Page 492 - Foundations of Marketing

Advertising and Public Relations | Chapter 16 459

communication. A specific communication objective might be to increase new product feature
awareness, such as increased travel point rewards on a credit card from 0 to 40 percent in the
target audience by the end of six months.

Creating the Advertising Platform

Before launching a political campaign, party leaders develop a political platform stating major
issues that are the basis of the campaign. Like a political platform, an advertising platform
consists of the basic issues or selling points that an advertiser wishes to include in the advertis-
ing campaign. For instance, Best Buy advertises that, if you buy new technology now, it will
buy it back when it is time to upgrade. A single advertisement in an advertising campaign may
contain one or several issues from the platform. Although the platform sets forth the basic
issues, it does not indicate how to present them.
An advertising platform should consist of issues important to customers. One of the best
ways to determine those issues is to survey customers about what they consider most important
in the selection and use of the product involved. Selling features must not only be important
to customers, they should also be strongly competitive features of the advertised brand. For
instance, J.Crew’s Ludlow Suit collection capitalizes upon its positioning as “style with sub-
stance.” The Ludlow collection is marketed as high-quality (“fine Italian fabrics”), high-value
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products tailored to fit the customer. Although research is the most effective method for deter-
mining what issues to include in an advertising platform, customer research can be expensive.
Because the advertising platform is a base on which to build the advertising message, mar-
keters should analyze this stage carefully. It has been found that, if the message is viewed as
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useful, it will create greater brand trust. A campaign can be perfect in terms of selection and
analysis of its target audience, statement of its objectives, media strategy, and the form of its
message. For instance, the U.K. newspaper The Guardian developed an amusing television ad
called “The Three Little Pigs” to promote the organization’s concept of open journalism. The
advertising platform Basic
newspaper took the fairy tale “The Three Little Pigs” and highlighted how the paper would issues or selling points to
cover such a story. The ad campaign served its purposes of attracting awareness and encourag- be included in an advertising
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ing viewers to see that print is still relevant. On the other hand, campaigns will ultimately fail campaign

Emerging Trends

Reddit: A Different Way to Advertise

Reddit is making advertising more interactive. Reddit is be “customized” according to user votes. Reddit avoids
a bookmarking social media website that allows users ads that many users dislike, such as flash advertisements.
to post interesting personal photos and global news Advertisers are able to see what users like, what they
reports. Users can then vote to determine where these don’t, and what they need to improve upon.
postings appear on the page. Understanding users’ Although other companies, including many Internet
animosity toward advertising on social sites, Reddit has sites, solicit feedback on their ads, Reddit combines social
actively voiced its feelings about disliking ads as much as media advertising with quick reviewer feedback. Like
users do. Facebook and other social networks, Reddit can target
Yet to continue its growth, Reddit decided to inte- users based on their likes or postings. However, unlike
grate advertising into its platform. However, it created many social media sites it allows users to quickly and
an interactive way for advertisers to communicate with easily provide feedback on how they view the ad. With
customers. Advertisements are targeted based upon a the positive feedback from users and advertisers, Reddit
user’s posts or re-posts, but the user is able to vote on seems to have found an innovative way to create social
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advertisements and provide feedback. Like posts, ads can engagement among people around the world.

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