INTRODUCTION TO ADVERSTISING DEFINATION OF ADVERTISING Advertising is a means of communication with the users of a product or service. Advertisements are messages paid for by those who send them and are intended to inform or influence people who receive them, as defined by the Advertising Association of the UK. MEANING OF ADVERTISING Advertising is always present, though people may not be aware of it. In today's world, advertising uses every possible media to get its message through. It does this via television, print (newspapers, magazines, journals etc), radio, press, internet, direct selling, hoardings, mailers, contests, sponsorships, posters, clothes, events, colours, sounds, visuals and even people(endorsements). The advertising industry is made of companies that advertise agencies that create the advertisements, media that carries the ads, and a host of people like copy editors, visualizes, brand managers, researchers, creative heads and designers who take it the last mile to the customer or receiver. A company that needs to advertise itself and/or its products hires an advertising agency. The company briefs the agency on the brand, its imagery, the ideals and values behind it, the target segments and so on. The agencies convert the ideas and concepts to create the visuals, text, layouts and themes to communicate with the user. After approval from the client, the ads go on air, as per the bookings done by the agency's media buying unit. TYPES OF ADVERTISING The most common classification of advertising is by the medium used:1. DISPLAY ADS This includes digital and newspaper advertising. Digital ads are the updated version of newspaper advertising; it’s the same concept but in 21st-century form. It means buying ad space on sites that are of interest to your target demographic. You can create text ads, which essentially look just like traditional print media ads, the floating banner above the site’s contact and even wallpaper with your product or service on the site background. The major difference between display ads and the ads you find in newspapers is the use of search engine optimization techniques to reach your target audiences more effectively when they search for you. These types of advertisements are typically also Pay per Click, which means you bid on keywords most associated with your service or products and pay for your results to be at the top of the search engine search. The one is Cost per thousand, which means to pay a flat rate to show up in search results 1,000 times. 2. SOCIAL MEDIA ADS Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and pretty much all social media sites offer relatively inexpensive advertising. Paid social media ads are the kind of advertisement that focuses on reaching your target audience with how much you pay adjusted to how many see it and engage with it. Organic social media ads are the kind of advertisement that generates lots of word-of-mouth. Say you post something to your business Facebook page that offers a free product if followers click Like and tag a friend, that is the type of advertisement that is free to post and makes people aware of what you have to offer. 3. NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES These kinds of advertisements are traditional yet no less effective. Combining this type of advertisement between local, statewide and national print media is a great marketing campaign strategy. Plenty of people still reach for their morning newspaper or love to settle down with a hard copy of a magazine. Also, most print media now has a digital presence and can combine these types of advertisements with its virtual version. 4. OUTDOOR ADVERTISING Now those billboards have gone digital it’s a huge way to make an effective statement. Transit ads are another kind of advertisement that falls under the outdoors umbrella feature your product or service on buses, taxis, bike messenger services and pedicabs. Promoting this way gives you excellent brand recognition as these types of advertisements are seen everywhere daily and make you’re offering hard to forget. 5. RADIO AND PODCASTS Verbal promotion is a type of advertisement that can be repeated often as part of radio or podcast shows. You can have a traditional type of ad recorded to be played or there is also the chance of sponsorship. Narrow down the types of podcasts your target audience subscribes to or the station they most listen to for creating the kind of advertisement customers like and remember. 6. DIRECT MAIL AND PERSONAL SALES Direct mail, or the art of sending a compelling sales letter by snail mail to your target audience, can offer a healthy return on investment for small businesses. The starting point is to identify your target market, then send an enticing offer out to all of those prospects. Measuring the responses helps you to see which type of customers are responding to this format, so you can use even more precision targeting with your next mail shot. In a similar vein, a direct or personal sale is still a big area of advertising, especially for small businesses. A good salesperson can use his or her skills to persuade a customer to buy a product. If the salesperson is especially effective, the customer will continue to spread the word about your product through recommendations and referrals. 7. VIDEO ADS This type of advertisement engages with your target customers on a digital level. Create a short video and post it on your social media or pay to have it run on sites like YouTube, Hulu and blogs. A video ad can be created by experts from an agency or even done by your inhouse team even if that team is comprised of just yourself. 8. PRODUCT PLACEMENT This kind of advertisement is seen more and more. If you pay for a podcast host to mention using your product or pay a television show to feature a character talking about or using your service that is product placement. You can also talk to popular YouTube channel hosts about this type of advertisement. 9. EVENT MARKETING Paying to sponsor a sports team or a charity benefit falls under event marketing. These types of advertisements mean a large cross-section of people hear your brand name and associate it with that event. Many companies also look to conventions for this sort of niche advertisement. 