Chapter 18 – Advertising, Sales Promotion, and Public Relations
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LEARNING REVIEW
18-13. What is a news release?
18-14. What is the difference between government regulation and self-regulation?
Answer: Government regulation involves laws or other controls that are set by an
Chapter 18 – Advertising, Sales Promotion, and Public Relations
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APPLYING MARKETING KNOWLEDGE
1. How does competitive product advertising differ from competitive institutional
advertising?
Answer: Competitive product advertising promotes a brand’s specific features and benefits.
2. Suppose you are the advertising manager for a new line of children’s fragrances.
Which form of media would you use for this new product?
3. You have recently been promoted to be director of advertising for the Timkin Tool
Company. In your first meeting with Mr. Timkin, he says, “Advertising is a waste!
We’ve been advertising for six months now and sales haven’t increased. Tell me why
we should continue.” Give your answer to Mr. Timkin.
Answer: It is important to tell Mr. Timkin that it is difficult to measure the effects of
advertising on sales. First, many factors (competitors, the environment, distribution) can
4. A large life insurance company has decided to switch from using a strong fear appeal
to a humorous approach. What are the strengths and weaknesses of such a change in
message strategy?
Answer: This change involves a somewhat difficult tradeoff. Strong fear appeals are
effective in getting the audience’s attention, but they may tune out the message because
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5. Some national advertisers have found that they can have more impact with their
advertising by running a large number of ads for a period and then running no ads at
all for a period. Why might such a flighting schedule be more effective than a
continuous schedule?
Answer: Flighting can be especially effective when seasonal demands exist for the product,
6. Which medium has the lowest cost per thousand (CPM)?
7. Each year, managers at Bausch & Lomb evaluate the many advertising media
alternatives available to them as they develop their advertising program for contact
lenses. What advantages and disadvantages of each alternative should they consider?
Which media would you recommend to them?
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MEDIUM
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
• Reaches large audience of
• High cost
Magazines
• Ads convey complex info
• Ads last a long time and
can be saved
• Can select audience
• High cost
• Long time needed to place
ads
Internet
link to Web site
• Can use animation to
can provide little
information. Depends on
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8. What are two advantages and two disadvantages of the advertising posttests
described in the chapter?
Answers: The main advantages and disadvantages for each are listed below:
POSTTEST
METHOD
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
• Measures specific exposure
behaviors
• Does not measure the
effects of advertising
Unaided
Recall
• Also measures previous
exposure to advertising
• A more difficult test for the
respondent
• Helps to avoid some of the
guessing
• May miss even more of the
actual exposure due to
people forgetting what they
saw, heard, or read
Inquiry
Tests
• Measure the direct
response of the consumer
• Easy to conduct
• Allow for tests of different
variables that motivate the
consumer
• Can only be used for ads
that can logically make use
of an offer to elicit
inquiries
• Can be time consuming
• Directly measure
marketplace response
• Difficult to tell how
important advertising is in
generating the sale
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9. Federated Banks is interested in consumer-oriented sales promotions that would
encourage senior citizens to direct deposit their Social Security checks with the bank.
Evaluate the sales promotion options, and recommend two of them to the bank.
Answers: Sales promotion alternatives such as coupons, contests, sweepstakes, samples,
rebates, and product placement are better suited to consumer products than to this service.
10. How can public relations be used by Firestone and Ford following investigations into
complaints about tire failures?
Answer: Although public relations personnel usually focus on communicating positive
aspects of the business, they may also be called on to minimize the negative impact of a
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11. Describe a self-regulation guideline you believe would improve the value of
(a) an existing form of promotion and (b) a new promotional practice.
Answer: Answers will vary.
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BUILDING YOUR MARKETING PLAN
To augment your promotion strategy from Chapter 17:
1. Use Figure 18-3 to select the advertising media you will include in your plan by
analyzing how combinations of media (e.g., television, Internet, radio, and yellow
pages) can complement each other.
2. Use Figure 18-6 to select your consumer-oriented sales promotion activities.
3. Specify which trade-oriented sales promotions and public relations tools you will use.
Answer: The feasibility of using each of the five promotion tools varies tremendously
Helping with Common Student Problems
As with Chapter 17, students should be encouraged to include some samples of creative
promotional ideas in their marketing plan or in an appendix to it. Examples include sample
advertisements, point-of-purchase displays, or a news release to be used in public relations.
These examples move students from the level of “telling how to do it” to actually “doing it!”
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TEACHING NOTE FOR VIDEO CASE VC-18
Google, Inc.: The Right Ads at the Right Time
Synopsis
Google, Inc. is a public corporation located in Mountain View, California that earns
revenue from advertising related to its Internet search services. Larry Page and Sergey Brin
founded the company while they were students at Stanford University. Currently, the firm
generates more that $21 billion in revenue and has more than 20,000 employees. The business
model is based on the idea that the advertising Google users see should be just as useful as the
search engine results they see.
