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Strategies for the Super Bowl of Advertising: An Analysis of Message and
Creative Strategies for Commercials and Related Web Sites
Juran Kim, Doctoral Student, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Jang-Sun Hwang, Doctoral Candidate, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Sally J. McMillan, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Submitted to 2003 AEJMC Annual Conference
Contact Information:
Juran Kim
476 Communication Bldg.
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville, TN 37996
Strategies for the Super Bowl of Advertising: An Analysis of Message and
Creative Strategies for Commercials and Related Web Sites
ABSTRACT
Super Bowl advertising provides an ideal venue for exploring message and
creative strategies in commercials and related Web sites. This study found
television commercials more often use transformational strategies while Web
sites are more informational. Message strategies were generally more
consistent across media than were creative strategies. Some unexpected
relationships were found between message and creative strategies, but these
and other findings point to the importance of tailoring messages to meet
technological capabilities of media.
Introduction
The Super Bowl is a showcase. Two football teams field highly paid players
in an attempt to win the most important game of the season. Multiple
advertisers broadcast expensive commercials in an attempt to win in the
game of business. Consumers tune in to see both games. A poll conducted
by Eisner Communications prior to the 2003 Super Bowl found that 14% of
those viewing the Super Bowl tune in primarily to see the advertisements .
With the price of commercial space during the 2003 Super Bowl at $2.2
million per 30-second spot, advertising is a high-stakes game. As one
observer wrote: "It's all about eyeballs. The Super Bowl advertiser who
attracts, keeps, and delights the most viewers stands to win a lot more
than a football game. It can be worth tens of millions of dollars in free
publicity, bring in potentially millions of new customers and leave a fat
chunk of the 88 million, or so, Super Bowl viewers feeling very good about
the brand" .
With so much riding on their advertisements, advertisers agonize over the
best way to communicate. Development of an underlying message strategy is
central to advertising. Message strategy goes deeper than deciding what
pet tricks to incorporate into the advertisement. Taylor defined message
strategy as "a guiding approach to a company's or institution's promotional
communication efforts." Advertisers use the message strategy to define
"what to say" and then develop a creative strategy that focuses on "how to
say it" .
In recent years, both message and creative strategies of Super Bowl
advertising are often extended beyond game day through the World Wide
Web. For example, in 2003 Levi Strauss ran a month-long Web campaign that
culminated with a Super Bowl spot. The Reebok Super Bowl spot featuring
"Terry Tate the Office Linebacker" reportedly drove more than 140,000
people to the company's Web site within 24 hours after the advertisement ran .
Earlier studies found that Internet-based companies often lacked strategic
thinking in advertisements they placed on the Super Bowl . But there is
also evidence that companies spending big money for advertising and Web
site development have begun to think strategically about how to integrate
online and offline strategies .
Super Bowl advertising is more than just a game. It's an investment. As
the Web becomes central to integrated marketing communications, advertisers
must think strategically not only about the Super Bowl message but also
about how that message translates into the online environment. This study
profiles both message strategy (what to say) and creative strategy (how to
say it) of national advertisements in the 2003 Super Bowl and Web sites for
those brands. Understanding strategic directions taken in the Super Bowl
of advertising may provide insight into appropriate ways to address large
and relatively diverse audiences. The study also offers the opportunity
for testing a relatively new message strategy typology in a cross-media
environment.
Literature
Super Bowl Advertising: Overview and Application
The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched television programs with ratings
typically at or above 40%. In the past 10 years, more than 80 million
people have watched the game each year (AdAge 2003). According to the Wall
Street Journal, Super Bowl audiences tune in to the television commercials.
Of those respondents who recalled seeing a Super Bowl advertisement, 61%
said they pay more attention to advertisements that run during the annual
game than to other television advertisements (Quick 2001). Overall, Super
Bowl advertising seems to be valuable to study because many people see, and
pay attention to, the advertisements.
Some researchers have found that the programming context for advertising
influence consumers' response to that advertising. For example, Gardner
(1985) found that program-induced emotional reactions influenced recall for
embedded advertisements. Pavelchak, Antil and Munch (1988) examined
emotional effects specific to Super Bowl advertising. They studied the
effect Super Bowl XX had on the emotions of viewers in three cities and
explored how these emotional reactions influenced recall for advertisements
broadcast during the game. That study helps to increase our understanding
of how the Super Bowl influences viewer emotions and how program-induced
emotions influence advertisement recall. It also highlighted the
feasibility and value of research regarding influential programs like the
Super Bowl.
Morrison and White (2000) studied message strategy used by "dot.com"
companies in Super Bowl XXXIV. Their study not only provided a description
of how these new businesses rushed to Super Bowl advertising in 2000, but
also directly examined the strategies underlying the messages in those
advertisements. A key finding of that study was that many dot.com
companies seemed to be advertising during the Super Bowl as a way to lend
an air of credibility to their companies. Consumers might have more faith
in the long-term viability of a dot.com company, if that company can afford
to advertise on the Super Bowl (Morrison and White 2000).
Overview of Message and Creative Strategy
Many studies use the terms message strategy and creative strategy
interchangeably. However, some researchers (Frazer 1983; Lasky et al.
1989; Taylor 1999) have distinguished the two terms suggesting that the
concept of "what to say" refers to message strategy while creative strategy
is about the method of presentation or "how to say it." Several scholars
have suggested that both message strategy and creative strategy can be
dichotomized into two basic approaches depending on whether the appeal
focuses on product attributes and benefits or on the creation of a brand
image.
