APJML19,1

40

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketingand LogisticsVol. 19 No. 1, 2007pp. 40-56# Emerald Group Publishing Limited1355-5855DOI 10.1108/13555850710720894

Received February 2006Revised March 2006Accepted August 2006

Correlates of successful brandadvertising in China

Susan H.C. TaiDepartment of Management and Marketing,

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the relationship between successful brand advertisingcampaigns in China and various factors such as message/creativity, media selection, market research,competition, market share, product uniqueness, and agency/client relationships.Design/methodology/approach – The data for the study were collected by mailing aquestionnaire to 283 advertising agencies executives who were selected from the All-Asia AdAgency Guide. A total of 1,086 questionnaires were sent out and 163 were returned for a responserate of 15 per cent. Factor analysis was first used to identify various success factors, and ANOVAwasused to compare the means of each factor related to the degree of success of the campaign.Correlation analysis was then used to examine the relationship between successful brand advertisingcampaign and various success factors.Findings – The results of the ANOVA indicate that there are significant relationships between someitems in each factor and the degree of success of an advertising campaign. Correlation analysisfurther reveals that message/creativity, media selection, market research, market share, and productuniqueness are significantly related to the success of brand advertising in China. No significantrelationship is found between brand success and competition or agency/client relationship.Research limitations/implications – The respondents may have been biased about the extent towhich their advertising campaigns are successful or how creative an advertisement should be. Theirperceptions of successful or creative advertising could be very different, especially in relation to thosequestions that asked respondents to critique their own work. All of these affect the rigor of the study.Another limitation of the study is the low response rate. If the sample size had been large enough,comparisons could have been made concerning the correlates of successful brand advertising acrossdifferent regions in China.Originality/value – In addition to providing researchers with further understanding of brandadvertising in China, this study provides some insights about the ways in which multinationaladvertising managers contribute to successful brand advertising.

Keywords Brand image, Advertising, China, Marketing

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionIn mainland China, millions of people have moved up into a new middle class. Theyare ‘‘real spenders’’, people who get rich quick, can afford brand-name productsand are willing to pay more for them (Hargrave-Silk, 2002). They are as ‘‘advertisingsophisticated’’ and ‘‘brand responsive’’ as their Hong Kong or Taiwanese counterparts.They have been seduced by foreign brands at a speed unthinkable in Western markets(Shaw, 2003): for instance, more than 70 per cent of Chinese people recognize theCoca-Cola brand (Yan, 2004). Technological and economical developments haveradically changed the role of advertising in China. As competitors can easily accessmarketing information from each other and improve their own products, the situationhas shifted the emphasis from brand uniqueness to brand experience. Therefore, brandadvertising is often used to create consumer experience and emotional responses tospecific brands.

Many multinationals are looking for similarities in Chinese markets such as HongKong or Taiwan, and searching for common regional strategies. However, they should

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available atwww.emeraldinsight.com/1355-5855.htm

Successful brandadvertising

in China

41

be careful to bring regional concepts straight to consumers in mainland China.Although the Chinese in Greater China share common values such as the belief inpower distance, consensus, and uncertainty avoidance, they think differently becauseeach market is at a different stage of economic and political development. For instance,the needs and aspirations of a Taiwanese Chinese will be vastly different from those ofa Hong Kong or mainland Chinese. One of the major difficulties for multinationals isthe lack of understanding of how to measure the success and depth of brands inmainland China ( Doctoroff, 2006). The major objective of this study is to investigatethe correlates of successful brand advertising campaigns in China.

Brand advertising in ChinaChina is a huge consumer market with a 1.3 billion population, and has become one ofthe major markets in Asia for many multinationals. Chinese consumers are likely tohave displaced US consumers as the engine of growth in the global economy by 2014.A study by Credit Suisse First Boston’s global equity strategy team forecasts the USdollar value of Chinese consumption spending in ten years will represent 37 per cent ofthe USA and 11 per cent of global consumption spending, vs. 9 per cent and 3 per centin 2004, respectively. For 2004, the estimated value of Chinese consumption spendingwas US$704 billion, with the number likely to increase to US$3,726 billion by 2014(Credit Suisse First Boston, 2005).

China is the third-largest advertising market in the world, after only the USA andJapan. As competition heated up in China, total advertising expenses in 2005 amountedto US$30.5 billion, or an increase of 18 per cent over 2004, and the growth is predictedto keep climbing as China gears up for the 2008 Beijing Olympics (BBC MonitoringMedia, 2006). While foreign ventures have continued to enter and advertise in China,local Chinese enterprises have driven a significant portion of the expansion inadvertising expenditure, and local brands comprised the entire top ten list ofadvertisers (Kahn, 2003).

China is also the world’s most complex media market. The USA has 210 televisionmarkets and fewer than 2,000 channels. China has more than 3,000 channels andhundreds of markets, most of them based in small cities with limited audiences. Thereare also 1,800 radio stations, more than 1,000 newspapers, some 7,000 magazines, andnumerous internet portals (Simons, 2003). Regional variations are found in China anddifferent dialects are spoken in different regions. All advertisements have to deal withstate censors and have to be approved by the official China Advertising Association,with regulations varying according to region. For instance, the use of the terms ‘‘thebest’’ or ‘‘No. 1’’ is allowed in advertising in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, but maynot in some provinces (Simons, 2003). Although television is the best platform to reacha large amount of people in the fastest way, the cost of a television commercial is stillexpensive for many advertisers ( Yanlin, 2004).

However, it is not easy to attract consumers in China. Many of them consider thatadvertisements are boring – almost 70 per cent in a recent survey of 5,600 city dwellers,rising to 78 per cent for 20 to 29 year olds and 84 per cent for 30 to 39 year olds (Savage,2004). Shoppers in China are also spoiled for choice, especially in the first-tier cities ofBeijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, where in most consumer categories they have atleast 20 brands to choose from. In the past, there was always a choice between usingglobal or local appeal in advertising for multinationals. However, foreign brands arelosing their appeal as Chinese brands become more attractive (Zhou and Belk, 2004).

