MARKETING MATERIAL
Dialogue Encoding Marketing Mix Promotion of Services Non-Profit Promotion
Corporate Promotion Push vs Pull Promotion 'Lozenge' Personal Selling
Selling Services Advertising Theory Advertising Investment Industrial Advertising
Creating Messages AIDA Message Opinion Leaders Word of Mouth
Cognitive Dissonance Message Selection Conviction Marketing Media Selection
Promotional Mix Elements of an Advertising Agency Account Handling Creative
Media Advertising Plan Advertising Budgets Advertising Research
9439 MARKETING Chapter 9
- Advertising
Introduction
Advertising is perhaps the most visible manifestation of
marketing; even if it is, at least on the large scale, the
province of a minority of organizations. There is a well
developed range of theory which addresses how advertising
communicates, and the various elements of this are explored in
this chapter. They include how messages reach consumers, with
models which include encoding as well as those based on
diffusion.
These traditional theories are, however, challenged by the use of
`conviction marketing'; which is based as much on personal vision
as marketing research --and follows rather different rules.
Indeed, the most prevalent practice is `coarse marketing', which
follows few, if any, of the guidelines.
Advertising practice is examined in terms of both the overall
promotional mix and --in some depth --media, with a review of
the main media types. However, it is mainly described through the
workings of advertising agencies, in terms of both creative and
media departments.
In earlier chapters we developed the model of marketing as a
`dialogue'. Specifically, we saw how market research was used to
'listen' to consumers:
We now come to the other half of the dialogue, that of
'talking' to the consumer:
The ideal form of promotion is the conversation which takes place
between the expert sales professional and his or her customer. It
is ideal, when properly handled because, as well as being
interactive, the communication in each direction is specific to
the needs of both; and, if successful, should end in the best
possible solution. Other forms of promotion, which deal in the
`average' needs of groups of people, can only hope to approximate
to this ideal.
One key factor which must, therefore, always be remembered about
promotion is that it is only one half of a dialogue. If the
advertising does not respond to the customer needs, which should
have been discovered by listening to the result of the marketing
research, for example, it will probably fail; no matter how
creative the treatment by the advertising agency.
Effective promotion is thus inextricably linked with sound market
research, in one form or another. This is also an on-going
dialogue, since the promotion itself will change what the
customer thinks and needs.
The most generally quoted model of the communication process
stresses the element of `encoding':
This is an elaborate way of saying that human-to-human
communication is a 'very' complex process; and that there is
considerable latitude for misinterpretation. More fundamentally,
it illustrates the need for considerable skill in creating the
messages which the receiver (the consumer) finds persuasive:
hence the justification for highly paid advertising agency
copywriters. But it also demonstrates the fact the medium of
transmission (press or television) can also change the message,
again justifying the need for the copywriters and media buyers.
This `electronic' metaphor does, however, illustrate the point
that `noise' is a major problem for any promotional message. The
message itself may be distorted in transmission, in the few
seconds which the reader spends on it before the page is turned
or before the viewer is distracted from the message of the
commercial. The recipient may, accordingly, obtain a very
fragmentary message (hence the emphasis on simplicity in
advertising messages). Worst of all, though, will be the torrent
of other `noise', the potentially more interesting editorial
matter surrounding the advertisement, or just the distractions of
everyday life, through which the advertisers' messages have to be
heard: hence the reliance on multiple `opportunities to see' --
to `turn up the volume' or to break through the noise barrier.
There is also a need to invest in creative talent to optimize the
impact of the individual message.
The final caveat, before we enter upon promotion itself, is that
all promotion must be seen in the context of the 'whole
marketing mix'. Promotion is just one of the 4 Ps. Price and
place may be just as important, and certainly have their own
impacts on any promotion. A high-priced product sold through
specialist outlets will demand a very different form of promotion
to that of a cut-price brand sold through supermarkets.
In addition, the most important element of the marketing mix must
almost always be the 'product or service' itself. Despite
popular misconceptions, it is a hard fact of advertising life
that consumers will not buy --at least not more than once --a
product or service which does not meet their needs; no matter how
persuasive the promotion. At the same time, the form of the
promotion itself, the message and even the medium, may be largely
determined by the specification of that product or service. Thus,
by defining the product, you largely define the whole marketing
mix; which explains the heavy emphasis on the `product' in the
earlier chapters.
In this way, then, all the elements of the marketing mix (all
Four Ps) contribute to the overall promotion of a product or
service or company; and the `input' into promotion may come from
areas even further afield.
Despite the fact that services follow much the same pattern of
promotion as products, there may be some differences:
'Personal selling and employees'. We have already seen that
services are usually produced and consumed at the same time, and
frequently this is also the time of the sale itself. This means
that the sale is often made personally by the staff who are
providing the service. In this way, perhaps the majority of the
staff in effect become sales personnel; and, to persuade them to
provide the requisite quality of service, `advertising' may have
to target them as much as the external customers.
