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Advertising to Industry
Managing Large Scale Ad Campaigns
As GLI's Graphics Manager, one of my responsibilities was the management of the advertising schedule. Over a period of eight years I managed 231 ad placements in 45 separate trade publications. The peak advertising year was 1998, when GLI contracted 83 ad placements. My involvement in these ads was "cradle-to-grave", including scheduling, budgeting, negotiations with publishers, design and layout, product photography, illustration, and fulfillment.
NEGOTIATION: At the end of each calendar year GLI negotiated ad contracts with several key trade publications. While price was a factor, other negotiable items included preferred positioning, ad size and frequency, and "value-added" incentives, which included publication of press releases or "product spotlights", company overviews, reader surveys, and mailing lists from the journals subscriber database.
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FULFILLMENT: It was my responsibility to create ad materials in a timely manner, and deliver publication-quality media to the publisher on or before the deadline.
Each publisher's requirements were different, and I became adept at providing color-separated films, match prints, or electronic files, depending on each magazines unique needs. I routinely communicated with magazine production staff to verify the usability of the materials I provided.
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The savings derived from internalizing its advertising efforts enabled GLI to increase its media presence, achieving a larger-than-life image while eliminating advertising agency fees. GLI gained the ability to respond quickly to marketing opportunities. By controlling its own media schedule GLI was able to integrate its advertising with its other marketing channels. Overall, GLI benefited from significantly lower advertising costs while improving the effectiveness of its campaigns.
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