Advertising Management and Sales Promotion Unit 1

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Unit 1 Basic Concepts in
Advertising Management
Structure:
1.1 Introduction
Objectives
1.2 Meaning of Advertising
1.2.1 Definitions of Advertising
1.2.2 Forms of Advertising and Sales Promotion
1.3 Importance of Advertising in Marketing
1.3.1 Information
1.3.2 Brand Image Building
1.3.3 Innovation
1.3.4 New Product Launch
1.3.5 Growth of Media
1.3.6 Long-term and Indirect Benefits
1.3.7 Limitations of Advertising
Self Assessment Questions I
1.4 How does Advertising Persuade a Buyer?
1.4.1 Advertising and Buyers Behaviour
1.4.2 Level of Involvement
1.4.3 Speed of Response
1.4.4 Audience Perception
1.4.5 Perceptual Mapping
1.4.6 Primal Fabrics
1.5 Role of Advertising in Marketing Mix and Positioning Decisions
1.5.1 Communication with Consumer
1.5.2 Persuasion
1.5.3 Contribution to Economic Growth
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1.5.4 Catalyst for Change
Self Assessment Questions II
1.6 Advertisers and Advertising Agency
1.6.1 Effectiveness of Advertising
1.6.2 Communication Models
1.6.3 The Feedback
1.6.4 The AIDA Model
1.6.5 Lavidge and Steiner Model
1.6.6 Innovation Adoption Model
1.6.7 Operational Model
1.7 The Role of Account Executive
Self Assessment Questions III
1.8 Choosing an Advertising Agency
1.8.1 Advertising Its Purpose and Functions
1.8.2 The Advertising Spectrum
Self Assessment Questions IV
1.9 Summary
1.10 Terminal Questions
1.11 Answers to SAQs and TQs
1.1 Introduction
Advertising is purposeful communication designed with a view to achieve a
specific objective. It must reach the target audience identified for such
communication. Consumers need information about various goods and
services. Advertising serves the purpose of disseminating information about
a company and its products/services and presenting them in a favourable
light. Very often, advertising is used to build a brand image. Introductory
offers of products need to be familiarised by way of advertising. In corporate
world, advertising plays a significant role. This unit deals with the
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importance of advertising, the impact of advertising on the buyer and the
role of advertising in marketing mix and positioning decisions in detail.
Objectives:
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
Define advertising.
Describe the importance of advertising in marketing.
Describe how advertising persuades the buyer.
Explain the role of advertising in marketing mix and positioning
decisions.
Explain the role of Accounts Executive.
State the criteria for choosing an advertising agency.
1.2 Meaning of Advertising
1.2.1 Definitions of Advertising
One of the earliest attempts at formulating definitions of advertising sums it
up as the dissemination of information concerning an idea, service or
product to communicate in accordance with the intent of the advertiser.
The above definition could include direct personal communication with
persuasive selling appeal and it was considered necessary to exclude this
overlap. The Definitions Committee of the American Marketing Association,
therefore, defined advertising as any paid form of non-personal
presentation of idea, goods or service by an identified sponsor.
It was considered necessary to make a distinction between advertising and
publicity. Feature, articles and write-ups on products and processes and
companies initiated by media have become popular owing to the continued
expansion of media and increasing journalistic interest in business and
industrial activity. These also serve the purpose of disseminating information
about a company and its products/services and presenting them in a
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favourable light. This amounts to unpaid publicity over which the concerned
company or organization would have no explicit control.
1.2.2 Forms of Advertising and Sales Promotion
Persuasion and meaningful communication directed at a specific target
audience, in the form of advertising through mass media, including outdoor
advertising, may be effectively supplemented by offering incentives to the
trade and prospective buyers. Such incentives are classified as sales
promotion aids and are included in advertising and sales promotion or just
promotion which is intended to cover all forms of advertising and sales
promotion. Sales promotion programs for trade may provide direct financial
incentives for distribution channel for special occasions or for new product
introduction. There may be display which has become an essential
promotional feature of shops and department stores, especially in industrial
nations. Items such as dealers name boards, which carry a companys
brand name and other advertising message, displayed at the point of
purchase (POP), carry definite advertising value.
Promotions directed at prospective buyers may take various forms. There
may be contests to interest prospects in buying the products which, in turn,
will entitle them to take part in contests where attractive prizes are offered.
Special incentives may be attached to introductory offers of products.
