Unit – 3

1. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach used by organizations to brand

and coordinate their communication efforts. The American Association of Advertising
Agencies defines IMC as “a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety
of communication disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency
and maximum communication impact.” The primary idea behind an IMC strategy is to create
a seamless experience for consumers across different aspects of the marketing mix. The brand’s
core image and messaging are reinforced as each marketing communication channel works
together as parts of a unified whole rather than in isolation.

1.1. Benefits of IMC

With so many products and services to choose from, consumers are often overwhelmed by the
vast number of advertisements flooding both online and offline communication channels.
Marketing messages run the risk of being overlooked and ignored if they are not relevant to
consumers’ needs and wants.

One of the major benefits of integrated marketing communications is that marketers can clearly
and effectively communicate their brand’s story and messaging across several communication
channels to create brand awareness. IMC is also more cost-effective than mass media since
consumers are likely to interact with brands across various forums and digital interfaces. As
consumers spend more time on computers and mobile devices, marketers seek to weave
together multiple exposures to their brands using different touch points. Companies can then
view the performance of their communication tactics as a whole instead of as fragmented
pieces.

The other benefit of integrated marketing communications is that it creates a competitive

advantage for companies looking to boost their sales and profits. This is especially useful for
small- or mid-sized firms with limited staff and marketing budgets. IMC immerses customers
in communications and helps them move through the various stages of the buying process. The
organization simultaneously consolidates its image, develops a dialogue, and nurtures its
relationship with customers throughout the exchange. IMC can be instrumental in creating a
seamless purchasing experience that spurs customers to become loyal, lifelong customers.

1.2. Process of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

1.2.1. Get organizational buy-in : Integrated marketing requires co-ordination between

various functional silos within marketing — media planning, buying, marcom, PR,
sales, advertising agencies, PPC & SEO agencies and so on. Ensure the organization
recognizes the need for integrated marketing and impresses this need upon all
involved parties for smooth execution. Get ideas from different functional teams on
their ideas and how they can contribute to an integrated marketing program. Set up
clear collaboration processes and zero in on tools to help you do the same.

1.2.2. Do a SWOT analysis of your brand : A soul searching process that will tell you
exactly where you stand in terms of your brands strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities that can be explored and competitive and market forces that pose a

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 threat to your brands growth. Identify your products key features that give it an edge
over competition and how you can leverage the same to gain market share.

1.2.3. Choose the Best Communication Tools : Based on what you intend to achieve
with your communication and what kind of media consumption habits your target
audience displays, pick the right type of communication tools to reach out to your
audience. This means choose between advertising, PR, direct marketing, sales
promotion and personal selling. Whatever options you zero in on, need to work in
tandem and complement each other. This synergy between promotion tools is what
gives integrated marketing its edge over regular marketing.

Within each type of communication tool, drill down to the actual media vehicles that
will carry your message most effectively. So if you decided to go with advertising and
direct marketing, decide what media you will advertise on, whether you will go with
brochures or fliers or email campaigns to achieve your objectives.
Media mix decisions also depend on your budgets and the estimated ROI you hope to
achieve from each media vehicle. Create exact budgets for each media vehicle to guide
media buying decisions.

1.2.4. Test and Execute: Once you have decided on your messaging and media mix, its
finally time to test your communication and roll it out to your target audience.
Communication testing can be done in many ways, depending upon the platform
being tested. Website communication can be tested with multiple online tools,
emails can be tested on the email marketing software that you use before being sent
out, TV commercials can be shown to test markets to test effectiveness, conduct
group discussions with the sample groups to see if your communication hits bulls
eye. Once testing is complete, fix any issues that you unearthed. Once the fixes are
made, roll out your campaign across all platforms. Or in Nikes immortal words, Just
Do It.

1.2.5. Measure Results and Track Progress : There is no way to know how well a
campaign performed without measuring the results achieved against the objectives
set out in the beginning. Obsessively track every step of your marketing campaign
to see if your marketing efforts have moved the needle and how significant is the
difference that the campaign has made to organizational goals. Tracking and
measurement against numeric objectives is even more important in the case of
marketing communication as sometimes, communication is well received and
appreciated by the target audience but it may or may not show concrete results.

2. Objective of Marketing Communication

The Marketing Communication refers to the means adopted by the companies to convey
messages about the products and the brands they sell, either directly or indirectly to the
customers with the intention to persuade them to purchase.

In other words, the different medium that company adopts to exchange the information about
their goods and services to the customers is termed as Marketing Communication.

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The marketer uses the tools of marketing communication to create the brand awareness among
the potential customers, which means some image of the brand gets created in their minds that
help them to make the purchase decision.

Marketing communication offer solutions to the following questions:

• Why shall the product be used?
• How can the product be used?
• Who can use the product?
• Where can the product be used? And
• When can the product be used?

Marketing communication includes Advertising, Sales Promotion, Events and Experiences

(sponsorship), Public Relations and Publicity, Direct Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Word-
of-Mouth Marketing, Personal Selling. These tools of communication are collectively called
as Marketing Communication Mix.

