CH-5-9 Objectives for the IMC Plan – Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 5 to 9 Chapter 5 Objectives for the IMC plan Chapter Overview This chapter examines the role of objectives in the planning and evaluation of the IMC program. Many managers use sales as the basis for setting objectives. However, many promotional planners believe the role of advertising and other promotional mix elements is to communicate so its effectiveness should be based on how well it communicates. The chapter reviews three approaches to communication objectives: the DAGMAR model, an application of more comprehensive response hierarchies, and new IMC approaches. The chapter then discusses the Rossiter and Percy perspective of communication objectives. Learning Objectives 1. Distinguish among marketing, behavioural and communication objectives and identify the value of setting each type of objectives. 2. Describe the historical approaches for setting communication objectives for advertising. 3. Evaluate the options setting behavioural objectives and apply them when constructing a promotional plan. 4. Choose among the options for setting communication objectives and apply them when designing IMC recommendations. 5. Assemble the best combination of behavioural and communication objectives for each stage of the consumer decision-making process. Chapter and Lecture Outline Many companies have difficulty setting realistic objectives that will guide the development of the IMC program. Many companies either fail to use specific marketing communications objectives or set ones that are inadequate for guiding the development of the promotional plan or measuring its effectiveness. Part of the problem stems from the fact that many marketers are uncertain as to what advertising and promotion can or should do and/or prefer to use sales as an objective. I. OBJECTIVE SETTING A. Value of Objectives One of the reasons many companies fail to set specific objectives for their advertising and promotional programs is that they fail to recognize the value of doing so. There are several important reasons for setting advertising and promotional objectives: Communication—Specific objectives serve as communication devices and facilitate the coordination of groups working on the campaign on both the agency and the client side. Problems can be avoided if all parties involved have a set of written and approved objectives to guide their decisions and actions. Planning and Decision Making—Specific objectives can be useful as a guide or criterion for decision making. Advertising and promotion planners are often faced with a number of strategic and tactical options in areas such as creative, media, budgeting and sales promotion. Choices among these options should be made on the basis of how well a strategy or tactic matches the promotional objective. Measurement and Evaluation of Results—a very important reason for setting specific objectives is that they provide a benchmark or standard against which success or failure of the campaign can be measured. When specific objectives are set it becomes easier for management to measure what has been accomplished by the campaign. B. Marketing Objectives Marketing objectives are generally stated in the firms marketing plan and are statements of what is to be accomplished by the overall marketing program within a given time period. Marketing objectives are usually defined in terms of specific, measurable outcomes such as sales volume, market share, profits, or return on investment. The achievement of marketing objectives will depend upon the proper coordination and execution of all the marketing mix elements, not just promotion. C. Sales Objectives Debate Many marketing managers view their advertising and promotional programs from a sales perspective and argue that sales or some related measure such as market share is the only meaningful goal for advertising and thus should be the basis for setting objectives. They take the position that the basic reason a firm spends money on advertising and promotion is to sell its products or services. Thus they argue that any monies spent on advertising should produce measurable sales results. Problems with sales objectives: • achieving sales could be a function of other marketing mix variables such as product design or quality, packaging, distribution, or price. • the carryover effect which suggests that the effects of advertising on sales are not always immediate and occur over an extended time period. • sales objectives offer little guidance or direction to those responsible for planning, developing and executing the promotional program. Appropriate use of sales objectives: • when the promotional efforts are direct action in nature and are designed to induce a more immediate response. For example many sales promotion programs have sales objectives since their goal is often to generate trial or short-term sales increases. • direct response advertising which measures success of a campaign in terms of the sales response generated by an ad, however the carryover effect could be strong D. Behavioural Objectives Behavioural objectives link the marketing objective to the communication objectives by specifying the specific action expected to be taken on the part of the target audience. The idea of gaining sales can occur through different means depending on whether the brand desires greater purchases from current customers (i.e., repeat) or new purchase from non-customers (i.e., trial). Given a different action is required, a different message is required for influence which implies more unique communication objectives. E. Communication Objectives Many marketers take the perspective that the primary role of promotional mix elements such as advertising is to communicate and effects should be based on communication objectives. Advocates of communication objectives generally use some form of the hierarchical models discussed in Chapter 4 as a basis for setting advertising objectives. Communications objectives should be based on the particular communication tasks that are required to deliver the appropriate message to the target audience. This requires the translation of general marketing goals into communication goals and specific objectives. II. FROM COMMUNICAITON RESPONSE MODELS TO COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES A. DAGMAR (Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results) is a model developed by Russell Colley in 1961 for setting advertising objectives and measuring the results of a campaign against these objectives. Under DAGMAR an advertising goal involves a communications task that is specific and measurable. A communications task involves something that can be performed by and attributed to advertising. Communication tasks in DAGMAR are based on a hierarchical model similar to those discussed in Chapter 4. While hierarchical communication effects form the basis of DAGMAR, there are other specific communication tasks that advertising might be expected to perform or help accomplish. A major contribution of DAGMAR was Colley’s specification of what constitutes a good objective. Four characteristics of good objectives were noted: • Target audience—a good objective should specify a well-defined target audience. The target audience is usually identified in the situation analysis. • Concrete and measurable—the communications task or objective should be a precise statement of what appeal or message the advertiser wants to communicate to the target audience. The objective should be measurable in that the method and criteria used for determining if it has been properly communicated should be specified. • Benchmark and degree of change sought—another important part of setting objectives is having benchmark measures to determine where the target audience stands at the beginning of the campaign with respect to various communication response variables such as awareness, knowledge, attitudes, image, etc. The objectives should also specify how much change or movement is being sought such as increase in awareness levels, creation of favourable attitudes or number of consumers intending to purchase the brand, etc. • Specified time period—a final characteristic of good objectives is the specification of the time period during which the objective is to be accomplished. The time period should be appropriate for the communication objective as simple tasks such as increasing awareness levels can be accomplished much faster than a complex goal such as repositioning a brand. B. Comprehensive Response Model Applications—Lavidge and Steiner hierarchy of effects model shown in Figure 5-2 is more specific than the DAGMAR model and provides a better way to establish and measure results. This particular model has been used as a basis for analyzing the communication response processes of consumers and has been the foremost application for setting communication objectives. Setting communication objectives with a model like this is the same way that a pyramid is built; by first accomplishing lower-level objectives such as awareness and knowledge or comprehension (see Figure 5-3). Similarly, the information processing model offers an approach for setting objectives, of which specific measures can be applied to assess effectiveness. C. Application Conclusion—Progress on the use of these models in practice by professionals is mixed, and the chapter argues for the importance of adopting a more applied model (e.g., R&P) for managerial decision-making. III. SETTING BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES FOR IMC The R&P’s approach is to have a clear behavioural objective for each target audience in terms of trial, repeat purchase, shopping, and repeat consumption. A. Trial Purchase Objectives—Brand trial purchase is defined as a consumer’s first purchase of a brand. A manager may look to expand sales by setting various trial objectives. A brand trial objective is relevant in many scenarios for virtually any business looking to expand its customer base. A brand re-trial objective occurs when consumers have not bought for some time. Category trial is an option where a manager attracts users to the brand from outside its immediate competitive space within a product category. Finally, switching from another brand is an additional situation where trial may be relevant for a manager. B. Repeat Purchase Objectives— Repeat purchase is defined as a consumer’s continued purchase of a focal brand within a specified time period. Marketing communication tools can influence frequency, amount or timing. C. Shopping Objectives—Action that consumers take that will lead to a higher probability of purchasing the brand are indicative of objectives with respect to shopping that a manager may include in a plan. For example, most people find it imperative to visit a car dealership prior to buying a car. Digital communication has opened the door for marketers to have all sorts of shopping-like experiences that bring their target audiences one step closer to actual purchases. D. Repeat consumption Objectives—For many fast moving goods there is ample inventory within a household, and some marketing communication is designed to encourage continued usage of a product that has been purchased. This is tricky idea that some students have difficulty with as they can mix up buy in with consuming. IV. SETTING COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES FOR IMC R&P summarize four communication effects (Chapter 4) that an ad, advertising campaign, or IMC plan may have on consumers. These are stated as objectives, as follows: A. Category need pertains to whether the target audience feels the need to purchase within the actual product category. Options include omit, remind, or sell. B. Brand awareness is a universal communication objective. This means that every single point of communication should contribute to a target audience’s understanding