CH-5-8 Objectives for the IMC Plan – Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective : Book Guide

This Document Contains Chapters 5 to 8 Chapter 5 Objectives for the IMC plan Answers to Review Questions 1. Discuss the value of setting objectives for the integrated marketing communications program? What important functions do they serve? Specific goals and objectives are the foundation upon which integrated marketing communications decisions involving advertising and other promotional tools should be made. They serve as communication devices and facilitate the coordination of activities of those working on the campaign. They also serve as a guide to promotional planning and decision making and provide a benchmark or standard against which success or failure of the campaign can be measured and evaluated. 2. What are some of the problems associated with using sales objectives as the only measure of advertising performance? Can you think of any situation where it may be the best and only measure? The most obvious problem with sales objectives is that sales are a function of other marketing variables like product, price and distribution. Since advertising and promotion have a primary communication effect on consumers prior to their purchasing a product, it is important to have the communication specified as objectives in order to assess whether it is effective or not. The other most significant concern is the fact that advertising has a carry-over effect where its effects could lead to sales well after the exposure. The second part of the question is open-ended to spark a debate as to whether sales are ever the only measure of advertising success. A couple of scenarios presented in the chapter can be evaluated as to whether these are realistic possibilities. 3. Some claim that promotion is all about communication, so we should only focus on communication objectives and not worry about behavioural objectives. Convince them otherwise. Behavioural objectives are required if one accepts that the target audience’s current behaviour is prime factor in constructing the message. Behavioural objectives help define the target audience further and they provide a bridge between communication objectives of the promotion plan and the marketing and the marketing objectives of the marketing plan. For example, if trial is required, then the message might want to focus on imagery of consumers going through the decision-making of buying the product for the first time. Alternatively, if repeat purchasing is required, then the message might pertain to the continued satisfaction of buying once again, or how the brand is better than others to prevent switching out of the brand. 4. If a firm cannot afford large market research studies to quantitatively assess whether communication objectives have been achieved, why should the firm bother setting communication objectives? Communication objectives are still valuable because they guide the rest of the communication decisions. They provide the criteria for managers and agencies to make the appropriate strategic and tactical creative decisions. They can also provide guidance for media and sales promotion decisions. There is also some literature on doing market research very inexpensively that goes beyond traditional sources that large firms use, so tracking of campaigns can be feasible even without resources. 5. A firm is running a campaign with advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. Why might it have communication objectives for each IMC tool? This is an application of the model presented at the end of the chapter and picks up on the Rogers example where every part of IMC has some effect. Since consumers go through the decision-making process, at each stage they may be influenced by communications from various sources (i.e. ads, sales promotions, public relation). Ads could generate awareness and initial favourable attitude about a car. Upon researching the vehicle, ratings and reviews from car publications may solidify the attitude and lead to sales. Sales promotions like financing or rebates could lead to a stronger purchase intention. Answers to Applied Questions 1. In meeting with your new boss, he informs you that the only goal of advertising and promotion is to generate sales. Present your argument as to why communications objectives must also be considered. The bottom line for for-profit organizations is to increase market share, sales or both. Thus, for many managers, the goal of advertising is to generate sales. Managers frequently ask the question, “If I increase my advertising budget by X%, what will the impact be on sales?” While the ultimate goal of the promotional program may be to increase sales, there are a number of reasons communications objectives must be considered as well: • Communications objectives are intermediary objectives often required to generate sales. Creating brand awareness, and favorable attitudes may be required before the consumer purchases. The hierarchy models demonstrate that purchases are not always spontaneous, and that consumers must be moved through a hierarchy of goals. • Communications objectives are measurable, while the relationship between advertising and sales is often difficult to exactly determine. It’s not that we can’t measure sales, but rather that establishing a measurable impact is very difficult. • Other factors beyond advertising contribute to sales. There is an old saying that nothing will kill a poor product faster than good advertising. In other words, if a company has a good advertising program but the product is not good, then sales will not increase. Likewise, if the product is not available due to distribution problems, then the impact of advertising will not be known, or if the price is too high, sales will not be affected. Finally, an excellent marketing program may be negatively impacted by market conditions. Weather, recessions, and other factors may result in a loss or no change in sales even though the advertising program is effective. • Not all advertising is designed to increase sales. Creating brand or corporate image, generating awareness, appeasing stockholders, etc. are just some of the reasons why companies advertise. Cause-related marketing and advocacy advertising are additional reasons why companies may advertise other than directly influencing sales. 2. Assess what the behavioural objectives would be for each ad in this chapter. Ads that imply trial include 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Ads that imply repeat purchasing include 5, 7, 13, 17, 18, 21. Some might debate a couple, but the point is that most ads imply a behaviour to see the target audience from a current brand behaviour standpoint. 3. Assess what the communication objectives would be for each ad in this chapter. All should be contributing to awareness and attitudinal communication effects. Students should study each ad to see if the brand is well identified and whether the message clearly influences the target audience’s attitude in any particular regard. Some ads appear to influence category need, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 22, others appear to influence purchase intention, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 17. 4. After assessing he objectives for some of the ads of this chapter, go to the brand’s Internet site or social media offerings and determine if the objectives are the same or different. This is an application exercise. It is intended to show students that firms could have different target audiences across different IMC tools or it could show that the firm is using these two tools to reach the same target audience. In some cases, the advertising is directed to one target audience through selective media purchases, but since the web is universally accessed it could have sections directing various target audiences. Additional Discussion Question (not in text) A. What are the differences between marketing objectives and communications objectives? Why do so many managers confuse the two? Marketing objectives are statements of what is to be accomplished by an organization’s overall marketing program within a given time period. They are usually stated in terms of specific, measurable outcomes such as sales volume, market share, profits or return on investment. Communication objectives are statements of specific communication tasks that are to be accomplished such as creating awareness, brand knowledge and interest, favourable attitudes and image, purchase intentions and the like. Many managers confuse the two types of objectives because they approach their advertising and promotional programs from a sales perspective and tend to view sales or some related measure as the only meaningful objective of advertising. They tend to think in terms of how the promotional program will influence sales and end up reducing communication objectives to sales-related measures. B. What is meant by an advertising carryover effect? Discuss the problems carryover creates for managers who are trying to determine the impact of their advertising on sales. Many experts agree that advertising may have a lagged or carryover effect. That is, the results of the advertising may not be immediately felt. For example, many ads are stored to memory, and acted upon at a later time. This effect may cause problems for marketers who are trying to assess the impact of these ads in the short run. If the ad is run now, but effects are not felt until later, it may be difficult to show that the advertising had an impact. Management, impatient as they sometimes may be, may not wish to consider