Download Learning Objectives – Chapter 8

Learning Objectives – Chapter 8
1 Describe the basic components of an advertising plan.
An advertising plan is motivated by the marketing planning process and provides
the direction that ensures proper implementation of an advertising campaign. An
advertising plan incorporates decisions about the segments to be targeted,
communications and/or sales objectives with respect to these segments, and
salient message appeals. The plan should also specify the dollars budgeted for
the campaign, the various communication tools that will be employed to deliver
the messages, and the measures that will be relied on to assess the campaign's
effectiveness.
2 Compare and contrast two fundamental approaches for setting
advertising objectives.
Setting appropriate objectives is a crucial step in developing any advertising plan.
These objectives are typically stated in terms of communications or sales goals.
Both types of goals have their proponents, and the appropriate types of
objectives to emphasize will vary with the situation. Communications objectives
feature goals such as building brand awareness or reinforcing consumers' beliefs
about a brand's key benefits. Sales objectives are just that: They hold advertising
directly responsible for increasing sales of a brand.
3 Explain various methods for setting advertising budgets.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of any advertising campaign is arriving at a
proper budget allocation. Companies and their advertising agencies work with
several different methods to arrive at an advertising budget. A percentage-ofsales approach is a simple but naive way to deal with this issue. In the share-ofvoice approach, the activities of key competitors are factored into the budgetsetting process. A variety of quantitative models may also be used for budget
determination. The objective-and-task approach is difficult to implement, but with
practice it is likely to yield the best value for a firm's advertising dollars.
4 Discuss the role of the advertising agency in formulating an advertising
plan.
An advertising plan will be a powerful tool when firms partner with their
advertising agencies in its development. The firm can lead this process by doing
its homework with respect to marketing strategy development and objective
setting. The agency can then play a key role in managing the preparation and
placement phases of campaign execution.