and knowledge of the brand name. Options include recall, recognition or both recall and recognition. C. Brand attitude is another universal communication objective. Like brand awareness, every aspect of a firm’s IMC program should contribute to some aspect of the overall evaluation of the brand from the perspective of the target audience. Stated as specific benefit, attributes to be communicated. Also, more general beliefs and emotions or affect can also be established. D. Brand purchase intention consists of two options: • Brand purchase intention is assumed. • Brand purchase intention is generated. IV IMC PLANNING: OBJECTIVES FOR BUYER DECISION STAGES One important role of marketing communications is to help the target audience move through the steps of the consumer decision-making process. This process is assessed for each target audience and a conclusion is made as to which communication objectives are most relevant for each stage. Refer to Figure 5-5 as an illustration of how this works. Teaching Suggestions We feel that from an integrated marketing communications planning perspective, this is one of the most important chapters in the text. It is very important for students to understand the importance of setting good objectives to guide the planning and development of an advertising campaign as well as for providing a benchmark or standard against which performance can be measured and evaluated. This chapter stresses the difference between marketing and sales versus communication objectives and behavioural objectives. The DAGMAR model relies heavily on the response hierarchy models discussed in Chapter 3. Students should recognize that the specific communication objectives that are appropriate will vary depending on the buying situation. The DAGMAR model is discussed in detail as a viable approach to setting advertising objectives. A very valuable aspect of Colley’s work on DAGMAR is the specification of characteristics of good objectives which are discussed in the text. While most companies are not going to meet all of the criteria set forth in DAGMAR, it is important that students recognize the characteristics of good objectives. Another important issue to address in discussing this material is the difference between sales versus communication objectives. We discuss the basic characteristics of each, when they are appropriate and problems with using sales and communication objectives. The instructor may want to find some examples of campaigns which have won awards and/or have been very effective from a communications perspective but not in terms of sales. The discussion can focus on the role of advertising and whether there are other problems or factors which may be inhibiting sales. The chapter ends with a description of the behavioural and communication objectives from the Rossiter and Percy perspective that have a few noteworthy features. These place greater importance on the brand manager responsible for promotional communication. Managerial options for each are identified as a guide for making objective-setting recommendations. More specific behavioural objectives, connected to the target audience, are clearly delineated. There is greater importance placed on the central concept of brand attitude that accounts for both cognitive and affective characteristics. The perspective can be used to set objectives for all levels of communication decisions. Vignette 1. Why did Hellmann’s change the focus of the message over time? Hellman’s designated this marketing communication as the “Real Food Movement” and while the idea of a movement may be unexpected in marketing communication for consumer goods, the idea does suggest a broader communication beyond a singular IMC program. A movement would naturally entail an evolution or greater elaboration of the initial message to influence consumers’ behaviour from the first step to subsequent steps. Students may see a similarity with the “Campaign for Real Beauty” since we have a similar word used. However, the word “real” had important brand connotations for Dove as it has been advertised a “beauty” bar for decades, and the association to real beauty appeared an realistic extension since it often showed the bar as being natural for woman. Thus, students might criticize the program as being pretentious or something along these lines. Nevertheless, if the brand wants to start a movement, the message required an idea of growth or development indicating a message change. 2. What behavioural and communication objectives does it appear that Hellman’s achieved? Hellman’s appears to be encouraging trial, moving consumers from food that is less healthy to food that is clearly healthier. This is useful in regards to what is occurring in the food industry at the time, (e.g., McCain’s). All the activities seem strong and innovative for awareness and attitude purposes, and the involving activities likely encourage category need and or purchase intention as consumers are now more involved with the brand. IMC Perspective 5-1 1. Are the ideas expressed regarding good advertising consistent with the response models of advertising? The experts are relatively consistent in supporting the models. There is mention of a clear message to a target audience. There is also an understanding of cognitive and affective responses. Creativity to encourage processing is identified. Behavioural effects in terms of purchase are acknowledged. While managers work in an everyday language, the general concepts of response models are understood, but it is the hope of students to further their careers by working in applied setting yet still make sense from a conceptual point of view when they speak and plan. 2. How is it possible to ensure good advertising with some of the new ideas presented? A key point to make is the universal application of the communication model of Chapter 4 that is applicable with new technology, and that the establishment of communication objectives described in Chapter 5 is required and no matter what changes might occur in the technology to deliver messages. IMC Perspective 5-2 1. Why is it important for promotional planners to consider specific communication tools at each stage of consumer decision making? Consumers have different information needs at each stage of the decision-making process. Certain tools can provide information more easily than others. Consumers also seek different types of brand experiences at each stage and may be keen on emotional involving tools at certain stages compared to others. Since consumers’ communication needs vary at each stage, planners should consider which tool will achieve the right objective at each stage. Chapter 6 Brand positioning strategy decisions Chapter Overview This chapter bridges the strategic orientation of the marketing plan and the copy platform that summarizes the creative strategy decisions of creative specialists. In doing so, it examines the decisions and process associated with the topic of brand positioning strategy. Promotional planners receive direction from the situation analysis and decisions of the strategic marketing plan and must translate that information into communication strategies for its target audiences. In turn, promotional planners must work with creative specialists to ensure that the communication strategies are executed with appropriate creative messages. Brand positioning strategy is a key decision involved that links marketing strategy to creative strategy and is the primary consideration of this chapter. Learning Objectives 1. Identify the concepts of market positioning strategy and market position. 2. Apply the positioning concept in an advertising context by defining brand positioning strategy and brand position. 3. Illustrate how to formulate the brand positioning strategy decisions 4. Demonstrate brand positioning strategy opportunities. 5. Interpret brand positioning strategy decisions in other contexts. Chapter and Lecture Outline I. POSITIONING The first part of the chapter is devoted to reviewing the market positioning concept as a means of understanding the brand positioning concept. The decision-making process for brand positioning is also examined. A. Market Positioning Strategy—A strategic marketing plan evolves from an organization’s overall corporate strategy and serves as a guide for specific marketing programs and policies. From a promotional standpoint, planning specialists use the information contained in the marketing plan to create the promotional plan. A key piece of information is the strategic direction of the marketing mix as suggested by the market positioning strategy. Firms will write a marketing positioning statement in their marketing plan to accurately communicate a market positioning strategy. As the firm develops its market positioning strategy, it may consider many combinations of product attributes that research has shown to be acceptable to the target market. Promotional planners will consider thr market and competitive information in this document to understand the context of the market positioning decisions and the subsequent brand positioning decisions. Positioning has been defined as “the art and science of fitting the product or service to one more segments of the broad market in such a way as to set it meaningfully apart from competition”. Positioning is a guiding idea in the strategic marketing plan that is a result of identifying alternative market opportunities (i.e., areas where the company feels there are favorable demand trends, where customer needs and/or wants are not being satisfied and where it could compete effectively). Market opportunities are usually identified by examining demand trends in various market segments. Implementation of the marketing plan yields varying outcomes. One critical one is the idea of market position, the resulting consumer understanding of where a firm’s product is located in the overall market relative to it main category competitors and related category substitutes. The airline service example in the text attempts to draw these ideas out B. Brand Positioning Strategy—A brand positioning strategy relates to the image of the product or brand relative to a competing brand. It is a key decision prior to determining the most effective message of the advertising or the IMC. The reactions that consumers have to promotions are referred to as the brand position. The brand position is understood along the lines of salient attribute and/of salient benefits and is often diagramed with a diagram illustrating where the brand is in relation to other brands within a given competitive space. C. Brand Positioning Strategy Decision Process— the development of a positioning strategy involves six distinct steps 1. Develop a Market Partition- 2. Determine competitors' positions 3. Assess brand position 4. Determine brand positioning strategy 5. Monitor brand positioning strategy 6. Monitoring the brand positioning strategy II. BRAND POSITIONING STRATEGY DECISIONS A. Market Definition Positioning by end benefit—setting a product apart by stressing a specific characteristic (i.e., attribute) or benefit offered. The Schick example shows how the portrayal of attributes was less important than the claim of particular benefits. While these were seemingly identical, the consumer perceived them much differently. Positioning by brand name—price/quality characteristics are stressed that lead to consumers to conclude that some brands are premium or more basic/mainstream. For example, some products set themselves apart by assuming a very high price/quality association, while others become "price products." Positioning by usage situation—teaching consumers how to use a product in various situations is a way to grow sales for both new and established product as shown in the text. Positioning by product category—the Via Rail example provided in the text in reflects this strategy in which the product is positioned against others that while not exactly the same, provide the same class of benefits. B. Differential Advantage Differential vs Central Positioning While a differential positioning is the classical or typical approach, a newer idea suggest that a brand may not claim benefits in relation to being superior to a competitor, but rather claim as if they are the best in the category with their claim defining the category. This is a less common approach but can be seen with useful examples from brand leaders. A couple of suggestions in the text attempt to support this idea. Brand Benefit vs Users Positioning In this approach, the product is positioned at a particular group of users. The ads provide good examples to demonstrate this strategy in practice as do the examples for the other products identified. C. Target Audience Brand Attitude—Advertising and promotion are used to create favorable attitudes toward new products/services, reinforce or maintain existing favorable attitudes, and/or change negative attitudes. 