Aaker and Norris (1982) labeled the two basic advertisement types as
"informational/ rational/cognitive" and "image/emotional/feeling." Puto
and Wells (1984) dichotomized advertising as "informational" and
"transformational." Puto and Wells (1984, p. 638) suggested that
informational advertising: ". . . provides consumers with factual (i.e.,
presumably verifiable), relevant brand data in a clear and logical manner
such that they have greater confidence in their ability to assess the
merits of buying the brand after having seen the advertisement."
Transformational advertising: ". . . associates the experience of using
(consuming) the advertised brand with a unique set of psychological
characteristics which would not typically be associated with the brand
experience to the same degree without exposure to the [advertising]." They
suggested that informational and transformational categories are
exhaustive, but not mutually exclusive, categories of advertisements.
Vaughn (1980) proposed a two-by-two matrix in which one axis represents
thinking versus feeling message types, and the other axis represents high-
versus low-involvement products. Vaughn's matrix became the core of the
well-known FCB grid that has been presented in textbooks for decades as a
tool for developing message and/or creative strategies (see for example
Batra, Myers, and Aaker 1995).
Recent studies that applied this dichotomy to both television (Lee, Nam,
and Hwang 2001; Morrison and White 2000) and the Web (Hwang, McMillan, and
Lee 2002) found that informational strategies were generally used more
often than transformational ones in American advertising and corporate Web
sites. However, the Web sites for high-revenue companies (such as those
that can afford to advertise on the Super Bowl) were more likely to use
transformational strategies than were those of low-revenue companies
(Hwang, McMillan, and Lee 2002). The literature and philosophy of
integrated marketing communication (see for example Duncan 2001) suggests
that companies should use a similar underlying strategy for all of their
marketing communication materials – including both television advertising
and the Web.
H1: Overall strategies (informational and transformational) will be similar
for commercials aired during the Super Bowl and Web sites for the
advertised brands.
In addition to the simple informational/transformational dichotomy, several
researchers have suggested that multi-category message typologies can be
employed. In general, these multi-category typologies attempt to provide
more specificity within each of the two general message strategies. For
example, Simon (1971) proposed ten categories of messages: Information,
Argument, Motivation with Psychological Appeals, Repeated Assertion,
Command, Brand Familiarization, Symbolic Association, Imitation,
Obligation, and Habit Starting. In the next two sections, two kinds of
multi-category typologies are explored. First is Taylor's (1999) typology
that focuses primarily on message strategy (what to say). Second is a
summary of key research on multi-category typologies that focus more on
creative strategy (how to say it).
A Framework of Advertising Message Strategy: What to Say
Taylor's (1999) Six-Segment Message Strategy Wheel was developed by
carefully reviewing communication theories of James Carey and John
Dewey. Social science literature was also reviewed with an emphasis on
economic models of buying behavior. Additionally, Taylor reviewed
significant literature on creative strategies such as Vaughn's FCB
Grid. Taylor's model begins by dividing message strategies into the
dichotomy suggested by Carey (1975): transmission and ritual views of
communication. This dichotomy is similar to those reviewed in the previous
section. But the literature reviewed by Taylor as well as his qualitative
research suggested that each of those primary views could be sub-divided
into three sub-segments for a total of six strategic approaches.
Taylor's model is valuable for two reasons. First, the model considers
message strategy from the perspective of how people make buying decisions
and how advertising works. Because this model is based on consumers'
motivational behaviors, its application is not limited to message
strategies in traditional media such as television and newspapers and has
been successfully applied to the Web (Hwang, McMillan and Lee 2002).
Second, the model offers sophisticated reasoning for identification of
sub-segments and Taylor's model gives the same attention to
transformational advertisements as to informational advertisements.
Within the transmission view Taylor identified three segments: Ration,
Acute Need, and Routine. In the Ration segment, the role of advertising is
to inform and persuade. When consumers make purchase decisions, it is
important to seek as much information as they can get. In the Acute Need
segment, the role of advertising is to build brand familiarity and
recognition. Consumers need information to make purchase decisions but time
limits the amount of information they can process. In the Routine segment,
the role of advertising is serving as a cue or a reminder. In this segment,
advertising appeals to convenience and trivial interests, ease of use, and
product efficacy. Consumers make purchase decisions on the basis of
rational buying motives, but consumers buy according to habit without large
amounts of deliberation time.
Within the ritual view Taylor also identified three segments: Ego, Social,
and Sensory. In the Ego segment, purchase decisions are emotionally and
personally important to consumers and "allow the consumer to make a
statement to him/herself about who he/she is" (Taylor 1999, p.13). In the
Social segment, products are "used to make a statement to others"(p.13).
The advertising appeals are related to gaining social approval and to
recalling and reliving social experiences through product consumption. In
the Sensory segment, products provide consumers with "a moment of pleasure"
based on any of the five senses.
The second hypothesis builds upon the first by exploring similarities in
television and Web-based message strategies. If companies are integrating
their communication, not only should the informational/transformational
strategy be similar in both media, but similarities should also be found in
terms of use of the six message strategy segments identified by Taylor.
H2: Message strategies (as defined by Taylor's six segments) will be
similar for commercials aired during the Super Bowl and Web sites for the
advertised brands.
