Business Administration Department

BA344 Advertising Management

Dr. Geoffrey Lantos Spring 2008

ADVERTISING ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT LEARNING ASSIGNMENTS

Overview

During the semester, most of you will be completing one short written assignment designed to apply specific advertising concepts. These assignments involve either finding or analyzing advertisements or otherwise evaluating what is currently going on in the advertising business. Each paper is to be completed on the date when that assignment appears on the syllabus and on this handout. These exercises are designed to have you think about and apply the concepts and principles that are discussed in the textbook, the assigned readings, and in class, by using current information and examples.

You will be assigned a student group number (1 though 8), and you will be required to complete one of

the exercises for your student group found below. (Each group has a choice among four or more

assignments.) Your report is to be completed individually, not in groups of students, although you

may, and are encouraged to, discuss your work with other students. In the standard grading plan, this

completed exercise will constitute 5 to 15% of your grade (depending on your individualized weights). Each assignment topic directly relates to a course topic. You should integrate the lectures/discussions

and readings to best prepare your papers. Additionally, you might wish to consult other advertising

textbooks, trade/professional development books, advertising journals, and other secondary sources of

information (found in the library, on the Internet, or available from me in my office).

Your report will consist of answers to the questions below for the assignment you choose. Be sure to also include a brief introduction and conclusion. Additionally, most assignments require a submission of each ad or description of each TV or radio commercial being evaluated (the exception is assignments where specific ads are not evaluated). If your submission is a print advertisement (i.e., from a newspaper, magazine, or direct mail piece), include a copy of the ad as an exhibit attached to the text, and tell when and where it appeared. If it is a broadcast commercial (i.e., from television or radio) or an outdoor advertisement (e.g., found along a highway or in a mass transit station), briefly describe the commercial or ad (you may provide a URL, storyboard, or script for television and radio commercials), and tell when and where it appeared. If it is an Internet ad, download a hard copy, specify the domain name (URL), and tell the date when you did so. Ads from any other support media (e.g., specialty advertising, point-of-purchase displays) should be fully described, and you should tell when and where you located them.

Objectives

The purposes of these assignments are that you:

1. Learn to apply advertising concepts to specific situations;

2. Become better able to analyze advertising as a consumer;

3. Grow familiar with the principles for planning, creating, producing, and placing effective

advertisements as an advertising practitioner or marketing manager who is responsible for

supervising advertising activities;

4. Better understand the advertising business;

5. Develop your written communication skills and ability to think and write critically and creatively; and

6. Stay on top of current developments in the world of advertising.

Format of Papers

Please follow these guidelines:

· Each written report should be three to five typewritten, double-spaced pages of text, excluding any supportive data, ads, or other exhibits. (Length depends on the amount of detail required by the particular assignment.)

· Use 10- to 12-point font size and one-inch margins on all four sides.

· Do not waste space providing basic definitions and background theory that have been presented in class, the textbook, or the readings book. Instead, demonstrate that you can apply and analyze these concepts in specific situations.

· Use endnotes/source citations where appropriate (any standard reference format may be used). [1]

· Attach exhibits of ads where appropriate, noting where and when each ad appeared.

· Include a title page with the name and the number of the assignment (found below), your student number (to be assigned), the course name and section letter (A), the professor's name, and the due date.

· All pages should be numbered, with the exception of page one and the title page (which is page 0).

· Papers should be stapled in the upper left-hand corner. Please do not use paper clips or other fasteners, and please do not use plastic or other covers.

· To avoid potential loss of papers, all reports should be copied or stored electronically before the original is handed in to me.

Keep in mind that this is an advertising course stressing effective and efficient communication. Your assignments, therefore, should be presented in an appropriate manner.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All ads that you find and analyze must be recent (past 12 months). All other information should be as current as possible.

Resource Note: Archives of searchable print ads, some from as early as the 1930s, as well as breaking ads, can be found at:

www.adforum.com

www.AdvertisementAve.com

www.ads.com

Evaluation of Papers

Each assignment will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Relative

Criterion Importance

1. Content—conciseness, correctness, (including appropriateness of ad/commercial selected to 70%

illustrate the concept, where relevant), and completeness of answer (highly informative/sufficiently detailed); application of course theory; originality of ideas and creativity; logic of analysis; and use of examples and evidence (including a sufficient number of outside sources appropriate to the assignment).

2. Organization, Presentation, and Appearance—

Organization includes:

a) coherence—the paper is sequentially logical; paragraphs and sentences are in the right order; topics are developed within paragraphs; each paragraph represents a single topic; transitions between sections, paragraphs, and sentences flow smoothly and logically;

b) unity—introduction and conclusion (summarizes and provides closure), the theme is clear, and everything in the paper defends or explains the theme;

c) development—everything is fully explained.

