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END OF CHAPTER MATERIAL
Discussion Questions
15-1 Explain the decisions marketing managers make when developing an advertising
program. (AACSB: Communication)
Answer: Student answers will vary based on their personal response. Refer to the MyLab for
15-2 Advertising should always aim to create immediate action. Do you agree? Explain your
example (AACSB: Communication; Reflective Thinking)
Answer:
Advertising does aim to move customers along the buyer readiness steps, but it does not
always seek to encourage the audience to make an immediate purchase or contact the
business. In many cases, advertising is designed to create and maintain a strong
15-3 What is meant by the term “native advertising”? (AACSB: Communication)
Answer:
Native advertising is content in media that looks like standard content (an editorial or a
comment) but is, in fact, paid-for content by an advertiser. It can also be brand-prepared
15-4 What is an advertising agency? Discuss the changes in advertising agencies today compared
with how they operated in the past? (AACSB: Communication)
Answer:
An advertising agency is a marketing services firm that assists companies in planning,
preparing, implementing, and evaluating all or portions of their advertising programs.
Advertising agencies originated in the mid- to late 1800s from salespeople and brokers who
15-5 Explain how the Internet has become a key area for public relations activities. (AACSB:
Communication)
Answer: Storytelling and engagement are key parts of PR. The internet offers different ways
of approaching this thanks to YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. The
Critical Thinking Exercises
15-6 Search YouTube for three of your favorite television commercials, each using a different
execution style. For each ad, identify the execution style used and the audience targeted. Is it
a good ad? Be prepared to present the commercials and support your conclusions. (AACSB:
Communication; Use of IT; Reflective Thinking)
Answer:
Student answers will vary. Since nine styles are available, plenty of room for variation
An example of testimonial evidence or endorsements is Hyundai’s 2016 Super Bowl ad
featuring comedian Kevin Hart in its 2016 Hyundai Genesis with car finder feature
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R_483zeVF8). Old Spice uses fantasy in many of its
commercials. One example is found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hteeecX1oQ. The
following commercial for Adirondack Tree Experts uses technical expertise:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDACVXL5wnY.
15-7 Advertising objectives can be classified by their primary purpose—to inform, persuade,
or remind. In a small group, locate one advertisement that primarily informs, one that
persuades, and one that reminds. Explain how each ad meets the desired objective. (AACSB:
Communication; Use of IT; Reflective Thinking)
Answer: Student answers will vary based on their personal response. Refer to the MyLab for
15-8 In early 2016, the Wounded Warrior Project suffered a major blow to its fundraising when
reports surfaced suggesting that the nonprofit organization spent too much of its money on
travel, conferences, and high-end events rather than direct assistance to wounded veterans.
Research this case. Was the Wounded Warrior Project’s public relations response to the
alleged misspending accusations effective in reaching out to its donors and other audiences?
Why or why not? How is social media changing the public relations process? (AACSB:
Communication; Use of IT; Reflective Thinking)
Answer:
Students will find many information sources on the Wounded Warrior Project crisis.
Public relations is all about engaging publics and building good relations, so it is important to
focus on favorable publicity, building up a good corporate image, and handling or heading
off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events. In cases of wrongdoing, it is difficult for the
In crisis communications, social media is changing the game. In the past, after a story ran its
course in the main media (newspapers, television, and others), the public tended to forget an
APPLICATIONS AND CASES
Online, Mobile, and Social Media Marketing: Facebook Audience Network
Facebook has 1.44 billion monthly users, and a large majority of users typically visit the site
daily on a mobile device. What started as an online social network allowing people to connect
with each other has transformed into a behemoth media mogul that promises to be a
game-changer in mobile advertising. Facebook announced its new mobile ad platform called
Audience Network to deliver targeted mobile ads for advertisers. While there are other mobile ad
platforms (Google is the dominant player), Facebook has a treasure trove of data that is useful
for advertisers. Google is strong in search data, but Facebook is part of our lives. Facebook has
been placing ads on its site for advertisers, but now Facebook will be pushing those ads to
third-party apps. This is a win-win-win situation for advertisers, app developers, and Facebook
because advertisers get their mobile ads to people based on very personal information, app
developers get ad revenue, and Facebook gets a cut of the ad revenue for placing the ad. And it’s
no small cut—in just the last quarter of 2015, Facebook earned $5.6 billion in mobile ad revenue.
