INTRODUCTION

“With realistic goals for advertising, you can satisfy both those who are investing in the advertising and those
who are creating it.”

Almost every person involved with advertising wants to measure their advertising’s results. Those who pay the
bills want to know the return on their investment, and those creating the advertising want to demonstrate that
their work is effective. Research efforts on the part of advertisers, ad agencies, and the media have helped
quantify the results of advertising. But most continue to face basic questions such as: Does your Advertising
work? How hard does it work? What specifically does it do for your business? Should I increase, maintain, or
decrease spending? What’s the best message I can put in my advertising?

There are no easy answers to these questions. Solutions are a mixture of science and art.

Marketing versus Advertising

Failure sometimes occurs even before the process starts because companies are confused by the apparent
similarity between the purpose of advertising and marketing. Both are meant to encourage consumers to
purchase products and services, however, there is a fundamental difference between the two. Advertising is only
one part of the marketing process, and its job is to deliver messages that have a psychological effect on the
consumer. While marketing, which also includes functions such as public relations, promotion, sales,
packaging, and pricing, has the more inclusive job of moving products and services from the seller to the buyer.

Companies when asked about advertising objectives almost always reply with marketing objectives. If they
have a formal marketing plan, the advertising objectives are typically statements like: to increase sales, or to
expand market share. These are too broad and general, making it almost impossible to measure success. More
specific objectives such as increase sales by 15%, or expand market share by 5% aren’t much better because
they are marketing goals, not advertising goals. Advertising cannot achieve marketing goals all by itself. If a
company wants to measure the results of its advertising, it has to be more specific in the definition of what it
expects to accomplish through the use of advertising.

The Job of Advertising

What part of the total marketing goal can we expect advertising to achieve? Since advertising is a
communications tool, we must assign it a communications task. Its job is to deliver a message that is designed
to stimulate specific consumer behavior. The message you want advertising to deliver must be specific. Keep in
mind that at this stage you are defining what needs to be said, not how to say it—you’re not trying to write a
headline. With a specific communications task that can be performed by advertising, independent of other
marketing efforts, you can measure your advertising’s success.
Where does advertising objectives fall in the marketing plan

Market Consumer Competitive Bran Organizational

Analysis Analysis Analysis d Realities

Advertising in the
Marketing Plan:
The Company’s
overall marketing Marketing Plan
plan determines
promotional Marketing Objectives
objectives and from Sales Objectives
these objectives,
advertising
objectives are
derived. Promotion
objectives specify Advertising
what is to be Objectives
accomplished and
where advertising
fits in. The next step
is to set specific ad
Advertising Strategy
objectives and goals.

Advertising
Tactics
Promotions

Creative
Media Strategy
Strategy
Evolution Of Advertising
‘From a freelance activity to an integral component of the Marketing Plan’

As a business task, advertising has to meet certain clear-cut objectives. In the past, advertising often operated
within organizations almost like a freelance activity. The creative nature of the job often gave it the image of an
activity that could not be subjected to established management norms and controls. This position, however, has
been undergoing changes over the years. The commercial world will not blindly accept costs that cannot yield
measurable results. Since advertising involves heavy costs to the advertiser, it is only natural that advertising
slowly got included in those management activities that are expected to yield results proportional to the effort
and cost involved. The advertiser started asking: "Am I getting
my money’s worth?" Advertising was slowly becoming a Evolution of Advertising
management task, well within the rules of the management
process. People began to expect tangible results from
advertising; and when such evaluation came, the role of Freelance Activity
objectives and goals in advertising became crucial. It came to
be accepted that advertising had to operate with certain well-
defined objectives against which the results of the programme
can be later measured.

Objective driven Activity

NEED FOR ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES
One of the reasons many companies fail to set specific objectives for their advertising and promotional
programs are that they fail to recognize the value of doing so. There are several important reasons for setting
advertising and promotional objectives:

Direction: Advertisement objectives are essential because it helps the marketer to know in advance what they
want to achieve and to ensure that they are proceeding in the right direction. Pin pointing the ad objectives also
helps in making one’s goals real and not imaginary, so that effective ad programmes can be developed for
meeting the objectives .it also guides and controls decision-making in each area and at each stage

Communication: Objectives provide a communication platform for the client, the advertising agency account
executive help coordinate the creative team members and the efforts of copywriters, media specialists, media
buyers and professionals involved advertising research. The advertising programme must also be coordinated
with other promotion mix elements within the company. In fact many problems may be avoided if all the
concerned parties have written objectives to guide their actions and serve as a common base for discussing
related issues

Planning and Decision Making—Specific objectives can be useful as a guide or criterion for decision-making.
Advertising and promotion planners are often faced with a number of strategic and tactical options in areas such
as creative, media, budgeting and sales promotion. Choices among these options should be made on the basis of
how well a strategy or tactic matches the promotional objective.

Measurement and Evaluation of Results—A very important reason for setting specific objectives is that they
provide a benchmark or standard against which success or failure of the campaign can be measured. When
specific objectives are set it becomes easier for management to measure what has been accomplished by the
campaign

Two Distinct Schools Of Thought

What should be or what could be the objectives for advertising? A controversy around this question is still
running hot in the ad world. One school holds that ad has to necessarily bring in more sales and therefore ad
objectives should certainly include sales growth.

The second and diametrically opposite view is that ad is essentially a communication task and it should have
only communication goals, or goals intended to shape the awareness and attitudes of consumers

Advertising
Objectives

Sales Communicatio
Oriented n Oriented
Objectives Objectives

Each of these objectives is explained in detail in the subsequent chapters.

SALES AS AN ADVERTISING OBJECTIVE
Many marketing managers view their advertising and promotional programs from a sales perspective and argue
that sales or some related measure such as market share is the only meaningful goal for advertising and thus
should be the basis for setting objectives. They take the position that the basic reason a firm spends money on
advertising and promotion is to sell its products or services. Thus they argue that any money spent on
advertising should produce measurable sales results.

Example:
There are many companies of low involvement products like confectionery and sweets whose advertising
objective would be solely of sales. However over the time even these companies have realized that sales
cannot be the sole objective of advertising, ad building a brand and establishing a favourable attitude
towards the brand is also important.

Drawback of using sales as the only objective of advertising

Sales are a convenient and really attractive advertising objective for many managers, but except for Direct
Action Advertising, they are usually unsuitable for most advertising. In today’s increasingly competitive market
conditions, marketing and brand managers are often under pressure to show sales results and their perspective is
short term in evaluating advertising. They look for quick fix solutions for declining sales, ignoring the dangers
of linking advertising directly with sales

• Incase of sales as the advertising objective, it would be quite simple to evaluate the results of the ad
campaign. Sales objective however may not be operational in certain cases because advertising is just
one factor among many others that influence sales, to identify the contribution of advertising alone may
really be difficult. Other factors that may have significant effect on sales are product features, price,
distribution, personal selling, publicity, packaging, competitor’s moves, and changing buyer needs.

