ASSIGNMENT DRIVE SUMMER 2014

PROGRAM Bachelor of Business Administration- BBA

SEMESTER 3
SUBJECT CODE & NAME-BBA 304 - Advertising and Sales
BK ID B1598 CREDIT & MARKS 4 CREDITS, 60 MARKS
Q.1: Define advertising and discuss the various functions of advertising.
(Meaning, Functions)
ANS:
Meaning:
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or
listeners) to take some action with respect to products, ideas or services. Most commonly, the
desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although
political and ideological advertising is also common. Advertising messages are usually paid for
by sponsors and viewed via various media; including traditional media such as newspapers,
magazines, television, radio, outdoor or direct mail or new media such as websites and text
messages.
Functions:
The following are the functions of advertising:
i) To make the product distinct from the competitors. For example, Maggie Noodles
advertising banks on the taste and quality which discriminate it from the other noodles.
ii) To communicate information. When Maggie Noodles advertises, it limpidly informs how
it is to be cooked. The procedure of cooking is narrated step by step.
iii) To provoke the users. The Maggie advertisement claims to be both healthy and tasty. By
offering extra in the same amount and telling several recipes for making it, the advertisement
pushes customer to buy the product.
iv) To expand the distribution. The Maggie brand initially started with production of
noodles. Later, it expanded to soups and ketchup to gofer wider distribution.
v) To encourage brand preference and loyalty. By offering a slogan of 'easy to cook and
ready to eat, Maggie Noodles gave good reasons to consumers to stick to the brand. Now, it has
diversified to wheat noodles, cashing on the existing customer base.
vi) To reduce the sales cost. Different strategies for advertising were tried to achieve more
sale, which would automatically reduce the cost. Maggie Noodles sold in small packet is an
attempt to penetrate into the lower strata of society.

Q2 Explain the consumer buying decision process.

(Consumer buying decision process) 10
Answer: Behind the visible act of making a purchase there lies a decision process that must be
investigated.
The purchase decision process is the stages a buyer passes through in making choices about
which products and services to buy. The stages are:
Problem recognition
Information search
Alternative evaluation
Purchase decision
Post-purchase behavior
Problem recognition: Perceiving a need
Perceiving a difference between a person's ideal and actual situations is big enough to
trigger a decision.
Can be as simple as noticing an empty milk carton or it can be activated by marketing
efforts.
Information search: Seeking value
The information search stage clarifies the options open to the consumer.
There are two steps of information search
Internal search: Scanning ones memory to recall previous experiences with products or
brands. Often sufficient for frequently purchased products.
External search when past experience or knowledge is insufficient, the risk of making a
wrong purchase decision is high. The cost of gathering information is low.
The primary sources of external information are:
Personal sources, such as friends and family
Public sources, including various product-rating organisations such as consumer reports
Marketer-dominated sources, such as advertising, company websites and salespeople
Alternative evaluation: Assessing value
The previous step of information search clarifies the problem for the consumer by:
Suggesting criteria to use for the purchase
Yielding brand names that might meet the criteria
Developing consumer value perception
Once this is done, the next step is alternative evaluation. A consumer's evaluative criteria
represent both:
The objective attributes of a brand (such as, locate speed on a portable
CD player)
The subjective factors (such as prestige)

Purchase: Actual purchase happens based on the evaluation of various parameters of the
product or service.
Post purchase behavior: Value in consumption or use
After buying a product, the consumer compares it with expectations and is either satisfied or
dissatisfied.
Satisfaction or dissatisfaction affects:
Consumer value perceptions
Consumer communications
Repeat-purchase behavior
Many firms work to produce positive post purchase communications among consumers and
contribute to relationship building between sellers and buyers.
Cognitive dissonance: The feelings of post purchase psychological tension or anxiety a consumer
often experiences. Firms often use advertisements or follow-up calls from salespeople in this
post-purchase stage to try to convince buyers that they made the right decision.
Situational influences in consumer buying decision:
There are mainly five situational influences. They are:
The purchase task: The reason for engaging in the decision.
Social surroundings: Including others present when a purchase decision is made.
Physical surroundings: Such as decor, music and crowding in retail stores.
Temporal effects: Such as time of day or the amount of time available.
Antecedent states: Includes the consumers mood or amount of cash on hand.

