The most important step in developing an effective campaign, and the step which must come before all others, is to define the objectives of the campaign with greatest possible clarity. Does the company wish to attract new investors? Does it seek to acquire a company abroad? Is a new product to be introduced? Are new government regulations threatening the company's profitability? Only after the fundamental needs of a corporation have been established can the basic objective for a corporate program be isolated without such a clearly defined objective the campaign will have little effect. Note that we have spoken of 'an objective,' not a set of objectives. One cannot create at favorable climate among the financial community, emphasize one's concern for the environment, seek to attract new employees by the creation of a progressive image, give direct support to sales staff, and emphasize social responsibility, all in a single campaign. A scattering of diverse messages will confuse the reader and in the end he will absorb nothing. After the prime reason for investment in the campaign has been decided upon, the second step is to collect all the information that one wishes to convey to the selected audiences. Since there is only objective for the campaign, one assumes that the audience has already been clearly identified during the selection of the objective. The third step involves the selection of the best possible media to be used in the campaign. It is alarming how many advertising experts first create the campaign and then select the media. The print media are quite distinct from such media as radio and television in their advertising capabilities. Even within the print media there are critical differences in style. and approach which must be noted by anyone designing an advertisement for printing in a newspaper as opposed to a magazine. Magazine advertising in turn is not one unified field, for there are many different types of magazines and journals directed to entirely different audiences. The fourth and last step is to find a suitable creative approach. If the objective is to develop a receptive climate among the financial community, for example, it would be a mistake to work with too much illustration and too few detailed data, too many clever words and too few facts and figures. In a campaign aimed at fixing in the consciousness of the general public an image of the company as a progressive and innovative leader in its field, on the other hand, it might be appropriate to emphasize dramatic illustrations and not take the chance of boring the audience with facts. According to the author, the most important step in developing an effective campaign is ______.