spending waiting for the effects to happen. When the carryover effect is added to the other problems associated with using sales objectives, it makes the job of proving the impact of advertising’s effect n sales even more difficult for the ad manager. C. You are in a meeting to discuss plans for a new advertising and promotional program for your company. The vice president of marketing opens the meeting by stating there is only one objective for the new campaign—to increase sales. How would you respond to this statement? Obviously the vice president of marketing is viewing the role of advertising and promotion as that of generating sales. Some managers take the position that the reason a firm spends money on advertising and promotion is to sell its product or service. They believe that monies spent on advertising should produce measurable results such as increases in sales volume or market share. The problem with this perspective is that the manager is ignoring all of the other factors that may influence sales such as competition, the state of the economy, product quality, service, price and channels of distribution. The manager must recognize that it is often very difficult to show a direct relationship between advertising and sales. Moreover, the impact of sales are not always immediate as there may be some lagged or carryover effect operating. The manager must be made to realize that advertising and promotion can be working quite well and there still may be some problem with sales. Thus, consideration should be given to evaluating the effectiveness of the promotional program in terms of other measures such as the accomplishment of communication objectives. D. You are the advertising manager for an established brand of laundry detergent and have just fought hard to have the promotional budget for the brand increased by 10 percent. You have just received a report for the latest quarter that shows sales did not change despite the increase in advertising spending. The marketing vice president is concerned about the lack of increase in sales and wants you to explain the problem. How might you respond? The marketing vice president appears to be concerned because the increase in advertising spending did not result in an immediate increase in sales. The advertising manager’s response should note that it may be unrealistic to expect an immediate impact on sales since it may take a little time for the increased spending to have an impact in the marketplace. S/he might note that advertising for laundry detergent is likely to have some type of lagged or carryover effect such that the effects of the increased spending may not be realized immediately. It would also be important to consider what other developments may have occurred during the latest quarter and how they may have affected sales of the detergent. For example, did competitors increase their level of advertising or sales promotion activity? Were any new brands introduced during this period? The advertising manager may also want to stress the need to look at the increased spending from a communications perspectives as well as just a sales perspective. E. What are the strengths and weaknesses of using traditional hierarchy models for setting communication objectives? The traditional hierarchy models have a couple of key strengths. They provide an understanding of consumer’s response to advertising. They also guide the steps for planning advertising objectives. Firms could focus on certain stages for making communication objectives (i.e. awareness). However, there are two important limitations. It is difficult to believe that consumers go through the steps in the prescribed cognitive-affective behaviour process for all purchases. Furthermore, it is difficult also to believe that consumers could not be having both affective and cognitive responses at the same time. F. How is the framework discussed in the last section similar to and different from setting communications objectives based on the traditional hierarchy models? Discussion of the hierarchy models often implied that this represented how consumers purchased products, especially with the concluding behavioural stage. So marketers are left with reconciling the consumer purchase decision process discussed in Chapter 3 with the traditional hierarchy models. The communication models that followed in Chapter 4 tried to account for variations in consumer purchasing behaviour and account for communication effects. As an alternative, the model at the end of this chapter applies the communication framework on the traditional consumer purchase decision model. It recognizes that firms have unique attitudinal objectives depending upon where a target audience is in the process. G. In what situations would brand awareness be the only communication objective for an advertising campaign? This is a bit of a trick question and sets up a debate that you may like to pursue. The model presented argues that all communications should contribute to awareness and attitude. If it does not contribute in some manner, then it is by definition, not effective. If this is true, then there are no situations where a firm would spend money on ads only for awareness. Often we hear in news reports that a firm or organization is running an awareness campaign. This is, in fact probably a short way of saying that yes, we are trying to increase awareness and influence attitudes. If students propose situations where some attitudinal component is not addressed, it is fairly certain that they have not thought hard enough to see that the ad could be contributing to the overall liking of the brand by the target audience – the heart of brand attitude. IMC Exercise Professor Tom Duncan suggests that promotional planners should use zero-based communications planning when developing their integrated marketing communications programs. This approach involves determining what tasks need to be done and which marketing communications functions should be used and to what extent in accomplishing them. He suggests that in addition to advertising, various other promotional tools such as publicity/public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing or even packaging may be the basis for the “big idea” around which the IMC program will be developed. Find an example of how a marketer has used a specific promotional mix tool other than advertising as the basis for the “big idea” for an IMC program. For example, you might find an example where a company has used innovative packaging, sales promotion or publicity as the lead element of their IMC program. Why do you think the company chose to lead with this specific promotional mix element? Discuss how other promotional mix tools were used in developing the overall IMC program. IMC Comprehensive Project At this point, students should be prepared to develop specific advertising and promotional objectives that will guide the development of their IMC projects. IMC Project Assignment for Chapter 5 Specify the objectives for your IMC program. Describe how your objectives have evolved from the marketing and promotional situation analysis you conducted for your product or service. Explain whether you are using sales or communication objectives and the rationale for your choice. Do your objectives satisfy the criteria specified by the DAGMAR model? Carefully state the behavioural and communication objectives of your target audience. Is it possible to state objectives for different stages of the decision-making process? Chapter 6 Brand positioning strategy decisions Answers to Discussion Questions 1. Describe how the market positioning strategy adopted for a brand would need to be supported by all other elements of the marketing mix. Positioning requires consistency among all marketing mix elements. For example, it is difficult for the consumer to perceive that the very best brand/product can also be the least expensive. A high priced perfume or cologne would certainly lose some of its image if distributed in a discount store. High quality, high priced products advertised in low cost media might find that their image suffers. For most consumers, high quality usually means a higher price (and vice versa), upscale (selective or exclusive) distribution, and quality representation in advertising. Trying to go away from these consistencies may lead to confusion and detraction from the positioning. The same holds true for products at other ends of the price/quality spectrum. To maintain margins, intensive distribution may be required, price discounts, coupons, and other deals may be used more frequently, and less expensive media may be employed. 2. Why is it useful to distinguish between brand positioning strategy and brand position? As noted in question 3, a brand positioning strategy is the planned image while the brand position is the resulting image that the target audience believes about the brand. A manager would naturally like the brand position to be identical to the brand position at the end of the planning period to demonstrate success; however this may not be the case as the message might get misunderstood or not be the right message. Alternatively, a brand position might actually be stronger than anticipated with an audience for which the brand was not targeted, thus indicating an unexpected success. A brand positioning strategy relates to the planned image of the product or brand relative to a competing brand for a given competitive space as defined by certain category characteristics. Marketing communication decisions largely impact this projected image that is decided upon by the brand manager in conjunction with agency personnel and is generally written in the IMC plan. In contrast a market positioning strategy is written within the marketing plan and is dependent upon the whole marketing mix and is derived from the corporate plan regarding a particular product-market. 