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AAAA   see American Association of Advertising Agencies. 

AAF   see American Advertising Federation. 

ABC   see Audit Bureau of Circulations. 

ABM   see American Business Media. 

ABP   see American Business Press. 

ACB   see Advertising Checking Bureau. 

ADI   see Area of Dominant Influence. 

AFTRA   see American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. 

AIGA   see American Institute of Graphic Arts. 

AIM   see Association for Interactive Media. 

AMA   see American Marketing Association. 

ANA   see Association of National Advertisers. 

ANPA   see American Newspaper Publishers Association. 

AOR   see agency of record. 

ARF   see Advertising Research Foundation. 

ASI   see ASI Recall Test and Ipsos-ASI Advertising Research 

AQH   see average quarter-hour audience. 

A County   see ABCD Counties. 

a la carte agency   an agency that offers only part of its services on a particular assignment for an advertiser, or even for another advertising agency; compensation is determined by a negotiated fee. 

A/B split   a copytesting method by which the advertiser places different advertisements for the same product in every other copy of the same issue of a publication, and then measures the response for each by recording the number of coupons returned, telephone calls made for further information, or by whatever action was requested; also used in alternate envelopes in a direct mailing. Often used to test and compare the effectiveness of alternate advertisements. See split run, split-run test, demographic split-run, geographic split-run, and subscription/newsstand split-run.    

ABCD Counties   the classification of U.S. counties based on Census Bureau population statistics and metropolitan proximity; “A” Counties are all counties belonging to the 21 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) (i.e., highly urban), “B” Counties are counties not in the “A” Counties category that have more than 85,000 households, “C” Counties are counties not defined as “A” or “B” Counties that have more than 20,000 households or are in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas (CMSAs) with more than 20,000 households, while “D” Counties” are all counties not classified as “A,” “B,” or “C” Counties (i.e., rural). Designations are those as defined by the A.C. Nielsen Company.  See Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA). 

abeyance order   placing an advertising order for time or space at a time there is no time or space available; the order is held in suspension until time or space becomes available, if at all. More common in television than other media.  

A-board   a ground sign formed by two boards that lean against each other and are joined together by a cross-brace at the top, forming an “A;” often seen at the curb outside retail locations. 

above-the-fold   the top half of a broadsheet newspaper; as opposed to below-the-fold. On the web, the term refers to the portion of a given page, such as the homepage, that can be viewed without scrolling down. An advertisement on the Internet is above-the-fold when it is viewable in its entirety as soon as the Web page arrives, without having to scroll down to see any portion of the advertisement. See below-the-fold. 

above-the-line costs  advertising production costs incurred in doing the creative work; e.g., acting, music, photography, script writing. Also may refer to “higher-profile” advertising media such as television and magazines, or the traditional major media. See below-the-line costs. 

A.C. Nielsen   a major market research firm and leading provider of a wide range of marketing information to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers, such as retail-level product movement, market share, distribution, pricing, merchandising and promotional activities, and other market-sensitive information; also manages test marketing programs for new and established products, and provides customized research services at all stages of product marketing, including identification of market opportunities, development of product concepts, product positioning, sales forecasting, advertising testing and tracking. Operates consumer panel services that provide detailed information on actual purchases made by household members, as well their retail shopping patterns and demographic profiles—covering more than 126,000 households worldwide. Especially useful in helping to understand competitive performance. Part of VNU. See Nielsen Media Research. 

access   see prime time access. 

accordion fold   a direct-mail piece or other promotional literature consisting of several panels that fold and unfold in the manner of an accordion.  

account   the advertiser or organization for whom the agency is doing work; also called the client. 

account conflict   occurs when an advertising agency handles two different marketers’ brands of directly competing products; may occur as a result of two agencies merging or when an advertising agency decides to pitch and try to win a company’s account that includes a brand that competes directly with a product already advertised by the agency (in which case, the agency, should it win the new account, would give up the existing account). Often, already having a competing brand precludes the agency from going after a new account that has a directly competitive product.   

account executive   the individual in the advertising agency who is the daily contact between the agency and the client, and who directs, coordinates, and manages the entire process and services involved in serving the client, constantly communicating and interacting with both the agency and client teams; liaison between the advertising agency and the client. Reports to the account supervisor. See account supervisor and director of account services. 

account management   overseeing the design, implementation, maintenance, review and follow-up of all activities and programs involved in an organization’s relationship with its customers or clients; see key account management. 

account opener   a premium offered to a customer for opening a new account; e.g., a bank’s offer of a hand-held calculator given to anyone opening a new account with that bank. 

account planner   the individual in an advertising agency who is responsible for ensuring that the agency’s strategic and creative focus is on the consumer; the account planner makes extensive use of both qualitative and qualitative research. See account planning. 

account planning   the discipline within an advertising agency that makes sure the consumer’s perspective is fully considered when advertising is developed and that the marketer forges a strong connection with the consumer; includes the study of how consumers make use of marketing communications and the design of an action plan for communicating effectively with consumers. Research, both qualitative and quantitative, is the primary tool used in account planning. See account planner. 