2.1. Objective of Marketing Communication

Marketing communication objectives are long-term goals where marketing campaigns are
intended to drive up the value of your brand over time. In contrast to sales promotions, which
are short-term inducements to buy, communication goals succeed when you persuade
customers through consistent reinforcement that your brand has benefits they want or need.

2.1.1. To Increase Awareness : Increased brand awareness is not only one of the most
common marketing communication objectives; it is also typically the first for a new
company. When you initially enter the market, you have to let people know your
company and products or services exist. This might include broadcast commercials
or print ads that depict the image of your company and constant repetition of your
brand name, slogans and jingles. The whole objective is to become known and
memorable. Established companies often use a closely related goal of building or
maintaining top- of-mind awareness, which means customers think of you first
when considering your product category.

2.1.2. To Change Attitudes : Changing company or brand perceptions is another

common communication objective. Sometimes, misconceptions develop in the
market about your company, products or services. Advertising is a way to address
them directly. In other cases, negative publicity results because your company is
involved in a business scandal or unsettling activities. BP invested millions of
rupees in advertising to explain the company’s clean up efforts to the public
following its infamous Gulf of Mexico oil in mid-2010. Local businesses normally
don’t have that kind of budget but local radio or print ads can do the trick.

2.1.3. To Influence Purchase Intent : A key communication objective is to motivate

customers to buy. This is normally done through persuasive advertising, which
involves emphasis of your superior benefits to the user, usually relative to
competitors. It is critical to strike a chord with the underlying need or want that
triggers a customer to act. Sports drink commercials showing athletes competing,
getting hot and sweaty and then taking a drink afterward are a common approach to
drive purchase intent. The ads normally include benefits of the drink related to taste
or nutrients.

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 2.1.4. To stimulate Trial Purchase : Two separate but closely related communication
objectives are to stimulate trial use and drive repeat purchases. Free trials or product
samples are common techniques to persuade customers to try your product for the
first time. The goal is to take away the risk and get the customer to experience your
brand. Once you get them on the first purchase, you have to figure out how to
convert that into a follow-up purchase. Discounts on the next purchase or frequency
programs are ways to turn one-time users into repeat buyers and, ultimately, loyal
customers.

2.1.5. To Drive Brand Switching: Another objective closely tied to stimulating trial use
is driving brand switching. This is a specific objective of getting customers who
buy competing products to switch to your brand. Tide detergent is normally pitted
against “other leading brands” in comparative ads intended to motivate brand
switching. The advantage with this goal is that customers already buy within your
product category. This means need is established. You just need to persuade them
that your product or service is superior and induce them to try it out.

3. FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Marketing is all about the activities companies undertake to bring their products to the market.
What makes marketing communication so exciting and challenging is that there are so many
tools from which to choose from.

3.1. Common Tools:

1. Advertising : Any paid form of presenting ideas, goods, or services by an identified

sponsor. Historically, advertising messages have been tailored to a group and employ
mass media such as radio, television, newspaper, and magazines. Advertising may also
target individuals according to their profile characteristics or behavior; examples are
the weekly ads mailed by supermarkets to local residents or online banner ads targeted
to individuals based on the sites they visit or their Internet search terms.

2. Sales Promotion : Sales promotions are marketing activities that aim to temporarily
boost sales of a product or service by adding to the basic value offered, such as “buy
one get one free” offers to consumers or “buy twelve cases and get a 10 percent
discount” to wholesalers, retailers, or distributors.

3. Direct Marketing: This method aims to sell products or services directly to consumers
rather than going through retailer. Catalogs, telemarketing, mailed brochures, or
promotional materials and television home shopping channels are all common
traditional direct marketing tools. Email and mobile marketing are two next-generation
direct marketing channels.

4. Public Relations : The purpose of public relations is to create goodwill between an

organization (or the things it promotes) and the “public” or target segments it is trying
to reach. This happens through unpaid or earned promotional opportunities: articles,
press and media coverage, winning awards, giving presentations at conferences and
events, and otherwise getting favorable attention through vehicles not paid for by the
sponsor. Although organizations earn rather than pay for the PR attention they receive,

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 they may spend significant resources on the activities, events, and people who generate
this attention.

5. Personal Selling: Personal selling uses people to develop relationships with target
audiences for the purpose of selling products and services. Personal selling puts an
emphasis on face-to-face interaction, understanding the customer’s needs, and
demonstrating how the product or service provides value.

6. Packaging: A package is a container and conveyor of information. A package can help

in brand building.

7. Events and Sponsorships: Events are highly targeted brand-associated activities

designed to actively engage customers and prospects and generate publicity.

8. Customer Service: Customer service is a company’s attitude and behavior during

interactions with customers.

4. MARKETING CHANNELS AND NEED

Marketing channels are channels used by any company to reach their end customers. These
channels are generally interdependent on each other and interact with each other so as to ensure
that the product reaches from the company to the end customer.

Marketing Channels can be defined as the set of people, activities, and the intermediary
organizations that play a crucial role in transferring the ownership of the goods from the point
of production or manufacturing to the point of consumption. Basically, they are the various

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channels or platforms through which the products reach to the consumers or the end-users.
They are also known as the distribution channels.

