Chapter6: Advertising Design

Chapter6: Advertising Design 1. How can the hierarchy of effects model and a means-ends analysis help an advertising creative design better commercials? 6steps of hierarchy of effects: Awareness-Knowledge-Liking-Preference-Conviction-purchase The six steps are sequential, although some experts question if they are really sequential. But, the basic model says they are sequential and that consumers spend some time at each step. For instance, before a consumer can like a brand, they first must be aware of it and develop some knowledge of it. To develop brand loyalty, consumers must go through all six steps.It is similar to attitude formation and the cognitive-affective-conative sequence. Cognitive component of attitude is the awareness and knowledge. Affective component of attitude is the liking, preference, and conviction. Conative component of attitude is the purchase. The second theory that it is important to consider is means-end theory. The basic concept is that a means, the messag e, leads to an end-state, or personal value. The model suggests six elements that are critical to ad design. Product attributes lead to consumer benefits. The leverage point connects that benefit to the personal value.Taglines are used to make an important and memorable point about the product. 2. How can leverage points and taglines increase advertising effectiveness? Leverage points are important. They move consumers from the benefits to the personal values. It links attributes to benefits to personal values. The leverage point should be associated with some component of attitude change. To be effective, ads need powerful leverage points. The leverage point can be a visual, part of a visual, a headline, a tagline or even copy in the ad. Most creatives spend considerable time thinking about and creating a good leverage point.Taglines are key phrases in an advertisement. They are designed to be memorable, unique, and offer a special meaning about the brand. Taglines can provide cons istency across ads and across advertising campaigns. Taglines become identified with a specific brand and transcend any specific ad or ad campaign. Developing good taglines is important because it lives with that brand and is around a long time, such as Nike’s tagline â€Å"Just Do It. † While taglines can be changed, companies have to be careful not to confuse customers and convey conflicting messages about the brand. 3.What roles do visual and verbal images play in advertisements? The last theory of design to be considered is the relationship between the verbal and visual elements of an advertisement. Most ads seek to have a balance between visual and verbal, but usually one will be more dominant than the other. One reason for the change is that visual processing is easier for consumers to recall. Visuals are stored in the brain both as pictures and as words. Concrete images tend to be remembered better than abstract visuals. If consumers can create a mental image or picture, it actually is superior to seeing the visual, in terms of recall.So radio ads that can make listeners use their imagination and picture the product work very well. Visual esperanto is the ability of a visual to transcend cultures and languages conveying the same meaning. It is especially beneficial in international ads where advertisers want to convey the same message to every market in the world. Business-to-business ads in the past emphasized verbal content, but in recent years have moved to more visuals. 4. What are the seven main types of advertising appeals? * Fear * Humor * Sex * Music * Rationality * Emotions * Scarcity 5. How can fear be used to create an effective ad?Fear appeals are common and are used for products ranging from insurance, to home security systems, to deodorant. Fear appeals increase interest and are remembered by individuals. Severity is the level of consequence that will occur and vulnerability is the probability of the event happening. Response efficacy is the likelihood that a change in behavior or actions will result in a desirable positive consequence. Intrinsic reward is the internal satisfaction and extrinsic reward is the value of the event or reward received. Response cost is the cost or sacrifice the person will need to make to obtain the reward.Self-efficacy is the confidence a person has in his/her own ability to engage in the action, or to stop an undesirable behavior. All of these factors influence the effectiveness of an ad using a fear appeal. The behavioral response model explains how fear appeals work. For a product, such as a home security system ad can focus on severity, what happens when a home is broken into, or the vulnerability, which would be the probability of it actually occurring. The ad can show the negative consequence of such an event. An ad can show the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards from installing a security system.Response efficacy can be illustrated by the alarm going off when a burglar tries to enter and the police are called. Peace of mind and security are then shown as the positive consequence. 