ADVERTISING GLOSSARY

A-O

A

AAAA — see American Association of Advertising Agencies.

ABC — see Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Above-the-line cost — any budgeted expense in commercial production for producers, directors, cast, or script.

A-B split — 1) research technique using different advertisements for the same product or service in alternate copies of the same issue of a publication or alternate envelopes in direct mail; 2) research technique that separates a random sample of names into two groups of equal size so the groups can be compared.

Account — 1) business relationship, as between an advertising agency and a client; 2) the client of an advertising agency.

Account Executive — advertising agency person responsible for maintaining liaison with designated agency clients; supervises the planning and preparation of advertising for one or more clients, depending on the size of the agency. It is the Account Executive's job to analyze the advertising and marketing problems of the advertiser, to offer solutions to these problems, to transmit the plans of the agency to the client for approval, to bring to the agency's attention any suggestions or criticisms made by the client, and, generally, to service the client's advertising and marketing. Reports to an account supervisor or account group supervisor, management supervisor, or vice president of account services.

Account group — advertising agency employees who work together on a specific account.

Account planning — discipline that focuses on identifying and using consumer insights to define and plan a client's marketing communications program. Account planning combines aspects of research, account management, and creative direction.

Account Supervisor — advertising agency employee responsible for supervising the work of Account Executives and for maintaining liaison with client counterparts.

AdLink — McCann-Erickson's worldwide electronic communications system, which enables a user to communicate from his/her PC to another PC, a fax machine, or a telex machine located in any McCann office.

Adjacency — commercial or program that immediately precedes or follows another on the same TV or radio station.

Advertise — to call public attention to a product or service or idea in order to encourage people to buy or use or understand it; the message is delivered by purchasing space or time in one or more of the media.

Advertisement — public notice or broadcast advertising a product or service or concept.

Advertiser — person or organization that pays for the placement of an advertisement.

Advertising — process by which something is advertised; the business of preparing and disseminating advertisements. Advertising is persuasive and informational and is designed to influence the purchasing behavior and/or thought patterns of the audience. Advertising is a marketing tool and may be used in combination with such other tools as sales promotion, personal selling tactics, or publicity.

Advertising agency — independent service organization that contracts with advertisers (firms or individuals attempting to find customers for their products and services) to manage their advertising.

Advertising allowance — payment or service by a source of goods or its representative to a merchant for advertising a product of the source.

Advertising appropriation — amount of money budgeted by an advertiser for advertising for a specific period.

Advertising contract — agreement between an advertiser and a communications medium for advertising space or time; usually negotiated by an advertising agency.

Advertising Manager — executive in an advertiser's company who is responsible for the development and implementation of advertising, including maintenance of the advertising budget; maintains liaison with the advertising agency (usually through the agency Account Executive) and reports to the Marketing Manager or Director of Marketing at the company.

Advertising reserve — advertising budget fund established without specification for its future use; used subsequently to meet unanticipated contingencies.

Advertising weight — measure of advertising delivery, usually stated in terms of number of commercials broadcast, homes reached, target audience impressions, and gross rating points.

Advertorial — ad that includes editorial matter. Advocacy advertising — advertising used to espouse a point of view about a controversial public issue. Adweek — advertising industry trade magazine published as a network of seven weekly US regional editions.

Affiliate — a broadcast station bound by a contractual relationship with one or more networks to carry network-originated programs or commercials.

Agency commission — commission allowed by a communications medium, such as a television or radio station or a periodical, to an advertising agency, typically in the form of a percentage discount on the gross advertising rate billed to a client by the agency. Agency network — affiliation of independently owned, noncompeting advertising agencies throughout the country or the world organized to help each other in unfamiliar markets. The concept offers member agencies the opportunity to exchange ideas, experiences, and facilities, as well as translation services and production assistance, to serve clients more effectively.

Agency of Record (AOR) — agency designated as the controller of a master contract for a corporate advertiser. When more than one agency is buying space or time that contributes to and earns discounts for a corporate advertiser, one agency usually is designated AOR and issues a master contract defining the discount level and contract year. The AOR coordinates corporate schedules and advises other participating agencies of contract information.

Agent — organization or individual authorized to operate on behalf of another organization in exchange for a fee or commission.

Aided recall — method used in advertising research to determine how well the reader remembers an advertisement or the viewer a TV commercial. An assist or clue is given to aid the respondent in remembering the advertisement, brand, etc. See also Unaided recall.

Air check — audio or video recording of a radio or TV commercial or program, made from an actual broadcast.

Air date — scheduled broadcast date for a TV or radio commercial.

American Association of Advertising Agencies (A.A.A.A.) — national association of independent advertising agencies aiming to improve and strengthen the agency business in the US; known as The 4As; many countries have counterpart national or local organizations (e.g., ICA in Canada, IPA in Europe).

Animatic — "rough" of a TV commercial, produced on film or videotape from drawings that depict the frames of the storyboard; used for presentation of the concept to the client and for testing.

Animation — creation of an effect of movement by filming of drawings, cartoons, or still photographs frame by frame. Limited animation, in which, for example, only the eyes or head of a cartoon figure move, is less expensive than full animation (e.g., a classic Disney cartoon feature).

Area of Dominant Influence (ADI) Art Director — artist employed in an executive capacity by an advertising agency or any other organization that requires the preparation of artwork; usually works directly under the Vice President of Creative Services or Associate Creative Director and side-by-side with the copywriter on a project.

Assistant Art Director — assistant to the Art Director.

Associate Creative Director — assistant to an advertising agency Creative Director; responsible for the creation of advertising concepts and production of advertisements and commercials for the media.

Attitude study — study conducted by advertising researchers, advertisers, or their agencies in an attempt to assess the effectiveness of advertising or to determine consumer evaluations of a company, idea, issue, product, or service.

Audience — number of persons (or homes) viewing, listening to, or reading of allocating the advertising budget, in which the advertising dollars are assigned to be spent in markets in proportion to the advertiser's current or projected product or service sales in those areas.

Audience composition — demographic makeup of the audience of a media vehicle or schedule (also called the audience profile).

Audience duplication — extent to which the audience of one radio or TV station is exposed to another station.

Audience share — percentage of total viewing or listening audience in a specified time period, tuned to a particular station, network, or program.

Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) — the organization that audits the circulation level and distribution of major consumer publications, as well as many business publications, smaller magazines, and newspapers.

Audix — a voice messaging system that allows a telephone caller to leave a recorded message for the person he/she is calling when the latter's phone is not covered; it also serves as a call-answering service for incoming calls.

Availability — radio or TV time available for purchase by advertisers; also called avails or availability list.

