Integrated Marketing Communication

Integrated Marketing Communication Part 1.

Index
From Marketing Mix to Communications Mix
Integrated Marketing Communications
Integrated Communication Plan Part 1.
 Situation Analysis
o The Company
o The Brands
o Competitors

From Marketing Mix to Communications Mix

Marketing Mix
The 4 Pillars of the traditional marketing mix
We will Focus on the Communication Mix:
 Product
o Features
o Benefits
o Quality
o Design
o Services
o Warranties
o Brand
o Packaging
 Price
o List Price
o Discounts
o Credit Terms
o Incentives
 Place
o Point of Sales
o Channels
o Logistics
o Locations…
 Promotion
o Advertising
o PR
 o Sponsorship
o Events, Exhibitions
o Direct Marketing
o Online Communication

We will focus on Marketing Communications

Marketing Communications
involve all the instruments used by the company to communicate with its target groups.

We can sort the communication instruments in different ways…

Personal/Direct Vs. Mass Communication
Personal Communication Mass Communication
Instruments Seller Advertising
Direct Response Sponsorship
Events
PR
Speed SLOW FAST
Costs / Reached person HIGH LOW
Attention Value HIGH LOW
Selective Perception RELATIVELY LOWER HIGH
Comprehension HIGH MODERATE-LOW
FEEDBACK
Direction TWO-WAY ONE-WAY
Speed to Feedback HIGH LOW
Measuring Effectiveness ACCURATE DIFFICULT

In this course, we will use the

Paid, Owned & Earned Media classification

Integrated Marketing Communications

Part 1
Integrated Marketing Communication
IMC is the process of developing and implementing communication programs by combining
communication instruments as to reach a synergy effect
 To influence or directly affect customers and prospects’ behavior.
IMC (Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication)
IMC is a strategic marketing process specifically designed to ensure that all messaging and
communications strategies are unified across all channels are centered around the customer.

Integrated Communications
Integrated Marketing communications (IMC) means that we need to integrate the various
instruments of the communication mix.

Two principles are important when designing and implementing an integrated marketing
communication mix:
 CONSISTENCY
o All the communication and marketing instruments have to work in the same
directions.
 SYNERGY
o And the effects of the tools are mutually reinforcing

IMC does not happen automatically

All the elements of the communications mix have to be carefully planned in such a way that
they form a consistent and coherent integrated communication plan.

If it so effective, why is it difficult to adopt?

Barriers to Integrated Communications

This integration concept may be perceived as obvious, but it is not easy to reach it in real life.
Why?
 One of the main reasons are organizational: the various instruments of the
communication mix are managed by separate individuals or departments. There
could be turf wars or ego problems, or lack of internal communication.
 There could be also functional specialization among different agencies.
  And perceived complexity of planning and co-ordination. (… is the coordinator the
leader?)
 The result is NO integration.

Integrated Communications Planning Process

Steps in a Communication Plan
1. Situation Analysis  Where are we and Why to communicate?
2. Strategy  What to say to whom to achieve what and at what cost?
i. Targeting
ii. Objectives
iii. Budget
3. Tactics  How to do it?
iv. Message and creative strategy
v. Media, touchpoint
4. Control and Evaluation  How well have we done and what should we change?

1. Situation Analysis
Situation Analysis: The Assessment
The situation analysis will partially overlap with strategic marketing research, and it is an
assessment of:
1. The company (identity: vision, mission, values, personality & image: awareness and
reputation)
2. Its products or brands – their value proposition, brand and communication assessment
3. The competitors – who are the direct and indirect competitors, POPs and PODs,
communication strategy
4. The markets – market share, market size evolution, consumer characteristics and
behavior, etc.
5. The Macro-environment – political and legal restrictions or regulations, economic
situation, sociological concerns, technological evolution (e.g., new media) etc.
 1. The company
Before preparing a communication strategy for a certain brand, we must start by assessing the
Corporate Identity and the Corporate Image.
 Corporate identity is decided by the management, depends on the Brand Owner’s
perspective, while the image is what is known and perceived by the public
Corporate Identity is based on the company’s:
o VISION
o MISSION
o VALUES and CULTURE
o PERSONALITY
o TONE OF VOICE

Brand identity: Brand Owner’s Perspective

BRAND VISION: WHY we do what we do
Our strategic goals
Our vision for the future
BRAND MISSION: WHAT we do
What we offer
Our skills and expertise
BRAND VALUES: HOW we do things, and what are our core values, culture, and beliefs
Vision: The Big Idea
It is the dream. It is what you have always dreamt of, and it is the big dream.
It is the WHY you are doing this business
It is far reaching. It is going to stretch your mind, stretch your imagination, so you want to
reach far and wide.
And you also want to make sure that vision excites people.

Mission: It is what we do
We could break up a mission statement into two groups:
Business Mission
Social Mission
A social mission is optional. Some brand writes the business mission and the social mission
together, but they are different.
Social Missions usually do not make money… so the investors prefer to clearly understand the
business mission of a brand.

Business Mission
The business mission tells the story of the business.
It conveys what the business is
What it’s purpose is
And must be very descriptive.
There are lots of mission statements that do not tell anything about what brands do.

Values
Values are very important to guide behaviors within the organization. They must be inspiring
and tell employees how to do things (e.g., with integrity, commitment, etc.)

Our Values | Pioneer Food

Core Values are very important to keep the brand promise over time.
Examples
Mission, Vision, Values
Teamwork
Hyundai

The Corporate Image

After assessing the Corporate Identity, we need to appraise the
Corporate Image
We need to consider:
 The awareness of the company
 How it is perceived by the stakeholders: its image and reputation

Values of a Favorable corporate Image:

 It gives the company authority and is the basis for success and continuity
 Consumers buy products because they trust the company
 It creates a surplus of goodwill that will be useful in times of crisis
 It supports the company in attracting more easily the people who are crucial for its
success: investors, employers, and partners

So, if the company is unknown or has a poor reputation, the marketing communications
strategy has to adjust it.
 Integrated Marketing Communication
Integrated Marketing Communication Part 2.
Index
 Integrated Communication Plan
1. Situation Analysis
i. The Company
ii. The Brands
iii. Competitors
2. Strategy
iv. Targeting
v. Objectives
Steps in a Communications Plan
Steps in a Communication Plan
1. Situation Analysis  Where are we and Why to communicate?
2. Strategy  What to say to whom to achieve what and at what
cost?
i. Targeting
ii. Objectives
iii. Budget
3. Tactics  How to do it?
i. Message and creative strategy
ii. Media, touchpoint
4. Control and Evaluation  How well have we done and what should we change?
Situation Analysis: The Assessment
The situation analysis will partially overlap with strategic marketing research, and it is an
assessment of:
1. The company (identity: vision, mission, values, personality & image: awareness and
reputation)
2. Its products or brands – their value proposition, brand and communication
assessment
3. The competitors – who are the direct and indirect competitors, POPs and PODs,
communication strategy
4. The markets – market share, market size evolution, consumer characteristics and
behavior, etc.
5. The Macro-environment – political and legal restrictions or regulations, economic
situation, sociological concerns, technological evolution (e.g., new media) etc.

2. Assessing the Brands

We also need to assess the awareness and reputation of the products and brands that we want
to communicate
 What is their value proposition? (The brand promise)
 What are their brand drivers? The benefits they provide
 And if they are already on the market, what was their…
o Communication strategy
o Media investments,
o Share of Voice, etc.

Brand drivers
What are the brand drivers? The benefits of the products/services they provide,
 Functional (what the product does)
 Emotional (how a product makes a consumer feel)
 Economic (how a product saves time and money)
 Self-Expressive (how a product makes us appear)
  Benefits to Society and Environment

3. Assessing the Competition

After assessing the characteristics of our products or services, we need to define the “Points Of
Difference” (PODs) and the “Points of Parity” (POPs) in relation to the competition.

PODs
Points of difference refers to the factors that establish differentiation.
 Differentiation is the way in which the goods or services of a company differ from its
competitors’
 Indicators of the point of difference’s success would be increased customer benefits
and brand loyalty.

POPs
 Points-of-parity are the elements that are considered mandatory, a “must have” for a
brand to be recognized as a legitimate competitor within a given industry.
 POPs are associations that are not unique to the brand but may be shared by other
brands.

Brand Positioning vs. Competitors: POPs

 While POPs may usually not be the reason to choose a brand, their absence can
certainly be a reason to drop a brand.
 While it is important to establish a POD, it is equally important to nullify the
competition by matching them on the POPs.

So, we need to know who our competitors are and define our POPs & PODs.

Competitors Classification
Direct competitors are those businesses who do exactly what we do. They could be local
brands, local business, national, or even international brands, so we have to look at the entire
market when we are looking at our direct competitors.
Indirect competitors provide alternatives. They might provide similar products and services
to what we do, but they are not exactly the same.
 Consider also the free options: how our customers can achieve the same result for very
low costs or no cost at all (e.g., get a friend to do it).

Competitors Assessment
Which industry am I competing in? Who are my direct competitors?
Who are my indirect competitors?

 What do they do and how are they perceived by my target?

 What is their communication strategy, how much do they invest and in what media?
 What is their Share of Spending or Share of Voice?

4. Assessing the Market

 Market Share
 Market Value
 Market Size Evolution
 Evolution in consumer characteristics or change in behavior, etc.

5. Assessing the Macro-Environment

 Political and legal restrictions or regulations,
 Economic situation,
 Sociological concerns,
 Technological evolution (e.g., new media), etc.

2. Strategy
Communication Strategy
1. Targeting
2. Objectives
3. Budget
Targeting
Market Segmentation
Understanding the buying motives and behavior of target groups is essential: the choice of
well-defined target groups should be reflected in the communication planning with the
selection of:
1. Communication objectives
2. Communication strategies
3. Communication instruments
4. Campaign execution and touchpoint planning

Segmentation Variables and the Communication Plan

When preparing a communication plan, we want to be sure that the target group is attainable
We need to know
HOW TO REACH THEM with the right media

We need to use the same variables used to measure the audience of the media.

Knowing the Communication Target

There is a difference between offline and online media
Offline
 Television
 Newspapers/News Platform
 Radio

Online
 Internet / Web
 Search Engines (e.g., Google)
 Facebook
Media Audience Segmentation
The main media audience surveys (TV viewers, press readers, radio listeners) classify the
public with socio-demographic and geographical variables.
1. Demographic Segmentation (Gender, Age, Education, Profession…)
2. Geographic Segmentation
3. Behavioral Segmentation (purchase behavior and lifestyle. Things like how customers
use a product)
4. Attitudinal Segmentation (what customers think, need, or benefits they are looking for.

Media Planning Software contains all these data, so it is possible to select the media vehicles
that reach a specific target group.
E.g., Selecting the target with Memis
Press Ranking by readers in target

Online Media
The growth of internet and social network use (with the creation of databases that collect all
our online behaviors), has given us the opportunity to know the population via:
 Behaviors
 Interests
 Relationships
 Etc.
Facebook Advertising Target (Ad Targeting)
How to Identify the Facebook Target Audience
1. Geographical Segmentation
2. Demographics (age, gender, education, etc.)
3. Interests (hobbies and pages they like)
4. Behavior (prior purchase behavior, device used, etc.)
5. Connections (to our FB page or our events)
6. Contact List (our client list), website visitors and app users
7. Lookalike audience
Target
Geographic Segmentation
Age Segmentation
NOT the entire population (only those with FB accounts)
35 million people in Italy
We can segment per brand
Nutella Lovers
We can segment per Interest
People interested in Volunteering or Airbnb
Segment per Device
Samsung smartphone or another brand
On LinkedIn we can segment by business role and experience
 Job experience
 Job title
 Company (industry, number of employees,…)
 Interests (e.g., groups)
On Twitter, we can use keywords and interests (e.g., TV Programs…)
Then we have to define the Target Audience
Then we have to choose and we create the ad
I need to uncheck the automatic placement (default)
We have to check where we want our ad to appear (and uncheck what we do not want) for
Facebook EVERYTHING IS CHECKED FOR DEFAULT)
Targeting with Facebook is exciting but this is nothing…Internet, big data, and artificial
intelligence are changing everything
Data Management Platform

Identification of the target audience is the key issue of digital communication

Are you concerned about your own data used by the advertisers?
Almost 36% of internet users worldwide express concern about usage of personal data.
50% deleted cookies in the last month.

More than a third of internet users in Italy and worldwide are concerned about the misuse
of their personal data.
Topical issues, especially after Brexit and Capitol Hill attack
Digital Services Act and Digital Market Act. There are some changes in the air…
Integrated MK Communications Plan: Where were we?
Steps in a Communication Plan
1. Situation Analysis  Where are we and Why to communicate?
2. Strategy  What to say to whom to achieve what and at what cost?
i. Targeting
ii. Objectives
iii. Budget
3. Tactics  How to do it?
iv. Message and creative strategy
v. Media, touchpoint
4. Control and Evaluation  How well have we done and what should we change?

Marketing Communication Objectives

 Marketing communication objectives can be broadly divided into 3 categories:
o REACH goals
o PROCESS goals
o EFFECTIVENESS goals

REACH goals
A communication plan must reach the target groups in an effective and efficient way.
Process goals
All communications should capture the attention of the target, be appreciated, be processed,
and remembered.
Effectiveness goals
Effectiveness goals focus on the effects of the whole campaign on the brand or the organization.
They could be communication or behavioral objectives.
A taxonomy of marketing communication objectives
PROCESS objectives EFFECTIVENESS objectives
COMMUNICATION  Brand recall and recognition  Brand Awareness
Objectives  Recall/recognition of message  Brand Knowledge
elements  Brand Attitude/Image
 Attitude toward the  Brand Preference
communication  Brand Loyalty
 Purchase Intention
BEHAVIORAL  Activation: store or website  Trial Purchase
Objectives visits  Repeat Purchase
 Likes and shares on social  Sales
network sites  Market Share
 Talk or recommend to friends  Profit
 Click-through on online  Return on Marketing
banners  Return on marketing
 Call freephone numbers communication
 Respond to direct mails investments

An effective campaign is one that reaches its objectives

When we measure the communication campaign results, we measure reach, process, and
effectiveness KPIs.

