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Which Are The Qualitative Benefits Of Advertising?
Posted By: psterg* on 11/3/2004 4:21 AM (CST) 250 Points
Why do companies advertise? Do they advertise only because of the financial returns - gains?
Are there qualitative aspects & benefits that derive from advertising and affect companies decisions?
Is it correct to measure advertising effectiveness based only on short or mid-term effects on sales or market share?
Do companies base their decisions of choosing an advertising strategy - mix based on RoI in terms of expected short - midterm financial benefits - profits or based on the expected mix of non-financial gains (which can actually translate in profit but in the mid - long-term) with short term financial returns - profits.
In case that we do believe that there are qualitative aspects - benefits, is it possible to determine which they are and measure them by relating them to measurable observations (i.e. from market research)?

Posted by: psterg* Author Response
11/3/2004 4:23 AM (CST)
Looking forward for your comments and answers!
 
Posted by: jackson Accepted Answer
11/3/2004 7:42 AM (CST)
In my experience companies advertise because it has been the traditional thing to do. Certainly it has delivered the most compelling results, but maybe it's because that has been the primary medium of communication of advertising agencies. I truly believe that companies would be well served by looking at all of the media communications available to them and then make the decisions that will give the best ROI for the long and short term. Question everything! Is the media able to reach your specific target audience and get a transfer of trust that moves them to become your customers? Over the years I have used "Balloonagrams" through traditional advertising and everything in between to reach consumers of client's products. In conclusion you must look at the long term growth but at the same time get traffic to the store this week, so it is a balance of effective communications across a variety of media that will enable you to do just that. The big key is Integrated Marketing Communications and a consistent message delivered across all media. Hope this helps, Jack
 
Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
11/3/2004 9:54 PM (CST)
There are several possible objectives for advertising, and different companies have different reasons for advertising the way they do.

When you have an awareness problem, advertising is a way to increase awareness. When you have an alternate use that people may not know about, advertising is a way to tell them about it. When you have a product improvement, advertising is a way to get trier-rejectors to think again about their decision.

And, of course, advertising is a classic way to create, explain, and reinforce a brand's positioning.

The objectives are all different, and the metrics you'll use need to recognize your particular objectives. Some companies see advertising as a long-term investment. They expect advertising to sustain a brand over a long period of time. They'll want to track consumer attitudes, brand image, and (perhaps) unaided awareness.

Other companies want to create quick awareness of a new brand or a product change. They'll want to track advertising awareness and brand awareness (aided and unaided).

Still other companies haven't even thought about their objectives. They just like to see their name all over the place. They don't need to spend any money measuring effectiveness. They're advertising to the board room anyway, not the consuming public.

Net, like so many other things, it depends. There's no one-answer fits all.
 
Posted by: psterg* Author Response
11/4/2004 3:39 PM (CST)
O.K so far you have reached certain aspects of the question, but still the answers are not specific enough.
I could summarize them and say that brand positioning, awareness, informing ability, image enhancement and audience reach are the qualitative factors and benefits that the decision maker takes into account in addition to expected profit - sales, when he is about to choose between alternate advertising strategies and mediums.
So I am asking is it possible, for a start, to build a list of those distinctive qualitative benefits and factors that affect our advertising decisions when we have to evaluate and choose between different advertising mixes - strategies?
Is there any bilbiography answering specifically this fundamental (in my opinion) question?
Thanks everybody for participating in this discussion.
 
Posted by: mgoodman Member Response
11/4/2004 6:32 PM (CST)
For the record, I would not categorize awareness as a qualtiative factor. It's clearly measurable and trackable, and it's an objective that is often the controlling one.

The progression is awareness, understanding (of the positioning benefit), preference, intent to purchase, purchase and repurchase. Each of those steps can be directly measured, and each is a legitimate objective of advertising. (Purchase and repurchase, of course, have a number of prerequisite factors, not just advertising.)

I'm not sure where you're going with the line of thinking. Different companies have different objectives for advertising. Usually it's to generate incremental sales, but not always. And sometime it's longer-term and sometime it's short-term. When you ask why companies advertise, it sounds like you're looking for a single, specific answer.

What sparked the question? If we understand that, perhaps we can be more helpful.
 
