A.I.D.A Model in Marketing Communication. Paper: 5

A.I.D.A Model in Marketing Communication

AIDA Model. AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. It is an acronym used in marketing and advertising, which helps marketing managers develop effective communication strategies and communicate with customers in a way that better responds to their needs and desires.

If you've ever been motivated to take action due to an advertisement, you've likely been influenced by a technique called A.I.D.A, which stands for "attention, interest, desire, action." This process is used by many marketers in their communications to entice prospects to make a purchase or take a desired action. The technique is commonly used in advertising vehicles such as television commercials and direct mail pieces.

Attention

The attention portion of the marketing message occurs at the beginning and is designed to give the prospects a reason to take notice. Presenting a shocking fact or statistic that identifies a problem which can be solved by the product or service is one common method of gaining attention. Other methods can include asking a thought-provoking question or using the element of surprise. The purpose is to give the prospects a reason for wanting to learn more.

When a product is launched the first goal is to grab attention. Firms spend millions thinking about how to grab attention for their product. The method used to gain attention will depend on the product, options include sponsorship, hospitality events and large promotion campaigns. If the product is a gadget or technology a firm may decide to showcase it at a technology exhibition for example E3 the annual video game conference show which is visited by journalists and technology industry professionals. If the product is trendy and fashionable the firm may ask a celebrity who will appeal to the target market to endorse it.

Interest

Once you've gained the prospects' attention, the next step is to maintain interest in your product or service to keep the recipients engaged. Explain to the recipients how the problem you've identified in the attention step is adversely affecting their lives. A demonstration or illustration can help the recipients to further identify with the problem and want to actively seek possible solutions. By personalizing the problem, you're making it hit closer to home.

Once you have secured people's attention, the next job is to hold their interest. This is done by promoting product features and clearly stating the benefit the product has to offer. The aim at this stage is to provide the customer with information that will move them to the next stage of the process, desire.

Desire

In the desire stage, your objective is to show the prospects how your product or service can solve their problem. Explain the features of the product or service and the related benefits and demonstrate how the benefits fulfill the need. A common advertising process is the "before and after" technique, such as when a cleaning product makes a soiled item look brand new. If done effectively, the prospects should now have the desire to make a purchase.

The third stage is desire; at this point you want the information (interest) customers have about your product to create a desire to have your product. A unique selling point will help customers desire it over competitor products. If your product is a trend setter, the latest "must have" product, buzz marketing will help create a strong desire.

Action

Now that you've created the desire to make a purchase, the final step is to persuade the prospects to take immediate action. In a one-on-one sales process, this is the time to ask for the sale. In the advertising world, techniques involve creating sense of urgency by extending an offer for a limited time or including a bonus of special gift to those who act within a specific time frame. Without a specific call to action, the prospect may simply forget about your offer and move on.

The final stage is the purchase action, if a company has been successful with its AIDA strategy then customers will purchase its products. The task at this stage is to help the purchase action by making it as simple as possible. For example by offering a range of payment options and avenues e.g. Credit card, cheque, via high street shops and through the internet.

An example of the AIDA model

Here is a case study from our Marketing Models Guide showing how an award-winning hairdressing company, Francesco Group used the model to launch their new salon.

• 1. Awareness: Ran a PR campaign four months prior to launch, promoting award, stylists, qualifications etc. and was reinforced through a DM campaign to targeted customer groups.
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• 2. Interest:  Executed a direct mail campaign to offer a free consultation or hair cut and finish. They used research to support that this would work, as females are loyal if the offer is compelling.
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• 3. Desire: Close to the opening of the new salon, they ran exclusive local launch events which was advertised through local press and social media. This created a local buzz for 'people wanting an invite' and excited to see the new salon.
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• 4. Action: Clear CTAS were positioned on the Facebook site (call to reserve), the website (call to book) and local advertising (call in to receive discount or the offer.

The case study didn't highlight Retention, though there are many ways to increase loyalty around sign up to mailing lists or social platforms which offer news about offers and events, discounts on product ranges, discounts according to frequency of visit,  etc

WHAT IS INSTITUTIONAL ADVERTISING? Paper 5/7/15

WHAT IS INSTITUTIONAL ADVERTISING?

Institutional advertising is any type of advertising intended to promote a company, corporation, business, institution, organization or other similar entity. Such advertising does not attempt to sell anything directly.

The main objective of institutional advertising is to build a positive image and to generate goodwill about a particular industry, rather than to promote sales. The benefits, ideas and philosophies of the business are conveyed in a lucid manner. Because of its attempts to create a positive image, it is closely related to public relations. In this, the organization markets itself rather than its products. 

