Marketing Communication - Exam 1

What professional might an advertising agency assign to a project to study all of the consumer research and provide suggestions for how to proceed?

Account planner.

Why is it important to set quantitative benchmarks in an advertising plan?

That is the only way to measure the results.

An advertiser is aware that there are a maximum number of units of its product that can be sold to the targeted group of consumers. It wants to maximize the number of units it sells of that total. This advertiser is focusing on what?

Market share

In an advertising plan, which is the section in which the agency and the client lay out the key factors that define the current conditions and then explain the importance of each factor?

Situation analysis

In advertising, relying only on one’s own personal values, experiences, and backgrounds to make promotional decisions refers to what concept that can be bad for global advertising?

Self-reference criterion.

You have suggested doing a build-up analysis to determine the budget. The expected expenditures for creating the advertisements make up what factor in that analysis?

Production costs.

In an advertising plan, strategy:

Should be a clear and concise articulation of how the plan will achieve its objectives.

Understanding the size of the market, and expressing a goal of how much of that market a company wishes to get, would be included in what part of the situation analysis in an advertising plan?

Market analysis.

The percentage-of-sales approach to advertising budgeting:

May lead to overspending or underspending.

The budgeting method that specifically relates spending to goals is the:

Objective-and-task approach.

A focus on the supply side of the balance of supply and demand would be included in what part of the situation analysis in an advertising plan?

Industry analysis.

Which of the following is an example of a quantitative benchmark and an advertising plan?

Increase brand recognition by five percent in the target market.

In the introduction of an advertising plan, what comes before the overview?

Executive summary.

Which aspect of a build-up analysis deals with the amount of exposure expected for the ad in certain regions or among specific groups?

Reach.

Which of the following are components of a situation analysis?

Cultural context, historical context, industry analysis, market analysis, competitor analysis

Which is a communication objective?

Brand awareness.

Costs associated with advertising that are not directly accounted for in other areas of a budget are known as:

Ancillary costs.

A food manufacturer surveys consumers, asking them if they plan on buying dinner at one of its outlets soon. What is the manufacturer researching?

Purchase intent.

The details regarding ad placements are described in the:

Media plan.

One problem with marketers who rely on a share-of-voice budget plan is that they assume that:

They know how much competitors are really spending.

What includes information regarding what the advertiser intends to accomplish in the text of ads and how those objectives will be reached?

Copy strategy.

A CEO announces that sales went up significantly last year, and the marketing director is happy because this means her budget will also go up. This indicates that the firm is using what method to set the advertising budget?

Percentage-of-sales approach.

A shoe company would like men to at least buy their boots once and see how they like them.

Which of the following is more likely to be the company’s objective?

Trial usage.

What method is used to determine the point where the best advertising expenditure leads to the best sales level and, therefore, the most profit?

Response model.

When determining what the market is for a particular good or service, the first step should be to

do what?

Find the current user base.

In what areas do clients need help from an ad agency?

Integrating the brand within the media and generating new ideas.

Companies use a wide variety of options to generate interest and communicate the value proposition for their brands. Which of the following would be included in a company's advertising plan?

Promotional events.

To determine the public’s knowledge of a product, a marketer may ask consumers to name five technology companies. Apple is the brand most often listed first; this is considered to demonstrate:

Top-of-mind awareness.

In theory, of the major options for advertising objectives, which asks the least of consumers?

Brand awareness

What part of an overall advertising plan relates to copy strategy and a media plan?

Execution.

A canned soup manufacturer and its agency are nailing down the responsibilities of each side as they begin their planning effort. In a nutshell, the agency will:

Translate the client's goals into a strategy and create finished ads for the product.

Explicit memory measures are those in which consumers are required to:

Remember their actual exposure.

The recent question “Where is advertising research going?” has largely hinged on:

The quick acceptance of digital media.