Advantage may be taken of established brand loyalty of a product for
introducing or enhancing sales of other product. Certain concessions on
purchase of the advertised product are offered in one form or another. Such
approaches and methods constitute sales promotion directed at consumers.
1.3 Importance of Advertising in Marketing
It will be useful to refer to direct or perceived benefits of advertising which
include the following:
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1.3.1 Information
Consumers need information about various goods and services. Due to
ignorance, a consumer may purchase an inferior product and pay higher
prices or even may not know that a particular product exists. Information
given in an advertisement may be about the company and its products or
service. The advertisement for Zenith refrigerator, introduced in the year
1980, for example, incorporated details regarding the product feature. The
inclusion of a water cooler in the refrigerator was emphasized. It was
highlighted that this facility was available only in this brand of refrigerator,
considering the need for cold water in a tropical country like India.
1.3.2 Brand Image Building
Very often, advertising is used to build a brand image. Images are mental
pictures of brands that may appeal to different segments of the target
audience in varying degrees. These may have their origin in real or
assumed features. The images projected are geared to match the needs
and expectations of the target audience. Favourable images will help in
generating brand loyally and a disposition to buy that brand in preference to
another. Certain advertisements of toilet soaps in India aim at image
building through opinion leaders. A well-known campaign of longstanding for
Lux toilet soap uses film stars (Exhibits 1.4). The campaign for VIP travel
luggage seeks to achieve the objective of attributing a superior image
through the association of the product with affluent foreign nationals in a
series of VIP interviews.
1.3.3 Innovation
Advertising is seen to perform this task most effectively for new products. In
a way, it reduces the risk of innovation. The cost of innovation can be more
than the profit recovered by the sales which advertising may generate and
this encourages manufactures to undertake research and development.
New brand launches seem to abound in the toiletry, cosmetic
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pharmaceutical, confectionery and tobacco markets advertising. At the
same time, it must be pointed out that advertising does not guarantee the
success of all new products.
1.3.4 New Product Launch
Various strategies, including advertising, are employed to make potential
buyers aware of new products. The term new product may include
modifications of existing products, imitations of competitive products and
product line acquisitions. Advertising can be used to promote new products
and call attention to changes in old products. Advertising for the soft drink
concentrate under the brand name Rasna aimed at enhancing the
awareness of the product and creating a favourable disposition towards it.
1.3.5 Growth of Media
The acceptance of advertising enhances the potential for raising revenues.
This in turn helps the launching of new publications and expanding the
media. This development has been a characteristic of the Indian media
scene in recent years. A number of periodicals and newspapers have been
launched during the seventies and this trend continued through the early
eighties.
1.3.6 Long-term and Indirect Benefits
Advertising is a feature of free competitive enterprise and can be a
contributory factor towards greater availability of goods. It increases
distribution not only of the advertised products, but of other products as well.
Advertising helps to reduce the cost sold to the consumer. The costs of
production and selling are lower when goods are produced and sold in
larger quantities. It is also an important factor in product improvement.
Advertising helps to make the purchase of commonplace products
emotionally more satisfying. This may apply, for instance, to the consumers
of Lijat Papad who may derive satisfaction out of buying advertised product,
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or for that matter, users of perfumes and lipsticks where association with
advertising may be instrumental in reducing dissonance.
1.3.7 Limitations of Advertising
Advertising has several limitations. There is a view that advertising
increases the cost of goods sold to the consumer. Advertising can be
wasteful considering that only a small section of the audience covered by
the media used may relate to the product advertising. The qualitative aspect
of advertising is its strength. It can also be a major weakness when
stereotyping an innovation. Advertising may encourage unsound or false
values especially through its effect on children and youth. It creates an
emotional appeal. Critics point out that any emotional appeal, in contrast to
a rational appeal, is misleading. Finally, advertising can endanger
competition. Big advertisers can monopolize the market.
Self Assessment Questions I
State whether the following statements are True or False:
1. Advertising can be used to build a brand image.
2. Any emotional appeal, in contrast to a rational appeal, is misleading.
3. Advertising increases distribution of the advertised products only.
1.4 How does Advertising Persuade the Buyer?
1.4.1 Advertising and Buyers Behaviour
The extent to which the process of advertising communication may result in
affecting buyer behaviour is subject to continuous discussion and debate.
