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Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled by the sponsor.

Variations include publicity, public relations, etc. Every major medium is used todeliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers,

video games, the Internet and billboards.• Advertisements can also be seen on the seats of grocery carts, on the walls of an airport walkway, on the sides of buses, heard in telephone hold messagesand in-store public address systems.

• Advertisements are usually placed anywhere an audience can easily and/or frequently access visuals and/or audio.

• Advertising clients are predominantly, but not exclusively, profit-generatingcorporations seeking to increase demand for their products or services.

• Some  organizations  which  frequently  spend  large  sums  of  monadvertising but do not strictly sell a product or service to the general public

include: political parties, interest groups, religion-supporting organizations,and militaries looking for new recruits.

• Additionally, some non-profit organizations are not typical advertising clientsand rely upon free channels, such as public service announcements.

• While advertising can be seen as necessary for economic growth, it is notwithout social costs. Unsolicited Commercial Email and other forms of spamhave become so prevalent as to have become a major nuisance to users of these services, as well as being a financial burden on internet serviceproviders.

• Advertising is increasingly invading public spaces, such as schools, which

some critics argue is a form of child exploitationHistory of Advertising• In 1841, the first advertising agency was established by Volney Palmer in

Boston. 

• It was also the first agency to charge a commission on ads at 25% commissionpaid by newspaper publishers to sell space to advertisers.

• At first, agencies were brokers for advertisement space in newspapers. N. W.Ayer & Son was the first full-service agency to assume responsibility for advertising  content.  N.W.  Ayer  opened  in  1875,  and  was  locPhiladelphia.

• When radio stations began broadcasting in the early 1920s, the programs werehowever nearly exploded.

• This was so because the first radio stations were established by radio

equipment manufacturers and retailers who offered programs in order to sellmore radios to consumers.

•   As time passed, manynon-profit organizations followed suit in setting uptheir own radio stations, and included: schools, clubs and civic groups.

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Volkswagen ads among others. Some of the most creative and long-standingAmerican advertising dates to this incredibly creative period.

• The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the introduction of cable television andparticularly MTV. Pioneering the concept of the music video, MTV ushered

in a new type of advertising: the consumer tunes in for the advertisingmessage, rather than it being a byproduct or afterthought.•   As cable and satellite television became increasingly prevalent, specialty

channels emerged, including channels entirely devoted to advertising, such asQVC, Home Shopping Network, and ShopTV.

• Marketing through the Internet opened new frontiers for advertisers andcontributed to the "dot-com" boom of the 1990s.

• Entire   corporations   operated   solely   on   advertising   revenue,   offeverything from coupons to free Internet access.

• At the turn of the 21st century, the search engine Google revolutionized onlineadvertising by emphasizing contextually relevant, unobtrusive ads intended to

help, rather than inundate, users.• This has led to a plethora of similar efforts and an increasing trend of interactive advertising.

• A recent advertising innovation is "guerrilla promotions", which involveunusual approaches such as staged encounters in public places, giveaways of products such as cars that are covered with brand messages, and interactiveadvertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the advertisingmessage.

• This reflects an increasing trend of interactive and "embedded" ads, such asvia product placement, having consumers vote through text messages, andvarious innovations utilizing social networking sites (e.g. MySpace).

Branding

• Although advertising has existed for a long time, explicit "branding" is aproduct of the late 1800s.

• Because of the prevalence of dangerous products and unregulated industries of the Industrial Revolution, brands were introduced to increase the reputationand value of a particular manufacturer.

• An identified brand often meant safety and quality and led to popularity.Mobile Billboard Advertising

• Mobile Billboards are flat-panel campaign units in which their sole

purpose is to carry advertisements along dedicated routes selected by

clients prior to the start of a campaign. Mobile Billboard companies do

not typically carry third-party cargo or freight. Mobile displays are used

for  various  situations  in  metropolitan  areas  throughout  the  w

including:

• Target advertising

• One day, and long term campaigns

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• Convention

• Sporting events

• Store openings or other similar promotional events

• Big advertisements from smaller companies

Product advertising• Certain products use a specific form of advertising known as "Custom

publishing" . This form of advertising is usually targeted at a specific segmentof society, but may also "draw" the attention of others.

Public service advertising• The same advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and

services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about non-commercial issues, such as AIDS, political ideology, energy conservation,religious recruitment, and deforestation.

• Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational toolcapable of reaching and motivating large audiences. "Advertising justifies itsexistence when used in the public interest - it is much too powerful a tool touse solely for commercial purposes." - Attributed to Howard Gossage byDavid Ogilvy

• Public   service   advertising,   non-commercial   advertising,   public   interadvertising, cause marketing, and social marketing are different terms for (or aspects of) the use of sophisticated advertising and marketing communicationstechniques (generally associated with commercial enterprise) on behalf of non-commercial, public interest issues and initiatives.

• Public service advertising reached its height during World Wars I and II under the direction of several governments. Now in days, people average around 500advertisements a day, found one researcher.

Types of advertising1. Media -Commercial advertising media can include wall paintings, billboards,

street furniture components, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cinema andtelevision ads, web banners, shopping carts, web popups, skywriting, bus stopbenches, human directional, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses or airplanes ("logojets"), taxicab doors, roof mounts and passenger screens, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands ondisposable diapers, stickers on apples in supermarkets, the opening section of streaming audio and video, posters, and the backs of event tickets andsupermarket receipts.

•   Any place an "identified" sponsor pays to deliver their message through amedium is advertising.

• Another way to measure advertising effectiveness is known as ad tracking.

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• This advertising research methodology measures shifts in target marketperceptions about the brand and product or service.

• These shifts in perception are plotted against the consumers’ levels of exposure to the company’s advertisements and promotions.

• The purpose of Ad Tracking is generally to provide a measure of thecombined effect of the media weight or spending level, the effectiveness of the media buy or targeting, and the quality of the advertising executions or creative.

2.Covert advertising – Covert advertising is when a product or brand is embedded inentertainment and media.

For example, in a film, the main character can use an item or other of adefinite brand, as in the movie Minority Report , where Tom Cruise's character John Anderton owns a phone with the Nokia logo clearly written in the topcorner, or his watch engraved with the Bulgari logo.

Another example of advertising in film is in I, Robot , where main character played by Will Smith mentions his Converse shoes several times, calling them"classics," because the film is set far in the future.

I, Robot and Spaceballs also showcase futuristic cars with the Audi andMercedes-Benz logos  clearly  displayed  on  the  front  of   the  verespectively.

Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as aresult contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used.

Similarly, product placement for Omega Watches, Vaio, BMW and Aston-Martin cars are featured in recent James Bond films, most notably, CasinoRoyale.

3.Television commercials – 

The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-marketadvertising format, as is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events.

The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as the

most prominent advertising event on television. The average cost of a singlethirty-second TV spot during this game has reached $2.7 million (as of 2007).

 

Virtual advertisements may be inserted into regular television programmingthrough computer graphics. It is typically inserted into otherwise blank backdrops or used to replace local billboards that are not relevant to theremote broadcast audience. More controversially, virtual billboards may be

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inserted into the background where none existing in real-life. Virtual productplacement is also possible.

4. Newer media and advertising approaches – 

Increasingly, other media are overtaking television because of a shift towardsconsumer's usage of the internet as well as devices such as TiVo.

Advertising on the World Wide Web is a recent phenomenon. Prices of Web-based advertising space are dependent on the "relevance" of the surroundingweb content and the traffic that the website receives.

E-mail advertising is another recent phenomenon. Unsolicited bulk E-mailadvertising is known as "spam".

Some companies have proposed to place messages or corporate logos on theside of booster rockets and the International Space Station. Controversy existson the effectiveness of subliminal advertising (see mind control   ), and the

pervasiveness of mass messages (see propaganda). Unpaid advertising (also called word of mouth advertising), can provide good

exposure at minimal cost.

Personal recommendations ("bring a friend", "sell it"), spreading buzz, or achieving the feat of equating a brand with a common noun (in the UnitedStates, "Xerox" = "photocopier", "Kleenex" = tissue, "Vaseline" = petroleumjelly, "Hoover" = vacuum cleaner and "Band-Aid" = adhesive bandage.) --these are the pinnacles of any advertising campaign.

However, some companies oppose the use of their brand name to label anobject.

Equating a brand with a common noun also risks turning that brand into a

genericized trademark - turning it into a generic term which means that itslegal protection as a trademark is lost.

• SMS (Short Message Service) text messages have taken Europe by storm andare breaking into the USA.

• The addition of a text-back number is gaining prevalence as a www address of yesterday. Used as part of your companies 'how to contact us' these can bevery effective.

• These can be a (rented) keyword on a short-code or your own system on astandard number (like Mojio Messenger).

• The benefit of SMS text messages is people can respond where they are, rightnow, stuck in traffic, sitting on the metro.

• The use of SMS text messages can also be a great way to get a viral (word-of-mouth) campaign off the ground to build your own database of prospects seeViral marketing. Interstitial advertisement is a form of advertisement whichtakes place while a page loads.

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Negative effects of advertising• An  extensively  documented  effect  is  the  control  and  vetoing  

information by the advertisers. 

• Any negative information on a company or its products or operations oftenresults in pressures from the company to withdraw such information lines,threatening to cut their ads.

• This behaviour makes the editors of the media self-censor content that mightupset their ad payers. The bigger the companies are, the bigger their relationbecomes, maximising control over a single piece of information.

• Advertisers may try to minimise information about or from consumer groups,consumer-controlled purchasing initiatives (as joint purchase systems), or consumer-controlled quality information systems.

• Another  indirect  effect  of  advertising  is  to  modify  the  naturecommunication media where it is shown. Media that get most of their revenues  from  publicity  try  to  make  their  medium  a  good  communicating ads before anything else.

• The clearest example is television, where broadcasters try to make the publicstay for a long time in a mental state that encourages spectators not to switchthe channel during advertisements.

•   Programs that are low in mental stimulus, require light concentration and arevaried best for long sitting times.

• These also make for much easier emotional transition to ads, which areoccasionally more entertaining than the regular shows.

• A simple way to understand objectives in television programming is tocompare the content of programs paid for and chosen by the viewer with thoseon channels that get their income mainly from advertisements.

• In several books, articles and videos, communication professor Sut Jhally hasargued that pervasive commercial advertising, by constantly reinforcing abogus association between consumption and happiness and by focusing onindividual immediate needs, leads to a squandering of resources and stands inthe way of a discussion of fundamental societal and long-term needs.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE• The   theory   of   cognitive   dissonanceCognitive   Dissonance   Theory,

developed by Leon Festinger (1957), is concerned with the relationshipsamong cognitions.

 • A cognition, for the purpose of this theory, may be thought of as a piece of 

knowledge.

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•   The knowledge may be about an attitude, an emotion, a behavior, a value, andso on.

• For example, the knowledge that you like the color red is a cognition; theknowledge that you caught a touchdown pass is a cognition; the knowledgethat the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation is a cognition.

• People hold a multitude of cognitions simultaneously, and these cognitionsform irrelevant, consonant or dissonant relationships with one another.

• Cognitive Irrelevance probably describes the bulk of the relationships amonga person¹s cognitions.

•   Irrelevance simply means that the two cognitions have nothing to do witheach other.

• Two cognitions are consonant if one cognition follows from, or fits with, the

other. People like consonance among their cognitions.

• We do not know whether this stems from the nature of the human organism or whether it is learned during the process of socialization, but people appear toprefer cognitions that fit together to those that do not. It is this simpleobservation that gives the theory of cognitive dissonance its interesting form.

• Two cognitions are said to be dissonant if one cognition follows from theopposite of another. What happens to people when they discover dissonantcognitions?

• The answer to this question forms the basic postulate of Festinger’s theory. Aperson who has dissonant or discrepant cognitions is said to be in a state of psychological dissonance, which is experienced as unpleasant psychologicaltension.

• This tension state has drivelike properties that are much like those of hunger and thirst.

• When  a  person  has  been  deprived  of  food  for  several  hourexperiences unpleasant tension and is driven to reduce the unpleasant tensionstate that results.

• Reducing the psychological sate of dissonance is not as simple as eating or drinking however.

• To understand the alternatives open to an individual in a state of dissonance,we must first understand the factors that affect the magnitude of dissonancearousal.

• First, in its simplest form, dissonance increases as the degree of discrepancyamong cognitions increases.

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•• Second,  dissonance  increases  as  the  number  of  discrepant  cog

increases.

• Third, dissonance is inversely proportional to the number of consonant

cognitions held by an individual.

• Fourth, the relative weights given to the consonant and dissonant cognitionsmay be adjusted by their importance in the mind of the individual

• If dissonance is experienced as an unpleasant drive state,the individual is

motivated to reduce it. Now that the factors that affect the magnitude of 

this unpleasantness have been identified, it should be possible to predict

what we can do to reduce it:

Changing Cognitions -If two cognitions ar discrepant, we can simply changeone to make it consistent with the other. Or we can change each cognition in

the direction of the other.

Adding   Cognitions  -If  two  cognitions  cause  a  certain   magnitude dissonance, that magnitude can be reduced by adding one or more consonantcognitions.

 

Altering importance -Since the discrepant and consonant cognitions must beweighed by importance, it may be advantageous to alter the importance of thevarious cognitions.

• Primary demand 

- The demand for a general product category, as contrasted with the demand for a

branded product marketed by a firm.• Selective   demand 

-   The demand for   a   specificbrand   mark eted   by   afirm.See also: primary demand

• Selective   advertising

- An approach to developing advertising    message s that seeks to present theunique or differentiating characteristics of a particular brand of product or service.

• Selective Advertising advertising intended to create demand for a specificbrand rather than for the whole product category or class.

Advertising Campaigns that Get Result

It's easy to put together an advertising campaign, but creating one that helps you

make more than you spend should be the objective. The following seven elements are

what separate a successful advertising campaign from one that just costs you money.

 

by   Charlie   Cook  Contributing Author 

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Elements of A Successful Advertising Campaign • 1. Choose the media that will reach your target market. It sounds obvious,

but make sure your target audience will see and/or hear your ad. Select apublication or radio or cable station that your target audience reads or tunes to.If you're advertising on the web, your keyword selection is critical here.

• 2. Write ad copy that your prospects will want to read. Your prospects'primary interest is in what your product or service will do for them, not whatit actually is. Which would you be more likely to read, a headline that reads,"Accounting Services" or one that reads, "How to Avoid Overpaying Your Taxes"?

• 3.  Have  others  establish  your  credibility.If  space  allows,   includetestimonials in your ad verifying the outstanding results your products andservices generate.

• 4. Motivate prospects to contact you. Include a limited-time offer or something for free — a report, appraisal or bonus product — to prompt your prospects to take action.

• 5. Tell prospects what you want them to do and how to do it. This is your "call to action". Tell them to call you, visit your web site, send you an email,fill in the reply card, etc.

• 6. Follow up your offer with the information prospects need to make a

purchase. Too many people make the mistake at this point in the salesprocess of launching into a sales pitch. Whether your prospect is on the phonewith you or is visiting your web site, help them clarify the problem or concernthey have and detail the solution you provide. Then remind them what actionyou want them to take.

7. Continue to educate your prospects and clients. 

• Stay in touch with likely prospects by contacting them at least every

month. Get the conversation going by discussing a common problem.

Give your prospects a quick tip they can use and, of course, mention the

solutions you provide.

• A successful advertising campaign will include all seven of the above

elements, not just one or two. When you put all these elements in place,

your advertising will generate more leads and sales and you’ll see a good

return on your advertising dollars.

• By the way, the client who came to me on the verge of bankruptcy is now

back on solid financial ground. Once she understood how to write her

advertising copy and manage her advertising campaigns, her radio

advertising started to bring in a steady stream of new business.

Radio Advertising: Get Sales through Immediate Response

• In America, 290 million people own more than 300 million radios! Only radiocan take your advertising message to people while they ride bicycles, walk inthe park, ride in cars or climb mountains. Radio brings a sense of urgency toits listeners that is second to none.

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• Radio is alive and well today, and radio advertising is a major part of the planfor advertisers of every size and description.

• Radio was the national advertisers' most economical way to communicatewith millions at a time

• Millions awake to the sound of clock radios, and for many the radio is the last

sound they hear before going to sleep• Today's radio station is judged on its effectiveness not only by the number of its listeners, but also who those listeners are.

• As an advertiser, format programming allows you to buy advertising onstations whose listener characteristics most closely coincide with the profile of your firm's customers. Buying time on a given station also can help you reachaudience segments that you may want to target to help expand your firm'stotal  market  segment  thus  enhancing  your  direct  response  methmarketing.

• Radio advertising is sold on the basis of time• Price ranges are higher during drive time (the hours in the morning and

evening when the maximum number of people are in their cars going to or from work, school or other daytime activities) and lower during the time whenmore people are watching television

How To Plan Your Advertising Budget Strategy

• Advertising: It's probably the toughest part of any business. How much tospend, where to place the ads, how often, what message to send, and to who?It's not possible to answer all these questions in one article so I'm going todeal with the budget creation. For tips on low-cost advertising strategies,

• How much to spend? • The most common answer to this question is, "How much have you got?"

Advertising has a way of depleting your bank account very quickly. If youasked 100 businesses that question, the most common answer would be, "apercentage of gross sales." This not only works for advertising but most other budgets too. Here's how it works.

Percentage of Sales Method    • Take your total last years gross sales or (if you don't have a last year) use

average industry standards. A specific percentage of that amount is allocatedfor advertising. Depending on the business this amount may be a daily,weekly, monthly or quarterly expense. The percentage amount will also varydepending on your profit margins, industry, location and market size. Mostbusiness operate with an advertising budget of 2-5 percent of their previousyears gross sales. If you are new in business, you can obtain industrystandards from associations or trade magazines devoted to your type of business. Check your local library for these resources.

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• One of the main reasons most businesses like this form of budgeting is the

safety factor. Rather than having to "predict" the future and adjust, they arealways dealing with a "known" amount.

