Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

Dear albion.malaj,

What should you consider when measuring if advertising has
helped built a brand image?

One word: sales.

As a direct result of the advertising and the message portrayed
by the brand, did sales increase? Or did they remain the same as
a previous period? Or did they go down? And if yes or no, what part of the advertising helped or hindered those sales and how was that information collected and measured?

There's more to it than this but for the time being, I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
Wilmington, DE, USA

You have managed to pick a particularly challenging brand for your research. Coca Cola is one of the world's best known brands, and that's probably a function of many things -- including very broad distribution, advertising, distinctive packaging, etc.

To single out just one marketing mix element -- advertising -- on a brand with almost universal recognition is going to be an almost impossible research challenge.

If the brand were a less-well-known brand, you could measure awareness and attitudes in areas where the brand is advertised and where it is not advertised, to see if you can find a significant difference. Or you can look at awareness in markets where advertising has been beefed up for a short time -- an "advertising vitality" test.

But with Coca Cola, the kind of research you want to do would almost certainly have to be conducted and controlled by the company, because only they know how the marketing mix has been implemented on an area-by-area basis.

Another possibility: Narrow the focus of your research to just one city or just a short period of time, so that you are not overwhelmed by the broad cultural acceptance of the brand as a purchase influence.