Type:
Solution Manual
Resource:
Advertising Principles and Practice
Edition:
8th Edition
Author(s):
Sandra Moriarty Nancy Mitchell William D. Wells
VIDEO GUIDE Advertising: Principles and Practice, 8th Edition Moriarty/Mitchell/Wells
Segment 1: AFLAC
Summary That wacky, quacky duck brought AFLAC to a high spot among most-recognizable ads and brand names. The insurance company is growing quickly as a result of this greater name recognition. It achieved 89 percent brand recognition in a relatively short time, resulting in $10 billion in sales and about a 25 percent compound growth rate. AFLAC had spent millions of dollars on advertising with little or no effect and almost no market awareness. Clearly, the current strategy was not working. This led the management team to decide to try something bold to increase market awareness. The advertising agency came up with many different ideas, but one crazy one—a duck. AFLAC tested the ad concepts and, as we know today, the duck yielded the highest results. The goal of advertising is to create awareness, while the actual sale comes from the agents selling the complicated insurance products.
Discussion Questions 1. What other industries, products, or brands have used humor in advertising to help position themselves in the marketplace? Do you think the strategies have worked? Where wouldn’t humor work? Humor wouldn’t work all that well with serious purchases (e.g., health), but one might think it wouldn’t have worked with something as serious (boring?) as insurance. Might that be because the humor is associated only with the name and not the insurance company’s attributes? B2B might be a place where humor might not seem appropriate (chemicals, machines), yet it might cut through the ad clutter. 2. Now that AFLAC is a widely known brand name, what should its next advertising campaign strategy be? How should AFLAC link the new strategy to the same business and marketing plans? Do you think the company should drop the duck? Why or why not? Once the name recognition is strong, most consumer behavior models suggest the company would have created a hunger for more information. AFLAC then needs to use advertising to provide consumers with supporting information, as in the following scenario: "Yeah, okay, the duck. I know the name is AFLAC because it sounds like that duck, but what does AFLAC do? Oh, insurance. Well, what kind of insurance? My company doesn’t make AFLAC available. How do I know it’s better? How would I convince my company that we need that option? Could I buy AFLAC for my other insurance needs? How would AFLAC policies and prices compare to the insurance policies I already have? Where do I go for more information?” It is obvious that AFLAC
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probably needs to move beyond the duck. (The company is not going to get much above 89 percent brand awareness; Coca-Cola is “only” at 95 percent.) 3. We have learned that it is important to communicate with consumers through more than just traditional advertising. Personal selling is extremely important when you are trying to convince consumers to buy an intangible product. What do you think the sales force’s reaction was when it first saw the AFLAC duck? Is it necessary for a sales force to buy into a campaign, or can it be shown later that a campaign is working? The sales force probably was worried, and usually it’s important to have it the team board. Remember, the objective of IMC planning is to make the most effective use of all marketing communications functions to influence the impact of other communication elements. Perhaps the salespeople knew, though, that the name wasn’t being recognized and they were desperate for anything that would work.
Teaching Suggestions Rather than investigating marketing communications content related to insurance, which would probably be boring for students, focus on the humor in advertising element of this case. Have students pick one product category that seems ideally suited to humor and one product category for which humor is unlikely to work, perhaps because it would be insensitive or offensive in some way. Have students mock up two ads to support their conclusions. Have students do an analysis of other ad gimmicks, such as using old songs in a TV ad, using black-and-white photos in a print ad, and so on, with an eye toward “When should it work, and when shouldn’t it work?” as well as “Why, and why not?”
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Segment 2: Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Summary Crispin Porter + Bogusky has been working over time to prove that it is the most innovative firm at truly integrating marketing promotions. Crispin has worked miracles for companies like Virgin Atlantic Airways and BMW’s MINI by executing non-traditional campaigns designed to work within limited budgets. Crispin’s unique capability to balance strategy with creativity is what produced such ground-breaking efforts as the “Truth” campaign. Crispin landed this campaign in the late 1990s after the state of Florida successfully sued tobacco companies and set up a foundation to fund anti-tobacco advertising targeted toward youth. What followed was a campaign that shaped the agency and changed the nature of social advertising forever.
Discussion Questions 1. Alex Bogusky once said, “Anything and everything is an ad.” What does this means? How is Crispin putting this idea into practice? When most people think of an ad, they think of the traditional media such as broadcast, print, and outdoor (e.g., billboards). But because CP+B has become so adept at thinking outside the box, it employs various non-traditional media. CP+B’s philosophy is that any message communicated through a medium of any kind can be an ad. Thus, they have defined events, rallies, video games, apparel, and websites as ads. 2. In what ways has Crispin differentiated itself from other advertising agencies? While this case does not discuss other agencies specifically, it does point out various things that make CP+B unique and therefore differentiate it from others. These include: a. the culture – people who work at CP+B are workaholics. Not for the common workaholic reasons, but because they feel that they are part of something truly unique, truly different. b. non-traditional approach – many agencies are focusing on integrating marketing communications across different media. But CP+B has a knack for employing things that are totally out of the norm. c. size – it is a big agency that thinks and functions like a small one. d. taking on the impossible – CP+B is at its best when signing up for something that others in the industry say can not be done. 3. Give some examples of how Crispin balances strategy with creativity to develop truly integrated marketing communications campaigns. The “Truth” campaign is the only basis for example in this case. In examining this campaign, it is apparent that the strategy was to create a message that would communicate the idea of rebelling against the “man,” or, Big Tobacco. This strategy also involved creating a brand with which the target market could identify. This portion of the process could be considered CP+B’s definition of the problem.
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After having defined the problem, CP+B used this strategy as an umbrella. It then employed one of its greatest strengths…creating ideas. As stated in the case, those ideas can come from anywhere…a creative director, an intern, or a secretary. This is what takes CP+B into employing tradition (ads and PR) as well as non-traditional (events, rallies, gear, apparel, websites) methods. The key is that the company doesn’t just throw darts and do something zany because it is zany. It looks for ways to communicate a message that fall in line with the established strategy. Thus, everything from the apparel to the ad “Body Bags” communicated the strategic message of rebelling against Big Tobacco.
Teaching Suggestion Crisping Porter + Bogusky has created some really ground breaking campaigns. The “Truth” campaign is only one of them. Gather information, print, and broadcast ads from other campaigns such as CP+B’s efforts with Burger King over the past few years. Presenting this material in class along side the video case will combine to make a truly informative as well as entertaining presentation.
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