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.