Advertising Agency and Process Structure!! 3Timing
Spot begins to air on November 19. (Tapes due to accounts beginning on
October 19.)
This brief was given to the creatives and the account personnel working
on the account. It served as a guide for the writer, the composer, the direc-
tor, the editor, the producer, and the account people. Although the prod-
uct description is thorough, it is still a difficult task for the creatives to
develop advertising that will project an image for the product and also
keep the audience’s attention. Composers have the same mission. These
challenges make advertising fascinating.
Demographics
Demographicsis the study of human population. There are usually choices
when determining the potential marketing and advertising strategies for
products. One choice is to gear the advertising toward a particular demo-
graphic. Agencies and clients perform extensive research to determine
their target market. A carefully planned strategy exposes products to new
markets.
Research consists of random phone calls, normally the first step. The
purpose is to determine the demographics of their potential consumers,
the magazines they read, their income average, the vehicles they drive,
their musical taste, and supplementary information that will provide a
profile of potential buyers. If an individual seems to fit the proper profile,
they might be asked to attend afocus groupfor which they are paid a fee.
People are selected at shopping centers, church groups, or other appro-
priate locations. Focus groups help provide agencies with relevant infor-
mation, and this affects their advertising strategy.
Focus groups are held for the purpose of research before a creative
strategy is developed. (Focus groups are also conducted after a commer-
cial has been completed.) Commercial ideas are sometimes tested prior to
final production. Groups are of varying sizes and usually consist of 2 to 10
participants. In a large group, some attendees might dominate the conver-
sation, causing relevant information from the other participants to be
missed. The agency might construct a list of 20 or 30 potential ‘‘taglines’’
(slogans) or show pictures that create visual images of the product. Their
goal is to determine the viability of the product(s) being tested. The infor-
mation from the various focus groups is compiled and a report submitted
to the agency and client. Campaigns have been canceled and/or changed
after studying the results. The information is used as a guide to determine
strategically viable advertising and marketing that could appeal to their
current or potential consumers.
Example of a demographic: Women between the ages of 18 and 22 or