Advertising Factors

There are some variables or factors that need to be considered when creating an advertising.

These factors are waste, reach, frequency, message permanence, persuasive impact and

clutter.

Waste is the portion of an audience that is not in a firm's target market. Because media

appeal to mass audiences, waste is a significant factor in advertising. For example, a firm

plans to place an advertising of a new digital camera in a special-interest magazine for

amateur photographers. Through research, this firm knows that 450,000 readers will have an

interest in a new camera; 50.000 will have no interest. The latter represents the wasted

audience for an ad on that film.

Reach refers to the number of viewers or readers in the audience. For television and radio,

reach is the total number of people who are exposed to an advertisement. For print media,

reach has two components, circulation and pass along rate. Circulation is the number of

copies sold or distributed to consumers. Pass along rate is the number of each copy is placed

with another reader. For example, each copy of Newsweek is read by about six people.

Frequency is how often a medium can be used. It is greatest for newspapers, radio, and

television, where ads may appear daily and advertising strategy may be easily changed.

Telephone directories, outdoor ads, and magazines have the poorest frequency. A Yellow

Pages ad may be placed or changed only once per year.

Message permanence refers to the number of exposures one advertisement generates and

how long it remains with the audience. Outdoor ads, transit ads, and telephone directories

yield many exposures per message. In addition, many magazines are retained by consumers

for long periods of time. On the other hand, radio and television commercials last only 5 to

60 seconds and are over.

Persuasive impact is the ability of a medium to stimulate consumers. Television often has the

highest persuasive impact because it is able to combine audio, video, color, animation, and

other appeals. Magazines also have high persuasive impact. Many newspapers are improving

their technology in order to feature color ads and increase their persuasive impact.

Clutter involves the number of ads that are contained in a single program, issue, etc. of a

medium. Clutter is low when a limited number of ads is presented, such as Hallmark placing

a few scattered commercials on its television specials. Clutter is high when many ads are

presented, such as the large number of supermarket ads in the Wednesday issue of a

newspaper. Increasingly, television networks are being criticized for permitting too much

clutter, particularly in allowing companies to sponsor very brief commercials (e. g., 15

seconds or shorter).

Marketing communication

In the traditional manner, the communication between two humans involves a simple process

which is as follows.

Sender —> Encoding —> Message —> Decoding —> Receiver

Like the above human model, Marketing communications too involves a communication

message being sent from the Sender (which can be a company, product or a brand) to a

receiver (who can be an audience, your target group, stakeholders or anyone whom you want

to target your message)

Sender and Receiver – In marketing communications, there are two main entities “Sender”

and “Receiver”. The sender may be the company wanting to target the consumer group. The

receiver is the consumer himself. There are several features which you need to know about

the sender and receiver before the communication process begins, like their demographics,

financial power and their compatibility. If a sender is a sports shoes maker, but the message is

received by 60 years old customers, then the marketing communications may fail. The sender

needs to know beforehand who the receiver of the message is going to be. This is why the

process of segmentation targeting and positioning is done before marketing communications

begins.

Encoding – The message needs to be bundled in the right format for the sender to send the

appropriate message to the receiver. This is known as encoding. In

marketing communications, this is where advertising agencies play an important role.

Depending on the choice of the sender, the creative ad agencies encode the message in the

proper format. The format depends on the type of media vehicle being used to deliver the

communication message. Thus, you will find that a radio message, a TV message or a print

message are encoded differently as all of them have their own pros and cons. Whatever media

vehicle / message format you may use, the focus message needs to be the same.

Message decisions – During marketing communications, there are various ways in which the

message can be sent to the end customers. Television and print is known to have the highest

retention and hence advertisers use them the most. Other then these 2, there is radio

marketing, online marketing, out of home media, banner advertising, so on and so forth. Any

of these media vehicles can carry your message. The important point here is that the message

should reach to as large a target audience as possible. In the sales funnel, the more prospects

you have the more would be the conversion rate. Thus the objective of a message is to reach

as many prospects as possible. A proper message can immediately connect you with your

target group, build a better brand positioning, and thereby give an immediate boost to your

organization. Marketing communications messages can be of various types. Some of the

normally used ones are

Introducing a new product

Creating awareness

Building brand image

Sales promotion offers

Customer retention

A marketing message therefore needs to be altered on the basis of these three fundamental

factors

a) Media vehicle to be used

b) What is the objective of the message

c) Which is the target group

Decoding – Decoding a message is not in the hands of the sender. It is instead done by the

receiver. All the sender can do is encode the message as best as he can and ensure that it

reaches the receiver. The receiver than decodes the message.

For example – If i show you a shoe in muddy water, some of you might not be interested in

the image, some of you might think this is an advertising for the shoe, and some of you might

get the message that i am trying to show a shoe which is water proof and easy to clean. Thus,

if i am unable to get the message across to most of my audiences, than i fail as a marketer. I

need to ensure that decoding of the message is as easy as possible for the receiver. This is the

essence of Marketing communications. This is the reason why agencies such as O&M, Lowe

lintas etc get such a high fee. Because their messages can be decoded easily by the end user

and by the masses.

Receiver – The receiver is the one making the decision after decoding the message. In other

words, the receiver is your end customer / prospect. Thus the receiver is a very important

entity in the marketing communications process. Ideally, the receiver should act on the

message he has received. Thus if your message was of a sales promotion, your receiver will

go ahead and purchase the product. However, as in any situation, there are different variants

of receivers. Some will completely ignore the message, some will use it for reference later

and others will act on it.

To make sure that the receiver acts on the message, integrated marketing communications

is used. The same message is sent in different formats through various media vehicles. The

receiver receives the same message in differently encoded format and decodes it. This is why

nowadays advertising frequency plays an important role in converting prospects to customers.

As FMCG companies have the maximum consumer interactions, they are known to use

integrated marketing communications in the best manner.

Feedback – Nowadays, another factor which has been added to the marketing

communications model is the feedback parameter. This is because taking feedback is gaining

importance with the noise that happens due to too many products being advertised. Thus after

an ad campaign for increasing awareness of a product, the company can take market feedback

to know what percentage of target customers are aware of the new product. This feedback

will tell the company whether its advertising strategy was right or wrong.

In the end, you have to understand that marketing communications is not just an interaction

between the company and the end customer. Rather it involves the presence of numerous

entities. Marketing communications is an art in itself. A significant amount of an

organizations resources are used to ensure that the right message reaches the end customers

and the end customer acts in a desired manner.

MEDIA SELECTION IN ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT

A highly creative ad copy may not be able to deliver results if there is an improper selection

of media or a poor media plan and strategy .In evolving a media plan, decisions have to be

taken in respect to the following media factors

1. Media class This refers to the type of medium which is most appropriate to the product and

ad copy. This includes newspaper, magazines ,television ,radio, billboards and direct mail.

2. Media vehicles They provide the immediate environment for the advertisement .For

example ,within the newspaper, the Times of India is a media vehicle; in television Zee TVs

Antakshari is the vehicle.

3. Media Option This refers to the size(full or half page),length (30seconds or 60

seconds)color or location(like front page bottom right or prime time 9.00 p.m) of the ad in the

media vehicle.

4. Scheduling and timing This refers to how media options are scheduled over a period of

time. the strategic options here are

(i) Flighting—i.e periods of total inactivity.

(ii) Continuous— i.e even distribution of advertising during a time period.

(iii) Pulsing—- a continuous base augmented by intermittent bursts of heavy advertising.

Flighting is useful in products whose demand is seasonal. After the season ,the demand for

these products ceases to exist .A typical example is that of desert coolers in North Indian

States like Uttar Pradesh ,Madhya Pradesh ,Rajasthan ,Haryana ,Punjab, Bihar and Delhi. The

demand for such coolers emerge during the summer months April to July and declines soon

after the monsoon sets in .Hence it pays to advertise desert coolers or its components like

exhaust fans and pumps etc. during the summer months only and then discontinue until the

subsequent year .So for products whose demand is seasonal, the flighting strategy works well.