Presentation and appearance involves neatness and proper formal paper 15%

format (including title page, bibliography, endnotes, headings and subheadings, page numbers, margins, and use of exhibits and illustrative charts).

3. Clarity of Communication—

a) writing style—the paper is clearly and concisely written, not to impress but to express 15%

(make the reader understand); active voice; verb tense consistent; professional tone (absence of contractions, appropriate vocabulary, etc.); interesting style

b) mechanics—grammar, syntax, spelling, punctuation, and word divisions

100%

SPECIFIC ASSIGNMENTS

GROUP #1—WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE FEB. 6

ASSIGNMENT ONE: OVERVIEW OF TYPES OF ADVERTISING

Here is one classification scheme that helps us to recognize the different types of advertising and the scope of this topic:

I. Commercial Advertising

A. Consumer Advertising (Pull Advertising)

1. Product Reputation (Brand Reputation) Advertising

a. Primary (Generic) Demand Advertising

b. Secondary (Selective) Demand Advertising

i. National (Brand) Advertising

ii. Local (usually Retail or Service Establishment) Advertising

iii. International Advertising

iv. End-Product Advertising

v. Direct Response (Direct Action) Advertising vs. Delayed Response (Indirect Action) Advertising

vi. Classified Advertising

vii. Sales Promotion (Promotional) Advertising

2. Corporate Advertising (Institutional Advertising, Nonproduct Advertising)

a. Advocacy Advertising (Advertorials)

b. Corporate Image Advertising

c. Public Service Advertising

d. Financial Relations Advertising

B. Business-to-Business Advertising (Push Advertising)

1. Trade (Reseller) Advertising

2. Industrial Advertising

3. Professional Advertising

4. Corporate Management Advertising

5. Agricultural Advertising

II. Noncommercial Advertising

A. Public Service Advertising

B. Nonprofit Organization Advertising

C. Government Advertising

D. Political Advertising

E. Advocacy Advertising

Required:

a. Submit four ads/commercials. The first should be a consumer ad, the second a corporate ad, the third a business-to-business ad, and the fourth a noncommercial ad.

For each ad, specify exactly which type of ad it is, categorizing it as narrowly as possible according to the above scheme. Explain why you have categorized the ad as you have. Be sure to explain and describe each category of advertising included in your answer. If an ad can be categorized more than one way, explain how so.

b. Specify for each ad:

1. The source, i.e., advertiser (e.g., company or organization, brand, etc.)

2. What you believe are its communication (indirect action, delayed response) objectives (e.g., information, persuasion, reminder, etc.) and/or direct action (direct response) objectives (e.g., generate store traffic, sales, inquiries for information, coupon redemptions, etc.)

3. Whom you believe constitutes its target audience (defined by demographics, psychographics, and/or behavior).

Do you expect each ad’s message and style will be effective in communicating to its audience so as to achieve its objectives? Explain.

OR

ASSIGNMENT TWO: THE PURPOSE, ROLE, AND USE OF ADVERTISING

Required:

A. Interview an advertising manager for both a large company and a small company (or for both a large retailer and a small retailer) to get their views on the purposes (functions and objectives), roles (relative importance in the marketing mix and the marketing communications mix), and uses of advertising .(the types of advertising used, employment of outside suppliers, deployment of company personnel, use of marketing research, advertising objectives, amount of money spent, creative strategies and tactics used, media employed, and anything else the managers think is significant and are willing to share with you )in their organization)s.

Then, write a report comparing and contrasting the purposes, roles, and uses of advertising in the two organizations according to the managers.

Also, include your own observations and critical analysis of the appropriateness and effectiveness of each firm's advertising activities. What, if anything, would you change, and why?

OR

B. Find one ad/commercial for four of the following types of advertisers: manufacturer, reseller, individual, organization/institution, and cause/idea. Give a brief background sketch of each of these advertisers.

Then, for each ad, discuss:

1. The ad's function(s)/purpose(s) (to inform, persuade, remind, reassure, etc.).

2. The general advantages and disadvantages of advertising as a marketing communications tool which seem to be especially applicable to this ad. How have advantages been used and weaknesses minimized or avoided (or not)?

3. The ad's role:

(a) in the marketing mix (how it is used to appeal to a target market and is employed in conjunction with the other "4 P's");

(b) in the integrated marketing communications mix (how it is used in conjunction with the other promotional tools);

(c) in brand development/brand building (including brand differentiation)

(d) in our economy and/or in our society (e.g., promoting a low price, promoting a socially desirable product, being informative vs. misleading, etc.).

