COMMS 230 Chapter 7

Product Position—Current and Desired

Product Position—Current and Desired

Direct Competitor

A direct competitor is a company that produces a nearly identical product that is sold in the same product category.150 For example, Dominos Pizza's direct competitors are Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, and Papa Murphy's.

Indirect Competitor

An indirect competitor is a company that produces a different product yet satisfies the same needs. For example, Dominos Pizza's indirect competitors are other food categories such as burgers, Mexican food, and chicken.

Threat

Any elements that threaten the perceived value of the brand, the ability of the company to be successful, or may change the way the company does business (e.g., increased state and local taxes, increased shipping charges for online deliveries, or opposition from the Green community).

Opprotunity

Areas where opportunities exist for the company to improve its share of the market, increase its profitability, or improve its image with its customers (e.g., strong relationships with local government and business community, strong working relationship with local charities, expansion into new segments of the community, or website development with online sales).

Strength

Elements the company does well, the positive attributes that aid the company in meeting its objectives, and those areas where they have a distinct advantage over the competition (e.g., excellent customer service, quality products with natural ingredients, strong ethical values, or a solid customer base).

Creative Plan Creative Executions

Examples of the creative are included in this section of the plans book. The advertiser should show as many examples as necessary to give the client a complete understanding of what the creative will look like in the campaign. The examples of the advertisements should show an example of all of the different media that will be used in the campaign.

Advertising Strategy Statement

Here is where you write the strategy statement (see Chapter 6). Since this is the most important part of your Advertising plans book—Treat it that way. Make it stand out. Give it its own page. Whatever you do, make sure that you show your client, "Here is the strategy statement. This is what all the hard work was for. This is the consumer insight and the brand insight and this is what your advertising campaign is going to be about."

Strategy

I believe this is the most important part of the advertising campaign. The strategy is the foundation on which every other aspect of the campaign is built. A weak, dull, and predictable strategy will produce weak and uninspiring advertising that will not sell products. However, a strategy that is well thought out and based on flawless research that produces quality insights will produce exciting, fun, and interesting advertising that will change perceptions, moving people to buy. Another reason why the strategy must not be written in a stiff and predictable way is that it must inspire the creative to their best possible work. Bad strategies make bad advertisements—Great strategies make great advertisements.

Media Plan Budget Summary

In this section you simply summarize the budget stating how and where the money will be spent. The client wants to see as much detail as possible in describing how much money will be spent in each of the different media. First, you will show how much money is being spent in each of the different media and then it will be broken down even further showing how much will be spent on each media vehicle (e.g., Television: $5,000,000.00; CBS $2,000,000.00; USA $1,000,000.00; ESPN $1,000,000.00; and FX $1,000,000.00).

Situation Analysis

It is an analysis of the situation the company is in at the present time. A situation analysis should include a description of the company and brand's background, a brand evaluation, a complete SWOT analysis, and a statement of the advertising problem the company is facing.

Competitive Summary

Knowing the competition and what they are doing in the marketplace is essential to having a successful business; but it is even more important for advertisers who want to create messages that will attract the attention of the target market, and separate the business from all of its competitors. There are two different types of competitors: direct competitors and indirect competitors.

Problem Statement

Once the secondary and primary research is complete and an evaluation has been made of the brand, you should know what problems, the advertising can solve, exit for the brand. Analyze and evaluate each of the problems that you have identified, and then determine where advertising can have its greatest influence. For example, if you have found out in your research that very few people in the target market know about the brand, the advertising may be able to have its greatest influence in creating awareness of the brand. If the brand is seen in a negative manner, advertising may be able to concentrate on brand advertising to improve consumers' attitudes toward the brand. After the decision has been made, then write a statement that addresses the major problem, as you see it, that the brand must immediately address. This statement should be written in one complete sentence.

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is a short summary of the advertising campaign. It includes a summary of the target market, advertising strategy, creative strategy, promotions and IMC, and media plan. The purpose of the executive summary is to give the client an abbreviated look at the campaign without having to read the entire book. The goal is to write this portion in such a way that the client knows everything that will be presented in the plans book. Because this is a summary of the campaign it will be written last.

SWOT analysis

The SWOT Analysis is an evaluation tool used to determine a business' viability in the marketplace. The analysis looks at both internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) of the business.149 Gathering this information, through careful and thorough research, helps advertisers make informed decisions that lead them to insights.

Advertising Objectives

The advertising objectives are communication objectives stating what the advertising will accomplish in a given period of time. Knowing and understanding the marketing objectives, target market, and where the consumers are in the purchasing process are essential to write effective advertising objectives. For example if you are the advertising agency for Arnette Sunglasses and their marketing objective is to increase their market share by 10%, you must determine how you can best communicate the benefits of the sunglasses to a target market that is in the awareness stage of the purchase funnel. An effective advertising objective might be, "To make the target market aware, through social and alternative media, of the benefits of Arnette sunglasses in order to bring them closer to a sale."

