Function of Journalism By Preeti Hiwale

Surveillance- Surveillance refers to the news and information role of mass media. This role can be subdivided into Warning surveillance associated to news media i.e. information about impending threats such as floods, military attack and depressed economic conditions and Instrumental surveillance associated with both news and popular media i.e. transmission of useful information about news products, entertainment guides, stock market prices etc. the benefit of this is instantaneous awareness. The disadvantage is misinformation can travel just as quickly as accurate information and  speedy dissemination means accusations and supposed facts are not verified before they are transmitted.

Interpretation- it is the function of mass media that provides a context for new info. And commentary about its significance and meaning. It goes beyond basic facts of an event or topic to provide context, analysis and possible consequences. Journalism has to look at patterns, motives and influences to explain what they are reporting. It helps audiences to broaden visions and understand the complexities of issues. While journalism is only about reporting facts, contemporary trends indicate blending of news-reporting and commentary functions.

Linkage function- connects different elements of society through dialogue and exchange.

Transmission of values- journalism performs socialization function. The media is a vehicle for transmitting cultural norms, values, rules and habits. Journalism acts an important carrier of value, beliefs, mores and attitudes. It presents the modeling of appropriate attitudes and behavior.

Entertainment- journalism also offers entertainment through emotional relaxation, amusing stories, humour, cultural enjoyment etc. The entertainment function of mass media is subdivided into three categories: stimulation as an antidote for boredom, relaxation as a part of an soothing or perhaps meditative environment and release as a means to safely express anger, hostility or fear.

Development function- journalism plays an important role in community development, supporting or raising questions over development, evaluating development policies and reporting on developmental issue. It is also important to develop awareness and vigilantism among citizens.

Yellow Journalism

Yellow journalism refers to when publishers exploit their position and create flashy and irresponsible news reporting. This was done by twisting and distorting news and was done by increasing readership.

Josephs Pulitzer and William Hearst are the two big names associated with yellow journalism. Both these men, fought for more readership, during their time, employing yellow journalism.

The term comes from a colour comic strip called The Yellow Kid, which was published in the papers of Pulitzer in 1896. The creator R.F. Outcault was one of the objects of the rivalry between Pulitzer and Hearst. Years later Hearst, employed Outcault. Both of them used to Yellow Kid to sensationalize stories and to discredit each other. The Yellow Kid managed to sway public opinion on many issue.

Spanish-American War is a classical example to portray Yellow Journalism. Hearst had sent an illustrator and writer to Cuba, to report on the Spanish-American War. They wired back to Hearst that everything was peaceful, to which Hearst replied, “You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war”.

For both of them the Spanish-American War, was a chance to increase their circulation. Both had the stories distasteful and violent. A lot of graphic illustrations were used. They probably forced America to start a real war.

In the end, Pulitzer redeemed himself by setting up the first journalist school, and setting up the prestigious journalism award, the Pulitzer Prizes.

In today’s world, yellow journalism still exists. Though it form has changed, it’s main aim is still the same, to increase readership or viewership and increase revenue. The method has changed from twisting and distorting news to control of what news is to be released or not.

For example the incident of terrorism attack on Taj hotel, Mumbai on 27 November 2008.what media was doing in this case media was continuously covering the whole incident and showing that news which should not be disclosed, just to increase their TRP ratings. Another example in 2006, a kid named Prince fell into a bore well which was two-and-a-half feet in diameter. He was rescued after over two days of efforts, which were telecast live on almost all television channels continuously for 48 hours neglecting all important news but it was not important to show such a news on a continuous basis.

So yellow journalism still does exist and with media houses growing bigger and spreading across mediums, it is spreading faster.

However there is one thing that present day, yellow journalism faults in and that is the target audience. Both Pulitzer and Hearst understood their target audience, but this cannot be said the same for today’s yellow journalism.

Viral Advertising

The internet has made it easier to pass on files and links. Hence any such viral advertising can become viral. This means online advertisements can be contagious. Even the passing on of traditional advertisement such as TV, print or radio is contagious to some extent.