3. What problems would a brand encounter if it communicated with an incorrect motive? Communicating an incorrect motive can lead to weaker brand effects. For example, a fashionable retailer of men’s clothing (e.g., Harry Rosen) could suggest that men would save time by visiting their store since many men do not enjoy shopping (e.g., problem avoidance). However, this motive is not the correct one as social approval or some other positive motive would be more likely, or at least incomplete satisfaction with one’s current retailer could be plausible. In each case, a better ad would be created and understood by the target audience. 4. What factors would lead a marketer to the use of a repositioning strategy. Probably the most common factors leading to repositioning would be a loss of sale, a growing market, and/or the entry of a new product into the marketplace. Other factors might include an erosion of the product image, a desire to enter new markets and/or even management desires. In any of these cases, advertiser would look to a new target audience or perhaps a new message that had a different motive. The CASSIES identified in the chapter propose a key feature of the situation analysis that likely contributed to the repositioning strategy. 5. Why is it important to consider unique brand positioning decisions at each of the buyer decision stages? Is it feasible to implement this approach for all product categories? Since brand positioning strategy is the direction the brand would like a target audience see the brand, it is quite likely that users and non-users would have different purchase behaviours; thus necessitating unique messages with varying levels of information to convince them of either repeat buying or trial. The feasibility of this approach is dependent on factors such as size of each audience and the costs to develop the messages and media costs. With lowers costs for both of these via social media, it is entirely possible that brands could consider such an approach. Answers to Applied Questions 1. Explain how McDonalds’ market positioning strategy has changed with the new developments in its menu and outlets. McDonald’s altered its menu in a healthier and more tasteful (e.g., coffee) and interior to make it a more welcoming environment that is attracting adults instead of its traditional base of families. Ronald has taken much less prominence in its promotion and imagery with the change. In short, McDonalds’ strategy is less of a family fast food restaurant but more of a quick service casual restaurant. Its corporate imagery during Olympic sponsorship for examples reinforces this view as well. This has implications for its brand positioning strategy for its individual campaigns as many of them are designed to attract consumers to switch to the brand form various other formats. For example, it tries to regain customers from Tim Horton’s with much of its messages of late. 2. Examine the social media presence of a brand and assess whether it clearly identifies a brand positioning strategy. This exercise directs students to investigate a topic of interest. Students will likely select a brand they consume and use themselves as a representation of the target audience. With this in mind, the student will implicitly think about how the positioning is occurring with social media vs. what they may have been accustomed via TV or other mass media. Answers should clearly remark upon all four decisions for a brand positioning strategy and give an indication of effectiveness. 3. Explain why a central positioning strategy is feasible. Do any brands currently use this approach in their marketing communications? A central positioning is a newer idea, and in a world with Ipads, it seems that the idea is clearly an option for brands to consider and attempt. As expected, really only one brand in a product category would attempt such a strategy, but it would be an interesting debate if students could identify a product category where two brands attempted the strategy. The option is entirely feasible as the ipad example suggests where the brand attempts to “own” the category as its marketing communication messages indicates that the market is defined via brand name. 4. Develop market partition diagrams for beverages. What respositioning options are available for any brand? This question asks students to apply Figures 6-8 to 6-11 to a different product category other than the automobile market such as soft drinks. A product type partition would include; cola and non-cola or diet and non-diet as an initial breakout. An end benefit partition might include refreshing or thirst-quenching among others of a similar nature. A usage situation partition could see soft drinks as a mixer or a beverage for drinking with a meal etc. Finally, Coke and Pepsi view is clearly seen in the brand name partition. For either of these brands, all four option may be applicable for various target audiences, and in all likelihood, both brands have used all four type of partitions for different campaigns over time. 5. How can brand positioning decisions be applied to new category users and brand loyals users of smartphones? The attitude towards the product category for new category user and brand loyal is fundamentally different since the former does not consume and is therefore less knowledgeable thereby requiring more extensive communication. This fact suggests a message of an educational nature in order for a brand attitude and category attitude to be established. Encouraging repeat purchasing for a brand loyal is important and brands would use their existing positive (presumed) attitude and use messages to ensure consistency or slight improvement. In both scenarios, an appropriate message is required that will be within the latitude of acceptability for the brand to thrive. Additional Discussion Questions (not in text) A. Many organizations segment on the basis of demographics. Discuss three products that might segment on this basis, and then explain what other segmentation criteria they might also employ. Many firms have found that demographics may be more of a descriptor of a segment than a basis for segmentation itself. On the other hand, there are clearly some products that have segmented on demographics and have been quite successful. Autos—BMW has successfully targeted women. Volvo has focused attention on families, and Cadillac has segmented on both age (38-45) and sex (females). One might also argue that each of these has focused on lifestyles as well. Fast foods—most fast food shops segment on the basis of age, with most going after the 18-45 year groups. At the same time, others they have also employed lifestyle segmentation (fast service) and benefit segmentation (quality of food, fat content, etc.) Snowboards—snowboards have definitely targeted the younger generation (the vast majority of snowboarders are young, and most young prefer snowboarding to skiing). Snowboard manufacturers have also appealed to lifestyles and attitudes—successfully targeting Generation X and Y’ers. In sum, it might be said that all demographic segments have other bases for segmentation, as it is not the fact that one is of a certain sex or age that serves as the reason for using a product as much as it is the benefit or use of the product itself. B. Marketers have increased their efforts to reach ethnic markets. Explain why this may be occurring. Bring to class examples of ads targeted to various ethnic groups. Marketers are increasing their efforts to reach ethnic markets as part of their market segmentation strategies. Many marketers have come to the realization that ethnic markets represent important market segments that can be targeted most effectively with specific marketing and promotional programs. There are media vehicles that reach specific ethnic markets such as Chinese, Italian and Greek and the consumption patterns and decision making criteria of these groups are often different from the mass market. Students should be encouraged to find magazines or newspapers that reach specific ethnic markets and bring in examples of some of the ads that appear in these publications. C. Assume that you are the advertising manager for a new hot cereal product. Perform a competitive analysis for your brand giving attention to the various forms of competition noted in the text The various forms of competition discussed in the text range from direct brand competition to other product forms to more indirect forms of competition such as product substitutes. A new hot cereal product would compete against other brands of hot cereal such as Quaker Oats Oatmeal, TOTAL Oatmeal, and Cream of Wheat. Hot cereals also must compete against the vast number of traditional ready-to-eat cold cereals. Competition for a hot cereal also comes from other hot breakfast products such as pancakes, waffles and French toast. The fact that many companies offer easy-to-prepare versions of these products that can be heated in a microwave or toaster makes them an important form of competition for hot cereals. Of course there are numerous other breakfast foods such as eggs, fruit, pastries and the like that a firm competing in the breakfast market must consider. D. Establishing brand image is often difficult for new companies. Explain what these companies must do to establish a strong brand image. As noted in the chapter, developing an