Lecture Notes: Chapter 18
MANAGING MASS COMMUNICATIONS: ADVERTISING, SALES PROMOTIONS, EVENTS, AND PUBLIC
RELATIONS
 Advertising objectives can be classified according to whether their aim is to inform, persuade, remind, or reinforce on: Informative, Persuasive, Reminder, and Reinforcement advertising.
 Five specific factors needs to be consider when setting the advertising budget: Stage in the product life cycle; Market share and consumer base; Competition and clutter; Advertising frequency; and Product substitulability.
 In designing and evaluating an ad campaign, it is important to distinguish the message strategy ox positioning of an ad from its creative strategy.
 To develop a message strategy, advertisers go through three steps: message generation and evaluation, creative development and execution, and social-responsibility review.
Message generation and evaluation
 It is important to generate fresh insights and avoid using the same appeals and positions as others.
 A good ad normally focuses on one or two core selling propositions.
 The more ads created, the higher the probability of finding an excellent one.
Creative dvelopment and execution
 The ad's impact depends not only on what is said, but often more important, on how it is said.
 In preparing an ad campaign, the advertiser can prepare a copy strategy statement describing the objective, content, support, and tone of the desired ad. (ex. Pillsbury product called 1869 Brand
Biscuits).
Television Ads Television is generally acknowledged as the most powerful advertising medium and reaches a broad spectrum of consumers. Television advertising also has disadvantages that are potentially distracting creative elements that could be often found in a TV ad and the high cost of production and placement. Properly designed and executed TV ads can improve brand equity and affect sales and profits (ex. Apple).
Print Ads Print media offer a stark contrast to broadcast media. Because of their self-paced nature, magazines and newspapers can provide much detailed product information and can also effectively communicate user and usage imagery. There are disadvantages - difficult to provide dynamic presentations or demonstrations, print media can be fairly passive. In order to attrack readers, the advertisers take more attention to format elements such as ad size, color, and illustration.
Radio Ads Radio is a pervasive medium (96% of all Americans age 12 and older listen to the radio on average, for over 20 hours a week) and main advantage is flexibility—stations are very targeted, ads are relatively inexpensive to produce and place, and short closings allow for quick response.
Social – responsibility review is when advertisers and their agencies must be sure advertising does not overstep social and legal norms. (ex. Calvin Klein case).
Deciding on Media and Measuring Effectiveness is deciding on desired reach, frequency, and impact; choosing among major media types; selecting specific media vehicles; deciding on media timing; and deciding on geographical media allocation.
Deciding on Reach, Frequency, and Impact
The effect of exposures on audience awareness depends on the exposures' reach, frequency, and impact:
 Reach (R). The number of different persons or households exposed to a particular media schedule at least once during a specified time period.
 Frequency (F). The number of times within the specified time period that an average person or household is exposed to the message.
1

 Impact (I). The qualitative value of an exposure through a given medium (thus a food ad in Good
Housekeeping would have a higher impact than in Fortune magazine).
The relationship between reach, frequency, and impact is captured in the following concepts:
 Total number of exposures (E). E = Rx /T.
 Weighted number of exposures (WE). WE = Rx Fx I.
Choosing Among Major Media Types
Media planners make their choices by considering the following variables: Target audience media habits; Product
characteristics; Message characteristics and Cost.
Place advertising or out-of-home advertising, include available options such as billboards, public spaces, product placement, and point-of-purchase.
EVALUATING ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
 The main advantage of nontraditional media is that a very precise and—because of the nature of the setting involved— captive audience often can be reached in a cost-effective manner.
 The challenge with nontraditional media is demonstrating its reach and effectiveness through credible, independent research.
Selecting Specific Vehicles
 Audience size has several possible measures: Circulation; Audience (effective audience and effective ad-exposed audience).
 Several adjustments have to be applied to the cost-per-thousand measure for: audience quality,
audience-attention probability, magazine's editorial quality (prestige and believability), and ad placement policies and extra service.
Deciding on Media Timing and Allocation
 In choosing media, the advertiser faces both a macroscheduling and a microscheduling problem.
 The macroscheduling problem involves scheduling the advertising in relation to seasons and the business cycle.
 The microscheduling problem calls for allocating advertising expenditures within a short period to obtain maximum impact. (ex. Online games)
 The timing pattern should consider three factors: Bayer turnover; Purchase peqwmcy and forgetting rate.
 In launching a new product, the advertiser has to choose among continuity, concentration, flighting, and pulsing.
Evaluating Advertising Effectiveness
Good planning and control of advertising depend on measures of advertising effectiveness. Most advertisers try to measure the communication effect of an ad—that is, its potential effect on awareness, knowledge, or preference. They would also like to measure the ad's sales effect.
Communication-effect research seeks to determine whether an ad is communicating effectively. Called copy
testing, it can be done before an ad is put into media and after it is printed or broadcast.
There are three major methods of pretesting: The consumer feedback method; Portfolio tests ask and Laboratory tests.
Sales effect of search A company's share of advertising expenditures produces a share of voice (i.e., proportion of company advertising of that product to all advertising of that product) that earns a share of consumers' minds
and hearts and, ultimately, a share of market. Researchers try to measure the sales impact through analyzing historical or experimental data.
Sales Promotion includes tools for consumer, trade promotion and business and sales force promotion.
2