6. How can humor be used to create an effective ad? Humor is an excellent appeal for getting and keeping someone’s attention. Humor is used in about 30% of television and radio ads. Humor causes individuals to stop what they are doing, watch, laugh at, and then remember the ad. In recall tests, consumers most often remembered humorous ads over ads with other types of appeals. The best results occur when the humor is connected naturally with the product.Advantages: Humor piques consumer interest. Humor increases recall and comprehension of ads. Humor elevates people’s moods, and if people feel good about an ad, they will tend to think positively about the brand being advertised. Problems occur when the humor is offensive or overpowers the message. To prevent the humor from overpowering the message, the humor should focus on the product and not stand alone. Hu mor is rooted in culture and so what is funny in one country is not likely to be funny in another. Good humor that is remembered and that is connected with the brand is difficult to achieve. . Why does sex play such a prominent role in advertising? Sex appeals are often used to break advertising clutter. The use of sex appeals has increased in the United States and in many other countries. The problem is that sex appeals may not carry the impact they used to because children are growing up exposed to sexual themes all around them. As a result, many advertisers are moving to more subtle sexual clues and a softer sexual approach. 8. How can music, rationality, and scarcity be used to increase advertising effectiveness? Music is an important part of advertising.It connects with emotions and generates memories. It has intrusive value and gets attention. Music increases the retention of visual information. It produces higher recall scores and can increase persuasiveness. Music tends to b e stored in long-term memory and consumers often tie a particular music or song with a particular brand of product. Music appeals offer a number of advantages. Consumers have an affinity with existing songs so when an existing song is used, consumers have already heard it and most have developed emotions with it. Brand awareness, brand equity, and brand loyalty become easier with music appeals.One reason mcgarrybowen sent a creative brief to musicians and asked them to write a song is that to purchase the rights to current popular songs can be extremely expensive. Musicians have become more open to writing and performing songs for ads. It is a way to be heard. Songs are often posted on YouTube and other sites. Occasionally, the full song version of a tune written for an ad will become popular and move to radio stations and other popular outlets for music. Rational appeals are based on the hierarchy of effects model and the sequence of steps outlined in the model. It implies active p rocessing of information.Rational appeals work best for print ads where longer copy can be inserted and online where there is very little limit to what copy can be inserted. Rational appeals are common in business-to-business ads, again in print media, especially trade publications. When members of the buying center are searching for information, ads using rationale appeals can be effective. Rationale appeals work well for complex and high involvement products. If a person processes the information in a rationale ad, it is excellent at changing attitudes. Scarcity appeals recommend consumers to make a purchase now because of some type of limitation.Often that limitation is limited supply so the product must be purchased before they are all gone. It can be based on limited time. You only have 5 days or one week, or just one hour. Scarcity appeals are often tied to other promotions such as contests, sweepstakes, and coupons. The concept is to encourage customers to take action, now, a nd not wait, or it will be too late. 9. What are the primary areas of concern in international advertising? Chapter7: 1. How are the three main types of message strategies used to increase advertising effectiveness? Cognitive message strategy: presents rational arguments or pieces of information to consumers. ) Generic cognitive message strategy promotes a product’s attributes or benefits in a straight forward manner without any claims of superiority. This ad for Koestler Granite and Marble uses a generic strategy. Generic message strategies can stimulate brand awareness. It can also strive to make the brand synonymous with the brand category. b) Preemptive cognitive message strategy makes a claim of superiority based on a product’s specific attribute or benefit with the intent of preventing the competition from making the same claim. This advertisement for Waterfront Grill uses a preemptive message strategy.An effective preemptive message strategy can occur when a com pany is the first to state an advantage or benefit. c) Unique selling proposition message strategy focuses on a testable claim of uniqueness or superiority. d) Comparative cognitive message strategy focuses on a direct or indirect comparison to a competing brand. The brand can be real, mentioned, or fictitious. The advantage of comparative ads is that they tend to capture attention. Brand awareness and message awareness tend to be higher. The negative is that they can be less believable and can create a negative attitude.This is most likely to occur when a negative comparison approach is used in the ad, downgrading the competing brand. If the consumer does not believe the ad, then spontaneous trait transference can occur, which is placing the negative trait on the advertised brand instead of the competitor. It is important to choose competitors wisely in making comparisons. Advertisements that invoke feelings or emotions are affective message strategies. These messages attempt to en hance the likeability of a product, recall of the message, and comprehension of the message. ) Resonance advertising connects a product with a consumer’s experiences from the past in order to develop a bond with the brand. Often, advertisers will use music from that generation to create that emotional bond. b) Emotional messages attempt to elicit emotions that will lead to product recall and choice. Many different emotions can be connected with a product. Emotional messages are used in both consumer and business-to-business advertising. Affective message strategies help develop brand equity through creating an emotional bond with the brand.Conative message strategies are designed to lead directly to some type of action or response. a) Action-inducing conative ads encourage consumers (or businesses) to act in some way, to do something. It can be to make an inquiry or access a Web site for more information. b) Promotional support conative messages are tied with some type of pro motion. It may be a coupon, a contest, or a sweepstake. 