Cadbury's advertising startegy

Advertising strategy of Cadbury

Cadbury India Limited (CIL), a part of the Cadbury Schweppes Group, is India’s leading confectionary manufacturer. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, 5 Star, Eclairs, Perk and Gems are the largest selling brands in their segments. CIL is estimated to have a 65 percent share of the Indian chocolate market.
The Indian chocolate market is estimated to be worthRs. 3.2 billion, with an annual growth rate of 10 percent. Per Capita Consumption levels are very low in India, as compared to 8.7 kg per year in the U.K. The market therefore offers tremendous potential for growth.
In this analysis, we examine some of the interesting aspects of Cadbury’s advertising strategy.
The Advertising Message
Chocolates have usually been viewed as something meant only for children. Perhaps realizing that children would be attracted to any chocolate, irrespective of the brand, CIL targeted adults with their advertising since the early 1990s. Most, if not all, of Cadbury’s advertisements in India feature people over 18 years of age.
The message that CIL seems to be attempting to put across is this: “In every adult, there is a child - let that child express itself, give in to temptation, and satisfy his or her desire to sink teeth into a smooth, creamy, delicious chocolate”. This approach appears to be unique to Cadbury’s. CIL’s biggest competitor, Nestle, often stresses the energy giving aspects of chocolate (for example, in advertising for Nestle Charge), or on other attributes of the chocolate - taste in the case of Nestle Crunch, as a light snack in the case of Nestle Bar One. Nestle specifically targets children in the advertising for Milkybar, its white chocolate, again emphasizing its energy giving properties.
To counter Milkybar, CIL has the Dairy Treat - where it targets the mothers of children by trying to convey the message that its product is full of the goodness of milk, and so equivalent to consuming milk itself.
Message Execution
Cadbury’s multi-award winning campaign - ‘The Real Taste of Life’ - launched in the 90’s attempts to capture the child like spontaneity in every adult. From the old man offering his wife a Dairy Milk chocolate to the dancing girl in a crowded stadium, all reflect the impulsiveness and the spontaneity of the child in the adult.
Cadbury’s Perk, the light snack, addresses the hungry child in every adult, as exemplified by the bride who nibbles at a Perk under her ‘pallu’. Cadbury’s Dairy Treat conveys its message through the mother who refuses chocolates and other treats to her son, till Dairy Treat comes along and quickly changes her opinion about chocolates.
Catchy lines such as ‘The Real Taste of Life’, ‘Khane Walo Ko Khane Ka Bahana Chahiye’, or ‘Reach for the Stars’, are also used extensively, and to good effect in Cadbury’s advertisements.
Advertising Media
Television, the print media and posters have been the main media of communication for Cadbury’s advertisements. However, with their understanding of the peculiarities of the Indian market, CIL has also explored many new ways of getting their message across to the consumers.
Sheet Metal Dispensers: This purple salesperson for Cadbury’s is found in almost every shop stocking their chocolates. Since it is placed on the cash counter, it’s design offers visibility, ease of vending, and protection from the elements. It is also placed in the most appropriate position to cater to the impulse buyers. This ‘first’ from CIL has become so popular that is now the standard design for all chocolate manufacturers.
Visicoolers: Visibility for chocolates drops in the summer, as they disappear into the refrigerator. In high throughput outlets, the visicool er serves the need for cooling while still maintaining the visibility of the product.
Jars: These are provided to small outlets, where they are prominently displayed.
Vending machines: These high visibility machines are provided at busy locations.
Presence in Amusement Parks: Cadbury’s also maintains a presence in many amusement parks across the country, strengthening the association of its chocolates with ‘fun’ occasions.
Conclusion
Cadbury’s strategy to attract consumers is somewhat unique in a sense, instead of focusing on the product, it seeks to tap into emotions normally associated with chocolates. They have also adapted their strategies to the unique demands of the Indian retail sector. The strategy has clearly proved successful, as they have been able to build and maintain a leadership position in the market with many loyal customers.

By Prism-A Newsletter from The Icfaian School of Management (An Affiliate of ICFAI),

Vol. I No. 10 , January2002 ,www.ismindia.org.

Advertising Strategies - Nirma

Nirma -A Super brand by superbrandsindia.com

The success of Nirma's umbrella branding strategy has led to a change in the competition's marketing strategies, as well. Many of Nirma's competitors are now consolidating their brand portfolio and consequently gaining more bang for their advertising rupee.
In a changing market environment, the company has relaunched Nirma Yellow Washing Powder and Nirma Beauty Soap, two of its strongest brands. Nirma Yellow Powder is being re-launched with improved formulation and new advertising. This is an extension of the original ad which will return after the launch is over. Nirma Beauty Soap is being re-launched with a new shape, fragrance and a smarter, brighter pack to improve shelf visibility.
Promotion

Nirma's success is synonymous with its advertising and marketing strategy. When Karsanbhai Patel started selling his detergent powder, he decided to call it Nirma, derived from the name of his daughter Nirupama. In the early years, the Nirma packet featured a lady washing a garment. Later, however, the design was changed and an image of his daughter was featured on the pack. The white dancing girl, featured in Nirma's television advertising, is perhaps the most enduring image of Nirma. Though Ms. Patel passed away in a car accident, she continues to live on in the corporate logo and the best selling brands of the company.
Nirma's advertising has always focused on the value-for-money angle. Its simple and catchy jingle - Dudh si safedi Nirma se aye, rangin kapda bhi khil khil jaye - has continued to echo in the drawing rooms of middle-class Indian homes through the decades. While the jingle stresses on the product, it also salutes the savvy and budget-conscious Indian housewife. The jingle, which was first aired on radio in 1975, was broadcast on television in 1982. It is one of the longest running jingles and the spot has seen very few changes since the time it was first aired. For the re-launch of Nirma, the company has developed new spots but they are variations of the old favourite. Once the re-launch is complete, the company plans to go back to the original advertisement.
Nirma's promotion strategy, too, has many firsts to its credit. The company pioneered product sponsorship through the electronic media. Besides, the company has developed a unique advertising strategy - new products are launched with no advertising support. Once the distribution glitches are sorted out and the product reaches the shelves of retailers, the company begins to advertise it. The umbrella branding strategy helps to give new products instant recall without increasing the advertising expense.
Brand Values
Nirma believes in bonding with the consumer. And, therefore, it puts value-for-money above all. Today, the Nirma brand is synonymous with value for money. The brand believes in offering consumers 'better products, better value for better living.'

Bingo Chips advertising strategy

Bingo Chips Strategy - College Essay by Nikhilwingman

The Bingo brand of chips was launched by ITC on 14th March 2007 with an aim to capture at least 25 percent market share of the Rs 2000 crore branded snack market within five yrs.
This was an extremely ambitious target according to observers as the market was dominated by the Frito Lay group (owned by Pepsi Co) with a slew of brands like Lays, Kurkure and Uncle Chipps holding 50 per cent of the market share. The other was the Haldiram group with 25 percent of the market share.
The organized snacks category is subdivided into the Traditional segment (Bhujia,Chana etc) dominated by Haldiram. The second category is the Western segment(potato chips,cheese balls,puffs etc) and the Finger snacks segment which is an adaptation of traditional snacks to the western format. The latter two categories are dominated by the Frito Lay group. ITC has launched an aggressive marketing campaign to gain entry into and capture a sizeable market share in the extremely competitive world of snack foods.
The success of Bingo’s marketing strategy can be attributed to the following 4 Ps:-
1. T.V. Ad Campaign

2. Assortment of flavors and eye catching packaging

3. High availability at big and small retailers across the country

4. Pricing Strategy

1.Bingo’s launch was strategically timed around the World Cup to cash in on the tremendous popularity that such leisure and cocktail snacks would find among cricket lovers in the country. So cricket lovers could enjoy their favourite matches while savouring an all-new range of innovative Bingo snacks during the World Cup. The idea is to get the consumer to take that first bite. Not only the flavours but also the advertising was supposed to have an Indian touch!The advertising strategy used humour to sell Bingo. The advertisements were well received by the audience.