account review   a process by which advertising agencies, at the invitation of a client, compete for the client’s account by presenting their credentials and advertising and promotion ideas for the client’s marketing communications program; a full-scale evaluation of a current advertising agency by an advertiser, either against the agency’s performance record alone or against competing proposals from prospective new agencies interested in serving that advertiser. See agency search consultant. 

account services   at an advertising agency, all the activities that go into the design and development of an advertising and marketing communications plan for a client; the account executives and account supervisors are the key account services individuals charged with making sure the agency teams get the right work done in the right way at the right time. See director of account services, account executive, and account supervisor. 

account-specific promotion   sales promotion programs jointly developed by manufacturers and retailers, customized for individual retail accounts, and which serve to enhance the equity of both the brand and the store.   

account supervisor   the individual at the advertising agency who supervises the account executive; reports to the director of account services. See account executive and director of account services. 

accrual account   in cooperative advertising, an advertising fund established for the retailer by the manufacturer, against which the cooperative advertising costs are charged; see fixed accrual, percentage accrual, and cooperative advertising. 

across-the-board   in television and radio, an particular program that is aired at the same time each day, Monday-Friday; e.g., a soap opera on television or a radio talk show. See strip advertising and strip programming. 

across-vehicle duplication   a particular audience’s exposure to the same advertisement or commercial in different media vehicles; e.g., exposure to the same ad in Cosmopolitan and Redbook, Golf Digest and Sports Illustrated, NFL football and ABC news. Also called between-vehicle duplication. See within-vehicle duplication. 

action   the advertiser’s major objective of using advertising and other forms of promotion; what the advertiser aims for with its communications to the target audience.  

action advertising   advertising that seeks a quick response and action from its target audience. 

action card   see bingo card. 

Action for Children’s Television (ACT)   an activist group formed in 1968 to lobby the federal government for improved quality of television programming aimed at children and to press for stringent restrictions and measures related to the amount and the content of advertising directed to children; disbanded shortly after passage of the Children’s Television Act of 1990. See Children’s Television Act of 1990. 

action response device   any of a number of tools used to make it easy for an individual to respond to the advertiser’s call for action; e.g., a reply card in a direct mail package, a coupon in an advertisement, or an 800-number for a person to call. 

actives   in direct mail, mailing list customers who have made a recent purchase, generally within the past year. 

activity analysis   a detailed breakdown, review, and evaluation of the non-selling work done by a salesperson; e.g., the time and work devoted to display setups or doing paperwork. Often involves a breakdown, analysis, and comparison between selling and non-selling functions. 

activity quota   see quota. 

actual product   the tangible, physical object with all its features; see augmented product and core product. 

ad avail   see availabilities. 

ad banner   see banner and banner ad. 

ad click   see click. 

ad clickthrough   see clickthrough. 

ad display   in internet advertising, the successful display of an advertisement on the browser screen.  

ad download   in internet advertising, the successful delivery of an advertisement to a browser, as measured by the server that actually delivered the advertisement.  

ad hoc network   in television, a temporary group of stations formed for the showing of a special, one-time program or series. 

ad hoc research   in marketing or advertising research, research specifically designed to address a particular problem or issue on a one-time basis, as opposed to an ongoing research program on that topic.

ad impression   see ad view.

ad pod   see pod.

ad pod rating   in television advertising, the audience rating during commercial breaks in television programs; by comparing the average rating during the program content of a show with the average rating during commercial breaks, a retention rate may be determined, showing the extent to which commercials are likely being watched. See commercial retention rate, pod, and rating. 

ad request   in Internet advertising, the initial request for an advertisement from the browser, as measured by the server that redirects the browser to the specific location of the advertisement; see hit. (according to ABC Interactive)  

ad slicks   camera-ready product advertisements provided by manufacturers to local advertisers, such as retailers, for use in print ads that feature the manufacturer’s product. 

ads on wheels   see mobile billboard, bus wrap, car wrap, and truckside advertising. 

ad stream   in Internet advertising, the series of advertisements viewed by a user during a single visit to a particular Web site; also called an impression stream. 

Ad Track index   an advertising tracking service that appears as a weekly feature on www.usatoday.com, reporting consumer opinions about the effectiveness of selected current advertisements and campaigns; the feature includes survey results, detailed analysis of the advertising in question, and comparisons with other campaigns. A collaboration between USA Today and Harris Interactive.  

ad tracking   see tracking study. 

ad transfer   see clickthrough. 

ad view   in Internet advertising, a single advertisement that appears in full view, usually without scrolling, on a web page when the page arrives at the viewer’s display; also referred to as an ad impression or view.      

adcentives   see advertising promotional products. 

added  value   see value added. 

address   on the Internet, the e-mail address of a computer user or a Web site’s URL.
 

ADDY awards   recognition for excellence in advertising creativity; sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). 

ad/edit ratio   in print media, the number of advertising pages relative to editorial pages; e.g., 65/35 indicates that 65 percent of all pages in that particular vehicle are advertising.

adjacency   television or radio broadcast commercial time immediately preceding or following a network program, or during a station break, when the network releases time to its local affiliates for them to place a spot television commercial; i.e., the availability of commercial time for local sales by local television stations before or after a network program. Also called a break position. See in-program placement and spot. 

administered VMS   a vertical marketing system (VMS) in which the distribution channel members agree to informally cooperate with each other, as opposed to being bound together by corporate ownership or by contractual agreement; the leadership role is determined by the size and power of the various production and distribution members in the marketing system. See vertical marketing system (VMS), corporate VMS, contractual VMS, conventional marketing system, horizontal marketing system, and hybrid marketing system. 

administered price   a deliberately-set price, rather than one dictated solely by market forces, such as competition. 