Communication effectiveness concerns perception, while behavioral effectiveness affects

more directly commercial objectives.
The behavioral effectiveness objectives are called “commercial objectives”
However, sales are influenced by other marketing instruments, such as price, product
quality, benefits, distribution, design, and packaging, as well as market evolution,
technology, innovation and competitive action.
The DAGMAR model of effectiveness objectives
One traditional model of effectiveness objectives and results measurement is the DAGMAR
(Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results) model*
According to the DAGMAR model, during the communication process, 9 effects can be
established.

The DAGMAR model of effectiveness objectives

Every promotional campaign should be organized with one or more of these 9 objectives in
mind
 The choice of the right goals depends on the preliminary situation analysis of the
market: brand position, competition, opportunities, and threats
 In that sense, communication objectives are only an intermediary way to reach
marketing goals, such as sales volumes, market share, distribution, penetration, etc.

The DAGMAR Model

Category need
Brand awareness
Brand knowledge / comprehension
Brand attitude
Brand purchase intention
Purchase facilitation
Purchase
Satisfaction
Brand Loyalty

1. Category Need
1. Developing Category Wants
First comes the creation of the need
  The brand has to arise a need for something, then it can say: I fill this need.
 Using category need as a primary communication objective is a must for innovation.
Consumers should first understand which need is satisfied by an innovation.

2. Brand Awareness
2. Brand Awareness, Recognition & Recall
Once we have created a need, we must associate our brand with that category need.
Brand awareness is the association of some characteristics such as brand name, logo, package,
etc. to a category need.

There are different stages of brand awareness:

 Top-of-Mind: is the first brand associated within a category, it is the first spontaneous
recalled brand.
 Brand Recall or unaided spontaneous awareness (also called unaided awareness) is
when a brand is spontaneously associated to the category
 Brand recognition is when people recognize a brand when the brand name is suggested,
or by its logo or package, e.g., in a shop (also called aided awareness)

The Recall included the Top of Mind

The sum of Brand Recall + Brand Recognition is called Total Recall

Brand Recall vs. Brand Recognition

Research has shown that recall is about 50% of the recognition
 Buyers will be better able to recognize brands than to recall brand names
spontaneously.
 On the other hand brand recall is not a guarantee that the buyer will recognize the
brand in a shop…

How to create brand recall

To build brand recall, repetition of the association between the category and the brand is
necessary
 Frequency is a must: TV, radio, outdoor are the most effective media
  But it is also a very expensive media strategy
Also, years of presence in the market help brand recall

Brand Recall vs. Brand Recognition: What to choose?

So, which awareness goal should we choose?
(Recall is more expensive…)
 If the purchase decision is made at another time and location than the point of sales (at
home)
 When the buyer has to ask explicitly for a certain product, brand name recall is needed

When the purchase decision is made in the store, and the buyer can use visual cues such as
package, displays, colors, and logos, brand recognition is more important.

How to create Brand Recognition

To simulate brand recognition, showing the product package or logo in advertising or other
communications with consistency in the visual identity is crucial
 Radio advertising is less appropriate…

Every communications activity should have brand awareness as a goal. A brand can never
have too much brand awareness.
If a brand is unknown, it will be impossible to build an image, preference or attitude.
And in my experience, brand awareness increases attention in advertising. We are more
attentive toward brands that we know.

3. Brand Knowledge / Image

3. Brand Knowledge / Image
It means that the target is aware of the most essential brand characteristics, features, and
benefits.
 They know the strengths of the brands as compared with competitive brands, they know
why they should buy a brand instead of another.
  This knowledge is very subjective, and it is also based on past experience.

Brand Knowledge = Brand Image

“Products are made in the factory, but brands are built in the mind.”

4. Brand Attitude
4. Brand Attitude
Brand attitude is when the consumers prefer the brand over the competitors’ ones. They have
some elements to judge and are more favorable towards the brand.
 A very favorable brand attitude should be maintained to keep all customers
satisfied.
If there is a negative brand attitude, we need to change it, and this is a very difficult goal to
achieve, especially if it is based on negative experiences.
It might be better to reposition the brand by appealing to different buying motivations or
different target groups.

5. Purchase Intention
5. Purchase Intention
When a brand is known and favorable brand attitude exists, this will lead to buying behavior
(whenever the need for certain category is aroused)
 In high-involvement situations, or when perceived buying risks are high, the intention
to buy is a mediating step between the attitude and the purchase.
 Advertising and sales promotion can stimulate the consumer in that direction.

6. Purchase Facilitation
6. Purchase Facilitation
It means assuring potential buyers that there are no barriers hindering product or brand
purchase.
 Price
o We could offer special payment conditions
  Distribution
o We could communicate the addresses of the shops selling a certain brand
 Product (an embarrassing product, for example, a very complicated one)
o We could have an expert to help
 The communication goal is minimize the perceived problems and to let the target
audience know that buying is easy and painless.

7. Purchase
7. Purchase
Sales are, of course, the main marketing objective.
 However, it is difficult to use sales goals as a primary communications objective
 But there are situations in which it is possible:
o Action-oriented contexts, such as the web (when actively looking for something
on the search engine)
o Direct marketing, with couponing, price cuts, etc.

8. Satisfaction
8. Satisfaction
When the product or service lives up to or surpass expectations, the consumer will be satisfied
and inclined to choose the same brand in the future
Dissatisfied customers will probably buy a different brand on the next occasion and will
complain to relatives and friends.

Communications should also be directed to existing customers, because clients are the most
important advocates of the brands they buy.
Word-of-mouth communication can be stimulated by communicating with current customers.
We need to reassure existing customers about their choice.
 9. Brand Loyalty
9. Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty is defined as the mental commitment between consumer and a brand. It is not
only the repeat purchase that creates this relationship, loyalty is an emotional bond built by
trust.
we can’t create loyalty only with advertising: all the touchpoints of the brand contribute to
this result.
Having loyal customers (that rerepeat purchases) is a very cost-effective way to build sales. (it
is most expensive to get new clients than keeping them!)
Loyal customers promote our brand via word-of-mouth, review, recommendations…
We can measure LOYALTY with the Net Promoter Score

How likely is it that you would recommend this brand to a friend or colleague?
0 = not at all likely 5= neutral 10 = Extremely Likely
0 – 6 = Detractors 7 – 8 = Passives 9 – 10 = Promoters
Net Promoter Score formula. Only promoters create favorable reviews.
Net promoter score = % Promoters – Detractors

Why are brand promoters actively commenting?

Promoters want to share.
Promoters want to be seen as a brand expert.
Promoters use your brand as a reason to connect with others.
Promoters share your content because it supports their interests.

DAGMAR Model Vs. Customer Decision Journey

A more recent communication approach that is probably inspired by the DAGMAR model is
the Customer Decision Journey
With this approach the target is analyzed in its path: from the awareness to the brand loyalty
and advocacy.
DAGMAR Model Vs. Customer Decision Journey
The customer journey usually includes 5 main steps
1. Pre-sale
1. Need recognition / awareness
2. Information search
3. Evaluation Of alternatives
2. Sales
1. Purchase
3. Post-Sale
1. Post-purchase behavior (loyalty, advocacy)

Touchpoints are also Media

The touchpoints analyses are not only useful to design a wonderful customer experience, but it
is also useful to choose the right media and the right message at each stage.

The right message at the right time with the right media
After defining our customer touchpoints, we select brand drivers to emphasize in each one of
the steps with different media

Each phase of the customer journey has different communications objectives

Communications objectives vs. customer journey stage
This omnichannel, consumer centric approach, led to a new trend in IMC.

Brand Choreography: A new Approach in IMC

It is a holistic, human-centric approach to integrated marketing communication
All communication efforts must be centered around the customer. That is why brand
choreography is designed to deliver clear, consistent and compelling messages to the right
person, in the right place, at the right time.
Whether traditional, digital or social, all touchpoints are valuable in creating a unified brand
message.
6 steps of Brand Choreography
1. Find a winning brand value proposition: The brand promise
2. Identify the buyer personas (target)
3. Study the customer Journey of the personas
4. Identify the brand touchpoints for each phase of the customer journey
5. Planning the right message on Paid, Owned & Earned Media
6. Develop a total customer experience strategy (not just communication: all stages of the
customer journey must be consistent with the brand promise, from the product to
assistance, etc.)

Brand Value Proposition

The brand proposition is a short phase that sums up the brand promise
K.L. Keller calls it Brand Mantra
A Brand mantra is short, three-to five-word phrase that captures the irrefutable essence or spirit
of the brand positioning.
It is also called Positioning Statement

Brand Value Proposition

A great value proposition tells your audience:
 How your product or service solves/improves problems
 What benefits customers can expect
 Why customers should buy from you over your competitors

Buyer Personas
A buyer persona is a “fictional” profile that sums up all the characteristics of a specific
segment of potential customers. (also called customer portraits)
He or she has a name, an age, a profession, hobbies, and so on…
Buyer personas are useful because it is easier to emphasize with them, imagine what they think,
what they do, what benefits they are looking for, etc.
Pain Points and fears are crucial in the decision-making process.
Looking for the insight
When you analyze your target/personas you look for the insight.
“The capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something”.
A discovery about the underlying motivations that drive people’s actions.
Insights are very important to find the right message. The one that can convince people to think
or do something.
That is why it is so important to study your persona in depth. If you do not find the pain points,
and the real, inner motivation (the “insight”), personas are quite useless.
You do not use personas to find the media. Target groups are enough.

Manage Paid, Owned, and Earned Media

Paid Media
Advertising ATL (Above-the-Line)
 TV
 Print
 Radio
 Ooh (Out of Home)
 Cinema
 Internet (display and native: social and search)
BTL (Below-the-Line)
 Merchandising
 Events
 Sponsorships/Product Placement / Influencer Marketing
 Unconventional (Ambient, Guerriglia MK, etc.)

Owned Media
 Brand and branded content
 Packaging
 Points of Purchase, Retail Stores, Uniforms,
 Company buildings, assets
  Website, blogs
 App, web app
 Social Accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram etc.)
 Newsletters, Direct Emails
 Invoices

Earned Media
 Word-of-mouth
 Articles on Media (newspapers, TV, or Radio Programs)
 Social posts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
 Comments and Evaluations on e-commerce platforms (e.g., TripAdvisor)
 Reviews
 Wikipedia

User-Generated Content are more and more important

WOM and Earned Media are the most effective communication instruments. Because we
trust the source.
POE

We need to know the media and how to use them to plan effective communications
campaigns.
Integrated Marketing Communication Part 3.
Each step of the customer Journey uses specific media

We should use all our owned media in our communication plan

Use all your owned media. Owned media are not completely for free, but they belong to the
company. You do not want to forget anyone of these touchpoints.
Planning each medium: Get as much earned media as possible
Earned media are for free. And they are the most effective, because people trust them.
Planning each medium: Paid Media
And now, why should we have to buy media? We know that we need to buy them to attract
new customers, to create awareness and image.
Communications Instruments, Media and vehicles
Advertising Budget and media costs
When we talk about advertising budget, we mean mostly media investments, because most of
the expenditures depends on media buying.

Media Planning
If we want an effective advertising campaign, not only do we need to create a relevant and
impactful advertising message, but we have to reach our target audience and deliver the
message in such a way that it is noticed and remembered.
 Select the right media
  Define how much space and time is needed to have our target audience understand the
message (30" TV commercial or 15"? One page on the newspaper or a banner?)
 Define how many times we need to repeat the message so that it is to be remembered
(3 times? 10 times?)
 And at the same time, we have to spend as little as possible (or get the maximum
effectiveness from the available budget).
To do this, we need to know the ADV media and how to plan them
Knowing each advertising media
To effectively plan media, we have to know:
1. Potential reach of our target audience
2. How audience is measured, and if these surveys are reliable
3. Expressive capability and role in the Customer Journey
4. Technical constraints
5. Cost (and who sell the media vehicles)

Key Planning Metrics

Target Audience
Reach (aka. Coverage or Penetration)
Reach refers to the number of percentage (%) of people in the target audience who will be
exposed to the medium where the message appears.

Example:
Target = 100 People
The medium that I plan (e.g., newspaper) is viewed by 50 people in target
50 reached people / 100 target audience = 50 / 100
* 100 = 50%
Reach (%) = 50%
The higher the reach, the better
Calculation: From impressions to reach (%)

Net Contacts / Target * 100 = 3 / 6 * = 50%

Rating Points
Understanding Rating Points
Rating, especially in USA, is used as the baseline measure for all media concepts.
One rating point equals 1 percent of a particular target group. It is the same as 1% each.
Frequency
If reach is the net percentage of the target universe reached one or more times by a medium,
frequency is the average number of times those persons are reached

We need to repeat the message in order to have it remembered.

Do you think that the more the frequency the better?

