Advertising Study Material

The DAGMAR Approach

The DAGMAR approach of advertising was devised by Mr Russell Colley. DAGMAR is a concept
used in advertising to set advertising objectives and goals. DAGMAR is an abbreviation for
“Defining advertising goals to measure advertising results”.
The 2 core things on which the DAGMAR Model stood were

 Creation of a communication task to achieve goals.

 Defining the objective of the communication tasks in a manner that the results can be
measured.

Creating a communication task, which involves communications between the company and the
consumer, was solely the responsibility of the Advertising department.

The second most important task of DAGMAR was defining the objectives of advertising or of the
communication tasks which were to be created. Once you defined the objectives, then the
measuring of advertising results was comparatively easier.

The objectives of advertising in DAGMAR (which are used to create communication tasks) are
as follows

1. Concrete and measurable tasks – The tasks need to be a precise statement of what the
advertiser wants to achieve through the communication. Does he want to strengthen
the brand image, maximise the brand presence, penetrate new markets or increase
overall sales?
2. Define the target audience – Before the communication task commences, the target
audience needs to be defined as precisely as possible. Are you targeting youngsters,
adults, elderly? Any of the various forms of segmentation can be used to define the
target audience.
3. Degree of change sought – What level of perception, attitude or awareness of the
customer do you want to change? If a customer is aware of the product, do you want his
negative attitude to change to positive? Or if the market is completely unaware, do you
want the whole market to be aware or only partially the target group itself? These
degrees of change which are going to be the objective of the communication task need to
be defined in advance.
4. Time period – To achieve the objectives of the communication tasks, how much time are
you ready to allot. If you think that in a month, the product can create awareness in the
complete market, then you are very wrong. That’s why major advertisers try to introduce
the product for 3 months, and then communicate the features and benefits in the next 3
 months so that the brand recall is high and the brand acceptance is high as well. A
defined time period gives better measurability.

The DAGMAR approach involved defining the objective of a communication task, and then
creating communication tasks which were themselves measurable.

International Media Planning

Media Planning is the important step of advertising campaign after preparation of right
message. The main objective of media planning is to communicate the message through right
medium to the target consumers. Medium is the wide-ranging group of available delivery
systems, which involves broadcast media like TV and radio, print media like newspapers and
magazines, direct mail and other support media.
Media Planning helps to select which type of media to be used for advertisement of the
product. It also helps the marketer to decide which type of media to be use, when to use and
where to use in order to reach the target audience. The type of media can be television,
newspapers, bus- stop posters, in store displays, banner ads, on the web, or a flyer on social
network.

Media Plan

Following points affect the media plan:

1. Media Characteristics: Advertising message goes to the target audience through media
or the communication channels. The study of media characteristics helps to determine
the type of medium (media vehicle) can be use for the product for advertising.
2. Media Discounts: Having considered the type and class of media, the advertiser may
select an advertising media because of the discounts offered by the media owners.
3. Media Cost Efficiency: Advertiser has the intention to reach to the largest number of
audience and thus achieve an economy in cost of advertising per audience.
4. Media Availability: The availability of or time space may also determine the media
choice. This factor is more relevant in television; sometime the advertiser could not use
the media because suitable time slot is not available.
5. Media Objectives: Media objectives are guidelines laid out to understand what is
required for the plan. These guidelines help to determine what type of an advertising
need to reach to the target audience. Media objectives answer questions to whom the
advertising needs to reach i.e. WHERE, WHEN, HOW, HOW MANY, HOW OFTEN, HOW
LONG and IN WHAT ENVIRONMENT.

Advertising media generally include:

 Television
 Radio
  Newspapers
 Magazines (consumer and trade)
 Outdoor billboards
 Public transportation
 Yellow Pages
 Direct mail
 Specialty advertising (on items such as matchbooks, pencils, calendars, telephone pads,
shopping bags and so on)
 Other media (catalogs, samples, handouts, brochures, newsletters and so on)

DRIP Model

The DRIP model is used to support marketing communication planning and is useful when
setting broad communication goals. It can be applied when launching a new product or
repositioning an existing business, for example. It stands for Differentiate, Reinforce, Inform
and Persuade.
Differentiate: Differentiate your product or service by defining where it's positioned in the
market and often the 7Ps digital marketing mix can inform this.