Continuous advertising is a good strategy for products like textile .toiletries, etc .whose

demand is not limited to specific seasons .Here the objectives of the firm is to retain its

brand/s at the top of the customers mind and hence continuous visibility through reminder ads

and other such tactics.

Pulsing works in products like soft drinks and ice creams whose demand is high during

summer months and after that the demand does decline but not to zero sales level .The

demand goes down to the minimum level which is between no demand to the peak demand.

The objective advertising is to ensure higher sales volume and market share.

In the evolution of a media plan ,both quantitative (like circulation or view ship statistics,

costs etc)and qualitative (like the profile of target audience ,mood created by media vehicles

and the like )factors have to be considered. While data on circulation or viewer ship ,etc is

available from sources like Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) ,National Readership Survey

(NRS)and even different publishing houses ,cost of an ad insertion is available from the

publisher or DD etc. The qualitative factors for each media is to be collected through a

market research. One of the quantitative criteria used in selecting the media is cost per

thousand i.e cost per thousands people reached by a particular vehicle. This is calculated by

dividing reach of the vehicles by the cost of an ad in it. Suppose the reach(readership)of

newspaper A is 1,20,00,000 persons and the cost of a full page ad in it is Rs 10,000;then cost

per thousand of advertising in this paper is Rs.0.83 p only .But another newspaper whose

readership may be only 70,00,000 persons ,the cost of the same ad maybe just

rs.7,000.Considering cost per thousand(which is re.1.00), we find that advertising in

newspaper A is a better alternatives.

Wile cost per thousand is an important consideration ,one has to also examine the quality of

readership and view ship and whether the audience goes through the entire newspaper or

magazine or waits and watches the entire programs .In other words ,though cost per thousand

in a newspaper like the Times of India may be the lowest, if the research shows that most

readers just glance through the headlines or through the newspaper ,then actually the cost is

much higher .As the effective readership may be lower. The same holds good for TV or video

advertising.

Next variable is the mood created by the media vehicle. India Today creates a different mood

than the Illustrated Weekly. Womans era creates a different mood than Savvy or Society.

Likewise, Playboy has a different mood environment and Star T.V ‘s Santa Barbara creates

a different mood than the Doordarshan serial, Hum Log. Research suggests that generally the

mood created by reading or viewing an item or a programs gets transferred to the product

being advertised in the vehicle.

Hence, in selecting the media one has to determine the desired number of exposures to the

target audience in the appropriate vehicle. The number of exposures is based on the

advertiser’s objective. It could be trial which is based on increased awareness. Assume

the rate of trial increases at a diminishing rate with the level of audience awareness as shown.

The Planning process of Advertisements Campaigns include the following activities:

1. Situation Appraisal- before planning any activity, one requires relevant information

regarding the situation. For planning an Ad campaign, we require information about the

target market or consumer, the company or product and the competition. The three important

research areas are:

Consumer research and market research

Product and company research

Competitive research

2. Situation Analysis- (analyzing strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) From all the

information collected, campaigns planners find out the strengths of the product. These

strengths could be in any area. The strength often leads to new opportunities to be explored.

Weaknesses make the product vulnerable to threats from others.

3. Structural or Strategic Planning- Advertising is an art and a science. While the art

comes from writing, designing and producing exciting advertisements, the science comes

from scientific methods of research and strategic planning. Strategic planning is the process

of making intelligent decisions. It starts with finding out what to do, deciding how to

accomplish the objectives. It also decides whom to address (the target audience), how to

distinguish the product, how much to spend (budgeting), and how long to run the campaign.

4. Creative Planning- it includes developing a theme, the creative strategy and finally

deciding the creative tactics. The theme needs to be a strong concept to be able to hold all

there different and diverse ads together. A powerful theme brings about ‘synergy’ to the

campaign. A theme must always relate to and reflect the campaign objectives. Another step

of creative planning is finding the creative strategy. The creative strategy outlines the

impressions the campaign wants to create. Some common creative strategies are:

Generic Strategy- this is used by market leaders who ignore the presence of

competitors

Pre-emptive claim strategy- here the brand is the first to pick up a particular feature.

In the minds of the people, it becomes associated with that brand.

Unique selling proposition (USP) strategy- here the campaign talks about some

features, which is unique to that advertised brand and is not available in others.

Brand image strategy: when there are no strong differentiating features among the

competitors, then branding try and create images.

Product Positioning- some times products or brands are positioned different from

competing brands.

5. Media Planning- the ultimate goal of advertising is to reach the target audience with the

advertising message. Thus, the major decisions in media planning, which needs to be taken,

are:

Which media to be used?

Where to advertise (geographic region)?

When to advertise (timing and scheduling)?

How intense the exposure should be (frequency)?

Media planning is a ‘behind the scene’ part of advertising. It plays an integral role in merging

the science of marketing with the art of advertising. A media planner has to find out about the

availability of various media, the media rates, their reaches and also analyze their

effectiveness.

Media strategy:

Every work to be done needs a plan of action so that the work is done in a desired and correct

manner. Media Strategy plays a very important role in Advertising. The role of Media

Strategy is to find out the right path to transfer or say deliver the message to the targeted

customers.

How many people see or hear or read all the advertisements or promotional offers and buy

the product or service? The basic intention of media strategy is not only procuring customers

for their product but also placing a right message to the right people on the right time and of

course that message should be persuasive and relevant. So, here the planners of the

organization decide the Media Strategy to be used but keeping the budget always in mind.

The Media Strategy process has three “W”s to be decided. They are

Where to advertise ?

When to advertise ?

What media type to use ?

Where is the place for showing or delivering advertisement. In short it means the

geographical area from where it should be visible to the customers who use or are most likely

to use the product or services offered. The place does not mean only TV or radio but it can

also be newspapers, blogs, sponsorships, hoardings on roads, ads in the movie break in

theatres, etc. The area varies from place to place like it can be on national basis, state basis

and for local brands it can be on city basis.

When is the timing to show or run advertisement. For e.g. you cannot show a raincoat ad

in the winter season but you need to telecast ad as soon as the summer season is coming to an

end and rainy season is just about to begin. The ad should be delivered with perfect timing

when most customers are like to buy the product. The planners need to plan it keeping the

budget in mind as the maximum of 20% of revenues of the company can be used in the

advertisement section. Different products have different time length for advertisements. Some

products need year long ads as they have nothing to do with seasonal variations e.g. small

things like biscuits, soaps, pens, etc and big services like vehicle insurance, refrigerators, etc.

Some products need for three or four months. E.g. umbrellas, cold creams, etc. So the

planners have to plan the budget according to the time length so that there is no short of

money at any time in this process.

What is what type of media is to be used for delivering the message.

There are basically two media approaches to choose from.

Media Concentration approach

Media Dispersion Approach

In media concentration approach, the number of categories of media is less. The money is

spent on concentrating on only few media types say two or three. This approach is generally

used for those companies who are not very confident and have to share the place with the

other competitors. They don’t want anyone to get confused with there brand name so this is

the safest approach as the message reaches the target consumers.

In media dispersion approach, there are more number of categories of media used to

advertise. This approach is considered and practiced by only those people who know that a

single or two types of media will not reach their target. They place their product ads in many

categories like TV, radio, internet, distributing pamphlets, sending messages to mobiles, etc.

Selection of Media Category

Whichever category is selected by the planners of the organization, they should select a

proper media to convey their message.

If the product is for a big amount of customers then a mass media option can be selected like

TV, radio or newspaper. The best examples for this type are detergent ads, children health

drinks and major regular used products such as soap, shampoo, toothpastes etc.

If the planners want to change the mind of people doing window shopping or just doing

shopping for sake of name, then point of purchase type can be opted by the company. This

helps the company to explain their point to the buyers and convince the buyers to go for their

product.