Frequency is expensive. And too many repetitions annoy.
How does a consumer respond to frequent exposure?
Researcher shows that advertising repetition initially increases learning, but may lead to
boredom and irritation later.
 According to the two-factor model, an inverted U-relationship exists between the level
of exposure on the one hand, and advertising effectiveness (cognitive responses, attitudes,
purchase) on the other.
Wear-in and wear-out effects explain the nature of this relationship.
 Low levels of exposure, consumers develop a rather negative response (e.g., counter-
arguments) due to the novelty of the stimulus.
 After a few exposures, the reaction becomes more positive. This is referred to as wear-
in.
 More frequent exposures again lead to more negative responses, such as irritation, a
phenomenon called wear-out.
What we have learned:
Who knew the brand (TIM users) learned more quickly and got tired earlier, while none-users
(the target) needed more frequency.
(After 22 and more, there were still favorable emotions).
How to define the optimal frequency level
How to decide the optimal frequency level? How many times do we need to repeat the
message?
It is inevitably linked to the advertising objective, the type of message used, media clutter, the
product category, the competition level, the target group and the media used.

Average Frequency
Reports the average number of times a
person is exposed to an advertising schedule.

How to calculate Average Frequency

Gross impressions / Net Contacts = 6 / 3 = 2

Average frequency is calculated on the people

LET’S TRY WITH SOME EXAMPLES
Try and Calculate
Target audience: 100 Gross impressions: 400 People who saw the message: 50
 What is the average frequency?
How to calculate Average Frequency
Gross impressions / Net Contacts = 400 / 50 = 8

GRP’s
Gross Rating Points
We can define GRPs as the units of the advertising “pressure”
They are the result of
REACH (%) × 100 × Average Frequency
Gross Rating Points
Reach (%) × 100 × Average Frequency = 50 × 2 = 100
If the frequency is 1, GRP’s =

Reach% without %
Example
 Target audience: 100 people
 I buy an advertisement on the newspaper that is read by 20 people in target
 Which reach (%) do I get?  20%
 How many GRPs?  20
GRPs: Another way to calculate them
It is really an easy way to calculate GRP’s since we usually do not know the duplication of
exposure (and so the net contacts)
GROSS IMPRESSIONS × 100 / TARGET =
(net contacts × average frequency × 100) / target =
(net contacts / target × 100) × average frequency =
REACH (%) ×100 × AVERAGE FREQUENCY
6 × 100 / 6 = 100
50% × 2 × 100 = 100
Another easy way to calculate GRPs is adding up all the rating points (the reach(%)) of each
media
GRPs: Adding up all the rating points
Adding up all the rating points (reach (%)) of each AD
 1 spot = 50 (rating points = reach)
 2 spot = 33 (rating points = reach)
 3 spot = 17 (rating points = reach)
 Total = 100 (GROSS rating points)

 Target audience: 200 People

 1 advertisement on LR is read by 20 people in target
 what is the REACH (%)? = 10%
 How many GRPs? = 10

 Target audience: 100 People

 1 advertisement on XXX is read by 10 people in target +
 1 advertisement on YYY is read by 20 people in target
 what is the REACH (%)? = I cannot know. I do not know the duplications of exposure.
 I can calculate GRPs: = 10 + 20 = 30

So, how can we calculate net contacts and reach?

With specific software used by media agencies

TRP = Target Rating Point, Same thing as GRPs.

GRPs are the most important metric in advertising planning (together with the budget)
TV Planning is measured in GRPs.
We track our competitors’ GRPS to calculate Share-of-Voice and forecast their strategy.
Online Metrics
IMPRESSIONS
We find also find “impressions” on the web
 Internet impressions represent people potentially exposed to our ad or sponsored link
visibility.
Web Impressions
We count an impression when a web page is uploaded by browser. Nobody can assure us that
there is a person and not a robot. Nobody can say if the message is really seen by that person.
When do we consider an ad seen?
Viewability
The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) defines a "viewable" impression for display ads as
the one that is visible for at least 50% of pixels and at least 1 second
 For desktop video the standard is to be 50% visible for at least 2 seconds
 For Large Display: 30% of the pixels for at least 1 second

VISITORS
VISITORS
VISITORS refers to the total number of internet users who arrive at a website, some of whom
may have visited the site more than once.
 Visitors' behavior on a site varies: some stay only very briefly, while others may navigate
around the site examining its content, so it's important to consider the "time per person"
 UNIQUE VISITORS (or UNIQUE AUDIENCE) are who visit the web site counting
each person only once during the reporting period.

In Italy, AudiWeb measures Internet Audience

 Unique audience (net contacts)
 Total digital audience (gross impressions)
 Total page view
 Time per person
CLICKS
Clicks and CTR
Where there is a click on an ad or a link, it takes the user to a page on the website.
Clcik through (¿)
Click Through Rates (CTR )(%)= ×100
Impressions
It is a measure of our ad’s ability to provoke interest.

Conversion Rate
Conversion Rate: Measure of success
Actions
Conversion Rate (%)= × 100
Visitors
(No. of clicks)

Beware:
Some actions could not be due to the specific digital advertising effectiveness… (maybe I was
already convinced to buy something. The ad only gave me a “lift”, facilitated the purchase)

Metrics related to Media Buying success – How do we buy media?

Sometimes we have a rate card, usually for offline media and online display advertising, and
we try to negotiate a discount
With Google Ads, Social Networks, and Programmatic Advertising, we buy bidding on an
auction. There are not fixed prices or discount.
How do we buy Offline media in Italy?
Media Buying: Net and “Net-Net”
Rate Card:
150.000€
Net and “Net-Net” Only for Italian Media and NOT for biddable media!
 Net price is the price calculated after the negotiation (rate card – discount)
 Net-Net Price is the price of the invoice (net price minus 15% of Agency commission).
Media Efficiency: Cost vs. Rating Points
To compare media vehicles, we can use the ratio between cost and GRPs, that is called:
C/GRPs (Cost per GRPs) or CPG
Or we can use cost vs. contacts (usually for print, considering Circulation),:
C/C (Cost per Contacts)

How do we buy Media Online? Internet Pricing Models

 CPM
o Cost per thousand impressions
 CPC or PPC
o Cost per click (or Pay per Click)
 CPA
o Cost per Acquisition (pay-for-acquisition only if you are sure that the ad caused
the behavioral change…)
 CPV
o Cost per view (video)
 Digital Planning
Advertising Online
The new standard for the advertising online
THE IAB New Standard Ad Unit Portfolio
The IAB New Standard Ad Unit Portfolio ("IAB New Ad Portfolio") includes
1. Displays ads
2. Native ads
3. New content experiences like:
a. Emoji ads
b. 360-degree image and video ads
c. Virtual reality ads
d. Augmented reality ads
Display Advertising
1. We select the websites that reach our target audience, following Audio web data,
contextual or behavioral targeting methodologies ... And common sense.
2. Then we identify the media sellers of these websites, and gather information about their
advertising option.
3. We contact the sell representatives, compare their proposals, negotiate and buy
impressions or clicks (CPM or CPC)
4. We forward the display ad (the artwork) to the Publisher (or we upload it)
5. Go on air
6. And check the results of the campaign (impressions, clicks, CTR,...)
We choose the Ad format
Pricing
We usually buy display ads at CPM
Programmatic Advertising
What is Programmatic Media Buying?
One writer defined it as the "automation of the buying and selling of advertising inventory
supported by the Open Real Time Bidding (RTB) ecosystem"
 Or more simply "the automated buying and selling of digital media"
Programmatic Advertising Pros and Cons
1. Programmatic advertising helps buyers buy media more efficiently (lower CPM) and
helps publishers (website owners) sell ALL their inventory at the highest possible price
(via bidding)
2. With programmatic we can better target our advertising, thanks to the Data
Management Platforms.

But the buying process is less clear and there is a risk of fraud...
Programmatic is growing fast
Cool!
All the advertising is sold....
But 91% of internet users says that advertising is more intrusive compared to 2 years ago
And something is happening…

Adblock
Adblock is a browser extension for the Google Chrome, Apple Safari (desktop and mobile)
Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge web browser
Adblock allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being displayed.

But there are other less intrusive forms of online advertising

Native Advertising
Native Advertising
Native advertising looks like editorial material.
 The goal is to reproduce the user experience. In fact their look and feel are similar to
the content of the context
 Native advertising is the new version of the old advertorial...
 
Native Advertising
The most popular are: sponsored Tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts (infeed), YouTube
videos and most of all google search paid ads.
Native Advertising is probably the most effective online advertising format
And most of all Google Search ads
 
Google Ads
Paid Listings Vs. Organic Listings
1. Gaining and advantage over (competitors) organic listings
2. Reaching customers actively searching for our specific product
3. Write our Ad text as we want
Reaching customers that are actively searching for a solution that we offer is surely the most
effective way to advertise!
With Google Search we buy “Keywords”
We pay ONLY if people click on the ad (PPC) And the price is set by an auction.

Google Auction
Here's how the auction works:
 When someone searches, the Google Ads system finds all ads whose keyword match
that search.
 From those ads, the system ignores the ones that aren't eligible, like ads that target a
different country or are disapproved (based on a policy violation).
 Of the remaining ads, only those with a Ad rank high enough may show. Ad Rank is a
combination of the bid, the ad quality, the expected CTR, the context of the person's
search, and so on.
 
There is a different auction for EVERY search
Since the auction process is repeated for every search on Google, each auction can potentially
have different results depending on the competition at that moment. Therefore, it is normal to
see different ad's position on the page, and sometimes the ad is not showed at all.

 
Quality Score Matters
The most important thing to remember is that even if our competition bids higher than us, we
can still win a higher position -- at a lower price -- with high quality ads, landing pages and
website.
"The most important thing to remember"
 Stella
Social Media
Social Network Platforms have many similarities
 All you need to plan is a free account and a credit card
 Prices are set by an auction and depend not only on the value you are willing to pay,
but also on the quality of the ad.
 The target is defined on the basis of multiple variables (which depend on the data
provided to the platforms)
 All campaigns are structured in clusters (groups of ads in hierarchy) and even the
interfaces are all similar.
Integrated Marketing Communication Part 1.
Paid Market Scenario (Other Media)
Paid Media
Advertising Below the Line

Events: A Powerful Communication Tool

Events are planned public or social occasions which have limited duration and a specific
purpose
The company can organize its own events or participate in events organized by others (e.g., trade
fairs)
The strength of the event as a communication tool lies in the fact that the event, thanks to its
high capacity for involvement, is able to create very strong interactions with the public
In-store promotions can be events.
Events Create Experiences
Despite the technological advances and multiple ways to create an event, the common end is
based on the experience and the emotional bonding that can be granted to the public.
The event must leave a memory. The event as a communication tool must:
Have a specific purpose and Leave a memory over time.
An event that is forgotten the next day has not achieved its objectives.

We could use events for internal and external communication

Internal communication events:
Meetings, conventions, team building, company days, workshops
External communication events:
Congresses, conferences, fairs, trade shows, road shows, in-store, etc.
Trade Shows are very important for B2B (Business to Business) marketing strategies
Trade shows are very important marketing communication tools. Companies participate in fairs
and exhibitions for:
 Activation of new contacts with customers and suppliers
 Strengthening existing relationships
 Development and consolidation of reputation and image
  Assessing the competition
 Increasing the knowledge of the customers
Events or Sponsorships?...
Attention: one thing is to organize an event, another thing is to sponsor an even (investments
are different...)
Sponsorships
Sponsorships are exchange relationships
A company (sponsor) provides financial or in-kind support to a person, group or
organization (sponsee) in order to allow them to carry out their activities and, in exchange,
obtains a series of benefits in order to facilitate the pursuit of its marketing and
communication objectives.
 
Which are the benefits for the sponsor?
 Visibility (the sponsor logo is showed in the sponsee communication)
 Free tickets/hospitality
 Licensing agreements
 
Which are the benefits for the sponsor?
 Visibility
The Sponsee is the medium
 
What are they useful for?
Sponsorships are useful to create awareness and position a brand (not yet consolidated)
through the image transfer mechanism
In order to obtain the transfer of values, it is necessary to have:
 Congruence of stimuli (sponsor and sponsee)
 Frequency (repetition of the association)
Hyundai is one of the Roma football team sponsors
Companies sometimes used advertising to increase the awareness of sponsorships.
Licensing, CO-marketing, & co-Branding
Through licensing agreements (e.g.., use of the sponsee logo) it is possible to enhance the
sponsorship also through co-marketing and co-branding.
Sponsorships also provide a lot of material for social content strategy.

From Sponsorships to Product Placement

Product Placement
Product placement is a form of communication in which products, packaging, brand name,
logo etc. are intentionally placed in narrative contexts of films or television programs,
games, videos, in exchange for cash or in-kind (technical supplies or free products-services)
negotiated between the advertiser company and the production company.
As with sponsorships, you can try to increase the awareness of this association through product
tie-in activities (e.g., use the main actor of a movie as a testimonial)
The context of product placement have entertainment in common.
Product placement works in a similar way as sponsorship (as a communication instrument)
Product placement is a communication tool with a great emotional impact, because it links
the product to the entertainment content.
And when the product placement is in contexts with repetitive exposure (such as video games
or TV series) there is also the frequency "effect" that helps memorization.
Videogames: Wendy´s & Fortnite
When entertainment content is produced by the brand, we have Branded Content
A very recent example of branded content: Balenciaga with The Simpsons

Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing: Between Sponsorship and Placement
Influencers attract attention because they are authentic. Influencers Nowadays have a big
sway in purchasing decisions.
Influencer Marketing:
A person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or
recommending the items on social media.
Influencers nowadays have a big sway in purchasing decisions.
Industries that benefit most from influencer marketing
  Fashion & Beauty
o Fashion/beauty and influencer marketing are the perfect match. A recent study
found that almost 60% of these brands utilize an influencer marketing
strategy.
 Travel & Lifestyle
o Influencers are changing the entire landscape of the travel/lifestyle industry.
Grayson Schaffer, a contributing author in Outside Magazine, describes the
popularity of Instagram influencers as "a culture that is changing the way
people travel and plan their trips."
o The big buzzword in this industry is user-generated content (UGC). In fact,
studies have shown that 93% of consumers find making decisions as to where
they spend their money.
o Example: Tripadvisor
 
Instagram that benefit most from influencer marketing
 
The Phases of an influencer marketing campaign
1. Define targets and objectives:
o Awareness and image
o Sales
o Traffic to the website, registration for cents
o Increase followers
o Get more impressions / reach
Look for the most suitable influencers
Define the most effective way of collaborating
Measure the results
What can create awareness and imagery of the brand through influencer marketing?
Product demo video, Unboxing videos, Product reviews, Sponsored posts.

