Monitoring, Evaluation and Control

Measuring the Effectiveness of Advertising Programme

Advertising refers to the promotion and branding of an organisation’s products and services with the help of various mediums. The main aim of an advertisement is to improve and maximise the sales of the products and services.

Advertisement makes the population, target market or customers aware of the product and services by focusing on the customer’s needs to purchase the product. Advertising plays an important part in the corporate world, globally. Figure 9.1 shows the stages of advertising:

Stages of Advertising

Let us discuss these stages in detail.

Idea generation

This stage of advertisement creation includes the following sub-stages:

1. Orientation: In this step, an organisation first recognises the purpose or objective of communication, and then only a relevant creative idea can be decided.
   
   
2. Preparation: Next, it is important to gather relevant and sufficient information.
   
   
3. Analysis: After collecting adequate information, organise the information under various headings like technical, consumer behaviour and competitors.
   
   
4. Ideation: This refers to the generation of actual ideas by trying various combinations of facts and information available.
   
   
5. Incubation: After idea generation, the ideas are kept aside for incubation, i.e., to let the subconscious mind work on them for some time.
   
   
6. Synthesis: At this step after incubation, the team is equipped with different ideas. In this step, the focus is on combining various ideas and evolving something substantial from it.
   
   
7. Evaluation: Now, all the ideas that were incubated and synthesised now have to be evaluated. The criteria used for evaluation are described here.
   
   
   The idea should be:
   • Relevant to the objectives of communication
   • Original and capable of catching the viewers’ attention
   • Flexible for any modification or extension to other advertisements in the future

Copy Writing

The written and spoken matter that is expressed in words, sentences and figures designed to depict the intended message to the target audience is known as an “Advertising Copy”. When we talk about print media, the elements of an advertisement copy include:

• Headline
• Sub-headlines
• Illustrations
• Slogans
• Brand name

A copywriter has the responsibility to answer the following questions to make a good advertising copy:

• What am I advertising and for whom?
• How can an advertising message be conveyed effectively to my readers?
• Where the product is being sold? How the product is being sold?
• When the product is purchased and used?
• What legal implications are involved?

Layout

It refers to a miniature sketch of the proposed advertisement. First, an organisation makes a rough layout that has a headline and sub-heads in artwork, photographs that are drawn or provided and the position of various elements of advertisement copy that are highlighted.

Testing of a rough layout is done, then some modification is made if needed, and a final layout is finalised. The final layout is appended with many explanations and mechanical designs to give a comprehensive view. It refers to specifications for estimating costs, guidance for engravers and blueprints for advertisers.

Following are the functions of the layout:

• Organises all the elements
• Integrates copywriter and art directors
• Assists the advertiser to visualise his future advertisement
• Acts like a guide to copy specialists

Copy testing refers to a medium of discovering the communication value of advertising. It can be instrumental in the creative development process. It can be a diagnostic tool rather than an evaluative tool.

The following are the objectives of a copy-testing framework:

• To find out whether the advertising can cut through the clutter and make people stop and notice the advertisement
  
• To assess whether the advertisement communicates the intended message

Conducting Research

Advertising is not useful if the defined purpose of communication is not accomplished. So, it is important to find out the effectiveness of advertisement at various levels, beginning from the creation of advertisement copy to the running of the advertisement on media, and also after its execution to understand to what extent the objectives are attained.

Types of Tests

Let us discuss the types of tests in detail.

Pre-Testing

This is based on “Prevention is better than cure” philosophy. Advertisements can be pre-tested at various points in the process of creative development. Pre-testing enables the advertiser to make a final go or no-go decision related to the finished or nearly finished ad. Pre-testing is the potential testing of a communication message or advertisement copy before printing, broadcasting or telecasting.

The following are the types of pre-testing methods:

• Qualitative methods of pre-testing: These methods are non-numeric.
  
  Some of the qualitative methods of pre-testing are:
  • Focus group discussion: This involves exposing the advertisement to a group of 8–12 respondents. A focus group discusses the issues with the help of a moderator before making a final go-or-no-go decision. This focus group discussion helps to generate new advertising concepts and ideas.
    
    
  • In-depth interview: This involves detailed discussion, which is mainly one-on-one with respondents. In-depth interviews are most effective in situations which are personal or sensitive and when the researcher has a good knowledge of the critical situations. A researcher is unable to sense the kind of response one advertisement will get.
    
    
  • Projective techniques: In this method, the respondent projects himself into the situation and verbalises the thoughts. This is an effective way to evaluate advertisement concepts and generate new advertisement concepts. But this projective technique cannot be used to make final decisions.
    
