Chapter 7

Establishing
Goals and
Objectives
for the
Promotional
Program
 Learning Objectives
▪ To recognize the importance and value of setting
goals and specific objectives for advertising and
promotion.
▪ To understand the role objectives play in the IMC
planning process and the relationship of
promotional objectives to marketing objectives.
▪ To know the differences between sales and
communications objectives.

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Differences between Goals and
Objectives

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 Case Study

• McDonald’s goals and objectives for its latest campaign are other than
generating sales.
• What goals and objectives might the company have for this IMC? How
might its effectiveness be measured? Source: Procter & Gamble
 Setting realistic goals
▪ Goal represents outcome of the communication
➢Before setting an overall goal, the problem
statement (written after conducting the situation
analysis) has to be clear.
▪ What do you want to help your client achieve?
➢Do you wish to solve a particular issue?
➢Do you wish to capitalize on a specific opportunity?

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General principles of goal-setting

Group Discussion:
• Determine the goal(s) of your IMC
• Explain how it is related to the problem statement
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 Value of Objectives
▪ Communications
▪ Written, approved objectives facilitate coordination
of the various groups on the client side as well as in
promotional agencies.
▪ Planning and decision making
▪ Objectives guide decision making and development
of the integrated marketing communications plan
▪ Measurement and evaluation of results
▪ A benchmark against which success or failure of
promotional campaign can be measured.
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Characteristics of good objectives
▪ Realistic
▪ Easy enough to be attainable, but should represent a
challenge (defined by your problem statement)
▪ Clearly defined
▪ Specific and concrete
▪ “To improve our image” (too vague!)
▪ Measurable
▪ Quantified; able to be verified at evaluation stage

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 Marketing Objectives vs
Communications Objectives
Integrated marketing
Marketing objectives
communications objectives
• Identify what is to be accomplished • Statements of what various aspects
by the overall marketing program of the IMC program will accomplish
• Defined in terms of specific and • Based on particular
measurable outcomes communications goals/tasks
• Must be quantifiable, realistic, and required to deliver the appropriate
attainable messages to the target audience

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 Sales/Marketing Objectives
When they are appropriate:
Promotion efforts that are direct action in
nature

Direct-response advertising

Retail advertising

When advertising plays a dominant role in

marketing program

Any problems of using sales objectives to determine the success of your campaign?
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 Communications Objectives
When they are appropriate:
Solves problems associated with sales-
oriented objectives

Brand knowledge and interest, favorable

attitudes and images before purchase

• Considers the customer decision process, with examples of types

of promotion and advertising relevant to each step.

Problem:
A challenge to translate sales goals to
communications objectives

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 Communications Objectives
Traditional Advertising-Based View of Marketing
Communications

Source: Vans, A VF Company

Figure 7-2 Communications Effects Pyramid

Advertising and promotion first

accomplish lower-level
objectives.
• Used to determine
promotional objectives for
established brands.
 Determine where target
audience lies and set
objectives from there.
Alternative approach to setting objectives:
the Social Consumer Decision Journey

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Setting up objectives based on the
Social Consumer Decision Journey

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Figure 7-5 Objectives and Strategies in the
Social Consumer Decision Journey

Sources: Expert interviews; McKinsey analysis.

Writing an objective statement

To increase Infinitive phrase

The usage of Product X Desired result
by college students in Macao Target audience
by 10 percent Quantification
by 31 December, 2020 Target date

Group Discussion:
• Write an objective statement (one sales + one communications
objective) for your client using the construction pattern above.

• Explain how it is linked to the goal you drafted earlier.

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 Tying this together
Problem statement Goal Communications Objective

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 IMC proposal section for this
week
▪ Before you start working on this section, you
should have the problem statement written.
▪ Based on your problem statement, establish the
overall goal(s) and objectives of the proposed
campaign.
▪ It is recommended that you use the frameworks
discussed in class as the basis of the
communication objectives.
▪ Reminder: Progress report due next class meeting (
16 Oct).
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