The Learning Log Assignment Essay

Integrated Marketing Communications

What am I learning?

At this stage my major task is to study the process of communication, its components and relevance to marketing strategies. Communication, itself, consists of several elements:

1. sender (company), which encodes information,
2. transmission device:
3. receiver (buyer), who decodes the message and gives a certain feedback (Clow & Baack, 6).

I need to understand how these notions are connected with advertising and promotion of the product. I also need to get a better understanding of such concept as integrating marketing communications (IMC), which implies that the company should use all of its marketing communications tools and channels in order to appeal to the client (Clow & Baack 8). Another important issue to be studied is the perception of the message by the customer. I need to find answers to the question why he or she may disregard the advertisement, or why the message can be misinterpreted. The authors pay special attention to such concept as noise (the factors, which prevent the viewer from receiving the message).

Furthermore, it is of the crucial importance for me to examine the development of Integrated Marketing Communications plan. The chapter provides detailed information about information tools, recent changes in channel power, the importance of the World Wide Web as a means of sending the marketing message. In addition to that, it is vital for me to gain knowledge of how cultural differences can shape the promotional strategies of an enterprise and what should be done to reduce the costs of marketing.

Overall, I can say that the knowledge that I have acquired is of great use to me because it throws light on the psychological principles of product promotion. It will help to research this issue further and better analyze other scholarly works dedicated to the communicational aspects of advertising.

Learning strategies

First, I would like to say that I am a visual learner, and I tend to rely on graphics, tables or diagrams while learning any material. The visual aids, presented in this book have been of great assistance to me. Having read this chapter, I tried to summarize its major points in my own words. After I jotted down some brief notes, most of them were in the form of bullet points. This approach appears to be most suitable to me because it enables me to retrieve the necessary information very quickly. I do not usually overload notes with too many facts because they can detract my attention from important ideas. I am firmly convinced that the information, presented in the textbook, can only lay a good ground for further research. Therefore, I attempted to assess the implementation of IMC by various firms and find out whether this technique had proved effective. I consulted various scholarly works, examining this issue. My intention was to evaluate the practical aspects of IMC.

Finally, I endeavored to construct a hypothetical situation that would require the use of IMC approach. I needed to put myself into the position of manager who needed to promote a certain product such as mobile phone to the target audience. It required me to reach these people through all possible communication channels. Besides, I had to make up an advertisement that will appeal to a vast range of consumers and will not trigger a negative reaction. More than that, I had to take into account the fact that people, belonging to various cultures can perceive commercials in different ways, partly due to the language barrier.

I have to admit that it was only a mental exercise and I cannot say for sure that my line of reasoning was flawless; yet, this method is normally of great avail for me as it allows to translate theory into practice. As a rule, it yields good results and prepares me for more complicated tasks.

What do I still need to learn?

There are several issues, which still require in-depth analysis. For instance, Kenneth Clow and Donald Baack say that global companies tend to adapt marketing messages to the peculiarities of each country (18) and it is very interesting for me to know exactly it is done. Secondly, it appears to me that I have to get a better understanding of customers decision-making. What are the determinants that influence their attitude toward goods and services? In this chapter the scholars mention such notion as “promotions opportunity analysis” (Clow & Baack, 10). Therefore, it is necessary to examine its principles and the major steps which should be taken to carry out this procedure.

Defining target audience is also a very thought-provoking task. How do managers define their ultimate consumers? While explaining such notion as noise, the authors maintain that it is crucial to know habits of these people, for instance, their favorite TV channels or shows (Clow & Baack, 9). The question arises how exactly it can be achieved. In my opinion, it involves a grand-scale sociological survey but I am not quite sure.

I have frequently heard of such concept as word-of mouth advertising, which is believed to most unobtrusive and persuasive because it comes from a close person (friend, family member, colleague etc). The point is how to incorporate this form of advertising into the marketing strategies of the organization. And how can IMC contribute to it?

Finally, the most essential issue is the ways of gaining competitive advantage over other firms that produce and sell similar products. As far as I know, the overwhelming majority of enterprises do it by adopting flexible pricing policies, enlarging functionality of the product if it is possible. Yet, I would like to better evaluate the role of marketing communications and especially commercials.