Example
APPLE computers advertised their iMAC in some selected print media vehicles in India; the ads
were very successful and did in fact draw many potential buyers to dealerships. However in good
number of cases the matter ended there. The problem was not with the ads, the campaign was
very successful attracting and creating product liking but the price and non-availability of
peripherals discouraged them. It would be unfair to measure the success of ads themselves by the
number of Apple computers sold to home users.

• The time lag between audience exposure to an ad and when that ad may lead to an actual sale could be
quite long because majority of the ads usually produce sales effect after a long period of time.

• Sales as an advertising objective, offer little guidance to creative and media people working on the
account. They need some direction regarding what kind of ad message the company hopes to
communicate, who will be the target audience and what specific response from the audience is desired.

Thus advertising objectives that emphasize sales are usually not very operational because they provide little
practical guidance for decision makers. No one argues the desirability of a sales increase, but which campaign
will generate such an increase? If an objective does not contribute useful criteria on which to base subsequent
decision, it cannot fulfill its basic functions.

Again ‘increased sales’ is not a specific goal – it is only a wish for the future. What percentage increase is the
company looking at? By which date? Where are these increased sales going to come from? How are they going
to be achieved? The lucidity of these answers will influence the effectiveness of the company’s advertising
objectives.

Where Sales Objectives for advertising can be applied

In spite of problems that sales objectives pose, there are certain situations when sales objectives can be
appropriate.

• Direct Action Advertising: Some direct action advertising attempts to induce quick response from the
members of the target audience, such as ads offering some kind of incentive, or ads announcing contests,
or encouraging prospects to place orders on phone or through internet. In such cases evaluation is based
on sales results.

• Sales Promotion Programs: Many sales promotion programs have sales objectives since their goal is
often to generate trial or short-term sales increases

Example
Many companies have the “Scratch and Win” offers, which are usually advertised on television. One
such company was VIM bar, which had a scratch and Win offer for about two months.

• Incase of companies where advertising plays a dominant role in the marketing programme and other
elements are relatively stable, sales oriented objectives are used.

There are again many sales oriented objectives, which a particular company can have. They are given in the
following table.
 Types of Sales Oriented Objectives

Type of Sale Media Policy Creative Content Example

Increase

Existing Products
Existing Product Maintain Suggest new uses for your
to Existing users insertions in product, or reasons for
current media more frequent use, building
on existing contacts and
goodwill
Existing Product Consider new Explain the basic benefits
to New users media of your product, and your
company record, to people
unaware of them.
Existing Product Consider Comparison campaigns
to users of rival competitors pointing out the advantages
products – Brand media of the product over rival
switching patterns brands and of changing
established buying habits
DETTOL Antiseptic
advertised on the different
usage of the product, like for
washing baby’s clothes, for
shaving, etc.
PHILIPS, ONIDA launched
their colour television sets in
rural markets and had related
advertisements for it.
FAIREVER advertised to
switch the Fair & Lovely
users to its product.

New Products
New Products to Maintain Explain basic benefits, LAKME introducing new
Existing insertions in building on existing products like Sunscreen
Customers current media contacts and goodwill lotion, Moisturizer with
Peach Flavour, Winter
Cream Lotion with
Strawberry ingredients, etc.
New Products to Consider new Explain the basic benefits FA and NIVEA introducing
New Users media of your product, and your products for men.
company record in other
fields
New Products to Consider Explain basic benefits and PEPSI AHA aimed at
Competitors competitors overcome established advertising itself in bars in
Customers media goodwill. order to switch the alcohol
patterns drinkers to use Pepsi Aha
instead of Thumbs Up as
their mixer in the drink.
COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES
Often when we think of advertising, we just think of great ads that make us laugh or engage us in some manner.
We tend to judge ads by these simple criteria. However, a far more powerful way to look at advertising is by
understanding that advertising is a communication task, with specific communication objectives, and therefore
we need to understand how communication works.

The starting point is an audit of all the potential interactions target customers may have with the product and the
company. For example, someone interested in purchasing a new computer would talk to others, see television
ads, read articles, look for information on the intranet, and observe computers in a store. The marketer needs to
assess which experiences and impressions will have the most influence at each stage of the buying process.
This understanding will help marketers allocate their communication budget more efficiently. To communicate
effectively, marketers need to understand the fundamental elements underlying effective communication.

On the basis of the communication importance, there were eminent personalities who made the communication
models, which help a marketer to understand, how he should go about communicating his product to the target
audience.
All these communication models are centered on the three stages of the buying behaviour of consumers.

The three stages are:

Cognitive Stage
The cognitive component deals with cognition, or knowledge; it is the power of knowing, perceiving or
conceiving ideas about the product. It is dealing with the basic information that a consumer needs to know. A
customer needs to be exposed to the product and understand its usage before he actually purchases it.

Affective Stage
The effective component deals with the affections/emotions. For The Three Stages
example, feelings of likes or dislike towards objects are dealt on
the effective plane. It is at this stage that the consumer will either Cognitive
have preference or liking towards the product or he will develop a
dislike. This stage shows his attitude towards the product, whether Affective
he is for or against the product.

Behaviour Stage Behaviour

This is the stage when the consumer, after having the knowledge
and developing the liking or disliking towards the product, will
ultimately lead into a purchase of the product or rejection of the
product. He would first try the product and develop loyalty
towards it or he is completely convinced that the product is good
and would purchase the product.

Hence there are many models, which are based on these three
stages, which is explained in the next chapter.
MODELS BASED ON THE THREE STAGES OF BUYING BEHAVIOUR

AIDA Hierarchy of effects Innovation – Communications

Stages Model Model Adoption Model Model

Cognitive Exposure
Awareness
Stage

Reception
Attention Awareness

Knowledge
Cognitive response
Affective Liking
Stage Interest Attitude
Interest
Preference

Desire
Conviction Evaluation Intention
Behaviour
stage
Trial
Action
Behaviour
Purchase

Adoption
AIDA MODEL

The AIDA model was presented by Elmo Lewis to explain how personal selling
works. It shows a set of stair-step stages, which describe the process leading a
potential customer to purchase. The stages, Attention, Interest, Desire, and
Action, form a linear hierarchy. It demonstrates that consumers must be aware
of a product’s existence, be interested enough to pay attention to the product’s
features/benefits, and have a desire to benefit from the product’s offerings.
Action, the fourth stage, would come as a natural result of movement through
the first three stages. Although this idea was rudimentary, it led to the later
emerging field of consumer behavior research.

Example: Film Industry

Before the films are to be released, they start with airing their promos on television. Later they use the outdoor
and the press to create more AWARENESS AND ATTENTION. The producers bank on the star cast, music,
locations and the crew of the film to catch the eyes of the public.

To create INTEREST among the consumers, they then release the music and also introduce the theme of the
film. The purchase of the music cassettes and CDs is an indication of the interest generated by their efforts.

Later at the DESIRE stage, along with continuous promos on television, press and hoardings, they have
promotions through contests and movie tickets as prizes. They also have interactive programs like the star cast
of the film visiting different music shops and creating desire among the audience.