What could increase sales?

 Affiliate Marketing Campaigns (the influencer takes a percentage of sales)
  Discount codes (which the influencer shares with her/his community)
 Flash sales
 ...
Do not forget… what matters is the engagement rate with the community (NOT just the number
of followers)
Before contacting influencers, we need to have clear ideas:
1. Why should the chosen influencer collaborate with us?
What do we have in common with him / her (values / products / service)?
2. What advantages or benefits do we offer to their followers?
3. What form of compensation do we think we can give?
4. What do we expect from the collaboration? What are our goals?
 
What kind of remuneration or benefits can we offer?
1. Money
2. An exclusive experience
3. Free products
4. Visibility
5. Include them in an affiliate marketing program
6. Make them brand ambassadors (with a long-term relationship)
 
Frequency of exposure helps here too!
It is better to keep the relationship over time, even if the program lasts a short time.
An ongoing collaboration is certainly more effective than a short-term one (frequent
exposure helps awareness and image transfer)
When influencers become ambassadors, it can lead to co-marketing / co-branding activities.
Fashion business is much involved in co-marketing with influencers.
Which are the KPIs to measure the results?
1. Awareness
a. Number of followers
b. Impressions
2. Traffic to the site
3. User engagement
 a. c/ Engagement
2. User-generated content
3. Revenues

Paid Media
Advertising Above the Line (ATL)
TV is the media with the highest reach in Italy
There are lots of alternatives to free generalist tv
In Italy, traditional TV (free linear TV) is still the most viewed. So, we need 30 TV channels to
get 80% of audience share.
The Future of TV advertising is addressable TV:
We can broadcast different messages to different target groups
Addressable TV: Is a way of delivering advertisements on digital TV that allows to display
Specific ads, different from family to family, in real time, based on the characteristics of the
household
How to plan advertising on TV
Knowing each media
To effectively planning media we have to know:
1. Potential reach and frequency on our target audience
2. How audience is measured, and if these surveys are reliable
3. Expressive capability
4. Technical constraints
5. Cost (and who sell the media vehicles - dealers)

Knowing each media – Expressive Capability

Television advertising is very effective
The most obvious advantage of television advertising is the opportunity to use sight, sound,
color, and motion in commercials.
We can create emotional commercials, make product demo, or show people in situations in
which they can identify
 
Drawbacks: high costs, limited exposure time, cluttered airways and poor placement of ads
within or between programs.
Scheduling Patterns
1. CONTINUITY SCHEDULING: advertising is scheduled evenly throughout the year.
E.g., 200 GRP's per month x 12 months.
 Low frequency but coverage of the entire purchase cycle.
 It is difficult to create awareness and break through the clutter
 
Scheduling Patterns: The more used approach
2. Flighting (or Bursting): advertising is scheduled alternating periods of on-air with
periods of silence.
 E.g., 500 GRP's in 2 weeks, then off 2 weeks, then on again with 500 GRP's and so on.
 It is more likely to break through the clutter and create awareness, because of the higher
frequency
 But no advertising between flights, so competitors could be on
Internet
We already know something about digital advertising, But let us see some numbers regarding
internet scenarios.

Press
Why should we plan advertising on the press?
1. Newspapers are the media of stakeholders. The so-called "Top 10%" read newspapers.
2. They are targeted. Newspapers have a specific geographical coverage, magazines
target almost every conceivable consumer or business market/audience - from music
or auto or wine enthusiasts...
3. It is possible to explain products or service in detail.
 
Expressive Capability
The advantage of Press:
 Lots of information
 Geographical flexibility
  High quality context
 Selective on specific target groups
 
Newspapers are read by the ruling class (C-level managers, politicians, etc.)
The drawback is that the reach of the printed copies is decreasing.
Advertising Formats on the press
Press formats are very flexible, especially ones in newspapers
On magazines we usually buy pages, double pages or half pages.
 
Scheduling Strategy
We need to plan a lot of frequency. Newspapers are cluttered and magazines are read once in a
while.
It is difficult to create awareness in a very short time
The more used patterns are:
 Flighting for newspaper
 Continuity for magazines
Radio
Creative Impact
 Radio offers great opportunities to create theatre of the mind. It creates imagery (with
little production costs...)
 Although it does not offer the visual power of television, it helps reminding TV
commercial and it is very useful in combination with TV planning
 It is very cluttered medium, and commercials must be very impactful to be noticed,
and we have to plan with a lot of frequency (but, compared to TV, it is not an expensive
medium)

OUT OF HOME (OOH)

What is OOH?
For out of home, we mean everything that is out of our house: billboards, video, ambient
advertising, etc.
Major categories of outdoor advertising
Outdoor Advertising
1. Posters (30 sheet posters and 8-sheet posters)
 a. Could also be illuminated. They are excellent for market coverage, name
recognition, and message or product reinforcement.
2. Billboards
a. Billboards may be rotaries, permanent bulletins, or spectaculars
i. They are one of the largest outdoor formats.
ii. Usually illuminated, they are most often seen on freeways. They present
excellent visibility and could be extremely impactful
3. Digital out of home
4. Street furniture
a. Encompass benches, shelters, etc.. To engage clients physically (branded
spaces).
5. Transit
a. Bus, train, transit, railway station, and airport advertising reaches commuters as
they wair or ride.
6. Wraps
a. There are taxi and bus wraps, wrapped cars, inside of buses and trains or building
wraps.
7. Ambient
8. Stickering

Expressive capability
OOH: It is a "glance medium"
An outdoor board may be exposed for less than a second. Only a short, simple, visually dominant
can be communicated.
How to buy OHH
 Traditional transit and posters are bought in "packages", called circuits
 Other formats can be bought separately, depending on the seller's policy
 Main media owners that operates in Italy are
Cinema
The medium with the highest expressive quality, impactful image, sound (hi-fi), few
distractions…
The problem is that few people go to movie theaters, and they do it very rarely. It is the
perfect medium to create emotion (but we cannot explain in detail of product).

Integrated Marketing Communication

Media Planning Process
1. Briefing
 2. Competitor Analysis
3. Media objectives’ setting
4. Media strategy
5. Media plan
6. Media negotiation and buying
7. Execution
8. Post-evaluation

1. The Media Briefing

The briefing is the set of information we need to plan the communication campaign
 Who should I reach (target audience)
 How much money I have (budget)
 the communications objectives (awareness, actions…)
 One (timing)
 With that kind of message
2. Competitor Analysis
This phase provides us with benchmark data on how competitors reach the same target:
 What media do they use
 How much advertising pressure (GRP’s, Investments)
 Timing of their planning schedules, etc.
This information is useful not only to know the media used by competitors, but to evaluate our
“Share of voice” (SOV)
3. Media Goals Setting
We need to establish the goals of our media plan.
Using media KPIs (GRPs, Impressions, Clicks, Reach (%), frequency…)

4. Media Strategy
In simple terms, creating a media strategy means allocating the budget among the chosen
media, with their timing and where (geographical areas).
The goal is to find the right medium, or combination of media, that will realize our objectives,
given the amount of money that we have to spend and the time frame.

Therefore, we have to:

 Study the target audience to find the right media/vehicles that reach them
 Define the role of each medium in terms of advertising objectives
 Estimate the cost of each medium (to get the media objectives), and the format of the
ads
 And schedule a tentative timing of the campaign, considering our objectives.

5. Media Planning & Buying

Preparing the Media Plan
Putting together a media plan represents the culmination of all the thinking, planning, and
organizing that we have seen during these lessons.
 We choose media vehicles, defined formats, check space availability, and set the
calendar with the exact timing of the ads.
 We also need to negotiate the media buying and defined the exact price for each media
vehicle (looking for opportunities in terms of special discounts)

6. Media negotiation strategy

In any media negotiation, information, knowledge, and facts or power. Know the media
audience, advantages and disadvantages, need your competitors, prices, discounts.
 Which issues affect the media negotiation?
o The yearly budget and future expectations (if it increases or it’s cut)
o Discounts’ history (we must consider previous years terms)
o To be a new client (new media investor)
o Media seasonality (if there is a high demand or not)
o Competition (media that reach the same target audience)
o Exclusivity (planning one publisher only)
How do you define the number of GRP’s that are needed?
If you want to reach 70% of your target with an average frequency of 6 in 2 weeks, how
many GRPs do you need?
420 GRPs
Remember the importance of Frequency!!! The time frame is important when you set the
frequency
At least 3 times in a week, for 2 or 3 weeks.
Remember the frequency even when you buy impressions. With 50.000.000 impressions on
the target of 10.000.000 people, how many GRPs do you get?

GRPS = Gross Contacts / Target × 100

50.000.000 / 10.000.000 × 100 = 500
GOOD FOR 2 - 3 weeks

7. Execution
We choose the media vehicles considering our advertising and media objectives
We negotiate prices with the media sellers
We prepared the media scheduling (check space availability with the media sellers)
Our advertising agency (production and traffic department) delivers the ad files to the
publishers)
 we are on air.
Media Planning Process recap
 We understand the briefing (target, timing, budget, advertising goals, message)
 We choose the most suitable media for the target audience and the advertising
objectives
 Define the format we need (space or time)
 Check the target audience’s ranking and choose the vehicles
 At the same time we check sales policies for the prices
 We allocate the budget among the different media/vehicles considering the advertising
and media objectives
 We negotiate with the media seller to get as much discounts as possible (or better terms,
such as special positions or free ads)
 Prepare a scheduling with date and time, positions, and expected communication results
 For Google Ads, Facebook Business, the other digital platforms and programmatic
buying we follow the specific planning process
 We check the advertising files that goes to the publishers (or check that the agency does
that. We need to avoid mistakes in the production phase!!!) and that the delivery is on
time.
8. Post Evaluation
After the campaign is published or broadcast
1. Check commercials were broadcasted but the agreed date and time (or that the print
ad was published under the siding issue and got the negotiated position)
2. Check that we got the expected TV GRPs (for radio and press the GRP’s are the same –
estimated – ones from the Radio TER and interviews)
3. Verify the communication results
 Marketing Semiotics: Signs, Strategies, and Brand Value
[ CITATION Osw121 \l 1044 ]
Chapter 1: Semiotics in the World of Goods

Marketing and Semiotics

Introduction & Chapter 1
Consumers shop for meanings, not stuff.
Brand Equity: financial value of goods derived from intangible brand benefits that exceed the
good’s use value
Brands deliver these benefits to consumers in the form of meanings, such as the perception of
quality, a symbolic relationship, a vicarious experience, or even a sense of identity
The extent to which consumers recognize, internalize, and relate to brand meanings is not an
academic question; it has tangible impact on the firm’s financial performance.
Brand meaning is therefore the condition of possibility for creating brand value
Why Semiotics
 Semiotics exceeds the rhetorical or content analysis of meaning because it sheds light on
the cultural codes that structure the phenomenal world into semantic categories and
implicates consumers in the brand world
 The marketing semiotics approach can be used to refocus, extend, or reposition the brand,
or to develop new products or new segments and markets
 However, in North America, semiotics research is typically commissioned at the end of a
strategic decision-making process to develop creative communication strategy:
o Semiotic research should form the cornerstone of brand equity management,
since brands are essentially sign systems that contribute to profitability
A Semiotics-based strategy
 Semiotics adapts linguistic theory to the study of nonverbal signs and symbols and
anchors them in the culture of consumers
 It transcends the analysis of communication per se and can be used strategically to align
the brand with its heritage and positioning and clarify competitive distinctions
  The application of literary theory to advertising includes a spectrum of approaches from
the formal analysis of texts and advertising rhetoric to reader response theory: French
critic Roland Barthes (1977) inaugurated this tradition in his famous structural analysis
of an Italian pasta print ad.
 Literary theory provides a rich field of enquiry for understanding how meaning is
produced in advertising. However, its proponents do not suggest how literary theory
contributes to the strategic brand management process.
Culture Studies
• Culture studies approach it is based on the assumption that advertising is a window
onto the culture of consumers
• Content analysis is a methodology used by social scientists to develop hypotheses about
a market or social group, track changes in social trends over time, and draw attention
to the underlying attitudes, values, and political tensions within a culture
• Researchers draw from such patterns the evidence to support generalities about a culture,
a social practice, or a product category
• Anthropologists, on the other hand, suggest that the structure of meaning in advertising
reflects deep structures in the organization of culture into semantic categories: advertising
is a sort of “conduit” for transferring meanings from the world of culture to the world
of consumer goods.
• Sherry defined advertising as a cultural system regulated by conventions structuring the
way consumers read meanings, perform rituals, and perceive the world.

