ADVERTISING

Planning and Implementation

Sangeeta Sharma
Associate Professor
Department of Languages
Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Pilani
Raghuvir Singh
Director
JK Padampat Singhania
Institute of Management and Technology
Gurgaon

Delhi-110092
2012
ADVERTISING: Planning and Implementation
Sangeeta Sharma and Raghuvir Singh

© 2006 by PHI Learning Private Limited, Delhi. All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission in
writing from the publisher.

ISBN-978-81-203-2973-7
The export rights of this book are vested solely with the publisher.

Fifth Printing.....................................…..............................….................................
…..................................February, 2011

Published by Asoke K. Ghosh, PHI Learning Private Limited, Rimjhim House, 111
Patparganj Industrial Estate, Delhi-110092 and Printed by Rajkamal Electric Press, B-35/9,
G.T. Karnal Road Industrial Area, Delhi-110033.
 Table of Contents
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Part One: ADVERTISING BASICS
Chapter 1 Advertising: Introduction
CHANGING SCENARIO
ADVERTISING WORLD
IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING DEFINED
Non-Personal
Communication
Information
Paid For
Persuasive
Products, Services or Ideas
Identified Sponsors
Various Media
HISTORY OF ADVERTISING
CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS
Purpose
Media Used
Geographic Area
Target Audience
ADVERTISING FUNCTIONS
ADVERTISING PYRAMID
ADVERTISING TYCOONS IN INDIA
Chapter 2 Advertising and Society
IMPACT OF ADVERTISING
The Benefits of Advertising
THE IMPACT OF ADS ON CHILDREN
Children are Impressionable
WOMEN AND ADVERTISING
Portrayal of Women in Advertising
The Role of Indian Women Vis-à-Vis Men
Portrayal of Women in Indian Advertisements
ETHICS IN ADVERTISING
Puffery
Shock Ads
Weasel Claim
Subliminal Advertising
Surrogate Advertising
Social and Economic Effects of Advertising
CODES OF ETHICS
Regulatory Bodies
Indian Regulatory Bodies
Self-Regulation
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Chapter 3 Advertising: A Marketing Tool.
MARKETING CONCEPTS
MARKETING PROCESS
Assembling the Marketing Mix
MARKETING TOOLS
Product Life Cycle (PLC) Curve
SWOT Analysis
Marketing Plan
Tools for Estimating Market Demand
Ansoff’s Product-Market Expansion Grid
ADVERTISING AGENCIES
Structure of Advertising Agencies
How Agencies are Paid for Their Work?
How To Select an Advertising Agency
Working of an Advertising Agency
SYNERGY BETWEEN MARKETING AND ADVERTISING
Part Two: ADVERTISING RESEARCH AND STRATEGY
Chapter 4 The Consumer Behaviour
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND MARKETING STRATEGY
NATURE OF BUYER BEHAVIOUR
External Factors
Cultural Factors
Group Influences on Consumer Behaviour
Internal Influence
LEARNING, MEMORY AND MOTIVES
Theories of Learning
Characteristics of Learning
MEMORY
MOTIVATION, PERSONALITY AND EMOTIONS
Motivation and Marketing Strategy
Personality
Emotion
Attitudes
Self-concept and Lifestyle
CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS
Problem Recognition
Information Search
Alternative Evaluation and Selection
Purchase
Post-Purchase Behaviour
Chapter 5 Advertising Planning
STRATEGIC PLANNING
THE MARKETING PLAN
Developing Marketing Strategies
ADVERTISING PLAN
BACKGROUND
SITUATION ANALYSIS
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES
TARGET AUDIENCE
POSITIONING: BRAND IMAGE AND BRAND PERSONALITY
Why Positioning?
Positioning Strategies
Approaches to Positioning Strategy
Deciding the Positioning Strategy
Making the Positioning Decision
BRAND IMAGE, PERSONALITY AND EQUITY
Brand Awareness
Brand Image
Brand Personality
Brand Equity
CREATIVE STRATEGY
MESSAGE STRATEGY
MEDIA STRATEGY
Developing a Media Plan
Developing Media Strategy
ADVERTISING BUDGET
IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION
INTEGRATING ADVERTISING WITH OTHER MARKETING
COMMUNICATION TOOLS
Chapter 6 Advertising Research and Account Planning
PURPOSE OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES
COMPONENTS OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH
ADVERTISING STRATEGY RESEARCH
Creative Concept Research
OTHER OBJECTIVES
ATTITUDE MEASURES
COPY TESTING
Copy-testing Measures and Methods
Creative Strategy Research
Methods for Pre-testing Advertising
Before Tests (Pre-campaign Tests)
Post-testing Methods (Post-campaign Tests)
MEDIA RESEARCH
Pre-placement Evaluation of Advertising
Sources of Statistics for Media Research
ACCOUNT PLANNING
VARIOUS POSITIONS AND FUNCTIONS IN A FULL SERVICE
AGENCY
Chapter 7 Working of Advertising
HOW TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE ADVERTISEMENT AND
UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ADVERTISING WORKS
HOW COMMUNICATION WORKS
How Advertising Communication Works
Source
Noise: External and Internal
Message and Media Mix Factors
The Receiver: Message, Reception and Response
ADVERTISING RESPONSE HIERARCHY MODELS
How Do We Come Up with Such Ideas
DEVELOPING ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
DECIDING ADVERTISING APPEAL
Types of Advertising Appeals
Combining Rational and Emotional Appeals
ADVERTISING EXECUTION
MEDIA MIX DECISIONS
How To Make Effective Media Choice Decision
How Scheduling Decision is Made
How To Decide on “Reach”
Deciding Effective Frequency
Where Do You Get Media Related Information
Part Three: CREATIVITY AND ADVERTISING
Chapter 8 Role of Creativity
Now here is the car:
WHAT IS CREATIVITY
CREATIVITY AND ADVERTISING
ELEMENTS OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING
KEY FACTORS IN SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING
PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY
TAKING CREATIVE RISKS
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Background Research
Qualitative Research Input
Creative Strategy Development
The Search for the Major Selling Idea
THE STYLE: HARD SELL OR SOFT SELL
THE APPEALS
TOO MUCH OF CREATIVITY
CREATIVITY VERSUS PROFIT
AWARD-WINNING ADVERTISING
Chapter 9 Creativity through Language
ROLE OF COPYWRITER
IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE
Weasel Words
RHETORIC OF ADVERTISING
LINGUISTIC DEVIATIONS
Phonological Deviations
Graphological Deviations
Grammatical Deviations
Lexical Deviations
Semantic Deviations
Typographical Deviations
Chapter 10 Layout of Advertising
STEPS INVOLVED IN THE PREDESIGNING PHASE OF AN AD
COMPONENTS OF A PRINT AD
Visual
Headline
Copy
Styles
Slogan
Logos
THE LAYOUT
Layout Stages
Types of Layouts
SOME MISTAKES TO AVOID
BE DIFFERENT
Following the Reader’s Eye
Maintaining Spread Consistency
The Direction of Your Images
Boxes, Rules and Fonts
Part Four: ADVERTISING MEDIA
Chapter 11 Print Media.
ADVERTISING MEDIA
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESS
CATEGORIES OF PRESS
Newspapers
Magazines
DIRECTORY ADVERTISING
Yellow Pages Advertising
DIRECT MAIL ADVERTISING
OUTDOOR ADVERTISING
TRANSIT ADVERTISING
Types of Transit Advertising
Strengths and Weaknesses of Transit Advertising
Chapter 12 Television and Radio
TELEVISION ADVERTISING
Advantages of Television Advertising
Limitations of Television
Deception in Television Advertising
Network Versus Spot
Developing an Effective Campaign
RADIO ADVERTISING
Chapter 13 Web Advertising.
IMPORTANCE OF ONLINE ADVERTISING
OBJECTIVES OF ONLINE ADVERTISING
TYPES OF ONLINE ADVERTISING
Banner Ads
Logos
E-mail Ads
Keywords on Search Engines
Classified Ads
Interstitials
Websites
Push Technologies or Web Casting
Sponsored Mailing Lists
THE FIVE MUTABLE LAWS OF WEB MARKETING
The Law of the Dead-End Street
The Law of Giving and Selling
The Law of Trust
The Law of Pull and Push
The Law of the Niche
INTEGRATING ONLINE ADVERTISING WITH TRADITIONAL
MEDIA
INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF BANNER ADS
MORE RELEVANT ADS
TEXT-ONLY ADS
LINK EXCHANGES
Tips for Link Exchange
Tools
CHALLENGES OF ONLINE ADVERTISING
Marketing Challenges
Educational Challenges
Structural Challenges
Filler Available
Lack of Good Writing or Marketing Techniques
Holding the Internet to a Higher Standard than Other Advertising
Media
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ONLINE ADVERTISING
Part Five: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Chapter 14 Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications
WHY IMC IS GAINING IMPORTANCE
THE PROMOTIONAL MIX: THE TOOL FOR IMC
THE PROMOTIONAL PLANNING PROCESS
Promotional Programme’s Situation Analysis
Establishing Communications Objectives
Budget Determination
Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Programme
Monitoring, Evaluation and Control
ELEMENTS OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
ADVERTISING
DIRECT MARKETING
Factors Causing Growth of Direct Marketing
Direct Marketing Process
Operationalizing Direct Marketing
Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Marketing
SALES PROMOTION
Important Features of Sales Promotion
Types of Sales Promotion Activities
Why Sales Promotion is Gaining Importance
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Role of Public Relations
The Process of Public Relations
Advantages of PR
Disadvantages of PR
PUBLICITY
The Power of Publicity
Why Publicity is So Powerful
The Control Over Publicity
Advantages and Disadvantages of Publicity
Personal Selling
Differences between Personal Selling and Other Forms of
Promotional Elements
Assigning the Role to Personal Selling
Role and Responsibility of Personal Selling
Advantages and Disadvantages of Personal Selling
INTERNET MARKETING
Why Companies Use the Internet
Advertising on the Net
Sales Promotion on the Internet
Direct Marketing on the Net
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet
Chapter 15 Advertising in a Multicultural Environment.
EVOLUTION OF INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
INTERCULTURAL ADVERTISING
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
DEMOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT
CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
POLITICAL AND LEGAL ENVIRONMENT
INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING
Appropriateness of Globalization
INTERNET ADVERTISING
Advantages of Web Advertising
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
Laws Related to E-mail Marketing
FUTURE OF GLOBAL ADVERTISING
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
 CONTENTS

Preface......xvii
Part One: ADVERTISING BASICS
Chapter 1 Advertising: Introduction......3−37
Learning Objectives......3
Changing Scenario......4
C S :L ......4
Advertising World......5
Importance of Advertising......6
Advertising Defined......8
Non-Personal......8
Communication......10
Information......13
Paid For......14
Persuasive......14
Products, Services or Ideas......14
Identified Sponsors......17
Various Media......17
History of Advertising......18
C S :T L G 23
Classification of Advertisements......25
Purpose......26
Media Used......28
Geographic Area......28
Target Audience......28
Advertising Functions......28
Advertising Pyramid......29
Advertising Tycoons in India......31
Summary......34
Questions......35
Chapter 2 Advertising and Society......38−65
Learning Objectives......38
Impact of Advertising......39
The Benefits of Advertising......39
The Impact of Ads on Children......41
Children are Impressionable......42
Women and Advertising......43
Portrayal of Women in Advertising......44
The Role of Indian Women Vis-à-Vis Men......46
Portrayal of Women in Indian Advertisements......47
Ethics in Advertising......50
Puffery......50
Shock Ads......52
Weasel Claim......53
Subliminal Advertising......54
Surrogate Advertising......55
Social and Economic Effects of Advertising......56
Codes of Ethics......56
Regulatory Bodies......57
Indian Regulatory Bodies......59
Self-Regulation......60
Corporate Social Responsibility......61
C S ......63
Summary......64
Questions......65
Chapter 3 Advertising: A Marketing Tool......66−89
Learning Objectives......66
Marketing Concepts......67
Marketing Process......69
Assembling the Marketing Mix......71
Marketing Tools......72
Product Life Cycle (PLC) Curve......73
SWOT Analysis......75
Marketing Plan......76
Tools for Estimating Market Demand......77
Ansoff’s Product-Market Expansion Grid......79
Advertising Agencies......79
Structure of Advertising Agencies......81
How Agencies are Paid for Their Work?......82
How To Select an Advertising Agency......83
 Working of an Advertising Agency......85
Synergy between Marketing and Advertising......86
Summary......87
Questions......88
Part Two: ADVERTISING RESEARCH AND
STRATEGY
Chapter 4 The Consumer Behaviour......93−128
Learning Objectives......93
Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy......95
Nature of Buyer Behaviour......95
External Factors......97
Cultural Factors......98
Group Influences on Consumer Behaviour......100
Internal Influence......102
Learning, Memory and Motives......107
Theories of Learning......109
Characteristics of Learning......111
Memory......111
Motivation, Personality and Emotions......112
Motivation and Marketing Strategy......112
Personality......115
Emotion......116
Attitudes......117
Self-concept and Lifestyle......119
Consumer Decision Process......120
Problem Recognition......121
Information Search......122
Alternative Evaluation and Selection......123
Purchase......124
Post-Purchase Behaviour......125
Summary......126
Questions......128
Chapter 5 Advertising Planning......129−175
Learning Objectives......129
Strategic Planning......130
The Marketing Plan......133
Developing Marketing Strategies......134
Advertising Plan......135
Background......136
Situation Analysis......137
Marketing Objectives......137
Advertising Objectives......137
Target Audience......140
Positioning: Brand Image and Brand Personality......141
Why Positioning?......142
Positioning Strategies......142
Approaches to Positioning Strategy......143
Deciding the Positioning Strategy......148
Making the Positioning Decision......149
Brand Image, Personality and Equity......150
Brand Awareness......150
Brand Image......151
Brand Personality......152
Brand Equity......154
Creative Strategy......156
Message Strategy......162
Media Strategy......166
Developing a Media Plan......168
Developing Media Strategy......169
Advertising Budget......172
Implementation and Evaluation......172
Integrating Advertising with Other Marketing Communication
Tools......173
Summary......173
Questions......174
Chapter 6 Advertising Research and Account
Planning......176−209
Learning Objectives......176
Purpose of Advertising Research......178
Research Objectives......178
Advertising Objectives ......179
Components of Advertising Research......180
Advertising Strategy Research......181
Creative Concept Research......183
Other Objectives......183
Attitude Measures......185
Copy Testing......186
Copy-testing Measures and Methods......187
Creative Strategy Research......187
Methods for Pre-testing Advertising......188
Before Tests (Pre-campaign Tests)......189
Post-testing Methods (Post-campaign Tests)......192
Media Research......194
Pre-placement Evaluation of Advertising......197
Sources of Statistics for Media Research......199
Account Planning......200
Various Positions and Functions in a Full Service Agency......203
Summary......208
Questions......209
Chapter 7 Working of Advertising......210−250
Learning Objectives......210
How To Develop an Effective Advertisement and Understanding of
How Advertising Works......214
How Communication Works......215
How Advertising Communication Works......217
Source......218
Noise: External and Internal......219
Message and Media Mix Factors......220
The Receiver: Message, Reception and Response......220
Advertising Response Hierarchy Models......227
How Do We Come Up with Such Ideas......230
Developing Advertising Campaign......232
Deciding Advertising Appeal......234
Types of Advertising Appeals......235
Combining Rational and Emotional Appeals......238
Advertising Execution......242
Media Mix Decisions......243
How To Make Effective Media Choice Decision......244
How Scheduling Decision is Made......245
How To Decide on “Reach”......245
Deciding Effective Frequency......246
Where Do You Get Media Related Information......248
Summary......249
Questions......250

Part Three: CREATIVITY AND ADVERTISING

Chapter 8 Role of Creativity......253−279
Learning Objectives......253
C S :M -B ......254
What is Creativity......256
Creativity and Advertising......258
Elements of Creative Advertising......260
Key Factors in Successful Advertising......260
Planning Creative Strategy......262
Taking Creative Risks......262
The Creative Process......263
Background Research......264
Qualitative Research Input......264
Creative Strategy Development......265
The Search for the Major Selling Idea......266
The Style: Hard Sell or Soft Sell......269
The Appeals......269
Too Much of Creativity......274
Creativity versus Profit......275
Award-winning Advertising......276
Summary......278
Questions......279
Chapter 9 Creativity through Language......280−308
Learning Objectives......280
C S :C S ......281
Role of Copywriter......282
Importance of Language......284
Weasel Words......287
Rhetoric of Advertising......288
Linguistic Deviations......296
Phonological Deviations......297
Graphological Deviations......299
Grammatical Deviations......299
Lexical Deviations......301
Semantic Deviations......303
 Typographical Deviations......303
Summary......307
Questions......308
Chapter 10 Layout of Advertising......309−330
Learning Objectives......309
Steps Involved in the Predesigning Phase of an Ad......310
Components of a Print Ad......311
Visual......311
Headline......312
Copy......314
Styles......314
Slogan......315
Logos......315
The Layout......316
Layout Stages......316
Types of Layouts......320
Some Mistakes To Avoid......322
Be Different......322
Following the Reader’s Eye......324
Maintaining Spread Consistency......325
The Direction of Your Images......325
Boxes, Rules and Fonts......325
Summary......328
Questions......329
Part Four: ADVERTISING MEDIA
Chapter 11 Print Media......333−349
Learning Objectives......333
C S :B A ......334
Advertising Media......335
Characteristics of the Press......335
Categories of Press......336
Newspapers......336
Magazines......340
Directory Advertising......342
Yellow Pages Advertising......343
Direct Mail Advertising......343
Outdoor Advertising......344
Transit Advertising......346
Types of Transit Advertising......347
Strengths and Weaknesses of Transit Advertising......348
Summary......348
Questions......349
Chapter 12 Television and Radio......350−367
Learning Objectives......350
C S :C P ......351
Television Advertising......351
Advantages of Television Advertising......352
Limitations of Television......357
Deception in Television Advertising......360
Network versus Spot......361
Developing an Effective Campaign......362
Radio Advertising......364
Summary......366
Questions......366
Chapter 13 Web Advertising......368−392
Learning Objectives......368
C S : IBM C G E-B ......369
Importance of Online Advertising......369
Objectives of Online Advertising......371
C S :H D ......371
Types of Online Advertising......371
Banner Ads......372
Logos......373
E-mail Ads......374
Keywords on Search Engines......374
Classified Ads......375
Interstitials......376
Websites......377
Push Technologies or Web Casting......377
Sponsored Mailing Lists......378
The Five Mutable Laws of Web Marketing......380
The Law of the Dead-End Street......380
The Law of Giving and Selling......380
C S :W I S ......381
The Law of Trust......381
The Law of Pull and Push......381
 The Law of the Niche......382
Integrating Online Advertising with Traditional Media......382
Increasing Efficiency of Banner Ads......383
More Relevant Ads......383
Text-only Ads......384
Link Exchanges......384
Tips for Link Exchange......384
Tools......384
Challenges of Online Advertising......386
Marketing Challenges......387
Educational Challenges......387
Structural Challenges......387
Filler Available......387
Lack of Good Writing or Marketing Techniques......388
Holding the Internet to a Higher Standard than Other Advertising Media......388
New Developments in Online Advertising......388
Summary......389
Questions......390
Part Five: INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
Chapter 14 Advertising and Integrated Marketing
Communications......395−438
Learning Objectives......395
Why IMC is Gaining Importance......398
The Promotional Mix: The Tool for IMC......398
The Promotional Planning Process......399
Promotional Programme’s Situation Analysis......402
Establishing Communication Objectives......402
Budget Determination......402
Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Programme......402
Monitoring, Evaluation and Control......403
Elements of Integrated Marketing Communications......403
Advertising......403
Direct Marketing......405
Factors Causing Growth of Direct Marketing......407
Direct Marketing Process......408
Operationalizing Direct Marketing......409
Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Marketing......410
Sales Promotion......412
Important Features of Sales Promotion......413
Types of Sales Promotion Activities......413
Why Sales Promotion is Gaining Importance......415
Public Relations......418
Role of Public Relations......418
The Process of Public Relations......420
Advantages of PR......421
Disadvantages of PR......421
Publicity......422
The Power of Publicity......422
Why Publicity is So Powerful......423
The Control Over Publicity......423
Advantages and Disadvantages of Publicity......423
Personal Selling......424
Differences between Personal Selling and Other Forms of Promotional
Elements......426
Assigning the Role to Personal Selling......426
Role and Responsibility of Personal Selling......427
Advantages and Disadvantages of Personal Selling......429
Internet Marketing......429
Why Companies Use the Internet......430
Advertising on the Net......431
Sales Promotion on the Internet......433
Direct Marketing on the Net......434
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet......435
Summary......436
Questions......437
Chapter 15 Advertising in a Multicultural
Environment......439−461
Learning Objectives......439
C S :R K R G
A ......440
Evolution of International Advertising......441
International Perspective......441
Intercultural Advertising......443
Economic Environment......444
Demographic Environment......446
Cultural Environment......448
Political and Legal Environment......449
International Advertising......450
Appropriateness of Globalization......453
Internet Advertising......454
Advantages of Web Advertising......456
Laws and Regulations......456
Laws Related to E-mail Marketing......458
Future of Global Advertising......459
Summary......460
Questions......461
Bibliography......463−467
Index......469−478
 PREFACE

Advertising has today become one of the most important aspects of

all the businesses and to imagine the life sans it is almost
impossible. Advertising was quite ingenuous a few decades back, as
the technology was not complicated. With limited media choices,
advertising did not face much competition. However, the simplicity in
advertising did not continue for long.
In the recent past, there was growth of innumerable broadcast and
TV channels. The national dailies and magazines also grew
multifold. It was the time for the advertisers to search for the right
medium to reach the customers. Apart from the traditional medium,
many other media options, which were never heard before, are now
available. The production technology can now provide special effects
to the advertisements. The web advertising, an interactive media, is
a prime example of technological advancements. Today, the
advertising has become an indispensable marketing tool of the
corporate world. It has undergone a sea change and is still moving
towards unpredictability. The practitioner cannot really predict the
future of advertising.
Though there are several international books on Advertising, they
lack Indian context and case studies. Also, the few Indian books
available on the subject do not provide a wide coverage. In this
book, we have conceptualized the theory in the form of objective-
specific course book, keeping in view the students’ needs and the
challenging nature of the subject of Advertising.
The book is divided into five main sections—Advertising Basics,
Advertising Research and Strategy, Creativity and Advertising,
Advertising Media and Integrated Marketing Communi-cations. In all,
there are fifteen chapters in the book, which cover all the important
aspects and key issues of advertising. We have taken ample care in
including all the aspects of advertising so that the students, teachers
and practitioners can find one composite source of reference and
learning.
Part one of the book on Advertising Basics deals with
fundamentals of advertising and relationship of advertising with the
society as well as its effects on the society. This part also reviews
important marketing concepts, which have relevance to advertising.
Part two on Advertising Research and Strategy elaborately deals
with various concepts of consumer behaviour and their impact on
advertising. Advertising research and account planning are also
discussed in this part along with the working of advertising and
advertising planning. Part three on Creativity and Advertising
discusses in detail how ad designers make creative advertisement
with the help of the copywriters and ad designers. The layout of
advertisements is discussed with the schematic representation. Part
four on Advertising Media deals with the various media, mainly print,
electronic and outdoor, including the Web. The strategy in
developing the advertisements for various media along with their
advantages and disadvantages is elaborated clearly. Part five on
Integrated Marketing Communications discusses integrated
marketing communication tools and advertising in multicultural
environment. This part has been specifically included to help the
readers keep abreast with the current trends in the advertising world.
This book is the outcome of the concerted efforts of many friends,
students and colleagues. Though writing on advertising was fun, it
required perseverance and patience. We are glad that finally we
could make it. We would like to extend the deep sense of gratitude to
Prof. L.K. Maheshwari, Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani, for being the
constant source of inspiration. Thanks are due to Prof. S.
Venkateswaran, Advisor and Professor Emeritus, BITS Pilani, for his
encouraging remarks at every stage. We also extend our heartfelt
thanks to Prof. A.K. Sarkar, Dean, Instructional Division and Faculty
Division − I, BITS Pilani for his unflinching support.
We would like to record the efforts made by our students—Nazim-
ur-Rahman, Sai Muppur, Aparajith Ramnath, Aditya Satija, Anita
Reddy, Bharat Pasupulati, T Sandeep Thomas Mathew, I Sindhura,
Sowmya Ghanti, Spandana Reddy and Sarla in searching the
apposite advertisements for this book.
At home front, Dr. Sangeeta Sharma says thanks is very measly
word to show her gratitude for her husband, Suresh, who monitored
her regularly to find the progress of the chapters. She accepts that
the completion of the manuscript was possible only because of his
support. Her two sons, Amrit and Anuj, were very supportive during
the book-writing period when they had to sacrifice their time with her.
They never complained. She fondly thanks Ms. Usha Manjunath, a
friend and colleague, for her constant encouragement and support
throughout this period.
Similarly, Dr. Raghuvir Singh gives immense thanks to his wife,
Anju, for showing great admiration and patience during the time the
book was being written. She has been very supportive and inspiring
and has always reminded him for timely completion of this work. His
two sons, Ashish and Abhinav, and daughter, Babita, were very
supportive and shared keen interest in progress of the book. All of
them have willingly sacrificed their comforts, fun and good time,
otherwise they would have had with him during all this time.
Sangeeta Sharma
Raghuvir Singh
CHANGING SCENARIO
CASE STUDY: LALITAJI
First launched in 1959 by Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), Surf quickly became
synonymous with detergent powders and remained at the top as the largest-selling
detergent powder in the country until Nirma came. The late 1970s found HLL reeling
under the stiff onslaught of Karsanbhai Patel’s low-priced Nirma. To respond to Nirma,
Lintas’ legendary Alyque Padamsee came up with the memorable advertising campaign
for Surf, featuring a middle-class housewife played by Kavita Chaudhary. Overnight,
people on the street could identify Lalitaji, the practical, sensible, challenging, no-
nonsense housewife who lectures us on the difference between ‘sasti cheez aur asli
cheez’ (cheap thing and the real thing). She was everybody’s mother, wife, daughter-in-
law or neighbour. More importantly, the Indian middle-class housewife, HLL’s main
customer segment, wanted to actually be the strong-willed, level-headed character that
Lalitaji portrayed.

Soon, in an ironic twist, the character that became a celebrity because of brand
advertising became larger than the brand itself. By the late 1980s, Nirma had got itself a
similar Deepikaji who bettered a wily grocer and stressed if the same quality could be had
for a lesser price, “Koi yeh kyon le, Woh na le?” (why would one buy this, and not that?)
The detergent wars were just beginning with Proctor and Gamble opening a new front
with Ariel in the premium segment. All of a sudden, the rules of the game changed. There
was an entirely new segment with customers who were ready to pay the price for better
quality.
“In a sense, the character created for Surf, Lalitaji also explored the serial idea. Every
one loves characters and continuing story lines”, says Alyque Padamsee.
HLL launched Surf Ultra with Laitaji’s household, an urban nuclear family where she was
put in the modern role of a quintessential housewife who was looked upon by everyone
around her as a guardian angel, a problem solver who smartly reassured them “Daag!
Dhoondhte Rehjaoge!“ (Stains! Keep searching for them!)
Unfortunately, with the social structure of India changing, the middle class housewife was
no longer the same Lalitaji and Surf Ultra flopped with Proctor and Gamble capturing a
major part of the market share. ‘Lalitaji type’ had become a euphemism for the irritating,
aggressive know-it-all shopper with whom many could still identify, but probably not as
favourably as they did in the 1980s.
In the mid-1990s, HLL was back with Surf Excel. More importantly, instead of Lalitaji, the
protagonist was now a working woman—a lawyer, a journalist, a businesswoman—facing
the challenges of everyday life. What was retained was her spotless white garb. When it
suffered those inevitable stains, she was calmly reassured by those who looked at her
shopping bag—Surf Excel hai na! (Surf Excel is there!) Lalitaji was gone but the brand
clicked with the segment yet again!
Yet another Surf Excel campaign reflected the changing role of the Indian woman. It
showed a yuppie couple entertaining a group of friends when the husband stains his
sleeve. Not wanting to disturb his significant other, he reads the instructions on the
detergent pack and takes care of the stain himself. She walks in and says knowingly,
“Daag gaya Na!” (Stains did go!)
So, are the days of Lalitaji finally over?
“We are migrating Surf to Surf Excel, as Surf has become generic and many people
today refer to any detergent as Surf. Besides, we feel that this brand has the chance of
attracting new users under the Excel name,” says Sanjay Dube, Head, Market and
Consumer Development, Hindustan Lever Limited.
The jury’s still out, but HLL must hope that all those consumers who swear by Lalitaji will
soon be chanting, “Surf Excel hai na!”
ADVERTISING WORLD
Advertising is all over the places, on TV and radio, in newspapers
and magazines, on billboards and even plastered across the sides of
the buses. It is persistent and persuasive, but it would be simplistic
to believe that the power advertising has over us is just about how
we spend our money. If an advertisement can really persuade us to
buy a product, surely it can be just as effective in persuading us to
think in a certain way.
The global market has expanded manifold in the last few decades.
Innumerable products are being launched almost every day. The
companies are engaged in cut-throat competition to highlight their
products. Herein enters the glamorous field of advertising. The more
innovative the advertising, the better is the market. Advertising is
actually brand building through effective communication and is
essentially a service industry. It is a medium which helps to reach
more people to communicate brand effectiveness.
Advertising serves three purposes: to recruit new customers, to
increase use of goods or services among existing customers, and to
help potential customers choose among competing brands. This
basic principle holds true for all kinds of products and markets.
These three purposes can be merged into a single purpose: market
share, or to convince the customer to choose one brand over
another and retain him for life. So it basically deals with capturing
human feelings and emotions, which makes it one of the most
challenging jobs. Advertisers use various means to achieve this.
Creativity leads the list, and the idea has to be unique.
Advertising has a great influence on our daily lives whether we are
aware or oblivious of it. Billboards, newspapers, television and
magazines—all convey messages to the public about various
products, companies, travel opportunities, etc. One cannot escape
the constant invasion of such advertisements and as a result, ads
have become a global phenomenon which we take part in by being
both consumers and observers. Ads have become an easily
accessible persuasion tactic all over the world. As a result of
commercials and other advertisements, companies have been able
to reach a wider range of potential buyers. Globalization of
advertising has significantly increased consumerism and has allowed
certain companies the exposure needed to boost sales.
IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING
We are exposed to hundreds of ads every day and even if someone
claims that they do not have any effect on him, it is not true. Either
consciously or subconsciously, advertisements have a tremendous
effect on our lifestyle.
Volkswagen was in red by the end of the Second World War.
However, within 10 years after that, its cars were one of the best-
selling in the world. The reason was obviously advertising. One such
creative ad of Volkswagen (New Beetle) shown below is an exampler
of one of the million cases where advertising played a crucial role in
reviving the brand or creating a permanent image for a brand.
‘Marlboro Man’ campaign is considered to be one of the most
popular campaigns of the 20th century. It was started in 1955 and
even today smokers associate the cowboy image
with it.