Adnorm   statistics compiled by Starch to show average readership of advertisements broken down by publication, size, color, and type of product being advertised; see Starch Readership Studies. 

adopter categories   a classification of consumers based on how early or how late an individual accepts a new product, service, or idea relative to other adopters; based on the time it takes an individual to make the initial purchase of a new product, the classification scheme includes innovators, early adopter, early majority, late majority, and laggards. See adoption process, adoption curve, diffusion process, innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. 

adoption curve   a graphic depiction of how consumers go about adopting a new product, service, or idea, showing when people accept a new entry; see adoption process, adopter categories, diffusion process, innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. 

adoption process   a series of stages through which an individual goes in deciding on whether to accept a product idea and become a regular user of a particular product, or to reject it; see awareness stage, interest stage, evaluation stage, trial stage, and adoption stage; Also see diffusion process.   

adoption stage   the fifth and final stage of the adoption process, in which the consumer decides whether to adopt or reject the new idea; see adoption process, awareness stage, interest stage, evaluation stage, and trial stage.  

AdRelevance   a leading online adertising measurement service; part of Nielsen/Net Ratings.  

advances   in television, the ratings estimates for local audiences that are available to advertisers and agencies prior to distribution of ratings reports containing actual ratings numbers. 

advertisement   a sponsor-paid advertising message that appears in a print publication such as a magazine or newspaper; the print equivalent of a broadcast commercial. See commercial. 

advertiser   any individual, organization or other entity that uses advertising in an attempt to sell its product (broadly defined) or influence people in some way; see client.  

advertiser’s copy   see checking copy, affidavit of performance, and tearsheet. 

advertiser-supported broadcasting   television and radio networks and stations whose primary source of revenues comes from the broadcast of commercials sponsored by advertisers, making the programming free to viewers and listeners; noncommercial networks and stations, and pay television, seek funds from viewers, listeners, foundations, government, and other sources. See cable television (CATV), noncommercial broadcasting, and public broadcasting. 

advertising   the use of paid media by an identified sponsor to communicate information about products (including objects, services, ideas, causes, and organizations) to influence people’s thoughts and behavior, or otherwise stimulate some action. 

Advertising Age   key weekly publication featuring complete, up-to-date marketing and advertising news and information for practitioners and non-practitioners alike.  

advertising agency   an independent service organization that specializes in planning, creation, developing, preparing, and placing advertising and promotion programs for its clients, i.e., advertisers; also arranges for or contracts for purchase of media space and time, as well as appraisal of the advertising and promotion efforts. Also called a shop. See full-service advertising agency, limited-service advertising agency, creative boutique, and non-traditional advertising agency. 

advertising agency review   see agency review. 

advertising allowance   money paid by a manufacturer to a retailer for advertising and other promotion the retailer does for the manufacturer’s product at the local level; instead of an outright payment, the allowance may take the form of a price reduction on the goods the retailer buys from the manufacturer. See promotional allowance. 

advertising appeals   see appeals. 

advertising appropriation   the amount of money allocated for advertising expenditures during a particular accounting period; see budgeting methods. 

advertising budget   see budgeting methods. 

advertising campaign   a series of individual, but coordinated, advertisements and other promotional messages for a product or service placed in a variety of media under a single common theme that serves as the unifying force of the campaign, and running for a specified period of time; multiple messages under a single theme. 

Advertising Checking Bureau (ACB)   an organization devoted to managing trade allowance programs of all types for companies involved in cooperative advertising and other partnerships with retailers; services include verification, auditing, complete research services and, generally, efforts to foster better, more profitable relationships between parties.  

advertising clutter   see clutter. 

advertising contract   the formal and binding agreement between the advertiser and the media, specifying all details surrounding the placement of advertising, including the obligations of each party. 

advertising copy   see copy. 

Advertising Council   a not-for-profit organization that creates free public service advertising and campaigns in the general interest, promoting issues and causes, and stimulating awareness of and action against significant social problems in the United States; totally supported by advertisers, advertising agencies, and the media. 

advertising creativity   see creativity. 

advertising design   the particular arrangement, motif, pattern, and style of the visual elements in advertising; see balance, contrast, emphasis, flow, gaze motion, harmony, and unity, and also art and graphics. 

advertising effectiveness   the extent to which an advertising campaign or an individual advertisement or commercial achieves its objectives. 

advertising elasticity   the sensitivity of sales to advertising expenditures; i.e., the extent to which a change in the advertising budget affects a product’s or service’s sales. 

advertising execution   see execution. 

advertising intensity   the level of advertising during an advertising campaign or particular period within a campaign. 

advertising layout   see layout. 

advertising manager   the individual who runs the advertising department at the client organization. 

advertising measurement   see advertising research. 

advertising media   see media. 

advertising medium   see medium. 

advertising message   the primary idea contained in an advertiser’s communication with its target audience; see message. 

