Developing and Managing an Advertising Program

Advertising can be a cost-effective way to disseminate messages, whether to build a brand preference
or to educate people. Even in today’s challenging media environment, good ads can pay off.
P&G has also enjoyed double-digit sales gains in recent years from ads touting the efficacy of Olay
Definity antiaging skin products and Head & Shoulders Intensive Treatment shampoo.3
In developing an advertising program, marketing managers must always start by identifying the
target market and buyer motives. Then they can make the five major decisions, known as “the five
Ms”:Mission:What are our advertising objectives? Money: How much can we spend and how do we
allocate our spending across media types? Message: What message should we send? Media: What
media should we use? Measurement: How should we evaluate the results? These decisions are
summarized in Figure 18.1 and described in the following sections.
Setting the Objectives
The advertising objectives must flow from prior decisions on target market, brand positioning, and
the marketing program.
An advertising objective (or goal) is a specific communications task and achievement level to
be accomplished with a specific audience in a specific period of time:4
To increase among 30 million homemakers who own automatic washers the number who
identify brand X as a low-sudsing detergent, and who are persuaded that it gets clothes
cleaner, from 10 percent to 40 percent in one year.
We can classify advertising objectives according to whether their aim is to inform, persuade, remind,
or reinforce. These objectives correspond to different stages in the hierarchy-of-effects model
discussed in Chapter 17.
• Informative advertising aims to create brand awareness and knowledge of new products or
new features of existing products.5 To promote its OnStar in-vehicle safety, security, and information
service that uses wireless and GPS satellite technology, GM launched the “Real Stories”
campaign in 2002. The award-winning TV, radio, and print ad campaign used actual subscriber
stories in their own words and voices to share the importance and benefits of OnStar
through life-changing experiences. By 2005, the OnStar brand had reached 100 percent awareness
among consumers shopping for a new vehicle • Persuasive advertising aims to create liking, preference, conviction, and purchase of a product
or service. Some persuasive advertising uses comparative advertising, which makes an explicit
comparison of the attributes of two or more brands. Miller Lite took market share from Bud
Lite by pointing out that Bud Lite had higher carbs. Comparative advertising works best when
it elicits cognitive and affective motivations simultaneously, and when consumers are processing
advertising in a detailed, analytical mode.7
• Reminder advertising aims to stimulate repeat purchase of products and services.
Expensive, four-color Coca-Cola ads in magazines are intended to remind people to purchase
Coca-Cola.
• Reinforcement advertising aims to convince current purchasers that they made the right
choice.Automobile ads often depict satisfied customers enjoying special features of their new car.
The advertising objective should emerge from a thorough analysis of the current marketing situation.
If the product class is mature, the company is the market leader, and brand usage is low, the
objective is to stimulate more usage. If the product class is new, the company is not the market
leader, but the brand is superior to the leader, then the objective is to convince the market of the
brand’s superiority.