AIDA
a historical model representing the four basic promotional goals of attracting a client's: attention, interest, desire, and action
Ad copy
the printed text or spoken words with an advertisement
Advertiser
a manufacturer, company, retailer, supplier, or service provider that advertises a product or service
Advertising
most paid communications conveyed by a mass medium
Advertising budget
money set aside by the advertiser to pay for advertising
Arbitron
a radio rating service that publishes regular reports for selected markets
Audience
a numeric tabulation of the number of people or households exposed to an advertising vehicle, without regard to whether they actually saw or heard what was conveyed
Billboard
an outdoor sign or poster
Body copy
the text of a print ad that does not include the headline, logo, or subscript material
Brand manager
a person who has marketing responsibilities for a specific brand
Brand name
the name used to distinguish a product or service from its competitors. It can apply to a single product, an entire product line, or even a company
Broadsheet
standard-sized newspaper
Business-to-business (B2B) advertising
advertising directed to other businesses, rather than to consumers
Business-to-consumer (B2C) advertising
advertising directed to consumers, rather than to businesses
Caption
a headline or the text accompanying an illustration or photograph
Circulation
the average number of copies of a newspaper or magazine distributed for a print publication
Closing date
the day final copy and other materials must be at the media vehicle in order to appear in a specific issue or time slot
Column inch
a common unit of measure by newspapers, whereby ad space is purchased by the width (in columns) and by depth (in inches); for example, an ad that is 3 standard columns wide and 5 inches tall (or deep) would be 15 column inches, total
Commercial advertising
advertising that involves commercial interests rather than advocating a social or political cause
Cooperative (Co-Op) program
a system by which ad costs are divided between two or more parties; usually, such programs are offered by manufacturers to their wholesalers or retailers, as a means of encouraging those parties to advertise the product
Copy
all spoken words in a TV or radio spot, or written text in an advertisement, brochure, flyer, or other print material
Cost efficiency
for a media schedule, refers to the relative balance of effectively meeting reach and frequency goals at the lowest price
Cost per thousand (CPM)
the cost of buying advertising space in a given media vehicle per thousand people reached
Coverage
a measure of a media vehicle’s reach within a specific geographic area
Creative strategy
an outline of the message, a definition of the audience and the tone; the creative strategy provides the guiding principles for copywriters and art directors who develop the advertisement
Demographics
the descriptive classifications of consumers, such as their age, sex, income, education, size of household, ownership of home, etc.; excluding classification by consumers’ subjective attitudes or opinions
Designated market area (DMA)
a geographic designation, used by A.C. Nielsen, that specifies which counties fall into a defined television market
Direct mail
marketing communications delivered directly to a prospective purchaser via the U.S. Postal Service or a private delivery company
Direct marketing
sending a promotional message directly to consumers, rather than via a mass medium; methods include direct mail and telemarketing
Direct response
promotions that permit or request consumers to respond to the advertiser by mail, telephone, email, or some other means of communication
Drop date
the date that a direct mail piece reaches the post office for distribution
End-user
the person who actually uses a product or service, including a website
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
the Federal agency responsible for regulating broadcast and electronic communications
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
the Federal agency responsible for regulating national advertising
Font
a typeface style, such as Helvetica, Times Roman, Arial, etc., displayed in a single size
Four Ps
product, price, place, and promotion; also known as the marketing mix
Four-color process
a printing process that combines differing amounts of each of four colors—(cyan, magenta, yellow, and black)—to provide a full-color print
Grid card
a broadcast media rate card that lists rates in a grid format, according to the time periods that might be purchased for air time
Guaranteed circulation
a media rate that is guaranteed to reach a specified number of people
Inquiries
consumer response to a company's advertising or other promotional activities, such as direct mail campaigns; used for measuring the effectiveness of some promotions
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
a management strategy that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication—advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing—work together as a unified force, rather than in isolation
Layout
a rendering that indicates the relative position of creative elements—headline, photo, logo, body copy, etc—in relation to each other in an ad
Local advertising
advertising of a community’s merchant or business to its local audience, as opposed to regional or national advertising
Local rate
an advertising rate charged to a local advertiser by local media, as distinguished from a national rate that is charged to a national advertiser
Logo (logotype)
a brand name, publication title, etc., presented in a special graphic style or typeface, usually registered and used in the manner of a trademark
Market profile
a summary of the characteristics of a market, including consumer demographics, competitor strategies, and general information about the economy and local retailing patterns
Market segmentation
to direct a market strategy to a subgroup in a sales category to gain a major portion of sales rather than a broad category strategy that generates limited share purchases
Market share
the percentage of a product category’s sales in terms of dollars or units obtained by a brand, line, or company
Marketing campaign, marketing plan
a comprehensive plan designed to select the proper demographics for an advertising campaign by measuring goals against media selection
Media mix
the different media types and buys—and the interplay between them—that promote a specific product or service
Media type
the different kinds of media used in advertising, including newspaper, TV, radio, magazine, marketing collateral, direct mail, Yellow Pages, etc.
