users directly. The Internet bridges
print and broadcast media. Newspapers, magazines, and other print forms, such as direct
mail, can be delivered online and their messages still look like print stories. Since the
Internet delivers messages to audiences electronically and has the capability to present
moving images, it also fits the broadcast description. So the Internet blurs the distinction
between print and broadcast.
But interactive describes media other than the Internet, such as the phone and e-mail,
both of which are used as advertising vehicles. The phone is the most interactive of all
media, the one that most lends itself to conversation and dialogue. It is used for direct-
marketing purposes, a practice called telemarketing that will be described in Chapter 15.
THE INTERNET
The U.S. Census Bureau reported, based on the data it collected in the 2000 census, that
more than 50 percent of U.S. households owned a computer and 42 percent went on the
Internet at least once a day.1 Although the number continues to increase, the Internet is still
a long way from the penetration levels of newspapers, TV, and radio and remains just one
choice in the media mix. Technically the Internet is a linked system of international com¬
puter networks. The World Wide Web is the information interface that allows people to
access the Internet through an easy-to-use graphical format. Most people use these terms
interchangebly.
E-Business and Marketing Communication

IBM has been focusing its marketing efforts on e-business since the late 1990s. In IBM’s
advertising, which focuses on its connectivity services, e-business refers to all the hard¬
ware, software, and computer know-how that provides a platform for businesses that use the
Internet to sell products, as well as to manage their accounting, distribution, production,
advertising, customer service, personal sales, internal communication to employees, and
external communication to outside stakeholders.
The most familiar form of e-business is companies, such as Amazon.com, that sell
products online. Amazon.corn’s Web site contains complete information about the product
offerings, as well as a way to place an order, pay for it, and contact customer service if
there is a problem. The Web site operates like a direct-mail catalog except it is interactive.
111"
INSIDE STO DV
Entertaining the User Through Web Site Redesign
Eric Telchin, designer, Washingtonpost.com Entertainment Guide
Redesigning an award-winning online Entertainment As simple as our solution was, it was the most compli¬
Guide is not about rearranging entertainment content in cated aspect of the entire redesign process. The success of
an interesting way. It's about what our users want. the redesign hinged on the success of the core tool, so we
As designer for Arts and Entertainment at washington- needed to ensure its efficiency and ease-of-use.
post.com, I was charged to redesign the Entertainment As the design process began with our user, soliciting
Guide—the definitive guide to local entertainment informa¬ user feedback was an integral aspect of the final design
tion in the metropolitan D.C. area. The Guide is a database- solution. By employing usability testing—moderated one-
driven site with over 12,000 searchable restaurants, on-one interviews—we were able to see the effectiveness
movies, performances, places, and events. of our tool and modify it to better suit the needs of our
My task was to collaborate with editors, information users.
architects, and programmers to create a fluid online Because of our commitment to provide value to users
experience—leveraging the database with vast editorial of our site, the market research we conducted was essen¬
content. tial. As we continue to learn more about our users' needs,
We learned through both qualitative and quantitative we will undoubtedly improve the way in which we meet
research—focus groups, usability testing, and surveys those needs and incorporate them into the next version of
specifically—that our users wanted more flexibility in our the Entertainment Guide.
site. Users told us they wanted to experience the guide in
a more natural manner, to bounce around the site in a way Consider This
that makes most sense to them. o-
1. What was the consumer problem that the Web
To provide this fluid experience, we decided to allow
designer was trying to solve with this Web site
the user to search all entertainment subjects from any page
redesign?
in our site. We created a navigation system referred to as
"the core tool," which empowers the user to find a movie 2. How does the redesign of this Web site provide a com¬
theater in their neighborhood from any restaurant review, petitive advantage to the electronic publisher, and how
or locate a nearby Irish pub from a museum profile. might that feature be the focus of an advertising cam¬
paign?
To achieve our goal, we combined navigation with
search functionality. The user can use the core tool as nav¬ Eric Telchin studied Visual Communications and marketing as a Presidential
igation, either by clicking on the word "restaurants" to visit Arts Scholar from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He
has worked for major print, television, and Web organizations, and is cur¬
the restaurants index page, or by rolling over the word
rently the designer for washingtonpost.corn's Entertainment Guide.
"search" next to "restaurants" to explode a restaurant-
specific search box. Nominated by Professor Lynda Maddox, George Washington University
Customers can make inquiries and the company can use its databases to personalize cus¬
tomer communication.
Providing information But there are other ways the Internet has helped bring inter¬
activity to customer communication, such as providing information. Web publishers, who
are media providers using the Internet to deliver news, features, and programs, also need to
advertise these services. An example is the Web page for the Washington Post online enter¬
tainment guide, which delivers basic information about programs as well as about the
newspaper, and also carries advertising and other sales messages. It is both a form of
advertising and a way to sell advertising space to other advertisers.
Collecting Customer Information In addition to providing information,

e-businesses also capture information and use it to direct their marketing communication
efforts to make messages more personal and relevant to consumers.. Every time you
order something from Amazon.com, for example, the company keeps track and starts
building a profile of your interests. When you go to Amazon the next time, the site will
probably open with an announcement about some new book or CD that might interest
you. If you have given Amazon permission, it will also send these announcements to you
by e-mail. In other words, companies that collect data about the behavior of their cus¬
tomers are able to better target them with advertising messages and personalize special
promotional offers.
The Internet and Privacy Some people see problems with the collection of such
information. Their concern is with how it is used and whether its use violates people’s pri¬
vacy. AOL, for example, assembles a huge database of customer information, some of
which it sells to other direct marketers. It admits this practice in its privacy policy, which is Principle
published on its Web site. It also buys information about its subscribers from other outside Companies that keep track of their
database suppliers, which it can use to better target its customers interests. And that’s the customers' online behavior are
primary reason companies collect this type of information: It lets them better target their better able to personalize their
advertising messages. advertising messages.
Companies try to maintain a responsible position by posting their privacy policy on

their Web sites, which details, among other things, how or whether the site is collecting
data on its visitors and how that data are used. Sometimes this information is easy to find,
sometimes it is buried on the site and difficult to access, and in some instances the Web site
doesn't have any published privacy statement at all.
A number of consumer activists follow this issue; if you want to learn more about
their activities, check the watchdog site Junkbusters (www.junkbuster.com). The govern¬
ment also has an Electronic Privacy Information Center (www.epic.org), which monitors
information-collecting practices and privacy issues. This privacy issue is the focus of the
discussion in the Matter of Principle box, which looks at the principle of respectful use of
personal information.
Cookies and G-Mail
One principle of database- everything every time you go

driven communication is that to that site.
the collection of personal So, are cookies a bad
information should be done practice or good? Critics say
with sensitivity and not vio¬ they are an invasion of pri¬
late principles of privacy. vacy, but marketers say they
When the giant search are just a way to gather mar¬
engine company Google™ keting information without
announced that it was going to offer free e-mail, called G- the tedious survey process. In fact, many people recognize
mail, apprehensive privacy experts voiced their concerns. the trade-off: If they provide a company information, they
The problem was that G-mail had a built-in feature that will get a more personalized service in return.
allowed its computers to search for certain keywords in its For more information about how you can get your
e-mail users' messages and display ads related to those Internet service provider to remove cookies, check out the
words. Civil liberties groups worried that Google would Web site www.Webwasher.com.
be able to assemble user profiles in the process of match¬
ing ads to their interests. Consider This
Tracking information is a common practice on the
o-
1. What is the problem the critics worry about with
Internet and customer-savvy businesses make sure their
Google's free e-mail service?
customers know when they are using such tools. But there
2. Do you think the exchange of personal information for
are other tracking mechanisms that you may not be aware
a more personalized or free service is a good idea?
of, such as cookies, which are little electronic bugs that
How do you feel about having cookies collect informa¬
can be placed on your computer by a Web server to track
tion on your computer?
your movements online. They don't do anything bad, like
a virus does, but they do report back to their owners what
sites you visited and from that can build an online profile
Source: Kevin J. Delaney, "Will Users Care if Gmail Invades Privacy? Wall
about you and your interests. On the good side, cookies
Street Journal (April 7, 2004): B1; Nand Mulchandani, "The Truth Behind
let companies store information about your registration, as Web Cookies," TechTV Web site, www.techtv.com; Jane Bryant Quinn,
well as your preferences, so you don't have to retype "Fighting the Cookie Monster," Newsweek (February 28, 2000): 63.
In addition to providing information on a product and collecting information to target

customers, the Internet is also useful in handling other important forms of e-business com¬
munication, such as customer service and technical support. Customer service is the
department customers contact when they have problems, questions, complaints, or sugges¬
tions. In high-technology companies, a specific type of customer service is called technical
support, which refers to departments with highly trained staff who are available to answer
customer questions about a product’s use.
The Internet and Marketing Communication

The marketing communication dimensions of the Internet vary. Some Web-based tools are
used for stakeholder communication (employees, suppliers, distributors) and some are for
advertising and other types of promotion.
The Internet has the capability to deliver inexpensive internal communication, which
is an important part of integrated marketing communication (IMC). IMC programs try to
coordinate marketing communication activities. Intranets are internal communication
systems that connect employees. As an example, consider how an intranet is used within an
advertising agency. A concept for an ad can be roughed out and distributed to a number of
people within the agency for critiquing. These people can be located anywhere in the
world, so the communication is instantaneous and not limited to the vagaries of the mail
system. Extranets are similar communication systems that connect a company and its
employees to key external stakeholders, such as clients, photographers, producers, artists,
and other suppliers involved in producing an ad.
The Internet has also become a major internal communication source with password-
protected Web sites for employees, vendors and suppliers, dealers and distributors, and sales
representatives. For the sales staff, in particular, the B2B Web page can carry the same infor¬
mation as an advertisement or printed sales literature, as well as other corporate informa¬
tion. Its advantage is that it can provide more in-depth information than printed materials.
Web sites Sometimes called a “home page,” a company’s Web site is the online face
it presents to the public. In some cases, the Web site is the business. The Web site is a com¬
munication tool that sometime blurs the distinction between common forms of marketing
communication, such as advertising, direct marketing, and public relations. In some cases
it looks like an online corporate brochure or it may function as an online catalog. It can
also be an information resource with a searchable library of stories and data about prod¬
ucts, product categories, and related topics. More recently, as advertisers have searched for
more effective ways to connect with their audiences, some of these sites have become more
entertaining with games and contests, interviews with celebrities, even musical perfor¬
mances.
Web site redesign is often tied to an IMC program with the objective to unify all mar¬
keting materials. The Showcase work illustrates how one agency, Ohio-based Nova
Creative, redesigned the Web site for one of its clients, the accounting firm Battelle
(www.battellecpas.com), as part of a brand identity program.
Advertising Resources Most Internet users depend upon search engines, such as
Google, Yahoo!, or Ask Jeeves, to find information. These Internet tools use keywords,
such as topics or company or brand names, to compile a collection of information relating
to that word. For marketers, an important first step in creating a viable Web site is getting
it registered with popular search engines so that it begins building visibility and shows up
early on the list provided by the search engine.
Another search engine role is to provide a site on which advertisers can place ads. The
phrase search marketing describes an approach that relies on actions initiated by con¬
sumers. Since they are searching for a particular topic, Web sites and the ads on them are
not perceived to be as intrusive as other forms of advertising. Business-to-business mar¬
keting find these ads to be particularly high in impact. For example, when Corrugated
Metals, a small sheet-metal company in Chicago, needed to build its business, it spent
$200 a month to get an ad for its business to pop up on Google when anyone searched for
“roll forming,” a process that shapes metal. The firm reported that within days, the ad gen¬
erated millions of dollars of sales.2
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In this Web site redesign, Nova restructured the information on the existing Web site to fall into three main categories
making the new site easier to navigate. The site was given a clean, professional look for a more contemporary corporate
image. This Web site redesign was contributed by Amy Niswonger, at the Nova Group, an advertising graduate of the
Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) program, where she was named Most Promising Student by the American Advertising
Federation (AAF).
Beyond search engine ads, B2B marketers rely on the Internet in other ways. B2B ad
networks, the oldest of which (B2B Works) appeared in early 2000, link B2B Web sites
vertically (through an industry) and horizontally (across a mass market). These networks
produce something akin to a custom directory of B2B Web sites for each advertiser, helping
the advertiser target a precise business audience with the right message. The networks then
track the response to ads on different Web sites and adjust the campaign as appropriate.
Chat Rooms Groups of people with a special interest can contact one another and
exchange their opinions and experiences through chat rooms, which are sites located
online, sometimes as part of an organization’s Web site, but sometimes completely
EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA
independent of any company. For example, numerous chat rooms are organized around
various computer systems and topics (Linux, Apple, ThinkPad, Sega), as well as topics
(1:1 marketing, guerilla marketing, virutal marketing).
On these sites people can post notes and respond to other people’s postings. The com¬
munication is so fast that announcements, rumors, and criticisms can circulate worldwide
within a matter of minutes. These Web discussion sites have become a major tool for cus¬
tomers to talk about their brand experiences both before and after they make a purchase.
Chat rooms are good information sources regarding customer and industry perspectives, as
well as competitive information.
Blogs A new communication form is the blog (short for Web log), which is a personal
diary-like Web page that is created by an individual. These personal publishing sites also
contain links to other related sites that the writer feels are relevant. There are thousands of
these sites and most are read by only a few people, but a popular blog can attract more than
a million readers a month. Once derided as the ramblings of self-important nobodies, these
sites have become more valued by advertisers as their readership climbs. This success has
led corporations to consider blogs as an alternative to their traditional Web sites. It is a way
to keep employees and other stakeholders informed, particularly of changing news.
Microsoft has several hundred staffers blogging on their personal sites.3
Advertisers are in the experimental stage with this new “blogosphere.” A typical blog
is Dailykos, a liberal political Web site run by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. Initially he
wanted to keep his blog ad-free but when he needed to buy new servers to keep up with
the growing traffic on his site, he started taking ads to pay the bills. In three months he
doubled his ad rates and brought in $4,000 a month. Another popular political blog,
TalkingPointsMemo, also began taking ads and now brings in more than $5,000 a month.4
The new media form has developed to the point that there is a media rep company,
Pressflex LCC, that connects advertisers with a network of blogs. It charges 20 percent for
its efforts and has about 200 blogs in its network.
Consider This
1. What is e-business, and how does it relate to marketing communication?

2. Which Internet-based communication tool seems to be of most use to
marketing communication programs?
INTERNET ADVERTISING
Internet advertising, although still the new baby on the advertiser’s block, is a growing
industry. Advertisers see it as a relatively low-cost alternative to mainstream advertising
media. It is also a form that reaches people who aren’t watching much television or read¬
ing newspapers. It skyrocketed in the 1990s with the dot-com boom and then fell back after
the Internet bust in the early 2000s. Observers believe that the industry is bouncing back:
In 2004 ad spending on the Internet was estimated a + $6.5 billion, a 15.7 percent increase
from the previous year.5
Table 10.1 tracks this performance over a six-year period. Note the high rate of
increase in the initial years of 142 and 78 percent was followed by a huge drop in 2001 and
2002 when advertising revenues bottomed out. The following year, however, the industry
was happy to see that the advertising revenues were beginning to recover, although the
total spending was still less than the banner year of 2000.
More than 90 percent of Internet advertising is found on a small group of large, estab¬
lished news media sites that operate as electronic publishers, such as NYtimes.com,
WSJ.com, and ESPN.com, as well as on major search engines and service providers, such
as Google and Yahoo!.6 Because the media organizations have established reputations and
know how to sell advertising, they have been pioneers in the development of Internet
advertising. Advertisers get access to an Internet site through providers, such as
Doubleclick, an Internet advertising service that places more than 60 billion online ads per
10.1 The Boom, Bust, and Rebuilding of Web Advertising

Year Spending (in billions) % change
1998 $1.9
1999 $4.6 142
2000 $8.2 78
2001 $7.2 -12
2002 $5.6 -22
2003 $6.5 16
OO
o
CO
Source: Ann Mack, "A Building Year," Adweek Special Report (September 29, 2003): SRI
Bumper Year■ for Ads," Adweek (March 15, 2004): 14.
month. Doubleclick provides reports on the placement and performance of these ads to
both publishers and advertisers.
Purpose of Internet Advertising

Online advertising serves three primary purposes. First, it provides a brand reminder mes¬
sage to people who are visiting a Web site. Second, it works like an ad in traditional media
and delivers an informational or persuasive message. The third purpose, however, is most
critical in that it provides a way to entice people to visit the advertiser’s site by clicking on
a banner or button on the Web site. This is called driving traffic to the Web site.
Some people may find an advertiser’s Web site after doing a search using a search
engine; others may come across the site address in some other communication, such as an
ad or brochure. But another way is to encounter an ad on a related site, an ad that has
enough impact that it will entice the visitor to leave the original site and move to this new
one. Internet strategists are keenly aware of the difficulty of driving people to Web sites.
Types of Internet Advertising

What kinds of Internet advertising are available today? The industry is moving so quickly
that by the time you read this passage, other categories may replace or supplement those
we discuss here. Essentially, Internet advertising can be delivered as a traditional adjust
like you see in print advertising in a magazine or it can be presented in the following for¬
mats that are new forms of Web advertising.
Banner Ads IBM introduced banner ads in 1994. Banner ads are small ads on other
Web pages on which people can click to move to the advertised Web site, such as the one
featured here for Zippo lighters. They are easy to create and are usually placed on a Web
site featuring complementary products or related topics. While banner ads were very pop¬
ular when they first appeared, the overall click-through rate has dropped to 0.3 percent. For
a collection of funny banners, check the Web site www.valleyofthegeeks.com.
Other Formats The design of Internet advertising is constantly changing as the

industry advances. Here are some common formats:
• Skyscrapers. The extra-long, skinny ads running down the right or left side of a Web
site are called skyscrapers. The financial site CBSMarketWatch.com, for instance,
regularly runs this kind of ad. Response rates for skyscrapers, which began to be used
aggressively by more companies in 2000, can be 10 times higher than for traditional
banner ads.
• Pop-Ups and Pop-Behinds. Pop-up ads burst open on the computer screen either in
front of or behind the opening page of the Web site. Companies like Volvo and
GlaxoSmith-Kline (for its Oxy acne medicine) use these forms to present games and
product information.
This series of banners for

the Zippo lighter develops
a message as it unfolds.
The message takes off on the
blackouts urban areas some¬
times experience in the summer
when electrical use is high.
• Minisites. Minisites allow advertisers to market their products without sending people
away from the site they’re visiting. The General Motors minisite will appear on the
Shell Oil site, and the consumer can access and enlarge it later. This type of advertis¬
ing gets a higher click rate: Around 5 percent of the people who see the sites click on
them, estimates portal About.com.
• Superstitials. Unveiled by online marketer Unicast in 1999, these are thought of as
“the Internet’s commercial,” designed to work like TV ads. When you go from one
page on a Web site to another, a 20-second animation appears in a window. These ads
now run on more than 350 Web sites.
Interactive Formats Originally banner ads were jazzed up using relatively simple
animation techniques to make elements move. New technologies—including plug-ins, Java
script, Flash, and media streaming—provide even more active components. A recent study
by Greg Interactive, New York, and ASI Interactive Research found that the click-through
rate nearly doubles when an interactive element is added to a banner ad. Newer interactive
ads that deliver multimedia effects using sound, still images, and full-motion video are
referred to as rich media. The phrase streaming video is used to describe moving images
that can be transmitted online and received through most computers and their modems.
Off-line Advertising for Web Sites

One of the most difficult problems facing Internet marketers is driving traffic to their sites.
One way to do this is to use off-line advertising, which appears in conventional media to
drive traffic to a Web site. Print is particularly useful because it offers the opportunity to
present the URL in a format that makes it possible for the reader to note the address. It’s
harder to present that information in broadcast media, where the message is here and gone.
The Internet Audience

Principle
The primary use of the Internet The early Internet users, mostly young and male, were high-tech innovators who rushed to
by people of all demographic be the tirst to experiment with online communication. In the 20 years since, the new
categories is for information medium has become a standard communication tool in both business and personal use. It is
searching. now the leading tool for information searching by all ages. Travel sites, such as the one
shown here for Budget Travel, are particularly popular.
The Internet is particularly good at reaching

teens, who spend more time online than any other
age group. A study by Yahoo! and the online com¬
pany Carat Interactive, found that 13- to 24-year-
olds spend an average of 16.7 hours a week online
and that excludes time spent on e-mail. That’s why Point. Click. Pack.
Procter & Gamble is advertising its Always sani¬
tary napkins on Yahoo !’s teen sites. The ads drove
an increase in traffic to P&G’s BeingGirl.com
Web site.7
Measuring internet Audiences The ad¬

vantages of the Internet as a potential advertising
vehicle are tremendous, with rapid, near instanta¬
neous feedback and results chief among them.
Rather than wait weeks or months to measure the
success of an advertising campaign, marketers can
instead run tests online, measure meaningful results
within days, and quickly invest in the best perform¬
ers with minimal switching costs. The problem,
however, is that there is a lack of standards to mea¬
sure Internet effectiveness. At the heart of the prob¬
lem is the question of what exactly is to be mea¬
sured—readers, viewers, visitors?—and how it
equates to the reach of other media.
Consider hits (the number of times a particu¬
lar site is visited), viewers (the number of viewers
to a site), unique visitors (the number of different 8udgetTr3veJ.msnbc.com is the absolute fastest, easiest way to find the best travel deals on the web
Sign up today for our free email'newsletter for up-to-the-minute travel news and money-saving tips.
viewers during a particular time period), and page

views (the number of times viewers view a page).
These measures track a consumer through a Web BudgetTravel.msnbc.com BudgetTravel
site, but they offer no insights as to motivation, nor
do they tell us whether a visitor paid any attention
to the surrounding ads.
The primary method currently used to mea¬
sure consumer response to Internet advertising is
This ad claims that Budget
click-through (the number of people who click on a banner ad). This measure is consid¬
Travel is the fastest and
ered insufficient by many Internet advertisers; a host of private research providers have easiest way to find the best
emerged to expand on that measure. For example, Denver-based Match Logic identifies for travel deals. The Web site is
its clients what viewers do next after not clicking on a banner ad. a partnership between Arthur
Having the ability to quantitatively measure audiences is particularly important to Frommer's Budget Travel
media buyers, who need to show what the click-through, page view, or total traffic means magazine and the MSNBC
to their clients. It would also be meaningful for advertisers or media buyers to obtain sim¬ channel.
ilar information from comparable sites so that they could see if they were getting a fail-
deal. This information about audience measurement is good for companies who want to
structure their advertising rates based on the actual activity on their Web sites. Accurate
audience measurement also helps advertisers determine the effectiveness of their ads.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Advertising

One reason Internet advertising is growing in popularity is that it offers distinct advantages
over other media. Most notably, it is relatively inexpensive. It can also deliver business,
such as the pop-behind ads that motivate people to respond by offering a special price deal.
Advertisers can also customize and personalize their messages over the Internet.
Thanks to database marketing, an advertiser can input key demographic and behavioral
variables, making the consumer feel like the ad is just for him or her. For an example,
check out classmates.com. Ads appearing on a particular page are for products that would
appeal to a particular age group. Someone who graduated from high school in 1960 would
see banner ads for investments that facilitate early retirement as opposed to someone grad¬
uating in 2000 who might see career ads.
For the B2B advertiser, Internet advertising can provide excellent sales leads or
actual sales. Users of a typical B2B site, for example, can access the product catalogs,
read the product specifications in depth, request a call from a salesperson, and make a
purchase online.
The Internet can level the playing field for small and medium-size companies that
compete against larger organizations. The cost of creating a Web site, a set of ads, and a
database is affordable for virtually every marketer. Undoubtedly, the most serious draw¬
back is the inability of strategic and creative experts to consistently produce effective ads
and to measure their effectiveness. Consider, too, that clutter is just as much a problem
with the Internet as it is in other media. In fact, because multiple ads may appear on the
same screen—many moving or popping up—the clutter may be even worse.
The Web in International Advertising

The Web is an international marketing and advertising medium but it faces access, legal,
linguistic, currency, and technological barriers. First, not everyone around the globe has
the access or ability to use the Internet via computer, but the number of Internet users is
growing exponentially. The Internet audience is growing faster internationally than it is in
the United States, particularly in developing countries, such as China and India.
Second, advertising and sales promotion laws differ from country to country.
Differences in privacy laws between Europe and the United States are expected to force
American companies to change the way they collect and share consumer information.
Language is another factor. Although English is the dominant language on the
Internet, some advertisers who want to provide different Web sites for different countries
have trouble ensuring consistency across all sites. Another issue is exchange rates.
Companies must decide whether to offer prices in their own currency or in the local cur¬
rency. For example, one Canadian shopper reported that books on a Canadian Web site
were cheaper than the same books on Amazon.com. In addition, some companies make
different offers available in different countries.
Marketers must also keep in mind the technological differences among the worldwide
Internet audiences. Users in some countries have to pay per-minute charges and therefore
want to get on and off quickly, which precludes sophisticated graphics that take a long time
to load. In other countries, users have access to fast lines and may expect more sophisti¬
cated Internet programming.
One company that uses Internet advertising to drive its store sales is Waterford
Crystal of Ireland. Waterford does not sell its products to customers directly online, but
instead uses its Web site to offer images and descriptions of its full product line, as well as
information about local retailers who offer its products. Waterford’s goal is to channel
potential customers to its retailers in various countries from whom the customer can make
a final purchase. Such an approach overcomes many of the overwhelming challenges to
conducting business internationally on the Internet that we just discussed. And it is appre¬
ciated by the retailers, who benefit from the increased customer exposure and traffic.
Changes and Trends in Internet Advertising

One of the biggest problems faced by Internet advertisers is the varying levels of techno¬
logical sophistication viewers have available. Some use a high-speed DSL line, which is a
form of broadband that makes connections and delivers data rapidly. Most people, how¬
ever, are using slow dial-up modems and narrow-band width systems, which make online
access and transmission tedious. Bandwidth refers to the amount of digital information that
can be sent through a phone line or fiber optic line. As the technology has improved, and
many users now have appropriate software, a high-speed modem, and broadband line
(such as DSL), it is becoming easier to download the images of rich media.
Other changes that accompany the upgraded technology include the new willingness
of online publishers, such as NYTimes.com and ESPN.com, to accept various types of
advertising other than banners on their pages. Bigger spaces, such as that provided by sky-
scrapers, and rich media make it easier for advertisers to design messages with impact. But
the publishers benefit as well: They have seen dramatic increases in their advertising rev¬
enue after opening up their sites to bigger and more interactive formats.
The biggest changes, however, will happen in the area of measurement as the Internet
becomes more like mainstream television. Media planners and buyers hope to be able to
use the same daypart data, as well as reach and frequency tools to evaluate the effective¬
ness of online advertising. Planners believe Web site clicks will eventually be audited the
same way viewership and readership are for traditional media.8
Consider This
1. What are the purposes and types of Internet advertising?

2. If an outdoor store in your community wanted to move into online
advertising, how would you describe the strengths and weaknesses
of this medium?
E-MAIL ADVERTISING
One of the attractive things about e-mail advertising is that it is so inexpensive. All it takes
is a list of e-mail addresses, a computer, and an Internet connection. Today’s improved
databases allow marketers to target prospects with unsolicited e-mail. In fact, the
response rate for an unsolicited e-mail campaign is many times higher than for a banner
ad campaign. Unfortunately for e-mail advertisers, people generally do not welcome
unsolicited e-mail, even if the response rate is higher than for banners. Permission mar¬
keting attempts to address this problem by asking potential consumers for their permis¬
sion to send them e-mail.
Spam
Blasting millions of unsolicited e-mail messages to e-mail in-boxes for everything from
loans to computer cartridges to pornographic sites is called spamming. Consumers who are
irritated by the avalanche of solicitations that clutter their in-boxes may think of spam as
“junk e-mail,” but providers prefer to call it “bulk e-mail.” They see bulk e-mail as an excit¬
ing new business opportunity—and bulk e-mailing as a legitimate commercial activity.
Critics—and that’s most of the rest of us—would like to see the government close
down these operations. There are technological problems to controlling these practices,
however, and spammers have proven very creative in finding ways to get through filters
installed by service providers and host corporations, such as companies and universities.
There is a register of spammers known as Rokso, or Register of Known Spam
Operations. It’s kind of a “most wanted” list maintained by Internet hosts and service
providers, like AOL, whose computers strain to handle the huge bulk e-mails9 and are quick
to kick off known spammers. An antispam Web site called spam.abuse.net is also available,
and Congress is getting into the debate with various proposals for regulating spam.
Does spam bring in revenue? Spammers solicit business from sources like AOL’s pro¬
files where people indicate their interests and activities. A spammer might send out
100,000 e-mails and get only two to five clients, which seems like a totally unacceptable
number of responses. But a spammer who charges $300 to send out 100,000 messages or
$900 for a million might make $14,000 to $15,000 on those few responses. That’s not a
bad return when you consider the cost of getting into the business: a computer and an
Internet connection.
Opt-ln and Opt-Out Proposed solutions to the spam problem usually incorporate
Principle
one of two permission marketing strategies for consumers to control their inclusion on Opt-in and opt-out strategies
e-mail lists. Opt in means that all bulk e-mailers have to get your permission before sending make mass e-mail campaigns
any e-mail. This is the form used by legitimate e-mail advertising businesses and one that more acceptable because
is both tougher for spammers to abuse and more sensitive to consumer rage when they do. customers give permission to
Opt out means that e-mailers can send a first e-mail, but they have to have an option that marketers to contact them.
makes it possible for you to say no to any further e-mails from that business. Either way,
spammers will probably find a way to get around the regulation.
Viral Marketing
A practice designed to deliver a groundswell of opinion or marketplace demand for a
product is called viral marketing. It uses e-mail to circulate a message among family and
friends. For example, to launch a new brand of beer named Blowfly from a small
Australian microbrewery called Blowfly, one of the owners sent e-mails to some 140
people he knew. He asked them to register as members on the brand’s new Web site
(www.blowfly.com.au). In exchange they would get the chance to vote on every aspect of
the beer and its advertising, plus when it launched, they would get a single share of stock
in the company for each six-pack they purchased. He also told them to share the news with
their friends and family. By the end of the third week, the site had more than a thousand
members, ultimately growing to 10,000.10
Consider This
o 1. How is e-mail advertising used by marketers, and what is its biggest
problem?
2. Describe viral marketing, and explain where it would or would not be
appropriate for an advertiser to use.
ALTERNATIVE AND NEW MEDIA

Mainstream media of all types are hurting. This is particularly true of network television,
which is under assault from cable and TiVo. A New York-based financial analyst company
specializing in media companies reported declines over the past five years in the time con¬
sumers spend with traditional media. But in the same period, it reported double-digit
annual increase in the time spent with video games, home video and, of course, the
Internet.11
The search for new media is particularly important for advertisers trying to reach the
youth market, since teens are often the first to experiment with new media forms—and
that’s true for girls as well as boys. A vice president of programming at Channel One, the
TV channel beamed into high schools, explains that, “When it comes to traditional media,
teen girls today want it interactive and responsive.” He explains that the most popular fea¬
tures are ones that allow teens to express their own voice and influence the outcome of a
plot or event.12
Principle In some ways, this search for new ways and places to deliver messages is just as cre¬
The media person's search for ative as the message concepts developed on the creative side of advertising. That’s why one
new ways to deliver messages of the principles of this book is that the media side can be just as creative as the creative
is just as creative as the creative side of advertising. These new media forms are called either new media, a phrase that has
person's search for new adver¬ been used to refer to new electronic forms such as the Internet, or alternative media,
tising ideas. which refers to nontraditional or unexpected communication tools and events. This section
will discuss the trends in both these areas.
Advertainment
In an attempt to stand out among the media clutter, several companies have begun integrat¬
ing brands into the content of television shows—known as advertainment or branded
entertainment.13 Similar to the presence of FedEx in Castaway, these shows use the prod¬
uct as a prop or central feature of the program. Further examples would be a plan by Mattel
and Columbia Pictures to make films based on Hot Wheels and the backing of a short-film
cable channel by Anheuser-Busch. The show Extreme Makeover: The Home Edition pro¬
motes Sears products. Branded entertainment more aggressively promotes a product than
product placement. Described as situational ads because they are embedded in specific
programs, they are harder for viewers to dismiss immediately as ads because the product is
a character in the program.
innovative media placements

are being explored in the form
of ads on conveyer belts at
airports and stenciled messages
in the sand on beaches.
New Internet Practices

Of course, not only is the Internet itself a new advertising form, it is also a catalyst for new
thinking about how advertising should be handled. We’ll talk about two approaches that
are particularly innovative: brand experiences and webisodes.
Brand Experiences on the Web Many consumers consider pop-ups, banner ads,
and superstitials not only annoying but also ineffective. So many companies instead are
making their Web sites more engaging and entertaining. Web sites for Nike and the Gap are
excellent examples of the practice of providing brand experiences. The Nike site features
engaging subsites within the main site, each dedicated to a different sport. For example,
NikeBasketball outlines Nike’s 30 years of marketing basketball shoes and NikeGoddess
provides targeted content and shopping to women.14
Burger King has developed an interactive Web site that lets visitors make a human
being in a chicken suit dance, jump, watch TV, or do pushups. The crazy chicken that
responds to viewers’ commands is featured on the site, www.subservientchicken.com, and
appeals to the zany side of Web surfers. It also experiments with a dimension of virtual
interactivity: The chicken seems to interact with its viewers through what appears to be a
Web-cam window.'5 The chicken also relies on viral marketing for its visibility, recogniz¬
ing that the young Web surfer audience is likely to share the site with friends. Originally
only 20 people who were friends and co-workers of the staff at Burger King’s agency,
Crispin Porter + Bogusky, knew about the site. Since then the site has received 15 to 20
million hits and visitors spend an average of six minutes playing with the chicken.
Webisodes Similar to televi¬

sion programs with recurring
episodes in a developing story,
Webisodes have created a new form
of Web advertising. This follows the
“advertainment” trend in television
advertising that blends advertising
and entertainment in order to attract
audiences turned off by traditional
mainstream media.16 The original
experiment with this new format
was created by Fallon Worldwide
for its client BMW. Known as the
“BMW films,” the series consisted
of high-action minimovies by well-
known action movie directors (John
Woo, Guy Ritchie, and Ang Lee) all
of which featured various BMW
models in starring roles. The films
can only be seen online at www
Jerry Seinfeld starred in a .bmwfdms.com. Randall Rothenberg, an advertising critic, wrote that the highly entertain¬
four-minute "Webisode" for ing films reinvented advertising.17
American Express.
American Express has sponsored a four-minute humorous online commercial featur¬
ing comedian Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman. The two sidekicks play the role of
neurotic New Yorkers complaining about such earth-shaking topics as the amount of may¬
onnaise on their tuna sandwiches. They also discover the benefits of using an American
Express card. The message is soft sell and followed by a gag, which makes the commercial
feel more like cinema than advertising. The minifilm, directed by Academy Award¬
winning director Barry Levinson, has generated much buzz, which extends its impact
through the power of word of mouth. In explaining the new format, Seinfeld jokes that it
isn’t going to be interrupted with a commercial because it is a commercial.18
Video Games
Marketers and ad executives have been frustrated trying to reach young people with traditional
ads on mainstream media. That has led to an increased focus on Internet advertising, but also
on unusual media that are clearly the province of young people, such as video games. Now a
global $16 billion industry, the video game business is developing as a major new medium for
advertisers to target males aged 12-34, although girls are getting into the act as well.19 There
are more than 220 million computer and video games sold in the country every year.
Opportunities will be mined by both creating online games as well as placing prod¬
ucts within games.20 For example, Activision games feature product placements for Puma
athletic shoes and Nokia mobile phones, and Skittles candies star in Darkened Skye, a
Simon & Schuster game. Volkswagen of American bought a placement on Sony Computer
Entertainment’s Gran Turismo 3, a car-racing game. The advertisement may be a simple
product placement or make the product the star. Chester Cheetah, the Chee-tos cheese
snack mascot, stars in several games of his own. Just as advertisers are sponsoring their
own TV shows, their brand characters may soon be stars in video games.
As video games develop as an advertising medium, planners and buyers are asking for
standardized independent data that prove their effectiveness. Nielsen Media Research is
developing a system that will track how many gamers see the ads in the console-based
video games. The new service will probably use a device like the set-top boxes used to
monitor TV viewing, supplemented by follow-up phone surveys.21
Wireless Communication
The mobile cell phone has exploded as a popular form of telecommunication and wireless
communication that links the common phone to a computer is possibly the most important
change in communication systems so far in the new millennium. Some places, like the
Scandinavian countries and Japan, are highly advanced in wireless communication and
their consumers are far more accustomed to using smart phones, videophones, and instant
messaging than those in the United States.
Cell phones have also introduced new product lines such as graphic faceplates and
specialty ring tones. The fact that there is a market for these products demonstrates that
young people use their phones as fashion accessories and to make personal style state¬
ments. Adults, in contrast, look to cell phones for convenience. Young people also consider
their phones to be part of their entertainment environment, and that opens up promotional
opportunities similar to those being used by more conventional advertising media that are
exploring the edge of advertainment.
Instant Messaging Young people are also more adept at exploring connection
opportunities with new communication systems than are older people. Teens, particularly
girls, use their cell phones constantly to chat with their friends both by phone and by
instant messaging (IM), which allows them to keyboard brief messages into a cell phone
screen. A firm that researches the youth market found in 2003 that 49 percent of younger
teen girls use instant messaging daily to reach their friends, far more than do adults.22 As
teens have mastered this skill, they also have developed an abbreviated code or new lan¬
guage that lets them communicate rapidly. An example comes from a headline on a story
about instant messaging that reads: “Wot R They Up 2?”
The problem is that teens hate IM advertising because they see it as invasive. As in
other forms of advertising, the way to be less intrusive is to be more relevant and offer opt-
These painted stairs at
in options. Teens may permit advertising if it offers them information they want, such as
the Denver Pavillions, an
news about music, games, sports, cosmetics, and fashion.
entertainment complex in
Click-and-dial systems use wireless phones to access Web sites. For example, if it is
downtown Denver, advertise
your mother’s birthday, a reminder note may come through on your phone and you can membership in the nearby
respond by clicking a button that sends you to your favorite florist where you can place an Colorado Athletic Club.
order. These are interesting and innovative uses of wireless communication, but the indus¬ Called a "captive ad," it is
try is so new that we haven’t begun to explore all the possibilities this technology offers for unavoidable for people
advertising and permission marketing. walking up or down the stairs.
Hybrid Technologies Convergence is a big word in

the traditional media industries where the differences
between television, print, and the Internet media seem to be
blurring. The potential of interactive media is that they may
combine the advantages of broadcast (high-impact visuals),
print (the ability to inform), and the Internet (personalization
and interactivity). Convergence is also creating opportunities
in the wireless environment where companies like Nokia are
offering cell phones that are not only cameras, but also gam¬
ing devices and MP3 players.
Nonelectronic New Media

Ads have been appearing in unexpected places, such as the
back of toilet stall doors, for some time. One idea comes
from NASA, which has considered printing emblems and
logos alongside NASA’s on space shuttles and the space sta¬
tion. McDonald’s, for example, might put its golden arches
on the kitchen “galley,” in return for promoting space explo¬
ration to kids in its restaurants.23
Guerilla Marketing
Guerilla marketing is unconventional marketing commu¬
nication activities that are intended to get buzz on a limited
budget. The idea is to use creative ways to reach people
where they live, work, and walk to create a personal
connection and a high level of impact. If it works, the encounter gets talked about by word
of mouth rather than through the media. More about matching wits than matching bud¬
gets, guerilla marketing does have limited reach. For example, Sony Ericsson Mobile
Communications Ltd. hired actors to create buzz about a new mobile phone that is also a
digital camera. The actors pretended to be tourists who wanted their picture taken, thus
allowing consumers to try the product.
Guerilla marketing has even reached into the political realm. Before the 2004 elec¬
tion, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, created a pink van shaped like a
piggy bank that pulls two other smaller pigs on trailers. The largest was labeled Iraq and
$200 billion; the two little ones were labeled education $34 billion and poverty & hunger
$10 billion. The Pig Mobile toured critical states with volunteers at the wheel.24 Whether
you agree with the sentiment or not, you have to admit it’s a creative way to get attention
and make a statement.
Consider This
1. Why are alternative, nontraditional, or new media useful to advertisers?

2. Do you think guerilla marketing is an effective way to reach consumers?
What are its advantages and disadvantages?
IT'S A WRAP
EBAY REWRITES THE RULES
FOR E-MARKETERS
T his entire chapter on interactive and alternative new media is about changes in the media
industry so there's no need to wrap up this chapter by trying to figure out what's next. The
changes are coming so fast that it's impossible to predict what new media forms are on the
horizon. It is important to realize, however, that some of the most creative ideas in advertis¬
ing are seen in the areas of interactive and alternative new media. The Internet has revolu¬
tionized the media industry just as eBay is revolutionizing retailing.
eBay's formula for success—one part commerce, one part entertainment, and one part
town meeting all rolled together—is based on a commitment to business fundamentals. For
example, it is one of the few companies that can boast that it has made a profit every year
since it was a startup. And profits continue to be the focus of all its marketing initiatives.
One reason for its enviable balance sheet is that it resisted using extensive advertising dur¬
ing its startup days, as so many companies did during the dot-com boom days in the early
2000s. Instead, the company focused on maintaining its profit level and relied on word of
mouth from its dedicated users. eBay didn't start advertising until late 2002 in the United
States and 2003 in its international markets, and now it is used as a reminder, as well as
to tease new business from people who may have been slow to venture into the world of
online auctions.
The recent advertising effort, however, has helped fuel the company's continued growth.
eBay is not only a dominant Internet marketer in the United States; it has expanded to 20
countries since its founding in 1995. It recorded $1.7 billion in revenue in 2003 and by mid-
2004 the company's high gross margins resulted in $3 billion in cash on hand. The bottom
line-focused business strategy has made it not only a survivor of the dot-com bust, but also a
model e-business company. That's why it was named number two on Business 2.0‘s "fastest
growing companies" list for 2003.
■ ■■Summary
1 Determine the difference between interactive media and operate as electronic publishers, such as NYTimes.com,
more conventional mainstream media. Interactive media WSJ.com and ESPN.com, as well as on major search
permit interaction with the source of the message, as well as engines and service providers, such as Google and Yahoo!
with the message itself. Conventional forms of advertising Advertisers place ads on the Internet through providers
media, such as print and broadcast media, do not engage such as Doubleclick, an Internet advertising service.
their audiences in conversations. It can be used to both pro¬ 4. Describe how e-mail advertising works. E-mail advertis
vide and collect information. The structure includes corpo¬ ing is a way to send an advertising message to a list of
rate Web sites, as well as online communication networks. e-mail addresses. Unsolicited e-mail is called spam and is
External activities and sources, such as chat rooms, blogs, generally disliked; permission marketing asks potential
and search engines, can also provide information that customers to opt in and put themselves on the list.
impact on the way business is conducted.
5. Show how the different forms of interactive and alter¬
2. Explain how the Internet works as a business and as native new media are changing the way advertising
marketing communication. The phrase e-business refers works. Because of the problems faced by traditional
to all the hardware, software, and computer know-how that media, there is a continual search for new and novel ways
provides a platform for businesses that use the Internet to to reach consumers. That’s particularly true for the youth
sell products, as well as manage their communication market. Video games, Internet Webisodes, instant messag¬
systems. ing, and guerilla marketing are being used to create new
3. Discuss how Internet advertising works. Most Internet forms of communication. The new media also open up
advertising is found on established news media sites that opportunities for new types of personal brand experiences.
advertainment, 282 cookies, 273 intranet, 274 search marketing, 274
alternative media, 282 e-business, 271 new media, 282 skyscrapers, 277
banner ads, 277 extranet, 274 off-line advertising, 278 spam, 281
blog, 276 guerilla marketing, 285 opt in, 281 streaming video, 278
branded entertainment, 282 hits, 279 opt out, 281 superstitials, 278
brand experiences, 283 instant messaging (IM), 285 privacy policy, 273 Webisodes, 284
B2B ad networks, 275 interactive media, 271 rich media, 278 Web site, 274
chat rooms, 275 Internet, 271 search engines, 274 World Wide Web, 271
click-through, 279
1. From what you have read in this chapter, how are interac¬ 4. How does e-mail advertising work?
tive media defined? How do these media differ from tradi¬ 5. What are some of the new forms of Internet practices that
tional advertising media? advertisers are experimenting with? Explain how they work
2. Identify and explain the key communication-related compo¬ and what advantages they provide.
nents of e-business.
3. What are the primary purposes of Internet advertising?
1. One interesting way to combine the assets of print and 2. You are the media planner for a cosmetics company intro¬
broadcast is to use the visuals from a print ad or a television ducing a new line of makeup for teenage girls. Your
commercial in an Internet ad. Why would an advertiser con¬ research indicates that the Internet might be an effective
sider this creative strategy? What limitations would you medium for creating awareness about your new product
mention? Would you recommend doing this? line. How do you design an Internet advertising strategy
that will reach your target market successfully? What Web advertising provide? If you are a sales rep working for a
sites would you choose? Why? What advertising forms college newspaper that has an online version, how would
would you use on these sites and why? you attract advertising? What companies would you recom¬
3. How can Internet sites entice companies to advertise on mend contacting? What are the arguments that the sales rep
them? What competitive advantage, if any, does Internet might present to a prospect?
1. Your small agency works for a local retailer (pick one from your community) that wants
to create buzz and get people talking about it. The retailer has very little money to use
on advertising. Your agency team agrees that guerilla marketing would be a solution.
Brainstorm among yourselves and come up with a list of at least five ideas for guerilla
marketing that would get people talking about the store. Write the ideas as a proposal to
the store owner and prepare a presentation to share your ideas with your class.
2. This chapter briefly discussed the concept of rich media. Visit various sites related to
Internet marketing and find out what is being said about this new form. Start with the
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which you can find at www.iab.com, and
Doubleclick at www.doubleclick.com. Then find several other sites that have discussions
on this topic. Put together a report titled “New Trends in Rich Media” for your instructor.
BMW Knows the ABC's of C to B

Advertisers are starting to realize that they have to com¬ well in the sales department too, recording record U.S.
municate with prospects in a way that does not increase sales in 2001 of 21 3,1 27 vehicles, up 1 2.5 percent from
privacy fears or irritate viewers. This thinking is behind the 2000.
new buzz in the industry, C to B, or consumer to business. When something works, people take notice. The
The idea is to create advertising messages that consumers shorts received a great deal of media attention, some pos¬
want to see, so the consumer will come to the marketer itive, some less so. New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell
rather than the other way around. wrote that the series appears to be "a marriage of com¬
One showcase for C to B is an innovative campaign merce and creativity, straddling the ever-dwindling line
sponsored by BMW. Responding to research indicating between art and merchandising." But others praised
that nearly half of all consumers considering a new-car BMW and its agency, Fallon Worldwide in Minneapolis (a
purchase search the Internet before buying, the luxury-car subsidiary of French holding company Publicis Groupe),
manufacturer developed a series of highly polished, for its creativity and imagination. The shorts are cool, the
action-filled movie "shorts" that can be viewed at its Web cars look great, and star Owen has the glamour and looks
site (watch them yourself at http://usa.bmwfilms.com). one expects from an A-list movie star:
BMW spent over a million dollars on each of the shorts. And it wasn't just critics who took notice. The series
Big-name directors (John Woo, John Frankenheimer, Tony sparked "me-too" efforts from Mercedes, Volvo, even
Scott, Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie) and actors (Madonna, Gary American Express, which promoted 15-minute Web
Oldham, Mickey Rourke, F. Murray Abraham, Don movies featuring cartoon hero Superman and Jerry
Cheadle) helped to ensure that each film plays like a Seinfeld. During the 2004 Christmas season Amazon.com
miniaturized Hollywood action picture. The star of the ran shorts with top-notch Hollywood talent at its site. TV
series, playing a character named "the Driver," is British ads, which in the past have done most of the heavy lifting
actor Clive Owen, but the consistent scene stealers are the in creating brand value, are now being used by several of
various BMW cars, which are central to each story and these advertisers to drive traffic to the Internet. Advertisers
help create much of the action. get prospects who willingly go to their sites, register, and
BMW's effort appears to be paying big dividends. watch brand messages. Consumers get free, high-quality
Through 2004 the film site has been viewed by an aston¬ entertainment and a chance to receive special offers and
ishing 45 million visitors, each of whom has registered promotions. All of which proves that BMW really does
with a name and e-mail address. And BMW did pretty know the ABC's of C to B.
Consider This
O-
1. After viewing the shorts at the BMW Web site,
what is your reaction? Does the entertainment
overshadow the brand, or do the films simultane¬
ously entertain and create brand value?
2. How can manufacturers of less glamorous Sources: Bill Britt, "Volvo Sets Plans for BMW-like Net Film," Advertising Age (October 6,
2003); "Direct Gets Respect; Budgets Swell as Marketers Seek Accountability," Advertising
brands, such as Ford and Chevrolet, use the Web
Age (August 30, 2004): 1: Jefferson Graham, "Original Programming Smiles on Dot-coms
to build partnerships with potential buyers? Again," USA Today {October 21, 2002). Updated 10/21/2002; Jean Halliday, "Study
3. In your opinion, is the BMW "films" campaign an Claims TV Advertising Doesn't Work on Car Buyers," Advertising Age (October 1 3,
2003); Stefano Hatfield, "In BMW'S Wake, Mercedes In U.K. Tries Its Own 'Movie,'"
effective way to increase consumer interactivity Advertising Age (July 22, 2002); Anthony Vagnoni, Jean Halliday, and Catharine P. Taylor,
with a brand? "Behind the Wheel," Advertising Age (July 23, 2001).
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SISftI
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11 —11 p p
I
Media Planning
and Buying
CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Outline the basic media concepts used by planners and buyers.
2. Describe the types of information compiled by media researchers
3. Analyze how media planners set media objectives.
4. List the key media strategy decisions.
5. Identify the responsibilities of media buyers.
Archipelago Rings
the Bell
Award:
Ad week's Media Plan
H ave you ever made an appointment to watch an ad?
Actually scheduled your TV viewing around a commercial?
of the Year; 2004 Cold With all the programming choices TV viewers have today,
EFFIE®; Media Grand Prix there is not much on the air that can be considered "appointment"
at Cannes 2003
television. That's why an ad campaign for the Archipelago
Company: Exchange, the Chicago-based electronic stock market, was so
The Archipelago Exchange unique. Instead of airing traditional 30-second spots, Fallon
Minneapolis created and produced a TV program that would air in
Agency: 1-minute increments every morning at 7:59 A.M., one minute before
Fallon Worldwide the opening of the Archipelago stock exchange. The program fea¬
tured two characters that Fallon created and a developing storyline
Campaign:
"The Open Show" that stock traders watched like a regular TV program, only this one
was just 1 minute long.
291
Archipelago had been around since 1997 as an electronic trading plat¬

form for professional stock traders. However, in mid-2002, the SEC approved
Archipelago's application to operate a stock exchange in competition with
premier marketplaces such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and
NASDAQ. The challenge to Fallon was to find a creative way to launch the new
exchange.
Fallon's primary objective was to redefine Archipelago and connect it to
the idea of a stock exchange. Other objectives included increasing interest and
referrals, establishing the image of the new exchange as viable, and increasing
its level of use among professional traders. In addition, Fallon wanted to build
awareness, increase the level of interaction with traders, and involve them more
in the launch of the new exchange.
The solution was found in an innovative media idea. Although stock
exchanges are famous for their ritualistic daily opening ceremonies, the
Archipelago Exchange is fully electronic and isn't confined to a single trading-
floor location; that meant it could open its trading floor from anywhere. Since
the Archipelago Exchange starts trading at 8:00 A.M. Eastern, it also had a 90-
minute advantage on the big exchanges.
The idea was an episodic, 60-second TV program called The Open Show,
which featured two guys traveling the world looking for the best way to signal
the opening of the new exchange. A different episode would run every morning
from a different location. Through the storyline of the journey, Fallon creatives
were able to weave in the benefits of trading over the Archipelago Exchange.
The secret was the complementary impact of a media idea and a creative
idea used synergistically. The media scheduling was designed to create and
maintain loyal viewers. The Fallon media team negotiated a 60-second time slot
every trading day on CNBC at precisely 7:59 A.M. To keep The Open Show
positioned as a program, rather than a commercial, the team also asked CNBC
to guarantee that it wouldn't run in a pod of ads but in a stand-alone time slot.
The Open Show was then promoted as if it were a new series with "coming
soon" teasers on CNBC. Manhattan was blanketed with posters announcing the
opening. The exchange's Web site provided background stories about the char¬
acters, as well as past episodes that could be downloaded.
The media plan was so successful that Archipelago was named "Media
Plan of the Year" in 2003 and the launch campaign for the new exchange
received an EFFIE award in 2004.
Sources: “Archipelago,” Fallon EFFIES 2004 (Minnesota: Fallon Worldwide, 2004): 4—7; “Media Plan of the Year: Best Use of
National Television and/or Cable,” Adweek Special Report (June 23, 2003): 18-20.
As Archipelago and the media planners at Fallon know, media planning is a problem¬
solving process. The problem: How can media choices help meet the marketing and
advertising objectives? The ultimate goal is to reach the target audience with the right
message in the best possible way at the best possible time. In this chapter, we review
how a media plan is developed—how media planners set objectives and develop media
strategies—and we illustrate that by explaining how one company developed a media
plan. We then explore the media-buying function and explain how media buyers execute
the plan.
CHAPTER 11 • MEDIA PLANNING AND BUYING 293
MEDIA PLANNING AND BUYING

Traditionally, the advertising agency has been responsible for developing the media plan,
which is usually devised jointly by the agency’s media department, the account and cre¬
ative teams, and the marketer’s brand management group. Once the plan is formed, a
media-buying unit, sometimes attached to the ad agency or sometimes a separate company,
executes it.
Media planning and buying have gone through a technical and structural revolution
during the last 25 years. In the late 1980s media gained access to the computer, and buyers
could check prices and place orders electronically. Today, the media-buying process has
moved online. Media-buying services have come on the scene along with unbundling,
which refers to moving the media-buying function outside the agency. The media-planning
field also has undergone a metamorphosis because of the fragmentation of mainstream
media, particularly television, and the proliferation of new media such as interactive and
alternative media. This has made media planning and buying more challenging—and more
creative.
Although we talk about advertising media, media are used in all the other areas of
marketing communication as well. Public relations, for example, places stories, as well as
corporate and advocacy ads, in print and broadcast media and uses the Internet, other print
forms such as brochures, and activities such as special events. Sales promotion also relies
on ads in various media to deliver the announcement about the promotion. Regardless of
area, finding the right moment to deliver a message is the key challenge to media planners,
a concept called the media aperture.
The Aperture Concept

Prospective customers for a product or service have one or more ideal times and places at
which they can be reached with an advertising message. For example, when it’s rainy, you
think about umbrellas; when it’s sunny, you think about sunglasses. This ideal point is
called an aperture. The goal of the media planner is to expose the target audience to the
advertiser’s message at the critical point when a consumer is receptive to the brand mes¬
sage. Aperture, referring to the opening of a camera lens, is here used as a metaphor: It
illustrates the idea that media planners need to focus tightly on their target audience using
all the details they can find about these people in order to reach the target audience—no Principle
more, which leads to waste, and no less, which leads to missed opportunities. Regardless Advertising is most effective when
of whether a company is spending a few hundred dollars on one medium or millions of it reaches the right people at the
dollars on a variety of media, the goal is still the same: to reach the right people at the right right time with the right message.
time with the right message. So let’s look at how a media plan is constructed to maximize
the right moment for a message.
THE MEDIA PLAN

The media plan, as we saw in Chapter 8, is a written document that summarizes the objec¬
tives and strategies pertinent to the placement of a company’s advertising messages. The
goal of a media plan is to find the most effective ways to deliver messages at every impor¬
tant contact point, the point where a consumer has an opportunity to connect with a brand
and respond in some way to a brand message. To see where media buying and planning fit
into the advertising process, look at Figure 11.1, which outlines the primary components of
a media plan.
Media Research: Information Sources

Some people believe that media decisions are the hub in the advertising wheel, the central
point where all campaign elements (that is, the spokes of the wheel) are joined. Not only
are media decisions central to advertising planning, but media research is central to media
planning. That realization stems from the sheer volume of data and information that media
planners must gather, sort, and analyze before media decision making can begin, which are
The Components of a Media Plan
discussed below. Figure 11.2 illustrates the wide range of media information sources and
the critical role media research plays in the overall advertising planning process.
• Client Information. The client is a good source for various types of information media
planners use in their work, such as targeted markets, previous promotions and their perfor¬
mance, product sales and distribution patterns, brand plans, and, most importantly, the
budget. Sales geography is a critical set of information. Although companies may distrib¬
ute goods and services in many cities and states, sales are seldom consistent across all
areas, no matter how popular the brand. Sales differences affect the decision about which
markets the advertiser should reach for the campaign and how many dollars are allocated
to each geographic region.
The Central Role of

Media Research
Media planners look for data
from sources, including creative,
marketing, and media sources. All
this information is used in both
media planning and buying.
• Market Research. Also valuable to media plan¬

ners is independently gathered information about
markets and product categories, such as that pro¬
vided by Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI),
Scarborough (local markets), and Mendelsohn
(affluent markets). This information is usually
organized by product category (detergents, cere¬
als, snacks) and cross-tabulated by audience
groups and their consumption patterns. Accessed
online, this wealth of information can be searched
and compared across thousands of categories,
brands, and audience groups. Although the reports
may seem intimidating, they are not that difficult
to use. Figure 11.3 is a page from an MRI report
showing how to read MRI data. Media planners
use MRI data to check which groups (based on
demographics and lifestyles) are high and low in
category use, as well as where they live, and what
Advertise In the nation’s best newsmagazines in your priority markets with
media they use. one simple media buy exclusively through MNI. The MNI News Network
delivers influential, Informed decision-makers efficiently and effectively In
• Competitive Advertising. In crowded product more than 170 top local markets. If you want your ad in the news, call your
MNI representative or Robert Reif, National Ad Director at 877.ASK.4MNI.

categories (household products, food, and durable
goods) few advertisers ignore competitors’ advertis¬
ing activity. In such situations media planners make
scheduling decisions based on the amount of com¬
petitive traffic. The objective is to find media where MEDIA NETWORKS.INC.
the advertiser’s voice is not drowned out by com¬

petitors’ voices. This concept is called share of
voice, which measures the percentage of total adver¬
tising spending by one brand in a product category
relative to the competition; it gives media planners
an idea of how much their advertising will stand out. Information about medila
vehicles is available from
• Media Information. The various media all provide information about the size and
the media themselves, but also
makeup of their audiences. Although useful, this information is also suspect because it is
from media rep firms, such as
assembled to make the best possible case for advertising in that medium. For that reason MNI, that sell ads to be placed
outside research sources, such as media rep companies (see the MNI ad) and the Nielsen in multiple vehicles in a cate¬
reports, also are used. As discussed in previous chapters, Nielsen Media Research audits gory. MNI, for example, sells
national and local television and Arbitron measures radio. Other services, such as the Audit ads for newsmagazines in 170
Bureau of Circulations (ABS), Simmons, and Mediamark Research (MRI) monitor print markets.
How to Read an MRI CrossTab

The CrossTab format is a standard research display format that allows multiple variables of related data to be grouped
together. Below is a screen capture of an MEMRI2 CrossTab, complete with explanations of key numbers. Please note that
all the numbers are based on the 2004 Spring MRI study, and that the projected numbers (000) are expressed in thousands.
How to Read MRI Cross Tabs

The MRI market research service provides information on 4,090 product categories and services, 6,000 brands, and category advertising
expenditures, as well as customer lifestyle characteristics and buying style psychographics.
Source: Courtesy of Mediamark Research Inc. All rights reserved.

audiences and Media Metrix measures Internet audiences. All of these provide extensive
information on viewers, listeners, and readers—both the size of the audience, as well as
their profiles.
One type of media-related information about markets is the broadcast coverage area
for television, which is called a designated marketing area (DMA) and is referred to by
the name of the largest city in the area. This is a national market analysis system and every
county in the United States has been assigned to a DMA. The assignment is based on
where most of the residents receive their television signals, which generally reach a 50- to
60-mile radius. Even though this system is based on TV broadcast signals, it is universally
used in doing local market planning.
• Consumer Information. We mentioned in Chapter 5 some of the consumer research

sources that are used in developing segmentation and targeting strategies. They are also
useful in planning media strategies. For example, media planners use such services as the
Claritas PRIZM system, Nielsen’s ClusterPlus system, and supermarket scanner data to
locate the target audience within media markets.
Consider This
o
1. What are the key components of a media plan?
2. What kinds of information are collected through media research?
MEDIA OBJECTIVES
Media planners must consider three critical elements in setting specific media objectives:
the degree of exposure (impressions), the number of different people exposed to the mes¬
sage (reach), and repetition needed to reach those people and make an impression on them
(frequency).
Exposure and GRPs

We explained the concept of exposure in Chapter 8. In order to better understand how
media objectives are constructed, let’s consider how planners work with impressions in
calculating the exposure of their plans. If The David Letterman Show has an audience of
100,000 viewers, for example, then each time the advertiser buys time on that program, the
value in impressions is 100,000. If the advertiser uses a 30-second commercial in each of
four consecutive broadcasts, the total viewer impressions would be 100,000 times 4, or
400,000. If the commercial played twice on each of those shows, the total impressions
would be estimated at 800,000.
In practice, media planners use gross impressions as a primary measure for total
impressions. As mentioned earlier, gross impressions are the sum of the audiences of all
the media vehicles used during a certain span of time. The summary figure is called
“gross” because the planner has made no attempt to calculate how many different people
were in the audience or whether the same person saw the same ad several times; it ignores
duplication of exposure. Here’s how it is calculated: To get the sum of gross impressions,
the media planner finds the audience figure for each vehicle used, multiplies that figure by
the number of times the vehicle was used, and adds the vehicle figures. The table below
provides an example of how gross impressions would be calculated, assuming an ad was
run four times on Jeopardy, in two issues of People, and in two issues of USA Today.
Total Target Impressions Calculation

Target Number of Total Target
Media Vehicle Impressions Messages Impressions
TV’. Jeopardy 3,270,000 4 13,080,000
Magazine: People 8,620,000 2 17,240,000
Newspaper: USA Today 1,700,000 2 3,400,000
33,720,000
To avoid the huge numbers, media planners convert impressions to gross rating points,
as the table below illustrates, in order to compare the efficiency of different media schedules.
The problem is determining how much is enough: Is 36.2 GRPs a good number—is it high
enough or too high? The answer is, there’s no good rule of thumb. Based on experience,
intelligent guessing, and computer models, planners have a general idea how many GRPs are
necessary to effectively impact a particular market. So, for example, it might take 1,000
GRPs per month to be sufficient for San Diego, but 850 GRPs per month for Richmond,
Virginia, as the level of brand development and competitive situations vary by market.
National Audience Gross Rating Points

Media Vehicle Rating Number of Messages Total GRPs
Jeopardy 3.5 4 14.0

People 9.1 2 18.2
USA Today 2.0 2 4.0
36.2
It should be noted that media objectives for a campaign are always stated in terms of
some time frame, often weekly or a four-week period, but it may also be a quarter, six
months, or a year. That’s true for exposure, but even more so for reach and frequency.
Reach and frequency measures are the basis for most media planning and are terms famil¬
iar to everyone who works in advertising.
The Reach Objective

An important aspect of an advertising campaign is how many different members of the tar¬
get audience can be exposed to the message in a particular time frame, which is a measure
of the campaign’s reach. Different or unduplicated audiences are those that have at least
one chance of being exposed to a message. Most advertisers realize that a campaign’s suc¬
Principle cess is due in part to its ability to reach as many of the targeted audience as possible.
Reach is the first place to Consequently, many planners feel that reach is the most important objective and that’s the
start in setting objectives for place to start in figuring out a media plan.1
a media plan. As we explained in Chapter 8, reach is the percentage of a medium’s audience that is
exposed at least once to the advertiser’s message during a specific time frame. The media
planner calculates the reach of a media schedule according to research estimates that fore¬
cast the unduplicated audience. To see how the reach calculation could work in television,
we use a simplified scenario. Our fictional television market of Hometown, U.S.A., has
only 10 television households. The table below reports a television survey that shows home
viewing for The David Letterman Show. The viewing survey is for four weeks, during
which the commercial ran once each week.
Viewing Homes/Week for The David Letterman Show

Total Household
Home Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Viewing
1 TV - TV TV 3
2 - TV - IV 2
3 TV - - -
1
4 - TV - - 1
5 - TV TV TV 3
6 - - - - 0
7 - - - TV 1
8 TV TV TV -
3
9 TV - TV —
2
10 - - - - 0
Viewing/week 4 4 4 4 16
i
Each week four homes viewed The David Letterman Show. Because there are 10
homes in Hometown, the average program rating per week was 4 of 10, or 40 percent. To
be counted as “reached,” a household only has to have the opportunity to view (the set is on
and tuned to the right channel) one episode, and 8 of the 10 homes did that during the
week. The reach during the four-week period, therefore, is 8 of 10, or 80 percent.
The Frequency Objective

While the reach estimate is based on only a single exposure, frequency, the rate of expo¬
sure, estimates the number of times the exposure is expected to happen. To estimate the
frequency of a schedule, planners use two methods: a shorthand summary called average
frequency and the frequency distribution method, which shows the percentage of audi¬
ence reached at each level of repetition (exposed once, twice, and so on).
Average Frequency To figure the average frequency, you need only two numbers:
the gross rating points (GRPs) of a schedule and the reach estimate. (Media planners can
also calculate the average frequency from the gross impressions and the unduplicated
impressions if ratings are not available.) The table below shows readership measures used
to plan the purchase of space in three magazines, including rating and impression values.
Average Frequency Calculation Magazine Schedule

(One Insertion Each)
Magazine Readers = Reach Reader/Issue Rating (GRP) Unduplicated
Today’s Happiness 50,000 50.0 30,000
News Round-Up 40,000 40.0 15,000
Fast-Paced Life 18,000 18.0 11,000
Totals 108,000 108.0 56,000
Target population: 100,000 [ 100,000 represents the total target audience]
Total gross impressions: 108,000
Gross rating points: 108.0
Unduplicated readers: 56,000
Reach: 56.0 (56,000/100,000)
Average frequency: 1.9 issues seen (108,000/56,000 = 1.9) or (108 GRP/56 Reach = 1.9)
The schedule involves three magazines: Today’s Happiness, News Round-Up, and
Fast-Paced Life. Each magazine is listed by its total readership, readers expressed as a per¬
centage (rating), and the number of unduplicated readers (those who do not read either of
the other two magazines). Note that the formula calculations are at the bottom of the table.
Here is the formula that derived the 1.9 average frequency.
Gross rating points

Average frequency =
Reach (%)
or
Gross audience impressions

Average frequency =-:---:-
Unduphcated impressions
Frequency Distribution Average frequency can give the planner a distorted idea of
the plan’s performance. Suppose you had a schedule that meant that the ad could be seen a
maximum of 20 times. If we figured the average from one person who saw 18 and another
who saw 2 exposures, the average would be 10. But 10 exposures aren’t close to the experi¬
ence of either audience member. Most planners who consider frequency tend to calculate fre¬
quency distribution whenever possible. The table on page 300 shows the importance of fre¬
quency distribution for a schedule of three newsmagazines: Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News
& World Report. Each publication is to receive two ad insertions for a total of six advertising
placements. The minimum exposure would be one insertion, and the maximum would be six.
Magazine Frequency Distribution Table

(Based on Three Magazines, Two Issues Each)
Issues Read Readers Target Population (%)
0 44,000 44.0
1 7,000 7.0
2 6,500 6.5
3 20,000 20.0
4 10,600 10.6 )
5 8,200 8.2 > 22.5
6 3,700 3.7 J
Totals 100,000 100.0
56,000 read at least one issue. Reach = 56.0.
The planner who evaluates this distribution might consider changing this schedule for
two reasons: (1) 44 percent of the target audience would not be exposed, and (2) only 22.5
percent would read more than half the scheduled issues (that is, four, five, or six issues).
The frequency distribution method is more revealing, and thus more valuable, than the
average frequency method of reporting repetition.
Effective Frequency
As we have just seen, the reach of an audience alone is not a sufficient measure of an adver¬
tising schedule’s strength. Because of the proliferation of information and clutter, many
media planners believe there should be a threshold, or minimum frequency level, before
they consider an audience segment to have been exposed to the advertising message. This
theory essentially combines the reach and the frequency elements into one factor known as
effective frequency. The idea is that you add frequency to reach until you get to the level
where people respond. Some planners call this effective reach because it is making the reach
level more effective—but it does this by increasing frequency. That’s the reason why we call
it effective frequency in this book. Even though this approach is widely used by the industry,
there is still concern about the most appropriate method of calculating effective frequency.2
Consider This
1. How are reach and frequency objectives calculated?
2. What is effective frequency, and why is it important?
MEDIA STRATEGIES
Through media strategy media planners determine the most cost-effective media mix that
will reach the target audience and satisfy the media objectives. Strategic thinking in media
involves a set of decision factors and tools that help identify the best way to deliver the
advertising message.
Delivering on the Objectives

Strategies are designed to deliver on the media objectives, to deliver the right level of expo¬
sure in terms of reach and frequency. In terms of a media strategy, some plans might
emphasize reach while others emphasize frequency, but it’s also possible to work for a bal¬
ance of both. A high-reach strategy, for example, might be used to deliver a reminder mes¬
sage for a well-known mass-marketed brand or to launch a new product, particularly if it is
a fairly easy-to-understand product extension of an existing brand. The wider the market,
the greater the need for a high-reach strategy, but regardless of the breadth of the market,
reach is the first and most important objective. If you don’t reach the right people, then it
doesn’t matter how many times the ad runs.
In terms of frequency, a general rule of thumb is that it takes three to four exposures
for a message to sink in. However, that varies with the type of product and marketing situ¬
ation. Low-frequency strategies are used with well-known brands and simple messages.
Some argue that advertising for established brands need only be seen once in the immedi¬
ate prepurchase period to have an effect.3 High-frequency strategies might be used because
you want to build excitement about a new product or an upcoming event. More complex
messages also may need more repetition. If you are advertising Coke at 99 cents you don’t
need to repeat it a lot, but if you are trying to explain something new like how TiVo works,
then you may need more frequency. Frequency is also used to counter competitive offers,
as well as build the brand’s share of voice in a highly cluttered category.
The strategic thinking challenge is to come up with ideas about how the objectives
will be accomplished. If the objective is a reach of 80 percent and a weekly frequency of
15, then how can you best accomplish that? These strategies generally include decisions
that focus on who (target audience), what (the media used), when (time frame), how long
(duration), and how big (size). In this section on media strategy, we’ll discuss these strate¬
gies in terms of the target audience, the media mix, and scheduling.
Target Audience Strategies

The media plan implements the targeting strategy by findings ways to reach the target
audience in the most efficient way possible. Consider all the different types of audiences
that can be reached just with magazines. Now add the varieties of cable channels, network
programs, newspapers, and so forth. You can see how important it is to effectively match a
medium’s audience to the target audience.
For the new Archipelago exchange, the Fallon media planners had a fairly specific
profile—one that suggested the target audience would be difficult to reach with conven¬ Principle
tional media. They don’t sit around and watch a lot of television. They do talk a lot to one The tighter the focus on a target
another, so anything that can get them to talk about Archipelago would help make the market, the easier it is to find
brand hard to ignore. The breadth of the target, as defined in the advertising plan, deter¬ appropriate media to deliver a
mines whether the media planner will be using a broad mass-media approach or a tightly relevant message.
targeted and highly focused approach, as in the Archipelago case. For Archipelago the
early morning Open Show on CNBC, supplemented with posters in the Wall Street area,
were enough to reach the audience. The tighter the focus, the easier it is to find appropriate
media to deliver a relevant and focused message.
Assessing the media for target audience opportunities is a major challenge for media Advertisers look at the
planners. The evening news on television, for example, reaches a broad mass-market audi¬ audience, geographic
coverage, demographics, and
ence, but if your target is women age 25-49, then you have to consider the targeted reach
editorial diversity of magazines
of that news program. Obviously both men and women watch news, so if you find that a
as criteria for advertising
news program has a rating of 6 (households with sets on), then you know that your audi¬
feasibility in a media plan.
ence would probably be half of that. (It’s probably
less than half if you consider that there are older
and younger women also included in that rating.)
So maybe the evening news isn’t a very good
option to reach this target because there would be
so much waste in the viewing audience.
That’s why planners consult research services
like MRI to find programs that reach a large pro¬
portion of the target audience. In most cases, no one
program or publication will reach the target per¬
fectly (although the CNBC morning show came
close to reaching all of the targeted audience for
Archipelago). Finding connections like this based
on matching consumer insights and media informa¬
tion is one of the creative aspects of the media plan¬
ner’s role, a challenge that is discussed in the
Matter of Practice box.
Polaroid Zones In
■ ■ ■ When Polaroid cameras came on the scene years ago,

t'jpi
everyone loved them. They provided instant gratification—
just shoot and watch the photograph develop. While the
traditional 600-series instant camera remains the com¬
pany's cornerstone, Polaroid made a decision that it
needed to target new users and introduce new products if
it was going to grow.
Its marketing objective was to target Generation Y
(21 and under) with a new image-creation technology. The
strategy began in Japan in late 1997 as a low-cost plastic
camera that was an instant hit with females age 12-26.
Still, research indicated that that version of the camera
was not ready for a global market. Most notably, it could
shoot in focus at only 2.5 feet. Polaroid hired an industrial
de-sign firm to redesign the camera. The result was a
pocket-size camera called the 1-Zone that takes instant
photo booth-size pictures that you can stick anywhere—
on phones, T-shirts, and so on. At a cost of $17.99, it
comes in four funky colors (see www.i-zone.com).
Polaroid's biggest challenge was reaching the tar¬
geted teenagers (primarily girls) at the optimal time. The
company knew that teenagers used a host of electronic
devices, including cell phones, pagers, and e-mail. These
devices satisfied the teens' needs for independence and
social interaction. Now the question was how to tell these
teenagers that the 1-Zone fit into their world.
The initial media strategy used both traditional and
nontraditional media. It was also quite systematic. Initially,
How well did the campaign work? Overall, the initial
five TV spots were produced. The nontraditional strategy
campaign was highly successful, selling 1.49 million I-
was to use e-mails, instant messaging, and Web advertis¬
Zone cameras and 3.1 million 1-Zone films the first year. It
ing before the TV campaign hit. The TV campaign was a
became America's best-selling camera and had built a 7.9
series of 30-second spots on programs with a high teen
percent market share with the nearest competitor having a
viewership, such as Dawson's Creek an d Sabrina the
3.8 percent share. Most importantly, 83 percent of sales
Teenage Witch. Complementing the broadcast TV, the com¬
were among females 1 3 to 17 years old. With this kind of
pany used Channel One television to reach teens at school.
success, you can see why the 1-Zone campaign was an
Polaroid courted teen celebrity endorsements before
EFFIE award winner.
the 1-Zone was released by sending complimentary cam¬
eras to Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and the
Consider This
Backstreet Boys. Polaroid also sponsored tours by the o-
Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and a mall tour with 1. Explain what made this media plan effective.
Nobody's Angel—all of this to get cameras into the hands 2. Polaroid has learned that its target audient has a short
of teenage girls while providing a link between product attention span and it needs new media strategies to effi¬
and stars. ciently reach this market. What would you recommend?
Additional target information used by media planners includes consumer media use,
geography, and their consumption patterns.
• Media Use. The consumer research used in targeting and segmenting almost always
asks for information about what media people use, as well as what other activities engage
their time. Media planners have realized for some time that people are moving away from
traditional media, such as broadcast TV, daily newspapers, and consumer magazines, and
spending more time with cable TV, home video, video games, and the Internet. They also
Total Brodcast Television

Total Cable and Satellite TV
Total TV Changes in Consumer Media Use
Broadcast and Satellite Radio (2001-2003)

Source: “Media Blitzed,” American
Recorded Music
Demographics, February 2004, p. 41. © Veronis
Consumer Internet Suhler Stevenson. Reprinted with permission of

American Demographics.
Daily Newspapers
Consumer Magazines
Consumer Books
Home Video
Video Games
Box Office
2002 | 2003 ■
are concerned that people seem to be spending more time traveling and enjoying such
leisure-time activities as cruises, both of which limit media use. Figure 11.4 summarizes
how consumer media use changed from 2001 to 2003.
• Geography. Another factor planners use in analyzing the target audience is geography.
Are potential customers found all over the country (therefore calling for a national cam¬
paign), and does the client have the budget to afford such an extensive media plan? In most
cases, the media plan will identify special regions or cities to be emphasized with a heavy-
up schedule, which means proportionately more of the budget is spent in those areas. The
company’s sales geography is one factor used to make this decision; there’s no sense
advertising in areas where the product isn’t available. Most national or regional marketers
divide their market geographically. The amount of sales produced in each geographic mar¬
ket will often vary, and marketers try to match advertising investment with the amount of
forecasted sales.
• Consumption Patterns. If General Mills were to bring out a new line of grits, it wouldn’t
advertise nationally as most of the consumption of grits occurs in the South. A category
development index (CDI) is calculated for various categories, which is an index of the rel¬
ative consumption rate of a product in a particular market. Similarly a brand development
index (BDI) is an index of the consumption rate of a brand in a particular market. The CDI
tells you where the category is strong and weak and the BDI tells you where a particular
brand is strong and weak. There are different strategies for dealing with these levels and
they have implications for the media mix and schedule. Planners typically don’t make heavy
allocations in weak sales areas unless strong marketing signals indicate significant growth
potential. Conversely, strong sales markets may not receive proportional increases in adver¬
tising unless clear evidence suggests that company sales can go much higher with greater
advertising investment.
Media Mix Selection

We mentioned earlier that you rarely can reach your entire target audience with just one
medium. Perhaps a small-business owner may find a directory ad to be sufficient, but most
organizations need a variety of ways—a media mix—to get their messages out to their cus¬
tomers. Why bother with a media mix—why not just pick the best medium and use it? Using
a number of media distributes the message more widely because different media tend to
have different audience profiles. Some people even reject certain media: Television adver-
Consumer Attitudes and

Marketing Spending, 2002
Consumer Attitudes and Media Type

Advertising Spending
Percentage of Estimated Percentage of
Consumers consider print and
customers spending customers
television advertising to be most (in Millions annoyed by...
who trust...
trustworthy.
Print Ads
Source: S. Lawrence, “Numbers: The
Medium Shapes the Message,” Business 2.0
(July 2003): 32.
Direct Mail
21% $415,024 31%
Outdoor Ads
20% $5,200 11%
Paid Search-Engine Listings
14% $480 29%

Infomercials/Shopping Channels
9% $22,729 39%
Web Site Banner Ads
rising, for example, is considered intrusive and Internet advertising is irritating to some
people.4 Believability is a factor. Print and television, for example, are considered more
trustworthy,5 as Figure 11.5 shows, so they might be used by a media planner for a campaign
that seeks to establish credibility for a product. Different media also have different strengths
in terms of reach and frequency. For example, a media planner may use television to build
reach and radio to build frequency. Planners also try to create a synergistic effect between
the messages delivered in different media. This is called image transfer and refers to the
way radio, in particular, reinforces and recreates the message in a listener’s mind.
In general, however, media selection is based on message needs. Here is where media
planning and message planning overlap. Brand reminders, for example, are often found in
television commercials and on billboards. More complex information-laden messages are
more likely to be found in magazines, direct mail, or publicity releases. If you want to
stimulate immediate action, you might use newspapers, radio, or sales promotion offers.
Media Weighting Media planners often use a decision criterion called weighting to
help them decide how much to budget. For example, if a media planner is advertising dis¬
posable contact lenses, there might be two segments to consider: the consumer and the eye
doctor who makes the recommendation. If the strategy is to encourage the consumer to ask
the doctor about the product (a pull strartegy), the planner might recommend putting more
emphasis on consumer publications than on professional journals for eye doctors. A weight¬
ing strategy, then, might be to put 60 percent of the budget on consumers and 40 percent on
doctors. Weighting strategies can be designed to show the relative proportion of media activ¬
ity in terms of any number of factors, such as seasonality, geography, or audience segment.
Computer Optimization Modeling Media mix

modeling is a computer technique that enables marketers
to determine the precise impact of the media plan on prod¬
uct sales and optimize the efficiency of the media mix.6
The development of this optimization software began in
the packaged goods sector as a result of the supermarket
scanner systems. An example of one optimization model
came about through the partnering of McCann-Erickson
Worldwide and Media Plan, a developer of media plan¬
ning software and systems. They created a media alloca¬
tion software system code named MediaFX. The system
can create an unlimited number of media combinations
and then simulate the sales produced by each. The media
planner can then make intelligent decisions, given factors
such as budget, timing, and so forth.
Size, Length, and Position In addition to select¬

ing the media to use, a media planner also identifies the
appropriate size and length that the message will run in
each medium. This question of scope and scale applies to
all media—even transit advertising. The size or length
chosen should relate to the advertising objectives. If the
objective is to educate the target audience through a great
deal of technical information, a full-page ad or a 60-
second spot might be necessary. However, a 10-second
spot might be sufficient to create name recognition.
Positioning research (where to place an ad on a page or in
a pod or group of TV spots) suggests that within a print
medium the inside cover and first few pages have slightly This photo illustrates the use of
better readership, placement of compatible stories adjacent to an ad may enhance its effect, transit advertising—in this case
and having many competing ads on the same page detracts from its effectiveness. a panel on the top of a taxi—
to promote the Wall Street
Journal. The media plan would
Cost Efficiency: CPM and CPP give direction to the decisions
Advertisers don’t always evaluate the media mix in terms of audience impressions. about the size of the sign and
the duration of its appearance.
Sometimes the decision comes down to cold, hard cash. The advertiser wants prospects
and not just readers, viewers, or listeners; therefore, advertisers should compare the cost of
each proposed media vehicle with the specific vehicle’s ability to deliver the target audi¬
ence. The cheapest vehicle may not deliver the highest percentage of the target audience,
so the selection process is a balancing act.
The process of measuring the target audience size against the cost of that audience is
based on calculations of efficiency—more popularly referred to as cost per thousand
(CPM), which is an estimate of the cost to expose 1,000 audience members, and cost per
point (CPP), which is a method of comparing media vehicles by relating the cost of the
message to the audience rating. Typically, media specialists make these calculations and
provide them to the account executive or the advertiser. Anyone working in advertising
should understand what CPM or CPP represents.
• Cost Per Thousand. It is best to use CPM analysis to compare vehicles within one
medium (one magazine with another or one television program with another). It is also
important to base it only on the portion of the audience that has the target characteristics,
such as women between the ages of 25 and 34. This is called the targeted cost-per-thousand.
To calculate the CPM you need only two figures: the costs of the unit (say time on TV or
space in a magazine) and the estimated target audience reached by the program. We divide
the cost of the unit by the target audience’s gross impressions to determine the advertising
dollars needed to expose 1,000 members (because it’s cost per thousand) of the target.
Cost of message unit

CPM X 1,000
Gross impressions
M pvrT 3 • BWfCTWt AibVfWtSNG
>a,-o < -o ,wo e\, v.o'.es that show !v\\ o' calculate tTMs foi magazines and television
,\Vvg..'. ",N
• \' ssr.oo: 'o mage. me has UYti*0.tXV •.-cadets who could he considered
in^ audience, Ihe advertising unu in a torn color plg( and Us rale is $42,000. To
o,;. cv eve ,:v vTM
Yost os page oi nacuott.u page rant

vTV X 1,000
Target audience renders
$ ■ ' 000 \ UW
$ ••
UUbMOO
* MtvfedMlx The show h'.\^k v • has o VAX' target viewers The cost of a 30-second
a.- v. .wv.v.v dtnmg the show ts SS50
$850 \
O'M N>' ' ,
o;.txv
. > . X So . • e:> pne o o . 0 " ■ . v. . o \ the basis of rating points

(ratings) instead of impressions Although K'th efficiency calculations are used, planners
a\o hv OT Kvar.NO o: ;o Mmpncox The oa'.or.'.ar.or. > parallel to CPM with one excep¬
tion; The denominate s «rating pe v e itage rather than the total impressions. (Note:
:x\vrvoC:T n o. or.r. .tied on a pet ;>o;:n.-v :v.n n. we do nos multiply by 1.000.) If the
..vget aav.c-.ve rating sot the ptogram ikw ;> was 12,0 and the cost was still $850,
. V v":":' wot o. Sv SSO '. o: S ‘0 S '
Cost of message unit

I'rogram ot issue rating
oo.h ,:v cTM ami the YIT ate telaroe values Plannets would not know whether
'•. - ..' CT*N .- $ ' n. „ uod or Ktd unless they haveeompaiable figures for Time
a-.-; > \. • ' A x.' . v \Uhough we can use these efficiency analyses across
. e medium to another), w e make sueh comparisons carefully. When
oo ' r ; v CPMs . . n . ul teles ston o e\. epic w e are comparing very differ
e '. ... ve e\.vt .e tees. ami voaee t':v ev.vn.en.ee :s totally different, it is difficult to say
v.. o v ... ' ore e c-.cn.t tan the othc x I'M and tW ate more valid when used
. . . . w uhnm a medium. For example, compare v v 18 o' audience
washing teko § o on a Thursday night in 2004. The top-rated Friends costs about $24 per
AY • won ,o reach that .unhenee Ot you cvnmi pax $11 and reach the same audience
' a,so, show. Obviouslythe unrated show is more expensive for
o . osaaie .. a. tenee. K . max be wtesilmg tans ate close: so y our target audience. In that
xva», then, dv CPX1 re sy or drat x ouNe found a bargain using \\ \\ E Smackdow n.' it all
. v \tN on how x o. x a defined the target audience
Svht=>dulinq Strategies
.. en -g b; ogeiN were r. il muted. most companies would advertise every day. Not
ges . . Nets a • V.N tVNf.ton. 'O naan-. planners manipulate schedules in
various ways to create the strongest possible impact given the budget Three scheduling
stemegfes ins n .a. ig duration of exposure, and continuity of exposure.
liming Strategies W hen to advertise can be based on seasons, months, or parts of

. . .vv mag decisions telate fo factors sueh as seasonality, holidays, days of
- of day. hoxx often the product is bought, whether it is used more in some
HtiaUhs than in otters . consumer's best aperture, and competitors' advertising sched-
- ' - - - c. ' ' eo '.n ha .■. ... a : ana continuity.
• :>amcnw He*, .'eye hot now many weeks ot' the year or the campaign should the
• • smg ran'. . . n. aa. tocoxe v.on: o the w aeks. tha advertising will bespread
Pulsing Option Flighting Option
The Continuity Strategies of

Pulsing and Flighting
Pulsing continuity strategies means
ads run all the time, sometimes more
often than not. A flighting continuity
Campaign Time Campaign Time strategy means ads alternate between
running intensely for a period and
then not at all for a period.
rather thin. If the amount of time to cover is limited, advertising can be concentrated more
heavily. Message scheduling is often driven by consumer use cycles, especially for prod¬
ucts and services that demand high usage rates, such as candy and gum, fast-food restau¬
rants, and movies. In general, if you cannot cover the whole year, you should heavy up the
schedule in higher-purchase periods. For example, movie marketers do most of their news¬
paper advertising on the weekends, when most people go to movies.
Another question is how much is enough: At what point does the message make its
point? If the advertising period is too short or there are too few repetitions, then the mes¬
sage may have little or no impact. If the period is too long, then the ad may suffer from
wearout, which means the audience gets tired of it and stops paying attention.
The concept of lead time is also relevant. It has two meanings of interest to us. It
refers to the amount of time allowed before the beginning of the sales period to reach peo¬
ple when they are just beginning to think about seasonal buying. Back-to-school advertis¬
ing is an example. Advertising typically starts in July or early August for a school calendar
that begins in late August or September. Lead time also refers to the production time
needed to get the advertisement into the medium. There is a long lead time for magazines,
but it is shorter for local media, such as newspapers and radio.
• Continuity: How Often. Continuity refers to the way the advertising is spread over the
length of a campaign. A continuous strategy spreads the advertising evenly over the cam¬
paign. Planners who cannot afford or do not want continuous scheduling have two other
methods to consider: pulse patterns and flight patterns, as shown in Figure 11.6.
A pulsing strategy is designed to intensify advertising before an open aperture and
then to reduce advertising to much lower levels until the aperture opens again. The pulse
pattern has peaks and valleys, also called bursts. Fast-food companies such as McDonald’s
and Burger King use pulsing patterns. Although the competition for daily customers sug¬
gests continuous advertising, chains of such restaurants will greatly intensify activity to
accommodate special events such as new menu items, merchandise premiums, and con¬
tests. Pulsed schedules cover most of the year, but still provide periodic intensity.
A flighting strategy is the most severe type of continuity adjustment. It is character¬
ized by alternating periods of intense advertising activity and periods of no advertising
(hiatus). This on-and-off schedule allows for a longer campaign without making the adver¬
tising schedule too light. The hope in using nonadvertising periods is that the consumers
will remember the brand and its advertising for some time after the ads have stopped.
Figure 11.7 illustrates this awareness change. The jagged line represents the rise and fall of
consumer awareness of the brand. If the flight strategy works, there will be a carryover
Consumer Awareness Levels

in a Flighting Strategy
By using a flighting strategy,
advertisers hope that there will
be a carryover effect, meaning
consumers will remember the
product during advertising
downtimes.
effect of past advertising that means consumers will remember the product across the gap
until the next advertising period begins. The critical decision involves analyzing the decay
level, the rate at which memory of the advertising is forgotten.^
The Media Flowchart The strategy for meeting time and duration requirements
calls for a balance between the available advertising dollars and the length of the cam¬
paign. After the schedule has been worked out in terms of what media run when and for
how long, these decisions are plotted on a media flowchart. Across the top is the calendar
for the period of the campaign and down the side is the list of media to be used in this cam¬
paign. Bars are then drawn across the calendar that identify the exact timing of the use of
various media. When the chart is complete, strategies such as pulsing and flighting are
easy to observe.
The Media Budget

Media planning begins and ends with the budget. An initial assessment of the amount of
money available (small budget, large budget) determines what kinds of media can be used.
A small-budget campaign, for example, may not be able to afford television as it is the
most costly of all media. A small budget may also dictate that the campaign be local or lim¬
ited to a few areas, rather than trying to be national. As the Inside Story explains, small
budgets are a creative challenge for media planners.
At the end of the planning process, after the media mix has been determined, the
media planner will allocate the budget among the various media chosen. The most com¬
mon format used to present the media allocation decisions is a pie chart that clearly shows
the various media being used in proportion to the amount being spent on each medium.
Global Media Planning

Advertising practitioners can debate global theories of advertising, but one fact is
inescapable: Global media do not currently exist. Television can transmit the Olympics
around the globe, but no one network controls this global transmission. The closest we
come to that is CNN, but even it doesn’t reach everywhere and other national and regional
news channels, such as BBC, challenge it for dominance. An advertiser seeking global
exposure, therefore, must deal with different networks in different countries.
Satellite transmission now places advertising in many homes, but its availability is not
universal because of the footprint (coverage area of the satellite), the technical limitations,
and the regulations of transmission by various governments. Satellites beam signals to
more than one country in Europe, the Asian subcontinent, North America, and the Pacific,
but they are regional, not global, in coverage.
Despite its regional limitation, satellite transmission is still an enormous factor in the
changing face of international advertising. The reach of satellite stations is based on a
foundation of shared language, which is making national borders increasingly irrelevant in
international markets.
The North American, European, Asian, and Latin American markets are becoming
saturated with cable TV companies offering an increasing number of international net¬
works. Such broadcasters include the hugely successful Latin American networks of
Univision and Televisa, whose broadcasts can be seen in nearly every Spanish-speaking
market, including the United States. One of Univision’s most popular programs, Sabado
Giganta, is seen by tens of millions of viewers in 16 countries.
Star TV, with an audience spanning 38 countries including Egypt, India, Japan,
Indonesia, and Russia’s Asian provinces, was the first to reach this market of an estimated
2.7 billion people. It was closely followed by CNN and ESPN. Sky Channel, a U.K.-based
network, offers satellite service to most of Europe, giving advertisers the opportunity to
deliver a unified message across the Continent. The expansion of satellite television makes
it possible to distribute a standardized message to extensive audiences, the potential of
which presents international advertisers with new and unique challenges and powerfully
enticing rewards.
Tiir in
SIDE STORY
The Reality of Budget Cuts
Heather Beck, Media Coordinator Stern, Advertising, Cleveland, Ohio
It is common to hear about budget cuts in able suburban papers were a better choice. How many of
today's economy, but that doesn't make it our client's customers would we reach? It turned out that
any easier to plan accordingly. It's also newspaper advertising would be effective in most of the
commonly true that one of the first areas to client's markets. We also found that radio could be rela¬
lose money is the advertising budget. tively affordable and effective in some smaller markets.
Recently, we had a client cut their budgets significantly Another key is maintaining relationships with all
(about 30 percent off an already minimal figure). To top it media vendors so that we can negotiate contracts. Almost
off, they did so at the last possible minute to get the year's all newspapers have "bulk contracts" that give a lower cost
media plans in order. This left us with the seemingly impos¬ per inch rate if the client agrees to run a certain amount of
sible task of putting together an all-new media plan with advertising throughout the year. However, when you have
only a fraction of the money to work with. We had one a strong relationship with a sales representative of a paper,
week to do what normally would take at least two months. he or she can sometimes offer a bulk rate, even if you will
The first and probably most important factor we had on not run enough advertising to cover the minimum. This can
our side was research. We had already done most of the sometimes save enough money to run a few extra ads that
research for the year during our regular planning schedule. the client might not have been able to afford otherwise.
To keep the information organized, we have flowcharts set Every dollar counts. The same thing goes for other media.
up for all of the markets that our client is in (about 150 Having a client who advertises in several markets will ben¬
major markets, plus some smaller submarkets). On those efit contracts with national vendors, such as Valassis or
flowcharts, we list the major advertising options (TV, radio, Advo, who send out the sales paper packets you often see
newspaper, direct mail, etc.), as well as their costs. Using in the middle of newspapers or on their own in the mail¬
Excel, we can enter formulas that will automatically add box. If you buy in bulk for several markets, you can send
costs together and subtract from the budget so that we can out inserts for a low average cost per thousand.
easily keep track of the money spent and/or still available. There are various ways to cut costs and get the most
The next thing we had to think about was what media advertising for each dollar. You should always be pre¬
our client could realistically afford with the new budget. pared, however, for drastic budget cuts and having very
Although they had done a good deal of TV and radio in little time to change media plans. Stay up-to-date on all
the past, we had to explain to them that it would just not be research, including customer response to previous ads and
feasible with little money. We had to weigh the options. vendor changes (rates, circulation, etc.). Keep all this infor¬
They could either waste the money running a TV campaign mation well organized, and use a program like Excel to
for only a few weeks out of the year, with nothing to back it track and access the data quickly and easily.
up, or they could advertise in a more affordable medium,
A graduate of the advertising program at Middle Tennessee State, Heather L.
such as newspapers, and be able to spread their advertis¬
Beck has been a media coordinator since March 2001 with Stern Advertis¬
ing dollars a little more throughout the year. We had to ing, a Cleveland-based agency, which is a member of the Integer Group,
refer back to the data gathered in previous years on the an Omnicom company. Some accounts handled by the agency include
effectiveness of newspaper advertising for this particular McDonald's (regional), Pearle Vision, Things Remembered, Ohio Lottery,
and Kay Jewelers.
client. We also had to see whether a market's main large
newspaper was effective, or if the smaller but more afford¬ Nominated by Professor Edd Applegate, Middle Tennessee State University
After this review of media planning, let’s stop for a moment and look at how a media
plan comes together, focusing on a plan constructed for Pizza Hut. After this discussion,
we’ll turn our attention to media buying and explain how a plan is executed.
Consider This
1. What are the key media strategy decisions found in a media plan?
2. If a media planner wants to reach a person like you (that is, you are in the
target audience), plot out the media research needed in order to make key
media strategy decisions. In other words, what does the media planner
need to know about people like you?
310 PART 3 * EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA
A SAMPLE MEDIA PLAN FOR PIZZA HUT

Media plans do not have a universal form, but there is a common (and logical) pattern to
the decision stages. To illustrate a style of presentation in a real-life setting, we use an
actual media plan (excerpted with disguised numbers) from a Pizza Hut national media
plan. Let’s briefly explore each major section in this plan.
Situation and Consumer Analysis

The background and situation analysis is the marketing perspective we discussed at the
beginning of the chapter. Pizza Hut’s overview discusses media options and opportuni¬
ties to narrowly target consumers using niche channels and programs. It also describes
the target audiences, their psychographics, and the best way to reach these audiences.
This overview is an analysis that sees media ownership consolidation as a marketing
opportunity.
Pizza Hut Media Plan Overview
• Pizza Hut’s Background/Situation Analysis. The turn of the century saw an explosion of
media choices for consumers. On the positive side, Pizza Hut can now narrowly target its con¬
sumers using these niche channels and programs.
• Occasion-based Marketing. Research shows that Pizza Hut is a strong brand with the 40-
plus age group, who make “food-focused” dinner decisions. The groups where Pizza Hut has
not maximized its share of occasions are the Echo Boomers and Generation X groups, age 20
to 40, who make decisions based on functional needs. These needs are reflected predomi¬
nantly by two types of occasions.
“Pressure Cooker” occasions are driven by impulse orders, dominated by moms who are
looking for a dinner solution that appeals to kids (cheese pizza) with a good price point. They
make dinner decisions between 4 and 8 p.m. with 56 percent of decisions made within one
hour of dinner. Solutions to the meal dilemma should be presented during dinnertime broad¬
cast TV and family-focused cable. Because mom is also found in her car coming home from
work, going to soccer practice or piano lessons, or running her errands, radio can put Pizza
Hut in her mind at the right time.
The “Hanging Out” occasion skews heavily toward the 18 to 24 age group, who think of eat¬
ing pizza as part of a social occasion. High-profile programming such as late-night television,
MTV, ESPN, and sports capture the heart of the need-state. Alternative rock and young country
radio stations are also important pieces of the media makeup of these young adults.
Media Objectives and Aperture Strategies

The Pizza Hut advertising objectives concentrate on brand awareness, reaching the target
audience, and integrating national and local media plans.
The Media Mix

The strategy section of the media plan explains why a single medium or set of media is
appropriate for the campaign objectives. For the television portion of the Pizza Hut cam¬
paign, shown in Figure 11.9, the planner cannot be assured of program availability or spe¬
cific pricing in television except for major events such as an NFL Pregame Super Bowl
sponsorship. As a result, the strategies deal with specifics where possible and omit detail
when the specific media vehicle hasn’t been identified. For simplicity’s sake, we show
excerpts from the TV and Internet media strategies and omit the print and co-op radio
strategies with local franchisees.
Pizza Hut National Media Objectives
• Establish a Pizza Hut Presence. Maintain top-of-mind awareness.
• Create Highly Visible Launch Platforms. Build broad research for new products/big events. Pizza Hut Media Plan
Research findings are a part of Pizza
• Reach Heavy Pizza Users Target. Ensure important male targets are reached, and balance
Hut’s media plan specifics.
age 18-34 and 35-49 demographic deliveries.
• integrate National and Local Media Plans. Provide option windows to address local needs.
Pizza Hut’s Media Plan Objectives spotlight research findings about media apertures that
shaped its media plan, as we see in Figure 11.8. Other aperture strategies include the following:
• Launches that will build broad reach for new products and big events using a strategy of 80
percent reach with a frequency of four times per week.
• Using national media covering the NFL and the NCAA, which ensures that male targets are
reached.
• A balanced delivery between adults aged 18 to 35 and 35 to 49 through focus on net¬

work broadcast media and programs that target the echo boomers (children of baby
boomers).
I. How This Media Plan Changes the World

Product-focused Advertising Occasion-Focused Advertising
• With products
• How does product fill need?
Media Planning • How does Pizza Hut fill a need?
■*- Monday—Thursday 4:00-8:00 P.M.
to drive sales
• What works?
• TV, radio, outdoor, Internet
Media Buying ■>- Sales, Not Cost Per Point
• Direct Response
• Segmented Media
Spending Strategy An Important Decision
II. Media That Assault the Traditional Category:

No Longer Adults 18-49
Target Audience Demographics Purpose
Pressure Cooker -- Women 25-34 with Kids Direct Response
Hanging Out --► Adults 18-24 Direct Response
Night Off --► Women 25-34 with Kids Direct Response
Craving --► Adults 18-49 Awareness
III. Research
Highly developed among 40+ ■*- Echo/Generation X: 20-40
Underdeveloped
Traditionally a $12 billion ■>- Heart of 20-40 demographics
category
New target based on need Pressure Cooker (Moms)
Hanging Out (Young)
Decision time an opportunity 68% of decisions 4:00-8:00 PM.
56% within 12 hours of meal
Budget down 30%, TRPs We have enough money
down 25%
The Flowchart: Scheduling and Budgeting Allocation

Figure 11.10 illustrates most of the media recommendations. It uses graphics to show the
month-by-month placement of messages, detail the anticipated impact through forecasted
levels of GRPs, and illustrate how the campaign budget is allocated by medium and by
month. In a concise fashion, the flowchart is the template for the media mix.
I. National TV Media Strategy

A. Establish a Pizza Hut Presence
Pizza Hut TV and Internet
Media Strategies • Own the SCAA: Basketball 15 Weeks
Here Pizza Hut lays out how it • Own Fox NFL: Pregame Sponsorship 20 Weeks
plans to advertise on TV and • ESPN and Fox Cable Sports: Sports Show Feature 32 Weeks
Internet media.
• Cable Stretch: Own Tuesday Night Pizza Occasions 32 Weeks
Enhancement
• CBS NFL Pregame Sponsorship 10 Weeks
• Shared with KFC, but locks out Domino’s!
B. Create Highly Visible Launch Platforms for Big New Yorker and Star
Wars Event
• Roadblocks
• Network Strips
• Highly Visible Programming
• 1 Week Reach 80% with a 4 Frequency
Enhancement
• Leverage Tricon Partners Inventory to Achieve These Goals for Star Wars
C. Reach Heavy Pizza User Target
• Continue Leveraging Sports to Ensure Male/Female Balance and Target Key

Pizza Consumption Occasions
Enhancement
• Target Echo Boomers/Generation X to Balance 18-24 and 25-34

with 35-49
• Increased mix of Fox and Warner Brothers
• Cable focus on USA, TNT, F/X, El, and Comedy Central

D. Integrate National and Local Media Plans
• Provide Local Option Windows
• When on Air Nationally Have Sufficient Prime/Sports/Cable So That Co-ops Do

Not Have to Buy Premium Programming
II. The Brave New World: Internet

America’s Online: 70.5 Million Adults
USA Today, August 27, 2000

ESPNet SportsZone: A Toe in the Water
• 300 Million E-mailed Coupons
• Special Coupon Offer Just for Internet?
Pizza Hut Must Become More Active
• Using Our Website
• Investments That Facilitate Internet Ordering

• Advertising More Effectively
1999 PLANNING TEMPLATE
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
|Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Period 4 | Period 5 | Period 6 I Period 7 I Period 8 I Period 9 Period 10 Period 11 Period 12 Period 13
De January February March April May June July Auqust Se ptember October November December
Monday Dates 121 281 4 111118125 1 | 8 |15|22 1 | 8 115 22 291 5 112119 261 3 110117124 311 7 |14|21 281 5 112119 26| 2 | 9 I16I231 30 6 |13120 271 4 |11|18 25 1 | 8 115 22 291 6 113120
Xmas Bowl NFL Sup Fnl Estr Mem Jul | Lbr Hwe Tks Xma
Key Events Gms POs ôwl 4 Chmp | Day 4th Day gvn
National Topic Big NY | Big NY TBD Star Wars Star Wars Big NY TBD TBD
NETWORK
Product :30/;15 630 | 475 | 440 530 | 420 445 600 | 425 3,965
Promo :30 Only | 160 30 25 85 3| 335
Kids 6-11 (A18-49 20 index) 500 600 500 320

4,620
SPOT TV
Product 800 600 400 400 700 r~ 600 500 | 700 | 400 700 400 400 6,600
TOTAL TV 960 I 1230 875 940 1 730 | 1202 968 725 | 845 885 1000 ~825 [35
SPOT RADIO 400 400 | 300 | | 300 | [ 300 1 | 300 2,000
Monday Dates [21 28| 4 ill |18|25 1 1 8 115122 1 | 8 |15|22 291 5 112119 261 3 110117124 311 7 114121 281 5 112119 261 2 1 9 |16|23 30| 6 |13|20 271 4 111118 25| 1 | 8 115122 291 6 113| 20
De January February March April May June July August September October November December
Pizza Hut Media-Planning Template

Pizza Hut’s media-planning template maps out month-by-month placement of ads, as well as their expected gross rating points.
Consider This
1. What is the key problem and opportunity this media plan grapples
with?
2. Explain how the specific media plan decisions deliver on the
objectives.
MEDIA BUYING
The media plan is a recommendation that the client must approve before any further steps
are taken. In fact, planning is only the first stage in advertising media operations. Once the
plan directions are set, media buyers convert objectives and strategies into tactical deci¬
sions. They select, negotiate, and contract for the time and space in media. In this section
we explain how the media buyer makes the media plan come to life. A media buyer has dis¬
tinct responsibilities as outlined in Figure 11.11.
Media Buying Specifics Principle

Media buyers should be consulted
Buying is a complicated process. The American Association of Advertising Agencies
early in planning as they are a
(AAAA) lists no fewer than 21 elements in the authorization for a media buy. In this section,
good source of information on
we examine the most important buyer functions: providing information to media planners, changes in media.
selecting the media, negotiating costs, billing and payment, monitoring the media choices,
evaluating the media choices after the campaign, and handling billing and payment.
• Providing Inside Information. Media buyers are important information sources for
media planners. They are close enough to day-to-day changes in media popularity and pric¬
ing to be a constant source of inside information. For example, a newspaper buyer discovers
that a key newspaper’s delivery staff is going on strike; or a magazine buyer’s source reveals
that the new editor of a publication is going to change the editorial focus dramatically. All of
these things can influence the strategy and tactics of current and future advertising plans.
The Functions of a Media Buyer

Media buyers have six main
responsibilities.
Physical characteristics of a
magazine can affect its ability
to deliver the desired message.
For example, the V8 ad, which
appeared in Readers' Digest,
uses simple visuals and
• Selecting Media Vehicles. The key function of media buying is choosing the best media
minimal copy to accommodate
the smaller page size. Readers' vehicles that fit the target audience’s aperture. The media planner lays out the direction, but
Digest may not be the best the buyer is responsible for choosing the specific vehicles. Armed with the media plan
choice for a complex ad. directives, the buyer seeks answers to a number
of difficult questions: Does the vehicle have the
right audience profile? Will the program’s cur¬
rent popularity increase, stabilize, or decline?
How well does the magazine’s editorial format
GOT THAT DAILY VEGETABLE fit the brand and the message strategy (see the
THING DOWN YET? V8 ad example)? The answers to those ques¬
tions bear directly on the campaign’s success.
• Negotiation. Just as a labor union negotiates

with management for pay raises, security, and
work conditions, so does a media buyer pursue
special advantages for clients. The key ques¬
tions are whether the desired vehicles can be
located and whether a satisfactory schedule and
rates can be negotiated and maintained.
Aside from finding the aperture of target

audiences, nothing is more crucial in media
buying than securing the lowest possible price
for placements. Every medium has a published
rate card but media buyers negotiate special
prices with discounts for volume buys. The
buyer must understand the trade-off between
price received and audience objectives. For
example, a media buyer might be able to get a
Take a shortcut on the road to lower price for 30 commercials on ESPN, but
better eating. Each 12-ounce bottle
Of VS" has more than a full serving part of the deal is that half the spots are sched¬
vegetables, and good things like
A potassium and the antioxidant
P vitamins A & G, Now, it they could
uled with programs that don’t reach the pri¬
just bottle that daily exercise thing.
mary target audience. So the price may not be a
good deal in the long run. Here are some other
negotiation areas:
(
Preferred Positions. Media buyers must bargain

for preferred positions: the locations in print media
such as magazines that offer readership advantages. AW)rld of Meredith
Imagine the value a food advertiser would gain from Merchandising/Sales Support
having its message located in a special recipe section Opportunities
that the homemaker can detach from the magazines for
Wc can also help create a customized merchandLsing/silcs support
permanent use. How many additional exposures might program that maximizes the effectiveness of your advertising
with your sales staff, distributors and dealers. Some of the many
that ad get? Because they are so visible, preferred possibilities:
A Producing special videos for promotional use.
positions often cany a premium surcharge, usually A Using consumer direct mail lists (35 million names in all)
for specialized direct marketing.
10 to 15 percent above standard space rates. A Creating special publicatioas to maintain contact with your
custoiiKTS or with your distribution network.
Extra Support Offers. With the current trend toward A Using Meredith books as consumer premiums or in sales
incentive programs.
using other forms of marketing communication in A Conducting quantitative or altitudinal marketing research.
A Using our real estate network to reach home-buyers.
addition to advertising, buyers often demand additional
These and other programs can be used individually or in
promotional support. These activities, sometimes combination.
called value-added media services, can take any

number of forms, including contests, special events,
merchandising space at stores, displays, and trade-
directed newsletters. The “extra” depends on what
facilities each media vehicle has and how hard the
buyer can bargain. The ad for Meredith Company pro¬
motes a number of its available media service options.
Billing and Payment. Bills from the various media
come in continuously. Ultimately, it is the respon¬
sibility of the advertiser to make these payments.
However, the agency is contractually obligated to pay
the invoice on behalf of the client. Keeping track of
the invoices and paying the bills is the responsibility
of the media buyer in conjunction with the accounting
department.
Monitoring the Media Buy. A media buyer’s responsi¬
Meredith is a large magazine
bility to a campaign does not end with the signing of space and time contracts. The
publishing company. In order to
media buyer is responsible for tracking the performance of the media plan as it is make the sale more attractive,
implemented, as well as afterward as part of the campaign evaluation. Buys are made the company's sales literature
in advance, based on forecasted audience levels. What happens if unforeseen events explains all the ways Meredith
affect scheduling? What if newspapers go on strike, magazines fold, or a television can support the advertising
show is canceled? Buyers must fix these problems. Underperformance and schedule with additional sales and
problems are facts of life. Poorly performing vehicles must be replaced or costs must merchandising promotions.
be modified. Buyers also check the publication issues to verify whether advertisements
have been placed correctly. Buyers make every attempt to get current audience
research to ensure that schedules are performing according to forecast.
Temporary snags in scheduling and in the reproduction of the advertising message
usually are unavoidable. Buyers must be alert for missed positions or errors in han¬
dling the message presentation and ensure that the advertiser is compensated appropri¬
ately when they occur. A policy of compensating for such errors is called “making
good on the contract” known as make-goods. Here are some examples.
Program preemptions. Special programs or news events often interrupt regular pro¬
gramming and the commercial scheduled is also interrupted. In the case of long¬
term interruptions (for example, war coverage), buyers may have difficulty finding
suitable replacements before the schedule ends.
Missed closings. Magazines and newspapers have clearly set production deadlines,
called closings, for each issue. Sometimes the advertising materials do not arrive in
time. If the publication is responsible, it will make good. If the fault lies with the
client or the agency, there is no restitution by the publication.
Technical problems. Technical difficulties are responsible for numerous goofs,
glitches, and foul-ups that haunt the advertiser’s schedule. Bleed-throughs and out-
of-register colors for newspapers, torn billboard posters, broken film, and tapes out
of alignment are typical problems.
• Postcampaign Evaluation. Once a campaign is completed, the buyer’s duty is to com¬

pare the plan’s expectations and forecasts with what actually happened. Did the plan
actually achieve GRP, reach, frequency, and CPM objectives? Did the newspaper and
magazine placements run in the positions expected? Such analysis is instrumental in
providing guidance for future media plans.
Global Media Buying