• The down side is an opportunity to capitalize on changing events or customer trends are often lost due to the restrictions of the budget which is tied to a set

amount, not the current business climate.Sales objectives method    • Using this method, advertising managers will set sales objectives they feel are

attainable in the current business climate. Advertising and promotion is thenused as needed to help realize the sales goals regardless of what happened inprevious years.

• The up side is that if the advertising is done correctly it becomes aninvestment, not an expense and can fuel more advertising at later dates. Thecompany grows and expands at a faster rate than it would with the percentageof sales method.

• The down side is that advertising based on a bad promotion or incorrect

advertising can be very costly. Suddenly future advertising becomes anexpense not an investment. Costs like this cannot always be recouped quicklyand may start a downhill slide that can destroy a company.

Save money by unadvertised testing

• Ever go to a store and find an "unadvertised special?" This is the store's wayof testing the waters for a specific product or service. If the product tests well,the store can run future ads promoting the product.

• Another advantage: Several products can be tested against each other and thewinners are promoted later with a greater expectation of success. Servicebusinesses can test additional services at a discount to customers when theprimary service is purchased at full price.

How to budget for an individual ad   

• Now that you know two methods for budgeting your advertising it's time tolook at putting them to work. Advertising is like eating an elephant. It's donein small bites not one big one. You will run several ads over a period of timerather than one large ad. How much the ad will cost depends on the answers tothe following questions.

• All advertising must accomplish a specific definable goal. What will this addo for your business? What is the short-term benefit to the company for running this ad? The long-term benefit?

• Is this ad financed by the percentage of sales method or a sales objectivepercentage method? What is the dollar amount allocated to this ad? Co-Opfunds available? What is the expected revenue this ad will produce?

• Are comparable ads being run for competitive products? What size ads dothey use? Can you run similar size ads?

• What is the specific time period for achieving the advertising goal?• What form of evaluation will be used to assure that the ad is working or not

working?How to evaluate your ad results 

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• Advertising that doesn't work is like an employee that doesn't work...it'scostly. You must be able to track whether the ad is working or not and why.

• Create a "tracking sheet" for each and every ad you produce in each type of media. This sheet will be filed with a copy of each print ad and the script for each radio or TV ad. Each sheet will contain two major tracking areas.

• First tracking area. The history of the ad. When was it run? What media?What days? What was the cost of each run? What was the cost for the entirerun of this ad? What amount was paid by co-op advertising, if any? Art anddesign charges?

• Second tracking area. The goal of the ad. Who was the ad directed toward?New customers? Regulars? Were projected sales met? If so, why? Adequateinventory? Proper staffing? Weather? Other events that drew traffic to your area?

• If projected sales were not met, why? Competing sales by competitors? Better promotions or products available elsewhere? Conflicting civic events? Other events that drew traffic out of your area? Error in the ad? Weather?

• When the time comes to run this promotion again, the history of both the costsand results of the ad will be readily available.Some ways to prepare customers in advance for upcoming promotions • Some products require education  of the customer. Offering educational

information to the customer does two things.• First, it alerts you to the customers who have at least some interest in your 

products.• Second, it shows them you are an authority on this product or service.• Offer free information about your business in your ad such as, "Ten Common

Mistakes Home Buyers Make." Make the information specific to your ownbusiness, not generic to your industry. Make sure you use the information toseparate yourself from your competitors.

• For example: Let's assume you have a furniture restoration business. If your competitor uses XYZ glue, and you know it is cheaper and inferior, you mightsay, "We use ABC glue exclusively because it's the best." Do not "bad-mouth"XYZ glue, just plant the seed of doubt in the customers mind that anythingless than ABC glue is questionable.

• Send out the information and follow-up with a letter or call in a few daysvolunteering more information. Invite the customer to see your business firsthand. Show testimonial letters and past successes.

Planning Your Campaign • For a campaign to succeed there must be a set of goals; an understanding of 

the campaign’s impact upon your organization, constituents and allies; andknowledge of the opponents, targets, tactics and timelines.

• 1. Campaign Anatomy • This is a brief overview of what your campaign might look like. Basically,

most campaigns have 7 parts:• ..........1.   Research

..........2.   Choose   your   campaign

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..........3.   Plan/Strategize

..........4.   Recruit   /   Educate   /   Build   Coaliti

..........5.   Interact   with   target

..........6.   Win   or   Regroup

..........7. Evaluate

• These different parts do not necessarily take place consecutively.• You might start with some recruitment, do some research, then choose your campaign.

• Planning and strategizing are crucial.• They require your group to lay out clear goals, identify resources and allies,

identify the decision makers who can give you what you want, and plan your tactics.

• Recruitment, education and coalition building are the means to build supportand power to win your campaign.

Power

• Power is not only what you have but what your opponents think you have 

• Before you can develop a good campaign, you should understand power.Although power is often abused and used to oppress others, don’t be fooled:power is “value-neutral” and organizing is a form of building it. Although wemay lack money or institutional power, students can often (through our use of organizing) mobilize people power 

Setting Campaign Goals

• A goal is a concrete, measurable end that you want to reach. • ..........• Long-Term Goals: These are far-reaching goals that you hope to

achieve eventually.• ..........• Intermediate Goals These are the tangible goals that you intend to

reach as a result of your current campaign.• ..........• Short-Term Goals: These goals are steps towards your intermediate

goals. Short-term goals are important because (1) small victories along theway to the larger goals keep members enthusiastic and optimistic about thepossibility of eventual success and (2) groups often need go through a stage of organizational development or power building (i.e., increase in membershipsize, gain the support of other student organizations, etc.) before they can winintermediate or current campaign goals. Campaigns will frequently haveseveral short-term goals that act much like benchmarks to track the group'sprogress.

Assessing Your Capabilities • Once you have a clear sense of your goals, it’s critical that your group

assesses its organizational strengths and weaknesses. What resources arecurrently available to your group? What resources are you lacking? In thisassessment, be certain to consider all types of resources - money, volunteers,facilities, skills, time, connections, reputation, and others. Also ask whatinternal problems, if any, need to be fixed before you can move forward.

• This is also the time to identify your friends and enemies – those allies youshould reach out to assist with the campaign and those opponents who mayattempt to hinder your campaign efforts

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• To   identify   your   allies,   you   should   answer   the   following   qu

..........•   Who   cares   about   this   issue

..........•   Would   they   share   your   campaign   goa

..........• What are their strengths (e.g., credibility, part of a larger network,money,   special   skills,   very   newsworthy,   special   appeal,   e

..........•   What   are   their   weaknesses?..........•  Who  is   most  affected  by  this  issue?   Whose  problem

..........•   What   are   the   potential   gains   if   they  

..........•   What   risks   might   they   be   taking   to   work   on   th

..........• Are these people organized  into groups? If so, which groups?

..........• How are these groups structured? What are their strengths andweaknesses?

• To identify your opponents, you should answer the following questions:

..........• What groups or individuals  are likely to  oppose your efforts?

..........•   What   will   your   campaign   victory   cost   th

..........•   What   are   their   strengths   and   weakness

..........• What will they likely do or spend to oppose you?Building Your Organization • The campaign should also build your organization. How can this campaign

create new leaders and strengthen the ones you have? How can it bring in newmembers? How can it involve members at a variety of levels of commitment?

• You should think about how many people your project could employ. This isespecially important when planning for the introductory meeting, since youwant new people to get involved. If you don’t involve them, they won’t stick around long. There should be a range of jobs, from light to heavy, to make iteasy for new people to get involved without signing their life away. Try toincrease each member’s level of commitment over time.

Choosing Your Targets

• A target is the person(s) with the power to give you what you want.

» When  attempting  to  identify  your  target(s)

when planning a campaign, start by asking the

following   questions:

..........•   What   individual   or   group   o

individuals has the power to give you what

you   want?

..........• If it’s a group of individuals, which

specific individuals will you target to achieve

your   victory?

..........• What power do you have over your

target(s)?

..........• What reason might the target(s) have

to agree with you or oppose you?

• If your group does not have any power or influence over your primary target,you’ll need to identify a secondary target. A secondary target is a person whocan influence or has power over the primary target.

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• The enemyTo identify secondary targets, ask yourself the   following   questions:

..........• Which individuals can help you influence your primary   targets?..........• What is the nature of the secondary targets’

power   over   the   primary   targets?..........• Who in your group or among your allies haspressure over the secondary target and can influence

Deciding On Your Strategy

• You’ve chosen  your campaign,  defined  your goals,  and  assessed  ycampaign environment. Now it's time to devise your campaign strategy.

• Strategy is a systematic set of tactics arranged to influence a specific

target towards a specific goal.

» When mapping out campaign strategy, you

should   start   by   answering   the   following

questions:

..........•   Given   the   vulnerabilities   of   outarget(s), where should we concentrate our

efforts (e.g., media attention, faculty support,

alumni support, students, etc.)? Feel free to

choose   more   than   one.

..........• What tactics might we use to do so

(e.g., resolutions, direct action, media stunts,

prominent   endorsements,   rallies,   petition

signatures, etc.)? Feel free to choose more

than one.

Choosing Your Tactics • Tactics serve your campaign plan by pressuring your target(s) to give you

what you want.

• Tactics   should:

..........• Fit into an overall strategy. For example, if you’re trying to get facultysupport for your divestment/shareholder advocacy campaign, holding a call inday  to  Dow,  while  fun,  may  not  be   the  best  way  to  go..........• Make sense to your members and supporters. Don’t do something thatyour   members   think   is   crazy...........• Be flexible and creative. If your methods fit the same old patterns,you’ll get the same old responses. If possible, do something that is outside theexperience   of   the   target.   Befuddle   them   if   you   c..........• Have follow-up built in. How often have you done something, had fundoing it, and then wondered where it got you? Each step should set you up for the next one, just as a good pool player sets up for the next shot.

• Consider   the   following   when   determining   your   tactics: 

..........• Who are we trying to influence with this tactic? How will it influencethem?..........• What kind of power are we bringing into this situation? How are weapplying   it?

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..........• How are we following through? How does this tactic build our power for the next step?

• Innovation

During your campaign, you should try to innovate so as to keep your targetguessing and worried, to maximize your power, to keep your constituency

interested and mobilized, to have fun, and to maximize your press coverage.Innovation does not require brilliant ideas. Most innovation is simply stealingan idea that worked at other place or at another time but has not been donerecently at your school.

Developing Your Campaign Message

• Now that you know what you want and who’s going to give it to you, it’snecessary to develop your campaign message.

• A campaign message or slogan is a short (10 words or less), clear, andpersuasive statement that is used in all campaign communications (verbal or written) to deliver a quick and consistent description of your campaign effortto the media, the public, potential allies, and others.

• Campaign messages are very useful to ensure that the primary target of your campaign is receiving a clear and consistent demand regardless of the sourceof that communication.

• Keep in mind the old saying that when you become physically ill at having torepeat the campaign message for the umpteenth time, only then is it finallystarting to seep into the public's consciousness.

Timelines • Sometimes projects drag on with no real sense of progress. To avoid this,

draw up a timeline. This is simply a schedule for when you expect to getthings done.

• This is especially important when preparing for things with definite dates, likerallies and talks.

Managing Your Resources • The last component of campaign planning is to manage your resources.Managing Your Resources • The last component of campaign planning is to manage your resources.Campaign Phases • Generally, campaigns go through several phases:• Ask nicely. • Education & Action. • Negotiations. • Win or lose Planning your banner ad campaign

• Planning a successful banner advertising campaign takes a bit of time andeffort. But if done correctly, banner campaigns can result in a good return-on-investment (ROI) in terms of both branding and sales. What follows are stepsto consider when planning a banner ad campaign:

• Research where to purchase advertising space  • General or specific sites  • Contact your banner representative  

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• Find out the banner submission guidelines  • Check for special rates  • Get it in writing  • Retrieve banner statistics  

Communication: Mass, Interpersonal, and Machine-Assisted

• Communication is information-related behavior, and, by extension, the studyof   communication   is   the   study   of   information-related   behaCommunication is a necessary life process through which animal and humansystems acquire information about their environment that is necessary to carryout their life activities.

• Communication Settings

• Three common settings are: interpersonal (face-to-face), machine-assisted

(fax, computer), and mass communication.A working definition:• mass   communication   refers   to   the   process   by   which   a   c

organization  with  the  aid  of one or more machines  produces  a

transmits public messages that are directed at large, heterogeneous, and

scattered audiences. • Traditionally, of all the settings, message termination was the easiest to

determine in mass communication. Mass communication is public. Feedback 

is minimal. Noise may be semantic, environmental, or mechanical. Nowwith  the  videotape  and  Internet/Web  broadcasts  and  archives,  mtermination may not be so easy to determine.

Schramm's Models

• In 1954, Wilbur Schramm provided several additional models. The first wasessentially an elaboration of Shannon's.

• Schramm   saw   communication   as   a   purposeful   effort   to   estabcommonness between   a   source   and   receiver,   noting   that   the  communication comes from the Latin communis, which meant common:

••• What happens when the source tries to build up this commonnes with his

intended receiver?• First, the source encodes his message. That is, he takes the information or 

feeling he wants to share and puts it into a form that can be transmitted. thepictures in our heads can't be transmitted until they are coded ... Once codedand sent, a message is quite free of its sender ... And there is good reason ...for the sender to wonder whether his receiver will really be in tune with him,whether the message will be interpreted without distortion, whether thepicture in the head of the receiver will bear any resemblance to that in thehead of the sender.

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• Schramm's second model of communication is, in my opinion, far more awareof the subtleties involved. Without a common background and culture, there islittle chance for a message to be interpreted correctly. He introduced the

concept of a field of experience, which he thought to be essential indetermining whether or not a message would be received at its destination inthe manner intended by the source. The old "I know you believe youunderstand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what youheard is not what I meant." He contended that without common fields of experience -- a common language, common backgrounds, a common culture,and so forth -- there was little chance for a message to be interpreted correctly.

•• To overcome the problem of noise, he suggested the importance of feedback .

"An  experienced  communicator   is  attentive  to  feedback  and  conmodifying his messages in light of what he observes in or hears from hisaudience." Hence the roles of sender and recipient are taken on by both

parties, and communication becomes circular, and create a relational model of communication and a beginning of a convergence or network approach.

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• Opinion leaders are quite influential in getting people to change their attitudesand behaviors and are quite similar to those they influence.

•   The two-step flow theory has improved our understanding of how the massmedia influence decision making.

•   The theory refined the ability to predict the influence of media messages on

audience behavior, and it helped explain why certain media campaigns mayhave failed to alter audience attitudes an behavior.• The two-step flow theory gave way to the multi-step flow theory of mass

communication or diffusion of innovation theory

Conceptual Model

• AIDA is an acronym used in marketing that describes a common list of eventsthat are very often undergone when a person is selling a product or service:

• A - Attention (Awareness): attract the attention of the customer.

• I   -   Interest:   raise   customer   interest   by   demonstrating   fea

advantages, and benefits.

• D - Desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or

service and that it will satisfy their needs.

• A - Action: lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.

• Nowadays some have added another letter to form AIDA(S):• S - Satisfaction - satisfy the customer so they become a repeat customer and

give referrals to a product

• The AIDA model states that advertising agency should know how to drawattention  of  a  buyer  to   get  the  customer  interested  by  exhiadvantages, benefits and features.

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• Interest is followed by desire. It is advertising agency’s duty to create a desirein a buyer to buy a specific product.

• All three steps of the AIDA policy will help you to stimulate the actiontowards the purchase of a product.

• AIDA theory guides and leads you to build a better advertising business.

•   BIG B’s of advertising world have followed AIDA to generate goodadvertisement campaignsAnother model called DAGMAR has now increasingly become more popular 

and comprehensive than AIDA. DAGMAR steps are more defined and easy to apply.

Term DAGMAR is an acronym for Defining Advertising Goals for MeasuredAdvertising Results. According to DAGMAR, a sale must carry a potential customer through   four   stages:

I.   Awareness

II.   Comprehension

III.   Conviction

IV. Action• Suppose you are having a service or product and your customer knows

nothing   about   the   product.As your client is unaware of the product, the first step is to make him aware of your product by posting advertisement regarding your product on respectivewebsites.

Comprehension is the second step of DAGMAR. Try to know the answers tothese   following   questions:a)   What   is   your   product   about?b)   What   are   product’s   potential   features   and   benefits   of   proc)   What   will   your   customer   get   from   your   product?   And

Answers to all these questions will help you to get a potential customer.Next stage is conviction and this is very important. Convince your customer 

by telling him the benefits of your product. After convincing, your next step starts i.e.action, which is not controlled by you. You have to depend on the customer.However,   your   previous   actions   will   have   a   major   role   to  

If you have been able to convince, the customer ad have answered him satisfactorilyand then you will definitely be the winner of the day.

New Theoretical Models

• In 1961, Lavidge and Steiner published a paper in the Journal of Marketingentitled, A Model for Predictive Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness. 

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• they suggested that advertising effectiveness should be measured in terms of movement up the hierarchy rather than solely on its ability to evoke action inthe consumer.

• In addition, they created a new model of the hierarchy itself which took into

account models from the field of psychology which attempted to describelearning itself as a process.• The model described three distinct phases of learning which occur in the

following order: 1) cognitive, 2) affective, and 3) co native.

• The three phases correspond roughly to the categories 1) thinking, 2) feeling,and 3) doing.

• Lavidge and Steiner broke each category into two corresponding mini-stagesand presented a model of the hierarchy with the following ordered phases:

• Awareness, Knowledge, Liking, Preference, Conviction, and Purchase.

• Lavidge and Steiner's model required the consumer to pass through all six of the stages, in the given order, before reaching the final stage (Action). Theydid, however, qualify their theory to address common criticisms of older hierarchy models. In doing so, they stipulated the following:

• The stages are not necessarily equidistant.

• It is possible to move up several steps simultaneously.

• The greater the psychological/economic commitment, the longer it takes tomove upward on the hierarchy, and visa-versa.

• While Lavidge and Steiner's work was widely regarded as a breakthrough inthe field of advertising theory, Kristian Palda, a respected theorist andresearcher, raised several questions concerning the relationship between thecognitive, affective, and co native stages in the new model. Through researchand experimentation, Palda made the following points:

» There is no evidence that changes in awarenessprecede rather than follow a purchase.

