LOOMIS AGENCY | DALLAS ADVERTISING AGENCY | MEDIA SERVICES | CREATIVE

The Most Effective Advertising Reflects the Way People Buy

The LOOMIS Buying System™ is a tool which defines six stages of thought or action consumers go through when making a purchase decision. It’s designed to yield insight into our best options for influencing purchase.

The time frame for this process varies from category to category.  For a high-involvement purchase like an automobile, for example, it may take days, weeks, or even months for an individual to move through the Buying Cycle.  For a low-involvement or impulse purchase, the process would be highly truncated and quick.

The task is to take your particular brand and examine each stage in the system.  The goal is to determine where and how we can move the consumer more directly and more swiftly through the system toward purchase or repurchase.

This process isn’t limited to brand advertising.  It can encompass the entire marketing mix, including promotions, public relations, direct marketing, digital marketing, POS, sales training, trade support, and so forth.

Naturally, some stages for some brands in some categories can only be influenced by either sociological changes or other factors outside of our control.  Nevertheless, these should also be examined, because they still have a bearing on the preceding or following stages in the system.

In this way, we can prepare a total communications plan for our brand.  More importantly, we can identify and recommend marketing needs which might otherwise have been missed.

The LOOMIS Buying System™ should be used to drive specific messaging and media recommendations as part of the total planning process.

1.   TRIGGER

The consumer begins to think about a purchase.  It could be for the first time, or it could be a repeat purchase.

Here are some possible reasons to begin the buying process:

a.  Routine: The need to replenish supplies like soap or beer or grocery items

b.  Impulse: A purely spontaneous purchase like ice cream, candy, or digital music downloads

c.  Solution: A need to solve an existing problem like a new washing machine, disinfectant or medicine

d.  Lifestyle: An indulgent purchase for pleasure like a vacation, clothes or a motorcycle

Some purchase types represent a blend of reasons.  For example, cars could be bought for both Solution and Lifestyle reasons.

ASK:  What kind of purchase is it?

2.   CONSIDER

Next, the consumer begins to think about what he wants from his purchase

Here are four needs a purchase can satisfy:

a.  Self-maintenance: Purchase needs for personal or family use like shampoo, household items or groceries

b.  Self-expression: Purchase needs for personal image enhancement like clothes or cars or even a home

c.  Self-reward or Gift: Purchase needs for personal satisfaction like gourmet coffee, jewelry or even a boat

d.  Self-improvement: Purchase needs for increasing personal or business effectiveness like computers, banking services, investments or education

To determine what recommendations we might make to move the consumer onto the next stage,

ASK: For what is the purchase needed?

3.   SEARCH

Now, the consumer begins to collect and evaluate information about the purchase.

Here are four possible sources which range from active to passive:

a.  Direct experience: Actual usage is invariably the quickest and most accurate source.

b.  Word-of-Mouth: Friends, family and acquaintances are fairly accurate—and often highly influential—sources of information, as they bring with them peer pressure.

c.  Editorial: The Web, TV, magazines and other media are credible sources and bring with them a degree of authority.

d.  Publicity: Controlled or otherwise, publicity influences consumer perceptions.

ASK:  What are the best available sources of information?

4.   CHOOSE

The consumer now begins to compare and form preference for the available brand options.

Here are two factors which will influence choice:

a.  Functional values: Will one purchase perform better than another?  Is it a better value?  Is it going to last longer? [Think “rational” benefits.]

b.  Nonfunctional values: Which brand option is more appealing?  Which brand personality is more appealing?  Which has a better reputation or is perceived to be more popular? [Think “emotional” benefits.]

ASK: What values best elevate and separate our brand?

5.   BUY

Now, the consumer has made up his or her mind to make a final purchase.  Here are six factors which could make or break the selection of our brand:

a.  Distribution: Basic availability is fundamental to most routine and impulse purchases. It can often influence solution and lifestyle purchases, too.

b.  Display: The product—obviously, attractively and correctly positioned on the shelf or in the showroom—is often critical.

c.  Price/Promotion: Special offers are usually short-term and more effective if they relate directly to the brand positioning and/or the idea.

d.  Trial: If product can be experienced at POS, both proof of performance and sense of obligation can influence purchase.

e.  Salesperson: A knowledgeable and motivated salesperson can make a recommendation credible, informed and authoritative.

f.   After-sales: Warranties, service plans and guarantees can sometimes influence purchase.

ASK:  Where is the brand weak?

6.   EXPERIENCE

Now the consumer is using the brand, and only one factor has any effect: Did the product deliver as promised / did the service deliver as expected? To determine what recommendations to make to the consumer, we return to the beginning of the Buying Cycle.

ASK:  Did the brand meet expectations?

This LOOMIS Buying System™ is part of The LOOMIS Agency’s brand complete development process.  The LOOMIS Agency is an award-winning Dallas-based advertising agency with expertise in retail communications. For more information on The LOOMIS Buying System™ and how you can incorporate it into your marketing communications development process please contact Mike Sullivan at (972) 331-7000. 

Related:

The Dallas advertising community contains a variety of excellent advertising agency resources.  The oldest advertising agency in the Dallas area is Tracy-Locke, an advertising agency that was founded in 1913.  There have been a number of notable advertising agencies added to the Dallas area since the inception of the first advertising agency.  Bozell & Jacobs, now T:M Advertising, DDB Needham and the rise of The Richards Group, a prominent Dallas advertising agency, are notable in the history of Dallas advertising.  The Dallas Ad League is the oldest business organization in the country and celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2008.  The original organizers of the Dallas Ad League spawned the Better Business Bureau in 1912.  The Dallas advertising community is ranked fourth overall behind New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.