Account Planning and Research

Prof.Deepika

Research and Account Planning

Information comes from two major sources:
Experience Formal Research Marketing research: surveys, interviews, focus groups, primary and secondary data Market research: Gathering information about a particular market

Research information is combined with and altered by the experience of advertising professionals
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Components of Advertising Research

Strategic Research and Evaluative Research

Strategic research
Information gathering process that enhances the design at a creative strategy level Covers the issues that lead to the creation of advertising

Evaluative research
Assesses the effectiveness of your decisions

Strategic Research
Begins with secondary research
Exploration of all available published information May lead to primary research, customized research conducted for the first time

End users of secondary and primary research

Writers, art directors, and producers Media planners and buyers

Sources of Secondary Research

Government organizations
Census

Trade associations
American Association of Advertising Agencies Radio Advertising Bureau

Secondary Research Sources

FIND/SVP, Off-the-Shelf Publications, Dialog Information Services, LexisNexis, Dow Jones News/Retrieval

Secondary information on the Internet

Company web sites
Chapter 5: Account Planning and Research 6

Primary Research
Primary research suppliers
Firms that specialize in interviewing, observing, recording, and analyzing the behavior of those who purchase or influence the purchase of a good or service Well-known primary research suppliers A.C. Nielsen Simmons Market Research Bureau (SMRB) Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI)

Chapter 5: Account Planning and Research

Question
Are the following databases developed from primary or secondary resources?
National television ratings Consumer brands ad awareness scores Household penetration levels for VCRs

Strategic Research Organization

1950s: major ad agencies had large research departments 1960s and 1970s: English ad agencies developed the account planning process
Use research to gain information about the brand in its marketplace, consumer perspectives, or both Use the research to contribute to ad development

The account planning concept has spread worldwide

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Strategic Research Organization

Information comes from many sources, including:
Qualitative data: understand how consumers behave and why Quantitative data: numerical data

Interpreting information a task for the account planner

Develops and implements ad strategy Understands the target audience and can organize huge amounts of information

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The Strategy Document

Marketing objectives The product The target audience The brand personality

Also known as a creative brief Document has 5 major parts

The promise

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Strategy Document
Marketing objectives
Reviews the competition Establishes a goal for the campaign Includes Past and present sales figures Market shares of brand and competitors Competitor advertising and promotional resources, tactics, practices Other relevant information

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Strategy Document
Brand personality
Brands have personalities Ads for brands with winning personalities seek to perpetuate that personality Ads for brands with less desirable personalities work to remedy the problem Personalities can be elicited by: Asking consumers what the brand would be like if it were an animal or person
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Strategy Document
The promise
Ads promise a reward for buying or using the advertised product or service Promise section tells writers and art directors which reward ads should promise Support section lists facts about the brands attributes that will make the promise most acceptable to users
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Evaluative Research
Tests whether the advertising has worked Used to make final go/no-go decisions Problem: there is no sure-effectiveness test
Many truths in numbers Advertising is only a part of the overall campaign Advertising has many purposes Evaluative methods change all the time

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Evaluative Research Before Execution

Message evaluation research
Aids in the development of ads Identifies most promising alternatives May be relatively informal or formal

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Evaluative Research Before Execution

Methods of contact
In person, by telephone, by mail, via the Internet

Survey research
Structured interviews to ask large numbers of people the same questions

Observation research
Placing researchers in natural settings to record the behavior of consumers
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Evaluative Research Before Execution

Cognitive psychology and the use of metaphor
Wants and needs may be so embedded that language is insufficient as a communications tool People may think in images, not words

Communication assessment
One-on-one interviews Shoppers evaluate ads in a comfortable setting

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Evaluative Research Before Execution

Content analysis of competing ads
Systematic audits of competitors advertisements

Readability tests
Short words and sentences make for easier reading Text is analyzed using Flesch formula
Easy sentences average 14 words with 139 syllables per 100 words

Test Marketing
Representative community used to test ads

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Evaluative Research Before Execution

Physiological measures
Eye movement tracking Pupillometer Psychogalvanometer-A device for determining changes in the electrical resistance of the skin in response to emotional stimuli Tachistoscope-images or visuals are shown on the screen

There are concerns about the validity of these measures

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Evaluative Research During Execution

Coincidental surveys
Used with broadcast media

Attitude tests
Survey individuals exposed to the ad

Tracking studies
Wave analysis Consumer diaries Pantry checks Single-source tracking

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Evaluative Research After Execution

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Implications of Evaluative Research

Evaluative Measures of Advertising Effectiveness Evaluative Strengths Weaknesses Measure
Memory: Recall Memory: Recognition Persuasion tests Norms provide high reliability Speed, low cost, reliability Speed, low cost, moderate reliability Low validity as indicator of sales Low validity as indicator of sales Problems related to audience composition, environment, brand familiarity, and cost

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Implications of Evaluative Research

Evaluative Measures of Advertising Effectiveness Evaluative Strengths Weaknesses Measure
Direct Few reliability or validity response tests problems
Frame-byframe tests In-market tests Brand tracking High validity Relevant results Relevant results, brand is a better representation of product than advertising

High cost
Low reliability, high cost Low validity High cost, complex process diminishes the importance of ad
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Research Challenges
Globalization New Media Technology Virtual Research Embedded Research

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Questions
A new radio station is moving into your community. Management is not sure how to position the station in this market and has asked you to develop a study to help them make this decision. What key research questions must be asked? Outline a research program to answer these questions using the methods from these lectures.
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