Corporate Image and Brand Management

What am I learning?

The information, presented in this chapter is of great value to me as it describes the peculiarities of corporate image and brand management. In this part of the book Kenneth Clow and Donald Baack also examine the creation of value chain mechanisms. In other words, they try to show how the organizations make customers appreciate their goods and services and why they are ready to pay certain price for them. On the whole, corporate image is the way in which people perceive the firm. Having read this chapter, I learned about those factors which shape peoples attitude toward it; some of them are the quality of the product, price, the use of eco-friendly technology, corporate social responsibility and so forth (Clow & Baack, 28). Apart from that, I managed to better assess the role of outside forces which impact corporate image: they include governmental agencies, mass media, consumer associations etc. The authors have eloquently demonstrated that they can produce profound effects on the performance of the firm as well as its marketing strategies. Besides, this book provided me with valuable tips as to how corporate logos are created and how they may affect purchasing decisions of the client.

I also learned a great deal about such concepts as branding and its types like flanker brand, brand extension, co-branding etc. In this section, the authors closely examine the rationale for the use of these strategies. The third questioned discussed by the scholars is the positioning of the product. They urge the managers to give heed to the target audience, the quality of the product, its distinctive features prior to naming it (Clow & Black, 28). Despite the fact that I have already come across similar ideas, expressed by other scholars, my knowledge of this questions became more systematic after reading this chapter.

Learning strategies

This chapter is extremely informative; it virtually abounds in various facts. Hence, it is crucial to remember them. First of all, I briefly answered each of the follow-up questions. This task was rather time-consuming, yet it better helped me to systematize my knowledge of corporate image and brand management. Afterwards, I created several tables to summarize the key facts. I aimed to make a gist of the following concepts:

1. corporate image, its key elements and their role;
2. formation of corporate image, the chief determinants, affecting this process as well as main participants;
3. brand management, some of the most widespread techniques and the situation in they should be used.

The table format is very useful to me because I mostly rely on visual memory. Besides, it would be much easier to find the necessary information, if I forgot something. I believe that these notes can be of great help to me in the course of my career.

At the second stage, I consulted other sources, dedicated to this topic. I read several articles and case studies, examining the practical aspects of brand management, PR and corporate image. I wanted to familiarize myself with the best practices, adopted by leading companies. This reading also posed many thought-provoking questions to me. In particular, my attention was drawn to the peculiarities of online brand management.

Afterwards, I referred to the assignments, presented at the end of the chapter. Many of them were particularly interesting to me, namely, the evaluation of positioning strategy. The assessment of brand management techniques was also an engaging task, mostly because I was able to get a better idea of online commerce. However, I do understand that there is still much to be learned.

What do I still need to learn?

There are some aspects of corporate image creation that should be discussed more minutely; I would like to focus on such questions as the change of corporate image. It is necessary to understand how and why it should be done, or whether it is possible at all. Furthermore, I would like to inquire about those strategies that the company should adopt, if its reputation has been tarnished. Many firms such as Enron simply went out of business only due to public scandals, though their performance at that moment was more or less satisfactory. Therefore, I would like to identify those strategies that can possible save the situation. As it has been noted before, there are several players that create the corporate image; the most influential ones are mass media, customers, governmental institutions, public organizations etc. The question arises how to orchestrate these forces to benefit the company.

Finally, after reading some of the scholarly works, studying the principles of brand management, I encountered several very disputable issues: 1) multi-stakeholder approach to brand building, which means that the organizations should appeal to all stakeholders: its customers, investors, employees while creating its logo or naming the product. However, the principles of multi-stakeholder approach still need to be fully explained. Besides, I frequently came across such notion as conscientious branding. From my point of view, it implies that that any trademark should also stress the importance of CSR (corporate social responsibility). Yet, I am not quite sure that this goal can be attained by every company.

I believe that a student, who specializes in marketing strategies and advertising, should well-aware of these issues. Yet, I also realize that the research may take quite a long time.

Buyer Behaviors

What am I learning?

