MBAC 664 ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY Spring 2003

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1 MBAC 664 ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY Spring 2003 Instructor: Dr. Idil Yaveroglu Location: Hilton 063 Office: Hilton #238 Office hours: T: 12:00 am 2:00pm, Th: 12:00 4:00pm Phone: (310) Fax: (310) Website: follow the link for course materials and find my name - course password is gradadv I. Text Semenik, Richard J. Promotion and Integrated Marketing Communications. Southwestern II. Introduction This course is a one semester class that will cover advertising, public relations, sales promotions and direct marketing techniques, and will allow you to develop overall promotional programs using elements of each of these vehicles as appropriate. III. Course Objectives On the completion of this unit students should: 1. Be familiar with the principles of promotion strategy and the key components of an integrated promotion plan. 2. Know the strategic advantages and disadvantages of promotion mix elements, when to use them and in what combination, to most effectively achieve marketing/promotion objectives. 3. Be able to analyze a given marketing situation and recommend promotional strategies to solve the marketing problem. 4. Be able to evaluate an integrated promotion strategy intended to achieve identified outcomes within a given marketing environment and communications budget.

2 IV. Grading Procedure Composition: Exam I 20% Exam II 20% Ad Analyses 15% Project: 30% Participation 15% V. Exams: Exams will consist of essay questions and will cover the class lecture and text material. Your exam questions will mostly be application based questions. Most questions will try to test two main points: First, did you learn the main points/concepts, and second, can you apply them to real life situations. It is not so important to me that you know text book definitions, but rather that you understand them and can apply them to real life situations. NO MAKEUP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN. You know the test dates from the beginning (see attached schedule) and taking the exam is your responsibility. Missing a scheduled exam will result in a zero for that examination. VI. Assignments: All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Assignments handed in after the beginning of class will be reduced the equivalent of 1 letter grade for each 24 hour period they are late. VII. Class Participation Every-day attendance and participation in class discussions and activities are strongly recommended. Many lecture topics are emphasized and clarified through the completion of small, in class assignments or by watching videos. Absences or departures during the break will lower your course grade. Your overall participation grade will be determined by both your presence in class, and your participation in class discussions. Additional reading assignments may be given prior to many classes (for example, reading a case). These will also be posted on the web. Although you need not submit anything in writing, you are expected to prepare these assignments. The weight placed on class participation is designed to reward those who are better prepared. VIII. Ad Analyses: The ad analyses are individual assignments. The goal of these projects is to give you experience in evaluating existing advertising with a critical eye. For an idea of how this is done, you might look at the work of Bob Garfield on a website called AdReview.com. I want you to consider why something might, or might not, be effective with its intended target market. Each paper should be a maximum of 3 pages in length. If the ads you use are print ads, include a copy of the ad with your paper. If not, please make sure that you describe the ad completely. If I have not seen the ad, it is hard for me to evaluate your work unless you tell me clearly on what you are basing it. Be prepared to present your ad analysis in class (for no more than 5 minutes, if asked).

3 Ad Analysis I: Find two ads directed at a similar target market (teen boys, business customers, etc.). Compare and contrast these ads in terms of the approaches that they take. If one is more effective than the other, why do you believe this to be the case? Ad Analysis II: Find two ads for a similar product. Do the same as above. Ad Analysis III: Find two ads for the same product from different media. Again, repeat the assignment as given above. In this case, however, it is important that you conclude from your analysis which looking at the qualities of the media themselves which help to make an ad more or less effective. IX. Project: Each person will be assigned to a 4 person team. The objective of this project is to integrate all advertising concepts. It serves as a capstone project for the entire course. An Overview: Think of your 4 person group as an ad agency that is competing for an important account. This account can be a company in any product/service category of your choice. As one of the semi-finalists, your agency has been asked to prepare an advertising strategy and plan for the chosen brand and to present this before the marketing team in the client organization. The client has expressed a preference for a full-service agency that will function as a "partner" in the business. As such, the client wants a fully integrated advertising strategy, and is looking for your ability to contribute to the solution of strategic as well as executional problems. Choice of Brand: The brand selected should be one for which you are able to articulate a strategy and plan sufficiently compelling to win the advertising business from this client (e.g., relative to any advertising plan that the client's current agency is using). You should think of these issues while selecting the company. The brand should be in a product class included in the MRI (Mediamark Research Inc.) or Simmons data. These organizations are competitors and provide essentially the same information, which can be very useful in developing a media strategy and plan. The data may also be helpful in developing background information about the brand and category. On April 29, each agency team will present their plan before the class (playing the role of marketing department of the client). The time limit for this presentation is 30 minutes. A final written report (your final ad plan) which consists of your recommendations on message and media strategies, expenditures, and research opportunities must be submitted on April 29. This report should be no longer than 10 double-spaced pages. You may add as many appendices (which are cited in the text) as you wish. Include a Table of Contents and a References Section. You should devote the bulk of your analysis and presentation to the problems that you see as critical, but the final result (both presentation and report) should at least consider 5 topics discussed below.

