sample="quota" bates="677191064" isource="bw" decade="1970" class="ui" date="19740513" File MEMORANDUM May 13, 1974 TO: R.A. PITTMAN cc: C. I. McCarty J. A. Broughton F. A. Gardner J. W. Groome V. C. Broach B. L. Boocker R. L. Johnson W. L. Schermerhorn M. O. Wilson Joan Baer (PKG) Jack Pazton (BATES) FINAL REPORT COPY TESTS OF TWO VICEROY OFFER ADS IN EBONY PROJECT #1973-218 Background Two Black oriented VICEROY ads featuring offers were tested by ASI in standard magazine tests with refocus measures. The test ads and the items featured were: "Camera (Never Move)" (V-MG-73-87) - features a Minolta Camera for $247. "Sunglasses (Just My Style)" (V-MG-73-79) - features folding sunglasses for $8. This Offer ads are adaptions of the Nationally run ads "Never Move"/"Never Move-Revised" ("Camera") and "Just My Style" ("Sunglasses"). Both ads were tested in the March, 1974 issue of EBONY among approximately 300 Black smokers of filter cigarettes about evenly divided by sex. Highlights of Findings Persuasiveness And Brand Awareness Both Offer ads achieved low PM6 and Proved Recall levels. On PM6, "Camera" as well as "Sunglasses" produced lower performances among females (averages: 0.4% versus 4.5% among males) and older smokers (averages: 0.9% versus 4.0% among younger smokers). There were no major sub-group differences on Proved Recall levels for "Sunglasses." "Camera," however, achieved a stronger recall among males than females (19% versus 10%). Idea Communication When asked what ideas or impressions about the product were conveyed by the ad, the primary responses for both the Offer ads focused on taste - for example, "full-flavored," "smooth," "rich." The levels of taste related comments for the Offer ads were similar to those for "Never Move-Revised" (average 41% versus 46%). The Offer ads produced fewer comments than "Never Move-Revised" associated with the type of person who would smoke VICEROY - e.g. "exciting people," "fun-loving people" (average 22% versus 34%). For both ads, unaided references to the offers were low - "Camera" 16%; "Sunglasses" 13%. To determine how the presence of an offer would affect smokers' perception of VICEROY's quality, they were asked to rate the brand on its overall quality. The Offer ads obtained ratings on quality comparable to levels for non-offer VICEROY EBONY ads - approximately half of the smokers perceived VICEROY as above average to very high in quality. Copy Interpretation The headlines for the two Offer ads were as follows: "Camera": He's Got a Pocketful of Money, a Fun-loving Woman and A Camera To Catch The Action. He Wouldn't Smoke a Boring Cigarette." Respondents were asked for their interpretation of each headline. "Sunglasses" produced a lower playback of references to excitement than "Camera" (16% versus 24%) as well as a lower level of taste comments (10% versus 21%). Relative to the headline used in "Never Move-Revised" ("He's Got A Pocketful of Money, A Fun-Loving Woman, And A Taste For Excitement. He Wouldn't Smoke a Boring Cigarette."). the headline used for "Sunglasses" was rated similarly on the words/expressions/language used while the headline for "Camera" was rated less favorably. The copyline "VICEROY. Where Excitement Is Now A Taste" achieved good acceptance from both Offer ads. Positive interpretations of the copyline (e.g. "good/best taste," "exciting cigarette") averaged 68% while negative comments (e.g. "a gimmick," "ridiculous") were low (average 8%). Perception/Reaction To The Offers Selections from a list of statements showed respondents were clearly aware of the offers being featured. When asked on an unaided basis what they thought of the cameras/sunglasses offer, the camera elicited more negative responses than the sunglasses offer (41% versus 27%). This higher level of negative comments was primarily in terms of "too expensive" (31%). The sunglasses were perceived as a worse deal than the camera. Additionally, the particular sunglasses featured were not seen as very desirable. From a list of words/phrases, respondents selected those which best described their opinion of the offer. The camera was generally rated more favorably than the sunglasses - sturdier, better quality, looks expensive, something I'd like. The camera as well as the sunglasses had high ratings on "too much money." Elements of Execution/Presentation From the adjective checklist, the Offer ads were rated as less eye-catching and as less easy to understand than "Never Move-Revised." "Camera" was also rated as less appealing. The models in "Camera" and "Sunglasses" were perceived less favorably than the model in "Never Move-Revised." For example, the models in the Offer ads were rated as less modern, having a good time, friendly, good looking and as less right for the product. The VICEROY smoker profile projected by both Offer ads were overall quite similar to that from "Never Move-Revised" - up-to-date, active, confident, wants full flavor. Summary Both "Camera" and "Sunglasses" had low PM6 and Proved Recall scores. The ads produced adequate playback of taste ideas but low playback of the offer and of "for cool, exciting people" ideas. Reactions to the offers were not very favorable. The camera was seen as too expensive. The particular sunglasses featured did not appear to be very desirable and also were seen as somewhat expensive. L. L. Ball /ds