Advertising

What is the purpose of Advertising?
to win awards?
to engage the mind of the consumer?
to deliver a selling message?
to reach a target market?
to attract attention?
to be funny?
to stir up controversy?
to be remembered?
to touch emotions?
to involve the audience?
to build loyalty?

to create cultural icons

(logos, characters, jingles) etc.?

to create an image?
to persuade?
to sell?

 

 
A process:
AWARENESS
INTEREST
DESIRE
ACTION

 

 
How does Advertising fulfill its purpose?

 

 
A. Strategy

 

 
G: goals
A: actions
A: ad medium
T: target
B: budget
A: alternatives
T: timetable
M: measures
E: evaluation

 

 
B. Creative message
the best strategy fails if the message fails
advertising is an art, not a science

 

 
C. Execution
how well you carry out your strategy and your creative message

 

 
Biblical considerations:
1. Advocacy
Matt. 5:37 But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; beyond these is of evil.

 

 
Make your claims/promises without embellishment.

 

 
Does this verse speak in favor of straightforwardness and oppose creativity?

 

 
Deut. 23:23 You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised.

 

 
Make sure that you can fulfill your promises and that your product/company can do what it says it can do.

 

 
Eph. 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification…

 

 
What does this say about how you should treat comparison ads?

 

 
2. Accuracy

 

 
Ex. 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 

 
Does this apply to advertising?

 

 
Prov. 12:17 He who speaks truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.

 

 
Eph. 4:25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

 

 
Prov. 8:7 For my mouth will utter truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

 

 
TRUTH, TRUTH, TRUTH!!!

 

 
3. Acquisitiveness

 

 
Matt. 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

 

 
If we are personally not supposed to be materially focused, should we create ads that encourage people to be so?

 

 
Matt. 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 

 
What things?

 

 
Phil 4:11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

 

 
Content in …?

 

 

 

 
What is advertising?
Paid --------------free
identified sponsor --------- disguised sponsor
goals from awareness ---------- action
using facts --------- images
using mass media ------------- personal media
reaching the masses ------- targeted audiences

 

 
Types of advertising
1. Brand - brand image, brand loyalty
2. Retail - typically short term info, store loyalty
3. Political - convey images/info, persuasive
4. Directory - a resource, specific info for a specific time
5. Direct Response - immediate sale
6. Business to Business (BTB) - trade info
7. Institutional (Corporate) - identity, image, point of view
8. Public Service - non-profits, PSAs

 

 
Roles of advertising

1. Marketing role - one of the 4 p's

advertising must fit with the overall marketing plan
2. Communication role - transmitting information, necessary in a free market
3. Economic role - decreasing or increasing costs? what costs - transaction price or search costs? or both?
4. Societal role - helps create culture

 

 
Advertising changes as the mediums of advertising change

 

 
The 4 p's of marketing
product, price, place, promotion
which of these is the most important? why?

 

 

how does advertising fit in?
marketing mix - advertising is one of the alternatives a marketer can use
often used to reach a mass audience
reach and frequency
good for informing/reminding consumers
can be used to reinforce images/decisions
can be used to persuade

 

 
The marketing concept - determining the wants/needs of target markets and meeting those wants/needs better than competitors (keeping in mind the need to be profitable)

 

 

 
1. Product
design and development
branding
packaging

 

 
how does advertising fit?
packaging can convey tangible/intangible qualities
brand images change over time, this needs to be communicated
the product life cycle - introduction, growth, maturity, decline
creating line extensions

 

 
2. Place
the distribution channels
market coverage - exclusive, selective, intensive

 

 
how does advertising fit?
letting customers know where the product can be found
reaching the right customers (who may not be the end buyers)
cooperative advertising

 

 
3. Price
price copy - how do you convey pricing info?
psychological pricing - how justify the price?
price lining - best, better, good

 

 
how does advertising fit?
advertising can affect the price a consumer is willing to pay
appealing to prestige, quality, status

 

 
4. Promotion
the mix - personal selling, advertising, sales promotions (coupons, sampling, rebates, sweepstakes etc.), PR etc.

 

 
how does advertising fit?
advertising can coordinate all the promotional alternatives

 

 
understanding the relationship of advertising to the marketing mix will help the advertiser realize that advertising is a part of a successful product/service. It is not the end all or be all. It certainly isn't a magic wand that can fix all problems.

 

 
Bottom line - advertising reports to and responds to the marketing department, and, must coordinate its efforts and understand what marketing is trying to do

 

 
The psychology of advertising
a cluttered environment
fighting for attention
audiences may be uninterested (low involvement)
need ROI
relevance - speaks to things the audience cares about
originality - catches attention, uses creativity
impact - makes a lasting impression

 

 
The psychological process
1. Perception
getting noticed
exposure - the minimum requirement (often the biggest challenge)
stopping power - demands attention

 

 
2. Awareness
making an impression that leads to recognition and recall
pulling power - getting the customer involved in the ad

 

 
3. Understanding
helping knowledge based processes such as explanation or comparison
association based - linking concepts, building images
pulling power - getting mental effort focused

 

 
4. Persuasion
logical or emotional (believability)
appeals - something to move the audience
ex. security, esteem, sex, fear, comfort, self-fulfillment, independence, power, fun etc.
a key concern - are these "legitimate" appeals or merely a ploy to encourage materialism?
repetition
remembering devices - slogans, tag lines, jingles, logos etc.
likability - for all elements of the ad (ex. Q scores)
locking power - getting recognition and recall that leads to action
a concern - remembering the ad but not the product

 

 
What influences the consumer?