image requires positioning. The chapter notes that there are six questions that must be answered to develop a position. In reviewing these, it becomes obvious that to create an image, the organization must determine what it wants to be, how it is different from competitors, and whether or not it can claim and maintain that image. The image then must be supported by an integrated marketing communications program, with each element designed to reinforce the image. Many companies fail to achieve a distinct image in the marketplace for a variety of reasons. First, all communications efforts do not support this image, due to inconsistencies. Secondly, the brand or corporate identity does not contribute to the overall image. Most importantly, building an image takes time. Companies that have been successful in building and/or changing their images have invested much time and effort into this endeavor, and have stayed with one consistent strategy through thick and thin. E. Discuss the various attitude change strategies recognized by the multiattribute model. Discuss how an airline could use some of these attitude change strategies in their advertising and marketing programs. The multiattribute model provides insight into several ways marketers can influence consume attitudes. Each of these strategies might be used by an airline to influence the attitudes of flyers toward their airline. Each will be discussed. The first strategy is increasing or changing the strength or belief rating of the airline on an important attribute. The airline should identify which attributes are important to flyers and emphasize them in their ads. For example, most airline flights are priced similarly so they focus their marketing and advertising on the quality of their service. They run ads that stress the high quality of customer service they provide at all levels of the flying experience. Another strategy is changing consumers’ perceptions of the importance or value of an attribute. An airline may want to emphasize a particular feature or benefit and why it is should be important to flyers. For example, many airlines talk about their frequent flyer programs and encourage consumers to accumulate miles by being loyal to them. Adding a new attribute to the attitude formation process is another strategy recognized by the multiattribute model. An airline may find a new service or benefit it wants to provide to consumers that isn’t currently offered by competitors. For example, some airlines have increased the amount of leg room they offer in coach class while others offer wider seating. A final strategy is changing perceptions of belief ratings for a competing brand. An airline may identify an area where a competitor is weak or vulnerable and note this in a comparative ad. For example, one airline may have a better offering of flights between two cities or may have a better on-time arrival record. These advantages could be pointed out in a comparative advertisement. F. Why is the brand attitude model important for brand positioning strategy? The model is important since it provides a way of understanding and computing a target audience’s attitude to a brand. It is comprised of general cognition and affect towards the brand and individual cognitive and emotional element as well. These are manifested with beliefs about brand attributes (or benefits) and their importance. Once the decision maker has laid out all the possible attributes, and possibly obtained marker research ratings on them, the focus turns to which one or ones that need to be improved through communication to improve the overall brand effect. A few strategies to do this are shown in the text to plan for individual components to change. IMC Exercise Find examples where an advertiser is having multiple brand positioning strategies. Suggest to students to find communications for a brand that are directed current customers (e.g., switchers) and other communications for the same brand that are directed to non-customers (e.g., new category users). Ask the students what makes the positioning unique for each target audience to support the brand position and what make the positioning similar to help support the overall market position. IMC Comprehensive Project Students should be considering various positioning options at this stage so that the creative strategy and tactics have an appropriate strategic direction. IMC Project Assignment for Chapter 6 Develop market position and brand position diagrams for the brand you are marketing. Identify certain opportunities for developing an improved brand positioning strategy decision. What attributes or benefits should the brand claim in its new advertising campaign? What method of positioning is most relevant in terms of consumer or competition? Identify the most relevant motive to base your positioning. What sources of information should be use as for the creative to support the brand positioning strategy? Chapter 7 Creative strategy decisions Answers to Review Questions 1 Television commercials can use unusual creativity that has very little relevance to the product being advertised. Explain why creative specialists would recommend such ads and why the brand managers would approve the production and placement. Creative personnel face a major challenge as they must develop ads that will break through the media clutter and grab the attention of the viewer, listener or reader. This can be particularly difficult in the broadcast media and online as consumers watching TV, listening to radio or browsing the Internet are often trying to avoid ads rather than pay attention to them. While consumers may be more receptive to advertising in magazines or newspapers, the vast numbers of ads that appear in most publications makes it very challenging for any one ad to get noticed. Thus, creative personnel argue that they must use novel tactics such as startling images, sexual or suggestive appeals or very irreverent ads that can break through the clutter and get noticed by the consumer. It often appears that the goal of these ads is to entertain the viewer or listener rather than to deliver a strong message to them. These types of ads often do not contain a message that is relevant to the product but do get noticed and register a brand name or attribute association. Creative personnel will also argue the main goal of advertising is to create and maintain top-of-mind awareness and novel or unusual ads are an effective way of doing this. Those who are from the “it is not creative unless it sells” school of advertising argue that the goal of advertising should be to deliver relevant information that helps sell the brand. They do not accept the breaking through the clutter, capturing attention or creating controversy argument as viable excuses for developing ads that do not deliver a relevant message or communicate a selling point. They expect advertising to do more than maintain brand awareness and feel that creative personnel should be challenged to do more than develop irreverent or unusual messages. 2. Describe the types of general and product-specific preplanning input one might evaluate when assigned to work an advertising campaign for a new brand of bottled water. General preplanning input includes overall information on trends, developments and conditions in the marketplace that would be relevant to the marketing of the product. In the case of a new brand of bottled water, the advertiser would want to know about a number of trends and developments affecting the beverage market such as the increasing popularity of new age drinks. Information on the changing lifestyles of consumers and how this might affect their beverage consumption would also be relevant as would product specific information on the bottled water segment of the beverage market. Product-specific preplanning input includes information that is directly relevant to the product or service. Usage and attitude studies regarding bottled water users and nonusers in particular, could be performed as well as psychographic studies. Problem detection studies could be performed to determine what changes or improvements consumers would like to see in bottled water (e.g., taste, flavors, nutritional supplements). The outcome of a problem detection study may provide input for product improvements, reformulations, or new brands. It would also be important to have information on the type of advertising being used by competitors. 3. What is your opinion of advertising awards, such as the Cannes Lions, that are based solely on creativity? If you were a marketer looking for an agency, would you take these creative awards into consideration in your agency evaluation process? Why or why not? There are numerous arguments that can be made both for and against advertising awards that are based primarily on creativity. In defense of awards based on creativity, it should be noted that a major challenge given to the artists, copywriters, and creative directors is basically to be creative. They are given the charge of turning advertising and communication objectives, product/services attributes and benefits, and selling premises into a creative concept that will bring the message to life and capture the attention of consumers. Another argument in favour of the value of creative based awards is that they function as “report cards” from the other creatives who judge them and help the advertising industry set high standards for itself. It has also been argued that creative awards are very motivating to creative people, who often are driven by more than financial compensation, and are a catalyst for creative excellence. There are also problems with creative awards such as the classic argument that an award-winning ad is of little value unless it results in sales of the product. Critics of awards have also noted that agency personnel have become too obsessed with winning creative awards and too much time, energy and money are devoted to entering advertising award competitions. There is also concern that the creative personnel may be more concerned with the award winning potential of an ad than its ability to sell the client’s product. Critics of awards have also noted that there are simply too many of them and they have lost their value and meaning. In fact even the Clio awards have lost much of their credibility and distinction as the “Oscars of advertising”. It is reasonable for agencies as well as individuals to pride themselves on their creative awards. First of all awards recognize that the creative specialists are doing their job very well. Moreover, creative awards can be very important to an agency (and individuals) in terms of recognition, visibility and ultimately more business and income. 