Description
In this activity, we’ll take a look at how traditional advertising works. Let’s not forget that while much hype surrounds the growth of digital marketing, the more conventional ways of communicating with consumers (such as TV and cinema advertising) remain popular and very effective. In fact, recent research has shown that brands should try to use a combination of traditional and digital marketing, whenever possible, to best capture the attention of consumers and generate sales.
For this activity, we are going to use the Mountain Dew case study, which is a classic case of selecting creative output for a brand in the context of traditional marketing communications.
First, please read the Mountain Dew case study. (Attached – Holt, D. B. (2001). Mountain Dew- Selecting New Creative. Harvard Business School. pdf)
Imagine that you are the brand manager of Mountain Dew (MD), a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo.
The target audience of MD is young people who embrace excitement, adventure and fun. Key competitors are raising their ad budgets and competition in the category is heating up.
Your sales are currently below target, so you decide to launch a new TV advertising campaign for the Super Bowl.
You have briefed your advertising agency and they have created five adverts for you to consider:
Dew or die
Labor of love
Cheetah
Mock Opera
Showstopper.
Your tasks:
In preparation for your meeting with the agency, prepare a tool or scorecard that you can use to assess the advertisements. What criteria would you use to decide which ad to include in the Super Bowl? Prepare one slide that shows this tool.
It’s the big day and the agency has come in with storyboards outlining the five ads. You can see the original story boards below, exactly as they were presented to MD managers. Now, put yourself in their shoes. Using the tool you developed in step 1, assess each ad and choose one to take to the Super Bowl. Prepare a slide outlining your analysis and submit everything in preparation for the live session.
Here are the original story boards:
