Study of the compaign planning process in Indian and French advertising agencies

Abstract

The Main Objective if this research was to study and capture they campaign planning process as it occurs in advertising agencies. The study was carried out in the context of two countries, India and France. As part of the study, the extent and nature of use of theory and research during campaign development, was also examined. The main motivations for studying the campaign planning process were: 1) Limited literature on the campaign planning process in advertising agencies. 2) Limited Literature on practices in marketing support-service institutions, particularly advertising agencies. 3) Unprecedented growth of the advertising industry in India. The main reasons for investigating the extent and nature of use of theory and research were: 1) Inadequacies in existing theoretical explanations regarding how advertising works. 2) Lack of information on the extent to which advertising practitioners actually use theory and research. Given the nature of the main research questions, the case method of study was felt to be most appropriate for investigation these questions. A total of eight case studies were undertaken. of these, five were Indian and three were French. By capturing the campaign planing process as it occurs in advertising agencies and providing a generalized model of the process, this study adds to the body of knowledge on advertising as well as on marketing support service institutions. It also provides a framework, based on which hypotheses for future studies in this ares can be generated, Further, by providing comparative information on one facet of advertising practices in two countries(India and France), thstudy contributes to literature in the area of international marketing communications. This study also indicates that Advertising practitioners draw in only a very limited way from theoretical concepts proposed by academic researchers, and that there is a lack of dissemination of theoretical knowledge among practitioners. The study identifies certain additional areas that researchers would need to investigate if they wish to build more complete theoretical explanations regarding how advertising works. Finally, the study indicates that there is presently an excessive emphasis on copy research for evaluation purpose (pre-testing and post-testing). Developmental research ( research as an aid to the process of development of the advertising strategy / creative effort) is rarely done. This anomaly needs to be rectified, if more effective advertising is to be created.