Hutch says Hi

Hutch says Hi
by Sravanthi Challapalli

Hutchison Essar is all excited over its new unified brand for cellular services, Hutch. Whether Hutch will do another Orange, once a Hutchison brand, remains to be seen.

Grounded in reality, very much `today', is how the honchos at Hutchison Essar like to describe their new, unified cellular services brand. At a press conference in Hyderabad, where the company announced the launch of Hutch, Keith Kirby, Director of Global Branding, Hutchison, who also created Orange, the well-known global brand then with Hutchison, said the new brand was not about tomorrow or about advertisements which showed stadia filled with millions and sentiment - this to him was unreal - whereas Hutch, which believes in delivering rather than promising, is all about making it real for the consumer.
Hutch marks the company's first common brand across three new circles that it will commence operations in (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Chennai), and Delhi. Hutchison retains the right to call its cellular service in Mumbai Orange, a brand that is no longer with the Hutchison group worldwide, but with France Telecom. The Hutchison group also operates cellular services in Kolkata and Gujarat under different brands, though the company says there are no moves to bring them under the Hutch umbrella now. "While Orange was a great success and probably the first genuine brand in telecom, it was a 20th century brand; the 21st century needs something more," said Kirby, the brand's creator. Hutch, while moving away from Orange, also hopes to build on its predecessor's values and brand equity - it wants to be perceived as open, simple, positive, human, creative and passionate.
However, beyond a statement explaining what they meant by these traits, it was not too clear how they would translate into the products and services that Hutch would envelop. The top brass would only say that they were going to weave the brand philosophy into their work culture.
Asim Ghosh, Director, Hutchison Essar, told Catalyst that all he could reveal at this point was that Hutch's services would be "feature-rich" and concentrate on the "totality of the consumer experience". Hutch was not just a logo but an entire philosophy that drove the brand, his company's approach to business and the focus on solutions rather than mere promises in the `here, now and today' with convenience and pleasure.
An official at Hutchison Essar says this reticence to talk about the brand, its services, its advertising strategy and other aspects is "with good reason", as the brand philosophy was one of action and not words. Hutch is the first of a family of brands the company will unveil in the future; it plans to progressively move on to national branding but, as Ghosh says, "We will talk about them when we are ready."
With cellular services well on their way to commoditisation, given the lack of a differentiating factor in rates or services, Hutchison will have to come up with something really, really different to make a mark. A question on Hutch's USP evokes a counter from Ghosh: "Why should I reduce my brand's philosophy to a slogan?" Banners with a different face on each saying `Hi' dot the venue of Hutchison Essar's press conference in Hyderabad - a sneak preview of the brand's campaign, which is shrouded in secrecy as the cellular services in the three new circles haven't actually begun operations yet.
Hi is an expression of Hutchison's approach to the world, open and fun, and is representative of the progression from Orange and its Hello, Ghosh said. Hutch was chosen as the brand name because "people call us that, it's simple and easy to say, it's real, and its three tri-star logo was designed to symbolise its dynamism and creativity", according to Kirby, who added that Hutch would also evolve and change over time and that it was "part of the big story".
The reluctance to pinpoint a USP also has something to do with Hutchison's pioneering status in cellular services the world over, as well as Essar's in India - a heritage as hoary as this cannot be abridged into three words, claims the company.
A pan-national brand is part of the larger picture but won't having so many now cause dissonance? Kirby and Ghosh disagree. While Ghosh says "It's all about consonance, considering four out of seven circles we operate in now are under Hutch," Kirby says "They won't be unrecognisable. The brands will change when the consumer is willing to change." Kirby, a branding expert, says this is the new approach to branding - "Offer the customers what they want, not what we assume that they want."
According to the Cellular Operators' Association of India Web site, Hutchison has about 1.35 million consumers across the four circles it is operating cellular services now. It has invested Rs 1,200 crore in the Southern phase of its operations. The subscriber base in India is 6.71 million. Bharti Cellular, the other major player, has around 1.42 million.
Hutchison is not revealing its targets in the three new circles where its rivals are Idea Cellular and Bharti Mobile in Andhra Pradesh, RPG Cellular and Bharti Mobinet in Chennai, Bharti Mobile and Spice Comm in Karnataka. A high-decibel campaign in print, outdoors and promotions is in the wings.
As with any other queries, those related to tariffs, price wars and competition are dismissed with a smile and stock statements: "We welcome competition, we'll offer competitive tariffs at all times and a superb value proposition. We are prepared to do serious business."
On the issue of WiLL providers grabbing a large chunk of the potential market with cheaper rates, Ghosh says, "We welcome fair competition through the front door."
Given the excitement that pervaded the launch of Hutch, which is yet to be seen (at the time of going to press, the final clearance for the operations had not been given), its dogged resolve to talk less and achieve more, and the company's belief that it is "on the cusp of a new journey with Hutch", the nascent brand certainly evokes a lot of curiosity, especially in the context of its forebear, Orange, having been an example of a great marketing success.
If the future's bright, is it Hutch?

Article by Business Line a Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publicationsThursday, Jun 06, 2002

Creative strategies in advertising

Creative strategies in advertising

In advertising, different creative strategies are used in order to obtain consumer attention and provoke shoppers to purchase or use a specific product. Advertisers use different ways of thinking to create catchy slogans that capture consumer attention. Creative strategies promote publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion.
These ways of thinking are divided into three basic descriptions: Weak strategies, mid-strength strategies and strong strategies. The strategies labeled "strong, mid-strength, and weak are generic phrases used in the text books referenced below to help students understand the intensity of each different type of advertising strategy. Advertisements, weak, mid-strength, and strong can be found in television, radio, and magazines/print.
Since the beginning of advertising, strategies have been created, starting with the simplest (weak) strategies in the 1940s.
Weak strategies
Generic and Pre-emptive strategies describe the two weakest forms of advertising that were most popular through the 1940s.
A generic strategy gives a product attribution. An example of this would be how the beef industry chose to advertise their product. With their slogan, “Beef, it's what's for dinner,” consumers aren't learning anything new about the product.
The Beef slogan simply states beef as a dinner item. It enhances the product in no other way.
A pre-emptive strategy is a form of advertising that makes a generic claim stronger. An example of a pre-emptive strategy can be found in Folgers Coffee. As many of us know, most all coffee is grown in the mountains. Folgers took that fact and claimed it as their own with their slogan, “Folgers: Mountain Grown Coffee.”

Middle-strength strategies
Secondly, are the mid-strength strategies: unique positioning strategy, brand image and positioning.
A unique positioning strategy is proving that something about your product is truly unique. This is commonly found when producers take an average product and add a new, unique element to it. An example of Unique Positioning Strategy would be in Crest toothpaste. Crest added the unique feature of Scope in their product to differentiate it from other brands of toothpaste.
A downfall in Unique positioning strategy advertising is that if a unique feature increases sales on one product, many other brands are likely to adopt the “unique” feature, making the end product not so unique.
Positioning is one of the most common forms of advertising. It was developed in the 1970s and is still widely used today. In positioning one brand will take its product and “position” it against a competing product.
An example of positioning can be found in the rental car company Avis slogan. With The Hertz car company being the leader in rental car services, Avis took their number two position and used it to their advantage by creating the slogan, “When you're number two, you try harder.”
Brand Image is another very common way companies choose to advertise. In brand image, an advertiser is not trying to create rational thinking. This type of advertising strives to create emotion and give a brand a personality. A common way of doing this is by using a celebrity as a spokesperson.
A great example of brand image is found in Proactive Acne Solutions. In each of their commercials they have celebrities sharing their Proactive experiences, giving the brand a face people want to be.

