Advertising Planning and Decision Making

Plans are Nothing..,Planning is Everything.

(Dwight D. Eisenhower)

You must learn Decision Making

How to identify strategic choices.
How to choose the best alternative from among those available in a given situation.

How to implement strategic and tactical decisions.

Major activity in Advertising Management 1. Planning.

2. Decision Making.

 Essence of planning is to find outwhat are the feasible alternatives are and reduce them to a set on which decisions can be made. Decision Making involves choosing from among the alternatives. A complete advertising plan reflects the results of the planning and decision making process and decisions that have been made in a particular product market situation.

Consumer/Market Analysis

Situation Analysis
Competitive Analysis

Market Program Communication Persuasion Process

Role of AD,,SF,,Promotion PR,Price Obj/Seg/Pos Msg Str/Tactics MS/Tactics Facilitating Agencies S&L Constraints

Advertising Plan

Implementation

Framework for Advertising Planning & Decision Making

The three key internal factors are.

1. Situation Analysis. 2. Market Program. 3. Advertising Plan.

Advertising Plan Components

Situation Analysis
Conduct a Situation Analysis to specify goals and discover what problems and opportunities exist in the marketplace. Conducting a Situation Analysis enables the advertiser to select a target segment and position based on facts.
Annual reality check.

Advertising Plan Components

Situation Analysis
Start by considering your goals. Marketing Objectiveshow much sales or market share should be increased Advertising or Communication Objectiveswhat should be said or communicated in the ad (awareness of new product or feature, etc.)

Topics and Questions Involved in Situation Analysis

A. Nature of Demand 1. How do buyers (consumer and industrial) currently go about buying existing products or services? Describe the main types of behavior patterns and attacks. 2. Can the market be meaningfully segmented or broken into several homogeneous group w.r.t what they want and how they buy

B. Extent of demand
1. What is the size of the market now and what will the future hold? 2. What are the current market shares, and what are the selective demand trends? 3. Is it best to analyze the market on an aggregate or on a segmented basis?

C. Nature of competition
1. What is the present and future structure of competition? a. No. of competitors b. Market Shares c. Financial resources d. Marketing/Production resources and skills 2. What are the current marketing programs of established competitors? Why are they successful or unsuccessful? 3. Is there an opportunity for another competitor? Why? 4. What are the anticipated retaliatory moves of competitors? Can they neutralize different marketing programs we might develop?

D. Environmental Climate
1. What are the relevant PEST trends?

2. How do you evaluate these trends? Do they represent opportunities or problems?

E. Stage of PLC
1. In what stage of life cycle is the product category? a. What is the chronological age of the product category? (Younger more favorable than older?) b. What is the state of consumers knowledge of the product category? 2. What market characteristics support your stage of life cycle evaluation?

F. Cost Structure of the Industry

What is the amount and composition of the marginal or additional cost of supplying increased output?

G. Skills of the firm

1. Do we have skills and experience to perform the functions necessary to be in the business? 2. How do our skills compare with those of competitors? A. Production fit B. Marketing fit C. And so on..

H. Financial resources of the firm

1. Do we have the funds to support an effective marketing program? 2. Where are the funds coming from, and when will they be available?

Situation Analysis answers to dozens of questions, including questions of history of product, distribution, pricing, packaging, consumer analysis and competition.