advertising objectives   results that the advertising efforts are expected to achieve; usually framed in terms of awareness, attitude, liking, or preference. A well-stated advertising objective identifies a specific communications task to be accomplished with a specific target audience during a specific time period to achieve a particular degree of change as evaluated by a specific measurement.  

advertising plan   the blueprint for the design and implementation of an advertising program; identifies all tasks and rationales for every stage of an advertising effort. An outgrowth of the marketing plan. See campaign plan and marketing plan.  

advertising platform   see copy platform. 

advertising production  see production stage. 

advertising promotional products   promotional giveaway items used for goodwill and typically imprinted with the advertiser’s name, address, telephone number, logo, or even a short message; e.g., caps, T-shirts, pens, coffee mugs, calendars, key tags. Also called advertising specialties, giveaways, adcentives, or promotional products, and often referred to as specialty advertising. See promotional products marketing.  

advertising productivity audit   any of several techniques for measuring the return on the advertising investment; return-on-investment approach (ROI). 

Advertising Red Books   see Standard Directory of Advertisers, Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies, and Standard Directory of International Advertisers & Agencies. 

advertising research   the systematic gathering, analyzing, and evaluating of information relevant to an advertising program, such as that relating to advertising message and media strategies; see, for example, message research, media research, readership studies, copytesting, pre-testing, post-testing, aided recall, unaided recall, theater test, split-run test. 

Advertising Research Foundation (ARF)   a professional association of advertisers, advertising agencies, research firms, media companies, and educators; dedicated to the pursuit of effective advertising and marketing communications through the practice of objective advertising, media, and marketing research; conducts research and stages conferences. Publisher of the Journal of Advertising Research. 

Advertising Research System (ARS)   see ARS Group. 

advertising response curve   the relationship between advertising expenditures and sales; sometimes used to help establish the advertising budget. See concave response curve, S-shaped response curve, and advertising-sales ratio. 

Advertising Response Modeling   in advertising research, a copytesting technique that measures and analyzes the cognitive and image value of advertising. A product of Gallup and Robinson (G&R). See copytesting, Gallup and Robinson (G&R), InTeleTest, In-View Test, and Magazine Impact Research Service (MIRS). 

advertising scheduling   see media scheduling. 

advertising specialties    see advertising promotional products. 

advertising spiral   the different stages through which a product’s advertising passes; namely, pioneering (i.e., informative) advertising, competitive (i.e., persuasive) advertising, and retentive (i.e., reminder) advertising. See informative advertising, persuasive advertising, and reminder advertising.   

advertising strategy   the direction the message will take to achieve the advertising objective; what and how the advertising is to communicate. See creative brief.  

advertising testing   see advertising research. 

advertising substantiation   the requirement that an advertiser must provide adequate evidence and support for all claims about a product’s features and benefits made in its advertising; documented proof of an advertiser’s claim about its product. Under purview of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  

advertising vehicle  see media vehicle. 

advertising wearout   see wearout.  

advertising weight   the total amount of advertising used to support a specific campaign; may be expressed in several ways, such as media cost, gross impressions, gross rating points, or target rating points. Also referred to as message weight. See gross impressions, gross rating points, and target rating points. 

advertising-to-editorial ratio   in print advertising, a measure of the relative amount of advertising vs. editorial content in a magazine or newspaper; i.e., the number of advertising pages compared with the number of pages with editorial content. 

advertising-to-program content   in broadcast advertising, a measure of the relative amount of advertising vs. program content in television or radio; i.e., the amount of time given over to commercials compared with the amount of time devoted to the program, per thirty or sixty minutes.  

advertising-to-sales ratio   advertising expenditures expressed as percentage of sales revenue; see advertising response curve. 

advertorial   print advertising that presents editorial matter in an attempt to influence public opinion on a particular issue while, at the same time, though not its primary purpose, promoting the advertiser’s product(s); usually styled to resemble the editorial format and type face of the publication in which it appears. Often done in a “special advertising section” format, consisting of two or more consecutive pages in a publication. For example, a drug company whose major purpose in the “advertising” is to focus on key issues in health care for senior citizens, but also includes promotional copy for its own drug product(s). The print counterpart to television’s infomercial. See infomercial. 

advocacy advertising   advertising that presents an organization’s position or a viewpoint on a public issue, often a controversial issue, even though the issue may not relate to the organization’s line of business; used primarily to demonstrate that the organization takes its social responsibility seriously, and commenting on important public issues is part of that commitment. Public service advertising that attempts to influence public opinion on a particular social, political, or environmental issue the advertiser believes important. Also called issue advertising. 

Adweek   a weekly trade publication serving the entire advertising industry, with news, insights, analysis, research, and editorial content covering all phases of advertising, and aimed at advertisers, agencies, and the media; the magazine is published in several regional editions. See Brandweek and Mediaweek. 