Strong strategies
The third and strongest form of creative strategy includes affective advertising and resonance advertising.
Making people feel really good about a product is called affective advertising. This is difficult to do, but often humor and an honest character can make affective advertising possible.
A great example of affective advertising is found in the “Geico” commercials. By creating a friendly, honest, funny gecko as a spokesperson, consumers tend to trust what the gecko is saying and find humor in his actions. This creates a good feeling about the actual service “Geico” offers.
Lastly, resonance advertising is a way of identifying with consumers. If an advertiser can create a campaign that certain target markets identify with, then resonance advertising has been achieved.
An example of resonance advertising is in “Tide” detergent ads. Many times mothers are busy doing laundry in between sports practices and driving their children around in mini vans. Their recognition with soccer moms makes “Tide” a favorite pick among women with children who are very involved in activities.

References
1. Peter, Paul J. & Jerry C. Olson. 1990. Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy, 2 ed. Irwin Publishing, Boston.
2. Schwartz, Shalom H. 1994. "Are there universal aspects in the structure and contents of human values?" Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 50, no. 4, 19-35.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_strategies_in_advertising"

Sequel Advertising: A Better Strategy

'Advertising' is one of the most important sub-elements of the marketing mix, which is always lined under the one of the typical 4P’s of marketing i.e. Promotion. Advertising is one tactic that is considered as the most effective among all the promotional policies for a company. Advertising is type of a mass-communicational activity in which the company markets its product directly to the consumers in such a way that it leaves an impact of the mind of the person. Companies may use all or may be selective options available for communicating with the target market. Advertising is further divided into different types and companies/manufacturers use all various types of advertising according to the products and services they are offering. The choice of choosing the appropriate advertising style is one of the significant and central factors that predict the sale of the product that a marketer wants to sell. Proper advertising tactics blended with strategic yet appealing visuals can be in favor of the company.
Today, the options of adversting have been maximized by the modern technology. The traditional advertising techniques contained the advertising in the newspapers, radios and lately though television commercials. Covert advertising and Celebrity branding were two other tactics that are still being massively used by the big international brands, due to the fact that these prestigious brands need to highlight their products with the best bling available on the planet. Mainly, these two advertising strategies are most costly but in the end the marketer actually catches up with a large fraction of the target market. Advertising through SMS can some times become a real headache for the people but this scheme has shrunk the gap between the interested costumer and marketer. Being a vendor, you never know that may be your client is just an SMS away.
Now coming to the main course, Sequel advertising related in major with Television commercials and newspaper ads. This is basically a psychological technique which has been lately identified by the advertisers; indeed this enables the advertiser to influence the mind of the consumer for the vendor. Sequel advertising starts with a television commercial in the usual promotional style. People begin to respond to the commercial and sale-rate of the concerned product/product line begins to increase. As soon as the sale-rate begins to decline, the company launches a second add with the similar major elements (including similar scenario, same models, actors, colors, statements and taglines). The main aim of making similar ads is to leave a psychological effect on the mind of the interested people, and this is what Sequel advertising is all about. This influence boosts up the brand loyal people as the company offers them better deals in the 2nd add and people who didn’t respond to the first add also get curious about the new offerings. The major mental effect that this Sequel advertising tactic leave on the mind of the people is the commitment of the vendor to give them better and better services every time. In most of such advertisements, the advertiser creates a scenario or may be story that is continued throughout the advertising campaign and these continual scenario imposing techniques creates a psychosomatic effect on the minds of the people that increases the rate of new consumers rapidly. Usually a vendor continues such sequel advertising scenario for a particular time, season or until there is an extent of improvement in the service it has offered at the first place.
As soon as the vendor realizes that the quota of the consumers for the particular product/ service is completed or the scenario/story that has been the foremost ingredient of the sequel has now become old. A new sequel or add is launched. The new sequel can be for the same product/service or may be for a new product that the vendor considers more important than the preceding one. This technique has been used extraordinarily by telecommunication, electricity producing companies, mobile phone operators, food and beverage manufacturers etc.
Sequel advertising comprises of usual marketing techniques but with the more of the mind capturing ideology. This is a good way of communicating and interacting with the target audience, until and unless the scenario becomes a cliché.

Which Ad Strategy Is Right for You?

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted,” Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker was famously quoted as saying. “The trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Wanamaker’s dilemma remains the bane of advertisers today--especially small-business owners on shoestring budgets. Unlike big-name advertisers like Pepsi, Nike, Apple and Ford, small-businesses can’t afford to throw millions of dollars at Super Bowl commercials or glossy magazine ads. Whether your ad budget is $5,000 or $50,000, you’ve got to make every dollar count.

And that means doing the math to calculate the return on investment on every advertising campaign you run.

What’s ROI? Think of it this way: Let’s say you rent a targeted list of 100 dentists in your local zip code and send them each a package containing free samples of your revolutionary new dental floss. After adding up the cost of printing, postage, list rental and samples, you may end spending $3 for every package you mail. This means that your campaign will have bring in at least $300 in profit in order to break even and $600 to double your money.

Here’s the good news: With the double whammy of the recession and the Internet hurting traditional media channels like newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, there’s never been a better time to buy premium advertising at bargain-basement prices--even for a small-business buyer.

The key is finding the advertising channel that best fits your company and your industry and use it to get the biggest bang for your buck. At the end of the day, it’s not about how much you spend or how many eyeballs you reach. It’s about how many customers you can bring in the door while still making enough money to float your boat. And, while no advertising strategy is foolproof (there’s always going to be some initial trial and error before you figure out what works), you’ll get better results and waste less money if you do your homework ahead of time.

“E-mail marketing, television, search marketing and yellow pages typically yield a better ROI for unknown or unbranded direct response offers,” says Michael Weinstein, CEO of Primary Systems, a South Salem, N.Y., Internet marketing firm.“Banner advertising, print and social media are better for companies with existing visibility. For example, Toyota will do better with a banner ad while a one-time ‘act now’ offer would excel in print or television.”

Here’s a quick guide to help you decide which advertising strategy is right for you:

Print
Despite the gloomy predictions of the death of the newspaper and magazine industries, print can still be a great way to target a niche market. For example, if you’re looking to sell pre-paid phone cards to Indian immigrants in Queens or Mexican-Americans in L.A., local ethnic newspapers can be a low-cost way to reach the entire community in one shot and to deliver discount coupons that let you track response to your offer. Likewise, a targeted local or national magazine can offer an inexpensive way to reach quilters or new parents. Depending on the size of the market and the size of your ad (quarter page, half page or full page), newspapers will typically charge $5 CPM to $25 CPM (cost per thousand impressions). National magazine rates average $6 CPM.

Broadcast
No media outlet reaches more people than television, which is why it’s still so popular among advertisers but also why it’s so difficult to measure ROI. While TV may be a great way to market a new car to the roughly 100 million people who watch the Super Bowl, it’s not a cost-effective way to reach your target market--even if you could afford $2.6 million for a 30-second spot. TV advertising ranges from $10 CPM for a local broadcast to $35 CPM for a commercial on a popular network sitcom. That doesn’t include the cost of producing the spot.

“If a general demographic description is all you need, then TV can be great,” says Jerry Shereshewsky, a New York City ad agency veteran and CEO of Grandparents.com. “But as soon as you need to get narrower, you’re out of luck.”

Direct TV is a better bet for small-business owners, especially inventors who have a blockbuster new kitchen appliance or fitness machine that must be seen to be believed. Both broadcast and cable television networks offer 30-, 60- and 120-second direct response commercials at a fraction of the cost of traditional spots. Because DRTV spots usually contain a “call to action,” you can flash a toll-free number or Web address that will let you measure your ROI to the penny. If your product is hot, you may even land a deal with a DRTV production company to foot the bill for your infomercial in return for a share of the revenue.

If you’re looking to reach a targeted demographic while they’re commuting to work in the morning or driving home at night, there’s nothing like radio. With an average CPM of just over $4, radio is a low-cost way to reach loyal listeners of popular DJs and talk show hosts. Radio advertising packages offer more than just a pre-recorded spot. They often include on-air introductions to your ad plus interactive contests and giveaways that can help you track and monitor the effectiveness of your campaign.