1. Multiattribute attitude models have been used by marketers to study consumer attitudes. These models view an object such as a product as possessing a number of attributes that provide the basis on which consumers form their attitudes. According to this model consumers have beliefs about specific brand attributes and attach different levels of importance to these attributes. 2. Attitude change strategies—the multiattribute model focuses on the underlying structure or basis of an attitude and provides insight into ways marketers can influence or change consumers’ attitudes such as: • increasing or changing the strength or belief rating of a brand on an important attribute • changing consumers’ perceptions of the importance or value of an attribute • adding new attributes to the attitude formation process • changing perceptions of belief ratings for a competing brand D. Consumer Purchase Motive—this highlights the importance of accounting for consumers motives while positioning advertising messages. Eight more managerially useful motives are suggested that are grouped into two types, informational and transformational. Examples of Canadian companies using each of the eight motives are provided along with an indication of how the more traditional aspects of positioning are also used. Instructors are encouraged to find other examples to illustrate these concepts. • 1. Informational motives are those in which a consumer perceives deficit in the current state and seek a product that will return them to a more “normal” state. • 2. Transformational motives are those in which a consumer perceives themselves to be in a “normal” but desire to be improved or enhance positively through the purchase of a product. III. BRAND REPOSITIONING STRATEGY Declining sales or changes in market conditions or other factors may lead a firm to reposition the brand. The first section identifies critical analysis that led to recent repositioning strategies for many well-known brands. An intention of this section is to illustrate that one key insightful point may be a key driver in the need for a change in the brand positioning strategy. When using marketing communication to reposition, we can consider brand repositioning in the four decision areas, market definition, differential advantage, target audience, purchase motivation. Often times, brands are not planning to change their price point differential or alter the product or move into alternative distribution avenues, yet would like to build sales or gain market share via advertising or some other IMC tool. The examples in the text highlight brands that have successfully respositioned the brand solely through marketing communication. IV IMC PLANNING: BRAND POSITIONING EXTENSIONS The final section shows that unique brand positioning strategies can be developed for specific target audiences. For example, some messages designed to attract new category users would suggest one kind of brand positioning while messages intended to retain existing loyal customers might suggest an alternative brand positioning. The rest of the section extends this idea to suggest that the brand positioning idea can be extended to the different buyer decision making stages and to corporate brands. Teaching Suggestions This reorganized chapter takes students away from a complete review of the marketing process and marketing strategy decisions. Instead, it highlights a few basic marketing points as it examines the strategic communication decision of brand positioning. The transition from a broader market positioning of the marketing strategy to the narrower brand positioning strategy of the IMC plan is challenging to communicate to students. One method is to investigate the distinction between target market and target audience thoroughly. The difference in these concepts distinction is subtle. It is important for instructors to illustrate some of the examples in the text or refer to their own. Naturally, the distinction is difficult to observe practically in some instances, and there may not be any differences for some cases. So it is wise to find examples that are more obvious than ones where it may be less apparent. The chapter has also tried to provide a more structured and theory supported perspective of positioning. Considering the significance of using the positioning concept to set the direction of a communications strategy, instructors can use either of the developments to give stronger grounding for their students. The use of attitude change strategies and the importance of linking the consumer motives to positioning are the two avenues for further explanation. Vignette 1. Why is the focus of the positioning on the barcode so successful for this product category and brand? This example shows how a brand will make a legitimate claim that is believable. The benefit claim fits within the attitude model part of the brand positioning for target audiences who are presumably new category users as the market expanded for these types of products. An additional point to identify is how the creative in advertising or marketing communication is used to make brand benefit claims (or attribute claims) that contribute to the brand positioning strategy. The living barcode clearly conveyed the uniqueness of the product that assisted in the differentiation and allowed the brand to define the market via its brand name; paving the way for a very identifiable positioning. IMC Perspective 6-1 1. Why are these advertising claims so important for marketing these brands of beer? These four examples show how advertising contributes to a brand positioning strategy. Much of the marketing plan of beer remains relatively unchanged year to year compared to the marketing communication, so the message or brand claims become significantly important for differentiation purposes. In short, the benefit claims and mix of IMC tools become the main competitive marketing tools to compete upon. IMC Perspective 6-2 1. Does it make sense for G to represent the brand beyond the attribute of hydration? The marketing strategy for G took a new direction and represents an alternative market positioning strategy. This is mostly an opinion issue that students can take sides upon based on interpretation of a couple of situational facts, but a key point to emphasize is that the brand positioning from a target audience perspective presented many interesting avenues for G. The brand took an unexpected direction by moving to a new sport to promote; something which other brands have done. 2. What potential risks will G encounter with this new move? An important risk is that many consumers may not fully accept the innovation and still believe the brand is for hydration, thus wasting significant resources. Considering the maturity of the product category, the potential for no innovation may be just as costly and new consumers entering the category could gravitate to other brands, eventually eroding the 70% share. Chapter 7 Creative strategy decisions Chapter Overview Promotional planners receive direction from the situation analysis and decisions of the strategic marketing plan and must translate that information into communication strategies for its target audiences. Further, promotional planners must work with creative specialists to ensure that the communication strategies are executed with appropriate creative messages. This chapter is devoted to the specific creative strategy decisions in advertising; creative theme, message appeal, and source characteristics. Approaches used for determining the creative theme that forms the basis of an advertising campaign are described. Different types of message appeals are presented and theoretical conclusions from academic research are provided. Adaptation of a model of source characteristics and its implication for advertising is explored. Learning Objectives 1. Summarize the idea and importance of creativity in an advertising context. 2. Describe the creative strategy planning process. 3. Identify the approaches used for determining the creative theme that forms the basis of an advertising campaign. 4. Summarize the different types of message appeals that advertisers use to persuade their target audience. 5. Identify the source or communicator options a marketer has for a promotional message. 6. Apply source and message appeal options for different ad executions. Chapter and Lecture Outline One of the most important components of an integrated marketing communications program is the advertising message. There are a myriad of ways to convey an advertising message, however, underlying the messages is a creative strategy determining what the advertising message will communicate and creative tactics dealing with how the message strategy will be executed. The focus of this chapter is on the development of creative strategy while tactical issues are covered in Chapter 8. I. ADVERTISING CREATIVITY It is relevant to define the concept of creativity and explain its importance to see how it is a critical part of the promotional program. We examine the concept of creativity in general and see how it works in advertising. A. Definition of Advertising Creativity—creativity is one of the most commonly used terms in advertising as those who develop advertising messages are referred to as “creative specialists”. Advertising agencies develop reputations for their creativity. So much attention is focused on the concept of creativity because the major challenge given to those who develop advertising messages is to be creative. Creativity has been defined as “a quality possessed by persons that enables them to generate novel approaches in situations, generally reflected in new and improved solutions to problems.” We are concerned with advertising creativity, which refers to “the ability to generate fresh, unique and appropriate ideas that can be used as effective solutions to communications issues.” Creative advertising ideas that are appropriate and effective require relevance and divergence. Relevance pertains to ad to consumer relevance and brand to consumer relevance so that processing and communication effects can take hold. Ads that hold no relevance for consumers are typically avoided or ignored. Seemingly in contrast though, divergence is important to break through the clutter of competing ads by as it offers a novel or unexpected scenario via originality, flexibility, elaboration, synthesis, artistic expression. B. Importance of Advertising Creativity—Perspectives of what constitutes creativity in advertising vary. At one extreme are the “suits” or “rationalists” who argue that advertising is creative only if it sells the product or service. At the other end of the continuum are the “poets” who judge creativity in terms of its artistic or aesthetic value and argue that creative advertising must be novel, original and unique. The answer as to what constitutes creative