4.1. Needs for Marketing Channels:

1. Information Provider : The first and foremost aspect in the list of the importance of
the Marketing Channels is that the middlemen such as agents provide the vital and
crucial market information to the manufacturer that helps him to plan his production
and other related business strategies accordingly. Developments in the market such as
the change in the preferences in the taste of the consumer, entry of new manufactures
in the market, shift in the government policies, and the various pricing points of the
other manufacturers are given to the manufacturer without any additional cost owing to
their relationship and working association with the manufacturer.

2. Stability of the Price: Yet another important function that is performed by the
middlemen is that they maintain the stability of price by absorbing the increment along
with keeping the overheads cost low and charge the consumers with the old price of the
products. Their main motive behind this strategy is to have a strong foothold in the
market due to the completion from the other middlemen in the market.

3. Promotion: Another aspect in the importance of Marketing Channels is that the

middlemen perform the function of promoting the goods of the manufacturer by
planning and designing their own sales incentive and customer loyalty programs to
attain their sales targets and increased market share objectives. This ultimately works
for the benefit of the manufacturer and all the parties involved in the process.

4. Pricing Strategy: As the middlemen and the agents are at the sales field on a daily
basis and have a thorough knowledge about the marketing dynamics and the customer
preferences, many manufacturers ask for their suggestion whilst deciding on the pricing
of the various products. The pricing and the features of the products are also customized
for the different set of target markets and consumers along with the channel of
distribution.

5. Matching the Demand and Supply of the Products : The main and significant
function of the middlemen and commission agents in the Marketing Channels is to
match the demand and supply of the products in the target market. They should provide
the manufacturers with the crucial information on how to assemble the goods to match
the taste and preferences of the targeted consumers that result in the ease of sales and
attainment of the sales objectives of the manufacturer.

6. Financing : Middlemen finance manufacturers’ operation by providing the necessary

working capital in the form of advance payments for goods and services. The payment
is in advance even though the manufacturer may extend credit, because it has to be
made even before the products are bought, consumed and paid for by the ultimate
consumer.

7. Title: Most middlemen take the title to the goods, services and trade in their own name.
This helps in diffusing the risks between the manufacturer and middlemen. This also
enables middlemen to be in physical possession of the goods, which in turn enables
them to meet customer demand at very moment it arises.

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 8. Help in Production Function : The producer can concentrate on the production
function leaving the marketing problem to middlemen who specialize in the profession.
Their services can best utilized for selling the product. The finance, required for
organizing marketing can profitably be used in production where the rate of return
would be greater.

9. Standardizing Transactions: Standardizing transactions is another function of

marketing channels. Taking the example of the milk delivery system, the distribution is
standardized throughout the marketing channel so that consumers do not need to
negotiate with the sellers on any aspect, whether it is price, quantity, method of payment
or location of the product. By standardizing transactions, marketing channels automate
most of the stages in the flow of products from the manufacturer to the customers.

10. Matching Buyers and Sellers: The most crucial activity of the marketing channel
members is to match the needs of buyers and sellers. Normally, most sellers do not
know where they can reach potential buyers and similarly, buyers do not know where
they can reach potential sellers. From this perspective, the role of the marketing channel
to match the buyers’ and sellers’ needs becomes very vital. For example, a painter of
modern art may not know where he can reach his potential customers, but an art dealer
would surely know.

In case of the large manufacturers of the products, the manufacturers require the well aligned
and properly planned Marketing Channels so that the products reach to the end users in a
convenient and effortless manner.

5. ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT: NATURE & SCOPE OF ADVERTISING

5.1. Introduction

Advertising management is a planned managerial process designed to oversee and control the
various advertising activities involved in a program to communicate with a firm’s target market
and which is ultimately designed to influence the consumer’s purchase decisions. Advertising
is just one element in a company’s promotional mix and as such, must be integrated with the
overall marketing communications program. Advertising is, however, the most expensive of
all the promotional elements and therefore must be managed with care and accountability.

Marketers use different types of advertising.

• Brand advertising is defined as a non-personal communication message placed
in a paid,
• mass medium designed to persuade target consumers of a product or service
benefits in an effort to induce them to make a purchase.
• Corporate advertising refers to paid messages designed to that communicate the
corporation’s values in an effort to influence public opinion.
• Yet other types of advertising such as not-for-profit advertising and political
advertising present special challenges that require different strategies and
approaches.

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5.2.Nature of Advertising

(i) Advertising is a tool of marketing that disseminates information about a product

which is aimed at a large number of people at the same time using purchased space
or time in various mass mediums.
(ii) Advertising messages are delivered through variety of media; television, radio,
newspaper, magazine, billboards, direct-mail campaigns, Internet, clothing lines
with messages printed on them, telemarketing programs, and even messages heard
while someone is on hold on the telephone.
(iii) Advertising intends to sell and at the same time create an aspiration towards a certain
product, which ultimately leads to a vital and persuasive distinction, that makes the
product a brand.
(iv) It is a tremendous challenge for advertisers to design a message which must give an
advantage in a highly cluttered world where customers are becoming increasingly
proficient at simply tuning ads out.