» It is unclear whether attitude is a mechanismwhich effects behavior.

» Attitude change may follow behavior, rather than precede it.

» "Intention to buy" does not equal "Action".» Palda's work can be seen as anticipatory of the

"Challenge-Defense" period which followed inthe development of the theory.

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•

• The think-feel-do model is also called the high-involvement model because it

depicts a series of standard responses typically found in consumers who areactive participants in the process of gathering information and making adecision; they are active thinkers.

• This standard hierarchy is likely to be found with product categories andsituations where there is a need for information, such as high-priced or major purchases, or where there is a lot of product differentiation, as in industrialproducts and consumer durables.

• This type of advertising usually provides many product details and is veryinformative

• In contrast, the low-involvement model changes the order of responses tothink-do-feel, with the idea that consumers first learn about a product, then try

it, and finally form an opinion.

• This situation occurs when there is little initial interest in the product or whenthere is minimal difference between the products, requiring little decisionmaking.

• It also describes impulse purchasing.

• A third variation is the do-feel-think model, which explains how people trysomething and learn from the experience.

• It is called a rationalization model because consumers typically select fromseveral alternatives and then rationalize their decision by developing strongpositive feelings about the product.

• With the basic understanding of the relationship between the advertisingobjectives and how advertising works and the classic models of the consumer decision making process, let’s proceed to the next step -- my own ideas abouthow advertising works2. Personal Relevance Model 

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• As was discussed in previous sections, it is too hard to build one single modelto apply to every product in every market situation especially in light of thediversity of possible advertising objectives.

• However, I am going to assume that the general objective of advertising is topersuade consumers to buy products or services in order to develop a

provisional model of advertising.•   My own model, which I am tentatively calling the Personal Relevance Model(PRM), is a modification of a classic model of the consumer decision makingprocess, the hierarchy of effects model.

• However, whereas the traditional hierarchy of effects model assumed thatconsumer behavior was based on gradual transitions between each step, PRMputs more weight on the relationship among steps in the hierarchy effectsmodel.

• In the traditional hierarchy of effects model, consumers were consideredrational subjects acting in the market and were presumed to always purchasethrough each step like awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction,

and purchase. In the PRM model these steps are no longer consideredtheoretically distinct.

• This traditional hierarchy of effects model was effective in describing theimpact of the decision making process.

•   In particular, it was successful in explaining the decision making process for high involvement products.

• However, as was mentioned in the introduction, consumers in the real worldare not always savvy enough to rationally purchase products and services.

• Furthermore, consumers do not normally go through all steps in the traditionalhierarchy of effects model when they buy something.

•   As the do-feel-think model -- the low involvement model -- recognizes,sometimes consumers skip some steps or change the order of steps in their own process of purchase.

• A further problem of the traditional model lies in the changed advertisingenvironment.

• The hierarchy of effects model has been an effective tool for illustrating thecomplicated consumer behavior toward both low involvement products andhigh involvement products.

• However, the advent of new media that are based on recent technologicaldevelopments has rapidly changed the advertising environment for consumers.

• These new media are characterized by increased interactivity, convenience,and customization of information.

•   Given this rapidly changing media environment, the traditional hierarchyeffects model can not sufficiently explain consumers' purchasing behavior.

• When we consider the effects of product message, another thing we can notoverlook   is   that   no   one   product   message   can   occupy   one  monopolistically.

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• In other word, there is a clutter of messages in any medium and all messagesare made  to get  the consumer’s attention  and, ultimately,  to  persuadconsumers to do something-- either to buy products or to get services.

• The incidence of message clutter is increasing and the media are morecompetitive than at any time in the past. Two important aims of media

planning, effectiveness and the efficiency can not be guaranteed in this mediaenvironment even when media planning is thoroughly set up with appropriatereach and frequency. Therefore, in order to proficiently approach consumerswith the product message, we need a new theoretical examination andmodification of the product message along with an appreciation of the newmarket environment.

Advertising is a management function. While advertising is the event, advertisingManagement is the whole process - a function of marketing starting from market research continuing through Advertising leading to actual sales or achievement of 

objective. But Advertising Management does not stop here. It goes further in regardto evaluation of the whole cost-benefits that were involved in the whole exercise.

This means that if there is a public service ad with an objective to increase domesticsaving, the evaluation would take place in terms of the actual increase in domesticsavings as can be found from banks and other financial institutions. If it's aboutlaunch of a new product, then the evaluation would be in terms of benefits derivedfrom the cost sunk in the advertising campaign.

Advertising management incorporates various specialised sub-functions like media strategy, message strategy, media planning, media buying etc.

While advertising management is an inseparable part of the marketing department,usually, the marketing department of an organisation is concerned more with marketresearch  and  evaluation   of  results.  All  the  critical  processes  of  amanagement are generally outsourced to specialised  Advertising  agencies.  For example the media buying is done in bulk by these ad agencies on which they receivediscount / commission, that goes into their earning. It is a very creative field as itinvolves designing the strategies to be adopted for influencing the public ie mediaselection and deciding on the aspect to be advertised based on the image of thecompany and the present marketing objective.It then involves deciding on the admessage to be communicated which should capture the public attention!

Advertising: Mass communication or direct-to-purchaser communication that is non-personal and paid for by various firms, nonprofit organizations, and individualsidentified in the advertising message who hope to inform or persuade members of aparticular  audience.  While  the  general   public  frequently  views  advertisencompassing   all   forms   of   promotional   communication,   most   advertpractitioners limit what they call advertising to paid communications conveyed by amass medium. The latter definition distinguishes advertising from other forms of 

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marketing communications, such as sales promotion, public relations, and directmarketing.

Advertising principles are condition-action statements. That is, they specify whatshould be done in each type of situation. Ads that follow the principles are expected

to be more persuasive.

Advertising principles can be used to: 1. Aid creativity in developing advertisingcampaigns 2. Evaluate ads to determine which ad is most effective 3. Show whatactions can be taken to improve the ads

There are over 400 evidence-based principles that could possibly be used to

develop a persuasive ad. Each principle depends on the situation:

• The principles are presented by starting with strategy issues:

-information -influence -emotions -mere exposure-

• Then tactical principles are presented, divided into those that focus on:

-reducing resistance -gaining acceptance -crafting the message -attracting attention-

• Then there are principles that are specific to media, grouped as

still media: print (e.g. magazines, newspapers, flyers, billboards) motion and soundmedia: TV, streaming video and radio

An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a singleidea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC).Advertising campaigns appear in different media across a specific time frame.

The critical part of making an advertising campaign is determining a campaigntheme, as it sets the tone for the individual advertisements and other forms of marketing communications that will be used. The campaign theme is the centralmessage that will be communicated in the promotional activities. The campaignthemes are usually developed with the intention of being used for a substantial periodbut many of them are short lived due to factors such as being ineffective or marketconditions and/or competition in the marketplace and marketing mix.

A particular advertising campaign may make use of a number of different channels or media to reach its audience - hence Internet advertising, Television Advertising,Magazine Advertising and others...(

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Advertising media selection

Performance

This is typically measured on two dimensions:

CovTo maximize overall awareness, the maximum number of the target audienceshould be reached by the advertising. There is a limit, however, for the last few per cent of the general population are always difficult (and accordingly very expensive)to reach; since they do not see the main media used by advertisers. Indeed the cost of 'cumulative' coverage typically follows an exponential pattern. Reaching 90 per centcan cost double what it costs to reach 70 per cent, and reaching 95 per cent candouble the cost yet again. The coverage decision is, in practice, a balance between thedesired coverage and the cost of achieving it. A large budget will achieve highcoverage, whereas a smaller budget will limit the ambitions of the advertiser.

1. Frequency - Even with high coverage, however, it is not sufficient for a member of the target audience to have just one `Opportunity To See' (OTS) the advertisement. Interms of the traditional media it is generally reckoned that around five OTS are neededbefore any reasonable degree of impact is achieved; and significantly more may beneeded to build attitudes which lead to brand switching. To achieve five OTS, evenacross a coverage of only 70 per cent of the overall audience, may require 20 or 30peak-time transmissions of a commercial, or a significant number of insertions of pressadvertisements in the national media. A related point is that, as the above figuressuggest, most consumers simply do not see the commercials that frequently (whereasthe brand manager, say, looks out for every one; and has already seen them many times

before their first transmission - and so becomes justifiably bored). The message is thatthe life of advertising campaigns can often be extended far beyond the relatively shortlife which is usually expected of them. Indeed, as indicated above, the research showsthat advertisements 'need' to obtain a significant number of exposures to consumersbefore they even register. As David Ogilvy long ago recommended, "If you are luckyenough to write a good advertisement, repeat it until it stops selling. Scores of goodadvertisements have been discarded before they lost their potency."

Spread

The more sophisticated media planners will also look at the 'spread' of frequencies.

Ideally 'all' of the audience should receive the average number of OTS (since thosewho receive less are insufficiently motivated, and the extra advertising is wasted onthose who receive more). Needless to say, it is impossible to achieve this ideal. Aswith coverage, the pattern will be weighted towards a smaller number, of heavyviewers for example who will receive significantly more OTS, and away from thedifficult last few per cent. However, the good media buyer will manage the resultingspread of frequencies so that it is weighted close to the average, with as few aspossible of the audience away from the average.

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Frequency is also complicated by the fact that this is a function of time. A pattern of 12 OTS across a year may be scarcely noticed, whereas 12 OTS in a week will bevery evident to most viewers. This is often the rationale for advertising in `bursts' or `waves' (sometimes described as `pulsing'); with expenditure concentrated into anumber of intense periods of advertising - which are noticed - but with these bursts

spread throughout the year, so that brands do not remain uncovered for long periods.

 Media Buyers

In the end, it is the media buyers who deliver the goods; by negotiating special dealswith the media owners, and buying the best parcels of `slots' to achieve the best cost(normally measured in terms of the cost per thousand viewers, or per thousandhousehold `impressions', or per thousand impressions on the target audience. The"best cost" can also be measured by the cost per lead, in the case of direct responsemarketing). The growth of the very large, international, agencies has been partlyjustified by their increased buying power over the media owners.

Social Aspects of Advertising• Advertising Educates Consumers– Pro: Advertising informs – Con: Advertising is superficial• Advertising improves living standards– Pro: Ads lower the costs of products – Con: Ads are wasteful and help only someCritics of advertising feel that advertising is superficial because many ads carry littleactual product information. Do you think advertising is superficial?2 Advertising Affects Happiness and Well-BeingCon: Ads create needs Pro: Ads address a wide variety of basic human needsCon: Ads promote materialism Pro: Ads reflect society’s priorities

Critics feel advertising promotes materialismAdvertising: Demeaning and deceitful, or liberating and artful?Con: Ads perpetuate stereotypes Pro: Advertisers are more sensitive nowCon: Ads are often offensive Pro: Ads are a source of liberationCon: Ads deceive via subliminal stimulation Pro: Advertising is art3Do you think this ad perpetuates stereotypes?Advertising has a powerful effect on mass mediaPro: Ads foster a diverse and affordable mass media that provides informationCon: Advertising affects and controls programming. “Advertainment” has madematters worseEthical Aspects of AdvertisingEthics are the moral standards against which behavior is judged. Key areas of debateregarding ethics and advertising are:• Truth in advertising• Advertising to children• Advertising controversial products4Ethical Aspects of Advertising

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Truth in Advertising• Deception is making false or misleading statements, but puffery (commercial 

exaggeration) is legal.• Cannot legislate against emotional appealsEthical Aspects of Advertising

Advertising to Children—Issues• Advertising promotes superficiality and materialism inhildren• Children are inexperienced and easy prey• Persuasion to children creates child-parent conflicts• What does the literature say about kid’s abilities to process persuasive information?Ethical Aspects of AdvertisingAdvertising Controversial Products• Critics question “targeting” minorities• Tobacco, alcohol, gambling and lotteries are product categories of greatest concern• How does the concept of “primary demand” provide insights here?

• What does the literature say about advertising’s impact on these product categories?5Regulatory Aspects of AdvertisingAreas of advertising regulation• Deception and unfairness• Competitive issues– Vertical cooperative advertising– Comparison advertising– Monopoly power • Advertising to childrenKey Regulatory AgentsGovernment Regulation• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)– Wide range of regulatory programs and remedies• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)• U.S. Postal Service• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and FirearmsKey Regulatory Agents--FTCFTC Programs and Remedies• Advertising Substantiation Program• Consent Order • Cease and Desist Order • Affirmative Disclosure• Corrective Advertising• Control of Celebrity EndorsementsIndustry Self-Regulation• National Advertising Review Board (NARB)• State and Local Better Business Bureaus• Ad Agencies and Associations

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• Media OrganizationsInternet Self-Regulation• No industry-wide trade association has emerged to date• Global Dialogue on Electronic Commerce (GBDe) is emerging as a governing body• Little progress has been made to address consumers’ complaints

Consumers as Regulatory agents• Consumerism: Grass roots consumer movements• Consumers Organizations– Consumer Federation of America– Consumers Union– Consumer Alert– Commercial Alert7Regulation of Other Promotional Tools• Direct Marketing and e-Commerce– Privacy, Contests, Telemarketing

– Spam=10 million messages/minute worldwide• Sales Promotion– Premiums, Trade Allowances, Contests• Public Relations– Privacy, Copyright Infringement,Defamation (slander and libel)

Steps in Creating an Advertising Campaign

Determine the advertising objectives

Make creative decisions 

Make media decisions 

Evaluate the campaign

Setting Objectives: The DAGMAR  Approach 

Define target audience

Define desired percentage change

Define the time frame for change

   

Creative Decisions

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Develop and evaluate advertising appeals

Execute the message

Evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness

Identify product benefits

Identify Product Benefits   

Attribute 

Benefit 

 

Common Advertising Appeals   

Profit  -Product saves, makes, or protects money  

Health - Appeals to body-conscious or health seekers 

Love or romance - Used in selling cosmetics and perfumes 

Fear - Social embarrassment, old age, losing health  

Admiration - Reason for use of celebrity spokespeople 

Convenience - Used for fast foods and microwave foods 

Fun and pleasure - Key to advertising vacations, beer, parks 

Vanity and egotism  -Used for expensive or conspicuous items  

Environmental Consciousness - Centers around environmental protection 

Executing the Message

Common Executional Styles

Mood or Image

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Musical

Demonstration

Scientific

Real/Animated Product Symbols

Fantasy

Lifestyle

Slice-of-Life

Humorous

Spokes-person/Testimonial

Major Types of Advertising Media

Newspapers. Newspapers are one of the traditional mediums used by businesses,both big and small alike, to advertise their businesses.

Advantages

Allows you to reach a huge number of people in a given geographic areaYou have the flexibility in deciding the ad size and placement within the newspaper Your ad can be as large as necessary to communicate as much of a story as you careto tellExposure to your ad is not limited; readers can go back to your message again andagain if so desired.Free help in creating and producing ad copy is usually availableQuick turn-around helps your ad reflect the changing market conditions. The ad youdecide to run today can be in your customers' hands in one to two days.

Disadvantages

Ad space can be expensiveYour ad has to compete against the clutter of other advertisers, including the giantsads run by supermarkets and department stores as well as the ads of your competitorsPoor photo reproduction limits creativityNewspapers are a price-oriented medium; most ads are for sales

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Expect your ad to have a short shelf life, as newspapers are usually read once andthen discarded.You may be paying to send your message to a lot of people who will probably never be in the market to buy from you.Newspapers are a highly visible medium, so your competitors can quickly react to

your pricesWith the increasing popularity of the Internet, newspapers face declining readershipand market penetration. A growing number of readers now skip the print version of the newspaper (and hence the print ads) and instead read the online version of thepublication.

Magazines. Magazines are a more focused, albeit more expensive, alternative tonewspaper advertising. This medium allows you to reach highly targeted audiences.

Advantages

Allows for better targeting of audience, as you can choose magazine publications thatcater to your specific audience or whose editorial content specializes in topics of interest to your audience.High   reader   involvement   means   that   more   attention   will   be   paid  advertisementBetter quality paper permits better color reproduction and full-color adsThe smaller page (generally 8 ½ by 11 inches) permits even small ads to stand out

Disadvantages

Long lead times mean that you have to make plans weeks or months in advance

The slower lead time heightens the risk of your ad getting overtaken by eventsThere is limited flexibility in terms of ad placement and format.Space and ad layout costs are higher 

Yellow Pages. There are several forms of Yellow Pages that you can use to promoteand advertise your business. Aside from the traditional Yellow Pages supplied byphone companies, you can also check out specialized directories targeted to specificmarkets (e.g. Hispanic Yellow Pages, Blacks, etc.); interactive or consumer searchdatabases; Audiotex or talking yellow pages; Internet directories containing national,local and regional listings; and other services classified as Yellow Pages.

Advantages

Wide availability, as mostly everyone uses the Yellow PagesNon-intrusiveAction-oriented, as the audience is actually looking for the adsAds are reasonably inexpensiveResponses are easily tracked and measuredFrequency

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Disadvantages

Pages can look cluttered, and your ad can easily get lost in the clutter Your ad is placed together with all your competitorsLimited creativity in the ads, given the need to follow a pre-determined format

Ads slow to reflect market changes

Radio

Advantages

Radio is a universal medium enjoyed by people at one time or another during the day,at home, at work, and even in the car.The vast array of radio program formats offers to efficiently target your advertisingdollars to narrowly defined segments of consumers most likely to respond to your offer.

