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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
IV. Objectives and
Budgeting for Integrated
Marketing
Communications Programs
7. Establishing Objectives
and Budgeting for the
Promotional Program
In some situations, promotional planners may gain insight into communications
objectives’ relationship to sales from industry research. Evalucom, Inc., conducted a
study of commercials for new products. Some succeeded in stimulating anticipated
levels of sales; others did not. Figure 7-5 shows four factors the study identified that
affect whether a commercial for a new product is successful in generating sales.
In attempting to translate sales goals into specific communications objectives,
promotional planners often are not sure what constitutes adequate levels of awareness,
knowledge, liking, preference, or conviction. There are no formulas to provide
this information. The promotional manager will have to use his or her personal
experience and that of the brand or product managers, as well as the marketing history
of this and similar brands. Average scores on various communications measures
for this and similar products should be considered, along with the levels
achieved by competitors’ products. This information can be related to the amount of
money and time spent building these levels as well as the resulting sales or market
share figures.
At some point, sales-oriented objectives must be translated into what the company
hopes to communicate and to whom it hopes to communicate it. For example, in the
highly competitive office supply industry Boise Cascade has been around for over 35
years. In a market where differentiation is difficult to achieve due to the fact that
many companies make the same products at about equal prices, Boise lacked personality.
The company needed to change the consumers’ focus from price to the advantages
provided by its knowledge and experience in the industry. After identifying the
target market as women 18 to 54 with a high school diploma, the company combined
with its agency to develop a “personality test” that customers and potential customers
could take to learn more about their personalities and interactive styles. In
addition, participants could learn more about the styles of coworkers, relatives, and
so on, to improve communications. The “You’ve Got to Have Personality” campaign
was designed in an attempt to have participants learn more about themselves as well
as Boise Cascade. Initially using advertising, direct mail, the Internet, and sales promotions,
the program was later extended to include trade shows and other promotions.
The results were obvious—a 30 percent increase in web traffic and a 250
percent jump in visitors to the company’s online magazine. Most important, recognition
of the Boise name increased, a personality was established, and sales of the
products promoted in the “Personality” flyer increased 15.8 percent over the previous
year. 12
Many marketing and promotional managers recognize the value of setting specific
communications objectives and their important role as operational guidelines to the
planning, execution, and evaluation of the promotional program. Communications
objectives are the criteria used in the DAGMAR approach to setting advertising goals
and objectives, which has become one of the most influential approaches to the advertising
planning process.
• Communicating that something is different about the product. Successful introductory
commercials communicated some point of difference for the new product.
• Positioning the brand difference in relation to the product category. Successful
commercials positioned their brand’s difference within a specific product category. For
example, a new breakfast product was positioned as the “crispiest cereal” and a new
beverage as the “smoothest soft drink.”
• Communicating that the product difference is beneficial to consumers. Nearly
all of the successful commercials linked a benefit directly to the new product’s
difference.
• Supporting the idea that something about the product is different and/or
beneficial to consumers. All the successful commercials communicated support for
the product’s difference claim or its relevance to consumers. Support took the form of
demonstrations of performance, information supporting a uniqueness claim, endorsements,
or testimonials.
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Figure 7-5 Factors related
to success of advertising for
new products
205
Chapter Seven Establishing Objectives and Budgeting for the Promotional Program