Media allocation model using nonlinear benefit curves

An integral part of planning advertising campaigns involves the selection of those media vehicles that maximize the effectiveness of the advertising effort. This article describes a media allocation model designed to provide the media planner, responsible for a particular advertising campaign, with relevant information for use in selecting the most appropriate media vehicles and in determining the number of insertions in each vehicle. It is based on the derivation of nonlinear benefit curves for candidate media vehicles that can be derived from commercially available response data and from subjective estimates gathered from media planning experts. When tested in an actual advertising campaign, the results serve to provide relevant information that can make the media allocation decision a more objective one.     

对IPTV广告成功战略的研究——以三星电子“又一家庭”互动广告活动事例为中心

本研究对IPTV的特征及其作为广告媒体的可行性利用属性进行了研究,陈述了其与既存数字媒体的差异。以XIPTV广告特征为研究对象,陈述了IPTV广告分为展示广告和互动广告,以及各自的特征。以三星电子的“又一家庭”互动广告活动作为案例,以两次活动的内容为中心,立足于活动的成功宣传角度和广告效果角度两个方面总结了活动成果,并指出其局限性。最后,通过提出IPTV的任务和未来的成功战略,为IPTV广告责任人提供现实的启发点。     

All-Out for Victory! Magazine Advertising and the World War II Home Front

Three main factors determine the effect of advertising campaigns: message content strategy, advertising expenditure and previous consumer behaviour. This study investigates the relative strength of each of these influences. Four possible campaign targets are taken into account: campaign recall, campaign likeability, brand recall and intention to purchase the advertised brand. A study of 40 advertising campaigns, evaluated on average by 1200 consumers, shows that, after controlling for the effect of previous purchase behaviour, the effect of message content strategy is generally larger than the effect of advertising expenditure. Nevertheless, more media expenditure positively influences campaign recall and influences brand recall and purchase intention of small brands. The most effective message content strategy differs per campaign target, but overall awareness and likeability strategies are most effective. For purchase intention only, the emotions strategy can be advised. The information strategy is best avoided.     

Increasing the Informational Content of Reach and Frequency Estimates

This article discusses the limitations of present methods of analyzing the coverage of advertising schedules and presents a technique for obtaining additional information from traditional measures of schedule coverage. This technique models entire patters of audience exposure to commercials by means of a compound Bernoulli distribution that can be estimated from reach and frequency data. Knowledge of the complete pattern of audience exposure to advertising schedules assists the media analyst in selecting optimally effective advertising schedules and consequently enhances the probability of conducting a successful advertising campaign.     

Book Reviews

This paper argues that much current campaign tracking and econometric modelling is systematically undervaluing good agency planning practice and the potential of media advertising. This is not a reflection on the detailed execution of such projects, but rather on basic design weaknesses and a concentration on average achievements. Unlike other marketing inputs, such as price and distribution, advertising is complex and multi-faceted. For this reason it is unreasonable to expect that it is possible to represent the advertising input adequately with a single expenditure or gross rating points (GRPs) figure. The paper identifies seven component factors within any campaign that could and should be incorporated as analysis factors in any assessment project. The problems of achieving this desirable objective are considered, and the likely benefits discussed. The paper also considers possible frameworks whereby the necessary co-operation between advertisers, agencies and media owners could be achieved.     

An Objective and Task Media Selection Decision Model and Advertising Cost Formula to Determine International Advertising Budgets

Abstract

A company needs to estimate the cost of media plans and advertising upon introducing a new or existing product into an unfamiliar environment such as a new international market. This article presents a conceptual framework for making media decisions and a method for estimating the cost of advertising in international markets. The objective and task method is used to build a working model in order to articulate the necessary steps leading to informed media decisions for budgeting an international advertising campaign. Methods of estimating product demand and a flow model for media selection are also presented.     

农村电视媒体广告投放策略研究

农村电视受众分布广泛、基数庞大,如果不讲究策略地进行广告投放,会导致广告到达受众与品牌的目标受众重叠度低,造成广告资金的很大浪费。基于对8省19市3800户农村居民的抽样调查数据,本文首先从宏观层面总结了中国农村电视受众的整体特征,即高接触率、高收视时长、核心受众高端化的“三高”特点。接下来本文以企业广告投放的决策过程为主线,从人群定位、时间段选择、频道选择、节目选择等四个层面,通过实证研究数据对农村电视媒体的广告投放策略进行了具体分析。     

Dissociating explicit and implicit effects of cross-media advertising

Knowledge of cross-media advertising effects is mainly based on explicit psychological measures, such as self-reports. To fully understand the mechanisms responsible for the success of cross-media advertising, it is important to also use implicit measures. We used both types of measures to assess whether exposure to different media combinations affects the cognitive and evaluative impact of advertising. Results show that participants performed better on all explicit and implicit measures of memory and brand preference after exposure (versus no exposure) to target ads, which validated the use of these measures. Comparison of cross-media versus single medium exposure showed differences on the explicit level, but not on the implicit level. This suggests (1) that cross-media advantages may be driven by explicit rather than implicit memory mechanisms, and (2) that implicit advertising effects may require more drastic manipulations than context changes, such as varying the combination of media used for exposure to advertising.     

