Which company has become a media conglomerate on the Web, amassing its own
digital empire of diverse Internet sites?
a. ABC Broadcasting Network
b. Facebook
c. Dell
d. InterActiveCorp
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.A number of “revolutionary”
techniques can be found by the Solutions Group in an attempt to unearth consumers’
true feelings and honest opinions about brands and ads. But it should be remembered
that problems with validity most likely arise in studies when respondents are asked to
a. taste products in blind taste tests.
b. recall their memories about ads for a particular brand.
c. share their thoughts and opinions about certain brands.
d. do things they don’t normally do in real life when viewing ads.
Appleberry Farm Organic Jam has remained No. 1 one in the jam and jelly food
category for several years. Although still a distant No. 2 in this category, Blackberry
Valley Organic Jam is gaining on Appleberry. Appleberry had $39,466,000 in sales last
year, while Blackberry had only $16,301,000, but that was 11 percent higher than its
2008 sales.Organic jams and jellies are important to marketers because they appeal to
health-conscious consumers and have a fresh taste that many consider superior to
traditional fruit spreads.Appleberry Farm has been put on notice. Blackberry Valley
Jam’s move up came despite lower ad spending than Appleberry Farm Jam. The
Blackberry brand spent about $972,000 in measured media during 2010, compared to
$1,553,000 for Appleberry. Blackberry also underwent an aggressive relaunch last year
with reformulated flavors, revamped packaging, new ads, and additional
media.Approximate 2010 Jam and Jelly category advertising spending, by brand:
Though at first it seems unbelievable for this product category, Blackberry’s new
cutting-edge ad agency has come up with a series of sexy ads with suggestive copy –
humorous, tongue-in-cheek, but a little racy – to run in several men’s adult content
magazines. Blackberry’s CEO likes the ads but is having second thoughts. She’s afraid
this might create a negative impression of the brand among women who are offended
by their favorite wholesome, homespun product appearing in “girly” magazines. The
CEO is concerned about
a. gross impression.
b. forgetting function.
c. message weight.
d. context effect.
When advertisers promote snowblowers in January, air conditioners in June, and school
supplies in August, in essence they are actually
a. activating need states.
b. providing functional benefits.
c. creating brand communities.
d. offering peripheral cues.
Combining sales objectives with communications objectives
a. will almost certainly spell disaster for an advertising plan.
b. may seem effective on paper but may confuse consumers during the campaign.
c. is the only way to identify truly quantitative benchmarks for the campaign.
d. can be an excellent way to develop an advertising campaign.
Which of the following best defines ethics?
a. moral standards and principles used to evaluate behavior
b. truthful and validated statements and beliefs
c. legal limits placed on personal practices
d. universal and timeless values about what is good or bad
(Scenario 14-1) When the social networking/gaming website Foursquare launched in
2009, it was only accessible to residents in 100 U.S. cities. One year later, an updated
version of the service allows check-ins from locations all over the world and has over
500,000 users internationally. The site, which allows registered users to connect with
friends and update their location, receives over one million check-ins per week. When
users visit a particular store, their profile is automatically updated and they can share
feelings about favorable experiences (or unfavorable ones). The site now holds
partnerships with over 800 establishments worldwide, and high-profile partnerships
with the Bravo Network and The New York Times have greatly increased the site’s
popularity.
As the number of Foursquare users increases, so do the efforts made by marketers to
appeal to visitors to the site. Many of the site’s users access it via their cell phone or
PDA, so many companies are now creating advertisements to fit these media channels.
These advertisements are examples of
a. intrusive marketing.
b. mobile marketing.
c. e-commerce.
d. splash marketing.
E-commerce has revolutionized the way consumers shop, offering massive amounts of
product details and pricing structures that have led to an increase in two widespread
movements that have greatly affected both advertisers and ad agencies. What are they?
a. earned media and unmeasured media
b. deal-proneness and price/cost transparency
c. globalization and multicultural media
d. net promoter score and brand-chat volume
Effective ads turn mere products into actual brands by
a. wrapping them with cultural meaning.
b. keeping prices lower than those of competitors.
c. describing in detail how they work.
d. repeating the message in more than one medium.
