AAAI Beginners Series

er... what exactly is an advertising agency?

Advertising?!! What's that?

someone once said that advertising is the most fun
one can ever have with their clothes on. Fun aside, it also performs one of the most important functions in society that is to inform; it gives people the power of choice; the power of knowledge that helps them make important decisions everyday. Today, advertisements are everywhere. On television, on the internet, radio, billboards and even on the empty coffee mug on your desk. Advertising has successfully transcended from one of the most interruptive commercial medium of modern times to something that everyone wants a piece of. Not surprisingly, everybody has an opinion about advertising. Advertising is the activity of attracting public attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or electronic media. Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor. (Principles of Marketing: Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders and Wong) So what is advertising? Is it a science? Is it an art form? Is it merely commerce made interesting? There are various schools of thought, different opinions and diverse points of view. But all of these collide into something that we all agree upon. That it is probably one of the most powerful influencers of human behaviour since religion.

The functions of an advertising agency: To accelerate economic growth and create public awareness

What exactly is an advertising agency? agenc

Getting the best out of advertising is a highly skilled job.
It requires the inputs of experts in many different fields like writers, artists, photographers, designers, television production crews and many others. Even the biggest advertisers cannot afford to employ all these experts. Almost all advertising is therefore arranged through an advertising agency which provides the necessary skill to turn the message into a memorable and effective advertisement. Advertising has not only come to reflect pop culture but has also become an important element of economic growth. Today, every person connected with the Indian economy or public should be fully aware what advertising really is and why effective advertising campaigns can be performed by full-service advertising agencies.

To provide a total, professional, experienced service which is very personal in its nature To take the advertiser's message and convert it into an effective and memorable communication

An advertising agency is a firm that specialises in the creation, design and placement of advertisements, and in the planning and execution of promotional campaigns for products and services of their clients.

Who needs advertising?

Advertising is primarily used as a tool by companies to:
Inform people about new products and services Brand building To remind customers about their brand at the right time and place To reinforce customer confidence in purchase To build Corporate Identity To help their sales force become more effective To give their brand and company a personality that makes it unique Government and autonomous bodies use advertising to: Inform people about their policies Promote birth control Educate the masses on health care Prevent panic during natural disasters Dispel harmful rumours Attract foreign investment

Myth: An agency always helps to sell a product

What does a professional advertising agency have that is
unique? With professional talent and loads of communications experience under their belts, agencies are perfectly suited to take over their clients marketing communications problems and help them with specialised services. But like everything it too has its limitations. Effective advertising can contribute immensely to the success of a product. Similarly, if the product is bad or something that the people cannot accept, then no amount of advertising can save it. If the advertising needs to be successful, the product needs to: Solve a purpose Fulfil a need Be satisfactory Have a credible proposition

Advertising is required because it explains complex issues in ways that are interesting, easy to understand and meaningful. Fact: Advertising can never succeed in selling something which the public will not accept.

The parts of an agency

Advertising agencies need to have a wide expertise in the area
of marketing and communications. Which is why they employ specialists who can easily understand economic, demographic and psychographic data given to them. They add significant insights to this from their own experience and data banks. The various departments of an agency can be classified as follows: Account Management: The face of the agency. These are the people who meet the client on a day to day basis. It is their responsibility to ensure that the work goes out on time and the bills are paid. Media Planning: It is their job to ensure that the client's money is spent efficiently to get maximum efficiency from a campaign. Account Planning: The planners come up with insights and are the 'futurologists' of the agency. They analyse markets and consumer behaviour and are the ones who write the briefs. Creative: Probably the most important set of people. They are the guys who write the ads and it is their work that the world gets to see. Digital Studio: Often called the DTP section, this set of people work on the final artworks that are sent to the various publications for release.

How advertising works

Client

Account Executive

Account Planner

Research

Insight

Creative Brief

Creative Director

Campaign

Ok, now what's a brand?

A brand is not just a logo.
By creating a logo one cannot create a brand. A logo is merely an aspect of a brand. A brand as a whole encompasses the physical attributes of a logo and encompasses the life of the company, its employees and its audience. A Brand is an experience. An experience gained from a company and its services or products. Brands have personality. It has a specific group of people it wants to get to know and

Can you really "build" brands?

Step 1: Defining the message. Why should consumers care? What is different about the product? e.g. It is about high performance outdoor apparel (Woodland); It is about strength and durability (Ambuja Cement); Step 2: Building the image. How does your difference translate into the image? Both visually and verbally it needs to consistently communicate

Brand building is about product identification and trust.

befriend, but is open to all. Brands are powerful. It can influence someone to buy into its personality rather than the product. Brands are consistent. They need to talk the same language across all communication.

To start building a brand one has to start by defining the

target customer group and its needs and expectations and go on to realistically assess how well the brand currently meets them.

the companys message and value. Step 3: Marketing the image. How aggressively can the word be spread? The advertising campaign needs to establish the image.

