IMC Perspective 9-1 discusses the new “Live Más” campaign for Taco Bell. Analyze the creative strategy used for this campaign, giving attention to the type of creative appeals used as well as the advertising execution.
> Compare a defined benefit pension plan with a defined contribution pension plan. If you were an employee, which type of plan would you prefer? Why?
> Explain how the financial reporting of fiduciary funds differs from that of governmental funds.
> Describe the basic activities conducted by a tax agency fund. What are some of the issues that make tax agency fund accounting complex?
> Compare the accounting for pension expenditures in a governmental fund with the accounting for pension expenses at the government-wide level.
> Explain the distinction(s) between agency funds and trust funds. What financial statements are prepared for each?
> What are regulatory accounting principles and how do they relate to enterprise fund accounting?
> The city manager of University City is finalizing the budget proposal that must be submitted to the city council 60 days prior to the July 1 start of the next fiscal year, FY 20X2. An economic recession has significantly r educed the city’s revenues over
> When do GASB standards require inter fund receivables and payables to be reported as Internal Balances?
> What is the accounting treatment if an internal service fund recovers more or less than the costs incurred by the fund?
> What are the three components of net position provided by GASB? Describe how a government assigns amounts to the classifications.
> Although proprietary funds are often compared to for-profit businesses, there are several differences between accounting for proprietary funds and accounting for a for-profit organization. Identify and discuss at least one difference for each of the fund
> Explain the reporting requirements for internal service funds and enterprise funds. Internal service funds and enterprise funds are both proprietary funds, so why do their reporting requirements differ?
> What is meant by “segment information for enterprise funds”? When is the disclosure of segment information required?
> What are the characteristics of a proprietary fund? How do internal service funds and enterprise funds differ?
> What are the GASB requirements for reporting investments held for the purpose of servicing government debt?
> How do term bonds differ from serial bonds? What, if any, impact does this difference have on the entries made to the debt service fund over the life of the bonds?
> Governments are prevented from borrowing unlimited funds through the enforcement of debt limits. Explain the concept of a debt limit. How are debt limits computed? How is the concept of borrowing power or debt margin connected to debt limits?
> Refer to Case 3–11 for instructions about how to obtain the CAFR for a city of your choice. Using that CAFR, go to the required supplementary information (RSI) section, immediately following the notes to the financial statements, and locate the budgetar
> Although the most common type of general long-term liabilities are those arising from financing activities (e.g., bonds, notes, and capital leases), general long-term liabilities can also be created through operating activities. Provide examples of long-
> Explain the financial reporting for special assessment bonds when (a) a government assumes responsibility for debt service should special assessment collections be insufficient, and when (b) the government assumes no responsibility whatsoever.
> What is the purpose of a debt service fund? Does a debt service fund require budgeting? Why or why not?
> How are general long-term liabilities distinguished from other long-term liabilities of the government? How does the financial reporting of general long-term liabilities differ from the financial reporting of other long-term liabilities?
> What two measures help protect a government from failure on a contractor’s part to comply with the terms and specifications of a construction agreement? Describe each measure and its primary purpose.
> Both a capital projects fund general ledger and the governmental activities general ledger at the government-wide level are affected by transactions related to construction of a new capital asset for a government. Describe the major differences in how ac
> If a capital project is incomplete at the end of a fiscal year, what happens to Encumbrances and all operating statement accounts at year-end?
> What is the accounting difference between using the modified approach for infrastructure assets and depreciating infrastructure assets? Under the modified approach, what happens if infrastructure assets are not maintained at or above the established cond
> What are examples of intangible assets held by governments? How are they recorded?
> Compare and contrast the valuation of general capital assets of a government to the valuation of assets of a for-profit entity. What special issues may arise in valuing a government’s assets that generally do not occur in a for-profit company?
> Locate a comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) using a city’s Web site. Many cities, particularly those with a population greater than 25,000, publish their CAFRs on the city’s official Web site. At the city’s Web site, access a list of the city’s
> What is a service concession arrangement, and why might a government choose to enter into such an arrangement? Provide examples of general capital assets that might be subject to service concession arrangements.
> What are general capital assets? How are they reported in the fund and government-wide financial statements?
> How does a permanent fund differ from public-purpose trusts that are reported in special revenue funds? How does it differ from private-purpose trust funds?
> The computer department of a certain city, a General Fund department, charges other funds for data processing services. At the end of the fiscal year, the General Fund is owed $5,000 by the City Library Fund (a special revenue fund) and $8,000 by the Cit
> Explain why some governments may account for inventories of supplies using the purchases method in the General Fund and the consumption method at the government-wide level? How would the amount reported for expenditures in the General Fund compare with t
> How does accounting in a governmental fund for the purchase of supplies from an outside vendor differ from the purchase of supplies from an internal service fund?