Teaching Suggestions
This video case provides a detailed description of the advertising model at Google, Inc., a
name that students will know because of their use of the Google search engine. The case can be
used to generate discussion about why paid search advertising is one of the fastest growing forms
of Internet advertising. The following questions can be used to begin discussion of the video
case:
1. How many of you have used Google to search for something on the Internet? Have any
of you used Yahoo! or Bing?
2. How does Google generate advertising revenue with its search engine?
If Internet access is available, ask students to select a topic or organization, use the search
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Answers to Questions
1. Describe several unique characteristics about Google and its business practices.
Answer:
One of the most unique characteristics about Google may be its name. Google is a
2. What is Google’s philosophy about advertising? How can less advertising be
preferred to more advertising?
Answers:
3. Describe the types of online advertising available today. Which type of advertising
does Google currently dominate? Why?
Answers:
4. How can Google be successful in the display advertising business? What other areas
of growth are likely to be pursued by Google in the future?
Chapter 18 – Advertising, Sales Promotion, and Public Relations
Epilogue
Google recently announced a partnership with Facebook that now allows DoubleClick
clients to purchase ads on Facebook. In the past, the competition between Google and Facebook
meant that Google’s DoubleClick exchange did not include inventory on Facebook’s FBX ad
purchasing platform. Now, DoubleClick will move toward being a one-stop shop for buying ads
across the web, and both Google and Facebook can benefit from the growth in advertising.
Google has revised the algorithms it uses to determine where a paid search ad will appear
and what the cost-per-click (CPC) will be when a consumer clicks on a search ad. The
algorithms are very sophisticated and use the keywords an advertiser is bidding on, the online
text ad, and the “landing” page (if someone clicks on the ad) to help ensure a relevant experience
for online consumers. Moreover, Google announced that anyone can now embed Google Maps
on a blog or website without any restrictions. The maps provide useful information for website
visitors and an opportunity for Google to display ads relevant to the location.
In addition to assessing click-through rates for online shoppers, advertisers seek
information allowing them to determine if people who see ads for local stores do in fact visit
them. Google has implemented a new tracking system to respond to this issue. Now, if someone
conducts a mobile search for a hardware item, and a local hardware store ad is shown in response
to the search request, Google can match that information with location data collected from
Android phones and iPhones (when Google apps are used) to see if the person who saw the ad
subsequently visited the store. It’s a real-world equivalent of cookies. Related to this approach,
Google recently was granted a patent for a gaze-tracking system that will use data from its
Google Glass product (described in the opening discussion of Chapter 17) to determine which
online and conventional ads a person actually viewed.
Finally, Google faces increasing competition from Microsoft. First, Microsoft’s Bing
competes for search engine users. Second, Microsoft competes with Google to convert schools,
colleges, and universities to their respective free e-mail services because they represent a large
advertising opportunity.
Sources: Amy Neeley, “Google AdRank and Quality Score Updates: How Will Your Search Advertising Fare?,
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TEACHING NOTE FOR APPENDIX D CASE D-18
Target Corporation: Award-Winning Advertising1
Synopsis
Target is known for its innovative advertising and its amazing consistency in maintaining
such success and acclaim over the years in virtually every category of media, in advertising,
public relations, and sales promotion.
Teaching Suggestions
Answers to Questions
1. What are Target’s primary promotional objectives? Have these objectives changed
significantly over the years and, if so, how?
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2. What do you feel are the most valid measures for assessing the success of Target’s
advertising? Explain why you feel that these are the best means of determining
effectiveness.
Answers:
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3. Many of Target’s competitors are attempting to imitate aspects of its advertising and
promotional program. (a) Does this present a threat to Target? (b) Why or why not,
and how should Target respond?
Answers:
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ICA 18-1: IN-CLASS ACTIVITY
What Makes an Award-Winning Commercial?
Learning Objective: To have students identify the factors that make an award-winning
television commercial.
Nature of the Activity: To have students (1) observe three TV ads in class, (2) classify the type
of each TV ad, (3) identify the appeal used, and (4) discuss why the ad was an award winner.
Estimated Class Time and Teaching Suggestions: About 15 minutes, which allows the
students time to evaluate the three TV ads.
Steps to Teach this ICA:
• From the Clio home page, click on “winners.”
• Then, click on “sort and filter” to select the categories.
• Multiple mediums can selected depending on what you want to emphasize in
class. Examples of medium options: branded content, digital/mobile, film, out-of-
home, print, social media, and more.
• For this exercise, select the following categories:
o Year: 2017
o Medium: Film
o Category: Commercials between 30 and 60 seconds
2. Discuss the factors that make advertising award-winning, memorable, and effective.
Utilize key points from chapter 18.
3. There are two options for the class: (1) Professor selects and shows the ads, or (2)
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4. Give the following questions to the students for analysis:
Q1: Is the selected commercial a pioneering (informational), competitive
(comparative), reminder (reinforcement), or advocacy ad?
Q2: What kind of appeal does the ad use? (Fear, humor, sex, or combination)
Q3: What is the key message of the ad?
Q4: Who is the target market for the ad?
Q5: Why is this ad memorable and worthy of an award?