1.

Explain in detail how you can use Facet model to determine advertising objectives with
example.

Answer: The way consumers perceive a brand can be so powerful that it can precede the
product itself when it comes to consumers making a decision in a world of competing brands
in a market. The Facet model has proven to be a powerful tool when it comes to developing a
better understanding on how customers react to advertising. Thus it is important to use this
model when a marketer hopes to develop and achieve advertisement goals, which are further
explained below.

The Facet model comprises of six communication objectives or Facets:

a. The Perception Facet: See/Hear

In the modern world we are exposed every day to an overwhelming amount of

information, most of which we tend to forget and not really pay attention to. We choose
what gets our attention, which is also referred to as selective perception. So marketers
have to innovate and come up with content that catches the eye of a prospective
customer. This can be done through introduction of comedy that will appeal to the
viewer’s sense of humor, sex appeal (eg. use of popular and attractive physical traits
when selecting actors for the advertisement) to draw the viewer’s curiosity or simply
 amaze or surprise the viewer to draw in the customer and leave an impression once the
advertisement is over, taking advantage of visual and auditory senses.

For example, in an advertisement of Seagram’s Imperial Blue Super hit Music CDs it
shows an attractive woman walking down the aisle of a plane and asking a man to move
to make space for a seat. The man moves very willingly anticipating the woman to seat
beside him only to find that she was looking for a seat for her grandfather. As the
grandfather takes the seat, it presents a comic moment with classical music playing in the
background that would make the viewer snort out in laughter which makes for a very
funny advertisement to remember.

b. The Affective or Emotional Facet: Feel

This involves looking beyond the immediate solution that a product or service brings and
attempting to emotionally move the viewer by developing desire, stimulating excitement
and creating want in the minds of the customer. The objective is to leave the audience
with a feeling even after the advertisement is over, a feeling that motivates the customer
and draws them to the brand by looking beyond tangible solutions or mere problem
solving. It creates meaning through an emotional connection that inspires love, happiness
or alleviates hardship of the subjects in the advertisement in a manner that can be
bittersweet for the viewer, but definitely moves the customer by instilling a strong human
feeling that lasts beyond the timeframe of the advertisement.

For example, in an advertisement “Shopno Jabe Bari Amar” by Grameenphone, the

emotional need for togetherness, the excitement of coming back home to near and dear
friends and family is beautifully portrayed. It shows a husband coming to his village to
see his wife, a daughter returning home to her mother and sister, and a university student
to his childhood friends in a warm embrace of happiness and tears. This advertisement
moves the viewers as they relate to the happiness of togetherness and the misery of
 staying away from loved ones, a feeling that goes far beyond mere call rates, network
connection and internet speed.

c. The Cognitive Facet: Think/Understand

The objective here is to accurately and effectively present facts and data in a way that can
be easily understood by the customers. Information has to be presented in a manner that it
facilitates the recognition and understanding of differentiating features and benefits that
sets it apart from its competition. It must be easy to recall. Clarity and relevance is very
important when presenting the information.

For example, Samsung’s “Galaxy Note10: Official Introduction” shows an employee in

the fashion industry who by using the phone brings about the new fashion trends and
convinces her superiors to go with her design which she developed with the phone. It
extensively focuses on introducing features such as their S pen (and explains that it can
turn handwriting into text), camera (takes photography to a new level with Super steady
technology and video technology that can be used for shooting, editing and sharing), next
level Performance (powered by 7nm processor and Hyperfast 5g chip) and display
(reduces harmful blue light without distortion of color), all of which shows the range of
functions that the phone can perform and sets Samsung Galaxy note 10 apart from their
competition. All the information is very simply and concisely provided by a narrator in
the advertisement.

d. The Association Facet: Connect

Brands and the people are connected in ways beyond the buying and selling of their
products. Brands must find a way to connect with their customers by establishing a
meaningful connection where the thoughts and feelings of customers are invariably
associated with a brand. It focuses on what the brand stands for or symbolizes, and their
mission. This symbolic meaning has to be iterated throughout the advertisement.
 For example, in the Michael Jordan Wheaties Commercial from 1989 the brand focuses
on how it is the “Breakfast of Champions” by showing all the sports personalities who
were on their packaging along with the latest addition where Michael Jordan keeps
bouncing his basketball and picks up a new Wheaties packet for his breakfast. Everyone
wants to be a champion, and customers can relate to that feeling and find meaning in it as
the message gets repeated and established throughout the advertisement with Michael
Jordan adding further validity and association to that message.

e. The Persuasion Facet: Believe

Advertisements here aim to earn the trust of the customers which can be done through
involving opinion leaders who are trusted by a large number of people, using reputed
sources and citations that are popular and known for correct information, or through
affirmation of what people already want and believe that is trending and demanded by a
large group of people. Present consumers of the brand can also be promoted to inspire
trust among prospective customers. All of this can motivate and influence customers to
trust the brand and its message and establish their loyalty.

Engagement here is key and it is very important to get the customers involved where the
customers themselves can interact with the product or service and develop the trust which
can then be shared and related between them. This is where the customers interpret the
message of the advertisement in their own way.

For example, the “Colgate Total” advertisements in India used doctors, who are typically
a very trusted and respected group of people everywhere but specially in India, to instill
trust in the minds of the viewer where they wear lab suit and present statistics and other
data supporting the effectiveness of the toothpaste to kill germs.

f. The Behavior Facet: Act

 This type of advertisements aims to motivate the viewer to take actions that may lead to
purchase and is usually preceded by a trial that familiarizes the customer with the
product. This increased involvement and familiarity with the product is more likely to
lead to a purchase as people feel more comfortable with what they already know than
something that they will have to put in extra effort to learn.

