Advertising: Selling a Message Chapter 11

When Does Targeting Get Creepy? Target tracks buying, can tell when a woman is pregnant based on purchases Sending baby coupons to someone who hasn’t announced a pregnancy could make people uncomfortable. How could Target target customers without letting them know their habits were being tracked? Solution: Mix baby coupons in with those for other products.

The Development of the Advertising Industry What is Advertising? “Any form of nonpersonal communication about an organization, product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor.”

The Birth of Consumer Culture Industrialization Going from work done by hand in small shops to mass production of goods in factories Modernization Changing from a society in which people’s identities are fixed at birth to a society where people can choose who they want to be and how they want to present themselves to the world

The Growth of Brand Names Economy of abundance An economy in which there are as many or more goods available as people are able to buy Brand names A word or phrase attached to prepackaged consumers goods so they can be better promoted and identified. Early brands included: Quaker Oats, Pears’ Soap.

Advertising-Supported Media 1830s: Penny press newspapers Mid-1800s: Consumer magazines Radio and television well-suited as advertising media “We’re in the business of selling audiences to advertisers. [The sponsors] come to us asking for women 18 to 49 and adults 25 to 34, and we try to deliver.” – Robert Niles, TV network marketing executive

Advertising-Supported Media Local advertising Designed to get people to use local stores, businesses, or service providers National advertising Designed to build demand for a nationally available product or service

Advertising-Supported Media Direct-Action Message Designed to get consumers to go to a particular place or engage in a specific action, such as purchasing a product Indirect-Action Message Designed to build the image of and demand for a product without calling for a specific action

Advertising-Supported Media Advocacy Advertising Designed to promote a particular point of view rather than a product or service; can be sponsored by a government, corporation, trade association, or non-profit association Public Service Advertising Designed to promote the messages of non-profit institutions and government agencies

Advertising-Supported Media Trade Advertising Also called business-to-business advertising Promotes products and services to other businesses

The Advertising Business Client The company with something to sell Agency (may be in-house or contracted) Advertising professionals Media Where the ads appear Audience Message recipients

The Client

The Agency Research and planning How do you meet the clients’ objectives? Do the ads accomplish what the client wants? Creative activity Creating the ad itself; often a tension between creativity and salesmanship Media Planning Deciding which media provide the most cost effective way to reach the target audience

The Media Newspapers Magazines Outdoor Billboards Radio Television Digital

The Audience Targeting Trying to make a product or service appeal to a narrowly defined group. Targeting is done with demographics geographics psychographics

The Audience Psychographics and VALS Not just who the audience is, but what motivates them Psychographics look at people’s lifestyles, relationship to the product, and personality traits. VALS, developed by SRI International, places people in eight categories based on motivation and level of resources.

The Audience Case Study: Targeting Gay Consumers Perceived by advertisers as upscale and educated Gay market estimated at $641 billion Absolut® vodka was an early gay advertiser. Gay-targeted ads becoming increasingly mainstream (Secret #3)

Advertising in Contemporary Culture Advertising makes you buy things you don’t want. Reality: suggests a possible need Advertising makes things cost more. Reality: Advertising lowers costs by raising demand. Advertising helps sell bad products. Reality: Not for very long Advertising is a waste of money. Reality: Sustains goods moving through the pipeline to keep economic growth going

The Problem of Clutter Clutter The large number of non-programming messages that compete for consumer attention on radio, television, and the Internet. Breaking through the clutter is an ongoing challenge for advertisers. Creative advertising makes products stand out. Ads can become more important than programs.

Debunking Subliminal Advertising When messages that are allegedly embedded so deeply in an ad that they cannot be perceived consciously

When Advertisements Are More Important Than the Program Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl Ad Introduced Macintosh computer Indirect action, national ad One of the most memorable commercials ever Established idea of event commercial Early example of integrated marketing communication

Advertising to Children Children are a growing advertising market. A 1978 study said children see 20,000 television commercials a year. (Broadcast TV only) In 40+ years since then add: product placement in-school programs mobile phone ads ads in video games

Advertising to Children Food Ads Directed at Kids Does food advertising contribute to childhood obesity? Should advertising of “junk food” to children be limited? (What is “junk food”?) Should there be other limits on advertising to children? What would the consequences be of not advertising to children?

Integrated Marketing Communication An overall communication strategy for reaching key audiences using advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and interactive media

Integrated Marketing Communication Case Study: Denny’s IMC Reintroduced brand to light and lapsed customers Super Bowl & newspaper ads Free Grand Slam promo Press kit / media attention Website Evaluation

Media Transformations: From Advertorials to Native Advertising Advertisers have long wanted ads to look like editorial content. Native ads are more sophisticated version of old “advertorials.” Native ads often have editorial staff of publication working on them. Blurring line between ads and editorial Potential to go very wrong if native ads are bad match to publication

Is Anyone Watching Television Ads? Loss of television audience to DVR/streaming Rise of mobile advertising; potential for location- based advertising

Product Placement Product Integration When the product or service being promoted is not only seen, but is central to the story

The Long Tail of Advertising Long Tail: Google AdWords and AdSense Big problem with Internet advertising: documenting how many people have actually clicked the ad

Social Marketing Social marketing: Using credible people on social media to promote your product What is vital to social marketing campaigns: viewers need to perceive it as real