Download The Advertising Message

The Advertising
Message
Asia-Pacific Marketing Federation
Certified Professional Marketer
Copyright by
Marketing Institute of Singapore
Organization
1. Message Determinants
2. Advertising Strategies
3. Comparative Advertising
4. Resisting Competitors’ Persuasion
The Brief
Factors in message development

In developing a message, consider the 3 C’s:
(a) Customer -- Target audience
(b) Company -- Product
(c) Competitive Positioning
Customer -- Target Audience
Know their:
Demographic Characteristics (e.g., age, sex)
 audience physical profile
 Psychographic Characteristics (e.g.,
activities, interests, opinions)
 how they live and reasons for their
behavior
 Decision Process
 opportunities available to influence
product choice

Nike in Asia (1/2)
Found that Asian kids are less sporty than
American kids
 Instead, Asian kids preferred studying &
shopping

Nike in Asia (2/2)
“I Dream” ad campaign
 Features shots of young Asians playing
sports intercut with images of some of
world’s top athletes
 Images linked with emotional calls to action

– “I dream of excellence”
– “I dream of freedom”
– “I dream of not being a doctor”
Company -- Product
(a) Distinctiveness of Attributes
 If not distinctive  audience not interested
in product info  message should not stress
on attributes
(b) Product Involvement
 If high involvement, product info critical 
stress on product attributes.
Advertiser must know:
(a) what the impt attributes are
(b) what the product can and cannot do
(c) how to tie in with benefits

If low involvement, product info not critical 
stress on mood & have repeated exposures
Mood in ad  Generate interest in ad itself 
liking of ad transferred to liking of brand thro’
repeated exposure
Competition

If intense competition, greater need for
distinctive image

Distinctive image  Share of consumer’s
mind  When choice arises, advertised
brand is evoked
Product Positioning

The art and science of fitting the product or
service to one or more segments of the broad
market in such a way as to set it
meaningfully apart from competition
Positioning Strategies
1. Attribute
– Set apart by attribute or benefit offered
2. Image
– Similarity among brands
3.Use or application
– Dominate some aspect of usage
4.Product user
– e.g., Johnson & Johnson shampoo repositioned
toward adults
5.Product Class
– Against another product class rather than
another brand
– e.g., Epismile vs Colgate
6.Competitor
Advertising Strategies
1. Informative
Audience receives factual product info
 No arguments; no evaluation
 Suitable when:

(a) audience actively seeks info
(b) easy to assess the facts
(c) judgment is favorable to advertiser
(d) no significant competition
2. Argumentative
 Presents facts and evaluation
 Suitable
when:
(a) there is a differentiated product benefit
(b) benefits of features not obvious
(c) high-involvement decisions
3. Psychological Appeal
 Enhances
 Primary
product appeal thro’ emotions
emphasis: Emotions
 Secondary
Emphasis: Product
Attributes/Benefits
Humor Appeal
Positive mood  draws attention  product is
used
But, . . . . . .
(a) Not sufficient to merely attract attention
(b) Repetition reduces ability to hold attention
(c) Humour is subjective
Humor in Asia
Asians laugh at their stereotypes
 English not first language
 Wrong words used

– Used car ad
 “Special Offer. ‘94 Honda Big Blue Convertible.
Asking price: $78K. Owner living.”
Fear Appeal

Negative consequences of not using product 
product is used

Threat, with implications of danger

Curvilinear relationship between fear and
persuasion (see next figure)
Relationship between fear levels and message acceptance
Facilitating effects
Acceptance
of message
recommendation
Level of fear
Inhibiting effects
High
Resultant nonmonotonic
curve
Conditions for effective fear appeals:
(a) Appeals are quite strong
(b) Audience believes negative consequences
are likely to occur
(c) Audience believes using product will avoid
the negative consequences (coping behavior to
remove threat)
Sexual Appeal
Gains attention  brand name recall?
(a) Nature of product
– If product is not related to sex, brand name
recall higher when illustration is non-sexual than
sexual
(b) Attitude toward sexual illustrations
– Audience with fav. attitude recall brand name
more than those with unfavorable attitude
(c) Gender of audience
– Men have more difficulty in recalling brand
names
Sexual Advertising in Asia
 Conservative
society
 Sexual ads not well received
 Ad rules vary by country
 Difficulty in using campaign throughout
region
China
 No
well-defined guidelines
 No superstition, no elements contrary to
traditional Chinese custom or liable to
affect stability of society
Hong Kong
 Regular
updates to Code of Practices to
keep up with changing values
 Liberal,
creativity not restricted
Indonesia
Advertising codes prohibits use of obscenity
and kissing scenes in locally produced ads
 Ad can be sexual as long as it does not show
sexual scenes

Philippines
 Catholic
country
 Sexual imagery extensively used
 Govt believes in self regulation
Thailand
 Strict
censorship rules
 Kissing & romantic display of affection
not allowed in ads
4. Repeat Assertion
 Hard-sell approach
 Same simple message repeated several times in
words, graphics, or sound

Assumes:
(a) audience have no intrinsic interest in message
(b) positive relationship between repetition and
message acceptance
5. Command
 Orders audience to do something
 Suitable when directed behavior is intuitively appealing
and acceptable
6. Symbolic Association
 Product is linked to a person, music, a word, an
illustration, etc.
 Trigger ideas thro’ symbols
 Link between product and symbol must exist
7. Imitation Approach
 Audience imitate people in the ad
 Suitable when there is social influence
 Indirectly informs audience what appropriate
behavior is
Comparative Advertising
 Two
or more brands of the same product class
are compared
 Direct
or indirect comparisons
 Compare
on a specific attribute quality or
overall quality
Effects of
Comparative Advertising
 Increases awareness of competitors
 Increases misidentification
 Less credible
 Decreases message acceptance
 Encourages information processing
 Increases similarity between brands
 Increases purchase intention for low-share
brands
Effectiveness of
Various Appeals in Asia
Reasoned
argument
Psych
appeals
Taiwan
Korea
Japan
Hong Kong
India
Drama-Lecture
Symbolic
association
Informativeness
Visual
Sound
Message Structure

Order of Presentation
– Placement of information
– Primacy Effect: Info learnt first will be
remembered better
– Recency Effect: Info learnt last will be
remembered better
– Thus, place strong points at beginning and
end of ad

Conclusion Drawing
– Should message explicitly draw a firm
conclusion or let audience draw their own
conclusion?
– Explicit conclusion -- more easily
understood; enhances attitude
– Effectiveness depends on:
 Education of target audience
 Complexity of issue/topic
 Immediate action or L/T effect?
 Benefits
of non-conclusion drawing
– Reinforces message
– More memorable
Resisting Competitors’
Persuasion
Two-sided ads
 Good and bad points are presented
 Highlight impt attributes strong in and not-so-impt
attributes weak in
 More credible & informative
Most effective when:
(a) Audience is intelligent
(b) Initial opinion on the issue is negative