Chapter 7 Differentiate between objectives, strategies, and tactics in strategic planning Identify the basic steps in an advertising plan Explain how account planning works Outline the key features in an IMC plan

Strategic Planning The process of determining objectives, deciding on strategies, and implementing the tactics Objectives What you want to accomplish Strategies How to accomplish the objectives Tactics Make the plan come to life

A Three-Tiered Process The business plan The marketing plan The advertising or IMC plan May cover a specific division of the company or a strategic business unit with a common set of problems

A Three-Tiered Process The business plan The marketing plan The advertising or IMC plan Parallels the business strategic plan and contains many of the same components

A Three-Tiered Process The business plan The marketing plan The advertising or IMC plan Operates with the same concern for objectives, strategies, and tactics as business and marketing plans

Basic Strategic Planning Steps Annual advertising or IMC plan Outlines all the advertising or marketing communication activities Campaign plan More tightly focused on solving a particular marketing communication problem Typical Plan Outline Situation analysis Key strategic decisions Media strategy Message strategy Other tools Evaluation of effectiveness

Basic Strategic Planning Steps Situation analysis Researching and reviewing the current state of the business that is relevant to the brand and gathering all relevant information After the research is compiled, analysis begins SWOT analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Key problems and opportunities

Basic Strategic Planning Steps Objectives and strategies Planners develop specific objectives to be accomplished during a specific time period The main categories of effects can be used to identify the most common advertising and IMC strategies It is important for advertisers to know what to expect from a campaign or an ad Measurable objectives Specific effect that can be measured A time frame A baseline The goal Percentage change

Basic Strategic Planning Steps Segmenting and targeting Market segment: a group of consumers having similar characteristics The segments the planner selects becomes the target audience Getting deeper insight into consumers is the responsibility of the account planning function

Basic Strategic Planning Steps Positioning Strategy Determining what place a product should occupy in a given market To establish a location in the consumer’s mind based on what the product offers and how that compares with the competition Product features Feature analysis Competitive advantage Importance/performance Differentiation Branding Locating the brand position Perceptual mapping

Basic Strategic Planning Steps Budgeting Determines how many targets and multiple campaign plans a company or brand can support and the length of time the campaign can run Historical method Objective-task method Percentage-of-sales method Competitive budgets All you can afford

Account Planning: What is It? The research-and-analysis process used to gain knowledge and understanding of the consumer Account Planning Elements Consumer insight Message strategy Media strategy

Account Planning: What is It? Account planner A person in an agency who uses account planning to research a brand and its customer relationships in order to devise advertising message strategies that are effective in addressing consumer needs and wants Account Planner Tasks Understand brand Understand audience relationship Articulate strategies Prepare creative briefs Evaluate effectiveness

Account Planning: What is It? The Research Foundation Consumer Insight The Communication Brief Used in three phases of the advertising planning process Strategy generation Creative development Campaign evaluation

Account Planning: What is It? The Research Foundation Consumer Insight The Communication Brief Intersects with the interests of the customer and the brand features Insight mining Realistic response objective? Causes of nonresponse? Barriers to desired response? Motivation to respond? Role of each element in the communication mix

Account Planning: What is It? The Research Foundation Consumer Insight The Communication Brief Explains the consumer insight and summarizes the basic strategy decisions An outline that guides the creative process, keeping it strategically sound Gives spark to the creative process

The Creative Brief Problem to be solved Target market and audience The brand description Marketing/communication objectives The proposition and support Message strategy/execution Media strategy

Planning for IMC Follows same basic outline as an ad plan Objective is to make the most effective use of all marketing communication functions Effective plans lead to profitable long-term brand relationships Differences in IMC strategic decisions Stakeholders Contact points IMC objectives