After all these promos and activities, if the film is successful in creating interest and desire among the people,
there is immediate ACTION which is seen through purchases of tickets at movie halls.

To illustrate one such movie through the AIDA model is

BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM
A: Promos had David Beckham and Football
I: Introduced Music and Dialogues of film. Also the tagline: “Who wants to cook Aloo Gobi when you
can bend a ball like Beckham.”
D: A fresh movie with a different theme. The film also talked about the success of film overseas
A: Got 3– and 4–star ratings and publicized that in promos.
HIERARCHY OF EFFECTS MODEL

Hierarchy of effects Model can be explained with the help of a pyramid. First the lower level objectives such
as awareness, knowledge or comprehension are accomplished. Subsequent objectives may focus on moving
prospects to higher levels in the pyramid to elicit desired behavioral responses such as associating feelings with
the brand, trial, or regular use etc. it is easier to accomplish ad objectives located at the base of the pyramid than
the ones towards the top. The percentage of prospective customers will decline as they move up the pyramid
toward more action oriented objectives, such as regular brand use.

Awareness: if most of the target audience is

unaware of the object, the communicator’s task is
to build awareness, perhaps just name recognition,
with simple messages repeating the product name.
Consumers must become aware of the brand. This
isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Capturing
someone’s attention doesn’t mean they will notice
the brand name. Thus, the brand name needs to be
made focal to get consumers to become aware.
Awareness Teaser campaigns Magazines are full of ads that will capture your
Pioneering ads attention, but you’ll have trouble easily seeing the
Jingles/ slogans brand name.
Internet banners
Announcements Knowledge: the target audience might have
Knowledge Informative ads product awareness but not know much more; hence
this stage involves creating brand knowledge. This
is where comprehension of the brand name and
what it stands for become important. What are the brand’s specific appeals, its benefits? In what way is it
different than competitor’s brands? Who is the target market? These are the types of questions that must be
answered if consumers are to achieve the step of brand knowledge.
Descriptive ads
Image/ celebrity
Liking
Liking: if target members know the product, how do they feel about it? If the audience looks unfavourably
Demonstration of
towards the product to communicator has to find out why. If the unfavourable view is based on real problems, a
benefits
communication campaigns alone cannot do the job. For product problem it is necessary to first fix the problem
and only then can you communicate its renewed quality.

Preference: the target audienceCompetitive adsproduct but not prefer it to others. In this case, the
might like the
Persuasive copy
communicator must try to build consumer preference by promoting quality, value, performance and other
Preference
features. The communicator canComparative ads success by measuring audience preference before and
check the campaigns
after the campaign. Testimonials

Conviction: a target audience might prefer a particular product but not develop a conviction about buying it.
The communicator’s job is to build conviction among the target audience.
Direct-action retail ads
Conviction
Purchase: finally, some members of the target audience
Point-of-purchase ads might have conviction but not quite get around to
making the purchase. They may Price
wait for more information
deal offers or plan to act later. The communicator must need
these consumers to take the final step, perhaps by offering the product at a low price, offering a premium, or
letting consumers tried out. This is where consumers make a move to actually search out information or
purchase.
Reminder ads
Purchase Informative “why”
ads
FCB GRID
‘High involvement/low involvement and rational vs. Emotional appeals’

How to achieve a good brand attitude is, in fact, rather complex. But to make it simple, we can break it down
into some basic steps. The first step is to determine whether what you sell is a high involvement or low
involvement product.

Think of a high involvement product as one that is risky and important for customers. If you sell a product
that is mission critical to a customer (that is, if it doesn’t work, the customer’s business doesn’t work), then it is
clearly a high involvement product. Alternatively, low involvement products are not that important or risky to
customers.

A decision must be made about how you will influence the customer’s attitude. Two broad ways exist for doing
this. One is through a rational persuasion approach (Also known as the ‘THINK’), the other is through an
emotional appeal (also known as the ‘FEEL’). In fact, you see these different types of approaches used all the
time in television and print advertising.

How you make this decision depends on what you know about your customers. If you were trying to change an
engineer’s attitude, for example, a rational approach would typically (but not always) be best. An artist might be
approached more with an emotional appeal. The more you know about your customers, the easier this decision
will be.

With an understanding of the nature of your customer’s involvement and the approach you will take, it is
relatively easy to see the different strategies that should be used to achieve a good brand attitude. These are
listed in the table below, and they are all based on research in persuasion and marketing.

As an example of what the table says, consider trying to change the attitude of a customer who is very involved
in the product and appears susceptible to rational persuasion. You should use multiple facts, expert and credible
sources, scientific evidence, etc.

By looking at this table you can easily see how so many companies (especially Internet companies) who try to
make fun ads with lots of music are assuming they are selling a low-involvement product to people who want
an emotional appeal. But are they? Not always, and this suggests they won’t do a good job persuading
customers to like their brand.

High Involvement
• Very important decision
• Lot to lose if you choose the wrong brand
• Decision requires lot of thought

Low Involvement
• Unimportant decision
• Little to lose if you choose the wrong brand
• Decision requires little thought

Think or Rational approach

• Decision is mainly logical or objective
• Decision is based on mainly on functional facts
• Decision is not based on a lot of feeling
• Decision does not express one’s personality
• Decision is not based on looks, tastes, touch, smell, or sound (sensory effects)
Feel or Emotional approach
• Decision is not mainly logical or objective
• Decision is not based on mainly on functional facts
• Decision is based on a lot of feeling
• Decision does express one’s personality
• Decision is based on looks, tastes, touch, smell, or sound (sensory effects)

A marketer can use the FCB Grid for its advertising strategy; depending on which quadrant his product falls
into.

Think or Rational Feel or Emotional

Approach Approach

Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2
High Informative (Economic) Affective (Psychological)
Involvement Learn – Feel – Do Feel – Learn – Do
Ex. Cars, appliances, and Ex. Cosmetics, jewelry, and
insurance. fashion clothing.

Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4
Low Habitual (Responsive) Satisfaction (Social)
Involvement Do – Learn – Feel Do – Feel – Learn
Ex. Consumer goods, Ex. "life’s little pleasures" such as
gasoline beer, cigarette, and candy/sweets.

Communication strategies for each quadrant

Quadrant 1
• Convey multiple facts that illustrate the basic message
• Use expert/credible sources
• Present scientific evidence
• Use 2 sided appeals
• Present weakest arguments first
• Use comparative advertising

Example
Cars: HYUNDAI SANTRO Zip Plus
This car is a variant of the flagship brand Hyundai Santro. When the car was launched, it focused on
more powerful engine. As it continuously upgraded the model, it focused on automatic
transmission, the result of which was seen as footfalls and test-drives.
(Look for press ad)

Quadrant 2
• Use dramas
• Use sources similar to your customers
• Try to create empathy and a vicarious emotional experience
• Strong visuals
• Large spreads
• TV with visual impact

Example
PROVOGUE continuously advertises its line of garments as being endorsed by popular models and
actors, the latest one being Fardeen Khan. Instead of talking about fabrics or colours, it always talks
about the aspirational value of wearing a Provogue outfit.

