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Growth and development of advertising in India

With the opening of the economy in the 1980s there was a growth in the number of alliances with multinational agencies and an expansion in advertising though foreign network participation in agency ownership was limited. In 1987 Hindustan Thompson was affiliated to J. Walter Thompson. Lintas, the 2nd ranking agency, held only 4% of its subsidiary, as did Ogilvie and Mather. Saatchi and Saatchi/Compton had minority interests in Compton as did Lintas. A study done in 1984 of the largest companies in India found that the ratio of advertising expenditure to sales had risen from .64 in 1976, to .71 in 1980 to .74 in 1984. Foreign controlled corporations had the dominant share of total advertising expenditure, and 80% of these were in the consumer goods sectors. Advertising was very concentrated with the top 50 advertisers accounting for 80% of the advertising spending and the top 10 advertisers made up 40% of that figure, 32% of the total. The largest advertiser throughout the period was Hindustan Lever which was nearly 10% of theadvertising budget of the corporate sector companies.Pharmaceutical companies were also significant advertisers at this time.

Development of Advertising in India


PAYAL KAMAT SHORT ESSAYS

Advertising in India has created an incredible awareness among the people in the past decade growing in to big industry. It has grown along with the press and today it has found its way into the other two media - Radio and Television. Advertising, which was an American concept originally, has found its place in a country like India, so much so that the number of commercials has doubled in the media. Advertising in India grew with the Indian press. In the initial period, to advertise meant to inform. The early newspapers and

magazines announced births, deaths, arrivals of ships from England, sale of household furniture etc. In the beginning of the nineteenth century new products, discounts and special services got their place in advertisements. Thus, gradually advertising started gaining power. It increased with the growth of trade and commerce. The leading newspapers like The Times of India and the statesman had their own advertising departments which prepared layouts for advertisements. In early 20th century the advertising agencies such as Indian Advertising Agency and Calcutta Advertising Agency were started. During Second World War, press advertising was used extensively to raise funds for the war. The Indian professionals also learnt how to motivate the masses through advertising. Between 1922 - 1939 many advertising agencies came up such as New India Publicity Co., Paradise advertising Agency of Calcutta, and National Advertising Agency and so on. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) was established in 1945, training an authority to represent the interests and problems of advertising profession. At the time of independence, advertising business was expanding. It grew technically also with the introduction of multi-color printing, and improved printing machines. Commercial art also grew as a profession which boosted the advertising business. In 1951, the Indian society of Advertisers was formed and in May 1958, the society of Advertising Practitioners was formed. During pre-independence era, Indian advertisements were mostly about clothes, travelling, eating and entertainment places, India, hotels, four-wheelers, tea, gramophones and tailoring shops for Britishers in India and the princely families. In the post independence period, the focus of advertisements shifted from luxury goods to consumer goods bought mainly for

time and labour saving purposes. In 1976, first commercial spot appeared on Television and in 1980, the first advertisement sponsors were allowed. Advertising in India has urban image, i.e. the urban products are advertised by urban models in urban living styles. Many factors contributed to the advertising industry's growth and expansion in India. The sharp increase in the media options in all spheres made it easy to reach the audience. This offered new advertising opportunities of media planning. Many companies were keen on encasing the innovations of the media and trying to be the first to catch the fascination and attention of the target audience and advertising agencies readily offered their skills. With the policy of liberalization, the business culture improved all around. This led advertising agencies to raise their creative standards and improvements in functioning of the ad agencies. Moreover, many specializations came up in advertising. Such as, financial advertising, direct marketing, social advertising etc. This resulted in the growth in number and size of the in-house agencies. Mudra Communications was promoted by Reliance Industries, Shristi was set up by Lohia Machines, Ambience by Garden Silk Mills and Govan Advertising was parented by Golden Tobacco. Later, these agencies grew in to fully fledge professional agencies, servicing several outside clients besides the owner company.

