Ad Dynamics Perspectives™
Amplifying the Message
Opportunities to improve coordination between advertising, promotions, and pricing
About the series...
A
dvertisers invest billions getting their message out to consumers every year.
For 2015, eMarketer anticipated a 6% increase in advertising spend from the
year before, to just under $600 billion worldwide. An article from Business
Insider reported that in 2014 alone, 38 companies topped $1 billion in
advertising spend.
Why do companies spend such incredible amounts of money on advertising? In short,
because it is immeasurably important to the performance of their company. Advertising can
build awareness of a company’s brand, shape consumer perception of their brand, or even
drive consumption of their products or services.
Even with a steadily increasing ad investment, there is still ample opportunity for
companies to improve how effectively they advertise. The ever-evolving behavior of today’s
consumers makes when, where, and how companies advertise just as important as how
MUCH they advertise. The use of new media continues to increase among all consumers,
and their interaction with traditional media continues to change. In order to optimize their
advertising investment, companies must cater to a fully omni-channel consumer by working
to align their messaging across all advertising and promotional media.
In this issue of Ad Dynamics Perspectives, we will discuss the concept of amplifying
ad messaging across all consumer touchpoints. We will first identify an advertising
campaign that amplified its message across all media types. Then, we will contrast it with
examples of common disconnects in brand advertising, between brand and promotional
messaging, and even in how products are priced and promoted. We will close with a set of
recommendations for advertisers on how to better amplify messaging in today’s consumerdriven environment.
www.addynamics.com
Ad Dynamics’ Perspectives
series combines advertising,
promotions, and pricing data with
shopper insights to analyze a key
problem, concept or event. In this
issue, we focus on the obstacles
standing in the way of advertisers
amplifying their message across
brand and promotion. We start by
describing the problems advertisers
face, then illustrate and explain
the process by which they can
leverage competitive advertising,
promotional, and pricing data to
solve for their top business issues.
The goal of each issue in the series
is to improve strategy decisions for
advertisers.
Questions addressed...
This Perspective will answer key
questions on the coordination of
brand and promotional messaging,
including:
• What types of brand-promo
disconnects should advertisers
be aware of?
• Are brands presented by
retailers the same way they
present themselves?
• How can pricing online detract
from the effectiveness of an
in-store promotion?
To improve the coordination
between your brand advertising,
promotional, and pricing efforts,
reach out to your Ad Dynamics
account representative, or contact
us at insights@addynamics.com.
Hudson’s Bay Advertising & Promotional Campaign, Holiday 2015 (Selected Ads)
Figure 1: Amplifying your advertising message
Source: Ad Dynamics Advertising and Promotional Data
Meeting consumers everywhere they are
Amplifying an advertising message requires more than simply having a presence
in all media. There is an element of coordination between media. If an advertising
campaign kicks off with a TV commercial, any subsequent advertising in digital, mobile,
or print media must support the initial message in TV. Most importantly, advertising
through other channels cannot undermine or confuse the original message.
In Figure 1, Ad Dynamics reviewed a sampling of Hudson’s Bay’s holiday
advertising. The campaign launched on November 25th in the newspaper, advertising
a sale on designer fashion. They amplified the message in online display, on their
website, in their print flyer, and on both Facebook and Twitter. They offered percentoff promotions through each advertising media beginning before Black Friday, and
continuously engaged shoppers through Cyber Week. Though many retailers tend to
use traditional media, such as the print flyer, to deliver promotional offers, Hudson’s
Bay advertised specific savings and offer types in new media channels such as online
display, and on their website.
Consumers do not distinguish between media types, nor do they know what types
of messaging they should expect to see in each media channel. They only distinguish
how they feel about the ad message, and whether or not they could be a consumer.
This makes it critically important that advertisers leverage all media to amplify the
message they want to get across, rather than obscuring their message with a lack of
cross-media coordination.