PlatterPug recently introduced a new line of veggie burgers in its offering of plant-based products. Now that the new burgers have been on the market for six months, PlatterPug want to assess the effectiveness of the advertising campaign surrounding the launch. They will use this information to formulate their advertising strategy for the next product to be released in the line, as well as to evaluate the work done by the advertising agency who ran this campaign.

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If PlatterPug wanted to get accurate measures of the behavior of consumers, what type of research would they need to conduct?

Field experiments.

PlatterPug recently introduced a new line of veggie burgers in its offering of plant-based products. Now that the new burgers have been on the market for six months, PlatterPug want to assess the effectiveness of the advertising campaign surrounding the launch. They will use this information to formulate their advertising strategy for the next product to be released in the line, as well as to evaluate the work done by the advertising agency who ran this campaign.

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Prior to the release of the new product, PlatterPug conducted surveys in the target audience to measure brand awareness. Similar surveys were conducted the week of the product launch and again one, two, and three months later. This is an example of what type of research?

Tracking study.

PlatterPug recently introduced a new line of veggie burgers in its offering of plant-based products. Now that the new burgers have been on the market for six months, PlatterPug want to assess the effectiveness of the advertising campaign surrounding the launch. They will use this information to formulate their advertising strategy for the next product to be released in the line, as well as to evaluate the work done by the advertising agency who ran this campaign.

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What type of information could single-source data give to PlatterPug?

All consumption behavior for individual households.

PlatterPug recently introduced a new line of veggie burgers in its offering of plant-based products. Now that the new burgers have been on the market for six months, PlatterPug want to assess the effectiveness of the advertising campaign surrounding the launch. They will use this information to formulate their advertising strategy for the next product to be released in the line, as well as to evaluate the work done by the advertising agency who ran this campaign.

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What can PlatterPug use to estimate the impact of the advertising on sales?

Statistical models.

PlatterPug recently introduced a new line of veggie burgers in its offering of plant-based products. Now that the new burgers have been on the market for six months, PlatterPug want to assess the effectiveness of the advertising campaign surrounding the launch. They will use this information to formulate their advertising strategy for the next product to be released in the line, as well as to evaluate the work done by the advertising agency who ran this campaign.

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Some of the advertisements for the new product included a website where consumers could go to ask for more information about the product. This method uses what technique?

Direct response.

Recall measurements make sense if the goal of the commercial is to make consumers:

Remember the brand name.

In a research study using the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique, participants:

Use photos or picture to make a visual representation of their experiences with the study subject.

Which of the following can be generally accepted as true?

The advertisers want to know if the ad works.

The type of advertising research undertaken before ads are made is known:

Developmental research.

What type of research can the agency conduct to check if the audience understands the humor in an ad?

A communication test.

After filing for bankruptcy in 2009 and requiring nearly $58 billion in governmental funding simply to stay afloat, General Motors realized it had to undergo major changes in order to compete with more successful automakers. The company began designing questionnaires and focus groups in order to gain a better understanding of what its cars had been lacking, and to probe for specific improvements consumers may have been looking for. The company recorded its research findings and began to apply them to its product line. A little over a year later, Consumer Reports stated that 83 percent of Chevrolets, GM’s top brand, had an average or better score in terms of predicted reliability, an increase from 50 percent the year before. Apparently, the company’s efforts helped turn the company in the right direction.

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What problem might researchers face when working with data collected from focus groups?

The participants may not have answered honestly if they wanted to please the researcher.

After filing for bankruptcy in 2009 and requiring nearly $58 billion in governmental funding simply to stay afloat, General Motors realized it had to undergo major changes in order to compete with more successful automakers. The company began designing questionnaires and focus groups in order to gain a better understanding of what its cars had been lacking, and to probe for specific improvements consumers may have been looking for. The company recorded its research findings and began to apply them to its product line. A little over a year later, Consumer Reports stated that 83 percent of Chevrolets, GM’s top brand, had an average or better score in terms of predicted reliability, an increase from 50 percent the year before. Apparently, the company’s efforts helped turn the company in the right direction.