Directory
Advertising in the Yellow Pages may be old school, but, if you’re a plumber, electrician, locksmith or other emergency repair technician, you can’t afford not to be there. According to the Yellow Page Publishing Association, 96 percent of U.S. households have at least one copy. When a pipe bursts, a toilet overflows or someone locks himself out of his house at 2 a.m., you want to be the first to get the call--even if nobody remembers that the name of your company is AAA Aardvark Plumbing.

But there’s more to advertising in the Yellow Pages these days than listing your phone number in big bold numbers. With consumers and businesses increasingly turning to the Internet to find the service providers they need, it may also pay to list your business in online directories. AT&T’s YellowPages.com claims it generates over 140 million monthly searches and that 55 percent of their users have purchased a product or service from a merchant they found there. Merchants can enhance their listings with interactive features like video profiles, premium inventory listings, websites and search engine optimization.

Outdoor
Outdoor advertising – the signs you see on billboards, bus benches, subways, trains, airports, even elevators – is almost impossible to quantify in terms of ROI, but it can work wonders for dentists, lawyers, podiatrists and trade schools looking to reach busy commuters. And, at an average CPM of $2.26, there’s no cheaper way to reach a captive audience. So, while a small resort hotel may not have the ad budget of a Marriott or a Hilton, there’s no better way to tell weary commuters about your hotel than with a sign that says “Pat’s Bed and Breakfast, Exit 16.”

Internet
No longer an experimental ad vehicle, Internet advertising will total $24.5 billion this year, up 4.5 percent from 2008, according to research firm eMarketer. Unlike print and broadcast, Internet advertising is easy to measure thanks to tools that track site traffic and click-through. And it’s often cheaper than traditional media because many online publishers charge on performance, not traditional CPM-based metrics.

Internet advertising falls into three basic categories:

Banner Advertising
The online sister of print and broadcast, banners can give your ad constant exposure on a popular website or advertising network, letting you associate your brand with a publication that your prospective customers already trust. Banner ads generally work best for e-commerce companies that sell directly from their web pages and boast well-established brands. These are the types of companies that can take advantage of the fact that their next customer may be just one click away. Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO of Small Business Television, says “banner ads work well for branding campaigns and established brands with a simple call to action.”

To get the most out of banner advertising, it’s best to run your banners on the kind of sites that target your desired demographic--working moms, sports car enthusiasts, business travelers or senior citizens. If you’re selling luxury trips or expensive watches, for example, it may be worth paying $7.50 to $15 CPM to advertise on The Huffington Post. If you’re looking to tap the affluent baby boomer market, you may not mind spending $25 CPM to $45 CPM to run your ad on AARP’s site. But beware: Click-throughs on banner ads are notoriously low, so make sure you’re not spending more on banners that you can realistically recoup in sales.

E-mail Marketing
Unlike traditional direct mail with its hefty postage, printing and handling costs, you can blast out an e-mail marketing campaign for little more than the list rental cost alone--and start ringing up sales within minutes. Depending on how narrow the market you’re trying to reach (for example, divorced female fly fishers, ages 35 to 45, in Jackson Hole, WY), you can spend a tenth of a penny to more than $1 per e-mail address for a targeted list of permission-based e-mail addresses.

Once you’ve picked your list, the rest is easy. Just whip up some copy, remember to pop in a link to your website and hit send. Whether you send out your e-mail campaign to loyal customers or hot prospects, you can easily track ROI by inserting a URL in your message that contains a special tracking code or which sends recipients of your mailing to a specific page on your website. A word of caution: “Spam lists” containing e-mail addresses compiled from websites, directories and other sources without their recipients’ permission continue to circulate on the Internet. Beware of bargain-basement lists that promise millions of e-mail addresses--or else you may find your mailings blocked and your company booted off your ISP.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
On the Internet, every store is only one click away. That’s why one of the most cost-effective ways to drive customers to your site is sponsoring search terms on Google, Microsoft, AOL and other popular search engines. Unlike banner advertising and e-mail marketing, which are typically sold on a CPM basis, pay-per-click marketing requires you to pay only when a prospective buyer types in the relevant keywords and clicks on the link to your website.

“Search is now the tool of choice for shoppers, replacing both local newspaper advertising and yellow pages,” Shereshewsky says.

Even so, it’s important to choose your keywords carefully and closely monitor your budget. Because popular keywords like “toys,” “shoes” and “travel” can be expensive, it’s often more cost-effective to sponsor more targeted terms like “extra wide women’s shoes” or “luxury hiking trips Nepal.” Make sure to test the ROI of the keywords you sponsor (along with your ad copy and landing page) before you roll out your campaign in a big way.

In addition to paid advertising opportunities, the Internet also offers the chance to conduct no-cost grassroots marketing campaigns through blogs, social networks and bookmarking sites. But don’t expect the kind of ROI from Facebook or Twitter that you get from banners, e-mail or search engine marketing. According to Weinstein, social media marketing “is a great forum to communicate with your customers, but it takes constant care and feeding and isn’t suitable for marketers looking for an immediate return.”

Whether you choose an online, print, broadcast or directory advertising channel for your next campaign, it pays to do the math before investing your company’s hard-earned dollars. A little planning now will ensure that you’ll know which half of your advertising budget is working--and which half you’d be better off employing elsewhere.

Strategy – key input for Advertising

Advertisers smartly recognize the required strategy for creating huge impact in the minds of the target customers, to fulfill their marketing objective. It is essential that Advertising agency should narrow their focus to specific target segment by dramatizing the advertising idea through brilliant brand propositions by differentiating advertiser brand with the competitors.

The strategy deployed by an advertiser should be simple, single minded and stimulating to the creative team of an advertising agency, which enables them in bringing a good advertising layout. Perhaps, the strategy used as plan and direction for creating good ad layout either in the print layout or in the script / story board according to the advertiser's specifications. The strategy should fulfill the predetermined marketing objective of the advertiser.

In seeking to build and sustain competitive advantage, managers need to build up strategies by considering the likely future changes and which will themselves change in line with circumstances. The effective strategy should answers the following questions:

1) Why are we advertising?
2) Whom are we trying to reach and change?
3) What change do we want in the target audience?

It serves as an efficient means to reach the target customers, for that the marketer has to identify their target segment through several resources such as the magazines, market research agencies, articles published on newspapers….etc, which were considered to be the reliable source for evaluating the customer physiological and psychographic characteristics to serve the market needs efficiently.

Why are we advertising?

The purpose of an effective advertising is to promote the products or services through brilliant propositions in the minds of the customers, which might influence customers to acquire those product/ services in the near future. Generally most of the advertising exposes the advertiser's products to the target segment, but failed to reap the expected responses from the customers. The prime objective of advertising is to generate measurable responses in terms of sales volume over the specific period. It is believed that the some of the advertisements endorsed the advertiser's product normally by exposing their product/ services to the target segment, but failed to get the desired response from the same segment. The advertisement exposure alone doesn't guarantee the desired result for the advertiser, when the ad fails to draw the measurable responses in terms of sales volume over a period from the targeted segment.



Exposure is what advertising DOES, but it is NOT how we evaluate success. The purpose of advertising in a small business is NOT exposure. It is to generate a measurable response that advances a sale over a Period.



Advertising deals with people's feelings and emotions. It integrates the psychology of the buyer, his motives, attitudes, as well as the influences on him such as his family and reference groups, social class and culture. In order to augment the advertisement persuasiveness, advertisers use many types of extensions of behavioral sciences to marketing and buying behaviors. One such extension is the theory of cognitive dissonance. The purpose of advertising is to create a cognitive dissonance to generate a favorable response from the buyer toward a product or a concept.