Average quarter-hour audience — estimated number of people who watch a program or station for a minimum of five minutes within a specific quarter hour.

Awareness — percentage of population or target market who are aware of the existence of a particular brand or company.

B

Background — 1) anything used to support the message of a radio or television commercial or print advertisement; for example, sound effects, music, location, special scenery, or colors. These elements are used for realistic effect and add to the emotional appeal of an advertisement or commercial; 2) compilation of facts, figures, and past experience upon which decisions for future advertising and marketing are made.

Back-of-book — classified ads and other material that appear at the end of a magazine.

Back-to-back scheduling — two or more commercials of the same or varying time length run one immediately following the other.

Back-up page — page of advertising required by a magazine to accompany an insert.

Balance — 1) blending of sounds, such as music and dialogue in TV or radio, to achieve the desired proportion of volume for each; 2) the artful blending of copy, illustrations, photographs, and other decorative material used in print advertisements to effect a pleasing aesthetic appearance.

Banner — (1) display poster designed to look like a flag, with an imprinted advertising message; usually used as a customer awareness tool in high traffic areas in retail stores, such as supermarkets or discount variety stores where it will have good visibility; (2) rectangular ad at the top of a Web page.

Barter — furnishing of products by an advertiser as full or partial payment for broadcasting time or free mentions.

Base rate — see Open rate.

Basic network — minimum number of stations on which an advertiser can purchase commercial time, as determined by the network.

Beauty shot — close-up of a product or its package in a television commercial.

Believability — degree of acceptance of advertising's message (specifically its claims) as truth, as evidenced by persons exposed to it.

Below-the-line costs — accounting term for commercial production costs incurred for equipment, props, special effects, rentals, location fees, technicians and crew members, and anything else of a technical nature needed for a specific commercial shoot.

Benday — process that produces shading variations in low-budget advertisements without adding a second color.

Billboard — 1) flat, upright structure for the display of outdoor advertising, usually of 24- or 30-sheet poster size; 2) in TV and radio, brief announcement identifying the sponsors of a program; 3) weekly publication of the entertainment industry.

Billing — 1) total charges to a client or advertiser by an agency, including media and production costs and other agency charges; 2) amount of gross business done by an advertising agency in a given year (usually referred to as "billings").

Bingo card — reply card imprinted with code numbers representing a publication's advertisers, inserted in the publication to enable readers to request information.

Blanket contract (also called master contract) — agreement negotiated between a media vehicle and an advertiser covering all products or services to be advertised, whether handled by one or several agencies, usually over a specific period for a specific amount of money.

Bleed — to extend type or illustration to the edge of the page with no margin.

Blind offer — see Hidden offer.

Blueprint — in printing, a final proof (also called blueline).

Body copy — main copy block, or text, of an advertisement, as distinguished from heading, subheading, coupon, logo, captions of illustrations, and the like; also called body text.

Bonus — advertisement run free-of-charge to compensate for under delivery of audience versus original audience estimate.

Bonus pack — package of product sold at the regular price but containing an extra amount.

Brainstorming — idea-generating technique often used in advertising by a creative team to spark creativity. In a group, the team throws out spontaneous ideas, withholding critical judgment and evaluation until later. The process helps to produce attention-getting ideas, both visual and verbal, for print advertisements and broadcast commercials.

Brand — goods of a particular make and name in any product category.

Brand contact — any information-bearing experience a customer or prospect has with a particular brand. Brand Development Index (BDI) — the index of a brand's per capita sales in a given local market as compared to national per capita sales for the brand.

Brand-enhancement promotion — special promotion devised to expand the perceived value of the brand by reinforcing communication of the brand's positioning. Promotions with the primary goal of reducing a product's real selling price (e.g., coupons, rebates, etc.) do not serve this purpose.

Brand equity — the capacity of a brand to evoke specific thoughts and feelings that influence the behavior of its beholder.

Brand extension — attaching an existing brand name to other products with other uses in other market segments from the current products bearing the name (e.g., Honda automobiles, Honda lawnmowers). Compare to Line extension.

Brand identifying mark — symbol or words, or both, that separate one company's product or service from another's.

Brand image — total perception of the brand by the consumer, including the consumer's opinions of and attitudes toward it.

Brand licensing — brand owner's leasing of the use of a brand to another company, usually with the lessee paying a fee or royalty.

Brand loyalty — degree to which a consumer will repeatedly purchase a brand; for an advertiser to achieve its ultimate goal of brand loyalty, the consumer must perceive that the brand offers the right combination of quality and price.

Brand Manager — employee of a manufacturer who is responsible for the marketing plans of a brand and usually for its advertising.

Broadcast — refers to all types of TV and radio media (i.e., satellite, cable, network).

Broadcast calendar — the industry standard construction of the annual calendar in which months consist of periods of no more than 5 weeks in length. Based on week commencing dates, the broadcast calendar for a particular month may include days from the previous month.

Broadside — promotion piece consisting of one large sheet of paper, usually printed only on one side.

Brochure — high-quality, usually expensive direct mail or sales promotion literature.

Brownprint — see Blueprint and Vandyke.

Buckeye — advertisement with an obviously unsophisticated layout and lacking unity and balance; visually, buckeye appears crude and is characterized by artless copy and overdone graphic elements.

Bulletin — larger of two standardized outdoor advertising structures. The most common size is 14 feet by 48 feet. Copy is reproduced by two methods: painting directly on the surface, or posting with pre-printed paper.

Bullpen — art studio within an advertising agency where all creative artwork as well as special techniques or special effects can be done; staff may consist of artists, hand-letterers, retouchers, paste-up personnel, and artists.

Buried advertisement — one surrounded by other advertising, without adjacent editorial matter.

Buried offer — see Hidden offer.

Burst — a defined period in which media activity occurs. It is sometimes referred to as a flight, schedule, pulse, etc.

Business reply mail —enables the recipient of direct mail advertising to respond without paying postage.

Business-to-business advertising — advertising intended to communicate among businesses, as opposed to consumer advertising; directed at business people or companies that buy products for business use.

Buy-back allowance — manufacturer's offer to pay for an old product so that it will be taken off the shelf to make room for a new product.

Buyer — employee of an advertising agency who is responsible for the purchase of advertising space or time.

Buying service — organization specializing in buying advertising space or time.

C

Cable television — communications medium in which TV signals are transmitted by wire to TV receivers of subscribers, who usually pay a monthly fee for the service.

Call report — memorandum or report kept by an advertising agency of a conference between agency representatives and current or prospective advertising clients; tells when the meeting took place, who was present, and what was discussed. Also called conference report or contact report.

