Joseph T. Plummer

How Personality Makes a Difference

ABSTRACT This paper is one of 18 selected by the Editorial Review Board of The Journal of Advertising Research to be a ‘classic’ - an article that has withstood the test of time. First published in 1984, Plummer develops the theory that it is the brand personality (the part of a brand image that is not purely physical or functional) that determines its appeal - and that measuring and adjusting consumer perceptions of brand personality can really make a difference. He uses Dr Pepper as a case study.

Measurable Emotions: How Television Ads Really Work

ABSTRACT Emotional responses are complex and should be measured against a variety of metrics. Five advertising research companies spanning three physiological (GSR, HRT, and facial EMG), one symbolic (ZMET), and three self-report (verbal, visual, and moment-to-moment) measures tested the effectiveness of the same four television commercials. This study compared and contrasted the physiological, symbolic, and self-report measure results and found they should be used in combination, depending on the information needed. Traces from the physiological measures indicate the peaks of lower-order emotions. Self-report measures capture conscious emotional reactions using preset labels. Symbolic measures provide a mental map of the brand. The authors suggest brand managers could use different criteria in setting the advertising objectives and reorient the creative briefing process. Emotional experiences are co-created, and advertising planning should link the “brand story” with a consumers “life story.”

The Shape of Marketing Research in 2021

It’s humbling when I think back 10 years: no broadband, no social media, no smartphones, no 50-inch LED TVs, no DVRs, no e-readers, no iPods, and Google hadn’t had its IPO. The term “co-creation” barely was taking off—now my company is into “crowdsourcing” [Howe, 2006; Whitla, 2009]. In the last decade, many industries went through what Andy Grove labeled “strategic-inflection points”— those moments when the balance of forces shifted from the old structure and the old ways of doing business and competing, to new ones [Grove, 1996]: the music business, the book business, the publishing business, even the original Internet leader, AOL. Will my business be next? What will be the “normal” 10 years from now? What will be the “next big things?” I do know that “digitization of everything” will be the mantra. I am certain the rate of change will keep accelerating—after all, Facebook went from nothing to 500 million users in just 6 years. And we finally realized that we marketers are not in control anymore. I know that Internet access anywhere will be a given; that geo-marketing will be pervasive; that retail environments will be transformed by digital technologies; that smartphone capabilities will be far more advanced; that RFID will have a big impact (even though I can’t tell how big); that privacy will be even more of an issue. And none of this even touches changes that won’t be driven by technology: the global economic balance of power will shift substantially in the next decade, driven by the BRIC economies and led by China. I also know that all of this is only the tip of the iceberg—I just can’t see the eight-ninths beneath the surface yet. The basics of marketing don’t change: I still need to identify, develop, and market products and services that satisfy customer needs even as they keep me ahead of the competition. I must do a better job in several ways. I need to be better at anticipating the future, at sensing consumer and customer needs, at being faster to market, at communicating and interacting with consumers and customers, at understanding and delivering against consumer needs around the world, and at recognizing potential inflexion points that could either bring great potential or destroy my business. I wonder what the “new normal” will be...

Editorial: What Do People Do with Advertising? The Critical Question

MY INAUGURAL ISSUE as new editor of the Journal of Advertising Research focused on the topic of emotion in advertising. The response from readers was positive. We began to receive wonderful new articles on this topic. Thus, we felt there should be an Emotion in Advertising II. Practitioners acknowledged that effective advertising, which helps build powerful, lasting brand relationships, is a balance of “head and heart.” Little investment in research and theory development, however, has been dedicated to measuring the heart response—until recently. The new efforts led by innovative research companies, supported by agencies and advertisers, in developing new emotional response measures are most encouraging. We are also beginning to translate learning from cognitive psychology and neuroscience on how meaning is created, memories retained, and decision making happens in everyday life. As Wendy Gordon states in her wonderful article in this issue, the question is not only “What does advertising do to people?” but also equally critical is the question, “What do people do to advertising?” Jerry Zaltman has introduced the idea of cocreation or coauthoring of meaning by consumers. I am convinced that if we open our minds to new understanding and new measurements, risk taking will increase in creating highly engaging advertising. We will depend less on sheer “tonnage,” interruption, and message repetition as the best way to build successful brands. Advertising will be a more welcome and engaging source of information and brand preference. This will be a win-win scenario for everyone. The new ideas, findings, and insights you will encounter in this encore visit into the world of emotion in advertising are enjoyable and useful reading. As always, I welcome your comments and new learning. JOSEPH T. PLUMMER Co-Editor joe@thearf.org

Editorial: Why Look into Media Planning?

