Final Team Project

Throughout the course of our Advertising and Public Relations Course my group (Natalie Schaffner, Owen Browning, Hannah Anonelli, and Chad Pinson), and I were assigned a client, and asked to help them create a campaign to help with their advertising. In order to build team chemistry we were asked to do a scavenger hunt around the college, and this really  helped our team become closer. I really enjoyed working with the group I had. Our client was Erica Byrd from West Virginia Wesleyan’s

Image from WVWC

marketing department. Our task was to find a way to get alumni to come to the homecoming office and sing in, and also to increase the number of younger alumni that attend homecoming.

Our Plan

In order to be successful our group came up with goals and objectives that needed to be defined and met. For example, our overall business objective was to increase volume and profit by getting more people to attend homecoming at Wesleyan. Our communication objective was to create awareness of the homecoming event, make alumni knowledgeable of the event, and project an image for the target audience. Our marketing objective was to market to the younger and older alumni from WVWC in two different ways that would appeal to each generation.  We also used  COMMSPOINT which is a strategic planing solution that helps agencies identify the optimal communication channel mix for their services. Our COMMSPOINT research was able to help us identify certain aspects we needed to know about our target audience such as their annual income, education level, the way in which they consume their media, and their gender.

This tool developed graphs of the demographics for our target audience, and made it easy for us to analyze the results.  To the right is an example of what the graphs would look like on COMMSPOINT.  In the end we were able to put together a full campaign that breaks down our goals and research piece by piece. We also gave recommendations on to other events the homecoming committee can incorporate in order to make it more appealing to both generations. Some of our ideas included having a concert put on by Karen Staley which is an alumni of Wesleyan. We also thought to recreate the JUMP event for the alumni because many of the alumni were members of sororities and fraternities at the college.  Overall, we made a very detailed plan that would meet all of the goals and objectives we set in the beginning. We feel confident that the Wesleyan Homecoming Committee will accept our campaign and actually use the ideas we have given.

 

Ads, Ads, and More Ads

Image from : (Mcdonalds

Did you know that on average we are exposed to around 10,000 ads a day like this McDonald’s (Mcdonalds) add you are looking at right now? You may not even realize it at first, but as companies are having access to many new channels, they are having more ways of making you see their add. This average number is increasing each day as the companies continue to find new mediums. (Customer’s Attention ).  Over the years advertising has changed in many ways and a lot of this change can be attributed to the technological advances that have been made over time . Our exposure to these advertisements is also changing as technology continues to change. Each day we are seeing more and more ads pop up whether it be on social media, the radio, newspaper, or other channels. Television is one of the many ways companies place their advertisements, and our exposure to these ads have changed over the years. For example, research shows that more companies are paying more so their ads can be places on television and this leads to more ad exposure for the viewers.

Image from: (Alley)

Studies also show that the average time for commercials on television has also increased over time (Time ) .  Exposure to advertising is also changing with social media. For example, before you could scroll through your Instagram feed with no interruptions form ads at all. Now, after every third or fourth picture you like, the next picture will be an advertisement. Studies show that 55 percent of all people of the age of 18 to 29 have an Instagram. This is more exposure for companies now at the palm of customer’s hands. (Instagram Advertising ).

Image from: ( Instagram )

Some of this exposure to advertising can be good for the company but there are times when it may not be in their best interest to place as many ads. The reason for this is that customers may start to get burned out on ads and this could lead to changing the channel as soon as they see an ad or, in the worst case scenario,  not buying from the company anymore. (Ad burnout )

My Own Experiment 

Image from: (Ads )