Quadrant 3
• Don’t use comparative ads
• Use one-sided appeals
• Use credible/expert source
• Present strongest arguments first
• Use a large number of arguments
• Draw a conclusion
• Reminder ads and repetition
• Catchy music and slogans
• Small space ads
• Point of sale ads

Example
SUNDROP advertised its Sunflower oil as ‘the healthy oil for healthy people’. Throughout the ads, it
made the golden yellow colour of Sunflower dominant.

Quadrant 4
• Create a likable ad via the use of music, celebrities, humor, attractive visuals
• Use likable sources
• Attention getting
• Impulse purchase
• Billboards
• Newspapers
• Point of sale

Example
Pan Pasand, in its ads, talked about how having a Pan Pasand lozenge changes moods from anger to
polite and loving.
DAGMAR

In 1961, Russel H. Colley wrote a book under the sponsorship of the Association of National Advertisers called
Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results. The book introduced what has become
known as the DAGMAR approach to advertising planning and included a precise method for selecting and
quantifying goals and for using those goals to measure performance.
DAGMAR approach can be summarized as ‘Defining Advertising Goals’. An advertising goal is a specific
communication task to be accomplished among a defined audience in a given period of time.
In DAGMAR the communication task is based on the model of communication process

DAGMAR has changed the way advertising objectives were created and the way that advertising results were
measured. It introduced the concept of communication objectives like awareness, comprehension, image, and
attitude. The point was made that such goals are more appropriate for advertising than in some measure like
sales, which can have multiple causes.

DAGMAR also focused attention upon measurement, encouraging people to create objectives so specific and
operational that they can be measured.

Unawareness/Awareness

Comprehension

Conviction

Action

Characteristics of Objectives: a major contribution of DAGMAR was Colley’s specification of what

constitutes a good objective. Four requirements or characteristics of good objectives were noted
Concrete and measurable—the communications task or objective should be a precise statement of what appeal
or message the advertiser wants to communicate to the target audience. Furthermore the specification should
include a description of the measurement procedure

Target audience –a key tenet to DAGMAR is that the target audience be well defined. For example –if the goal
was to increase awareness, it is essential to know the target audience precisely. The benchmark measure cannot
be developed without a specification of the target segment

Benchmark and degree of change sought—another important part of setting objectives is having benchmark
measures to determine where the target audience stands at the beginning of the campaign with respect to various
communication response variables such as awareness, knowledge, attitudes, image, etc. The objectives should
also specify how much change or movement is being sought such as increase in awareness levels, creation of
favorable attitudes or number of consumers intending to purchase the brand, etc. a benchmark is also a
prerequisite to the ultimate measurement of results, an essential part of any planning program and DAGMAR in
particular.
Specified time period—a final characteristic of good objectives is the specification of the time period during
which the objective is to be accomplished, e.g. 6months, 1 year etc. The time period should be appropriate for
the communication objective as simple tasks such as increasing awareness levels can be accomplished much
faster than a complex goal such as repositioning a brand. All parties involved will understand that the results
will be available for evaluating the campaign, which could lead to a contraction, expansion or change in the
current effort. With a time period specified a survey to generate a set if measures can be planned and
anticipated.

Written Goal - finally goals should be committed to paper. When the goals are clearly written, basic
shortcomings and misunderstandings become exposed and it becomes easy to determine whether the goal
contains the crucial aspects of the DAGMAR approach.

Limitations of DAGMAR—There are certain problems and limitations to DAGMAR, which should be
discussed. These include:

Measurement problems: With the adoption of DAGMAR model, the measurement becomes a problem. The
marketers question that what should they actually measure? Is it attitude, awareness or brand comprehension?
Example: The VIP Feelings advertisements for ladies undergarments could be successful changing the
attitude towards the brand VIP that was associated to be a man’s wear, or it could be successful in
creating awareness that VIP has started a new line of product for ladies too. Evaluating and measuring
this form one single advertisement is difficult.

Noise in the system: DAGMAR assumes that the awareness and liking of the brand can be achieved through
advertising alone. But the underlying fact is that there are many other variables such as competitive promotion,
unplanned publicity, word of mouth, simple discussion with peers, new paper articles etc all create awareness of
the brand. Thus there are many other elements other than advertising in the hierarchy chain that create
awareness. Example: Tupperware is famous in Indian cities. It has happened only through personal
selling and networking. Advertising has had no role in it.

Inhibiting great idea: The more defined and concrete objective of the client brief, the less creative the
advertisement will be, as a result, the effectiveness of the advertisement is reduced. Example: A campaign
with all music and warm human visuals is be loved by everybody but it would fail to meet the company’s
standard. Thus a wonderful campaign would be evaluated on wrong criteria.

Hierarchy of Effects Model

DAGMAR attacks the basic hierarchy model, which postulates a set of steps of awareness, comprehension, and
attitude leading to action. The counterargument is that it is possible that action may precede awareness.
Example: The foreign chocolates, which are bought by people from the departmental stores, are not
advertised, but still people buy them. It is later that the advertising for the product is done, or sometimes
it is not done at all. Another example would be that action is preceded the attitude formation and
comprehension with the impulse purchase of a low involvement product.
 Example:
Sundrop
Background Scenario:
• Mid 1980’s, ITC decided to diversify, chose edible oil business.
• Market was rapidly growing; demand was much greater than supply.
• ITC had the requisite skills and relationship with farmers through Leaf Tobacco Division.

Market consisted of:

• Filtered Oils
• Refined Oils (urban areas primarily)
• Hydrogenated fats (Vanaspati)

Changes in the market:

• Shift from unrefined to refined oils due to:
• Increasing affluence
• Purity of oil
• Awareness of health
• Shift from traditional oils (mustard, groundnut, coconut) to ‘newer’ oils (safflower, Sunflower, Soya)

Marketing Objectives:
• Leadership in the edible refined oil segment, through proving the consumer a superior quality product at
competitive prices in different pack sizes.
• Accordingly production and distribution network was carefully planned.

Competition:
• Saffola (Safflower oil) also used the health platform but was associated with heart patients and less taste
• Flora and Sunola (Sunflower oils)

Naming the brand:

‘Sundrop’ cued the product category, suggested ‘Purity’

Market Research:
• Revealed low brand loyalty, except for ‘Postman’
• Key attributes: taste, quality (purity, colour, odour), health and value for money.

Target Consumer Defined:

• Modern, Aware, educated housewife, age 21 – 44 years, using refined branded oils, primarily groundnut
oil, who was concerned about the well-being and health of her family.

Positioning the brand:

• Taste, Price or Health?
 Health was chosen as the platform, along with a supporting claim for taste. People who were healthy and
energetic were concerned about the long-term prospects of their health. Thus ‘Health’
• Was related to maintenance of good health
• Was applicable to all members of the family
• Was characterized by lively energetic people
• Thus the positioning: ‘The Healthy Oil for Healthy People’

Advertising Goals:
Communication task:
1. Position Sundrop as the healthy oil for healthy people
2. Ensure that this did not erode the delivery of the taste benefit.

