CASE CONTENT
The exact format of the papers is not specified, but it is expected they will cover:
Business context
Reasons for the advertising campaign
Target audiences and consumer insight
Short, medium and long-term objectives
EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
Description of the campaign
Duration and timing
Campaign costs
Other resources utilised
Campaign evaluation
Financial outcome
Discounting of other variables
An Executive Summary is also highly recommended.
In virtually all cases advertising campaigns lead to a measurable ‘commercial’ or financial outcome, even where the client is a ‘not for profit organization’. However, the immediacy of the quantifiable ‘commercial’ return and the nature of the effects to be measured will vary from campaign to campaign.
Given the wide variety of reasons for advertising it is impossible to specify a totally standard template to fit all circumstances. However, the topics to be covered should always include the list above. They should also be supported by appropriate financial, market and market research data, expressed in graphical form.
Note that indexing can be used to respect confidentiality of data.
PREPARATION OF A CASE
The following notes are intended to assist authors in the preparation of a case. They do not have to be slavishly followed.
Business Context
Provide a concise description of the business context into which the campaign was introduced, covering off any relevant competitive issues.
Reasons for the advertising campaign
There are obviously many reasons for advertising campaigns including:
- Launching a new corporate identity
- Re-positioning an established brand
- Executing a successful migration strategy from off to on-line trading
- Raising awareness of an issue and influencing public opinion
- Promoting an educational or health message
- Supporting a social or charitable cause
- Launching a new product and generating short-term trial sales
- Recalling and re-launching a product subject to major problems
- Building long-term brand loyalty and market share
- Localizing an international brand
- Reducing competition by creating barriers to entry
- Increasing distribution and customer satisfaction
- Raise staff morale and productivity
- Improving investor perceptions and the company’s stock market rating
- Ensuring the success of a takeover attack or defence
- Supporting a public share offer
Often, advertising campaigns have a primary objective with subsidiary objectives.
It should be noted that the reason for the campaign will dictate the expected payback period. For example, a product recall campaign will have an immediate effect followed by a much longer term effect.
Target audience and consumer insight
The primary audience for the campaign will tend to indicate whether the campaign result is likely to be short, medium or long term. The primary target audience may be end consumers, trade customers, business partners, connectors, governmental audiences, regulators, trade suppliers, lenders, investors or staff.
It is probable that any advertising campaign will effect all these audiences to some extent but the effectiveness of the campaign will be judged on the planned effect on the planned audience.
Go beyond a description of the target audience. Highlight the consumer insight that led to the campaign. Explore consumer motivations, how they make purchasing decisions, how do they relate to advertising in the broader category and to your advertising in particular.
The submission should indicate why a particular creative route was chosen and why it worked well for the chosen audience.
Short, medium and long term objectives
The short-term reason for a campaign might be to build page impressions on a web-site. The medium-term reason might be to increase unique users on the site.
The long-term reason might be to build dependable flows of site advertising, on-line transaction flows or off-line brand usage stimulated by the on-line site. The ultimate objective might be to build a profitable and valuable brand or business with low risk and a high investor rating.
A business payback model should be shown. In many cases it will be harder to demonstrate the long-term effects although these should be analysed to the extent possible.
Expected deliverables
Whether the objective behind a campaign is the delivery of page impressions on a website, an increase in shelf space in the grocery channel or the uptake of a tax or welfare scheme, specific deliverables should be stated as should the criteria for measurement.
Description of the campaign
Provide a brief description, including creative and media strategies.
Duration and timing of the campaign
An explanation of why the campaign occurred when it did and why the duration and timing were appropriate.
Campaign costs
Breakdown of the production and media costs.
Other resources required to effect the campaign
Review of the integrated nature of the campaign if applicable, with public relations, direct marketing and the like. Review of how this enhanced the effectiveness of the campaign.
Campaign evaluation
Describe the methodology utilised to evaluate the campaign and provide results, using ‘hard’ measures such as sales, market-share, enquiries, not only intermediate research measures.
Financial benefits
Demonstrate expected and actual financial consequences of the campaign preferably both short term and over a period of years, indicating how advertising produced a financial return on investment.
At a bare minimum this should provide net income and profit but could include cash-flow and balance sheet measures of financial performance. A measure of brand or shareholder value growth may be appropriate depending on the nature of the client and the advertising campaign.
Discounting of other variables
Entrants are advised to discuss the competitive environment and other factors, such as distribution, pricing, advertising weight and product changes that might impact the market equilibrium.
Advertising seldom works in isolation, but to be convinced that the advertising worked, judges need to be convinced that the result was not due to other factors.
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