2. How do the main types of executional frameworks help to deliver quality advertising messages? 3. What types of sources or spokespersons can be used in advertisements or commercials? Advertisers have four choices –Celebrities: The most common type of spokesperson is the celebrity. They are featured in about 6% of all ads. A celebrity can enhance brand equity and create emotional bonds with the brand. Celebrities are more effective with younger consumers than with older individuals. Athletes are a popular category of spokespersons. Celebrity spokespersons can be used to establish a brand’s personality. Categories of celebrity: Unpaid celebrity endorsements will sometimes occur with a charity or cause. When celebrities endorse a cause and are not being paid for the endorsement, they carry a high level of credibility.Celebrity voice-overs are used because of the quality of their voice. Sometimes it is because the v oice can be recognized and will influence consumers. At other times the voice-over is a distraction because consumers pay too much attention to the voice and don’t hear the brand message. The last category, dead celebrities is somewhat controversial. It is becoming more common because they can’t bring negative publicity to themselves or the brand. CEO: CEOs can be used as spokespersons. They work well if they are highly visible and personable. They can be a major asset to a company.They work especially well for local companies where consumers in that area know them personally, or at least have met them. Expert spokespersons: should be experts in their fields. They then serve as an authoritative figure and can provide expert opinions. Typical persons: It can be either paid actors who portray a typical person, or it can be everyday, ordinary people. 4. What process is used to create advertisements? While a creative may not draw a means-end chain out as was illustrated in this text, the creative will consider the product’s attribute, benefits, and the values it can fulfill.Decisions then must be made about the leverage point, the appeal, the message strategy and the execution. Finally, if a spokesperson is going to be used, the agency and client will need to decide who it will be. Visual consistency across ads and across campaigns allows consumers to quickly identify an advertisement and a brand. Campaign duration is always an issue. From a cost perspective, clients want a campaign to last a long time. But, wear-out occurs and then ads are ignored. Timing for new campaigns is difficult to determine. Taglines repeated in ads helps tie campaigns together and identify a brand.It is important to use consistent positioning to avoid ambiguity and confusion. If at all possible, keep it simple. Use only one identifiable selling point. Don’t overwhelm consumers with too much information or too many benefits. Lastly, create ads that flow and are visually appealing. 5. What are the principles of advertising effectiveness? Producing effective ads requires the joint efforts of the client and agency personnel. This slide lists some important principles to follow. Visual consistency across ads and across campaigns allows consumers to quickly identify an advertisement and a brand. Campaign duration is always an issue.From a cost perspective, clients want a campaign to last a long time. But, wear-out occurs and then ads are ignored. Timing for new campaigns is difficult to determine. Taglines repeated in ads helps tie campaigns together and identify a brand. It is important to use consistent positioning to avoid ambiguity and confusion. If at all possible, keep it simple. Use only one identifiable selling point. Don’t overwhelm consumers with too much information or too many benefits. Lastly, create ads that flow and are visually appealing. 6. How are advertising programs adjusted to fit international circumstances?Chapter 8: Traditional Media Channels 1. What is a media strategy? Media strategy involves analyzing and choosing media for an advertising and promotions campaign. Choosing the best media to speak to potential customers is a challenge. It involves matching a target audience to the media audience of specific programs. 