Viral advertising gives free advertising for the brand.

A viral hit can encourage large coverage, exposure and goodwill. Standard online ads only engage consumers when they visit a web site. However viral advertisement is not restricted by a website, and have the potential to reach millions across the globe.

The term "viral advertising" refers to the idea that people will pass on and share interesting and entertaining content; this is often sponsored by a brand, which is looking to build awareness of a product or service. These viral commercials often take the form of funny video clips, or interactive Flash games, an advergame, images, and even text.

Viral advertisement is popular because of the ease of executing the marketing campaign, relative low-cost, good targeting, and the high and rapid response rate. The main strength of viral marketing is its ability to obtain a large number of interested people at a low cost. 
The hardest task for any company is to acquire and retain a large customer base. Viral advertising is a technique that avoids the annoyance of spam mail; it encourages users of a specific product or service to tell a friend. This would be a positive word-of-mouth recommendation.

“Word of mouth” application is included, but it’s is not limited to it.

• Internet search engines
• Blogs
• Social media websites
• Television & radio
• Multiple forms of print and direct marketing
• Customer participation & polling services
• Outbound/inbound call center services
• Mobile smartphone integration

 

Still Viral advertising is still a concept for many. The advertisement requires it to be good enough that it produce a mass amount of recommendations.

Creative Brief

Creative brief is the bridge between smart strategic thinking and great advertising and is a key tool with which media and account planners can unlock the creativity of people.

The main task of the creative brief is to inform and more importantly to inspire them. It must reduce all the information that has been gathered from the client, consumer research and other sources, and focus it to a single idea to create a sense of possibilities.

According to Jeff Goodby, the creative brief is equivalent of a fisherman’s guide, where a person shows you the best place to fish and has some ideas about the best flies to use. The guide does not fish, buts makes sure the fisherman has a enjoyable and successful time fishing.

 A creative brief should accomplish three main objectives:

• Give the creative team a realistic view of what their advertising needs to do and achieve.
• Give a clear understanding of the target audience.
• Gives a clear direction to the message which the target audience seems to be susceptible.

A creative briefing is a meeting where a planner or account person will outline the nature of the advertising problem for the creative team and start to suggest ways of solving it. The creative brief is a document that summaries the content of the meeting. However the lines between these terms are getting blurred and at times are used synonym.

Aspect of Creative Process:

The various aspects of a creative process in a Creative brief can be explained by a set of questions.

• Why are we advertising at all- The answer could be due to the client’s business situation and the problem that advertising needs to overcome.
• What is the advertising trying to achieve- This refers to the objectives of the advertisement. It must be realistic and it must be clear about the desired effects.
• Who are we talking to- This refers to a demographic description and defining the group that needs to be addressed and who needs to be excluded.
• What do we know about them- There should be an understanding of the target audience’s lives and minds.
• What’s the main idea to be communicated- This part of the brief is referred to as ‘proposition’. The idea must make the audience reconsider their views on existing or new product. The emphasis is on the message communicated to the audience.
• What’s the best way of planting the idea- This answers, what is referred to as ‘strategy’. Here it is decided on how the idea is to represented and executed.

PILOT STUDY

PILOT STUDY by Preeti Hiwale 

Before the pilot study is conducted, the case study researcher must construct a study protocol. This document describes the procedures to be used in the study and also includes the data gathering instrument or instruments. It also contains the schedule for data collection and addresses logistical problems. A pilot study is used to refine both the research design and the field procedures. Variables that were not foreseen during the design phase can emerge during the pilot study, and problems with the protocol or with study logistics can also be uncovered. The pilot study also allows the researchers to try different data-gathering approaches and to observe different activities from several trial perspectives. 

CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY by Preeti Hiwale

Case study method is another common qualitative research technique. A case study uses as many data sources as possible to systematically investigate individuals, groups, organizations or events. Yin (1994) defines a case study as an empirical inquiry that uses multiple sources of evidence to investigate a contemporary phenomenon within its real –life context, in boundaries between the phenomenon and its context are not clearly evident. The four essential characteristics of case study research are as follows:-

1. Particularistic- This means that the case study focuses on a particular situation, making it a good method for studying practical, real life problems.
2. Descriptive-The final product of a case study is a detailed description of the topic under study.
3. Heuristic- A case study helps people to understand what’s being studied.
4. Inductive- Most case studies depend on inductive reasoning. Principles and generalizations emerge from an examination of the data. Many case studies attempt to discover new relationships rather than verify existing hypotheses.

Advantages of case studies:-

1. Case studies provide tremendous detail.
2. Case studies help to find clues and ideas for further research.
3. To gather descriptive and explanatory data.
4. Case study technique suggests why something has occurred.
5. Documents, historical artifacts, systematic interviews, direct observations, and even traditional surveys can all be incorporated into case study.

Disadvantages:-

1. General lack of scientific rigor.
2. Case study is not amenable to generalization.
3. Often time consuming and may occasionally produce massive quantities of data that are hard to summarize.

Role of Internet Research

Research using the internet has developed vastly ever since the internet became public in 1990s. The internet is all about connecting computer and creating. Today this network stands at a global phase.

Internet research can mean two things:

- The internet can be used as a digital library.

- The internet can be used as the primary data collecting tool.

Internet research offers two things- connectivity and cost-efficiency. In present times, the internet is connected to a maximum number of households. However a concern is the reliability of the data collect, since there is no way to certain of the truth.

Internet Data Collection can be done using a variety of ways:

- Email: Respondents get an email which includes a questionnaire or a website link which directs them to one. Email address can got from internet companies.

- Database Email- Respondents voluntary have their name included on a company’s data base, receive an email inviting them to fill a questionnaire.

- Pop-ups- An invitation to visit a website to fill a questionnaire.

- Randomly selected pop-ups- Respondents are randomly selected, normally the nth visitor of a website.

- Prerecruited – Here respondent is first contacted by email or telephone, inviting to a research study. If respondents agrees, a website address is give to go to.

- Instant Messaging- Respondents participate in focus groups and other discussion by logging on to an instant messaging services.

- Stationary Display- Some company websites have a permanent display, usually a small display box, that invites people to participate in a research project.

Advantages of Internet Research:

- They are easy to conduct, due to the speed and reach of the internet.

- Cost of data collection is greatly reduced.

- There is no limit to the types of questions that can be asked.

- Questionnaires can be interactive.

- There is access to all types of people, from various different fields.

Disadvantages of Internet Research:

- There is a question of the reliability of data collected.

- Many respondents are concerned with security and refuse to participate.

- The researcher has no control over the research situations

- There is no research data about the appropriate length of internet survey.

Advertising Research

Research is very important for planning, implementing and evaluating advertising campaigns. Advertising research has become important due to increased competition, massive markets and mounting costs. Advertising research is mostly applied research. The purpose is to answer such questions as what should the packaging cover be or does the competitor have better advertising.

§ Copy Testing

Copy testing refer to research that helps in identifying effective advertising and determine the few that are the most effective.

For example a variety of proposed prints are showed to a group of two more subjects, to check which is most effective.

- The Cognitive Dimension- Cognitive dimension which includes attention, awareness, exposure, recognition, comprehension and recall of ads.

- The Affective Dimension – This includes research into if a consumer attitude towards a product has changed.

- The Conative Dimensions- This dimension actually deals with consumer behaviour.

- Copy Research and Validity- This research identifies ads that work well in the market place.

§ Media Research

Two important term in media research is Reach and Frequency.

Reach is the number of people who are exposed to an advertisement atleast once.

Frequency is the number of times a person sees an advertisement according to advertising schedule.

- Audience Size and Composition- Analysis of audience size and composition is one of the most common components of advertising research. It gives insight into who the target audience is.

- Frequency of Exposure in Media Schedules- This research component measure, what medium would be best for the advertisement, consider its budget.

