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In Defense of Grammar Skills

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on August 7th, 2012 in student work, teaching, Uncategorized

Kyle Wiens won’t hire people who can’t write well and he explains why in a recent blog post on the HBR Blog Network. Wiens believes (as do I) that “sloppy is as sloppy does.” As a marketing professor, I often times find myself in discussions with other academicians and students about whether to grade for grammar and spelling on assignments submitted in business classes. One argument suggests that the quality of writing doesn’t relay the degree of knowledge on the business subject at hand or the creativity or critical thinking illustrated in the work. Another argument suggests that one’s command of the subject at hand is nothing without the ability to communicate that command. I commend Mr. Wiens for taking a stand for the value of communication and backing up his beliefs with action.

Wiens writes, “Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember high school English. I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing — like stocking shelves or labeling parts.”

Read more on Mr. Wiens “zero-tolerance policy” here.

The State of Media: Ashby Brame Guest Post

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on May 29th, 2012 in student work, The State of Media

The following assignment was submitted by Ashby Brame for the media unit of my graduate Advertising & Promotion class (MKTG 6752). (You can also read more work submitted for this assignment by clicking on “The State of Media” under Categories.)

My freshman year of college I was determined to go into journalism. I had written in both my school and local paper through high school and I was determined to be a reporter. However, I soon determined that journalism jobs, and other opportunities in the industry, were quickly dwindling. According to the Newspaper Association of America newspapers across the country are seeing a decrease in paper subscriptions and a rise in digital and online subscriptions. In fact, only 44% of adults report that they read the newspaper on a current and consistent basis (Scarboro, 2012). Since 2003, print advertising revenue for newspapers has fallen by more than 50%, while digital advertising revenue increases (NAA, 2012). As newspapers go digital, so will their advertising; like many traditional forms of media, newspapers are striving to find a way to evolve in a highly technological world.

The necessity and value of traditional media

I think it is important to discuss ways in which traditional media is both still relevant. However, it is important in today’s media world that these forms of media find creative and innovative ways of competing with various other types of non-traditional media.

A traditional media form still alive and well is TV because it is one of the most interactive forms of advertising; it places ads directly into a consumer’s home with full sound and color. In addition, TV commercials can be highly segmented. If you want to reach a large number of American, middle-class consumers, buy ad spots during American Idol. If you want to reach hip, affluent, and impressionable young females, buy an ad spot during Gossip Girl. However, both online TV episode access sites like Hulu and recording devices like DVR are beginning to, and will continue to, have an effect on the amount of TV commercials watched by viewers. However, because TV commercials are so effective, advertisers are creating new ways to make them interesting and necessary to viewers in a hopes that they won’t fast-forward through them. For example, networks like the CW have created interactive viewing games likeCWingo in order to entice viewers to watch “in real time” and therefore place them in a better position to get exposure to ads. MARCOM initiatives like CWingo also help blend live TV with internet use in an effort to move consumers from one form of media to the next in an exciting an interactive way (Bentley, 2011).

Like newspaper, radio and magazine advertising can be both broad and geographically selective. However, as with most traditional media, all can be a very cluttered environment within which to make an ad stand out. Instead of viewing this as a threat, I think that advertisers should see this as an opportunity. Clutter challenges advertisers to be more creative in order to catch consumers’ attention. I think that this creativity, and a willingness to be innovative, will help traditional media maintain its value while also remaining a competitor in an advertising media landscape dominated by web media. One good example of this is the growing trend towards moving billboards, or LCD screen billboards. As of 2009 there are an estimated 900 throughout the U.S. already, and this number is expected to continue to grow (Ehret, 2009). Billboards, an often static traditional media form, can be more eye-catching if it moves. These large road-side screens also make switching ads and sharing ad space more convenient; which also makes it easier to keep your message within this media more current and relevant.

Taking note of both CWingo and moving billboard approaches to modern advertising, newspapers and magazines should look at the opportunities available within digital print media. Many newspapers and magazines are now read on PCs, smartphones, e-readers, and tablets. Making a digital newspaper ad more interactive and less static, with movement or live links brings a web-based advertising approach to a traditional media format.

Social Media—now and in the next 10 years

The last few years has seen a huge concentration in online advertising: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, pop-ups, video ads, and search engine “paid search results”. However, advertisers have discovered that the internet is not a cure-all for marketing woes and it can be just as tricky to market effectively, if not harder, on the internet. Here is why. The internet has created a society that processes information at a frightening rate, has high expectations on the speed at which transactions occur, and perceives the amount of knowledge and resources available online to be endless. Therefore, to standout in the great World Wide Web community you have to match what your competitors are saying, but you also have to say it better and faster. Twitter has created a world in which businesses must learn to market in 140 characters or less- your elevator speech just got even shorter. I recently filled out a form that asked me to describe myself in five words, not sentences, words! Sometimes, that’s all you get.

But, is this conducive to marketing? Is marketing really effective if it passes before the consumer at the speed of light? As marketing evolves in the future, will it continue condensing until there is nothing left? What if, in the future, instead of shrinking message and media to fit the ever tightening attention span window of the average consumer, marketers worked to expand that attention span? If a miracle cream can reverse aging, then surely some savvy marketers can recondition people to pay attention longer.

