Modeling Response to Advertising and Pricing Changes for “V-8” Cocktail Vegetable Juice

This paper is based on a series of studies undertaken for “V-8” Cocktail Vegetable Juice over a five-year period. The studies were a consequence of management questions regarding the effectiveness of a new advertising campaign, the best media mix for this campaign and the apparent “wear-out” of the advertising copy. The studies included controlled experimentation, estimation of advertising response functions, and exploration of price sensitivity following major price increases by “V-8.” It was found that the short-term response to advertising was S-shaped, and that the new creative approach rather than expenditure levels alone accounted for by far the largest component of the impact of advertising on sales. It was also found that for a short period following the major price increases, “V-8” became extremely price sensitive. However, after about six months, the marginal impact of price returned to historical levels. The application of results at Campbell Soup Company, their relationship to the literature and their implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.advertising response functions, pricing, new campaign evaluation, campaign wearout

Reply

Dodson (Dodson, J. 1989. Commentary on “Conducting advertising experiments in the real world: The Campbell Soup Company experience”. 72–73.) and McNiven (McNiven, M. A. 1989. Commentary on “Advertising experiments at the Campbell Soup Company”. 74–75.) have raised several interesting questions regarding our work. In this response, we would like to clarify some of the underlying issues.

Texas Business Review, June 1952

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