Attitudes and behaviour patterns are an amalgam of a variety of factors
concerning individuals and their social and work alignments. Stidsen has
evolved a paradigm for the advertising process viewed from the consumers
communication point of view which is aimed at reflecting these
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considerations by examining what people do to advertising instead of what
advertising does to people. The following elements are specified:
1. Awareness: Conditions limiting or enabling communication.
2. Input system: Characteristics of channels or the media used by the
consumer for input purposes.
3. Goal seeking: Purposes for which the consumer can, will, or feels he
should, use advertising.
4. Integration: Standards used by the consumer for purposes of
maintaining cognitive consistency.
5. Commitment: Values and ideas taken by the consumers to be
unquestionably true.
1.4.2 Level of Involvement
Another approach towards consumer perception of advertising has been
suggested by Vaughn through a classification of various products by the
level of likely involvement of decision-makers. Such a classification is used
to demonstrate the relevance of various stages in the hierarchy of effects to
high and low involvement product purchase decisions. In the case of
decisions requiring high involvement for new products such as a car, house,
furnishings and new products, the informative stage may be predominant.
However, for the other type of high involvement products like jewellery,
cosmetics, fashion apparel and motorcycles, affective aspects may be in the
fore. Low involvement products such as food and household items may be
relatively independent of both persuasive and informative advertising inputs.
The other type of low involvement products such as cigarettes, liquor,
chocolates etc. call for an awareness aspect more than for an elaboration of
the cognitive stage, i.e. knowledge and comprehension. The above
approach may be useful for advertising planning both in respect of creative
emphasis as well as media selection.
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1.4.3 Speed of Response
Some attention should be given to the time dimension in the process of
advertising communication. The speed of getting any reaction from
constituent units of the target audience will depend on a number of factors
relating to the content and appeal of the message, the media vehicles
chosen and attitudinal and situational characteristics of the audience. It is,
however, important for the advertiser to gauge the impact which successive
exposures are making. Recent findings in the area of left and right brain
activity have also attracted the attention of advertising researchers. Reading
and speaking are left brain functions while the perception of images is a
right brain function. It is accordingly implied that print media may relate more
to left brain functions and visual media may tend to stimulate right brain
activity.
Krugman has suggested that three advertising exposures might be optional.
The first exposure is likely to arouse curiosity and evoke cognitive response
such as, what is it?
The second exposure may then lead to an evaluative response what of it?
The third exposure, depending on the evaluation at the second stage, may
serve as a reminder or the beginning of disengagement.
1.4.4 Audience Perception
Individuals remain predominant in the final response which may be obtained
from advertising communication. Douglas, Field and Tarpey have
enumerated the following factors which affect the perceptual process of
human beings:
This is a fairly comprehensive list. However, greater attention should be
given to cultural and group factors after interpreting this item in a broader
sense. Such factors may be of special importance to developing countries
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where the influence of groups of communities is more predominant than in
advanced countries. Moreover, word-of-mouth communication is an
important element of decision-making and that reinforces the influence of
group and cultural alignments.
The understanding of the way the advertising process in relation to the
objectives of an advertiser is facilitated when data on consumer behaviour
and patterns of usage is available. In the absence of such information, it is
difficult to differentiate between the possible effect of advertising
communication and other influences such as trial and usage stimulated by
the recommendation of a retailer or a friend or out of sheer curiosity,
regardless of advertising communications.
1.4.5 Perceptual Mapping
Advertising, in its rudimentary form, is primarily an element of market mix. At
the other extreme, it is also supposed to create an aura of make-believe.
The reality is perhaps somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum. It
does have an effect of adding a new value to the existing value of the
product. This must be considered when devising advertising communication.
It is useful to obtain the views of the target of users and prospects of a
product/service regarding their interpretation of the product.
1.4.6 Primal Fabrics
This campaign is run primarily in the press and that too in colour for a
product. The intention behind the campaign is to create an aura of high
fashion so that the consumers opt for brands and products over and above
the intrinsic features and functions of the product. The parameters of such
measurement will refer to possible values assigned by the target segment
regarding the perceived characteristics. Thus it is possible to obtain a
perceptual map. The simple version of this map will be bivariate and can be
expanded to a multi-dimensional level.
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A perceptual map will help the advertiser and the advertising agency in
trying to look at the product/service to be advertised from the angle of the
consumers. Product characteristics by themselves may not be adequate
bases for effective advertising communication. Understanding the
consumers mind in addition to the segmentation framework can be
instrumental in making the advertising process more efficient. This is
particularly relevant as recent research work in the area of consumer
behaviour has increasingly led to an erosion of the operational validity of
models of hierarchy of effects. Constituent units of target audience
apparently use multiple criteria, if possible, in different sets and sequences,
in interpreting advertising message. These have to be integrated into
advertising communication models in order to get a balanced perspective of
how advertising works.