Objectives for sales promotion tools vary in their specific objectives for sellers, retailers and consumers.
Major Decisions related to sales promotion, are related to establishing objectives, select the tools, develop the program, pretest the program, implement and control it, and evaluate the results.
Objectives
 Sales promotion objectives are derived from broader promotion objectives, which are derived from more basic marketing objectives developed for the product.
 Objectives could be perceived from the perspective of consumers, retailers, and sales force.
Promotion tools
 The promotion planner should take into account the type of market, sales promotion objectives, competitive conditions, and each tool's cost-effectiveness.
 The main consumer promotion tools are summarized in Table 18.5.
 We can distinguish between manufacturer promotions and retailer promotions.
SELECTING TRADE PROMOTION TOOLS (see Table 18.6).
SELECTING BUSINESS AND SALES FORCE PROMOTION TOOLS
Developing the program
 In deciding to use a particular incentive, marketers have several factors to consider, such as: size of the incentive; conditions for participation; duration of the promotion; distribution vehicle; timing of promotion and total sales promotion budget.
Retesting, implementing, controlling and evaluating the program
 Pretests can determine if the tools are appropriate, the incentive size optimal, and the presentation method efficient.
 Consumers can be asked to rate or rank different possible deals, or trial tests can be run in limited geographic areas.
 Marketing managers must prepare implementation and control plans that cover lead time and sell-in time for each individual promotion.
 Manufacturers can evaluate the program using three methods: sales data, consumer surveys, and experiments.
EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES
Events Objectives
Marketers report a number of reasons why they sponsor events:
 To identify with a particular target market or life style.
 To increase awareness of company or product name.
 To create or reinforce consumer perceptions of key brand image associations.
 To enhance corporate image dimensions.
 To create experiences and evoke feelings
 To express commitment to the community or on social issues.
 To entertain key clients or reward key employees.
 To permit merchandising or promotional opportunities.
MAJOR DECISIONS
Developing successful sponsored events involves choosing the appropriate events; designing the optimal sponsorship program for the event; and measuring the effects of sponsorship.
Choosing event oppurtunities
 The event must have sufficient awareness, possess the desired image, and be capable of creating the desired effects with that target market.
3

 An "ideal event" might be one (1) whose audience closely matches the desired target market, (2) that generates much favorable attention, (3) that is unique but not encumbered with many sponsors, (4) that lends itself to ancillary marketing activities, and (5) that reflects or enhances the brand or corporate image of the sponsor.
Designing sponsorship programs
 A sponsor can strategically identify itself at an event in a number of ways, including banners, signs, and programs supplementing such activities with samples, prizes, advertising, retail promotions, and publicity.
 Event creation is a particularly important skill in publicizing fund-raising drives for nonprofit organizations using large repertoire of special events, including anniversary celebrations, art exhibits, auctions, benefit evenings, bingo games, book sales, cake sales, contests, dances, dinners, fairs, fashion shows, parties in unusual places, phonathons, rummage sales, tours, and walkathons.
Measuring sponsorship activities
There are two basic approaches to measuring the effects of sponsorship activities:
 The supply-side method focuses on potential exposure to the brand by assessing the extent of media coverage; and
 the demand-side method focuses on reported exposure from consumers.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
 A public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on a company's ability to achieve its objectives.
 Public relations (PR) involves a variety of programs designed to promote or protect a company's image or its individual products.
 PR departments perform the following five functions: Press relations, Product publicity, Corporate
communications, Lobbying and Counseling
Marketing Public Relations
 Many companies are turning to marketing public relations (MPR) to support corporate or product promotion and image making. MPR, like financial PR and community PR, serves a special constituency, the marketing department. (ex. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Beanie
Babies, and Pokemon).
 Defending products that have encountered public problems. (ex Coca-Cola incident in Belgium).
 Building the corporate image in a way that reflects favorably on its products. (ex. Bill Gates approach to create an innovative image for Microsoft Corporation).
Major Decisions in Marketing PR
In considering when and how to use MPR, management must establish the marketing objectives, choose the PR messages and vehicles, implement the plan carefully, and evaluate the results. (table 18.8).
Objectives
 MPR can build awareness by placing stories in the media to bring attention to a product, service, person, organization, or idea; which include credibility by communicating the message and hold down promotion
cost.
 MPR is increasingly borrowing the techniques and technology of direct-response marketing to reach target audience members one-on-one.
Choosing messages and vehicles
 The MPR manager must identify or develop interesting stories about the product.
 The best MPR practitioners are able to find or create stories even for mundane or out-of-fashion products.
4

 The three most commonly used measures of MPR effectiveness are number of exposures; awareness, comprehension, or attitude change; and contribution to sales and profits.
5