Short essay on Advertising Media


PAYAL KAMAT SHORT ESSAYS

The channel is needed to carry advertising message to the prospective consumers which is referred to as advertising medium or media. The advertiser can choose from variety of media such as print, audio-visual, broadcast media and so on. The selection of a right medium is very important because the success of promotional activity depends upon it. The popular media for advertising are:

Newspapers and magazines Radio and Television Outdoor and transit advertising Direct mail Point of purchase displays Motion pictures Other media Newspapers and Magazines: Newspapers carry the advertisements to a large cross section of the society. They have been the oldest leading medium for advertising at local and regional levels. Newspapers are effective for local and retail advertising. They provide flexibility in advertising. Advertisements can be accommodated at the last minute to take advantage of some special marketing situation. This is a low cost advertising medium. The main disadvantage of newspaper advertisements is that they have short life as they are of local nature and once the newspaper is read, it is kept aside thus the repeated exposure to the advertisement is not possible. Many people read the newspaper hurriedly and do not spare time in reading the advertisements. Moreover, 60 per cent of the space in

the newspaper is full of advertisements, so readers tend to not get attracted by the messages in the advertisements. Magazine advertisements are better in quality as compared to the newspaper advertisements and they have longer life. They offer high selectivity. When the magazines are for special interest groups, the scope of advertisement becomes limited. The disadvantage of magazine advertisements is that they many times lack timeliness as magazine printing takes long time depending on the periodicity of the magazine. Compared to newspaper, advertising in magazine is expensive, so it does not attract local retailer. Radio and Television: Radio was successful in advertising mainly because of large number of illiterates in India, who could not take advantage of print media till the invasion of television to our living rooms. Even after the television became the most popular medium for advertising, radio still is a broadcast medium with great outreach. It facilitates local advertising through its medium wave channels. The production cost of live radio advertisements is much low compared to print media and television advertisements, as its production is mainly concerned with effective oral communication. It requires microphone and audio amplifier. When an advertiser wants different voices, sound effects and music in the advertisement, recorded radio commercial is preferable. In the recorded radio commercials, the recorded disc or tape is to be supplied. Retailers buy radio time for the advertisements of their products. This is called Retail Radio Commercial. Television advertising has grown tremendously in the last fifteen years. Television provides for action, motion, sound and camera effects, music and verbal messages in advertisements. Therefore, it has become a popular medium for advertising.

Radio and Television sell air time in three general classes of area; network, spot and local. Network refers to television commercial on national broadcast or in prime time television programmes. Thus, the advertisers are able to have best time and reach to the national audience. It saves buying time on many local stations. Advertising during the prime time promotes the prestige of product as well as company. Spot refers to advertising in a special or particular geographical area. Spot broadcasting time is given in the network programme during the affiliated Kendras breaks or during delinking period. It enables the regional advertisers to use television as advertising medium and leaves scope for producing the commercial according to the regional consumer characteristics, needs and practices. Local television commercial refers to advertisements of retailers. They sponsor some programmes on TV. Many a times it is a cooperative effort of the retailers along with the manufacturer. Outdoor and Transit Advertising: It includes a variety of outdoor media such as hoardings, posters, information panels, bill boards, directional maps, mobile vans with loud speakers, and huge painted portraits. It also includes advertising on rail, bus and air terminals, building walls and highways. Advertising through wall displays, illuminated sky writings, electric spectaculars also come under this category. Outdoor advertising is the oldest and an important form of advertising medium. It is an effective medium of advertising in India, when illiteracy is higher. These are very effective and appealing, and create awareness and interest. These media draw the attention of the persons pressing through certain spots. These media offer long life. The details like contact addresses, names and addresses of local dealers, etc. can be given. Since they

