For all that the Internet fundamentally is-a depository for almost limitless information,
an email delivery system, an entertainment medium-it has exploded and become so
much more in the last few years. One word tells us why. What is that word?
a. broadband
b. spam
c. e-commerce
d. wireless
An advertising agency hires Starch INRA Hooper to act as an external facilitator. Most
likely, Starch INRA Hooper will be asked to
a. run recognition tests on print advertising.
b. aid the agency in the production process.
c. examine the agency’s billing structure for inefficiencies.
d. oversee the agency’s IBP efforts.
According to the text, creativity in advertising is most often stifled by
a. a firm’s shareholders who know little about promotion and advertising.
b. media buyers who choose the wrong channels for the ads.
c. account managers who want nothing more than to play it safe.
d. clients who don’t realize they are killing the very ideas they originally sought.
Zoned editions demonstrate one of newspaper’s biggest advantages for advertisers.
What is it?
a. long lifespan
b. high credibility
c. strong timeliness
d. high geographic selectivity
A manufacturer creates massive demand for its new plastic sandal and greatly increases
its production level. Over time, its high-volume production brought on by demand
stimulation results in lower costs. This is an example of
a. inelasticity of demand.
b. economies of scale.
c. brand loyalty.
d. symbolic value.
What types of brands are commonly repositioned?
a. those that are in a tightly competitive market
b. those that are bought on a regular or habitual basis
c. those that are big-ticket items
d. those that are popular with one generation but fade with the next
The Xcellent Agency specializes in developing advertising campaigns for smaller retail
clients. Xcellent was hired by Shadowleaf Shoes, a small regional chain of six shoe
stores, to develop a slogan and specific ads to be used in a three-month newspaper
campaign. Shadowleaf’s marketing director, Manuel Margolis, was adamant when
meeting with the Xcellent account executive, Kia Chin, that the campaign must be
catchy and modern to appeal to a target audience that has an active lifestyle and is
between the ages of 18 and 35. More importantly, Margolis wanted the slogan to be
memorable and unique.Kia Chin, representing Xcellent, developed a campaign and
presented it to Margolis, based on the slogan, “Do What You Do in a Shadowleaf Shoe.”
Visuals included men’s legs-different sizes, skin colors, etc.-walking, jogging, dancing,
and otherwise moving in all types of Shadowleaf shoes. She felt that this campaign
would target young male consumers, but would also get the attention of others
regarding its comfortable shoes and would raise awareness of the Shadowleaf brand.
After running the ads, the Xcellent Agency won an advertising effectiveness award. It
seemed that the surprising and appealing visuals gave the slogan unexpectedly positive
social meaning for people of all ages, not just men aged 18 to 35.
The Xcellent account manager, Kia Chin, explains to Margolis how they developed the
slogan. “Before you can be believed, you have to be liked,” she says. “And what could
be better than a new pair of shoes? Remember when you were little and you got a new
pair of shoes? And when you learned to lace them up? No matter what their age,
everybody likes putting on a new pair of shoes, right?” This creative description for the
Shadowleaf slogan could have been drawn from which core characteristic of creative
people?
a. childlike thinking
b. obsessive commitment
c. self-confidence
d. unconventional attitude
The Optima Bike Company manufactures broad-tire, three-wheeled and two-wheeled
bicycles mostly for the retirement market. Its primary market is seniors, usually those
who live in retirement communities where there are clearly designated and safe bike
paths. Seniors-and especially the younger baby boomers-like these recreational vehicles
because they are easy and safe to ride. The company has had some early successes in
Florida, Arizona, and California, where such communities began. Optima now wants to
expand to other retirement enclaves. It has learned from two well-conducted consumer
research studies that the main way that male retirees buy the Optima line is through the
urging of wives who want to exercise in some way other than playing golf.Optima
decides to engage an ad agency to capitalize on this consumer insight and promote its
bikes to newer golf communities. It asks two agencies to pitch for its business and gives
each a meeting in which it conveys the information above.Alpha Agency is based in
Miami and insists that its creative team is best suited to promote Optima. Its managers
tell the prospective client that this team is well versed in advanced animation techniques
and can dramatize the features of Optima’s two- and three-wheeled bikes in a dynamic
way. They’ll focus on how fast they can go and how they can “transform the ride” into
an adventure-this has worked in other ads, and this will appeal to the male consumers
who need to be lured away from the golf course. Following this initial display of
product prowess, they suggest a campaign that demonstrates how the bikes can be
customized to be more “comfortable and attractive for the ladies,” including pink seat
options. They finish by asking whether the brand name can be changed to ‘something
more exciting.”Beta Agency is based in Los Angeles and promises to serve as Optima’s
branding partner. It asserts that its creative philosophy is centered on long-term brand
building. Its managers propose that they will develop the right message by applying the
research-based consumer insight that women want to use the bikes to entice their
husbands to leave the golf course once in a while. They suggest that their successful
work in building regional appreciation for brands, such as Sea-Doo water vehicles and
Ski-Doo snowmobiles, indicates their prowess in branding similar but not directly
competitive brands. They emphasize the difference that Optima offers in the
recreational-ride category, and the consumer targets that differ from other brands. They
close by complimenting this prospective client on how appropriate the brand name is,
given its customer base and likely target consumer.