Reinforce: To reinforce the brand's message, consider consolidating and strengthening your
messages and experiences, demonstrating why your product is different - superior, cheaper or
easier to use?

Inform: Inform or make people aware of your brand. Consider illustrating you’re features and
availability. If it's a 'new to market' product, it may need education!.

Persuade: Persuade your audiences to behave in particular way - encourage further positive
purchase-related behaviour i.e. visit a website, read about your new product, share it or
request a trial.

AIDA Model

The AIDA Model identifies cognitive stages an individual goes through during the buying
process for a product or service. It's a purchasing funnel where buyers go to and fro at each
stage, to support them in making the final purchase.

Awareness: creating brand awareness or affiliation with your product or service.

Interest: generating interest in the benefits of your product or service, and sufficient interest to
encourage the buyer to start to research further.

Desire: for your product or service through an 'emotional connection', showing your brand
personality. Move the consumer from 'liking' it to 'wanting it'.

Action: CTA - Move the buyer to interacting with your company and taking the next step ie.
downloading a brochure, making the phone call, joining your newsletter, or engaging in live
chat etc.
Challenges Faced By International Advertising

The growing intensity of international competition, coupled with the complexity of

multinational marketing, demands that the international advertisers function at the highest
level. A successful advertisement in one country cannot be simply transferred or translated into
another country’s market without understanding the peculiarities of that country.

Legal Considerations: Different countries have different advertising laws that need to be
accepted and followed. Therefore while creating advertisements it is very important to know
the laws that are imposed in that particular country.

Language Limitations: Language is one of the major barriers to effective communication

through advertising. The problem involves different languages of different countries or dialects
within one country. Everyday words have different meaning in different cultures. Even
pronunciations cause problems.

Cultural Diversity: The problem associated with communicating to people in diverse cultures
presents one of the greatest challenges in advertising. Communication is more difficult because
cultural factors largely determine the way various phenomena are perceived. If the perceptual
framework is different, perception of the message it differs. Existing perceptions based on
tradition and heritage is often hard to overcome.

Media Limitations: A marketer’s creativity is certainly challenged when a television commercial

is limited 10 showings a year with no exposures closer than 10 days as is the case in Italy.
Creative advertisers in some countries have even developed their own media for overcoming
media limitations. In some African countries, advertisers run boats up and down rivers playing
popular music and broadcasting commercial into the bush as they travel.

Norms and Ethics Challenges: Ethics refers to moral principles, standards, and norms of
conduct governing individual and firm’s behaviour. They are deeply reflected in formal laws and
regulations. In different parts of the world, different codes of conduct are specified that every
international business player has to observe. However, globalization process has emphasized
some common ethics worldwide. Corruption is another issue relating to business ethics.

Advertising Objectives

Following are the four forms of advertising objectives.

 Informative Advertising: Under this objective, customers are informed about the new
product or its new features or the primary demand is built through it.

 Persuasive Advertising: In persuasive advertising selective demand for a brand is built

by persuading the buyers about the offering that is best for their investing money.
  Comparison Advertising: In this objective of advertising a brand of a company is
compared with the brand of some other company either directly or indirectly.

 Reminder Advertising: For the advertising of mature products this kind of advertising is
adopted in which customers are educated to consider the product continuously.

Advertising Decisions

Whenever an advertising program is prepared, the marketing management should take into
account the four advertising decisions.

1. Setting Advertising Objectives

2. Setting Advertising Budgets
3. Developing Advertising Strategy
4. Evaluating Advertising Campaigns

There are four methods for setting an advertising budget which are as follow.

1. Affordable Method
2. Percent of Sales method
3. Competitive parity Method
4. Objective & Task Method

Ethics in Advertising
Advertising Layout

Layout is the logical arrangement of compo-nents of an advertisement in the copy and deals
with systematic presentation of the message. The pattern of layout varies according to the
medium to be used.

For newspapers and magazines, the presentation of the message is visible in written words and
pictures; in radio the presentation is audible in spoken words and sound effects; and in
television, both audio and visual presentations are practicable. In all cases, balance and
symmetry are of prime importance in presenting the message within the allotted space or time.