have large illustration with bright colors, they also make good impact. The major limitation of outdoor advertising is that, since the message has to be in a brief, many times it becomes merely supplementary advertising. Detailed messages can be communicated through print media. The outdoor and front advertising offer sure exposure and repetitiveness. Direct Mail: It is a postal publicity. In this, the advertisements are sent directly to the prospective consumers by the advertiser himself. It could be through hand delivery, door to door distribution of advertisement or materials. It can be in the form of letter, leaflet, pamphlet, booklet, a catalogue, handout, circular etc. The main purpose of direct mail advertisements is to promote consumer interest and create goodwill, obtaining direct sales, to have personal touch, to provide for reading and thinking about the product at leisure. Point of Purchase: This method is also called dealer aids, dealer displays, or point of sale. In this method messages are directly communicated to the customers, inside outside and around a retail store. Window display, floor display, wall display, banners, samples, posters are usually used to promote sale at the store to attract the attention of the passers. These do not include labels, packages and containers. According to Rayudu, "The advertising materials at point of sale must be attractive, create interest, confidence, impression, educative and of information value. It is the last state to remind the buyer to buy". Motion Pictures:

Motion picture advertising is also called screen advertising. Movie theatres sell time for screening advertisement films as well as slides. These are shown before the main feature film, in intermission or between newsreel and feature film. Other Media: Advertising through other media includes advertising through telephones or any other directory. Bus or Train Time Tables, calendars, products such as key chains, pens, letter pads, appointment diaries, containers, and so on.

Short essay on Advertising as Mass Medium


PAYAL KAMAT SHORT ESSAYS

Advertising has been the tool of businessmen for centuries, to assist them in selling of their goods. As mass medium, it changes with changing markets, changing life styles, changing methods of distribution and changing techniques of communication. In the process of communication through advertisements, advertiser is the sender, the people and the technology used are the channels, the regulatory agencies or pressure groups constitute both feedback and noise and consumers are the receivers. Advertising has grown into an institution performing essential social and economic functions. The economic system of any country depends on the choices of the consumers. Through advertising, consumers are able to do much of their shopping before they ever leave home. Advertising in general renders a useful service to society and its members. It disseminates information that indicates differences between brands of products and types of services as also the distinguishing characteristics of institutions and manufacturers. Advertising serves as a powerful persuasive tool for the manufacturer creating a demand of his product. Many authors have argued that the power of advertising is so great that it deprives consumers of their discretion in the market place and makes it possible for suppliers to manage demand.

Advertising contains an element of persuasion. Even purely informative advertisements have all that is needed to persuade a reader or listener to buy the product. It involves a recognition or belief on the part of the reader or listener that the advertised product will satisfy a need or desire. It interprets the hidden qualities of the product in terms of basic human desires. Advertising communicates about a wide range of choices and facilitates the selection process. It increases consumption, raises standard of living and improves the quality of life of people. Thus it contributes to the development of the society. Advertising also contributes substantially to consumer education. This is vital in a society where consumers enjoy great freedom in choosing what to buy. Advertising educates with the help of illustration, comparisons, literature, demonstration, etc. Consumers choose the products they know and trust. Advertising as medium creates awareness and builds confidence in consumers. Thus advertising helps in making the economic system more responsive to consumer preferences. Ultimately it speeds up the process of resource allocation. It stimulates the manufacturers to compete in presentation of their goods in advertisement in an innovative way. Advertising affects the human values. Sometimes it creates wants for wrong things such as beer, liquor, cigarettes, chocolates etc. It creates value for luxuries. Thus people become dissatisfied with what they have. They desire for things which are not within their reach. People tend to have things in excess and thus it contributes to the wastage of many things such as food items, appliances, clothes, furniture, cosmetics, etc. Sandbag and Fryburger have rightly mentioned, "The Power of advertising is not that great. The audience's predispositions, their attitudes, beliefs, motives, and values largely determine the media