These are only the direct effects of advertising on brands and the
customers.
 Advertising can not only change the buying decision, but also has
the power to change the mindset and attitude of people. It has been
observed that advertising is the reflection of the culture of a nation.
In fact, advertising and culture both affect each other. Advertising
industry also supports media industry. Media survives on advertising
as they go hand-in-hand.
 If a good ad says, “This drink has been rated for mature audiences
only”, then all it needs is a credible medium to reach the customer. In
no time, people will start associating ABSOLUT with maturity. In fact,
just that happened after this brand campaigned with that baseline.
ABSOLUT was a huge success in America.
Advertising can also be used as an effective tool for a social
cause. A literacy ad campaign says, “It just takes 10 paisa and one
special person to spread literacy. You.” Just how long is it going to
take if we were to persuade people in person to take up the cause of
spreading literacy? Advertising can be instrumental in bringing a
commendable change in society by generating awareness among
the population about the social causes.
A recent advertisement of Surf Excel claims that by using this
detergent you can save two buckets of water. Water is a scarce
commodity and the conscious use of it can make a difference. Added
to this, a prize-winning Bisleri advertisement takes up the issue of
safety.
Advertisements also serve to spread information about the new
technology and innovations and keep us up to date as to what is
happening in the scientific world. The role of advertising in today’s
world is not just spreading brand awareness. It also shows us where
we stand in the world today.
ADVERTISING DEFINED
The most standard definition of advertising is as follows:
“Advertising is the non-personal communication of information
usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products,
services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.”
(Bovee 1992, 7). Let us dissect the definition and explain the key
terms used in this definition.

Non-Personal
Let us first understand what non-personal is. There are two basic
ways to sell anything: personally and non-personally. Personal
selling requires the seller and the buyer to be together. There are
advantages and disadvantages to this. The first advantage is that the
seller has time to discuss in detail everything about the product. The
buyer has time to ask questions, get answers and examine evidence
for or against purchase.
The second advantage of personal selling is that the seller can see
the person to whom he/she is selling the product. He/She can see
how the sales message is getting across. If the customer yawns or
looks away, he/she is obviously bored, and so the seller can change
his approach. He/She can also see if the customer is hooked, see
what features or benefits grab the customer’s attention, and
emphasize them to close the sale. Finally, the seller can easily locate
potential buyers. If you enter a store, you probably have an interest
in something that the store sells. Street vendors and door-to-door
sellers can simply shout at possibilities. From there on they fit their
message to the individual customer, taking all the time a customer is
willing to give them.
There are also disadvantages of personal selling. It is quite
expensive because it is labour-intensive and deals with only one
buyer at a time. Just imagine, even when one tries to sell chewing
gum or chocolates, it would cost a large sum of money. In addition,
personal selling is time-consuming. Selling a stereo or a car can take
days, and major computer and airplane sales can take years by this
procedure. In this fast moving world, no one has time to wait.
Nonetheless, although personal selling results in more rejections
than sales, and can be nerve-racking and frustrating for the
salesperson. Contrarily, when the salesperson is good it is more
directed and successful than advertising.
From the above statement, it appears that personal selling is better
than advertising, which is non-personal. This is true. Advertising has
none of the advantages of personal selling: there is very little time to
present the sales message, there is no way to know who the
customer is or how he is responding to the message, and the
message cannot be changed in mid-course to suit the customer’s
reactions.
So let us find out the reason for the replacement of personal
selling by advertising. Its advantages replace the disadvantages of
personal selling, and can emulate some of the advantages. Let’s
look at the latter.
Advertising is ubiquitous. It is part of us since the time immemorial.
Unlike personal selling, the sales message and its presentation do
not have to be created on the spot with the customer watching. It can
be created in as many ways as the writer can conceive, be rewritten,
tested, modified, injected with every trick and appeal known to affect
consumers.
Second, although advertisers may not see the individual customer,
nor be able to modify the sales message according to that
individual’s reactions at the time, they do have research about
customers. The research can identify potential customers, find what
message elements might influence them, and figure out how best to
get that message to them. Although the research is meaningless
when applied to any particular individual, it is effective when applied
to large groups of customers.
Third, and perhaps of most importantly, advertising can be far
cheaper per potential customer than personal selling. Unlike
personal selling, which deals with one customer at a time,
advertising deals with hundreds, thousands and millions of
customers at a time, thus reducing the cost per customer. In fact,
advertising cost is determined in part using a formula. It is not
determined as cost per potential customer, but as cost per thousand
potential customers.
Thus, advertising is a good idea as a sales tool. For small ticket
items, such as chewing gum and chocolates, advertising is cost-
effective to do the entire selling job. For large ticket items, such as
cars and computers, advertising can do a large part of the selling
job, and personal selling is used to complete and close the sale.
Therefore, even through advertising is non-personal, it is certainly
effective.

Communication
Communication is a means by which one person can pass
information, ideas or feelings to another through speech or pictures.
Thus, communication uses all of the senses: smell, touch, taste,
sound and sight. However, of the five, only two are useful in
advertising—sound and sight. The advertisement of Phoenix Mill in
the 1940s, communicated through just a picture. Sound and sight
are the most effective and easily used channels of communication
available to advertising. For these reasons, virtually all advertising
relies on them.
Sound
Sound is extremely useful for advertising. It can be used in a variety
of media, from radio and television to the new technology of binding
micro-sound chips in magazines to present
20-second sales messages. It is also capable of presenting words
and “theatre of the mind”.
Words, the means by which humans communicate their ideas and
feelings, are presented by sound, by speaking aloud. Through the
use of words it is possible to deliver logical arguments, discuss pros
and cons, and evoke emotions.
Through the use of sound it is possible to create what is called “the
theatre of the mind”. This means that sound can conjure in the
listener’s mind images and actions that don’t necessarily exist. For
example, if you want to create the imagination of a party, you only
need to use the sound effects of people talking and laughing, the
tinkle of glasses and ice, and perhaps music in the backdrop. Even
easier, tape record a party and play it back. To evoke images of a
soft spring day, the sounds of a breeze rustling leaves, the chirrup of
insects, the soft call of birds is sufficient. The listener’s mind will take
those sounds, combine them, make sense of them and create an
image suited to their individual taste. For example, a beer
commercial may play the sounds of a bar in the background, and the
listeners may imagine themselves in their own favourite bar and
perhaps ordering that brand of beer.

Thus, sound in the form of words and effects is quite useful to an

advertiser in affecting a listener. This impact is observed in the
advertisements of Onida KY series.
Sight
Sight is arguably the most useful of the communication channels
available to an advertiser. Through sight it is possible to use both
words and images effectively.
You need not only speak words to convey meaning. They can be
printed as well. Although it is difficult to put in written words the
emotional impact that is possible in spoken words, with their
inflections and subtle sound cues, nevertheless written words are
unsurpassed for getting across and explaining complex ideas.

There is an additional factor in sight that makes it excellent for

advertising. The old cliché, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, is
correct. Just think how long it takes to describe something as
opposed to showing a picture of it. No matter how many words are
used, some details will be left out that are visible at a glance. Thus,
sight can quickly and concisely show a customer what the advertiser
wants him to see, be it a product or its benefits. This is true
especially in the case of products like cars, which have high value
addition factors.
In addition, the mind does not have to consciously recognize what
the eye sees for it to have an effect on the subconscious. An
advertiser can put many inconspicuous details into a picture that will
affect a customer on the subconscious level. For example, a drop of
water on a rose petal may not consciously register (“I see there’s a
drop of water on this rose”), but will unconsciously leave an
impression of freshness and delicacy. A small child looking upward
into the camera, unsmiling and eyes wide, gives an impression of
sadness and vulnerability, not shortness.
 The five forms of human communication can be used to send any
message to potential customers. However, not all five are equal.
Smell, touch and taste are of little use, but sound and sight are of
great value and effectiveness.

Information
Information is defined as knowledge, facts or news. However, you
should bear in mind that one person’s information is another
person’s scam, particularly when advertisers talk about their
products.
Information comes in many forms. It can be complete or
incomplete. It can be biased or deceptive. Complete information is
telling someone everything there is to know about something: what it
is, what it looks like, how it works, what are its benefits and
drawbacks, etc. However, to provide complete information about
anything is time consuming and difficult. For example, to tell all about
a car would require its appearance, manufacture and manufacturer,
what percentage of parts are made in which countries, cost of
upkeep, mileage (city and highway), cost (basic and with any and all
combination of options), sales and excise taxes per state,
preparation costs, insurance costs per state and locale, ride
characteristics (noise by decibels, interior and exterior, ergs required
for steering and braking, relative comfort of seats, length of reach
required to use controls, degrees of lean when cornering),
acceleration, braking distance at many different speeds, etc. All of
this would require a documentary, not a commercial. Complete
information is, therefore, impossible to provide in an ad.
Thus, for advertising, information of necessity must be incomplete,
not discussing everything there is to know about the subject. In
advertising, what appears is everything that the writer
thinks the customer needs to know about the product in order to
make a decision about it. That information is generally about how the
product can benefit the customer (see the Tata Indigo ad giving a
few technical details of the car).
Sometimes the consumer is provided not with information that he
wants, but only with the information which the seller wants him to
have. Sellers, for instance, are not inclined to advertise negative
aspects of their products even though those aspects may be of
primary concern to the consumer,
particularly if they involve considerations of health or safety.
 Bias means being partial towards something, feeling that
something is better or worse than other things. Biased information
about a product is that which emphasizes what is good and ignores
what is bad about it. In advertising this is not only normal, but also
necessary. Of course, an advertiser is biased towards his own
product and against the competitors’: selling his product is the way
he makes his money, and his competitors’ sales reduces that
income. Thus, any advertising will use words and images that show
how good his product is over his competitors’. This is biased
information, but recognized and accepted by industry, regulators and
consumers—it is called puffery, the legitimate exaggeration of
advertising claims to overcome natural consumer skepticism.

Paid For
If an ad is created and placed in the media, the costs of creation and
time or space in the media must be paid for. This is a major area in
which advertising departs from public relations (PR).
 PR seeks to place information about companies and/or products in
the media without having to pay for the time or space. PR creates
news releases and sends them to news media in the hopes that they
will be run. Often PR departments produce events that will be
covered by news media and thus receive space or time. However,
there is no guarantee that the media will run any of the PR material.
Advertising doesn’t have that problem. If time or space is bought in
the media, the ads (as long as they follow the guidelines set down
for good taste, legal products and services, etc.) will appear. The
drawback is that ads are clearly designed to extol the virtues of
products and companies, and any ad perceived by consumers is at
least partly puffery. PR pieces are usually not so perceived.

Persuasive
“Persuasive” stands to reason as part of the definition of advertising.
The basic purpose of advertising is to identify and differentiate one
product from another in order to persuade the consumer to buy that
product in preference to another.

Products, Services or Ideas

Products, services or ideas are the things that advertisers want
consumers to buy (in the case of ideas, buy means accept or agree
with as well as lay out hard, cold cash). However, there is more to
products or services than simply items for purchase. Henceforth,
products will mean products, services and ideas unless otherwise
noted.)
A product is not merely its function. It is actually a bundle of
values, and what that product means to the consumer. That bundle
may contain the product’s function, but also the social, psychological
and economic values that are important to the consumer.
For example, if the function of a car (i.e. transportation) is all that is
important, then manufacturers would need only to build motorized
boxes on wheels, and consumers would be happy with them.
However, such is obviously not the case; the number of models and
types of cars is huge, and if consumers didn’t demand the variety it
wouldn’t exist. Consumers must find factors other than mere
transportation, even if not more important.
Perhaps the value is social. The type of car a person drives is
often indicative of that person’s social status. A Maruti shows a lower
status than a Mercedes Benz. A sports car shows that a person is
(or wishes to be perceived as) more socially active and fun loving
than a person in a sedan or station wagon. The type of car can even
indicate which social group a person wants to be considered a part
of; in the 1980s, Volvos and BMWs were the car for yuppies.
The value is economic too. Some cars may be cheaper to run, give
better mileage, carry more people or cargo, and cause less damage
to the environment.
The above four values—functional, social, psychological and
economic—can stand alone. However, for most consumers, the
values are bundled together in varying proportions. How closely a
product approximates an individual’s proportion of values will often
determine whether they will buy that product or not.
Companies, through research, try to determine what values
consumers want in their products, and then advertise to show how
their product satisfies the customers’ bundle of values better than the
competitors’ products. To do this, the company must differentiate
their product from competitors’. There are three basic
differentiations: perceptible, imperceptible and induced.
Perceptible
Perceptible differences are those that make one product obviously
different from others of the same kind. The difference may be in
colour, size, shape, brand name or in some other way. In any case,
the consumer can easily see that this car or couch or camera is
different from other cars or couches or cameras. Perceptible
differences allow a person to make an instant identification of one
product as opposed to another.
Imperceptible
Imperceptible differences are those that exist between one product
and others, but are not obvious. For example, there are
imperceptible but profound differences among CP/M, MS-DOS,
Apple and Macintosh computers. You can’t simply look at a computer
and tell which one it is; machines can and usually do look alike. Yet,
buying either of them precludes the use of software designed for the
other.
 The same is applied to Beta and VHS format VCRs. Although both
are designed to do the same thing, there are differences between
them that are imperceptible on the surface but preclude using the
same tapes in both. Besides using cassettes of different sizes, the
machines use totally different ways of recording and playing back
tapes. while Beta records and plays back diagonally across the tape,
while VHS records vertically. Such a difference may seem small, but
it means that anything recorded on Beta cannot be played back on
VHS, and vice versa. Also, Beta’s system used more tape per instant
and thus, had an advantage in the amount of information per inch of
tape, meaning a better sound and picture but less available time.
However, VHS overcomes its deficit by improved electronics and
better processing of what information it gets per inch of tape. In
addition, VHS (read RCA) managed to corner the market on rental
tapes of movies (a major use of VCRs) and virtually killed off Beta
(read Sony). All the differences between Beta and VHS are
imperceptible, but also crucial.
Induced
For many products, there is no actual substantive difference
between one and another. For many brands of cigarettes, beer,
cleansers and soaps, rice, over-the-counter health products, etc. ad
nauseam, there is essentially no difference between one brand and
another. These products are called parity products.
For these products, the only way to differentiate one from another
is to induce that difference and persuade people that there actually is
some difference, and it is important to them. These differences are
created through advertising, not through any inherent difference in
the products, and that creation often uses appeal. For example, the
POLO ad. Does the mint with a hole make any difference to the
inherent nature or quality of mint?
Another approach is to project an image on a parity product.
Marlboro is rugged male, Virginia Slims is independent female,
Benson & Hedges is intellectual, Camel is cool and sophisticated.
That there is no real difference between one brand of cigarette and
another is beside the point. The point is, if you want the image you
must use the product. This image approach is so successful that a
macho man wouldn’t be caught dead (no pun intended) smoking
Virginia Slims or Benson & Hedges—he’d feel like a sissy wimp (or
rather, that is what he thinks his friends would think he was).
Parity products have the greatest difficulty differentiating one from
another. They must rely on creating a trivial or even non-existent
difference in the bundle of values their target audience might find
important to their purchase decision. However, if and once that
difference is firmly established in the target audience’s perception, a
company can often rely on habit, brand loyalty and/or cognitive
dissonance to get repeat business.

Identified Sponsors
Identified sponsors mean whoever is putting out the ad tell the
audience who they are. There are two reasons for this: first, it’s a
legal requirement, and second, it makes good sense.
Legally, a sponsor must identify himself as the sponsor of an ad.
This prevents the audience from getting a misleading idea about the
ad or its contents. For example, many ads that appear in
newspapers look like news articles: same typeface, appearance, use
of columns, etc. If the ad is not identified as such, the audience could
perceive it as news about a product, rather than an attempt to
persuade the audience to buy it. Case in point: what looks like a
news article discusses a weight-loss plan. In a journalistic style it
talks about the safety, efficacy, and reasonable price of the product.
A reasonable person might perceive the ad as an article written by a
reporter who had investigated weight-loss programmes and decided
to objectively discuss this particular one. Such a perception is
misleading and illegal. Since it is an ad, somewhere on it there must
appear the word “advertisement” to ensure that the audience do not
think it is an objective reporting of news.
It makes good sense for a sponsor to identify itself in the ad. If it
doesn’t, it is possible for the audience to believe the ad is for a
competitor’s product, thus wasting all its time, creativity and money
that went into making and placing the ad.

Various Media
The various media are the non-personal channels of communication
that people have invented and used, and continue to use. These
include newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, transit
cards, sandwich boards, skywriting, posters, floating hoardings,
balloons, anything that aids communicating ideas in a non-personal
way from one person or group to another person or group. They do
not include people talking to each other: talking is personal and
advertising is non-personal; moreover, there is no way to use people
talking to each other for advertising—word-of-mouth is not an
advertising medium, since one can’t control what is said. (The best
one could do is to start a rumour, which will undoubtedly distort the
message in the telling and is more the province of the PR
department.)
HISTORY OF ADVERTISING
Advertising has been around for thousands of years. One way of
looking at the cave paintings of Lascaux, which are about 16,000
years old, is as advertising. They could be selling to the spirits of
animals the idea of showing up for the hunt.
Nonetheless, advertising recognizable as ‘advertising’ has been
around for millennia. Daniel Mannix, in his book on the Roman
games, Those About to Die, quotes an ad found on a tombstone:

“Weather permitting, 30 pairs of gladiators, furnished by A.

Clodius Flaccus, together with substitutes in case any get
killed too quickly, will fight May 1st, 2nd and 3rd at the Circus
Maximus. The fights will be followed by a big wild beast hunt.
The famous gladiator Paris will fight. Hurrah for Paris! Hurrah
for the generous Flaccus, who is running for Duumvirate!”
(Below this is an ad for the copywriter: “Marcus wrote this
sign by the light of the moon. If you hire Marcus, he’ll work
day and night to do a good job.”) (Mannix, 28)
For the first few thousand years, people used advertising to promote
two things: locations and services. The above is an example of the
first. So were the signs outside taverns and inns. Handbills and
posters were also a popular form of advertising. They were passed
out promoting such events as plays, or recruiting for the military.
Indian advertising started with hawkers calling out their wares right
from the days when cities and markets first began. From shopfront
signage and street side sellers to press ads and then the first
trademarks, advertising grew rapidly in India. Concrete advertising
history begins with classified advertising. Ads appeared for the first
time in print in Hickey’s Bengal Gazette, India’s first newspaper
(weekly).
Studios marked the beginning of advertising created in India (as
opposed to imported from England). Studios set up for bold type,
ornate fonts, more fancy, larger ads. Newspaper studios trained the
first generation of visualisers and illustrators with major advertisers
being retailers like Spencer’s, Army and Navy, and Whiteaway and
Laidlaw.
The early marketing promotions were retailers’ catalogues. Ads
appeared in newspapers in the form of lists of the latest merchandise
from England.
Let us look at some of the important years in the history of
advertising.
Advertising through the ages
The first newspaper advertisement, an announcement seeking a buyer
1704 for an Oyster Bay, Long Island estate, is published in the Boston News
Letter.
1742 Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine prints the first American
magazine ads.
1843 Volney Palmer opens the first advertising agency in Philadelphia.
New York agency Carlton & Smith begin buying the right to place
1867
advertising in religious magazines.
James Walter Thompson buys Carlton & Smith from William J. Carlton,
paying $500 for the business and $800 for the office furniture. He
1877 renames it after himself and moves into general magazine advertising.
Later, he invents the position of account executive. Today, J. Walter
Thompson Co. is one of the leading ad agencies in the world.
1882 Procter and Gamble Co. begins advertising Ivory soap with an
unprecedented budget of $11,000.
1883 India: Horlicks becomes the first ‘malted milk’ to be patented on 5th June
1883 (No. 278967).
1893 Asa Briggs Chandler registers Coca-Cola as a trademark.
N.W. Ayer helps National Biscuit Co. launch the first prepackaged biscuit,
Uneeda, with the slogan “Lest you forget, we say it yet, Uneeda Biscuit.”
1898
Eventually, the company launches the first million-dollar advertising
campaign for Uneeda.
1899 J. Walter Thompson Co. is the first agency to open an office in the UK.
1905 India: B. Dattaram & Co. claims to be the oldest existing Indian agency
in Girgaum in Bombay.
W.K. Kellogg places his first ad for Corn Flakes in six Midwestern
1906 newspapers. By 1915, he is as spending one million dollars on national
advertising.
1911 For the first time in its history, P&G pays an outside agency, J. Walter
 Thompson Co., to launch Crisco, its new vegetable shortening.
Woodbury Soap breaks its “The skin you love to touch” campaign in the
Ladies’ Home Journal. This was the first time sex appeal was used in
advertising.
1912 India: ITC (then Imperial Tobacco Co. Ltd.) launches Gold Flake.
KDKA, Pittsburgh, becomes the first radio station in the US, and is the
1920
first to broadcast the results of the 1920 Presidential election.
India: The
foreign
owned ad
AT&T’s station WEAF in New York offers 10 minutes of
agencies
radio time to anyone who would pay $100. The
step in:
Queensboro Corp., a Long Island real estate firm, buys
• Gujarat
1922 the first commercials in advertising history: 15 spots at
Advertising
$50 a piece. Following the ads extolling Hawthorne and Indian
Court, a new tenant-owned apartment complex in Advertising
Jackson Heights’ sales total thousands of dollars. set up.
• Expatriate
agencies
emerge, for
example,
National Carbon Co.’s Eveready Hour is the first regular Alliance
1923 series of broadcast entertainment and music to be Advertising
sponsored by an advertiser. and Tata
Publicity.
• L.A.
Goodrich Tires sponsors the first hour-long show over a Stronach’s
1924
network of nine radio stations. merges
into
today’s
Lintas (Lever International Advertising Services) is Norvicson
1928 formed as a house agency for Unilever in England, Advertising
Holland and Germany. • D.J.
Keymer
gives rise
American Tobacco Co. spends $12.3 million to advertise to Ogilvy
1929 Lucky Strike, the most any company has ever spent on and Mather
single product advertising. and
Clarion.
India: Walter Thompson Co. Pr. Ltd. formed.

1934 India: Venkatrao Sista opens Sista Advertising and Publicity Services as
the first full service Indian agency.
1935 Leo Burnett leaves Erwin Wasey to start his own agency in Chicago.
Life publishes its first edition. Later, became the first magazine to carry
1936 $100 million annually in advertising.
India: Indian Broadcasting Company becomes All India Radio (AIR).
India: Lever’s advertising department launches Dalda—the first major
1939 example of a brand and a marketing campaign specifically developed for
India.
With 7,500 TV sets in New York City, NBC’s WNBT begins telecasting
1941 July 1. The first TV spots, featuring a Bulova watch that ticks for 60
seconds, air as open and close time signals for the day’s schedule.
India: Lux signs Leela Chitnis as the first Indian film actress to endorse
the product and Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA), the current
incarnation of J. Walter Thompson Co., coins the balanced nourishment
concept to make Horlicks more relevant to India.
J. Walter Thompson Co. becomes the first agency to surpass $100
1947
million in billings.
1948 Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather is launched.
1951 India: Vicks VapoRub, a rub for colds, causes ripples with its entry in the
balm market.
1955 The Marlboro Man campaign debuts.
It turned out to be one of the great marketing disasters of automotive
1957 history. Ford Motor Co. introduces the Edsel.
India: Vividh Bharati kicks off.
Doyle Dane Bernbach introduces the creative team approach of
1960 combining a copywriter with an art director to create its “Think small”
campaign for Volkswagen.
David Ogilvy publishes Confessions of an Advertising Man.
1962 India: Indian television’s first soap opera—Teesra Rasta enthralls
viewers.
1963 The Pepsi generation kicks off the cola wars.
India: Wills filter tipped cigarettes launched and positioned as made for
each other, filter and tobacco match.
Ogilvy, Benson & Mather merges with London-based parent company,
1964
Mather & Crowther, to form Ogilvy & Mather.
After the US surgeon general determines that smoking is “hazardous to
your health”, The New Yorker and other magazines ban cigarette ads.
Following a string of account losses, Rosser Reeves, Ted Bates’ first
1966 creative chief and promoter of advertising that offers a “unique selling
proposition”, resigns at the age of 55.
1967 Wells Rich Greene (WRG) is established. Mary Wells is the first woman
 to head a major agency.
India: First commercial appears on Vividh Bharati.
1970 Saatchi & Saatchi is established in London.
1971 India: Benson’s change in name to Ogilvy, Benson & Mather.

1972 India: Western Outdoor Advertising Pvt. Ltd. (WOAPL) introduces first
closed circuit TV (CCT) in the country at the racecourse in Mumbai.
1976 India: Commercial television is initiated.
1978 India: First television commercial is launched seen.
1979 India: Ogilvy, Benson & Mather’s name changes to Ogilvy & Mather.
India: Mudra Communications Ltd. set up.
1980 India: King-sized Virginia filter cigarette enters market as the brand
name of ‘Charms’
MTV debuts with frenetic video images that change the nature of
1981
commercials.
India: The biggest milestone in television was the Asiad 1982 when
1982 television turned to colour transmission.
India: Bombay Dyeing becomes the first colour TV ad.
India: Maggi noodles is launched to become an overnight success.
India: Manohar Shyam Joshi’s Hum Log makes commercial television
1983 come alive.
India: Mudra communication sponsors the first commercial telecast of a
major sporting event with the India-West Indies series.
1984 India: Vicco sponsors telecast of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi!
India: Mudra communications makes India’s first telefilm, Janam.
1985 India: 915 new brands of products and services appearing on the Indian
market.
Saatchi & Saatchi buys Ted Bates Worldwide, becoming the world’s
largest agency holding company.
India: Sananda is born on July 31. The Bengali magazine stupefies India
by selling 75,000 copies within three hours of appearing on the news-
1986 stands.
India: Mudra Communications creates India’s first folk-history TV serial
Buniyaad. Shown on DD, it becomes the first of the mega soaps.
India: Price quality positioning of Nirma detergent cakes boost sales
A new medium, Internet is born.
1990
India: Brand Equity of The Economic Times is born.

1991 India: First India-targeted satellite channel, Zee TV starts broadcast

followed by Star TV.
1992 India: Spectrum, publisher of A&M, constitutes its own award known as
‘A&M Awards’.
1993 The Internet becomes a reality as five million users worldwide get online.
As its share price plunges 30 per cent, Maurice and Charles Saatchi
1995
leave the agency they founded in 1970.
1996 India: The Sun TV becomes the first regional TV channel to go live 24
hours a day on all days of the week.
Internet advertising breaks the two billion dollar mark and heads toward
1999 three billion dollars as the industry, under prodding from Proctor and
Gamble, moves to standardize all facets of the industry.
2003 TV show with built-in advertising is planned.
.
CASE STUDY: THE LIRIL GIRL
The one icon who has held her stead for an astonishing 30 years is the Liril girl. Shrinking
attention spans and shifting trends notwithstanding, she continues to epitomise exuberant
freshness. The ubiquitous waterfall has morphed into a glacier. The signature tune Laa la
la la laa has been tweaked to Uff yu maa. Why, it’s not even the customary lime-green
anymore. Variants like Icy Cool and Orange Fresh have brought in new hues. But the
effervescence of the Liril girls—from Karen Lunell to the current nymph, Dipika Padukone
—is comfortingly familiar.
It was in 1975 that Hindustan Lever Limited added a twist of lime to soapsuds, and
created Liril, the first ever “lime freshness soap”. Research, meanwhile, had thrown up a
startling insight that the only time the Indian housewife got to herself was when she
closed her bathroom door. That’s when she daydreamed about escaping a humdrum life.