At this point I explore the so-called purchasing process that consists of five stages: 1) need recognition; 2) search for the product, 3) assessment of various alternatives; 4) the decision to buy, and 5) post-purchase evaluation (Clow & Baack, 88). I found out that from a marketing perspective, the most essential ones are the second and the third stages, in other words, search for the information and assessment of different alternatives. These data are very largely relevant to my understanding of buyers’ psychology. In addition, this chapter provides tips as to how the organization can influence customers decisions. The in-depth knowledge of these mechanisms will assist me in developing an IMC plan.

In this part of the book, Kenneth Clow and Donald Baack discuss the peculiarities of individual and corporate customers. In my opinion, students should be able to distinguish them because very often firms sell products only to large organization, and the principles of vendor selection are of great importance. I believe that the marketing manager should also be very versed in supply chain creation as it may also be an inseparable part of customers decision-making, especially if it is a for-profit organization.

Learning strategies

In order to gain better understanding of customer behaviors, one should put oneself in these peoples position. The thing is that I seldom tried to rationalize my decision-making while purchasing any product. Some of the assignments helped me to do it, especially those ones, which dealt with the use of heuristic models. I tried to remember some of my recent purchases and those steps that I made prior to buying a product or service. The managers should focus on the criteria, according to which buyers evaluate their goods. These criteria include liability, serviceable life, or price-quality ratio. So, I realized that prior to launching a marketing campaign, one should first carefully study the major characteristics of the product. On the whole, I can say that the theoretical aspects of buyers’ behavior are quite comprehensible, but it is often difficult to put these ideas into practice without thorough analysis of the target audience, their needs and preferences.

What do I still need to learn?

Kenneth Clow and Donald Baack postulate that the marketing plays an important role during such stages as search for the information and assessment of alternatives. I would like to know more about need recognition, particularly, whether it is possible to stimulate peoples desire to consume products. It is no secret that the members of modern community buy products not only out of necessity but out of sheer desire as well. So, one should study the techniques, used by leading corporations. At this moment, I can draw only several examples, which prove my point; one of them is automobile industry. Many car manufacturers succeeded in persuading people to buy their vehicles, though there might be no apparent need to do so. In part, people do it in effort to gain the sense of prestige, but I cannot state it for a fact. Therefore, I think that need recognition stage definitely merits more exploration.

Again, I have to emphasize an idea that target audience analysis should not be disregarded. To better illustrate my argument, I need to construct the following scenario: a certain company intends to launch a mass-scale production of cutting-edge mobile phones. How should they study their ultimate consumers? What are the methods that they should employ to predict the aesthetic preferences of these people, their financial capacity, or their purchasing decisions. It seems that these tasks cannot be disregarded.

Promotions Opportunity Analysis

What am I learning?

I am endeavoring to understand and master the main principles of promotions opportunity analysis. This chapter offers guidelines for conducting this procedure. Kenneth Clow and Donald Baack list those questions that should be asked prior to launching a marketing campaign. They urge the managers to determine whether there are any customers that are constantly overlooked by the company. They also insist that the organization must determine whether their marketing messages are fully comprehensible to a wide audience (Clow & Baack, 92). These instructions can act as a safeguard against common mistakes, made by the managers.

Furthermore, this chapter contains valuable tips for the assessment of marketing campaigns. The scholars help students to find the correlation between the investment in advertising on the one hand, and profitability of the enterprise on the other. They point out that quantitative models of assessments are not always accurate (Clow & Baack, 98). In my viewpoint, this piece of advice should not be overlooked even by experienced advertisers.

Moreover, I became more familiar with the social trends in the United States that influence the marketing strategies of the leading companies, in particular, demographical changes or transformation of gender roles (Clow & Baack, 104). Finally, the scholars make a very interesting survey that shows how buying preferences of American people have evolved in the twentieth century.