Measures of Audience Exposure:
The mere fact that consumers subscribe to certain publications or listen to
certain programmes does not mean that they notice or remember the
advertisements they contain. There are organizations in the USA which
provide information on the exposure of readers of magazines to advertising.
Two such well-known services are Daniel Starch and Gallup Robinson.
Daniel Starch, a pioneer in advertising research, started collection of
audience exposure data for selected American publications in the 1930s.
These publications have of course, varied over the years due to changes in
their popularity and circulation. Known as starch ratings, the data is provided
under three headings noted, seen associated and read most. Interviewers
visit respondents at their houses and ask if they have read certain
magazines. Readers of the concerned magazines are then asked to review,
page by page, the advertisement they remember having seen.
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The noted score refers to the percentage of respondents who declare
having looked at an advertisement. The seen associated score refers to
those who have looked at the brand name or realized that the advertisement
was for a particular product.
The seen associated score refers to those who have looked at the brand
name or realized that the advertisement was for a particular product. The
read most score refers to those who indicated that they had read most of
the advertisement. Cost data on the number of readers per dollar and the
cost per reader reached, compared with the competition, are also provided
in the starch reports.
The other research organization, Gallup Robinson, provides a service for
measuring the impact of an advertisement based on recall. Consumers who
have read certain magazines are identified and asked to recall the brand
names from the advertisements they have seen the score based on this
data has been termed Prove Name Registration, PNR information about
specific copy point is also sought from them. This may help in determining
the copy points. This information is valuable for the advertiser and the
agency in developing subsequent advertisements and campaigns.
1.5 Role of Advertisi ng in Marketing Mix and Positioning
Decisions
Advertising is an all-pervasive facet of most growing communities. It has
important consequences for the advertisers who use it and for individuals
who are exposed to it. However, its economic and social impact is a subject
of continuous controversy. The following aspects illustrate the basic purpose
of advertising:
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1.5.1 Communication with Consumer
There is an increasing need for information about a wide variety of products
as the economy expands and grows more complex. Advertising is a major
way of establishing communications between manufactures and other
organisations providing services or trying to put across ideas and concepts,
on the one hand, and customers, buyers and potential acceptors, on the
other. Advertising is a reminder to the existing consumers and it aims at
cultivating new prospects as well. Advertising has, therefore, been
described as effective communication with the target audience.
1.5.2 Persuasion
Advertising attempts to persuade prospective buyers to buy a
product/service. According to Clyde Miller, all success in business, industry
and similar activities depends upon the process of planned persuasion. In
modern markets, the producer who is content with advertising that merely
identifies or informs may soon find himself in a vulnerable position. The
consumer should be aware of the advertisers persuasive interest, no matter
how restrained or informative the message may be.
1.5.3 Contribution to Economic Growth
Advertising contributes to economic growth by helping to expand the
market, particularly for new products, and by helping to develop new market
segment. A company which invests in research and development in order to
develop new products has to depend on advertising for establishing the
market for these products. In the board social context, advertising can be
motivating factor for the less privileged for increasing their purchasing
power. Advertising is also a potent vehicle for achieving acceptance of
desirable and useful concepts and ideas where the profit motive is minimal
or missing altogether. This may be seen in the case of non-profit objectives,
such as preventive aspects of public health, developing the small family
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norm especially in over-populated countries, dissuading drunken driving,
and so forth.
1.5.4 Catalyst for Change
Creativity inherent in advertising leads to the discovery of new relationship
that can change the perception of a prospect. Two aspects are of special
significance: the originality of the message communicated, and the eventual
effect on consumers standards of living. The ability to bring about changes
comes from originality, ingenuity, innovation and imagination in advertising.
This may be seen in promoting new products and ideas, as well as in the
upgrading of products/ brands used by consumers. The contribution of
advertising in bringing about a change is of special relevance to developing
countries.
Self Assessment Questions II
State whether the following statements are True or False:
1. Creativity inherent in advertising leads to the discovery of new
relationship.
2. Advertising contributes to economic growth by helping to expand the
market.
3. Advertising is a reminder to the existing consumers and it aims at
cultivating new prospects.
