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Social Marketing Campaigns
Social marketing is a perspective that is frequently used by
people within the communication discipline to
guide them on how to influence behavior. Social marketing can
be traced to the writings of the sociologist G.
D. Weibe, who in the 1950s asked the question “Why can't you
sell brotherhood like you sell soap?” (Weibe,
1951–1952, p. 679). Weibe was trying to make the point that
marketing professionals over the years had de-
veloped very successful techniques for how to market to large-
scale audiences in order to sell soap, cars, and
other tangible goods. Weibe wondered why similar techniques
could not be used to sell people an idea or a
cause. In the 1960s and 1970s, other scholars began to follow
his lead and began to develop the principles
of what became known as social marketing.
To better help you understand what social marketing is, this
chapter will be divided into two parts. The first part
will provide an overview of the basic concepts and principles,
and the second part of the chapter will offer two
case studies of actual social marketing campaigns that will
illustrate the concepts. The first case study tells
the story of the VERB campaign that was aimed at 9- to 13-
year-olds to increase their physical activity; the
second case, which focused on environmental concerns,
provides a unique example of how social market-
3. ing sought to help restore a threatened ecosystem in the
Chesapeake Bay through an innovative campaign
called “Save the Crabs, Then Eat 'Em.”
What is Social Marketing?
Answering the question of “What exactly is social marketing?”
has proved to be a challenge historically. It is
not its own academic discipline; it is not a science; and it is not
a formal theory or model. Perhaps it is best
described as a tool or framework for behavior change. In an
attempt to distinguish social marketing from other
types of initiatives, the noted social marketing expert Alan
Andreasen (2002) offered six defining criteria:
1. Behavior change is the benchmark used to design and
evaluate interventions.
2. Projects consistently grounded strategy in audience research.
3. There is careful segmentation of the target audiences to
ensure maximum efficiency and
effectiveness in the use of scarce resources.
4. The central element of any influence strategy is creating
attractive motivational ex-
changes with target audiences.
5. The strategy attempts to use all four Ps of the traditional
marketing mix—product, price,
place, and promotion.
6. Careful attention is paid to the competition faced by the
desired behavior.
In the paragraphs that follow, we offer a portrait of the basic
principles of social marketing by using An-
dreasen's six criteria as the organizing framework.
5. would be to have them abstain from sexual intercourse
altogether. All three behaviors are directly tied to the
goal, but each is a unique behavior in which an individual can
engage without necessarily performing the
others. When a behavior or set of behaviors becomes too
complicated, there is a high risk that an audience
will ignore the initiative completely and retreat to past
behaviors that are comfortable, familiar, and simple to
process.
Audience Research
A second important feature of social marketing is that those
who design and implement an initiative must thor-
oughly understand the members of the target audience whose
behavior they are attempting to change. All
this might sound obvious on the surface, but there are many
examples of failed campaigns where designers
were well intentioned but chose a strategy that was expert
driven rather than audience driven. Those who
take an expert-driven approach assume that the message they
wish to convey will be received and acted on
by target audiences simply because the experts believe that it is
in the best interest of the audience to listen,
attend, and behave accordingly. The social marketing
perspective emphasizes that without using audience
research to gain a deeper understanding of the lives of audience
members and how people view a particular
issue, there is little chance of persuading people to change their
behavior.
Good social marketers typically begin with what is known as
formative research, which allows them to gain
insight into the mindsets and actions of potential audience
members. Two of the most common ways of gath-
ering data about an audience are surveys and focus groups.
6. Surveys allow social marketers to ask audience
members very specific questions over the telephone, through
paper-and-pencil instruments, or through an
online questionnaire. In focus groups, social marketers can
bring together members of the target audience
in groups of about 8 to 10 people to have an in-depth
conversation about how a particular problem affects
their lives. In addition to surveys and focus groups, social
marketers might also use other data-gathering tech-
niques, such as immersion hikes (day trips with members of the
target audience that permit relaxed, open
discussions), ethnography (observing target audiences in their
everyday environments), and person-on-the-
street-interviews (interviewing unscreened respondents in
locations where the behavior takes place) (Smith,
2006).
Once social marketers have gained insights into their target
audience through formative research, they then
typically engage in a process of pretesting message concepts
and final executions of the messages to make
sure that they resonate with the audience. The planning team
might come up with what to them seems like
a good idea based on their original audience research only to
find out once they test it with actual audience
members that it is not a good fit. Once implementation is under
way, they should also engage in what is
known as process evaluation to make sure that the audience is
exposed to the message as intended. Social
marketers also heavily emphasize outcome evaluation, which
allows them to determine whether or not the
strategy worked. That is, did members of the target audience
actually change their behavior? If there is no
evidence for behavior change, then the initiative cannot be
considered successful.
8. but they receive a different type of message to
motivate them.
Exchange
One of the most important principles that guides social
marketers is the idea that people will only change their
behavior when they feel that they are getting something fair and
attractive in exchange. In other words, peo-
ple only change when they clearly see that there is something in
it for them. The basis for this principle comes
from exchange theory, which is derived from psychological and
economic principles and “assumes that we
are need-directed beings with a natural inclination to try and
improve our lot” (Hastings & Saren, 2003, p.
309). Social marketers see exchange theory as a key principle
that differentiates their approach from other
strategies for behavior change, such as education, which
assumes that knowledge in and of itself leads to
change, and an approach based on regulation, which emphasizes
law enforcement as the most effective way
to change the behavior of people (Smith, 2006). The challenge
for social marketers is to be able to frame
the behavior in the minds of the audience so that they clearly
see a benefit for themselves. The challenge
becomes even greater if the benefit is not perceived by the
audience as immediate. If social marketers try to
present a payoff to an audience that is perceived as too far in
the future, then they are not likely to respond
in a positive way. A great example of this challenge comes from
initiatives to try to convince teenagers to
quit smoking or to not even begin. An obvious benefit is that
people who do not smoke greatly reduce their
risk of dying of lung cancer. However, enjoying the benefit of
an additional 10 years of life is not something
that someone can easily relate to when one is only 16 years old.
9. Instead, social marketers have to present to
teenagers an exchange that presents a benefit in the here and
now. For instance, a more attractive exchange
for 16-year-olds might be to quit smoking so that they do not
have the constant unpleasant smell of tobacco
and, thus, are more desirable as dating partners for the opposite
sex.
Marketing Mix
The identifying characteristic with which many people associate
the social marketing approach is what is com-
monly known as The Four Ps. This component, which is
borrowed from principles of commercial marketing,
includes promotion, product, price, and place. According to
social marketing purists, an initiative cannot truly
be referred to as social marketing unless all four Ps are part of
the overall approach to behavior change.