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What is one reason GM may have chosen focus groups over other means of collecting qualitative data from consumers?

They allow researchers to watch the participants while they are providing feedback.

After filing for bankruptcy in 2009 and requiring nearly $58 billion in governmental funding simply to stay afloat, General Motors realized it had to undergo major changes in order to compete with more successful automakers. The company began designing questionnaires and focus groups in order to gain a better understanding of what its cars had been lacking, and to probe for specific improvements consumers may have been looking for. The company recorded its research findings and began to apply them to its product line. A little over a year later, Consumer Reports stated that 83 percent of Chevrolets, GM’s top brand, had an average or better score in terms of predicted reliability, an increase from 50 percent the year before. Apparently, the company’s efforts helped turn the company in the right direction.

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Its research, GM hoped to find why consumers liked certain features in their cars and disliked others. GM inquired about consumer wants and needs, and then looked to apply its findings to product development. This process is called:

Design thinking.

After filing for bankruptcy in 2009 and requiring nearly $58 billion in governmental funding simply to stay afloat, General Motors realized it had to undergo major changes in order to compete with more successful automakers. The company began designing questionnaires and focus groups in order to gain a better understanding of what its cars had been lacking, and to probe for specific improvements consumers may have been looking for. The company recorded its research findings and began to apply them to its product line. A little over a year later, Consumer Reports stated that 83 percent of Chevrolets, GM’s top brand, had an average or better score in terms of predicted reliability, an increase from 50 percent the year before. Apparently, the company’s efforts helped turn the company in the right direction.

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GM relied heavily on focus groups to learn about some of its product shortfalls. Although focus groups may serve as a good source of qualitative information, many quickly downplay their overall effectiveness. One common criticism of focus groups is:

Group dynamics may skew the results.

The Solutions Group is a combination of companies that helps clients better understand their target markets through creative research approaches. It has learned that many people have become quite adept at filtering out advertising messages and therefore do not respond to traditional research instruments such as surveys. The Solutions Group says that there must be a "research revolution" based on true dialogues with consumers, not the one-way monologues often seen in traditional surveys.

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The Solutions Group may want to center on fieldwork as its primary research method because it is designed to measure “embedded” consumer practices, meaning that it is:

Tightly intertwined in the social lives of consumers.

The Solutions Group is a combination of companies that helps clients better understand their target markets through creative research approaches. It has learned that many people have become quite adept at filtering out advertising messages and therefore do not respond to traditional research instruments such as surveys. The Solutions Group says that there must be a "research revolution" based on true dialogues with consumers, not the one-way monologues often seen in traditional surveys.

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Scenario 7-5) A number of "revolutionary" techniques can be found by the Solutions Group in an attempt to unearth consumers' true feelings and honest opinions about brands and ads. But they should remember that problems with validity most likely arise in studies when respondents are asked to:

Do things they don't normally do in real life when viewing ads.

The Solutions Group is a combination of companies that helps clients better understand their target markets through creative research approaches. It has learned that many people have become quite adept at filtering out advertising messages and therefore do not respond to traditional research instruments such as surveys. The Solutions Group says that there must be a "research revolution" based on true dialogues with consumers, not the one-way monologues often seen in traditional surveys.

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Solutions Group managers suggest that clients consider doing a resonance test when designing advertising, because this will help them understand target consumers regarding their:

Emotional connection to the brand.

The Solutions Group is a combination of companies that helps clients better understand their target markets through creative research approaches. It has learned that many people have become quite adept at filtering out advertising messages and therefore do not respond to traditional research instruments such as surveys. The Solutions Group says that there must be a "research revolution" based on true dialogues with consumers, not the one-way monologues often seen in traditional surveys.

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The Solutions Group likes to ask its clients’ potential customers a wide variety of questions so they can share their thoughts about themselves, their lives, and all the daily elements that are important to them. What type of research does this represent?

