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Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

Chapter 5

How Brand Communication Works

CHAPTER CONTENT

KEY OBJECTIVES

1. Explain how communication works as a form of both mass communication and

interactive communication.

2. Discuss how the idea of advertising effects developed and what problems exist in

traditional approaches to advertising effects.

3. Describe the Facets Model of Effects, how it explains how brand communication

works, and the key facets of brand communication effectiveness.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

The chapter opens with an explanation of how communication works by first discussing

the SMCR model, and then exploring the impact of interactive communication upon that

model. Next, the effects behind advertising effectiveness are explored. First, two

traditional models, along with their limitations, are discussed. Then a different approach

entitled Moriarty’s Domains model, that eliminates the shortcomings of the traditional

models, is introduced. Each of the six components of Moriarty’s domains model is

outlined in detail. The chapter then closes with a debate between the “Strong Theory”

versus the “Weak Theory” regarding advertising impact.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

IT ALL BEGINS WITH COMMUNICATION

 At its most basic, brand communication is a message to a consumer about a brand.

It gets attention and provides information, and sometimes even entertainment. It is

purposeful in that it seeks to create some kind of response, such as an inquiry, a sale,

a visit to a website, or a test drive.

 Most traditional advertising is not as personal or interactive as a conversation because

it relies on mass communication. Although other forms of marketing communication

The Mass Communication Foundation

 Mass communication is a process, as depicted in the SMCR model in Figure 5.1a.

The process begins with (1) a source, a sender who (2) encodes or puts it in words

and pictures as a (3) message. The message is presented through (4) channels of

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

communication, such as a newspaper, radio, or TV. The message is then (5) decoded

or interpreted by (6) the receiver, who is the reader, viewer, or listener. The last step

 It is the job of advertising professionals to turn the marketer’s information and

objectives into an interesting and attention-getting message. The message can be

an advertisement, press release, store banner, brochure, video, or web page.

 Together, the marketer and its agency determine the goals and objectives for the

campaign and choose the media channels.

 External noise, which hinders the consumer’s reception of the message, includes

technical and socio-economic trends that affect the reception of the message.

Examples include the economic downturn or changing health trends. External noise

can also be related to the advertising media, and can be as simple as bad broadcast or

cell phone reception. A more likely cause of noise is clutter, which is the multitude

of messages all competing to get the consumer’s attention.

Adding Interaction to Marketing Communication

 Mass communication is traditionally seen as a one-way process with the message

depicted as moving from the source to the receiver. However, interactive

communication is two-way communication, and marketing communication has

moved in that direction with social media and word-of mouth communication

strategies.

 The difference between one-way and two-way communication is that in the two-way

communication process, the source and receiver change positions as the message

bounces back and forth between them. If marketers want to overcome the impersonal

nature of mass communication, they need to learn to receive it (i.e., listen to) as well

as send messages to customers. Figure 5.3 illustrates a model of how two-way

communication works.

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

 Another way to describe interactive communication is to describe business-to-

consumer communication as B2C and business-to-business marketing as B2B. With

consumer-initiated communication, that formula would turn around to become C2B,

which means the consumer is the sender and the company is the receiver.

 Marketers’ use of word of mouth, buzz marketing, and social media are indicators of

the need for message integration. The important difference is that consumers are

talking to one another in a circle of comments about products and brands. That raises

the bar on the need for consistency in company-produced brand communication,

whatever the format and medium.

 Interactive communication is also making the classic two-step or multistep flow of

communication model more relevant. In this model, people identified as opinion

leaders talk to other people and influence the formation of attitudes and behaviors.

This model helps to explain how word of mouth intersects with public relations and

new media in brand communication, according to one professor.

Other Aspects of Communication

 It’s important to recognize that nonverbal communication can be just as powerful as

word-based forms. Many commercials are essentially nonverbal, relying on the

impact of compelling visuals. Most billboards, packaging, posters, and ads rely on the

power of visual imagery.

 Brand signals include slogans, but they are dominated by logos, imagery, and color.

Signaling is particularly important in the clutter and chaos of the internet, where

attention is shortened and recognition happens in an instant.

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

 Brand messages of all types contain layers of meaning. In most cases, particularly

with advertising, there are obvious, superficial or surface-layer meanings, but there

may also be deeper layers of meaning that call for more interpretation (decoding) by

the consumer. Semiotics is a research tool used to uncover these layers of meaning.

What Are the Effects Behind Effectiveness?

 The most important characteristic of brand communication is that it is purposeful.

Ads are created to have some effect, some impact on the people who read or see their

message. We refer to this as effects.

 The theme of this book is that good advertising – and brand communication – is

effective when it achieves the advertiser’s desired response. Thus, understanding

 When we ask “how it works,” we are talking about the impact an advertisement has

on receivers of the message, that is, how they respond to the message. What are these

effects that determine whether an advertisement works? Here are two traditional

approaches that outline the impact of advertising.

 AIDA. The most commonly used explanation of how advertising works is one

referred to as AIDA, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

Because AIDA assumes a predictable set of steps, it is also referred to as a

hierarchy of effects model.