• Positioning had to be perceptually as far away from Saffola.

• Young, modern and premium feel
• Execution had to be distinct and original to stand out from the clutter

Execution:
• Did not use the clichéd family at dinner table scene with pack shot at the end.
• Instead featured a lively and energetic kid, a symbol of good health.
• Use of yellow colour throughout to reinforce associations with the brand.
• Pouring oil becomes Sundrop logo

Results:

• Within 6 months, Sundrop became the largest selling refined sunflower oil.
• Redefined the category and expanded the Sunflower oil segment from 2.71% to 23% in 6 months, and
42% in 1997
• Still the largest selling sunflower oil brand holds 15% of branded oil market.
• The ad was shown for over 10 years as the main theme film.
Advertising Objectives in relation to Product Life Cycle

After understanding the different models used for advertising objectives, we can relate them to the product life
cycle of a brand. It is seen clearly from the following diagram. It also enlightens the three kinds of
advertisements, which is commonly used over the product life cycle. This helps a marketer to understand where
exactly does his product lie, and what kind of advertisements he needs in order to meet its objectives.

Informative:
It is used to develop initial demand, typically used in the introductory stage of the PLC

Example: Print ad of a Printer giving details about its specifications

Persuasive:
It is used to increase demand for an existing product. It has a competitive type of promotion and is typically
used in the growth and early maturity stage of the PLC

Example McDonald’s Print Ad

Reminder:
It is used to reinforce previous promotion by keeping the name of the product before the market, typically used
in the late maturity and decline stage of the PLC

Example: Chlormint, also Amul has constant reminder ads using humour related to current events.

Be your kid’s
favourite parent.
LIST OF COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES

Thus the different types of communication objectives that a company can have are listed below.

Introduction of new products: For the new products or services, reminder advertising is clearly inapplicable.
Here the task is one of basic education – informing potential customers of the benefits they will reap by
purchasing the new product.

Example
Livon Silky Potion, when introduced, the ads differentiated the product from the shampoos and
conditioners by explaining usage the product, positioning it to be better than the
conditioners and how hair become very manageable and silky after using it.

Overcoming Resistance/Changing Attitude: Many companies seem to assume that the public is merely
waiting for a suitable advertising message to stimulate them into buying the product. But the people are wary of
buying unfamiliar products and the retailers are equally shy of stocking the lines unknown to their customers.
More than often, people are hostile.

Example
As in the case of KAMASUTRA condoms – people were against the use and had a negative impression of
using condoms. Their approach was that of being high resistance. This was because they saw condoms as
a means of protection. Hence KAMASUTRA had a task of selling not only the product, but also the
desire of ‘The pleasure of making love’. Hence in all their advertisements they have brought the factor.

Reminding customers: A company has to constantly remind users of their wares. The human memory is very
short and frequent reminders are necessary. Moreover, there are innumerable distracting factors, which soon
make memory fade. There is also competition for attention faced from the makers of totally different products.
Taking a still wider view of the many selling influences at work to make people forget your product – the latest
news at home or abroad, the activities of family and friends, new events at work and the latest films and
television programmes- all make the consumers mind divert and forget your product. The manufacturer who
wants his product ad name to be remembered amid the host of competing products and brand names will go for
high public attention.

Further more, constant reminders through advertisements can enhance the company’s reputation and standing
and play their part in cementing customer loyalty.

Example
SANTOOR constantly touched the consumer with its theme of ‘mistaken identity’. It raised the
aspirations of a woman of looking younger.

Reinforcement advertising: Related to reminder advertising is reinforcement advertising, which seeks to

assure current purchasers that they have made the right choice. Automobile Ads often depict satisfied customers
enjoying special features of their new car.

Example: Hyundai Santro had some ads quoting how customers were satisfied with the ‘Mobile’ service
that helped them in a difficult situation. This is a classic example of reinforcement advertising.
New customers from other brands: One must try to find out which existing users of the competing brand are
the most dissatisfied with it and target these switchable consumers. Alternatively one should try to acquire those
customers of the competing brand who are the most likely to grow their sales volume in the years to come.
And/or are the most profitable. For many product categories about 20% of the customers (heavy users) are
likely to account for 50% of the sales volume and profits and are clearly worth focusing on as new brand users.

Example
ARIEL v/s SURF: When Ariel was launched, it showed comparisons between itself and a known
detergent (Surf packet without its name). Through its ads, it showed how it was better than Surf and thus
wanting to shift the Surf users to Ariel.

New customers from other categories: Another approach is to attract people from those not now using the
product class. The firm in the industry that has the highest market share, the largest distribution, the biggest
sales force and the highest awareness is the one most likely to get the sale from a customer just entering the
product category.

Example
PEPSI might conclude that it is easier to get young coffee drinkers to switch from coffee to PEPSI, than it
is to switch COKE drinkers to PEPSI
UJALA, when it entered the market, proved itself better than Neel (blue) and made the users shift to it.

On the other hand such a strategy makes much less sense for a smaller firm that runs the risk that the segment
member who is induced to try the product class may buy from a larger competitor.

Example
A small cellular phone manufacturer might waste its money if it ran ads telling people why cellular
phones in general were useful for personal or business reasons. A consumer seeing those ads might decide
that, yes they need a cellular phone, but might then end up buying the better-known MOTOROLA or
NOKIA.

Brand Image / Company Image: The company needs to have a favourable image of it brand in the eyes of the
customers. For this reason, the company undertakes various campaigns to build the brand and the company.
This will enhance the preference of the customers to use the particular brand in the market of numerous brands.
There are various factors that contribute to the favourable brand image. They are:

• Unique Selling Proposition

Example: SAFFOLA previously advertised the feature of its oil, which said that its consumption
would not lead to any heart problems.

• Brand Personality
Example: MCDONALDS - Family oriented, Genuine, wholesome, cheerful, fun

• Performance
Example: MRF Tyres run huge ads in print media on the onset of monsoon, telling users to trust
MRF for monsoon. Also, in all its ads it talks about the awards it has won over the years, as ‘the
best tyres for Indian roads’.
Creating awareness of new products/brands and new developments in the company:
Present customers may know the products of a company, but they may not know the improvements made or the
new lines added to their range. Firms devote a great deal of time, money and effort in improving their products,
but this is of little purpose if the customers are left in the dark about them. Potential customers will not become
purchasers unless they know of the new developments and advertising helps to keep them informed.
Furthermore, changes in you product line may open up new market segments for whom the earlier products
were not of interest.

Example
PERK introduced the “PERK XL and PERK XXL” at the competitive price. They have used ‘Preeti
Zinta’ in their advertisements.
Ponds have a range of product, which was introduced consecutively, and it is constantly advertised on
television and other mediums.

Supporting other sales promotion activities: Many times the company introduces sales promotion activities
for its consumers. For this, they advertise on different mediums to support the sales promotion program
in meeting its objectives.

Example
FILMFARE uses hoardings at the latter part of the month to advertise about the freebie attached with
the next month’s issue.

