The paper starts with an overview of promotions in general, concentrating on the authors' conviction that strong brands should try to devise premium and/or contest promotions which are brand-related. Brand-related promotions maximize the chance of exclusive and positive association with the brand's image. The use of a snecific brand symbol may facilitate this association. After a general background of relevant data on the hutch detergents market, the marketing history of Bio-tex is shortly described. It shows in some detail the interrelation between theme advertising and promotions philosophy. Bio-tex has been using mascots as main identification symbols. Since 1973 however, the main characteristic of Bio-tex promotions has been artistic creativity on the part of the consumer. The paper ends by describing the Bio-tex autumn promotions of 1973,1974, and 1975 in terms of the research that accompanied the development of these promotions. The authors feel that the information of the research done, virtually helped the company to improve the planning and execution of promotions.
The purpose of the seminar is to advance thinking upon the research evaluation of 'below-the-line' expenditures. For while in respect of normal media advertising there is internationally a wide area of general understanding about techniques, terminology and indeed objectives , for 'below-the-line' there is no such common understanding even within countries.
In a seminar on attitude research, the most interesting contribution this paper could make is the evidence of a positive correlation between professed behaviour and actual behaviour. Unfortunately, reliable figures on actual behaviour in the fields of extra-marital intercourse, abortion, prostitution, homosexuality and pre-marital intercourse are not available, so that we cannot judge the validity of the survey on the basis of the data regarding these activities.
Mr. Stapel has found a positive correlation between recall and behaviour. Now facts are facts and facts are holy. Let's further assume that his interpretation of what he found is correct. Now other researchers have done work on the relationship between recall and behaviour. And these researchers have assembled quite a bit of evidence, that recall and behaviour show no correlation at all or sometimes even a negative correlation.
I want to stress the fact that the ultimate objective of an advertiser is not sales but profit. Some advertisers will be delighted and we may even earn a lot of money as profit-measurers. But then, an advertising campaign should be dismissed as ineffective, only because, for example, the firms buying department happens to have been so stupid as to purchase raw materials at a far too high price. And on the other hand, we should praise an advertising campaign as very effective, not for the large sales it produces but all the way to the large profits.
When trying to link the results that our group arrived at to the theme of this Seminar, I want to call your attention to the following. I am very content to find that we, while trying to establish the design for the post-test, almost unanimously arrived at a method which explicitly or implicitly is in essence the DAGMAR approach to advertising. Because we decided to measure the various stages of communication, which - I stress - includes the activity of selling.