Camera-ready art — finished ad that is ready for the printer's camera to shoot to make negatives or plates. Campaign — coordinated program of advertisements and promotional activities intended to accomplish a specific sales objective.

Campbell's Soup position — in a magazine, the first right-hand page of advertising following the main editorial section; so-called because the soup company traditionally bought that page.

Cancellation date — final date after which a publication will not permit cancellation of a contracted advertisement.

Casting brief — detailed written description of the personalities of the characters in an ad to serve as a guide when actors audition.

Category — group of products or services that are generically similar (e.g., automobiles, banking, beverages, detergents, travel).

Category Development Index (CDI) — the index of category sales volume per capita for a particular area as compared to the national category sales volume per capita.

Celebrity endorsement — public expression of approval of a product or service by a well-known individual, who is usually paid for providing the endorsement.

Cents-off promotion — short-term reduction in the price f a product designed to induce trial and usage. Takes various forms, such as cents-off packages, one-cent sales, free offers, and mail-in rebates.

Chart — group of facts about something, usually in diagram form that is often enlarged for mounting on a flat board to be shown in a meeting.

Checkerboard — magazine advertising unit consisting of diagonally placed quarter or half pages that alternate with editorial text.

Checking copy — copy of a publication sent to an advertiser or its agency to verify insertion of an ad as ordered. See also Tear sheet.

Cinema — advertising activity occurring before, after, or during the showing of a movie in a movie theater.

Circular — advertisement printed on a single sheet of paper and circulated by third-class mail or by hand; also called a flyer.

Circulation — total number of a publication's paid or nonpaid copies, or both.

Claim — statement that addresses some positive aspect of the product's performance or a benefit to be gained from use of the product.

Classified advertising — advertisements arranged by specific categories or classifications in newspapers and magazines; text is set in the same size and style of type for all, and the ads are usually without illustration.

Clean rough — layout in which elements of an advertisement or poster, etc., are sketched in considerable detail.

Clearance — approval by a broadcaster's continuity acceptance department or other network or station authority for a commercial to be broadcast.

Client — manufacturer, owner, or provider of a product or service who desires to advertise that product or service utilizing the help of a qualified specialist; also called Account. The client is the customer for whom the advertising agency works.

Clip art — pre-printed or digital images that can be purchased and used as illustrations.

Clipping bureau or Ρhecking service — organization that examines newspapers and magazines and clips articles, references, and allusions of interest to its clients, to be sent to them; usually it also monitors broadcasting and provides verbatim transcripts and audio- and videotapes recorded off the air.

Close — the part of an advertisement that asks customers to act and tells them how.

Closing date — final date by which advertising must be delivered to a publication if it is to appear in a specific issue. See also Extension.

Clutter — large number of commercials and promos (short messages about coming programs) broadcast in a period as short as two minutes, all of which compete for the listener's or viewer's attention and the combination of which lessens the impact of any single message.

Co-branding — use of two or more brand names in support of a product, service, or venture.

Collateral — ancillary material used to support and reinforce a media advertising campaign, such as sales kits, presentation charts, news releases, letters, films, etc.

Color separations — separate negatives of red, yellow, and blue tones for full-color printing, used to produce color plates; combined with a black plate to strengthen shadow values.

Combination offer — sales promotion tactic in which two related products are packaged together at a special price, such as shampoo and conditioner. Sometimes a combination offer is used to introduce a new product by tying its purchase to an established product at a special price.

Combination rate — see Discount.

Commercial — advertising message broadcast on radio or television.

Commercial audience — actual audience that is actively viewing or listening to a particular TV or radio station.

Commercial integration charge — fee charged an advertising agency or advertiser by a television station to cover the cost of including a commercial in the broadcast schedule.

Commercial threshold — the amount a commercial can be viewed/heard/read before it becomes ineffective at communicating its message.

Comparative advertising — advertising that claims superiority to competitors in some respect.

Competitive parity —budget allocation for advertising based on the expenditures of competitors.

Competitive strategy — promotional strategy used in an advertising campaign that is designed to compete with rival brands.

Compiled list — type of direct mail list that has been compiled by another source (e.g., a list of new home owners); the most readily available type of list but also the type with the lowest expected response because of relatively inexact targeting.

Composition — the percentage of a vehicle's (e.g., print or TV daypart) audience, which is part of a selected population group. Also referred to as audience profile.

Comprehensive or Comprehensive layout — advertising layout for presentation to the client, made to give the effect of a finished advertisement or display.

Concept — briefly stated idea of a benefit that a product or service could provide to consumers.

Concept test — research to assess consumer reaction to a product or service concept.

Conceptual target — for a particular brand, the natural constituency of consumers bound by a common set of values, singular outlook, and aspirations that captures the complete audience of the brand.

Confirmation — verbal or written statement to the advertising agency from the network, station, or rep firm when accepting an order for a commercial or media schedule or both.

Constituency — regular, repeat purchasers or users of a product or service; any identifiable group whose behavior and attitudes are important to a brand's success, including consumers, retailers, press, government officials, etc.

Consumer — ultimate user of a product or service.

Consumer advertising — advertising directed at the ultimate user of a product or service, in contrast to advertising directed at business and industry.

Consumer vehicles — collectively, all of the advertising media and all of the marketing systems and devices available for communication with the consumer constituencies.

Consumerism — public interest in the rights of consumers and the quality of consumer goods and their advertising.

Consumer magazine — magazine that covers a broad or narrow interest and is directed to the general public, as distinguished from a trade or business-to-business publication, which is geared toward a specific industry or occupation.

Consumer profile — outline of significant demographic and psychographic details about the user of a particular product. The data include the user's age category, marital status, income level, education, occupation, sex, area of residence, and purchase behavior patterns.

Contest — offers incentive to buy a product in order to enter a contest or win a sweepstakes (but usually with "no purchase necessary to win" disclaimer); may be prohibited by law in some places. See also Sweepstakes. Continguity rate — in broadcast media, a reduced rate offered an advertiser who buys time in separate programs in adjacent time periods through the day (vertical contiguity) or across-the-board for a week (horizontal contiguity).

Continuity — scheduling advertising consistently over a period of time without interruption, in order to build or maintain advertising awareness and recall.

Continuity Acceptance or Clearance — department at a broadcast station or network that reviews programming and advertising to prevent unsubstantiated claims and objectionable or illegal material.

Contracted expenditure — any media buy committed on behalf of the advertiser.

Controlled circulation — readers who are sent a publication without having to pay a subscription fee. Convention — large-group meeting programmed to introduce new products, line extensions, new models, etc., to a company's sales force, distributors, and/or retailers. See also Exhibit.