MARCOM initiatives currently do this to a certain extent. Impeccably managing your various media messages can be like linking all your social media sites. For example, the emergence of the social media icon. Consumers see a character like the All Spice Man or Allstate’s Mayhem in a commercial. They can then proceed to that company’s website where they can watch more videos of this character. They can also then go from the website to the twitter feed where this character regularly tweets funny and interesting things and they can “follow” them. Now, not only have you brought consistency to your MARCOM effort, you have also given the consumer a reason to remain attentive to your product; you have effectively taken them from the commercial, to your website, and then to a social media tool that will help them stay exposed to your brand. You have stretched both the consumer’s attention span and your media capabilities!

In 5 to 10 years, I see much more of the above scenario happening. Ads will become more interactive within every medium, but this interactivity will be aimed at stringing consumers along from medium to medium in an effort to lengthen their attention span and exposure to the ad, product, and brand. However, this isn’t to say that ads will still not need to be both catchy and brief.

Holistic marketing- it all works together to achieve a single purpose

The type of advertising described above is very much a holistic approach to marketing in that it takes into account the whole of the marketing effort; the strength of a MARCOM effort isn’t in each individual part, or individual form of media, but in how they all work together to bring consumers to a product. Taking this approach to advertising also forces businesses to develop a very narrow and deep understanding of their consumer target market. This leads to more consistent and successful marketing campaigns and better media choice decisions, which then lead to a more successful company and happy shareholders.

Sources:

1. Bentley, J. (2011, December 1). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2011/12/introducing-cwingo-the-cws-new-fun-play-along-game.html

2. Ehret, J. (2009, May 4). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://themarketingspot.com/2009/05/advertising-trends-digital-billboards.html

3. Newspaper Association of America (NAA). (2012, March 14).Advertising expenditures; annual (all categories). Retrieved from http://www.naa.org/Trends-and-Numbers/Advertising-Expenditures/Annual-All-Categories.aspx

4. Scarborough USA. (2012, February 22). Newspaper readership & audience by age and gender. Retrieved from http://www.naa.org/Trends-and-Numbers/Readership/Age-and-Gender.aspx

The State of Media: Jerry Wojenski Guest Post

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on May 24th, 2012 in student work, The State of Media

The following assignment was submitted by Jerry Wojenski for the media unit of my graduate Advertising & Promotion class (MKTG 6752). (You can also read more work submitted for this assignment by clicking on “The State of Media” under Categories.)

Misconceptions

Many of my fellow classmates will most likely assert that the future of advertising media will be the Internet, and primarily through vehicles such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. They will point out the possibilities for Internet advertising (i.e. the two i’s of the Internet) such as viral advertising, two-way communication between the brand and consumer, and targeting messages to specific consumer groups (Shimp, 2010). At the same time, they will proclaim traditional media, specifically newspaper and magazine print media, will be replaced by digital (web-based) media in the near future – in a sense, issuing a death certificate to these mediums. I disagree. While the Internet may one day overcome television as the predominant media in terms of ad sales, I do not believe that will be anytime soon (i.e. within the next five years). Furthermore, I believe traditional media, collectively, will remain the primary distribution channel for a brand to communicate its messages for at least the next decade.

In Exhibit 1, the National Business Review charted ad spending in New Zealand over the past decade. If we look at the table, dollars spent on Internet advertising (labeled in the table as “Interactive”) has increased year after year since 2003. Despite its rapid growth, Internet advertising represents only about 15% of total ad expenditures. Meanwhile, traditional media (i.e. television, newspapers, radio and magazines) accounts for 76% of expenditures (NBR, 2012). The trend is similar in the United States according to a 2011 study by mobile analytics company Flurry.

Exhibit 1. New Zealand Advertisement Expenditures by Media. Source: (NBR, 2011)

Exhibit 2 shows a comparison between the ad dollars spent versus the time consumers spend by media. Similar to New Zealand, Internet advertising accounts for about 17% advertising expenditures (including mobile smartphone ads), while traditional media accounts for 83% (Klein, 2012). If other media such as mail, cinema, and outdoor had been included, these percentages would most likely be lower and more closely correlated with the figures from New Zealand. Furthermore, Exhibit 2 shows us there is a significantly disproportionate gap between ad spending and the time consumers spend by media, especially when looking at Internet versus print media. Flurry’s research also reveals that men and women between the ages of 18 and 34 account for the majority of time spent on the Internet (both the Web and Internet via smartphones). This demographic according to Flurry, is the most valuable and coveted target audience by advertisers (Klein, 2012). Recent estimates by tracking firms anticipate the importance of mobile platforms to grow – Nielsen estimates half of all mobile users have smartphones with Internet capability and a Pew survey found that tablet adoption will double to 20% by the end of this year (Walsh, 2012).

Exhibit 2. 2011 U.S. Ad Spending vs. Consumer Time Spent by Media. Source: (Klein, 2012)

Chaos

Advertisers continue to invest more ad dollars in traditional mediums like print, radio, and television, despite the fact that Web and mobile media appears to be far more engaging and given the staggering growth of the mobile industry. Even Internet giant Google spent $70 million on TV ads this year compared with just $6 million the year before (Efrati, 2012). Given the Internet’s significant reach, why do advertisers continue to heavily favor traditional media? The answer lies in the complexity of the Internet.