“The creative rendition of that insight was a girl bathing in a waterfall”, says Alyque
Padamsee, ad pundit and creator of the Liril girl phenomenon. But then came the tricky
part—getting the right waterfall and the right girl! “Some couldn’t keep their eyes open
under the waterfall. Others didn’t exude the right energy. Yet others had qualms about
donning a bikini.” Then entered Karen Lunell. With permission from her employers, Air
India, the crew flew to Kodaikanal. That’s where they had found a waterfall, which was
perfect in every way.
When the ad was released, the audience was bowled over. The blithe water sprite, the
dancing waterfall, the catchy refrain—everything was new and thrilling. The Liril girl
became the metaphor for freshness and at a deeper level, for freedom from the
mundane. It struck a winning chord with the Indian woman and Liril zoomed to the top of
the premium soap segment.
Karen’s romp in icy waterfalls continued for close to 10 years. Says Kailash, “With each
film, we experimented with new techniques like flash cuts and slow motion. But we never
took her away from the waterfall”.
Anjali Jathar was still in college when she was signed on for Liril. She was thrilled, but
nothing prepared her for the ‘waterfall’ ordeal. She enjoyed every moment of the filming,
including the time in Nepal when she almost drowned. “My raft had capsized and one of
the overzealous Nepalese assistants in an attempt to rescue me, ended up pulling me
into the rapid. He probably didn’t know I was an excellent swimmer. In the end, I had to
kick him and swim to safety”, she laughs.
An unrivalled market leader in the 1970s and 1980s, Liril was facing a testing time in the
1990s. The woes began with a stagnant market and aggressive competition from a slew
of me-too brands. Besides, the girl-in-waterfall routine had become predictable. To infuse
variety, Liril introduced a shower gel, Liril Active Gel.
Out went the waterfall and in came a car wash, and a new Liril girl—Pooja Batra. The film
had the leggy Miss India pull into a deserted car wash, looking worse for wear. Then, the
Liril gel gives her an idea and she jumps and dances in the burst of water, ending up as
fresh as a daisy.
While this was a marked departure from the previous Liril imagery as well as the jingle, it
wasn’t curtains for the waterfall yet.
The waterfall gushed once more in the next film and under it danced the dimpled,
exuberant Preity Zinta. Preity had shot to fame as the impish collegian in the Perk film.
With Liril, she got a chance to display her bubbly charm as well. It was a rockstar in the
jungle theme. So she drummed on plants, blew on reeds, swung on vines and generally
let her hair down.
Unlike the previous Liril girls, however, Preity didn’t turn blue in the icy waterfall. The film
was shot on a set where a waterfall was created complete with exotic jungle plants and
acrylic stones, because she couldn’t swim!
In 1999, Liril turned blue for the first time with Liril Rainfresh, a blue variant of Liril Lime.
The film with Hrishita Bhatt dancing in the rain set several precedents. The waterfall was
done away with, the Liril girl was brought to the city and there was a supporting cast as
well.
In mid-2001, the Liril girl was spotted on the sands of Rajasthan, taunting a bevy of
matki-bearing women to throw water on her. This was a fairly radical departure from the
blithe, playful Liril girls of yore. Says R Balki, Executive Creative Director, Lowe
Advertising, “The brand is all about freshness. So how could we use the same metaphors
and the same imagery year after year? We wanted to show a little aggression, a little
teasing.” Tara Sharma, fresh from the London School of Economics, fit the role of the
contemporary Liril girl. Despite the scorching sand and suffocating heat, Tara went
through the routine cheerfully. That was until she heard the location for the next Liril shoot
—the glaciers in Iceland! Tara laughs, “I didn’t have to act at all. Shooting at minus 4
degrees, the shiver was totally natural”.
After this, Liril launched a new orange variant—Liril Orange Fresh with the zesty
fragrance of orange. It also marked the debut of the new Liril girl—Dipika Padukone.
Spotted on a Limca hoarding in Chennai, 18-year-old Dipika exuded the joie de vivre that
the agency Lowe was looking for. In the film Dipika capers in the desert with a bunch of
village kids. As she leaps and splashes, you’re suddenly struck by the absence of a water
source. And then dawns realisation, that the Liril girl is the source of water!

“What we wanted to convey is that the Liril girl is so fresh, that she is the source of
freshness, which she spreads to all around”, explains Balki.
The latest advertisement of Liril (La-ira-ila) has taken the audience by storm as its bilt
appeal to the masses and the freshness coruscated by the models leave an indelible
impact on them.
Thirty years is a long time for any brand icon. So is the mystique of the Liril girl waning?
There are two schools of thought. One, led by her creator, Alyque Padamsee who
emphatically states, “Bring back the waterfall and Karen.” And the contemporary view
that sees the Liril girl evolving with time. But one fact is inescapable. The Liril girl is one
of the most enchanting and enduring fantasies spun by Indian advertising. It will be a long
while before her charisma fades.
CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS
Advertisements have numerous objectives, sometimes other than
just selling products. First, let’s have a look at the basic outline of the
development of an effective advertising campaign. The classification
of advertisements is directly related to the advertising plan. By
developing an effective advertising plan, the likelihood of a positive
return on your advertising investment is increased, regardless of the
amount spent. Following are the questions, answers to which the
advertiser is supposed to know before designing an ad.
What do I want my advertising to accomplish?
Whom should my advertising speak to?
What should my advertising say?
Where should I place my advertising?
There are different classifications possible depending on which of
the above questions we have in mind while doing the same. We will
have look at each of them.
What do I want my advertising to accomplish?
The first step in developing an advertising plan is to specify our
advertising goals. One should be as precise as to why he is
advertising and what is to be achieved. Everyone wants advertising
to increase business, but for the advertising plan to work it requires
the advertiser to be more precise. What is important is the
prioritization of goals. Advertising works best when it is developed to
meet one specific goal at a time.
Whom should my advertising speak to?
Once the advertising goals are determined, the next step is to select
the target audience for our message. Advertising that tries to reach
everyone rarely succeeds. Successful advertising is written with a
specific customer in mind. Target consumers should be described in
each of the following:
 1. Demographics such as gender, age, income, location of
residence or business, etc.
2. Behaviours such as current awareness of your business; the
products, services or vendors they currently use, loyalty to you
or your competitor’s business, etc.
3. Needs or desires such as what benefits consumers look for, the
basis on which they will decide whether to use your product or
service, and how your business can fulfill those needs, etc.

What should my advertising say?

Once the target audience is decided and what they are looking for in
terms of the product or service is offered, it is time to decide what the
advertisement will say. Advertisement should always be written to
communicate a message that will be seen as important by your
target customer. Your advertisement should clearly and convincingly
“speak” to your target audience, explaining the important benefits
your that product or service offers.
In deciding how to discuss the major benefits of a product or
service in the advertisement, four elements AIDA should be kept in
mind, that is, to attract Attention, hold Interest, arouse Desire and
motivate Action.
Where should I place my advertising?
Apart from the usual newspapers, magazines, TV, transit, today we
also have Internet to advertise on.
Now, each question discussed above gives a different
classification of ads, as shown in Table 1.1.

Purpose
Product or non-product
The answer to the first question gives rise to the fourth column. The
reasons for advertising are numerous. It’s not selling a product
always. A company might advertise to build its reputation. A product
is a good or service for which customers will exchange something of
value. The purpose of product advertising is to sell the advertiser’s
goods or services. Services are intangible products. They include
financial, legal, medical and other recreational services.
Non-product advertising constitutes institutional or corporate
advertising in which the advertiser is trying to polish its image or
influence public opinion about an issue. Here the aim is not to sell
something, but just to let the public know that such an organization
exists.

Table 1.1 Classification of Advertisements

Target Geographic Media
Purpose
Audience Area Used

Consumer International Print Product or non-product

Commercial or non-
Business National Newspaper
commercial

Industrial Regional Magazine Primary demand or selective

Trade Local Electronic demand

Direct action or indirect

Professional Radio
action

Agricultural Television

Out-of-
Home

Outdoor

Transit

Direct mail

Directories

Other
media

Commercial or non-commercial
Commercial versus non-commercial advertising is easy to
understand. If the idea is to make a profit, it is commercial.
Otherwise, it is non-commercial. Most of the ads we see are
commercial.
Primary-demand and selective-demand advertising
The famous De Beers ads belong to the first category. These ads
stimulate the need for a particular category and the aim is not to sell
one brand. ‘Diamonds Forever’ was used to arouse the need for
diamonds and not to sell the brand of De Beers. Associations that
represent many manufacturers usually do this type of advertising.
Once the need for a particular category is established, selective-
demand advertising comes into picture. These ads concentrate on a
particular brand of a product and try to promote it. De Beers, after it
made diamond jewellery popular, went on for selective demand
advertisements.
Direct-action and indirect-action advertising
Sometimes advertisements are designed to get the audience to
respond immediately. These types of ads are called direct-action
ads. Typically, these ads carry a toll-free number and sales-
promotion incentives. Indirect-action advertising is done primarily to
build awareness of the product.

Media Used
Now comes the answer to the second question. How to tell? In other
words, which media to use? Popular forms of advertising include
newspaper, magazine, radio, television, outdoor and transit.
Television is considered to be the best medium for huge audiences
across geographic regions. Today, we also have Internet but its
reach is very small compared to television.

Geographic Area
Today, ads are aimed at the whole world. With the inception of the
concept of ‘global presence’, no advertiser would waste money on
reaching a small audience unless, of course, he is interested in
being only a local player. In a way, the second and third question is
interrelated. Usually media is decided based on the geographic
coverage. Accordingly, we have international advertising, national
advertising, regional advertising and local advertising. Retailers do
local advertising in their areas and its scope is very narrow.

Target Audience
This is the most important criterion as there wouldn’t be a more
foolish thing to do than advertising to the wrong person. ‘Target
audience’ is the word used in the industry for a specified audience or
demographic group for which an advertising message is designed.
The most common advertising in this category is consumer
advertising. It is aimed at consumers of the products and the
message is very simple. The idea is to make them buy goods and
services. Business advertising aims at business institutions, non-
profit organizations and government agencies. Photocopiers belong
to this category. Sometimes media is common to both consumer and
business advertising.
Industrial advertising targets people who buy or use the materials
and services needed to conduct business or to manufacture other
products, for example, Earthmoving equipment. Trade advertising
targets intermediaries in the supply chain such as wholesalers and
retailers. The objective is effective distribution of goods in the supply
chain. Professional advertising aims at professional practitioners
such as lawyers, accountants, doctors, dentists and engineers. This
category of advertising may be used to persuade professionals to
buy a particular product useful in their work. Recent ads about
software, which would help doctors in efficient diagnosis, are an
example of this category.
ADVERTISING FUNCTIONS
Advertising is one tool that can help a company to achieve goals. It
is not the end, but a
means to reach the end. The functions of advertising depend on the
following advertising objectives:
� To make the product distinct from other competitors’. Maggie
Noodles advertising banks on the taste and quality, which
discriminates it from the other noodles.
� To communicate information. When Maggie Noodles advertises,
it limpidly informs how it is to be cooked. The procedure of
cooking is narrated step by step.
� To goad the users. The Maggie advertisement claims to be both
healthy and tasty. By offering extra in the same amount and
telling several recipes for making it, the ad pushes customers to
buy the product.
� To expand the distribution. The Maggie initially started with
production of noodles. Later, it expanded in soups and ketchup to
go for wider distribution. It also made the packaging handy to
expand the market.
� To encourage brand preference and loyalty. By offering a slogan
of ‘easy to cook and easy to eat’, Maggie Noodles gave good
reasons to consumers to stick to the brand. Now it has given one
more offer of providing atta noodles, as Indians have penchant
for the food items made of wheat flour.
� To reduce the sales cost. Different strategies for advertising
were tried to achieve more sale, which would automatically
reduce the cost. Maggie Noodles sold in small packet is an
attempt to penetrate into the lower strata of society.
NGOs and other non-profit organizations use advertising for many
other reasons than to sell the product. They build their image
through advertising or do well to the society by taking up social
issues. Adverstising functions are discussed in detail in Chapter 2.
ADVERTISING PYRAMID
The basic aim of an advertising campaign is to draw attention of the
viewers or prospective customers. The whole gamut of a creative
team is involved in designing an advertisement. Let us see what the
advertising pyramid is and then discuss the elements involved. See
Figure 1.1.

Fig. 1.1 The pyramid.

The five basic element of this pyramid are: attention, interest,

desire, action, and satisfaction.
Attention
The first objective of advertising is to capture attention of the reader.
This job is easy as even shouting or clapping can draw attention. For
print advertisement, this task is done by the headline, as it is the first
element of the advertisement to catch attention. Therefore, the
copywriter usually makes the headline very catchy by using bigger
fonts. The other techniques are to use short punch lines in
conversational language. If abstruse language is used then the
purpose will be defeated, and the reader will not read further.
‘Behind every great adventure lies a great spirit’, The headline for
Tucson, the four wheeler is quite appealing as the reader’s curiosity
is raised. The second way by which attention can be caught is by
using an appealing picture. Titan has been very successful by giving
a picture of Aamir Khan in its advertising. Once attention is caught,
the next task is to retain it by creating interest in the reader.
Interest
The advertisement’s next objective is to create interest in the readers
about the product. After giving a good headline, their interest is
retained by further giving elaborations about the key features of the
product. This is usually incorporated in the body copy. The
copywriter either does it explicitly or implies them. There is less
scope of exaggeration in this part, as this is more factual. But
certainly, how the information is presented is important.
The copywriter stimulates interest by narrating a dramatic
situation, citing a story or may be sprinkling humour. The illustrators
use cartoons and pictures to generate interest. In radio, the sound
effects and catchy dialogues in nasal voice may retain interest.
Desire
In this step, the advertisement creates a situation for the prospective
customer to enjoy benefits of the product vicariously. The writer
creates a situation that it is felt by the reader that he/she misses on
something if he/she does not use the product. In print advertisement,
copywriters fuel up visualization by using phrases like ‘think yourself
to be the most successful person’, or ‘imagine’. In television, the
strategy used is that after using the product, the user is shown
delighted and contented, while in radio, you will hear the announcer
saying, “you at your best with your suiting”.
The desire lays down the possibility and captivates the consumer’s
mind. This part is handled delicately as the writer may sometime
offend the reader. Certainly, it is one of the difficult parts to write and
that is why some of the copywriters omit it.
Action
The purpose of this step is to motivate people to do something. No
advertisement is successful if it cannot induce any action. Several
phrase like ‘offer closes by 30th Jan.’, ‘ ‘buy now’, ‘limited stock’, ‘buy
two, get one free’ are used to motivate consumers to buy the
product. This is not a difficult step because if the copy is clear then
surely the reader will act. Action demanded may be explicit like ‘call
on us to book, the stock is limited’ or implicit ‘fly the friendly sky’.
Sometimes the sachet of the product is attached along with the
advertisement as an action inducing device.
Satisfaction
The tip of the pyramid is satisfaction. After the product is bought, the
buyer should have a feel of satisfaction. He should not feel he has
not got returns of his money. This parameter helps to make the
customer brand loyal in the long run.
ADVERTISING TYCOONS IN INDIA
India, like any other country, has its own legends in the creative area
of advertising. The Indian advertising industry has innumerable
people with tremendous potential, who have contributed in different
capacities to become part of world-class creative coterie. These
people have not only made Indian brands popular in their own
country, but have paved the way beyond their boundaries through
their creative genius. The citation of this creative lot is just the
representation of a larger gamut of creatives. Certainly they have
those traits in them, which mark their identity as remarkably different.

In a very short stint of 23 years, A.G. Krishnamurthy had

metamorphosed his agency from Rs 35 lakh company to a Rs 7
billion corporation. He had been contributing to his agency as the
copywriter, art director as well as creative director. This is a
combination of rare potential found in one entity. He had received
four coveted awards—in 1995, he was named as the A&M
advertising person of the year in 1997, he was inducted into the hall
of fame, Ad Club, Kolkata; in 1998, he was nominated as one of the
25 key figures in the international ad industry, and in the same year
he was awarded in India the Premnarayen Award by Advertising
Agencies Association of India (AAAI).
 He is a man of great knowledge and skills and had been
promulgating the knowledge to the variegated audience for over 45
years in the area of advertising design and communication. Brendan
Pereira had been Brand Manager at Beecham’s International,
London. He had also been the creative director in Aiyars Advertising
in Mumbai, which is one of the first industry to be elected to the
board in that capacity. He was one of the founder of Chaitra
Advertising. His contribution is multifarious in the advertising
production. His book Changing Faces, published in 1999, has added
a feather in his cap.

Elsie Nanji began her career two decades back in O&M, and then
had her experience in Lintas, Enterprise and Ambience. She has
many awards to her credit, including the prestigious International
Award at London and the Art Director of the Year award in India for
three consecutive years. Her selection as first jury member at the
Asia Pacific Adfest in Chiangmai, Thailand, in 1997, is worth
mentioning.
 He is ranked at the top by The Economic Times as the most
influential man in Indian advertising. Under his aegis O&M India has
won a dozen Lions. In 2004, Piyush Pandey became the first Asian
to be the President of the Cannes jury. He is exceptional in the area
of advertising as he has 500 Indian advertising awards to his credit.
Under his leadership, O&M has been named India’s most creative
agency nine times in the last 10 years.

With the background of Commercial Art Diploma from J.J. Institute,

Gopi Kukde paved his way in leading ad agencies like Chaitra,
Clarion and Everest. He co-founded Advertising Avenues. His
creative brilliance is reflected in the campaigns of Asian Paints,
Glaxo, Stanrose fabrics, and Hawkins pressure cooker, just to name
a few. He has produced and directed a number of ad films for
Advertising Avenues on various brands. He too has won several
CAG and Ad Club awards as a laudable sign for his creative talent.
 Ivan Arthur has his most of the stint at Hindustan Thompson. He
has been the brain behind many award-winning advertisements.
Some of those advertisements are—Air India, Sunsilk, Clinic,
Hamdard, Bombay Dyeing, Handyplast, Readers Digest, Haryana
Breweries, and Phillips.
He was appositely chosen to be part of the CAG Hall of fame, and
has been part of the international task force that designed and
launched J. Walter Thompson’s Total Branding Protocol that is now
being used internationally.
Ivan, being a faculty member of myriad JWT international
programme, has addressed different national and international
advertising groups. This includes the Phillipine Advertising Congress
held in Subic Bay, the Advista Advertising Congress held in Cairo
and other advertising clubs in India.
He has authored two books Once More Upon a Time and the
Official Souvenir of Pope John Paul II’s Visit to India.

Naved Akhtar began his career 14 years back and since then has
worked in Clarion, McCann, Trikaya and Mudra Communications. He
has won the Art Director of the Year Award thrice. He has got
accolades for his campaigns for Nescafe, Milkmaid, DCM Toyta,
Gillett, Dunlop, Vimal, Rasna, Polo, Bata, Samsung, Yvest St.
Laurent, Mitsubishi Lancer and Otis.

In the field of Advertising, Alyque Padamsee has held the coveted

post of Chief Executive of Lintas India, which is now one of the
leading ad agencies of the country. He even went on to become the
Regional Coordinator of Lintas South Asia. Known as the
communications guru of India, Padmsee has built brands like Liril,
MRF, Timex, Monte Carlo, Kitply, etc. and the sensational
Kamasutra campaign. His most memorable character remains
Lalitaji (Surf) who became a household name.

Subrata Bhowmic has his name as one of India’s leading graphic

designers. He has over 34 years of experience in creating workable
and cost-saving design solutions, which have won him more than 50
prestigious awards. This also includes 18 President’s National
Awards. He has experience in fields like textiles, photography,
environment, graphics, book design and advertising. In advertising,
he has credit of building brands such as Cali-Cloth, Vimal, Dhara,
Remanika, Deepam and Handloom House. Of course, these brands
are cherished and loved across by a large section of people.
 Sunil Mahadik is a product of J.J. School, and currently holds the
position of managing director and creative head of The Flagship that
won the A&M Emerging Agency of the Year Award in 1996. He has
won some of the most prestigious awards. In 1992, he got Bombay
Ad Club’s Advertising Campaign of the Year Award for Mother’s
recipe pickles. In the same year he also bagged the Art Director of
the Year Award from the Communication Arts Guild (CAG). In 1996
and 1997, A&M Art director of the year was bestowed on him.
Mahadik was the finalist at the International Advertising Awards,
New York.

Sunil Sen is currently leading superannuated life since 1988, after

having a good 33 years innings in Shilpi Advertising as Art Director.
He was involved in various media like print, filmmaking, corporate
exercises and book designing for different publishing houses.
An internationally reputed designer, Sen has earned several
awards from both national and international organizations. In 15
years, he has won 20 National Awards in designing and printing.
Commerce have honoured him, he is a recipient of International Clio
Awards for various brands, and has also been honoured by the
American Institute of Graphic Arts and Tokyo Chambers of
commerce. His Centaur Hotel advertising won him the first prize in
the Asian Advertising Congress held in Sydney, Australia, in 1977.
He also received accolades for Indian typography in the Artypo
exhibition.

SUMMARY
Advertising started aeons back in a very unsophisticated form when
its objective was to inform. With the passage of time it has become
very complicated and sophisticated. With globalization, companies
have engaged in cut-throat competition hence, resultantly the
importance of advertising has grown manifolds. Every product has its
own way to create niche in the market. Today an individual is
exposed to innumerable advertisements, and his decisions are
predominantly governed by them.
Advertising is non-personal communication of information usually
paid for and persuasive in nature about product, services or ideas by
identified sponsors through various media. Sound and sight are two
important key features in advertising through which the advertisers
grab attention.
Tracing the history of advertising, it can be even seen at the cave
paintings of Lascaux, which are about 16,000 years old. Earlier,
advertising was used to promote two things: locations and services.
Today the competition has become tough as all media are fully
explored to place advertisements for the maximum reach. Internet
advertising is gaining more importance than ever before.
The classification of advertisement is based on four parameters,
that is, by target audience, geographic area, the media used and by
purpose. An advertising campaign is designed keeping in mind the
AIDAS technique, which means attention focusing on consumers’
interest, desire, action and satisfaction. If an advertisement satisfies
these components, it can be successful.

QUESTIONS
1. How is advertising important in today’s scenario? What if it is
completely obliterated from society?
2. Identify the three main purposes of advertising.
3. Write down name of minimum 20 places where you have seen
something being advertised.
4. Define advertising. Justify Norman Douglas’ statement, “You can
tell the ideals of a nation by its advertising”.
5. Examine the advantages and disadvantages of personal selling
vis-à-vis advertising.
6. Separate the following brands according to their advertisements
being primarily sound-dependent or sight-dependent:
Amul, Colgate, Johnsons & Johnson’s Baby Powder, Radio Mirchi,
Close-Up, Mastercard, Allianz, Hutch, Airtel, Johnny Walker and
Intel.
7. Identify five product categories that can be classified for having
induced differentiation. Using them, explain the role induced
differentiation plays in advertising.
8. Why should sponsors identify themselves in an advertisement?
9. Examine the following advertisements in view of the AIDAS
technique.
10. Compare the development of advertising in India and abroad in
the 20th century.
11. Use the following advertisements for the two Coca-Cola products
to compare the market the advertisers are aiming for.
12. Whom do you consider as the man in the advertising world?
What characteristics in that individual have made him so significant
in this arena?
The ads for Kamasutra condoms that appeared on television in the early 1990s,
featuring Pooja Bedi and Marc Robinson, were in the news, provoking a lot of
discussion. When the second TV commercial came along in 1998 starring Viveka
Babaji, it could be shown on satellite channels at select timings. Soon, competing
brands like Durex began featuring similar ads. Added to this was the fact that the
permitted broadcasting times were limited, and Kamasutra condoms ads needed a
change in design.
In a campaign starting 2002, the agency Ambience D’ Arcy came up with a
campaign featuring a number of everyday situations with slightly suggestive
overtones, followed by a voice-over saying, “So what are you thinking of?” as a
character breaks into a grin and the screen splits to show a pack of Kamasutra
condoms on one side.
A number of questions are thrown up by the entire scenario:
Do you think it is socially responsible to market condoms without referring to
advantages such as birth-control or prevention of AIDS?
Do you think ad campaigns similar to the “So what are you thinking of?” one
would affect young viewers?
What do you think would be the ideal media strategy (in what media and at what
times) that a campaign for condoms should choose?
Source: The Strategist, November 11, 2003. raymondindia.com.
IMPACT OF ADVERTISING
Advertising has become a ubiquitous world surrounding us, virtually
all the time and everywhere. If you count the number of
advertisements you encounter each day, the number might reach an
astonishing figure. Many a times ads create the need of the
products, which customers actually don’t need. “Advertising is a non-
moral force, like electricity, which not only illuminates but
electrocutes. Its worth to civilization depends upon how it is used”,
said William Bernbach
Many of the products hawked at us are trivial, self-indulgent and
sometimes, even harmful. Even if advertising doesn’t literally create
wants, it seems undisputable that ads often exploit and manipulate
our existing psychological needs and desires like security,
conformity, sex, power, etc. So by manipulating our needs and
desires, are advertisers controlling so as to violate our autonomy?

The Benefits of Advertising

Numerous material and human resources are devoted to advertising.
It is practically everywhere today. No one can escape the influence
of advertising. Even when an individual is not directly exposed to a
particular form of advertising, he confronts the society which is highly
influenced by good and ill of advertising messages. Many critics
condemn advertising as waste of time, talent and money, as it is
essentially a parasitic activity. This is not true. Advertising has
significant potential for good, but it depends on the realization.
Following are the benefits of advertising:
Economic benefits
Advertising plays a significant role in the economic system guided by
moral principles, which contributes to human development. It is a
necessary part of the functioning of modern market economies,
which exist and are emerging in the rest of the world conforming to
the moral standards so as to do good to the human kind.
 In such a system, advertising can be a useful tool for sustaining
honest and ethically responsible competition that contributes to
economic growth in the human development. Advertising helps by
informing people about availability of rationally desired new products
and services, and improvements in existing products. This abreast
them of the information about the product and let them take the
prudent decision, contributing to efficiency and the lowering of
prices, thus stimulating economic progress through expansion of
business and trade. All this contributes to the generation of new jobs,
higher incomes and comfortable and humane way of living.
Political benefits
Political advertising can make contribution to democracy analogous
to its contribution to economic well-being in a market system guided
by moral norms. It can quash monopolization. Political advertising
makes a significant contribution by informing people about the
candidate along with the policies and party proposals, including the
new candidates who had not contested before. Citizens can make
their political choices and can be assured that the candidates are
accountable and can be replaced through peaceful means when
appropriate. The ‘India Shinning’ campaign by BJP had updated
Indians about their motto.
Cultural benefits
Advertising has tremendous impacts on media that depend on it for
revenue. Advertisers have an opportunity to exert positive influence
on decisions about media content. This is done by supporting
material of excellent intellectual, aesthetic and moral quality
presented with the public interest in view, and by encouraging and
making media presentations, which are oriented to minorities whose
need might otherwise go unreserved.
Moreover, advertising can contribute to the betterment of society
by uplifting and inspiring people and motivating them to act in ways
that benefit themselves and others. Advertising can brighten lives
simply by being witty, tasteful and entertaining. It is an art with
vivacity and élan of its own.
Moral and religious benefits
In many cases, benevolent social institutions including those of
religious nature use advertising to communicate messages of faith,
patriotism, tolerance, compassion, charity, health and education.
Sometimes advertising generates constructive and helpful messages
that educate and motivate people in a variety of beneficial ways.
Nevertheless, the obverse side of it can’t be neglected. Though
there is nothing intrinsically bad or good about advertising, it is an
instrument and much depends on how it is used. It can have positive
and beneficial results or a negative and harmful impact on
individuals of society. According to Ogilvy, “Advertising is pretentious
and incomprehensible nonsense. It is designed only to win creative
awards”.
We all know that advertising has become an indispensable
commodity and its need is steadily increasing in the modern society.
There are other areas of study as well which fall under the criticism
like news media, journalism, cinema etc., but most conspicuous of all
is advertising. The nebbish lot of audience has already accepted
advertising as incorrigible. But then, the scenario is not so
lugubrious. If enough attention is given to the harm done by
advertising to different strata of society, adequate action to rectify it
can also be initiated.
Advertising exists mainly for two purposes: to provide customers
with the information of price and availability of goods and the other,
also the most important, is to introduce customers to new products
which they either need or want. Advertisers exploit this second
purpose so much that they go the extent of exaggerating the
information.
Even if they do not create non-existent needs, it is generally
agreed that advertisers exploit people’s existing psychological
needs. It is here that the critical aspect of responsibility comes into
the picture. There are ads which are socially irresponsible, and yet
others that are responsible, emphasizing certain admirable values in
a viewer, if only subconsciously.
 Although ads have a number of benefits, they are a tool in the
hands of the advertiser, and so, much depends on how they are
used. Therefore, it is important for the public to be generally
sensitive to how ethical or responsible ads are. Regulatory bodies
also exist to check that ads adhere to responsible limits.
One of the areas where responsibility in ads is required is that
which concerns children. The new-age children are avid followers of
the mass media and are very likely to be influenced by it. Children
are an increasingly influential section of consumers, while at the
same time being susceptible to influences by advertising. The impact
of ads on children, therefore, is an important area of concern.
THE IMPACT OF ADS ON CHILDREN
It is generally understood in today’s world that children form a major
segment of the customers of many companies. It is said that they
have greater purchasing power—both in terms of pocket money and
their ability to convince their parents to make a purchase for them.
As a consequence, a large number of ads are aimed at children
and focus on the parent-child relationship. Because children lack the
analytical abilities and judgement of adults, advertising directed to
children raises special concerns. For instance, children may be
unable to evaluate the accuracy of information they view, and judge
the difference in entertainment and marketing, because the content
and advertising are seamlessly integrated.