The definition of global media buying varies widely, but everyone agrees that few marketers
are doing it at this time. However, many are thinking about it, especially computer and other
information technology companies that are being pursued by media such as CNN
International. Today, the growth area is media buys across a single region. But as media
become more global, some marketers are beginning to make the leap between regions.
About 60 percent of ad buys on CNN International are regional and 40 percent are global.
In Europe, the rise of buying “centrals” came about with the emergence of the
European Union and the continuing globalization of trade and advertising. Buying centrals
are media organizations that buy across several European countries. Their growth also
began with the development of commercial broadcasting and the expansion of media
choices. These firms have flourished in an environment of flexible and negotiated rates,
low inflation, and a fragmented advertising market. The buying centrals have nearly three-
fourths of the media market in France, nine-tenths in Spain, and about two-fifths in Britain,
Holland, Italy, and Scandinavia.
Consider This
o 1. What are the primary functions of a media buyer, and how do they differ
from the role of a media planner?
2. In what ways is a media buy monitored?
MEDIA PLANNING CHANGES AND CHALLENGES

The entire area of media is dynamic and changing so fast, it’s hard to keep track of how
business is practiced. All of these changes create new ways of operation and new opportu¬
nities for innovative media planners and buyers.
Unbundling Media Buying and Planning

We’ve mentioned the growth of media buying services, such as the media megashop
Starcom MediaVest, as separate companies that specialize in media buying. This shift in
the way the media industry is organized is referred to as unbundling media services.
Being able to aggregate the buying function across many different clients enables media
companies to negotiate better rates for their clients. Because these companies control the
money, they have become a powerful force in the advertising industry, leading to a tug of
war over control of planning. That is why, faced with competition from these independent
media companies, many large agencies have set up or bought their own buying services to
compete with the independents and go after outside business.
Some of these media companies are now offering consolidated sendees, which means
bringing the planning and buying functions back together. To take advantage of this con¬
solidation argument, some media companies are also adding special planning teams for
other related areas such as events, product placement, Internet, and guerilla marketing pro¬
grams. WPP’s MindShare has created an agency-within-the-agency called the “Wow
Factory” to develop ideas for nontraditional media.9 For a major presentation to Coca-
Cola, Starcom MediaVest pulled together a team that represented basic media planning
and buying, research, consumer insights, programming, product placement, entertainment
marketing, and integration solutions.10 At this point, these big media companies begin to
look more like traditional agencies.
Online Media Buying K?) http://wvw.seveoMv.con'i/rnam.html
At one time, GM set up GMTradeXchange.com FW-X

for its vendors to buy and sell their goods and ser¬ avi on
CREATIVE TELEVISION-MARKETING Email
vices online. A comparable system to GM's has I 1015 N. Hollywood Way, Suite 101 | Burbank, Cfl 91S05 { Telephone: 818-526-1267 Fax: 81&-842-95G8 s
been set up by more than 50 consumer goods com¬

panies, including Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Company Profile MIVtRSi
® CBSlabc
SAVE- ON TV.COM works in association with
and Unilever. Today, many companies rely on Creative Television Marketing (CTfvt), a full service
media placement service company specializing in
Covisint (www.covisint.com) to handle these short form national television advertising including:
10-Second National Television Advertising, Closed
Captioning Sponsorships and Game Show Prize
requests, allowing them to buy billions of dollars Placements. As a program representative, we offer
the lowest and most direct pricing to advertisers on
in advertising through Internet technology. the programs we exclusively represent. We also specialize in media planning, negotiating and
buying through a comprehensive analysis of the goals of your marketing campaign and the target
audience for your product or service. This results in creation and exception of the best suited and most
cost efficient advertising campaign that meets your needs.
New Forms of Media Research Needed

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One challenge media planners face is the lack of Creative Entertainment Services, we can offer your product or TV Newsletter!
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reliable audience research on new media. But the network, syndicated and cable television programs.
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that the tools and key metrics used as the basis for ^ Internet zone
““““
hundreds of billions of dollars spent on media,

especially TV and print, may no longer be ade¬
quate to the task.”11 Calls for reform, which include better metrics on all media, are needed SaveonTv.com is an example
to reflect the different ways consumers are using media, as well as new forms of media of a media buying service on
such as TiVo and interactive TV. the Internet.
Some experts are calling for innovative media monitoring systems that measure out¬
comes and results instead of simply delivery. In other words, media measures should recog¬
nize advertising response functions, as well as program delivery.12
Another problem is that media research is based on each medium as a silo—separate
studies for separate media. Most of the research services are unable to tell you much about
the effectiveness of combined media, such as seeing the same message on television and
then reading about it in a newspaper story or ad. One British company, Knowledge
Networks/Statistical Research (KN/SR), is trying to develop a tool for measuring a multi-
media, consumer-centric approach to media, one that also offers uniform measurements
across media.13
IT'S A WRAP
THE OPEN SHOW OPENS THE DOOR
FOR ARCHIPELAGO
M edia planning is about delivering a message but it's also about making connections with
a consumer in a way and at a time that engages that person in a positive brand inter¬
action. It takes into consideration the feelings that the target audience has about the contact
point—both traditional and nontraditional—as well as their involvement with and response to
the message.
The success of the Archipelago Open Show can be measured in terms of business mea¬
sures, as well as advertising response indicators. The campaign successfully launched
Archipelago with total trading volume increasing 54 percent during the campaign. Market
share also increased during that same period by 40 percent.
Advertising results determined that the campaign was successful at its first objective,
which was redefining Archipelago as an exchange and building its business:
• The campaign increased interest among stock traders with many saying that they were
more interested in the new exchange as a result of the advertising.
• There was an increase in buzz with referrals increasing by 82 percent.
• Most importantly, the image of Archipelago as a viable exchange was established, with
traders saying that Archipelago was "viable and had staying power." That was an
improvement of 36 percent from before the campaign.
• In terms of business, there was an increase of 67 percent in the number of professional
traders who said they had used Archipelago.
The awareness objective was met, with unaided awareness of the campaign achieving a
level of 52 percent, which was the highest in the category. The awareness level was achieved
even though the NYSE outspends Archipelago 4 to 1.
Another set of objectives focused on trader interaction with the new exchange and The
Open Show. A total of 408 contest entries to be on the show were received from traders, who
are typically a non-promotion-oriented group. Hundreds of traders sent e-mails with sugges¬
tions for locations and plot lines for the episodes. The Archipelago Open Show is a good
example of a great award-winning media idea that connected with its audience at the same
time it built business for its client.
■ ■■Summary
1. Explain the concept of media aperture. Aperture is a number of different people exposed to the message (reach),
media concept that says advertising should be delivered and and the amount of repetition needed to reach those people
is most effective when are people are receptive to the prod¬ and make an impression on them (frequency).
uct information. 4. List the key media strategy decisions. Media strategies
2. Describe the types of information compiled by media are designed to find media opportunities that will deliver
researchers. Media research is a step in the media planning on the media objectives and reach the appropriate target
process that involves collecting audience data about the audience. The key strategies include geographical selec¬
marketplace, consumers, and various media vehicles that tion, media mix selection, cost-efficiency decisions, and
might be used to reach the target audience. A situation scheduling and budgeting decisions.
analysis is constructed based on client, market research, 5. Identify the responsibilities of media buyers. Media buy¬
competitive advertising, media vehicles, and consumer ers have inside information about the media industries that
information.
they feed back into the planning. Their responsibilities as
3. Analyze how media planners set media objectives. Media buyers include selecting media vehicles, negotiating the
planners consider three critical elements in setting specific rates, handling the billing and payment, and monitoring the
media objectives: the degree of exposure (impressions), the effectiveness of the media buy.
aperture, 293 continuous strategy, 307 heavy-up schedule, 303 unbundling media services,
average frequency, 299 cost per point (CPP), 305 image transfer, 304 316
brand development index cost per thousand (CPM), 305 lead time, 307 unduplicated audience, 298
(BDI), 303 designated market area make-goods, 315 value-added media services,
category development index (DMA), 297 media strategy, 300 315
(CDI), 303 effective frequency, 300 pulsing strategy, 307 weighting, 304
closing, 315 flighting strategy, 307 share of voice, 295
continuity, 307 frequency distribution, 299 targeted reach. 301
1. What is aperture, and how is it used in media planning? 4. How do consumer media use, geography, and consumption
2. What are the five sources of information compiled by media patterns affect a media plan?
researchers, and how are they used in media planning? 5. What are the six primary functions of a media buyer?
3. Give some examples of strategic decisions that deliver the
reach and frequency objectives.
1. The Pioneer account has accepted your recommendation for 5. The marketing management of McDonald’s restaurants has
10 one-page insertions (10 issues) in a magazine known as asked you to analyze the aperture opportunity for its break¬
the Illustrated Press. Your total target audience is 30 million fast entrees. What kind of analysis would you present to
people. The magazine reaches an estimated 3 million of management? What recommendations could you make that
your target audience per month, or, we could say, a 10 per¬ would expand the restaurant’s nontraditional, as well as tra¬
cent rating per issue. The cost per page of the publication is ditional, media opportunities.
$20,000. What is the total GRP delivered by this schedule?
6. Your client is a major distributor of movie videotapes. Its
What are the CPM and the CPP?
early media plan for magazines has been settled and you are
2. If you were doing a frequency analysis composed of two in negotiation when you learn that a top publishing com¬
magazines, a radio network schedule, and a national newspa¬ pany is about to launch a new magazine dedicated to movie
per, would you rather use the average frequency procedure fans and video collectors. Although the editorial direction is
or a frequency distribution analysis? Explain your choice. perfect, there is no valid way to predict how the magazine
3. Explain why media planners try to balance reach, fre¬ will be accepted by the public. Worse, there won’t be solid
quency, and continuity of proposed media schedules. What research on readership for at least a year. The sales repre¬
considerations go into this decision? sentative offers a low charter page rate if the advertiser
4. You have just begun a new job as a media planner for a new agrees to appear in each of the first year’s 12 issues. To use
automobile model from General Motors. The planning it you will have to remove one of the established magazines
sequence will begin in four months, and our media director from your list. Is the risk worthwhile? Should you bother
asks you what data and information you need from the media the client with this information, considering that the plan is
research department. What sources should you request? How already set? The new magazine will also be available online.
will you use each of these sources in the planning function? Should you take advantage of this opportunity? Make some
recommendations to your client and explain your reasoning.
1. In performing an aperture analysis, consider the following products: video games
(Nintendo, for instance), men’s cologne (such as Davidoff’s “Cool Water”), computer soft¬
ware (such as Lotus), and athletic shoes for aerobics (Reebok, for example). For each of
these products, find the answers to these questions:
a. Which media should be used to maximize aperture leverage?
b. How does aperture work in each of your recommendations?
c. Explain how the timing and duration of the advertising improve the aperture opportunity.
2. Go to www.overture.com. Indicate how you would use the information provided by this
site in developing your media plan for a new reality TV show. Focus on the Internet as a
primary medium. Write a one- to two-page report.
HANDS-ON
P&G Puts the Medium Before the Message
To borrow and slightly modify an old ad slogan, when which advertising is developed. Its new approach, called
Proctor & Gamble speaks, people listen. At least, people communications planning, puts the medium before the
in the advertising business do, because P&G is one of the message. The idea is to strategically select media first,
biggest spenders on advertising and promotions in the then to develop creative messages that best take advan¬
world. You know the brands: Crest toothpaste, Tide deter¬ tage of each channel. This approach is, of course, a rever¬
gent, Charmin toilet paper, Pringles potato chips, and sal of the tried-and-true method of developing what you
dozens of others. want to say before you decide where to say it.
In early 2004, P&G was speaking. The company was To make P&G's idea a bit less abstract, imagine cre¬
saying that it intended to revolutionize the process by ating a campaign for a P&G brand the old way. The
agency creatives working for Charmin, P&G's toilet tissue cles. The way its new approach might change the way
brand, would start with the message strategy; for exam¬ P&G reaches its consumers was reported by Suzanne
ple, they might decide that the Big Idea for a campaign Vranika in a recent issue of Advertising Age:
should be the softness and comfort of the tissue. After com¬
One P&G marketing ploy involves a 53-foot truck
ing up with the creative strategy, they would then consider
that houses 27 individual sweet-smelling bathrooms
the best way to communicate it. Charmin's agency cre¬
equipped with air conditioning, hardwood floors
atives might decide, for example, that consumers should
and Charmin Ultra toilet paper. The vehicle, called
see a demonstration of the brand's softness (Charmin's old
Charmin's Ultra Potty Palooza, travels to state fairs
commercials featured store manager "Mr. Whipple," who
and other outdoor events, offering people the
was constantly trying to stop consumers from impulsively
chance to use a clean restroom.
squeezing rolls of Charmin). The creatives' decision to
"The consumer has changed; he or she uses a
illustrate the Big Idea via a demonstration would strongly
whole host of communications that didn't exist in the
increase the likelihood that television will be an important
past," says Cindy Tripp, P&G's associate director of
medium for the campaign, since TV is very effective for
media and marketing. "Because of the fragmenta¬
product demonstrations.
tion, we need to be better at connecting with them."
The message-then-medium approach described
above seems logical, so why has P&G abandoned it? The Will P&G revolutionize the way advertising is done?
answer can be found in changes occurring in the media As Paul Woomirigton, CEO of MDC Partner's Media
world. For years large advertisers have been questioning Kitchen, points out, radical changes of this type are "eas¬
the wisdom of spending massive amounts of money on ier said than done." One big challenge is comparing dif¬
network TV. Fewer people watch the networks, network ferent media in terms of effectiveness. But lots of industry
TV ads are regularly zipped or zapped, and the networks insiders think it would be unwise to bet against P&G's
have a difficult time delivering segmented audiences, and leadership. The trend "is not on the same pace as brand
yet network ad rates have increased far faster than the or global [marketing strategies] are," according to John
rate of inflation. You might expect agencies to have Dooner, McCann WorldGroup CEO. "If [acceptance of]
walked away from network TV buys a long time ago, but brand advertising is at 97 percent and global is at 85 per¬
they haven't, in part because creative work for large cent, then maybe total communications probably hasn't
brands tends to be developed for broadcast, and perhaps reached 20 percent. But that doesn't mean it isn't key to
in part because buying network ad time is what every¬ the future—it is." Dooner's point: What P&G does today
body else does. will be industry practice tomorrow.
How might the Charmin campaign described above
develop under a communications-planning approach? In Consider This
communications planning the initial work is done by O-
media specialists. They might conclude that television is a 1. Evaluate the marketplace realities that seem to be
poor choice for reaching Charmin's desired audience, driving communications planning. Is P&G's
perhaps because of its expense or because some other
approach a sensible response to those realities?
medium better segments the desired audience. The spe¬
Why or why not?
cialist would then work on selecting media and other pro¬
2. How will major players in the advertising world,
motional channels that more efficiently and effectively
including media companies, agencies, and advertis¬
reach the target. Once these choices were made, the cam¬
ers, likely be affected if the communications-
paign would be sent to the creatives, who would be asked
planning approach becomes dominant?
to develop creative strategies best suited to the chosen
3. Explain how the communications-planning approach
media. The whole idea is to choose effective media before
will affect traditional media planning and buying.
creating the messages.
How would you determine if this is an effective
In 2004 the company announced it was choosing
approach?
two media agencies, Starcom MediaVest (a subsidiary of
the Publicis Groupe) and the Aegis Group (a subsidiary
of PLC Carat), to direct more than $3.5 billion in media
buys. Starcom and Aegis would help P&G decide how to
Sources: Jonah Bloom, "P&G's Public Commitment to Planning Marks a Watershed,"
allocate spending across various media, including televi¬
Advertising Age (August 2, 2004); John Consoli, "Post Mortem: Big Six Got Their
sion, but also including less traditional media, such as Way," MediaWeek [June 21, 2004): 4; Jack Feuer, "Who Will Follow P&G into
radio, the Web, promotions, events, public relations, and Communications Planning?" Adweek (April 1 2, 2004); Jack Feuer, "Team Spirit Marks
SMG's McCann," Adweek (August 9, 2004); Suzanne Vranica, "Publicis and Aegis
direct-to-consumer advertising. The very clear mandate
Win Big with P&G," Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition) (July 15, 2004): B6; Paul
was to broaden advertising away from traditional vehi¬ Woolmingfon, "Unbundled Bundling," Adweek (July 26, 2004).
Chick-fil-A is not your typical quick-service restaurant chain, and nowhere is the differ¬
ence more evident than in its media plans. First of all, Chick-fil-A is dramatically outspent
by its competition, which allows its competition to buy more media. Second, a majority of
Chick-fd-A competitors use broadcast media as their primary vehicle. Chick-fil-A focuses
its media dollars on outdoor advertising. Third, the competitors buy national advertising to
promote their brands and sell products. Conversely, Chick-fd-A spends its dollars at the
local level where it knows it can have an impact. Besides, a national campaign for a chain
located predominantly in the southern part of the country would be a waste. Finally, Chick-
fd-A customizes each plan by market, where its competitors take more of a one-size-fits-
all approach.
The company’s planning process is similar to other companies’, however. It sets
media objectives and develops strategies. It reviews and analyzes media opportunities
within each individual market. What may be a breakthrough idea in one market might fall
short in another. Again, Chick-fd-A customizes its media mix based on the needs and com¬
petitive factors in each market. It completes and reviews preliminary plans, and after sev¬
eral discussions and revisions, a media plan is finally approved.
A typical media plan for a larger Chick-fd-A market might include 50 percent out¬
door, 20 percent radio, 20 percent TV, and 10 percent local marketing. However, there are
several Chick-fd-A markets whose media plans might include 70 percent outdoor and 30
percent local marketing.
Chick-fd-A is patient in its approach to media planning and buying. If a market has
not reached a 30 showing (daily TRPs) delivered by an outdoor board, which is the
medium of choice for the campaign, media planners are strongly encouraged to improve
those results before moving dollars into radio or TV.
Chick-fil-A uses radio primarily to drive traffic during key promotional periods.
Local area marketing directors for Chick-fil-A use the radio buys as an opportunity to
receive value-added promotions, which provide additional exposure for the Chick-fil-A
321
brand. Television is the place where everyone wants to be, but, again, Chick-fil-A is
patient and waits for markets to mature to the point when a consistent TV schedule is
cost-effective.
Consider This
o 1, How could the Internet be added to the Chick-fil-A media plan?
2„ Why do you think outdoor has been so successful for Chick-fil-A?
4 EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MESSAGES
O'
<
Q_
Clutter Busting with Breakthrough Advertising

The new century brought unprecedented competition for the attention of customers and a different
kind of challenge for people who create advertisements.
There are hundreds of television channels that seem to show advertising all of the time. The num¬
ber of TV advertisements the average person sees each week increased 20 percent from 2002 to
2004.
The problem is that the more commercials that appear, the less effective they are. Customers
respond to commercial message overload by rationing their attention and avoiding ads—they are
saying no to telemarketers, taking their names off direct mail lists, zipping and zapping TV commer¬
cials, and installing TiVo.
One solution is to redefine advertising. Viral marketing is gaining because the voices of opinion
leaders and trendsetters are heard more than traditional advertising. Guerilla marketing ana alter¬
native media are being used because it is easier to reach people where they are, which is often not
in front of a TV.
Breakthrough advertising is advertising that breaks through the clutter. It does so by being cre¬
ative, by getting attention, and by delivering a message people want to watch and read.
As clutter increases, the creative stakes get higher. That's the challenge creative people are facing
today.
I ■ ■
mm mm
CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Define creative advertising and explain how it leads to a Big Idea.
2. Describe the characteristics of creative people and their creative

process.
3. Discuss key creative strategy approaches.
4. Outline the key parts of a creative brief.
MSN Takes Wing

Award:
EFFIE® Cold
I f you were asked to create a mascot for an online search engine,
what would come to mind? What kind of creature could you use
that darts, flies, flits, and moves with grace and beauty?
Company: The Microsoft Network (MSN) and its agency McCann-Erickson

Microsoft of San Francisco created a colorful butterfly character to represent
the network of Internet services. Under the slogan "It's better with the
Agency: Butterfly," the campaign's strategy was designed to inform con¬
McCann-Erickson,
sumers, especially those with high-speed broadband connections,
San Francisco
about the launch of a new version of MSN that featured rich infor¬
Campaign: mation services, advanced communication tools, and comprehen¬
"Learn Something sive security solutions.
New Every Day" Microsoft faced a real challenge establishing MSN because of
the entrenched position of AOL with its domination of the category
and strong awareness. There was also a serious problem with con¬
sumer inertia: It's a lot of trouble to switch Internet providers. The tar¬
get audience may not want to change, but if it believes that a better
325
326 PART 4 • EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MESSAGES
Internet experience is out there, it is open to the promise of a more useful

Internet service. Furthermore, there was consumer confusion since consumers
didn't know if MSN was a portal, a search engine, or an access provider. The
objectives of the campaign were to clearly define MSN's offering as an Internet
service provider and to motivate subscribers to switch from AOL. The specific
objectives were to:
• Generate switching momentum from AOL to MSN
• Substantially increase MSN Internet subscriptions
• Clarify the MSN brand and increase unaided awareness
• Increase perception that MSN is the chief competitor, or alternative, to AOL
Richard Bray, MSN vice president, explained why a butterfly is a great icon
for the promise of MSN: "The Butterfly resonates with consumers as fun, friendly,
and approachable and it's quickly become the personification of MSN."
During the initial days of the campaign launch, MSN visitors were enter¬
tained by a butterfly flitting around the home page and then landing on the link
to a preview site, which featured highlights of the new home page, as well as
other new services. Customers were also invited to download a free butterfly
cursor to use on their computers. The campaign included print, outdoor, radio
and television ads, direct mail, public relations, as well as ads on other partner
Web sites. A new format included five 15-second spots that could be seen
online via the new MSN Video, a free streaming video service (see http://
new.msn.com/prss/).
In the television commercials, the butterfly loiters in the background of
everyday scenarios—situations in which MSN can help people do more things
online than they might have thought possible. Michael McLaren, executive VP
with Mc-Cann, explains, "As we continue to extend and develop the MSN
Butterfly, we are building a lasting and memorable brand identity that people
relate to and believe in." The commercials showcase MSN as a world of
answers. In one commercial that features MSN's search function, expectant
parents are choosing names for the baby when the Butterfly interjects a wry
comment:
He: "How about Cassandra?"
She: "That's pretty. I wonder what it means."
Butterfly: "That's Greek for prophet of doom."
He: "Catherine?"
The campaign has been recognized for the strength of its creative idea. As
Advertising Age's ad critic, Bob Garfield, observed, "The real genius of the
campaign lies in its limitless opportunities for new executions—one of the prin¬
cipal characteristic of a bona fide Big Idea." So did it work? The results will be
presented in the It's a Wrap section at the end of this chapter.
Sources: EFFIE brief provided by McCann-Erickson, San Francisco, and Microsoft; “The MSN Butterfly Is Back to Kick Off
the New MSN Multimedia Marketing Campaign—And Now It Has Something to Say,” Microsoft news release,
http://www.msn.com/.
CHAPTER 12 • THE CREATIVE SIDE AND MESSAGE STRATEGY 327
Effective advertising is both an art—the creative dimension—and a science—the strategic

dimension. In this chapter, we focus first on the creative aspect and then we’ll discuss the
strategic dimension. We’ll investigate how creative advertising is defined, the creative con¬
cept or Big Idea, the characteristics of creative people, and the process of creative thinking.
Then we’ll turn to creative strategy and explain the logic behind the message and how the
strategy works with creative ideas to deliver on the message objectives. We’ll end with a
discussion of a planning tool called a creative brief, and explain how it provides direction
for the execution of the Big Idea, as well as for the evaluation of the creative strategy.
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING

In the book Creative Strategy in Advertising, the authors say that an ad “needs to contain a
persuasive message that convinces people to take action.” To be creative, however, they Principle
suggest that an ad “must make a relevant connection with its audience and present a selling Effective advertising is a product
idea in an unexpected way.”1 This definition of creative advertising supports the principle of both science (persuasiveness)
that there is both a science (the way a message is persuasive, convincing, and relevant) and and art (creativity and originality).
an art (the way a message is an unexpected idea) driving effective advertising.
The ROI of Effective Advertising

According to the DDB Needham agency, an effective ad is relevant, original, and has
impact—which is referred to as ROI.2 In other words, ideas have to be relevant, to mean
something to the target audience. An advertising idea is considered creative when it is
novel, fresh, unexpected, and unusual. Original means one of a kind. Because it is novel, it
is surprising and gets your attention.3 To be effective, the ideas also must have impact.
Many advertisements just wash over the audience. An idea with impact breaks through the The idea that some moments,
clutter, gets attention, and sticks in memory. An advertisement with impact has stopping such as eating cupcakes and
power that comes from an intriguing idea, something you have never thought about before, cookies, require a glass of milk
as the Microsoft campaign demonstrated with its use of the Butterfly idea to represent is the creative concept behind
online searching. the award-winning "Got Milk?"
campaign.
The Big Idea Behind every effective advertisement is a Big
Idea, a creative concept that implements the advertising strategy so
that the message is both attention getting and memorable. This is the
“art” side of creative advertising. In the award-winning California
Milk Board campaign “Got Milk?” the Big Idea is that people drink
milk with certain foods such as cookies. If milk is unavailable to
drink with those foods, they are—to say the least—frustrated. A Big
Idea is one that is expressed visually and verbally. “Got Milk?” is the
question, but in most of the campaign’s ads, it is reinforced in the
picture of someone (or sometimes something) with a white milk
mustache. In getting the great idea, sometimes the visual idea comes
first; sometimes it’s the words. The important thing is that they work
together to complete the thought.
According to advertising legend James Webb Young, a founder
of the Young & Rubicam agency, an idea is a new combination of
thoughts. In his classic book on creative thinking, Young claims that
“the ability to make new combinations is heightened by an ability to
see relationships.”4 An idea, then, is a thought that comes from plac¬
ing two previously unrelated concepts together. Metaphors and
analogies are great ways to create such juxtapositions, as the Harley
“Steak for your ears” ad demonstrates.
But what makes the idea creative? Any idea can seem creative
to you if you have never thought of it before, but the essence of a
creative idea is that no one else has thought of it either. In an indus¬
try that prides itself on creativity, copycat advertising—that is,
using an idea that someone else has originated—is a concern.
The Harley-Davidson ad
equates the taste of a steak
with the throaty roar of a
Harley engine.
Advertising expert John Eighmy estimates that about 50 percent of the advertising in the
United States falls into this category.5
The challenge in advertising is to come up with novel, interesting ideas for products
that might appear to be rather boring. Karl Schroeder, copywriter at Portland-based
Coates, Kokes agency, explains how he dealt with a client assignment for Shel Lab, an
industrial products company:
Vacuum ovens. Anaerobic chambers. Incubator shakers. Who needs Nike when you
can sell sexy products like these? The truth is, you’re going to have a few clients with
products that aren’t as exciting as others. And chances are these products will be in
the business-to-business category. But why let the products appear boring in adver¬
tising? I’ve found with our client, Shel Lab, there is still room for a little humor and
good design.
I have to admit, when we first started the project I was not too excited. But after
some account-planning workshops and a tour of the manufacturing plant, I realized
Shel Lab is actually very cool. The company had a ton of “firsts” in its industry, and
the tour revealed how enthusiastic Shel Lab is about its products—or rather, how
enthusiastic people at Shel Lab are about their products. Both of those things were
very energizing for me creatively.
The Practical Tips box provides more advice for creating original ideas that get atten¬
tion and stick in memory.
q Practical Tips
Tips for Creating Original Ideas
To create an original and unexpected idea, use the following
techniques:
• An unexpected twist. An ad for Amazon.com used the headline, "460
books for Marxists. Including 33 on Groucho."
• An unexpected association. An ad for Compaq used a visual of a
chained butterfly to illustrate the lack of freedom in competitors' computer
workstations.
• Catchy phrasing. Isuzu used "The 205 Horsepower Primal Scream" for its
Rodeo headline.
• A play on words. Under the headline "Happy Camper," an ad for cheese
showed a picture of a packed sports utility vehicle with a huge wedge of
cheese lashed to the rooftop.
• Analogy and metaphor. Harley-Davidson compared the legendary sound
of its motorcycles to the taste of a thick, juicy steak.
• Familiar and strange. Put the familiar in an unexpected situation: UPS
showed a tiny model of its familiar brown truck moving through a
computer cord.
To prevent unoriginal ideas, avoid the following:

• The common. Avoid the obvious or the predictable, such as a picture of a
Cadillac on Wall Street or in front of a mansion.
• The look-alike. Avoid copycat advertising that uses somebody else's great
idea.
• Cliches. They may have been great ideas the first time they were used, but
phrases such as "the road to success" or "the fast track" become trite when
overused.
• The tasteless. In an attempt to be cute, a Subaru ad used the headline, "Put
it where the sun don't shine."
The Creative Leap A Big Idea that expresses an original advertising thought
involves a mind-shift. Instead of seeing the obvious, a creative idea looks at something in a
different way, from a different angle, such as in an ad for 76 automotive oil that associates
the brand with various symbols of Americana. It doesn’t matter how dull the product might
appear to be; there is always an opportunity to move it beyond its category through a cre¬
ative Big Idea. But how is that done?
SHOWCASE
■ a ■
These 76 ads ran in national trade publications for the trucking industry. The creative team wanted to remind the target
audience that 76 has been a symbol of Americana for a long time. The imagery speaks to trucking fleet owners who
authorize the purchase of such commodities as oil. These ads were contributed by Chris Hutchinson, art director at
Weiden + Kennedy, who graduated from the advertising program at the University of Oregon.
Finding the brilliant creative concept entails what

advertising giant Otto Kleppner called “the creative leap”6—
a process of jumping from the strategy statement to an origi¬
nal idea that conveys the strategy in an interesting way. Since
the creative leap means moving from the safety of a pre¬
dictable strategy statement to an unusual idea that hasn’t
been tried before, this leap is often referred to as the creative
risk: If it hasn’t been tried before, then it’s a gamble. All cre¬
ative ideas in advertising involve this element of risk, and
that’s why copy-testing is used to test the idea before it runs,
to try to determine whether it works.
Creative Thinking
So how do you make the creative leap and get creative
ideas? A common technique advertisers use to force the
leap is to make an unusual association. For example,
Michelin’s tire advertising is driven by the strategic idea
that the tire is durable and dependable—language that
would make a pretty boring ad. The creative idea, however,
comes to life in the long-running campaign that shows a
baby sitting in a tire. The visual is reinforced by the slogan,
Another safe delivery. “Because so much is riding on your tires.” The creative
concept, then, “leaps” from the idea of a durable tire to the
Michelin. Because so much is riding on your tyres.
idea of protecting your family, particularly precious mem¬
bers like tiny children, by surrounding them with the
dependability of a Michelin tire.
Creativity is a special form of problem solving and
Michelin's dependability and
everyone is born with some talent in that area. In advertising, as in all areas of business,
durability surround and protect
creativity is not limited to the writers and art directors. Media planners and market
a car's precious cargo.
researchers are just as creative in searching for new ideas and innovative solutions. The
most common techniques that creative thinkers use to stimulate new ideas are free associ¬
ation, divergent thinking, analogies and metaphors, and right-brain thinking. Let’s look at
these techniques:
Principle
To get a creative idea, you • Free Association. Creates the juxtaposition of two seemingly unrelated thoughts. In
must leap beyond the mundane free association you think of a word and then describe everything that comes into your
language of the strategy statement mind when you imagine that word.
and see the problem in a novel
• Divergent Thinking. Differs from the rational, linear thinking that we use to arrive at
and unexpected way.
the “right” conclusion. Divergent thinking, which is the heart of creative thinking, uses
exploration (playfulness) to search for all possible alternatives.
• Analogies and Metaphors. Used to see new patterns or relationships. William J. J.
Gordon, a researcher who founded the Synectics school of creative thinking, discov¬
ered that creative thinkers often expressed new ideas as analogies.
• Right-brain Thinking. Intuitive, nonverbal, and emotion-based thinking (in contrast to
left-brain thinking, which is logical and controls speech and writing). A left brain-
dominant person is presumed to be logical, orderly, and verbal. A right brain-
dominant person tends to deal in expressive images, emotion, intuition, and complex,
interrelated ideas that must be understood as a whole rather than as pieces.
Another approach is called creative aerobics. Creative aerobics is a thought-starter

process that works well in advertising because it uses both the head and the heart, which
we refer to in strategy development as rational and emotional appeals. Developed by
Linda Conway Correll, a professor at Southeast Missouri State, it is a four-step, idea¬
generating process, which is explained here in terms of finding a creative idea for sell¬
ing oranges:7
1. Facts. The first exercise is left brain and asks you to come up with a list of facts about
a product (an orange has seeds, is juicy, has vitamin C).
2. New Names. In the second exercise you create new “names” for the product (Florida,
a vitamin supplement, a kiss of sunshine).
3. Similarities. The third exercise looks for similarities between dissimilar objects. (What
are the similarities between the new names and the product—for instance, Florida sun¬
shine and oranges both suggest warmth, freshness, sunshine, the fountain of youth.)
4. New Definitions. The fourth exercise, a cousin of the pun, creates new definitions for
product-related nouns. Peel (face peel, peel out), seed (seed money, bird seed),
navel/naval (naval academy, contemplating one’s navel), pulp (pulp fiction),
C/see/si/sea (C the light). Headlines derived from those definitions might be: “Seed
money” (the money to purchase oranges), “Contemplating one’s navel” (looking at
oranges), “Peel out” (when your grocer is out of oranges), “Navel intelligence”
(information about an orange), “Pulp fiction” (a story about an orange), “C the light”
(the orange is a low-calorie source of vitamin C). These new definitions stimulate the
flowering of a new Big Idea.
Creative Roles All agencies have copywriters and art directors who are responsible
for developing the creative concept and crafting the execution of the advertising idea. They
often work in teams, are sometimes hired and fired as a team, and may work together suc¬
cessfully for a number of years. Broadcast producers can also be part of the team for tele¬
vision commercials. The creative director manages the creative process and plays an
important role in focusing the strategy of ads and making sure the creative concept is
strategically on target. Because advertising creativity is a product of teamwork, copywrit¬
ers and art directors work together to generate concept, word, and picture ideas. Their writ¬
ing or design specialties come into play in the execution of the idea.
The Creative Person Creative ideas, such as the award-winning Microsoft

“Butterfly” campaign, aren’t limited to advertising. People such as Henry Ford, the father
of the Model T; Steven Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer; and Lucille Ball of I Love
Lucy fame are or were highly creative. They are idea people, creative problem solvers, and
highly original thinkers. Creative people are found in business, science, engineering,
advertising, and many other fields. But in advertising, creativity is both a job description
and a goal. Figure 12.1 is a minitest to evaluate your own creative potential.
You probably know people who are just naturally zany, who come up with crazy, off-
the-wall ideas. Creative advertising people may be zany, weird, off-the-wall, and uncon¬
ventional, but they can’t be eccentric. They still must be very centered on creating effective
advertising. Coming up with a great idea that is also on strategy is an emotional high.
According to Derek Clark, a copywriter at Detroit’s Campbell-Ewald agency, “Creative
advertising at the national level has to be one of the biggest emotional rollercoasters in the
business world. When it’s bad, you feel like fleeing the country. When it’s good, there’s
nothing better. I love it.”
Research by the Center for Studies in Creativity and the Creative Education Principle
Foundation, both in Buffalo, New York, has found that most people can sharpen their skills Creative probelm solvers are risk
and develop their creative potential. First, let’s explore the characteristics of a creative per¬ takers with a high tolerance for
son. Then let’s see how people develop creative skills. ambiguity.
Research indicates that creative people tend to be independent, assertive, self-
sufficient, persistent, and self-disciplined, with a high tolerance for ambiguity. They are
also risk takers with powerful egos that are internally driven. They don’t care much about
group standards and opinions and typically have inborn skepticism and strong curiosity.
Here are a few of the key characteristics of creative people who do well in advertising:
• Problem Solving. Creative problem solvers are alert, watchful, and observant, and
reach conclusions through intuition rather than through logic. They also tend to have a
mental playfulness that allows them to make novel associations.
• The Ability to Visualize. Most of the information we accumulate comes through sight,
so the ability to manipulate visual images is crucial for good copywriters, as well as
designers. They can see products, people, and scenes in the mind’s eye, as well as
visualize a mental picture of the finished ad while it is still in the talking, or idea, state.
I Leonardo DaVinci, Albert Einstein, and Georgia O'Keefe excelled in different fields, but all three qualify as geniuses.
Do you ever wonder whether you are creative? Does creativity have anything to do with your personality? Your person¬
ality is your own distinctive and consistent pattern of how you think, feel, and act. A current view of creativity suggests
that the area of personality most related to creativity is how open you are to new experiences. According to researchers
McCrae and Costa, how open you are to new experiences can be measured by survey questions that ask if you agree
or disagree with the following statements:
1. "I enjoy working on 'mind-twister'-type puzzles."
2. "Once I find the right way to do something, I stick to it."
3. "As a child I rarely enjoyed games of make-believe."
4. "I enjoy concentrating on a fantasy or daydream and exploring all its possibilities, letting it grow and develop."
The Creative Personality

How Creative Are You? If you said “I agree” to 1 and 4, you’re thinking like a creative person.
Source: Information provided by Sheri J. Broyles, University of North Texas; R. R. McCrae and P. T. Costa Jr., “Openness to Experience” in Perspectives in Personality, Vol. 1, R. Hogan
and W. H. Jones, eds. (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press), 145-72.
• Openness to New Experiences. Over the course of a lifetime, openness to experience

may give you many adventures from which to draw. Those experiences would give a
novelist more characters to write about, a painter more scenes to paint, and the creative
team more angles from which to tackle an advertising problem.8
• Conceptual Thinking. It’s easy to see how people who are open to experience might
develop innovative advertisements and commercials because they are more imagina¬
tive.9 Such imagination led to a famous Nike commercial in which Michael Jordan
and Larry Bird play an outlandish game of horse—bouncing the ball off buildings,
Principle billboards, and places that are impossible to reach.
Emphasize concepts. Worry
about executions later. As important as creative thinking is for advertising professionals, strategic thinking is
just as important. In taking a peek into the minds of those who hire new creative people,
researchers found repeated verbatim comments from creative directors concerning the
importance of strategic thinking and Big Ideas. “Emphasize concept,” said one creative
director. “Teach them to think first and execute later.”10
The Creative Process: How to Get an Idea

Only in cartoons do light bulbs appear above our heads from out of nowhere when a good
idea strikes. In reality, most people who are good at thinking up new ideas will tell you that
An art director works on a

graphic solution to a visual
probelm.
it is hard work. They read, study, analyze, test and retest, sweat, curse, and worry. Some¬
times they give up. The unusual, unexpected, novel idea rarely comes easily—and that’s as
true in science and medicine as it is in advertising.
Steps and Stages The creative process usually is portrayed as a series of steps.
English sociologist Graham Wallas was the first to outline the creative process followed by
others, including Alex Osborn, one of the founders of the BBDO agency and the Creative
Education Foundation." Let’s summarize these approaches with the steps outlined below:
Step 1: Immersion. Read, research, and learn everything you can about the problem.
Step 2: Ideation. Look at the problem from every angle; develop ideas; generate as
many alternatives as possible.
Step 3: Brainfag. You may hit a blank wall and want to give up.
Step 4: Incubation. Try to put your conscious mind to rest to let your subconscious
take over.
Step 5: Illumination. There is that unexpected moment when the idea comes, often
when your mind is relaxed and you’re doing something else.
Step 6: Evaluation. Does it work? Is it on strategy?
Brainstorming As part of the creative process, some agencies use a thinking technique
known as brainstorming, where a group of 6 to 10 people work together to come up with
ideas. One person’s idea stimulates someone else’s, and the combined power of the group
associations stimulates far more ideas than any one person could think of alone. The secret to
brainstorming is to remain positive and defer judgment. Negative thinking during a brain¬
storming session can destroy the playful atmosphere necessary to achieve a novel idea. To
stimulate group creativity against a deadline, some agencies have special processes for
brainstorming with walls that can be covered with sheets of paper on which to write ideas
and no distractions and interruptions (such as telephones and access to e-mail). Some agen¬
cies rent a suite in a hotel and send the creative team there to get away and immerse them¬
selves in the problem. When the GSDM agency was defending its prized Southwest Airlines
account, president Roy Spence ordered a 28-day “war room” death march that had staffers
working around the clock, wearing Rambo-style camouflage, and piling all their trash inside
the building to keep any outsiders from rummaging around for clues to their pitch.
CREATIVE STRATEGY
The art and science of advertising come together in the phrase creative strategy. A Big Idea
must be both creative (original, different, novel, unexpected) and strategic (right for the
product and target; meets the advertising objectives). It’s not just about coming up with a
novel idea that no one has thought of before; advertising creativity is about coming up with
an idea that solves a communication problem in an original way. In its section on advertis¬
ing, the Encyclopedia of Creativity points out that effective advertising creativity is mea¬
sured not only by its originality, but also by its strategic contributions.12
People who create advertisements also make a distinction between creative strategy
and creative executions. Creative strategy, or message strategy, is what the advertise¬
ment says and execution is how it is said. This chapter is focused on creative strategy and
the two chapters that follow will explore the writing, design, and production of advertising
executions.
Message Objectives
In planning creative strategies, it is important to have an idea of what you want that mes¬
sage to accomplish. In previous chapters on how advertising works (Chapter 4) and plan¬
ning (Chapter 7), we introduced the concept of the Facets Model of Advertising Effects
(Figure 4.5) and how the facets lead to advertising objectives. The advertising objectives
that relate to the six facets of effectiveness are:
1. Perception: Objectives—create attention, awareness, interest, recognition and recall.

2. Cognitive: Objectives—deliver information and understanding.
3. Affective: Objectives—touch emotions and create feelings.
4. Persuasion: Objectives—change attitudes, create conviction and preference.
5. Transformation: Objectives—establish brand identity and associations.
6. Behavior: Objectives—stimulate trial, purchase, repurchase, or some other form
of action.
Head and Heart Strategies

Once you have an objective or set of objectives to guide the advertising message, how do
you go about translating that into strategy? Two basic approaches are sometimes referred to
as head and heart strategies. Remember the discussion in Chapter 4 on the three types of
effects, and how think (cognitive) and feel (affective) drive the do, or action decision. The
think and feel dimensions are sometimes referred to as rational and emotional, or what we
are calling the head and heart factors. In the Facets model (page 104) the cognitive and per¬
suasion objectives generally speak to the head, and the affective and transformational objec¬
tives are more likely to speak to the heart. In the strategy statement for VW and its “Drivers
Wanted” campaign, which was discussed in Chapter 1, the Arnold agency identifies both
rational and emotional dimensions to VW’s brand essence:
VW’s rational brand essence: “The only brand offering the benefits and ‘feeling’ of
German engineering within reach.”
VW’s emotional brand essence:
• Exciting
• Different driving feeling
• Different way of living
• More feeling, fun, alive, connected
The decision to use a head or a heart strategy is also affected by the product situation,
particularly by the involvement factor. The Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) agency has been
a leader in creating strategies that combine logic and emotion with an understanding that
some decisions may demand a lot of thought (high involvement), while others are made
with little or no thought or even on impulse. We described the FCB Grid in Chapter 4; if
you go back and look at page 103 you will see how different kinds of message strategies
emerge from an analysis of thinking and feeling for low- and high-involvement products.
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t* buBSRvg tsoiossionsts with 'Lie Infoarutiorv Mots,
This campaign, aimed at professionals in the building trades, was designed to be educational in presenting the
consulting company's services. Rather than lofty or preachy (like a "Save the planet" ad), the creative strategy called for
the message to be practical (good for business), emotional (good for the environment), and rational (make a good
business decision). In addition, the strategy emphasized how those three factors were a win-win-win decision that
added up to a sustainable, high-performance building. These ads were contributed by Karl Schroeder, copywriter at
Coates, Kokes in Portland Oregon, who is a graduate of the University of Oregon advertising program.
Hard- and Soft-Sell Strategies Related to head and heart strategies are hard- and
soft-sell approaches. A hard sell is an informational message that is designed to touch the
mind and create a response based on logic. The assumption is that the target audience
wants information and will make a rational product decision. The approach emphasizes
tangible product features and benefits. We’ll talk more about the rational approach in the
section that follows on selling premises. A soft sell uses emotional appeals or images to
create a response based on attitudes, moods, dreams, and feelings. The assumption with
soft-sell strategies is that the target audience has little interest in an information search and
will respond more favorably to a message that touches their emotions or presents an attrac¬
tive brand image.
Some ads, such as the BetterBricks ads, combine both a hard and a soft sell. The com¬
pany helps building professionals construct and maintain buildings that work better for busi¬
ness, people, and the environment. However, focusing on the company is less effective than
talking about what the business does and what that means to people. The strategy decision
was to present BetterBricks as a cheerleader for sustainable, high-performance buildings.
Lectures and Dramas Most advertising messages use a combination of two basic
literary techniques to reach the head or the heart of the consumer: lectures and dramas.13 A
lecture is a serious instruction given verbally. The speaker presents evidence (broadly
speaking) and uses a technique such as an argument to persuade the audience. The advan¬
tages of lectures are many: They are (relatively speaking) not expensive to produce and are
compact and efficient. A lecture can deliver a dozen selling points in seconds, get right to
the point, and make the point explicitly. In advertising we use the phrase “a talking head”
to refer to an announcer who delivers a lecture about a product. This can also be a celebrity
spokesperson or an authority figure, such as a doctor or scientist.
Drama, however, relies on the viewer to make inferences. Through dramas, advertis¬
ers tell stories about their products; the characters speak to each other, not to the audience.
Like fairy tales, movies, novels, parables, and myths, advertising dramas are essentially
stories about how the world works. They can be funny as well as serious. Viewers learn
from these commercial dramas by inferring lessons from them and by applying those
lessons to their everyday lives. When a drama rings true, viewers join in, draw conclusions
from it, and apply those conclusions to their product decisions. The Leo Burnett agency
built a creative philosophy around “Inherent Drama,” which was the storyline built into the
agency’s archetypal brand characters, such as the Marlboro Man, Charlie the Tuna, the
Jolly Green Giant, and Tony the Tiger.
FACETS OF CREATIVE STRATEGY

It’s important to understand the difference between emotional and rational strategies, but
actually this distinction may be too simplistic to describe the varieties of messages used in
advertising. The idea behind creative strategy is that there are a number of different ways
to deliver a message. Which approach to use will vary with the target audience, the mar¬
keting situation, the product itself, and its category. The goal is to match the objective with
the best possible way to deliver the message. To better understand how these creative
strategies deliver more effective advertising, we’ll look at these facets one at a time and
describe the advertising techniques that deliver these effects.
Messages That Drive Perception

To be effective, advertisements need to get exposure through the media buy. The message,
however, needs to get attention and build awareness. It also needs to get consumers’ inter¬
est, which it tries to do by being relevant. Then advertisers hope consumers will remember
the message. Here are some suggestions on how to do that.
Attention and Awareness Getting consumers’ attention requires stopping power.

Ads that stop the scanning and break through the clutter are usually high in originality.
Principle Intrusiveness is particularly important in cluttered markets and media and for products
To get attention, an ad has to that have a small share of mind—those that are not very well known or not very interest¬
have stopping power. ing, such as toilet paper, canned vegetables, or motor oil. In many cases there is little
difference between competing brands, so the product interest is created solely by the
advertising message.
What can you do to create this kind of breakthrough impact? The function of origi¬
nality is to capture attention. People will notice something that is new, novel, or surpris¬
ing. Creative advertising breaks through the old patterns of seeing and saying things; the
unexpectedness of the new idea creates stopping power. Unexpected media is also good at
breaking through clutter, which is why guerilla marketing and the use of alternative
(unexpected) media has become so popular. Many clutter-busting ads are intrusive and
use loud, bold effects to attract viewer attention; they work by shouting. Others use capti¬
vating ideas or mesmerizing visuals. In print ads, for instance, research indicates that
contrast can attract viewer attention. If every other ad in the medium is big and bold, then
try one that is small, quiet, and simple; use a lot of white space. If everything else is tiny
and gray (like type), then be big and bold or use color. If everything else is colorful, then
use black-and-white.
interest Getting attention is the stopping power of an advertisement; keeping attention

is the pulling power of an ad: It keeps pulling the reader or viewer through to the end of the
message. Advertisers stimulate interest by speaking to the personal interests of their target
audience. We pay attention to topics that are relevant to us, that reflect our personal inter¬
ests in such areas as hobbies, concerns and issues, trends, fashion, improvements, news,
and so forth. Another way is to elicit curiosity, such as using a teaser campaign where the
This teaser ad is for a car's

Web site. Its deliberate
ambiguity is intended to
excite curiosity about the site
and the car.
message unfolds over time. Ads that open with questions or dubious statements are
designed to create curiosity. New information is often greeted by phrases such as “Can you
believe it?” This confrontation of curiosity with doubt means you have entered the inter¬
ested state. Buick used a teaser strategy to announce the new Buick Regal Web site.
The sequencing of the ad message elements affects its pulling power: Does the copy
pull the reader or viewer through to the end? For example, if we start with a question, then
readers tend to continue through the ad to find the answer. Storytelling is another good
technique for holding the audience. Most people want to know how a story ends. Suspense,
drama, and narrative are good tools for maintaining interest.
Memory Not only does advertising have to stop (get attention) and pull (create inter¬
est), it also has to stick (in memory). One technique to ensure memorability is repetition.
Psychologists maintain that people need to hear or see something a minimum of three Principle
times before it crosses the threshold of perception and enters into memory. Jingles are Not only does advertising have
valuable memorability devices because the music allows the advertiser to repeat a phrase to stop (get attention) and pull
or product name without boring the audience. (create interest), it also has to stick
Clever phrases are useful not only because they catch attention, but also because they (in memory).
can be repeated to intensify memorability. Advertisements use slogans for brands and cam¬
paigns (a series of ads run under an umbrella theme). An example of a slogan is “Get Met.
It Pays” (Met Life), or Nike’s slogan, “Just Do It.” Taglines are used at the end of an ad to
summarize the point of the ad’s message in a highly memorable way, such as “Nothing
outlasts the Energizer. It keeps going and going and going.” When a tagline is used consis¬
tently on all marketing messages, it becomes a slogan. Both slogans and taglines are writ¬
ten to be highly memorable, often using mnemonic devices (techniques for improving
memory) such as rhyme, rhythmic beats, and repeating sounds.
Color can be a memory cue, as well. Wrigley’s Doublemint gum uses green and Juicy
Fruit uses yellow in the same way. Shape is another memory cue: The Absolut vodka cam¬
paign has used a thousand different visual images to reinforce the shape of the product’s
bottle—to the point that the bottle shape is recognizable even without a label.
In addition to verbal memory devices, many print and interactive ads and most televi¬
sion commercials feature a key visual (or key frame in television). This visual is a vivid
image that the advertiser hopes will linger in the viewer’s mind. Because television is
mainly a visual medium, an effective commercial relies on some dominant scene or action
that conveys the essence of the message and can be remembered easily, as in the
Proflowers key frame.
Memorability also depends on the ad’s structure. The beginning of an advertising
message is the most important part for attracting attention, and the end or closing of a mes¬
sage is the most important part for memorability. Most print ads end with a logo (a distinc¬
tive mark that identifies the product or company) or a signature (the name of the company
or brand, written in a distinctive type style). Television commercials often conclude with a
memorable tagline and superimpose the product name on the last visual, accompanied by
the announcer repeating the brand name.
SHOWCASE
■ ■ ■
Proflowers wanted a commercial that would reach its target audience of middle-aged people.
The nostalgic hairstyle and setting in this key frame is a nod to a simpler time that would appeal
to the target audience. The brand name is clearly visible, even if upside down. This commercial
was contributed by Chris Hutchinson.
Messages That Drive Cognition

Now let’s look at effective creative strategies to get consumers to learn about products. In
general, informational strategies are focused on a product’s features. The BetterBricks ads
on page 335, for example, were designed to be educational, to help the target audience
learn about the company’s consulting services. To have a practical effect on customers,
managers must identify the product characteristics or features (also called attributes) that
are most important to the target audience. In addition to importance to the consumer, the
advertising might also point to the product’s point of differentiation relative to the com¬
petition, which reflects its position.
Automotive advertising is particularly interesting to analyze because there are so many
different features that can be the focus of the strategy. An article compared various types of
cars to find the best model in the class and their distinguishing features. In explaining the
evaluations, the raters noted spaciousness and firm ride for the small sedan agile handling
and comfortable ride for the small SUV, luxury interior for the midsize SUV, silky smooth
engine and powertrain for the luxury sedan, superb cornering and lively acceleration for the
“fun to drive” category, spirited performance and seating for the three-row SUV, handling
for the minivan, and spacious size for the “green car” hybrids.14 You can see how challeng¬
ing it is to decide which feature of all these possibilities should be mentioned.
Attributes can be both tangible and intangible (see Figure 12.2). The ads for Sunkist
oranges and Gander Mountain focus on tangible and intangible features. Attributes can
also be category based. An ad that is focused on the product, rather than the brand, may be
designed to build the use of the category. It’s called a generic strategy and it makes sense
when a particular brand, such as Campbell’s Soup, dominates the category, so increased
category sales will automatically lead to increased brand sales. DeBeers used a generic
strategy to sell rings for the other hand, the right hand, in an attempt to promote the use of
diamonds for rings other than wedding rings.15
One type of informational strategy is a claim, which is a product-focused strategy
that is based on a statement about how the product will perform. Proof statements that
The Product
Tangible Characteristics Intangible Characteristics

• Size ~~.. • Style
• Features • Quality
/C Message Strategy \
• Color • Image
to Represent the j*
• Durability Product y' • Prestige
• Package • Warranty
• T aste
• Others
\
T
•
•
Brand Name
Others
Advertising
Message
Product Interpretation
and Evaluation
by Customer
Tangible and Intangible Features

The Sunkist ad compares its oranges to candy but in the comparison it identifies tangible product characteristics. The key frame from a
Gander Mountain commercial explains how the company and its employees understand cold weather. The understanding of the employees is
an intangible benefit shoppers get from patronizing the store.
give the rationale and support behind the claim are used to substantiate the claim.
Torture tests, comparisons, and before-and-after demonstrations are used to prove the
truth of a claim.
Companies often use news announcements to provide information about new products,
to tout reformulated products, or even let consumers know about new uses for products. The
news element, which is usually delivered by publicity stories, is information focused.
When designing an advertising message for which understanding is an objective,
advertisers present the facts in a way that makes it easy for people to assimilate the infor¬
mation. Sometimes this means a long-copy approach in print or an infomercial in televi¬
sion, both of which provide detailed information. Basic techniques include defining
terms—particularly technical terms—and explaining concepts and ideas, as well as steps
and procedures. Companies use product comparisons to highlight differences between
their products and competing products. In terms of explaining something, television ads
will often use a demonstration. Demonstrations not only add believability; they also teach
how to solve a problem, how to do something, or how something works.
Messages That Touch Emotions

Emotional strategies highlight the psychological attraction of the product to the target audi¬
ence through such responses as love, fear, anxiety, envy, or sexual attraction. These are all
soft-sell strategies because they aren’t using a rational approach to present information or
reasons. A soft-sell strategy can be used for hard products. NAPA auto parts ran an emotional
ad that showed a dog sitting at a railroad crossing, forcing a truck to brake hard to avoid hit¬
ting him as a train bears down on the scene. The slogan puts the heart-stopping visual story
into perspective: “NAPA because there are no unimportant parts.” Creating a feeling of
involvement is another good way to connect with people on a personal level. Events, such as
fairs, contests, grand openings, and exhibits, are particularly good at doing this.
A general emotional goal is to deliver a message that people like in order to create lik¬
ing for the product. That’s a popular justification for the use of entertainment as a message
strategy. Entertainment uses drama, humor, and song-and-dance messages to reward the
audience with an engaging message. Advertisers have found that commercials that look
like TV shows and provide high entertainment value seem to be better liked by audiences
than ads with high levels of information. Using entertainment to sell is an issue that adver¬
tising experts debate because although entertainment may get and keep attention, some
people believe that it doesn’t sell products very well. However, the creative directors who
participated in the study of creative concepts felt that entertainment, particularly humorous
entertainment, was of paramount importance.
Are emotional strategies manipulative? They can be, if they play too strongly on
fears. However, most advertising that uses an emotional strategy is trying to connect with
an emotion that is a natural response to a situation. In other words, they aren’t trying to get
you to feel something you’re not feeling but rather to connect with that feeling.
Messages That Persuade

Persuasive advertising is designed to affect attitudes and create belief. Strategies that are
particularly good are testimonials and messages that generate word of mouth about the
product. A referral from someone who is not affiliated with the product will have more per¬
suasiveness than an ad that everyone knows is paid for by its sponsor. That’s why Oprah’s
book club had such an impact on the sales of popular books and why creative strategy uses
testimonials and endorsements by celebrities or experts.
Appeals Persuasion sometimes uses the psychological appeal of the product to the con¬
sumer as the focus of a message strategy. An appeal connects with some emotion that
makes the product particularly attractive or interesting, such as security, esteem, fear, sex,
and sensory pleasure. Although emotion is at the base of most appeals, in some situations
appeals can also be logical, such as saving money for retirement. Appeals generally pinpoint
the anticipated response of the audience to the product and the message. For example, if the
price is emphasized in the ad, then the appeal is value, economy, or savings. If the product
saves time or effort, then the appeal is convenience. Advertisers use a status appeal to estab-
The appetite appeal of the trail

mix bar is dramatized by an
extremely close-up visual that
QUAKER C shows all the nuts and raisins
larger than life.
TRAIL M
VIOLATING
ElfERK
RAISINS'
HfecNAL
Spp^cE
Quaker Chewy Trail Mix Bars
Lots of flavors, each packing a whole mouthful of wholesome.
lish something as a high-quality, expensive product. Appetite appeal using mouth-watering

visuals is found in food advertising, such as the one for Quaker Chewy Trail Mix.
Selling Premises Advertising has developed a number of approaches that speak to

the head with a sales message. A selling premise states the logic behind the sales offer. A
premise is a proposition on which an argument is based or a conclusion is drawn. It is usu¬
ally a rational approach—an appeal to the head. A rational, prospect-centered selling
premise identifies a reason or argument that might appeal to prospects and motivate them
to respond. Here is a summary of these rational customer-focused selling premises.
• Benefit. The benefit emphasizes what the product can do for the user by translating
the product feature or attribute into something that benefits the consumer. For exam¬
ple, a GM electric car ad focuses on the product feature (the car doesn’t use gas) and
translates it into a benefit: lack of noise (no pistons, valves, exhaust).
• Promise. A promise is a benefit statement that looks to the future and predicts that
something good will happen if you use the product. For example, Dial soap has
promised for decades that if you use Dial, you will feel more confident.
• Reason Why. A type of a benefit statement that gives you the reason why you should
buy something, although the reason sometimes is implied or assumed. The word
because is the key to a reason-why statement. For example, an Amtrak ad tells you that
travel on Amtrak is more comfortable than on a plane because Amtrak is a more civi¬
lized, less dehumanizing way to travel.
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP). A USP is a benefit statement that is both unique
to the product and important to the user. The USP is a promise that consumers will
get this unique benefit by using this product only. For example, an ad for a camera
states, “This camera is the only one that lets you zoom in and out automatically to
follow the action.”
An important part of a selling premise is the proof given for the claim or benefit state¬
ment. The proof, or substantiation needed to make a claim believable, is called support. In
some cases this calls for research findings. Most selling premises demand facts, proof, or
explanations to support the sales message.
Conviction The end result of persuasion is conviction, which means the consumer is
committed to something, prefers it, and probably intends to buy it or respond in some way.
Conviction is often built on strong, rational arguments that use such techniques in their cre¬
ative strategies as test results, before-and-after visuals, testimonials by users and experts,
and demonstrations to prove something. The

Kellogg’s ad shown here is an example. Publicity
that generates news stories in the media is more
believable than ads and thus rates higher in credi¬
bility.
Celebrity endorsements are also used to
intensify conviction in the target audience (as well
as get attention, cue the brand personality, and
stick in memory). Celebrities get handsome fees
for appearing in most commercial messages.
Rookie NBA star Lebron James, for example, gets
$90 million for appearing in Nike advertisements.
The National Park Service uses a public service
campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld, the comedian,
Walter Cronkite, the television journalist, and
Allan Houston, the New York Knicks guard, all of
whom donated their services to deliver a message
about restoring and renewing the national parks.
Other celebrities who have been involved include
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Richard Dreyfuss, Morgan
Freeman, and Tom Hanks. The idea is that celebri¬
ties draw attention, but they also carry a strong
There's o new way to jump-start your healthy lifestyle. A leading university
has discovered that eating Kellogg's Special tC and Kellogg's Smart Start *
message of conviction when they speak with pas¬
cereds can help you lose up to six pounds in just two weeks. Here’s how;
/ Start with o serving of cereal and skim milk with fruit for breakfast.
sion about something they believe in.16
J Replace either lunch or dinner with the cereal meal.
/ Have a third meal as you normally would.
Product placements can be persuasive because
J Snack on fruits and vegetables between meals.
■/ fn two weeks, strut your stuff. they show a product in use in the context of a movie
Const* yow phyjicion befofe Jtofirg *sy die of exerose program. A regiitered (fe&rai coo Kelp yco pfcn o bsdrtiy d>*t fesAs moy wxy. Aiwog* weigh* ksi 4.2 pounds.
and in use by stars. Celebrities, product place¬
ments, and other credibility techniques are used to
give the consumer permission to believe a claim or
selling premise. It’s easier to make people aware of
Kellogg's uses 28 cereal bowls a brand than it is to convince them that the brand is
to demonstrate the amount of better than its competitor’s. That’s why conviction
Special K and Smart Start it is one of the last steps in the persuasion process and one of the hardest objectives to accom¬
would take to help a person plish with an advertising message.
lose six pounds in two weeks.
Messages That Transform a Product into a Brand

The transformative power of branding, where the brand takes on character and meaning, is
one of advertising’s most important functions. Image advertising is used to create a rep¬
Principle resentation in a consumer’s mind. The image takes on a particular meaning based on the
When advertising gives ideas, feelings, and attitudes that a consumer has about a product, as well as the con¬
consumers permission to believe sumer’s past experiences with the product and its advertising. Advertising’s role is to pro¬
in a product, it establishes the
vide the cues that make these meanings and experiences come together as a coherent image
platform for conviction.
of the brand. Note in the Inside Story how Wrigley, a familiar brand, is positioned for a
new target market where it is less well known.
Associations An association message strategy delivers information symbolically by

connecting a brand with a certain type of person, lifestyle, or other characteristics. This
link is often created through visuals. A car in front of a mansion says luxury without hav¬
ing to state that message in words. The Sunkist ad associated oranges with candy to convey
the message of sweetness. Gorilla Glue has its association embedded in the name of the
product, but it also uses a gorilla on the label and the product shot in the ad shows a gorilla
hand holding the bottle. A consumer gets a feeling about the product—who uses it and how
and where they use it—through these symbolic undertones.
The megastore SuperTarget used a commercial that featured the brand characters of
the brands it sells, such as Tony the Tiger, Mr. Peanut, the Kool-Aid pitcher man, and the
Hamburger Helper Glove. The ad strategy was to polish the store’s image by associating it
TiIr III V
How Does a Quintessential!/ American Brand

Introduce Itself en Espanol?
Sonia Montes, Leo Burnett/Lapiz, Chicago
/jgM
mam ' The William Wrigley, Jr.
CT | Company was faced
L m 1
with a challenge when
one of its key brands,
ing a declining sales trend, year on year.

REFRESCANTEMENTA
DURADERO
Lack of innovation and news in a mature
category was setting this trend. The solu¬
tion was very specific: Wrigley would
UNPEQUENOPLACER
target Hispanics, a market segment that Y NADA MAS
.
was not yet saturated. It would create rel¬

evance to consumers with the traditional,
iconic American brand in various ways.
First, Doublemint's brand objective was
to stem the declining situation and re¬
establish the brand as a prominent com¬
petitor. Doublemint's relaunch also
included a new, longer-lasting formula,
revamped packaging, and a relevant
PLACENTERAMENTA
message directed toward Hispanics. DURADERO
However, there were some barriers
to overcome since Doublemint did not
have a relationship with the growing
Hispanic target. The William Wrigley,
Jr. Company had never developed spe¬ UNPEQUENOPLACER
cific Spanish-speaking marketing strate¬ Y NADA MAS
gies or tactics for this market. Hispanics
recognized the product via packaging
(especially color) and distribution, but
brand recognition and linkage to prod¬
uct attributes were low, due in part to the brand's low
development in Latin America. And finally, brand recogni¬ TV executions of 30 and 15 seconds on Spanish-
tion for competitive products leveraged a halo effect as the language TV, combined with print and out-of-home vehicles
brands had a much stronger equity and distribution in in markets with a high Hispanic penetration were key dri¬
Latin America. vers in making sure the message was correctly delivered.
Based on the insight that Latinos know how to enjoy The combination of a smart media strategy and strong posi¬
even the simplest of moments (such as watching a tele¬ tioning statement that correctly captured a key target
novela with family or having friends over for dinner) and insight proved to be a valuable combination. Doublemint
that gum is, after all, just gum, Doublemint was positioned increased brand awareness by +14 percent, ad aware¬
as one of life's simple pleasures—the everyday gum with ness rose by 38 percent, and future purchase intent esca¬
an unexaggerated smooth mint flavor that one doesn't lated by 63 percent! These are results to chew on!
need an excuse to chew. This created a clear personality
for the brand and linked the product attributes to the brand Sonia graduated from Michigan State University in 2000 with a BA in adver¬
name. The "Simple Pleasures" campaign depicted simple, tising. While at MSU, she was president of American Advertising Federation
(AAF), the largest student chapter in the country at that time, and she was
slightly misleading situations that capture the sensorial
named one of the 25 Most Promising Minority Students in Communications
experience of chewing Doublemint. . . . But ultimately, the 2000 by Advertising Age and AAF. She began her career at FCB Chicago
consumer was always reminded that it's just gum—one of and has worked on such brands as S.C. Johnson and Kraft. She is currently a
life's simple pleasures and nothing more. Senior Account Executive at Leo Burnett/Lapiz.
with well-known and well-loved spokescharacters. Sponsorships are also used by compa¬
nies to link themselves and their brands to events, such as the Olympics, or good causes,
such as the Breast Cancer “Race for the Cure.”
The objective of many branding campaigns is to create a brand relationship, which
gives a sense of ownership or affiliation to the user. Loyalty programs, such as frequent flyer
and frequent buyer clubs, are relationship marketing programs that lock customers into an
ongoing brand relationship. The Harley Owners Group (HOG) is a customer-initiated club
that has endured for years among loyal Harley riders. Self-mage appeals are also delivered
through symbolism and association. Some advertising strategies want you to identify with
the user of the product or see yourself in that situation. Fashion products invite you to pro¬
ject yourself into the ad and make a fashion statement when you wear or use the product. If
you buy and wear Oakley sunglasses or Doc Marten boots, you are making a statement
about your own taste and fashion sense because of the image these brands project.
Messages That Drive Action

Even harder to accomplish than conviction is a change in behavior. Sometimes an adver¬
tising message can drive people to act by offering something free or at a discounted sales
price, as in retail advertising. Many of the strategies advertisers use to encourage behavior
come from other marketing communication areas, such as direct marketing and sales pro¬
motion. Sales promotion, for example, works in tandem with advertising to stimulate
immediate action using sampling, coupons, and free gifts as incentives for action.
Advertising plays a role in delivering information about these promotions.
Most ads end with a signature of some kind that serves to identify the company or
brand, but it can also serve as a call to action if it gives direction to the consumer about
how to respond. Gorilla Glue ads have a call to action (“Request your free information
kit!”) along with contact information. Most ads have response information, such as a toll-
free phone number, Web site URL, or e-mail address to make it easier for people to
respond. Gorilla Glue gives both a Web site URL and a toll-free phone number.
Another challenge is to find interesting and original ways to generate word of mouth
and get people talking about the product. Trade shows can do this. This is sometimes called
viral marketing, or buzz, and it takes advantage of the fact that personal communication
is generally seen as more persuasive than mass-media advertising and more likely to moti¬
vate action. Viral marketing, which refers to messages being passed through an online net¬
work, is another way to create buzz.
Ultimately, advertisers want loyal customers who purchase and repurchase the prod¬
uct as a matter of habit or preference. Advertising can, in a number of ways, foster loyalty
leading to repeat purchases. Distributing coupons or introducing a continuity program
(such as a frequent flyer program) is effective in keeping customers. Simply keeping the
brand name in front of customers goes a long way toward reinforcing continued use of that
brand by customers who have had a positive brand experience. That’s what reminder
advertising strategies are designed to do.
Message Approaches
There is no one right way to do advertising. In addition to the basic categories of creative
strategies, there are some common message formats or “formulas.” We referred to some of
these when we talked about ways to deliver different types of effect. Here are some com¬
mon formats used by a planner to give direction to the creative team.
• Straightforward. A straightforward factual or informational message conveys infor¬

mation without any gimmicks, emotions, or special effects. For example, in an ad for
www.women.com, the Web site advertises that “It’s where today’s educated, affluent
women are finding in-depth coverage on issues they care about” and that more than
2 million women visit each month.
• Demonstration. A demonstration focuses on how to use the product or what it can do
for you. For example, an ad for Kellogg’s Special K and Smart Start uses cereal bowls to
demonstrate how a daily regimen of healthy cereal would help a dieter lose six pounds.
• Comparison. A comparison contrasts two or more products finding the advertiser’s

brand superior. The comparison can be direct, with competitors mentioned, or indirect,
with just a reference to “other leading brands.” In comparison, as in demonstration,
seeing is believing, so conviction is the objective. When people see two products being
compared, they are more likely to believe that one is better than the other.
• Problem Solution/Problem Avoidance. In a problem solution format, also known as
product-as-hero, the message begins with a problem and the product is the solution.
A variation is the problem avoidance message format, in which the product helps
avoid a problem.
• Humor. Advertisers use humor as a creative strategy because it gets attention; they
hope that people will transfer the warm feelings they have as they are being enter¬
tained to the product. Humor is hard to handle because some people will think it’s
funny but others may hate it. For a humorous ad to be effective, the selling premise
must reinforce the point of the humor.
• Slice of Life. The slice-of-life format is an elaborate version of a problem solution
staged in the form of a drama in which “typical people” talk about a common problem
and resolve it.
• Spokesperson. In the spokesperson (spokescharacter) or endorser format, the ad uses
celebrities we admire, created characters (the Aflac duck), experts we respect, or
someone “just like us” whose advice we might seek out to speak on behalf of the prod¬
uct to build credibility.
• Teasers. Teasers are mystery ads that don’t identify the product or don’t deliver
enough information to make sense, but they are designed to arouse curiosity. These are
often used to launch a new product. The ads run for a while without the product identi¬
fication and then when curiosity is sufficiently aroused—usually at the point when the
product is officially launched—a concluding ad runs with the product identification.
• Shockvertising. Advertising that tries to grab attention and generate buzz by using out¬
landish creative ideas or provocative visuals is referred to as shock advertising or
shockvertising. Bennetton has used this strategy for years. Pushing the envelope in
terms of taste is a risky strategy but may appeal to younger target markets.17
Delivering on the Objectives and Strategies

We’ve talked about objectives and strategies and this last section has reviewed techniques
that deliver on the strategies. Table 12.1 pulls all this information together as a set of basic
strategies that describe most advertising messages. The underlying logic is the same as the
original Facets model from Chapter 4.
You’ll also notice that there are other marketing communication tools besides tradi¬
tional advertising in Table 12.1. As Rick Boyko, former co-president of Ogilvy and now
managing director of the VCU AdCenter, explains, “There is almost no limit to what can
be considered advertising. Because the fact is, virtually everything the consumer experi¬
ences that has anything to do with a brand will play a role in defining that brand.”18
PLANNING AND MANAGING CREATIVE STRATEGY

We’ve talked about creative strategy and how it is developed, as well as the types of effects
advertising creates and the message strategies that deliver on these objectives. Now let’s
look at the process and planning document creative teams use to express their ideas. We’ll
end this chapter with a discussion of how executions follow from the creative brief and
how the creative strategy is evaluated.
The Creative Brief

The creative strategy and the key execution details are spelled out in a document called a
creative brief (or creative platform, worksheet, or blueprint). The brief is the document pre¬
pared by the account planner to summarize the basic marketing and advertising strategy. It
12.1 Message Strategy Objectives and Techniques

Strategies Objectives Techniques
Awareness strategy Grab and stick—attention, memory, Novelty and originality; intrusiveness;
clutter busting, interest shockvertising, guerilla marketing,
curiosity, teasers, personal or self-interest,
key visuals and sound bites, repetition
through campaigns, slogans and taglines,
jingles, brand characters, reminder ads
Information strategy Understanding Claims, news announcements, features,
point of differentiation, generic category
ads, long-copy ads, problem-solution,
direct marketing, public relations,
infomercials
Emotion strategy Emotions, psychological appeals Feel good (or feel anxiety) appeals, humor,
sex and fear appeals, fantasy, song-and-
dance commercials, advertainment, events
Persuasion strategy Attitudes—conviction, preference Selling premises, comparison, demonstra¬
tion, testimonials or endorsements,
slice-of-life commercials, publicity,
advocacy ads, product placements
Brand strategy Brand identity, associations Image ads, brand characters, brand
identity cues, high-impact imagery, lifestyle
ads, association ads, ads that link to
self-image, sponsorships, relationship
marketing (frequent buyer and other clubs)
Action strategy Trial, purchase, other actions Call to action, price ads, incentives, sales
promotion (sampling), direct marketing,
buzz-building programs, viral marketing,
trade shows and exhibits, reminder ads
gives direction to the creative team as they search for a creative concept. The formats of
these briefs vary, but most combine the basic advertising strategy decisions:
1. the problem to be solved

2. the objectives
3. the target market
4. the positioning strategy
5. the type of creative strategy
6. the selling premise
7. suggestions about the ad’s execution, such as tone of voice
The briefs typically are in outline form, to be filled in by account planners and given to the
creative team, as you can see from the examples in Table 12.2.
Consider how a creative brief was developed for a university football team. Even
though the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers play in the Metrodome, an off-cam-
pus, indoor stadium, over the years the stadium has rarely been filled because few fans
come to home games. During the six losing seasons old traditions linked to better days in
Gopher football began to die as losses overshadowed the wins. Minnesota fans who had
never experienced Gopher football as a tradition-rich event had no reason to invest in sea¬
son tickets. Local sportswriter Jim Caple wrote, “There’s only one marketing method that
will recover the lost generation of Gopher football fans. It’s called winning.” It sounds
like a pretty hopeless challenge, doesn’t it? But the Minneapolis-based Fallon advertising
agency hoped to attract people to Gopher games even if the team wasn’t winning, just for
the fun of it. The “Gopher Talk” creative brief (Figure 12.3) sets up the strategy behind
this EFFIE award-winning campaign.
12.2 Creative Strategy Briefs

Young & Rubicam DDB Needham
Key Fact (the key piece of information that will be Marketing Objective
used in the campaign—i.e., a product point of
Advertising Objective
difference, a consumer need, etc.)
Position
Consumer Problem the advertising will solve
Target
Advertising Objective
Key Insight
Creative Strategy
Reward and Support
Prospect Definition
Execution: Personality or Tone
Competition
Consumer Benefit Tracy-Locke
Reason Why Target Audience
User Benefits
Ogilvy & Mather
Reason Why
Product
Brand Character
Key Issue/Problem
Focus of Sale
The Promise
Tone
The Support
Our Competition The Phelps Group
Target Consumer: Who are we talking to? Client/Product
Desired Behavior: What do we expect? Target: Demographics and Psychographics
Target’s Net Impression Positioning (In the mind of our client)
Tone and Manner Objectives (What we want the prospect to do)

Ad Strategy (What we are saying)
Leo Burnett
Tactical Strategy (Where/How we say it)
Convince: Target audience—current belief re:
brand/category Support
That: Desired belief (benefit)

Because: Focus of sale or proposition (key
drama)
Support: Reasons why
Message Execution
There are many ways to execute any ad. An execution is the form in which the ad’s mes¬
sage is presented. Creative teams will spend hours comparing and testing various
approaches to arrive at the one version they feel best delivers on the strategy. The execu¬
tion details are the specifics about how the message will look, read, and sound in its fin¬
ished form. Although general decisions about how the creative message is to be executed
are suggested in a creative brief, as you can see in Table 12.2, the brief also contains
entries for such things as tone and attitude. (We will discuss the production of ads in more
detail in Chapters 13 and 14.)
Because ad copy is written as if it were a conversation, it can also be described in
terms of tone of voice. Most ads are written as if an anonymous announcer were speak¬
ing. Even with anonymity, however, the tone of voice may be identifiable. Some ads are
angry, some are pushy, some are friendly. Message tone, like your tone of voice when you
speak to someone, reflects the emotion or attitude behind the ad. Recently, attitude has
become a synonym for a style of advertising that is in-your-face, outrageous, or even
abrasive. Although most of the 1980s and early 1990s advertising was fairly serious, in
the late 1990s and 2000s, attitude began creeping into advertising as a way to reach a
younger generation.
Gopher Football Creative Brief
What We Expect the Advertising to Accomplish
Compel students to rediscover Gopher Football by

demonstrating that everything about Gopher Football (the
games, the pregame events, the parties] is an exciting,
entertaining and unpredictable source of fun.
Key Idea
On the field or off the field, with Gopher Football, anything
can happen!
Why Should They Believe This?

Problem to Be Solved? • U of M will sponsor events and activities that make the
game a three-day event [on-campus treasure hunts,
The Gophers are coming off six consecutive losing seasons.
Maroon & Gold nights at local bars, band and Alumni
They play in the Metrodome and struggle to draw large groups
band events, pregame parties, tailgating parties on
of students. During the losing seasons, old traditions linked to
Metrodome Plaza],
Gopher Football as a tradition-rich event began to die.
• With a new coach, the Gophers are committed and could
Who Are We Talking To? start winning.
• Students and season ticket purchases are the highest
Primary Target: Students
since Lou Holtz was coach.
Many of these students have attended Gopher Athletics and
probably even a football game, but for some, interest is still Brand Personality?
only latent. They have a positive disposition and respect
tradition, but don’t necessarily see anything attracting them Enthusiastic. Unpredictable. Slightly Irreverent.
to Gopher football games.
Secondary Target: Recent Alumni and the Lost Generation Executional Considerations
of Gopher Fans The administration is committed to Coach Mason and his
These groups represent the people who have become vision for the team. Fortunately, Coach Mason understands
disillusioned with Gopher football. “The team doesn’t win that students and their traditions help make games more
and the games aren’t fun anymore.” These fans want to exciting. The advertising needs to be edgy enough to appeal
support the team, but are waiting for something to change to students, but cannot be offensive to the general public.
their perceptions. “Anything Can Happen" should not be used as a tagline.
Creative Strategy Brief

An example of a completed creative brief comes from an EFFIE-winning campaign designed to sell season tickets for a university
football team, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, a team that rarely wins and whose fans say the team "has little appeal to anyone
born after the Truman administration." The Big Idea focused on two smart-mouth, football-crazed grandmothers named Marge and
Barb who parodied the blue-hair stereotype of the typical Gopher fan.
Managing the Global Creative Strategy

Global campaigns, like domestic campaigns, require ad work that addresses the advertising
objectives and reflects the product’s positioning. The opportunity for standardizing the cam¬
paign across multiple markets exists only if the objectives and strategic position are essen¬
tially the same. Otherwise a creative strategy may call for a little tweaking of the message
for a local market or even major revision if there are many cultural and market differences.
In the case where the core targeting and positioning strategies remain the same in dif¬
ferent markets, it might be possible for the central creative idea to be universal across mar¬
kets. For Starbucks the central idea is high-quality products in a relaxing atmosphere.
Although the implementation of this idea may vary from market to market, the creative
concept is sound across all types of consumers. Whiskas, for example, tries to build on uni¬
versal truths about cats as explained in the Matter of Principle box.
Even if the campaign theme, slogan, or visual elements are the same across mar¬
kets, it is usually desirable to adapt the creative execution to the local market. Adaptation
is especially important if the advertiser wants its products identified with the local mar-
Finding a Universal Truth About Cats
Whiskas is the number-one global catfood brand and its The creative team used this approach to appeal to cat
management team wanted to find an advertising strategy owners who appreciate their cats' weird, quirky behavior
that could be used across its various markets. A basic prin¬ and understand where it comes from. Understanding this
ciple of global marketing is that globalized strategies work universal truth about cats has turned around the category
only if they are based on some universal truths about the of cat food, according to John Hunt, Worldwide Creative
product that lead to a standardized positioning strategy. Director at TBWA, the agency behind the campaign.
Research by Whiska's agency, TBWA, and the Waltham
Center for Pet Nutrition in Britain revealed that cats, not Consider This
surprisingly, have a strong innate drive to eat what is good o-
for them. 1. What is the primary requirement for a global advertis¬
Understanding cats' instinctive behavior led the ing campaign?
agency to dismiss standard creative approaches that por¬ 2. How did TBWA use that basic principle to develop a
tray cats in cute, unnatural ways or present them as surro¬ creative strategy for Whiskas?
gate children. In reality, the agency realized, cats are
closer to their wild feline cousins than are dogs or other
domesticated animals. TBWA's commercials use special
Source: Stuart Elliott, "Whiskas Lets Cats Roam Wild," NY Times Direct, July
effects to show pet cats as if they live in the wild, stalking
1, 2003, NYTDirect@nytimes.com; "TBWA's Dru: 'Disruption Is in Our
herds of water buffalo and zebra. "Your cat has an inner DNA,'" Adforum Worldwide Summit, October 9, 2003,
beast," the announcer says. "Feed it." http://www.adforum.com/ specialevents/summit/tbwa.asp.
Even if the campaign theme, slogan, or visual elements are the same across mar¬
kets, it is usually desirable to adapt the creative execution to the local market.
Adaptation is especially important if the advertiser wants its products identified with the
local market rather than as a foreign import. Advertisements may be produced centrally,
in each local market, or by a combination of both. With a standardized campaign, pro¬
duction usually is centralized and all are advertisements produced simultaneously to reap
production cost savings.
The Go/No-Go Decision

An important part of managing creative work is evaluation, which happens at several
stages in the creative process. Chapter 19 focuses on this component, but we’ll introduce
some basics here to help you understand this important role in the creative process.
Although evaluation is based on research, at some point there is a personal go/no-go deci¬
sion, by either the creative team or the client. Craig Weatherup, president and CEO of
PepsiCo, explained, “You must have a clear vision and have the nerve to pull the trigger.”
BBDO’s president Phil Dusenberry says, “On Pepsi, the kill rate is high.” He explains,
“For every spot we go to the client with, we’ve probably killed nine other spots.”19
A particular problem that Big Ideas face is that the message is sometimes so creative
that the ad is remembered but not the product. That’s called vampire creativity and it is
one of the reasons some advertisers shy away from really novel or entertaining strategies.
One method is to assess the effectiveness of the ad’s creative features. Research firm
McCollum Spielman determined the characteristics of effective creative messages based
on 25 years of research and 25,000 copy-tests, as Table 12.3 shows. Insights such as these
are very useful to advertising professionals who are making go/no-go decisions.
Structural Analysis The Leo Burnett agency has an approach for analyzing the logic
of the creative strategy as it is being developed. The Burnett creatives use it to keep the
message strategy and creative concept working together, as well as the head and the heart
appeals. This method, called structural analysis, relies on these three steps:
1. Evaluate the power of the narrative or story line (heart).

12.3 Twelve Tested Creative Hot Buttons

What makes a creative message effective? Here are the 12 recurring qualities found in the most sales-effective
advertising as measured by research firm McCollum Spielman.
1. Brand rewards/benefits are highly visible through demonstration, dramatization, lifestyle, feelings, or analogy.
2. The brand is the major player in the experience (the brand makes the good times better).
3. The link between the brand and execution is clear (the scenario revolves around and highlights the brand).
4. The execution has a focus (there’s a limit to how many images and vignettes the consumer can process).
5. Feelings (emotional connectives) are anchored to the needs and aspirations of the targeted consumer.
6. Striking, dramatic imagery is characteristic of many successful executions, enhancing their ability to break out
of clutter.
7. An original, creative signature or mystique exists in many of the best commercials to bond the consumer to the
brand and give it a unique personality.
8. In food and beverage advertising, high taste appeal is almost always essential.
9. The best creative ideas for mature brands often use fresh new ways of revitalizing the message.
10. Music (memorable, bonded tunes and lyrics) is often a key to successful executions for many brands.
11. When humor is used, it is relevant, with a clear product purpose.
12. When celebrities are used, they are well matched to brands and have credibility as users/endorsers, and their
delivery is believably enthusiastic.
Source: McCollum Spielman Worldwide, Topline (October 1993): 2, 32.
Burnett creative teams check to see whether the narrative level is so high that it over¬
powers the claim or whether the claim is strong but there is no memorable story. Ideally,
these two elements will be so seamless that it will be hard to tell whether the impact occurs
because of the power of the story or the strength of the claim. Such an analysis keeps the
rational and emotional sides of an advertisement working together.
Copy-testing A more formal method of evaluating the effectiveness of an ad, either in

a draft form or after it has been used, is called copy-testing. To evaluate the results of the
advertising, the objectives need to be measurable—which means they can be evaluated to
determine the effectiveness of the creative strategy. The last chapter in this book will con¬
centrate on the evaluation of effectiveness.
IT'S A WRAP
MSN'S BUTTERFLY EMERGES AS A
WINNING BIG IDEA
N o matter how much the creative people or the client or the account executive may like an
idea, if it doesn't communicate the right message or the right product personality to the
right audience at the right time, then it is not effective. That's the science of advertising mes¬
sages; the art side comes from creative Big Ideas that have stopping power and break
through the competitive clutter.
MSN's "Butterfly" campaign is a good example of both the art and science of advertis¬
ing. It was designed to motivate consumers to consider MSN as an alternative to AOL and to
sign up for the new service. By tapping into what consumers truly want from their Internet ser¬
vice provider—a more useful experience—the McCann team developed an impactful adver¬
tising campaign. It has been recognized as effective because it delivered on its objectives:
• Generate switching momentum from AOL to MSN: The campaign resulted in 715,000
AOL users switching to MSN.
• Increase Internet subscriptions: The total MSN subscriptions grew 31 percent with a sig¬
nificant increase during the six-week online campaign.
• Increase unaided awareness: Unaided brand awareness jumped 42 percent from 17

percent before the campaign to 24.2 percent a year later.
• Increase perception of MSN as AOL competitor: After the campaign 53 percent of
respondents rated MSN as AOL's chief competitor, up from 38 percent before the cam¬
paign. That's an increase of 39 percent.
The campaign not only put a serious chink in AOL's armor, it also elevated MSN to a top-
of-mind position in the consumers' decision making. With results like these, you can under¬
stand why the MSN Butterfly was recognized for an EFFIE award.
■ ■■Summary
1. Define creative advertising and explain how it leads to a creative process involves immersing yourself in back¬
Big Idea. To be creative an ad must make a relevant con¬ ground research, developing alternatives through ideation,
nection with its audience and present a selling idea in an brainfog where you hit the wall and can’t come up with
unexpected way. There is both a science (the way a mes¬ anything, and illumination where you get the great idea.
sage is persuasive, convincing, and relevant) and an art (the 3. Discuss key creative strategy approaches. Creative
way a message is an unexpected idea). A Big Idea is a cre¬ strategies are often expressed as appeals to the head, the
ative concept that makes the message attention getting and heart, or both. The six facets of creative strategy are per¬
memorable.
ception, cognitive, affective, persuasion, transformation,
2. Describe the characteristics of creative people and their and behavior. These can be rephrased as awareness, infor¬
creative process. Creative people tend to be independent, mation, emotion, persuasion, brand image, and action
assertive, self-sufficient, persistent, and self-disciplined, strategies.
with a high tolerance for ambiguity. They are also risk tak¬ 4. Outline the key parts of a creative brief. From the adver¬
ers with powerful egos that are internally driven. They don’t tising strategy comes the problem statement, the objectives,
care much about group standards and opinions and typically the target market, and the positioning strategy. The mes¬
have inborn skepticism and strong curiosity. They are good sage strategy decisions include the appropriate type of cre¬
problem solvers with an ability to visualize and do concep¬ ative strategy, the selling premise, and suggestions about
tual thinking. They are open to new experiences. A typical the ad’s execution, such as tone of voice.
appeal, 340 copy-testing, 330 problem solution format, 345 soft sell, 335
association message strategy, creative brief, 345 product-as-hero, 345 structural analysis, 349
342 creative concept, 327 promise, 341 support, 341
attributes, 338 creative strategy, 334 reason why, 341 tone of voice, 347
benefit, 341 endorser format, 345 reminder advertising teaser, 336
Big Idea, 327 features, 338 strategies, 344 unique selling proposition
brainstorming, 333 hard sell, 335 ROI, 327 (USP), 341
buzz, 342 image advertising, 342 selling premise, 341 vampire creativity, 349
call to action, 344 message strategy, 334 share of mind, 336 viral marketing, 344
claim, 338 permission to believe, 342 shock vertising, 345
copycat advertising, 327 point of differentiation, 338 slice-of-life format, 345
1. What is a Big Idea and what are its characteristics? 5. What is the role of originality in driving perception?
2. List five characteristics of creative people. How do you rate 6. What are the seven general types of information found in a
yourself on those factors? creative brief?
3. Describe the six steps in the creative process.
4. What are the six facets of creative strategy?
■ ■■Discussion Questions
1. Find the ad in this book that you think is the most creative. enhance creativity? Which discourage it? How do you rate
Analyze it in terms of the ROI formula for evaluating effec¬ yourself on these traits?
tive creative advertising. 4. Find a newspaper or magazine advertisement that you think
2. Peter Madison, a sophomore in advertising, is speaking is bland and unexciting. Explain how you might rewrite it,
informally with a copywriter from a local advertising first to demonstrate a hard-sell approach, and then to
agency following the writer’s class presentation. Peter states demonstrate a soft-sell approach.
his strong determination to be some sort of creative profes¬ 5. Explain how creative advertising relates to advertising
sional once he gets his degree. “My problem is that I'm a effectiveness. Find an ad you think is good and one that
bit shy and reserved. I’m interested in all sorts of stuff, but you think doesn’t work very well. Analyze them in terms of
I’m not really quick in expressing ideas and feelings. I’m their creativity (art) and strategy (science). If you were a
not sure my personality is suited for being an advertising professional working on these accounts, how would you go
creative. How do I know whether I’ve picked the right about evaluating the effectiveness of these two ads to test
career direction?” What advice should the writer give Peter? your intuitive judgment?
3. What are some of the major traits of creative people? Which
characteristics of the advertising world do you think
1. The class should be divided into groups of 8 to 10, with each group working in a separate
area. Here’s the problem: Your community wants to encourage people to get out of their cars
and use alternative forms of transportation. How many different creative concepts can your
team come up with to express that idea in an advertisement? Brainstorm for 15 minutes as a
group, accumulating every possible idea regardless of how crazy or dumb it might initially
sound. Appoint one member to be the recorder who lists all the ideas as they are mentioned.
Then go back through the list as a group and put an asterisk next to the ideas that seem to
have the most promise. When all the groups reconvene in class, each recorder should list the
group’s ideas on the blackboard. Cover the board with all the ideas from all the groups. As a
class, pick out the three ideas that seem to have the most potential. Analyze the experience of
participating in a brainstorming group and compare the experiences of the different teams.
2. Consult the BrandEra.com Web site and open up the “Creative” or “Advertising” topics in
the Department section. Find an article that discusses the creative strategy behind an ad or
campaign. Summarize the discussion and relate it to things you have learned in this chapter
about how creative strategies are developed.
HANDS-ON
How Do You Put a Price on Great Creative?
Ask McCann-Erickson
The McCann-Erickson advertising agency was hungry for The client's reaction? "Without naming names, there were
fresh talent when it hired a young copywriter named Joyce a few tears at the presentation," says Cranin.
King Thomas. It was the mid-1 990s and McCann was in a And thus a hit was born. The long-running Master-
creative slump. Its biggest and most famous client, Coca Card campaign has led to large gains in both consumer
Cola, had fired the agency after decades of collaboration awareness and card usage. The ads are cultural icons,
on some of the greatest ads in history. McCann's creative inspiring parodies on Saturday Night Live and the HBO
director Nina DiSesa had liked King Thomas's work at program Arliss. And McCann is back on top, with a strong
another agency and thought she could help lead a cre¬ roster of new clients, including Verizon Wireless ($300
ative revival at McCann. million), Staples ($60 million) and USA Today ($10 mil¬
McCann got its chance when credit card giant lion). The agency has almost $3 billion in yearly billings.
MasterCard became a client in 1997. MasterCard wanted As for King Thomas? She has just been named to succeed
something fresh that could help it regain lost ground DiSesa as creative director, placing her in charge of about
against top-competitor Visa. "Visa was the aspirational, 150 people.
globe-trotting card, and MasterCard was the everyday, The McCann story holds some important lessons for
hardware-store card. We needed to take the ordinariness agencies: Fancy reputation? Good. Impressive roster of
of the card and glorify it," recalled executive creative direc¬ past clients? Noteworthy. The best creative talent in the
tor Jonathan Cranin. Eric Einhorn, McCann's head of business? Priceless.
strategic planning, put it this way. "We considered it a trav¬
esty that you could use your MasterCard wherever you Consider This
could use your Visa—and in more places around the world. O-
But Visa was it and MasterCard was just another card." 1. Campaigns that seek an emotional connection are
King Thomas, Einhorn, and Cranin thought they should difficult to pull off. Joyce King Thomas put it this
avoid a benefits focus and shoot for ads that would strike way. "One thing we were worried about was that
an emotional chord. The ideas did not come easily, but people would think we were telling them they would
after days of brainstorming, false starts, and lots of crum¬ have to spend money to have a close relationship.
pled paper, Cranin came up with "There are some things But that hasn't come up." King Thomas worried from
money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard." the start that the campaign might be deemed manip¬
That was good, everyone agreed, but how to present it? ulative or sappy by the consumer. "This kind of work
King Thomas suggested a "shopping list" approach. She can easily slip into bad Hallmark advertising." What
described a father and son attending a baseball game. As in McCann's work has helped MasterCard to avoid
the two enjoy food and souvenirs together an announcer this problem?
checks off the dollar costs (Two tickets: $28; two hot dogs, 2. When the HBO program Arliss used the "Priceless"
two popcorns, and two sodas: $18; one autographed tagline in one episode, MasterCard sued for trade¬
baseball: $45) leading up to the emotional close: "Real mark and copyright infringement. Would you have
conversation with 1 1-year-old son: priceless." advised MasterCard to protect its slogan this way?
The group believed they had a winner but were tak¬ Why or why not?
ing no chances. When they presented their ideas to 3. What makes the MasterCard "Priceless" theme a
MasterCard the ads were encased in blue-velvet-covered winning creative idea? How would you determine if
books. Most of pitching was done by King Thomas, who it is truly effective?
backed up the creative with clips taken of the enthusiastic
focus groups that had watched the ads. "It was choreo¬ Sources: Hank Kim, "Mastercard Moments." Adweek (April 1 2, 1999); Mallorre Dill,
"Creative Briefs," Adweek (July 17, 2000); Kathleen Sampey, "King Thomas Takes Over
graphed beautifully," recalls a McCann executive. "Joyce
Creative at McCann Flagship," Adweek (October 25, 2004); Todd Wasserman, "Credit
took us through the work, and she had such passion for it." Cards," Adweek (April 26, 2004).
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I ■ ■ ■
CHAPTER KEY- POINTS
1. Explain the basic style of writing used for advertising copy.
2. Describe the various copy elements of a print ad.
3. Explain the message characteristics and tools of radio

advertising.
Frontier's 4. Discuss the major elements of television commercials.

Tales About Tails 5. Discuss how Web advertising is written.
Awards:
ADDY; New York Festivals
International Awards;
Mobius Awards (Television
Commercials Festival);
Cresta Creative Standards
Award; Denver Advertising
F rontier Airlines, a low cost carrier that started up in 1994, took
off with animals emblazoned on the tails of its planes.
Frontier's distinctive aircraft tails, all of which depict wildlife
images, have made the Frontier brand name synonymous with
Federation "Fame and
the airline's western heritage.
Fortune" Award
The idea of using animals on the tail, according to Diane
Company: Willmann, Frontier's director of advertising, came from Jim Adler, who
Frontier Airlines heads up the brand-identity company Genesis, Inc. She explains, "We
had virtually no advertising budget in the early years. We needed our
Agencies: aircraft to communicate for us and emotionally connect with the public.
Sticky Grey (a division of
In fact, the challenge was to create a livery that was so different and
Grey Worldwide); Sterling-
Rice Group; Genesis, Inc. compelling that we would have people lined up at the airport with their
noses pressed against the glass just to catch a glimpse of the plane."
Campaign: The animals have helped bring the Frontier brand to life as its
"A Whole Different Animal" advertising brought them to life as talking characters on the tarmac.
Every aircraft in Frontier's fleet of 40-plus Airbus planes has a different
355
animal on its tail, and these creatures have become stars in radio and television
commercials that feature their conversations as they line up at the gate.
Willmann explains, "They are attention getting, visually appealing and con¬
note a different kind of airline . . . one that is as individual as the passengers it car¬
ries, and one that is warm, alive, and 'human.' No single animal represents
Frontier. The diversity of the animals is essential to the character and personality of
the airline." And the diversity comes out in their commentaries on life at the gates.
Flip the dolphin complains because he's always getting sent to frigid
Chicago even though Frontier has a number of flights to Florida. Larry the lynx,
who sounds like he's seen too many Don Rickies routines, tells him to "chill out,"
saying "Your blowhole is leaking."
Foxy, a sultry red fox that is being pursued by lovesick Jack the Rabbit,
smirks that she would rather eat a rabbit for dinner than have dinner with a
rabbit. Larry knows why Foxy won't go out with the big white bunny when Jack
asks "How's my breath?" Larry responds, "It smells like carrots."
Griswald the Buddy Hackett-like bear gloats about his Florida routes and
says he has his suitcase filled with sunscreen, a beach ball, and a thong. Larry
replies about the thong, "That'll clear the beach."
In one scene Larry brags on Frontier's new LiveTV feature. Jack responds, "I
prefer the old-fashioned technology." "What, cable?" growls the lynx. "No,
rabbit ears," retorts the rabbit.
Other characters include Klondike and Snow, who were polar bear cubs
born at the Denver Zoo; Sal the Cougar; Mo and Jo, the twin red fox pups;
Montana the elk; Ozzy the Orca whale; Carl the coyote; Hamilton the hum¬
mingbird; and Lucy the Canadian goose—to name just a few of the tail gang.
The award-winning advertising created by Sticky Grey, a division of Grey
Worldwide, can be viewed on Frontier's Web site at http://www.frontierairlines
.com.
Part of a massive rebranding campaign, the slogan "A whole different ani¬
mal," developed by Sticky Grey, was used to signify Frontier's growth and new
routes, low fares, customer service, and onboard amenities such as its LiveTV
satellite service. It also became the focal point in an awareness-building cam¬
paign in Denver and ultimately in other major markets. Frontier flies to some 47
cities in 30 states, as well as 5 resorts in Mexico.
The ads are fun, but the message strategy is a hard-nosed business-building
effort. When you say you're "a whole different animal" in a highly competitive
business like airlines, you're making "an enormous customer promise,"
explained Buddy Ketchner, managing partner at Sterling-Rice, a Boulder-based
branding agency that conducted the research to define the message strategy.
The advertising works not only because it delivers on the brand promise,
but also because customers like the airline more because of the campaign and
follow the stories of the cast of characters. They write in with suggestions for sto¬
rylines; some have sent photos of their own pets gracing a Frontier tail. Little
kids want to know which animal they are flying with and you'll see them in wait¬
ing rooms trying to catch sight of their favorite animal tail.
Sources: Diane Willman Interview, September 28, 2004; David Kesmodel, “Tale of the Tails,” Rocky Mountain News (June 12,
2004): 1C, 6C; Amy Bryer, “Frontier’s Animal Ads Proving Popular, Attention-getters,” Denver Business Journal (March 15,
2004), http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2004/03/15story8.html; “Frontier Airlines’ ‘Talking Animals' Ad Campaign
Receives Critical Praise from Around the Country,” April 22, 2004, Frontier press release, www.frontierairlines.com; Barry
Janoff, “What Do You Call a Funny Airplane? A One Liner,” Brandweek (August 18, 2003): 28 Flight information based on
6/2005 schedule.
CHAPTER 13 • COPYWRITING 357
Words and pictures work together to pro¬

duce a creative concept. However, the idea
behind a creative concept in advertising is Our book gives advertisers
usually expressed in some attention-getting
and memorable phrase. Finding these
reason to smile.
“magic words” is the responsibility of copy¬
writers, who search for the right way to
warm up a mood or soften consumer resis¬
tance. This chapter will describe the role of
the copywriter and then explain the practice
of copywriting in print, broadcast, and
Internet advertising.
F’Q moon
The XYNEX Yellow fages is constant!) wonnng to help our advertisers make some serious money.
Its reach far exceeds its rivals. Last year alone, when referring to the wlkm pages* the NYNEX directory
was used by over 87 ■ of the XYNEX region. And .50% of those who referred
COPYWRITING: to our book ultimately made a purchase. As you would expect, such reach and NiNEA
—
consumer response make advertising in the XYNEX Yellow Pages a pleasure. YbHowPages
THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING
Some creative concepts are primarily
visual; however, intriguing thoughts can
also be expressed through language. A NYNEX's ads have featured
long-running NYNEX campaign for its Yellow Pages illustrates a word-oriented creative puns based on its category
concept. The campaign used a visual play on words to illustrate some of the headings in its headings. This ad, which
directory, but the pun doesn’t make sense until the visual is married with the heading from was directed to media buyers,
the directory. One commercial in the series included three train engineers with overalls, used that same creative
caps, and bandannas sitting in rocking chairs in a parlor and having tea to illustrate the technique with a visual pun
“Civil Engineering” category; a picture of a bull sleeping on its back illustrates the cate¬ on the heading.
gory “Bulldozing.”
Although advertising is highly visual, there are four types of advertisements in which
words are crucial.
1. If the message is complicated, words can be more specific than visuals and can be
read over and over until the meaning is clear.
2. If the ad is for a high-involvement product—meaning the consumer spends a lot of
time considering it—then the more information the better, and that means using
words.
3. Information that needs definition and explanation, like how a new wireless phone
works, is better delivered through words.
4. If a message tries to convey abstract qualities, such as justice and quality, words tend
to communicate these concepts more easily than pictures.
Words are powerful tools in advertising and the person who understands their beauty
and power, as well as how best to use them is the copywriter.
The Copywriter
The person who shapes and sculpts the words in an advertisement is called a copywriter.
Copy is the text of an ad or the words that people say in a commercial. In most agencies,
copywriters work in teams with art directors, who design the way the ad will look. A suc¬
cessful advertising copywriter is a savvy marketer and a literary master, sometimes
described as a “killer poet.” Copywriters love words and they search for the clever twist,
the pun, the powerful description, the punch, the nuance—for words that whip and batter,
plead, sob, cajole, and impress. They are experts on words, or, rather, students of them, as
the YMCA ad demonstrates. They know meanings and derivations, as well as the moods
and feelings of words and the reverberations and vibrations they create in a reader’s mind.
Many copywriters have a background in English or literature. In addition to having an
ear for the right or clever phrase, they listen to the way people talk and identify the tone of
voice that best fits the target audience and advertising need. Versatility is a common trait of
copywriters. They can move from toilet paper to Mack trucks and shift their writing style
to match the product and the language of their target audience. Like poets, copywriters
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Part of a membership drive campaign, this ad demonstrates how a copy¬

writer plays with language to deliver a selling point with style. Lara Mann,
a graduate of the University of Florida advertising program, and copywriter
at FHB Advertising in Orlando, contributed this ad.
spend hours, even days, crafting a paragraph. After many revisions others read the copy
and critique it. It then goes back to the writer, who continues to fine-tune it. Copywriters
have to have thick skins as there is always someone else reading their work, critiquing it,
and making changes.
Advertising Writing Style

Advertising has to win its audience—no small task given that it usually competes in a very
cluttered environment. For that reason, the copy should be as simple as possible. It is suc¬
cinct and single-minded, meaning it has a clear focus and usually tries to convey only one
selling point. Advertising writing is tight: Every word counts because both space and time
are expensive. Ineffective words—such as interesting, very, in order to, buy now and save,
introducing, nothing less than—waste precious space. Copywriters revise copy a hundred
Principle times to make it as concise as possible. The tighter the copy, the easier it is to understand
Effective copy is succinct and the greater its impact. Simple ads avoid being gimmicky because they may come off as
and single-minded. too cute; they don’t try too hard or reach too far to make a point.
Copywriters try to write the way the target audience thinks and talks. That often
means using direct address. For example, an ad for Trojan condoms makes a pointed argu¬
ment on a touchy subject for its young, single-person target audience. Combining headline
with body copy, it reads as a dialogue:
I didn’t use one because I didn’t have one with me.

Get Real.
If you don’t have a parachute, don’t jump, genius.
The Practical Tips feature summarizes some characteristics of effective copy.
q Practical Tips
Writing Effective Copy
• Be succinct. Use short, familiar words, short sentences, and short para¬
graphs.
• Be single-minded. Focus on one main point.
• Be specific. Don't waste time on generalities. The more specific the mes¬
sage, the more attention getting and memorable it is.
• Get personal. Directly address your audience whenever possible as "you"
and "your," rather than "we" or "they."
• Keep a single focus. Deliver a simple message instead of one that makes
too many points. Focus on a single idea and support it.
• Be conversational. Use the language of everyday conversation. The copy
should sound like two friends talking to one another, so don't shy away
from incomplete sentences, thought fragments, and contractions.
• Be original. To keep your copy forceful and persuasive, avoid stock adver¬
tising phrases, strings of superlatives and brag-and-boast statements, and
cliches.
• Use variety. To add visual appeal in both print and TV ads, avoid long
blocks of copy in print ads. Instead, break the copy into short paragraphs
with subheads. In TV commercials, break up television monologues with
visual changes, such as shots of the product, sound effects, and dialogue.
The writer puts these breaks in the script while the art director designs what
they will look like.
• Use imaginative description. Use evocative or figurative language to build
a picture in the consumer's mind.
The pompous overblown phrasing of many corporate statements doesn’t belong in ads.
We call it your-name-here copy because almost any company can use those words and tack
their signature on the end. It isn’t attention getting and it doesn’t contribute to a distinctive
and memorable image. That’s always a risk with company-centered copy. A broadband
company named Covad started off an ad with copy that could be used by any company:
Opportunity. Potential. These are terms usually associated with companies that
have a lot to prove and little to show for it. But on rare occasion, opportunity
can be used to describe a company that has already laid the groundwork, made
the investments, and is well down the road to strong growth.
Tone of Voice To develop the right tone of voice, copywriters write to the target audi¬
ence. If they know someone who fits the audience profile, then they write to that person as if
they were in a conversation. If they don’t, then they may go through a photo file, select a pic¬
ture of the person they think fits the description, and write to that person. Molson Beer won
awards for a commercial it created, called “The Rant,” that mirrored the attitude of many
Canadians. The commercial started softly with an average-Joe character disassociating
't
himself from Canadian stereotypes. As he talks, he builds up intensity and at the end, he’s in
a full-blown rant. The commercial was so successful it was played at events all around the
country:
Hey. I’m not a lumberjack or a fur trader. And I don’t live in an igloo or eat
blubber or own a dogsled. And I don’t know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I'm certain they’re really, really nice. I have a Prime Minister, not a
President. I speak English and French, not American. And I pronounce it ‘about’
not ‘aboot.’ 1 can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack. I believe in
peace-keeping, not policing. Diversity, not assimilation, and that the beaver is a
truly proud and noble animal. A toque is a hat. A chesterfield is a couch, and it
is pronounced ‘zed,’ not ‘zee-’Zed! Canada is the second largest land mass, the
first nation in hockey, and the best part of North America. My name is Joe, and I
am Canadian.
Grammar Copywriters also are attuned to the niceties of grammar, syntax, and
spelling, although sometimes they will play with a word or phrase to create an effect, even
if it’s grammatically incorrect. The Apple Computer campaign for the Macintosh that used
the slogan “Think different” rather than “Think differently” caused a bit of an uproar in
Apple’s school market, which is the reason copywriters think very carefully about playing
loose with the language even if it sounds right.1
Adese Formulaic advertising copy is one problem that is so well-known that comedi¬
ans parody it. This type of formula writing, called adese, violates all the guidelines for
writing effective copy that we described in the Practical Tips. It is full of cliches, superla¬
tives, stock phrases, and vague generalities. For example, can you hear yourself saying
anything like the following to a friend? “Now we offer the quality that you’ve been waiting
for—at a price you can afford,” and “Buy now and save.”
Another type of adese is brag-and-boast copy, which is “we” copy written from the
company’s point of view with a pompous tone. Consider a print ad by Buick. The ad starts
with a stock opening, “Introducing Buick on the move.” The body copy includes superla¬
tives and generalities such as “Nothing less than the expression of a new philosophy,” “It
strikes a new balance between luxury and performance—a balance which has been put to
the test,” and “Manufactured with a degree of precision that is in itself a breakthrough.”
Because people are so conditioned to screen out advertising, messages that use this pre¬
dictable style are the ones that are the easiest to ignore.
Now that we’ve discussed the basics of advertising style, let’s look at how copy is
written for print and broadcast media.
COPYWRITING FOR PRINT

A print advertisement is created in two pieces: a copy sheet and a layout. We discuss the
copy in this chapter and the layout in the next. The two categories of copy that print adver¬
tising uses are display copy and body copy (or text). Display copy includes all elements
that readers see in their initial scanning. These elements—headlines, subheads, call-outs,
taglines, and slogans—usually are set in larger type sizes than body copy and are designed
to get attention and to stop the viewer’s scanning. Body copy includes the elements that are
designed to be read and absorbed, such as the text of the ad message and captions. Table
13.1 summarizes the primary copy elements that are in the copywriter’s toolkit.
How to Write Headlines

The headline is a key element in print advertising. It conveys the main message so that
people get the point of the ad. It’s important for another reason. The headline works with
the visual to get attention and communicate the creative concept. This clutter-busting Big
Idea breaks through the competitive messages. It comes across best through a picture and
words working together, as the DuPont ad illustrates. The headline carries the theme (“To
13.1 The Copywriter’s Toolkit

No one ad uses all of the copy elements: however, they
are all used in different ads for different purposes. Here
are the most common tools in the copywriter’s toolkit:
Cancer Patients Fly Free
So near, yet so far.
Headline: A phrase or a sentence that serves as the Critical treatment centers, often thousands of miles
away, are frequently a cancer patient's best chance for
survival. But costly airfare, stressful delays, and unnecessary
opening to the ad. It’s usually identified by larger type exposure to crowds are the last thing these patients need.
We give cancer patients a lift.
or a prominent position and its purpose is to catch We are Corporate Angel Network, the nationwide public
clwnly with only one mission—to arrange passage for cancer
attention. In the Corporate Angel Network ad, for patients to treatment centers using tire empty seats on
corporate lets.
example, the headline is "Cancer Patients Fly Free.” Our five employees ami 66 highly invoiced and
compassionate volunteers work directly with patients and
families to coordinate their travel needs with the regularly
Overlines and underlines: These are phrases or sen¬ scheduled flight plans of our Corporate Angels- oOft major
corporations, including 56 of the top 100 in the Fortune
5fXi\ who generously make empty seats on their aircraft
tences that either lead into the headline or follow up available to our patients.
To date, they've flown more than 15,000 flights with
on the thought in the headline. They are usually set in Corporate .Angei Network patients onboard.
Need a lift?
smaller type than the headline. The purpose of the Jasl give us a calL We’ll do the rest.
overline is to set the stage, and the purpose of the

underline is to elaborate on the idea in the headline coRKWAir Arum nenvofw
Corporate Angel Network, Ijic.
and serve as a transition to the body copy. Westchester Courtly Airport
One l-oop Road. White Plains, NY 16804
Phone (914) 328-1313 Fax (914) 328-3938
Body Copy: The text of the ad. It’s usually smaller-sized Patient Toll Free —(866) 328-1313
InfoAComAitticINstwtirk.om wsmCoro.4ngclNetwnrk.rirg
type and written in paragraphs or multiple lines. Its
purpose is to explain the idea or selling point.
Subheads: Used in longer copy blocks, subheads begin
a new section of the copy. They are usually bold type
or larger than the body copy. Their purpose is to
make the logic clear to the reader. They are useful for
people who scan copy and they help them get a
sense of what the copy says. The Corporate Angel
Network ad uses subheads.
Call-outs: These are sentences that float around the
visual, usually with a line or arrow pointing to some
specific element in the visual that they name and
explain. For example, Johnson & Johnson once ran
an ad that used call-outs as the main pieces of the
body copy. The head read: “How to bathe a mommy.”
Positioned around a picture of a woman are short
paragraphs with arrows pointing to various parts of
her body. These “call outs” describe the good things
the lotion does for feet, hands, makeup removal,
moisture absorption, and skin softening.
Captions: A sentence or short piece of copy that
explains what you are looking at in a photo or illustra¬
tion. Captions aren’t used very often in advertising
because the visuals are assumed to be self-explana¬
tory; however, readership studies have shown that,
after the headline, captions have high readership.
Taglines: A short phrase that wraps up the key idea or
creative concept that usually appears at the end of
the body copy. It often refers back to the headline or
opening phrase in a commercial. For example, see
the line, “Need a lift? Just give us a call. We’ll do the
rest,” in the Corporate Angel Network ad.
Slogans: A distinctive catch phrase that serves as a
motto for a campaign, brand, or company. It is used
across a variety of marketing communication mes¬
sages and over an extended period of time. For
example, see “The Miracles of Science” line that
serves as a corporate motto for the DuPont company.
Call to Action: This is a line at the end of an ad that
encourages people to respond and gives information
on how to respond. Both ads—Corporate Angel
Network, and DuPont—have response information:
either an address, a toll-free phone number, an e-mail
address, or Web address.
i
Do List for the Planet”) and the underline (“Find food that helps prevent osteoporosis”)
makes a direct connection with the visual. People who are scanning may read nothing
more, so advertisers want to at least register a point with the consumer. The point has to be
clear from the headline or the combination of headline and visual. Researchers estimate
that only 20 percent of those who read the headline go on to read the body copy.
Principle Headlines need to be catchy phrases, but they also have to convey an idea and attract
Good headlines interrupt readers' the right target audience. Tobler chocolates has won EFFIE® awards for a number of years
scanning and get their attention. for its clever headlines and visuals. For Tobler’s Chocolate Orange, the creative concept
showed the chocolate ball being smacked against something hard and splitting into slices.
The headline was “Whack and Unwrap.” The next year the headline was “Smashing Good
Taste,” which speaks to the candy’s British origins and to the quirky combination of choco¬
late and orange flavors. The headline and visual also tell consumers how to “open” the
orange into slices—by whacking it.
Agencies will copy-test headlines to make sure they can be understood at a glance and
that they communicate exactly the right idea. Split-run tests (two versions of the same ad)
in direct mail have shown that changing the wording of the headline while keeping all
other elements constant can double, triple, or quadruple consumer response. That is why
the experts, such as ad legend David Ogilvy, state that the headline is the most important
element in the advertisement.2 Because headlines are so important, some general principles
guide their development and explain the particular functions they serve:
• A good headline will attract only those who are prospects; there is no sense in attract¬
ing people who are not in the market. An old advertising axiom is, “Use a rifle, not a
shotgun.” In other words, use the headline to tightly target the right audience.
• The headline must work in combination with the visual to stop and grab the reader’s
attention. An advertisement by Range Rover shows a photo of the car parked at the
edge of a rock ledge in Monument Valley with the headline “Lots of people use their
Range Rovers just to run down to the corner.”
• The headline must also identify the product and brand, and start the sale. The selling
premise should be evident in the headline.
• The headline should lead readers into the body copy. For readers to move to the body
copy, they have to stop scanning and start concentrating. This change in mind-set is the
reason why only 20 percent of scanners become readers.
Headlines can be grouped into two general categories: direct- and indirect-action
headlines. Direct-action headlines are straightforward and informative, such as “The
Power to Stop Pain.” It links the brand to the benefit. Direct headlines are highly targeted,
but they may fail to lead the reader into the message if they are not captivating enough.
Indirect-action headlines are not as selective and may not provide as much information, but
they may be better at drawing the reader into the message.
Types of Direct-Action Headlines
• Assertion. An assertion is a headline that states a claim or a promise that will motivate
someone to try the product.
• Command. A command headline politely tells the reader to do something.
• How-To Heads. People are rewarded for investigating a product when the message
tells them how to use it or how to solve a problem.
• News Announcements. News headlines are used with new-product introductions,
but also with changes, reformulations, new styles, and new uses. The news value is
thought to get attention and motivate people to try the product.
Types of Indirect-Action Headlines
• Puzzles. Used strictly for their curiosity and provocative power. Puzzling statements,
ambiguity, and questions require the reader to examine the body copy to get the
answer or explanation. The intention is to pull readers into the body copy.
• Associations. These headlines use image and lifestyle to get attention and build interest.
The “Help, I Think I Need A Tourniquet” headline draws us into the Motorola Talk
About ad. Headlines like this one, which also plays on the sounds of words, are provoca-
This ad for the Motorola Talk

About two-way radio ran in
Backpack magazine and caught
the attention of readers by using
a creative headline to
demonstrate the problem
with bad radio reception.
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tive and compel people to read on to find out the point of the message. Sometimes these
indirect headlines are called “blind headlines” because they give so little information. A
blind headline is a gamble. If it is not informative or intriguing enough, the reader may
move on without absorbing any product name information, but if it works as an attention
getter, it can be very effective.
How to Write Other Display Copy

Next to the headline, captions have the second-highest readership. In addition to their
pulling power, captions also serve an information function. Visuals do not always say the
same thing to every person; for that reason, most visuals can benefit from explanation. In
addition to headlines, copywriters also craft the subheads that continue to help lure the
reader into the body copy. Subheads are considered display copy in that they are usually
larger and set in type (bold or italic) different from the body copy. Subheads are sectional
headlines and are also used to break up a mass of “gray” type (or type that tends to blur
together when one glances at it) in a large block of copy.
Taglines are short, catchy, and particularly memorable phrases used at the end of an
ad to complete or wrap up the creative idea. An ad from the Nike women’s campaign used
the headline “You are a nurturer and a provider. You are beautiful and exotic” set in an ele¬
gant script. The tagline on the next page used a rough, hand-drawn, graffiti-like image that
said, “You are not falling for any of this.” Slogans, which are repeated from ad to ad as
part of a campaign or a long-term brand-identity effort, also may be used as taglines. To be
successful, these phrases have to be catchy and memorable, yet many corporate slogans
fall back into marketing language or cliches and come across as leaden (“Total quality
through excellence,” “Excellence through total quality,” or “Where quality counts”).3
Consider the distinctiveness and memorability of the slogans in Table 13.2. Which ones
work and which ones don’t?
Copywriters use a number of literary techniques to enhance the memorability of sub¬
heads, slogans, and taglines. These are other techniques copywriters use to create catchy
slogans:
• Direct Address. ’’Have it your way; “Think small.”