Increasing usage: It is possible to increase the usage of existing customers in the product class. In essence the
goal would be to increase the amount consumed per usage occasion.

Example
CLINIC PLUS – recommended through its advertisement, that its shampoo must be used three times in a
week – “Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday.”

The other way could be to suggest new usage occasions and opportunities.

Example
ZANDU BALM – the advertisement depicted the various pains that could be relived through Zandu
Balm, without even visiting the doctor.

CADBURY’S DAIRY MILK – which showed the marriage scenario and how people consumed Dairy
Milk instead of the usual Mithais.

Increasing brand loyalty: The company is not the only one in the market who advertises its product. The
competitors are perpetually trying to steal their customers away or trying to increase their own share of
requirements. It is very important therefore to recognize the effect that advertising has on reinforcing the
present customers, existing preference for the company’s brand. (Though actual experience with the product is
probably the bigger determinant of brand satisfaction and loyalty)

Example
INDIAN EXPRESS ad ‘Hammer home the truth, we do it everyday’ was meant primarily for the
existing readers of Indian Express, to promote brand loyalty. The ad conveyed the ‘true journalism’
aspect of the Indian Express.
Umbrella campaigns: Many organizations are found active in many activities and have multiple brands for
different categories, with separate divisions marketing separate products to separate markets via separate
advertising and selling campaigns. Many such organizations realize that linking their self-contained business
operations would benefit all component companies.
Hence through one advertising campaign, all the products of the company are exposed to the audience. This
also builds up the image of the company and all its brands.

Example
AMUL - REAL TASTE OF INDIA campaign that was quite successful.
Other umbrella campaigns are that of CAMLIN, WIPRO, ADITYA BIRLA GROUP, PARLE ‘world of
happiness’, etc.

Campaign to push declining sales: In this the purpose of the campaign may not be to increase or stabilize
sales, but to hold off a decline. This overall category masks various types of decline for which different
advertising approaches are necessary. One advertising campaign may have as its purpose countering the natural
decline in the market. Another purpose might be to sustain an existing brand against competition. Other
purposes might be to slow down a permanent trend or to reverse a temporary decline.

Where the market for the company’s product is steadily diminishing, it is unwise to expect advertising to work
miracles and reverse the permanent trend: it may however be able to make some contribution by slowing the
rate of decline, thus giving the company time to seek new opportunities in other directions. Whereas advertising
can make a far more positive contribution is in countering temporary falls in sales. Positive advertising,
emphasizing value for money, can help people adjust more swiftly to the new conditions.

Example
RASNA was a declining product even after being in the market for 4 years and even though it was an
entirely new concept of a branded soft drink concentrate. In 1982 non-aerated soft drink market was
estimated at around Rs 13 crores. Squashes and syrups were the leading product categories, accounting
for 84% of the market. Soft drink concentrates had a share of 7% only. It was recognized that there
existed a good potential market for Rasna, if advertised properly.

Advertising objectives:
To persuade consumers to try RASNA by creating / reawakening their interest in the brand

Target audience:
Housewives in the age group of 20+and with household income of Rs 750+ p.m

Influencer:
This was perhaps for the first time in the history of Indian advertising that the child was recognized as
the major influencer in the purchase of a household product

Campaign evaluation:
The consumers off take shot upto Rs 1.44crores. Market share increased from 6%in 1982 to 9%in 1983.
Share of syrups declined by 4%

Campaign to counter natural decline of the market: Reminder advertisements can be effective in
maintaining sales, but the company must face up to the fact that the existing customers, through no fault of
yours, are steadily decreasing in number. The manufacturer who claims there is no need to advertise because he
has all the business he needs ignore the fact that people leave the area of the country, or the people have
sophisticated themselves and use better products. The quality of the product may remain as high as ever, but the
sales will steadily decline through the natural diminution of the existing market.
Example
Print media advertising that “nothing can replace print”

Social objective: There are many companies or institutions, which have social advertisements. These
advertisements focus mainly on some social issue like–Aids, Cancer, Anti–Tobacco, Safe Driving, etc.

The companies mainly advertise on these grounds because each company needs to fulfill some social
responsibilities, and also these kinds of advertisements, might enhance their company image and value.

Example
LOWE Advertising Agency, has a hoarding on the Pedder Road, Mumbai which emphasizes on different
social messages such as AIDS etc.

FCB ULKA Advertising Agency has a hoarding on the busy road near Pedder Road, Mumbai that said
“Drive Safely”

Generating trial purchases and store visits

Many companies and stores insert coupons in print media to come to the store and exchange them for trials.
Also, sometimes they have advertisements for more footfalls in the store.

Example
When KWALITY WALL’S opened its outlets, it had coupons in newspapers, giving free ice cream in
exchange of those coupons on the first day of the outlets.

Recent campaign by MCDONALD’S talking about the ‘Aao Match Karein’, where consumers come to
the store and match different words on the packages of its products

Motivating the channel to stock the product: Many a time the advertisements are directed not towards the
consumers, but the retail shops/channels, in order to motivate them to stock their brands.

Example
This was an advertisement directed to the video library owners to stock videocassettes made by the STAR
VIDEO PVT Ltd. This ad was released in 1987 in the press medium.

Another example would be of the Life insurance agents’ ads, which attract and induce young professional
to join the insurance company as life insurance agent.

Product positioning and brand building: When the products are launched, they are usually positioned at a
platform enabling the consumers to relate to the product. This is called the positioning of the brand. Companies
position their brand to make it stand out from the other brands in the market. Positioning is to appeal to a
specific target audience and induce them to buy the product. Once the product is positioned at a particular
platform, the companies need to constantly remind the consumers and build brand. This also involves many
stages and the marketer needs to communicate to the audience at each stage. This thus becomes one more
advertising objective for the company.

Example
SAINT GOBAIN is a classic example for this point. It positioned itself as ‘So Clear, So Real, Glass from
Saint Gobain’ Their ads are also focused on how the SAINT GOBAIN glass can be mistaken for no glass
at all – it feels so real’.
Countering competition: The market today is no longer a one–man show. There are innumerable companies,
all of them having their own products to offer. In such a situation, a company needs to constantly advertise to
remain in the minds of the consumers. With the MNCs entering India, a lot of Indian companies have been
facing tough competition. Most companies position their products so as to differentiate their brands from the
competition.

Example
MOOV used its competitor IODEX’s negative point in its advertisements. It showed how the usage of
IODEX (name not revealed in the ad) left stains in the clothes making other people know about it. The
tagline said “Kissi Se Kuch na Batai”

Responding to a campaign, IODEX launched a big campaign where it had a character entering a shop
and refusing to take MOOV, which was offered by the shopkeeper and said ‘No, Move, Move’.

Repositioning the brand: Sometimes, the company’s product is not accepted in the market with its original
features. Thus in order to change the image and become favourable in the eyes of the consumers, they need to
reposition their brand.