OR

ASSIGNMENT THREE: ADVERTISING AGENCIES

Required:

A. Select a large, U.S.-based full service advertising agency and write a description of it. Use appropriate reference materials to obtain the information you need: trade magazines such as Advertising Age (particularly their special annual "U. S. Agency Profiles" issue published each spring), reference books (e.g., Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies), periodical directories (e.g., Business Periodicals Index, found on the Wilson Business Index on CD-ROM), and websites (e.g., www.Adforum.com (look under “agency Preview” link) and www.AAAAgencysearch.com as well as individual agencies’ websites).

Items you should include in your description:

1. name of the agency president and any other important senior executives;

2. number of personnel the agency employs;

3. number of offices in both the United States and overseas as well as their locations;

4. names of the agency's major current accounts;

5. agency's total billings and recent growth record;

6. areas of specialization, if any;

7. agency's expenditures for media, broken down by type.

To what do you attribute the agency's recent growth or decline? What do you think is their outlook for the immediate future? Why?

Include with your description copies or descriptions of several advertisements recently created by the agency. Briefly discuss your observations on impressions of these ads.

GROUP #2—WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE FEB. 20

ASSIGNMENT THREE: ADVERTISING AGENCIES CONTINUED

Required:

B. Find a recent article that discusses how an advertiser selected a new advertising agency. Examples might be a newspaper or magazine article about an advertiser that conducted an account review, an advertiser that switched from an in-house agency to an independent agency, or an advertiser that moved its media buying to a specialized agency. Tip: Check the “advertising agency client relationship” category in the Business Periodicals Index.

Based on the information you find, answer the following questions:

1. Why did the advertiser decide to select a new advertising agency? For example, was the advertiser introducing a new product, targeting a new audience, or reacting to disappointing sales results or to a client conflict? Was there a major shakeup of management at the advertiser?

2. Describe the process the advertiser followed in selecting a new agency. Did the company hire a consultant to help evaluate the work of agencies that competed for its account? Did the firm require a speculative presentation? How many agencies were considered? Who made the final decision and how long did the entire process take?

3. What criteria did the advertiser cite to support its selection of a new agency? Did the advertiser mention good personal chemistry, a strong creative strategy, an ability to save money, or some other reason for deciding on one agency over the others?

4. Summarize what you learned from this article about selecting a new advertising agency. Can you suggest any ideas for improving the agency-selection process used by this advertiser?

OR

C. 1. Contact a local business and identify the ad agency they use. Briefly describe this agency (you may use some or all of the descriptive items in Assignment Three A above).

2. Find out the process and criteria used in selecting this agency and how long ago this selection occurred.

3. What tasks does the agency perform for the business and how does the business evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the performance of those tasks?

4. Who in the business deals directly with the agency? If it is someone other than the business owner/president (such as an advertising manager), what is the role of the owner/president regarding the advertising agency?

OR

ASSIGNMENT FOUR: THE ADVERTISING SPIRAL

Required:

a. Submit four ads/commercials, each of which respectively illustrates a product in the pioneering stage, the competitive stage, the retentive stage, and the new pioneering stage of the advertising spiral. Explain why each ad/commercial represents a product in that stage.

b. Briefly describe what you believe were the advertising objective(s), the theme (message), the relative expenditure (compared to other stages in the product’s advertising spiral), and the target audience for each ad/commercial.

c. Explain whether each ad is potentially effective in achieving its objectives and conveying its theme among the target audience. What, if anything, might you change if given the opportunity?

OR

ASSIGNMENT FIVE: PLANNING THE ADVERTISING STRATEGY AND MARKETING RESEARCH

Required:

A. Talk with an advertising manager at the organization of your choosing to discover the following:

1. How the advertising department is organized/structured.

2. How the manager works with the advertising agency or any other outside advertising services suppliers/external facilitators such as consultants, production facilitators, media buying services, sales promotion agencies, direct marketing agencies, e-commerce agencies, etc.

3. How an ad campaign is planned and implemented (process and personnel involved).

4. The role and use of research, including types of strategic and/or evaluative research done and use of outside research suppliers.

Write a report summarizing your findings. Also, include your own observations/analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization's activities and any suggestions for improvement.

OR

B. Each year when children return to school a variety of merchants run ads trying to persuade these

school-age children (or their parents) to buy their products. One company that has always been successful with such advertising efforts is Crayola. Your task is to devise an advertising plan for encouraging students to visit the Crayola website at www.crayola.com.