in advertising is probably somewhere between these two extreme positions. The creative side of advertising is one of its most interesting aspects. The creative strategy used to communicate an advertising message is an integral part of the promotional process and is often critical to the success or failure of the campaign. Numerous examples or cases can be cited of how a good creative strategy was an important factor in determining the success of a product or service or reversing the fortunes of a struggling brand. Attention must also be given to the issue of creative versus effective advertising as ads may be critically acclaimed from a creative perspective but fail to help the sales of the brand. Differing views of advertising creativity are seen among creative specialists as art directors and copy-writers can disagree on this matter, in addition, advertisers, students and the general public often differ in their views on creativity. Research concludes that processing effects and communication effects are two key indicators of effective creativity. II. PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY Those who work on the creative side of advertising often face a major challenge. They must take all the research, creative briefs, strategy statements, communication objectives and other inputs and transform them into an advertising message. Their job is to write copy, design layouts and illustrations and produce commercials that communicate effectively. Marketers often hire advertising agencies to develop and implement their advertising campaigns because they are specialists in the creative function of advertising and are prepared for the creative challenge. However, it is important to point out that the development of creative strategy also involves representatives from the client side and other people in the agency as well as the creative staff. Planning creative strategy follows a general process that guides the development of the advertising campaign. Various types of research and information provide input and insight into the creative process. We discuss the concept of copy platforms that summarize the creative strategy recommendations of the creative specialists that guide the development of advertising campaigns. A. Creative Challenge—individuals who work on the creative side of advertising have the responsibility of developing an effective way of communicating the marketer’s message to their customers. The creative person or team is often provided with a great deal of input and background information on the target audience, such as their demographics, needs and motives, and communication objectives. However, every marketing situation is different and requires a unique approach. Creative people in agencies may argue that they often follow proven approaches or formulas when creating ads because they are safe and less likely to fail. They note that their clients are very often risk averse and feel uncomfortable with advertising that is too different. It is important to note that companies who have very creative advertising are more willing to assume some risk. However, managers are more comfortable with advertising that is straightforward in communicating with customers and gives them a reason to buy. B. Creative Process—advertising people have argued that creativity in advertising is best viewed as a process and that creative success is most likely when some organized approach is followed. While most advertising people reject and/or resist attempts to standardize creativity or develop rules or guidelines to follow, most creative people do follow some type of process when approaching the task of developing an advertisement. There are several models or approaches to the creative process including those of James Webb Young, a former creative vice president at the J. Walter Thompson agency, which suggests that creative thought evolves in four stages Preparation. Read background information Incubation. Get away and let ideas develop Illumination. See the light or solution Verification. Refine the idea and see if it is an appropriate solution. Models of the creative process offer an organized way of approaching an advertising problem. These models stress the need for preparation or gathering of background information that is relevant to the problem as the first step in the creative process. A key factor is also the involvement of all participants including client personnel, creative specialist and account planners. C. Account Planning—account planner drive the creative process from the perspective of the client and coordinate the research so that creative and media specialists have sufficient information to make decisions that are effective for the client’s needs. D. Research in the Creative Process—specific research occurs at each of the stages of the creative process. There are numerous ways the creative specialist can acquire background information that is relevant to the advertising problem. Some of those discussed in the text include • General preplanning input—informal fact-finding techniques and general preplanning input. Various ways of gathering background information might be discussed. • Product/service specific preplanning input—this involves different types of studies, usually quantitative, such as attitude, market structure and positioning, perceptual mapping and psychographic studies. • Qualitative research—techniques such as in-depth interview or focus groups with customers or ethnographic studies. Focus groups are a research method whereby consumers (usually 10 to 12 people) from the target audience are led through a discussion regarding a particular topic. • Evaluative research—at the verification stage of the creative process specialists evaluate ideas that come from the first stage, reject any that may be inappropriate, and refine those that remain and help give them final expression. Some of the techniques used at this stage include: directed focus groups, message communication studies, portfolio tests, pretesting of ads in storyboard or animatic form E. Creative Brief—a creative brief provides a plan or checklist that is useful in guiding the development of an advertising message or campaign. This document is prepared by the agency team or group assigned to the account and may include creative personnel as well as the account coordinator and representatives from media and research. The advertising manager and/or the marketing and product manager from the client side will also be involved in the process and must approve the copy platform. An example of a copy platform outline is shown in Figure 7-2. F. Advertising Campaign—a main characteristic of a campaign is multiple executions to tell the story of the brand and to allow consumers an understanding of the brand message. Generally, a minimum of three executions are run for marketing communication to be considered a campaign in comparison to a singular ad placement. This notion of three is not proven, but generally understood and is more of a practical suggestion based on observation. III. CREATIVE THEME Most advertisements are part of a series of messages that make up an advertising campaign, which consists of multiple messages, often in a variety of media that centre on a single theme. The creative theme is a critical decision as it sets the direction for the development of the individual ads that make up the campaign that should reflect the market positioning strategy and establish the brand positioning strategy for the intended target audience. A campaign theme should be a strong idea, as it is the central message that will be communicated in all the advertising and other promotional activities. A. Origin of Creative Theme—an important part of creative strategy development is determining the central theme that will become the big idea for the ad campaign. There are several different approaches that can be used for developing the big idea and as the basis of creative strategy. Some of the best known and most discussed approaches include: 1. The unique selling proposition—this concept is described in Rosser Reeve’s Reality in Advertising. It’s three characteristics include: • each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer • the proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer • the proposition must be strong enough to pull over new customers to your brand 2. Creating a brand image—some competing brands are so similar it is difficult to find or create a unique attribute or benefit so the creative strategy is based on the development of a strong, memorable identity for the brand through image advertising. 3. Finding the inherent drama—Leo Burnett believed advertising should be based on a foundation of consumer benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing these benefits. 4. Positioning—the basic idea is that advertising is used to establish or “position” the product or service in a particular place in the consumer’s mind. Positioning is often the basis of a firm’s creative strategy when it has multiple brands competing in the same market. These approaches to determining the major creative theme discussed above are very popular and are often used as the basis of the creative strategy for advertising campaigns. These creative approaches represent specific “creative styles” that have become associated with some of the most successful advertising creative minds and their agencies. However, it should be pointed out that other creative approaches and styles are available and are often used in advertising. B. Campaign Slogans—The campaign theme is usually expressed through a slogan or tagline which briefly summarizes the idea in a few “catchy” words. Guidance on the selection of the best type of slogan are connected to brand attitude, brand awareness, strategic direction or aestethics. C. Creative Consistency—it is generally recognized that successful creative themes tend to have consistency so that the target audience instantly understands that it is connected to a specific brand and when a particular execution is part of its respective campaign. The issue of consistency is summarized with examples in terms of time, executions, media, promotional tools and products. Of course there are also situations where companies struggle to find a creative formula that works effectively. D. Canadian Creative Themes—the essence of a Canadian edition is captured in this part of the chapter that attempts to illustrate the importance and the success of unique creative themes for brands marketed in Canada. Instructors can raise the issue as to whether students agree with the conclusions of the culture research and whether the results imply the need for unique Canadian creative themes. A description of the Canadian awards can be contrasted with international competitions or merely described and winners shown, so that students are familiar with success. IV. MESSAGE APPEALS The message appeal refers to the basis or approach used in the advertisement to elicit some consumer response or to influence their feelings toward the product, service, or cause. At the broadest level, these approaches can be broken down into rational appeals and emotional appeals. A. Rational appeal—this type of appeal focuses on the consumer's practical, functional or utilitarian need for the product or service and/or specific reason for owning a particular brand. Examples of a product- or service-related appeal that would fall under the category of a rational appeal are discussed including: • Feature appeal • Comparative appeal • Price appeal • News appeal • Popularity appeal • Reminder appeal B. Emotional appeal—this type of appeal relates to consumers' social and/or psychological needs for purchasing a product or service. Emotional appeals are popular as marketers observe via research that many purchase decisions are made on the basis of feelings and emotions since rational, functional-based