It is also referred to as corporate advertising. It does not attempt to sell anything directly. It just informs the public of what the institution is doing for the society in terms of education, health, environment, etc. The channels used for institutional advertising may be radio, television, print and digital. One prominent example of institutional advertising is the ads showing the harmful effects of smoking, ads by Idea targeting corruption, by ITC donating every 1 rupee on each Classmate notebook sold to the villages, etc.

A few examples of institutional ads by leading brands

For example, in the case of ITC, the company started by selling cigarettes. When it started diversifying into other fields such as stationery and processed foods, it needed an image makeover. So, they teamed up with Child Relief and You (CRY) as part of its campaign for education (indirectly promoting their Classmate notebook range). ITC donated Re 1 from every sold notebook to CRY. All their notebooks carry environmentally friendly messages.

The world’s biggest oil corporation, Gulf Oil, spreads awareness about the issue of oil spills in the ocean and of how oil mining is hazardous to the marine life. They have also launched a campaign to save the environment.

Adidas has also launched a campaign to donate 10% of all their revenues to orphans in Africa.

Alcohol firms may run commercials warning against excessive drinking or driving while under the influence.

Public service announcements and community outreach programs are examples of institutional advertising. These types of advertising promotions are designed to foster goodwill between a company and its present or potential customers.

Beer and liquor companies can also run commercials that warn consumers of the dangers of drinking and driving.

Institutional advertising is also done via community outreach programs. Some examples of this type of company promotion include blood drives, canned food drives, AIDS awareness events, cancer screenings and holiday gift giving or food delivery drives for homeless individuals.

The advantages of institutional advertising are that the image of the company is improved, investors and customers are attracted and it also helps in product diversification (as in the case of ITC).

BRANDING A SERVICE. PAPER:12

Branding a service vs. branding a product

Branding a service is very different from branding a product for a variety of reasons, such as:

• Products are made where services are delivered
• Products are used where services are experienced
• Products are tangible where services are emotional

Products are impersonal physical items that can be evaluated before you buy them. Services, on the other hand, are very personal. Customers don’t just buy a service, they buy an experience.
Services don’t even exist until we buy them. There has to be a level of trust or even a “leap of faith” from the customer before they will buy a service.

What are your customers really buying with a service?

Many service businesses think that their customers are actually buy their expertise but customers can’t evaluate expertise. What they’re actually buying is a relationship and only they can tell you if the relationship (or chemistry) is good. This is why a competent, likeable consultant will attract far more business than a brilliant but introverted expert.

So what can you do to better brand a service business?

First you have to remember that marketing IS your business and that your customers will experience your brand at every touchpoint. You can have a great website and award-winning advertising but if you also have an unresponsive receptionist or sales people, everything fails.

Every act is a marketing act

Make sure every employee understands that everything they do is a marketing act and affects the perception of the brand.
Services usually only have a few touchpoints. Some of them include:

• Business card
• Website, email marketing and advertising
• Brochures, sales sheets
• Tradeshow booths and banners
• Reception staff
• Sales people

Make sure that all of them reflect how you want your brand positioned and perceived. If every brand touchpoint a customer could have contact with is effective and “on-brand” you’ll have a better chance of having a prospect make that emotional “leap of faith” and do business with you.

Service Branding Challenges

Intangibility, commoditization, complexity, inconsistency and real-time consumer interactions are common challenges unique to branding services, according to Taylor Bryant of the Mullen full-service ad agency in his article "Marketing service brands: the toughest branding challenge today?" Intangible solutions are harder to brand because each experience is a unique encounter between employee and customer. Commoditization refers to the difficulty in establishing uniqueness because technology has made it easier for competitors to copy your successes. Services often address complex, multiple need-buying situations. Inconsistency in the service process is inherent because people delivering services are unique. Branding through traditional marketing is either supported or countered by real-time consumer experiences and the word-of-mouth messages they carry.

 

ABOVE THE LINE VERSUS BELOW THE LINE ADVERTISING PAPER 4/13

ABOVE THE LINE VERSUS BELOW THE LINE ADVERTISING
Above The Line (ATL) and Below The Line (BTL) advertising are two terms that are bandied around often these days in the advertising world and often have the lay person confused as to what they stand for. It might be worth our while to begin this by defining what constitutes the metaphoric ‘Line’. To quote Michael John Baker from The Marketing Book , the terms ‘Above The Line’ and ‘Below The Line’ came into existence way back in 1954 with the company Proctor and Gamble paying their advertising agencies a different rate and separately from the agencies who took on the other promotional activities.