Visual layout in any publication can be divided into the following three parts:

Headlines: Headlines are used in bold letters for drawing atten-tion of the consuming public.
The size and length of the headline must be appropriate to the general format and page size of
the publication; it must also be in keeping with the theme of advertising and with the entire
make-up of the copy.

Usually, short headlines are given stressing some facts, suggestions, prepositions or convictions.
In magazines and trade journals, colour printing is adopted for headlines to make than more
promi-nent and conspicuous in character.

Illustrations: Illustrations are given by way of pictures, symbols or photographs for drawing
attention, creating interest as well as for arousing desire. Significant illustrations may be worth
a thousand words in securing public reception for the product.

But limits of decency must not be exceeded in presenting pictures or photographs which should
always be in good taste. Obscene and objectionable pictures do more harm than good to the
cause of advertisement.

Texts: Texts provide the heart of the message of advertisements, and they are to be woven
around an advertising theme. For an individual copy, one theme is desirable; a multiplicity of
themes creates confusion and weakens the strength of appeal. For presenting the text,
different practices are followed in the business world.

In some cases, the text is prefaced by a statement of problem to the reader and followed by a
solution thereof. In other cases, reading materials are presented in an analytical manner with
pertinent facts and data. Furthermore, the text may be presented by the use of type face in one
copy or of hard lettering in another copy.

Advertising Appeals
Consumers respond to advertising appeals that connect to the following underlying emotions:
Humor Appeal: A humor appeal uses laughter and playfulness to “cut through the clutter” of
advertising, grab the consumer’s attention, and make the product appeal likable or desirable.
By creating an emotional connection to the product or service, a humor appeal tries to drive
sales.

Music Appeal: Music is a natural link to emotions, memories, and experiences. Music is also
catchy, and works well to create brand recall and familiarity while helping consumers
remember product and company information so they purchase the right product. Music
appeals work well to keep attention focused on brands and products, while subtly increasing
the pervasiveness and effectiveness of ad creatives.

Scarcity Appeal: A scarcity appeal creates FOMO or fear of missing out by encouraging
consumers to think that if they don’t buy now, they will miss out. From seasonal sales to new
product launches or limited editions, scarcity appeals are common across industries.

Rational Appeal: Some consumers are driven by reason and logic over other emotions; it is
these consumers that rational advertisements appeal to. Small businesses looking to stand out
from a competitor or introduce a new product in a crowded marketplace often rely on rational
advertising to deliver the facts straight up.

Emotional Appeal: These type of neuro-marketing advertising appeals work to foster a sense of
trust and familiarity with the brand. Insurance companies often turn to emotional appeals to
create a sense of trust and loyalty with consumers and reinforce brand loyalty.

Sexual Appeal: Sex sells; that should come as no surprise. With everything from makeup and
body products to luxury cars and designer brands, advertisers know that suggesting a link
between the product or service and enhanced sex appeal will motivate consumer interest and
create a desire to purchase.

Fear Appeal: As the name suggests, a fear appeal plays upon the real or perceived risks of
either using or not using the product or idea being marketed. If you “don’t buy,” fear-based
appeal suggests that you will experience a negative consequence. At the low end, a fear appeal
might suggest that if you don’t buy the rain jacket, you’ll get wet and then catch a cold. At the
high end, a fear-based appeal might suggest that if you don’t buy the home alarm system, you
will be vulnerable to a break-in. Fear appeals can be highly effective, which explains their
frequency of use. That said, they might not be appropriate for every industry or product.

ATL, BTL and TTL

Above the Line: Above the Line advertising (often referred as Above the Line promotion/ Above
the Line marketing/ ATL marketing/ ATL advertising) consist of advertising activities that are
largely non-targeted and have a wide reach. ATL communication is done to build the brand and
inform the customers about the product. Conversions are given less importance in above the
line advertising.

Below the Line: Below-the-line advertising (often referred as Below the Line promotion/ Below
the Line marketing / BTL marketing / BTL advertising) consists of very specific, memorable and
direct advertising activities focused on targeted groups of consumers. Often known as direct
marketing strategies, below the line strategies focus more on conversions than on building the
brand.

Through the Line: Through the Line advertising (often referred as Through the Line promotion/
Through the Line marketing / TTL marketing / TTL advertising) involves the use of both ATL &
BTL marketing strategies. The recent consumer trend in the market requires integration of both
ATL & BTL strategies for better results.