1.6 Advertisers and Advertising Agency
1.6.1 Effectiveness of Advertising
The ultimate test of effectiveness of advertising obviously consists in the
degree of achievement of the objectives set by an advertiser in consultation
with the advertising agency working on the account. In the case of typical
marketing situations, this may take the form of an increase in the sales or
market share or penetration into a new market segment. There has been a
continuing debate on the subject of whether advertising works or does not
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work as measured in terms of specific marketing parameters. A recent study
sponsored by the Institute of Parishioners in advertising has sought to give a
definite lead in this direction. This took the form of unitizing entries for
awards on the theme, Advertising Works. Submissions by advertisers and
their advertising agencies, of case histories of specific campaign made it
possible to establish causal relations.
1.6.2 Communication Models
There are various models of the advertising communication process which
aim at explaining the possible sequence through which advertising may
eventually affect buyer user behaviour.
1.6.3 The Feedback
The feedback can be built in by a reverse arrow from the audience to the
communicator under the caption, To What Effect.
1.6.4 The AIDA Model
The effect is the action into which a prospect may be included as a result of
advertising. The following sequence may operate:
This was one of the earliest of such models developed in the 1920s in the
USA and has come to be known as the AIDA model of hierarchy of effects.
It highlights the importance of catching the eye/ear of the prospects and
creating interest through the advertising message and its presentation. The
desire to obtain advertised goods/services may be generated, albeit to
varying degrees, amongst those who respond to advertising. The final stage
of action will depend not only on the determination of the prospect but also
on other factors, such as availability, which is a function of the distribution
system and its efficiency.
1.6.5 Lavidge and Steiner Model
Models of hierarchy of effects developed later gave more importance to
cognitive stages. It was apparently felt that with an increase in competition
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and an enhancement in discerning abilities of potential buyers and users,
information would play a greater role. The persuasive power of advertising
could in itself be a function of the information content.
This model is slightly more elaborate than that devised by Colley for the
Association of National Advertising under the auspices of the ANA
Committee on Corporate Management Approach to Advertising
Development.
The Lavidge and Sterner model takes cognizance of the competitive
situation. Such competition may arise between brands of a product or even
between substitute products as perceived by prospects constituting the
target audience. The stage of Liking following those of Awareness and
Knowledge may refer to the advertising, thus emphasizing the creative
aspects. Preference for the product may be the combined effect of product
characteristics and their relevance to the target audience, and advertising.
1.6.6 Innovation Adoption Model
A variation of the hierarchy of effects model, which builds on the experience
of usage, was provided by Rogers in his Innovation Adoption Model
depicted below:
Rogers Model is of special relevance to new product introductions and
particularly useful for adoption of non-commercial service or practices in
developing countries. The stages or evaluation are typical before adoption
(or purchase) in uninitiated communities where benchmarks for comparison
might not exist. In this context, the importance of word-of-mouth of
communication may also be pointed out. Word-of-mouth is also a possible
effect of advertising. It can serve as an important input for buying decisions
as well as for moving prospects from the stage of interest to that of
evaluation. The decision in favour of marking an evaluation is likely to be
influenced by information available from various sources including
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advertising. Evaluation, obviously, is a major step towards the adoption of
the product service.
1.6.7 Operational Model
O Brien has tried to develop an Operational Model which could integrate
various stages of decision-making by buyers, as shown below:
In order to identify the major elements of the Model, a research study on the
purchasing behaviour of 634 housewives for a brand of convenience food
over a period of five months was undertaken. Purchase diaries were
maintained for 20 weeks and telephone interviews were conducted during
the 5
th
, 9
th
and 21
st
weeks. The study indicated that building up of
confidence in the brand was an important cognitive stage operating between
awareness and attitude alteration of formation. Favourableness of word-of-
mouth communication contributes to building of confidence.
1.7 The Role of Accounts Executive
It will be Accounts Executives efficiency, professionalism and customer-
orientated approach that deliver the necessary results to maintain and grow
excellent Customer Service Department.
In handling all customer-related issues from initial enquiry, order processing
to invoicing and dispatch, one will work closely with the Operations Manager
to deliver customer requirements, adapting ones response and reprioritizing
tasks to meet the internal and external deadlines.
Experience in a customer-facing role within an order-focused environment
working to defined quality standards, the ability to react positively to
changing priorities, a high standard of written and verbal communication at
all levels and a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office are essential for
this role.