5.3. Scope of Advertising

Advertising is often regarded as the most important means of marketing a company’s services
and tools. The scope of advertising is to communicate a message to current customers or
potentially target new customers. It helps a company get a message or a piece of information
across to their customer base regarding a new product or special deal.

5.3.1. Scope of advertising by budget: There is always a budget allocated for advertising
and promotion within the marketing budget. The budget allocated should be in
coordination with the type of advertisement the organization wants. The resources
and other requirements are to be kept in mind for the budget allocation.

5.3.2. Scope of advertising by deliverables: Once the budget is decided, the marketing
plan can be projected further. A detailed scope of work that deliverables require can
be outlined. Agencies can now develop a proposed resource plan.

5.3.3. Scope of advertising by allocating deliverables :For creative work, allocating the
type of deliverables (TV, online, mobile, press, magazine,etc.) based on the
previous campaign requirements can be more insightful after the previous plan.

5.3.4. Scope of advertising by strategy: Once the deliverables are allocated, advertising
agencies can define the strategic requirements by brand or category and develop a
scope of work based on past requirements and remuneration for similar strategic
deliverables.

6. CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERTISING

6.1. Primary vs. Selective Advertising

One way of classifying advertising is into primary as against selective demand advertising. The
objective of commercial advertising is generally to stimulate demand for the goods or services
of the company placing the advertisement.

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Demands are of two types namely, primary demand and selective demand. The demand for a
generic product of a whole industry is described as primary demand such as the demand for
motor cars, television receivers, etc.

Selective demand refers to demand for a particular brand such as Fiat motor cars. Generally,
primary demand advertising is indulged in by trade associations to create a general demand for
the products of the industry concerned. Selective demand advertising is loaned by the
companies who are interested in selling their own products.

6.2. Product vs. Institutional Advertising

The commonest type of advertising is product advertising, where the company tries to sell its
product or service through advertising. At times however, the objective of the company is to
create a good image or sell ideas.

This is referred to as institutional advertising to distinguish it from product advertising. For

example, institutional advertising may be of the “patronage institutional advertising” type. Here
the objective is to sell the idea to the reader to patronize particular producer or shopkeeper or
retailer for reasons mentioned such as wider selection, reliability, etc.

As against this, there is also “public relations institutional advertising” indulged in more today
to create a better image to the public. For example, when there is a strike which affects the
community both the employer and at times even the employees advertise in the papers to justify
their own stand.

These are illustrations of public relations institutional advertising. A slight variation of this is
called the “public service institutional advertising”, where the company attempts to create the
image that it is conscious of social service and indicates how it helps the community such as
developing a village and so on.

6.3. Institutional Sports Sponsorship

Another form of Institutional Image Advertising is the modern trend of companies sponsoring
sports events. The two outstanding examples are
(i) The “Charminar Challenge” sponsorship by Vazir Sultan Tobacco Company and
(ii) The “Reliance Cup” sponsorship of the 1987 World Cup Cricket Championship by
Reliance Industries Ltd.

Under the Charminar Challenge umbrella, VST sponsors a wide variety of events ranging from
cricket, badminton, table tennis and golf to car-rallying.VST sports sponsorship budget is
estimated at Rs.1.5 crores per annum.
The Ranji Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy and all one-day internationals for the period 1986-89
will be Charminar Challenge championship matches, which ties up the domestic circuit pretty
comprehensively. “Charminar” is the identity of the company.

The word “challenge” is inspiring, competitive and adventurous. This gives the way for a
suitable image for VST and is close to the identity of the company’s products. This is therefore
an “entertainment-related corporate image and brand advertising” concept. Reliance Industries
Ltd. paid a mammoth sum of Rs.4.8 crores. This sponsorship was done to ensure that an Indian
company sponsored the prestigious 1987 World Cup Cricket event.

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This “patriotism” certainly improved the company’s image. The Reliance Cup extravaganza
focused attention on the commercial and promotional potential inherent in the corporate
sponsorship of sports.

6.4. Commercial vs. Non commercial Advertising

Commercial advertising is concerned with selling a product or an idea to help a commercial

institution. It may consist of “consumer advertising” aimed at the ultimate consumer or
“business or industrial advertising” aimed at industrial producers inducing them to purchase
the product.

It may even include “professional advertising” directed at professionals such as doctors,

lawyers, etc. Non-commercial advertising is advertising indulged in by non-profit organization
such as the government or charitable institutions to support ideas, solicit donations, etc.
The methods used for preparing the advertisements are however the same whether one is
concerned with commercial or non-commercial advertising.

6.5. Classification by Media

Advertising can also be classified in terms of the media used such as window dressing in case
of shops, press advertising, outdoor advertising and the use of advertising literature. The
several forms media will now be detailed in the subsequent chapters followed by discussions
on preparation of an advertisement as well as an advertising campaign.