- Competitor’s Activities- It is good to know what the competitors are doing so as to not make their mistakes, and make a counter strategy.

§ Campaign Assessment Research

This research builds on copy testing and media research, but its research strategies are different. It assess the advertising campaign to see its effectiveness and success.

All these components in advertising research help to plan, implement and evaluate an advertising campaign.

12 IDEAS TO MAKE GREAT COMMERCIALS

(Note: I fucking hate this handout... and hence most of the answer is sort of... shitt)

1)   Start with the ending first

In making advertisement one can start with the ending first and then figure out the beginning.  Make the tag line first and then go about making the advertisement.

-          Making phrases that captures the brand idea.

-          “A lot of creative people in my experience have an idea, but couldn’t finish it. But if they had known where they were finishing, they could have started anywhere”

 

2)    Finding a moment

As an advertiser it is important to be able to the advertisement simple and find oneself in a moment. This will allow one to look at the ad from the outside.

 

3)   Is there an idea in the strategy?

One must get his or her ideas from the brand and not attach it to the brand.

Every brief is different and every brief can give you a different idea.

The idea, strategy and execution are synonyms. Strategy in advertising is either:

-          Selling more of the same stuff

-          Selling the same stuff with additions.

-          Selling it to different people who have never been buying it.

 

4)    Be a Sponge

The best creative people are engaged in the process of observing, storing and connecting.

They should be able to connect to variety of ideas from where they can get ideas. Advertisers should read, listen to music, watch movies and art.

Webster collects any interesting photograph that he finds, and he has a full library of them. Sometime later it may click with an idea for an advertisement.

Gather little bits of information and stow them away in an attic because one day they will come in handy. These are ideas.

 

5)   Work outside your tendency

Sometimes one must do opposite of what they would do normally creatively.

 

6)   Free-associate

Creativity occurs when two or more ideas which have nothing in common intersect and connect to make something that did not exist before.                        

 

 

7)   Create Fiction & Film it

 

 

8)   Ask What if

There is a need to ask What if. This means not holding oneself back and trying out and experimenting with different ideas.

 

9)   Is the medium the message?

The medium that one choose must suit the message.

 

10)        Try Word Associations

One way to unblock creative thinking, according to Graham Fink, is that you flip open you dictionary and go to any page and pick the first noun you see. Now all you have to do is connect this noun to your product

 

11)        Fill 50 Boxes

Siimon Reynold’s came up with an idea to make good ads. To do that one must take a sheet of paper and draw fifty boxes and then fill it with ad ideas. By this one will atleast be able to come up with good idea.

 

12)        Use the Adrian Holmes Swiss Army Knife

The Holmes Swiss Army Knife is a formula for thinking

-          Reversal- If things are turned upside down, interesting things may happen.

-          Collision-

-          Snowball- Take a small fact from the brief and see how it can be dramatized and made bigger.

-          Ambush- Set something up, and lead the view to expected something and then surprise them.

-          Lateral Leap-

 

Advertising Models

In today’s world there are a variety of advertising models that have been created.

AIDA

The first advertising model, created around 1898 by advertising and sales pioneer, E. St. Elmo Lewis.

AIDA is an acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

Attention- The advertisement must be able to grab the audience attention, without this the advertisement would be useless. This is important as in today’s, worlds advertisements have to compete with a lot of clutter.  

Interest- Once attention is got, it must be sustained by creating interest for the reader. A connection must be found between the audience with their need or desire.

Desire- The next step is to create desire in the readers. This can be done by convincing them that the product will satisfy their need.   

Action- All these steps should lead to action on part of the audience. The audience must be convinced to purchase the product.

 

Hierarchy of Effects

This theory was created by E. St. Elmo Lewis.

It has four basic elements- Awareness, Knowledge, Linking, Preference, Conviction and Purchase.

Awareness- The target audience is not aware of the product and must be made aware of it.