*Survey conducted by Market Track, Ad Dynamics’ parent company, in Q1 2016 in the US
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Ad Dynamics PerspectivesTM
In our recent Shopper
Insight Series Survey*,
consumers confirmed
their purchase decisions
are influenced by a
variety of advertising
media. More than half of
all consumers use retailer
websites & print flyers,
more than 30% use TV
commercials, email, &
social media, and more
than 15% use mobile &
online display ads.
Misalignment of Brand and Promotional Advertising
Figure 2: Types of brand/promo misalignment
Source: Ad Dynamics Advertising and Promotional Data
Brand & promotional misalignment takes many forms
Common types of
brand/promotional
misalignment:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Outdated packaging
Outdated logo
Outdated taglines
Cross-media
inconsistency
Missing seasonal
packaging
Missing key product
attributes
Missing key brand
partnerships
Timing inconsistencies
Pricing inconsistencies
Misalignment in ad messaging can take many forms, all of which can distract or dilute
the message a brand or retailer is trying to communicate. Some of the more common
problems in message amplification occur between brand and promotional messaging. It is
difficult for CPG and durables manufacturers to make sure their retailer trade promotions
deliver a message that supports their brand advertising efforts.
Figure 2 illustrates three examples of common brand/promotional disconnects. In
the first example, Coors Light launched their new branding and logo in May of 2015, yet
eight months later in January 2016, many retailers were still promoting Coors Light’s old
packaging in their print flyers. Lenovo went through a similar rebranding in June 2015,
including a logo change, only to find some of their retailer partners promoting their old
logo in flyer ads in January the following year.
The third example, taken from U.S. advertising, highlights Verizon’s new brand that
launched in September 2015. Despite investing in TV commercials, online videos and
online display advertising to introduce consumers to their new brand, Verizon still saw
their old logo promoted in gift card offers in 2015 Black Friday circulars. This was a
missed opportunity to deliver their brand message during a period of high visibility.
Figure 2 provides only a snapshot of a widespread issue with which many brands
struggle. And in cases in which a brand lacks the visibility across advertising media, these
problems can go undiagnosed for months or more, all the while diluting the ad message
the brand wants to deliver to consumers.
The Power of Market Intelligence
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Bud Light Advertising Review
Ad Spend vs. Retailer Circular Promotion
Figure 3: Misalignment in advertising and trade investment
Source: Market Track Advertising Spend and Promotional Data
Improved timing enhances the message
Where figure 2 centered on ad messaging, figure 3 provides
another example of misalignment between trade promotion and brand
advertising that can potentially impact performance. In May 2015, Bud
Light increased their U.S. ad spend in broadcast, digital, and print media
for three straight weeks. The increase in ad investment was designed
to launch their Bud Light Lime campaign in advance of the summer
season.
During the same weeks in May, Bud Light saw a significant decline
in trade promotions in U.S. retail print circulars. From 5/14 to 5/28, Bud
Light weekly circular promotions dropped from 300 to less than 250.
From a consumer’s perspective, this brand/promotional misalignment
may have caused confusion. When tuning in to their TV sets, or
navigating the web, consumers were more likely to encounter ads for
Bud Light than they were during the previous three months. Yet when
they referenced print circulars during the same period to plan their
weekly grocery trip, they were less likely to encounter a promotion for
Bud Light.
With the heightened awareness created by their broadcast and
digital campaign, there was an opportunity to amplify that message with
an increase in promotions for the Bud Light Lime product throughout
the month of May 2015. Instead, Bud Light saw a decline in trade
promotions, which was inconsistent with the messaging consumers were
seeing in TV commercials and online.
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Ad Dynamics PerspectivesTM
Bud Light U.S. ads running the week of June 1, 2015
1 of 10 TV ads running
1 of 2 print ads running
1 of 52 online display ads running
Online Price Trend at bestbuy.ca
LG 55” Curved OLED Smart TV (55EG9100)
Figure 4: Pricing misalignment hurts promotional impact
Source: Ad Dynamics Online Pricing and Promotional Data
Online price drops can undermine promotions
The influence of the
eCommerce marketplace on
consumers continues to grow,
whether the consumer makes
a purchase online or not. In
the past 12 months, 60% of
consumers have “showroomed”
and 63% have “webroomed,”
according to our recent
Shopper Insight Series Survey.
