ADVERTISING AND SALES PROMOTION

OBJECTIVES:

Powerful advertising is the result of powerful planning. Great ideas and great advertising
campaigns do not pop up from nowhere; they are built on key communication points that
motivate sales. The initial module focuses on understanding exactly who the target
audience is, what the business can mean to them, and what messages they will respond to
most strongly. A few decisions upfront will make life easier and advertising more
effective. But making wise decision before putting the hard earned money in to the media
will make your investments stretch farther. As the course progresses, you will learn to
decipher the mysterious jargons in the field of advertising. A fully integrated marketing
communications program requires the inclusion of other marketing tactics like sales
promotion and publicity.

More specifically, this course will:

• emphasize on the overall process of managing an ad campaign

• analyze the various kinds of appeals that can be used in creating ads
• review the various media that are available, including both conventional methods such
as television, newspaper and radio as well as more recent avenues such as internet and
mobile messaging

This course will be challenging, fun, and interesting, but it is not designed to be easy.
Limited budgets and limited customer awareness must be overcome to successfully build
a brand through Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). Connecting the course
effectively to your other learning and to a marketing management mindset requires a high
level of participation and performance.

PREREQUISITES

Principles of Management, Marketing Management

READING MATERIALS

Text: Clow, Baack, INTEGRATED ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, AND

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS, (PHI, 3e, 2007)

Note: Having simply “taken” basic marketing (course prerequisite), is not enough – the
operating assumption is that students taking this course actually know the marketing
basics.

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METHOD OF EVALUATION

• See “Summary of Evaluation” later in this section for due dates and marking weights.
The due dates are also shown in section Class Schedule.

1. Class Participation (CP)

CP is the classroom equivalent to professionals' participation in meetings. It is an

important part of success in this course and is a specific assignment, not an option,
marked at the usual range of 0% to 100%. Effective participation means (a) active, (b)
substantive, and (c) continuous (d) contribution. In other words, occasional non-
substantive comments or questions will not meet the requirements of this assignment.
Performance is assessed by the instructor based on each participant's contribution, which
may take the form, among others, of raising or answering questions, offering comments,
enriching the class with relevant items of interest from the media or personal experiences,
taking part in brief in-class and/or take-home quizzes, cases, or other exercises, and
overall effort throughout the term. To participate, one has to be in class; so, while there is
no specific requirement for attendance, it also affects the CP evaluation.

2. Mid-term and Final exam

Both the mid-term and final exam will help consolidate the knowledge that you have
acquired during the course of your study. Its format will include multiple-choice
questions, true or false questions, short essay questions and case study. Mid-term exam
will take about 90 - 120 minutes and it will cover the material learned before the mid-
term. The final exam will take 3 hours and it will cover all materials learnt in the whole
trimester.

3. Advertising Work Sheets (Team assignment)

WORKSHEET #1: BENEFIT LIST

List 10 benefits of your product/service. Then, put an asterisk for 2 or 3 most important
benefits. Verify your most important benefits by talking to a few people outside the team.
Mark it with exclamation marks.

WORKSHEET #2: THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF YOUR TARGET

Fill in characteristics that are important to your target customer’s relationship with your
product. If a characteristic is completely unimportant, leave it blank. But if it is of
marginal or potential importance, fill it in. Remember, you are describing your ultimate
individual customer here and not merely trying to describe a general mass of customers.

Sex (male/female)
Age range (child, teen, young adult, middle age, senior)
Cultural or Ethnic group
Marital status
Household size

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Occupation type (white-collar, blue-collar, sales, service, student, business owner,
retired)
House owner or renter
Income range
Other important characteristics

WORKSHEET #3: THE PSYCHOGRAPHICS OF YOUR TARGET

Fill in characteristics that are important to your target customer’s relationship with your
product. If a characteristic is completely unimportant, leave it blank. But if it is of
marginal or potential importance, fill it in. Remember, you are describing your ultimate
individual customer here and not merely trying to describe a general mass of customers.
(List as many as they apply)

• Most important values (e.g., home & family, career, spirituality, adventure,
honesty, social change, status, personal wellness etc.)
• Personality type (e.g., introvert, extrovert, doer, thinker, nerd, positive outlook,
negative outlook, detail person, etc.)
• Hobbies and Interests (e.g., computers, travel, animals, stamp collecting, classic
cars, etc.)
• Greatest concerns (e.g., crime, growth of government, popularity, security in old
age, health, etc.)
• Religious affiliation
• Political orientation
• Spending habits
• Amount of free time
• Volunteer work
• Other important characteristics

WORKSHEET #4: YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER’S MEDIA USAGE

• TV (Yes/No)_______________________ Time/day________________________
• Radio (Yes/No)_____________________ Time/day________________________
• List all radio stations or types of stations you think your target listens to
• Newspapers (Yes/No)
• List newspapers you think your target reads (daily, weekly, local, regional,
national)
• Magazines (Yes/No)
• List magazines you think your target reads (local, regional, national)
• Miscellaneous media (list)

Of all these media, which do you think are best for reaching your target? List as many as
applicable and star those that are outstanding.