2. What elements and individuals are involved in media planning? Media planning begins with a careful analysis of the target market. It involves understanding the process they use in making purchases, the consumer behavior events that guide those choices.It involves studying the media choices the target market makes and understanding their listening and viewing habits. To match the media to the target market requires understanding the target market. Components of media plan: marketing analysis provides a comprehensive review of the marketing program and where advertising fits into the plan. An advertising analysis states the primary advertising strategy and budget to be used, a s well as the advertising objectives. The media strategy spells out the media to be used and the creative considerations. The media schedule notes when ads will appear in individual media vehicles.The media planning concludes with a justification and summary of the media plan. Individual involved: Media planners work closely with the creative staff, the account executive, account planners, and media buyers. Media buyers actually purchase the space and negotiate rates for ads. Placement is important and is part of the media buyer’s responsibility to ensure a good location for ads. Research has shown there is little connection between the size of the agency and the price negotiated. Being a large agency does not guarantee lower prices. A spot ad is a one-time placement of an advertisement.The rates are negotiated individually with television stations and as a result prices vary considerably. The effectiveness of media buyers is determined by the quality of the media choice, the creativity of the media buyer in negotiating and placing ads, financial stewardship of the buyer, the agency’s culture and track record in buying media, and in the relationships the media buyer develops with the media reps. 3. How do the terms used to describe advertising help the marketing team design effective campaigns? * Reach: Number in target audience exposed, typically 4-week period * Frequency: Average number of exposures Opportunities to see (OTS): Cumulative exposures, Placements x frequency * Gross rating points (GRPs): Measures impact of intensity of media plan, Vehicle rating x OTS (number of insertions) * Costs: Cost per thousand (CPM), CPM allows for cost comparisons * Ratings and Cost per Rating Point (CPRP): Ratings measure percent of target market exposed by medium, CPRP allows for comparison across media, Cost of media buy / vehicle’s rating, Weighted CPM * Continuity: Continuous campaign, Pulsating campaign, Flighting (or discontinuous) campaign * Impressions: Gross impressions – total audience exposed to ad 4.What are some of the primary advertising objectives? The three-exposure hypothesis was introduced by Herbert Krugman. The hypothesis states that it takes at least 3 exposures to an ad for it to have an effect. It also is based on the idea that advertising has intrusion value, which is viewers will pay attention to an ad even if they don’t want to. Most advertisers feel three exposures are not enough and that advertising today does not always display intrusion value.Consumers have selective attention and focus. They pay attention to only certain ads. According to recency theory, one ad exposure may be enough if the person has an interest in that product or for some other reason pays attention to the ad and suggests advertising needs to be continuous since most of the time ads are ignored and increasing exposure through adding reach is more important than adding frequency.Effective reach is the percent of th e audience that must be exposed to an advertisement to achieve a specific objective. Effective frequency is the number of times and audience must be exposed to an advertisement to achieve a specific objective. If there are too few ads or reach is too low, then the campaign is not effective. If the ads are seen too many times then resources are being wasted. The size and placement of ads impact exposure and impact effective reach and effective frequency.Advertisers today have computer models that will help them optimize media schedules. 5. What are the advantages and disadvantages associated with each of the traditional advertising media? TV: Advantages: High reach, High frequency potential, Low cost per contact, Quality creative opportunities, High intrusion value, Segmentation possibilities through cable outlets Disadvantages: Greater clutter, Channel surfing during commercials, Short mount of copy, High cost per ad, Low recall due to clutter Radio: Advantages: Lower cost per spot than television, Low production cost, Music can match station’s programming, High segmentation potential, Flexibility in making new ads, Able to modify ads to fit local conditions, Intimacy (with DJs and radio personalities), Creative opportunities with music and other sounds, Mobile: people carry radios everywhere Disadvantages: Short exposure time, Low attention, few chances to reach national audience, Target duplication when several stations use same format Outdoor: Advantages: Large, spectacular ads possible, Able to select geographic areas, Accessible for local ads, Low cost per impression, Broad reach, High frequency on major commute routes Disadvantages: Legal limitations, Short exposure time, Brief messages, Little segmentation possible, Cluttered travel routes Magazine: Advantages: High market segmentation, Targeted audience interest by magazine, High color quality, Long life, Direct response techniques, Read during leisure time, Longer attention to ads Disadvantages : Long lead time for ads, little flexibility, High cost, High level of clutter, Declining readership Newspaper: Advantages: Priority for local ads, Coupons and special-response features, High credibility, Strong audience interest, longer copy/message possible, High flexibility, Cumulative volume discounts Disadvantages: Major clutter, Short life span, Poor quality reproduction, Limited audience, Poor buying procedures 6. How can the marketing team use the media mix to increase advertising effectiveness? * Selecting the proper blend of media outlets for advertisements is crucial. The work of media planners is especially important. It is their task to match target markets with media audiences, to know what media a specific target market uses. The media multiplier effect suggests that combining two or more media increases the impact of an advertising campaign more than any one medium by itself. This is true in both the consumer market and the B-to-B market. 