Advertising is a form of communication for marketing and used to encourage or persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group) to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common. In Latin, ad vertere means “to turn the mind toward.The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as blogs, websites or text messages.
Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through "branding," which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate certain qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement (PSA).
Modern advertising was created with the innovative techniques introduced with tobacco advertising in the 1920s, most significantly with the campaigns of Edward Bernays, which is often considered the founder of modern, Madison Avenue advertising.
Advertising is the promotion of a company's products and services
carried out primarily to drive up sales of the products and services. It
is also done to build a brand identity and communicate changes in old
products or introduce new product/services to the customers. Advertising
has become an essential element of the corporate world and hence
companies allot a considerable amount of resources towards their
advertising budget. There are several reasons for advertising, some of
which are as follows:
- Increasing the sales of the product/service.
- Creating and maintaining a brand identity or brand image.
- Communicating a change in the existing product line.
- Introduction of a new product or service.
- Increasing the buzz-value of the brand or the company.
Thus,
there are several reasons for advertising. Similarly, there exist
various media which can be effectively used for advertising. Mentioned
below are the various categories or types of advertising. Have a look.
Print Advertising - Newspapers, Magazines, Brochures, Fliers
Print
media has always been a popular advertising option. Advertising
products via newspapers or magazines is a common practice. In addition
to this, the print media also offers options like promotional brochures
and fliers for advertising purposes. Often, newspapers and magazines
sell the advertising space according to the area occupied by the
advertisement, the position of the advertisement in the publication
(front page/middle page, above/below the fold), as well as the
readership of the publications. For instance, an advertisement in a
relatively new and less popular newspaper will cost far less than an
advertisement in an established newspaper that has a high readership.
The price of print ads may also depend on quality of the paper and the
supplement in which they appear. For example, an advertisement in the
glossy (and popular) supplement of a newspaper costs more than one in a
supplement which uses mediocre quality paper.
Outdoor Advertising - Billboards, Kiosks, Trade-shows and Events
It
makes use of several tools and techniques to attract the customers
outdoors. The most common examples of outdoor advertising are
billboards, kiosks, and also events and trade-shows organized by the
company. Billboard advertising is very popular. However it has to be
really terse and catchy in order to grab the attention of the passersby.
Kiosks not only provide an easy outlet for the company's products but
also make for an effective advertising tool to promote the company's
products. Organizing special events or sponsoring them makes for an
excellent advertising opportunity and strategy. The company can organize
trade fairs, or even exhibitions for advertising their products. If not
this, the company can organize several events that are closely
associated with their field. For instance a company that manufactures
sports utilities can sponsor a sports tournament to advertise its
products.
Broadcast Advertising - Television, Radio and the Internet
Broadcast
advertising is a very popular advertising medium that constitutes
several branches like television, radio or the Internet. Television
advertisements have been very popular ever since they were introduced.
The cost of television advertising often depends on the duration of the
advertisement, the time of broadcast (prime time/lull time), sometimes
the show on which it will be broadcast, and of course, the popularity of
the television channel itself. The radio might have lost its charm
owing to new age media. However it remains the choice of small-scale
advertisers. Radio jingles have been very a popular advertising medium
and have a large impact on the audience, which is evident in the fact
that many people still remember and enjoy old popular radio jingles.
Covert Advertising - Advertising in Movies
Covert
advertising is a unique kind of advertising in which a product or a
particular brand is incorporated in some entertainment and media
channels like movies, television shows or even sports. There is no
commercial advertising as such in the entertainment but the brand or the
product is subtly (or sometimes evidently) showcased in the
entertainment show. Some of the famous examples for this sort of
advertising have to be the appearance of brand Nokia which is displayed
on Tom Cruise's phone in the movie Minority Report, or the use of
Cadillac cars in the movie Matrix Reloaded. Pay attention next time,
you're sure to come across a lot of such examples.
Surrogate Advertising - Advertising Indirectly
Surrogate
advertising is prominently seen in cases where advertising a particular
product is banned by law. Advertisement for products like cigarettes or
alcohol which are injurious to health are prohibited by law in several
countries. Hence these companies come up with several other products
that have the same brand name and indirectly remind people of the
cigarettes or alcohol of the same brand by advertising the other
products. Common examples include Fosters and Kingfisher beer brands,
which are often seen to promote their brand with the help of surrogate
advertising.
Public Service Advertising - Advertising for Social Causes
Public
service advertising is a technique that makes use of advertising as an
effective communication medium to convey socially relevant messages
about important matters and social causes like AIDS, energy
conservation, political integrity, deforestation, illiteracy, poverty
and so on. David Ogilvy who is considered to be one of the pioneers of
advertising and marketing concepts had reportedly encouraged the use of
the advertising field for a social cause. Ogilvy once said, "Advertising
justifies its existence when used in the public interest - it is much
too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes.". Today,
public service advertising has been increasingly used in a
non-commercial fashion in several countries across the world in order to
promote various social causes. In the United States, radio and
television stations are granted to bidders on the basis of a fixed
amount of public service advertisements aired by the channel.
Celebrity Advertising
Although
the audience is getting smarter and smarter and the modern-day consumer
is getting immune to the exaggerated claims made in a majority of
advertisements, there exists a section of advertisers that still bank
upon celebrities and their popularity for advertising their products.
Using celebrities for advertising involves signing up celebrities for
campaigns, which consist of all sorts of advertising including,
television ads or even print advertisements. How effective these ads
are, is something that each consumer himself can determine.
Each
of the advertisement types mentioned has its own sub-types and rates of
effectiveness. It is the job of advertising department to figure out
which type of which medium is the best and the most feasible for the
company.
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