Children are Impressionable

An advertisement for Thumbs Up showing bungee jumping was
talked about when some children got encouraged to emulate the
stunts. The recent Chatar Patar ad shows a young girl — having had
the sweet and getting into the mood for straight talk—tells her
grandmother that her mother would like to attend on her so that her
property would be bequeathed to their family. While such ads may
be clever and effective, they might send out wrong messages to
children. An ad for kid stain from Surf Excel shows children soiling
their dresses in such a manner that you cannot stop your children
doing the same.
 Suggestive ads that are seen by children who are not old enough
to understand what they are seeing might create confusion in their
minds. In short, children are impressionable and therefore, admen
should be extra careful about what they’re saying in their
advertisements. In countries like Sweden, UK, USA, Norway,
Germany, Finland Greece, England and France, strict guidelines
exist for ads targeted at children. Advertisers are expected to:
Take into account knowledge, sophistication, and maturity levels
of the target audience
Not exploit the imaginative quality of children
Communicate information truthfully and accurately
Capitalize on the potential of advertising to influence social
behaviour in a positive way
Contribute to the parent-child relationship in a constructive way.
Such stringent guidelines would be useful in India as well.
However, some socially responsible groups may advertise for good
causes. For example, look at the ad that exhorts the world to save
children.
 An ad of this sort is socially responsible. It features children in a
realistic sense, creating awareness about the condition of children in
certain places and highlighting the need for everyone to play an
active part in helping them.
WOMEN AND ADVERTISING
The importance of advertising is evident in Steuart H. Britt’s
statement where an analogy is driven with the help of women, i.e.
“doing business without advertising is like winking an eye at a girl in
dark, only you know what you are doing and no one else”. The
advertising world has portrayed the woman in numerous ways and
forms over a period of time. The impressions of woman have
changed, depending upon the business scenario, the marketer, the
creative instinct of advertising agencies and the customer. As we
know today, advertising governs our lives to a great extent. It won’t
be an exaggeration if we say that advertising generates the need of
the product, which we otherwise do not require, through its soft sell
strategy. We have more penchant for the advertisements which
depict women. It has been observed that women endorse 80 per
cent of the advertisements.
The new genre of advertising has metamorphosed image of the
woman. She is at the centre of all advertisements launched on
electronic, print or outdoor media. If we close our eyes and recall any
advertisement, myriad of ad will conjure up with innumerable images
of women, be it an advertisement for automobiles, dress materials,
cologne, toiletries, etc. Some directors have a gut feeling that an
advertisement endorsed by women accelerates the chance of
making it successful. Some lambaste by calling it an answer to
prurient desire; others call it beauty. The interpretations vary but
undoubtedly, the role of women is indispensable in advertisements.
Earlier, the woman was considered as a weak sex, dominated by her
male counterpart, and therefore remained hidden in her carapace.
Even if required, she was only depicted as an ornament and object
of decoration, further labelling her emotionally weak. She was hardly
encouraged to cross the threshold of home, and her desires were
quashed in the boundaries of four walls.
Today, woman is not only considered as the epitome of
alabasterine beauty, but her demand in advertising is rapidly
increasing as well. Glamour is best coruscated by women. She is an
embodiment of tradition and no ad is complete if the emotional
appeal is underscored without a woman, as she plays a pivotal role
in the family affairs.

Portrayal of Women in Advertising

Each advertisement reflects the limpid projection of the ideal man or
the ideal woman. A man is usually depicted as brawny, powerful,
rich, confident and athletic. Contrarily, for women messages share a
common theme, that is, she must be beautiful. Advertising, of
course, did not invent the notion that the woman should be valued as
ornaments; women have always been measured against cultural
ideals of beauty. However, advertising has joined forces with sexism
to make images of beauty ideal, more pervasive and more
unattainable than ever before.
The Iron Maiden
Naomi Wolf, in her book, The Beauty Myth, compares the
contemporary ideal of beauty to the Iron Maiden, a medieval torture
device that enclosed its victims in a spike-lined box painted red with
a woman’s image. Like the Iron Maiden, the beauty ideal enforces
conformity to a single, rigid shape. And both cause suffering, and
even death, to their victims. The immaculate depiction of the Iron
Maiden is, in fact, an illusion created by infucation done by artists,
photographers and photo retouchers. Each image is painstakingly
worked over. Teeth and eyeballs are bleached white, and blemishes,
wrinkles and stray hairs are airbrushed away. In some cases, a
picture is actually an amalgam of body parts of several different
models—a mouth from one and limbs from the other. By inviting
women to compare their unimproved reality with the Iron Maiden’s
honed perfection, advertising erodes self-esteem and then offers to
sell it back for exorbitant price.
Women come in an endless array of shapes and sizes, but you’d
never know it by looking at advertisements. In every generation,
advertisers issue a new paradigm of female perfection. The very
rigidity of the ideal guarantees that most women will fall outside of it,
creating a gap between what women are and what they should be.
This gap is very lucrative for the purveyors of commercialized
beauty. Tragically, millions of women sacrifice their health and even
life to conform to the shape of the Iron Maiden.
Circumscribed Views of Women
Advertisements present unrealistic images of women’s faces and
bodies just as insidiously as they present highly circumscribed views
of women’s lives. Even the time when women were entering the
workforce in unprecedented numbers, advertisements failed to
depict a significant increase in women’s employment outside the
house. It was felt that women in advertisements were apt to be
portrayed in traditional female roles: cooking, cleaning and caring for
children.
A quarter-century after the rebirth of the women’s movement,
women in advertisements are still depicted as housewives obsessed
with ring around the collar and spots on the dishes. If they work
outside the home, they are presented as super moms who cook,
clean, take care of the kids and then slip into something sexy with
the help of the brand advertised.
Object of Desire
Perhaps the most banal sexually exploitative advertisements are
those that display women’s bodies to sell products. The
advertisements are ubiquitous. The use of women’s bodies in
advertisements is essentially a cheap ruse that marketers use
instead of making more thoughtful arguments on behalf of their
products. The mechanism used in these advertisements is quite
simple. The svelte attractive figures are employed to grab attention
and stimulate desire, which advertisers expect to be transferred to
the product. You have preposterous preposition to buy the beer and
get the girl. The women’s bodies are equated with commodities, and
presented as the rewards of consumption.
By instructing men to regard women’s bodies as objects,
advertisements create an atmosphere that devalues women as
people, and encourage sexual harassment; plethora of
advertisements take the dehumanization of women, a step further by
focusing on body parts, for example, a pair of shapely female legs
emerges from a box of cereal. A woman’s torso is juxtaposed
against a photo of a new Skoda Octavia rider, where you are invited
to admire the curves of both. Women in these advertisements are
not even whole objects rather they have been reduced to an
assemblage of dismembered parts. Advertisements of this nature
degrade women, and men are demeaned too. For one thing,
exploitative advertisements insult men’s intelligence.
Men’s bodies too are no longer immune from exploitation in
advertising. Recent years have seen a veritable deluge of exotic
photos in advertisements glorifying men’s muscles, torsos, backs
and thighs. Women are accepting that they like men’s bodies and
that is represented in the advertisement of blue Riband. Now men
have to be more vigilant and conscious to keep themselves in shape.
Many men are queasy about being held to the standard presented in
the advertisements, the same way women have been presented for
generations. Women’s nudity has proliferated in advertisements and
other media, but male nudity has remained off-limits. However, the
partial nudity is certainly visible in the Jockey advertisement.

The Role of Indian Women Vis-à-Vis Men

The battle of the sexes ended long ago. That’s what it seems with
advertising being neutral for both. Is advertising different for men and
women? If it is, what has led to it?
India is a patriarchal country, with almost everything centred on the
adult Indian male— even communication. This is evident in beauty
cream advertisements where there has to be a male to appreciate
beauty. Hasn’t all this changed? The roles have. With the woman
stepping out of the house and beyond, it wasn’t long before
marketers started revamping their ad campaigns. In the earlier
talcum powder advertisements there used to be a woman coming
out the shower and casually applying the talc. A woman now steps
out of home carrying the talc in her purse and using it whenever she
feels like. This is just one of the changes that advertising has
undergone.
To put it empathetically, Women were stereotyped in advertising.
They were featured in Nycil or Dettol advertisements taking care of
children’s wounds and soothing them. This was true in other media
vehicles as well. If we ever paid attention to radio advertisements
there was always a lilting feminine voice endorsing a brand. As for
television, women view it for longer hours. No wonder that cosmetics
and grocery brands are heavily advertised during the daytime. Based
on this, we might as well assume that shaving creams
advertisements are aired at night. That is a wrong assumption
because it is the woman who purchases even toiletries for men.
Women make up over two-thirds of the adult viewing audience on
weekday afternoons, the programmes that traditionally include soap
operas. The only time of the week when men routinely form the
largest proportion of the viewing audience is during sports telecasts
on weekend afternoons. Prime time evening audiences are more
evenly divided, but women viewers still outnumber men.
Complementary to the concept that television viewing is a
gendered activity, is the advertisers’ awareness that consumer
behaviour is also gendered. Men and women have been conditioned
to purchase different products in different ways for different reasons.
As a result, most advertisers carefully purchase time for their
commercials during programmes watched by the particular target
audience they consider most likely to buy. For example, during
cricket matches and other sport events you would see
advertisements of Kingfisher and Foster. On the other hand, during a
cookery show like Khana Khazana, you would see advertisements of
Everest masalas, cookware or groceries like Pillsbury atta, Dhara,
Mawana sugar, etc.
It is quite evident that the roles of men and women have changed.
The world of the Indian woman is no longer limited to the four walls
of her house and the Indian male has his role in household chores.
Advertisers are taking notice of this metamorphosis as depicted in
the Ariel and where a father is shown cleaning his child’s dirty t-shirt
or take for instance “the woman of substance” as portrayed by
Femina advertisements—independent and head on!
Advertisements have taken a step forward by identifying what
women view as masculinity and vice versa. This is what can be
called Gendered advertising—smaller in some respects to
customized advertising. Advertisers want viewers to enjoy their
commercials and to associate the advertised products with a
comfortable reinforcing picture of mainstream cultural values. As a
result, commercials are designed to take optimal advantage of
gender-specific fantasies, myths and fears. The ‘Raymond Man’ is
almost a dream come true for a woman. The ad plays out her
fantasies and becomes aspiration for men.

Portrayal of Women in Indian Advertisements

We cannot allow ourselves to be taken in by clever advertising
where the woman is portrayed as a decision-maker for the kind of
food the children should eat, for the kind of cereals the family takes
at breakfast or the brand of clothes they wear. How often do we see
an advertisement where the woman makes choice for herself? It is
only when she is single and does not have a family to think of, that
she thinks of herself, about her choice of soft-drink, her brand of
clothes or her toiletries. Once she is married and becomes a mother,
there is no room for her to make a choice for herself. Even the brand
of balm that she should use for her backache has to be literally
forced upon her by her mother-in-law and in turn, her husband.
Actually, Indian women have been traditionally groomed to take all
pains and problems with a smile on their lips. It is considered a
divine task to take care of one’s family. The traditional Indian
grooming makes women think that if they put that small little problem
of headache, backache or the chest pain into the darkest corner of
their minds, they will be able to chase it away with their will power.
But will power does not work without medical help as in the case of
all other human beings. Women often live in a fools’ paradise
believing that mere grit and will power will fade all pains and
problems into oblivion.
 This unquestioning and docile image of a woman where she
should not think of her own comfort has been brought about by our
inherent traditions, but it is time women began to realize that they
owe it to themselves and their families to take care of themselves.
Stereotyping
Many ads tend to stereotype women—portraying them either as
objects of attraction or in the role of mother, wife, etc. Also, many a
time women in business are depicted to have as masculine
characteristics, which denies them their specific gifts of insight,
compassion and understanding.

The irrelevant featuring of skimpily dressed women in ads for

products ranging from biscuits to ice creams stereotypes women.
Another effect of such ads is to give undue importance to
attractiveness, creating anxiety in women who feel that they aren’t as
attractive as the women in the ads.
There are also a few ads which objectify women. Ads of Calvin
Klein have invited criticism for portraying women in suggestive
postures. Likewise, the Hindware ads featuring skimpily-clad women
—totally irrelevant to the product—use women to sell the product.
Women’s Self-image
The anxiety girls and women experience from feeling unattractive is
arguably one of the most pervasive and damaging consequences of
advertising. It is widely acknowledged that the body type glorified in
most ads (a body type almost unattainable by most women) is an
unhealthy one, and that in trying to achieve it women may become
anorexic. Further, photographs of models used in ads are digitally or
otherwise altered to achieve “perfection”. This creates an endless
demand for cosmetics and other such products, as the buyers get
desperate to achieve that unattainable perfection. It is not hard to
imagine that a woman’s self-esteem might suffer when faced with
these images of “perfectly” beautiful women day in and day out.

One study revealed that women who view the media’s image of
beauty as ideal are more likely than any other group to have a very
negative body image (Pinhas et al. 1999). Still, relatively responsible
ads may exist. For example, Donna Karen the ad is quite fair to both
men and women, working against a stereotype that style is a “girl-
thing”.
ETHICS IN ADVERTISING
Advertising is a competitive world and the ethics involved will always
be debated on. Some controversial aspects of advertising are
discussed below:

Puffery
Puffery is the exaggerated fantastical or impossible claims. These
claims are usually meant to appeal some hidden psychological need.
This is legal and generally a successful ad technique. For example,
a cosmetic ad says: “So beautiful that other women would want to kill
you!” In a way, this technique is a harmless hyperbole. By definition,
puffery does not mislead reasonable consumers.

Now, does the FIAT ad guarantee that the driver never gets hurt if
an accident happens or it just means that it’s probably safer than
other cars?
 The Nivia ad which says, “There are only three steps between you
and beautiful skin”, is just an exaggeration as beauty is only natural
and cannot be achieved by any steps whatsoever!

Besides exaggeration, puffery entertains. Consumers know better

than believing a sunscreen lotion ad trying to prove that the lotion is
as good as an umbrella against the sun. Even if puffery’s only
function were to entertain, that would be a sufficient reason not to
discourage it.
Puffery also informs consumers as well as promotes product
quality. Before a consumer can buy a product, he/she must be made
aware of the product. One function of advertising is to create such
awareness. In this age of vivid video images and electronic sounds,
sellers must compete hard for consumers’ attention. Puffery is one
benign means that the advertisers use to grab that attention. If firms
are discouraged from placing in their ads the most dry factual claims,
consumers will be forced to spend more time and resources
discovering which products are available.
One consequence will be diminished product innovation. Because
consumers are more familiar with established products than with the
new one, puffery is pivotal to the marketing of new products. Fewer
resources will be devoted to product innovation if firms encounter
greater legal risks in bringing new products to consumers’ attention.
As fewer products are introduced into the market, established
products will face less intense competition.

Shock Ads
As the name suggests, these ads try to captivate the audience with a
shock, usually by a picture and sometimes just a shocking message.
Shock advertisers tend to measure success by the controversy their
campaigns generate. Whether the ads turn people on or off is
immaterial. It should essentially succeed in gathering their attention
and sales that follow.
Advertising deliberately appeals to motives such as envy, status
and lust. Some advertisers consciously seek to shock and titillate by
exploiting content of a morbid, perverse pornographic nature. This
type of advertising was launched in the late 1960s. It was found that
the hoi polloi was unaffected by the advertisement based on the old
school of ad making. Those ads establishing the product’s unique
selling proposition and carefully building brand loyalty were at the
moribund. The advertisement tried to paralyze the psyche of people
by being sharp and trenchant enough to puncture the viewer’s
consciousness and arresting him fully. Cocktail of thousands of
messages were repeated to aggregate the effect, but still they failed
to be understood. Commercial messages came faster and more
obliquely, but the modern media consumer was hard to impress. This
attitude gave rise to the so-called shock advertising. For ads to
work, the ad men conceded that they are to be rare and juicy to
leave the audience hornswoggled.
Shock advertisers tend to measure success by the controversy
their companies generate. Shock advertising least cares for morality.
They advertise for the sake of provocation. The advertisement for
United Colour of Benetton showing a priest kissing a nun on the lips
—hovering between the chaste kiss of friendship and something
sexier—or a new born child covered in blood and mucus, still with its
umbilical cord intact, provoked controversial reactions. The shocks
received from the advertising can be at three levels: visceral shock,
intellectual shock and soul shock. In visceral shock, the
advertisement is projected in a way to shock the viewer at the gut
level. It bypasses the brain and evokes an involuntary response. It
either scares, sickens or turns the consumer on. Few years ago,
portraying skimpily dressed woman could shock the public, but now
concepts of have changed drastically; you can see nude models on
billboards and it doesn’t affect the public. The fashion retailer French
Connection recently discovered that while you can’t use the four-
letter word in a mainstream magazine, the word fcuk is just fine. And
everyone reading the word know what it means, so you can produce
commercials that say, “fcuk fashion” and “fcuk advertising”. However,
visceral shock is getting harder to create the desired effect in a
culture where surreal, violent and erotic imagery blend in all
advertisements.
Now the current trend in advertising is to not to go for gut but for
the head. This is what is called intellectual shock, which upsets the
expectations of readers and viewers. Selling to the current
generation requires real finesse so that the viewers are temporarily
paralyzed and unexpected mixed messages create great effect. The
advertisement for ‘Death Cigarettes’ fall into this category where the
visual is all black and the outcome of smoking it is inevitably death.
The third category of shock advertising is soul shock which goes
beyond titillation. These advertisements are not just clever or coy,
but deeply unsettling Horde of advertisements for United Colors of
Benetton—an African guerrilla holding a Kalashnikov and a human
leg bone, a boat overcrowded with Albanian refugees, a car with a
corpse burning inside it after a Mafia bombing rock our values. There
is probably something immoral about such ads that inure people to
the suffering of other people. Today the shock advertisement has
crossed the threshold of human psychology as now we can be
titillated and amused but never really be shocked, since to be
shocked requires innocence which is rarely found in people today.
Weasel Claim
A weasel claim is a claim that contains a weasel word or a word that
practically negates the claim that was intended for the product. For
example, look at the Toyota ad.
The word ‘probably’ is a weasel word and the entire claim hinges
on it. Hence an overall impression is created of an extremely
successful opening for the car.
Another, subtle example of a weasel claim is shown in the beano
ad. The word ‘helps’ is the weasel word here.
Subliminal Advertising
The term ‘subliminal’ means ‘below the limen’ or below the threshold
of consciousness. The idea is that certain things are heard, seen or
felt that never reach our conscious thought processes, but may still
be recorded somewhere in our subconscious mind and have an
impact on our decisions and behaviour. Advertising professionals
use this concept to hide images within advertisements, and that
these images manipulate our behaviour without our even realizing
we have seen them. Psychologists have studied this phenomenon
since the late 1800s, and originally called it subception. However,
while this is a real psychological phenomenon, all research on this
topic indicates that subliminal stimulation is incapable of affecting our
purchasing behaviour.
 While these ads are a fun topic of discussion, there is no evidence
that advertisers embed hidden images in advertisements. Moreover,
such efforts would be a waste of time.
The subliminal adverts are unethical and can be considered to
breach professional guidelines. In some countries they may also be
illegal. Legal restrictions tend to apply to TV transmissions rather
than to printed ads. The ads in question can be sexy, cheeky, rude,
disturbing, distressing, crude, cynical, depressing and occasionally
humorous. Quite often, if one looks at them superficially, they appear
boring.
The ad is one of the most popular examples of subliminal
advertising. Whether the ad actually has what it claims in the ad is a
mystery to this day. Nevertheless, it is possible. There have been
such ads time and again despite of the warnings of the regulatory
authorities.

Surrogate Advertising
In India, according to the seventh rule of the Cable Television
Networks Rules, 1999, no ad shall be permitted which promotes
directly or indirectly the sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco
products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants, infant milk
substitution, feeding bottles or infant food.
 Brands like Aristocrat whisky, 8 PM, Whitehall, Smirnoff vodka,
Hayward’s, Royal Challenge, Kingfisher and Charms cigarettes have
been selling a range of products from audio cassettes and CDs to
darting kits, golf accessories and water under these brand names.
For example, Royal Challenge is one of the most popular brands of
beer in India and in its ads it sells mineral water under the same
brand name. A viewer would automatically associate the ad with the
other product, i.e. the beer.

Though some broadcasters had decided to withdraw surrogate ads

of liquor and cigarette brands, sources say that the liquor lobby has
been working overtime to prevent a ban on surrogate
advertising.
 Another instance of surrogate advertising is the Royal Stag mega
movies. The point is that advertising that encourages consumption of
alcohol, cigarettes and other intoxicants can be harmful to society
even if it is suggesting rather than explicitly advocating the
consumption of the same. Young viewers are susceptible to such
suggestions and may get addicted to such products.

Social and Economic Effects of Advertising

Advertising is viewed as a mirror of society, influenced and shaped
by the culture and society. Technological developments, social,
economic and political conditions influence the society and, as a
consequence impact what is contained in advertising. For example,
economic conditions have been regarded as important historic forces
that have influenced society, industry, educational system, politics
and religion. Advertising is part of the changing social, economic and
cultural environment, and its visuals are created in a way that they
reflect those changes which people would want to adjust themselves
to. Another way of linking advertising and its visuals to society and
culture is the cultural approach to advertising. Cultural historians
argue that advertising is an important window through which different
aspects of society and culture can be explained. Also, the
advertising itself can be explained to determine how it might have
been shaped by society. This approach recognizes advertising not
only as a window to culture, but also as a mirror that reflects the
culture, or rather cultures.
Advertising should be recognized as an important social influence
and should be identified with one of the most pervasive forces in our
life, the force of economic abundance. With this the most critical
point on the functioning of society shifts from production to
consumption. So, the culture must be reoriented to convert the
producer’s culture into consumer’s culture. Advertising appeals
primarily to consumer’s desires. The social effect of advertising, is, in
parallel but broader sense, to make the individual like what he gets—
to enforce already existing attitudes, to diminish the range and
variety of choices, and, in terms of abundance, to exalt the
materialistic virtues of consumption. Customers argue that
advertising should be directed to the stimulation or even the
exploitation of materialistic drives and then to the standardization of
these drives as accepted criteria of social value. In other words,
advertising is part of the social, cultural and business environment,
and its achievement depends on the ability of the advertiser to
predict and react to a changing society.
The mass media have an important role in modern democratic
society as the main channel of communication. The population relies
on the news media as the main source of information and the basis
on which they form their opinions and voting decisions. Any selection
of messages in the mass media has a profound effect on the entire
society.
CODES OF ETHICS
Ethics are systems of moral principles that help us determine right
from wrong, good from bad. Following are a few guidelines to help
people working in advertising agencies do the right thing in daily life
or when faced with a conflict of interest:
Advertisement carried shall be so designed as to conform to the
laws of the country and should not offend morality, decency and
religious susceptibilities of the viewers.
Advertisements must not be directed towards any religious or
political end.
No advertisement shall contain references, which are likely to
lead the public to infer that the product advertised, or any of its
ingredients has some special or miraculous or supernatural
property.
The picture and the audible matter of the advertisement shall
not be excessively ‘loud’.
No advertisement which endangers the safety of children or
creates in them any interest in unhealthy practices or shows
them begging or in an undignified or indecent manner shall be
carried out.
Indecent, vulgar, suggestive, repulsive or offensive themes or
treatment shall be avoided in all advertisements.

Regulatory Bodies
All advertisements have to pass through the norms laid by the
regulatory authorities. Regulation affects virtually every step in the
advertising process, including protecting the product with a
trademark, creating the message, showing the product in action and
announcing a special sale. The following regulatory bodies provide
an important check on advertisers, seeing to it that they do not
advertise in ways that are deceptive or otherwise socially
irresponsible.
 Federal Trade Commission
Food and Drug Administration
Federal Communication Commission
Advertising Review Council
Children’s Advertising Review Unit
Advertising Standard Authority
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), established in 1915, is an
independent agency of US Government with its main objective to
keep American business competition free and fair. It constitutes of
five-member jury, under the supervision of other governmental
agencies. It was part of the programme to check the growth of
monopoly and preserve competition as an effective regulator of the
business.
The main duty of FTC is to promote competition through the
enforcement of certain antitrust laws, to prevent the dissemination of
false and deceptive advertising of goods, drugs, curative devices
and cosmetics, and to investigate the workings of business and keep
Congress and the public informed of the efficiency of such distrust
legislation as exists as well as the practices and situations that may
call for legislation.
The FTC enforces federal antitrust and consumer protection laws
by investigating complaints against individual companies initiated by
consumers, business, inquiries or report in media. The commission
seeks to ensure that the nation’s markets function comparatively by
eliminating unfair or deceptive practices.
Food and Drug Administration
Under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health and Human
Services, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authority over
the labelling, packaging, branding, ingredient listing and advertising
of packaged foods and drug products. The FDA is authorized to
require caution and warning labels on potentially hazardous
products, and also has limited authority over nutritional claims made
in food advertising. This agency has the authority to set rules for
promoting these products and the power to seize food and drugs on
charge of false and misleading advertising. Another regulatory area
where the FDA has been heavily involved is the advertising and
promotion of tobacco products.
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commision (FCC), founded in 1934 to
regulate broadcast communication, has jurisdiction over the radio,
television, telephone and telegraph industries. The FCC has the
authority to license broadcast stations as well as to remove a license
or deny renewal to stations not operating in public’s interest.
Advertising Review Council
As a part of the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s self-
regulatory mission, the Advertising Review Council (ARC) monitors
all advertising, promotional and marketing materials for interactive
entertainment software products that are released to the public. This
includes print ads, packaging, radio and TV spots, Internet
advertising, online stores, posters and demos.
The ARC’s goal is to ensure that interactive entertainment
software publishers follow standardized requirements for the display
of rating information and that advertising content is responsible,
appropriate, truthful and accurate. The council also implements
marketing guidelines that prohibit game publishers from targeting
audiences for whom products are not appropriate. Some of the
principles adopted by the ARC are as follows:
An advertisement should accurately reflect the nature and
content of the product it represents and the rating issued.
All advertisements should be created with a sense of
responsibility towards the public.
No advertisement should contain any content that is likely to
create serious or widespread offense to the average consumer.
Children’s Advertising Review Unit
Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) is recognized as the
primary self-regulatory body with a success rate of over 95 per cent
in resolving issues regarding advertising to children. In fact, CARU
has received high praise from the FTC, whose Deputy Director for
the Bureau of Consumer Protection, C. Lee Peeler, has stated: “As
an advertising law enforcement official, I have always found it
remarkable that, in the name of self-regulation, major national
advertisers would voluntarily modify or discontinue their advertising
to meet CARU’s standards that sometimes go beyond existing law.
CARU’s twenty-five years of success demonstrates a sustained
commitment to effective self-regulation”.
CARU reviews and evaluates advertising claims for truth and
accuracy, and compliance with CARU’s guidelines, which, because
of children’s developing cognitive abilities, set standards that are
higher than the law requires. It helps to ensure that commercials or
advertisements directed to children contain responsible and positive
social messages.
CARU has traditionally systematically monitored only English
language advertisements directed to children. Now, with its new
capability, CARU will be conducting the same systematic monitoring
in Spanish language media.
Advertising Standards Authority
Advertising Standards Authority Inc. (ASA), previously known as
Committee of Advertising Practice, was formed early in 1973 and
incorporated in late 1990. In March 1988, ASA established a
separate self-regulatory body called the Advertising Standards
Complaints Board (formerly known as the Advertising Standards
Council) to administer the Codes of Practice in New Zealand. Its
three main functions are to:
Adjudicate on complaints received about advertisements which
may be in breach of the codes of practice.
Advise the ASA on interpretation of the codes and possible
improvements in them.
Report to the ASA on any aspect of advertising which is causing
concern.
The Complaints Board comprises four public representatives with no
connection to media or advertising groups, one of whom is the
chairperson with a right to exercise a casting vote, and four persons
nominated by the ASA, representative of media, advertising
agencies and advertisers.

Indian Regulatory Bodies

In addition to the above-mentioned authorities, there are a few Indian
regulatory bodies which enforce rules and regulations for the benefit
of the public at large.
Advertising Standard Council of India
The Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) is a voluntary self-
regulatory body set up by the advertising community to ensure that
all advertising in India is fair, truthful, safe and legal. Members of the
Board of Governors are drawn from various companies. The ASCI
code is applicable to press, TV, radio, films and even promotion
messages on packaging. During the year ended March 31, 2002,
196 complaints were reviewed by the council, of which 92 were
upheld (the ads were found to be in contravention of the ASCI code).
Seventy three of the advertisers concerned assured compliance with
the council rules.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry
The government and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry may
also play a role in regulating advertising on television and other
media. According to a recent report (September 2004), the then
Censor Board chief Anupam Kher expressed concern about the
unrestricted telecast of unsuitable material on prime time television.
Another regulatory body in India is the Indian Broadcasting
Federation.
Some regulations on advertising of various kinds of products are
listed in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 Regulations on advertising of various kinds of products

Products Regulations
 Not permitted.
Beverages/alcohol Print and outdoor do allow indirect advertising.
Satellite television accepts alcohol directly.

Cigarettes Not permitted on air media, including satellite.

Rules vary with every college, clinic, institute,

Pharmaceuticals/drugs
laboratories, and many such inititutions.

Restriction of direction/attitude is placed on

Advertising to children
children’s commercials.

No infant food advertising is acceptable

Others Overseas commercials are accepted.
No language restrictions exist.