If the planners want to sell their product on one to one basis, then the third option is direct

response type. Here, the company people directly contact the customers via emails, text

messages, phone calls or meeting for giving demos. The best example of this type of media is

the Life cell Cord Blood Banking. They go to their customers, explain them what it is all

about and try to convince them.

Thus, this process of media strategy plays an important and vital role in the field of

Advertising.

Classifications of advertising

Advertising is the promotion of a company’s products and services though different mediums

to increase the sales of the product and services. It works by making the customer aware of

the product and by focusing on customer’s need to buy the product. Globally, advertising has

become an essential part of the corporate world. Therefore, companies allot a huge part of

their revenues to the advertising budget. Advertising also serves to build a brand of the

product which goes a long way to make effective sales.

There are several branches or types of advertising which can be used by the companies.

Let us discuss them in detail.

Classification of Advertising

1. Print Advertising - The print media has been used for advertising since long. The

newspapers and magazines are quite popular modes of advertising for different

companies all over the world. Using the print media, the companies can also promote

their products through brochures and fliers. The newspaper and magazines sell the

advertising space and the cost depends on several factors. The quantity of space, the

page of the publication, and the type of paper decide the cost of the advertisement. So

an ad on the front page would be costlier than on inside pages. Similarly an ad in the

glossy supplement of the paper would be more expensive than in a mediocre quality

paper.

2. Broadcast Advertising - This type of advertising is very popular all around the world.

It consists of television, radio, or Internet advertising. The ads on the television have a

large audience and are very popular. The cost of the advertisement depends on the

length of the ad and the time at which the ad would be appearing. For example, the

prime time ads would be more costly than the regular ones. Radio advertising is not

what it used to be after the advent of television and Internet, but still there is specific

audience for the radio ads too. The radio jingles are quite popular in sections of

society and help to sell the products.

3. Outdoor Advertising - Outdoor advertising makes use of different tools to gain

customer’s attention. The billboards, kiosks, and events and tradeshows are an

effective way to convey the message of the company. The billboards are present all

around the city but the content should be such that it attracts the attention of the

customer. The kiosks are an easy outlet of the products and serve as information

outlets for the people too. Organizing events such as trade fairs and exhibitions for

promotion of the product or service also in a way advertises the product. Therefore,

outdoor advertising is an effective advertising tool.

4. Covert Advertising - This is a unique way of advertising in which the product or the

message is subtly included in a movie or TV serial. There is no actual ad, just the

mention of the product in the movie. For example, Tom Cruise used the Nokia phone

in the movie Minority Report.

5. Public Service Advertising - As evident from the title itself, such advertising is for the

public causes. There are a host of important matters such as AIDS, political integrity,

energy conservation, illiteracy, poverty and so on all of which need more awareness

as far as general public is concerned. This type of advertising has gained much

importance in recent times and is an effective tool to convey the message.

Objectives of advertising

Advertising is the best way to communicate to the customers. Advertising helps informs the

customers about the brands available in the market and the variety of products useful to them.

Advertising is for everybody including kids, young and old. It is done using various media

types, with different techniques and methods most suited.

Let us take a look on the main objectives and importance of advertising.

Objectives of Advertising

Four main Objectives of advertising are:

i. Trial

ii. Continuity

iii. Brand switch

iv. Switching back

Let’s take a look on these various types of objectives.

1. Trial: the companies which are in their introduction stage generally work for this

objective. The trial objective is the one which involves convincing the customers to

buy the new product introduced in the market. Here, the advertisers use flashy and

attractive ads to make customers take a look on the products and purchase for trials.

2. Continuity: this objective is concerned about keeping the existing customers to stick

on to the product. The advertisers here generally keep on bringing something new in

the product and the advertisement so that the existing customers keep buying their

products.

3. Brand switch: this objective is basically for those companies who want to attract the

customers of the competitors. Here, the advertisers try to convince the customers to

switch from the existing brand they are using to their product.

4. Switching back: this objective is for the companies who want their previous

customers back, who have switched to their competitors. The advertisers use different

ways to attract the customers back like discount sale, new advertise, some reworking

done on packaging, etc.

Basically, advertising is a very artistic way of communicating with the customers. The main

characteristics one should have to get on their objectives are great communication skills and

very good convincing power.

Importance of Advertising

Advertising plays a very important role in today’s age of competition. Advertising is one

thing which has become a necessity for everybody in today’s day to day life, be it the

producer, the traders, or the customer. Advertising is an important part. Lets have a look on

how and where is advertising important:

1. Advertising is important for the customers

Just imagine television or a newspaper or a radio channel without an advertisement!

No, no one can any day imagine this. Advertising plays a very important role in

customers life. Customers are the people who buy the product only after they are

made aware of the products available in the market. If the product is not advertised,

no customer will come to know what products are available and will not buy the

product even if the product was for their benefit. One more thing is that advertising

helps people find the best products for themselves, their kids, and their family. When

they come to know about the range of products, they are able to compare the products

and buy so that they get what they desire after spending their valuable money. Thus,

advertising is important for the customers.

2. Advertising is important for the seller and companies producing the products

Yes, advertising plays very important role for the producers and the sellers of the

products, because

Advertising helps increasing sales

Advertising helps producers or the companies to know their competitors and

plan accordingly to meet up the level of competition.

If any company wants to introduce or launch a new product in the market,

advertising will make a ground for the product. Advertising helps making

people aware of the new product so that the consumers come and try the

product.

Advertising helps creating goodwill for the company and gains customer

loyalty after reaching a mature age.

The demand for the product keeps on coming with the help of advertising and

demand and supply become a never ending process.

3. Advertising is important for the society

Advertising helps educating people. There are some social issues also which

advertising deals with like child labour, liquor consumption, girl child killing,

smoking, family planning education, etc. thus, advertising plays a very important role

in society.

Advertising agencies

“The work of a tailor is to collect the raw material, find matching threads, cut the cloth in

desired shape, finally stitch the cloth and deliver it to the customer.”

Advertising Agency is just like a tailor. It creates the ads, plans how, when and where it

should be delivered and hands it over to the client. Advertising agencies are mostly not

dependent on any organizations.

These agencies take all the efforts for selling the product of the clients. They have a group of

people expert in their particular fields, thus helping the companies or organizations to reach

their target customer in an easy and simple way.

The first Advertising Agency was William Taylor in 1786 followed by James “Jem” White in

1800 in London and Reynell & Son in 1812.

Role of Advertising Agencies

1. Creating an advertise on the basis of information gathered about product

2. Doing research on the company and the product and reactions of the customers.

3. Planning for type of media to be used, when and where to be used, and for how much

time to be used.

4. Taking the feedbacks from the clients as well as the customers and then deciding the

further line of action

All companies can do this work by themselves. They can make ads, print or advertise them

on televisions or other media places; they can manage the accounts also. Then why do they

need advertising agencies? The reasons behind hiring the advertising agencies by the

companies are:

The agencies are expert in this field. They have a team of different people for

different functions like copywriters, art directors, planners, etc.

The agencies make optimum use of these people, their experience and their

knowledge.

They work with an objective and are very professionals.

Hiring them leads in saving the costs up to some extent.

There are basically 5 types of advertising agencies.

1. Full service Agencies

Large size agencies.

Deals with all stages of advertisement.

Different expert people for different departments.

Starts work from gathering data and analyzing and ends on payment of bills to

the media people.

2. Interactive Agencies

Modernized modes of communication are used.

Uses online advertisements, sending personal messages on mobile phones, etc.

The ads produced are very interactive, having very new concepts, and very

innovative.

3. Creative Boutiques

Very creative and innovative ads.

No other function is performed other than creating actual ads.

Small sized agencies with their own copywriters, directors, and creative

people.

4. Media Buying Agencies

Buys place for advertise and sells it to the advertisers.

Sells time in which advertisement will be placed.