• A Startling or Unexpected Phrase. The NYNEX campaign used the phrase, “If it’s
out there, it’s in here,” which is an example of a twist on a common phrase that makes
it unexpected.
Match the company with its slogan:

1. It’s What Your Family Deserves. a. Nissan
2. Communication Without Boundaries b. Tyson
3. Our Challenge is Life c. Delta
4. Know How. d. Avaya
5. A Business of Caring e. Hitachi
6. On top of the World f. Cigna
7. Inspire the Next g. Hertz
8. Enjoy the Ride h. Canon
9. Where winners rent i. Chrysler
10. Inspiration Comes Standard j. Aventis
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Source: Jayne Clark, "It's Hard to Love Those Tourism Slogans," USA Today (May 7, 2004): 5D; A1 Ries,
"Wasting Money on Bad Advertising Slogans," January 2004, Adage.com.
• Rhyme, Rhythm, Alliteration. Uses repetition of sounds, as in the Wall Street

Journal’s slogan—“The daily diary of the American Dream.”
• Parallel Construction. Uses repetition of the structure of a sentence or phrase, as in
Morton Salt’s “When it rains, it pours.”
• Cue for the Product. Folgers’ “Good to the last drop;” John Deere’s “Nothing runs
like a Deere,” Wheaties’ “Breakfast of Champions;” “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.”
• Music. “In the valley of the Jolly, ho-ho-ho, Green Giant”
How to Write Body Copy

Principle The body copy is the text of the ad and its primary role is to maintain the interest of the
Good body copy keeps people's reader. It develops the sales message, states the argument, summarizes the proof, and pro¬
interest so they continue reading vides explanation. It is the persuasive heart of the message. You excite consumer interest
past the headline. with the display elements, but you win them over with the argument presented in the body
copy, assuming the ad uses body copy.
There are as many different kinds of writing styles as there are product personalities,
but there are also some standard approaches:
• Straightforward. Factual copy usually written in the words of an anonymous or unac¬

knowledged source.
• Narrative. Tells a story in first person or third person.
• Dialogue. Lets the reader “listen in” on a conversation.
• Explanation. Explains how something works.
• Translation. Technical information, such as that written for the high-tech and medical
industries, must be defined and translated into understandable language.
Two paragraphs get special attention in body copy: the lead and the close. The lead,
the first paragraph of the body copy, is another point where people test the message to see
whether they want to read it. An example comes from Nike’s women’s campaign. Notice
how the first line works to catch the attention of the target audience:
A magazine is not a mirror.

Have you ever seen anyone in a magazine who
Seemed even vaguely like you looking back?
(If you have, turn the page.)
Most magazines are made to sell us a fantasy of what we’re supposed to be.
They reflect what society deems to be a standard,
However unrealistic or unattainable that standard is.

That doesn’t mean you should cancel your subscription.
It means you need to remember
That it’s just ink on paper.
And that whatever standards you set for yourself,
For how much you want to weigh,
For how hard you work out,
Or how many times you make it to the gym,
Should be your standards.
Not someone else’s.
Closing paragraphs in body copy serve several functions. Usually, the last paragraph
refers back to the creative concept and wraps up the Big Idea. Direct-action messages usu¬
ally end with a call to action with instructions on how to respond. A Schwinn bicycle ad
that is headlined “Read poetry. Make peace with all except the motor car” demonstrates a
powerful and unexpected ending, one that is targeted to its youthful audience:
Schwinns are red, Schwinns are blue.

Schwinns are light and agile too.
Cars suck. The end.
Print Media Requirements

There are a variety of media in the print category—everything from newspapers and mag¬
azines to outdoor boards and product literature. They all use the same copy elements, such
as headlines and body copy; however, the way these elements are used varies with the
objectives for using the medium.
Newspapers Newspaper advertising is one of the few types of advertising that is not
considered intrusive because people consult the paper as much to see what is on sale as to
find out what is happening in City Hall. For this reason, the copy in newspaper advertise¬
ments does not have to work as hard as other kinds of advertising to catch the attention
of its audience. Because the editorial environment of a newspaper generally is serious,
newspaper ads don’t have to entertain, as television ads do. As a result, most newspaper
advertising copy is straightforward and informative. The writing is brief, usually just iden¬
tifying the merchandise and giving critical information about styles, sizes, and prices.
Magazines Magazines offer better-quality ad production, which is important for
brand image and high-fashion advertising. On the other hand, consumers may clip and file
advertising that ties in with the magazine’s special interest as reference information. This
type of magazine ad can be more informative and carry longer copy than do newspaper
ads. Copywriters also take care to craft clever phrasing for the headlines and the body
copy, which, as in the Nike women’s campaign, may read more like poetry.
Directories Publications that provide contact information, such as phone numbers and
addresses, often carry display advertising. In writing a directory ad, copywriters advise
using a headline that focuses on the service or store personality unless the store’s name is
a descriptive phrase such as “Overnight Auto Service” or “The Computer Exchange.”
Complicated explanations don’t work well in the Yellow Pages, because there is little space
for such explanations. Putting information that is subject to change in an ad can become a
problem because the directory is published only once a year.
Posters and Outdoor Advertising Posters and outdoor boards are primarily
visual, although the words generally try to catch consumers’ attention and lock in an idea,
registering a message. An effective poster is built around a creative concept that marries
the words with the visual. For the Coffee Rush chain, Karl Schroeder created a series of
posters to change consumers’ perceptions that the shop was merely a drive-through for
fast, cheap coffee. Schroeder’s team did this by promoting a line of cold drinks with capti¬
vating names such as Mango Guava and Wild Berry.
One of the most famous billboard campaigns ever was for a little shaving cream com¬
pany named Burma Shave. The campaign used a series of roadside signs with catchy little
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These posters for the Coffee Rush group of small, drive-through coffee shops
told newcomers that Coffee Rush sold more than just "a cup of joe." The copy,
which had to be simple, to be read by people in a car, was designed to tease
people into tasting these fun drinks. These posters were contributed by Karl
Schroeder, a graduate of the University of Oregon and a copywriter at Coates
Kokes in Portland, Oregon.
poems—a most unlikely format for a highway sign. There were some 600 poems and they
worked well for nearly 40 years, from 1925 to 1963, until the national interstate system
made the signs obsolete.4 The product was always a hero:
If you think My job is

she likes keeping faces clean
your bristles And nobody knows
walk bare-footed de stubble
through some thistles I’ve seen
Burma Shave Burma Shave
More recently, Albuquerque used the Burma Shave format to encourage drivers to
reduce their speeds through a construction zone. Today, a construction zone is about the
only place where traffic moves slowly enough to use a billboard with rhyming copy.
Through this maze of machines and rubble

Driving fast can cause you trouble
Take care and be alert
So no one on this road gets hurt.
The most important characteristic of copywriting for outdoor advertising is brevity.

Usually, there is one line that serves as both a headline and product identification. Often
CHAPTER 13 COPYWRITING 367
the phrase is a play on words. A series of black-and-white billboards in the Galveston-

Houston area, recruiting priests for the Roman Catholic diocese, features a Roman collar
with witty wording such as, “Yes, you will combat evil. No, you don’t get to wear a cape.”
Others are more thoughtful, “Help wanted. Inquire within yourself.” Some experts sug¬
gest that copywriters use no more than six to seven words. It must catch attention, but it
also must be memorable. For example, a billboard for Orkin pest control showed a pack¬
age wrapped up with the word Orkin on the tag. The headline read, “A little something for
your ant.”
Product Literature Sometimes called collateral materials because they are used in
support of an advertising campaign, brochures and pamphlets and other materials provide
details about a product, company, or event. They can be as varied as hang tags in new cars
or bumper stickers. Taco Bell's little messages on its tiny taco sauce packages is an exam¬
ple of clever writing in an unexpected place with messages like: “Save a bun, eat a taco,”
“Warning! You’re about to make a taco very happy,” “and “My other taco is a Chalupa.”
Typically, product literature is a heavy-copy format, or at least a format that provides
room for explanatory details along with visuals; the body copy may dominate the piece.
For a pamphlet with folds, a writer must also consider how the message is conveyed as the
piece is unfolded. These pieces can range from a simple three-panel flyer to a glitzy full-
color brochure.
Consider This
1. What are the key pieces of print copy, and what roles do they play?
2. What would you expect to see in clutter-busting copy for a print ad? How
would it work?
HOW TO WRITE RADIO COPY

Ads that are broadcast on either radio or television are usually 15, 30, or 60 seconds in
length, although 10- and 15-second spots may be used for brand reminders or station iden¬
tification. This short length means the commercials must be simple enough for consumers
to grasp, yet intriguing enough to prevent viewers from switching the station. That’s why
creativity is important to create clutter-busting ads that break through the surrounding
noise and catch the listener’s attention.
Because radio is a transitory medium, the ability of the listener to remember facts
(such as the name of the advertiser, addresses, and phone numbers) is difficult. That’s why
copywriters repeat the key points of brand name and identification information, such as a
phone number or Web address. Radio is pervasive in that it surrounds many of our activi¬
ties, but it is seldom the listener’s center of attention and usually in the background. Radio
urges the copywriter to reach into the depths of imagination to create a clutter-busting idea
that grabs the listener’s attention.
Radio’s special advantage, referred to as theater of the mind, is that the story is visu¬
alized in the listener’s imagination. Radio copywriters imagine they are writing a musical
play that will be performed before an audience whose eyes are closed. The copywriter has
all the theatrical tools of voices, sound effects, and music, but no visuals. How the charac¬
ters look and where the scene is set come from their listener’s imagination.
As an example of theater of the mind, consider a now-classic commercial written by
humorist Stan Freberg for the Radio Advertising Bureau. Using sound effects and the voice
of an announcer, the copy describes the fantasies you can create in audio, such as draining
Lake Michigan, filling it with hot chocolate, and dropping in a 10-ton cherry from an Air
Force plane.
The Radio Advertising Bureau has used the slogan “I saw it on the radio” to illustrate
the power of radio’s ability to evoke rich images in the mind of the listener. Research indi¬
cates that the use of imagery in radio advertising leads to high levels of attention and more
positive general attitudes toward the ad and its claims.5 Even though we’re talking about
imagery, it is produced by the copywriter’s masterful use of the tools of audio: voice,
music, and sound effects.
Tools of Radio Copywriting

Print copywriters use a variety of tools—headlines, body copy, slogans, and so forth—to
write their copy. In radio advertising, the tools are the audio elements that the copywriter
uses to craft a commercial: voice, music, and sound effects.
Voice The most important element in radio advertising are voices, which are heard in
jingles, spoken dialogue, and announcements. Most commercials have an announcer, if not
as the central voice, at least at the closing to wrap up the product identification. The voices
the copywriter specifies help listeners “see” the characters in the commercial. The copy¬
writer understands that we imagine people and what they are like based on their voices.
Dialogue uses character voices to convey an image of the speaker: a child, an old man, an
executive, a Little League baseball player, or an opera singer. Copywriters specify voices
for commercials based on the evocative qualities they contribute to the message. Radio
announcer Ken Nordine’s voice was once described as sounding like warm chocolate; Ray
Charles was described as having a charcoal voice.
Radio advertising relies on conversational style and vernacular language. A good
radio copywriter also has an ear for the distinctive patterns of speech for the target audi¬
ence. Spoken language is different from written language. We talk in short sentences, often
in sentence fragments and run-ons. We seldom use complex sentences in speech. We use
contractions that would drive an English teacher crazy. Slang can be hard to handle and
Principle sound phony, but copy that picks up the nuances of people’s speech sounds natural. In
Radio copywriters try to match radio advertising, speaking style should match the speech of the target audience. Each
the conversational style of the group has its own way of speaking, its own phrasing. Teenagers don’t talk like 8-year-olds
target audience.
or 50-year-olds.
Music Similar to movie scriptwriters, radio copywriters have a sense of the imagery of
music and the role it plays in creating dramatic effects. Music can be used behind the dia¬
logue to create mood and establish the setting. Any mood, from that of a circus to that of a
candle-lit dinner, can be conveyed through music. Advertisers can have a piece of music
composed for a commercial or can borrow it from a previously recorded song. Numerous
music libraries sell stock music that is not copyrighted.
The primary use of music is in support of jingles, which are commercials in song.
Radio copywriters understand the interplay of catchy phrases and “hummable” music
that creates little songs that stick in our minds. Anything consumers can sing along with
helps them remember, as well as get involved with, the message. The campaign for
Boston-based Bertucci’s restaurants was successful because of music. The infectious jin¬
gle is based on a Cab Calloway song, “Everybody Eats When They Come to My House,”
sung in a bouncy, swinging jazz style reminiscent of Harry Connick Jr. The words, how¬
ever, have been changed to feature menu items with lines like: “Try the scaloppini,
Jeannie,” “More mozzarella, Stella,” “Pass the parmigiana, Donna,” and “Brick oven’s
flamin’, Raymond.”7
Jingle houses are companies that specialize in writing and producing commercial music,
catchy songs about a product that carry the theme and product identification. A custom-
made jingle—one that is created for a single advertiser—can cost $10,000 or more. In con¬
trast, many jingle houses create “syndicated” jingles made up of a piece of music that can
be applied to different lyrics and sold to several different advertisers in different markets
around the country for as little as $1,000 or $2,000.
Sound Effects The sound of seagulls, automobile horns honking, and the cheers of
fans at a stadium all create images in our minds and cue the setting, as well as the action.
Sound effects are described in a radio script, and are important in making a commercial
attention-getting and memorable. Sound effects can be original, but more often they are
purchased from sound effect libraries.
The Practice of Radio Copywriting

The following guidelines for writing effective radio commercials address the distinctive
characteristics of radio advertising:
• Keep It Personal. Radio advertising has an advantage over print: the ability to use the
human voice. The copy for radio ads should use conversational language—as if some¬
one is “talking with” the consumer rather than “selling to” the consumer.
• Speak to Listeners’ Interests. Radio allows for specialized programming to target
markets. Listeners mostly tune in to hear music, but talk radio is popular, too. There
are shows on health, pets, finance, politics—whatever people are interested in.
Copywriters should design commercials to speak to that audience interest and use the
appropriate tone of voice. If the station plays heavy-metal music, then the style and
tone of the commercial might be raucous and spirited.
• Wake Up the Inattentive. Most people who are listening to the radio are doing some¬
thing else at the same time, such as jogging or driving. Radio spots must be designed
to break through the inattention and capture attention in the first three seconds with
sound effects, music, questions, commands, or something unexpected.
• Make It Memorable. To help the listener remember what you are selling, commercial
copy should mention the name of the product emphatically and repeat it. An average
of three mentions in a 30-second commercial and five mentions in a 60-second com¬
mercial may not be too frequent, as long as the repetition is not done in a forced and/or
annoying manner. Copywriters use taglines and other key phrases to lock the product
in consumers’ memories.
• Include Call to Action. The last thing listeners hear is what they tend to remember, so
copywriters make sure the product is it. They phrase the Big Idea in a way that serves
as a call to action and reminds listeners of the brand name at the close of the commer¬
cial. For example, a commercial about the wonderful things that happen when people
eat Edy’s Grand Ice Cream ends with the line: “It’s creamy, it’s rich, it’s wonderful.
It’s Edy’s Grand Ice Cream.”
• Create Image Transfer. Radio advertiesments are sometimes designed to link to a tele¬
vision commercial. Called image transfer, the visuals from the TV version are re¬
created in a listener’s mind by the use of key phrases and ideas from the TV commercial.
Planning the Radio Commercial: Scripts

Copywriters working on a radio commercial use a standard radio script format to write the
copy to certain time blocks—-including all the words, dialogue, lyrics, sound effects,
instructions, and descriptions. The instructions and descriptions are to help the producer
tape the commercial so that it sounds exactly as the copywriter imagined. The script for¬
mat usually has the source of the audio written down the left side, and the content—words
an announcer reads, dialogue, and description of the sound effects and music—on the
right. The instructions and descriptions—anything that isn’t spoken—are in capital letters.
The Inside Story explains how one creative team approached a radio advertising problem
and gives an example of radio scripts from this campaign.
Consider This
1. What are the key characteristics of effective radio ads?
2. What would you expect to see in clutter-busting copy for a radio ad? How
would it work?
HOW TO WRITE TELEVISION COPY

Television copywriters understand that it is the moving image, the action, that makes tele¬
vision so much more engaging than print. The challenge for the writer is to fuse the images
with the words to present not only a creative concept, but also a story, as the Frontier
11 I LI
SIDE STO DV
Selling Newspaper Classifieds on the Radio
Karl Schroeder, copywriter, Coates Kokes, Portland, Oregon
The Register-Guard, Oregon's second (and obvious) A lot of people just get the paper for a sec¬
largest newspaper, needed to boost classi¬ tion or two, not the whole thing.
fied ad sales. Before doing any work for Taking what we learned and applying it to classifieds,
The Register-Guard, our agency inter¬ it made sense to make the paper more approachable by
viewed people at the paper and conducted a using humor in the advertising (maybe they'll buy the paper
couple of focus groups with people from the area. This more often if it seems less stuffy). We thought it also made
allowed our strategy team to compare The Register- sense to remind those one-section users that the paper has
Guard's perception of itself with consumers' perceptions. a useful classifieds section. In addition, we wanted to rein¬
One insight we discovered was that if you ask someone, force the message that the classifieds will reach more peo¬
"Do you read The Register-Guard?" they most likely will ple in Lane County than any other selling tool.
answer, "No." But if you ask that same person whether Karl Schroeder went to the University of Oregon where he majored in
she looks at the TV section or the entertainment section of Advertising and minored in Fine Arts and English. He interned at a small
the paper, she will say, "Yes." So what does this mean? agency in Portland called Big Ads during his junior year. After graduating in
One: It suggested that people who read one or two sec¬ 2000, he started working for Coates Kokes in Portland.
tions don't see themselves as "reading the paper." Two: Nominated by Professor Charles Frazer, University of Oregon
Register-Guard script
ANNCR: If you want an easy, fast and convenient way to buy, sell, job-hunt or hire,
nothing works better than the Register-Guard Classifieds. Well, actually,
there is maybe one easier way:
SFX: Knocking. Door opens.
NEW GUY: Hello, I'm your new neighbor. 1 brought you an apple pie.
WOMAN: Well, come in! I'll give you a tour of the house!
NEW GUY: Oh lovely! Say, hard wood floors!
WOMAN: Upstairs and downstairs. 3 bedrooms, two baths. Care to take it off my
hands?
NEW GUY: What?
WOMAN: Buy it. It's for sale.
NEW GUY: But 1 just bought the house next door?
WOMAN: Do you have an out-of-state mother-in-law?
NEW GUY: Good point. I'll take it—Oooh, a gazebo!
ANNCR: Yes, they could walk right up to your doorstep, ready to buy, but, really,
how many rich, apple-pie toting neighbors can you expect in a month? 3,
tops, right?
Yes, better to stick with the premiere marketplace of Western Oregon. With
more listings and readers than all the competition combined, nothing con¬
nects buyers with sellers better than the Register-Guard Classifieds, with
fresh listings in print and online every day.
SFX: Knock, knock. Door opens
NEW GUY: Sorry, deal's off. The other neighbors have a pool!
WOMAN: Darn it! Those Johnsons!
ANNCR: The Register-Guard. Get more out of it. Move those homes and make some
money! Call 342-twelve-twelve today!
commercials do so well. One of the strengths of television, then, is its ability to reinforce
verbal messages with visuals or reinforce visuals with verbal messages. As Ogilvy’s Peter
Hochstein explains, “The idea behind a television commercial is unique in advertising. The
TV commercial consists of pictures that move to impart facts or evoke emotion, and sell¬
ing words that are not read but heard. The perfect combination of sight and sound can be an Principle
extremely potent selling tool.”8 In great television commercials,
In Frontier’s advertising (see photoboard on next page) the words and pictures work words and pictures work together
seamlessly to deliver the idea of “It’s a whole different animal.” The slogan is a brand seamlessly to deliver the creative
promise that comes alive in the execution of the talking animal friends. The animal charac¬ concept.
ters in the Frontier advertising bring a touch of levity and a gentle humor to an experience
that’s a source of anxiety for many passengers. But the appeal goes deeper than just the
curiosity effect of what will they say next. Graham Button, the creative director, explains
that when the animals gather at the gates and catch up with each other like friends do, it
creates a sense of community. The animals humanize the often cold and rushed experience
of flying; it is a new way for an airline to do business.
Viewers watching a program they enjoy often are absorbed to a degree only slightly
less than that experienced by people watching a movie in a darkened theater. Effective tele¬
vision commercials, like the Frontier talking animals, can achieve this level of audience
absoiption if they are written to maximize the dramatic aspects of moving images and sto¬
rytelling. To build on the interest the commercials have created, Frontier keeps the ads
coming because they have their own following. Like a successful sitcom, fans of the ads
watch for new stories and new characters. Fans of the talking animals include former U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, who, when talking to a Frontier official, won¬
dered if Jack would ever get a date with Foxy.
Storytelling is one way that copywriters can present action in a television commercial
more powerfully than in other media. Television’s ability to touch our emotions, and to
show us things—to demonstrate how they look and work—makes television advertising
highly persuasive. (See Table 13.3.) These are just a few of the techniques used in televi¬
sion advertising. Let’s look at others.
13.3 Characteristics of Television Copy

Characteristic Message Design
• Action: When you watch television you are watching • Good television advertising uses the effect of action
a walking, talking, moving world that gives the illusion and motion to attract attention and sustain interest.
of being three-dimensional. Torture tests, steps, and procedures are all actions
that are easier to present on TV than in print.
• Demonstration: Seeing is believing. Believability and • If you have a strong sales message that lends itself
credibility—the essence of persuasion—are high to demonstration, such as “how-to” messages, then
because we believe what we see with our own eyes. television is the ideal medium for that message.
• Storytelling: Most of the programming on television • TV is our society’s master storyteller because of its
is narrative so commercials use storytelling to take ability to present a plot and the action that leads to a
advantage of the medium’s strengths. conclusion in which the product plays a major role.
TV can dramatize the situation in which a product
is used and the type of people using it. Stories can
be riveting if they are well told, but they must be
imaginative to hold their own against the program¬
ming that surrounds them.
• Emotion: The ability to touch the feelings of the viewer • Emotional appeals are found in natural situations
makes television commercials entertaining, diverting, that everyone can identify with. Hallmark has
amusing, and absorbing. Real-life situations with all produced some tear-jerking commercials about
their humor, anger, fear, pride, jealousy, and love come the times of our lives that we remember by the cards
alive on the screen. Humor, in particular, works well we receive and save. Kodak and Polaroid have
on television. used a similar strategy for precious moments that
are remembered in photographs.
AUDIO
VISUAL
SFX: Airport noise. Planes
Fade in on several Frontier
planes chilling out on the tarmac landing and taking off ...
at Denver Int. Airport.
Cut to a close up of Larry the LARRY:

Lynx. He talks... So Flip, you get that Florida gig?
Cut to a close up of Flip the

Dolphin. He responds...
They continue to chat...
Flip is obviously annoyed. DOLPHIN:
We got a zillion flights to Florida
SFX: Pregnant pause... and where do they send me?
The Windy City! I’m a dolphin,
Bob. Dolphins belong in Florida.
LARRY: I hear ya, man.
So...who IS going to Florida?
Cut to a 3rd plane rolling by SFX: Plane rolling past.

with Billy & Bobby Klondike BILLY: Sunscreen?
on the tail.
BOBBY: Check.
BILLY: Beachball?
Cut to close up...
BOBBY: Check.
BILLY: Speedo?
BOBBY: Check.
This is an edited version of a

photoboard for a Frontier
commercial that illustrates how
a copywriter brings the "A
Whole Different Animal" theme
to life.
VISUAL AUDIO
Flip is shocked at the thought DOLPHIN:
of Klondikes in a Speedo. Did he say Speedo? Please
tell me he didn’t say Speedo.
Cut to graphic map treatment. SIGNATURE MUSIC....

Animated “trails” launch from
Denver to all 36 cities. SUPER:
Over 60 nonstops daily.
Super pops onto frame...
SUPER:
Two other supers appear and ...to America’s top destinations.
disappear in sucession.
Tools of Television Copywriting

Television copywriters have two primary tools: their audio and visual toolkits. Both words
and pictures are designed to create exactly the right impact. Because of the number of
video and audio elements, a television commercial is one of the most complex of all adver¬
tising forms.
Video When we watch a commercial, we are more aware of what we’re seeing than
anything else. Copywriters keep in mind that visuals and motion, the silent speech of
film, should convey as much of the message—the Big Idea—as possible. Likewise, emo¬
tion, which is the effect created by storytelling, is expressed convincingly in facial
expressions, gestures, and other body language. Because television is theatrical, many of
the copywriter’s tools, such as characters, costumes, sets and locations, props, lighting,
optical and computerized special effects, and on-screen graphics, are similar to those you
would use in a play, television show, or movie.
Audio As in radio, the three audio elements are music, voices, and sound effects, but
they are used differently in television commercials because they are connected to a visual
image. The copywriter, for example, may have an announcer speak directly to the viewer
or engage in a dialogue with another person, who may or may not be on camera. The copy¬
writer has to block out on paper how this “talk” happens, as well as write the words they
will say. A common manipulation of the camera-announcer relationship is the voice-over,
in which an announcer who is not visible describes some kind of action on the screen.
Sometimes a voice is heard off camera, which means you can’t see the speaker and the
voice is coming from the side, behind, or above. A commercial for Geico insurance won a
John Caples International award for its engaging use of a voice. The copywriter was
responsible for both the words and the way they were delivered. In a spot titled “Collect
Call,” which was set in a hospital waiting room, a man places a collect call to his parents.
To save on the costs of the call, he states as his name:
“Bob Wehadababyitsaboy.”
The message is delivered, but the call is refused by his parents who didn't understand the
message. So the next scene shows him trying to cram even more information into his
name:
“Bob WehadababyitsaboyeightpoundssevenouncesMomsfine.”
The voice-over at the end advises the audience that they don’t have to cheat the phone
company to save money. A 15-minute call to Geico can save them up to 15 percent on their
insurance.
Music is also important in most commercials. Sometimes it is just used as back¬
ground, other times the song is the focus of the commercial. In recognition of the role of
music in advertising, Universal Music in 2001 released a CD called “As Seen on TV:
Songs from Commercials,” a collection of tunes that have become popular—or resur¬
rected—thanks to their use in TV commercials. Included among the 20 songs are “Mr.
Roboto” by Styx, “Right Here, Right Now” by Fatboy Slim, “Lust for Life” by Iggy Pop,
and “Got to Give It Up” by Marvin Gaye. All of these songs have been used effectively in
a television commercial. Clash’s “London Calling” song became the theme for a highly
successful sales event for Jaguar, as illustrated in the Matter of Practice box.
Other TV Tools The creative tools examined next are the setting, casting, costumes,
props, and lighting—all of which the copywriter must describe in the script. The setting, or
set, is where the action takes place. It can be something in the studio, from a simple table-
top to a constructed set that represents a storefront. Commercials shot outside the studio
are said to be filmed on location, which means the entire crew and cast are transported
somewhere away from the studio.
I’lfi I __
Hello. London Calling with a Jaguar Just for You.'
Jaguar is a classy, expensive, upscale British motorcar.

Ask car fanatics and they will also tell you its quality isn't
as good as German and Asian cars and it only sells to
conservative, snobby older persons. So how do you mar¬
ket such a car to a younger car-savvy audience that has
money and a sense of style, but holds a somewhat tar¬
nished perception of Jaguar?
To complicate the assignment, the third quarter of the
year is typically a year-end close-out period in which
heavy automotive advertising promotes price discounts to
clear out inventory. So how does a car company like
Jaguar, one that believes price discounting would only
damage the brand's upscale image, survive this distress¬
ing period? That was the assignment given to Young &
Rubicam. The objectives were to drive traffic to dealers
during the six-week period of the third quarter, deliver on
aggressive sales goals, and attract a younger buyer who
would contribute to long-term brand health.
The Y&R team recommended a cultural event ("The
Jaguar London Calling Sales Event") with an inviting cre¬
ative theme that would tap directly into the target's passion
for culture by making "Britishness" cool. The key was the
use of punk rock group Clash's title song "London
Calling," which was paired with images of London's styl¬
ish, lively streets to link the cool, very modern Jaguar to its
distinctive British roots. In the world of popular culture,
Britain was climbing the charts of "coolness," as a hotbed
of up-and-coming musicians, designers, hotels, and restau¬
rants. The campaign was designed to reflect this "Cool dealership with a red phone booth kiosk and other point-
Britannia" phenomenon. of-sale materials.
The London image was appealing to the target audi¬ Promotions were a central part of the campaign's
ence, which research determined was fascinated by British theme. One popular idea was a compilation CD give¬
fashion, architecture, design, travel, art, and perfor¬ away featuring modern British artists. A partnership pro¬
mances. And this fascination with British culture was rein¬ motion with British Airways featured a contest with a trip
to London as the prize.
forced in Jaguar's longtime slogan, "The Art of
Performance." The Jaguar "London Calling" campaign achieved all
The copy in the print advertising simply linked the car of its sales objectives. It changed the perception of Jaguar
to the song with the headline, "London Calling. Will you from "the stuffy old Brit" to "Cool Britannia," while at the
answer the call?" The visual icon of a red British telephone same time it produced sales in a difficult selling period. In
other words, even without special price offers, the "London
booth paired with this message invited consumers to
Calling" campaign successfully drove traffic to dealers
"answer London's call" by visiting a Jaguar dealer. In tele¬
during the six-week period. Dealers reported traffic was
vision commercials, the phone is ringing in the background.
up more than 28 percent. Not only did it receive praise
The intergrated campaign reached the target at home
from dealers and customers; the campaign also won a sil¬
with upscale magazines, national and spot TV, and a
ver EFFIE award.
direct-mail piece designed as an airline travel itinerary. It
reached them at work with a Wall Street Journal polybag
wrap, and newspaper inserts. It reached them online with
a dedicated campaign Web site. It reached them on the
road with city phone-booth wraps, bus shelter posters, and
outdoor boards. It reached them as they traveled with a
variety of airport displays. And it reached them in the Source: EFFIE brief provided by Jaguar and' Young & Rubicam.
For many commercials, the most important element is the people, who are called
talent. Finding the right person for each role is called casting. People can be cast as:
• Announcers (either onstage or offstage), presenters, introducers

• Spokespersons (or “spokesthings”—such as talking butter dishes)
• Character types (old woman, baby, skin diver, police officer)
• Celebrities, such as Shaquille O’Neal, who came to the NBA with a complete market¬
ing plan in hand outlining his endorsement strategy
Costumes and makeup can be an important part of the story depending upon the char¬
acterizations in the commercial. Of course, historical stories need period costumes, but
modern scenes may also require special clothing such as ski outfits, swimsuits, or cowboy
boots. Makeup may be important if you need to change a character from young to old. All
of these details have to be specified by the copywriter in the script. The director usually
manipulates the lighting, but the copywriter might specify special lighting effects in the
script. For example, you might read “Intense bright light as though reflected from snow,”
or “Light flickering on people’s faces as if it were reflecting from a television screen.”
Copywriters might also have to specify the commercial’s pace—how fast or slowly
the action progresses. Some messages are best developed at a languid pace; others work
better when presented at an upbeat and fast pace.
Planning the TV Commercial

Copywriters must plan how long the commercial will be, what shots will appear in each
scene, what the key visual will be, and where and how to shoot the commercial. Other key
decisions the copywriter has to consider in planning a commercial are the length, number
of scenes, and key frames. The common lengths of commercials are 10, 15, 20, 30, and 60
seconds. The 10-, 15-, and 20-second lengths are used for reminders and product or station
identification. The 60-second spot, which is common in radio, has almost disappeared in
television because of the increasing cost of airtime. The most common length for a TV
commercial is 30 seconds.
A commercial is planned in scenes—segments of action that occur in a single loca¬
tion. Within a scene there may be several shots from different angles. A 30-second com¬
mercial usually is planned with four to six scenes, but a fast-paced commercial may have
many more. Because television is a visual medium, the message is often developed from
a key visual that contains the heart of the concept. A key frame is that visual that sticks
in the mind and becomes the image that viewers remember when they think about the
commercial.
Copywriters need to answer many questions when planning a television spot. How
much product information should there be in the commercial? Should the action be fast or
slow? Is it wise to defy tradition and do unusual ads that create controversy? How intrusive
should the ad be? Every producer and director will respond to these questions differently,
depending on personal preferences and advertising objectives. Nevertheless, these general
principles as outlined by Jewler and Drewniany in their creative strategy book, are relevant
for most effective television commercials:9
• What’s the Big Idea you need to get across? In 30 seconds you barely have time to do
much more than that. Alternative concepts are also tested as key visuals in the develop¬
ment of the idea for the commercial. For each idea, a card with the key visual drawn
on it is given to a respondent, along with a paragraph that describes the concept and
how it will be played out in the commercial.
• What’s the Benefit of that Big Idea, and who does it benefit? Connect the Big Idea
back to the target audience.
• How can you turn that benefit into a visual element? This visual is what sticks in
people’s minds.
• Gain the interest of your viewer at the beginning; the first 3 seconds are critical.
• Focus on a key visual, a scene that encapsulates your entire selling message into one
neat package.
W
WestWayne
BellSouth Advertising & Publishing: TV

The Real Yellow Pages® “Bedroom”
VIDEO AUDIO
SUPER: Dixie Relaxes in Bedroom. TITLE: The Real Yellow Pages® from BellSouth.
OPEN ON DIXIE SITTING IN YOGA POSITION ON BED, DIXIE: Now that the bedroom’s finished, I can finally relax!
FULLY CLOTHED.
SHE CONTENTEDLY PATS COVER OF BOOK LYING NEXT Fortunately, with The Real Yellow Pages®, I can do all the
TO HERON BED. work on my new living room right from here!
DIXIE IN 2ND YOGA POSITION. DIXIE: Delivery at twelve. GREAT.
FINGER POINTS TO “DONNAS GLASS” IN THE BOOK. DIXIE: Cobalt blue glasses ...
DIXIE IN 3RD YOGA POSITION. DIXIE: .. . lovely!
FINGER POINTS TO “DJ. SMITH RUGS” IN THE BOOK. DIXIE: Carpet? No ...
DIXIE IN 4TH YOGA POSITION. DIXIE: A big area rug.
DIXIE HOLDING BOOK. DIXIE: Isn’t it amazing how much you can do with this
trusty, dependable book?
SFX: [DOORBELL] DIXIE: Except open the door.
CUT BACK TO DIXIE ON BED.
SUPER: Next Living Room.
BellSouth "Bedroom" TV Script
• Be single-minded. Tell one important story per commercial. Tell it clearly, tell it mem¬
orably, and involve your viewer.
• Observe the rules of good editing. Make it easy for the viewer to get into the idea of
the commercial.
• Try to show the product in close-up at the end.
Scripts and Storyboards Commercials are planned with two documents: a televi¬
sion script prepared by the copywriter and a storyboard drawn by the art director. Similar
to a radio script, a TV script is the written version of the commercial’s plan. It contains all
the words, dialogue, lyrics (if important to the ad message), instructions, and descriptions
of the details we’ve been discussing—sets, costumes, lighting, and so forth. The
storyboard, which is the visual plan or layout of the commercial, shows the number of
scenes, the composition of the shots, and the progression of the action. (See BellSouth
example above.)
For television commercials that use dialogue, the script is written in two columns,
with the audio on the right and the video on the left. The BellSouth “Bedroom” script fea¬
turing Dixie Carter is an example of a television script. Note how the video includes
descriptions of key frames from the commercial. The key to the structure of a television
script is the relationship between the audio and the video. The audio is typed opposite the
corresponding video. Sometimes these audio and visual segments are numbered to corre¬
spond to the frames on the storyboard.
Consider This
1. What are the key characteristics of effective television commercials?
2. What would you expect to see in clutter-busting copy for a television
commercial? How would it work?
WRITING FOR THE WEB

The Web is more interactive than any other mass medium: Not only does the viewer initi¬
ate the contact; viewers can send an e-mail on many if not most Web sites. This makes Web
advertising more like two-way communication, and that’s a major point of difference from
other advertising forms. So not only is the Web copywriter challenged to attract people to
the site, but also to manage a dialogue-based communication experience. Web advertisers
have to listen and respond, as well as target messages to audiences. That’s a major shift in
how Web marketing communicators think about advertising.
In this complicated, fast-changing medium, there aren’t a lot of rules. For banners and
other formats that look like advertising and seek to attract someone to a company’s Web
site, verbosity is a killer. In that situation, no one wants to read a lot of type online.
Principle However, the Web is an information medium and users come to it, in some cases, for exten¬
To write great copy for the Web, sive reference information; formats look a lot like catalogs, or even encyclopedias. The
copywriters must think of it as an challenge for Web advertisers, then, is to understand the user’s situation and to design mes¬
interactive medium and open up sages that fit the user’s needs. That means Web copywriters have to be able to write every¬
opportunities for interaction with thing from catchy phrases for banners to copy that works like traditional advertisements, or
the consumer.
brochures, or catalogs. A basic principle, however, is that good writing is good writing,
whether it be for traditional advertising media or for the Web. The Matter of Principle box
demonstrates that with a striking campaign about scuba diving.
Banners
The most common form of online advertising are small banner ads containing text, images,
and perhaps animation. Banners in this extremely small format have to be creative to stand
out amid the clutter on a typical Web page and, similar to outdoor advertising, they have to
grab the surfer’s attention with few words. Effective banners must arouse the interest of the
viewer, who is often browsing through other information on the computer screen. The key
to stopping surfers is vivid graphics and clever phrases. To grab the surfer,10 the copywriter
must think about:
• Offering a deal that promises a discount or a freebie as a prize.

• Using an involvement device such as a challenge or contest.
• Changing the offer frequently, perhaps even daily. One of the reasons people surf the
Net is to find out what’s happening now. Good ads exploit “nowness” and “newsiness.”
• Keeping the writing succinct because most surfers have short attention spans and get
bored easily.
• Focusing surfers’ attention by asking provocative questions or offering knowledge
they can use.
• Using the advertisement to solicit information and opinions from users as part of the
research. Reward surfers for sharing their opinions by offering them three free days of
a daily horoscope or something else they might find fun or captivating.
Sometimes banners provide brand reminder information only, like a billboard, but
they usually also invite viewers to “click” on the banner to link to an ad or the advertiser’s
home page. The effectiveness of such efforts is monitored by the number of click-throughs.
Their creators make banners entertaining by using multimedia effects such as animation
and sound, interactivity, emotional appeals, color, and provocative headlines. One mistake
copywriters sometimes make, however, is to forget to include the company name or brand
in the banner or ad. Surfers should be able to tell immediately what product or brand the
banner is advertising. A study of the most effective banner ads found that although they
The Ocean Speaks
The scuba-diving industry wanted to revive interest in the

sport of scuba, with both current divers and potential new¬
comers. The objective of this striking campaign was to
build a relationship with diving and move people from
print to the industry's Web site.
Art director Chris Hutchinson explains, "We created a
campaign in the literal voice of the ocean. The Ocean irrev¬
erently compares itself to the dull world up above, and
invites people to come down for a visit. Instead of using tra¬
ditional beauty shots of scuba diving, we commissioned
surreal organic underwater scenes. The ads were recently
featured in Archive. The creative idea is that the ocean not
only has a personality, it speaks in the body copy."
Read the copy from these ads, and then consider how
that style of writing has been transferred to the Web site.
Dear Hollywood,
You're blowing this whole shark thing out of
proportion.
Not every shark becomes a ravenous lunatic at
the scent of a paper cut.
Most of them would rather eat fish than divers
anyway. The neoprene gets stuck in their teeth.
—the Ocean
Excuse me Mr. Jobs.
This whole iMac thing—distinctly shell-like.
I think you ripped those colors from me too.
Let's give credit where credit is due, huh?
—the Ocean
The ocean also speaks on the Web site (time2dive

.com). Once on the home page, visitors identify them¬
selves as either new divers or experienced divers. Each
page has its own message from the ocean at the top, fol¬
lowed by a sign-up sheet. This is from the new-diver page:
About this weekend.

I have 15,000 unidentified species down here
all waiting to be classified.
But if you have to help somebody move or
something, I'll understand.
—the Ocean
And this is from the old-timers' page:
Haven't seen you in a while. So what's up?

It's come to my attention that you haven't been
diving in what, 6 months? Source: Ads contributed by Chris Hutchinson, art director tor
Portland, Oregon-based Weiden + Kennedy. Before that he
Did I do something wrong? Was if that rip tide
worked at Bulldog Drummond in San Diego where he designed
when you were body surfing? Lighten up. these ads. A graduate of the University of Oregon, he and his
—the Ocean work were nominated for this feature by Professor Charles Frazer.
satisfy the need for entertainment, information, and context (a link to a product), they sel¬
dom use promotional incentives, such as prizes or gifts, to motivate visitors to click
through to the sponsor’s Web site11 to drive action.
Web Ads
Similar to traditional advertising, Web ads are designed to create awareness and interest in
a product and build a brand image. In terms of creating interest, good copywriting works
well in any medium, including the Internet. These ads aren’t focused as much on attracting
attention as they are on maintaining interest. Burton Snowboards (http://www.burton.com/
company) uses copy that speaks in the voice of the product’s user:
We stand sideways.
We sleep on floors in cramped resort hotel rooms.
We get up early and go to sleep late.
We ’ve been mocked.
We’ve been turned away from resorts that won’t have us.
We are relentless.
We dream it, we make it, we break it, we fix it.
We create.
We destroy.
We wreck ourselves day in and day out and yet we stomp that one trick or find
that one line that keeps us coming back.
We progress.
And then its closes with the following corporate copy:
Burton snowboards is a rider-driven company solely dedicated to creating the

best snowboarding equipment on the planet.
Other Web Formats

Many marketers are experimenting with new forms of Web advertising such as games, pop¬
up windows, daughter windows, and side frames. For example, one Procter & Gamble site
supports the Scope “Send-a-Kiss” campaign, where visitors can send an electronic kiss to the
special people in their lives. The site is customized for special holidays such as Valentine’s
Day and Mother’s Day. P&G has found that of those who visit the site, 20 percent actually
send e-mail kisses to mom on Mother’s Day. Ultimately, these marketers want Web ads that
are totally interactive. An Internet approach that uses broadcast media as a model may be the
answer. They want to make Internet advertising better than television advertising—offering
all the visual impact of traditional broadcast with the additional value of interactivity. The
creative team comes up with the ideas for such Web formats and it’s up to the copywriter to
put the idea in words and explain how the user’s experience with this Web site will work.
Consider This
1. What are the key characteristics of effective Internet ads?
2. What would you expect to see in clutter-busting advertising on the Web?
How would it work?
COPYWRITING IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

Language affects the creation of the advertising. English is more economical than many
other languages. This creates a major problem when the space for copy is laid out for
English and one-third more space is needed for French or Spanish. However, English does
not have the subtlety of other languages such as Greek, Chinese, or French. Those
languages have many different words for situations and emotions that do not translate pre¬
cisely into English. Standardizing the copy content by translating the appeal into the lan-
guage of the foreign market is fraught with possible communication blunders. It is rare to
find a copywriter who is fluent in both the domestic and foreign language and familiar with
the culture of the foreign market.
Headlines in any language often rely on a play on words, themes that are relevant to
one country, or slang. Because these verbal techniques don’t cross borders well, copywrit¬
ers must remove them from the advertising unless the meaning or intent can be re-created
in other languages. For this reason, international campaigns are not literally translated.
Instead, a copywriter usually rewrites them in the second language. How a poor translation
can send the wrong message is shown in an ad for a Rome laundry:
Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.
Although computer words and advertising terms are almost universally of English
derivation, some languages simply do not have words equivalent to other English expres¬
sions. Since 1539 the French have had legislation to keep their language “pure” and now
have a government agency to prevent words, especially English words, from corrupting the
French language. The words marketing and weekend, unacceptable to the French govern¬
ment agency, are translated literally as “study the market” (or “pertaining to trade”) and
“end of the week,” respectively.
Experience suggests that the most reasonable solution to the language problem is to
use bilingual copywriters who understand the full meaning of the English text and can cap¬
ture the essence of the message in the second language. It takes a brave and trusting inter¬
national creative director to approve copy he or she doesn’t understand but is assured is
right. A back translation of the ad copy from the foreign language into the domestic one
is always a good idea, but it never conveys a complete cultural interpretation.
G ood creative ideas like Frontier's "A Whole Different Animal" advertising campaign
work, not just because they are funny or touch the emotions, but because they stick in the
memory and move people to respond. Frontier's primary objective was to build awareness in
the Denver market as a first-step in increasing its visibility in all of the cities to which it flies.
Five months into the campaign, a survey in Denver found that 57 percent of the adults
interviewed mentioned Frontier when asked to name an airline serving Denver International,
an improvement of 20 percent. In terms of brand awareness, before the animals started their
chats, fewer than 40 percent of Frontier's Denver home base consumers were aware of the
airline. After five months, unaided awareness of Frontier's advertising was 72 percent. In
comparison, United was only 58 percent. Frontier's advertising director, Diane Willmann,
points out that this is an enormous jump in unaided awareness. In addition, 90 percent of the
respondents said it was likable and entertaining; 88 percent said it held their attention; and
44 percent said they were more likely to fly Frontier.
■ ■■Summary
1. Explain the basic stylistics of advertising copy. Words rable. Copywriters who have an ear for language match the
and pictures work together to shape a creative concept; tone of the writing to the target audience. Good copy is
however, it is the clever phrases and “magic words” crafted succinct and single-minded. Copy that is less effective uses
by copywriters that make ideas understandable and memo¬ adese to imitate the stereotyped style of advertising.
2. Describe the various copy elements of a print ad. The 4. Discuss the major elements of television commercials.
key elements of a print ad are the headlines and body copy. The elements of TV commercials are audio and video tools.
Headlines target the prospect, draw the reader’s attention, Television commercials can be characterized as using
identify the product, start the sale, and lure the reader into action, emotion, and demonstration to create messages that
the body copy. Body copy provides persuasive details, such are intriguing as well as intrusive.
as support for claims, as well as proof and reasons why. 5. Discuss how Web advertising is written. Web advertising
3. Explain the message characteristics and tools of radio is interactive and involving. Web advertising has primarily
advertising. Radio commercials are personal and play to focused on banners, although advertisers are using new
consumers’ interests. However, radio is primarily a back¬ forms that look more like magazine or television ads.
ground medium. Special techniques, such as repetition, are Banners and other forms of Web advertising have to stand
used to enhance retention. The three audio tools are voice, out amid the clutter on a typical Web page and arouse the
music, and sound effects. interest of the viewer.
adese, p. 360 collateral materials, p. 367 jingles, p. 368 storyboard, p. 377
back translation, p. 381 copywriter, p. 357 key frame, p. 376 subheads, p. 363
blind headline, p. 363 direct-action headline, p. 362 lead, p. 364 taglines, p. 363
body copy, p. 360 display copy, p. 360 off camera, p. 374 talent, p. 376
brag-and-boast copy, p. 360 headline, p. 360 on location, p. 374 theater of the mind, p. 367
call to action, p. 365 image transfer, p. 369 scenes, p. 376 underline, p. 362
captions, p. 363 indirect-action headline, slogans, p. 363 voice-over, p. 374
close, p. 364 p. 362 sound effects, p. 368 your-name-here copy, p. 359
split-run tests, p. 362
1. Why is it so important that advertising copy be succinct? 4. Describe the tools of television commercial copywriting.
What are other characteristics of advertising copy?
5. What are the characteristics of Web advertising?
2. Describe the various copy elements of a print ad.
3. Explain the message characteristics of radio advertising.
1. Creative directors say the copy and art must work together mind,” and is more engaging than newspaper ads. Explain
to create a concept. Of all the ads in this chapter, which what these media selling points mean. Would you rather
ones do you believe demonstrate that principle? Explain write for a newspaper or radio?
what the words contribute and how they work with the
4. Jingles are a popular creative form in radio advertising.
visual.
Even so, there are probably more jingles that you don’t
2. One principle of print copywriting is that the headline want to hear again than ones that you do. Identify one jin¬
catches the reader’s eye, but the body copy wins the gle that you really dislike and another one that you like.
reader’s heart. Find an ad that demonstrates that principle Write an analysis of why these jingles either don’t work or
and explain how it works. do work effectively for you.
3. Professor Strong has set up a debate between the advertis¬ 5. A principle of TV message design is that television is pri¬
ing sales director of the campus newspaper and the manager marily a visual medium. However, very few television
of the campus radio station, which is a commercial opera¬ commercials are designed without a vocal element (actors
tion. During the discussion the newspaper representative or announcers). Even the many commercials that visually
says that most radio commercials sound like newspaper ads, demonstrate products in action use an off-screen voice to
but are harder to follow. The radio manager responds by provide information. Why is there a need to use a voice in a
claiming that radio creativity works with “the theater of the television commercial?
1. Select a product that is advertised exclusively through print using a long-copy format.
Examples might be business-to-business and industrial products, over-the-counter drugs,
and some car and appliance ads. Now write a 30-second radio and a 30-second TV spot for
that product. Present your work to the class along with an analysis of how the message
design changed when you moved from print to radio and then to TV.
2. Surf the Web and find one banner ad that you think works to drive click-throughs and one
that doesn’t. Print them out, then write an analysis that compares the two banner ads and
explains why you think one is effective and the other is not.
HANDS-ON
CAS^
Beautiful Just the Way You Are, Finds Ogilvy
Beauty ads have offered to help women look and feel (in fact, one model selected for the campaign was Tabatha
more attractive ever since there have been ads for beauty Roman, an account coordinator at Ogilvy, who was noticed
products. Isn't that why women buy the product—to look by the campaign's celebrity photographer Ian Rankin on a
better? Of course, the constant barrage of messages sug¬ visit to Unilever). Not all the models are overweight; some
gesting that women should improve their looks invites criti¬ have freckles, others have less-than-curvy figures.
cism from some that the ads, which typically feature The U.S. campaign is supported by a number of sup¬
young, thin, impossibly beautiful models, cultivate a plementary promotions, including a Web site announcing
beauty ideal that is impossible for most women to match. that Dove "aims to change the status quo and offer in its
Critics within the advertising industry might raise place a broader, healthier, more democratic view of
another objection to such ads: Does anyone believe them? beauty." In addition, Unilever created a "Dove Fund for
Who really thinks that a particular brand of soap or sham¬ Self-Esteem," intended to support women's groups such as
poo will help them look like a model? These thoughts were "Uniquely Me!" a self-esteem program for Girl Scouts.
probably on the minds of the creatives at the Ogilvy & Among its other initiatives, Unilever has funded research
Mather ad agency when they began thinking about the into ways that mass media support the unrealistic beauty
Big Idea for Dove Firming, a skin cream product from standard, and the company funded an endowment at
European consumer products giant Unilever that is sold in Harvard to create a Program for Aesthetics and Well-
England. Ogilvy copywriters doubtless considered that the Being that examines pop culture depictions of beauty and
brand could benefit from a fresh approach. And a fresh its effects on women.
approach is what they came up with.
The central theme of the campaign Ogilvy created was Consider This
"normal is beautiful." The ads featured unretouched pho¬ O-
tographs of ordinary women appearing in white under¬ 1. Will the Dove campaign be as big a success in the
wear. The women appearing in the ads were older and United States as it was in England? Do you think
heavier than the models that more typically appear in American women will respond the same way English
beauty product ads. A good example is TV researcher women did? Why or why not?
Linda di Maria, who stands 5 feet 9 inches and weighs 2. Does Dove leave itself open to criticisms that its cam¬
about 168 pounds. Encouraging readers to rethink, or at paign is manipulative?
least broaden, their standards of beauty, the copy printed in 3. Why do you think English women responded so pos¬
one ad exclaimed: "Let's face it, firming the thighs of a size itively to the Dove Firming campaign? What in the
8 supermodel wouldn't have been much of a challenge." language of the ads appealed to these women?
The campaign generated a good deal of attention, How would you determine the effectiveness of the
especially in the British press. According to one media out¬ copywriting in this campaign?
let, British women responded to the appeals by discussing
whether they preferred the "more realistic" models to those
Sources: Jack Neff, "In Dove Ads, Normal Is the New Beautiful," Advertising Age
normally found in print ads. The brand got lots of attention (September 9, 2004); Alexandra Jardine, "Dove Plans More 'Real Women' Ads,"
too, the kind of attention Ogilvy and Unilever were hoping Advertising Age (August 9, 2004); Ken Wheaton and Jack Neff, "Adages," Advertising
Age (October 1 8, 2004); BBC News World Edition, "Waif Goodbye: Women Yearn¬
for. Sales of Dove Firming rose from 280,000 units to 2.3 ing in Despair for the Perfect Figure Are Hitting Back," Monday, March 29, 2004,
million units from 2003 to 2004. http://news.bbc.co.Uk/2/hi/programmes/breakfast/3577763.stm; Yahoo! India
news. "'Real Women' Replace Air-brushed Models for Beauty Ad!" March 30, 2004,
In 2004 Unilever and Ogilvy began using the theme in
http://in.news.yahoo.com/040330/139/2cahq.html; Erin White, "Dove 'Firms' with
ads directed at American women. The U.S. ads, like those Zaftig Models; Unilever Brand Launches European Ads Employing Non-supermodel
from the England campaign, also feature ordinary women Bodies," Wall Street Journal (April 21, 2004): B3.
II
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Design and Production
CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Explain how visual impact is created in advertising.
2. List the principles of layout and explain how design is affected by

media requirements.
3. Describe how art and color are reproduced.
4. Explain how the art director creates TV commercials.
5. Identify the critical steps in planning and producing broadcast

commercials.
6. Summarize the techniques of Web design.

The Work of a Lifetime
Award:
EFFIE® Silver, household
furnishings category
Company:
Thomasville Hemingway
I magine sitting in Ernest Hemingway's study or Humphrey
Bogart's living room. Look around. What kind of furniture comes
to mind? Both of these legendary figures have inspired a line of
furniture for the Thomasville furniture company that carry on the
and Bogart Collection
style and elegance of the 1 940s and 1 950s.
Agency: Ernest Hemingway was a writer, but when you think of him, you
Long Haymes Carr also think of bullfighting, foreign wars, deep-sea fishing, hunting,
and safaris—of Barcelona, Paris, Kenya, Cuba, Key West, and
Campaign:
"Collection of a Lifetime" Ketchum, Idaho. The Hemingway mystique is rich in imagery that
reflects an exotic, adventurous lifestyle. And that was the reason
North Carolina-based Thomasville Furniture chose to launch a col¬
lection of furniture called the Ernest Hemingway Collection from its
385
Collection of a Lifetime line, which was designed with rugged leather, dark
woods, and masculine detailing.
More recently, the Humphrey Bogart Collection was introduced with its
images of Hollywood's masculine hero who is romantic, refined, relaxed, and
inherently classy. The furniture line isn't straight out of Casablanca or African
Queen, but rather reflects the feeling of what a party at Bogart's house would
have felt like. The line carries names like Bel Air, El Morocco, Melrose, and
Romanoff's.
The challenge to the creative team at the Long Haymes Carr agency in
North Carolina was to create advertising that reflected the craftsmanship of both
the furniture and these legendary figures. Two insights from an ethnographic
study helped the creative team frame the strategy: (1) New items of furniture
tended to be seen as devoid of meaning and viewed from a purely utilitarian or
stylistic perspective; and (2) men were reluctant shoppers for furniture. A suc¬
cessful campaign, then, had to use the Hemingway and Bogart lifestyles to make
an emotional connection with the target audience, men as well as women.
In addition, although Thomasville had a healthy brand loyalty among an
older (age 50 + ), more traditional market, this retro lifestyle collection was an
opportunity to reach the younger, affluent baby boomer homeowners. These
homeowners are more eclectic in their decorating tastes and want to make their
homes an expression of their own creativity and style. The designs used settings
that reflected these retro lifestyles, archival black-and-white photos of the men,
and color photos of the contemporary furniture.
The Hemingway furniture collection—and campaign—were so successful,
they brought in a record $100 million in the first year, the reason the campaign
was an EFFIE-award winner. The new Bogart campaign started out equally as
successful.
Source: Adapted from the EFFIE brief provided by Long Haymes Carr and Thomasville Furniture, and from Stuart Elliott,
“Bogart the Salesman,” The New York Times Direct, February 25, 2003, NYTDirect@nytimes.com; Sandra Dolbow, “Brand
Builders," Brandweek (July 24, 2000); 19; Sandra Dolbow “Literary License,” Brandweek (July 24, 2000); 3; Beth Snyder,
“Thomasville Moves Hemingway into TV Ads,” Advertising Age (August 23, 1999): 8.
The richness of the imagery in the Thomasville Furniture campaign goes far beyond the
ability of words to describe things. The images also communicate ideas about the lives of
Hemingway and Bogart, as well as feelings about nostalgia and the lifestyles they connote.
This chapter is about the visuals used in advertising—how they are designed and what they
contribute to the meaning of the ad. First we’ll review some basic ideas about visual
impact and the role of the art director. Then we’ll consider print art direction and produc¬
tion, followed by sections of television art direction and production. We’ll end with a dis¬
cussion of the design of Internet advertising.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
In effective advertising, it’s not just the words that need to communicate ideas and feel¬
ings; it’s the visuals, too. The visuals normally work together with the words to present the
creative concept. How would you demonstrate the smallness of something like a computer
chip or a new miniature hard drive? IBM did it through a visual analogy: The new IBM
hard disk drive is as small as an egg or a newborn chick.
CHAPTER 14 • DESIGN AND PRODUCTION 387
Words and pictures accomplish different message effects. The visuals

in the Thomasville ads, for example, create associations. They link the
image of Hemingway and the exotic places he liked with a style of furni¬
ture. Even radio can evoke mental pictures through suggestive or descrip¬
tive language and sound effects. Designers focus on six key reasons for the
effective use of visuals in advertising:
1. Grab Attention. Generally visuals are better than words at getting and
keeping attention.
2. Stick in Memory. Visuals stick in the mind because people generally
remember messages as visual fragments, as key images that are fded
easily in their minds.
3. Cement Belief. Seeing is believing, as the IBM chick ad demonstrates,
so visuals that demonstrate add credibility to a message.
4. Tell Interesting Stories. Visual storytelling is engaging and maintains
interest.
5. Communicate Quickly. Pictures tell stories faster than words, as the
Handgun Control ads (on the next page) demonstrate. A picture com¬
municates instantly, while consumers have to decipher verbal/written
communication word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence, line-by-line.
6. Anchor Associations. To distinguish undifferentiated products with
low inherent interest, advertisers often link the product with visual
associations representing lifestyles and types of users, as the Heming¬ IBM used a chick and an egg to
way and Bogart campaigns for Thomasville Furniture demonstrate. demonstrate the smallness of its
hard disk drive, which is about
the size of a large coin.
Visual Impact
In most advertising the power to get attention primarily lies with the visual. In general,
designers have found that a picture in a print ad captures more than twice as many readers
as a headline does. Furthermore, the bigger the illustration, the more the advertisement Principle
grabs consumers’ attention. Ads with pictures also tend to pull more readers into the body The visual's primary function in an
copy; initial attention is more likely to turn into sustained interest with the help of a advertisement is to get attention.
strong visual.
People not only notice ad visuals, they remember those with pictures more than those
composed mostly of type. The believability factor, as well as the interest-building impact
of a visual story, also are reasons why visuals are anchored so well in memory. An exam¬
ple of an intriguing story idea told totally through visuals is a British campaign for
Volkswagen, which won the Best of Show award in a One Show award competition. It fea¬
tured a gently humorous 30-second commercial built around the low price of the VW Polo.
Fallon’s Bob Barrie, who was president of The One Club (an association for people in the
creative side of advertising), explained that it was possibly the quietest, most understated
TV spot entered in the show. The idea was simple: A woman sits at her kitchen table. Her
scanning of the newspaper, as well as her hiccups, are stopped dead by an ad for the VW
Polo with its “surprisingly ordinary” price.1
Attention, interest, memorability, believability—these are the factors that help
explain the visual impact of messages such as the Handgun Control ads. The art director
for this pro bono campaign (which means all services, as well as time and space, are
donated) explained that the objective was keeping guns out of the hands of children. Note
the dramatic visuals and the way the words work to reinforce the impact of the visual.
The Art Director

The person most responsible for creating visual impact is the art director. The art director
is in charge of the visual look of the message, in both print and TV, and how it communi¬
cates mood, product qualities, and psychological appeals. Specifically, art directors make
decisions about whether to use art or photography in print—or film or animation in televi¬
sion—and what type of artistic style to use. They are highly trained in graphic design,
o
SHOWCASE
■ ■ ■
The pro bono Handgun Control campaign was designed as a wakeup call
following the Columbine High School shootings. Chris Hutchinson, art director
at Weiden + Kennedy, explained that "Children killing children with guns is a
very real issue and we wanted to communicate the horror of this. The visuals
are meant to shock, juxtaposing toys with gun violence." Hutchinson graduated
from the advertising program at the University of Oregon.
including art, photography, typography, the use of color, and computer design software.
Although art directors generally design the ad, they rarely create the finished art. If they
need an illustration, they hire an artist. Newspaper and Web advertising visuals are often
clip art, images from collections of copyright-free art that anyone can use who buys the
clip-art service.
One of the most difficult problems that art directors—and those who work on the cre¬
ative side of advertising—face is transforming a concept into words and pictures. During
the brainstorming process, both copywriters and art directors are engaged in visualization,
which means they are imagining what the finished ad might look like.
In addition to advertising, art directors may also be involved in designing a brand or
corporate logo, as well as merchandising materials, store or corporate office interiors, and
other aspects of a brand’s visual presentation, such as shopping bags, delivery trucks, and
uniforms. A logo, which is the imprint used for immediate identification of a brand or
company, is an interesting design project because it uses typography, illustration, and lay¬
out to create a distinctive and memorable image, as the Falling Rock logo demonstrates.
Think of the cursive type used for Coca-Cola, the block letters used for IBM, and the
rainbow-striped apple for Apple computers.
SHOWCASE
■ ■ ■
A logo needs to be simple enough to provide immediate recognition and yet
convey the personality and meaning of the brand. That was the design problem
solved by Mike Dattolico (www.brokenroses.com), a freelance art director who
graduated from the advertising program at the University of Florida.
Consider This
1. In what ways do visuals add impact to advertising?
2. How good are you at visualization? If you were asked to participate in
visual-association brainstorming for the word bank, how many different
images come to mind? Make a list and include a brief description of the
images you see in your mind.
PRINT ART DIRECTION

The art director’s toolkit for print advertising includes the photos, illustrations, typefaces,
color, and layout of the proposed ad. Let’s look at these and other elements of print ad design.
Illustrations and Photos

When art directors use the word art, they usually mean photographs and illustrations, each
of which serves different purposes in ads. For instance, photography has an authenticity
that makes it powerful, a dimension skillfully employed by the Hemingway and Bogart
A simple photograph of the top

of a can takes on new meaning
when the can's rings are
associated with the rings in
water from a fishing bobber.
campaigns. Most people feel that pictures don’t lie (even though they can be altered). For
credibility, then, photography is a good medium. A photograph is more realistic and an
illustration (or animation in television) is more fanciful. Illustrations, by definition, elimi¬
nate many of the details you see in a photograph, which can make it easier to understand
since what remains are the “highlights” of the image that we use most often in recognizing
what it represents. This ease of perception can simplify the visual message but it can also
focus attention on key details of the image. It can also intensify meanings and moods, mak¬
ing illustrations ideal for fantasy (think about comic books and animated films).
The decision to use a photograph or an illustration is usually determined by the adver¬
tising strategy and its need for either realism or fanciful images. The Thomasville ads use
what we call a “beauty shot” of the furniture to establish the quality of the product. The
historical photos of Hemingway and Bogart are treated with a technique that makes it more
artful, symbolizing its historical qualities. The distinction between the images is a visual
statement of the strategy behind the ad campaign, which links these historical figures with
the new furniture line. Photographs, of course, can also evoke fanciful images. For example,
the billboard art for British canned fish brand John West is given a dramatic touch by mak¬
ing the rings on the can’s top look like rings of rippling water cast from a fishing bobber.
Color in Print
In addition to photos and illustrations, another important visual element that art directors
manipulate is color, which they use to attract attention, provide realism, establish moods,
and build brand identity. Art directors know that print ads with color, particularly those in
newspapers, get more attention than ads without color. Many ads are in full color, espe¬
cially when art directors use photographs, such as the furniture shots in the Hemingway
and Bogart collections. However, note how the historical photo in black-and-white appears
in contrast to the full-color photo. Black-and-white also lends a dignity and sophistication
to the visual, even if it’s a boot, as the Dunham ad demonstrates. Ads can also use spot
color, in which they use a second color in addition to black (a black-and-white photo or
illustration with an accent color) to highlight important elements. The use of spot color is
highly attention getting, particularly in newspaper ads. The ACG ad uses red spot color to
accent the product and brand name.
The layout for the Dunham boot

ad shown here speaks in a
quiet voice about the beauty of
nature. Even though it's a boot
ad, it projects an elegance that
reflects an appreciation for
nature and a serene outdoor
scene (footprints in the snow).
When it is important to convey realism in an ad, full-color photographs may be essen¬

tial. Some products and ad illustrations just don’t look right in black-and-white: pizza, This ad, with an asymmetrical
flower gardens, and nail polish, for instance. Color also can help an ad convey a mood. layout, uses spot color
Warm colors, such as red, yellow, and orange, convey happiness. Pastels are soft and often effectively as an accent to
bring a friendly tone to a print ad. Earth tones are natural and no-nonsense. Cool colors, identify the product and the
such as blue and green, are aloof, calm, serene, reflective, and intellectual. Yellow and red brand. Note how the layout
"shouts," in contrast to the soft
have the most attention-getting power. Red may symbolize alarm and danger, as well as
tone of the Dunham boot ad.
warmth. Black communicates high drama and can
express power and elegance. -
THE AIR KRAKATOA BOOT

Typography IS WATERPROOF.
ITS WATERPROOF.
_
Not only do art directors carefully choose colors, they IT’S WATERPROOF. *2
also design the ad’s typography—the appearance of the IT’S WATERPROOF.
IT’S WATERPROOF.
ad’s printed matter in terms of the style and size of type¬
faces. In most cases, good use of type does not call atten¬
IT’S WATERPROOF.
IT’S WATERPROOF.
tion to itself because its primary role is functional: to IT’S WATERPROOF.
convey the words of the message. Type, however, also IT’S WATERPR
irS WATERPROOF.
has an aesthetic role and the type selection can, in a sub¬ IT’S WATERPROOF.
tle or not so subtle way, contribute to the impact and IT’S WATERPROOF.
IT’S WATERPROOF.
mood of the message. The Petersen magazine group ad is
IT’S WATERPR
an example of the use of typography as art. In this case,
the heavy, bold, hand-drawn type has an attitude that RS. IT’S
WAT
reflects the readers of the Petersen’s RAW Sport Group,
which includes such publications as Dirt Rider, Mountain
Biker, MX Racer, BMX Rider, Inline, and sNoBoard,
Print ad designers choose from among thousands
of typefaces to find the right one for the ad’s message.
Designers are very familiar with type classifications, but
it is also important for managers and other people on the
creative team to have some working knowledge of
PROOF.
typography in order to understand what designers are
ACG means ALL CONDITIONS GEAR and ALL CONDITIONS means ALL CONDITIONS.
talking about and to critique the printed material and
make suggestions.
Principle Families and Fonts The basic set of letters in a particular typeface is known as the
Type has a functional role in the font. A font contains the alphabet for one typeface, such as Times Roman, plus the numer¬
way it presents the letters in words als and punctuation that go with that typeface, as Figure 14.1a shows. Each font represents
so they can be easily read, but it one size of that alphabet style. There are two major typeface families: serif and sans serif.
also has an aesthetic role and can Serif means that the end of each stroke of a letter has a little flourish. A sans serif typeface
contribute to the meaning of the is one that is missing this detail and the ends of the stroke tend to be more blocklike. Serif
message through its design.
letters are most often used for formal effects—invitations, for example—and when there is
a lot of copy to be read; most books, for example, are basically set in serif faces (as is this
one). Sans serif faces are used for copy that is consulted, rather than read—think about a
phone book, or type in a diagram, because the look is “clean”—or as purposeful contrast to
the serif type.
Designers must work with the following aspects of typeface selection:
• Uppercase refers to the use of a capital letter, as in the capital U in the word
Uppercase.
• Lowercase means small letters used without capitals.
• All caps is a design in which every letter in a word is a capital letter.
• U&lc (upper- and lowercase) is a design in which the first letter of every important
word is capitalized and the others are lowercase (prepositions and conjunctions are
usually lowercase).
• Weight, posture, and width of a typeface can vary using such elements such as light,
bold (weight), italic (posture), expanded, and condensed (width).
Justification Flow the lines align at the end is another design choice (see Figure
14. lb). With justified type, the ends align on both the right and left sides of the column of
This is the cover for a four- type (they are flush right and flush left). With unjustified type, also called ragged right,
page ad for Petersen Publi¬ the line endings on the right side of the column fall where they will. The opposite, which is
cations inserted into advertising rarely used, is ragged left (more often known as flush right where the lines are aligned on
trade publications to dramatize the right but the beginnings of the lines vary. A final option is to center the type.
that the group's magazines can
deliver a youthful male udience. Type Measurement There are several measurement systems used in graphic design.
The message is in words, but it's The smallest system of measurement units is called points, which designers use to indicate
also in the style of the type. the size of typefaces (see Figure 14.1c). There are 72 points in an inch. Display copy is
usually 14 points or larger. Body copy in news¬
paper and magazine ads is usually 12 points or
smaller. (The body copy of this text is 12 point
Times.) Designers also measure the width and
length of columns in picas. The pica is a bigger
unit of measurement with 6 picas in an inch and
12 points in a pica. So 12-point type is exactly 1
pica high, or one-sixth of an inch. The column
width used for the captions in this book is 10
picas. The text of the book is set on a 30-pica
line length.
Legibility The legibility of type refers to

how easy it is to perceive the letters. Research
has discovered a number of typographic prac¬
tices that can hinder the reading process.2
Figure 14.Id demonstrates some of these legi¬
bility concerns. For example, reverse type,
white letters reversed out of a dark surrounding
area, is hard to read because people are accus¬
tomed to reading type as black or dark shapes
on a white or light background. Reverse works
best for headlines and is more problematic for
body copy. The same thing is true for all capi¬
tals. We identify words by their distinctive
a) A Font Type has an aesthetic role

14 pt
in an ad. Art directors
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST choose a serif or sans serif
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz font, as well as a font's size
and style, to support the
1234567890 tone of the advertising
Serif (top) and
message.
Sans Serif (bottom) ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ABCD
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ABCD
All caps (top),
lower case (middle), THIS IS TIMES ROMAN IN ALL CAPS,
and u&lc (bottom)
this is times roman in lower case.
This is Times Roman in Upper and Lower Case.
Typeface variations This is set in a light typeface.

This is set in a normal weight.
This is set in a boldface.
This is set in italic.
This is set in an expanded typeface.
This is set in a condensed typeface.
b) Where the type sits on the

This is justified text. This is justified text. This is justified text. This is justified text. This is justified ad and how it relates to the
text. This is justified text. This is justified text. This is justified text. This is justified text. This is jus¬ margin has an effect on the
tified text.
ad's overall look.
This is centered text. This is
centered text.
This is left aligned text. This is

left aligned text.
This is right aligned text. This

is right aligned text.
c) Here is a set of different

6 Point
ABCDEFGHUKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHUKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ sizes for the Times Roman
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnop 1234567890 typeface.
12 Point
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLM
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqr 1234567890
18 Point
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
d) Research has shown that
some typography presenta¬
tions, such as those shown
here—all cap letters,
reverse type, overly orna¬
mental type, and surprinted
type—hinder the reading
process.
BlWB The Art of Typefaces

shapes, and when they are set in all caps, then the word’s distinctive shape is obscured.
It is less of a problem for headlines but slows down the reading of body copy.
Surprinting, which means running the type over another image, is difficult to read
because the letters can be confused with the background pattern.
The Legibility of Vertical Type
Another practice that harms legibility is printing letters vertically (see Figure 14.2) one
L M on top of another. It’s almost impossible to decipher words printed like this. For example, a
full-page ad for EMC2, an information management company, used the headline in Figure
N I A
14.2. It’s an interesting puzzle but a busy reader scanning a newspaper like the Wall Street
F F N
Journal may not want to play the game to figure it out.
O E A
R C G
Layout and Design
M Y E
Once art directors have chosen the images and typographic elements, they manipulate all
A C M
the visual elements on paper to produce a layout. A layout is a plan that imposes order and
T L E
at the same time creates an arrangement that is aesthetically pleasing. Here are some com¬
I E N mon types of ad layouts the art director might use:
O T
• Picture Window. One of the most common layout formats is one with a single, domi¬
N
nant visual that occupies about 60 to 70 percent of the ad’s space. Underneath it is a
headline and a copy block. The logo or signature signs off the message at the bottom.
The “Dive” ad in Chapter 13 is an example.
• All Art. The art fills the frame of the ad and the copy is embedded in the picture. The
“Lost Innocence” ad for the Handgun Control campaign (page 388) is an example.
• Panel or Grid. A layout can use a number of visuals of matched or proportional sizes.
If there are multiple panels all of the same size, the layout can look like a window
pane or comic strip panel. The Thomasville Hemingway ads use two panels of differ¬
ent size side by side to contrast Hemingway and his historical period with the contem¬
porary furniture.
• Dominant Type or All Copy. Occasionally, you will see layouts that emphasize the
type rather than the art, or even an all-copy advertisement in which the headline is
treated as type art, such as the ACG ad (page 391). A copy-dominant ad may have art,
but it is either embedded in the copy or placed in a subordinate position, such as at the
bottom of the layout.
This ad for Schwinn bicycles

Scrap actai. Scott* clipless pedals let
you spin so hard and Cost, you generated
uses a plumbing drain motif to a aisoblc- magnetic field which attracted
tin cans, hubcaps and a poodle wearing ,
a spiked collar.
convey the industrial-strength
features of the bike. It is a
nonlinear design in that it
doesn't matter where you start
and what you read next. The
text is carried in call-outs that
point to different visual
elements in the layout.
Llngonberry. During a near
free fall descent, your
Shiioaeo1 -v* brakes brought
you to a dead Stop, allowing
you
Candy corn. Voo don't need

nowussy, designer, hi-cavb
bar*. four proportlonaUy-
olrod racing frar.a runs
on turquoise snowballs,
frosonegg roil*, cupcakes,
i roe ketchup packets
.tivd forgotten bucket* of
bygurfincoxtrlal strength, Halloween candy; •
the hi-loch viuerdiy ipliur. warii
in? rids. ■ ..
What a
• Circus. A layout combines lots of elements—art, type, color—to deliberately create a

busy, jumbled image. This is typical of some discount store ads or ads for local retail¬
ers, such as tire companies.
• Nonlinear. A contemporary style of layout that can be read starting at any point in the
image. In other words, the direction of viewing is not ordered, as in the “What a Ride”
ad for Schwinn. This style of ad layout works for young people, who are more accus¬
tomed to nonlinear forms; they are not as effective for older generations.
• Grunge. A style of layout that shows what is presumed to be a Generation X-inspired
lack of concern for the formalities of art, design, type styles, and legibility. The
Petersen magazine ad (page 392) is in that style.
Different layouts can convey entirely different feelings about a product. For example,
look at the two ads for work boots. The ACG “Air Krakato” ad (page 391) screams “water¬
proof!” to signal the boots’ ability to stand up to the most serious weather conditions. In
contrast, the ad for the Dunham boot looks like a work of fine art. The difference between
the two campaigns clearly lies with the visual impact that comes from the layouts, as well
as the imagery.
Design Principles A layout begins with a collection of miscellaneous elements: a

headline and other display copy, one or more pieces of art, captions, body copy, a brand or
store signature, and perhaps a trademark, slogan, or tagline. Local retail advertising also
includes reminder information such as address, hours, telephone number, and credit cards
accepted. Arranging all these elements so that they make sense and attract attention is a
challenge. The design has both functional and aesthetic needs. The functional side of a lay¬
out makes the message easy to perceive; the aesthetic side makes it attractive and pleasing
to the eye. Here are eight design principles that guide designers as they lay out an ad:
• Direction. Usually, designers create a visual path for the eye as it scans the elements.
In Western countries most readers scan from top to bottom and from left to right. Most
layouts work with these natural eye movements, although a layout can manipulate
directional cues to cause the eye to follow an unexpected path. Figure 14.3 shows how
the layout for one ad guides the eye.
• Dominance. Normally, the dominant element, which is point of emphasis or a focal
point, is a visual, but it can be a headline if the type is big and bold enough to domi¬
nate other elements. By definition there can be only one dominant element, one focal
point; everything else must be subordinate. Dominant elements, such as the picture of
the car in Figure 14.3, are larger, more colorful, bolder, or positioned in a more promi¬
nent spot, such as at the top of the page.
• Unity. With unity, all the elements in an ad fuse into one coherent image and the pieces
become a whole, as in the Crane & Company “Banknote” brochure on page 398.
Neighboring elements that touch and align add unity and help with direction. An old
axiom states the importance of grouping things: “Keep things together that go together.”
• White Space. Areas of the layout that aren’t covered by art or type are called white
space or negative space. White space can be a design element in itself—either to
frame an element or to separate elements that don’t belong together.
• Contrast. Contrast makes one element stand out from another and indicates impor¬
tance. Contrast is created by size (larger versus smaller) and tone (light versus dark).
• Balance. When artists decide where to place an element, they are manipulating bal¬
ance. There are two types of balance: formal and informal. Formal balance is symmet¬
rical, centered left to right. It is conservative, suggests stability, and is used in more
upscale product ads. Informal balance is asymmetrical and creates a more visually
dynamic layout, counterbalancing visual weights around an imaginary optical center.
The Handgun Control ad is an example of informal balance.
• Proportion. Equal proportions of elements in a print ad are visually uninteresting
because they are monotonous. Two visuals of the same size fight with one another for
attention, and neither provides a point of visual dominance. Copy and art should be
Porsche Ad with Tissue Overlay

The tracing on the tissue identifies
the starting point and the visual path
the eye takes when scanning this ad.
proportionately different. Usually, the art dominates and covers two-thirds to three-
fifths of the page area (if the ad is not meant to be text-heavy).
Principle • Simplify, Simplify, Simplify. This is a truism but most art directors realize that less is
Design is usually improved more. Generally, the more elements that are crowded into a layout, the more the
by simplifying the number of impact is fragmented. The fewer the elements, the stronger the impact. Clutter is the
elements. "Less is more." opposite of simplicity. It comes from having too many elements and too little unity.
However, like all rules, this one is made to be broken. Art directors know that to cre¬
ate the effect they want in a nonlinear discount store layout, they have to sacrifice
simplicity.
Layout Stages The stages in the normal development of a print ad may vary from
agency to agency or from client to client. Figure 14.4 shows the six-stage development of
an Orly nail polish ad that agency Wiley & Associates created. This ad went through
thumbnail sketches, which are quick, miniature preliminary sketches; rough layouts,
which show where design elements go; semicomps and comprehensives, which are drawn
to size and used for presentation either inside or to the client; and mechanicals, which
assemble the elements in their final position for reproduction. The final product is a high-
resolution computer file used for the actual production of the ad.
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(a) (b) (c)
Orly "Chantilly Peach" Creative Process

(a) Thumbnail Sketches. These ideas for Orly were developed by the Wiley creative team late at night over Diet Coke and Chinese chicken
salad, (b) Rough Layout. Transitioning to legs and painted toenails, the layout begins to give some glamour and personality to the product,
(c) Semicomps. Type, color, and tagline still not finalized, but layout is more complete, (d) Comprehensives. Tagline approved. Illustrator
has added more glitz to the layout, (e) Mechanicals. Quark file before retouching. Client still made small changes at this stage, but had
approved the ad’s layout and copy, (f) Final High-Resolution Film. The film house had to retouch, creating separate files for the legs and
background image so that the proportion of the leg illustration would be correct.
Consider This
o 1. What's the difference in the way photos and illustrations contribute meaning
to an ad? When would you use one or the other?
2. Find an ad that you think does a great job of using the basic design
principles. Explain how the layout works.
o
SHOWCASE
TWT
to 'A MMERTCSV
THIS ROTE IS LEGAL TEWBER
fOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AMD PRIVATE
L3QQS4941V
The standard
in durability
413 224
Otm.** « S ?P?.
SSt K&
Unfed States currency sSfres the most durable tertmote pa$>er in ftc* world
tndjn»^> the most widespread and rôroos arc>iabon er«rora>ent, U-S.
banknotes actoeve 8* lushest fete-span o! any paper currency. the secret (ft
the U S. currency's success is Marathon ”* an e&ceptorcrf bartoote
sufcsirate rfcvefoped by Crane & Co., Ik., *t*cfc sets the highest standard
« durabttty for banknotes mxldrude.
Durat&ly is cmftmfy mwed as or» of the most important factors

axtfrsbuhng to ftte success of a banknote, parfectiariy for fora
denofrerôns, -asSacfc account for f*e greatest costs of issuance,
pnAg and process*^.
The success of a banknote ss not measured « dorabftfy acme

femwrta»r characteristics rodwfc owral cost^tecfreness, puts&c
â Successful Banknote?
acosplariCfe, cornpatihiry £»*>£*<& pnAg tKtnkjiJfes,
fKarporafe* of pmven security features, »8fc sorting,
pfOC*ssRg; dfesfeijc&on ecffdiHi and its erwerawertlaf sr«*aci
Osft of Grants Maraften durafcte banknote safesfoaste offers a cos!

Affect, lawns* alfemtine far naeasng craiaSon Ifc of a
banknote ®s8»q»* added expense.
For more- #an 120 yeans. Crane & Company has mandfacJwî
banknote paper for fhe U S Treasury Doparfmei^L
developing tie mfasktfs fewfeg pi$x*isiafcng and security
tedrafogtes. Ibratta) exceeds the OS. Treajar/s
stringent sp&cdcalRsts
lor daraN^f awl
performance
■ ■ ■
This beautifully designed brochure by Peter Stasiowski, art director at Gargan
Communication in Dalton, Massachusetts, promotes the durability of Crane &
Company's banknote paper. A business-to-business piece, it demonstrates how
great design is not limited to consumer marketing. The impact of the message
comes from the unity of creative concept, selling premise, and the visual
elements. Stasiowski is a graduate of the advertising program at the University
of West Florida.
PRINT PRODUCTION
Art directors need to understand print ad production not only because it
affects the look of the ad, but also because it affects costs.
Print Media Requirements

Different media put different demands on the design, as well as the
production, of advertising. Newspapers, for example, are printed at
high speed on an inexpensive, rough-surfaced, spongy paper called
newsprint that quickly absorbs ink on contact. Newsprint is not a great
surface for reproducing fine details, especially color photographs and
delicate typefaces. Most newspapers offer color to advertisers, but
because of the limitations of the printing process, the color may not be
perfectly in registration (aligned exactly with the image). For that rea¬
America’s best incentive program is
son, ads such as the Oklahoma City ads are specifically designed for its simplest. Our Quality Jobs Program pays qualified companies
up to 5% of their payroll in cash, for up to 10 years. Its considered
high-contrast black-and-white printing. the most effective program of its kind.
Magazines have traditionally led the way in graphic improvements Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Of Commerce I-800-6I6"! I 14
because their paper is better than newsprint. Excellent photographic and
color reproduction is the big difference between newspapers and maga¬
zines. Magazine advertisements are also turning to more creative, attention-
getting devices such as pop-up visuals, scent strips, and computer chips
that play melodies when the pages are opened. The design of Yellow
Pages ads has changed as advertisers design their ads to be not just list¬
ings but to stand out in a cluttered environment. The Practical Tips shows
some guidelines that designers follow when creating Yellow Pages ads.
q Practical Tips
Creating a Yellow Pages Ad
• Size. The larger the ad, the more consumers notice it.
• Image. Graphics signal the reputation or image of the store.
.okcchamber.com
If possible, the headline, the illustration, the layout, and the Still The Most Affordable Housing
In America. For the third consecutive year, an Ernst & Young study
use of type all should communicate the store's personality. of exec-level housing in 75 U.S. communities named OKC #1.
A beauty shop ad will look different from an ad for auto An average price of $91,035 is home sweet home, indeed.
1-800-616-1 I 14
parts. Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Of Commerce
• Simplicity. Keep the number of design elements to a

minimum.
• Art. Illustrations work better than photographs. High-contrast graphics are the
• Map. If using a map, keep it simple to make the location clear. key to good reproduction in a
newspaper. The art in these
• The business. Use graphics to convey the product category. Spell out the
ads simulates an old wood
scope of service or product lines in the body copy.
engraving.
• Convenience Cues. Give prominence to location and hours because people
look for stores that are open and easy to reach.
• Critical Information. In addition to location and hours, the phone number
must be included. Many consumers will call to see whether the product they
want is available before making a trip. Note the multiple phone numbers
listed in the IBM ad.
The key to an effective poster or outdoor board is a dominant visual with minimal
copy. Because billboards must make a quick and lasting impression from far away, their
layout should be compact with a simple visual path. The Institute for Outdoor Advertising
(IOA) recommends these tips for designers.
• Graphics. Make the illustration an eye-stopper.

• Size. Images in billboards are huge—a 25-foot-long pencil or a 43-foot pointing fin¬
ger. The product or the brand label can be hundreds of times larger than life.
• Colors. Use bold, bright colors. The greatest impact is created

by maximum contrast between two colors such as dark colors
>jj times against white or yellow.3
• Figure/ground. Make the relationship between foreground
and background as obvious as possible. A picture of a soft
drink against a jungle background is hard to perceive when
hlMOIHl
I A
i THEATRICAL h
»r»oi»i,T*. “ viewed from a moving vehicle at a distance. The background
, MC W Of^ should never compete with the subject.
si^ûuwBLSLaua • Typography. Use simple, clean, uncluttered type that is easy
to read at a distance by an audience in motion. The industry’s
®ast!
legibility research recommends avoiding all-capital letters,
0 l)ef4iKnii|g -• Kii^raviiy fanciful ornamental letters, and script and cursive fonts.
If* I IH «* VA«*OW *
COR. FIFTH ANU CHESTNUT STREETS, 8T. • Product Identification. Focus attention on the product by
reproducing the label or package at a huge size.
• Extensions. Extend the frame of the billboard to expand the
gS&COAL scale and break away from the limits of the long rectangle.
1 • Shape. For visual impact, create the illusion of three-
Union Fuel Company
Tt* YARDS
dimensional effects by playing with horizons, vanishing lines,
MAW m
ct*r*«, ms and dimensional boxes. Inflatables create a better 3-D effect
• 9
oii»«* «e
than most billboards can, even with superior graphics. Made of
E^g a heavyweight, stitched nylon, inflatables can be free-standing,
better coal or they can be added to outdoor boards as an extension.
*i«* 3®no VRLLEy com co.
• Motion. Add motors to boards to make pieces and parts move.
-_ CIltMt no
Disklike wheels and glittery things that flicker in the wind cre¬
ate the appearance of motion, color change, and images that
squeeze, wave, or pour. Use revolving panels, called kinetic
boards, for messages that change.
Art Reproduction
There are two general types of printed images: line art and
halftone. A drawing or illustration is called line art because the
image is solid lines on a white page, as in the Oklahoma City
ads. Photographs, which are referred to as continuous tone or
halftone, are much more complicated to reproduce because they
have a range of gray tones between the black and white, as shown
in Figure 14.5. Printers create the illusion of shades of gray by
converting continuous-tone art and photos to halftones by shoot¬
ing the original photograph through a fine screen. The screened
image is converted to a pattern of dots that gives the illusion of
shades of gray—dark areas are large dots that fill the screen and
light areas are tiny dots surrounded by white space. The quality
of the image depends on how fine the screen is. A coarse screen,
usually 65 lines per inch (called a 65-line screen), is used by
newspapers while magazines use fine screens, which may be 120
and up to 200 lines per inch.
Screens are also used to create various tint blocks, which
can be either shades of gray in black-and-white printing or shades
of color. A block of color can be printed solid or it can be
screened back to create a shade. These shades are expressed as a
This series of Yellow Pages ads range of percentages, from 100 percent (solid) down to 10 per¬
show the changes in design cent (very faint). Figure 14.6 gives examples of screens in black-
over the years. From top, 1 882, and-white and color.
1920, 1930s, and 1990s.
Color Reproduction It would be impossible to set up a printing press with a separate
ink roller for every hue and value in a color photo. How, then, are these colors reproduced?
Full-color images are reproduced using four distinctive shades of ink called process colors,
Line Art and Halftone Art

An example of a figure reproduced as line art (left) and as a halftone (right).
in a process called four-color printing. These colors are magenta (a shade of pinkish pur¬
ple), cyan (a shade of bright blue), yellow, and black. Printing inks are transparent, so when
one ink overlaps another, a third color is created and that’s how the full range of colors is cre¬
ated. For example, red and blue create purple, yellow and blue create green, yellow and red
create orange. The black is used for type and, in four-color printing, adds depth to the shad¬
ows and dark tones in an image. The process printers use to reduce the original color image
to four halftone negatives is called color separation. In photographing the original (or scan¬
ning on a computer), a separate color filter screens out everything but the desired hue for
each of the four process colors. Figure 14.7 illustrates the process of color separation.
Printing Processes
Here are the most common printing processes used in advertising and a brief description of
how they work. Art directors have to understand how these various printing processes work
because they all impact the design in some way.
10% 100%
Screen Values and Tint Blocks

These are different screens for black-
and-white image tints for a color tint.
(d) (e) (f)
The Color Separation Process

The six photos starting here illustrate the process of creating four-color separations: (a) Yellow plate, (b) Magenta plate, (c) Yellow and
Magenta combined plate, (d) Cyan plate. (Note: After cyan is added, there would also be combined plates showing it added first to yellow,
then to magenta, then to the combined yellow and magenta. These steps were left out to simplify the presentation.) (e) Black plate, (f) the
finished ad with all four process colors combined.
• Letterpress. A process used for numbering items (such as tickets and so on) and spe¬
cialty printing effects such as embossing. With letterpress printing, a raised surface
gets inked; then when it strikes the surface of the paper, the image is transferred.
• Offset Lithography. The most popular type of printing for newspapers and most maga¬
zines. Offset printing uses a smooth-surface and chemically treated plate to transfer
the image. Based on the principle that oil and water don’t mix, the oil-based ink
adheres to parts of the image but not to other parts. The offset plates are produced pho¬
tographically.
• Rotogravure. A process used for long print runs with high-quality photographic repro¬
duction. Rotogravure printing uses an incised surface. The images are engraved into
the plate and ink collects in these little wells. When the plate strikes the surface of the
paper, ink is transferred from the wells to the paper.
• Flexography. A procedure that prints on unusual surfaces and shapes such as mugs
and balls. Flexography uses a rubber-surface printing plate that can be bent to print on
irregular surfaces. The plate transfers ink similarly to offset printing.
• Silkscreen. A type of printing used to print posters, T-shirts, and point-of-sale materi¬
als. Silkscreen printing uses a porous screen of silk, nylon, or stainless steel mounted
on a frame. A stencil image is made either by hand or using a photographic process
and the stencil is adhered to the screen. The nonprinting areas are blocked by the sten¬
cil and the areas to be printed are left open. Using a squeegee, ink is forced through
the screen onto the printing surface.
If an ad is going to run in a number of publications, there has to be some way to dis¬

tribute a reproducible form of the ad to all of them. The duplicate material for offset print¬
ing is a slick proof of the original mechanical. These proofs are called photoprints or
photostats, which are cheap to produce. Veloxes or C-prints are better-quality proof
prints but are more expensive.
Digitization A recent trend in print production is the digitization of images, whether

type or art, that uses computer technology to break them into tiny grids, each one coded
electronically for tone or color. This is also how computers now handle the color repro¬
duction process. These digitized images can then be transmitted electronically to printers
or clients, across a city for local editions of newspapers, or by satellites for regional edi¬
tions of magazines and newspapers such as USA Today. Agencies also use this method for
transmitting ad proofs within the agency network, as well as to clients.
Desktop publishing, the process of producing print documents on personal comput¬
ers with easy-to-use software is taking over the inexpensive end of typesetting and print¬
ing. Designers, writers, and editors can create page layouts and advertising layouts on a
personal computer, sometimes with very little training or understanding of design princi¬
ples. At the higher end, typesetting systems use sophisticated computer-based pagination
equipment that combines computer typesetting with page layout capabilities. More sophis¬
ticated computers and software can produce the printing plates directly from the layout.
Binding and Finishing Art directors can enhance their ads and other printed mate¬
rials by using a number of special printing effects. For example, US Robotics, a maker of
minicomputers, once used a small brochure the actual size of a Palm Pilot to demonstrate
its minicomputer’s size. The shot of the Palm Pilot was glued to a photo of a hand. As the
ad unfolded, it became a complete product brochure that visually demonstrated the actual
size of the minicomputer. Other mechanical techniques include:
• Die-Cutting. A sharp-edged stamp, or die, used to cut out unusual shapes. A common
die-cut shape you’re familiar with is the tab on a file folder.
• Embossing or debossing. The application of pressure to create a raised surface
(embossing) or depressed image (debossing) in paper.
• Foil-Stamping. The application of a thin metallic coating (silver, gold) molded to the
surface of the image with heat and pressure is called foil stamping.
• Tip-ins. Tip-ins are separate preprinted ads provided by the advertiser to be glued into
a publication as the publication is being assembled, or bound. Perfume manufacturers,
for example, tip in samples that are either scratch-and-sniff or scented strips that
release a fragrance when pulled apart.
Consider This
1. Whafs the difference between newspapers and magazines in terms of their
production requirements? What does a designer have to consider when
using one or the other?
2. Explain how color separation works.
TELEVISION ART DIRECTION

Where does our art director start when putting together a commercial? Working within the
framework of the creative strategy, art directors create the look of the TV commercial. The
look of the award-winning “Cat Herders” commercial that the Minneapolis-based Fallon
agency created for Electronic Data Systems (EDS) was that of the American West, much
like a John Ford movie, with horses, craggy-faced cowboys who acted as cat wranglers,
and stampeding animals (the cats).
The excitement and drama in a television commercial is created through the moving
images. The visual storytelling is another responsibility of the art director. In the “Cat
Herders” spot, the Fallon art director decided that the metaphor of herding cats meant that
CTIC
Kitty Slickers and Cat Herders
EDS, a company that essentially invented the information

technology (IT) industry back in the 1960s, found itself
with an unhip Old Economy image as the New Economy
exploded in the late 1990s. Although a leader in such
New Economy areas as Web hosting, digital supply chain
management, and networking, EDS got no respect from its
would-be high-tech partners.
The assignment given to the Fallon agency (Minnea¬
polis) was to change those perceptions and infuse energy
and pride into the EDS workforce. Fallon's strategy was to
leverage EDS's proven experience and its rock-solid infra¬
structure, which enabled it to tackle enormous IT problems.
The strategy came together in the positioning statement:
"EDS thrives on defeating complexity."
How do you depict an organization defeating com¬
plexity? A catch phrase popular in the Silicon Valley cul¬
ture—"It's like herding cats"—was the perfect metaphor
for how EDS wrangles technology and manages complex¬
ity. And that's what the Fallon creative team did: It filmed a
The campaign was also designed to energize the work¬
team of rugged cowboys herding thousands of housecats.
force. "Cat Herders" gave EDS employees an inspiring
The commercial, which was designed to run during
image of themselves as wranglers in an epic undertaking
the Super Bowl, not only won an EFFIE award, it won
whose message is: "No job is too tough." The company's
every online poll ranking Super Bowl commercials that
employee turnover rate dropped, and thousands of employ¬
year. And it did so by erasing the company's rigid and
ees sent letters to the president thanking him for the inspir¬
unapproachable image and supplanting it with a down-to-
ing symbol of the cat herder.
earth, tongue-in-cheek image that appealed to the cynical
dot-com industry.
Consider This
In addition to being the favorite Super Bowl commer¬ o-
cial, the "Cat Herders" commercial started EDS's tele¬ 1. What was the problem the "Cat Herders" advertise¬
phones ringing and its Web site overflowed with visitors. ment was designed to overcome?
The company estimated it had 2 million hits on its Web 2. If you were asked to recommend an idea for the next
sites the next day, 10 times the normal volume. In terms of year's advertising, what would it be? Would you build
Fallon's objectives, one of which was to create brand on this theme or move in some other direction? Why?
awareness and buzz in the industry, EDS estimated that
its $8 million investment in the ad and its supporting
campaign netted an additional $12 million in PR. The
Sources: Adapted from the EDS EFFIE brief provided by EDS and Fallon.
campaign was also designed to generate sales and new-
Also, from "Super Ad Has EDS Purring," Washington Technology (March 20,
business inquiries and EDS reported that its sales were up
2000): 46; Becky Ebenkamp, “Creative: On Location: Kitty Slickers,"
20 percent and its new-business leads grew by 40 percent. Adweek [January 17, 2000): 24-26.
the cats had to swim across a river, but is it possible? Here’s

how it was done: The trainers taught a few cats that weren’t
averse to water to swim by starting them out in a quarter
inch of water and then gradually adding water to the pool
until it was deep enough for the cats to swim. The “river”
was actually a small pool warmed by a portable heater; art
director Hanson described it as “a little kitty Jacuzzi.”
Multiple copies of the swimming kitties were made and
manipulated using computer graphics until an entire herd
had been created. And that’s how this famous scene came
about—from Hanson’s unlikely vision of a herd of cats
swimming a river.
Visual storytelling is important, even for abstract con¬
cepts, such as “empowered,” “inspired,” and “inventive,”
which are the focus of commercials in the PBS “Be More”
campaign. In the “Be more empowered” commercial, a gold
fish makes its escape from its little round bowl in an apartment
and jumps from a puddle to a bottle to a river where it works
its way upstream accompanying giant salmon who are leaping
up waterfalls as they return upstream in their annual migration.
In another commercial titled “be more inspired,” a
composer agonizes over the right notes and eventually hits
a point of total frustration. As he looks out the window, he
sees a group of birds sitting on a set of five power and tele¬
phone wires that are conveniently aligned to look like a
music staff. From the bird’s positions he crafts a line of
music that becomes the theme for his composition.
PBS uses these clever little visual stories to present
itself as a creative force that inspires people to use their
imaginations. For example, a commercial that brings to life
the idea “Be more inventive” is set in a rural, Old World
scene probably in Italy. A resident realizes the village’s library is on fire and organizes a
Even though cats can be trained
bucket brigade. Unfortunately there isn’t enough water coming from the town pump to to do a number of things
make a dent in the fire. An “inventive” solution to the problem is to reverse the direction of including sitting on a horse's
the effort and use the buckets to scoop up burning items and carry them outside. saddle, the magic in the EDS
"Herding Cats" commercial
was found in the computer
Video Graphics
manipulation of the digitized
Art directors are responsible for creating the graphic elements that appear on screen. The art images.
director can arrange for filming, or choose to use stock footage—previously recorded images,
either video, still slides, or moving film. Typical stock footage files are shots from a satellite,
historical scenes such as World War II battles, or a car crash. Other graphic elements such as
words, product logos, and still photos are digitized or computer generated right on the screen. Principle
A crawl is a set of computer-generated letters that appear to be moving across the bottom of Visual storytelling in television
the screen. All of these are designed or specified by the art director. The Thomasville Bogart commercials is constructed
commercial opens with letterboxed, black-and-white film shot as if viewers were watching a through the careful design
1940s-style party in a movie with a Bogart look-alike actor. It then moves to full screen in of individual shots and the
color and ends with shots of the furniture that is complimentary to a contemporary home. sequencing of moving images.
Sophisticated computer graphics systems, such as those used to create the Star
Wars special effects, have pioneered the making of artistic film and video advertising
on computers. Computer graphic artists brag that they can do anything with an image.
They can look at any object from any angle or even from the inside out. One of the
most creative video techniques is called morphing, in which one object gradually
changes into another. Photographs of real objects can change into art or animation and
then return to life. Computer graphics specialists use tools such as the Paint Box soft¬
ware to create, multiply (that’s how 50 cats can be made to look like hundreds), and
manipulate video images.
The classy image of movie

star Humphrey Bogart and his
Hollywood lifestyle was used
as a theme for this commercial
TV and Film Requirements
that announces Thomasville The length of a TV commercial is important in its design. TV ads first got shorter (15 or 10
Furniture's Bogart Collection. seconds) as television time got more expensive; then they got longer as advertisers discov¬
ered that infomercials could be used in inexpensive times. From a design standpoint, the
short length means the ads must be simple enough for consumers to grasp quickly, yet
visually intriguing to prevent viewers from switching channels. Infomercials, however, can
be longer and provide time for in-depth explanations and demonstrations.
In addition to TV commercials, videos, CDs, and DVDs are also used for product lit¬
erature, news releases, direct marketing, and training films and, like ads, these are also
designed by art directors. The objective is to tell a longer product story, and sometimes the
focus is as much on education as it is on selling the product. The car industry has been
using videos for years as product “literature” to give potential customers a “test drive” on
their television screens. Movie trailers are similar to television commercials but are gener¬
ally longer and better produced because they must compete with the beautiful images
found in most movies. Trailer messages are usually 45 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes in
length. The projection of larger-than-life images in a darkened theater is totally unlike the
experience of watching television. The impact of the large screen makes for a compelling
image that commands total attention.
Consider This
o
1. What does an art director do in the making of a television commercial?
2. Explain how the art director told the "kitty slickers" story through visuals.
BROADCAST PRODUCTION
Most local retail commercials are simple and inexpensive, shot and taped at the local sta¬
tion. The sales representative for the station may work with the advertiser to write the
script, and the station’s director handles the taping of the commercial. Creating a national
TV commercial is more complex and requires a number of people with specialized skills.
The ad agency crew usually includes the copywriter, art director, and producer. The pro¬
ducer oversees the production on behalf of the agency and client and is responsible for the
budget, among other things. The director, who is the person responsible for the filming of
the commercial, is usually someone from outside the agency. This person takes the art
director’s storyboard and makes it come to life on film.
The producer and director are the core of the production team. The commercial’s
effectiveness depends on their shared vision of the final commercial and the director’s abil¬
ity to bring it to life as the art director imagined it. In the case of the “Cat Herders” com¬
mercial, the director was chosen by the agency because of his skill at coaxing naturally
humorous performances from nonprofessional actors. In this commercial he worked with
real wranglers on their semiscripted testimonials about their work with kitties. Table 14.1
summarizes the responsibilities of broadcast production personnel.
Producing TV Commercials
There are a number of ways to produce a message for a television commercial. It can be
filmed live or prerecorded using film or videotape. It can also be shot frame-by-frame
using animation techniques. Let's look at these production choices. Typically the film is
shot on 35-mm film or videotape and then digitized, after which the editor transfers the
image to videotape for dissemination, a process called film-to-tape transfer. Film con¬
sists of a series of frames on celluloid; actually, each frame is a still shot. Film is shot at 24
frames per second. To edit on film, editors cut between two frames and either eliminate a
segment or attach a new segment of film. The term cut, which comes from this editing pro¬
cedure, indicates an abrupt transition from one view of a scene to another. Art directors
work closely with editors, who assemble the shots and cut the film to create the right pac¬
ing and sequence of images as outlined in the storyboard.
14.1 Who Does What in TV and Radio Production?