Cognitive Dissonance Theory, developed by Leon Festinger (1957), is concerned with the relationships among cognitions (Festinger, 1957). In this context, cognition can be perceived as a piece of knowledge that may



The purpose of advertising is used as a promotional tool for increasing the sales volume over specific period in order to fulfill their marketing objective. In the social context, it is mainly utilized for reducing accidents, increasing the voters' participation during the election period, reducing smoking habits, and various awareness campaigns particularly aimed for the benefits of the entire society. In the social context it has many applications, where it would benefit the perceived section of the society. It is prominent that ad exposure alone doesn't determine the fate of the customers while purchasing the product or services. The attitude toward the advertisement is defined "as a predisposition to respond in favorable or unfavorable manner to a particular advertising stimulus at some stage in a particular ad exposure". The range of feelings generated by advertisements is broad and spreads from contentment to repulsion. Those feelings can have a direct impact on brand attitudes.

It is really important for advertisers to generate a feeling that will modify the buyer's attitude toward a product. One of the strategies used by advertisers is to create a cognitive dissonance in people's mind1. Cognitive Irrelevance probably portrays the bulk of the relationships among a person's cognitions. Irrelevance simply means that the two cognitions have nothing to do with each other. Two cognitions are consonant if one cognition is consistent with the other. People prefer to have harmonious mutual understanding among their cognitions. We do not know whether this aspect is innate or learned, but people do prefer cognitions by relating two different objects.
When two cognitions are said to be dissonant or incompatible if one cognition is inconsistent with another (Festinger, 1957). Two factors mainly influence the strength of the dissonance: the number of dissonant beliefs, and the importance attached to each belief. According to "the Cognitive Dissonance" theory developed by Leon Festinger (1957), there are three ways to eliminate the dissonance. The first one consists in dropping the importance of the dissonant beliefs, the second one in accumulating more consonant beliefs that overshadow the dissonant beliefs and the last one in changing beliefs so that they are no longer inconsistent. The last option seems to be the most important for advertisers, because it gives them the opportunity to make a change in people's beliefs by creating a dissonance. This change could result in a modification of their attitudes and trigger a purchase decision, which is exactly the purpose of advertising.

Whom are we trying to reach and change? :

Generally the advertiser targets the specific segment to promote their concept or a product, and this marketing communication aimed at achieving the marketing objective. The target segment comprises of the entire population who have similar physiological and psychographic characteristics. Martin Oxley of TNS argues2 that "it is indeed possible to fast track new product launches or new marketing initiatives by identifying and targeting early adopters and opinion leaders". The consumers who tend to try a new product early in its lifecycle differ not only in their openness to innovation but also in the type of message that is most effective in influencing them and in their media choices.

There are several theories that support consumer psychology regarding their acceptance level of new products/ concepts, such as, The two- step hypothesis3. The trickle-down4 theory and Everett Rogers diffusion of innovations5, pioneered the theory of Diffusion of innovation, which is being laid down as measurement tool by the advertisers in most of the cases, for identifying the early adopters and opinion shapers in the society.

The advertiser has to consider the significant role of the "early adopters" and the "opinion shapers", while creating an efficient advertising strategy. In 1962 Rogers stated in his book "Diffusion of Innovations" that adopters of any new innovations or idea could be classified as innovators (2.5%), early adopters (13.5%), early majority (34%), late majority (34%) and laggards (16%). Early adopters are considered as an integral part of the local social system than innovators, whereas innovators are cosmopolites. This adopter category has the maximum number of opinion leaders in the entire social systems than any other category of adopters. Since potential adopters seek the in formations and advices about the innovation from the early adopters. Thatswhy early adopters were considered by many potential adopters as the "individual to check with" before using a new idea/ concept. They are also called as "role model" for the many other potential adopters of a society. The early adopters sustains to earn esteem of his colleagues and preserve a central position in the communication structure of the system, while making judicious decision over the innovative products. The advertiser strategy should centered on convincing the early adopters and opinion shapers through their marketing communications.

In late 1999 'Time IBOPE' conducted6 a TGI (Target Group Index) study in Chile, by using a 'survey' method among 2003 persons between the ages of 12 and 64 living in Gran Santiago, to find the early adopters. The key question used in this survey was " I am usually among the first to acquire new technology". Among all adults, 6.8% of them either "Completely agree" or "Somewhat agree" with this statement. Those people were called as early adopters, according to Roger's theory. The following table represents the statistical data of their findings.

Table 1.Early Adopters by Socio-Economic Level and Education



Demographic Variable/Class
% Early Adopters
Index

Socio-Economic Level
ABC1
C2
C3
D

10%
8%
7%
5%

142
114
104
77

Highest Level of Education Attained
Basic
Middle
Professional/technical
Licenciatura
Maestra
Doctorado

6%
6%
5%
8%
29%
30%

86
92
74
123
424
439



(source: TGI Chile, Time IBOPE)

The diffusion process refers to the rate at which various members of society accept a new product. The foremost person on the slab to buy the latest product is probably an innovator. Approximately three percent of the market is innovators. They are venturesome and try new ideas at some risk. Early adopters are respected and tend to be influential in social settings. They are the "opinion leaders" in their communities and adopt new ideas early on but carefully. Nor all early adopters remains unchanged for all product categories, as the number or persons tend to change according to product likes and dislikes.
Opinion shapers are those who are familiar with the new idea or concept. They are market leaders (who pioneered the new concept/ product), scientist, specialists, experts, media analyst, and celebrities.etc. In some cases stake holders are also considered as opinion shapers. The opinion shapers were considered as prime focus for the advertisers while framing the strategy to tap the entire segment through an advertisement.

What change do we want in the target audience?

Advertiser must prioritize the target audience such as early adopters and opinion shapers in that segment according to their marketing objective, when creating an efficient strategy. It should be an essential part for making / influencing the target audience in favor of their new products/ services through an effective advertising. The primary attribute of this marketing communication would include the value of the product & its relevance, future plan & progress which is conveyed properly to the decision makers and opinion shapers of the segment, in order to fulfill their marketing objectives.



24.01.2005/ The mobile service provider T-Mobile has extended its sponsorship of professional cycling for another two years up to 2008. The announcement came from Martin Knauer, marketing director at T-Mobile Deutschland, during the presentation of the T-Mobile Team in Bonn on Monday.

A successful 2004 season has played its part in encouraging T-Mobile to extend its sponsorship of the team up to 2008 - last season the magenta squad won the team prize in the World Cup and Tour de France, Andreas Klöden clinched the runner-up spot in the Tour, Steffen Wesemann won the Tour of Flanders, Jan Ullrich triumphed in the Tour de Suisse and Erik Zabel collected a World Cup silver medal.

The riders have been worthy of the trust placed in them and shown themselves to be ideal ambassadors and opinion shapers for our international brand, is how Knauer qualifies the decision. A truly international cycling team dovetails perfectly with our communications strategy and helps the Group increase awareness worldwide, argues Knauer

Building an Advertising Strategy

What is an advertising strategy? Basically, it is the formulation of a message that communicates to the market the benefits or problem solution characteristics of the product or service. Well, maybe that's not "basically." But what you are trying to convey through your advertising and state in your strategy is what your store offers to meet the consumer's need; how your product has more beneficial characteristics than the competition's; and what the beneficial characteristics are.

In the previous two articles, we addressed the two areas that precede formulation of the advertising strategy: the collection of data through market surveys [CG #5], leading to the strategic planning process; and the creation of a working operational market strategy [CG #6] and the implementation of the strategy. The advertising strategy is a direct result of the market strategy. The market strategy focuses on the improvement of operations and the positioning of the storefront, while the advertising strategy concentrates on reaching out to the marketplace and conveying what the market strategy has accomplished internally.

The first step in formulating an advertising strategy is to determine the product or service you have to offer to the marketplace and the objective of the store. For an example, we'll use an imaginary store named Third World that is located in an urban area.



Define Product or Service: Third World is a whole foods store servicing the metropolitan area with the finest in fresh foods, including produce, dairy, cheeses, freshly prepared foods, coffees and teas. The store also carries a large assortment of bulk foods, herbs, vitamins, body care products and natural food groceries.



In a simple paragraph, the product or service being offered by the store has been clearly defined; the next step is to state the foremost objective of the storefront.