Until the advent of the Internet and digital technology, creating ads and media planning had been relatively straight forward. The main decisions in media planning were reach and frequency. If a brand sought mass audience coverage, they could choose to place ads in newspapers or TV; or to pinpoint specific audiences, they could choose to run print ads in magazines that catered to their target audience’s interests (Shimp, 2010). Measuring the success of ads in traditional media had also become somewhat of a science with several tracking and analytics companies reporting audience viewing and reading habits, ad awareness, and changes in buying behavior (Friedman, 2012). The most difficult part of the process was creating the ad itself – turning a sales pitch into art as it were.

On the other hand, the Internet (or digital media) has created chaos in the advertising world. The Internet is not just one channel, but rather a medium that blooms thousands of other mediums. So while consumers may spend a great amount of time interacting with digital media, the Internet is so vast that it dilutes consumer attention (Bruell, 2012). In other words, search engines, social media sites, and the iPad and other mobile apps means fragmented media budgets and fragmented consumer attention (Johnson, 2012). If we took a brand’s message and tied them to a thousand rocks and then shot those rocks from a space cannon from the moon toward Earth. How many of those rocks would hit land? Now imagine we shot the same thousand messages away from Earth, toward the vast region of space. How many of those rocks do you suppose would eventually hit land? Not many. That is one of the main obstacles media planners face with the Internet. It is much easier to assure that the brand message will be received by a majority of the target audience through traditional media (Friedman, 2012). Further complicating the issue is that purchasing ad space or time on the Internet is relatively low compared to traditional media, which allows for even the smallest of firms to post ads on the Internet. The oversaturation of ads, especially banner ads, creates a clutter that many consumers tune out (Sanchez, 2012). At the same time, too much attention by a digital audience is also an issue. The Internet, especially social media networks, has converted a brand’s one-way message into a real-time dialogue with millions of people. Managing personal relationships with such a vast number of people is extremely difficult, and made worse when one of the relationships fails. If a consumer is unhappy about a brand’s product or services, they can publicly share this negative experience in real-time (Bruell, 2012).

Another challenge with advertising in digital media is measuring success. One metric used in digital display advertising is click-through rates, which have dropped in recent year to less that 0.1% suggesting that display ads on the Internet is not effective (Lipsman, 2012; Shimp, 2010). Yet, digital media analysts comScore argue that click-through rates are a poor measure for effectiveness because they ignore the impact of the ads exposure. Likewise, Karen Neslon-Field of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute reported that only 1% of a brand’s fans interacted with the brand message, and argued that brands are wasting their time advertising on social media sites such as Facebook (Lipsman, 2012). On the contrary, comScore found that “when fans do engage brand messages, even at low incidence, they become exponentially more valuable in delivering branded messages to their friends.” Therefore, the value in social media is not restricted to a brand’s fans, but also to the friends of the fans, and so advertisers must develop brand messages that focus not just on the 1% but to the extended network of friends as well (Lipsman, 2012).

From Chaos Comes Order

Despite the obstacles, brands are attracted to digital media not only because of its growing prevalence in society, but because the Internet allows brands to provide a specific message to a narrow target audience in a relatively short amount of time. Advertising agencies are under a tremendous amount of pressure from their clients to produce effective, measurable results in Internet advertising (Kincy, 2011). Furthermore, the relative low cost in producing and publishing a digital ad creates a low barrier in the digital ad market which has attracted new advertising agency start-ups specializing in digital media. In 2011, Angelique Krembs, marking director of PepsiCo’s SoBe brand, decided to work with only agencies that specialized in digital media (Kincy, 2011). Full-service advertising agencies are in a fight to keep their clientele while they adapt to digital media. For its part, digital media vehicles such as Facebook are also adapting to attract greater ad revenues. Traditional media has always been tailor-made for advertising. Mediums such as television, newspapers, magazines, and radios operate under a business model in which advertising accounts of a significant portion of sales revenues. The Internet, on the other hand, is an ever-changing and evolving medium with more general information and user generated content than high quality entertainment and news (Kincy, 2011). To make the online world more ad-friendly, Facebook is hiring creative directors to serve as a liaison with creative at advertising agencies (Klassen, 2012). Together, Facebook believes, they can create better, more effective digital ads. Furthermore, new digital media planning software will help brands and advertising agencies monitor, control, and measure their messages (Klassen, 2012).

As advertising agencies and digital media both adapt to one another, and as new mobile technologies become more refined and ubiquitous, chaos will turn to order. In about five to ten years, we will see digital media become significantly integrated with traditional media. Television programming will have banner ads allowing viewers to directly access a brand’s website, and even purchase products in real-time (Friedman, 2012). Promotional coupons will become more prevalent on mobile phones, but also mobile phones will be used to interact with print and display ads beyond the current QR codes (Walsh, 2012). For example, a consumer may see a print or billboard ad featuring a dog with an empty bowl. By waving their smartphone over the ad, the bowl becomes full of kibble (Fisher, 2012). Therefore beyond simply exposure, digital media will open a new dimension in advertising allowing for significant engagement between a consumer and a brand message. Digital media will never kill off traditional media – it will simply enhance the experience.