Copywriter Writes the script, whether it contains dialogue, narrative,
lyrics, announcements, descriptions, or no words at all.
Art Director In TV, develops the storyboard and establishes the look of
the commercial, whether realistic, stylized, or fanciful.
Producer (can be Takes charge of the production, handles the bidding and all
an agency staff production arrangements, finds the specialists, arranges for
member) casting talent, and makes sure the expenses and bids
come in under budget.
Director Has responsibility for the actual filming or taping, including
scene length, who does what, how lines are spoken and
the characters played; in TV determines how the camera is
set up and records the flow of action.
Composer Writes original music and sometimes writes the lyrics along
with the music.
Arranger Orchestrates music for the various instruments and voices
to make it fit a scene or copy line. The copywriter usually
writes the lyrics or at least gives some idea of wl rat the
words should say.
Editor Puts everything together toward the end of the filming or
taping process; evaluates how to assemble scenes and
which audio elements work best with the dialogue and
footage.
Animation The technique of animation traditionally meant drawing images on film

and then recording the images one frame at a time. Cartoon figures, for example, were
sketched and then resketched for the next frame with a slight change to indicate a small
progression in the movement of an arm or a leg or a facial expression. Animation is tradi¬
tionally shot at 16 drawings per second. Low-budget animation uses fewer drawings, so the
motion looks jerky. The introduction of computers has accelerated the process and elimi¬
nated a lot of the tedious hand work.
Animation effects can also be used to combine created characters such as the little
green GEICO gecko with live-action figures, or even with other animated characters. The
famous Aflac duck has been featured in a traditional “Looney Tunes” cartoon with the
Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Bugs Bunny, and Daffy Duck. It was created as a collabora¬
tion between Warner Brothers and the Aflac agency, the Kaplan Thaler Group in New
York.4 More advanced techniques, similar to those used in movies like Lord of the Rings
and Matrix Reloaded, create lifelike images and movement. A technique called “mental
ray” was used in a Levi Strauss ad featuring 600 stampeding buffalo. Mental ray is so good
it was able not only to create lifelike images, but even to add realistic hair on the animals.5
Stop Motion A particular type of animation is stop motion, a technique used to film
inanimate objects like the Pillsbury Doughboy, which is a puppet. The little character is
moved a bit at a time and filmed frame by frame. The same technique is used in claymation,
which involves creating characters from clay and then photographing them one frame at a
time. Both have been popular with art directors who create advertising where fantasy effects
are desired, although new computer effects also are simplifying these techniques.
Music and Action Specifying the music is usually done as part of the copywriting,
but matching the music to the action is an art director’s or producer’s responsibility. In
some cases, as in high-production song-and-dance numbers, the music is the commercial.
Other times, it is used to get attention, set a mood, and lock the commercial into memory.
For example, a recent JanSport commercial for its Live Wire Euphonic Pack, a backpack
with built-in earphones and volume controls, cries out for a musical demonstration. The
unlikely song picked for the spot, which targets the MTV crowd, was “Do-re-mi” from the
1959 Sound of Music musical. You might wonder why the creative team at the DDB Seattle
agency would choose such a piece. Actually the rendition is not from the early recording
■ ■ ■ but rather an ethereal, techno-pop version. The stick-in-the-head lyrics match the action on
Finding the talent—real screen in a contemporary version of the boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl story.6
wranglers as well as trained
cats—was important in the "Cat
Herders" commercial for EDS. The TV Production Process
For the bigger national commercials, there are a number of steps in the produc¬
tion process that fall into four categories: message design (which we’ve already
discussed), preproduction, the shoot, and postproduction. Figure 14.8 shows the
steps in the TV production process.
Preproduction The producer and staff first develop a set of production

notes, describing in detail every aspect of the production. These notes are impor¬
tant for finding talent and locations, building sets, and getting bids and estimates
from specialists. In the “Cat Herders” commercial, finding the talent was critical.
Some 50 felines and their trainers were involved in the filming. Surprisingly, dif¬
ferent cats have different skills; some were able to appear to be asleep or motion¬
less on cue, others excel as runners or specialize in water scenes.
Once the bids for production have been approved, the creative team and the
producer, director, and other key players hold a preproduction meeting to outline
every step of the production process and anticipate every problem that may arise.
Then the work begins: The talent agency begins casting the roles; the production
team finds a location and arranges site use with owners, police, and other offi¬
cials. If sets are needed, they have to be built. Finding the props is a test of inge¬
nuity, and the prop person may wind up visiting hardware stores, secondhand
stores, and maybe even the local dump. Costumes may also have to be made,
located, or bought.
1. Message Design 2. Preproduction 3. Production (the Shoot) 4. Postproduction

• Get client approval on • Find the right director • The director manages • Edit the film
the advertising strategy • Find the production the shoot • Mix the audio track
• Choose the message house or animation • Record the action on • Synchronize the video
format house film and the audio
• Create a key frame • Work out details in • Record music, voices, • Give a presentation
• Write the script preproduction meeting and sound effects tape to client for
• Storyboard the action • Locate or build the set • Create the on-screen approval
and scenes • Cast the talent graphics • Duplicate videotapes
• Get client approval of • Locate props, costumes, • Create the computer for distribution
script and storyboard photographic stills graphics
• Get bids for all the
production operations
TV Production Process
In general, there are four steps in the production of a television commercial.
The Shoot The film crew includes a number of technicians all of whom report to the
director. For both film and video recording, the camera operators are the key technicians.
Other technicians include the gaffer, who is the chief electrician, and the grip, who moves
props and sets and lays tracks for the dolly on which the camera is mounted. The script clerk
checks the dialogue and other script details and times the scenes. A set is a busy, crowded
place. Table 14.2 offers definitions of terms common to television commercial production.
4^31*
14.2 Television Terminology

Shot Information
Distance (camera to image) Long shot (LS), full shot (FS), medium shot (MS), wide shot (WS), close-up (CU),
extreme close-up (ECU or XCU).
Camera Movement
Zoom in or out The lens on the camera manipulates the change in distance. As you zoom in, the
image seems to come closer and get larger; as you zoom out, it seems to move
farther away and get smaller.
Dolly in and out The camera itself is wheeled forward or backward.
Pan right or left The camera is stationary but swings to follow the action.
Truck right or left The camera itself moves right or left with the action.
Boom crane shoot Camera mechanism moves over a scene; scene is shot from above.
Shot Transitions
Cut An abrupt, instantaneous change from one shot to another.
Dissolve A soft transition in which one image fades to black while another image fades in.
Lap dissolve A slow dissolve with a short period in which the two images overlap.
Superimposition Two images held in the middle of a dissolve so they are both on-screen at the
same time.
Wipe One image crawls across the screen and replaces another.
Action
Freeze frame Stops the scene in mid-action.
Stop motion Shots are taken one at a time over a long period. Used to record animation, clay-
mation, or something that happens over a long period of time, such as a flower
blooming.
Slow motion Suspends the normal speed of things by increasing the number of frames used to
record the movement.
Speeded-up motion Increases the normal speed by reducing the number of frames used to record the
movement.
Reverse motion The film is run backward through the projector.
The audio director records the audio either at the time of the shoot, or, in the case of
the more high-end productions, separately in a sound studio. If the sound is being recorded
at the time of shooting, a mixer, who operates the recording equipment, and a mic or boom
person, who sets up the microphones, handle the recording on the set. In the studio it is
usually recorded after the film is shot—so the audio is synchronized with the footage.
Directors often wait to see exactly how the action appears before they write and record the
audio track. However, if the art director has decided to set the commercial to music, then
the music on the audio track may be recorded before the shoot, as in the “Do-re-mi” audio
track, and the filming done to the music.
The director shoots the commercial scene by scene, but not necessarily in the order
set down in the script. Each scene is shot, called a take, and all the scenes in the storyboard
are shot and then assembled through editing. If the director films the commercial on video¬
tape, it is played back immediately to determine what needs correcting. Film has to be
processed before the director can review it. These processed scenes are called dailies.
Rushes are rough versions of the commercial assembled from cuts of the raw film footage.
The director and the agency creative team view them immediately after the shoot to make
sure everything’s been filmed as planned. In some rare cases, an entire commercial is shot
as one continuous action and there are no individual shots that are edited together in post¬
production. Probably the most interesting use of this approach is an award-winning com¬
mercial for Honda, named “Cog.” The principle in filming this kind of commercial is get it
right, even if you have to do it over and over.
Postproduction For film and video, much of the work happens after the shoot in
postproduction—when the commercial begins to emerge from the hands and mind of the
editor. The objective of editing is to assemble the various pieces of film into a sequence
that follows the storyboard. Editors manipulate the audio and video images creating real¬
istic 3D images and combining real-life and computer-generated images. The postpro¬
duction process is hugely important in video because so many digital effects are being
added to the raw film. In the “Cat Herders” commercial, Fallon could not film the cats and
horses at the same time because of National Humane Society regulations. The director
had to film the horses, background, and kitties separately. An editor fused the scenes
together during postproduction, editing seamlessly to create the illusion of an elaborate
cat drive.
Another goal of video editing is to manipulate time, which is a common technique
used in commercial storytelling. Condensing time might show a man leaving work, then a
cut of the man showering, then a cut of the man at a bar. The editor may extend time. Say
a train is approaching a stalled car on the tracks. By cutting to various angles it may seem
that the train is taking forever to reach the car—a suspense tactic. To jumble time, an edi¬
tor might cut from the present to a flashback of a remembered past event or flash forward
to an imagined scene in the future. All of these effects are specified by the art director in
the storyboard.
The result of the editor’s initial work is a rough cut, a preliminary edited version of
the story that is created when the editor chooses the best shots and assembles them to cre¬
ate a scene. The editor then joins the scenes together. After the revision and reediting are
completed, the editor makes an interlock, which means the audio and film are assembled
togethei. The final version with the sound and film mixed together is called an answer
print. The answer print is the final version printed onto a piece of film. For the commercial
to air on hundreds of stations around the country, the agency has to make duplicate
copies a process called dubbing. The dubbed copies are called release prints and are
usually in video form.
Consider This
1. List and explain the steps in the production of a television commercial.
2. What happens in postproduction? Why is it such an important step in the
creating the look of a finished commercial?
Honda "Cog" Gets It Right, But Not the First Time
A two-minute commercial made in Britain for Honda by

Wieden + Kennedy/London had viewers shaking their
heads in disbelief and asking if it was for real. The spot
shows all the many parts of a car, each set up in a domino
fashion, that fall together piece by piece ultimately creat¬
ing a new Honda that drives away at the end. It's tempting
to think it was created through computer animation, but,
no, it was filmed in real time without any special effects. It
took 606 takes for the whole thing to work.
The lengthy process begins with a rolling transmission
bearing, and moves through valves, brake pedals, tires,
the hood, windshield wipers, and so forth. Every step of
the process was carefully choreographed so that the part
would do what it had to do exactly as planned. If there
were any mistakes, and there were 605, then the filming
started all over again from the beginning.
The commercial ends with the car driving away and
Garrison Keillor, the star of the Prairie Home Companion
radio show, asking "Isn't it nice when things just work?"
The director and all the other people involved in the com¬
mercial were asking the same thing when it finally did
work on the 606th take.
Because it was filmed using a British model that isn't
sold in the United States and also because the cost of run¬
ning a two-minute commercial would be prohibitive, the
commercial was not shown in the United States, other than
on news and feature shows and videos of award show
winners. One of the most talked-about spots ever made,
the publicity given to the commercial was probably even
more valuable than an advertising buy.
The "Cog" commercial won a Grand Clio (a creative
award show), as well as a Gold Lion at the Cannes film
festival, which also recognizes outstanding advertising.
Even though it was never shown on air in the United
States, it picked up no fewer than 20 awards from various
British and international organizations.
The spot can be seen at http://home.attbi.com/
~bernhard36/honda-ad.html.
Consider This
o-
1. What makes the Honda "Cog" commercial so attention
getting?
2. Do you think this commercial has a strong selling point?
Explain your viewpoint.
Source: Stuart Elliott, "Is That Honda Commercial Real?" The New York Times
Direct, June 10, 2003, NYTDirect@nytimes.com; "Honda's Cog Does It Again,
Taking the Grand Clio," AdForum Alert, May 19, 2004, info@adforum.net.
EFFECTIVE WEB DESIGN

Web design includes creating ads that run on the Web as well as the Web site itself. Banner
ads are designed more like outdoor boards than conventional print ads because their small
space puts intense requirements on the designer to make the ad communicate quickly and
succinctly, and yet attract attention and curiosity in order to elicit a click-through response.
You can check out banner ads online at www.banneradmuseum.com.
Designers know that Web pages, particularly the first screen, should follow the same
layout rules as posters: The graphics should be eye-catching without demanding too much
downloading time; type should be simple, using one or two typefaces and avoiding all
capitals and letter spacing that distorts the words. Because there is often a lot to read,
organizing the information is critical. In terms of legibility, black type on a high-contrast
background usually is best; all the design elements—type and graphics—should be big
enough to see on the smallest screen.
Sometimes the illustrations, as well as the photos, are obtained from clip-art services,
or rather click art, such as that provided by www.eyewire.com or www.lstoppictures.net.
Actually, any image can be scanned and manipulated to create a Web image, which is caus¬
ing a copyright problem for artists. Because of the magic of digitizing, Web pages can
combine elements and design styles from many different media: print, still photography,
film, animation, sound, and games. The combination of interactive navigation, live stream¬
ing video, online radio, and 360-degree camera angles creates Web pages that may be more
complex than anything you see on TV, which is why ease-of-use is a factor in Web site
design. The Inside Story describes research on the best and worst site design practices con¬
ducted by Forrester Research, a company that specializes in monitoring the effectiveness
of Internet advertising.
Web designers use a completely different toolbox than other types of art directors.
Animation effects, as well as sophisticated navigation paths, are designed using software
programs such as Flash, Director, Blender, Squeak, and nonlinear editing tools such as
Premier, FinalCut, and AfterEffects, among others. It’s such a rapidly changing design
world that it’s difficult to keep track of the most recent innovations in Web design software.
An example of a good Web site design is crewcuts.com, which was designated as the Best
Web site by the Internet Professional Publisher’s Association. It’s hard to convey here why
the site is effective because of the animation, so check out www.crewcuts.com. One source
for tips on Web site design is www.eMarketers.com. Table 14.3 lists eMarketers’ 10 rules
14.3 eRiiles for eDesign

Rule One: Manage your image. Projecting and protecting your brand identity are no less important online than in
any other medium.
Rule Two: Simple navigation. Retail stores don’t stay in business unless their customers can find what they want,
easily. The same applies to Web sites. Remember K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid)?
Rule Three: Don’t waste time. Do you like to wait in line? Do you go back to stores where sales clerks don’t
respond? Make sure your consumers find the information they’re looking for—fast.
Rule Four: Keep your product fresh. Spiders may constantly comb the Web, but if anyone finds cobWebs on
your site, they won’t come back.
Rule Five: Give it away. If your site doesn’t offer real value, there’s no real reason for anyone to visit.
Rule Six: Information-in-the-end. When someone takes the time to link through to your site, don’t let them come
up empty. Reward them with content, content, content.
Rule Seven: Get interactive! Mass media are passive; the new media are interactive. In which direction do you
think the world is going?
Rule Eight: Follow the Rule of Ten. Ten is enough for God and David Letterman, so learn from them. Keep your
lists short, too.
Rule Nine: Promote your site. “Build it and they will come” was a nice theme for the movie Field of Dreams. But if
you want customers, not virtual ghosts, on your site, get smart about promotion—in the real world.
Rule Ten: The rules will change. No one who does “business as usual” today is going to be in business
tomorrow. So move often and as intelligently as possible. Keep up with fast-changing online business trends.
II r hi v
The Best and Worst of Site Design

Harley Manning, Vice President, Research, Forrester Research
Over the past five lowest high score (MINI USA). This,
years, Forrester has too, was consistent with our earlier
graded the quality of studies, in which the automotive
user experience on
FORRESTER manufacturer category ranked last
hundreds of Web sites among industry categories.
with a technique called "heuristic What explains the relatively poor
evaluation." Today, variations on this showing of automotive sites versus
methodology are used by virtually every interactive retail sites? One reason is that online retailers' business
design agency and testing lab to judge the effectiveness success ties directly to the quality of customer experience
of sites. It's also used in-house by many companies, on their sites: When customers can't find a product or
including Ford and Johnson & Johnson. complete the checkout process, it shows up immediately
We introduced version 4.0 of our own methodology in lost sales. This feedback loop drives retail site design¬
in late 2003. To identify some of the best and worst exam¬ ers to quickly find and fix problems like inadequate prod¬
ples of Web design at the time, we used it to grade five uct information, confusing menus, and poor reliability.
sites in each of four industries: automotive, media, retail, In contrast, managers of automotive sites struggle to
and travel. When we published the results we kicked up even measure business results, like dealer leads that actu¬
quite a storm because we named names. ally result in a sale. And when Web traffic logs show car
The retail category came out best overall, with the shoppers wandering around their sites, it's hard to tell
highest low score (JCPenney) as well as the highest high whether the prospects are fascinated or just lost.
score (Lands' End). This finding was consistent with the
Source: As part of Forrester's Customer Experience research team, Harley
results from the 375 sites we had graded previously, using Manning focuses on design and testing strategies for Web sites and software.
versions 2 and 3 of our methodology. In our earlier stud¬ Harley came to Forrester after spending 1 8 years designing and building
ies, the retail category averaged several points higher interactive services for a variety of companies including Dow Jones, AT&T,
MCI, Prodigy, and Sears. He received a Master of Science degree in
than sites in the next-best category, financial services.
Advertising from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1977.
The automotive sites we graded laid firm claim to the
Nominated by the late Professor and Dean Kim Rotzell, University of Illinois.
cellar, with both the lowest low score (Toyota) and the
for Web site design. For more examples of excellence in Web site design and reviews of the
top Web sites, check out:
www.netroadmap.comwww.clioawards.com
www.imarvel.comwww.oneclub.com
www.topsiteslinks.comwww.ippa.org
Action and Interaction

Web advertisers are continuing to find ways to bring dramatic action to the small screen in
order to make the imagery more engaging. For example, Ford used a banner on the Yahoo!
home page with the familiar Ford oval and a bunch of little black birds on a wire. Then
three of the birds flew down to the middle of the page and started pecking at what looked
like birdseed, uncovering an image of the new Explorer. The link read: “click to uncover
the next territory.” Those who did click probably expected a pop-up image, but instead the
page shook, the birds scattered, and a big red Ford Explorer drove up to the front of the
screen, replacing most of the content. It was a surprising, highly involving, and very effec¬
tive announcement of the car.
Because users can create their own paths through the Web site, designers have to
make sure that their sites have clear navigation. Users should be able to move through
the site easily, find the information they seek, and respond. Ideally, users who visit a site
regularly should be able to customize the site to fit their own interests. If a site is well
designed, people may want to interact with the organization sponsoring the site. For
example, Texture/Media, a Boulder, Colorado-based Web design firm, created a seven-
episode series over five months that detailed the journey of two men attempting to climb
the Meru Sharksfin summit in India, for client Marmot Mountain Works. Called
ClimbMeru.com, it chronicled the team’s training and trip, and hosted contest give¬
aways that helped gather information about Marmot’s customers. Texture/Media’s
objective with its award-winning Web sites is to make the consumer a participant in its
brand stories.7
Consider This
1. Explain how the need for navigation is a factor in Web site design.
2. Researchers have found that banners have a relatively low click-through
rate. Why do you suppose that is so? What can be clone with their design
to increase their effectiveness?
IT'S A WRAP
IMAGINE A LEGENDARY LIFESTYLE
T he $60 billion furniture category is unusual in that there are more than 5,000 furniture
manufacturers with very little brand differentiation among them. Thomasville Furniture is a
key player but it, like all its competitors, struggles to create a brand identity for its products
and a brand relationship with consumers.
The "Collection of a Lifetime" campaign for the Hemingway Collection generated $ 100
million in sales, which was six times the original sales objective and the largest launch in the
company's history. Not only that, the Hemingway campaign, as well as the newer Bogart
Collection, also created a halo effect over the entire Thomasville line. Sales across all lines
increased by 39 percent immediately following the launch of the "Collection of a Lifetime"
campaigns.
In terms of effectiveness measures, the unaided brand awareness of Thomasville
increased from 14 percent to 27 percent after the line's first year of advertising; however, the
awareness of the Hemingway line jumped from zero to 41 percent during that same one-year
period. That level exceeded the brand awareness levels of established competition, such as
Henredon, which was at 28 percent awareness at the end of that same introductory year.
Furniture Today, a leading trade journal, declared that the Hemingway launch was "one of
the most successful new lines in industry history." And that was the reason "The Collection of
a Lifetime" launch was selected as an EFFIE-award winner.
■ ■■Summary
1. Explain how visual impact is created in advertising. order to the information in the ad; at the same time, it is
Visual communication is important in advertising because it aesthetically pleasing and makes a visual statement for the
creates impact. It grabs attention, maintains interest, creates brand. Principles that designers use in print advertising
believability, and sticks in memory. include direction, dominance, unity, white space, contrast,
2. List the principles of layout, and explain how design is balance, and proportion.
affected by media requirements. A layout is an arrange¬ Newspaper ads accommodate the limitations of the
ment of all the ad’s elements. It gives the reader a visual printing process by not using fine details. Magazine ads,
because they are printed on good paper, offer quality 5. Identify the critical steps in planning and producing
images and good color reproduction. For directory ads, broadcast commercials. Commercials are planned using
designers keep in mind that people are searching for infor¬ scripts (and storyboards for TV). Radio commercials are
mation, particularly about location and how to contact the scripted, taped, and mixed. TV commercials are shot live,
company, and so these ads are focused on directional infor¬ shot on film or videotape, or created “by hand” using ani¬
mation. Visibility and the need for simple messages are the mation, claymation, or stop action. There are four stages to
primary concerns of poster and outdoor board designers. the production of TV commercials: message design
Interior transit ads are designed for reading; exterior cards (scripts and storyboards), preproduction, the shoot, and
work like billboards. postproduction.
3. Describe how art and color are reproduced. Illustrations 6. Summarize the techniques of Web design. Web advertis¬
are treated as line art and photographs are reproduced ing can include ads and banners, but the entire Web site can
through the halftone process by using screens to break also be seen as an advertisement. Art on Web pages can be
down the image into a dot pattern. Full-color photos are illustrations or photographs, still images as well as moving
converted to four halftone images, each one printed with a ones, and may involve unexpected effects such as 360-
different process color—magenta, cyan, yellow, and degree images. When designers plan a Web page, they need
black—through the process of color separation. to consider navigation—how people will move through the
4. Explain how the art director creates TV commercials. site. They also need to consider how to incorporate ele¬
TV art directors are responsible for the “look” of a commer¬ ments that allow for interaction between the consumer and
cial. They also design the on-screen graphic elements as well the Web page company.
as the presentation of the action through visual storytelling.
Computer graphics are playing a more important role in the
creation of special effects, particularly animation.
all capitals, 392 film-to-tape transfer, 407 newsprint, 399 sans serif, 392
animation, 408 flexography, 403 offset printing, 402 screen, 400
answer print, 410 flush left, 392 photoprints or photostats, 403 semicomps, 396
claymation, 408 flush right, 392 picas, 392 serif, 392
click art, 412 foil stamping, 403 points, 392 silkscreen printing, 403
clip art, 388 font, 392 postproduction, 410 spot color, 390
color separation, 401 four-color printing, 401 probono campaign, 387 stock footage, 405
comprehensives, 396 halftone, 400 process colors, 400 stop motion, 408
C-print, 403 high-resolution film, 397 production notes, 408 surprinting, 394
crawl, 405 interlock, 410 ragged left, 392 take, 410
cut, 407 justified type, 392 ragged right, 392 thumbnail sketches, 396
dailies, 410 layout, 394 registration, 399 tint blocks, 400
debossing, 403 letterpress, 402 release prints, 410 tip-ins, 403
desktop publishing, 403 line art, 400 reverse type, 392 typography, 391
die cut, 403 mechanicals, 396 rotogravure, 402 unjustified type, 392
digitization, 403 morphing, 405 rough cut, 410 veloxes, 403
dubbing, 410 navigation, 413 rough layouts, 396 visualization, 388
embossing, 403 negative space, 395 rushes, 410 white space, 395
1. What are the six reasons why visual impact is so powerful 4 . What does the phrase four-color printing mean? What are
in advertising? the four process colors?
2. List the eight design principles and explain each one. 5 . Explain the four steps in the video production process.
3. Explain the difference between line art and halftones. 6 . What are five rules to remember in designing a Web site?
Discussion Questions
1. What are the differences between using an illustration and ensures that the mat will not slide (the mat’s underside is
using a photograph? Give an example of a product category covered with tiny suction cups that grip the tub’s surface).
where you would want to use an illustration and another Brainstorm some ways to demonstrate this feature in a tele¬
example where you use a photograph. Explain why. vision commercial. Find a way that will satisfy the
2. What principles govern the design of a magazine ad? demands of originality, relevance, and impact.
Collect two samples, one that you think is a good example 5. Think of a television commercial you have seen recently
of effective design and one that you think is not effective. that you thought was creative and entertaining. Then find
Critique the two ads and explain your evaluation based on one that you think is much less creative and entertaining.
what you know about how design principles work in adver¬ Analyze how the two commercials work to catch and hold
tising layouts. your attention. How do the visuals work? What might be
3. Choose an ad from this textbook that you think demon¬ done to make the second commercial more attention get¬
strates a good layout with a clear visual path. Take a piece ting? You can also use online sources to find commercials
of tracing paper, as we have done with the Porsche ad in at www.adcritic.com and at www.badads.org.
Figure 13.5, and convert the key elements to geometric 6. One approach to design says that a visual image in an ad
shapes to see what kind of pattern emerges. Illustrate on should reflect the image of the brand. Find a print ad that
your tracing how the eye moves around the page. Put an X you think speaks effectively for the personality of the
on the dominant element on your tracing. brand. Now compare the print ad with the brand’s Web site.
4. One of the challenges for creative ad designers is to demon¬ Does the same design style continue on the site? Does the
strate a product whose main feature cannot be seen by the site present the brand personality in the same way as the
consumer. Suppose you are an art director on an account print ad?
that sells shower and bath mats with a patented system that
1. Select a product that is advertised exclusively through print. Examples of such products are
business-to-business and industrial products, school supplies, many over-the-counter drugs,
and some food items. Your objective is to develop a 30-second television spot for this prod¬
uct. Divide the class into groups of four to six. Use a creative brief (see Chapter 12) to
summarize the ad's strategy. In your small groups, brainstorm about ways to develop a cre¬
ative idea for the commercial. Then write a script and develop a storyboard to present your
idea for this product. In the script include all the key decisions a producer and director
would make. Present your work to the class.
2. You have been asked to design a Web page for a local business or organization (choose one
from your local community). Go to www.lstoppictures.net and choose a visual to illustrate
the Web site by trying to match the personality of the organization to a visual image. Then
identify the primary categories of information that need to be included on the page. Develop
a flowchart or map that shows how a typical user would navigate through the site. What
other image could you find on lstoppictures that might be used on inside pages to provide
some visual interest to this business’s online image? Now consider interactivity: How could
this site be used to increase interactivity between this company and its customers? Create a
plan for this site that includes the visual elements and a navigation flowchart.
HANDS-ON mi
The Future Definition of Advertising Ca%C
You could call October 29, 1 998, a historic day, for on low penetration of HDTV, it may strike some advertisers as
that date John Glenn, the then 77-year-old former astro¬ an unnecessary expense. However WPP Group's Michael
naut and senator, returned to space aboard the shuttle Bologna points out that the extra cost is relatively small,
Discovery, making him the oldest person to ever go into especially for a Super Bowl advertiser. "If you're willing to
orbit. In perhaps somewhat less dramatic fashion, history spend $2.4 million on a Super Bowl Spot, at least convert
was made another way that day, because network cover¬ it to high definition; that's what we're recommending to
age of Glenn's mission included the first five TV commer¬ our clients."
cials ever broadcast in high definition (HDTV). Historic, At least one industry survey, sponsored by the
yes, but the special quality of these five Proctor & Gamble iNDemand Network, suggests benefits for advertisers who
commercials probably went unnoticed by most viewers, choose to use HD. According to the survey, 62 percent of
since in 1998 HDTV's were still very rare in the United respondents say they enjoy watching commercials in HD;
States. In fact, even as late as 2005, despite intense 51 percent believe they pay more attention to HD com¬
efforts by broadcasters and television manufacturers, mercials, and 69 percent think advertisers that show com¬
HDTV sets could be found in only about 10 million homes, mercials in HD are "more cutting edge."
and only about 2 million of these had the tuners required HD may offer some good news for revenue-hungry
to watch HDTV programming. networks as well, because it may attract advertiseres that
HDTV is a special kind of digital format, one that pro¬ have traditionally avoided television. An example is fash¬
vides movie theater-quality pictures and stereo-quality ion companies, which have usually favored print ads to
audio. However, its growth has been slowed by the show off their wares. One fashion consultant, Mathew
expense of HDTV-ready televisions and the limited selec¬ Evins of Evins Communications, argues, "You can't see the
tion of HDTV channels on many cable systems. Many subtleties of fabrics and designs on regular TV, but when
industry forecasters expect HDTV to begin a period of HDTV becomes mainstream, my guess is we'll start to see
rapid growth in 2005 since there are now thousands of more high-end designers use it to showcase fashions ... it
hours of programming broadcast in the format each week. will be like Imax for TV commercials."
The advertising world is beginning to take notice too.
During the 2004 Super Bowl only one advertiser chose to Consider This
run an ad in high definition, whereas almost a third of O-
advertisers planned to do so for the 2005 game. Why? 1. Evaluate the arguments for and against creating
Well, as Advertising Age put it: high-definition ads. Under what conditions would
Imagine watching the Super Bowl this year in high you counsel an advertiser to spend the extra money
definition on your new big-screen plasma TV. Watch on this new format?
the quarterback's eyes dart from side to side as he 2. Adoption of HDTV has been slower than expected.
calls a play in Dolby surround sound. Watch ner¬ What will have to happen for consumers to embrace
vous defensive ends drip sweat as they wait for the the technology?
call. Cut to commercial, and suddenly the screen 3. Explain how production considerations, such as the
shrinks from a wide screen to a small squared-off use of HDTV, might influence the planning and
box with a flat and dull-looking product inside it. design of a television commercial. How would you
Now imagine you're the brand manager of that determine if using HDTV is effective?
product. Imagine picking up the phone and calling
your advertising agency to query, "I paid $2.4 mil¬ Sources: Kate Fitzgerald, "Visuals Only Get Better," Advertising Age (February
24, 2003); Bradley Johnson, "TV-Set Brands Carefully Enter Digital Future,"
lion for that?"
Advertising Age (November 9, 1998); Jennie L. Phipps, "Digital Debate:
Video vs. Film, Advertising Age (June 1 8, 2001); Beth Snyder Bulik and Kirs
What challenges face an advertiser told by its agency
Oser, "High Time for Ads to Move to High Def," Advertising Age (December
to film a commercial in HD? As you might expect, cost is 1 3, 2004); Phillip Swann, "HDTV: The Price Is Right: But the Consumer
an issue, since ads filmed in the format can cost 10-15 Electronics Industry Must Do a Better Job of Letting People Know," September
percent more than analog commercials. Given the current 29, 2004, http://www.tvpredictions.com/hdtvprice092904.html.
Part 4
Effective Advertising
Messsages
You do not have to be a big brand with millions of dollars to have great advertising.The
Chick-fil-A “Eat Mor Chikin®” campaign is a great example. Chick-fil-A competes in one
of the largest and most competitive industries: fast food. It is outnumbered 15 to 1 in store
count and outspent 60 to 1 in media by the likes of McDonald’s, Burger King, and
Wendy’s.
Faced with these disadvantages in the marketplace, Chick-fil-A and its advertising
agency set out to develop a brand campaign that would increase top-of-mind awareness,
increase sales, and earn Chick-fil-A a spot in consumers’ consideration list of fast-food
brands. To do this effectively, the campaign positioned Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches as
the premium alternative to hamburgers.
The company could not outspend the competition. It couldn’t even afford a national
campaign on television, which is where most of its competitors were advertising. So it
decided to advertise where its competitors weren’t—on outdoor billboards. The challenge
was: How to build a brand using outdoor billboards as the primary medium? After all,
common sense suggests that billboards are used to let people know where to exit or how
many miles to travel, not to build brands.
Well, for Chick-fil-A and its agency, overcoming the challenge would be easier than
expected. Chick-fil-A’s “Eat Mor Chikin” three-dimensional billboard campaign helped
break the fast-food hamburger pattern. The witty use of a Holstein cow encouraging the
target audience to “Eat Mor Chikin” instead of beef provided a bold personality that broke
through industry clutter. Why? The message and execution were simple, the cows were
funny, the creative idea was unexpected, and the call to action was powerful.
This lighthearted, unconventional campaign has helped increase sales every year. In
1995, when the campaign first began, Chick-fil-A reported $501,639,680 in sales. Today,
the company reports nearly $2 billion in sales and its unaided brand awareness has grown
81 percent since 1996.
Chick-fil-A and its agency have found a creative way to use outdoor successfully in
building the Chick-fil-A brand without spending millions of media dollars.
Source: Information courtesy of Mike Buerno, The Richards Group.
Consider This
1. What are the risks of using a humorous creative approach?

2. What other creative approaches do you think they could use?
418
5 INTEGRATION AND EVALUATION
O£
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Integration and Effectiveness: The Big Picture

Hundreds of different communication activities can deliver brand messages both formally through
planned marketing communication programs and informally through other activities and operations.
This book is focused on those formal programs and hopes to provide a framework for you to under¬
stand how all these programs and tools can work together to send target audiences consistent,
persuasive messages that promote a brand's objective.
In Part 5 we will introduce a collection of these key marketing communication tools—direct
response, sales promotion, events and sponsorships, ana public relations—whose activities need to
be coordinated with advertising to prevent inconsistent messages that might conflict with each other
and with the overall brand strategy. This section of the book deals with the complexities of marketing
communication. What holds everything together in an integrated program is a strong "big idea," as
well as a strong commitment to a coherent brand position and image. The end result is brand
integrity. Note that integration and integrity come from the same Latin root.
The best campaigns are developed from the company's mission or philosophy of business,
particularly when it is customer-focused. Southwest Airlines, for example, has become the most
profitable airline in the country on the basis of understanding its customers' needs and serving them
well. A brand is integrated when there is integrity in the various messages used in the campaign.
Messages that create brand integrity may also be the ones that are most effective. So the final
chapter in this section develops the concept of effectiveness in terms of evaluation—how marketing
communication messages are tested to determine if they deliver on their objectives. An effective
message strategy, then, is one in which advertising and all the other marketing communication tools
work together to create synergy. By working together to create brand integrity, the effectiveness of
the integrated campaign is greater than the sum of its individual pieces.
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Direct Response
CHAPTER KEY POINTS
1. Define and distinguish between direct marketing and direct-

response advertising.
2. Explain the types of direct marketing.
3. Name the players in direct marketing.
4. Evaluate the various media that direct-response programs can use.
5. Explain how databases are used in direct marketing.
6. Discuss the role of direct marketing in integrated marketing

What's Holding You programs.
Back from a Harley?

Award:
Direct Marketing
T hroughout this book, we have introduced chapters with EFFIE
Association Echo Leader award-winning campaigns. The direct-marketing industry has
Award its own award equivalent to the EFFlEs, called the Echo
EFFIE® Silver Award. You can read about the Echo award at www.dma-
echo.org, but in this chapter we will introduce you to a campaign
Organization:
Harley-Davidson that has won this award, which is given for excellence in response
rates, marketing strategy, and creative components
Agency: Harley-Davidson is one of the world's best-known brands and its
Carmichael Lynch advertising has won many awards over the years. However, in the
early 2000s, Harley found itself riding uphill as competitors cut into
Campaign:
its market share. Working with the Carmichael Lynch agency, Harley
"What's Holding You Back"
was able to overcome a worrisome customer trend with a direct-
response campaign designed to generate leads.
421
422 PART 5 • INTEGRATION AND EVALUATION
The Marketing Situation

Harley-Davidson had managed to hold on to its mystique over the years, but its
customer base was aging. The average age of Harley owners had increased
from 37 to 45 during the 1990s, yet investors continued to press the company
to increase its sales and profitability as it had in the past. Quantitative and qual¬
itative research showed that price is an overwhelming barrier, particularly for
younger riders. The perception of younger customers was that the normal price
tag of a Harley was in the neighborhood of $20,000. In fact, the $6,500
Sportster model was the entry-level, rider-friendly model that Harley wished to
market to this younger segment.
The challenge given to the Carmichael Lynch agency was to reach out to
these younger buyers and convince them that a Harley-Davidson motorcycle
was attainable.
Campaign Strategy
The objectives for the Harley ad campaign were ambitious: (1) reach new
prospects, (2) break down barriers to purchase (namely price misperception),
and (3) generate leads to develop a new, younger customer base for the
entry-level model.
A carefully tailored communication program was designed to reach 25 to
44-year-old prospects, including those who had never owned a motorcycle, as
well as previous owners and owners of competitive brands. Their median house¬
hold income was $45,000 + . Their lifestyle was dominated by sports, entertain¬
ment, and music. They were also characterized as cost conscious, making price
an important decision criterion.
Message Strategy
The message was designed to have a youthful appeal and be somewhat edgy,
while still focusing on the fundamental values that have built Harley's brand—
freedom of spirit, adventure, and individualism. By using Harley's traditional
rebellious attitude and tone to communicate the reasonable price of a Sportster,
the campaign was able to stay consistent with Harley's position. Even as it
acknowledged consumers' perception of Harley's high price, it also stressed
that "now is the time to get out and start living your life, fulfilling your dream."
A tagline provided the fundamental question for this target market: "What's
holding you back? A mere $6,500 will get you a Harley."
Media Strategy
The first step of the campaign strategy was to generate leads in order to capture
key qualifying information and begin an ongoing dialogue with prospects. The
next step delivered customized information based on the prospect's riding sta¬
tus. These messages focused on the products and programs that would help the
prospects overcome their barriers to purchase and take steps toward making
Harley ownership a reality.
Harley had a very limited budget for this campaign, so its strategy for using
media was quite selective. To generate leads, magazine ads were used in a few
categories that complemented the target audience's interests, such as sports or
fitness. The focus was on publications read by active young men like the Sport's
CHAPTER 15 • DIRECT RESPONSE 423
Illustrated swimsuit issue and Rolling Stone. In the spring, commercials ran on
national cable stations such as ESPN.
The magazine ads ran with a Business Reply Card (BRC) that communi¬
cated the price message for the Sportster and invited interested readers to sign
up, via mail or toll-free phone number, for a "How-to-Get-a-Harley" package.
Qualifying information on the card helped Harley dealers determine the level of
qualification, riding experience, and demographics or the prospect.
The campaign was highly successful and was rewarded with an EFFIE
award for its effectiveness. The It's a Wrap section at the end of this chapter will
tell you more about the campaign's results.
Source: Adapted from information in the 2003 Echo entry and the EFFIEs Brief provided by Harley-Davidson and Carmichael
Lynch and from personal interviews with the marketing team in 2004.
A big change is taking place in marketing and advertising as marketers are moving to
more direct forms of communication with their customers. In the past, marketing com¬
munication was a monologue: Advertisers talked to anonymous consumers through the
mass media. Now communication is becoming a dialogue. Using computers and the
Web, mail, video, and the telephone, advertisers can talk directly with, rather than at cus¬
tomers. This advertising dialogue is achieved through direct marketing. In this chapter
we’ll discuss the practice and process of direct marketing and database marketing, as
well as the key players and tools of direct marketing, and the principles of integrated
direct marketing.
THE PRACTICE OF DIRECT MARKETING

Direct marketing is big business, with total expenditures in 2001 of $241.1 billion.
Advertisers use direct marketing in every consumer and business-to-business category.
IBM, Xerox, and other manufacturers selling office products use direct marketing, as do
almost all banks and insurance companies. Airlines, hotels, and cruise lines use it.
Packaged-goods marketers such as General Foods, Colgate, and Bristol Myers; household
product marketers such as Black and Decker; and automotive companies use it. Direct
marketing shows up in membership drives, fund-raising, and solicitation for donations by
nonprofit organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society, political associ¬
ations, and the Denver Rescue Mission.
There is some confusion in marketing departments and the advertising industry
over what people mean when they use the term “direct marketing.” Although the direct-
marketing industry continues to be in a state of flux, Figure 15.1 depicts the components
that currently constitute direct marketing. Direct marketing (DM) occurs when a seller
and customers deal with each other directly rather than through an intermediary, such as a
wholesaler or retailer. As noted in Figure 15.1, it includes a strong focus on marketing
research to guide strategy; and database development, to better target customers. The four
strategic tools of direct marketing are: catalog, direct mail, telemarketing, and direct-
response advertising. In turn, each of these tools provides an infrastructure whereby the
transaction can actually take place.
When considering these four tools of direct marketing, there is recognition that cata¬
log, direct mail, telemarketing, and direct-response advertising are also types of communi¬
Principle
cation devices. All four are delivering persuasive messages and the focus is on actually Direct marketing is a growth area
producing a sale. As noted repeatedly, producing a sale is the goal of all businesses, and because it produces measurable
identifies the primary reason why direct marketing is growing in popularity. And sales, 01- results, particularly sales, which
other actions, are measurable, meaning that the marketer always knows how it is doing rel¬ makes it easy to evaluate its
ative to its investment in direct marketing. Its effectiveness is easy to evaluate. effectiveness.
The Direct-Marketing Industry

The direct-marketing industry
focuses on research and database
building. Its main tools are catalogs,
direct mail, telemarketing, and
direct-response advertising.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Marketing

Advantages of direct marketing over indirect marketing, such as advertising, include the
following:
• Direct-marketing technology allows for the collection of relevant information about

the customer contributing to the development of a useful database and selective reach,
which reduces waste.
• Products have added value through the convenient purchase process and reliable, quick
delivery mechanisms of direct marketing. Purchase is not restricted to a location.
• The marketer (rather than the wholesaler or retailer) controls the product until delivery.
• Advertising carrying direct-marketing components is easier to evaluate.
• It affords flexibility in both form and timing, as the Battelle case (see page 426) illustrates.
As with all concepts, direct marketing has some weaknesses. Most notably, consumers
are still reluctant to purchase a product sight unseen. This problem is changing with the
increase in credible direct marketers, along with the ability of the Internet to simulate actual
shopping and touching. The other weakness is the annoyances associated with direct market¬
ing, such as too many catalogs, junk mail, and calls during dinner. Finally, direct-marketing
strategies are unable to reach everyone in the marketplace. With improvement of databases,
the problem is diminishing.
Direct Marketing and Direct-response Advertising

Since this text focuses on advertising, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between direct
marketing and direct-response advertising. Direct marketing includes one or more compo¬
nents that allow for lead generation—which refers to the way marketers identify prospec¬
tive customers—as well as actual purchase.
Direct-response advertising is a type of marketing communication that combines
the characteristics of advertising (attention-getting visuals, interesting copy, and relevant
timing) but also includes an element that allows the reader, viewer, or listener to make a
direct response to the advertiser. The contact element can be a toll-free 800 or 900 phone
number, an order coupon, a request-for-information device, or a Web site or e-mail
address. In contrast to traditional advertising, which offers a long-term implicit promise
and delayed action, direct-response advertising provides a short-term explicit result and
the opportunity for immediate action. Therefore, the return on investment is significantly
higher for direct-response advertising.
The Direct-marketing Process

As outlined in Figure 15.2, there are five basic steps in direct marketing: (1) setting objec¬
tives and making strategic decisions (research helps advertisers target and segment
The Direct-marketing Process

The direct-marketing process
has five main steps. The direct
marketer’s challenge is to manage
these steps and build a relationship
with the consumer.
• Customer Service
prospects, as well as set objectives); (2) the communication of an offer (the message) by
the seller through the appropriate medium; (3) response, or customer ordering; (4) fulfill¬
ment, or filling orders and handling exchanges and returns; and (5) maintenance of the
company’s database and customer service.
Objectives and Strategies As in all planning processes, we begin by delineating

the specific objective to achieve. Direct marketing has three primary objectives:
1. Lead Generation. Providing basic information on companies or individuals who are

potential customers.
2. Traffic Generation. Motivating customers to visit an event, retail outlet, or other
location.
3. Action. Order products and make payments or take some other action, such as visit¬
ing a dealer, returning a response card, or visiting a Web site.
The planner can then make these three basic objectives more concrete by specifying
such factors as timing, amount of increase, and the consumer’s specific behavior, such as
where they see the product or what kind of action they might engage in. For example, a
local Volvo dealership might expect its direct-marketing program to increase showroom
traffic by 60 percent during the next 90 days.
The direct-marketing tools that achieve these objectives are: direct-response advertis¬
ing, catalog, direct mail or e-mail, or telemarketing—separately or in some combination.
Our Volvo dealer purchases a database of consumers who meet the criteria for a potential
Volvo owner and sends out a direct-mail piece that offers $50 to anyone taking a test drive
on a specific set of dates. This offer is repeated in the local newspaper. This whole process
is known as prospecting. Prospecting is a technique of mining the information in databases
l
■ ■ ■
As part of an award-winning corporate identity program, the accounting firm
Battelle & Battelle created a flexible kit composed of a pocket folder that could
accommodate inserts of various kinds including simple sheets of information, a
series of trifold brochures outlining the firm's services, and business cards. The
new materials were launched with a series of postcards that invited prospective
clients to learn more about the firm's capabilities. These materials were
contributed by Amy Niswonger, designer at the Dayton-based Nova Creative
Group, and a 2001 graphic design and marketing graduate from Miami
University (Oxford, Ohio).
to uncover prospective buyers whose characteristics match those of users. Let’s look more
closely at “the offer.”
The Offer All direct marketing (DM) contains an offer, typically consisting of a
description of the product, terms of sale, and payment and delivery information. In its
offer, a successful DM campaign must communicate benefits to buyers by answering the
enduring question: “What’s in it for me?” Direct marketers might tell potential buyers of
product benefits promotional tactics, such as buy-one-get-one-free.
An effective DM offer, as with all marketing offers, clearly calls on the buyer to take
some action, as the TigerDirect.com cover illustrates. All the variables that are intended to
satisfy the needs of the consumer are considered part of the offer. These variables include
the price, the cost of shipping and handling, optional features, future obligations, availabil¬
ity of credit, extra incentives, time and quality limits, and guarantees or warranties. The
offer is supported by a message strategy, a media strategy, and the database.
Message and Media Strategy There are general guidelines that apply to mes¬
sage development in direct marketing. First, the message is often longer and contains more
explanation and detail than regular advertising;

especially in light of the fact that DM products
are often unavailable in traditional retail outlets.
Messages must contain clear comparisons or
characteristics such as price, style, convenience,
and so forth. Second, copy tends to be written in
a personal, one-to-one conversational style.
Third, the message should reflect whether the
offer is a one-step offer or a two-step offer. A
one-step offer asks for a direct sales response; it
is crucial that there is a mechanism for respond¬
ing to the offer. A two-step offer is designed to
gather leads, answer consumer questions, drive
to a computer store, or set up appointments. The
design of the message must account for all these
possibilities.
There are two types of media employed in
direct marketing. In the case of direct-response
advertising, traditional mass media are used to
deliver the offer. Various print, broadcast,
Internet, and other miscellaneous media are con¬
sidered. The second kind is called controlled
media, in that the direct marketer either owns
the medium or contracts for a company to
deliver the message using carefully controlled
criteria. These media include catalogs, telemar¬
keting, and direct mail. They also differ from
traditional mass media in their ability to better
target the consumer and deliver more complete
information.
The Response/Order Unlike advertis¬

ing, in which the initial objective is to generate
awareness, and the ultimate objective is to contribute to sales, all direct marketing aims to The cover of the TigerDirect.com
generate a behavioral response, especially sales. Generating a response is the third step in mail-order magazine
the direct-marketing process (see Figure 15.2). Consumer response may take the form of demonstrates how an effective
direct action (purchase, donation, subscription, and membership) or behaviors that precede direct marketer makes the offer,
purchase (attending a demonstration, participating in a taste test, test-driving a car, or ask¬ as well as the call to action,
clear. The response numbers
ing for more information). Direct marketing prompts behavior by making a relevant offer
are also easy to find.
and providing a mechanism for convenient purchase and fast delivery. KitchenAid’s direct-
response success story is the focus of an ad by direct-marketing company Respond2. To
create urgency, the direct-marketing message may also include a promotional device such
as a gift or limited-time-only price deal.
Fulfillment and Customer Maintenance The next step in the direct-marketing

process is called fulfillment—that is, getting the product to the customer who ordered it.
Fulfillment includes all the back-end activities that the company’s infrastructure is
designed to make easy for the customer to respond to. The types of customer service
offered, such as toll-free telephone numbers, free limited-time trials, and acceptance of
several credit cards, are important techniques for overcoming customer resistance to buy¬
ing through direct-response media. The most critical aspect of successful direct marketing,
however, is maintaining a customer relationship. Direct marketers use a database to track
customer interactions and transactions, the last step in Figure 15.2.
Evaluation Direct marketing is not a “shot-in-the-dark” approach. DM professionals

are able to continually evaluate and accurately measure the effectiveness of various offers
in a single campaign. By employing such measurement tools as tracking printed codes on
mail-in responses that identify different offers, and using different telephone numbers for
each commercial (by time slot, station, or length), the DM professional can clearly identify
Principle
Because direct-marketing those offers that yield the best results, and modify the campaign to take advantage of them.
messages are constantly Because of this constant evaluation, there is an emphasis in DM to learn what works and
being measured, it is easier to employ that information in succeeding efforts. Such accurate measurements and adjust¬
learn what works and modify ments are largely responsible for DM’s success.
succeeding campaigns based
on results than with advertising. Consider This
o 1. What is the greatest advantage of direct marketing? Why is it a growth
industry?
2. What are the steps in the direct-marketing program?
DATABASE MARKETING
A database is at the heart of direct marketing. Direct marketers use databases to keep track
of customers and identify prospective customers, and as a segmentation tool for communi¬
cating offers to customers and prospects. On one hand, building a database is the end of the
direct-marketing process: Data are collected based on the customer’s behavior and interac¬
A direct-response company
Respond2 (www.respond2.com)
tion with the company. However, if you look at relationship-driven communication pro¬
uses mini cases to demonstrate grams as the ultimate goal of direct-response marketing, then the information gathered
its success stories for new through customer interaction feeds back into the process and becomes an input for the next
clients. This case explains round of communication efforts. The database is important both at the beginning of the
how the legendary KitchenAid direct-marketing process, where it is a critical source of information, and at the end of the
mixers found success over the process, where it captures and updates information for the next interaction.
Internet. Database marketing is possible because of innovations
in computer technology that have helped companies keep
up with their customers. People move, have children,
marry, divorce, remarry, retire, change purchase behavior,
THE SCIENCE OF SUCCESS
111 * • and so forth. The purpose of the database is to produce
KE.SPOND2 X KitchenAid up-to-date information on customers and prospects, as
h CAMPAIGN
well as their interactions with the company. Database
marketing is a practice that uses databases to predict
trends and monitor consumers to more effectively imple¬
ment direct-marketing strategies. According to the Direct
Marketing Association (DMA), a marketing database has
THE DOUGH ALSO RISES four primary objectives:1
For their record breaking direct response work with KitchenAid, • To record names of customers, expires (names no
Respond2 had the perfect blend of ingredients and a recipe for success.
longer valid), and prospects.
• To provide a vehicle for storing and then measuring
After decades of retail success, Campaign Results:
the classic KitchenAid mixer - DR sales are on the rise, results of advertising (usually direct-response
— regarded as an American brand story is enhanced
advertising).
icon — would seem an and retailers are happy
unlikely candidate for
~ Exceeds target expec¬
• To provide a vehicle for storing and then measuring
direct response. However,
when KitchenAid met
tations by over 60% purchasing performance.
with Re$pond2, - Web sales responsible
• To provide a vehicle for continuing direct communica¬
specialists in direct for 45% of total sales
response advertising,
tion by mail or phone.
- Infomercial more than
they discovered new paid for itself within
channels of opportunity three weeks The database marketing process is illustrated in
through a specialized
campaign that really cooks.
That’s the sweet Figure 15.3. It begins with an initial information-collection
smell of success!
point (and also ends with data collection). This could be
the completion of a warranty card, entering a contest or
sweepstake, opting in on a Web site, or filling out a card at
a trade show, to name a few. The second stage is to enter
•#-
503,276.4094 i www.rcspond2.com respond2
the data into the computer to merge it with other informa¬
tion already in the file or added at the same time. Stage 3
allows the marketer to assess the data and determine the
relevant level of detail. In stage 4, the direct marketer can
Collection
Point
The Database Marketing
Process
Data Using database marketing,
Refinement advertisers can continually
improve the effectiveness of
their campaigns.
/ 6. \ / 3. \
Data Data
\ Sharing j \ Assessment /
Data Data
Application Clustering
create clusters of characteristics and behaviors representing valuable consumer segments

or target markets (audiences). Stage 5 applies the database to the specific marketing prob¬ Principle
lems or strategies. An example might be sending coupons to a particular customer seg¬ A reliable database of customer
ment. In stage 6, the direct marketer makes decisions about data sharing and partnerships. and prospect contact information
A manufacturer may decide its retail outlets could use the data. Finally, the database goes lies at the heart of effective direct
through a refinement process that includes corrections, updates, additions, and deletions— marketing.
information that is fed back into the planning process.

If either expertise or resources are lacking, a company can obtain commercial data¬
bases from firms whose sole purpose is to collect, analyze, categorize, and market an enor¬
mous variety of detail about the American consumer. Companies such as National
Decision Systems, Persoft, and Donnelly Marketing Information Systems are only a few of
the firms that provide these relational databases (that is, their databases contain informa¬
tion useful in segmenting, as well as the contact information). Donnelly, for example,
developed Hispanic Portraits, a database of households that segments the U.S. Hispanic
population into 18 cluster groups.
Lists
As Spiller and Baier explain in their book, “Lists and data are at the very core of direct
marketing.”2 Direct-mail lists that match market segments identified in the advertising plan
can be purchased or rented from list brokers. Direct-mail list brokers have thousands of
lists tied to demographic, psychographic, and geographic breakdowns. They have classi¬
fied their data on such characteristics as hobbies, affiliations, and personal influence, such
as the Roman Alliance database of decision makers. Geography is a common classification
and Americans’ households can be broken down to their postal carrier routes. For instance,
one company has identified 160 zip codes it calls “Black Enterprise” clusters, inhabited by
“upscale, white-collar, black families” in major urban fringe areas.
New lists can be created by merging and purging. If you want to target older women
in New England who play tennis, most major firms would be able to put together a list for
you by combining lists, called merging, and deleting the repeated names, called purging.
For example, you may want to develop a list of people who are in the market for fine fur¬
niture in your city. You could buy a list of new homebuyers and combine that with a list of
people who live in a desirable census tract. These two lists together—a compiled list—
This is a postcard mailed to

businesses involved in direct
marketing. It offers 47 "buying
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would let you find people who have bought new homes in upscale neighborhoods. There
are three types of lists: house lists, response lists, and compiled lists.
• House List. A house list of the marketer’s own customers or members, its most impor¬
tant target market, probably its most valuable list. Stores offer credit plans, service
plans, special sale announcements, and contests that require customers to sign up to
maintain this link. Some stores, such as Radio Shack, fill in customers’ names and
addresses at the cash register, and those customers join the list.
• Response List. Derived from people who respond to something such as a direct-mail
offer or solicitation, a response list is similar to the advertiser’s target audience. For
example, if you sell dog food, you might like a list of people who have responded to a
magazine ad for a pet identification collar; such lists are usually available for rent from
the original direct-mail marketer. Those on the list indicate a willingness to buy pet
items, and possibly, by direct mail.
• Compiled List. A compiled list is rented from a direct-mail list broker. It is usually a
list of some specific category, such as sports car owners, new homebuyers, graduating
seniors, new mothers, association members, or subscribers to a magazine, book club,
or record club.
Data-driven Communication
Gathering information about customers and prospects is also the beginning of a new round
of interaction. Using the insights captured from previous interactions to create data-
driven communication, companies are better able to respond to and interact with their
Principle customers. Keeping track of interactions lets the company respond with some sense of the
Data-driven communication lets customer’s interests, as well as the history of the customer’s relationship with the com¬
the brand speak with a sense pany. Ultimately, the knowledge in the database is the tool used to build and maintain cus¬
of the history of the customer tomer relationships, as the Matter of Principle box explains.
relationship because it tracks the
Today, computers and database software programs are getting smarter. Services such
customer's interactions with the
as Prodigy not only provide the user with online buying services, but also remember pur¬
brand.
chases and, over time, can build a purchase profile of each user. This kind of information is
valuable to marketers, resellers, and their agencies. It’s also of concern to consumer
activists and consumers who worry about privacy.
Nintendo uses its 2-million-name database when it introduces more powerful ver¬
sions of its video game system. The names and addresses are gathered from a list of
The Principles of Data-driven Relationships
Don Peppers and smarter and smarter about you. I

know something about you my com¬
Martha Rogers, PhD
petitors don't know. So I can do
things for you my competitors can't
Enterprises that are building successful
do, because they don't know you as
customer relationships understand that
well as I do. Before long, you can get
becoming customer focused doesn't begin
something from me you can't get any¬
with installing technology. It's not better-
where else, for any price. At the very
targeted and more efficient harassment
least you'd have to start all over
(although you can't tell it when you look at
somewhere else, but starting over is
a lot of the current efforts of "database
more costly than staying with us.
marketing").
Becoming a customer-centric enter¬
Even if a competitor were to establish
prise is about using insights into individ¬
exactly the same capabilities, a customer already involved
ual customers to gain a competitive advantage. It is an
in a learning relationship with the enterprise would have
enterprise-wide approach to understanding and influenc¬
to spend time and energy—sometimes a lot of time and
ing customer behavior through meaningful communica¬
energy—teaching the competitor what the current enter¬
tions, to improve customer acquisition, customer retention,
prise already knows. This creates a significant switching
and customer profitability. Defined more precisely, how¬
cost for the customer, as the value of what the enterprise is
ever, and what makes "one-to-one" into a truly different
providing continues to increase, partly as the result of the
model for doing business and competing in the market¬
customer's own time and effort. The result is that the cus¬
place, is this: It is an enterprise business strategy for
tomer becomes more loyal to the enterprise, because it is
achieving customer-specific objectives by taking customer-
simply in the customer's own interest to do so. As the rela¬
specific actions. In essence, one-to-one is about treating
tionship progresses, the enterprise becomes more valuable
different customers differently.
to the customer, allowing the enterprise to protect its profit
The overall business goal of this strategy will be to
margin with the customer, often while reducing the cost of
optimize the long-term profitability of the enterprise by
serving that customer.
increasing the value of the customer base. Building the
Learning relationships provide the basis for a com¬
value of customers increases the value of the "demand
pletely new arena of competition, quite separate and dis¬
chain," the stream of business that flows from the customer
tinct from traditional, product-based competition. An
up through the retailer all the way to the manufacturer. A
enterprise cannot prevent its competitor from offering a
customer-centric enterprise interacts directly with an indi¬
product or service that is perceived to be as good as its
vidual customer.
own offering.
Relationships are the crux of the customer-focused
enterprise. The exchange between a customer and the
Consider This
enterprise becomes mutually beneficial, as customers give o-
information in return for personalized service that meets 1. What do Peppers and Rogers mean by one-to-one mar¬
their individual needs. This interaction forms the basis of keting, and what are its advantages?
the learning relationship, an intimate, collaborative dia¬ 2. What is a learning relationship, and why is that impor¬
logue between the enterprise and the customer that grows tant to a company or brand?
smarter and smarter with each successive interaction. The
Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, PhD, are the founders of the Peppers and
learning relationship works like this:
Rogers Group, a management-consulting firm that specializes in customer-
based business strategy. Among their many accomplishments, Peppers and
If you're my customer and I get you to talk to Rogers have authored numerous works, including the influential books The
me, I remember what you tell me, and I get One to One Future and Enterprise One to One.
subscribers to its magazine, Nintendo Power. The company believes that many of its
current customers will want to trade up systems and this direct communication will
make it possible for Nintendo to speak directly to its most important target market about
new systems as they become available. Nintendo began its database in 1988 and credits
database marketing with helping it maintain its huge share of the $6 to $7 billion video
game market.
432 PART 5 INTEGRATION AND EVALUATION
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

One of the most powerful tools to emerge from database marketing, customer relation¬
ship management (CRM), is a result of the improved management of information con¬
tained in customer databases. CRM identifies and analyzes patterns in customer behavior
to maximize the profitability of each relationship. It has been described as integrating and
aligning “the people, processes, and technologies of all the business functions that touch
the customer—marketing, sales, and customer service.”3 In Figure 15.2, customer relation¬
ship management is step 5, but notice that it begins at step 3, the response/order.
Behind CRM is highly developed database software that establishes links between
transactions and the corresponding customers’ characteristics. Armed with this knowledge,
the company can pursue strategies to improve services that are important to its most prof¬
itable customers, attract new customers with similar characteristics, reward best cus¬
tomers, and identify and eliminate those customer relationships that drain company
resources.
There are many examples of the successful use of CRM to improve customer rela¬
tionships and services. Consider the true story of someone who flies nearly 2 million miles
annually on American Airlines. While he was preparing to fly from San Diego to New York
on a recent trip, the plane developed mechanical problems on the ground. Before this per¬
son even started to inquire, an American Airlines’ Special Services person came aboard,
escorted him off the plane, handed him a ticket for another flight to San Diego, and sent
him on his way. These positive experiences are based on the ultimate principle of CRM:
identifying a company’s most profitable customers and giving them something that makes
them feel prized and privileged.
Consider This
1. What is the role of databases in direct marketing?

2. Why is data-driven communication considered to be more customer focused
than more traditional mass-media advertising?
THE KEY PLAYERS

There are four main players in direct-response marketing: advertisers who use direct
response to sell products or services; agencies that specialize in direct-response advertis¬
ing; the media that deliver messages by phone, mail, or the Web; and consumers, who are
the recipients of the information and sometimes the initiator of the contact.
The Advertisers
More than 12,000 firms are engaged in direct-response marketing. Their primary business
is selling products and services by mail or telephone. This number does not include the
many retail stores that use direct marketing as a supplemental marketing communication
program. Traditionally, the types of companies that have made the greatest use of direct
marketing have been book and record clubs, publishers, insurance companies, sellers of
collectibles, manufacturers of packaged foods, and gardening firms.
Dell has built a huge direct-marketing business selling computers directly to con¬
sumers rather than through dealers, as its competitors do.4 Why don’t Compaq, Hewlett-
Packard, and IBM copy the Dell model and sell computers directly? For one thing, their
retail dealers, who deliver big sales to these companies, would retaliate if these companies
started experimenting with direct sales. Furthermore, it takes a lot of effort and infrastruc¬
ture to set up a direct-marketing business. Rather than an army of sales reps, Dell employs
an army of people in fulfillment who take the order, find the product, handle the money,
and arrange for the shipping.
The Agencies
The four types of firms in direct-response advertising include advertising agencies, inde¬
pendent direct-marketing agencies, service firms, and fulfillment houses, as the list below
outlines.
• Advertising Agencies. Agencies whose main business is mass-media advertising either

have a department that specializes in direct response or own a separate direct-response
company. Even if there isn’t a special division or department, the staff of the agency
may still be involved in producing direct-marketing pieces as the Inside Story
explains.
• Independent Agencies. The independent, full-service, direct-marketing agencies
specialize in direct response, and many of them are quite large. The largest direct-
marketing agencies include some firms that specialize in only direct response and
others that are affiliated with major agencies.
• Service Firms. Service firms specialize in supplying printing and mailing, and list
brokering.
• Fulfillment Houses. The fulfillment house is a type of service firm that is vital to the
success of many direct-marketing strategies. This is a business responsible for making
sure consumers receive whatever they request in a timely manner, be it a catalog, addi¬
tional information, or the product itself.
The Media Companies

Direct-marketing media include mail, phone, Web sites, and e-mail. In other words, all
those can be used by the seller to make a contact with a prospect and by the customer to
place an order or inquiry. One of the most active direct-mail marketers is the U.S. Postal
Service. There are also thousands of telemarketing and Web marketing firms that handle
contact with consumers.
The Customers
These three little brochures
Although people might dislike the intrusiveness of direct-response advertising, many
were created by the U.S. Postal
appreciate the convenience. It is a method of purchasing goods in a society that is finding
Service to explain the benefits
itself with more disposable income but with less time to spend it. Stan Rapp, an expert on
of direct-mail advertising.
Each one is focused on a direct marketing, described this type of consumer as “a new generation of consumers
different consumer response armed with push-button phones and a pocket full of credit cards getting instant gratifi¬
from interest, to awareness, cation by shopping and doing financial transactions from the den or living room.”5 The
to sales.
i" i c r i li
SIDE STORY
Shaping the World of Miss Hall's School
Peter Stasiowski, Art Director, Gargan Communication, Dalton, Massachusetts
Gargan Communication was hired by World without making the piece look like it was designed
Miss Hall's School, a small, upscale New by a geography buff. It was a delicate balance.
England girls' prep school, to produce a Once the arcs and lines were in place, I created a
series of direct-mail pieces for its annual small visual for the theme that not only reinforced the con¬
fund-raising campaign. It was primarily a cept, but gave the design a much needed visual anchor;
design assignment. The client came to us already having a after all, the arcs and lines looked nice, but without con¬
carefully maintained mailing list, a theme, format, and text, "they're really just arcs and lines," I thought. At the
vision of the desired size of the pieces. meeting where we presented the original rough of the
The target market was former students and past idea to the client, we decided that since there were seven
donors and the client provided us with samples of direct- girls to be featured, we should choose seven different
mail pieces they've used in previous years, and the background colors to pick up on the colors in the photog¬
theme: Shape the World. Based on this theme, we raphy, and at the same time, communicate the cultural
decided that a series of brochures, each focusing on a diversity of the school's student body.
current student, "her story," and how the school has influ¬ The production of the pieces required some detailed
enced her maturation would be a solid concept to and time-consuming Photoshop work, a few rounds of
develop further. The girls featured in the pieces were press proofs, and the extension of a deadline or two, but
selected by the school, interviewed by one of our writers, by that time everyone involved was completely sold on the
and photographed. concept and execution; these issues became secondary to
The photography came out wonderfully, so I decided creating a final piece to be proud of.
to make it the cornerstone of the design. I also wanted to This process will begin again soon, as we have been
make a connection between the photography and the asked to design the direct-mail pieces for next year's
theme of Shape the World. campaign.
Sometimes the most effective design concepts are the
Peter Sfasiowski, a Massachusetts native, graduated in 1991 from the
ones right in front of your face: Shape the World? How University of West Florida with a BA in Communication Arts with an emphasis
about Shape OF the World! Thinking that an overt "globe" in advertising and public relations. He is presently an art director at Gargan
theme might be a bit cliched, I decided to use long arcs Communication, a marketing and advertising agency in Dalton,
Massachusetts.
and subtle lines, reminiscent of the longitude and latitude
lines seen on a globe, to create the feeling of Shape the Nominated by Professor Tom Groth, University of West Florida
CHAPTER 15 DIRECT RESPONSE 435
push-button shopper is joined by an even larger group of mouse-clicking shoppers. It takes

some daring to order a product you can’t see, touch, feel, or try out. These consumers are
confident and willing to take a chance but don’t like to be disappointed.
Consider This
1. Who are the key players in direct marketing?
2. What are the risks you face in buying something through direct marketing?
THE TOOLS OF DIRECT MARKETING

Direct marketing employs five primary tools to achieve its objectives. These strategic tools
are direct mail, catalogs, telemarketing, and direct-response advertising as well as Web-
based e-marketing.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is the granddaddy of direct response and still commands big marketing dollars.
A direct-mail piece is a print advertising message for a product or service that is delivered
by mail. It may be as simple as a single-page letter or as complex as a package consisting of
a letter, a brochure, supplemental flyers, and an order card with a return envelope. A 2 to 5
percent response rate is considered typical. Most direct mail is sent using the third-class
bulk mail permit, which requires a minimum of 200 identical pieces. Third class is cheaper
than first class, but it takes longer for delivery. Estimates of nondelivery of third-class mail
run as high as 8 percent. As summarized in Table 15.1 direct mail has a number of advan¬
tages and disadvantages.
15.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Mail

Advantages Description
Tells a story The medium offers a variety of formats and provides enough space to tell a com¬
plete sales story.
Engages attention Because direct mail has little competition when it is received, it can engage the
reader’s attention.
Personalizes the message Because of the use of databases, it is now possible to personalize direct mail across
a number of consumer characteristics, such as name, product usage, purchase his¬
tory, and income.
Builds in feedback Direct mail is particularly conducive to marketing research and can be modified until
the message design matches the needs of the desired target audience.
Reaches the unreachable Direct mail allows the marketer to reach audiences who are inaccessible by other
media.
Disadvantages Description
Negative perceptions The main drawback of using direct mail is the widespread perception that it is junk
mail. According to a Harris-Equifax Consumer Privacy Survey, about 46 percent of
the public see direct-mail offers as a nuisance, and 90 percent consider them an
invasion of privacy.
Cost Direct mail has a higher cost per thousand than mass media. A great deal of this
high cost is a result of postage. (However, it reaches a more qualified prospect with
less waste.) Another cost factor is the maintenance of the database.
Mailing list To deliver an acceptable response rate, the quality of the mailing list is critical. It
must be maintained and updated constantly.
Response rate Because of the changing nature of mailing lists, as well as the difficulty of keeping
relevant data in the database, the response rate can be as low as 2 or 3 percent.
Even with that low response, however, database marketers can still make money.
Vulnerability Direct-mail delivery is vulnerable to natural disasters as well as catastrophes such as
the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Direct-mail Message Design How it looks is as important as what it says.

Progressive direct marketers, supported by research findings, have discovered that the
appearance of a direct-response ad—the character and personality communicated by the
graphics—can enhance or destroy the credibility of the product information. The functions
of a direct-mail message are similar to the steps in the sales process. The message must
move the reader through the entire process, from generating interest to creating conviction
and inducing a sale. And it’s all done with a complex package of printed pieces. The
Practical Tips box is a helpful guide for putting together direct-mail pieces.
q Practical Tips
Creating Effective Direct Mail
• Get the attention of the targeted prospect as the envelope comes from the
mailbox.
• Create a need for the product, show what it looks like, and demonstrate
how it is used.
• Answer questions, as a good salesperson does, and reassure the buyer.
• Provide critical information about product use.
• Inspire confidence, minimize risk, and establish that the company is
reputable.
• Make the sale by explaining how to buy, how to order, where to call, and
how to pay for the purchase.
• Use an incentive to encourage a fast response.
Most direct-mail pieces follow a fairly conventional format. The packaging usually
consists of an outer envelope, a letter, a brochure, supplemental flyers or folders, and a
reply card with a return envelope. These can be one-page flyers, multipanel folders, multi¬
page brochures, or spectacular broadsheets that fold out like maps big enough to cover the
top of a table. The most critical decision made by the target is whether to read the mailing
or throw it away, and that decision is based on the outer envelope. The envelope should
state the offer on the outside and spark curiosity through a creative idea.
A mailing for the Denver Rescue Mission used a most unusual mailer—a brown
paper lunch bag—to get people’s attention. Because 80 percent of its funds are collected in
the last four months of the year, the Mission needed to create a unique campaign to help
fund its annual Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless as well as its other year-long ser¬
vices. In addition to the simple brown paper sandwich bag, the mailer included a message
explaining how donors could buy a Thanksgiving dinner for a homeless person for $1.79
and a peel-off label they could use to send their check to the Denver Mission. The bag had
“a second life,” to make it more than a direct-mail piece: Donors could reuse it for their
own lunch as a reminder of the meals they were giving others. The campaign proved very
effective, with responses 51 percent higher than campaigns for the previous three years. It
provided for more than 2,600 dinners and was awarded the Direct Marketing Association’s
Gold Echo award for the most innovative use of direct mail.
Historically, the letter has been the most difficult element in a direct-mail package.
Over the years many techniques have proven effective in getting consumers to read a
direct-mail letter. Dean Rieck, an internationally respected direct-response copywriter,
designer, and consultant, offers these hints for writing an effective letter.6
1. Attention. To grab attention or generate curiosity, use pictures and headlines that tout
the product’s benefits.
2. Personalize. Use a personalized salutation. If the individual’s name is not available,
the salutation should at least be personalized to the topic, such as, “Dear Cat Lover.”
3. Lead-in. The best way to begin a letter is with a brief yet compelling or surprising
statement—“Dear Friend: I could really kick myself!”
4. The Offer. Make the offer as early in the body of the letter as possible.
The Denver Rescue Mission

used an unusual—and attention-
getting—mailing that featured a
brown lunch bag.
There’s a complete
Thanksgiving dinner
We're
Wc
this 1M? ba8‘
rc counting on Uus
this bag to help us feed hundreds
Ye»! I'll htlp ferd and cart for hiiuRry, tun ling and liomrkv*
people In Hit Denver area I hie Thanksgiving.
of hungry, homeless people hoi. nutritious dinners
RESCUE MISSION
tliis Thanksgiving. Tender turkey with all the trimmings. y special gift of:
Cranberry sauce. Even coffee and pumpkin pie. feed or help care for 10 people □5JS.80 to teed or help care lor 20 people
We warn to do our part to make sure that everyone Iced or help care lor 35 people □SI 16,35 to feed of help care for 65 people
in need in our community has o happy thanksgiving. . to help as many people as possible tl y.-» [>aa«*i tiri. iSl nic-mn,
But frankly, \ve can't do it without your help. rn vsicvow «»«-,iip«
You can feed one hungry person a complete

i»Jvvr» Mf.uu i«tsu» rafiSS
Thanksgiv ing dinner for Just S1.79. Si7.90 MINVTK Rf-SCW MBflON
will feed 10 people! And $35.80 will provide rvi oox soli
oiNvmcojwn.jon
20 delicious holiday dinners. Or, your gift can ll..l.ll..,..U.„lll„.l.l.l.ll.m.l.l..l.l..l.U.lU.,l
provide the safe shelter, recovery programs and
God WCM you for carlo*}!
other vital care hungry1, homeless people need.
So here's what we’d like you to do. First,

peel the mailing label off the other side of this
bag. Then place it on the reply form inside.
Write out a generous check, ami mail it with
the reply lorra in the enclosed envelope.
Once you've mailed your gift, we hope you'll reuse

this bag as a reminder of the help you Ye giving others!
• T.
Thanks to you, needy men, women 3nd children
right here in our comm unity .will have a very
. \ satisfying Thanksgiving—complete with a turkey • j
. dinner. And that’ought to give you a satisfying
- ■ holiday of your own.
Thank you, and God bless you!

a j
5. The Letter. The letter should use testimonials or other particulars that clearly describe
benefits to the customer.
6. The Closing. The closing of the letter should include a repetition of the offer, addi¬
tional incentives or guarantees, and a clear call to action.
Catalogs
A catalog is a multipage direct-mail publication that shows a variety of merchandise. The
big books are those produced by such retail giants as JCPenney and L.L.Bean. As data¬
bases improve, catalog marketers are refining their databases and culling consumers who
receive catalogs but don’t order from them. Even though catalog marketers are cutting
back on the waste in their mailings, there are still a lot of catalogs in mailboxes. L.L.Bean
mails to more than 115 million customers and Lillian Vernon mails more than 175 million
catalogs a year. Catalogs are the chief beneficiaries of the social changes that are making
armchair shopping so popular. However, the catalog marketer must make sure the ordering
process is easy and risk free. Catalogs have become so popular that direct-response con¬
sumers receive mailings offering them lists of catalogs available for a fee. People pay for
these catalogs the way they pay for magazines and an increasing number of catalogs can be
purchased at newsstands.
Some of these retailers have their own stores, such as Williams-Sonoma and
Tiffany’s. Banana Republic began as a catalog marketer and then moved into retailing.
Others, such as Hanover House and PBS, offer their merchandise only through catalogs or
other retailers. Some of the merchandise is inexpensive, such as the Hanover line, which
usually offers items for $10 or less. In contrast, marketers such as Dell computer offer
more expensive products costing hundreds of dollars.
The real growth in this field is in the area of specialty catalogs. There are catalogs for
every hobby, as well as for more general interests. There are catalogs specifically for
purses, rings, cheese and hams, stained-glass

supplies, garden benches, and computer acces¬
sories, to name just a few. Balducci’s fruit and
vegetable store in Greenwich Village, New
York, produces a catalog promising overnight
delivery of precooked gourmet meals. There are
advantages and disadvantages of catalogs. They
are listed in Table 15.2.
A number of advertisers are using video
catalogs because these provide more informa¬
tion about their products. Consumers can also
go online and review several catalogs, make
comparisons, and place orders. Buick developed
an electronic catalog on CD. The message is
interactive and features animated illustrations. It
presents graphic descriptions and detailed text
on the Buick line, including complete specifica¬
tions, that lets you custom-design your dream
car. The electronic catalog has also been mar¬
keted to readers of computer magazines.
Telemarketing
More direct-marketing dollars are spent on
telemarketing—ads delivered through phone
calls—than on any other medium. That’s
because telemarketing is almost as persuasive as
personal sales, but a lot less expensive. A per¬
sonal sales call may cost anywhere from $50 to
$100 after factoring in time, materials, and
transportation. A telephone solicitation may
Alsto's is an example of a home- range from $2 to $5 per call, or a CPM of $2,000 to $5,000. That is still expensive if you
catalog direct marketer that compare the cost of a telephone campaign to the CPM of an advertisement placed in any
employs beautiful photography
one of the mass media ($ 10—$50); however, the returns are much higher than those gener¬
and high-quality paper and
ated by mass advertising.
printing to convey its upscale
A typical telemarketing campaign usually involves about 75 people making 250,000
image.
calls over three months.7 These callers work in call centers, which are rooms with large
banks of phones and computers. Most calls are made from databases that contain prospects
who were previously qualified on some factor, such as an interest in a related product or a
particular profile of demographics and psychographics. Occasionally cold-calling is used,
which means the call center staff are calling unqualified numbers, sometimes just ran¬
domly selected, and this practice has a much lower response rate.
Types of Telemarketing There are two types of telemarketing: inbound and out¬
bound. An inbound or incoming telemarketing call originates with the customer. The
consumer can be responding to an ad or a telemarketing message received earlier.
L.L.Bean’s advertising often draws attention to its telephone representatives’ friendly and
helpful manner. Calls originating with the firm are outgoing; these outbound telemarket¬
ing calls are the ones that generate the most consumer resistance.
Criticisms of Telemarketing Telemarketing does have its drawbacks. Perhaps the

most universally despised telemarketing tool is predictive dialing. Predictive dialing tech¬
nology makes it possible for telemarketing companies to call anyone—even those with
unlisted numbers. Special computerized dialing programs use random dialing. This explains
why, from time to time, when you answer your phone you simply hear a dial tone; the pre¬
dictive dialer has called your number before a call agent is free. For many people, such an
interruption is only a nuisance; but because some burglars have been known to call a house
to see if anyone’s home before they attempt a break-in, many people find such calls alarming.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Catalogs

Advantages Description
Targeted Can be directed at specific market segments.
Engages attention Employs high-quality design and photography (see
Alsto’s cover).
Complete information Extensive product information and comparisons are
provided.
Convenience Offer a variety of purchase options.
Disadvantages Description
Negative perceptions Catalogs are viewed as junk mail by many recipients.
Costs The cost per thousand of catalogs is higher than
mass media.
Response rate The response is relatively low at 3 to 4 percent.
Mailing list Databases must be constantly maintained.
Another problem associated with telemarketing, and one that has tarnished its reputa¬
tion, is fraudulent behavior, such as promising a product or service in exchange for an
advance payment, convincing consumers they need some kind of financial or credit pro¬
tection that they don’t really need, or enticing consumers to buy something by promising
them prizes that are later discovered to be worthless. In response to these abuses in tele¬
marketing, the Federal Trade Commission enacted the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) in
1995 to protect consumers. Among other things, the TSR prohibits telemarketers from
calling before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.; it imposes strict informational disclosure require¬
ments; it prohibits misrepresentative or misleading statements; and it provides for specific
payment collection procedures. More recently, FTC regulations require telemarketing
firms to identify themselves on caller ID.8
The most serious restriction on telemarketing is coming from various state and
national “do-not-call” lists. Some 30 states have set up these lists and a national do-not-call
list took effect in 2003. The national Do Not Call Registry had 31.6 million sign-ups even
before it took effect.9 (To register go to donotcall.gov and sign up.) The effect has been to Call centers are large rooms
drastically reduce the number and size of call centers. Telemarketing companies have with multiple stations for staff
responded by challenging the legality of these lists in court based on what they believe to who make the calls (outbound)
be an illegal restriction on commercial free speech. Telemarketers were unhappy in late or answer calls from people
2004 when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a placing orders (inbound).
lower-court ruling that the industry’s free-
speech rights were not violated by the national
do-not-call list.10
Phone companies also offer their cus¬
tomers a service called “Privacy Manager” that
screens out sales calls.11 For customers who
have Caller ID, numbers that register as
“unavailable” or “unknown” are intercepted by
a recorded message that asks callers to identify
themselves. If the caller does so, the call rings
through.
Telemarketing Message Design The

key point to remember about telemarketing
solicitations is that the message has to be sim¬
ple enough to be delivered over the telephone.
If the product requires a demonstration or a
complicated explanation, then the message
might be better delivered by direct mail. The
message also must be compelling. People resent intrusive telephone calls, so there must be
a strong initial benefit or reason-why statement to convince prospects to continue listening.
The message also must be short; most people won’t stay on the telephone longer than 2 to
3 minutes for a sales call.
Direct-response Advertising
The common thread that runs through all types of direct-response advertising is that of
action. The move to action is what makes direct-response advertising effective. However,
some advertisers see direct response as less effective than brand or image advertising
because it doesn’t reach as many people or, if it does, the cost of reaching each individual
is very high. This is believed to be justified because the objective is action rather than
recall or attitude change. Today the high-cost argument is being reconsidered. Although it
costs a lot per impression, direct-response advertising, particularly direct mail, is well tar¬
geted. It reaches a prime audience; people who are likely, for reasons related to their demo¬
graphics or lifestyles, to be interested in the product.
Print Media Ads in the mass media are less directly targeted than are direct mail and
catalog but they can still provide the opportunity for a direct response. Ads in newspapers
and magazines can carry a coupon, an order form, an address, or a toll-free or 900 tele¬
phone number. The response may be either to purchase something or to ask for more infor¬
mation. In many cases the desired response is an inquiry that becomes a sales lead for field
representatives.
In their book MaxiMarketing, direct-marketing experts Stan Rapp and Tom Collins
discuss the power of double-duty advertising that combines brand-reinforcement messages
with a direct-response campaign by using a premium, a sample, or a coupon.1" American
Express used this double-duty concept when it launched Your Company, a quarterly mailed
to more than 1 million American Express corporate card members who own small busi¬
nesses. Four sponsors launched Your Company: IBM, United Parcel Service, Cigna Small
Business Insurance, and American Express Small Business Services. Such efforts combine
the editorial direction of a magazine with direct advertising’s ability to target a narrow
audience based on demographics and lifestyle. Magazines have been trying to do this with
demographic editions and selective bindings as well.
In magazines, response cards may be either bind-ins or blow-ins. Both are free¬
standing cards that are physically separate from the ad they support. Bind-in cards are sta¬
pled or glued right into the binding of the magazine adjoining the ad. They have to be torn
out to be used. Blow-in cards are attached to the magazine after it is printed by special
machinery that puffs open the pages. These cards are loose and may fall out in distribution,
so they are less reliable.
Broadcast Media Television is a good medium for direct marketers who are advertis¬
ing a broadly targeted product. A direct-response commercial on radio or TV can provide the
necessary information (usually a toll-free 800 phone number or Web address) for the con¬
sumer to request information or even make a purchase. Direct-response advertising on televi¬
sion used to be the province of the late-night TV with pitches for vegematics and screwdrivers
guaranteed to last a lifetime. Radio’s big advantage is its targeted audience. For example,
teenagers are easy to reach through radio. Also, radio has had some success selling products
such as cellular phones and paging systems specifically to a mobile audience. Radio is often
used to supplement other forms of direct response. For example, publishers use radio to alert
people that a sweepstakes mailing is beginning and to encourage participation.
Cable television lends itself to direct response because the medium is more tightly
targeted to particular interests. QVC and the Home Shopping Network reach more than 70
million households and service their calls with huge phone banks. As more national mar¬
keters such as GEICO move into the medium, the direct-response commercial is becoming
more general in appeal, selling clothes and entertainment, as well as insurance and finan¬
cial services.
Direct-response TV also makes good use of the infomercial format. The Salton-
Maxim Juiceman infomercial took the company from $18 million to $52 million in sales
overnight and made a marketing superstar of George Forman. Infomercials blur the lines
9
GEICO Delivers a "Good News" Story
How do you sell car insurance by direct marketing?

GEICO is the leading direct-response auto insurer in a
low-involvement category dominated by major brands,
such as Allstate and State Farm. Its biggest marketing
challenge is to generate inquiries for rate quotes, to moti¬
vate people to call or go online to find out how they can
save money, which is reflected in its long-standing brand
promise, "15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more
on car insurance."
GEICO's advertising, under the direction of the
Martin Agency, is guided by aggressive objectives that
include significant increases in total rate-quote volume and
in new policies written as a result of these quotes, as well
as a continual upward trend in key advertising indicators
including brand awareness and ad recall.
The advertising has used humor to stand out from the
pack, particularly in the use of its unique brand character,
the little green GEICO gecko. To face the growing compe¬
tition, the Richmond, Virginia-based agency recom¬
mended a new "Good News" TV campaign that largely
spoofs TV and radio programming. For example, a
"Baseball" TV spot airs during baseball season and a
"Soap Opera" spot during daytime TV. Other parodies
and their media programs include weather and traffic
spots, hair-growth infomercials, home-improvement shows,
as well as a congressional investigation reported as a
newscast.
The idea was to associate the "Good News" scenario
with the idea of saving money in unexpected ways. In
addition to a national average for savings, the spots could
be modified to use specific savings figures for a particular
market. The memorable and entertaining campaign not
only communicated the savings message, but it also asso¬
ciated GEICO with the "good news." The campaign was
so successful that it was parodied by ESPN, the Today
Show, Jim Carrey on the Conan O'Brien Show, comic
strips, and local newscasters, and even in an announce¬ Consider This
ment by an airline pilot. o-
It was most successful, however, in overcoming con¬ 1. What is the biggest problem selling car insurance by
sumer inertia, driving customers to their phones and the direct marketing?
Internet, and accomplishing its aggressive objectives— 2. How did GEICO overcome this problem?
resulting in the highest level of inquiries in company history.
With success like this, you can understand why
GEICO's "Good News" and Gecko campaigns have Source: EFFIEs brief and DAAA ECHO brief provided by The Martin Agency
received so much industry attention. and GEICO.
between retail and direct response. The Salton commercial made Juiceman the brand to
buy, whether direct from television or from a local department store or mass merchant.
Infomercials have been around since the emergence of the cable industry and have become
a multibillion-dollar industry. An infomercial is typically 30 or 60 minutes long and tends
to be played during non-prime-time periods.
Today, the infomercial is viewed as a viable medium because: (1) consumers now have
confidence in infomercials and the products they sell; (2) with the involvement of upscale
advertisers, the quality of infomercial production and supportive

research has improved; (3) consumers can be better segmented
and infomercials are coordinated with respect to these audiences;
and (4) infomercials can easily be introduced into foreign mar¬
kets. Finally, advertisers might use the infomercial format if their
product needs to be demonstrated, is not readily available
through retail outlets, and has a relatively high profit margin.
The Internet and Direct Response

Direct marketers saw the Internet’s potential early. Actually,
direct marketing—particularly catalog marketing—is the model
for e-commerce. The Internet provides the same components
found in direct mail and telemarketing. Amazon.com is the leader
of the pack but other companies that sell merchandise direct
include Columbia House Online (www.columbiahouse.com),
L.L.Bean (www.llbean.com), Wal-Mart Online (www.walmart
.com), Gridland (www.gridland.net), and CDNow (www.cdnow
.com). The Web is moving marketers much closer to one-to-
one marketing.
Another feature of Internet direct marketing is greater
sampling opportunities. Online music stores now have hun¬
dreds of thousands of music clips for shoppers to listen to
before making a purchase. Eddie Bauer lets site visitors “try on” clothes in a virtual dress¬
Television shopping networks ing room. It also sends them e-mail messages offering special prices on items based on
handle sales orders by using their past purchasing patterns.
hundreds of customer service
The Internet is also providing companies with new ways to gather information on
agents.
consumers. One of the more ambitious is allowing consumers to create their own network
of contacts for marketers to promote across. The giant bookseller Amazon.com owns
PlanetAll, a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. A subscriber enters
friends’ information and then Amazon can not only remind these subscribers about upcom¬
ing birthdays, but also suggest books that those friends and relatives have indicated they’d
like to receive as gifts.
The technology of the Internet has produced dramatic changes in the direct-mail
industry. At a most basic level, the Internet has facilitated the ease in producing and dis¬
tributing traditional direct mail. Take USA Direct, which introduced the USAMailNow
Web site in early 2001. This company identified the most frustrating and time-consuming
processes of direct-mailing campaigns and constructed a Web site that does these
processes for companies. USAMailNow’s streamlined process allows a company of any
size to point and click its way through a series of choices to make predesigned mailer tem¬
plates priced and sorted by industry, mailing lists, and various mail media (postcards, let¬
ters, flyers, or newsletters), which customers can customize with their logo and other
proprietary images or copy.
The use of e-mail as a marketing tool has not been restricted to the usual e-commerce
companies. Well-known corporate brands such as BMW now are getting into the act. In
one campaign, it requested existing and prospective customers to view a collection of Web
movies about new BMW models. Another campaign notified BMW owners of a new sec¬
tion at BMW.com that was reserved strictly for their use. Called the “Owner’s Circle,” the
section allowed owners to obtain special services and set up profiles that tracked mainte¬
nance items specific to their cars. Shortly after the mailing, enrollment in the Owner’s
Circle doubled, and participation in BMW’s financial services program tripled.13
On a more sophisticated level, the Internet has begun to reconcile an ongoing conflict
within the direct-mail industry: the debate over sending small, personalized mailings or
big, mass mailings. With their long letters, ornate brochures, free gift enclosures, and other
attention-grabbing devices, personalized mailings were thought to grab consumers’ atten¬
tion. However, this attention came at a high per-unit price and so personalized mailings
have a limited scope. In contrast, cheaper mass media (postcards, short form letters, flyers,
and newsletters) were particularly well suited to boosting a company’s reach and fre¬
quency. Unfortunately, they lacked much of the allure of their more personalized cousins.
How has the Internet helped reconcile this debate? Today, the utilization of extensive data¬
base information and innovative e-mail technology, combined with creative marketing
strategies, has brought the benefits of highly personalized, inexpensive messages to far-
reaching mass campaigns.
Spam and Permission Marketing Although e-mail marketing has enjoyed

increased success, the practice has received intense criticism for generating too much
unwanted e-mail, otherwise known as spam. The FTC has determined that 90 percent of
all spam involving business and investment opportunities contains false or misleading
information. The problem also exists with nearly half of the messages advertising health
products and travel and leisure. This is why Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act in
2003.14 The problem is so big that some industry experts estimate that more than half of all
e-mail messages are spam.15 Amazon has filed lawsuits in U.S. and Canadian courts to stop
e-mail spammers it says have been fraudulently using its identity to send out spam, a prac¬
tice known as spoofing.16 One of the largest telemarketing companies, OptlnRealBig, has
been sued by the State of New York, as well as by Microsoft, whose Explorer service is
bombarded with e-mail spam, for allegedly sending misleading and fraudulent e-mail
solicitations.17
This is a huge problem for legitimate direct marketers who have responded to the crit¬
icism in two ways. For one, companies now search their rich databases for customers’ buy¬
ing habits or recent purchases. They then send these customers e-mail that offer deals on
related products and connect it to their customer’s previous interactions with the company.
More recently, direct marketers have used a second approach called permission market¬
ing to reduce criticism about spam. Permission marketing gives customers an opportunity
to opt-in to a notification service from a company. The e-mail will ask if the recipient
wants further e-mails and wants to be on the mailing list. When opting-in, customers are
often asked to complete a questionnaire about their purchasing habits or other information,
which is used to personalize the service.
Permission marketing also gives customers an opportunity to opt-out of the service
when they no longer need a company’s product or services. They can sometimes even opt-
down by reducing how frequently they receive messages. So customers gain control over
the amount and type of e-mail messages they receive, and companies reduce wasted
resources on marketing to uninterested individuals. They also gain valuable insight into
their customers’ habits and interests. The concept at the heart of permission marketing is
that every customer who opts-in to a campaign is a qualified lead.18
Consider This
1. What are the primary direct-marketing tools?
2. Which of these tools do you feel is most useful to direct marketers trying to
build a long-term customer relationship? Why?
INTEGRATED DIRECT MARKETING

Historically, direct marketing is the first area of marketing communication that adopted an
integrated marketing approach. In fact, it would be appropriate to rename direct marketing
integrated direct marketing. As technology has provided more and better ways to interact
with customers, the challenge to direct marketers has been to integrate direct mail, cata¬
logs, telemarketing, Web sites, e-mail, text messaging, and instant messaging with other
marketing communication, such as advertising.
One reason integration plays so well in the direct-response market is because of its
emphasis on the customer. The coordination problem is exacerbated by the deluge of data
bombarding direct marketers from many different channels. The only way to manage the
information is to focus it around customer needs and interests. By using databases,
companies can become more sensitive to customer wants and needs and less likely to bother
them with unwanted commercial messages. Integrated direct marketing (IDM), also
known as integrated relationship marketing, can be defined as a systematic way to get
close to your best current, and potential customers. Sharon Henderson, CEO of a direct-
marketing agency, explains that “in the last couple of years the big marketers are saying we
want integrated relationship marketing’ and that means integrating at every customer touch
point.” For her agency that means developing total business-solution programs.1'
Linking the Channels

Instead of treating each medium separately, as advertising agencies tend to do, integrated
direct-marketing companies seek to achieve precise, synchronized use of the right media at
the right time, with a measurable return on dollars spent. Here’s an example: Say you do a
direct-mail campaign, which generates a 2 percent average response. If you include a toll-
free 800 number in your mailing as an alternative to the standard mail-in reply—with well-
trained, knowledgeable people handling those incoming calls with a carefully thought-out
script—you can achieve a 3 to 4 percent response rate. If you follow up your mailing with
a phone call within 24 to 72 hours after your prospect receives the mailing, you can gener¬
ate a response two to eight times as high as the base rate of 2 percent. So, by adding your
800 number, you bring the response rate from 2 percent to 3 or 4 percent. By following up
with phone calls, you bring your total response rate as high as 5 to 18 percent.
The principle behind integration is that not all people respond the same way to direct-
response advertising. One person may carefully fill out the order form. Someone else may
immediately call the 800 number. Most people, if an ad grabs them, tend to put it in the
pending pile. That pile grows and grows, and then goes into the garbage at the end of the
month. But if a phone call follows the direct-mail piece, the marketer may get the waver¬
ing consumer off the fence. Hewlett-Packard. AT&T, Citibank, and IBM have all used
integrated direct marketing to improve their direct-marketing response rates.
Safeway Stores have become interested in integrated direct marketing. Essentially,
Safeway has signed up manufacturers such as the Quaker Oats Co. and Stouffer Food
Corp. (owned by Nestle) for a database marketing program that provides trade dollars in
exchange for quality customer data. The program exemplifies the convergence of two
trends: Grocers are looking for manufacturers to supplement their own shrunken marketing
budgets, and manufacturers eager to allocate new field marketing support dollars are work¬
ing closer as partners. A number of manufacturers, whose products are carried in the store,
contribute to Safeway’s quarterly mailings in exchange for in-store support and sales data.
A common failure in direct-marketing integration is that direct-marketing messages
and advertising messages often do not reinforce each other as well as they should because
the two functions—advertising and direct marketing, which often are handled by different
agencies—don’t talk to one another. This will change, however, as clients demand more
coordination of their marketing communication programs.
Creating Loyalty
Changing the attitude of the consumer toward direct marketing has not been easy because
consumers resent companies that know too much about them. If the company can demon¬
strate that it is acting in the customer’s best interest rather than just trolling for dollars, it
might gain consumers’ loyalty. Saks Fifth Avenue identified the customers who account for
half of all sales and offered the group exclusive benefits through a program call Saks First.
The benefits include fashion newsletters and first crack at all sales.
Perhaps the most ambitious attempt to create consumer loyalty is through a concept
called lifetime customer value (LCV). FCV is an estimate of how much purchase volume
companies can expect to get over time from various target markets. To put it formally, FCV
is the financial contribution through sales volume of an individual customer or customer
segment over a length of time. The calculation is based on known consumption habits plus
future consumption expectations. The estimate of the contribution is defined as return on
investment—that is, revenue gains as a function of marketing costs. In simpler terms, by
CHAPTER 15 DIRECT RESPONSE 445
knowing your consumers’ past behavior, you can decide how much you want to spend to
get them to purchase and then repurchase your product; you can track your investment by
measuring the response.
Consider This
1. What is integrated direct marketing, and why is it important?

2. Explain lifetime customer value. Are you a customer of value to any
marketer? Can you estimate your annual value (expenditures) to that brand
or company?
GLOBAL CONSIDERATIONS IN DIRECT MARKETING

The direct-marketing industry is growing fast in many Far Eastern and European coun¬
tries—in some places, even faster than in the United States. The global trend is fueled by
the same technological forces driving the growth of direct marketing in the United States:
the increasing use of computer databases, credit cards, toll-free phone numbers, and the
Internet, and the search for more convenient ways to shop. The growth may be even greater
in business-to-business marketing than in consumer marketing.
Direct marketing is particularly important in countries that have tight restrictions on
advertising and other forms of marketing communication. However, there are restrictions
on direct marketing, as well. The privacy issues are even more intense in some European
countries than in the United States. In some countries, lists are not available or they may be
of poor quality. Databases can be more freely transferred between European countries than
they can between the United States and European countries.20
Governmental regulation of the postal service may also place limitations on the use
of direct mail. For example, the format of the address has to be exactly correct in some
countries, such as Germany, where the Deutsche Post has strict rules about correct
address formats. For example, in Hungary the street name is in the third line of the
address, whereas it is on the second line along with the postal code in Germany. Presorted
mail in a wrong format may result in charges to the end user that significantly raise the
cost of the mailing.
IT'S A WRAP
LIVING THE HARLEY DREAM
D irect marketing and its various tactics have evolved from "junk mail" to a highly regarded,
effective means of marketing communication. This chapter has introduced you to these
new direct-marketing tactics along with the trends for the future.
The results of Harley's "Attainability" campaign were impressive, gathering a higher
than expected number of leads from the under-45-year-old category. The number of total
leads generated exceeded the previous year by 8 percent.
The campaign was deemed to be a resounding success based on a number of quantifi¬
able measurements:
• 81 percent of the leads were new to the Harley brand, and of this amount 38 percent
did not currently own a motorcycle and 43 percent were current or previously owners of
a competitive model.
• 62 percent were planning to purchase a motorcycle within the year.
• 60 percent were 44 years or younger.
Not only were the leads higher than expected, the conversion from simply being inter¬
ested to actually visiting a dealership and/or buying a Harley was higher than expected.
• 60 percent of the leads visited a Harley dealer as a result of the campaign.

• More than 1 2 percent purchased a Harley, which was more than double the objective.
• Of the leads that did not purchase, 65 percent indicated that they anticipated buying a
motorcycle in the future.
Finally, the campaign was determined to be highly cost-effective with the return on invest¬
ment estimated at $1 : $17. In other words, for every dollar invested in the campaign, $17
dollars were received in sales.
Most importantly, the campaign reversed the trend of diminishing numbers among
younger buyers. These were the results that led the "Attainability" campaign to be selected as
an EFFIE winner and as a DMA Echo Award winner.
■ ■■Summary
1. Define and distinguish between direct marketing and catalogs, telemarketing, print media, broadcast media, and
direct-response advertising. Direct marketing always the Internet.
involves a one-on-one relationship with the prospect. It is 5. Explain how databases are used in direct marketing.
personal and interactive and uses various media to effect a Direct-marketing advertising has benefited from the devel¬
measurable response. Direct-response advertising can use opment and maintenance of a database of customer names,
any advertising medium, but it has to provide some type of addresses, telephone numbers, and demographic and psy¬
response or reply device to facilitate action. chographic characteristics. Advertisers use this information
2. Explain types of direct marketing. The direct-marketing to target their campaigns to consumers who, based on
industry includes direct-response advertising, database demographics, are likely to buy their products
marketing, direct mail, catalog, and telemarketing. 6. Discuss the role of direct marketing in integrated mar¬
3. Name the players in direct marketing. The four players keting programs. Because direct marketing is close to the
in direct marketing are the advertisers, the agencies, the customer and is interactive, it fits very well into an inte¬
media, and the consumers. grated program. Direct marketers are accustomed to linking
4. Evaluate the various media that direct-response pro¬ the channels of communication and delivering the same
grams can use. Direct-response media include direct mail. message using multiple sources that reinforce one another.
bind-ins, 440 data-driven communication, integrated direct marketing one-step offer, 427
blow-ins, 440 430 (IDM), 444 outbound telemarketing, 438
broadsheets, 436 direct mail, 435 integrated relationship permission marketing, 443
call centers, 438 direct marketing (DM), 423 marketing, 444 predictive dialing, 438
catalog, 437 direct-response advertising, lead generation, 424 prospecting, 425
cold-calling, 438 424 learning relationship, 431 purging, 429
compiled list, 430 fulfillment, 427 lifetime customer value response list, 430
controlled media, 427 house list, 430 (LCV), 444 spam, 443
customer relationship inbound telemarketing, lists, 429 spoofing, 443
management (CRM), 432 438 list brokers, 429 telemarketing, 438
databases, 428 merging, 429 two-step offer, 427
database marketing, 428
1. What principle, or objective, separates direct-response from 4. Describe the four types of agencies involved in direct
other types of advertising? marketing.
2. What are the five steps in the direct-marketing process? 5. What are the five tools used in direct-marketing programs?
3. What is a database, and how do direct marketers use it? 6. How is integrated direct marketing used in an IMC
program?
1. Most people hate telemarketing. Say you work for the local 4. One of the smaller, privately owned bookstores on campus
campus environmental organization. How could you con¬ is considering a direct-response service to cut down on its
duct a campus and community telemarketing effort that severe in-store traffic problems at the beginning of each
would not generate resistance? How would you develop a semester. What ideas do you have for setting up some type
telemarketing program to promote campus fund-raising? of direct-response system to take the pressure off store
Would it be better to solicit money directly or indirectly by traffic?
having people attend specially designed events? Your pri¬ 5. How does the recent fervor surrounding personal privacy
mary targets are students, faculty, and staff. affect direct marketing—specifically, telemarketing? In
2. We know that copy and illustration are vital parts of a suc¬ addition to legal issues, what consumer issues must media
cessful direct-mail campaign, but there must be some priori¬ planners consider when designing a direct-marketing
ties. All of the components of creativity are important, but campaign?
which are most important for direct-response creativity? 6. The success of infomercials helps validate direct marketing
What principles drive message design for direct marketing? as a revenue generator. What characteristics of a product
3. Hildy Johnson, a recent college graduate, is interviewing must you consider when determining whether to use a
with a large garden-product firm that relies on television for direct-marketing campaign? An infomercial?
its direct-response advertising. “Your portfolio looks very 7. Amazon.com is one of the most-well-known direct mar¬
good. I’m sure you can write,” the interviewer says, “but let keters on the Internet. Browse the company’s Web site and
me ask you what is it about our copy that makes it more identify what direct-marketing strategies the company
important than copy written for Ford, or Pepsi, or employs. Which do you think are the most successful?
Pampers?” What can she say that will help convince the Why? Which are the least effective? Why? What does
interviewer she understands the special demands of direct- Amazon expect to gain from direct marketing?
response writing?
1. Divide the class into groups. Each group should select a consumer product that normally is
not sold through direct marketing, but could be. Create a direct-marketing campaign for
this product. Be sure to specify your objectives and indicate the parts of the offer as well as
the medium used. Develop a mockup of some of the campaign’s pieces that illustrates your
ideas about message design.
2. Visit a few direct-marketing organizations online such as: The Direct Response Forum,
Inc., www.directresponse.org; Direct Marketing Association, www.the-dma.org; and Direct
Marketing News, www.dmnews.com. Pick an issue that, judging from these sites, is a
threat to direct marketing. Explain what you, as a direct-marketing team, would do to over¬
come this threat.
_ HANDS-ON |t|
I Won't Be Calling, But Let's Talk: °A s
Telemarketers Respond to the Do-Hot-Call Registry
It's a good bet that most consumers would rank telemarket¬ Several companies have taken a fresh look at what
ing near the bottom of their list of favorite ad appeals. So might be considered an even more intrusive strategy for
when Congress proposed legislation for creating a building customers: "door-to-door" sales efforts. Door-to-
Federal Do-Not-Call Registry, which would make it illegal door selling has declined over the years in response to
for companies to call people who choose to "opt out" of demographic changes like dual-working couples and
telemarketing calls, there was broad public support. The gated communities. But businesses that formerly relied on
legislation passed in October 2003 and a year later tele¬ the phone are finding that knocking on front doors can
marketers lost a Supreme Court appeal to declare the list also be successful. Cable company Comcast found that by
unconstitutional. going door-to-door in 2004 it was able to win back
The years leading up to the creation of the Registry 40,000 customers from its competitors. AT&T also sent
were ones of phenomenal growth for telemarketing. In people door-to-door after intensively training salespeople
2002 alone, telemarketers spent $80 billion and placed to avoid such no-no's as tramping dirt on hallway carpets
16 million calls. This effort yielded $274 billion in sales, or asking to use homeowner bathrooms. Newspapers
up from just $10 billion in 1980. But telemarketing's phe¬ have used door-to-door to build circulation, and have tried
nomenal success may have helped to create its own down¬ to turn a problem into an opportunity: The Do-Not-Call
fall. Andy Orr, a newspaper circulation consultant, sug¬ Registry, says National Association of Newspapers vice
gests that Congress stepped in after consumers had had president John Murray, "is forcing people to do what they
enough. "After the 1980s everyone got on the [telemar¬ should have done long ago: balance multiple sales
keting] bandwagon and consumers began to feel sources."
assaulted. Then, computerized dialing machines came on Other companies have found ways to legally telemar¬
the scene and became a nuisance. To protect themselves, ket by taking advantage of gaps in the law. Companies
people began paying for caller ID, they demanded that can still legally phone individuals with whom they have an
companies develop internal do-not-call lists and they lob¬ "existing relationship," which in practice means the con¬
bied for legislation to create statewide registries." sumer has bought a service and/or product or has con¬
The Registry has proven immensely popular; as of tacted the company within the previous 1 8 months.
early 2005 more than 63 million Americans have signed Individuals in the Registry can also give up their immunity
up to "opt out" of telemarketing calls. Each call made to if they subsequently agree to let marketers contact them. A
someone registered on the list can be punishable with a company called CoolSavings, based in Chicago, takes
fine of up to $11,000. Phone services giant AT&T received advantage of this Registry "loophole" by gathering infor¬
unwanted publicity when the FCC accused it of contacting mation from visitors to third-party Web sites who indicate
people on the Registry just two days after it went into effect. they would be receptive to offers. CoolSavings makes
The company eventually settled by agreeing to pay a fine money by then selling the contact information to compa¬
of close to half a million dollars. Shortly thereafter AT&T nies that can now safely call the newly "unregistered"
decided to discontinue all telemarketing activities. individuals.
In the time since its passage it appears the Registry And figuring that a carrot always beats a stick when it
has affected telemarketers in different ways. For some comes to relationship building, Coke, the Weather
organizations the new law has meant little; groups such as Channel, and Proctor & Gamble are all hoping they can
charities and political organizations are exempted. Other convince cell phone users to call them. P&G supports its
companies, which used telemarketing as a small compo¬ "Herbal Essences" brand by offering young cell phone
nent of their marketing mixes, have shifted their spending users branded content, including downloadable music
elsewhere without much effect. But a few companies have and pictures. Callers can also use the Herbal Essences
been unable to replace telemarketing as a tool for building mobile Web site to play games and send messages. The
business. AT&T, MCI, Scholastic, and Gannett all publicly bill for all of this activity is paid by the cell phone user who
blamed financial losses in 2004 on their inability to mar¬ is charged by his or her carrier. Sometimes it really is bet¬
ket via the phone. ter when they call you.
Consider This
O-
1. Analyze why telemarketing is simultaneously an
Source: Yuki Noguchi, "New Ad Frontier: Cell Phones. Marketers Bet Consumers Will Ask
effective way to market and yet is widely disliked by
for Text Messages," MSNBC News, November 7, 2003, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/
many consumers. 3403665/; Jim Edwards, "A Year After Do Not Call, Some Hangups Remain,"
2. Could the telemarketing industry have prevented the Brandweek (October 4, 2004): 9; Anne Lallonde, "Telemarketing's Aftermath: Circulation
Executives Seek and Find New Ways to Make the Sale," Newspaper Association of
Do-Not-Call Registry? Or was it inevitable that legis¬
America, January 23, 2004, http://www.naa.org/artpage.cfm?AID=5917&SID=541;
lators would step in? "Justices Uphold "Do Not Call" Registry," New York Times (October 5, 2004): C2; Jane
3. Can you think of products or services about which Spencer, "Ignore That Knocking: Door-fo-Door Sales Make a Comeback," Wall Street
Journal (April 30, 2003): D. 1; Brian Steinberg, Suzanne Vranica, and Yochi Dreazen,
many people would not mind being contacted either " 'Do Not Call' Registry Is Pushing Telemarketers to Plan New Pitches," Wall Street Journal
by phone or in person by a salesperson? (July 2, 2003): Al.
Sales Promotion
Events, and Sponsorships
CHAPTER KEY POINTS

1. Explain the principles that drive the use of sales promotion and
discuss why advertisers are spending increasing sums of money
on sales promotion.
2. List and explain the use of various consumer promotions.
3. Summarize the types and purposes of trade promotions.
4. Describe the use of other types of promotions: sponsorships,

specialties, interactive promotions, loyalty programs, and co-
marketing programs.
History's Lost and 5. Explain the strategic use of promotions in marketing, in terms
of brand building, new-product launches, integration, and
Found Auction Block effectiveness.
Marketer:
The History Channel
Agency:
Clarion Marketing
Award:
W e've introduced you to the EFFIE awards program, as
well as the Echo awards for direct marketing. This chap¬
ter's story focuses on the winner of a REGGIE award,
given in the sales promotion industry. The History
2004 REGGIE® Bronze Channel, a member of the A&E Television Networks, is a core cable
New Media Promotion
network that reaches more than 79 million subscribers throughout
the United States. In only its seventh year of operation, the History
Promotion:
"History's Lost and Found" Channel's proprietary "Where the Past Comes Alive" positioning
and unique, award-winning programming have catapulted it into the
top echelon of television networks.
History's Lost and Found is the network's wild scavenger hunt
through history that tracks down long-lost objects and artifacts that
451
have significantly changed the world. Focusing on everyday personal objects

that truly bring history to life, the show weaves amazing stories of history's most
compelling people, places, and events.
The objectives of "History's Lost and Found Auction Block" were to: (1)
develop a model of convergence of television and new-line media by integrat¬
ing programming content with the Internet; (2) provide a unique and entertain¬
ing experience within an auction format to create the opportunity to "own a
piece of history"; (3) develop a strategic alliance with a major auction site to
maximize exposure and awareness of the History Channel; (4) drive History's
Lost and Found viewership and broaden the channel's audience; (5) drive traf¬
fic to the channel's Web site; and (6) maintain and enhance the integrity and
significance of the History Channel brand into a global online collectors' mar¬
ketplace.
The History Channel forged a strategic marketing alliance with eBay, the
world's largest online person-to-person trading community. Important to the part¬
nership was the fact that eBay owns Butterfields Auction House, which was able
to research, procure, and authenticate all auction items that were part of this
programming and promotion alliance.
A new segment of History's Lost and Found, "Auction Block" was featured
at the beginning of each week, when show hosts introduced an item, detailed its
historical significance, and opened the bidding. Viewers were directed to the
eBay and History Channel Web sites to view and bid on the featured item as
well as to preview future auction items. For the balance of the week, viewers
were reintroduced to the item and kept abreast of the latest bid. The Friday
show concluded the auction, revealed the winning bid, and previewed the fol¬
lowing week's item. During the nine-month promotion, auctioned items included
a letter signed by "Buffalo Bill" Cody, a kamikaze pilot's helmet, a book typeset
by Benjamin Franklin, and John F. Kennedy's briefcase.
"History's Lost and Found Auction Block" was promoted on eBay via online
merchandising, a History Channel button on its home page, banners, a gallery
page with a tune-in message, AOL placement, and e-mail sent to its database.
Off-line merchandising included direct mailings to Butterfields' customers, inclu¬
sion in Butterfields' catalog, a publicity campaign, and promotion to eBay
power sellers.
The History Channel supported the promotion with on-air programming,
which featured eBay significantly in the "History's Lost and Found Auction
Block" segment. Additional on-air promotions included tune-in spots and a call
to action encouraging visits to the eBay Web site. More than 2,000 spots
aired during the life of the promotion. The promotion was so successful it won
a Reggie award from the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA). The results
of this effort will be described later in the It's a Wrap feature at the close of
this chapter.
Source: “Reggie Awards Case Studies: History’s Lost and Found Auction Block,” Promotion Marketing Association Inc., http://
www.pmalink.org/awai-ds/reggie/2002reggie winners3.asp; “Vintage Clothes Can Be Worth Thousands,” CNN Saturday ’
Morning News, May 12, 2001, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/o0105/19/smn. 12.html.
CHAPTER 16 • SALES PROMOTION, EVENTS, AND SPONSORSHIPS 453
The History Channel’s scavenger hunt through history is an example of an award-winning

promotion that captivated viewers and involved them personally in building the History
Channel into a powerful new media brand. This chapter is about the fun, creative, and
exciting ideas that the sales promotion industry uses to spur action and build strong brand
relationships. In this chapter we will explain the difference between consumer and trade
promotions, as well as other programs—such as loyalty programs, tie-ins, and sponsor¬
ships—that cross the line between advertising and promotion. First let’s discuss the con¬
cept and basic principles of sales promotion.
THE PRACTICE OF SALES PROMOTION

Whenever a marketer increases the value of its product by offering an extra incentive to
purchase a brand or product it is creating a sales promotion, which is the subject of this
chapter. In most cases the objective of sales promotion is to encourage action, although
promotion (we will use the word promotion to refer to sales promotion) can also help build
brand identity and awareness, as the History Channel case illustrated. Similar to advertis¬
ing, sales promotion is a type of marketing communication. Although advertising is
designed to build long-term brand awareness, sales promotion is primarily focused on cre¬
ating action.
As sales promotion has evolved, so too has the way experts define it. In 1988 the
American Marketing Association (AMA) offered this definition of sales promotion:
“media and nonmedia marketing pressure applied for a predetermined, limited period of
time in order to stimulate trial and impulse purchases, increase consumer demand, or
improve product quality.”1 More recently, the Council of Sales Promotion Agencies offered
a somewhat broader definition: “Sales promotion is a marketing discipline that utilizes a
variety of incentive techniques to structure sales-related programs targeted to consumers,
trade, and/or sales levels that generate a specific, measurable action or response for a prod¬
uct or service.”2
Let’s examine the latter definition. First, it acknowledges that consumers are an
important target for promotions, but so are other people, such as the company’s sales rep¬ Principle
resentatives and members of the trade (distributors, retailers). Second, the definition rec¬ Sales promotion is primarily
ognizes that sales promotion is a set of techniques that prompts members of three target designed to motivate people to
audiences—consumers, sales representatives, and the trade (distributors, retailers, deal¬ act by offering incentives.
ers)—to take action, preferably immediate action. Simply put, sales promotion offers an
extra incentive to act—usually in the form of a price reduction—but it also may be addi¬
tional amounts of the product, cash, prizes and gifts, premiums, special events, and so on.
It may also be just a fun brand experience, as the History Channel’s “Lost and Found” pro¬
motion illustrates. Although an action response is the goal of most sales promotions, some
programs, such as the History Channel campaign, are designed to build awareness first, but
always with action as the ultimate goal.
Changes in the Promotion Industry

Until the 1980s, advertising was the dominant player in the marketing communication
arena. But during the 1980s more marketers found themselves driving immediate bottom-
line response through the use of sales promotion. As a result, in the 1980s and particularly
in the 1990s the budget share switched from 60 percent advertising and 40 percent sales
promotion to the reverse: 40 percent advertising and 60 percent sales promotion. That
trend reversed again in the late 1990s as the dot-com companies spent huge sums on adver¬
tising to establish their brands. Even though the promotion industry continued to grow,
with spending increasing 8.1 percent, that growth rate was slower than that of advertising,
which saw spending increase by 9.8 percent in the early 2000s.3 The industry has contin¬
ued to grow and in 2003 the growth rate was 9.7 percent for a total sales promotion expen¬
diture of $288.3 billion.4
A Promo magazine report found that “the migration of marketing dollars away from
media advertising gained steam in 2003.” Of the total spent on advertising and sales pro¬
motion in 2003, 28.5 percent was spent on consumer promotion and 17.5 percent on
consumer media advertising. The remaining 54 percent was spent on trade promotions. So
over the years, advertising and sales promotion have been battling for their share of the
marketing communication budget but sales promotion, particularly trade promotion, is
now winning that budget battle.
The accompanying table lists consumer sales promotion categories and their percent¬
age of the marketing communication mix as collected by Promo magazine for 2003/’ Retail
merchandising led the way at 35.3 percent, followed by couponing and co-marketing activ¬
ities. We’ll be explaining all these categories and tools in the discussion that follows.
Brands Spent Most On ...