The objective of Third World is to service its customers with the highest quality foodstuffs and to educate the consumer on the benefits of the products offered and their contribution to a healthy lifestyle.



The storefront may have many objectives, but it is important to concentrate on what you consider to be the primary one. This could be a rewording or a larger version of your mission statement, included in your strategic plan.

The next step is to define what your target markets are. Once again, this should be determined by the results of your market surveys.



Target Markets: Third World has the fortunate distinction of being located in a downtown area that is close to a university and office buildings, and is also surrounded by its own residential area. There are four distinct markets targeted as Third World customers. Each market has its own distinct buying patterns, demographics, and psychographics. Therefore, each market must have a different advertising approach and product mix. But at the same time, the Third World "message" must be consistent in each advertising group.

The four targeted groups are:

university students;
residential neighborhood;
office workers;
natural food community.

This store is unusual in that it serves four distinct markets; your store may service one or two, or could also have as many as four. Now that the market has been defined, the actual strategy for each market is ready to take form. Each market has to be defined for its demographic characteristics, its psychographic characteristics, and the products to be targeted for each group.



Demographic Characteristics:

University students-targeted group #1
Age: 18-26 Sex: mixed
Race: mixed Marital status: single
Income level: low, 5-15,000
Percent of meals at home: 30 percent

Psychographic Characteristics:

Type A: undergraduate, young, single, physically active lifestyle, health conscious, eat on the go.

Type B: graduate student, middle 20s, single or married, physically active, more settled, apt to eat at home more, holding down expenses.

Type C: employees of university, middle 30s to SOs, large income, educated, health conscious, physically active, large percent of meals at home.

By breaking down further the targeted group by psychographic characteristics, we can better segment the market and devise a strategy for each. Next is to define the targeted product per psychographic group.



Targeted Products:

Type A: vitamins, cosmetics, prepared foods, quick energy foods, bulk cereals, juice, yogurt.

Type B: basic whole foods -- produce, cheeses, dairy, bulk, juices, essential vitamins, breads.

Type C: produce, esoteric cheeses, gourmet grocery, fresh breads, prepared deli items, coffees, ice creams, essential and esoteric vitamin programs.



The next step is to identify the media that we will use to reach these demographic groups.



Targeted Media:

university newspapers;
nutrition tips show on university radio;
handouts, bag stuffers.

Other Ad Possibilities:

flyer in student orientation packet;
small ads in other university publications;
co-sponsorship of university-centered events;
further affiliation with university radio station.

(Couponing should be included in all printed advertising.)



That completes the strategy for one of the targeted groups. Let's give one more example, using Targeted Group #2: neighborhood residential.



Demographics:

Age: 25-60
Sex: mixed
Race: large percentage black
Marital status: mixed
Income level: lower to upper

Psychographics:

Type A: family, black, lower income, physically inactive, large percentage of meals at home, shops neighborhood.

Type B: single professional, black or white, lower/upper income level, fair percentage of meals at home, physically active, health conscious, entertains frequently.

Type C: retired, single, fixed income, black, physically inactive, large percentage of meals at home, shops neighborhood.

Targeted Products:

Type A: bulk basic foods, produce, basic cheeses, herbs, essential vitamins, bulk oils, honey.

Type B: prepared deli foods, produce, cheeses, vitamins, cosmetics.

Type C: basic bulk, produce, inexpensive dietary supplements.

Targeted Media:

neighborhood paper;
city paper;
handouts and bag stuffers;
public service announcements or community support programs.

The Third World neighborhood is a neighborhood in transition -- it must be advertised that way. Breaking the targeted groups into distinct psychographic groups will serve that purpose.

For Third World to be successful in becoming the neighborhood grocery store, it is essential that the store become involved in the workings of the community. Sponsoring or co-sponsoring events such as a clean-up campaign or a nutritional senior outreach, for example, will create a bond between the community and the store. In the neighborhood market segment, this approach to advertising is of much greater importance than the chosen media.

As you can see, formulating an advertising strategy is much more complex than picking a newspaper to advertise with and some products to advertise. It involves breaking your markets down to the most finite groups, identifying their needs, and the solution characteristics that your store offers.

The next step in advertising is taking your strategy and developing a budget for it. This will be the topic of my next article.

Internet Advertising Strategies for Small Businesses

Your Web site is finally live ? now the real work begins. If you don't spread the word, your fabulous new site will be like the proverbial tree in the forest, falling with no one to hear. Luckily, Internet advertising can help you reach millions of people at a fraction of the cost of traditional.
marketing techniques.
Before you begin seeking out advertising avenues, develop an advertising budget. If you don't have the funds to wage a large-scale campaign, don't panic. There are many online advertising options that are inexpensive and effective.

Next, give serious thought to where you want to place your ads. If you sell a particular type of product, do some research and buy ads on sites that offer complementary products or services that tie in with what you sell. If you need to reach a wide variety of people, a popular general interest Web site would be the best place to start.

Here are three of the most popular online advertising strategies.

Link exchanges can be great, especially if your advertising budget is limited (or nonexistent). Find merchants that sell complementary products, and offer to trade text links or ads with them. If you're just starting out and your site doesn't get a lot of traffic, you may not get a one-to-one trade; be prepared to make concessions, at least until you have a track record ? and traffic ? to point to. That said, most companies won't turn down an opportunity for more exposure, so you'll probably find a few willing to exchange links with you.

Newsletter advertising is a great way to reach select groups of consumers. For example, if you sell health products, you could advertise in a newsletter that offers health tips and advice. Because newsletter advertising is targeted, it can be expensive. If your budget is tight, you can always start your own newsletter campaign.

Budgeted advertising, such as GoogleAdWords, allows you to purchase a set of keywords, set a limit on how much you want to spend, and have your ad display until that limit is reached. This is a particularly useful way to track your campaign success, and has been a boon to small business owners.

Once you've graduated from these techniques, or if your budget allows it, try approaching popular news services, Web-based email providers, and other sites that reach a large segment of the population. While this can prove very expensive, in return, you have the potential of reaching millions of new customers.

No matter which avenue you decide to take, give serious thought to your "creative" ? the actual ad itself. Whether it's just a text link, or whether it's a complete banner-ad campaign, the creative can make or break your advertising initiative. Try several variations, track them, and see which ones perform best.

Successful Advertising Strategies

Advertising is mainly process which makes goods popular. We can also say that advertising is a technique of influencing the minds. Different mediums Can be used for advertising purpose for example Radio, T.V, Newspaper, Magazines, Agents, gift scheme, Posters and Cinema slides e.t.c. But basic idea behind all these media is how to promote goods. And a proper strategy is needed for positive results.

Expenditures on advertisement as considered as profitable investment. Organizations handle advertisement in a number of ways. In small companies advertisement is handled by some one in marketing department or sales department how work with any advertising agency but in a large company can will often setup its own department how's manager reports to vise president of marketing. The advertising job is to propose a budget develop powerful advertising strategy and approve ads and campaign. Advertising strategy can be classified according to weather their aim is to inform persuade reminds in reinforce.

Informative advertising aims to create awareness and knowledge of new products or new feature of advertising products..

Persuasive advertising aims to create liking, preferences, conviction and purchase of product.

Reminder advertisement strategy aims to stimulate repeat purchase of product.

Any advertising strategy is emerged from analysis of market situation. If product class is mature, the company is market leader and brand usage is low and there should be a proper strategy to stimulate more usage.

If the product class is new, the company is not market leader but brand is superior to leader and proper strategy is to convince the market of brand's superior.

In fact to start any project proper strategies is needed and then follow line of action to get desired results.

Common Advertising Strategies

1. Ideal Kids

The kids in commercials are often a little older and a little more perfect than the target audience of the ad. They are, in other words, role models for what the advertiser wants children in the target audience to think they want to be like. A commercial that is targeting eight year-olds, for instance, will show 11 or 12 year-old models playing with an eight year old's toy.