It is important that the steps or actions to be taken by the customer are made simple as
complications will deter the customer.

For example, Netflix in their promotion and advertising encourage people to have free
trials of one month where prospective customers, once they sign up (just by simply using
their email), can have access to all the content that is available to paid users.

2. Write a reflective essay on your experience with MKT340. (Why did you take this
course, what did you learn, did it fulfill your expectation, how this course can be useful
for you in future etc.)

Answer: Being a marketing major, I have always been drawn to this creative field in the
world of business that goes beyond mere number crunching and explores the relationship
of Brands and people. I have found that the most creative element of marketing that
involves story telling is in the field of advertising which motivated me to take this course
and therefore from the very beginning of the course “MKT 340: Advertising” I have been
in anticipation of learning and decrypting the methods that successful marketers use. The
tools that I have been introduced to during this course have been explained along with
examples of their real world applications which will be very useful as I head out into the
real world.

In the first chapter the very basics of advertising was explained that involved
understanding the factors and objectives of advertising along with the different types of
advertising. As a marketer it is important to recognize the different factors that are
involved in advertising, for example, how it informs and persuades a broad audience and
where selection of media is important to reach that audience, as in our modern lives we
are exposed to multiple sources of information (eg. social media, tv etc). It is very easy to
miss that there are so many components to creating a successful advertisement that goes
beyond mere idea generation. The very important inputs of the photographers, those who
are writing the scripts and the actors and sharing of their concerns with relevant teams
that strategizes and directs the whole process can easily be overlooked which can have
disastrous consequences on any ad campaign. Unless there is a sync and sharing of
information between the teams that work on strategy, creative ideation and application
and media selection, the advertisement campaign is likely to lose its purpose. Going into
my career, discussions on this issue in the classroom will keep me mindful of the
contributions and team work necessary to come up with effective advertisements.

On another chapter about Advertising’s Role in Marketing, I have been introduced to the
concept of Market Orientation that will always keep me focused on the needs of the
customer and how to serve them best and how important it is to analyze the market and
not to come up with assumptions with what I think should make the customers happy. A
successful business builds itself by creating value and listening to their customers, an idea
that has been iterated throughout the course. I have also learnt how important it is to
differentiate with competing brands while building a brand that adds value to the lives of
its customers.

Before taking this course, I viewed advertising to be a spontaneous act of idea generation
and creativity whereas now I have learnt how it follows at times a very structured
approach, for example the steps necessary while building a marketing plan (eg. setting
objectives, segmentation and targeting, differentiation and positioning etc). The different
pricing strategies to effectively reach out to a wider set of customers (eg. the Good-
Better-Best approach) and addition of value offered to prices and their relationship has
been extensively discussed which I can apply out in the real world when deciding how
best to edge past my competitors.
The coursework focused on understanding how one cannot be successful in running an
enterprise without coordination from suppliers and vendors, distributors and other
marketing partners. Maintaining relationships and effectively coordinating functions is
key to running a successful business. Building strong customer relationships lies at the
heart of every successful business and the importance of this has been highlighted in the
course work. The recognition of the contribution and inputs of each of these stakeholders
will keep me vigilant when dealing with everyone involved in the increasingly
competitive world of business.

Another topic that has really helped my understanding of marketing is how culture and
society influences marketing decisions and how products should be branded in the
chapter “Consumer Audience”. For example, the discussion on how MacDonald’s
introduced the Veg Maharaja Mac that took into consideration the vegetarian population
of India, a dietary choice that has both cultural and religious roots, has helped the brand
to seep into households in India. The naming Maharaja also invoked a historical
significance of grandeur. The influence of peer groups and opinion leaders has also been
highlighted which has helped me understand the roles that influencers and members of
reference groups play in our decision making. Advertisements played in the classroom
and discussions with the involvement of students has exposed me to different opinions
and insights to how people think which will really help me apply culture specific
strategies for the success of my brand in the real world.

In addition to that, concepts such as the TOWS matrix from the chapter “Strategic
Planning” has helped me understand how best to prepare for the challenges while
developing strategies to take maximum advantage of them. The recognition that Threats
itself may not be a bad thing as I can use my strengths to tackle and counter them by
developing effective strategies will help me not lose hope in the turbulent world of
business as new threats emerge in a market that often has ups and downs. Understanding
perceptual mapping helped me get into the consumer’s minds and see how they view
brands which will help me set goals and develops strategies depending on which position
I want my customers to view my brands.
In the chapter “How advertising works” there has been a lot of focus and discussion on
how advertisements are being designed based on the sort of impact it is expected to have
on the consumers. Discussions and assignment on the Facet model has helped me better
understand the way different brands connect to the consumers by stimulating feelings of
happiness, excitement (Emotional facet) or providing content that are informative and
objective (Cognitive Facet).

A highlight of the course has been the number of advertisements shown and discussed in
the classroom that has really built my understanding of the real world scenario and how
the advertisements have performed and left a mark in the minds of the viewers.
Additionally, the presentation on advertisement analysis has helped me work with group
mates and learn from their perspective as well about how they view different
advertisements and the differences they see between them which were not apparent to me
before the discussion. The feedbacks post presentation will come in very useful (such as:
making the presentation concise and maintaining relevance throughout) while working
out there in the real world where the life of a marketer is sure to involve a lot of
presentations.

Overall, the course has exceeded my expectations while providing me with a solid
understanding of the real world applications of different tools of marketing and
advertisement and the patient guidance and elaborate but relevant discussions encouraged
between the faculty and the students helped to maintain uninhibited and free flow of ideas
and opinions in the classroom.