Introduction to Advertising

• Advertising is a paid form of non personal presentation of goods or services for promotion by an identified sponsor

Kotler and Armstrong provide an alternative definition:"Advertising is any paid form of non-personal

presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor".

• Three criteria must be met for a communication to be classified as advertising:– The communication must be paid for– The communication must be delivered through

mass media– The communication must be attempting to

persuade

Advertising Functions• Informing– Making consumers aware of new brands. – Increasing TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness) – Teaching new uses for existing brands (called

usage expansion advertising)

• Influencing(Persuasion)– Getting prospective customers to try advertised

products and services:• Creating primary demand• Building secondary demand

• Reminding and Increasing Salience(Reminder)– Enriching the memory trace for a brand so that the

brand comes to mind in relevant choice situations – Increasing customers’ interest in mature brands and

the likelihood of choosing brands that might have otherwise not been chosen.

– Influence brand switching by reminding consumers that the brand is available and that it possesses favorable attributes.

• Using Advertising to Assist Other Company Efforts– To deliver coupons – To assist sales representatives– To pre-sell a firm’s products by introducing the

product and legitimizing salespeople’s claims– To augment the effectiveness of price deals

THE OBJECTIVES OF ADVERTISING - Why advertise?

• To boost sales (moving the demand curve to the right)• To build brand loyalty (or to maintain it at the existing

level)• To launch a new product• To change customer attitudes – perhaps trying to

move a product more “upmarket” or to dispel some widely held perceptions about the product

• To support the activities of the distribution channel (e.g. supporting a “pull” strategy)

• To build the company or brand image• To reminds and reassure customers

• To offset competitor advertising – businesses may defend market share by responding to competitors’ campaigns with their own advertising

• To boost public standing: companies can boost their public standing with advertisements that link them with generally approved campaigns such as care for the environment

• To support the sales force – advertising can make the job of the sales force easier and more effective by attracting leads from potential customers and perhaps motivate them by boosting the profile of the business

BENEFITS OF ADVERTISING

• Advertisements create awareness, interest and desire for products and services in customers to buy them.

• Advertising is cost efficient as advertisements can reach a vast number of audiences simultaneously

• The message can be repeated several times, thereby creating an impact on the mind of a customer. For example, “It’s the coolest one,” reminds us of Kelvinator refrigerators.

• Advertising a product in a certain way can add to its value

• It helps in boosting the sales of the company. • Once a product/service is purchased, it

(advertising) reassures the customer about the purchase decision, thus helping in reducing the post purchase dissonance, if any.

• Advertising helps in changing the customer's perception of a product.

• It supports the activities of the distribution network of the firm by creating demand and encouraging purchase through pull strategy.

• It helps in making the job of the sales force easier, by crating awareness among potential customers.

• Advertisements help in offsetting the competitors' advertisements.

• Advertisements also help in building a strong image of a product or brand, apart from increasing its sales.