WORKSHEET #5: YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER’S PURCHASING HABITS

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 • Is your Target Group (TG) already buying your product or service?
• Is he/she buying from your company, from a competitor or both?
• How often does your TG make a purchase?
• Is this as often it can be?
• How large a purchase is your TG making from you each day/week/month/year?
• What is the potential (amount) of your TG’s daily/weekly/monthly/yearly
purchase?

WORKSHEET #6: THE BENEFITS YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER SEEKS

Write down the benefits your target customer would like to receive from your business or
product. (10 benefits)

WORKSHEET #7: DEFINING YOUR BEST TARGET

Define in words or pictures, your best target

WORKSHEET #8: YOUR NO.1 COMPETITOR

Fill in the following information about your biggest or most important competitor.

• What is your competitive category (e.g., computer repair business, florists,

insurance sales, handicrafts, accountants, machine tool manufacturers)
• Who is your chief competitor?
• What is their product or service?
• What are its strengths and weaknesses compared to other’s product or services?
• Are they serving a market identical to yours’, or slightly different?
• If different, how does their target audience differ from yours’?
• How does their key benefit differ from your brand?
• How is their product/service priced compared to yours’?
• How is it priced compared to others’?
• Where and how does your competitor sell it?
• What are their sales levels?
• What profit margin do they operate with?
• Do they have any particular vulnerability in the market?
• Do they have any overwhelming strength(s) or advantage(s) in the market?
• Do you need to tap business from your competitor, or will your new business
come from elsewhere, e.g., market development, an out-of-business competitor?
• Is your competitor advertising?
• How much?
• Where?
• What benefit are they communicating and to whom?

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WORKSHEET #9: OVERALL COMPETITION

Classify the category you compete in (e.g., retailmen’s clothing store, commercial real
estate, and institutional-sized cooking oil). Then use the rest of the work sheet to identify
your competitors, the key benefits they offer, and who their target market is.

COMPETITIVE CATEGORY:______________________________________________

COMPETITION KEY BENEFIT TARGET CUSTOMER

WORKSHEET #10: THE POSITIONING STATEMENT

For ____________________________________________________________________
(your target)
___________________________________________________________________ is the
(your company/product/service)
____________________________________________________________________ that
(competitive category)
provides/offers/gives/brings/etc. _____________________________________________
(benefit)
_______________________________________________________________________.

WORKSHEET #11: WRITING YOUR TAG LINE

A good tag line begins with your positioning statement (work sheet #10). Keeping the
statement in mind, write a shorter statement about your positioning in simple, friendly
language. You don’t have to include your company name or specific details about your
product or service; those can appear elsewhere in your ads. Try to write the one thing you
would like customers to think when they think of your brand.
List several possibilities:

Now rank your three favourites. Think about them. Which one best conveys your
positioning, and why? Ask customers (non-team members) the same question.

Ask yourself and customers (non-team members) which is most memorable and why?
Try to distinguish the truly memorable from the merely familiar.

The tag line should be memorable as well as a good statement for positioning. If the most
memorable one is not the one that best conveys your positioning, try again.

WORKSHEET #12: WRITING AN AD

Look at your positioning statement again. Now note the major features of your product or
service and the main benefits the feature offers to the customer

FEATURE BENEFIT

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Rank the feature/benefit combinations in order of importance. Also, ask the customers
(non-team members) to rank them. Mark those that absolutely must be included in your
ad, those you would like to include if possible, and those that should be excluded because
they just clutter up the main message.

Briefly list, in order of importance, the appeal you want your ad to make. These will
include the features and benefits you decide to emphasise, but will also include your
address, operating hours, tag line, company name, and every other copy element you
want to include in your ad: (try to include ten points)
(If you have filled in all ten blanks, you may need to cut your list in half by the time you
are done with the copy)

Write five or more sample headlines based on all of the above and focusing on the
number-one benefit you offer your customer.