Learning strategies

I adopted several learning methods in order to acquire practical knowledge of promotions opportunity analysis. I selected one of the U.S.-based enterprises, namely Apple, and tried to determine whether marketing messages are addressed to various segments of American population. More than that, I attempted to examine how such concept as cultural diversity is handled by leading companies. Additionally, at the end of the chapter, there are various tasks, which make a student to act in the capacity of marketing manager. According to one of them, I needed to identify the benefits that consumers could derive from a product like seafood restaurant, auto insurance, soft drink or aspirin (Clow & Baack, 113). Most importantly, I needed to make a marketing message that would emphasize this benefit. I am not quite certain that my advertisements were very much appealing or impressive but at least it was a good practice.

What do I still need to learn?

In my opinion, I still need to clarify several questions: the authors eloquently demonstrate how buying preferences of American people have transformed over these years. Yet, I would like to know whether this pattern is applicable to international community. Another issue that also needs to be explained to me is how to measure ROI (return on investment) of a marketing strategy. The thing is that sales rates are affected by affected by a great number of factors such as the level of supply and demand or economic situation in the country. Therefore, it is not quite clear to me how the manager can isolate these factors, while evaluating ROI of advertising.

In this chapter the authors provide classification of the customers; it includes such categories as innovators, thinkers, achievers etc (Clow & Baack, 105). These people have their own distinctive values and priorities. So, is it possible to tailor a marketing program that would appeal to each of these categories? I have tried to search for information concerning it, but I did not found any source, directly related to this issue. Overall, I may say that the ideas, expressed by the scholars are both helpful and interesting.

Advertising Management

What am I learning?

At this point the key objective is to become proficient in theoretical and practical aspects of advertising management. In this chapter of the book the authors familiarize the reader with the main elements of a marketing campaign, such preparing a creative brief, selection of the message channel and analysis of the target audience and so forth. Moreover, the guidelines, presented in this chapter are particularly useful to the would-be advertising managers, as they show how one should or should not interact with the customer. The ability to establish a rapport with the client seems to be one of the most essential properties of a good advertiser.

I also learn about such concept as “message theme” and its constituent parts. Kenneth Clow and Donald Baack also provide instructions concerning the indispensible components of a commercial, for example a disclaimer (139). In my view, this knowledge is also necessary because it can safeguard the company and advertising agency against many legal conflicts. Lastly, the authors introduce the reader into the domain of global marketing. They argue that the perception of a commercial can differ from one country to another and emphasize the role of cultural assimilator who provides information about custom business and media differences in various regions of the world. I believe that these instructions can be useful to those, who plan to carve out a career in marketing.

Learning strategies

My focus was mostly on practical assignments, posed at the end of the chapter. I picked a product, namely an energy drink and prepared a creative brief. First, I needed to determine its target audience. I think that its ultimate consumers are adolescents and adults. The age range is from 16 to 30. They are split evenly between males and females. Secondly, I tried to predict their lifestyle and values. This was one of the greatest difficulties for me because people belonging to this age group can immensely differ from one another in terms of educational level, interests, artistic tastes and so forth. To be frank enough, I failed to any distinctive feature that all of them have in common. The only thing that is worth discussion is the purpose for consuming the drink. So, it seems to me that the marketing theme should set stress on the usefulness of the beverage, its capacity to restore strength. Additionally, the language of the message should be more colloquial. It should also underline the youth of these people, their ability to make a difference.

I have to admit that my assumptions may not be as accurate as possible because I should first get a better understanding of values and lifestyles model as well as of personal drive analysis. Overall, this task helped me to identify gaps in my knowledge.

What do I still need to learn?

The question that interests me most is how to solve disputes with customer. For instance, what should be done if the commercial, created by an advertising agency does not suit the client, and he/she wants it to be remade from scratch or event makes a refund? Is it possible to reconcile this conflict? Apart from that, I need to learn more about the selection schedule of advertising campaign; there are several types like pulsating, flighting or continuous schedules. It seems to me that I should know more about the peculiarities of their usage.

The authors explore such notions as VAL (values and lifestyle model) and PDA (personal drive analysis). These are the research techniques that allow to predict purchasing behavior of the customer (Clow & Baack, 140). I should be more versed in the usage of these research methods. What are the criteria to which one should pay heed while conducting either VAL or PDA? I believe that that an advertising manager should be proficient in these areas.