A Framework of Advertising Creative Strategy: How to Say It
One of the frequently cited multi-category typologies of creative strategy
is Frazer's (1983) study that identified the following seven strategies:
Generic, Preemptive, Unique Selling Proposition, Brand Image, Positioning,
Resonance, and Affective. Frazer's typology appears to be exhaustive and to
provide a reasonable number of categories. Frazer's typology is also
appealing because of the familiarity of the terminology. However, Laskey et
al. (1989) found low agreement among coders when using the typology –
especially when coding television commercials. The greatest confusion
occurred in attempts to distinguish between the Unique Selling Proposition
and Preemptive categories, and between Brand Image and Resonance
categories, resulting in low agreement among coders. Laskey et al. (1989)
developed a revised multi-category typology designed for television
commercials. The typology begins by dividing creative strategies into
informational and transformational approaches.
Within the informational strategies, Laskey and his colleagues identified
five segments: Comparative, Unique Selling Proposition, Preemptive,
Hyperbole, and Generic Information. In the Comparative strategy, advertised
brands are compared to others by showing or explicitly mentioning competing
brands. In the USP strategy, uniqueness involving a product attribute or
benefit-in-use is presented. In the Preemptive strategy, the objectively
demonstrable attribute or benefit-in-use is presented. In the Hyperbole
strategy, exaggerated claims and assertions are presented. Generic
Information provides information about the product class in general without
focusing on a particular brand.
Within the transformational strategies, Laskey and his colleagues
identified four segments: User Image, Brand Image, Use Occasion, and
Generic Transformation. User Image focuses primarily on the users of a
brand and their lifestyles, not the brand itself. Brand Image focuses
primarily on the brand (image) itself, not the users. Usually, Brand Image
conveys a brand personality. Use Occasion focuses primarily on the
experience of using the brands or on the situations for which use of the
brand is appropriate. Use Occasion usually creates an association between
experiences of use and the brand as well as an association between
situations of use and the brand. Generic Transformation appeals to
emotions related to the product class in general without focusing on a
particular brand.
The third hypothesis builds upon the first two by exploring similarities
and differences in television and Web-based creative strategies. The first
two hypotheses predicted that both the overall strategy
(transformational/informational) and message strategy (as defined by
Taylor's Six Segment Strategy Wheel) should be similar for television
commercials and Web sites for those advertised brands. If the creative
strategies flow out of message strategies, then logically they should also
be consistent across media.
H3: Creative strategies (as defined by the Laskey et al. typology) will be
similar for commercials aired during the Super Bowl and Web sites for the
advertised brands.
Bringing Together Message and Creative Strategies
As noted earlier, research (Frazer 1983; Lasky et al. 1989; Taylor 1999)
suggests that there should be a relationship between message strategy and
creative strategy. While the message strategy provides a broad umbrella
under which many creative strategies can be executed, it would seem
reasonable that informational message strategies should lead to
informational-oriented creative strategies and vice versa for
transformational strategies.
H4a: The three informational message strategies identified by Taylor will
be associated with the five informational creative strategies identified by
Laskey et al.
H4b: The three transformational message strategies identified by Taylor
will be associated with the four transformational creative strategies
identified by Laskey et al.
The hypotheses outlined above address the data in aggregate to identify
ways that message strategy and creative strategy are implemented in Super
Bowl commercials and Web sites for those advertised brands. The literature
also suggests a key question that is not addressed by these hypotheses but
that is very worthy of exploration:
RQ1: Are message strategies (as defined by Taylor's six segments) more
consistent than creative strategies (as defined by the Laskey et al.
typology) in the commercials aired during the Super Bowl and Web sites for
the advertised brands?
Method
To test the hypotheses and explore the research question detailed in the
previous section, television commercials aired during the Super Bowl and
Web sites for the advertised brands were collected. Super Bowl XXXVII was
videotaped in its entirety in January of 2003. All national commercials, a
total of 55 from 40 advertisers, that appeared during this time period were
analyzed. Regional or local advertisements, promotions for upcoming ABC
shows, or spots promoting the commercially sponsored half-time and
post-game shows were not analyzed. A few advertisers (e.g., Budweiser)
aired two or more different commercials and each of those advertisements
was individually analyzed.
Two researchers conducted a thematic analysis to identify the creative and
message strategy for each commercial and Web site (see Appendix I copy of
coding form). Specific descriptions of the message strategy model (Taylor,
1999) and the creative strategy typology (Laskey et al., 1989) were used
for coding guides (see Appendix II). Coders used the same coding sheet to
record the company/brand name, overall strategy (Transformational/
Informational), message strategy, and creative strategy for each commercial
and each Web site. Because commercials and Web sites often use multiple
strategies, the coding sheet allowed the researchers to record all
creative/message strategies that applied.
Each television commercial was reviewed several times. Because there are
several categories in both creative and message strategy, the strategy was
not always clear during the initial viewing. The opening pages of Web sites
were also analyzed and they were relatively less demanding to code, because
Web sites' main visual and text components usually looked like magazine
advertisements, which are one-shot executions. However, application of
content analysis to the Web is challenging and somewhat different from
analysis of content in traditional media. As McMillan noted (2002), there
are some potential problems in conducting content analysis on Web sites
including problems of sampling (e.g., frequently changing content), unit of
analysis (e.g., the number of pages is limitless and varies by domains),
and so forth. The current study addressed these problems as described below.