Marketing AND Semiotics

 Semiotics extends to all aspects of culture, so the potential for applying it to
consumer research has yet to be realized
 Consumer culture includes not only the artificial signs created by advertisers and
designers but also the lived environments, social rituals, and ideological tensions
structuring daily life
Marketing Semiotics
Wording
 The word “semiotics” derives from the Greek word semios or “sign,” a medical term
for “symptom”
 It can be referred:
Ø To the social-science discipline devoted to the study of signs in cultural
perspective
o To the ensemble of signifying operations at work in a sign system, such as a
brand, an advertising text, or a retail setting
 The word “semiosis” refers to the dynamic of meaning production
 The word “semiology” can be a synonym of semiotics as well when referring to the
science of signs

Methodologies
 Data collection: marketing semiotics research process involves collecting and decoding
data from consumers, popular culture, and the brand history. Data is then classified into
groups ordered in a hierarchy of larger to smaller units of meaning, beginning with the
broad cultural categories associated with the consumer target
Cultural categories are analyzed further into emotional territories that bind the brand to
the lifestyles and values of consumers.
 Consumer Brandscape: system of interrelated elements which reflects the integration of
culture, consumer experiences, and the communication function for the brand.

 Binary Analysis: let us say we want to

understand the cultural categories consumers
associate with soft drinks and then understand
how a specific brand is positioned in relation to
them. Research would identify the key benefits
consumers associate with soft drinks, such as
refreshment or fun.
  Findings may suggest that younger, more trend-sensitive consumers associate
refreshment and fun with Pepsi, and more mature, traditional consumers associate these
terms with Coke.
WHY DO YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT TO PLOT BINARIES?
 By plotting the binary pairs tradition/trendiness and maturity/youth on a binary grid, we
not only identify the two quadrants in which these two brands are positioned but also
reveal unoccupied spaces of meaning in which competitive brands or brand extensions
might be positioned
Chapter 1: Semiotics in the World of Goods
Marketing semiotics is a field of investigation that is based on the proposition that goods often
transcend their functional purpose and have symbolic value for consumers.
For instance, when grandmother’s cookbook stores more family memories than useful
recipes for the grandchildren, we could say that the symbolic, emotional value of the cookbook
has surpassed its practical value for the family.
By this metaphor, we can say that brands are defined by their symbolic value for consumers,
since brand meanings differentiate competitors in the marketplace and target the unmet symbolic
needs of consumers.
Theories of Symbolic Consumption
CONSUMPTION IN THE SOCIAL ORDER
• Consumers engage in symbolic consumption from the moment they use goods as signs
• Douglas, Isherwood: authors draw attention to the social and psychological meanings of
goods that dictate consumer demand, not material needs alone. Moreover, they propose
that the meaning and force of consumption are woven into the shared values, beliefs, and
relationships that structure society
• Imagine, for example, a world without birthdays or holidays, when seasons, births, and
deaths would go by without acknowledgment. Furthermore, imagine birthdays and
holidays without rituals involving the production, exchange, or preservation of
possessions of some kind: the way that consumers use goods not only reflects but also
regulates the cultural conventions, myths, and social order of a society
• “Consumption is a ritual process whose primary function is to make sense of the
inchoate flux of events”
STRUCTURALISM
 Structuralism is based on the assumption that meaning production is a system of
relationships codified by culture and that these semiotic relationships actually structure,
rather than mirror, phenomenal reality
Structural Semiotics
 Form of critical analysis based on the proposition that the world as we know it is
structured, like language, into smaller to larger units of meaning that relate to each
other in an organized system. Since marketing relies on collective perceptions and
behaviors in the marketplace, structural semiotics can be important for developing
products, positioning brands, and creating advertising
Structural Anthropology
 Structural anthropology: Claude Levi-Strauss draws parallels between language and
culture, using structural linguistics as a model for analyzing cultural phenomena. The
author introduced three structural principles to anthropology

Three Principles of Structural Anthropology.

Principle 1: The Collective Unconscious
The collective unconscious: conscious phenomena are the product of unconscious, universal
structures or codes. The dialectical implication of unconscious structures and material
representation is a foundation principle of structural linguistics, as illustrated in the Saussurian
sign.
Principle 2: The Deep Structure of Culture and the General Codes.
The deep structure of culture and the general codes: culture resembles language inasmuch as
it is organized by means of codes structuring the collective unconsciousness. The object of
anthropology should be the general laws that regulate cultural phenomena.
Principle 3: The Culture System
The cultural system: Levi-Strauss changed the focus of anthropology from the study of
individual phenomena to the unconscious mental structures
organizing the cultural system (such as myths). He privileged
meaning over empirical reality and claimed that culture gave
rise to social structures, rather than the other way around.
Binarism, he claimed, formed the universal structure of thought and was responsible for the
organization of culture into paradigmatic systems.
The Structure of Myth.
• Levi-Strauss began with analysis of a large set of cultural myths, the stories that social
groups perpetuate to explain the mysteries associated with life, death, and sexuality (e.g.,
the culinary practices of the population he studied could be divided along a preliminary
opposition between raw and cooked food)
• The author identified extraordinary, anomalous elements of myth that subvert to some
extent the binary stability of the cultural system by providing a middle ground between
the two terms.
Synchrony and Diachrony
• Levi-Strauss adopted the two-dimensional analysis
proposed by Saussure for linguistics: it includes the
diachronic analysis of phenomena over time and the
synchronic analysis of phenomena in a single time
period.
• By tracking the recurrence of meanings and structures
associated with cultural phenomena over time, the
researcher identifies recurring themes in the data in diachrony. The synchronic analysis
identifies the abstract code system that transcends cultural change
• The synchronic and diachronic analyses complement each other. The code system, like
the grammar of a language, emerges from the identification of recurring semiotic
structures over time.

CROSS-CULUTRAL SYMBOLIC CONSUMPTION

• In a Haitian-American household that Oswald studied in Chicago, the grandparents spoke
the colonial French language, the middle- aged daughter spoke Creole, and the children
responded in English: the oppositions French/Creole and Creole/English generated a
paradigmatic set of oppositions structuring the way Haitians in America defined their
identities.
 • These binaries also regulated the consumer behavior of the family, such as food
preparation.
• Similar forms of code mixing appear with increasing regularity in global marketing
campaigns, in which references to the West in word and image appeal to consumer
aspirations to modernism and internationalism.

The Interpretive Research Paradigm

 In the field of marketing, semiotic analysis is an interpretive methodology that makes
hypotheses about a consumer segment or category based on the analysis of recurring
patterns and behaviors in a set of data
 Unlike empirical research, experimentation, and statistical surveys, which rely on the
literal meaning of consumer statements, hypothesis testing, and rational consumer
choices, semiotic research begins with the identification of a corpus of texts, which may
include interview transcripts, competitive and historical advertising for the brand,
and/or secondary data such as the texts of popular culture
 Consumers and marketers draw upon universal codes to communicate meanings because
these codes form the social scaffolding, the sine qua non, of communication.
THE TEXT
• The text is the minimal unit of semiotic analysis. Unlike linguistics, which focuses on
the mechanics of combination and selection to make meanings from phonetic sounds,
semiotics focuses on the codes organizing meaning production in complete messages:
macrostructures of meaning
• The boundaries of the text are finite—an ad, an interview, etc. Furthermore, multiple
texts usually comprise the complete data set under analysis for any given study
• Consumer responses are not analyzed for their linguistic components per se but for the
stories, emotions, and symbolic associations consumers make with regard to the
research question
• The data set may include analysis of narrative structures across a set of consumers in the
same target group or subculture. When the data set includes multiple texts, analysis
serves to uncover general patterns of meaning that prevail from one text to the next and
 therefore reflect the collective myths, values, and beliefs consumers associate with the
brand or product category
THE BINARY STRUCTURE OF DISCOURSE
 Researchers look for patterns in the data that give rise to the broad semiotic tensions and
paradigms structuring the category and the consumer segment.
 For structural semiotics, binary analysis is the fundamental operation for encoding,
decoding, and classifying phenomena into semantic categories, rhetorical nuances, and
discourses.
 The binary analysis of the textual system is based on the premise that semiotic operations
reflect the dialectical structure of thought: semiosis builds upon the tensions between
opposing terms of a binary.
CONSUMER PERFORMANCE
 Codes determine the guidelines for interpreting signs. However, in day-to-day
communication, individuals manipulate or “perform” structural codes in two ways.
 First, they make choices from the set of possible replacements for a given cultural unit.
 Second, they align these choices in statements and other sign systems, such as rituals.
Selection and Combination
• Based on research with aphasics, Jakobson identified two fundamental relationships that
influence the way we organize and read signs: they include the mental operations of
selection and combination, and the formal relations of similarity and contiguity
• These binary pairs can be organized into two basic aspects of semiosis. They operate at
the level of mental operations, which accounts for the ability of consumers and speakers
to encode and decode messages, construct figures of speech, and project meanings onto
symbolic representations
• Selection and combination account for the infinitely generative capacity of semiotic
systems to serve the communication needs of speakers or consumers in everyday life
Paradigm / Syntagm
• In order to communicate meanings, consumer-speakers must choose a term from a set
that best fits with the grammatical and semantic structure of the sentence: e.g., to
complain to the waiter about my tea, I might say, “This tea is bitter.” - to thank him
for bringing me a replacement, I might say, “This tea is better.”
• Consumers constantly make choices and combinations on the basis of similarity and
contiguity from their choice of words to their choice of menu options: e.g., prix fixe
menu
• The substitution and combination of meaning units are regulated by cultural conventions
or codes structuring language or other semiotic systems: e.g., the order in which dishes
are presented on the menu is culture-related
• Consumers usually do not behave in lockstep with cultural codes, but mix and match
rituals: e.g., the family meal according to needs and lifestyles.

Metaphor and Metonymy

 The operations of selection and combination also structure the poetic function of discourse,
which is responsible for rhetorical figuration: the poetic function of discourse subordinates
the linear logic of the sequence to the polyvalence of the paradigm
 The comparison of a runner with a turbo engine, unlikely as it may seem, can thus form
the impetus for creating a brand discourse about the energizing effects of a running shoe
 Jakobson subsumed the plurality of rhetorical tropes under the broad binary opposition of
associations by similarity (metaphor) and associations by contiguity (metonymy): he
challenged the Aristotelian notion of rhetoric as a decoration or deviation from the “proper,”
literal sense of a statement and emphasized rhetoric’s role in the poetic function of discourse.
 Metaphor links signifiers by means of their shared characteristics, or similarities
 Metonymy links signifiers by means of their logical or spatial contiguity
 Metaphor and metonymy thus work in tandem with the mental processes of displacement and
condensation, and the discursive structures of paradigm and syntagm

IMPLICATIONS
IMPLICATIONS FOR SYMBOLIC CONSUMPTION
 Rhetorical operations enable consumers to violate the semantic codes structuring a statement,
mixing and matching semantic categories in order to emphasize the mood, look, or emotional
force of an idea or to create an image of the idea in the mind
 Consumer statements such as “My (Ford) truck is my husband” are motivated by a chain of
intermediary associations linking brand consumption to desire in the Consumer Brandscape:
The Ford brand is positioned as reliable, stylish, masculine, and powerful, all of which would
make for an ideal partner. The consumer in question divorced her unreliable, unsupportive
husband and relied on her Ford to back her up, carry heavy loads, and look good on the road.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ADVERTISING

Advertising Rhetoric
• Rhetorical figuration has the advantage over literal statements by communicating more
than concepts: it broadens the semantic field of an idea and communicates visceral and
visual associations that transcend the facts per se
 • The rhetorical dimension of discourse has important implications for growing brand
equity. Rhetoric expands the emotional breadth, depth, and semiotic value of brands and
fosters visceral connections between the brand world and consumers
Let’s see an example…

IMPLICATIONS FOR ADVERTISING

Meaning and Reference in Advertising
• Advertisements are not simply icons to be looked at: they are discourses aimed at
communicating the brand meaning and engaging the consumer/spectator into the
brand world.
• This discursive dimension of advertising takes us into the realm of another binary
opposition between the meaning of a statement or representation and reference to the
context and subject-address of the message—the “speaker” and “receiver” of the
message.
BEYOND CONSUMER MYTHOLOGY: POSITIONING BABY DIAPERS
 It’s 2005: a supermarket conglomerate in the United Kingdom decided to market their own
brand of disposable diaper, Baby’s Best
 Management commissioned a semiotic study of the diaper category in order to create a
competitive positioning and creative strategy for Baby’s Best that would compete with the
category leader, Pampers
 The data set was limited to cultural artifacts for the category and did not include primary
research with consumers…
 Let’s roll!