Cooperative advertising or Co-op — method used by a manufacturer or parent company to help underwrite the cost of advertising placed by a retail store; the parent company pays a portion of the retailer's cost to the retailer after the ad has run.

Copy — all written or textual material in an advertisement.    

Copy platform — description and rationale for an advertising campaign, usually based on an established creative strategy; describes selling ideas, their importance, and may include executional considerations.

Copyright — exclusive right granted by the Copyright Act to authors and artists to protect their original work from being plagiarized, sold, or used by another without their express consent.

Copywriter — creator of concepts and words for advertisements and commercials.

Corner bullet — tiny dot at each corner of an advertisement; defines the column width and linage depth for the printer (also called corner dot).

Corporate advertising — advertising whose purpose is to promote the image of a corporation rather than the sale of a product or service; such advertising is also used to create public awareness of the corporation or to improve its reputation in the marketplace.

Corporate identity advertising — advertising to familiarize the public with a corporation's name, logos, trademarks, or corporate signatures, especially after any of these is changed.

Corrective advertising — any advertisement prepared to correct a misperception created by an earlier advertisement.

Cost efficiency or Cost-per-thousand (CPM) — quantitative measure of media evaluation, relating an advertising vehicle's cost to its audience delivery. To find the CPM, divide the cost of the advertising by the total gross audience, measured in thousands.

Cost per rating point (CPP) — used by most media planners in developing and allocating marketing budgets and setting rating- point goals; defined as the cost of reaching one percent of the target audience within a specified geographic area.

Cost per return — in direct response, advertising cost divided by the number

Coupon — legal certificate offered by manufacturers or retailers to consumers, providing specific saving or refund on a selected brand when redeemed at the point-of-purchase; usually marked with an expiration date.

Coverage (or Cover) — Broadcast: a geographic area within which a television or radio station can be received. Print: The percentage of a population group that is in the audience. It also stands for "reach" in the UK.

Cover date — date printed on the cover of a publication. Compare to On-sale date.

Cover position — space for advertising on the covers of a publication. The first cover is the outside front; second cover is the inside front; third cover is the inside back; fourth cover is the outside back. The last is usually premium-priced.

Creative Director — advertising agency employee responsible for managing the operations and personnel of a creative group or department.

Creative strategy — statement of the communications goal and basic message, but not the specific content, to be used in advertisements or commercials during a campaign.

Credit — deduction by a medium from the amount charged, to compensate for an error (e.g., loss of advertising time because a commercial did not air or aired at the wrong time, incorrect placement of an advertisement in a publication, missed insertion date).

Cume — 1) estimated number of different people who watch a station for a minimum of five minutes in a quarter hour; 2) estimated number of different people exposed to a daypart or combination of dayparts on a particular station.

Cumulative audience — net unduplicated audience of a schedule.

Customer — person who buys a product or service for resale to the consumer.

Customer fees — various fees charged by the business customer (usually the retailer) to the manufacturer in exchange for preferential treatment of the brand in the store.

Custom magazine — looks like a regular magazine but is entirely created by an advertiser; sold at newsstands and produced by the same companies that publish regular magazines.

Cut-in — different broadcast copy or format that is used to replace an originating commercial in a network program in a specific market or region.

D

Dailies — see Rushes.

Daily Effective Circulation (DEC) — in out-of-home advertising, average number of persons exposed to a sign or group of signs per day, based on annual tabulation.

Database marketing — a direct marketing tool based on the accessibility of customer information, computer-stored in a common pool, which can be retrieved on a specific as-needed basis and can serve several applications.

Day-after recall — audience recall measured the day after an advertisement is exposed.

Day In the Life of a Consumer (DILO) — step-by-step description of the behaviors a consumer exhibits over a selected period of time. The marketing objective of performing a DILO is to identify points in a consumer's life where you can have an impact. DILOs can help companies design better products, improve distribution channels, and identify the best media contact points.

Daypart — in broadcast, a programming section (e.g., morning or afternoon drive-time on radio, prime time and early- and late-fringe on TV).

Dealer listing — listing of local dealers added to an advertisement used over a large geographical area. Dealer loader — premium given to retailer by manufacturer for buying certain quantities of product. Deck — 30-sheet poster location featuring two adjacent panels mounted one above the other. Also called stack. Decode — to give a personal interpretation to the elements of an advertisement with a greater or lesser amount of interest, comprehension, and belief, according to the advertisement's success.

Demo or Demo reel — reel of sample commercials used as an exhibit of the work of an advertising agency, studio, or individual.

Demographic edition — magazine that reaches readers who share a demographic trait, such as age, income level, or profession.

Demographics — external characteristics of a group of people, including age, sex, nationality, marital status, education, occupation, and income. Compare to Psychographics.

Demonstration — TV commercial in which the product is shown in use.

Depth of exposure — degree of penetration of the advertising message into the market.

Design — creation of an advertising campaign, including any one of the individual elements, such as the illustrations, or all of the elements in the plan as well as the plan itself.

Designated Market Area (DMA) — Nielsen term for the geographic area comprising the counties in which a TV station has the largest portion of its audience.

Diary method — research technique in which the respondent maintains a diary of listening, viewing, buying, or other habits.

Differentiation — unique characteristics of a company's products and brands.

Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) — television delivery system that beams programs from satellites to special dishes mounted in the subscriber's home or yard. Direct mail advertising — use of the postal system as a medium to deliver advertisements.

Direct marketing — distribution, promotion, and selling through any of the media that enable the customer to buy directly rather than by visiting a retailer, including but not limited to door-to-door selling, mail order, media inserts, telemarketing, and videotex. Many retailers use direct marketing techniques. See also Direct response advertising.

Directory advertising — advertising in a directory, such as the Yellow Pages.

Direct response advertising — advertising whereby the consumer buys directly from the advertiser, usually by phone or mail, rather than from an intermediary. Direct response agency — advertising agency, or its division, that specializes in the creation of direct response advertising.

Discount — specific percentage that a media vehicle permits advertisers to deduct from the gross rates charged for advertising space. To qualify for such an allowance, the advertiser must meet certain requirements, usually based on the amount of space used within a specified period. Types of discounts that media allow are: Frequency discount — based on the use of a certain number of space units within a specified period (usually several months). Dollar volume discount — within a specified period, the advertiser must spend (based on gross rates) a specified amount within the medium.

Continuity discount — usually, this is a discount allowed by a print medium, over and above dollar volume discounts, and requires the use of a specified minimum number of issues within a contract period. This discount is to encourage the advertiser to spread insertions throughout the year, thus helping the publication to avoid publishing some issues that are extremely heavy or extremely light in advertising.

