You can recall the various federal and industry regulators that monitor advertising and advertising practice in the United States. USE WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED Picture yourself driving your electric car down the highway of tomorrow looking for a place to refuel. Though this vision might be optimistic at this point in time, electric and alternative-fuel cars are realities just over the horizon. Refueling stations for electric cars will most likely not resemble the corner or freeway gas station. Instead, refueling sites are more likely to look like roadside parks. Refueling stations that recharge batteries may have solar roofs that provide the current for the refueling. Since refueling is expected to take several minutes, refueling stations will provide for rest and activities. If advertising is the “glue of a nation” with respect to its culture, explain what role advertising would play in making electric and alternative fuel cars and their refueling stations become a reality in the future. Consider aspects of social responsibility as you form your explanation. Do you have any idea how often your life is impacted by Bluetooth technology? In case you didn’t know this, it is Bluetooth technology, developed by communication giant Ericsson, that enables all of our electronic and informational devices to talk to one another. For example, Bluetooth technology enables wireless headsets to communicate with other devices. You might have noticed that Aliph has just introduced a new Bluetooth-enabled headset called Jawbone that is smaller, lighter, and cuts wind noise more than any previous headset designs. The headset is about the size of a large rectangular earring or about one-half the size of existing headset models. There is, however, a significant problem that must be addressed before headset communication is advised for everyone. There are reports linking forms of brain cancer to cell phone and headset use. Experts are studying the possibilities and connections. No conclusions have been reached yet. Your task is to assume that you are a member of the Advertising Council and have been asked to design a PSA (public service announcement) that will both quiet fears and encourage information-seeking about the subject as research progresses. Write your message. How do you think those who support headset and cell phone development would respond to what you have to say? Comment. DIGITAL NATIVES
Buying cycle. Companies often have a deliberative process for buying with known intentions to buy within a certain number of months. Buyer role. Advertising often targets specific people within an organization (e.g., those who influence, specify, and make buying decisions). Dig Deeper Encryption-product maker GlobalCerts targets companies that have one hundred to one thousand employees. When GlobalCerts began its direct mail campaign, it collected information on its key prospects, including their needs, buying cycle, and decision makers’ contact information. Knowing the buying cycle of an organization is important because decision makers need different kinds of information, depending on where they are in the buying cycle. Early on, decision makers are looking for more general information about solutions that meet their business needs. In later stages, they want very performance information. Having a salesperson call a potential customer too early in the buying cycle will likely annoy the customer—they’re not ready to buy—and waste the time of the salesperson. [17] SS+K Spotlight Defining the audience is a job for both the left brain and the right brain. We use this expression because in general the left side of our brains is more rational and fact-oriented while the right side is more emotional and artistic. Some people tend to be more logical when they approach problems while others are more creative and emotional. For fans of the original Star Trek TV series, just think of Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy and you’ll get the difference immediately. So, SS+K needs to combine both rational and emotional factors when they think about their target market. Even the most comprehensive demographic profile seldom communicates a sufficiently nuanced understanding of any group of consumers. At SS+K, the account planners and researchers that make up the AIU are charged with acquiring information beyond current user demographics that will allow the account, media, and creative team to visualize and understand the consumer. An insightful and comprehensive target profile should enable the writers and art directors to imagine the target consumer so well, in fact, that the creatives can develop an empathic understanding of that consumer’s relevant needs and wants. The more complete the creatives’ understanding of the audience, the more likely the team will be able to craft a message that speaks in an authentic, compelling voice to the target consumer.
You can determine characteristics of market segments based on demographic, geographic, psychological/lifestyle characteristics (psychographics), or behavior (e.g., heavy users versus light users of the brand). You can identify the properties of a good market target (e.g., measurable, accessible, profitable, and distinguishable). You realize that behavioral targeting can be used to put ads in front of people customized to their Internet use. You can explain the necessity for having positioning become part of advertising strategy. You are able to decide how to position a product or service so that it is differentiated from products or services of competitors. USE WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED What is one of the most potent political forces that any political candidate for national office must impress and deal with? If you said AARP, you are correct. If, as an advertiser, you don’t know what AARP is, you will be missing the network organization used by millions of seniors in the United States. (See for more information.) AARP is not just for retired persons anymore. The organization accepts members and offers benefits beginning at age fifty. Given the number of Baby Boomers at this age and beyond, AARP will have a growing market base for a number of years. Seniors in the United States have become an important market target for many product and service producers. Advertisers are learning new ways to reach and communicate with this market. Seniors today don’t see themselves as old. Baby Boomer seniors see themselves as active, fashion conscious, energetic, adventurous, and knowledgeable about products and services directed toward their market segment. Seniors ride motorcycles, go skydiving, enjoy cruises, listen to concerts from bands popular when they were in their twenties, enjoy entertaining, and like to dress well. Sounds like a great opportunity for the enterprising marketer—right? Investigate the senior market, Baby Boomers, and the AARP for more information. Once you have completed this task, list the segmentation variables (beyond the age segmentation variable) that advertisers should use to more narrowly focus marketing and advertising efforts toward this market segment. Pick a product or service and demonstrate how your selection of segmentation
[11] Judith A. Garretson and Scot Burton, “The Role of Spokescharacters as Advertisement and Package Cues in Integrated Marketing Communications,” Journal of Marketing 69 (October 2005): 118–32. [12] Tran T. L. Knanh and Regalado Antonio, “Web Sites Bet on Attracting Viewers with Humanlike Presences of Avatars,” Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, January 24, 2001; Brian Morrissey, “Taco Bell to Cast User Avatars in TV Spot,” Adweek, July 10, 2007, (accessed July 12, 2007). [13] Mya Frazier, “This Ad Will Give You a Headache, But It Sells,” Advertising Age, September 24, 2007. [14] Bob Garfield, “Long-Awaited Wal-Mart Ads are Obvious…Yet Brilliant,” Advertising Age, September 17, 2007, 69. [15] Quoted in Joan Voight, “The Lady Means Business,” Brandweek, April 10, 2006, 28. 12.4 The Creative Team LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this section, students should be able to do the following: Characterize the members of an advertising creative team. Explain how copywriters use various literary forms and devices to construct the advertising message.