2. Heart Strings
Commercials often create an emotional ambience that draws you into the advertisement and makes you feel good. The McDonald's commercials featuring father and daughter eating out together, or the AT&T Reach Out and Touch Someone ads are good examples. We are more attracted by products that make us feel good.

3. Amazing Toys
Many toy commercials show their toys in life-like fashion, doing incredible things. Airplanes do loop-the-loops and cars do wheelies, dolls cry and spring-loaded missiles hit gorillas dead in the chest. This would be fine if the toys really did these things.

4. Life-like Settings
Barbie struts her stuff on the beach with waves crashing in the background, space aliens fly through dark outer space and all-terrain vehicles leap over rivers and trenches. The rocks, dirt, sand and water don't come with the toys, however.

5. Sounds Good
Music and other sound effects add to the excitement of commercials. Sound can make toys seem more life-like or less life-like, as in a music video. Either way, they help set the mood advertisers want.

6. Cute Celebrities
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sell pizza. Spuds McKenzie sells beer. "Joe Cool" camel sells cigarettes. All of these are ways of helping children identify with products either now or for the future.

7. Selective Editing
Selective editing is used in all commercials, but especially in commercials for athletic toys like frisbees or footballs. Commercials show only brilliant catches and perfect throws. Unfortunately, that's not the way most children experience these toys.

8. Family Fun.
"This is something the whole family can do together!" or "This is something Mom will be glad to buy for you." Many commercials show parents enjoying their children's fun as if the toy will bring more family togetherness.

9. Excitement!
Watch the expressions on children's faces. Never a dull moment, never boring. "This toy is the most fun since fried bananas!" they seem to say. How can your child help thinking the toy's great?

10. Star Power.
Sports heroes, movie stars, and teenage heart throbs tell our children what to eat and what to wear. Children listen, not realizing that the star is paid handsomely for the endorsement.

How to create an advertising strategy

An advertising strategy should support the marketing plan, which in turn supports the company business plan.

In the Real World you will rarely be handed a marketing or business plan. So you'll normally have to figure things out for yourself.

How to create an advertising strategy, part 1. The first step in the development of your communications strategy could be, should be a SWOT analysis.

Properly done, a Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats assessment will give you a 360 degree, full-color picture of the market, the product or service, and the company.

> How to conduct a SWOT analysis.

There are two major parts to an advertising strategy.

1) Assessment.
What's going on in the market, What's the history, the current situation. What are the major trends in the market, what's the future looking like? With the product. With competitors. With consumer attitudes.

2) Action
What should your client do about the the most significant opportunities or problems presented by the situation? What should you do with the brand. With direct marketing. The Web site. The way the company is positioned.

A SWOT analysis will help you figure out the "What's going on" part. And figure it out quickly.

The "What to do" part of your ad strategy should follow logically from the "What's going on" part.

Example: Say the SWOT analysis reveals that there is serious and growing competition from price slashers.

Your strategy might be:

A) Position, or re-position the product: "Because you're worth it - worth so much more then the extra dollar."

B) Invest in, create a stronger brand personality - one based on an upscale, character that people will aspire to associate with.

C) Use traditional dm and the Internet / Web site to target and sell younger buyers, new buyers, before they have established a product / service / company preference.

You can see how your ad strategy addresses a business issue, competitive price pressure, in the above example.

You can also see that the ad strategy deals with the big strategic issues: branding, positioning, direct marketing, and media. And it does so with simple action statements describing, high-level, what you intend to accomplish.

Eventually your strategy will influence all the details, down to the copy and design of your ads. But start with an executive summary of the big issues, the big picture.

"OK, Mr. President. Here's what's going on. Big picture. One, two, three.

And here's what we will do about it. Big picture. One, two, three."

That's the essence of strategic leadership and vision.


How to create an advertising strategy, part 2. Here are some key issues to consider when creating an advertising strategy or campaign.


Understand, or define, the brand ... as it is now, and what you want it to be, whether the same or something different.

> How to create and characterize a brand.


Know how the company is positioned in the minds of consumers, and where you want it to be positioned.

> How to position a company, product, service or brand.


Understand the Psycho-Dynamics of the market.

14 fancy letters for a simple idea: what’s going on inside the brains of buyers, of perspective customers?

It includes, but is not limited to, Consumer Involvement Theory ... how the consumer relates to the purchase: Rational to emotional. High to low involvement. You probably buy the same brand of soap or soda with a mindless motion at the market. But you do your homework when buying cameras or cars. Most people do the same.

But besides CIT, there are likely other issues, perhaps more important issues, such as why people buy the other brand:

“People think our competitor produces higher quality, more reliable products.” Or, “People think Big Bank has more services and products than we do. Things like investments and insurance, even inexpensive safe deposit boxes. So they think Big Bank is more convenient.”

Or perhaps it's not so much what people think about competitors, but what they think about your client:

"Gosh, I don't know if I want to buy a Mac. Just not as much software as I can get for a PC."

Get the idea? Psycho-Dynamics is everything. It’s all that stuff rattling around between the ears of potential customers. The thoughts, feelings and ever-changing prejudices that influence purchase decisions. That's the Psycho-Dynamics of the market.

And it is always changing.


Know, or define, exactly what you want the advertising to accomplish.

Strangely enough, this is called the advertising objective. Do you want the advertising to get people to think or feel or do something? Or a combination of the three?

“We want people to think of us as a maker of truly top quality sports wear, for real athletes. We want people to buy our brand instead of Brand N. And feel cool, proud to wear our logo.”

Another way to define the Ad Objective is to ask, what’s the most important task for our advertising?

Is it to encourage an emotional connection with the brand?

To provoke, challenge or give them an incentive to re-appraise the brand? Give the product another try?

Is it to convince them rationally that the service delivers better value for the money?

Is the objective to get consumers change their usage patterns? To buy your butter instead of the butter Mom always bought?

Or react immediately in some way to the advertising? Such as pick up the phone or go online and order?


Understand or define the marketing objective and strategy.

The marketing objective is a business goal. For example, “in the first year we want to capture 10% of the market in six cities.” Or, “Our goal is to be profitable in this country within 6 months.” Or, “We want to increase sales with this product to the point where profits reach $50,000 per month, and do this in 12 months.”

All of the above, of course, to be accomplished within a budget.

The advertising strategy supports the marketing strategy.

So let’s say we’re selling Fred’s Farm Fresh Ice Cream. Chocolate, strawberry and vanilla are flying out of the freezer. But no one wants the prune flavor.

So Fred says, “Hey, I want my Purple Prune flavor to add 20% to my sales - not steal sales from the existing three - or I’m going to dump it in 12 months. Here's one million dollars to work with. What do you suggest?”

In this case your strategy might be to:

A) Re-name the product: Prune Surprise.

B) Re-position it: Surprisingly Sweet, Surprisingly Healthy.

C) Build a brand based on a fussy old lady, a great cook, who is very demanding: it’s got to taste great, and be great for your health. or she's rejects it.

Project the brand with TV ads showing a young Mrs. Consumer absentmindedly reaching for some ice cream at the store. Mrs. Fussy taps her on the shoulder, and she starts, “Oh! You surprised me.”
Mrs. Fussy, “Honey, here’s a bigger a surprise …”

D) Achieve immediate sales with an in-store promo plan or discount coupons, something to encourage people to give it a try.

All the while, keep in mind that one single thread you want to weave into all of your communications; that one most important thing you want to say:

"Prune surprise is loaded with healthy fiber, and surprisingly sweet."

That's your position. Here are some more examples:

- Satalindo gives you clearer international calls.

- Bogasari is the pasta preferred by professional chefs.

- The new Tempest goes farther on a tank of gas than any car in its class.

- MiniBank is small, which makes you big and important, no matter how much you have in your account.