Posted by: kams_20042000* Accepted Answer
11/7/2004 6:22 AM (CST)
Magazines and newspapers have been advertising media for more than two centuries; for many years, they were the only major media available to advertisers. With the growth of the broadcast media, particularly television, reading habits declined. More consumers turned to TV viewing not only as their primary source of entertainment but also for news and information. But despite the competition from the broadcast media, newspapers and magazines have remained important media vehicles to both consumers and advertisers.
Thousands of magazines are published in the United States and throughout the world. They appeal to nearly every specific consumer interest and lifestyle, as well as to thousands of businesses and occupations. By becoming a highly specialized medium that reaches specific target audiences, the magazine industry has prospered. Newspapers are still the primary advertising medium in terms of both ad revenue and number of advertisers. Newspapers are particularly important as a local advertising medium for hundreds of thousands of retail businesses and are often used by large national advertisers as well.
Magazines and newspapers are an important part of our lives. For many consumers, newspapers are their primary source of product information. They would not think of going shopping without checking to see who is having a sale or clipping coupons from the weekly food section or Sunday inserts. Many people read a number of different magazines each week or month to become better informed or simply entertained. Individuals employed in various occupations rely on business magazines to keep them current about trends and developments in their industries as well as in business in general.
While most of us are very involved with the print media, it is important to keep in mind that few newspapers or magazines could survive without the support of advertising revenue. Consumer magazines generate an average of 47 percent of their revenues from advertising; business publications receive nearly 73 percent. Newspapers generate 70 percent of their total revenue from advertising. In many cities, the number of daily newspapers has declined because they could not attract enough advertising revenue to support their operations. The print media must be able to attract large numbers of readers or a very specialized audience to be of interest to advertisers.
The role of magazines and newspapers in the advertiser's media plan differs from that of the broadcast media because they allow the presentation of detailed information that can be processed at the reader's own pace. The print media are not intrusive like radio and TV, and
they generally require some effort on the part of the reader for the advertising message to have an impact. For this reason, newspapers and magazines are often referred to as high-involvement media.l Over 80 percent of U.S. households subscribe to or purchase magazines, while the average household buys six different magazines each year.2
Newspapers are received in nearly two-thirds of American households daily. Most magazines, however, reach a very selective audience. Like radio, they can be valuable in reaching specific types of consumers and market segments. While both magazines and newspapers are print media, the advantages and disadvantages of the two are quite different, as are the types of advertising each attracts. This chapter focuses on these two major forms of print media. It examines the specific advantages and limitations of each, along with factors that are important in determining when and how to use newspapers and magazines in the media plan.

entertainment needs of a wide
range of readers in both the consumer and business markets. Magazines are the most specialized of all advertising media. While some magazines-such as Reader's Digest, Time, and TV Guide-are general mass-appeal publications, most are targeted to a very specific audience. There is a magazine designed to appeal to nearly every type of consumer in terms of demographics, lifestyle, activities, interests, or fascination. Numerous magazines are targeted toward specific businesses and industries as well as toward individuals engaged in various professions (Exhibit 12-1).
Over the past several decades, magazines have grown rapidly to serve
The wide variety makes magazines an appealing medium to a vast number of advertisers. Although TV accounts for the largest dollar amount of advertising expenditures among national advertisers, more companies advertise in magazines than in any other medium. Users of magazines range from large consumer products companies such as Procter & Gamble and General Motors, which spend over $400 million a year on magazine advertising, to a small company advertising scuba equipment in Skin Diver magazine.
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Accepted Answer
11/19/2004 8:52 PM (CST)
Companies advertise to get new customers, keep existing ones, and to confirm to recent customers they did the right thing.

They advertise to tell shareholders they are doing something active to keep the company growing.

They advertise to tell government they are there.

And sometimes they advertise to win awards.

But most of all, they advertise because they've grown to expect they need to.

Hope this helps.

Chrisb
 
Posted by: Val (Moderator)* Moderator Response
11/20/2004 4:16 PM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question, since its more than 10 days old. We do this to make sure members' contributions are rewarded in a timely manner and to improve the visibility of newer questions.

Thanks, so much, for participating!
Val (Moderator)
 


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