APJML19,1

42

Now there is a need to develop strong brand differences and strong brand personality,whether the product is global or local.

Another challenge for advertising in China is tailoring advertisements to theregional sensibilities of China’s 1.3 billion citizens. Although some shoppers inShanghai and Beijing like to visit luxury boutiques, most Chinese put the highest valueon low price and reliability (Balfour and Kiley, 2005). As the divide between the richcoastal cities and the poorer interior grows, both clients and agencies must make surethat their messages fit the audience.

Literature review and formulation of hypothesesA campaign survey that was conducted in 1996 revealed that 72 per cent ofagency staff considered that most advertising does not work (Hall, 1996). Theextreme pessimists were the planners, of whom only 17 per cent agreed with thestatement that ‘‘most advertising works’’. This was mainly due to the communicationproblem between clients and agencies, who do not discuss exactly what they expect acampaign to achieve ( Hall, 1996). It is generally agreed that advertising effectivenessis difficult to measure, but it is also important to check whether the advertisingmoney is well spent. The effectiveness of advertising can be judged by whetherthe campaign increases the number of consumers who would consider the productor service, and whether the campaign improves the value of the product or servicein the collective mind of consumers ( Neal and Bathe, 1997). Advertisementsusually reach their peak effectiveness immediately at the start of the campaignand then tend to wear out relatively rapidly, perhaps in six to twelve weeks. Afterthe wearout, it is time to launch a brand new advertising campaign ( Businessline,2004).

Although theoretical insights have been developing and methodologicalimprovements have been made, predicting the effectiveness of individual advertisingmessages can only be done within a wide range of uncertainty (Poiesz and Robben,1994). In the 1960s, most advertising agencies used sales and distribution data orbuying and usage surveys, and relied less on attitude and image studies to measureadvertising effectiveness. In the 1970s, agencies moved towards communicationsresearch as a specialty and concentrated on advertising. In the 1980s, advertisingagencies used a wide variety of consumer exploratory research techniques to developadvertising ideas and assist creative people and clients alike in understanding therelationship between the brand, the message, and the consumer ( Restall, 1986).

Some scholars have commented that advertisers have fallen into thecommunications trap by measuring the ‘‘communications effects’’ of the advertisingcampaigns according to the ‘‘hierarchy of effects’’ attitudinal change models. Marketersshould focus on outcomes, not outputs, and the true value of advertising itself is inmarketing results (Schultz, 1997). However, most studies have focused more oncommunication effects and approached the task from the consumer’s perspective, suchas by using brand recall ( Higie and Sewall, 1991).

The success of an advertising campaign is affected by various factors. In a study of524 brands in 100 consumer-product categories from 1997 to 2001, the winning brands,90 in all, dramatically and consistently outpaced their brand categories each year(Blasberg and Vishwanath, 2003). These winning brands posted average annual-revenue growth rates above 10 per cent – more than triple the average rate. The twomajor characteristics of their success were innovativeness and the use of aggressiveadvertising ( Blasberg and Vishwanath, 2003). In addition, Batra et al. (1995) found

Successful brandadvertising

in China

43

that product characteristics, brands, and advertising copy influence advertisingeffectiveness in terms of advertising awareness, brand awareness, or purchaseintention. Advertising spending had a greater effect on awareness for less-visiblebrands in growing product categories and a greater effect on purchase intentions whenthe advertisement featured a new strategy or benefit, when the brand had significanttrade promotion support, when the advertising copy was not ‘‘soft sell’’, and when thebrand was not already ‘‘declining’’ (Batra et al., 1995).

1,500 advertising agencies were surveyed about the correlates of factors that lead tosuccessful advertising campaigns in terms of increasing sales, awareness, andfavorable product attitudes (Korgaonkar et al., 1984). Advertising campaigns weresuccessful in increasing sales when they were for nondurable products with uniqueattributes, were geared to the consumer market and backed by adequate financialresources, and when they featured unique and creative messages. It also found thatfavorable product attributes could be achieved by advertising campaigns thatpromoted product uniqueness, had adequate financial resources, and used creativemessages and appropriate media. At the same time, campaigns were successful inincreasing product awareness when the product market was highly competitive, theproduct being advertised had unique characteristics and was for the consumer market,advertising messages were creative, media selection was appropriate, and financialresources were adequate (Korgaonkar et al., 1984).

In 1985, Korgaonkar and Bellenger reported the results of a replication of theaforementioned study with the advertising executives of the advertisers. Comparisonsof the responses of the two studies indicated that factors noted by both as essential foradvertising campaign success were message/creativity, media selection, financial/managerial resources, and the agency/client relationship (Korgaonkar and Bellenger,1985). Although competition was significantly related to successful advertisingcampaigns in both studies, conflicting conclusions were reported. From the advertisingagency’s view in the first study, greater competition led to a greater chance ofadvertising success. In the second study, from the advertiser’s point of view, a lowerlevel of competition implied a greater chance of success.

Murphy and Maynard (1996) conducted a study in which the decision cues featuredcognitive judgement components rather than organizational or emotional factors. Theresults confirmed five of the decision criteria that Korgaonkar et al. (1984) andKorgaonkar and Bellenger (1985) found to be central to successful advertisingcampaigns: market research, media planning, message/creativity, advertising budget,and the relationship between client and agency. Only two criteria, message/creativityand budget, heavily dominated the decision-making of both groups, accounting for 59per cent of their overall judgements. Media planning counted for little on either side,roughly one-tenth of their overall judgements.

There is a clear difference between the views of advertising agencies andadvertisers on the approaches that should be taken to monitor the success of acampaign. From the advertiser’s point of view, immediate measures of effect, makingadvertising accountable only in the short term, were more important, whereas agenciesoften focused more on creativity, ahead of strategy (Flandin et al., 1992). Advertisersviewed market research as being more important, whereas agencies viewedrelationships as being more important (Murphy and Maynard, 1996). In today’scomplex environment, the key to successfully building a brand is to understand therelationship between consumers and that brand, regardless of the viewpoints ofadvertisers or advertising agencies.

