Advertising – Its strengths & limitations

What it cannot do:

- It cannot sell a bad or inferior product.- It normally will not promote broad trial immediately.- It will not stimulate repeat buying if the consumer does not like it.- By itself, it normally cannot gain broad trade distribution on a new product.- It is not a substitute for a sound marketing program involving a product’s package,

price and promotional support.

What it can do:

- Inform the public of a product’s existence.- Persuade many people to try the product.- Tell the product’s story to a vast number of people quickly.- Build a desirable or prestigious image around the product.- Act as a strong merchandising force to help gain distribution & display.

Major media categories

Television

Advantages Disadvantages

- Broad reach - Indiscriminate geographically- Opportunity for frequency - Short message life- Demonstration possibilities - High out-of-pocket costs- Immediacy - Limited program availabilities- Entertainment background - Clutter- Prestige

Major media categories

Radio

Advantages Disadvantages

- Low out-of-pocket costs - No visual impact- High frequency possible - Short message life- Immediacy - Use as background sound- Timing flexibility - Clutter- Short term commitments

Major media categories

Magazines

Advantages Disadvantages

- Good reproduction, especially color - Long term advertiser commitments- Durability of ad message - Slow exposure build-up- Unit size & treatment flexibility - Less intrusive than TV- Demographic selectivity - Lack of urgency- More affluent audience - Long closing dates- Secondary readership- Editorial compatibility- Merchandising possibilitie- Menu suggestions for foods

Major media categories

Newspapers

Advantages Disadvantages

- News value & immediacy - High cost of broad usage- Geographic selectivity/flexibility - Little demographic selectivity- Extensive market coverage - Short message life- Unit size flexibility - Color limitations- Merchandising possibilities - Little secondary readership- Short term advertiser commitment

Continuity vs flighting

Continuous media Frequent purchase pattern Large volume brands High level of impulse buying Budget sufficient to provide effective frequency levels Rapidly expanding market

Media flighting Limited budsget Infrequent purchase pattern Strong loyalty to company’s own brand Consumption not affected by the duration of hiatus period

Media waving Need to support promotion drive periods by field sales force Strong seasonal or geographic factors

Concentration vs media mix

Advantages Disadvantages

Media concentration:- Greater message value - Limited coverage- Media dominance - Missing part of target audience- Greater frequency - Possible distribution problems- Improved efficiency - Over-concentration of message

Mix of media:- Greater reach - Reduced frequency- Synergism effect - Reduction in efficiency- Greater merchandisability - Greater chance of duplication

Media objectives

Media objectives outline the specific goals towards which the media effort is to be directe, and tend to cover such issues as:

- Who …. Does the media plan want to reach, i.e. heavy users, light users, men vs women, buyers vs users, etc.?

- Where …. Does the advertising need to be directed, i.e. nationally, in selected markets, etc.?

- When …. Should the media be scheduled, i.e. throughout the year, just on weekends, in the warm summer months, etc.?

Concept of positioning

Definition

Positioning is a presentation of a product so that consumers will distinguish it from competition in terms of satisfying an unfilled need. It is the product’s basic selling idea to consumers.

Usage

There are two basic component parts to the concept of positioning:

- The selling idea itself …. Upon which the positioning concept is based.

- The execution of the selling idea …. Wherein the positioning concept is translated into an advertising campaign.

Concept of positioning

The selling idea

In identifying the optimum selling idea to be used as the basic positioning concept of a brand, two types should be recognized:

Product positioning conceptsThis is a presentation in which the unfilled consumer need is satisfied by a unique attribute inherent in the product itself.

E.g. Ideas that are based on its formula, nutrition, packaging, price, efficiency or effectiveness, etc.

Product or creative positioning conceptsThis is a presentation in which the unfilled need is satisfied by the unique manner in which the consumer perceives the product, regardless of the product’s physical characteristics.

E.g. Ideas that are based on the concepts of life styles, social status, self-perception, etc.

Concept of positioning

Product positioning concepts are usually used in support of innovative brands which often enjoy a clear product advantage over competition in terms of their performance.

Creative consumer positioning concepts are usually used in support of imitative brands which are often perceived by consumers as being very similar, if not identical, to competitive products in terms of performance.

A difficult but often effective approach to positioning is to superimpose a consumer positioning concept on top of a product positioning concept in advertising, thereby creating an exclusive image for the brand.

Advertising campaign concept

Definition

The advertising campaign concept is the executional device used not only to communicate the brand’s unique selling idea, but also to give that idea long term exclusivity and distinctiveness. If it does not achieve these two functions, the idea probably is not a long term campaign concept.

Application

In practice, client marketing personnel should view suggested copy executions from their agencies in terms of two distinct component parts:

1) The campaign concept – which in essence is the translation of the positioning concept reflected in the copy strategy into a unique visual and/or copy campaign idea.

2) The executional environment – which involves all the other supporting elements in the advertising, such as the opening sequence, demonstrations, etc., used to help communicate or substantiate the basic campaign concept.

Advertising campaign concepts

1) The more innovative the product’s attributes are, the less there is a need to build a perceived distinctiveness through unique campaign ideas. The more imitative a brand is, however, the more it is essential to develop a unique and distinctive advertising campaign for it.

2) Though all advertising should both inform and persuade, advertising that lacks a campaign concept may be informative, but often does not remain persuasive long term. This is one of the most common reasons why advertising is changed every year.

3) Depending upon the circumstances, therefore, ad agencies may be asked to develop alternative campaign concepts to the exclusion of all other elements that make up the executional environment of the advertising.

Campaign concepts always should have long term potential; Executional environments need only have a short term application and

probably should be changed annually.

Criteria for effective advertising campaigns

1) The campaign must consist of a good selling idea (positioning) and a good translation of the idea (execution) into a distinct, long term advertising campaign concept.

2) In terms of consumer recall, the campaign concept should be the dominant feature of the advertising and not the executional environment.

3) The advertising should avoid being clever simply for the sake of being clever.

4) The target audience should be able to relate to, or empatize with, the campaign concept.

Components of print advertising

Media considerations

In print advertising, creative considerations should interact with media considerations to determine space requirements. Among these considerations are the following basic options:

Space unite normally available* Multi-page units * Junior spreads* Spreads * Half pages* Full pages * Smaller column units

Color and bleed options* 4-color * Normal page* 2-color * Bleed page* Black & white

Positioning options* Within same page* Within the spread