Advertising Ideas
Advertising is impersonal, usually paid communication intended to inform, educate, persuade, and remind.
Advertising is a sophisticated form of communication that must work with other marketing tools and business elements to be successful. Advertising must be interruptive — that is, it must make you stop thumbing through the newspaper or thinking about your day long enough to read or hear the ad. Advertising must also be credible, unique, and memorable in order to work.
And finally, assuming the actual advertising is built upon a solid positioning strategy, enough money must be spent to provide a media schedule for ad frequency, the most important element for ad memorability.
History of Advertising
1. Introduction
Marketing is more than just distributing goods from the manufacturer to the final customer. It comprises all the stages between creation of the product and the after-market which follows the eventual sale. One of these stages is advertising. The stages are like links in a chain, and the chain will break if one of the links is weak. Advertising is therefore as important as every other stage or link, and each depends on the other for success.
The product or service itself, its naming, packaging, pricing and distribution, are all reflected in advertising, which has been called the lifeblood of an organization. Without advertising, the products or services cannot flow to the distributors or sellers and on to the consumers or users.
2. Early forms
Advertising belongs to the modern industrial world, and to those countries which are developing and becoming industrialised. In the past when a shopkeeper or stall-holder had only to show and shout his goods to passers-by, advertising as we know it today hardly existed. Early forms of advertising were signs such as the inn sign, the red-and-white striped barber's pole, the apothecary's jar of coloured liquid and the wheelwright's wheel, some of which have survived until today.
3. Effect of urban growth
The need for advertising developed with the expansion of population and the growth of towns with their shops and large stores; mass production in factories; roads and railways to convey goods; and popular newspapers in which to advertise. The large quantities of goods being produced were made known by means of advertising to unknown customers who lived far from the place of manufacture.
Advertising grew with the development of media, such as the coffee-house newspapers of the seventeenth century, and the arrival of advertising agencies nearly 200 years ago, mainly to handle government advertising.
4. Advertising and the modem world
If one looks at old pictures of horse buses in, say, late nineteenth-century London one will see that they carry advertisements for products famous today, a proof of the effectiveness of advertising. Thus the modern world depends on advertising. Without it, producers and distributors would be unable to sell, buyers would not know about and continue to remember products or services, and the modern industrial world would collapse. If factory output is to be maintained profitably, advertising must be powerful and continuous. Mass production requires mass consumption which in turn requires advertising to the mass market through the mass media.
16. Advertising involvement
Although advertising is listed as a single element it is associated with almost every other element, borrowing from them or interpreting them.
(a) The volume, emphasis and timing of advertising will depend on the product life cycle situation. For instance, at the introductory or recycling stages, the weight of advertising will be heavier than at the maturity or decline stages.
(b) Marketing research will provide evidence of motives, preferences and attitudes which will influence not only the copy platform or advertising theme but the choice of media through which to express it.
(c) Naming and branding may be initiated by the advertising department or agency, and clearly plays an important role in advertisement design.
(d) The product image will be projected by advertising.
(e) The market segment will decide the tone or style of advertising, and the choice of media.
(f) Pricing can play an important part in the appeal of the copy. Is the product value for money, a bargain or a luxury? Pricing can be a very competitive sales argument. People are very price conscious.
(g) The product mix has many applications. In advertising, one product may be associated with another, or each brand may require a separate campaign.
(h) Packaging can be a vital aspect of advertising, as when pack recognition is sought. It is itself a form of advertising, especially at the point-of-sale, as in a supermarket when the package often has to identify the product and literally sell it off the shelf.
(i) Distribution involves trade advertising such as by direct mail, in the trade press and at exhibitions.
(j) The sales force has to be familiarised with advertising campaigns which will support their efforts in the field.
(k) Market education is a public relations activity aimed at creating a favourable market situation in which advertising will work.
(1) Corporate and financial public relations often uses institutional advertising in the business press.
(m) Test marketing requires a miniature advertising campaign simulating the future national campaign.
(n) Advertising research includes copy-testing, circulation and readership surveys and statistics, recall tests, tracking studies and cost-per-reply and cost-per-conversion-to-sales figures.
(o) Sales promotion can augment or even replace traditional advertising.
(p) The after-market calls for advertising to make customers aware of post-sales services.
(q) The maintenance of customer interest and loyalty may be achieved by advertising which promotes additional uses and accessories, or simply reminds.