Gives your business personality through the creation of campaigns using sounds andvoicesFree creative help is often availableRates can generally be negotiatedDuring the past ten years, radio rates have seen less inflation than those for other media

Disadvantages

Because radio listeners are spread over many stations, you may have to advertisesimultaneously on several stations to reach your target audience

Listeners cannot go back to your ads to go over important pointsAds are an interruption in the entertainment. Because of this, a radio ad may requiremultiple exposure to break through the listener's "tune-out" factor and ensure messageretentionRadio is a background medium. Most listeners are doing something else whilelistening, which means that your ad has to work hard to get their attention

Television

Advantages

Television permits you to reach large numbers of people on a national or regionallevel in a short period of timeIndependent stations and cable offer new opportunities to pinpoint local audiencesTelevision being an image-building and visual medium, it offers the ability to conveyyour message with sight, sound and motion

Disadvantages

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Message is temporary, and may require multiple exposure for the ad to rise above theclutter Ads on network affiliates are concentrated in local news broadcasts and stationbreaksPreferred ad times are often sold out far in advance

Limited length of exposure, as most ads are only thirty seconds long or less, whichlimits the amount of information you can communicateRelatively expensive in terms of creative, production and airtime costs

Direct Mail. Direct mail, often called direct marketing or direct response marketing,is a marketing technique in which the seller sends marketing messages directly to thebuyer.  Direct  mail  include  catalogs   or  other  product  literature  with  opportunities; sales letters; and sales letters with brochures.

Advantages

Your advertising message is targeted to those most likely to buy your product or service.Marketing message can be personalized, thus helping increase positive response.Your message can be as long as is necessary to fully tell your story.Effectiveness of response to the campaign can be easily measured.You have total control over the presentation of your advertising message.Your ad campaign is hidden from your competitors until it's too late for them to reactActive involvement - the act of opening the mail and reading it -- can be elicited fromthe target market.

Disadvantages

Some people do not like receiving offers in their mail, and throw them immediatelywithout even opening the mail.Resources need to be allocated in the maintenance of lists, as the success of this kindof promotional campaign depends on the quality of your mailing list.Long lead times are required for creative printing and mailingProducing direct mail materials entail the expense of using various professionals -copywriter, artists, photographers, printers, etc.Can be expensive, depending on your target market, quality of your list and size of the campaign.

Telemarketing. Telephone  sales,  or telemarketing,  is  an  effective  system  introducing a company to a prospect and setting up appointments.

Advantages

Provides a venue where you can easily interact with the prospect, answering anyquestions or concerns they may have about your product or service.It's easy to prospect and find the right person to talk to.

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It's cost-effective compared to direct sales.Results are highly measurable.You can get a lot of information across if your script is properly structured.If outsourcing, set-up cost is minimalIncreased efficiency since you can reach many more prospects by phone than you can

with in-person sales calls.Great tool to improve relationship and maintain contact with existing customers, aswell as to introduce new products to themMakes it easy to expand sales territory as the phone allows you to call local, nationaland even global prospects.

Disadvantages

An increasing number of people have become averse to telemarketing.More people are using technology to screen out unwanted callers, particularlytelemarketers

Government is implementing tougher measures to curb unscrupulous telemarketersLots of businesses use telemarketing.If hiring an outside firm to do telemarketing, there is lesser control in the processgiven that the people doing the calls are not your employeesMay need to hire a professional to prepare a well-crafted and effective scriptIt can be extremely expensive, particularly if the telemarketing is outsourced to anoutside firmIt is most appropriate for high-ticket retail items or professional services.

Specialty Advertising. This kind of advertising entails the use of imprinted, useful,or decorative products called advertising specialties, such as key chains, computer 

mouse, mugs, etc. These articles are distributed for free; recipients need not purchaseor make a contribution to receive these items.

Advantages

Flexibility of useHigh selectivity factor as these items can be distributed only to the target market.If done well, target audience may decide to keep the items, hence promoting longretention and constant exposureAvailability of wide range of inexpensive items that can be purchased at a low price.They can create instant awareness.They can generate goodwill in receiver The items can be used to supplement other promotional efforts and media (e.g.distributed during trade shows).

Disadvantages

Targeting your market is difficult.This can be an inappropriate medium for some businesses.

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It is difficult to find items that are appropriate for certain businessesLonger lead time in developing the message and promotional productPossibility of saturation in some items and audiencesWrong choice of product or poor creative may cheapen the image of advertiser 

Cooperative Advertising

An   arrangement   in   which   the   manufacturer   and   the   retaisplit   the   costs   of   advertising   the   manufacturer’s   br

In advertising, different creative strategies are used in order to obtain consumer 

attention and provoke shoppers to purchase or use a specific product. Advertisers usedifferent ways of thinking to create catchy slogans that capture consumer attention.Creative strategies promote publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion.

These ways of thinking are divided into three basic descriptions: Weak strategies,mid-strength strategies and strong strategies. The strategies labeled "strong, mid-strength, and weak are generic phrases used in the below referenced text books tohelp students understand the intensity of each different type of advertising strategy.Advertisements, weak, mid-strength, and strong can be found in television, radio, andmagazines/print.

Since the beginning of advertising, strategies have been created, starting with thesimplest (weak) strategies in the 1940's.

Weak strategies

Generic and Pre-emptive strategies describe the two weakest forms of advertising thatwere most popular through the 1940's.

A generic strategy gives a product attribution. An example of this would be how thebeef industry chose to advertise their product. With their slogan, “Beef , it's what's for 

dinner,” consumers aren't learning anything new about the product.The Beef slogan simply states beef as a dinner item. It enhances the product in noother way.

A pre-emptive strategy is a form of advertising that makes a generic claim stronger.An example of a pre-emptive strategy can be found in Folgers Coffee. As many of usknow, most all coffee is grown in the mountains. Folgers took that fact and claimed itas their own with their slogan, “Folgers: Mountain Grown Coffee.”

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Middle-strength strategies

Secondly, are the mid-strength strategies: unique positioning strategy, brand imageand positioning.

A unique positioning strategy is proving that something about your product is trulyunique. This is commonly found when producers take an average product and add anew, unique element to it. An example of Unique Positioning Strategy would be inCrest toothpaste. Crest added the unique feature of Scope in their product todifferentiate it from other brands of toothpaste.

A downfall in Unique positioning strategy advertising is that if a unique featureincreases sales on one product, many other brands are likely to adopt the “unique”feature, making the end product not so unique.

Positioning is one of the most common forms of advertising. It was developed in the

1970's and is still widely used today. In positioning one brand will take its productand “position” it against a competing product.

An example of positioning can be found in the rental car company “Avis'” storeslogan. With “Hertz” car company being the leader in rental car services, Avis took their number two position and used it to their advantage by creating the slogan,“When you're number two, you try harder.”

Brand Image is another very common way companies choose to advertise. In brandimage, an advertiser is not trying to create rational thinking. This type of advertisingstrives to create emotion and give a brand a personality. A common way of doing this

is by using a celebrity as a spokesperson.

A great example of brand image is found in Proactive Acne Solutions. In each of their commercials they have celebrities sharing their Proactive experiences, giving thebrand a face people want to be.

Strong strategies

The third and strongest form of creative strategy includes affective advertising andresonance advertising.

Making people feel really good about a product is called affective advertising. This isdifficult  to do, but often humor and  an honest character  can make affectiveadvertising possible.

A great example of affective advertising is found in the “Geico” commercials. Bycreating a friendly, honest, funny gecko as a spokesperson, consumers tend to trustwhat the gecko is saying and find humor in his actions. This creates a good feelingabout the actual service “Geico” offers.

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Lastly, resonance advertising is a way of identifying with consumers. If an advertiser can create a campaign that certain target markets identify with, then resonanceadvertising has been achieved.

An example of resonance advertising is in “Tide” detergent ads. Many times mothers

are busy doing laundry in between sports practices and driving their children aroundin mini vans. There recognition with soccer moms makes “Tide” a favorite pick among women with children who are very involved in activities. Common Advertising Strategies 

1. Ideal Kids

The kids in commercials are often a little older and a little more perfect than the targetaudience of the ad. They are, in other words, role models for what the advertiser 

wants children in the target audience to think they want to be like. A commercial thatis targeting eight year-olds, for instance, will show 11 or 12 year-old models playingwith an eight year old's toy.

2. Heart Strings

Commercials   often   create   an   emotional   ambience   that   draws   you   iadvertisement and makes you feel good. The McDonald's commercials featuringfather and daughter eating out together, or the AT&T Reach Out and Touch Someoneads are good examples. We are more attracted by products that make us feel good.

3. Amazing Toys

Many toy commercials show their toys in life-like fashion, doing incredible things.Airplanes do loop-the-loops and cars do wheelies, dolls cry and spring-loadedmissiles hit gorillas dead in the chest. This would be fine if the toys really did thesethings.

4. Life-like Settings

Barbie struts her stuff on the beach with waves crashing in the background, spacealiens fly through dark outer space and all-terrain vehicles leap over rivers and

trenches. The rocks, dirt, sand and water don't come with the toys, however.

5. Sounds Good

Music and other sound effects add to the excitement of commercials. Sound can maketoys seem more life-like or less life-like, as in a music video. Either way, they helpset the mood advertisers want.

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6. Cute Celebrities

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sell pizza. Spuds McKenzie sells beer. "Joe Cool"camel sells cigarettes. All of these are ways of helping children identify with productseither now or for the future.

7. Selective Editing

Selective editing is used in all commercials, but especially in commercials for athletictoys like frisbees or footballs. Commercials show only brilliant catches and perfectthrows. Unfortunately, that's not the way most children experience these toys.

8. Family Fun.

"This is something the whole family can do together!" or "This is something Momwill be glad to buy for you." Many commercials show parents enjoying their 

children's fun as if the toy will bring more family togetherness.

9. Excitement!

Watch the expressions on children's faces. Never a dull moment, never boring. "Thistoy is the most fun since fried bananas!" they seem to say. How can your child helpthinking the toy's great?

10. Star Power.

Sports heroes, movie stars, and teenage heart throbs tell our children what to eat andwhat to wear. Children listen, not realizing that the star is paid handsomely for the

endorsement.

Build Your Ad Program

When   it   comes   to   a   successful   ad,   content   is  Research proves that more than any other element the content of your ad makes

the difference between capturing customers at the moment they're ready to buy andlosing them to the competition. Other elements like size, color and positioning areimportant in helping drive response, but if your ad's content is simple, powerful and

effective YOU will get the calls.Ready-to-buy customers have an immediate need to fulfill, and many are newcustomers. They're looking for the best value for their money but will spend more if they find exactly what they want. They're also more likely to recommend a businessto their friends. Ultimately, they have money in hand and are looking to be sold. Tohelp them out, make sure your ad does these important things:Catch the attention of the customer Be easy to read and understand

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Inform and educate quicklyHave multiple phone numbers and locationsImpart a sense of caring customer serviceGive a reason for the customer to call youMake it easy to contact and do business with you

Ad EssentialsGive   ready-to-buy   customers   everything   they   need   to   kMake your ad work harder to close the sale by arming it with everything customersneed to pick up the phone and contact you. These are smart shoppers who have a needto fill immediately.The following points, known as the “six W's” of solid advertising copy, form your core message:Who you are and what your business does including logos or slogans to set you apart.What you provide in terms of products and services, amenities, guarantees.Where you are located, geographic areas you serve, plus a map or directions.When you're open for business, multiple phone numbers, emergency phone number 

or pager.Why a customer should buy from you, whether it be your product range, brandnames, amenities, reputation or expertise. This is your story so tell it in a compellingway.WWW, i.e., your Web site presence to let customers interact with and learn aboutyour business anytime day or night-even conduct transactions.Elements of an Effective Ad Program

Roll   out   surefire   tactics   to   get   your   business   nA successful campaign involves many aspects but also follows proven paths.

Remember:   Content   is   king   for   ready-to-buy   customers   who   are  specificinformation they need to help them make a purchase decision. But they alsomust be able to see it. In addition to the solutions you've read about in previoussections, consider the fact that running more than one print display ad or acombination of print and online can dramatically increase response. For example:Eighty-five percent of customers that gives the customer a reason to call. Your subhead should sum up your business benefit to customers, possibly including aspecial offer or a unique aspect of your business the others can't match.Online advertising is proven that give ready to buy customers exactly what theyneed to make a purchase decision.Online directory usage is growing to highlight your business and show a solution,not a problem.A combination of print and online to enhance the customer experience like anemergency phone number, pager or Web address or e-mail. Be sure to list all of your locations and phone numbers.A listing in local search engines to reach a broader range of potential customers andleverage similar or overlapping headings, e.g., a florist with ads under “Weddings”and “Corporate Events” and “Funerals.”Running two display ads to target prospective customers in nearby areas or inSpecialty Guides to reach specific audiences, e.g., “Restaurants” or “Hardware”.

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What's more, Companion directories have been shown to deliver twice the ROI of main directories when added to the mix.*Customers rank multiple locations to stand out from competitors and to provideenough information for a customer to make a purchase decision on the spot. Researchproves that doubling the size of your display ad yields a 45% increase in phone calls.

13 Elements of a Winning Small Business Advertisement

Nobody can guarantee a winning ad. The only way to know for sure is to test it. Butthere are several elements that you can incorporate into your ad or sales letter to giveit a better chance of being a winner. Use these elements as your own personal

“winning ad checklist.”

Element #1  Smart Ad Placement

The first step in positioning your ad for success is increasing its chance of being seenby your target market. Running the world’s best radio ad for your retirement planningservices on a local hip-hop station wouldn’t be a good idea.

Find out what your target market watches (i.e. sports, cooking, business), where theywatch it (i.e. car, home, airport), and how they watch it (i.e. newspaper, magazine,radio). Until you know this information, you cannot make smart choices about ad

placement and you’ll likely end up wasting a lot of your hard-earned dollars on an adthat didn’t even get seen by your target market.

Element #2  Focus on Your Objective

You’ll never get what you want if you don’t know what you want. This is true in your personal goals and also your advertising efforts. You must have a specific objectivefor your ad if you want people to act. Is it to call your office, come to your store, or go to your website?

Whatever your objective is, gear all the elements of your ad to persuade consumers to

fulfill your objective. Suppose you want readers to call your toll-free telephonenumber, then your call-to-action should be, “call our toll-free number now!”

If you include a testimonial, have your endorser say something like, “when I made acall to your toll-free number…” or you might include copy that says, “one toll-freephone call can change your life forever.”

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Multiple objectives will confuse your prospect and when people get confused, theyusually do nothing.

Element #3  Irresistible Offer 

If you have ever seen the ginsu knife infomercial you have witnessed the anatomy of an irresistible offer. Not only do you get the set of ginsu knives, but also you get the“magic shredder”, the “never-dull chopper”, and the “easy egg slicer.”

BUT that’s not all  you also get the “2-in-1 blade sharpener” and if you order in thenext 10 minutes you’ll also receive a second set of ginsu knives! Now that’s anirresistible offer. Who could resist all these bonuses for the price of one set of ginsuknives?

The secret to constructing an irresistible offer is to add valuable bonuses and extendrisk-free, easy-to-pay terms. Continue heaping valuable bonuses on your customer 

until they throw up their hands and say, “Okay, I give!”

One last thought about your irresistible offer. Sometimes you can make your offer soirresistible that it appears to good to be true. Always tell the reason why you canmake such a great offer. This will add credibility to an incredulous ad.

For example, you might be having a sale that advertises 70% off retail price. Whenpeople see “70% off” many will think that all you have done is boost your price 50%just so that you can advertise a 70% off price.

But if you tell them you can offer 70% off because the recent hailstorm caused some

very slight damage to your product and you need to liquidate. People can nowreconcile you great offer in their minds so that it makes sense and is believable.

Element #4  Unique Competitive Advantage

Why should your prospect do business with you over any of your competitors. Eventhose that have lower prices! Do you have a “wider selection than anybody in the tri-county area” or do you “deliver within eight hours after the purchase”?

Often your unique competitive advantage is the biggest benefit you can offer your prospects so consider including it in your headline, bulleted copy, or your guarantee.

If by chance, you don’t have a unique competitive advantage(s) then you better getone…fast. Not having a unique competitive advantage with which to show value,results in competing solely on price - - and that’s a losing proposition (unless youhave a significant cost advantage).

Element #5  Advertorial Style

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Studies have shown that consumers read new articles seven times more than they doadvertisements. It is said that the average consumer is presented with over 3,500 adimpressions per day. We have become jaded to promotions and commercials.

Cloaking your ad in a news style editorial format will not only pull more attention,

but also instill credibility, which is one of the major roadblocks to consumer response.  “Advertorial”  (advertisement    editorial)  type ads include compellinheadlines, lots of informative, interesting text, quotes, and a judicious use of graphics.

The reason advertorial ads are so compelling is that people are tired of in-your-facesales ads and would prefer the silent, soft sell of an authoritative news article.

Element #6  Compelling Headline

Your headline is the most important part of all the technical aspects of your ad. 80%of the success of the headline can be attributed to its headline. A powerful headline is

either, (1) benefit driven, (2) news oriented, (3) curiosity driven, or (4) how-tooriented.

The following is an example of each:

Benefit Driven Example: “You Too Can Have a Slimmer Figure Without Dieting”News Oriented Example: “Amazing New Formula Cures Arthritis Pain” CuriosityDriven: “Are You Making These Deadly Hair Care Mistakes?” How-to Oriented:“How to Flood Your Business with New Customers for Under $50”

It’s a good practice to develop a minimum of 30 variations of your headline before

you select the one you’ll use. Readers satisfy their interests by scanning headlines. If your headline doesn’t grab attention your ad will never be read, let alone noticed.

Element #7  Sell the Benefits

Your prospects don’t care about you. They don’t care about your awards, the name of your business, how much you sell, or how good you think you are. They only careabout how you, and what you offer, can benefit them. So leave out all of “me” copyand sell the benefits. Ultimately people only want two things, to (1) gain pleasure, or to (2) avoid pain.

Tell people how your offering will help them either gain pleasure or avoid pain byexpressing them in the form of benefits. Don’t confuse this with listing the features of your product or service. People aren’t concerned as much with features as they arewith what the features will do for them personally.

To do this, list each of the features of your product and then determine the benefits,both the potential of gain or the avoidance of pain, your prospects will receive as a

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result of each feature. Hint: Studies have shown people respond better to the fear of loss (pain) then they do to the promise of gain.

Element #8  Make it Risk-Free

Consumers are naturally skeptical. With all the scams, rip-offs, and untruthful adsconsumers have experienced, who knows what to believe anymore? You must makeyour ad credible and risk-free. The good news is that it’s easy to do. Using acombination of these three strategies will provide a powerful risk-free offer.

