■ Alka-Seltzer Alka-Seltzer antacid tablets have been the beneficiary of some
of the most creative advertising in history: In 1969, the company began air-
ing the classic “prison spot” in which 260 jailbirds, led by actor George Raft,
rebelled against prison food by banging tin cups on tables while chanting
“Alka-Seltzer.” Later the company aired two more classic Alka-Seltzer TV spots:
“Honeymoon,” in which the tablets saved a bridegroom after his bride cooked
up such meals as poached oysters and marshmallow meatballs, and ads that
are remembered for the line “That’s a spicy meatball.” The company contin-
ued to push out more classic TV commercials for Alka-Seltzer, utilizing such
lines as “Try it. You’ll like it,” “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” and
“Plop-plop, fizz-fizz, oh, what a relief it is.” Yet over the past few years, the
introduction of products such as Pepsid and Zantac doubled the antacid cat-
egory’s size, leaving Alka-Seltzer’s market share at only 4.2 percent in 1998,
down from 25 percent in 1968.^10
Advertisers go through four steps to develop a creative strategy: message genera-
tion, message evaluation and selection, message execution, and social responsibility
review.
Message Generation
The product’s “benefit” message should be decided as part of developing the product
concept. Yet there is usually latitude for a number of possible messages. Over time,
the marketer might want to change the message, especially if consumers seek new or
different benefits from the product.
Creative people use several methods to generate possible advertising appeals. Many
creative people proceed inductivelyby talking to consumers, dealers, experts, and com-
petitors. Leo Burnett advocates “in-depth interviewing where I come realistically face
to face with the people I am trying to sell. I try to get a picture in my mind of the
kind of people they are—how they use this product and what it is.”^11
Some creative people use a deductiveframework for generating advertising mes-
sages. Maloney proposed one framework.^12 He saw buyers as expecting one of four
types of reward from a product: rational, sensory, social, or ego satisfaction. Buyers
might visualize these rewards from results-of-use experience, product-in-use experi-
ence, or incidental-to-use experience. Crossing the four types of rewards with the three
types of experience generates twelve types of advertising messages. For example, the
appeal “gets clothes cleaner” is a rational-reward promise following results-of-use ex-
perience. The phrase “real gusto in a great light beer” is a sensory-reward promise con-
nected with product-in-use experience.
How many alternative ad themes should the advertiser create before making a
choice? The more ads that are independently created, the higher the probability of
finding an excellent one. Yet the more time spent on creating alternative ads, the
higher the costs. Under the present commission system, the agency does not like to
go to the expense of creating and pretesting many ads. Fortunately, the expense of
creating rough ads is rapidly falling due to computers. An ad agency’s creative de-
partment can compose many alternative ads in a short time by drawing from com-
puter files containing still and video images, type sets, and so on.
Message Evaluation and Selection
A good ad normally focuses on one core selling proposition. Twedt suggested that
messages be rated on desirability, exclusiveness, and believability.^13 For example:
■ The March of Dimes The March of Dimes searched for an advertising theme
to raise money for its fight against birth defects. Several messages came out
of a brainstorming session. A group of young parents was asked to rate each
message for interest, distinctiveness, and believability, assigning up to 100
points for each. For example, “Seven hundred children are born each day with
a birth defect” scored 70, 62, and 80 on interest, distinctiveness, and believ-
ability, whereas “Your next baby could be born with a birth defect” scored 58,
51, and 70. The first message outperformed the second on all accounts.^14581