Understanding the
Consumer and How
Advertising Works
Humbling Revelations About
Consumers

Brands and the consumers’ loyalty
to them are not nearly as important
as they are to marketers

Consumer needs are neither logical
or clearly defined
Humbling Revelations About
Consumers

…nor are they as complex in product
decision-making as marketers would
hope

In general, consumer decisions occur
at a low-level of cognitive processing

Product choices are managed at the
‘good enough’ level
Humbling Revelations About
Consumers

‘Brand loyalty’ is a notion marketers
aspire to, but that rarely exists
Evoked set loyalty
 Outlet loyalty

Humbling Revelations About
Consumers

Advertising’s effectiveness is
generally unpredictable due to
The need to economize consumer
decisions
 The state of the market
 The brand’s position
 State of play of the brand/category at a
given time
 Other elements of the marketing mix

The New Rules for Engagement
The Audience Is Not the
Audience

Consumers may not be using
television media as an information
source, but as a means for “vegging”

As an advertising audience, they are
largely inattentive – not watching, not
listening
The Consumer Is Not Engaged

Consumption is passive and centered
in the moment of purchase or use

People have the energy to be
constantly engaged with product
marketing, packaging, choice,
competition, or advertising
The Category Isn’t

“The most powerful brands have an
emotional role that transcends their
historical category usage.”
Starbucks  culture, community
 Wonderbra  confidence
 Disney World  childhood dreams

The Category Isn’t

Marketers may, in fact, be limiting
their own potential by ‘thinking in a
box’ that limits a product to a specific
function or use
So, Why Use Advertising?
Used over time, it

increases brand familiarity, attention

builds brand associations (emotive
and cognitive)

conveys information about the brand
Why Use Advertising?

improves accuracy of brand
knowledge

acts as a forum for advancing brand
perspectives”

reinforce brand choice
Advertising is an investment
in

Brand identity

Brand prominence

Brand salience

Brand resonance

Advertising does not work in a
vacuum

but it does add value to a product
over time
Communication’s Other Role

Marketers have to go beyond just the
idea of communication toward an idea
of engagement

“seizing the audience’s imagination…”

Must look for relevance within or outside
of the specific category
The Role for Advertising
Research
…to worry less about what advertising
does and more about what people do
with advertising