Evaluating IMC Effectiveness 31 Evaluating IMC Effectiveness For use only with Duncan texts. © 2005 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Lecture Outline Why is it important to evaluate brand communication effectiveness? What role do campaign objectives play in the measurement of campaign success? What are the key ways in which post-campaign evaluation is conducted? What are some key challenges faced in evaluating IMC effectiveness?

Brand communication impact: did it work? First things first: the campaign objectives Typically, a brand communication campaign has multiple objectives. For example, one (attitudinal) objective may be to change brand perceptions. Another (behavioral) objective may be to make people engage in some way with the brand.

Brand communication impact: did it work? First things first: the campaign objectives Regardless of the number of objectives, they must be established up front, because they provide the all-important framework for evaluating whether a campaign was a success. Campaign objectives and evaluation work hand in hand. In the absence of solid campaign objectives, evaluation becomes a much murkier task.

Brand communication impact: did it work? The campaign purpose: brand building Determining advertising’s impact on sales can be very difficult because of the impact of other environmental factors. Sales are not the only reason brands advertise. One of the major objectives of advertising is to create higher levels of brand awareness among consumers.

Brand communication impact: did it work? The campaign purpose: brand building Marketers intend their messages to accomplish a variety of goals. Brand communication can be deemed successful when set objectives—attitudinal, behavioral, or both—have been met.

Brand communication impact: did it work? Why evaluation matters All campaigns require multiple, formal evaluation mechanisms. These should be “planned in” to any campaign. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. The sheer costs of brand communication demand evaluation in order to judge its effectiveness.

Brand communication impact: did it work? How evaluation fits into the stages of brand communication testing A complete understanding of the strength of your brand communication is accomplished through testing, monitoring and measurement. The results of preliminary testing should be available before large sums of money are invested in finished work or media buys.

Evaluating the IMC message How do we find out whether brand communication was effective? How do we know whether the messaging worked? Questions about impact are critical, and must be addressed.

Evaluating the IMC message Brand messaging impact is measured in terms of communication effects—the mental responses to a message that serve as surrogate measures for sales impact. These can include: Brand awareness Knowledge of what a brand offers Liking of a brand Intent to purchase a brand

Evaluating the IMC message Experts in message evaluation Many research companies specialize in measuring the various dimensions of effectiveness. The most successful have conducted so many tests that they have developed norms for common product and service categories. Norms allow planners to determine whether a message has performed above or below the category average in terms of “moving the needle.”

Message evaluation techniques Tracking Studies Conducted from the time a campaign is launched until after it has concluded. Involves the collection of information from random samples of consumers who live in markets where they were exposed to a campaign.

Message evaluation techniques Scanner analysis Many retail outlets use scanners to tally purchases and collect consumer buying information. Scanner research is also used to see what type of sales spikes are crated when certain ads and promotions are used in a given market.

Message evaluation techniques Using single-source research, advertising and brand purchase data come from the same households, linking advertising to sales. The result is single-source data because brand communication exposure and brand purchasing data come from the same household source.

Message evaluation techniques Memory tests In a recognition test, people are asked whether they remember having seen a message before. In a recall test, respondents who have seen a message are asked to report what they remember from the ad about the brand.

Message evaluation techniques Inquiry tests These measure the number of responses to an advertisement or other form of brand communication. Examples: Calls to a toll-free number An e-mail or website visit A coupon return A visit to a dealer An entry in a contest A call to a salesperson

Evaluating the performance of various IMC tools IMC synergy exists when all campaign components work together to create a solid and understandable brand meaning. The overarching campaign impact is strongest when the right mix of IMC tools is used. Before overarching campaign synergy is measured, evaluation usually is conducted on a tool-by-tool basis.

Advertising Advertising can accomplish objectives including increased brand awareness, improved brand image. The tracking study is the most common post testing evaluation technique used to evaluate advertising.

Public Relations Evaluation should be based on measurable objectives set at the beginning of campaign planning. Practitioners typically track the impact of a public relations campaign in terms of successful output and outcome.

