a works best when it is a totally unexpected yet thoroughly relevant fulfilment of the strategy. The third stage is the execution of the idea. This means turning the idea into some form of communication that a prospect can see or hear. For print advertising, execution involves writing text, taking photographs or commissioning drawings, arranging elements on the page (layout), setting type, making photo engravings, and so on. For broadcast advertising, it may mean writing dialogue and composing music, hiring actors and recording voices, filming in a studio or on location. Throughout all three of these stages, research plays an active role. Market research provides the information on which the strategy is based. Copy research may test the relative strength of several ideas on small groups of consumers or larger national samples. Focus groups may uncover communications problems in various headlines, photographs, actors, or musical compositions along the way. Research remains active after the advertisement has been executed. Often a finished print ad or broadcast commercial is tested before it appears in print or on the air, and it is not unusual to track the effect of advertising in the marketplace during the course of a campaign.The objective of any advertisement is to convince people that it is in their best interests to take an action the advertiser is recommending. The action may be to purchase a product, go to a showroom to try the product, use a service, vote for a political candidate, make a contribution, or even to join the Army. Like any personal salesperson, the advertisement tries to persuade. Advertising companies are keeping the pulse on contemporary culture, surging with new innovative marketing techniques that are imputed through promotion. Currently, consumers expectations need to be exceeded for commercial success so that customers are delighted with the outcome. (Jobber 1998: 13) Companies take pride in developing adv...