Adweek Directory   an annual publication containing comprehensive reports on advertising agencies, public relations firms, media buying services, and specialty advertising shops; see Brandweek Directory, Mediaweek Directory, and IQ Directory. 

aerial advertising   a company name or message displayed on the side of a blimp, on a banner trailing a small airplane, or that is affixed to another airborne vehicle for the distinct purpose of advertising; also may refer to skywriting used for advertising messages. 

affidavit of performance   a signed and notarized statement from a radio or television station to the advertising agency that confirms the advertising ran as scheduled; a legal proof of performance. The broadcast equivalent of tearsheet. See tearsheet.   

affiliate   see network affiliate. 

affiliate marketing   in Internet marketing, a web site that sells products of other web sites; an agreement between two web sites whereby one web site features an advertisement aimed at driving traffic to another site. For example,  www.usatoday.com posting an advertisement selling Foot-Joy golf shoes with a direct link to www.mammothgolf.com or www.amazon.com having an advertisement for office products with a direct link to another web site selling such products or services. Generally, a revenue-sharing arrangement whereby two companies agree to link to one another on the Internet and, when a user clicks from Site A and then buys something at Site B, Site A receives a commission on the sale.    

affinity marketing   where a group of customers has interest in a particular area (e.g.
    financial services or sports equipment), sellers of different products and services joining
    together to offer the customers an array of related products; marketing efforts directed to
    individuals having common interests that move them toward a particular product or
    service. Examples: to retain loyal customers, a merchant offers a credit card with
    incentives built in; an organization may issue a credit card with its name on it to allow the
    consumer to emphasize his or her identification or association with that organization,
    such as a Wal-Mart MasterCard or Harley-Davidson Visa card. 

affirmative disclosure   when an advertiser, in its commercial message, makes known the limitations, consequences, or conditions associated with and surrounding the use of a product; e.g., when a pharmaceutical company reveals possible side effects of a drug or the conditions under which it was tested for effectiveness. A Federal Trade Commission requirement designed to make sure the consumer has enough information to make an informed decision. A legal concept of consumer protection. Also referred to as full disclosure. See Federal Trade Commission. 

affordable method   an advertising (or other promotion element) budgeting method in which the amount allocated to advertising is determined by what is left over after budgeting for everything else in marketing; a top-down approach to budgeting. See arbitrary method, competitive parity method, objective-and-task method, percentage-of-sales method, and unit-of-sales method. See also build-up approach to budgeting and top-down approach to budgeting. 

afternoon-evening drive time   in the radio broadcast day, the time period 3:00pm-7:00pm; see dayparts (radio). 

agate line   a unit of newspaper advertising space that measures one column wide by one-fourteenth of an inch deep; there are 14 agate lines to one column inch of depth; see column inch, lineage, and standard advertising unit (SAU). 

agency   see advertising agency. 

agency brand   an independent or merged advertising agency that does not own subsidiary agencies; e.g., Ogilvy & Mather, Arnold Communications, Hill Holliday, Young & Rubicam, BBDO Worldwide, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, DDB Worldwide, or Leo Burnett. See megabrand, agency megabrand, and agency network. 

agency commission   payment to the advertising agency from the advertising media vehicle as compensation for the agency’s placing its client’s advertising with that vehicle; an agency compensation method based on the amount of media space or time purchased for the advertiser. Traditionally 15 percent. 

agency compensation method   the way in which an advertising agency is paid for its services by its client; several ways to determine compensation, but whatever specific method or combination is used, it essentially involves three elements: fee, commission, results-produced. See fee method, commission method, combination method, and performance-based method. Also see agency commission and sliding rate.   

agency evaluation   an organization’s review and assessment of the performance of its advertising agency or other firm providing marketing or promotion services. 

agency group   see agency network. 

agency megabrand   the huge parent organization of a group of several individual advertising agencies, each a large entity in itself, under its ownership; e.g., WPP, with Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam, and J. Walter Thompson, Interpublic, with McCann-Erickson, FCB, and True North, or Omnicom, with BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide, and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. See megabrand, agency network, and agency brand. 

agency network   a group of advertising agencies that combine efforts and exchange ideas and services with one another, or the collection of advertising agency under single ownership, i.e., an agency megabrand. Also called agency group. See megabrand, agency megabrand, and agency brand. 

agency of record (AOR)   in situations where an advertiser uses more than one advertising agency for the promotion of its products, the single agency whose responsibility it is to coordinate the efforts of all the agencies working for the advertiser; also refers to an independent media buying company officially designated by an advertiser to purchase media time and space for all the agencies that serve that advertiser; commonly called lead agency, and also referred to as captain agency or master agency. See roster. 

agency reel   a videotape (typically about 10 minutes in length) of an advertising agency’s recent television commercials for its clients; sent to prospective clients as a sample of the creative concepts and executions produced by the agency. Often used in the screening process when an advertiser is searching for a new agency. 

agency review   the process of investigating and evaluating the performance of an advertising agency by the advertiser-client, typically for the purpose of selecting a new agency to handle the account; also called an account review. See account review and agency search consultant. 

agency review consultant   see agency search consultant.

agency roster   see roster. 

agency search   the process by which an advertiser-client seeks a specialist firm to handle its advertising, sales promotion, public relations, or other activities associated with marketing communications; see account review and agency search consultant. 

agency search consultant   a firm that specializes in providing counsel for a company seeking an advertising agency (or any other specialist agency); consultant takes charge of the search process, offering advice and services relative to the evaluation, selection, compensation, and management of advertising agencies. Maintains a current library of work samples and detailed information on agencies to aid the search.  See account review. 

agent middleman   in the distribution channel, a wholesaler who does not take title to the products it sells; see merchant wholesaler. 

agricultural advertising   advertising and promotion programs aimed at farmers and other members and organizations in the agricultural industry; also called farm advertising. 