All Web sites were visited shortly after the Super Bowl and their front
pages (opening screens) were captured with screen-capture software
(camtasia). Where possible, sites specific to the advertised brand (rather
than an overall company site) were examined. These "captured" pages showed
the appearance of those Web sites at about the same time as the Super Bowl
commercials aired and were used for analysis. Only message strategies
found on these front pages were analyzed. This helped to reduce bias based
on the overall size of the Web site and also focused on the core message
consumers would see when they first go to the site. Major visual and
textual components were examined in evaluation of creative/message
strategy. After initial training, researchers were able to easily reach
agreements on these units of analysis. Intercoder reliability was 91.8%
overall.
Disagreements were resolved in a two-step procedure. First, the two
researchers who were primary coders discussed specific items about which
they disagreed. Some disagreements were easily resolved in this stage
because they involved simple misunderstandings. Second, the third
researcher who is also familiar with both the message strategy model and
the typology of creative strategy used in the study, reviewed items that
remained unresolved and helped the primary coders come to agreement.
Familiarity with the coding scheme was essential for all three researchers.
In particular, coding for message strategy required not only a knowledge of
the Six Segment Strategy Wheel, but also an understanding of its
theoretical underpinnings that require consideration of the consumer's
motivation when considering the advertising message.
Findings
The current study aimed to examine the message and creative strategies in
both television commercials and Web sites. This section presents the
findings related to each hypothesis as well as the research question. Care
must be taken in interpreting statistics reported in this section for two
reasons. First, the commercials and Web sites examined in this study
represent a census of all Super Bowl advertisers in one year. These
commercials and Web sits may not be generalizable to other
advertisers. Second, because of the relatively small number of commercials
and Web sites examined, a small N is reported in some of the data
tables. In some cases, this small N may have resulted in reporting of no
statistical significance even when real differences were found. In other
cases (e.g. when using chi square) the small N may not be sufficient for
valid statistical analysis. In general, the results reported here provide
a descriptive analysis of how advertising "big spenders" utilize message
and creative strategies in both television and Web-based messages. The
statistical data is presented as a way of helping to summarize that
description.
Informational – Transformational Strategies across the Media
Hypothesis 1 predicted overall strategy (informational and
transformational) should be similar across television and the Web because
these advertising "big spenders" should be concerned about integrating
their marketing communication messages. The informational/
transformational strategies of both commercials and Web sites were coded on
a scale from one to five using the following sequential
categories: entirely transformational, relatively transformational, both
transformational and informational, relatively informational, and entirely
informational. A higher score on this scale indicates a more informational
strategy.
As illustrated in Table 1 significant differences were found in overall
strategy across media. Television commercials scored higher on this scale
than did Web sites, indicating that television commercials are more
transformational. Hypothesis 1 was not supported.
Table 1. Differences between Media of Transformational-Informational Strategy
Mean
S.D
Df
t
Sig.
Television (n=55)
2.709
1.286
93
-3.882
.000
Web (n=40)
3.750
1.296
Given inherent characteristics of each medium, this finding should not be
surprising. Television is generally seen as an entertainment medium while
the Web is used more for information-search behaviors. Thus, it would seem
that advertisers are more concerned with tailoring messages to inherent
characteristics of the medium than with integrating the
transformational/informational strategy across their marketing
communication messages.
Message and Creative Strategies in Each Medium
Hypotheses 2 and 3 were developed to further examine the extent of message
and creative strategy integration across media. Hypothesis 2 predicted
that message strategies would be similar across media while hypothesis 3
predicted that creative strategies would be similar across media. As
illustrated in Table 2, partial support was found for each of these
hypotheses.
Table 2. Creative/Message Strategies across Media Types
Media
Television
Web
Chi-Square
Message Strategy
Ration
21
38.2%
20
50%
1.318
Acute Need
7
12.7%
10
25.0%
2.374
Routine
37
67.3%
27
67.5%
0.001
Ego
31
56.4%
18
45.0%
1.197
Social
7
12.7%
2
5.0%
1.612
Sensory
11
20.0%
2
5.0%
4.411*
Creative Strategy
Comparative
0
0%
0
0%
USP
1
1.8%
0
0.0%
.735
Preemptive
12
21.8%
33
82.5%
34.204***
Hyperbole
24
43.6%
0
0%
23.355***
Generic Informational
8
14.5%
2
5.0%
2.240
User Image
29
52.7%
13
32.5%
3.841
Brand Image
22
40.0%
20
50.0%
0.939
Use Occasion
8
14.5%
1
2.5%
3.918*
Generic Transformational
0
0%
0
0%
Note) Percentages reflect the column (within each media type)
*** p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05
Most message strategies were consistent across media, but the Sensory
strategy was used more often in television than on the Web. Television
apparently has more capacity to appeal to the senses than does the Web at
this stage of development of the two media.
In analysis of creative strategies, it is interesting to note that three of
the nine strategies were virtually unused: Comparative, USP, and Generic
Transformational. Of the remaining six strategies, three were consistent
across media (Generic Informational, User Image, and Brand Image) and three
were not consistent (Preemptive, Hyperbole, and Use Occasion).
The Preemptive strategy was used more frequently on the Web while Hyperbole
and Use Occasion were used more frequently on television. The heavier use
of the Preemptive strategy on the Web is reasonable because by definition
the Preemptive strategy should objectively demonstrate product
attributes. The virtually limitless time and space benefits of he Web
enable companies to provide enough information to support Preemptive claims.