Knowledge- The target audience is aware about the product, but does not know the use of product or the difference from other competitors. The next step is to equip them with this knowledge.  

Linking- After awareness and knowledge, the audience begins to form an opinion of the product which may be favourable or unfavourable.

Preference- The target audience might like the product but not prefer it to others.  In this case, the communicator must try to build consumer preference by promoting quality, value, performance and other features.

Conviction-  At the conviction stage the audience is convinced about the product. However a conviction must be developed to purchase the product.

Purchase- After all this, the audience will have to take the final step and purchase the product. However communicator may need to provide a little more information to facilitate this step.

 

DAGMAR(Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results)

It consist of three parts.

1)      To define advertising goals for the campaign.

It is important to have advertising goals for two reasons.

-          Advertisement campaign can have direction

-          At the end of the campaign, the effectiveness can be measured.

 

2)      Steps to the convince audience to buy the product

-          Awareness- If the audience is not aware of the products existence, they will not buy it. The advertising campaign must make this awareness,

-          Comprehension- The advertisement campaign should an understanding of the product, of its uses and its benefits.

-          Conviction: Once the audience has understood the product, the advertising campaign should build a positive attitude to the product.

-          Action- Finally the audience must take a step towards purchasing the product.

 

3)      Measuring Advertisement Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the campaign must be checked. The number of advertising goals achieved must be looked at.

 

All these advertising models can be used for large scale or small scale advertising campaigns. 

Interactive Advertising

Interactive advertising is advertising that require an immediate or ongoing response. This is mainly restricted to the digital medium. This term also includes gorilla or ambient advertising.

Digital advertising refers to online advertising.

Interactive creatives believe that interactive advertising is separate from traditional advertising.

However the line is blurred as online advertising is the intersection of interactive and advertising worlds.

Interactive advertising is a fairly new development in the advertising world and is still evolving. Though like traditional advertising, it all depends of the idea and the concept. The question is just the same- will the ad stand out?

In today’s world the importance of interactive advertising is increasing. If any person wishes to find anything about any company or product, in today’s world it would be done online. It is the role of interactive advertising to make a connection between the product and consumer, and this will hopefully result in the purchase of the product.

The Click Factor- The internet has made things faster. With the click of a button things come to the door step. That is the advantage interactive advertising has over traditional advertising. The consumer can react to an ad by clicking on it. The consumer with the click of a button can make a purchase. The real power of interactive advertising is its reach, as the world is got smaller with the internet.

Customizing the Experience- The success of interactive advertising is to customize it so that its suits the consumer. The more option that are there, the more personal it can become for the consumer. Eventually this will convince the consumer that they are in control.

A Brand New Relationship- Another difference between interactive and traditional advertising is of building a relation with the consumer and product. Unlike traditional advertisement, interactive advertisement is more like an invitation, than an interruption. It is a two way relationship. Interactive Advertising has to make consumer want to interact.

Interactive advertisement is a soft sell. It allows the consumers to make the decisions. It allows them to navigate, explore and share.

 

 

 

 

There are various skills need for interactive advertising such as:

-          Art Direction

-          Writing

-          Sound Design

-          Use of music

-          Animation and motion graphics

-          Interface and navigation

-          Illustrations

-          Typography

-          Photography

-          Graphic Design

-          Film Direction

-          Cinematography

-          Special Effects

Watergate Scandal

When the Watergate Scandal occurred in 1972-1974 it opened a new era for journalism, especially investigative journalism.

What seemed like a simple break in at Watergate Hotel by five men was not. This was story that was pursed by two journalists, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The five men found, had wiretaps on them. It was found out later they were former CIA and FBI agents.

Both these journalists also went on to manage to find out that these men were paid by the President Nixon’s Committee to Reelect the President. Through the media this group got their name as The Dirty Squad. Proof was got that they were employed by Nixon. It was later on found that Nixon was using the Dirty Squad to tap his political opponents. The Watergate Hotel was the Headquarters for Democratic Party. The Dirty Squad had managed to bug over 70 people including cabinet members and White House assistants. Nixon was clearly misusing his power.

