DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION
SEMESTER 3

DBB2105
ADVERTISING AND SALES

Unit 1 - Introduction to Advertising

1. INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

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DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

You have been reading, watching, listening and looking at advertising since you were a
child. So, it may seem a little silly to ask “what is advertising?” An educated observer,
however, looks at advertising as something more than a sales message that occupies the
space in and around news stories, magazine features and TV programs. In fact, it is a
complex form of communication that operates with objectives and strategies leading to
various types of impact on consumer thoughts, feelings and actions.

In a way, advertising is simple. It is about creating a message and sending it to someone,

hoping they will react in a certain way. You see it all your life in the many TV commercials
and advertisements in magazines, on billboards and the Internet and other places.

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or

listeners) to take some action with respect to products, ideas or services. Most commonly,
the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering,
although political and ideological advertising is also common. Advertising messages are
usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various media; including traditional media
such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor or direct mail or new media such
as websites and text messages.

Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or

services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an
effort to associate certain qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers.
Noncommercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a consumer
product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and
governmental agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free modes of persuasion,
such as a public service announcement.

Advertising has definitely become a major social force. As a consequence, advertisers are
watched closely by regulators and society. There is a growing awareness among
advertisers of their social responsibilities due to the influential nature of their discipline.
The chapter concludes by discussing the rising influence of globalization and diversity on
the field.

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DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

Self-Assessment Questions - 1

1. Advertising is the_________ of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in

nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors.
2. Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take

some action with respect to products, ideas or services. (True or False)

3. Most advertising tries to persuade or influence the consumer to do something,
although in some cases the point of the message is simply to inform consumers and
make them aware of the product or company. (True or False

Self -Assessment Questions –2

4.The four major roles advertising plays in business and society are. ___________,
__________, ______________
and ______________.

5.What are the five basic elements of advertising pyramid?

Self-Assessment Questions – 3

6. Mention the key players in advertising.

7. The______________
is composed of the channels of communication that carry the
_
message from the advertiser to the audien
ce, and in the case of Internet, it carries
the response from the audience back to the advertiser.

Self -Assessment Questions –4

8. ___________
focuses on the development of a long -term brand identity and image.
9. Institutional advertising is also sometimes called as_______________ .

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DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

9. SUMMARY
Let us now summarize the key points of this unit:

• Advertising has been with people since the dawn of civilization.

• Advertising is the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and
usually persuasive in nature.
• In a way, advertising is simple. It is about creating a message and sending it to
someone, hoping they will react in a certain way.
• Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience.
• Marketing, communications, economical and societal are the four roles that an
advertisement plays.
• Advertising tends to flourish in societies that enjoy some level of economic
abundance.
• Advertising is one tool that can help a company to achieve its goals. It is not the end,
but a means to reach the end.
• The basic aim of an advertising campaign is to draw attention of the viewers or
prospective customers.
• The five basic elements of advertising pyramid are attention, interest, desire, action
and satisfaction.
• The key players of an advertisement are the advertiser, the advertising agency, the
vendor, the media and the target audience. There are broadly seven different types of
advertisements-Brand advertising, Retail or local advertising, Direct-response
advertising, Business-to-Business advertising, Institutional advertising, Nonprofit
advertising, Public service advertising.

11. TERMINAL QUESTIONS

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DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

Q1 - Define advertisement and explain its major characteristics with examples.

Ans 1: Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience (viewers,
readers or listeners) to take some action with respect to products, ideas or services. The
major characteristics if advertisement are: -
i) Paid form of communication: Advertising is a paid form of communication, although
some forms of advertising such as Public Service Announcements (PSAs), use donated
space and time. EX: the brand Brylcreem is communicating with the potential
customers with the tagline ‘for successful men.
ii) Identified Sponsor: Not only is the message paid for, but the sponsor is also identified.
Ex: the sponsor is Unilever, the company that sells Brylcreem.
iii) Influence over consumer: Most advertising tries to persuade or influence the
consumer to do something, although in some cases the point of the message is simply
to inform consumers and make them aware of the product or company. Ex: Brylcreem
is trying to persuade the consumers with its message ’KEEP YOUR HAIR GLOSSIER,
BLACKER–with cooling white’.
iv) Reach: Advertising reaches a large audience of potential consumers.
v) Media: The message is conveyed through many different kinds of mass media, which
are largely non-personal. What that means is that advertising isn’t directed to a
specific person, although this is changing with the introduction of the Internet and
more interactive media.