References

Bruell, A. (2012, March 27). Martin Sorrell: Internet Has Created More Value Than It Has Destroyed.Advertising Age. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/special-report-4as-conference/sorrell-web-created-destroyed/233738/

Efrati, A. (2012, March 27). Once shunning ad promos, Google now flaunts itself. Wall Stree Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2012, fromhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304177104577303581175364006.html?KEYWORDS=once+shunning+ad+promos

Fisher, M. (2012, March 30). The Next Generation of Digital Signs Will Interact With You. Advertising Age. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/generation-digital-signs-interact/233778/

Friedman, W. (2012, March 29). TV Execs: Advertisers Will Pay More For Video. MediaPost Publications 03/30/2012. Retrieved March 30, 2012, fromhttp://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/171359/tv-execs-advertisers-will-pay-more-for-video.html

Johnson, P. (2012, March 29). The True Promise of Social Media Drowned Out by Self-Promotion.Advertising Age. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/small-agency-diary/social-media-s-potential-drowning-promotion/233776/

Kincy, J. (2011, March 21). Advertising fails to find a media mix. Retrieved March 29, 2012, fromhttp://search.proquest.com/docview/865728250?accountid=10639

Klassen, A. (2012, March 27). Why Facebook Is Hiring Ad Agency Creatives. Advertising Age. Retrieved March 29, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/special-report-4as-conference/facebook-hiring-advertising-agency-creatives/233747/

Klein, E. (2012, February 21). The future of advertising — and media — in one graph. Washington Post. Retrieved March 29, 2012, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-future-of-advertising–and-media–in-one-graph/2011/08/25/gIQAzqyjRR_blog.html

Lipsman, A. (2012, March 30). So What if Only 1% of Facebook Fans ‘Engage’? Advertising Age. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/1-facebook-fans-engage/233839/

NBR. (2012, March 20). Annual NZ ad spend – TV passes newspapers, but internet rising fast | The National Business Review. The National Business Review. Retrieved March 29, 2012, fromhttp://www.nbr.co.nz/article/annual-nz-ad-spend-tv-still-number-one-internet-rising-fast-hold-midday-wednesday-ck-113624

Sanchez, M. (2012, March 27). Take a Lesson from Print Media: Clean Up Web Layouts. Advertising Age. Retrieved March 29, 2012, from http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/a-lesson-print-media-clean-web-layouts/233653/

Shimp, T. A. (2010). Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of integrated marketing communications. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Walsh, M. (2012, March 29). Advertisers: Tailor Mobile Approaches For Smartphones, Tablets.MediaPost Publications 03/30/2012. Retrieved March 30, 2012, fromhttp://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/171367/advertisers-tailor-mobile-approaches-for-smartpho.html

The State of Media: Donald Philyaw Guest Post

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on May 16th, 2012 in student work, The State of Media

The following assignment was submitted by Donald Philyaw for the media unit of my graduate Advertising & Promotion class (MKTG 6752).

Describing the state of the media and anticipating changes likely in the next five to ten years is a difficult task. Advertisers and agencies today face challenges that, in my opinion, are more daunting than they have ever encountered. Media planners must recommend a mix of media vehicles that will be relevant over the course of a campaign. This is not easy with social media where the only constant is change that comes at the speed of thought. So, predicting the impact of digital and social media over the next five years is tough. To start, let’s look back to see how the industry has evolved to get to where we are now.

Evolution Caused by Television

Art & Copy describes the evolution of the creative forces within agencies and details how those agencies worked in the past. The key word here is past. The movie, released in 2009 features stories of how great campaigns were created and executed. According to Mary Wells, television was the force that allowed agencies to “do big dramatic things” (Pray, 2009). As televisions became available in every household, advertising moved to the new vehicle that held an increasingly strong grip on the attentions of consumers. Television was the evolutionary force of the 1950s through the early 1980s. During those years, television consisted of three networks and, as a result, families chose one of three shows to watch at a particular time and day. Media planners could establish a focused mix of print, signage and the three channels on television. Those were simpler times that no longer exist.

In the 1980s, cable television expanded the number of programs available to viewers exponentially. Some of the channels, like the paid premium channels, had no advertising, but took viewers away from the commercial channels. As viewers sought commercial free channels, broadcasters reduced the actual programming time in a one show from 51 minutes in the 1960s to around 42 minutes today (Television Advertisement, 2012). This increase in advertising opportunities has further driven away viewers and created the practice of recording a show to watch it later while skipping over the commercials. Faced with a dilution of message, advertisers and media planners adapted to this minor evolutionary change.

Digital Evolution

Describing the digital and social media evolution’s impact on advertisers and media planners is difficult because we are in the middle of it. It is like a dinosaur trying to explain the evolutionary process that eventually led to extinction of their kind. The dinosaur just knows that it’s getting colder and he wants to head south. Speaking of dinosaurs, just three years ago, the most technically advanced cell phone or personal data assistant was a Blackberry. Laptop computers were replacing the older desktops. Now smartphones and iPads are challenging laptops. The hot trend of the moment may be the dinosaur tomorrow. The rate of change is astounding. In this changing landscape, advertisers and media planners must find the vehicles to get the reach needed for their product.

