ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with government mass-media campaigns in the Netherlands, especially with the way they are managed and how their effectiveness is evaluated. For more than five years now the results of all government campaigns have been surveyed in a continuous tracking study. The resulting database of over 120 cases has proven to be very valuable for assessing the factors that contribute to successes and failures. Based on advanced multi-variate analyses of these data, a software tool has been developed, known as the Multimedia Tool. This unique tool provides campaign managers with guidelines on the budget they need for achieving their campaign objectives, the communication effects that they can expect from the campaign, and how best to allocate budgets to the various media types.