The popularity of Hyperbole in television commercials may also be explained
by comparative media characteristics. Current television commercials are
characterized by limited time and high executional
capability. Specifically, television commercials must attract consumers'
attentions in a short period of time; therefore, they are more likely to
exaggerate how their products are beneficial. The well-developed
techniques for creating television commercials help make this possible. In
the future, as bandwidth increases and technology improves, the Web might
also be able to present messages with high production values that use the
Hyperbole strategy. Although it is used less often than Hyperbole, the
popularity of Use Occasion in television commercials may also be related to
capabilities of the medium.
Relationships between Message Strategies and Creative Strategies
Hypotheses 4a and 4b predicted that informational message strategies would
be associated with informational creative strategies while transformational
message strategies would be associated with transformational creative
strategies. Thus, when the three non-used creative strategies identified
in Table 2 are removed one would expect Preemptive, Hyperbole, and Generic
Information creative strategies to be used with Ration, Acute Need, and
Routine message strategies. Similarly, one would expect User Image, Brand
Image, and Use Occasion creative strategies to be used with Ego, Social,
and Sensory creative strategies.
Table 3. Relationships between Message and Creative Strategies
Informational Creative Strategies
Informational Message Strategies
Transformational Message Strategies
Ration
Acute Need
Routine
Ego
Social
Sensory
Preemptive
28***
62.2%
10
22.2%
26
57.8%
16**
35.6%
2
4.4%
4
8.9%
Hyperbole
8
33.3%
1*
4.2%
20
83.3%
13
54.2%
3
12.5%
10***
41.7%
Generic Informational
9**
90%
0
0%
6
60.0%
1**
10.0%
3*
30.0%
0
0%
Transformational Creative Strategies
Informational Message Strategies
Transformational Message Strategies
Ration
Acute Need
Routine
Ego
Social
Sensory
User Image
15
35.7%
2**
4.8%
30
71.4%
25
59.5%
6
14.3%
8
19.0%
Brand Image
10**
23.8%
10
23.8%
33*
78.6%
32***
76.2%
3
7.1%
2*
4.8%
Use Occasion
5
55.6%
0
0%
5
55.6%
3
33.3%
1
11.1%
1
11.1%
Note) Percentages reflect the row (within each Creative Strategy)
*** p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05
As illustrated in Table 3, hypotheses 4a and 4b were partially
supported. In support of hypothesis 4a, both the Preemptive and Generic
Information creative strategies were associated with the Ration message
strategy. In support of hypothesis 4b, the Brand Image creative strategy
was associated with the Ego message strategy. However, as Table 3 also
illustrates, unexpected relationships were found between message and
creative strategies. Most of the informational creative strategies showed
a relationship with at least one of the transformational message strategies
(e.g. Preemptive and Ego). Relationships were also found between
transformational creative strategies and informational message strategies
(e.g. Brand Image and Ration).
Consistency of Message and Creative Strategies across the Media
Research question 1 asked whether message strategies are more consistent
than creative strategies in television commercials and Web sites. As
illustrated in Table 2, message strategy does seem to be generally more
consistent than creative strategy. In both media, Ego, Routine, and Ration
were the most popular message strategies. Table 2 also shows less overall
consistency in creative strategy. For example, while Preemptive was the
most popular Web creative strategy (used by 82.5% of Web sites) less than
22% of television commercials used a Preemptive creative strategy.
However, statistics in Table 2 report data in the aggregate. To get an
in-depth understanding of strategies used by specific companies, it is more
useful to examine message and creative strategies used in both commercials
and Web sites for each brand. Table 4 provides a detailed picture of
relationships between message and creative strategies. If a single brand
aired more than one advertisement on the Super Bowl but had a single Web
site, the Web site is coded only once.
Table 4. Message Strategy and Creative Strategy by Advertiser across Media
Television
Web
Advertiser
Overall
Message Strategy
Creative Strategy
Overall
Message Strategy
Creative Strategy
AOL
Entirely Informational
Routine
Acute Need
Ration
Preemptive
Hyperbole
Entirely Informational
Social
Acute Need
Ration
Preemptive
AT&T Wireless
Relatively Informational
Routine
Ration
Generic Informational
Hyperbole
Use Occasion
Entirely Informational
Routine
Ration
Preemptive
Relatively Informational
Routine
Generic Informational
Hyperbole
Bud Light
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Sensory
Routine
Hyperbole
User Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
User Image
Budweiser
Entirely Transformational
Ego
Social
Routine
User Image
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
User Image
Cadillac
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
User Image
Brand Image
Relatively Informational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
Brand Image
Chrysler
Relatively Transformational
Ego
User image
Brand image
Relatively Informational
Ration
Ego
Preemptive
User Image
Brand Image
Columbia Pictures -Anger Management
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Acute Need
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Acute Need
Preemptive
Brand Image
Dodge
Relatively Informational
Ego
Routine
Ration
Preemptive
Hyperbole
User Image
Brand Image
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
Brand Image
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
Drug control
Relatively Transformational
Social
Ration
Generic Informational
Hyperbole
Entirely Informational
Ration
Generic Informational
Relatively Transformational
Social
Ration
Generic Informational
User Image
FedEx
Relatively Informational
Ration
Hyperbole
Brand Image
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
Fox-Dare Devil
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
Brand Image
Gatorade
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
User Image
Brand Image
Use Occasion
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
George Foreman Grill
Relatively Transformational
Social Routine
Hyperbole
User Image
Entirely Informational
Routine
Ration
Preemptive
Brand Image
Hanes
Entirely Informational
Routine
Ration
Preemptive
Hyperbole
User Image
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
User Image
Brand Image
H&R Block
Relatively Informational