Combination discount — publishers of more than one publication sometimes offer discounts to advertisers who use equal space in all their publications.

Cash discount — offered by a publication if the space is paid for within a specified number of days after publication; usually 2 percent.

Discrepancy — difference between a media vehicle's billing and the original order, requiring discussion between the buyer and the vehicle before the agency pays the invoice.

Display advertising — 1) print advertising that is located throughout a publication and that utilizes size, color, illustrations, photographs, and various decorations and typography to attract the reader's attention, as distinguished from small-space or classified advertising; 2) freestanding advertisement designed for exhibition in traffic areas, such as retail stores, public buildings, terminals, and the like.

Display allowance — fee paid to a retailer to secure space for in-store product display.

Distribution channel — network of firms and individuals that take title to (or assist in taking title to) the product as it moves from producer to consumer.

Dolly — 1) wheeled platform for a motion picture or video camera; 2) movement of the camera viewpoint (e.g., dolly in or dolly out).

Double spotting — running multiple advertising units during the same programs.

Double spread or double-page spread — two facing pages used for a single, unbroken advertisement. Also called Double truck.

Drive time — morning and afternoon hours when people driving to and from work are listening to radio.

Dub — 1) add or replace sound after on-camera action has been shot in a commercial; 2) make a duplicate film or tape.

Dummy — layout, mock-up, or set of blank pages that shows the general shape and style of a planned printed piece.

Dupes — copies of a finished television commercial delivered to networks or stations for airing.

Duplication — the number or percent of people in one vehicle's audience who are also exposed to another vehicle.

E

Earned rate — actual rate for advertising space or time charged to an advertiser, taking into consideration all discounts for volume and frequency.

Editorial authority — goal of advertising, sought either by placement of advertisements in media vehicles judged to be highly respected by prospective buyers, or by designing advertisements to imitate the appearance of editorial matter.

Effective —pertaining to advertising that accomplishes its objectives, as demonstrated in a market or as inferred from its performance in pretest measures.

Effective frequency — number of advertising exposures that are judged necessary to produce a positive change in awareness, attitude, or purchasing action.

Effective reach — percentage of the target audience that is exposed to the advertising when it is scheduled a sufficient number of times to produce a positive change in awareness, attitude, or purchasing action.

Efficiency — advertising audience size in comparison with the cost of placing the advertising.

Embossing — raised bas-relief effect in printing; called blind embossing if not inked.

Endorsement — statement by a perceived authority or celebrity used in a promotion to recommend a product or service.

Environment — surroundings that can affect the purchase decision.

Establishing shot — opening shot or scene in commercial or film, to be followed by closer-in shots.

Ethnic media — media directed toward a specific ethnic group and often written or broadcast in a language native to the group.

Event marketing — communication with specific-interest groups through sponsorship of live events they attend or view on television. Strengths: highly targeted; builds brand recognition and goodwill; uncluttered environment; not usually perceived by the consumer as advertising; can provide opportunity for product sampling; high impact and immediacy of live event; broad reach of TV event. Limitations: coverage of live event is limited to the special audience; strategic communications impact of TV event may be limited.

Exhibit — a display for public inspection; any such display mounted at a convention or trade show to give consumers or business customers an opportunity to examine or see a demonstration of a product or service.

Exclusive distribution — strategy of limiting the number of wholesalers or retailers who can sell a product in order to gain a prestige image, maintain premium prices, or protect other dealers in a geographic region.

Exclusivity — protection provided by a media vehicle to a given advertiser against a competitive advertiser appearing in the same publication or broadcast period.

Execution — advertisement or commercial prepared to a stated creative strategy.

Expansion plan — plan for expanding distribution, advertising, and sales of a product or service from a narrow geographic base to a broader or national base, usually in stages.

Experiential marketing — bringing the concept of a brand to life, allowing the customer to experience firsthand the values of the brand in an enticing, entertaining manner either through a live event or sales promotion.

Exposure — presentation of a promotion piece or advertisement to an individual, such as a person viewing a television commercial or a reader opening a magazine to an advertising page.

Extension — additional time granted by a periodical for receipt of materials after the closing date.

F

Facing editorial page — instruction from an advertiser to a publication to run its advertisement adjacent to editorial matter.

Facilities — 1) technical equipment and capabilities of a broadcast station; 2) line-up of stations in a broadcasting network.

Failure fee — fee paid by manufacturer to retail,, upon failure of a new product introduction, for the inconvenience of arranging for use of shelf space.

Family brand — marketing of various products under the same umbrella name.

Fast motion — videotape or film action sped up so time appears compressed.

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) — frequently purchased consumer items, such as foods, cleaning products, and toiletries.

Favored nations clause — agreement by a medium with an advertiser that no comparable purchase will be made by another advertiser on more advantageous terms without an adjustment in the first advertiser's terms.

Favoring shot — videotape or film close-up that gives prominence to one or more actors (frequently important in determining talent payments).

Feedback — audience response from which advertisers can glean information about how well the advertising message is received, the environment in which it is received, and the temperament and attitude of the consumer upon its reception.

Fifty-fifty plan — plan used in cooperative advertising whereby 50 percent of the advertising cost incurred is paid by the retailer, and the other 50 percent is borne by the manufacturer.

Fill-in — name, address, and salutation added to direct mail letters to make them appear individually typewritten.

Film clip — short section of film that can be inserted into a TV commercial.

Film loop — motion picture film spliced into a continuous unending sequence.

Financial advertising — advertising geared to the world of finance, such as Wall Street brokerage firms, banks, or insurance companies.

Firm order — order for space or time that is noncancellable after a certain date.

Flat rate — nondiscounted price set by an advertising vehicle for space or time. See also Off card and Open rate.

Flier — form of direct mail advertising that is usually a single, standard-size (8.5 x 11 in the US) page printed on one or both sides and folded one or more times; often accompanies a sales letter to supplement or expand on the information in the letter.  

Flight — scheduling tactic that alternates periods of advertising with periods of hiatus (no activity); used in broadcast advertising.

Flowchart — a graphic demonstration of the media plan. Often referred to as a chart or media calendar.

Float — placement of an advertisement in space larger than required by the dimensions of the advertisement.

Focus group — research technique to determine attitudes and opinions through discussion of a topic or product or service by a small group of people.

Folder — large, heavy-stock fliers, often folded and sent out as self-mailers.

Forms-close date — final deadline for getting an advertisement to the publication for printing in a specific issue.

Forward buying — retailer's stocking up on a product when it is discounted and buying smaller amounts when it is at list price.

Four-color process — method for printing color advertisements with tonal elements, such as photographs. Based on the principle that all colors can be printed by combining three primary colors plus black (which provides greater detail and density as well as shades of gray).