    
    
• Quantitative methods of pre-testing: This is a quantitative method of performing pre-testing.
  
  Following are the tests performed under quantitative methods:
  
  
  • Checklist method: This is used to test the effectiveness of advertisement copy. The checklist method ensures that all elements of the advertisement copy are included with due importance in the advertisement. With the help of this method, any omitted element of an advertisement can be inserted into the advertisement copy before the advertisement is released.
    
    
  • Consumer jury method: This consists of the exposure of alternative advertisements to juries or prospects. The consumer jury method is designed to learn from a typical group of prospective customers. The unpublished advertisements are shown to the consumer jury, and their reactions are observed and their responses are recorded.
    
    
  • Questionnaire method: This test involves a list of some relevant questions, which are sent to a group of target consumers or advertising experts. An organisation collects their opinions and analyses them to know whether the proposed advertisement is satisfactory or not.

Concurrent Testing

Concurrent testing refers to the testing that takes place simultaneously when the whole advertisement execution process is being carried out. Concurrent tests are conducted while a customer is exposed to different media types.

Some of the common types of concurrent testing are:

• Consumer diaries: Some organisations give diaries to selected customers. These consumers are informed to record the advertisement details, like what they watch in the advertisement, listen to or read. The organisation then periodically collects these diaries, and results are obtained that intend to reveal the effectiveness of advertising.
  
  
• Coincidental surveys: Coincidental surveys are also known as the co-incidental telephonic method. In this method, samples of customers’ reactions to incidents are selected and calls are made at the time of the broadcast of the advertisement programme. The data is gathered and analysed to understand the picture of advertisement effectiveness.

Post Testing

This testing is done to understand to what extent the advertising objectives are accomplished. Recognition and recall testing are heavily used by advertisers in advertising measurement, more specifically in copy testing techniques.

Some of the types of post-testing tests are:

• Recall Test: Advertising copies are presented to a group of prospects. They are given some time and then they are asked to recall and reproduce what was mentioned in the copies. This helps in finding out how far the advertisements are impressive.
  
  
• Reaction Test: This test helps in judging the potential effect of an advertisement with the help of instruments used to measure heartbeats, blood pressure, pupil dilution, etc. The reaction of the respondent reveals the psychological or nervous effects of advertising.
  
  
• Readability Test: All the listeners of advertisements cannot read it equally. So respondents are drawn from various socio-economic and geographical backgrounds. Readability tests find out the effectiveness level when an advertisement is read.
  
  
• Recognition Test: This involves the viewer’s ability to correctly identify an advertisement, brand or message they were previously exposed to.

Testing Process

Following are the steps to perform advertisement testing:

• Come up with a great concept or idea. For a good idea, focus on preliminary market research for better knowledge of the market.
  
  
• Define your advertisement goal. Your goal can be raising new product awareness, driving more sales of an existing product, promoting a brand, etc.
  
  
• Conduct pre-testing, concurrent testing and post-testing. Pre-testing ensures that your advertisement campaign begins on the right note. Concurrent testing helps you to know whether you are on the right track or have deviated. Post-testing helps you understand whether an advertisement’s goal is accomplished or not.
  
  
• There are several methods to test the advertisements. You must decide which technique you will use to perform advertisement testing.
  
  
  • Single advertisement test: It has a better response rate and also gives an unbiased view of your advertisement. A researcher makes specific advertisements for individuals.
    
    
  • Multiple advertisement test: It is cost-effective testing and more efficient for the researcher. Research in this test initiates the same test across multiple advertisement groups at the same time.

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Measuring the Effectiveness of Other Mediums

Now comes the evaluation of other mediums. There are two traditional methods of evaluating the effectiveness of other advertising mediums.

They are:

• Communication effect research
• Sales effect research

On the other hand, modern methods of evaluating the effectiveness of other advertisement mediums include:

• Analysis tool
• Integrated direct marketing

Let us discuss these techniques in detail.

1. Communication effect research: Following are the tests which are performed under communication effects research:
   
   
   • Portfolio tests: Advertisements are seen and listened carefully by the customers. The customers are asked to recall the advertisement content. Calculations are done based on such data.
     
     
   • Direct rating method: Under this method, customers are requested to give rating to the advertisement. These ratings are then calculated.
     
     
   • Laboratory tests: This method is used for measuring the physiological reactions of customers after they see an advertisement. An apparatus is used to measure blood pressure, heart rate, perspiration, etc.
     