'Word of mouth'. Because of the problems of demonstrating
quality and value, and the customer's need to build up trust,
word of mouth recommendation by loyal customers may be
correspondingly more important; particularly for those services,
such as personal services, which are based upon local branches
with relatively small catchment areas.
'Tangibility'. The promotional campaign needs to make
tangible the intangible, possibly by the use of symbols such as
Marlboro's cowboy or Legal and General's coloured umbrella.
'Consistency'. As `trust' can easily be destroyed by a
single bad experience, it is important that the service, and its
promotion, maintains consistency. It must continue to offer, and
deliver, what was promised to the customer.
Promotion in non-profit organizations
It should be easy to see that service providers in general have
the same promotional needs as manufacturers of physical products;
although the detailed messages may be very different. However,
those students working in non-profit organizations may fail to
see any requirement to `sell' or promote their `products' or
organizations. A national health service, for example, does not
need to advertise for customers; although its private-sector
competitors do.
One thing 'is' clear: such organizations still have to
communicate with their `customers'. They need to let their
consumers know that the organization exists, what it offers and
how they can use it; hence the plethora of `promotional' booklets
that social services departments offer to the unemployed. The
requirements imposed by these `communications' are often
indistinguishable from conventional service industry promotions.
Indeed, government `information' campaigns --such as those to
combat cigarette smoking and drug addiction --often dominate the
mass media.
Corporate Promotion versus Brand Promotion
Most advertising, along with other forms of promotion, relates to
specific brands. It is very direct in attempting to increase
sales of that product or service. However, a growing element is
that of corporate advertising, which promotes the overall
organization rather than its individual brands. Indeed, in order to reduce advertising costs - in relative terms - many organisations have now started to promote this corporate brand as their main investment; with individual products running - on reduced budgets - under this umbrella. Thus, the rationale may be that it is the support to be obtained from the organizational umbrella which ultimately sells the brands; and such a case can certainly be made for Marks & Spencer (whose corporate name is
better known than its `St Michael' brand name) or IBM. On the other hand, it may well be also because of a degree of nervousness induced by
the increasing possibility of even very large corporations falling to hostile takeovers.
The principles of corporate advertising follow those of brand advertising very closely: in this context, the corporation is the brand writ large. The example of corporate advertising does, however, illustrate a
more general point; that an organization may conduct a number of
different types of promotional campaign, often aimed at different
audiences. That targeted on consumers is usually self-evident,
but there may also be a significant amount of promotion --often
in the form of direct mail --directed at share-holders and other
members of the financial community; to protect the share price
and reduce the risk of takeover activity.
All of these different forms of promotion follow broadly similar
rules, but each must be designed to meet the needs of its
specific target audience. One word of caution is necessary: if
these separate campaigns obviously come from the same supplier, _
they must also be 'consistent' with each other --even if,
as often happens, they are developed by different agencies. When
British inventor Clive Sinclair launched the disastrous C5
elect2ic car he was using the f)nancial `vehicle' of a separate
company, but this did not stop the eventual bad publicity from
rebounding on his main money-spinner, the personal computer
company; to the extent, perhaps, that this led to his eventual
decision to sell that company, and his name, to Amstrad.
Where a supplier uses any form of distribution chain, as most of those in the mass consumer markets in fact do, he or she is faced with two extremes in terms of promotion;
PUSH < > PULL
In the case of push the supplier directs the bulk of the promotional effort at selling the 'product' into the channel (into the various organisations which make up the chain of distribution); in order to persuade the members of that channel to 'push' the product forward until it reaches the final consumer. It tends, thus, to revolve around sales promotion and is sometimes referred to as 'below the line' (derived from the days when advertising agencies managed all promotional activity - and the items on the accounts which did not relate to advertising were put below the line which divided off the agency's main activity on the expenditure reports). This is a technique particularly favoured by organisations without strong brands which are involved in price competition.
In the case of pull the supplier focuses the promotional effort (typically advertising) on the consumer, in the belief that he or she will be motivated to 'pull' the product through the channel (by demanding it, for example, from retailers). It is (due to its association with advertising) sometimes referred to as 'above the line'. This is the technique usually favoured by the owners of strong, differentiated brands.
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In practice, most suppliers choose a route somewhere between these two extremes; blending both elements to obtain the optimum (balanced) effect. In any case, brand share is often dependent upon the percentage distribution; and, in turn, distribution just as often reflects brand share.
A major decision to be taken before `talking' to the customer is
what promotional mix to use. Just as there are separate elements
to the overall marketing mix, so there are different `media'
which may be used to reach the customer. Choosing which of these
to use is a key decision, because --depending upon the
individual product and the customer set --different `media' may
have varying degrees of effectiveness.
Typically, the major decision is on what medium to concentrate
the main message(s). The campaign may often revolve around just
one medium, be it television commercials or personal selling.
Even so, other media will probably be used, and the balance
between them must be considered carefully.