Brand Evaluation

The brand evaluation section provides a complete description of the brand, including such items as the characteristics, features, components, services, value, etc. All of the brand's visual components such as the logo, slogan, and brand identity should also be included in this section. You should describe how the brand is different from all other similar brands and why it stands out in the market place. The brand evaluation section should also include a report on the consumers' awareness of the brand, their perceptions and attitudes of the brand and their level of satisfaction with the brand. Conducting in-depth and complete secondary and primary research is necessary in order to provide a complete evaluation of the brand.

Key Brand Insights

The brand insights are what make the brand different or unique compared to all other brands in that category. Again, here you list all of the "key" insights found for the brand. See Chapter 6 for a complete description of brand insights.

Weakness

The characteristics that the company does not do well and that put them at a distinct disadvantage from their competition (e.g., weak online presence, difficult location to find, low market share). These may also include factors that the customers perceive as company weaknesses (e.g., slow delivery times, low brand recognition, no brand personality in the marketplace, or a difficult return process).

Evaluation

The final step in the Advertising Plans Book is a description of how the advertising plan will be evaluated for effectiveness. This evaluation is related directly to the advertising objectives and how well the agency's advertising met those objectives. The success of an advertising campaign is not always related to how much a company increased its sales or profits; therefore, it is necessary for the agency to describe in detail what KPIs (Key Performance Indicators—a measurable value that demonstrates the success of the campaign) they will evaluate to determine success. For example, if the objective of the campaign is to increase awareness of the brand, the agency would describe which KPIs they will measure to determine if the number of people in the target market who are aware of the brand has increased.

Media Plan Media Strategies

The first part of the media plan should list your media strategies or what you expect your media to accomplish during the campaign. Then you list specific media that will be used in your campaign (e.g., television, online, out of home, and social media) and the specific media vehicles that will be used (e.g., television: CBS, ESPN, MTV, and FX).

Category and Brand Background

The first part of the situation analysis should be to provide a history of the company and brand you are working on and an evaluation of the economic state of the company and brand at the present time. This section should also include a timeline of company innovations, advancements, and growth; a description of historical sales, market share, past advertising campaigns, successful advertising, and advertising media use.

Media Plan Schedules

The media plan should include the timing schedule for when your advertising will run. The schedule should include what months throughout the year you will advertise, and what weeks and days you will place your advertisements. The schedule will also describe the advertising pattern will be during the campaign, that is, continuous, pulsing, or flighting (see Chapter 12).

Support

The strategy statement is in a sense a promise that you are making to the consumers—if you buy this product we promise we will provide this benefit. In the support section of the Plans Book the advertiser must state how they are going to provide that benefit or keep the promise. Often the strategy is promising to deliver an emotional benefit, so the support must show how the product can actually have an emotional return. You support the benefit by listing the features and describing what the product can literally do. This information is available through The Strategy Model (see Figure 4 in Chapter 6). For Crest, the emotional reward is "Crest helps moms keep their kids out of the dentist's chair." The following information would be in the Support section: Crest Cavity Protection Toothpaste is uniquely formulated to provide protection against cavities, gingivitis, plaque, tartar buildup, plus it freshens your breath.

Creative Plan Tone and Manner of Advertisements

The tone and manner is an overall description of the style, attitude, look and feel of the advertisements. You might describe your advertisements as having a sleek, clean, and stylistic look with an upbeat and modern personality or a frat boy personality with a friendly, easy going look. This section needs to provide as much detail as possible so that the client understands what kind of feeling and attitude the advertisements are trying to get across.

Creative Plan Creative Strategy

This is the "Creative Concept" or "Big Idea" is the how-to statement. How will the strategy come to life through the creative executions (see Chapter 8)? Here you provide a complete description of the creative plan to give the client an idea of what they can expect to see in the creative executions.

Target Market Analysis

This is where the analysis of the target market goes in the advertising plans book. This section includes the demographics, psychographics, buying behavior, lifestyle, and geographic locale of the target market

Research Findings

This is where you put the results and findings from all of your secondary and primary research. The research is where the insights were found and what has directed you to your strategy. You must show your client how you found your insights and how that led you to your strategy. This section includes a brief summary of your secondary findings and the results of your quantitative and qualitative research. Be sure to include graphs of your findings, and a description of the graph—don't leave it up to your client to interpret your findings. It's your job to tell them what you found and what it means.

Sales Promotion and IMC

This section of the plans books contains a complete description of any and all integrated marketing communications (IMC) that will be used in the campaign. IMC includes all of the areas within the promotional mix such as public relations, promotions, direct marketing, and personal selling.

Key Consumer Insights

What did you determine, through your research, were the key consumer insights that drive your target market? These are the life values that direct the decisions that your target market makes when buying products. In this section, you list the "key" insight (those that stand out or match best with your product). See Chapter 6 for a complete description of consumer insights.