That’s 80 percent of Facebook’s overall ad revenue.
15-9 Compare and contrast Facebook’s, Google’s, and Twitter’s ad networks. Which is most
effective for advertisers? (AACSB: Communication; Reflective Thinking)
Answer:
For information on Facebook’s Audience Network, see Jillian D’Onfro, “How an 'Oddball'
Team Created One of Facebook's Biggest Threats to Google,” Business Insider, February 28,
15-10 Mobile advertising is one of the fastest growing sectors of digital advertising, but how is
mobile advertising effectiveness measured? Research this issue and create a report of your
findings. (AACSB: Communication; Reflective Thinking)
Answer:
The industry standard for measuring mobile ad effectiveness is click-through rates, but
advertisers want better measures. Nielson offer Digital Brand Effect measures, including
mobile impact. Other companies are looking at offline measures called “door open rate,”
which measures whether or not a mobile ad generated foot traffic in a store, and “the register
For a discussion of the problems associated with mobile ad effectiveness measurement, see
Tom Simonite, “Why No One Likes Mobile Ads and How Companies Hope to Change
Marketing Ethics: Lie to Me
The UK public relations industry is worth an estimated $12 billion per year. Some $9 billion is
spent in-house by business organizations, and the remaining $3 billion is spent on hiring
freelance public relations specialists. A review of the public relations industry in the United
Kingdom revealed a fascinating mix of operations and options. For the most part, the larger PR
agencies are concentrated in London. These tended to be big-budget-oriented, extremely
professional, large agencies with a host of blue chip clients. There are also a large number of
“micro” markets that are handled by PR specialists. These agencies have specialized knowledge
of a sector, product type, country or sector. They are the “go-to” agency in specialized situations;
it also seems that the bigger agencies have them on sub-contract when necessary. Apart from
London, Manchester has the largest number of agencies with the greatest income. There are
another seventeen cities in the United Kingdom that have at least one dedicated PR agency with
a range of clients. In the regional markets and the less densely populated areas of the United
Kingdom, there is greater fragmentation and a larger number of freelance PR specialists. These
freelancers often work as a fairly small group and are not classified as agencies. PR as a part of
the overall market effort seems alive and well in the United Kingdom.
15-11 Investigate the public relations industry in your own country. Is there a regulating
organization? Are the agencies large or small? What is the spending on public relations? How
does this compare to the United Kingdom? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication;
Ethical understanding and reasoning; Reflective Thinking)
Answer:
Student answers will vary, but UK-based students should consider the broader EU and see if
there are differences and similarities between the countries. The interesting thing about PR
15-12 Suppose public relations is only necessary when something has gone wrong. Why do
most companies opt for a permanent PR cover? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication;
Information Technology; Reflective Thinking)
Answer:
Many of the larger companies retain their own PR departments for very good reasons. The
implication of the question is that PR is all about being reactive to situations, whereas good
Marketing by the Numbers: Dubai City Guide
Cyber Gear’s Dubai City Guide has been active online since 1996. It has become a vital source
of news and information for Dubai residents and visitors. With a wide range of stories covering
news, city events, promotions, sales, art events, movie timings, and other features, it is constantly
being updated. The Web site is well organized and attractive, and it reflects the vibrant nature of
Dubai itself. Many tourists visit the site before coming to Dubai, and the guide has in excess of
80,000 subscribers and attracts over a million visitors per month. The site is largely funded by
advertisers, and Cyber Gear has created a system by which advertisers can choose pages that best
fit their target audiences. The site is very open about its visitor statistics, which is understandable
given the fact that it faces a huge amount of competition from other advertising outlets and
opportunities. The following statistics on the Web traffic for the site as of October 2010 are
available at www.dubaicityguide.com/m/main/advertise-with-us-1.asp#vital. A common measure
of advertising efficiency is cost per thousand impressions (CPM). The following table outlines
the typical CPM rates for advertising on the Web site:
Standard banner $25 CPM
Leaderboard banner $40 CPM
Skyscraper banner $35 CPM
Space banner $50 CPM
15-13 If a standard banner reaches 670,000 impressions, what would be the cost to the
advertiser? (AACSB: Communication; Analytical Reasoning)
Answer:
670,000
1,000 =670.
670 ×US $ 25=US $ 16,750.
