Dagmar Approach

DAGMAR is Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results. It is basically an approach to advertising planning and a precise method for selecting and quantifying goals and for using those goals to measure performance. Russel H. Colley (1961) pioneered this approach where to establish an explicit link between ad goals and ad results, Colley distinguished 52 advertising goals that might be used with respect to a single advertisement, a year’s campaign for a product or a company’s entire advertising philosophy.
These goals may pertain to sales, image, attitude, and awareness.
Some of the goals are:
• Persuade a prospect to visit a show room and ask for a demonstration.
• Build up the morale of the company’s sales force.
• Facilitate sales by correcting false impression, misinformation and other obstacles.
• Announce a special reason for buying now’s (price, discount, premium and so on).
• Make the brand identity known and easily recognizable.
• Provide information or implant attitude regarding benefits and superior features of brand.

An advertising objective involves a communication task, intended to create awareness, impart information, develop attitudes or induce action. In the DAGMAR approach, the communication task is based on a specific model of the communication process, as shown below. Awareness
↓
Comprehension
↓
Conviction
↓
Image
↓
Action
According to DAGMAR approach, the communication task of the brand is to gain (a) awareness, (b) comprehension, (c) Conviction, (d) image and (e) action.
Advertising goals should be consistent with these communication tasks. Later performance on these counts and projected goals is compared.

Communication Process in DAGMAR Approach
The model suggests that before the acceptance of a product by an individual, there is a series of mental steps which the individual goes through. At some point of time, the individual will be unaware of