The development of digital technology has fueled the current evolution by putting the choice of content directly into the hands of consumers. This means many consumers do not watch broadcast television. They may simply stream content that is interesting to them. By selecting and choosing what to view, consumers create their own channels and consume information when and where they want it, with or without commercials. To advertise in a medium where viewers choose, advertisers must capture attention and hold it. More than ever before, the message must be relevant to the consumer.

All forms of advertising are impacted in this evolution. Digital billboards change electronically as often as needed to capture the attention of a driver who is probably texting, reading emails or talking on the smart phone while driving. Periodicals like the Wall Street Journal are delivered digitally and have replaced printed magazines and newspapers (Choney, 2012), Grocery stores print coupons specifically targeted toward a customer’s buying habits and hand them to the customer at check out. Point of purchase promotions are aided by product pricing that is shown on the shelf, not on the package. Stores can add some signage and change the price within the system very quickly. Every form of advertising has changed in some way.

Creativity, normally the domain of the advertising agencies, is being challenged by the rise in user-generated, peer-delivered content seen on sites like YouTube (Major Changes for Advertising, 2011). Some amateur ads have made their way onto the Super Bowl, once the hallowed ground for large budgets and clever agencies. Challenging the tradition that advertising is paid for, a lot of advertising in social media is free (Tuten, 2008). Look for this trend to continue. The agencies are not the only source of creative talent and consumers may develop good, free advertisements.

Advertisers are taking a more active role in the control of advertising placement and budget. Agencies have controlled the purchasing of media in the past. Some social media does not require the huge expense that a television blitz may have cost in the past. GM centralized its advertising purchases in recent years and brought the activity in house. Recently GM announced a centralization of Chevy’s global advertising into a joint venture between two large agencies, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners and McCann, Erickson Worldwide (Services, 2012). The savings of over $2 billion dollars by GM is money that once went to advertising agencies. Removing the budget for ad placement and then negotiating creativity costs downward spells big problems for agencies.

Social media favors a more direct and real-time interaction between advertisers and consumers. Consumers initiate this communication as they seek information at the time, place and method of their choosing. Permission based marketing places an increasing emphasis on the marketing department understanding and developing a relationship with customers. Agencies have a reduced role in this relationship.

Evolutionary Future

Predicting the future three years from now is as hard as predicting the current impact of digital and social media would have been three years ago. My best predictions (as a part time futurist and occasional dinosaur) include extensions on what is happening today. Consumers will determine the time, location and method of consuming information and entertainment. Commercial networks will continue to be forced to evolve and getting advertising reach will be more complicated than ever. Stunning creativity from ad agencies will migrate toward cunning creativity from fellow consumers. Consumer reviews and praise will affect brands more than clever agency constructs.

Brand meaning and relationship will continue to adapt to the requirements of the consumer, leading companies to understand buying behavior as never before. Consumers, advertisers, agencies and sellers are all evolving. Those who move slowly will go the way of the dinosaur.

Works Cited

Major Changes for Advertising. (2011, February 24). Retrieved from Huddle Producitons: http://www.huddleproductions.com/2011/02/24/major-changes-for-advertising/

Advertising Media Planning: A Primer. (2012, March 28). Retrieved from AdMedia: www.admedia.org

Television Advertisement. (2012, March 30). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_advertisement

Choney, S. (2012, March 28). Online news readership overtakes newspapers . Retrieved from Technolog, MSNBC: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/online-news-readership-overtakes-newspapers-124383

Pray, D. (Director). (2009). Art & Copy [Motion Picture].

Services, C. N. (2012, March 28). GM centralizes global advertising for Chevrolet. Retrieved from San Francisco Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/27/BUC31NQCOF.DTL

Tuten, T. (2008). Advertising 2.0. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

The State of Media: Amy Masters Guest Post

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on May 7th, 2012 in student work

I’m always pleased to share quality assignments that students have submitted on my blog. The following assignment was for the media unit of my graduate Advertising & Promotion class (MKTG 6752). Students were asked to post an essay to the discussion forum given the following criterion. The below essay is one of four that I will be sharing this month in response to this assignment, and was submitted by Amy Masters. Enjoy!

For this final unit forum, I had a difficult time deciding upon your assigned focus. On the one hand, I use these forums as a tool for ensuring you have consumed the unit content and that you understand it and can apply it. On the other hand, I want to hear your original thinking and ability to operate at a higher level. Your assignment is to write an essay (minimum 750 words) which describes the state of media as it relates to advertising in today’s age. In addition to assessing the relative necessity and value of traditional media, the assignment will require that you anticipate the impact of social and digital media now and over the relatively near future (say 5-10 years from now). You may need to use sources beyond those provided in your textbook. Remember to cite sources. Also, try to think holistically about media – from the role of advertising but also in terms of the 360 degree impact media has on its stakeholders.

Traditional Media
Submitted by Amy Masters

Today, I believe the state of media is in transition between mass media advertising and new media outlets, specifically digital media. Traditional media will always be necessary within the advertising world, however their role is changing as technology persists to change audiences. As technology increases, new media outlets are emerging. Currently, digital media is beginning to be utilized for its potential—reaching the specific demographic of the majority of social media users, generation Y. Although media is beginning to change, it is important to remember that as long as we use the mediums mass media vehicles through, there will be a need for traditional media as well. For example, as long as there are numerous televisions in the typical household, there will be commercials. Even though the role of DVR is changing that outlet and will most likely continue to become even more customary as it has become a commodity for the typical, busy audience.