There is a wide variety of specific techniques which may be used
to communicate with customers. Broadly speaking, they can be
grouped into three main categories, in terms of decreasing impact
on the customer:
direct contact --personal selling
indirect contact --advertising
complementary support --sales promotion
AUDIT 11.1
Which of the following forms of promotion does your organization
use?
direct contact --personal selling?
indirect contact --advertising?
complementary support --sales promotion?
To put these in a more memorable context than just the rather amorphous 'product mix' (even though that does convey exactly what is involved) I like to look at the 'promotion lozenge'. Once again it is shaped like a diamond, but I prefer to call it a lozenge because (unlike the earlier research diamond) it does not have any clear cutting edges. It is generally much less well defined, softer at its extremes; and there is definitely a quality of trial and error involved - suck the lozenge and see!
This lozenge is not as arbitrary as it may seem. It actually is organised along two dimensions. Hopefully, the vertical one is obvious. It is the move from direct (sales) to indirect (advertising) contact with the customer.
Perhaps less obvious, but in many respects more important, is the horizontal dimension. This shows the flow over time, from the start with the establishment of a general interest via public relations (PR) through investment in image building with advertising and much of the selling process, to the very immediate impact of sales promotional devices at the point of sale. It also demonstrates the gradation from the long term investment in PR and advertising/sales to the very short term effect of promotion.
The demands posed by your product/service package determine the actual shape of the lozenge; another reason for choosing a soft, malleable lozenge rather than a hard diamond. If you need the face-to-face (sales) contact to explain a complex package, and the price of this is sufficiently high to cover the high costs this implies, then the lozenge becomes almost an inverted triangle:
The advertising element is almost missing, though even in the almost pure sales environment there will remain some element of indirect contact - often in the form of direct mail, to generate prospects for the face to face contact. The 'point of sale' here is a time (not a place), and the promotional element is usually only seen in the form of discounting the price. Despite my earlier comments though, sales professionals would argue that this does need to have a very sharp cutting edge.
Almost the exact reverse occurs for fast moving consumer goods where the low unit price means that face-to-face selling is simply not an economic proposition:
Here 'sales' drops' out of the picture, but not totally - for someone has to persuade distribution chains to carry the product/service package to the 'point of sale' (which here is a place not a time). On the other hand, most of the effort must by necessity be invested in the indirect communications. Once again, though, the promotion (here used at the point of sale) is very short term - again usually in the form of some price reduction (either directly or indirectly).
You can play many different games with the lozenge, but I will finish with one which distorts it to show - quite realistically - advertising (for, say, a consumer durable or a car) preceding face-to-face sales activity in the retail outlet.
As already stated, this is potentially the 'ideal' form of
promotion; assuming that the salesforce lives up to its promise
--which, unfortunately, is not always the case. Face-to-face
contact offers promotion which is:
'interactive'
'responsive'
'flexible'
but, as it requires a salesperson to talk to every customer, it
is inherently:
'expensive'
If the value of the individual sale is high enough, and the
customers may be contacted economically, personal selling will
usually be the chosen approach. Selling, and sales management,
is covered in more detail in chapter 12.
In practice, face-to-face selling tends to be more prevalent in
the service industries. This is, in large part, because many such
services are also `delivered' in a personal form; with some
service providers using `professionals of the specialism' rather
than salespersons. It is also because personal contact may be
seen as necessary to establish the `credentials' --the integrity
--of the service provider, where the service
itself is an intangible quantity. In these situations the sales
professionals, and the way they personally handle the sale, may
be seen by the customers as the best measure of the service being
offered; the method of promotion may become, by default, the
`product'.
Because of the involvement of so many personnel in face-to-face
contact during the delivery of such a service, the `sales' role
may become diffused. 'All' personnel providing the service
are, in one way or another, `salespersons'. This means that
`sales training' (often described, in this context, as `customer
service training') has to be provided on a much wider front,
throughout the organization; hence the emphasis on `customer
care' programmes in the retailing and financial services sectors.
This is equally true of non-profit organizations; the doctor's
`bedside' manner represents an important `sales' activity (and,
by improving the consumer's perception of the `service', may
actually improve the `medicine').