Q2 - What are the various functions of advertising?

Ans 2: The functions of advertising are: -

i) To make the product distinct from the competitors’: For example, Maggi Noodles
advertising banks on the taste and quality which discriminate it from the other
noodles.
ii) To communicate information: When Maggi Noodles advertises, it clearly informs
how it is to be cooked. The procedure of cooking is narrated step by step.
iii) To provoke the users: The Maggi advertisement claims to be both healthy and tasty.
By offering extra in the same amount and telling several recipes for making it, the
advertisement pushes customer to buy the product.

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DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

iv) To expand the distribution: The Maggi brand initially started with production of
noodles. Later, it expanded to soups and ketchup to go for wider distribution.
v) To encourage brand preference and loyalty: By offering a slogan of ‘easy to cook and
ready to eat’, Maggi Noodles gave good reasons to consumers to stick to the brand.
Now, it has diversified to wheat noodles, cashing on the existing customer base. vi)
To reduce the sales cost: Different strategies for advertising were tried to achieve
more sale, which would automatically reduce the cost. Maggi Noodles sold in small
packet is an attempt to penetrate into the lower strata of society.

Q3 - Explain the advertising pyramid with a neat diagram.

Ans 3:
I. Attention - The first objective of advertising is to capture attention of the
consumer. The job is easy as even shouting or clapping can draw attention. For
print advertisement, this task is done by the headline, as it is the first element of
the advertisement to catch attention. Therefore, the copywriter usually makes
the headline very catchy by using the bigger fonts. The other techniques are to
use short punch lines in conversational language. The purpose will be defeated if
complex language is used, and the reader will not read further. The second way
by which attention can be caught is by using an appealing picture.
II. Interest - The advertisement’s next objective is to create interest in the readers
about the product. After giving a good headline, their interest is retained by
elaborating on the key features of the product. This is usually incorporated in the
body copy. The copywriter either does it openly or implies them. There is less
scope of exaggeration in this part, as this is more factual. However, the
presentation of information is important. The copywriter stimulates interest by
narrating a dramatic situation, citing a story or may be sprinkling humor. The
illustrators use cartoons and pictures to generate interest. In radio, the sound
effect and catchy dialogues in nasal voice may retain interest.

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DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

III. Desire - In this step, the advertisement creates a situation for the prospective
customer to enjoy benefits of the product vicariously. The writer creates a
situation that makes the reader feel as though there is a lot that is being missed if
one does not use the product. In print advertisement, copywriters fuel up
visualization by using phrases like ‘think yourself to be the most successful
person’, or ‘imagine’. In television, the strategy used is that after using the
product, the user is shown delighted and contented. The desire lays down the
possibility of having the product and captivates the consumer’s mind. This part
is handled delicately as the reader may get offended sometimes. It is one of the
difficult parts to write and that is why some of the copywriters omit it.
IV. Action - The purpose of this step is to motivate people to do something. No
advertisement is successful if it cannot induce any action. Several phrases like
‘offer closes by 30th June’, ‘buy now’, ‘limited stock’ are used to motivate
consumers to buy the product. This is not a difficult step, as the reader will
surely act if the copy is clear. Action demanded may be explicit like ‘call on us to
book, the stock is limited’ or implicit ‘fly the friendly sky’. Sometimes, the sachet
of the product is attached along with the advertisement as an action of inducing
devic

V. Satisfaction - The tip of the pyramid is satisfaction. After the product is bought,
the buyer should have a feel of satisfaction. The customer should always feel that
it has got the appropriate returns for the money spent. This parameter helps to
make the customer brand loyal in the long run.