Retail merchandising 35.3
Couponing 31.3
Co-marketing 31.3
Promotional ads 30.2
Trade shows 29.4
Event marketing 27.8
Entertainment tie-ins 27.1
Games, contests, sweepstakes 25.3
Interactive (online and phone) 23.9
P-o-P (in-store displays) 23.7
Premiums, incentives, ad specialities 20.1
Loyalty marketing programs 18.8
Note: Three responses allowed, so does not total 100%
Source: Adapted from "Upward Bound," Promo, April 1, 2004,

http://promomagazine.com/mag/marketing upward bound/index.html.
Reasons for the Growth of Sales Promotion

Why are companies spending more money on sales promotion? The chief reasons are the
pressure for short-term profits and the need for accountability for marketing communica¬
tion efforts. Sales promotions are relatively easy to evaluate in terms of their impact on
sales, as the Matter of Practice box illustrates. There are also consumer factors.
In terms of accountability, most U.S. companies focus on immediate profits, a drive
that sales promotion satisfies. Product managers are under pressure to generate quarterly
sales increases. Because advertising’s benefits are often more apparent in the long term,
companies invest more money in sales promotion when they want quick results.
Advertisers also cite economic reasons for the shift. Traditional media costs have esca¬
lated to the point where alternative types of media must be considered. As the networks
raised their advertising prices, the networks’ share of prime-time television viewers has
dropped dramatically. Advertisers, therefore, are exploring marketing communication
forms that cost less and produce immediate, tangible results. Sales promotion is able to
deliver these results.
Another reason for sales promotion’s accountability is that it is relatively easy and
Principle quick to determine whether a sales promotion strategy has accomplished its objectives
Sales promotion reduces the risk because there is usually an immediate response of some kind.
of trying a new product by giving From the consumers’ perspective, sales promotion reduces the risk associated with a
something of added value to purchase by giving them something of added value such as a coupon, rebate, or discounted
motivate action.
price. Promotions typically offer the consumer added value, or “more for less,” as a Diet
Coke ATM card promotion illustrates. Developed in conjunction with MasterCard
International, it used ATM cash cards to reward consumers for buying Coke.
Other reasons for the move to sales promotion match changes in the marketplace,
such as these:
Consumer Behavior. Shoppers today are better educated, more selective, and less
loyal to brand names than in the past, which means they are more likely to switch
brands.
• Pricing. Consumers have come to expect constant short¬

term price reductions such as coupons, sales, and price
promotions.
• Market Share. In most industries, the battle is for market
share rather than general product growth. Sales promotion
encourages people to switch products, increasing market
share.
• Parity Products. Sales promotion is often the most effective
strategy for increasing sales of a parity product when the
products in the category are largely undifferentiated. When
products are similar, promotions become the tie-breaker in
the consumer’s decision making.
• The Power of the Retailer. Dominant retailers, such as Here’s something you don’t see every day: Top brand
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Categories of Sales Promotion PeamsVision

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The most common sales promotion strategies target the three

audiences of promotions: consumer, trade, and sales force. The
first two—customer sales and trade support—have direct impli¬
cations for advertising and are the focus of this chapter. In the
third category, sales-force promotions include two general sets of
promotional activities directed at the firm’s salespeople to moti¬
vate them to increase their sales levels. The first set of activities
This ad includes not only a price
includes programs that better prepare salespeople to do their jobs, such as sales manuals,
discount, but also several other
training programs, sales presentations, and supportive materials (training films, slides,
deals to encourage store visits.
videos, and visual aids). The second set of activities deals with promotional efforts or incen¬
tives that motivate salespeople to work harder. Contests dominate this category. We will
include contests as part of our trade promotion discussion, but first we examine consumer
promotions.
Consider This
1. Why is sales promotion a growth area?
2. What are the three general types or categories of sales promotion?
CONSUMER PROMOTIONS
Although trade promotion claims the greatest percentage of the promotion budget, we’ll
start with consumer promotions because it is the most familiar to most people. Consumer
sales promotions are directed at the ultimate user of the good or service. They are intended
to provide an incentive so that when consumers go into a store they will look for a par¬
ticular brand. The primary strengths of consumer sales promotions are their variety and
flexibility.
Types of Consumer Promotions

There are many promotion techniques that a product manager can use and combine to meet
almost any objective. Sales promotion works for all kinds of businesses. Here’s a summary
of the most common types of consumer promotions.
• Price Deals. A popular sales promotion technique is a price deal, a temporary price
reduction or a sale price, as in the Pearle Vision and Amazon.com ads. There are four
common price deals: (1) A cents-off deal is a reduction in the normal price charged
for a good or service (for example, “was $1,000, now $500,” or “50 percent off’)
announced at the point of sale or through mass or direct

advertising; (2) Price-pack deals provide the consumer with
something extra through the package itself—a prize in a
cereal box, for instance; (3) Bonus packs contain additional
amounts of the product free when consumers purchase the
standard size at the regular price. For example, Purina Dog
Food may offer 25 percent more dog food in the bag; and
(4) Banded packs are more units of a product sold at a
lower price than if they were bought at the regular single¬
unit price. Sometimes the products are physically packaged
And the box said,
"Let me be free." together, such as bar soap and six-packs of soft drinks.
• Coupons. There are two general types of coupons, which
provide a discount on the price of a product: retailer and
manufacturer. Retailer-sponsored coupons can be redeemed
only at the specified retail outlet. Manufacturer-sponsored
,.. coupons can be redeemed at any outlet distributing the
product. They are distributed directly (direct mail, door-to-
door), through media (newspaper and magazine ads, free¬
standing inserts), in or on the package itself, or through the
retailer (co-op advertising). Manufacturers pay retailers a
fee for handling their coupons.
• Refunds and Rebates. A refund or rebate is a marketer’s
offer to return a certain amount of money to the consumer
who purchases the product. Sometimes the refund is a
check for a certain amount of money but other times it may
The Amazon.com ad seeks to be a coupon to encourage repeat use.
persuade consumers to buy Sampling. Allowing the consumer to try the product or service is called sampling.
more by giving free shipping Advertisers can distribute samples to consumers in numerous ways. Sampling tables,
on large orders. particularly for food products, can be set up in stores, such as Johnsonville Sausage
did with its Brown Sugar and Honey breakfast links. Small samples of products can
show up with newspapers and on house doorknobs, in doctors’ and dentists’ offices,
and, most commonly, through the mail. Advertisers can design ads with coupons for
free samples, place samples in special packages, or distribute samples at special in¬
store displays.
Contests and Sweepstakes. Contest and sweepstakes promotions create excitement by
promising “something for nothing” and offering impressive prizes. Contests require
participants to compete for a prize or prizes based on some sort of skill or ability.
Sweepstakes require only that participants submit their names to be included in a
drawing or other chance selection. A game is a type of sweepstake. It differs from a
one-shot drawing type of sweepstake because the time frame is longer, so it establishes
continuity requiring customers to return several times to acquire additional pieces
(such as bingo-type games) or to improve their chances of winning. There are legal as
well as ethical issues with contests, sweepstakes, and games. McDonald’s, for exam¬
ple, got burned in 2000 when its “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “Monopoly”
games turned into scams. One of the employees of the company hired to run the games
distributed winning game pieces to a network of accomplices. McDonald’s didn’t return
to game promotions until 2003, after it had developed strict security procedures.7
Premiums. A premium is a tangible reward for a particular act, usually purchasing a
product or visiting the point-of-purchase. Premiums are a type of incentive that work
by adding value to the product. Examples of premiums are the toy in Cracker Jacks,
glassware in a box of detergent, and a radio given for taking a real estate tour.
Premiums are either free or low in price. The two general types of premiums are
direct and mail. Direct premiums award the incentive immediately, at the time of pur¬
chase. There are four variations of direct premiums: (1) store premiums, given to cus¬
tomers at the retail site; (2) in-pack premiums, inserted in the package at the factory;
(3) on-pack premiums, placed on the outside of the package at the factory; and (4)
Brown Sugar and Honey: I Love Those Links!
Here's the problem. You work for Kerker, a Minneapolis-

based sales promotion company, whose client is
Johnsonville, maker of Brown Sugar and Honey breakfast
sausage links. The line has been around for a couple of
years without much promotional support and no one
knows about it. The flavor wins raves, but how do you get
consumers to try it? The relaunch of the new flavor was
complicated by several factors:
1. Johnsonville is better known for its bratwurst line even

though it has had a breakfast line for years.
2. The window of opportunity for ownership of this new
flavor is small as the larger competitors are bound to
launch their own versions and the opportunity to be
first to market will be lost if the Johnsonville product
doesn't immediately establish itself.
3. Johnsonville is definitely a little guy in the breakfast
sausage category with distribution in only 60 percent
of the country, compared to 90 percent for competitors.
4. Johnsonville's hallmark product, bratwurst—a distinc¬
tive grilled dinner sausage with a German heritage
that's boiled in beer and eaten at tailgate parties in
football stadiums—doesn't carry over to the breakfast
sausage target. The grocery story sample line was the perfect venue
5. The much larger competing brands are filling the mar¬ for introducing this product to moms. Store sampling
ket with new packaging, two-for-one pricing strategies, implies newness and drives home the flavor and brand ID.
and eight times the media support in advertising. Plus, the campaign message "You all come back again
How can promotions be used most effectively in sup¬ and again" encourages repeat sales and helps lift the
port of this launch? How can a promotion gain trial, over¬ sales of the entire Johnsonville line.
come the noise in the category, and deliver a distinctive To support the sampling effort, spot television was
message that doesn't just say "new from Johnsonville"? used regionally to reach moms through intelligent, infor¬
The specific objectives were: mative entertainment programming. The campaign sched¬
ule emphasize key holiday weeks, as well as key shop¬
1. Increase trial: Increase Johnsonville Brown Sugar and ping days.
Honey breakfast sausage dollar sales by 10 percent The campaign won an EFFIE award because it deliv¬
and share by 2 points during a 12-week promotion ered on its objectives. The first objective—to drive trial of
period. the Brown Sugar and Honey links with a 10 percent sales
2. Lift the line: Increase total Johnsonville breakfast increase—resulted in a 74 percent sales increase from the
sausage sales by 20 percent and share by 5 points previous year. The performance was more than seven
during the 12-week promotion period. times the sales objective. The share objective, which pre¬
3. Build on success: Sustain sales and share increases dicted growth of 2 points, was reached when the share
beyond the promotion period. actually grew more than 3 points.
Objective #2 was to lift sales of the entire Johnsonville
The primary target audience was identified as women
breakfast sausage line by 20 percent. The actual sales
age 35-54 who are current Johnsonville breakfast
increase was 31 percent and share increased 8 points
sausage users. The goal was to get current users to
(the objective was 5 points).
increase purchase volume and frequency, not just to trade
The third objective focused on sustained success
their current Johnsonville links for the new flavor.
beyond the promotional period and, in fact, satisfied cus¬
To grow Johnsonville's share of the market, the cam¬
tomers kept coming back for more. Three months after¬
paign would also need to convert users from other brands.
ward, Johnsonville became the number-one national brand
The secondary target was therefore younger women age
in dollar sales, proving that the promotion not only
25-35 who are consumers of competing breakfast
encouraged current users to buy more, but also attracted
sausages. The idea was that this audience is more likely to
new users to the brand.
switch brands and have younger children, who are often
big consumers of breakfast links. Source: 2003 EFFIE Brief, provided by Johnsonville and Kerker.
container premiums, in which the package is the premium. Mail premiums require
the customer to take some action before receiving the premium. A self-liquidating
premium usually requires that a payment be mailed in along with some proof of pur¬
chase before the customer receives the premium. The payment is sufficient to cover
the cost of the premium. Another type of mail premium requires the customer to save
coupons or special labels attached to the product that can be redeemed for merchandise.
• Specialties. Specialty advertising presents the brand’s name on something that is
given away as a reminder—calendars, pens and pencils, T-shirts, mouse pads, tote
bags, water bottles, and so forth. The ideal specialty is an item kept out in the open
where other people can see it, such as a coffee mug.
How to Use Consumer Promotions

To demonstrate the strategy behind the use of these tools in a new-product launch, let’s
suppose we are introducing a new corn chip named Corn Crunchies. Promotion is particu¬
larly useful to launch the corn chip because it has a number of tools designed to encourage
trial, but it can also be used later in the brand’s life to maintain or increase its share of mar¬
ket, as well as remind and reward its loyal customers.
Awareness Our first challenge is to create awareness of this brand, which is the real
strength of advertising and, you may remember from Chapter 5, the first step in consumer
decision making. However, sometimes awareness can be increased when advertising is
combined with an appropriate promotion to call attention to the brand name in order to get
people to try the product, as the Johnsonville Sausage case illustrated. Awareness-building
promotion ideas for this new corn chip might include colorful point-of-purchase displays,
sponsorship of a Corn Crunchies team, or a special event that will attract people in the tar¬
get market.
Trial Creating awareness will only take the product so far, however. Consumers must
also perceive Corn Crunchies as offering some clear benefit compared to the competition.
Sales promotion does this by arranging for experiences, such as special events where
people can try the product or see it demonstrated. Trial is one of sales promotion’s most
important objectives; however, the important thing is to get the right people—the targeted
audience—involved with the product. The Inside Story explains how a promotion was used
to target a select group for a test drive for a new car.
Sales promotion has other tools that lead to trial, such as sampling. An effective way
to get people to try Corn Crunchies is to give away free samples at events, in stores, or
through direct mail to the home. Sampling is an effective strategy for introducing a new or
modified product or for dislodging an entrenched market leader by enticing potential users
to try the product. As a general rule of thumb, retailers and manufacturers maintain that
sampling can boost sales volume as much as 10 times when used with a product demon¬
stration and 10 percent to 15 percent thereafter. Sampling is generally most effective when
reinforced on the spot with product coupons. Most consumers like sampling because they
do not lose any money if they do not like the product. To be successful, the product sam¬
pled must virtually sell itself with minimal trial experience.
Another way sales promotion can motivate people to try a new product like Corn
Crunchies is to offer a price deal: You try this product and we will give it to you cheaper
than the usual price. These price deals are usually done through coupons, refunds, rebates,
or premiums. Refunds and rebates are effective because they encourage consumers to pur¬
chase a product before a deadline. In addition, refunds stimulate sales without the high cost
and waste associated with coupons.
Coupons mainly encourage trial, induce brand switching, and reward repeat business.
The main advantage of the manufacturer’s coupon, such as those that run in consumer
magazines, is that it allows the advertiser to lower prices without relying on cooperation
from the retailer to distribute them. Announcements for cents-off deals include the package
itself and signs near the product or elsewhere in the store. Advertising for these deals
includes sales, flyers, newspaper ads, and broadcast ads.
■riii11 a lij
SIDE STORY
The Phaeton Test Drive Program at W Hotels
Jennifer Montague, Former Phaeton Manager, San Francisco Market
Currently National Accounts Director with Swivel Media, San Francisco
In 2003, Volkswagen, "the people's car," check-in to schedule a Phaeton shuttle ride or the opportu¬
made a bold move and introduced the nity to test-drive for up to four hours.
Phaeton, a luxury car to rival Mercedes, The initial direct-mail effort garnered an 1 1 percent
BMW, and Lexus. Recognizing that the response rate. The program goal over 16 weeks was
Phaeton was not a car for the masses (prices 1,400 test drives, and was exceeded by 38 percent on
start at $65,000), Volkswagen turned to Arnold Brand average, for a total of 1,933 test drives in four markets.
Promotions to develop an exclusive promotion to introduce Not only were numbers exceeded, but feedback from
the car to targeted prospects before it was available for Volkswagen prospects and W Hotel™ guests was over¬
purchase in the United States. Program objectives were to whelmingly positive. Both the program and car were
expose targeted drivers to the Phaeton; to increase aware¬ extremely well received, which generated buzz among
ness, consideration (willingness to consider the brand), consumers. More than 2,600 prospects and guests con¬
and traffic in the showroom; and to reach aggressive sales tacted a Phaeton dealer as a result of the program. Arnold
goals. Brand Promotions was recently honored for excellence
The Phaeton Experience incorporated a number of dif¬ and innovation in promotional marketing at the annual
ferent marketing communication elements to interest con¬ meeting of the Promotional Marketing Association in
sumers and entice them to test-drive. At the cornerstone of Chicago. The Phaeton Test Drives at W Hotels™ Program
the program was a partnership with the W Hotels™. took home the gold Reggie Award in the "Local, Regional,
Volkswagen customers who were invited to take part in or Target Market Promotion (Budget over $ 1,000,000)."
this exclusive program came to the W Hotel in San Whether or not a luxury car from Volkswagen will be
Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York to receive accepted by the market remains to be seen. However, if
the Phaeton for an up to 4-hour test drive. The partnership this program's success is any indicator, then the chances
was a natural fit because the design philosophy behind are indeed good!
the Phaeton and VW's approach to luxury were consistent
with the W Hotels™ brand. This relationship would help Jennifer Montague, who received an IMC master's degree from the University
build the foundation for the public's perception of VW as a of Colorado, was the former Phaeton manager for the San Francisco market,
luxury brand. As part of the partnership, VW customers before moving to Swivel Media in San Francisco where she is National
Accounts Director.
were offered a special "Phaeton Rate" at the Hotel and W
Hotel™. VIPs and preferred guests were invited upon Nominated by Professor Sandra Moriarly, University of Colorado.
Maintain or Increase Market Share In addition to encouraging trial of a new

product, another purpose of price deals is to convince prospective users to switch from an
established competing brand, such as Doritos in the Corn Crunchies case. Later, after the
Corn Crunchies brand is established, a price deal can be used to reward loyal users in order
to encourage their repeat business. Price deals are particularly effective in those situations
where price is an important factor in brand choice or if consumers are not brand loyal.
To maintain a brand’s presence or increase its market share after it is launched, mar¬
kets use promotional tools such as coupons, premiums, special events, and contests and
sweepstakes. The Blue Bunny brochure was used as a Sunday newspaper supplement. It
features the entire Indulge line of low-carb and low-fat products, as well as coupons to
encourage trial.
In addition to serving as a reward for buying a product, premiums can enhance an
advertising campaign or a brand’s image. Characters like the Campbell Soup Kids, Tony
the Tiger, Cap’n Crunch, and Ronald McDonald are used on premiums, such as soup or
cereal bowls, to reinforce the consumer’s association of the brand with the character.
Cereal manufacturers are among the biggest users of in-pack premiums as reminder
devices. Kellogg distributed millions of special anniversary promotions across its Corn
The Blue Bunny brochure

uses strong appetite appeal in
its visuals to emphasize the
good taste of its low-carb
and low-fat products.
Flakes, Rice Krispies, and Froot Loops brands to celebrate the company’s ninetieth
anniversary. The cereal boxes offered consumers commemorative Matchbox trucks, uten¬
sils, and other collectible items. In addition, Kellogg’s Special K cereal teamed with
Reebok and Polygram to offer an on-pack, special-edition Reebok Versa Training exercise
video; and a recipe and coupon offer good for free Sun Maid Dried Fruit appeared on
packages of Kellogg’s Low Fat Granola cereal. All of these special promotions were
designed to increase excitement for the anniversary event.
Brand Reminder In addition to new-product launches, promotions are also used in

the reminder stage. This means that you change advertising copy to remind customers
about the positive experience they had with the product, and use sales promotion to rein¬
force their loyalty with coupons, rebates, and other rewards. After the initial purchase we
want the customer to remember the brand and repeat the purchase, so specialty items, such
as a Corn Crunchies snack bowl, can serve as a brand reminder. Specialty advertising
serves as a reminder to the consumer—a reminder to reconsider the product. Specialties
also build relationships, such as items given away as new-year or thank-you gifts (the cal¬
endar hanging in the kitchen). Advertisers use specialty items to thank customers for
patronage, to reinforce established products or services, and to generate sales leads.
TRADE PROMOTIONS
Consumer awareness and desire mean nothing unless Corn Crunchies is available where
the consumer thinks it should be. Somehow the trade must be convinced that the product
will move off the shelves. Marketers know that they must engage the trade in the program
if their consumer promotions are to be effective. In such programs, trade refers to all the Principle
people involved in the channel of distribution—buyers, brokers, distributors, wholesalers, Consumer promotion is of little
dealers, franchisees, retailers, and so on. use if the product isn't available
Typically companies spend more than 50 percent of their total promotion budget on where the consumer can find it.
promotions directed at the trade (distributors, dealers, retailers). The Promo magazine
2003 report mentioned earlier found that companies directed 54 percent to the trade or
channel market and 29 percent to the consumer market, which is to say that although con¬
sumer promotion is highly visible, trade promotion is more important as a marketing com¬
munication strategy. So let’s look at the types of trade promotion.
Types of Trade Promotion

Trade advertising directed at wholesalers and retailers provides trade members with informa¬
tion about the new product and its selling points. In addition, trade promotion techniques,
especially price discounts, point-of-purchase displays, and advertising allowances, motivate
retailers to provide shelf space for products and consumer promotions. Resellers (the inter¬
mediaries in the distribution channel) are the 1.3 million retailers and 338,000 wholesalers
who distribute the products manufacturers make. The Corn Crunchies manufacturer will be
more encouraged that the product is acceptable if resellers are willing to carry and push it.
Many promotional devices designed to motivate resellers to engage in certain sales activities
are available to the manufacturer. Here are the most common types of trade promotion tools.
• Point-of-Purchase Displays. A manufacturer-designed display distributed to retailers

who use it to call their customers’ attention to product promotions is known as a
point-of-purchase (POP) display. Another popular POP form is the merchandising
display, which retailers use to showcase their products and create a personality for
their stores. Although POP forms vary by industry, they can include special racks, dis¬
play cartons, banners, signs, price cards, and mechanical product dispensers, among
other tools (see Table 16.1).
• Retailer (Dealer) Kits. Materials that support retailers’ selling efforts or that help rep¬
resentatives make sales calls on prospective retailing customers are often designed as
sales kits. The kits contain supporting information, such as detailed product specifica¬
tions, how-to display information, and ad slicks—print ads that are ready to be sent to
the local print media as soon as the retailer or dealer adds identification, location, pro¬
motion price, or other information.
16.1 Types of POP Displays

Carton displays Banners
Floorstands Inflatables
Sidekicks Product dispensers
Counter units Chalkboards
Dump bins Mirrors and clocks
Kiosks Lightboxes
Literature holders Posters
Neon signs Decals
Menus and menuboards CD listening stations
Table tents Video units
Shelf talkers Motion units
Signs (metal, cardboard, wood, paper, plastic, etc.)
• Trade Incentives and Deals. Similar to consumer price deals, a manufacturer may
reward a reseller financially for purchase of a certain level of a product or support of a
promotion. These retailer promotional efforts can take the form of special displays, extra
purchases, superior store locations, or greater local promotion. In return, retailers can
receive special allowances, such as discounts, free goods, gifts, or cash from the manu¬
facturer. The most common types of trade deals are buying allowances for increasing
purchases and advertising allowances, which include deals on cooperative advertising
and display allowances—that is, deals for agreeing to use promotional displays.
• Contests. As in the case of consumer sales promotion, advertisers can develop contests
and sweepstakes to motivate resellers. Contests are far more common than sweep-
stakes, mainly because resellers find it easy to tie contest prizes to the sale of the spon¬
sor’s product. A sales quota is set, for example, and the retailer or person who exceeds
the quota by the largest percentage wins the contest.
• Trade Shows and Exhibits. The trade show is where companies within the same
industry gather to present and sell their merchandise, as well as to demonstrate their
products. Exhibits are the spaces that are designed to showcase the product.
How to Use Trade Promotion

The ultimate gauge of a successful trade promotion is whether sales increase. Trade pro¬
motions are primarily designed to get the cooperation of people in the distribution channel
and to encourage their promotion of the product to the consumer. Sales promotion brings
resellers to that point of conviction. There are two primary roles for a trade promotion:
• Trade Support. To stimulate in-store merchandising or other trade support (for exam¬
ple, feature pricing, superior store location, or shelf space).
• Excitement. To create a high level of excitement about the product among those
responsible for its sale.
In addition, trade promotion is also used to accomplish other marketing objectives, such as
manipulating levels of inventory held by wholesalers and retailers and expanding product
distribution to new areas of the country or new classes of trade.
Demand: Push-and-Pull Strategies As we said earlier, manufacturers hope to

see their trade partners push a product. To understand the role of trade promotion, consider
how sales promotion is used in push-and-pull strategies (see Figure 2.3). Consumer and
trade promotions interact through complementing push-and-pull strategies. If people really
want to try Corn Crunchies, based on what they have heard in advertising and publicity sto¬
ries, they will ask their local retailers for it, which is called a pull strategy: that is, by asking
for it they will pull the product through the distribution channel. Sometimes the advertising
and publicity are focused on a sales promotion, which can be used to intensify demand for
the product. By conducting a contest in conjunction with sampling, for example, we can
increase the pull of a promotion at the same time we get people to try the new product.
However, you might use a push strategy to push the product through the channel by
convincing (motivating or rewarding) members of the distribution network to carry Com
Crunchies. For example, we want grocery stores to not only carry them, but also allocate
good shelf space in the crowded chip aisle. Here are the most common types of incentives
and trade deals used with retailers as part of a push strategy.
• Bonuses. A monetary bonus (also called push money or spiffs) is paid to a store’s
salesperson based on the units that salesperson sells over a period of time. For exam¬
ple, an air-conditioner manufacturer might give salespeople a $50 bonus for the sale of
one model and $75 for a fancier model, within a certain time frame. When time is up,
each salesperson sends in evidence of total sales to the manufacturer and receives a
check for the bonus amount.
• Dealer Loaders. Loaders are premiums (comparable to a consumer premium) that a
manufacturer gives to a retailer for buying a certain amount of a product. A buying
loader rewards retailers for buying the product. Budweiser offered store managers a
free trip to the Super Bowl if they sold a certain amount of beer in a specified period
of time. Display loaders reward retailers by giving them the display after the promo¬
tion is over. For example, Dr Pepper built a store display for the July fourth holiday
that included a gas grill, picnic table, basket, and other items. The store manager was
awarded these items after the promotion ended.
• Buying Allowances. A manufacturer pays a reseller a set amount of money, or a dis¬
count, for purchasing a certain amount of the product during a specified time period.
• Advertising Allowances. The manufacturer pays the wholesaler or retailer a certain
amount of money to advertise the manufacturer’s product. This allowance can be a flat
dollar amount or it can be a percentage of gross purchases during a specified time
period.
• Cooperative Advertising. In a contractual arrangement between the manufacturer and
the resellers, the manufacturer agrees to pay a part or all of the advertising expenses
incurred by the retailers.
• Display allowance. A direct payment of cash or goods is given to the retailer if the
retailer agrees to set up the point-of-sale display. Before issuing the payment, the man¬
ufacturer requires the retailer’s signature on a certificate of agreement.
Attention Some trade promotions are designed not only to get the attention of the trade
members, but also to grab the attention of customers. POP displays, for example, are
designed to get the attention of shoppers when they are in the store and to stimulate
impulse purchases. They are used by retailers, but provided by manufacturers. As we
moved to a self-service retail environment in which fewer and fewer customers expect help
from sales clerks, the role of POP continues to increase. The Point-of-Purchase
Advertising International Association (POPAI) released a study that examined the effect of
various POP forms on sales. Topping the POP list were displays communicating a tie-in
with entertainment, sports, or charities.8
In addition to getting attention in crowded aisles and promoting impulse purchases,
marketers are designing POP efforts to complement other promotional campaigns. As part
of getting attention, retailers appreciate POP ideas that build store ambience.9 Club Med
designed a floor display for travel agents that featured a beach chair with a surfboard on
one side and a pair of skis on the other to show that Club Med has both snow and sun des¬
tinations. Advertisers must consider not only whether POP is appealing to the end user, but
also whether the trade will use it; retailers will use a POP only if they are convinced that it
will generate greater sales.
Motivation Most trade promotions are designed to motivate in some way trade mem¬
bers to cooperate with the manufacturer’s promotion. Incentives such as contests and trade
deals are used. If conducted properly with a highly motivating incentive or prize, contests
can spur short-term sales and improve the relationship between the manufacturer and the
Advertisers use POP displays to
reseller. They encourage a higher quantity of purchases and create enthusiasm among trade
call attention to a product and
members who are involved with the promotion. Trade incentive programs are used to stim¬
increase sales.
ulate frequency and quantity of purchase and encourage cooperation with a promotion.
Information Trade shows display products and provide an opportunity to sample and
demonstrate products particularly for trade buyers (people who buy for stores). The food
industry has thousands of trade shows for various product categories and the manufacturer
of Com Crunchies would want to make sure that there was an exhibit featuring the new com
chip at the appropriate food shows. Trade shows permit companies to gather information
about their competition. In an environment where all the companies are attempting to give a
clear picture of their products to potential customers, competitors can easily compare qual¬
ity, features, prices, and technology.
Consider This
o- 1. What is the difference between consumer and trade sales promotion?
2. What are the strengths of both consumer and trade promotions?
PROMOTIONS THAT CROSS THE LINES

So far we have looked at consumer sales promotions and trade promotions. But marketers
have other promotion techniques at their disposal. In this section, we focus on sponsor¬
ships, event marketing, interactive and Internet promotions, loyalty programs, and co-
marketing or partnership promotions. Many of these promotion techniques, such as
sponsorships and event marketing, blur the lines between promotions, advertising, and
public relations.
Sponsorships and Event Marketing

Sponsorships occur when companies support an event—say a sporting event, concert, or
charity—either financially or by donating supplies and services. Event marketing means
building a product’s marketing program around a sponsored event, such as the Olympics or
a golf tournament. Sponsorships and event marketing include: sports sponsorships (events,
athletes, teams); entertainment tours and attractions; festivals, fairs, and other annual
events; cause marketing (associating with an event that supports a social cause); and sup¬
porting the arts (orchestras, museums, etc). They typically cost a lot of money. Sponsors
for major golf tournaments, for example, are expected to invest between $6 million and
$8 million.10
Companies undertake sponsorships to build brand associations and to increase the
perceived value of the brand in the consumer’s mind. The important thing is that the event
must project the right image for the brand. That’s particularly important in troubled eco¬
nomic times when companies with budget problems find it hard to justify spending money
on glitzy events. Companies that use sponsorships focus their efforts on supporting causes
and events that matter most to employees and customers.11
Hundreds of companies sponsor NASCAR cars in order to not only reach those fans
but also link their brand to a winning car and driver. Johnsonville Sausage, for example, is a
co-sponsor of a car that features the brand name and logo on the car. But the sponsorship
also ties into the brand’s “Big Taste Grills” campaign and the car is displayed with a grill
strapped to its grille. IBM, General Motors, and Sony spend millions of dollars to be official
sponsors of the Olympics. Lipton sponsors golf tournaments. Texaco sponsors car races, and
Siemens sponsors international men’s tennis. These events also give sales representatives
the opportunity to interact with prospective and current customers in a social environment as
opposed to a less relaxed business setting, so it’s building the image and reputation of the
company, as well as supporting lead generation and customer-reward programs.
In an EFFIE award-winning promotion, the Marines elected to sponsor the ESPN
X-Games, as well as local related events. The idea was to use the “Xtreme” sports angle to
show the connection between the Marines and youths’ “can do” attitudes: The challenge of
becoming a Marine and the challenge of Xtreme sports push people to limits they did not
know they could reach. At the national level, the Marines sponsored ESPN’s X-Games and
X-Games Tour. In addition, a “Marines Xtreme” digital banner was placed on ESPN’s
“Sports Zone” home page and hot linked to the Marine Corps’ home page. “Sports Zone”
is a site their target age group visits often. On the local level, the Marine Corps sought to
use its larger-than-life image to engage prospects in an extreme challenge. It sponsored a
“Hoop Camp” as a 50-city, three-on-three basketball tournament. The Corps also spon¬
sored a “Chin-up Challenge” at fairs, concerts, and sporting events and produced an on-site
video so that attendees could learn more about becoming a Marine. All of these events got
prospective Marines involved with the Corps as part of its recruitment program.
Ambush marketing is the term given to promotional stunts used at events, such as
the Olympics and the soccer and rugby world cups, by companies that are not official
sponsors. Ambush marketing typically occurs when “one big brand is trying to dilute the
presence of a rival that is sponsoring an event, thus diminishing the return on the official
sponsor’s investment."12 In 2002 Nike, for example, ran its own soccer competition against
the World Cup whose official sponsor was Adidas. Because of the publicity, many con¬
sumers assumed Nike was the official World Cup sponsor.
The term event marketing describes the marketing practice of linking a brand to an
event, such as the Jose Cuervo beach volleyball tournament. Marketers use related promo-
tional events, such as a tour or the appearance of the product or its spokesperson at a mall
or sporting event, to gain the attention and participation of people in the target audience
who attend the event. The event showcases the brand, often with sampling, coupons, and
other incentives. Business-to-business promotions also use events to reach trade audiences,
which can include the sales staff, distributors, retailers, and franchisees. These stakehold¬
ers are invited to participate in the event as a reward for their support.
To be successful the event must match the brand to the target market’s lifestyle.
Johnsonville, for example, used the “World’s Largest Touring Grill,” the Johnsonville Big
Taste Grill, to reach NFL fans, who are big part of its bratwurst market. The Grill weighed
more than 53,000 pounds and extended to a length of 65 feet. It required its own semi¬
truck to haul it to each location where 12 grill masters cooked more than 750 brats at a
time, approximately 2,500 per hour.13 Reebok, immersed in lifestyle marketing, even has a
director of events marketing.
Other Promotional Support

Advertisers will use blimps, balloons, and inflatables—even skywriting planes—to capture
attention and create an aura of excitement at events. Everybody has probably heard of the
Goodyear blimp, but other companies such as MetLife, which uses characters from the
popular “Peanuts” comic strip in its advertising, has two blimps, Snoopy I and Snoopy II,
to connect with the corporate campaign and provide brand-reminder messages. Inflatables,
giant models of products, and packages are used at all kinds of events, including grand Giant inflatables, such as the
openings, sporting events, parades, trade shows, beaches, malls, and other places where Whipper Snapple Bottle by
Boulder Blimp, demand
they can make an impression for a new-product rollout. Giant inflatables, such as the
attention.
Whipper Snapple bottle, demand attention and provide an entertaining and highly memo¬
rable product presentation. Its effectiveness comes from its huge size and three-
dimensional shape.
Interactive and Internet Promotions

There are a number of ways that advertisers can use the Internet for sales promotion pro¬
grams, including sampling, sweepstakes and contests, price deals, and coupons. Internet
promotion is one of the hot areas of sales promotions with the highest level of client spend¬
ing increases (15.5 percent) in 2003 in the sales promotion industry.14 Many advertising cam¬
paigns include a campaign-dedicated Web site, such as the “microsite” designed as a tie-in
for Heineken and the Matrix movies. The site included an online merchandise sweepstakes.15
Sampling has been a mainstay of interactive promotions on the Internet. Some com¬
panies offer samples from their own home pages; however, most farm out the efforts to
online companies that specialize in handling sample offers and fulfillment. Some of these
online sampling companies are: freesampleclub.com, startsampling.com, freesamples
.com, and sampleville.com. There are also freebie portals such as amazingfreebies.com,
nojunkfree.com, and the freesite.com that have endless offers for gratis goodies.
Sampling over the Internet is not cheap for companies. Although traditional store sam¬
pling costs 17 cents per sample and event sampling runs about 25 cents per sample, online
sampling costs 75 to 90 cents.16 The reason for the high cost is the money it takes to set up
and run the Web site.
Sweepstakes and contests are effective promotional tools for driving people to mar¬
keters’ Internet sites. America Online has conducted numerous promotions to drive users to
its advertisers’ sites. One recent promotion gave visitors a chance to win a $1 million draw¬
ing, one of the dozens of daily prizes including merchandise emblazoned with the online
service’s logo. The results from Internet sweepstakes can be huge. According to Seth
Godin, president and founder of Yoyodyne, an online marketing and sweepstakes com¬
pany, “We basically say, if you give us permission to e-mail you information about a prod¬
uct or a site, we’ll give you a chance to win a house.” He explains, “We get a 36 percent
response rate every time we send an e-mail, which is about 30 times what you get with
direct mail marketing.” Steven Krein, president and chief executive of Webstakes, an
online sweepstakes company, says, “Sweepstakes, combined with the Internet’s direct
marketing tools, equals sweepstakes on steroids. You’re not just fdling in information on a
card. There’s so much more interaction, that’s why the results can be astronomical.”17
Some sites offer price promotions only to online purchasers. The promotions might
be discounted prices, rebates, or free offers such as frequent flier miles. Promo magazine
has found that consumers are more receptive to rebates online than offline."' Incentive pro¬
grams offered by online marketers CyberGold (www.cybergold.com), FreeRide Media
(www.freeride.com), Intellipost (www.bonusmail.com), MotivationNet (www.mypoints
.com), and Netcentives (www.clickrewards.com) offer discounts to customers who enroll
with them before buying from other merchants.
Coupons can be delivered via the Internet. Several sites have been designed for this.
Catalina’s ValuPage Web site (www.valupage.com) allows users to print coupons that they
can use at 7,000 supermarkets. The coupon is printed with a bar code and is used with the
shopper’s store card. If Corn Crunchies were to offer coupons this way, the site could link
the shopper’s Internet information with store card information, which the Corn Crunchies
brand manager could use in determining whether the coupon strategy was effective.
Loyalty Programs
Another type of program that crosses the line between advertising and promotion is fre¬
quency, or loyalty, programs. A loyalty program, also called a continuity or frequency
program (such as airline frequent flier programs), is a promotion to increase customer
retention. Marketers typically define loyalty programs as ones created to keep and reward
customers for their continued patronage, which is why they are called continuity programs.
Typically, the higher the purchase level, the greater the benefits. The Practical Tips box
lists the four mandates of loyalty programs.
q Practical Tips
Four Mandates of Loyalty Programs
]. Identify your best customers.

2. Connect with those best customers.
3. Retain the best customers, usually by rewarding them for their patronage.
4. Cultivate new "best customers."
Source: Vicki Gerson, "Marketer's Best Friend," Integrated Marketing and Promotion (March/April 1998): 35.
Today loyalty programs are synonymous with the wordfrequent. Frequent flier clubs,
created by United and American Airlines in 1981, are the model for a modern continuity
program. They offer a variety of rewards, including seat upgrades, free tickets, and premi¬
ums based on the number of frequent flier miles accumulated. Continuity programs work
in competitive markets in which the consumer has difficulty perceiving real differences
between brands. TGI Friday’s, for example, has used a “Frequent Friday’s’’ program with
several million members. Members receive 10 points for every dollar they spend in the
restaurant. Bonuses include 500 enrollment points and double, triple, and double-triple
points for special promotions. Members who accumulate 1,250 points receive a free appe¬
tizer and 5,750 points are good for a $15 dining certificate.
Marketers like membership programs because they also generate information for cus¬
tomer databases. The enrollment application at TGI Friday’s, for example, captures name,
address, telephone number, birth date, and average visit frequency. The database can also
record the restaurant locations, date, time, purchase amount, and items you ordered for
each visit. Marketers can then use this information to more specifically target customers
with promotions and advertising materials.
Partnership Programs
Another promotion tool that crosses the lines is the partnership program. Co-marketing is
where manufacturers develop marketing communication programs with their main retail
accounts, instead of for them. If done right, they strengthen relationships between manufac¬
turers and retailers. Co-marketing programs are usually based on the lifestyles and purchas-
ing habits of consumers who live in the area of a particular retailer. The partnership means
that the advertising and sales promotions build equity for both the manufacturer and the
retailer. For example, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart might develop a spring-cleaning
promotion directed at Wal-Mart shoppers that features P&G cleaning products sold at
reduced prices or with premium incentives.
Co-branding When two companies come together to offer a product the effort is
called co-branding. An example of co-branding is when American Airlines puts its logo
on a Citibank Visa card and awards AAdvantage points to Citibank Visa card users. Both
companies are equally present in the product’s design and promotion and both get to build
on the other company’s brand equity.
Licensing Legally protected brand-identity items, such as logos, symbols, and brand
characters, must be licensed: A legal contract gives another company the right to use the
brand-identity element. In brand licensing, a company with an established brand “rents”
that brand to other companies, allowing them to use its logo on their products and in their
advertising and promotional events. Fashion marketers such as Gucci, Yves St. Laurent, The PGA licenses the use of
and Pierre Cardin have licensed their brand names and logos for use on everything from its logo to other advertisers
fashion accessories to sunglasses, ties, linens, and luggage, and they do this because it who want to associate
makes them money and extends their brand visibility. The PGA Tour is a golf brand that themselves with the PGA
Tour event and pros.
has become recognizable through an elaborate, integrated marketing campaign. Charles
Schwab, the financial investment house, has used the Tour logo as a part of its advertising.
This lets the company associate its brand with a golf event that has a lot of interest and pos¬
itive associations for their target audiences.
Tie-Ins Another type of cooperative marketing program is a tie-in, which is an effective

strategy for marketers using associations between complementary brands to make one-
plus-one equal three. For example, Doritos may develop a tie-in promotion with Pace salsa
in which bottles of salsa are displayed next to the Doritos section in the chip aisle (and vice
versa). The intention is to spur impulse sales. Ads are also designed to tie the two products
together and the sponsoring companies share the cost of the advertising. The biggest tie-in
deals are arranged around movies and other entertainment events. The movie series Lord of
the Rings was accompanied by a Burger King global marketing program at more than
10,000 of its restaurants where “Rings” characters toys were offered for sale or as prizes to
young customers. In an unusual tie-in, Victoria’s Secret launched its “bad girl” look called
the Rock Angel Collection by having models arrive at the retailer’s flagship Manhattan
store on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.19
The reason for the tie-in success stories is that brands can leverage similar strengths
to achieve a bigger impact in the marketplace. Typically, marketers align themselves with
partners that provide numerous complementary elements, including common target audi¬
ences, purchase cycle patterns, distribution channels, retailer penetration, and demograph¬
ics to drive their products and promotions through retail channels and into the minds of
consumers.
Consider This
o 1. Identify all the different promotional tools used in the History Channel's "Lost
and Found" promotion.
2. Why do we say that sponsorships and loyalty programs cross the line
between advertising and promotion?
PROMOTION STRATEGY
As we explained in Chapter 3, promotions are just one element of the marketing commu¬
nication mix available to marketers. Here we discuss the strategy behind the use of promo¬
tions, as well as how advertising and promotions complement each other, particularly in
building brands.
Promotion Objectives
Our earlier discussion of the use of promotion identified a number of reasons for using pro¬
motions and these can easily be translated into objectives; many of the reasons focused on
the use of promotions in a new-product launch, and how that can deliver trial. Promotions
can offer consumers an immediate inducement to try or buy a product, often simply by
making the product more valuable. Sales promotion can make consumers who know noth¬
ing about the brand develop awareness and trial, as well as persuade them to buy again
once they’ve tried it. It can push the product through the distribution channel by generating
positive brand experiences among resellers and buyers in many places along the channel
and purchase continuum.
In addition to helping introduce a new product and create brand awareness, promo¬
tions can build a brand over time by reinforcing advertising images and messages.
Promotions can create an affinity between brands and buyers and provide new channels for
reaching audience segments. They can create brand involvement and positive experiences
that people associate with the brands.
There are other things that promotions cannot do very effectively. Promotions alone
cannot create an image for a brand, for example. They cannot do much to change negative
attitudes toward a product, overcome product problems, or reposition a brand. Brand build¬
ing, however, is an interesting challenge to promotion, so let’s look at it in more depth.
The Issue of Brand Building

For years there has been a heated debate concerning sales promotion and brand building.
Advertisers claim that the strength of advertising is creating and maintaining brand image
and that sales promotion’s price deals negate all their hard work by diverting the emphasis
from the brand to the price. The result, sales promotion critics complain, is a brand-
insensitive consumer. Consider McDonald’s, which has long based its image on everyday
value, one of the four pillars of McDonald’s marketing mantra: Quality, Service,
Cleanliness, and Value (QSC&V). Price promotions like a 99-cent Big Mac damage more
than its bottom line because the price promotion undercuts the value pillar. In other words,
if value is central to McDonald’s pricing, then it wouldn’t need to have special sale prices.20
Procter & Gamble’s division manager of advertising and sales promotion explains it
this way: “Too many marketers no longer adhere to the fundamental premise of brand
building, which is that [brand] franchises aren’t built by cutting price but rather by offer¬
ing superior quality at a reasonable price and clearly communicating that value to con¬
sumers. The price-cutting patterns begun in the early 1970s continue today, fostering a
short-term orientation that has caused long-term brand building to suffer.”21 Critics point
to a general decline in consumer brand loyalty as just one negative result of price-based
promotions.
The problem is that brand building is a long and time-consuming process of estab¬
lishing the brand’s core values. Promotion, whether a sale price, a premium, a coupon, or
some other incentive, is inherently short term, so the promotion can undermine the brand’s
established values if not handled carefully. But sales promotion experts argue that sales
promotion can help to build brand image. They refer to many cereal brands, rental car com¬
panies, airlines, and hotels that have used a variety of well-planned sales promotion strate¬
gies (like loyalty programs, for example) to enhance their brand images. Second, they
acknowledge that continuous promotion—particularly continuous price promotion—does
not work well with brand building, except for discount marketers, whose image is built on
the notion of sale prices.
According to one industry expert, the solution to the debate is to make advertising
more accountable and promotion more brand focused. He explained, “In isolation, neither
traditional advertising nor promotion can deliver the level of long-term image and profitable
volume-building that’s now required.”22 In other words, the advertising and promotion need
to work more closely together and, in particular, short-term campaigns shouldn’t be at odds
with one another, which is why there is a need for more integration in the planning of mar¬
keting communication programs.
Promotion integration
Advertising and promotion both contribute to the
effectiveness of a marketing communication plan,
primarily because they do different things and have
different objectives. In an effective plan, the two
work together, along with other marketing commu¬
nication tools, to accomplish the overall marketing
communication objectives.
The major differences between advertising
and sales promotion concern their methods of
appeal and the value they add to the sale of the
product or service. Advertising is primarily used to
create a brand image and high levels of brand
awareness over time; promotions are primarily
used to create immediate action. To accomplish
this immediate goal, sales promotion may rely
heavily on rational appeals, such as price deals. In
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appeals to promote the product’s image. In other 3 MUSKETEERS' Is incredibly light and fluffy.
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words, advertising tends to add intangible value- chocolate. Finally you can have great tasting chocolate
without worrying where it’s going to show up on your body.
brand personality and image—to the good or ser¬ www3mujket«*r$.<om
vice. Promotions add tangible value to the good or

service and contribute greatly to the profitability of
the brand. Table 16.2 summarizes the differences
between these two marketing tools in terms of their wketeers) 1.00 off
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primary orientations. ."
Some of the objectives that advertising and

promotion share include increasing the number of
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customers and increasing the use of the product of the leading chocolate brands.
by current customers. Both objectives attempt to

change audience perceptions about the product or
service, and both attempt to make people do
something. Of course, advertisers accomplish
This is a coupon that
these tasks in different ways. In most cases, advertising is needed to support promotions. encourages increasing the
Price deals, for example, are advertised as a way to build traffic in a store. Contests, quantity purchased.
sweepstakes, and special events won’t work if no one knows about them.
Another area needing cooperation and integration is the use of direct marketing to
announce a promotion. For example, we mentioned earlier that marketers often choose
direct mail when they want to deliver samples. An EFFIE-winning campaign by Sears titled
“Umpteen Appliances” combined direct mail with an advertising specialty mailed to the
home as part of its Home Central™ appliance repair service launch. The specialty was a
branded refrigerator magnet that provided a visible daily reminder of the new Sears brand of
16.2 The Differences between Advertising and Sales Promotion

Advertising Sales Promotion
Creates a brand image over time Creates immediate action
Relies on emotional appeals Added value strategies rely on rational
appeals; impulse appeals use emotion
Adds intangible value to the product Adds tangible value to the product or
or service through image service
Contributes moderately to short-term Contributes greatly to short-term
profitability profitability
appliance repair. This promotion was also supported with magazine advertising announcing
this value-added program and the idea of one simple phone number, 1-800-4-REPAIR.
In terms of the integration of promotion with other marketing communication activi¬
ties, Promo magazine conducted a survey23 in which it asked marketers how well sales
promotion was integrated into their overall marketing communication plan. More than 82
percent said it was a part of the integrated effort and 31 percent of those marketers said it
was the core component. In other words, most of them were planning promotion as part of
an integrated marketing communication program:
A component of our integrated marketing plan 51 %

The core component of our integrated marketing plan 31.4%
A separate program not integrated into the overall plan 13.7%
Promotion Effectiveness
Since promotions are so focused on action, it makes sense that sales is the primary measure
of their effectiveness. After all, they are called “sales promotions.” Response rate—con¬
sumers calling the company, sending back a card—is also important to sales promotion. So
are redemption rates, which are the rates at which people redeem coupons, refunds, and
rebates, which are used to evaluate the effectiveness of these promotional programs. All of
these will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 19.
An important dimension of sales promotion effectiveness that should be mentioned
here is payout planning. An example of poor payout planning comes from Maytag and an
ill-fated U.K. promotion. It was a simple offer: Customers in Great Britain and Ireland were
offered two free airline tickets to the United States or Continental Europe when they pur¬
chased at least $150 worth of Hoover products. Hoover planned to use the commissions it
made from land arrangements, such as hotel reservations and car rentals, to help pay for the
airline tickets. How did the promotion turn into a catastrophe? Unfortunately, the commis¬
sions were less than anticipated and the ticket demand was far greater. Maytag’s travel
agents began attaching unreasonable demands to the free tickets, expensive extras, inconve¬
nient airports, and undesirable departure dates to discourage acceptance of the offer. All
these strategies turned happy winners into complaining customers. In the aftermath, Hoover
fired three top executives and set up a $30 million fund to pay for the airline tickets.
The trade press is full of stories about poorly designed or performing promotions.
Such failures hurt companies’ reputations, waste money, and sometimes even hurt con¬
sumers. For example, in 2001, Burger King had to recall 400,000 toy boats given away
with kids’ meals after reports that children had been stuck with metal pins that came off the
boats too easily. That recall came a week after McDonald’s recalled a Happy Meal
“Scooter Bug” toy. In 1999 the fast-food industry reeled from the deaths of two infants
who suffocated from containers used in a Pokemon promotion. About 25 million of those
toys were recalled. So promotions that work can deliver sales to a company, but if they are
not well planned they can also negatively affect the brand’s reputation.
Consider This
1. Explain the debate over sales promotion and its impact on branding.
2. How do you determine whether a sales promotion is effective?
IT'S A WRAP
HISTORY CHANNEL FINDS A WINNING
PROMOTION IDEA
C onsumer sales promotions are directed at the ultimate user of the good or service. They
are intended to add value to a product, providing an incentive so that when consumers
go to a store they will look for a particular brand. Trade promotion is used to encourage
channel members to support a promotion and push a product. Both are designed to create an
immediate response.
The History Channel's "Lost and Found" promotion resulted in a significant increase in
viewership with a total of 16.9 million unique viewers watching History's Lost and Found in
the third quarter, which represented a 26 percent increase in total audience. "History's Lost
and Found Auction Block" generated more than 572 million online impressions worth an esti¬
mated $29 million. Featured on the Today Show and in Newsweek along with other media
coverage, the promotion achieved significant publicity, while generating more than 1 10 mil¬
lion impressions. Traffic to historychannel.com was boosted significantly, and the Lost and
Found section averaged 50,000 views per month during the promotion.
■ ■■Summary
1. Explain the principles that drive the use of sales promo¬ Sponsorship is used to increase the perceived value of a
tion and discuss why advertisers are spending increasing brand by associating it with a cause or celebrity. The pur¬
sums of money on sales promotion. Sales promotion pose of specialty advertising is to serve as a reminder.
offers an “extra incentive” to take action. It gives the prod¬ Internet promotions can be used to drive people to a spon¬
uct or service additional value and motivates people to sor’s Web page. Licensing “rents” an established brand to
respond. Sales promotion is growing rapidly for many rea¬ other companies to use on their products. Loyalty programs
sons. It offers the manager short-term bottom-line results; are designed to increase customer retention. Co-marketing
it’s accountable; it’s less expensive than advertising; it programs are designed to build stronger relationships
speaks to the current needs of the consumer to receive more between manufacturers and retailers.
value from products; and it responds to marketplace 5. Explain the strategic use of promotions in marketing in
changes. terms of brand building, new-product launches, inte¬
2. List and explain the use of various consumer promo¬ gration, and effectiveness. Promotion offers an incentive
tions. Sales promotions directed at consumers include to action and it stimulates trial, which is important in
price deals, coupons, contests and sweepstakes, refunds, launching a new product. In brand building it can reinforce
premiums, specialty advertising, continuity programs, and advertising images and messages and encourage or remind
sampling. Their purpose is to pull the product through the consumers to buy the brand again. It can be used to push or
distribution channel. pull a product through the distribution channel by creating
3. Summarize the types and purposes of trade promotions. positive brand experiences. Interactive promotions are
Sales promotions directed at the trade include point-of- more involving. Sales promotion is used with advertising to
purchase displays, retailer merchandising kits, trade shows, provide immediate behavioral action. It is effective when
contests, and price deals such as discounts, bonuses, and the return on the investment more than covers the cost of
advertising allowances. These are used to push the product the promotion.
through the channel.
4. Describe the use of other types of promotions: sponsor¬
ships, specialties, interactive promotions, licensing,
loyalty programs, and co-marketing programs.
A
■ ■ Key Terms
frequency program, 466 premium, 456 self-liquidator premium,
ad slicks, 461
licensing, 467 price deal, 455 458
ambush marketing, 464
loaders, 462 pull strategy, 462 specialty advertising, 458
co-branding, 467
loyalty (continuity, frequency) push strategy, 462 sponsorship, 464
co-marketing, 466
program, 466 rebate, 456 sweepstakes, 456
contests, 456
payout planning, 470 refund, 456 tie-ins, 467
continuity program, 466
point-of-purchase display sales promotion, 453 trade deal, 462
coupons, 456
(POP), 461 sampling, 456 trade show, 462
event marketing, 464
Review Questions
1. Define sales promotion and explain its primary contribution 4. What are the primary trade promotion tools?
to a marketing program. 5. What is the difference between sponsorships and event
2. List the primary tools of consumer promotions. marketing?
3. Why is trade promotion so important? 6. What’s the role of sales promotion in an integrated market¬
ing communication program?
■ ■ • Discussion Questions
1. You have just been named product manager for Bright strong misgivings about following the company trend.
White, a new laundry detergent that will be introduced to “This new line must create a consumer brand franchise,
the market within the next six months. Would you use a and promotion isn’t the best way to do that,” she thinks to
push or a pull strategy? Why? herself. How is sales promotion weak in building and
2. Tom Jackson’s marketing professor is covering some pro¬ maintaining a brand? Should Janice propose no promotion,
motion methods, explaining that in selecting the consumer or is there a reasonable compromise for her to consider?
sales promotion, planners must know the brand situation 4. Jambo Products’ promotion manager, Sean Devlin, is cal¬
and objectives before techniques are chosen. Some tech¬ culating the cost of a proposed consumer coupon drop for
niques tend to increase product use and others are used to March. The media cost of a free-standing insert for the
get new consumers to try the product. “Which methods coupon and production charges is $125,000. The distribu¬
belong with which objective and why?” the professor asks. tion will be 4 million coupons, with an expected redemp¬
How should Tom answer this question? tion of 5 percent. The coupon value is 50 cents, and Devlin
3. Janice Wilcox is a brand manager for a new line of eye cos¬ has estimated the handling and compensation to the store to
metics. She is about to present her planning strategy to divi¬ be 8 cents per redeemed coupon. Based on these estimates,
sion management. Janice knows her company has been suc¬ what will be the cost to Devlin’s budget?
cessful in using sales promotion plans lately, but she has
Class Projects
1. Look through your local newspaper and identify a retailer who is engaging in co-op adver¬
tising. Interview the store manager and determine the specific arrangements that exist
between the advertiser and the retailer. What is the attitude of the retailer toward this
arrangement? Write a two-page report.
2. Select a print ad for a national marketer. Redesign the ad, including the use of a consumer
sales promotion. Show both the before version and the after version to five people. Assess
whether the second version has increased their intention to buy.
3. Check the Web site for Camp Jeep® (www.jeep.com then type the “campjeep” keyword).
Explain how the event works to build and reinforce customer relationships. Find another
company that uses a special event to create a relationship-building program. Explain that
program and compare it to Camp Jeep. Which do you believe is the most effective special
event and why?
Upromise Uses Values Marketing to Pay for College cAs*

Most consumers are familiar with loyalty programs from There are benefits for participating Upromise spon¬
airlines, hotel chains, and car-rental companies. Airlines sors, too. Companies can track participant purchases
call them frequent flier miles, and people who choose a because people in the program have to use either a major
particular airline each time they fly can accumulate them credit card (such as Citibank cards) or a grocery chain
to get a free flight or an upgrade. The program rewards card. A small brand can build customer loyalty and
heavy fliers and encourages fliers to remain loyal to an air¬ encourage consumers to switch by offering a larger credit
line for a reason besides low fares. than its competitors.
Many people probably believe it would be great if In just three years Upromise has proven very success¬
loyalty programs like these existed for the places where ful. The company has signed partnerships with major
most consumers spend the bulk of their money—for exam¬ brands including ExxonMobil, AOL, Citibank, and Publix
ple, grocery stores and gas stations. In fact, such a pro¬ supermarkets. Marketing costs are low since program
gram does exist. Upromise, a college-savings loyalty net¬ sponsors do the bulk of the advertising. And consumers
work, was started in 2001 by Michael Bronner and are signing up in droves. The program currently has 5 mil¬
George Bell. The idea is simple. When consumers shop at lion participants, and membership is growing by about 50
participating stores, a portion of the receipts is set aside percent a year.
for a college-savings plan in the consumer's name. There is
no cost for the shopper, other than the time necessary to Consider This
sign up for the program. O-
One obvious benefit of participation is the opportu¬ 1. What are the risks for brands that become Upromise
nity for people to make painless, regular contributions to sponsors? What are the risks for those that don't?
their children's college savings. The National Center for 2. Although the program seems like a "win-win" for
Education Statistics estimates that in order to have tuition consumers and marketers, some critics have pointed
and board for a child attending a private college in 2010, out that most people will not be able to save for a
parents would have needed to save $800 a month starting college education exclusively by participation in
in 1 998. At those prices, parents probably want any help Upromise. In addition, some suggest that people are
that they can get. Of course many people do not spend spending in an unhealthy way in order to maximize
enough on groceries and gas to generate even $100 a their credits. How should Upromise respond to these
month, but Upromise allows families to pool contributions. criticisms?
That means grandparents and other relatives can use their 3. How does the use of a sales promotion, such as the
grocery purchases to help as well. What if you've just Upromise program, benefit a brand? How would
graduated from college? Upromise allows recent grads to you recommend evaluating the effectiveness of the
enroll in the program to pay off their student loans. promotion?
Helping people to pay a big expense is an important
benefit of the Upromise program, but some see much
more. "As a marketer, I am giving money and I'm expect¬
ing the customers to say 'I'm going to do more business
with them because I like their values,"' says Rick Barlow, Sources: Cara Beardi, "Been There, Done That," Advertising Age (July 23, 2001); Dale
chairman-CEO of Frequency Marketing. "It's a brilliant Buss, "Giving Credit Where It's Due," Brondweek [July 26, 2004); Anne Marie Chaker,
"How Shopping Can Pay for College; Rewards Programs Offering Tuition Benefits Emerge
and a powerful idea because it combines an aspirational
as a Popular Savings Tool," Wall Street Journal (September 23, 2004): D2; Kaja
and an altruistic goal." Bronner puts it this way, "I see the Whitehouse, "Shopping Rebates Promise to Ease College Tuition Costs," Wall Street
evolution from value marketing to values marketing." Journal (June 12, 2002): D2.
Public Relations
CHAPTER KEY POINTS
1. Explain what public relations is and how it differs from

advertising.
2. Describe the most common types of public relations programs.
3. Analyze the key decisions in public relations planning.
4. Explain the most common types of public relations tools.
5. Discuss the importance of measuring the results of public

relations efforts.
Kids Are Hungry.

Believe It!
Award:
A w ver 14 million children in the United States live with hunger
jl today. But, the American public is not even aware that child
Silver EFFIE®
mjm hunger is a U.S. issue, especially in such great proportions.
Organization: This is so because the face of child hunger is hidden in
Ad Council America. We do not see emaciated children with distended bellies
as in photos from "third world" countries. Yet, one-fifth of all
Agency: American children live with hunger every day. (By hunger, we mean
Powell Communications/
that millions of children skip meals unwillingly each day based on
BBH
their families' unfortunate economic situation.) And not only are peo¬
Campaign: ple not aware of the U.S. child hunger issue, but there is also great
"Feeding Children Better: resistance to recognizing the problem. People just do not believe
Child Hunger" child hunger could possibly be a real U.S. issue. After all, we live in
a country with such wealth and an abundance of resources.
Also, if any American children are suffering from hunger, people
blame the parents for being abusive, unemployed, lazy, or drug-
475
addicted. Yet, the reality is that over one-third of adults seeking food assistance
for their families are employed but still struggling to make ends meet. Sometimes,
they have to choose between paying the rent or feeding their children. That s the
problem the nonprofit Ad Council faced with its Child Hunger campaign. (The
Ad Council is a network of agencies and media that donate their time and ser¬
vices to good causes.) The New York-based Powell Communications/BBH took
on the assignment to bring this message to the American people.
The PSA Strategy

The campaign was designed to educate people and create awareness of the
seriousness of child hunger in the United States by putting a realistic face on the
problem while not stigmatizing the suffering families. It also needed to chal¬
lenge stereotypes and allow no emotional "escape route" such as scapegoating
the parents. The objectives were to:
• Maximize media exposure.

• Change perception: Make people believe that child hunger in the United
States is real and get them to empathize with the victims—not judge them.
• Inspire action: Get people to call the 1-800 number and visit the Web site.
• Generate collective concern and discussion.
The strategy was to use a public service campaign, which relies on donated
services and media time and space. In terms of targeting, the campaign had to
first move the public service advertising (PSA) directors at TV or radio stations,
those people responsible for deciding which PSAs are used. The ads needed to
strike a strong emotional chord with this group. Given that the Ad Council
would have no control over the media schedule since the time is donated by the
station, the audience would include all adults in the market. However, to be
more realistic the planners decided that those who would pay attention to these
messages were people who showed more interest in and involvement with both
children and charities. To reach these people, the agency's consumer research
showed that the campaign needed to make people feel they were walking in the
shoes of someone dealing with child hunger.
Message Strategy: Disarming through Sympathy

Powell's research found that Americans really think this issue is someone else's,
not ours. And if U.S. child hunger was such a huge concern, the public ques¬
tions why we aren't hearing or reading more about it in the news. These insights
led to the message U.S. child hunger is real—and to the strategy of developing
a supporting publicity program that provided information to the media. The
agency enlisted Joe Pytka to direct as he is known for depicting reality in an
understated way and working with nonactor talent. Pytka donated his services
to shoot the campaign.
In order to get people to recognize the truth, the agency team wanted to
disarm people by openly acknowledging their disbelief in the campaign's
tagline "The sooner you believe it, the sooner we can end it." In the TV com¬
mercials, the agency team chose to put a realistic face on child hunger through
narrative stories uncovered by talking to workers and client families at food shel¬
ters in various states. The print and outdoor advertising showed visuals of
CHAPTER 17 • PUBLIC RELATIONS 477
American excess (a hot dog-eating contest, a Las Vegas buffet, etc.) and juxta¬
posed these with the shocking child hunger statistics.
The results of this highly effective campaign are detailed in the It's a Wrap
feature at the end of the chapter.
Source: EFFIE brief provided by Powell/BBH and the Ad Council.
Handling a campaign assignment calls for extraordinary public relations skills and a well-
thought-out plan. This chapter considers the role of public relations in an organization and
how goodwill can be used effectively in a marketing communication program. It discusses
many aspects of public relations, including the types of PR programs, PR planning, and PR
tools. As we introduce these topics, we will learn more about the development of the
EFFIE-winning Child Hunger campaign.
THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public relations is used to generate goodwill for an organization. That mission is as broad
in scope as the definition from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) suggests:
Public relations (PR) helps an organization and its publics relate to each other to the ben¬
efit of both.1 So public relations is focused on all the relationships that an organization has
with its various publics. By publics, we mean all the groups of people with which a com¬
pany or organization interacts: employees, media, community groups, shareholders, and so
forth. Another term for this is stakeholders, which refers more specifically to people who
have a stake (financial or not) in a company or organization. Although public relations has
a distinguished tradition, people often mistake it for publicity, which refers to getting
news media coverage. Publicity is focused on the news media and their audiences, which is
just one aspect of public relations. The focus on bringing various interests into harmony is
apparent in PRSA’s Code of Ethical Practice, shown here.
PRSA Code of Ethical Practice
As a member of the Public Relations Society of America:

I base my professional principles on the value and dignity of the individual,
holding that the free exercise of human rights, especially freedom of speech,
freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press, is essential to the practice of
public relations.
In serving the interests of clients and employers, I dedicate myself to the goals
of better communication, understanding, and cooperation among the diverse
individuals, groups, and institutions of society, and of equal opportunity of
employment in the public relations profession.
www.prsa.org
Public relations is practiced by a wide range of organizations: companies, govern¬

ments, trade and professional associations, nonprofit organizations, the travel and tourism
industry, educational systems, labor unions, politicians, organized sports, and the media.
Most organizations have in-house public relations departments that handle the firms' pub¬
lic relations work, although many also hire outside public relations agencies.
On one level, public relations is a tactical function in that PR staff produce a variety
of communication tools to achieve corporate image objectives. On a higher level, it is a
management function that monitors public opinion and advises senior corporate managers
on how to achieve positive relationships with various audiences (publics) in order to effec¬
tively manage the organization’s image and reputation. Its publics may be external
(customers, the news media, the investment community, the general public, government
bodies) and internal (shareholders, employees). Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, one
of the largest advertising and marketing services groups in the world, believes that public
relations and public affairs are probably higher up the CEO s agenda than advertising,
market research, or other forms of specialist communication. As Sorrell notes, public rela¬
tions practitioners have “access to the CEO’s office,” which gives them more influence on
coiporate policies.2
Public Opinion
Public relations programs are built on an understanding of public opinion on issues critical
to the organization, such as how a company’s practices impact on the environment and its
local community; or workers’ rights and how a company deals with its employees. Public
opinion, the label describing what a group of people think, is “a belief, based not neces¬
sarily on fact but on the conception or evaluation of an event, person, institution, or prod¬
uct.”3 The public relations strategist researches the answers to two primary questions about
public opinion to design effective public relations programs. First, which publics are most
important to the organization, now and in the future? Second, what do these publics think?
Particular emphasis falls on understanding the role of opinion leaders, important people
who influence the opinions of others. The Matter of Practice box illustrates a campaign
designed to change public opinion.
Reputation: Goodwill, Trust, and Integrity

Public goodwill is the greatest asset any organization can have. A well-informed public
with a positive attitude toward an organization is critical to the organization's survival—
and that is why creating goodwill is the primary goal of most public relations programs. A
public relations program that is tuned to creating goodwill operates as the conscience of
the organization. Howard Rubenstein, an elder statesman in public relations, advises
clients and colleagues that deliberately deceiving is “a career limiting move.” He has a
paperweight in his office in his 50-year-old agency that says, “If you tell the truth, you
don’t have to remember anything.”4
Principle The trust on which goodwill is based comes from corporate integrity. In these
Public relations is the conscience post-Enron days many companies have dedicated more resources and efforts to creat¬
of the company with the objective ing an integrity platform for the company. Some companies have even created a chief
of creating trust and maintaining integrity officer (CIO) position or made that assignment an important part of the PR
the integrity of the organization.
office’s mission.5
Integrity involves more than image. Image is a perception based on messages deliv¬
ered by the advertising and other marketing communication tools. Reputation, however, is
based on an organization’s actual behavior. Image mirrors what a company says about
itself but reputation reflects what other people say about the company.6 Here are a set of
public relations principles that guide an organization’s integrity and create trust:7
• Our goal is integrity.

• We have constructive aspirations.
• We live a philosophy of integrity.
• We have a commitment to compliance and good conduct.
• We recognize those who achieve the best work in the best way.
• Our vigilance is driven by our principles, priorities, and conscience.
• Everyone is committed to integrity.
Comparing Public Relations and Advertising

Designing ads, preparing written messages, and buying time or space are the key concerns
of advertisers. Their objective is to create the consumer awareness and motivation that
deliver sales. The goal of public relations specialists is communicating with various stake¬
holders, managing the organization’s image and reputation, and creating positive public
attitudes and goodwill toward the organization. Ultimately, the difference between adver¬
tising and public relations is that public relations takes a longer, broader view of the
I’lfi ;#*
"I Love Smoke-Free NYC"
The scene is set for a knock-down, drag-out fight over a

smoking ban in New York City bars and restaurants. On
one side are bar and restaurant owners, smokers, and
tourism groups who fear the ban will hurt business and vio¬
late smokers' rights. On the other side are the New York
City Department of Health, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), people who don't smoke, and
waiters and waitresses who object to secondhand smoke.
The city had passed one of the toughest smoking bans
in the nation in 2003 and a new state smoking ban was
also being considered by the state legislature. Opponents
of the ban were trying to overturn the law by implying that
the majority of New Yorkers opposed the law and that the
ban would hurt the city's nightlife and hinder recovery from
the effects of 9/1 1 and the recession. They also argued
that the secondhand smoke claims were bogus. Bar owners
rallied at City Hall and at the state capital and they held
town meetings across the five NYC boroughs to pressure
lawmakers to modify or overturn the bans.
Thirty days before the ban was to take effect media
coverage was dominated by stories about unhappy smok¬
ers, as well as restaurant and bar owners. The state vote
was pending in the legislature and vulnerable to the drum¬
beat of opposition. A coalition of the ban's supporters con¬ As a result of the publicity effort, every major media
tacted the Fleishman-Hillard agency, with a tiny budget of outlet in the city covered the launch and provided cover¬
$100,000 to mount a campaign to counter opposition to age for the four follow-up event celebrations. The launch
the ban by presenting the facts about secondhand smoke event received lengthy segments on two of the major sta¬
and the ban's widespread support. The phrase, "I Love tions with repeated segments throughout the day. All sto¬
Smoke-Free NYC," which is a variation on the city's famous ries showed happy New Yorkers supporting or enjoying
slogan, gave the campaign an easily recognized theme. the ban. Here's a tally of the results:
The effort was focused on the five-day countdown to
• The publicity during the five-day countdown period
the law's effective date. The countdown started with a
resulted in 15.2 million print impressions and nearly
launch event held at the popular Bryant Park Grill located
10 million broadcast impressions.
near the city's historic library. With its airy dining room
• The campaign gathered tens of thousands of signa¬
and floor-to-ceiling windows, it was a perfect symbol of a
tures and e-mails to officials in support of the city and
smoke-free atmosphere. The city's health commissioner was
state bans.
the keynote speaker, but the centerpiece of the event was
• Citywide public opinion surveys showed 62 and then
the announcement by the Bryant Park Grill's manager that
70 percent support for the ban. A statewide survey
the restaurant was going smoke free five days early in
found 63 percent support for the state ban.
honor of the countdown. Bartenders and wait staff also
gave testimonials about the hardships they faced with Most importantly, the NYC ban was preserved and the
secondhand smoke. Speakers from the American Lung state law was supported despite the concerted campaign by
Association and the American Cancer Society underscored the opposition. Furthermore, the campaign was transformed
the benefits of a smoke-free environment with statistics. into a statewide "I Love Smoke-Free NY" campaign for the
The launch was followed with a postcard campaign state law and adopted by county tobacco control coalitions
to officials. The www.nycsmokefree.org Web site pre¬ across the state. Its effectiveness is what led the Public
sented information about the campaign but also made it Relations Society of America (PRSA) New York Chapter to
possible for New Yorkers to send e-cards to officials. A recognize the campaign with a Big Apple Award.
series of events similar to the launch were held around the
city including celebrations when the ban went into effect. Consider This
"I Love Smoke-Free NYC" buttons were worn by support¬
o---
1. What problems did this campaign have to overcome?
ers of the ban, particularly wait persons. Articles were
2. What public relations tools were used to get the mes¬
pitched to City Hall beat reporters and health and lifestyle
sage out in support of the campaign?
writers to get them to present the facts about the second¬
hand smoke issue, as well as cover the events. Source: Big Apple Award brief provided by Fleishman-Hillard.
importance of image and reputation as a corporate competitive asset and addresses a

greater number of target audiences. Public relations and advertising also differ in how they
use the media, the level of control they have over message delivery, and their perceived
credibility. Credibility was a major factor in the Child Hunger campaign.
Media Use In contrast to buying advertising time and space, public relations people
seek to persuade media gatekeepers to carry stories about their company. Gatekeepers
include writers, producers, editors, talk show coordinators, and newscasters. This aspect of
public relations is called publicity and carries no direct media costs. Even when public
relations uses paid-for media such as advertising, the message focuses on the organization,
with little or no attempt to sell a brand or product line.
Control In the case of news stories, the public relations strategist is at the mercy of the
media gatekeeper. There is no guarantee that all or even part of a story will appear. PR
writers write the story, send it to the media, and cross their fingers that this story will
appear. In fact, there is the real risk that a story may be rewritten or reorganized by an edi¬
tor so that it no longer means what the strategist intended. In contrast, advertising runs
exactly as the client who paid for it has approved. And it runs as scheduled.
Credibility The public tends to trust the media more than they do advertisers. This
consumer tendency is called the implied third-party endorsement factor. For example,
when Tom Brokaw delivered a two-minute story on the NBC Nightly News about an Eli
Lilly pharmaceutical breakthrough, he was more credible than a print ad sponsored by Eli
Lilly.8 Thomas Harris, in his book Value-Added Public Relations, observes that today’s
sophisticated and skeptical consumers know when they are being informed and when they
are being “sold to.” He explains, “PR closes the marketing credibility gap because it is the
one marketing communication tool devoted to providing information, not salesmanship.”1'
Types ©f Public Relations Programs

The word relations in public relations refers to relationships with various stakeholders. In
fact, the main subspecialties in the field—public affairs, media relations, employee rela¬
tions, and financial relations—call attention to important relationships with such groups as
the general public, the media, employees, and the financial community. Figure 17.1 out¬
lines the various publics, or stakeholders, for a multinational company. The term
relationship marketing introduces a point of view in marketing planning that resembles
that of public relations.10
The key publics addressed by relationship management programs in public relations
are media, employees, the financial community (including a company’s shareholders),
government, and the general public.
Media Relations The area that focuses on developing media contacts—knowing who in
the media might be interested in the organization’s story—is called media relations. When
you say “public relations,” most people immediately think about publicity, which indicates
the importance of this media function. The organization initiates publicity and provides
pertinent information to the media. A successful relationship between a public relations
person and the editor is built on a PR person’s reputation for honesty, accuracy, and pro¬
fessionalism. Once this reputation is tarnished or lost, the public relations person cannot
function effectively as a liaison between a company and the media.
Employee Relations Programs that communicate information to employees are called

employee relations. This function may belong to public relations, although it may also be
the responsibility of human resources. A related program is called internal marketing,
which is communication efforts aimed at informing employees about marketing programs
and encouraging their support.
Financial Relations All the communication efforts aimed at the financial community, such
as press releases sent to business publications, meetings with investors and analysts, and
the annual report, which the federal government requires of publicly held companies, are
referred to as financial relations.
Twenty Key Publics

Of the 20 key publics of a typical
multinational corporation,
relationship management programs
focus on the media, employees, the
financial community, government,
and the general public.
Source: Fraser P. Seitel, The Practice of Public

Relations (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,
1998), 10.
Public Affairs Corporate communication programs with government and with the public
on issues related to government and regulation are called public affairs. For example, a
company building a new plant may need to gain the approval of government health and
public safety regulators. Public affairs also includes lobbying, when the company provides
information to legislators in order to get their support and vote on a particular bill. It also
includes communication efforts with consumer or activist groups who seek to influence
government policies. Issue management is another term for this function. In addition to
government relations, public affairs programs also monitor public opinion about issues
central to the organization’s interest and develop programs to communicate to and with the
public about these issues.
Fund-raising Fund-raising is the practice of raising money by collecting donations. It is

used by nonprofit organizations, such as museums, hospitals, and emergency groups (such
as the Red Cross) and directed to potential donors. Professional fund-raisers know how to
make the initial contacts that inspire other people to participate, how to use other market¬
ing communication tools such as advertising, and how to make the best use of special
events and public recognition. At universities fund-raising is called development.
Cause Marketing When companies associate themselves with a good cause, providing
assistance as well as financial support, the practice is called cause marketing. This topic—
as well as related areas, such as nonprofit marketing, public communication campaigns,
social marketing, and mission marketing—will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 18.
Other areas of public relations, such as corporate reputation management, crisis man¬
agement, marketing public relations, and public communication campaigns are distinctive
because of their focus rather than their target audience.
q Practical Tips
I Test Yourself: Would I Like to Work in Public Relations or Public Affairs?
Here's a short list of required skills for public relations managers or public
affairs specialists:
1. Knowledge of how public relations and public affairs support business
goals.
2. A knack for discerning which opponents to take seriously.
3. The ability to integrate all communication functions.
4. Understanding how to control key messages.
5. The ability to have influence without being too partisan.
6. A talent for synthesizing, filtering, and validating information.
7. An aptitude for information technology.
8. A global perspective.
Source: Doug Pinkham, "What It Takes to Work in Public Affairs and Public Relations," Public Relations
Quarterly (Spring 2004): 15.
Corporate Reputation Management The areas that focus on an organization’s

image and reputation are called corporate relations. The overriding goal of reputation
management in a corporate relations program is to strengthen the trust that stakeholders
have in an organization. Public relations expert Fraser Seitel warns in The Practice of
Public Relations that “it takes a great deal of time to build a favorable image for a corpora¬
tion but only one slip to create a negative public impression.” He continues, “In other
Principle words, the corporate image is a fragile commodity.”11 Since corporate reputation is a per¬
Reputation is earned based on ception, it is earned through deeds, not created by advertising. In an article on corporate
what you do, not what you say reputation management, marketing consultant Prema Nakra says, “A company’s reputation
about yourself. affects its ability to sell products and services, to attract investors, to hire talented staff, and
to exert influence in government circles.” She concludes that “once lost—or even tar¬
nished—[it is] incredibly difficult to regain.”12
Crisis Management There is no greater test for an organization than how it deals with
a crisis. The key to crisis management is to anticipate the possibility of a disaster and plan
how to deal with the bad news and all the affected publics. For example, Jack-in-the-Box
restaurants has had a difficult time recovering from the public relations disaster it faced
when a 2-year-old child ate a Kid’s Meal from the Jack-in-the-Box restaurant in Tacoma,
Washington, and 10 days later died of kidney and heart failure. Soon reports came in that
more than 300 people had been stricken with the same E. coli bacteria responsible for the
Tacoma death. Most victims had eaten recently at Jack-in-the-Box outlets in Idaho, Nevada,
and Washington. Others apparently got sick after contact with restaurant customers.
The company’s 12-person crisis team did some things right: It quickly scrapped
nearly 20,000 pounds of hamburger patties prepared at meat plants where the bacteria were
suspected of originating. It also changed meat suppliers, installed a toll-free number to
field consumer complaints, and instructed employees to turn up the cooking heat to kill the
deadly germ. But it took nearly a week for the company to admit publicly its responsibility
for the poisonings. Even then, the admission seemed half-hearted. At a Seattle news con¬
ference, the company’s president attempted to deflect blame, first criticizing state health
authorities for not telling his company about new cooking regulations, then pointing a fin¬
ger at the meat supplier. The damage to the company’s reputation has been long lasting.
An effective crisis plan can help to both avoid crises and ease the damage if one
occurs. A plan outlines who contacts the various stakeholders who might be affected
(employees, customers, suppliers, civic and community leaders, government agencies),
who speaks to the news media, and who sets up and runs an on-site disaster-management
center. Companies also should conduct unannounced crisis training during which staff
must drop everything and deal with a simulated crisis as it unfolds.
Marketing Public Relations One area where advertising and

public relations overlap is marketing public relations (MPR). Tom
Harris, author of The Marketer’s Guide to Public Relations, says MPR is
the fastest-growing area of public relations. He defines MPR as the
process of planning and delivering programs that encourage sales and
contribute to customer satisfaction by providing communication that
addresses the needs and wants of consumers. MPR is different from a
more general public relations approach in its consumer and sales focus.
However, the need to establish a credibility platform is similar in both;
that’s what PR brings to marketing and is PR’s greatest strength in an
integrated marketing communication program. In other words, MPR
supports marketing’s product and sales focus by increasing brand credi¬
bility and the company’s credibility with consumers.
Public Communication Campaigns Used as a way to change public opinion, This postcard from the "Truth"
public communication campaigns also discourage socially harmful behaviors, such as campaign was mailed to
Hollywood stars with a personal
discouraging driving in areas with air-pollution problems. Sometimes they are engaged in
message on the back asking
counter-marketing as they try to counter other advertising messages. For example, the
them to protest smoking in
Florida “Truth” campaign by the Porter-Novelli agency was designed to argue against the
movies. Several stars, including
big tobacco companies’ advertising and appeal to teenagers. The strategy was to get young
supermodel Christy Turlington,
people to rebel against the tobacco industry. An extension of that campaign by Crispin, talk show host Leeza Gibbons,
Porter & Bogusky, a Miami-based advertising agency, featured teens in one award-winning and Melrose Place star Antonio
commercial piling body bags outside Phillip Morris’s New York headquarters. The cam¬ Sabatojr., publicly pledged to
paign produced the largest single-year decline in teen smoking in nearly 20 years. fight the entertainment industry's
depiction of tobacco.
Consider This
1. In how many different ways does the concept of "relationships" represent a
public relations program focus?
2. In what situations would you use public relations rather than advertising?
PUBLIC RELATIONS PLANNING

Planning for a public relations campaign is similar to planning an advertising campaign.
The plan should complement the marketing and advertising strategies so the organization
communicates with one clear voice to its various publics. The plan also identifies the vari¬
ous key publics and the public relations activities that PR people use to address the inter¬
ests of its various publics. In addition to identifying key targets, public relations plans also
specify the objectives that give direction to the PR program or campaign.
Research and SWOT Analysis

Research is used by an organization, as well as outside PR agencies, throughout the plan¬
ning and implementation of a PR plan. It’s also used afterward to determine if the effort
was successful and if the organization is spending its money wisely on the public relations
efforts. For example, to better understand the Child Hunger problem, the Powell/BBH cre¬
ative team went where child hunger lived, such as shelters and soup kitchens. It was there
that the team heard the real stories that would be the foundation for the advertising. They
learned, sadly, that people can be terribly creative when they’re hungry. Mothers gather
ketchup packets to make “ketchup soup” for their families, water down powdered milk to
make it stretch, and even send a sick child to school in order to give them a meal. These
insights formed the advertising idea of using real stories to dramatize the problem and
build sympathy.
The PR effort may also begin with a more formal type of background research, called
a communication audit, to assess the internal and external PR environment that affects
the organization’s audiences, objectives, competitors, and past results. An annual audit or a
campaign-specific audit can be used to ensure that a program is on track and performing as
intended. Often benchmarking is used to identify baselines from previous audits or audits
of other related companies and industries so there is a point of comparison.'3 A gap analy¬
sis, which measures the differences in perceptions and attitudes between groups or
between the organization and its publics, may be part of the analysis.14
Since public opinion is so central to public relations programs, companies often use
ongoing research to monitor opinions and attitudes. Trend-tracking services such as the
Intelligence Factory (www.intelligencefactory.com) monitor trends important to compa¬
nies and organizations. The Porter Novelli agency annually tracks American institutions’
credibility, as well as consumers’ concerns about such topics as health, nutrition, and
their lifestyles. The company analyzes the findings in terms of seven different personal¬
ity types, from “Hard-Living Hedonists” (people who smoke, drink, and eat cheeseburg¬
ers without even a twinge of guilt) to “Decent Dolittles” (people who pay attention to
health issues but can’t bring themselves to do much about it). The agency believes such
information is useful in identifying people’s orientation to health messages. It’s also
helpful in targeting various types of publics based on their general attitudes toward key
issues, such as antismoking. The survey has consistently found that the credibility of
institutions such as government, the media, and corporations is declining. The agency
interpreted these findings to mean that America “is deeply mired in the Age of
Cynicism.”
As in marketing or advertising planning, a PR plan begins with background research
leading to a situation analysis, or SWOT analysis, that evaluates a company’s strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis creates a general understanding of
the difficulty of changing people’s attitudes about issues like child hunger. Understanding
the nature of the problem makes it easier to determine the appropriate communication
objectives and the target stakeholder audiences, or publics, who will be addressed by the
PR efforts. In public relations planning, the situation analysis can include such topics as
changes in public opinion, industry and consumer trends, economic trends, governmental
regulations and oversight programs, and corporate strategies that affect a company’s rela¬
tionships with stakeholders.
Targeting
As in advertising and other marketing communication areas, it is important to understand
the target audience before designing the campaign. Research is conducted to identify the
appropriate “publics” to which to address the public relations message.
The CIGNA insurance company, for example, realized that consumers have little
empathy for insurance companies and view the industry as one that takes your money, gives
back reluctantly, and raises premiums when its costs go up. In order to launch its “Power of
Caring” campaign, which was a philanthropic sponsorship program that featured well-
known personalities and their charitable causes, CIGNA conducted primary research to
identify the “conscientious consumer.” Having this information kept CIGNA from inadver¬
tently putting out a campaign that its target audience might have found irritating or self-
serving. The research determined that a conscientious consumer is someone who:
• shows higher propensity for action and involvement in areas such as family and health.
• is usually the decision maker in the purchase of CIGNA’s health, financial, and insur¬
ance products.
• is more inclined to purchase from companies that support charitable causes.
• has a higher propensity for community volunteer work.
• represents approximately 30 percent of the U.S. population.
Objectives and Strategies

A variety of objectives guide a PR plan, and the company can use a number of strategies to
Principle carry out the plan. Public relations objectives are designed by PR planners to make
Before changing behavior, changes in the public’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to a company, brand, or
a communication program organization. Usually, these objectives focus on creating credibility, delivering informa¬
may need to change beliefs, tion, and building positive images, trust, and corporate goodwill, as well as changing
attitudes, and feelings. behavior as the “Truth” campaign attempted to do.
As Bettinghaus and Cody

explain,15 the ultimate goal of persua¬
sive communication like the “Truth”
campaign often is to change behavior,
and that is a difficult task. Before
changing behavior, a communication
effort may need to first change peo¬
ple’s beliefs, attitudes, and feelings. In
many PR efforts, these communication
effects are easier to accomplish and
Rebuffed.
measure than behavior change. Typical
public relations objectives include:
Creating a corporate brand

Shaping or redefining a corporate Your tobacco ads insult our intelligence. Tobacco isn’t cool; it’s dangerous.
reputation Tobacco isn’t sexy; it's ugly. Tobacco isn’t adventurous; it’s stupid.
Positioning or repositioning a We’re on to your game, big tobacco,
and we’re not gonna give up until you stop marketing to us.
company or brand
Moving a brand to a new market
— Students Working Against Tobacco, Florida
or a global market (Your ad was pulled from a magazine with significant youth readership)
Launching a new product or brand
Disseminating news about a brand,
company, or organization
Providing product or brand
information
Changing stakeholder attitudes, opinions, or behaviors about a brand or company The Florida "Truth" campaign
was designed to deliver action.
Creating stronger brand relationships with key stakeholders, such as employees, share¬
Its SWAT team members sent
holders and the financial community, government, members (for associations), and the
cigarette ads back to the ad
media
companies' CEOs adorned
Creating high levels of customer (member) satisfaction
with a neon-orange "Rejected.
Creating excitement in the marketplace Rebuffed. Returned!" sticker.
Creating buzz (word of mouth)
Involving people with the brand, company, or organization through events and other
participatory activities
Associating brands and companies with good causes
Change-agent Strategies Changing the attitudes that drive behavior is central to

public relations programs. Change-agent programs can be internal strategies focused on
employees (sometimes called internal marketing) or external and focused on other publics,
such as customers and other stakeholders. Regardless of the reason for change, “communi¬
cation with principal stakeholders ranks high in the hierarchy of factors that predict success.
Communication is second only to the main stakeholders’ participation in the process.”16
The objectives for the “Truth” antismoking campaign incorporate a change strategy
that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has three steps:
1. Generate awareness.
2. Change attitudes.
3. Change behaviors.
As noted before, the last step, changing behaviors, is the most difficult, but the anti¬
smoking behavior-change “Truth” campaign was an award winner because it achieved its
objective and actually produced a decrease in the number of teens taking up smoking.
Figure 17.2 diagrams the change strategy behind the “Truth” campaign, but this diagram
also describes the basic logic behind many change strategies.
Involvement Strategies Public relations uses participation to intensify stakeholder

involvement with a company or brand. Involvement can create interest and a feeling of
excitement, but more importantly it can drive loyalty.17 Getting people to participate in an
action plan is one way to drive behavior change. For example, the “Truth” campaign
included a Teen Summit in Seattle attended by 1,000 teenagers.
FTPP Change Strategy

The change strategy behind the
“Truth” campaign involved first
increasing youth awareness and
knowledge about tobacco use,
then empowering youth to lead
antitobacco efforts that would lead
to changing community norms. The
hoped-for result was a reduction in
both youth tobacco use and exposure
to secondhand smoke.
Source: Youth Tobacco Prevention in Florida, a

report prepared for the Florida Department of
Health by the University of Miami, December 15, » .
1999,3 The Big Idea
Creative ideas are just as important in public relations as in advertising. And for the same
reason: to get attention. For another example, the Clark County Desert Conservation
Program in Nevada wanted to promote desert environments and inform about threats to
their ecology. Mojave Max, a 50- to 60-year-old desert tortoise, became the group’s mas¬
cot and announces the arrival of spring, just like Punxsutawney Phil does in the East. Who
would have thought you could make a media star of a tortoise? Nevertheless, the 15-pound
tortoise has become the poster reptile for desert ecology and attracts the attention of chil¬
dren as well as adults.
Stunts designed to get publicity are also part of the promotional arsenal. Janet
Jackson’s big expose during the 2004 Super Bowl is an example of a stunt that got lots
of visibility for the performer. Critics say the overexposure was in poor taste, but other
PR experts say it was an example of a stunt that will be talked about for years. Jackson
also gathered twice the number of U.S. press mentions as the commercials on the Super
Bowl did.18
Mojave max is a desert tortoise

PR's Role in IMC
used as a mascot for a desert In integrated programs, advertising and public relations aim at different targets with differ¬
conservation program in ent but complementary messages. As one researcher observed, “In IMC, company assets
Navada. and product assets are managed at the same time.”19 In many com¬
panies, advertising and public relations are separate, uncoordi¬
nated functions. People working in public relations are often
trained as journalists, with little background in marketing, and they
focus on corporate image rather than product sales. These different
orientations can sometimes create inconsistencies in a company’s
communication efforts.
The truth is that public relations use a variety of marketing
communication tools just as advertising does. Advertising is par¬
ticularly useful in corporate image and reputation programs.
Direct marketing is sometimes useful in sending out corporate
books, videos, and CD-ROMs. The Internet is important because
the corporate Web site is one of the primary ways to disseminate
information about an organization. And PR activities, such as
publicity and special mailings of CD-ROMs, can help drive traffic
to the corporate Web site. Sales promotion is used in support of
PR activities, such as special events. In some cases, it’s hard to
know whether an event is a sales promotion or public relations
effort. But it’s not just the use of these tools that makes PR a
viable IMC function; it’s the fact that PR can contribute some
valuable effects, such as credibility.
Consider This
1. Describe the PR planning process.
2. What kind of objectives is public relations particularly good at
accomplishing?
PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS

The public relations practitioner has many tools, which we can divide into two categories:
controlled media and uncontrolled media. Controlled media include house ads, public ser¬
vice announcements, corporate (institutional) advertising, in-house publications, and visual
presentations. The sponsoring organizations pay for these media. In turn, the sponsor main¬
tains total control over how and when the message is delivered. Uncontrolled media
include press releases, press conferences, and media tours. The most recent new media are
electronic and they can be categorized as semicontrolled. Corporate Web sites, for exam¬
ple, are controlled by the company, but other Web sites (particularly those that are set up by
critics and disgruntled ex-employees) and chat rooms about the company are not controlled.
Likewise, special events and sponsorships are set in place by the company, but partic¬
ipation by the press and other important publics is not under the control of the sponsoring The Advertising Council has
sponsored a number of public
company. Word of mouth, or buzz, is important to PR programs because of the persuasive
service advertising campaigns
power of personal conversation. PR programs, particularly the employee communication
in support of good causes.
programs, may be designed to influence what people say about the company, but ulti¬
The participating agencies
mately the comments are outside the control of the company. donate their time and talent
The Child Hunger campaign is an example of a public relations effort for a nonprofit, and media donate the time
with a supporting PR outreach program. The television ads were launched in the summer and space to run the PSAs.
when children, without access to school lunch programs, are at the greatest risk of going This ad by the FCB advertising
hungry. The spots, as well as the print efforts, were submitted to the media with press agency recognizes one of the
releases in the hopes of moving the various media outlets to do stories on the issue and on Ad Council's best-known
children going hungry during the summer. To open up com¬ campaigns.
munication channels, provide additional information, and

make action easy, the campaign invited people to visit www.
feedingchildrenbetter.org, or call 1-800-FEED-KIDS. Table 17.1
summarizes these tools used with such PR programs.
Advertising
Public relations programs sometimes employ advertising as a
way to create corporate visibility or increase its goodwill with its
various stakeholder audiences. The primary uses of advertising
are house ads, public service announcements, and corporate
advertising.
House Ads A company (or a medium, such as a newspaper,

magazine, or broadcast station) may prepare a house ad, which
is an ad for use in its own publication or programming.
Consequently, no money changes hands. For instance, a local
television station may run a house ad announcing its new fall
programming or a local promotional event within its evening
news program; likewise, a company may run an ad advocating a
point of view or promoting a special employee benefit program
within its corporate magazine. These house ads are often man¬
aged by the public relations department.
Public Service Announcements The ads for charitable

and civic organizations that run free of charge on television or
radio or in print media are public service announcements
(PSAs). The United Way, American Heart Association, and local
17.1 Public Relations Tools

Controlled Media Uncontrolled Media
(company controls the use and placement) (media control the use and placement)
• House ads • The news release (print, audio, video, e-mail, faxes)
• Public service ads • Features (pitch letters)
• Corporate, institutional, advocacy advertising • Fillers, historical pieces, profiles
• Publications: brochures, flyers, magazines, • The press conference and media advisory (media
newsletters kits, fact sheets, background info)
• Annual reports • Media tours
• Speakers • Bylined articles, op/ed pieces, letters to the editor
• Photographs • Talk and interview shows
• Films, videos, CD-ROMs • Public service announcements
• Displays, exhibits
• Staged events
• Books
Semicontrolled Media
(some aspects are controlled or initiated by the company, but other aspects aren’t)
• Electronic communication (Web sites, chat rooms)
• Special events and sponsorships
• Word of mouth (buzz)
• Weblogs (blogs)
arts councils all rely on PSAs. These ads are prepared just like other print ads or commer¬
cials, and in most instances ad agencies donate their expertise and media donate time and
space to run the ads.
The Advertising Council represents a PR effort for the entire advertising industry and
has produced most of the PSAs you see on television and in print, such as the “Just Say
No” antidrug campaign, the United Negro Colleges (“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”).
Keep America Beautiful antilitter campaign, and the more recent “Dads” parenting cam¬
paign. The classic “Smokey the Bear” campaign (“Only you can prevent forest fires”) is
one of its longest-running and best-recognized efforts.
The “Child Hunger” campaign showed that getting donated time and space is not easy.
The PSA directors at various media receive a barrage of public service campaigns every
week on different issues and they have to choose which ones to run. There is no guarantee
which markets will see the campaign elements and there is no guarantee that the same peo¬
ple will see the print and the TV. Some PSA campaigns do not get any airtime or print place¬
ments at all. The Powell/BBH agency learned that PSA directors were more likely to run
ads that directly related to their local communities. So, regional food organizations were
invited to “localize” the end of each ad with their own tag. This localizing strategy also
made the ads more effective because it brought the problem to the local community.
Studies of PSA effectiveness help guide nonprofit organizations. For instance, a look
at PSAs to combat drunk driving, particularly among the college population, found that the
usual anti-drunk-driving messages are not as relevant to this audience as they might be.
They do not address the students’ greatest fear: being pulled over and charged with a DUI.
The study also found that a localized PSA, one that mentions or uses a local community
angle, is more meaningful to the college-age group.20
Corporate Advertising With corporate advertising, a company focuses on its

corporate image or viewpoint. There is less emphasis on selling a particular product
unless it is tied in to a good cause. For that reason, the ad or other campaign materials may
originate in the public relations department rather than the advertising department.
An example of corporate advertising that is tied to a socially redeeming program is

the Target Guest Card. In order to increase the use of the card, the Martin/Williams agency
of Minneapolis had to find a compelling reason for people to shop at Target and use the
card. Target’s typical customer is female, aged 25 to 54, and her most important concern is
her family. The agency team proposed a “Take Charge of Education” campaign, a simple
fund-raising program for local schools tied to use of the Target Guest Card. One percent of
the value of the purchases made with the card would go to a qualifying K-12 school of
their choice. The fund-raising program for schools showcased Target’s commitment to
education, an area of great importance to Target customers. The Target “Take Charge of
Education” campaign included a number of other public initiatives such as Arts in
Education Grants, Good Neighbor Volunteers, and an environmental club for kids called
EarthSavers, all of which reflect a strong public affairs orientation.
Corporate identity advertising is another type of advertising that firms use to
enhance or maintain their reputation among specific audiences or to establish a level of
awareness of the company’s name and the nature of its business. Johnson & Johnson tar¬
geted its “Healthy Start” institutional campaign at pregnant women to position itself as a
concerned company. Companies that have changed their names, such as Nissan (formerly
Datsun), have also used coiporate identity advertising. To polish its corporate image, the
CIGNA insurance company has attempted to brand an intangible: a caring business philos¬
ophy. Edward A. Faruolo, CIGNA marketing communications vice president, stated: “If
we could build our brand around the concept of caring, we could not only obtain a highly
coveted position in the marketplace, but also earn the trust and loyalty of our customers
and our employees.”21
Sometimes companies deliver point-of-view messages called advocacy advertising.
Oil companies, for example, will advertise that they support the environment and their
extraction procedures do not do any lasting damage to the environment. To combat the
antismoking campaigns, tobacco companies will run ads that explain their point of view—
that they have a right to advertise a legal product.
Publicity
Moving away from controlled messages, consider the various tools and techniques used by
media relations specialists to get publicity in the news media on behalf of a company or
brand. Apple, for example, has received tremendous media coverage of its iPod, iTunes,
and the Mini iPod. Newsweek, for instance, gave Apple’s Steve Jobs and the iPod a cover
and an eight-page story in full color. PR expert Tom Harris calls that “an endorsement that
money can’t buy.”22
Media relations is often seen as the most important core competency for PR profes¬
sionals.23 Media relations specialists know media that would be interested in stories about
their companies. They also develop personal contact with reporters and editors who write
regularly on topics related to their organization’s industry.24 As Carole Howard, author of a
media relations book, explains, “Good media contacts proliferate once they are estab¬
lished.”25 In addition to personal contact, the primary tool used in media relations is the
news release, but they also use press conferences and media tours.
News Releases The news release is the primary medium used to deliver public rela¬
tions messages to the various external media. Although the company distributing the news
release controls its original form and content, the media decide what to present and how to
present it. What the public finally sees, then, is not necessarily what the originating com¬
pany had in mind, and so this form of publicity is uncontrolled by the originating company.
The decision to use any part of a news release at all is based on an editor’s judgment
of its news value. News values are based on such things as timeliness (something just hap¬
pened or is about to happen), proximity (a local angle), impact (importance or signifi¬
cance), or human interest. Figure 17.3 illustrates how product categories rank in terms of
news value to editors.
News releases must be written differently for each medium, accommodating space
and time limitations. Traditional journalism form is followed, which means the 5W format
High News Value Low News Value
Cm Computers Beer
Cars Soft Drinks
Media Assessment of Entertainment Athletic Shoes
News Values
A C A High news value
This figure shows how product
B Less interesting than A, but still
categories rank in terms of news B D
considered to have a high news value
value to editors. Soup Cigarettes
Cereal Car Mufflers C Low news value
Source: Adapted from Thomas L. Harris, The
Marketer's Guide to Public Relations (New York: ' Aspirin Cookies
D Lower interest value than C
Wiley, 1993), 58.
is standard—in other words, the release should lead with answers to questions of who,
what, why, when, where, and how. The more carefully the news release is planned and
written, the better the chance it has of being accepted and published as written. Note the
tight and simple writing style in the news release from the Florida “Truth” campaign.
The news release can be delivered in a number of ways: in person, by local delivery
service, by mail, by fax, or by e-mail. Sometimes a company that specializes in distribu¬
tion, such as the U.S. Newswire, is hired. Originally sent by mail or delivery services, news
releases are now more likely to be distributed electronically through satellite and Web-
based networks. PR Newswire, U.S. Newswire, and BusinessWire are services that pro¬
vide targeted distribution to special-interest media outlets or handle mass distribution of
news releases, photos, graphics, video, audio, and other materials. If your organization
decides to use e-mail, here is a set of guidelines for their delivery:26
• Use only one reporter’s name and address per “to” line.
• Keep subject line header simple.
• Boldface “FOR IMMMEDIATE RELEASE” on the first line above the date.
• Catch attention with a good headline.
• Limit length (shorter than print’s 500-word limit).
• Use the 5W format.
• No attachments!
• Link to a URL where other background info and photos are posted.
• Remember readability and use short paragraphs, bullets, numbers, lists to keep it
scannable.
• Put contact info below the text.
• Close with conventional end signs such as “30” or ######.
Video news releases (VNRs) contain video footage for a television newscast. They
are effective because they show target audiences the message in two different video envi¬
ronments: first as part of a news report and then reused later in an advertisement. Of
course, there is no guarantee that a VNR will be used. One study found that VNRs aired in
the Miami market had high visual quality and simple stories.27
Pitch Letters Ideas for feature stories, which are human-interest stories rather than
hard-news announcements, have to be “sold” to editors. This is done using a pitch letter
that outlines the subject in an engaging way and sells a story idea. Companies use this to
feature some interesting research breakthrough, employee, or corporate cause. Not only is
the distribution of press releases moving online, so are the letters pitching editors with story
ideas. Ragan Communications, publisher of Interactive Public Relations, lists some tips for
getting reporters and editors to read e-mail pitch letters. (See the Practical Tips box.)
q Practical Tips
How to Write E-mail Pitch Letters
1. Never list all recipients in the "To:" line. No one wants to see all the
reporters who received the pitch, since these story ideas are supposed to
be made available to the medium on an exclusive basis—in other words,
no other medium will be offered that story.
For Immediate Release Contact: Carlea Bauman

February 12, 1999 850-488-5959
Damien Filer
850-488-6809
Florida Teens Preparing Tobacco Industry Attack
at Second Annual Teen Tobacco Summit
(Tarpon Springs, FL) - More than 1,000 teenagers representing Florida’s 67 counties will gather here at the second annual
Teen Tobacco Summit, February 25 - 28, 1999. Their mission: Defending their generation from a lame addiction that kills.
Last year, 600 teenagers gathered in central Florida for the inaugural Summit. There, youth brainstormed on how to reach
their peers with an effective anti-tobacco message. From that meeting, the “Truth” campaign and its activist organization,
Students Working Against Tobacco [SWAT), were born. The goals for this year’s Summit are just as ambitious.
“We’ve got a lot of strong momentum going against Big Tobacco,” said SWAT Chairwoman Chrissie Scelsi, 17. “But we aren’t
through. The tobacco industry knows it is about to lose a lot of customers. They’re going to turn up the heat on us. We have
to be ready.”
SWAT’s teen leaders will lead the Summit. Participants will hold rallies, review SWAT’s plans for the coming year and attend
sessions on how to become more powerful advocates. The teens will be developing new advertising to publicize SWAT’s
role in the anti-tobacco movement. The heart of the counter-marketing effort, the “Truth” campaign, has already enjoyed
remarkable success to date. In a survey taken six months after the launch of “Truth,” more than 90 percent of Florida teens
could identify at least one aspect of the campaign. What’s more, teen attitudes about tobacco are already changing.
Additional sessions will give teens a chance to talk with professional athletes and coaches about how tobacco can make an
athlete lose his or her edge. Other sessions will provide participants with the latest information on tobacco possession laws,
cessation programs and the dangers of second-hand smoke. (See attached session descriptions and timelines for more
detailed information.]
“The goal of the Summit is to inform and empower,” said Susan Medina, a SWAT leader who has appeared in some of the
“truth” commercials. “There is nothing more threatening to Big Tobacco than a teen who is armed with the truth and is
feeling pretty mad about being lied to for so long.”
While the Summit schedule includes serious activities, the weekend won’t be all work for the teens.
• The opening session on Thursday, February 25th will focus on SWAT’s project. “Reel Truth,” which began during last
summer’s Truth Train. “Reel Truth” took the entertainment industry to task for irresponsibly depicting tobacco use in films
and on television. Antonio Sabato, Jr., star of Melrose Place and General Hospital, will be on hand for a panel discussion
on the issue and other celebrities, such as Leeza Gibbons, will send video-taped messages of support for the teens. Folk
rock singer Leslie Nuchow, who received national attention for rejecting a Virginia Slims sponsorship offer, will also
perform during the opening session.
• The teens will learn leadership and teamwork by tackling a ropes/obstacle course. As the teens face these challenges,
they will gain the confidence, strength and leadership skills necessary to win the fight against Big Tobacco.
• On Saturday night, February 27th, teen participants will be treated to a live concert by the number one R & B band,
Divine, who will perform their hit single, “Lately.”
Several of the state’s VIPs will also attend the Summit. Lt. Governor Frank Brogan will address the teens at breakfast and
Secretary of Health, Robert G. Brooks, M.D., at lunch on Friday, February 26th. Following lunch, Secretary Brooks will tour
the teen training sessions. Education Commissioner Tom Gallagher and Secretary of State Katherine Harris will be on hand
for the closing ceremonies Sunday, February 28th. Also on Sunday, Ed Chiles, youngest son of the late Governor and Mrs.
Chiles, will be on hand to announce the winners of the Lawton Chiles Youth Advocate of the Year Awards. The recipients,
chosen for their anti-tobacco efforts, will receive scholarships to any public Florida university of their choosing. The
scholarship is funded by the Lawton Chiles Foundation.
Foreign and national anti-tobacco experts will also be in attendance. Says Peter Mitchell, Acting Director of the Florida
Tobacco Pilot Program: “As the ‘Truth’ campaign and SWAT become a bigger force in the tobacco war, more people want to
study us; to see what works and why.” Among the experts attending will be Bill Novelli, President of the Campaign for
Tobacco Free Kids.
The Teen Tobacco Summit 2 is funded by the Florida Tobacco Pilot Program, which was created by the state’s historic
settlement with the tobacco industry in 1997.
For up to the minute information on Teen Tobacco Summit 2, check out our web site at www.state.fl.us/tobacco.
This is a typical news release. It has the release information in the upper left corner and contact information in the upper right. A headline
summarizes the point of the news release. It closes with the Web site address for additional information.
2. Avoid attachments. They take time to open and to read, and busy
reporters often dismiss them. They can also carry viruses.
3. Keep your pitches less than a page in length. The first paragraph should
capture the who, what, and why of the story.
4. Help reporters do their jobs. Some reporters won't rewrite a news release
because they want to write the story their own way. For those reporters,
provide them with a great story idea, including visuals and other
resources, and with contacts, so they can round out the story.
5. Make it personal. Use their first names and mention the publication name.
6. Keep subject-line headers to fewer than four or five words. The header
should be clear and to the point; don't waste the space running the term
"press release" itself.
7. Never follow up an e-mail pitch by asking, "Did you get it?" Instead, call
to ask reporters if they need more information and call within an hour
(things move quickly in the online world).
Source: "Seven Tips for Getting Your E-mail Pitches Read," direct mailing from Ragan Communications,
September 2000.
Press Conferences A press conference—an event at which a company spokesper¬

son makes a statement to media representatives—is one of the riskiest public relations
activities because the media may not see the company’s announcement as being real news.
Some companies have successfully introduced new products, such as Gillette’s Sensor,
Sensor for Women, and, more recently, the Mach III, through press conferences and other
publicity events, and then followed up the launch news events with an advertising cam¬
paign. But companies often worry about whether the press will show up for a press confer¬
ence. Will they ask the right questions, or will they ask questions the company cannot or
does not want to answer?
To anticipate some of these problems, companies may issue a media kit, usually a
folder that provides all the important background information to members of the press,
either before or when they arrive at the press conference. The risk in offering media kits
(also called press kits) is that they give reporters all the necessary information so that the
press conference itself becomes unnecessary. The SWAT “Truth Tour” featured a “Watch
Out” media kit, which the media found useful because it provided a more detailed expla¬
nation of the antismoking campaign and its events.
Media Tours A media tour is a press conference on wheels. The traveling spokesper¬
son makes announcements and speeches, holds press conferences to explain a promotional
effort, and offers interviews. The Florida “Truth” campaign featured a 10-day, 13-city
whistle-stop train tour and concert series across the state of Florida. Governor Lawton
Chiles rode the train, joining the teen spokespeople, who conducted their own press con¬
ferences at every stop. SWAT members trained their peers in advocacy and media relations
along the way, empowering teens throughout the state to join in the movement’s rebellion
against the tobacco industry.
Publications
Organizations may provide employees and other publics with pamphlets, booklets, annual
reports, books, bulletins, newsletters, inserts and enclosures, and position papers. An exam¬
ple of a publication is found in the education part of the Florida “Truth” campaign, which
included a book for children in grades 1, 2, and 3 titled The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the
Sinister Smoke Ring. A companion Student Activity Workbook took the prevention message
into an interactive format. For fourth- and fifth-grade students a jazzy, high-tech “Science,
Tobacco and You” program was incorporated into two Crush It! magazines, which inte¬
grated the antismoking message into science, math, language arts, and social studies classes.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that each publicly held
company publish an annual report. You can review annual reports at www.sec.gov. A
company’s annual report is targeted to investors and may be the single most important doc¬
ument the company distributes. Millions of dollars are spent on the editing and design of
annual reports.
Some companies publish material—often called collateral material—to support
their marketing public relations efforts. Corning Fiberglass Insulation offers a free booklet
on home insulation do’s and don’ts as an integral part of its promotion effort. The booklet
is highlighted in its advertising campaign.
Corporate publication, marketing, and sales promotion departments and their agen¬
cies also produce training materials and sales kits to support particular campaigns. Target’s
Coordinators Kit, for instance, was produced by Target for school representatives to help
run the “Take Charge of Education” campaign. Target also used a number of different
brochures, such as a series included in a “School Fundraising Made Simple” kit designed
to train and support school representatives involved in the “Take Charge of Education”
campaign.
Videos/DVDs, CDs, and Books

