We all love to hate advertising but advertising is as necessary as the air we

breathe! O.K. Thats an exaggeration, but well, in a modern world, perhaps its
not.

The good side

The advertising industry (alongwith its corporate master) has done some things
really wrong and as a result a lot of people distrust all advertising..but there is a
good side, its useful side. Most of us already know the importance of advertising I
guess, but its not on the top of our minds. So heres a reminder. Just a few brief
points:
1. All business activity needs advertising to inform people about products and
services. Its important to keep in mind that consumers become aware of the
choices available to them.
2. Advertising helps improve quality of the product. Brands compete and try to
outdo each other in order to be first with the consumer and this can spur
innovation.
3. A democratic government needs advertising. This is the only way that the
candidate can reach out to his/her voters.
4. In fact, whether its a brand, a government, a community eventall require
advertising. NGOs use advertising to spread educational messages and
organisations collect donations through advertising. And lets not forget the
importance of classifieds and appointment ads.
5. In most countries the media cannot survive without advertising. Whether its
television, radio or newspapers, advertising is their life-blood. Government
sponsorship of media does not always work and may lead to consumer
dissatisfaction. How many of us watch Doordarshan more than we watch a
private television channel? And believe me DD is far better now, and thats
because of private competition. If DD was the only TV channel, we are likely to
get below average fare as anyone who remembers what DD was like before the
advent of cable knows.
6. Consumers pay less for their tv, newspapers and magazines. Without
advertising a private tv channel or newspaper or magazine will cost a lot.
Nothing will be free or almost free anymore. Instead of shelling out Rs 2/- for
ones daily newspaper you might have to shell out Rs 100/- and forget about
enjoying it with your daily cuppa. Most of us will head for either the library or
wait until we get to the office. Only the rich benefit in this case. The benefits of
the media reaching all citizens at a nominal price are vast.
7. And ofcourse the advertising industry also creates a huge number of jobs! It
was estimated that (according to an economic study for 2005) $278 billion of
company advertising would drive $5.2 trillion in sales and contribute to 21
million jobs in the United States

Yet we hate advertising!

Despite our rational mind telling us all of this, we hate advertising. As soon as the
commercial onslaught starts on television we switch channels. Either its plain boredom or
distress at seeing so many ads.
The ad worlds greatest problem
The fact is that the advertising industrys biggest problem today is the anti-advertising
feelings amongst people. These feelings arent new, and nor are they restricted to one part of
the world. Whether its a developed market or an underdeveloped one the rage against
advertising seems to be building up.
A gallup poll in the United States said that advertising tends to be treated like a dirty word
and the poll said that only about 10 percent of those polled thought that the advertising
industry was ethical. And 75 percent of Europeans believe there is too much advertising. A
recent study revealed that more consumers have wholly negative feelings (36 percent)
about advertising than wholly positive (28 percent). Sixty percent are more negative about
advertising than they were a few years ago; and a whopping 69 percent want tools that block
advertising completely
Lies, all lies!
The problem with advertising is
that
it doesnt just inform peopleit
tries
to persuade, entice, lure and
influence. This may be necessary
for a
brands growth and business
growth, but therein lies the
pitfall. Companies and brands
are
tempted to cross the line and
blatantly lie and/or find loopholes
in
the law to promote their products. The ad on the right is a surrogate ad
promoting alcohol although alcohol advertising is banned in India. Brand
managers have targets to meet and if misleading advertising does the trick,
there are no qualms
Packaging and positioning of a product can also be misleading (marketing) and a
case in point is Maggi Atta (whole wheat) noodles. Unless the marketer clearly
mentions (on the pack) how much atta used in the mix, such positioning is
misleading. Particularly so in India, as we do not even have a legal definition of
what constitutes whole-wheat flour. I have picked up an oil from the Dollar Shop
here, which calls itself a blend of Olive and Soya Oil. On close scrutiny one
realises that the Olive Oil is only 5 percent of the whole.

Any solutions?
One of the ways to sort out such blatant displays of misleading marketing and advertising, is
regulation. Both by the government and the industry. Government generally does not interfere
too much, barring laying out broad guidelines and setting legal limits. Companies find it
fairly easy to get round the law. Often the advertising councils depend on consumers to make

complaints, but in countries like India consumers are less aware and often do not complain.
We have one of the lowest complaint rates here.
Its ideal if the ad industry self-regulates. This is common in developed markets but while it
may not have worked as well as it should, (as one commentator pointed out in a comment on
a previous post on self regulation in India), its still needed. For India however, selfregulation is in its infancy and we need self-regulation in place as one of the measures to
prevent misleading advertising
The government needs to do more work too. In my view, children in particular need to be
protected against misleading advertising and I hope India goes the way of countries like
Sweden where all television advertising aimed at children under the age of 12 is banned.
But if one has to take a holistic view, advertising is needed for business growth and without it
we will go back to the dark ages, literally speaking as access to information will decrease. So
the answer is more control and more checks and balances. And ofcourse a strong consumer
awareness, which is sadly lacking in India.
And as far as I see it, if the ad industry doesnt get it right soon, if it persists on pulling the
wool over consumers eyes, the worse it will get for them. The cynicism and distrust which
has crept in which increase as consumers get more aware and this can only harm brands, even
the good ones. As a result, companies will be forced to spend more and more to try and
convince consumers. It makes me wonder if the backlash against advertising will ever start to
reverse