Ration
Preemptive
Use Occasion
Entirely Informational
Ration
Acute Need
Preemptive
Lamisil
Entirely Informational
Ration
USP
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
User Image
Use Occasion
Levi Strauss
Entirely Transformational
Ego
Routine
User Image
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
User Image
Brand Image
Master Card
Entirely Informational
Ration
Generic Informational
Use Occasion
Entirely Informational
Routine
Acute Need Ration
Preemptive
User Image
Michelob
Relatively Informational
Ration
Preemptive
User Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Social Routine
Preemptive
User Image
Brand Image
Table 4. Continued
Television
Web
Advertiser
Overall
Message Strategy
Creative Strategy
Overall
Message Strategy
Creative Strategy
Monster.com
Relatively Informational
Routine
Preemptive
Hyperbole
User Image
Relatively Informational
Ego
Routine
Ration
Preemptive
User Image
Myfisco.com
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
User Image
Entirely Informational
Ration
Acute Need
Preemptive
User Image
Nissan Frontier
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Hyperbole
Brand Image
Relatively Informational
Ego
Routine
Ration
Preemptive
Brand Image
Pepsi twist
Relatively Informational
Routine
Hyperbole
User Image
Brand Image
Relatively Informational
Routine
Preemptive
User Image
Pepsi diet
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
User Image
Brand Image
Entirely Informational
Routine
Acute Need
Preemptive
Philip Morris
Relatively Transformational
Social
Routine
Ration
Generic Informational
User Image
Relatively Informational
Ego
Routine
Ration
Generic Informational
Quiznos' sub
Relatively Informational
Sensory
Ration
Preemptive
Hyperbole
Relatively Informational
Sensory
Routine
Acute Need
Preemptive
Brand Image
Reebok
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Social
Ration
Hyperbole
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Brand Image
Sierra Mist
Relatively Transformational
Sensory
Routine
Hyperbole
Brand Image
Relatively Informational
Routine
Preemptive
Sony Pictures
Bad Boys II
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Acute Need
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
Brand Image
Sony Pictures Charlie's Angel
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Acute Need
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
Brand Image
Sony Electronics
Entirely Transformational
Ego
Social
User Image
Use Occasion
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
User Image
Brand Image
Subway
Relatively Informational
Sensory
Ration
Preemptive
Relatively Informational
Sensory
Ration
Preemptive
Touchstone
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Acute Need
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Acute Need
Preemptive
Brand Image
Trident
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
Entirely Informational
Ration
Preemptive
Universal Pictures
Hulk
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Acute Need
Brand Image
Relatively Informational
Routine
Brand Image
Universal Pictures
Bruce Almighty
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Brand Image
Relatively Informational
Routine
Acute Need
Brand Image
Visa
Relatively Informational
Routine
Ration
Generic Informational
User Image
Use Occasion
Entirely Informational
Routine
Ration
Preemptive
WB Matrix
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Acute Need
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
Brand Image
WB Terminator 3
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Brand Image
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
Brand Image
Yahoo Hot jobs
Relatively Transformational
Ego
Routine
Preemptive
Hyperbole
User Image
Entirely Informational
Routine
Ration
Acute Need
Preemptive
A detailed review of Table 4 shows that for most brands message strategies
are more consistent across media than are creative strategies. There were
many cases in which the message strategy was identical for both media while
different creative strategies were used for the television commercials and
Web sites. However, the opposite never occurred; there were no instances
of a unified creative strategy with different message strategies.
For example, in the case of Cadillac, television and the Web site both used
Ego and Routine message strategies. For television, User Image and Brand
Image strategies were used. The Brand Image creative strategy was also
used on the Web, but the User Image creative strategy used in television
was replace by a Preemptive creative strategy on the Web. In the case of
FedEx, both television and the Web site used a Ration message strategy but
the television commercial used Hyperbole and Brand Image creative
strategies while the Web had a Preemptive creative strategy.
Three additional cases illustrate the fact that message strategy tended to
be more enduring than creative strategy. Gatorade used Ego and Routine
message strategies for both the television commercial and Web site. The
creative strategy for the commercial was User Image, Brand Image, and Use
Occasion, but the Web site used a Preemptive creative strategy. In the
case of Lamisil, both the television commercial and Web site used a Ration
message strategy. The television commercial used a USP creative strategy,
but the Web site used Preemptive, User Image, and Use Occasion creative
strategies. Finally, in the case of Visa, both the television commercial
and the Web site used Routine and Ration message strategies. But the
creative strategies were quite different using Generic Informational, User
Image, and Use Occasion for television and Preemptive for the Web.
In addition, in most cases of movie advertisements (e.g. Anger Management,
Daredevil, Matrix and Bruce Almighty), television commercials and Web sites
showed consistent uses of message strategies while employing somewhat
different creative strategies. In most cases, these advertisements
promoting future movies used Ego and Routine message strategies. Many used
Brand Image creative strategies in both their television commercials and
Web sites; many also added a Preemptive creative strategy to their Web sites.
Discussion
Companies that advertise on the Super Bowl are powerhouses. They spend big
money on television commercials and, as of 2003, they also all have Web
sites. Yet despite their willingness to spend big money, they are not
consistently integrating their creative strategies across media. Instead,
they seem to be recognizing the differential capabilities of television and
the Web and attempting to strategically maximize their messages for the
medium.
