lecture. No specific questions about the theory, but helps you to understand the paper and lectures.
Articles Marketing Communications
Assignment – Keller (2016), Unlocking the power of integrated marketing communications: how
integrated is your ICM program?
There are many different new and traditional communication options available, and some are a great success and others fail. A
well-developed integrated marketing communications (ICM) program is important, and marketers need a set of well-grounded,
comprehensive criteria to judge the proposed ICM program. This article provides a comprehensive, cohesive set of seven IC choice
criteria: the Seven Cs.
Technological developments have transformed marketing communications. We can distinguish 8 major marketing communication
platforms: advertising, sales promotions, events and experiences, public relations and publicity, online and social media marketing,
mobile marketing, direct and database marketing, and personal selling. The key communication objectives are: create awareness
and salience, convey detailed information, create imagery and personality, build trust, elicit emotions, inspire action, instill loyalty,
and connect people.
Potential stages in an expanded consumer-decision journey:
We make a distinction between paid media, owned media, and 1 Recognizes a need or want for a product or service
earned media, and focus on the first two because firms have most 2 Knows about the brand
control over this. If consumers have an opportunity to engage with 3 Actively considers the brand
a brand (empowered) does not mean they also have the motivation 4 Searches and learns more about the brand
and ability to do so (enlightened/engaged). Also, consumers are 5 Evaluates the brand and forms favourable attitudes
not homogenic and only one group. We know that only some of the 6 Arrives at a positive value judgment and willingness to
consumers want to get involved with only some of their brands and pay for the brand
with only some of their time. Marketers must understand the shape 7 Develops concrete plans to try the brand
and dynamics of their brand engagement pyramid: how many and 8 Consumes the brand
which consumers are on top and at the base, and what is the flow? 9 Is satisfied with the brand experience
An information processing model of communication effectiveness: 10 Becomes loyal repeat buyer of the brand
processing of information? buying decisions? 11 Is engaged and interacts with the brand
12 Advocates for the brand actively
Marketers should “mix and match” communication options: choose communications that are most effective and efficient, and that
have different capabilities (sales ánd brand equity); and strategically choose and design communication options with other
communication options in mind.
Developing the optimal ICM program
There are seven IMC choice criteria:
Criteria Definition Representative questions
Coverage Proportion of the target market reached by How many target market consumers are reached by the
each communication option, as well as communication options? How much overlap exists among
how much overlap exists among communication options across target market consumers?
communication options
Cost The financial efficiency associated with the How much is the total financial cost of communication
communication options and program options? What is the relevant cost per thousand and other
efficiency metrics? Are there any relevant nonfinancial costs?
Contribution The inherent ability of a communication What are the likely effects of the communication options and
option to create the desired communication how they will impact communication objectives? What is the
effects and achieve the desired likely impact of the communication options on sales? What is
communication objectives, independent of the likely impact of the communication options on brand
prior or subsequent exposure to any other equity?
communication options for the brand
Commonality The extent to which a communication How much overlap in meaning exists among communication
option is designed to create options? How much overlap in creative strategy exists among
communication effects and achieve communication options?
communication objectives that are also the
focus of other communication options
Complementarity The extent to which a communication How much of the consumer-decision journey is covered by
option addresses communication effects the communication options? How many of the communication
objectives are covered by the communication options? How
, and objectives not addressed by other much of the desired positioning of the brand is covered by the
communication options communication options?
Cross-effects The extent to which communication options How does the coordination of the meaning of communication
are designed to explicitly work together options appropriately leverage brand knowledge at different
such that interaction or synergy occurs and stages of the consumer-decision journey? How does the
enhanced communication effects emerge coordination of the creative strategies of communication
as the result of exposure by consumers to options improve the attention to and processing of
both options communication options? How many synergies exist among
communication options?
Conformability The extent to which communication works How well do the communication options work across
across target market consumers consumers with different communication histories? How well
regardless of their communications history do the communication options work across different types of
or other characteristics target market consumers?
→ Communication confirmability vs
consumer conformability
Using the IMC choice criteria
Satisfying these seven criteria increases the likelihood that the IMC program is sufficiently comprehensive, cohesive and impactful.
First, evaluate communication options and programs: the bottom-up approach evaluates each individual communication option
making up the IMC program; and the top-down approach evaluates the proposed IMC program as a whole and considers how well
the IMC program collectively satisfies the IMC choice criteria (see questions in table above). Second, establish priorities and trade-
offs. E.g. commonality and conformability are often positively related, commonality (or conformability) and complementarity are
often inversely related, contribution, complementarity and cost do not share an obvious relationship, the same for commonality and
conformability.
Lecture 2 - Cho and Cheon (2004), “Why do people avoid advertising on het internet?”
Slides only display the graphical framework.
People try to avoid ads on the internet, seen in click-through rates of banner ads or banner blindness. This study theorized that
internet users exercise ad avoidance on the internet because of perceived goal impediment (ads can interrupt a consumer’s goal),
perceived ad clutter (excessive amount of ads), and prior negative experience. Consumers can have cognitive (C) (belief about
object), affective (A) (feeling or emotional response) and behavioural (B) (actions) attitudinal responses to advertising stimuli.
Method. An online survey is used. Perceived
goal impediment was measured by search
hindran ce, disruption and distraction.
Perceived ad clutter was measured by
excessiveness, exclusiveness and irritation.
Prior negative experience was measured by
dissatisfaction, perceived lack of utility, and
perceived lack of incentive.
Results. The greater the perceived goals
impediment (strongest), the greater the
perceived ad clutter, and the greater the prior
negative experience (weakest), all resulted in:
the greater the advertising avoidance on the
internet. Together, they explain 55.8% of the
variance in the ad avoidance construct.
Lecture 2 - Unnava and Burnkrant (1991), “Effects of
repeating varied ad executions on brand name memory,”
Imagination. Extent of “imagination” in an ad makes it easier to relate
information to existing knowledge. Dual coding means words stored in
verbal codes and images stored in visual codes. The net results is more
(and distinct) memory traces, making it easier to retrieve the particular ad,
and easier to process new, but related information. Even if this information
is non-pictorial! Design: 2 (level of imagery: high vs. low) by 2 (picture:
present vs. absent)
Variability. Novelty does not only affect “mere attention”, but also amount
of memory traces available for a stimulus. Encoding Variability: memory
representation of a stimulus depends on the cognitive context in which it