Q.3: Observe any newspaper advertisement of any telecom company. What is the
target audience and what are benefits of choosing newspaper for advertisement.
(Selection of appropriate advertisement, Identifying target audience, Advantages of newspaper
advertisement)
ANS:
Selection of appropriate advertisement:
Advertising is complex because so many different advertisers try to reach so many different
types of audience. Considering all these different advertising situations, we can identify seven
major types of advertising.
Brand advertising: The most visible of advertising is brand advertising such as that for
Coca Cola Coke, the Apple Macintosh which focuses on the development of a long term brand
identity and image. When the focus is for a long term objective, they focus more on a brand than
the product.
Retail or local advertising: A great deal of advertising focuses on retailers or
manufactures that sell their merchandise in a certain geographical area. In the case of retail
advertising, the message announces facts about products that are available in the nearby stores.

 Direct-response advertising: Direct response advertising can use any advertising

medium, including direct mail. However, the message is different from the national and the
retail advertising; it tries to stimulate a sale directly. The consumer can respond by telephone or
mail or e-mail and the product are delivered directly to the consumer by mail or some other
carrier.
Business-to-Business advertising: Business-to-Business advertising (B2B) is sent from
one business to another. For example, it includes messages directed at companies distributing
products, as well as
Industrial purchases and professionals such as lawyers and physicians.B2B are not directed at
general consumers.
Institutional advertising: Institutional advertising is also called corporate advertising.
These messages focus on establishing a corporate identity or winning the public over to the
organization's point of view.
Nonprofit advertising: Not-for-profit organizations, such as charities, foundations,
associations, hospitals etc. advertise for donation and other fund raising events. The motive
behind this type of advertising is not profit generation through sales but information to the
public for raising funds needed to run the organization.
Public service advertising: These communicate a message on behalf of some good cause,
such as AIDS awareness, preventing child abuse or right to education. These advertisements are
usually created by advertising professionals free of charge and the media often donates the
necessary space and time.
Identifying target audience:
The target audience is often defined in terms of demographics and psychographics. The research
bureaus provide data on demographics of a nation. IMCs first function is to identify the right
audience. It is very important to deliver the message to the right audience. All advertising
strategy starts with the identification of the customer or prospective customer the desired
audience for the advertising message. They are the most critical aspect of advertising where they
cannot be overlooked. The decision to buy or not to buy lies exclusively in the hands of the
potential customers who are being communicated through the advertisements.
Advantages of newspaper advertisement:
The advantages of newspapers are:
Range of market coverage
Advertisers can reach local or metro markets, special interest groups and racial and ethnic
groups in a cost- efficient manner.
Comparison shopping
Consumers use newspapers for comparison shopping, so they are especially useful for
advertisers that have products with an obvious competitive advantage.

Positive consumer attitudes

Readers generally perceive newspapers, including the advertisements, to be current and credible
information source.
Flexibility
Newspapers offer geographical flexibility: Advertisers can choose to advertise in some markets
and not in others. Newspapers also offer production flexibility. Unusual advertisement sizes, full
color advertisements, free standing inserts different prices in different areas, sample products
and supplements are all newspaper advertising options.
Interaction of national and local
Newspapers provide a bridge between the national advertiser and the local Advertiser. A local
retailer can easily tie in with a national campaign by using a similar advertisement in a local
daily.

Q4 What is media planning and what are the steps in media planning process?
(Meaning, steps) 4+6=10
Answer: Media plan determines the best way to get the advertisers message to the market. In a
basic sense, the goal of the media plan is to find the best combination of media that enables the
marketer to communicate the message in the most effective manner to the largest number of
potential customers at the lowest cost.
Media Planning Process
Media planning is a four-step process which consists of:
1) Market analysis
2) Setting media objectives
3) Developing and implementing media strategy
4) Evaluating the effectiveness
We will learn about these steps in the following sections.
Market Analysis
The market analysis is performed to identify target market and to review internal and external
factors influencing the media plan. The key questions at this stage are:
To whom shall we advertise? (i.e., who is the target market)
What internal and external factors influence the media plan?
The following sections help in understanding these.
5.5.1 Target market
This step answers the question to whom the message is directed to. That is, it involves
selection of the target audience: the people whom the media plan attempts to influence through
various forms of brand contact. This helps to:
Reach the person of the right demographic and psychographic profile

Concentrate in the right geographical area where the highest concentration of buyers of this
product is likely to be found
The target audience is often defined in terms of demographics and psychographics. The research
bureaus provide data on demographics of a nation. For example, Syndicated research services
such as Simmons Market Research Bureau (SMRB or Simmons) and Media-mark Research Inc.
(MRI) provide national data on a number of demographics of U.S. consumers, including gender,
age, education, income, marital status, employment, type of residence, and number of children
in the household. Using demographic variables, for example, the target audience of a media plan
could be "individuals who are 26-to-45 years old with yearly household income of $50,000 or
more" or "all households with children aged 3 years or younger."
Every product and brand has a different media need, and the same brand has different needs at
different times. The target profile is defined with tremendous care and then the media to reach
him or her is chosen carefully. The psychographic and demographic or the Socio Economic
Classification (SEC) mentioned elsewhere also helps to do that. Most commercial media now
carry out extensive and intensive research on their readership profile and the changes occurring
in them and make it available to their potential advertisers.

