KV asks: I have a global marketing client who is adamant to save on his advertising production costs. They have decided to use radio and print ads from overseas markets in media in East Africa. Please help the admen drive home the point that not all markets are the same and each market is unique in its own right.
Chris answers: I hate to disappoint you KV, but I do not subscribe to the absolute uniqueness of individual markets. Of course they all have their own nuances, languages, and customs. But they are still populated by creatures called human beings. And the one thing I can tell you is that there are more similarities than differences when it comes to human behavior.
Whether you are marketing to Guatemalans or Ghanaians. To understand this properly, you need to have access to a consumer segmentation model that identifies people by their psychographics. Their values; goals and motivations in life. Most major ad agencies have such models.
As professional marketers increasingly tasked with multi-market activity, we need to identify those similarities so that we can produce cost effective campaigns. If the average Kenyan marketing budget is barely up to the task defined for it, imagine how lean regional budgets can be. Particularly in the area of TV advertising, where the most impactful medium available to us is used in dribs and drabs, due to a number of serious misconceptions.
The first misconception is that TV media airtime is expensive. A quick comparison on the cost of reaching thousands of people (cost per thousand analysis) by TV versus print shows how fallacious this is. The second misconception is that TV doesn't reach far outside urban areas, or far down market. That has been untrue for nearly a decade, but so few marketers travel outside major urban areas that they remain blissfully aware of the fact.
And the third misconception is that producing a TV commercial is expensive. You can produce a simple TV commercial for less than Sh3 million, and then use it for 2-3 years. Is an amortised cost of Sh1 million per year expensive? There is only one problem with this. For that TV commercial to be acceptable to viewing audiences, it needs to have a really good idea. And marketers who lack experience with TV advertising are unlikely to be able to judge a good idea when they see it.
Back to your question, KV. If messaging produced outside Kenya tests positively in market research here - for comprehension and relevance - then why not run it? Not every piece of advertising in the world features images familiar to local audiences - indeed some brands use international imagery deliberately to set themselves apart. I suspect from the tone of your enquiry that your client has not proved this to your satisfaction. In which case he may well be committing a cardinal sin.
PW asks: What does an account manager do in an ad agency?
Chris responds: Many people ask the same question, but not always in a kind way!
Despite the confusing title this appointment doesn't have much to do with finance, except in the costing and billing of advertising work to clients. An account manager in any kind of communications agency is a client contact person. In banking, the equivalent is a relationship manager. This is a second level position, normally populated by people with more than three years experience in the business.
A good account manager is a project manager, whose primary responsibility is on-time, on-budget delivery of communications work. At this level of experience, they are not likely to be empowered to discuss advertising or creative strategy with the client. They orchestrate meetings where more senior experts are brought to bear. Then they execute the decisions made in those meetings. Good account managers who demonstrate an aptitude for the communications debate can be promoted to account director.
Source From:http://allafrica.com/stories/201208230075.html
Chris answers: I hate to disappoint you KV, but I do not subscribe to the absolute uniqueness of individual markets. Of course they all have their own nuances, languages, and customs. But they are still populated by creatures called human beings. And the one thing I can tell you is that there are more similarities than differences when it comes to human behavior.
Whether you are marketing to Guatemalans or Ghanaians. To understand this properly, you need to have access to a consumer segmentation model that identifies people by their psychographics. Their values; goals and motivations in life. Most major ad agencies have such models.
As professional marketers increasingly tasked with multi-market activity, we need to identify those similarities so that we can produce cost effective campaigns. If the average Kenyan marketing budget is barely up to the task defined for it, imagine how lean regional budgets can be. Particularly in the area of TV advertising, where the most impactful medium available to us is used in dribs and drabs, due to a number of serious misconceptions.
The first misconception is that TV media airtime is expensive. A quick comparison on the cost of reaching thousands of people (cost per thousand analysis) by TV versus print shows how fallacious this is. The second misconception is that TV doesn't reach far outside urban areas, or far down market. That has been untrue for nearly a decade, but so few marketers travel outside major urban areas that they remain blissfully aware of the fact.
And the third misconception is that producing a TV commercial is expensive. You can produce a simple TV commercial for less than Sh3 million, and then use it for 2-3 years. Is an amortised cost of Sh1 million per year expensive? There is only one problem with this. For that TV commercial to be acceptable to viewing audiences, it needs to have a really good idea. And marketers who lack experience with TV advertising are unlikely to be able to judge a good idea when they see it.
Back to your question, KV. If messaging produced outside Kenya tests positively in market research here - for comprehension and relevance - then why not run it? Not every piece of advertising in the world features images familiar to local audiences - indeed some brands use international imagery deliberately to set themselves apart. I suspect from the tone of your enquiry that your client has not proved this to your satisfaction. In which case he may well be committing a cardinal sin.
PW asks: What does an account manager do in an ad agency?
Chris responds: Many people ask the same question, but not always in a kind way!
Despite the confusing title this appointment doesn't have much to do with finance, except in the costing and billing of advertising work to clients. An account manager in any kind of communications agency is a client contact person. In banking, the equivalent is a relationship manager. This is a second level position, normally populated by people with more than three years experience in the business.
A good account manager is a project manager, whose primary responsibility is on-time, on-budget delivery of communications work. At this level of experience, they are not likely to be empowered to discuss advertising or creative strategy with the client. They orchestrate meetings where more senior experts are brought to bear. Then they execute the decisions made in those meetings. Good account managers who demonstrate an aptitude for the communications debate can be promoted to account director.
Source From:http://allafrica.com/stories/201208230075.html
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