Which headline works best, and why? Write a brief justification of your choice.

Now write some body copy that supports the headline and your positioning statement. If
you feel you need a sub-head, write that above the body copy. Use the copywriting rules
discussed in the class.

WORKSHEET #13: EXERCISING YOUR DESIGN SKILLS

Write down your preferred headline

Now (without letting your budget hinder you) write a description of, or draw a sketch of
the best possible visual you can imagine to go with that headline. (If it would not fit your
budget, you can worry later about scaling down your idea. But do not start with a weak
idea!)

Estimate the amount of space your body copy, logo, and tag line will require. Keep this in
mind as you work on the next step.

Now draw the shape of ad you want and start sketching five or six different arrangements
of the headline and the visual. Play freely with all the elements. Explore the possibilities.
No matter what size your actual ad will be, draw it only a few inches tall so that you can
quickly draw variations of it.

Circle your favourite design. Why do you like it?

Ask yourself: Is the one I circled the most effective one? Would the headline be strong
enough to catch someone’s eye? Will the reader understand the relationship between the
headline and the visual in three seconds? Is the visual large enough to make an impact?

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If not, try again. If yes, then draw a more complete copy. Indicate the body copy’s
position with horizontal lines and draw in your logo and tag line. Be sure to leave room
for addresses, telephone numbers, and business hours.

WORKSHEET #14: DEVELOPING YOUR NEW LOGO

What would I like my new or modified logo to say about my company? Select all which
apply.
- Professional - Traditional

- Friendly - Safe
- Service-oriented - Warm
- Expensive - Dynamic
- Exciting - Growing
- Creative - Accessible
- Fast - Fun
- Assertive - High-tech
- Confident - Loving
- Comfortable - Spiritual
- Peaceful - Civic minded
- Homey - Bold
- Peaceful - Risk-taking
- Family-oriented - Powerful
- For adults - State-of-the-art
- For children - Intelligent
- For teens - Caring
- Affordable - Environmentally conscious
- Glamorous - Trendy
Add your own words if any

What is the single thing I most want my logo to convey about my company?

If I want my logo to contain a pictorial image of my company, is there one single image
that stands out in my mind (e.g., a keyboard for a secretarial service, a dollar sign for a
financial counselor, a mountain for a spiritual retreat centre, etc.)

Are there particular colours you feel drawn to using in your logo? If so, what colours?

What do these colours say about my business? Do they enhance the concepts you have
selected?

WORKSHEET #15: DRAW YOUR OWN LOGO IDEAS

WORKSHEET #16: EVALUATING YOUR PRESENT LOGO

Here are those positive concepts your logo might express. Select all that apply.

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 - Professional - Traditional

- Friendly - Safe
- Service-oriented - Warm
- Expensive - Dynamic
- Exciting - Growing
- Creative - Accessible
- Fast - Fun
- Assertive - High-tech
- Confident - Loving
- Comfortable - Spiritual
- Peaceful - Civic minded
- Homey - Bold
- Peaceful - Risk-taking
- Family-oriented - Powerful
- For adults - State-of-the-art
- For children - Intelligent
- For teens - Caring
- Affordable - Environmentally conscious
- Glamorous - Trendy
Add your own words if any

Here are some negative concepts your logo might express. Select all that apply.

- Sloppy - Vague
- Behind-the-times - Unfriendly
- Confused - Just like everybody else
- Cheap - Aggressive
- Cold - Dishonest
- Boring - Sleazy
- Pushy - Too busy
Add your own negative words here

What is the single thing I least like about my present logo?

4. Class Presentation and Notes Preparation (CPNP)

The students will be assigned individual topics to discuss in the class and should
handover the notes to the Professor at the end of the class. The notes will be reviewed and
made available to students for study and reference.

Class Presentation
The presentation should be completed in 5 minutes and students can use PPTs or
Blackboard to support their discussion. Students can take notes and references from any
authentic source (Books, Magazines, Internet, etc.).

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Notes Preparation Format

1. Report length: 2 - 3 pages, all inclusive (bibliography should feature at the end of
assignment
2. Should be hand-written

SUMMARY OF EVALUATION

Class Participation 10% Throughout

Class Presentation and Notes Preparation (CPNP) 20% Throughout

Advertising Work Sheets (16) 40% Throughout

(Team work)
Mid Term Test 10% Week 6

Final Exam 20% Week 12

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