differentiation between brands may be difficult. Examples of negative and positive emotions that can serve as a basis for an emotional appeal are shown in Figure 7-3 of the text and can be reviewed. C. Fear appeal—is used to create anxiety in the audience and arouse individuals to take action. Fear can stress negative consequences that may occur if behaviour is not altered such as ads that warn people not to smoke or drink and drive. Fear can also be used through the threat of social disapproval or rejection that an individual might suffer if s/he does not use a particular product or service (such as deodorant, mouthwash or dandruff shampoo). A fear appeal can have facilitating effects by attracting attention and interest to a message and motivating the receiver to act to resolve the problem presented in the ad. However, high levels of fear can have inhibiting effects whereby the receiver may emotionally block out the message by tuning it out, selectively perceiving it or counterarguing against it. The nonmonotonic relationship between fear and persuasion is shown in Figure 7-4 and should be discussed. Attention is also given to an alternative approach to the curvilinear explanation of fear—the protection motivation model. D. Humour appeal—are used for a number of reasons including attracting and holding consumers’ attention, putting them in a favorable mood, creating affect that may transfer to the product or service being advertised, and reduce counterarguing by serving as a distracter. Problems with a humourous appeal include the possibility of drawing attention to the ad but at the expense of message content. Effective humour is also difficult to create and execute. Many advertisers prefer to use hard-sell rational appeals rather than spending their ad budgets to entertain consumers. Top advertising executives’ opinions of the pros and cons of humour are summarized in Figure 7-5 and should be discussed. E. Combined Rational and Emotional Appeal—purchase decisions are often made on the basis of both rational and emotional considerations. Thus rational and emotional appeals may be combined in the advertisement to attempt to influence both types of purchase motives. Sometimes, teaser advertising combines both rational and emotional appeals by talking about a brand but not actually showing it to build curiosity, interest, and/or excitement about a brand. V. SOURCE CHARACTERISTICS The source of a marketing communication can be viewed as a multifaceted concept since many types of sources can be included in a promotional situation. We will use the term source to mean the person who is involved in the communication of a promotional message in either a direct or indirect manner. A direct source is a spokesperson that delivers a promotional message, demonstrates a product or service, and/or endorses a product or service. Spokespeople used in advertisements or a company’s sales representatives are examples of direct sources. An indirect source does not actually deliver a message but rather is used to draw attention to or enhance the appearance of a promotional message. Decorative models are a good example of an indirect source. Most of the theory and research associated with the study of source factors deal with the characteristics of individuals as communicators of a persuasive message and how they influence communication effectiveness. This is the approach we use to examine source characteristics. The characteristics of the source often have a significant impact on the effect of their sales and advertising message. A useful framework for examining source characteristics is the classification scheme developed by Herbert Kelman. This scheme recognizes three basic categories of source attributes with each involving a different process by which the source influences attitudinal or behavioural change in the message recipient. A. Source Credibility—refers to the extent to which the source is perceived as having knowledge, skill or experience relevant to the communication topic and can be trusted to give an unbiased opinion or present objective information on the issue. Information from a credible source can influence beliefs, opinions, attitudes, and/or behaviour through a process known as internalization whereby the receiver desires to have an objectively correct or “right” position on an issue. 1. Source expertise is an important dimension of credibility through spokespeople such as doctors or professionals who endorse a brand. Celebrities may be seen as experts in some instances (e.g., sport equipment). Authoritative spokespeople with certain a certain demeanor may also be perceived as experts. 2. Trustworthiness is another important dimension of credibility through spokespeople who demonstrate characteristics in which the message would be more believable. Using corporate leaders as spokespeople—companies believe the use of their president or CEO is the ultimate expression of the company’s commitment to quality and customer service. 3. Limitations of credible sources—In some situations a high-credibility source may be less effective than a moderate- or low-credibility source such as when the receiver has a favorable initial attitude or opinion. In this situation the use of a highly credible source may lead the receiver to attribute his or her opinion to the source rather than the message being communicated. However when a moderate- or low-credibility source is used, the receiver cannot really attribute his or her attitude or opinion to the source. The sleeper effect phenomenon is another reason why a low-credibility source may be just as effective as a source high in credibility. B. Source Attractiveness—a commonly used source characteristic in advertising and personal selling is that of attractiveness. Attractiveness also has several sub-components including similarity, familiarity and likability. The process through which attractiveness leads to persuasion is identification whereby the receiver seeks some type of relationship with the source by adopting a similar position. 1. Similarity—marketers recognize that people are more likely to be influenced by a message coming from someone with whom they feel a sense of similarity. A common cognitive response to ads with a similar person as the target audience is something along the lines of “I can see myself in that situation”. Ads with a similarity source characteristic often feature a person who looks like an “everyday” person.. 2. Likability—marketers use source characteristics that enhance the brand in every imaginable way such as looks, personality or behaviour. A common technique used by advertisers to draw attention to an ad and enhance its effectiveness is the use of a physically attractive model. Often these models are used in a passive or “decorative” manner rather than as active communicators. A number of factors must be considered in using decorative models such as whether they are appropriate or relevant to the product or service being advertised and whether they will draw attention to the ad but not the product or advertising message. 3. Familiarity—advertisers have long recognized the value of using celebrities such as television and movie stars, athletes, musicians or other popular figures to endorse their products and services. Celebrities are used because they have “stopping power” due to their familiarity and draw attention to advertising messages. Another reason is the expectation that the respect, popularity, and/or admiration the celebrity enjoys will influence consumers’ feelings and, of course, their purchase behaviour toward the brand the celebrity is endorsing. Familiarity is also observed with people or situations that are common, like the typical office worker or a normal family situation. 4. Issues in using celebrities—Despite the prevalence of using a celebrity, a number of factors must be considered in using celebrities as a spokesperson such as: a. Overshadowing the product—while a celebrity may draw attention to an ad, consumers may focus on the celebrity rather than the product or service and the advertising message. b. Overexposure—consumers generally recognize that celebrities endorse a product or service because they are paid to do so. When a celebrity endorses a number of products s/he may become over exposed and lose credibility. c. Target audience’s Receptivity—attention must be given to the target audience and whether the celebrity is appropriate for the consumers in this market. For example, younger consumers may be more impressed by celebrities than older people. d. Risk for Advertiser—a risk to the brand occur if the celebrity’s behavior is inappropriate in some manner that is not agreeable to the target audience. 5. The meaning of celebrity endorsers—advertisers should use celebrities who are connected in some way to the product or services they are endorsing. This means that marketers must understand the image and meaning a celebrity projects to consumers. An insightful perspective on celebrity endorsement based on meaning transfer has been developed by McCracken. His model, which is shown in Figure 7-6 of the text, suggests that a celebrity’s effectiveness as an endorser depends on the culturally acquired meaning he or she brings to the endorsement process. Celebrities draw these meanings from the roles they assume in their entertainment or athletic careers. The model suggests that celebrity endorsers bring their meanings into the advertisement and transfer them to the products they are endorsing. These meanings are then in turn transferred to the consumer when they purchase a product or service. The implications of the meaning transfer model should be discussed. Current examples of celebrities whose image is capitalized on by marketers who use them in their ads should be noted. VI. IMC PLANNING: MESSAGE AND SOURCE COMBINATIONS Examples are highlighted where advertisers use varying combinations of source and message appeals thus suggesting a planning template shown in Figure 7-9. The idea of the IMC planning section is to indicate the variety of choices promotional planners have within the basic creative strategy concepts. Teaching Suggestions For many students the most interesting aspect of advertising and promotion is the creative side. Most students really do not have an appreciation for what is involved in the development of an advertising campaign. They may think that the development of a campaign and individual messages involves only the agency creative department. It is important to stress the fact that the development of a campaign involves numerous individuals from both the other departments of the agency as well as on the client side. Since the creative message is so critical to the goals of so many parties involved, and since the creative has a significant connection to positioning, this chapter has attempted to demonstrate the connection more obviously than other texts. Many students will not end up being directly involved in the design and creation of advertisements. However, creative strategy is often critical to the success of the firm’s integrated marketing communications efforts. Thus, it is important that everyone involved with the marketing and promotional program have some understanding of the creative process that underlies the development of advertising messages, as well as the creative options available to the advertiser. Some interesting discussion can be generated over the issues of what constitutes creative advertising. Students might be asked to debate the different perspectives of advertising creativity. One side can take the “its only creative if it sells” position versus the “aesthetic, novelty/uniqueness” perspective. Some discussions can also be generated over the issue of creative risk taking and just how much latitude the client should give the agency when it comes to creating the advertising message. This chapter is devoted to the three primary decisions that constitute the creative strategy. It is important to make sure the basis definitions are communicated, but it is especially important to investigate actual ads for two purposes. First, students generally need help identifying the decisions that an advertiser has used in a print ad for example. Thus, basic comprehension questions can be asked with relevant examples. Second, instructors should explain or generate discussion on the reasons why the advertiser might have made their decision and how the ads in question would be appropriate for achieving communication effects and for reinforcing the brand positioning strategy. Lecture and discussion should definitely use as many examples as possible. Vignette 1. Why is an emotional connection to a car brand so important? Car purchases and ownership have considerable rational and emotional evaluations associated, so it is expected to find marketing communication laden with emotional content. This is especially true for TV ads for cars since one primary purpose is to encourage dealer visits for a test drive and salesperson interaction. Additionally, these VW ads would likely resonate with current owners and re-confirm their emotional attachment to their VW. Attitudes are comprised with cognition and emotion components as Chapter 4 and 5 illustrated, so car brands like VW will always have a strong emotional messages to influence this important communication objective. 