Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.
Introduction
Advertisers must evaluate alternative media and strategies using testing before an ad campaign be launched. The conceptual models that are useful in thinking about the optimal advertising strategies and budgets are the incremental matrix, the game-theory approach, and the payoff matrix. It should be noted that management does not have all the data required to arrive at an optimal advertising strategy, simply thinking about appropriations in these terms will prove useful. The problems of estimating profit increments resulting from increases in advertising expenditures are, of course, intractable. Marketers should test advertising to create an effective marketing mix and avoid unnecessary spending.
Tests benefits
Marketers should test advertising to minimize costs and create effective budgetary policies. Even figures on circulation, readership and recall for different media as they relate to costs are difficult to obtain and may not be too meaningful. In reality, the incremental matrix provides good conceptual guides but requires management estimates and judgments instead of actual data. In testing, various mathematical models and computer techniques are already being employed to solve advertising appropriations problems (Brassington and Pettitt, 2003, p. 54). Although still limited in impact, they will have considerable influence in the future and their development will be evolutionary. Marketing executives often wonder how effective their advertising is. The problem is raised because of the magnitude of advertising expenditures and the opportunity to influence effectiveness significantly. It is estimated that the best advertisement in the current issue of a leading. But advertising results must be measured in communication terms, not just in sales terms. Determining the effectiveness of advertising requires the measurement of overall advertising impact-the matching of inputs with outputs, which conceptually is very simple. Practically, however, this is quite difficult, since advertising is only one element of the marketing mix in affecting demand. Yet some success has been achieved in measuring the responsiveness of sales and profits to advertising (Chitty et al 2005, p. 65).
Why testing is important
Testing the ad campaign is important because of environmental changes and market fluctuations. Advertising effectiveness itself is a multidimensional concept. It includes the effectiveness of advertising as contrasted with that of other factors in the marketing mix, with the effectiveness of different campaigns, with the effectiveness of various media, and with the effectiveness of different messages, which in turn is based on an assessment of appeals, themes, copy, layout, headlines, size, frequency, and timing. Although it is easy to state that advertising should lead consumers to believe ads, to know companies and brands, to progress from product attention to a sale, or to change images, habits, and preferences, we cannot easily determine how well the job is being done. To assess advertising impact, we require better specification of objectives and of criteria for measuring the degree to which the objectives are being achieved. The statement of advertising objectives in concrete measurable terms is the most critical aspect in developing the most effective advertising strategies (Clow and Baack, 2002).
Conclusion
In sum, testing is an effective solution to possible weaknesses and drawbacks of advertising planning. There is some waste in advertising, just as there is in all factors and functions. Marketers should not expect advertising to be without its faults, and certainly, some advertising practices can be criticized. Advertising should be assessed from the standpoint of its contributions to social and economic well-being in a highly industrialized society. The test is not whether there are some abuses in advertising or whether advertising costs money.
References
Brassington, F. and Pettitt, S. 2003, Principles of Marketing, Financial Times Management.
Chitty, B., Barrker, N., & Shimp, T. 2005, Integrated Marketing Communication First Pacific Rim Edition. South Melbourne: Thomson Learning.
Clow, K.E. and Baack, D. 2002, Integrated Advertising, Promotion and Marketing Communications, Prentice Hall/Pearson Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.