Consumer, trade and point-of-purchase promotions Sales promotion managers need to evaluate the impact of consumer, retailer, and other promotions. A payout analysis compares the costs of a promotion to the forecasted sales generated by the promotion. A break-even analysis determines the point at which the total cost of a promotion exceeds the total revenues generated.

Consumer, trade and point-of-purchase promotions Direct marketing mechanisms are the easiest IMC tools to evaluate in terms of message efficiency and in terms of return on marketing investment. The primary objective of direct-marketing communication is to drive a transaction or generate some other type of immediate behavioral response, such as a donation or visit to a dealer.

Consumer, trade and point-of-purchase promotions Evaluation of digital IMC components Performance indicators include: Page views Click-through rates Cost per lead Conversion rate

Evaluating the performance of media vehicles Advertising has little chance to be effective if no one sees it. Key media questions: Did the plan actually achieve reach and frequency objectives? Did the newspaper and magazine placements run in positions expected and produce the intended GRP and CPM levels? Did the advertisers get what they paid for?

Evaluating the performance of media vehicles Media optimization A major challenge in media planning is media efficiency—getting the most for the money invested. Media planners operate with computer models of media optimization to make decisions about media selection, scheduling, and weights.

Evaluating exposure Verifying audience measurement estimates is a challenge. Services including Experian Simmons, Arbitron, MediaMark provide data.

Vehicle-by-vehicle evaluation Out-of-home media For outdoor, traffic counts don’t equal exposure. Digital media Evaluation is complex. Analytic firms are developing more sophisticated evaluation programs. Alternative media Even harder to measure; many obstacles remain.

Vehicle-by-vehicle evaluation Newspaper readership measurement For newspapers and other traditional media, assessment is more straightforward. Newspapers measure their audiences in two ways: Circulation or number of subscribers Readership or number of readers

Vehicle-by-vehicle evaluation Magazine readership measurement Rates are based on the guaranteed circulation that a publisher promises to provide. Magazine circulation is the number of copies of an issue sold, not the readership of the publication. Magazines also offer advertisers figures for their total audience.

Vehicle-by-vehicle evaluation Measuring the broadcast audience Coverage is similar to circulation for print media. Ratings, as delivered by Arbitron, are re-visited post-campaign by marketers to ensure that the radio medium delivered. For television, A. C. Nielsen data help advertisers understand the audience that a campaign actually delivered.

IMC campaign evaluation challenges Measuring ROI Advertisers continue to improve how they measure brand communication ROI. How much spending is too much? The best way to answer this question is to use test marketing.

IMC campaign evaluation challenges The synergy problem Another challenge with evaluating campaigns is estimating the impact of synergy. The most common way of measuring total impact is the brand tracking approach. Planners must consider other messages and contact points beyond the brand communication campaign.

IMC campaign evaluation challenges Digital challenges Marketers must start digital measurement planning with the desired business outcomes in mind. Marketers must also develop the right digital key performance indicators. Digital communication evaluation must be phrased so that broader business leaders can understand it.

IMC campaign evaluation challenges International challenges International brand communication is difficult to evaluate because of market differences. Evaluation should focus initially on pretesting to help head off major problems due to unfamiliarity with: Different cultures Languages Consumer behaviors

Bringing it all together Advertisers continue to search for evaluation methods that bring all the individual metrics together to efficiently and effectively evaluate and predict brand communication effectiveness. The ultimate goal is to arrive at holistic, cross-functional metrics that are relevant for integrated communication. Many pieces are still missing in the evaluation of complex IMC programs.

Bibliography Principles of Advertising & IMC by Tom Duncan 2nd Edition, Published by McGraw-Hill Irwin. Event Management For Tourism, Cultural, Business and Sporting Events by Lynn Van Der Wagen Brenda R. Carlos Published by Pearson Prentice Hall. Advertising Principles and Practice by W. Wells, S. Moriarty and J. Burnett, Published by Prentice Hall International. Integrated Marketing Communications by David Pickton & Amanda Broderick Published by Prentice Hall.

“In matters of style, swim with the current; The End: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”