Promotion 439
rising sun. The importance of so-called ‘man-
datories’ is demonstrated by the house-style
guide that enshrines BMW’s vital corporate
identity. Its agencies and dealers are required,
among a number of other injunctions, always
to use the standard brand symbol and to
ensure that the blue used is the one defined
by a given ‘Pantone’ number. They must also
use only the Neue Helvetica typeface for the
letters BMW, the name of the dealer or the
‘strapline’ in an advertisement, and only in
black. Though such precedents and manda-
tories may be a procedural irritant for those
who have to observe them, companies have a
perfect right to establish them and the writers
of promotional plans an obligation to make
them explicit to all concerned.
The third ingredient of item 2.2 is a
reminder that the whole plan is somewhat
hypothetical if the funds available are not
specified at the outset, rather than having to
be requested at various points along the way.
The one following it emphasizes the vital
difference between the act of setting a
‘budget’, as the appropriation will inevitably
be described in practice, and the process of
budgeting. The term ‘efficiency’ seeks to dis-
tinguish this form of control from measuring
the ‘effectiveness’ of the message in commu-
nicating with the audience, against criteria
specified at item 3.3. Unfortunately, it is com-
mon practice to use ‘cost-effectiveness’ to sum
up the idea intended here by ‘efficiency’.
These are quite separate criteria, and the
effort should be made to keep them distinct in
the plan.
The content of section 4 will vary con-
siderably according to the particular pattern
of deployment of the promotional mix. The
amount of detail in each item will further-
more depend upon decisions about subcon-
tracting the execution of promotional strategy
or retaining responsibility in-house, made
explicit at item 6.3. Many of the factors gov-
erning such choices can be inferred from the
explanations and discussions in the next two
sections of this chapter.
From the plan to the brief
The completed promotional plan may in turn
become the template for construction of a client
brief, if intermediaries are to be involved in the
process of campaign development and imple-
mentation. It is a coherent statement of what
they are expected to achieve on their client’s
behalf. The purpose is to provide the necessary
guidance, not to give instructions to collab-
orators who have been employed for their
collective experience and expertise. It is a moot
point how much detail is needed to discharge
that task effectively and efficiently. The only
possible answer is the one traditionally given
about the length of a piece of string. As the
Incorporated Society of British Advertisers puts
it in a practical guide: ‘A good brief will be as
short as possible but as long as is necessary.’
This perhaps implies that brevity should be the
overriding aim. The recipient can always ask
follow-up questions.The actors in the system
It must already be abundantly clear that the
implementation of promotional campaigns is
characterized in practice by a variety of working
relationships, which can occur in a number of
combinations according to circumstances. Fig-
ure 17.4 attempts a consolidation of all possible
variations in a single system diagram.
Arrow 1symbolizes the kind of message
delivery system in which no intermediary is
involved. The most obvious case in point is a
sales representative delivering a pitch to a
prospect, but personal selling is excluded from
our version of the promotional mix. The nearest
admissible equivalent would be a direct market-
ing initiative created, executed and distributed
by in-house specialists. Such an uncomplicated
arrangement offers two key benefits, the first of
which is strong controlover the content, con-
struction and tone of the message. There is no