Advertising Marketing 101

What is Advertising?

Advertising is defined differently by different authorities and the institutions dealing with the subject of advertising. The American Marketing Association defines advertising as "any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor." This definition suggests the following features of advertising. Firstly, advertisement is paid for by the sponsor/advertiser. Naturally, he exercises control over the advertisement. Secondly, advertising is non-personal selling. It is a medium of mass communication for large scale selling. Thirdly, advertising acts as important marketing tool for presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services. Finally, advertising needs the sponsor of the message known. Advertising will be meaningless if the advertiser is not clearly identified.

Features of Advertising

1. Advertising provides information : The basic purpose of advertising is to provide information about products/services to prospective buyers. The details of products such as features, uses, prices, benefits, manufacturer's name, and instructions to be followed while using the product are given in the advertisements. The advertising message and brand name are also given. The information supplied gives education and guidance to consumers and facilitates correct selection of goods by them.
2. Paid form of communication : The advertiser has to pay to the media for giving publicity to his advertising message. He pays for the advertisement and naturally he decides the size, slogan, etc. given in the advertisement. Advertising is a form of paid communication.
3. Non-personal presentation : Advertising is non-personal in character as against salesmanship which is personal (face to face communication) in character. In advertising, the message is given to all and not to one specific individual. This rule is applicable to all advertising media including press. However even in advertising target consumers or target market can be selected for making an advertising appeal.
4. Gives publicity to goods, services and ideas : Advertising is basically for giving information to consumers. This information is always related to the features and benefits of goods and services of different types. Advertising gives new ideas to consumers as its contents are meaningful. The aim is to make the ideas popular and thereby to promote sales. For example, advertising on family planning, family welfare, and life insurance is useful for placing new ideas before the people.
5. Basically for persuasion : Advertising aims at persuasion of potential customers. Advertising attracts attention towards a product, creates desire to have the same and finally induces consumers to visit the market and purchase the same. Advertising has psychological impact on consumers. It influences the buying decisions of consumers.
6. Target oriented : It is possible to make intensive advertising by selecting a specific market or specific segment of consumers (e.g. children, housewives, etc.) for the purpose of advertising. This selection of a specific market is called target market. Advertising becomes effective and result oriented when it is target oriented. The waste in advertising can be minimized through such target oriented advertising.
7. An Art, Science and Profession : It is now universally accepted that advertising is an art, science and a profession. It is an art as it needs creativity for raising its effectiveness. Advertising is a science as it has its principles and rules. Advertising is now treated as a profession with its professional bodies and code of conduct for members. Advertising agencies and space brokers function as professionals in the field of advertising.
8. Important element in marketing mix : Advertising is an important element in marketing mix. It supports the sales promotion efforts of the manufacturer and makes positive contribution in sales promotion provided other elements in the marketing mix are reasonably favorable. This is natural as advertising alone is not adequate for promoting sales. Many companies now spend huge funds on advertising and public relations
9. Creativity - the essence of advertising : Advertising is a method of presenting a product in an artistic, attractive and agreeable manner. This is possible through the element of creativity which is the essence of advertising. Creativity can be introduced by creative people (professionals) in the field of advertising. They introduce new techniques for introducing creativity. Without creativity, advertising will be like a body without a soul.

Types of Advertising

Television advertising / Music in advertising

The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format, as is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events. The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as the most prominent advertising event on television. The average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached US$3.5 million (as of 2012). Some television commercials feature a song or jingle that listeners soon relate to the product. Virtual advertisements may be inserted into regular television programming through computer graphics. It is typically inserted into otherwise blank backdrops^[18] or used to replace local billboards that are not relevant to the remote broadcast audience.^[19] More controversially, virtual billboards may be inserted into the background^[20] where none exist in real-life. This technique is especially used in televised sporting events.^[21][22] Virtual product placement is also possible.^[23][24]

Infomercials

An infomercial is a long-format television commercial, typically five minutes or longer. The word "infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words "information" & "commercial". The main objective in an infomercial is to create an impulse purchase, so that the consumer sees the presentation and then immediately buys the product through the advertised toll-free telephone number or website. Infomercials describe, display, and often demonstrate products and their features, and commonly have testimonials from consumers and industry professionals.

Radio advertising

Radio advertising is a form of advertising via the medium of radio. Radio advertisements are broadcast as radio waves to the air from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Airtime is purchased from a station or network in exchange for airing the commercials. While radio has the limitation of being restricted to sound, proponents of radio advertising often cite this as an advantage. Radio is an expanding medium that can be found not only on air, but also online. According to Arbitron, radio has approximately 241.6 million weekly listeners, or more than 93 percent of the U.S. population.

Online advertising

Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web for the expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Online ads are delivered by an ad server. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads that appear on search engine results pages, banner ads, in text ads, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, online classified advertising, advertising networks and e-mail marketing, including e-mail spam.

Product placements

Covert advertising, also known as guerrilla advertising, is when a product or brand is embedded in entertainment and media. For example, in a film, the main character can use an item or other of a definite brand, as in the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise's character John Anderton owns a phone with the Nokia logo clearly written in the top corner, or his watch engraved with the Bulgari logo. Another example of advertising in film is in I, Robot, where main character played by Will Smith mentions his Converse shoes several times, calling them "classics," because the film is set far in the future. I, Robot and Spaceballs also showcase futuristic cars with the Audi and Mercedes-Benz logos clearly displayed on the front of the vehicles. Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as a result contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used. Similarly, product placement for Omega Watches, Ford, VAIO, BMW and Aston Martin cars are featured in recent James Bond films, most notably Casino Royale. In "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", the main transport vehicle shows a large Dodge logo on the front. Blade Runnerincludes some of the most obvious product placement; the whole film stops to show a Coca-Cola billboard.

