21 Watertight Laws for Intelligent Advertising Decisions

In June 2009, a landmark issue of the Journal of Advertising Research will showcase 21 papers on what is currently known about advertising. Guest Edited by Dr. Wind and Dr. Byron Sharp, Director Ehrenburg-Bass Institute, this valuable collection of knowledge will help marketers navigate the tremendous changes in the advertising environment and enable them to better predict the future through a deeper understanding of what has been seriously proven about advertising. The findings cover fundamental areas of marketing activity such as ROI measurement, 360 degree media planning, and the value of TV and creative execution – and also new actionable insights on what to do in recessionary times and the impact of DVRs.

Some marketing myth-busting found in ARF's batch of studies:
Each 1% increase in advertising produces a roughly 0.1 point change in sales or market share. As a result, an optimal ad budget is about 10% of gross profits. That rule doesn't necessarily hold for all marketers (it would, if followed strictly, have Procter & Gamble cut its global ad spending by half or more). More effective advertising, or ads for new products, produce as much as 250% greater lift than average and justify correspondingly larger outlays.

Store redesigns and other factors that make it easier and faster to shop actually increase purchases, contrary to the old strategy that making things hard to find boosts sales by making people spend more time in the store.

Though most campaigns cluster ads in a short period of time, consumers retain information better if it's spaced out over longer intervals.

Obvious branding works in ads. The more often a brand appears in a TV ad, the more likely consumers are to remember what brand it was for.

But obvious brand placements in TV shows are more likely to backfire. They're better remembered, but more likely to be remembered negatively. Even brand placements consumers don't consciously remember, however, can have a favorable impact on brand awareness and attitude.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=136993
http://www.thearf.org/assets/feature-data-21-mythology-0