On the other hand, most contacts with consumers or end-users,
which are individually relatively low in value, must inevitably
be handled by indirect means. Of these, the main proceSs used to
`talk' to consumers is advertising. Indeed, the 1979 research by
Farris and Buzzell - 1 - concluded (largely without any great
surprises) that advertising/promotion ratios are higher where:
The product is standardized, rather than produced to order
There are many end users (e.g. almost all households)
The typical purchase amount is small
Sales are made through channel intermediaries rather than direct
to users
This list represents almost the classic definition of where
advertising should apply. More tellingly, however, they found
that the ratios are also higher where:
Auxiliary services are of some importance
The product is premium priced (and, probably, premium quality)
The manufacturer has a high contribution margin per dollar of
sales
Again, this emphasis on higher-quality/higher-margin products is
not totally unexpected. Rather more unexpectedly, but perhaps
reflecting the tactical use of advertising as a weapon for buying
share and volume (especially at the time of new product
launches), they also concluded that the ratios are higher where:
The manufacturer has a relatively small share of market, and/or
has surplus production capacity
A high proportion of the manufacturer's sales come from new
products
The question which has long been asked is `Just how effective is
advertising?' Lord Leverhulme (the founder of the Unilever
empire) was supposed to have made the famous comment that he was
sure that half his advertising didn't work --but the problem was
that he didn't know which half. This view is reinforced by
Abraham and Lodish, - 2 - whose research apparently showed that
only 46 per cent of advertising campaigns for established brands
showed a positive impact on sales (although the ratio was
slightly higher, at 59 per cent, for new products). Clearly, it
is important that organizations understand what they are doing in
this field.
As with any `conversation' there may be many topics which could
be addressed, and many different styles of delivery; as shown by
the many different creative devices used by advertising agencies.
In general, though, there are three main groups of activities:
'Building awareness (informing)'. The first task of any
advertising is to make the audience appreciate that the product
or service exists, and to explain exactly what it is.
'Creating favourable attitudes (persuasion)'. The next
stage, and the one that preoccupies most advertisers, is to
create the favourable attitudes to the brand which will
eventually lead the consumers to switch their purchasing
patterns.
'Maintenance of loyalty (reinforcement)'. One of the tasks
which is often forgotten is that of maintaining the loyalty of
existing customers, who will almost always represent the main
source of future sales.
There are a range of separate functions involved in producing
successful advertising, and these are reviewed in the rest of the
chapter. To provide some perspective at this stage, the linkages
between them are outlined diagrammatically by Carl McDaniel
Jr - 3 - (figure 11.1).
Traditionally, advertising and promotion has been treated as current cost; with an immediate, but short-term, effect. Although this view probably is justified in terms of most forms of sales promotion it seriously distorts some important aspects of advertising and PR. A more useful view in this context is that advertising investment should in effect be treated as a fixed asset.
Adopting such a long-term perspective has a number of important implications. The first of these revolve around the patterns of performance which might expected. Thus, the basic pattern is not that of the short run supply and demand curves but that of the longer term competitive saw which we looked at in the earlier chapter. Indeed, it is a level saw; its overall trend relatively flat but with the teeth representing the impact of the individual campaigns (or even that of individual insertion, or even of words within the single advertisement - it shares with fractals the ability to continue to display new detail at ever greater degrees of 'magnification').
Following the implied principle of the fixed asset, this sawtooth maintenance pattern can be overlaid on a gradually declining trend in performance; notionally equivalent to depreciation in financial accounting; which. again, we examined in the earlier chapter. Thus, over time there may be a slow drift away from the ideal position - as the customers' needs and wants change and/or competitive positioning improves. Your own response to this may take two forms. The first, and perhaps the most effective, is that of: 'dynamic repositioning' - change in relative positions should be regularly tracked and the brand's position readjusted to take account of this in much the same way that an autopilot's feedback mechanisms ensure that an airliner follows the correct flightpath. The emphasis here is on the dynamic approach to (current) change - where most of traditional marketing theory revolves around decisions based upon static (historic) positions.
If such dynamic repositioning is not possible, perhaps because the necessary product changes come in discrete steps, then periodic readjustments may be needed. This is where the concept of 'advertising depreciation' allows the build-up of reserves to cover the significant costs of major repositioning exercises.
This long-term asset investment aspect of brand performance is largely ignored by traditional marketing theory.
The above pattern of responses assume, however, a complementary repositioning process - which builds upon existing strengths. This process cannot, though, be held to be true of two situations. The first of these is well recognised. It is the new product launch, where the logistic curve, described in a later chapter, may be most effectively used to represent the relatively slow build-up of brand position which results from even quite high levels of investment; for the key aspect is the level of investment needed. It is seen in two main dimensions. One is the amount of (financial) investment needed. To buy you way into a market is a very expensive process indeed. The main practical feature, though, is the level of risk. Most managements believe, quite incorrectly, that risk is reduced if the levels of investment are minimised; the reverse is true. Once you accept the basic level of risk the more money you invest in a major change, the lower you reduce the risk[1].
If you want to make a major impact on a market (one that will, for instance, put you into the most profitable Rule of 1:2:3 slots) you must recognise that the level of investment needed will be correspondingly high; in practice probably beyond the reach of all but the largest Japanese corporations where major markets are concerned (and hence the earlier emphasis on segmentation).
