Ambient AdvertisingHow long will it survive?

N L Dalmia Institute of Management Studies & Research

Compiled by Reema Keswani Mayank Ghatawat

Index 1. Changing Advertising Scenario

2. Need for Innovative Advertising

3. Ambient Advertising

4. 4 Is of Ambient Marketing

5. The I-factor of Ambient Advertising over Out-of-home

6. The perfect ingredient for the marketing mix

7. Return on Investment

8. Sharpening the Differentiation via Ambient Advertising

9. Ambient Advertising in India

10. Challenges for Ambient Advertising

11. Conclusion

Changing Advertising scenario

Television Advertising Radio Advertising Paper Advertising

Digital advertising

Today, the effects of media can be observed engulfing the lives of every person who watches television, reads a newspaper, surfs the Internet or takes part in a variety of other media influenced activities. These various forms of media have become standard parts of many peoples lives, however their affects on our society have been far reaching. Due to the fragmentation of the media, our society has become more open to viewing the diversity in our country due to medias hand at reflecting various different groups of people. This just proves that Media has got fragmented, thanks to globalization. The world has become a global village.

Media

Television

Print

Radio

Digital

Telemarketing

Outdoor

GEC

Newspaper

AM

Mobile

Call Centers Inbound

Billboards

SPORTS

Brochures & Catalogues

FM

Internet

Call Centers Outbound

Public Spaces

NICHE

Magazines

Bluetooth

NEWS

Gaming & Pod-Casting

These are the various ways in which an advertiser can reach out to its audiences.

Need for Innovative Advertising The marketing communications arena is undergoing arguably its greatest period of change. This is a reflection of factors such as the media convergence, major technological innovations, and the growth of Integrated Marketing Communication. Increased competition in crowded categories, short term focus in industry greater focus on accountability, a decline in media advertising effectiveness, and the proliferation of brands has businesses demanding more effective advertising at lower costs. Concurrently, perception of increased ad clutter arising out of the information technology revolution has led to a decrease in effectiveness of traditional advertising (print, radio, television, billboards, and transit etc). An added problem for advertisers relates to targeting jaded audiences. In America alone, advertising expenditure is over $160 billion a year, which buys an average of 1,500 person-exposures every day of which a fraction are remembered and fewer still in a positive way, placing estimates of wastage at as much as $40 billion a year. Factors such as these have seen advertising agencies and clients choosing more radical methods of advertising.

Ambient Advertising Ambient actually comes from a word called ambience that means surroundings. Also known as Guerrilla Marketing such advertisements focus on the use of an unconventional media or tactics, so as to advertise a brand image on a budget that is low. Ambient advertising aims at making the Ad-campaign outrageous, funny, creative and so shocking that it creates a buzz whereby people are not involved with the message but at the same time do a lot of Word-of-mouth publicity. Whenever we come across an Ad message at a place where it is least expected and has no limitations when it comes to shape or size, one can term it as ambient advertising. It is advertising through an unusual idea that is highly contextual as well as intrusive in nature. It is a kind of an outdoor advertising that can be seen at unusual places in a medium that is not commonly found. Examples of Ambient advertising include a brand name advertised on the handles of a supermarket trolleys. For instance, behind the car park receipts at gas pumps, on elevator walls , telephones, post boxes, escalator steps vending machines, lifts and even on the toilet seats of public washrooms. Such advertisements reinforce the message subliminally along with other exposed messages. Unusual location is not the only point of difference for Ambient. The method of execution is often unusual as well. Holographic projections, role-plays and graffiti are a few examples of this and certainly fit within the something different imperative.