As often happens in new client-agency relationships, Beta Agency and Optima Bike
Company conduct a joint brainstorming session prior to finalizing the IBP campaign
strategy. Sam Spokes, head engineer and designer for Optima, interrupts the session
frequently, refuting agency staffers’ spontaneous suggestions that women love bikes, a
bike is like a golf club, and the bike will sell itself. He also labels them as uninformed
about various technical aspects of the bicycle mechanisms. How has the behavior of
Spokes influenced the brainstorming session?
a. positively, by winnowing out the bad campaign ideas from the good ones
b. negatively, by diminishing its purpose in inhibiting others from offering ideas freely
c. positively, by pointing out important aspects of product design and showing expertise
d. neutrally, by making irrelevant and immaterial comments
(Scenario 16-4)
You are a marketing associate at a promotional firm that specializes in innovative
branding. You will be meeting with several clients next week and you need to review
their files and get updated on their latest promotional efforts.
One client has made the move to have signs and billboards for his product show up in a
video game that takes users through city streets, down country roads, and across bridges
and overpasses. You make a mental note to remind the client of research that indicates
video game players
a. are irritated by such distractions.
b. consider this an added attraction when playing games.
c. have been swamped with ad clutter and now tune out such promotions.
d. are three times more likely than users of other media to buy the items they see in
product placement.
TheSolutions Group is a combination of companies that help clients better understand
their target markets through creative research approaches. It has learned that many
people have become quite adept at filtering out advertising messages and therefore do
not respond to traditional research instruments such as surveys. The Solutions Group
says that there must be a “research revolution” based on true dialogues with consumers,
not one-way monologues often seen in traditional surveys.
The Solutions Group may want to center on field work as its primary research method
because it is designed to measure “embedded” consumer practices, that is,
a. those conducted on the spot in stores, malls, and on Internet retail sites.
b. those tightly intertwined in the real lives of consumers.
c. those previously subconscious thoughts or hidden feelings that are revealed.
d. those habitual and almost automatic purchasing decisions.
Headquartered in Boston, The Gillette Company is the world leader in male grooming,
a category that includes blades, razors, and shaving preparations. Several years ago,
Gillette announced the launch of two new high-performance women’s razors,
broadening the portfolio of the top-selling Venus brand, the world’s most successful
franchise in female shaving. The two new razors were Venus Vibrance the first power
wet shaving system for women, and Venus Disposable, a premium-performing
disposable razor. Both razors incorporated technological and design enhancements to
better address the specific shaving needs of women, and will build on current market
segments. More recently the company has launched Venus Embrace, the first five-blade
women’s razor, with the tagline, “Reveal the Goddess in You.” According to its website,
nearly 40 million women now use Venus products.
(http://www.gillettevenus.com/en_US/products/index.jsp)
The original plan to sell new products to the female market
a. could be considered an STP effort because Gillette is targeting multiple segments.
b. may or may not have been an STP effort, depending on whether Gillette has created
sub-segments of these large segments.
c. may or may not have been an STP effort, depending on whether all possible segments
are being targeted by Gillette.
d. fit all the criteria of an STP effort by Gillette.
Xercise, a nationwide fitness center chain, interviews its customers to determine their
wants and needs regarding their local center’s services, classes, equipment, facility
features, business hours, etc. The marketers at Xercise are in the process of developing
a. a marketing database.
b. an external mailing list.
c. a geo-demographic data source.
d. a single-source tracking study.
One of the strategic implications of the slice-of-life advertising approach is the
possibility that the brand may become a cultural icon-another Coca-Cola.
