Core Concepts of Marketing by John Burnett - HTML preview

CHAPTER 8

COMMUNICATING TO MASS MARKETS

a deal to the trade or a deal to customers . This substitutability calls for treating the various IMC tools in a joint-decision framework .

The Campaign

Determining what particular devices to use and how to combine them in order to achieve

IMC objectives is one of the greatest challenges facing the communication planner. Ordi-

narily, management just make use of the campaign concept. A campaign is a planned, coordin ated series of marketing communication efforts built around a single theme or idea and

designed to reach a predetermined goal. Although the term "campaign" is probably thought of most often in connection with advertising, it seems appropriate to apply the concept of

a campaign to the entire IMC program.

Many types of IMC campaigns may be conducted by a company, and several may be

run concurrently. Geographically, a firm may have a local, regional, or national campaign,

depending upon the available funds, objectives, and market scope. One campaign may be

aimed at consumers and another at wholesalers and retailers.

A campaign revolves around a theme, a central idea or focal point. This theme per-

meates all IMC efforts and tends to unify the campaign. A theme is simply the appeals devel-

oped in a manner considered unique and effective. As such, it is related to the campaign 's

objectives and the customer' s behavior. It expresses the product's benefits . Frequently the

theme takes the form of a slogan, such as Coca-Cola's " Coke is it !" Or DeBeers' "A diamond is forever." Some companies use the same theme for several campaigns; others develop

a different theme for each new campaign.

In a successfully operated campaign, the efforts of all groups concerned will be meshed

effectively. The advertising program will consist of a series of related, well-timed, care-

fully placed ads. The personal selling effort can be tied in by having the salesperson explain

and demonstrate the product benefits stressed in ads. Also, the sales force will be fully

informed about the advertising part of the campaign-the theme, media used, schedule of

appearance of ads, appeals used, etc. The sales force will also inform the middlemen, i.e.,

wholesalers and retailers, about this campaign, and convince them to incorporate it into their

total marketing effort. Sales promotional devices will be coordinated with the other aspects

of the campaign. For each campaign, new display materials must be prepared, reflecting

the ads and appeals used in the current campaign, in order to maximize the campaign's impact

MARKETING CAPSULE

1. Marketing communication:

g. Measure results

a. Is intended to be persuasive

h. Organize

b. Has internal and external fl ows

3. Factors that most impact the IMC mix include:

2. The following steps are involved in designing an IMC

a. Marketing/lMC objectives

strategy:

b. Nature of the product

a. Determine objectives

c. Place in the product lifecycle

b. Determine IMC opportunities

d. Available resources

c. Select audience(s)

4. A campaign is a planned, coordinated series of marketing

d. Select message(s)

communication eff0l1s built around a single theme or idea

e. Determine budget

and designed to reach a predetermined goal.

f. Allocate funds

UNDERSTANDING ADVERTISING

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at the point of sale. Personnel responsible for the physical distribution activities must ensure that adequate stocks of the product are available in all outlets prior to the start of the campaign . Finally, people working in public relations must be constantly kept aware of new

products, product demonstrations, new product applications, and so forth. Of course, it is

important to provide enough lead time so that the public relations effort can take

advantage of optimum timing.

UNDERSTANDING ADVERTISING

Undoubtedly, advertising is the promotional

that most consumers feel they know

the best and hold strong opinions about. This is a result

visibility and intrusiveness

of advertising. In fact, most people have little understanding of advertising.

The Organization of Advertising

There are within the advertising industry a wide variety

by which advertising is

created and

in media. At one extreme, an individual might write and place his own

classified

a newspaper in the hope of selling his daughter's canopy bed.

At the other extreme, the advertiser employs a full-service advertising agency to create and

place the ad vertisement, retaining only the function of fi nal approval of plans developed

by that agency. Significant specialization is developed within the full-service advertising

agency to discourage clients from hiring any outside vendors or other parties to perform

any of the various fupctions

in planning and executing advertising programs for

the various advertisers that the agency serves. Another organizational possibility is a fuIl-

scale, in-house ad vertis:ng department. Thi s department may have total responsibility for

all aspects of the advertisement,

some of the tasks might be optioned out to ad agencies

or other types of specialty organizations, e.g., production,

media piacement. It is not

unusual for a large corporation to employ all of these possibilities or to use different agen-

cies for different products or for different parts of the country.

·.Vhether or not the advertiser uses an advertising agency, does his adveltising in-house,

or uses some combination of the two depends upon a host of factors unique to each organ-

ization: available funds, level of expertise, expediency, and so forth. Regardless of the influ-

encing factors, a number of basic functions must be performed by someone if creative and

effective advertisements are to be placed:

What products, institutions, or ideas are to be advertised

• Who is to prepare advertising programs

• Who

organiLation engages and gives

and other direction to the adver-

tising agency, if any agency is used

• Who in the organization has the authority to develop advertising work ancl/or approves

the advertising programs presented by the advertising agency

• Who pays the advertising bill

• Who determines the extent to which advertisemei1ts help reach the stated objectives3

The Advertising Department

A company advertising department can ran ge from a one-person department to one employ-

500 or more people. Regardless of the size, advertising departments share similar

responsibilities:

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