7.What are the key issues as sociated with media selection for business-to-business markets? * B-to-B ads looking more like consumer ads * Reasons for shift * Decision makers also consumers * Decision makers difficult to reach * Clutter in B-to-B traditional media * Increase in advertising through consumer media * Trade publications still important * Same with Business magazines 8. What issues are associated with media selection in international markets? * Media importance varies. * Media viewing habits vary across countries. * Media buying is different. * Cultural mores vary. Chapter9: E-active Marketing 1. What is e-active marketing? It combines the two major components of e-commerce and interactive marketing.E-commerce consists of click-only operations that sell exclusively online and bricks-and-clicks that operate both a retail store and are online. E-commerce is being conducted in both the consumer sector and the B-to-B sector. Interactive marketing is the development of marketing programs that create two- way communications and enhance engagement of consumers with the brand. The Internet is the ideal medium for interactive marketing. It can track activity, where a person goes and what they do. It can personalize messages. The emphasis of interactive marketing is two-fold – to target individuals and to engage consumers. 2. How had Web 2. 0 affected the field of marketing communications? * Companies shifting dollars to online communication Changes consumer communications and interactions with companies * Pushing to â€Å"real-time† communications * Instant communications and instant service * Instant response to negative events 3. How can e-commerce programs and incentives build a stronger customer base and overcome customer concerns at the same time? E-commerce component: Catalogs * Easy to use * Photos, streaming videos, information * Match store and printed catalog * Sears â€Å"Shop Your Way† * Products not in store or printed catalog * Choose where to purchase Shopping carts * Allows consumers to select products * â€Å"Save† or â€Å"Wish† button * Shoppers abandoning shopping cart Payment systems * Easy, quick, and convenient * Multiple methods * B-to-B voucher or charge systemStore locators * Customers who want to pick up an item at the store. Customization * Customers prefer * Promotions from Web site * Access via mobile phone Customer reviews and feedback * Emerging trend * Provides opportunity for interaction * Provides level of confidence Financial incentives can persuade an individual or business to make that first purchase. The most effective financial incentives are reduced prices, free shipping, and e-coupons. Of the three incentives, 80% of shoppers say they prefer free shipping. Financial incentives must be meaningful and to generate return traffic to the site the incentive needs to be changed periodically.Online operations can offer financial incentives because of cheaper operational costs. The company has low er shipping costs since customers most of the time pay shipping. There are lower labor and personnel costs since there is no retail operation. Orders can be shipped directly from the warehouse to customers. Convenience incentives make the online shopping experience easier and encourage return visits. E-commerce is available 24/7. People can place orders at anytime from anywhere. It is important to have product information online so consumers can conduct research anytime. Online peer reviews are helpful and in the Web 2. 0 are expected. If consumers can compare brands online, that makes it easier for them.Value-added incentives encourage customers to come back to an e-commerce site, and change purchasing habits long-term. Value-added incentives are things that customers value. 4. What makes e-commerce a crucial part of business-to-business commerce? E-commerce is critical in the business-to-business sector. Many business transactions are conducted over the Web. The number of hits at a business site is directly related to expenditures in offline advertising and sales promotion offers. The incentives to gain business customers are the same as for consumer customers – financial, convenience, and value-added incentives. A major component of B-to-B e-commerce is online exchanges and auctions.These sites allow for bidding for materials and supplies, and can connect buyers and sellers. 5. How can interactive marketing and online advertising increase brand awareness, sales, and customer loyalty? Interactive marketing is the development of marketing programs that create two-way communications and enhance engagement of consumers with the brand. The Internet is the ideal medium for interactive marketing. It can track activity, where a person goes and what they do. It can personalize messages. The emphasis of interactive marketing is two-fold – to target individuals and to engage consumers. Steps in developing interactive marketing: a) Cultivate an attitude o f giving b) Gain trust ) Identify your one word brand d) Define your ultimate vision e) Choose your communication channels f) Evaluate and adjust Online advertising is effective if ads are placed on the right Websites and the messages resonate with individuals. Budgets for online advertising have increased in recent years and will continue to