AIDA model   a way to view the major tasks assigned to advertising and promotion in the attempt to get consumers to respond; gain attention, spark interest, stimulate desire, and get action. 

aided recall   in measuring and evaluating advertising or other promotion element, a research technique in which the respondent’s memory is helped by the researcher providing clues by showing or describing something; for example, the respondent may be shown an advertisement and asked whether he or she has seen it and can remember the ad’s content. A research technique in which the interviewer provides a verbal or visual cue to help the respondent remember something prior to or during a response to a question. The researcher might ask: “What pickup truck commercial do you recall seeing on TV last night?” or even “What digital camera commercial that had a high school reunion as the setting do you recall seeing on TV last night?” See unaided recall. 

AIO   attitudes, interests, and opinions; the variables that form the psychographic or lifestyle characteristics of consumers. Often used by researchers to investigate and group consumers. See psychographic segmentation. 

air check   recording the broadcast of a television or radio program for the purpose of keeping the tape as a file copy as evidence of the airing of a commercial. 

air date   in television and radio advertising, the broadcast date of the advertiser’s message; also applies to the date of a program’s broadcast. 

airport display   in out-of-home advertising media, a display at an airport terminal, such as a diorama or a poster; see diorama and terminal poster. 

aisle spanner   a promotional banner or sign suspended across an aisle in a supermarket, department store, drug store, or other retail store; typically hanging from the ceiling by wires. 

all night   in the radio broadcast day, the time period 12:00am-6:00am; see dayparts (radio).    

alliance marketing   generally, any marketing programs and activities in which two or more marketers join forces for a common effort. 

allotment   in outdoor advertising, the number and type of outdoor posters that constitute a showing; the number of units needed to have a desired gross rating point (GRP) level in a particular market. See gross rating point (GRP) and showing. 

allowances   a general term for price reductions, payments, or other considerations given by a manufacturer to distribution channel members such as retailers to encourage them to do something on behalf of the manufacturer’s product; e.g., see advertising allowance, display allowance, trade allowance, and cooperative advertising. 

alpha testing   in the new-product development process, testing a prototype product within the organization; concept may be applied to testing advertising or other promotion tools. See beta testing and new-product development process. 

alternate sponsorship   a television or radio program that has two sponsors, with each advertiser sponsoring every other week’s program; see crossplug. 

alternative broadcast   see alternative media. 

alternative media   media other than the so-called “traditional media” (broadcast and print media) typically used in advertising and promotion campaigns; usually used to complement the traditional media. Any of a variety of media vehicles aimed at audiences whose tastes and preferences are not fully satisfied by the traditional or existing media choices, e.g., radio stations whose format caters to a young, entertainment-oriented audience. See new media, nontraditional media, support media, unmeasured media, and traditional media.  

alternative press   see alternative media. 

ambassador   an individual who is a spokesperson or representative for a company or a product, especially in the role of promoting goodwill; see goodwill, spokesperson, company ambassador, and product ambassador. 

ambush marketing   in event marketing, when a non-official sponsor uses marketing and promotion tactics in an attempt to give the impression it is an official sponsor; the tactic may involve something such as an official sponsor’s competitor placing elaborate signage at the outskirts of the event venue or advertising during the broadcast of the event.    

American Academy of Advertising   a professional organization serving advertising teachers and practitioners, especially through its efforts of collecting and disseminating information for the betterment of the art; publisher of the Journal of Advertising.   

American Advertising Federation (AAF)   a professional association of advertisers, advertising agencies, media owners, local advertising clubs, suppliers, and academics that promotes truth and fairness in advertising, as well as supporting educational programs; annually presents the ADDY awards for excellence in national and local advertising, and also sponsors the Advertising Hall of Fame.  

American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA)   the premier national association of advertising agencies; dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of conduct of the advertising agency business and advertising practice. Particularly concerned wit the responsibilities of advertising agencies in being a constructive force in business by adhering to the highest level of ethical practice and the idea that agencies must recognize the obligation to serve the best interests of their clients, the public, the media, and each other. See Standards of Practice, Creative Code, and Guidelines for Comparative Advertising.   

American Business Media (ABM)   the major industry association for business-to-business information providers, including producers of magazines, CD-ROMS, Web sites, trade shows and other ancillary products that build upon and enhance print communications. 

American Business Press (ABP)   an association of publishers of specialized business publications; a source of industry information and encourages an exchange of ideas to make business publications better and more attractive as an advertising medium.  

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)   a broadcasting industry union for all workers; union membership is required of all talent who appear in television and radio commercials. 

American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA)   a major industry organization whose mission includes promoting excellence in communication design as a strategic tool for business; the organization encourages design professionals to exchange ideas and information, participate in research and critical analysis, and to advance education and ethical practice of the discipline. 

American Marketing Association (AMA)   a major professional association for marketing teachers, practitioners, and anyone interested in studying the marketing discipline; dedicated to advancing marketing thought and application, playing an active role in the development and exchange of information between and among those involved in practicing and teaching marketing, and promoting the highest standards of ethical conduct. Extremely active in organizing and staging many conferences and programs, as well as the publisher of several journals helping to advance the thought and practice of marketing. 

