AN EXAMINATION OF OPINIONS ON ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES, EVALUATION AND GRATIFICATION

Abstract

Advertisers clearly define their intentions before engaging in the series of planned activities thatare aimed at promoting products, brands and services. Every advertising effort attempts to reach out to the target audience, attract patronage and earn economic profitability in the process. To be on top of their game, they take deliberate steps to determine if the method(s) deployed for such brand marketing have been effective in hitting the targeted mark or achieving the expected return on investment. This is because it will be directionless for corporate organisations to undertake an advertising campaign without adopting the right measurement mechanism. To this end, very advertiser devises ways of assessing their strengths, weaknesses, successes and otherwise of their
campaign. It is also important to determine measurement techniques to ascertain their successes or otherwise in terms of sales, increased brand awareness, wider distribution among others. This research study evaluated the techniques deployed by advertising agencies to assess the success or otherwise of their campaigns. The study adopted the survey method to gather resourceful data from 130 respondents and five participants who were selected through census, for their opinions on the techniques used, and gratifications earned by advertisers in Rivers State. The study was anchored
on the Uses and Gratification, Cognitive Evaluation and Public Opinion Theories. The data collected from the field were analysed using simple percentage template and the Miles and Hubermans’analytical format. The study found that advertising effectiveness is hugely dependent on the choiceof techniques, advertisers adopt techniques for campaigns based on targeted gratifications. Thebstudy recommends that advertising agencies should adopt techniques based on the peculiarity of the brand, product or service being advertised and they should be more thorough in evaluating the outcome of their campaigns to ensure more effective results in the future.