GROUP #3—WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE FEB. 27

ASSIGNMENT SIX: PLANNING THE ADVERTISING STRATGEY AND MARKETING RESEARCH (CONTINUED)

Required:

C. Visit the following research services websites: Simmons-Scarborough Research Services (www.scarborough.com) and Audits and Surveys (www.surveys.com). Describe the type of research services each provides, with a focus on advertising research. How might an advertiser or ad agency use these sites? What useful information for an advertiser or agency did you find on these sites?

Regarding an ad campaign for a specific product or organization, describe which of these services you would use and how, and describe other primary and secondary sources of information you would also use and the type of information they could yield for you.

OR

D. Find a recent article that discusses an advertising campaign failure, i.e., one that was considered to not have achieved its objectives or was otherwise detrimental to successful marketing of the product. Any company or product category will do, as long as advertising is considered to be a key element in the article's analysis of the failure.

1. Does the article speculate as to why the campaign failed? Was it a flaw in the strategy (such as picking the wrong target market, a confused positioning, ineffective creative strategy, or poor media selection), or was it a case of tactical mistakes (such as poorly executed advertising or bad timing)?

2. Have other companies succeeded in advertising to this market? If so, why did they succeed while this company failed? If not, why have they also experienced troubles?

3. What lessons can be learned from this situation regarding planning and implementing an advertising strategy?

OR

E. Find a recent article that discusses a new advertising campaign launched by an organization. Examples might be a newspaper or magazine article about a recent campaign launched by a retailer, a manufacturer, or a business advertiser.

1. Why did the advertiser decide on this new campaign? What were the campaign's objectives?

2. Who was the target audience for the new campaign? What message and media did the campaign use to reach the target audience?

3. Did the advertiser conduct any research before, during, or after the campaign? If so, what were the results? How did the advertiser plan to measure the results of the new campaign? How did the advertiser intend to use these research findings?

4. Discuss whether you think the campaign is effective and why.

OR

ASSIGNMENT SEVEN: ADVERTISING MESSAGE OBJECTIVES

Advertisements are designed to achieve the advertising campaign's objectives. One way of classifying different common message objectives is as follows: 1) Psychological, 2) Action, 3) Corporate or Institutional, and 4) Marketing:

1. Psychological:

a. To convey information on a product, i.e., to educate (e.g., about a new product, a new use for an existing product, an event associated with the product.) or to link a key attribute to the brand name (e.g., Ivory soap is pure, cheer detergent works in all temperatures).

2. To get people to believe an important claim, i.e., to persuade (e.g., the brand works twice as fast as a leading competitor’s, the brand is preferred to the leading competitor two to one).
3. To increase awareness of an existing brand or to promote brand recall or message recall (e.g., via repetition of a brand name or of a memorable slogan or jingle.
4. To create or sustain brand preference (e.g., via a cute advertising icon such as the Snuggle Bear or through associating the brand with humor or sex appeal).
5. To create or sustain a brand image (e.g., Pepsi is for those who are young or young at heart).
6. To transform consumer experience in buying and using the brand (via transformational advertising).
7. To confirm the wisdom of the purchase of a certain high involvement good by recent buyers (i.e., to provide reassurance—to reduce cognitive dissonance).
8. To turn a disadvantage into an advantage (e.g., Listerine tastes bad but works better).

2. Action

a. To increase frequency of product use (or quantity purchased at one time) (e.g., “Rosie’s corned beef hash for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” “Stock up for the holidays”).

2. To increase the variety of uses for a product (e.g., to use Jello gelatin for fruit salads or for strengthening fingernails).
3. To get produce use at a different time of day or week (e.g., a restaurant promoting its early bird specials) or during a different season (e.g., Sanka brand suggesting that we drink iced coffee).
4. To get sampling of a new product (e.g., coupon ads, ads with a sample foil packet attached, or “scratch ‘n sniff” ads).
5. To obtain inquiries for information (e.g., ads urging us to write the company, to call a toll-free number for more information, or to visit the company’s website).
6. To change consumer habits (e.g., ads by the American Cancer Society and many other public service ads urging people to act in more personally beneficial and/or socially desirable ways).
7. To launch a special promotional project (e.g., an ad describing a contest or sweepstakes or informing of a rebate offer).
8. To cause brand switching (e.g., comparison advertising, coupon ads, or ads offering a free trial).
9. To overcome consumer inertia (e.g., an ad urging us to get out and vote on election day or to get an annual health check).
10. To attract new users for a product (new market segment) (e.g., Jello gelatin advertised as a non-fattening dessert for weight-conscious consumers).
11. To scare the consumer into action via fear (e.g., buy a company’s life insurance or leave your family hopeless should you die).
12. To provoke a direct response (e.g., to buy immediately, take advantage of a sales promotion offer, or visit a retailer or e-commerce site).