Use Testimonials. Testimonials from real people are powerful. People don’t like to beguinea pigs. If they’ve seen that someone else has received the promised benefits, itprovides instant credibility. Hint: Including pictures of the endorser will double theeffectiveness of your testimonial.Offer a Strong Guarantee. Provide as strong a guaranteed as absolutely possible. If you can’t provide a strong guarantee for your product, perhaps you shouldn’t be

selling it. Unfortunately, too many small business people fear that customers will takethem up on it. Let me ask you, when was the last time your took somebody up ontheir guarantee? Seldom do guarantees get exercised. Use a powerful guarantee.Include Facts and Statistics. Use facts and statistics from reliable sources to bolster your claims. People find comfort in positive, scientific proof.

Each of these strategies will build credibility and reduce the risk prospects naturallyfeel when contemplating an offer. Above all, be truthful and honest!

Element #9  Call to Action

When someone tells you that they don’t like being told what to do - - don’t believe it.People do want to be told what to do. In fact, people need to be told what to do andwhen to do it.

Phrases such as, “call now”, “come in today”, “sign up right now” trigger emotionalresponse mechanisms that get your prospect to take action on an offer that secretlyyou want to take advantage of anyway. Make your call-to-action explicit and clear, soyour prospect knows exactly what to do.

Element #10  Urgency

Admit it, the vast majority of people are naturally lazy and like to procrastinate.Without a real or perceived sense of urgency your prospects will drag their feet. Tocompel your prospect to act immediately you must inject a feeling of “scarcity.”

Scarcity is felt when the supply of either time or product quantity is limited. For instance, placing a deadline on your offer makes your prospect feel as though theyhave to take advantage of your offer before they lose the opportunity. An example of 

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this tactic could be rescinding a discount offer or a special additional bonus within aspecified period of time.

Another tactic is to limit the quantity available so that people will feel the need totake advantage of your offer before your product runs out. It’s not unusual to see

offers stating, “while supplies last”, or “only 50 available, first come, first serve.”

If you use scarcity tactics (and you should), make sure that you hold true and keepyour word by rescinding the offer when you say you will. If not, you will losecredibility and the tactic will backfire on you.

Element #11 Simple to Respond

Most people buy on impulse rather than logic. If your prospect finds it difficult totake advantage of your offer during their moment of impulse, you will lose the sale.Make it easy to do business with you.

Many people communicate in different ways. Some like to call on the phone, otherslike to go to the Internet, and yet others will only fax you their order. It’s important tooffer multiple ways to be contacted such as telephone, fax, website, cell phone, pager,or any other communication method.

Studies have shown that the vast majority of people take advantage of impulse buyingusing the telephone more than any other method. The same studies show that whenyou offer a toll-free number, response rates increase. Finally, if you offer a recordedmessage with a toll-free number in which people can hear a message and leave their contact information, response rates increase even more.

Element #12 - Graphics

Using a graphic is the first step in a three-step system for getting your audience toread your ad. The first step is to attract your reader’s attention with an excitinggraphic, step two is to pull them into your ad with a gripping headline, and the thirdstep is to persuade them to take action with your copy.

A good graphic can attract the attention of your prospect and draw them in to your message. However, a common mistake advertisers make is to add graphics thatoverpower the copy, leaving little space to tell their story. Although a picture is worth

a thousand words, it can also be interpreted a thousand different ways, sometimescausing confusion.

Graphics should draw attention and add to your message. Exciting graphics showingaction are always an eye pleaser. Including someone in your graphic from the targetmarket you’re trying to reach, actively using your product or service, is also a goodchoice that will add to your message.

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Element #13  Accountability

Small businesses don’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising and; therefore,must hold their advertising dollars accountable. Without knowing what ads arepulling better than others, you could be wasting a lot of money.

To avoid this, you need to track the response rates of your ads. Instead of asking your customers where they heard about you, get definitive proof by implementing aprocess by which you can track your ads.

For instance, using a separate phone line or extension number for specific ads canhelp you determine the source of the inquiry. Another tactic may be to use a uniquelanding  page on  your website  for different  promotions.  If you’re using  lgeneration by direct mail, tell the recipient that they need to bring the mailer in totake advantage of your offer.

If you are using radio or television as your primary medium, offer the audience aspecial report whether it is a paper report, audiocassette, or a video. This not onlyhelps you track your response rate but give your prospect a good reason to respond.

Conclusion

As you track your ads, keep the best pulling ads as your “control” piece. Vary thedifferent elements of the ad to determine if your new ad pulls better than your controlad. If it does, make that ad your new control ad.

Advertising and Society

• Advertising’s visible social role makes it a target for criticism.• Some of today’s consumers believe that a great deal of advertising is unethical

because it:•   Adds to the price of products,•   Is untruthful,•   Tricks people, or •   Targets vulnerable people• Accuracy

• Subtle Messages Trouble Critics Especially

• When Aimed At Groups Such as Children, the• Elderly, or the Disabled.• Subtle Messages Trouble Critics Especially• When Aimed At Groups Such as Children, the• Elderly, or the Disabled.• Acquisitiveness

• Are We Persuaded That We Continually Need More• and More New Products? Consumers Make the

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• Final Decision.• Are We Persuaded That We Continually Need More• and More New Products? Consumers Make the• Final Decision.• Advocacy

• Advertising Tries to Persuade the Audience to Do• Something; It is Not Objective or Neutral.• Advertising Tries to Persuade the Audience to Do• Something; It is Not Objective or Neutral.• Numerous Advertising-Related Issues Are Left to the Discretion of • the Advertisers and Are Based on Ethical Concerns

Ethics in Advertising

Pontifical Council for Social Communications

ETHICS IN ADVERTISING

I

INTRODUCTION

1. The importance of advertising is "steadily on the increase in modern society."1 Thatobservation, made by this Pontifical Council a quarter century ago as part of anoverview of the state of communications, is even more true now.

Just as the media of social communication themselves have enormous influenceeverywhere, so advertising, using media as its vehicle, is a pervasive, powerful force

shaping attitudes and behavior in today's world.

Especially since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has frequently addressed thequestion of the media and their role and responsibilities.2 She has sought to do so in afundamentally positive manner, viewing the media as "gifts of God" which, inaccordance with his providential design, bring people together and "help them tocooperate with his plan for their salvation."3

In doing so, the Church stresses the responsibility of media to contribute to theauthentic, integral development of persons and to foster the well being of society."The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good.

Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice and solidarity."

4

It is in this spirit that the Church enters into dialogue with communicators. At thesame time, she also calls attention to moral principles and norms relevant to socialcommunications, as to other forms of human endeavor, while criticizing policies andpractices that offend against these standards.

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Here  and  there   in  the  growing   body  of  literature  arising  from   thconsideration of media, the subject of advertising is discussed.5 Now, prompted bythe increasing importance of advertising and by requests for a more extensivetreatment, we turn again to this topic.

We wish to call attention to positive contributions that advertising can and doesmake; to note ethical and moral problems that advertising can and does raise; to pointto moral principles that apply to this field; and, finally, to suggest certain steps for theconsideration of those professionally involved in advertising, as well as for others inthe private sector, including the churches, and for public officials.

Our reason for addressing these matters is simple. In today's society, advertising has aprofound impact on how people understand life, the world and themselves, especiallyin regard to their values and their ways of choosing and behaving. These are mattersabout which the Church is and must be deeply and sincerely concerned.

2. The field of advertising is extremely broad and diverse. In general terms, of course,an advertisement is simply a public notice meant to convey information and invitepatronage or some other response. As that suggests, advertising has two basicpurposes: to inform and to persuade, and — while these purposes are distinguishable— both very often are simultaneously present.

Advertising is not the same as marketing (the complex of commercial functionsinvolved in transferring goods from producers and consumers) or public relations (thesystematic effort to create a favorable public impression or 'image' of some person,group, or entity). In many cases, though, it is a technique or instrument employed byone or both of these.

Advertising can be very simple — a local, even 'neighborhood', phenomenon — or itcan be very complex, involving sophisticated research and multimedia campaigns thatspan the globe. It differs according to its intended audience, so that, for example,advertising aimed at children raises some technical and moral issues significantlydifferent from those raised by advertising aimed at competent adults.

Not  only  are  many  different  media  and   techniques  employed  in  adadvertising itself is of several different kinds: commercial advertising for productsand services; public service advertising on behalf of various institutions, programs,and causes; and — a phenomenon of growing importance today — political

advertising in the interests of parties and candidates. Making allowance for thedifferences among the different kinds and methods of advertising, we intend whatfollows to be applicable to them all.

3. We disagree with the assertion that advertising simply mirrors the attitudes andvalues of the surrounding culture. No doubt advertising, like the media of socialcommunications in general, does act as a mirror. But, also like media in general, it is

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a mirror that helps shape the reality it reflects, and sometimes it presents a distortedimage of reality.

Advertisers are selective about the values and attitudes to be fostered and encouraged,promoting some while ignoring others. This selectivity gives the lie to the notion that

advertising does no more than reflect the surrounding culture. For example, theabsence from advertising of certain racial and ethnic groups in some multi-racial or multi-ethnic societies can help to create problems of image and identity, especiallyamong  those  neglected,  and   the  almost  inevitable  impression  in  comadvertising that an abundance of possessions leads to happiness and fulfillment can beboth misleading and frustrating.

Advertising also has an indirect but powerful impact on society through its influenceon media. Many publications and broadcasting operations depend on advertisingrevenue for survival. This often is true of religious media as well as commercialmedia. For their part, advertisers naturally seek to reach audiences; and the media,

striving to deliver audiences to advertisers, must shape their content so to attractaudiences  of  the  size  and  demographic  composition  sought.  This  edependency of media and the power it confers upon advertisers carries with it seriousresponsibilities for both.

II

THE BENEFITS OF ADVERTISING

4. Enormous human and material resources are devoted to advertising. Advertising iseverywhere in today's world, so that, as Pope Paul VI remarked, "No one now can

escape the influence of advertising."

6

Even people who are not themselves exposed toparticular forms of advertising confront a society, a culture — other people — affected for good or ill by advertising messages and techniques of every sort.

Some critics view this state of affairs in unrelievedly negative terms. They condemnadvertising as a waste of time, talent and money — an essentially parasitic activity. Inthis view, not only does advertising have no value of its own, but its influence isentirely harmful and corrupting for individuals and society.

We do not agree. There is truth to the criticisms, and we shall make criticisms of our own. But advertising also has significant potential for good, and sometimes it is

realized. Here are some of the ways that happens.

a) Economic Benefits of Advertising 

5. Advertising can play an important role in the process by which an economicsystem guided by moral norms and responsive to the common good contributes tohuman development. It is a necessary part of the functioning of modern marketeconomies, which today either exist or are emerging in many parts of the world and

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which — provided they conform to moral standards based upon integral humandevelopment and the common good — currently seem to be "the most efficientinstrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs" of a socio-economic kind.7

In such a system, advertising can be a useful tool for sustaining honest and ethicallyresponsible competition that contributes to economic growth in the service of authentic human development. "The Church looks with favor on the growth of man'sproductive capacity, and also on the ever widening network of relationships andexchanges between persons and social groups....[F]rom this point of view sheencourages advertising, which can become a wholesome and efficacious instrumentfor reciprocal help among men."8

Advertising does this, among other ways, by informing people about the availabilityof rationally desirable new products and services and improvements in existing ones,helping  them  to  make  informed,   prudent  consumer  decisions,  contribut

efficiency and the lowering of prices, and stimulating economic progress through theexpansion of business and trade. All of this can contribute to the creation of new jobs,higher incomes and a more decent and humane way of life for all. It also helps pay for publications, programming and productions — including those of the Church — thatbring information, entertainment and inspiration to people around the world.

b) Benefits of Political Advertising 

6. "The Church values the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participationof citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility bothof electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them

through peaceful means when appropriate."

9

Political  advertising  can  make  a  contribution  to  democracy  analogous  contribution to economic well being in a market system guided by moral norms. Asfree and responsible media in a democratic system help to counteract tendenciestoward the monopolization of power on the part of oligarchies and special interests,so political advertising can make its contribution by informing people about the ideasand  policy proposals of parties  and candidates,  including  new candidates  npreviously known to the public.

c) Cultural Benefits of Advertising 

7. Because of the impact advertising has on media that depend on it for revenue,advertisers have an opportunity to exert a positive influence on decisions about mediacontent. This they do by supporting material of excellent intellectual, aesthetic andmoral  quality  presented  with  the public  interest  in  view, and  particulaencouraging  and  making  possible  media  presentations  which  are  orienminorities whose needs might otherwise go unserved.

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Moreover, advertising can itself contribute to the betterment of society by upliftingand inspiring people and motivating them to act in ways that benefit themselves andothers. Advertising can brighten lives simply by being witty, tasteful and entertaining.Some advertisements are instances of popular art, with a vivacity and elan all their own.

d) Moral and Religious Benefits of Advertising 

8. In many cases, too, benevolent social institutions, including those of a religiousnature, use advertising to communicate their messages — messages of faith, of patriotism, of tolerance, compassion and neighborly service, of charity toward theneedy, messages concerning health and education, constructive and helpful messagesthat educate and motivate people in a variety of beneficial ways.

For the Church, involvement in media-related activities, including advertising, istoday a necessary part of a comprehensive pastoral strategy.10 This includes both the

Church's  own  media  —  Catholic  press  and  publishing,  television  anbroadcasting,  film  and  audiovisual  production,   and  the  rest  —  and  participation in secular media. The media "can and should be instruments in theChurch's program of re-evangelization and new evangelization in the contemporaryworld."11 While much remains to be done, many positive efforts of this kind alreadyare underway. With reference to advertising itself, Pope Paul VI once said that it isdesirable that Catholic institutions "follow with constant attention the development of the modern techniques of advertising and... know how to make opportune use of themin order to spread the Gospel message in a manner which answers the expectationsand needs of contemporary man."12

III

THE HARM DONE BY ADVERTISING

9. There is nothing intrinsically good or intrinsically evil about advertising. It is atool, an instrument: it can be used well, and it can be used badly. If it can have, andsometimes does have, beneficial results such as those just described, it also can, andoften does, have a negative, harmful impact on individuals and society.

Communio et Progressio contains this summary statement of the problem: "If harmfulor utterly useless goods are touted to the public, if false assertions are made about

goods for sale,  if less than  admirable  human  tendencies  are exploited,  thresponsible for such advertising harm society and forfeit their good name andcredibility. More than this, unremitting pressure to buy articles of luxury can arousefalse wants that hurt both individuals and families by making them ignore what theyreally need. And those forms of advertising which, without shame, exploit the sexualinstincts simply to make money or which seek to penetrate into the subconsciousrecesses of the mind in a way that threatens the freedom of the individual ... must beshunned."13

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a) Economic Harms of Advertising 

10. Advertising can betray its role as a source of information by misrepresentationand by withholding relevant facts. Sometimes, too, the information function of mediacan be subverted by advertisers' pressure upon publications or programs not to treat of 

questions that might prove embarrassing or inconvenient.

More often, though, advertising is used not simply to inform but to persuade andmotivate — to convince people to act in certain ways: buy certain products or services, patronize certain institutions, and the like. This is where particular abusescan occur.

The practice of "brand"-related advertising can raise serious problems. Often there areonly  negligible  differences  among  similar  products   of  different  brandsadvertising may attempt to move people to act on the basis of irrational motives("brand loyalty," status, fashion, "sex appeal," etc.) instead of presenting differences

in product quality and price as bases for rational choice.

Advertising also can be, and often is, a tool of the "phenomenon of consumerism," asPope John Paul II delineated it when he said: "It is not wrong to want to live better;what is wrong is a style of life which is presumed to be better when it is directedtoward 'having' rather than 'being', and which wants to have more, not in order to bemore but in order to spend life in enjoyment as an end in itself." 14 Sometimesadvertisers speak of it as part of their task to "create" needs for products and services— that is, to cause people to feel and act upon cravings for items and services they donot need. "If ... a direct appeal is made to his instincts — while ignoring in variousways the reality of the person as intelligent and free — then consumer attitudes and

life-styles can be created which are objectively improper and often damaging to hisphysical and spiritual health."15

This is a serious abuse, an affront to human dignity and the common good when itoccurs in affluent societies. But the abuse is still more grave when consumeristattitudes and values are transmitted by communications media and advertising todeveloping countries, where they exacerbate socio-economic problems and harm thepoor. "It is true that a judicious use of advertising can stimulate developing countriesto improve their standard of living. But serious harm can be done them if advertisingand commercial pressure become so irresponsible that communities seeking to risefrom poverty to a reasonable standard of living are persuaded to seek this progress bysatisfying wants that have been artificially created. The result of this is that theywaste their resources and neglect their real needs, and genuine development fallsbehind."16

Similarly, the task of countries attempting to develop types of market economies thatserve human needs and interests after decades under centralized, state-controlledsystems is made more difficult by advertising that promotes consumerist attitudes andvalues offensive to human dignity and the common good. The problem is particularly

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acute when, as often happens, the dignity and welfare of society's poorer and weaker members are at stake. It is necessary always to bear in mind that there are "goodswhich by their very nature cannot and must not be bought or sold" and to avoid "an'idolatry' of the market" that, aided and abetted by advertising, ignores this crucialfact.17

b) Harms of Political Advertising 

11. Political advertising can support and assist the working of the democratic process,but it also can obstruct it. This happens when, for example, the costs of advertisinglimit political competition to wealthy candidates or groups, or require that office-seekers compromise their integrity and independence by over-dependence on specialinterests for funds.