Archetypes
The Good Mother
 Consumers obviously purchase diapers to avoid the mess created by babies who have not yet
been toilet trained
 BUT, moreover, these product benefits are associated with ideological and moral
standards in the marketing media: the wet/dry binary in diaper messaging is linked to a
series of oppositions including nature/ culture, chaos/control, and profane/sacred in the
culture of babies
 The diaper category is embedded in an ideological discourse that privileges control and
even denial of the bodily functions
 Pampers advertising for a ten-year period embeds new product claims in messaging that
elevates dryness to the level of godliness. By improving absorption and preventing leakage,
the brand not only keeps baby dry but also represents the victory of Culture over Nature
 By implication, mothers who use this brand are “Good Mothers.” As the guardian of
Culture, the “Good Mother” controls the liquids, flows, accidents, and messes associated
with Nature. The “Bad Mother,” by implication, is out of control.
The Baby Industry
 A 2005 cover story in Newsweek said it all: “The Myth of the Perfect Mother: Why It
Drives Real Women Crazy”: a young mother with an infant in her lap is depicted as an
eight-armed wonder juggling the duties of parenting, work, marriage, and housekeeping. The
story was based on a popular book on modern motherhood
 Although women’s lives were out of control, the baby business marketed products that would
satisfy, on a symbolic–imaginary level, mothers’ need to succeed
 The baby business preyed on mothers’ insecurities with a dazzling array of new products,
technologies, and self-help books
The Strategic Challenge
 Given the prevalence of the Mommy Myth in the culture, it was a dangerous game for
marketers to move brands out of the “Good Mother” positioning
 They faced the dilemma of competing head-on with Pampers with an even “better Mother”
image or hovering dangerously at the edge of the opposite pole, the “Bad Mother.”
 The strategic challenge facing Baby’s Best was to differentiate the brand from the
dominant brand without falling to the side of wet babies and the “Bad Mother.”
The Semiotic Square
 Algirdas Greimas developed the Semiotic Square in order to advance structuralism beyond
the oversimplicity of binary analysis.
 The Semiotic Square organizes the constituent elements of a semantic category on a double
binary grid, comprised of three relationships: contradiction, contrariness, and implication.
 This three-dimensional structure accounts for the nuances and ambiguities that fall within the
two poles of the paradigm and extends the semantic complexity of the semiotic analysis

The Semiotic Square – Diapers

The A New Market Space
 This exercise led to the development of a new cultural paradigm for the category based on
oppositions between a cultural ideal and the real of motherhood
 This paradigm emerged in a two-stage process:
Ø by breaking down the primary binaries (Wet/Dry, Bad/Good, Nature/Culture) into their
contradictory terms (i.e., Not Dry, Not Wet, etc.) analysis opened up an alternative to the
bifurcation of the category into moral absolutes such as Good and Bad, Nature and
Culture.
Ø by implicating these contradictory units in each other at the lower end of the Semiotic
Square, analysis identified a countercultural space in the diaper brandscape that called
into question the Mommy Myth and its underlying beliefs and values.
 The countercultural space of diapers also defined a new market space for positioning Baby’s
Best targeted to busy moms, as they negotiate the tensions between society’s ideals and the
realities of modern motherhood
 It also led to the development of a creative strategy derived from contemporary
countercultural representations of motherhood
 Tv shows from the pop culture – such as The Simpsons – have been considered by
researchers as a way to use irony to mask a social critique, making light of the dominant
ideology without violating the sacred sanctions protecting family, mother, and apple pie in
American culture.
 Chapter 2: Marketing Semiotics
Semiotics and Brand Equity
THE BUSINESS PROBLEM
Let’s go back to the Semiotic Square
Citroen Case
In 2010, the French car manufacturer Citroën launches an
advertising campaign to promote the new DS3 model.
Though keeping the main features that identify the Citroën
heritage, the new model is modern, innovative and it represents
a window towards the future. Hence the "anti-retro" slogan,
aimed at underlining this drive towards novelty and
innovation.
The controversial campaign uses old montages of two famous
celebrities, John Lennon and Marylin Monroe, to convey the
anti-retro message.
Citroën positions itself in a space where the “retro” becomes an inspiration to create something
new and unique, just like the new Citroën model.

Brand Heritage
 Citroën was founded by André Citroën in 1919. It can be considered a historic brand of the
automotive industry, pioneer of technological innovations, known for its iconic style all over
the word.
 The logo symbolizes a particular type of gear cut, called a "chevron", which the founder saw
during a trip to Poland.

Brand Heritage: Birth of the Myth

“The D.S. - the 'Goddess' - has all the features of one of those objects from another universe
which have supplied fuel for the neomania of the eighteenth century and that of our own science-
fiction: the Déesse is first and foremost a new Nautilus”.
- Roland Barthes - Mythologies
 According to Barthes, the DS Citroën arose interest because of its component’s junction. It
represents a new phenomenology of assembling: from a world where elements were simply
welded, to a world where elements are juxtaposed and hold together by sole virtue of
their wondrous shape.
 The model is an exaltation of glass surfaces, which are vast walls of air and space. Here the
winged logo seems to represent the passage from the category of propulsion to that of
spontaneous motion, from that of the engine to that of the organism (humanized art).

Brand Heritage: Iconic Footprint

• We can find DS models as protagonists of comics like Diabolik, in a number of films like
French Kiss, Scarface, Spy Game, Sliding Doors, Fantomas. Patrick Jane drives it in
the tv series The Mentalist and it appears in many music videos. 

Brand Heritage
 The huge impact of the first Citroën’s models marked a cultural and social revolution
considering the habits and cultural tensions characterizing that historical moment: it
represented the junction point, the perfect synthesis, between the human intellect and the
unattainable divine perfection, resolving a visceral cultural tension at the base of each
society.
 The current mission of the brand, though being in the market for almost a century, is still
anchored to the concept of innovation not only in terms of technological advancements, but
also in terms of symbolic representation, as it perfectly portraits the metaphor of a lifestyle
that wants to dare, create, evolve towards something unique and grandiose.

Citroen Anti-Retro Case

Synchronic Analysis
 In 2010, the market was populated by many competitors that threatened the Citroën model’s
launch. The brand aimed at expanding into the U.S market, which didn’t respond to the
historical and deep-rooted tradition of French cars.
 But what was the situation like then? The communication efforts of Citroën's main
competitors went in the direction of producing and promoting traditional models, in line with
the increasingly popular retro marketing trend.
 “Retro marketing is used to convey the services and products used in the past to the present
in relation to marketing. The main strategy is to revive past emotions and reflect the
consumer's bond from the past to the present” (Özkan Pir, 2019). Retro brands and products
are modern in functionality and usability today, but old in appearance and feel (Ogechukwu,
2014: 3334).
In your opinion, why do you think customers are embracing nostalgia more and more?

 One of Citroen's most competitive rivals was FIAT, which at that time launched the new
FIAT 500, a historic model that the brand re-proposed as a great praise of the past, a
nostalgic return to its glorious days
 Nostalgic production and message strategy aim at awakening the desire to lead to the past
 FIAT recreates an entire temporal dimension capable of evoking a strong connection with the
past which goes beyond the promoted brand/products

The Anti-Retro Movement

What was the situation of Citroën in 2010?
 While French customers appreciated the car design and its legacy based on heritage (“it’s the
car of my grandparents, where my parents got married”), with the birth of new technologies
and aggressive competitors, Citroën faced a huge problem: strengthening the global
presence by creating something unique, new and able to compete with the most
advanced cars of that time.
 For non-customers, Citroën didn’t have that past in it, it was just an old aging car for elderly
people, not able to stand out from competitors. The anti-retro campaign aims at repositioning
the Citroën brand by enhancing the concepts of modernity and innovative design, in contrast
with the Mini and Fiat adv campaigns.
 It was necessary, however, to find a unique space, a positioning capable of distancing
itself from the concept of Nostalgia without completely denying it, one that could speak
to both nostalgics and innovators.
 The answer lies in the use of two retro icons which, however, communicate an innovative
message projected towards the future.
"How's that rock and roll? Do something of your own. Start something new. Live your life now”
– John Lennon
“You should create your own icons and way of life, because nostalgia isn’t glamorous.   If I had
one thing to say it would be, live your life now” - Marilyn Monroe
 The marketing director of Citroën explained that Monroe and Lennon were chosen for their
universal, timeless and iconic status. Their images are in tune with the anti-retro
personality of Citroën DS3: glamorous, maverick and individualistic

 By plotting two semiotic squares on top of each other it’s possible to depict nuances
within the cultural space occupied by Citroën’ DS3 model
 The relation of contrariness (Past vs Future) can’t fully portrait the depth of Citroën’s
approach, for this reason relationships of contradiction are
plotted within the square.
 Not Past (~s1) and Not Future (~s2) represent the spaces that
don’t fit within the main categories and that, at
the same time, don’t completely deny them.
These are the spaces for creativity.

 Not past (~ s1) represents the clever adoption of

retro endorsers that, however, convey a future-
looking message.
 It’s a unique positioning that distinguishes
Citroën’s model from its main competitor FIAT
500, still anchored to the past.
 The second square represents the semantic categories associated with DS3. Dull vs
Glamorous and Conformist vs Maverick specify even more the unique positioning of
Citroën: a model that uses the past as an inspiration to create something maverick and
glamorous for the future.
 Chapter 2: Marketing Semiotics
Semiotics and Brand Equity
 Brand value is not merely enhanced by the meanings consumers associate with brand name,
product, logo, assets (Aaker 1995; Keller 1993; Kapferer 2003) rather it is a function of those
meanings and contribute to the brand’s semiotic value
 Semiotics take into account «everything that can be taken as a sign» (Eco 1979)
 Semiotics is a social science discipline seek to understand how the codes structuring meaning
production in sign systems (ritual behaviors, social organization, shopping, adv) influence the
ways humans react to messages in their environment.

A brand is a sign system that engages the consumer in an imaginary/symbolic process aiming at
need-fulfillment, differentiating the brand from its competitors, adding measurable value to
product offering.
Symbolic consumption theory: goods communicate social and emotional benefits that satisfy
consumer needs (status, self image, love)

The Business Problem

 American fashion house Halston in the early 1990s launched a new luxury perfume
aiming at revitalizing the brand
o New scent
o Innovative packaging
o Adv. Campaign starring top model Cindy
Crawford
The new advertising campaign failed the audience testing

The campaign communicated ambiguity about the model user,

that is the kind of woman that would use the brand (unclear
positioning) Universal Goddess (left) vs Girl next door (right)
The conflict between different cultural interpretations of the feminine is reinforced by visual
codes (lighting, colors, camera position, perspective).
Ambiguity at the level of brand communication usually signals a deeper strategic problem.
Using a celebrity or a creative campaign cannot remedy faulty positioning.

A Semiotic Strategy
Semiotics research can help a brand aligning with the category and culture of consumers.
(upstream approach)
For consumers to incorporate brand meanings into their lifestyle and emotional world the brand
must reflect a deep, nuanced understanding of the multiple cultural categories in which the
brand is embedded (brand legacy, consumer culture, popular culture).
Once again, think about Nike iconic brand whose success is due to management’s effort to
calibrate brand strategy to the evolving needs and aspiration of athletes at all levels of
participation.
The challenge and purpose of advertising is to integrate all communication vehicles around this
positioning and these consumers needs and wants.
By managing brand semiotics at all stages (thus development, execution, communication)
marketers create a code system that structures the consistent and enduring association of
the brand with specific symbols and icons, a unique ‘language’.

Marketing semiotics can be incorporated into the planning process at stages of research, analysis,
advertising communication
Steps:
 Decoding consumer culture of the target market
 Plotting semiotic dimension of the category on a strategic grid
 Positioning the brand on the grid
 Identifying emergent cultural codes and trends
 Aligning creative strategy with emergent codes
Semiotic research process begins with collecting a data set such as
- a group of adv for the brand and its competitors
- consumers interviews (not mandatory)
and identifies the underlying system of codes that structure meaning for the brand, the category,
the target market.

The system of codes acts like a kind of grammar that marketers can use to manage brand
extensions or its repositioning.
Why grammar? Because for structural semiotics meaning production is based on rules, it is a
system of relationships (similarities and differences) codified by culture.

The Structural Semiotics Paradigm

The foundation for such perspective on the analysis of signs and signification is the work of
Ferdinand de Saussure (1916), a linguist who developed a fundamental structural theory of signs,
arguing that the meaning has a dialectical nature and the key to understand signs relies on a
binary analysis.
The dual structure of sign and the notion of code:
A sign is something that can be interpreted as having a meaning, which is something other than
itself, and which is therefore able to communicate information to the one interpreting or
decoding the sign.
Signs can work through any of the senses, visual, auditory, tactile,
olfactory or taste, and their meaning can be intentional such as a
word uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional
Let’s Go back to the case study
To find the problem, developing a new positioning and creative strategy. An analytical process is
developed
 Brand audit of adv for the category
 Binary analysis of dominant cultural myths represented in the adv
 Strategic positioning grid mapping research findings
 Creation of a unique, innovative positioning for the brand
 Recommendations for creative strategy
The Brand Audit – Methodologies
Over 100 print advertisements for women’s colognes and perfumes were collected (from High
Fashion such as Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire to specialty magazines such as Cosmpolitan and
Glamour)
To make the data set manageable researchers focused on the presence of luxury perfume
category
A basic opposition between luxury and mass categories of perfume in terms of price and
distribution was highlighted

The Semiotic Uniqueness of Luxury Brands

Like works of art, luxury brands promise the consumer access to transcendent experiences such
as beauty, limitless wealth, and immortality.
Since perfume itself is ephemeral and impermanent, the brand benefits of the luxury perfume
category are entirely based on the delivery of intangible aesthetic associations of the brands with
idealized representations of women at personal, social, and existential levels of discourse.

The gender paradigm

Two sets of images based on a binary opposition of two rhetorical styles and two cultural
interpretations of women:
black-and-white vs color photography
The black-and-white ads employed metonymy (pars pro toto) to engage the spectator in the
narrative depicted in the image: we see a part of a story and must fill in the details
The color ads employed metaphor to make comparisons between the perfume and the feminine
icon in the image.

Binary Audit of Luxury Perfume Advertising

The metaphorical ads communicated poetry, fantasy, and complexity; the metonymical ads
communicated prose, reality, and simplicity.
The opposition of metaphorical and metonymical styles formed a paradigmatic set of binary
pairs contrasting the personalities, the subjectivities, the camera angles, and other aesthetic
differences of one set from the other.
The contrast of metaphorical and metonymical styles in the ads also betrayed cultural conflicts
between two archetypes and two interpretations of the feminine within the luxury category:
The Goddess and the Girl Next Door.

The Girl Next Door

The black-and-white ads present a “slice of life” of real women.
Although the characters are supermodels, their understated luxury and social interactions bring
them down to the level of mere mortals, or everyday “women.”
They wear little makeup and jewelry and are dressed in simple, classic styles. The images tell a
story that we must complete: a man and woman embrace, a couple looks into each other’s eyes, a
mother interacts with a child.