APJML19,1

44

Message and creativityThe message and creativity of an advertising campaign often contribute to its success(Korgaonkar et al., 1984; Korgaonkar and Bellenger, 1985; Murphy and Maynard, 1996).Highly creative, award winning advertisements often have a tremendously positiveinfluence on sales (Schori and Garee, 1998). However, creative advertising may win awardsbut have little to do with advertising effectiveness. Almost 50 per cent of the money thatcompanies spend on advertising is wasted, as it fails to translate into consumer spending(Businessline, 2003). Campaigns should not only set out to create awareness, but should alsobe persuasive (Stewart and Koslow, 1989). However, many companies still aim at producingaward-winning advertising campaigns and specialist advice on creativity is still the majorcriteria that clients look for in advertising agencies. Of all agency services, quality creativework and advertising production have been ranked second and third most important bymarketers, only after media selection (Hille, 2003). Hence, it is hypothesized that:

H1. Advertising message and creativity are significantly related to the success ofbrand advertising in China.

Media selctionMedia selection also has a major influence on advertising success (Korgaonkar et al.,1984; Korgaonkar and Bellenger, 1985; Murphy and Maynard, 1996). Around 40-50 percent of new product offerings and existing brand offerings fail to take off despite heavyadvertising, and most consumer product categories compete with each other on branddifferentiation, for which it is becoming increasingly difficult to gain attention(Businessline, 2003). These problems could be solved by selecting niche media. It hasbeen found that of all agency services, effective media selection and buying are mostvalued by marketers (Hille, 2003). The mere discipline of seeking quality in mediabuying, measuring it, and attributing a value to it greatly enhances the success of acampaign (MarketingWeek, 2004). Hence, it is hypothesized that:

H2. Media selection is significantly related to the success of brand advertisingin China.

Market researchMarket research is another major factor in the success of an advertising campaign(Korgaonkar et al., 1984; Korgaonkar and Bellenger, 1985; Murphy and Maynard, 1996).An accurate understanding of the demographic and psychographic characteristicsof the target market is believed to be useful in formulating a media plan, messagepositioning, and in developing a creative platform. Before the reputation of a brandcan be built, the consumer must perceive added value in a product when compared toother brands (Media, 1998). Market research is important in terms of identifyingcustomers’ needs and points of superior performance that are relevant to them, and agood reason why they should believe the superiority claim. Hence, it is hypothesizedthat:

H3. Market research is significantly related to the success of brand advertisingin China.

CompetitionIn a highly competitive industry, consumers tend to have several alternatives availableto choose from, and various advertisers strive for consumer attention. As a result,

Successful brandadvertising

in China

45

advertising campaigns may not have as much impact on the consumer. However,Korgaonkar et al. (1984) indicated that if the satisfaction level of customers towards theproducts of competitors is not high, and the advertiser’s product is unique and of highquality, the chances of advertising success increase regardless of the competition arena.The fit between the category and the brand’s advertising appeal also makes adifference to how an advertising campaign works. The appeal creates a better brandperception when it is considered in a competitive context (Businessline, 2003). Hence,greater competition will lead to a greater chance of advertising success (Korgaonkaret al., 1984) and it is hypothesized that:

H4. Competition is significantly related to the success of brand advertisingin China.

Market shareMarket share, as a measure of success, is important to marketers because the greaterthe share, the more stable the brand’s performance in the marketplace (Levit, 2004).Before a company can achieve higher market share, it must outperform its competitorsin many ways. Having a large share of total sales in the product category oftensuggests that all costs for the product such as production and advertising have beenused more efficiently than has been the case with competitors (Keely, 1989). Brandswith high market share also have higher success rate in their advertising campaigns aslarger brands are generally higher priced, command higher brand loyalty, and can besupported by smaller advertising to sales rates (Rabuck and Rosenberg, 1997). When abrand has high market share it is often placed at the forefront of the consumer’s mindin that product category. Hence, the advertising campaigns of such brands are morelikely to create higher brand awareness and generate higher sales than those brandswith smaller market share. As brands with high market share have greater brandloyalty and invest larger effort in advertising, they are more likely to achieve a greatersuccess in their advertising campaigns. Hence, it is hypothesized that:

H5. Market share is significantly related to the success of brand advertisingin China.

Product uniquenessAdvertising campaigns for unique products are expected to be more successful thanadvertising campaigns for replicable products (Korgaonkar et al., 1984). It is easier tocommunicate a tangible superior product attribute than to try to ‘‘create’’ superioritythrough intangible imagery and implied associations. A good marketing campaignmust start with a good product, offer, or value, and be competitively positioned.Advertising campaigns can always be better with bigger budgets, but they shouldstart with good products (Kuhl, 2001). Hence, it is hypothesized that:

H6. Product uniqueness is significantly related to the success of brand advertisingin China.

Agency and client relationshipConflicts between the agency and client are likely to have a spillover effect,undermining the success of the campaign (Korgaonkar et al., 1984). The failure of anagency/client relationship entails substantial costs for both parties and is the primaryreason for account termination (Michell et al., 1992). Successful relationships between

APJML19,1

46

agencies and clients depended completely upon trust, mutual respect, and esteem(Fletcher, 1998). The majority of advertisers feel that agencies are failing to provideadequate service and develop trusting relationships, and that agency staff are difficultto reach (Nicholas, 1999). Hence, agencies and clients needed to establish clear,definable marketing, and communications benchmarks from a very early stage in acampaign’s development process. A good relationship between the agency and clientenhances the success of brand advertising (Korgaonkar et al., 1984; Murphy andMaynard, 1996). Hence, it is hypothesized that:

H7. The agency-client relationship is significantly related to the success of brandadvertising in China.