Self-Regulation
Though there exist regulatory bodies in advertising, it is important
that advertisers themselves be conscientious and responsible as
professionals. Since all human beings have freedom of speech and
communication, it is largely up to the advertisers to ensure
responsible practices in their profession. In this context, it is also
important that viewers be aware and alert to unethical or
irresponsible practices in advertising and raise concerns in such
cases.
In 1971, a number of professional advertising associations in
collaboration with the Council of Better Business Bureaus
established National Advertising Review Council (NARC). The main
purpose was to withdraw those advertisements which were
considered as deceptive. The National Advertising Division (NAD) of
the Council and National Advertising Review Board (NARB) are the
two main operating bodies of the NARC.
National Advertising Division
The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council for Better
Business Bureaus is the primary self-regulatory body for dealing with
advertising issues in the United States America. The NAD is trying to
establish new ground in issues of advertising where it has no
jurisdiction. It established a first-of-a-kind principle which requires
that lifecycle impacts must be included in any environmental benefit
advertising claim. The NAD applied this lifecycle test even though
the Federal Trade Commission’s advertising guidelines say that the
FTC “lacks sufficient information on which to base guidance on such
claims”.
National Advertising Review Board
The Board reviews the cases forwarded by NAD. This constitutes of
five-person panel, which includes three advertisers, one agency
person and one public representative. The NARB panel reviews the
charges and the NAD staff holds hearings and let the advertiser
present the case. The panel has full authority to ask the advertisers
to make changes, but if they refuse then the NARB can reveal the
information about the case and handover the case to FTC or other
regulatory bodies.
Self-Regulation by the Media
Many sections of the media practice self-regulation in some form.
For example, The Reader’s Digest magazine does not accept
tobacco or liquor ads. Several publications refused to feature some
of the Benetton’s shock ads. The television networks have their own
standards for an admissible ad. Different ads are shown on different
time slots, based on the suitability for different types of viewers. For
examples, TV networks may have guidelines for children’s
advertising. For instance, on the ABC, ads for children among other
things must not
Use language like “Ask mom to buy…”.
Over-glamorize the product.
Have celebrity endorsements.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) relates to how the companies
manage the business processes to produce an overall image and
create a positive impact on society. There is a continuous
commitment by corporate firms to behave ethically and contribute to
economic development while improving the quality of life of
employees and their families as well as the society at large. CSR is
about the corporation’s obligation to the society for social
amelioration and developments.
The need for CSR arises because to every company there exists
interplay between society and businesses. Society and businesses
are quite interdependent and companies need to consider the
various forces operating in this interdependence.
Many big firms are facing tough competition to launch their
products. Some of them have spent crores of rupees on advertising
and publicity. However, it is also their responsibility for the proper
development of society in general. Many of the companies are taking
relevant steps for developmental activities, but more should come up
in this direction. Recently, MRF tyres have launched a publicity
campaign on safe driving, which is in the interest of the public.
Another example quoted in this direction is the Benetton
advertisement on the condom, which directly addresses the public
for population control. The Benetton firm has nothing to do with this
issue, but they take it as their responsibility to spread strong
awareness regarding population control.
Public Service Advertising
Public service advertising, popularly called PSA, takes up the issues
related to some good cause such as preventing child abuse, anti-
smoking, stopping drunk driving, etc. Advertising professionals do
not charge for creating PSA and media too donate space and time.
Somethimes networks and publisheres find it difficult to run a deluge
of public service announcements during prime time. Therefore, they
are mostly aimed during the time when the viewership is low.
 Most of the public service advertising compaigns that we see in the
printmedia and television are created by the advertising council, a
non-profit organization.
The standard of PSAs are like other commercials as the ad
agencies donate their expertise to design them. Moreover, because
of the service competition, the non-profit organizations are forced to
do excellent job so that they can compete well with the paid
commercials. Often make public service advertising appealing,
superstars like Amitabh Bachchan and Jennifer Lopez are called to
endorse advertisements.
Some significant issues dealt with in PSAs are as follows:
No tobacco
Take polio drops
Educate your children
Adult education
AIDS awareness
Save water
Pay income tax
Family planning
Self-employment
Girl child not a burden
Corporate Advertising
When corporate houses advertise to uplift their image on a viewpoint
it is called corporate advertising. They do not sell products but take
up a theme in which the corporate houses are involved. This kind of
advertising sprouts in the public relation department rather than
advertising department. The example of such advertising are the ads
done for Tata, Birla and Amway. They take help of position
statements directed at public.
Corporate identity advertising is yet another type of advertising that
the grant houses use to maintain their reputation among the public or
very specific audiences to spread the company’s name and the
nature of business. When MRF launched a campaign ‘Go Green, Go
MRF’, they used corporate identity advertising.
Advocacy Advertising
To signal a corporate personality or image, opinionated messages
are delivered, that communicate the corporate house’s position on
public issues. This is called advocacy advertising. Earlier, advocacy
advertising targeted issues that were related with the organization’s
line of business. It is different from public service advertising as in
such cases advertisers pay for the space and media.
A notable example of advocacy advertising is the ad campaigns
used in Thailand to combat Aids. These promoted the use of
condoms and within years there was a dramatic decline in the
number of Aids cases in Thailand.
Shell is a company which tries to promote awareness about the
environment with its ads on the theme of profits versus principles.
Another example of successful advertising for a socially responsible
cause is the Big Brother ad campaign.
CASE STUDY
The Big Brother organization in Vancouver, Canada, was facing a problem. Not enough
mentors were signing on to spend time with fatherless boys who needed a big brother or
a father figure. The Glennie Stamnes Strategy agency (Vancouver) was given the task of
creating a campaign that would remedy the situation on a low budget.
The agency decided to depart from the previously used appeals—warm and fuzzy—to a
more direct one, portraying the situation as a crisis, which indeed it was. Their ads
showed young boys in a listless mood, with the captions “Two years is too long” and “Be
a Brother Now”. (Two years was the average time for a boy to wait to be matched with a
brother.)
The ad campaign worked extremely well and a number of fence-sitters signed up for the
programme. In time, there was a waiting list of would-be brothers!

Thus, it is seen that advertising principles can be used not only for
increasing business and sales, but also for socially responsible
causes.

SUMMARY
Advertising has close proximity with society. It influences people a
great deal to buy a product. Sometimes it creates a want without
making the consumer realize the same. It has economic, political,
cultural, moral and religious benefits. Although advertisements have
deluge of benefits, but it is very important how they are handled by
the advertisers. There is a great concern on the impact it creates on
children and women. It is generally understood that in today’s world
children constitute a major segment of the customers. They have
great influence on parents’ buying decision.
In advertising industry, women have been portrayed in numerous
ways and forms over a period of time. Her dominance in
advertisements is alarming and the issues of negative depiction and
as a sexual object, are to be dealt with consciously. Whether the
advertising people have obligations to society beyond their own
organizational objects is a part of debate about relationship between
organizations and society. Puffery, shock advertisements, weasel
claim, subliminal advertisements and surrogate advertisements are
some of the ethical concerns in advertising. Ethics are systems of
moral principles that help us determine right from wrong and good
from bad. That is why there are number of regulatory bodies. All
advertisements have to pass through the norms laid by these
regulatory authorities. Some of the bodies discussed in this chapter
are FTC, FDA, FCC, ARC, CARU, and ASA. The prominent
regulatory bodies in India are ASCI and India Broadcasting
Federation. These bodies have issued several regulations, which an
advertisement has to go through before being launched in the
market.
Though there exist regulatory bodies, it is important that
advertisers should be conscientious and responsible as
professionals. There are co-opted self-regulatory bodies like NAD
and NARB who review advertisements. Apart from following the
ethical norms, ther are a few companies that take a step ahead.
They create a positive image of themselves by improving quality of
life of their employees and their family. They also launch campaigns,
which are good for the society, for example, taking up issues of
population, Aids, environment, etc. Public service advertising,
popularly called PSA takes some issues related to good cause such
as child abuse, anti-smoking, stopping drunk driving, etc. When
corporate houses advertise to uplift their corporate image it is called
corporate advertising. Advocacy advertising is another form of
advertising which communicates the corporate houses’ position on
public issues.

QUESTIONS
1. In your opinion is society a reflection of advertising or
advertising a reflection of society? Elucidate.
2. Is it justifiable to use puffery in advertising? Should there be a
limit drawn for the use of puffery?
3. Trace the beginning of shock advertising. Give examples to
support that shock advertising is a better way to captivate.
4. What do you understand by corporate social responsibility? How
is it different from advocacy advertising?
5. What are ethics in advertising? Explain the role of ethical bodies
in India. Are they effective in implementing their policies?
6. Why should the advertisement laws for children be more
stringent? What should be done so that they are not exposed to
the advertisements, which create negative impact on them?
7. Justify the role of women in advertising? Is her portrayal positive
or negative?
8. What do you understand by self-regulation in advertising?
Explain the role of NARB and NAD.
9. In 1998, the Hartford Courant declined to carry an ad for a Janet
Jackson tour which they felt might be inappropriate for “the
homes of readers with young children”.
There has been a debate on whether the media should practice
such censorship or if it should be up to the watchdog bodies.
What is your opinion on the issue?
10. What do you think should be the main focus of regulatory bodies
in India? Do you believe there is a strong need for regulatory
bodies in advertising or that it should be up to the media and
networks to follow their own standards?
In this chapter we will take a closer look at the various concepts of
basic marketing to understand the complete marketing process. This
includes identification of marketing opportunities and threats, market
segmentation, target marketing and positioning, and development of
complete marketing programmes. We would also examine briefly the
marketing mix decisions that a marketer makes for achieving
success at the market place. Later part of the chapter is devoted to
the advertising agency, its role, functions and its contribution to the
business organization in achieving its objectives.
The tremendous growth in promotional budgets the world over in
the last decade recognizes the value and importance of advertising
and promotions. Promotional strategies are playing an important role
in the marketing programmes of companies in the highly competitive
and free markets across the world. To understand the role and
importance of advertising and promotions let’s examine the
marketing process and its related concepts.
Different people end up defining marketing in different ways. Some
people primarily term it as selling and others call it advertising and
promotions. For some others, even pricing and product decisions
may form part of the marketing definition.
The American Marketing Association (AMA), which represents
marketing professionals in the US and Canada, defines marketing
as: “The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing,
promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create
exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives”. It
can also be defined as “the process of identification and satisfaction
of customer needs profitably”.
MARKETING CONCEPTS
Exchange
Exchange is the core concept of marketing which means the
exchange of a product between the seller and the buyer. For
exchange to take place there must be at least two parties: each party
has to have something that is meaningful to the other party, and
each of them feels that it is desirable to deal with the other party.
Each party is free to accept or reject the exchange offer and is
capable of communication and delivery.
Transaction
When the agreement is reached between the two parties, a
transaction takes place. Thus, transaction is a trade of values
between two or more parties.
Needs, Wants and Demands
It is important for the marketer to understand and interpret the
needs, wants and demands of the target market. Need is the basic
human necessity. It is the basic human requirement in the form of
food, shelter, clothes and air to survive. When the needs are directed
towards specific objects that may satisfy the need it is termed as
want. For example, a young college student needs food but wants
French fries, a burger and a soft drink. Demand is a want for specific
product supported by an ability to pay. When a young collegiate
expresses the desire to have his French fries and soft drink in a five
star deluxe hotel, he indicates the demand for a luxury hotel and
restaurant.
Value
It is the customer’s feeling that as long as what he gets (benefit) is
greater than what he gives (cost), he gets a value for his money.
Thus, it is a ratio between what the customer gets and what he
gives:
The above equation shows that a marketer has several ways to
increase the value by varying his total offering.
Value Proposition
The product offer consisting of the best possible benefits/value is put
forward as a value proposition, explaining how the offer matches the
customer’s requirements and how it works out to be the best among
all the competing offers.
Marketplace and Marketspace
The marketplace is physical, for example, like we go to a store to
buy; marketspace is digital as we access the Internet for purchase. A
large amount of purchasing has already shifted to marketspace and
this shift is increasing fast.
Metamarket
Metamarket is a cluster of complimentary products and services that
are closely related in the minds of the customer and is spread across
various kinds of industries. For example, electronic metamarket
comprises electronic equipment manufacturers, dealers, financing
and insurance companies, component manufacturers, spare parts
dealers, service stations, technicians, electronic magazines and
Internet sites.
Segmentation
It is an impossible task for a marketer to satisfy everyone in a
market. A given brand of soft drink, sports shoes, TV, automobile,
toothpaste, soap, etc. may not be liked by everyone as each
customer has different reason for his choice of brand. Therefore, the
marketer divides the entire market into groups based on
homogeneity or similarity on certain predefined factors.
Segmentation can be done based on demographic, psychographic
and behavioural differences among buyers.
 The marketer then identifies most potential segments based on
factors like accessibility, profitability, size and sustainability. The
segments that measure well against these factors form the target
market.
Relationship Marketing
Every transaction between the company and customer, supplier and
distributor costs the company. Thus, maintaining a long-term and
enduring relationship is more advantageous. Relationship marketing
aims to build mutually satisfying enduring relations with the key
stakeholders. The philosophy is to retain the existing customers
through continued contact and greater value addition. Relationship
marketing builds strong economic, technical and social ties with the
stakeholders.
Network Marketing
When marketers fundamentally use snowballing effect to spread
their customer base it is called network marketing. Its main aim is to
cut down on marketing cost by removing the intermediaries and
minimizing various marketing activities. The company begins with
identifying few customers who in turn identify few more and so on.
The companies like Amway, Oriflame, etc. are the examples of
network marketing.
MARKETING PROCESS
The marketing process model has four major stages: the marketing
environment analysis, the target market and positioning process,
marketing mix decisions and the ultimate consumer (see Figure 3.1).

Fig 3.1 Marketing process model.

The marketing process begins with the analysis of external

environment factors like economic, social, political, legal and
technological, which provides a statement of various opportunities
and threats. Depending upon the internal strength and weakness
profile, the marketer decides what opportunities to seek and how
various relevant threats are to be avoided. At the same time, the
marketer also turns his attention to the competitors and their
offerings so as to arrive at an appropriate marketing mix decision.
Having identified opportunities at the marketplace, the marketer
looks for the customer base and the occupation of space in his mind
for the brand. The marketer must answer the following questions:
Where and whom to sell broadly?
On what basis to disaggregate the broad market?
 How to select the homogenous groups of customers?
How to differentiate the brand from many others in the market?
Having found the answers to the above questions, the marketer then
makes critical decisions for marketplace battle with the competitors.
These are termed as marketing mix decisions, broadly known as
Four Ps of marketing, which have since been extended to Seven Ps:
Product
Price
Physical distribution
Promotions
Packaging
People
Process
The concept of Four Ps was given by McCarthy and was popularized
by Philip Kotler as four broad tools of marketing.
In fact, the Four Ps represent the sellers’ viewpoint of marketing
tools available with the marketer to influence the buyers. From a
buyer’s point of view, each marketing tool is designed to deliver
customer benefit. Robert Lauterborn has given customers’ Four Cs
and Four As corresponding to sellers’ Four Ps. See Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Four Ps vs four Cs

Four Ps Four Cs Four As

Product Customer solution Acceptability

Price Customer cost Affordability
Physical distribution Convenience Availability
Promotion Communication Awareness

Some of the winning companies strive to meet customer needs

economically and conveniently, and have effective communication
strategies. These companies emphasize on customers’ Four Cs
while designing their marketing mix.
Assembling the Marketing Mix
Assembling the marketing mix means identifying and creating the
best possible combination of Four Ps. It involves the process of the
choices of appropriate marketing activities and the allocation of
adequate marketing efforts and resources to each of the P. It arrives
at different marketing mix combinations with varying levels of
expenditure on each marketing activity and tries to identify the
effectiveness of different combinations in terms of possible sales
volume and net profit. It then uses its judgement to arrive at the mix
of product, price, place and promotion decisions.
Thus, marketing mix is the set of marketing variables that the firm
uses to achieve its marketing objectives in the target market.
It is the marketer’s main task to build a marketing plan or
programme to attain the company’s objectives. The marketing
programme consists of numerous decisions on the marketing mix
variable.
A marketer needs to take into account the following factors while
assembling the marketing mix:
Mix has to be worked out separately for every brand.
Deciding the weightage for each P.
Marketing mix decision has to be customer/market-oriented.
Marketing mix has to be dynamic.
Marketing mix is the most visible part of marketing strategy.
The Components of Marketing Mix
Each of the marketing P has numerous variables to be considered
for the marketing programme. (see Table 3.2)

Table 3.2 Components of marketing mix

Product

Ingredients Colour Packaging

Quality Size Services

Design Product variety Warranties

 Features Brand name Replacement and return

Customer education and Customer relationship

Installation
training management

Price

List price Allowances

Discounts Payment mode

Credit terms

Physical distribution

Channels Assortments

Coverage Locations

Inventory Transportation

Warehousing

Promotion

Advertising Personal selling

Direct
Publicity
marketing

Sales
Public relations
promotions

While assembling a marketing mix, the marketer has to clearly

organize marketing variables under a well-thought out philosophy of
efficiency, effectiveness and social responsibility.
MARKETING TOOLS
Marketing tools are those techniques and support elements of
marketing that help the marketer to design the most appropriate
marketing programmes to attain organizational objectives. These
tools provide a deep insight and understanding into various
complexities and issues in the field of marketing and related aspects.
Every professional marketer should know these tools thoroughly and
must be able to use the same in real marketing situations to assure
success at the marketplace. A brief description of each of the tool is
given in the following paragraphs:

Product Life Cycle (PLC) Curve

A company’s product offering must change as the product, market
and competitors change over time. A product life cycle (PLC) shows
sales volume of a product over a period of time. The PLC concept
can be used to analyze a product category (soap), a product form
(liquid or cake), a product (bathing soap) or a brand (Liril or Lux).
The PLC is normally presented as a sales curve spanning the
product’s entire life from introduction to phase out.
Most product life cycle curves are bell-shaped as indicated in
Figure 3.2.

Fig. 3.2 Marketing process model.

However, not all products exhibit a bell shape. The three common
alternate patterns are shown in Figure 3.3:

Fig. 3.3 Alternate patterns of product life cycle.

Invariably, every product passes through certain distinct stages

during its life. However, it is not essential that every product has to
pass through all the stages. Some of the products get phased out
even at the introduction stage itself.
The importance of PLC concept lies in the fact that each stage in
the cycle is characterized by a typical market behaviour. Therefore,
each stage requires a distinctive market offering. Thorough
understanding of the PLC concept and managing the same
effectively can help in prolonging the profitable phases of a product’s
lifespan.
To say that every product has a life cycle is to say that:
Products have a limited life.
Product sales pass through distinct stages, each offering
different challenges, opportunities and problems to the marketer.
Profits rise and fall at different stages of the PLC.
Products require different marketing, manufacturing, financial
and purchase strategies in each life cycle stage.
The competitive environment is different at different stages.
Stages of PLC
The PLC curve can be divided into the following four distinctive
stages:
Introduction
This is a period of slow sales growth as the product is introduced in
the market. Profits are negative as heavy expenses are incurred in
R&D and launch of the product. The competition is non-existent and
buyers are innovators in the market. Premium pricing is charged
from the customers during this phase.
Growth
A period of rapid growth follows as acceptance of the product
increases in the market. The competition increases as growth and
profit potential is high. The competitive pricing sets in as copied
products are brought in the market with low levels of expenses.
There is substantial improvement in profits due to higher sales
volume. Generally, early adopters and early majority are the buyers.
Maturity
This is a slowdown period in the rate of growth of the product as it
has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits stabilize
or decline because of increased competition. The competition is
heightened. Lot of innovative marketing programmes are introduced
for survival at this stage.
Decline
Lastly, it is the period of declining sales and the profits erode. Very
few competitors are left behind. The laggards are the buyers. The
investment is stopped. It is the stage of harvesting.

SWOT Analysis
The overall statement of company’s strengths and weaknesses and
assessment of opportunities and threats at the marketplace is called
the SWOT analysis. It is done in two stages.
External Environment Analysis (Opportunity and Threat Analysis)
Every business unit fighting for a customer’s pie at the marketplace
should create a marketing intelligence system to track trends and
important developments in the general business environment,
because every change or new development in the external market
has a potential to impact the profit earning ability of a company over
a long run. The understanding of these changes will help the
company to adopt its marketing programmes so as to take
advantage of opportunities and avert threats. Generally, a company
monitors both key macro and micro environmental factors.
Macro environmental factors are non-controllable factors. The
impact of changes in these factors affect business units in the long
run. The business units have to adapt or reorient themselves to the
changes in these factors, which are as follows:
Social
Legal
Economic
Political
Technology
Micro environmental (also termed task factors) factors are again
non-controllable factors and impact the company in medium run. The
following factors have comparatively more direct impact on the
performance of the company:
Customers
Employees
Competitors
Distributors
Creditors
Suppliers
Other stakeholders
Internal Environmental Analysis
Each business needs to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses
before embarking on any strategic decision. It should develop a
strength-weakness profile so as to identify a matching opportunity
and avert a threat. All weaknesses need not be corrected and
similarly, all strengths also may not be of much use. It must look into
the relevance and match the two analyses to develop a profile of the
key issues to be dealt with. The components for internal analysis are
basically related to functional areas such as:
Marketing
Finance
Manufacturing
Purchase
R&D
Information technology
Human resource
Leadership
Image

Marketing Plan
A company has to develop a total game plan to fight successfully at
the marketplace. Marketing plan is a definitive and detailed
statement of actions to be implemented at the marketplace. It is a
well-documented and structured piece of information for all
concerned people in the organization, and it requires proper
communication to all the parts of the organization. See Figure 3.4.
 Fig. 3.4 Hierachy of components of a marketing plan.

A marketing plan helps to:

Provide assessment of current situation and position
Focus efforts in an identified direction
Give clear cut performance targets
Identify ways to achieve targets
Allocate resources
Direct all towards the common objectives
A marketing plan should be a written document because it ensures
effective execution of strategic marketing programmes. It spells out
clearly what actions are to be taken, when, by whom and what
resources are available. Written marketing plans are crucial in larger
organizations as the marketing manager’s proposal has to be
evaluated and approved by the top management. The approved
plans then provide benchmarks against which the marketing function
and marketing programme’s performance will be evaluated.
Marketing plans can vary a good deal in content and organization,
but they generally follow a format which is indicated below:
Contents and Structure of a Marketing Plan
Executive summary
Current situation analysis
Performance review (for an existing product or service only)
Key issues
Marketing objectives
Marketing strategy
Marketing action plan
Target market
Marketing mix variables (4 Ps)
Who is responsible for each action?
When and where the action will be?
How much is the budget for each action?
Projected profit and loss statement
 Controls
Contingency plan

Tools for Estimating Market Demand

Two kinds of tools help the marketer in estimating the market
demand. These are:
Qualitative tools
Quantitative tools
Qualitative Tools
These tools involve opinion surveys.
Survey of buying intention
In this, a survey of the buyers is done to assess their intentions to
buy the product. It is of great help in estimating the market demand
for consumer durables and new products. It can also be used to
measure the demand for a product at a different level of marketing
effort. It is a very important tool for industrial marketing. The
purchase intention of the buyer is measured on a seven point scale
from a “definite buy” to a “definite no buy”. The responses so
obtained constitute purchase probability for a given product and
hence, an index of purchase probability can be made.
Composite of sales force opinion
This method involves the opinion of entire sales force. Each sales
personnel is asked by the company to give an estimate of a given
product in his territory. These estimates are then combined and a
national level forecast of sales is obtained. The major deficiency of
this method is that there may seem to be a tendency to give a below
average estimate to change their annual targets.
Delphi technique
In this method a panel of experts is formed and each expert is asked
to estimate the market demand for a given product. Individual
experts have no idea about other members on the panel. As each
expert works independent of others, there is no chance of getting
any influence over other experts. Once the estimates are ready, the
marketer removes extreme values. He reverts to the concerned
expert, giving them the assumptions others have made. However,
the marketer does not reveal the estimate to others. The purposes of
sending back the opinion is to get the estimates smoothened and
arrive at consensus. If the experts choose not to revise their
opinions, the marketer will have to leave it at that. This method can
study different scenarios, and is particularly useful in estimating
demand for a new product or technology.
Quantitative Tools
These tools are used for:
Extrapolation
Time series analysis
Correlation
Econometrics models
A lot of books on statistics give good, detailed account of these
methods.

Ansoff’s Product-Market Expansion Grid

It is a useful tool for strategic planning. Generally, every company
has three possible routes for achieving growth: Intensification,
integration and diversification. The Ansoff’s model helps the
company to achieve growth through intensification, i.e. through
existing businesses. In the intensification strategy, a firm spots and
utilizes opportunities for improving products and market penetration
of its existing businesses. See Figure 3.5.

Fig 3.5 Ansoff’s product-market matrix.

 Three strategies available for achieving growth through
intensification are:
Market penetration
Market development
Product development
The market penetration strategy tries to achieve growth through
existing product in the existing markets. The emphasis is on
achieving higher market share by enhancing total offerings to the
customer. Market development, on the other hand, finds new
markets for the existing products. It requires efforts in new markets.
The product development strategy tries to bring a new or modified
product for the same customers.
ADVERTISING AGENCIES
Advertising agencies play a major role of closing the distance
between the advertiser and the media. Depending upon the size and
the nature of the agency, it offers numerous services to the
advertiser. Before describing the role and functions of advertising
agencies it’s important to revisit and understand the role and function
of advertising.
The role and function of advertising is to:
Acquire enhanced volumes of sales of products and services.
Generate awareness about offerings.
Induce trial of a new product or service.
Motivate and impress trade channels.
Change perception and create reassurance.
Change or create attitude towards product or service.
Influence staff.
Support sales promotional, sponsorship and public relations
activity.
Comply with the statutory requirements of relevant legislation.
Make announcements in the public interest such as product
recalls.
Purpose of Advertising Agency
Most advertisers use the services of advertising agencies.
Advertisers can have more than one advertising agency for different
services at any given time. They use advertising agencies for various
purposes such as to:
Advise and counsel on marketing strategy.
Advise and counsel on advertising and media strategy and
tactics.
Prepare and develop print, outdoor and electronic
advertisements.
Carry out collateral designs of various items such as display
material, PoP material and other promotional material.
 Help and counsel on sales promotion and other communication
task.
Generally, an advertising agency starts its operations from buying
space and time for the clients and gradually attains a full or
composite agency status.
Various Types of Agencies
There are different types of advertising agencies depending upon
their functional areas as shown in Table 3.3.

Table 3.3 Various types of advertising agencies

Types of
Role
agencey

It offers all marketing communication services. Develops ad

Full Service copy and design, provides collateral art work, research
Agency services facilitating decision-making, and offers media buying
and production facilities.

Creative
Provides writing of ad copy and design service.
Agency

A Media It offers buying space and time, and may offer related research
Independent and audience measurement data.

A
Offers both creative and media buying services with
Composite
accompanying research.
Agency

A large number of advertisers employ the services of many

agencies, some generalist and others specialist. Since marketing
communications are vital for the success of the company, it requires
the attention of senior managers.

Structure of Advertising Agencies

The structure of advertising agency depends upon the range of
services it offers and size of the agency. Every agency has a well
structured job profile depending upon the services it offers.
Generally, the agencies have the following personnel to take care of
the tasks in a full service agency:
Account executive
There can be many individuals in this position depending upon the
size of the agency. An account executive acts as the interface
between the agency’s many services and the client’s many
managers.
It’s the best paid and the hardest job in the agency. It is where the
pressure coming down from the client management meets the
pressure coming up from the media and creative people in the
agency.
An account executive gets the briefing from the client’s marketing
manager or product manager or brand manager on the nature of
issues affecting the product or services, which may arise due to
competition, change of market share, new consumer research, new
product formula or packaging; or a new product in its own right.
It is the responsibility of the account executive to handle all matters
within the agency and the place related to that particular client.
The account executive organizes the resources of the agency to
solve the problems of the client.
The creative team
The team basically comprise a writer and a designer. The account
executive discusses the client’s problem on all aspects with the
team. The writer and designer will work and rework on the problem
until they come up with a workable solution of the problem in terms
of a print or electronic advertising campaign.
The account planner or researcher
It is this executive who is responsible for the data and market
intelligence on the account. The account planner gathers the
necessary information related to the client’s problem. Collecting data
and market intelligence is important for the agency to ensure that its
advertising campaign and media plans are rooted in the sound
market understanding and ground realities.
The media planner and buyer
This is the team that actually makes the campaign come live.
Depending upon the briefing the accounts executive has received
from the client and the mutually agreed objectives, this team
prepares the media budget, carries out the segmentation of
audiences and decides the target audience. The timing, cost and
design constraints are worked out with the client. If the plans are
agreed, the team purchases the space and time in the chosen media
vehicle.
Account director
The individual who holds overall responsibility of servicing effectively
the entire clientele of the agency.
The creative director
The individual who is responsible for the over all creative and the art
work of the agency’s clients.
The media director
The individual who is responsible for media planning and buying
activities of the agency.
Production house
The department which brings alive the creative and art work of
creative team. It makes TV films, Press and Magazine
advertisements, cinema films, radio recordings and other
promotional material. This is the budget other than the space and
time.
Release to media
All finished creative and art work related to advertising should be
with the media at least several days before it is due to appear in
normal circumstances. A lead time of few days is necessary so as to
have approval from the broadcasting authorities or editors.
How Agencies are Paid for Their Work?
All systems of compensation in agencies ultimately depend on some
method of allocating time to work on the account. In this way, it is
possible to determine the profitability or otherwise of a piece of
business and hence, the most suitable charging method.
Ad agencies are paid a commission on the basis of percentage
(which varies from medium to medium and from time to time) on
the value of the space and time that they buy from the media on
behalf of their clients.
It is also a practice to charge a commission of about 20% on
production costs to compensate for the additional administration
and supervision involved in the production of advertising films
and art work.
Technologically, agencies are paid by the media and not by the
client.
Initially, the agencies were found to sell space and time for
newspaper and radio and were rewarded commission on sales.
Later, they helped prepare material appearing in media and the
shift was towards their customers, but the method of payment
remained the same.
If a client goes bust, the agency has to pay the outstanding bills
to media as the agency buys the space and the time as
principals in law and not as agents for their clients.