This style of advertising communicates accessibility and reflects an emerging trend toward
“accessible luxury” that is open to both high-end and middle-market, “masstige” (i.e., between
mass and prestige) consumers.
Exemplary case: Ralph Lauren focuses not so much on product benefits but on the consumer’s
ability to participate in the lifestyle and “stories” of the beautiful people in his ads.
The Goddess
The color photography in the luxury ads highlights the rich sensuality of intense colors and
textures and the artificial and artful nature of the image.
The women wear makeup and jewelry, rich fabrics, and couture styles. Instead of realism, the
images suggest a timeless, mythical dimension.

Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Yves St. Laurent: women are shot in extreme close-up, which
emphasizes the iconic dimension of their faces rather than referring to a story out of frame. The
visual metaphor does not invite the consumer into the character’s world as much as it creates an
icon to be admired from a distance.

Stylistic cues reflect an approach to luxury branding that builds equity on fantasy, inaccessibility,
and rarity. Interestingly, the ads in the color set all represent French brands.

A Positioning “Woman”
Researchers found a paradigmatic series of formal contrasts between the two sets of ads,
including the binaries /self/social, Looking out/Looking towards others, Formal/ causal clothing.

The “Woman” campaign failed because the brand strategy did not take into account the deep
cultural tensions structuring the feminine in the category.
Not only did the “Woman” campaign represent conflicting cultural archetypes for women, it also
combined in one campaign two distinct positionings for the brand, leaving consumers with the
question, is “Woman” the Goddess or the Girl Next Door?
From Binary Analysis to Strategic Grid

Iconic brands not only reflect cultural myths, such as the eternal feminine, they reinterpret these
myths in the light of contemporary consumer needs for meaning and identity (Holt, 2003).

Back to the case of Halston, the creator of the “Woman” brand, it was rooted in an American
worldview. However, taking a closer look at the Halston’s legacy, we found that he described
himself as a neoclassical designer with European roots. He translated European aesthetics into a
new, American vocabulary.
Famous Italian designer created the packaging for the brand

Researchers decided to move the “Woman” brand from the lower-right quadrant to the
unoccupied upper-right quadrant (strategic repositioning), positioning the brand between the
classical ideal of woman, the Goddess, and the American cultural context

This positioning distinguished the brand from competitors in the American luxury perfume
category, while remaining distinct from French brands. It also created a new cultural space for
the brand consistent with the Halston’s cosmopolitan origins and an emergent archetype: an
American Legend, casual and realistic, but also worldly and sophisticated.
Conclusions
The “Woman” brand would be positioned midway between the Goddess and the Girl Next Door,
and would be associated with an iconic American woman who had become a legend in her own
time.
This feminine archetype would be timeless but not dwelling with the gods. Advertising campaign
would merge elements from both representations of the feminine. Realism rather than fantasy,
the image would be rendered in black and white, and the model’s dress and makeup would
communicate the simplicity and informality associated with the American feminine archetype.

The brand, however, would communicate the sophistication and iconic power associated with the
European Goddess. The model would be shown alone in close-up on an undefined, timeless
background.
Tagline: “Woman – an American Legend.”
 Chapter 3:
Intro: Mining the Consumer Brandscape
…No brand is an island.
While the casual observer may think of the brand as a product, a logo, or even a jingle, the brand
actually forms a complex ecosystem of commercial, cultural, and social forces
Brands draw energy not just from their own heritage or essence but from a multitude of
intersecting influences shaping the physical, virtual, and symbolic terrain in which the brand
lives: this is called Consumer Brandscape (Oswald).

Consumer Brandscape
Consumer Brandscape
 The Consumer Brandscape is:
Ø A process for integrating brand meanings across business functions and markets.
Ø A blueprint illustrating the network of intersecting codes and meanings that
contribute to consumers’ perceptions of a brand.
 The meanings that form the Brandscape are derived from all aspects of brand
management — from the corporate culture to the product line and pricing strategy – not
just advertising.
 The author uses the term in a slightly different way, if compared to the overall research
stream: the notion means to define a symbolic system that integrates the social, cultural,
and semiotic dimensions of brands in a coherent yet flexible whole.
 The Brandscape system includes several dimensions of meaning: the codes structuring
the cultural category, the emotional territories associated with the category, and the
material signifiers used to communicate
these meanings in representations such as
packaging and advertising.
Consumer Brandscape
The Brand System
 The concept of an integrated Consumer Brandscape draws upon Aaker’s analysis (1996) of
the «brand system»: Aaker develops a management process for assuring that the brand
essence is preserved over time and across markets.
 He analyzes the brand system in terms of four elements, including the brand-as-product, the
brand-as-organization, the brand-as-person, and the brand-as-symbol.
 Brands lose equity if any one of these elements fails to support the overall message and
mission of the brand.

The Semiotic Dimension

 The current semiotic approach to brand management extends Aaker’s model by focusing on
the social and cultural codes that structure brand meanings and relate them to the culture
of consumers over time and throughout the world: the transfer of meaning from one cultural
category (such as pleasure) to another, (such as soft drinks) forms the basis of brand identity
and the semiotic value of goods.
 This said, the marketing semiotics approach begins with the premise that semiotic codes
structure the meaning of the product category, the organizational culture, the brand
personality, and the symbolism used to represent these meanings in the marketplace.

 The Consumer Brandscape forms a network of meanings derived from multiple cultural
contexts: for consumers to integrate these cultural contexts, they merge meanings from one
context to another by means of symbols.
 Humans are innately capable of making symbolic connections among far-flung meaning
systems from advertisements and brand logos to celebrity icons, legends, and personal
history: such a cognitive ability was theorized by Freud to explain dream formations and free
association in psychoanalysis.
 Advertising typically mediate the transfer of meaning between cultural categories as diverse
as product attributes, masculinity, freedom, and consumption, and then attach them to
brands (McCracken, 1986).
 Brand equity is built upon meaning transfers of this kind, which impact the perception of
quality, the brand’s relevance for the consumer, and its ability to create culture.
 An example is Coca-Cola: the company created advertising early in its history that
embedded the Coke legacy in American rituals, traditions, and values (even in the current
conception of Santa Claus!)
 When brand strategy draws upon the semiotic networks linking the brand with the
consumer’s world, rather than relying only on their heritage, the brand will not only “make
sense” but will enter consumer culture where it resonates with consumer needs and wants: it
contributes to the creation of icon.

Brands in Translation
A Multicultural Brand Strategy – Coca Cola’s Example
 Coca-Cola Company began a multicultural strategy many years ago and, as a consequence,
continues to appeal to a broad multicultural audience successfully: in the 1970s, under the
guidance of Burrell, an African-American advertising agency, Coke adopted a multicultural
brand strategy, looking for ways to highlight the cultural reality of the ethnic target.
 Within the years’ framework, Burrell suggested a campaign that would incorporate the “real
thing” tagline, «For real times, it’s the real thing»: the success of the campaign also
demonstrated how a brand theme could be reworked to appeal to ethnic consumers.

 Later, Burrell developed a jingle for the African-American segment called, “Street Song,”
that made a hit in the black community and also became popular with the mainstream
audiences as well.
 The campaign won a CLIO award and was so successful that the management even
incorporated the African-American jingle into ads targeted to the mainstream.
 This approach not only contributed to the success of the target extension among African
Americans but also added value to the primary brand by expanding the world of meanings
associated with Coke.
KODAK: The Perils of Category Leadership
 In a twelve-month period beginning at the end of 2000, the Eastman Kodak Company lost 75
percent of its stock value and surrendered substantial market share to competitors
 Management had failed to align the brand with emerging trends in digital technology and
the changing needs and wants of their target market, a marketing principle called “marketing
myopia”.
 In the case of Kodak, it prompted a downward spiral in 2000 that continues to the present day
and still threatens the company’s very existence…

KODAK: The Perils of Category Leadership

History of the Company
 Beginning in 1880 (and for a century), the Kodak brand was synonymous with technological
innovation in the service of consumers: the brand message says it all, “You push the button,
we do the rest.”
 Kodak invented consumer photography at a time when photographic “moments” were
limited to periodic visits to a professional photographer with the invention of the accessible
Brownie camera in 1900, thus making a professional practice a pleasant pastime.

 Kodak had all the attributes associated with strong brand equity, including universal
awareness, customer loyalty, superior perception of quality, and a broad range of positive
brand associations
 The “Kodak Moment” is embedded in popular culture as the symbol for family, memories,
and the American way: therefore, by century’s end, Kodak had become the undisputed
leader in the 35mm photo category
 Kodak’s fall from grace began, ironically, at the peak of the company’s market performance
in the late 1990s: in this period, indeed, management paid over $75 a share in dividends to
investors rather than invest in R&D.
Signs of Complacency
 Kodak remained stuck in time and rested on its laurels: a corporate culture of nostalgia and
tradition formed a barrier to innovation that is communicated at the levels of new product
development, pricing strategy, advertising, and organization itself
 Kodak’s rigid hierarchical organization, modeled after the original family business,
combined with limited input from younger managers, kept management on a status quo
course
 At a time when competitor Fuji Film was giving away 35mm film to bring consumers to their
brand, Kodak continued a premium pricing strategy that was no longer justified by the
declining demand in 35mm film.
 Even the visual semiotics of corporate headquarters reflected a culture of complacency:
housed in a drab, 1930’s style building, the architecture of the Art Deco tower and the old-
fashioned interior decor communicated nostalgia for better times rather than a vision for the
future.
 The visual semiotics of Kodak headquarters makes a strong statement about Kodak’s
deeply entrenched resistance to change in the 1990s, when it was struggling with the
advancing threat of the digital imaging industry.

A Semiotic Strategy
 When companies commit themselves to aligning brands to changes in the marketplace,
semiotics can provide a compass integrating secondary, “trend” research, competitive
analysis, and primary research with consumers into a Brandscape of the environment.
 The brand essence may draw upon unique product technologies and benefits, but it also
transcends the product. When companies identify their brands with product attributes, they
can become bogged down by identification with outdated technologies and product benefits
that no longer satisfy consumer needs.
 The company built an industry and a photo-imaging culture upon low prices and easiness of
use. However, the company failed to adapt these core equities to the digital market —not
because they lacked the technology— but because they lacked understanding of the social
and cultural factors that integrate digital technologies into consumers’ lives in the Internet
age.
The Kodak Brandscape
 A cursory analysis of the brand legacy, the category, and the culture of consumers in the
imaging industry highlights the tensions between Kodak’s strategy and their competitive
environment at the edge of the digital consumer
revolution.
 Photography: is an imaging technology based on the
impression of light on a chemically treated surface.
 35mm photography is inscribed with the passage of
time. As soon as the camera seizes a scene on film, the
moment has already passed
 Kodak built a brand on this simple idea: the “Kodak
Moment” is always and already a moment in the past,
imbued with nostalgia over times past. The brand transcended the practical benefits of
ease of use and low price, and became the brand that delivered memories
 Digital Imaging: is a form of electronic information collection and is inscribed with
immediacy, experience, and instant gratification
 A picture in electronic format lacks the feel and beauty of a print, but satisfies consumer
expectations of Internet culture, defined by instant access, convenience, ease of
transmission, and storage
 As Internet culture evolved, digital imaging serves the social networking function
 The Internet changed expectations about the role of imaging in consumers’ lives: these
expectations determine consumer needs and wants before, during, and after seizing a picture.

Brand Semiotics
Brand Semiotics
 Brands are entirely semiotic, and even the most practical business functions, such as pricing,
enter the Brandscape as signs.
 Semiotic analysis can play a strategic role early in the strategic planning process to align the
brand with the movement of meanings associated with the product category, the consumer
target, and the cultural environment.
Code Theory
 The decisions that consumers make throughout the day are shaped by codes governing a
range of sign systems including language, gestures, colors, rituals, social behavior, and the
organization of space and time.
 Some codes are conscious and formal, some are unconscious and unspoken, such as the
cultural stereotypes we associate with people.

Code Theory – Codes and Culture

 Codes are conventions that dictate the way social groups articulate the world of
phenomena into shared cultural categories, the building blocks of meaning.
 Since codes are conventions, they ensure consensus and communication among members of
social groups (for instance, the consumption of turkey in the USA at Thanksgiving is a
national/universal code, its preparation for the dinner is a local code).
 Some code systems are formal and institutionalized, such as traffic signs and passwords,
while other codes define abstract ideals and values that prevail in a culture and can be
manipulated or performed by individuals and groups in the course of daily life.

Code Theory – The Binary Structure of Codes

 Codes structure meaning in terms of binary pairs that correlate with cognitive processes
of differentiating and distinguishing one sign unit from another in language.
 The Signifier/signified relationship is structured by codes associating a material signifier
(word, image, gesture, etc.) with a “signified” or concept: the S/s association is ruled by
social convention and perpetuated by habit.
 Binary analysis has obvious advantages for positioning brands and differentiating them from
competitors: companies can maintain their competitive advantage in the marketplace by
monitoring the ongoing clarity of such binary distinctions over time.
 Codes structure the production of meaning in an array of media: in advertising imagery,
for instance, spatial codes such as top/down, depth/surface, left/right, foreground/background
structure relationships among elements in an image.
 The meaning of binaries is dictated by cultural convention: it is due to universal cognitive
processes that structure logic as dialectic – thesis, antithesis, synthesis. In linguistics, binary
oppositions between phonemes or sounds dictate the meanings of words.
 In semiotic systems other than language, similar oppositions structure the meaning of
representations.

Codes in Diachronic Perspective

 In everyday consumer behavior, these formal codes are susceptible to modification by
changes in the environment over time, which defines the diachronic evolution of codes.
 Within this framework, the Consumer Brandscape is an organic system in which multiple
codes work together to create meaning: change in any single cultural category, such as the
evolution of fashion, ideology, or technology, will naturally create change in the other
categories.
 Indeed, as an organic system embedded in consumer culture, the Brandscape changes over
time, as some codes recede into the background and others emerge over the horizon.