7. PROCESS OF ADVERTISING

“Mass demand has been created almost entirely through the development of Advertising”
For the development of advertising and to get best results one need to follow the advertising
process step by step. The following are the steps involved in the process of advertising:

Step 1 – Briefing: The advertiser needs to brief about the product or the service which has to
be advertised and doing the SWOT analysis of the company and the product.

Step 2 – Knowing the Objective: One should first know the objective or the purpose of
advertising. i.e. what message is to be delivered to the audience?

Step 3 – Research: This step involves finding out the market behavior, knowing the
competitors, what type of advertising they are using, what is the response of the consumers,
availability of the resources needed in the process, etc.

Step 4 – Target Audience: The next step is to identify the target consumers most likely to buy
the product. The target should be appropriately identified without any confusion. For e.g. if the
product is a health drink for growing kids, then the target customers will be the parents who
are going to buy it and not the kids who are going to drink it.

Step 5 – Media Selection: Now that the target audience is identified, one should select an
appropriate media for advertising so that the customers who are to be informed about the
product and are willing to buy are successfully reached.

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Step 6 – Setting the Budget: Then the advertising budget has to be planned so that there is no
short of funds or excess of funds during the process of advertising and also there are no losses
to the company.

Step 7 – Designing and Creating the Ad: First the design that is the outline of ad on papers
is made by the copywriters of the agency, then the actual creation of ad is done with help of
the art directors and the creative personnel of the agency.

Step 8 – Perfection: Then the created ad is re-examined and the ad is redefined to make it
perfect to enter the market.

Step 9 – Place and Time of Ad: The next step is to decide where and when the ad will be
shown. The place will be decided according to the target customers where the ad is most visible
clearly to them. The finalization of time on which the ad will be telecasted or shown on the
selected media will be done by the traffic department of the agency.

Step 10 – Execution: Finally the advertise is released with perfect creation, perfect placement
and perfect timing in the market.

Step 11 – Performance: The last step is to judge the performance of the ad in terms of the
response from the customers, whether they are satisfied with the ad and the product, did the ad
reached all the targeted people, was the advertise capable enough to compete with the other
players, etc. Every point is studied properly and changes are made, if any.

If these steps are followed properly then there has to be a successful beginning for the product
in the market.

8. FUNDAMENTALS OF ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

Advertising campaigns are the groups of advertising messages which are similar in nature.
They share same messages and themes placed in different types of medias at some fixed times.
The time frames of advertising campaigns are fixed and specifically defined.

8.1. Why You are Advertising and What are You Advertising? (Objectives of
Advertisement)

Why refers to the objective of advertising campaign. The objective of an advertising campaign
is to
• Inform people about your product
• Convince them to buy the product
• Make your product available to the customers
• Fundamentals of advertising campaigns

8.1.1. Consider who you are Targeting : Before one considers what type of advertising
might work best to reach your desired target, you first must settle on who your target
market is. Are you attempting to reach existing customers to inform them about
improvements to your product? Are you trying to reach potential prospects who should
be interested in your products? If you are considering a print component to your
campaign, leaf through some of the industry publications. The type of editorial and ads

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 in the publication should clue you in as to how others are approaching the market. Make
sure the copy and message of your ad is consistent with the target you are trying to
reach, i.e. engineers look for more technical copy whereas top management might
prefer a “less is more” approach.

8.1.2. Make sure you Measure : This will be a fundamental aspect of almost every tactic
we’re going to discuss in this series. It’s no secret that we are living in an era of
accountability. Do not accept the idea that advertising, including print advertising,
cannot be measured. In fact, there are numerous ways to track how your advertising
campaign is performing. With our own clients, we’ve seen the use of special landing
pages – URLs that can only be accessed by typing that specific URL into a browser. By
tying a special URL to a specific ad, you can track with greater accuracy how many
potential leads that ad is driving. With CRM software and web analytics, you can track
the behavior of that special URL visitor and determine how many leads convert to sales.
We’ve also seen clients use a dedicated email address and even unique phone numbers.

8.1.3. Have an objective : Too often, ads appear in a way that can best be described as
haphazard, either in terms of the ad’s design, the ad’s placement, or where the ad links
to if it’s an online ad. Make sure you have a clear objective that you want your
advertising to fulfill. If you are introducing a new product, perhaps you want to set a
goal of your ad creating a certain number of sample requests. If you are promoting a
white paper or a webinar, make sure that your creative and your ad placement appeal
to the people in your audience who would want that kind of content. Your objective
will guide every important decision you will ultimately make about the ads you use in
your campaign.

8.1.4. Understand the importance of selecting audited publications : When considering

the print part of your campaign, remember the importance of selecting audited
publication where possible. Audited publications (BPA Worldwide and ABC are the
two leaders) provide the confidence of knowing that the target audience you are trying
to reach actually qualify for and receive the publication. Even if your ad showcases the
best creative in the industry, if the right people are not seeing it, it will not do you any
good. Rather than advertise in publications just because they have the lowest cost or
the largest circulation, advertise in the publications that offer the BEST circulation for
your specific audience.