Schedules slots at different television channels and radio stations.

Finally supervises or checks whether the ad has been telecasted at opted time

and place or not.

5. In-House Agencies

As good as the full service agencies.

Big organization prefers these type of agencies which are in built and work

only for them.

These agencies work as per the requirements of the organizations.

Social and Economical Aspects of Advertising

“Every coin has two sides”

Advertising is praised but also criticized by critics in their own ways. Advertising has many

positive impacts along with its negative pictures. As the President of American Association

of Advertising Agencies, John O’ Toole has described advertise is something else. It is not

related to studies, but it educates. It is not a journalist but gives all information. And it is not

an entertaining device but entertains everyone.

Now let’s go through the economic and social aspects of advertising.

Economic role of Advertising

Value of Products:

The advertised products are not always the best products in the market. There are some

unadvertised products also present which are good enough. But advertising helps increase

value for the products by showing the positive image of the product which in turn helps

convincing customers to buy it. Advertising educates consumers about the uses of the

products hence increasing its value in minds of the consumers. For e.g. mobile phones were

first considered as necessity but nowadays the cell phones come with number of features

which makes them mode of convenience for consumers.

Effect on Prices:

Some advertised products do cost more than unadvertised products but the vice versa is also

true. But if there is more competition in the market for those products, the prices have to

come down, for e.g., canned juices from various brands. Thus some professional like

chartered accountants and doctors are not allowed to advertise.

But some products do not advertise much, and they don’t need much of it and even their

prices are high but they are still the leaders in market as they have their brand name. e.g.,

Porsche cars

Effect on consumer demand and choices:

Even if the product is heavily advertised, it does not mean that the demand or say

consumption rates will also increase. The product has to be different with better quality, and

more variety than others. For E.g., Kellogg’s cornflakes have variety of flavors with different

ranges to offer for different age groups and now also for people who want to loose weight

thus giving consumers different choices to select from.

Effect on business cycle:

Advertising no doubt helps in employing more number of people. It increases the pay rolls of

people working in this field. It helps collecting more revenues for sellers which they use for

betterment of product and services. But there are some bad effects of advertisements on

business cycle also. Sometimes, consumer may find the foreign product better than going for

the national brand. This will definitely effect the production which may in turn affect the

GDP of the country.

The economic aspects are supported by the Abundance Principle which says producing more

products and services than the consumption rate which helps firstly keeping consumers

informed about the options they have and secondly helps sellers for playing in healthy and

competitive atmosphere with their self interest.

Social role of Advertising:

There are some positive and some negative aspects of advertising on the social ground. They

are as follows.

Deception in Advertising:

The relation between the buyers and sellers is maintained if the buyers are satisfied with what

they saw in advertise and what they got after buying that product. If seller shows a false or

deceptive image and an exaggerated image of the product in the advertisement, then the

relation between the seller and buyers can’t be healthy. These problems can be overcome if

the seller keep their ads clean and displays right image of the product.

The Subliminal Advertising:

Capturing the Minds of the consumers is the main intention of these ads. The ads are made in

such a way that the consumers don’t even realizes that the ad has made an impact on their

minds and this results in buying the product which they don’t even need. But “All ads don’t

impress all consumers at all times”, because majority of consumers buy products on basis of

the price and needs.

Effect on Our Value System:

The advertisers use puffing tactics, endorsements from celebrities, and play emotionally,

which makes ads so powerful that the consumers like helpless preys buy those products.

These ads make poor people buy products which they can’t afford, people picking up bad

habits like smoking and drinking, and buy products just because their favorite actor endorsed

that product. This affects in increased the cost of whole society and loss of values of our own

selves.

Offensiveness:

Some ads are so offensive that they are not acceptable by the buyers. For example, the ads of

denim jeans showed girls wearing very less clothes and making a sex appeal. These kinds of

ads are irrelevant to the actual product. Btu then there is some ads which are educative also

and now accepted by people. Earlier ads giving information about birth control pills was

considered offensive but now the same ads are considered educative and important.

But at the last, there are some great positive aspects which help

Development of society and growth of technologies

Employment

Gives choices to buyers with self interest

Welcomes healthy competition

Improving standard of living.

Give information on social, economical and health issues.

Steps in Advertising Process

“Mass demand has been created almost entirely through the development of Advertising”

Calvin Coolidge in the New York Public Library.

For the development of advertising and to get best results one need to follow the advertising

process step by step.

The following are the steps involved in the process of advertising:

1. Step 1 - Briefing: the advertiser needs to brief about the product or the service which

has to be advertised and doing the SWOT analysis of the company and the product.

2. Step 2 - Knowing the Objective: one should first know the objective or the purpose

of advertising. i.e. what message is to be delivered to the audience?

3. Step 3 - Research: this step involves finding out the market behavior, knowing the

competitors, what type of advertising they are using, what is the response of the

consumers, availability of the resources needed in the process, etc.

4. Step 4 - Target Audience: the next step is to identify the target consumers most

likely to buy the product. The target should be appropriately identified without any

confusion. For e.g. if the product is a health drink for growing kids, then the target

customers will be the parents who are going to buy it and not the kids who are going

to drink it.

5. Step 5 - Media Selection: now that the target audience is identified, one should select

an appropriate media for advertising so that the customers who are to be informed

about the product and are willing to buy are successfully reached.

6. Step 6 - Setting the Budget: then the advertising budget has to be planned so that

there is no short of funds or excess of funds during the process of advertising and also

there are no losses to the company.

7. Step 7 - Designing and Creating the Ad: first the design that is the outline of ad on

papers is made by the copywriters of the agency, then the actual creation of ad is done

with help of the art directors and the creative personnel of the agency.

8. Step 8 - Perfection: then the created ad is re-examined and the ad is redefined to

make it perfect to enter the market.

9. Step 9 - Place and Time of Ad: the next step is to decide where and when the ad will

be shown.

The place will be decided according to the target customers where the ad is most

visible clearly to them. The finalization of time on which the ad will be telecasted or

shown on the selected media will be done by the traffic department of the agency.

10. Step 10 - Execution: finally the advertise is released with perfect creation, perfect

placement and perfect timing in the market.

11. Step 11 - Performance: the last step is to judge the performance of the ad in terms of

the response from the customers, whether they are satisfied with the ad and the

product, did the ad reached all the targeted people, was the advertise capable enough

to compete with the other players, etc. Every point is studied properly and changes are

made, if any.

If these steps are followed properly then there has to be a successful beginning for the

product in the market

Advertising techniques

Today every company needs to advertise its product to inform the customers about the

product, increase the sales, acquire market value, and gain reputation and name in the

industry. Every business spends lot of money for advertising their products but the money

spent will lead to success only when the best techniques of advertising are used for the

product. So here are some very common and most used techniques used by the

advertisers to get desired results.

1. Emotional Appeal

This technique of advertising is done with help of two factors - needs of consumers

and fear factor. Most common appeals under need are:

need for something new

need for getting acceptance

need for not being ignored

need for change of old things

need for security

need to become attractive, etc.

Most common appeals under fear are:

fear of accident

fear of death

fear of being avoided

fear of getting sick

fear of getting old, etc.

2. Promotional Advertising

This technique involves giving away samples of the product for free to the consumers.

The items are offered in the trade fairs, promotional events, and ad campaigns in order

to gain the attention of the customers.

3. Bandwagon Advertising

This type of technique involves convincing the customers to join the group of people

who have bought this product and be on the winning side. For e.g. recent Pantene

shampoo ad which says “15crores women trusted Pantene, and you?”

4. Facts and Statistics

Here, advertisers use numbers, proofs, and real examples to show how good their

product works. For e.g. “Lizol floor cleaner cleans 99.99% germs” or “Colgate is

recommended by 70% of the dentists of the world” or Eno - just 6 seconds.

