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END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT
Marketing Debate: Should Marketers Test Advertising?
Advertising creatives have long lamented ad pretesting. They believe that it inhibits their creative
process and results in much sameness in commercials. Marketers, on the other hand, believe that
ad pretesting provides necessary checks and balances as to whether an ad campaign is being
developed in a way so that it will connect with consumers and be well-received in the
marketplace.
Take a position: Ad pretesting in often an unnecessary waste of marketing dollars vs. ad
pretesting provides an important diagnostic function for marketers as to the likely success of an
ad campaign.
Pro: Most advertisers try to measure the communication effect of an ad—that is, its potential
effect on awareness, knowledge, or preference. They would also like to measure the ad’s sales
effect. Communication-Effect Research called copy testing seeks to determine whether an ad is
communicating effectively. Marketers should perform this test both before an ad is put into
media and after it is printed or broadcast.
Many advertisers use posttests to assess the overall impact of a completed campaign. If a
company hoped to increase brand awareness from 20 percent to 50 percent and succeeded in
increasing it to only 30 percent, then the company is not spending enough, its ads are poor, or it
has overlooked some other factor, giving them valuable information at a reasonable cost.
Con: Pretest critics maintain that agencies can design ads that test well but may not necessarily
perform well in the marketplace. Proponents of ad pretesting maintain that useful diagnostic
information can emerge and that pretests should not be used as the sole decision criterion
anyway. Widely acknowledged as being one of the best advertisers around, Nike is notorious for
doing very little ad pretesting.
MARKETING DISCUSSION
What are some of your favorite TV ads? Why? How effective are the messages and creative
strategies? How are they building brand equity?
Student answers will differ depending upon their favorite TV commercials but all answers should
cover the major points of this chapter.
Marketing Excellence: Coca-Cola
1. What does Coca-Cola stand for? Is it the same for everyone? Explain.
2. Coca-Cola has successfully marketed to billions of people around the world. Why is it so
successful?
3. Can Pepsi or any other company ever surpass Coca-Cola? Why or why not? What are
Coca-Cola’s greatest risks?
Marketing Excellence: Gillette
1. Gillette has successfully convinced the world that “more is better” in terms of number of
blades and other razor features. How did it do it? Why has that worked in the past? Will it
continue to work in the future? Why or why not?
2. Explain why Gillette’s sports marketing partnerships have been so successful.
3. Some of Gillette’s spokespeople such as Derek Jeter and Tiger Woods have run into
controversy after becoming endorsers for the brand. Does this hurt Gillette’s brand equity or
marketing message? Explain.
4. Will Gillette ever become as successful at marketing to women as to men? Why or why not?