2. Why is it valuable for VW to have many different creative themes across all of its brands? The creative theme contributes to the brand position so if each VW model has a unique brand positioning strategy, this would suggest that that each brand will have its own creative theme. Some car brands have a consistent theme across all their models since there is more a car brand positioning occurring vs. model positioning. This question illustrates how marketing communication influences the brand strategy that car manufacturers pursue and instructors are encouraged to look across multiple brands to uncover what is occurring on this point. IMC Perspective 7-1 1. Does the evolution of Telus’ creative theme make sense based on its past success? We continue to have Telus examples in the book as it is one of the longest running creative campaigns in Canadian history. And the almost unprecedented movement from one brand name to another makes this case quite fascinating. Some might contend that the imagery had worn out and that Telus had no choice but to venture in new directions, while others might contend that there are so many animals which allow Telus to continue this on indefinitely. As the new messaging shows, Telus decided that an evolution in the creative theme was deemed necessary. Given the importance of competing on service with an undifferentiated product, one might suggest that it is a good step. Allow students to debate and bring out points regarding processing, communication effects, brand positioning. IMC Perspective 7-2 1. Do changes to the name and focus of the Cannes awards festival make it more or less enticing for an advertising agency to enter? One would likely argue that the changes are more attractive for agencies since there are more avenues for demonstrating their talent. With Canadian entry fees hitting $600,000, it appears that agencies are gravitating to the new format. An emphasis on creativity is an important step since it recognizes the value of unique message delivery in multiple formats. Another factor to consider is that as other media are added, the Cannes Lions distances itself away from the Cannes Film Festival, making it a much more unique event for the marketing communication industry. Most people will likely agree that the changes are welcomed by providing more opportunities for exposure of fine creative work. Chapter 8 Creative tactics decisions Chapter Overview This chapter summarizes three decisions that are critical when developing creative tactics: execution style, message structure and design elements. The chapter then presents a framework for creative specialists and marketers to help them make the appropriate decisions for the creative tactics. The framework uses the target audience’s attitude as the key factor when deciding upon the correct execution style, message structure and design. Learning Objectives 1. Analyze the creative execution styles that advertisers can use and the situations where they are most appropriate. 2. Explain different types of message structures that can be used to develop a promotional message. 3. Express design elements involved in the creation of print advertising, video, and audio messages. 4. Apply a planning model for making creative tactics decisions. 5. Illustrate how clients evaluate the creative work of their agencies and discuss guidelines for the evaluation and approval process. Chapter and Lecture Outline I. EXECUTION STYLE Creative execution style refers to the manner in which an advertising appeal is carried out or presented. A particular advertising appeal can be executed in a variety of ways and a particular means of execution can be applied to a variety of advertising appeals. Usually, execution techniques are combined in presenting an advertising message. For example, slice-of-life ads are often used to demonstrate a product or make brand comparisons. Some of the more commonly used execution techniques include: A. Straight-sell—relies on a straightforward presentation of information about the product or service such as specific attributes or benefits. B. Scientific/technical evidence—a variation of the straight sell where scientific or technical evidence or information is presented in the ad to support a claim. C. Demonstration—is designed to illustrate the key advantages or benefits of a product or service by showing it in actual use or in some contrived or staged situation. D. Comparison—involves a direct or indirect comparison of a brand against the competition. E. Testimonial—whereby a person speak on behalf of the product or service based on his or her personal use of and/or experiences with it. F. Slice of life—shows a real-life situation involving a problem, conflict or situation consumers may face in their daily lives. The ad then focuses on showing how the advertiser's product or service can resolve the problem. G. Animation—uses characters or scenes drawn by artists or on computer. Animation is often used as an execution technique for advertising targeted at children. H. Personality symbol—involves the use of a central character or personality symbol to deliver the advertising message and with which the product or service can be identified. The personality symbol can be a person who is used as a spokesperson, animated characters or animals. I. Imagery—shows an imaginary situation or illusion involving a consumer and the product or service. Cosmetic companies often use imagery executions although the technique has also been used in advertising for other products such as automobiles and beer. J. Dramatization—creates a suspenseful situation or scenario in the form of a short story. Dramatizations often use the problem/solution approach as they show how the advertised brand can help resolve a problem. K. Humour—can be used as the basis for an advertising appeal, however, it can also be used as a way of executing the message and presenting other types of advertising appeals. II. MESSAGE STRUCTURE The manner in which marketing communications are presented is very important in determining their effectiveness. Consideration must be given not only to message content, but also to how the information will be structured for presentation. A number of message structure considerations are discussed including: A. Order of presentation—should important message points or arguments be placed at the beginning of the message, in the middle or at the end? A primacy effect suggests that the information placed at the beginning of the message is most effective while a recency effect suggests that the arguments at the end are most effective. B. Conclusion drawing—should a message draw an explicit conclusion for the audience or allow them to form their own conclusions? Research has shown that, in general, messages with explicit conclusions are more easily understood and effective. However, some studies show that the effectiveness of conclusion drawing may depend on the target audience, the type of issue and nature of the situation. C. Message sidedness—should a marketing communication use a one-sided message whereby only positive attributes or benefits of a product or service are mentioned or a two-sided message where both strong and weak points or attributes are presented. D. Verbal/Visual Balance—both the verbal and nonverbal or visual portions of an advertisement influence the way an advertising message is processed. Verbal or copy aspects of the message are important in conveying rational or factual messages while nonverbal or visual elements of an ad are important for developing emotional and image based associations. III. DESIGN ELEMENTS FOR IMC TOOLS Once the creative strategy and initial creative tactics decisions have been determined, attention turns to creating the actual advertisement. The design and production of an advertising message involves a number of activities such as writing copy, developing illustrations and other visual elements of the ad and bringing all of the pieces together in a finished product. A. Design for Print Message—three basic components of a print ad include the headline, body copy, and the visual elements or illustrations. These elements are brought together through a layout. 1. Headlines—the headline refers to the words in the leading position of the advertisement—those that are likely to be read first or are positioned to draw the most attention. The most important function of a headline is to attract the readers’ attention and make them interested in the remainder of the advertising message. There are various types of headlines including: • Direct headlines – straightforward and informative in terms of the message presented • Indirect headlines—provoke curiosity and intrigue by using questions, challenges, provocations, and other methods 2. Subheads—ads also contain a main headline and one or more secondary headlines or subheads. These subheads usually appear in a smaller type size than the main headline and are generally larger the type size used for the body copy. They are used to break-up or section off large amount of body copy and highlight key sales points in the ad. 3. Body copy—the main text portion of a print ad is referred to as the body copy. Body copy content depends on the type of advertising appeal and/or execution style being used. 4. Visual elements—another major component of a print ad is the visual elements or illustrations. Visual components often dominate print advertising and play a very important role in determining effectiveness. 5. Layout—a layout refers to the physical arrangement of the parts of the ad including the headline, subheads, illustrations, body copy and any identifying marks. B. Design for Video Message—video messages have several components which must work together to create the right impact and communicate the advertiser's message. 1. Video—video or visual elements are what are seen on the screen. Decisions have to be made regarding the main focus of the visual such as the product, the presenter, action sequences, lighting graphics, color and other factors. 2. Audio—the audio portion includes several elements such as voice, music and sound effects. Voices may be heard through the direct presentation of a spokesperson or as a dialogue or conversation among people in the commercial. A common method for presenting the audio portion of a commercial is through a voice-over whereby the message is delivered or action on the screen is narrated by the voice of an announcer who is not visible. A trend among major advertisers is to hire celebrities with distinctive voices to do the voiceovers for their commercials. Music—a very important part is music which plays various roles and functions such as providing a pleasant background or helping create the appropriate mood or setting. Another important musical element is jingles, which are catchy songs about a product or service that usually carry the advertising theme and a simple message. 