Example
MARUTI OMNI had to reposition itself clearly different from the Maruti car in the potential buyer’s
minds. They also had to enhance the image and personal values of the brand. It also had to generate at
least short-term growth in sales to match current production potential.
Their ads had a vivid demonstration of the spacious car, positioning, and each presenting the van’s
spaciousness from a new unexpected viewpoint.
STRENGTHENING ATTITUDE AS AN ADVERTISING OBJECTIVE
Attitude is the central theme in advertising management

What is attitude?
Attitudes are usually defined as a disposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain
thing (idea, object, person, and situation). They encompass, or are closely related to, our opinions and beliefs
and are based upon our experiences. Since attitudes often relate in some way to interaction with others, they
represent an important link between cognitive and social psychology.

The traditionally accepted view of attitude is that it is made up of three into related components-cognitive,
affective and behaviour/conative.

• The cognitive component deals with cognition, The Three Stages

or knowledge; it is the faculty of knowing or perceiving are Cognitive
conceiving ideas; it is this year dealing with knowledge. Realm of thoughts.
Ads provide information and facts.
• The effective component deals with the
affections/emotions. For example, feelings of lights or
dislike towards objects are dealt on the effective plane. Affective
• And the conative/behaviour component deals Realm of emotions.
Ads change attitudes and feelings
with the behaviour or action.

The three components together shape what is known as Behaviour

‘attitude’. Realm of motives.
Ads stimulate or direct desires.

Attitude changed, main concern of communicators

Attitude changed on the part of the target audience is the main
concern of marketing communicators. People normally resist
change and dislike someone trying to influence the attitudes,
especially when those attitudes are strongly held and cherished
by them. Still, attitude changes do take place perennially,
because attitudes are not static. The advertising communicators
know that attitudes are permeable and maneuverable through
appropriate means. He does not venture to bluntly attack the
strong held attitudes of its target audience. Instead his attempts
are a persuasive process of communication, the process
sometimes lasting for years, spread probably over several
campaigns. But the fact remains that his job is audience
persuasion, i.e. shaping the attitude of the audience in his favour. And the advertising message is his tool.

How is attitude linked to advertising?

Attitude is a very personal issue. Each individual’s attitude is different from others. When a product is
introduced, the company needs to understand its target audience. The company needs to understand the attitude
of the target audience towards its brand. If this attitude is negative, the company first needs to build a positive
attitude towards its brand. Once the attitude is favourable toward the product, the company needs to strengthen
it and make its audience brand loyal. But this is not that easy as it sounds.
I have a new product, a soft drink - Cola, and I want to get it out on the market. I must convince people that they
want and need my product. They have been drinking Coke or Pepsi for the past 20 years, and they like it. If I
want to have a shot in the cola industry, I need to change some attitude, and advertising is the way to do it.

When changing attitudes through advertising, there are many factors to consider. One must choose:
• a source who is attractive to the target audience,
• a message that will break through the clutter, and
• a channel that will maximize comprehension.

Television gives us more information than any other medium. It is where we go when we want information on
breaking news, and it gets more credibility ratings than newspaper.

The Message and the Source

People pay more attention to messages and sources that are unusual, prestigious, loud, and exotic. They also
prefer messages that are controversial, interesting, and surprising.

Attention- Selective Exposure

We cannot absorb all information, so we select information that will be useful to us. We seek information that:
• Increases our understanding
• Does not attack our self esteem
• Helps us adjust in the world
• Lets us express our attitudes

Comprehension
To get maximum comprehension from a message:
• Choose a source the audience knows
This is why celebrity endorsements are so prevalent today. People connect better with sources they
know and trust.
• Word the message so it connects with a specific audience
This is easier than ever with the segmentation of audience due to cable television. Some companies give
a message in several ways to several audiences.
• Pick a channel that allows the message to be fully understood
• Understand the defensiveness of the audience

Retention
Powerful sources that are ever-present are more likely to increase retention. We remember sources that are
attractive to us. Also, repetition increases retention. Radio and television can increase repetition more than
personal selling or face-to-face can.

Brand Attitude
A focus on brand attitude is another type of advertising objective. This objective is more appropriate to the
stage of growth and maturity in the product life cycle. The brand attitude objective could be either one among
enhancing or maintaining the current brand attitude, changing the current brand attitude, or creating the new
brand attitude. Of these options, the most difficult task is to change the current brand attitude because
consumers already typically have certain types of attitudes toward established products.
 5 Ms OF ADVERTISING
Message

Message
generation
Message
evaluation
& selection
Message
Money execution
Social
Mission responsibili
Factors to ty review Measurement
consider:
Stage in PLC
Sales Market share
goals Communica
and
Advertisi tion impact
consumer
ng Sales
base
objective impact
Competition
s and clutter
Advertising Media
frequency
Product
substitutabilit Reach,
y frequency,
impact
Major
media
types
Specific
media
vehicles
Media
timing
Geographic
al media
allocation
While making an Advertising program five Ms should be taken into consideration, they are:

MISSION: What are the Advertising objectives?

MONEY: How much can be spent? (Advertising budget)
MESSAGE: What message should be sent?
MEDIA: What media should be used?
MEASUREMENT: How should the results be evaluated?

After the Target Market, market positioning and marketing mix decisions have been taken the First step n
developing an Advertising Program is

1. MISSION OR SETTING THE ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES

Advertising Objectives can be classified as to whether their aim is:

To inform: This aim of Advertising is generally true during the pioneering stage of a product category, where
the objective is building a primary demand.
This may include:
• Telling the market about a new product
• Suggesting new uses for a product
• Informing the market of a price change
• Informing how the product works
• Describing available services
• Correcting false impressions
• Reducing buyers’ fears
• Building a company image

To persuade: Most advertisements are made with the aim of persuasion. Such advertisements aim at building
selective brand.

To remind: Such advertisements are highly effective in the maturity stage of the product. The aim is to keep
the consumer thinking about the product.

2. MONEY

This M deals with deciding on the Advertising Budget

The advertising budget can be allocated based on:
• Departments or product groups
• The calendar
• Media used
• Specific geographic market areas

There are five specific factors to be considered when setting the Advertising budget.
 • Stage in PLC: New products typically receive large advertising budgets to build awareness and to gain
consumer trial. Established brands are usually supported with lower advertising budgets as a ratio to
sales.
• Market Share and Consumer base: high-market-share brands usually require less advertising
expenditure as a percentage of sales to maintain their share. To build share by increasing market size
requires larger advertising expenditures. Additionally, on a cost-per-impressions basis, it is less
expensive to reach consumers of a widely used brand them to reach consumers of low-share brands.
• Competition and clutter: In a market with a large number of competitors and high advertising
spending, a brand must advertise more heavily to be heard above the noise in the market. Even simple
clutter from advertisements not directly competitive to the brand creates the need for heavier
advertising.
• Advertising frequency: the number of repetitions needed to put across the brands message to
consumers has an important impact on the advertising budget.
• Product substitutability: brands in the commodity class (example cigarettes, beer, soft drinks) require
heavy advertising to establish a different image. Advertising is also important when a brand can offer
unique physical benefits or features.

