As the reader is aware, topics for the forthcoming issues of the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR) through the end of 2006 were selected in early 2004. After joining the editorial team in late 2004 and seeing that I would be the editorial steward for an issue on “Drivers of Brand Growth,” I immediately asked myself, “Does this mean ‘the drivers of growth in sales and earnings for branded products and services’ or ‘drivers of growth in the health or equity of brands’”? Realizing just as quickly that the answer was, as a sophomoric logician might quip, “Yes,” I decided that this would be a rare opportunity to bring these two streams of research and thought together for our readers and enable them to envision what Gerry Tellis calls “a deep, comprehensive and insightful picture of how advertising really works”—a picture resulting from a careful interlacing of “the econometric paradigm” and “the behavioral paradigm.”

There is one arena of the advertising industry that has undergone enormous change in the past decade and you guessed it—media! The technology of media has undergone amazing change from the growth of the internet and satellite radio, to the emergence of wireless and video games as an advertising channel, and the continuing segmentation of traditional media like television, magazines, and newspapers. We have seen the emergence of branded content, which in some aspects represents a return to the early days of sponsorship on network shows and in other aspects represents the fusion of two disciplines such as custom publishing. This year advertisers will spend more with Yahoo and Google than with CBS and Fox, which was unthinkable 5 to 10 years ago during the dot-com bust.

Most large corporations in America for decades assumed they were respected and trusted as good citizens by their employees and the public. The primary focus of management, therefore, had been on producing and selling their goods and services at a profit attractive to shareholders. This has been the primary focus of marketing and marketing communications as well. Efforts to build a strong, positive corporate reputation have been the province of public relations or low on the priority list while everything else focuses on transactions. A few companies like General Electric, DuPont, Toyota, McDonalds, and BP created memorable corporate efforts.

The topic “Broader Strategies for Cross-Channel Integration” clearly calls for two, equally important discussions: one sharing current perspectives on and approaches to Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and the other covering new insights about specific, often “nontraditional” communication channels, or what Calder and Malthouse might characterize more expansively as types of “contacts.” This issue of the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR) provides both.

One of America's greatest inventors, Benjamin Franklin, once said “glass china and reputation are easily cracked, but never well mended.” A simplistic and thankfully outdated notion, yet with an element of truth.

In order to have a sense about where media planning is going, one must first have a contextual understanding of where it has been and at what place it is currently.

Advertising is a rich, multidimensional phenomenon that has been studied in several disciplines. This research has led to an emerging body of findings and some potential generalizations. Even then, misconceptions about advertising persist, and important aspects of the phenomenon have not been adequately researched. Despite advertising's apparent weakness it is essential for free markets.

This article defines the integrated marketing process and shows how it can be used to improve advertising. It discusses how integrated marketing thinks about brands, the consumer experience with products or services, and contact points. The role of media in delivering messages is reconsidered and ways of measuring the engagement with a medium are discussed. Integrated marketing also addresses the relationship between brands and customized contact points.

Marketers are getting their groove back. But if the year ahead heralds the “return of marketing,” it certainly won't be marketing as we know it.

The purpose of this research is twofold: (1) to examine the persuasive effects of a message that is presented either as advertising or publicity, and (2) to study whether sequencing (i.e., advertising-then-publicity or publicity-then-advertising) matters in integrated marketing. Specifically, this research tests (1) whether there is a difference between advertising and publicity on message acceptance and message response, and (2) whether the sequencing of publicity and advertising affects message processing. Four dependent variables are studied: message strength, perceived credibility, attitude toward the destination, and purchase intent. Results suggest that the sequence, publicity-then-advertising, is most effective at persuading potential customers to visit a tourist destination.

The elusive notion of brand equity is operationalized in a “share tiering” framework with a combination of multiple constructs: (1) relative barrier or brand price, (2) brand quality perceptions, (3) brand purchase loyalty, and (4) self-report future brand purchase trend. This general measurement framework for “true” brand equity when applied longitudinally permits the evaluation of markerting ROI. Recommended measures for the “share tiering” approach to brand equity measurement are illustrated using the cola category as an example.

Advanced Television will end the 100+ year master/slave relationship between the mass media and the audience. The media, the marketer, and the audience will all benefit from time shifting, addressability, interactivity, and cross platform access. However, Advanced Television will face significant challenges as innovations will require open attitudes and changes in business models. There are steps to be taken now to facilitate the introduction of the next generation of television and marketing communications.