Q4- Who are the key players of advertising?

Ans 4: The key players of advertising are: -
I. The advertiser – Advertising begins with the advertiser, the person or organization
that uses advertising to send out a message about its products. The advertiser
initiates the advertising effort by identifying a marketing problem that advertising
may solve. The VW (Volkswagen) story is one such example of how an advertiser
struggles to maintain its position in a changing market and also how its agency helps
as a partner in developing a communication strategy to address the problem. The
advertiser also makes the final decision about the target audience and the size of the
advertising budget. This person or organization also approves the advertising plan,
which contains details outlining the message and media strategies.

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DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

II. The advertising agency – The second player in the advertising world is the
advertising agency or department that creates the advertisement. Advertisers hire
independent agencies to plan and implement part or all of their advertising efforts.
This working arrangement is known as the agency– client partnership. There are
several ways advertisers organize to manage their advertising. Large advertisers,
either companies or organizations, participate in the adverting process either
through their in–house agencies or through the independent advertising agencies
like Leo Burnett worldwide or Lintas.
III. The media – The media is composed of the channels of communication that carry the
message from the advertiser to the audience and in the case of Internet, it carries the
response from the audience back to the advertiser. The development of mass media
has been a central factor in the development of advertising because mass media
offers a way to reach a widespread audience. The advantage of using mass media is
that the costs for time in broadcast media, for space in print media and for time and
space in interactive media are spread over a large number of people that these
media can reach.
IV. The vendors – The fourth player in the world of advertising is the group of service
organizations that assists advertisers, advertising agencies and the media in creating
and placing the advertisements, the suppliers or the vendors, who provide
specialized services. Members of this group include artists, writers, photographers,
directors, producers, printers, as well as self– employed freelancers and consultants.
V. The target audience – All advertising strategy starts with the identification of the
customer or prospective customer–the desired audience for the advertising
message. They are the most critical aspect of advertising where they cannot be
overlooked. The decision to buy or not to buy lies exclusively in the hands of the
potential customers who are being communicated through the advertisements.

Q5 - What are the various types of advertising?

Ans 5: The various types of advertising are: -

I. Brand advertising: The most visible of advertising is brand advertising such as that
for Coca Cola Coke, the Apple Macintosh which focus on the development of a long–

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DBB2105: Advertising and Sales Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ)

term brand identity and image. When the focus is for a long-term objective, they
focus more on a brand than the product.
II. Retail or local advertising: A great deal of advertising focuses on retailers or
manufactures that sell their merchandise in a certain geographical area. In the case
of retail advertising, the message announces facts about products that are available
in the nearby stores.
III. Direct-response advertising: Direct response advertising can use any advertising
medium, including direct mail. However, the message is different from the national
and the retail advertising; it tries to stimulate a sale directly. The consumer can
respond by telephone or mail or e-mail and the product is delivered directly to the
consumer by mail or some other carrier.
IV. Business-to-Business advertising: Business-to-Business advertising (B2B) is sent
from one business to another. For example, it includes messages directed at
companies distributing products, as well as industrial purchases and professionals
such as lawyers and physicians. B2B is not directed at general consumers.
V. Institutional advertising: Institutional advertising is also called corporate
advertising. These messages focus on establishing a corporate identity or winning
the public over to the organization’s point of view.
VI. Nonprofit advertising: Not-for-profit organizations such as charities, foundations,
associations, hospitals, etc. advertise for donation and other fund-raising events.
The motive behind this type of advertising is not profit generation through sales, but
information to the public for raising funds needed to run the organization.
VII. Public service advertising: These communicate a message on behalf of some good
cause, such as AIDS awareness, preventing child abuse or right to education. These
advertisements are usually created by advertising professionals free of charge, and
the media often donates the necessary space and time.

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