10. EMAIL MARKETING A kind of advertisement that is focused on your existing customers, email marketing involves them signing up for promotional sales or newsletters focused on your brand. Email marketing is an updated customer loyalty promotion and works very well when you treat customers as insiders with VIP knowledge. There are as many ways to utilize types of advertising as there are kinds of advertising. By diversifying your approaches in both traditional and digital worlds as well as focusing on your core target market while getting the word out about your brand to the people at large, you can grow by leaps and bounds. CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF ADVERTISING 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) Product - related advertising Public service advertising Functional classification Advertising based on product life cycle Advertising based on target market Trade advertising Advertising based on area of operation Advertising according to medium utilized ROLE OF ADVERTISING Though the methods of advertising have changed drastically over the years, the roles of advertising have shifted but a little without much modifications. Advertising has proved to be a pervasive method of marketing, communication [sharing of meaning, ideas, etc], economic and societal development. A schematic analysis of the impact of advertising will encompass the aforementioned as its basic role. Moreover, other sub roles may be induced from these ones mentioned but they still remain the basic roles of advertising. Marketing: The role of advertising in the marketing sector focuses on the satisfaction that a consumer receives by using a particular product and service. Here, advertising monitors the marketing process which has exchange as its centralized objective. While marketing focuses on this exchange, advertising helps facilitate the exchange. To achieve its aim, advertising gathers the right PEOPLE at the right PLACE to purchase the right PRODUCT and/or service at the right PRICE. So, it can be said that advertising [promotions] coordinates the three other P’s [Product, Price, and Place] of the marketing mix; Promotion being a single component of the marketing mix process. It also helps the brand makers to imprint special identity on their products and differentiate them from alternative products. Communication: The communication role of advertising interlinks almost all the elements of mass communication. It covers the requirement of fulfilling the aim of sharing ideas, meaning etc to a heterogeneous audience. This role involves the strategic methods and channels employed to inform targeted consumers about the launch of a new product and/or service, it gives the consumers detailed information on the relative importance of the goods and/or service made available to them. The message of an advertisement that is aimed at communicating a meaning must be clear, because it is geared at clarifying the doubt of the consumers about the product and/or service. The communication role of advertising includes informing, persuading, reminding and reinforcing. Here, consistency becomes very pertinent. Economic: The economic role of advertising pays particular attention to the general feature of generating and increasing sale. It is the sole responsibility of an advertising agency to hit a conspicuous increase in sale after an advertising programme. This role focuses directly with the objectives of the advertiser, individually and as an agency. On the other hand, this is a measure to help the consumers to endorse both the value as well as the benefits of product and/or services advertised. INFLUENTIAL BEHAVIOUR EFFECT OF ADVERTISING ROLES ON CONSUMERS’ “Advertising uses many different types of appeal and a number of media to achieve a variety of goals. In the light of this complexity, a search for general accounts of how advertising works may seem a fruitless quest. We must accept that different advertisement may work in different ways and that individual may respond variously to the same advertisement. Even so, our knowledge has expanded in … accounts of the consumer response to advertising are now emerging” Trying to appreciate the influential effects of advertising role is not an attempt to investigate the way people think. It is a motivational research to into “the planned behaviour which presents decision making as an ordered, logical process, which can be affected by some determinant factor. It is a test to assess human responses in a commercial world like ours; examine their reactions to price, advertising, and other promotional programmes. IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING Importance to Manufacturers and Traders Advertising has become indispensable for the manufacturers because of the following advantages: Introducing new product: Advertising helps in introducing new products. A business organization can introduce itself and its products to the public through advertising. It is essential for the organization to introduce its product through advertising. Increase the sale: Advertising leads to increase the sale of existing products by entering into new markets and attracting new customers. The increase in the selling activities helps in increment of sales in the market. Create steady demand: Advertising helps to create the steady demand for the products. For example, a drink may be advertised during summer as a product necessary to fight tiredness caused by heat and during winter as essential things to resist cold. Help in meeting competition: Advertising helps in meeting the forces of competition in the market place. If a product is not advertised continuously, the competitors may snatch its market through increased advertisements. Therefore, advertising is necessary to remain in the market and remind the customer about its reputation in the market. Increase the goodwill: Advertising helps to increase the goodwill of a firm by promising improved quality to the customers. It is necessary for an organization to increase its goodwill to sustain in the market. Increase the morale: Advertising helps to increase the morale of the employees of the firm. The salesmen feel happier because their task becomes easier if the product is advertised and known to the public. Facilitates mass production: Advertising helps to facilitate mass production of goods in the market. It enables the manufacturer to achieve lower cost per unit of product. Distribution costs are also lowered when the manufacturer sells