     
2. Sales effect research: Another way to check the effectiveness of an advertisement is by evaluating an advertisement based on the sales figure of the organisation. This can be done through questionnaires, product surveys, recognition tests, toll-free numbers and response rates.
   
   
   Following are the methods of evaluating the effectiveness of other advertisement mediums:
   
   
   • Analysis tool: Analysis tools are mainly for online advertisements. It is used to record and measure customer visits to websites, how many pages are viewed, who is buying online, etc., which helps marketers find out the advertisement effectiveness.
     
     
   • Integrated Direct Marketing (IDM): IDM is a modern web-based tool that provides a response corner on websites where customers can leave feedback. Whether it is TV, brochures, radio, business cards or online advertising, analysing its effectiveness is intrinsically crucial to know its performance and reach.

Online/website Effectiveness Measurement

A website should be easy to read, easy to navigate and easy to find. Planning and designing a website consist of various steps that help in simplifying the website development. It is important to find the purpose of website creations, the target audience and their interest and taste.

Let us now shed some light on the best practices of website design which are as follows:

• Every web page of your website should have the company or brand logo placed prominently on the webpage, such as in the left corner.
  
  
• Important content should be in the top right corner. Any Click to Action (CTA) button should be present on the top of the website.
  
  
• The navigational structure of a website should not be too complicated. It should be in a logical manner that makes sense to the visitors.
  
  
• The website owner should keep in mind the customer search behaviour findings.
  
  
• The colour of your website should be pleasant and appealing to the eyes. Also, it should have a certain significance in the overall theme of the website. The colour scheme plays a pivotal role in drawing the attention of visitors for a longer time.
  
  
• The load time of a website should be fast. One can check the loading speed on ‘Google PageSpeed’. A fast-loading website is beneficial for both the users and SEO.
  
  
• It is important to publish crisp and informative content on your website along with good and clear visuals, such as photos, illustrations and videos to make your website attractive to visitors.
  
  
  It is important for website owners to experiment and test various things on the website regularly to become aware of the loopholes and what needs to be improved. Every business that has a website must allot one day of the week for experimentation and testing.
  
  Various elements of a website involving homepage, CTA, value propositions, creative colour, size, images, font, promotion, etc., need to be tested in different versions to know the best version which would provide better results and traffic. The following are the most common tests that are performed by digital marketers to keep up with the pace.
  
  
  
• A/B testing: The most commonly used tools to perform A/B testing are Optimisely, Maximiser, SiteSpect, etc. It is also known as split testing wherein two versions of a Web page are compared to know which performs better.
  
  
  
• Multivariate testing (MVT): This test involves testing multiple variants concurrently. For instance, if a digital marketer wants to test the heading, CTA and form of a website, then there will be eight variants as each has two variants. These eight variants will be tested concurrently to identify the winning variation.

Direct Marketing Effectiveness Measurement – RFM Model

RFM analysis refers to a marketing technique used to quantitatively rank and group customers based on recency, frequency and monetary total of their recent transactions to recognise the best customers and perform targeted marketing campaigns.

RFM analysis believes in the philosophy that “80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers.”

A known response scoring model is the RFM model (Recency – Frequency – Monetary Value). Following are the factors used in RFM analysis to rank each customer:

• Recency: It shows the time elapsed since the last purchase. This tells the organisation how recent was the customer’s last purchase. All those customers who recently made a purchase will still have the product on their minds and are more likely to purchase or use the product again.
  
  
• Frequency: It is the frequency with which a customer places an order. This tells how often this customer purchased in a given period. Customers who purchased once often are more likely to purchase again. Additionally, first-time customers maybe good targets for follow-up advertising to convert them into more frequent customers.
  
  
• Monetary: It is the average amount of money a customer spends per purchase. This tells how much money the customer spent in a given period. Customers who spend a lot of money are more likely to spend money in the future and have a high value to a business.

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Regulation of Advertising and Promotion

Ethics in Advertising

Ethics are the set of moral principles that guides and govern the behaviour of a person or how the work or activity is conducted. On the other hand, advertising can be said as the mode of communication between a seller and a buyer in terms of marketing.

Therefore; ethics in advertising refers to a set of well defined principles that checks the way in which communication is taking place between the seller and the buyer.

Ethical advertisements doesn’t lie, doesn’t make wrong or false claims and is in the limit of decency.

Nowadays, advertisements are more exaggerated and a lot of puffing is used. It can be noticed that unethical advertising lacks knowledge and involves no ethical norms and principles. Most advertisements are found to be false, wrong, misleading and unethical.