3. Corporate or Institutional

a. To dispel a misconception (e.g., Atkins fighting against the belief that it is an all-meat, unhealthful diet loaded with bacon). ).

2. To show that the company is a pioneer in its field or that the firm is doing something for society (e.g., ExxonMobile telling us how it is exploring new energy sources).
3. To alert the public to a problem (e.g., General Electric pointing out the warning signals for breast cancer).
4. To render a public service (e.g., Shell’s answer books).
5. To show how friendly and helpful the company is (e.g., “Just like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” at the scene of an accident).
6. To encourage or reassure current stockholders (e.g., an ad which shows how the company is growing or how it is taking action in light of an ethics scandal) or to attract new stockholders (e.g., an ad offering to mail interested persons a prospectus).
7. To discourage regulatory agencies from taking action (e.g., an ad which shows what the company is doing for societal stakeholders such as employees and members of its local community).
8. To express a point of view on a controversial issue (advocacy advertising) (e.g., an ad showing the horrors of rats in the ghetto in order to secure passage of a rat control bill in Congress).

4. Marketing

1. To stimulate primary demand (e.g., Compaq extolling the advantages of owning a multimedia personal computer) or to increase the strength of an entire industry (e.g., the Florida Citrus Commission telling us about the nutritional value of oranges).
2. To open the door for sales reps, to convince sales reps that the company is backing them, or to stimulate salespeople to work harder in selling (e.g., an Avon products ad or an insurance company ad featuring mug shots of top-selling salespeople).
3. To obtain wider product distribution or to motivate dealers (e.g., trade ads directed specifically to dealers telling them about the profit they could earn by carrying the product, or about consumer ads offering a sales promotion).
4. To react to a competitor (e.g., a supermarket ad offering double refunds on manufacturer’s cents-off coupons in response to a sale by a competitive supermarket, airlines matching a competitor’s fare sales).
5. To respond to changes in the marketplace (e.g., an ad urging consumers to be patient during a company strike or product shortage).

Required:

a. Submit four ads/commercials, each of which illustrates an ad whose objectives could fall respectively into one of the four broad categories above. Explain the general as well as the specific objective(s) that each ad appears to be designed to achieve and why it probably will (or won’t) be able to successfully accomplish the objective(s).

b. We know that it isn't enough simply to say, for instance, that your objective is "to attract new users." You must be specific and include the four criteria for good advertising objectives. Write out each of the four objectives in part (a) in a full, formal, one-sentence format, observing the four requirements for good advertising objectives. (You will usually need to make reasonable assumptions about quantitative goals, target markets, time frames, etc.) If it is impossible to meet one or more of these requirements, explain why.

Which stage in the hierarchy of communications effects (awareness knowledge interest etc. is the advertising attempting to move the target market toward in each case? How effective do you believe each ad will be in so doing?

c. For two of the above-advertised products/brands, state an alternative advertising objective that the firm might have chosen (perhaps under different environmental circumstances or if targeting a different audience). Briefly describe an ad that could achieve your alternative objective in both cases.

GROUP #4—WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE APRIL 2

ASSIGNMENT EIGHT: BUDGETING AND USE OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES/CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Required:

For the organization of your choice (either local, regional, national, or international):

1. Explain how you would go about developing an advertising appropriation. Be sure to discuss the role of advertising in the firm’s marketing mix, which line items are to be classified as advertising expenditures, and environmental and organizational factors that will influence the size of the advertising appropriation.

Then, select and justify a method (competitive parity, percentage of sales, share of market/share of voice, etc.) to determine the size of the advertising appropriation. Do include a dollar amount recommendation (use either actual data or fictitious data which is reasonable).

2. Cite and discuss one example of each of the following behavioral science/consumer behavior influences on the organization's advertising: sociocultural factors, psychological processes, and the consumer decision process.

OR

ASSIGNMENT NINE: CREATIVE MESSAGE STRATEGY

Required:

A.

1. Select one print ad and one broadcast commercial, each of which you believe has a clear, relevant message idea (appeal, theme), an effective message format (creative execution, copy style), and a proper balance and integration between message idea and message format. Explain why the ad and commercial each have a clear message, an effective message format, and a proper balance between the two.

2. For both the ad and the commercial, briefly describe the following aspects of the message:

·