Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

This study examined the current marketing and advertising practices used in university continuing nursing education. The focus of this study was on evaluation of the effectiveness of direct-mail advertising pieces used by this adult education institution. Direct-mail pieces provided by survey respondents were assessed by independent raters using the Evaluation Tool for Print-Related Advertising which was developed specifically for use in this study. Direct-mail advertising was found to be moderately effective as it was currently used in divisions of university continuing nursing education in Canada and the United States. This result indicated that there is significant room for improvement in the area of planning and developing direct-mail advertising pieces for university continuing nursing education. Institutional advertising has not been used by these divisions to inform the target population about the philosophy, aims, purposes and ideas of continuing nursing education, nor has institutional advertising been used to inform the general public or potential sources of funding about the benefits to be derived by the public from supporting continuing education activities in this profession which would include improved patient care. Little effort has been made to inform the future target market which is comprised of student nurses about the purpose and need to continue education beyond initial graduation in this profession. Variance in scores of effective advertising were found to be influenced by a variety of factors. These factors included the media mix currently used by university continuing nursing education divisions, the media mix which was proposed to be used in the future by the directors of these divisions, the age of the director, the knowledge that the director had about advertising and marketing concepts and practices, the time spent by the director on completing advertising responsibilities on a weekly basis, the financial resources which were allocated for advertising expenditures during the fiscal year 1979-1980 and the financial resources proposed for future advertising expenditures, the educational preparation of the director in the field of nursing, and the attitude of the director towards the use and preparation of advertising for the continuing nursing education division. The Evaluation Tool for Print-Related Advertising was found to be a reliable evaluation tool and a useful evaluation tool because it can be used to identify areas which require improvement in direct-mail advertising pieces while they are in the process of development. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-152).

Direct response advertising in the financial services industry in South Africa has become one of the most important tactics companies utilise to build and maintain market share. Ensuring that these advertising campaigns yield optimal return on investment numbers is the responsibility of marketing departments and their partners in the marketing and sales processes, such as the creative and media agencies, the distribution force, as well as the client service area that supports the client value proposition. The marketing executive therefore is accountable for the planning, budgeting and execution of direct response campaigns, which need to deliver sufficient results to support the company’s overall business objectives. The challenge all marketers face is the lack of a proven structured and scientific methodology to facilitate this planning, budgeting and execution process. It has always been a general view in the marketing fraternity that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to combine creative output measures, which are subjective in nature, with cost, sales and profit measures, which are objective in nature. This study aims to create a structured approach to marketing strategising and planning, by creating a marketing metrics model that enables the marketing practitioner to budget according to output needed to achieve the overarching business objectives of sales, cost management and profit. This marketing metrics model therefore unpacks the business drivers in detail, but through a marketing effort lense, to link the various factors underlying successful marketing output, to the bigger business objectives. This is done by incorporating both objective (verifiable data, such as cost per sale) and subjective variables (qualitative factors, such as creative quality) into a single model, which enables the marketing practitioner to identify areas of underperformance, which can then be managed, tweaked or discontinued in order to optimise marketing return on investment. Although many marketing metrics models and variables exist, there is a gap in the combination of objective and subjective factors in a single model, such as the proposed model, which will give the marketer a single tool to plan, analyse and manage the output in relation to pre-determined performance benchmarks. / Business Management / DCOM (Business Management)

Direct response advertising in the financial services industry in South Africa has become one of the most important tactics companies utilise to build and maintain market share. Ensuring that these advertising campaigns yield optimal return on investment numbers is the responsibility of marketing departments and their partners in the marketing and sales processes, such as the creative and media agencies, the distribution force, as well as the client service area that supports the client value proposition. The marketing executive therefore is accountable for the planning, budgeting and execution of direct response campaigns, which need to deliver sufficient results to support the company’s overall business objectives. The challenge all marketers face is the lack of a proven structured and scientific methodology to facilitate this planning, budgeting and execution process. It has always been a general view in the marketing fraternity that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to combine creative output measures, which are subjective in nature, with cost, sales and profit measures, which are objective in nature. This study aims to create a structured approach to marketing strategising and planning, by creating a marketing metrics model that enables the marketing practitioner to budget according to output needed to achieve the overarching business objectives of sales, cost management and profit. This marketing metrics model therefore unpacks the business drivers in detail, but through a marketing effort lense, to link the various factors underlying successful marketing output, to the bigger business objectives. This is done by incorporating both objective (verifiable data, such as cost per sale) and subjective variables (qualitative factors, such as creative quality) into a single model, which enables the marketing practitioner to identify areas of underperformance, which can then be managed, tweaked or discontinued in order to optimise marketing return on investment. Although many marketing metrics models and variables exist, there is a gap in the combination of objective and subjective factors in a single model, such as the proposed model, which will give the marketer a single tool to plan, analyse and manage the output in relation to pre-determined performance benchmarks. / Business Management / DCOM (Business Management)