288 CHAPTER15 DESIGNING ANDMANAGINGINTEGRATEDMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS
Deciding on Geographical Allocation
In allocating media geographically, the company should consider area differences in
market size, advertising response, media efficiency, competition, and profit margins. The
company makes “national buys” when it places ads on national TV or radio networks or in
nationally circulated publications. It makes “spot buys” when it buys TV or radio time in
just a few markets or in regional editions of national publications. The company makes
“local buys” when it uses local advertising media. Despite its efficiency, however, national
(and international) advertising may fail to adequately address differing local situations,
such as market-to-market variations in share and competitive standing.Evaluating Advertising Effectiveness
Good planning and control of advertising depend on measures of advertising effec-
tiveness. Yet the amount of fundamental research on advertising effectiveness is
appallingly small. Advertisers should try to measure the communication effect of an
ad—that is, its potential effect on awareness, knowledge, or preference—as well as the
ad’s sales effect:➤ Communication-effect researchseeks to determine whether an ad is communicating
effectively. Called copy testing,it can be done before an ad is placed (pretesting) and
after it is placed (posttesting). Advertisers also need to posttest the overall impact of
a completed campaign.
➤ Sales-effect researchis complex because sales are influenced by many factors beyond
advertising, such as product features, price, and availability, as well as competitors’
actions. The sales impact is easiest to measure in direct-marketing situations and
hardest to measure in brand or corporate-image-building advertising. One approach
is shown in Figure 5-9: A company’s share of advertising expenditures produces a
share of voice that earns a share of consumers’ minds and hearts and ultimately a
share of market. Peckham studied the relationship between share of voice and share
of market for several consumer products over a number of years and found a 1-to-1
ratio for established products and a 1.5–2.0 to 1.0 ratio for new products.^30SALES-PROMOTION STRATEGIES
Sales promotion,a key ingredient in many marketing campaigns, consists of a diverse
collection of incentive tools, mostly short term, designed to stimulate trial, or quicker
or greater purchase, of particular products or services by consumers or the trade.^31
Whereas advertising offers a reasonto buy, sales promotion offers an incentiveto buy.
Sales promotion includes tools for consumer promotion(samples, coupons, cash refund
offers, prices off, premiums, prizes, patronage rewards, free trials, warranties, tie-in
promotions, cross-promotions, point-of-purchase displays, and demonstrations); tradeFigure 5-9 Formula for Measuring Sales Impact of Advertising