Marketing communication: principles and practice

Figure 14.3
Aspects of human cognition that advertising seeks to affect

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Advertising tactics
The advertising designer must be guided by the communication objectives
of the business enterprise. A range of tactics or communicative styles should
be considered. Figure 14.4 briefly examines ten available tactics for advertisers.
Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW) is a European joint venture of Nestlé
(the world’s number one food manufacturer) and General Mills Inc. Through
their advertising agency, McCann Eriksen Coley Porter Bell (who bill
themselves as ‘brand designers’), CPW have been running a ‘kid-oriented’
premium promotion with merchandise tie-in for the hugely successful
Disney/Pixar film 
Toy Story 2
. Packs of selected CPW breakfast cereals
(Shreddies, for example) have carried a PC CD-ROM sampler that includes
a screensaver, game, video clip, and several novelty features. What better
way for children to get a taste (excuse the pun) of the film and the cereal.
This is an example of habit initiation or even obligation in what is presently
a novel advertisement. Such new avenues are opening to supplement and in
some cases replace traditional print and TV advertising.
O’Shaughnessy (1988) identifies four tasks for advertising that will usually
be used in combination and should relate to the overall goal of creating a
distinctive and memorable identity for the product (i.e. a brand) (Figure 14.5).
A D V E R T I S I N G A S C O M M U N I C A T I N G
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Inform
Present news of the product without explanation or argument
Argue
Relate reasons why a purchase is desirable 
Motivate
Explicitly state benefits, using emotional appeals to self-interest
Repeatedly 
Repetition of a central point, generally unsupported by proof