5. Unfinished Ads

The advertisers here just play with words by saying that their product works better but

don’t answer how much more than the competitor. For e.g. Lays - no one can eat just

one or Horlicks - more nutrition daily. The ads don’t say who can eat more or how

much more nutrition.

6. Weasel Words

In this technique, the advertisers don’t say that they are the best from the rest, but

don’t also deny. E.g. Sunsilk Hairfall Solution - reduces hairfall. The ad doesn’t say

stops hairfall.

7. Endorsements

The advertisers use celebrities to advertise their products. The celebrities or star

endorse the product by telling their own experiences with the product. Recently a

diamond jewellery ad had superstar Amitabh Bacchan and his wife Jaya advertising

the product. The ad showed how he impressed his wife by making a smart choice of

buying this brand. Again, Sachin tendulkar, a cricket star, endorsed for a shoe brand.

8. Complementing the Customers

Here, the advertisers used punch lines which complement the consumers who buy

their products. E.g. Revlon says “Because you are worth it.”

9. Ideal Family and Ideal Kids

The advertisers using this technique show that the families or kids using their product

are a happy go lucky family. The ad always has a neat and well furnished home, well

mannered kids and the family is a simple and sweet kind of family. E.g. a dettol soap

ad shows everyone in the family using that soap and so is always protected from

germs. They show a florescent color line covering whole body of each family member

when compared to other people who don’t use this soap.

10. Patriotic Advertisements

These ads show how one can support their country while he uses their product or

service. For e. g some products together formed a union and claimed in their ad that if

you buy any one of these products, you are going to help a child to go to school. One

more cellular company ad had a celebrity showing that if the customers use this

company’s sim card, then they can help control population of the country.

11. Questioning the Customers

The advertisers using this technique ask questions to the consumers to get response

for their products. E.g. Amway advertisement keeps on asking questions like who has

so many farms completely organic in nature, who gives the strength to climb up the

stairs at the age of 70, who makes the kids grow in a proper and nutritious ways, is

there anyone who is listening to these entire questions. And then at last the answer

comes - “Amway : We are Listening.”

12. Bribe

This technique is used to bribe the customers with some thing extra if they buy the

product using lines like “buy one shirt and get one free”, or “be the member for the

club for two years and get 20% off on all services.”

13. Surrogate Advertising

This technique is generally used by the companies which cannot advertise their

products directly. The advertisers use indirect advertisements to advertise their

product so that the customers know about the actual product. The biggest example of

this technique is liquor ads. These ads never show anyone drinking actual liquor and

in place of that they are shown drinking some mineral water, soft drink or soda.

These are the major techniques used by the advertisers to advertise their product. There are

some different techniques used for online advertising such as web banner advertising in

which a banner is placed on web pages, content advertising using content to advertise the

product online, link advertising giving links on different sites to directly visit the product

website, etc.

Advertising budget

Advertising Budget is the amount of money which can be or has to be spent on

advertising of the product to promote it, reach the target consumers and make the sales

chart go on the upper side and give reasonable profits to the company.

Before finalizing the advertising budget of an organization or a company, one has to take a

look on the favorable and unfavorable market conditions which will have an impact on the

advertising budget. The market conditions to watch out for are as follows:

Frequency of the advertisement

Competition and Clutter

Market Share of the Product

Product Life Cycle Stage

1. Frequency of the Advertisement

This means the number of times advertise has been shown with the description of the

product or service, in the granted time slots. So here, if any company needs more

advertising frequency for its product, then the company will have to increase its

advertising budget.

2. Competition and Clutter

The companies may have many competitors for its product. And also there are plenty

of advertisements shown which is called clutter. The company has to then increase

their advertising budget.

3. Market Share

To get a good market share in comparison to their competitors, the company should

have a better product in terms of quality, uniqueness, demand and catchy

advertisements with resultant response of the customers. All this is possible if the

advertisement budget is high.

4. Product Life Cycle Stage

If the company is a newcomer or if the product is on its introduction stage, then the

company has to keep the budget high to make place in the market with the existing

players and to have frequent advertisements. As the time goes on and product

becomes older, the advertising budget can come down as then the product doesn’t

need frequent advertising.

When the market conditions are studied thoroughly, then the company has to set up its

advertising budget accordingly. For setting advertising budget, there are four

methods:

They are as follows.

Percentage Of Sales: In this method, the budget is decided on the basis of the

sales of the product from previous year records or from the predicted future

sales. This is a pure prediction based method and best applicable to the

companies which have fixed annual sales. But if in case there is a requirement

for more promotional activities then this method has a disadvantage because

there will be decrease in advertisements as the budget is fixed.

Affordability: this method is generally used by the small companies. Only the

companies which have funds and can afford advertising opt for this method.

The companies can go for advertising at any time in whole year whenever they

have money to spend. The amount spent also varies from time to time as per

the advertisements takes place.

Best guess: This method is basically for newcomers who have just entered the

market and they have no knowledge or say they are not aware of how the

market is and how much to spend on advertising. Thus, this method is applied

by the higher level executives of the company as they are the only experienced

people.

Thus, doing the homework and then moving forward, i.e. searching for best market

conditions and setting the best advertising budget will have a great impact on improvement

and development of the company.

Advertising campaigns

Advertising campaigns are the groups of advertising messages which are similar in nature.

They share same messages and themes placed in different types of medias at some fixed

times. The time frames of advertising campaigns are fixed and specifically defined.

The very prime thing before making an ad campaign is to know-

Why you are advertising and what are you advertising ?

Why refers to the objective of advertising campaign. The objective of an advertising

campaign is to

Inform people about your product

Convince them to buy the product

Make your product available to the customers

The process of making an advertising campaign is as follows:

1. Research: first step is to do a market research for the product to be advertised. One

needs to find out the product demand, competitors, etc.

2. Know the target audience: one need to know who are going to buy the product and

who should be targeted.

3. Setting the budget: the next step is to set the budget keeping in mind all the factors

like media, presentations, paper works, etc which have a role in the process of

advertising and the places where there is a need of funds.

4. Deciding a proper theme: the theme for the campaign has to be decided as in the

colors to be used, the graphics should be similar or almost similar in all ads, the music

and the voices to be used, the designing of the ads, the way the message will be

delivered, the language to be used, jingles, etc.

5. Selection of media: the media or number of Medias selected should be the one which

will reach the target customers.

6. Media scheduling: the scheduling has to be done accurately so that the ad will be

visible or be read or be audible to the targeted customers at the right time.

7. Executing the campaign: finally the campaign has to be executed and then the

feedback has to be noted.

Mostly used media tools are print media and electronic media. Print media includes

newspaper, magazines, pamphlets, banners, and hoardings. Electronic media includes radio,

television, e-mails, sending message on mobiles, and telephonic advertising. The only point

to remember is getting a proper frequency for the ad campaign so that the ad is visible and

grasping time for customers is good enough.

All campaigns do not have fix duration. Some campaigns are seasonal and some run all year

round. All campaigns differ in timings. Some advertising campaigns are media based, some

are area based, some are product based, and some are objective based. It is seen that generally

advertising campaigns run successfully, but in case if the purpose is not solved in any case,

then the theory is redone, required changes are made using the experience, and the remaining

campaign is carried forward.

Measuring Advertising Effectiveness

“When a child writes the examination papers, he has to see the result come what it may be,

so that he comes to know where he is wrong and where he should pay more attendance. This

will help him work better in future.”

This is exactly the case of the advertisement. The work is not complete if the effectiveness of

advertise is not measured. This is the only way to know how the advertisement is

performing, is it reaching the targets and is the goal achieved.

It is not at all possible to measure advertisement effectiveness accurately as there are many

factors like making a brand image, increasing the sales, keeping people informed about the

product, introducing new product, etc, which affect the effectiveness of an advertisement.

We all know that there are some companies who advertise at very low level but still their

products are a hit and some companies indulge in very heavy advertisements but they don’t

get desirable results. But then, there are some traditional and modern tools to measure most

of the effectiveness of an advertisement through which the advertiser can or may get more

and more information about how their ads and product are performing in the market.