Fragrance strips — perfume samples included in sealed inserts in magazines.

Fragmentation — use of a great variety of types of media for a single advertising campaign, with no single medium used predominantly or heavily.

Franchising — marketing system in which dealers pay a fee to operate under the guidelines and direction of the manufacturer.

Freelancer — artist or writer who takes individual assignments from various advertisers or advertising agencies but is not in their full-time employ.

Freestanding insert — page or section, printed by a newspaper or supplied by an advertiser, that is inserted before delivery to the dealer or newsstand.

Frequency — average number of times an accumulated audience has the opportunity to be exposed to advertisements, a particular program, or program schedule, within a measured period.

Frequency discount — see Discount.

Frequency distribution — when people or homes are exposed to advertising at different rates, describes the number or percent of the population (reach) at each frequency level.

Full position — in newspaper advertising, the preferred position near the top of a page or on the top of a column next to reading matter. Usually surrounded by editorial matter and may cost 25-50% more than the ROP rate.

Full-service agency — advertising agency offering its clients a full range of service capabilities, including marketing planning and management, creative, media, research, accounting, and often such services as merchandising, public relations, and sales promotion.

G

Gatefold — special page that usually is one full page larger than other pages, but is folded to the same size as the other pages; it is opened like a gate.

Generic appeal or advertising — advertising on behalf of a product category in which no mention is made of a specific brand name.

Geographic split run — split run in which one advertisement is placed in the circulation that falls in one geographic area, and a different ad is placed in the remaining geographic areas of the country. See also Split run.

Going year — 12 consecutive months of advertising budgeting for a product or service (not necessarily the calendar year).

Grip — stagehand in a film or TV studio.

Gross amount — total amount owed by an advertiser to an advertising medium for advertising space or time purchased before the deduction of any advertising agency commission.

Gross audience — the sum of the audiences of all individual vehicles, calculated simply by adding. Each person is counted as many times as he/she has been exposed to the schedule.

Gross billing — 1) advertising cost billed to an advertiser, which includes charges for agency commission; 2) total amount of advertisers' funds handled annually by an advertising agency.

Gross cost — cost for services of an agency.

Contest — sales promotion tactic for creating consumer involvement in which prizes are offered based on the skill of the entrants.

Gross impressions — total number of potential exposures of an advertisement, calculated by multiplying the number of people reached by the number of times the advertisement runs.

Gross rate — published rate for advertising space or time charged by a media vehicle without regard to agency or seller's commissions.

Gross rating points (GRPs) — measure of audience delivery representing 1 percent of the population; may represent audience delivery for a single medium or a combination of media. "Gross" signifies that the audience delivery it represents defines neither "reach" (net delivery) nor "frequency," but a combination of the two. Also refers to the sum of ratings for individual announcements in the schedule. See Reach and frequency.

Group advertising — advertising by a group of independent retailers, often members of a voluntary chain; usually set together on a newspaper or other publication page.

Guarantee — commitment from a media vehicle assuring an advertiser of an agreed-upon rate or audience level.

Gutter — in a publication lying open, the line along which left and right pages meet.

Gutter bleed — illustration or other material printed so it runs through the gutter into the binding edge of the page.

Gutter position — advertisement placed beside the gutter in a periodical.

H

Halftone plate — plate that prints dots, the combination of which, when printed, produces an optical illusion of shading as in a photograph.

Halftone screen — glass or plastic screen that breaks continuous-tone artwork into dots so that it can be reproduced.

Halo effect — subjective reaction on the part of consumers noticed by researchers when attempting to analyze consumer attitudes and their relationship to the market structure, particularly in the area of advertising or brand evaluation.

Handbill — los-cost flier or other simple brochure distributed by hand on the street, in parking lots, or door-to-door.

Heading — largest display matter of an advertisement, setting the theme of the copy; also called the headline.

Heavy-up — heavy concentrationof advertising for a short period in a media schedule.

Heavy users — perecentage of a population representing the majority of the users of a product or service.

Hiatus — period in a campaign when an advertiser's schedule is suspended for a short time, after which it resumes; see also Flight.

Hidden camera — format for advertising, especially TV commercials, involving use of a camera concealed from subjects who either relate their experiences with the product being advertised or who are shown sampling or using the product.

Hidden offer — technique used to measure readability of, or reader attention to, an advertisement by including a special offer inconspicuously; also called blind offer or buried offer.

High-involvement model — advertising medium that requires active involvement on the part of the consumer.

Homes Using Television (HUT) — Nielsen term for percentage of total TV homes in a geographic area that are viewing television for five minutes or longer during an average quarter hour. See also Sets in use and Share.

Hook — the part of a jingle that sticks in your memory.

House list — a company's most important and valuable direct-mail list, which may contain current, recent, and long-past customers or future prospects.

House organ — publication prepared periodically by a business organization and issued to its employees and, usually, to clients and prospects; now more commonly called internal organ.

I

Icon — pictorial image that represents an idea or thing.

I.D. (identification) — a brief radio or TV commercial (usually eight to ten seconds) aired with station identification.

Illustrator — artist who hand-creates pictures to be used in advertisements, without using such mechanical means as cameras or computers.

Image advertising — advertising directed at the creation of a specific image, or body of impressions, feelings, or opinions, for a product, company, or brand.

Impact of advertising — effect of advertising on an audience, measured either by the extent and degree of its awareness attainment or by the sales it produces.

Impression — person's or household's exposure to an advertisement or commercial.

Incentive reward —gift, premium, or bonus offered by a manufacturer to a customer as a reward for "pushing" or otherwise helping to sell a product or service to the consumer.

Incentive system — form of agency compensation in which the agency shares in the client's financial success when a campaign attains specific agreed goals.

Incremental spending — budget allocation that allows for increased or decreased spending on media for advertising in direct proportion to sales.

Incumbent agency — current advertising agency for an advertiser's product or service, or an advertising agency currently under contract for a particular client.

Independent shopping guide — weekly local advertising vehicle that may or may nopt contain editorial materia.; can be segmented into highly select market areas.

Industrial advertising — see Business-to-business advertising.

Infomercial — commercial for radio or TV that combines advertising with information.

In-home — pertaining to exposure to media advertising in the home, including radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines.

In-house agency — agency wholly owned by an advertiser and set up and staffed to do all the work of an independent full-service agency.

Inoculation approach — approach used in a comparative advertising campaign to build consumer resistance to competitive products or services.

Inquiry — request from a potential customer in response to advertising; useful in determining advertising effectiveness, the audience characteristics for different media, etc.