Videotapes, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and corporate books have become a major public relations
tool for a great many companies. Corporate books have also become popular with the
advent of simplified electronic publication.28 Costing $1,000 to $2,000 per minute to make,
videos are not cheap. However, they are an ideal tool for distributing in-depth information
about a company or program. Because they are easier to duplicate, CD-ROMs are reducing
this cost. Research has found that 90 percent of people that receive video cassettes in the
mail do watch them and the conversion rates for video cassettes in direct marketing are as
high as 23 percent.29 For a company such as Target, mailing videotapes to schools as part of
the “Take Charge of Education” announcement package was a worthwhile investment.
Speakers and Photos

Many companies have a speakers’ bureau of articulate people who will talk about topics
at the public’s request. Apple Computer, Harvard University, and the Children’s Hospital
in Houston, Texas, all have speakers’ bureaus that will provide speakers for local groups
and classes. Some publics—particularly the news media—may want pictures of people,
products, places, and events. That’s why PR departments maintain files of photographs that
are accurate and well composed. The permissions for ads in this book were provided
because they present the advertisers in a positive light. Companies seldom give permission
to use ads that authors intend to criticize.
Displays and Exhibits

Displays and exhibits (as well as special events and tours) may be important parts of both
sales promotion and public relations programs. Displays include booths, racks and holders
for promotional literature, and signage. A model of a new condominium complex, com¬
plete with a literature rack that has brochures about the development, is an example of a
display. Exhibits tend to be larger than displays; they may have moving parts, sound, or
video, and usually are staffed by a company representative. Booth exhibits are important at
trade shows, where some companies may take orders for much of their annual sales.
Special Events and Tours

Some companies stage events to celebrate milestones, such as Scrabble’s fiftieth anniver¬
sary and the thirtieth anniversary of the Big Mac. These are high-visibility activities
designed to get maximum publicity. Special events can be the public relations manager’s
responsibility, as well as a sales promotion activity.
Staged events include open houses and even birthday celebrations. For example,
when Barnum’s Animal Crackers turned 100, Nabisco invited people to decide what new
critters should join the circus of 17 animals in the traditional box. The use of fancier staged
events has seen the most growth. Corporate sponsorship of various sporting events has
evolved into a favorite public relations tactic. For example, Sports Illustrated magazine
Scrabble celebrated its developed an elaborate events strategy to attract new advertisers. The centerpiece of that
fiftieth anniversary and Big strategy is the Sports Festival, a 70,000-square-foot exhibition that tours Time Warner’s
Mac celebrated its thirtieth Six Flags theme parks during the summers, spending 10 days at each park. The exhibition
with oversized versions of includes interactive games that allow participants to slam-dunk a basketball or race against
their products. Carl Lewis.
Events can also be important in internal communication. Learning objectives are
often accomplished through meetings, seminars, and workshops sponsored by a company,
as well as training materials and other publications. To facilitate internal marketing, town
hall forums are sometimes used.30 This is an opportunity for management to make a pre¬
sentation on some major project, initiative, or issue and invite employees to discuss it.
Table 17.2 summarizes some of the marketing PR activities.
In addition to media tours, tours of all kinds are used in public relations programs,
such as plant tours and trips by delegates and representatives. The Inside Story box
explains how 37 Spokane business leaders, travel suppliers, and trade professionals
embarked on a four-day mission to Calgary, Alberta. The tour was focused on showcasing
Spokane’s regional travel opportunities to Calgary’s travel trade and travel consumers.
17.2 Marketing Public Relations Tours and Events

Client Event or Tour
Victoria’s Secret Victoria’s Secret’s supermodels, the “Angels,” toured
major cities via the “Angels” jet. At each stop they
modeled the retailer’s holiday gift collection and
interacted with shoppers and fans. Supported by a
one-hour special on VH1.
Best Buy Uniformed Best Buy teams hit streets with branded
CD samplers and store coupons; 30,000 people
received tickets for a Sting concert in Central Park
sponsored by Best Buy.
Intimo (men’s underwear) A “Thong-a-Thon” run featured some 10 guys in
Intimo black thong underwear and a black Intimo
running bib on a route through New York streets.
Haagen-Dazs Gelato Three Italian chefs compete in an ice-cream scoop-
off; winner gets a $25,000 charity donation in his or
her name; onlookers get to sample gelato.
Levi Strauss & Co. Old UPS trucks painted in Levi’s colors, with mock
college dorm rooms inside, toured raves, clubs, and
other youth hangouts; and sold jeans from the truck.
11 r a u
SIDE STORY
The Spokane Stampede: A Sales Mission to Calgary
John Brewer, President and General Manager,
Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau
in September of 2003, the Spokane of our new Canadian promotion offering rates at par for
Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau* the Canadian dollar.
and the International Trade Alliance in "Team Spokane," as we came to be known, was out¬
Spokane, Washington, were partners in an fitted in team vests and shirts developed specifically for the
ambitious sales and marketing program to re¬ mission. Once we arrived in Calgary, the agenda was
introduce the Canadian audience to the Spokane region aggressive. We broke into teams to attend four industry
for trade and tourism. With a much stronger Canadian dol¬ trade shows and one consumer travel show. The corner¬
lar and greatly improved buying power, we had a terrific stone of our mission related to the Masters Horse Jumping
opportunity to reach this reemerging Canadian market. Tournament at Spruce Meadows, one of Canada's pre¬
In the past decade Canadian travel to the United mier sporting events. This venue allowed us the opportu¬
States grew 9 percent, but Spokane did not feel that nity to host a special suite for dignitaries and offered a
impact because of lack of visibility in the Canadian mar¬ defined setting for a select audience to whom we could
ketplace. With a more favorable exchange rate for promote the assets and amenities of our region. We also
Canadian visitors, and negative world events and border¬ developed a luncheon and trade show featuring give¬
crossing issues becoming somewhat less concerning, the aways, and a dynamic luncheon speaker who talked
CVB felt it was an opportune time to become more visible about "Selling your clients on travel below the border: At
to our friends in Alberta and British Columbia. par prices. Above par experiences."
The Spokane delegation networked with Alberta and This theme was carried out through all of our multime¬
Calgary dignitaries, and local travel professionals—along dia pieces. We developed plastic "credit cards" that fea¬
with taking time to tour the area and explore best-practice tured the campaign theme: "Spokane: Above par experi¬
models for Canadian tourism. ences. At par prices." and distributed nearly 10,000 of
As a first-time event of this nature, establishing goals them. The prime objective of this card was to drive people
was a priority to evaluate the mission's success, but it was to the CVB Web site, have visitors click on the Canadian
also very difficult to set achievable goals without any his¬ button on the home page, then take advantage of the dis¬
torical perspective. We established specific and trackable counts offered by local hospitality partners.
goals based upon a best-case scenario: (1) showcase the We developed a splash page on our Web site listing
Spokane region to 1 70,000 potential leisure travelers at all the participating businesses that offered specials to
the Spruce Meadows consumer show; (2) generate new Canadian travelers in the Spokane region. Prior to depart¬
contacts and sales to 450 qualified travel agents, meeting ing for Calgary, we contracted with two companies in
planners, and tour operators through industry trade shows Canada to promote our campaign and sales mission
in Calgary and Edmonton; (3) gain media hits in the through fax blasts and direct mail.
Calgary market by meeting with 10 area journalists; (4) The mission was a phenomenal success. Our goals
develop a reciprocal trade mission from Calgary tourism were very aggressive, and we were pleased to reach such
planners and industry professionals; and (5) provide a a high number of leisure travelers, and also pleased with
high level of satisfaction for the 37 participants from the such a high ranking of participant satisfaction. Although
Spokane region making the trip. we did not achieve 100 percent of our goals, we now
We chartered a new 50-passenger motor coach and have benchmark figures for subsequent campaigns. We
placed marketing messages on the vehicle to act as a trav¬ deemed the Stampede successful because Spokane left an
eling billboard. The 10-hour road trip provided attendees indelible impression on our core audience, and we bene¬
the opportunity to learn more about each other's busi¬ fited in ways we had not anticipated.
nesses and develop strategies to cross-promote. During
stops along the way, we took the opportunity to plan
media conferences relating to our mission and the rollout
*The Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau is a non¬

John Brewer is a 1992 graduate from the University of West Florida. He spe¬
profit organization whose mission is to create economic growth
cializes in tourism promotion and has worked as an account executive, public
for Spokane County by effectively marketing the Spokane region
relations specialist at agencies in Montana before being named President of
as a preferred convention and visitor destination. Our vision is to the Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau.
make the Inland Northwest one of the nation's top-of-mind visitor
destinations. Nominated by Professor Tom Groth, University of West Florida
Online Communication
'■■■' ,|
PR practitioner and author Fraser Seitel says,
i«n *-T" Ski?. “No Website question about it, the Internet phe¬
I
1 gg nomenon, pure and simple, has been a revolu¬
pMISEjt'g J: I „ tion.”31 The new electronic media are making the
^ 1 $
biggest change in the communication landscape.
E-mail, intranets (which connect people within
an organization), extranets (which connect peo¬
ple in one business with its business partners),
Internet advertising, and Web sites have opened
up avenues for public relations activities.
Bank of America ^ External Communication ’’The World

1 W Wide Web can be considered the first public
relations mass medium in that it allows man¬
aged communication directly between organi¬
zations and audiences without the gatekeeping
function of other mass media.”32 The Florida
“Truth” campaign developed a Web site (www
.whole truth.com) based on ideas from the Teen
Tobacco Summit. The site contains facts and sta¬
tistics on cigarettes and chewing tobacco, as well
as information on how to join SWAT teams. It
also provides updates on the program’s activities.
Named the Spokane Stampede,
Corporate Web sites have become an important part of corporate communication.
the mission allowed Spokane
County hospitality suppliers to These sites can present information about the company and open up avenues for stake¬
network and conduct business holders to contact the company. Web site newsrooms distribute a company’s press releases
with Calgary media, travel to the media and other interested stakeholders. One study noted that the interactive dimen¬
agents, meeting and tour sion is particularly important: “If you built a highly interactive and informative Web site,
group planners, and potential then you can capitalize on building brand and corporate image through longer and more
leisure travelers. This visit was a intense exposures than any other type of campaign.” The study also found that interactiv¬
step toward developing stronger ity—being able to contact the company—is more important than the actual information.33
ties between Canada and the
In addition to Web sites, the Internet has become the favorite tool of media relations
Spokane region for economic
professionals, as well as journalists. E-mail is now used more frequently to contact reporters
development and community
than the telephone, in person, or the fax and reporters indicate that corporate Web sites are
relations.
their most important source of financial information.34 Furthermore, most press releases are
now distributed online by sending them either directly to reporters or to such services as PR
Newswire, which then does mass distributions online to appropriate publications.
Internal Communication E-mail is a great way for people in separate locations to

communicate. You can get a fast reply if people on the other end are checking their mail
regularly. It is also an inexpensive form of internal communication. Internal company e-
mail may have its public relations downside, however. It can be used in court. Some of the
most damaging evidence the federal government presented against Microsoft in its
antitrust suit came from e-mail messages exchanged within the company.
Internal company networks do have great benefits. Intranets and corporate portals (an
extensive collection of databases and links that are important to people working in a com¬
pany) encourage communication among employees in general and permit them to share
company databases, such as customer records and client information. Some companies
urge employees to set up personal home pages as part of the company portal, which allows
them to customize the material they receive and set up their own links to crucial corporate
information such as competitor news, product information, case histories, and so forth.
Web Challenges The Internet presents at least as many challenges to public relations
professionals as it does opportunities. Search engine optimization is a major issue for
online experts, who continually try to improve the process of keyword searching that leads
interested Web users to their sites.35
The Internet makes it possible to present the company’s image and story without
going through the editing of a gatekeeper. On the other hand, it is much harder to control
what is said about the company on the Internet. According to Parry Aftab, a lawyer spe¬
cializing in computer-related issues, “It used to be that you could control the information
because you'd have one spokesman who represented the company. Now where you have
thousands of employees who have access to an e-mail site, you have thousands of spokes¬
men.”36 All employees have “an inside view” of their company, whether sanctioned by the
PR department or not. Every employee becomes a spokesperson.
Gossip and rumors can spread around the world within hours. Angry customers and
disgruntled former employees know this and have used the Internet to voice their com¬
plaints. A number of these people have set up Web sites such as the Official Internet
AntiNike Web site; alt.destroy.microsft; I Hate McDonald’s; ToysRUs Sucks; GTE Sucks;
Why America Online Sucks; Packard Bell Is Evil; and BallySucks. As a defense against
this negative press, some companies are registering domain names that might cause them
trouble. For example, JP Morgan Chase bank owns IHateChase.com, ChaseStinks.com,
and ChaseSucks.com, but not chasebanksucks.com, which is an active Web site critical of
the company.
Some companies monitor the Internet to see what is being said about them so they can
respond to protect their reputations. Thousands of companies have hired eWatch, a firm
that provides Web-monitoring services, to collect such information.
Consider This
1. List the most common tools used by
public relations practitioners. Companies such as Burelle's
Information Services specialize
2. How does public relations use advertising?
in tracking press coverage.
EFFECTIVENESS AND PR EXCELLENCE

The Institute for PR has developed a set of measure¬
ment standards to help evaluate the effectiveness of
public relations. As in advertising, public relations
evaluation is based on setting measurable objectives in
the beginning of the planning. Objectives that specify
the impact the program seeks to have on the various
publics can be evaluated by the PR manager if they
contain benchmarks and target levels.
Figure 17.4 illustrates how research company
Delahaye Medialink evaluates the effectiveness
of public relations programs’ controlled, semi-
controlled, and uncontrolled messages (www.
delahayemedialink.com). The model identifies expo¬
sure, awareness, and understanding (which leads to
behavior change) as categories of effects that need to
be measured in an evaluation program. OK hotshot. So you ran a sensational PR cam¬ What is the advertising equivalence in real
paign and the clips are pouring in. Now what do dollars? There’s more.. .but we think you get
Public relations practitioners track the impact of a you do? Your bosses want to know what it all the idea.
means. What do you show them.. .a big box It’s time you received NewsClip Analysis from
campaign in terms of output (how many news releases of clips? Burrelle’s. Burrelle’s can create detailed, accu¬
rate, and visually stimulating reports that give
lead to stories or mentions in news stories) and outcome Not bad for a start, but what do they really you a true evaluation of your public relations
mean? What is the true impact of your public effort. Burrelle’s NewsClip Analysis reports are
(attitude or behavior change). Such tracking is done to relation's effort... in terms of exposure, circula¬ timely, and they won’t break your budget.
tion, audience? What is the quality of the pickup So call today for more information. Then, next
prove the effectiveness of the PR program, and so that you’re getting? Which products or services are time you’re rolling in the clips, instead of saying
getting covered? Is the tone favorable, or neutral? “Now What?” you’ll be saying “Look At This!”
they learn from their efforts and fine-tune future cam¬
paigns. To get a comprehensive picture of PR’s impact,
NewsClip Analysis
practitioners evaluate process (what goes out) and out¬
Burrelle’s Information Services
Burrelle’s
come (media use; effect on the target audience). 75 East Northfield Road, Livingston, NJ 07039
Telephone: 1-800-631-1160. In NJ: 201-992-6600 Intelligence through media monitoring.
The Burrelle’s ad describes the difficulty of
tracking such publicity and offers its services as an
The Delahaye Medialink Model

of Public Relations Evaluation
Research company Delahaye
Medialink uses this model to
evaluate the effectiveness of PR
programs.
Source: Adapted from Delahaye Medialink

New Business Kit, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
(www.delahayemedialink.com).
outside company (www.burrelles.com) that specializes in tracking and monitoring press

coverage. The “Truth” campaign was deemed successful because it resulted in more than
590,476,000 impressions—the number of times a person in the target audience is reached
by one or more of the messages. In this case, the target audience was teens, parents, and
influencers (teachers, role models).
Excellence in Public Relations

Another aspect of PR evaluation was showcased in Professor James Grunig’s mammoth
study of excellence in PR, sponsored by the International Association of Business
Communicators (IABC).37 The study concluded that there are 14 factors of excellent PR,
grouped into four categories: program level, departmental level, organizational level, and
effects of excellent public relations. As an example of how Grunig’s factors can be used,
one study used the 14 factors to investigate the forest industry. It found that based on these
factors, the major companies investigated were making great efforts to identify and com¬
municate effectively with their publics.38
Consider This
o-
1. What's the difference between output and outcome evaluation?
2. What determines excellence in public relations?
IT'S A WRAP
CHILD HUNGER IS REAL
T he Ad Council and Powell/BBH realized that child hunger is a very curable epidemic in
the United States but their biggest challenge was to communicate the extent of the prob¬
lem. The "Child Hunger" campaign generated huge amounts of publicity for the child hunger
issue. The campaign and the issue were also covered on the Today Show and the campaign
was written up in the trade publication Shoot Magazine as being one of this year's "best
campaigns."
Objective 1: Maximize media exposure. For the first 10 months, the campaign received
$45.3 million in donated TV time. Most Ad Council campaigns receive an average of $28.6
million in donated media over the same time span so it was much more effective at eliciting
donated time and space.
Objective 2: Change people's perceptions. The Ad Council realizes that it is hard to
"move the needle" on social change issues, however the number of people who say child
hunger is a problem in the United States and in their communities rose. There was a 36 per¬
cent increase in the number of people who agreed that "child hunger is a problem in my com¬
munity."
Objective 3: Inspire action. More than 500,000 unique visitors were counted at the
Web site during the first year of the campaign. In the first month alone, the Web banner
advertising had 20.3 million impressions and 28,410 clicks, making a click-through rate of
. 14, which is above the Ad Council's average of . 10.
Objective 4: Generate collective concern. As a direct result of the groundswell of media
coverage of the campaign, the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) donated 9 million
lunches in the summer to schools for children in need.
From the advertising and publicity stories, more than 57.5 million people either read,
watched, or heard about the issue of child hunger as a result of this PSA campaign. The cam¬
paign had great results after its launch, which is why it is an EFFIE winner.
■ ■■Summary
1. Explain what public relations is and how it differs from ment of objectives and strategies. Research is needed when
advertising. Public relations is a management function that planning a PR program and evaluating its effectiveness.
communicates to and with various publics to manage an 4. Explain the most common types of public relations
organization’s image and reputation. Advertising focuses on tools. Uncontrolled media tools include the news story that
enhancing brand value and creating the awareness and moti¬ results from a news release or news conference. Controlled
vation that deliver sales. media are tools that the company uses to originate and con¬
2. Identify the most common types of public relations pro¬ trol content. Semicontrolled tools are controlled in that the
grams. In addition to the key areas of government, media, company is able to initiate the use of the tool, but also
employee, and investor relations, PR programs also include uncontrolled in that the content is contributed by others.
marketing public relations (MPR), corporate relations and 5. Discuss the importance of measuring the results of
reputation management, crisis management, and nonprofit public relations efforts. Public relations evaluation usu¬
public relations. ally focuses on outputs and outcomes and may include
3. Describe the key decisions in public relations planning. relationship management and excellence. The evaluation
Planning for a public relations campaign begins with a effort is made to determine how well a PR program meets
SWOT, or situation analysis, that is used as background for its objectives.
the identification of the target audience and the develop¬
advocacy advertising, 489 extranets, 496 marketing public relations public service announcement
annual report, 492 feature stories, 490 (MPR), 483 (PSA), 487
benchmarking, 484 financial relations, 480 media kit, 492 publicity, 477
cause marketing, 481 fund-raising, 481 media relations, 480 publics, 477
change-agent program, 485 gap analysis, 484 media tour, 492 relationship marketing, 480
collateral material, 493 gatekeepers, 480 news release, 489 reputation, 478
communication audit, 483 goodwill, 478 opinion leaders, 478 reputation management, 482
controlled media, 487 house ad,487 pitch letter, 490 semicontrolled media, 487
corporate advertising, 488 image, 478 press conference, 492 situation analysis
corporate identity implied third-party public affairs, 481 (SWOT), 484
advertising, 489 endorsement, 480 public communication speakers’ bureau, 493
corporate image, 488 internal marketing, 480 campaigns, 483 stakeholders, 477
corporate relations, 482 intranets, 496 public opinion, 478 town hall forums, 494
crisis management, 482 issue management, 481 public relations, 477 uncontrolled media, 487
employee relations, 480 lobbying, 481 video news releases
(VNRs), 490
1. Explain why public opinion is important to the success of 4. In analyzing PR tools, compare the use of controlled and
public relations. uncontrolled media. Explain the difference between the
2. How does the practice of advertising differ from the prac¬ two categories.
tice of public relations? 5. In evaluating the effectiveness of public relations, explain
3. What are the key strategic decisions in a PR plan? the difference between output and outcome evaluations.
1. Why is public opinion so important to the success of public public relations is doing the same thing by “selling ideas
relations? In how many different ways does it affect the suc¬ and images,” and its motives are usually just as money cen¬
cess of a program like the “Truth” campaign? tered as those of advertising. If you overheard this discus¬
2. What is reputation management, and how does it intersect sion, would you take Wendy’s or Phil's side? Could you
with advertising programs? How did the CIGNA “Cares” offer advice on ethical considerations for both careers?
campaign impact on the reputation of the company? Find 4. Suppose you belong to a campus group planning a special
another corporate reputation campaign and analyze its weekend event on campus to raise public support and
effectiveness. funds for a local charity. This will cost your organization
3. Wendy Johnson and Phil Draper are having a friendly dis¬ time and money. Although contributions at the event will
agreement before class. Wendy claims that she is not inter¬ be some measure of the effectiveness of your public rela¬
ested in advertising as a career because she dislikes the tions program, what other steps could you take to evaluate
“crass commercialism” of promoting products and services your success?
that many people don’t need. Phil counters by saying that
1. Divide the class into groups of three to four people. Each group should adopt a local cause
that operates on a low budget and needs public relations help. As a team, develop a public
relations plan for that nonprofit organization.
2. Consult the two teen-targeted antismoking Web sites given below and compare them in
terms of their appeal to a teen audience. Which one do you think is the most interesting to
this age group? Which one is the least interesting? Compile the best ideas from both of
them and write a report to your instructor on why the ideas are good and what else a Web
site can do to reach a teen market.
www.thetruth.com
w w w.generationfree. com
HANDS-ON (ftp
Oprah Helps People Live Their Wildest Dreams, with
Some Help from Pontiac
The first show of Oprah Winfrey's nineteenth season was afford to buy all the free publicity." According to New
a big one; 1 1 lucky audience members would win a new York-based publicity tracker Video Monitoring Service,
car. The show's theme was "wildest dreams," and the 1 1 674 TV news reports covered the giveaway during the
shrieking winners probably did feel like a dream was com¬ days that followed the program, the most ever for an auto¬
ing true as Oprah handed them keys to a new Pontiac G6, motive event. And Pontiac and Oprah are not finished.
Pontiac's sleek, sporty successor to the Grand Am. After Future program segments will show how the new cars
things finally calmed down, Oprah had even better news. changed the lives of some of the winners.
Studio guests would receive gift boxes, and one out of Not everyone seemed to think the promotion was
every three also contained keys to a new G6. After Oprah such a slam dunk, though. Robert Cosmai, CEO at
counted to three, paper and ribbons were torn apart and Hyundai America, sniffed, "I don't think we would need to
general pandemonium broke loose: Every guest was a spend $7 million to accomplish the same thing in public¬
winner. ity." Sour grapes from an outflanked competitor? Perhaps.
Viewers at home, who might have been tempted to But there were doubters within Pontiac itself. Only a cou¬
feel just a bit of envy at the good fortune of the show's ple of days before Winfrey's visit to the Michigan plant,
guests, learned that this was no ordinary audience. mid-level managers wrote a memo objecting to the deal,
Everyone in Oprah's studio that day had been personally arguing it would have a negligible impact on sales. When
selected by the host herself on the basis of testimonials Pontiac marketing reps pitched the Oprah promotion to
from friends and loved ones explaining how a new car higher-ups at GM, the reps were given a green light, but
would change the recipient's life. In all, 276 people were also told they would have to find the money for the
received a new Pontiac. The cars themselves were fully promotion from their own budget. To come up with the
loaded, bringing the value of each prize to just under money they canceled several ad buys on network televi¬
$30,000. Total cost of the giveaway: over $7 million. sion. Others within the organization wondered whether
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most successful and the same publicity could have been obtained by giving
highly paid talents on television, with an annual salary of away only 100 cars rather than almost 300. And some
well over $ 100 million. But Oprah didn't actually buy the within Pontiac were confused about how the promotion
cars that her studio guests took home that day. The cost of would ultimately help the G6 succeed with its intended
the giveaway was borne by Pontiac. Was it worth it? demographic, young male drivers.
Definitely, according to Aaron Walton, a president with
Omnicom Group. He called the program "emotionally Consider This
uplifting. It is an A-plus in marketing and brand entertain¬ O-
ment. . . . There's an emotional connection. It is something 1. Do you recall hearing about the giveaway? Did you
you couldn't have paid for." In addition to the giveaways, discuss it with anyone? Was the brand a part of
the program featured footage of Oprah visiting Pontiac's what you remember about it?
Orion, Michigan, plant and even helping out on the pro¬ 2. The costs of the promotion were substantial. Were
duction line. Winfrey was seen marveling over several they justifiable? What criteria, ultimately, are impor¬
G6 features including the optional Onstar navigation sys¬ tant in assessing whether Pontiac made the right call
tem (Onstar helped cover some of the promotional costs in spending its marketing budget as it did?
as well). To build on the show's impact, the G6 was the 3. Why was the Pontiac G6 promotion considered
exclusive sponsor of Oprah's Web site for three months. a public relations success story? How would you
Visitors to the site found a "Dream it. Win it." sweep- recommend evaluating the effectiveness of such a
stakes offering the chance to win one of four Pontiacs. program?
Entering the contest brought users to Pontiac's Web site.
According to Mark-Hans Richer, marketing director for the
G6, a record 500,000 people visited the site in the days
following the show.
The press response was immediate and positive. USA
Sources: Jean Halliday and Claire Atkinson, "Madison+Vine: Pontiac Gets Major Mileage
Today described the giveaway as "one of the great pro¬ Out of $8 Million 'Oprah' Deal," Advertising Age, (September 20, 2004): 1 2; Jean
motional stunts in the history of television." The Associated Halliday, "Pontiac," Advertising Age (November 1, 2004); BBC News, "Cars Galore in
Oprah Giveaway," September 14, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.Uk/2/hi/americas/
Press claimed Pontiac had created "an event that market¬
3654062.stm; Jason Stein, "Media Gush over G6 Group Giveaway," Automotive News
ing executives say could set a new bar for product place¬ (September 20, 2004): 45; Jason Stein, "GM Was Split on Oprah Deal; Some Tried to
ment." And the Wall Street Journal suggested "GM couldn't Stop Costly Car Giveaway," Automotive News (September 20, 2004): 1.
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CHAPTER KEY POINTS
After reading this chapter, you will he able to:

1. Discuss retail advertising and what makes it distinctive.
2. Explain the basics of B2B advertising.
3. Identify the basic goals and operations of nonprofit and social

marketing.
4. Describe the strategic decisions behind international advertising

and IMC.
W
Novell Speaks Your
Language
Award: hat does RAM mean to a businessperson? Or cursor,
BtoB Best Awards; megahertz, search engine, or ERP?
American Association of
Advertising Agencies (4As)
Account Planning Award;
Grand AME Award Humorous definitions of these common technology terms were
(Advertising and Marketing used as the creative link between IT (information technology) staff
Effectiveness) and their C-level bosses. C-level refers to senior executives, the tar¬
get audience for this campaign for the Novell software company,
Company: who have chief in their title, such as chief executive officer (CEO),
Novell
chief financial officer (CFO), or chief information officer (CIO).
So what do those terms mean? Here are the answers, which
Agency:
J. Walter Thompson also served as headlines in an award-winning campaign for Novell
by the J. Walter Thompson agency:
Campaign:
"We Speak Your RAM: Attempt by certain large vendors to shove their proprietary
Language" technology solutions down your enterprise.
503
Cursor: CIO who discovers that his expensive new integration system needs
yet another integration system.
Megahertz: How you'll feel if all your competitors attend Novell

BrainShare and you don't.
Search Engine: IT consultant who actually finds ways to make you money.
ERP: Sound made by CIO when people see data they shouldn t.
The point of this award-winning campaign, which was titled, "We Speak
Your Language," is that Novell is unlike other technology companies that speak
in "techno-babble." Rather Novell's products and expertise can connect tech¬
nology to business needs by selling the products' benefits as tools to make
money or cut costs.
The brilliant insight behind this campaign is that the C-level executives don't
understand techno-speak, so to get their attention, IT folks have to talk about
what they do understand—the bottom line.
The Novell "We Speak Your Language" campaign was designed to promote
Novell's best-known product, Netware, but it also needed to introduce the broad
range of solutions the company offered—everything from consulting to Web ser¬
vices. Beyond Netware, four other products needed to be explained. The biggest
goal, however, was to speak about these products in a way that demonstrated
how Novell's products could make or save money for its customers.
The media plan, whose goal was to surround the executive throughout the
course of the day, made it possible for the creative to stand out in the cluttered
B2B market and attract attention. Executives saw the ads in their morning news¬
papers, on CNBC when they flipped it on in the office, on TV when they went
home at night, and in business publications like the Economist, Forbes, and
Fortune when they unwound at home.
This was the core campaign message and media strategy, but since Novell
is an international company, JWT had to find a way to use the "language" strat¬
egy and message to executives around the world. The It's a Wrap feature at the
end of the chapter will explain just how effective this campaign was at deliver¬
ing a positive bottom-line message for Novell.
Sources: AME brief provided by Novell and J. Walter Thompson; Kate Maddox, “Integrated Marketing Success Stories,’- BtoB,
June 7, 2003, www.btobonline.com; “2003 BtoB Best Awards,” BtoB (December 8, 2003); 22.
The Novell case is about an integrated international business-to-business campaign. It

combines two of the subjects we cover in this chapter, business-to-business and interna¬
tional advertising. Other topics in this chapter are retail and nonprofit. All these specialized
areas use many of the basic advertising principles; however, there are some distinct differ¬
ences that we will call to your attention in this chapter. We’ll start with retail.
RETAIL ADVERTISING
Retail marketing is about selling (the company’s viewpoint), but also it is about shop¬
ping (the consumer’s viewpoint). Sometimes shopping is a chore, but many times it is
CHAPTER 18 • SPECIAL ADVERTISING SITUATIONS 505
Best Buy uses surreal

advertising to convey the idea
that it has a huge selection
fun, entertaining, or an adventure. Sporting goods store Galyans (renamed Dick’s) tries and offers a lot of choice to
to make its store a hero (rather than the product) to its sports fanatic, heavy shopper tar¬ shoppers.
get that Galyans identifies as “seekers.” Galyans not only provides the newest, most
innovative products on the market, it even markets products that aren’t yet on the mar¬
ket .' In addition to fun, shoppers also base their decisions on choice and selection as the
Best Buy ad illustrates.
The face of retailing is changing as malls convert to open-air markets, eBay operates
an international flea market, and the Internet becomes the primary information source for
buyers. Clicks and bricks are changing places as store-based retailers set up Web sites and
e-marketers set up stores. NikeTown stores sells sports (and sporting clothes) as entertain¬
ment and ESPN takes X Games to malls. The more the retail world changes, the more there
is need for information and promotion. Retail advertising accounts for nearly half of all the
money spent on advertising.
Retail Advertising Strategies

Retail advertising occurs on local, national, and international levels. Retailers such as
Sears, Office Max, Macy’s, Home Depot, and Best Buy advertise nationally. Some retail¬
ers, such as Toys “R” Us, advertise internationally, but most retail advertising is local. By
local advertising, we mean advertising targeted at consumers who live close to a retail
store. As the table shows, many types of organizations use retail advertising to reach con¬
sumer audiences. The types of organizations are diverse, ranging from independently
owned stores to restaurant chains.
Type Examples__
Locally owned stores The local independent record or book store,

auto parts shop, or bakery.
Service businesses A local beauty salon, health clinic, or the local

branch of a bank.
Local branches of retail store chains Staples, Macy’s, Wal-Mart.
Franchised retail businesses Texaco, Holiday Inn, or Hertz.
Dealerships Toyota or Ford auto dealerships, AT&T phone

stores.
Restaurant and entertainment Applebee’s, TGI Friday’s, the local bagel shop,
movie theaters, sports arenas and teams,
theater troupes.
In targeting consumers, a retailer’s first concern is geography: Where do my cus¬

tomers live? How far will they drive to come to my store? The next concern is consumer
Principle taste. National retailers also are trying to develop offers that appeal to consumers in differ-
The first strategic consideration in ent parts of the country as well as in different neighborhoods in the same suburb. H.E.B.
retail advertising is geography. Supermarkets operates its stores in both central and south Texas. In San Antonio, the stores
located in Mexican American neighborhoods carry a merchandise assortment, as well as
advertising program, very different from that in stores in other locations.
Retail advertising has a number of objectives. The primary one is to build store traffic,
and advertising does that by emphasizing a reduced price on a popular item or by promoting
the store image through focusing on unusual or varied merchandise, friendly and knowl¬
edgeable clerks, or prestige brands. Other objectives are:
• Build store brand awareness.

• Sell a variety of products and brands by creating consumer understanding of items or
services offered.
• Deliver sales promotion messages.
• Create and communicate a store image or personality.
• Establish a store brand that resonates with the local audience.
• Create consumer desire to shop at this particular store.
In addition, most retailers use advertising to help attract new customers, build store loyalty,
increase the amount of the average sale, maintain inventory balance by moving out over¬
stocks and outdated merchandise, and help counter seasonal lows.
Differences between Retail and Brand Advertising Retail advertising dif¬

fers from brand advertising in various ways. First, local retail advertising is targeted to peo¬
ple living in the store’s community and is customized to match their particular needs, wants,
and culture. National and international brand advertisers (Sony, Calvin Klein, Chevrolet)
typically deliver a more standardized, general message. Second, national brand advertising
supports only the advertiser’s brand, while retail advertising may promote several different
brands or even competing brands. Third, retail advertising has an inherent urgency.
Everything about the ad pushes the consumer toward a behavior—typically visiting the
store. National retail brand advertising is more concerned with image. The fourth difference
is that local retail advertising advertises a specific local store or stores and includes contact
information such as the store’s address, telephone number, and business hours.
For several reasons local retail advertising is generally more utilitarian than national
advertising. It is more short term. Most retail ads deal with price and run for only a few
days, while a national ad may run for months or years. Also, local retail advertisers can’t
justify high production costs for advertising. National advertisers can easily spend $5,000
to produce a newspaper ad when they are paying $200,000 to run it in 100 large markets.
That’s why local retailers often rely on their media sales representatives to design and pro¬
duce their ads rather than outside agencies.
Cooperative Advertising One way local retailers can compensate for their smaller
budgets and limited expertise is to take advantage of cooperative (co-op) advertising (as
discussed in Chapters 2 and 8), in which the national brand reimburses the retailer for part
Retail Advertising Objectives

To build and maintain store traffic,
a retail ad strives to meet these
objectives.
or all of the advertising expenses. Co-op funds, sometimes called ad allowances, have
become so common that most retailers won’t even consider taking on a new brand, espe¬
cially one in a heavily advertised category, without receiving some support. Retailers may
also seek reimbursement for local advertising from suppliers as part of a retailer’s vendor
support program. Large drug and discount chains, for instance, periodically schedule a spe¬
cial advertising supplement. Their suppliers are offered an opportunity to buy space in this
supplement. Suppliers generally are promised that no competing brands will be included.
Institutional and Product Retail Advertising Two general types of retail

advertising are institutional and product promotion. Institutional retail advertising is
image advertising that sells the retail store as a brand. Retailers who want to build a brand
identity must clearly and consistently communicate that identity to consumers. Product
retail advertising presents specific merchandise for sale at a certain price and urges cus¬
tomers to come to the store to buy it. When a sales price dominates the ad, it is called
promotional or sales advertising. Retailers use any reason they can find to have a sale
(President’s Day, tax time, overstocks). Stores search for themes, such an exotic place
(Madras, India, was the theme of a special JCPenney sale) or period (see the ’70s sale by
Virgin Megastore). In contrast, nonpromotional advertising talks about merchandise that
is new, exclusive, and of superior quality and designs.
Creating the Retail Ad

Prior to actually writing copy or drawing a layout, creative advertising experts Jeweler and
Drewniany suggest that advertisers answer this question: Why would you shop in your
store? Possible answers to this question can provide direction for the creative process.
They suggest these typical reasons:2
• Store’s personnel
• Store’s location
• Store’s pricing policy
• Store’s products
• Store’s history
• Store’s stand on social responsibility issues
The store’s image is another reason. For retail operations that sell products and ser¬
vices that have little differentiation—such as gasoline, banking, and car rentals—a posi¬
tive, distinctive image is a valuable asset. Image is also important for upscale retailers like
Louis Vuitton. The retailer can convey this image through advertising, other forms of mar¬
keting communication, pricing, and location.
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For Virgin Megastore's "Forever '70s'' sale, Chris Hutchinson came up with the
idea of a character who was stuck in the '70s—his music, his style, his lingo,
his attitude. Where to find this cool cat? The perfect person turned out to be the
art director himself, who worked out a great outfit: a huge Afro, tight bell-
bottoms, and an "orange" leather jacket that his father wore in the real 1970s.
The photographer shot on the run to get a semidocumentary look. The client
loved the print so the art director directed himself in a set of TV spots, as well.
The sale was a huge success nationwide. At the time he worked for San
Diego-based Bulldog Drummond but he has since moved to Portland, Oregon,
where he works as at Weiden + Kennedy.
Price also can be a factor in establishing a store’s image and a reason for shopping.
Most discount stores signal their type of merchandise with large, bold prices. Other retail¬
ers emphasize price by offering coupons in their print advertising. Featuring prices doesn’t
necessarily apply only to ads that give the store a bargain or a discount image, however.
Price can help the consumer comparison shop without visiting the store.
Because the main object of retail ads is to attract customers, store location (or tele¬
phone number, if advertising is a service) is essential. For merchandise that is infrequently
purchased, such as cars, furniture, wallpaper, and hearing aids, the ad should include a map
or mention a geographic reference point (for example, three blocks north of the state capi-
tol building) in addition to the regular street address.
Production Small and medium-sized retailers often save money by using stock art¬
work. All daily newspapers subscribe to clip-art services that provide a wide range of pho¬
tographs and line art drawings. Larger retailers or upscale specialty retailers, such as
Tiffany’s, generally have their art designed by a staff or agency

designer, which gives all of their ads a similar look and a distinct
image. Some manufacturers also provide a dealer tag, which is
time left at the end of a radio or television spot or space left at the
bottom of print materials, where the local store is mentioned.
Retailer chains make their television production more efficient by
using a donut format in which the opening and closing sections
are the same, while the middle changes to focus on different mer¬
chandise or different stores.
Who Creates the Retail Ad? Most retail advertising is

I
created and produced by one or a combination of the following:
local media, in-house staff, ad agencies, and freelancers. The m
larger the retail operation, the more likely it is to have an in- m@3
house advertising staff. All local media create and produce ads ■fkf
rk
for retailers. With the exception of television, most provide this
m m
service free. The medium- and larger-sized newspapers and sta¬
tions often have people whose only job is to write and produce
\
ads. Some retail ads are created by agencies, particularly in-
house agencies. Generally outside agency work is the most
costly way to produce retail ads on a regular basis so agencies
are used instead to create image ads for the retailer. Also,
because agencies work for many different clients, they cannot
always respond as quickly as an in-house agency can. Few agen¬
cies are prepared to handle the large number of day-to-day copy
PLEASE VISIT OUR NEW STORE AT I EAST 57TH
changes and the fast deadlines that are characteristic of major Ready-to-Wear, Shoes, leather Goods, Watches, lewelry.
retail advertising.
Television spots, particularly if they are more image ori¬
ented instead of focused on product or price, may also be created
LOUIS VUITTON
by outside agencies. For example, office superstore Staples used
the Cliff Freeman agency to create award-winning back-to-
school campaigns that use humor to distinguish Staples’ brand This brand image ad for a new
image. In one broadcast ad that used the song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Louis Vuitton store provides
a deliriously happy father is skipping down the aisles, gleefully dropping school supplies basic retail information—
into a shopping cart. His kids look on with unhappy faces. location and merchandise—
as it also builds store traffic.
The Media of Retail Advertising

At the national level, retailers use a variety of traditional and nontraditional media—
magazines, television, outdoor, the Internet—for their image or institutional advertising.
They are also using new and nontraditional media. The upscale department store
Bloomingdales, for example, publishes its own glossy high-fashion magazine called B that
highlights clothes, travel, entertaining, and celebrity stories. Limited Too, the retailer for
preteen girls, sells “Fast Friends,” a series of fiction books about four friends.3
Aside from traditional newspaper ads, local retailers can use a host of store-based
media to communicate their promotions. Manufacturers also provide window banners, bill
inserts, and special direct-mail pieces, such as four-color supplements for the local paper
that carry the store’s name and address. Other media used by retailers include banners,
posters, shelf talkers (signs attached to a shelf that let the consumer take away some piece
of information or a coupon), end-of-aisle displays, and shopping cart ads. New interactive
electronic kiosks with touch-screen computers, CD-ROM databases, full graphics, and
product photos are moving into the aisles in many stores, where they provide more infor¬
mation about more products than the store can ever stock on its shelves.
Local Retail Media Strategy Unlike national advertisers, local retailers generally
prefer reach over frequency. Because retailers can choose from many local media, they are
careful to use media that minimize wasted reach. That’s why direct mail is now the second-
largest advertising medium used by retailers, next to newspapers. Media competition at the
local level has increased significantly. Nearly all major markets now have at least one local
independent station and a public television station and that has created many more local
television opportunities. Radio is used by local retailers because it has a low cost, a high
degree of geographic and audience selectivity, and it provides flexibility in scheduling.
Many of the top-50 markets in the United States have at least one local magazine offering
retailers high-quality, four-color ads to reach upscale consumers and many national maga¬
zines have regional or metropolitan editions that enable local retailers to buy exposure to
the audience within their trading area only.
Newspapers have always made up the bulk of the retailer’s advertising because the
local newspaper fits the retailer’s desire for geographic coverage and immediacy. Retailers
can gain some measure of audience selectivity by advertising in specific sections of the
paper, such as sports and financial pages. In addition to special rates for local advertisers,
newspapers in major markets provide retail advertisers with their zip code circulation
reports, which identify the circulation level for that newspaper in the various zip codes.
This information, combined with zone editions of the paper (certain versions of the paper
go to certain counties and suburbs), increases targeting efficiency.
Free-distribution newspapers called shoppers, dropped off at millions of suburban
homes once or twice a week, are popular advertising outlets for retailers. Preprints are
advertising circulars furnished by a retailer for distribution as a free-standing insert in news¬
papers. For instance, preprints account for more than 80 percent of Wal-Mart’s advertising
budget. Retail advertising is a huge part of the advertising industry, but so is business-to-
business advertising, so let’s look at that specialty area in more depth.
Consider This
1. What makes retail advertising different from other types of brand or product
advertising?
2. What are the key characteristics of a retail advertisement?
BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS ADVERTISING
Advertising directed at people in business who buy or specify products for business use is
called business-to-business advertising. Business marketing is the marketing of goods and
services to business markets, as the Matter of Practice box demonstrates. Although personal
selling is the most common method of communicating with business buyers, business
advertising is used to create product awareness, enhance the company’s reputation, and sup¬
port salespeople and other channel members by generating new business leads.
Types of Business-to-Business Advertising

Businesses are grouped according to The North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS), which was formerly known as The Standard Industrial Classification
(SIC) system, which was established by the U.S. government to group organizations on
the basis of the major activity or product or service provided (see www.census.gov/
epcd/www/naics.html). The NAICS system, which classifies more than 4 million manufac¬
turers, allows a business advertiser to find its customers’ NAICS codes and then obtain lists
that include the publications each NAICS group uses. This information means the advertiser
can select media that will reach the businesses in a certain NAICS. As we see in Figure 18.2,
the industries are classified as industrial, government, trade, professional, and agricultural.
• Industrial Advertising. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as IBM and

General Motors, purchase industrial goods or services that either become a part of the
final product or aid business operations. Industrial advertising is directed at OEMs.
For example, when General Motors purchases tires from Goodyear, information needs
focus on whether the purchase will contribute to a high-quality finished product. When
Goodyear purchases packaging materials to ship the tires it manufactures, information
needs focus on prompt, predictable delivery.
! Hi
fifi
Fred Makes the IT Manager a Hero
A business-to-business advertising campaign has to make

a strong sales argument but that doesn't mean they have to
be dull.
CDW, for example, sells computer systems and
peripherals to its business clients direct via the Internet and
over the telephone. Its primary competitor is Dell, which
outspends CDW on advertising 10 to 1.
In the early 2000s the market for high-technology
products hit bottom responding to the pressure of the dot¬
com bust. In the middle of this economic downturn, CDW
asked the JWT Technology agency to help it continue sales
growth.
The target audience for the campaign was the infor¬
mation technology (IT) manager. This group is primarily
male between the ages of 35-44. Research determined
that they generally feel misunderstood and underappreci¬
ated by their peers, who tend to badger them with unrea¬
sonable requests stemming from a lack of knowledge of
technology.
In light of the massive spending directed to this target
by the competition, the agency team felt it needed to not
only present a strong selling message but touch the right
emotional buttons of the IT manager who is often thought
of as the ultimate geek.
The message strategy was to create a character,
"Fred," a highly dedicated IT manager with whom this tar¬
get could identify. Using empathetic humor, Fred demon¬
strated the exasperations of the IT manager whose life is
filled with the trials and tribulations of dealing with non¬
tech co-workers. In this campaign Fred gets continuously
harassed by dimwitted employees and turns to CDW for
solace. The intent was to communicate that CDW truly also sold on CDW's Web site in an area called "Fred's
knows what it's like to be in IT—and that CDW is Corner," where customers could view the ad campaign and
equipped with the right products and services to make the send in their own stories for inclusion in follow-up books.
IT manager's job a little easier. The campaign also used a The "Fred" campaign created for CDW by JWT
tagline that communicated the selling point in a powerful Technology not only elicited a great response from IT man¬
way: "The Right Technology. Right Away." agers who wanted to share their own stories about clue¬
The campaign used trade publications, online adver¬ less co-workers, it also more than accomplished its objec¬
tising, and television in very selected programs that had a tives. Sales in the quarter that followed the launch of the
high index for this target audience, such as science fiction campaign were 16 percent higher than the previous
and comedy channels. The largest part of the budget year—making it the highest quarterly sales in the history of
went to television because it provided the most dramatic the company. The effectiveness of this campaign in meet¬
platform for delivering the empathetic humor in the mes¬ ing its objectives set CDW's "Fred" campaign apart as an
sage strategy. EFFIE award winner.
One indication of the success of the campaign was the
response of the audience. Fred definitely connected with Consider This
the IT target, which was clear from the flood of letters and
o-
1. What problem did the message strategy seek to over¬
e-mails to CDW's corporate offices. It was obvious that IT
come?
managers identified with Fred and wanted to share their
2. How was the effectiveness of this campaign deter¬
own trying buying experiences with a company they knew
mined?
would understand—CDW. The agency realized this
response was a gold mine and acted quickly to capture
these stories. They were compiled into a book and sent as a
direct-mail piece to CDW's best customers. The book was Source: EFFIES Brief provided by JWT Technology and CDW Corp.
Types of
Business Markets Target Market Products Purchased
Types of Business Markets

The overall B2B market has five
distinct markets, each of which
purchases products and services
differently.
Lawyers,
Office Equipment, Paper
Doctors,
Supplies, Surgical Equipment,
and Accountants
and Cleaning Services
for example
Farmers,
Researchers
Distributors
• Government Advertising. The largest purchasers of industrial goods in the United

States are federal, state, and local governments. These government units purchase vir¬
tually every kind of good, from $15 hammers to multimillion-dollar missiles. Such
goods may be advertised in Federal Computer Week, Commerce Business Daily, or
Defense News. However, you seldom see advertisements targeted directly to govern¬
ment agencies because these purchases are usually made by bids and contracts and the
decision is made on price.
• Trade/Channel Advertising. Trade advertising is used to persuade distribution chan¬
nel members, such as resellers, wholesalers, and retailers, to stock the products of the
manufacturer. Chain Store Age, Florist’s Review, and Pizza and Pasta are examples of
trade publications and there are thousands of these covering every possible product
category. Resellers want information on the profit margins they can expect to receive,
the product’s major selling points, and what the producer is doing in terms of con¬
sumer advertising and other promotional support activities.
• Professional Advertising. Advertising directed at a group of mostly white-collar work¬
ers such as lawyers, accountants, technology consultants, doctors, teachers, funeral
directors, and advertising and marketing specialists is known as professional adver-
tising. Advertisers interested in attracting professionals advertise in publications such

as the Music Educators’ Journal and Advertising Age.
• Agricultural Advertising. Agricultural advertising promotes a variety of products and
services, such as animal health products, seeds, farm machinery and equipment, crop
dusting, and fertilizer. Large and small farmers alike want to know how industrial
products can assist them in the growing, raising, or production of agricultural com¬
modities. They turn to such publications as California Farmer and Trees and Turf for
such assistance. Principle
B2B buyers are driven by rational,
pragmatic considerations and
B2B Buying Behavior those concerns must be addressed
Business marketing differs from consumer marketing in three ways: who buys a product, by B2B advertising.
what the buying motive is, and how the decision is made. In business markets, organiza¬
tions buy products or services to support (1) their production requirements or (2) their
business needs. Buying decisions are often made by committees and influenced by others
in the organization from different functional areas: people from marketing, manufacturing, Government regulations
affect many businesses. AIG
purchasing, or other different functional areas who have varying information needs. In
advertising assures business
general, those involved in making decisions for businesses are professionals who have
purchasers that the company
technical knowledge and expertise and who use rational criteria when comparing choices.
offers customized coverage
Purchasing Objectives As you can see in the AIG advertisement, purchasing to help clients deal with
objectives in B2B center on rational, pragmatic considerations such as price, service, qual¬ government regulations. The
decision factors tend to be
ity of the product or service, and assurance of supply. For that reason, B2B advertising
price, service, quality, and
tends to use rational strategies and focus on reasons and benefits.
assurance of supply. This AIG
• Price. Because of the size of most business purchases, buyers in the business arena are ad offers its insurance and
more concerned with price. In evaluating price, businesses consider a variety of factors financial services as safeguards
against regulatory problems.
that generate or minimize costs, such as: What
amount of scrap or waste will result from the use
of the material? What will the cost of processing
the material be? How much power will the
machine consume?
• Service. Business buyers require multiple services,
such as technical assistance, repair capability,
training, and technical support. Thus, the technical
contributions of suppliers are important considera¬
tions wherever equipment, materials, or parts are
being purchased.
• Quality. Business customers search for quality
levels that are consistent with company standards,
so they are reluctant to pay for extra quality or to
compromise quality for a reduced price. The cru¬
cial factor is uniformity or consistency in product
quality.
• Assurance of Supply. Interruptions in the flow of
parts and materials can shut down the production
process, resulting in costly delays and lost sales.
To guard against interruptions in supply, business
firms rely on a supplier’s established reputation for
delivery, especially on-time delivery.
DUMP THEM, YOU BREAK THE LAW. RECYCLE IMPROPERLY, YOU BREAKTHE LAW.
MEANWHILE, MORE TIRES JUST CAME IN.
Creating B2B Advertising Whether your company produces waste, tries to recycle conditions. In fact, AIG is the only worldwide insurance and
it or depends on a steady supply of raw materials, your business financial organization that helps manage your business risks
Although business advertising is an economical is bound to be affected by environmental controls.

There are thousands of regulations, both in the U.S. and
with a broad range of customized services. Services like environ¬
mental remediation coverage, hedging and market-making in
overseas, designed to protect the environment. These environ¬ commodities and slop-loss protection. And we've got the top
means of reaching large numbers of buyers, it is used mental standards arc in a constant state of flux, and can have financial ratings to back ns up. So well be there t
far-reaching risk implications for all kinds of businesses. help keep your business rolling along.
primarily to assist and support the personal selling Fortunately, AIG specializes in designing the kind of
custom coverages you need to cope successfully with changing
function. As a result, B2B advertising objectives cen¬

ter on creating company awareness, increasing overall
Business-to-Business Objectives
B2B advertising has six main
objectives.
selling efficiency, and supporting distributors and resellers. When buyers are aware of a
company’s reputation, products, and record in the industry, salespeople are more effective.
Advertising in trade magazines and general business publications often can reach the influ¬
ences more easily than a salesperson can (see Figure 18.3).
As in consumer advertising, the best business-to-business ads are relevant and under¬
standable and strike an emotional chord in the prospective client. CDWs’ “Fred” campaign
demonstrates that a B2B ad can resonate with the target audience at the same time it deliv¬
ers a compelling sales message. Business-to-business advertisers follow these guidelines
to create effective ads:
• Make sure the ad selects the strongest benefit and presents it prominently and persuasively.
• Dramatize the most important benefit, either by showing the product in action or by
visualizing the problem and offering your product or service as a solution.
• Make sure the visual is relevant to the key message. It should help readers understand
how your product or service works or instantly show that you understand the problem.
• The offer must be clear. What exactly do you want the reader to do as a result of see¬
ing your ad?
• Provide contact information. It should be easy for the potential customer to follow
through with a response.
82B Advertising Media

Although some business advertisers use traditional consumer media, most rely on general
business or trade publications, industrial directories, direct marketing, or some combina¬
tion of media. Novell’s “We Speak Your Language” campaign was an IMC effort that used
a variety of traditional and nontraditional media to reach its B2B audience—newspapers,
magazines, cable television, airport billboards, outdoor, direct mail, a Web site, buttons,
postcards—as well as a variety of marketing communication tools, including a conference
and a direct-marketing effort that captured over 7,000 leads.
General Business and Trade Publications As we saw in Chapter 8, general

business and trade publications are classified as either horizontal or vertical. Horizontal
publications are directed to people who hold similar jobs in different companies across
different industries. For example, Purchasing is a specialized business publication targeted

to people across industries who are responsible for a specific task or function. The maga¬
zines read by accountants or software engineers are other examples of horizontal publica¬
tions. In contrast, vertical publications, such as Iron Age and Steel or Advertising Age, are
targeted toward people who hold different positions in a particular industry.
Directory Advertising Every state has an industrial directory, and there are also a
number of private ones. One of the most popular industrial directories is the New
York-based Thomas Register. The 19-volume Register contains 50,000 product headings
and listings from 123,000 industrial companies selling everything from heavy machine
tools to copper tubing to orchestra pits.
Consumer Media Sometimes businesses advertise in consumer magazines (such as

Golf, Time, or Newsweek) in the hope of building widespread brand recognition, such as the
“Intel Inside” campaign. Consumer advertising can also be used to influence consumers to
pull the brand through the channel by requesting a brand at their retail store. In general, con¬
sumer publications receive less than 5 percent of the total dollar amount spent on B2B adver¬
tising, and broadcast advertising receives less than 1 percent. There has been growth in busi¬
ness television programming. For example, Financial Network News (FNN) produces its
own business shows and carries the syndicated business shows This Morning’s Business and
First Business. Introduced in 1989, CNBC’s programming focuses more on personal finance.
The Web and B2B Advertisers The Internet is a key medium for B2B advertis¬
ers. Company Web sites allow business clients to view product lists, place orders, check
prices and availability, and replace inventories automatically. One of the most popular B2B
sites on the Internet is FedEx’s site, which allows its business clients all over the world to
track their packages, obtain price information, and learn about FedEx software and ser¬
vices. It receives 1.7 million tracking requests a month, 40 percent of which probably
would have been called in to the 800 number if the Web site had not been available.
Because handling each call costs approximately $1, the Web site saves the company as
much as $8 million in customer costs.
B2B Direct Marketing Direct mail has the capacity to sell the product, provide sales
leads, and lay the groundwork for subsequent sales calls. Business advertisers use various
direct-marketing vehicles, such as direct mail, catalogs, and data sheets, to reach their mar¬
kets. Catalogs and data sheets support the selling function by providing technical data
about the product and supplementary information concerning price and availability.
Technology developments allow direct-mail marketers to personalize the message to spe¬
cific customers. Long copy, quality illustrations, diagrams, and specification sheets can be
distributed easily through direct mail.
Consider This
1. What makes B2B advertising different from other types of brand or product
advertising?
2. What are the key characteristics of a B2B advertisement?
NONPROFIT OR SOCIAL MARKETING

If a company wants to increase its integrity and positive reputation among customers, it must
prove by its actions that it is a good corporate citizen. Social marketing, which refers to the
use of marketing programs and marketing communication tools for the good of society, can
be approached as either a corporate strategy or a strategy used by nonprofit organizations.
Let’s first consider the corporate viewpoint. Concern for social issues is important to
for-profit companies who use their marketing communication tools in support of a social
responsibility position. A societal marketing philosophy describes the operations of com¬
panies whose corporate mission reflects their desire to do good—the business philosophies
of Ben & Jerry’s, Tom’s of Maine, and the Body Shop, for example. Their commitment is
NO WONDER TOBACCO EXECUTIVES

ir 1
h HIDE BEHIND SEXY MODELS
i ,
■
tea, /i
WARNING: Their brand is

lies. Our brand is (uUtTT
-t-H-H I li-l-l-l-t+W-tl
The antismoking and antidrug campaigns are a type of social marketing effort. This ad is from the "Truth ' campaign featured in Chapter 1 7.
expressed in the way they design and produce their products, as well as market them. In
addition to a societal marketing business philosophy, corporate public relations activities
are sometimes designed to create a positive company image by emphasizing a company’s
concern for social issues and the steps that it takes to make a positive contribution to soci¬
ety. This happens through the use of cause or mission marketing.
Cause and Mission Marketing

Cause marketing means adopting a good cause and sponsoring its fund-raising and other
community-oriented efforts. Sometimes called “sales promotion with a PR spin,” cause
marketing is described as “doing good things and getting credit for it.”4 For example,
American Express has made it possible for its card users to donate money to aid the home¬
less with each purchase. Carol Cone, president of the Cone agency, develops dramatic pro¬
Principle
Cause marketing and mission
grams for her clients based on what Cone calls passion branding, because it links brands to
marketing are driven by the causes that people feel passionately about.5 The Great American Bake Sale in the Matter of
passion employees and other Principle box is an example of a how companies can use a great cause to build a positive
stakeholders, as well as association for themselves.
customers, feel for a good cause. In addition to societal marketing, other companies also display a corporate commit¬
ment to the community (Target), the environment (Patagonia), a relevant target market
cause (Avon and breast cancer research), and positive employee relations (Starbucks). If this
commitment reflects the company’s core business strategy, as in Tom’s of Maine and Ben &
Jerry’s environmental commitment, it is called mission marketing. Mission marketing
links a company’s mission and core values to a cause that connects with the company’s
interests. It is more of a commitment than cause marketing and reflects the long-term brand¬
building perspective of IMC because the mission becomes the focal point for integrating all
the company’s marketing communication.6 It also unites the entire organization and its
stakeholders, particularly its employees, through their commitment to the effort.
Monprofit Marketing
Socially responsible marketing is also be used by nonprofit organizations—such as hospi¬
tals, government agencies, zoos, museums, orchestras, religious organizations, charities,
and universities and schools to “sell” their services, programs, and ideas. As these non¬
profit organizations have become more competitive in their drive for public support, their
marketing and marketing communication efforts have become more sophisticated. Social
marketing is marketing communication used by nonprofits to affect attitudes or behaviors
toward some idea or cause, as the Florida “Truth” campaign in Chapter 17.
Nonprofit organizations have a number of goals, such as membership (AARP, labor
unions), donations (Red Cross, United Way, American Cancer Society), participation
H ill A
ER OF PRINCIPL
The Great American Bake Sale Cooks Up Donations
Hunger and poverty affect more than 13 million children pound of chicken, beef, or pork to the Share Our Strength
in the United States. One organization, Share Our organization. The company estimates that its donations
Strength, the national antihunger, antipoverty organiza¬ helped serve 90 million protein-enriched meals to poor
tion, has organized the Great American Bake Sale and families across the country.
mobilized a group of dedicated corporate sponsors to Other community partners who have worked with
deal with the issue. From the media come Parade Share Our Strength include Youth Service America, the
Magazine and ABC Entertainment, who have helped to Points of Light foundation and Volunteer Center National
get the word out about the activities of other co-sponsors Network, the National Council of Churches, and the
such as Tyson Foods and Betty Crocker. National Association of RSVP Directors.
In 2004 more than 600,000 Americans baked, Share Our Strength is the nonprofit group spearhead¬
bought, and sold brownies, muffins, and cookies as part ing this huge event. Parade and ABC are supporters who
of the second annual Great American Bake Sale to end are engaged in cause marketing and give it tremendous
child hunger in America. The groundbreaking program, publicity. Betty Crocker and Tyson are corporations whose
which ran in July, raised more than a million dollars at missions involve feeding people so their involvement is at
bake sales around the country. Thousands of companies, a different level, one that we refer to as mission marketing.
youth groups, faith-based organizations, and civic and
community groups registered to host an official Great Consider This
o-
American Bake Sale.
1. What do the media and corporate sponsors get from
The funds raised through the Bake Sales were sent to
their association with this event?
Share Our Strength to distribute to the highest-need areas in
2. Explain how Share Our Strength, a small nonprofit,
America and awarded as grants to innovative child-hunger
was able to enlist the participation and contributions of
programs working at the local, state, and national level.
thousands through this special event.
Betty Crocker sponsorship included ads with bake
sale tips and recipes. The company's ad pointed out that
Sources: David Oliver Relin, "They Won't Go Hungry Tonight," Parade
every cookie, brownie, or muffin sold at 75 cents could
June 6, 2004): 14; Bill Shore, "The Hunger in America's Midst," Christian
feed at least four at-risk kids. Science Monitor, June 3, 2004, http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0603/
Tyson Foods advertised that for every product pur¬ p09s02-coop.html; www.strength.org;www.greatamericanbakesale.org;
chased from May to July the company would donate a www.bettycrocker.com;www.tyson.com.
1 ..—
1 http://ww .tysonfoods inc .com/cares /d*fau It .asp
Consumer Sites | Business to Business | Company Information j Investors | Press Room
Tyson IhxkIs, Inc. TYSON CARES • Contact U$
Tyson Helps Hunger Relief

Communities
Helping cmnmmium
Families
O Food Safety
across ibe country...
jlSISJ
^ omimr/
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Hunger Relief . A
Communities
Learn about our
(3) Kdueation zZfamily drsem fight against
hunger.
Environment
O Donation list
> end
childhood hunger %
in America, a—
Click here for details!
We at Tyson Foods invite you to help us end

childhood hunger by joining us in The 2004 Great
American Bake Sale. more>>
Tyson cares about important issues, such as families,

the environment, communities, food safety, and
education. This space is dedicated to the efforts of our
team members across the country as they work to
make their world a better place.
(Habitat for Humanity), sales (museum gift shops), re¬

cruitment (the military, universities), attitude change (political
parties), advocacy (Weyerhauser for forest management), and
visits or attendance (state tourism programs, art museums).
Fund-raising Another activity that almost all nonprofits

do is fund-raising, often under the guidance of a development
officer, who is a professional specializing in fund-raising.
Groups such as Save the Children use sophisticated segmenta¬
tion and message strategies to target audiences.
Capital campaigns, which are designed to raise a speci¬
fied amount of money in a given time period, are common for
universities and other operations trying to finance buildings
and other programs, such as museums and hospitals. They
operate with a carefully designed strategy that involves
sophisticated motivation strategies based on segmentation,
targeting, goal setting, and leadership identification. Events
and direct marketing are important tactical tools.
Public Communication Campaigns Social market¬

ing is also called public communication. Public communica¬
tion campaigns are undertaken by nonprofit organizations
as a conscious effort to influence the thoughts or actions of
the public. For example, the Partnership for a Drug-Free
American has used advertising and public relations to fight
teen drug use. The biggest and longest-running program is the
Advertising Council, which is a network of advertising agen¬
cies, media, and suppliers that donate their services to create
ads and campaigns on behalf of socially important causes.
The Advertising Council has
sponsored a number of public Consider This
communication campaigns in o
support of good causes. The 1. What is the difference between social marketing done by a company and
participating agencies donate social marketing done by a nonprofit?
their time and talent and media 2. What are the most common types of objectives used by nonprofit marketing
donate the time and space to communication?
run the PSAs. This one is for
new dads and encourages them
to learn more about parenting.
INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AND MARKETING COMMUNICATION
The globalization of marketing communication is driven by the development of interna¬
tional media and global brands. Increasing use of the Internet and English as an interna¬
tional language is helping to spread Western ideas of marketing. The tendency toward
globalization is also a product of a healthy economy and those countries and regions that
are modernizing (China, Eastern Europe) are more open to globalization than are countries
with stagnant or depressed economies.7 In this section we examine the issues and stages of
international marketing communication, the planning of international advertising cam¬
paigns, and the organization of international marketing communication programs.
Stages of Market Development

Virtually every product category can be divided into local (or national), regional (trading
bloc), and international markets and brands. Typically this is a process with a local com¬
pany moving to a few foreign markets, perhaps to a group of markets in a region (Europe,
Asia, for example), and eventually to a more global perspective with brands sold in many
regions of the world. It is described as:
• Exporting. The first step requires placing the product in the distribution system of another
country, a practice called exporting. The exporter typically appoints a distributor or
importer, who assumes responsibility for marketing and advertising in the new country.
Some companies prefer to appoint a local distributor who knows the language and the dis¬
tribution system and can handle customers and government better than a foreigner could.
• Internationalization. As sales of the imported line grow, management and manufac¬
turing may transfer from the home country to the foreign one, with key marketing
decisions focusing on acquiring or introducing products specifically for the local mar¬
ket, such as BMW setting up a U.S. manufacturing plant to build American versions
of its German cars. Once the exporter becomes nationalized in several countries in a
regional bloc, the company often establishes a regional management center and trans¬
fers day-to-day management responsibilities from the home country to that office.
• Globalization. An international or global brand is one marketed in two or more of
the four major regional market blocs: North America, Latin America, Europe, and
Asia-Pacific. The ultimate goal of any organization in attaining a global perspective is
to leverage its operations in such a way that it benefits from currency exchange, tax
or labor rates; the education and skill base of the labor force; natural resources; and
industrial or government infrastructures. Another characteristic of globalized compa¬
nies is that the “country of origin” label doesn’t apply anymore. Nokia and Motorola,
even though they are not U.S. companies, are both familiar brands to U.S. consumers.
There is an old axiom, “All business is local.” But this should be modified to read:
“Almost all transactions are local.” Although advertising campaigns can be created for
worldwide exposure, the advertising is intended to persuade a reader or listener to do
something, which is usually a transaction that is completed at or near home or in the office.
The Global Versus Local Debate

A classic Harvard Business Review article by Harvard Business School professor Theodore
Levitt ignited a debate over how to conduct global marketing. Levitt argued that companies
should operate as if there were only one global market. He believed that differences among
nations and cultures were not only diminishing but should be ignored because people
throughout the world are motivated by the same desires and wants. Levitt argued further that
businesses would be more efficient if planned for a global market.8 The point is that some
cultural habits and values cut across national and regional boundaries. Other scholars, such
as Philip Kotler, marketing professor at Northwestern University, disagreed with Levitt.
Kotler felt that Levitt misinterpreted the overseas success of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and
McDonald’s and pointed out that they did not offer the same product everywhere.9
People who study cultural differences, such as Dutch scholar Geert Hofstede, believe that
the impact of national culture on business, the workplace, and consumption patterns is huge
and should be accommodated in marketing and advertising strategies. Hofstede’s conclusions
were based on a study of 116,000 IBM employees around the world, which found their cul¬
tural differences to be stronger than the legendary IBM corporate culture that Hofstede had
thought would be a standardizing influence.10 Hofstede found that the American values of tak¬
ing initiative, personal competency, and rugged individualism are not universal values and that
some cultures prize collective thinking and group norms rather than independence.
Other researchers, however, have found some universal values, and global advertisers
who are using strategies based on the following may have a useful platform for a more
standardized campaign:11
• Protecting the family

• Honesty
• Heath and fitness
• Self-esteem
• Self-reliance
• Justice
• Freedom
• Friendship
• Knowledge
• Learning
Totally Standardized Standardized Totally

Standardized Strategy, Strategy, Localized
Strategy and Translated Modified Strategy and
Execution Execution Execution
The Adaptability Continuum Execution
Most global companies fall in the
middle and right side of the
continuum in their global strategies.
The outgrowth of this debate has been three main schools of thought on advertising in
another country:
• Standardization. The standardization school of thought contends that differences

between countries are a matter of degree, so advertisers must instead focus on the sim¬
ilarities of consumers around the world. Product category is important: There are
enough similarities in certain categories, such as high-tech products and high-fashion
cosmetics, that their advertising can be largely standardized across borders.
• Localization (adaptation). The localization or adaptation school of thought argues
that advertisers must consider differences among countries, including local culture,
stage of economic and industrial development, stage of life cycle, media availability,
research availability, and legal restrictions.
• Combination. This school of thought reasons that a combination of standardization
and localization may produce the most effective advertising. Some elements of brand
Principle identity and strategy, for example, may be standardized, but advertising executions
Globalization is a fact, so
may need to be adapted to the local culture.
marketers strive for a consistent
brand strategy that still allows The reality of global advertising suggests that a combination approach is best. Still, the
them to honor cultural differences trend toward global markets is inescapable. The challenge for advertisers is to balance varia¬
when those differences are tions nationally or regionally with a basic global brand plan that maintains brand consistency.
relevant to the brand's marketing The Adaptability Continuum shown in Figure 18.4 elaborates on these three perspectives.
strategy.
Procter & Gamble, one of the biggest worldwide marketers with more than 250 prod¬
ucts in more than 140 different countries, has a flexible brand-management philosophy and
uses all three approaches for its various brands. For example, at one end of the continuum,
P&G’s global laundry business markets a number of different brands—and brand strate¬
gies—in one category such Ariel, Cheer, Bold, Yes, Dreft, Gain, and Tide because con¬
sumer laundry habits are highly varied from country to country. On the other end of the
continuum, the company markets its Pampers brand in most of the countries in which P&G
competes because Pampers’ global position is consistent around the globe. But when it
comes to translating this position into precise communication strategies and advertising
executions, Pampers does allow for regional and local variations in the messages.12
Note that most companies use the combination approach or lean toward localization.
Starbucks uses localization. Tea is offered in stores in the Far East, stronger coffees in Europe,
and gourmet coffees in the United States. Accordingly, Starbucks has standardized its product
name, logo, and packaging to maintain brand consistency even though there is variation in its
product line. See the Practical Tips box for the benefits of standardization and local strategies.
q Practical Tips
Global Advertising: Standardize or Adapt?
When to Use a Standardization Advertising Strategy
• Standardization will lead to savings through economies of scale (advertis¬
ing production, planning, control).
• Standardization ensures that advertising messages of a product are com¬
plementary and reinforcing.
• The company maintains control over the image projected by advertising for
the brand.
• Global media create opportunities for global marketing.
• Converging buyer wants and needs means that buyers everywhere will
increasingly want the same products and product benefits.
• There is little or no competition in many foreign markets.
• Graphic and visual advertising approaches can be used to overcome cul¬
tural differences.
When to Use a Localized Advertising Strategy

• A better fit with local markets means the advertiser is less likely to overlook
local variations that affect buyer behavior.
• As a general rule, the fewer the people who have to approve decisions,
the faster they can be made.
• Getting local managers and employees involved and motivated is much
easier if those people have a say in the advertising decisions.
• Any cost reductions resulting from globalization often are offset by mistar-
geted ads.
• The chance of cultural blunders decreases.
• Strategically sound advertising is more likely to be successful.
Planning Global Marketing Communication Programs

Global marketing is inherently more complex than local marketing. Companies often offer
local brands, as well as international and global brands. Sometimes the same product will be
marketed under different brand names in different countries. Likewise, marketing commu¬
nication may use a single-country approach, as well as campaigns that are regional or global
in scope.13 The marketing communication strategy can be complex if a multitude of IMC
functions are being used. In order to keep all the various functions working together on strat¬
egy, it is also necessary to articulate a consistency platform for the use of certain key ele¬
ments, such as the brand identity cues, a campaign theme, and, perhaps, the brand position.
Market or Culture Orientation There are two basic ways to approach this plan¬
ning: The market-orientation model is focused on the local market, or the cultural orienta¬
tion is focused on the local culture. The market-orientation model compares data from
several countries. The two major variables are (1) the share of market of brands within a
Starbucks has become a major
category, and (2) the size of the category. For example, the brand’s percentage share of the
global brand but it still follows a
category market might vary substantially in four countries. We might look at the size of the
localization strategy and tailors
market and see that as the critical factor. However, if that market is already dominated by
its offerings to the tastes of
global brands, no matter how big it is, then perhaps another country might be a better tar¬ different countries.
get because there is more opportunity for growth.
The second approach, the culture-orientation approach, empha¬
sizes the cultural differences among peoples and nations. This school of
thought recognizes that people worldwide share certain needs, but it also
stresses the fact that these needs are met differently from culture to cul¬
ture. San Diego State University professor Barbara Mueller believes that
strategic decisions about international advertising should first of all
accommodate cultural norms and values, but also consider political sys¬
tems, economic policies, and social contexts in which the product is used
and advertised.14 For example, China recently banned certain products—
feminine hygiene products, hemorrhoid medication, athlete’s-foot oint¬
ment—from television commercials because Chinese viewers believe
them to be offensive to discuss in mixed company.15 How do cultural dif¬
ferences relate to advertising? Although the same emotions are basic to all
humanity, the degree to which these emotions are expressed publicly
varies. The camaraderie typical in an Australian business office would be
unthinkable in Asia. The informal, first-name relationships common in
North America are frowned on in Germany.
According to the high-context/low-context theory,16 although the func¬
tion of advertising is the same throughout the world, the expression of its
High-Context message varies in different cultural settings. The major distinction is between high-context
cultures, in which the meaning of a message can be understood only when contained within
Japanese
context cues, and low-context cultures, in which the message can be understood as it stands.
Chinese J
In other words, in Japanese a word can have multiple meanings. Listeners or readers will not
Arabic £2 understand the exact meaning of a word unless they clearly understand the context in which
Greek the word is used. In contrast, English is a low-context language: Its words have clearly
Spanish defined meanings that are not highly dependent on the words surrounding them. Figure 18.5
Italian | lists cultures from the highest to lowest context, with Japanese being the highest-context cul¬
English jgEi ture. This model helps explain the difficulties of advertising in other languages.
French II
Advertising messages constructed by writers from high-context cultures might be diffi¬
cult to understand in low-context cultures because they may offer too much detail to make the
North American 1*1
point clearly. In contrast, messages authored by writers from low-context cultures may be
Scandinavian
difficult to understand in high-context cultures because they omit essential contextual detail.
German
Central Control versus Local Adaptation As noted earlier, some advertisers
Low-Context
develop tightly controlled global campaigns with minimum adaptation for local markets.
Others develop local campaigns in every major market. Most companies are somewhere in
the middle. Even though Novell’s “We Speak Your Language” campaign was designed with
a consistent theme, there was still a need for adjustment in different markets. Novell realized
that the business needs of an executive in Brazil are much different from those of a Japanese
High- to Low-context Cultures executive and those differences were reflected in the pool-outs or localized variations from
The language of advertising the core campaign.
messages is not as easy to craft in How are global campaigns created? International advertising campaigns have two basic
high-context cultures as in low-
starting points: (1) success in one country, and (2) a centrally conceived strategy. Planning
context cultures, where the meaning
approaches also include variations on the central campaign and bottom-up creativity.
of a sentence is not so dependent on
surrounding sentences. • Local Initiative In the first starting point, a successful advertising campaign, con¬
ceived for national application, is modified for use in other countries. “Impulse,” the
body spray, started in South Africa with a campaign showing a woman being pleas¬
antly surprised when a stranger hands her flowers. That strategic idea has been used all
over the globe, but in most markets the people and the setting are localized. Wrigley,
Marlboro, IBM, Waterman, Seiko, Philips, Ford, and many other companies have
taken successful campaigns from one country and transplanted them around the world.
• Centrally Conceived Campaigns The second starting point, a centrally conceived
campaign, was pioneered by Coca-Cola and is now used increasingly in global strate¬
gies. Microsoft uses a centralized strategy for its Xbox because, since it was a new
brand, a consistent marketing strategy was deemed to be essential.17 Although the cen¬
tralization concept is simple, the application is difficult. A work team, task force, or
action group (the names vary) assembles from around the world to present, debate,
modify if necessary, and agree on a basic strategy as the foundation for the campaign.
Cost is a huge factor. If the same photography and artwork can be used universally,
this can save the $10,000 or more that each local variation might cost.
• Variations on Central Campaigns Variations on the centrally conceived campaign also
exist. For example, Xerox may handle its European creative development by asking the
European offices of Young & Rubicam to develop a campaign for a specific product.
The office that develops the approved campaign would be designated the lead agency
and would develop all the necessary elements of the campaign and prepare a standards
manual for use in other countries. This manual would include examples of layouts and
broadcast spots (especially the treatment of the logo or the product) and design stan¬
dards for all elements. Because photography, artwork, television production, and color
printing are very costly, developing these items in one location and then overlaying new
copy or re-recording the voice track in the local language saves money. However, since
some countries, such as Malaysia, require that all ads be locally produced, this approach
gives direction to the message but still allows for local requirements to be met.
• Bottom-Up Creativity Sometimes a central campaign idea may be established but the
executions can be developed locally and submitted to headquarters for use globally. For
example, to extend McDonald’s youth-targeted “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign, McDonald’s
global chief marketing officer, Larry Light, held a competition among McDonald’s ad
agencies all over the world. One winner, which became

part of the international pool of ads, came from China,
which is developing a lively creative advertising indus¬
try that produces edgy, breakthrough ads for young peo¬
ple. Light explained that McDonald’s strategy was not
just to do the creative work in the United States but
rather to “Let the best ideas win.”18
The Mr. CONTAC case from Japan is an example of a

locally developed campaign idea that has been borrowed
for use in other countries. The campaign with its Japanese-
created brand character, Mr. CONTAC, helped rejuvenate
the stagnant brand in Japan.
Planning a Globa! Advertising Strategy

Assuming that the ad campaign has been approved cen¬
trally, with a local application approach its execution must
be adapted to suit the local market and that may involve
modifying basic strategy decisions, such as objectives, tar¬
geting, and perhaps even positioning. In the mid-1990s Glaxo
Smithkline's CONTAC brand
Global Advertising Objectives Just as every domestic advertising plan begins needed to be revitalized. When
with a statement of objectives, global advertising plans originate with a similar statement. a reformulated "CONTAC 600
The problem of managing brand consistency is largely responsible for limiting most global SR" was launched by Glaxo
marketing objectives to awareness and recall—two effective yet easily attainable marketing Smithkl ine, the assignment to
create a new advertising
communication measures, although more specific objectives may be needed in individual
campaign was given to Dentsu
markets. For example a brand may be well-known in one market and its primary objective,
Inc., which is the largest agency
then, is reminder. At the same time it may be newly launched in another country and the
not only in Japan, but also in
objective there is focused on trial.
the world.
Targeting Issues The globalization/localization debate is really about targeting. The

question is whether people in the target are similar across borders or whether their national
and cultural differences are great enough so that, to be effective, the message strategy has
to be modified country by country. For example, in support of Levitt’s argument about
standardization, Procter & Gamble’s Pampers marketing chief observed that “babies’ bot¬
toms are the same everywhere.” In other words, mothers of infants who are buying diapers
have very similar concerns and their decision is less affected by cultural differences.
Marketers of high-technology products, such as computers, and products sold to busi¬
ness travelers have found their target audiences to be moved by similar appeals. The MTV,
music, pop culture is another group that tends to cut across national borders, one that has
been described as a “surprisingly homogeneous global youth customer segment.”19 You can
look out of a hotel window in Beijing or Brazil and see similar fashions on teenagers—
Nikes, Chicago Bulls T-shirts, Oakley sunglasses—and hear similar music coming from
their MP3 players. Unfortunately, this is also a trend-driven market with a short attention
span.20 Music is important in targeting this group, and a strong musical theme, especially
typical of Coke and Pepsi, makes the transfer from one country to another even smoother
because popular music has become an international language.
On the other hand, target audiences for food products have quite different tastes
depending upon their national cultures. The British are less interested in hot, spicy prod¬
ucts than are the Italians or Mexicans. The French use more sauces and delicate, nuanced
flavors than do the British or Americans.
Positioning the Global Brand Research must be conducted to identify the prob¬
lems and opportunities facing the product in each of the international markets to be entered,
as the Charmin commercial illustrates. The situation analysis portion of the advertising plan
develops the information needed for positioning the product in the foreign markets.
Particularly important is a good understanding of consumer buying motives in each market.
This is almost impossible to develop without locally based consumer research. If analysis
11r in
SIDE STORY
The "Mr. CONTAC" Campaign in Japan: A Case Study
Masura Ariga, Dentsu Inc.
-''^r-CONTAC" TV commercial series • Uniqueness. A talking capsule character would

is one of the most successful ongoing be unique within the Japanese OTC cold remedy
Jljfe/ advertising campaigns in Japan. While category.
most other other-the-counter (OTC) drug • Fit with brand/product. The CONTAC product story is
brands rely on a celebrity to draw viewers' very visual. One half of the capsule is transparent,
attention, Japanese regulations severely restrict advertising revealing the tiny time pills which release medicine
claims, so CONTAC effectively used a fictional character gradually, relieving symptoms longer than the compe¬
to boost sales as well as rebuild its lagging brand equity. tition. The Mr. CONTAC creative idea brought that
The brand situation when a reformulated "CONTAC product story to life; the character is the product story.
600 SR" was launched by Glaxo Smifhkline was summa¬
The brand character was launched in 1996 and has
rized as follows: (1) CONTAC was perceived as a strong,
been running in the Japanese market as a brand-bu Jding
effective, and reliable cold remedy; however, for some
tool since then. Consumer response to the Mr. CONTAC
consumers, it was perceived as potentially too strong. (2)
character has been overwhelming. Sales mo ver share
The brand was strongly associated with the capsule prod¬
awareness and brand image numbers ali Increased sig¬
uct form.
nificantly. Sales of variants not promoted were also
The communication strategy was designed to focus on
expanded, benefiting from the campaign s halo e"ec*.
the brand's competitive advantage: long-lasting symptom
This naturally led to extensions of the Mr. CONTAC
relief through unique tiny time-pill action. There was a risk,
creative idea into other activities. For example a Mr.
though, that focusing on the consumer benefit of this fea¬
CONTAC Internet home page was developed (http:
ture alone meant that other product variants without it,
glaxosmithkline.co.jp/contac/funzone index.n‘■mil a"d
which accounted for a quarter of total brand sale, could
character goods were produced for an-pacx promotions.
not be actively promoted.
In fact, some of these promotion goods nave bee"
Three very different creative ideas were developed by
snatched up by the public and privateh soia tor "_ncreds
the agency's creative team:
of dollars apiece. The companv nas bee" approacnea bv
1. Mr. CONTAC, a capsule character with a distinct toy companies and makers of ho"'e v ideo games for s^c i-
regional dialect and personality censes of the Mr. CONTAC character. However com¬
2. Godzilla with a cold, in which CONTAC is the hero pany has rejected these offers, and nas maintained focus
that relieves the monster's symptoms on only those activities direct/. support'~g business objec¬
3. Humorous slice-of-life tives.
It has required discipline to maintain -no* focus. T"e
These ideas were pretested using animatics (still pho¬
campaign has been running for a most a aecade new
tos presented as key frames in a television commercial). In
with new executions of the same strategv ee ~g ao"e eac"
the end, the Mr. CONTAC idea was selected based on the
year. Over time and with discip me MR.CONTAC "as
following reasons:
become an equivalent of the Pillsburv Doug"oov. The
• Campaignabilify. The idea allowed for countless exe¬ biggest compliment for anv pig idea Is to oe copied. T"e
cutions. It could also be expanded, allowing multiple Mr. CONTAC creative dec ;s now ee-p tested or Imple¬
characters to be created for each distinct product vari¬ mented in other sister markets.
ant. The idea could cover future product development.
• Ownability. The advertising property could be owned '■ 'GGT'G -" NX? O'TXXC^rC O rA ' 'C ' CC So ^"Or 'O" • 'QSrOO
controlled, and managed by the client and the o" '• ' ov.o ' v a05 ' —e r c occc~ ~c abss
"'o' ArN’< . \ r-v_ \ 'cb'r < O'GC G " O \C' "" ’<OC'O ' ^ -O o T ~~ < d X.C d AdG
agency. Use of the Godzilla character for other prod¬ CO'ON • ’• Ob SCO'-50 r\T C. O'C o '05 Gee-' .VO \ C V OCe^C;
uct endorsements could not be controlled. e-ver 5 -ve
reveals that consumer buying behav ior and the competitive environment are the same acre»$s
international markets, it may be possible to use a standardized positioning throughout. In
exploring the international marketing opportunity for Gatorade. Quaker discovered that the
active, outdoor lifestyle that created demand for sports beverages was an international, not a
domestic phenomenon.
Setting the Budget All the budgeting techniques discussed in Chapter 7 have
possible application in foreign markets. When preparing a single advertising plan for
multiple markets, many companies use an objective-task budgeting approach that uses a
separate budget for each foreign market. (Remember that this approach looks at the
objectives for each activity and determines the cost of accomplishing each objective.)
This technique adds some flexibility to localize campaigns as needed. However, local
practices also may affect the budget decision. Most notably, the exchange rate from
country to country may affect not only the amount of money spent in a particular market,
but also the timing of the expenditures. The cost of television time in Tokyo is approxi¬
mately twice what it is on U.S. networks, and, rather than being sold during an up-front
market every spring, Japanese TV time is wholesaled several times during the year.
ting till International Campaign The execution of a global cam¬

paign is usually more complex than a national plan. The creative may need to be reshot
with local models and settings, as well as language. The Novell campaign had serious
language challenges in moving to an international message that could be launched in 10
languages. Language is always a problem for a campaign that is dependent on words
rather than visuals as the primary carrier of meaning. Some of the Novell technology
terms were commonly understood but others weren’t. So a team of language experts
was needed to adjust the terms and carry over the meanings in the different languages.
Government approval of television commercials can be difficult to secure in
some countries. As advertisers move into international and global advertising, they
also face many of the same ethical issues that advertisers in the United States deal
with, such as the representation of women and advertising to children, but they may
also have to deal with questions about the Americanization or Westernization of local
cultures.21 In terms of the media buy, the global corporation typically has operating
companies locally registered in most major countries and advertising might have to
be bought through these local entities for maximum tax benefits or to meet local laws
of origination. The media planner might only be able to establish the media strategy
for the target audience and set the criteria for selecting media.
Adjustments may need to be made for seasonality. For example, a campaign in
the Southern Hemisphere, especially for consumer goods, requires major changes
from a Northern Hemisphere campaign. In the Southern Hemisphere, summer,
Christmas, and back-to-school campaigns are all compressed from November
through January. Holidays also differ based on local history and religion. Christmas,
for example, is celebrated in Christian lands and Ramadan in Muslim countries.
Everything takes longer internationally—count on it. The New York business
day overlaps for only three hours with the business day in London, for two hours
with most of Europe, and for one hour with Greece and not at all with Japan, Hong
Kong, the Middle East, or Australia. For these reasons e-mail that permits electronic
transfer and telecopy transmission is a popular mode for international communica¬
tion. E-mail and fax numbers have become as universal as telephone numbers on sta¬
tionery and business cards in international companies. Time is an enemy in other
ways. France and Spain virtually close down in August for vacation.
Organizing for the International Campaign Agencies have to develop

Positioning is one of the key
an organizational structure to manage global brand messages. The organizational structure
strategic elements that brands
depends heavily on whether the client company is following a standardization or localiza¬ usually try to keep consistent
tion strategy. Some agencies exercise tight control, while others allow more local auton¬ from country to country.
omy. All these approaches fall into three groups: tight central international control, cen¬ Charmin, for example, continues
tralized resources with moderate control, and matching the client’s organization (if the to emphasize softness through
client is highly centralized, then the agency account structure will be highly centralized). the device of a cuddly bear,
even in Mexico where this
commercial ran. Note that it is
The IMC Factor in Global Advertising largely a nonverbal execution,
Integrated marketing communication means that all the messages a consumer receives which is easier to use for global
about a brand work together to create a coherent brand impression. To do that on a global campaigns than those with a lot
level there must be both horizontal and vertical coordination. The vertical effort represents of words.
Advertising
Target:
Position:
Objectives:
StrategiesTTactics
Brand Consistency
Direct Response
Target:
Position:
Objectives:
Strategies/Tactics
Brand Consistency
Sales Promotion
Target:
Position:
Objectives:
Strategies/Tactics
Brand Consistency
Public Relations
Target:
Position:
Objectives:
Strategies/Tactics
Brand Consistency
Events/Sponsorships
Target:
Position:
Objectives:
StrategiesTTactics
Brand Consistency
Global IMC Planning Worksheet

A planning sheet for a global IMC program outlines the various tools used and their strategies across all
the company’s international markets.
the coordination of the key planning decisions, such as targeting, positioning, objectives,
strategies, and tactics across all the various tools used in the communication program. The
horizontal level requires coordination across all the countries and regions involved in the
plan.22 Figure 18.6 represents a planning sheet used in plotting the strategic coordination
across country and IMC tool, including the designation of elements that maintain brand
consistency. Such a worksheet in a much expanded format is useful in spotting potential
consistency problems.
Figure 18.6 illustrates a planning sheet that incorporates two factors: strategy and
country, but there are other factors that might be included in a different variations of this
worksheet. For example, some companies sell not just one brand but a portfolio of brands or
brand extensions and the challenge is to maintain brand consistency across different product
lines. In working through this analysis, marketers might use the brand line as the vertical
dimension and compare its presentation across countries. For example, MTV wants to
maintain a coordinated approach to advertising sales, marketing, and new program formats
across a global portfolio of products that includes 34 Nickelodeon channels, 42 MTV ser¬
vices, and 11 VH1 channels.23
Consider This
1. What is the nature of the global/local debate?

2. What factors do global marketers have to consider in creating effective
advertising for international markets?
H ow do you define system upgrade? In the "We Speak Your Language" campaign, Novell
defined it as "What happens when the technology you invest in actually makes you money."
And that's what happened to Novell's bottom line after this award-winning campaign ran.
In the first three months of the campaign, Novell's advertising awareness jumped from
21 percent to 36 percent, an increase of 71 percent. Novell's familiarity among C-level exec¬
utives went from 7 percent to 20 percent, an increase of nearly 300 percent. In terms of sales
of the new products, the Management and Service products' brand identity link increased by
36 percent from the previous year.
The campaign redefined the language of technology on Novell's terms and gave the words
specific meanings that increased the company's competitive voice in the clamorous IT market. It
got Novell into the C-level conversation. One of Novell's business partners expresses the kind of
response this award-winning campaign generated: "WOW!I I love the creative. Thanks for
reviving Novell Marketing. And . . . did I mention I love the creative! It is a clear, hard-nosed,
focused, CEO-specific value proposition." And did I mention that I love the creative!"
■ ■■Summary
1. Discuss retail advertising and what makes it distinctive. by a group of people and purchasing decisions center around
Retailers are merchants who sell directly to consumers. price, services, product quality, and assurance of supply.
Most retail businesses are locally owned and advertise at the Business-to-business media consist of general business and
local level. However, retail advertising at the national and trade publications, directories, direct mail, catalogs, data
international levels is becoming more common. Co-op sheets, the Web, and consumer media.
advertising with manufacturers and service providers is 3. Identify the basic goals and operations of nonprofit and
common. Retail advertising directed at a local audience social marketing. Social marketing uses marketing pro¬
typically focuses on attracting customers through price and grams and marketing communication tools for the good of
promotion information. It may also focus on store image, society. It can be a corporate strategy or a strategy used by
product quality, and style. The main medium used for retail a nonprofit organization.
advertising is newspapers. However, retailers also use shop¬
4. Describe the strategic decisions behind international
pers, preprinted inserts, magazines, television, radio, and the
advertising and IMC. Marketing begins with a local
Web. Apart from traditional store retailing, some businesses
brand, expands to a regional brand, and, finally, goes
engage in nonstore retailing, including use of the Web.
global. Advertising follows the same path. Basically global
2. Explain the basics of B2B advertising. Business-to-business advertising is either market oriented or culture oriented.
advertising is used to influence demand and is directed at Ultimately, such campaigns should be centrally controlled
people in the business arena who buy or specify products for and centrally conceived. There should also be local appli¬
business use. Its objectives include creating company aware¬ cations and approval. The biggest strategic decision
ness, increasing selling efficiency, and supporting channel involves how much of the marketing communication
members. Compared to the consumer market, the market for strategy is globalized or localized.
business goods is limited; decision making tends to be shared
global brand, 519 mission marketing, 516 retail marketing, 504
ad allowances, 507
high-context culture, 522 nonpromotional advertising, 507 sales advertising, 507
adaptation, 520
animatics, 524 horizontal publications, 514 North American Industry shoppers, 510
business-to-business industrial advertising, 510 Classification System social marketing, 515

institutional retail advertising, (NAICS), 510 societal marketing philosophy,
advertising, 510
capital campaigns, 518 507 pool-outs, 522 515
cause marketing, 516 international brand, 519 preprints, 510 standardization, 520
cooperative (co-op) lead agency, 522 professional advertising, 512 trade advertising, 512
advertising, 506 local advertising, 505 promotional advertising, 507 vertical publications, 515
culture-orientation model, 521 localization, 520 public communication
dealer tag, 509 low-context culture, 522 campaigns, 518
donut format, 509 market-orientation model, 521 retail advertising, 505
1. How does retail advertising differ from national consumer 4. What are the differences between local, regional, and inter¬
brand advertising? Which is the more difficult to create? national brands?
2. How do retail advertising objectives differ from business- 5. Explain how a global IMC program is more complex than
to-business objectives? an IMC program operated nationally.
3. Explain how social marketing can be used by both for-profit
companies and nonprofit organizations.
1. Choose a restaurant in your community. What types of peo¬ to go public and have its stock traded. How would corpo¬
ple does it target? Would you recommend that its advertis¬ rate advertising assist Biogen in its mission? What audi¬
ing focus on price or image? What is (or should be) its ence targets should be priorities for its communication pro¬
image? Which media should it use? grams? Should it develop more than one campaign?
2. Tom and Wendi Promise have just purchased a sandwich 6. Although personal selling is a vital marketing tool for busi-
shop. They found a good lease in a neighborhood shopping ness-to-business companies, advertising also has a signifi¬
center, but the costs of franchising, leasing, and other cant role. What if a limited budget means expanding one at
charges have left them very little for advertising. With lim¬ the sacrifice of the other? Suppose you were making a deci¬
ited funds, Tom and Wendi can afford only one of the fol¬ sion for a company that is beginning a marketing effort for a
lowing options: a Yellow Pages display ad, a series of new set of products; you’ll need approximately six new
advertisements in the area’s weekly “shopper” newspaper, salespeople. If an advertising campaign to introduce the
or advertising in the area’s college newspaper (the campus firm would mean hiring four salespeople instead of six, is
is six blocks from the store). Which of these media will best the advertising worth it? Explain the strengths and weak¬
help Tom and Wendi get the awareness they need? nesses of this idea.
3. Select a print retail advertisement. Think about how this ad 7. Dean Bennett has gotten a new assignment for an upscale
could be converted into a television commercial. Give exam¬ pen made in Switzerland under the brand name of Pinnacle.
ples of when and on what channel this broadcast ad would be Its primary advantage is that it has an extremely long-lasting
aired. Support your recommendations with an explanation. cartridge, one that is guaranteed to last for at least five years.
4. You work for a large chain of local sporting goods stores The pen is available in a variety of forms—roller ball, felt
that would like to focus all of its local philanthropic activi¬ tip—and a variety of widths from fine to wide stroke. Use the
ties in one area. You believe the company could benefit adaptability continuum to analyze the globalization or local¬
from a mission-marketing program. Develop a proposal for ization options for launching this pen first in Europe and then
the marketing VP that explains mission marketing and pre¬ globally including North America and Asia. What would
sent an example of a mission-marketing project that might your recommendation be on standardizing the advertising?
work for the company. 8. Define the difference between a high-context and a low-
5. Biogen Corporation’s mission is to become a leading com¬ context culture, and illustrate the difference by finding two
pany in genetic research and development for health indus¬ ads that you think effectively demonstrate these two mes¬
tries. Privately held at the time of incorporation, it decided sage strategies. Explain how they work.
Class Projects
1. To demonstrate the problems of language in advertising, divide the class into teams of five or
six. Each team should choose a print advertisement it believes would have universal appeal.
Take the headline and one paragraph of body copy to a language professor or someone who
is proficient in a language other than English. Next, take that translation to another professor
or native-language speaker of the same language and ask for a back translation into English.
Compare and report on how well the concept translated.
2. Compare the speed, convenience, and content of the following three business-to-business sites:
americanexpress.com, dell.com, officedepot.com. Write a one- to two-page report on your analy¬
sis of these sites. What would your team recommend to improve their usefulness to consumers?
HANDS-ON
A New Alliance Turns Google Yellow Cas*
For young 30-somethings Steve Bryn and Larry Page, the and spend the bulk of their ad budgets on Yellow Pages
moment in August 2004 when shares of their young com¬ ads. Small-business owners, many of whom are not tech¬
pany were first offered to the public must have felt awfully nologically sophisticated, may have a difficult time under¬
good. That moment represented years of hard work and standing why they should shift dollars to a global medium
substantial risk following their first meeting in the mid- like the Internet when they sell goods or services to local
1990s as computer science grad students at Stanford. Bryn markets. Compounding Google's problem: Almost half of
and Page disagreed about almost everything, but they local advertisers do not even have a Web site.
shared a passion for solving an important computer prob¬ In an effort to make inroads in this important market,
lem: how to efficiently find bits of information scattered in late 2004 Google announced a partnership with former
across enormous amounts of data. Running up substantial rival (and classic "old media" company) BellSouth, pub¬
debt buying computers and hard drives, the two succeeded lisher of a popular Yellow Pages directory in the southeast¬
in creating a technology that sorted search results based on ern United States. Under terms of the partnership, Google
the number of pages linked to a Web site. will share its brand name and search technologies with
Their initial plan to license the technology foundered BellSouth. In return, BellSouth's 2,000-person workforce
when companies failed to see that search engines might will market AdWords to local advertisers, who will also
be a "killer app." So instead the two started their own get personal assistance in choosing keywords for Internet
company, and when Google shares went public in 2004 searches, setting reasonable Internet ad budgets, and
Bryn and Page were both instant billionaires. Today, for even setting up and designing company Web pages. And,
many, "googling" is a word synonymous with Web search in a break from its bidding model for AdWords, Google
and almost half of all Internet searches are done with will let BellSouth market the product to local advertisers for
Google's technology. a fixed fee. According to Laurie Scholl, marketing director
The company's success has always rested on two for BellSouth, "Our advertisers are different. They prefer to
important pillars: a fast-growing number of loyal users and pay a flat rate, as they're used to with our print yellow
the ability to generate accelerating revenue and profits. The pages. They're busy running their business day-to-day, so
company is profitable because companies that want to they're looking for a full-service approach."
advertise on the Web love Google's business model.
Advertisers bid on "AdWords," with higher bidders receiv¬ Consider This
ing more prominent listings in the advertiser section of O-
search results. In addition, the money spent advertising with 1. BellSouth and Google had viewed one another as
Google is results driven, because companies only pay for competitors prior to signing this agreement. What
click-throughs—that is, for people who actually view their are the partnership's advantages and disadvantages
sites, not for showings. Innovations such as Froogle, an easy- for each company?
to-use shopping portal, and Gmail, a free e-mail service that 2. How useful will the Web be for local advertisers in
offers virtually limitless storage capacity, are just some of the the next few years? Does this medium offer signifi¬
ways Google has tried to stay ahead of well-funded com¬ cant benefits for small companies?
petitors like Yahoo! and Microsoft. Based on most perfor¬
mance indicators, Google has thus far been successful. Source: Kevin Newcomb, "Google. BellSouth Team for Local Search Sales," October 28,
2004, www.clickz.com/news/article.php/342841 1; Kris Oser, "2008 Market for Local
But for all the company's successes, Google has fallen
Search Engine Ads: $2.5 Billion: Why the Google-BellSouth Yellow Pages Deal Happened,"
short with one important market: the estimated 20 million Advertising Age (November 2004); Danny Sullivan, "Up Close with Google AdWords,"
small to medium-sized businesses that are local advertisers March 4, 2002, http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2164591.
Evaluation o
Effectiveness
CHAPTER KEY POINTS:
1. Demonstrate that you understand why and how advertising

evaluation is conducted.
2. List and explain the stages of copy testing.
3. Identify the key areas of media evaluation.
4. Discuss how campaigns and IMC programs are evaluated.
Changing Perceptions
from the Mailroom to
the Board Room
W hen you ask business people what they think of when
they hear UPS, they tend to reply "brown and ground."
In other words, UPS specializes in ground package deliv¬
ery. But if managers want to send an overnight or inter¬
Award: national package, then they use Federal Express. Consumer
Gold EFFIE® research identified that the perception was strong: UPS for ground
and FedEx for overnight and international. UPS, however, had
Client: upgraded and built impressive capabilities in logistics, systems inte¬
UPS
gration, and supply chain management. So how could the image of
Agency: UPS catch up with the sophistication of its services? That was the
The Martin Agency assignment given to the Richmond, Virginia-based Martin Agency.
Title: Target Audiences

"Brown" The Martin team's research determined that there were at least four
different audiences and they each had different needs:
• Shipping Managers. "Make my job easier." Shipping managers

already have a good UPS relationship but just for ground ship-
531
ping. If they used UPS for all their shipping needs, including overnight and
international, it could make their job easier.
• Small-Business Owners. "Help me grow my business." UPS's new logistics
could make shipping easier and more convenient for small-business owners
and free them for more strategic thinking.
• Front-Office Managers and Receptionists. "Let me focus on my work." With
long to-do lists, managers and receptionists want the reliability and effi¬
ciency of UPS's new systems that lets them check off shipping, at the same
time giving them more control.
• Senior Management. "Help me compete." Senior management could care
less about shipping but UPS's supply chain services could provide them with
an important competitive advantage and more profit for the company.
Objectives
The same perception problem—"ground and brown"—affected all these audi¬
ences. In order to create the perception shift, the Martin team identified three
critical objectives:
1. Break through: Achieve high levels of campaign awareness and high levels
of brand linkage (UPS had historically reached 20-40 percent correct attri¬
bution of the ad to the brand among those aware of the advertising).
2. Break the inertia: Re-energize the brand for shipping decision makers.
a. Maintain ground shipping volume and revenue.
b. Make inroads into and grow overnight and international delivery ser¬
vice volume and revenue.
3. Expand relevance: Make UPS relevant to senior management.
a. Increase nonpackage, supply chain services revenue.
b. Evolve perceptions of the brand beyond shipping, to become a trusted
partner and player in supply chain and logistics management.
Message and Media Strategy

The Martin planners found from consumer research that the problem wasn't with
"brown"; it was with its narrow association with "ground." In fact, everyone rec¬
ognized brown as a symbol of UPS: hardworking efficiency, humanity, and a
get-it-done attitude.
So instead of running away from "brown," Martin embraced it. In fact, the
team decided to use it as a synonym for UPS. "Brown" provides immediate
brand familiarity and lets the brand speak with unexpected energy and attitude.
The idea of calling UPS "Brown" was the perfect platform for the reappraisal
and relevance the team was looking for. The tagline "What can Brown do for
you?" challenged the customer to think about UPS differently.
Because a one-size-fits-all approach wouldn't work with these audiences,
Martin's media planners designed four tailor-made individual media plans. The
key was to find media that generated conviction and loyalty. The Martin plan¬
ners didn't just want GRPs (gross rating points) and insertions; they wanted pro¬
grams the audience can't wait to see. The resulting plan included "appointment
CHAPTER 19 • EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS 533
viewing" television programs (programs people schedule themselves to watch),

as well as their top-preference radio stations, and magazines that they read
cover-to-cover.
To further break the inertia, UPS coupled the "push" power of the "Brown"
campaign with the "pull" of an integrated direct-mail campaign, which was
focused on closing the sale: profitably generating incremental shipping volume
and revenue in all products—international, overnight, and ground. And UPS
rewarded customers who attained minimum shipping volumes with remote-
controlled minireplicas of the UPS truck and Dale Jarrett's #88 stock car, con¬
necting the "Brown" brand campaign with the hugely successful UPS NASCAR
"Race the Truck" advertising.
The campaign was a great success and won a Gold EFFIE award. Check
the It's a Wrap feature at the end of the chapter for more on this campaign's
results.
Source: EFFIE brief provided by UPS and The Martin Agency.
There are four categories of work that get evaluated in advertising and marketing commu¬
nication programs: the message execution, the media, the campaign, and the other market¬
ing communication areas and their synergistic effect as part of an IMC program. This
chapter will discuss the basic concept of the evaluation of effectiveness and then look at
those four areas.
EVALUATING EFFECTIVENESS
The final section in a campaign plan is evaluating the effectiveness of the marketing com¬
munication program or campaign. Similarly, the final step in implementation is to assess
the outcome or results of the plan.
Why do evaluation? The first reason is that the stakes in making an advertising mis¬
step are high. By the time an average 30-second commercial is ready for national televi¬
sion, it has cost about $200,000 in production costs. If it is run nationally, its sponsor can
invest several million dollars in airtime. The second reason is advertising optimization; that
means reducing risk by testing, analyzing, tracking performance, and making changes
where possible to increase the performance of the advertising. The third reason is to learn
what works and what doesn’t—in other words, to identify best practices so a brand’s
advertising continues to improve.
Types and Stages of Evaluation

Evaluation is done through testing, monitoring, and measurement. Testing is used to predict
results; monitoring tracks performance; and measurement evaluates results. In other words,
advertisements typically are tested before they run as a way to predict their effectiveness, a
practice, as we’ve seen, called copy testing. Ideally, the results of evaluative research should
be available before large sums of money are invested in finished work or in media buys. As
a campaign unfolds, the performance is tracked to see whether any elements need to be
changed. Sales may fall, or they may not increase as rapidly as expected. Is the advertising
at fault? The results, the actual effects, are measured after the ad or campaign runs.
Diagnostic research also is used in all stages of a campaign to deconstruct an advertisement
in order to spot message problems. These are the four types of research used in evaluation:
1. Developmental research through pretesting estimates the likelihood that an ad idea

will work or that one idea is better than another.
2. Concurrent research using tracking studies and test marketing monitors the way the
campaign is unfolding and how the messages and media are working.
3. Posttesting research evaluates the impact after the campaign is over or after the ad
ran. In order for postcampaign research to be useful, benchmark or baseline studies
are needed, in order to gauge movement. These can be research company norms or
they can be based on previous campaigns by this brand.
4. Diagnostic research deconstructs an ad to see what elements are working or not
working. Researchers who evaluate commercials use frame-by-frame or moment-
by-moment analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses in a commercial.
Factors to Be Evaluated
Most advertisers would be happy if evaluation could simply tell them how much the adver¬
tising contributed to their sales effort. That’s difficult for a number of reasons: There are
factors other than the advertising that affect sales, and that makes it hard to isolate adver¬
tising in order to determine its impact. Furthermore, advertising effects tend to be delayed,
so it’s difficult to link the advertising seen at one time to a purchase made days or weeks
later. In some cases, such as direct-response advertising, sales can be measured as a direct
response to an advertising message.
Usually, however, advertising is measured in terms of its communication effects,
which become surrogate measures for sales impact. Such factors as purchase intention,
preference, and liking all suggest that the advertising message can make a positive contri¬
bution to an eventual purchase decision. According to research professionals at Ipsos-ASI,
the largest U.S. provider of advertising pretesting, “Ads work best when they engage
viewers’ interest, when consumers enjoy watching them, when they are relevant, and when
they tell their story in a unique and interesting way.”1 Those are some of the dimensions of
effectiveness, but there are others that also are important, as we know from Chapter 4.
Principle Good evaluation plans, and the objectives found in them, are based on a model of
Good evaluation plans, as well human response to an advertisement—an idea about how advertising works. So the best
as effective professional work, are starting point in setting objectives is a model that identifies key effects and guides their
guided by a model of how people evaluation, which is what we developed with our Facets Model in Chapter 4. Table 19.1
respond to advertising.
groups the key factors of effectiveness and then matches them to the types of research
questions that advertisers can use to determine effectiveness.
Copy-testing Services
Copy-testing companies have different specialties focusing on different effectiveness
dimensions. The most successful of these companies have conducted enough tests that they
have developed norms for common product categories. In other words, after they pretest
the ad, they are able to compare its score with others that reflect how comparable ads per¬
form on the factors they test. Norms allow the advertiser to tell whether a particular adver¬
tisement is above or below the average for the brand or its product category. Without norms
the advertiser would not know whether a score of 23, for example, is good or bad.
Most of these companies have also developed diagnostic methods that identify strong
and weak points of the ad. Here is a list of some of the more common companies and the
types of tests they provide:2
• Ameritest: brand linkage, attention, motivation, communication, flow of attention and

emotion through the commercial
• ARS: persuasion, brand or ad recall, communication
• Diagnostic Research: brand recall, main idea, attribute statements (importance,
uniqueness, believability)
• IPSOS-ASI: recall, attention, brand linkage, persuasion, (brand switch, purchase prob¬
ability), communication
• Mapes & Ross: brand preference change, ad or brand recall, idea communication, key
message delivery, like or dislike, believability, comprehension, desire to take action,
attribute communication
CHAPTER T9 • EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS 535
19.1 Effectiveness Research Questions

