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Jul 3, 2009 by Mark MaierThat has been a major question among clients that look at advertising as a mere expense and not as an investment in customer procurement and increased share as consumers enter and exit the Buyers Awareness Cycle. A new survey quoted in Advertising Age points to some very interesting statistics that you need to share with clients that have been dark for any period of time or are still thinking about it....
"In the short term, marketers can get away with cutting media spending without much real harm. But that term is as short as a quarter, and the harm, once it begins, can last long after the media switch gets turned back on.
Those are recent findings of ThinkVine, a Cincinnati analytics firm that does predictive media modeling for marketers such as PepsiCo, MillerCoors and Colgate-Palmolive Co. ThinkVine CEO Damon Ragusa said lately he's been getting a lot of inquiries about the potential impact of going dark altogether for a quarter or more.
An analysis the firm did for one unnamed brand looked at the impact of turning off media entirely for a year, then turning it back on the next year at prior levels. For about 16 weeks, sales volume was about the same. By the end of year one, however, sales volume was about 20 percent lower without media than with it.
Turning media back on in year two reversed the sales decline as the brand began growing again at the same rate it would have otherwise. But it never closed the gap in sales results compared with what it would have achieved had it maintained media spending both years.
Different brands respond differently to media cuts, Mr. Ragusa said, and some brands with dominant positions or in less advertising-responsive categories may get away with cutting budgets unscathed. But for many, possibly most, getting back sales and share lost from cutting budgets can be a lengthy and expensive process."
It is easy to see why they came up with the results when you consider research done by Prophet and Luce Performance Group in 2002-2003 on the Buyers Awareness Top 40...
Buyers Awareness Cycle Top 40
| Product/Service |
Time/Months |
| All Terrain Vehicles (ATV's) |
3.0 |
| Appliances (Over $500) |
4.0 |
| Auto New Domestic |
3.2 |
| Auto New Foreign |
3.8 |
| Auto Used Domestic |
2.6 |
| Auto Used Foreign |
3.5 |
| Bedding (New Mattresses) |
2.0 |
| Bicycles |
4.4 |
| Billiard Tables |
6.5 |
| Boats (14' +) |
8.5 |
| Camera/Video Equipment (Major Purchases) |
2.6 |
| Car Accessories (Over $300) |
4.6 |
| Cell Phones/Service |
2.2 |
| Computers |
2.1 |
| Exercise Equipment (Over $500) |
9.6 |
| Floor Covering (Not Remnants) |
6.2 |
| Furniture (Over $500) |
3.9 |
| Homes - Existing |
20.0 |
| Homes - New |
21.0 |
| Jewelry (Over $500) |
5.6 |
| Joining Health Club |
4.4* |
| Landscaping (Over $500) |
3.4 |
| Luggage/Baggage (Over $350) |
6.7 |
| Martial Arts/Yoga Classes |
3.6* |
| Men?s Clothing & Accessories (Over $500) |
1.6 |
| Motorcycles - Harley Davidson |
8.8 |
| Motorcycles - Other than Harley Davidson |
6.4 |
| Musical Instruments (Over $500) |
3.2 |
| Pets (Cats/Dogs/Exotic) |
3.9 |
| RV's & Campers |
17.7 |
| Snowmobiles |
3.9 |
| Spa/Jacuzzis |
5.1 |
| Stereo Equipment (Over $350) |
3.3 |
| Swimming Pools |
9.6 |
| Teeth Whitening |
4.6* |
| Water Bikes (Wave Runners, Etc.) |
2.7 |
| Waterbeds |
4.1 |
| Women's Clothing & Accessories (Over $350) |
.8 |
BAC stands for Buyers Awareness Cycle or the pre-purchase experience. The definition of the BAC and PPE is the collection of brand touch-points and processes that significantly influence whether a prospect will place your brand into his or her final purchase consideration set on the way to making the actual purchase. This is the time that the consumer is thinking about making the purchase (thought mode), or when the switch goes off in the consumers head before they actually walk into the showroom or make the call for the service or product listed. The BAC does not take into consideration once they get in the store to actually purchase the product or sign up for the service. All figures are based on averages and will vary depending on seasonality of the business and location of store/business in North America. These are North American statistics only. LPG Research and information line: 281-496-6340 or www.luceperformancegroup.com
So as you look at this as a whole, coupled with the recent blog where we went through the 4 stages of the Buyers Awareness Cycle, you should be able to show your clients why they should never stop advertising. People enter and exit the Buyers Awareness Cycle daily and if they plan to have a chance at the 1% of any given audience that is in the market for a good or service at a particular time, they had better have a marketing message in front of them.
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