The Hunger Games

To show the impact of social media on current advertising, I am using “The Hunger Games” promotion strategy. They used Facebook, Twitter, custom websites, a YouTube channel, GetGlue, as well as more traditional media like poster giveaways, commercials, billboards, etc. Traditional media strategies used by the Hunger Games – “giving away 80,000 posters, securing almost 50 magazine cover stories, advertising on 3,000 billboards and bus shelters” (Barnes 2012).

Thirteen Facebook pages were used to represent each of the districts of the plot –“Fans could become virtual ‘ citizens’ of each district” (Ngak 2012). On March 30, 2012, the official Hunger Games Facebook page had 3,615,056 likes and 772,568 people talking about this (The Hunger Games Facebook Site https://www.facebook.com/thehungergamesmovie). This Facebook strategy gave an interactive opportunity to the fans and they took advantage of it by sharing their thoughts of the movie, their expectations, their excitement and overall creating buzz by communicating with other fans.

The Capitol of the plot had a Twitter account named @TheCapitolPN that assisted in giving the audience an experience of hearing from the dreaded, antagonist of the story. Using this Twitter account helped to keep character lines consistent and aided in giving the story a real-life feel. According to CBS News, “Hunger Games” had been mentioned as least one million times in just the last month of the article on Twitter (Ngak 2012). This was calculated by using tracking site Topsy.

“The Hunger Games” advertising plan also used a YouTube channel, iPhone games, Tumblr, a check-in application called GetGlue, and live Yahoo streaming from the premiere, in addition to their social media sites, to drive and maintain excitement and give the audience an outlet to make this story as real as possible. Ideally, they wanted to keep the audience as involved with the story as possible.

The marketing campaign for the movie cost less than is spent for most big movies with a budget of $45 million, compared to $100 million for most big movies. The budget has been able to remain so low because of the inexpensive digital media opportunities (Barnes 2012).

I think ‘The Hunger Games’ used digital media to target a particular age demographic for the movie. The age demographic used for this project will in the near future be the mainstream target audience for most media advertising. This makes me assume that digital media is yet at its potential and will take a major role in advertising in the near future.

I enjoyed a phrase that the New York Times article used to describe today’s movie marketing and the role of online marketing techniques—“ …using social media and blizzard of other inexpensive yet effective online techniques to pull off what may be the marketer’s ultimate trick: persuading fans to persuade each other” (Barnes 2012). In other words, personal interaction can be the more effective tool in advertising. Digital media lets you do just that, and in a very efficient means of cost at that.

The Future

Overall, the strategies used by “The Hunger Games”N marketing team are not revolutionary as these tactics have been used before. However, it is the combination of the elements used and the consistency of which that makes it successful. Also, the digital marketing outlets let a direct opportunity for interaction with their main target market, young adults. As technology advances and as the young adult generation gets older, they will soon be the mainstream audience of marketing practices showing a possibility for digital marketing to persist to further levels.

I think Twitter has far more potential in marketing than is being used right now. I can see the growth of Twitter being used on the same level as Facebook, but possibly have more impact on the marketing front. This is due to the lack of attention consistent in young generations responsible of the instant gratification lifestyle that we have. Because Twitter can contain information in short bits, easily readable and read frequently, and the ability of interaction between audiences gives the opportunity for concentration, instant gratification of information, and constant collaboration between users. I’m calling an increased used in the already-present involvement of airing TV shows and Twitter usage between contestants, hosts, celebrities, brands, and the audience (example—The Voice and Fashion Star). Also, I can see increased use of Twitter for branding in retail because it easily aids to lifestyle concepts they try to portray. Obviously, the example of The Hunger Games shows the effective use of digital marketing with movies so we can expect to see increased usage of Twitter and movie promotion strategies.

Resources

Acuna, K. (2012). ‘The Hunger Games’ by the numbers: 20 marketing tactics to ensure success.Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/the-hunger-games-box-office-debut-will-marketing-will-2012-3
Barnes, B. (2012). How ‘Hunger Games’ built up must-see fever. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/business/media/how-hunger-games-built-up-must-see-fever.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Ngak, C. (2012). “The Hunger Games” marketing team turns to social media. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57403323-501465/the-hunger-games-marketing-team-turns-to-social-media/
Shayon, S. (2012). The social marketing ninja behind The Hunger Games success. Brand Channel. Retrieved from http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2012/03/28/The-Hunger-Games-Social-Marketing-032812.aspx

Student Ad Book Presentations: How To Plan Advertising

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on April 27th, 2012 in student ad book presentations, student work

The following work was submitted by Steve Bayley in response to my assignment to read an advertising book and teach the class 3 main points using creative presentation. Steve chose to teach the class about How To Plan Advertising. You can also view his YouTube presentation below. Enjoy!