8.1.5. Considering the benefits of frequency versus dominance: Some advertisers like to
pepper away at their audience on a monthly basis to make sure their message gets
through (we call that frequency). Others like to do the big splash (think Super Bowl).
We call that dominance. Both approaches have merit.

Typically, if you have to choose between the two, general advertising principles dictate that a
strong program built on frequency is better use of your budget than a big splash but if your big
splash is around the biggest trade show of the year where all of your customers and prospects
are going to be, than dominance may be the right prescription. As with most things in life, this
issue is not black and white. Each case must be reviewed on the merits of each approach to see
which is right for your company.

In the online world, remember that impressions are not the magic number you are looking for,
even though that is a number many publications will promote to you. Impressions are simply

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the number of eyeballs that saw your ad. To accurately measure an online advertising
campaign, it’s again helpful to dedicate a special landing to the advertising effort and then track
that person’s behavior as they navigate through your website.

9. THE CREATIVE BRIEF

A creative brief is the very foundation of any advertising/marketing campaign. Making a

simple (but relatable) analogy, the briefing is the metaphorical treasure map that creatives
follow. The brief shows the creative professionals not only where to start digging to find the
golden ideas but also how to open the treasure chest.

By definition, a creative brief (or creative briefing) is a document produced by the requesting
party (the customer) with the goal of establishing the defining aspects of a creative piece of
work, such as a print ad or website banner. The term is often heard in the advertising market
where it represents the first step in the journey of producing all sorts of material such as
promotional videos, websites, etc.

Creative Brief is :
• An authentic short story to inspire creative imagination.
• A guide to help the creative team to produce great work that is aligned with both the
client’s objectives and the consumer’s interest.
• A distillation of everything you have learned
• A conversation
• All about getting the one message we want to communicate
• Simple and easy to understand-speak like and for a consumer
• Accurate – all the required information is correct and to hand

9.1. Why should I develop a Creative Brief? (reasons to develop a Brief)

As stated above, the creative brief’s main function serves as a guide written by the person
requesting a creative service (the customer) to the responsible for the activity in order to clearly
define what’s expected of the deliverables as well as the communication strategy it should be
aligned with.

Great creative briefs have one primary function — to inspire your creative team to come up
with the most brilliant and effective communications response to solve a particular problem.
While a collection of facts, the brief should put your creative team in the right frame of mind
to come up an innovative and creative solution.

Having a well written, compelling briefing is essential for guiding creative professionals
towards developing messages and materials that not only fit within the company’s
communication strategy but also make it as successful as it could possibly be.

It’s safe to say that normally, under the usual circumstances, developing a creative brief is not
a one man job. It takes a small team of professionals from various fields to thoroughly explain
the message the creative piece should convey.

The reason why it’s so important to have more than one person from different work areas
working on a creative briefing is that it ensures it won’t convey a single person’s point of view

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and, consequently, be less accurate. It also ensures that the definitions and concepts within are
clear enough for the receiving team to understand.

If there’s only one person responsible for writing a creative brief, his or her personal opinions
can get into the way and make the briefing less clear and detailed as it should be.
All creative briefs must be developed after a thorough situation and audience analysis. The
reason why it’s so important to analyze the context for the campaigns is simple: as cliché as it
may sound, knowledge is power and the more knowledge you have, the more specific you can
be about what’s expected from the service provider.

10. ADVERTISING APPEAL

Advertising appeals are communication strategies that marketing and advertising

professionals use to grab attention and persuade people to buy or act. In rhetorical theory, the
idea of an “appeal” dates back to Aristotle, who identified the three main appeals of
communication (also known as the rhetorical triangle): ethos, pathos, and logos, or, in modern
language, credibility, emotion, and logic. The idea was that, if you can establish yourself as
credible (ethos), for example, you are more likely to persuade people. Likewise, if you tugged
on your audience’s heartstrings (hit their emotions, pathos) or presented a logical argument
(logos), you could persuade people to act. In other words, you (or your communication)
appealed to people because you were credible, you affected their emotions, or you made logical
sense.

Marketing and advertising gurus have been using appeals for as long as marketing and
advertising have been a thing. Consider celebrity endorsements, which are prime examples of
applying ethos, or the credibility/endorsement appeal. If you see an image with Jennifer
Aniston holding a bottle of Smart Water, you are being appealed to by Aniston’s credibility
(or, at the very least, her notoriety). If it’s good enough for her, the advertisers hope you’ll
think and feel, then it’s good enough for the consumer who respects and adores her.
But modern-day advertisers didn’t stop at just the three appeals, as Aristotle did. While
credibility, emotion, and logic in many ways do summarize the three broad ways in which
people are persuaded, advertisers get much more specific in order to target their marketing
communications approaches. Understanding the available appeals in marketing and advertising
will put you in a position to be more creative, more persuasive, and ultimately more effective
in your marketing and business communications.

10.1. Type of Advertising Appeals

While there are more than twenty that exist, and it’s possible you could even coin your own,
the list below addresses twenty of the most common advertising appeals used by marketing
professionals today, listed alphabetically.