Effect Research Questions
Perception
Awareness/Noticed What ads do you remember seeing? What ads were noted?
Attention/Interest What ads did you find interesting? Did you read/watch most of them?
Brand Linkage What brand is being advertised in this ad?
Recognition (Aided) Have you seen this ad/this campaign?
Sort elements into piles of remember/don’t remember.
Relevance How important is the product message to you? Does it speak to your aspirations?
Cognition What thoughts came to your mind?
Clarity What happened in the commercial?
Comprehension Are the claims/product attributes/benefits understood?
Confusion What is the main message? What is the point of the ad? Is there anything in the ad you
don’t understand?
Recall (Unaided) and What do you remember seeing in the ad? What brands were advertised? (In
Brand Recall open-ended responses, was the brand named?)
Differentiation What’s the difference between Brand X and Y?
Emotion How did it make you feel? What feelings did the ad stimulate?
Liking Do you like this brand? This ad message?
What did you like or dislike In the ad?
Persuasion
Attitude change In ?? category (or product set), which brand would you choose? (usually a pre- and
posttest)
Preference What brand do you prefer?
Intention Do you intend to try it or buy it?
Argument What are the customer’s reasons to buy it?
Believability Do you believe the reasons, claims, proof statements?
Association What is the personality of the brand?
When you think of this brand, what (products, qualities, attributes, people, lifestyles,
etc.) do you think of?
Action How many responded (called, sent back card, used coupon, clicked, visited Web site,
visited dealer, visited booth, etc.)?
• Millward Brown: branding, enjoyment, involvement, understanding, ad flow, brand

integration, feelings to ad, main stand-out idea, likes or dislikes, impressions, persua¬
sion, new news, believability, relevance
• RoperASW: overall reaction, strengths and weaknesses, understanding, clutter busting,
attention, main message, relevance, appeal, persuasiveness, motivate trial, purchase intent
Consider This
o——-
1. What are the most common types of evaluation used in advertising?
2. Based on Table 19.1, how can the Facets Model be used in advertising
evaluation?
STAGES OF COPY TESTING

Copy testing is a general term that describes various kinds of research used at different
stages in the advertising process—before, during, and after an ad or campaign has run.
Volvo Road Tests the "Starting a Family" Campaign

John W. Butler, Jr., Senior Marketing and Communications Strategist,
Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.
After years of seeing general market ads,

gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
(GLBT) consumers now expect to see ads
with tailored messages and images to earn
their loyalty.
Ford Motor Company and its Volvo brand took this
into account when developing a campaign to reach GLBT
customers. Ford conducted extensive quantitative research
to determine automotive buying differences between GLBT
and non-GLBT consumers. This led to further qualitative
research to understand how GLBT consumers felt about
Volvo and its advertising.
The research, which was conducted in partnership
with Harris Interactive, indicated Volvo's messaging
needed to communicate safety, family, quality, and diver¬ fusing, and gave less positive impressions of Volvo.
sity. Volvo had to reiterate these attributes in its products, "Starting a Family" was more successful because con¬
and make the brand relevant to GLBT consumers. They sumers said, "It was more believable, likely to 'speak to
needed to speak directly to GLBT consumers about Volvo's me' and leave me with a positive impression of Volvo."
diverse family of vehicles, drawing a connection between After the "Starting a Family" ad was chosen, it was
GLBT families and Volvo's family of vehicles, both diverse, further refined to reflect current Volvo advertising stan¬
coming in all shapes and sizes. dards. The ad then appeared in a variety of gay and les¬
A creative plan and various concepts were developed bian publications, including the Advocate and Out maga¬
by Prime Access, Inc. in collaboration with Witeck-Combs zines. The campaign was so successful that Volvo
Communications, Inc. The concepts represented a range extended and resized it for regional gay and lesbian
of GLBT-specific imagery and copy. Ford and Volvo newspapers at the request of local retailers.
selected their top three choices and used online message
John W. Butler, Jr., a graduate of George Mason University with a degree in
testing to assess the copytesting constructs of Branding, Integrated Studies, is a senior marketing and communications strategist for
Communication, and Persuasion, including the concept of Washington, D.C.-based Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. Butler plays a
Consumer Connection (the ability of the ad to move con¬ critical role in the strategic development and implementation of GLBT commu¬
nications campaigns for some of the country's most powerful companies and
sumers closer to the brand on Cognitive, Behavior,
non-profit organizations including American Airlines, Ford Motor Company,
Emotional and Aspirational dimensions). Volvo Cars of North America, Jaguar North America, Land Rover North
Across the three executions, "Starting a Family" was America, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), National
most likely to deliver to Volvo's strategy. The other two Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), and the Human Rights
were less successful in engaging respondents, more con¬ Campaign (HRC)
Message Development Research

Deciding what facts to convey in advertisements is never easy. Research is needed to
develop and test alternative message strategies.
Message Strategy Planners conduct research with members of the target audience
to develop the message strategy and test the relative effectiveness of various selling
premises—hard-sell or soft-sell, informational or emotional, and so forth. Insights into
consumer motivations and purchasing decisions help solve the often-difficult puzzle of
selecting the most relevant information and motivating promise, as well as the emotional
appeal that best engages the audience.
Concept Testing Advertising and other marketing communication messages usually

incorporate a “Big Idea,” a creative concept that is attention getting and memorable.
Research in concept testing compares the effectiveness of various creative ideas. This
testing often relies on a key concept card, which is an artist’s drawing of the visual idea
with a sentence underneath that captures the essence of the idea. A researcher may use a
pack of three, five, or more idea cards to elicit consumer responses in a mall or through
discussions in a focus group.
Pretesting Another type of evaluative research called pretesting helps marketers to

make final go/no-go decisions about finished or nearly finished ads. Pretesting differs from
concept testing or message strategy research, which reveals the strengths and weaknesses
of different versions of a concept or approach as marketers develop them. Pretesting
assesses the strength of the finished message and predicts how well it will perform.
In terms of print advertisements, the ideas to be tested are often full mockups of the ad.
In television, advertisers can test the commercials as storyboard ideas or photoboards (still
photos arranged as a storyboard), but more often commercials are in the form of animatics
(drawings or still photos shot on videotape synchronized with a rough version of the audio
track). Advertisers can show these versions of the commercial to individuals, to focus groups,
or to groups in a theater testing situation. They follow the viewing of the advertisement with
a survey, a more open-ended interview, or a set of questions for a group discussion.
Diagnostics Many advertisers and agencies are moving away from copy-testing meth¬
ods that rely on single scores to evaluate an ad and are turning to methods that are more
focused on diagnosing strengths and weaknesses. The reason is that they believe an adver¬
tisement is too complex to be reduced to one factor and one simple score. Instead they are
using research methods that are designed to diagnose strengths and weaknesses of their
advertising ideas in order to improve the work while it is still in development or to learn
more from the ad in order to improve subsequent advertisements. Principle
In theater tests for TV commercials, for example, respondents may have a black-box Advertising effects are too
device and can press a button to record different types of responses—indicating what they complicated to be reduced
liked or didn’t like or how long they paid attention by letting up on the button when their to a single score.
attention shifts.
Moment-by-moment tests of commercials, as described in the Matter of Practice box,
provide an analysis of the impact of the internal logic of the commercial. The procedure
includes showing a clutter reel (a group of commercials that includes the test commercial
and competitors’ commercials as well as others), and conducting interviews afterward. The
Ameritest company, whose work is described in the box, also uses a picture sort to diag¬
nose the viewer’s attention to and emotional engagement with different elements in the
commercial. The viewers receive a deck of key frames from the commercial and sort them
into images they remember seeing and ones they don’t remember. Then they sort them into
five categories from strong positive to strong negative. Researchers tabulate the sets to
depict a flow of impact for both attention and emotion. In particular, they want to analyze
key moments in the commercial such as the solution to a problem, or the introduction of the
brand, and analyze them in terms of viewers’ attention and emotion.3
During Execution: Concurrent Testing

Concurrent testing takes place while the advertising is actually being run. There are three
primary techniques: coincidental surveys, attitude tests, and tracking studies. The first two
assess communication responses; tracking studies evaluate actual behavior.
The coincidental survey technique is most often used with broadcast media. Random
calls are made to individuals in the target market. By discovering what stations or shows
people are seeing or hearing, the advertiser can determine whether the target audience is
getting the message and, if so, what information or meaning the audience members receive.
This technique can be useful in identifying basic problems. For example, several years ago
Pepsi discovered that the use of Madonna as a spokesperson was a terrible mistake.
Tracking Studies Studies that follow the purchase activity of a specific consumer or
group of consumers over a specified period of time are tracking studies. These in-market
studies combine conventional marketing research data with information on marketing
communication spending and provide a more complete view of the market. Researchers
use market tracking for both concurrent testing and posttesting. It may serve two basic
flfi CTIC
Research Finds Moments of Truth for IBM
■ Infrastructure? What's that? And why should business mar¬ of Emotion—to do a moment-by-moment analysis of the
keters care? ad. Here is how the research methods were used to decon¬
As e-business has developed, managers have learned struct the way the commercial built understanding of "The
that their success or failure often depends upon the "back Moment of Truth" into the message.
end" of the business—the information technology (IT) soft¬ Using the diagnostics from the prototype ad, another
ware and hardware needed to manage an online business 16 commercials were developed, with 9 testing above
and handle customers' orders. Managing this infrastruc¬ IBM's historical average based on its Ameritest bench¬
ture is a complicated operation that, in addition to taking marks. The research diagnostics were used to improve the
care of the customer's business, challenges existing sys¬ lower-scoring commercials before they ran.
tems to work together and share information. The campaign was highly effective with IBM, resulting
Building infrastructure is what IBM does. So the emer¬ in a 6-point increase in its motivation (persuasion) scores
gence of the Internet also created a whole new world of in the ads tested by Ameritest. In brand-tracking studies,
business opportunity for the company. IBM's e-business unaided association with the term "e-business infrastruc¬
infrastructure campaign was designed by the Ogilvy and ture" rose to an indexed score of 1 13 (13 percent higher
Mather agency to highlight e-business problems and solu¬ than an average score). In more general terms the cam¬
tions. It was called "Moment of Truth" because it was paign exceeded its new-business revenue goal in just over
designed to deliver maximum impact at the point where a nine months and the revenue exceeded IBM's target by
customer's infrastructure problem was solved. 354 percent.
One of IBM's requirements of its advertising is that The role of research in driving this highly effective
everything must be pretested and proven to be effective "Moments of Truth" campaign is the reason the
before it goes on air or appears in print. That's where Advertising Research Foundation named it the Grand
Ameritest, an Albuquerque-based advertising research Winner (ARF) David Ogilvy Awards.
company, comes in. Ameritest tests television and print
advertising to diagnose its problems and estimate its
potential to deliver on the strategy. Sources: "Ameritest Shares the 2003 Grand Ogilvy Research Award with
IBM, Along with First-in-Category Win!," www.ameritest.net, April 2003;
For the infrastructure campaign, O&M developed a
"Spotlight Shines Brightly on IBM Research," ARF Press Release, April 1 1,
prototype commercial called "Crash Site." Ameritest used 2003, www.arf.site.org; Amy Shea, "IBM E-business Infrastructure IBM
its two proprietary methods—Flow of Attention and Flow Ogilvy Submission, May 2003, PowerPoint presentation.
objectives: (1) to show how the marketer’s product sales or market share compares with the
competition after implementing some marketing communication; and (2) to conduct
reassessment—that is, to help the marketer understand how the market responds to
changes made in the marketing communication strategy.
Tracking studies evaluate copy and media against changes in sales. The higher the
sales, of course, the better the strategy. Tracking studies lead to decisions such as pulling
advertising to changing copy to altering a campaign strategy.
Brand tracking is an approach that tracks the performance of the brand, rather than the
ad, as Figure 19.1 shows. The assumption is that with fragmented media and an abundance
of high-quality but similar products, it is more important to track the brand because it
reflects the quality of the customer’s brand relationship. Instead of focusing on attributes
and claims about a product, this research identifies how customers are involved with the
brand and whether they are more favorably disposed toward it than toward other brands.
Because spending information enters the analysis, much of the focus of tracking stud¬
ies is on the target market, the selection of media vehicles, the schedule, the marketing
communication mix, and the media mix. Account planners use several methods to collect
tracking data: attitude tests, wave analysis, consumer diaries, pantry checks, and single¬
source tracking.
• Attitude Tests. In Chapter 4 we discussed the relationship between an attitude—a

favorable or unfavorable disposition toward a person, thing, idea, or situation—and
consumer behavior. Researchers survey individuals who were exposed to the ad, ask-
Ad Response Brand Response
Sales Response Sales Response

Register a
worthwhile
opportunity
n Direct
behavioral
response
Persuasion Persuasion
Communicate
a reason why
n Beliefs about
brand benefits
enhanced
Brand Commitment
Involvement Involvement
Involve Close
audience’s identification
imagination with brand values
Salience Salience
Stand out
as different
n Sense of
something
happening fcktt;
A Brand-tracking Framework
Hall & Partners is a research firm that has pioneered a type of brand tracking that focuses more on the brand response than the consumer
response to the advertising.
ing questions about the spokesperson, the tone of the ad, its wording, and so forth.
Results that show strong negative attitude scores may prompt the advertiser to pull an
ad immediately. A favorable attitude indicates that people are more likely to purchase
a brand than they would with an unfavorable attitude.
• Wave Analysis. Wave analysis looks at a series of interviews during a campaign. The
tracking begins with a set of questions asked of a random sample of consumers on a
predetermined date. After the person is qualified as hearing or seeing the ad, the
researcher asks a series of follow-up questions. The answers serve as a benchmark and
allow adjustments in the message content, media choice, and timing. Perhaps two
months later, the researcher makes another series of random calls and asks the same
questions. The second wave is compared with the first until management is satisfied
with the ad’s market penetration and impact.
• Consumer Diaries. Sometimes advertisers ask a group of representative consumers to
keep a diary during a campaign. The advertiser asks the consumers to record activities
such as brands purchased, brands used for various activities, brand switches, media
usage, exposure to competitive promotions, and use of coupons. The advertiser can
then review these consumer diaries and determine factors such as whether the message
is reaching the right target audience and whether the audience is responding to the
message as intended. One common unfavorable finding from consumer diaries is that
no attitude or behavioral change occurred because of exposure to the campaign.
• Pantry Checks. The pantry check provides much of the same information as the diary
method but requires little from the consumer. A researcher goes to homes in the target
market and asks what brands or products they have purchased or used recently. In one
variation of this procedure, the researcher counts the products or brands currently
stocked by the consumer. The consumer may also be asked to keep empty packages,
which the researcher then collects and tallies.
• Test Marketing. A test market might serve to test product variations, as well as ele¬
ments of a finished ad, a campaign, or a media mix in two or more potential markets.
In a typical test market, one or more of the test cities serve as controls while the others
are the test. In the control markets the researcher can either (a) run no advertising or
(b) continue to run the old ad. The new ad is used in the test cities. Before, during, and
after running the advertising, marketers compare sales results in the test cities by
checking inventories in selected stores representative of the target market. Some cities,
such as Buffalo, Indianapolis, and San Antonio, are considered excellent test markets
because their demographic and socioeconomic profiles are representative of either the
United States or a particular target market. Furthermore, they are relatively isolated as
media markets so the advertising impact is less likely to be affected by what is happen¬
ing in other markets.
The possibilities for isolating variables in test markets are almost limitless.
Researchers can increase the frequency of advertising or try a different media schedule.
They can see whether an ad emphasizing product convenience will stimulate sales to
two-career families. They can try an ad that plays up the product’s fiber or vitamin con¬
tent or compare the effectiveness of a two-for-one promotion and a cents-off coupon.
Posttesting: After Execution Research

Evaluative research occurs after the ad has been run to determine if it met its objectives.
Here are the most common evaluative research techniques that account planners use: mem¬
ory tests, persuasion tests, direct-response counts, frame-by-frame tests, in-market tests,
and brand tracking.
Memory Tests Memory tests are based on the assumption that an advertisement leaves
a mental residue with the person who has been exposed to it. One way to measure an adver¬
tisement’s effectiveness, then, is to contact consumers who saw the ad and find out what
they remember. Memory tests fall into two major groups: recall tests and recognition tests.
One way to measure memory is to show the advertisement to people and ask them
whether they remember having seen it before. This kind of test is called a recognition test.
In a recall test, respondents who have read the magazine are asked to report what adver¬
tisements or brands they remember seeing. The interviewer may go through a deck of cards
containing brand names. If the respondent says, “Yes, I remember seeing an advertisement
for that brand,” the interviewer asks the interviewees to describe everything they can
remember about the ad.
Similarly, a TV commercial is run on network television within a regular prime-time
program. The next evening, interviewers make thousands of random phone calls until they
have contacted about 200 people who were watching the program at the exact time the com¬
mercial appeared. The interviewer then asks a series of questions, such as the following:
• Do you remember seeing a commercial for any charcoal briquettes?

• (If no) Do you remember seeing a commercial for Kingsford Charcoal briquettes?
(Memory prompt)
• (If yes to either of the above) What did the commercial say about the product? What
did the commercial show? What did the commercial look like? What ideas were
brought out?
The first type of question is called unaided recall because the particular brand is not
mentioned. The second question is an example of aided recall, in which the specific brand
name is mentioned. The answers to the third set of questions are written down verbatim.
The test requires that the respondent link a specific brand name, or at least a specific prod¬
uct category, to a specific commercial. If the commercial fails to establish a tight connec¬
tion between the brand name and the selling message, the commercial will not get a high
recall score.
Persuasion Tests Another evaluative research technique is a persuasion test, or atti¬

tude change test. The basic format is to ask consumers how likely they are to buy a specific
brand. Next they are exposed to an advertisement for that brand, usually as part of a col¬
lection of brands. After exposure, researchers again ask them what they intend to purchase.
The researcher analyzes the results to determine whether intention to buy has increased as
a result of exposure to the advertisement. This test is sometimes referred to as an intend-to-
buy or motivation test. The validity of a persuasion test depends in part on whether par¬
ticipants in the experiment represent a good sample of the prospects the advertiser is trying
to reach. A dog food advertiser, for example, would not be interested in responses from
people who do not own dogs.
Likability Tests A study by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) compared a

variety of different copy-testing methods to see if any of them were better able to predict
sales impact. Surprisingly, it wasn’t awareness, recall, communication, or persuasion mea¬
sures that won out but rather likability tests. Likability, however, is not easy to measure
because it’s difficult to know if the consumer likes the ad, the brand, or some other factor
(the person giving the test). A number of the copy-testing companies do offer a likability
score but they suggest it needs to be interpreted relative to other consumer responses.
Questions that try to evaluate likability investigate such things as personally relevant,
important to me, stimulates interest or curiosity, creates warm feelings, enjoyable, enter¬
taining, and fun.
Inquiry Tests A form of action response, inquiry tests measure the number of
responses to an advertisement. The response can be a call to a toll-free number, an e-mail
or Web site visit, a coupon return, a visit to a dealer, an entry in a contest, a call to a sales¬
person, or an actual transaction. Inquiry tests are the primary measurement tool for
direct-response communication, but they also are used to evaluate advertisements and
sales promotions when the inquiry is built into the message design. Inquiry tests also are
used to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative advertisements using a split-run tech¬
nique in magazines, where there are two versions of the magazine printed, one with ad A
and the other with ad B. The ad (or direct-mail piece) that pulls the most responses is
deemed to be the most effective.
Scanner Research Many retail outlets, but especially supermarkets, use electronic
scanners at the checkout to collect consumer information. When you shop at your local
Safeway, each product you buy has an electronic bar code that contains the name of the
product and its price. The regional Safeway system may decide to establish a consumer
panel so it can track sales among various consumer groups. In scanner research, you would
be asked to join the panel, which might contain hundreds of other customers. You would Scanner research reads the
complete a fairly extensive questionnaire and be assigned an ID number. You might receive information from a shopper's
a premium or a discount on purchases for your participation. Each time you make a pur¬ identification card and
chase, you also submit your ID number. Therefore, if Safeway runs a two-page newspaper records that along with
ad, it can track actual sales to determine to what extent the ad worked. Various manufactur¬ product information. Many
retail outlets use electronic
ers who sell products to Safeway can do the same kind of testing. Your panel questionnaire
scanners to track sales among
will also contain a list of media that you use, so media can also be evaluated.
various consumer groups.
Single-Source Research Thanks to scanners,
combined with computer technology and data and the
use of electronic media, researchers are closer to show¬
ing a causal relationship between advertising and sales
because of single-source research. Single-source
research companies arrange to control the television sig¬
nal of a community’s households. The company divides
the households into equivalent matched groups. It then
sends advertisements to one group but not to the other
and collects exact records of what every household pur¬
chases. This information is collected through the scan¬
ners found at the supermarket cash register. Because
advertising is the only manipulated variable, the method
permits an unambiguous reading of cause and effect.
The data collected in this way are known as single¬
source data because advertising and product-purchasing
data come from the same source.
542 PART 5 INTEGRATION AND EVALUATION
Syracuse professor John Philip Jones, who spent many years at J. Walter Thompson,
has used single-source data from JWT combined with Nielsen TV-viewing data to prove
that advertising can cause an immediate impact on sales. His research has found that the
strongest campaigns can triple sales, while the weakest campaigns can actually cause sales
to fall by more than 50 percent.4
Although fairly expensive, single-source data can produce exceptionally dependable
results. Real advertisements are received under natural conditions in the home and the
resulting purchases are actual purchases made by consumers. However, the method usually
requires more than six months to produce usable results. Critics also say that single-source
research is better for short-term immediate sales effects and doesn’t capture very well
other brand-building effects.
Consider This
1. What are the three stages of copy testing?
2. How is diagnostic research used in advertising evaluation?
MEDIA EVALUATION
Advertising has little chance to be effective if no one sees it. Analyzing the effectiveness of
the media plan, then, is another important part of evaluation. Did the plan actually achieve
reach and frequency objectives? Did the newspaper and magazine placements run in the
positions expected and produce the intended GRP and CPM levels?
Evaluating Audience Exposure

The estimates in the media plan are checked against the performance of each vehicle. The
critical evaluation is whether the reach and frequency objectives were obtained.
Verifying the audience measurement estimates is a challenge. Media planners are
working sometimes with millions of dollars and they can’t afford to get it wrong. In
Chapter 11 we discussed how various media channels measure their audiences. For print,
services such as the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), Simmons-Scarborough (SMRB),
and MediaMark (MRI) provide data. Likewise for broadcast, Arbitron, RADAR, and A.C.
Nielsen provide audience monitoring. These estimates are used initially by media planners
to develop a media plan but they are also used by media buyers to verify the accumulated
impact of the media buy after the campaign has run.
Media-planning oversight is usually handled in-house by the media buyer, but it can
also be contracted by the advertiser to independent companies who specialize in conduct¬
ing media audits of the agency’s media-planning and -buying operations.5 Nissan, for
example, as well as the giant package-goods company Procter & Gamble have hired out¬
side media-auditing firms to test the work of their media-buying activities.6
As the job gets more complex, media planners are being asked to prove the wisdom of
their recommendations in an area where the data they use are sometimes suspect or unreli¬
able, particularly if there are problems with the media measurement companies’ formulas
and reporting systems. Nielsen, for example, has been subject to much criticism for its
television ratings.
In order to better understand the problems in media evaluation, let’s look at two spe¬
cific areas where media performance is hard to estimate: outdoor and the Internet. As you
would expect, accurately measuring the mobile audience for outdoor advertising is chal¬
lenging. Traffic counts can be gathered but the problem is that traffic does not equal expo¬
sure. Just because a car drives by a board, doesn’t mean that the driver or the passengers
see it, particularly since some outdoor boards are more attention getting than others, as the
“road rage” board illustrates.
Similarly, the measures of effectiveness used to evaluate off-line campaigns don’t
seem to transfer well to the online world. Is the Web site visitor or banner ad viewer simi¬
lar to print or broadcast audiences? The industry hasn’t been able to establish equivalencies
This outdoor board from the

United Kingdom attracted
attention because of its
interesting visual but also
because of its challenging
idea. Research based on traffic
counts found it difficult to account
for the impact of the message.
for GRPs and CPMs. Similarly, the industry is still trying to define what makes an effective
Internet ad, as well as develop a system that accurately measures online advertising effec¬
tiveness. At the heart of the problem is the question of what exactly is to be measured and
how that equates to other media—readers, viewers, visitors, hits, click-throughs, minutes
spent with a site.
Advertising ROi and Media Efficiency

Advertisers continue to search for advertising ROI (return on investment, which means the
costs of creating and running the advertisement versus the revenue it generates). ROI mea¬
sures the relationship between output (sales; surrogate measures) and input (budget; dollars
spent on message creation and delivery). Another way to look at is the cost-to-sales ratio.
Since the dollar impact for advertising, and also public relations, is hard to measure,
ROI is difficult to calculate. The campaigns must be carefully designed not only to move
the sales needle, but also to ensure that advertisers can isolate the impact of the message
and verify that it caused the increase in sales. ROI is easier to calculate for direct market¬
ing (because there are fewer variables between the message and the sales) and for sales
promotion (because there is an immediate response, which is easier to link to the message).
One question related to ROI is: How much is too much? How do you determine
whether you are overadvertising (or underadvertising)? That’s one of the key reasons to
use test marketing. If a campaign is launched in several different, but matched cities, at dif¬
ferent levels of media activity, a comparison of the campaigns results (sales or other kinds
of trackable responses) can determine the appropriate level and type of media spending.
Wearout The point where the advertising gets tired and there is no response or less
response than at the launch is called wearout. This is also the point where recall stabilizes
or declines and irritation levels increase because people are tired of hearing or seeing the
same ad replayed.
Wearout is a combination of creative impact and media buying. The more intrusive
the creative technique, the higher the level of irritation. It’s like a joke: You may pay atten¬
tion the first couple of times you hear it but then it gets wearisome. Other types of adver¬
tising are less prone to wearout. Jingles, for example, can be repeated almost endlessly, and
the more people like to hum along with the tune, the less likely there will be a wearout
problem because of irritation.
Media Optimization Ultimately the biggest challenge in media planning is

accountability. Advertisers want to know their dollars are being spent in the most efficient
way and for the greatest impact. You may remember from Chapter 11 that media planners
operate with computer media-optimization models of media performance that they use in
making decisions about media selection, scheduling, and weights (amount of budget).
Models are always theoretical, so one result of postevaluation is that the actual perfor¬
mance of a plan can be compared with the results projected by the media planner’s model.
The goal in testing media planning is always to optimize the budget—to get the most
impact possible with the least expenditure of money. That is the critical finding derived
from the comparison of performance with projections. In addition to meeting the reach and
frequency objectives, was the media plan efficient?
Consider This
o
1. Explain media optimization.
2. How does wearout relate to media efficiency?
CAMPAIGN AND IMC EVALUATION

The last stage in the development of a campaign plan is preparing a proposal stating how
the campaign will be evaluated. Evaluation is the final and, in some respects, the most
important step in an advertising campaign because it determines whether the campaign
effort was effective. A campaign evaluation will assess the campaign’s performance in
terms of its message and media objectives. It employs either internal performance data or
results from an outside research organization that monitors brand performance, such as
Gallup-Robinson, Decision Analyst Inc., and Millward Brown.
As we said earlier, when all the pieces work together, the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts. That’s called synergy, and it’s the reason why advertisers run campaigns
rather than one-shot ads. Synergy is difficult to evaluate, so usually it is done in terms of
the overall brand position and brand perception. In other words, has the image become
stronger on critical dimensions of the image, such as personality and positioning cues,
because of the campaign?
Marketing Communication Evaluation

Even though this book focuses on advertising, we recognize that advertising is just one
part of the market communication mix, along with sales promotion, public relations, direct
marketing, events and sponsorships, personal sales, packaging, point of purchase (PoP),
Evaluation doesn't just happen
and specialties. As Table 19.2 illustrates, marketers can also use the Facets Model to iden¬
at the end of a campaign or
tify the objectives commonly associated with the various marketing communication areas,
after the ad is run. It has to be
as well as the types of measures used to evaluate performance. The idea is that certain
planned into the campaign from
marketing communication areas, such as public relations and sales promotion, do some
the very beginning, as this
planning meeting illustrates.
things better than other areas; therefore, in an integrated plan, we would use the best tool to
accomplish the desired effect. In Table 19.2 the
main effects are located in column 1, with a collec¬
tion of surrogate measures identified in column 2
(this list is not inclusive, it’s just a sample). The
last column lists the communication tool or tools
that may be most appropriate for achieving the
objective.
An examination of Table 19.2 shows that
advertising is particularly effective in accomplish¬
ing several objectives—for instance, creating expo¬
sure, awareness, and brand image. It is also good at
providing brand reminders to the customer and
encouraging repurchase. However, other marketing
communication tools, such as sales promotion, are
better at getting people to respond with an immedi¬
ate purchase and public relations is particularly
strong at building credibility. Let’s look briefly at
these other marketing communication areas in
terms of their evaluation.
19.2 Message Effectiveness Factors

Key Message Surrogate Sales
Effects Measures Communication Tools
Perception Exposure Adv Media; PR, PoP
Attention Adv; Sales Promo, Packaging; PoP
Interest Adv; SP; PR, Direct; PoP
Relevance Adv; PR; Direct; PoP
Recognition Adv; PR, Pkging; PoP, Specialties
Cognitive Understanding Adv; PR; Sales; Direct
Recall Adv; SP; PR, PoP, Specialties
Adv; PR; Pkging
Affective Emotions & Liking Adv; Sales Promo, Pkging; PoP
Appeals Adv; PR; Sales; Events/Spnsrshps
Resonate Adv; PR; Events/Spnsrshps
Persuasion Attitudes Adv; PR; Direct
Preference/intention Adv; PR; Sales Promo
Credibility PR
Conviction PR; Sales; Direct
Motivation Adv; PR; Sales; Sales Promo
Brand Assoc. Brand Image Adv; PR, Events/Spnsrshps
Action Trial SP; Sales; Direct, PoP
Purchase SP; Sales; Direct
Repeat Purchase Adv; SP; Sales; Direct, Specialties
Direct Response The objective of direct-response communication is to drive a trans¬

Principle
action or generate some other type of immediate behavioral response, such as a donation Advertising is particularly effective
or a visit to a dealer. What makes this marketing communication tool so attractive to mar¬ in accomplishing such objectives
keters is that response is so easily measurable, as is its efficiency or cost-effectiveness. as creating exposure, awareness,
We evaluate ads containing elements that can be returned by using direct-response and brand image, and delivering
counts. Some advertisements request direct response via a toll-free number, a mail-in brand reminders.
coupon, a Web site or e-mail address, or an offer embedded in the body copy. Instead of
depending on consumers’ memory or ads’ persuasion or some other indirect indication of
effectiveness, the advertiser simply counts the number of viewers or readers who request
more information or buy the product. (See the Arm & Hammer ad.)
In some ways, direct-response mechanisms are the easiest marketing communication
tool to evaluate both in terms of the message effectiveness and in terms of ROI efficiency—the
sales-to-cost ratio. The efficiency of the direct-response offer is measured in terms of cost per
thousand (CPM) and response per thousand (RPM). CPM is used to compare the cost esti¬
mates from various suppliers (printing, postage, mailing labels, fulfillment). The formula is:
Total cost
X 1,000
Total quantity
For example, one direct-marketing firm might give a quote of $5,000 for 10,000
brochures and a competitor estimates $6,000 for 15,000 brochures. On the face of it the
first company is cheaper, but when you calculate the CPM, then you can see that the fist
company is charging $500 per thousand and the second is charging $400 per thousand,
which makes it a more cost-efficient buy.
To calculate the RPM, use the following formula:
Total responses
F X 1,000
Total mailed
This print ad includes a

coupon that allows advertiser
Arm & Hammer to count the
responses to the ad as part of
its evaluation program.
Gat Got SAVE
30C
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To receive special offer* on ARM & I LAMM OR'
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XAMR --
Your Search To Stop Litter Odor,
ADDRESS-.
it effectively eliminates odor like nothing you’ve ever cm___
tried—while keeping litter first-dav fresh longer. Just sprinkle STATE_Zll*--
Retailor: Only retail distributors ot product slated or others
it into the pan and the odor-absorbing specifically authorized by us may redeem coupon lor lace
value plus 8c handling il terms ol oiler ate met. Valid only
power of baking soda goes right to work. lor product staled limit one coupon per package. Consumer
must pay any sales tax. Upon request retailer must
Plus, moisture-activated fragrance is show invoices lot n nPLU
enough stock to cover
released every time your eat uses the box. coupons presented
Void where prohibited,
licensed, taxed, or
The Difference Is Amazing. See For Yourself! restricted. Cash value
i/IOOc. Mail to
Church 6 Dwight Co.,
Inc.CMS Oept 033200.
UTTER ODOR. 1 Fawcett Or.. Del Rro.
Iras79840. 5 33200 *2230 e_ _J
That calculation lets you compare the response rate of alternative mailings. For exam¬
ple, if one mailing of 15,000 pulled 750 responses, then the RPM was 50 per 1,000. If a
different mailing of 12,000 pulled 800 responses, then the RPM was 66 per 1,000, making
it a more effective offer.
Sales Promotion Sales promotion programs are complicated in that it may be neces¬
sary to evaluate both trade and consumer promotions. Marketers are finding that promo¬
tions are most effective when they catch consumers’ interest. They are also finding that the
best way to listen to consumers may be through qualitative tests.7 By using focus groups
and in-depth interviews, for example, researchers can identify the level of interest the tar¬
get market has for certain sports and events and analyze how that interest might work in a
future brand promotion. In a Promo magazine survey,8 marketers reported that they used
the following evaluation measures:
Measure % used
Sales 45.8
Response Rates 19.4
Awareness 10.2
Other Mix 8.8
Redemption Rates 4.2
In terms of channel (trade promotions), store audits can record the pre-post shelf
space allocated to the brand and the use of dealer or retailer promotional materials. Nielsen
does formal retail audits to monitor the effectiveness of trade promotions. Store audits can
also record consumer response to in-store promotions. Promotions that contain a response
device have a built-in evaluation measure. Redemption of coupons is another common
form of sales promotion monitoring.
The efficiency of a sales promotion can be evaluated in terms of its financial returns
more easily than advertising. We compare the costs of the promotion, called a payout
plan, to the forecasted sales generated by the promotion. A type of payout plan called
breakeVen analysis seeks to determine the point at which the total cost of the promotion
CHAPTER 19 EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS 547
A Sales Promotion
Breakeven Analysis
At the breakeven point, where
30,000 premiums are delivered at a
cost of $45,000, the sales revenues
exactly cover, but do not exceed,
total costs. Below and to the left of
the breakeven point (in the portion
of the diagram marked off by dashed
lines) the promotion operates at a
loss. Above and to the right of the
breakeven point, as more premiums
are sold and sales revenues climb,
the promotion makes a profit.
exceeds the total revenues, identifying the point where the effort cannot break even. Figure
19.2 depicts this analysis.
Public Relations The evaluation of public relations examines the success of the pro¬
gram in getting the message out to the target audience in terms of output (materials pro¬
duced and distributed) and outcomes (acceptance and impact of the materials), as well as
public opinion and relationship tracking. The output/outcome evaluation is conducted by
asking such questions as: How many placements (news releases that ran in the media) did
we get? How many articles were published? How many times did our spokesperson appear
on talk shows? How much airplay did our public service announcements receive? The
results are presented in terms of counts of minutes, mentions, or inches.
Content analysis also helps us determine the favorability of the coverage, share of
voice, and issue and competitor coverage.9 Ongoing public opinion tracking studies con¬
sider such questions as: Has there been a change in audience knowledge, attitudes, or behav¬
ior (as measured in the pretesting and posttesting)? Can we associate behavior change (for
example, product trial, repeat purchase, voting, or joining) with the public relations effort?
The table summarizes the most common measures of output and outcomes in public
relations.
Output Objectives Achieved:

• Production. Number of PR products, such as news releases or brochures, generated.
• Distribution. Number of media outlets (TV stations, newspapers) receiving PR products.
• Coverage. Number and size of clips, column inches, seconds, or minutes of time or
space.
• Impressions. Media placements multiplied by circulation or broadcast reach.
• Advertising value. Equivalent ad costs for time or space.
• Systematic Content Analysis. Positive or valence (whether the story or mention seems
to be more positive or negative), key messages (the idea in the story), sources, and
prominence.
Outcome Objectives Achieved:

• Awareness. Aided and unaided recall in the target audience.
• Attitudes. Perceptions, preferences, and preference or intent to buy.
• Behavior. Did they do what you wanted them to do?
The search for methods to tie public relations activities to bottom-line business mea¬
sures, such as ROI (return on investment) is like the quest for the “Holy Grail" PR practi¬
tioners would like to demonstrate ROI because it would provide even more support for the
importance of PR effects. Unfortunately research methods and analytical techniques that
provide this support are elusive.10 A surrogate ROI measure can be based on shareholder
value, which Fombrun identifies as a company’s or brand’s reputation capital. For exam¬
ple, research conducted on companies with the most effective employee-communication
programs has determined that they provide a much higher total return to shareholders."
IMC Consistency
IMC is a new discipline and the research is only now being developed that proves the
effectiveness of advertising in combination with other marketing communication areas.
John Philip Jones, in his landmark research using single-source data, has determined that
sales promotion by itself, for example, is much less effective than when it is combined,
planned and executed as part of an integrated program.12
Integration is an outcome and it can be evaluated using an IMC audit.13 The first step is
a content analysis, which collects all the materials produced by an organization and codes
its use of agreed-upon consistency elements, such as brand identity cues, slogans, design
format, tone of voice, colors, the expression of core values, and positioning cues. The con¬
tent analysis also looks for materials that are coded as off strategy and diagnoses the ways in
which deviant messages are being sent. In addition to a content analysis, IMC researchers
use observational tools such as mystery shopping and phantom phone calls, which refers to
researchers who visit a retail store or service outlet or who contact a company by phone or
e-mail and then observe and record the interactions and communication pattern.
The complexity of an IMC program complicates evaluation because there are multi¬
ple efforts with multiple objectives and many of them demand different types of research
techniques. Ongoing research or tracking studies against some general measures such as
brand reputation give a general indication of how the various message strategies are com¬
ing together to create a coherent brand impression.
Special Advertising Situations

The special situations identified in Chapter 18 are evaluated using many of the same tools
as advertising; let’s look now at these areas in terms of their particular objectives and how
they are evaluated.
Retail Advertising The primary objective of retail advertising is to generate store

traffic and that is usually created through a combination of marketing communication pro¬
gramming. Sales promotion contributes the most to traffic building with sale prices and
loss leaders, contests, and special events. All of these, however, have to be announced to
customers, and public relations and advertising are the most cost-effective way to get the
word out. The results of traffic-building promotions and advertising are simple counts of
people coming through the door or down an aisle.
Visibility is another objective of retail advertising and that also is attained through
special promotions and events, announced through publicity and advertising. Special
events are often used to build visibility, for example, radio broadcasts from the store, par¬
ticularly for grand-opening celebrations. Similarly, some stores create programs that con-
ti ibute positively to the store image through partnership promotions, such as sponsorships
of charitable programs, like Habitat for Humanity. Educational programs such as the
“how-to” classes that Home Depot offers are good relationship-building programs. All of
these can be measured by participation counts as well as sign-up and fill-out forms that
may also ask for feedback related to the store’s image and consumer perception of the
events and supporting promotional activities. Another important retail objective is loyalty
and that is fostered through frequency clubs and measured in terms of participation.
B2B Advertising The primary objective of B2B advertising is to generate a response,

particularly sales leads. So a common form of evaluation is a lead count based on calls,
e-mails, and cards returned to the advertiser. Another common objective is called
conversion and that refers to the number of leads that turn into customers who make a pur¬
chase. Conversion rates, which are percentages of the leads, are also calculated for most
marketing communication tools used in B2B programs.
Although few business marketers today rely exclusively on their sales forces to reach
potential buyers, many business people still wonder about the effectiveness of business
advertising. The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) and the Association of Business
Publishers (ABP) have studied the link between business advertising, industrial-product
sales, and profits.14 The researchers monitored product sales and the level and frequency of
their advertising schedules for one year. To ensure that the study’s findings could apply to
a wide range in industries and products, three very different products were monitored: a
portable safety device that sold for less than $10, a commercial transportation package that
sold for around $10,000, and highly specialized laboratory equipment priced between
$5,000 and $10,000.
Despite the diversity in price, product life, purchase complexity, and distribution
channels, the study found that for all three products:
• Business-to-business advertising created more sales than would have occurred without
advertising.
• It paid to advertise to both dealers and end users when the product was sold through
dealers.
• Increased advertising frequency increased sales leads and generated higher profits.
• It took four to six months to see the results of the advertising program.
• The use of color in the advertising made a dramatic difference.
• The advertising campaign was effective long after the campaign had ended.
• Advertising favorably affected purchasers’ awareness of and attitudes toward industrial
products.
International Advertising A strong effectiveness evaluation program is particularly

important for international advertising. Intuition serves the advertiser poorly as an evaluation
method because most managers lack familiarity with foreign markets. International advertis¬
ing most often takes place out of the advertising manager’s sight and is difficult to control.
Advertising managers face special problems that make evaluation of international programs
difficult.15 First, many markets with distinctive characteristics must be analyzed, not just the
markets in one country. Furthermore, the costs of running evaluation programs in smaller
markets may not be cost effective. There may also be incompatibilities among various mea¬
surement systems and data analysis techniques that make it difficult to compare the data
from one market with similar data from another market.
The effectiveness of an international evaluation program for advertising should focus,
at least initially, on pretesting. Unfamiliarity with the culture, language, and consumer
behavior can result in major miscalculations. Pretesting helps the advertiser correct major
problems before miscommunication.
The best approach is to test two ads that are both based on the global advertising strat¬
egy: a locally produced version of the advertising and an original ad produced locally. As a
general rule of thumb, the global strategy usually works around 60 percent of the time. If the
locally produced advertising wins, the improvement must be decisive or the cost of creating
a local version of the campaign may not be affordable. Cost efficiency, in other words,
always favors a standardized approach, but that must be tempered by questions of whether
the standardized approach is equally effective at the local level. Global companies must
remain flexible enough to adapt the strategy that emerges as the winner to local markets.
Consider This
1. Compare the evaluation of direct response, sales promotion, and public
relations with the evaluation of advertising.
2. How is consistency evaluated in an IMC campaign?
IT'S A WRAP
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
E valuation through testing is a risk-reduction practice, one that's needed because it's difficult
to predict how effective an ad idea will be. There are a lot of variables and a lot of factors
that can't be controlled, such as how consumers think and respond to a message. Some eval¬
uation is informal and based on the personal judgment of an experienced manager; some
can be built into the plan as structured feedback such as response cards and calls; but usually
the evaluation effort involves a more formal research project.
UPS knew from its customer research that to break out of the "brown and ground"
perception, the company had to overcome the inertia of shipping managers and other
front-office customers who use UPS for ground packages and FedEx for overnight and inter¬
national. The company also had to engineer a perception shift in the minds of senior exec¬
utives moving from a company that handles packages to a strategic partner in systems
planning. The "Brown" campaign by The Martin Agency successfully achieved those goals
and delivered the following results:
Objective 1: Breaking Through
• Awareness of the Brown campaign outpaced all past UPS advertising measured in the
10+ year history of its tracking study.
• Among those aware of the campaign, correct brand linkage to UPS was 95-98 percent
across all audiences (compared to a historical average of 20-40 percent for past UPS
advertising).
• "What can BROWN do for you?" has taken hold in popular culture. For instance,
recently both Saturday Night Live and Trading Spaces mentioned the tagline and cam¬
paign in their shows which boosts the campaign's impressions.
Objective 2: Breaking the Inertia Trance
• International shipping profitability increased 150 percent and overnight volume spiked
by 9.1 percent after the campaign ran. The targets' total package volume increased by
4.39 percent.
• From the start of the campaign in March to the year-end, annual ground shipping rev¬
enue grew by $300 million.
• With shipping decision makers, the brand is showing steady and significant gains in key
measures like, "Helps my operation run more smoothly," "Dynamic and energetic," and
"Offers a broad range of services."
• The campaign was a hit in terms of response with a 10.5 percent response rate and an
ROI of 1:3.5. (That means every dollar spent of the campaign generated $3.5 dollars in
revenue.)
Objective 3: Breaking the Relevance Trance

• At the start of the campaign, annual non package (supply chain) revenue was approxi¬
mately $1.4 billion. By the end of the year, nonpackage revenue had almost doubled to
$2.7 billion.
• For the first time in the 10+ year history of the brand tracking study, UPS leads FedEx in
all image measures among C-level and senior-level decision makers. All significant brand
image measures continued upward.
• Among C-level and senior decision makers, the biggest gains were in key measures like,
"For people like me," "Acts as a strategic partner to my company," "Helps in distribution
and supply chain operations," and "Provides global competitive advantage."
Research determined that the "Brown" campaign was successful in changing the per¬
ception of UPS by addressing the right audience with the right messages. It convinced ship¬
ping managers that UPS could make their jobs easier; it convinced small-business owners that
UPS could help grow their business; it convinced front-office workers that UPS could take a
load off their desks and make them more efficient; and it convinced senior management that
UPS could contribute as a strategic partner. Most of all, it convinced the EFFIE judges that this
was a highly effective campaign that deserved a Gold EFFIE.
■■■Summary
1. Demonstrate that you understand why and how adver¬ achievement of the reach and frequency objectives, as well
tising evaluation is conducted. Advertising evaluation is as the audience measurement reports of the media used.
used to test, monitor, measure, and diagnose advertising Media ROI evaluation considers such questions as how
messages. The factors tested are the key effects outlined in a much is enough, particularly in terms of advertising
model of advertising effectiveness. wearout.
2. List and explain the stages of copy testing. Copy testing 4. Discuss how campaigns and IMC programs are evalu¬
is conducted before (pretesting), during (tracking), and after ated. A campaign’s performance is assessed in terms of
(posttesting) an ad or campaign has run. Diagnostic evalua¬ how well it meets its message and media objectives. IMC
tion can be conducted at all three stages. plans also assess the performance of the various marketing
3. Identify the key areas of media evaluation. Media evalua¬ communication tools, as well as the synergistic effect of
tion begins by verifying the media exposure in terms of the the elements working together.
aided recall test, 540 inquiry tests, 541 persuasion test, 540 single-source research, 541
breakeven analysis, 546 likability tests, 541 photoboards, 537 test market, 539
clutter reel, 537 moment-by-moment tests, 537 picture sort, 537 tracking studies, 537
coincidental survey, 537 motivation test, 541 pretesting, 537 unaided recall test, 540
concept testing, 536 norms, 534 recall test, 540 wave analysis, 539
conversion, 549 pantry check, 539 recognition test, 540 wearout, 543
direct-response counts, 545 payout plan, 546 scanner research, 541
1. What are the four categories of work that are evaluated in 3. What is media efficiency, and how does that relate to ROI?
assessing the performance of advertising and marketing 4. How is an IMC campaign evaluated?
communication?
2. What are the three stages where advertising evaluation is
conducted, and what is being evaluated at each stage?
1. Research professionals recommend using focus groups ever, tend to believe that a one-score approach to copy test¬
to help develop a campaign strategy or theme, but many ing is not appropriate. Why would they feel that way? If
are opposed to using focus groups to choose finished ads you were helping an agency prepare for a presentation on
for the campaign. Is this advice contradictory? Why or its copy-testing results, what would you suggest the agency
why not? say to explain away the idea that you can evaluate an ad
2. Many creative people feel that formal copy-testing research with a single test?
doesn't do justice to their ideas. In particular, they feel that 4. In the dot-com craze of the late 1990s, new Internet compa¬
research results are designed to reward cognitive nies emerged almost daily. What types of strategic or evalu¬
approaches and don’t do a good job of evaluation for brand ative research do you think many of these companies con¬
image ads and emotional ads. From what you have read in ducted, if any? Do you believe research would have helped
this chapter about copy testing, why do they feel that way? any of these companies make decisions that might have
Do you believe that is a legitimate criticism of copy testing? helped them survive the dot-com crash? Why or why not?
3. Most clients want a quick and easy answer to the question What particular decision might have been considered?
of whether the ad works. Advertising professionals, how¬
■ Class Projects
1. Put together a portfolio of ads for a product category targeted to a college audience. Set up
a focus group with participants recruited front among your friends and ask them to evaluate
the ads. Identify the top ad in unaided awareness and the bottom ad. Ask the focus group
participants to analyze the headline, the visual, and the brand identification of each ad.
How do the two ads compare in terms of their ability to get attention and lock tire brand in
memory?
2. As a team, explore the Web sites for two copy-testing companies such as Ameritest
(www.Ameritet.net), Ipsos-ASl (www.ipsos.com), Dianostic Research (www
.diagnostic.com) or the ARS Group (www.ars-group.com) and compare the services they
offer to their clients. If your team were looking for a company to pretest a campaign for a
cosmetic product, which one would you prefer? Why?
HANDS-ON JHu
Lovin' It at McDonalds Again
In 2003 McDonald's, one of the biggest advertisers in the Most people probably believe effective ads are the
world, decided to consolidate its media-buying opera¬ ones they like and talk about, and there is logic to that.
tions, which are responsible for placing nearly a billion After all, if consumers like an ad they should be willing to
dollars of advertising each year. Cost savings were not the watch it over and over, reducing wearout, and perhaps
reason for the change. "We don't believe we were getting they will also think about the brand more positively; mar¬
our money's worth out of our media," claimed company keting research suggests that a consumer's attitude toward
official Larry Light. "We're not trying to see how much we an ad influences his or her attitude toward the brand. In
can cut in our advertising. We're looking to be the most real life it doesn't always seem to work out that way,
powerful voice in advertising, to be more effective." though. One of the most popular campaigns of the late
McDonald's also launched a global campaign featuring 1990s was one for Taco Bell that featured a talking
the tagline "I'm lovin' it." Ad Age critic Bob Garfield was Chihuahua. But when sales at franchises grew stagnant,
unimpressed, writing "If 50 Cent were kidnapped by the Taco Bell fired the agency that developed the campaign,
New Christy Minstrels, and forced to record a video and replaced it with an agency that got rid of the dog and
soundtrack commissioned by Mentos, you'd have the intro¬ focused more on the product.
duction to the new McDonald's campaign. Alert the BBDO's efforts for KFC had the same result. BBDO's
media: The clown is dead, and the Pepsi Generation is on ads, featuring Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander, were well
Ecstasy." But McDonald's had the last laugh, as its stores received by consumers and were among the most highly
have seen double-digit sales growth, far outpacing the recalled of 2002. But KFC's same-store sales over the time
competition. period were actually negative, and the agency was fired.
McDonald's, like other large advertisers, is interested Poor advertising? Perhaps, but other explanations are pos¬
in creating effective ads. But what is the metric of effec¬ sible too. Branding consultant Michael Markowitz points
tiveness? Every client, of course, wants to see sales out that "The fundamental product offering—fried
increase, but is that a fair standard for an agency's work? chicken—has been countertrend for years. Fried chicken is
Agencies have long pointed out that great advertising can¬ not a first-tier choice for people any longer." Fie adds,
not make a substandard brand succeed. And in point of "No matter how clever the ads are, it can't mask or dis¬
fact, McDonald's instituted a number of other changes at guise the fundamental weaknesses in business." Besides, if
the same time it refocused its advertising, including a company fails to achieve its sales targets, "shoot the
adding new healthier product lines, like salads and fruit agency seems to be the rule," observes Ron Paul, a food-
and yogurt. The company also changed its promotional service consultant. "It doesn't mean that it's their fault, but
relationship with Disney and focused hard on improving it's an easy place to point the finger."
the consumer experience at its restaurants. So how does Paul's point probably suggests that the key to
one separate the effects of the ads from the other McDonald's success is both improved advertising and an
changes? improved product. That seems like a sound way for any
advertiser to be effective.
Consider This 3. What would you propose for a more comprehensive

O- evaluation program for the McDonald's campaign?
1. Most clients seem interested in sales increases as a Using the Facets Model as an outline, how would
benchmark for judging the quality of their agency's you determine the effectiveness of the campaign?
work. From a client perspective, why does this make
sense? Sources: Richard Gibson, "McDonald's Hopes to Increase Effectiveness of Its Advertising,"
2. From an agency perspective, defend the idea that Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition) (December 3, 2003): 1; Emma Hall, "Spotlight,"
Advertising Age (April 1 2, 2004); Kathryn Kranhold, "Omnicom Group to Measure How
increased product sales is not always an appropri¬ Ads Do," Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition) (October 21,1999): B16; Kate MacArthur,
ate benchmark. If short-term sales gains are not the "Rivals Not Lovin' McD's Comeback," Advertising Age (July 26, 2004); Brian Steinberg
and Suzanne Vronica, "KFC Seeks a Crisp Take on Its Ads; Fried-Chicken Chain Aims to
metric of success, what metrics would you propose
Revive Sluggish Sales with a Fresh Campaign," Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition) (August
agencies use for their work? 1, 2003): B6.
Part 5
Integration and
Evaluation
Chick-fil-A and its advertising agency, The Richards Group, have developed one of the
most successful integrated brand campaigns in the fast-food industry, one that has been
executed across all media.
For Chick-fil-A, the extendable brand idea was the “Eat Mor Chikin” campaign,
which featured cows persuading consumers to eat more Chick-fil-A chicken. The cam¬
paign rolled out initially as a three-dimensional billboard. This medium provided Chick-
fil-A with a unique platform for being heard and getting noticed. The billboards were and
are still very successful; however, the campaign didn’t stop there. The “Eat Mor Chikin”
campaign continues to evolve and make its way into every point of contact with the cus¬
tomer.
If cows could climb up on a billboard, why couldn’t they stand in front of a Chick-fil-
A encouraging people to “Eat Mor Chikin”? A 7-foot-tall, standup cow soon became part
of a complete in-store point-of-purchase kit that also included banners, table tents, cups,
bags, and register toppers. This marked the beginning of campaign integration.
From there, the campaign has moved into other print materials such as direct mail and
ads. In no time, the print campaign found itself in promotions, events, TV, radio, the Web,
clothing, and merchandise. In 1998 Chick-fil-A began producing calendars featuring the
cows. Due to high calendar demand, production numbers have jumped every year from
470,000 calendars in 1998 to more than 2.3 million in 2005. The cows and their quirky
antics have become a key symbol of Chick-fil-A’s marketing communication.
554
Public relations also has played a major role in the success of the campaign. Since
1996, the Chick-fil-A cows have received over $10 million in free media on both local and
national levels. Chick-fd-A may never have the advertising budgets of its competitors, but
the influence and success of an integrated campaign is making up the difference.
Source: Information courtesy of Mike Buerno, The Richards Group.
Consider This
1. Has Chick-fil-A developed a truly integrated campaign? Why or why not?
2. Suggest how this campaign could be better integrated.
555
::! o s; o f y
A Advocacy advertising (p. 489) A type of Argument (p. 114) A cognitive strategy
corporate advertising that involves creat¬ that uses logic, reasons, and proof to build
Account management (p. 49) People and
ing advertisements and purchasing space convictions.
processes at an ad agency that facilitate the
to deliver a specific, targeted message. Art director (p. 357) The person who is
relationship between the agency and the
client. Affective response (p. 109) A response primarily responsible for the visual image
caused by or expressing feelings and emo¬ of the advertisement.
Account planner (p. 50) The person
tions. Association (p. 110) The process used to
responsible for the strategy and its imple¬
mentation in the creative work. Affiliate (p. 251) A station that contracts link a product with a positive experience,
with a national network to carry network- personality, or lifestyle.
Account planning process (p. 195) A
originated programming during part of its Attention (p. 105) Concentrating the mind
process of using research to gain informa¬
schedule. on a thought or idea.
tion about the brand in its marketplace, the
consumer’s perspective, or both, and to Agency-of-record (p. 14, 45) An advertis¬ Attitude (p. 114) A learned predisposition
use that research to contribute directly to ing agency that manages the business that we hold toward an object, person, or
advertising development. between a company and the agencies it has idea.
contracts with.
Acquired needs (p. 138) A driving force Attribute trade-offs An application of
learned from culture, society, and the envi¬ AIDA (p. 102) A hierarchy of effects embedded research in which a list of most
ronment. identified as Attention, Interest, Desire, preferred products for an individual is
and Action. generated from customer-provided quanti¬
Ad allowances (p. 507) In cooperative
advertising, funds are provided by manu¬ Aided recall (p. 106) When one can tative ratings of their preferences for spe¬
facturers to retailers who feature the man¬ remember an idea after seeing a cue. cific attributes, such as brand, price, and
ufacturers’ products in the retailers’ local All capitals (p. 392) Type set in all capital features.
advertising. letters. Audiometer (p. 257) A measuring instru¬
Added value (p. 36) A marketing activity, Ambush marketing (p. 464) In event mar¬ ment attached to a TV set that records
such as advertising, makes a product more keting, a competitor advertises in such a which channel a TV is tuned to.
appealing or useful. way that it steals visibility from the desig¬ Average frequency (p. 299) The average
Adese (p. 360) Formula writing that uses nated sponsor. number of times an audience has an oppor¬
cliches, generalities, stock phrases, and Analysis (p. 174) Making sense of all the tunity to be exposed to a media vehicle or
superlatives. data collected and figuring out what the vehicles in a specified time span.
Advertainment (p. 282) A form of per¬ information means for the future success Awareness (p. 105) The degree to which a
suasive advertising in which the commer¬ of the brand or product. message has made an impression on the
cials look like TV shows or short films, Animation (p. 408) A film or video tech¬ viewer or reader.
and provide entertainment as opposed to nique in which objects or drawings are
high levels of information. B
filmed one frame at a time.
Advertiser (p. 11) A person or organiza¬ Back translation (p. 381) The practice of
Annual report (p. 492) A financial docu¬
tion that initiates the advertising process. translating ad copy into a second language
ment legally required of all publicly held
and then translating that version back into
Advertising (p. 5) Paid nonpersonal com¬ companies.
the original language to check the accu¬
munication from an identified sponsor Answer print (p. 410) The finished ver¬
racy of the translation.
using mass media to persuade or influence sion of the commercial, with the audio and
an audience. Banner ad (p. 277) Small, often
video recorded together.
rectangular-shaped graphic that appears at
Advertising department (p. 13) A depart¬ Aperture (p. 293) The ideal moment for
the top of a Web page.
ment within the company that acts as a exposing consumers to an advertising
facilitator between outside vendors and Banners See “banner ad.”
message.
internal advertising management. Benchmarking (p. 189, 484) Comparing a
Appeal (p. 340) An advertising approach
Advertising plan (p. 13, 184) A plan that result against some other known result
that connects with some need, want, or
proposes strategies for targeting the audi¬ from a comparable effort.
emotion that makes the product message
ence, presenting the advertising message, attractive, attention getting, or interesting. Benefits (p. 341) Statements about what
and implementing media. the product can do for the user.
557
558 GLOSSARY
Broadcast media (p. 243) Media, such that requires an advertiser to stop its
Big Idea (p. 327) A creative idea that
expresses an original advertising thought. as radium television, and interactive unlawful practices.
media, which transmit sounds or images Central processing When the brain is
Bind-ins (p. 440) Cards bound into the
electronically. searching for information and evaluating it
binding.
Broadsheet (p. 215) A newspaper with a critically.
Bleed (p. 224) A full-page ad with no out¬
page size eight columns wide and 22 Change agent program (p. 485) A pro¬
side margins—the color extends to the
inches deep. gram designed to intervene in corporate
edge of the page.
Broadsheets (p. 436) A full-size news culture and change stakeholder behaviors.
Blind headline (p. 363) An indirect head¬
page sheet. Channel of communication (p. 99) The
line that gives little information.
Business marketing (p. 510) The market¬ media through which an advertisement is
Blog (p. 276) A personal diary-like Web
ing of goods and services to organizations. presented.
page.
Business strategic plan (p. 182) A busi¬ Channel of distribution (p. 39) People
Blow-ins (p. 440) Cards blown in loose
ness plan that deals with the broadest deci¬ and organizations involved in moving
between the pages of a publication.
sions of the organization. products from producers to consumers.
Body copy (p. 360) The text of the message.
Business-to-business advertising (p. 17, Chat room (p. 275) A web site that allows
Brag-and-boast copy (p. 360) Self impor¬ users to share information.
510) Targets other businesses.
tant copy that focuses on the company
Buzz (p. 22, 342) Gossip created by peo¬ Circulation (p. 212) The number of
rather than the consumer.
ple over a popular interest in something. copies sold.
Brainstorming (p. 333) A creative think¬
Claim (p. 338) A statement about the
ing technique using free association in a c product’s performance.
group environment to stimulate inspiration.
Cable television (p. 251) A form of sub¬ Classified advertising (p. 217) Commercial
Brand (p. 8, 33) A name, term, design, or scription television in which the signals messages arranged in the newspaper accord¬
symbol that identifies the goods, services, are earned to households by a cable. ing to the interests of readers.
institution, or idea sold by a marketer.
Call centers (p. 438) Facilities with banks Claymation (p. 408) A stop-motion anima¬
Brand equity (p. 35) The value associated of phones and representatives who call tion technique in which figures sculpted
with a brand; the reputation that the brand prospects (outbound) or answer customer from clay are filmed one frame at a time.
name or symbol connotes.
calls (inbound).
Click through (p. 279) The act of clicking
Brand image (p. 33, 113) A special mean¬ Call-out (p. 361) A block of text separate
ing or mental representation created for a on a button on a Web site that takes the
from the main display copy and headline
product by giving it a distinctive name and viewer to a different Web site.
where the idea is presented.
identity. Clip art (p. 388) Generic, copyright-free
Call to action (p. 253, 344, 365) A con¬
Brand management (p. 37) An organiza¬ art that can be used by anyone who buys
cluding line that tells people how to buy
tional structure that places a manager or the book or service.
the product.
management team in charge of a brand’s Close (p. 364) The last paragraph of the
Campaign (p. 185) A comprehensive
total marketing efforts. body copy that often refers back to the cre¬
advertising plan for a series of different
Brand mark (p. 35) The part of the brand ative concept and wraps up the Big Idea.
but related ads that appear in different
that cannot be spoken, also known as the
media across a specified time period. Closing (p. 315) Represents the last date
logo. to send an ad to production.
Captions (p. 363) Text which explains
Brand name (p. 35) The part of the brand Closure A gestalt principle which states
what is happening in a corresponding
that can be spoken, such as words, letters, that missing parts of a shape will automat¬
photo or illustration.
or numbers. ically be added on perception.
Car cards Small advertisements that are
Branding (p. 33) The process of creating a Clutter (p. 101) The excessive number of
mounted in racks inside a vehicle.
unique identity for a product. messages delivered to a target audience.
Carryover effect (p. 307) A measure of
Break-even analysis (payout planning) Clutter reel (p. 537) A reel of commer¬
residual effect (awareness or recall) of the
(p. 546) A type of payout plan that seeks to cials used in ad testing on which one ad is
advertising message some time after the
determine the point at which the total cost the one being tested and the others are
advertising period has ended.
of the promotion exceeds the total rev¬ included to simulate the clutter of a typical
enues, identifying the point where the Casting (p. 376) Finding the right person
advertising break in a program.
effort cannot break even. for the role.
Co-branding (p. 467) A product offered
Brief (p. 198) A strategy document that Cause marketing (p. 516) Sponsoring a
by two companies with both companies’
explains the consumer insight and summa¬ good cause in the hope that the association
brands present.
rizes the message and media strategy. will result in positive public opinion about
the company. Cognition (p. 106) How consumers respond
Broadband (p. 254) A bandwidth that has to information, learn, and understand.
more capacity to send data and images into Catalog (p. 437) A multipage direct-
mail publication that shows a variety of Cognitive dissonance (p. 139) A ten¬
a home or business through a cable televi¬
merchandise. dency to justify the discrepancy between
sion wire than the much smaller capacity
what you receive and what you expected to
of a traditional telephone wire or televi¬ Cease-and-desist order (p. 68) An FTC
receive.
sion antenna system. remedy for false or deceptive advertising
GLOSSARY 559
Cognitive learning (p. 108) When adver¬ people who are representative of the target in which the manufacturer reimburses the
tisers want people to know something new audience in order to get their reactions to retailer for all or part of the retailer’s
after watching or hearing a message. the Big Idea. advertising costs.
Coincidental survey (p. 537) Random Conditional learning (p. 108) Learning Cooperative advertising See Co-op
phone calls made to viewers to determine through association by connecting a stim¬ advertising.
what shows they are watching at that time. ulus to a reward through repeated exposure Copycat advertising (p. 327) Using some
Cold calling (p. 438) Sales calls made to to a stimulus that eventually leads to the other brand’s creative idea.
individuals and businesses who haven’t reward.
Copy-testing (p. 165, 330) Evaluating the
been informed in advance of the call. Consent decree (p. 68) A formal FTC effectiveness of an ad, either in a draft
Collaborative filtering An application of agreement with an advertiser that obligates form or after it has been used.
embedded research in which customers the advertiser to stop its deceptive practices.
Core values (p. 128) Underlying values
can see product recommendations based Consumer behavior (p. 126) The process that govern a person’s (or a brand’s) atti¬
on predictive models that classify them of an individual or group selecting, pur¬ tudes and behavior.
with others who have similar profiles of chasing, using, or disposing of products,
Copywriter (p. 357) The person who
attitude or behavior. services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy
writes the text for an ad.
Collateral materials (p. 367, 493) needs and desires.
Corporate advertising (p. 488) A type of
Brochures and other forms of product lit¬ Consumer magazine (p. 221) A publica¬
advertising used by firms to build aware¬
erature used in support of an advertising, tion oriented to a general (non-business)
ness of a company, its products, and the
public relations, or sales promotion effort. audience.
nature of its business.
Color separation (p. 401) The process of Consumer market (p. 41) Selling products
Corporate culture (p. 129) The values
splitting a color image into four images to a general (non-business) audience.
and attitudes that shape the behavior of an
recorded on negatives; each negative rep¬ Consumer research (p. 157) A type of organization and its employees.
resents one of the four process colors. market research that identifies people who
Corporate image (p. 488) A perception of
Co-marketing (p. 466) Programs through are in the market for a product.
a company that its stakeholders create in
which manufacturers partner with retailers Contact points (p. 200) The media, as their minds from messages and experi¬
in joint promotions. well as other places and ways, where a ences with the company.
Commercial speech (p. 64) Our legal consumer engages in a brand experience.
Corporate relations (p. 482) Relations
right to say what we want to promote com¬ Content analysis (p. 165, 548) Research between a corporation and the public
mercial activity, as defined by the First that analyzes articles, news stories and involving an organization’s image and
Amendment. other printed materials for themes and pos¬ reputation.
Commission (p. 51) The amount an ad itive or negative mentions of a brand or
Corrective advertising (p. 69) An FTC
agency charges to the client, often a per¬ company.
directive that requires an advertiser to run
centage of media cost. Contest (p. 456) A form of promotion that truthful ads to counter deceptive ads.
Communication audit (p. 483) A type of requires participants to compete for a prize
Cost Per Rating (CPR) A method of
background research that assesses the or prizes based on some sort of skill or
comparing media vehicles by relating the
internal and external PR environment that ability.
cost of the message unit to the audience
affects the organization’s audience, objec¬ Continuity (p. 307) Even, continuous rating.
tives, competitors, and past results. advertising over the time span of the
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) (p. 305) The
Communication brief (p. 198) A strategy advertising campaign.
cost of exposing each 1,000 members of the
document that explains the consumer Continuous strategy (p. 307) A media target audience to the advertising message.
insight and summarizes the message and strategy that spreads the advertising evenly
media strategy. Coupons (p. 456) Legal certificates
over a period.
offered by manufacturers and retailers that
Comparative advertising (p. 81) A mes¬ Controlled media (p. 427, 487) Media grant specified savings on selected prod¬
sage strategy that explicitly or implicitly that the direct marketer either owns or has ucts when presented for redemption at the
compares the features of two or more delivered through carefully controlled cri¬ point-of-purchase.
brands. teria by a contracted company.
Coverage (p. 247) The degree to which a
Competitive advantage (p. 190) Features Conversion (p. 549) In sales, changing a particular advertising medium delivers
or benefits of a product that let it out per¬ prospect into a customer. audiences within a specific geographical
form its competitors.
Conviction (p. 114) A particularly strong area.
Compiled list (p. 430) In database mar¬ belief that has been anchored firmly in C-prints (p. 403) High quality proofs used
keting, a list that is created by merging one’s attitudes. in printing.
several lists and purging duplicate entries.
Cookies (p. 273) Web “bugs” that can be Crawl (p. 405) Computer-generated let¬
Comprehensives (p. 396) A layout that placed on your computer by a Web server ters that move across the bottom of the
looks as much like the final printed ad as to track your online movements. screen.
possible.
Co-op advertising (p. 44, 217, 506) Also Creative brief (p. 198, 345) The document
Concept testing (p. 165, 536) When a called cooperative advertising; an arrange¬ that outlines the key strategy decisions and
simple statement of an idea is tried out on ment between a retailer and manufacturer details the key execution elements.
560 GLOSSARY
Creative concept (p. 327) A Big Idea that Databases (p. 428) Lists of consumers Direct marketing (DM) (p. 44, 423)
is original, supports the ad strategy, and with information that helps target and seg¬ A type of marketing that uses media to
dramatizes the selling point. ment those who are highly likely to be in contact a prospect directly and elicit a
the market for a certain product. response without the intervention of a
Creative director (p. 331) The person
retailer or personal sales.
responsible for managing the work of the Database marketing (p. 428) A tool and
creative team. industry that utilizes databases to predict Direct-response advertising (p. 17, 424)
trends and monitor consumers in order to A type of marketing communication that
Creative platform (p. 345) A document
more effectively implement direct-market¬ achieves an action-oriented objective as a
that outlines the message strategy deci¬
ing strategies. result of the advertising message.
sions for an individual ad.
Data-driven communication (p. 430) Direct-response counts (p. 545)
Creative strategy (p. 334) The determina¬
Communication strategy used in direct Evaluative tests that count the number of
tion of the right message for a particular
marketing that is based on customer infor¬ viewers or readers who request more
target audience, a message approach that
mation and previous interactions with the information or who purchase the product.
delivers the advertising objectives.
brand. Discretionary income (p. 135) The
Crisis management (p. 482) Management
Data sheets (p. 515) Advertising that pro¬ money available for spending after taxes
of people and events during times of great
vides detailed technical information. and necessities are covered.
danger or trouble.
Daypart (p. 247) The way the broadcast Display advertising (p. 217) Sponsored
Cross-functional management A prac¬
schedule is divided into time segments messages that can be of any size and loca¬
tice that uses teams to coordinate activities
during a day. tion within the newspaper, except the edi¬
that involve different areas in and outside a
company. Dealer tag (p. 509) Time left at the end of torial page.
a manufacturer’s TV or radio commercial Display copy (p. 360) Type set in larger
Cultural and social influences (p. 128)
The forces other people exert on your to insert local retail store information. sizes that is used to attract the reader’s
behavior. Debossing (p. 403) A depressed image attention.
Cultural imperialism (p. 62) Imposing a created on paper by applying heat and Distribution chain or channel (p. 39) The
foreign culture on a local culture; usually pressure. companies involved in moving a product
referred to as the impact of Western cul¬ Deceptive advertising (p. 66) Advertising from the manufacturer to the customer.
ture, products, and lifestyles on a more tra¬ that misleads consumers by making claims Donut format (p. 509) A format for a
ditional culture. that are false or by failure to fully disclose radio commercial where the manufacturer
Culture (p. 128) The complex whole of important information. records the beginning and end and the
tangible items, intangible concepts, and Delayed effects (p. 109) An advertise¬ local retailer drops in the middle.
social behaviors that define a group of ment’s impact occurs at a later time (than Double-page spread (p. 224) An adver¬
people or a way of life. its time of delivery). tisement that crosses two facing pages in a
Culture-orientation model (p. 521) A Demand creation (p. 61) An external magazine.
strategy that emphasizes the cultural dif¬ message creates a want or need. Dubbing (p. 410) The process of making
ferences between people. Demography (p. 131) The study of social duplicate copies of a videotape.
Customary pricing (p. 45) Using a single, and economic factors that influence how
well-known price for a long period of time. individual consumers behave.
E
Customer-focused marketing All com¬ Demographics (p. 131) Human traits such E-business (p. 271) The practice of con¬
munication within an advertisement that is as age, income, race, and gender. ducting business online.
evaluated in terms of the consumer’s Diaries (p. 170) In advertising research, E-commerce Selling goods and services
response. through electronic means, usually over the
consumers record their consumption activ¬
Customer (p. 127) Current or prospective ities, including media use. Internet.
purchaser of a product. Effective frequency (p. 300) A planning
Die cut (p. 403) A sharp-edged stamp
Customer relationship management used to cut irregular shapes. concept that determines a range (minimum
(CRM) (p. 53, 432) A database process and maximum) of repeat exposures for a
Differentiate (p. 42) The way products
that identifies and analyzes patterns in cus¬ message.
are unique or different from competitors.
tomer behavior to maximize the profitabil¬ Effects (p. 19) The impact created by an
Digitization (p. 403) Converting art into
ity of each relationship. advertisement and the target audiences
computer-readable images.
Cut (p. 407) An abrupt transition from one response to the message.
Directional advertising (p. 233) Tells
shot to another. Embedded research (p. 173) Research
people where to go to find goods and ser¬
Cutouts (p. 228) Irregularly shaped exten¬ that is measured through real purchase and
vices.
sions added to the top, bottom, or sides of use situations which benefits the con¬
Direct-action headline (p. 362) A head¬ sumer, manufacturer, and retailer.
standard outdoor boards.
line that is straightforward and informative
Embossing (p. 403) The application of
D and leads to some kind of action.
pressure to create a raised surface image
Dailies (p. 410) Processed scenes on film Direct mail (p. 435) A type of direct mar¬ on paper.
that a director reviews to determine what keting that sends the offer to a prospective
Emotional appeals (p. 110) Message
needs correcting. customer by mail.
strategies that seek to arouse our feelings.
GLOSSARY 561
Employee relations (p. 480) Relations eliminate ads that are deceptive or offen¬ Frequency distribution (p. 299) A media
between the company and its workers. sive. planning term describing exactly how
Endorsement or testimonial (p. 83) Any Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (p. many times each person is exposed to a
advertising message that consumers rea¬ 66) A U.S. government agency responsi¬ message by percentage of the population
sonably believe reflects the opinions, ble for regulating several advertising (reach).
beliefs, or experiences of an individual, issues including banning deceptive or mis¬ Frequency program (p. 466) A loyalty
group, or institution. leading advertising. program that rewards customers for repeat
Ethics (p. 75) A set of moral principles Fee (p. 51) An hourly amount charged to purchases.
that guide our actions. the client by the agency. Friendship focus groups (p. 169) Group
Ethnographic research (p. 169) A form Feedback (p. 100) Response to a message interviews with people who know one
of anthropological research that studies the by a receiver that is conveyed back to the another and have been recruited by the
way people live their lives. source. person who hosts the session, which is
usually held in that person’s home.
Evaluative research (p. 157) Research Film-to-tape transfer (p. 407) A proce¬
that determines how well the ad or cam¬ dure by which film is shot, processed, and Fulfillment (p. 427) The back-end opera¬
paign achieved its goals. then transferred to videotape. tions of direct marketing, which include
receiving the order, assembling the mer¬
Event marketing (p. 464) Creating a pro¬ Financial relations (p. 480) Communi¬
chandise, shipping, and handling returns
motion program around a sponsored event. cations with the financial community.
and exchanges.
Exchange (p. 32) The process whereby First-run syndication (p. 254) Network
Full -service agency (p. 47) An agency
two or more parties transfer something of shows that move into syndication even
that provides clients with the primary
value to one another. though new episodes are continuing to be
planning and advertising services.
Exclusive distribution When only one produced.
distributor is allowed to sell the brand in a Flexography (p. 403) A printing process G
particular market. that uses a flexible rubber printing plate in Gaffer (p. 409) Chief electrician on a film
Execution (p. 520) The different varia¬ order to print on unusual shaped objects.
shoot.
tions used to represent the message of a Flighting (p. 307) An advertising schedul¬ Gap analysis (p. 484) A research tech¬
campaign. ing pattern characterized by a period of nique that measures the differences in per¬
Exposure (p. 105, 212) The opportunity intensified activity called a flight, fol¬ ceptions and attitudes between groups or
for a reader, viewer, or listener to see or lowed by a period of no advertising called between them and the organization.
hear an advertisement. a hiatus.
Gatefold (p. 224) Four or more connected
Extensions (p. 228) Embellishments to Focus groups (p. 168) A group interview pages that fold in on themselves.
painted billboards that expand the scale led by a moderator.
Gatekeepers (p. 480) Individuals who
and break away from the standard rectan¬ Font (p. 392) The basic set of letters in a have direct relations with the public such
gle limitations. particular typeface. as writers, producers, editors, talk-show
Exterior transit advertising (p. 231) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) coordinators, and newscasters.
Advertising posters that are mounted on (p. 70) A regulatory division of the Geodemographic clusters Distinct types
the sides, rear, and tops of vehicles. Department of Health and Human Ser¬ of neighborhoods.
vices that oversees package labeling and
Extranets (p. 274, 496) Networked sys¬ Geomarketing Marketing that is geared to
ingredient listings for food and drugs.
tems of electronic communication that increasing diversity in consumer tastes and
allow employees to be in contact with each Four-color printing (p. 401) A printing
preferences.
other in one business with its business process that replicates the full color of a
Global brand (p. 519) One that is mar¬
partners. photograph although it only uses four col¬
keted with the same name, design, and cre¬
ors of ink.
ative strategy in most or all of the major
F Frame-by-frame tests Tests that evaluate
regional market blocs.
Family (p. 130) Two or more people who consumers’ reactions to the individual
Global perspective A corporate philoso¬
are related by blood, marriage, or adoption scenes that unfold in the course of a televi¬
phy that directs products and advertising
and live in the same household. sion commercial.
toward a worldwide market.
Feature (p. 338) A product attribute or Free-standing insert advertisement (p.
Globalization (p. 23) The deepening rela¬
characteristic. 218) Preprinted advertisement placed
tionships and broadening interdependence
Feature story (p. 490) In the media, these loosely in the newspaper.
among people from different countries.
are human-interest stories, in contrast to Frequency (p. 212) The number of times
Grip (p. 409) Individual who moves the
hard news. an audience has an opportunity to be
props and sets on a film shoot.
Feature analysis (p. 190) A comparison exposed to a media vehicle or vehicles in a
specified time span. Gross impressions (p. 212) The sum of
of your product’s features against those of
the audiences of all the media vehicles
competing products. Frequency (p. 243) The number of radio
used within a designated time span.
Federal Communications Commission waves produced by a transmitter in one
second. Gross Rating Points (GRPs) (p. 258) The
(FCC) (p. 70) A U.S. government agency
sum of the total exposure potential of a
that regulates broadcast media and can
562 GLOSSARY
Image transfer (p. 304, 369) When the Integrated direct marketing (p. 444) A
series of media vehicles expressed as a
presentation in one medium stimulates the method of achieving precise, synchronized
percentage of the audience population.
listener or viewer to think about the presen¬ use of the right mediums at the right time,
Guerrilla marketing (p. 285) A form of
tation of the product in another medium. with a measurable return on dollars spent.
unconventional marketing, such as chalk
Also known as integrated relationship
messages on a sidewalk, that is often asso¬ IMC research (p. 157) Research used to
marketing.
ciated with staged events. plan and evaluate the performance and
synergy of all marketing communication Integrated marketing (p. 52) The process
Gutter (p. 224) The white space, or inside
tools. of meeting customers’ needs through the
margins, where two facing magazine
coordination of the marketing mix and the
pages join. Impact The effect of the message on the
other business functions.
audience.
H Integrated Marketing Communication
Implied third-party endorsement (p.
(IMC) (p. 23) The practice of unifying all
Habit Something learned so well, it has 480) When the media endorse a product
marketing communication efforts so they
become second nature. and the public finds it credible.
send a consistent, persuasive message to
Halftone (p. 400) (Continuous tone): Impression (p. 212) In media planning,
target audiences.
Image with a continuous range of shades one person’s opportunity to be exposed to
Integrated media strategy A media strat¬
from light to dark. an advertising message.
egy in which advertisers understand which
Hard sell (p. 6, 335) A rational, informa¬ Inbound telemarketing (p. 438) media fit particular advertising needs,
tional message that emphasizes a strong Incoming calls initiated by the customer.
which media are complementary, and
argument and calls for action. In-depth interview (p. 168) One-on-one which detract from each other.
Headline (p. 360) The title of an ad; it is interview using open-ended questions.
Intensive distribution Stocking the prod¬
display copy set in large type to get the Industrial advertising (p. 510) uct in as many outlets as possible.
reader’s attention. Advertising that targets original equip¬
Interactive communication (p. 100)
Hierarchy-of-effects (p. 102) A set of ment manufacturers (OEM).
Personal conversations between two
consumer responses that moves from the Indirect advertising (p. 71) Advertising people.
least serious, involved, or complex up that features one product instead of the pri¬
through the most serious, involved, or Interactive technology Technology such
mary (controversial) product.
complex. as the Internet.
Indirect marketing (p. 44) Distributing a
High context culture (p. 522) The mean¬ Interactive TV (p. 254) A television with
product through a channel structure that
ing of a message is dependent on context computer capabilities.
includes one or more resellers.
cues. Interconnects (p. 252) A special cable
Indirect-action headlines (p. 362)
High involvement (p. 116) Perceiving a technology that allows local advertisers to
Headlines that aim to capture attention
product or information as important and run their commercials in small geographic
although they might not provide much
personally relevant. areas through the interconnection of a
information.
number of cable systems.
High-involvement decision process (p.
Industrial advertising (p. 510) Adver¬
116) A decision process that relates to Interest (p. 105) Activities that engage the
tising directed at suppliers or original
higher-risk products purchased infre¬ consumer.
equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
quently. Interior transit advertising (p. 231)
In-house agency (p. 15) An agency within
Hit (p. 279) The number of times a Web Advertising posters that are mounted
an advertiser’s organization that performs
site is visited. inside vehicles such as buses, subway cars,
all the tasks an outside agency would pro¬
and taxis.
Horizontal publications (p. 221, 514) vide for the advertiser.
Publications directed at people who hold Interlock (p. 410) A version of the com¬
In-market tests Tests that measure the
similar jobs. mercial with the audio and video timed
effectiveness of advertisements by mea¬
together, although the two are recorded
House ad (p. 487) An ad by an organiza¬ suring actual sales results in the market¬
separately.
tion that is used in its own publication or place.
programming. Internal marketing (p. 200, 480)
Innate needs (p. 135) Primary needs con¬
Providing information about marketing
Household (p. 130) All those people who nected with survival.
activity and promoting it internally to
occupy one living unit, whether they are
Inquiry tests (p. 541) Evaluation that employees.
related or not.
measures the number of responses to a
Internal service departments Depart¬
HUT (p. 212) A measure of Households message.
ments such as the traffic department, print
Using TV.
Instant messaging (p. 285) Exchanging production, financial services, and human
text-based messages in real time via an resources or personnel, which serve the
I
Internet communications service. operations within the agency.
Image (p. 478) The use of intangible
Institutional retail advertising (p. 507) International advertising (p. 52)
attributes to create a specific perception.
Advertising that focuses on the image of Advertising designed to promote the same
Image advertising (p. 342) A type of the store rather than selling merchandise. product in a number of countries.
advertising that creates a unique brand
meaning.
GLOSSARY 563
International brand (p. 52, 519) A brand Lifetime customer value (p. 444) An esti¬ Market (p. 39) An area of the country or a
or product that is available in most parts of mate of the revenue coming from a partic¬ group of buyers.
the world. ular customer (or type of customer) over Market aggregation strategy (p. 147) An
Internet (p. 271) A linked system of inter¬ the lifetime of the relationship. undifferentiated segmentation strategy that
national computer networks. Likability tests (p. 541) Evaluation of treats consumers as homogenous.
Intranets (p. 274, 496) Networked sys¬ positive responses to an ad. Market orientation model (p. 521) A
tems of electronic communication that Line art (p. 400) Art in which all elements strategy in international marketing that
allow employees to be in touch with one are solid, with no intermediate shades or emphasizes the differences in cultures.
another from various locations. tones. Market research (p. 157) A type of mar¬
Involvement (p. 116) The intensity of the Lists (p. 429) Databases of prospects’ and keting research that investigates the prod¬
consumer’s interest in a product. customers’ contact information. uct and category, as well as consumers
Issue management (p. 481) The practice Loaders (p. 462) Trade promotions that who are or might be customers for the
of advising companies and senior manage¬ encourage retailers to stock up on a prod¬ product.
ment on how public opinion is coalescing uct. Market segmentation (p. 148) The
around certain issues. Lobbying (p. 481) A form of public affairs process of dividing a market into distinct
involving corporations, activist groups, groups of buyers who might require sepa¬
J and consumer groups who provide infor¬ rate products or marketing mixes.
Jingles (p. 244, 368) Commercials set to mation to legislators in order to get their Market selectivity (p. 214) When the
music. support and to get them to vote a certain medium targets specific consumer groups.
Justified type (p. 392) A form of typeset way on a particular bill. Market tracking studies Studies that fol¬
copy in which the ends of the lines in a Local advertising (p. 17, 505) Advertising low the purchase activity of a specific con¬
column of type are forced to align by targeted to consumers who live within the sumer or group of consumers over a speci¬
adding space between words in the line. local shopping area of a store. fied period of time.
Local brand (p. 52) A brand that is mar¬ Marketer (p. 37) The company or organi¬
K
keted in one specific country. zation behind the product.
Kiosks (p. 231) Multisided bulletin board
Local cable (p. 252) Cable scheduling that Marketing (p. 8) Business activities that
structures designed for public posting of
allows advertisers to show their commer¬ direct the exchange of goods and services
messages.
cials to highly restricted geographic audi¬ between producers and consumers.
ences through interconnects. Marketing communications (p. 8) The
L
Localization (Adaption) (p. 520) A strat¬ element in the marketing mix that commu¬
Layout (p. 394) A drawing that shows
egy in international advertising that adapts nicates the key marketing messages to tar¬
where all the elements in the ad are to be
the message to local cultures. get audiences.
positioned.
Locking power Creative approach that Marketing communication mix (p. 42) A
Lead (p. 364) The first paragraph of the
captures the attention of the consumer. combination of marketing communication
body copy.
Low-context cultures (p. 522) The mean¬ activities, such as personal selling, adver¬
Lead agency (p. 522) In international tising, sales promotion, marketing public
ing of a message is obvious without need¬
marketing, the agency that develops the relations, and packaging, to produce a
ing a sense of the cultural context.
campaign. coordinated message strategy.
Low-involvement (p. 116) Perceiving a
Lead generation (p. 424) The identifica¬ Marketing concept (p. 31) An idea that
product or information as unimportant.
tion of prospective customers. suggests that marketing should focus first
Low-involvement decision process (p.
Lead time (p. 307) Production time; also on the needs and wants of the customer,
116) A decision process that relates to
time preceeding a sesonal event. rather than finding ways to sell products
products purchased frequently with low
that may or may not meet customers’
Legibility (p. 392) How easy or difficult a risk.
needs.
type is to read.
Low-power FM (p. 244) Nonprofit, non¬
Marketing imperialism (p. 62) Marketing
Letterpress (p. 402) A printing process commercial stations that serve a small are
practices that result in imposing foreign
that prints from a raised surface. market, such as a college campus.
cultural values on a local cutlure with dif¬
Licensing (p. 467) The practice whereby a Loyalty program (p. 466) A program ferent vlaues and traditions.
company with an established brand “rents” designed to increase customer retention by
Marketing mix (p. 8) A blend of four
it to another company. rewarding customers for their patronage.
main activities: designing, pricing, dis¬
Lifestyle (p. 135) The pattern of living that tributing, and communicating about the
reflects how people allocate their time, M
product.
energy, and money. Make-goods (p. 315) Compensation that
Marketing mix modeling A modeling
Lifestyle analysis (p. 141) Examining the media give to advertisers in the form of
technique that allows marketers to deter¬
ways people allocate their time, energy, additional message units. These are com¬
mine the precise impact of the media plan
and money. monly used in situations involving produc¬
on product sales.
tion errors by the medium and preemption
of the advertiser’s programming.
564 GLOSSARY
Marketing plan (p. 45, 183) A written person travels to different cities and meets Network of associations (p. 113) The
document that proposes strategies for with the local media. linked set of brand perceptions that repre¬
using the elements of the marketing mix to sent a person’s unique way of creating
Media vehicle (p. 212) A single program,
achieve objectives. meaning.
magazine, or radio station.
Marketing Public Relations (MPR) (p. Network radio (p. 246) A group of local
Medium (p. 101) A single form of com¬
483) A type of public relations that sup¬ affiliates providing simultaneous program¬
munication (television, billboards, online
ports marketing’s product and sales focus ming via connection to one or more of the
media).
by increasing the brand’s and company’s national networks through AT&T tele¬
Merging (p. 429) The process of combin¬
credibility with consumers. phone wires.
ing two or more lists of data.
Marketing research (p. 162) Research Newsprint (p. 399) An inexpensive paper
Message (p. 99) The words, pictures, and
that investigates all elements of the mar¬ with a rough surface, used for printing
ideas that create meaning in an advertise¬
keting mix. newspapers.
ment.
Mass customization A product develop¬ News release (p. 489) Primary medium
Message strategy (p. 334) The determina¬
ment process that relies on flexible manu¬ used to deliver public relations messages
tion of the right message for a particular
facturing to customize products for select to the media.
target audience that delivers the advertis¬
markets or individuals. Niche markets (p. 149) Subsegments of
ing objectives.
Mechanicals (p. 396) A finished pasteup the general market which have distinctive
Mission marketing (p. 516) Linking the
with every element perfectly positioned traits that may provide a special combina¬
mission of the company to a good cause
that is photographed to make printing tion of benefits.
and committing support to it for the long
plates for offset printing. Noise (p. 100) Anything that interferes
term.
Media (p. 15, 211) The channels of com¬ with or distorts the advertising message’s
Mission statement (p. 183) A business
munication that carry the ad message to delivery to the target audience.
platform that articulates the organization’s
target audiences. Nonprofit (p. 18) Noncommercial organi¬
philosophy, as well as its goals and values.
Media-buying services (p. 49) Service zations.
Mixer (p. 410) The individual who oper¬
providers that specialize in the purchase of Nonpromotional product advertising (p.
ates the recording equipment during a film
media for their clients. 507) A form of advertising that talks about
shoot.
Media kit (p. 492) Also called a press kit, merchandise that is new, exclusive, and of
Moment-by-moment tests (p. 537) A
a packet or folder that contains all the superior quality and design.
research method that evaluates viewers’
important information for members of the Nontraditional delivery (p. 223) Delivery
response to a commercial frame by frame.
press. of magazines to readers through such
Morning drive time (p. 247) On radio the
Media mix (p. 212) Selecting the best methods as door hangers or newspapers.
day part that reaches people when they are
combination of media vehicles, nontradi- Norms (p. 128, 534) Simple rules that
commuting to work.
tional media, and marketing communica¬ each culture establishes to guide behavior.
tion tools to reach the targeted stakeholder Morphing (p. 405) A video technique in
which one object gradually changes into North American Industry Classification
audiences.
another. System (NAICS) (p. 510) The federal
Media objective (p. 212) A goal or task a
system of grouping businesses based on
media plan should accomplish. Motivation (motive) (p. 114) An unob¬
the major product or service provided.
servable inner force that stimulates and
Media planning (p. 212) A decision
compels a behavioral response.
process leading to the use of advertising 0
time and space to assist in the achievement Motivation test (p. 541) Research that
Objective (p. 19) The goal or task an indi¬
of marketing objectives. evaluates consumers’ intention to act.
vidual or business wants to accomplish.
Media relations (p. 480) Relationships
N Objective-task method (p. 193) Bud¬
with media contacts. geting approach based on costs of reaching
Navigation (p. 413) The action of a user
Media reps (p. 213) Media salespeople an objective.
moving through a Web site.
who sell media time and space for a vari¬ Observation research (p. 169) Qualitative
ety of media outlets. Needs (p. 108) Basic forces that motivate
research method that takes researchers into
you to do or to want something.
Media salespersons (p. 213) People who natural settings where they record people’s
work for a specific medium and call on Negative space (p. 395) In a layout, the behavior.
media planners and buyers in agencies to white (unprinted) space surrounding the
Off camera (p. 374) In television, a voice
sell space or time in that medium. ad’s elements.
is coming from an unseen speaker.
Media strategy (p. 300) The decisions Network (p. 250) When two or more sta¬
Off-network syndication (p. 254) Reruns
media planners make to deliver the msot tions are able to broadcast the same pro¬
off network shows.
effective media mix that will reach the tar¬ gram that originates from a single source.
Off-line advertising (p. 278) Advertising
get audience and satisfy the media objec¬ Network cable (p. 252) Cable scheduling
in traditional media that is designed to
tives. that runs commercials across an entire
drive consumers to an advertiser’s Web
Media tour (p. 492) A traveling press con¬ subscriber group simultaneously.
site.
ference in which the company’s spokes¬
GLOSSARY 565
Offset printing (p. 402) A printing Participations (p. 256) An arrangement in Picture sort (p. 537) Viewers receive a
process that prints an image from a smooth which a television advertiser buys com¬ deck of photos and sort them into cate¬
surface chemically treated printing plate. mercial time from a network. gories as requested by the researcher.
One-order, one-bill (p. 218) When media Payout plan (p. 470, 546) A way to evalu¬ Pitch letter (p. 490) A letter to a media
companies buy newspaper advertising ate the effectiveness of a sales promotion outlet that outlines a possible story idea
space for national advertisers and handle in terms of its financial returns by compar¬ that the PR person would like to provide.
the rate negotiation and billing. ing the costs of the promotion to the fore¬ Point (p. 392) A unit used to measure the
One-step offer (p. 427) A message that casted sales of the promotion. height of type; there are 72 points in an
asks for a direct sales response and has a People meters (p. 259) Boxes on a TV set inch.
mechanism for responding to the offer. that record viewing behaviors. Point of differentiation (p. 338) The way
On location (p. 374) Commercials shot Perceived risk (p. 144) The relationship a product is unique from its competitors.
outside the studio. between what you gain by making a cer¬ Point-of-Purchase (POP) display (p.
Open-ended questions (p. 168) A qualita¬ tain decision and what you have to lose. 461) A display designed by the manufac¬
tive research method that asks respondents Percentage-of-sales method (p. 194) A turer and distributed to retailers to promote
to generate their own answers. budgeting technique based in the relation¬ a particular brand or line of products.
Open pricing A pricing a method in which ship between the cost of advertising and Pool-outs (p. 522) Variations on a core
prices are negotiated on a contract-by-con- total sales. campaign theme.
tract basis for each unit of media space or Perception (p. 104) The process by which Population (p. 168) An entire group of
time. we receive information through our five people from which a sample is drawn.
Opinion leaders (p. 478) Important peo¬ senses and acknowledge and assign mean¬
Positioning (p. 42, 190) The way in which
ple who influence others. ing to this information.
consumers perceive a product in the mar¬
Opt in (Opt out) (p. 281) In e-mail adver¬ Peripheral processing Quick decision ketplace.
tising (and direct mail) consumers agree to making based on simple factors for low-
Poster (panels) (p. 228) A type of adver¬
be included or not included in the list. involvement purchases such as smell or a
tisement that is created by designers,
catchy slogan.
Outbound telemarketing (p. 438) printed, and shipped to an outdoor adver¬
Telemarketing sales calls initiated by the Permission marketing (p. 53, 443) A tising company who prepastes and applies
company. method of direct marketing in which the it in sections to the poster panel’s face on
consumer controls the process, agrees to location.
Outdoor advertising (p. 227) Advertising
receive communication from the company,
on billboards along streets and highways. Postproduction (p. 410) In TV produc¬
and consciously signs up.
Out-of-home advertising (p. 227) All tion, assembling and editing the film after
Permission to believe (p. 342) Credibility the film has been shot.
advertising that is displayed outside the
building techniques that increase con¬
home, from billboards, to blimps, to in¬ Predictive dialing (p. 438) Technology
sumers’ conviction in making decisions.
store aisle displays. that allows telemarketing companies to
Personal selling (p. 45) Face-to-face con¬ call anyone by using a trial and error dial¬
Overlines (p. 361) Text used to set the
tact between the marketer and a prospec¬ ing program.
stage and lead into the headline of copy.
tive customer that intends to create and
Preference (p. 114) Favorable positive
repeat sales.
P impression of a product that leads to an
Personality (p. 140) The consistent atti¬ intention to try or buy it.
Pace (p. 376) How fast or slowly the
tudes and behaviors that make us an indi¬
action progresses in a commercial. Preferred frequency The percentage of
vidual.
Package goods (p. 41) Products sold for audience reached at each level of repeti¬
Persuasion (p. 113) Trying to establish, tion (exposed once, twice, and so on).
personal or household use.
reinforce, or change an attitude, touch an
Painted bulletin (p. 228) A type of adver¬ Preferred positions (p. 217) Sections or
emotion, or anchor a conviction firmly in
tisement that is normally created on-site pages of print media that are in high
the potential customer’s belief structure.
and is not restricted to billboards as the demand by advertisers because they have a
Persuasion test (p. 540) A test that evalu¬ special appeal to the target audience.
attachment.
ates the effectiveness of an advertisement
Pantry checks (p. 539) A research checks Premium (p. 456) A tangible reward
by measuring whether the ad affects con¬
home-owners’ pantries to determine their received for performing a particular act,
sumers’ intentions to buy a brand.
purchases. such as purchasing a product or visiting
Photostats (p. 403) Photoprint proofs that the point-of-purchase.
Participation marketing A method of are cheap to produce.
direct marketing in which the company Preprints (p. 510) Advertising circulars
Photoboards (p. 537) A mockup of a tele¬ furnished by a retailer for distribution as a
knows its customers, generates feedback
vision commercial that uses still photos for free-standing insert in newspapers.
at every opportunity, involves the cus¬
the frames.
tomers and prospects as much as possible, Press conference (p. 492) A public gath¬
markets according to the customer’s Pica (p. 392) A unit used to measure width ering of media people for the purpose of
schedule, and makes the customer feel and depth of columns; there are 12 points establishing a company’s position or mak¬
vested in the company’s success. in a pica and 6 picas in an inch. ing a statement.
566 GLOSSARY
Pretesting (p. 537) Evaluative research of Product placement (p. 263) The use of a Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
finished or nearly finished ads that leads to brand name product in a television show, (p. 487) A type of public relations adver¬
a go/no go decision. movie, or event. tising that deals with public welfare issues
and typically is run free of charge.
Price (p. 44) An amount a seller sets for a Product retail advertising Advertising
product that is based not only on the cost that focuses on selling merchandise. Publicity (p. 477) Information that catches
of making and marketing the product, but public interest and is relayed through the
Production notes (p. 408) A document
also on the seller’s expected profit level. news media.
that describes in detail of every aspect of a
Price copy (p. 45) A term used to desig¬ commercial’s production. Publics (p. 477) All groups of people with
nate advertising copy devoted to informa¬ which a company or organization inter¬
Professional advertising (p. 512)
tion about the price and the associated acts.
Advertising that is targeted at profession¬
conditions of a particular product. als. Puffery (p. 81) Advertising or other sales
Price deal (p. 455) A temporary reduction representation that praises a product or
Profile (p. 150) A composite description
in the price of a product. service using subjective opinions, superla¬
of a target audience using personality and
tives, and similar techniques that are not
Price lining A strategy where a company lifestyle characteristics.
based on objective fact.
offers variations of a particular product Program preemptions Interruptions in
and prices them accordingly. local or network programming caused by Pull strategy (p. 44, 462) A strategy that
Primary research (p. 42, 159) Infor¬ directs marketing efforts at the consumer
special events.
mation that is collected from original and attempts to pull the product through
Program sponsorships (p. 253) Com¬
sources. the channel.
mercial announcements used in public
Primary research suppliers (p. 159) broadcasting to underwrite programming Pulsing strategy (p. 307) An advertising
Research firms that specialize in inter¬ costs. scheduling pattern in which time and
viewing, observing, recording, and analyz¬ space are scheduled on a continuous but
Promise (p. 341) Found in a benefit state¬
ing the behavior of those who purchase or uneven basis; lower levels are followed
ment, it is something that will happen if
influence the purchase of a particular good by bursts or peak periods of intensified
you use the product.
or service. activity.
Promotional advertising (p. 507) Retail
Prime time (p. 250) Programming on TV Purging (p. 429) The process of deleting
advertising that is focused on price or a
that runs between the hours of 8 and 11 duplicative information after lists of data
special sale.
p.m. are combined.
Prospecting (p. 425) In database mar¬
Print production (p. 51) A department Push strategy (p. 44, 462) A strategy that
keting, this is the process of identifying
that takes a layout, type, and artwork and directs marketing efforts at resellers,
prospects based on how well they match
turns it into a reproducible format. where success depends on the ability of
certain user characteristics.
these intermediaries to market the product,
Printed poster (p. 228) A type of billboard Psychographics (p. 140) All psychologi¬ which they often do with advertising.
that uses printed formats in standardized cal variables that combine to share our
sizes that are pasted to the board’s surface. inner selves and help explain consumer Q
Privacy policy (p. 273) A statement on a behavior.
Qualitative research (p. 160) Research
company’s Web site that explains what user Psychological pricing (p. 45) A strategy that seeks to understand how people think
data it collects and how it uses the data.
that tries to manipulate the customer’s pur¬ and behave and why.
Problem solution format (p. 345) A mes¬ chasing judgment.
Quantitative research (p. 160) Research
sage strategy that sets up a problem that
Public affairs (p. 481) Relations between that uses statistics to describe consumers.
the use of the product can solve.
a corporation, the public, and government
Process colors (p. 400) Four basic inks— involving public issues relating to govern¬ R
magenta, cyan, yellow, and black—that ment and regulation.
Ragged right (p. 392) In typesetting, the
are mixed to produce a full range of colors
Public communication campaigns (p. line endings of the right side of the column
found in four-color printing.
483, 518) Social issue campaigns under¬ fall where they will. Also called “unjusti¬
Product-as-hero (p. 345) A form of the taken by nonprofit organizations as a con¬ fied”.
problem-solution message strategy. scious effort to influence the thoughts or
Ratings, Rating Points (p. 213, 247, 258)
Product category (p. 8, 43) Classification actions of the public.
Percentage of population or households
to which a product belongs. Public opinion (p. 478) People’s beliefs, tuned to a program.
Product differentiation (p. 190) A com¬ based on their conceptions or evaluations
Reach (p. 212) The percentage of different
petitive marketing strategy that tries to cre¬ of something, rather than on fact.
homes or people exposed to a media vehi¬
ate a competitive difference through real Public relations (p. 477) A management cle or vehicles at least once during a spe¬
or perceived product attributes. function enabling organizations to achieve cific period of time. It is the percentage of
Product management (p. 37) An organi¬ effective relationships with various publics unduplicated audience.
zational structure that places a brand man¬ in order to manage the image and reputa¬
Reason why (p. 341) A statement that
ager or management team in charge of a tion of the organization.
explains why the feature will benefit the
brand’s total marketing effort. user.
GLOSSARY 567
Rebate (p. 456) A sales promotion that Retainer (p. 51) Agency monthly com¬ Selective distortion (p. 138) The process
allows the customer to recover part of the pensation based on an estimate of the pro¬ of interpreting information in a way that
product’s cost from the manufacturer in jected work and its costs. is consistent with the person’s existing
the form of cash. opinion.
Rich media (p. 278) Messages are effec¬
Recall test (p. 540) A test that evaluates tive in grabbing people’s attention because Selective distribution The use of more
the memorability of an advertisement by of their novelty and entertainment value. than one, but fewer than all, of the inter¬
contacting members of the advertisement’s Rotogravure (p. 402) A printing process mediaries who are willing to carry the
audience and asking them what they used for long press runs that provides company’s product.
remember about it. high-quality phographic reproduction. Selective exposure (p. 138) The ability to
Receiver (p. 100) The audience for an Rough cut (p. 410) A preliminary edited process only certain information and avoid
advertisement. version of the commercial. other stimuli.
Recognition (p. 106) An ability to remem¬ Rough layout (p. 396) A layout drawn to Selective perception (p. 104) The process
ber having seen something before. size but without attention to artistic and of screening out information that doesn’t
Recognition test (p. 540) A test that evalu¬ copy details. interest us and retaining information that
ates the memorability of an advertisement does.
Run-of-paper rate (p. 217) In newspaper
by contacting members of the audience, advertising, a rate based on a locaton that Selective retention (p. 138) The process
showing them the ad, and asking whether is at the discretion of the publisher. of remembering only a small portion of
they remember having seen it before. what you are exposed to.
Rushes (p. 410) Rough versions of the
Reference group (p. 129) A group of peo¬ commercial assembled from unedited Self-liquidator (p. 458) A type of mail
ple that a person uses as a guide for behav¬ footage. premium that requires a payment suffi¬
ior in specific situations. cient to cover the cost of the item.
Refund (p. 456) An offer by the marketer s Selling premise (p. 341) The sales logic
to return a certain amount of money to the Sales advertising (p. 507) Advertising in behind an advertising message.
consumer who purchases the product. which the sales price dominates the ad. Semicomps (p. 396) A layout drawn to
Regional brand (p. 52) A brand that is Sales promotion (p. 453) Marketing activ¬ size that depicts the art and display type;
available throughout a regional trading ities that add value to the product for a lim¬ body copy is simply ruled in.
block. ited period of time to stimulate consumer Semicontrolled media (p. 487) Media,
Registration (p. 399) When the four- purchasing and dealer effectiveness. such as the Internet, whose messages can
colors used in full-color printing are per¬ Sampling (p. 456) Allowing the consumer be controlled by an organization in some
fectly aligned with the image. to experience the product at no cost. ways, but that also contains totally uncon¬
Relationship marketing (p. 53, 480) The trolled messages.
Sans serif (p. 392) A typeface that does
ongoing process of identifying and main¬ not have the serif detail at the end of the Semiotic analysis (p. 165) A qualitative
taining contact with high-value customers. strokes. research method designed to uncover lay¬
Release prints (p. 410) Duplicate copies of ers and types of meaning.
Scanner research (p. 541) Research that
a commercial that are ready for distribution. tracks consumer purchases and compares Serif (p. 392) Typeface in which the end of
Relevance (p. 105) The message connects the marketing communication received by each stroke is finished off with a little
with the audience on a personal level. the consumer’s household. flourish.
Reliability (p. 172) In research, reliability Script (p. 369) A written version of a radio Set (p. 408) A constructed setting in which
or television commercial. the action of a commercial takes place.
means you can run the same test over
again and get the same results. Search engine (p. 274) Internet services Share of audience (p. 258) The percent of
that locate information based on key words. viewers based on number of sets turned
Reminder advertising (p. 344) An adver¬
on.
tising strategy that keeps the brand name Search marketing (p. 274) Marketing
in front of consumers. communication strategies designed to aid Share of market (p. 39) The percentage of
consumers in their search for information. the total market in a product category that
Reputation (p. 478) A general estimation
buys a particular brand.
in which a company is held by the public, Secondary research (p. 42) Information
based on its practices, policies, and perfor¬ that already has been compiled and pub¬ Share of mind (p. 336) The extent to
mance. lished. which a brand is well known in its cate¬
gory.
Resonance (p. 110) A message that rings Secondary research suppliers (p. 158)
true because the consumer connects with it Research firms that gather and organize Share of voice (p. 295) One brand’s per¬
on a personal level. information around specific topic areas for centage of advertising messages in a
other interested parties. medium compared to all messages for that
Response list (p. 430) In direct marketing,
product or service.
a list that is compiled of people who Segmenting (p. 147) Dividing the market
respond to a direct-mail offer. into groups of people who have similar Showings (p. 229) The percentage of the
characteristics in certain key product- market population exposed to an outdoor
Retail advertising (p. 17, 505) A type of
related areas. board during a specific time.
advertising used by local merchants who
sell directly to consumers. SIC Code (See NAICS)
568 GLOSSARY
Signal (p. 243) A series of electrical late people who can talk about an organi¬ Strategy (p. 181) The means by which an
impulses used to transmit radio and televi¬ zation. individual or business accomplishes objec¬
sion broadcasting. tives.
Specialty advertising (p. 458) Free gifts
Silkscreen printing (p. 403) A printing or rewards requiring no purchase and car¬ Streaming video (p. 278) Moving images
process that uses a porous screen to trans¬ rying a reminder advertising message. transmitted online.
fer a stencil-like image. Sponsorship (cause or event) (p. 464) An Structural analysis (p. 349) Developed by
Single-shot ads Ads that are designed to arrangement in which a company con¬ the Leo Burnett agency, this method evalu¬
work alone rather than as part of an ongo¬ tributes to the expenses of a cause or event ates the power of the narrative or story
ing campaign. to increase the perceived value of the spon¬ line, evaluates the strength of the product
sor’s brand in the mind of the consumer. or claim, and considers how well the two
Single-source research (p. 541) A test
aspects are integrated.
that is run after an ad campaign is intro¬ Sponsorship (television) (p. 255) An
duced that shows a causal relationship arrangement in which the advertiser pro¬ Subculture (p. 129) Groups of people that
between marketing communication and duces both a television program and the are similar in some way, usually character¬
sales. accompanying commercials. ized by age, values, language, or ethnic
background.
Situation analysis (p. 42, 186, 484) The Spot announcements (p. 257) Ads shown
first section in a campaign plan that sum¬ during the breaks between programs. Subheads (p. 363) Sectional headlines
marizes all the relevant background infor¬ that are used to break up a mass of “gray”
Spot color (p. 390) The use of an accent
mation and research and analyzes its sig¬ type in a large block of copy.
color to call attention to an element in an
nificance. ad layout. Subliminal message (p. 81) A message
Skyscrapers (p. 277) Extra-long narrow Spot radio advertising (p. 246) A form of transmitted below the threshold of normal
ads that run down the right or left side of a advertising in which an ad is placed with perception so that the receiver is not con¬
Web site. an individual station rather than through a sciously aware of having viewed it.
Slice-of-life format (p. 345) A type of network. Subscription TV (p. 251) Television ser¬
problem-solution ad in which “typical Stakeholders (p. 23, 477) Groups of peo¬ vice provided to people who sign up for it
people” talk about a common problem. ple with a common interest who have a and pay a monthly fee.
Slogans (p. 363) Frequently repeated stake in a company and who can have an Supplements (p. 218) Syndicated or local
phrases that provide continuity to an impact on its success. full-color advertising inserts that appear in
advertising campaign. Standard advertising unit (SAU) (p. newspapers throughout the week.
SMCR model (p. 99) A communication 215) A standardized system of advertising Suppliers (p. 21) Organizations, profes¬
model that identifies the Source, Message, sizes in newspapers. sionals, and specialized businesses that
Channel, and Receiver. Standardization (p. 520) In international provide goods and services.
Social class (p. 129) A way to categorize advertising, the use of campaigns that vary Support (p. 341) The proof, or substantia¬
people on the basis of their values, atti¬ little across different cultures. tion needed to make a claim believable.
tudes, lifestyles, and behavior. Stereotyping (p. 76) The process of posi¬ Survey research (p. 168) Research using
Social marketing (p. 515) Marketing with tioning a group of people in an unvarying structured interview forms that ask large
the good of society in mind. pattern that lacks individuality and often numbers of people exactly the same ques¬
Social responsibility (p. 87) A corporate reflects popular misconceptions. tions.
philosophy based on ethical values. Stock footage (p. 405) Previously Sweepstakes (p. 456) Contests that
Societal marketing concept (p. 515) A recorded film, video, or still slides that are require only that the participant supply his
business philosophy that describes compa¬ incorporated into a commercial. or her name to participate in a random
nies whose operations are based on the Stop motion (p. 408) An animation tech¬ drawing.
idea of socially responsible business. nique in which inanimate objects are SWOT analysis (p. 42, 186, 484) An
Soft sell (p. 6, 335) An emotional message filmed one frame at a time, creating the analysis of a company or brand’s strengths,
that uses mood, ambiguity, and suspense illusion of movement. weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
to create a response based on feelings and Storyboard (p. 377) A series of frames Symbolic meaning (p. 110) Communi¬
attitudes. sketched to illustrate how the story line cation conveyed through association.
Sound effects (p. 368) Lifelike imitations will develop.
Syndication (p. 246) This is where local
of sounds. Strategic business unit (SBO) (p. 182) A stations purchase television or radio shows
Source (p. 99) The sender of a message, division of a company focused on a line of that are reruns or original programs to fill
the advertiser. products or all the offerings under a single open hours.
brand name.
Source credibility (p. 114) Belief in a Synergy (p. 544) The principle that when
message one hears from a source one finds Strategic planning (p. 181) The process all the pieces work together, the whole is
most reliable. of determining objectives, deciding on greater than the sum of its parts.
strategies, and implementing the tactics.
Spam (p. 281, 443) Blasting millions of
Strategic research (p. 157) All research T
unsolicited e-mail ads.
that leads to the creation of an ad. Tabloid (p. 215) A newspaper with a page
Speaker’s bureau (p. 493) A public rela¬
size five to six columns wide and 14
tions tool that identifies a group of articu¬
inches deep.
GLOSSARY 569
Tactic (p. 181) The specific techniques effort in return for product discounts, Unjustified type (p. 392) A form of type¬
selected to reflect the strategy. goods, or cash. setting where the line endings on the right
Taglines (p. 363) Clever phrases used at Trade show (p. 462) A gathering of com¬ side of the column are allowed to fall-
the end of an advertisement to summarize panies within a specific industry to display where they will.
the ad’s message. their products. Usage (p. 144) Categorizing consumers in
Talent (p. 376) People who appear in Trademark (p. 35, 63) When a brand terms of how much of the product they buy.
television commercials. name or brand mark is legally protected
through registration with the Patent and
V
Targeting, Target audience (p. 147)
People who can be reached with a certain Trademark Office of the Department of Validity (p. 171) The research results actu¬
advertising medium and a particular Commerce. ally measure what they say they measure.
message. Traditional delivery (p. 223) Delivery of Value added, value added media (p. 315)
Target market (p. 8, 148) The market magazines to readers through newsstands A marketing or advertising activity that
segment(s) to which the marketer wants or home delivery. makes a product—or a media buy—more
to sell a product. Traffic department (p. 51) People within valuable.
Teaser (p. 336) A message strategy that an agency who are responsible for keeping Values (p. 128) The source of norms; val¬
creates curiosity as the message unfolds in track of project elements and keeping the ues are not tied to specific objects or
small pieces over time. work on deadline. behavior, are internal, and guide behavior.
Telemarketing (p. 438) A type of market¬ Trailers (p. 262) Advertisements shown in Values and Lifestyle System (VALS) (p.
ing that uses the telephone to make a per¬ movie theaters before the feature. 141) A research method that caegorizes
sonal sales contact. Transformation (p. Ill) Creating mean¬ people into lifestyle groups.
Test market (p. 539) A group used to test ing for a brand that makes it a special Vampire creative (p. 349) Big ideas that
some elements of an ad or a media mix in product, one that is differentiated within are so powerful that they are remembered
two or more potential markets. its category by its image. but not the brand.
Testimonial (p. 83) See endorsement. Two-step offer (p. 427) A message that is Veloxes (C-prints) (p. 403) High quality
designed to gather leads, answer consumer proofs from printing.
Theater of the mind (p. 367) In radio
questions, or set up appointments. Vendors (p. 16) A group of service organi¬
advertising, the story is visualized in the
listener’s imagintion. Typography (p. 391) The use of type both zations that assist advertisers, ad agencies,
to convey words and to contribute aesthet¬ and the media; also known as freelancers.
Think-Feel-Do model (p. 103) A model
ically to the message. Vertical publications (p. 221, 515)
of advertising effects that focuses on the
Publications targeted at people working in
cognitive, emotional, and behavioral re-
spones to a message.
u the same industry.
Unaided recall or recognition (p. 106) Video News Releases (VNRs) (p. 490)
Thumbnail sketches (p. 396) Small pre¬
When one can remember an idea all by Contain video footage that can be used
liminary sketches of various layout ideas.
oneself. during a television newscast.
Tie-ins (p. 467) A promotional tool that
Unbundling media services (p. 316) Viral marketing (p. 101, 344) A strategy
promotes two products together to
Media departments that separate them¬ used primarily in Web marketing that tre-
increase both brands’ visibility.
selves from agencies becoming separate lies on consumers to pass on messages
Tint blocks (p. 400) A screen process that companies. about a product.
creates shades of gray or colors in blocks. Uncontrolled media (p. 487) Media that Virtual research //?. 173) Measures the
Tip-ins (p. 403) Preprinted ads that are include the press release, the press confer¬ effectiveness of ads through interactive
provided by the advertiser to be glued into ence, and media tours. media.
the binding of a magazine. Underlines (p. 362) Text used to elaborate Visualization (p. 388) Imagining what the
Touch points (p. 200) The contact points on the idea in the headline and serve as a finished copy will look like.
where customers interact with the brand transition into the body copy.
Voice-over (p. 374) A technique used in
and receive brand messages. Understanding A conscious mental effort commercials in which an off-camera
Town hall forums (p. 494) Meetings to make sense of information. announcer talks about the on-camera scene.
within an organization as part of an inter¬ Undifferentiated or market aggregation
nal marketing program to inform employ¬ strategy (p. 147) A view of the market that w
ees and encourage their support. assumes all consumers are basically the Wants (p. 108) Motivations based on
Tracking studies (p. 537) Studies that fol¬ same. desires and feelings.
low the purchase of a brand or the purchases Unduplicated audiences (p. 298) Wasted reach (p. 261) Advertising
of a specific consumer group over time. Different members of an audience exposed directed at a disinterested audience that is
Trade advertising (p. 512) A type of busi- to a message in a particular time frame. not in the targeted audience.
ness-to-business advertising that targets Unique selling proposition (USP) (p. Wave analysis (p. 539) In research, a
members of the distribution channel. 341) A benefit statement about a feature series of interviews conducted at different
Trade deal (p. 462) An arrangement in that is both unique to the product and points in a campaign.
which the retailer agrees to give the manu¬ important to the user.
facturer’s product a special promotional
570 GLOSSARY
Web page Computer-generated informa¬ relative amount of budget allocated to each z