How To Plan Advertising is written as a collaborative effort from some of the leading Account Planners of the eighties and nineties. The book is a product of the Account Planning Group, a planners advocacy organization based in Great Britain. Account Planning was first invented in the seventies by famed UK planners Stephen King and Stanley Pollitt. It is easy to confuse Account Planning with Marketing Research for the uninitiated. The biggest difference between these two disciplines is in their orientation. Planning uses research as one of the tools to guide advertising strategy development. Coupled with knowledge of the marketplace, understanding of consumers, a little psychology, basic knowledge of the fundamental aspects of the creative and media planning processes, and a healthy dose of intuition, the planner is able to draw on a wide variety of experiences to make informed advertising strategy decisions. Marketing Research is built around the accumulation of hard data. This is certainly true for quantitative applications like regression and segmentation, but is also applicable on the qualitative side. Through open-ended depth interviews and focus groups. These research methods still produce massive amounts of written and recorded data, which can be used to guide strategy development. The author compares the agency cultures of the British and American ad industries and suggests that the reason planning has not taken hold in more agencies in the US is that at the end of the day, some advertising strategy developed by planning is not quantifiable and requires an educated leap of faith. We Americans are told to constantly document and back up our claims and are uncomfortable taking the risks that are necessary to produce truly great advertising.

Strategy Development

In order to develop effective, workable advertising strategies planners must have both analytic and imaginative skills. Good strategy results from being able to answer the tough advertising questions by possessing knowledge of consumer behavior. Knowing how consumers will react to certain advertisements and whether those ads will resonate enough with consumers to get them to purchase the advertised product is the ultimate goal. A campaign could be considered a success even if it does not move the customer to purchase if it can alter the consumers disposition toward the brand. This is the reason that setting advertising objectives is so important. Clear lines of communication should exist between the client and the agency beforehand, so that when the campaign is a success, we can identify what worked. This sounds like common sense but a surprising amount of advertising is made without first delineating mutually agreed upon campaign objectives. The planner should have an in depth knowledge of the clients business in order to build trust in the client relationship, and to ensure the relevancy of the strategic execution.

Creative Briefs and Briefing

Once a strategy is defined it can be used to guide the development of the creative brief. The creative brief is a document that the planner prepares for the creative team to help guide them to the insights that will spawn relevant advertising ideas. Good briefs are clear, focused, and inspiring. The brief should be narrowly focused but fall short of actually describing advertising ideas. That is the job of the creative team. The brief typically serves three masters, the client, the planner, and the creative team. Its important not to get too caught up in the format of the creative brief. Creative briefs come in various forms and there is no standard that is better than another. The effective brief will contain areas for information entry regarding reasons for advertising, insights about the audience, and what it is we want the audience to take away from the advertising. Additionally, there are typically areas in the brief where consumer attitudes are investigated, as well as tone and style of previous advertising campaigns for the brand, which may have helped shape opinions about the brand that exist today. There is mention of the increasing importance of media planning and its integration with the planning process. This integration of media and account planning has become more prominent since the books publication, due to the fractured and diverse modern media environment. In the video, I touch on some of the ways in which media planning has integrated with account planning.

The creative briefing is a meeting where the planner first distributes the brief to the creative team and sets the stage for the creative development process. The briefing is typically done in the office, although off site briefing trips may help spark the creative process by getting the creative immersed in the world of the brand firsthand. This can be a useful tool, just use with caution. You don’t want to develop the reputation of a field tripper!

Creative Development Research

Qualitative and quantitative methods are both used to research advertising ideas. Qualitative is much more common early in the creative development process to get an insight into how the consumer feels about or interacts with the product. Focus Groups, Mini Groups, and one on one in-depth interviews are the most common qualitative methods. Quantitative methods usually involve pre-testing. Pre-testing is the research carried out on finished creative work prior to ads appearing on air. Pre-testing is often used as one last double check by the client to make sure they are comfortable with the campaign they are about to air. Quantitative methods generally fall under either the persuasion or attitude shift group of techniques or the impact and communication group of techniques. Persuasion is concerned with measuring advertising views and the ads ability to convert sales. Impact and communication techniques measure brand recall, like/dislike, and attitudes toward the advertising.

Planning in the International Arena

As Planning has grown beyond the borders of Great Britain, we see great value in the planning process or international applications. Because the focus of planning is aligning consumer insights with advertising executions relevant to the tastes of the target audience, it should be clear how important understanding a given audiences cultural filter and how their worldview and values shape their comprehension and approval of advertising. It is a balancing act in international planning between using economies of scale to reach people across borders in the most cost effective manner possible and developing the most relevant and insightful marketing messages. The international planner will have to work even more closely with their client to ensure comprehension of objectives are mutually agreed on between agency and client. Product Truths tend to translate across cultures well, and provide bases of successful international advertising campaigns. Clarity of the brief is the most important aspect of the international planning process, and the area where there could potentially be the most misunderstandings. Be clear in the briefing as to what you hope to find in your creative development research. By clearly communicating the goals it will be easier to establish cross-cultural comprehension of advertising objectives.

Questions for Discussion

Why is planning still considered a luxury in the United States, particularly in small to mid-sized agencies?
Do you feel it is more important to invest heavier in strategic or creative development research? Why?
What do you feel is the biggest or most common obstacles for international account planners? How do you think planning must be approached differently if a campaign is to be aired internationally vs. in any one market?

