PART 5: IMC and Total Communication

Topic 1 | Evaluating IMC Effectiveness

Topic 2 | Social Impact, Responsibility, and Ethics: Is It Right?

 We’ve emphasized that effective campaigns do more than win awards for creativity.
 Their singular and number one purpose is to achieve the campaign’s communication and marketing goals.
 As you will see in this chapter, there are many ways to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated marketing
communication (IMC) program. Companies evaluate the impact of the program’s message, the performance of its
individual IMC components, the power of the media that delivered the message, and the extent to which the IMC campaign’s
components worked in harmony to create changes in people’s attitudes and behaviors.

This chapter discusses the establishment of campaign objectives (against which campaign success can be evaluated) and examines the
many types of effectiveness measurement that are possible.

I. Brand Communication Impact: Did It Work?

1. First Things First: The Campaign Objectives

 Campaign objectives and campaign evaluation work hand in hand. In the absence of clear campaign objectives, evaluation
becomes a much murkier task.

2. The Campaign Purpose: Brand Building

 Brand communication can be deemed successful when set objectives—attitudinal, behavioral, or both—have been met.
 If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

3. Why Evaluation Matters?

 Evaluation should be planned in to any campaign. That is not an onerous task when clear campaign objectives have been
written, because evaluation can and should flow directly from those goals. But the inclusion of a “campaign evaluation
phase” on the program time line is mandatory.
 Structured evaluation not only determines the success of a campaign from an objective perspective, but also provides
valuable feedback as brands plan campaigns for the future.
 From the business perspective, formal evaluation of brand communication is a must. Why?
1. The first reason is that the stakes in making an advertising misstep are high.
o By the time an average 30-second commercial is ready for national television, it has cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars in production costs. If it is run nationally, its sponsor can invest several million dollars
in airtime alone.
2. The second reason is that advertising optimization—reducing risk by testing, tracking brand performance,
and making changes where possible to increase the effectiveness of communication—helps ensure future
success.

4. How Evaluation Fits into the Stages of Brand Communication Testing

A complete understanding of the strength of your brand communication is accomplished through testing, monitoring, and
measurement. This process is depicted in Figure 17.1, which illustrates how IMC planning is circular with evaluation being
both a last step of one planning effort and the first step of the next effort.

This IMC model created by Professor Tom Duncan illustrates that evaluation is a circular process: IMC plans start by
gathering information and move through the various steps in the planning process to come back to the last step in the process,
which is again gathering information. This time, however, information is gathered to determine what worked and what didn’t.
That information feeds back into the process, and the organization learns from the results.
II. Evaluating the IMC Message

Once a campaign is over, how do we find out whether brand communication was effective? How do we know whether the messaging
“worked”?

 Questions about impact are critical and must be addressed. If they are not and there is no proof that a campaign worked,
companies may be tempted to make the mistake of cutting communication spending that is driving their business.
To put it another way, in the absence of proof that IMC efforts have made a brand stronger, brand managers who are under
pressure to cut spending could put a stop to the very IMC efforts that are allowing them to remain competitive.
 Also, in a scenario in which an IMC program is not having positive effects on attitudes or behaviors, brand managers need to
know that so they can improve on their campaigns moving forward.

1. Experts in Message Evaluation

 Many research companies in addition to some large agency research departments specialize in measuring the various
dimensions of effectiveness described in Table 17.1.
 The most successful of these companies have conducted so many tests that they have developed norms for
common product and service categories. To put it another way, after a campaign runs, these companies can look at a
client’s changes in key measures (e.g., increases in brand awareness or intention to purchase) and compare them to
changes achieved by other campaigns of comparable budget. Norms allow brand and agency leaders to determine
whether a particular campaign message has performed above or below the category average in terms of “moving the
needle” on items such as those listed in the table.
  online companies, such as Google, provide numerous tools for online campaign evaluation that include everything from
straightforward analytic tools that measure site traffic or key word search results to more complex tools that allow marketers
to create experiments.

o In such experiments, for example, a campaign might appear to some consumers but not to others so that its impact
on consumer attitudes may be clearly assessed. Companies such as MetrixLab use a tagging technology to know
how many times people are exposed to a campaign and then measure how heavily exposed consumers and lightly
exposed consumers differ in their intent to try a brand.

2. Message Evaluation Techniques

Most common research techniques used. Different types of measurement are required because brand managers are likely to
set different objectives for different types of campaign messages.