The second dimension is time. Any new penetration of a market takes far longer than is expected. Rather than the one to two years that optimists expect and the three to four years that pessimists allow for, the reality of new launches, even for successful introductions, is a mean of eight years to break-even[2]
Whereas consumer goods advertising has to handle almost all of
the `contact' with the end-user audience, that of industrial
advertising (often called `business-to-business' advertising)
typically only forms part of the overall communication. It is
often designed just to create the initial awareness, and to
generate `leads' (frequently based on reply-paid `coupons'
included with the advertising) before the face-to-face sales
process (conducted by the producers's own salesforce or, perhaps
more likely, by its agent's and dealer's salesforces) takes
over.
Much of industrial advertising is, therefore, designed to elicit
responses leading to a sales visit. It also often needs to convey
more information than equivalent consumer advertising: capital
goods, for example, are significantly more complex than repeat-
purchase consumer goods. The advertising campaigns may also have
to work over much longer periods, since purchases may be more
infrequent; and the purchase process itself may be extended.
The other major point is that the average advertising budget,
reflecting the secondary importance of advertising compared with
face-to-face selling, is usually much lower; normally less than
seven figures and often less than six figures, even for
relatively large organizations. The average target audience is
also much more specifically selected; and this has led to the
emergence of a specialist group of media --pre-eminent among
whom are the trade press. In this context, media buying has
become a correspondingly specialist activity; frequently focusing
on identification of the few publications which 'can' reach
the specialist target audience, rather than producing a balanced
schedule for reaching them most economically (as is the task with
consumer goods campaigns). Yolanda Brugaletta - 4 - provides a
useful list of the main differences from consumer advertising:
'Business-to-business advertisers'<>'Consumer
advertisers'
1. Have complex and multitiered buying influence.<>1. Simple,
one-person or family influence.
2. Advertising is generally `support' to the sales
influence.<>2. Advertising is the major sales influence.
3. Purchase decisions are long-range and considered; immediate,
measurable sales results rarely occur.<>3. Purchase decisions
are more spontaneous, i.e. if you need it, buy it; immediate,
measurable sales results often occur.
4. Product usage cycle is long.<>4. Product usage cycle is short
for most items.
5. If purchase is not satisfactory buyer is challenged --his job
is on the line.<>5. If purchase is not satisfactory,
repercussions are minimal.
6. More 'advertising' planning --less `'marketing''
planning --so less result oriented.<>6. Product management
(marketing) systems are based on results.
7. 'Little' `test' marketing.<>7. `Test' marketing is the
'norm'.
8. Advertising budgets are based on `last year's sales --and
historical spending levels.<>8. Advertising budgets are based on
`'task'' or `'need'' from test results.
9. Reliance on `readership scores' and `did you buy?' to evaluate
success of advertising.<>9. Communications, recall, and image
measurements.
10. Advertising is technical/factual in copy content. Often very
potent --very informative --persuasive.<>10. Advertising
emphasis is on `brand image'. Sometimes even 'dumb' sell vs.
'smart' sell --'often persuasive'.
11. Editorial environment is naturally business oriented.<>11.
Editorial environment tends to be personal
fulfilment/entertainment environment.
12. Attitude of `'catching up'' to 'marketing
world'.<>12. Great confidence. `Knows everything' attitude.
Clearly, the prime objective of most promotion is to make the
`sale' (where the `sale' in the case of a non-profit organization
might, for example, be to persuade the target audience to adopt a
different behaviour pattern; say, give up smoking). To achieve
this result, though, it will almost certainly need to communicate
one or more messages (whether the promotion consists of face-to-
face selling or advertising on television). The tasks that these
messages must undertake closely shadow the model described in
chapter 3, where they were explored in more detail:
The first task must be to achieve awareness, to gain the
attention of the target audience. All of the different models
are, predictably, in agreement on this first step. According to
David Ogilvy, - 5 - one of the great gurus of advertising:
On average, five times as many people read the headlines as read
the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your
product, you have wasted 90 per cent of your money.
Achieving awareness means, therefore, that the messages must
first of all be seen and `read'. They must 'grab' the
audience's attention. Advertising agencies have spent decades
honing down the techniques involved; from challenging headlines
(like the famous Avis `We try harder') in the Press to memorable
images on television (such as the Coca-Cola `We'd like to teach
the world to sing'). One of the most influential campaigns of
recent years has been that for Perrier, created by Leo Burnett.
On the other hand, you should be aware that there is often a
tendency by advertising agencies to concentrate almost
exclusively on this element of awareness, which suitably
impresses the copywriter's peers in other agencies, but does not
necessarily achieve the end result of `making the sale'.
Again, David Ogilvy - 6 - makes the point in a forthright
fashion:
There have always been noisy lunatics on the fringes of the
advertising business. Their stock-in-trade includes ethnic humor,
eccentric art direction, contempt for research, and their
self-proclaimed genius. They are seldom found out, because they
gravitate tk the kind of clients who, bamboozled by their
rhetoric, do not hold them responsible for sales results.
