Suppose you have the contract to market two brands of laundry detergents, Ultra (an established brand) and FreshX (a new brand) in the US East Coast region. Both brands belong to Company A. The combined advertising budget available to you for both products is about $500,000. The target market for Ultra is the budget-conscious customer segment while FreshX is targeted towards younger, upwardly mobile professionals. Design specific communication tools for each of the products (i.e., for Ultra and FreshX) with regard to the following:
1. Message strategy: What specific themes or ideas will you adopt for Ultra and FreshX – keeping in mind the respective target demographic types?
2. Creative strategy: What kind of appeal – informational or transformational – will work best for each brand? Please explain.
Message Strategy is the first step in creating an effective advertising message. It provides the foundation for the rest of the advertising campaign. According to Kotler the first step of developing a message strategy is "identifying customer benefits that can be used as advertising appeals" (Kotler 363). From past chapters and lectures we have learned that customers buy products based on their perceived value and benefits they offer rather than for the product in and of itself. An advertisement's success is rooted in its ability to communicate the products benefits and value to particular customers.
The next step of message strategy outlined in Kotler is the development of a creative concept. This is defined as "the compelling big idea that will bring the advertising message strategy to life in a