American Newspaper Publishers Association (ANPA)   an organization serving the newspaper industry by its programs to advance the professionalism of the press and its efforts to strengthen public understanding of the press, all aimed at developing more and better informed newspaper readers.  

ancillary market   see secondary market. 

angled poster   an outdoor poster that is placed at an angle to the road, so the advertising message is visible to traffic in one direction only; see parallel location. 

animatic   in pre-testing television commercials, a preliminary version (a series of still drawings) of a commercial, in which a videotape of the sequential frames of a storyboard are combined with a synchronized audio track; a rough of a television commercial to give the client an idea of what the advertising execution will look like without going to the expense of a finished commercial. See pre-testing, liveamatic, photomatic, ripoamatic, storyboard, and rough.    

animation format  in advertising, a creative execution format that utilizes moving visual elements other than live action in a television commercial; involves a series of still drawings filmed one at a time to give the illusion they are moving. Most common form is the cartoon. For example: a lawnmower by itself mowing grass, a driverless automobile zooming off into the sunset, a single automobile tire rolling on a rain-slicked road, or a created character, such as the Jolly Green Giant or the Energizer Bunny. Also may refer to billboard or other out- of- home media and the use of moving components, flashing lights, or other special effects. See straightforward factual, news, demonstration, problem-solution, slice-of-life, dramatization, symbolic association, fantasy, still-life, humor, spokesperson, testimonial, and comparison formats.  

announcement   in broadcast media, an advertising message of any length that occurs within or between programs. Also called a commercial. Often referred to as a spot.  

answer print   the final version of a television commercial presented to the advertiser for final approval prior to making duplicate copies and sending them to the networks and stations.  

Anti-drug Abuse Act  a law passed in 1988 requiring all producers of alcohol to place labels on their products warning that pregnant women should not consume alcoholic beverages, plus alcohol consumption impairs an individual’s ability to operate an automobile or heavy machinery. 

appeals   the bases of attraction or core message in advertising meant to stimulate the consumer’s interest and influence his or her feelings and desire to buy a product, service, or other subject of the advertising; a means by which the advertiser hopes to forge a link between the product and the customer’s needs, a link based on emotion and/or logic. See emotional appeals and rational appeals. 

application positioning   see positioning by use. 

approach   the total distance along the line of travel that advertising copy on an outdoor structure is readable; measured from the point where the advertising structure and copy first become visible to the point where the copy is no longer readable. Typically 1500, 1000, or 500 feet. Also, a stage in the personal selling process in which the salesperson makes the first face-to-face contact with the prospect and attempts to get the relationship off to a good start. See prospecting, pre-approach, presentation, handling objections, closing, and follow-up. 

arbitrary method   a method for determining the advertising or promotion budget based on the discretion and judgment, usually unsupported, of the individuals involved in making the budget decisions; marked by the absence of systematic thinking. A top-down approach to budgeting. See affordable method, competitive parity method, objective-and-task method, percentage-of-sales method, and unit-of-sales method. See also build-up approach to budgeting and top-down approach to budgeting. 

Arbitron   the leading supplier of radio audience information for radio stations, advertisers, advertising agencies, media buying services, radio networks, radio syndicators, and others involved in radio advertising; data on audience size and demographics are collected in about 260 U.S. markets by means of more than one million personal seven-day diaries throughout the year. Audience estimates and demographics for every radio station are published in a series of Arbitron Radio Market Reports, which are used to plan and execute radio advertising buys, to assist radio programming decision makers, and to help radio station account executives sell their stations and the medium of radio to potential advertisers. 

Area of Dominant Influence (ADI)   a television market area, as defined by Aribitron,
    which no longer does TV ratings, but the term is still used; an exclusive geographic area
    made up of all counties in which the home-market stations get the majority of the viewing.
    See Designated Market Area.   

area sample   see cluster sample. 

arena signage   see stadium signage. 

ARS Group (Advertising Research System)   a premier provider of a broad range of measurements and information on the persuasiveness of advertising and advertising’s ability to have an impact on sales change; a complete copytesting service for evaluating advertising’s impact on sales, projecting advertising’s contribution to meeting marketing objectives, gathering consumer insight, and identifying improvement opportunities. See ARS Persuasion Measure and ARS Related Recall. 

ARS Persuasion Measure   in advertising copy research, a pre-testing measure of the ability of a brand’s advertising to have a positive impact on sales; see ARS Group (Advertising Research System). 

ARS Related Recall   in advertising research, a post-testing measure of the memorability of brand’s advertising and what was communicated; see ARS Group (Advertising Research System). 

art   refers to the visual presentation of an advertisement or commercial, including design elements such as illustrations, photographs, color, size and style of type, symbols, and the logo; the arrangement or layout of the visual elements in advertising. See graphics.    

art direction   the process of managing the entire visual presentation of an advertisement or commercial. 

art director   the individual in an advertising agency who has responsibility for the design and graphics elements, plus the creative positioning, of advertising produced by the agency; the person who determines the look and feel of a message. See art and graphics. 

arterial bulletin   an outdoor billboard on a major secondary street of a city or town, where speeds are somewhat lower than on major highways or freeways; see outdoor bulletin. 

artist   see talent.    

arts marketing   a promotion strategy or program that links a company or advertiser to the visual or performing arts, usually in the form of sponsorship; e.g., a local bank’s sponsorship of a museum exhibit or a consumer products company such as Gillette sponsoring a Boston Pops tour. See sponsorship. 