`Attention getting' is in part a function of `size'. A full-page
advertisement is more likely to command attention than a quarter-
page, a two-minute commercial more than a 15-second one. In part
it is, as suggested above, having some feature which breaks
through the apathy of the reader or viewer; using a `visual' or a
headline which is out of the ordinary and demands attention --
remembering that this has to be achieved in an environment in
which every other advertiser is attempting the same trick. This
may be so successful, indeed, that the advertising becomes almost
`generic'; as has that for Benson & Hedges cigarettes.
Arguably, then 'creativity' (of the copywriters and
visualizers in the advertising agency, whose role will be
explored later in this chapter) is the key to this first stage.
It is not sufficient to grab the reader's attention for a second
or so, until it wanders again. In that brief time the message
must 'interest' that reader, and persuade him or her to
`read' on. The content of the message(s) must be meaningful, and
clearly relevant to the target audience's needs.
This is where 'marketing research' can come into its own as
the basis for effective advertising. In the first instance, the
`advertiser' needs to know exactly 'who' the audience is.
Then the advertiser has to understand the audience's interests
and needs, which must be addressed, and what are the exact
benefits (in the consumer's own terms) which the product or
service will provide. In short, the message must be in the
language of the consumer, and must make an offer which is of real
interest to the specific audience.
This may mean that the message is boring to all other audiences
(including those who are commissioning and creating the
advertisement), but that is not the point; it has only to be of
interest to the specific target audience. The messages which are
of interest to teenage pop record buyers may well be very
different to those aimed at middle-aged buyers of Volvo cars; and
if the latter are commissioning advertising campaigns for the
former, they had better appreciate the difference.
The second stage, therefore, largely depends upon an excellent
appreciation of the results of 'marketing research'.
Once interest is established, the message has to explain the
product or service, and its benefits, in such a way that readers
can understand them; and can appreciate how well it may meet
their needs --again as revealed by the marketing research. This
may be no mean achievement when the copywriter has just 50 words,
or ten seconds, to convey the entire message; 7hich is one reason
why complex capital goods sales are the province of the sales
professional (who may take many hours, in total, to explain the
product fully) and, on the other hand, why there is such a demand
for good copywriters who can actually describe consumer goods --
in meaningful terms --in such few words on an advertisement. In
the case of Perrier its copywriters condensed the message down to
very few words indeed! On the other hand, David Ogilvy - 7 -
advises: `long copy --more than 300 words --actually attracts
'more' readers than short copy'.
This stage is, thus, a mix of sound 'marketing research
mediated by professional copywriting skills'.
The message must go even further, to 'persuade' the reader
to adopt such a positive attitude towards the product or service
that he or she will purchase it, albeit as a trial. There is no
adequate way of describing how this may be achieved. It is down
to the creative 'magic of the copywriter's art', based on
the strength of the product or service itself.
All of the above stages might happen in a few minutes while the
reader is considering the advertisement; in the comfort of his or
her favourite armchair. On the other hand, the final decision to
buy may take place some time later; perhaps weeks later, when the
prospective buyer actually tries to find a shop which stocks the
product. This means that the basic message will probably need to
be reinforced, by repeats, until the potential buyer is finally
in the position to buy. Above all, it also means that the product
or service must be distributed widely enough for the prospective
buyer to be 'able' to find it.
These stages are most evident in the AIDA - 8 - (`Attention',
`Interest', `Desire', `Action') model, which is frequently
advocated as the structure for the selling process. Similar
stages are also described in the `Hierarchy of Effects' - 9 -
model (where `Interest' and `Understanding' are paralleled by
`Knowledge', `Liking' and `Preference').
After AIDA, the most often quoted model within the advertising
industry is DAGMAR (Defining Advertising Goals for Measuring
Advertising Results), which splits the process down to the four
steps of `Awareness', `Comprehension', `Conviction' and `Action'.
There are a number of other models in the literature, but they
all tend to describe the same processes from differing
viewpoints.
`Stepwise' models are limited, however. In particular, although
they may work in a cold sales call, in other complex real-life
marketing situations they do not take into account 'time and
experience'. As Mark Lovell - 11 - suggests, the attitude
changes are likely to be more gradual; and much of advertising
succeeds `by virtue of marginally increasing the frequency of
purchase of the brand among consumers who already have experience
of it'.
Thus, one of the major weaknesses of much of advertising theory
is that it fails to take into account the history of the brand.
Buying decisions are rarely taken in isolation. They are an
accumulation of months, even years, of experience on the part of
the buyer. Abraham and Lodish - 12 - observe:
On average, 76% of the difference observed in the test year
persisted one year after the advertising increase was rolled
back. Over a three year period, the cumulative sales increase was
at least twice the sales increase observed in the test year.
On the other hand, they also say:
If advertising changes do not show an effect in six months, then
they will not have any impact, even if continued for a year.
AUDIT 11.2
Take a representative sample of your organization's promotional
material (advertising, mailings, brochures and so on). What do
you think it achieves in each of the areas of awareness,
interest, understanding, attitudes and the buying decision?
(Keep the promotional material you have collected, for use in
later audits.)