Additionally, nearly 40% plan to
spend more online in 2016 than
last year, compared to only 4%
who plan to spend less.
Much of the brand/promotional misalignment discussed in
this piece occurs when there is a disconnect between a brand or
manufacturer, and a retailer. Figures 2 and 3 exemplify why it is so
important for manufacturers and brands to communicate as much
as possible with retailer partners to avoid diluting or contradicting
ad messages.
Advertising misalignment can occur within a brand,
manufacturer, or retailers’ four walls as well. Those disconnects
often occur between media channels, whether between digital and
in-store teams at retail companies, or between teams responsible
for different media channels at brand and manufacturing
companies.
Figure 4 shows an example of pricing misalignment at
bestbuy.ca in the first quarter of 2016. On 1/28, Best Buy promoted
the LG 55EG9100 55” Curved OLED Smart TV in their print flyer at
$2,999.99. When that deal hit shoppers, the same TV model had
been available for $2,999.99 at bestbuy.ca between 1/1 and 1/18.
Even if they end up buying in-store, a majority of shoppers
check prices online before making a purchase. There is an
opportunity for retailers, in a case like Figure 4, to improve the
alignment of their promotional periods online and in-store to avoid
potentially diluting the impact of their circular promotions, and vice
versa.
The Power of Market Intelligence
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Amplifying Your Message
Ad Dynamics has monitored advertising, promotional, and pricing tactics across all industries for over 35 years. Consumer behaviors
have changed immensely over the past two decades, concurrent with the rise and diversification of new technologies and media
channels. Today, there is more opportunity for advertisers to improve the resonance of their advertising—the amplification of their
message—without having to focus solely on their level of advertising investment.
Ad Dynamics Analytics, the advanced research and consultative branch of Ad Dynamics, compiled the list of recommendations below
for advertisers who are struggling with misalignment in their advertising, promotions, and pricing, preventing them from optimizing the
money they spend on each:
Become expert diagnosticians
Advertisers need the ability to diagnose when and where brand,
promotional, and pricing misalignment occurs. To diagnose a
misalignment in advertising, companies need visibility into all
advertising media in broadcast, digital, and print channels. Ad
Dynamics Analytics aligns TV, radio, online display, online video,
mobile, website, email, print, and other physical format advertising
into one, full view in which misalignments are easily identified and
acted upon.
Brands need to know how they are represented everywhere,
especially in advertising they do not create themselves. For
manufacturing companies, this means maintaining an open
dialogue with retailer partners to ensure they are aware of any
new branding or messaging hitting the marketplace. Give them
the information and time necessary to plan WITH your new
brand message, rather than forcing your brand message into
the plan.
Competitive visibility creates opportunity
In addition to having visibility into your own brand’s presence across
all advertising media, the same visibility into competitive advertising
can unveil countless opportunities to improve the impact of your own
advertising. Understanding when and where your competition fails
to amplify their brand, promotional, or pricing message presents you
an opportunity to fill that gap for consumers. Ad Dynamics Analytics
integrates a complete competitive view into brand/promotional
alignment analyses to map out opportunities for advertisers.
Understand how others portray your brand
Time to bridge the gap between online and in-store
Consumers have already bridged the gap between shopping
online and shopping in-store. Advertisers must assume the
digital space plays some role in every purchase decision a
shopper makes, whether they transact online or not. Digital
and in-store teams can no longer work in silos. They must be
transparent with advertising tactics, promotional periods, and
pricing patterns so that one does not dilute the other’s ability to
drive traffic and sales.
To improve the coordination between your advertising,
promotional, and pricing efforts, reach out to your Ad Dynamics
account representative, or reach us at insights@addynamics.com.
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Ad Dynamics PerspectivesTM