 One problem with these approaches is that they are based on the concepts of a

predictable process that consumers go through in making decisions, beginning

with exposure to a brand message. In reality, however, we know that consumers

sometimes buy out of habit, and in other situations, they buy on impulse.

 A different approach that attempted to solve the problem of linear steps is found in

Moriarty’s Domains Model. It is based on the idea that messages have an impact on

consumer responses, not in steps, but simultaneously. The three key effects, or

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

 Yet another approach to analyzing what works in brand communication is presented

in Armstrong’s Persuasive Advertising book, which identifies 194 principles based on

research findings over the years.

 Principle: Not all purchases begin with a search for information. Some purchases are

made out of habit or on impulse.

THE FACETS OF IMPACT

 Our objective in this chapter is to present the Facets Model of Effects, which does a

more complete job than previous models of explaining how advertising creates

impact. Effective marketing communication speaks to us about things that we want

to know in ways that we like.

 The solution to our search for a new model is to build on the effects identified in the

think/feel/do model and add the missing categories, such as perception, association,

and persuasion. Thus, we propose a six-factor model that should be useful both in

setting objectives and in evaluating the effectiveness of the advertising.

 Our answer to the question of how advertising works is to propose that effective

advertising creates six types of consumer responses: 1) see/hear, 2) feel, 3)

The Perception Facet: See/Hear

 Every day we are bombarded with stimuli, such as faces, conversations, scents, sounds,

advertisements, and news announcements. Yet, we actually notice only a small fraction.

Why? The answer is perception. Perception is the process by which we receive

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

Principle: Breakthrough messages grab (get attention) and stick (lock in memory.)

 Perception is a meaning-making process that involves two approaches. One is the

Gestalt viewpoint, which means that messages are understood as a unified whole.

Another approach involves a moment-by-moment analysis of the interconnected

string of words and images in a commercial or in a series of strategic messages.

 Either or both approaches lead to a brand impression in memory. Our minds are full

of impressions that we have collected without much active thought or concentration.

Factors That Drive Perception

 Consumers select the messages to which they pay attention, a process called selective

perception. Here’s how perception works: Some ads for some product categories

battle for attention because people do not choose to watch them. However, if the

message breaks through the disinterest and is selected and attended to, then the

consumer may react to it with interest if it is relevant. The result is awareness of the

ad or brand, which is filed in memory, at least to the point that the consumer

recognizes the brand or ad.

 The key factors driving perception are exposure, selection and attention, interest,

relevance, curiosity, and recognition. Below is a brief review of these terms and how

they relate to advertising impact.

 Exposure. The first test of perception is when a marketing communication

message is seen or heard. In advertising, this is called exposure, which is an

important goal of media planners who try to find the best way to connect

consumers to a message.

 Selection and Attention. This is the process by which a receiver of a message

chooses to attend to a message. Amidst all the clutter in the media environment,

selection is a huge problem. The ability to draw attention that brings visibility to

a brand is one of advertising’s greatest strengths. Advertisements, particularly

television commercials, are often designed to be intrusive, which means they

intrude on people’s perception and grab attention.

 Interest. A factor in crossing the selection barrier is interest, which means the

receiver of the message has become mentally engaged in some way with the

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

 Relevance. One reason people are interested in something is relevance, which

means the message connects on some personal level.

 Recognition. Advertisers are interested in two types of memory: recognition,

which means people remember seeing the ad and recall, which means they

remember what the ad said. Recognition is a measure of perception and is

used to determine awareness. Recall is a measure of understanding and we

The Synergy Requirement

The result of effective marketing communication is an integrated perception, according

to the late Professor Ivan Preston. In campaigns that use an IMC approach, marketers

coordinate all marketing communication messages to create synergy, which means

individual messages have more impact working jointly to promote a product than they

would if working on their own. This happens whether or not the marketer plans for

integrated communication.

The Subliminal Issue

 Subliminal effects are message cues given below the threshold of perception.

In other words, they don’t register. They are designed to get past your perceptual

filters by talking to your subconscious. In contrast to the views of most professionals

and professors in advertising, critics who believe in subliminal advertising presume

such messages to be intense enough to influence behavior, and they consider it to be

unfair manipulation of unaware viewers.

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

The Emotional or Affective Facet: Feel

 Affective responses mirror our feelings about something – anger, love, fear, hate.

The term affective describes something that stimulates wants, touches the emotions,

creates liking, and elicits feelings.

 Brands have a human quality, hence the importance of connecting with a consumer’s

innermost feeling. Feelings and emotions can be positive or negative. Generally,

brand communication seeks to wrap a positive halo around a brand and a purchase

decision. The CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi describes the passion that loyal customers

feel for their favorite brands as “lovemarks.”

 The importance of positive responses has been institutionalized by Facebook with its

famous ‘like’ button. Sometimes, however, a brand message arouses different

emotions, such as fear or dislike. Some ads are designed to make you feel negative

Factors That Drive the Emotion

 Emotional responses are powerful, not only because they drive perception, but also

because they break through disinterest. Furthermore, positive emotional responses

drive memory as well. The affective response drivers are wants and desires, feelings,

liking, and resonance. Emotion causes us to “feel” something.

