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REVIEW QUESTIONS
7-4. Define objectives, strategies, and tactics and explain how they differ.
For marketing communication, strategic planning is the process of identifying a
problem that can be solved with marketing communication, and then determining
7-5. What information does a brand communication plan derive from the business
plan or marketing plan?
A business plan is a snapshot of the company and the environment is which it
operates.It directs the operations of an entire company, or in larger companies, a
specific division called a strategic business unit (SBU), which is a line of products
under a single brand name. A business plan begins with a description of the business
For marketing communication managers, the most important part of the marketing
plan is the marketing mix strategy, although close attention must also be paid to
7-6. What is a situation analysis, and how does it differ from a SWOT analysis?
A situation analysis assesses the external and internal environments that affect
marketing programs—the company’s history, products, and brands, as well as the
competitive environment, consumer trends, and other marketplace trends that affect
A SWOT analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The
strengths and weaknesses are internally focused and the opportunities and threats lie
7-7. Discuss the cascading concept in planning and setting objectives.
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Business planning involves a set of cascading objectives and strategies. Corporate
objectives and strategies are achieved through planning at the level of marketing, and
7-8. What are the key decisions involved in establishing a brand and planning brand
strategy?
Key strategic decisions that guide marketing communication plans include the
After planners have examined the external and internal environments and defined the
critical areas that need to be addressed, they can develop specific communication
objectives to be accomplished during a specified time period. Marketing
communication strategy is based on accurately targeting an audience that will be
7-9. What is a position and how is it established?
A position is how consumers define the product or brand in comparison to its
competitors. It rests upon a particular feature or attribute that is important to the
consumer. It is also based upon some notion of comparison. It is about locking the
7-10. What is an insight and how is it uncovered? What is insight mining?
Insight begins with research. The objective is to figure out a key insight that will help
move the target audience to respond to the message. Insight research, in other words, is
Insight mining is the process of finding the “aha” in a stack of research reports, data, and
transcripts. It is the greatest challenge for the account planner. The Account Planning
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7-11. What is account planning and what does the account planner bring to an
advertising plan?
Account planning is the tool that analyzes the research to uncover consumer insights.
Insights are what happen when the light bulb goes off and the planner sees something
in a new way. Account planning is the research and analysis process used to gain the
knowledge of the consumer that is expressed as a key consumer insight. An account
The account planning function develops the marketing communication strategy with
other members of the client and agency team and guides its implementation in the
creative work and media planning. Account planners do not design the creative
Leaders in the U.S. account planning industry explain their task as follows: 1)
understand the meaning of the brand, 2) understand the target audience’s relationship
to the brand, 3) articulate communication strategies, 4) prepare creative briefs based
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
7-12. Theowners of the Vico brand of organic coconut water believe that it is the next
big trend in the bottled water category. It uses the clear liquid inside young, green
coconuts (not coconut milk that is derived from pressing the coconut pulp). Healthy
The marketing plan outline developed by students will vary, based on the amount of
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•Next, students must target their audience by identifying the group of
customers most likely to be interested in their product offering, developing a
•From there the product must be positioned.That is, the features that
•Other branding strategies students should develop include brand identity,
7-13. You are in a meeting about the strategy for an automotive client who is proposing
a new upscale luxury version of an electric car. One of your team members says
positioning is an old strategy and no longer useful for modern products because the
market is so complex and changes so fast. Another person argues strongly that you
need to understand the position in the consumer’s mind before you can even begin to
develop an advertising strategy. Discuss one side of this issue for the launch of this new
product and develop your position to present and defend in a class debate.
Students may argue successfully for either position. Here are two perspectives:
In favor of positioning:A position is a place in a consumer’s mind where the product
or brand is located in comparison to its competitors. In the automotive market, this
Against positioning: Students may argue against positioning by favoring other
Consumer’s Response Advertiser’s Objective
Perceive Create brand identity
Feel Cue brand personality
In other words, brand perception is created by a number of different fragments of
information, feelings, and personal experiences with a brand. You could say that a
brand is an integrated perception—in other words, all these different aspects of
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TAKE-HOME PROJECTS
7-14. Portfolio Project:Examine the following websites: www.lexus.com,
www.infiniti.com, and www.mercedes-benz.com. Based on what you find on these sites,
compare the positioning strategies for these top-of-the-line SUV models. Analyze the
product features, competitive advantage, and points of differentiation.
Student responses to this assignment will vary. However, all students should identify
both tangible and intangible features of each brand to determine points of
7-15. Mini-Case Analysis: Review the Chick-fil-A case that opened and closed this
chapter. Assume you are working on this account and have been asked to pull together
a presentation for the brand team for the next year of this campaign. What research
would you recommend conducting in order to decide if the campaign should be
continued? What do you need to find out in order to make this decision?
Have each of the original objectives established for the Chick-fil-A brand been fully
reached? The decision whether or not to continue the campaign rests upon the
answer to this question. If the answer is yes, then going forward the brand may want
to begin shifting toward reminder advertising to retain its presence in the consumer’s
TRACE NORTH AMERICA CASE
Planning for Multicultural Communication
Read the TRACE case in the Appendix before coming to class.
7-16.Develop a creative brief based on what you believe an account planner would
have developed. Keep it to one page.
7-17.Develop at least three business objectives and strategies, three communications
objectives and strategies, and three media objectives and strategies based on thiscase
study.
Hands-On Case
P2-1. Compare and contrast these two campaigns. What lessons can you learn from
these cases that might help you communicate to diverse audiences?