After doing all of this research on exposure to ads, I wanted to see if the average number was really true, and my findings proved this statement to be correct.  In order to find out for myself, I took one day to pay very close attention to all of the ads that I was exposed to. I chose to do this on a Saturday when I was traveling to a game because this way I was exposed to many different types of media. All of the types that I saw throughout the day included bill boards, television, social media, radio stations, and billboards. At the end of the day I totaled the number of ads I was exposed to and it came out to 10,454 ads for the whole entire day. I was not surprised that my number was more than the national average because not only was I on the road for five hours this day, but I was also on my phone a lot too and received many pop up ads that were on my social media accounts. I also was not surprised that I experienced ad burnout throughout this process. I would catch myself continuously rolling my eyes at the fact that I had been exposed to so many ads that I not paid attention to before. The different media included bill boards, television, radio stations, and social media. However even though I did experience a great deal of burnout, there were some ads that stood out to me as I was counting all of them.There was one bill board we passed on the way to Pennsylvania  that I had to stop the car to get out and take a picture of. I was so fascinated by how real  they were able to make the ad look. As you can see below it actually looks as if the car has crashed into the truck and very damaged.

This was a very fun experiment after it was all finished with. I encourage you readers to try this for yourself one day and see for yourself the number of ads you are exposed to on a daily basis.

 

 

Thanks for reading,

Mykenzie Martin

NFL Ratings and Advertising

Image from: NFL

     For many homes in America every Sunday from September through October is spent watching NFL foot ball (NFL ). Recently this has not been the case, and this is based on the studies that show the ratings of viewers for Sunday football have indeed decreased. According to research done by the NFL overall viewership has declined tremendously, and as of week for the viewings were down by a total of  eleven percent. This is a major change due to the fact that the viewership had increased by almost twenty-seven percent in the last fifteen years until now (Viewership) . Other studies conducted shows that this decline has been evident through the past three years and the number of viewers has decreased each year by almost a million. This has been the worst drop in rating seen in the NFL (Sporting News).  Major stations that televise the games such as FOX, CBS, NBC, and ESPN are suffering from this situation because when the money they usually generate from the games will also decline as the viewership continues to decline (BusinessInsider ).

Overall Impact 

Now we know the ratings are declining fast, but what does this have an impact on. As mentioned in the paragraph above the networks are losing money. CBS is a a major network and statistics show their market share on wall street has declined by five percent (Fox Business  ).

Image from : (CBS

 

Aside from major networks losing money the decreasing in viewers can also have a major effect on the companies who choose to air their commercials on these major networks. For example, companies will not be able to reach out to as many people as they could before and this could also mean losing a portion of their target audience.  By losing the audiences that the companies are trying to reach out to the most this could cause a decline in money. The viewers are declining and therefore many might not be aware of the products companies are trying to sell. Companies are not the only ones who will be losing profit from this but the players as well. Reports have shown that the many fans are not buying jerseys anymore and therefore the players are losing a good portion of their income. (Jerseys).

Image from (Cowboys)

 

One more major impact these ratings can have is that the slow collapse of the supersize pay television bundle because many households will not want to include the NFL in their packages when trying to chose the right one. (Fortune).

Conclusion 

Over all the television ratings for the NFL continue to decline and as the research has shown, this can have an impact on many factors than just the NFL itself. Companies could end up seeing a decreasing in their overall sales because of the viewers that are being lost on major networks. Along with companies losing money so will the networks who carry the games. Players profit will also be affected because their fans will not be as aware of them as they were before. Finally, television companies can also lose out when customers end up not buying the big bundles that are offered. Since they are not watching the NFL games they would be no need for them to pay for it. The NFL must find a way to gain more viewers in order for these problems not to occur.

 

Thanks for reading!

-Mykenzie Martin

 

 

InnerAction Media Presentation

 

Image from: Inneraction Media

After hearing Mike Arbogast speak on the company he works for, InnerAction Media, I was very interested in what he had to say about the agency and the different services they offer, and the way in which the process they go through with their clients (InnerAction Media ).All of the information he had on these topics was very useful for

 

 Image from: Blue Fountain Media

 

Client Relationship

I felt the most important topic discussed in his presentation was how valuable it is to have a good relationship with the client. In order to do this  we were told the agency must build trust and be able to share information with one another. In reality, it should resemble a partnership. By doing this they can teach and learn from each other. Once the trust is there, it makes it much easier to understand a the client’s goals, motivations, struggles, and challenges. When sharing information the client should be able to provide information such as relative goals, ideal customers, their current marketing strategies, and how what the want their measurement of success to be. This information plays a vital role in creating the different types of ads the client wants. Along with having a good relationship with the client, it is also important to have good accessibility, meaning the agency should be able to answer questions quickly and intelligently. He discussed how important it is to not lead clients on and give them fake answers because this is where companies tend to fail. The agents should be able to keep their clients informed on how the whole process is coming along and what steps have been taken care of so far.

