Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

16. Advertising and Sales
    Promotion

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

466 Chapter 16

gets results. For example, the fee the advertiser pays is sometimes based on “click-

through”—the number of people who actually click on the ad and link to the

advertiser’s website. Some websites set fees based on actual sales that result from the

clickthrough. This is efficient for advertisers, and variations on this approach are

becoming more common. This is a big shift from traditional media. Firms have to

pay for their TV and print ads whether they work or not. A lot more firms will put

ads on websites if there is a direct relationship between costs and results. Moreover,

websites will then have more incentive to attract the type of viewers that some

specific set of advertisers want to reach.

Innovations like these make it clear that Internet advertising holds great prom-

ise. On the other hand, most Internet advertising does not yet provide the precise

laser-beam targeting that would be ideal. In fact, a lot of banner ads seem outright

ineffective, and popups can be obnoxious. Yet, as with other innovations, refine-

ments to Internet advertising will take time. No one can yet be certain what it will

be when it grows up, but it isgrowing.^20

Internet advertising is
still feeling its way

Once you decide howthe messages will reach the target audience, you have to

decide on the copy thrust—what the words and illustrations should communicate.

Carrying out the copy thrust is the job of advertising specialists. But the adver-

tising manager and the marketing manager need to understand the process to be

sure that the job is done well.

Basically, the overall marketing strategy should determine whatthe message

should say. Then management judgment—perhaps aided by marketing research—

can help decide how to encode this content so it will be decoded as intended.

As a guide to message planning, we can use the AIDA concept: getting Attention,

holding Interest, arousing Desire, and obtaining Action.

Planning the “Best” Message—What to Communicate

Specifying the copy
thrust

Let AIDA help guide
message planning

The right copy thrust helps an ad
clearly communicate to its target
market.