Such obstruction of the democratic process also happens when, instead of being avehicle for honest expositions of candidates' views and records, political advertising

seeks to distort the views and records of opponents and unjustly attacks their reputations. It happens when advertising appeals more to people's emotions and baseinstincts — to selfishness, bias and hostility toward others, to racial and ethnicprejudice and the like — rather than to a reasoned sense of justice and the good of all.

c) Cultural Harms of Advertising 

12. Advertising also can have a corrupting influence upon culture and cultural values.We have spoken of the economic harm that can be done to developing nations byadvertising  that  fosters  consumerism  and   destructive  patterns  of   consumConsider also the cultural  injury done to these nations and their peoples  by

advertising whose content and methods, reflecting those prevalent in the first world,are at war with sound traditional values in indigenous cultures. Today this kind of "domination and manipulation" via media rightly is "a concern of developing nationsin relation to developed ones," as well as a "concern of minorities within particular nations."18

The indirect but powerful influence exerted by advertising upon the media of socialcommunications that depend on revenues from this source points to another sort of cultural concern. In the competition to attract ever larger audiences and deliver themto advertisers, communicators can find themselves tempted — in fact pressured,subtly or not so subtly — to set aside high artistic and moral standards and lapse into

superficiality, tawdriness and moral squalor.

Communicators also can find themselves tempted to ignore the educational and socialneeds of certain segments of the audience — the very young, the very old, the poor — who do not match the demographic patterns (age, education, income, habits of buyingand consuming, etc.) of the kinds of audiences advertisers want to reach. In this waythe tone and indeed the level of moral responsibility of the communications media ingeneral are lowered.

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All too often, advertising contributes to the invidious stereotyping of particular groups that places them at a disadvantage in relation to others. This often is true of the way advertising treats women; and the exploitation of women, both in and byadvertising, is a frequent, deplorable abuse. "How often are they treated not aspersons with an inviolable dignity but as objects whose purpose is to satisfy others'

appetite for pleasure or for power? How often is the role of woman as wife andmother undervalued or even ridiculed? How often is the role of women in business or professional life depicted as a masculine caricature, a denial of the specific gifts of feminine insight, compassion, and understanding, which so greatly contribute to the"civilization of love'?"19

d) Moral and Religious Harms of Advertising 

13. Advertising can be tasteful and in conformity with high moral standards, andoccasionally even morally uplifting, but it also can be vulgar and morally degrading.Frequently it deliberately appeals to such motives as envy, status seeking and lust.

Today, too, some advertisers consciously seek to shock and titillate by exploitingcontent of a morbid, perverse, pornographic nature.

What this Pontifical Council said several years ago about pornography and violencein the media is no less true of certain forms of advertising:

"As reflections of the dark side of human nature marred by sin, pornography and theexaltation of violence are age-old realities of the human condition. In the past quarter century, however, they have taken on new dimensions and have become serioussocial problems. At a time of widespread and unfortunate confusion about moralnorms, the communications media have made pornography and violence accessible to

a vastly expanded audience, including young people and even children, and a problemwhich at one time was confined mainly to wealthy countries has now begun, via thecommunications media, to corrupt moral values in developing nations."20

We note, too, certain special problems relating to advertising that treats of religion or pertains to specific issues with a moral dimension.

In cases of the first sort, commercial advertisers sometimes include religious themesor use religious images or personages to sell products. It is possible to do this intasteful, acceptable ways, but the practice is obnoxious and offensive when it involvesexploiting religion or treating it flippantly.

In cases of the second sort, advertising sometimes is used to promote products andinculcate attitudes and forms of behavior contrary to moral norms. That is the case,for instance, with the advertising of contraceptives, abortifacients and productsharmful  to  health,  and   with  government-sponsored  advertising  campaignsartificial birth control, so-called "safe sex", and similar practices.

IV

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SOME ETHICAL AND MORAL PRINCIPLES

14. The Second Vatican Council declared: "If the media are to be correctly employed,it is essential that all who use them know the principles of the moral order and applythem faithfully in this domain."21 The moral order to which this refers is the order of 

the law of human nature, binding upon all because it is "written on their hearts"(Rom. 2:15) and embodies the imperatives of authentic human fulfillment.

For Christians, moreover, the law of human nature has a deeper dimension, a richer meaning. "Christ is the 'Beginning' who, having taken on human nature, definitivelyillumines it in its constitutive elements and in its dynamism of charity towards Godand neighbor."22 Here we comprehend the deepest significance of human freedom:that it makes possible an authentic moral response, in light of Jesus Christ, to the call"to form our conscience, to make it the object of a continuous conversion to what istrue and to what is good." In this context, the media of social communications havetwo options, and only two. Either they help human persons to grow in their 

understanding and practice of what is true and good, or they are destructive forces inconflict with human well being. That is entirely true of advertising.

Against this background, then, we point to this fundamental principle for peopleengaged in advertising: advertisers — that is, those who commission, prepare or disseminate advertising — are morally responsible for what they seek to move peopleto do; and this is a responsibility also shared by publishers, broadcasting executives,and others in the communications world, as well as by those who give commercial or political endorsements, to the extent that they are involved in the advertising process.

If an instance of advertising seeks to move people to choose and act rationally in

morally good ways that are of true benefit to themselves and others, persons involvedin it do what is morally good; if it seeks to move people to do evil deeds that are self-destructive and destructive of authentic community, they do evil.

This applies also to the means and the techniques of advertising: it is morally wrongto use manipulative, exploitative, corrupt and corrupting methods of persuasion andmotivation. In this regard, we note special problems associated with so-called indirectadvertising that attempts to move people to act in certain ways — for example,purchase particular products — without their being fully aware that they are beingswayed. The techniques involved here include showing certain products or forms of behavior in superficially glamorous settings associated with superficially glamorouspeople; in extreme cases, it may even involve the use of subliminal messages.

Within this very general framework, we can identify several moral principles that areparticularly relevant to advertising. We shall speak briefly of three: truthfulness, thedignity of the human person, and social responsibility.

a) Truthfulness in Advertising 

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15. Even today, some advertising is simply and deliberately untrue. Generallyspeaking, though, the problem of truth in advertising is somewhat more subtle: it isnot that advertising says what is overtly false, but that it can distort the truth byimplying things that are not so or withholding relevant facts. As Pope John Paul IIpoints out, on both the individual and social levels, truth and freedom are inseparable;

without truth as the basis, starting point and criterion of discernment, judgment,choice and action, there can be no authentic exercise of freedom.24 The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the Second Vatican Council, insists that the content of communication be "true and — within the limits set by justice and charity — complete"; the content should, moreover, be communicated "honestly and properly."25

To be sure, advertising, like other forms of expression, has its own conventions andforms  of  stylization,  and  these  must  be  taken  into  account   when  truthfulness. People take for granted some rhetorical and symbolic exaggeration inadvertising; within the limits of recognized and accepted practice, this can beallowable.

But it is a fundamental principle that advertising may not deliberately seek to deceive,whether it does that by what it says, by what it implies, or by what it fails to say. "Theproper exercise of the right to information demands that the content of what iscommunicated be true and, within the limits set by justice and charity, complete. ...Included here is the obligation to avoid any manipulation of truth for any reason."26

b) The Dignity of the Human Person

16. There is an "imperative requirement" that advertising "respect the human person,his rightduty to make a responsible choice, his interior freedom; all these goods

would be violated if man's lower inclinations were to be exploited, or his capacity toreflect and decide compromised."27

These  abuses  are   not  merely  hypothetical  possibilities  but  realities  iadvertising today. Advertising can violate the dignity of the human person boththrough its content — what is advertised, the manner in which it is advertised — andthrough the impact it seeks to make upon its audience. We have spoken already of such things as appeals to lust, vanity, envy and greed, and of techniques thatmanipulate and exploit human weakness. In such circumstances, advertisementsreadily become "vehicles of a deformed outlook on life, on the family, on religion andon morality — an outlook that does not respect the true dignity and destiny of thehuman person."28

This problem is especially acute where particularly vulnerable groups or classes of persons are concerned: children and young people, the elderly, the poor, the culturallydisadvantaged.

Much advertising directed at children apparently tries to exploit their credulity andsuggestibility, in the hope that they will put pressure on their parents to buy products

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of no real benefit to them. Advertising like this offends against the dignity and rightsof both children and parents; it intrudes upon the parent-child relationship and seeksto manipulate it to its own base ends. Also, some of the comparatively littleadvertising directed specifically to the elderly or culturally disadvantaged seemsdesigned to play upon their fears so as to persuade them to allocate some of their 

limited resources to goods or services of dubious value.

c) Advertising and Social Responsibility

17. Social responsibility is such a broad concept that we can note here only a few of the many issues and concerns relevant under this heading to the question of advertising.

The ecological issue is one. Advertising that fosters a lavish life style which wastesresources  and  despoils  the  environment  offends  against  important  ecoconcerns. "In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and grow, man

consumes the resources of the earth and his own life in an excessive and disorderedway. ... Man thinks that he can make arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it withoutrestraint to his will, as though it did not have its own requisites and a prior God-givenpurpose, which man can indeed develop but must not betray."29

As this suggests, something more fundamental is at issue here: authentic and integralhuman development. Advertising that reduces human progress to acquiring materialgoods and cultivating a lavish life style expresses a false, destructive vision of thehuman person harmful to individuals and society alike.

When people fail to practice "a rigorous respect for the moral, cultural and spiritual

requirements, based on the dignity of the person and on the proper identity of eachcommunity, beginning with the family and religious societies," then even materialabundance  and  the conveniences  that  technology makes  available  "will prunsatisfying and in the end contemptible."30 Advertisers, like people engaged in other forms of social communication, have a serious duty to express and foster an authenticvision of human development in its material, cultural and spiritual dimensions.31

Communication that meets this standard is, among other things, a true expression of solidarity. Indeed, the two things — communication and solidarity — are inseparable,because, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church points out, solidarity is "aconsequence of genuine and right communication and the free circulation of ideasthat further knowledge and respect for others."32

V

CONCLUSION: SOME STEPS TO TAKE

18. The indispensable guarantors of ethically correct behavior by the advertisingindustry are the well formed and responsible consciences of advertising professionalsthemselves: consciences sensitive to their duty not merely to serve the interests of 

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those who commission and finance their work but also to respect and uphold therights and interests of their audiences and to serve the common good.

Many women and men professionally engaged in advertising do have sensitiveconsciences, high ethical standards and a strong sense of responsibility. But even for 

them external pressures — from the clients who commission their work as well asfrom the competitive internal dynamics of their profession — can create powerfulinducements to unethical behavior. That underlines the need for external structuresand systems to support and encourage responsible practice in advertising and todiscourage the irresponsible.

19. Voluntary ethical codes are one such source of support. These already exist in anumber of places. Welcome as they are, though, they are only as effective as thewillingness of advertisers to comply strictly with them. "It is up to the directors andmanagers of the media which carry advertising to make known to the public, tosubscribe to and to apply the codes of professional ethics which already have been

opportunely established so as to have the cooperation of the public in making thesecodes still better and in enforcing their observance."33

We emphasize the importance of public involvement. Representatives of the publicshould participate in the formulation, application and periodic updating of ethicalcodes. The public representatives should include ethicists and church people, as wellas representatives of consumer groups. Individuals do well to organize themselvesinto such groups in order to protect their interests in relation to commercial interests.

20. Public authorities also have a role to play. On the one hand, government shouldnot seek to control and dictate policy to the advertising industry, any more than to

other sectors of the communications media. On the other hand, the regulation of advertising content and practice, already existing in many places, can and shouldextend beyond banning false advertising, narrowly defined. "By promulgating lawsand overseeing their application, public authorities should ensure that 'public moralityand social progress are not gravely endangered' through misuse of the media."34

For example, government regulations should address such questions as the quantity of advertising, especially in broadcast media, as well as the content of advertisingdirected at groups particularly vulnerable to exploitation, such as children and oldpeople. Political advertising also seems an appropriate area for regulation: how muchmay be spent, how and from whom may money for advertising be raised, etc.

21. The media of news and information should make it a point to keep the publicinformed about the world of advertising. Considering advertising's social impact, it isappropriate that media regularly review and critique the performance of advertisers,just as they do other groups whose activities have a significant influence on society.

22. Besides using media to evangelize, the Church for her part needs to grasp the fullimplications of the observation by Pope John Paul: that media comprise a central part

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of that great modern "Areopagus" where ideas are shared and attitudes and values areformed. This points to a "deeper reality" than simply using media to spread theGospel message, important as that is. "It is also necessary to integrate that messageinto the 'new culture' created by modern communications" with its "new ways of communicating... new languages, new techniques and a new psychology."35

In light of this insight, it is important that media education be part of pastoralplanning and a variety of pastoral and educational programs carried on by the Church,including Catholic schools. This includes education regarding the role of advertisingin today's world and its relevance to the work of the Church. Such education shouldseek to prepare people to be informed and alert in their approach to advertising as toother forms of communication. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church points out,"the means of social communication. ... can give rise to a certain passivity amongusers, making them less than vigilant consumers of what is said or shown. Usersshould practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media."36

23. In the final analysis, however, where freedom of speech and communicationexists, it is largely up to advertisers themselves to ensure ethically responsiblepractices  in their profession.  Besides avoiding  abuses, advertisers  should  alsundertake to repair the harm sometimes done by advertising, insofar as that ispossible: for example, by publishing corrective notices, compensating injured parties,increasing the quantity of public service advertising, and the like. This question of 'reparations' is a matter of legitimate involvement not only by industry self-regulatorybodies and public interest groups, but also by public authorities.

Where unethical practices have become widespread and entrenched, conscientiousadvertisers may be called upon to make significant personal sacrifices to correct

them. But people who want to do what is morally right must always be ready to suffer loss and personal injury rather than to do what is wrong. This is a duty for Christians,followers of Christ, certainly; but not only for them. "In this witness to theabsoluteness of the moral good Christians are not alone: they are supported by themoral sense present in peoples and by the great religious and sapiential traditions of East and West."37

We do not wish, and certainly we do not expect, to see advertising eliminated fromthe contemporary world. Advertising is an important element in today's society,especially in the functioning of a market economy, which is becoming more and morewidespread.

Moreover, for the reasons and in the ways sketched here, we believe advertising can,and often does, play a constructive role in economic growth, in the exchange of information and ideas, and in the fostering of solidarity among individuals andgroups. Yet it also can do, and often does, grave harm to individuals and to thecommon good.

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0In light of these reflections, therefore, we call upon advertising professionals andupon  all  those  involved  in   the  process  of  commissioning  and  dissadvertising  to  eliminate  its  socially  harmful  aspects  and observe high  standards in regard to truthfulness, human dignity and social responsibility. In thisway, they will make a special and significant contribution to human progress and to

the common good.

•

Advertising agency

An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating,planning and handling advertising (and sometimes other forms of pr omotion) for itsclients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services. An agency can alsohandle overall marketing and branding strategies and sales promotions for its clients.

Typical   ad   agency   clients   include   businesses   andcorporations, non-profit organizations and government agencies. Agencies may be hired to produce single adsor, more commonly, ongoing series of related ads, called an advertising campaign

Types of advertising agencies

Ad agencies come in all sizes. They include everything from one or two-person shops(which rely mostly on freelance talent to perform most functions), small to mediumsized agencies, large independents, and multi-national, multi-agency conglomeratessuch as Omnicom Group, WPP Group,Publicis, Interpublic Group of Companies andHavas.

Full-service, or Media-neutral advertising agencies have the talent and ability toproduce creative and advise clients for a full range of media, for virtually any type of account, or company. Some agencies specialize in particular fields such as medical,charitable, FMCG, white goods, retail, etc. Other agencies specialize in particular media, such as print ads or television commercials. Other agencies, especially larger ones,  produce  work   for  many  types  of  media  (creating   integrated  communications, or through-the-line (TTL) advertising). The "line", in this case, isthe traditional marker between media that pay a (traditionally 15%) commission tothe agency (mainly broadcast media) and the media that do not. Most Full-Serviceagencies work on a combination of fee-based (to help offset the cost of non-commission production and planning) and commission based (the traditional 15% for electronic) compensation.

Interactive  Agencies  may differentiate  themselves  by offering  a  mix  of Web Design/Development, Search Engine Marketing, Internet Advertising/Marketing, or 

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E-Business/E-Commerce consulting. Interactive agencies rose to prominence beforethe traditional advertising agencies fully embraced the Internet. Offering a wide rangeof services, some of the interactive agencies grew very rapidly, although some havedownsized just as rapidly due to changing market conditions. Today, the mostsuccessful interactive agencies are defined as companies that provide specialized

advertising and marketing services for the digital space. The digital space is definedas any multi-media enabled electronic channel that an advertiser's message can beseen or heard from. The 'digital space' translates to the; Internet, Kiosks, CD-ROMs,DVDs, and Lifestyle Devices (iPod, PSP, and Mobile). Interactive Agencies functionsimilarly to advertising agencies although they focus solely on interactive advertisingservices. They deliver services such as strategy, creative, design, video, development,programming  (Flash  and  otherwise),  deployment,   management,  and   fulfillreporting. Often, Interactive Agencies offerings are; Digital Lead Generation, DigitalBrand Development, Interactive Marketing and Communications Strategy, RichMedia Campaigns, Interactive Video brand experiences, Web 2.0 website design anddevelopment,  e-Learning  Tools,  email  marketing,  SEO/SEM  services,  Co

Management Services, web application development, and overall Data Mining & ROIAssessment.

Lately, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)firms have been classified by some as 'agencies' due to the fact that they are creatingmedia and implementing media purchases of text based (or image based in someinstances of search marketing) ads. This relatively young industry has been slow toadopt the term 'agency' however with the creation of ads (either text or image) andmedia purchases they do qualify technically as an 'advertising agency' as well asrecent studies suggest that both SEO and SEM are set to outpace magazine spendingin the next 3-5 years.

Not all advertising is created by agencies. Companies that create and plan their ownadvertising are said to do their work in house.

Inside the agencies

Creative department

The creative department -- the people who create the actual ads -- form the core of anadvertising agency. Modern advertising agencies usually form their copywriters andart directors into creative teams. Creative teams may be permanent partnerships or formed on a project-by-project basis. The art director and copywriter report to acreative director , usually a creative employee with several years of experience.Although copywriters have the word "write" in their job title, and art directors havethe word "art", one does not necessarily write the words and the other draw thepictures;  they  both  generate  creative  ideas   to  represent  the  propositiadvertisement or campaign's key message). Creative departments frequently work with outside design or production studios to develop and implement their ideas.