Another controversy which arose was of the tapes, which Nixon claimed would be threat of national security if revealed. However the Supreme Court forced Nixon to hand it over. The tapes revealed that Nixon knew of the Watergate “break-in” and that it was a matter of “national security” that the FBI should not investigate further.

In August 1974, Nixon was forced to step down.

This incident is milestone for investigative journalism. For Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein it took them two years to uncover all of this. At first inspite of knocking all the right doors, they were not able to get the right answers. Bob then decided to contact an old friend, an informant high up in the White House. This informant came to called Deep Throat. Deep Throat at first refused to give out much information, but acted as a guide. It was later as their trust developed that he gave out information. Bob and he used to have secret meetings, using covert methods.

Bob Woodward was the only one who meet Deep Throat. From time of the scandal to a few years ago, he refused to reveal his source, his informant, till the day Deep Throat died. At the time of the scandal, it was dangerous time for the journalist and for the informant. Since there was enough evidence collect against Nixon there was no need for Bob Woodward to reveal his source and no one forced him to. Protection of source is highly vital in any investigative journalism.

For Deep Throat as a whistleblower, he found that something was going wrong in the system and that he needed to break it out in the open. He decided to only act as a guide. He needed to make sure, that he as an informant did not alert his department on a leak. Deep Throat’s involvement in Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigating was needed. Without his guidance and information there would have been no investigation.

Investigative journalism is very significant in today’s democracy as it was at the Watergate Scandal. It is about uncovering the truth, when someone tries to sweep it under the rug. It is about fulfilling, one of journalism functions, and that is to act as a watchdog. The official word of the Government may not always be truth.

At every occurrence of major political scandal, investigative journalism swings into action, to uncover the truth. However investigative journalism is always there and it takes time. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had to spend to years on this story. Washington Post from a small newspaper by 1974 became a very big and successful.

Media Plan

A media plan answers many question in an advertisement campaign, such as which media should ads be placed or during which month should media plan appear or how much money should be spent in each medium.

The plan when approved will become a blueprint for selection and use of media. Media plan gives directives on how an advertising campaign will be conduct and its cost.

Essential Element of Media Plan

1. Media Objectives: Every Media Plan must start with objectives. This gives a directional element to the media plan. It points to the goals that the Media Plan hopes to achieve.

It will identify the marketing targets. Generally, the Media Objectives are similar to the objectives of the marketing objectives of the product.

2. Competitive Analysis: Analysis of the competitors is important. This part also includes budgets, media selection and timing of media delivery.

- Budget- How much are leading competitors are spending for their brands?

- Media Selection- What are the medias used by competitors?

- Timing of Media Delivery-

3. Target Audience Analysis: This gives a deeper understanding of target audience on issues such as product usage, demographics and media behaviour.

4. Media Habits: What media mediums are preferred to the target audience. What channels they watch, what do they read etc.

5. Media Selection Rationale: State the medias selected and reason behind it.

6. Media Strategy: This will state out how the media objectives are being achieved.

7. Flowchart and Budget: Flowchart reveals the how the ads are schedule, the frequency, the reach, ad sizes and the cost. The budget usually is an estimated cost that will still have to be decided by the client and agency.

8. Evaluation: After some time of running the advertisement, an evaluation is prepared. This evaluation is shows the effectiveness of the advertisement and the achievement of the objectives.

Reach is the number of people who are exposed to an advertisement atleast once.

Frequency is the number of times a person see an advertisement according to advertising schedule.

This is important for a media plan, as in the evaluation it can be reach and frequency can be used to find out how effective advertisement was.

The type of media vehicle you choose depend your budget and its ability to reach out to the target audience.

Types of Media Vehicles:

1. Newspaper:

- Advantage: The circulation of newspapers is large.

Offers immediate message registration, since newspapers are daily.

It is linked to a local community, has they have sections of news for the local area.

Newspapers are large in size and offer a variety of sizes for advertisements.

