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AdPrin Audit
The AdPrin Audit (Excel) examines the extent to which a given advertisement follows the advertising principles. It has four purposes:
- improve any type of advertisement;
- indicate which of a set of ads is likely to be most effective;
- persuade a client that an ad will be effective; and
- learn about advertising principles.
In line with purposes 2 and 3, the audit provides an effectiveness score called Armstrong’s Index. It is based on the number of principles that are correctly applied minus those that are violated. This simple approach is in line with recent research on the use of the “index method” (see, for example, Armstrong and Graefe, 2010).
Ethical guidelines
Consider the following procedures early in the development of the ad, say at the storybook phase:
Techniques for Avoiding Legal/Ethical Problems
- Use an independent review board to evaluate whether ads violate good taste. These boards could be internal to the agency or include representatives of key interest groups, such as customers of the brand in question.
- Conduct copy-testing. This is likely to be less costly than producing the ad and spending money for placement only to find that the ad offends people and generates bad publicity.
- List the interest groups that might be affected and try to anticipate their reactions. Or, what is more effective, ask people to take on the roles of those in key interest groups and to express their opinions about the ad.
- Develop a code of ethics with respect to tastes and ask those who develop the ads to sign off on each ad.
Advertising education forum
The Advertising Education Forum focuses on advertising and children. It provides academic and scientific research, including documents published by government, regulators, academics, industry, consumer groups and advertising self-regulatory organizations.
US advertising and marketing laws
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