It is somewhat of a generalization, but the creative department of an agency is usually
seen by potential clients as
a. a pampered group of difficult artists that are best left alone.
b. a subdivision of the powerful account services department.
c. a nice addition but not really essential to an agency’s strength.
d. a key issue when selecting an agency.
Scenario 17-2
AmericanProfile is an e-technology company. It allows companies to search and
navigate gigabytes of data, categorize disparate content, and gain secure access to
information regardless of where it resides”all from its Web browser. So,
AmericanProfile can share content across connected servers with partners, suppliers,
customers, and employees to form an e-business content network. And it all happens in
real time.AmericanProfile has also adapted techniques of marketers at a well-known pet
magazine who are well aware that casual visitors are often reluctant to provide personal
information. The pet magazine has a full page on its website dedicated to these privacy
concerns. The magazine pledges to deal with these issues by making sure consumers are
contacted only with meaningful messages, and by
a. abstaining from selling their information to third parties without permission.
b. making the site appear independent from commercial sponsors.
c. having creative salespeople call visitors and ask about such concerns.
d. enhancing the final mailing list with nothing more than demographic data.
Helene Curtis is preparing to introduce a new brand of all-natural-ingredient shampoo
into the market in several months. In test marketing, many consumers liked the product
but their comments indicated that it is different enough from existing brands that
significant promotion and information will be needed to convince them to switch from
their current brands. Helene Curtis has always used an objective-and-task approach to
develop advertising budgets. Due to these research results, the firm must now do a
detailed build-up analysis.Helene Curtis has once again decided to use
objective-and-task budgeting to set the advertising expenditures.This is the only
budgeting method that focuses specifically on advertising spending
a. as leading to advertising sales.
b. as calculated by a mathematical formula.
c. as determined by percentage of gross profit.
d. as related to advertising objectives.
A new neighbor just moved in and asks you where to get good take-out food. Three
places immediately come to mind, and you mention them. The short list of possibilities
that you quickly created is called a(n)
a. external set.
b. evaluation set.
c. evoked set.
d. consideration set.
Repetition advertising is a(n) ____ game that at least increases the odds of a name being
recognized, a product being remembered, and hopefully a sale being made.
a. subliminal
b. probability
c. cognitive
d. emotional
A canned soup manufacturer and its agency are nailing down the responsibilities of
each side as they begin their planning effort. In a nutshell, the agency will
a. translate goals into strategies and create promotions and finished ads for the product.
b. provide input on the most important competition within the soup industry.
c. identify the value that the product offers to customers.
d. assess the external environment for potential soup purchases.
What are the three basic forms of sales promotion?
a. at-home, in-store, and out-of-home
b. short-term, long-term, and point-of-purchase
c. indoor, outdoor, and mobile
d. consumer-market, trade-market, and business-market
NASCAR fans are ten times more likely to purchase a product promoted by their
favorite driver, relative to the fans of other sports.
What is a positioning strategy? What are the three main types of fundamental
positioning themes? Also, what is repositioning?
When today’s advertisers talk about identifying and reaching consumers through the
powerful sociological concept of community, they are referring to various U.S.
locations, geographic regions, and populated areas.
A late-night television commercial for kitchen knives urges viewers to “call this
toll-free number in the next 30 minutes to receive a free cutting board” and assures
them that “operators are on duty.” This is an example of a direct response ad.
One characteristic of a direct marketing program is that it almost always tries to
strengthen brand recognition.
By the early 1980s, ad agencies began to openly voice their distrust of the sacred,
all-encompassing reliance on scientific research methods established in the 1950s, and
in-house research departments began to shrink or disappear.
What are the core characteristics of great creative minds, as identified by Howard
Gardner? List as many as you can. Then relate them to the positive and negative
repercussions in the lives of people who demonstrate extreme levels of creativity.