Data collection and methodologyThe data for the study were collected by mailing questionnaires to 283 advertisingagencies that were selected from the All-Asia Ad Agency Guide (Media, 2002). The listincluded managing directors and directors of creative, media or account servicing ofeach advertising agency in China. The Guide was chosen as a source because it lists alladvertising agencies in China and provides an up-to-date name list of all advertisingexecutives of each advertising agency. A total of 1,086 questionnaires were sent out and163 were returned, for a response rate of 15 per cent.

A structured questionnaire was developed and the advertising executives wereasked to evaluate one advertising campaign that they had handled last year as highlysuccessful, successful, not very successful, or very unsuccessful. Other questionsassessed the executive’s definition of success with respect to a particular campaign(in terms of sales, attitude, or awareness). The items concerning various successfactors (product uniqueness, competition, agency/client relationship, marketresearch, media selection, and message/creativity) were based on those in theKorgaonkar et al. (1984, 1985) studies. All items were measured on five-point scalesthat ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Each advertising executivewas also asked to rate the brand’s market share as high, above average, average, belowaverage, or low.

Principal component factor analysis was performed to justify the underlying sixsuccess factor dimensions. A varimax rotation procedure was also performed tofacilitate the interpretation of each factor. A scree test, and eigenvalues greater than1.00, were used as the criteria for the extraction of factors. Items that loaded heavily onmore than one factor and those that had low correlations with other items weredropped. Only two items in the questionnaire were dropped. The remaining 30 successfactor variables were loaded heavily on one of the six identified factors, with factorloadings all greater than +0.50 and ranging from 0.6779 to 0.9020 (Table I). ANOVAwas used to compare the means of each item in relation to the degree of success of thecampaign (Table II) and the level of market share (Table III). Correlation analysis wasconducted to examine the relationship between the success factors and the degree ofsuccess of an advertising campaign (Table IV). The background of advertisingcampaigns was reported in Table V.

Research findingsOf the 163 respondents, about 44 per cent considered their advertising campaigns to behighly successful, 48 per cent considered them to be successful, and less than 8 per centconsidered them to be not very successful and very unsuccessful. From the results of

Successful brandadvertising

in China

47

correlations analysis (Table IV), the success of an advertising campaign was positivelyrelated to the message/creativity, media selection, product uniqueness, and marketresearch, and was negatively related to low market share. Advertising success wasunrelated to competition and agency/client relationship.

Table I.Average mean ofsuccess factors

Mean

Product uniqueness (�¼ 0.8392)The advertised product was highly innovative 2.134The advertised product was superior to competing products 2.535The advertised product was of higher quality than competitors. 2.688The advertised product had unique features for customers 2.669

Competition (�¼ 0.799)The product was launched in a highly competitive market 3.262The market was characterized by many competitors 3.137Customers were satisfied with competitors’ products 2.662The competitors spent a lot of money advertising their products 3.119

Agency-client relationship (�¼ 0.6779)During the advertising campaign there was close communication between theclient and agency 3.644Lack of information provided by the client 2.562During the advertising campaign there were changes in the client’s key personnelinvolved in the campaign 3.019During the advertising campaign there were changes in agency’s key personnelinvolved in the campaign 3.281During the advertising campaign there were client/agency conflicts 2.575Both parties can share major priorities and know where their partner stands 3.100

Message and creativity (�¼ 0.9020)The advertising campaign had the support of talented creative staff 3.373The advertising message differentiated the product from the competitors’ products 3.391The advertising message highlighted the uniqueness of the product 3.354The advertising message was very persuasive 3.099The advertising message was well targeted 3.422The creative staff were successful in translating their ideas into an uniqueadvertising campaign 3.298The copy platform was unique and creative 3.112The headline/slogan used in the campaign was compatible with overalladvertising objectives 3.323

Media selection (�¼ 0.7297)The characteristics of the media audience were congruent with thecharacteristics of the customers 3.138The product was advertised in the appropriate media 3.384The product was advertised at the right time 3.308The selection of media was based on the careful analysis of demand factors 3.006

Market research (�¼ 0.7673)Before launching the campaign, customer’s needs and wants were carefully studied 3.037The creative execution used in the advertisement was selected on thebasis of pretest studies 1.994The advertising campaign had the required market research resources 2.466Before launching the campaign, product test-market studies were undertaken 2.118

APJML19,1

48

Message and creativity

The results of the correlations (Table IV) indicated message/creativity were found to be

the most significant factor in the success of brand advertising in China ( r¼ 0.622). Not

surprisingly, most respondents were satisfied with the creativity of successful

advertising campaigns (Table I). They generally agreed that the advertising message

Table II.Average mean of factorsacross the degree ofadvertising success

Highlysuccess(44%)

Success(48%)

Notsuccess(5%)

Veryunsuccessful

(3%) p

Product uniquenessThe advertised product was highly innovative 2.44 1.99 1.62 1.25 0.035

CompetitionThe product was launched in a highlycompetitive market 3.55 3.06 3.00 2.75 0.025

Agency-client relationshipBoth parties can share major priorities andknow where their partner stands 3.30 2.97 2.87 2.25 0.034

Message and creativityThe advertising campaign had the support oftalented creative staff 3.55 3.31 4.50 1.50 0.000The advertising message differentiated theproduct from the competitors’ products 3.74 3.31 2.62 1.50 0.000The advertising message highlighted theuniqueness of the product 3.57 3.34 3.00 1.00 0.000The advertising message was very persuasive 3.50 3.00 2.12 0.25 0.000The advertising message was well targeted 3.70 3.40 2.50 1.50 0.000The creative staff were successful intranslating their ideas into an uniqueadvertising campaign 3.64 3.18 2.62 1.50 0.000The copy platform was unique and creative 3.51 2.95 2.37 1.00 0.000The headline/slogan used in the campaignwas compatible with overall advertisingobjectives 3.59 3.21 3.00 2.00 0.000

