Fax Numbers, Fax Marketing & Other Advertising Methods.

Question: Is advertising a hoax? to what degree do ad expenditures drive sales? answers supported by...?

(Posted by: Minta on 2010-03-05 02:08:37)

...quantitative data preferred. This Q was prompted by 1 of AgentO's good Qs. Answer any 2 or 3 of my numerous Qs. It seems that traditional TV advertising doesn't always work; or, at least it doesn't work in the ways that product manufacturers intend. How can ads work if people mute them, switch channels, or don't remember product/ brand tie- ins? I wonder if a lot of businesses are being duped. Is the supposed correlation between ad expenditure and sales really a myth? Is it a hoax perpetuated by the advertising and broadcasting industries? Why do corporations spend mega- millions on advertising if it doesn't work? What would happen if corporations curtailed ad spending- - at least during this economic crisis? When I was in business school, in a prehistoric era, I vaguely recall reading journal articles demonstrating the ad spend to sales correlation. But that was long ago, long before the Internet. Anybody have more up- to- date quantitative data to defend the role of advertising?

Posted by: torase on 2010-03-07, 21:06:10

Look at GM ad spending. Something like $600 million a year. How many extra cars did the advertising sell? How many more cars could they have sold if they'd used that money to design and build better cars? Look at Coke and Pepsi ad spending. Billions per year. How many extra bottles did that sell? How often have you bought Pepsi or Coke because of their ad? All good questions.