Advertising Campaign

Definition
 An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement
messages that share a single idea and theme which make up
an integrated marketing communication (IMC).
 Advertising campaigns appear in different media across a
specific time frame.

“An Advertising Campaign is a series of advertisements

[consumer communications] and the activities that help
produce them, which are designed to achieve interrelated
goals.”
……..Donald Parente
 The critical part of making an advertising campaign is
determining a champion theme as
it sets the tone for the individual advertisements and other
forms of marketing communications that will be used.

 The campaign theme is the central message that will be

communicated in the promotional activities. The campaign
themes are usually developed with the intention of being used
for a substantial period but many of them are short lived due
to factors such as being ineffective or market conditions
and/or competition in the marketplace and marketing mix.
 TOP 10 ADVERTISING
CAMPAIGNS
1. Volkswagen, "Think Small", Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1959
2. Coca-Cola, "The pause that refreshes", D'Arcy Co., 1929
3. Marlboro, The Marlboro Man, Leo Burnett Co., 1955
4. Nike, "Just do it", Wieden & Kennedy, 1988
5. McDonald's, "You deserve a break today", Needham, Harper & Steers,
1971
6. DeBeers, "A diamond is forever", N.W. Ayer & Son, 1948
7. Absolut Vodka, The Absolut Bottle, TBWA, 1981
8. Miller Lite beer, "Tastes great, less filling", McCann-Erickson
Worldwide, 1974
9. Clairol, Does she...or doesn't she?", Foote, Cone & Belding, 1957
10.Avis, "We try harder", Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1963
 A Campaign Outline (JWT
Structure)
 J. Walter Thompson asks:  Response:

i. Where are we? i. Develop a situation analysis.

ii. Why are we there? ii. Identify Problems. Identify
iii. Where could we be? iii. Opportunities.
iv. How could we get there? iv. Develop message, media, and
marketing communications
strategy and tactics.
v. Develop a plan to measure
v. Are we getting there?
(track) campaign
effectiveness.
Why to advertise in terms of a
campaign?

 Buyers are forgetful of erratically appearing ads.

 Due to clutter of large number of advertising
messages, they overlook several of them.
 Thus, campaign is a sustained advertising effort.
 Coordination, balance, timing, continuity &
performance- all favor for an advertising campaign.
How long should be a Campaign?
 Campaigns are of varied length- seasonal, yearly, several
advertisers run the same campaign without any changes
for several years.
 The factors which affect the duration of campaign are
the-
 Type of product offered
 The nature of advertiser’s marketing programme
 Seasonality of Sales
 Media policies
 The Competitors advertising
Basis of campaign

 Geographical spread of a campaign

 Pioneering Campaigns to introduce a new product
 Competitive Campaign emphasis competitive superiority
to retain the present market.
 Campaigns can be classified in terms of media, e.g;
direct mail campaign, newspaper campaign, T.V.
Campaign etc
Campaigns are governed by the
following parameters
 Identifying the problem
 The budget
 Pretesting
 Target audience
 Media selection
 The language
 The visual and the copy
 Timing and duration
 Post testing
 Effect on sales
 Three phases of campaign
creation
1.Strategy development phase
decide the objectives and contents of communication.

analyzing the research data and positioning the brand

 right strategy and creative campaign is a

winning combination.
“if you want to catch
fish, you have to
think like fish. If you
want to catch a
consumer,
you have to think like a
2.Advertising brief to the creative
 Client has to brief the agency about how to create the
advertisement.
 Success or failure of the advertisement is largely dictated
by the brief.

3.The creative phase

 The strategist has to leap from a single uni-directional
idea into an advertising idea that will add value to the
product/brand.
 Example of effective
Advertising Campaign in
India
ZooZoo’s were conceptualized by the Ad agency O&M for the latest Vodafone Ad campaigns.
ZooZoo characters though they look like animated characters are actually played by real people. The
real people are dressed in white outfits. The sets have been constructed by shadows created by spray
painting.
C ase Study-
 Nike’s “Just Do It” Adverti sin
Campaign g
 After stumbling badly against archrival Reebok in the 1980s,
Nike rose about as high and fast in the ‘90s as any company can.
It took on a new religion of brand consciousness and broke
advertising sound barriers with its indelible Swoosh, “Just Do
It” slogan and deified sports figures. Nike managed the deftest of
marketing tricks: to be both anti-establishment and mass market,
to the tune of $9.2 billion dollars in sales
in 1997.
—Jolie Soloman “When Nike Goes Cold”
Newsweek, March 30, 1998
Linking the Campaign to
Consumer Needs

Through its “Just Do It” campaign, Nike was able to tap into
the fitness craze of the 1980s. Reebok was sweeping the
aerobics race and gaining huge market share in the sneaker
business. Nike responded to that by releasing a tough, take- no-
prisoners ad campaign that practically shamed people into
exercising, and more importantly, to exercising in Nikes.
Celebrity endorsements also appealed to the consumers’ sense
of belonging and “hipness”.
Linking the Campaign to
Strategy
 Nike was in a tough spot in the late 1970’s. It was being
swamped by Reebok’s quick initiative on designing aerobics
shoes and needed to respond dramatically and forcefully. It
could be argued that the “Just Do It” campaign was not only
about sneakers but about Nike’s own renaissance.
 No longer content to be the choice running shoe of a few
thousand marathoners and exercise nuts, Nike wanted to
expand its operation to target every American, regardless of
age, gender or physical-fitness level. “Just Do It” succeeded in
that it convinced Americans that wearing Nikes for every
part of your life was smart and hip.
 Nike took its own advice and “Just Did It” by directly
attacking Reebok in the sport-shoe market.
 Why Was the Campaign
Successful?
 The timing of this campaign could not have been better.
Americans were buying exercise equipment at a record pace in
the mid 1980s, and body worship was at an all time high.
Nike tapped into consumers’ desire for a healthy lifestyle by
packaging it into a pair of $80 sneakers.
 The ads were often humorous, appealing to the cynic in all of
us, while imploring consumers to take charge of their physical
fitness. The ads made starting an exercise regime seem like a
necessity.
 The campaign was easily identifiable (to the point that Nike
eventually did not even bother to display the word “Nike” in
commercials—the swoosh was enough) and stayed true to its
message.