Lifestyle.

Which of the following is accurate in the context of sales and advertising?

To some advertisers, the gold standard is determining whether the ad actually gets people to do what was asked of them.

Which of the following is an internal company source of data?

Customer complaints.

Which of the following is a particular kind of research that might be done early on simply to prevent a major disaster—to avoid erroneous communications, unexpected interpretations, or unintended meanings in an ad, particularly in diverse or global markets?

A communication test.

What is a recent trend in advertising?

The move to a more visual advertising style from largely verbal approaches.

When does a recall measurement make sense?

When the commercial aims for simple memory goals.

The value of account planning is:

Researchers are more involved during the entire process.

Which of the following involves collecting data or research at the site of consumption rather than in the agency or lab?

Field work.

Internal databases have become valuable sources of information about buyers and trends in the current era of:

Big data.

Netnography is a blend of networks and ethnography; so, the researcher collects data from:

Online communities.

Which of the following is typical of long, or in-depth, interviews?

They generally last about an hour.

Sunshine Meals Inc. is a company that sells breakfast foods such as cereals, pancake mixes, and the like. The company conducts a study to segment its consumers. It finds that segment A consists of a small group of individuals who purchase four boxes of the brand’s cereal every week. In contrast, the average user consumes one box every week. Sunshine targets segment A by providing them with samples of other Sunshine products with the purchase of one box. Segment B consists of a large number of college students and individuals who have recently begun living on their own and require readymade mixes as their breakfast solution. Sunshine targets these consumers by providing more variety with pancake and waffle mixes. Segment C consists of consumers who are not consistent buyers; targeting these consumers could prove a loss for the company.

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Segment C consumers are more likely to be:

Variety seekers.

Sunshine Meals Inc. is a company that sells breakfast foods such as cereals, pancake mixes, and the like. The company conducts a study to segment its consumers. It finds that segment A consists of a small group of individuals who purchase four boxes of the brand’s cereal every week. In contrast, the average user consumes one box every week. Sunshine targets segment A by providing them with samples of other Sunshine products with the purchase of one box. Segment B consists of a large number of college students and individuals who have recently begun living on their own and require readymade mixes as their breakfast solution. Sunshine targets these consumers by providing more variety with pancake and waffle mixes. Segment C consists of consumers who are not consistent buyers; targeting these consumers could prove a loss for the company.

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The consumers of segment A can be classified as:

Heavy users.

Sunshine Meals Inc. is a company that sells breakfast foods such as cereals, pancake mixes, and the like. The company conducts a study to segment its consumers. It finds that segment A consists of a small group of individuals who purchase four boxes of the brand’s cereal every week. In contrast, the average user consumes one box every week. Sunshine targets segment A by providing them with samples of other Sunshine products with the purchase of one box. Segment B consists of a large number of college students and individuals who have recently begun living on their own and require readymade mixes as their breakfast solution. Sunshine targets these consumers by providing more variety with pancake and waffle mixes. Segment C consists of consumers who are not consistent buyers; targeting these consumers could prove a loss for the company.

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If Sunshine Meals Inc. begins producing a range of sugar-free marmalades to target a small segment of health-conscious consumers who would be willing to pay a premium price for products appropriate for their diets, this would be an example of:

Niche marketing.

Segment selection centers on what the members of the segment want as related to:

If the organization can provide it.

Which of the following is an emotional benefit that a family restaurant might include in its value proposition?

Families can spend quality time together.

Folgers coffee created an ad campaign aimed at millennials, as they are the next generation of coffee-drinkers at home. This campaign is an example of:

Point-of-entry marketing.

What is the basis of a positioning strategy?

It has to be both distinctive and simple.

Leesan Books is a publisher of both fiction and nonfiction titles for the popular reading market. The company has a goal to increase revenue by 5% annually and has not met that goal for the last two years. Therefore, a work group has been assembled to come up with ideas on how to increase sales. They are asked to consider all options--increasing share in existing markets, exploring new markets, and so on. They were not tasked with developing full-advertising campaigns, just asking relevant questions and coming up with ideas that may be pursued, either by this team or others.