3 Production of Video Messages—various elements are brought together in a document known as a script which is a written version of a video message that provides a detail description of its video and audio content. The script indicates the audio components such as the copy to be spoken by voices, music and sound effects. The video portion of the script provides the visual plan. Once the basic script has been conceived, the writer and art director get together to produce a storyboard or a series of drawings used to present the visual plan or layout of a proposed commercial. Once the client approves the storyboard, the message is ready to move to the production process involving three phases; preproduction, production, postproduction. C. Design for Audio Message—audio messages have components which must work together to create the right impact and communicate the advertiser's message. Audio messages are traditionally heard with radio, but technological advancements are making them more prevalent in other domains like podcasts etc. 1. Verbal—the message is organized and structured much like the body copy in a print ad or the dialogue in a video message, however a number of styles are used to fit the verbal only format of audio ads. 2. Sound—the sound portion includes several elements such as voice, music and sound effects, with the latter two becoming very critical for branding purposes. IV. FRAMEWORKS FOR CREATIVE TACTICSs Two models are presented that guide the decision for selecting the most appropriate creative tactics. A. FCB Planning Model—An advertising planning model known as the FCB grid delineates four primary advertising planning strategies – informative, affective, habit formation, and satisfaction – along with the most appropriate variant of the alternative response hierarchies (Figure 8-3). B. The R&P Planning Model—The R&P perspective was discussed in previous chapters. Another part of their framework concerns recommendations for creative tactics which are as follows: 1. Brand Awareness Tactics—the first consideration is that the R&P model argues that brand awareness is a necessary precursor to brand attitude. 2. Brand Attitude Grid Tactics—The R&P view of consumer attitudes is also framed as a matrix with the dimensions of involvement and motivation. The creative tactics recommendations for the four brand attitude cells are as follows: 3. Low Involvement—Informational Creative Tactics—ads should have a very obvious benefit claim with an unusual execution style. 4. Low Involvement—Transformational Creative Tactics—three emotional portrayal guidelines are critical for this type of attitude. 5. High Involvement—Informational Creative Tactics—illustrates the importance of information as high involvement implies the requirement of considerable and accurate benefit claims. 6. High Involvement—Transformational Creative Tactics—persuasion through this type of attitude formation requires strong emphasis of the emotion. V. IMC PLANNING: GUIDELINES FOR CREATIVE EVALUATION While the creative specialists determine the advertising appeal and execution style that will be used in the campaign, the client must evaluate and approve the creative approach before any ads are actually produced. A number of different people on the client side may be involved in evaluating and approving the creative work of the agency. The amount and influence of these individuals will depend on the company's organization and policies, the importance of the product to the company, the role of advertising in the marketing program, and the nature of the advertising approach being recommended. There are two basic stages in the development of advertising—creation and production. Once the creative approach has been determined and approved, the attention turns to the production process, which involves a variety of functions needed to produce the ad or commercial and put it into a finished form suitable for use by the media. The client will have the opportunity to review the final version of the advertisement after the production stage. However, it is important that a careful evaluation be made before the ad actually enters production as this stage requires a substantial investment of time and money. There are a number of guidelines that personnel on the client side might use to evaluate the creative approaches suggested by the agency. Some of the most important and basic criteria or guidelines that might be used in evaluating creative approaches are discussed in the text and include the following: • Is the creative approach consistent with the brand's marketing and advertising objectives? • Is the creative approach consistent with the communication objectives? • Is the creative approach appropriate for the target audience? • Does the creative approach communicate a clear and convincing message to the customer? • Does the creative approach keep from overwhelming the message? • Is the creative approach appropriate for the media environment in which it is likely to be seen? • Is the ad truthful and tasteful? Teaching Suggestions Nearly every student has an opinion about the quality and effectiveness of ads and those that they feel are particularly good or bad. Students should enjoy reading this chapter and learning about the execution styles that can be used by advertisers. An interesting way of beginning the lecture on creative tactics is to ask the students to name the TV commercial or print ad they would rate as the "most outstanding" one they have seen lately. You might then ask them how they think their list of top commercials would compare against that of ad critics. Publications such as Marketing Magazine pick the best ads each year and feature them in special editions. This chapter does not go into a great amount of detail regarding the process of creating and producing the advertisement. If more detail is desired on areas such as art and layout, copywriting or print and broadcast production students might be referred to a more traditional advertising principles book such as Contemporary Advertising by William F. Arens. There are also numerous books available on the creative process such as Creative Strategy in Advertising by A. Jerome Jeweler and Bonnie L. Drewniany and Creative Advertising: Theory and Practice by Sandra E. Moriarty. Students interested in specific areas of the creative process such as copywriting or layout can be referred to some of the books in these areas such as The Design of Advertising by Roy Paul Nelson, Advertising Copywriting by Philip Ward Burton and Fundamentals of Copy & Layout by Albert C. Book and C. Dennis Schick. Vignette 1. What execution style does Skittles appear to be using these “interactive ads”? The absurd activities occurring in the “ads” makes humour the most obvious execution style. A related issue to examine is whether these internet messages are akin to TV commercials allowing us to use the same terminology of execution style to identify a critical creative tactic decision. Naturally the answer to this is a resounding yes since creative specialists refer to all message placements as “executions” and no matter what kind of message or its delivery; there remains a style pertaining to it. This point is important to make as the blurring of media continues, but the essence of advertising principles are consistent. While arguing a humour execution style is realistic, and follow-up point is what kind of message appeal is used. Interestingly, one might argue a rational appeal since the focus in on the rainbow signifying the many flaovers of the candy. 2. Why is this execution style a good idea for a brand like Skittles? The execution style fits perfectly for a low involvement-transformational ad, a unique executional style that is implied very extremely, a singular benefit of flavour repeated many times, and a humourous execution for the target audience to like. IMC Perspective 8-1 1. What is the motivation for consumers to participate in making an ad? Behind the excitement of brands adopting user-generated content for its advertising messages is the fact that very few consumers actually participate in such activities. The numbers participating are an extremely small number compared to the number of consumers who actually purchase from the brand. Many participants in some contests such as Doritos were people who are trying to break into the advertising industry as a career. No doubt, some consumers are genuinely happy as consumers of the brand and see the idea of sending video as a self-expression of some kind. As such, students will likely see this as a self-actualization motive. Alternatively, if consumers brag about having their video selected, students might argue for a social approval motive. In this respect, brands might be cautioned about using such content as it is not a genuine connection for purchasing and consuming the brand. 2. Are the consumers participating in the development of ads customers of the brands? The first answer addressed this to some degree as we can expect some consumers looking for career aspirations while others are clearly consumers of the brand and look for some kind of recognition. In all likelihood, some consumers may actually see themselves as brand ambassadors, although it seems unlikely they would be using this kind of terminology unless they studied marketing. IMC Technology Perspective 8-1 1. When someone clicks on an interactive TV ad, is this experience like watching a TV ad, or like watching the brand’s video message on a video-hosting website? Processing messages in our newer multi-media environment is new and fascinating topic that this open-ended question explores. Certainly we are at the forefront of trying to figure out answers to this and other related questions. Student opinions are welcomed, and instructors are encouraged to broaden the discussion to other media including mobile devices etc. Chapter 9 Measuring the effectiveness of the promotional message Chapter Overview This chapter discusses one of the most critical—yet controversial—issues in all of IMC. While it seems perfectly logical that managers on both the agency and client side would like to know whether the programs they have implemented are effective, in reality the majority of IMC programs go untested. Compounding this is the fact that many of those programs that are evaluated use inadequate or inappropriate measures in making this determination. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss why organizations need to measure the effectiveness of their programs, and when, where and how such measures should be used. The chapter begins with a discussion of the reasons why advertising effectiveness measures should be taken and why they commonly are not. How, when, what, and where such measures should be used follows, with a description of many of the techniques commonly used. The chapter concludes with a discussion of some of the problems involved in measuring the effectiveness of IMC programs and establishes some of the essentials for proper testing. Learning Objectives 1. Identify the reasons for measuring promotional program effectiveness. 2. Describe the measures used in assessing promotional program effectiveness. 3. Evaluate alternative methods for measuring promotional program effectiveness. 