 

 
I. Cultural and Social Influences
(outside the consumer)
a) environmental issues (culture)
b) norms/values
c) subcultures
d) social class
e) reference groups
look to for guidance/behaviors
peers, organizations, clubs, church
f) family
what influences your behavior?

 

 

II. Personal Characteristics
(inside or part of the consumer)

a) demographics
1) age
2) generation (Boomer, Xers)
3) gender
4) family status - kids? ages? single?
5) education
6) occupation
7) income - discretionary/confidence
8) race/ethnicity
9) geographic location

b. psychographics
those things that make us who we are

1) perception - what we see/hear
select some stimuli and ignore others
selective perception
(a screening process)

2) learning
attaching meaning to what we perceive
habit (a repetitive behavior)
limits information seeking/evaluating
Advertising wants to break/reinforce

3) motivation/needs
motivation: a drive to do something
needs: a hierarchy - primary needs
acquired/secondary needs
advertising can affect these

4) attitudes
a learned predisposition
a feeling toward something
an idea/image about something
maintain/change/positive/negative


5) personality
a collection of traits
self-concept


6) lifestyles
how we spent our time
activities/interests


7) buying behavior
low/high involvement
need different types of advertising
cost/complexity/importance


decision process
a. need recognition
b. information search
c. evaluation/comparison
d. outlet selection
e. purchase decision
f. post purchase evaluation

 

 
Three critical ideas spring from these influences
1. You need to know your audience
2. You need to know what to know
3. You need to know that your audience is always changing

 

 
How do you get all this information?
1. personal experience (informal)
2. research (formal)
a. exploratory
"a fishing expedition"
looking for anything that might already be available
ex. government statistics, trade journals, previous campaigns,

 

 
b. primary
gathering data firsthand
ex. surveys, interviews, focus groups, product testing etc.
this can be contracted out or done in-house

 

 
Focus groups
small random? samples
ask about impressions, images, thoughts
ask about product attributes, claims, price
ask about appeals, benefits
ask how they would use the product
etc.

 

 
This can lead to things like market segmentation and the creative concept

 

 
market segmentatation
dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who might require separate products or marketing mixes
can help identify markets to focus on and how to craft the advertising
what if your product doesn't match with a market segment?

 

 
the creative concept
a "big idea"
finding a concept that is distinctive, attention getting, memorable
creativity doesn't equal success

 

 
The creative process
1. Orientation - defining the problem
2. Preparation - gathering data
3. Analysis - figuring out what's important
(these should be done by this point)
4. Ideation - bull sessions, brainstorming, free association, doodling - anything is fair game
5. Incubation - letting ideas simmer (sleeping on it)
6. Synthesis - pulling ideas together
7. Evaluation - does the idea fit with the overall marketing strategy?

 

 
Message design
figuring out what to say and how to say it
hard sell - rational, informational, logical, direct, tangible
soft sell - emotional, image oriented, attitudes, intangible
lectures - direct address, can use experts, spokespersons, narrators
dramas - indirect address
humor, problem-solution, slice of life etc.

 

 
words, sounds and images - can reinforce each other (or work against each other!)

 

 

How do you know if a message works?

(before making that multimillion dollar SuperBowl buy)

 

 
Evaluative Research
used to make go/no go decisions about finished or nearly finished ads

 

 
Methods
1. Memory tests
ex. recall tests - usually random phone calls to audience members who were exposed to the ad
Do you remember an ad for _______?
memory prompt if necessary
unaided recall is best
need to evaluate what is recalled

 

 
2. Persuasion tests
did the ad affect consumer attitudes, intentions etc?
(may recall an ad but have no intention of acting on the ad, nothing has changed)
interested in the target market
might lead to why they weren't persuaded

 

 
3. Direct response counts
measures response - ex. calling an 800#, "mention this ad," coupons etc.

 

 
4. Communication tests
did the ad deliver the intended message?
did it deliver any unintended messages?
(focus on communication aspect, a well communicated ad may not lead to change)

 

 
5. Focus groups

 

 
6. Physiological tests

 

 
7. Frame by frame tests

 

 
8. In-market tests
measuring actual sales in a trial run

 

 
a key - what kind of information do you want, how much will it cost to get it, and how reliable is it?

 

 
Media planning
not all mediums are the same
which is best for your ad message?

 

 
what are the advantages/disadvantages of television, radio, the Internet, print, other mediums (ex. billboards)?

 

 
What about a mix of mediums?

 

 
Is the ad part of a campaign?
How long should the ad run?
things to consider:
ad patterns - continuous, pulsing, flighting?
carry over effect?
purchasing patterns - purchase cycles, seasonality, time of day, time of week?
competitor's advertising patterns?

 

 
Copy platforms (p. 306)

 

 

 

 

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