For the purpose of selecting the media for an advertising campaign designed to reach consumers, advertising men in France have hitherto had at their disposal information coming from two types of source wholly independent the one from the other : 1. Panels or sample surveys supply them with information on the socio-demographic characteristics of the consumers who constitute the advertising target ; 2. Research by the C.E.S.P., the O.J.D. and surveys carried out by some of the media themselves, giving information on the audience they serve and on the characteristics of this audience. To bring together these two groups of information it was necessary to make use of complex models involving probability techniques, and for a longtime the researchers' efforts were concentrated on the elaboration and perfecting of these models.
Let us consider a firm and assume that it conceives and implements its own advertising. Let us ask what is possible and reasonable to expect of the media executive. Let us then ask the same question of the advertising executive and try to define in which decision context these men work or should work.
In Section One of this article, entitled "The context of the advertising campaign" we shall show how advertising decisions form part of a series of decisions which may be set forth in the form of a "decision tree", which will make it possible to define the nature of the advertising plan. Finally, we shall explain the aims of the media plan. In the Section Two, entitled "The main categories of media and the demands of a media plan", we shall examine systematically the characteristics of the main categories of media in relation to the objectives mentioned earlier, these characteristics being the coverage of a target population, the possibility of communication between the various parts of the message, and the accessibility of media. We shall then be ready to describe in Section Three, entitled "The choice of a media plan", the methodology in question, and, finally, to show how advertising campaigns can be checked.
In Section One of this article, entitled "The context of the advertising campaign" we shall show how advertising decisions form part of a series of decisions which may be set forth in the form of a "decision tree", which will make it possible to define the nature of the advertising plan. Finally, we shall explain the aims of the media plan. In the Section Two, entitled "The main categories of media and the demands of a media plan", we shall examine systematically the characteristics of the main categories of media in relation to the objectives mentioned earlier, these characteristics being the coverage of a target population, the possibility of communication between the various parts of the message, and the accessibility of media. We shall then be ready to describe in Section Three, entitled "The choice of a media plan", the methodology in question, and, finally, to show how advertising campaigns can be checked.
Company image research is generally thought of in connection with manufacturers of industrial products, air lines, banks and other institutions, and with objectives such as obtaining the attitude of the trade, investors and employees. Relatively little research has been carried out on company images in relation to the marketing and advertising of consumer goods. This is the area with which this paper is concerned.
In this article an attempt has been made to outline some features of an attitude theory. This can in itself fulfil a function in the company's communication planning. Here it has formed the starting point for some more concrete reflections on management problems in connection with the company's communication. This has resulted in a discussion of the interaction between analysis, planning and control which also is important within this field. It concerns a process which takes place in a language different from the accounting figures with which the management is accustomed to work. It places particular demands on the management who attempts to use new methods of analysis for its work.
Markets are segmented in many ways, most of which do not bear on the advertiser's problem. The objective is to find the one decisive mode. 2. The consumer weaves a whole world of meanings, values and associations around products. Many of these are not conscious - they are too trivial to be formulated consciously - but nevertheless they must be understood if communication is to be established. Consumer motives are different from motives that obtain in other aspects of a person's life. The conditions of inattention and selective perception under which advertising and marketing function dictate their own kind of basic learning and communication principles. These observations do not by themselves add up to a theory. But I hope they do illustrate the fact that without a theory, marketing research when used to plan advertising and marketing strategy has little chance to succeed
In 1963 "Se Centre Francais de Recherche Operationnelle whilst associated with the CEIR Inc. was examining the possibility of adopting the Mediametrics method in France. Such a tool - integrating numerous intuitive values into a linear model by segments and disregarding the non-additivity of the various publics - seemed to me too unsuited to our special advertising problem. To give an example in as easily grasped field - the same methods cant be used to determine the objectives fo/either hundreds of H bombs or a few A bombs. Thus our work introduces a group of methods whose common characteristic is to exploit as thoroughly as possible the existing information obtained from individual enquiries into what is read carried out by the C. E. S. P. and to do this using modern information analysis methods.