tion, usually sponsored by one company or medium.
Zero-based planning The practice of ana¬
institution, that provides information White space (p. 395) Areas in a layout lyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the
about the entity and is accessible via the that aren’t used for type or art. various marketing communication tools
Web.
World Wide Web (p. 271) The structure and then matching them to the problem
Web site (p. 274) Sometimes called a of the information interface that operates identified in the situation analysis.
“home page”, this is the online presence of behind the Internet.
a person or organization.
Webcasting (p. 244) Radio transmitted Y
through audio streaming over the Internet. Your-name-here copy (p. 359) Pompous
Webisodes (p. 284) Web advertisements writing used in corporate communication
that are similar to TV programs with a that contains generic claims that do not
developing storyline. differentiate the company.
Weighting (p. 304) In media planning
decision criteria are used to determine the
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reserved; 249 Courtesy of D. Baron Media; 250 Growers,Inc. Sunkist and design are trade¬ Inc.; 413 Courtesy of Harley Manning; 418 ©
Courtesy of Getty Images Inc. - Image Bank; marks of Sunkist Growers, Inc. © 2004 2005 Chick-fil-A, Inc. All rights reserved.
252 Courtesy of Contact Press Images Inc; 253 Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.A. All rights
© 2004 Caroll Spinney. All rights reserved. reserved; 339 © 2004 Gander Mountain. All CHAPTER 15
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educational workshop behind Sesame Street; Group; 341 Courtesy of The Quaker Oats Carmichael Lynch. All rights reserved.; 426
254 Courtesy of Shooting Star International Company; 342 Courtesy of Kellogg Company Copyright © 2004 Battelle & Battelle, LLP. All
Photo Agency; 255 © 2004 TiVo, Inc. All and the Leo Burnett Company. Special K® is a rights reserved. Courtesy of Nova Creative
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Copyright 1999-2004 American Express reserved. Courtesy of Coates Kokes; 370 sion. Courtesy of The Martin Agency.; 442
Company. All rights reserved. Courtesy of Courtesy of Karl Schroeder; 372 © 2004 Courtesy of Home Shopping Network, Inc.
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rights reserved. Courtesy of Fallon Worldwide; CHAPTER 14 © 2004 Johnsonville Brats. All rights reserved;
296 Copyright © 2004 Media Networks, Inc. 384 © 2004 Thomasville Furnither Industries, 459 Courtesy of Jennifer Montague; 460 ©
All rights reserved; 301 Michael Inc. All rights reserved. The Ernest 2004 Wells’ Dairy. Inc. All rights reserved; 463
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Reserved; 316 Courtesy of Meredith All rights reserved. Used with permission; 391 2004 ConAgra Foods, Inc. All rights reserved.
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reserved. Used with permission from Microsoft Communication; 399 © 2004 Greater Department of Health; 486 Courtesy of AP
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Milk Advisory Board and Goodby, Silverstein rights reserved. Used with permission; 400 ter of Smokey Bear are the property of the
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CREDITS 573
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Reprinted by permission of the Florida Volvo Cars of North America, LLC. All rights
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502 © 2004 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved. Tyson Foods, Inc. All rights reserved; 518 Communications, Inc.; 536 Courtesy of John
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All rights reserved.; 511 © 2005 CDW Procter & Gamble Company. All rights 554 © 2005 Chick-fil-A, Inc. All rights
reserved. reserved.
Notes
CHAPTER 1 Proceedings of the American Academy of 17 Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org email (January 22,
1 Anusree Mitra and John G. Lynch Jr., Advertising Conference, M.S. Shaw (ed.), (E. 2004).
“Toward a Reconciliation of Market Power and Lansing, MI: Michigan State University): 18 Editorial, “Super Censored,” The Boulder
Information Theories of Advertising Effects on 61-83. Daily Camera (January 30, 2004): 4B.
Price Elasticity,” Journal of Consumer 6 Chris Adams, “Looser Lip for Food and Drug 19 Robert Weller, “Breckenridge pulls ad cam¬
Research 21 (March 1995): 44-59. Companies?” Wall Street Journal (September paign,” Boulder Sunday Camera (September 8,
2 “Ad Age Special Report: Comestic 17, 2002): A4. 2002): 3B.
Advertising Spending by Category,” 7 Doug McKenna, “Marketers Opt Out of Civil 20 Roy F. Fox, “Hucksters Hook Captive
Advertising Age (June 23, 2003): S-14. Society,” Boulder Daily Camera (April 13, Youngsters,” Mizzou (Summer 2002): 22-27.
3 John Burnett and Sandra Moriarty, Marketing 2003): 38. 21 Lee Anne Peck, “Foolproof or Foolhardy?
Communications: An Integrated Approach, 8 “Nike Vs Kasky: Case dismissed,” SriMedia Ethical Theory in Beginning Reporting Texts,”
(Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1998): report (June 26, 2003). Journalism & Mass Communication Educator
14. (www.srimedia.com/artman/publish/article- 58 (Winter 2004): 343-63.
4 Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarty, Driving 642.shtml; Wendy Melillo, “Ad Groups Back 22 Robert Weller, “Breckenridge pulls ad cam¬
Brand Value: Using Integrated Marketing to Nike In Supreme Court Brief,” Adweek (March paign,” Boulder Sunday Camera (September 8,
Manage Profitable Stakeholder Relationships, 3, 2003): 3; Adam M. Kanzer and Cynthia A. 2002): 3B
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997). Williams, “The Future of Social Reporting Is 23 D. J. Ganahl, T. J. Prinsen, and S. B.
on the Line,” Business Ethics, 17:4 (Winter Netzley, “A Content Analysis of Prime Time
CHAPTER 2 2003); Roger Parloff, “Can we talk?,” Fortune Commercials: A contextual Framework of
1 Peter D. Bennett, Dictionary of Marketing (September 2, 2002): 102-10. Gender Representation,” Broadcast Education
Terms (Chicago: American marketing 9 “Letter to congress Explaining FTC’ls new Association, Las Vegas, NV (2001); M. R.
Association. 1988): 115. Deception Policy,” Advertising Compliance Bamer, “Sex-role stereotyping in FCC-
2 John Gapper, “Why nobody sells the car we Service (Westport, CT: Meckler Publishing, mandated children’s educational television,”
really want,” Financial Times (June 29, 2004): November 21, 1983) and Ivan Preston, “A Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media,
15. Review of the Literature on Advertising 43 (1999): 551-64; S. Coltrane and M. Adams.
Regulation,” in Current Issues and Research in “Work-family imagery and gender stereotypes:
3 Joshua Kurlantzick, “Most Valuable Players,”
Entrepreneur (June 2003): 68-71. Advertising (1983), James H. Leigh and Claude Television and the Reproduction of difference,”
L. Martin, eds. (Ann Arbor: University of Journal of Vocational Behavior 50 (1997):
4 Brian Steinberg and Suzanne Vranica, “Chief
Michigan Press): 2-37. 323-M7.
Seeks to Help Leo Burnett Get Its Groove
10 Robert E. Wilkes and Jams B. Wilcox, 24 Richard Linnert, “Take it like a man,”
Back,” The Wall Street Journal (October 12,
“Recent FTC Actions: Implications for the Advertising Age (December 8, 2003): 40.
2003) : 12B.
Advertising Strategists,” Journal of Marketing 25 D. J. Ganahl, T. J. Prinsen, and S. B. Netzley,
5 Noreen O’Leary, “The Incredible Shrinking
38 (January 1974): 55-56. “A content Analysis of Prime time
Account Exec,” Adweek (May 26, 2003) 22.
11 Jack Neff, “Duracell Agrees to Modify Commercials: A contextual Framework of
6 Erin White, “Linking Agency Fees to Ad
Robo-War Duck Ad,” Advertising Age Gender Representation,” Broadcast Education
Success,” The Wall Street Journal (March 29,
(February 6, 2002) Association, Las Vegas NV, (2001).
2004) : B4.
(http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsid=339 26 “Stereotypes of Women Persist in Ads,” Wall
7 Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarty, Driving
81; Daniel Golden and Suzanne Vranica, Street Journal (October, 17, 2003): B4.
Brand Value: Using Integrated Marketing to
“Duracell’s duck Ad WilL Carry Disclaimer,” 27 D. J. Ganahl, S. B. Netzley, William Hoon,
Manage Profitable Stakeholder Relationships
Wall Street Journal (February 7, 2002): B7. and Kwangok Kim, “The Culture Clash in
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998).
12 Tom McGhee, “Broomfield firm’s penalty Television Commercials: Mainstreaming Black
8 Duncan & Moriarty, 1998.
for ad: Drugs destroyed,” Denver Post (April Stereotypes into Primetime Prototypes,” unpub¬
18,2002): 2C. lished manuscript, (2003).
CHAPTER 3
13 John J. Burnett, “Gays: Feelings about 28 Michelle Wirth Fellman, “Preventing
1 “Sound can be a trademark,” The London
Advertising and Media Used,” Journal of Viagra’s Fall,” Marketing News (August 31.
Times Law Report (December 4, 2003):73.
Advertising Research (January-February 2000): 1998): 1,8.
2 Robert J. Posch Jr., “Trademark Protection for
75-86. 29 Joan Voight, “Realistic or Offensive?”
Internet Domain Names,” Direct Marketing
14 Stephen P. Durchslag, “Agency Liability Adweek (September 2, 1003): 16-17.
(July 1998): 63-65.
Extends to False Advertising Claims,” Promo 30 Interview with Jean Kilbourne by Renee
3 Barbara Martinez, “Gap Faces suit over
(October 1992): 17. Montagne, NPR Morning Edition transcript
Eyewear Used in Ad,” Wall Street Journal
15 Deborah Vence, “FDA seeks to clarify rules (June 22, 2004).
(January 6, 1998): B10.
for pharma ads,” Marketing New (March 3, 31 Robert Gustafson, Mark Popovich, and
4 Rebecca Flass, “Done That,” Adweek (April
2003): 6. Steven Thomsen, “The ‘thin ideal’,” Marketing
22, 2002): 21.
16 Michael McCarthy, “Local ads stir up Utah News (March 15, 1999): 22.
5 Anne Cunningham, “Commonsense or
controversy,” USA Today (January 2, 2202): 32 Herbert Rotfeld, “Desires Versus the Reality
Nonsense: Limiting First Amendment
7B. of Self-Regulation,” Journal of Consumer
Protection of Commercial Speech,”
575
576 NOTES
Affairs 37 (Winter 2003): 424-27; Nanci 2 Simon London, “Choked by a data surfeit,” Grid,” Journal of Advertising Research
Hellmich, “Weight-loss deception found ads Financial Times (January 29, 2004): 9. (October/November, 1991): 11-21. Also
for many of those pills, patches, creams, and 3 Thomas Barry and Daniel Howard, “A reprinted in Maureen FitzGerald & David
wraps are grossly exaggerated,” “ USA Today Review and Critique of the Hierarchy of Arnott, Marketing Communications Classics,
(2002) Effects in Advertising,” International Journal (London: Thomson Learning, 2000): 84-97.
33 Joe Morgan, “Barclays forced to withdraw of Advertising (9:2, 1990): 429-35; Michael 20 Lee Bowman, “Drug ads can influence
0% campaign by OFT,” The London Times Ray, “Communication and the Hierarchy of patients,” Daily Camera (February 26,
(November 19, 2003): 4M, Effects,” in New Models for Mass 2003) : 11.
34 Herbert J. Rotfeld and Kim B. Rotzoll, "Is Communication Research, P. Clarke, ed. 21 John Philip Jones, When Ads Work: New
Advertising Puffery Believed?” Journal of (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1973): Proof that Advertising Triggers Sales (New
Advertising 9:3 (1980): 16-20, 45. 147-75. York: Lexington Books, 1995).
35 Barry Newman, “Ad Ad Professor Huffs 4 Ivan Preston, “The Association Model of the
Against Puffs, but It’s A Quixotic Enterprise,” Advertising Communication Process,” Journal CHAPTER 5
Wall Street Journal (January 24, 2003): Al; of Advertising 11:2 (1982): 3-14. 1 John Fetto, “One Size Doesn’t Fit All:
Ivan Preston, “A Problem Ignored: Dilution 5 “Stuart Elliott/In Advertising: Would You Today’s Working Mothers Defy the Label
and Negation of consumer Information by Trust Mini-me with Your Money.” New York ‘Soccer Mom,”’ American Demographics (May
Antifactual Content,” Journal of Consumer Times Direct, May 20, 2003, NYTimes.com. 2000): 44^15.
Affairs 36 (Winter 2002): 263-83; Ivan 6 Walter Weir, “Another Look at Subliminal 2 Mary Sutler and Laurel Wentz, “U.S.
Preston, “Dilution and Negation of Consumer Facts,” Advertising Age (October 15, 1984): 46. Conexciones,” Advertising Age (July 16, 2001):
Information by Antifactual Content: Proposals 7 Dave Carpenter, “Hidden Messages are Back 14.
for Solutions,” Journal of Consumer Affairs 37 in Focus,” Rocky Mountain News (September 3 Mindy Charski, “Old Navy to Tailor Message
(Summer 2003): 1-21. 17, 2000): 11G. to Hispanics,” Adweek (August 4, 2003): 9
36 Stephanie Thompson, “Food fight: Kraft 8 Walter Shapiro, “Fear of subliminal advertis¬ 4 Jack Neff, Hillary Chura, “Buyer Cross
beats back critics,” Advertising Age (January ing is irrational,” USA Today, September 12, Borders,” Advertising Age (March 3, 2003): 54.
20, 2003): 1,37. 2000 (www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/ 5 Gary Silverman, “Hispanics in Tune with TV
37 Betsy Spethmann, “Tobacco’s Two Tiers,” Shapiron/462.htm). Advertising,” Financial Times (March 4, 2004):
Promo Magazine (January 2004): 24-28. 9 “Subliminal Advertising,” Advertising Law 18.
38 Deborah Vence, “Match Game,” Marketing Resource Center: Advertising Compliance 6 Joan Davis, “Blacks in Black and White,”
News (November 11, 2002): 1, 11-12. Service, JLCom Publishing, July 2004, PROMO (August 2000): 37.
39 Wendy Melillo, “FTC Reviews Ad Plans (www.lawpublish.com/subliminal.html). 7 Jennifer Lach, “The Color of Money,”
from Alcohol Clients,” Adweek (May 26, 10 David Stewart and David Furse, Television American Demographics (February 2000):
2003): 8. Advertising: A Study of 1000 Commercials, 59-60.
40 Christopher Lawton, “Lawsuits Allege (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1986). 8 Arundhati Parmar, “Knowledge of Mature
Alcohol Makers Target Youths,” Wall Street 11 Jon D. Morris, Chongmoo Woo, James Market Pays Reward,” Marketing News (April
Journal (February 5, 2004): B1; Ira Teinowitz, Geason, Jooyoung Kim, “The Power of Affect: 28, 2003): 5-6.
“Marketers blast charges in alcohol suit,” Predicting Intention,” Journal of Advertising 9 Thomas T. Semon, “Income Is Not Always
Advertising Age (December 1,2003): 10. Research (May/June 2002): 7-17. Predictor of Spending,” Marketing News
41 Chuck Ross and Ira Teinowitz, “Beer Ad Has 12 Russell I. Haley and Allan L. Baldinger, (March 31, 2003): 6.
Wide Underage Reach on MTV,” Advertising “The ARF Copy Research Validity Project,” 10 Winston Fletcher, A Glittering Haze
Age (January 6, 1997): 4: Ira Teinowitz, “LFTC Journal of Advertising Research, (April/May (Henley-on-Thames, UK: NTC, 1992).
Governing of Beer Ads Expands to Miller, 1991): 11-32. 11 James W Peltier, John Schibrowsky, Don
A-B,” Advertising Age (April 7, 1997): 1, 50. 13 Ivan Preston, “The Association Model of the Schultz, and John Davis, “Interactive
42 Bill Mclnturff, “While Critics May Fret, Advertising Communication Process,” Journal Psychographics: Cross-selling in the Banking
Public Likes DTC Ads,” Advertising of Advertising 3 (1982): 3-14; Ivan Preston and Industry,” Journal of Advertising Research
Age (March 26, 2001): 24; David Goetzi, “Take Esther Thorson, “Challenges to the Use of March/April 2002): 7-22.
a Heaping Spoon-ful,” Advertising Age Hierarchy Models in Predicting Advertising 12 Joseph T. Plummer, “The Concept and
(November 6, 2000): 32; Angetta McQueen, Effectiveness,” in Proceedings of the 1983 Application of Life-Style Segmentation,”
“Watchdog Blames Ad Spending for High American Academy of Advertising Conference, Journal of Marketing (January 1974): 34.
Drug Costs,” The Denver Post (July 11, 2001): Donald Jugenheimer, ed. (Lawrence KS: 13 David Lipke, “Head Trips,” American
4C. University of Kansas), 27-33. Demographics (October 2000): 38—40.
43 Gene R. Laczniak and Patrick E. Murphy, 14 Bill Wells, “How advertising Works,” speech 14 Yuri Kageyama, “The ‘Cool Hunter’ in
“Fostering Ethical Marketing Decisions,” to St. Louis AMA, September 17, 1986. Japan,” Boulder Daily Camera (February 7,
Journal of Business Ethics 10 (1991): 259-71. 15 Daniel J. O’Keefe, Persuasion: Theory and 2004) : El.
44 Carter McNamara, “Complete guide to Research, (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1990), 15 Everett Rogers. Diffusion of Innovations, 3rd
Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for 17. ed. (New York: The Free Press, 1983).
Managers,” Authenticity Consulting 16 Stuart Elliott, “HP Promotes High-Tech
(http://www.managementhelp.org/ethics/ Recycling.” New York Times Direct, July 29, CHAPTER 6
ethxgde.htm), April 2004. 2003, NYTimes.com. 1 Karl Weiss, IMC Marketing Research course
45 “Public Rates Nursing as Most Honest and 17 Scott McCarthy, “You Free Flight To Maui handout. University of Colorado, January 2001.
Ethical Profession,” December 1, 2003 is Hobbling the Airline Industry,” Wall Street 2 “Analysis of a Commercial: OnStar and
(www.gallup.com), April 2004. Journal (February 4, 2004): D1. Batman,” http://student.claytonstate.net/
46 Peck, 2004. 18 Herbert Krugman, “The Impact of -csul 1197/3901/projectl/.
Television Advertising: Learning Without 3 Roger Wimmer and Joseph Dominick, Mass
CHAPTER 4 Involvement,” Public Opinion Quarterly, (29:3, Media Research, 7th ed. (Belmont CA:
1 Ennis Higgins, “Conversations with David 1965): 349-56. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003).
Ogilvy,” in The Art of Writing Advertising 19 John Rossiter, Larry Percy and Robert 4 Weiss.
(Chicago: Advertising Publications, 1965). Donovan, “A Better Advertising Planning
NOTES 577
5 Dennis W. Rook, “Out-Of-Focus.” Marketing 6 Margaret Morrison, Tim Christy, Eric Haley, 3 Steve Jarius, “Marketing Issues Raised by
Research (Summer 2003): 10-15; Alison Stein “The Integration of Account Planning In U.S. LPFM Stations,” Marketing News (August 28,
Wellner, “The New Science of Focus Groups.” Advertising Agencies,” Advertising Division, 2000): 7.
American Demographics (March 2003): 29. Association for Education in Journalism and 4 “Marketing Fact Book,” special insert in
6 Susan Mendelsohn, personal communication, Mass Communication, 2002 National Marketing News (July 15, 2004): 4.
December 20, 2003. Conference, Kansas City, MO. 5 Joan Raymond, “Radio-Active,” American
7 Leigh Ann Steere, “Culture Club,” Print, 7 Laurie Freeman, “Planner ‘Puts Clients in Demographics (October 2000): 28-29.
(March/April, 1999): 4-5. Touch With Soul of Brands,’” AdAge.com, 6 Alex Veiga, “Marketers Use Free CDs to
8 Shay Sayre, Qualitative Methods for February 8, 1999; http://www.adage.com/ Promote New Artists,” Daily Camera (July 1,
Marketplace Research (Thousand Oaks: CA: news.cms?newsID=34705. 2003): El.
Sage Publications, 2001), 31. 8 Jon Steel, Truth, Lies and Advertising: The 7 Jonathan Karp, “Hey, You! How About
9 Russell W. Belk, ed.. Highways and Art of Account Planning, (New York: Wiley, Lunch?” Wall Street Journal (April 1, 2004):
Buy ways: Naturalistic Research from the 1998); “Tests ahead for account planning,” Bl.
Consumer Behavior Odyssey (Provo, UT: Advertising Age (September 20, 1999): 36. 8 Bob Garfield, “Why TV Can Only Get
Association for consumer Research, 1991). 9 Duncan and Moriarty. Better,” AARP Bulletin (April 2004,): 10; John
10 Sayre, 20. Consoli, “The Case of the Missing Young Male
11 Thomas Davenport, Jeanne Harris, Ajay CHAPTER 8 TV Viewers,” Adweek (October 20, 2003): 7.
Kohli, “How Do They Know Their customers 1 Jon Fine, “Newspaper-industry Slide 9 Christopher Reynolds, “The Lost Demo,”
So Well?” MIT Sloan Management Review Worsens f Advertising Age (May 10, 2004): 59. Promo Magazine (February, 2004): 16-17.
(Winter 2001): 63-72. 2 James Poniewozik, “The People’s Paper,” 10 Michael McCarthy, “Forecast: Public to
12 Gerry Khermouch, “Consumers in the Mist,” Time (July 21, 2003): 49-50. Turn to Paid Media,” USA Today (August 15,
Business Week (February 26, 2001): 92-93; 3 Laurel Wentz and Mercedes Cardona, 2003) : 12B.
Alison Stein Wellner, “Research on a “Newspapers Turn to Hispanics,” Advertising 11 May Wong, “TiVo Views Clones as a
Shoestring,” American Demographics (April Age (January 5, 2004): 16. Threat,” The Denver Post (April 26, 2004): 2C;
2001) : 38-39. 4 “Media,” 2003 Marketing Fact Book (July 7, Eroc Taib, ‘“Cannot Imagine TV Without
13 Wellner, “Research on a Shoestring.” 2003): 17. TiVo’,” The Denver Post (March 22, 2004): 5C.
14 Roy S. Johnson, “Banking on Urban 5 Kim Long, The American Forecaster 12 Rudy Martzke, “Super bowl Ratings Edge
America,” Fortune (March 2, 1998): 129-32. Almanac, 1993 Business Edition. Up,” USA Today, (February 2, 2004): 1.
15 Emily Eakin, “Penetrating the Mind by 6 Magazine Reader Experience Study, Chicago: 13 Brooks Barnes, “Nielsen Postpones New
Metaphor,” February 23, 2002, NYTimes.com. Northwestern University Media Management York Launch of Rating System,” Wall Street
16 Sandra Yin, “New or Me Too,” American Center, www.mediamanagementcenter.org. Journal (April 7, 2004): B3.
Demographics (September 2002): 28. 7 Anne Marie Kerwin, “Magazines Blast Study 14 [no author] “Is the End of the Ad Slump in
17 Mendelsohn. Showing Reader Falloff,” Advertising Age Sight?” Fortune (January 12, 2004) p. 48.
18 Robin Couler, Gerald Zaltman, and Keith (March 8, 1999): 13, 55. 15 Alastair Ray, “Own-brand Broadcaster
Coulter, “Interpreting Consumer Perceptions of 8 Elizabeth H. Weise, “On-Line Magazines: Tunes In,” Financial Times (March 16, 2004)
Advertising: An Application of the Zaltman Will Readers Still Want Them after the Novelty p. 10.
Metahor Elicitation Technique,” Journal of Wears Off,” The Marketing News (January 29, 16 Terry Lefton, “You Can’t Zap these Ads,”
Advertising 30: 4 (Winter 2001): 1-14; Emily 1996): 1, 14. The Industry Standard (March 26, 2001):
Eakin, “Penetrating the Mind by Metaphor,” 9 Jonathan Asher, “Make the Most of 54-55; James Poniewozik, “This Plug’s For
February 23, 2002, NYTimes.com; Daniel Packaging Design Updates,” Marketing News You,” Time (June 18, 2001): 76-77.
Pink, “Metaphor Marketing,” Fast Company, (September 18, 2000): 13. 17 Ralph Atkins, BMW Says It Will Defy
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/14/zalt 10 Cathy Frisinger, “Label Cuisine Remains an Downturn,” Financial Times (March, 12, 2004):
man.html; HBS Division of Research, The American Favorite,” The Tampa Tribune 12.
Mind of the Market Laboratory, “ZMET,” (January 21, 2004): 3.
http://www.hbs.edu/mml/zmet.html. 11 Stuart Elliott, “Selling ‘Nothing,’” March CHAPTER 10
19 Catherine Arnold, “Hershey Research Sees 16, 2004, NYTimes.com. 1 www.census.gov.
Net Gain.” Marketing News (November 25, 12 “Media,” 2003 Marketing Fact Book (July 7, 2 Jefferson Graham, “For Google, Many
2002) : 17. 2003): 17. Retailers Eagerly Jump Through Hoops,” USA
20 Paula Kephart, “Virtual Testing,” Marketing 13 The Signage Sourcebook (South Bend, IN: Today (February 5, 2004): 1.
Tools (June 1998). The Signage Foundation, 2003). 3 Dan Gillmore, “Blogs Getting Serious About
14 Rebecca Gardyn, “Moving Targets,” Themselves,” Denver Post, (April 26, 2004):
CHAPTER 7 American Demographics (October 2000): 5C.
1 “Comfort Zone,” Adweek Special Planning 32-34. 4 Marcus Lillkvist, “Blogs are Growing Up;
Section (July 3, 1998): 31. 15 Almar Latour, “Amid High-Tech Turf Ads on the sites are Taking off,” Business Plus
2 Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarty, Driving Battles, Baby Bells Feel Heat on Cash Cow,” (March 22, 2004): 13.
Brand Value: Using Integrated Marketing to Wall Street Journal (April 13, 2004): Al. 5 Suzanne Vranica, “U.S. Ad Spending Rose
Manage Profitable Stakeholder Relationships, 16 Latour. 6.1% in 2003,” Wall Street Journal (March 9,
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997). 17 Eugenia C. Daniels, “Critical Shift in 2004) : B6.
3 Research for R.O.I.; Communications Direction,” Advertising Age (February 14, 6 Lillkvist.
Workshop, Chicago: DDB Needham (April 10, 2000): S12. 7 Mylene Mangalindan, “Web Ads on the
1987). Rebound After a Multiyear Slump: Online
4 “What is Account Planning? (and what do CHAPTER 9 Marketing Gets a Lift by Broadband, New
account planners do exactly?),” Account 1 Leigh Gallagher, “Prairie Home Commercial,” Formats,” (August 25, 2003): Bl.
Planning Group (APG) Web site, http://www Forbes (August 6, 2001): 54-55. 8 Tobi Elkin, “Marketing Beyond the Pop-Up,”
.apg.org.uk 2 Beth Snyder, “Rolling Stone Radio Seeks Advertising Age (March 10, 2003): 4.
5 Susan Mendelsohn, personal communication, New Revenue, Expands Mega Brand,”

January 8, 2004. Advertising Age (November 2, 1998): 40.
578 NOTES
9 Jack Hitt, “Confessions of a Spam King,” 8Hank Bernstein and Kate Lynch, “Media 12 Sandra Moriarty and Brett Robbs,
New York Times Magazine, September 28, Scheduling and Carry-over Effects,” Admap “Advertising,” in The Encyclopedia of
2003, NYTimes.com. (October 2002): 40-42. Creativity, Vol. 1 (San Diego, CA: Academic
10 “New Beer Uses Pre-Launch Viral Email 9 Kate Fitzgerald, “Trolling for Media Plan’s Press, 1999), 23-29.
Vote to turn Consumers into Evangelists,” June Role,” Advertising Age Special Report (March 13 William Wells, “How Advertising Works,”
24, 2003, www.MarketingSherpa.com. 3,2003): S10-S12. speech to the St. Louis AMA, September 17,
11 Peter Fancese, “Media Blitzed,” American 10 Claire Atkinson, “Coke Catapults Starcom 1986.
Demographics (February, 2004): 40-41. MediaVest,” Advertising Age (February 9, 14 Karen Lundegaard, “Buick Beats BMW:
12 Pamela Paul, “Nouveau Niche,” American 2004): S6.S10. New Car Rankings,” Wall Street Journal
Demographics (July/August 2003): 20-21. 11 Bradley Johnson, “Cracks in the founda¬ (March 9, 2004): Dl.
13 Theresa Howard, “Brands Becoming Stars tion,” Advertising Age (December 8, 2003): 1, 15 Blythe Yee, “Ads Remind Women They
of the Show,” USA Today, April 9, 2003, p. Bl; 10. Have Two Hands,” Wall Street Journal (August
Kate Macarthur, “Branded Entertainment, 12 Don E. Schultz, “Outdated Approach to 14, 2003): B5.
Marketing Tradition Tussle,” Advertising Age Planning Needs Revamping,” Marketing News 16 Jane Levere, “Celebrities Help Publicize
(May 10, 2004): 6; Ruth Mortimer, “In the (November 11, 2002). National Parks, The New York Times Direct,
Picture: How Brands are Muscling in on 13 Clancey and Metzger. August 5, 2003, NYTDirect@nytimes.com.
Content,” Brand Strategy (May 2003): 10-11. 17 Stuart Elliott, “The Risky Business of
14 Tobi Elkin, “Marketing Beyond the Pop- CHAPTER 12 ‘Shockvertising,’” The New York Times Direct,
Up,” Advertising Age (March 10, 2003): 4. 1 A. Jerome Jewler and Bonnie L. Drewniany, February 10, 2004, NYTDirect@nytimes.com.
15 Brian Steinberg and Suzanne Vranica, Creative Strategy in Advertising (Belmont, CA: 18 Rick Boyko, “Re-defining the ad,” one.a
“Burger King Seeks Some Web Heat,” Wall Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2001), 3. magazine (Winter 2003) :4—5.
Street Journal (April 15, 2004): B3. 2 Jerri Moore and William D. Wells, R.O.I. 19 Betsy Sharkey, “Super Angst,” Adweek
16 Laura Rich, “That’s Advertainmnet,” The Guidebook: Planning for Relevance, (January 24, 1993): 24-33.
Industry Standard (June 25, 2001): 60-62. Originality and Impact in Advertising and
17 Randall Rothenberg, “Ad of the Month,” Other Marketing Communications (New York: CHAPTER 13
Fast Company (March 2003): 40. DDB Needham, 1991). 1 Yumiko Ono, “Some Times Ad Agencies
18 “AmEx Plans Jerry Seinfeld-Meets- 3Alisa White, Bruce Smith, and Fuyuan Shen, Mangle English Deliberately,” Wall Street
Superman Internet Show,” Advertising Age, “Rating creativity: Do advertising professionals Journal (November 4, 1997): Bl
February 4, 2004, AdAge.com. and educators apply the same standards?” 2 David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising (New
19 Kevin Delaney and Robert Guth, “Beep. Journal of Advertising Education, 6:2 (Fall York: Vintage, 1985).
Foosh. Buy Me. Pow.” Wall Street Journal, 2002): 37^16. 3 Cynthia Crossen, “Clever Lines/Make Us
(April 8, 2004): Bl; Christopher Parkes, 4 James Webb Young, A Technique for Crave/Retum to Days/Selling Burma-Shave,”
“Nielsen to Interact with Gaming Group,” Producing Ideas, 3d ed. (Chicago: Crain Wall Street Journal (August 20, 2003): 1A.
Financial Times (April 8, 2004): 24. Books, 1975). 4 Sandra Dallas, “Road to Pave? Remember
20 Richard Linnett. “ Starcom’s Play Targets 5 John Eighmy, The Creative Work Book (Iowa Burma-Shave!” BusinessWeek (December 30,
Gamers,” Advertising Age (June 9, 2003): 3. City: University of Iowa, 1998), 1. 1996): 8; Frank Rowsome Jr., The Verse by the
62. 6 Thomas Russell and Glenn Verrill, Kleppner’s Side of the Road (New York: Dutton, 1965).
21 Delaney and Guth. Advertising Procedure, 14th ed. (Upper Saddle 5 Paul D. Bolls and Robert F. Potter, “I Saw It
22 Pamela Paul. River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002), 457. on the Radio: The Effects of Imagery Evoking
23 Marcia Dunn, “The Space for Sale,” Sunday 7 Linda Conway Correll, “Creative Aerobics: A Radio Commercials on Listeners’Allocation of
Camera (October 14, 2001): 1DD. Technique to Jump-Start Creativity,” Attention and Attitude toward the Ad,”
24 Mark Harper, “Mobile Campaign Roots Proceedings of the American Academy of Proceedings of the Conference of the American
Around for Truth in Politics,” Daytona Beach Advertising Annual Conference, Carole M. Academy of Advertising, Darrel D. Muehling,
News-Journal (May 26, 2004): 3C. Macklin, ed. (Richmond, VA: AAA, 1997), ed. (Lexington, KY, 1998), 123-30.
263-64. 6 This was used with permission from the
CHAPTER 11 8 Sheri J. Broyles, “The Creative Personality: Radio Advertising Bureau in Creative
1 “Best Practice: Television Planning,” Admap Exploring Relations of Creativity and Advertising, 2nd ed., Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
(June 2002): 11-12. Openness to Experience.” Unpublished doc¬ Prentice-Hall (1991): 283.
2 Hugh Cannon, John leckenby, Avery toral dissertation. Southern Methodist 7 Stuart Elliott, ‘“Everybody Eats’ at an Italian-
Abemethy, “Beyond Effective Frequency: University, Dallas, 1995 Food Chain,” New York Times Direct,
Evaluating Media Schedules Using Frequency 9Broyles, “The Creative Personality.” November 4, 2003, NYTDirect@n5dimes.c0m.
Value Planning,” Journal of Advertising 10A. Kendrick, D. Slayden, and S. J. Broyles, 8 Peter Hochstein, "Ten Rules for Making
Research (November/December 2002): 33-M7. “Real Worlds and Ivory Towers: A Survey of Better Radio Commercials,” Ogilvy &
3 Admap. Top Creative Directors,” Journalism and Mass Mather’s Viewpoint (1981).
4 Ian Brace and Louise Edwards, “Can Communication Educator 51(2) (1996a): 9 Adapted from A. Jerome Jewler and Bonnie
Advertising Reach Everybody?” Adweek 63-74; A. Kendrick, D. Slayden, and S. J. Drewniany, Creative Strategy in Advertising,
(July/August, 2002): 26-28. Broyles, “The Role of Universities in Preparing 7th ed. (Belmont CA: Wadsworth/Thomson):
5 ’’The Medium Shapes the Message,” Business Creatives: A Survey of Top U.S. Agency 177; A. Jerome Jewler, Creative Strategy in
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6 Maura Clancey and Gale Metzger, “Building Conference of the American Academy of 1992), 164-65.
Survey-based, Media-mix Planning Tool,” Advertising, ed. G. B. Wilcox (Austin: 10 Adapted from John Burnett and Sandra
Admap (June 2002): 47-49. University of Texas, 1996b): 100-106. Moriarty, Marketing Communications: An
7 Bradley Johnson, “Low CPM Can Spell 11 Graham Wallas, The Art of Thought (New Integrated Approach (Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Bargain for Buyers,” Advertising Age (May 19, York: Harcourt, Brace, 1926); Alex F. Osborn, Prentice-Hall, 1998), 296-97.
2003): 10. Applied Imagination, 3d ed. (New York: 11 Blessie Miranda and Kuen-Hee Ju-Pak, “A
Scribner’s, 1963). Content Analysis of Banner Advertisements:
Potential Motivating Features,” Annual
Conference Baltimore, AEJMC, August 1998.
NOTES 579
CHAPTER 14 17 Fiona Harvey and Scott Morrison, “Amazon 20 Jacques Chevron, “Branding and Promotion:
1 Sandra Dolbow, “Brand Builders,” Brandweek steps up fight against junk e-mail with legal Uneasy Co-habitation,” Brandweek (September
(July 24, 2000): 19 action on ‘spoofers” Financial Times (August 14, 1998): 24.
2 Sandra Ernst Moriarty, The ABCs of 27,2003): 1. 21 Scott Hume, “Rallying to Brands’ Rescue,”
Typography, 2nd ed. (Glenbrook, CT: Art 18 Clint Talbott, ‘“Spam king’ didn’t opt for Advertising Age (August 13, 1990): 3.
Direction Book Company, 1996). this call,” Boulder Daily Camera (January 30, 22 Jon Kramer, “It’s Time to Tie the Knot with
3 Noreen O'Leary, “Legibility Lost,” Adweek 2004): 5B. Promotion,” Integrated Marketing and
(October 5, 1987): D7. 19 Janis Mara, “E-Mail Direct,” Adweek (April Promotion (September/October 1998): 77.
4 Stuart Elliott, “A Reader Asks,” The New York 10, 2001): 116-17. 23 2001 Annual Report, Promo.
Times Direct, March 9, 2004, NYTDirect 20 David McNickel, “Deeper, Closer, Faster,
@nytimes.com. Smarter,” AdMedia (April 2003): 36. CHAPTER 17
5 Charles Goldsmith, “Adding Special to 21 John Brown, “Taking the Stress out of 1www.prsa.org/pressroom/aboutpr.html.
Effects,” Wall Street Journal, (February 26, International Direct Marketing,” August 2003, 2Martin Sorrell, “Assessing the State of Public
2003): Bl. http://www.the-dma.org/international/articles/. Relations,” The Strategist 3(4) (Winter 1998):
6 Stuart Elliott, “JanSport Sings ‘Do-Re-Mi’ to 48.
Teens,” The New York Times Direct, April 29, CHAPTER 16 3 Doug Newsom, Alan Scott, and Judy Van
2003. NYTDirect @nytimes.com. 1 Russ Brown, “Sales Promotion,” Marketing & Slyke Turk, This Is PR: The Realities of Public
7 Steve Jarius, “Marketing Issues Raised by Media Decisions (February 1990): 74. Relations, 4th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth,
LPFM Stations,” Marketing News (August 28, 2 Council of Sales Promotion Agencies, Shaping 1989), 99.
2000) : 7. the Future of Sales Promotion (1990): 3. 4 Claire Atkinson, “Rubenstein: PR maestro,”
32001 Annual Report, Promo (May 1, 2001), Advertising Age (October 11, 2004): 46.
CHAPTER 15 as reported in www.industryclick.com/magaz- 5 Jaqmes Lukaszewski, “Chief Integrity Officer
1 Lisa Spiller and Martin Baier, Contemporary inearticle.asp? magazinearticleid=99739&. is tailor-made for PR,” Odwyer’s PR Services
Direct Marketing, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: 4 “Upward Bound,” Promo, April 1, 2004, Report (March 2004): 8.
Prentice Hall, 2004). http://promomagazine.com/mag/marketing_up 6 Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarty, Driving
2 Pradeep K. Korgaonkar, Eric J. Karson, and ward_bound/index.html. Brand Value (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
Ishael Akaah, “Direct Marketing Advertising: 5 “Upward Bound.” 7 Lukaszewski.
The Assents, the Dissents, and the Ambivalents,” 6 ‘Upward Bound.” 8 Kirk Hallahan, “No, Virginia, It’s Not True
Journal of Advertising Research (September/ 7 Dave Carpenter, “McDonald’s unveils new What They Say about Publicity’s ‘Implied
October 1997): 41—45. game, but stock hits 10-year low,” The Third-Party Endorsement’ Effect,” Association
3 Spiller and Baier, 44. Associated Press State & Local Wire (March 6, for Education in Journalism and Mass
4 Matt Hasan, “Ensure success of CRM with a 2003), http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/doc- Communication Annual Conference, August
change in mindset,” Marketing News (April 14, ument?_m=e0607584954c0d52b07 aa05 8. 1998, Baltimore, MD, 13.
2003): 16. 8 “Entertainment Marketing Awards: Who’s 9 Thomas L. Harris, Value-Added Public
5 Daniel Lyons, “Games Dealers Play,” Forbes Who,” Promo Special Reports, May 1, 2001, Relations: The Secret Weapon of Integrated
(October 18, 1998): 132-34. www.industryclick.com/Microsites/Newsarticle Marketing (Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Business
6 Stan Rapp and Tom Collins, MaxiMarketing .asp?newsarticleid=218986&srid=. Books, 1998).

(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987). 9 Matthew Kinsman, “The Last Stand,” Promo 10 Sandra Moriarty, “IMC Needs PR’s
7 Dean Rieck, “10 Basics for Writing Better (January 2001): 29-34. Stakeholder Focus,” AMA Marketing News
Letters,” Direct Marketing 3 (12) (April 2001): 10 Sam Walker, “The Bankers Behind the (May 26, 1997): 7
52-53, 62. Woman,” Wall Street Journal (May 23, 2003): 11 Fraser P. Seitel, The Practice of Public
8 Khozem Merchant, “Telesales called to W5. Relations, 9th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ:
account,” Financial Times, (March 29, 2004): 11 Christine Tatum, “Firms more thoughtful in Prentice Hall, 2003), 115.
20. sponsoring of events,” Denver Post (August 8, 12 Prema Nakra, “Corporate Reputation
9 Jonathan D. Salant, “Rules require telemar¬ 2003): 4. Management: ‘CRM’ with a Strategic Twist?”
keter identification,” Boulder Daily Camera 12 Emiko Terazono, “Ambush marketing tactics Public Relations Quarterly 45(2) (Summer
(January 29, 2004): 4E. to be kicked into touch,” Financial Times 2000): 35.
10 David Streitfeld, “Markters dialing before (September 2, 2003): 9. 13 Barbara Palframan-Smith, “Employee
Oct. 1,” Boulder Sunday Camera (August 24, 13 “The Boomer Esiason foundation and Connection,” Communication World
2003): FI. Johnsonville Sausage Team Up for Monday (March-April 2004): 7.
11 Christine Tatum, “No-call lists force sellers Night Football, PR Newswire, September 4, 14 Bernard Charkand, “”How Can
to adjust,” The Denver Post (January 25, 2004): 2003, http://prnewswire.com. Communicators Bridge the Gap Between
IK. 14“Upward Bound”. Executives and Employees: Australia,”
12 “Telemarketing Sales Rule Reaches Fifth 15Elizabeth Boston, “Heineken Aims to Nab Communication World (March-April 2004): 12.
Anniversary,” Direct Marketing 64 (2) (June ‘Matrix’ Ad Limelight,” Advertising Age (May 15 Erwin Bettinghaus and Michael Cody,
26, 2003): 30. Persuasive Communication, 5th ed. (Fort
2001) : 8.
13 Stan Rapp and Tom Collins, MaxiMarketing 16 Dan Hanover, “We Deliver,” Promo (March Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1994), 7.
2001): 43-45. 16 Tamara Gillis, “In Times of Change,
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987).
14 Lance Arthur, “Clear cut lessons for effec¬ 17 Bob Tedeschi, “A Growing Ad Strategy: Employee Communication Is Vital to
tive E-mail,” Direct Marketing 64 (1) (May ‘Click to Win!’ ” New York Times, August 21, Successful Organizations,” Communication
1998, www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/08/ World (March-April 2004): 8.
2001): 62-63.
cyber/articles/ 17 E.W. Brody,’’Have Made the Transition? Are
15 “Targeting spammers,” Boulder Daily
Camera (December 26, 2003): 18A. 18 “Walking the Tight Rope,” Promo (March You Practicing Public Relations In the 21st
16 Dennis Berman, “Could Spam One day End 2001): 48-49. Century Rather Than the 20th?” Public
19 Samantha Critchell, “Bad girl biker look Relations Quarterly (Spring 2004): 7-9.
Up Crushed Under Its own Weight?” (August
popular for fall,” Boulder Daily Camera 18 Claire Atkinson, “PR Firms Praise Janet
25, 2003): Bl.
(August 28, 2003): 4D. Jackson Breast Stunt,” AdAge.com, February 9,
580 NOTES
2004, http://www.adage.com/ 37 James E. Grunig, Excellence in Public 19 Michael Solomon, Conquering

news.coms?newsid=39756. Relations and Communication Management Consumerspace: Marketing Strategies for a
19 Harris. (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1992). Branded World (New York: American
20 Alyse R. Gotthoffer, “Exploring the 38 Kimberly Gill, “Searching for Excellence in Management Association, 2003); Arundhati
Relevance of Localization in Anti-Drinking and Public Relations,” Association for Education in Parmar, Global youth united,” Marketing News
Driving PSAs,” in The Proceedings of the Journalism and Mass Communication Annual (October 26, 2002): 1, 49.
American Academy of Advertising Conference, Conference, Public Relations Division, 20 Ibid.
Darrel D. Muehling, ed. (Lexington, KY: AAA, Baltimore, MD, August 1998. 21 Katherine Frith and Barbara Mueller,
1998), 214. Advertising and Societies: Global Issues (New
21 Edward A. Faruolo, “A Business of Caring,” CHAPTER 18 York: Peter Lang, 2002).
The Advertiser (October 1998): 36-40. 1 Stuart Elliott, “Luring Customers With Bait 22Andreas Grein and Stephen Gould,
22 Thomas Harris, “iPod, Therefore iAm,” From the Future,” New York Times, September “Globally Integrated Marketing
ViewsLetter (September 2004): 3. 9, 2003, NYTDirect@nytimes.com. Communications,” Journal of Marketing
23 Kathy Cripps, “PR is more than just media,” 2 Jerome Jeweler and Bonnie L. Drewniany, Communications (2: 1996): 141-58.
letter to editor. Advertising Age (Ocotber 11, Creative Strategy in Advertising, 7th ed. 23 Tim Burt, “Veteran leads MTV’s attack,”
2004): 24. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001), 240-44. Financial Times (August 12, 2003): 6.
24 Andrea Tanner, “Communicating Health 3 Lorri Grant, “Retailers take a novel approach
Information and Making the News,” Public to advertising,” Salt Lake Tribune (June 22, CHAPTER 19
Relations Quarterly (Spring 2004): 24-27. 2003): E2. 1 David Brandt and Dave Walker, “Copy
25 Carole Howard, “Working With Reporters: 4 John A. Koten, “The Strategic Uses of Testing Under the Gun?” Ipsos Ideas
Mastering the Fundamentals To Build Long- Corporate Philanthropy,” in the Handbook of (August/September, 2003): 3.
Term Relationships,” Public Relations Strategic Public Relations and Integrated 2 Tim Huberty, “Who’s Who in Ad
Quarterly (Spring 2004): 36. Communications, Clarke L. Caywood, ed. Copytesting,” Quirk’s Marketing Research
26 Fraser P. Seitel, “E-mail news releases,” (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997), 149. Review (March 2002), www.quirks.com.
O’Dwyer’s PR Wservices Report (March 5 “1999 Midsize Agency of the Year: Cone,” 3 Charles E. Young, “Capturing the Flow of
2004): 37. Inside PR (Winter 1999): 11. Emotion in Television Commercials: A new
27 Anne R. Owen, “Avant-Garde or Passe: 6 Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarty, Driving Approach,” Journal of Advertising Research
Using Video News Releases Internationally,” in Brand Value: Using Integrated Marketing to (June 2004): 202-09; Chuck Young and John
The Proceedings of the American Academy of Manage Profitable Stakeholder Relationships Kastenholz, “Emotion in TV ads,” Admap
Advertising Conference, Carole M. Macklin, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997), 1997. (January 2004): 40-42.
ed. (St. Louis: AAA, 1997), 290. 7 Nick Chiarelli, “Has the global consumer 4 John Philip Jones, When Ads Work: New
28 Brody, 7-9. changed?” Admap (May 2003): 29-31. Proof That Advertising Triggers Sales (New
29Ben Tyson Sativa Ross, Steve Broderick, 8 Theodore Levitt, “The Globalization of York: Lexington Books, 1995).
Susan Westa, “Getting Viewers to Your Markets,” Harvard Business Review 5 Erwin Ephron, “Media Audit’s time is Come,”
Website: A Study of direct Mail CD-Rom (May-June 1983): S8-S9. Advertising Age (September 2, 2002): 16.
Effectiveness,” Public Relations Quarterly 9 Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, 6th 6 Richard Linnett, “Nissan Seeks Media Audit
(Sring 2004): 18-23. ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, for $1B Acc’t,” Advertising Age (January 5,
30 Marcia Xenitelis, “How Can Communicators 1988). 2004): 1. 24; Jack Feuer, “P&G Looks Outside
Bridge the Gap Between Executives and 10 Morgen Witzel, The quantifier of culture,” For Media Auditing,” Adweek (May 26, 2003):
Employees: Australia,” Communication World Financial Times (August 26, 2003): 7. 6.
(March-April 2004): 7. 11 Chiarelli, 29-31. 7 Julie Zdziarski, “Evaluating Sponsorships,”
31 Seitel, The Practice of Public Relations, 441. 12 P&G External Relations Department and Promo (March 2001): 92-93.
32 Candace White and Niranjan Raman, “The Jack Neff, “P&G Flexes Muscle for Global 8 Ibid.
World Wide Web as a Public Relations Branding,” Advertising Age (June 3, 2002): 53. 9 Jeff Miller, “Media measurement: it’s more
Medium,” Association for Education in 13 Warren Keegan and Mark Green, Global than looking at ROI,” O’Dwyer’s PR Services
Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Marketing, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River NJ: Report (March 2004): 13.
Conference, Baltimore, MD, August 1998. Prentice Hall), 524-25. 10 Ibid.
33 Michelle O’Malley and Tracy Irani, “Public
14 Barbara Mueller, Dynamics of International 11 Peter Vogt, “Awareness to Action,”
Relations and the Web: Measuring the Effect of Advertising (New York: Peter Lang, 2004). Communication World (March-April 2004):
Interactivity, Information, and Access to 15 Geoffrey Fowler, “China Cracks Down on 22-26.
Information in Websites,” AEJMC Conference, Commercials,” Wall Street Journal (February 12 Jones, 1995.
Baltimore, MD, August 1998. 19, 2004): B7. 13 Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarty, Driving
34 Seitel, The Practice of Public Relations, 447. 16 Edward Hall, Beyond Culture (Garden City, Brand Value: Using Integrated Marketing to
35 Jill Whalen, “Online Public Relations,” High
NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976). Manage Profitable Stakeholder Relationships
Rankings Advisor, Issue 109, August 18, 2004 17 Colin Grimshaw, “Why Global Firms Need (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997).
(http://www.highrankings.com/issuel09.htm) Local Media,” Marketing (May 15, 2003): 27. 14 Lynn G. Coleman, “The Crunch Has Come,”
36 Michael Markowitz, “Fighting Cyber
18 Geoffrey Fowler, “China’s Edgey Marketing News (March 4, 1991): 16.
Sabotage,” Bergen Record (October 4, 1998); Advertising,” Wall Street Journal (October 27, 15 Warren Keegan and Mark Green, Global
retrieved online at www.bergen.com/biz/ 2003): Bl. Marketing, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ:
onlme04199810041 .htm.
Prentice Hall, 2003), 241.
A offensive, 59-60, 75-76, 90 AFA. See American Family Association
players in, 10-17 (AFA)
AAAA. See American Association of process, 13 Affective responses, 109-110
Advertising Agencies promotions and, 469-470 Affiliates, 251
ABC. See Auditing Bureau of as PR tool, 487^489 AFLAC, 122-123
Circulations (ABC) vs. public relations, 478, 480 African Americans, 133
Accountability, 7 roles of, 6-10, 18, 61-62 Age, 131-132
“Accountability Era,” in advertising his¬ societal role of, 61-62 Agency-of-record (AoR), 14, 45
tory, 21 strengths of, 8 “Age of Print,” in advertising history, 21
Account executives, 50 subliminal, 106, 107 Agricultural advertising, 513
Account management department, 49 timeline, 22-24 AIDA model (attention, interest, desire,
Account managers, 195 types of, 17-18 action), 102-103
Account planners, 199 Advertising agencies Aided recognition, 106, 540
Account planning, 50, 194-199 as advertising players, 13-15 AIG, 513
Account Planning Group (APG), 197 in direct marketing, 433 Alcohol advertising, 85
Ackerman McQueen, 156 in-house, 14-15 Ali, Ryan, 89
Acquired needs, 138 legal responsibility of, 69 All caps, layout, 392
Action, in direct marketing, 425 organization of, 49-51 All-you-can-afford budgeting, 194
Actors, in television commercials, 376 professional ethics of, 87-88 Alternative media, 282-286
Ad agencies. See Advertising agencies revenues of, 51 AMA. See American Marketing
Ad allowances, 507 top, 47 Association (AMA)
Ad copy. See Copy; Copywriting types of, 47-49 Amazon.com, 271-273, 456
Ad Council, 475^177, 499 working with, 45, 47 Ambush marketing, 464-465
Added value, 35-36 Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness AME awards, 20
Adese, 360 (AME) awards, 20 American Airlines, 467
Adoption, 144 Advertising audits, 165 American Association of Advertising
Adaptation advertising strategy, 520 Advertising campaigns. See also specific Agencies, code of standards, 87
Ad spending types American Express, 284
by medium, 211 continuity of, 307-308 American Family Association (AFA), 93
newspaper, 217 duration of, 306-307 American Marketing Association (AMA),
Advertainment, 282 evaluation of. see Evaluation 31
Advertisers Advertising communication model, Ameritest, 534
in direct marketing, 432 99-102 AM/FM stations, 243
as players, 11-13 Advertising departments, 13-14 Analogies, 330
self-regulation of, 72-75 Advertising executions, 6 Anderson, Cheri L., 143
Advertising. See also specific types Advertising expenditures, newspaper, 217 Animation, 408
as communication, 99-102 Advertising planning, 184 Announcers, 376
comparative, 74, 81-83 research methods used in, 165-172 Annual reports, 492^-93
corporate, 488-489 strategic, 179-202 Answer prints, 410
corrective, 69 uses of research in, 162-165 Antidrug ads, 118-119
current issues in, 21-24 see also Strategic planning Aperture concept, 293
deceptive, 66-69, 80-81 Advertising plans, 184, 185 APG. See Account Planning Group (APG)
defining, 5 Advertising regulations, 62-71 Appeals, 340-341
effectiveness, see Effectiveness Advertising research. See Research Apple Computer, 4, 11, 12, 209-210, 235
evolution of, 21 Advertising Review Council (ARC), 72, Arbitron, 247, 248, 295
false, 80-81 73 ARC. See Advertising Review Council
functions of, 10, 18 Advertising review process, 72-75 (ARC)
indirect, 71 Advertising ROI, 182, 543 Archipelago Exchange, 291-292, 301,
key concepts of, 5-6 Advertising strategies. See Strategies 317-318
manipulative, 81 Adweek, list of losers, 59-60, 90 Arguments, 114
media review of, 72 AdWords, 529 Arm & Hammer, 546
581
582 INDEX
Army, U.S., 164 Behavioral influences, on consumer deci¬ positioning, 113, 191-193, 204
Arnold Worldwide. 3-4, 9, 13, 100 sions, 144-145 power of, 176-177
Arrangers, 407 Behavioral response, 116-118 regional, 52
ARS, 534 Behavioral segmentation, 148 researching, 165
Art direction BellSouth, 377 transformation of, 111
print, 389-398 “Be More” campaign, 405 Brand-tracking framework, 539
television, 404^-06 Benchmarking, 189, 484 Breakeven analysis, 546-547
Art directors, 331, 387-388, 407 Benefits, 341 Breakthrough advertising, 323
Artifact creation, 171 Benefit segmentation, 148 Breckenridge Ski Resort, 76
Art reproduction, 400-401 Benetton, 60 Brewer, John, 495
Association, 108, 110-113 Best Buy, 494, 505 Broadband, 254
Association message strategy, 342, 344 Best Western International, 170 Broadcast media, 241-265
Association networks, 113 Better Business Bureau (BBB), 74-75 direct-response advertising and,
Attention, 105 Big Idea, 327-329, 334, 376, 486 440^442
Attitudes, 114, 139 see also Creative strategies films, 262-263
Attitude tests, 538-539 Billboards, 228-229, 365-367, 399-400, production of, 407-410
Attorneys General, 70 418 product placements, 263
Attributes, 338 Bindings, 403 radio, 243-249
Audience Bind-ins, 440 television, 249-262
Internet, 278-279 Bleed pages, 224 using effectively, 263-264
magazine, 221 Blimps, 465 Broadsheet newspapers, 215
measuring cost of, 305-306 Blind headlines, 363 Broadsheets, 436
newspaper, 218-219 Blogs, 276 Brochures, 367
television, 257-259 Blow-ins, 440 Brown Sugar and Honey sausages, 457
unduplicated, 298 BMW, 21-22, 284, 288 Bryn, Steve, 529
see also Target audiences Body copy, 360, 361, 364-365 Budget cuts, 309
Audience exposure, 542-543 Body images, 79 Budgeting, 193-194, 304, 308, 525
Audio advertising, 249 Bonuses, 462 Bulletins, 228
see also radio Books, 493 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
Audio aspect, of television commercials, Bottom-up creativity, 522-523 (BATF), 70
374 Boycotts, 92-93 Burelle’s Information Services, 497-498
Audio directors, 410 Brag-and-boast copy, 360 Burger King, 283, 467, 470
Audiometers, 257 Brainstorming, 333 Business plans, 182-183
Auditing Bureau of Circulations (ABC), Brand advertising, 17 Business publications, 514-515
218 Brand affiliation, 205 Business reply cards (BRCs), 423
Average frequency, 299 Brand awareness, 381, 458 Business-to-business (B2B) advertising,
Award shows, 20-21 Brand building, 468 17-18, 510-515
Awareness, 105-106 Brand communication, 111, 113 creating, 513-514
Brand development index (BDI), 303 decision making in, 146-147
B Branded entertainment, 282 evaluation of, 549
Brand equity, 35 media for, 514-515
B2B. See Business-to-business (B2B) Brand experiences, Web-based, 283 objectives, 514
advertising Brand identity, 111 types of, 510-513
B2B ad networks, 275 Brand image, 33, 113 Business-to-business (B2B) buyers, 513
Baby Busters, 149 Brand information, 162 Business-to-business markets, 39—41
Backgrounding, 186 Branding, 33-35, 36, 39, 191, 204-205, Butler, John W., Jr., 536
Background research, 165-166 342-344 Buying allowances, 463
Back translation, of ad copy, 381 Brand integrity, 419 Buzz, 22, 344
Balance, in layout design, 395 Brand loyalty, 113, 114-115
Banner ads, 277, 278, 378, 380, 412
Barriers to purchase, 187
Brand management, 37 c
Brand marks, 35
Batelle & Batelle, 426 Brand names, 35 Cable television, 251-252
BATF. See Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Brand personality, 113, 205 CAC. See Cinema Advertising Council
and Firearms (BATF) Brand promise, 113 (CAC)
BBB. See Better Business Bureau Brand reminders, 460 California Avocados, 112
(BBB) Brands, 33 Call centers, 174, 438, 439
BDI. See Brand development index (BD) defined, 8 Call-outs, 361
Beauty ads, 383 evoked set of, 146 Call to action, 253, 344, 361, 365, 369
Beck, Heather, 309 global, 52,519, 523-524 Calvin Klein, 59-60
Beer industry, 85 identifying problems with, 187 Campaign plans, 185, 544-549
Behavior. See Consumer behavior local, 52 Campaigns. See Advertising campaigns
INDEX 583
Capital campaigns, 518 Code of standards, 87-88 Consumer magazines, 221

Capital letters, 392 Coffee Rush, 366 Consumer markets, 39—41
Captions, 361, 363 “Cog” commercial, 411 Consumer promotions, 455-460
Car industry, 406 Cognition, 106-109 types of, 455-458
CARU. See Children’s Advertising Cognitive dissonance, 139 using, 458-460
Review Unit (CARU) Cognitive learning, 108 Consumer redress, 69
Casting, 376 Coincidental surveys, 537 Consumer research, 157, 166-171, 195
Catalogs, 437-438, 439 Cold-calling, 438 Consumer responses
Category development index (CDI), 303 Collateral materials, 367, 493 to advertising, 102-120, 188
“Cat Herders” commercial, 404—405, 408, Color, use of in print ads, 390-391, 400 affective/emotional, 109-110
410 Color reproduction, 400^101 association, 110-113
Cause marketing, 481, 516 Color separation process, 401, 402 behavioral, 116-118
CDI. See Category development index Co-marketing, 466^167 cognition, 106-109
(CDI) Comcast, 15 perception, 104-106
CDs, 493 Commercial Closet, 76-77 persuasion, 113-116
CDW, 511 Commercials. See Television commercials Consumers
Cease-and-desist orders, 68-69 Commercial speech, 64-65 categorizing, 127
Celebrity endorsements, 342, 345, 376 Commissions, 51 defined, 127
Celestial Seasonings, 43 Commonalities, 162 understanding, 101
Cell phones, 284—285 Communication ways to contact, 166
Centrally conceived campaigns, 522 advertising as, 99-102 see also Customers
Change-agent programs, 485 cross-cultural, 172 Consumer to business (C to B), 288
Channel advertising, 512 data-driven, 430^-31 Consumption patterns, 303
Channel markets, 39-41 two-way, 173 CONTAC 600 SR, 523, 524
Channels, media, 15-16 visual, 386-389 Contact points, 200
Channels of distribution, 39, 42 wireless, 284-285 Content analysis, 165
Character types, 376 see also Marketing communications Contests, 456, 462, 465
Charles Schwab, 467 Communication audits, 483^-84 Continuity, of advertising, 307-308
Chat rooms, 275-276 Communication briefs, 198-199 Continuity programs, 466
Cheesecake strategy, 77 Communication exchange, 33 Continuous strategy, 307
Chick-fil-A, 94, 204-205, 321-322, 418, Communication model, 99, 99-102 Controlled circulation, 223
554-555 Communications planning, 319-320 Controlled media, 427, 487, 488
“Child Hunger” campaign, 475^-77, 499 Comparative advertising, 74, 81-83 Convergence, 285
Children, ads targeting, 79-80 Comparisons, 345 Conviction, 114, 341-342
Children’s Advertising Review Unit Competitive advantage, 190 Cookies, 273
(CARU), 80 Competitive advertising, 295 Cool hunters, 143
Children’s Television Advertising Practice Competitive analysis, 165 Cooperative (co-op) advertising, 44, 217,
Act, 80 Competitive budgets, 194 463,506-507
Choice Hotels, 135-137 Compiled lists, 430 Copy
Cigarette advertising, 84-85 Composers, 407 body copy, 360, 361, 364-365
Cinema Advertising Council (CAC), 262 Comprehensives, 396 effective, 358-360
Circulation, 212, 215-216 Computer graphics, 405 see also Copywriting
controlled, 223 Computer optimization modeling, 305 Copycat advertising, 64, 327-328
magazine, 224—225 Concept testing, 165, 536-537 Copyright protection, 63-64
Citibank Visa, 467 Concurrent research, 534 Copy testing, 165, 350, 535-542
Citizens Bank, 179-181, 184, 187, 188, Concurrent testing, 537-540 Copy-testing services, 534-535
189-190, 201 Conditioned learning, 108, 110-111 Copywriters, 331, 357-358, 407
Claims, 80-81, 338, 340 Connection planning, 207 Copywriting, 355-382
Claim substantiation, 67-68 Consent decrees, 68 in global environment, 380-381
Clarion Marketing, 451—453 Consumer activist groups, 75 overview of, 357-360
Classified ads, 217 Consumer attitudes, 304 for print, 360-367
Claymation, 408 Consumer behavior for radio, 367-369
Click art, 412 decision process and, 145-147 retail ads, 507-509
Click-throughs, 279 influences on, 127-145 techniques, 363-365
Client information, 294 sales promotions and, 454 for television, 371-378
Clip art, 388 understanding, 126-127 tools of, 361, 368, 374, 376
Closings, 364-365 Consumer boycotts, 92-93 for the Web, 378-380
Clutter, 101 Consumer diaries, 539 writing styles, 358-360
Clutter reels, 537 Consumer information, 297 Core values, 128
Co-branding, 467 Consumer insight, 194, 195-198 Corporate advertising, 488-489
Coca-Cola, 147-148 Consumer insight research, 162-163 Corporate culture, 129
584 INDEX
Corporate identity advertising, 489 Customers Directors, of television commercials, 407,

Corporate images, 488—489 defined, 127 410
Corporate relations, 482 focusing on needs of, 31-32 Directory advertising, 233-234, 365, 515
Corporate reputation management, as players in direct marketing, 433, Direct-response advertising, 17, 421^-24,
482 435 440-442, 545-546
Corrective advertising, 69 see also Consumers Direct-response counts, 545-546
Cost per point (CPP), 305-306 Cut, 407 Discretionary income, 135
Cost per thousand (CPM), 305-306 Cutouts, 228 Disney, 15
Coupons, 456, 458, 466 Display advertising, 217-218
Coverage, radio, 247 Display allowances, 463
D
C-prints, 403 Display copy, 360
Crain, Ranee, 1 Dailies, 410 Displays, 493
“Crave” campaign, 151 Database marketing, 428-432 Distribution, 43-44
Crawl, 405 Databases, 428 Distribution chain, 39
Creative advertising, 327-350 Data-driven communication, 430^-31 Distribution channels, 39, 42
Big Idea and, 327-329 David Letterman Show, 297, 298-299 Distributors, 39
effectiveness and, 327-330 Dayparts, 247 Divergent thinking, 330
strategies, 334-350 DDB Needham, 187 Diversity issues, 76-77
Creative aerobics, 330-331 Dealer kits, 461 DM. See Direct marketing (DM)
Creative Black Book, 234 Dealer loaders, 462^463 DMA. See Designated marketing area
Creative boutiques, 49 Dealer tags, 508 (DMA)
Creative briefs, 198-199, 345-348 Debossing, 403 Dominance, in layout design, 395
Creative concepts, 6, 327-329 Deceptive advertising, 66-69, 80-81 Do-Not-Call Registry, 448
Creative development department, 49 DeGrasse, Tammie, 50 Doubleclick, 276-277
Creative leap, 329-330 Delahaye Medialink Model, 498 Doublemint gum, 343
Creative people, 331-332 Delayed effects, 109 Double-page spreads, 224
Creative process, 332-333 Dell Computer, 32 Doughnut format, 508
Creative strategies, 334-345 Demand creation, 61 Dove Firming, 383
approaches to, 344-345 Demographics, 131-135 DRADAR. See Radio’s All-Dimension
attention-getting, 336-337 Demographic segmentation, 148 Audience Research (DRADAR)
branding, 342-344 Demonstrations, 83, 344 Dramas, 336
calls to action, 344 Denver Rescue Mission, 436, 437 “Drivers Wanted” campaign, 9, 17, 20,
for cognition, 338-340 Designated marketing area (DMA), 297 334
emotional, 340 Design personas, 167 Drug advertising, 116-117
evaluating, 349-350 Design principles, for print ads, 395-396 Drugstore.com, 241-242, 264—265
facets of, 336-345 Desktop publishing, 403 Dubbing, 410
global, 348-349 Developmental research, 533 DVDs, 493
persuasion, 340-342 Diagnostic research, 534 DVRs. See Digital video recorders
planning and managing, 345-350 Diaries, 170 (DVRs)
in public relations, 486 Die-cutting, 403
see also Message strategies Differentiation, 42, 108, 338 E
Creative thinking, 330-331 Digital video recorders (DVRs), 254-255
Creativity, 7 Digitization, of images, 403 EBay, 269-271,286
bottom-up, 522-523 Direct-action headlines, 362 E-business, 271-272
media planning and, 207 Direction, in layout design, 395 Echo Award, 421
Credibility, 480 Direct mail, 435^137 Economic impact, of advertising, 8, 10
Crest Whitestrips, 197 Direct-mail lists, 429^130 Editors, 407
Crisis management, 482 Direct-marketing agencies, 433 EDS. See Electronic Data Systems (EDS)
CRM. See Customer relationship manage¬ Direct marketing (DM), 44, 423-445 Education levels, 133-134
ment (CRM) advantages and disadvantages of, 424 Effective frequency, 300
Cultural imperialism, 62 B2B,515 Effectiveness
Cultural influences database marketing and, 428-432 advertising, 1,7, 19-21
on consumer decisions, 128-135 direct-response advertising and, 424 affective responses and, 109-110
international advertising, 521-522 global concerns in, 445 association and, 110-113
Culture-orientation approach, 521 integrated, 443^145 behavioral response and, 116-118
Customary pricing, 45 Internet and, 442-443 cognition and, 106-109
Customer-centric enterprises, 431 players in, 432^135 creative aspect of, 327-330
Customer information, 272-274 practice of, 423^128 determining, 194
Customer maintenance, 427 process, 424-428 evaluating, 533-551
Customer relationship management tools of, 423, 435^143 factors in, 545
(CRM), 53, 432 Direct-marketing industry, 424 IMC, 548
INDEX 585
message effects and, 102-120 Exporting, 518-519 FTC Improvement Act, 67

perception and, 104-106 Exposure, 105, 297-298 Fulfillment, in direct marketing, 427
persuasion and, 113-116 Extranets, 274, 496 Fulfillment houses, 433
of promotions, 470 Full-service agencies, 47
of public relations, 497^498 F Fund-raising, 481, 518
qualities of advertising, 350
research questions, 535 Facets Model of Advertising Effects, G
of television commercials, 371 103-104, 188, 334
of visuals, 387 Fallon agency, 404 Gaffers, 409
of Web design, 412-414 False advertising, 80-81 Galyans, 505
see also Evaluation Family, 130-131 Gander Mountain, 38, 185-186, 339
Effective reach, 300 FCB. See Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) Gap, 63-64
EFFIE award, 20 FCC. See Federal Communications Gap analysis, 484
Electronic Data Systems (EDS), 404-M05 Commission (FCC) Gargan Communication, 434
E-mail advertising, 281-282, 442-443 FDA. See Food and Drug Administration Gatefolds, 224
Embedded research, 173-174 (FDA) Gatekeepers, 480
Embossing, 403 Feature analysis, 190, 191 Gay community, 76-77
Emotional appeals, 109-110 Features, 338-339 GEICO, 441
Emotional responses, 109-110 Feature stories, 490 Gender, 132
Emotional strategies, 340 Federal Communications Commission Gender roles, 77-78
Employee relations, 480 (FCC), 70 Generation Y, 149
Endorsements, 83, 345, 480 Federal Trade Commission Act, 67 Gen X, 149
Ethical Consumer, 92-93 Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Geographic segmentation, 148
Ethical issues, 75-90 66-69 Geography, 135, 303, 505-506
ads targeting children, 79-80 Feedback, 100, 102 Glaxo Smithkline, 523
body images, 79 Fee system, 51 Global advertising. See International
comparative advertising, 81-83 Female stereotypes, 77-78, 79 advertising
controversial products, 84-85 Fill-in-the-blanks, 170 Global brands, 519, 523-524
demonstrations, 83 Film editing, 407, 410 Global environment
endorsements, 83 Films, 262-263, 406 copywriting for, 380-381
international standards, 88 Film-to-tape transfers, 407 direct marketing and, 445
manipulative advertising, 81 Financial relations, 480 marketing in, 518-527
misleading advertising, 80-81 Finishings, of print ads, 403 see also International advertising
offensive advertising, 75-76 First Amendment, 64-65, 72 Globalization, 23-24, 172, 519, 520
personal ethics, 88-89 First-run syndication, 254 G-mail, 273
professional ethics, 87-88 FJ. See FootJoy (FJ) Golden Rule, 86
puffery, 81 Flexography, 403 Goodwill, 478
social ethics, 86-87 Flighting strategy, 307-308 Google, 273, 529
stereotypes, 76-79 FM radio, 243 “Got Milk” campaign, 327
Ethnicity, 132-133 Focus groups, 168-169 Government advertising, 512
Ethnic stereotypes, 78 Foil-stamping, 403 Governmental oversight, 62-71
Ethnographic research, 169-170 Fonts, 392 Government organizations, statistics from,
Evaluation Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 70 157
of B2B advertising, 549 Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB), 334 Government reports, 159
campaign, 544-549 FootJoy (FJ), 97-98, 100, 111, 119-120 Grammar, in copywriting, 360
in direct marketing, 427^428 Foreign markets. See International adver¬ Gray Market, 149
of effectiveness, 533-551 tising Great American Bake Sale, 517
factors to consider in, 534 Forrester Research, 413 Grips, 409
of international advertising, 549 Four-color printing, 401 Gross impressions, 212-213, 297-298,
of marketing communications, Fox Sports Net, 60 299
544-548 Free association, 330 Gross rating points (GRPs), 258-259,
media, 542-544 Free-standing inserts (FSIs), 218 297-298, 299
of PR, 547-548 Frequency, levels of, 212 GRPs. See gross rating points (GRPs)
of retail advertising, 548 Frequency distribution, 299-300 Guerilla marketing, 285-286
of sales promotions, 546-547 Frequency objective, 299-300 Gutter, 224
types and stages of, 533-534 Frequency programs, 466
see also Effectiveness Friendship focus groups, 169 H
Evaluation research, 163, 165 Frontier Airlines, 355-356, 371-373, 381
Event marketing, 464^465 FSIs. See Free-standing inserts (FSIs) Haagen-Dazs Gelato, 494
Exchange, 32-33 FTC. See Federal Trade Commission Halftone art, 400, 401
Exhibits, 493 (FTC) Hard-sell approaches, 6, 335
586 INDEX
Harley-Davidson, 33, 36, 421^-23, customer, 272-274 Internet, 271

445-446, 467 market, 162 advertising, 276-281
HDTV. See High-definition TV (HDTV) media, 295, 297 for B2B advertising, 515
Head and heart strategies, 334 search, 145 brand experiences on, 283
Headlines, 360-363 sources, 293-297 customer information collected on,
Heavy-up schedules, 303 Informational strategies, 338-340 272-274
HE’R&NU’, 260 Information overload, 101, 174, 323 direct marketing and, 442—443
Hierarchy-of-effects model, 102-103 Ingredient branding, 39 e-business and, 271-272
High-context cultures, 522 In-house agencies, 14-15 interactivity of, 271-273
High-definition TV (HDTV), 254, 417 Innate needs, 135, 138 international advertising and, 280
High-involvement products, 116 Innovation, 144, 145 marketing communications and,
“Hire” campaign, 21-22 Inquiry tests, 541 274—276
Hispanic market, 132-133 Insight mining, 196-198 media buying on, 317
History Channel, 451—453, 471 Instant messaging (IM), 285 privacy issues and, 273-274
Honda, 411 Institute of Practitioners Award (IPA), 20 as PR tool, 496-497
Horizontal publications, 221, 514-515 Institutional advertising, 18 research on, 158, 173074
House ads, 487 Institutional markets, 39-41 trends, 280-281
Household income, 135 Institutional retail advertising, 507 Internet promotions, 465-466
Households, 130-131 Integrated direct marketing (IDM), Interviews, 168
Households using television (HUT), 212 443^45 Intimo, 494
House lists, 430 Integrated marketing, 52-53 Intranets, 274, 496
Hume, Amy, 232 Integrated marketing communication Involvement, 116
Humor, 345 (IMC), 22-23, 102 Involvement strategies, 485
Hutchinson, Chris, 379 evaluation, 548 IPA. See Institute of Practitioners Award
HUT (households using television), 212 global advertising and, 525-527 (IPA)
Hybrid technologies, 285 objectives, 200-201 IPod, 209-210, 212, 235
planning, 184, 185, 199-200 IPSOS-ASI, 534
I PR’s role in, 486 Issue management, 481
research, 157 ITunes, 209-210, 235
IBM, 271, 386, 538 Integrated relationship marketing, 444 Ivory Soap, 34, 35
IDM. See Integrated direct marketing Interactive communication model, 99,
(IDM) 100,102 J
Illustrations, 389-390, 400 Interactive media, 173, 271-282
“I Love Smoke-Free NY” campaign, 479 e-mail advertising, 281-282 Jack-in-the-Box, 482
Image, in public relations, 478 Internet, 271-281 Jaguar, 375
Image advertising, 342-344 Interactive promotions, 465—466 Jeep, 22
Images, digitization of, 403 Interactive technology, 17 Jingles, 244, 368
Image transfer, 304 Interactive television, 254 Johnsonville Sausage, 457, 464, 465
IMC. See Integrated marketing communi¬ Interconnects, 252 Just for Feet, 60
cation (IMC) Interest, 105 Justification, of type, 392
Implied third-party endorsements, 480 Interlocks, 410 “Just Say No” campaign, 118-119
Impressions, 212-213, 297-298 Internal marketing, 200 J. Walter Thompson agency, 503-504
Impulse buyers, 145 International advertising, 52, 518-527
Inbound telemarketing, 438 challenges of, 172 K
Income, 134-135 copywriting for, 380-381
In-depth interviews, 168 creative strategies for, 348-349 Kellogg’s Special K, 232, 342
Indirect-action headlines, 362-363 ethical standards in, 88 Kenneth Cole, 60
Indirect advertising, 71 evaluation of, 549 Key concept cards, 537
Indirect marketing, 44 execution of, 525 Key frames, 376
Industrial advertising, 510 IMC factor in, 525-527 Key visuals, 337
Industrialization, 6 market development and, 518-519 KFC, 196, 552
Industrial magazines, 221 media planning for, 308-309 King Thomas, Joyce, 353
Industrial markets, 39-41 objectives, 523 Kiosks, 231
“Industrial Revolution and Emergence of planning, 521-525 Krispy Kreme, 46
Consumer Society,” 21 social considerations in, 62
Inflatables, 465 Web and, 280
L
Infomercials, 340, 440-442 International brands, 52
Information, 108 Internationalization, 519 Lanham Act, 67, 82
analysis of, 174 International laws and regulations, 70-71 Layouts, 394-397
client, 294 International marketing, 52 Layout stages, 396-397
consumer, 297 International Truck, 222 LCV. See Lifetime customer value (LCV)
INDEX 587
Lead agencies, 522 direct, 423-445 monitoring systems for, 317

Lead generation, 424, 425 dynamics of, 52-53 optimization, 543-544
Leads, 364 event, 464-465 players in, 213
Lead time, 307 guerilla, 285-286 print, 213-235
LeapFrog, 155-157, 162-163, 174 integrated, 52-53 of retail advertising, 509-510
Learning relationships, 431 internal, 200 semicontrolled, 487, 488
Lectures, 335-336 international, 52 uncontrolled, 487, 488
Legal environment, 62-64 objectives, 19-20 Media aperture, 293
Legibility, of type, 392, 394 permission, 53, 443 Media budget, 308
Legislation, 67 players in, 37-39 Media buyers, 213, 313-316
Leo Burnett, 164 process, 41—45 Media buying, 212, 313-317
Letterpress, 402 relationship, 53, 480 Media-buying services, 49, 213, 293,
Levi Strauss, 494 strategies, 42-45 316
Licensing, 467 tools of, 8 Media companies, 433
Lifestyle analysis, 141 viral, 101,282, 344 Media departments, 49-50
Lifestyles, 130, 141 Marketing communication mix, 42 Media efficiency, 543
Lifetime customer value (LCV), Marketing communications, 8, 43 Media flowcharts, 308
444^45 evaluating effectiveness of, 533-551 Media fragmentation, 173
Likeability tests, 541 global, 518-527 Media industry, overview of, 211-213
Line art, 400, 401 Internet and, 274-276 Media information, 295, 297
Linkler, Josh, 203 personal sales and, 45 Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI), 160,
List brokers, 429 tools of, 419 161,225,295-296
Lists, direct-mail, 429^-30 see also Integrated marketing commu¬ Media mix, 212, 303-305
Loaders, 462^163 nication (IMC) Media objectives, 297-300
Lobbying, 481 Marketing concept, 31-32 Media planners, 213
Local advertising, 17, 505-506 Marketing imperialism, 62 Media planning, 207, 212, 293
Local brands, 52 Marketing mix, 8, 42^-5, 184 budgets and, 308
Localization advertising strategy, Marketing plans, 45, 183-184 challenges of, 316-317
520-521 Marketing public relations (MPR), 483 cost efficiency and, 305-306
Local television, 252-253 Marketing spending, by media type, global, 308-309
Logason, Ingvi, 192, 260 304 goal of, 212
Logos, 337, 388, 389 Market-orientation model, 521 media mix and, 303-305
“London Calling” campaign, 375 Market research. See Research media research and, 293-297
Low-context cultures, 522 Markets, types of, 39-41 media strategies, 300-309
Low-involvement products, 116 Market segmentation, 147-150, 189-190 objectives of, 297-300
Low-power FM (LPFM), 244 Market selectivity, 214 scheduling strategies, 306-308
Loyalty, 114-115, 444^145 Market share, 39, 184, 455, 459^160 Media plans, 293-297, 310-313
Loyalty programs, 466 Market situation analysis, 183-184 Media relations, 480
Market strategies, undifferentiated, Media reps, 213
147-148 Media research, 163, 293-297
M
Martin Agency, 531-533 Media researchers, 213
Macintosh (computer), 12 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 135, 138 Media salespeople, 213
Magazines, 220-226, 238, 365, 399 Mass communication, 8 Media strategies, 195, 300-309
Magnuson-Moss Warranty/FTC see also communication in direct marketing, 426-427
Improvement Act, 67 Mass media, 15-16 target audience strategies, 301-303
Make-goods, 315 see also Media Media technology, new, 172-173
Manipulative advertising, 81 MasterCard, 353 Media tours, 492
Mann, Lara, 36 Maytag, 470 Media use
Manning, Harley, 167, 413 McCann-Erickson, 353 by age, 131
Mapes & Ross, 534 McDonald’s, 468, 522-523, 552 changes in, 302-303
Marines, U.S., 464 Measurable objectives, 189 in public relations, 480
Market aggregation strategy, 147-148 Mechanicals, 396 Media vehicles, 212
Market coverage strategy, 44 Media MediaVest, 256
Market development, global, 518-519 as advertising players, 15-16 Media weighting, 304
Marketers, 37 alternative, 282-286 Medium, 101
Market information, 162 B2B,514-515 Memory, 106, 108, 337
Marketing broadcast, 241-265 Mendelsohn, Susan, 195, 197
ambush, 464-465 controlled, 427, 487, 488 Mental states, 135
channel, 41 creative use of, 6 Mercedes-Benz, 233
database, 428-432 evaluation, 542-544 Meredith, 315
defined, 8, 31-37 interactive, 271-282 Merging, of lists, 429
588 INDEX
Navigation, of Web sites, 413—414 Offset printing, 402

Message development, 163, 165
Need recognition, 145 Ogilvy, David, 99
in direct marketing, 426^127
Needs, 108, 135, 138 Ogilvy & Mather, 383
research, 165-172, 536-537
Negative space, 395 One-step offers, 427
in telemarketing, 439-440
Network of associations, 113 Online advertising, 276-281
Message effects, 102-104
Network radio, 246 copywriting for, 378-380
Message execution, 347
Message objectives, 334 Network television, 250-251 see also Internet
“New advertising,” 21-23 Online communications, 496^197
Messages, 101
attention-getting, 336-337 New media, 282-286 On location, commercials on, 374
memorability of, 337 News Corp., 15 On-premise signs, 230
Message strategies, 195, 536 Newspapers, 214-220, 365 OnStar, 166
aperture concept and, 293 Newsprint, 399 Open-ended questions, 168
communication briefs for, 198-199 News releases, 489-490, 491 Open Show, The, 292, 317-318
dramas, 336 Niche markets, 149-150 Opportunities, identifying, 187
hard-sell, 335 Nielsen Media Research, 295, 542 Opt-in, 281
head and heart strategies, 334 Nike, 36, 60, 65, 92, 97-98,283,464 Opt-out, 281-282
lectures, 335-336 1984 commercial, 12 Orders, in direct marketing, 427
soft-sell, 335 Nintendo, 430-431 Original equipment manufacturers
see also Creative strategies Niswonger, Amy, 426 (OEMs), 510
Metaphors. 171, 176-177, 330 Noise, 100-101 Original ideas, tips for creating, 328-339
Michelin, 330 Nokia, 190 Orly “Chantilly Peach,” 397
Microsoft Network (MSN), 325-326, Nonprofit advertising, 18 Outbound telemarketing, 438
350-351 Nonprofit marketing, 515-518 Outdoor advertising, 227-230, 365-367,
Millennium Generation, 149 Nonpromotional advertising, 507 399^100,418
Miller Light, 77 Norms, 128, 534-535 Out-of-home advertising, 227-231
Millward Brown, 535 North American Industry Classification Overlines, 361
Minisites, 278 System (NAICS), 510
Miss Hall’s School, 434 “Not Typical” campaign, 179-181, 201 P
Mission marketing, 516 Novell, 503-504, 527
Mission statements, 183 Nuveen Investments, 90 Pacific Life, 199
Mobile phones, 284-285 NYNEX, 357 Package goods, 41
“Modem Advertising Era,” in advertising Packaging, 43, 226-227
history, 21 0 Page, Larry, 529
Moment-by-moment tests, 537 Painted bulletins, 228
Montague, Jennifer, 459 Objectives, 19-20 Pamphlets, 367
Montes, Sonia, 14, 343 analyzing, 189 Pantry checks, 539
Morning drive time, 247 B2B, 513,514 Parity products, 191, 455
Morphing, 405 defined, 181 Participations, 256
Motivations, 114, 139 delivering on, 300-301, 345 Partnership programs, 466-467
Motivation tests, 541 in direct marketing, 425 Payout planning, 470
MoveOn, 72, 73 frequency objective, 299-300 Payout plans, 546
Movie trailers, 406 global advertising, 523 Pay-per-view television, 253
Mr. CONTAC, 523, 524 IMC, 200-201 PBS, 253, 405
MRI, 225. See Mediamark Research, Inc. at marketing level, 184 People meters, 259
(MRI) measurable, 189 Peppers, Don, 431
MSN. See Microsoft Network (MSN) message, 334 Pepsi, 93
Multimedia research, 172-173 promotion, 468 Perceived risks, 144
Music in public relations, 484-485 Percentage-of-sales method, of budgeting,
in radio, 368 reach, 298-299 194
in television commercials, 374, 408 retail advertising, 507 Perception, 104-106, 135, 138-139
setting, 42, 188 Perception problems, 187
N Objective-task method, of budgeting, Perceptual maps, 191
193-194 Permission marketing, 53, 443
NAICS. See North American Industry Observation research, 169 Personal ethics, 88-89
Classification System (NAICS) Occupations, 134 Personalities, 139-140
NASCAR, 203 OEMs. See Original equipment manufac¬ Personal sales, 45
National Advertising Division (NAD), turers (OEMs) Personal shoppers, 174
73-74 Offensive advertising, 75-76, 90 Personas, 167
National Advertising Review Board Offers, in direct marketing, 426, 427 Persuasion, 113-116
(NARB), 73-74 Off-line advertising, 278 Persuasion tests, 540-541
National Advertising Review Council, 73 Off-network syndication, 254 Persuasive advertising, 340-342
INDEX 589
PGA Golf Tour, 467 relationship between advertisers and, Public opinion, 478
Phaeton, 459 238 Public radio, 243-244
Photoboards, 537 using, 235 Public relations (PR), 293, 475-499
Photo elicitation, 171 Print production department, 51 vs. advertising, 478, 480
Photographs, 389-391, 400 Privacy policies, 273-274 effectiveness of, 497-498
Photoprints, 403 Problem solutions, 345 evaluation of, 547-548
Photo sorts, 171 Pro bono campaign, 387 excellence in, 498
Photostats, 403 Process colors, 400-401 planning, 483-487
Picas, 392 Proctor & Gamble (P&G), 34, 35, 37, 93, practice of, 477—483
Picture sorts, 537 319-320 tools of, 487^197
Pitch letters, 490, 492 Producers, of television commercials, types of programs, 480-483
Pizza Hut, 310-313 407 Public Relations Society of America
“Pods Unite” campaign, 4, 17, 20, Product-as-hero, 345 (PRSA), 477
24-25 Product categories, 8, 43 Publics, 477,481
Point of differentiation, 338 Product demonstrations, 83 Public service announcements (PSAs), 18,
Point-of-purchase (POP) displays, 461 Product differentiation, 42, 190-191, 487-488
Points, 392 338 Public television, 253, 405
Polaroid, 302 Product features, 190 Puffery, 81
Political advertising, 260 Production department, 49 Pulling power, 336-337
Pontiac, 501 Production notes, 408 Pull strategy, 44, 462—463
Pool-outs, 522 Product literature, 367 Pulsing strategy, 307
Pop-behind ads, 277 Product management, 37 Puma, 29-31, 53
Populations, 168 Product placements, 238, 263 Purchase decisions, 146
Pop-up ads, 277 Product reviews, 174 Purchase intent, 160
Positioning, 42, 190-193, 523-524, 525 Products Pure Food and Drug Act, 67
Posters, 228, 230-231, 365, 399 controversial, 84-85 Purging, of lists, 429
Postproduction, of commercials, 410 dangerous, 84-85 Purpose-driven games, 170-171
Postpurchase evaluations, 146 defined, 32-33, 43 Push strategy, 44, 462—463
Posttesting research, 534, 540-542 elements of, 42
Powell Communications, 475-477, 499 parity, 191, 455 Q
Predictive dialing, 438 positioning, 42, 190-193, 523-525
Preference, 114 Product usage, 144 Qualitative research, 160, 162, 170-171
Preferred-position rates, 217 Professional advertising, 512-513 Quantitative research, 160, 171-172
Preferred positions, 315 Professional ethics, 87-88
Premiums, 456, 458 Professional magazines, 221 R
Preprints, 510 Profiles, 150
Preproduction, of commercials, 408 Proflowers, 338 Race, 132-133
Prescription drugs, 85 Program sponsorships, 253 Racial stereotypes, 78
Press conferences, 492 Program syndication, 253-254 Radio, 243-249, 266-267
Pretesting, 537 Promises, 341 Radio Advertising Bureau, 367
Price, 43 Promotional advertising, 507 Radio copy, 367-369
Price deals, 455-456, 458, 459—460 Promotion industry, changes in, 453^154 Radio’s All-Dimension Audience
Pricing, 44-45, 455 Promotions. See sales promotions Research (DRADAR), 248
Primary needs, 135 Proportion, in layout design, 395-396 Radio scripts, 369
Primary research, 42, 159-162, 165 Prospecting, 425—426 Radio signals, 243
Primary research suppliers, 159 PSAs. See Public service announcements Rate cards, 217
Prime-time, 250 (PSAs) Rating points, 258-259
Print ad production, 399-403 Psychographics, 140-141 Ratings, 213, 247, 258
Printed posters, 228 Psychographic segmentation, 148 Reach, 212, 301-302
Printing processes, 401^-03 Psychological influences, on consumer Reach objective, 298-299
Print media, 213-235 decisions, 135-143 Rebates, 456, 466
art direction for, 389-398 Psychological pricing, 45 Recall, 106, 108
copywriting for, 360-367 Public affairs, 481 Recall tests, 540
directory advertising, 233-234 Publication frequency, of newspapers, Recognition, 106
direct-response advertising and, 214-215 Recognition tests, 540
440 Publications, as PR tool, 492—493 Reference groups, 129-130
magazines, 220-226 Public broadcasting system (PBS) sta¬ Refunds, 456
newspapers, 214-220 tions, 253,405 REGGIE award, 451
out-of-home advertising, 227-231 Public communication campaigns, 483, Regional brands, 52
packaging, 226-227 518 Register-Guard, 370
production requirements, 399-400 Publicity, 477, 489-492 Registration, 399
590 INDEX
Regulatory issues, 62-71 media of, 509-510 Scenes, in television commercials, 376
federal agencies, 66-70 objectives, 507 Scheduling strategies, 306-308
Federal Communications Commission strategies, 505-507 Schroeder, Karl, 245, 328, 335, 370
(FCC), 70 Retailer kits, 461 Scientific method, 171-172
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Retailers, power of, 455 Scott, Lee, 27
66-69 Retail marketing, 504-505 Scrabble, 493-494
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Retainers, 51 Screened images, 400
70 Return-on-investment (ROI), 182, 327, Scripts, 377
international, 70-71 543 Scuba-diving industry, 379
laws concerning, 62-65 Reverse type, 392 Sealey, Peter, 1
media review, 72 Review process, 72-75 Search engines, 274
self-regulation, 72-75 Rich media, 278 Search marketing, 274
Relationship marketing, 53, 344, 480 Rieck, Dan, 436 Secondary research, 42, 157-159, 165
Release prints, 410 Right-brain thinking, 330 Secondary research suppliers, 158
Relevance, 105 Rockport, 184 Sega, 64
Reliability, 172 Rogers, Martha, 431 Segmentation, 42, 147-150, 189-190
Reputation, 478 ROI, 327. See Return-on-investment Selection, 105
Reputation management, 482 (ROD Selective perception, 104, 138-139
Rerailers, 39 RoperASW, 535 Self-images, 79
Research, 42, 50, 155-177, 162, 295 Rotogavure, 402-403 Self-liquidating premiums, 458
advertising, 157 Rough cuts, 410 Self-regulation, 72-75
analysis of, 174 Rough layouts, 396 Selling premises, 341
background, 165-166 Rubin coffee, 192-193 Semicomps, 396
challenges, 172-174 Run-of-paper (ROP) rates, 217 Semicontrolled media, 487, 488
consumer, 157, 166-171, 195 Rushes, 410 Semiotic analysis, 165-166
consumer insight, 162-163 Senior citizens, 78-79
defined, 157
embedded, 173-174
s September 11, 2001, 21
76 Ads, 329
ethnographic, 169-170 Sales advertising, 507 Sex,76,77
evaluation, 163, 165 Sales geography, 294 Sexual orientation, 132
IMC, 157 Sales levels, 184 Share of audience, 258
Internet, 158 Sales promotions, 8, 42, 43 Share of market, 39, 184
market, 157, 295 vs. advertising, 469^-70 Share of mind, 336
marketing, 162 ambush marketing, 464-465 Share of voice, 295
media, 163, 293-297 categories of, 455 Shell, 86
message development, 536-537 consumer promotions, 455^460 Shockvertising, 345
methods, 165-172 effectiveness of, 470 Shoot, television commercial, 409-410
multimedia, 172-173 evaluation of, 546-547 Shoppers, 510
on new media, 317 event marketing, 464-465 Showings, 229
observation, 169 growth of, 453^455 Signatures, 337
primary, 159-162, 165 integration of, 469 SignBoy, 98, 119-120
in public relations, 483M84 interactive, 465-466 Silkscreen printing, 403
qualitative, 160, 162, 170-171 Internet, 465-466 Simmons Market Research Bureau
quantitative, 160, 171-172 loyalty programs, 466 (SMRB), 160, 225
scanner, 541 objectives of, 468 Simmons-Scarborough Syndicated
secondary, 157-159, 165 partnership programs, 466^-67 Research Associates, 219
single-source, 541-542 practice of, 453^455 Simplicity, in layout design, 396
strategic, 157 sponsorships, 464-465 Single-source research, 541-542
survey, 168 strategies for, 467-470 Sirius, 266-267
types of, 157-162 trade promotions, 461-463 Situational ads, 282
used in evaluation, 533-534 Salton-Maxim Juiceman, 440^141 Situation analysis, 42, 186, 483-484
uses of, 162-165 Samples, 168 Skyscrapers, 277
virtual, 173 Sampling, 456, 458, 465 Slice-of-life format, 345
Resonance, 110 Sans serif typeface, 392 Slogans, 337, 361, 363, 371
Respond2, 428 Satellite radio, 266-267 SMCR model of communication, 99-102
Response, in direct marketing, 427 Satellite transmissions, 308 Social class, 129
Response lists, 430 Satellite TV, 252 Social ethics, 86-87
Retail ads, 507-509 Satisfaction, 139 Social influences, on consumer decisions,
Retail advertising, 17, 504-510 SAU. See Standard Advertising Unit 128-135
vs. brand advertising, 506 (SAU) Social marketing, 515-518
evaluation of, 548 Scanner research, 541 Social responsibility, 87
INDEX 591
Societal marketing philosophy, 515-516 for retail advertising, 505-507 direct-response advertising and,
Societal roles, of advertising, 10, 61-62 see also Creative strategies; Media 440-442
Sociodemographic segments, 148-149 strategies; Message strategies exposure, 212
Soft-sell approaches, 6, 335 Streaming video, 278 industry structure, 250-253
Sony Pictures, 80 Structural analysis, 349-350 programming options, 253-255
Sorrell, Martin, 56 Stunts, 486 ratings, 213
Sound effects, 368 Subcultures, 129 relationship between advertisers and,
Source credibility, 114 Subheads, 361 238
Southwest Airlines, 419 Subliminal advertising, 81, 106, 107 terminology, 409
Spam, 281-282,443 Subscription television, 251-252 trends in, 261-262
Speakers’ bureau, 493 Substantiation, 67-68 Television commercials
Special events, 493-494 Super Bowl, 249-250 art direction for, 404^-06
Specialized agencies, 47, 49 Superstations, 252 copy for, 369, 371-378
Specialty television, 253 Superstitials, 278 planning, 376-378
Spherical Branding, 204-205 Supplements, newspaper, 218 production of, 407-410
Split-run tests, 362 Suppliers, 16, 38-39 production requirements for, 406
Spokane Regional Convention and Supply chains, 38 Testimonials, 83
Visitors Bureau, 495 Surprising, 394 Test markets, 539-540
Spokespersons, 83, 345, 376 Survey research, 168 Thaler, Linda Japlan, 122-123
Sponsorships, 255-256, 464^165 Sweepstakes, 456, 465 “Thanks for Traveling” campaign,
Spoofing, 443 SWOT analysis, 42, 186-187, 483-484 135-137
Spot announcements, 257 Symbolism, 110 Theater of the mind, 367
Spot buys, 253 Syndicated radio, 246 Think-feel-do model, 103
Spot color, 390 Thomasville Furniture, 385-386, 387,
Spot radio advertising, 246 T 390, 405, 406, 414
Staged events, 493-494 Thumbnail sketches, 396
Stakeholders, 23, 200, 477 Tabloids, 215 Tie-ins, 467
Standard Advertising Unit (SAU), 215, Tactics, 181 Tiffany’s, 33
216 Taglines, 337, 361, 363 Time-shifting, 254
Standard Directory of Advertisers and Takes, 410 Time Warner, 15
Advertising agencies (Red Book), Talent, 376 Timing strategies, 306-308
234 Target audiences, 8, 16-17 Tint blocks, 400, 401
Standardization advertising strategy, children as, 79-80 Tip-ins, 403
520-521 measuring cost of, 305-306 TiVo, 254-255
Starbucks, 256, 521 media strategies for, 301-303 Tobacco advertising, 84—85
Stasiowski, Peter, 398, 434 profiling, 150 Tom’s of Maine, 183
Stereotypes, 76-79 radio, 246-248 Tone of voice, 347, 359-360
Stem, Howard, 266-267 reaching, through magazines, 225 Touch points, 200
Stock footage, 405 research on, 162-163 Tours, 493^-94
Stop motion, 408 tone of voice for, 359-360 Town hall forums, 494
Stopping power, 336 Targeted reach, 301 -302 Toyota, 60, 153
Storyboards, 377 Targeting, 42, 189-190 Tracking studies, 537-540
Story elicitation, 171 in global environment, 523 Trade advertising, 512
Strategic business units (SBUs), 182 in public relations, 484 Trade associations, information from,
Strategic decisions, 42 segmentation and, 147-150 157-158
Strategic planning, 179-202 Teaser campaigns, 336-337 Trade deals, 462
account planning, 194-199 Teasers, 345 Trade incentives, 462
budgeting, 193-194 Technological advances, 172-173, 224 Trademarks, 35, 63
decisions, 185-194 Technology, hybrid technologies, 285 Trade papers, 221
defined, 181 Telchin, Eric, 272 Trade promotions, 461-463
IMC planning, 199-200 Telemarketing, 438^440, 448 types of, 461-A62
positioning strategies, 190-193 Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud Act, using, 462^-63
process, 182-184 67 Trade publications, 514-515
Strategic research, 155-177, 157 Television Trade shows, 462, 463
Strategies, 5-6, 181 ad rates, 261 Traffic department, 51
advertising, 5-6 advertising, 249-250, 255-257, Traffic generation, 425
in direct marketing, 425 259-261 Trailers, 262
effect-based, 188 art direction, 404-406 Transformation, 111
positioning, 190-193 audience, 257-259 Transit advertising, 231
for promotions, 467-470 children’s advertising on, 80 Trends, 143
in public relations, 484-485 copywriting for, 369, 371-378 Trend spotters, 143
592 INDEX
Trials, 458 Vampire creativity, 349 Webisodes, 284

“Truth” campaign, 484M86 Veloxes, 403 Web sites, 274, 275
Tuners, 153 Vendors, 16, 38-39 corporate, 496-497
TV commercials. See Television commer¬ Vertical publications, 221, 515 interactive, 283-284
cials Viacom, 15 see also Internet
TV scripts, 377 Victoria’s Secret, 467, 494 Weighting, 304
Two-step offers, 427 Video editing, 410 Weight-loss advertising, 80
Type measurement, 392 Video games, 284 “We Speak Your Language” campaign,
Typography, 391-394, 400 Video graphics, 405 503-504
Video news releases (VNRs), 490 Wheeler-Lea Amendment, 67
Whiskas, 349
u Videos, 262-263, 493
Viewing diaries, 257-258 Whitaker, Mark, 238
Unaided recall, 540 Viral marketing, 30, 101, 282, 344 White Castle, 125-126, 151
Unaided recognition, 106 Virgin Megastores, 7, 508 White space, 395
Unbundling media services, 316 Virtual research, 173 Wholesalers, 39
Uncontrolled media, 487, 488 Visual aspect, of television commercials, W Hotels, 459
Underlines, 361, 362 374 Winfrey, Oprah, 501
Undifferentiated products, 191 Visual communication, 386-389 Wireless communication, 284-285
Undifferentiated strategy, 147-148 Visual impact, 387 World Wide Web, 271
Unduplicated audiences, 298 Visualization, 388 copywriting for, 378-380
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), 81 Visual storytelling, 405 see also Internet; Web sites
Unilever, 383 Voice, in radio, 368 WPP group, 56
Unique selling propositions (USPs), 341 Voice-overs, 374 Writing styles, 358-360
United Airlines, 32 Volkswagon (VW), 3-4, 9, 11, 17, 20,
Unity, in layout design, 395 24-25, 334, 459 Y
Upromise, 473 Volvo, 536
UPS, 531-533,550 VW. See Volkswagon (VW) Y&R, 375
USA Direct, 442 Yellow Pages, 233-234, 365, 399
Usage behavior, 144 w YMCA, 115
U.S. Army, 164 Your-name-here copy, 359
U.S. Postal Service, 70 Wal-Mart, 27
Walters, Trent, 38 z
V Wants, 108, 135, 138
Warner-Lambert, 69 Zaltman, Gerlad, 176-177
Validity, 171-172 Wasted reach, 261 ZMET (Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation
VALS. See Values and Lifestyle System Waterford Crystal, 280 Technique), 171, 176-177
(VALS) Wave analysis, 539
Value-added media services, 315 Wearout, 543
Values, 61-62, 128, 139 Web ads, 380
Values and Lifestyle System (VALS), Webcasting, 244
141-143 Web design, 412-414
Measuring Effectiveness in Advertising
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r Wells | Moriarty | Burnett

Acquisitions Editor: Katie Stevens

Pearson Prentice Hall™ is a trademark of Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Education LTD. Pearson Education Australia PTY, Limited

who have taught us about how people respond to advertising, as well as

inspired us to better understand these responses.

PART I FOUND AT IONS

Volkswagen Sings a New Song With iPOD® 3

WHAT MAKES AN AD EFFECTIVE? 19

2 Advertising's Role in Marketing 30

Puma Is One Cool Cat 30

THE MARKETING PROCESS 41

HOW AGENCIES WORK 45

THE DYNAMICS OF MODERN MARKETING 52

3 Advertising and Society 59

Advertising's Social Role 6l

REVIEW AND REGULATION OF ADVERTISING 62

ADVERTISING'S REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT 66

MEDIA REVIEW OF ADVERTISING 72

DETERMINING WHAT IS ETHICAL 86

PART-ENDING CASE Chick-fil-A: Foundations 94

PART II PLANNING AND STRATEGY

4 How Advertising Works 97

SignBoy Is a Hole in One for FootJoy 97

HOW ADVERTISING WORKS AS COMMUNICATION 99

THE EFFECTS BEHIND ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS 102

THE AFFECTIVE OR EMOTIONAL RESPONSE 109

Review Questions 121

Discussion Questions 121

Class Projects 121

5 The Consumer Audience 125

So What Do You Crave? 125

HOW DOES CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WORK? 126

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER DECISIONS 127

PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES THAT MOTIVATE CONSUMERS 135

BEHAVIORAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER DECISIONS 144

THE CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS 145

SEGMENTING AND TARGETING 147

A MATTER OF PRACTICE: Choice Hotels Says "Thanks for Traveling" 136

6 Strategic Research 157

Leaping Over Learning 157

RESEARCH: THE QUEST FOR INTELLIGENCE AND INSIGHT 157

THE USES OF RESEARCH 162

RESEARCH METHODS USED IN ADVERTISING PLANNING 165

RESEARCH CHALLENGES 172

7 Strategic Planning 179

The Legendary Service of Citizens Bank 179

STRATEGIC PLANNING 181

BASIC STRATEGIC PLANNING DECISIONS 185

ACCOUNT PLANNING: WHAT IS IT? 194

IT'S A WRAP: Proving That a Bank Is Not Typical 201

PART-ENDING CASE Chick-fil - A: Planning and Strategy 204

PART III EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING MEDIA

8 Print and Out-of-Home Media 209

Apple Tops the Charts with Digital Music 209

THE MEDIA INDUSTRY 211

PRINT MEDIA 213

OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING 227

DIRECTORY ADVERTISING 233