Average 3.60 3.22 2.72 1.16

Media selectionThe product was advertised in theappropriate media 3.56 3.25 3.62 2.50 0.000The product was advertised at the right time 3.53 3.13 3.37 2.50 0.000The selection of media was based on carefulanalysis of demand factors 3.23 2.84 2.62 3.00 0.032

Average 3.44 3.07 3.20 2.67

Market researchThe advertising campaign had the requiredmarket research resources 2.61 2.49 1.75 1.00 0.013Before launching the campaign, producttest-market studies were undertaken 2.77 2.65 2.12 1.00 0.003

Average 2.69 2.57 1.93 1.00

Note: Only those factors with significance level p< 0.05 are reported

Successful brandadvertising

in China

49

was well targeted (mean¼ 3.422), differentiated the product from other products(mean¼ 3.391), highlighted the product uniqueness (mean¼ 3.354), and waspersuasive (mean¼ 3.099). A successful campaign had the support of talented creativestaff (mean¼ 3.373), and the staff were successful in translating their ideas into aunique advertising campaign (mean¼ 3.298). The respondents also considered that theheadline/slogan used in the campaign was compatible with the overall advertising

Table III.Average mean of factors

across the level ofmarket share

Highestmarket

share (22%)

Aboveaverage(37%)

Average(25%)

Belowaverage(11%)

Lowestmarket

share (5%) p

CompetitionThe product was launched in ahighly competitive market 3.06 3.36 3.35 3.71 2.37 0.029The competitors spent a lot ofmoney advertising their products 2.74 3.36 3.08 3.65 2.50 0.007

Message and creativityThe advertising messagedifferentiated the product fromthe competitors’ products 3.53 3.57 3.33 2.94 3.00 0.042The advertising message wasvery persuasive 3.18 3.33 2.85 2.82 2.62 0.050

Media selectionThe characteristics of the mediaaudience were congruent with thecharacteristics of the customers 3.18 3.30 3.16 2.65 3.00 0.042

Note: Only those factors with significance level p< 0.05 are reported

Table IV.Results of thecorrelations

R-value (t-test) Success Product ACR Creative Media MR Comp

Product 0.192(0.010)*

ACR 0.107(0.100)

0.173(0.019)*

Creative 0.622(0.000)*

0.146(0.040)*

0.267(0.001)*

Media 0.273(0.000)*

0.088(0.145)

0.280(0.000)*

0.403(0.000)*

MR 0.167(0.022)*

0.137(0.050)

0.007(0.466)

0.196(0.009)*

0.240(0.002)*

Comp 0.131(0.058)

�0.163(0.025)*

0.030(0.360)

0.090(0.142)

0.184(0.013)*

�0.026(0.377)

Share �0.239(0.002)*

�0.097(0.124)

0.173(0.019)*

�0.191(0.011)*

�0.074(0.187)

�0.110(0.094)

0.079(0.174)

Notes: Success, level of advertising success; product, product uniqueness; ACR, agency-clientrelationship; creative, creative; media, media; MR, market research, comp, competition; share, marketshare (low). * denotes the significance level p<0.05

APJML19,1

50

objectives (mean¼ 3.323), and the copy platform was unique and creative(mean¼ 3.112).

When comparing the means of the successful campaigns with those of unsuccessfulcampaigns, all items on message/creativity factor demonstrated significant differences(Table II). The average score of the eight items was the highest for the highly successfulcampaigns (mean¼ 3.60), compared to successful campaigns (mean¼ 3.22), not verysuccessful campaigns (mean¼ 2.72) and unsuccessful campaigns (mean¼ 1.16). Thesefindings were in line with the finding of Korgaonkar et al. (1984, 1985) that a creativeapproach combined with a persuasive message can highlight product uniqueness andhelp consumers to recall and increase their comprehension of the product.

This conventional wisdom has been supported empirically by Taylor et al. (1994),who showed that there was a positive relationship between the presence of a brand-differentiating message and advertising effectiveness. Other than the message, goodcreativity can provide a strategic advantage, which is one of the best ways to create anemotional bond with consumers. Clients are increasingly realizing that creativeadvertisements work better, are more memorable and make their points moreeffectively (O’Leary, 2000). Hence, H1, that the advertising message and creativity aresignificantly related to the success of brand advertising in China, is supported.

Media selectionMedia selection was also significantly related to the success of brand advertising(r¼ 0.273) (Table IV). As shown in Table I, the respondents generally agreed that theproduct was advertised in the appropriate media (mean¼ 3.384) and at the right time

Table V.Background ofadvertising campaigns

(%)

Product categoryFood products 19Personal-care products 11Consumer electronics 17Fashion clothing 2Services 19Others 32

Advertising budgetMore than US$5 million 21US$1-4.9 million 29Less than US$1 million 50

Advertising objectivesIncrease sales 55Create brand awareness 44Create favorable brand attitude 37Others (e.g. chance attitude) 14

Target customersExisting customers 34New customers 72Attract competitors’ customers 46

Note: The background characteristics of campaigns are found to be unrelated to advertisingsuccess

Successful brandadvertising

in China

51

(mean¼ 3.308), that the characteristics of the media audience were congruent with thecharacteristics of the customers (mean¼ 3.138), and that the selection of media wasbased on careful analysis of demand factors (mean¼ 3.006). When comparing themeans of successful campaigns with those of unsuccessful campaigns, the mediaselection demonstrated that the product being advertised in the appropriate media, atthe right time, and based on careful analysis of demand factors was a success factor(Table II). The average score of these three items for highly successful campaignswas the highest (mean¼ 3.44) compared with that of the successful campaigns(mean¼ 3.07), not very successful campaigns (mean¼ 3.20), and unsuccessfulcampaigns (mean¼ 2.67).