Advertising Design: Theoretical Frameworks and Types of Appeal

What am I learning?

While reading this chapter I primarily intended to enlarge my knowledge of the theoretical approaches to advertising, especially, hierarchy of effects model and means-end chain. The visual aids as well as the examples, given by the authors greatly assisted me and I managed to better understand these notions. However, the bulk of this chapter is dedicated to the types of appeal (humor, fear, sexuality etc) and their effects on the buyer (Clow & Baack, 154). Now I can better evaluate marketing messages, conveyed by various companies. As a student of marketing and as an average buyer, I should be well-aware of these techniques, designed to make the audience purchase products.

I also found helpful information about the peculiarities of global advertising. The authors urge managers not to forget that various types of appeal (especially appeal to sexuality) might be perceived negatively by the representatives of other cultures mostly due to the different value system (Clow & Baack, 161). To some extent, this chapter gave me deep insights into the nature of my future job. I realized that a marketing manager has to be knowledgeable in cognitive psychology, study of culture, and related disciplines.

Learning strategies

At first, I consulted several sources, examining theoretical frameworks of advertising. My goal was to learn more about hierarchy of effects model and means-end chain. Judging from several scholarly articles, I can presume that these approaches are quite compatible with one another. This research showed me how these theoretical principles are put into execution. Secondly, I needed to rationalize my perceptions of marketing messages. As a rule, I do not attach importance to this thing. I looked through various advertisements and tried to determine which type of appeal had been chosen by the creators.

Afterwards I briefly answered the questions, raised at the end of the chapter. In this way I learned more about the combination of appeals and got a more comprehensive idea of the structure of the advertisement. Practical assignments, especially the development of a means-end chain proved to be both challenging and interesting. Nonetheless, it should be noted that I failed to articulate all of the products benefits within a single marketing message. But I am not sure that it is always necessary because very often companies appeal only to one emotion.

What do I still need to learn?

At this point my greatest concern is the practical aspects of advertising design. I would like to be able to combine various types of appeal within a single message, since this strategy appears to me more effective. It is also necessary for me to become more aware of reactions, triggered by these messages. The authors stress the idea that the creators of advertisement should possess a prodigious sense of proportion. According to them, too much emphasis on humor, fear and sexuality can produce an adverse effect on the viewer. So, I would like to know more about those procedures that can predict the reaction of a potential buyer.

Besides, marketing messages can be rendered through various channels (or transmission devices) like television, print, Internet, and radio. Naturally, the most efficient ones are television and Internet because these media can combine text, graphic and audio signals. What I would like to know is how one can combine various types of appeal, if he/she can only use either radio or print, which have a more limited capacity than television or WWW. On the whole, having read this chapter I became more and more convinced that advertising design requires enormous analytical and interpretative skills.

Advertising Design: Message Strategies and Executional Frameworks

What am I learning?

First of all, I am studying the principles of selecting the message type, which can be generic, preemptive, unique selling proposition, hyperbole, or comparative advertisement (Clow & Baack, 179). The authors carefully assess the advantages and disadvantages of each type. Overall, I can argue that these instructions are most beneficial as the choice of message type can shape the outcome of the whole marketing campaign. The second question that I would like to clarify is the benefits of various message strategies which can be cognitive, affective or cognitive. They are meant to evince a certain reaction from a viewer or listener, for instance, to increase awareness, stimulate liking, and eventually make a purchase. Despite the fact that this information is mostly of theoretical nature, it has to be taken into consideration since without proper theoretical foundation one can hardly create an engaging advertisement.

Secondly, having read this chapter I became familiar with several executional techniques such animation, dramatization, slice-of-life etc (Clow & Baack, 182). The authors show how and under what circumstances each of these methods should be used. By providing real-life examples they help the reader to establish a relation between theory of advertising and practice. Now I can better comprehend marketing strategies of leading manufacturers. In addition to that, with the help of this book I managed to identify the methods of overcoming ad clutter or the presence of competitors commercial

Learning strategies

After reading this chapter, I created several tables in which I listed message types and strategies. I also summarized the peculiarities of their usage. This helped me to systematize the information of the chapter. Subsequently, I thought of my own examples that could illustrate the use of various message strategies and executional techniques. This prepared me for the follow-up tasks, which involved several activities, both interpretive and analytical.

