Abstract:

The project described in this paper, which the British Market Research Bureau is carrying out on behalf of the J. Walter Thompson Company and its clients, is an attempt systematically to collect and interrelate a number of partial measures of the effectiveness of competitive advertising- campaigns. By studying these interrelationships continuously over time we hope to gain a greater insight into the way advertising works in particular product fields, and to provide information helpful in planning advertising strategy. The measures themselves are for the most part not particularly new, but the approach shows sufficient promise to Justify further experimentation. At the moment this paper should therefore be regarded as a progress report on a study which is still evolving. The section which follows discusses-further the nature of the problem confronting us. We then turn to a simplified model of the situation which serves as the basis for the research project, and explain how we expect to apply the research. Finally we describe a little more the mechanics of the operation and examples of the kinds of data which it yields, with a brief note on various problems which are encountered and developments which we foresee.