Although 90 percent of marketing communication investments are accounted for by investments in brand contacts, i.e., the points at which the consumer and the brand come in contact with each other, until now, there has not been a tool that allows managers to identify, a priori and from a consumer perspective, the most effective set of contacts in which to invest. We describe a tool that we have developed that empowers the brand owners/marketers to (1) identify and select the critical contacts that are relevant for a particular brand, (2) integrate across these key contact points, and (3) deliver brand experience through a relevant and pertinent set of consumer brand encounters at a minimum cost, but with maximal impact. We then discuss how the metrics derived from this tool can be used to inform a variety of important decisions in the context of managing brand contacts. We close with a discussion of some of the regularities that we have uncovered from the over 150 brands that we have audited across numerous markets and categories.

This article uses the Anholt Nation Brands Index to measure the power and appeal of America's brand image by surveying 10,000 consumers in 10 countries on their perceptions of America's cultural, political, commercial and human assets, investment potential, and tourist appeal. The findings show that while U.S. exports, investment, immigration, tourism, and people rank relatively high among the other nations indexed, the global opinion of U.S. governance and culture and heritage are very low. Recommendations for improving America's global brand image are presented.

The number of companies sponsoring events has increased over the past decade. Yet, for many firms it is unclear how the effectiveness of event marketing activities can be measured. The study examines outcomes associated with an automobile manufacturer's sponsorship of a six-day charitable sporting event. Data for the study were collected from a sample of 565 spectators in five cities during the six-day event. Results provide evidence for inclusion of event marketing in the company's promotional mix and indicate that experience with the sponsor's products during the event may enhance event outcomes. The role of event marketing as a form of communication is discussed, and recommendations and directions for future research are suggested.

A measurable framework for brand equity is presented that links together financial performance, loyalty, and attitudinal dimensions and for understanding the impact of a corporate brand on sub-brands that share the same name. This study describes specific key performance indicator measures and, most importantly, how to intelligently set targets for each measure, so that marketers can track and manage the success of their brands. A case history for a large European telecommunications company is presented that shows how this framework produced a very different view of the health of the company's brands versus prior research, one that was ultimately accepted as correct. This study discusses organizational problems the CMO had to address as he tried to implement this new framework, and how to generalize this approach to other industries.

The article by Amitava Chattopadhyay and Jean-Louis Laborie is terrific. It represents a rethink and an innovative way to improve what we do as professionals. For that it should be commended and introduced to the industry.

Do consumers really care about corporate reputation when it comes to purchasing decisions? This study tests that hypothesis by comparing consumers' perceptions of companies to the consumer equity of brands owned by those companies, using international studies of brand equity and corporate reputation. The results show that poor corporate reputation makes building strong brands difficult, but a good reputation is no guarantee of success.

The elements of corporate reputation that seem to matter most to consumers in practice are perceptions of fairness toward consumers, and perceptions of corporate success and leadership, rather than public responsibility. Consumers want good business practice but when it comes to brand strength and purchasing, more personally relevant factors take precedence. So pushing a corporate social responsibility agenda to consumers may not reap the strongest rewards. But “ethical” brands that bring no penalty in cost or quality are likely to be more successful.

As a direct marketing tool, electronic Short Message Service (SMS) is likely to surpass internet-based advertising before the end of 2006. This article profiles heavy and light consumer acceptors of SMS direct advertising texts and SMS direct marketing prompts to watch TV programs. The article includes empirical findings of practitioner campaign evaluations of SMS-TV direct marketing campaigns in U.K. and U.S. markets. The results support the view that younger consumers higher in social class are the most willing to accept SMS direct advertising text and respond favorably to SMS-TV integrated marketing communications. The article closes with a call for true experiments to validate consumer acceptance and use of SMS-TV interactive, commercial, communications via split-run testing.

This article examines how societal shifts resulting in a better-informed consumer are changing the nature of the customer-brand relationship as well as the nature of branding building. As the importance of nonmarketing touchpoints such as customer service departments and the actual in-store experience continues to increase, marketing is challenged to step beyond its traditional role to prove its value in generating business growth. Toward achieving this end, marketing must respond to three key challenges: the ability to maintain superiority, the need for achieving returns with fewer resources, and finding ways to manage the expanding complexity of today's customer touchpoints.