Insert — 1) printed advertising sheet or section in a publication that is either bound in or loose (i.e., freestanding insert); 2) enclosure in a mailing.

Insertion order — statement of specifications for an advertisement sent by the agency to print media; includes insertion dates, size, position, and rates.

Institutional advertising — (1) advertising devoted to creating goodwill for the advertiser rather than the immediate sale of specific products or services, (2) business-to-business or trade advertising directed to industries classified as "institutional," including hotels, restaurants, hospitals, and schools.

In-store sampling — handing out free product samples to passing shoppers.

Integrated format — TV or radio program format giving two or more advertisers exposure according to the portion of the time purchased by each.  

Integrated marketing —fusing of an advertiser's total marketing resources into a single program in which all elements are closely interrelated, consistent with each other, and speaking with a common voice for maximum synergy.

Interactive media — a system that allows consumers to shop, vote, bank, play games, etc., via a TV/telephone/computer combination. Products, services, or items of information are displayed on the TV screen and can be ordered or utilized by pressing keys on a special console or touchtone phone linked electronically to the seller.

Interconnect — joining of several cable systems in the same geographic area in order to facilitate the selling of local or regional advertising.

International advertising — advertising conducted in foreign markets, requiring both capabilities and strategies different from domestic advertising because of differences in culture, economic systems, government regulations, and consumer perceptions and needs.

Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) — One of the largest marketing communications and marketing services companies in the world. Parent of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, The Lowe Group, DraftWorldwide, Initiative Media Worldwide, Weber Shandwick Worldwide, Golin/Harris International, Octagon, NFO WorldGroup, Jack Morton Worldwide, and other related companies. IPG also has arrangements through association with local agencies in various countries.

Involuntary attention — attention paid to advertising without deliberation or conscious effort.

Island position — 1) newspaper or magazine advertisement position entirely surrounded by editorial matter; 2) TV or radio commercial with program content directly before and after it.

J

Jingle — musical commercial on radio or TV.

Junior unit — magazine advertisement produced in a single small size (e.g., sized for TV Guide or Reader's Digest) that appears in larger publications as a partial page with editorial matter on the same page.

K

Keying an advertisement — inserting in the address or coupon a different code for each publication in which the ad appears, so that inquiries can be traced and media effectiveness compared.

Kicker — subhead that appears above the headline.

Kill copy — copy of a periodical marked to show material (advertising, etc.) not to be run in the next issue.

Kiosk — interactive computer in a standalone cabinet that makes information available from an electronic database and, often, allows the user to complete a transaction, such as a product order.

L

Label — tag on a product package that identifies the contents of the package and also serves as an advertising medium.

Lap dissolve — in a film or commercial, the fading of one scene into another so both are seen momentarily.

Layout — organization of all the parts of an advertisement.

Leader — blank film or videotape at the beginning and end of a reel, needed for "threading up" in the projector and for attachment to the reel.

Least-effort principle — theory among advertisers that consumers will make purchases based on the least possible amount of effort and will tend to buy what is handy.

Leave behind — any document, brochure, flyer, or other handout left with a prospect after a sales call.

Letter shop — firm that stuffs envelopes, affixes labels, calcualtes postage, sorts pieces (e.g., for bulk mailing), and otherwise prepares items for mailing.

Life cycle — period during which a positive reaction to advertising is noticeable. An advertisement or an advertising campaign is said to have a life cycle that begins with the introduction of the advertising and ends when the advertising is worn out and no longer elicits a positive response.

Limited animation — see Animation.

Line extension — extending a brand name to another form or variety of the original product that offers the same core brand benefit to the same segment with the same product usage behavior (e.g., M&Ms, M&M Peanuts). Compare to Brand extension.

Licensed brand — brand name that other companies can buy the right to use.

Lifestyle — type of commercial in which the user is presented rather than the product.

List broker — intermediary who handles rental of mailing lists for list owners on a commission basis.

Live action — production technique in television that portrays real people and settings, as opposed to animation.

Local advertiser — business or nonprofit organization that advertises only in the immediate area in which it is located.

Local market event — a specific occurrence or meeting that is planned to appeal to a particular interest group within a local market area in order to create or increase awareness of a product or service, or address specific promotional goals.

Local rate — special discount advertising rate offered by the media to local advertisers; sometimes a non-commissionable rate lower than that offered to national advertisers.

Local trading area — primary geographic area from which most of a company's customers come.

Location — an actual setting, rather than a studio, used for filming or videotaping a commercial.

Logo or Logotype — specially designed and individualized symbol of an organization or its product or service, usually used along with its name and address; often the symbol alone is referred to as "the logo."  

M

Mail order — direct marketing business that utilizes the mail as its primary vehicle for communicating with prospects and customers in promoting and delivering goods.

Mail-response list — type of direct mail list composed of people who have responded to the direct mail solicitations of other companies, especially those whose efforts are complementary to the marketer's.

Make-good — advertisement run free of charge due to a scheduling error by the medium or to compensate for delivering a smaller audience than was estimated when the time or space was sold.

Management Supervisor — advertising agency executive who is in charge of all Account Executives at the agency, or, in a large agency, of those in an account group handling one or more accounts, and who is ultimately responsible for the management of each account.

Margin — difference between the cost of producing a product and its selling price.

Market — economic system bringing together the forces of supply and demand for a particular product or service. Consists of suppliers, channels of distribution, mechanisms for establishing prices and effecting transitions, and customers.

Marketing — process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy the perceived needs, wants, and objectives of individuals and organizaations.

Marketing mix — elements, including product offering, price, distribution channels, and promotion, that a company uses in a chosen combination to realize its marketing strategy.

Marketing plan — company document that describes its marketing research, analysis, and decision-making concerning its product(s). The purpose of the marketing plan is to maximize a company's return on its marketing investments by increasing the chance that a consumer will purchase from the company rather than from competitors.

Marketing research — research designed to supply information necessary for the effective marketing of consumer goods and services.

Market potential — summary of the characteristics of a market, including information on typical purchasers and competitors, and often general information on the economy and retailing patterns of the area.

Market segmentation — process of dividing the market according to similarities that exist among the various subgroups within the market.

Market share — percentage of a category's sales, in terms of dollars or units, obtained by a brand, line, or company.

Marketing mix — amounts of each type of marketing tactic included in a marketing program.

Marketing communications mix — amounts of each type of communications vehicle including in a marketing communications program.  

Masked identification test — test of advertising memorability in which respondents view advertisements in which brand names and trademarks are effaced and are asked to identify the advertiser or brand.

Mass communication — medium that appeals to a mass audience in terms of demographics and psychographics.

Master contract — see Blanket contract.