15-14 Calculate the total cost for an email campaign to subscribers based on the cost of $150
CPM. (AACSB: Communication; Analytical Reasoning; Reflective Thinking)
Answer:
82,000
1,000 =82.
82 ×US $ 150=US $ 12,300.
Company Case Notes
Allstate: Bringing Mayhem to the Auto Insurance Advertising Wars
Synopsis
Once a group of massively boring companies, auto insurance firms were not known for creative
advertising. That has changed dramatically in the past decade as all of the top companies have
developed creative and entertaining campaigns based on widely recognized personality symbols.
Each has also poured more and more money into advertising and promotion in an effort to grow
or protect market share. This case follows Allstate’s efforts by extended the longest-running
slogan to the Mayhem campaign.
Teaching Objectives
The teaching objectives for this case are to:
1. Consider the past, present, and future of advertising and the factors that are affecting it.
2. Analyze a campaign based on the elements of a creative message.
3. Understand the factors involved in selecting advertising media.
4. Examine factors for assessing advertising effectiveness.
5. Gain practical experience by designing an advertisement for the Super Bowl and
integrating it to a full campaigning.
Discussion Questions
15-18 Why has Allstate’s “good hands” slogan withstood the test of time to become advertising’s
longest-running slogan?
A strong emotional appeal is the core of a good campaign. This is particularly true when it is
an emotion such as reassurance in relation to a potentially big loss. Given that people’s cars
15-19 Analyze Allstate’s Mayhem ads based on the process of creating an advertising message as
outlined in the text (for the latest Mayhem ads, check
www.allstate.com/mayhem-is-everywhere.aspx).
There are numerous different examples of Mayhem ads that students can analyze. But each of
Breaking through the clutter. As the text points out, “today’s content must be better planned,
more imaginative, more entertaining, and more emotionally engaging.” It would seem that
Merging advertising and entertainment. The portfolio of Mayhem ads illustrates that not
only are these ads out to drive home a message, they are created for the purposes of
Message strategy. As noted above, the Mayhem campaign has a strong creative concept, or
Message execution. Of the message execution styles listed in the text, personality symbol
15-20 Discuss issues of selecting advertising media for the Mayhem campaign. How might this
process differ from that of campaigns for other companies?
The main battleground in the insurance advertising wars is television. The 30-second spot ad
is the primary weapon of choice. Each of the major players is touting their own personality
symbol in a manner that tells a story through mini-movies. Thus, while all the other elements
15-21 Based on the information in this case, how might Allstate measure the effectiveness of the
Mayhem campaign?
Because the core of the campaign is TV spot ads, traditional measures like surveys can be
used to assess ad awareness, knowledge, and emotional response. However, with modern
technology, it becomes increasingly important for advertisers to assess behavioral outcomes.
What are viewers doing as a result of being exposed to these ads and other elements of the
15-22 Has the Mayhem campaign been effective? Support your answer.
The campaign has all the right elements as a winner—award-winning, creative, likeable, and
entertaining. But when assessing any campaign, the criteria must be rooted in the objectives
of the advertiser. What were Allstate’s objectives? From this case, the Dennis Hasbert “Are
you in good hands?” campaign was supplemented with Mayhem in order to “kick Flo’s ass.”
This might lead some to conclude that the Mayhem campaign has not been effective.
However, be sure to point out that there are multiple factors that affect revenue and market
share. It is often unrealistic to put all the success of a brand on its advertising campaign.
Teaching Suggestions
Prior to discussing the case, have students select their favorite auto insurance advertisements.
Have them do so prior to coming to class. Select a few to come forward and play those ads for
the class. Discuss whether or not these ads are merely entertaining or if they actually strengthen
the brand and provide advertising return-on-investment.
This case also works well with the consumer behavior chapter (Chapter 5) and the integrated
marketing communications chapter (Chapter 14).
Go to mymktlab.com for the answers to the following Assisted-graded writing questions:
15-23 Discuss the characteristics advertising appeals should possess to be effective.
15-24 Name and describe the various execution styles for presenting messages and provide an
example of each style different from the ones in the chapter.