Employee attitudes toward advertising

The attitudes and opinions of a group of bank employees toward a recent advertising campaign run by the bank which stressed employee service were studied via factor analysis. The analysis revealed three clearly defined dimensions underlying the attitude-opinion items: general attitude toward the campaign, relevance of the campaign to the respondent's job, and changes in the respondent's job behavior caused by the campaign. Relationships among factor scores on these three dimensions with job satisfaction, job involvement, degree of customer contact, and degree of contact with other employees were investigated using multiple regressions and canonical correlation analysis. Employee attitudes toward the campaign were significantly related to all four of the job characteristic variables, as was perceived relevance of the campaign to the employee's job. Changes in job behavior were related only to involvement and satisfaction. The relationships found here suggest that in some cases, employee attitudes should be considered in evaluating the effects of advertising campaigns. Close coordination between marketing and general managerial functions is required in situations where advertisements relate to employees as well as customers.     

Exploring the influence of media exposure and cultural values on Korean immigrants’ advertising evaluations

This study investigated how mass media exposure and cultural values influence Korean immigrants’ responses to models in print advertising. In a between-subject design, participants viewed advertisements featuring either Caucasian or Asian models. The results of structural equation modelling show that there are significant relationships between mass media exposure, cultural values, and attitudes towards advertising models. Media exposure and cultural values predict attitudes towards advertising models, such that Korean immigrants who are exposed to Korean mass media and demonstrate Korean values show positive evaluations of Asian models, whereas Korean immigrants who are exposed to American mass media tend to show positive evaluations of Caucasian models. Results are explained according to acculturation processes within the Social Cognitive Theory and Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT).     

Model-based development and testing of advertising messages: a comparative study of two campaign proposals based on the MECCAS model and a conventional approach

Traditionally, the development of advertising messages has been based on ‘creative independence’, sometimes catalysed by inductively generated empirical data. Due to the recent intensified focus on advertising effectiveness, this state of affairs is beginning to change.

The purpose of the study described in this article is to compare the development and effects of two campaign proposals, with the common aim of increasing the consumption of apples among young Danes (18 to 35 years of age). One of the proposals is the result of an inductive-creative process, while the other is based on the MECCAS model, i.e. means—ends based data collection employing the laddering method and subsequent use of the guidelines for message development formulated in MECCAS. The project was a joint venture of the Association of Danish Fruit Growers, Odense, Denmark, and the MAPP Centre, and was financed by EU funds.

The comparison involved the efficiency of the managerial communication taking place in the message development process as well as target group communication effects. The managerial communication was studied by interviews with the involved advertising agency (Midtmarketing, Ikast, Denmark) and client staff. The target group communication was assessed by pre-testing the two campaign proposals (n = 500).

The main finding of the managerial study was that the implementation of the MECCAS guidelines for message development led to better agency-client communication, which resulted in a more common understanding of the objective of the campaign. The pre-test showed that the MECCAS-based message compared to the conventionally developed message was perceived as more focused by the target group and stimulated better central processing.     

Advertising and Cultural Values: Reflections in the Distorted Mirror

This paper reviews the regrets and fears expressed by North American scholars about the commercialization of culture and presents a method for measuring the cultural character of advertising. This content analysis of manifest values yields a value profile of advertising and shows high consistency over time and across media. There is, however, a low correlation between this value profile and that of either the population at large or of heavy media users. This seriously challenges the conventional notion that advertising merely mirrors social values.     

The Development and Testing of a Child-inspired Advertising Disclosure to Alert Children to Digital and Embedded Advertising

Via three studies, this article aims to develop and test an advertising disclosure which is understandable for children (ages six to 12 years old) and which can alert them to different types of advertising in multiple media formats. First, cocreation workshops with 24 children (ages eight to 11 years old) were held to determine a selection of disclosure designs based on insights from the target group. Second, two eye-tracking studies among 32 children (ages six to 12 years old) were conducted to test which of these disclosure designs attracted the most attention when the disclosures were integrated into a media context. These studies led to the selection of the final advertising disclosure: a black rectangular graphic with the word Reclame! (i.e., Dutch for “Advertising!”) in yellow letters. Finally, a two-by-two, between-subjects experimental study (disclosure design: existing versus child-inspired advertising disclosure; advertising format: brand placement versus online banner advertising) with 157 children (ages 10 and 11 years old) was performed to test the effectiveness of the child-inspired disclosure by comparing it with existing ones. This study not only showed that children recognized, understood, and liked the child-inspired disclosure better than the existing ones, but they were also better able to recognize advertising after exposure to this child-inspired advertising disclosure.     