 Tracking Studies Communication tracking studies are conducted from the time a campaign is launched until after it has
concluded. They involve the collection of information from random samples of consumers who live in markets where
they were exposed to a campaign.
 Scanner Analysis Still another common component of posttest evaluation is scanner research. Many retail outlets,
especially drugstores, discount stores, and food stores, use electronic scanners to tally up purchases and collect consumer
buying information.

 Single-Source Data Single-source data are obtained by measuring various media/marketing exposure, purchase behavior,
and loyalty for the same individual or household. Such data may include data from loyalty card purchases, scanner data, TV
or cable set-top boxes, personal people meters, and household demographics.

 Memory Tests Memory tests are based on the assumption that brand communication leaves a mental residue with the person
who has been exposed to it; in other words, the audience has learned something. One way to measure IMC effectiveness,
then, is to contact consumers who were exposed to the campaign and find out what they remember. Memory tests fall into
two major groups that you may remember reading about previously: recognition tests and recall tests.

The interviewer then asks a series of questions, such as the following:

1. Do you remember seeing a commercial for any SUVs?
2. If No Do you remember seeing a commercial for the Jeep Wrangler? (memory prompt)
3. If Yes to Either of the Above What did the commercial say about the product? What did the commercial show? What did
the commercial look like? What ideas were brought out?

 Inquiry Tests a form of action response, measure the number of responses to an advertisement or other form of brand
communication. The response can be a call to a toll-free number, an email or website visit, a coupon return, a visit to a dealer,
an entry in a contest, or a call to a salesperson.
III. Evaluating the Performance of Various IMC Tools

1. Advertising - The most common posttesting, or campaign evaluation, technique used to evaluate advertising is the tracking
study, which was described earlier in this chapter. Whether a campaign runs for six weeks or six months, the measures taken at its
close—and for several weeks beyond—are closely scrutinized by company and agency leaders to determine whether the campaign can
be deemed a success. Communication tracking studies represent very large investments on the part of marketers; that said,
given the cost of creating advertising, thorough campaign evaluation represents money well spent.

IV. Evaluating the Performance of Media Vehicles

Brand communication has little chance to be effective if no one sees it. Analyzing the effectiveness of the media plan is yet another
important part of campaign evaluation.
 Did the plan actually achieve reach and frequency objectives?
 Did the newspaper and magazine placements run in the positions expected and produce the intended Gross Rating Points
(GRP) and cost-per-thousand levels?
 In other words, did brand managers get what they paid for?

1. Media Optimization
 When a brand manager optimizes the mix of IMC tools used, the resulting brand perception becomes
stronger. One of the biggest challenges in media planning is media efficiency—getting the most for the money
invested.

As we explained in Chapter 15, media planners operate with computer models of media optimization that are used in
making decisions about media selection, scheduling, and weights (amount of budget). Models are always theoretical,
so one important benefit of campaign evaluation is that the actual performance of a plan can be compared
with the results projected by the media planner’s model.

 The goal of media optimization is to optimize the budget—to get the most impact possible with the least
expenditure of money. When we compare actual media reach and frequency, for example, with projections, our
findings allow us to fine-tune our spending for the future to be as efficient as possible.
2. Evaluating Exposure

 For major campaigns, agencies do post-buy analyses, which involve checking the media plan against the
performance of each media vehicle. As mentioned above, a critical question is whether campaign reach and
frequency objectives were obtained.

3. Vehicle-by-Vehicle Evaluation
 To better understand the obstacles encountered in media evaluation, let’s first look at a few areas where media
performance is hard to estimate: out-of-home media, digital media, and alternative media. Then we will review some
traditional media evaluation techniques.

 Out-of-Home Media As you would expect, accurately evaluating the mobile audience for outdoor advertising is
challenging. Traffic counts can be reviewed, but the problem is that traffic does not equal exposure. Just because a car drove
by a board doesn’t mean that the driver or passengers actually saw it.

 Digital Media Web-analytic firms are developing much more sophisticated evaluation programs. They need people who
study digital analytics and are experts at telling stories about the consumer journey with both offline and online data.

 Alternative Media such as word of mouth, social media, and guerilla marketing campaigns, are even harder to evaluate, and
media planners continue to search for reliable indicators of exposure numbers and buzz from these new sources that
equate to the performance measures for traditional media.