increase. One reason for the shift to online advertising is the metrics available to measure results. Online metrics provide for almost instant measurements of results. A company can see how many hits an ad produces and even what percent make a purchase. Types of online advertising: * Display or banner ad * Classified ads * Search advertising Media/video ads 6. How can brand spiraling and blogs generate positive outcomes for the marketing department? Brand spiraling is the use of traditional media to promote and attract people to a Web site. With direct mail and e-mail, companies can use PURLs, which are personalized URLs that are preloaded wit h personal and customized information for that consumer. Best results are obtained when online advertising is integrated with offline advertising. Blogs are online musings, written content put on the Web for others to read. Blogs provide a venue for people to talk online and can generate considerable online buzz, especially for hot topics.A survey of online users found that about 47% go to social networks to download coupons and search for information about products. About 45% access social networks to learn about upcoming sales and to obtain discounts on products. About 22% read or write a product review on a blog. 7. Why have online social networks, consumer-generated advertising and reviews, e-mail, and viral marketing become key components of marketing communications programs? a) Important component of interactive strategy * Integrate with other channels * Resemble information on Web site b) Using Web analytics to direct e-mail campaign * Individuals who visit Web site * Individ uals who abandon shopping cart * Targeted e-mails have higher conversion rates ) E-mail newsletters * Build brand awareness * Drive Web traffic * Customers sign up for newsletters * Provide value * Free subscription * Tie-in with Web site Viral marketing is the passing along of a marketing message to others in some way. It can be through an e-mail or on a blog. It is form of word-of-mouth endorsement. Viral messages can be advertisements, hyperlinks to promotions, online newsletters, streaming videos, or games. 8. How can e-active marketing be conducted successfully in international markets? A major advantage of E-active marketing is that it can be global. It doesn’t matter where the customer is or where the company is located.But, a number of e-commerce businesses do not take advantage of global customers. Shipping can be an issue. It may be difficult and expensive to ship a product to Japan or India. Payment methods also vary widely, but can be handled through companies suc h as PayPal. Communication can be an issue, although many people can read English. Technology is important to consider. Videos that play well with broadband connections may not work well in other countries with slower speeds. Chapter10: alternative marketing 1. How can buzz marketing, guerilla marketing, lifestyle marketing, and experiential marketing enhance a marketing communications program?Buzz Marketing: Buzz marketing emphasizes consumers passing along information about a product and since it is word-of-mouth from an individual, it has a higher level of credibility. Methods of generating buzz are through consumers who use and truly like a brand: uses it is the ideal brand ambassador. They can spread buzz through personal conversations with people and also online through chat rooms, blogs, and e-mails, consumers who are sponsored to talk about a brand: It works best when the person likes the brand and uses it. Companies normally offer some type of incentive in exchange for the positive advocacy. It can be cash, but most of the time is merchandise.Selection of brand ambassadors is based on a person’s devotion to a brand and the size of their social circle. Since the idea is to talk to their friends and other people, the size of the social influence is important. They are expected to design their own grassroots effort on how they will promote the brand. Many will use low-cost marketing events and even online social networks. Although the individual is being sponsored, the key for success is that they are genuine and do believe in the product being pitched, and a company or agency generating buzz: high risk strategy, especially if the person doesn’t identify himself as an employee and the public finds out.The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) suggests three principles to follow for any type of buzz marketing campaign. 1) Be honest about the relationship you have with the company and what you get for being a sponsor. 2) Be honest with your opinion. Don’t say just what the sponsor company wants you to day. 3) Be honest about your identity. Guerilla marketing: developed by Jay Conrad Levinson. It is designed to bring instant results with low-cost, unique marketing methods. Guerilla marketing focuses on a region or area and involves interacting with consumers in a unique and different way. The goal is to create excitement and to generate buzz.It is often connected with grassroots efforts to launch a brand or to market a product. Often alternative media are used. Reasons for using guerilla marketing: * To find new ways to communicate with customers * To interact with customers * To make advertising accessible to consumers * To impact a spot market * To create buzz * To build relationships with consumers Lifestyle marketing involves identifying marketing methods associated with the hobbies, entertainment, and lives of the target audience. It involves making contact with consumers were they go for relaxations, e