Internal and external factors

Media strategies are influenced by both internal and external factors operating at any given
time. Internal factors may involve the size of the media budget, managerial and administrative
capabilities, or the organisation of the agency. External factors may include the economy (the
rising cost of media), changes in technology (availability of new media), competitive factors and
the like.
Media Objectives
Setting media objective is the major step in media planning. Media objectives are in harmony
with the advertising and the marketing plans. Thus, while launching a new product or
repositioning an existing product, there are specific objectives which guide the media decisions.
These media objectives are designed for the attainment of communications and marketing
objectives.
Media objectives are the goals for the media programme and should be limited to those that can
be accomplished through media strategies. These objectives must be specific and measurable to
facilitate co-ordination and evaluation once the campaign is over. In other words, media
objectives should be SMART Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound.
Developing and Implementing Media Strategies
Once the objectives are set, media planners consider how to achieve these objectives. For this,
they make four crucial decisions: where to advertise (geography), when to advertise (timing),
what media categories to use (media mix) and how to advertise. This forms the development and
implementation of media strategies. The following criteria are considered in the development
and implementation of media plans:

Media mix
Target market coverage
Geographic allocation decision
Scheduling decisions
Reach, Frequency and Gross Rating points
Creative aspects
Budget considerations
Evaluating the Effectiveness
Having implemented the media strategies, marketers need to know whether or not they were
successful. Measures of effectiveness must consider two factors:
1) How well did these strategies achieve the media objectives?
2) How well did this media plan contribute to attaining the overall marketing and
communications objectives? If the strategies were successful, they should be used in future
plans. If not, their problems should be analysed. The most direct measure of the effectiveness of
media planning is the media vehicle exposure. Media planners ask: How many of the target
audience were exposed to the media vehicles and to ads in those vehicles during a given period
of time? If the measured level of exposure is near to or exceeds the planned reach and frequency,
then the media plan is considered to be effective.
5 What do you understand by Public relations? What is the difference between PR
and advertising?
(Meaning, Difference between advertising and PR ) 4+6=10
Answer:
Meaning of Public Relations
Public relations is used to build rapport with employees, customers, investors, voters or the
general public. Public Relations (PR) is the actions of a corporation, store, government,
individual etc. in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees,
customers etc.
An earlier definition of public relations by the first World Assembly of Public Relations
Associations, held in Mexico City, in August 1978, was "the art and social science of analyzing
trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organizational leaders, and implementing
planned programs of action, which will serve both the organization and the public interest."
The most comprehensive definition is as follows:
Public relation is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the
policies and procedures of an organisation with the public interest and executes a program of
action and communication to earn public understanding and acceptance.

PR is the practice of managing communication between an organisation and its publics. It

provides an organisation or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest
and news items that provide a third- party endorsement. In this PR activity do not direct
payment. Common activities include speaking at conferences, working with the media, crisis
communications, social media engagement and employee communication.
Public relations is used to build rapport with employees, customers, investors, voters or the
general public. Almost any organisation that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the public
arena employs some level of public relations. There are a number of public relations disciplines
falling under the banner of corporate communications, such as analyst relations, media
relations, investor relations, internal communications and labor relations.

Difference between public relations and advertising

The following are the differences between advertising and public relations.
Advertising
Public relations
1. The company pays for
advertising
space. You know exactly when
that
advertisement will be on air or
be
published.

1. The objective is to get free

publicity for
the company. Hence the focus is on
getting
free media exposure for the
company and
its products or services.

2. Since you are paying for the

space,
you have creative control on
what

2. You have no control over how the

media
presents your information, if they
decide to
use your information at all. They are
not
obligated to cover your event or
publish your
press release

goes into that advertisement.

3. Advertisements can be
published
or run repeatedly. An
advertisement
generally has a longer shelf life
than
one press release.
4. In advertising, you get to

3. You submit a press release about a

new
product or about a news conference
once.
The PR exposure you receive is only
circulated once and the editor will
not
publish more than once.
4. In public relations, you have to

exercise

have a
nose for news and be able to
your creativity in creating new generate buzz
advertising campaigns and
through that news. You exercise
materials.
your
creativity in the way you search for
new
news to release to the media.
5. If you are working at an
advertising
agency, your main contacts are
your
co-workers and the agency's
clients.