ADVERTISING
Advertising is used to create consumer interest in a product and also to increase the sales of that product. It may be described under three headings:
1 descriptive advertising;
2 persuasive advertising;
3 both descriptive and persuasive advertising together.
Descriptive advertising
This type of advertising gives the most: important facts about the product. It is the cheapest form of advertising and is used a lot by the small trader selling through the local paper. It will usually say:
1 what the product is;
2 how much it will cost;
3 where it may be obtained.
Example: 1972 Ford Escort £500. Telephone London 1234.
Persuasive advertising
This type of advertising tries to persuade people that the product which is being advertised has a special quality or usefulness which makes it much better than other similar products. It is used a lot in television advertising where consumers arc persuaded to think that if they buy that product they will become very popular or very happy. This is a psychological approach, and it is hoped by the advertiser that people will be persuaded to buy the product. The method uses 'association of ideas'. Brand names such as Guinness and Oxo are used in persuasive advertising.
Example: 1983 Ford Capri £2000 - good condition - low mileage, a bargain, first to see will buy this attractive car.
Advertising media
Newspapers
There are both national newspapers and local newspapers. Advertising in the national press is usually much more expensive than advertising in the local press. Both types of advertising are sold by the column centimetre, the half page and the page. A page in a national newspaper may cost many thousands of pounds for one day. This is because national newspapers have very large circulations (they are read by a lot of people).
Television
Television advertising in Great Britain is controlled by the Television Act 1954. It is the most expensive kind of advertising and costs many thousands of pounds (on a national network) for just a few seconds of television time. Charges are made by the second. If the advertisement is shown at a time when relatively few people are watching, then it will be cheaper. If it is shown - at a time when many people are watching (peak viewing time) then the charges are much higher. Television advertising is mostly used by large organizations and the nationalized industries.
Radio
This kind of advertising is much cheaper than television advertising. It is very popular in the United States. The most popular radio station in Europe is Radio Luxembourg, which carries a lot of commercial advertising. In Great Britain radio advertising is usually carried by local independent radio stations.
Hoardings
Hoarding advertisements are usually put up in eye-catching positions at the side of the road. The cost of the advertisement will depend on where the hoarding is and how large it is. If it is in a very good position and near the centre of the city where it will be seen by many potential customers, then it will probably be quite expensive. The sites are usually rented out to clients on a monthly basis by an advertising agency.
Handbills
These are quite often used by local tradersto advertise their goods and services. They are expensive in labour costs and are not very effective.
Transport
The inside and outside of buses, trains, vans and other kinds of public transport are used in transport advertising. The most expensive position is where the advertisement is most likely to be seen by the public such as the back of a bus or the inside of a bus, especially at the front where the potential customer will be seated looking at it. The most inexpensive position is upstairs on the bus or at the back inside the bus. It is difficult to tell whether transport advertising is effective.
Cinemas
The cinema screen is used for advertising by local and national traders. Like transport advertising, itis difficult to judge how effective cinema advertisingis.
Neon displays
These are mostly used by large firms. The signsare usually displayed in city centres.
Technical journals
These are mostly used as an advertising medium by large manufacturing and distributing companies. They are read by persons and companies who are interested in this particular kind of product, and the journals will also contain other information thatis useful to the readers. Technical journals are usually printed once a month. Examples are The Hairdresser, The Radio and Television Magazine and the Farmers Live Stock Journal. Advertising in technical journals is a very good method of advertising.
Trade fairs and shows
The Motor Show, the Boat Show, the Radio Show and the Ideal Homes Exhibition are a few examples of trade fairs and shows. Dairy products may be advertised at agricultural shows. Aircraft may be advertised and displayed at the Farnborough Air Show. The disadvantage is that the shows and exhibitions are expensive to organize.
It is very difficult for advertisers to tell whether a particular advertisement or method of advertising has been effective, but there is no doubt that without advertising the customer would never hear of some products. Perhaps the most effective advertising of all is the recommendation of the product by a satisfied customer to a potential customer – advertising by word of mouth.
The language of advertising
Here are some methods used in persuasive advertising. Read them quickly. Decide which appeal to you and which don’t. Now think of an example for each type from your country.
persuasive advertising
1. Repetition The simplest kind of advertising. A slogan is repeated so often that we begin to associate a brand name with a particular product or service.