These results were consistent with the findings of Korgaonkar et al. (1984, 1985) thatmedia selection which is based on the careful matching of the medium with theaudience characteristics is likely to affect the success of a campaign. It is widely agreedthat the media factors will turn a creative message into an effective sales message.Television advertisements that are scheduled during programs that the target audiencewatches more attentively and like more may also produce a greater effect (Lynch andStripp 1999). Hence, H2, that media selection is significantly related to the success ofbrand advertising in China, is supported.

Market researchThe success of an advertising campaign was positively related to its market research(r¼ 0.167) (Table IV). As shown in Table I, although the respondents agreed that beforelaunching the campaign, the needs and wants of customers had been carefully studied(mean¼ 3.037), they did not do much in other areas. For instance, they generallyadmitted that the creative execution used in the advertisement was not selected on thebasis of pretest studies (mean¼ 1.994), product test-market studies were notundertaken before launching the campaign (mean¼ 2.118), and the advertisingcampaign did not have the required market research resources (mean¼ 2.466).

The two significant items concerning market research that affect advertisingsuccess are that ‘‘the campaign had the required market research resources’’ and‘‘preliminary market assessments were undertaken before launching’’ (Table II). Theaverage score of these two items for highly successful campaigns was 2.69, comparedwith that of successful campaigns (mean¼ 2.57), not very successful campaigns(mean¼ 1.93), and very unsuccessful campaigns (mean¼ 1.00). Market research effortsthat are aimed at understanding the target market prior to the campaign launch arerelated to the success of the campaign (Korgaonkar et al., 1984, 1985). Hence, H3, thatmarket research is significantly related to the success of brand advertising in China,was supported.

CompetitionThe results of correlations analysis (Table IV) showed no significant relationshipbetween competition and advertising success. Hence, H4, that competition issignificantly related to the success of brand advertising in China, is not supported.This is not consistent with the findings of studies by Korgaonkar et al. (1984), andKorgaonkar and Bellenger (1985) that competition is significantly related to brandsuccess, although conflicting results were reported in these two studies.

As shown in Table II, successful campaigns in general were launched amid greatercompetition than unsuccessful campaigns. The respondents reported that highlysuccessful campaigns were launched in highly competitive markets (mean¼ 3.55),

APJML19,1

52

compared to successful campaigns (mean¼ 3.06), not very successful campaigns(mean¼ 3.00), and unsuccessful campaigns (mean¼ 2.75). As Table I indicates, most ofthe respondents thought that their products were launched in highly competitivemarkets (mean¼ 3.262) that were characterized by many competitors (mean¼ 3.137),and that their competitors spent a lot of money on advertising their products(mean¼ 3.119). They also considered that their customers were not very satisfied withtheir competitors’ products (mean¼ 2.662). Although successful brands were launchedin highly competitive markets, they still outperformed their competitors because oftheir market strength.

Market shareThe success of an advertising campaign was negatively related to low market share(r¼�0.239) (Table IV). This implies that brands with higher market share will lead tohigher chance of success in advertising. Brands with higher market shares outperformthose with lower market shares in terms of message/creativity and media selectiondecisions. As shown in Table III, brands with higher market shares scored significantlyhigher than those with lower market shares in terms of their advertising messagesbeing able to differentiate their products from those of their competitors, theirmessages being very persuasive, and the characteristics of the media audience beingcongruent with the characteristics of the customers. However, brands with lowermarket shares faced greater competition and their competitors were spending a lot ofmoney on advertising. If a brand had a high market share, its advertising messageswere more likely to be accepted by the consumers because of the established brandreputation. The respondents also indicated that they invested more money inadvertising and created more noise than their competitors. Hence, H5, that marketshare is significantly related to the success of brand advertising in China, is supported.

Product uniquenessInnovative products significantly enhanced the advertising success of campaigns( r¼ 0.192) (Table IV). As shown in Table I, most of the respondents considered thattheir advertised products were not very highly innovative (mean¼ 2.134), not verysuperior to competing products (mean¼ 2.535), were of average quality (mean¼ 2.688)and had average unique features (mean¼ 2.669) only. Table II indicates that successfulcampaigns involved higher product uniqueness than unsuccessful campaigns.Respondents who reported highly successful campaigns considered that the productwas highly innovative (mean¼ 2.44), compared to successful campaigns (mean¼ 1.99),not very successful campaigns (mean¼ 1.62), and unsuccessful campaigns(mean¼ 1.25). These results are consistent with those of Korgaonkar and Bellenger(1985), who reported that product uniqueness means a greater likelihood of campaignsuccess. Hence, H6, that product uniqueness is significantly related to the success ofbrand advertising in China, is supported.

Agency and client relationshipNo significant relationship was found between agency/client relationships andadvertising success. Hence, H7, that agency/client relationship is significantly relatedto the success of brand advertising in China, is not supported. This is not consistentwith the finding of Korgaonkar et al. (1984, 1985) that a good agency/client relationshipimplies a greater likelihood of campaign success.

Successful brandadvertising

in China

53

The insignificant relationship between advertising success and agency/clientrelationship may be because the general response of the respondents to this factor wassatisfactory only. As shown in Table I, the respondents slightly disagreed that therewas lack of information provided by the client (mean¼ 2.562) and client/agencyconflicts arose during the advertising campaign (mean¼ 2.575). Most of them reportedthat poor agency/client relationship was due to the changes in the agency’s keypersonnel involved in the campaign (mean¼ 3.281) or changes in the client’s keypersonnel (mean¼ 3.019). However, they also agreed that there was closecommunication between the client and agency (mean¼ 3.644) and that both partiesshared major priorities and knew where they stood (mean¼ 3.100).

From Table II, respondents who reported successful campaigns significantly agreedthat the parties shared major priorities and knew where they stood (mean¼ 2.97), ascompared to not very successful campaigns (mean¼ 2.87) and unsuccessful campaign(mean¼ 2.25). It is now a common practice for clients, media planners, and creativepersonnel to sit around the table discussing creative and media strategies andtheir value.

