ADV 121 sec 2
Consumer Advertising
Spring 2008

Email your professor: Lilly.Buchwitz (at) sjsu.edu

Download the course outline.

Introduction to Consumer Behavior

Topics: review of the marketing concept; definition of consumer behavior; how CB affects marketing strategy; who uses CB research; consumer affect and cognition; Coach, McDonald's, Starbucks, and Toyota. Reading: Peter & Olson chapters 1, 2.
Click here to download the Powerpoint file.

Affect and Cognition, Conditioning and Learning (2 classes)

Topics: Grocery shopping: a detailed explanation of the complex decisions involved, and the role played by affect and cognition. Examples and implications for advertising. Where does knowledge come from? Knowledge, learning, and conditioning; classical and operant conditioning, shaping. Reading: Peter & Olson chapters 3, 9.
Click here to download the Powerpoint file.

Attention and Comprehension (Feb 6 class)

Topics: Attention and comprehension. Case: Procter & Gamble. Reading: Peter & Olson chapter 5.
Click here to download the Powerpoint file.

Consumer attitudes and intentions (Feb 11)

Topics: consumer attitudes, and how to change them. Reading:Peter & Olson chapter 6. Case: The Gap — in class activity: brainstorm, then pitch, creative strategy for new Gap campaign.
Click here to download the Powerpoint file.

Consumer decision making (Feb 13)

Second day in class: Video about consumer decision making. Reading: Peter & Olson chapter 7. In class activity: conduct market research (about the Hispanic market in the U.S. and Texas).

Fiesta Mart is a small chain of supermarkets in Texas that target the Hispanic market. Look at their web site and find out where the stores are currently located. Now, imagine that you work at a market research firm that has been hired by Fiesta to help them decide which new markets they should expand into. Your task is to conduct secondary market research (i.e. search online for information) that will help you to make this decision. Recommend at least one new market that you feel Fiesta should expand into, and justify your decision with your research. Work in pairs, but don't hesitate to share with your larger group (at your table grouping) any good sources of information you find.

Deliverable: at the end of the class I want one email from each pair, stating your recommendation (be specific -- I want a city), giving your reasons for selecting that city, and include the link to your source of information.

Results: Click here to download a table that summarizes the information about each city that was selected by the class. Several groups chose San Antonio, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best choice. Some groups included lots of "other" information about their city; on the chart I've included only one "other considerations" point for each. Review the information, and decide — which city do you think is the best choice for Fiesta to expand into now?

Creative strategy (Feb 18)

Videos: exemplary copywriting and art direction.

Heineken competition (Feb 20)

In today's class you will work in small groups and write a creative brief for a public service advertising campaign for Heineken, according to the specifications on the AAF website.

Click here to download the Ad Council's Creative Brief Template.

Click here to download the competition booklet.

Working from the brief, choose one of the ads (print, radio, or new media) and create it according to the specs provided. You do not need to produce PDFs, video, or audio files. If you choose the print ad, submit it on paper as specified; if you choose the radio ad, submit the script as specified; if you choose the new media ad, submit the image and/or storyboard on paper.

Influencing consumer behavior (Feb 25)

Influencing consumer behavior with sales promotions and direct marketing. Reading: Peter & Olson chapter 10. Click here to download the Powerpoint file.

Culture, subculture, social class, reference groups, and family (Feb 27)

Reading: chapters 12, 13, 14. In-class exercise: find an advertisement that uses an American (or other) cultural symbol.
Click here to download the Powerpoint file

Consumer/product behavior (March 3 & 5)

Products: just a bundle of attributes. Reading: Chapter 4. In-class exercise: Analyze your knowlege of a product and use that understanding of consumer behavior to develop an advertising message strategy. Click here to download today's slides.

Target marketing, market segmentation, bases of segmentation, positioning -- all this should be a review. Reading: Chapter 15.
Product strategy, characteristics of products, competitive advantage. Reading: Chapter 16. Click here to download today's slides and assignment.

Your product ads:

Problem/solution (also celebrity endorsement)

Communicate product features

Testimonial (also celebrity endorsement)

Demonstration (Arnott's crackers). Another ad that uses product demonstration, but with a media choice you wouldn't expect. And this one, while it IS a product ad, is NOT a product demonstration.

This Starbuck's ad uses analogy to communicate product benefits

Lifestyle ads are commonly used for beer, liquor, and soft drinks.

So that you can appreciate the fine distinctions, which was the point of this exercise, look at this ad which is NOT a product ad. What is the difference?

Let's look at Creativity's best ads of the week, and identify what type of strategy was used in each.

Consumer behavior and the 4Ps: price and place (March 10 & 12)

Reading: Chapters 18, 19. Click here to download today's slides.

Brand advertising (March 17 & 19)

In class assignment: find an example of brand advertising on the website of your favorite advertising agency. The example should be a television commercial, created by that agency. Email me the link (either a direct link to the ad, or click directions) and answer the following questions:

  1. What brand is being advertised? Be precise and specific -- either it's Toyota, or Toyota Camry, but not both.
  2. What attributes of the brand is the ad communicating? (I want a description here, with at least three adjectives.)

Second class: you will present your favorite advertising agency, and your brand, to the class.