4. Assume that a government agency wants to use a fear appeal message to encourage college and university students not to drink and drive. Explain how fear appeals might affect persuasion and what factors should be taken into consideration in developing the ads. Fear can affect persuasion in both a positive and negative manner. An anti-drinking and driving message with a low level of fear can have facilitating effects if it attracts the attention and interest of students and motivates them to consider how they might try to resolve the threat. This suggests that a mild fear appeal may be effective in changing attitudes and behaviour of college students as it may get them to think about the negative consequences involved and think about how they might avoid them. Fear appeals can also have a negative or inhibiting effect and a message that uses too much fear may cause students to tune it out, perceive it selectively, counter-argue against it or discount the likelihood of the negative consequences happening to them. One potential problem with anti-drinking and driving messages targeted at students is that young people tend to perceive themselves as invulnerable and thus they may discount any negative outcomes shown in the message as unlikely to occur to them. A number of factors should be taken into consideration in developing a fear appeal message for this audience. As noted above, students are a market segment that may require special consideration when using a fear appeal message. This audience may be likely to discount fear appeal messages that are too strong or seen as too unrealistic. The credibility of the source used in the message may be very important and consideration might be given to using a source with whom this group identifies and might not easily derogate. Research on fear appeals has shown that they are more effective among non-users of a product than users. Thus it may be more effective to target fear appeals at those students who are not heavy drinkers and encourage them to take responsibility for those students who do drink and drive. The designated driver program and responsible drinking campaigns of liquor and beer companies often do this. 5. What are source characteristics? What types are there? How do they affect processing of a message and the communication effects of the message? Source characteristics are source credibility comprised of source expertise and source trustworthiness, and source attractiveness comprised of source similarity, source likability, and source familiarity. Each of these five characteristics can influence the processing in varying ways via low or high involvement or their emotional content (e.g., processing) or communication effects (e.g., awareness). For example, a high profile celebrity endorser will likely attract attention and facilitate emotional associations to the brand via the spokesperson. Similarly, the celebrity may allow stronger recall from the brand connection made in the ad with the fame of the person. This illustration shows the kind of logic student should use when making creative strategy decisions. The decision must be justified in terms of how it would link to the effects of the communication. 6. How is it possible that an IMC program could have multiple sources for the message using both rational and emotional appeals? An IMC program will likely be using multiple media and multiple IMC tools to influence rationally and emotionally. Since the points raised in question five are realistic, the IMC program may use different sources across the media and tools resulting in differing effects. For example, the telecommunication brands often will use a more rational appeal on radio and have an entirely different source than those used in the TV ads where the message may be a combined rational and emotional appeal. Alternatively, aspects of digital messaging may be solely emotional leading to an entirely unique source. These points can carry over to IMC tools where the brand may use different sources for public relations activities. For example, Clara Hughes is the focus of Bell’s Let’s Talk campaign in support of mental health, however she is not a spokesperson for Bell’s regular advertising. Answers to Applied Questions 1. Find an example of a print ad that you think is very creative and ad you feel is dull and boring. Evaluate each ad from a creative perspective. What makes one ad creative and the other ad bland? Students should be asked to find examples of print ads that they find particularly creative as well as dull and explain why they judge them so. Their analysis should focus on specific aspects of these ads that make them exciting or interesting versus dull and boring. It is likely that they will find more creative and exciting ads in publications that are targeted to their age group such as Rolling Stone or fashion magazines. Less exciting ads may be found in general interest publications such as Reader’s Digest, and Time and or business publications. 2. The chapter outlined a few campaigns; look on the Internet to research and figure out the most successful Canadian campaign in recent years. Students should likely find CASSIES in their investigations since this is referenced in the section for LO2. They may also find creative awards presented by each media or by the trade publications. The idea of the question is for students to seek out Canadian examples of very good advertising to understand that very good creative is originating from Canada. An additional point to raise is that students should be in tune with the fact that they are seeing Canadian, American and International campaigns on a daily basis and that understanding the source will give a new found appreciation of the styles and messages. 3. Find an example of an ad or campaign that you think reflects one of the approaches used to develop a creative theme such as unique selling proposition, brand image, inherent drama, or positioning. Discuss how the creative theme/idea is used in this ad or campaign. There are four approaches discussed in the text for developing creative theme/ideas that can serve as the basis of the creative strategy. These include the unique selling proposition, creation of a brand image, the use of inherent drama and positioning. Students should bring in examples of ads that they feel are examples of each approach to developing a creative theme and describe the logic of their selection. Instructors should challenge students on why the selection is effective and also investigate whether an alternative approach might have worked as well or better. 4. Describe how a few of the negative emotions conveyed in Figure 7-3 could be used in a campaign for car insurance. Describe how a few of the positive emotions convey in Figure 7-3 could be used in a campaign for smartphones. Anger can be shown in a scenario where the policyholder does not have the proper coverage during a claim and is therefore dissatisfied and the ad can show the frustrated consumer moving to a new brand of insurer. An unexpected negative emotion could be envy where a policyholder sees a friend or relative get certain coverage not part of his or her policy. Contentment is often shown in smartphone ads where consumers enjoy and savor the features of the new version. 5. Find a celebrity who is currently appearing in ads for a particular company or brand and use McCracken’s meaning transfer model (shown in Figure 7-8) to analyze the use of the celebrity as a spokesperson. McCracken’s meaning transfer model provides a very interesting perspective on celebrity endorsements. According to this model, a celebrity’s effectiveness as an endorser depends on the culturally acquired meaning s/he brings to the endorsement process. Celebrities acquire these meanings from the roles they assume in their careers as entertainers, athletes, politicians and other areas. They then bring these meanings into the advertisements in which they appear and transfer them to the product or service they are endorsing. Students should be asked to find a celebrity who is currently endorsing a product, service or company and analyze his or her endorsement effectiveness in terms of McCracken’s model. They should discuss how the celebrity acquired his or her meaning and whether it transfers well to the company or brand they are endorsing. 