What are ATL and BTL activities? They seem simple enough. Above The Line (ATL) advertising is where mass media is used to promote brands and reach out to the target consumers. These include conventional media as we know it, television and radio advertising, print as well as internet.  This is communication that is targeted to a wider spread of audience, and is not specific to individual consumers. ATL advertising tries to reach out to the mass as consumer audience.
Below the line (BTL)  advertising is more one to one, and involves the distribution of pamphlets, handbills, stickers, promotions, brochures placed at point of sale, on the roads through banners and placards. It could also involve product demos and samplings at busy places like malls and market places or residential complexes. For certain markets, like rural markets where the reach of mass media like print or television is limited, BTL marketing with direct consumer outreach programmes do make the most sense. Says Raghu Khanna, CEO, CASHurDRIVE,  “When budget is issue and the brand wants to have a consumer connect BTL has better ROI.”

Other BTL activities could include roadshows, or moving hoardings with the ad of the product, and vehicles with promotional staff interacting with people demonstrating the product and distributing  literature on the product.  BTL advertising is advertising that uses less conventional methods of advertising that the specific channels of advertising that may or may not be used by ATL advertising to promote products and services.  According to Iya Malhotra Bhatia, Marketing Professional, “BTL is a preferred tool when test marketing a product, sampling and also in case of a targeted campaign in related to another bigger phenomenon. Also when TG is very niche, BTL makes more sense.”

BTL promotion might include direct mail promotional campaigns, PR and sales promotions which are handled directly by the company itself or outsourced to specifically PR agencies and sales promotion agencies and may or not be related to the advertising campaign. BTL advertising might include email campaigns, telemarketing, etc with targeted groups of potential clients.  Says Megha Ghosh, Account Director, Client Services at Encompass, “BTL is preferred on several occasions but the foremost would be when you need to have a personal interaction with the consumer.”

Says Kapil Taneja, Regional Head, North, FUN Cinemas (Esselgroup company), “Sometimes BTL is preferred over ATL due to budget issues, the need to physically display the product, to conduct a hand on product contest as well as for new launches and teasers campaigns.” Companies prefer adopting BTL as a means of reaching out to their target consumers when their product is something they need to engage the consumer in a touch and feel experience with. 

Some people would consider ATL and BTL antiquated terminologies in an era which uses the internet and lightening speed changes in modes of communication to reach out to the consumer. “When you are communicating with a niche audience BTL is better. However, digital media has more or less broken these boundaries of ATL versus BTL as digital communication can address both at the same time.,” says Namrata Rana, Director, Futurescape.

Interestingly, there is a new phrase called Through the Line, or TTL, which integrates both ATL and BTL activities. BTL communications from brands is rapidly becoming a dying form of reaching out to the audience with agencies and clients going adopting the Integrated Communication approach.

To end with a quote O&M’s Piyush Pandey, from a previous interview, on the two forms of brand communication, Below-the-line is extremely important, but then when wasn’t it? It is just that till now it was taken a bit for granted and not too many innovations were made. I am glad the industry is planning to revolutionise this game. It is not a question of mass media versus below-the-line. It is an era of mass media plus below-the-line.”

FACTORS AFFECTING MEDIA SELECTION

Factors Influencing the Media Selection

The problem of selection of the best medium or media for a particular advertiser will vary greatly, depending on the particular situation, circumstances and different other factors in which a person is conducting individual business. Media selection involves a basic understanding of the capabilities and costs of the major media. The problems which the advertising has to face in the selection of media are:

1. Profile of the target market
2. Coverage or exposure
3. Frequency
4. Continuity
5. Impact
6. Copy formulation
7. Media cost and media availability.

In addition to these problems there are a number of other major factors which influence the decision of the advertiser and therefore, the same must be considered while selecting the media. The most significant of these factors are:

1. Objectives of the campaign
2. Budget available
3. Research concerning client
4. The product
5. Type of message or selling appeal
6. Relative cost
7. Clutter
8. The potential market
9. Miscellaneous factors.

GUIDELINE/ CRITERIA FOR SELECTING MEDIA PAPER 4/13

Practical Guidelines for Selecting Media

In an international setting, media can be selected and evaluated based on the following CASCOIME criteria:  Cost - Is the medium cost effective? Can it reach a wide enough audience? What technology infrastructure is currently available?

Accessibility – Is the medium accessible? Does it facilitate distribution? Is it convenient to use? Is it user-friendly?

Social-Political Suitability – Is the medium socially and politically suitable? Does its use coincide with social and political agendas of governing bodies?

Cultural Friendliness – Is the medium culturally appropriate? Does it coincide with the culture’s traditional way of learning?

Openness/Flexibility – Is the medium flexible? Does it foster collaboration? Does it foster different ways of teaching?

Interactivity - Is the medium interactive? Does it promote learner-learner and learner-instructor interaction? Does it facilitate timely and quality feedback from instructors and tutors?

Motivational Value - Is the medium motivating? Does it encourage learners to study harder and longer?

Effectiveness - Is the medium effective? Does it help students learn content faster (i.e., more efficiently)?