How To Select an Advertising Agency

An advertising agency plays a great role in implementing the
corporate’s chosen strategy successfully. As advertising agency
advises a corporation on marketing promotional activities, choosing
a right agency is very important. Hence, selecting a new advertising
agency is one of the most important strategic decisions for a
corporation engaged in marketing operations.
The advertiser wishing to appoint an advertising agency should
invite a good number of agencies who meet the predetermined
minimum criteria. The purpose of application is to seek required
information on the following format to evaluate their suitability.

Checklist for the selection of an advertising agency

The following details are to be acquired from the advertising agencies for short
listing by the company.
Name, address, telephone and fax nos.; e-mail and map
CMD and Directors
Average age of senior team of directors
Agency history
Year of establishment
Ownership pattern
Take over and mergers if any
Size of turnovers and growth trends over last five years
Revenue and billing for last five years
Commission
Fees
Forecasts
Clients won in last three years
Clients lost in last three years
Client list (at present)
Billing by clients
Billing by products
Minimum size of the account required
Agency mission or philosophy if any
Accounts
New products from existing clients
New products from new clients

Media-related information (in space and time)

Percentage on TV
Percentage on national press
Percentage on other press (regional and local)
 Percentage on radio
Percentage on outdoor and transportation
Percentage on sales promotion
Percentage on other significant media and services

Staff turnover
Appointed in last two years
Quit in last two years

Key personnel
Length of service
Relevant experience
Account team
Organizational structure

Agency annual report and accounts

Payment methods used
Commission only
Production cost payment method
Fees only
Expenses involved
Fees plus commission
Credit terms

Following the submission of checklists and initial visits the

authenticity of information will be ascertained. A shortlisting of
agencies will be made based on predetermined criteria. The
shortlisted agencies will be invited to ‘pitch’ for the account(s). The
interested agencies will have to make a competitive presentation of
their creative and design work and other services on offer.

Working of an Advertising Agency

The agency has to develop a timing plan which sets out the steps of
the programme from brief to the finished advertisement. This
includes things like when the client can see the finished copy and
layout, first edits of commercial television films, copy dates for
magazines, commitment dates for buying space and time,
presentations to senior managers, sales conferences, shots of new
packaging for trade brochures and so on.
A mutually agreed timing plan is important in advertising business
because it operates under high pressure of time. Decisions have to
be made quickly and accurately, and the consequences of those
decisions on the rest of the programme have to be recognized and
dealt with.
The first stage in the making of an advertisement is when the
account executive or manager translates the brief from client into the
precise instructions to the creatives and the media planners and
media buyers.
The creative and media briefing includes a summary of the
environmental and the market background along with the more
precise extracts for the creatives and media people to work on.
Then comes the question, “What response do we want from the
target audience for the advertising?” Considering this, the account
executive will provide the team of writers, designers and media
executives with as much information about the product or service as
he or she feels is helpful. It is important for the creative writers and
designers to know where and how the product or service is
differentiat from its competitors so that they can seek distinctiveness
in the advertising.
The copy for a brand sets out the essential elements that must be
present in all advertising communications material. For example, the
requirement to show the package, logo or symbol of the advertiser.
Lastly, the account executive needs to provide a detailed brief to
the different organs of the agency so that the campaign is well-
coordinated. The client brief, media brief and creative brief are three
types of brief that allow the information needed for a successful
campaign to be passed around those who need it.
SYNERGY BETWEEN MARKETING AND
ADVERTISING
Advertising planning and decision-making takes place in the context
of an overall marketing plan. The marketing plan is based on the
overall corporate plan and it helps achieve overall corporate
objectives. The plan includes a statement of marketing objectives
and will spell out particular strategies and tactics to reach those
objectives. Figure 3.6 shows a synergistic flow between marketing
and advertising.

Fig 3.6 Synergistic flow between marketing and advertising.

The marketing objectives need to identify the segments to be

served by the organization and how it is going to serve them. The
needs and wants of consumers on which the firm will concentrate
are identified and analyzed in a marketing plan.
There are several marketing tools that can be used to attain
marketing objectives. Advertising is one of the important tools that
help an organization to achieve its marketing objectives. The
relationship between the two is strong and acts as an influence over
the other.
Marketing plan is the outcome of the specific problems or
opportunities uncovered for the brand through situational audit. It is
the response to those problems or opportunities through the
allocation of the marketing budget and the development of specific
plans for the numerous variables of the marketing mix.
 Advertising is that important variable of the marketing mix which is
developed on the basis of the marketing objectives. In marketing mix
advertising is the visible, action-oriented component that generates
interest in the target market. In advertising all decision are based on
a single criteria of attainment of marketing objectives.
An advertising plan should be developed once the overall
marketing plan has been created and the role of advertising within it
has been assessed. Advertising plays a crucial role in generating
awareness, creating interest and changing attitude of the customer
towards a brand. Unless this task is achieved, the other components
of marketing, however strong these may be, fail to achieve the
marketing objectives.
Marketing planning focuses on four important aspects—deciding
marketing objectives, target market, developing appropriate mix of
marketing variables and allocation of resources, whereas advertising
planning focuses on advertising objectives and target selection,
message strategy and tactics, and media strategy and tactics.
Advertising planning process should be integrated with the marketing
planning. The synergy in marketing operations is possible only if
advertising decisions are embedded in marketing plans.
The marketing manager must take care to develop a marketing
programme in which the component parts work in a coordinated
manner instead of at cross-purposes. For example, when a firm
develops a premium product and intends to charge premium price, it
is important that advertising reinforces the idea of premium quality
and high-end market. This can be done by choosing brand
ambassadors of such image and situations and events of high repute
and importance. The use of advertising copy and advertising media
that is incompatible with the image of brand jeopardizes the whole
marketing programme. Alternatively, when the firm offers a low
priced product, the job of advertising might be to stress the price
differential by using a compatible ad copy.
Depending upon the overall marketing strategy, the advertising
effort may be primarily either directed to the trade or the consumer.
In the case of trade directed advertising the dealer and distributor
network is motivated to push the product to customer, as the
emphasis is on providing better returns for their efforts. In case of
consumer directed advertising the consumer is “pulled” to the
dealers’ place through various attractive offerings made available to
him.

SUMMARY
Exchange is the core concept of marketing, which means obtaining a
desired product from someone by offering something in return. It is
important for the marketer to understand the need, want and
demand of the target market. Need is deprivation of something.
When needs are directed towards specific objects to satisfy the basic
necessities of life it is termed as want. Demand is the need for
specific object supported by an ability to pay.
Marketing is a process of satisfying customer needs profitably. The
process begins with situational analysis which provides a statement
of opportunities and threats, and strength and weaknesses. Based
on these opportunities the marketer identifies the broader market.
Since it is not possible to serve the entire market, therefore,
segmentation needs to be done, which means identifying a
homogeneous group which has similar needs. Out of the various
segments a target market has to be chosen based on accessibility,
size and profitability. A total market offerings is then developed for
the target market. A total market offerings is the assembly of
marketing mix which is particularly known as 4 Ps: Product, Price,
Physical distribution and Promotion. A marketer uses numerous
marketing tools to develop an appropriate marketing mix to achieve
marketing objectives. The various marketing tools are: Product life
cycle (PLC), SWOT analysis, marketing plan, composite of sales
force opinion, Delphi technique, survey of buying intention and
Ansoff’s product-market grid, etc.
Advertising agencies have numerous roles to play which help the
marketer to achieve its marketing objectives. Advertising agencies
are different types such as creative service agency, media buying
specialist, full service agency and composite agency.
 An agency offering full services has many important people who
help it in providing effective and efficient services to its clients.
An advertising agency consists of account executives, the media
planner and buyer, the creative team, the account planner or
researcher, the account director, the creative director, the media
director, the production house and media release.
Agencies are paid for their work by the media and not by the client.
Advertising agencies are paid a commission on the basis of
percentage of the value of space or time that they buy from the
media on behalf of their clients. There is also a practice to charge a
commission of about 20 per cent on production costs to compensate
for the additional administration and supervision involved in the
production of advertising films and art work.
Selection of a proper advertising agency is a crucial decision for
any marketing organization. A checklist of selection criteria is
prepared, and the agencies who are interested to pitch for the
account are asked to apply on the given format. The shortlisted
agencies are then called for presentation and capability assessment.
There should be a synergy between the marketing and advertising.
Advertising decisions should be based on marketing objectives and
the two should work hand in hand rather than at cross purposes.

QUESTIONS
1. Clearly explain through examples, the difference between need,
want and demand.
2. Can relationship marketing help a company gain advantage
over its competitors. If yes, how?
3. Understanding and assembling the marketing mix is crucial for
the marketer to gain and maintain its market position. Discuss
the statement in the light of current market situation.
4. Describe the importance of promotions mix. Explain in brief
each component of a promotions mix.
5. What are various stages of PLC? How will marketing activities
vary from one another in case a firm has two different product
 categories at maturity and introduction stage?
6. Why is it important to develop a marketing plan? Describe briefly
various components of a marketing plan.
7. Ansoff’s Matrix gives an important insight to a marketer to
develop an appropriate action plan for its brand at the market
place. Justify the statement with illustrations.
8. What is the role of an advertising agency for the advertiser?
Describe in brief various types of advertising agencies.
9. Identify various ways of bringing energy between advertising
and marketing. How does advertising help in achieving the
marketing objectives?
10. What are the various tools that can be used for estimating
market demand? Describe each briefly.
The understanding of consumer behaviour is applied to develop
appropriate marketing strategy. Knowledge of consumer behaviour is
critical for influencing not only product purchase decisions, but also
how much to purchase, where and what to purchase. It is important
to note that the consumer is learning faster than ever before. The
ever-changing environment has great impact on the needs, wants
and desires of the consumer. Today, we cannot take our business for
granted. We have to learn and anticipate consumer behaviour to
provide important and critical inputs to planning and managing in this
highly dynamic business environment.
The purpose of buyer behaviour is to understand the buyer and
create a customer out of him through this Understanding. It is never
easy to understand the consumer. It is a complex and multi-
dimensional process. Customers may say one thing and do another.
They may respond to influences and may change their minds at the
last minute. But, not understanding customers’ motivation, needs
and preferences can hurt because understanding and knowing
consumers provides the necessary information for developing new
products, product features, choice of channels, price levels, media
decisions and messages, and many other marketing variable
decisions.
Before we get into the various aspects of consumer behaviour, it is
important to understand that there are two categories of buyers—the
individual buyer and the organization buyer. Individuals buy for their
personal and family consumption; organizations buy for
manufacturing other products, reselling or for use in running of
enterprises.
These distinctions are substantial as these two categories are
separate in buying motivation, attitude and purchase behaviour.
Consumer behaviour refers to how individuals, groups and
organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods and services to
satisfy their needs, wants and desires.
Studying and understanding consumer behaviour is basic to
marketing decisions. Marketing decisions will be based on the
answers the marketer gets for the questions like:
What motivates the buyer?
Why does he choose a specific brand over others?
Why does he buy from where he buys?
What makes him shift from one brand to another and from one
shop to another?
What are his reactions to newly introduced product or a piece of
information addressed to him?
 What are the various stages he passes through before he
makes the decision to buy?
Answers to these questions will actually lead to various decisions on
marketing mix elements. In his strategies and plans, the marketer
keeps in mind how the buyers would behave and how they would
respond to his marketing programme.
Therefore, it is important to note that all marketing decisions are
based on assumptions about consumer behaviour. Whenever a
marketer happens to make any change in marketing variable, it is for
sure that his assumptions about the various aspects of the consumer
have changed.
A marketer would do a better job if he could understand what
influences the consumer behaviour. Basically, there are four
important influencing factors: internal factors, external influences,
self-concept and personality, and buying decision process. A
research in each of these factors would provide a great insight into
consumer behaviour that helps the marketer to serve the consumers
better.
To understand how consumers actually make buying decisions,
marketers must identify who makes or/and gives input into the
buying decision—people can be initiators, influencers, deciders,
buyers or users—so that different marketing campaigns can be
made for each kind. Marketers must also examine buyers’ levels of
involvement and the number of brands available to determine
whether consumers are engaging in complex buying behaviour,
dissonance-reducing buying behaviour, habitual buying behaviour or
variety-seeking buying behaviour.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND MARKETING
STRATEGY
Understanding consumer behaviour is important for a marketing
manager, as he/she wants to obtain usable managerial
understanding about the consumer. Managers who have sound
understanding of consumers can gain competitive advantage for
their corporations. As discussed earlier, all marketing strategies and
tactics are based on explicit assumption or implicit beliefs about
consumer behaviour. Decisions based on explicit assumptions,
sound theory and information derived from research are likely to be
more successful than decisions based solely on implicit beliefs.
Figure 4.1 shows how understanding consumer behaviour is an
important part of marketing strategy.

Fig. 4.1 Marketing strategy and consumer behaviour

NATURE OF BUYER BEHAVIOUR
As discussed earlier, consumer behaviour is complex and multi-
dimensional. It is very difficult for the marketing manager to
comprehend and explain certain reactions or lack of it to their market
offerings. It is even difficult for the consumer to explain his own
decisions. Understanding deeper or below the surface level beliefs is
difficult. Do you remember your own decisions related to certain
purchases? Can you explain why you had to change those decisions
at the last moment or under the influence of salesmen or friends or
others? It’s truly not easy. Though on the surface consumer
behaviour appears to be simple, structured, conscious, mechanical
and linear, but a quick analysis of your own behaviour or that of other
people around us will show us that it is a case of perceptual error,
which may be fatal. Often consumer behaviour is complex,
disorganized, subconscious, organic and circular.
It is, therefore, necessary to develop a framework of consumer
behaviour for easy understanding and application. A conceptual
model is developed to show the general structure and process of
consumer behaviour (see Figure 4.2). It does not contain sufficient
detail to predict particular behaviours, but it does reflect our beliefs
about the nature of consumer behaviour.
 Fig. 4.2 Conceptual model of consumer behaviour.

The model of consumer behaviour is not only simple and easy to

understand, but it is also conceptually sound and intuitively
appealing. Each individual has a view of the self (self-concept) and
try to live in a particular way depending upon one’s resources
(lifestyle). The individual’s view of the self and the way one tries to
live is actually determined by internal characteristics (such as values,
emotions, personality, attitude, etc.) and external factors (such as
individual’s culture, age, family, friends, social status, etc.).
The individual’s view of the self and the living habits give rise to
needs and desires in everyday situations. Many such situations lead
to a consideration for purchase. The decision one makes and the
process used in making decision causes learning and may affect
many internal characteristics and external factors that will either
change or reinforce one’s current self-concept and lifestyle.

External Factors
It is important to understand the functioning of the various external
groups because learning actually involves external influences such
as family, reference groups and peers (see Figure 4.3).

Fig. 4.3 External factors influencing consumer behaviour.

Cultural Factors
Culture is a comprehensive concept that includes almost everything
that influences an individual’s thought processes and behaviours. It
influences not only our preferences, but also how we make decisions
and even how we perceive the world around us. Most of the culture
is acquired. It does not include inherited responses and
predispositions. However, as we know that much of the human
behaviour is learned rather than innate, culture does affect a wide
range of behaviours.
Thus, culture is a set of norms, values, beliefs, morals, customs
and knowledge acquired by humans as members of society.
As indicated in Figure 4.4, marketing strategy is heavily influenced
by cultural factors such as values, language, demographics and non-
verbal communication. In turn, the marketing strategy also influences
these factors. It must be clearly understood that cultures vary from
country to country as these factors differ widely from one
geographical boundary to another. Hence, marketing across cultural
boundaries is a difficult and challenging task. The success of a
company depends upon how well it understands the cultural
differences and its adaptability to these differences.

Fig. 4.4 Cultural factors affecting consumer behaviour and marketing strategy.

Culture provides the framework within which individual and

household lifestyles evolve. The boundaries that culture sets on
behaviour are called norms, which are simply rules that specify or
prohibit certain behaviours in specific situations. Norms are derived
from cultural values, or widely held beliefs that affirm what is
desirable. Violations of cultural norms result in sanctions or penalties
ranging from mild social disapproval to banishment from the group.
Thus, cultural values give rise to norms and associated sanctions,
which in turn influence consumption patterns.
There are numerous values that vary across cultures and affect
consumption. The cultural values that have the most impact on
consumer behaviour are classified as: other-oriented values,
environmental-oriented values and self-oriented values.
Other-oriented values
These reflect a society’s view of the appropriate relationship
between individuals and groups within that society. These
relationships have a major influence on marketing practice.
Environmental-oriented values
These values prescribe a society’s relationship to its economic and
technical as well as its physical environment.
Self-oriented values
Such values reflect the objectives and approaches to life that the
individual members of society find desirable. These values too have
strong implications for marketing management.
There is a great debate over the extent to which cross-cultural
marketing strategies, especially advertising should be standardized.
There is always trade off between standardization and adaptation.
Since every adaptation results in extra cost to the company, the
consumer response to the standardized campaign and to potential
individualized campaigns must be considered.
Considerations for cross-cultural market operations
The factors discussed below will provide a framework necessary for
deciding whether or not to enter the market and to what extent an
individualized marketing strategy is required.
Is the geographic area homogenous or heterogeneous with
respect to culture?
What need this product or a version of it fulfil in this culture?
Can enough people afford it?
What values or patterns of values are relevant to the purchase
and use of this product?
What are the distributions, political and legal structures of the
product?
In what ways can we communicate about the product?
What are the ethical implications of marketing this product in this
country?

Group Influences on Consumer Behaviour

The consumer or the family makes the purchase decision for most
products or brands. The basic purchase motive is to satisfy the
individual’s need, but there are purchases in which the consumer
buys more than the product or a brand. Membership in a group is
also being purchased, for example, the purchase of Mercedes. Most
customers acquire not only the car and some aspect of the image
associated with Mercedes, they also join a group or subculture.
While there may be a number of distinct ‘Merc’ groups, most share a
core ethos or value system. People, the owners of other cars and
general public, have certain expectations about the style and
behaviour of Merc owners. So, purchasing a Mercedes is clearly a
group-based process. It is to say that group memberships and
identity are very important to all of us and while we do not want to
think of ourselves as conformists, most of us conform to group
expectations most of the time.
What we wear depends upon the occasion. Similarly, the
behaviour also depends on the kind of party we are attending,
whether it is brother’s marriage or sister’s marriage or grandparents’
anniversary celebrations or New Year party. Hence, these
behaviours are responses to group influences and expectations.

Most people belong to numerous groups at any given point of time.

When we are actively involved with a particular group, it generally
functions as a reference group. A reference group is a group whose
presumed perspectives or values are being used by an individual as
the basis for his or her current behaviour.
 As the situation changes, we may base our behaviour on an
entirely different group, which then becomes our reference group
(see Figure 4.5).

Fig. 4.5 Reference groups change as the situation changes.

We may belong to many groups simultaneously, but we use only

one group as our primary point of reference in any given situation.
Individuals tend to behave differently in diverse situations because
reference groups change according to situations. Reference groups
tend to exert a strong influence on one’s purchase decision.
Individuals frequently purchase products thought to be used by a
desired group in order to achieve actual or symbolic membership in
the group.
The nature of reference group influence
A reference group can have three types of influence on an individual:
Informational, normative and identification. It is important to
understand the type of influence each consumer is under, as the
type of influence determines the marketing strategy.
Informational influence
It occurs when an individual uses the behaviour and opinions of
reference group members as potentially useful information. In this,
an individual may see several other members of the reference group
using a specific brand of sports shoes. He or she may then decide to
try that brand simply because there is evidence, as it is used by
friends that it may be a good brand.
Normative influence
It also termed as utilitarian influence, which occurs when a group
member fulfils group expectations to gain a direct reward or to avoid
sanction. You may buy a particular brand of cigarette to win approval
from a colleague. Or you may refrain from using a particular brand of
jeans for fear of disapproval or teasing from friends. It is especially
important when the group is very strong and the product involved is
socially conspicuous. This influence appears particularly important to
younger generation.
Identification influence
Also termed as value-expressive influence, this influence occurs
when individuals have internalized the group’s values and norms.
There is no fear of reference group sanctions and rewards as the
individual behaves in a manner that is consistent with the group’s
values.
Degree of reference group influence
Reference group influence is situational. It may not have any
influence in a given situation or it may influence the usage of the
product category, the type of product used or the brand used.
The following are some of the factors that make the reference
group influence greater or lesser on an individual:
Group influence is the strongest when the use of product or
brand is visible to the group.
The higher the reference group influence, the lesser is the
necessity for decision making in a purchase situation.
The more commitment an individual feels to a group, the more
that individual will conform to the group norms.
The more relevant a particular activity is to the group’s
functioning, the stronger is the pressure to conform to the group
norms concerning that activity.
 The individual’s confidence in the purchase situation will affect
the degree of reference group influence.

Internal Influence
These are the processes that occur primarily within the individual
and are different from the ones that are external to the individual.
The interaction of these forces, i.e. external and internal, within an
individual helps form self-concepts and lifestyle, which are central to
the model of consumer behaviour (see Figure 4.6). Self-concept
refers to the way individuals think and feel about themselves as well
as how they would like to think and feel about themselves. Their
actual and desired lifestyle is the way they translate their self-
concepts into daily behaviours including consumption behaviours.

Fig. 4.6 Internal influences on consumer behaviour.

The clutter at marketplace forces advertisers to use humour,

attractive models and other factors to attract the attention and
interest of the audience. If an advertisement has not done well, the
marketer may end up attracting the attention of audience to the
models or humour in the advertisement rather than the message.
Therefore, a marketer would want to communicate something about
the product. For this it is essential that the marketer understands
how an audience processes information so that his/her message is
effectively communicated (see Figure 4.7).
 Fig. 4.7 Information processing by consumers.

Before a purchase decision is made by the consumer, the stimuli

given by the marketer is processed in four different stages. The first
three stages combined together constitute perception.
Exposure occurs whenever a stimulus such as a banner, TV
advertisement or a hoarding advertisement comes within the range
of a person’s sensory receptor nerves−vision or auditory. This can
happen deliberately or randomly. Therefore, it is important for the
advertiser to place the stimulus within the person’s relevant
environment. Most of the stimuli to which individuals are exposed are
“self-selected”, i.e. people deliberately seek out exposure to certain
stimuli and avoid others. Generally, people seek information that
they think will help them achieve their goals. These goals may be
short-term or long-term. Also, people are exposed to a large number
of stimuli on a more or less random basis during driving or walking,
which they do not purposefully seek out.
 Attention occurs when stimulus is seen, i.e. the receptor nerves
pass the sensations into the brain for processing. People are
exposed to innumerable stimuli way beyond than what they can
process. Therefore, consumers have to be selective in attending to
marketing as well as to other messages. This selectivity has major
implications for marketers and others concerned with communicating
effectively with consumers. Therefore, anyone interested in
communicating effectively with consumers must understand how to
obtain attention after getting the exposure. The important point is,
how to obtain the attention.
How can a marketer assure that its advertising message is being
attended to? Also, one must remember that attention always occurs
within the context of a situation. The same individual may devote
different levels of attention to the same stimulus in different
situations.
Attention is determined by three factors. These are:
(a) Stimulus factors are physical characteristics of the stimulus
itself. A large number of stimulus characteristics have the
capability to attract our attention irrespective of individual and
situational characteristics. Some of the stimulus factors are:
Sizes and intensity (loudness, brightness, length)
Insertion frequency
Format
Colour and movement
Contrast/expectations
Position
Interestingness
Isolation
Information quantity
(b) Individual factors are the characteristics of the individual
(audience/consumer). Interest and need are the two major
characteristics that influence the attention of the consumer.
Interest is a reflection of the overall lifestyle and result of long-
term and short-term goals and plans.
Also, individuals differ in their ability to attend to information.
They seek (exposure) and examine (attend to) the information
relevant to their current needs and interests. Thus, an individual
who is thinking of joining an MBA programme is likely to attend to
a MBA admission-related advertisement.
 (c) Situational factors include stimuli in the environment other
than the local stimulus and temporary characteristics of the
individual that are induced by the environment such as time
pressure or a crowded store. Another factor is the programme
itself. In general, the audiences are attending to the medium
because of the programme or editorial content and not the
advertisement.
Interpretation is the attachment of meaning to the stimuli. The
meaning we assign to a stimulus is not a direct meaning of the words
and the situation in which a consumer finds himself. For example,
our attitude towards a brand is influenced by the company that is
producing it, by the personality it is being endorsed, its price, country
of origin and the store in which it is sold.
Consumers assign meaning to the tone and feel of the message
as well as the actual words and symbols.
A given message can be subjected to different interpretations by
different people in different situations. Basically, interpretation is of
two types:
Cognitive interpretation is a process whereby stimuli are placed
into existing categories of meaning. It is an interactive process. The
addition of new information to existing categories also alters those
categories and their relationships with other categories. Thus, it is
the marketer who provides appropriate information and knowledge
through advertising to facilitate the consumer to assign a particular
category or alter the category of the product.
It is the individual’s interpretation, not objective reality, which
influences behaviour. For example, a company may bring a new high
quality, low price brand among the existing brands because of its
better production process and marketing efforts.
However, if consumers interpret this lower price to mean lower
quality, the new brand will not succeed at marketplace irrespective of
the objective reality.
The above example indicates the importance of differentiating
between the semantic meaning—the conventional dictionary
meaning, assigned to a word—and the the psychological meaning—
which is nothing but a specific meaning assigned to a word by a
given individual or a group of individuals based on their experiences
and the context or situation in which the term is used.
Marketers must be concerned with the psychological meaning. For
example, semantic meaning of the term on sale is “a price reduction
from the normal level.” However, psychological meaning which the
consumers may derive is that the product is not selling or that it is
out of fashion.
Affective interpretation is the emotional response or feeling
triggered by a stimulus such as an advertisement. The emotional
responses to stimuli vary from culture to culture. For example, a
picture of a young child with kittens may draw a feeling of warmth
from an American consumer whereas a person allergic to cats might
have a negative emotional response to such a picture. Thus,
consumers faced with new products or brands often assign them to
emotional as well as cognitive categories.
Marketing stimuli have meaning only as individuals interpret it and
individuals are not passive interpreters of marketing and other
messages, but actively assign meaning based on their needs,
desires, expectations and experiences.
An individual’s interpretation of stimuli is mainly influenced by
personal variables such as learning and expectations.
LEARNING, MEMORY AND MOTIVES
A lot of campaigns are designed to teach some specific aspects of a
product or a brand. Its success depends upon how well the
marketing team understands and uses the learning principles. Firms
and business organizations want consumers to learn about the
positive features of their products and services. Non-profit
organizations are interested in teaching consumers about the
consequences of their consumption choices.

Consumer behaviour is largely learned behaviour. The brands we

buy, the place from where we buy and the criteria we use for
choosing a brand are all learnt from our friends, relatives or family
members. Therefore, we may say that people acquire most of their
attitudes, values, tastes, behaviours, preferences, symbolic
meanings and feelings through learning (see Figure 4.8).
 Fig. 4.8 Learning and consumer behaviour.

Learning as a term is used to describe the processes by which

memory and behaviour are changed as a result of conscious and
nonconscious information processing. A large number of
organizations attempt to help consumers learn “appropriate”
attitudes and behaviours about issues such as racial discrimination,
pollution, environmental protection, smoking, AIDS, drinking, proper
nutrition and human rights. Learning is any change in behaviour
which is a result of information processing.
Learning may occur in either a high involvement or a low
involvement situation. A high involvement learning situation is one in
which the consumer is motivated to process or learn the material, for
example, an individual reading through the user’s guide dealing with
various mobile phones. The buyer is highly motivated to learn
various features and advantages of different brands. A low
involvement learning situation is one in which the consumer has little
or no motivation to process or learn the material. For example, a
consumer viewing a news programme comes across a commercial
for a product, which he/she does not currently need, use or has a
desire for and thus has little motivation to learn the material of the
commercial.
The processing of various inputs from the environment in which
the consumer exists results in learning of certain values,
preferences, attitudes, tastes and feelings as shown in Figure 4.8.
This outcomes of learning then determines the buying behaviour.
Thus, learning is a continuous change resulting in modifications or
new learning outcomes.

Theories of Learning
It is important to understand the principles and underlying
assumption of learning. The level of involvement is the primary factor
in learning of a material. The way a communication should be
structured differs depending on the level of involvement the
consumer is expected to have. The involvement of the consumer
with a stimulus is a function of the interaction between the individual,
the stimulus and the situation. In other words, an important
judgement in designing an advertisement must be the level of
involvement the audience will have. Moreover, the involvement will
be determined by the interaction of the characteristics of the target
markets, the situation and the advertisement itself or other marketing
stimulus. A marketer has to find answers to the following questions
to develop an effective communication. Why does one ad assume a
highly involved audience and the other a low-involvement audience?
What difference do you notice between those two ads? Do these
differences make sense?
Figure 4.9 indicates two general situations and five specific
learning theories that help in understanding the learning behaviour of
consumers. The solid lines in the figure indicate that operant
conditioning and reasoning/analogy are commonly used learning
processes in high involvement situations. Classical conditioning,
iconic rote learning and vicarious learning/modelling tend to occur in
low involvement situations.
 Fig. 4.9 Learning theories in high and low involvement situations.

