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Advertising
Objectives
An objective is defined as "something toward which effort is
directed: an aim, a goal."
Every organization should have objectives
to provide a framework for action. In advertising, the well-developed campaign
has aims and goals. Good objectives provide the advertiser with guidance and
direction for the development of the campaign. How? They provide the framework
for decision making. they also provide the advertiser with an aim or goal that
can be used to evaluate the actual advertising results.
Advertising
objectives are generally placed in two categories:
Direct-action (sales)
objectives
Indirect-action (communication) objectives
Direct-action objectives are more easily measured in terms of results- sales go
up, sales leads increase and/or more people try the product for the first time.
These happenings may all be the result of advertising - advertising that was
developed as a result of direct-action objectives.
But what about
image, ambiance, and the changing of habits? Advertisements with these
objectives or goals are more concerned with communicating an idea that should
result in increased sales in the long run. No immediate effect can be
attributed to such ads in most situations. In other words, the evaluation
process for ads with indirect-action (communication) objectives is much more
subjective than is the case for the sales or action-oriented advertising
effort.
Depending on the planned marketing strategy for the company,
various objectives will be decided on - objectives that may be direct action,
indirect action, or some mixture of the two as determined by the needs of the
organization.
Eleven popular advertising objectives that may be used
either individually or in combination are:
1- INDUCE TRIAL. When a product comes on the
market, the advertising goal may be to get people to try it. Every ad will be
developed with this idea in mind. Benefits will be much in evidence in the
copy. Coupons may be used. Free offers are also quite popular. If a person
tries the product just once, the objective has been met.
2- INTENSIFY USAGE. When
people think of cheese, they may, for example think of Kraft. However, Kraft
does not need to get people to try its products (Induce trial). What is needed
is an increase in per capita consumption of the product. Ads, therefore, may
feature recipes or have other suggestions on how to use the product. If people
already know of a product and can be shown how to use more of it through
advertising, they become better customers. This objective is based on the
premise that there is no better prospect than a current customer.
3- SUSTAIN PREFERENCE.
Coca-Cola has advertised heavily in good times and bad times in order to
maintain product awareness as well as preference.
4- CONFIRM IMAGERY. The
illustration, the copy, and where the ad is placed all serve to confirm what
the customer already thinks about the product. If an ad for Rolls Royce is run
in unpopular media, the ad would serve to confuse the image of the product and
should be avoided since it would cause cognitive dissonance on the part of the
consumer.
5- CHANGE
HABITS. Advertising can sell people on new ideas. Volkswagen
sold the concept of the small car. MasterCard and Visa sold the idea of
one-card credit. Such examples illustrate that advertising has been used to
change popular thinking.
6-
BUILDING LINE ACCEPTANCE. Kraft, K mart, Sears are among the
many companies that advertise numerous products while working to build a total
product line. National ads for K mart feature everything from jeans to pottery.
Del Monte uses common product-line promotions with supporting point-of-purchase
displays and other media to sell its line. In every instance, the objective is
to build sales for the total line as opposed to sales for a specific item
alone.
7- BREAK THE
ICE. The Avon ad helps its representatives to sell, since the
customer has heard of Avon. As an unsought good, insurance cannot generally be
sold by advertising. But advertising can make people aware of an insurance
company so that they have heard of it when the salesperson calls on them. In
many business situations, advertising is crucial as an icebreaker. If buyers
have not heard of the company, they may automatically be disinterested.
Advertising may wave the product name just enough to provide brand recognition
and, thereby, get the salesperson in to see the buyer.
8- BUILD AMBIENCE.
Advertising can help to create a positive feeling about a business. MacDonalds
campaign with its Ronald McDonalds and friends as well as its young, attractive
employees who look so ready to serve the customer help to create a positive
feeling about the company. Ambiance, or environment in an ad, is crucial to any
firm in the business of selling a service. The pleasant atmosphere at the
rent-a-car counter or the positive environment as projected by the bank ad will
do much to get people to try these business establishments. Of course, the good
environment must actually exist or customers will not return. Advertising can
work to build good ambiance, but such an effort can have long-term success only
if there actually is a positive environment within the firm.
9- GENERATE SALES LEADS. The objectives of
these ads may be centered around obtaining the names of prospective customers
by offering free gifts, return coupon, etc.
10. INCREASE AWARENESS. "Drugs can harm your
baby before it is born." Such a campaign has as its objective to build
awareness of the problems addressed in the ads. Of course every ad, regardless
of the stated objective, should promote awareness in some form. Without
awareness, the result could be no sales.
11- INCREASE SALES. For
most organizations, an advertising objective that calls for an increase in
sales is most desirable. But is such an objective useful as the advertiser
develops an advertising campaign? In most cases, the answer is no.
A
general objective, like increase sales, provides no guidance or direction. It
is an aim or goal that was known before it was stated. At best, an increase in
sales is a long-run objective. To make it more short term and useful, the
advertiser should narrow the objective's scope in terms of coverage while
attempting to quantify it in some way. In other words, to increase the sales of
one particular model of microwave oven by 5 percent in the southern marketing
region over the next six months is a much useful objective than to just aim for
a general increase in sales. Why? It provides a framework for decision making
as well for evaluation.
There are many ways for the advertiser to
achieve the goal of a good advertising foundation. How does one company view
this development process?
The advertiser should do his homework before
attempting to create ads.
Do not start to make
an advertisement until you understand the assignment.
Do not put pencil to
paper until you understand the advertising problem
Do your homework before
you start to do any verbal or visual stunt-flying
Study the marketing plan.
Read the written advertising objective. Steep yourself in the product or the
service proposition. Review the customer research available to you.
In short, decide what you want to say before you decide on how to say it.
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