ABSTRACT Editorial of JAR 45,1 (2005), discussing and introducing the issues theme of media planning.

Editorial: Up Close and Personal: The Value of Ethnography

IN GRADUATE SCHOOL I took several courses in anthropology and was smitten by the ethnographic methodology used by well-known scholars such as Margaret Mead. Soon after I joined the Leo Burnett advertising agency, I attended a talk by Burleigh Gardner on the value of personal observations of the rituals and symbols apparent in consumption or purchase of consumer goods. Burleigh’s talk inspired me to use ethnographic thinking to conduct observational research to help create advertising at Burnett. The first opportunity came when Kellogg’s, a major Burnett client, was concerned about lagging sales for two of their flagship brands—Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes. We proposed an ethnographic study to be conducted in the homes of 12 target families to better understand what goes on in middle-America homes at breakfast. We took pictures, observed, and asked a few questions over the two days we visited in each home. The big insight for us was that breakfast in America in the late 1960s was changing from a sit-down ritual for the whole family around a common cooked breakfast to what we labeled “the family bulletin board.” It appeared that each family member ate a slightly different breakfast at a slightly different time (often Dad first and then off to work; followed by school kids, etc.). Each person shared with whoever was there (usually Mom) the big events upcoming in their day as they hurriedly ate breakfast. Ready-to-eat cereal fit in perfectly with this new, “everyone for themselves” situation, designed to keep them connected as a family but not provide deep bonding that the traditional sit-down breakfast provided. That was now the province of dinner or a weekend breakfast. This new understanding of breakfast in America lead to a new Kellogg trademark campaign called “A Kellogg Kind of Morning.” Sales responded and this gave rise to a period of rapid new-product development. We used ethnography often at Burnett in those days to better understand how people used and felt about detergents, beer, homeowners insurance, air travel, and washing machines. But for some set of unexplained reasons, ethnography was abandoned by agencies and marketers replaced primarily by focus groups in the ’80s and ’90s. This issue of the Journal of Advertising Research is symbolic of what appears to be the resurgence of ethnography as a concept and valuable tool to better understand the complex relationships people have to product and service consumption and brands, as well as illuminating daily living patterns. The range of articles in this issue shows how ethnography can reveal subtle, fascinating human insights; how the method is being adapted for an internet age; the value of ethnography in generating learning across cultures; and how ethnography has real value in stimulating design as well as advertising creativity. One of the clear benefits of ethnography is the full immersion by the investigator into the environment of the people of interest. The value of understanding the physical worlds interacting with symbolic and sensory surroundings and behavior patterns (or rituals) must be practiced to be appreciated. Far too much research today designed to understand complex human meanings for brands and the motivations and satisfactions of purchase and consumption is conducted in a focus group facility, behind a computer screen, or using data collected by someone else. The resurgence of ethnography will get all of us interacting with prospects in their environment at a human level. Bob Woodard and I are so pleased to see an approach that was so valuable to advertising early in my career enjoying such a resurgence. It is our hope that by dedicating this issue of JAR to ethnography it won’t be a passing fad but will encourage more of you to work with it and benefit from the “live, up-close, and personal” ethnographic study of people’s rituals, symbols, and brand relationships. JOSEPH T. PLUMMER Co-Editor joe@thearf.org

Editorial: The Fragile Nature of Corporate Reputation

ABSTRACT Editorial of JAR 45,3 (2005), discussing and introducing the issues theme of corporate reputation.

Editorial: To Our Readers and Supporters from the New Editor

ABSTRACT Editorial of JAR 44, 3 (2004), written by Joseph Plummer, the new editor.