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Experience of the SAP Management Information System or a Stock
Management System, previous experience of dealing directly with export
and freight forwarding companies and producing documentation for national
and worldwide deliveries would be advantageous.
Self Assessment Questions III
1. ______________ tried to develop an Operational Model which could
integrate various stages of decision-making by buyers.
2. _________ is of special relevance to new product introductions and
particularly useful for adoption of non-commercial service or practices in
developing countries.
1.8 Choosing an Advertising Agency
1.8.1 Advertising Its Purpose and Functions
Advertising is a measure of the growth of civilization and an indication of the
striving of the human race for betterment and perfection. The drive for
survival and satisfaction and limits of human endeavour has been succinctly
summed up by Maslow in his holistic, dynamic theory which brings together
several schools of thought on the subject. Maslows theory also has the
advantage of experimental validity. There are five better known stages in
Maslows hierarchy of needs, viz. physiological needs, safety needs, need
for love and belongingness, self esteem needs and self actualization needs.
There are two further goals to achieve, namely knowledge and beauty. The
aspiration for knowledge arises from the need to know more and to develop
greater understanding. The longing for beauty represents the ultimate in
aesthetic satisfaction.
Maslows hierarchy of needs may be analytically viewed as a two
dimensional paradigm. The satisfaction of physiological or safety needs, at
the lower range of the hierarchy, may not be entirely devoid of the
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manifestation of needs of belongingness and love. For instance, a dish
specially prepared for an occasion, such as an anniversary celebration,
serves a dual purpose of a meal as well as a form of expression of
closeness for the period concerned. Advertising has both forward and
backward linkages in the process of satisfaction across the entire spectrum
of needs. The explicit audience aware of the existence of the product,
service or idea would fulfil their felt needs and spell out the differential
benefits in a competitive situation. On advertising also lies the onus, at least
marginally, of motivating prospects to strive for creation of resources for
fulfilling the new needs, or alternatively, to aid re-allocation of available
resources. Advertising is not merely directed at selling, or for that matter, at
achieving the objective of gaining acceptance for a worthwhile idea or
programme. It may also be an instrument for developing basic motivations
for creating resources for buying goods and services or generating
favourable conditions for the acceptance of an idea.
Dwelling for a while on the motivational construction, the advertiser and the
support systems, namely advertising agencies and media, have only a very
limited role. Social scientists gave advertising a form and a focus, using the
base of psychology against the background of socio-economic norms.
Marketing men, quick on the uptake, assimilated the advertising concept
swiftly and adopted it as a part of the marketing mix. Needs excavate and
consumer perceptions of products and services also change, buyers
attitudes towards products may be determined not merely by products as
manufactured in factories, but also by what is added in the form of
packaging, services, advertising, customer advice, financing, delivery
arrangements, warehousing and other things that people value.
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1.8.2 The Advertising Spectrum
Advertising is purposeful communication designed with a view to achieve a
specific objective. It must reach the target audience identified for such
communication. The resource allocation for advertising, as for other
marketing inputs, is expected to have the effect of value imputation which
may be measured in a variety of ways in order to estimate the cost-benefit
ratio or payoff. The measurement of payoff or return on advertising is quite
complicated, owing to problems in identifying measurable parameters and
taking into account the influence of a large number of environmental factors
which contribute in varying degrees to the total impact of advertising.
Advertising can be seen to operate at various levels and has a specific
purpose to serve at each of these interfaces. We may describe it as the
advertising spectrum where the intended recipients of the message in a
typical situation may be the following:
a. Customers and prospects for commercial good or services,
b. A specified audience for certain ideas or information, as in the case of
non-commercial advertising, and
c. A wide cross-section of audience for institutional advertising aimed at
creating goodwill or amplifying certain issues, including political issues.
However, the coverage of advertising is not confined to such groups alone.
There are other major audiences as well:
a) Sales Organization
The major objective of advertising is to make the job of sales personnel less
difficult and more efficient, as measured by sales achieved per person
where direct selling efforts is an essential input. This applies to customer
products and industrial products as well as service. Sales personnel of
consumer goods deal mainly with various levels of distribution channels,
and advertising can be an aid to them because of the consumer pull it may
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create. In the case of new products, or products facing sales problems, the
contribution of advertising may be seen directly in overcoming dealer
resistance towards ordering such products.
