ADVERTISING:Developing advertising, Major responsibilities

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Brand Management (MKT624)

Lesson 33

ADVERTISING

Introduction

We have briefly talked about the tools of communication as advertising, promotions and a few

others. The discussion took place in the context of the fundamental understanding of how and

why they should be considered while they constitute parts of strategic communication

campaigns. This lecture is going to look into the very mechanics of the vital tool advertising.

Advertising

It is the most visible and dynamic form of communication. It is captivating because it

emotionalizes facts. A good advertisement turns facts into positive feelings that appeal to our

emotions, and actuate us to take an action into buying something. A good advertisement

therefore is more about sales than emotions; stirring emotions is a means toward the end that is

sales.

What we need to comprehend in relation to advertising is the following fundamentals:

1. Developing advertising

2. Executing advertising

Developing advertising is very strategic and has to stem from the brand picture and brand

positioning. We develop a picture for the present and positioning for the future. This shows

us the gap. The gap between picture and the intended position is a reflection of sales

volumes that we want to achieve with our positioning, whatever the case may be. The first

aspect that we deal with the development process is the copy of advertising

Copy is an essential part of advertising. It is an expression which refers to all the

information that we communicate through the advertisements to our customers. In case

it is a TV commercial, we call that the "story board" - SB. The "SB" also draws its

essence from the copy of advertising.

Since information on the copy cannot be limitless, we have to be very precise,

imaginative, and creative in developing that. It must reflect brand contract and brand

positioning and yet be very easy in content and catchy in visual.

Copy Strategy is the next level of the concept to be understood. It is essentially an

extension and elaboration of the brand's marketing strategy and objectives into the

advertising or copy area.

Copy strategy is a long term document which states the net impression that we want

consumers to have of the brand. Net impression consists of the basic selling idea or end

result which the brand is promising to the consumer and which constitutes the principal

reason for the consumers to purchase it in preference to competition. Following are the

examples:

· For a brand of soap, it could be extra mildness.

· For another soap, it could be superior cleansing cream and, hence, softer

skin.

· For a detergent, it could be cleaner wash.

Extra mildness, superior cleansing cream, and cleaner wash are the net impressions that

we want to communicate. Copy strategy therefore is a statement of the principal

characteristics of the product and talks of the reason why the promise is deliverable.

The following expresses that:

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Brand Management (MKT624)

For a tooth paste, it could be the fluoride ingredient, or clove oil.

For a detergent, it could be high quality chlorine with unique cleansing,

bleaching, and disinfecting properties etc.

It also is a statement of the character and personality - persona we are striving to build

for the brand, which will be addressed in the mood atmosphere or "tone of voice" of

advertising. You may consider the following:

· A soap meant for workers can be characterized as clean, wholesome, honest,

and caring owing to its medicated properties.

· For a tea brand we can create mood atmosphere of leadership, vigor, and

vitality. "Tapal" tea's recent TV commercial with a man riding a horse,

getting energized, and then acknowledged by a movie world celebrity is a

case in point.

Given the importance of the copy strategy and development of the strategy statement,

we must determine whose responsibility is it?

Whose responsibility? The effectiveness of the copy is the responsibility of the

advertising agency, but ensuring that copy is effective is the responsibility of the brand

manager.

Major responsibilities in the area of copy are:

1. Define the basic marketing problem on the brand and develop the basic copy

strategy with support and contribution from the agency.

2. Gain management approval for the copy strategy, which is an extension of

the overall marketing strategy.

3. Ensure that agency is working on longer range experimental copies in view

of the evolution that you envisage. Changes to keep the brand current come

into play for keeping the record well documented and structured.

4. Develop an understanding of the basic principles of good copy, so as to

assess and evaluate copy submissions effectively. The principles dictate that

a good copy should be

i. Having attention-getting value

ii. Relevant

iii. Simple

iv. Visualizes the story

Integrates audio-visual elements to make sure that the copy has the

competitive bite, meaning it is effective and cannot be ignored.

5. Evaluate the total effectiveness of the commercial and the basic selling idea

involved without getting stuck with minor details.

6. Don't ignore the story board. It is very significant.

7. Analyze copy related research and keep track of the competitors' advertising

moves and changes.

Factors considered in development of copy

1. The product, its appearance, form and basic performance characteristics.

2. Competitive situation, the nature of other brands in the field and what they are offering

to consumers.

3. Blind tests, usage and attitude studies, other information relating consumer's reaction to

the product, and the marketing climate in which the product is to be sold.

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Brand Management (MKT624)

4. Marketing experience of brand and of other brands in the field.

What purpose does a copy serve?

1. It provides a degree of continuity in a brand's advertising that, over time, will help that

brand come to stand for something specific in the mind of the consumer.

2. It can help a brand achieve distinctiveness and stature in a competitive market.

3. It provides guidance and direction to agency's creative people. It prescribes the limits

within which an agency exercises its creative imagination.

4. It takes care, on the one hand, to be sufficiently concrete and specific about a brand's

copy objectives, and, on the other, adequately flexible to provide latitude for fresh and

varied presentations of the brand's story evolving needs and response to those for

keeping the brand current.

5. It provides a common benchmark on which all concerned in the company and the

agency can evaluate the merits of advertising submissions new campaigns or

individual ads in existing campaigns.

6. A clear copy strategy can save a great deal of creative time and energy, because it

identifies those basic copy decisions, which we do not intend to review and rethink each

time we look at a new piece of advertising.

Summary

Advertising is the most vital tool of communications. It has two fundamental constituents,

developing advertising and executing it. Toward development, we must understand the role of

copy and copy strategy. Copy strategy forms the essence of the campaign.

For brand managers, it is the most important area in the formative years of their careers, for

copy development is one of those functions they will be required to execute efficiently. The

essence of brand's characteristics in all their forms have to be accurately understood and

communicated to the advertising agency, whose responsibility it is to make the strategy

effective. Since brand managers have to formulate the copy strategy, they must ensure that it is

made effective by the agency in terms of execution.

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