6. Actors portraying doctors in ads are often used for rational appeals. In what situation might it make sense to have a doctor for an emotional appeal? What type of emotional appeal would be most logical from Figure 7-3. The purpose of this question is for students to apply the ideas of Figure 7-7. It would be generally unexpected to use a doctor for emotional appeals and that is the idea of Figure 7-7, to allow promotional planners to think beyond traditional means when putting together a creative strategy. In all likelihood, it will be challenging for students to arrive at a scenario where a doctor spokesperson may work for some of the emotions, but the exercise does prove to be a challenge to figure out. Additional Discussion Questions (not in text) A. Discuss the pros and cons of using a comparative advertising appeal. There are several advantages to using a comparative advertising message. A comparative ad may be a way of gaining attention, particularly when a new or lesser-known brand compares itself to a well-known brand or market leader. Comparative ads also allow a company to directly communicate the features, attributes, benefits, and advantages of its product or service relative to those of its competitor(s). For a new brand, comparative advertising provides a way of positioning the product in the evoked set of brands the consumer might consider. Potential problems with comparative advertising are that consumers may see these ads as less believable and more offensive than non-comparative messages. Users of the attacked brand may be particularly skeptical about the credibility of comparative claims. There is also the possibility that the use of a comparative message may focus more attention on the competitor’s brand and benefit them more than the sponsoring brand. B. What are the differences between creative strategy and creative tactics? Why is it important to make a distinction between these two concepts? Creative strategy determines what an advertising campaign and messages will say or communicate. It is best viewed as a process that is designed for determining what the advertising should communicate about the product or service and the big idea that will be used as the central theme of the advertising campaign. Creative tactics focus on how the advertising campaign and messages will be communicated with regard to areas such as execution styles as well as the tactical issues involved in the design and production of advertising. It is important to make a distinction between the two concepts because the creative strategy must be established before the customer tactics are developed. C. What is meant by a unique selling proposition (USP)? Find an example of an ad your feel uses a unique selling proposition as its major selling idea. Evaluate this ad against the three characteristics of USP’s discussed in this chapter. The concept of the unique selling proposition (USP) was developed by the famous advertising copywriter Rosser Reeves. The concept of a USP is that it offers the consumer a specific feature or benefit that is important to them and unique to this particular brand. The three characteristics of a USP are that each ad must make a proposition to the consumer that tells them the benefit they will get by buying the brand; the proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer; and the proposition must have motivating power and thus be able to convince consumers to buy the brand. Students should be encouraged to find an example of an advertisement that they feel uses a USP as its major selling proposition. The ad should be evaluated against the three characteristics of USPs discussed here and in the chapter. D. Discuss some of the motives that can be used as the basis of rational advertising appeals. Find examples of ads that use some of these rational motives as the basis for their advertising appeal. Rational appeals focus on the consumer's practical, functional, or utilitarian motive for purchasing a product or service and emphasize specific features and/or benefits or reasons for owning or using a particular brand. Rational appeals are most appropriate for highly involving or complex consumer products. These types of appeals are commonly used when consumers have a high need for information and are likely to evaluate and compare alternative brands. Specific benefits that can be used as the basis for functional motives include quality, performance, efficacy, durability, reliability, dependability and efficiency. Students should have no trouble finding ads that use rational motives as the basis for their advertising appeal. E. What are the stages of the creative process? Do you agree with the notion that advertising creativity can or should follow a definitive process? The stages of the creative process of advertising include: preparation  incubation  illumination  verification/revision. The notion that there is some definitive process to advertising creativity is logical although it should not be expected that every creative specialist will follow this procedure in developing an advertisement. Models of stages of the creative process are valuable as they offer an organized way of approaching an advertising problem. Virtually all creative specialists will want to prepare themselves by gathering background information that is relevant to the advertising problem or by examining research or engaging in fact finding that will help them generate creative ideas or solutions. It is also important to subject creative ideas to verification so as to reject any inappropriate ones and refine and polish those that remain in order to give them optimal final expression. F. Most marketers choose message sources with high credibility. Discuss some reasons why it may be unnecessary or even detrimental to use a source that is high in credibility. There are some situations where high source credibility may not be necessary and may even be a liability. A high credibility source is likely to be most effective when message recipients are opposed to the position advocated in the message as the credible communicator will inhibit counterarguing and source derogation. However, a high-credibility source may not be needed when the audience has a neutral position and may even be less effective than a moderately credible source when the receiver’s initial attitude is favourable. The reason for this is that when a low credibility source is used the message recipients are encouraged to review personal thoughts that are supportive of their favourable position rather than attributing their feelings to the highly credible communicator. Studies have also shown that high and low-credibility sources are equally effective when they are arguing for a position opposing their own best interest. Another reason why a low-credibility source may be as effective as a high-credibility source is because of the sleeper-effect phenomenon. While the immediate impact of a persuasive message may be inhibited because of its association with a low-credibility source, the association of the message with the source diminishes over time and the receiver’s attention focuses on the information in the message. Thus the positive effects of using a high-credibility source will diminish over time as will the initial negative impact of using a low-credibility source. G. Companies sometimes use athletes with a negative reputation or image as a spokesperson in their advertisements. What risks are they taking? Companies might use a controversial figure for a number of reasons. First of all he or she cuts through the clutter and attracts attention to the advertising message, whether it is in a magazine or on television. Some companies also feel he or she strikes a responsive chord with younger consumers and is an effective spokesperson for Generation Xers who identify with his cynical, authority-hating and rebellious attitude. They also feel while his or her behaviour can be embarrassing at times, it is not really that bad. Some companies are willing to accept and deal with the controversy that comes with the use of spokespersons with a negative reputation and/or image. However there does come a point where their behaviour creates too problems and can reflect negatively on the company that uses them. For example, most endorsement contracts have escape clauses that allow companies to drop a spokesperson at the first hint of drug use, sexual scandal or criminal charges. Marketers must also consider the audience they are targeting with their advertisements. While younger audiences and Generation X-ers may be willing to tolerate the antics of some spokespersons, older consumers are much less likely to respond to spokespersons who are too controversial. H. Evaluate the argument that humorous messages may wear out faster than other types of advertising appeals. Do you agree or disagree with this position? Commercial wear out refers to the tendency of a message to lose its effectiveness when it is seen repeatedly. While wear out is a potential problem for any type of commercial, some advertising experts argue that humorous ads may wear out faster because once the consumer sees a funny spot a few times and gets the joke, the ad becomes boring. Wear out can occur because of inattention or annoyance at seeing an ad often. Critics argue that humorous commercials wear out faster because consumers stop paying attention to them and may become annoyed at seeing the ad over and over. Arguments can be made, however, as to why humorous ads will not wear out any faster than other types of commercials and may even wear out more slowly. Many humorous spots are very entertaining and TV viewers enjoy watching them over and over (the basic “I love that commercial” idea). It is probably incorrect to argue that humorous ads wear out any faster than other types of commercials. The rate of wear out probably