Medium (plural: media)
a vehicle or group of vehicles used to convey information, news, entertainment, and advertising messages to an audience; media include television, cable television, magazines, radio, billboards, etc.
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
an association whose membership is largely composed of radio and television stations
National advertising
advertising that is aimed at a national market, as opposed to local advertising
Net cost
the costs associated with services rendered by an advertising agency, excluding the agency commission
Network
a national or regional group of affiliated broadcast stations contractually bound to distribute radio or television programs for simultaneous transmission
Newsprint
a soft, coarse wood pulp paper used in printing newspapers
Nielsen rating
a measurement of the percentage of U.S. television households tuned to a network program for a minute of its telecast
Outdoor advertising
any outdoor signs that publicly promote a product or service, such as billboards, posters, kiosks, etc.
Package
a combination of programs or commercials offered by a network that is available for purchase by advertisers, either singly or as a discounted package deal
Personalize
to add a name or other personal recipient identifiers in direct mail advertising
Preferred position
a position in a printed publication that attracts a high readership and is sold at a higher rate; for example, the back cover of a magazine
Prime time
the broadcast periods viewed or listened to by the greatest number of people, generally sold at the highest rates; prime time TV hours are between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern or 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Central
Product positioning
the consumer perception of a product or service as compared to its competition
Production
the physical process of preparing the advertising idea into a print- or broadcast-ready advertisement
Promotion
all forms of communication other than advertising that calls attention to products and services by adding extra value toward the purchase (coupons, sales, kickbacks, etc.)
Promotional mix
using several different types of communication—including advertising, publicity, and promotions—to support marketing goals
Proof
an impression on paper or a PDF of the printed ad, brochure, flyer, poster, etc., created to check the correctness and quality of the material to be printed
Public relations (PR)
communication with various sectors of the public to influence attitudes and opinions to promote a person, product, or idea
Qualitative research
a method of advertising research that emphasizes the quality of meaning in consumer perceptions and attitudes; for example, in-depth interviews and focus groups
Quantitative research
a method of advertising research that emphasizes measurement of incidence of consumer trends within a population; for example, online user polls
Rate
the amount charged by a communications medium to an advertiser based on per unit of space or time purchased; rates may vary from national to local campaigns, or may be fixed
Rate card
information cards, provided by print and broadcast media, which contain information about advertising costs, mechanical requirements, issue dates, closing dates, cancellation dates, and circulation data
Rating point
percentage of the target audience reached (a program with a 2.5 rating will reach 2.5 percent of its target audience); the same program will have different ratings for different targets
Reach
the estimated number of individuals in the audience that receives the communication at least once during a specific period of time
Readership
the total number of people, including primary and pass-along readers, who read a publication
Registration marks
indicator symbols that determine legal ownership of rights and protections: ® for registered mark, ™ for registered trademark and SM for registered signature mark
Retail advertising
advertising that promotes retailer, both national (e.g., Wal Mart, Target, Macy’s, etc.) and local
Run-of-press (ROP)
a newspaper publisher's option to place an ad anywhere in the publication, as opposed to a preferred position
Run-of-schedule (ROS)
a station's option to place a commercial in any time slot that it chooses
Sans-serif
a typeface such as Arial, Helvetica, or Futura with no serifs—or strokes—at the upper and lower ends of letters
Self-mailer
a direct-mail piece in which no envelope or wrapper is required for mailing
Serif
a typeface such as Times New Roman, Garamond, or Goudy with any of the short lines stemming from and at an angle to the upper and lower ends of letters
Share-of-audience
the percent of an audience that is tuned into a particular medium at a given time; for example, the number of people watching television between the hours of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Spread
refers to a pair of facing pages in a periodical or an advertisement, printed across two such pages
TRP
TRP, or Targeted Rating Point, is the duplicated reach of an ad (reach x frequency = TRP); for example, 250 TRPS can mean 50 percent of your audience has seen the ad 5 times or 75 percent of your audience has seen the ad 3.3 times, depending on the specifics of the media buy
Tabloid
a size of newspaper that is roughly half the size of a standard—or "broadsheet" newspaper; the page size normally is 14" high by 12" wide
Tagline
a slogan or phrase that conveys the most important product attribute or benefit that the advertiser wishes to communicate
Target audience
a specified audience or demographic group for which an advertising message is designed
Target market
a group of individuals who are the intended recipients of an advertiser's message
Tear sheets
a page cut from a magazine or newspaper that is sent to the advertiser as proof of the ad insertion; also used to check color reproduction of advertisements
Thumbnail
small image representation of a larger image
Trade name
the name under which a company operates
Trademark
icon, symbol, or brand name used to identify a specific manufacturer, product, or service
Typography
the designated setting of type for printing purposes
Vehicle
a specific channel or publication for carrying the advertising message to a target audience; for example, a medium is newspapers and a corresponding vehicle is The New York Times