Conditioning
It refers to learning based on association of a stimulus (information)
and response (behaviour or feeling). It also means that through
exposure to some stimulus and a corresponding response, one
learns that they go together or do not go together. There are two
types of learning.
Classical conditioning: The process of using an established
relationship between a stimulus and a response to bring about
the learning of the same response to a different stimulus is called
classical conditioning. The Classical conditioning is the most
common in low-involvement situations.
Operant conditioning also called instrumental learning, differs
from classical conditioning primarily in the role and timing of
reinforcement. Reinforcement plays a much larger role in operant
conditioning. Since no automatic stimulus response relationship
is involved, the subject must first be induced to engage in the
desired behaviour. Then this behaviour must be reinforced.
Operant conditioning often involves the actual usage of the
 product. Thus, a great deal of marketing strategy is aimed at
securing an initial trial.
Cognitive learning
It encompasses all the mental activities of humans as they work to
solve problems or cope with situations. It involves learning ideas,
concepts, attitudes and facts that contribute to our ability to reason,
solve problems and learn relationships without direct experience or
reinforcement.
Iconic rote learning
It referes to the association between two or more concepts in the
absence of conditioning. Most of the low involvement learning is
iconic rote learning. Through iconic rote learning, consumers may
form belief about the characteristics or attributes of products without
being aware of the sources of information. When the need arises, a
purchase may be made based on such beliefs.
Vicarious learning/Modelling
It is not necessary for consumers to directly experience a reward or
punishment to learn. Instead, they can observe the outcomes of
others’ behaviour and adjust their own accordingly. Similarly, they
can use imagery to anticipate the outcome of various courses of
action. This type of learning is common in both low and high
involvement situations.
Reasoning/Analogy
The most complex form of cognitive learning is reasoning. In
reasoning, individuals engage in creative thinking to restructure and
recombine existing information as well as new information to form
new associations and concepts. Information from a credible source
that contradicts one’s existing beliefs will often trigger reasoning.
Analogical learning occurs when a consumer uses an existing
knowledge base to understand a new situation or object.
Theories of learning help us understand how consumers learn
across a variety of situations.
Characteristics of Learning
Regardless of which approach to learning is applicable in a given
situation, several general characteristics of learning are relevant and
of interest to a marketing manager.
A few of the most important characteristics of learning are:
Strength of learning
Importance
Message involvement
Mood
Reinforcement
Repetition
Imagery
Extinction (forgetting)
Stimulus generalization
Stimulus discrimination
Response environment
MEMORY
Memory is the total accumulation of prior learning experiences. It
consists of two interrelated components: short-term memory and
long-term memory. These are not distinct psychological entities.
Short-term memory
Short-term memory is that portion of total memory that is currently
activated or in use. It is also known as working memory. People also
have explicit memory, i.e. memory of specific events or objects, and
implicit memory (i.e. generalized memory about events or objects).
Short-term memory has a limited capacity to store information and
sensations. Consumers use short-term memory to hold information
while they analyze and interpret it. Short-term memory is closely
analogous to what we normally call ‘thinking’. It is an active dynamic
process and not a static structure. Basically, two types of information
processing activities occur in short-term memory: elaborative
activities and maintenance rehearsal.
Elaborative activities refer to the use of previously stored
experiences, values, attitudes, beliefs and feelings to interpret and
evaluate information in working memory as well as to add relevant
previously stored information. Elaborative activities serve to redefine
or add new elements to memory.
Maintenance rehearsal is the continual repetition of a piece of
information in order to hold it in current memory for use in problem
solving or transferal to long-term memory. Repetition of some line or
formula before examination is an example of maintenance rehearsal.
Long-term memory
Long-term momery is viewed as an unlimited, permanent storage. It
can store numerous types of information such as concepts, decision
rules, processes, etc. Marketers are more interested in semantic
memory as it concerns the basic knowledge and feelings an
individual has about a concept. It represents the person’s
understanding of an object or event at its simplest level.
 Episodic memory is another type of memory, which is of interest to
the marketer. This is the memory of a sequence of events in which a
person participated. This memory relates to events such as a
birthday, graduation day, marriage day and birth of the first child, etc.
Marketers are interested in episodic memory to associate their brand
with the positive feelings such memory generates.
MOTIVATION, PERSONALITY AND EMOTIONS
These are two closely related concepts. Motivation is the energizing
force that activates behaviour and provides purpose and direction to
that behaviour. In fact, motivation is the drive within that causes
behaviour. Personality reflects the common responses (behaviours)
that individuals make to a given situation. Emotions are strong,
relatively uncontrollable feelings that affect our behaviour. As
observed among consumers, emotions can play an important role in
consumer decisions. A good number of marketing strategies are
designed to exploit emotions (strong feelings) of consumers towards
an object.

Motivation and Marketing Strategy

Motivation is the reason for behaviour. A motive is an inner force that
stimulates and compels a behavioural response and provides a
specific direction to that response. A motive is why an individual
does something. A consumer has a motivation for every purchase he
makes. Therefore, it is important for the marketing manager to
understand the type of motivation behind the purchase. But it is not
an easy task. Motivations underlying the purchase decision even for
a simple product are quite complex. There are plenty of motivation
theories that give a good insight into why people do what they do.
We will discuss in particular two motivational theories that are
relevant to consumer behaviour. Maslow’s need hierarchy is
important for understanding human behaviour in general terms. And
McGuire’s work is relevant because it uses detailed set of motives to
understand specific aspects of consumer behaviour.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s theory divides all human needs into five different levels viz.
physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization.
These are further categorized as higher order and lower order
needs.
Maslow’s motivational theory is based on four premises:
 All human beings acquire similar set of motives through genetic
endowment and social interaction.
Motives have hierarchy, i.e. some are more important than
others.
The lower motives (needs) must be satisfied to a minimum level
before higher-level motives (needs) are activated.
As the lower order motives (needs) are satisfied, higher order
motives (needs) come into play.
It is important to understand for the marketing manager that any
given consumption behaviour can satisfy different needs at different
times. The implications for the marketing manager are that before
developing the marketing mix variables for the target market, he
needs to know what level of needs the brand is satisfying or is
perceived to be satisfying. Thus, the marketing mix variable decision
on product, price, promotion and physical distribution would be
based on the brand’s perceived need level satisfaction.
McGuire’s psychological motives
McGuire developed a classification system that organizes the
various motives into 16 categories. The classification system helps
the marketer to identify the motives associated with various
consumption situations using two criteria:
Is the mode of motivation cognitive or affective?
Is the motive focused on preservation of the status quo or on
growth?
The marketer divides all motives into four main categories. These
four main categories are further subdivided on the basis of source
and objective of the motive. The marketer therefore further identifies
the motives by finding answers to the following:
Is this behaviour actively initiated or in response to the
environment?
Does this behaviour help the individual achieve a new internal
state or new external relationship to the environment?
Cognitive motives focus on the person’s need for being adaptively
oriented toward the environment and achieving a sense of meaning.
Affective motives deal with the need to reach a satisfying feeling
state and to obtain personal goals. Preservation-oriented motives
emphasize the individual as striving to maintain the equilibrium, while
growth motives emphasize development.
Each of the 16 motives given by McGuire has implications for the
marketing manager. The categories are indicated below:

1. Cognitive Preservation Motives

Need for consistency (active, internal).
Need for attribution (active, external).
Need to categorize (passive, internal).
Need for objectification (passive, external) .
2. 2. Cognitive Growth Motives
Need for autonomy (active, internal).
Need for stimulation (active, external).
Teleological need (passive, internal).
Utilitarian need (passive, external).
3. Affective Preservation Motives
Need for tension reduction (active, internal).
Need for expression (active, external).
Need for ego defense (passive, internal).
Need for reinforcement (passive, external).
4. Affective Growth Motives
Need for assertion (active, internal).
Need for affiliation (active, external).
Need for identification (passive, internal).
Need for modelling (passive, external).

The descriptions of both the theories show that motives are

complex and difficult to understand. Once a combination of motives
influencing the target market are understood, the manager’s major
task is to design an appropriate marketing strategy around the set of
motives. It involves all decisions from product design and features,
pricing, marketing communication to choice and location of channels.
 If a consumer has more than one motive, the product must provide
more than one benefit and the advertising must communicate these
multiple benefits. While any given advertisement for a product may
focus on only one or a few purchasing motives, the campaign needs
to cover all the important purchase motives of the target market.

Personality
While motivations are the energizing and directing force that makes
consumer behaviour purposeful and goal directed, the personality of
the consumer guides and directs the behaviour chosen to
accomplish goals in different situations.
Personality is an individual’s characteristic response tendency
across similar situations. These characteristic ways of responding to
a wide range of situations should, of course, also include responses
to marketing strategies.
There are large numbers of personality theories and all have two
common assumptions:
All individuals have internal characteristics or traits, and
There are consistent and measurable differences between
individuals on those characteristics.
Most of these theories state that the traits or characteristics are
inherited or formed at an early age and are relatively static over the
years. Differences between personality theories centre on the
definition of which traits or characteristics are the most important.
A greater knowledge of the personality of the consumer help in
satisfying him better. For example, a complain from the consumer
can be handled accordingly whether the consumer is an extrovert or
an introvert.
Generally, consumers use a particular product or brand to bolster
an aspect of their personality. Thus, a weak and thin boy might drive
a powerful bike to feel less weak and more powerful. However,
another weak boy might forgo a powerful bike because of the “it’s
just not me” kind of feeling.
 A consumer tends to match his human personality with that of the
brand personality, a particular type of image that some brands
acquire. Thus, brand personality is a set of human characteristics
that become associated with a brand. Consumers perceive brand
personalities in terms of sincerity, excitement, competence,
sophistication and ruggedness.
Brands acquire personalities whether marketers want them or not,
and these personalities influence purchases. Therefore, marketers
need to manage the personalities of their brands, and need to
reinforce them through appropriate advertising campaigns.

Emotion
We all experience a wide range of emotions every day. Emotions are
generally triggered by environmental events. Anger, joy, cry and
sadness are most frequently responses to a set of external events.
However, emotional reactions may also be initiated by internal
process called imagery. Thus, as defined earlier in the chapter,
emotions are strong and relatively uncontrolled feelings that affect
behaviour.
All emotions are accompanied by physiological changes, some of
which are: rapid breathing, pupil dilation, increased perspiration,
increased heartbeat and blood pressure and raised sugar levels.
Another characteristics of emotions is cognitive thought, which is
generally accompanied by thinking. However, the types of thoughts
and our ability to think rationally vary with the type and degree of
emotion. Also, extreme emotional responses are frequently used as
an explanation for inappropriate thoughts or actions.
Emotions also have associate behaviours, which vary from
individual to individual and with individual across time and situation.
There are unique behavioural characteristics associated with
different emotions like fear triggers fleeing response, anger triggers
striking, grief triggers crying, etc.
Emotions involve subjective feelings. The feelings such as grief,
joy, anger, fear and jealousy, etc. are at different levels in different
individuals across times and situations. In addition to the feeling
component, emotions carry an evaluative or a like/dislike
component. Though emotions are generally evaluated (liked and
disliked) in a consistent manner across individuals and within
individuals over time, there are cultural, individual and situational
variations. For example, some of us are scared of driving fast, yet we
occasionally enjoy driving fast.
There are basically three dimensions−pleasure, arousal and
dominance−underlying all emotions.
Understanding consumer emotions has implications for the
marketer. The emotions have always been used for strategic
decisions in the area of product positioning, sales presentations and
advertising on an intuitive level.
It has been tentatively established through research that emotional
content in advertisements enhances their attraction. Advertising
messages that trigger the emotional reactions of joy, warmth or even
digest are more likely to be attended to than those that are more
neutral. Emotional messages may be processed more thoroughly
than neutral messages and are remembered better than neutral ads.
Repeated exposure to positive-emotion eliciting ads may increase
brand preference through classical conditioning. Finally, emotional
appeals can capture attention and enhance the retention of
advertising messages. They can also help humanize the brand and
associate feelings with it.

Attitudes
Business organizations often try to alter behaviour by changing
attitude towards a brand, a product, a service or an organization.
The experience and actions at the marketplace indicate that they
succeed on numerous times. This change in attitude results in
favourable consumption behaviour.
An attitude is a learned predisposition, a stabilized feeling that an
individual holds toward an object, a person or an idea. Attitudes are
more enduring and resistant to change.
Since attitudes are learned, we can change them, modify them and
replace them with new ones. Attitudes also vary in direction and
strength, i.e. an attitude can be positive or negative, reflecting likes
or dislikes, or it can be neutral. Thus, an attitude is the way one
thinks, feels and acts toward some aspect of his or her environment
such as a retail store, television programme of a product, etc. We
typically hold few strong attitudes, positive or negative. Strong
emotional, social and political attitudes are most common. For
example, people still hold a strong social attitude towards inter-caste
marriage in India. Also, observe how apathetic Indian population is
towards exercising their franchisee rights during elections.
Attitudes, generally, serve four functions:
Knowledge function: Some attitudes serve as a means of
organizing beliefs about objects or activities. For example, a
consumer’s attitude towards bikes that “they all are the same”.
This kind of consumer is likely to buy the cheapest and most
fuel-efficient bike.
Value expressive function: Some attitudes express an
individual’s central values and self-concept. Consumers who
value nature and environment are likely to express support for
environment friendly and green products.
Utilitarian function: People tend to form favourable attitudes
towards objects and activities that are rewarding and negative
attitudes toward that are not.
Ego defensive function: People form and use attitudes to defend
their egos and self-images against threats and shortcomings.
Marketers need to be aware of the attitudes their brands fulfil for
their target market. A given attitude may perform multifunction,
though one may predominate.
Attitude components
Attitudes have following three components:
Cognitive component consists of consumer’s beliefs about an
object. People have a number of beliefs about an object. As
attitudes of a consumer get formed in the environment in which
he lives, it is possible to change attitude through new learning.
Changing cognitive component is the most effective way to
 change attitude. Following are a few steps that a marketer
should take as part of the efforts to change attitudes:
Change beliefs
Shift importance
Add beliefs
Change ideal
Affective component of an attitude represents feeling or
emotional reactions to an object. The affective component or
emotional reaction may change as the situation changes
because products are evaluated in the context of a specific
situation. Basically a marketer changes the liking of the brand
through:
(a) Classical conditioning
(b) Affect towards the ad or website
(c) More exposure
Behavioural component of an attitude is one’s tendency to
respond in a certain manner toward an object or activity. As
behaviour is directed towards an object, it is less likely to be
specific than are beliefs and affective components.
Behaviour can lead directly to affect, to cognitions or both
simultaneously. Consumers frequently try new brands or low cost
items in the absence of prior knowledge or affect. Changing
behaviour prior to changing affect or cognition is based primarily on
operant conditioning. Therefore, the key marketing task is to induce
people to purchase or consume the product while ensuring that the
purchase or consumption will indeed be rewarding. Coupons, free
trials, POP displays, tie-in purchases and price reductions are some
of the common techniques to induce trial.
Individual and situational characteristics that influence attitude
change
How much and in what direction the attitudinal change happens is
determined by the individual and the situation as well as the activities
of the firm or social agency. Individual difference matters a lot in
attitude change as some people are more stubborn or narrow-
minded or less subject to social influence than are others. Attitudes
that are strongly held are more difficult to change than are those that
are weakly held. Consumers are actively involved when marketers
attempt to change their attitudes. The consumers infer the
advertiser’s intent and respond to the marketing communication in
the light of this influence.

Self-concept and Lifestyle

In a way, lifestyle is an outward expression of one’s self-concept.
What an individual wears and the way he/she lives and spends
his/her spare time, given the constraints and ability, is heavily
influenced by that person’s current and desired self-concept. Thus,
self-concept is the totality of the individual’s thought and feeling
about the self.
Dimensions of a consumer’s self-concept
Basically, a consumer’s self-concept can be grouped as:
Actual versus ideal and
Private versus public
The actual vs ideal self-concept refers to the individual’s perception
of who he/she is and who he/she would like to be. The private self
concept refers to what an individual is or what he/she would like to
be. Public self-concept refers to how an individual is seen by others
or how he/she would like to be seen by others.
Lifestyle is the way a person lives. The lifestyle of an individual is
determined by his/her past experiences, and inborn characteristics
and the current situation in which he/she is. The self-concepts of
consumers get reflected through their lifestyles. Lifestyle is an
important factor that influences all aspects of the consumer
behaviour. The life style of an individual brings the self-concepts into
action (see Figure 4.10).
 Fig. 4.10 Lifestyle and the consumption process.

Marketers can use lifestyle analysis with respect to specific area of

consumer’s life and relate to lifestyle with purchase and consumption
decisions.
CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS
A marketer must understand how a consumer decides about what
product he/she buys and what brand he/she prefers to satisfy his/her
needs or find solutions to his/her problems. Understanding the
process will help the marketer do right things for the consumer to
make him/her purchase the brand and also assure repeated
purchase.
The decision process used by the consumer will depend on two
basic dimensions:
Purchase involvement, and
Type of decision making.
Purchase involvement is low involvement and high involvement.
High involvement indicates greater concern and importance of the
purchase and high interest shown by the consumer, whereas in low
involvement concern, importance and interest are low.
There are three types of decision making:
Nominal decision-making
Limited decision-making
Extended decision-making
Nominal decision-making involves no decision per se and it occurs
when there is little involvement in the purchase. It is also called
habitual decision-making. In this process, a problem is recognized,
internal search (long-term memory) provides a single preferred
solution (brand and store) that brand is purchased and an evaluation
occurs only if the brand fails to perform as expected. Nominal
decisions can be categorized as: brand loyal decisions and repeat
purchase decisions.
Limited decision-making involves internal and limited external
search, low alternatives, simple decision rule on few attributes and a
little post-purchase evaluation. It involves organizing a problem for
which there are several possible solutions. A few alternatives are
evaluated based on a few dimensions using simple selection rule.
There is very little post-purchase evaluation, unless there is a
service problem or product failure.
Extended decision-making involves great internal and external
information search followed by complex evaluation of multiple
alternatives and a post-purchase evaluation. It is a high-involvement
decision. These are relatively a few decisions that a consumer
makes with this level of complexity.

Fig. 4.11 Buyer decision process

Problem Recognition
Recognizing the problem is the first stage of consumer decision
process. It is the difference between a desired state and an actual
state that is sufficient enough to activate decision process. An actual
state is the way an individual perceives his/her feelings and situation
at present.
A desired state is the way an individual wants to feel at the
present.
What action the consumer will initiate in response to the
recognized problem will depend upon its importance to the
consumer, the situation and the dissatisfaction or inconvenience
created by the problem.
Problem recognition is stated to have occurred whenever the
consumer feels a discrepancy between his/her desired and the
actual state. The consumer’s perception of the actual state that
leads to problem recognition is not an objective reality as the
perception of the actual state is also determined by a consumer’s
lifestyle and current situation.
Thus, discrepancy between what a consumer desires and what
he/she has is the necessary condition for problem recognition. This
discrepancy could be due to a large number of factors that influence
consumer desires, perceptions of the existing state or both. These
factors are beyond the control of marketing managers.
The factors that influence consumers’ desires are both marketing
and non-marketing in nature. The major non-marketing factors are:
social status, culture and subculture, emotions, motives, previous
financial status, expectations, reference groups, individual and
situations.
Major marketing factors
Marketing managers have four concerns related to problem
recognition. These are:
They need to know the problems faced by the consumer
They must know how to develop marketing mix to solve
consumer problem
They occasionally want to cause consumers to recognize the
problem
They sometimes desire to suppress problem recognition among
consumers.

Information Search
Having recognized the problem in the first stage, the consumer now
engages in information search both internally and externally.
Information search requires mental and physical activities, which
takes time, energy and money. However, the benefits of information
search outweigh the cost associated with it.
Internal search requires extensive use of long-term memory so as
to find if a satisfactory solution exists. If a solution is not reached
through internal search, then the search process is focused on
external information relevant to the solution of the problem.
External information includes:
Opinions, attitudes, behaviours and feelings of friends,
neighbours and relatives.
Information provided by the company in pamphlets, articles,
books, website and personal contest.
Direct experiences with the product through inspection, trial and
observation.
Marketer generated information given in advertisements,
websites and displays and by sales personnel.
What information does the consumer need?
A consumer decision requires information on the following:
The appropriate evaluative criteria for the solution of a problem.
The existence of various alternative solutions.
The performance level of each alternative solution on each
evaluative criterion.
The desired characteristics are the evaluative criteria. The evaluative
criteria are the basis one uses for taking a decision to buy a
particular brand.
One of the potential objectives of both internal and external search
is the determination of appropriate evaluative criteria. Once an
evaluative criterion has been decided, one would now seek
appropriate alternatives for evaluations—this could be brands,
stores, price, etc.
All such alternatives may fall in one of the following four types:
Awareness set
Evoked set
Inert set
 Inept set
Awareness set comprises all those alternatives that the consumer
knows about or is aware of. Evoked set is a collection of those
brands or products that one evaluates for the solution of a particular
consumer problem. It is also called a consideration set. Inert set
comprises those brands which the consumer is aware of but is
basically indifferent toward. Inept set comprises those brands that
are actively disliked or avoided by the consumer.

Alternative Evaluation and Selection

We have all made numerous consumer choices and we know that
those choices are not so logical, structured and rational as we made
it seem in the preceding discussion. Consumer choices are rather
frequently circular, emotionally incomplete and based on expediency
rather than optimality. We also know that situation is an important
factor in consumer choice.
A large number of marketing managers make assumptions about
the consumer and consider him a rational decision-maker who has
sufficient skills to calculate which option will maximize his value. This
approach is known as Rational Choice Theory. But in reality all
consumers have a limited capacity for processing information. In
addition, for many decisions, consumers do not engage in strictly
rational choice, instead they engage in a decision process that is
suitable for the given situation.
However, a large number of consumers do not make any
comparisons of brands or their features in their decisions. Such
decisions are based on emotional responses to the brand or the
overall impression of the brand.
While making buying decisions, a consumer makes any or a
combination of the following consumer choice processes:
Affective choice is more holistic in nature. Decisions based on
affect use the “how do I feel about it” decision rule. The
consumer imagines or pictures using the product or service and
evaluates the feeling that this use will produce.
 Attribute-based choice requires the knowledge of specific
attributes at the time of making the choice. It involves attribute-
by-attribute comparisons across all brands.
Attitude-based choice involves the use of general attitudes,
summary impressions, intuitions or heuristics. No attribute-by-
attribute comparisons are made at the time of choice.
The process of alternative evaluation and selection is depicted in
Figure 4.12 below:

Fig. 4.12 Decision choice process.

Purchase
At the alternative evaluation stage, the consumer forms preferences
among the brands in the choice set. Now, the consumer may form an
intention to buy the most preferred brand. However, two factors can
intervene between the purchase intention and purchase decision.
These are:
Attitude of others, and
Unanticipated situational factors.
The attitude of others around the consumer may affect the preferred
purchase intention. The extent to which another person’s attitude
reduces one’s preferred alternative depends on the intensity of
another person’s negative attitude toward the consumer’s preferred
alternative and the consumer’s motivation to comply with the other
person’s wishes.
A buyer’s preference for a brand will increase if someone, whom
he/she respects, strongly favours the same brand. The influence of
others becomes complex when several people close to the buyer
hold contradictory opinions and the buyer tries to please them all.
The unanticipated situational factors that may erupt to change the
purchase decision are for example, a consumer losing his/her job,
some other purchase becoming more urgent. etc.
A consumer’s decision to modify, postpone or avoid a purchase
decision is heavily influenced by the perceived risk. The amount of
perceived risk varies with the amount of money at stake, the amount
of attribute uncertainty and the amount of consumer self confidence.
While executing a purchase intention, the consumer may make up
the following five purchase sub-decisions.
Product choice
Brand choice
Dealer choice
Purchase timing
Purchase amount

Post-Purchase Behaviour
After making a purchase decision and consumption, the consumer
experiences some level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The
marketer’s job does not end with the product sale. Marketers have to
monitor post-purchase satisfaction, actions and product uses as well.
 Source: Adapted from Hawkins, Best and Conay-Consumer Behaviour Building
Marketing Strategy, 9th edition, Tata McGraw-Hill.

Fig. 4.13 Post-purchase consumer behaviour.

Some purchases result in non-use and some also result in post

purchase dissonance which reflects a doubt or anxiety that might
have come in the consumer’s mind after he/she made the purchase.

The magnitude of such dissonance is a function of:

The degree of commitment or irrevocability of the decision.
 The importance of the decision to the consumer.
The difficulty of choosing among the alternatives.
The individual’s tendency to experience anxiety.
Therefore, the amount of dissonance experienced by the individual
customer depends on the individual and the complexity of the
decision.

SUMMARY
The consumer behaviour Understanding helps companies influence
brand purchase decisions through appropriate mix of marketing
variables. Consumer behaviour study is a continuous tracking of
behaviour for the simple reason that the everchanging socio-
economic and technology environment has great impact on the
needs, wants and desires of the consumers. Studying and
understanding consumer behaviour is basic to marketing decisions.
All marketing decisions are based on assumptions about the
consumer behaviour.
Individuals develop self-concepts and subsequent lifestyle under
the influence of various internal and external factors. These self-
concepts and lifestyles produce needs and desires, which can be
satisfied through purchase decisions. Self-concept is the individual’s
view of the self. Lifestyle is the particular way in which one lives or
the way an individual spends his spare time.
The decision process used by the consumer will depend on two
basic dimensions:
Purchase involvement, and
Types of decision-making.
Purchase involvement may be low involvement and high
involvement. Low involvement indicates low concern, importance
and interest, whereas high involvement indicates greater concern
and the importance of the purchase and the interest is high. There
are three type of decision-making: Nominal decision-making, limited
decision-making and extended decision-making. Nominal decision-
making involves no decision per se. It is also called habitual
decision-making. Nominal decisions can be categorized as brand
loyal decisions and repeat purchase decisions.
Limited decision-making involves internal and limited external
search, few alternatives, simple decision rule on few attributes and a
little post-purchase evaluation.
Extended decision-making involves great internal and external
information search followed by a complex evaluation of multiple
alternatives and a post-purchase evaluation. Limited decision and
extended decision are high involvement decisions whereas nominal
decision-making is low-involvement decision.
Buyer’s decision process involves five stages: Problem
recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase and
post-purchase evaluation.
Problem recognition It is the difference between the actual state
and the desired state. What action the consumer will initiate in
response to a recognized problem will depend on the importance of
the problem, situation and the inconvenience created by the
problem.
Information search: The consumer engages in internal and
external search, which requires mental and physical exercises.
Alternative evaluation and selection: The information collected by
the consumer is used to evaluate every possible solution to the
problem identified at stage one. The necessary criteria have to be
identified and weighted. Each alternative then has to be evaluated
on all chosen criteria.
Purchase decision: The third stage provides a clear-cut choice to
the consumer.
Post-purchase behaviour. After the final purchase and
consumption a consumer will experience some level of satisfaction
or dissatisfaction. This is referred to as post-purchase behaviour.
Post-purchase dissonance: It refers to anxiety or doubt, which
come in the consumer’s mind after he has made the purchase.

QUESTIONS
 1. How can the study of consumer behaviour help a marketing
manager to develop an appropriate marketing strategy for the
brand?
2. How can external factors influence the purchase decision of a
consumer? Describe various external factors.
3. What are the various stages that a consumer goes through
before deciding to buy a particular brand? Why is information
search an important stage in decision-making_
4. What is buyer dissonance? Why does it occur? How can a
marketer reduce it?
5. Describe various cultural factors that affect consumer behaviour.
Through an example, illustrate how these factors impact
marketing strategy.
6. How do internal factors affect consumer behaviour? How does
perception and learning contribute to self-concept?
7. Personality and attitude are the important determinants of self-
concept and lifestyle. Give an example to state clearly how
these factors may affect the marketing strategy.
8. How does a consumer process the stimulus provided by the
marketer? Explain the differences between exposure and
attention through an example.
9. What should a marketer do to make the consumer take a
favourable purchase decision towards the brand based on the
knowledge of information processing by consumers?
10. What are the various choice decisions a consumer makes in the
decision-making process? Distinguish the same through an
example.
Advertising for a brand is not an outcome of whims or the fancies of
the advertising or the brand manager. It is a well-thought, researched
and stepwise process that leads to numerous decisions by the
concerned managers. It is more so because every decision at this
stage requires an expenditure of money. Therefore, a result-oriented
action plan has to be developed and executed for achieving greater
effectiveness of the advertising plan. A pertinent question may be
asked here—why advertising planning? Planning is important
because its essence is to identify alternatives and choose the best
one that is expected to produce maximum results. Planning is also
essential so that managers do not rely on whims and sudden flash of
inspiration. It guides the managers as well as draws boundaries to
operate within the plan. It is a well thought out future course of action
to achieve desired results. Every plan needs to be documented and
should offer sufficient scope for desired modification needed to
encounter environmental dynamics. Advertising plan should be in
synch with the marketing plan and the marketing plan should be in
synch with corporate plan. This sort of synch is expected to produce
maximum desired results.
The relationship between various plans is indicated in Figure 5.1.
Fig. 5.1 Advertising plan linkages.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Strategic planning is the process of deciding where to go, how to go
and reaching the goal. In other words, it is the process of
determining objectives (what you want to accomplish), fixing
strategies (how to accomplish the objectives) and implementing the
tactics (bringing the plan to life or making it action-oriented). A
strategic plan for a business sets the tone for all other strategies.
Figure 5.2 shows various steps in sequence and the relationship
among them.

Fig. 5.2 Strategic planning process.