The P that receives the most attention in any social marketing
initiative is promotion. People who study com-
munication often are most attracted to this element of the
marketing mix because it most directly relates to the
creation of the message for a campaign. Promotion receives the
most attention typically because the actual
message becomes the face of an initiative, and it is the part
people can most easily identify. Having a carefully
crafted promotion certainly is essential to success, but rarely
will promotion alone lead to behavior change.
The communication options available to a social marketer are
many and varied. One can, for instance, pro-
mote behavior change through advertising, public relations,
education, counseling, community organizations,
interpersonal networks, direct mail, signage, special events and
displays, printed materials, and entertain-
ment media (Grier & Bryant, 2005; Maibach, 2002; Smith,
11. buy Bounty paper towels instead of Brawny,
consumers can easily find Bounty on the shelf in the
supermarket once they know the name of the product
and perhaps the brand logo. As we discussed in the section on
behavioral focus, social marketers sometimes
make the mistake of not carefully defining the behavior for the
audience, and when that happens, target au-
dience members often do not know what to do. For example,
one of the greatest challenges in developing
physical activity campaigns for adults is to carefully define the
“product” so that there is no doubt in the mind of
the target audience how to engage in the appropriate behavior.
If, for instance, the message of the campaign
tells people that they should engage in 20 minutes of physical
activity 5 days a week, the initiative might not
be successful because people are confused about whether
physical activity refers to any physical movement
or if they have to reach a minimum heart rate for the activity to
count as part of the 20 minutes.
The third P is price. In commercial marketing, price usually
refers to the monetary value placed on a product
(Edgar, 2008). In social marketing, dollars also factor into the
price someone pays to change behavior, but
price refers primarily to the totality of barriers that an
individual must overcome to engage in the proposed
action (Smith, 2000). That is, to engage in the proposed
behavior, people typically are going to have to give
up something they do not want to relinquish. Nonmonetary
barriers can be social, behavioral, psychological,
temporal, structural, geographic, and physical (Lefebvre &
Flora, 1988). As we discussed when we talked
about the idea of an exchange with social marketing, people are
not willing to give something up unless they
believe that there is a comparable payoff that will make the
price that they have to pay worth it. Many peo-
12. ple are willing to go into a restaurant and pay $50 a person for a
meal because they are convinced that the
pleasure associated with a fine meal and the ambience of a nice
dining establishment is part of a fair trade
for that amount of money. The customers give the restaurant
$50 per person (plus tip, of course), and the
restaurant provides them with a memorable evening. If social
marketers ask members of a target audience
to reduce their body weight, then people have to decide whether
the advantages of not being overweight are
worth the price they will have to pay to reach that goal, such as
bypassing the enticing tastes of favorite foods,
taking time throughout the week from one's busy schedule to
engage in an exercise program, and/or feeling
embarrassed in front of family and friends at social occasions
when they have to forgo desserts. The burden
is on the social marketer to present the choice in such a way
that audience members will view the price as a
reasonable one.
Place is the final P and refers to “the process by which the
product is made available to members of the target
market at the time and place when it will be of most value to
them” (Maibach, 2002, p. 11). For social mar-
keters to take advantage of the most ideal places, they have to
identify what Grier and Bryant (2005) called
“path points,” which are locations people regularly visit; times
of the day, week, or year of their visits; and
points in the life cycle where people are likely to act. The
ultimate goal of the place strategy is convenience.
That is, the social marketer wants to communicate to the target
audience about the product at a time and
place where it is easy for them to process the information, and
the social marketer must find convenient ways
for people to actually engage in the desired behavior. The
importance of the place strategy illustrates why
14. in the arrangement for them because the
morning walkers might be enticed to stay and shop once
businesses open.
Competition
In the same way in which commercial marketers analyze their
position within a competitive marketplace, so-
cial marketers must identify the behaviors that compete with the
ones they want their target audience to adopt.
For example, if a social marketer creates a campaign to help
save the environment by asking consumers to
drive their cars less and burn less gasoline, then they must
carefully analyze how a reduction in car use com-
petes with the need to get to work and complete everyday
errands. Part of the overall strategy for a social
marketer is to provide a way for the target audience either to
eliminate the competition completely, which in
many cases is not possible, or to get the audience to think about
the competition in a different way so that the
conflict is less glaring. In the gasoline reduction example, for
instance, social marketers might try to get their
audience to think about the commute to work and the
completion of errands as merged rather than separate
behaviors. In other words, they might encourage the audience to
plan activities such as grocery shopping and
picking up the dry cleaning on the way to and from work rather
than doing the errands at different times of the
day.
Case Studies VERB
The number of obese children in the United States continues to
rise, creating a population at risk for lifelong
health problems. The percentage of overweight children has
even doubled in the past 20 years, bringing a
16. The CDC knew that they wanted to target tweens, but to apply
the principles of social marketing appropriately,
they knew that they had to understand the tweens themselves as
well as the important people in their lives.
The campaign planners decided that because tweens are still
dependent on their families, the campaign had
to target their mothers as well (ages 29–46). It was also
important to reach community members who influ-
ence adolescents, such as teachers and youth program leaders.
To get this information about the audiences'
needs and wants, the CDC conducted multiple focus groups with
tweens and mothers. One of the most im-
portant lessons learned from the research was that most tweens
wanted to be in control of choosing the ac-
tivities in which they engaged rather than having the decision
made by their parents.
How Was the Audience Segmented?
Because the campaign planners suspected that the issues
surrounding physical activity might be different
for various ethnic groups, separate focus groups were conducted
for tweens of European white descent,
African Americans, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, and
Asian Americans. The research revealed that, in
fact, there were unique beliefs surrounding physical activity and
unique barriers for each group that prevent-
ed the tweens from engaging in physical activity. Based on
those results, the campaign planners developed
unique variations of the VERB message for each of the major
ethnic groups.
What Was the Exchange?
The planning team realized from the start that the exchange that
they were offering tweens and their parents
17. would not be an easy one to sell. For tweens to engage in more
physical activity, they had to reduce the time
spent doing some of the activities they currently enjoyed, such
as playing video games and watching TV. With
regard to the parents, increased physical activity on the part of
their children had the potential to mean dollars
spent. To counterbalance the loss that tweens and their parents
might experience, the campaign planners po-
sitioned physical activity as something that would allow them to
have fun, spend time with friends and family,
and gain the admiration of their peers and community.
How Was the Marketing Mix Developed?
The product in social marketing is typically a precise behavior
that the audience should engage in, cease, or
maintain. VERB's product was physical activity, but as we
discussed earlier, the campaign planners did not
precisely define the type of physical activity in which the
tweens should engage or say how long they should
do it. They did this intentionally. They knew that just like with
any product on the market, physical activity had
to be perceived as the winning item over other activities in
tweens' lives. The type of physical activity tweens
wanted to do was up to them, giving them a sense of choice and
exploration. That is, the tweens were actively
involved in defining the specifics of the product.
The price of physical activity potentially is financial,
psychological, environmental, and/or time related. The
benefits of the behavior had to outweigh the costs and barriers
for tweens, their parents, and the community.