 Newspaper Readership Measurement For newspapers and other traditional media, assessment is more straightforward.
Newspapers measure their audiences in two ways: circulation, or number of subscribers, and readership, or number of
readers. These same measurements are revisited in postcampaign evaluation.

 Magazine Readership Measurement magazine rates are based on the guaranteed circulation that a publisher promises to
provide as well as figures for their total audience, or total number of readers.

 Measuring the Broadcast Audience A station’s coverage, which is similar to circulation for print media, and station or
program ratings are revisited by marketers after a campaign to ensure that the radio medium delivered. Ratings along with
shares, households using televisions (HUT), and gross impressions are revisited so that a comparison of anticipated and
actual audience delivery can be conducted.
V. IMC Campaign Evaluation Challenges
1. Measuring ROI
Advertisers continue to improve how they measure brand communication ROI, which compares the costs of creating and
running communication versus the revenue it generates; however, because the dollar impact of communication is difficult
to measure, so is this cost-to-sales ratio. ROI is easier to calculate for direct marketing and sales promotions (because
the impact of these tools can be isolated and verified) than for the campaign overall.

2. The Synergy Problem

 Estimating the impact of synergy. Intuitively, we know that multichannel communication with messages that
reinforce and build on one another will have more impact than will single messages from single sources; however,
that can be difficult to prove. As Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers, said, “There is no
single, consistent set of metrics that transcends discipline-centric measurements.”

3. Digital Challenges
 Marketers face several challenges when capturing the success of digital marketing communication efforts.

1. Marketers often want to skip straight to digital measurement without having a clear sense of their business
objectives. At its core, digital IMC is about connecting with a target audience and getting them to do something valuable. So
marketers must remind themselves to start their digital measurement planning with the desired business outcomes in mind.

2. Marketers must develop the right digital key performance indicators, which tell us whether or not digital
communications are driving the business toward success. A measure of success can be direct, such as a product purchase,
or it can be indirect, such as viewing a product podcast (which suggests that product purchase will happen eventually). Either
way, success indicators must be succinctly defined.

3. Digital communication evaluation must be phrased in a way and in a language that broader business leaders can
understand. Due to the range of digital properties that can be measured and the range of key performance indicators that can
be captured, reporting communication performance can become quite complex quickly.

4. International Challenges
 Is difficult to evaluate because of market differences (e.g., language, laws, and cultural norms) and the
acceptability of various research tools in different countries. There also may be incompatibilities among various
measurement systems and data analysis techniques that make it difficult to compare the data from one market to
similar data from another market. An international communication program definitely should focus, at least initially,
on pretesting because unfamiliarity with different cultures, languages, and consumer behaviors can result in major
miscalculations.

VI. Back to the Big Picture: Did the Campaign Work?

The ultimate measure of campaign performance is the answer to one seemingly simple question.
 Did the campaign achieve the objectives that were set at the very beginning of the planning process? Because a planning
process can be imperfect, this question is not always so simple.

 A model of effects can be developed for a specific campaign and used to drive not only the planning of the effort, but
also the evaluation of its effectiveness.

Connecting the Dots: Tying Measurement Back to Objectives

Competent brand communication managers return to the campaign objectives—all the various desired effects that were stated up
front—and then adequately and realistically measure the campaign’s performance against those objectives. Here’s an example that
demonstrates how evaluation methods should be matched to the original campaign objectives.

Objective 1: Breaking through Awareness

Objective 2: Breaking the Inertia Trance
Objective 3: Breaking the Relevance Trance

“Evaluation doesn’t just happen at the end of a campaign or after the ad is run. It has to be planned into the campaign from the very
beginning by the team responsible.”
Topic 2: SOCIAL IMPACT, RESPONSIBILITY, AND ETHICS
I. What Is the Social Impact of Brand Communication?
o Effective brand communication is about building brand integrity and a trustworthy reputation. Brands take
on meaning when consumers see that all areas of marketing communication about the brand are consistent and
authentic.

o Communicators want the recipients of their messages to feel positive about the brand but not at the expense
of doing what is right both ethically and legally.

1. What Are the Key Debates about the Social Impact of Marketing Communication?
Marketing communication, particularly advertising, sometimes draws criticism for its social impact, so much of the
discussion that follows is focused on advertising because of its high visibility.

We review some of the debates related to advertising’s role in society from the perspectives of advertising as an institution
and as an applied practice. Our intention is to review the criticisms, but understand that we believe that advertising is a good
force in society and in our economy even though it may sometimes be used in ways that generate concern.