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Creative departments may employ production artists as entry-level positions, as wellas for operations and maintenance.

Account services

The  other  major  department  in  ad  agencies  isaccount  servicesor account management . Account Services or account management is somewhat the sales arm of the advertising agency. An account executive (one who works within the accountservices department) meets with the client to determine sales goals and creativestrategy.  They are then  responsible  for coordinating  the  creative,  media,  production staff behind the campaign. Throughout the creative process, they keep intouch with the client to update them on the ad's progress and gain feedback. Uponcompletion of the creative work, it is their job to ensure the ad's production andplacement.

Creative services

The creative services department may not be so well known, but its employees are thepeople who have contacts with the suppliers of various creative media. For example,they will be able to advise upon and negotiate with printers if an agency is producingflyers for a client. However, when dealing with the major media (broadcast media,outdoor, and the press), this work is usually outsourced to a media agency which canadvise on media planning and is normally large enough to negotiate prices downfurther than a single agency or client can.

Other departments and personnel

In small agencies, employees may do both creative and account service work. Larger agencies attract people who specialize in one or the other, and indeed include anumber of people in specialized positions: production work, Internet advertising, or research, for example.

An often forgotten, but still important, department within an advertising agency istraffic. The traffic department regulates the flow of work in the agency. It is typicallyheaded by a traffic manager (or system administrator). Traffic increases an agency'sefficiency and profitability through the reduction of false job starts, inappropriate jobinitiation, incomplete information sharing, over- and under-cost estimation, and theneed for media extensions. In small agencies without a dedicated traffic manager, one

employee may be responsible for managing workflow, gathering cost estimates andanswering the phone, for example. Large agencies may have a traffic department of ten or more employees.

Advertising interns are typically university juniors and seniors who are genuinelyinterested in and have an aptitude for advertising. Internships at advertising agenciesmost commonly fall into one of six areas of expertise: account services, creative,interactive, media, public relations and traffic.

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An internship program in account services usually involves fundamental work withinaccount management as well as offering exposure to other facets of the agency. Theprimary responsibility of this position is to assist account managers. Functions of theaccount management intern may include:

• Research and analysis: Gathering information regarding industry, competition,customer product or service; as well as presenting findings in verbal/written formwith recommendations

• Involvement in internal meetings and, when appropriate, client meetings

• Assisting account services in the management of creative projects

Interns often take part in the internal creative process, where they may be chargedwith creating and managing a website as well as developing an advertising campaign.Hands on projects such as these help interns learn how strategy and well-developed

marketing are essential to a sound advertising and communications plan.

During their internship, the intern will experience the development of an ad, brochureand  broadcast  or communications  project  from beginning  to  end.  Duringinternship, the intern should be exposed to as much as possible within the agency andadvertising process.

Largest advertising groups

According to the Research Company Evaluating the Media Agency Industry, the

2004 top-six largest advertising groups ranked by worldwide billings were:

WPP Group: $48.055 BillionPublicis: $34.365 BillionInterpublic Group: $27.870 BillionOmnicom Group: $25.230 BillionAegis Group: $20.355 BillionHavas: $8.775 BillionHow to Choose an Ad Agency (Marketing Agency)

Selecting an advertising agency (alternatively known as a marketing agency or 

creative agency) - or, more to the point, the right agency - is a crucial decision for anycompany. Choosing wisely will lead to visible, positive results for your company.The wrong agency fit, conversely, will not only be a waste of money but also makeyour marketing life miserable. Too many companies take a haphazard approach tothis critical decision; they may get lucky, or they may not. Based on experience, hereis   a   structured   approach   that   should   lead   to   the   best  

Step 1: Develop a long list of agencies to evaluate. The best source in compiling this

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list is referrals from colleagues. Additional sources are the local Yellow Pages or internet resources such as agencyfinder.com. Start with at least 12 agencies toinvestigate   further,   but   no   more   than  

Step 2: Conduct your initial research. Use the internet to check out the agencies on

your initial list and eliminate any obvious poor fits. Some agencies focus on specificindustry niches, while others have a broader focus but are clearly more business-to-business (b2b) or business-to-consumer (b2c) oriented. Most agencies won't work with two or more clients, who are direct competitors, so if you see one of your closestcompetitors on an agency's client/reference list, drop them from consideration. Makesure each agency includes the services you need among their core competencies. Thegoal in this step is reduce your initial list down to six to ten agencies for further consideration.

Step 3: Develop your request for proposal (RFP). This step in actually somewhatcontroversial, as there are "experts" out there who will tell you not to use an RFP, but

rather to utilize a request for information (RFI), which is largely more a semanticaldifference than a substantive one; the goal is to collect some specific informationfrom each of the agencies on your list, whatever you want to call this. Other sourceswill tell you that agencies hate RFPs, when what they really mean is that agencieshate poorly-crafted RFPs; following the outline "How to Write an Ad Agency RFP" will   help   avoid   this   outcome.

In developing your RFP, remember that you are seeking to establish a businessrelationship with a marketing agency, so 1) respect their time, and 2) don't just ask questions, but also give the agency enough information about your industry, your company, and your specific needs to determine if there is a fit from their perspective.

Have all of the individuals on your internal selection team sign off on the RFP beforesending it out; there is nothing more frustrating, for you or the agencies involved,than to go through the entire RFP process only to have to do it over - because a keyindividual on your end wasn't consulted, you didn't ask the right questions, you didn'thave   the   objective(s)   identified   properly,   or   due   to   some   other  circumstance.

Step 4. Call each agency on your list. Introduce yourself and your company, and tellthem you'd like to include them in your RFP process. This step serves three purposes:first, it allows any agency which doesn't want to respond to your RFP, for any reason,to opt out of the process right away. Second, it enables you to speak directly to anappropriate individual at the agency and begin establishing a rapport. Third, it assuresthat you will be sending your RFP to the right person at the agency. You should tellthis person how many agencies will be receiving the RFP. You don't have tovolunteer the specific names of the other agencies you'll be contacting, but shouldprovide   this   information   if   asked.

Step 5: Send out the RFPs to the agencies who have agreed to participate. Make

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yourself available to answer their (inevitable) questions, and let them know that youare available for this. If you have included any out-of-town agencies on your list, beaware that they may expect at least partial reimbursement for their travel expenses if you invite them to give a presentation; get agreement from your internal selectionteam (specifically those with expense approval authority) beforehand as to how you

will   handle   this.

Step 6: Evaluate the RFP responses, eliminating those agencies which are less than anexcellent fit for your needs, in order to get down to your short list of finalists (at leasttwo, but certainly no more than five). In evaluating the responses, ask questions suchas: are you comfortable with their experience, size and resources? With their approach to your challenge(s) and objective(s)? Are you confident that your accountwill be large enough to be important to them? Are you impressed by the quality andtone   of   their   creative   work?

And of course, call their references. Specifically, ask about their satisfaction with

their agency relationship. Does the agency consistently meet specified timelines? Dothey adhere to their quoted prices? Are they easy/pleasant to work with? What resultshave   been   achieved?

Step 7. Arrange for presentations from each of your finalist agencies. Ideally, unlessyou are able to eliminate an agency from consideration after the first presentation,you should schedule two presentations with each agency: one at your facility (to givetheir personnel some impression of your offices, people and work environment) and asecond   at   their   agency,   including   a   to

At this step you and your evaluation team will have the opportunity to share with theagency representatives more information about your industry, your company, andyour unique strengths, challenges and goals. Each agency has the opportunity to tellyou more about their capabilities approach and practices. While the facts are certainlyimportant, the most critical criterion at this point is chemistry: are you comfortablewith the agency's team, and are they people you look forward to working with andentrusting   with   your   company's   promotional   activities

Step 8. Finally, after reviewing the RFP responses and meeting with your finalistagencies, it's time to make your final selection. Regardless of the titles involved, your internal selection team should agree to discuss the merits of the competing agenciesas peers in a freewheeling discussion. In a perfect world, you would all agree onwhich agency was the clear winner; in the real world, compromise will likely benecessary on someone's part, and the final decision may not be yours. That's why thefreewheeling discussion component is critical; if one individual (e.g. your CEO or CMO) ultimately makes the final decision, at least all of the facts and opinions of theteam   have   been   aired.

As the last step, you need to inform each of the finalist agencies of your decision.Because the rejections are tougher, I recommend getting these out of the way first.

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Call each agency and let them know of your decision and, in a positive manner, thereasoning behind it. Follow up with an email thanking them for their participation inyour process, praising their strengths, and again briefly stating your rationale for thefinal selection. Then, call the winning agency and give them the good news.

ROLE OF ADVERTISING IN MARKETING PROCESS

Advertising does not work alone. It is an integral part of an advertiser's totalmarketing effort.   Goods or services that are poorly positioned in relation tocompetitors, or that are overpriced, or that are inadequately distributed, or that arepackaged ineffectively may suffer sales declines even though advertising for theseproducts is creatively well conceived and professionally placed in the right media.  Infact, if sales are poor, advertising content and the media in which it is placed are oftenthe innocent scapegoats when other parts of the marketing mix are the real problems.Advertising is just one element in the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and

promotion.  For success to occur, all of the elements must work together--the productand its packaging must be positioned correctly, it must be priced and sold properly, itmust be distributed effectively and be available in the right place, and it must bepromoted and advertised with the right message aimed at the right prospects.

In addition to the four Ps, there are other, related, variables which have an impact ona marketing effort:

1.   The sales-response curve does not always parallel the advertising expenditurecurve.  In many cases, response to advertising is slow at first then it accelerates.  Thislag in response time depends on the nature of the product and the media used.Products that are purchased infrequently (automobiles e.g.) have a greater lag timethan more frequently purchased products do.  Newspapers get fast response on thoseitems for which people are "shopping" the paper; whereas radio and television tend towork a little slower as they penetrate through indifference to a product and createawareness through repetition.

2.   Advertising has a threshold effect.  The response to advertising is typically theresult of a cumulative effect of a number of exposures to a campaign rather than tojust one or two exposures.  A $500,000 campaign may have no apparent impact, but a$650,000 expenditure for the same product may break through the consumer's barrier of awareness and increase sales and profits many fold.   Different products anddifferent types of advertising messages have varying thresholds.

3.   The use of multiple media vehicles makes it virtually impossible to pinpointchanges in sales patterns to just one medium.  Sales response may result from thecombination of media, or it may be possible that one medium affected the bulk of thesales response, while others contributed little.   Remember, television has a haloeffect, in that most people assume they are aware of things as a result of television(information about political candidates, the economy, products, etc.).  Even when a

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product has never been advertised on TV, research has shown that people will claimthey heard about it on television.

4.   Competitive activity and other marketing variables over which an advertiser hasno control may obscure the relationship between advertising and response, so that

sales do not reflect the effectiveness of the advertising.  The problem might not bewith Promotion, but with Price, Place, or Product.

Since short-term sales response is not necessarily a sensitive or valid measure of advertising   effectiveness   (the   message   or   the   medium),   most   experpractitioners have separate advertising objectives apart from marketing, sales, andprofit objectives.  Advertising can then be evaluated in terms of what it reasonablycan be expected to do.  Since sales and profits result from the entire marketing effort,each element in the mix has a unique role to play.  The role of advertising iscommunicating information and changing attitudes about a product.

For example, the world's largest advertiser, Procter & Gamble uses recall of statedappeals to measure effectiveness of individual commercials.   Other advertisersevaluate effectiveness by how much product knowledge is communicated, or by howmuch brand interest is created, or by whether or not a brand preference is established.

The important thing to keep in mind is that advertising must have separate goals fromthe overall marketing or sales goals, and that no advertising should be created andplaced until these goals are spelled out.

MAJOR COMPONENTS OF AN ADVERTISEMENT COPY

1. Border.

How do we separate the ad from the surrounding type?—with a border. Bordersshould complement the look that you are developing with your ad and should never be the most prominent part of your ad. Straightforward and simple is best.2. Heading. Ad legend David Ogilvy once stated that “The headline is a key part of the salesmessage; no matter how well the ad is presented, it can’t succeed if it is not read. If your headline does not include a selling message, you may be wasting 80 percent of your dollars.” Following the headline, you’ll have subheads that either clarify or amplify the thought in the headline. Subheads should be handled in much the sameway as headlines, but are visually weighted somewhere between the body copy andthe heading.3. Illustrations. A highly effective way to draw the reader’s attention to an ad is with illustrations.Studies have shown that an ad with an illustration that takes up 50 percent or more of the ad space increases readership by as much as 37 percent.4. Price. Price is an important (and often dominant) element in a layout. Many local advertisersbuild their ads around the price. You can accent price in several ways:

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(1) as part of the heading,(2) The core the ad is built around,(3) Preceding the copy, and(4) In the text space.5. White space. 

Use as much white space as you can afford to use. It minimizes distraction and drawsattention to what matters most.6. Body copy.Body copy develops and expands on the benefits offered in the headline. The power 

of well written advertising copy is proven by the billions of dollars of sales directlyresulting from great newspaper advertising. Benefits should be written as though youwere making friendly, personal conversation.7. Signature.

The signature is often a logotype. Though often used synonymously with logo,signature means the name of the advertiser in any form, and unlike the logo, maychange form from one ad to the next. Remember not to let the signature overpower 

other important aspects.

8. The one second test. The one second test is a way of determining whether a reader can tell at a glance whatthe advertiser is selling. It simply means that you should be able to look at a layoutfor a second, then close your eyes and recall its sales message. If you didn’t get themessage, you need to improve the layout. Another factor that affects eye appeal isconcentration. This means grouping your selling points into display headings and textmasses.9. Color.  Try to achieve contrast in layout by effective use of different size type, bold type andcolor. If you can, try to fit color into your advertising budget.Introducing color increases impact.10. Creativity.

If your ad is developed with simplicity, focal point and sequence in mind, then it willbe appealing to the eye. However, some ads are more visually appealing than others.The difference is in creativity. Remember, creativity rarely occurs as a stroke of genius; it usually comes through persistent attempts and hard work.

EVALUATING ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS

It was considered 3 or 4 decades ago that evaluation advertising effectiveness is noteasy holds true even today. Despite all the efforts made over the last three or four decades to make advertising amenable to management concepts of goal setting,control and evaluation, there are still vague areas when one comes to evaluating theresults of advertising.

If ‘sale’ is the main objective, measurement of advertising results has to pinpoint theincrease in sales that has accrued on account of advertising. Exact measurements

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become difficult because ‘sales’ is the result of so many other factors in addition toadvertising. Even when communication is the goal, measurement of effectivenessbecomes difficult; it can at best be measured around an audience’s ability torecognize and recall the message.

Despite this, firms resort to evaluation of advertising results. They try to assess howfar the sales task and the communication task have been accomplished by advertising.

Evaluating how far the communication task has been accomplished:

The methods used for this evaluation are the same as those employed in ‘copytesting’.

The main point to be remembered is that methods to evaluate the advertisement’sability to create awareness, or gain recognition, or ensure recall.

Evaluating how far the sales task has been accomplished:

The   most   commonly-used   method   for   evaluating   how   far   advertisinaccomplished the sales task is to correlate past sales to past advertising expenditureswith the help of statistical techniques. This method has some limitations, especially inthe highly fluctuating market conditions, wherein ‘past sale’ was the result of severalfactors other than advertising.

Besides, past sales, or historical data-based method, market tests are also used to getan idea of the sales effect of a campaign. In such cases, before launching a campaign,certain territories are kept as test markets and are exposed to different level[s of 

exposure to the campaign. The results in such test markets are computed to get anidea of the impact of the campaign on the sales in these markets.

When a firm resorts to direct mail campaign, measurement of sales impact becomesmore feasible. It is a situation where normally short-term and immediate sale isgenerated, and it lends for the measurement of sales against the advertising effort.

Reasons why Companies should Measure Advertising Effectiveness:

1.   Avoiding   Costly   Mistakes:According   toemarketer.com, “Online advertising spending will reach

$16.7 billion in 2006, eMarketer predicts. That's agrowth rate of 33.2%, the highest growth year-over-year expected this decade.” This means that companiesare spending thousands if not millions of dollars eachyear to advertise online, but that is not to say that it isbeing spent wisely. The only way to ensure that thismoney is not being wasted on ineffective advertisingprograms is to continuously evaluate the effectiveness

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of the chosen programs and to ensure that these programs are achieving their intendedpurpose. Evaluating the effectiveness of the chosen programs is not all about money,it also gives the e-marketer the opportunity to analyze the non-tangible effects of thechosen program.  For example, if a company chooses to go with a pop-up advertisingprogram, they can evaluate it’s ROI by comparing its click-throughs to the amount of 

money invested in building it. However that is not the extend of it; a good evaluationprogram will be able to analyze the consumer’s reaction to that program, its effects onthe company’s image or its effectiveness in comparison to a banner ad program.

As the saying goes, "a penny saved is a penny earned." If advertisers think of the costfor efficiency testing as an investment that prevents future “costly mistakes” they canthink of the prevented costs as “a penny earned” and take full advantage of thebenefits of this strategy.

  2. Evaluating Alternative Strategies: Not only is it important to evaluate the

effectiveness of the chosen method, but also the opportunity costs of choosing thatmethod. Often after companies have chosen a method, they focus their attentionexclusively on that method ignoring the potential profits that would have come aboutif they went with an ulterior method. A good evaluation program will be able toanalyze the effectiveness and the opportunity costs of the chosen method.

 3. Increasing the Efficiency of Advertising: often after companies choose aparticular method, they become attached to that method and lose sight of the initialgoal they were aiming for. Because the marketers know what the intended message of that chosen program is, they expect their customers to know that message as well. Acontinuous evaluation of the chosen program will ensure that the message the

consumers are receiving from this program is aligned with the message the marketer intended   to   send. 