Master newspaper list — complete list of US daily newspapers, or of those newspapers used by an advertiser for planning or ordering of advertising.

Master tape — final edited audio or video tape from which quantity prints or dubs are made.

Media-buying service — organization that specializes in purchasing and packaging radio and television time.

Matched sample — sample group for test purposes that is the same as another group in terms of size, demographics, and psychographics; used in advertising research to reinforce results, to provide a controlled test, or to test variations of a product or communication.

Mechanical — see Pasteup.

Media (plural of Medium) — all means of communication by which information is conveyed to the general public, usually described in five generic areas: newspapers, magazines, broadcasting, outdoor, and online.

Media buy — purchase of time or space in an advertising medium.

Media buyer — individual responsible for the purchase of time and space for the delivery of advertising messages in the media; may be an employee of an advertising agency who specializes in such purchases. Technically, any advertiser, advertising manager, or other individual who buys the time or space.

Mediamark Research, Inc. (MRI) — a syndicated service whose data are used to gauge marketing and media exposure patterns.

Media mix — brand or segment advertising expenditures by media category, expressed as percentages of total expenditures.

Media planner — advertising agency employee in the media department who is responsible for the planning of media in an advertising campaign; primary function is to match appropriate media to the target audience in each campaign.

Media units — specific units of advertising in each type of medium, such as half-page magazine ads and 30-second TV spots.

Media vehicles — particular media programs or publications.

Merchandising — activities of an advertiser's sales force, wholesalers, or dealers, and retailers that include advertising, point-of-purchase displays, guarantee seals, special sales, and in-store promotions to show a product or service in a favorable light to encourage purchase.

Merchandising allowance —money or other reward provided by the manufacturer to the retailer as payment for merchandising activity.

Message weight — total size of the audience for a set of ads or an entire campaign.

Minimum depth requirement — newspaper requirement that an advertisement have a certain proportion of depth to width, usually one inch per column.

Mixed interlock — edited version of a filmed television commercial mixed with the finished sound track; used for initial review and approval prior to being duplicated for airing.

Monthly promotional calendar — local advertiser's monthly schedule of sales, special events, in-house promotions, ad placements, etc.

Motivational research — psychologically oriented research that attempts to establish the subconscious motives that prompt people to buy.

Musical concerts/tours — sponsorship of ongoing regional or national appearances by musical groups.

Multimedia — advertising promotion that utilizes two or more media.

N

National plan — strategy for a nationwide marketing effort.

National rate — rate charged by local media to national or regional advertisers; traditionally higher than the local advertising rate. See also Local rate.

Net amount — amount owed by an advertiser to an advertising medium for advertising space or time purchased after the deduction of any advertising agency commission.

Net audience — number of individuals or households reached by a medium over a specific period; each is counted only once regardless of the number of exposures to the medium.

Net billing — advertising cost billed to an advertiser that excludes charges for agency commission.

Net circulation — 1) in periodicals, the total number of copies sold, also called net paid circulation; may be considerably fewer than the total number printed, as unsold newsstand copies are usually returned to the publisher; 2) in outdoor, the total number of individuals who pass an advertisement within a specific period, also called net advertising circulation.   

Newspaper Space Bank (NSB) — online database service through which advertisers can buy canceled, unsold, or remnant space in major market newspapers at deeply discounted rates after normal closings.

Net weekly audience — number of individuals or households that tune in at least once a week to a daily radio or TV program, or to one broadcast more than once a week.

Network — 1) group of radio or TV stations that broadcast the same programs simultaneously; stations may be affiliated or may be owned by the network; 2) group of independent and noncompeting advertising agencies that exchange ideas and services.

New product fee — fee paid by manufacturer to retailer for shelf space for new-product introduction; most often applied in test markets.

Niche marketing — marketing adapted to the needs and preferences of a small segment of the market.

Nielsen — A.C. Nielsen Co., world's largest research firm, best known for its studies and reports on national and local TV audiences.

Noncommercial advertising — advertising sponsored by or for a charitable institution, civic group, religious order, political organization, or some other nonprofit group to stimulate donations, persuade people to vote one way or another, or bring attention to social causes.

Nonpersonal influences — factors influencing the consumer decision-making process that are often out of the consumer's control, such as time, place, and environment.

Nonpersonal selling — all selling activities that use some medium as an intermediary for communication, including advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and collateral materials.

Nonproduct advertising — advertising designed to sell ideas or a philosophy rather than products or services.

Nonpromotional strategy — for local businesses, reliance on word-of-mouth and return customers, as opposed to marketing communications.

Nonverbal communication — act of imparting or exchanging thoughts, opinions, or information without the use of spoken words; used in marketing research as a key variable to determine consumers' attitudes, values, and beliefs regarding a product or service.

O Off card — special rate, lower than the printed rate card, for advertising time or space. See also Flat rate and Open rate.

Off-invoice allowance — a price reduction (usually 1 or 2 percent) allowed for prompt payment; often combined with merchandising and promotional allowances.

Offensive spending — buying advertising or providing other marketing support in the hope of expanding sales.

On-air test — test of a commercial or program that uses the test material on actual TV or radio broadcasts; audience response, such as recall, change in attitude or interest in purchase, or audience size may then be measured.

One-shot — standalone TV program, such as a documentary or variety special, in contrast to a continuing series or a program shown in a limited number of parts over time.

One-time rate — rate charged for a single, unrepeated advertisement.

On-sale date — date a magazine is actually issued. Compare to Cover date.

Open-end or Open-ended — 1) recorded TV or radio program or commercial in which local announcements or commercials can be inserted; 2) program with no specific conclusion time.

Open rate — medium's basic charge to advertisers, also called a base rate or one-time rate; usually a higher rate as compared to discounts for volume or frequency under a continuing contract. See also Flat rate and Off card.

Opinion leader — someone whose beliefs are respected by people who share an interest in a particular activity.

Opportunities to see (OTS) — European equivalent of the term "frequency."

Optical — print of a commercial in which all color corrections and optical effects (e.g., titles, dissolves) have been made; screened for final approval before release print is made.

Orbit — to schedule an advertiser's commercials in a variety of programs or time periods.

Order letter — preliminary agreement between an advertising buyer and a medium; specifies terms of purchase, and is sent by the buyer to the medium.

Outdoor advertising — advertising on billboards, posters, or signs outdoors in public places. See also Out-of-home.

Outdoor space buyer — advertising agency employee responsible for buying outdoor advertising space.

Out-of-home — broad term for outdoor advertising; includes all media that must be viewed outside the house, from bus shelter advertising to shopping cart displays to skywriting. See also Outdoor advertising.

Over-commercialization — clutter resulting from scheduling too many commercials.