Marketing_Management_14th_Edition-min

MANAGING MASS COMMUNICATIONS | CHAPTER 18 509
marketing
Memo
Print Ad Evaluation Criteria
In judging the effectiveness of a print ad, in addition to considering the communication
strategy (target market, communications objectives, and message
and creative strategy), marketers should be able to answer yes to the
following questions about the ad’s execution:
1. Is the message clear at a glance? Can you quickly tell what the advertisement
is all about?
2. Is the benefit in the headline?
3. Does the illustration support the headline?
4. Does the first line of the copy support or explain the headline and illustration?
5. Is the ad easy to read and follow?
6. Is the product easily identified?
7. Is the brand or sponsor clearly identified?
Source: Adapted from Scott C. Purvis and Philip Ward Burton, Which Ad Pulled Best, 9th ed. (Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Business Books, 2002).
Absolut Vodka
Absolut Vodka Vodka is generally viewed as a commodity product, yet the
amount of brand preference and loyalty in the vodka market is astonishing and attributed mostly
to brand image. When the Swedish brand Absolut entered the U.S. market in 1979, the company
sold a disappointing 7,000 cases. By 1991, sales had soared to over 2 million cases. Absolut became
the largest-selling imported vodka in the United States, with 65 percent of the market,
thanks in large part to its marketing and advertising strategies aimed at sophisticated, upwardly mobile, affluent
drinkers. The vodka comes in a distinctive clear bottle that served as the centerpiece of 15,000 ad executions
over a 25-year period.The campaign cleverly juxtaposed a punning caption against a stylized image of the
bottle—for example, “Absolut Texas” under an image of an oversized bottle, or “Absolut 19th” with a bottle
made of a golf green. But feeling that consumers were beginning to tune out the message, in 2007 Absolut introduced
a new global campaign that showed what things would be like “In an Absolut World.” In this fantasy
world, men get pregnant, soap bubbles flow from smokestacks, masterpiece paintings hang in Times Square,
protesters and police fight with feather pillows, and perhaps most fantastically of all, the Cubs win the World
Series.The revitalized campaign led to a 9 percent increase in case sales before the recession hit in 2008.
Radio Ads Radio is a pervasive medium: Ninety-three percent of all U.S. citizens age 12 and older
listen to the radio daily and for around 20 hours a week on average, numbers that have held steady
in recent years. Much radio listening occurs in the car and out of home. As streaming Internet
access gains ground, traditional AM/FM radio stations are feeling the pressure and account for less
than half of all listening at home. 19
Perhaps radio’s main advantage is flexibility—stations are very targeted, ads are relatively
inexpensive to produce and place, and short closings allow for quick response. Radio is a particularly
effective medium in the morning; it can also let companies achieve a balance between broad and
localized market coverage.
The obvious disadvantages of radio are its lack of visual images and the relatively passive nature
of the consumer processing that results. Nevertheless, radio ads can be extremely creative. Some see
the lack of visual images as a plus because they feel the clever use of music, sound, and other creative
devices can tap into the listener’s imagination to create powerfully relevant and liked images.
Here is an example: 20
Motel 6
Motel 6 Motel 6, the nation’s largest budget motel chain, was founded in 1962 when
the “6” stood for $6 a night. After its business fortunes hit bottom in 1986 with an occupancy
rate of only 66.7 percent, Motel 6 made a number of marketing changes, including the launch of
humorous 60-second radio ads featuring folksy contractor-turned-writer Tom Bodett delivering
the clever tagline, “We’ll Leave the Light on for You.” Named one of the Top 100 Ad Campaigns