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An Overview of Research’s Role in Marketing & Advertising Planning

Marketing Planning… Is a process that entails the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution (4Ps) of ideas, goods, and services

Philosophies of Product Marketing Production Concept “If we make it, they will come” Product Concept “If we make it different, they will come” Selling Concept They’re not going to come without a push

The ‘Relationship’ Marketing Concept “Find out what they need/want, then make it happen” philosophy Based on companies building deeper relationships with customers… …by creating products that satisfy the desires of consumers after the needs of the TM has been determined

Typical Research Questions for Marketers Who should the target market be? What are their needs/wants? What do they think about our product/brand?

Advertising Planning ’s Role in Product Marketing Involve the consumer throughout the promotions development process Logic: Ads and promotions that work do so because they understand the consumer… …and can speak to him/her in a way that resonates

Typical Research Questions for Advertisers Who is the target audience? What media should we use? What message should we use?

Enter Research… Through marketing and advertising research we can come to better understand issues that will be important for marketing and advertising to consumers…

Understanding to Be Gained Background Situation Product’s intended purpose (how it works, what makes it unique) Consumer Behavior Who uses it, what do they think about it, what is their ‘relationship’ with it Cultural Trends Driving the Product’s Success

Walt Disney World vs. Universal Studios Florida

Case Overview Universal’s Product Problem: Gate traffic into Universal was declining were being lost to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Sea World Due to misperceptions about Universal’s product offering

Case Overview Research was used to understand the differences between visitor’s emotional experiences between Disney World and Universal Studios Florida Purpose: To identify a point of difference or unique selling point to potential visitors

Case Overview Research techniques used Guided Imagery Word/Picture Sort Laddering Venue Intercept (malls, restaurants)

Case Overview: Findings Different emotional ‘payoffs- are experienced Universal associated with ‘escape’ and ‘thrill’ for both parents & kids Family life stage plays into vacationer needs and wants

Case Overview: Results Based on the research findings, a campaign was developed to target the emotional needs of the consumer base In one year, Universal more than doubled its gate sales over the year before

Reasons We Conduct Research Reduce risk Provide information that will help us make marketing and advertising decisions Learning what worked, what did not, and why

Reasons We May Not Management has already decided on a direction The market opportunity has passed Lack of time/resources

Reasons We May Not Lack of agreement on what information is needed Costs outweigh the benefits Information already exists

3 Broad Categories of Research Basic Applied Methodological

Broad Areas of Research Basic Research Provides information about a phenomenon Tests a theory or hypothesis But, does not attempt to solve a specific marketing problem for a specific marketer

Examples of Basic Research Findings Research conducted on magazine advertising shows that when advertising clutter increases, news stand sales decrease

Examples of Basic Research Findings “Mud slinging” in political races negatively affects voters’ evaluations of the “targeted” candidate, but not the sponsoring candidate

Broad Areas of Research Applied Research Problem-specific research Meant to help marketing managers solve specific problems

Example of an Applied Research Hypothesis Increasing the price of our laundry detergent from $3 to $3.50 will result in more favorable evaluations of the product’s image

Example of an Applied Research Hypothesis Consumer demand for our product will increase when coupons are introduced to the market for a limited time period

Broad Areas of Research Methodological Research Research for the purpose of improving the process of gathering information

Example of a Methodological Research Question Is television viewership data more reliably gathered with diaries or people-meters?