Research gave insight as how to market the benefits, so that
tweens and parents would be more likely to
prioritize physical activity within their own “budget.”
Marketing materials had to convince tweens and their par-
19. VERB in locations where tweens would be
exposed to the messages in their everyday lives, such as school;
the campaign planners also bought TV ad-
vertising time on their favorite shows.
The promotion strategy was a very complex one, because the
campaign planners used a large variety of
channels and types of message executions to reach the tweens
and their parents. Many social marketing
campaigns are at a disadvantage because they lack sufficient
financial resources, but the VERB campaign
was fortunate to have a multimillion dollar budget. The CDC
carefully strategized to make the VERB brand a
part of tweens' lifestyle by intertwining a positive image of
VERB and the product. To make the idea of VERB
“cool” and relatable, the campaign planners used fun and
colorful visuals. The tagline at the forefront of the
campaign was “VERB—It's what you do,” which gave tweens
the sense of making their own decision rather
than having their parents in control.
Here are only a few examples of how VERB was communicated
nationally and locally:
• Paid television advertisements: Rather than using free public
service advertising, over which the
CDC would have limited control on when or how often the ads
would be aired, the campaign planners
spent a large portion of their budget on a sophisticated paid
advertising initiative by buying time on
cable networks that tweens regularly watch, such as
Nickelodeon.
• Print ads: Print ads were placed in magazines that tweens read
as well as in those their parents read.
• Other media opportunities: Celebrities and characters from
20. tweens' favorite television shows, such
as Gilmore Girls and Kim Possible, starred in VERB
commercials. CBS produced a VERB public ser-
vice announcement directed toward parents that featured the
sports legend Deion Sanders.
• Web sites: The campaign Web site
(http://www.VERBnow.com) was a key element of the
promotion
strategy. A “game generator” gave tweens the opportunity to
create their own physical activities.
Tweens could even write on a blog and talk about their favorite
activities.
• Schools: Book covers, planners, and lesson plans were given
to schools to integrate into their class-
rooms to start the conversation about physical activity.
• Community-based events: VERB joined cultural events such as
pow wows to engage Native Ameri-
can tweens. Street teams distributed T-shirts, Frisbees, and
temporary tattoos for tweens while cre-
ating a buzz about VERB.
What Was the Competition?
All these elements combined created hype about VERB and
physical activity for tweens. This hype, or energy,
in the campaign had to transcend beyond the competition that
challenges tweens to refrain from engaging
in physical activity. The planners knew that tweens wanted to
play video games, preferred to do nothing at
all, or had family obligations. Video games or television shows
could not be eliminated as an option, but the
campaign had to reprioritize so that physical activity was on the
22. The second case study tells the story of a campaign with a very
different topic from VERB, which like the
majority of social marketing initiatives focused on personal
health issues. This campaign instead focused on
the environment and attempted to make the environment, which
typically seems impersonal to most people,
personal. The problem involved the Chesapeake Bay near
Washington, D.C.
What Was the Behavior Social Marketers Wanted to Change?
The Bay has suffered from an overload of nutrient pollution,
which threatens the quality of life and water in
the bay. We usually think of the word nutrients in a positive
way, but in the world of environmental health, they
mean agricultural waste, waste from sewage treatment plants,
and lawn fertilizers. Many people who lived in
the area already knew that the Bay was severely damaged as an
ecosystem, but most people either were
not motivated to do anything about it or did not know how to
contribute. Because lawn fertilizers make up
11% of the nutrients that load into the Bay, a reduction in lawn
fertilizer usage had the potential to make a
significant difference. In 2005, the Academy for Educational
Development, funded by the Chesapeake Bay
Program, identified the people who live in the greater
Washington, D.C., area as their primary audience and
aimed to change their behavior by convincing residents to
fertilize their lawns only in the fall and to forgo lawn
fertilization altogether during spring.
What Was Learned from Audience Research?
Before the campaign began, a random-digit telephone survey of
602 homeowners in the Bay area was con-
ducted to learn about what people think. Results indicated that
24. they had to offer something as an attractive exchange other than
a good feeling about improving the envi-
ronment. The team cleverly decided to position the exchange in
a humorous manner by framing it within the
context of food. Thus, the delightful taste of the Chesapeake
Bay's blue crab became the bargaining chip for
the campaign, which became known as “Save the Crabs, Then
Eat 'Em.” The blue crab is a culinary favorite
of area residents, and the survival of the species in the Bay,
whose population hit an all-time low in 2003, due
in part to nutrient pollution, also is vital to the restaurant and
fishing industries of the area. The goal of the
campaign was to get people to accept the primary exchange of
not fertilizing their lawns in spring in return for
the benefits of a bountiful blue crab harvest.
How Was the Marketing Mix Developed?
The product in this campaign was not to fertilize lawns in the
spring and to only do it in the fall. Lawn services
that became partners with the campaign were asked to engage in
using appropriate fertilizers approved by
the Chesapeake Bay Program. Lawn services were given the
opportunity to create a Bay-friendly lawn treat-
ment that could be done in the spring.
For the price strategy, social marketers had to convince
homeowners in the greater D.C. area that the benefits
of fertilizing only in spring outweighed the barriers to adopting
the new behavior pattern. The primary barri-
er was the strongly held belief that spring fertilization was a
necessity for having a great lawn. In addition to
offering the benefit of more crabs, the intervention team also
attempted to counterbalance the “spring fertil-
ization is good” belief by introducing information to the
community that fall fertilization provides an advantage
25. because there is less rain in the fall. Less rain means less runoff
of fertilizer, which in turn means better root
growth, which creates a stronger lawn. Because those who own
and operate lawn services also were en-
gaged as an audience (and they were concerned about losing
revenue), the campaign planners had to offer
them a fair “price” as well. The lawn services that became
partners in the campaign by using these special
treatments, received free advertising and recognition for being
environmentally friendly.
The campaign reached the target audience in many different
places, including their homes through television
advertisements and on their way to work through posters placed
on public transportation. Drink coasters were
also used at participating restaurants, and restaurant staff were
trained on how to answer questions about the
coasters.
Unlike VERB, “Save the Crabs, Then Eat 'Em” was local and
had a limited budget of only $550,000 for a
1-year campaign. More than half of that money was spent on
advertising, putting pressure on the planning
team to make the promotion strategy as efficient and cost-
effective as possible. The approach was to incorpo-
rate a humorous take on eating crabs. For example, one ad
placed in The Washington Post stated, “Protect
the Crab-cake Population” and at the bottom provided a
statement about fertilizing one's lawn in the fall along
with a Web site link.
Many different elements were brought into the execution for the
promotion of the campaign, including the fol-
lowing:
SAGE
27. They had to rise above the competition by offering an
innovative way to get the attention of residents. The
blue crab angle was the approach they offered to cut through the
message clutter.
