Introduction advertising unit Structure

11.2.2 Steps in Advertising Campaign Planning :
The main 
steps in advertising campaign planning are as follows : 
1. Prototype Stage :
Let us assume that a manufacturer has the 
prototype of a new product. The basic product has been thoroughly 
tested, but the packaging has not been determined, it has no name, 
no price, and perhaps no defined market. In some respects this 
seems to contradict modern marketing principles. This situation is 
not uncommon. The company now wish to advertise its new 
product and appoints an advertising agency and calls it to explore 
the possibilities to promote the sales. 
2. Initial Briefing by Client :
The most likely procedure is for the 
managing director to ask his advertising manager to fix up a 
meeting with the account executive of the advertising agency. This 
first meeting may be held at the f
actory, at the company‟s head 
office, or at the advertising agency. Probably the best venue will be 
where the account executive can see the product and meet the 
people who have been involved in its development. The factory 
might be the best place, but much depends on how the company is 
organized. 
For this initial discussion, the right choice of venue can be 
important to the account executive‟s clear understanding of the 
proposition. It can be dangerous for the advertising agency to start 

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off on the wrong foot because of inadequate or faulty interpretation 
of policy and problems. The need then is for best possible 
understanding at the beginning. This is the joint responsibility of the 
advertising manager and the account executive. 
3. Contact Report :
Whenever a meeting has been held with a 
client a contact report should be written at once and circulated to all 
those present at the meeting, with additional copies for others not in 
attendance who should be informed, both inside the company and 
inside the agency. 
The importance of a contact report lies in its confirmation of 
agreed action, so that nothing depends on people‟s memories, and 
if it is submitted directly after the event it serves to remind of 
necessary action that must be taken by people present at the 
meeting. Agreed contact reports, when placed in a file or binder as 
instructions to proceed, may be referred to as the facts book. 
Should a dispute occur, reference can be made to the respective 
contact report: at the end of the year these reports from the basis of 
a report to the client on the year‟s work.