According to Philip Kotler and Armstrong, the Gurus Of Marketing, there are two most

popular areas which need to be measured for knowing the effectiveness of advertisement and

they are:

Communication Effect

Sales Effect

Communication Effect Research consists of three types of researches:

1. Direct Rating Method - here, customers are directly asked to rate the advertisement

and then these rating are calculated.

2. Portfolio Tests - here, the customers see the ads and listen carefully to the ads and all

the contents of the ads and then they are asked to recall the ad and the contents. Then

the calculations are done with help of this data.

3. Laboratory tests - here, the apparatus to measure the heart rates, blood pressure,

perspiration, etc are used on the customer after he watches the ad, to know the

physiological reactions of the body.

Sales Effect Research totally depends on the sales of the company. The sales keep varying

from time to time. There are some factors affecting sales like product availability, the price of

the product, contents of the product, and sometimes the competitors. So this method is a little

difficult than the communication one. The company doing sales effect research generally

bothers about the sales of the product, they try to know whether or not the money they are

spending on the ads is enough or excess.

As earlier said, it is not possible to measure each and everything and the chances are at the

lower end if the company has many ads running through various mediums at the same time.

So suggestion is that the advertiser or the company should use appropriate and different

methods which are most suitable for the media under use.

The company can hold surveys and product recognition tests

Questionnaire or feedback flyers can be distributed and customers could be asked to

fill it up.

Toll free number can be highlighted on the ads so that customers can call up.

The response rates can be increased by telling customers what to do. For e.g. some

ads have lines in flashy color like “Hurry Up” or “No one can eat just one” or “be the

first” etc.

These are the traditional ways. Now days, internet is the modern tool for measuring the

effectiveness of an advertisement. There are some types such as:

Integrated direct marketing - This is an internet based tool where they have a response

corner designed on the websites. Whenever the customers visit the sites, they fill up their

contact details and give feedbacks. Thus the company supplies more information and sends

newsletters and also gets the idea for further action. But then its not that only online

advertiser have this facility but then advertisers who don’t work online can use coupons,

discount vouchers, etc. to do this.

Analysis tool - there is an analysis tool available on internet by using which the advertiser

will know how many customers are visiting the site, who are shopping online, how many

pages are viewed, etc. which in turn will help advertiser to measure the effectiveness.

Internet is the most easy, cheaper and cost effective way to measure the effectiveness because

here no money is wasted as the ad is only viewed when the customer want to view it where as

in normal print method or using TV, the ad sometimes goes unwatched or unattended and

viewed for the sake of viewing.

Media vehicles

Frequency

To maximize overall awareness, the advertising must reach the maximum number of the

target audience. There is a limit for the last few percent of the general population who don't

see the main media advertisers use. These are more expensive to reach. The 'cumulative'

coverage cost typically follows an exponential curve. Reaching 90 percent can cost double

what it costs to reach 70 percent, and reaching 95 percent can double the cost yet again. In

practice, the coverage decision rests on a balance between desired coverage and cost. A large

budget achieves high coverage—a smaller budget limits the ambitions of the advertiser.

1. Frequency—Even with high coverage, it is insufficient for a target audience member

to have just one 'Opportunity To See' (OTS) the advertisement. In traditional media,

around five OTS are believed required for a reasonable impact. To build attitudes that

lead to brand switching may require more. To achieve five OTS, even in only 70

percent of the overall audience, may require 20 or 30 peak-time transmissions of a

commercial, or a significant number of insertions of press advertisements in the

national media. As these figures suggest, most consumers simply don't see the

commercials that often (whereas the brand manager, say, sees every one and has

already seen them many times before their first transmission, and so is justifiably

bored).

The life of advertising campaigns can often extend beyond the relatively short life usually

expected. Indeed, as indicated above, some research shows that advertisements require

significant exposure to consumers before they even register. As David Ogilvy long ago

recommended, "If you are lucky enough to write a good advertisement, repeat it until it stops

selling. Scores of good advertisements have been discarded before they lost their potency."

Spread

More sophisticated media planners also look at the 'spread' of frequencies. Ideally all of the

audience should receive the average number of OTS. Those who receive fewer are

insufficiently motivated, and extra advertising is wasted on those who receive more. It is, of

course, impossible to achieve this ideal. As with coverage, the pattern is weighted towards a

smaller number—of heavy viewers, for example—who receive significantly more OTS, and

away from the difficult last few percent. However, a good media buyer manages the resulting

spread of frequencies to weigh it close to the average, with as few audience members as

possible below the average.

Frequency is also complicated by the fact that this is a function of time. A pattern of 12 OTS

across a year may be scarcely noticed, whereas 12 OTS in a week is evident to most viewers.

This is often the rationale for advertising in `bursts' or `waves' (sometimes described as

`pulsing'). This concentrates expenditure into a number of intense periods of advertising,

spread throughout the year, so brands do not remain uncovered for long periods.

Media Buyers

In the end, it is the media buyers who deliver the goods; by negotiating special deals with the

media owners, and buying the best parcels of `slots' to achieve the best cost (normally

measured in terms of the cost per thousand viewers, or per thousand household `impressions',

or per thousand impressions on the target audience. The "best cost" can also be measured by

the cost per lead, in the case of direct response marketing). The growth of the very large,

international, agencies has been partly justified by their increased buying power over the

media owners.

Types of Media and Their Characteristics

In terms of overall advertising expenditures, media advertising is still dominated by Press and

television, which are of comparable size (by value of 'sales'). Posters and radio follow some

way behind, with cinema representing a very specialist medium.

Press

In the United Kingdom, spending is dominated by the national & regional newspapers, the

latter taking almost all the classified advertising revenue. The magazines and trade or

technical journal markets are about the same size as each other, but are less than half that of

the newspaper sectors.

Television

This is normally the most expensive medium, and as such is generally only open to the major

advertisers, although some regional contractors offer more affordable packages to their local

advertisers. It offers by far the widest coverage, particularly at peak hours (roughly 7.00–

10.30 p.m.) and especially of family audiences. Offering sight, sound, movement and colour,

it has the greatest impact, especially for those products or services where a 'demonstration' is

essential; since it combines the virtues of both the 'story-teller' and the `demonstrator'. To be

effective, these messages must be simple and able to overcome surrounding family life

distractions& especially the TV remote.

Radio

Radio advertising has increased greatly in recent years, with the granting of many more

licenses. It typically reaches specific audiences at different times of the day—adults at

breakfast, housewives during the day, and commuters during rush hours. It can be a cost-

effective way of reaching these audiences—especially since production costs are much

cheaper than for television, though the lack of visual elements may limit the message. In

radio advertising it is important to identify the right timing to reach specific radio listeners.

For instance, many people only listen to the radio when they are stuck in traffic, whereas

other listeners may only listen in the evenings. The 24 hour availability of radio is helpful to

reach a variety of customer sub-segments. In addition, it is a well-established medium to

reach rural areas.

Cinema

Though national audience numbers are down, this may be the most effective medium for

extending coverage to younger age groups, since the core audience is 15 to 24.

Internet/Web Advertising

This rapidly growing marketing force borrows much from the example of press advertising,

but the most effective use—adopted by search engines—is interactive.

mobile Advertising

Personal mobile phones have become an attractive advertising media to network operators,

but are relatively unproven and remain in media buyers' sidelines.

Audience Research

Identifying the audience for a magazine or newspaper, or determining who watches television

at a given time, is a specialized form of market research, often conducted on behalf of media

owners.

Press figures are slightly complicated by the fact that there are two measures: readership

(total number of readers of a publication, no matter where they read it), and circulation (the

number of copies actually sold, which is mostly independently validated).