Outcome
A random-digit dial telephone survey was conducted after the
campaign, which included 599 homeowners
who reported that their lawn had been treated with fertilizer at
some point in the past year. They found that
72% of those surveyed recalled something about the campaign
and there was a decrease in intent among
residents to fertilize in spring.
Further Readings
For more details on “Save the Crabs, Then Eat 'Em,” read the
journal article written about the campaign by
Landers, Mitchell, Smith, Lehman, and Conner (2006). You also
can see examples of the promotional cam-
paign and recent articles about the campaign on the Web at
http://www.chesapeakeclub.org.
Challenges and Future Directions
Social marketing has served as a very important tool for
decades for individuals who want to change behavior
to better the lives of others. By presenting the case studies on
VERB and the Chesapeake Bay initiative, we
only scratched the surface on the types of problems that social
marketing can address. Social marketers have
used the framework throughout the world to change the
behavior of populations around issues as diverse as
condom use, smoking, emergency preparedness, diabetes, food
allergies, offering new food choices to chil-
29. with the times. Adherence to core principles
is key, but social marketers must be able to apply those
principles within the context of a changing world.
Continued devotion to innovation is crucial as the tastes, needs,
and sophistication of audiences evolve. For
example, R. Craig Lefebvre, who is one of this country's leading
experts on social marketing, has argued that
social marketers will fail in their efforts if they do not adapt
their approach to the role that new technologies
and new communication forms such as cell phones, game boxes,
wireless digital assistants, blogs, podcasts,
and MP3 files play in our lives. He has stated that “these new
technologies have implications for how we think
about the behaviors, products, and services we market; the
incentives and costs we focus on; the opportuni-
ties we present; and places where we interact with our audience
and allow them to try new things” (Lefebvre,
2007, p. 32). The challenge for social marketers will be for their
innovations in technique and strategy to keep
pace with technological advancements.
TimothyEdgar and Megan J.Palamé Emerson Colleg
References and Further Readings
Andreasen, A. R.Marketing social marketing in the social
change marketplace. Journal of Public Policy & Mar-
keting213–13. (2002).
Andreasen, A. R.The life trajectory of social marketing.
Marketing Theory3293–303. (2003). http://dx.doi.org/
10.1177/147059310333004
Andreasen, A. R.(2006).Social marketing in the 21st century.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Bloom, P. N.Novelli, W. D.Problems and challenges in social
marketing. Journal of Marketing4579–88. (1981).
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1251667
Edgar, T.(2008).Social marketing. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The
30. international encyclopedia of communication
(pp. 3686–3689). Oxford, UK: Blackwell
Forthofer, M. S.Bryant, C. A.Using audience-segmentation
techniques to tailor health behavior change strate-
gies. American Journal of Health Behavior2436–43. (2000).
http://dx.doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.24.1.6
Grier, S.Bryant, C. A.Social marketing in public health. Annual
Review of Public Health26319–339. (2005).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144610
Hastings, G.(2007).Social marketing: Why should the devil have
all the best tunes?Amsterdam, The Nether-
lands: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann
Hastings, G.Saren, M.The critical contribution of social
marketing. Marketing Theory3305–322. (2003).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/147059310333005
Huhman, M.Potter, L. D.Wong, F. L.Banspach, S.W.Duke, J.
C.Heitzler, C. D.Effects of a mass media
campaign to increase physical activity among children: Year-1
results of the VERBTM campaign. Pedi-
atrics116e277–e284. (2005).
Kotler, P., & Lee, N. R.(2008).Social marketing: Influencing
behaviors for good (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage
Kotler, P.Zaltman, G.Social marketing: An approach to planned
social change. Journal of Marketing353–12.
(1971). http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1249783
Landers, J.Mitchell, P.Smith, B.Lehman, T.Conner, C.“Save the
Crabs, Then Eat 'Em”: A culinary approach
to saving the Chesapeake Bay. Social Marketing Quarterly1215–
28. (2006). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/
15245000500488443
Lefebvre, R. C.The new technology: The consumer as
participant rather than target audience. Social Market-
ing Quarterly1331–42. (2007).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15245000701544325
33. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412964005.n9121st Century
Communication: A Reference HandbookSocial Marketing
Campaigns
Running head: CLOUD COMPUTING 1
CLOUD COMPUTING 16
Cloud Computing in Information Technology
BA63472 H4 Current & Emerging Technology
Group F
Campbellsville University
Table of Contents
Chapter 1; Introduction 3
1.1 What is Cloud Computing 3
1.2 Problem Statement 3
1.3 Goal 4
1.4 Research Questions 5
1.5 Relevance and Significance 6
Chapter 2; Companies Using Cloud Computing KPI’s 6
Chapter 3; Methodology/Approach 10
Chapter 4: Findings, Analysis, and Summary of Results 10
4.1 Security and Privacy 11
4.2 The cost of implementations 12
34. 4.3 Availability and Reliability 13
4.4 Performance and Width Brand 13
Chapter 5; Conclusions 15
Implications of Cloud Computing 15
Recommendation 15
References 17
Cloud ComputingChapter 1; Introduction1.1 What is Cloud
Computing
Cloud computing is the use of remotely established computer
networks that are internet hosted to manage process and store
data. This is different from using a personal computer or a
personal network. The network relies on the servers to produce
consistent data that is similar to the economies of scale and the
public utility. As a matter of fats, technology is developing at a
high rate, and people no longer require personal computers and
networks to access data. Specifically, people who are stationed
in remote areas require cloud computing, which consists of the
intranet, extranet and the internet to articulate their activities.
Security facing cloud computing has been in question for quite
some time. Different researchers have attempted to provide
solutions to the problem. Some of the answers found good
ground but never became successful due to several reasons.
Interestingly, the world is advancing regarding technology and
businesses are being driven through the various designed
technological techniques with the cloud computing being the
central dataset (Chang et al., 2014). Notably, different
companies have different information that requires analysis
depending on the production systems. However, all these
systems require efficiency in the process and perfect security of
the data being analyzed. Therefore, companies have to consider
the type of data to be examined and the safety of the system
before its implementation1.2 Problem Statement
Cloud computing is no longer safe for business in the
35. contemporary world. Business enterprises have not been able to
implement cloud computing in their operations successfully.
Cloud computing is faced by various challenges, all of which
revolve around trust. Notably, the use of cloud computing
mechanisms in the data management is insecure, and companies
fear its implementations. Various factors in the environment
expose the technology to vulnerability. For example, the cost of
implementation is high forcing business entities to try to install
standard mechanisms, which in real sense lack proper
detection.1.3 Goal
The goal of this paper is to fully explore cloud computing
component and types, and give knowledge to the business on the
recommended measures to take when implementing the cloud
computing. It is worth noting that the adoption of cloud
computing requires people to have basic skills on the type of
technology and prior information before considering any of the
components. The defined objectives of the paper are to ensure
exploration of the risks that the cloud computing is likely to
face in the business operation.