Sales personnel, in the first place, constitute an audience of their companys
advertising. They should believe in that and be fully conversant with the
advertising content and programme. It is, therefore, considered desirable to
take sales personnel into confidence when developing new advertising
plans and they should certainly be given a preview of the companys
advertising.
b) Distribution Channels
Channels of distribution, especially when they are multilevel and long, are
influenced to a certain extent in their buying and stocking decisions by the
advertising and sales promotion support they get from the manufacturing/
marketing organization. When the process of change with regard to an
expansion in the product range or opening new market segments is rapid, or
when there is keen competition, the deployment of promotional inputs
becomes all the more relevant.
c) Employees
Another audience for an organisations advertising consists of its own
employees organisation-wide, and not merely the sales personnel. Franklin
Acito and J efferey Ford term this contribution as employees effects as
distinguished from target group effects relating to buyers and prospects.
Employees are exposed to characteristics of the organisation and also in
some measure to its advertising. It is pointed out that the customers of a
company are indeed subject to the target effect of advertising. In turn,
indirect effects arising from the reception and absorption of advertising by
customers and actions taken by them are transmitted to employees.
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The effects of direct advertising on employees are likely to be much higher
for consumer goods and consumer service organisations than for technical
and industrial products. The amount of advertising and the type of media
used are likely to increase chances of exposure for employees. In the case
of service organization such as banks, hotels, travel agencies, airlines and
insurance companies, indirect effects transmitted by the prospects and
customers to employees of the concerned organisation would be
appreciable.
d) Advertising for Media
There is yet another category of advertising which must be considered in
respect of diversity of target audiences. In a competitive environment, space
or time in media for this purpose can take the form of direct mailing apart
from sales contacts. In addition or in lieu of that, the media may undertake
to advertise in the mass media. Such advertising may serve the dual
purpose of addressing the appeal to advertisers and attracting newreaders.
It may help reinforce the loyalty of regular readers of the print media, or
listeners and viewers in the case of radio and television. The contents of the
advertisement will indicate which of the two is meant to be the primary
audience.
The Times of India advertising campaign serves as a useful illustration of a
multi-faced approach to different types of audience. In the first place, an
appeal is made to the readers by highlighting the value of advertisements as
well as of the additional content. The attention of advertisers, advertising
agencies and others concerned with buying and selling space is drawn to
the question of reach ad cost economies available. There has been a
substantial growth in the print media, especially periodicals, in recent years.
Therefore advertising by media for securing advertisement has become very
popular.
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e) Non-commercial Advertising
Advertising is concerned with much more than the promotion of tangible
goods. Although use of advertising has been made largely for promoting
goods and services, it is, now, also being increasingly used to further public
interests as well as goods and service with limited or little profit motive. The
Indian Cancer Society ran an advertising campaign in 1979-1980. The
theme centered on a positive approach to an otherwise fearful disease and
gave valuable information on facilities for regular check-ups. The campaign
was highly successful and was also applauded as a professional
masterpiece. The word idea which can very often be substituted for
achieving socially desirable aims such as conservation of energy can be
evolved by using the same basic principles as those applied in the case of
usual products and service.
Self Assessment Questions IV
1. Advertising is concerned with much more than the promotion of tangible
goods.
2. Sales personnel, in the first place, constitute an audience of their
companys advertising.
3. Advertising is not a purposeful communication designed with a view
achieving specific objective
1.9 Summary
Advertising is the dissemination of information concerning an idea, service
or product to communicate in accordance with the intent of the advertiser.
Information given in an advertisement may be about the company and its
products or service. Advertising in marketing plays a major role in bringing a
product out to the customers environment. The advertising agencies play
an important role in retaining the customers expectations. Advertising can
be seen to operate at various levels and has a specific purpose to serve at
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each of these interfaces. The criteria followed while choosing the advertising
provides a strong platform for product launching.
1.10 Terminal Questions
1. Describe the importance of advertising in marketing.
2. Define advertising.
3. How does advertising contributes to economic growth?
4. Explain the role of advertising in marketing mix and positioning
decisions.
5. Explain the role of Accounts Executive.
7. What are the criteria for choosing an advertising agency?
1.11 Answers to SAQs and TQs
SAQs I
1. True 2. True 3. False
SAQs II
1. True 2. True 3. True
SAQs III
1. O Brien 2. Rogers Model
SAQs IV
1. True 2. True 3. False
Answers to TQs:
1. Refer to 1.3
2. Refer to 1.2
3. Refer to 1.5
4. Refer to 1.5
5. Refer to 1.7
6. Refer to 1.8