1. Adventure Appeal : Appealing to a person’s sense of adventure and excitement. The

goal of the adventure appeal is to make people feel like the excitement, action,
entertainment, and sense of adventure will be enhanced if they purchase or use a product
or service.

2. Bandwagon Appeal (Trend): Appealing to people by making them feel like everyone
else is doing it. The goal of the bandwagon appeal is to make people feel like since
everyone else is doing something, they should to. It’s a persuasion-by-numbers tactic.

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 3. Brand Appeal: Appealing to people who are brand-conscious and have certain
proclivities towards brands. The goal of the brand appeal is to make people buy a
product because the brand itself is a statement that the person hopes to associate with.

4. Endorsement Appeal: Appealing to people by using a celebrity they admire and

recognize. The goal of the endoresment appeal is to encourage people to buy a product
or service or act a certain way because people they know, respect, admire, and recognize
also use that product or service. Trust is built by using recognizable people.

5. Fear Appeal: The fear appeal specifically appeals to a person’s fears in order to
encourage them to buy or act. The goal of the feal appeal is to cause someone to fear
an outcome or response if they don’t buy a product or act in such a way as to reduce
risk.

6. Humor Appeal: Appealing to a person’s sense of humor. Because most human beings
like to laugh, humor is an effective appeal for grabbing attention and helping people
remember and share information about a product or idea. The goal with humor is to
help build a positive association with a product, service, or idea.

7. Masculine/Feminine Appeal: Appealing to a person’s desire to be the perfect man or

woman. Often used in clothing and beauty products, the goal of the masculine/feminine
appeal is to make people feel if they use a product or service, then they are more
attractive, sexier, stronger, or any other characteristic commonly associated with their
gender or sex.

8. Music Appeal: Appealing to a person’s tastes in sounds and music. The goal of the
music appeal to help increase recall (as in jingles or mnemonics) and to encourage
people to feel an emotion toward a product that they feel while hearing a particular song
or sound.

9. Personal (Emotional) Appeal: Appealing to a person’s emotions. The goal of the

personal appeal is to make a consumer feel sad, angry, excited, jealous, fearful, proud,
nostalgic, or any other emotion enough to encourage them to buy, donate, or act.

10. Plain Appeal : Appealing to people by making something seem ordinary or plain. The
goal of the plain appeal is to persuade people that a product, service, or idea may not
be as strange or radical or extraordinary as people thing, but rather that it is normal and
common.

11. ADVERTISING AGENCIES: THEIR ROLE AND FUNCTIONS

“The work of a tailor is to collect the raw material, find matching threads, cut the cloth in
desired shape, finally stitch the cloth and deliver it to the customer.”

Advertising Agency is just like a tailor. It creates the ads, plans how, when and where it should
be delivered and hands it over to the client. Advertising agencies are mostly not dependent on
any organizations. These agencies take all the efforts for selling the product of the clients. They
have a group of people expert in their particular fields, thus helping the companies or
organizations to reach their target customer in an easy and simple way.

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The first Advertising Agency was William Taylor in 1786 followed by James “Jem” White in
1800 in London and Reynell & Son in 1812.

11.1. Role of Advertising Agencies

1. Creating an advertise on the basis of information gathered about product

2. Doing research on the company and the product and reactions of the customers.
3. Planning for type of media to be used, when and where to be used, and for how much
time to be used.
4. Taking the feedbacks from the clients as well as the customers and then deciding the
further line of action.

All companies can do this work by themselves. They can make ads, print or advertise them on
televisions or other media places; they can manage the accounts also. Then why do they need
advertising agencies? The reasons behind hiring the advertising agencies by the companies
are:-
• The agencies are expert in this field. They have a team of different people for different
functions like copywriters, art directors, planners, etc.
• The agencies make optimum use of these people, their experience and their knowledge.
• They work with an objective and are very professionals.
• Hiring them leads in saving the costs up to some extent.

11.2. Major Functions of Advertising Agency

1. Attracting clients : Advertising agency needs clients (advertisers). Without them, it

cannot survive.

2. Account Management : Within an advertising agency the account manager or account

executive is tasked with handling all major decisions related to a specific client. The
account manager works closely with the client to develop an advertising strategy.

3. Creative Team : The principle role of account managers is to manage the overall
advertising campaign for a client, which often includes delegating selective tasks to
specialists. Advertising agency put the advertising-plan into action under its creative
function. Creation of ads is the most important function of an ad agency. These jobs are
done by experts like copy writers, artists, designers, etc. These people are highly skilled
and creative. They make an advertisement more appealing. Attractive ads help to
increase the sales of the product.

4. Researchers: Full-service advertising agencies employ market researchers who assess

a client’s market situation, including understanding customers and competitors, and
also are used to test creative ideas. Advertising agency gathers information related to
the client’s product. It collects following information about a product under its research
function: –
• Features, quality, advantages and limitations of a product, Present and future market
possibilities, Competition in the market, Situation in the market, Distribution methods,
Buyers’ preferences, so on

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 • Ad agency analyses (studies) all this collected information properly and draws
conclusions for its research. It helps in planning an advertising campaign, selecting
proper media and creation function.

