ADVERTISEMENT

Advertising consists of all the activities involved in presenting to a group an oral or visual message regarding a product, service or idea. This message is disseminated through one or more media and is paid for by the advertiser.

Purpose:

• To inform the public of newly launched products
• To persuade people to buy a specific product

Benefits:

• Source of information for customer
• Helps producer in gaining more market share

Social Aspects:

• Sometimes, wring messages can be conveyed, especially to children
• Competitive advertisement is exploitation of other businesses.

Dangers:

• Customers may be misled by false claims
• They will have difficulty in choosing from a large range
• Irrational spending on things

Types:

1. Informative: provide info about product e.g. prices, modes, color etc to promote a specific product, not entire brand
2. Persuasive: persuade customer that their brand is superior than others
3. Collective: an entire industry unites to promote their product for example, all television manufacturers advertise of the advantages of TV without promoting a specific brand
4. Competitive: when 2 or more firms involve themselves in exploiting each other while promoting their own brands

Media:

Factors affecting the choice of a suitable medium to place an ad:

• Nature of product
• Viewership
• Cost
• Target audience
• Time span
• Wastage (how many of those viewing the ad are actually the target audience)
• Image

Several media:

1. Newspaper

 

Advantages	Disadvantages
High viewership	Low time span
Flexible and timely	High wastage
Circulation cost per exposure is low	Low image
National and regional coverage	Only for literate
Ad can be inserted or cancelled at short notice	Very costly

 

 

2. Magazines

Advantages	Disadvantages
High quality production	Inflexible
High time span	infrequent
Low wastage	Ads must be placed weeks before the date of publishing
Suitable for messages which are to be read in a leisurely fashion	Moderate viewership
Moderate cost	Low image

 

3. Radio

Advantages	Disadvantages
Low cost	Low image
Moderate viewership	Very low time span
	High wastage
	Low audience attention

 

4. Television

Advantages	Disadvantages
High viewership	Very low time span
Hig image  – appealing	High wastage
	Low audience attention

 

5. Films

Advantages	Disadvantages
High image	High cost
Widescreen gives better impact	Low time span
Appropriate for local products	High, but controllable wastage
Appropriate for local products

 

6. Direct Mail

Advantages	Disadvantages
Low wastage	Low viewership
Flexibility	Low image
No competition with same medium	Low cost
	Suffers from being called junk mail

 

7. Bill Boards

Advantages	Disadvantages
High time span	High wastage
Huge size – attractive	Less image
Low cost	Open to vandalism
Suitable for local products	Creative limitations

 

8. Pamphlets

Advantages	Disadvantages
Low wastage	Low viewership
Low cost	Low image
High time span	Limited circulation
Personal impact
Advice and explanation where necessary

 

9. Travelling Salesmen

Advantages	Disadvantages
Low cost	Low viewership
Low wastage	Short time span
Effective – brings products to home	Low image
Can demonstrate the uses to customers	Salesman might be unwelcome at places
	Salary of sales man is added expenditure

 

10. Points of Display

Advantages	Disadvantages
Low cost	Low viewership
High time span	Low image
attractive	High wastage

 

11. Internet

Advantages	Disadvantages
High time span	Costly
Good image	Wastage depends on sight
High viewership

 

Methods of Appeal:

These are tools used by the advertisers in the promotion campaign to appeal the type of consumers it is intended for. Examples:

1. Romance appeal
2. Economy Appeal
3. Appeal for Manliness
4. Appeal for Family Love
5. Appeal for cleanliness
6. Appeal to safety

Sales Promotion:

All those activities which help the producer or seller to increase his sales overtime. Examples:

1. Sponsoring events
2. T-shirts for players
3. Hands on experience
4. Free samples
5. Using a product in movies