 Can Advertising Create Demand? Some critics charge that advertising causes demand creation, which results when an
external message drives people to feel a need or want, sometimes unnecessarily.

 Does Advertising Mirror Social Values or Shape Them? Another important debate about advertising’s role in society
questions the limits of its influence. At what point does advertising cross the line between reflecting social values and
creating them? Professionals believe they are reflecting the values of their society.
o Critics argue that advertising has repeatedly crossed this line, influencing vulnerable groups, such as children and
young teenagers, too strongly.

 Does Advertising Cause People to Be Too Materialistic? The years since the 1960s are notable for the rise of a
materialistic consumer culture in the Western world, and some argue that it is overly commercialized, too materialistic.
o Consider the Nike Zoom LeBron Soldier 10iD basketball shoe, which costs more than $180. Do we need these shoes
that can be customized? Who will buy them? Did advertising create this culture, or does it simply reflect a natural
striving for the good life?

 Should Some Audiences Be Protected from Advertising? Marketing to youth is one of the most controversial topics in
the industry. One reason advertising to children attracts so much attention is that children are seen as vulnerable. Children
do not always know what is good for them and what is not. Concerned adults want to make sure that they protect
impressionable minds from exploitative marketers. (A similar argument is made regarding older adults, who, some fear, are
vulnerable to scams and other unscrupulous techniques.) They want to help children learn to make good choices. Do you
think that is a valid argument? Are children highly impressed by advertising? How should marketing to vulnerable
audiences be regulated? Who gets to decide what’s good for these audiences?

2. What Are the Key Debates and Issues about Brand Communication Practices?
 Checklist of issues that can have a negative impact on brands if the communication does not align with the brand image or
respect the audience.

 Does Brand Communication Fairly and Accurately Portray People?

Stereotypes are a big issue, as are other problems, such as cultural relevance and honesty.

Diversity and Stereotypes Athletic blacks, feeble seniors, sexy Italians, smart Asians: you’re probably familiar with these and
other examples of stereotypes. A stereotype is a representation of a cultural group that emphasizes a trait or group of traits
that may or may not communicate an accurate representation of the group.

Cultural Differences in Global Advertising In the global economy, advertisers seek worldwide audiences for their products.
As they do so, they sometimes make mistakes overlaying their worldview on that of another culture without thinking about
the impact of the message.

Sex Appeals and Body Image Advertising that portrays women (or men) as sex objects is considered demeaning and sexist,
particularly if sex is not relevant to the product. Sometimes ads use sex appeals that are relevant, such as Victoria’s Secret
ads.
 Poor Taste and Offensive Advertising Although certain ads might be in bad taste in any circumstance, viewer reactions are
affected by such factors as sensitivity to the product category, timing (e.g., if the message is received in the middle of dinner),
and other circumstances, such as whether the person is alone or with others when viewing the message. Some television ads,
for example, might not bother adults watching alone but would make them uncomfortable if children were watching.

 Is Communication Honest and Transparent?

Even though most advertisers and public relations professionals try to create messages that communicate fairly and
accurately, communicators need to understand what is not considered acceptable so that they can avoid unethical and
even illegal behavior.
o Advertising claims are considered to be unethical if they are false, misleading, or deceptive. In the drive to find
something to say about a product that will catch attention and motivate the audience to respond, advertisers
sometimes stretch the truth.
o False advertising, which is a type of misleading advertising, is simply a message that is untrue. Misleading claims,
puffery, comparative advertising, endorsements, and product demonstrations are explained next.

Misleading Claims and Puffery Consumers have sometimes been targets of unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices in the
marketplace. Misleading claims in weight-loss advertising or burying hidden costs such as shipping fees are examples of
types of issues that arise.

Obviously exaggerated “puffing” claims are legal, so the question of puffery is mainly an ethical one. According to
the courts, consumers expect exaggerations and inflated claims in advertising, so reasonable people wouldn’t believe
that these statements (“puffs”) are literal facts.

Comparative Advertising We’re used to seeing advertisers take on their competition in an ad: Macintosh versus Microsoft,
Dunkin’ Donuts versus Starbucks, Campbell’s Soup versus Progresso. Although it is perfectly legitimate to compare a
marketer’s product favorably against a competitor, regulations govern the use of comparative advertising if it can be
challenged as misleading.