In general, television commercials are more likely to take transformational
approaches while Web sites are more informational. Advertisers seem to be
viewing television as a way to appeal to the emotions and the Web as a way
to address consumers' intellectual curiosity. For now, television seems to
provide better production values that lead to stronger emotional appeals –
particularly when the message strategy is based in the senses. The
Internet is a stronger tool for information-oriented creative strategies –
particularly those that use the depth and breadth of the Web to help build
Preemptive arguments. But there is evidence that the fundamental message
strategy (what to say) is more likely to remain stable across media than is
the creative strategy (how to say it). The Web site may be designed to
endure with a relatively stable message strategy while multiple television
advertising campaigns may be executed that embrace differing creative
strategies.
One of the more perplexing findings of the study is the relatively high
number of unexpected relationships between message strategy and creative
strategy. Some of the strongest correlations were for expected
relationships (e.g. Ration and Preemptive; Ration and Generic
Informational; Ego and Brand Image) and these relationships are fairly easy
to understand. But relatively strong correlations were also found for
unexpected relationships. For example, Preemptive (an informational
creative strategy) correlated fairly strongly with Ego (a transformational
message strategy). This may be because Preemptive was so dominant in Web
site creative strategies (used in 82.5% of all Web sites). Some companies
might be adding a Preemptive creative strategy to their Web sites to
supplement a message strategy that is primarily transformational. They may
be doing this to take better advantages of the relatively unlimited time
and space available on the Web (see for example Gatorade, Levi Strauss, and
Michelob as well as many of the advertisements for upcoming movies).
Other examples of relatively strong unexpected relationships between
message and creative strategies include the use of Hyperbole (an
informational creative strategy) with Sensory (a transformational message
strategy) and the use of Brand Image (a transformational creative strategy)
with Ration (an informational message strategy). The first of these
examples might also be explained by advertisers' apparent focus on
maximizing media characteristics. As shown in Table 2, both the Sensory
message strategy and the Hyperbole creative strategy are strongly
associated with television. Advertisers seem to believe that television
offers a better environment both for Sensory appeals and for generating the
kind of humor-based argument often associated with Hyperbole.
The correlation between Ration and Brand Image may be best explained by one
product category in which it frequently occurs – automobiles (e.g.
Chrysler, Dodge, and Nissan). These high-involvement products assume
customer will seek information before purchasing a car. But, despite these
high information needs, brand image may also weigh heavily in consumers'
purchase decisions. Actual features of automobiles might vary only
slightly between brands (e.g. the Chrysler Sebring and the Dodge Intrepid)
but strongly different images may be created for each brand.
Some other unexpected relationships between message and creative strategy
must be viewed with care because of the relatively small number of
instances of advertisements and/or Web sites in a category (e.g. Ego and
Generic Information). This relatively small sample is one of the most
important limitations of the study. Future studies should compare message
and creative strategies across media using a larger number of advertisers
drawn at random from a specified universe. Such a future study could make
broader generalizations for the sample to advertising as a whole. But for
the current study, which focuses more on describing similarities and
differences, the small sample of high-profile advertisers was appropriate.
Future studies might also expand to other media (e.g. magazines,
radio). For example, it would be interesting to know whether creative
strategies are more consistent across traditional media with the Web being
an outlier because of its virtually unlimited time and space. Another
alternative for future studies is to review strategies of fewer advertisers
but examine them in more depth. For example, is there consistency in
executional elements (e.g. color, graphics, etc.) across media that help to
provide a kind of thematic unity even when underlying strategies vary?
This study has clear potential applications to advertisers. Most
importantly it illustrates the reality the big spenders in the advertising
game are putting their money into matching the message with the medium
rather than on trying to achieve slavish consistency of creative
strategy. Nevertheless, they are, for the most part remaining true to a
fundamental message strategy across television and Web messages. Other
advertisers who want to compete in the "big game" might do well to follow
their lead.
The study has implications for researchers as well. It illustrates the
strength of Taylor's (1999) Six Segment Strategy Wheel as a tool for
identifying message strategies. Not only can this tool be applied across
media, this study also shows that message strategy is a potentially
enduring construct across media types and can be flexible enough to
encompass multiple creative strategies. Message strategy seems to be a
better measure than creative strategy for understanding how advertisers
might integrate their marketing communication.
Advertising educators often use Super Bowl advertising in the class room to
illustrate the kinds of messages that are broadcast to large diverse
audiences as well as to illustrate key media principles such as cost per
thousand. This study provides educators with an additional opportunity for
the ritual showing of the Super Bowl advertisements – a discussion of how
both message strategy and creative strategy are implemented in these
high-profile commercials.
The Super Bowl is a showcase for advertising. Campaigns launched via Super
Bowl commercials often run long after the game is over and are expanded
into other media. Understanding how message and creative strategies play
out in this game is an important step in understanding both the media and
the messages.