The main message will usually be based on the specific
'benefit' which the advertiser has identified as the main
advantage which the product offers over its competitors. This may
not be the main benefit which the buyer will receive from the
product, for that may also be offered by all the competitors;
although it is the foolish advertiser who does not check that the
consumer really is 'aware' that all products are identical
in offering the main benefit.
The advertiser will aim to find a 'USP (Unique Selling
Proposition)', an important benefit which is unique to the
product or service. This USP may be based on `physical' (or
intangible) 'features' associated with the product; ranging
from what it actually does, through to the quality of the support
services. Most advertising follows this route; and it is
particularly easy to target, communicate and monitor messages of
this type. David Ogilvy - 13 - recommends:
Wherever you can, make the product itself the hero of your
advertising. If you think the product is too dull, I have news
for you: there are no dull products, only dull writers. I never
assign a product to a writer unless I know he is personally
interested in it.
On the other hand, the USP may occasionally be based upon a
'psychological' appeal. It may even be based on fear; which
is often a hidden feature of much of financial services
advertising, as well as that for condoms. It may be based on
guilt (educational toys, perhaps?). It may be based on positive
emotions such as love; and this is the emotion which usually
features, in one guise or another, in those advertisements which
are sometimes expanded into `mini-soaps', either in the family
context (Oxo) or the more direct personal drama (Nescaf<130> Gold
Blend). It may frequently be based upon humour. If this is
successful (as it has been for Heineken lager) the viewer or
reader shares the joke, and develops positive attitudes to the
product. Unfortunately, if the joke is not shared --and humour
is a notoriously difficult art-form --it may be just as likely
to alienate.
Finally the message may be communicated by 'association';
either directly by association with a specific well-known
personality (such as Pepsi Cola's use of Michael Jackson) or
sometimes just in terms of the voice-over (Victor Borge's
distinctive voice was used for the earlier Heineken commercials).
But it may also be by association with a particular situation;
as, for example, with the family in the Oxo soap operas.
David Ogilvy, - 14 - once more, adds the important footnote:
When faced with selling `parity' products [that is, products that
are the same as their competitors, as many are], all you can hope
to do is explain their virtues more persuasively than your
competitors, and to differentiate them by the style of your
advertising. This is the `added value' which advertising
contributes...
However, as 'The Economist' - 15 - reported:
Creative advertising is as difficult to produce as it is to
describe. Aldous Huxley, who worked in advertising, reckoned it
was easier to write ten passable sonnets than one effective
advertisement.
One factor which is often ignored by marketers, and in particular
by agencies, is the need for successive campaigns to be
consistent with their predecessors. Too often, campaigns are seen
in isolation, with just the current `task' to carry out. In
reality, in most cases, they will be building upon what has gone
before; and to achieve the maximum effect they must be consistent
with these previous messages (or, at least, allow for the
inherent `investment' in consumer image built up by these
messages). All too frequently, the new campaign ignores past
history; and has to fight to overcome this unnoticed legacy of
the past, as well as its current opposition.
The first recourse in creating new advertising should be to the
`guard book', the historical record of all past advertising, kept
by every wise marketer and agency, to see exactly what has gone
before.
Thus, what you need to achieve with the message determines not just its content but the medium which conveys it; as we have seen earlier. Most important, though, will be the message itself - how well it relates to the existing positioning and how well it achieves the planned repositioning (or maintains the existing one). This is not a simple task:
The most obvious feature is that of the general decline which the investment in brand position experiences over time - as evidenced by the long-term competitive saw, for instance. In the chart above this arises from two main components. One, referred to as 'depreciation', simply represents the attrition which the brand suffers as customers' attention is distracted by all the other stimuli which continuously inundate them. It also reflects the drift away from optimal positioning, over time as tastes change. The second, 'external obsolescence', reflects the attrition caused by the activities of competitors. Their promotion will reshape the market, so that your own brand's positioning again drifts away from the optimum.
The chart shows one further element, 'internal obsolescence'. This is a polite description for the self-inflicted wounds, often caused by overly-anxious creative departments, where the brand positioning is actively moved away from the optimum position by new advertising! it reflects the work which, as we saw earlier, needs to be carried out before a combative advertising campaign can even start to work.
Indeed, there is in general one dimension of advertising which is usually forgotten - that of:
The inputs to the believability equation are many, and - as can be seen from the diagram - often lie outside of the advertising itself, so that the whole process is complex and difficult to manage. These outside factors often place quite constricting limitations on what may reasonably be said within the advertisement itself.
Most important of all is that the equation does not just cover pre-purchase belief. The most important element is how that belief (expectations) is in practice satisfied by the actual offering - a highly believable message may cause serious problems when the product/service package fails to live up to it.
AUDIT 11.3
What USPs does your organization promote?
It is often argued that in the case of a new product the effect
of promotion may occur in two stages. The promotion itself
(usually advertising) persuades the more adventurous 'opinion
leaders' in the population to try the product or service.