The Blueprint

Mike also discussed the most important part of their process when they have a client and that is what they like to call the blueprint. This keeps everybody on the same page and sets expectations that they need to meet. It also helps to reduce scope-creep (when the plan starts to creep out of control) . The blue print along with the goals, background information, current assets, and the elevator pitch is all part of the first meeting with the client. The information about the background of the client is very vital because this lets you as an agent be able to understand what market their products are in, who their competitors are, who they want to reach out to, and what their overall business is like.

Future Projects 

This information will be very useful for our in class project because it will help us to be able to know what we need from our clients. This will help us in knowing what to address when we first meet our clients and how we should keep on track throughout the entire process. His presentation was very informative and very valuable. He gave us an inside look into how an ad agency really works, and the process that go on in their minds when working with a client. The exercise he had the whole class do was not only fun, but it really showed how important communication is in this business. Overall, I thought the presentation was very well laid out and interesting.

 

-Mykenzie Martin

 

 

Consumer Decision Journey

According to a group of researchers at McKinsey the Consumer Decision Journey is a process starts when the consumer considers an initial set of brands, based on the brand perceptions and exposure to recent touch points which is called the initial consideration set. The second stage of this process is the active evaluation which is when the consumers search all of the varieties in a category to compare prices, features, and availability. After this is when the moment of purchase stage happens which has become harder in this digital era because consumers can now buy anything anywhere at anytime. Once the item as been purchased, the stage of the post purchase experience happens which is when the brand continues to have the opportunity to impact the consumer’s experience (stukent).

Forbesmagazine

To me the most interesting part about the  Consumer Decision Journey is the post purchase experience.  It made me think about all of the places I have shopped and if those places have made me have a good or bad post purchase experience . It also made me think of all the different tactics brands have used to get me the consumer to keep me in the loyalty loop. I thought it was very interesting to know that I have already heard of a product way before I have even thought to purchase the item.

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Consumer Decision Journey and Media Planning 

The consumer decision journey plays an essential role in media planning .  The different stages in the consumer’s journey can help to develop different communication objectives and metrics depended on what stage the consumer in. This can lead to choosing which combination of media and messages might be the most useful to use (Batra).  For example, brands can determine which tactics work best when trying to make a loyal customer. They can use different media planning such as sending coupons via email to customers, or sending texts to customers reminding them when there is a sale going on.

 

Consumer Purchase Decision Journey Overtime

Overtime the consumer purchase decision journey has changed due to different reasons. One of the major reasons is the fact that today’s rich communication environments make the path of the purchase decision much more complex. Another reason is that there is such a wide variety of options to choose from in today’s world. In the past there could have been just one brand of a product (Batra).  The communication has been shifted away from just marketers to consumers toward a two way conversation. The older models of this process stopped when the consumer actually purchased the item, but the new model shows the post purchase experience which is made possible through technological advances that have been made. The new model also shows how it is very crucial to maintain the customer and give them a good post purchase experience (Stukent). Today there are so many more ways brands can advertise which changes the who consumer purchase decision process. Brand can use social media such to advertise,  but their customers can also voice their own opinion of  the brand which could help or hurt that company. Overall this consumer purchase decision journey has changed and will keep continuing to evolve as new was of communication are made in the future.

 

 

-Mykenzie Martin

 

 

Works Cited.

1.)  https://library.stukent.com/home

2.)Batra, Rajeev, and Kevin Lane Keller. “Integrating Marketing Communications: New Findings, New Lessons, and New Ideas.” Journal of Marketing, vol. 80, no. 6, 2016, pp. 122–145., doi:10.1509/jm.15.0419.