Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

You probably won't be surprised to learn that most companies are not eager to tell you which of their advertising campaigns are successful and which aren't. And they certainly aren't going to make the unsuccessful ones the subject of a public discussion or forum.

At Procter & Gamble, we had a small group that did copy research by looking at all the commercials produced by the company over several years, and identifying the "winners" and "losers" (and the majority that were in the middle). They then analyzed the commercials on a number of criteria and came up with the "10 commandments" of advertising -- those factors most frequently associated with success/failure.

Of course, that list is highly proprietary, but there are probably no surprises on the list if you think about what advertising is supposed to do ... create understanding of a brand's positioning benefits, register the brand name, invite trial/repeat purchase by the target audience, etc.

If you really need/want some help in this area, my suggestion is that you "post a project" on the "Hire an Expert" board (click on "post a project" in the right column of this page), or contact one of us directly by clicking on the user name after "posted by" at the top of the posting. There are several here on this forum who can address your question with real-world expertise. You may only need a day or two of consulting to get at the answer. (And you may want to let us know what industry you're in, as there are shades of difference in advertising between industries ... B2B, consumer, products/services, etc.)

Now I'm confused. You wrote:

What are the arguments in favour of advertising and can it succesfully be defended against ita critics?
I have the theory to back this up ...

The argument in favor of advertising is that it works. It has been proven time and again to work. It delivers information to people, they act on that information, and change their opinions, buy products, vote for candidates, etc.

Who are these critics? What are they criticizing? Why? What theory do you have to back up what?

We would be glad to help, but it's not really clear what you are asking or what it is you're going to do with the responses. It looks like we're answering a different question than what you're trying to ask. Help us help you.