4 Is of Ambient Advertising Innovation The declining power of the traditional media is prompting the advertisers to use innovative ideas to make their communication effective and noticeable. In this context, the next big A of advertising i.e. ambient advertising comes into prominence. The very sight of an ambient Ad will create the WOW! factor in the minds of the recipient. This is generated as an immediate response due to the unique place and execution of the idea Intelligence Advertisers now believe in smart advertisement for smart people. It is assumed that target audience is intelligent enough to comprehend the idea and message behind an advertisement. What might first appear as an absurd idea, suddenly clicks and interests the audience once the underlying message of the advertisement is understood. This again engages the audience and leads to a lasting image of the brand and creates a recall for the product. Interest When an innovative Ad resonates with the intelligence of the viewer, it triggers an interest for the product in the minds of the consumer. This phenomenon can jointly be attributed to both innovation and intelligence. Intimation An Ambient advertisement, more often than not, will not reveal the entire information about the product or the brand. It withholds certain information on purpose for the consumer to figure out. It plays a vital role in creating a first impression about the product among the consumers, which would lead to inquisitiveness to know more about the product.

The I-factor of Ambient Advertising over Out-of-home The key difference of ambient advertising over outdoor lies in its innovative creation, implementation and execution. Some of the other advantages that ambient Ads has over conventional media are: Greater emphasis on tactics such as surprise, humor, creativity and consequently audience involvement and participation by receiver reinforces the message. More engaging than out-of-home and hence less wastage. Unlike billboards, selective perception in terms of noticing the ads for the brands you would like to buy and for brands you would like to ignore, is not applicable because such ads cant so easily be selectively overlooked. Draws upon incomplete image more than out-of-home. The unusualty raises level of interest in consumer and hence their willingness to expend cognitive effort to process message. Greater importance of reference group, opinion leadership, resonance with target audience (like the ad like the brand) - ie Word-of-mouth

The Perfect Ingredient Ambient advertising can act as that perfect spice which can complement any sort of cuisine. This can fill the need for that much required magic ingredient to accompany every mode of promotion. Adding a new dimension to Advertising Advertisers have realised that the traditional media involves huge expenses, consumed a lot of time to reach the target group and could only reach a small audience base. These disadvantages of traditional media are the success factors for the growth of advertising in new media like Ambient Advertisements. However, ambient Ads on a standalone basis may not be very effective as people are very less likely to relate it to their daily life. On the other hand, if such creative ideas are reinforced with other traditional media, it can help to leverage the brand image and of course the sales. Thus, a careful blend of various conventional and unconventional media to promote a product is the key to success for any Ad campaign. Hence, ambient advertising will be more effective when used along with the main campaign, which will help the customer remember the brand and push the product automatically.

Return on Investment In this recession time, within the marketing industry, the Ad budgets are being slashed. Marketers are being held accountable for every rupee spent and all eyes are on the return on investment. Hence, it is time for the marketers to focus on measurable and result oriented promotional techniques that are efficient and cost-effective. The marketers have to reach out to the customer rather than wait for the customer to switch on the television set. It is the marketer who needs to assure that their message occupies the top of the mind awareness slot of their customers. Thus creating an impact in the minds of the customer with this constrained budget is a challenging task for the marketer. Ambient advertising thus fits the bill perfectly as it requires very low investments. It thus comes as a sigh of relief as the investment is on the lower side; the impact of it is not so. It creates a lasting impression, reaches vast audience, creates a buzz and helps in brand recognition and recall.

Sharpening the Differentiation via Ambient Advertising Choosing among multiple options is always based on difference, implicit or explicit. Psychologists point out that vividly differentiated difference that are anchored to a product can enhance memory because they can be appreciated intellectually. In other words, if you are advertising a product you are most likely to give the consumer a reason to choose the product. And if it can be done in an entertaining manner, it will have the maximum impact. Ambient advertising plays the role of entertainment here. For products which satiate the same need or which do not have anything different to offer, Ambient advertising can carve a sharp difference in promoting them and catching eye-balls. Thus, it can give a sharp differentiating edge to products which are highly commoditized or fall in the me-too category. For Example, an FM radio channel like Red FM, differentiating itself from the clutter of other radio channels is very difficult. Red FM resorted to Ambient advertising in a very subtle way, wherein they advertised on the BEST bus handles of Mumbai and just above the toilet seats at Fame Cinemas. What created a huge impact in the BEST bus-handle Ad was its placement, as most of the people are obsereved to be listening to music while commuting.