Simply put, a brand is a set of associations: That is related to a brand or company name That has a special place in consumers memory That helps the consumer understand the following:
-

Efforts need to be taken to fashion an image around the brand that is not only consistent with its core benefits but one that also credibly promises to bring about excitement and satisfaction to the consumer.

Step 4: Living the message. Is the message real? Can the consumer identify with it? Is the promise being delivered? Does the consumer expectation meet satisfaction on usage or association with the brand?

What the brand or company is

- Why it is potentially relevant to them - How it is different or similar to other products made by the firm - How it is similar or different from competitor's products

"Break ke baad!"
Advertising in India

Advertising and Society

Balbir Pasha and Mala D
How did a small pill change the future of a country? Simple,
through advertising. The Government of India has for a long time relied considerably on the talents of the Advertising Agency and the Advertising Agencies Association of India for social causes. One of the biggest success stories has been the story of the simple birth control pill. A poor country like India faces a major problem with overpopulation. The Mala D commercials and the family planning campaign popularised in the 80s by advertising agencies to educate Success after success of Indian Agencies at International Awards like Cannes, AdFest and the New York Festivals have made Advertising a sought after profession in India today with a high demand for talented individuals. Advertising in India Today. Advertising in India today has evolved into an highly evocative and arresting medium of portraying society. It has value-added tremendously to the quality of television programming in the country and has brought with it a new generation of ideas that can only contribute towards the progress of the nation. the masses were extremely successful. One of the biggest problems facing India today, is the rising number of HIV and AIDS related cases. Again illiteracy was the core of the problem. That unsafe sex is one of the most potent ways for it to spread was a fact unknown amongst the masses.

In the beginning. In the 70s and 80s, Doordarshan

was the only TV channel in India. Being the only carrier, it had a mix of programmes for both the urban and rural audiences and agencies had to live with the fact. Though Doordarshan promised exceptional reach, in the coming years it fell woefully inadequate to the needs and wants of the advertisers. The Second Wave. The advent of Satellite Television saw the advertising industry undergo a sea change in the early 90s. While the satellite channels had limited reach they could target very niche audiences at half the cost. It also opened a whole new world in terms of quality of production, content and tonality - something that advertising professional watched with keen interest. A decade and a half later, the kind of work that Indian agencies are producing is at par and some even better than their foreign counterparts.

or how advertising can make history

Family Planning is the most successful campaign for a social cause by any advertising agency.

The Balbir Pasha campaign did wonders to spread awareness about the problem. Since the inception of the the advertising agencies they have donated crores of rupees worth of time and services to make the crusade a success.

Advertising and Society

The hu man condition
Advertising agencies have always played a pivotal role in
improving general human condition the world over. In India too, it has been tremendously successful in educating the public about cancer and its prevention, AIDS, TB and a host of other situations that demand mass scale communication. Fact is that today advertising has become a reflection of human life, whatever state it may be in. If times are good, it celebrates. If not, it mourns. From creating ads that call for donations to actually working towards the fulfillment of various causes, advertising professionals are a set of people who need to be in constant touch with the human condition. They are not and cannot ever be mutually exclusive.

Brand India
constantly improving at the grassroots level.

The pulse of a nation

Each subsequent report of the National Council of Applied
Economic Research shows that the quality of life in India is

The role of advertising here is of supreme importance. Literacy is on the rise and more and more of the middle class are being exposed to the wonders of modern living. Almost simultaneously, the banking and financial sector continues to bolster the economy with products and services that are beneficial to the rising needs of the working class. The urban population, meanwhile, is displaying an evolved sensibility that's more attuned to that of the global citizen. It is in this way that advertising agencies help the Government to take care of its various agendas across the length and the breadth of the country. This is how they help a nation get rid of illiteracy, hunger and unemployment. This is how they build a nation.

Our members
A K & I Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Advertising Avenues Advertising & Marketing Associates Advertising & Sales Promotion Company Adwit (India) Pvt. Ltd. Akshara Advertising Ambience Publicis Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Ankur Media Pvt. Ltd. Anugrah Madison Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Avishkar Advertising Services B Y Padhye Publicity Pvt. Ltd. Bates India Pvt. Ltd. BEI Confluence Communication Ltd. Bidhan Advertising & Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Brand David Communications Pvt. Ltd. Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Capital Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Catalyst Advertising & Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Contract Advertising (India) Pvt. Ltd. Cornerstone Communications Pvt. Ltd. Crayons Advertising Ltd. DaCunha Communications Pvt. Ltd. Dattaram Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Dentsu Communications Pvt. Ltd. Dentsu Marcom Pvt. Ltd. Equus Advertising Company Ltd. Euro RSCG Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Everest Brand Solutions Pvt. Ltd. FCB-Ulka Advertising Pvt. Ltd. The Flagship Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Fusion Advertising Services Grey Worldwide (India) Pvt. Ltd. Impressions Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Inter Publicity Pvt. Ltd. Interface Communications Pvt. Ltd. JWT Jaya Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Jaytiyaar Services L A Advertisers Leo Burnett Lintas India Pvt. Ltd.

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