Advertising to a social network

Direct advertising—sending promotional messages to individual customers—is increasingly used by marketers as a result of the recent improvements in consumer reachability. Most current methods to calculate optimal budgets for such advertising campaigns consider customers in isolation and ignore word-of-mouth communication (WOM). When the customer base forms a network (as is the case in telecom or social network databases) ignoring WOM clearly leads to suboptimal advertising budgets. This paper develops a model to help address this challenge. We assume that firms know the network structure formed by customers but do not know (or are not allowed to use) data on individuals’ connections. Under this scenario, we compare the optimal campaign of a monopolist to that of firms competing in simultaneous-move or sequential-move games. The analysis provides two key insights: (i) we show that ignoring the existence of WOM leads to significant profit loss for firms and this is more so under competition. In particular, knowing the “density” of consumer connections is crucial for the design of optimal campaigns. (ii) Competition in direct advertising exhibits strong first-mover advantages and, even in a simultaneous-move game between identical firms, highly asymmetric outcomes are possible. The paper also explores two extensions. First, we study the nature of the trade-off between increasing network size versus increasing the connectivity between existing network members. Second, we investigate how firms’ advertising activity may endogenously grow the membership base.     

Britt,Steuart Henderson. Psychological Principles of Marketing and Consumer Behavior. Lexington,Mass.: Lexington Books, 1978

Abstract

Conventionally, an advertiser's spending on the creative component of an advertising campaign is small in relation to the media budget and is channeled exclusively to a single advertising agency. Gross challenged those conventions more than 20 years ago, using a mathematical model of advertising effectiveness. His model suggested spending more on the creative component and doing so in a competition among several independent sources. The model assumed a normal distribution of effectiveness of advertisements. Data on response to consumer product ads show that the distribution of effectiveness is not normal, but quite skewed. Using Monté Carlo simulations and Gross's framework, the authors find that the skewness strengthens the case for competition. Shifting a sizable percentage of a campaign budget away from media spending and into competitive generation of creative renderings apparently can be very profitable.     

The enunciative contract and media planning

The purpose of this semiotic approach is to improve the media plan when placing an advertising campaign. It derives from the most recent research in linguistics, that of pragmatics and the theory of enunciation, and is based on an analysis of the enunciative contract of each of the media vehicles and the campaign to be placed. This is of course an additional approach and is not intended to replace those commonly used in media planning. It proves to be particularly useful when certain media offer equivalent performances in terms of coverage, frequency, and balance. The example of the medical press, for which the usual, traditional criteria have proven insufficient, demonstrates how this new approach enables a rational choice to be made based on the compatibility or incompatibility of the enunciative contract. The medical press is used as a model for the approach and provides a preliminary field of investigation. This new approach can be applied to other types of media vehicles and surely to other media.     

Taking Advertising Risks: The Case of Clerical Medical

This paper examines the process and issues involved in the management of advertising risk by advertisers with a focus on the case of a leading UK financial company, Clerical Medical Investment Group. The idea of an advertising risk cycle is proposed given that managers are likely to adapt their risk-taking according to past successes or failures. The factors influencing the propensity of advertising risk-taking are analysed focusing on budgetary slack, media scheduling, stakeholder perspective, management practices, environment, campaign planning process and knowledge and experience. Clerical Medical's advertising experience since 1990 largely supports the hypotheses for the risk cycle and propensity to take advertising risks. It is recommended that advertisers utilise appropriate pretesting techniques along with effective and rigorous planning and advertising risk audits.     

How advertising is covered in the Egyptian press: a longitudinal examination of content

The possibility of Egyptian attitudes towards advertising being affected by exposure to media portrayals of advertising is discussed in the context of cultivation effects. A census of all content related to advertising in Al-Ahram from 1978 through 1997 is conducted. Findings show that most columns, letters to the editor and editorials are negative in tone, and most news stories dealing with advertising are neutral. Domestic and international industry practices and social aspects of advertising are commonly covered. Outdoor and television advertising are most often criticised. The concerns expressed typically involve morality, culture and deception. Calls for increased government regulation and censorship of advertising are common. It appears that the coverage of advertising in Egypt is more negative than in the US. Future research examining links between media content and public attitudes towards advertising is suggested.     

Utilizing the before after with Control Group Experimental Design to Evaluate an Outdoor Advertising Campaign

This article reports an empirical investigation that measured the effects of a particular outdoor advertising campaign in several cities. A before-after-with control group experimental design was employed in the study. The independent variable was a regional outdoor advertising campaign that focused upon the identity of Miss America 1975 in eleven cities. The dependent variable was the proportion of adults residing in selected metropolitan areas who could identify Miss America 1975. The experiment is somewhat unusual in that a control city was actually selected and employed to measure the effects of extraneous variables in the experiment.     

Information Content of Advertising in the United States,Japan, South Korea,and the People's Republic of China

The results of this four country-four media study indicate that different countries/cultures have varying degrees of information cues in their advertising. Broadcast media (television and radio) have lower information content than do print media (magazine and newspaper) in all countries. Overall, the average number of cues per advertisement for all four countries was: 3.10 for magazine, 2.91 for newspaper, 2.14 for television, and 2.05 for radio. The study found that the information content (number of cues) and the type of cues varied by media within each country. This implies that international advertisers need to consider their strategies in developing advertising themes for various target audiences in different countries.