depends on the individual commercial and consumers’ reactions to it. IMC Exercise Find an example of three current advertising campaigns that are using at least one of the following source or message factors: • a celebrity spokesperson • a corporate leader such as the president, founder or CEO as an advertising spokesperson • a fear appeal message • a humourous appeal message Analyze the advertisers’ use of this particular source or message factor. Why do you think they chose to use this particular source or type of message? Are the spokespersons and/or messages appropriate or inappropriate for this particular brand of product or service? How might the use of this type of source or message impact the way consumers in the target audience respond to the advertising campaign? IMC Comprehensive Project Students should be prepared to begin focusing attention on the advertising component of their IMC plan. They should be able to use the information in this chapter to begin developing the creative approach and campaign theme for their plan. The specific assignment is as follows: IMC Project Assignment for Chapter 7 You should be ready to begin developing the advertising component of the IMC plan for your product or service. Develop a copy platform that contains the basic creative strategy for your advertising campaign. You can use the copy platform outline shown in Figure 7-2 as a guideline. What is the advertising campaign theme you have chosen for your product or service? Are you using any of the approaches discussed in the chapter such as unique selling proposition, brand image, inherent drama or positioning as the basis for your major selling idea? Identify the message appeal that would most suitable and provide justification based on conclusions from your situation analysis. Determine if you will use any key source characteristics to influence the target audience you have previously selected. Chapter 8 Creative tactics decisions Answers to Review Questions 1. Identify the difference between an advertising appeal and a creative execution style. Why is it important to make this distinction? An advertising appeal refers to the basis or approach used in the advertisement to elicit some consumer response or influence feelings toward the product, service, or cause. The creative execution style refers to the way in which a particular appeal is turned into an advertising message and presented to the consumer. A particular appeal can be executed in a variety of ways and a particular means of execution can be applied to a variety of advertising appeals. For example a rational appeal that focuses on a product's features or advantages can be executed through a straight-sell or factual message, a demonstration or a comparison. A particular execution technique such as animation could be used for a rational appeal or for an emotional appeal. Students should be encouraged to analyze the particular appeals and execution styles used in selected ads. 2. What is meant by a one-sided versus two-sided message? Discuss some of the reasons marketers may or may not want to use a two-sided message. A one-sided message mentions only positive attributes or benefits associated with a product or service or a particular issues whereas a two-sided message presents both favourable and unfavourable information or arguments. The advantage of using a two-sided versus one-sided advertising message is that it may enhance perceptions of an advertiser’s credibility. Consumers often know that there are opposing arguments or viewpoints on an issue and an advertiser may be perceived as less biased and more objective if a two-sided message is used. One-sided messages are most often used since a company may only want to mention positive attributes, benefits or features or present only favorable arguments about its product or service. Marketers feel it is too risky to say anything negative about their own company or brands. One-sided messages are most effective when the target audience already holds a favorable position toward the topic and will not hear opposing arguments. They may also work better with less educated audiences. For those individuals with an opposing viewpoint or a better-educated audience, a two-sided message may be seen as less biased and more credible and thus more effective. 3. Are headlines are more important for gaining attention or reinforcing awareness? The most important function or role of the headline is to attract the readers' attention and make them interested in the remainder of the message. Research has shown that the headline is generally the first thing people look at in a print ad, followed by the illustration. Once the headline gets the consumer’s attention and is read, the communication effect kicks in. Headlines can also perform a segmentation function by engaging the attention and interest of consumers who may be most likely to buy a particular product or service. Some ads use little or no body copy so the headline must work with the illustration or visual portion of the ad to communicate the entire advertising message. Subheads are secondary headlines that are usually smaller than the main headline but larger than the body copy. Subheads are often used to enhance the readability of the message by breaking up large amounts of body copy and highlighting key sales points. Their content often reinforces the headline and advertising slogan or theme. 4. What are the similarities and differences of creative tactics across the four cells of the planning matrix? The similarities of the creative tactics across the four cells of the R&P framework concern three factors. The first is that all four routes to persuasion have a common structure regarding the emotional portrayal of the motive and the benefit of the brand message. Secondly, within the low involvement quadrants, we see that a couple of the recommendations are quite similar (i.e. number of benefit claims, extra benefit claims). This is also true for the two high involvement cells with respect to the intensity of the benefit claim and the emotional authenticity. Within the informational quadrants, we see that it is not necessary for consumers to like the ad for it to be effective and that unusual creative executions are feasible. Finally, we see the importance of the emotional authenticity as being important within the transformational quadrants. Once the similarities are noted, some of the differences become apparent. While a given cell shares some similarities with another, each has its own specific recommendations for persuading the brand attitude of the target audience. For example, moving from LI/IN to LI/TR we see how the emotional portrayal of the motive becomes more critical. Moving from LI/IN to HI/IN we see how important greater amounts of information are required to persuade the target audience. The best way to illustrate these similarities and differences is to have four ads that each represents one of the four cells. 5. Explain how the guidelines for creative evaluation can be applied to ads seen on the Internet. The most important function or role of the headline is to attract the readers' attention and make them interested in the remainder of the message. Research has shown that the headline is generally the first thing people look at in a print ad, followed by the illustration. Once the headline gets the consumer’s attention and is read, the communication effect kicks in.Headlines can also perform a segmentation function by engaging the attention and interest of consumers who may be most likely to buy a particular product or service. Some ads use little or no body copy so the headline must work with the illustration or visual portion of the ad to communicate the entire advertising message. Subheads are secondary headlines that are usually smaller than the main headline but larger than the body copy. Subheads are often used to enhance the readability of the message by breaking up large amounts of body copy and highlighting key sales points. Their content often reinforces the headline and advertising slogan or theme. Answers to Applied Questions 1. Look through ads in other chapters and figure out what execution style is used. Do the same for video ads found online. There are so many ads in the earlier chapters that draw on alternative points so this question allows students to take a peek at them once again with a new perspective. Hopefully this provides a good integrative exercise to see how all the decisions operate. Once the execution style is identified, then the student can see the link between the style and the objective for example while examining ads from Chapter 5, or the link of the style and creative strategy decisions while examining ads from Chapter 7, or the link of the style and the positioning decision while examining ads from Chapter 6. Extending this logic, students can look at ads online and perform the same task. 2. What are the limitations of constructing standard print-format ads for Facebook and billboards? These two ads are put together to show similarities of processing despite the divergent locations. In both cases, the receiver is concentrating on another task and may not divert their attention; the message is very short limiting the processing time; the degree of creativity is restricted with the production characteristics such that the cognitive and emotional associations will be minimized. Subsequent communication effects are therefore restricted in essential processing does not occur. 