Secondly, various questions have emerged around the use of
cloud computing in driving business units. People still do not
understand how such networks function. Some people are not
aware of the different components of cloud computing and what
each part is established to articulate. This paper, therefore, aims
to give every detail concerning the use of cloud computing, the
various appliances that rely on cloud computing to functions
and how the whole unit can be established. The knowledge is
key to the public who need to know what cloud computing is
and why they should consider it in their operations. Most
importantly, the paper aims at giving solutions to the attempts
that have been made by the scholars and still fail to address the
problem. Even though solving cloud computing problems is the
central aim of the paper, the various factors that make the
technology vulnerable are also discussed.1.4 Research
Questions
36. I. What are the various components of cloud computing?
II. What is the relationship that exists between clouds
computing and the business value?
III. What are some of the measure that can be taken to address
the issues of availability, reliability, and trust of cloud
computing?
IV. What are some of the challenges facing the different cloud
computing components in the various business environment?
V. What are some of the proposed measures to address the
challenges and the barriers to implementation of such steps?
Most importantly, the research questions revolve around the
business value and how cloud computing influences its
establishment. Notably, when cloud computing is carefully
implemented, the enterprise is likely to succeed in developing a
good value as well as competitive ability in the environment. In
every business, the core aim of the management is to become
sustainable in the area operation.1.5 Relevance and Significance
The relevance of a business in any environment is determined
by its ability to address the various challenges it faces such as
the competition. For a company to build a good reputation, it
has to employ technological techniques. Business operations
carried out in the current world requires technology to be
relevant and successful. Every company has data to manage.
Data management also extends to the information flow in the
company. Notably, cloud computing has a lot to do with data
management, processing and storage hence it is relevant to this
study.
Everyone in society is affected by the problem of cloud
computing. People have established networks in both their local
areas and business enterprises. Any problem in computing
experienced in an area will affect the whole area (Barnier et al.,
2016). For example, when an internet connection is weak in a
field, it will lower the network of the whole area. First, it will
reduce the communication system between people at a personal
level. It will then extend to affect the operations of the entities
around. Remember, communication is an essential component in
37. the people's livelihood in this era. People have to communicate
to make inquiries and explore the markets available.
Solving the problem will begin by improving the livelihood of
the people at the local level. Secondly, it will function to
enhance the data management and processing of the businesses.
In the end, it will result in the sustainability of the business
entities because the profit margin will be improved. As a matter
of facts, the viability of the business entity is developed by the
business value. Chapter 2; Companies Using Cloud Computing
KPI’s
The companies known for using computing technique
include the top-notch providers in the market; Microsoft Azure,
Kamatera, Adobe, and Rackspace. All the companies deal with
the production of the software application and programs used in
the computers. All companies use computers to analyze and
store data. However, the different webpage programs enable the
analysis. The named companies have different applications
having the specific technique of data analysis. Some of the
designated uses complement one another.
The table shows the risk of cloud computing in the company
Kamata
The company provides infrastructure with low maintenance
service requires but with very high performance. The
implication of the services is to reduce the production cost and
increase the output. Companies should consider the
implementation of such services to guarantee sustainability in
their operations. The programs are also chargeable on the
number of users. For example, the applications work on a
timeline basis. Most importantly, the company runs its
operations using cloud-computing techniques. It uses all the
methods in different departments such as intranet in data
analysis and internet in the marketing.
Adobe
Adobe is known for applications such as adobe reader that is
used in the analysis of pdf. The forms can transmit data from a
38. pdf into the system, analyze and transmit back for storage. The
company also deals with the production of scalable
infrastructures that can support a variety of enterprises database
system. The company uses the intranet system in its production
hence the security of its products.
Microsoft Azure
The company deals in the production of Microsoft applications
used in the production and marketing of goods. It is majorly
used in designing and application management using the
internet. The company is connected to the worldwide network
system used in the monitoring the operations of the
applications.
The company started as a computer window service, where it
gained fame after success in the management and protection of
windows. It also produces programming tools and datasets sued
in the analysis of data and other frameworks. Besides, the
company also provides free version application through the
intranet application
Rackspace
The company deals in marketing applications such as web
hosting through the internet. The consumers use the apps to
create adverts that help companies in gaining fame and access.
It also produces block storage applications used in data analysis
in the companies.
The company produces both hard and soft drivers serving
different functions in the organizations. Notably, companies
mostly used soft drivers to analyses information, but the storage
is done in the hard drivers.
The consumer of the rock space is also charged and monitored
through the world network. The company employs internet
majorly in its operations because more significant population
use the internet as the cloud computing technique.
Most importantly, all the described companies benefit from
cloud computing techniques more so on the marketing of their
39. products. Computers access the world and people are turning
into computerized business units. The companies also enjoy
some of the benefits such as security, efficiency, and privacy in
their operating systems. Unfortunately, the companies are
susceptible to various risks as the techniques are not 100%
secure.
Chapter 3; Methodology/Approach
The research method is based on the interview of the people
who are employing the technique in their operations. However,
the interview will be carried online through the networks
established by cloud computing. The assessment will be
administered to the small and large business entities and results
compared.
Cloud computing is organized in different scale; the large and
small size. For accuracy, all the units will be assessed. As a
matter of facts, the respondents are likely to give positive
feedback because cloud computing plays a significant role in
their livelihoods. Therefore, the research will narrow down to
the negative impacts, the challenges, the measures and attempts
to solve the problems. Besides, the scope of the issues will be
narrowed down into through different measurement scale with
ANOVA as the major component.Chapter 4: Findings, Analysis,
and Summary of Results
For quite some time, companies have tried to improve the
security system of cloud computing technologies to solve the
issues of trusts that come because of weak security. The
security system of the components is likely to influence all an
aspect of the cloud computing, for example, the guard will
improve the reliability if not the availability. Once people adopt
the system, they will develop implement it and adjust it to
match their business interests. However, the measures have not
been successful due to the various factors that expose the
technology to challenges. Some of the weaknesses of the
problem are dependent for example availability. Such concepts
have to be sorted out as a single unit.
40. The goal of this research address the research problem which is
the insecurity in the systems of the cloud computing units by
identifying the various factors that lead to the development of
the danger. The research also looks at some of the measures that
have been proposed by the scholars to address the problem and
their progress. For example, the study looks at some of the
issues that hinder the success if the implementation of the
solutions that have been brought on board.
The research will add knowledge to the database through
exploration of the loophole through the vulnerabilities is
established. The study also suggests some of the measures that
can be implemented to solve the problem as well as giving
alternatives to the implementation of the technology.4.1
Security and Privacy
Business has failed to have trust in the different cloud
computing technique considering the way the issues of security
and privacy are addressed. The company requires complete
privacy and reasonable protection to carry out their business
operations. Technological advancement has dramatically
influenced the issue of security. Some of these computing
techniques are susceptible to hacking hence the data system is
not safe for information storage. Today, cloud computing
techniques have enabled the dirty business to take part in the
world market for example where different unknown companies
use company brand names to make their sales. Some of the
various products produced might not be standardized due to
technology. The security has to be improved for people to
consider implementing cloud computing techniques into their
business entities.