- Disadvantage: Clutter Factor- There is a lot of competition for the reader’s attention in a newspaper.

Quality of print- Newspaper printing are limited in colour capability and high contrast may not result in good print.

Newspaper advertising is expensive.

2. Magazine:

- Advantage: Magazines are passed along, that is primary audience passes them to secondary readers.

The good quality paper and printing allows for high colour contrast advertisements to be printed, and a good show of creativity.

They are best medium for micro target marketing.

- Disadvantages: Their circulation is selective and not amoung majority of the population.

They could be weekly or monthly.

3. Radio:

- Advantages: Biggest advantage is of high frequency at a reasonable cost.

By choosing the station and show target audience can be reached.

Radio are in most households due it inexpensive price.

Radio are everywhere due to portability.

- Disadvantages: A product can not be shown or demonstrated.

Radio spot lacks the permanence.

Due to audience specialization, a single station cannot reach a broader market reach.

4. TV:

- Advantage: The use of sight, sound and motion drives a strong impact on audience.

Demonstration of product on a TV screen.

Scheduling can be done according to programs, giving the ability to connect to target audience.

- Disadvantage: TV is watched for entertainment, advertisement cause interruption.

Advertisement slots on TV may be high according to the program.

The increasing number of channels on TV are fragmenting the viewership.

5. Online Advertising:

- Advantages: Ability to be interactive with audience.

Scheduling is very flexible.

It is cost effective.

- Disadvantages: Has to deal with clutter as online advertising is rapidly increasing.

6. Outdoor Bill Board:

- Advantage: Constant repetition is a boon for outdoor advertising.

It offers a broad coverage due its location.

Large image area available for art.

- Disadvantage: Board scheduling is inflexible and cann’t be change quickly.

Driver attention is primarily on the road and reading a billboard is secondary.

Most outdoor billboard with good location is expensive.

The Eight Greatest Lies

1. You must have a unique selling proposition.

There was a time when products did have a unique difference, and had a USP.

However today research is shared and companies have come together due to economical reasons. With great quality, brands have fewer differences, and it is not easy to have a USP.

This is where Unique Emotional Proposition (UEP) comes in. Give your product a certain perspective. Have a unique style, flavour or attitude to your product. This will enable Top of mind recall.

2. You must offer a rational benefit.

In advertising rational proposition, have been thought to have substance, that it will be believable and effective.

This is not true. Take the classic Volkswagen Campaign, “It’s ugly but it works”. The campaign is plays with the audience on an emotional level, rather than of a rational one.

Humans are not rational being. The best way to do advertisement is to have a balance between rational and emotional arguments.

3. Humour doesn’t sell.

Humour is best used in a campaign format, and it is used selectively for brands. For example if IBM came out with the funniest campaign in the world, it would not feel right with the audience.

French says that humour sells. Most door to door sales tend to use humour on their audience. Advertising is about entertaining people. Humour is able to stimulate and amuse the audience.

4. You must have a memorable slogan.

Slogans are traditionally meant to deliver the final clincher to the advertisement. However many have become meaningless wordplay.

Oberlander believes that consumers hate taglines and jingles.

Warsop’s advice is to use a strap line if it makes a powerful, distinctive brand statement. Straplines which appear under logo’s is a way to promote a brand positioning line. A strapline and a brand proposition line- a hybrid is effective- example Tag Heuer’s “Success. It’s a mind game.”

5. You must have a logo in the AD.

According to French, a logo is like signing letter and people should know through the writing style, handwriting and content, who the writer is.

Removing the logo, makes ad look much less than an ad.

Logo’s have some history. For example BMW has a white propeller against a blue sky, symbolizing its aircraft engine origins. So why bury them….

Warsop points out that an ad does not become more effective by inclusion of a logo.

6. You must show the product in the Ad.

According to Guido Heffels, “We are not paid to put a product in an ad, but in the consumer’s mind”

The style of the advertisement should portray the style of the product. An ad showing a rainstorm of cigarettes beating down on gold umbrellas, everyone knew it was Benson & Hedges.