For Example; ABC Company that sells sanitary napkin showed an advertisement which demonstrated that when the napkin was dropped in pond by some girls, the napkin soaked whole water. Thus, advertising is done with the sole purpose of informing women about the product quality. Obviously, every woman knows that this cannot practically happen but the advertisement was accepted. This doesn’t show that the advertisement was unethical.

Unethical advertising refers to the distortion of marketable things in some manner or the use of subconscious messaging to fit a hidden agenda.

Let us discuss unethical advertising with the help of an example.

As a part of the digital marketing campaign for Reebok, it had a headline that said ”Cheat on your girlfriend, not on your workout.”

This promotion was extremely unethical as it promoted, and encouraged deceitful behaviour, and as a result, the shoe company faced backlash and even a boycott from its customers.

There are two areas that need advertising regulation:

• Unethical marketing communication practices: These include:
  • Stereotyping: Stereotyping refers to a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like. Advertisements can prove to be one of the best tools to change the mindset of the society. Sadly this is not the case. Instead of spreading a right message, most of the advertisements communicate a stereo-typical message.
    
    
    For example: Johnson’s Baby feature babies with a fair complexion. This is a major stereotype in India. They promote the perception that only fair kids are cute, which is totally wrong. Fair and Lovely’s stereotypical slogans “best ever nikhar” and “fairness in 7 days”, “fairness cream” and so on.
    
    
  • Controversial messages: Advertisements with controversial message are unethical as they deliberately offend people and violates norm. For example: P&G’s brand, Mr. Clean, displays an advertisement video where a smiling mother and daughter cleaning a surface with the slogan “This Mother’s Day, get back to the job that really matters”. It was not clear what P&G intends to imply through this advertisement? That teaching your daughter her place in society (cleaning up after a man) is the most important job a woman has?
    
    
  • Targeting vulnerable groups: Next, unethical marketing communication practice is targeting vulnerable groups like children, differently-able, elderly, certain minorities, unemployed people, trans-genders, religious groups etc.
    
    Group members which lack the cognitive skills (brain-based skills), life experiences, inability to weigh evidence and make an informed decision can be considered as vulnerable groups. For example-advertisements which intends to attract teens towards harmful products like alcohol, cigarettes and tobacco.
    
    Another example – a bike stunt company often uses visuals of adventure sports or stunts performed by professionals in its advertisements. Children ignore these warnings and attempt to replicate these actions at home, despite the advertisement warning them not to imitate the stunts. Children may sustain serious injury if they try this.
    
    The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned advertisements from KFC and Coco Pops for breaking rules by marketing fast food to children.
    
    Marketing to targets like children, differently-able is unethical. Children are not only exposed to most media but also in-school marketing. Marketing to teenagers, college students also to an extent is considered unethical.
    
    
• Unethical use of marketing communication instruments: This involves unethical use of advertising, packaging and sales promotions. Example of exaggeration; Energy drinks company Red Bull was sued in 2014 for its slogan “Red Bull gives you wings.”
  
  L’Oreal skincare cosmetics claimed its Lancôme Génifique and Youth Code cosmetics prevented skin aging by boosting genetic activity in the user. It was unable to support those claims when pressed. Let us discuss an example of unethical packaging.
  
  Unilever laundry detergent advertisement campaign banned in the UK due to its packaging which claimed “kinder to our planet”. It was unclear and failed to substantiate environmental claims. Unethical sales promotion technique involves making promises you know you can’t keep. For example; promised international trip, Misrepresentation –Go to Bali in just Rs 999*.

Advertising regulation includes the rules and legislation formed to define how products can be advertised in a particular region. A non-misleading advertisement contains true and honest representations of products and services. An advertisement is considered to be a genuine advertisement if it does not exaggerate the accuracy, scientific validity or practical usefulness or capability.

An advertisement can still be considered valid if the advertiser takes prompt action to notify the consumer of the flaw.

Section 2(28) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, defines a Misleading advertisement. It includes any advertisement with:

1. False description of a product or service
2. False guarantees misleading the consumers
3. Express representation constituting unfair trade practice
4. Deliberately not revealing the essential information about the product

Regulations of Marketing Communication Practices

• Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is the only 1 body to self-regulate, worldwide.
• Non-profit making body, Non-Government body for safeguarding consumer’s interests.
• A part of the Executive Committee of International Council on Advertisement Self-Regulation (ICAS).
• Ensures fewer false, misleading & unfair claims.
• Sets up Consumer Complaints Council.
• Operates impartially on set objectives to achieve their mission.