5. In PR, the main contacts will be

people in
the area of publications and
broadcast
media.

6. You are looking out your

6. It is generally not possible to
target
segment,
audience and advertise
target or position the product or
accordingly.
service.
You would not advertise a kids
product in a business magazine.
7. Some industry professionals
such
as Account Executive have
contact
with the clients. Others like
Copywriters or Graphic
Designers in
the agency may not meet with
the
client at all.

8. Sales!, 20% discount, Buy

this
product! Act now! Call
today! These

7. In public relations, you are very

visible to
the media. PR professionals are not
always
called on for the good news.
In an emergency you may have to
give a
statement or on-camera interview to
journalists. You may represent your
company as a spokesperson at an
event.

8. You are strictly writing in a nononsense

news format. Any blatant
commercial
messages in your communications
are the things you can say in an are
advertisement. You want to use
those
disregarded by the media.
buzz words to motivate people
to buy
your product.

6 Write short notes on:

a) Sales quota
b) sales force
a) meaning and objectives of sales quota
b) meaning and role of sales force 10 10
Answer: a)
MEANING OF Sales Quota
Known as sales target, sales quota is an expression of sales value and sales volume expected
from a salesperson to be achieved in full from their defined territory over a given period of time
i.e., weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly. In simple sense, a sales quota is a goal; it is a target a
sales staff is expected to meet. Each sales person must understand the importance of their target
and how it fits in as part of the pre-set goals stated in business plan of an enterprise. They are a
way of life for the sales force. All activities of the sales force revolve around fulfillment of sales
quotas. As already mentioned, sales quotas are the targets assigned to sales personnel, they also
signify the performance expected from them by an organisation. Sales quotas help directing,
evaluating and controlling the sales force. They form an indispensable tool for sales managers to
carry out sales management activities. Sales quotas are prepared on the basis of sales forecasts
and budgets. They provide targets for sales personnel to achieve, act as standards to measure
sales force performance and help motivate the sales force. Compensation plans are invariably
linked to quotas. The commission and bonuses given to sales persons are also based on their
meeting the quotas set for them. Hence, the field sales force should always be pro-activein
achieving their pre-set goals i.e., sales quotas which will help them to get rewarded with an
adequate compensation plan.

OBJECTIVES:
The general objective that sales management has in mind in using quota is to control the sales
effort. Sales control is tightened through setting of quotas on expenses and profitability of sales
volume. A skilled management uses quotas to motivate personnel to achieve desired
performance levels. Apart from these there are other reasons as well which are as follows 1)To provide quantitative performance standard

2)To obtain targeted sales and expense control

3)To motivate desired performance
4)To work out sound compensation plan
Thus, a sales quota should be fair, challenging, attainable, rewarding, easy to understand and
flexible enough in order to fulfill the above mentioned objectives.

b)
Meaning and Role of Sales Force
Sales Force is the term used for the division of a business that is responsible for selling products
or services. Sales force means persons responsible for selling products or services via direct
contact with the customers.
Today, most industrial companies rely heavily on a professional sales force to locate prospects,
develop them into customers and grow the business. Some companies hire manufacturers
representatives and agents to carry out the direct selling task. In addition, many consumer
companies use adirect-selling force such as insurance agents, stock brokers and distributors.
Sales force members may be paid a fixed salary regardless of sales volume or may receive a small
base salary plus commissions calculated as a percentage of revenue sold. Noncommissioned sales forces are appropriate when selling requires the involvement of a team of
individuals or when there is an extremely long sales cycle. For example, some complex industrial
services may require several years of effort before the prospect is sold. Salespeople may be fulltime employees of the seller or may be independent, nonexclusive agents. Members of the sales
force are assigned a sales territory that may be segmented by exclusive or nonexclusive
geographic or market segments, product or product lines or by specific customers or prospects.
Role of sales force
The role of the sales force depends to a large extent on whether a company is selling directly to
consumers or to other businesses. In consumer sales, the sales force is typically concerned
simply with taking and closing orders. These salespeople are not responsible for creating
demand for the product, since demand for the product has already been created by advertising
and promotion. They may provide the consumer with some product information, but are often
not concerned with maintaining long-term customer relationships. Examples of consumer sales
forces include automobile salespersons and the sales staff found in a variety of retail stores.
The sales force takes on a completely different role in business-to-business sales. Industrial sales
forces, for example, may be required to perform a variety of functions. These may include

prospecting for new customers and qualifying leads, explaining who the company is and what its
products can do, closing orders, negotiating prices, servicing accounts, gathering competitive
and market information and allocating products during times of shortages.