The effect of advertising CAN be measured and tracked

1. Communications Benchmarking
Communications Benchmarking
& Measurement
~ or ~
You CAN Measure the
Effectiveness of Advertising
Effectiveness of Advertising
© 2009 Cynapsus LLC

2. BACKGROUND
A Texas Gulf Coast refinery was considering doing broad‐based consumer advertising.
G lf C fi id i d i b d b d d ii
Their refined products (gasoline and diesel fuels) were not “branded” and thus not
sold under their name. This created a disadvantage for them when competing with
two other refiners in the area who were b d d
t th fi i th h branded marketers, since the community –
k t i th it
and the potential employees within it – was not as familiar with their name or even
understood what the company did.
Although the firm was a strong supporter of the community by sponsoring educational
efforts, promoting environmental stewardship, and safety initiatives, the company’s
management did not feel that these efforts were contributing to awareness of the
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company nor did they helped the community to understand what they did or to help
the firm attract top‐notch employees.
© 2009 Cynapsus LLC

3. OBJECTIVES
1 – To measure the value of and return on traditional “consumer” advertising for
h l f d di i l“ ” d ii f
improving company name recognition.
2 – To help attract quality employees from the community in which the company
operated.
© 2009 Cynapsus LLC

4. APPROACH
Prior to fielding advertising, a baseline awareness and association measure was
i fi ldi d ii b li d i i
obtained from a broad‐based sample of the community. Telephone surveys were
conducted among a general population base of those in the community who were 16
years of age or older. Demographic information (gender, ethnicity, age, educational
f ld D hi i f ti ( d th i it d ti l
attainment, and household income) was gathered in addition to questions on:
• Company (name) awareness – unaided and aided;
• Advertising awareness;
• Current employer (to determine if there was any skew in the responses);
• Which company they’d choose to run all of the refineries in the area;
p y y ;
• Importance and assessment of how well the company performed on several key
attributes (for message development);
• The best sources for employment information (to identify media vehicles); and
The best sources for employment information (to identify media vehicles); and
• Specific associations for the client company (open ended questions on what
business the company was in).
© 2009 Cynapsus LLC

5. RESULTS
60% Unaided C
U id d Company Awareness
A 60% Unaided Advertising Awareness
50%
46%
40% 41%
40%
37%
ming
40%
ming
31% 40% 31%
30%
% Nam
28%
% Nam
23%
15%
20% 20%
0% 0%
Pre-Cam paign (n=105) One Month Post One Year Post (n=100) Pre-Cam paign One Month Post One Year Post
(n=101) (n=105) (n=101) (n=100)
Client Refinery Branded Com petitors Client Refinery Branded Com petitors
During the campaign, company awareness increased from 15% pre‐campaign to 31%
after one month to 40%, so the advertising had its desired impact – and it was lasting.
Advertising awareness also grew – from 23% pre‐campaign to 32% after one month to
Advertising awareness also grew from 23% pre campaign to 32% after one month to
41% – and was comparable to company awareness.
The greatest increases were among women, who were felt to be major influencers of
The greatest increases were among women who were felt to be major influencers of
employer choice in the community where the refinery operated.
© 2009 Cynapsus LLC

6. RESULTS
Company Chosen to Run all Refineries
40%
The percentage of respondents choosing
the company to run all refineries in the
23% 23% area more than doubled. And, ,
ng
% Namin
20%
14%
15% significantly more respondents named the
8% 10%
company than the “competitive” branded
refineries, so achieved preference in the
0% community as “the” place to work.
Pre-Cam paign One Month Post One Year Post
Client Refinery Branded Com petitors
© 2009 Cynapsus LLC

7. RESULTS
Change in Satisfaction with Client Company
Change in Satisfaction with Client Company
Performance on Key Attributes Throughout the Campaign
Delta
Attribute Importance
(percentage points)
Has an excellent safety record 87% +12
Treats employees as members of a team
Treats employees as members of a team 84% +9
Supports educational/ community efforts 84% +9
Spends money to make products/operations
83% +7
environmentally‐friendly
Association of the company with the key attributes increased during the campaign.
© 2009 Cynapsus LLC

8. Conclusions and Additional
Metrics
Market research was invaluable to an industrial company not accustomed to doing
consumer advertising by helping to quantify the effect of the advertising and to show
how it can be of value in community relations activities. The findings enabled to
how it can be of value in community relations activities The findings enabled to
company to justify the continuation of the advertising beyond 2007.
In addition to the research metrics obtained, the plant HR Director reported that the
I dditi t th h ti bt i d th l t HR Di t t d th t th
number of highly qualified applicants had increased 20% during the course of the
campaign.
The campaign achieved both objectives by measurably increasing awareness, and it
helped the company to attract more of the right kinds of employees.
THE USE OF MARKET RESEARCH IN THIS COMMUNICATION PROGRAM SHOWED THAT
THE EFFECT OF ADVERTISING CAN BE MEASURED AND MONITORED EFFECTIVELY.
© 2009 Cynapsus LLC