Budgeting and ROI


We work with large budgets, small ones, and others in the middle. The secret in making a budget work is resource allocation: Focus on those areas that have the greatest efficiencies and effectiveness given the size of the budget you have. If you have the resources, a truly integrated approach allows you to be persuasive with the message and to hit your target customers whomever, whenever and wherever they may be. You can spend money on extensive research and preparing to deliver your message. You can put the right systems and processes in place to effectively track and measure the advertising. You can set a true customer relationship management program in place and have the time to get it right through testing and refinement. Having the ability to use interactive media allows you to be ahead of the curve before your competitors have a chance to either understand or test these approaches themselves. I believe that if you have the time and the money, anything can be accomplished because you can lead yourself strategically from the beginning to the end with very little risk. But always remember, having all the money in the world and simply throwing it at a problem will not solve it—you still have to aim.

If spending is a factor, radio is an extremely effective tool. The key with smaller budgets is to focus, prioritize, and not try to do too much. All too often we see clients with very small budgets who want to compete against companies with much larger market share. Copycatting is not an effective tactic for penetrating a market, particularly with a small budget. Often, however, you can break through using radio, a medium that has not been used effectively even by the bigger ad agencies. Radio is highly effective on a cost-per-point basis. Most importantly, it works and is a good responsive medium. Some reasons: drive times in the United States have not become shorter; they’ve become longer. People have become more infatuated with radio/traffic reports/news bulletins than ever before, and offer a captive audience. Our job is to have an effective communication strategy to break through on the radio.

At Zimmerman & Partners, we measure return on investment through sales, sales, sales. The questions to ask are: Did the cash register ring? Did we deliver sales revenue in an affordable and profitable way? Did we deliver market share? Did we become the talk and the preference? If we did, then we were successful on all fronts.

A successful advertising campaign accomplishes the stated objectives and beats them. Objectives are set, measurement parameters are defined, and a campaign is developed, launched, and measured accordingly. Intuitively, a successful campaign is one that effectively reaches target audiences in a memorable, compelling way and motivates them to act with immediacy. We don’t have time to wait for them to act. What we do must inspire them to act now. We must hit at the heartstrings, i.e. forge an emotional connection, with the products we’re moving. Advertising is not entertainment; it is a sales tool.

The old adage of whether the cup is half full or half empty no longer holds in today’s business climate. Our clients are demanding—their advertising must work, and it must work now. They don’t have the time or the marketing dollars to waste waiting for a marketing message to sink in and then wait even longer for it to eventually drive sales. It is all about accountability, more so than ever before in our industry. I like it. It’s more fun, more challenging, and at the same time you see your results enhance your own bottom line.

Ultimately, it all comes back to the client. We always have to keep the best interests of the client in mind. It isn’t about the agency. It isn’t about winning awards. It’s about our client’s business. They hired us as an advertising agency to do one thing: to help their business, to grow their brand strategically. So we need to learn to manage their budgets and spend their money like it is our own. Then we need to measure results, as much as we monitor our own return on investment. If we are not achieving the results, we need to learn why and not make that same mistake again. The bottom line is that it all comes down to their bottom line, period. End of story.

The necessity of accountability will continue to strengthen until it becomes top-of-mind for agencies and clients. More and more agencies will have to quantify the impact they are having on their clients’ businesses. They will have to illustrate specifically how advertising initiatives are advancing company goals. Simply creating ads will not be enough for agencies to succeed. Agencies will need to go further and develop nontraditional ways to grow clients’ businesses. This includes delivering alternative marketing initiatives and providing strategic insight on how clients can grow and run their businesses, be it through line extensions, acquisitions, or distribution channel expansion. Agencies need to show they are valuable business partners that share clients’ goals rather than pursue their own goals as agencies. They need to show they are true strategic partners present every step of the way, giving their clients guidance and a view from outside their networks. Smart clients and confident agencies will tie compensation programs directly to results.




The Art of Advertising. CEOs from BBDO, Mullin Advertising & More on Generating Creative Campaigns & Building Successful Brands
The Art of Advertising: CEOs from Mullen Advertising, Marc USA, Euro RSCG & More on Generating Creative Campaigns & Building Successful Brands (Inside the Minds Series)
ISBN: 1587622319
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 68

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