Marketing Communications objectives

We have found that students often get confused between a Marketing objectives (sales/ revenue/ market share)
and Marketing Communications objectives (i.e. what we want the brand’s consumers to do: think (cognitive)/
feel (affective)/ Do (conative) ??? ).

Students must do Marketing Communication objectives, and if they get this wrong in Part A (they will fail
that section), they will need to re-submit new objectives for Part B.
For the objectives section in Part A, ideally you have 2 or 3 SMART objectives (e.g.. increase brand
awareness by …% in the next 12 months) and a short explanation explaining why they were chosen (linking
back to the situation analysis and target audience).

Media Plan
Print A3 media plan please. You need to dissect and understand it.
Basically a media plan is a topline summary of all the company created contact/touch points made between the
brand and consumer.

ACK – VU teach the holistic approach, that covers all contact, not just media (this is now becoming industry
standard). This means that ALL IMC functions (i.e. advertising/ sales promotions/ direct marketing campaigns
etc), as well as ALL media used (TV, radio, internet etc) that is going to be used.

Students should go for one year campaign.
Please refer to the MFA education guide (on blackboard – Chapter 2 is particularly useful as is the glossary
see link on page 103) for more media information.

You may also want to go through the media rates presentation to give them an idea of how much things really
cost (although some costs are also covered in the media planner section of asteroid as well – week 8/9).

The Target Audience
A creative should know the target audience. The more detail that is known about the target audience, the
easier it is for a creative to design an advertisement that will be effective.
Target market profiles that are too general are not very helpful.

The Message Theme
The message theme outlines the key idea(s) the advertising program conveys. The message theme is the benefit
or promise (unique selling point) the advertiser wants to use to reach consumers or businesses. Message
themes can be oriented toward either rational or emotional processes.
A left-brained ad is oriented toward the logical, rational side, which manages information such as numbers,
letters, words, and concepts. Left-brained advertising is logical and factual.
A right-brained ad deals with emotions and works with abstract ideas, images, and feelings.

The Support
Support takes the form of the facts, which substantiate the message theme.

The Constraints
Constraints deal with legal and mandatory restrictions for ads, or company imposed requirements. They
include:
• Legal protection for trademarks, logos, and copy registrations
• Disclaimers about warranties, in which the disclaimer specifies the conditions under which they will be
honored
• Disclaimers about offers spell out the terms of financing agreements, as well as when bonuses or discounts
apply
• Disclaimers about claims identify the exact nature of the statement made in the advertisement
Creative Appeals
When working with clients, make sure they understand the intention of each of the advertising appeals:

•The primary goal of a fear appeal is to attract attention and to create enough cognitive unpleasantness so
that the consumer makes a purchase to alleviate concerns.

•The primary goals of humor are to attract attention, help the customer remember the product and company
names, and to make them feel good about buying the firm’s offerings.

•The main goals of sex appeals are to grab attention, and to link the product with the type of sexual appeal
being used, from shock value to sensuality. The key is to link the nature of the appeal with the most
important element of the product being advertised.

•There are many uses for music. It can be as a backdrop, as an attention-getter, as a method to help the
consumer remember the product or company, or as an overarching theme that will run over a series of
commercials.

•Rational appeals attempt to persuade consumers that a given company’s goods and services have some
advantage over the competition. The logic of a rational appeal must be sound, and the ad must quickly and
convincingly convey the information in a manner that the customer can understand.

•Emotional appeals are based on a wide range of possibilities. The secret is making sure the emotion is
appropriate for the advertisement’s goals, and for the company or products being featured.

•Scarcity appeals are designed to move the consumer to quick action. Conveying a sense of urgency is a key
ingredient in a scarcity ad.

Remember the advantages of combining appeals. Music goes with many media, and with other appeals. Humor,
sex, and emotions are also logical candidates for combined appeals.

Executional Frameworks
An executional framework is the manner in which an ad appeal is presented. If the ad appeal is the script in
a movie, then the plot would be the actual executional framework. Types of
executional frameworks include:

• Animation
• Slice of life
• Dramatization
• Testimonial
• Authoritative
• Demonstration
• Fantasy
• Informative

BHO2257: Advertising and Marketing Communication
Part A IMC Plan 10%

Brand:
Group Members:
Criteria Comment Grade

Context Analysis
A necessary but less important aspect in terms of allocation of effort. Prioritised SWOT?

Target Audience
A very important section. Also must include data from Asteroid here. Segmentation Table

Product Positioning To be included to understand how the product is placed. Positioning Map?

IMC objectives A small section but very important. Why were these objective chosen? Rationale?SMART?
Layout & structure of your report

Presentation of your written report (including grammar and language)

Research quality and Reference list