Timing + Scheduling

1. What does it mean to allocate advertising dollars throughout the year in relation to sales? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy?

2. How can competitive advertising levels affect an advertiser’s timing strategy?

3. Some advertisers prefer their advertising to lead sales in order to assure higher awareness or consideration when purchase decisions are being made. Compare this timing strategy with the strategy of spending in relation to sales.

4. How does consumer purchase behavior affect the timing of advertising for considered products versus impulse products?

5. Discuss how the element of surprise can be used to gain a competitive advantage.

Chapter – Media Budgets

6. Why is it so difficult to select an appropriate method (or methods) for developing an advertising or marketing budget?

7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of developing a media budget based on percentage of sales or spending per unit?

8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the task method to develop a budget?

9. Using the advertising/sales ratio method, calculate the budget for a brand with sales of $150 million and an industry A/S ratio average of 2.2%.

Chapter – Integrated Marketing Communications

10. Briefly explain the philosophy and rationale for using integrated marketing communications.

11. What is trade promotion and which marketing tasks does it address?

12. What is product placement and what are its pros and cons?

13. If your job was to generate awareness and trial of the latest iPhone and you could only choose three ways to promote it, which three marketing communications forms would you use? Explain.

14. Describe a brand that has built a good relationship with you. Describe the marketing communications functions used and the messages that have helped build nd sustain your relationship with the brand.

15. Innovative companies like Intel, Nike, Coca-Cola and many more are embracing social media and using it to their advantage. Name some of the different ways social media can be used to enhance a traditional marketing communications plan.

16. Conduct a Google search for a story about a new product launch. In addition to the story placement itself, what other traditional and digital/social media tactics were used to introduce this product? What tactics could have been used that were not?

17. Describe an effective sales promotion involving both traditional and digital/social media that captured your attention and offered an incentive to purchase that ultimately led you to choose that brand over another. Detail the promotion and tell us how it impacted your purchase decision.

Chapter 16 – Traditional Media

18. Based on the subjective analysis, choose at least three media types you would select to communicate mouthwatering food imagery for Chipotle Mexican Grill? Explain your reasoning.

19. Which three media types would be most appropriate for communicating product benefits and features that would persuade your target audience that the newest iPhone is superior to the newest Android? Why?

20. If Target were having a Black Friday sale, which three mediums would you use to communicate sales prices and immediacy? Why?