Marketing Communications

230 CHAPTER 7 ADVERTISING

Campaign implementation

Aft er advertising agencies have come up with creative and executional ideas, the advertiser

has to evaluate the diff erent alternatives on the basis of the creative brief. Th is means that the

idea ultimately chosen needs to be suitable for and appealing to the target group, be capable

of reaching the advertising objectives, and be a kind of catalyst, making the brand’s position

immediately clear in a simple, eye-catching manner. Th e idea must also fi t with the company’s

and the brand’s long-term strategy and with previous campaigns. It has to be adaptable to the

diff erent media to be used, and fi nancially implementable within the given advertising budget

and within the given time limits.

When agreement is reached on the creative idea to be used for the diff erent media, the ads

need to be produced. Since ad production needs special skills, this job is typically carried out

by technical experts. Photography, typography and sound recording need to be well thought

through, so that headline, baseline, copy, background music, packshots, presenters, charac-

ters, the set, etc., form an integrated and consistent ad. As soon as the advertiser approves of

the ad proposal, the ads are produced and handed over to the media.

Aft er the campaign has run, it has to be evaluated for its eff ectiveness. In order to do this,

it is very important to have clear, measurable objectives at the beginning of the campaign

development process, as well as accurate data of the situation prior to the campaign launch.

Th e important aspect of media planning is discussed later (see Chapter 8 ), as is advertising

research (see Chapter 9 ).

Advertising agencies often make long commercials that are then cut back to the traditional 30-second format

shown on TV. However, many advertising professionals feel that they would be able to bring a more convincing

message if they were allowed to expose their target groups to these longer commercials. A movie theatre is the

ideal medium to show long commercials. Screenvision, the company that sells advertising space in Belgian movie

theatres, worked together with the advertising agency Markee to build a website on which advertising agencies

could place the long versions of their commercials. The public could vote for the best commercial. The ten highest-

scoring commercials end up in a short list, and a professional jury picks a winner. The winning commercial is then

shown in Belgian cinemas for free during one month. During the contest, every advertiser can show two-minute

commercials for the price of a 30-second one in all Belgian cinemas.^126

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Saving XL commercials

Advertising in a business-to-business context

Traditionally, business-to-business advertising has been described as ‘heavy, ponderous, deadly

serious and boring’.^127 Th is qualifi cation can be attributed to the specifi c characteristics of the

business environment, i.e. the importance of technical aspects of products and services, the

importance of the products for the economic performance of the buyer and the complex

decision-making units. Business ads, for that reason, tend to be more factual and rational,

and tend to emphasise the company name rather than its products, because customers are

also buying reliability, aft er-sales service and technical support; in other words, a relationship

with a trustworthy partner.

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