3. Brands are experimenting with long-form video messages online. Using the design elements discussed in the chapter, contrast this approach with a standard 30-second TV ad. When would a brand use both with in its IMC plan? Brands are using long-form video ads online when they want to re-launch their brand positioning strategy or when they want to creative a distinctive image for those who are seeking unique video messages online since they require a degree of effort to locate compared to seeing an ad on TV. Long-form video messages provide greater opportunity for a story to be told thus putting the brand in a more involving context. These kinds of messages are attracting known directors and producers of TV and movies thus creating a newer form of PR compared to the hype surrounding TV campaigns. Brands have the opportunity to run a shorter version of the long-form in cinemas or on TV so that the message is consistent in the public, however, in the end the brand will likely use both formats if they see there is the opportunity to resonate with unique target audiences. 4. Find an ad for each of the four cells of the R&P framework for creative tactics. Identify the design elements that match the guidelines for each cell. This is a fun application exercise where students can compare the list of characteristics found in the latter part of the chapter to the ad that they have selected. It could be a very fun activity in class where students can make mini-presentations. Alternatively, the exercise could be adjusted and instructors could focus on any of the ads in this or any of the other chapters. 5. Apply the guidelines for creative evaluation to a campaign for Telus or Bell or Rogers, and conclude whether it passes all the criteria sufficiently. Similar to question 4, student can have practice arguing how and why the ads are effective based on structured criteria rather than saying trite commentary on whether they liked the ad or not. An important challenge for students when applying the material is to consider the point-of-view of the target audience rather than their own. Of course, students are consumers of the products of these brands, but instructors should bring in the ide of whether the messages are directed to customers or non-customers, and students can then adjust their thoughts accordingly. Additional Discussion Questions (not shown in text) A. Why do advertisers pay large sums of money to celebrities to do the voiceovers for their commercials? Do you think consumers recognize the voices of the celebrities doing the commercials? Is it necessary that they recognize them for the commercials to be effective? Advertisers will often pay as much as $500,000 to celebrities just to have them do the voiceovers for their commercials. Some celebrities prefer this more subtle form of product endorsement as they do not have to appear in the ads and thus can avoid the potential negative image of being perceived as “selling out” and pitching products. Advertisers and agencies that pay these large sums of money for celebrity voiceovers argue that a voice consumers have heard before is reassuring and makes the message more effective. They also argue that some celebrities have very distinctive and engaging voices that communicate very effectively. It is difficult to say whether consumers recognize the celebrities doing the voiceovers in commercials. Actors who have very distinctive voices may be recognized, however most consumers probably do not recognize the celebrities doing the voiceover in commercials. It is not necessary that consumers recognize the celebrity’s voice for the commercial to be effective. Distinctive voices are often part of the talent offered by actors and actresses as they may be help them be perceived a certain way (honest, humble, sincere, funny and the like). The voice characteristics that help make them popular entertainers may also be effective for television commercial voiceovers. B. Find an example of an advertisement that you feel uses an inappropriate appeal and/or execution style. What type of appeal or creative execution do you feel would be more appropriate? This question requires the student to choose an advertisement that they feel uses an inappropriate appeal and/or execution style and to suggest one that they feel would be more appropriate. The students should be asked to provide some rationale as to why they feel the appeal or execution style of the ad they choose is inappropriate and why the approach they suggest would be better. C. Discuss the use of slice-of-life execution techniques in advertising. For what types of products and services might this execution technique work best? The slice-of-life format relies on a problem-solution approach that is often presented with a little drama. These spots usually begin by showing consumers facing or talking about a problem such as bad breath, dingy laundry, dandruff, headaches, or dry skin. The short drama always ends with the problem being resolved by the advertiser’s product. Many advertisers feel that the slice-of-life format is a more interesting and effective way to present their message than just making performance or efficacy claims. Consumers purchase products to solve problems and marketers feel the slice-of-life execution format is an effective way of registering a product feature or benefits and showing how it can resolve common problems we encounter in our daily lives. The slice-of-life execution format is very popular among packaged-goods companies such as Procter & Gamble because it is an effective way of connecting with consumers by showing common situations or problems they encounter in their everyday lives. D. Explain how a humour execution style differs from a humour message appeal. A humour execution style is typically used to attract the target audience’s attention for a rational message or adds a demonstration of the more rational message to enhance some emotional responses thus allowing the processing to not be completely cognitive. In contrast a humour message appeal presents the attributes or benefits or emotional consequences of consumption consistently through all design elements and reinforces the positioning of the brand. E. What is transformational advertising? Why is it an importation option for advertisers? Transformational advertising reflects a transformational consumer motive in its execution and provides the target audience receiver of the message with an experience similar to the actual consumption experience. In a sense, the emotion within the advertising is so authentic, it resonates very significantly with the receiver such that he or she feel as if they are behind the wheel of the car advertised for example. F. Discuss the role music plays in advertising. Why might companies such as Microsoft, Cadillac, and Nike pay large sums of money for the rights to use popular songs in their commercials? Music can play a variety of roles and functions in commercials. In many spots, the role of music is primarily to provide a pleasant background or to help create the appropriate mood or setting for the commercial. In some ads the role of music is much more central to the delivery of the advertising message. It can be used to break through clutter, help establish an image or position, or add emotion or feeling. Music can work through a classical conditioning process whereby it creates positive feelings or affect that become associated with the product or service being advertised. Music can also create a positive mood state that can make the consumer more receptive toward the advertising message. Companies pay large sums of money for the rights to use these songs such as because they feel the music is central to the feeling or image they want to create in the commercial. IMC Exercise The last section of the chapter discusses criteria or guidelines that can be used for evaluating the output from the creative process of advertising. Some of these concern factors that are not directly accessible and thus more difficult to evaluate, such as consistency with marketing and advertising objectives. However, answers to these questions are judgmental in nature and can be evaluated such as appropriateness for the target audience, communication of a clear and convincing message, whether the creative overwhelms the message, appropriateness for the media environment, and whether the ads are truthful and tasteful. Choose a particular campaign, conduct some research on it in the business press or trade publications, and then evaluate the creative approach as well as some of the individual ads against these guidelines. Excellent sources of information that can be helpful to students in this assignment are the ad reviews that appear in publications such as Marketing Magazine. IMC Comprehensive Project Students should continue to develop the advertising part of their IMC project using the information in this chapter to help them. The specific assignment is as follows: IMC Project Assignment for Chapter 8 In the previous assignment you were asked to develop a copy platform that specified your campaign’s theme, appeal and source. Your assignment for this chapter is to specify the execution style that will be used to implement your ad campaign. What specific type of advertising execution technique will be used to present your appeal? Provide some rationale for the execution approach you plan to use. Address any relevant issues of the message structure. What specific tactical design elements will be important in developing your print and broadcast messages? Will your creative approach satisfy the guidelines discussed at the end of Chapter 8? Solution Manual for Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective George E. Belch, Michael A. Belch, Michael A. Guolla 9780070891302