292 CHAPTER 9 ADVERTISING RESEARCHcan be carried out on the basis of an internal analysis, but should ideally be based on research
with the various audiences and target groups of the company to determine the impact of all
overt and non-overt communications. A framework for a communications audit is presented
in Table 9.1. Th e consistency of the communications mix in this table should be assessed both
vertically and horizontally, and the communications strategy for a number of products and/
or instruments can be based on the results of this analysis.
Competitor communications strategy research is largely similar to the communications
audit for the company. Competitive ads, promotions, PR material, etc., can be collected and
analysed to judge competitive (communications) strategies in order to defi ne target groups
and positioning strategies more clearly for the company’s own products. In addition, com-
petitive media strategies and media mixes can be studied, not to copy them, but to get an idea
of the competitors’ communications budgets and shares of voice, target groups, positioning
and communications strategies.
Communications content research is used to help communications creatives generate ideas
about the content of new communications stimuli. When a new campaign is to be launched,
brainstorming sessions can be organised, involving creatives, advertisers and consumers.
Th ought-starter lists, in which a multitude of potential benefi ts of the product is listed, may
also be used to get the process underway. Finally, famous advertising gurus have issued their
own sets of execution guidelines to be implemented in eff ective advertising. However, not
only do they confl ict in a number of ways, but they are also far too general to be implement-
able in each advertising strategy. Th e worst thing about these guidelines is that they lead to
similar advertising executions and suff ocate creative input.
If the advertising creative has too many ideas, they will have to be screened before includ-
ing them in a campaign. Th ese ideas can refer to headlines, slogans, illustrations, pictures,
benefi ts (stated in diff erent ways), endorsers, situations, advertising styles, etc. A sample of
the target audience can be selected, and the various elements of the communications execu-
tion can be tested. Th e participants can be asked to order the headlines in terms of how
convincing they are, the benefi ts in terms of their strength, the endorsers in terms of their
likeability or similarity to themselves, etc., or they can be asked to rate each alternative on a
scale. Th is a priori procedure is sometimes referred to as the Q-sort procedure.^1 It bears a lot
of resemblance to the direct opinion measurement method in ad pre-testing (see below), but
it is used before actual rough ad conception. Finally, in a management judgement test the ad
execution proposals are presented to a jury of advertising managers, to check whether all the
crucial elements of the strategic brief are correctly represented in the execution elements
proposed. Again, this test bears a lot of resemblance to the internal analysis discussed in the
pre-testing section.Table 9.1 The communications auditProduct A Product B Product C Corporate
TV advertising
Newspaper advertising
Magazine advertising
Sales promotions
Direct mail
In-store communications
Front desk staff
Public relations material
Publicity
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