Reasons why companies often DON'T measure Advertising Effectiveness

Cost: the most common reason that companies provide for not measuring their advertising effectiveness is the cost of conducting a measurement program. Oftencompanies believe that the money used for measuring their advertising effectivenesscan better spent on creating  more advertisements or improving their product.Although this might possibly be true, let’s consider the flip side; if the company doesnot measure the effectiveness of its current advertising program, they will not know if this program reaches their desired audience, sends the desired message or meets itsintended goals. Being able to increase the advertising budget or improve the productwill not help the company if the message is sent to the wrong audience or if themessage that is comprehended by the consumers is different from the message thatthe company intended to send. As a result even the slightest evaluation effort can go along way in ensuring that the desired message is sent to the appropriate audience andhence saving the company thousands if not millions of dollars.

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Research problems: As we will see in the sections to come, the evaluation processcan be very complicated, time intensive and confusing for a company that is trying tostart such an effort. In addition, it can very difficult to isolate and evaluate the effectsof only one of the companies marketing efforts; as a result managers often can notjustify the costs if they can’t pin point the contribution of each of their marketing

efforts. For example, it might be very difficult to isolate the contribution of thecompany’s banner ad program from their overall marketing effort as a consumer might not necessarily make a purchase based on what they see in banner ads, butconsider a variety of factors (brand image, pervious experience with the company, or an on TV) when making a purchase decision. However, although it might be true thatwe cannot pin point the dollar contribution of one program, research can be used toevaluate the communication, reach and other factors associated with each advertisingmethod.

Disagreements on what, when and where to test: There are a variety of methodsused when determining what, where and when to measure the effectiveness of anadvertising program. Choosing the appropriate measurement method depends largelyon the industry the firm is in, the objectives of the program based on GOPST analysisand the person that will be analyzing the results. For example, sales managers maywant to measure the contribution of the advertising program on sales, whereas topexecutives may be interested in the effects of the program on the company’s image.These differences often lead to a great deal of confusion between the mangers andmight lead them to abandon the evaluation program altogether. However, there is norational reason for this conflict as we will later see, each of the measurement toolswork to achieve a different objective.

Factors that should be tested during the evaluation process:

1. Testing the Method: as we have previously highlighted there are a variety of methods to advertise online, choosing the appropriate method will have a substantialimpact on its success. Therefore, it is important to determine how well the chosenprogram is working and to measure its performance against a predetermined standard.The testing process should consider the following aspects when choosing whichmethod   will   be   the   most   effective. 

a)   Advertising   Method (ex:   SEO,   Banner   vs.   sponsorship).b)  Subclass (ex:   regular   vs.   content   sponsorship).c) Location (ex:   Banner   at   the   top   or   Sky-Scraper   on   the  .

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d)  Time (ex:   pre   or   post   product   release).e) Size (ex: Pop-up (full page) or Banner (small bar at the top of the page)).f) Vehicle Option Source Effect

According to Advertising & Promotion textbook, Vehicle Option Source Effect is“the differential impact that the advertising exposure will have on the same audiencemember  if  the  exposure  occurs  in  one  media  option  rather  than  .For example, how will the same consumer perceive the same ad, if it is viewed in abanner ad vs. a pop-up ad. Some of the advertising methods have predeterminedemotions associated with them (ex. pop-ups are perceived to be annoying), thus theadvertiser must consider the emotional impact of the chosen method when makingtheir decision. Thus, the advertiser must consider all aspects and options of possiblemethods before coming with a conclusion as to which method will be the most

appropriate.

2. Testing the Content: 

When an advertiser is developing a new ad or evaluating a current one, he/she mustalways start with an intensive analysis of the objective of the ad: its’ intendedmeaning, its’ desired effect on the consumers, the demographic of these consumersand it’s desired effect on brand image. Once these factors have been outlined theywill serve as the standards by which the content of the ad will be evaluated. For example, if the intended objective of an ad is to get consumers to try a new productthat   is   being   launched,   the   marketers   might   test   the   follow

 

a) If   the   ad   is   effective   at   getting   the   consumers   atten.b) If the ad is informative enough to allow the consumers to evaluate the product.c) If the ad is persuasive enough to convince the consumers to try the product.d) If the ad is memorable as to ensure the consumers will remember to make thepurchase.e) If   the   ad   is   appealing   to   it’s   intended   target   m.f) If the ad has the desired effect on the brand image (ex: if the ad is consistent withthe company’s other marketing efforts)

 3. Testing the Budget Decisions: 

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Finally, the advertisers often try to examine effects of their budget decisions on thead’s   effectiveness.   Some   of   the   common   questions   asked   here   

a) Is the budget allocated to this ad campaign appropriate for its size?

b) Will a larger budget increase sales?

c) Is the allocated budget greater than the anticipated sales?

d) Should   more   money   be   spent   in   enhancing   the   current   camIt is important to note that using sales as the predominant evaluation criteria is notalways the most effective way of measuring the success of an ad campaign as other factors (Product, Price, Place) strongly influence the effectiveness of the chosenpromotion  method.  A more effective measurement method should include thepredefined objectives set out for the ad campaign not just its effect on sales.

After discussing why we should measure advertising effectiveness and what to testthe next section will discuss where the testing should occur.

Places for testing advertising effectiveness: 

1. Laboratory Testing: In a lab testing environment, participants from the targetmarket are brought in to be asked questions about the ad or to evaluate their reactiontowards it. These questions and reaction measures will be used to evaluate the ad

based   on   the   predetermined   criteria   mentioned   earlier..The major advantage of using this type of testing environment is the control itproviders for the researchers. In this environment, researchers can easily manipulateeach  aspect of the ad (colour, size, format, etc.) to be able to examine theeffectiveness/contribution  of each  of these characteristics.  After examining  theeffectiveness of each of these aspects, the advertiser can choose ones which will bethe   most   effective   for   the   ad..The major disadvantage of using this type of testing environment is the lack of realism. According to the advertising and promotion book, “when people are brought

into a lab (even if has been designed to look like a living room) they may scrutinizethe ads much more than they would at home” .Regardless of the lab layout, informingthe participants that they will evaluate a particular car may lead them to feel that theyare professional judges for the ad. This may result in the participants over analyzingthe ad and leading to a variety of testing biases. Regardless of what happens in thelab, the purpose of the evaluation process is to predict the target markets reaction tothe ad in its natural environment (at home, in the office…) and duplicating theseenvironments may be impossible in a lab setting. Often, it is felt that the benefits of 

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lab testing outweigh the drawbacks, and lab testing should be strongly considered inthe evaluation process.

2. Field Testing: As mentioned earlier, the major drawback of lab testing is the lack of realism, and field testing bypasses this drawback by testing the ad in the

environment it will be viewed in including all the competition, distraction andcomfort associated with that environment. For example, in a field test, researchersmight go out to the participants’ homes or offices and observe their reaction to thead..The major disadvantage of field testing is the lack of control. Using this method maynot give the researchers enough information as to be able to specifically link thecauses of the participant’s evaluation to particular aspects of the ad. In other words,the participants may evaluate the ad based on factors outside the attributes of the aditself  (their mood, feelings towards the company, feelings about the competition,etc.). As a result, field testing may provide biased results as it does not provide the

researchers with the control as to be able to isolate external factors from theparticipants’   true   feelings   about   the   ad.Overall, the researchers must ultimately evaluate the trade-off between control andrealism when making a decision as to which evaluation method will best meet their needs..Furthermore, the allocated budget for the evaluation process may play a significantrole in determining which method will be used. If the marketer allocates a largebudget, he may choose to use both methods as to gain from the benefits of each one.However if the allocated budget is very restrictive, the researchers may opt to use thelab testing method as it is associated with lower costs. Field testing often requires a

larger investment of time and money, since it costs more for the researcher to go outon the field and meet with the participants individually rather than evaluatingeveryone at the same time.

Evaluation of advertising tests may be conducted prior to putting the ad online

or after. This section explores different methods of pre-testing and post-testing

 1. Pre-testing: actions taken before the campaign is executed.Methods to test consumer's reaction are:  Comprehension and reaction testing: a key concern for the advertiser is whether the ad conveys the meaning intended. Another concern is the consumer's reaction tothe   ad..Comprehension and reaction tests are designed to assess these responses. Personalinterviews, group interviews, and focus groups have all been used for this purpose.

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While this method offers control and cost effectiveness, there are disadvantageswhich limit its usefulness:Consumer may become self-appointed expert-- sometimes, knowing they are beingasked to critique ads, participants try to become more expert in their evaluations,paying more attention and being more critical than usual. The result may be an

evaluation   on   elements   other   than   those   planned.. Halo effect-- sometimes participants rate an ad good on all characteristics becausethey like a few and overlook specific weaknesses. This tendency (halo effect) distortsthe   ratings.. Preferences for specific types of advertising may overshadow objectivity-- adsthat involve emotions or pictures may receive higher ratings or rankings that thoseemploying copy, facts, or rational criteria. Even though the latter are often more

effective, they may be judges les favorably by participants who prefer emotionalappeals.So how can these problems be solved? Some can be remedied by using ratings scales instead of rankings. Bur ratings are notalways valid either. Thus, while consumer juries have been used for years, questionsof bias have led researchers to doubt their validity. As a result, a variety of other methods are more commonly displayed.Physiological Measures: this involves a laboratory setting in which physiologicalresponses are measured. They indicate the receiver’s involuntary response to the adand thus, eliminating biases associated with the voluntary measures reviewed to thispoint. This includes:Pupil dilation- designed to measure dilation and constriction of the pupils of the eyesin   response   to   stimuli..Dilation is associated with action; constriction involves the body’s conservation of energy. Advertisers have used this to evaluate product and package design as well asto test ads. Pupil dilation suggests a stronger interest in an ad or implies arousal or attention-getting   capabilities. Eye tracking- viewers are asked to view an ad while a sensor aims a beam of infraredlight at the eye and follows the movement to show the spot on which the viewer isfocusing. This shows how long the viewer is focusing on each image and thesequence of viewing. Eye tracking can identify strengths and weakness in an ad. For example, background action may distract the viewer’s attention away from the brandbeing advertised. The advertiser can remedy this distraction before fielding the ad.

Post-testing: occurs after the ad has been in the field. It is designed to determine if the campaign is accomplishing the objectives required and to serve as input of howwell its doing.

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Inquiry tests: designed to measure advertising effectiveness on the basis of inquiriesgenerated from ads appearing in various print media. The inquiry may take the formof the number of coupons returned, phone calls generated, or direct inquiries throughreader cards. For example, if you called in a response to an ad recently, perhaps youwere asked how you found out about the company/product or where you saw the ad.

This is a very simple measure of the ad’s or medium’s effectiveness.

 CREATIVE PLAN

How Creativity Enhances Advertising

What exactly is creativity or the creative process? What is the role of creativity inadvertising? And where does creativity, come from?What Is Creativity?

To create means to originate, to conceive a thing or idea that did not exist before.Typically, though, creativity involves combining two or more previously unconnectedobject or ideas into something new. As Voltaire said, "Originality is nothing but

judicious imitation." Many people think creativity springs directly from humanintuition. Further we'll see, the creative process is a step-by-step procedure that can belearned and used to generate original ideas.The Role of Creativity in Advertising Advertisers often select an agency specifically for its creative style and its reputationfor achieving original concepts. Creativity is vital to advertising's basic mission of informing,   persuading,   and   reminding.   Creativity   helps   advertising   inAdvertising's responsibility to inform is greatly enhanced by creativity. Good creativework makes advertising more vivid, and many researchers believe vividness attractsat-tention,  maintains  interest,  and  stimulates  consumers'  thinking.  A   cotechnique is to use plays on words and verbal or visual metaphors, such as "Put a tiger in your tank," "Fly the friendly skies," or "Own a piece of the rock." The metaphor describes one concept in terms of another, helping the reader or viewer learn aboutthe products Other creative techniques can also improve an ad's ability to inform.Advertising writers and artists must arrange visual and verbal message componentsaccording to a genre of social meaning so that readers or viewers can easily interpret an ad using commonlyaccepted symbols. For example, esthetic cues such as lighting, pose of the model,setting, and clothing style can signal viewers nonverbally whether a fashion adreflects a romantic adventure or a sporting event.Creativity helps advertising persuade

The ancients created  legends and myths about gods and heroes-symbols for humankind's instinctive, primordial longings and fears-to affect human behavior andthought To motivate people to some action or attitude, advertising copywriters havecreated new myths and heroes. A creative story or persona can establish an originalidentity for the product in the collective mindset-a key factor in helping a productbeat the competition. Creativity also helps position a product on the top rung of consumers'  mental  ladders.  The   higher  form  of  expression  creates   a impression. And when such an impression spreads through the market, the product’sperceived value also rises. . To be persuasive, an ad's verbal message must be

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reinforced by the creative use of nonverbal message elements. Artists govern the useof these elements-color, layout, and illustration, for example-to increase vividness.Research suggests that, in print media, information graphics (colorful explanatorycharts, tables, etc.) can raise the perception of quality for some readers. Artwork canalso stimulate emotions. Color, for example, can often motivate consumers depending

on their cultural background and personal experiencesCreativity helps advertising remind

Imagine using the same invitation, without any innovation, to ask people to try your product again and again, year after year. Your invitation would become stale veryquickly-worse, it would become tiresome. Only creativity can transform your boringreminders  into  interesting,  entertaining  advertisements.  Nike  is  proof.   Scommercials in a Nike campaign never mentioned the company name or even spelledit on the screen. The ads told stories. And the only on-screen cue identifying thesponsor was the single, elongated "swoosh" logo inscribed on the final scene. A Nikespokesperson said the ads weren't risky "given the context that the Nike logo is sowell known." We are entertained daily by creative ads-for soft drinks, snacks, and

cereals-whose primary mission is simply to remind us to indulge again

 

Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated  Marketing  Communications(IMC),  according  to  TheAmerican Marketing Association, is “a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization arerelevant  to  that person  and  consistent over time.”Mar k eting  Power Dictiona Integrated marketing communication can be defined as a holistic approach to promote

buying and selling in the digital economy. This concept includes many online andoffline marketing channels. Online marketing channels include any e-marketingcampaigns or programs, from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click,affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, RSS, podcast,and  Internet  TV.  Offline  marketing  channels  are traditional  print  (newsmagazine), mail order, public relations, industry analyst relations billboard, radio, andtelevision.

Goal of Integrated Marketing Communications

A  management  concept   that  is  designed  to  make  all  aspects  of  communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and directmarketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work inisolation. In practice, the goal of IMC is to create and sustain a single look or messagein  all  elements  of   a  marketing  campaign.   A  successful  integrated  communication plan will customize what is needed for the client based on time,budget and resources to reach target or goals. Small business can start an integratedmarketing communication plan on a small budget using a website, email and SEO.

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Large corporation can start an integrated marketing communication plan on a largebudget using print, mail order, radio, TV plus many other online ad campaigns.

Reasons For The Growing Importance of IMC

There have been many shifts in the advertising and media industry that have causedIMC to develop into a primary strategy for most advertisers

7 main shifts

1. From media advertising to multiple forms of communication (includingpromotions, product placements, mailers...)

2. From mass media to more specialized media, which are centered aroundspecific target audiences.

3. From a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated market. Themarket control has transferred into the consumer's hands.

4. From general-focus advertising and marketing to data-based marketing.5. From low agency accountability to greater agency accountability. Agenciesnow play a larger role in advertising than ever before.

6. From traditional compensation to performance-based compensation. Thisencourages people to do better because they are rewarded for the increase insales or benefits they cause to the company.

7. From limited Internet access to widespread Internet availability. This meansthat people can not only have access to what they want 24/7 but thatadvertisers can also target different people 25 hours a day.

SEKURU FRANCO (1968)highlighted the issue of marketing in relation to the

stigma of sales.

Obstacles to Integrated Marketing Communications

Roles of Individual Media

This goal may appear simple but, for companies with different teams of peopleworking on each element of the campaign, it can be a challenge to create effectiveadvertising for all media using the same images and messages. Tactically, mostmarketers think the goal of each medium is different. For example, television ads aregenerally used for awareness generation, print to educate, and outdoor and radio to

keep the message top-of-mind. In reality, the goal of all advertising, includingpackaging, is to sell.

Identifying Best Marketing Elements

Even though the different elements in a campaign are designed to work together, thatdoes not mean that all the creative executions will work equally well. This obstaclecan be overcome by using advertising to identify the images and messages that will

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work best across media platforms. Marketers can use systems, such as the ARSImpact Campaign system (www.ars-group.com), to directly compare recall andpersuasion scores across IMC vehicles and to understand synergies that make thewhole IMC program more powerful than the sum of its parts. Simple, comparablemetrics with a proven relationship to business performance make it easy for ad

managers to make comparisons across media platforms.

Solution: Market Research

They are attention, branding, and motivation. An effective ad must capture theattention of the audience; it must be well branded so the consumer properly attributesthe message only to the sponsor’s product or service; and it must motivate theconsumer to move closer to the sale.

To see what additional metrics are important to each type of media, see Image 1 of this article.

Formula for Selecting Most Effective Marketing Elements

The   goal   of   researching   the   elements   of   proposed   integrated   mcommunications is to create a campaign that is effective across media platforms.Some marketers may want only ads with the greatest breadth of appeal: theexecutions that, when combined, provide the greatest number of attention-getting,branded, and motivational moments. Others may only want ads with the greatestdepth of appeal: the ads with the greatest number of attention-getting, branding, andmotivational points within each.

In today's accoutable marketing environment, sophisticated marketers must focus onapplying IMC to move consumers from "awareness" to "action". Therefore, in order to optimize IMC performance the testing system utilized must be able to factor theabilities of multiple brand contact points to generate recall and to persuade. Aconsistent metric system using these variables will greatly simplify interpretation of the metrics and illuminate synergies to be exploited with IMC.

Although integrated marketing communications is more than just the ad campaign,the bulk of marketing dollars is spent on the creation and distribution of theadvertisements. Hence, the bulk of the research budget is also spent on these elementsof the campaign. Once the key marketing pieces have been tested, the researched

elements can then be applied to other contact points: letterhead, packaging, trucks,customer service representative training, and more, to complete the IMC cycle.

Some other creative marketing communications methods include: social marketingand green marketing may enhance or facilitate the marketing process of buildingrelationship   among   stakeholders   (customers,   employees,   suppliers,   partnecommunities, shareholders).

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