ADDITIONAL PROJECTS, ASSIGNMENTS, AND EXAMPLES
Projects
1. Locate a Sunday newspaper (they are always full of advertisements). Remember the
conversation on advertising objectives. Now find two examples of advertisements that
inform, persuade, and remind. (Objective 2)
2. Find an example of a promotional campaign that has employed messages through at least
three different media types. How does each media type affect the message being
communicated? (Objective 2)
3. Go to Coke’s Web site (www.cocacola.com). From their U.S. site and their various
international sites (the links are contained on their homepage), compare their
advertisements here and abroad. (Objective 2)
4. Visit www.benjerry.com. Find all aspects of this Web page that are public relations
oriented and describe them. (Objective 3)
5. Johnson & Johnson made very good use of public relations to introduce and grow the
Aveeno Positively Ageless project line. Take a look at the Aveeno homepage and discuss
the public relations activities in which they are currently involved (see
http://aveeno.com/). (Objective 4)
Small Group Assignments
1. Form students into groups of three to five. Each group should read Real Marketing 15.1:
Microsoft’s Comparative Advertising: “I Just Can’t Do That on My Mac.” Answer the
following questions. (Objective 2)
a. Microsoft has used comparative advertising several times. Was the advertising
effective in each of the three examples described? Explain why or why not.
b. Are there disadvantages to Microsoft in using this kind of marketing appeal? And on
a repeated basis for different products?
c. What other kind of advertising would you suggest for Microsoft, whether in addition
to or instead of, comparative advertising? Why did you suggest the approach you did?
2. Form students into groups of three to five. Each group should read the opening vignette
to the chapter on the GEICO campaign. Each group should then answer the following
questions.
(Objective 2)
a. Through its catchy advertising campaign, which advertising objectives did GEICO
pursue? As the campaign was modified, did the objectives change?
b. Can GEICO use the same advertising campaigns indefinitely? Why or why not?
c. If not, what ideas would you suggest next for the insurance giant?
Individual Assignments
1. Saatchi & Saatchi is one of the most successful advertising companies. Take a look at
their Web site (www.saatchi.com/) and examples of the advertising campaigns they have
created over the years. Find and discuss examples of both informative advertising and
persuasive advertising. (Objective 2)
2. President Barack Obama made excellent use of public relations as a candidate for the
presidency in 2008 and 2012. Throughout his terms in office, he continued to use public
relations activities. Review the six public relations functions (p. 460) and discuss how the
Obama administration made use of each. (Objective 3)
Think-Pair-Share
Consider the following questions, formulate an answer, pair with the student on your right, share
your thoughts with one another, and respond to questions from the instructor.
1. What is the main difference between reach and frequency? Write a definition of each.
(Objective 2)
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of media? (Objective 2)
3. What form of media do you believe would be best for reaching a 70-year-old retired
schoolteacher? For reaching a 12-year-old girl? (Objective 2)
4. How is public relations different from advertising? (Objective 3)
5. List and briefly identify the major public relations tools. (Objective 4)
6. How can public relations be used on the Internet? (Objective 4)
Outside Examples
1. Examine the advertising for cigarettes over time. Spend some time researching how
advertising for cigarettes has changed over the past 50 years. Look at old ads from the
1950s and 1960s and compare them with modern ads. How has the message changed?
During which time frame do you believe the advertising to be the most effective? Why?
(Objective 2)
Possible Solution:
This will be a fun exercise for students who may not previously have been exposed to
many of the old cigarette ads from the 1950s and 1960s.
One of the most striking facts that will emerge deals with how the medical community at
one time endorsed smoking as a healthy way to calm the nerves! Many of the
advertisements from the past made claims tied to relaxation, social prowess, and sex
appeal when promoting cigarettes. They were viewed as a healthy indulgence. Nothing
was ever mentioned about the dangers of smoking.
Cigarette advertising from the past was probably more effective because at that time it
was not necessary to point out (however slightly) the dangers associated with smoking.
2. Comparative advertising can be a very powerful form of advertising—if used correctly.
Watch some of the Apple iMac ads comparing (favorably) a Mac to a PC. Discuss what
makes these ads so effective. (You can find many of the ads on Apple’s Web site:
www.apple.com.) (Objective 2)
Possible Solution:
Much has been made of this ad campaign. Apple has gotten an untold amount of free
The ads point out the superiority of the Mac along a number of points:
Ease of use
The comparisons are never made in a manner of superiority or talking down to the PC
(and by extension, the PC user); rather, the comparisons are made in a playful, engaging,