2. Endorsement A popular personality is used in the advertisement.
3. Emotional appeal Advertising often appeals to basics such as mother-love, sex, manliness, feminity.
4. Scientific authority Sometimes the advert shows a person in a white coat (i.e. a scientist) telling us about the product. More often it mentions “miracle ingredients” or “scientific testing” to persuade us.
5. “Keeping up with the jones’s” An appeal to pure snob value. You want to appeal to be richer or more successful than your neighbours.
6. Comparison The advert lists the qualities of a product in direct comparison with rival products.
7. An appeal to fear or anxiety This type is similar to 3, but works on our fears.
8. Association of ideas This is usually visual. Until it became illegal in Britain, cigarette advertising showed attractive, healthy people smoking in beautiful rural situations.
9. Information If a product is new, it may be enough to show it and explain what it does.
10. Special offers/free gifts This is a very simple and direct appeal – it’s half a price!
11. Anti-advertising This is a modern version which appeals to the British sense of humour. It makes fun of the techniques of advertising.
Do you agree that the only background for the problems with brand names would be:
- wrong pronunciation;
- wrong association;
- wrong translation.
Types of advertising
Introduction
1. Scope of advertising
Advertising serves many purposes and many advertisers, from the individual who places a small classified advertisement in his local newspaper to the big spender who uses networked TV to sell popular brands to the nation's millions.
2. Types
It is possible to identify seven main categories of advertising, namely consumer, industrial, trade, retail, financial, direct response and recruitment.
3. Different kinds
There are two kinds of goods bought by the general public, consumer goods and consumer durables, which together with consumer services are advertised through media addressed to the appropriate social grades.
4. Consumer goods
These are the numerous goods to be found in the shops, those which enjoy repeat sales like foods, drinks, confectionery and toiletries being called Fast Moving Consumer Goods, (FMCGs).
5. Consumer durables
Usually more expensive and less frequently bought, consumer durables are of a more permanent nature than consumer goods and include clothes, furniture, domestic appliances, entertainment goods like radio, television and video, and mechanical equipment from lawn-mowers to motor-cars.
6. Consumer services
They include services for security and well-being like banking, insurance, investment, repairs and maintenance, and those more to do with pleasure such as hotels, restaurants, travel and holidays.
7. Social grades
The social grades system makes it possible to identify certain groups of people—prospective buyers—and then to pinpoint the media which will reach them most effectively.
8. Media of consumer advertising
The media of consumer advertising will tend to be those with wide appeal, and even when more specialist journals such as women's magazines are used they will still have large circulations. In fact, the term 'consumer press' is applied to the publications which are displayed for sale in newsagents shops, on news-stands and on newspaper vendors' pitches'
Most of the trade, technical and professional journals have other forms of distribution such as special orders placed with newsagents, postal subscription or free postal controlled circulation. Controlled circulation are not to be confused with membership or subscription magazines. They are mailed (free of charge) to selected readers plus those who have requested copies.
In Britain there are also hundreds of 'free' local newspapers which are delivered door-to-door every week. With saturation coverage of urban areas they provide good advertising media for many local businesses.
The primary media of consumer advertising are the press, radio, television, outdoor and to a limited extent cinema, supported by sales literature, exhibitions and sales promotion. We should not forget sponsorship, especially the sponsorship of many popular sports which in turn can be supported by arena advertising at the sports venue.
Industrial advertising
9. Purpose
The purpose of industrial advertising is twofold:
(a) to promote sales of equipment and services used by industry—machinery, tools, vehicles, specialist consultancy, finance and insurance come within this category;
(b) to promote sales of raw materials, components and other items used in industrial production—under this heading come metals, timber, plastics, food ingredients, chemicals and parts for assembly into finished equipment from watches to aircraft.
Hardly any of these products and services will be bought by consumers, except as replacements as when a motor-car needs a new battery or tyres. Unless the formula or specification is stated, consumers will be unaware of most industrial products.
10.Media of industrial advertising
The suppliers of services, equipment, raw materials and components will usually advertise in media seldom seen by the general or consumer public. The media used will consist of trade and technical journals, technical literature and catalogues, trade exhibitions, direct mail, and technical demonstrations and seminars. Technical journals will have smaller circulations than the consumer press, and exhibitions will tend to have fewer exhibitors and smaller attendances than public exhibitions open to the general public; in fact, admission is usually by ticket or business card. The amount of money spent on advertising will be far less, and there may be more reliance on market education using public relations techniques such as video documentaries, external house journals and technical feature articles.