ASI Recall Test   in advertising research, a leader in the day-after-recall technique of measuring advertising effectiveness for television commercials; provide test scores for unaided recall and aided recall. Select viewers by calling the day after a commercial appears, until they reach and get cooperation from a specified number of respondents, in contrast to the Gallup & Robinson day-after-recall approach that uses pre-recruited respondents. Formerly known as Burke Day-After-Recall Test. See day-after-recall test, unaided recall, aided recall, and Gallup & Robinson.  

as-it-falls method   in advertising and media research when conducting a media test market, employing the exact same media weight in the test market as would be employed in a national plan, purchasing the media locally. 

aspirational reference group   a group whose norms, values, and behavior have such a positive attraction and influence on an individual that he or she uses the group as a guide or role model in the purchase of specific products and brands; also may refer to a group that a nonmember would like to join, but is unlikely to do so . See reference group. 

associate sponsor   a sponsor of an event whose financial and other commitments are not as great as the primary or title sponsor(s); essentially a designation commensurate with the organization’s financial commitment to the event and secondary to another sponsor(s). See primary sponsor and title sponsor. 

Associated score   in magazine readership studies, the percentage of readers of a specific issue of a magazine who not only noted a particular advertisement, but also saw or read some part of it which clearly indicated the brand or the advertiser; see Noted score, Read Most score, and Read Some score. A measure of The Starch Readership Report. 

Association of National Advertisers (ANA)   an industry trade association representing national and regional advertisers; dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of advertising conduct and to serving the interests of companies and organizations that market and advertise their products and services.  

Association for Interactive Media (AIM)   an industry trade association dedicated to the advancement of the interactive media industries by research and programs focused on the business use of the Internet and interactive media to efficiently and effectively reach consumers and markets; an independent subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). See Direct Marketing Association (DMA). 

association test   in advertising research, a type of projective technique in which consumers express their feelings and thoughts after hearing or seeing a brand name or after seeing a logo. 

assorting   in the distribution channel, the process whereby the intermediary (e.g., wholesaler or retailer) assembles and puts together the range and variety of products needed to satisfy the demand requirements of its customers and target markets. 

assortment   see product assortment, as well as product line and product item. 

assortment depth   see product assortment depth. 

assortment width   see product assortment width. 

asymmetric balance   see informal balance. 

at-site order   an order for goods placed at the booth or location of a trade show; also called an on-site order. 

attack advertising   see comparison advertising. 

attitude   an individual’s learned and enduring predisposition or evaluative judgment toward an object, idea, or subject; based on previous experiences and affects how the individual receives and looks at something. For example, attitude influences how favorably or unfavorably a person may view advertising for a particular product. 

attitude-change study   a type of advertising research in which consumer attitudes toward a product are studied both before and after he or she is exposed to advertising for that product; a type of posttest to measure advertising effectiveness. 

attribute positioning   see positioning by attribute. 

attrition rate   the loss of a publication’s subscribers, a mailing list’s names, or a research panel’s members for any of a variety of reasons; normally expressed as a percentage.

auction   see online reverse auction. 

audience   the total number of different individuals or households who are exposed to an advertising medium, a media vehicle, or to a complete media plan; equivalent to reach. The object of a sender’s message. Also referred to as audience accumulation. See reach and target audience.

audience accumulation   the total number of different individuals or households exposed to a single media vehicle or group of vehicles over a particular period of time; see audience. 

audience composition   the demographic and other characteristics of the individuals in a medium’s or media vehicle’s audience; can be measured over time, e.g., at periodic intervals during the telecast of a football game. See audience profile.   

audience delivery data   estimates of the number of individuals or households reached by a medium, media vehicle, or media schedule. 

audience duplication   the number or percent of individuals or households who are exposed two or more times to the same message in the same media vehicle or combination of vehicles; may also apply to audiences of media classes and one medium to another.  The extent to which the audience of one television station or one magazine is also exposed to, i.e., reached, by another station or magazine. See media vehicle, media classes, and medium. 

audience flow   in television or radio, refers to the programs immediately before and after a given program, and the extent to which the audience stays tuned to a particular station from one program to the next or changes stations; see audience turnover, holdover audience, lead-in, and lead-out. 

audience objectives   the specific types of people the advertiser attempts to reach; see target audience. 

audience profile   essentially the same as audience composition, i.e., a description of the audience’s characteristics (e.g., size, age, sex, income, education, occupation, media habits, and the like), but particularly as it applies to the audience of a specific media vehicle, such as a particular magazine or television program; see audience composition and consumer profile. 

audience tune-out   in television and radio advertising, the extent to which viewers or listeners pay little or no attention to the commercials. 

audience turnover   in broadcast media, similar to audience flow, but may also refer to just one program’s audience, in which case it is the ratio of the program’s cumulative audience to the average audience viewing or listening to that program; the part of an audience that changes over time. Also known as churn. See audience flow.