These opinion leaders then carry the message to those who are
less exposed to it; and in the mass markets this often means to
those who may be less exposed to the mass media. As Gatignon and
Robertson - 16 - describe it:
The extant two-step model depicts mass media reading opinion
leaders who, in turn, influence a set of followers. This
information-giving flow may, in fact, be valid for some
percentage of personal influence transactions. However, other
flows are possible, including information seeking and information
sharing ... Most personal influence is transmitted within a
network of peers who possess similar demographic characteristics
... The probability of such influence is high simply because
people are most likely to interact with similar others.
Thus, this is 'not' the same as the `trickle-down' theory,
much favoured in certain parts of the social sciences, which
assumes that patterns of consumption are led by the upper classes
and then `trickle down' to the lower classes. It is important to
note that `opinion leaders', on the other hand, influence
'members of their own class'; horizontally in terms of class
groupings.
Whichever of these approaches is adopted, however, it is clear
that the impact of media advertising may be much more complex
than many of its practitioners allow for.
A more generalized aspect of communications within the community
as a whole is `word of mouth'. Much of advertising theory
concentrates upon the `direct' receipt of these `indirect'
communications; it assumes that the consumer receives the message
directly from the media, and only from the media. In practice, as
we have seen in the preceding section, the message may well be
received by word of mouth from a contact (who may have seen the
advertising --or may, in turn, have received it from someone
else). Equally, even if the consumer had previously seen the
advertising, word of mouth comments may reinforce (or undermine)
what this has achieved directly.
One, perhaps unexpected, feature of `audience behaviour' was
reported by Leon Festinger. - 17 - This is that interest in
all forms of promotion, particularly advertising, reaches a
maximum 'after' the consumer has made his or her purchase.
The usual explanation for this apparently illogical behaviour is
that the consumer is then searching for proof to 'justify'
his recent decision. In looking at the competitive advertising,
say, the consumer is trying to seek out its flaws, in comparison
with the chosen product or service, in order to obtain
reassurance that his or her decision was correct.
The importance of this, from the advertiser's point of view, is
that advertising still has a job to do even after the sale has
been made. In addition, the messages needed to address cognitive
dissonance may be subtly different: they will provide
reassurance, and will allow for the fact that these purchasers
will also represent the main source of future sales.
The advertising messages to be used, which will usually have
been created by the advertising agency's creative department,
need to be evaluated carefully. 'Experts recommend that an
effective advertisement should concentrate on just' one
'central selling proposition'. Complicating advertisements
by adding further messages will generally dilute the main
message, as well as the overall impact.
The most effective method of selection is that of `pre-testing'
the advertisement on a sample of the target audience. This is a
specialized fori of marketing research, which is usually the
province of specialized research agencies. An audience is
typically shown a new commercial (sometimes in `storyboard' form,
although this is a very difficult approach to use), and
questioned to determine its impact (before seeing it, as well as
after, to detect shifts in opinion).
AUDIT 11.4
Return to the promotional material you collected for the last
audit. How effective are the messages contained in the various
items? Do they communicate with you?
More importantly, do you think they communicate with their
target audiences? Indeed, is it obvious who their target
audiences are?
Are the messages simple, and described in the language of the
audience, without jargon? How much impact do they have?
At this point may I divert into an important - but little recognised - aspect of marketing, which is rather more general in its impact; but which is most closely linked with 'message selection' (and, hence, the reason for its presence here).
'Conviction marketing' - sometimes called 'commitment marketing' - is, in many respects, alien to most of the concepts of traditional marketing. Yet it is probably more prevalent than the genuine use of pure marketing; and arguably it is not infrequently more successful. It has a long and chequered history. The propaganda machines developed by the Nazis offered some of the most potent, and widely deplored, demonstrations of its power (and this represents one possible reason why discussion of this style of marketing is even now generally avoided). The religious 'marketing machines' had been even more effective in earlier generations (and can even now be very powerful, as is evidenced by the case of Islamic fundamentalism). In the commercial sector, though, its use has sometimes been just as powerful - and very productive! Indeed, the majority of the few truly global brands have embodied it to some degree; IBM, with its philosophy of 'Customer Service', McDonalds, with Q. S. C. & V, Coca Cola, with its embodiment of the American teenage dream, Marlboro, and the wide open spaces of the frontier!
It is different to 'selling', which is conventionally seen as the main alternative to marketing, in that its focus is very firmly on the consumer; as all marketing is supposed to be - where the focus of 'selling' is internal (the customer is to be persuaded to take what the organisation has to offer). On the other hand, conviction marketing's focus is still one-sided. There is little or no attempt to use market-research to find out what the consumers need or want, though research is sometimes used to justify the organisation's existing prejudices - and is frequently used, to great effect, to optimise the presentation of its chosen message.
The power-house of such 'conviction marketing' is the powerful idea (the 'conviction' to which the organisation has made its 'commitment'), to which the