ImplicationsFive out of the seven hypotheses of this study have been supported. This implies that itis important for marketers to develop a unique product in the first place and thenestablish its market share. Although the advertising executives in this study whoreported successful campaigns generally did not perceive their products to be unique, acampaign without product uniqueness is likely to fail. Brand loyalty was high for thefirst-tier cities in China such as Beijing and Shanghai, and 78 per cent of surveyedconsumers have said that they stick to the brands they like (Shaw, 2003). Hence, brandswith higher market shares are more likely to have higher advertising success in thesecities. The brand equity of companies with high market shares can direct theirstrategies on how to attain advertising success; therefore, companies with low marketshare should expand their market with larger advertising budgets and greatermarketing communication efforts.

Marketers in China should rethink their decisions about message/creativity, mediaselection, and market research to improve their brand performance. In a surveyconducted by the consultancy R3, Chinese clients listed creativity as both the mostsignificant reason to hire a company and the most significant reason to fire it (Fowler,2006). Creativity is not only creativity in execution but should begin with an overallstrategy or insight (Aitchison, 2003). Many clients are more prudent with theirmarketing dollars and trying to deliver advertising that is entertaining andinformative, but within the context of selling. Agencies and clients need to balanceadvertising creativity and effectiveness. Other than the first-tier cities, multinationalsalso target customers in rural markets (Savage, 2004) because competition in Shanghai,Beijing, and Guangzhou has become intense (Simons, 2003). The matching of brandingand creative execution to regional tastes is now becoming more important, andmarketers who want to maximize the effects of their campaigns in China need toconsider the lifestyle values, culture, and history of each of the major cities.

Regional differences should also be noted in the media selection process. Differentmedia have different degrees of effectiveness depending on the cities concerned.Television, for example, is much more effective in second- or third-tier cities than incentres such as Beijing and Shanghai, where the entertainment value of television isrelatively weak (Lau, 2005). Printed media should be used to reach consumers in big

APJML19,1

54

cities: for instance, people in Beijing are very influenced by newspapers and magazinesbecause of political ties, and magazines are more effective in Shanghai. Outdoor mediaare more effective in Beijing and least effective in Guangzhou because the bus sheltersare badly maintained in Guangzhou and are not cleaned very frequently (Lau, 2005).Another problem for China’s media industry is the lack of audited circulation figures(Donaton et al., 2006).

Many companies in China do not conduct sufficient in-depth research beforedevising advertising campaign strategies (Aitchison, 2003). The findings of this studyindicate that most campaigns, including the successes, have not been based onadequate market research. Even big corporations that are willing to allocate bigbudgets to advertising activities tend to make decisions that are not supported byadequate market research. This lack of investment in market research is one of themain barriers that prevent Chinese companies from expanding regionally. It isparticularly important for international advertisers to ascertain consumer tastes andpreferences in different regions.

Although no significant relationship was found between agency/client relationshipand the success of an advertising campaign, the importance of maintaining a goodrelationship between the client and agency should not be overlooked. A client/agencyrelationship survey that was conducted by Orc International found that the ‘‘one stopshop’’ concept had limited creativity and the agency/client gap had been widenedbecause of structural changes within the industry (Hille, 2003). Chinese companiesconsider that agency reputation is very important but they also expect very fastservice from the agency. Agency executives often complained that Chinese firms putspeed before consumer research, creativity and innovation, and have a shakyunderstanding of branding (Madden, 2004). As most agency executives considered thattheir relationships with clients were only satisfactory, both parties should worktogether and find means to close the expectation gap.

Limitations of the studyMost advertising agencies do not know whether their campaigns are successful (Britt,2000). Hence, the agency executives in this study may have been biased in theirassessments of the extent to which their advertising campaigns had been successful.In the future, a question on ‘‘proof of success’’ may be required to test the relevance ofsuch assessments. The respondents may also have been biased in their opinions onhow creative an advertisement was. In addition, it was difficult to ensure consistencybetween respondents in their ratings of their own advertising campaigns. Perceptionsof what is considered successful or creative can be very different, especially, whenadverting executives have to critique their own work. This will affect the rigor of thestudy. Another limitation is the low response rate: if the sample size had been bigenough, comparisons could have been made concerning the success factors of brandadvertising across different regions in China. Overall, past studies have shown thatthere are differences between the views of clients and agencies, and future studiesshould include the views of clients.

References

Aitchison, J. (2003), ‘‘If you aren’t creative, you cannot be effective’’, Media: Asia’s Media andMarketing Newspaper, 19 September, p. 21.

Balfour, F. and Kiley, D. (2005), ‘‘Ad agencies unchained’’, Business Week, Issue 3930, 25 April,p. 50.

Successful brandadvertising

in China

55

Batra, R., Lehmann, D.R., Burke, J. and Pae, J. (1995), ‘‘When does advertising have an impact?A study of tracking data’’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 19-32.

BBC Monitoring Media, London (2006), ‘‘China: advertising market growth slows, says researchfirm’’, BBCMonitoringMedia, 21 February, p. 1.

Blasberg, J. and Vishwanath, V. (2003), ‘‘Making cool brands hot’’, Harvard Business Review,Vol. 81 No. 6, p. 20.

Britt, S.H. (2000), ‘‘Are so-called successful advertising campaigns really successful?’’, Journal ofAdvertising Research, Vol. 40 No. 6, November/December, pp. 25-30.

Businessline (2003), ‘‘In addition to the ads: advertising alone not spur growth in volumes.Marketers need to use promotional tools too’’, Businessline, 11 September, p. 1.

Businessline (2004), ‘‘Why do firms persist with ineffective ads?’’, Businessline, 27 May, p. 1.

Credit Suisse First Boston (2005), ‘‘Chinese to be top consumers’’, BEEF, Credit Suisse FirstBoston, 1 February.

Doctoroff, T. (2006), ‘‘China challenges’’,Adweek, Vol. 47 No. 5, 30 January, p. 18.

