Why is it important to understand McGuires information processing paradigm?
It is important to understand McGuires information processing paradigm because it helps us understand how to effectively accomplish a key communication goal: brand attitude. It shows us how we can affect an attitudinal change and also shows us the steps required to create a successful communication. By using these paradigm we can understand the psychological aspect of how communication works and thus know what must happen if advertising and promotion are to work. All in all, this paradigm will help advertisers create successful communication message and assist in fixing faulty ones. P(p)xP(a)xP(c)xP(y)xP(r)xP(b) o P(p)- probability of being presented the message o P(a)- probability of paying attention to the message o P(c) probability of comprehending the message o P(y) probability of yielding the message o P(r) Probability of retaining the intention o P(b) probability of behaving (Page 61-63)
How does the communication response sequence help the manager to better understand what is needed for effective strategic planning in communication? The communication response sequence is a simplified version of McGuires information processing paradigm. They both help managers understand that the communication message needs to be appropriately distributed its needs an appropriate media outlet. As if one does not see the advertising or promotion it has no opportunity of working. Second they also understand the importance of creating a message that is easily comprehendible as if the audience cannot process the message there can be no effects or they may process the message incorrectly and you could have an undesired effect. Thus it shows managers that they need to focus on the exposure and processing steps so as to ensure the desired communication effect and target audience action. In other words, it helps managers understand that the overall advertising and promotion planning must correspond to what it takes for advertising and promotion to be successful the 4 steps mentioned below. o Exposure corresponds to McGuires presentation step o Processing encompasses both the attention and comprehension steps o Communication effects encompass both the yielding and retention steps o Target audience action corresponds to the behavior step (Page 63, 65)
What are the major benefits of sequential planning? The major benefit of sequential planning is that allows the marketer or decision maker to make adjustment when and where necessary. The communication response sequence like the advertising planning process is sequential and hierarchical, but the major difference is that a failure at one step will not invalidate the whole process. With the communication response sequence if there is a failure at any step then this invalidates the whole process. However with the sequential planning process of the advertising plan the marketing has the ability to work backwards for the objectives set and allows them to judge failure points and adjust accordingly. For instance, if there is a wrong decision made with the selection of the target audience then the objective of the plan is not invalidated, the target audience is simply wrong and must be adjusted. However in the communication planning process if there is exposure and but no processing o f the message then the both the exposure plan and processing is invalidated and the whole process must start again. Sequential planning allows marketers to see their end objective and work towards it in the subsequent steps, all the while allowing for adjustments to be made when and if necessary. (Page 68-70)
What is the role of the marketing plan in strategic planning for advertising and other marketing communication? The role of marketing plan is to set written objectives for the advertising and promotional planning to adhere to and to also ensure that marketing communications are in line with the overall marketing plan, brand positioning and brand image. In addition with a clearly stated marketing plan one has objectives to achieve which in turn make it possible to coordinate the advertising and promotion programs with the plans of other company units. With written objectives all of the managers involved will know what the demands upon the company will be at any given time o For example: financial planning and production plans should be matched with advertising expectations of the brand. If we know our product sells significantly better at certain times of the year, advertising strategy will be geared to those peal selling periods. In terms of cash flow for the company more money will be required during these peak selling periods for marketing expenses as well as for raw materials and perhaps labor as well. Production will need to plan for greater manufacturing demands for the brand in terms of raw materials, labor and time. Additionally, these written objectives are important for the advertising agency as well. If everyone working on an account account service, creative, media, planning know what the advertisers objectives are for the brand, there is less opportunity for misunderstandings between the agency and the client advisory or between groups within the agency. A 3 rd
advantage to having written objectives is that they produce something against which both the advertiser and the agency can evaluate the brands performance. (Page 70)
Why is it important to understand the difference between goals and objectives in strategic planning for advertising and other marketing communication? Objectives define the general ends sought by the company, while goals are objectives that have very specific definition. Most companies will have specific goals of one sort or another when they put together their marketing plan. After all, without some estimate of likely sales, not only will it be difficult to determine what money will be available for marketing expenditures, but also the company will not be able to plan effectively for things such as production schedules, raw material acquisition and so on. If only the vague objective of increasing sales has been adopted it should be clear that important planning decisions will be very difficult if not impossible to formulate. Thus, goals and objectives are important to the marketing plan as it gives managers a metric to measure success or failure, to help make planning decisions and also to set milestones that they need to achieve. Furthermore, goals and objectives are related to the communication response sequence and it is important to understand when to use a goal and when to use an objective. In the communication response sequence objectives are set at every level of planning, but goals are set only where they make sense and can be measured. This means that goals are set for an individual adverts contribution to exposure and message processing and for a campaign when considering communication effects and target audience action (Pages 70-72)