the product directly to the customers. Advertising encourages mass distribution of the product through the retailers. Retailers are encouraged to purchase and sell the advertised products. Importance to Customers Advertising offers the following importance to customers: To know about the existence of various products: Advertising helps the customers to know about the existence of various products and their prices. They can choose from the various brands to satisfy their wants. It is very important for the customers to know about the existence of the products available there in the market. Educates customers: Advertising educates the people about new products and its uses. It creates public awareness. With the help of advertisements, we can be aware of the products which are available in the market. Utility of existing products: Advertising helps to increase the utility of existing products for many people. The utilization of the products is very necessary for the market. Without it, advertising will not get effective. Receive the quality product: Advertising helps to receive the quality product in the market. It induces the manufacturers to improve the quality of their products through research and development. This ensures supply of the products of better quality to the consumers. Importance to the Society Advertising is important for the society because of the following advantages: Provides employment: Advertising helps to provide employment to persons engaged in writing, designing and issuing advertisements. Increased employment brings additional income with the people. It increases more demand in the market. Employment is further generated to meet the increased demand. Promote the standard of living: Advertising helps to promote the standard of living of the people by increasing the variety and quality in consumption. It raises the standard of the people. As a result, it helps in sustained research and development activities by manufacturers. Educate people: Advertising helps to educate people about the various uses of different products. This increases their knowledge about the products. Advertising also helps in finding customers in the national as well as international market. Sustains the press and other media: Advertising helps to sustain the press and other media by providing an important source of income to the press, radio and television network. The customers are also benefited because of increased circulation of their publications. It also encourages commercial art. ADVANTAGES OF ADVERTISING This is beneficial to manufacturers, traders, consumers and society as a whole. Advertising offers the following advantages. Introduces a New Product in the Market: Advertising plays significant role in the introduction of a new product in the market. It stimulates the people to purchase the product. Expansion of the Market: It enables the manufacturer to expand his market. It helps in exploring new markets for the product and retaining the existing markets. It plays a sheet anchor role in widening the marketing for the manufacturer’s products even by conveying the customers living at the far flung and remote areas. 3 R’s of Advertising Advertising is a very effective method of presenting information about the products both inside and outside the country. It helps in 3 R’s which is given below: Retaining” Loyal” Customers Reducing “lost” customers. Recruiting “New” Customers Reduction in Per Unit Cost It helps a businessman to boost up the sale of his products. He inspired by a rise in demand, produces the goods on a large scale which in turn reduces the cost of each unit. So reduction in cost and increase in profit is also from one of the advantages of advertising. Increase in Employment One of the advertising benefits is that it increases the sale of goods, which enables the advertisers to produce goods on a large scale. Advertising thus provides employment to huge number of people and raises their standard of living. Change in the Living Habits An essential advertising brings about a speedy change in the lifestyle, attitudes of the people. The advertisement of prepared frozen foods, readymade packed breads, introduction of new forms of entertainment, introducing new styles in clothes, hair dressing shops, establishment of beauty clinics, VCR, new mean of communication etc have been constantly changing our living habits. Elimination of Middleman Elimination of middleman is also from one of the advantages of advertising. Advertising get up attention and provides information about the effectiveness of the good remote and broad in the country. The retailers directly order for the manufactured goods. Advertising thus eliminates the middleman and proves a good substitute for the travelling salesman. Generates employment Advertisements provide employment to the people all round the world who are concerned in every field. Since, through advertisements producers increases the sales and reach out to the consumers quickly, it increases the employment level in the country as more labour will now be required to boost up the production. Standard of living: Advertisement helps in improving the quality of the products and allows the firms to introduce variable and different types of products with some special features. Hence, it improves the standard of living of people by allowing them to purchase goods relating to the current standards. Sustains the press We all get the newspapers at a nominal cost of Rs.2 to Rs.4 but there are so many costs involved in its production. Hence, to make it affordable for the lower class people, newspapers sustain themselves by publishing advertisements on every page. Similarly, many of us write articles in this site as we all get paid through advertisement displayed by Google. Stimulates research and developments If you have seen the cost sheet of any firm, you will notice that huge amount of money is spent on the research and development of the product. Every firm try to convince its old consumers and make new customers by developing some new types of products or improvement in the existing product. Promote art and culture Advertisements have promoted the art of our country by showing the customs and traditions of old tribal and rural people. It also acts as a source of entertainment for the people, not all the ads perform this work but a few such as the Zoo-Zoo ads of the Vodafone.