Advertising-free media

Advertising-free media refers to media outlets whose output is not funded or subsidized by

the sale of advertising space. It includes in its scope mass media entities such as websites,

television and radio networks, and magazines.

The public broadcasters of a number of countries air without commercials. Perhaps the best

known example of this is the United Kingdom's public broadcaster, the BBC, whose domestic

networks do not carry commercials. Instead, the BBC, in common with most other public

broadcasters in Europe, is funded by a television licence fee levied on the owners of all

television sets.

A 2006 report by the Senate of Canada suggested that the country's public broadcaster, the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, be funded sufficiently by the federal government so that

it could air without any advertising.[1]

Advertising media scheduling

Scheduling refers to the pattern of advertising timing, represented as plots on a yearly

flowchart. These plots indicate the pattern of scheduled times advertising must appear to

coincide with favorable selling periods. The classic scheduling models are Continuity,

Flighting and Pulsing.

Continuity

This model is primarily for non-seasonal products, yet sometimes for seasonal products.

Advertising runs steadily with little variation over the campaign period.

There may be short gaps at regular intervals and also long gaps—for instance, one ad every

week for 52 weeks, and then a pause. This pattern of advertising is prevalent in service and

packaged goods that require continuous reinforcement on the audience for top of mind

recollection at point of purchase.

Advantages:

Works as a reminder

Covers the entire purchase cycle

Cost efficiencies in the form of large media discounts

Positioning advantages within media

Program or plan that identifies the media channels used in an advertising campaign, and

specifies insertion or broadcast dates, positions, and duration of the messages.

Flighting (or "bursting")

In media scheduling for seasonal product categories, flighting involves intermittent and

irregular periods of advertising, alternating with shorter periods of no advertising at all. For

instance, all of 2000 Target Rating Poinered in a single month, "going dark" for the rest of

the year. Halloween costumes are rarely purchased all year except during the months of

September and October.

Advantages:

Advertisers buy heavier weight than competitors for a relatively shorter period of time

Little waste, since advertising concentrates on the best purchasing cycle period

Series of commercials appear as a unified campaign on different media vehicles

Pulsing

Pulsing combines flighting and continuous scheduling by using a low advertising level all

year round and heavy advertising during peak selling periods. Product categories that are sold

year round but experience a surge in sales at intermittent periods are good candidates for

pulsing. For instance, under-arm deodorants, sell all year, but more in summer months.

Advantages:

Covers different market situations

Advantages of both continuity and flighting possible

Sales promotion

What is sales promotion?

Sales promotion is any initiative undertaken by an organisation to promote an increase in

sales, usage or trial of a product or service (i.e. initiatives that are not covered by the other

elements of the marketing communications or promotions mix). Sales promotions are varied.

Often they are original and creative, and hence a comprehensive list of all available

techniques is virtually impossible (since original sales promotions are launched daily!). Here

are some examples of popular sales promotions activities:

(a) Buy-One-Get-One-Free (BOGOF) - which is an example of a self-liquidating

promotion. For example if a loaf of bread is priced at $1, and cost 10 cents to manufacture, if

you sell two for $1, you are still in profit - especially if there is a corresponding increase in

sales. This is known as a PREMIUM sales promotion tactic.

(b) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) incentives such as bonus points or money

off coupons. There are many examples of CRM, from banks to supermarkets.

(c) New media - Websites and mobile phones that support a sales promotion. For example, in

the United Kingdom, Nestle printed individual codes on KIT-KAT packaging, whereby a

consumer would enter the code into a dynamic website to see if they had won a prize.

Consumers could also text codes via their mobile phones to the same effect.

(d) Merchandising additions such as dump bins, point-of-sale materials and product

demonstrations.

(e) Free gifts e.g. Subway gave away a card with six spaces for stickers with each sandwich

purchase. Once the card was full the consumer was given a free sandwich.

(f) Discounted prices e.g. Budget airline such as EasyJet and Ryanair, e-mail their customers

with the latest low-price deals once new flights are released, or additional destinations are

announced.

(g) Joint promotions between brands owned by a company, or with another company's

brands. For example fast food restaurants often run sales promotions where toys, relating to a

specific movie release, are given away with promoted meals.

(h) Free samples (aka. sampling) e.g. tasting of food and drink at sampling points in

supermarkets. For example Red Bull (a caffeinated fizzy drink) was given away to potential

consumers at supermarkets, in high streets and at petrol stations (by a promotions team).

(i) Vouchers and coupons, often seen in newspapers and magazines, on packs.

(j) Competitions and prize draws, in newspapers, magazines, on the TV and radio, on The

Internet, and on packs.

(k) Cause-related and fair-trade products that raise money for charities, and the less well

off farmers and producers, are becoming more popular.

(l) Finance deals - for example, 0% finance over 3 years on selected vehicles.

Many of the examples above are focused upon consumers. Don't forget that promotions can

be aimed at wholesales and distributors as well. These are known as Trade Sales

Promotions. Examples here might include joint promotions between a manufacturer and a

distributor, sales promotion leaflets and other materials (such as T-shirts), and incentives for

distributor sales people and their retail clients.

Direct Marketing

What is Direct Marketing?

Direct marketing is a channel free approach to distribution and/or marketing communications.

So a company may have a strategy of dealing with its customers 'directly,' for example banks

(such as CityBank) or computer manufacturers (such as Dell). There are no channel

intermediaries i.e. distributors, retailers or wholesalers. Therefore - 'direct' in the sense that

the deal is done directly between the manufacturer and the customer.

As mentioned above, 'direct' also in the sense that marketing communications are targeted at

consumers by the manufacturers. For example, a brand that uses channels of distribution

would target marketing communications at wholesalers/distributors, retailers, and consumers,

or a blend of all three. On the other hand, a direct marketing company could focus upon

communicating directly with its customers. Direct marketing and direct mail are often

confused - although direct mail is a direct marketing tool.

There are a number of direct marketing media other than direct mail. These include (and are

by no means limited to):

Inserts in newspapers and magazines.

Customer care lines.

Catalogues.

Coupons.

Door drops.

TV and radio adverts with free phone numbers or per-minute-charging.

...and finally - and most importantly - The Internet and New Media.

The Internet and New Media (e.g. mobile phones or PDA's) are perfect for direct

marketing. Consumers have never had so many sources of supply, and suppliers have

never had access to so many markets. There is even room for niche marketers - for

example Scottish salmon could ordered online, packed and chilled, and sent to

customers in any part of the world by courier.

Many companies use direct marketing, and a current example of its use, as part of

a business model, is the way in which it is used by low-cost airlines. There is no

intermediary or agent, customers book tickets directly with the airlines over The

Internet. Airlines capture data that can be used for marketing research or a loyalty

scheme. Information can be processed quickly, and then categorised into complex

relational databases.

Then, for example, special offers or new flights destinations can be communicated

directly to customers using e-mail campaigns. Data is not only collected on markets

and segments, but also on individuals and their individual buyer behaviour.

Companies such as Amazon are wholesalers of books (i.e. they do not write or publish

them) - so they use Customer Relationship Management and marketing

communications targeted directly at individual customers - which is another, slightly

different example of direct marketing.

Public relations

Public relations as part of the marketing communications mix

Public Relations (PR) is a single, broad concept. It is broad since it contains so many

elements, many of which will be outlined in this lesson. Public Relations (PR) are any

purposeful communications between an organisation and its publics that aim to generate

goodwill.

Publics, put simply, are its stakeholders. PR is proactive and future orientated, and has the

goal of building and maintaining a positive perception of an organisation in the mind of its

publics. This is often referred to as goodwill.

Yes it is difficult to see the difference between marketing communications and PR since there

is a lot of crossover. This makes it a tricky concept to learn. Added to this is the fact that PR

is often expensive, and not free, as some definitions would have you believe. PR agencies are

not cheap. Below are some of the approaches that are often considered under the PR banner.

Interviews and photo-calls.