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Both cases illustrate how important it is that brand communicators understand the
norms, values, and cultural influences that impact consumer decision making of diverse
P2-2: Explain how these campaigns work using the facets model. How do these
campaigns help communicate brand meaning?
Student responses to this question may vary. Kraft’s Oreo campaign made Hispanics
aware of the tradition of the Oreo ‘ritual’ (perception), focused heavily on the close
emotional bond between parent and child (affect), and illustrated how usage of their
P2-3: Evaluate Kraft’s strategy of reaching parents in less acculturated Hispanic
households by linking the fun of the Oreo ritual with the valued relationship between
parents and their children.
Often less acculturated Hispanics (first and second generation immigrants) do not speak
English very well, if at all, and remain wedded to the traditions and beliefs of their
country of origin. By linking the fun of the Oreo ritual with the valued relationship
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
WEB REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is strategic planning, and how can strategic planning be linked to the
creative process?
Strategic planning is the process of identifying a problem that can be solved with
marketing communication, then determining objectives (what you want to
accomplish), deciding on strategies (how to accomplish the objectives), and
Strategic thinking requires creativity and a process of searching for ideas to solve
problems. Pat Fallon and Fred Senn, cofounders of the legendary agency Fallon
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2. What kinds of questions are important to ask in a market situation analysis? How do
the answers help advertisers?
A set of “what’s going on” questions help structure this market analysis:
• What is happening with the brand and the category?
• How is it happening?
• Where is it happening?
• When is it happening?
• To whom is it happening?
3. Discuss the concept of targeting.
Marketing communication strategy is based on accurately targeting an audience who
will be responsive to a particular type of message, one that meets the advertising
objectives. There is more to targeting than just identifying a possible audience and
Understanding a target audience demands an appreciation of diversity, which can be
defined as “the acknowledgement and inclusion of a wide variety of people with
differing characteristics, attributes, beliefs, values, and experiences.” In advertising,
4. What are the various approaches that can be used to locate a brand position?
A technique called feature analysis helps structure an assessment of features relative
to competitors’ products to identify where a brand has an advantage. Instructions for
•Superiority Position:Jack Trout suggests that positioning is always easy if
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•Preemptive Position: Being first in the category often creates category
•Psychological Position: Often brands are designed around non-product
it?
•Competitor’s Strategy: How can the product go head-to-head or move
•Category Factors: Is the competition coming from outside the category and,
5. What is the account planner’s mission?
Account planning analyzes the research to uncover consumer insights. Itis the research and analysis
process used to gain knowledge of the consumer that is expressed as a key consumer insight.An
account planner, then, is a person in an agency who uses a disciplined system to research a brand and
its customer relationships in order to devise advertising (and other marketing communication) message
strategies that are effective in addressing consumer needs and wants. Account planning agencies are
based in research but focus on deriving meanings about consumers. The account planner is seen as the
voice of the consumer.
Account planners do not design the creative strategy for an ad, as this is usually a
team process that requires the participation of the creative department. Rather, the
Susan Mendelsohn, a leader in the U.S. account planning industry explains the
account manager’s task as follows: 1) understand the meaning of the brand, 2)
understand the target audience’s relationship to the brand, 3) articulate
6. What is a creative brief (or a communication brief), and how is it typically
outlined?
The outcome of strategic research usually reaches agency creative departments in the
form of a strategy document called a creative brief or a communication brief. It explains
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Consumer insights: What motivates the target? What are the “major truths”
Brand imperatives: What are the important features? What’s the point of
The proposition or selling idea: What is the single thought that the
The brief is strategic but it should also be inspirational. It is designed to ignite the
ASSIGNMENTS
Individual Assignments
1. Through online research, locate and interview an advertising account planner at an
advertising agency. What are their main responsibilities and challenges? How do
these items relate to the material found in Chapter 7? Write a 750-word report
describing your findings.
2. Create a situation analysis for a product or service that is familiar to you. This may
require some online research. Detail your findings in outline form.
Think-Pair-Share
1. Working with a classmate, invent a product or service and then devise a set of
objectives for it based upon the six categories of the Facets Model of Advertising
Effects. Present your objectives to the class in a 5-minute presentation.
2. Work with a classmate to identify a company that embraces a societal marketing
philosophy. Examine that company’s business plan, marketing plan, and brand
communication plan brand communication tactics to determine how that company’s
social commitment is reflected in each level of its strategic planning.
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OUTSIDE EXAMPLES
1. Through an Internet search, locate a brand manager and interview them on the subject
of brand communication strategy. How does the process work at their agency?
Discuss products or services that the brand manager has helped launch, basing your
questions on the following table:
Consumer’s Response Advertiser’s Objective
See/Hear Create brand identity
Feel Cue brand personality and liking
Think/Understand Cue brand position and understanding
Connect Cue brand image
Believe Create brand promise and brand preference
Act/Do Inspire brand loyalty
For example, if a certain product advertisement was designed to encourage the
consumer to feel a certain way, how did the brand manager cue brand personality in
their advertising campaign? Write a 750-word report detailing the results of your
interview.
2. In this chapter, the textbook states that “multicultural communication demands an
appreciation of diversity, and the empathy that results from such appreciation.” Why
is that the case? Exactly what is multicultural marketing and why is it necessary?
Conduct some research on the topic of multicultural marketing and prepare a three
page paper that responds to the two questions above. Also, visit aef.org to view ads
that have won awards for multicultural excellence over the last few years. In your
paper, use some of these ads as examples of effective targeting of diverse markets and
explain how multicultural marketing can contribute to an organization’s attainment of
its goals and strategies.
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