American Express is dissatisfied with the degree of penetration of its Gold Rewards
Plus card in the U.S. market. Marketing managers at American Express feel that the
firm needs to increase advertising to small entrepreneurial businesses to encourage
more acceptance of the card for use in purchasing office supplies and durable goods like
computers and office furniture. American Express feels that to accomplish the goal of
increased penetration in this sector, the budget should be based on communications
objectives aimed at certain target markets.American Express marketers say they do not
use the ____ advertising budgeting method because if sales begin to decrease in this
segment, so will their budget.
a. share-of-market approach
b. percentage-of-sales approach
c. share-of-voice approach
d. objective-and-task approach
In 2007, Michigan-based Ford Motor Company fell from second to third in U.S. annual
vehicle sales for the first time in 56 years. Facing stiff competition from foreign
automakers and brand indifference amongst U.S. consumers, Ford appeared to be
headed towards turbulent times. However, when marketing and advertising guru Jim
Farley joined Ford in November 2007, he brought a number of fresh ideas that helped
turn the company in the right direction. Farley quickly found that Americans had
become indifferent to the Ford brand, which in his opinion, was worse than disliking the
brand. So Farley, along with the rest of the marketing team at Ford, created a campaign
that used catchy songs and cheerful images to accompany its line of automobiles. The
marketing team at Ford is now heavily utilizing the Internet to promote the new Ford
Fiesta, which is the focus of a campaign that has greatly increased the awareness of the
Ford Brand. The company has also been stressing the value of buying environmentally
friendly cars, a move it hopes will improve the brand’s image throughout the world. So
far, the moves appear to be working-in late 2010, Ford was once again named the
second leading automotive company in the United States, as well as fourth largest in the
world.
(“Ford Can Fiesta Again.” The Economist, October 28, 2010)
Assuming that Ford’s intent behind promoting the use of environmentally friendly
vehicles is to appeal to a broad social movement, which of the following methods
should the company consider?
a. feel-good ads
b. image ads
c. social/cultural movement ads
d. society-friendly ads
Your agency is pressed for time, and you are suddenly called into a meeting to make a
media recommendation. The account exec and the client are sure you can figure out
how to reach their narrowly defined target audience. You are given electronic files and
stacks of paperwork provided by Nielsen, Simmons, and MRI and are asked for an
answer ASAP, based solely on these data. Your problem, seen industry wide, is that
these research services
a. do not measure elements that influence consumer behavior.
b. cannot provide a measurement system for assessing television audiences.
c. have no way to generate data on very narrow audience characteristics and related
media preferences.
d. can provide information on age and gender but not on geographic breakdowns.
In 2008, Chicago native Andrew Mason launched Groupon, a website that offered
Chicago consumers various “deals of the day.” At the time, Groupon had a unique
business model-each day, one “groupon” would be offered in a particular city. If a
certain number of people signed up for the offer, then the deal became available to all.
Now, only two years later, the business continues to grow, and the service is being
offered in several more U.S. cities. Google made a multi-billion dollar offer for the
company that Mason turned down in December of 2010. Continuing the company’s
rapid rise to success will be a challenging task for CEO Andrew Mason and his team
because they will be the first to attempt to advertise the unique services. Groupon needs
to find ways to attract new users, and looking into new forms of advertising will be
essential to the company’s success.Groupon’s management has budgeted $20,000 for
social media advertising for the coming year. How much can their advertising agency
expect to earn from this commitment using a traditional commission system
compensation plan?
a. $2,000
b. $3,000
c. $5,000
d. $8,000
Today’s media planners and buyers often examine an enormous number of options to
put together an effective media plan within a client’s budget.
The appeal of direct marketing is the ease with which marketers can measure results,
most often by calculating cost per inquiry (CPI) or cost per order (CPO).
Customer relationship management, or CRM, is just what the term implies. It involves
cultivating long-term relationships with customers.
Based on the findings of Gardner and others, extreme levels of creativity seem to lead
to a satisfying personal life and a carefree professional life.
The majority of service firms, governments, social organizations, and agencies cannot
afford to participate in today’s advertising process.
Gardner supports the contention that creative people have much less interest in playing
by the rules, acting nice, and being socially acceptable compared to more ordinary
people.
Today’s newspapers have virtually lost their ability to offer the unique advantages to
advertisers that they once did, such as geographic selectivity and timeliness.
The social aspect of the Internet is one of the most important reasons for its success.