This paper describes the new methods of analysis which were developed to isolate this relationship in such a way that it is not contaminated by spurious variables. Nine of the product fields covered by the diary have been studied: washing powders, cereals, tea, tinned soup, margarine, wrapped bread, shampoo, toothpaste and hot milk drinks.
The paper shows clearly that previous advertising theories were too often based on unwarranted assumptions. It raises as questionable many points of view which previously seemed convincing. The emotional, reinforcing roles of advertising are emphasised in this paper. It is not all destructive, though ground-clearing is perhaps its main function.
This paper discusses how Information Systems can support marketing decision making in the promotional area. We deal mainly with the use of Consumer Panel data, although reference is also made to the integration of other data sources - sales and store audit - alongside panels through a fuller Information Systems approach. We commence by reviewing the various types of promotions, and promotional objectives. Next, we review briefly the value of consumer panel data in this context, and go on to discuss why Information Systems are invaluable when coping with this data. We describe an actual Information System of this type, and show two case histories which illustrate how promotional problems were solved through the use of this system.
This brief "compte rendu" shows us how little has changed in over thirty years. Its first sentence must have been repeated in different ways in every country and in every succeeding year: because advertising costs are particularly high, even greater efficiency is called for. It is also salutary to see how an industrial advertising problem raises exactly the same points as in consumer advertising: choice of the target and selection of the proposition or advertising claim. The methods which helped these decisions sound respectable today and will still be in use thirty years from now. The only difference which a consumer goods strategist might pick on is the assumption that his target will put in correct order a set of possible product claims. In this particular case the technique looks valid and economical.
This is a companion paper to Goodhardt (1968) which was referred to in the introduction to Hulks and Thomas (1973). The Finnish data is however presented in a different way and makes a case for peoplesâ loyalty to some shows, while Goodhardt argued that total ratings are almost the only important figure about a programme. Whether in a new situation one view or the other explains most has to be specially investigated. What matters is that the methods to answer these questions are now available.
Early in 1974 Albemarle Market Research were asked by John Player & Sons to conduct a review of TV advertising pre-testing methods and to devise an optimum research solution. The theme of this conference is Research that works for todayâs marketing problems. Playerâs brief to us was exactly that. Having tried various methods of advertising pre-testing they were still looking for one which worked in terms of providing reliable and actionable results for marketing management. We were also required to produce a solution which could begin to work right away, with a minimum of time for experimentation, so by definition we needed to work with fairly well-tried, established research techniques, and to avoid technical innovations. Our approach was first to consider the problem from the marketing managerâs point of view, and try to establish what he required from advertising pre-testing; and secondly to consider what research approach would meet those requirements best.
The paper sets out to show the unique role that carefully executed qualitative research can play in providing a detailed understanding of consumer behaviour within a given market, and of the attitudes, imagery, wants and needs which underlie and determine that behaviour. The contribution that qualitative research can make is illustrated through a case history of research carried out for a regional brewery group operating in the North-West of England: The Greenall Whitley Group. The paper describes the company and its history and outlines the reason why research was initiated. It goes on to describe the research method used (group discussions), the research findings at each stage of research (there were two stages of research separated by an interval of one year), and the recommendations which were made to the client. The research brief was wide open: to explore consumer drinking and pub-going behaviour in the clientâs marketing region, and to provide information about consumersâ attitudes towards pubs and beers generally, and towards Greenall Whitley pubs and beers in particular. The objective of the research could also be stated quite simply: to help an already successful brewery group to increase its success and profitability. The paper indicates the type and quality of data gathered, illustrates how these have been translated into marketing and advertising action, and demonstrates the success of the project.
A questionnaire inserted in the publication is normally a last resort, when used to obtain a description of the average reader. As an expression of the preferences of the more committed readers, as here, it seems so obvious that it is surprising it is not now used more often, especially when a separate check is carried out on non-readers. Equally, it seems reasonable to assist by research the choice of which articles in the magazine to promote. Finally, no one would quarrel even today with the methods outlined here to show advertisers that the magazine is a worthwhile medium. All in all, this paper shows that many of the essentials of our subject were well understood thirty years ago.
The Target Group Index has been one of the most successful research innovations over the period covered by this book. Despite initial worries by the industry about overloading respondents, it collects data about a wide range of product behaviour, media, demographic and other data from each respondent. The main applications are to media planning since it allows the most natural target definitions of all: classifications by product usage or purchase. At the same time, other interlaced analyses are possible.
In the times in which we live, there is perhaps no problem so fundamental, and which yet is so little taken into account in marketing research, as that of the effects of personal communication in all its diverse forms. While the idea of the existence of word of mouth publicity is time-honoured, yet the explicit recognition of its manifestations and of its influence on consumers, together with the idea of analysing this phenomenon scientifically, have only recently come into being. Certain direct mathematical approaches undertaken by various writers, including my own modest contribution, have analysed the phenomenon using the tool of models of propagation. This comparison with certain processes pertaining to the domains of biology or of the physical sciences constitutes an unsatisfactory simplification of the more complex underlying psycho-sociological reality. We should make an effort to take into account phenomena such as that of leadership, or the fact that communication is the crucible containing an amalgam, so difficult to resolve into its constituent elements of transmissions of information and of direct influence of one person on another. A great step forward would be taken to promote research work in this domain if the place of this phenomenon were to be explicitly recognised in marketing models, forecast studies and the research on ideas for new products, since explicit arbitrariness has the considerable advantage over implicit arbitrariness of being a prime mover in the sphere of progress.
In this paper, we see the partnership in action. The case history is a simple one, some would say naive. No methodology is put forward from which we may benefit. The research was not formal: it consisted only of the team itself visiting sales outlets. The case history is worth inclusion because it communicates the enthusiasm which a small group can generate, it tells us of the uniformity of purpose and understanding which more ambitious projects sometimes lack.
The author has attempted to show that conducting ad hoc survey research to determine the effectiveness of below- the-line activities is a viable but difficult field to work in. Once a decision has been made as to what performance criterion variables are to be used the problems resolve into ones of data collection and interpretation. By setting levels of acceptability, decision and action standards (preferably in terms of threshold and target levels), a good deal of information becomes available providing a reasonable basis for evaluation.