Unit-1

Introduction to Advertising, Functions and Benefits

Introduction___________________________________________________
Everyday we are bombarded by messages in visual or audio form, coaxing us to buy a particular
product or service. Whether it is a brand of soap, a computer, the latest model of a car, or a
service that transports you to exotic locations, the message always is that of persuasion. It is the
appeal and the grasp of advertising, which reaches out to people with the intent of influencing
their acceptance or purchase of an idea, product or service. With the proliferation of television
programmes, glossy magazines, and a plethora of information from all sources in an increasingly
competitive market place, advertising has gained unprecedented buoyancy.
Advertising serves three basic purposes. ne is to persuade people to buy a particular product or
service or to attend an event. !econdly, it also serves to create a positive image of a company,
organisation or activity. And thirdly, advertising seeks to inform people about certain matters of
public interest, to create awareness, or attempts to influence social attitudes on matters of general
concern.
Advertising agencies vary in size as well as in the scope of services handled. ften, the range
and extent of services depends on the agency"s size and infrastructure. All, however, are e#uipped
to plan, create and launch an advertising campaign with professionals from different disciplines
working together for this purpose.
Advertising Defined______________________________________________
$ Advertising is a paid form of non personal presentation of goods or services for
promotion by an identified sponsor. It can be done using any form of media like
television, radio, print media, etc. A firm has the flexibility of choosing the target
market while advertising. It can advertise its product%service in the local newspaper to
reach a small geographical area. If it is looking for national reach, the firm can advertise
its product%service on the television through a national channel like &oordarshan or any
other television channel depending on the target audience. Advertising allows firms to
communicate with the intended audience in the most interesting format using actions
and dramas. It helps in generating faster response in the form of increased sales.
'owever, the interactivity with the audience is negligible and their feedback is indirect.
$ (he ma)or advantage of advertising is its ability to reach a large audience at a very low
cost. It helps marketers reach the maximum number of potential customers at a very
affordable cost. *oreover, the different channels available if the marketers choose to
advertise on television helps them significantly in reaching the most appropriate target
audience. Advertising is primarily used to reach consumers and is suitable for
marketing low cost, and low involvement products. In case of higher priced products or
in case of products that re#uire considerable amount of explanation to be given by the
marketer, advertising plays a supporting role to personal selling.
$ Other Definitions
A paid, mediated form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to
persuade the receiver to take some action, now or in the future
(he Institute of +ractitioners in Advertising ,I+A-, the body which represents
advertising agencies, defines advertising as.
/(he means of providing the most persuasive possible selling message to the right
prospects at the lowest possible cost/.
0otler and Armstrong provide an alternative definition.
/Advertising is any paid form of non1personal presentation and promotion of
ideas, goods and services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines,
television or radio by an identified sponsor/.
$ (hree criteria must be met for a communication to be classified as advertising.
(he communication must be paid for
(he communication must be delivered through mass media
(he communication must be attempting to persuade
$ SMS Advertising A Ne Media Mi! "oo#
In the early 23
st
century, the cellular telephony revolution had radically transformed the
global telecommunications industry. 4ellular phones offered a whole new experience to
people desirous of keeping in touch with their close ones any time, any where. 4ell phones
,or mobile phones- became more popular, largely due to the emergence of the !hort
*essaging !ervice ,!*!- facility. (he popularity of !*! took even industry experts by
surprise, as the service had always been looked down upon as a 5low1end6 option offered
by a cell phone.
According to !trand 4onsult738, the global market for !*! doubled from 9!& :.; billion
in <uly 2=== to 9!& 3; billion by &ecember 2==3, and was still growing at a scorching
pace. (he firm expected the revenues from !*! advertising to soon exceed those from
Internet advertising. 4onsidering this huge pool of mobile1savvy customers, marketers
could not ignore the potential that advertisements directed towards !*! senders had. (hus
was born the concept of !*! advertising, which grabbed the attention of many companies
and influenced their media mix plans.
(he huge user base encouraged corporates to tap the medium for advertising. !*!
advertising was soon seen as the 5hot6 new tool for media mix planners. (he concept is
rather simple. It is all about combining electronic and mobile commerce methods to
capitalize on the exponential, worldwide growth of the mobile phone market. >enerally, a
company that wishes to advertise its products on a mobile network, ties up with a service
provider, who allows the company to use his !*! centers to send out advertisements to
subscribers of the network. ?ealizing the potential of this service, the companies involved
finally devised methods to formally offer !*! as a service and set up a billing mechanism
for it. When !*! was made a paid service, the user base across many networks declined
initially. 'owever, as using an !*! still worked out to be much cheaper than a voice1call
using cell phones, the momentum picked up again, and the usage and popularity of !*!
kept growing.
Advertising Functions_______________________________________________
In its role as a form of mass communication, advertising delivers relevant messages to target
audience and by changing mental states, it can perform a number of functions.
$ Informing(Precipitation)
*aking consumers aware of new brands.
Increasing (*A ,(op of *ind Awareness-
(eaching new uses for existing brands ,called usage expansion advertising-
$ Influencing(Persuasion)
>etting prospective customers to try advertised products and services.
$ 4reating primary demand
$ @uilding secondary demand
$ Reminding and Increasing Salience(Reminder)
Enriching the memory trace for a brand so that the brand comes to mind in
relevant choice situations
Increasing customers6 interest in mature brands and the likelihood of choosing
brands that might have otherwise not been chosen.
Influence brand switching by reminding consumers that the brand is available and
that it possesses favorable attributes.
$ Using Advertising to Assist Other Company Efforts
(o deliver coupons
(o assist sales representatives
(o pre1sell a firm6s products by introducing the product and legitimizing
salespeople6s claims
(o augment the effectiveness of price deals
"$% OB&%'"I(%S OF AD(%)"ISIN* - Why advertise?
$ (o create awareness, customer interest or desire .(he long1term ob)ective of advertising, as of
every other business activity, is to increase the firm"s net profits over what they would be without
it. In some cases, increased profits are also immediate ob)ectivesA but in others, they are not.
+erhaps the most important short1term ob)ective of advertising is to provide support for personal
selling and other methods of promotion. Advertising is almost never used aloneA generally it is
cast in a supporting role to other means of promotion.
'owever, advertising is an extremely versatile communications tool. &epending upon the
marketing situation, companies use advertising to achieve various
$ (o boost sales ,moving the demand curve to the right-
$ (o build brand loyalty ,or to maintain it at the existing level-
$ (o launch a new product
$ (o change customer attitudes B perhaps trying to move a product more CupmarketD or to dispel
some widely held perceptions about the product
$ (o support the activities of the distribution channel ,e.g. supporting a CpullD strategy-
$ (o build the company or brand image
$ (o reminds and reassure customers
$ (o offset competitor advertising B businesses may defend market share by responding to
competitors6 campaigns with their own advertising
$ (o boost public standing. companies can boost their public standing with advertisements that
link them with generally approved campaigns such as care for the environment
$ (o support the sales force B advertising can make the )ob of the sales force easier and more
effective by attracting leads from potential customers and perhaps motivate them by boosting the
profile of the business
+hat to advertise,
Eactors that help answer the Cwhat are we advertisingDF focus on what the advertising message
should be. In general, there are really only two kinds of effective advertising message.
Eirstly, does the business%product have a Uni-ue Se##ing .ro/osition 01US.23
A uniue selling proposition is a customer !enefit that no other product can claim
In reality these are rare, although that does not stop marketers from claiming them for their
products.
!econdly, does the thing that is being advertised Cadd valueD and if so, howF
Eor example, advertising for washing powders will focus on the Cadded valueD created by
whitening agents or the fact that a particular formulation will last longer than the competition
,take a look at the Eairy web site to see if you can spot the other Cadded valueD features claimed
for its products-
Whatever is advertised, it is important that the message is.
$ !een
$ ?ead
$ @elieved
$ ?emembered
$ Action upon by target customers
B%N%FI"S OF AD(%)"ISIN*
!ome important benefits of advertising are
$ Advertisements create awareness, interest and desire for products and services in
customers to buy them.
$ Advertising is cost efficient as advertisements can reach a vast number of audiences
simultaneously
$ (he message can be repeated several times, thereby creating an impact on the mind of a
customer. Eor example, CIt6s the coolest one,D reminds us of 0elvinator refrigerators.
$ Advertising a product in a certain way can add to its value
$ It helps in boosting the sales of the company.
$ nce a product%service is purchased, it ,advertising- reassures the customer about the
purchase decision, thus helping in reducing the post purchase dissonance, if any.
$ Advertising helps in changing the customer"s perception of a product.
$ It supports the activities of the distribution network of the firm by creating demand and
encouraging purchase through pull strategy.
$ It helps in making the )ob of the sales force easier, by crating awareness among
potential customers.
$ Advertisements help in offsetting the competitors" advertisements. (he company may
defend its market share or position by responding to competitors6 advertising
campaigns. (he 4oca14ola"s punchline in 3GGH was, C(he official soft drink of the
world cupD, which was countered by +epsi"s CIothing official about it.D Advertisements
also help compare a company6s product features with those of the competitors.
!ometimes, companies themselves compare the features of their products with those of
the competitor6s product through advertisements. Juite often, television and automobile
manufacturers ,'yundai, (ata motors etc.- advertise their products in this fashion.
$ Advertising can be very expressive and therefore, can dramatize the whole concept. Eor
instance, 0inley6s (K commercial with a baseline CBoondh Boondh Mein Vishwas
,confidence in every drop- is a dramatization of the purity of 0inley6s water.
$ Advertisements also help in building a strong image of a product or brand, apart from
increasing its sales.
DEVELOPING AN ADVERTISING PROGRAM
An advertising campaign involves developing a series of advertisements and targeting them at
the potential customers through different media like the print and broadcast media. !teps
involved in an advertisement program, as seen in Eigure, can be broadly classified as
,a- Identifying the target audience,
,b- !pecifying advertising ob)ectives,
,c- !etting the advertising budget,
,d- &eveloping the advertising message,
,e- !electing the right media,
,f- !cheduling the advertisement and
,g- *easuring advertising effectiveness.
a4 Identif5ing the target audience
Identifying the target audience is the first step in developing an advertising campaign. (he
target audience is a market segment to which a marketer wants to communicate a product or
brand message. Advertising can be targeted towards mass markets or towards niche markets.
Eor instance, an advertisement of Amrutan)an pain balm is targeted at the mass market, while
the advertisement of *ercedes @enz is targeted at a niche market of status conscious, high
income group customers. Eor Indian &efense *inistry, the youth is the target audience and it
aims to attract them to )oin the armed forces. (herefore, it develops advertising campaigns to
attract the youth of India. Exhibit shows how the defense ministry attracts its target audience.
(he composition of the target audience and their specific needs must be identified before
developing an advertising program. *arketers must gather information on the geographic
location, demographic variables ,like age, sex, education, income level etc.- and consumer
attitude towards the company products and competitor products. 4ertain other variables like the
type of the product to be marketed, nature of demand for the product, characteristics of the
target audience and the amount of competition are of e#ual importance for creating a desired
advertising campaign. A marketer who pays little heed to information gathering system
regarding the target audience, may find his advertising campaign to be a fiasco
Figure : Advertising program
S/ot "his6 "he5 +ant 7ou
Indian &efense *inistry released a mix of advertisements both in the print
media and the electronic media to attract the youth of the country to serve the
motherland. (his advertising campaign was launched with the help of Lowe M
+artners Worldwide. (he ob)ective of the advertisements was to convince the
target audience ,the youth- to )oin the defence services. It reinstated the fact
that a soldier lead s his life with pride, respect and determination, with
baselines like B C@e an army man. @e a winner for life.D
Lowe created nine print advertisements for the defense ministry, which coaxed
the youth with catchy baselines like C3N years. (ake charge of your life. 2O
years. (ake charge of O= lives,D and C(he only career where the perks include
excitement, adventure, honor and glory.D (hese advertisements also
communicated the emoluments and other benefits provided to a soldier.
(elevision commercials on the other hand tried to depict the fact that a soldier
is respected by his fellow Indians.
Adapted from Gupta, Ritesh, !pot "his# "hey $ant %ou, Ad Age Global, &uly '((',
Vol. ', )ssue **
84 Set Advertising O89ectives
According to Russell H. Colley, The objective of an advertising campaign is to achieve a
specific communication task for a specific target audience during a specified period of time.
An advertising ob)ective is a specific communication task to be achieved with a specific target
audience during a specified period of time. Advertising ob)ectives fall into three main categories.
,a- (o infor: 1 A company can use advertising to ,a- inform its existing and potential customers
about the launch of a new product, ,b- communicate the benefits of its existing products in the
market, ,c- inform about the services provided by the company. Eor example, *9L"s (K
advertisement on their wide network of service stations across India shows two guys searching
for a food outlet in Ladakh. (hey can6t find one, but come across a *aruti service station even at
such a deserted and abandoned place. ,d- inform a price change, ,e- correct the false impression
about a product and build the company"s image, etc.
,b- "o /ersuade 1 A company uses advertising to ,a- persuade customers to purchase their
product%service by announcing special offers or discounts, ,b- persuade customers to take a sales
call ,phone call or a personal visit by a member of the sales force-. Eor example, Eureka Eorbes
advertisements show a customer service or sales executive giving a demo at a customer6s
residence and giving a dial free number. ,c- encourage customers to switch from other brands.
Eor example, Eno"s antacid advertisement makes a comparison between the company"s product
and li#uid antacid medicine like >elusil and digestion aiding tablets like &abur"s +udin hara to
highlight the effectiveness of the product.
,c- (o re:ind 1 A company uses advertising to ,a- remind customers that a product will yield
benefits in the future. Eor example, insurance companies repeat advertisements to remind and
convince customers that their products will yield benefits in the future, ,b- retain a product in the
customer"s mind during the off1season ,c- remind buyers where to find a product.
c4 Set the Advertising Budget
After setting the ob)ectives, the next task is to set the budget for the advertising campaign.
Advertising budget is the amount of money allocated by a firm for its advertising
campaigns for a specific period of time. It is influenced by various factors like the type of
products advertised, the size of the market, the geographic distribution of customers
within the market and the sales volume as compared to the competitor"s sales volume.
*arketers believe that advertising helps in increasing the demand for a product in the
market. (he amount of money spent on an advertising campaign should be in accordance
with the sales it generates. (he budget of an advertisement varies depending on the stage
of lifecycle of the product. Eor example, a new product may need a larger share of the
advertising budget, as the advertising has to create awareness about the product and
encourage the potential customers to buy it.
!etting an advertising budget is a difficult task because marketers cannot #uantify the
benefits accruing from an advertisement or determine the exact sales an advertisement has
generated. Kery often, businesses use some thumb rules ,like advertising%sales ratio- to
guide them set the budget. !ome common methods followed by firms are ,3- ob)ective
and task method, ,2- percentage of sales method, ,O- affordability method, and ,P-
competitive parity method. 'owever, none of the methods is completely fool proof.
O!"ective and tas# method
b)ective and task method is considered as one of the rational approaches to setting
advertising budget. (his method calls upon the advertisers to develop their advertising
budget by ,a- defining their specific advertising ob)ective ,b- determining the tasks that
must be performed to achieve those ob)ectives and ,c- estimating the cost of performing
those tasks. (he sum total of all these costs determines the advertising budget. (he ma)or
disadvantage of using this method is that marketers cannot accurately estimate or #uantify
the efforts re#uired to achieve an ob)ective. Eor instance, it is very difficult to set the
advertising budget for +*4> ,+ackaged *ass 4onsumption >oods- products, since it is
not easy to calculate the response rates to advertisements on soaps, detergents, toothpastes,
and biscuit packets etc. Also, owing to a highly volatile competitive environment, it is
difficult to allocate a set budget. Eor example, when a player heightens his advertising
efforts, it would have an impact on the advertising efforts of other firms in the market.
Percent$of$sales method
+ercent of sales method is used #uite often by companies to determine their advertising
budgets. (he percentage of sales method can be expressed by means of a formula as
shown below.
,!pending on advertisements in rupees%!ales in rupees- Q 3==.
(he percentage of sales method can be developed by studying the past sales figures and
relative budget allocations and understanding the pattern. Allocating the budget on similar
lines without any ma)or changes would be assuming a repetition of the past performance.
'owever, it may be necessary to increase or decrease the budget to attain a pro)ected sales
figure. +ro)ecting the product6s sales for the current year is very important and for doing
so, understanding the market scenario and predicting competitor strategies is vital.
(hese pro)ections can be made by observing the past sales records and assessing all the
controllable and uncontrollable variables. (he controllable variables include internal
factors such as capacity of production, product development, sales promotional activities
and so on, while uncontrollable variables include external factors such as government
policies, economic status of the country, the consumer tastes and preferences and so on
Afforda!ility method
In this method, a marketer, after allocating all other expenses in his budget, allocates
the remaining funds to advertising. (his method does prevent a drain on cash flow,
but it disregards the correlation between the advertising expenditure and the sales
results. *oreover, during recession, funds are not available with the marketers and
therefore, they reduce the advertising expenditure. Insufficient advertising further
reduces future sales.
Although this is a method of choice for many small companies, the results are neither
predictable nor sustainable. CLet"s do somethingD ,create a brochure or a web site,
advertise or hire new sales team-, becomes the battle cry. (hough there"s nothing
wrong in using any of these media, the results might not usually be as productive as
desired by the firm because the decision to advertise is dependent only on the
financial capability. And that can sometimes result in the production of the wrong tool
at the right time.
Competitive parity method
4ompanies sometimes determine their advertising budget by comparing with
competitor6s advertising budgets. (he advertising budget of a company may match
with that of a competitor either in rupee terms or in terms of percent1of1sales. It is
based on the fact that if a company follows this method, it is using the collective
knowledge of the industry to arrive at a figure for its advertising budget. 'owever,
companies need to be careful when they allocate their advertising budget on the basis
of competitors6 expenditure or budgets because their ob)ectives and%or available
resources may be totally different. If companies follow this approach blindly, they
may end up spending too much or too little on advertising. In this method, it is
assumed that the advertising budget reflects a company"s expected sales, which many
a time is not true. Another wrong assumption is that if two companies spend the same
amount on advertising, their advertisements are going to be e#ually effective.
Advertisement budget in this method is allocated on the basis of what competitors
have spent in the past. 'owever, it cannot be ascertained that the competitors will
follow the same strategy in the future also. !imilarly, by the time a company comes to
know about the expenditure that competitors have made on their advertising, there
will always be a delay and the competitors would have already reaped the benefits.
d4Deter:ine the ;e5 Advertising Messages
!pending a lot on advertising does not guarantee success. ?esearch suggests that the clarity of
the advertising message is often more important than the amount spent. (he advertising message
must be carefully targeted to impact the target customer audience. A successful advertising
message should have the following characteristics.
,a- %eaningful 1 (arget customers should find the message of an advertisement relevant and
meaningful. *arketers must pay due attention to the message ,what is said, who has said it and
how it is said- delivered to make it more meaningful to the customer.
,b- &istinctive 1 An advertisement message needs to be uni#ue so that it captures the customers6
attention. Eor example, the Liril toilet soap advertisement combined a visual Ca girl in the
waterfallD with a uni#ue sound track. (he soap could create distinct brand image and maintained
a leadership position in premium toilet soap category.
,c- 'elieva!le (he message should convince the customers about the features of the product. Eor
example, "Kim" bar advertisements demonstrate people cleaning the stained and greased vessels
with a very small amount of the product. (he clean and spotless vessels convey the effectiveness
of the product as well as the ease of using the product. Another example is the 'ealth *inistry"s
advertisement on "oral re1hydration" ,popularly known as 5?!6-. *aking the customers believe
the message is a difficult task because, in general most consumers doubt the claims made by the
marketer in an advertisement.
e4 Decide hich Advertising Media to Use
Advertisers have a wide variety of advertising media to choose from. @efore selecting the
appropriate medium, the firm wanting to advertise has to find answers to four important
#uestions. 3. Who are the target audienceF 2. Where are they locatedF O. What is the message that
has to be deliveredF P. When do we run the advertising campaignF
(ho should !e reached)
Identification of the target segment is dependent on market segmentation. !egmentation on
the basis of customer demographics, psychographics, social class, product usage and so on
will help the media planner reach the maximum number of customers in those segments,
within the budget constraints. 'owever, there is always an amount of wastage in
advertising, that is, these advertisements also reach those customers who are not in the
target group.
(here are they located)
About := percent of over 3 billion population of India lives in more than ;,;=,=== villages
and the remaining lives in towns and cities. Advertising must ideally be targeted at places
where most of the potential buyers are located. &ifferences in tastes and preferences exist
for various products, based on the geographic location. Eor instance, demand for (ea is
higher than for coffee in Iorth India and the reverse is true for !outh India. Availability of
a medium also has some geographic limitations. Eor instance, in print media, we have some
newspapers and magazines that are limited to particular geographic locations. (he
advertiser should identify the location of his target audience and accordingly advertise in
local or national media.
+hich :ediu: is a//ro/riate,
(he message that has to be delivered is very critical for the selection of the medium. A
particular type of message re#uires a particular type of medium. If a new product is to be
introduced in the market, a feeling of something new and exciting should be created and
that can be effectively done by using the newspaper, the radio and the television. If the
product or service needs a demonstration, then a television ad would be more appropriate
than a print ad. If a high #uality output in color is re#uired, then multicolored magazines
would do the )ob better when compared to newspapers. If there has been a controversy and
the company wants to rebuild the lost confidence of customers in its brand or product, it
can communicate its stand through the print media to show the proof or evidence ,by a
competent authority- certifying the #uality of the product. If there is a need to build the
brand image of a company on the basis of some personality traits, then they can be
advertised during relevant programs on television or radio. Eor instance, ads relating to
chocolates and biscuits are aired on cartoon network, ads relating to cosmetics are aired
during primetime on television when soaps are being telecasted, ads relating to sports
goods are aired on sports channels and so on. (he advantage in following such a method is
that these brands will be easily identified with the image the program is trying to create
such as feminine, masculine, trendy, old fashioned and so on. Einally, the message should
be relevant to the medium that is being used. Eor advertising I+s ,initial public offerings-,
for instance, media related to financial world would be most appropriate, such as 4I@4 on
television, Economic (imes or @usiness !tandard in newspapers and so on.
(hen do *e run the advertising campaign)
Advertising messages can be aired any time during the year depending upon the product or
service. Iormally the timing of the ad can be decided on the basis of seasons, months,
weeks, days and even minutes and seconds. Eor example, marketers of woolen clothes
advertise during the winter season when the demand for their products is the highest.
!imilarly, cool drinks6, air conditioners6, air coolers6, and refrigerators6 ads are normally
run during the summer season. Apart from seasonal products, there are a host of other
products that would benefit from differently timed advertisements. Eor instance, @ritannia6s
;=1;= biscuit ads are aired on the television during cricket matches when the decision of
the third umpire is pending. *?E ads are aired when !achin (endulkar, its ma)or endorser
is batting. While deciding, when to advertise, the type of audience also plays a significant
role.
(o select the right type of medium, media planners need to have a good knowledge of the
different media that are available to reach the target audience. Information regarding the
media is available in government and private publications, audit bureau circulations and so
on.
(able gives an outline of who uses advertising, for what purpose, targeted at whom and
desiring what ob)ective.
"a8#e 6 Advertisers and various as/ects of se#ecting the right :ediu:
Users of
Advertising
"arget audience Media O89ective
*anufacturers of
products and%or
services

Individual
4ustomers
Iewspapers,
*agazines,
<ournals,
*ailers,
@rochures,
+amphlets,
Rellow pages
Eor attaining sales
for the product,
brand or service
Individual
consumers,
governments,
social groups and
its employees
+rint media and
broadcast media
(o maintain good
public relations
*anufacturers of
products and%or
services for resale.
?etailers and
wholesalers
(rade
magazines,
Iewsletters and
&irect mail
Eor attracting
wholesalers and
retailers to stock the
products and then
promote them to end
users
Wholesalers ?etailers +rint media,
newsletters,
direct mail
Eor attracting
retailers6 continuous
patronage
?etailers Individual
customers
?egional
newspapers,
(elevision,
magazines,
hoardings,
transit and direct
mail
Eor attracting
customers to a
particular retail
outlet or a chain of
outlets
Individuals ther individuals Iewspaper
classifieds,
posters, cable
television
Eor selling
individual property,
used vehicles,
matrimonial, etc.
>overnments M
social groups
Individual
customers, other
social groups and
government
?adio,
(elevision,
newspapers,
outdoor media
Eor creating
awareness about
social,
environmental,
departments. health and family
issues and so on
Adapted from +.,. !andage, Vernon -ryburger and .im Rot/oll, Advertising "heory and
0ractice, All )ndia "raveller Boo1 !eller, 2leventh 2dition, 3ew 4elhi, p 5(.
(here are a variety of advertising media from which to chose. A campaign may use one or more
of the media alternatives. (he key factors in choosing the right media include.
,a- )each 1 what proportion of the target customers will be exposed to the advertisingF
,b- Fre-uenc5 1 how many times will the target customer be exposed to the advertising
messageF
,c- Media I:/act 1 where, if the target customer sees the message 1 will it have most impactF
Eor example does an advert promoting holidays for elderly people have more impact on
(elevision ,if so, when and which channels- or in a national newspaper or perhaps a magazine
focused on this segment of the populationF
Another key decision in relation to advertising media relates to the timing of the campaign. !ome
products are particularly suited to seasonal campaigns on television ,e.g. 4hristmas hampers-
whereas for other products, a regular advertising campaign throughout the year in media such as
newspapers and specialist magazines ,e.g. cottage holidays in the Lake &istrict- is more
appropriate.
%va#uate the resu#ts of the Advertising 'a:/aign
(he evaluation of an advertising campaign should focus on two key areas.
,3- "he 'o::unication %ffects 1 is the intended message being communicated effectively and
to the intended audienceF
,2- "he Sa#es %ffects 1 has the campaign generated the intended sales growth. (his second area
is much more difficult to measure.
Advertisers primarily evaluate the effectiveness of an advertisement because firms spend crores
of rupees on advertising. And no marketer would like to spend such huge amounts without
having any clue about the resultant effects of such expenditure. 'owever, one might raise a
#uestion about the necessity of advertising itself. Although a marketer can perform his business
activities without advertising, he will definitely lose the opportunity of increasing his sales.
(herefore, to measure the effectiveness of advertisements, marketers use several methods like
intermediate measures. (hey are called intermediate measures because the target audiences are
tested after they are exposed to the ad and before they take any action ,purchase-. In this
method, the researchers #uestion the respondents to analyze their receptiveness, their
comprehension of the ad and their response towards the ad.
?eceptiveness. Whether the audiences have clearly received the message.
4omprehension. Whether the audiences have understood the message.
?esponse. Whether the audiences have accepted the message.
ther intermediate methods include recognition and recall tests, where the audience is put to
test on whether they can recognize and recall a particular ad. In case of the recognition test, the
interviewer shows a copy of the advertising message to the customer and asks whether he
recognizes itF If the answer is positive, the advertiser asks further #uestions with regards to the
advertisement. ?ecall test can be either an aided or unaided recall test. In an unaided recall test,
the respondents are not shown any copy of the advertising message and are simply asked what
they have seen recently. Whereas in an aided recall test, respondents are shown a list of
products, brands, company trademarks, logos, etc. to test their memory of the ad.
A persuasion test is another method where the respondents are asked whether they have been
influenced by a particular advertisement, rather than asking them whether they remember the
ad.
Advertising and other .ro:otiona# "oo#s
Sa#es .ro:otion
Advertising and sales promotion are supplementary to each other as the ultimate ob)ective of
both these tools is to promote sales. If sales promotion and advertising programme are well
coordinated, they can be enhanced they can have significant effect on sales. Announcement of
sales1promotion schemes in advertisement copy makes it more eye1catching.
!ales promotion is a form of attracting the consumers by offering them various benefits in the
form of incentives or by adding value to the products .!ales promotions are generally aimed at
resellers and final consumers. (he various kinds of sales promotional tools include coupons,
discounts, rebates, samples, etc. *ost often organizations spend more money on sales
promotions than on advertising. Although sales promotion is often considered a short1term tool
to achieve immediate benefits in the form of increased sales, sales promotional activities like
event sponsorships, trade shows and such are used for attaining long1term benefits in the
market.
.u8#icit5
+ublicity is a non1paid form of communicating information about the company or the product
or both as a news article in newspapers or television or radio. !tudies have shown that people
attach a lot of importance to news articles and read them with greater attention as compared to
advertisements in newspapers. Also, people give much more importance to the product or
service details given in a news report than in an advertisement, because they perceive news
report to be more credible. Efforts like generating repeated exposures will also help marketers
effectively communicate the desired message. (herefore, managing the marketing
communication mix with appropriate and timely publicity through newspaper articles, coupled
with attractive public relation campaigns helps marketers to a great extent.
.ersona# se##ing
+ersonal selling is the form of selling a product or a service directly to the consumer by
explaining or demonstrating the features of the product to him%her. +ersonal selling is
highly specific, with regard to the target audience. (he costs involved are high as the
salesperson has to personally meet every potential customer.
+ersonal selling has a high impact on the consumers and the feedback is also almost immediate.
(his form of marketing is the most effective way of communicating a company6s marketing
message, because it involves direct interaction between the marketer and the customer. It helps
the marketer receive immediate feedback from the customer. @eing a high cost marketing tool,
personal selling is usually implemented for high cost products and services that need detailed
demonstrations of product usage and have limited target markets. +ersonal selling is normally
done for industrial products and is used as a support activity for advertising in consumer goods
marketing.
Direct Mar;eting
In direct marketing, organizations communicate directly with the customers through mail or
telemarketing or marketing through the Internet. (his is a popular form of communication for
certain types of services like real estate. Amway is the global giant in direct marketing with a
product portfolio of P;= products and operations in over N= countries. In direct marketing, there
is a non face1to1face interaction with customers, to persuade them to immediately respond to the
marketing effort and initiate an action. &irect marketing activities such as telemarketing, mailers,
catalogs, etc. 'ave been gaining popularity over the years. (he greatest advantage of direct
marketing is that it is highly cost effective and gives the maximum mileage. 9nlike other
marketing tools like advertising, the response can be easily measured with accuracy in direct
marketing since it persuades the customer to take immediate action. !o, the success or failure of
the marketing effort can be immediately known. &irect marketing tools are used to communicate
with both consumer markets and industrial markets through telemarketing, mailers, catalogs, etc
Assign:ent -uestions
Section-A
J3. !tate and explain the meaning of Advertising. What are its ob)ectivesF
J2. Enumerate the function of advertising.
JO.What is meant by publicity how it is differ from advertisement
Section-B
JP. 4onsider any two product advertisements one a (K commercial M the other a print media
advertisement and answer the following.1
a- What was your cognitive responseF Elaborate the product%message thoughts, counter
arguments and%or support arguments, advertisement execution thoughts.
b- 4omment on the brand names of these products.
References
Advertising Management Concepts and Cases by Manendra Mohan 2007
Advertising and Sales Promotion 3
rd
edition By S H H Kami!Satish K Batra 200"
Advertising Management! By #a$eev Batra! %ohn &' Myers ( )avid A' Aa*er! 200+