Historical analysis of the codes structuring brand perceptions and consumer behavior is crucial
for keeping the brand relevant. The process differentiates three types of codes:
 Residual codes: codes that have lost luster and are clearly unfashionable.
 Dominant codes: codes with widespread acceptance in culture at a given time; as soon as
they reach dominance, they lose their originality and “edge” for trendsetters in a category.
 Emergent codes: codes that evolved in response to social and cultural transitions associated
with life-stage, migration, and technological innovation.

The Fashion System

The Fashion System
 The system of codes organizing the Consumer Brandscape is diverse and multilayered,
including color codification, branding codes, and cultural codes.
 Fashion is a semiotic system codified by culture leaders in a society, such as artists,
designers, and marketers, who anticipate changes in the social and cultural priorities that
 confer legitimacy on the tastes, styles, and behaviors of consumers “in the know”.

 Fashion is also a showcase for the consumer’s self-construction and their cultural and
ideological identities and positions, and a vehicle for mediating social relationships. It can be
seen as a system of interpretive frames for structuring personal identity.
 Codes operate within a specified cultural category, such as a subculture, a product category,
or a fashion trend.

Color Codes
 Ethno-linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf (1964) discovered that phenomena like colors are
entirely dictated by the cultural conventions, including the words each language provides
for describing them.
 For instance, one language may include a dozen terms for “blue” because the colour has a
complex function in the cultural life of the social group; in another language, one term for
blue may suffice.
 Consumers make a series of choices along a paradigmatic set of possible matches with a
color, such as navy blue…

Brand Codes
 In addition to the decision regarding formal or casual dress codes, consumers face additional
choices in terms of the brand of clothing they choose.
 They may want to express their personal taste and choose a brand of business
dress that mixes and matches colors in ways that run counter to the dominant
code.
 They are invited to sort through an array of decisions associated with brand
image that are communicated in the price category, advertising, and style, and
include brand personality, status, originality, age group, reputation, and so on.

Fashion Codes
 Avoiding mismatches is just one level of the decision-making process
 In addition to following aesthetic codes, the consumer must negotiate the dress codes
associated with the social occasion
 The codes for business or casual dress are also dictated by the industry in which the
consumer works: of course, there exist a broad range of social codes at work in consumer
culture from the codes ruling appropriate attire to the organization of social space at an event.

BUILDING THE CONSUMER BRANDSCAPE

BUILDING THE CONSUMER BRANDSCAPE
 Successful brands not only mirror culture; they create culture, in the form of trends, icons,
and meanings that produce culture.
 Semiotics can contribute to brand innovation by tracking the evolution of social and cultural
trends, anticipating emergent trends, and moving brands into that new space.
The Research Process – Step 1: DATA COLLECTION
 The semiotics process begins with selecting and analyzing a data set consisting of texts
associated with (a) the brand heritage, (b) consumer insights, and (c) the target culture.
 As an object of analysis, the text has clearly defined boundaries, such as the frame around a
print advertisement, the beginning and end of a consumer interview, or the dimensions of a
product package.
 Data collection can be organized around three main activities: (a) an audit of the competitive
set, (b) an overview of cultural trends, and (c) primary, in-depth research with consumers.
The Brand Audit
 The brand audit includes the positioning strategy and target market, brand image, and
competitive environment
 Texts include historical communications and advertisements for the brand and competitors,
and retail design and layout, and an overview of secondary research on the target market or
preexisting consumer data for the target

The Culture Sweep

 The culture sweep scans the brand environment for trends in the product category, popular
culture, and the broader world as they relate to the target market
 Texts include books, movies, Internet sites, retailing trends, advertising trends, talk shows,
cultural icons, movies, and magazines.
In-depth Research with Consumers
 To probe the emotional depth of consumers’ lifestyles and brand preferences, semiotic
research relies on in-dept interviewing techniques
 In-depth consumer research explores lifestyle and relationship factors, domestic space, brand
perceptions, consumer behavior related to shopping, purchase process, brand loyalty, product
usage, and other market behaviors

The Research Process – Step 2: DECODING THE DATA

 Coders sort the data into sets, moving from general cultural categories such as gender and
mythology to the overriding message, to emotional territories associated with the brand
 Emotional territories are usually communicated in semiotic cues ranging from product
attributes to consumer experiences and advertising messages; three main clusters of meaning
can be identified:
Ø Product attributes
Ø Experiential qualities
Ø People and Places
 A rudimentary outline of the decoding process is outlined in the following slide about the
SUVs’ category in the Nineties…

The Research Process – Step 3: STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

BALANCING CULTURAL TENSIONS
 BALANCING CULTURAL TENSIONS
Ø Mapping the paradigmatic structures of the brand category has the additional benefit of
foregrounding tensions within culture in which most brands operate
Ø While the binary pairs themselves structure polarities within cultural categories, these
cultural tensions often occur between cultural categories: for instance, the binary
opposition safety/ risky structures a utilitarian category of consumer security
Ø These kinds of binary tensions structure the semiotic parameters of all product categories.
Consumers constantly make trade-offs within these tensions when they choose brands.
The Role of Advertising
 Advertising plays a key role here: in the symbolic–imaginary realm of word and image,
advertising can draw upon cultural tensions to create nuanced and multilayered meanings that
are hard to communicate in a positioning statement alone.
 Brands gain depth by mining the tensions within a category or market, such as conflicts
between utilitarian and existential needs: advertising is an important marketing function that
can play with, if not resolve, these tensions in the imaginary–symbolic realm.
 Rather than simply showing a straightforward appeal to product benefits, advertising for
iconic brands (such as the Marlboro Man) negotiate conflicts between deep, universal
human needs, such as freedom and justice, and reality, where most of us are constrained by
limitations in the environment.

MINING THE BABAY BOOMER BRANDSACAPE:

The Blue Cross Case
 Decades of corporate downsizing have forced many individuals out of the traditional
retirement timeline: as consumers over age 50 retire early, they are often left in a health
insurance limbo.
 One of the Blue Cross companies decided to turn this consumer problem into a business
opportunity, anticipating the growing need for insurance tailored specifically to early retirees:
at the time of the study in the early 2000s, the preretirement group, aged 51–64, was
projected to grow 35–50 % in the next five years.
 Furthermore, since Baby Boomers live on average twenty years longer than their parents’
generation, businesses have to consider retirement as a full life stage that could last as long as
consumers’ work lives.

The Marketing Challenge

 Traditionally, health insurance companies have targeted business-to-business agents, not end
users: they tailored products and services according to demographic variables of consumers,
like age, income, marital status, and family size, rather than qualitative factors such as values
and lifestyle.
 Since consumers have become increasingly proactive in the purchase process, shopping
online to compare and contrast plans, companies are turning to qualitative research to
identify lifestyle segments and unmet emotional needs.
 The research process involved constructing a Brandscape of the Baby Boomer culture based
on data from secondary research, an audit of the Blue Cross brand, and primary research with
over 100 consumers.

Findings – The Pre-Retirement Brandscape

Findings – Cohort Group
 Cohort group factors are expressed as lifestyle choices and attitudes formed by the culture of
the particular time period in which consumers live, in this case, the postwar, Baby Boomer
generation: although aging may contribute to biological and psychological changes shared
by all, external, historical factors dictate the ways these changes are manifested in lifestyle
decisions and consumer behavior over time
 The Boomer generation is distinguished by its sheer size, its impact on social, economic, and
cultural change throughout its lifetime, and its history of transforming the expectations of
each life stage this group enters
 Baby Boomers experienced dramatic social changes in American society in their lifetime,
including the expansion of civil rights, the deconstruction of gender roles, and changes in
family structure: they were shaped by innovations such as the Pill, the personal computer,
and rock music
 Baby Boomers have redefined maturity and retirement as they have redefined all of the life
stages that preceded these: they value energy, sexuality, courage, innovation, risk,
rebellion, and breaking boundaries
 They had trouble answering the “worst-case scenario” questions about what they would do if
they came down with a serious illness.

Findings – Life Stage

Ø Retirement
Aging brings out transcendence needs in the individual, such as altruism, personal growth, and
cooperation, and emphasizes right-brain functions such as creativity, feeling, influence
Consumers in the current study viewed retirement from the perspectives of their work lives,
reflecting the tensions they experienced between the ego needs associated with work and the
transcendence needs associated with retirement
They often replaced the term “retirement” with words such as “the next stage,” “a time for me,”
and “my next career.”
Consumery Ideology: Utopian or Pragmatic?
 The Baby Boomer generation is characterized by high ideals and utopian visions for society.
They refuse to admit defeat and seem to be in denial about their inevitable mortality: when
they consider decisions about health insurance, they negotiate tensions between their
utopian ideology and the realities that they must face as they prepare for retirement, such
as health risks and financial readiness
 Respondents in the study could be segmented into Planners, Idealists, and Gamblers, based
on the relative strength of their utopian or pragmatic ideologies and their perceived need for
health insurance.

 Planners had been planning for retirement since entering the workforce, and they will pay
high insurance premiums to protect their acquisitions
 Gamblers prefer financial risk to a boring lifestyle and are unprepared for retirement.
Tethered neither to a long-term job, marriage, or possessions, they often went uninsured and
trusted Fate to come to the rescue in the event of serious illness
 Idealists put greater value on personal growth, service to others, and peace of mind than on
material possessions. They chose less expensive health care plans and would rather reduce
their lifestyles, even sell their homes, to meet medical emergencies than to pay high
insurance premiums

The Blue Cross Brand

 Blue Cross had established health insurance as an extension of health care and emphasized
their association with medical professionals and hospitals, rather than end users
 Their core business was targeted to medical professionals and agents
 As a result of the study, Management repositioned the brand extension to communicate
emotional benefits to consumers, rather than medical professionals

The Blue Cross Brand – Brand Symbolism

 The Blue Cross brand focused more on company expertise and product benefits than on
building relationships with customers
 The use of blue in the Blue Cross logo and website reinforced the brands’ association with
medical professionals and hospitals, since blue has become the dominant color code for
marketing the health care industry
 The human figures in company advertisements were sick patients and caring doctors and
nurses: the implicit association of the Blue Cross with the American Red Cross suggested
crisis and fear rather than hope, and could create a barrier to acceptance with Baby Boomers.

 Research revealed that Baby Boomers reject messages that addressed aging and end-of-
life fears, so the current positioning of the brand would deter Baby Boomers from accepting
an insurance plan from Blue Cross: indeed, Boomers view retirement as the beginning of a
new life rather than a medical emergency
 They rejected traditional symbols of aging such as the rocking chair and walker, religious
messages, and couples cruising passively into the sunset
 Boomers associated maturity with athletics, romance, adventure vacations, cosmetic
surgeries, vintage rock, RV travel, and the open road. They also hoped that they will be
able to share retirement with partners.

Strategic Implications
 As social science discipline, semiotics anchors brand strategy in the culture of consumers,
foregrounding tensions within a product category and consumer segment, and tracking
changes in the codes structuring meaning in the category or segment over time.
 By conducting consumer research, the semiotician can identify emergent codes that have
not been solidified in the popular culture, but will eventually replace the current, dominant
codes structuring meaning in a cultural category.
Strategic Implications – An emergent Paradigm
 The dominant cultural codes associate retirement with one long holiday, symbolized by the
cruise boat that moves passive, elderly consumers off into the horizon
 The emergent codes associate retirement with active consumers taking charge of this new
phase of life
 The mobile home and the open road symbolize the emerging ideal of retirement as an
opportunity rather than a dead end.

Strategic Implications – Strategic Analysis

 In order to underscore the parallels between these cultural codes and potential brand
positionings for Blue Cross, researchers mapped the alternative life- styles, values, and
aspirations of consumers in the segment on a double-axis grid structured by the binary
opposition ego/transcendence associated with the transition from work to retirement, and
the binary opposition pragmatic/ utopian associated with the relative values consumers
attach to practical or lifestyle priorities
when they make health insurance decision.

 THE CLINIC:
Ø Metaphor for the health insurance
discourse on aging and retirement and
falls in the upper-right quadrant of the
grid between utilitarian and
transcendence
Ø Messages in this category focus on
medicine, financial security, and
health risks
Ø The Clinic discourse represents the end of the road—illness, stagnation, and ultimate
demise

 THE CRUISE:
Ø Dominant paradigm of retirement
 Ø A couple looks off into the horizon, the sun setting on their lives. They have left their ego
needs behind and have transcended the worries and ambitions of work life
Ø Voyagers on a cruise are spectators, not actors; they are cared for and entertained,
but have handed over control to someone else
 THE ROAD TRIP:
Ø An emerging ideal of retirement: Baby Boomers have left the rat race but have not
abandoned the ego needs related to work and self-actualization
Ø Not only did many respondents plan to take long road trips; the road trip also symbolizes
their desire for spontaneity, freedom, and control
Ø The road trip also means leaving lots of baggage behind, especially material possessions
that may limit their movements and choices

Ø To succeed, Blue Cross would have to reposition the brand in line with the consumer-centric
values associated with the dominant and emergent codes operative in the category,
including the emotional needs for care, security, and relationship associated with aging,
and the utopian needs for freedom, impact, control, discovery, and fun associated with the
Boomer generation
Ø Brand communication shifted focus from the imminent threat of illness and death to the
lifestyle benefits associated with a secure, reliable health care brand
Ø The company adopted a consumer-centered repositioning strategy that both responded to
the life stage and cohort group needs and wants of consumers in the preretirement segment
and also tailored plans and benefits to the unique needs of consumer subsegments such as
Planners, Idealists, and Gamblers