5. Media Planners: Advertising agency helps an advertiser to select a proper media (ad
platform) to promote his advertisement effectively. Media selection is a highly
specialized function of an ad agency. It must select the most suitable media for its
client’s ad. Advertising agency plans the entire ad campaign of its client. Advertising
planning is a primary function of an ad agency. It is done when its research function is
completed. That is, after analyzing the client’s product, its competitors, market
conditions, etc. It is done by experts who use their professional experience to make a
result-oriented advertising-plan.

Once an advertisement is created, it must be placed through an appropriate advertising

media. Each advertising media, of which there are thousands, has its own unique
methods for accepting advertisements, such as different advertising cost structures (i.e.,
what it costs marketers to place an ad), different requirements for accepting ad designs
(e.g., size of ad), different ways placements can be purchased (e.g., direct contact with
media or through third-party seller), and different time schedules (i.e., when ad will be
run). Understanding the nuances of different media is the role of a media planner, who
looks for the best media match for a client and also negotiates the best deals.

6. Advertising Budget: Advertising agency helps an advertiser to prepare his ad budget.

It helps him to use his budget economically and make the best use of it. Without a proper
advertising budget, there is a risk of client’s funds getting wasted or lost.

7. Coordination: Advertising agency brings a good coordination between the advertiser,

itself, media and distributors.

8. Sales Promotion: Advertising agency performs sales promotion. It helps an advertiser

to introduce sales promotion measures for the dealers and consumers. This helps to
increase the sales of the product.

9. Public Relations: Advertising agency does the public relations (PR) work for its
clients. It increases the goodwill between its clients and other parties like consumers,
employees, middlemen, shareholders, etc. It also maintains good relations between the
client and media owner.

10. Non-advertising functions: Advertising agency also performs many non-advertising

functions: It fixes the prices of the product, It determines the discounts, It designs the
product, It also designs its package, trademarks, labels, etc.

11. GLOBAL VS LOCAL ADVERTISING

Global and international advertising are alternative communication strategies that companies
employ to drive demand for goods and services in foreign markets. International advertising
strategies are tailored to reflect regional, national, and local market cultural differences and
preferences. Global advertising embraces standardized strategies in which advertising content
is the same worldwide under the premise that the entire world is a single entity.

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1. Standardizing Advertising : Globalism as a concept in marketing and advertising was
first introduced by the late Ted Levitt, marketing professor at Harvard Business School.
In a 1983 “Harvard Business Journal” article entitled “The Globalization of Markets,”
Levitt observed that despite deep-rooted cultural differences, people were becoming
globally homogenized. In consequence, he proposed a new paradigm: standardize
products and advertise globally to take advantage of what he saw as huge economies of
scale. Companies would gain sales volume and market shares. Consumers would enjoy
lower prices. Levitt foresaw globalization as giving companies economies of scale in
both production and distribution. Centralized marketing command and control would
simplify the coordination and execution of marketing and advertising programs to
decrease costs while delivering a consistent brand or company message worldwide.

2. Think and Act Locally : Despite the allure of global advertising benefits, market
variances do exist in terms of cultural differences, differing rates of economic and market
development, media availability, and legal restrictions. Many companies, upon
producing unwanted results from executing global campaigns, have reverted back to
international advertising strategies. For example, Douglas Daft, former Chief Executive
Officer of Coca Cola, was quoted: “The world was demanding greater flexibility,
responsiveness and local sensitivity, while we were further consolidating decision
making and standardizing our practices.” Upon assuming the Coke leadership in 2000,
Daft introduced a new regime, “think locally and act locally,” which is the essence of
international advertising. Local market managers were empowered to introduce new
products, set pricing, and adapt advertising campaigns to host cultures.

3. When Global Advertising Works : Marketers generally agree that global advertising
can work under certain conditions. Philip Kotler, marketing professor at Northwestern
University, says that global strategies work best in categories where the trend toward
global integration is strong and local cultural influences are weak, such as the consumer
electronics market. According to an international marketing study guide from Villanova
University, global advertising may be appropriate for brands that use image campaigns
with universal appeals based on similar tastes, interests, needs and values.

4. Global Advertising : Many multinational marketers embrace a compromise between

global and international advertising, which is often called “glocal” advertising. Glocal
advertising is best captured in the phrase, “think global and act local.” Glocal marketers
standardize certain core elements of the advertising strategy while incorporating local
cultural influences into advertising executions. According to Wind, Sthanunathan and
Malcolm in their “Harvard Business Review” article, “Great Advertising Is Both Local
and Global,” an effective glocal strategy requires a global appeal that inspires universal
motivation, a brand vision “that respects local nuances,” and an organizational structure
that encourages collaboration between the global advertising strategists and local
implementers.

5. Small-Business Implications : When transitioning your business into the global

economy, develop a comprehensive understanding of the influences in your host markets
that could shape your marketing strategies and advertising content. Always use local
market experts — people who understand your business and the referenced cultures.
Adjust your management structure to have the flexibility to make marketing and
advertising modifications as required.

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