It is important that company executives are available to generate goodwill for their

organisation. Many undertake training in how to deal with the media, and how to behave in

front of a camera. There are many key industrial figures that proactively deal with the media

in a positive way for example Bill Gates (Microsoft) or Richard Branson (Virgin). Interviews

with the business or mass media often allow a company to put its own perspective on matters

that could be misleading if simply left to dwell untended the public domain.

Speeches, presentations and speech writing.

Key figures from within an organisation will write speeches to be delivered at corporate

events, public awards and industry gatherings. PR company officials in liaison with company

managers often write speeches and design corporate presentations. They are part of the

planned and coherent strategy to build goodwill with publics. Presentations can be designed

and pre-prepared by PR companies, ultimately to be delivered by company executives.

Corporate literature e.g. financial reports.

Corporate literature includes financial reports, in-house magazines, brochures, catalogues,

price lists and any other piece of corporate derived literature. They communicate with a

variety of publics. For example, financial reports will be of great interest to investors and the

stock market, since they give all sorts of indicators of the health of a business. A company

Chief Executive Officer CEO will often write the forward to an annual financial report where

he or she has the opportunity to put a business case to the reader. This is all part of Public

Relations.

Sponsorship and charitable donations.

Sponsorship is where an organisation pays for their product or service to be associated with

an activity or event. Organisations commonly sponsor sporting events and such as The

Olympics, sporting stars and other celebrities, or medium, for example television

programmes. The sponsors gain exposure, and also align their product or service with the

attributes of the sport, celebrity or medium.

Many companies (often those in profit!) make donations to charities and good causes. When

donations are publicised, again the benefits generate goodwill for the organisation. It should

be noted here that Microsoft's Bill Gates donates substantial amounts to good causes that are

often not reported. This is true corporate philanthropy.

Publicity events and 'stunts.'

Publicity events fall under the banner of guerrilla marketing. Here an organisation will take

the opportunity to seize upon a particular moment to hijack public attention. Publicity events

and stunts are practiced by both companies and private bodies (including pressure and

political groups). A famous example of a publicity stunt was one conducted by Fathers For

Justice (a British pressure group for divorced fathers), whereby individuals, dressed as

Superheroes, invaded Buckingham Palace in London.

Advertorials in newspapers, magazines or on websites.

Advertorials are paid for advertisements that are designed to appear like copy (i.e. normal

reported text). Many countries insist that advertorials do contain a line of text to explain that

they are sponsored or placed by an advertiser. Advertorials are often used to imply that some

ground breaking treatment or solution has been uncovered.

Press or media releases, conferences, contact and entertainment.

Press or media releases, conferences, contact and entertainment are pivotal Public Relations

strategies. In the past, the press were the original target (e.g. newspapers and magazines) but

today the whole media industry forms the target (i.e. radio, websites, TV, New Media and so

on). Media releases are drafted by a PR company, for example, to report financial

information prior to the release of company reports.

Media conferences are called often at short notice to inform the media directly on a current

event that has just happened, or that is about to happen. Media contact includes interviews

with key personnel, and could include speeches, presentations and speech writing by the PR

company. Finally entertaining the press, or media, is undertaken when trying to gain as much

media space as possible. This could be for a product launch or to promote an acquisition.

Copywriting refers to the use of written copy to promote a business or entity. The ultimate

purpose of copywriting is to expand the client base of a business. Multinationals and

businesses are now promoting themselves globally, with a worldwide audience at their

disposal, which has led to an unprecedented rise in demand for copywriters. Advertising and

marketing campaigns are increasingly web-based, further raising the demand for creative

writers who can get the job done on a tight budget.

Tips for Being an Effective Copywriter

Being a copywriter doesn’t mean that you are as effective as your counterparts. Every skill

needs to be learned methodically in various stages and aspects. This list of tips will start you

on your copywriting career.

Your Attention, Please!

The Internet is a jungle. Web surfers scan through pages until they get what they want.

Writing an eye-catching headline is as important as the article itself. The only way to compel

the reader to stay on your page is to catch their eye. Make sure your opening line evokes an

emotion, a physical desire or a curiosity in readers—anything to get them to stay for the main

course.

Eye-Catching Headings and Bullet Points

Organizing information is an important aspect of web writing. Information needs to be

divided into headings and bullet points that attract the reader’s attention when sifting through

pages. Nobody wants to waste their time aimlessly browsing information.

Bullet points guide readers to a decision of whether to stay on your page. As a copywriter,

you also need to make sure that your website is compatible with all browsers. Information

that will persuade readers should be placed at the top of the page so that they don’t have to

scroll down to locate something.

Keep It Short and Simple

Readers should know how to contact you for more information. Avoid confusing potential

customers. Keep it short and simple: the more details you provide, the greater the chance

readers will forget the most important aspects of your campaign. Clarity and concision ensure

the maximum utilization of your space and keeps the attention of readers. Readers are then

more likely to contact you.

Call to Action

This is the second most important aspect of effectively written copy, after the eye-catching

headline. The quality that separates average salespeople from great ones is the ability to

identify when to close a sale. A great piece of copywriting without a persuasive call to action

would effectively be a waste of time, effort and money. Calls to action create an urgency to

respond.

Identify Your Target Audience

Copy intended to generate sales targets a particular section or group in society. The target

audience could vary in age, socioeconomic status, education, gender and so on. The language

used for high-school kids would be different than that used for grandparents. Similarly, the

words and technical terms employed in writing for a layman are different than those in

writing for a group of highly educated techno-geniuses. Analyze your target audience for the

copy being written. This will not only ensure a successful campaign, but reduce the effort you

have to make.

Connect With Your Audience

Copy that does not connect with its audience is not likely to keep anyone’s attention. The

easiest way to welcome the reader into the piece is to write in the second person. Writing in

the second person helps readers relate the points mentioned in the copy to their own lives.

Read through your copy and count how many times you could replace “we” with “you.” The

focus should be on readers, not you.

Know Your Product and Services

Expert copywriters don’t only focus on product features and related services but have a knack

for connecting the benefits of a product to innate emotional needs. Connecting with your

target audience emotionally will elicit their action.

As a copywriter, be well aware of the benefits of your product or service. Only then will you

be able to describe its benefits and beat the competition. Potential customers are interested in

knowing how the product can benefit them: the better these benefits are explained, the more

likely they will connect their needs to your product.

Proofread

Professionalism and efficiency extends to everything associated with a company. Proofread

and revise your writing, ensuring that not a single error in syntax or semantics remains. This

will win you trust and legitimacy. Grammatical errors and typos make your company appear

unreliable. If your company does not promote itself professionally, then what guarantees that

it will uphold promises about its products?

Corporate advertising

Corporate advertising is a promotional strategy that is designed to not only interest

consumers in products and services offered by the company, but also to cultivate a positive

reputation among consumers and others within the business world. The focus

of corporate advertising is on the company itself, with the attention to the products produced

by the corporation being a byproduct of the advertising effort. This type

of corporate marketing is often employed along with advertising campaigns that are directly

focused on the goods and services produced by the company.

The main function of corporate advertising is to generate and enhance a sense of confidence

and appeal among vendors and consumers. Depending on the exact nature of the corporate

marketing approach, the advertising may also be developed with an eye of enhancing the

reputation of the company among its peers in a community or within a given sector of the

marketplace. In any application, the idea is to build the most agreeable public image for the

corporation as possible.

While corporate advertising does include some mention of company products, the object of

this type of advertising is not directly aimed at generating sales. Instead, corporate ads focus

on the strength and reliability of the company as a whole, the integrity that the business

employs in all its business relationships, and how the company seeks to better the

circumstances of the geographic locations where it operates. As part of this process, it is not

unusual for one or more of the leading products to be mentioned, but there is usually no

mention of pricing or upcoming discounts of products found

within corporate advertisingcampaigns. Those are left to product advertising efforts that focus

specifically on the goods produced for sale.