French believes that if the product is to be bought off the shelf, pack recognition is important and should be shown in the ad. However there is an exception when you are selling something that is different from anything else.

According to Bildsten you are selling a promise, not a product.

7. Every ad in a campaign must look the same.

According to Fishlock ads rather than looking the same, should feel the same.

A new ad gives the campaign a new look every time, keeping it fresh and with surprises. There should be some elements that should be consistent, elements of a visual turf which includes the kind of photography, colour, and typography. However the format should be flexible, so that the ad looks like a step-brother and not a twin in an ad campaign.

Abbot says that you can also mix visual and long copy ad and it bring a spontaneity in the campaign.

8. Creative ad don’t sell.

According to French, the word creative has been abused. It means finding an interesting thing to say about a boring thing, and the more interesting it is the creative it becomes.

The One Creative Truth: Every Ad Must Have an Idea in it.

According to Heffels, every ad should have an idea and an execution cann’t be an idea.

French believes execution sets the tone of voice, but does not replace the idea.

David Droga states that execution makes fifty or more percent of the ad, but there is a danger of being over executed and the idea may get hidden below the surface.

According to Delaney, execution signals to people a kind of craft in the execution, which signals the conviction about the product.

French’s logic is that he cannot think if any famous ad that was produced only using execution, and if he cann’t then it does not work.

Sampling and Types

The study of only some individuals in the population is called Sampling.

A sample is a subset of the population that represents the entire population.

- Types of Samples

Probability

Non-Probability

Non-Probability Sample

This research includes using available samples, using volunteer subjects, and purposive samples.

- Available Sample- This is a group of subjects that are readily and easily available for study. These may be people at a mall or a zoo. The issue with this is that there are unknown qualities of error. Some believe that they do not represent the population and therefore are not valid. This sample is usually used for questionnaires and pilot studies.

- Volunteer Sample- This form a non-probability sample since subjects are not mathematically chosen. Volunteer subjects differ from non-volunteer ones. According to Rosenthal and Rosnow they identified certain features of volunteer subjects compared to non-volunteer such as exhibit higher levels of education, occupational status, are more sociable. Volunteer sample should be used carefully because it also has unknown quality of errors.

- Purposive Sample- These subjects are chosen because of the certain characteristics they posses. This is usual used in advertisement research where the subjects are chosen on the basis of what product they use.

Probability Sample

In probability sample every person in the population has an equal chance of being a subject. It is random sampling without replacement.

There is a use of random numbers to generate random samples. For example if one want to analyze 10 prime time television programs out of a 100 programs to determine how elderly people are portrayed. The 100 programs will be numbered and then there will be random selection of numbers from 0-99.

Sampling using telephone survey is done using Random Digit Dialing (RDD). The problem with this is that many numbers are found to have been disconnected. So if a sample of 100 is needed, it is best that a sample of 300 be created. Random number generation is possible using a variety of method, however two rules have to be valid.

Ø Every subject in the population must have an equal chance to be selected.

Ø Selection process must be free from subjective intervention of the researcher.

In Systematic Random Sampling every ninth subject is selected from the population. However the accuracy of this method depends on the sampling frame or the complete list of members in the population. Telephone directories are inadequate sampling frame because they do not list all numbers. Also another issue with Systematic Random Sampling is periodicity, where the arrangement of the order of items in population list could be biased.

Simple Random Sample is preferred choice.

Stratified Sample is the approach used to get adequate representation of a sub-sample. Stratified sampling can be applied in two ways.

o Proportionate Stratified Sampling which includes with sizes based on proportions of population. If 30% of population is adults ages 18-24, then 30% of total sample will be subjects of this age group.

o

Cluster Sampling uses the process of selecting samples in groups. One can divided the state into districts, zips codes and make groups of subjects.

Snowballing Sampling also know as referrals. A few qualified subjects are contacted, and through them names relatives and friends are acquired who may also be qualified to study.