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

 Excitement. A step above interest in terms of intensity of response is excitement.

If we are excited about something, we are agitated or energized and more willing

to participate or make a commitment.

 Feelings. Our passions and feelings are addressed in a number of ways in

advertising, such as humor, love, or fear. Ads that rely on arousing feelings are

referred to as emotional appeals. Research supports the idea that emotional

appeals have more impact than rational approaches on both attitudes and

behavior.

 Liking. Two important affective responses to a message are liking the brand and

liking the ad. Liking reflects the personality of the brand or the entertainment

 Principle: A positive response to an ad is important because marketers hope that

liking the ad will increase liking the brand.

The Cognitive Facet: Think/Understand

 Cognition refers to how consumers search for and make sense of information, as well

as learn and understand something. It’s a rational response to a message. Some call

this a left-brain approach, based on the left-right brain ways of thinking that evolved

from brain hemisphere research. Right-brain thinking is presumed to be more

emotional and creative.

 Traditionally, researchers have studied information processing as a way to understand

how consumers think and learn about a product.

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

Factors that Drive the Cognition

 Information processing – thinking things through – leads to a cognitive response.

A consumer may need to know something in order to make a decision, and the

information gathered in response to that need leads to understanding. The information

has to be perceived and then filed in memory but can be recalled when needed.

Advertising and other marketing communication often provide information about

products, usually facts about product performance and features, such as size, price,

construction, and design.

The key drivers of a consumer’s responses are need, cognitive learning, comprehension,

differentiation, and recall.

 Need. Generally, needs are basic biological motivations but they are also something

you think about, while wants tend to be based more on feelings and desires. When we

refer to needs, we are usually talking about a message that describes something

lacking in consumers’ lives and that often stimulates a cognitive response.

Advertisers address consumer needs through informational ads that explain how a

product works and what it can do for the user, that is, the benefits it offers to the user.

 Cognitive Learning. Consumers learn about products and brands through two

primary routes: cognitive learning and conditioned learning. Cognitive learning

occurs when a presentation of facts, information, and explanations leads to

understanding. Consumers who are trying to find information about a product before

they buy it are taking the cognitive learning route.

 Comprehension is the process by which people understand, make sense of things, and

acquire knowledge. Confusion, on the other hand, is the absence of understanding

and is usually the result of logic problems.

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

Thinking and Feeling

Even though this section is on cognitive processing, note that feeling and thinking always

work together. A frequent question asked by researchers is this: Which is more important

in brand communication – thinking or feeling? In terms of this relationship, Professor

Ann Marie Barry explains: “In fact, most of all what we call the thought process in

making decisions is actually trying to rationalize what we have already concluded

through our emotional system. Marketers know that if they can convince us emotionally,

we can rationalize away any objections by ourselves.”

The Association Facet: Connect

 Association is the technique of communicating through symbolism – we might

say that symbolic meanings are transferred through the process of association.

The transfer of meaning connects personal meanings to goods and other symbols,

such as celebrities. In the Matter of Practice feature in this chapter, researcher

Charles Young explores the impact of a brand message in terms of its associations.

 Association is an important tool used in brand communication and guides the process

of making symbolic connections between a brand and desirable characteristics, as

well as people, situations, and lifestyles that cue the brand’s image and personality.

Factors That Drive the Association

 The goal of association is to use symbolic connections to define the brand and make it

distinctive. Brand linkage reflects the degree to which the associations presented in

the message, as well as the consumer’s interest, are connected to the brand.

The association drivers are symbolism, conditioned learning, and transformation.

 Symbolism. Through association a brand takes on a symbolic meaning, which means

the brand stands for certain qualities. It represents something, usually something

abstract. For instance, Bisquick pancakes shaped like hearts convey the heart healthy

message symbolically.

Chapter 5: How Brand Communication Works

 Conditioned Learning. Although advertisements sometimes use a cognitive strategy,

they are frequently designed to elicit non-cognitive associations through conditioned

learning, the process by which a group of thoughts and feelings become linked to the

Association Networks

 The association process is built on a network of associations, called a knowledge

structure. Solomon in his book on consumer behavior describes these networks as

spider webs, where one thought cues other thoughts. Researchers seeking to

determine the meaning of a brand will ask people to talk about their associations with

a brand and to recreate these association networks in order to understand how a

brand’s meaning comes together as an impression in people’s minds.

The Persuasion Facet: Believe

 Persuasion is the conscious intent on the part of the source to influence or motivate

the receiver of a message to believe or do something. Persuasive communication—

creating/changing attitudes and creating conviction—are important goals of most

marketing communication. An attitude is a state of mind, tendency, propensity,

 Attitudes can be positive, negative, or neutral. Both positive and negative attitudes,

particularly those that are embedded in strong emotions, can motivate people to

action or away from action.