xcitement, socialization, and enjoyment. The idea is to intersect with consumers during their daily lives.For instance, A/X Armani Exchange reaches young consumers through sponsoring and setting up booths at music festivals and fashion shows. Experiential marketing is the intersection of direct marketing, field marketing, and sales promotions. Its basic premise is increasing the experience of direct marketing through an interactive connection. Rather than just pass out samples, make it an experience the consumer will remember. Nickelodeon used experiential marketing with their Slime Across American Tour. Steps to take positive experience: * Clear, concise target segment * Identify right time, right place * Engage emotionally * Engage logically * Clearly reveal brand’s promise . What methods can be used to effectively employ product placements and branded entertainment? Product placement is a planned insertion in a movie, television show, book or other forms of entertainment. It has been used since the 1890s, but only recently has grown in popularity. The biggest surge in product placement came in 1982 with E. T. and Reese’s Pieces. The placement of the Reese’s Pieces in the movie spurred a 65% increase in sales following the movie’s release. Research has found that product placement increases awareness of the brand, creates a more positive attitude towards the brand, but does not have any immediate impact on sales.From a cost standpoint, product placement has a low cost per viewer of impressions. A primary advantage is that the impressions do not stop with the movie. After the movie has played in theaters it goes to DVD movie rentals, to pay-per-view television, then to the movie channels on television. Branded entertainment is the integration of the entertainment and advertising by embedding the brand into the storyline of the movie, TV show, or other entertainment medium. The use of branded entertainment increased sharply with the rise of TV reality shows. It is also now found in novels, plays, songs and movies. For successful product placement and branded entertainment, choosing the right media is important.It helps when other promotional materials are produced that reinforce or remind individuals of the brand and even the placement. Product placement and branded entertainment work because there is no call to action, so consumers tend to have a positive attitude towards the brand. Some consumers are more receptive than others. People ages 15 to 34 are more likely to notice product placements and be more receptive to them. Sometimes product placements allow companies to bypass regulations and get their products in front of their intended audience. Reasons for increased spending: * Appeal stronger in non-advertising context * Perception of what others think is important * Provides post-purchase reassurance * Reach individuals who place little value on brands . How have in store marketing and point-of-purchase displays evolved into even more effective communications and sales tools? Store marketing point: The in-store shopping experience has a major impact on purchase decisions. It is the â€Å"make or break† time in terms of a decision to purchase a particular brand. In-store advertising seeks to engage customers. The most engaging forms of advertising are end-aisle displays and merchandise displays. The least engaging are ceiling banners and overhead mobiles. Using color, light, sound, taste, and smell increases engagement. Effective point-of-purchase: * Integrate the brand’s image into the display. Integrate the display with current advertising and promotions. * Make the display dramatic to get attention. * Keep the color of the display down so the product and signage stand out. * Make the display versatile so it can be easily adapted by retailers. * Make the display re-usable and easy to assemble. * Make the display easy to stock. * Customize the display to fit the reta iler’s store. 4. How can brand communities enhance brand loyalty and devotion? Brand communities are the ultimate in brand loyalty and brand devotion. It offers symbolic meaning and provides for interaction between the brand, consumers, and companies that participate. People join because they have shared values and experiences.Brand communities cannot be created by brands or companies. It has to be customer driven. But, brands can enhance the community and provide a richer brand community experience. Reasons: People join a brand community as an affirmation of their buying decision. It provides social identity and bond with fellow brand owners. They can swap stores, swap advice and provide help to each other and to new members. It provides a venue for feedback and new ideas. Ways to enhance a brand community: * Create benefits to encourage new customers to join. * Provide materials not available anywhere else. * Involve firm representatives in the groups. * Sponsor special eve nts and regular meetings. Promote communications among members. * Build a strong brand reputation. 5. What methods are used to adapt alternative marketing programs to international marketing efforts? Companies can enhance a brand community. Companies can create benefits for individuals to encourage them to participate and join in the brand community. Materials and items not available to the public can be provided to members. Representatives from the firm can become involved and sponsor events and meetings. They can encourage and provide an avenue for members to communicate with each other. It is also important for the company to continue its strong brand name and maintain its reputation.