Donaton, S., Wentz, L. and Madden, N. (2006), ‘‘Tips for tapping China’s explosive growth’’,Advertising Age, Vol. 77 No. 3, 16 January, p. 10.

Flandin, M.P., Martin, E. and Simkin, L.P. (1992), ‘‘Advertising effectiveness research: a surveyof agencies, clients and conflicts’’, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 11 No. 3,pp. 203-14.

Fletcher, W. (1998), ‘‘A little trust in your ad agency goes a long way’’,Marketing, March, p. 5.

Fowler, G.A. (2006), ‘‘In China, global ad agencies meet tough clients; nation’s marketers fire firmsquickly, differ on ‘creativity’ ’’,Wall Street Journal Asia, 17 May, p. 26.

Hall, E. (1996), ‘‘Is advertising as ineffective as planners believe?’’, Campaign, Vol. 12 No. 1, p. 12.

Hargrave-Silk, A. (2002), ‘‘Armani sets China’s designer brand stage’’, Media: Asia’s Media andMarketing Newspaper, 29 November, p. 20.

Higie, R.A. and Sewall, M.A. (1991), ‘‘Using recall and brand preference to evaluate advertisingeffectiveness’’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 56-63.

Hille, A. (2003), ‘‘Ideas not price must take priority’’, Media: Asia’s Media and MarketingNewspaper, 31 October, p. 19.

Kahn, G. (2003), ‘‘Local brands outgun foreigners in China’s advertising market’’, Wall StreetJournal (Eastern edition), 8 October, p. 1.

Keely, A. (1989), ‘‘How important is market share?’’,Management Review, Vol. 78 No. 6, p. 55.

Korgaonkar, P.K. and Bellenger, D.N. (1985), ‘‘Correlates of successful advertising campaigns: themanager’s perspective’’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 34-9.

Korgaonkar, P.K., Moschis, G.P. and Bellenger, D.N. (1984), ‘‘Correlates of successful advertisingcampaigns’’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 47-53.

Kuhl, C. (2001), ‘‘What makes a great marketing campaign?’’, Cablevision, Vol. 26 No. 2, p. 36.

Lau, J. (2005), ‘‘It is time to focus campaigns cultural differences make a city-specific advertisingstrategy most effective’’, Financial Times, 9 November, p. 11.

Levit, M. (2004), ‘‘Marketing success defined’’, available at: www.partnerslevit.com

Lynch, K. and Stripp, H. (1999), ‘‘Examination of qualitative viewing factors for optimaladvertising strategies’’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 7-16.

Madden, N. (2004), ‘‘Culture clash thwarts shops from enjoying China’s boom’’, Advertising Age,3 May, p. 20.

Marketing Week (2004), ‘‘The secret of media planning’s success lies in its accountability’’,MarketingWeek, 1 April, p. 16.

APJML19,1

56

Media (the marketing and communications newspaper for Asia) (1998), ‘‘Huge budgets notcrucial to building worldwide brands’’, Media: Asia’s Media and Marketing Newspaper,15 May.

Media (the marketing and communications newspaper for Asia) (2002), ‘‘All-Asia ad agencyguide’’,Media: Asia’s Media andMarketing Newspaper, 19 April.

Michell, P.C.N., Cataquet, H. and Hague, S. (1992), ‘‘Establishing the causes of disaffection inagency-client relations’’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 41-8.

Murphy, P. and Maynard, M.L. (1996), ‘‘Using judging profiles to compare advertising agencies’and clients’ campaign values’’, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 19-27.

Neal, W.D. and Bathe, S. (1997), ‘‘Using the value equation to evaluate campaign effectiveness’’,Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 80-85.

Nicholas, R. (1999), ‘‘Survey finds ad agencies still failing clients’’,Marketing, June, p. 12.

O’Leary, N. (2000), ‘‘Does creativity count’’, Brandweek, Vol. 41 No. 48, pp. 32-3.

Poiesz, T.B.C. and Robben, H.S.J. (1994), ‘‘Individual reactions to advertising: theoreticaland methodological developments’’, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 13 No. 1,pp. 25-53.

Rabuck, M.J. and Rosenberg, K.E. (1997), ‘‘Some observations on advertising for large brands’’,Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 37 No. 3, May/June, pp. 17-25.

Restall, C. (1986), ‘‘Advertising planning: psyching out the competition’’,Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 6,pp. 24-25.

Savage, M. (2004), ‘‘China turning on, but turning out’’, Media: Asia’s Media and MarketingNewspaper, 7 May, p. 19.

Schori, T.R. and Garee, M.L. (1998), ‘‘Creativity is good but effectiveness is the key’’, MarketingNews, Vol. 32 No. 6, pp. 4-5.

Schultz, D.E. (1997), ‘‘From measuring outputs to measuring outcomes’’,Marketing News, Vol. 31No. 13, pp. 16-19.

Shaw, S.D. (2003), ‘‘China attitudes evolving at ‘fearsome’ pace’’, Media: Asia’s Media andMarketing Newspaper, 7 March, p. 20.

Simons, C. (2003), ‘‘Marketing to the masses’’, Far Eastern Economic Review, Vol. 166 No. 35,4 September, p. 32.

Stewart, D.W. and Koslow, S. (1989), ‘‘Executional factors and advertising effectiveness: areplication’’, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 21-32.

Taylor, C.R., Wilson, R.D. and Miracle, G.E. (1994), ‘‘The impact of brand differentiating messageson the effectiveness of Korean advertising’’, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 2No. 4, pp. 31-52.

Yan, D. (2004), ‘‘Chinese firms spend heavily on ads’’, China Daily, 13 March.

Yanlin, W. (2004), ‘‘Advertising budget rise’’, Shanghai Daily, 29 April.

Zhou, N. and Belk, R.W. (2004), ‘‘Chinese consumer readings of global and local advertisingappeals’’, Journal of Advertising, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 63-76.

Corresponding authorSusan H.C. Tai can be contacted at: mstai@polyu.edu.hk

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.comOr visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints