What is advertising?

Advertising is any paid-for communication overtly intended to inform and/or

influence one or more people .In its simplest terms, advertising:
1. Identifies a current problem / opportunity for a product, service or
corporate brand
2. Identifies the consumers who can best solve / create that problem /
opportunity
3. Creates the most relevant and distinctive way of communicating to them
in creative & media terms.
Ad Age report suggesting that firms are finally realizing that no one pays
attention to online banner ads. For all the hype about online advertising, this
one point should have been obvious from quite early on. That doesn't mean
that banner ads haven't been lucrative for some publishers who place them
on their sites -- but it does call into question how long that sort of advertising
will last. Sooner or later the advertisers will recognize that they're not
getting much bang for the buck. For publishers (us included, mind you), that
could mean that an easy vein for revenue goes away -- but the end result
should be better. Companies will start to learn that there are better ways to
achieve their goals than banner ads.
There are a few key points in the discussion that shouldn't be surprising to
most folks around here, but apparently have just hit the consciousness of ad
execs on Madison Avenue:
1. The captive audience is dead. There is no captive audience online.
Everyone surfing the web has billions of choices on what they can be
viewing, and they don't want to be viewing intrusive and annoying ads.
They'll either ignore them, block them or go elsewhere.
2. Advertising is content. You can't think of ads as separate things any
more. Without a captive audience, there's no such thing as
"advertising" any more. It's just content. And it needs to be
good/interesting/relevant content if you want to get anyone to pay
attention to it.
3. Content is advertising. Might sound like a repeat of the point above,
and in some way it is -- but it's highlighting the flip side. Any content is
advertising. It's advertising something. Techdirt content "advertises"
our business even if you don't realize it. Every bit of content advertises
something, whether on purpose or not.

4. Content needs to be useful/engaging/interesting. This simply ties all of

that together. If you want anyone to pay attention to your content
(which is advertising something, whether on purpose or not) it needs to
be compelling and engaging.
So, for the "brand" marketers out there who are starting to worry that banner
ads aren't particularly effective, it's time to start rethinking how you build a
brand along these points. Techdirt even has a way to help you put these
ideas into practice. Give us a call -- we'll explain how it works in more detail.
So, yes, even this is an "advertisement," but hopefully, it's also useful
content.
Examples of Different Advertising Appeals
The purposes of advertising are to inform, remind, convince and persuade
consumers about the value and merits of specific brands. Advertisers use a
number of specific appeals to tap into target consumers' psychological,
emotional and social biases, solidifying brand images and creating loyal
customer bases. Different consumers respond differently to different
advertising appeals. Understanding advertising appeals and their application
to target marketing can boost your marketing effectiveness.
Price Value
Price value is a simple yet powerful appeal that connects with a wide group
of consumers. Price value conveys both a practical and a psychological
appeal. First, low-priced brands attract people who have little money to
spend, offering them more money left over after shopping. Second, lowpriced brands can make people feel like savvy shoppers and wise money
managers, giving them a sense of pride.
Safety
Families with young children consider the safety of every product they bring
into their homes. For these consumers, appealing to their safety
consciousness can grab their attention better than anything else. A range of
product categories can introduce a safety appeal in advertising, such as
automobiles, cleaning products, toys and kitchen equipment.
Status
Social status is a powerful appeal that can bring in extremely high profit
margins. Certain target segments are willing to pay any price for inherently
inferior products, as long as the brands convey a certain social status.
Advertisements for luxury cars, high-end suits and exotic vacations often
convey a sense that purchasing these products makes consumers a part of

an elite, high-class circle, driving them to purchase more and more of the
same products.
Simple Luxury
Not all luxury products and services serve as status symbols. Certain
companies, such as spas and gourmet chocolate makers, appeal to
consumers on a personal level. Advertisements for products in this category
can appeal to consumers' desire for relaxation and personal reward,
promising that their stress and worry will melt away if they make a purchase
or use a service.
Golden Rules
Despite the many benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications (or IMC);
there are also many barriers. Here's how you can ensure you become
integrated and stay integrated - 10 Golden Rules of Integration.
(1) Get Senior Management Support for the initiative by ensuring they
understand the benefitsof IMC.(2) Integrate At Different Levels of
management. Put 'integration' on the agenda for various types of
management meetings - whether annual reviews or creative sessions.
Horizontally - ensure that all managers, not just marketing managers
understand the importance of a consistent message - whether on delivery
trucks or product quality. Also ensure that Advertising, PR, Sales Promotions
staff are integrating their messages. To do this you must have carefully
planned internal communications, that is, good internal marketing.(3) Ensure
the Design Manual or even a Brand Book is used to maintain common visual
standards for the use of logos, type faces, colours and so on.(4) Focus on a
clear marketing communications strategy. Have crystal clear
communications objectives; clear positioning statements. Link core values
into every communication. Ensure all communications add value to (instead
of dilute) the brand or organisation. Exploit areas of sustainable competitive
advantage.(5) Start with a Zero Budget. Start from scratch. Build a new
communications plan. Specify what you need to do in order to achieve your
objectives. In reality, the budget you get is often less than you ideally need,
so you may have to prioritise communications activities accordingly.(6)
Think Customers First. Wrap communications around the customer's buying
process. Identify the stages they go through before, during and after a
purchase. Select communication tools which are right for each stage.
Develop a sequence of communications activities which help the customer
to move easily through each stage.(7) Build Relationships and Brand Values.
All communications should help to develop stronger and stronger

relationships with customers. Ask how each communication tool helps to do

this. Remember: customer retention is as important as customer
acquisition.(8) Develop a Good Marketing Information System which defines
who needs what information when. A customer database for example, can
help the telesales, direct marketing and sales force. IMC can help to define,
collect and share vital information.
(9) Share Artwork and Other Media. Consider how, say, advertising imagery
can be used in mail shots, exhibition stands, Christmas cards, news releases
and web sites.(10) Be prepared to change it all. Learn from experience.
Constantly search for the optimum communications mix. Test. Test. Test.
Improve each year. 'Kaizen'.Just a few ways to beat the barriers and enjoy
the benefits of integrated marketing communications.
Definition: Sales promotions are the set of marketing activities undertaken to
boost sales of the product or service. There are two basic types of sales
promotions: trade and consumer sales promotions. The schemes, discounts,
freebies, commissions and incentives given to the trade (retailers,
wholesalers, distributors, C&Fs) to stock more, push more and hence sell
more of a product come under trade promotion. These are aimed at enticing
the trade to stock up more and hence reduce stock-outs, increase share of
shelf space and drive sales through the channels. However, trade schemes
get limited by the cost incurred by the company as well as the limitations of
the trade in India to stock up free goods. Incentives can be overseas trips
and gifts.
A typical trade scheme on soaps would be buy a case of 12 soaps, get 1 or 2
free - or a 8% discount scheme (1/12=8%). Such schemes are common in
FMCG and pharma industries.
But sales promotion activity aimed at the final consumer are called
consumer schemes. These are used to create a pull for the product and are
advertised in public media to attract attention. Maximum schemes are
floated in festival times, like Diwali or Christmas. Examples are buy soap, get
diamond free; buy biscuits, collect runs; buy TV and get some discount or a
free item with it and so on. Consumer schemes become very prominent in the
'maturity or decline' stages of a product life cycle, where companies vie to
sell their own wares against severe competition.
The impact of sales promotions: Sales promotions typically increase the
level of sales for the duration they are floated. Usually, as soon as the

schemes end, the sales fall, but hopefully, settle at a higher level than they
were before the sales promotion started. For the company, it can be a means
to gain market share, though an expensive way.
For consumers, these can offer great value for money. But sustained sales
promotions can seriously damage a brand and its sales, as consumers wait
specifically for the sales promotion to buy and not otherwise. Therefore,
sales promotions are to be used as a tactical measure as part of an overall
plan, and not as an end itself.
A sales promotion is an incentive that is offered to a consumer or potential
business customer to spur the purchase of a product or service. Many
companies use sales promotion strategies to produce a short-term increase
in sales. A company can offer many types of sales promotion activities
including free samples, coupon, discounts, premiums, product
demonstrations, point-of-purchase (POP) materials and even refunds or
rebates.
Free Samples

Many companies use free samples to introduce a new product. Free samples
may be sent in the mail, distributed with the Sunday newspaper or given
away in a store. Food companies in particular may want people to try a new
sausage or pastry. Hence, they will often hire a marketing research agency
to cook, cut and pass out free food samples. The objective of free samples is
to get consumers to taste the food and make a purchase. Ultimately, a
company wants to acquire those people as regular customers.
Loyalty Programs

Some companies use loyalty programs as sales promotions, which entice

customers to make more purchases. Loyalty programs usually include a
membership card that can be tracked electronically through register
purchases. For example, a movie theater may offer free popcorn, drinks or
even tickets to customers who spend a certain amount of money.
Premiums

Premiums are a very popular sales promotional activities that provide

giveaways to consumers. Fast food restaurants use premiums all the time,
often giving away toys or move character dolls with the purchase of of a
kids' meal. Sometimes non-competing companies go into cahoots with one
another in a sales promotion. For example, a manufacturer of mouthwash
may give away floss, which is another part of oral hygiene.

Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes are another type of sales promotional activity. Magazine

publishers have been using sweepstakes for years to boost subscriptions.
Sweepstakes usually have to be significant enough to entice massive
numbers of people to make a purchase. Money, cars and even computers are
used in sweepstakes sales promotions.
Product Demonstrations

Product demonstrations or demos is another effective sales promotion

activity. Product demonstrations are sometimes implemented to show
customers how to use new or more technical products. Sometimes, a demo
like a computer terminal will be set up for people to try it out. Other times a
person like a model will be used to demonstrate a product. A product demo
display may run without intervention to explain the various features.
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the spread
of information between an individual or an organization and
the public.[1] Public relations may include an organization
or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public
interest and news items that do not require direct payment.[2] The aim of
public relations is to persuade the public, prospective customers, investors,
partners, employees, and other stakeholders to maintain a certain point of
view about it, its leadership, products, or of political decisions. Common
activities include working with the press and supplying written content for
news and feature articles together with arranging interviews with expert
spokespeople, speaking at conferences, winning industry awards and
internal/employee communication.[3]
Audience targeting[edit]
A fundamental technique used in public relations is to identify the target
audience and to tailor messages to be relevant to each
audience.[20] Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders
common to a public relations effort necessitate the creation of several
distinct but complementary messages. These messages however should be
relevant to each other, thus creating a consistency to the overall message
and theme.
On the other hand, stakeholder theory identifies people who have a stake in
a given institution or issue.[21] All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive
stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are audiences. For example, if a
charity commissions a public relations agency to create an advertising

campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease, thecharity and the
people with the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is
likely to donate money.
Messaging[edit]
Messaging is the process of creating a consistent story around a product,
person, company or service. Messaging aims to avoid having readers receive
contradictory or confusing information that will instill doubt in their
purchasing choice or other decisions that have an impact on the company.
Brands aim to have the same problem statement, industry viewpoint or brand
perception shared across sources and media.
Social media marketing[edit]

Main article: Digital marketing

Digital marketing is the use of Internet tools and technologies such
as search engines, Web 2.0 social bookmarking, new
media relations, blogging and social media marketing. Interactive PR allows
companies and organizations to disseminate information without relying
solely on mainstream publications and communicate directly with the public,
customers and prospects. We will continue to witness changes in public
relations practices. People wishing to pursue a future with PR will be
required to think differently. They will have to adopt new strategies and learn
new ways to conduct searches. During the first years of social media, PR had
a hard time keeping up with the speed of these new technologies
(Breakenridge, 2012). PR practitioners have always relied on the media such
as TV, Radio, and Magazines to promote their ideas and messages tailored
specifically for a given audience. Social media marketing is not only a new
way to achieve that goal but it's also a continuation of a strategy that
existed for decades. Lister et al. said that "Digital media can be seen as a
continuation and extension of a principal or technique that was already in
place".[22] PR professionals are well aware of the fact that digital technology
is used in a practically different way than before. For instance, cellphones
are no longer just devices we use to talk to one another. They are also used
for online shopping, dating, learning and getting the most up to date news
around the world.[23]
Other techniques[edit]
Litigation public relations is the management of the communication process
during the course of any legal dispute or adjudicatory processing so as to
affect the outcome or its impact on the clients overall reputation (Haggerty,
2003).

pin[edit]

Main article: Spin (public relations)

Spin has been interpreted historically to mean overt deceit meant to
manipulate the public, but since the 1990s has shifted to describing a
"polishing of the truth."[27] Today spin refers to providing a certain
interpretation of information meant to sway public opinion.[28] Companies
may use spin to create the appearance of the company or other events are
going in a slightly different direction than they actually are.[27] Within the
field of public relations, spin is seen as a derogatory term, interpreted by
professionals as meaning blatant deceit and manipulation.[29][30] Skilled
practitioners of spin are sometimes called "spin doctors."
The techniques of spin include selectively presenting facts and quotes that
support ideal positions (cherry picking), the so-called "non-denial denial,"
phrasing that in a way presumes unproven truths, euphemisms for drawing
attention away from items considered distasteful, and ambiguity in public
statements. Another spin technique involves careful choice of timing in the
release of certain news so it can take advantage of prominent events in the
news.
Negative[edit]
Negative public relations, also called dark public relations (DPR) and in some
earlier writing "Black PR", is a process of destroying the target's reputation
and/or corporate identity. The objective in DPR is to discredit someone else,
who may pose a threat to the client's business or be a political rival. DPR
may rely on IT security, industrial espionage,social
engineering and competitive intelligence. Common techniques include using
dirty secrets from the target, producing misleading facts to fool a
competitor.[31][32][33][34]
Politics and civil society[edit]
In Propaganda (1928), Bernays argued that the manipulation of public opinion
was a necessary part of democracy.[35] In public relations, lobby groups are
created to influence government policy, corporate policy, or public opinion,
typically in a way that benefits the sponsoring organization.
When a lobby group hides its true purpose and support base, it is known as
a front group.[36] Front groups are a form of astroturfing, because they intend
to sway the public or the government without disclosing their financial
connection to corporate or political interests. They create a fake grass-roots
movement by giving the appearance of a trusted organization that serves the
public, when they actually serve their sponsors.

Politicians also employ public relations professionals to help project their

views, policies and even personalities to their best advantages.[37]