> During a recession citizens and governments see a substantial decline in the value of homes. How might this decline in value impact a government’s gross property tax levy?
> In many cases, property taxes comprise a significant source of revenue and cash receipts for a government. If property tax cash collections typically occur during one or two collection periods, how do governments manage working capital needs?
> When preparing the statement or schedule of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balance on the budgetary basis, how are encumbrances outstanding at year end treated if they will be honored in the upcoming year?
> Explain why some transactions for governmental activities at the government wide level are reported differently than transactions for the General Fund. Give some examples of transactions that would be recorded in the general journals of (a) only the Gen
> Following is a description of the basic financial statements extracted from an example city’s management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A). Review the description and respond to the requirements at the end of the case. Government-wide Financial Statements
> Examine the Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s Web site (www.GASB.org) and prepare a brief report about its mission, standard setting process, board composition, and the role of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council. Can you deter
> Marketers rely heavily on demographics when purchasing media. IMC Perspective 10–1 talks about additional factors that may be important. Discuss some of these factors and why they might impact media usage.
> There is new research that indicates that the number of ads one is exposed to in a day may be much lower than the thousands previously reported. Which numbers do you consider correct and why?
> A number of studies have examined the role that personality and/or other personal characteristics may have on consumers’ media usage. Discuss some of these studies. Do you think that these characteristics may have an impact, or should marketers rely prim
> Discuss some of the advantages of using programmatic media buying. Given that the majority of digital display ads are purchased this way, do you think this will be the only method media buyers use in the future?
> Discuss the role of music in advertising. Find an example of a television commercial that is using a specific song and discuss the role the music plays in delivering the message.
> Discuss the role of headlines in a print advertisement. What is the difference between a direct headline and an indirect headline and when might each be used?
> Discuss some of the reasons a marketer might choose to create a personality symbol or character to represent the company or brand. Analyze KFC's decision to bring back Colonel Sanders as a personality symbol for the brand. Do you agree with this decisio
> Choose three of the advertising execution techniques discussed in the chapter and find examples of advertisements that are using them. Discuss why the marketers might be using these particular ad execution techniques.
> Discuss the value of virtual reality (VR) as a way for marketers to communicate with consumers. What are some of the applications of VR to integrated marketing communications? What challenges will marketers face in using virtual reality as a way to conn
> Discuss the changing role of account representatives in advertising agencies. Discuss how the role of account representative is changing and the developments that underlie these changes. Do you think account representatives will become obsolete in the
> Explain the concept of transformational advertising. Find an example of a company that is using transformational ads and discuss how the ads might enhance the experience of using the product or service.
> Discuss some of the reasons why emotion-based advertising appeals are effective.
> Digital and Social Media Perspective 9-2 discusses the Unskippable online advertising campaign created by the Martin Agency for GEICO. Why do you think this campaign was so popular among consumers? Do you think other marketers could use the technique us
> Discuss the challenges marketers face in developing online advertising messages. How will the creative strategy for online advertising differ depending on whether the goal is for concept, content or commerce types of online advertising?
> The chapter opener discusses how DASANI was able to use creative advertising to reposition the brand and make it the leading brand of bottled water. Evaluate the creative strategy used by The Lambesis Agency for DASANI bottled water as well as the two l
> Digital and Social Media Perspective 8-2 discusses the pros and cons of pretesting advertising creative work and how it is being impacted by the digital revolution. Discuss the pros and cons of the pretesting of creative work done by agencies and how th
> Many advertising creative personnel are opposed to focus group research as they argue that they may inhibit the creative process. Discuss the problems, as well as the value, of using focus groups to evaluate advertising creative work.
> Discuss the types of research that can be used by an advertising agency during the preparation, illumination, and incubation stages of the creative process. Find an example of an advertising campaign that has used research as input to the creative proces
> Discuss the various factors that account for the way divergence can be achieved in advertising creativity. Find an example of an advertisement that reflects these various characteristics and explain how it does so.
> The chapter discusses how advertising agencies are sometimes fired even though they create award-winning ads and campaigns for their clients. Evaluate the decision by companies such as AB InBev to dismiss their ad agency and hire a new one even though th
> Why might a company choose to use a creative boutique rather than a larger, full-service agency?
> Digital and Social Media Perspective 8–1 discusses some of the advertising campaigns that were selected as the best of the 21st century. Choose one of these campaigns and analyze it from a creative perspective giving attention to the strategy used for th
> Discuss the role and importance of creativity in advertising. Do you think advertising agencies often emphasize creativity at the expense of developing ads that can help generate sales for a product or service? What can clients do to avoid this problem?