3. MESSAGE GENERATION

Message generation can be done in the following ways:

Inductive: By talking to consumers, dealers, experts and competitors. Consumers are the major source of good
ideas. Their feeling about the product, its strengths, and weaknesses gives enough information that could aid the
Message generation process.

Deductive: John C. Meloney proposed a framework for generating Advertising Messages.

According to him, a buyer expects four types of rewards from a product:
 Rational
 Sensory
 Social
 Ego Satisfaction.

Buyers might visualize these rewards from:

 Results-of-use Experience
 Product-in-use Experience
 Incidental-to-use Experience

The Matrix formed by the intersection of these four types of rewards and the three types of experiences is given
below.

POTENTIAL TYPE OF REWARD (Sample Messages)

Rational Sensory Social Ego Satisfaction
Result-of-Use 1. Gets Clothes 2. Settles Stomach 3. When you care 4. For the skin you
Experience Cleaner upset completely enough to serve the deserve to have
best
Product-in- 5. The flour that 6. Real gusto in a 7. A deodorant to 8. The store for
Use needs no sifting great light beer guarantee social young executive
Experience acceptance
Incidental-to- 9. The plastic 10. The portable 11. The furniture 12. Stereo for the
 Use pack keeps the television that’s that identifies the man with
Experience cigarette fresh lighter in weight, home of modern discriminating taste
easier to lift people

Message evaluation and selection

The advertiser needs to evaluate the alternative messages. A good ad normally focuses on one core selling
proposition.

Messages can be rated on desirability, exclusiveness and believability. The message must first say
something desirable or interesting about the product.

The message must also say something exclusive or distinct that does not apply to every brand in the product
category. Above all, the message must be believable or provable.

Message execution.
The message’s impact depends not only upon what is said but also on how it is said. Some ads aim for
rational positioning and others for emotional positioning.

While executing a message the style, tone, words, and format for executing the message should be kept in mind.

STYLE. Any message can be presented in any of the following different execution styles, or a combination of
them:

• Slice of life: Shows one or more persons using the product in a normal setting.
Example: Coke 1litre ad, showed a family enjoying Coke, with a game of antakshari when there is a
power failure.

• Lifestyle: Emphasizes how a product fits in with a lifestyle.

Example: Collection, Asmi and Platinum ads, that focus on lifestyle of persons using their products.

•Fantasy: Creates a fantasy around the product or its use.

Example: VIP Frenchie ads, showing a woman thinking of the Frenchie man saving her from a villain.

•Mood or image: Evokes a mood or image around the product, such as beauty, love, or serenity. No
claim is made about the product except through suggestion.
Example: Kingfisher Beer ads, saying the King of Good Times.

• Musical: Uses background music or shows one or more persons or cartoon characters singing a song
involving the product.
Example: Ads of Old Spice After Shave Lotion

• Personality symbol: Creates a character that personifies the product. The character might be animated
Example: Ronald McDonald for McDonald’s

• Technical expertise: Shows the company’s expertise, experience, and pride in making the product.
Example: GE and Skoda ads
 • Scientific evidence: Presents survey or scientific evidence that the brand is preferred over or
outperforms other brands. This style is common in the over-the-counter drug category.
Example: DuraCell Ads, claiming the battery lasts 6 times longer than ordinary batteries

• Testimonial evidence: This features a highly credible, likable, or expert source endorsing the product.
It could be a celebrity or ordinary people saying how much they like the product.
Example: In ads for Sunsilk, they had hair expert Coleen, endorsing the product.

TONE :
The communicator must also choose an appropriate tone for the ad.
Example: Procter & Gamble is consistently positive in its tone—its ads say something superlatively
positive about the product, and humor is almost always avoided so as not to take mention away from the
message. Other companies use emotions to set the ton e—particularly film, telephone, and insurance
companies, which stress human connections and milestones.

Words: Memorable and attention-getting words must be found. The following themes listed on the left
would have had much less impact without the creative phrasing on the right:

Theme Creative Copy

You won’t have to stay at home because of Get Out, Get Going
bad hair

FORMAT:
Format elements such as ad size, color, and illustration will make a difference in an ad’s impact as well as its
cost. A minor rearrangement of mechanical elements within the ad can improve its attention-getting power.
Larger-size ads gain more attention, though not necessarily by as much as their difference in cost. Four-
colour illustrations instead of black and white increase ad effectiveness and ad cost. By planning the relative
dominance of different elements of the ad, optimal delivery can be achieved.

4. MEDIA

The next ‘M’ to be considered while making an Advertisement Program is the Media through which to
communicate the Message generated during the previous stage. The steps to be considered are:
 Deciding on
Geographic
media allocation

Step V Deciding on
media timing
Selecting
Step IV specific media
vehicles
Choosing
Step III among major
media types
Deciding reach,
Step II frequency and
impact

Step I

5. MEASUREMENT

Evaluating the effectiveness of the Advertisement Program is very important as it helps prevent further wastage
of money and helps make corrections that are important for further advertisement campaigns. Researching the
effectiveness of the advertisement is the most used method of evaluating the effectiveness of the Advertisement
Program. Research can be in the form of:
• Communication-Effect Research
• Sales-Effect Research
There are two ways of measuring advertising effectives. They are:

Pre-testing
It is the assessment of an advertisement for its effectiveness before it is actually used. It is done through
• Concept testing – how well the concept of the advertisement is. This is be done by taking expert opinion
on the concept of the ad.
• Test commercials - test trial of the advertisement to the sample of people
• Finished testing

Post-testing
It is the assessment of an advertisement’s effectiveness after it has been used. It is done in two ways
• Unaided recall - a research technique that asks how much of an ad a person remembers during a specific
period of time
• Aided recall - a research technique that uses clues to prompt answers from people about ads they might
have seen

Example:
Sundrop
Mission:
Sales goals: Leadership in the edible refined oil segment

Advertising Goals:
Communication task
1. Position Sundrop as the healthy oil for healthy people
2. Ensure that this did not erode the delivery of the taste benefit.

• Positioning had to be perceptually as far away from Saffola.

• Young, modern and premium feel
• Execution had to be distinct and original to stand out from the clutter

Money:
• Stage in PLC: Introductory, therefore relatively large expenditure
• Market share: new product
• Competitors:
Saffola (Safflower oil) also used the health platform but was associated with heart patients and less taste
Flora and Sunola (Sunflower oils)

Message:
Health was chosen as the platform, along with a supporting claim for taste. People who were healthy and
energetic were concerned about the long-term prospects of their health. Thus ‘Health’
• Was related to maintenance of good health
• Was applicable to all members of the family
• Was characterized by lively energetic people
• Thus the message and (positioning): ‘The Healthy Oil for Healthy People’

Media:
Primary media: Television ad 30 seconds.
Print ad

Measurement:
• Within 6 months, Sundrop became the largest selling refined sunflower oil.
• Redefined the category and expanded the Sunflower oil segment from 2.71% to 23% in 6 months, and
42% in 1997
• Still the largest selling sunflower oil brand holds 15% of branded oil market.
• The ad was shown for over 10 years as the main theme film.