More Weeks, Less Weight: The Shelf-Space Model of Advertising

Advertising needs continuity, because not being there with a message is like being 'out-of-stock.' Starting with that simple thought this paper reexamines effective frequency theory in the light of new evidence and proposes a different approach to advertising planning, based on continuity and the goal of weekly reach.

More Weeks, Less Weight: The Shelf-Space Model of Advertising

Erwin Ephron

Henny Youngman said it. 'I've got enough money to last me the rest of my life, provided I die at three o'clock.' That joke is the advertiser's nightmare. There's never enough money for a full year of advertising at effective weight-levels, so we make do. We use more 15s, buy cheaper TV, and run fewer and fewer weeks, driven by our belief in 'effective frequency,' the idea that it's the concentration of advertising that makes consumers buy.

Yet despite billions of advertising dollars and years of brand experience, the...

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