4.2 The cost of implementations
Each organization requires specific graphics and type of cloud
computing that matches with their operations to successfully
help in the data management.'
4.3 Availability and Reliability
41. Businesses require round the clock services that are efficient
enough to maintain their production and operations in the
environment. Cloud computing services are never as reliable as
their dependent on various factors such as the weather, power
and other environmental requirements (Pieczul et al., 2017). For
example, when it is raining, the cloud computing networks are
affected and often cut short their operations. Again, the
different cloud computing components complement and rely on
one another. It means, when one component such as the internet
fails to effectively function, other components like the intranet
will also fail to function.4.4 Performance and Width Brand
The sustainability of businesses relies on the profit margin.
Consequently, the profit margins directly proportionate to the
cost of production. Businesses have to lower their cost of
production to realize a reasonable profit to run their operations.
However, the cost of installing the appliances and cloud
computing is high. Most importantly, modification of the
appliances to match the organization's performance is
expensive. The delivery of vast and complicated data through
the network requires a well-established network bandwidth.
Some business entities are just waiting for the price of cloud
computing installation to get down. However, as things are
going, there are low chances of the costs being lowered
considering the trend in which the economy is growing.
The above-discussed challenges contribute to the establishment
of a roadblock for the application and implementation of cloud
computing in the running of business enterprises. Most
importantly, the factors that contribute to the insecurity of the
data completely nullify the cloud computing consideration.
Cloud computing is an essential component in the functioning
of computer appliances at any level. Framework programming
encompasses and controls access to the equipment. It oversees
and manages a PC's exercises. The functions of the computer
have to monitor well. This is because tracing a breakdown in
the computer appliance is always tricky. Besides, the cost of
42. repair can never be estimated until the problem is identified. A
few kinds of framework programming comprise of script
interpretation programs that convert programming dialects into
machine dialect that can be comprehended by the PC and utility
projects that perform regular handling assignments and
processing the data that is obtained. Notably, the computer has
three roles to play which complement one another. For example,
failure in the data processing section will affect the data
analysis and hence storage of the wrong data. Tracing the
origination of the fake data will start at the storage section only
to realize it is the processor. It wastes both time and resources
in doing such activities. The working framework designates out
framework assets which are established by the computing
components at each section before proceeding to the planning
and the utilization of PC assets and PC occupations.Chapter 5;
ConclusionsImplications of Cloud Computing
The implantation of the various computing techniques can result
in the development of the business. However, the
implementation has to follow a clearly defined procedure to
ensure all the components of computing are well implemented
in the operations. Notably, the right implementation of the right
technique will also result in business failure. It means the
company has to choose on the best techniques. Most
importantly, each technique applies to different compares
depending on the circumstances. Another thing, business has to
consider the risks, which cloud computing, exposes them into
before they decide on whether to employ the techniques. It is
notable that cloud computing will not work for all the
companies. The results depended on the implementation
procedures and process. There is a need to assess the
environment before adopting the implements. There is a need
for proper consultation on what components are good to be used
by the described units. For example, the local networks require
intranet at the expense of the extranet, which might turn to be
expensive and incompatible.
Companies Using the Cloud Computing
43. TechniqueRecommendation
I recommended the adoption of the internet at the expense of
intranet and extranet when designing a perfect technology to be
used in the organization. It is necessary to assess the various
technological alternatives as well as compare the cost of their
implementation before deciding on which cloud computing
technique to implement. Notably, clouds computing necessitate
some skills that people should learn before adopting it. Most
importantly, the data under management should be considered
before developing the technology to be implemented.
References
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45. version will vary from the pagination of the print book.
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Media Planning for Advertising Campaigns
Media selection is critical to advertising success. right audience
through the correct media.
There are several other reasons why the media are an essential
part of advertising campaigns. For one thing,
media compose most of the advertising budget, far more than
the research, message, or production facets
(Wilson, 2007). At the same time, the media are often the least
understood part of the campaign; most busi-
ness executives understand marketing, and all media consumers
understand the messages, but the media
portion is more esoteric and thus less comprehended by most
people. Also, the advertisers see their advertis-
ing campaign in the media that are selected, so an easy way to
make sure that the advertiser client sees and
hears the advertising is through proper media selection. That
same proper media planning uses the advertis-
ing budget most fully and can free up money for additional
advertising or for new promotions. So the media
portion of advertising is critical to campaign success (Kelley &
Jugenheimer, 2004).
Keep in mind that the media themselves are general types of
channels, such as television, newspapers, or
the Internet. Then come the media vehicles, which are the
individual outlets of the media, such as ESPN, The
New York Times, or Google. Finally, come the media units, the
specifications of the advertisements, such as
46. a full-page four-color advertisement in a magazine.
Advertising Media Process
To understand how advertising media work, it is first necessary
to understand the process of analyzing and
selecting the media for an advertising campaign. First, one
analyzes the product, service, or idea to be pro-
moted, along with a competitive analysis and a survey of the
marketing situation. Next come the objectives
and goals, what is to be achieved with the campaign: marketing
objectives, more specific advertising objec-
tives, and even more specific media objectives. Then come the
strategies, which are plans to achieve the
objectives. The strategies include the campaign targets,
including geographic targets (target markets), cus-
tomer targets (target groups), and media targets (target
audiences).
From all these analyses, it is possibleto evaluate the
characteristics of all the available mass mediainterms of
the campaign objectives and tobegintoselect the best media
types for the campaign. Media tactics are the im-
plementation of the plans and involve the specific media
vehicles and units to be used, along with the sched-
ules. The advertising media plan must also consider any media
promotions, continuityor “fall-back” plans, the
media calendar, the budget and the integration of the marketing,
advertising, and media strategies and tac-
tics.
The Role of Media in the Advertising Media Process
Four basic factors are most important in selecting mass media
for use in advertising: reach, frequency, impact,
and continuity.
48. vertisement has more impact than a smaller advertisement; a
longer television commercial has more impact
than a shorter commercial.
Reach, frequency, and impact all cost money, but continuity
does not. Continuity involves the pattern of ad-
vertising, so that, say, a television viewer sees another
advertisement for the same item before forgetting a
previous commercial.
Consumers Avoid Advertisements
No matter how often an advertisement is run or where it
appears, many consumers still try to avoid them.
While watching television, viewers often switch channels when
commercials appear (called “zapping”), and
those who record television programs often fast-forward
through the commercials (called “zipping”).