For instance, I attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of several executional frameworks. This task proved both difficult and time-consuming because some advertisements combined many executional techniques. They were quite memorable and rather impressive. Without any of them the overall effect could have diminished. So I could not evaluate the separate contribution of each executional strategy. All in all, I should say that these assignments pointed out those areas of my knowledge that left much to be desired.

What do I still need to learn?

Almost all of the issues discussed by the authors are quite clear to me. Yet, I think that it is necessary for me to learn more about the theory of variability. It is based on the idea that the perception of any marketing message depends on the environment in which this message is placed (Clow & Baack, 188). However, I believe that I should concentrate on practical implications of this approach. How is this idea utilized by modern companies? From my standpoint, this issue definitely merits more extensive research.

Secondly, having completed some of the assignments I can say with certainty that I should pay more attention to the selection of message type and executional strategy. At this point I can say that some of my choices were far from being correct. Lastly, in this chapter, Kenneth Clow and Donald Baack describe the strategies for overcoming ad clutter. To some degree, each them can yield fruits. But they are more suitable for the needs of the enterprises with a large marketing budget. I would like to know how this problem can be solved by small businesses, whose financial resources are more limited.

Traditional Media Channels

What am I learning?

The chapter is primarily dedicated to the selection of a mass media channel through which the company can convey its marketing message to the potential customers. Kenneth Clow and Donald Baack evaluate the effectiveness of television, radio, Internet and newspapers as a means of addressing the audience. They also list the advantages and disadvantages of each media channel. I believe that this information can very useful all kinds of companies, irrespective of their size, structure or product. These guidelines are beneficial to that extent that they enable to estimate the ROI of advertising campaign.

Moreover, given current economic recession, entrepreneurs are struggling to find the best price-quality ratio when they tailor marketing programs. Having read this chapter I managed to address some of the questions which I posed to myself at the very beginning, namely, how to measure the return of investment in marketing. This question seems to be of great interest to entrepreneurs who want to measure the efficiency of a marketing strategy.

Finally, I learned more about the development of a media plan for the company. This is an indispensible skill for a would-be marketing manager. Additionally, in this chapter, the authors explain how one can choose the most suitable radio station or TV channel in order to place the advertisement. In my opinion, this information can safeguard the company against superfluous expenditures.

Learning strategies

As I have previously mentioned, the use of visual aids is an inseparable part of my learning strategy. Therefore, diagrams and tables offered by the authors turned out to be of great avail to me. With their help, the information is much easier to comprehend. This was particularly useful to me when I was studying the advantages and disadvantages of each media channel. Nonetheless, I was not sure whether I had grasped all the ideas correctly, so I proceeded to the follow-up questions some of them were particularly beneficial as they pointed out to those areas that I needed to research more carefully, particularly, the three-exposure hypothesis. One of the assignment involved the evaluation of the companys website and identification of its target market. Lastly, I constructed a hypothetical scenario that required me to select a mass media channel for a small shop, specializing in the distribution of alcoholic beverages. My assumption is that the best solution for them is to place the advertisement on billboards.

What do I still need to learn?

While reading this chapter, I came across such notion as three-exposure hypothesis. According to it, the potential buyer pays attention to a commercial only at first and second time he/she see it. The third exposure as well as subsequent ones cannot possibly alter his/her purchasing decision. I would like to determine whether this hypothesis can be in any way tested by means of empirical research. Moreover, I need to know whether leading companies take it into account when they map out the schedule of advertisement campaign. The authors raise a very important question concerning international marketing. They say that the selection of a media channel might be very difficult especially if the company operates in an unknown business environment. So it is necessary for me to understand how the company should behave in such situation. On the whole, it seems to me that many of my questions would be effectively addressed in the following chapters.

Works Cited

Clow K. E & Baack D. Integrated Advertising, Promotion and Marketing Communications. Prentice Hall, 2010.