they select, the advertisements they see, the messages they accept, and the products they buy. Instead of forcing a response, advertising elicits responses the audience was predisposed to make. Advertising succeeds when it gives people what they want. Advertising as a medium is used for creating awareness about social problems. Advertising campaigns by government and social organizations dealing with importance of literacy, adult education, drug abuse, family planning etc., influence the thinking of the society and affect the consumption patterns of the consumers. Advertisements on environment protection, save water, healthy living, correct way to use cooking gas, save electricity etc., contribute to the welfare of a nation by educating citizens about what is beneficial and to urge them to act to secure such benefits. Advertising in India is performing a function of developing social conscience. An extensive application of advertising has been noticed in social services like, clean Ganga, donation of eyes, immunization, family planning, pollution, anti-drug addiction etc. Nowadays advertising is playing a crucial role all over the world in educating, informing, inspiring and motivating layman on a number of social issues and themes with casual commercial activities.

Short essay on Non-Product or Social Advertising


PAYAL KAMAT

SHORT ESSAYS

The term 'non-product advertising is a new field of advertising. It means advertising ideas which are not directly for the promotion or sell of the products or commercial services. It deals with the matters of public interest such as social change, political ideas, economic policies, developmental programmes etc. It is also known as 'Public Service Advertising' or 'Social Advertising'. Advertisements are important today, as indicators of social and economic progress. They reveal the direction of change in our values. In fact, a society without advertisements is inconceivable. Advertising has become an important medium of mass education and therefore the role it plays should be taken seriously. Advertising campaigns could improve in a way as to enhance the pace of development and usher social change. They can uplift the tone or tenor of the society. Social advertising is an important part of Indian public policy whether that policy relates to communications, family welfare, education, health, environment or to national integration. Various forms of persuasion are employed to educate people and create awareness among them regarding the prime issues concerning the country. Advertising and marketing campaigns through mass media are also given prime importance in this task so as to help masses understand development messages and participate in developmental programmes with favourable attitude. Today's big companies are becoming more and more conscious of projecting the image of a socially responsible company which accepts certain social responsibilities. This image is presented by way of public service advertising. They give out the message like anti-smoking, anti-drugs etc. in newspapers, on bill boards, and in the form of short advertisements on television.

Sometimes big advertising agencies, which are socially aware and concerned, produce these advertisements themselves, and produce it for the government or social organization on no profit, no loss basis. Advertisers can also sponsor cultural, social, sports or other activities or organized programmes related to health, hygiene or education including literacy by free distribution of booklets or other reading material. Free health check up camps is organized by big industries or public sectors. 'Garden' took up massive tree plantation in Surat. 'Reliance' contributed to sport awareness by organizing cricket matches; 'Nirma' conducted Bhagwat discourses. The 'Times of India' organized musical concerts, workshops, seminars, public speaking contests, essay competitions, etc. Thus, the beginning has been made in India by the advertisers to contribute to the development and welfare of the society, but still it has to go a long way. In the United States, public service advertising gets a big boost from the Advertising council, an organization those co-ordinates voluntary efforts of the entire advertising community. Advertiser and agency people donate their planning, research, and creative skills and efforts. The media donate free time and space, over a half-billion dollars a year in value. Many of these campaigns have been credited with enormous success, for instance, Forest Fire Prevention campaign, as said to have cut forest fires in natural resources. Another campaign, on high blood pressure is supposed to have resulted in increased testing for the disease, a doubling of patients on adequate therapy, and a three year increase in life expectancy. The social and economic welfare of a nation can be greatly enhanced when concerted and harmonious effort is exerted to educate citizens to an understanding of what is beneficial and to urge them to act to secure such benefits.

Advertising ideas, such as, reduce traffic congestion, improve health, conserve natural resources, plan families, educate girls, increase marriage age etc. serve basic social and economic needs. Thus, advertising approach is used in informing educating, and persuading the electorate on basic issues. Socially relevant advertising is still in its infancy in India. Certain campaigns are tailored to create public awareness. Advertisements campaign should have direct impact on social or public welfare. Tata Steel Limited had followed a novel way of distributing to its shareholders booklets like, 'Pearls of Wisdom' by Swami Vivekananda along with their annual reports. Thus, profits can be spent in a good cause which also generates more goodwill.

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