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Appendix I – Coding Form
ID Number
Product Category
Company Name
URL
http://
Date
Media
TV
Web
1. Creative Strategy
Specific Creative Strategy (Check All That Apply – At Least One)
Comparative
User Image
USP
Brand Image
Preemptive
Use Occasion
Generic-Informational
Generic-Transformational
Hyperbole
2. Message Strategy
Specific Message Strategy (Check All That Apply – At Least One)
Ration
Ego
Acute Needs
Social
Routine
Sensory
3. Overall Creative and Message Strategy (Check One)
Entirely Transformational
Relatively Transformational
Both Transformational and Informational
Relatively Informational
Entirely Informational
4. Web Features
5. Notes
Appendix II – Coder Guide
1. Informational/ Transformational Strategy
General direction: This five-point scale needs to get somewhat qualitative
sense. The decision needs to be made strongly based on the result of
specific message strategy (1-a). For example, if no transformational
strategy (e.g., Ego, Social, sensory) is found in the precedent step of
1-a, the decision on this item should be either "Relatively informational"
or "Entirely informational." If the coder evaluate that both
transformational-side strategy and informational-side strategy are almost
equally employed, "Both transformational and informational" should be
coded. Both "entirely informational" and "entirely transformational" can be
coded when all specific strategies coded in 1-(a) are one-side (either
transformational or informational) strategies. (Basic assumption: Six
message strategies can cover all message strategies.)
Transformational
• Associates the experience of using a brand with a set of psychological
characteristic.
• Focuses on the users of a brand and their life style, focuses on
developing a brand image
Informational
• Provides with factual product information about a brand or a company
• Provides with relevant brand data in a clear and logical manner.
• Show competing brands, focuses on claims of uniqueness, and provides
nature of brands.
1. Creative Strategy
General direction: To get consistence, code the specific strategy (a) first
followed by overall strategy (b). For the websites, mainly examine the main
visual and texts but links including buttons.
Specific Creative Strategy
Comparative
• Showing or explicitly mentioning competing brands
• Comparing with other brand name clearly
• Not implicitly referring to competing brands
• Example: "None of these cereals gives you more fiber than (Brand Name)"
Unique Selling Proposition
• Claims or assertions of uniqueness
• Uniqueness involving a product attribute or benefit-in-use
• Objectively verifiable
• No comparison to other brand
• Example: "Introducing the only compact disc player that can play six
discs at one time"
Preemptive
• Contain the objectively demonstrable attribute or benefit-in-use
• No claim of uniqueness
• No mention of competing brands
• Example: "(Brand Name) contains pure vitamin E and aloe to keep your skin
looking good"
Generic-Informational
• Focus on the product class in general
• Not focus on a particular brand
• Informational
• Example: "It does the body good" ad for milk.
Hyperbole
• Exaggerated claims and assertions
• Not objectively verifiable.
• Not refer to a measurable attribute
• Example: "Best darn hamburger in the whole wide world"
User Image
• Focus primarily on the users of a brand and lifestyles
(i.e. User's activities, interests, jobs, or lifestyles)
• Focus on persons who use the brand, not the brand itself
• Convey the notion that a certain type of person always chooses a
particular brand
• Example: Beer and wine company ads which define people types (party
animals, warm romantic males, sporting females)
Brand Image
• Focus primarily on the brand (image) itself, not user
• Convey a brand "personality." (i.e. quality, status, prestige)
• Example: luxury personalities of automobiles
Use Occasion
• Focus primarily on the experience of using the brands
• Focus primarily on the situations where use of the brand is appropriate
• Create an association between experiences of use and the brand
• Create an association between situations of use and the brand
• Example: an association of the brand of beer and the night
Generic-Transformational
• Focus on the product class in general
• Not focus on a particular brand
• Transformational
• Example: The "Don't forget the cheese", "reach out and touch someone"
1. Message Strategy
General direction: Mainly examine the main visual and texts but links
including buttons. To get consistence, code the specific strategy (a) first
followed by overall strategy (b).
Specific Message Strategy
Ego
• Appeal to vanity, self-actualization (Not corporate image but consumer image)
• Emotional needs relating to self are fulfilled
• Image based executions (visual dominance) with little or no factual
information
• Unstructured and ambiguous enough so each person can fit him/herself into
the ad
• Usual Strategy*: User image, brand image
• Example**: For the computer mania
Social
• Valuing on others' (thoughts, opinions, evaluations, etc.)
• Stating to others, not to self
• Showing social situation motivating consumers (Group identification)
• Showing target market member as socially important to others
• Usual Strategy: User image (in a social situation), Use occasion
• Example: Share it with a friend / Sept. 11 Tragedy, our hearts and minds
are burdened
Sensory
• Five senses emphasized
• Sensory gratification
• Pleasurable moments
• Usual Strategy: Moment of pleasure
• Example: Yum! / Feel the speed
Routine
• Habitual purchase / Don't need deliberation
• Serving a cue or a reminder (brand name and package emphasized)
• Appeal to convenience and trivial interests
• Usual Strategy: Hyperbole, Preemptive, Brand Familiarity
• Example: Future of memory / Welcome to Mesa Electronics
Acute need
• Limited time to make decision (timely decision)
• Serving a cue or a reminder in an urgent situation
• Requiring immediate action
• Strategy: Brand familiarity
• Example: Fall/2001 fashion / Call now to process the claim
Ration
• Rational consumers assumed
• Needs a large amount of deliberation (lots of corporate information)
• Problem solving offered
• Emphasizing the differences or competitive advantages
• Usual Strategy: Comparative, USP, Generic
• Example: Get the wider picture / Faster Pentium 4 with 256MB memory under
$1,500
* Usual strategies in each message strategy are not strictly fixed, since
the Taylor's message strategy emphasizes the consumer motivation. These
"usual strategies" are traditionally common in each cell.
** Examples here are text-based messages only, but coders should consider
the visual as well as texts.
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