> Find an example of an ad or campaign that you think reflects one of the approaches used to develop a major selling idea such as unique selling proposition, brand image, inherent drama, or positioning. Discuss how the major selling idea is used in this a
> Discuss the role an advertising slogan plays in the development of an advertising campaign as well as some of the factors that should be considered in developing an effective tagline. Find an example of a good tagline as well as one that does not communi
> Assume that you have been hired as an account planner by an advertising agency and assigned to work on the development of an advertising campaign for a new brand of bottled water. Describe the various types of general and product-specific preplanning inp
> Discuss the creative challenges Intuit and the Wieden+Kennedy agency face in developing advertising campaigns for a tax preparation software product such as TurboTax. Evaluate the creative strategy W+K used for the “It doesn't take a genius to do your t
> Explain some of the reasons marketers are shifting their budget allocations from traditional to digital and social media. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages with this reallocation?
> Explain why it is so difficult to directly measure the impact of advertising on sales. What factors may inhibit this determination?
> Some marketers feel that the hierarchy of effects models may no longer reflect the characteristics of the consumer decision-making process. Discuss the pros and cons of these arguments.
> Companies like P&G and Kraft Foods have found success by increasing their IMC budgets while other companies reduce theirs during a recession. Explain why they have likely achieved this success.
> The text describes a number of different positioning strategies. Give examples of products and/or brands that utilize each of these different strategies.
> Explain the S-shaped response curve and the concave-downward curve as they relate to budget setting. What are the differences in these two curves? Give examples of how each might be more appropriate for different products.
> Explain why communications measures may be better to use than sales or market share objectives when developing the IMC plan.
> Why are the affordable and arbitrary allocation budgeting methods considered to be very poor budgeting methods?
> Discuss why the allocation of media dollars to digital and social media at the expense of traditional media is considered by some marketers to be a “knee-jerk reaction.”
> Why is it important for marketers to set specific objectives for advertising and promotion? What criteria must these objectives meet to be valid?
> Explain some of the factors that might lead to success in increasing sales and achieving communications objectives when competitors decrease their budgets.
> Visit the website for the Montana Meth Project (www.montanameth.org)and choose three ads that use various levels of fear in the message. Discuss why each ad may or may not be effective.
> One of the problems slowing the rate of adoption of the Internet as an advertising medium is the fact that this medium has been slow to adopt traditional advertising metrics. Discuss why this has been the case, and what must be done to overcome the probl
> The chapter discusses a variety of new Internet advertising forms including Podcasting, RSS and blogs. Explain what each of these are. What are some of the potential advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of each?
> Explain how the Internet has changed the practice of public relations. Pick a Web site as an example of this change.
> In recent years a very good example of a successful IMC strategy is GEICO’s successful market approach. What factors have led to the success of this company?
> One of the fastest growing mediums in regard to advertising expenditures is mobile. Explain why mobile has become so attractive to advertisers.
> The chapter opener discusses the DEWmocracy social media campaign used by PepsiCo to select a new flavor to add to the Mountain Dew product line. Discuss the pros and cons of using social media and consumer generated content to select an addition to the
> What are the characteristics of the infomercial watcher? In viewing this profile, does it surprise you? Explain why or why not.
> What is the difference between direct marketing and direct selling? Describe the various forms of direct selling and some of the characteristics of the industry that make it unique.
> Direct marketers are some of the most successful when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of their programs. Give reasons why this may be true.
> Describe the various forms of direct response advertising. Discuss some of the reasons for the success of direct response advertising.
> The number of telemarketing centers in the United States has decreased in the past few years. Why has this occurred?
> Describe what is meant by “guerilla marketing.” Give examples of products and/or services that you know have employed this strategy. Then describe some of the characteristics of companies that might most benefit from stealth marketing.
> Transit advertising takes a variety of forms, and many advertisers may be reluctant to use these media. Discuss some of the various forms of transit advertising and their relative advantages and disadvantages. Give examples of which products and/or servi
> Discuss some of the various means of measuring effectiveness in branded entertainment, and their advantages and disadvantages. Given the emphasis by marketers on ROI, discuss how these measures fit in with this attempt to determine return on investment.
> What is meant by primary versus selective demand advertising? Provide examples of each. Discuss when a marketer might focus on primary demand stimulation versus selective demand stimulation.
> Advertising in video games is becoming more popular. Discuss some of the reasons this medium is attractive. Do you see any downside to advertising through video games?
> Discuss how circulation figures are used in evaluating magazines and newspapers as part of a media plan and setting advertising rates.
> Choose a specific target market that an advertiser might want to reach. Discuss how magazines and/or newspapers could be used to reach this particular market segment in a cost-effective manner.
> Why are young males such a difficult market to reach through magazines? What types of magazines might be effective in reaching the young male market?
> Discuss how advertisers deal with the clutter problem in both magazines and newspapers. Explain why advertisers of products such as cosmetics or women’s clothing would choose to advertise in a publication such as Vogue or Elle, which devote most of their