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The team feels that it would be useful to understand why consumers purchase books. If they can understand that motivation, then they should be able to capitalize on it. What type of information are they seeking?

Psychographic.

Leesan Books is a publisher of both fiction and nonfiction titles for the popular reading market. The company has a goal to increase revenue by 5% annually and has not met that goal for the last two years. Therefore, a work group has been assembled to come up with ideas on how to increase sales. They are asked to consider all options--increasing share in existing markets, exploring new markets, and so on. They were not tasked with developing full-advertising campaigns, just asking relevant questions and coming up with ideas that may be pursued, either by this team or others.

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One idea the team had to encourage newlyweds to begin building their own libraries. The goal of this proposal is to target what market segment?

Emergent consumers.

Leesan Books is a publisher of both fiction and nonfiction titles for the popular reading market. The company has a goal to increase revenue by 5% annually and has not met that goal for the last two years. Therefore, a work group has been assembled to come up with ideas on how to increase sales. They are asked to consider all options--increasing share in existing markets, exploring new markets, and so on. They were not tasked with developing full-advertising campaigns, just asking relevant questions and coming up with ideas that may be pursued, either by this team or others.

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The task force has suggested a campaign that shows parents reading Leesan titles to their young children, with information explaining how this will prepare the children for success in school. This best reflects what type of segmentation?

Benefit.

A core idea that explains an objective or goal for a brand that will be relevant to the target audiences for a long period of time is known as the brand:

Platform.

Keds has been trying to turn around a long-term slide in its shoe business. For years, it had depended on its image as the women's no-frills summer shoe to keep sales moving. But over time, competition from Sam & Libby and Easy Spirit brands has been nipping at the heels of Keds. As part of its effort to revitalize the brand several years ago, Keds' advertising agency developed a campaign that focuses on the warm, close relationships between mothers and daughters. According to an issue of Brandweek magazine at the time, "The new ads really go for the heart." Copy on the first ad included the mother saying, "She was my first, I could never tell her how to dress," with the daughter saying, "She made me feel pretty even when I had braces."

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The copy for this campaign features moms and daughters commenting on their close relationships, and Brandweek magazine said that the new Keds ads "really go for the heart." This points to the campaign’s focus on:

Identifying emotional benefits.

Keds has been trying to turn around a long-term slide in its shoe business. For years, it had depended on its image as the women's no-frills summer shoe to keep sales moving. But over time, competition from Sam & Libby and Easy Spirit brands has been nipping at the heels of Keds. As part of its effort to revitalize the brand several years ago, Keds' advertising agency developed a campaign that focuses on the warm, close relationships between mothers and daughters. According to an issue of Brandweek magazine at the time, "The new ads really go for the heart." Copy on the first ad included the mother saying, "She was my first, I could never tell her how to dress," with the daughter saying, "She made me feel pretty even when I had braces."

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Instead of “mothers and daughters,” why didn’t Keds define its target segment simply as “women”?

This is poorly defined and provides no clear orientation or identity.

What is a downside to adopting a heavy-user-focused segmentation plan?

Heavy users may have different motivations for consuming the brand or different images of the brand than average or infrequent users have.

As a segment, variety seekers:

Need little encouragement to continue purchasing a brand.

A statement of emotional, self-expressive, or functional benefits that the brand provides is known as what?

Value proposition.

Which of the following is a functional benefit that a family restaurant might include in its value proposition?

Children can complete activity pages while waiting to be served.

An important apex in Thorson and Moore's strategic planning triangle entails:

Specifying of the brand’s value proposition.

When identifying brand opportunity, which question could be asked to determine relevance?

How can the consumer connect to the brand?

Why are systems such as PRIZM used by advertisers for segmentation?

Because they provide a thorough description of the segment.