Ambient Advertising in India Advertising in India has come to age in respect of magnitude, intensity & variety. There has been rapid & continuous change in the market place & consequently in the practice of advertising. There also has been dramatic acceleration in the pace & nature of change. This change has been technology-driven & knowledge-oriented. It has the potential to widen & deepen access to information & particularly in India, to cut across socioeconomic lines. Though in its nascent stage ambient advertisement is having a huge potential in Indian markets. There is a growing need for advertisers to come out with more unconventional to market their products. Example: SimplyMarry.com used this innovative way of communicating that they arrange marriages.

Calcium Sandoz Creatively used the pillar of a bridge to depict strong bones.

Challenges for Ambient Advertising Unusual locations are considered a defining characteristic for Ambient advertising. However, unusual locations lose their point of difference with repetition and time, and so cease to be something different. This suggests two things. Firstly, that if unusual locations is a part of the definition of Ambient advertising then, what might be considered Ambient one day may not be the next, as audiences become familiar with any given location and the point of difference or unusuality fades. Secondly, and related to the first point, is that Ambient could be seen as a moveable term and defined by advertising norms of the day. Defining Ambient on this basis is somewhat arbitrary. What might be unusual for one person could have been seen dozens of times by another. Consider the examples of transport advertising (taxis, painted buses), transport tickets, shopping trolleys, hot air balloons, blimps, sky writing, digital billboards etc. While these locations are different they are perhaps no longer unconventional and have encroached on mainstream territory by virtue of their repetition. Such advertising has attained a degree of prevalence and although may still be considered unusual, has lost the wow! factor a key descriptor used by those involved in creating Ambient campaigns.

Conclusion In the current marketing world, the customers surroundings are cluttered with Ads thereby reducing their impacts on their mind. With competition on the rise and with the declining power of traditional media, marketers have to come out with uniqueness not only in product attributes but also in promoting them. Also, advertising occupies almost 60% of the total marketing expenditure. Thus an Ad campaign using the minimum budget for its design and for the media selected can ensure a lot of cost sutting for the company. The budget amount so saved can be allocated to other marketing activities. Consumers nowadays love creativity and are also likely to remember those \Ads tht are unique in some way or the other. An effective combination of an appropriate advertising message and an appropriate advertising format is a must for success of ambient Ads. Apart from being highly versatile ambient media offers targeting precisely the right kind of audience. Advertising industry is highly dynamic and needs to be driven by creativity, which is given rise to the most promising ambient media. Measuring the impact of Ambient Ads is a tough job for the marketers, since the same cannot be tracked. By analyzing the sales figures and depending on whether the same is increasing or decreasing, after the campaign has been set, one can ascertain if an ambient Ad is effective. The sales response will give an idea as to how well the ambient media has been successful in catching the sight and attention of the people coming across it. Brand recognition or recall with the targeted segment can be another approach to measure the effectiveness. As mentioned earlier, the effectiveness in terms of catching consumer attention by traditional media is slowly diminishing due to cluttering effect. Marketers want their Ads to be seen and retained by the customer. With the growing concept of placing Ads at uncommon and weird places, the most challenging job for any organization currently is to make a strong impact at the first go. Companies are using places that are commonly visited by target audiences for their Ad campaigns. Small ideas can create a big impact if used properly. In western countries, this idea of ambient advertising is being fully exploited as compared to that in India where this concept is still in the warning up stage. Ambient Ads if used with other advertising media can enhance the recall value of the brand and can ensure that the customer stays reminded about the brand. Ambient advertising has its tremendous potential, which many marketers still need to focus on. Though successful implementation of an ambient Ad is a challenging task, but if placed with unusual ideas it can woo the customers and at the same time help advertisers achieve their purpose of brand promotion.

As far as the survival of Ambient advertisement is concerned, it will continue to grow as innovative ideas are generated. A large part of the advertising resources are still unutilized and if these resources are correctly identified by the advertiser or the marketer, there is a huge scope for innovation and improvisation to flourish and tap the global or Indian market. Ambient advertising is a perfect blend of creativity and uniqueness. Hence, Ambient Advertising will survive as long as new ideas keep coming and innovation survives.