Advertising and Marketing
Advertising is usually considered a promotional facet of the
marketing mix. The marketing mix includes what
have become known as The Four Ps:
• Product (an item or service or idea to be sold)
• Price
• Place (distribution to the buyer)
• Promotion (including advertising)
The mix of marketing becomes more complex, not because of
more elements but because of a faster time
limit on advertising campaigns, on consumer attention spans,
and on media transfer capacities. Many mass
media are now carried in digital electronic formats, which speed
up the processes while offering more choices
50. to television. Some former newspaper advertising monies were
shifted to a selection of broadcast media. Ad-
vertising schedules in general-audience magazines have largely
gone to television. Interestingly enough, as
new media came onto the scene, the older media did not
disappear: Radio did not disappear when television
took on the primary advertising role, and magazines did not die
when monies were shifted to television, al-
though general-audience magazines have just about disappeared.
More recently, shifts from one advertising medium to another
have been more pronounced. Money that once
went to newspapers has been shifting to the Internet (Saba,
2007), and especially in the case of classified
advertising, monies have shifted from help-wanted classified
newspaper advertisements into Internet sites
such as http://Monster.com. Network and other broadcast
television advertising has shifted, at least in part, to
wired systems such as cable and satellite television. Some radio
advertising has gone to music Internet sites
as well as to music television programming, such as MTV and
VH1, and to wireless systems, such as iPhone
and iPod downloads.
Another change involves broadcast ratings. The ratings project
the portion of households or of individuals
who are tuned to a particular broadcast station, program, or
network as a percentage of all the households
(or people) that have television sets, whether those sets are on
or not. Until recently, broadcast ratings were
available only by 15-minute segments, but now ratings are
available for minute-by-minute segments of pro-
grams, allowing advertisers to know more precisely what
percentage of the potential audience was tuned to
their actual broadcast commercials. This minute-by-minute
ratings service gives advertisers much more de-
51. tailed information about the success of their commercials media
buys.
The concept of ratings is a valuable one because, in essence, the
ratings percentage is the percent reach.
Because of this usefulness, other types of media, including print
media, have adopted the ratings approach
for measuring audiences. This widespread use of ratings data
allows for easier comparison of audience levels
from one medium to another.
Shifts in Advertising Media Environments
As computer usage has grown and electronic transfer of
information has become more prevalent, more mass
media content has become digitalized rather than analog
content. Digital storage of advertising content per-
mits the rapid and easy transfer of the information from one
format to another, say, from a broadcast script
to a newspaper story or to an Internet posting. As the media
become more similar through digitalization, it
has become possible for media consumers, the audience, to
select through which format they wish to receive
their information and entertainment, including advertising. At
the same time, digital storage allows advertisers
to trace through what channel the audience members are gaining
access to their advertising messages.
Convergence
Convergence is affecting all aspects and uses of the mass media.
Convergence is the term used to define
and explain how media message content, message effect, and
simultaneous message delivery change, inter-
act, and alter one another through multiple media. As
digitalization and other shifts occur, making the mass
53. back through the same medium by which the advertisement was
received.
Actually, media interactivity has been a part of the advertising
business for a long time. Magazine subscrip-
tions renewal notices sent through the mail sometimes included
a small pencil so that respondents could write
their responses easily and quickly, resulting in higher response
rates. Many direct-mail offerings also used
tear-off coupons or stick-on stamps to increase interactivity.
Any coupon that is cut out and redeemed is a
form of interactivity. Direct mail, other forms of direct
marketing, and telemarketing have all provided interac-
tive opportunities for decades.
Interactivity is important to advertisers because such audience
involvement increases response and purchase
rates and may result in higher recall rates for advertising
messages and brand names. Thus, advertising me-
dia have had increasing interest in interactivity, and many
media planners are instructed to consider inter-
active media more favorably than media that only deliver a
message but do not provide for an immediate,
interactive response.
New Media
New mass media developments, as noted earlier, do not
necessarily obviate the older, existing media (Kok-
ernak, 2007). Sometimes, the older media can add the newer
elements to their offerings and can replicate
some of the new-media benefits in some way. Some studies
indicate that television is still a more powerful
presenter of an advertising message than is the Internet
(Berkowitz, 2007). More often, audiences do not shift
to using the new media immediately and certainly not all at
55. 21st Century Communication: A Reference Handbook
One irony is that older media types that were once wired, such
as telephone, have become mobile through
the use of broadcasting, and older media types that were once
broadcast, such as television, are now avail-
able as wired media.
New Advertising Formats
Newspaper advertising no longer needs to be placed in
rectangular forms; free-form advertisements allow
shaping the advertisements like the product or some symbol,
with regular newspaper information and editorial
material around the advertisement. For years, magazines have
included tear-out inserts and free-standing
(not bound in) inserts; now, magazines can offer CDs, DVDs,
product samples, and other original advertis-
ing formats. Television advertising commercial announcements
once were a standard 60-seconds long, but
now the standard is 30 seconds, and stand-alone (i.e., not
combined with other commercials to make the slot
longer) commercials are available in 15- and even 10-second
lengths. Commercials are also available as full
programs of 30 to 60 minutes, known as infomercials.
Some advertisers are posting their television commercials
online, alone without other materials, and audi-
ences are going to some of these Web sites and viewing the
commercials in large numbers, sometimes in the
hundreds of thousands. These Internet postings of commercials
are not usually part of the original advertis-
ing media plan but offer an inexpensive and impactful way for
advertisers to get their messages to interested
56. customers.
All these options add to the complexity and information needs
of the advertising media buyers, who now must
weigh many new options against one another, each with its own
costs, benefits, and drawbacks. Some format
changes bring greater audience attention, helping the older
media compete with the new (Elliott, 2007).
New Changes and Trends
In addition to ongoing changes and trends, there are newer
changes in the mass media and in advertising's
use of media that are coming into play. These may eventually
turn out to be ongoing or long-term changes, or
they could be experiments that do not last very long.
Combinations of Media Types
More media offer their content in a variety of formats.
Newspapers place their stories and advertising online
on the Internet, so advertisers can gain from advertising
exposure in both media; there is a big overlap be-
tween the use of newspapers and of online information sources
(Sass, 2007). Some newspapers, such as
USA TODAY and The Wall Street Journal, are providing
magazine formats of their news and advertising con-
tent, hoping that because magazines are kept in the home longer
than are daily newspapers, such magazines
will also remain longer and perhaps have more advertising
impact (Ives, 2007). Radio stations make their
programming available online in “blogs” (Web logs) or regular
Web sites, and the advertising is carried both
ways: broadcast and online. Television networks and stations
are doing the same with Internet program re-
peats and even offering follow-up programs and outtakes via
58. Some advertisers simply made their products or services
available for free, in return for the publicity. Other
companies provided free products as prizes on television quiz
shows, provided services in return for a listing
in the program or movie credits, or offered facilities for filming
or taping in return for a bit of background expo-
sure.
