ABSTRACT
The evaluation of any promotional activity is an important, often neglected, part of managing
marketing communications. The outcomes from the evaluation process can provide a rich
source of material for the next campaign, and in doing so improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of an organization’s overall marketing communications. It was identified in Unit 2
that the main communications tools should be considered in terms of their ability to
communicate, cost efficiency, credibility and control factors, the ‘4Cs Framework’. Refer back
to this to refresh your understanding of the characteristics associated with each communication
tool. Ultimately, communications would be measured on a scale which maximizes each of
these elements, it would seek to deliver highly credible communications to the whole target
audience at minimum cost with maximum control. In reality, this represents an unachieveable
goal, as there are too many extraneous factors in the communications process for everything to
be ‘perfect’ in this sense. Communicators therefore aim at maximizing each aspect taking into
account the objectives to be achieved. There will be occasions when decisions are taken to run
an advertising campaign at short notice to take advantage of unexpected opportunities such as
associations with topical news. This is likely to involve higher media costs because of the short
notice and there may be a loss of control on placement for similar reasons. However,
communications’ effectiveness might be maximized due to the nature of the opportunity that
has arisen. For example, the sponsor of a football team that is in the final of a major cup
competition shown extensively on national TV, might wish to run some press advertising
following this if the team is successful. The media costs would be higher than if the space had
been booked several weeks in advance but the communications might not have been so
successful without the association of the cup final victory which itself would have received
significant media coverage. Credibility would be enhanced when linked to the team’s success,
particularly amongst the successful team’s supporters!