4 Structure of Ad Plan 1. Background: Introduce your client company -- What business is this company in? What are its current/potential segments? Who are its competitors? Competitors' and your brand's ad spending patterns may be found in the serial Leading National Advertisers. Discuss the advertising budget for your brand -- this should be based on past budgets and/or other criteria discussed in class and should be realistic. What does current research show about the company's advertising strategy? Discuss models of consumer behavior that are relevant to the brand's market and advertising decisions. 2. Advertising Objectives: What are the objectives of the client's advertising program? What are the segments in the market for this product and how is your brand positioned? What is the relevant target market here (think of demographics as well as lifestyles)? These answers should emerge from your introduction about the company's strategic position in the industry. In addition to data from sources such as articles in Business Week, Ad Age etc., Simmons data can be used to describe the target market. 3. Pre-test of advertising concepts: Ad agencies generally test their ad concepts before presenting them to prospective clients. Similarly, you should pre-test your advertising ideas using a focus group. In your report, provide details on the number of concepts that you tested, the research procedure, the results, and the basis for your final selection. 4. Message Strategy and Ad Execution: Given your competition and past brand/product category history, how would you envisage achieving your communication objective via your message? Start with broad strategic considerations; then narrow this down to specifics (e.g., use of humor). How will your message change beliefs and attitudes regarding your brand? Use theories of communication and attitude change to explain how your ad will "work". Indicate what your creative strategy is for the brand. This should include what the basic promise is -- i.e., what you are trying to get across and why consumers should buy your brand. Execute your ideas with a mock print ad/story board for a television commercial. However remember -- this project is designed to place greater emphasis on the originality, relevance, and feasibility of ideas, rather than the elaborate nature of the report or presentation. If you would like to be creative and produce a TV commercial for example, please let your creative juices flow and have fun doing it. But you are certainly not required to do so. 5. Ad Research: Spell out how you plan to test your ad to see if objectives were achieved. You may want to pre-test it, post-test it, or do both. What approach (e.g., experiment or survey) will you use? Why? Would this approach differ for the pre and post test? What variables will you measure? Describe the procedure briefly. 6. Media Strategy and Media Plan: What are your reach and frequency goals? Are there any seasonal or geographical factors that you need to consider? What media mix will you use? Show a breakdown of expenditures by alternative media. Provide a rationale for the media allocation (this is very important -- consider your advertising objectives and target market). Information on media insertion costs is available in the Standard Rates and Data Services.

5 In coming up with the specific vehicles within a medium you must, when practicable, justify your choice using either Simmons or MRI data. You should calculate costs per thousand (CPM's) for the various media vehicles. CPM's should be shown not only for the vehicles selected, but also for some of the alternatives that were rejected. For the magazines selected you should provide some indication of the pair-wise duplication between vehicles, and the more-than-pair-wise reach for your package of print vehicles. Grading: Your oral presentation as well as final report will be evaluated on the basis of overall communication effectiveness, the degree to which lecture/textbook concepts, models, and theories are integrated into your plan, your justification for your plan, and how well each element is integrated into the overall plan. Individual grades will be computed by weighting the group grade by peer evaluation scores.

6 Tentative Course Schedule Week of Topic Reading Assignment (Chapter) January 14 Course Introduction 1 January 21 The Promotion Industry 2 *Watch the super bowl commercials on January 26. Make a list of 5 commercials you thought were most effective, and another list of 5 commercials you thought were the most ineffective. Bring your list to class; we will discuss the commercials on January 28. January 28 IMC Planning & Strategy 3 February 4 IMC and the Market * Ad Analysis 1 due 4,5 February 11 Advertising Creative Strategy 8 February 18 February 25 March 3-7 Guest Speaker John Crescent, Grey Advertising EXAM I Spring Break March 11 Advertising Media Strategy 9 March 18 Direct Marketing * Ad Analysis 2 due 10 March 25 Sales Promotion 16, 17 April 1 Sponsorship & Personal Selling 12, 14 April 8 April 15 Public Relations Measuring the Effectiveness of IMC 15 EXAM II April 22 April 29 International IMC *Ad Analysis 3 due PRESENTATIONS * Projects due 7