The use of psychographics to focus on differences in the activities, interests, and opinions of consumers often lead to what type of segmentation?

Lifestyle.

A fast-food restaurant is attempting to position itself as the best choice when you're in a hurry because it serves customers within 100 seconds. Which of the following steps would violate the concept of internal consistency?

Adding a gourmet condiment station.

Which of the following forms the final apex of the strategic planning triangle proposed by Esther Thorson and Jeri Moore?

Selection of a mix of persuasion tools.

Which of the following is true of segment selection?

Marketers are inclined to invest resources in segments in which they expect significant growth.

The process of cutting a market into pieces and focusing on the piece or pieces that make the most sense is termed

Segmentation.

When identifying brand opportunity, which question could be asked to determine differentiation?

How can the brand stand out from the competition?

Which of the following involves the overlap of four factors: current relevance, credibility, a recognition of uniqueness, and the prospect of “stretch”?

Brand opportunity.

Terry just got a large raise and, even after allocating a certain amount for savings, has significantly more disposable income. Regarding product categories Terry hasn't purchased before, Terry would be identified with what group of consumers?

Emergent.

A firm hires an agency to persuade real estate professionals to use their finance services. In this case, the agency is specifically involved in:

Business-to-business marketing.

The McDonald’s team aligned its marketing mix in a design that would represent a particular identity, showcasing certain themes and value, and shaped to gain distinctive approval from parents. This demonstrates the process of ______.

Segmenting.

Tina finds out that Kraft cheese, her usual brand, is not available, she buys another brand of cheese. As cheese isn't the most important item on her list, she spends very little time picking an alternate brand of cheese. This is an example of:

Limited problem solving.

Kiara’s freezer doesn’t seem to be staying as cold as it should, and she wants to buy a new one before it completely stops working. The first brand she thinks of is Frigidaire. Other brands that come to mind are GE, LG, and Samsung. She asks her friends for suggestions. Two of them have Whirlpools, one has a Bosch, and one has a KitchenAid. She now has seven brands that she wants to look into. Of these brands, which one has achieved top-of-mind awareness for Kiara?

Frigidaire.

As clothing and accessories retailer Gap, Inc. attempted to carry its brand to greater heights, executives felt that a great way to refresh the company’s logo would be to change it all together. However, perhaps even quicker than the initial decision to change the logo, the masses reacted so negatively to the change that the company went back on its decision. A number of consumers stated that the new logo looked “cheap, like a crummy PowerPoint presentation,” and that was all company executives needed to hear. Gap admitted that the idea of changing the company’s logo was probably not the right move, nor was it the right time to do so. Clearly, Gap’s reaction to consumer sentiments serves as proof that the company cares a great deal about consumer thoughts and opinions. Gap's logo had been extremely popular, and most of its customers had sought out and used Gap products for years. This is an example of:

Brand loyalty.

Gap’s loyal customers generally believed the company’s products were high-end and sophisticated. Judging by the initial responses, consumers felt Gap’s new logo represented low-end products, and would, therefore, appeal to a lower social class. This concept of differing social levels is called:

Stratification.

Sofia needs to buy a tent, sleeping bag, and hiking boots for a two-week camping trip in the mountains. She has never bought camping equipment before and assesses what other equipment she may require during her trip. She also asks her friends, who have gone camping before, what equipment she should buy. Once she has purchased all the camping gear, she evaluates whether she made the right purchases. In this situation, Sofia is engaging in:

Extended problem solving.

Which of the following is a difference between brand loyalty and a habit?

Habit involves low involvement, whereas brand loyalty involves high involvement.

Advertisements—just like books, movies, posters, and paintings—can act as sociocultural “texts” that are read and interpreted by consumers. In this case, advertising:

Helps to transmit meaning within a culture.

What assumption do marketers make about social strata?

Consumers in the same social strata consume in similar ways.

What, specifically, about one’s occupation might help determine one’s social class?

The prestige of the occupation.