How To Plan Advertising. 2^nd Edition, edited by Alan Cooper. The Account Planning Group,1997. Contributions from Alan Cooper, M.T. Rainey, Simon Clemmow, Leslie Butterfield, Charlie Robertson, Jaspar Shelbourne, Merry Baskin, Jackie Boulter, Paul Feldwick, Dan O’Donoghue, Rita Clifton, Paul Edwards, Michael Harvey

Student Ad Book Presentations: “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This”

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on April 18th, 2012 in student ad book presentations, student work

The following work was submitted by 4 of my students in response to their assignment to read an advertising book and teach the class 3 main points using creative presentation. Sarah Batchelor, Lauren Blount, Katja Dammann, and Jerry Wojenski did a fabulous job teaching the class about Luke Sullivan’s book, “Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.” Be sure to check out their Prezi by clicking on the link in this post!

“Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising” by Luke Sullivan is a great resource for those working in the advertising industry, but it also provides valuable insights for management teams. The book’s author, Luke Sullivan, has worked in the advertising industry for over 30 years – first as a copywriter and then a creative director. Through personal perspectives, humorous storytelling, and clear illustrative examples, Sullivan guides readers through the creative process of what he believes makes for great advertising. Sullivan opens with a narrative on an old Charmin toilet paper television advertisement known as “Mr. Whipple.” In the spot, a store clerk scolds customers for squeezing the Charmin toilet paper, but then proceeds to squeeze the toilet paper himself after the customer leaves. Sullivan describes Mr. Whipple as one of the most polarizing characters in advertising. People generally hated him and the ad, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the sales figures. Charmin sales increased thanks to the ad. So much so, that the ad was played for several years. It stands to reason that bad ads sell, but Sullivan argues that advertisers should strive for better – they should strive to create great ads. Throughout his book, Sullivan repeats several tenants that he believes are the cornerstones to a great ad. He tries to inspire the reader to see ad as an art form, as well as the power behind combining art and strategy. With his tips, tricks, and stories about everyday processes in the advertising world, Sullivan delivers a humorous and brutally honest perspective on how to succeed as a creative in advertising, and how to make the best work you possibly can. There is a wealth of knowledge in this book, and we truly hope that you find the time to read this book and explore the creative world of advertising as seen through Sullivan’s eyes.

As a group, we focused our presentation on three general categories: 1) Elements of a Great Ad; 2) The Creative Process; and 3) Selling the Campaign. We believe that these lessons encompass many of the thematic elements in Sullivan’s book. Furthermore, we hope that our presentation teases your interest in the author and induces you to pick-up his book. If you think us biased, please take a moment to see some Amazon reader reviews (see attached file).

We hope you enjoy, engage, and participate often in our discussion!

Sincerely,
the Whipple Book Club: Sarah Batchelor, Lauren Blount, Katja Dammann, and Jerry Wojenski

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(please respond AFTER viewing our presentation)

1. Share with us your favorite ad by posting the image or a link to the ad, and then discuss what you like about the ad. Then post an ad you despise and share what elements of the ad turn you off.

2. Is there another ad that you feel possesses and demonstrates at least one of the characteristics from the “Elements of a Great Ad” section? What other characteristic (from a consumer’s perspective) do you believe makes a great ad?

3. Simplicity is a major theme recurring throughout this book. What is one of the best, simple print ads you have seen? How does it convey the message the advertiser intended in terms of how Sullivan describes making great print ads? Why does simple work?

4. What is the most important lesson you took from this presentation?

Remaking Your Traditional Resume

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on February 25th, 2012 in student work, technology

GREENVILLE, N.C. – If you are looking for a job, you know how tough it can be to separate yourself from the pack.

In the above clip, ECU students share the ways they are enhancing their resume and I offer my perspective on what I believe employer resume expectations will be within the coming year.

When was the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile?

Digital Marketing Module at Stockholm School of Economics in Latvia

Posted by Tracy Tuten Ph.D. on January 27th, 2012 in student work, teaching

The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) in Riga, Latvia, offers a 2 year cohort program for individuals seeking an Executive MBA degree. Last Wednesday through Saturday (January 18^th-21^st), I spent 10 hours a day with these eager students as their guest professor of Digital Marketing. The students, who will attend monthly modules in the first year of the program before completing a thesis in the second year, include individuals from Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Estonia.

For my module on Digital Marketing, we covered consumer behavior in a digital world, online advertising, search engine optimization, social media marketing (brief view), and metrics. In the course, the students worked in teams to develop a digital marketing strategy. They did a fabulous job!

Please take a moment to view pictures of some of the amazing students I had the opportunity to work with and their beautiful school. Although a colder climate that I am used to, my experience at Stockholm School of Economics was truly enjoyable. I am always pleased to share my knowledge of digital marketing and encouraged to know that we are sending informed students out into the ever-evolving world of business and marketing. Thank you, SSE!

: As guest professor of Digital Marketing at Stockholm School of Economics, I worked with Executive MBA students to develop digital marketing strategies.

To learn more about Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) in Riga, Latvia, visit www.sseriga.edu.

Archive for student work

“Homecoming Freeboot Friday-Oct. 28, 2011″ by Sarah Caton

“Family Vacation” by Jordan M. Nolan

“Animal Kingdom” by Kelly McDade

“The Pencil Jam” by Brennan Hickey