Endorsements and Demonstrations A popular advertising strategy is the use of a spokesperson who endorses a brand. That’s
a perfectly legal strategy unless the endorser doesn’t actually use the product. An endorsement or testimonial is any
advertising message that consumers believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, or experiences of an individual, group, or
institution. However, if consumers can reasonably ascertain that a message does not reflect the announcer’s opinion,
the message isn’t an endorsement and may even be misleading.

Native Advertising and Branded Content Native advertising has emerged as a form of digital communication as marketers
and publishers seek new ways to engage audiences.
Native advertising is similar to news, features, entertainment, and other items that surround it. An ethical problem arises if
the consumer can’t tell the difference between advertising and other content.

Fake News Examples of fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation—are not hard to find.

 What Are Some Product-Specific Issues Related to Social Responsibility?

Marketers need to consider carefully what they choose to produce and advertise. Some key areas of concern include
controversial products, unhealthy or dangerous products such as alcohol and tobacco, and prescription drugs. The decision to
produce the product lies with the marketing department and the company’s business objectives, but advertising is frequently
in the spotlight because of its visibility.

Controversial Products Before an agency can create an ad for a client, it must consider the nature of the client company and
its mission, marketing objectives, reputation, available resources, competition, and most importantly, product line.

Can the agency and its staff members honestly promote the products being advertised? What would you do if you were a
writer for an agency or public relations firm that has a political client you don’t support?

o Several agencies have resigned from profitable tobacco advertising accounts because of the medical evidence about
the harm cigarettes cause. In cases where the agency works on a controversial account, there are still ethical ways to
approach the business.

Unhealthy or Dangerous Products One way to make ethical decisions is to choose the route that minimizes potential harm.

o Because there has been so much negative publicity about the health effects of eating a steady diet of heavily
processed food, food companies, particularly fast-food producers such as McDonald’s and Wendy’s, have reacted to
charges of culpability in the nation’s obesity problem. McDonald’s slimmed down Ronald McDonald, added
 healthier choices to its menu, and moved away from using cholesterol-causing saturated fats when making french
fries. Disney launched efforts to serve healthier food in its theme parks as an effort to improve the diets of children.
Wendy’s reduced the amount of trans fats it uses for cooking.

Prescription Drugs In 1997, the US government loosened its controls on pharmaceutical advertising. As a result, the amount
of prescription drug advertising has skyrocketed, with the US pharmaceutical industry spending $6 billion on advertising
prescription drugs in 2016, according to Kantar Media, a media monitoring and measuring firm.
Although these print and television ads have proven very successful in terms of increased sales, various consumer
groups, government agencies, and insurance companies have been quite critical of them.

II. Communicators’ Ethical Responsibilities

 Professional Codes of Ethics
o Industry standards can provide help with a decision about ethical behavior. Many professions write a code of
ethics to help guide practitioners toward ethical behavior; organizations doing so include the American
Association of Advertising Agencies, the Public Relations Society of America, and the Word of Mouth Marketing
Association.
o Professional ethics are often expressed in a code of standards that identifies how professionals in the industry
should respond when faced with ethical questions. Codes of ethics can be helpful to guide your actions. However,
they are broad statements and are not intended to explain what you should do in every circumstance you encounter.

III. Why and How Is Brand Communication Regulated?

Although it would be ideal if individuals and companies always made socially responsible choices and everyone could agree
that those choices resulted in proper actions, sometimes that does not occur, and regulatory or legal action is needed. The
company may decide it is acceptable to advertise certain products, for example, and the government may decide otherwise.

 International Standards and Codes Standards of professional behavior are not found only in the United States and other
Western countries. Singapore, for example, has an ad code specifically designed to prevent Western-influenced advertising
from impairing Asian family values.

 Philippine Law
o Republic Act 7394 (The Consumer Act of the Philippines) was enacted primarily to protect the consumers against
false, deceptive and misleading advertisements.
o The Philippines has over 30 years of self-regulation. The earliest Advertising Code of Ethics dates back to the
Philippine Board of Advertising (PBA) established in 1974. In 1989 the PBA was renamed AdBoard (Advertising
Board of the Philippines) and was mandated by IRR of RA 7394 or Consumer Protection Act to ensure that all
advertising materials conform to its Code of Ethics. The AdBoard Advertising Content & Regulations Committee
(ACRC) had been the main implementing arm of advertising self-regulation in the Philippines until March 2008
when the Ad Standards Council (ASC) took over this function.