More often now, advertisers pay for the placement of their
products in programs, whether it be Coca-Cola on
the judges' tables for American Idol or a brand of beer on the
counter for a television episode. Product place-
ment has become an important part of advertising media usage,
with weekly surveys of the most visible and
effective placements of brand names and items.
For the media planner and buyer, this form of promotion
presents additional problems. There is no standard
price or fee for such placements, and there is no standard source
that one can consult to find the value of
such placements. Then, too, the effect or impact on the audience
is not well researched, and thus the value
of such placements is not well established.
Consumer Control
At one time, control of the media was in the hands of the
programmers, advertisers, and media owners. Now,
control is shifting to consumers. Digitalization of the media is
one reason for this switch; consumers can now
select through which outlets they wish to receive their news and
entertainment. Consumers can also record
broadcast programs to view when they wish, deleting
advertisements. Esoteric information that was once
hard to find can now be searched and located on the Internet
from millions of sources throughout the world.
60. messages will fall, and what the eventual outcomes might be.
Certainly, the long-standing media measurement techniques and
institutions still exist and still contribute.
Television ratings are still measured and used by programmers
and by advertisers. The ratings services now
have added newer types of media to their research parameters,
so Internet and other new electronic adver-
tisements can be measured. Because of the interactive capability
of these new media, sometimes the re-
search data can be even more accurate than in the past,
narrowing down audience information to individual
media users. Yet with so many changes, so much fragmentation
of the media, so many avenues for placing
content in the media, what to measure and how to measure it
have become much more complex questions.
Faster feedback may be one important change in media
measurement (Friedman, 2007). New broadcast
commercial ratings services can track audience attention in
minute-by-minute, and in some instances second-
by-second, attention spans (Campanelli, 2007). Some major
consumer product companies are trying to relate
to consumers' real lives, using immersion techniques during
which marketers spend hours at a time visiting
and shopping and talking with customers (Sewell, 2007).
Whether an advertisement is effective has always been a
question that is difficult to answer, but now, with
all these changes and developments that have come in recent
years and are evolving at an ever-increasing
rate, the measurement of advertising effectiveness is of even
greater interest, while conducting the necessary
research has become more circuitous and more convoluted.
Involving Advertisers in Media Plans
61. As consumers have gained more control over the media,
advertisers also want more control, too, and not
just of media content. Advertisers want more control of when,
where, and how their advertising messages will
appear.
Previously, the media plan was left in the hands of the
advertising agency's media department and its media
planners, estimators, and buyers. The media portion of the
advertising campaign was understood only by a
few of the corporate executives, and most of the advertising
emphasis was on the message content, format,
and presentation rather than on the media plan.
Modern advertisers want to know more definitively what the
environment will be for their advertising mes-
sages, exactly who will be exposed to that message, how many
times, in what kinds of progressive cam-
paigns, and to what eventual ends.
Involving Audiences with Advertisement Usage
Almost a million customers downloaded a Budweiser
commercial from the Internet. Imagine the impact on
consumers who are so interested in a product that they go out of
their way to view a commercial message.
The same kinds of results occur for Frito-Lay's Doritos,
GEICO's cavemen, and Apple's iPhone. Even the
Conan O'Brien parody of the iPhone advertising drew millions
of online viewers, more than for the original
commercials themselves (Garner, 2007).
This kind of opportunity provides new avenues for advertising
media, and at the same time, new complica-
tions. Does the advertising message become so important that
63. too, broadcast has a bigger concern with clutter because of the
so-called irritation factor, when audiences ac-
tually become angry because of the number of commercials or
irritated at an advertiser whose commercials
run too often.
Ironically, the solution to clutter has been increased clutter. As
more and more commercials appear on radio
and television, the portion of a single advertiser's messages as a
part of all commercial minutes, known as
share of voice, has declined (Bloxham, 2007). To overcome this
dilemma, advertisers have resorted to buying
more commercials of shorter lengths so that the advertisers'
messages appear more often. Where once there
was only one commercial per minute, and then two, today, there
may be four or more. Clutter has increased
as advertisers try to fight the clutter from their competition. Yet
longer messages still work better than do short
ones (Loechner, 2007).
Another possible solution to clutter may involve the use of
behavioral targeting, which aims advertisements at
certain desirable audience segments rather than using
demographic targeting. More specific targeting based
on consumers' behavior would reduce the number of
advertisements that go to audience members who are
not really interested in that particular product or service
(Leggiere, 2007).
Inflation
Economic price inflation is a problem for all businesses. It is
especially a problem for advertising media. In
recent years, media costs have been rising faster than the
consumer price index in the United States. Another
complication is the fact that some media are losing market
65. audience levels, advertising demand, and media prices have
been disguised to take the advertisers' attention
away from what is actually being offered in advertising buys
(DeWitt, 2007).
Audience Attention Levels
More types of media availabilities mean that audiences have
more choices of where to spend their time. This
means that the audiences spend less time with the traditional
media as their media exposure is spread across
more types of channel outlets.
As people's lives get busier, they also spend less time on any
one activity, be it recreation, entertainment, or
information. These two factors, more types of media and more
segmented activities, mean that audiences are
spending less time with the media and that they are more likely
to multifunction: doing two or more things at
once.
If audiences try to balance the checkbook and take care of the
children while the television is on, they obvi-
ously are not paying full attention to the television program.
These split audience-attention levels have obvious implications
for advertising media. Buying an advertise-
ment today may not give the advertiser the same audience
attention even though it may reach the same
audience size. There is no easy way to calculate the loss of
attention and its impact on advertising media
efficiencies, but there certainly is a loss of advertising impact
when the audience is not paying close attention
to the message.
“‘Creative’ Sells Campaigns”
66. There is an old saying in advertising that “creative sells
campaigns.” In the heading for this section, the word
creative is in quotation marks because, even though many
practitioners in the advertising business call the
message strategies the creative portion of the campaign, all
advertising involves creativity: media and re-
search and production as well as message strategies. So what
the saying means is that the advertisements
themselves, the messages, are what sell campaigns.
Here, the selling of the campaign is not just to the audience but
also to the advertiser. An advertising agency
prepares an advertising campaign for its client, the advertiser,
and the client must give approval before the
campaign can run and money can be spent. Advertising agencies
usually stress the advertisements when
presenting the proposed campaign to the advertisers, because
the message should be inherently interesting
and thus might make the campaign easier to accept. Yet, even
though the message may be stressed, the
message and media strategies are ideally formulated together, in
concert with one another, and neither one
is more important than the other.
Effects and Effectiveness
Advertising is not an altruistic business. Businesses invest in
advertising because they expect a return on
their investments. A problem arises because the stimulus,
advertising, may not be traceable all through to
the response, sales. Also, not all advertising has sales as the
goal; there are many other possible objectives,
such as product awareness, opinion change, product knowledge,
and similar outcomes. Yet most of these