Press advertising

Press advertising describes advertising in a printed medium such as a newspaper, magazine, or trade journal. This encompasses everything from media with a very broad readership base, such as a major national newspaper or magazine, to more narrowly targeted media such as local newspapers and trade journals on very specialized topics. A form of press advertising is classified advertising, which allows private individuals or companies to purchase a small, narrowly targeted ad for a low fee advertising a product or service. Another form of press advertising is the Display Ad, which is a larger ad (can include art) that typically run in an article section of a newspaper.

Billboard advertising

Billboards are large structures located in public places which display advertisements to passing pedestrians and motorists. Most often, they are located on main roads with a large amount of passing motor and pedestrian traffic; however, they can be placed in any location with large amounts of viewers, such as on mass transit vehicles and in stations, in shopping malls or office buildings, and in stadiums.

Mobile billboard advertising

Mobile billboards are generally vehicle mounted billboards or digital screens. These can be on dedicated vehicles built solely for carrying advertisements along routes preselected by clients, they can also be specially equipped cargo trucks or, in some cases, large banners strewn from planes. The billboards are often lighted; some being backlit, and others employing spotlights. Some billboard displays are static, while others change; for example, continuously or periodically rotating among a set of advertisements. Mobile displays are used for various situations in metropolitan areas throughout the world, including: Target advertising, One-day, and long-term campaigns, Conventions, Sporting events, Store openings and similar promotional events, and Big advertisements from smaller companies.

In-store advertising

In-store advertising is any advertisement placed in a retail store. It includes placement of a product in visible locations in a store, such as at eye level, at the ends of aisles and near checkout counters (aka POP—Point Of Purchase display), eye-catching displays promoting a specific product, and advertisements in such places as shopping carts and in-store video displays.

Coffee cup advertising

Coffee cup advertising is any advertisement placed upon a coffee cup that is distributed out of an office, café, or drive-through coffee shop. This form of advertising was first popularized in Australia, and has begun growing in popularity in the United States, India, and parts of the Middle East.^{[citation needed]}

Street advertising

This type of advertising first came to prominence in the UK by Street Advertising Services to create outdoor advertising on street furniture and pavements. Working with products such as Reverse Graffiti, air dancer's and 3D pavement advertising, the media became an affordable and effective tool for getting brand messages out into public spaces.^{[citation needed]}

Sheltered Outdoor Advertising

This type of advertising opens the possibility of combining outdoor with indoor advertisement by placing large mobile, structures (tents) in public places on temporary bases. The large outer advertising space exerts a strong pull on the observer, the product is promoted indoor, where the creative decor can intensify the impression.

Celebrity branding

This type of advertising focuses upon using celebrity power, fame, money, popularity to gain recognition for their products and promote specific stores or products. Advertisers often advertise their products, for example, when celebrities share their favorite products or wear clothes by specific brands or designers. Celebrities are often involved in advertising campaigns such as television or print adverts to advertise specific or general products. The use of celebrities to endorse a brand can have its downsides, however. One mistake by a celebrity can be detrimental to the public relations of a brand. For example, following his performance of eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, swimmer Michael Phelps' contract with Kellogg's was terminated, as Kellogg's did not want to associate with him after he was photographed smoking marijuana. Celebrities such as Britney Spears have advertised for multiple products including Pepsi, Candies from Kohl's, Twister, NASCAR, Toyota and many more.

Advertising Decisions

MAJOR ADVERTISING DECISION: 
Marketing management must make four important decisions when developing an advertising program these four important are as follows: 
• Setting advertising objectives 
• Setting advertising budget 
• Developing advertising strategy 
• Evaluating advertising campaign 
They are summarized in below: 
• Setting advertising objectives: The first step is to set advertising objectives. These objectives should be based on past decisions about target market, positioning and marketing mix, which define the job that advertising must do in the total marketing program advertising is a specific communication task to be accomplished with a specific target during a specific period of time. Advertising objectives can be classified by primary purpose-where the aim is to inform persuade or remind. 
• Setting advertising budget: After determining its advertising objectives the company next sets its advertising budget for each product. A brand's advertising budget depends on its stages of product life cycle. Market share also impacts the amount advertising needed. Because building the market or taking share from competitors requires larger advertising spending than does simply maintaining current share, high share brands usually needs more advertising spending as a percentage of sales. 
• Developing advertising strategy: Advertising strategy consists of two major elements. 
a. Creating advertising message 
b. Selecting advertising media 
In the past companies often themed media planning as secondary to the message, creation process. These creative departments first created good advertisement then the media department selected first created good advertisement then the media department selected the best media for carrying these advertisements to desired target audience. 
• Evaluating advertising campaign: It is the last step in major decision of advertising. In this stage evaluate the message of advertising. How much people get attention on the message of advertising. Its market covering capacity, style, tone, words and format etc are evaluated in this stage.

Advertising Media

1. Television
2. Radio
3. Print Publications
4. Internet
5. Direct Mail
6. Signage
7. Product Placement
8. Mobile Devices
9. Sponsorships