Advertising Agency In India

Mammoth Graphic Communications
(Delhi based agency)
Contact us: Lakshmi Shanker (Creative Director)
Branches: Mumbai & Varanasi
New Delhi - 9899399342 (Jungpura Extn.)
Mumbai - 9821258189 ( Malad West)
Varanasi - 9838734236 (Manduwadih)
Email: mammoth@graphic-designer.com or l_shanker@myself.com

Accord Advertising
(Specialises in hoardings, bus and train panels)
3A/1, Court Chambers
35 New Marine Lines
Churchgate
Mumbai - 400 020, India
Tel: (91 22) 2209 3399, 2209 2774, 2209 2107
Email: accordad@vsnl.com

Chaitra Leo Burnett
(Full-fledged advertising agency)
9/11, N. S. Patkar Marg
A. B. Godrej Chowk
Mumbai - 400 036, India
Tel: (91 22) 2363 0373
Fax: (91 22) 2363 4542, 2364 9090.
Email: clb1@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in

FCB-Ulka Advertising Ltd.
(Full-fledged advertising agency)
PO Box 9954
Nirmal Bldg., 4th Floor
Nariman Point
Mumbai - 400 021, India
Website: http://www.fcbulka.com

Jain International
182, Govindappa Street
P. B. No. 8225
Chennai - 600 001, India
Tel: (91 44) 2526 2619, 2526 2620, 2523 4113
Fax: (91 44) 2522 4257
Email: jaininte@md2.vsnl.net.in

Marketing Consultants & Agencies Limited
(A Government of Karnataka Undertaking)
Mehra Complex, 42, Millers Road
Bangalore - 560 052, India
Tel: (91 80) 2225 6287, 2225 6288, 2225 4289, 2225 2132, 2225 7965
Fax: (91 80) 2225 2614
Email: marcons@giasbg01.vsnl.net.in

Mudra Communications Pvt. Ltd.
(Full-fledged advertising agency)
Mudra Tower, Shanti Sadan Soc.
Off C. G. Road, Ellisbridge
Ahmedabad 380 006
Tel: (91 79) 2646 1530
Fax: (91 79) 2646 3606
Email: c.nath@mudra.com
Website: http://www.mudra.com

Coke 'Mafia' Has a Beer

Next month, more than 100 of the country’s best and brightest marketers will meet up in Atlanta to have a Coke and a smile. The midtown Gordon Biersch Brewery will host dozens of former—and a number of current—Coca-Cola marketing brass on Sept. 23 for a first-of-its-kind event: a Coke marketers’ class reunion.

Many of the attendees worked together in the ‘90s and have since gone on to helm the marketing departments of some of the nation’s largest companies. The list of guests planning to attend includes Turner Broadcasting president Steve Koonin and Converse CMO Geoff Cottrill. In some cases, the former colleagues are now rivals, such as The Home Depot CMO Frank Bifulco and Bob Gfeller, now the marketing and advertising svp for Lowe’s.

The caucus is the project of five former execs including Sean Javier Martin, partner of Brandiosity, who worked for the past seven months to get a select group of former Coke colleagues together. But after word spread and the guest list began to morph, Martin went scrambling for a bigger location. Reunions are nothing new, of course, but the notable thing about the Coke gathering is that it’s a veritable who’s who of today’s C-suite marketers. “We have this diaspora of Coke executives all across the country,” Martin said, “many of whom have reached the CMO level.”

Coca-Cola has a long history of recruiting and developing top talent. But in the years that followed longtime CEO Roberto Goizueta’s death in 1997, many moved on to new opportunities. Near constant turnover followed, triggered by a rapid-fire series of changes at the top. Back in the ’90s, recalled Donna Byrd, who is now publisher of online magazine TheRoot.com, “it was a close-knit team. There wasn’t a major exodus at that time.”

That the departure of some execs was reluctant has only seemed to stoke the enthusiasm that many of them now feel about the chance to compare notes again. “Folks are excited—ridiculously pumped about it,” said event co-organizer Rajan Shah, president, Phenomenon Entertainment. “And they are proud, of course.”

Todd Putman, vp, marketing at Pinkberry, said that working for Bifulco was a life-changing experience: “He was one of the great leaders I worked for. He built a lot of confidence. We thought we could rule the world.” Putman departed in 2000.

While Coke has been criticized for its bureaucracy and politics, all of the attendees interviewed regard their tenure in Atlanta’s North Avenue Tower as having been a formative experience. “We all have stories to tell,” Martin said. “I’ll be the first one to admit the place is full of dysfunction—going through it, living through it, surviving it.” But, he added, “you come out the other end succeeding.”


That success seems to come in groups. It’s no secret that departing marketers tend to take handpicked talent with them. “Three of my direct reports are from my groups at Coke,” Koonin said. That includes current Turner CMO Jeff Gregor. Cottrill pulled over Julie Eisen when he was at Starbucks. And Darryl Cobbin brought on Jeff Werderman to Boost Mobile. Cobbin, who is also planning to attend, is now president of Brand Positioning Doctors and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. And the list goes on.

Though most attendees don’t see each other regularly anymore, their paths still cross—in the marketplace. Shah likened the group to a “marketing mafia. So many of us are still doing business together—or competing furiously against one another.”

Unlike other mega-corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Coke never formalized its network of former employees. The P&G Alumni Network, in June, held its fourth bi-annual global reunion in Rome, Italy. The organization also maintains a Web site: www.PGalums.com.

Despite the excitement surrounding the Coke event, Koonin did have one concern. “We’ve gotten older,” he lamented. “I hope there are nametags.”

Nike Becomes Latest Brand to Sign With Mexico's Hot Indie Shops

When Raul Cardos, former head of DDB, Mexico, this week announced his new agency, Anonimo ("Anonymous") he did so with a client you might have heard of: Nike. The iconic brand trusting its local marketing to, well, an anonymous agency that is part of a growing trend of Davids beating Goliaths in the Latin American market.
Anonimo, whose other famous member is former Leo Burnett executive Marco Colin, is well on its way to becoming the latest Mexican independent shop to give the network giants fits, part of a crop of challengers that look to larger markets such as the U.S. and the U.K. as places where small, nimble ad shops have thrived. Anonimo beat four major Mexican agencies in the Nike pitch, including WPP's JWT, which had handled the account since 1998. The independent agency will be in charge of Nike's three business divisions in Mexico: soccer, running and sportswear.

"We want our spirit to be different from the other Mexican agencies," said Mr. Cardos. "They are usually worried only about themselves. Creative men are used to being so egocentric that an agency that's more focused on their clients' needs than on their own name can come in handy."

Mr. Cardos also made it clear that they don't intend to work as a creative boutique. "I don't want to deal with clients that networks don't want for themselves. I want to steal clients from big agencies," he said. He also explained that his plans are to remain independent and that the agency structure won't hold more than 50 or 60 people. "We look up to Droga5, Crispin Porter & Bogusky and BBH in their beginnings."

This new move from former agency leaders only raises the alert in Mexico for networks. There are now at least five independent shops that have caught the attention of giant advertisers in the country. They recognize that a couple of years ago, big advertisers called them to their pitches just out of curiosity. Now, they call them because they really want them, and many times the challengers win.

Shops to watch out for
A few worth mentioning are ArrechederaClaverol, Grupo W and El Recreo. (Oveja Negra, or "Black Sheep," was counted among these until last year when it merged with the struggling Mexican office of Interpublic's Lowe.)

ArrechederaClaverol: This agency has the hard-sell portion of Volkswagen's local account. Other important accounts include Sony Entertainment Television and Diageo (Johnnie Walker, Pampero, Tanqueray, Buchanan's, Ciroc and Zacapa).

El Recreo: Last year Lalo González and Spooky Pérez's El Recreo won the Burger King account, which used to belong to Lowe. Two years before that, they won DHL, an account that was previously handled by Ogilvy.

Grupo W: This interactive agency works for Nike (Latin America), Unilever (Mexico and worldwide), HP, Hyundai, Coca-Cola, GM, Pfizer and Televisa, among other clients. They also do something that no other Mexican agency does: Since 2006, they regularly produce interactive work for foreign agencies, such as Wieden & Kennedy, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Crispin Porter & Bogusky and BBH).