Retail advertising (April 2)

In class assignment: find one example of an advertising agency that creates ads for a retail client. Note: the agency must be the retailer's current agency, and it must be their creative agency (as opposed to, for example, their media agency).

Email me the link (or click directions) to the ad on the agency's website. NOT on the retailer's website. NOT on YouTube. In the body of the email, I want you to write three sentences that analyze the nature of retail advertising. Think about how retail advertising differs from (or, perhaps, is similar to) product advertising or brand advertising.

By the end of this class you should have a very good understanding of product advertising, brand advertising, and retail advertising, learned through your own experiences and investigations. Now it's time for you to choose your topic for your advertising plan and presentation. Email me your choice of topic, and date (April 28, April 30, May 5, 8, or 12). First come, first served. No duplicate topics, and six people per day. The schedule is posted at the end of this page.

NOTE: If you are choosing a car as your topic, you must specify whether your campaign plan will be for the brand, or one of the products.

Car advertising (April 7 & 9)

The instructions for this week's in-class assignment are shown below. This assignment will cover two class periods. On the first day, you will do the research and prepare your presentation. On the second day, each pair will have five minutes to present their car brand to the class.

  1. Work with a partner.
  2. Choose a car brand. Be specific about the brand you are focusing on: Either it's Toyota or Scion; Volkswagen, or Volkswagen Rabbit
  3. Research: find out which advertising agency currently handles the national brand advertising creative. This will almost certainly include television commercials, but may also include print creative for magazines, online, or other forms of adverising. Find as many ads as possible.
  4. In your presentation: (1) Describe the brand's image and personality; (2) Show us the ads; (3) Explain the message strategy and creative strategy behind the ads.

Some useful sources of information:

From AdAge.com: IAG Research announced the winners of its second annual Automotive Advertising Awards for national TV commercials. Find out who the winners were.

Porsche just launched a new campaign -- it was written about in Brandweek.

Campbell-Ewald is the agency that handles all Chevrolet advertising (and has for years).

Crispin Porter + Bogusky is currently handling the Volkswagen creative.

Butler Shine Stern has the Mini account. Incidentally, they are located in Sausalito, and they are recruiting. (They were here last week. If you didn't know, or you missed it, it's because you're not a member of the ad club.)

Buying and selling magazine advertising (April 14 & 16)

This assignment will cover two class periods, during which you will role play first as media sales representatives, then as media buyers. Bring your favorite magazine(s) to class with you.

In the first class, you and your partner will chose a magazine, and play the role of newly hired advertising sales representatives for that magazine. Your first job is to study the media kit, and prepare a brief (5 minutes max) sales presentation for a group of media buyers.

In the second class, each group will present its sales pitch, and the rest of the class will role play as media buyers, and ask questions. The goal of the presenters is to persuade the audience to buy advertising space in their magazine. The goal of the media buyers is to decide whether or not to buy that magazine. Remember, there are approximately 15,000 magazines in America alone, for media buyers to choose from.

Magazine Publishers’ Association resources: The Magazine Handbook – promotes magazines to advertisers; top ten reasons to advertising in magazines, etc. Available as a PDF on MPA website. The MPA recently came up with a new method to measure the effectiveness of print advertising. The tool consists of 26 “engagement questions” that try to understand “what makes what work” Is it the creative, or is it the medium?

Buying and selling online advertising (April 21 & 23)

This will also be a two-day in-class exercise, similar to the buying and selling magazine advertising exercise, but this time you will be assigned an online media property.

How much do advertisers spend on Internet advertising? According to the IAB, the figures for the second quarter of 2007 were $5.1 billion, up 25.4% from the same period last year. Total projected spend for 2007 is $21 billion. Remember, that's just for the media placement, not for the creative, not for agency fees.

Final presentation schedule
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Email me to claim a date for your final presentations.

Monday, April 28

Angelica Johnsson Gerde

Dustin Valdez

TBD

TBD

TBD

TBD

Smart Car

Louis Vuitton

TBD

TBD

TBD

TBD
Wednesday, April 30 (FULL)

Laura Ringer

Kristine Constantino

Jonathan Rosario

Vanessa Sharland

Bao Pham

Mike Tran

L'Oreal Paris Color Pulse

BAWLS Guarana (brand)

Don Q Puerto Rican Rum

Nissan Sentra

Nokia (brand)

Yamaha R6
Monday, May 5 (FULL)

Vanessa Alessi

Jonee Viray

Lilia Luna

Erin Cabreros

Jeff Chan

Andrew Pau

BlackBerry (brand)

Underarmour

Jamba Juice

Starbucks

AMD (brand)

Rock Band (product)
Wednesday, May 7 (FULL)

Gabrielle Hooks

Brooke Carpenter

Sophie Nakasako

Jenny Ngo

Vanessa Abiva

Daniel Acosta

Softsoap

Red Bull

Epiphone guitars

Pennington Seed's Dog Spot Repair Kit

Alien Workshop

Skin Industries (brand)
Monday, May 12 (FULL)

Steve Yang

Enmanuel

Angel Perez

Ashley Baxter

Samantha Fowler

Jacqueline

Dell XPS (product)

Mini Cooper

Vans (brand)

San Jose Sharks

Trader Joe's

Michael Jordan (brand)