4. Appraise requirements of proper effectiveness research. Chapter and Lecture Outline I. THE MEASURING ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS DEBATE A. Reasons for Measuring Advertising Effectiveness—three major reasons are offered: 1. avoid costly mistakes 2. evaluate alternative strategies 3. increase the efficiency of advertising in general 4. determine if objectives are achieved B. Reasons for Not Measuring Advertising Effectiveness—four major reasons are offered: 1. high cost of conducting research 2. problems with research measures used 3. disagreement as to what to test 4. objections from creative people While some of these arguments have merit, others result from excuse making, politics, or a lack of understanding of the value associated with conducting such research. II. DECISIONS FOR MEASURING ADVERISING EFFECTIVENESS This section discusses how research to measure effectiveness should be conducted. More specifically, it addresses the issues of what to test, as well as where and how such evaluations should take place. A. What to Test—each of the elements of the promotional program should be examined. Research should be designed to determine the effectiveness of: 1. Creative Strategy decisions—all aspects of the creative strategy can be investigated to determine their communication effectiveness. Advertisers can test different themes for initial approval. The decision to use rational versus emotional appeals or different kinds of emotional appeals can be studied. Moreover, advertisers could assess consumer reaction to many options for spokespersons. 2. Creative Tactics Decisions—all elements of creative tactics are basis for evaluation. Advertiser can test consumer acceptance of a unique or unusual execution style. Various design elements (e.g., music) can also be looked at. 3. Other Promotional Tools—this chapter addresses the effectiveness of the message. Subsequent chapters examine effectiveness issues for the individual tools (e.g., sales promotion) and the media chapter gives students a sense of associated research issues. B. When to Test—Effectiveness testing can generally be classified as: 1. Pretesting—Pretesting occurs prior to the implementation of the campaign. 2. Posttesting—Posttesting takes place once the program has been implemented. Figure 9-1 lists some of the many types of tests that fall into each category. C. Where to Test—there are certain advantages and disadvantages associated with where effectiveness tests take place. Again, two different testing environments are discussed. 1. Laboratory tests—those tests conducted in a specific location to which consumers are brought—for example, testing labs, theaters, etc. The major advantage is control. The major disadvantage is a lack of realism and the potential for testing bias. 2. Field tests—those tests taken under more natural viewing situations, such as phone surveys, inquiry tests, etc. The major advantage is that they offer a more realistic viewing situation. At the same time, a lack of control and a number of other distracting conditions are disadvantages associated with these methods. III. METHODS OF MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS The actual testing of ads may take place throughout the campaign. Four types of tests are discussed. A. Concept Generation and Testing—Figure 9-2 describes the process involved in concept testing. As noted, concept testing takes place very early on in the development of the campaign, and is designed to explore consumers' responses to ads and/or campaigns being considered. Focus groups and mall intercepts are commonly employed methods at this stage. B. Rough Art, Copy and Commercial Testing—Because of the high costs associated with testing, completed advertisements and commercials, many advertisers (or their agencies) conduct such tests prior to the completion of the final product. Figure 9-4 describes some of the terminology used to describe these tests. Results of these tests have been shown to correlate highly with those taken after the ads have been completed. C. Pretesting Finished Ads—many advertisers prefer to test the ad in its finished form. A variety of both print and broadcast measures may be used. 1. Pretesting finished print messages—a number of methods for pretesting print messages are provided. Some of the more common of these are: a. portfolio tests b. readability tests c. dummy advertising vehicles d. diagnostic measures 2. Pretesting finished broadcast ads—some common methods for pretesting broadcast ads are: a. theatre tests—one of the most popular lab methods for pretesting finished commercials. b. on-air tests—often includes single-source ad research. c. physiological measures include: • pupil dilation • galvanic skin response • eye tracking • brain waves D. Market Testing of Ads—many of the methods already mentioned are also used in the posttesting of advertisements. The text once again discusses methods of market testing ads of both the print and broadcast varieties. 1. Posttests of print ads—three of the most common forms of posttesting print ads include: a. inquiry tests—these are designed to measure advertising effectiveness on the basis of inquiries generated from ads appearing in print media. b. recognition tests – allows the advertiser to measure the impact of the ad c. recall tests—these attempt to measure recall of specific ads. 2. Posttests of broadcast commercials a. Day-After-Recall—Historically, the most popular method was the Burke Day-After Recall test which provided a recall scores, persuasion measures and diagnostics. b. Comprehensive tests—Figure 9-12 illustrates one of the more commonly employed posttest measures of broadcast commercials. The Ipsos-ASI Next *TV test replaced the Burke Test which had often been the topic of debate in respect to its value and validity. c. Test marketing—many companies conduct tests designed to measure their advertising effects in specific test markets before releasing them nationally. d. Single source tracking studies—these track the behaviors of consumers from the television set to the supermarket checkout counter. e. Tracking print/broadcast ads—tracking studies have been used to measure the effect of advertising on awareness, recall, interest, and attitudes toward the ad and/or brand as well as purchase intentions. IV. IMC PLANNING: PROGRAM FOR MEASURING EFFECTS To this point in the chapter, a number of methods of testing the effectiveness of print and broadcast ads have been presented. In each case, these measures were discussed in respect to their contributions as well as their limitations. In this final section, the chapter discusses how the marketer might establish a sound program for conducting effectiveness research. A. Criteria for Effective Research—a number of problems with existing research methods are discussed with the PACT program (Figure 9-13) used as a standard against which to measure these methods. In this section, each of the PACT principles is discussed with suggestions as to how each principle might be met. B. Guidelines for Effective Testing—again referring to the PACT program, four suggestions are offered that we believe will improve the effectiveness of the evaluation program. These include: • use of a consumer response model • establish communications objectives • use both pretests and posttests • use multiple measures • understand and implement proper research Teaching Suggestions Due to the importance and amount of information presented in this chapter, we suggest that the lecture cover at least two time periods. The first time module might be used to discuss the importance of conducting effectiveness studies, some of the reasons why such studies are not conducted, and some of the pretest measures. The second session could cover posttests, and the PACT guidelines. In addition, the second session should discuss ways of measuring outcomes versus communications objectives. As in some of the previous chapters, this subject matter can be presented in a very interesting fashion. The media frequently provide information that can be used to keep the student current, and to provide “real world” applications. Sources such as Marketing Magazine, the National Post, Ad Age, AdWeek, and the Wall Street Journal often have articles relating to this subject matter. In addition, the single-source systems are often in the news. We have found through our experiences that academics seem to place more emphasis on the importance of measuring effectiveness than do practitioners. We believe that this may be one of the more important elements of the entire decision sequence model of promotional planning and suggest that this importance be stressed to students as they will soon be the practitioners. Vignette 1. What part of advertising effectiveness does this research measure? A major part of this measurement is attention as the eye-tracking captures where the receiver focuses their reading. To some degree, this might be a step prior as the received might deliberately avoid aspects of the ad and therefore be an indication of selective exposure. Since it is measuring attention, the post-test measures also attempt to determine if awareness is achieved with the recall and recognition measure occur. Some of the questions also indicate a measure of brand knowledge, so one might conclude to some degree preliminary measure of attitude. In short, the technique is useful for discerning processing and some communication effects. 2. Which marketing communication decisions will most likely be tested with this kind of research? Tactical considerations will most likely be tested, like headlines, images and the colours used for varying parts of the ad. Since it is tracking the attention primarily, any visual and verbal element pertaining to attention would be examined closely. IMC Perspective 9-1 1. Why are advertisers so concerned with measuring emotions and involvement? As the response models and planning tools for communication objectives of chapters 4 and 5 indicate, both emotion and involvement are critical for persuasive and effective promotional messages. Emotional responses are a key processing phase so the measurement is quite important for advertisers to know whether the intended emotional associations are in fact connected to the brand. Furthermore, the importance of brand benefits is the emotional component of attitude formation from a theoretical standpoint (beliefs x evaluations), so this provides an additional incentive for managers to measure. More recent communication models use involvement as a situational or contingency variable (i.e., high or low involvement) for understanding how the persuasion works, so again, this knowledge is generally very important for managers to assess whether they would choose to run ads or not or know whether the campaign can be deemed a success. 2. Should promotional planners measure these two variables for other IMC tools, such as sales promotions or direct response? The idea of IMC is that all promotional messages, no matter what the contact point, should use a communication response model for planning purposes to determine communication objectives. Furthermore, all contact points are now opportunities for brand building so promotional planners would certainly interested in developing sales promotions that are more involving and connect emotionally with consumers. A glance to the sales promotion chapter will highlight the idea of consumer-franchise building promotions and some of the perspectives illustrate key examples (e.g., Bring Home the Cup). IMC Perspective 9-2 1. Express your feelings on whether you would volunteer as a respondent to this kind of research. The question places the student in a new role to get an idea of the situations we ask respondents to experience in order to obtain needed information for decision-making. A divergence of opinion would be expected, and instructors can compare the effort and involvement for respondents of this method versus other methods. Instructor Manual for Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective George E. Belch, Michael A. Belch, Michael A. Guolla 9780070891302