 Strategic planning is a three-tiered plan. It starts with a corporate
or business strategy, then moves to functional plans, such as
marketing strategy or finance strategy or human resource strategy,
etc. and then ends with a detailed tactical plan for each of the
function and sub-function. Strategic planning process comprises four
stages: environmental analysis, strategy formulation, strategy
implementation, and evaluation and control. These stages are
sequential and related to each other. It is a continual process
beginning with assessing the current situational state of affairs in the
organization and general business environment. A quantitative tool,
SWOT analysis, is used for this purpose. The outcomes of SWOT
analysis are:
A statement of strengths and weaknesses of the company.
A statement of opportunities and threats in the general business
environment.
The strengths of a company are its positive traits, conditions and
good situations, for example, healthy financial condition, excellent
marketing team, great brand image, etc.
The weaknesses of a company are perceived negative traits,
conditions and situations, for example, poor sales, losing market
share, higher manpower turnover, etc.
An opportunity is an area, which a company can develop and take
an advantage of over its rivals. It could be growing
telecommunications network, change in lifestyle, higher expenditure
tendencies, etc.
A threat is a trend or development in the general business
environment that is likely to erode or reduce a company’s position
unless it takes an appropriate action.
After making an assessment of the current situation, a company
develops its mission statement. A mission statement is broad and
long-term view of the company about self-stating what products or
services it offers, who is its customer and how it is going to satisfy
the customer. A mission is a “reason for being or the purpose of the
organization”. It differs from vision which is future oriented and
generally indicates what the company wants to be whereas mission
is present oriented. It states what the company is doing, for whom it
is doing and how it is going to do it. Three things must be included in
the mission statement:
The product it offers (what is it going to produce).
The customers (whom is it going to target).
Technology used (how it is going to produce).
After developing the mission/vision statement the company must
now decide its objectives, which are those results/achievements that
will help the company to accomplish its mission.
Objectives are end results the company wishes to accomplish.
They are SMART—specific, measurable, attainable, resourced and
timed. Objectives must be very specific and quantifiable. For
example, Hyundai Motors wants to have 20 per cent increases in
sales of Santro Zing for the year 2006-07.
Having decided what objectives are to be achieved, the company
decides how they are to be achieved. In this, it chooses the ways
and means to achieve its objective. In other words, it chooses a
strategy to reach its goals. Strategy is a path or a way a company
chooses out of many identified alternatives to achieve its objectives.
Choosing a strategy is a two-step process:
Identification of alternatives.
Evaluation and choice of alternatives.
Having decided the path it wishes to take, the company sets
ground rules for carrying out action so that the strategy is
implemented.
Policy is a set of guidelines and boundaries within which manager
has to take decisions. Policies provide both freedom and restriction
to the manager for implementing a strategy. The strategic
implementation begins with detailed programmes and procedures.
Also, budgets have to be formulated to assure that all programmes
get implemented. However, it should always be kept in mind that the
programmes implemented may not necessarily lead to achievement
of objectives. The performance has to be continuously monitored
and evaluated to assure that the actions initiated are on right path. At
the stage of monitoring, the following things need to be decided:
What to monitor?
Where to monitor?
When to monitor?
Who to monitor?
Monitoring shall facilitate measurement of performance on various
counts which would be compared with standards. Monitoring process
will indicate deviations from such standards, if any. Following this an
action has to be initiated to correct the deviations, and this can be
done at any stage of the strategic process.
Thus, it is important to understand that once a business develops
its key strategies for attaining its objectives, it must work out
supporting programmes, known as tactics, for carrying out those
strategies.
THE MARKETING PLAN
Marketing plan It is a functional level plan, which set out marketing
objectives, particular strategies and tactics to attain organizational
objectives. A marketing plan should be based on specific problems
or opportunities identified at the stage of marketing environmental
analysis. Therefore, a marketing plan analyzes the marketing
situation, identifies the problems, outlines the marketing
opportunities, sets the objectives and proposes strategies and tactics
to solve those problems and meet objectives. To a large extent, a
marketing plan parallels the business plan and contains many of the
same components as shown in Figure 5.3. As is evident to
advertising managers, the most important part of the marketing plan
is the marketing strategy. It links the overall strategic business plan
with specific marketing programmes, including advertising.

Fig. 5.3 Development of marketing plan.

 The marketing planning process begins with the selection of
marketing objectives, which are drawn from corporate objectives,
and are outcomes of marketing environmental analysis.
A target market is one for which total marketing offer is made and
it comprises a group of similar consumers of one or more
characteristics.
For example, SONY TV has segmented its market based on
capacity to pay, quality consciousness and trendy customers. Out of
the numerous segments it selects few for its market offering. Some
of the factors used as basis for target market selection are
profitability, size and accessibility.

Developing Marketing Strategies

The most important part of the marketing planning is the
identification of key strategic decisions that will not only help achieve
the stated objectives, but also provide competitive advantage at the
market place. The marketer has to make several assumptions about
the customers and competitors before a marketing mix is developed
for the target market. The marketer has to develop specific action
plans or tactics for each of the element of the marketing mix.
Moreover, the elements in the marketing mix are to be designed in
such a way that it appeals to the target market, takes into account
the limitations of the resources and proves profitable.
Implementing the plan
Merely having a great strategy is not sufficient; it has to be
implemented very carefully and with great efforts. This would require
a great number of decisions at the ground level. The marketer has to
assure that the product reaches the warehouses and the sales team
is in the field, training, supporting and motivating the dealer network.
The marketer also has to assure that the promotional material is
dispatched timely and reaches at the point of purchase and also that
the advertising campaign kicks off as scheduled. The responsibilities
for various action plans have to be fixed and schedules for each plan
are drawn, agreed and adhered.
Evaluation and control
This component is very important but often neglected for want of
time and efforts. At this stage, the actual performance is
continuously measured at a predefined point and interval time and
compared with standard (planned) performance. The marketer then
finds gap, if any, in the actual performance so that a timely corrective
action is introduced to bring the performance as planned. As
indicated in Figure 5.3, a feedback is introduced at each stage of the
marketing plan so that reasons for poor performance could be
identified and necessary corrective measures taken.
ADVERTISING PLAN
Generally, companies concentrate on campaign advertising, meant
for or focusing on solving a particular marketing communication
problem, rather than annual advertising plans. In fact, an advertising
plan should only be developed once the marketing plan has been
decided and the role of advertising has been clearly defined in it.
Advertising plan and campaign plan are similar in outline and
structure. These plans are the responsibility of the account manager,
who is responsible for every decision that is to be made in these
plans. Advertising planning involves identifying objectives and target
audience, theme selection and structure, message strategy, media
choice and frequency and budgets. Every advertising plan should
reflect planning, decision and commitment concerning each of these
tasks.
Thus, an advertising plan matches the right message to the right
audience through the right medium.
Developing an advertising campaign is based on two major
factors:
Identification of target market.
Buyer motives (behaviour).
It is important to know and understand the characteristics of the
target consumers before any decision is made on various issues
related to advertising campaign. Ultimately, the potential buyer’s
lifestyle, motives, characteristics and demographic factors will
influence various advertising variable decisions on message, theme,
appeal, media and frequency.
Five major decisions that need to be made creating an advertising
campaign are:
What are advertising objectives? (Mission)
What message should be used? (Message)
How much money can be spent? (Money)
What media should be used? (Media)
How should the results be evaluated? (Measurement)
These are 5Ms that are essential in making a successful advertising
campaign. A typical advertising plan outline is given in Figure 5.4.

Fig. 5.4 Advertising plan outline.

BACKGROUND
The advertising plan should have a sound grounding in the
background situation. The marketing manager must have full
information on the problems, situation and competitive environment
to develop the most appropriate advertising plan. The advertising
strategy must be embedded in the organization’s problem areas and
opportunities that the organization seeks to exploit. In what situation
the advertising campaign should be launched, what are the
competitor’s campaigns, what opportunities are likely to emerge at
marketplace, specific problems faced by the organization are some
of the background information the manager must collect to have the
appropriate advertising strategy developed.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
It is basically a SWOT analysis at advertising level: A review of
current state of the business that is relevant to the brand’s
advertising. This section details the search for and analysis of
important information trends affecting the marketplace, the
competition, consumer behaviour, the company, the product, and the
brand.
The internal strengths and weaknesses of the company are
determined through the analytical tools and the opportunities and
threats profile is prepared as well. To take advantage of opportunities
and avert threats, appropriate strengths are identified and
weaknesses are corrected.
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Depending on the corporate objectives and deeper insight into
situational analysis the marketing objectives are formulated. These
are the end results the marketing function wishes to achieve.
Marketing objectives need to be consistent with corporate objectives.
Some of the typical marketing objectives could be: to become market
leader, achieving thirty per cent market share, achieving twenty-five
per cent sales growth, etc.
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES
Advertising objectives are set in such a way that they help in
achieving marketing objectives. It is important for the advertiser to
know what to expect from the advertising campaign given the huge
money spent on advertising. Thus, every advertising campaign and
the ads in it must be guided by specific advertising objectives.
Basically, advertising objectives fall in four categories: perception,
learning, persuasion and behaviour.
For an advertisement to be effective, it must be seen, read,
understood believed and acted upon. Based on this, advertising
objectives can be divided into the following three categories:
Sales objectives.
Communications objectives.
Behavrioural objectives.
Sales objectives
Advertising objectives, like organizational objectives, should be
operational. This means there should be criteria for decision-making
and standards with which results can be compared.
The most common advertising objectives in terms of sales are:
Immediate increase in percentage of sales.
Increase in market share.
These two measures are immediately available to evaluate the
results of a campaign.
However, the objectives that involve increase in sales and market
share may not be operational for two reasons:
Advertising is one of among many factors influencing sales and
it is difficult to isolate the influence of it on sales.
The influence of advertising continues over a long time.
As indicated in Figure 5.5, advertising is only one of the many
factors that influence sales. The other factors that influence sales
include price, distribution, channel management and motivation, the
size and quality of sales force, product quality and features, the
quality of packaging, role of other promotional mix—like sales
promotion, public relations, direct and personal selling, etc.,—shifting
consumer tastes and preferences, the brand image, general
economic conditions prevailing in the country, planned and reactive
competitor actions etc. It is extremely difficult to isolate the effect of
advertising on the sales. This proves that when such quantifiable
targets (increasing sales) are not achieved, it does not mean that the
advertising has failed. For example, Sony TV launched advertising
campaign in Rajasthan to increase its market share by few
percentage point, but not many sets could be sold. This does not
mean the campaign failed. The reasons were that dealers in
Rajasthan were not interested in pushing sales as it offered them
poor returns, the price range was much higher, other brands like LG
and Samsung came up with better strategy and there was hardly any
follow up service rendered to the dealers due to inadequate sales
force in Sony.

Fig. 5.5 Factors influencing sales.

 Therefore, it is totally unfair and unrealistic to judge the advertising
campaign by the number of sets sold, as it could have been
influenced by many other factors.
Communications objectives
Advertising is most effective when it is used to obtain narrowly
defined communication objectives. Shown in the Figure 5.6 are the
various communication objectives that an advertising campaign must
achieve.

Fig. 5.6 Communication response pyramid.

For any advertising campaign, achieving lower-level

communications objectives like awareness, knowledge or
comprehension are paramount and basic. The subsequent
movement will be towards achieving higher-level objectives such as
liking and preference. It is easier to achieve lower-level
communications objectives. The promotions manager should
measure existing level of consumer awareness, knowledge, liking or
preference for his brand. If the awareness and knowledge about the
brand or its features is low among the consumers, he must
concentrate on increasing this aspect. If the liking and preference for
the brand is low, then he should try creating liking and preference for
the brand by identifying right message and media strategy.
Behavioural objectives
To increase sales or achieve a particular market share merely by
achieving communications objectives is not sufficient. It is important
to induce action in the consumer through advertising.
Here, we require the consumer to act or show a specific behaviour.
The behaviour could be trial of the brand or purchase of the brand.
The two specific objectives could be:
(i) Increasing company’s brand usage rate among existing
consumers.
(ii) Encouraging non-users to have trial consumption and/ or
purchase the brand.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Basic questions that need to be replied in determining target
audience and setting objectives are:
To whom is advertising addressed?
Where will the objectives be achieved?
Determining target audience and objective setting are intimately
connected because identified objectives can be achieved only in the
target market for which appropriate message strategy, media
strategy and creative strategy can be developed specifically.
The process of identifying target audience is as follows:
Identify the market
Identify appropriate segments
Decide criteria for selecting relevant segment
Target audience (selected segments)
The premise of market segmentation and target market is that the
market comprises customers who are heterogeneous in their needs
and wants. Their liking, preferences and choices are different from
others. Therefore, it is a difficult task for any company to satisfy such
diversified needs.
Market segmentation is the process of disaggregating total
heterogeneous market into relatively more distinctive homogeneous
groups of consumers with similar characteristics and selecting few
segments to target with distinctive market offerings.
The marketer has to decide how many characteristics to use for
segmenting the market. The more the identifying characteristics
used for segmenting the market, the more precisely defined are the
segments. However, more the segmenting characteristics used, the
fewer are the consumers in each segment. So, theoretically each
individual consumer can be considered as a distinct segment. Thus,
the marketer has to decide how far to go in the segmenting process.
Some of the basis used for segmentation are: Geographic,
demographic, psychographics and behavioural.
 The number of segments would now depend upon how many
bases for segmentation have been used. It must be made clear here
that all segments may not be attractive in terms of sales. So, the
marketer has to identify and select those segments that are
attractive and profitable not only now but in future as well.
A marketer needs to identify relevant criteria to determine the most
attractive and profitable segments. Each of the segment will now
have to be evaluated against identified criteria such as profitability,
size, accessibility, sales potentiality, future returns, etc. The segment
that measures well against those criteria will form the part of target
market.
POSITIONING: BRAND IMAGE AND BRAND
PERSONALITY
Positioning is the foundation upon which all other marketing mix
decisions are built. A brand’s position is the first thing that comes to
mind when we hear a brand’s name. For example, Volvo owns the
safety position, while ESPN owns the sports information position.
Positioning strategy descriptions usually have an important role in
advertising strategy. Positioning when combined with other
marketing tools produces a unique perception in the mind of the
consumer.
Positioning involves a decision to emphasize or highlight certain
aspects of a brand.
The major decision in positioning is to let the consumer have a
clear and definite idea of what the brand stands for in the given
product category. Also, a brand cannot be distinctively and clearly
positioned if it tries to do everything for everyone. A brand’s
marketing communications is the most important tool for acquiring
such positioning. However, marketing variables such as price,
distributions and product quality and features may also play major
roles. Therefore, we may say that positioning is not what you do to
the product, but what you do to the minds of the consumer through
marketing communications.

Why Positioning?
Advertising efforts and other promotion tools attempt to
communicate the brand’s position to consumers. It is difficult to
create brands in the given product category. Positioning provides
necessary answer to what the brand is and attempts to create a
brand identity to stand firmly against the competitors’ efforts.
A product finds no place or does not exist unless it finds place in
the consumers’ perception. Consumers respond to products or
brands as they perceive them rather than what these are in reality.
The perception of individual product is subjective and called
perceptual identity. The individual perceptual identity is determined
by the individual’s needs, values, beliefs, experience and
environment.
The positioning concept has introduced the concept of “distance”
and dissimilarity between brands in the “perceptual space” of the
consumer. As Professor Levitt said that there is no such thing as a
commodity, all the goods and services are differentiable. Therefore,
the poisoning concept offers plenty of opportunities for perceived
differentiation of products and brands. To be meaningful, a
differential advantage has to be persuasive and sustainable.
The rapid advances made in technology and development has
reduced differences among brands on functional aspects. The brand
or product manager has to emphasize non-functional aspects to
meaningfuly differentiate his brand from other brands.
According to Philips Kotler, positioning is the act of designing the
company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the
target market’s mind. Brands can expect loyalty only if they are
perceived as distinct/different in some way which is meaningful and
persuasive for the consumers in the target market.

Positioning Strategies
It is important to see that the positioning fits the target market. A
brand must be positioned in a way that it is most effective in
attracting the desired target segment.
Subroto Sengupta has suggested that a brand by answering the
following questions itself can develop positioning strategies.
Who am I? (Knowledge of the brand’s identity and image,
lineage or family),
What am I? (The functional capabilities of the brand),
For whom am I? (The consumer segment I serve best), and
Why me? (Powerful reasons to choose me than any other
alternative).
Similarly, Jack Trout and Al Ries suggest that managers should ask
themselves the following six questions to create a position for a
product or service brand:
What position, if any, do we already have in the prospect’s
mind? (This information must come from the marketplace, not
the manager’s perceptions.)
What position we want to own?
What companies must be outgunned if we are to establish that
position?
Do we have enough marketing money to occupy and hold that
position?
Do we have the capability to stick with one consistent
positioning strategy?
Does our creative approach match our positioning strategy?
The strategy can be conceived and implemented in a variety of ways
that may come from attributes, competitors, specific applications, the
type of consumers involved or the characteristics of the product
class.

Approaches to Positioning Strategy

Whatever is the approach used for developing positioning strategy,
all of them have the common objective of either developing or
reinforcing a particular image for the brand in the minds of the
consumer.
Seven approaches to positioning strategy are:
Using product characteristics or customer benefit approach
The price-quality approach
The use or applications approach
The product user approach
The product class approach
The cultural symbol approach
The competitor approach
Using product characteristics or customer benefit approach
It is the most used positioning strategy. It involves putting the brand
above competitors, based on specific brand attributes and customer
benefits. Many cars emphasize technical features such as: MPFI
engine, power windows, fuel efficiency, safety and reliability, etc.
For example, Tata Indica is “more car per car”. Volvo stresses
safety and durability and it shows commercials of crash tests.
BMW car is the “ultimate driving machine” and similarly, Ford Ikon
is “Josh Machine”.

Generally, marketers identify positioning in respect of product

characteristics that have been ignored by the competitors.
Sometimes, brand managers attempt to position the brand along
two or more characteristics simultaneously. For example, Aquafresh
from Beecham was positioned on cavity-fighting and breath
freshening benefits. Sometimes, different variants of a product may
be positioned toward different segments by highlighting different
attributes.
It is always tempting for a brand manager to position along several
attributes or benefits because it might be very disheartening for the
brand manager to have some of the characteristics that are not
communicated. However, an advertisement trying to achieve multiple
objectives by showing too many characteristics might confuse the
brand image and thus hurt it.
Price-quality approach
Indian market is large and heterogeneous where consumer’s quality
and price expectations vary widely depending upon their socio-
economic status. There are brands that deliberately attempt to offer
more in terms of service, features, quality or performance.
Manufacturers of such brands charge higher prices partly to cover
the cost and partly to communicate the fact that they are of high
quality. Conversely, in the same product category there are brands,
though comparable in quality, that appeal on the basis of price. For
example, in detergent product category the brands like Surf and Ariel
are positioned on quality whereas brands like Nirma, though
comparable in quality, is positioned on price. In watch category,
brands like Rado and Timex use quality and price positioning
respectively. It is difficult to use both quality and price positioning
together because there is always a risk that high quality-low price
campaign will smear such position, as people may infer that quality
and low price don’t go together.

The use and application approach

Yet another way to communicate an image is to associate the
product with a use or application. AT&T associated long-distance
calling with communicating with loved ones in its “Reach out and
touch someone” campaign. Similarly, Campbell’s soup for many
years was positioned as a lunch-time product and used noontime
radio advertisements quite extensively.
The recent campaign by LG is positioned as bacteria-free
dishwasher.

The product user approach

In this approach, the brand manager identifies and determines the
target segment for which the product will be positioned. Many brands
use a model or a celebrity to position their product. Many sportsmen
and filmstars have been used by various companies the world over.
The expectations are that a model or a celebrity is likely to influence
the product’s image by reflecting the characteristics and image of the
celebrity, communicated in the ad as a product user. Johnson and
Johnson repositioned its shampoo from one used for babies to one
used by people who wash hair frequently. It created a need for a mild
shampoo for such users. The repositioning of the shampoo resulted
in capturing a large market share by Johnson and Johnson.
 Zandu special Chyavanprash is positioned for small children to
build up their resistance against coughs and colds. However, Dabur
Chyvanprash is positioned for all age groups. Both brands have
similar ingredients but are positioned for different demographic
segments.
The product class approach
This approach is used so that the brand is associated with a
particular product category. This is a very bold positioning strategy
and is generally used when a particular product category is too
crowded. By this positioning, the brand manager would like the
customers to perceive the brand in different context. For example,
the Dove toilet soap from HLL is positioned as a cleansing cream
product for young women with dry skin, thereby, finding a different
position from other toilet soaps.
 One of the finest example of positioning by product class approach
is that of 7up soft drink. The drink 7 up was positioned for long time
as a beverage with “fresh clean taste”. which was “thirst quenching”.
However, the research indicated that 7up was not regarded by
people as a soft drink but a mixer beverage. Thus, a positioning
strategy was developed to position 7-up altogether differently from
the existing soft drink colas. Thus, the highly successful campaign
“uncola” was born.

The Cultural symbol approach

This positioning strategy is based on deeply entrenched cultural
symbols. The use of such cultural symbols can help differentiate the
brand from competitors’ brands. A brand manager needs to identify
something that is highly meaningful to the consumers and is not
being used by competitors. The identified cultural symbol can then
be associated with the brand. The positioning of Marlboro cigarettes
is a classical example of using cultural symbol. The Marlboro
cigarettes campaign used the American cowboy as its main focus to
differentiate the brand from competitors.

The competitor approach

In many positioning strategies the frame of reference, implicitly or
explicitly, is a competitor. Many brands use “competitor” as a
dominant plank in their campaigns. This is an offensive strategy. It is
very common in comparative advertising. One of the finest example
of positioning by competitor is by Avis, the car rental company. Avis
positioned itself as a No. 2 company behind the leader Hertz. It’s
positioning statement was, “We try harder because we are No. 2”
This positioning succeeded because Hertz was No.1 company in US
and thus, Avis related to Hertz.
 In India, lot of comparative advertising is done by automobile,
electronics and airline industry to win customers.

Positioning by competitors is important for two reasons.

Many times it is not important what customers think about you in
absolute terms but it is important that they believe you are better
than or as good as other competitors.
The competitor image can be referenced, i.e. a competitor’s
image can be used as a stepping stone to communicate another
image in reference to it. For example, if someone wants to know
 the address of Eros Cinema in Mumbai, it is better to say it is
opposite church gate main entrance rather than describing the
complete roads, lanes and bylanes that lead to Eros cinema.

Deciding the Positioning Strategy

The choice of taking up an appropriate positioning strategy is a
difficult and complex task. However, it may be made easy if the
company collects sufficient information through research and follow
the nine steps as indicated in Figure 5.7.

Fig. 5.7 Steps in positioning strategy.

Making the Positioning Decision

Some guidelines for getting a right positioning for the brand are as
follows:
An economic analysis should guide the decision.
Positioning usually implies a segmentation commitment.
Stick to the advertising theme if it is working. Do not change it
for the sake of changing.
Don’t try to be something you are not.
Use associations or symbols.
BRAND IMAGE, PERSONALITY AND EQUITY
Branding is the process of creating a unique identity for a product.
This identity creates a feeling of familiarity with a known product,
which makes the consumers feel comfortable to buy it again. This is
the reason behind phenomenal success of some brands like IBM,
Pepsi, Coke, HUL, Tata and Godrej.
Branding creates memorability and establishes preferences, habits
and loyalties. It, thus, encourages a relationship between a brand
and its user (consumer). The major ingredient in branding is trust. A
brand promises that the product will deliver the same satisfactory
performance as it has in the past. As stated by Jacques Chevron, a
brand consultant, “The brand is a covenant with the consumer, a
promise that the brand and the product it names will conform to the
expectations that have been created over time.”
Branding is particularly important for parity products, those for
which there are few, if any, major differences in features. For
example, salt and wheat flour are parity products. These products
are undifferentiated in the marketplace but now through the
development of a brand image, they are differentiated in the
consumers’ mind. For example, the image that comes to one’s mind
when one thinks of Captain Cook and Tata Salt is quite different.
What creates the difference between one type of salt from another
—is advertising. Advertising can establish a personality for the
product. Personality is important for positioning as well as building a
brand image.
David Ogilvy, in Confessions of an Advertising Man, has said the
following on brand image, “We hold that every advertisement must
be considered as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the
brand image, as part of the long-term investment in the reputation of
the brand.”
Today companies are heavily using advertising and other elements
of the marketing mix to build up this equity in their brands.
Companies have realized that good advertising doesn’t simply make
a sale of a product or service but every ad also helps make a brand
image in the minds of the consumer. This imagery or personality of
the brand then partly determines the price premium that the brands
can command from consumers.

Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is the consumer’s ability to recognize or recall
(identify) the brand within a given product category in sufficient
details to make a purchase decision. This also means that the
consumer can propose, recommend, choose or use the brand.
Objectives for most advertising are centred around creating and
maintaining preferences. The first step towards making a consumer
exercise his/her preference towards a brand is generating brand
awareness. Generally, brand awareness is equated with recalling
brand name. The creative ad copy, ad size and ad frequency
contribute a lot in brand awareness and recognition. This is amply
clear when brands like Lux and Hamam soaps, Bajaj scooter, Hero
Honda motorcycle in India and Apple, IBM, Pepsi and McDonald’s in
foreign markets have achieved great brand awareness and
recognition through continuous and creative advertising for last many
decades.

Brand Image
Professor Sid Levy, North Western University, in his article in
Harvard Business Review, 1955, defined brand image as “the sets of
ideas, feelings and attitude that consumers have about the brand”.
Thus, it is an image in customer’s mind that reflects what they think
and feel about a product and how they value it.
A brand has both physical and psychological dimensions. Physical
dimensions are attributes, ingredients, design of the product, design
of package and logo, the letters, shape, colours and art of the
product. whereas psychological aspect includes the beliefs, values,
emotions and personalities that people ascribe to the product.
Tools such as distinctive names, slogans, graphics and characters
are used to transform products and lock them into memory.
Joseph Plummer opined that there are three components to a brand
image as given below:
Attributes,
Consequences, and
Personality.
According to Plummer, brand image is inclusive of all associations
that a consumer has for the brand, such as thoughts, feelings,
imagery, sounds, colours, smells, etc. that the consumer links to the
brand in his/her memory. Brand personality includes associations
with specific characters, symbols, endorsers, users and lifestyles.
Some consumers might relate intensely to a brand like owners of
Harley-Davidson motorcycles in USA.

Brand Personality
The research indicates that when a consumer buys or uses a
particular brand, he/she expresses his/her own self, an ideal self or
some specific dimensions of the self through the use of a brand. This
information about the consumer helps marketers to differentiate a
brand in a product category.
 Marketers visualize a brand in human terms, i.e. the brand is
viewed on the dimensions of human personality. For example, the
personality profile of Pepsi is: Youthful, cool, extrovert and anti-
establishment.
Advertising and marketing managers talk of brand image, brand
character and brand personality. These terms are often confusing
and are used interchangeably.
Differentiating brand image and brand personality, Christine
Restall has said that the brand personality is made up of the
emotional associations of the brand while the brand image
comprises physical features and benefits.
According to Subroto Sengupta, brand personality is the sum total
of all characteristics, psychological and physical aspects. According
to him, brand personality represents that part of the brand image
which in the consumers’ mind is associated with the brand’s
emotional aspects and symbolism.
Advertising can create associations with users and endorsers. For
example, one of the oldest ads of Rajdoot motorcycle shows
Dharmendra (the famous filmstar of Hindi Cinema) riding the bike
and saying “Jordar logon ki shandar savari”.
A brand that has acquired a well-known and favourable personality
over a period of time is more like an old friend and consumers would
prefer to buy such a brand rather than a new one. A brand’s
personality is often unique and cannot be copied. For example,
7Up’s personality as the un-cola soft drink and Maggi’s personality
as 2-minute quick food has successfully faced competitors and could
not be dislodged from their dominant positions.
 Brand personality associations are important from the marketer
and the consumer’s point of view.
Importance to the marketer
It helps the marketer to differentiate the brand from competition.
Easy availability and access to technology has brought all brands
near parity on functional aspects, and these are also perceived to be
so by the consumer. So, the only differentiating element between the
brands is the personality that is associated with them. By creating a
favourable and pleasing personality a marketer can set his brand
apart, which often enables him to gain market share or charge
premium pricing. Brand personality is unique and non-preemptible.
Though competitors can match a brand’s features and price, but they
can’t copy a brand’s personality.
Brand extension
A lot of brand extension decisions are taken by marketing managers
for obvious reasons. Examples of brand extensions are plenty in
Indian and foreign markets. Companies like Sony, Godrej, Tata, IBM
and Videocon have used brand extension to great advantage.
Because brand extension decisions do not require huge budgets that
is otherwise required to launch a new brand name, it helps the
company find ready trial and acceptance by consumers of its new
product launch, because the well-known name behind the new
product probably reduces the level of risk for the consumer and the
retail trade.
Importance to consumer
Knowingly or unknowingly consumers regard their possessions as
part of self. They acquire or reinforce their sense of self through the
goods they buy and what those goods symbolize both to themselves
and others they come in contact with Brands encapsulate social
meaning, for example, masculinity, intelligence or sophistication. So,
by acquiring specific brands we also acquire for ourselves the
meaning that they symbolize.
Implementing a brand personality strategy
Implementation of a brand personality strategy through advertising is
done in three stages:
Researching the brand personality associations: The symbolic
associations that currently exist with the product category and
competing brands.
Targeting a brand personality: Deciding upon the brand
personality which is going to be most valuable to target
audience.
Executing brand personality: Develop advertisements that
create, reinforce or change that target personality. The important
advertising elements are: Endorser, using imagery, executional
elements, symbols and consistency.

Brand Equity
According David Aaker, brands have equity because they generate
awareness, they have many loyal consumers, a reputation for
quality, own patents, have good access to distribution network and
associations, etc. For example, Tata Tea acquired the brand Tetley
tea of UK by paying $130 million mainly for the goodwill of the brand
most of which is built through brand’s advertising. Also goodwill is
one major way to assess the intangible value of a brand. Also,
Volkswagon paid $780 million for the assets of Rolls Royce, and $65
million for the brand Rolls Royce.
Brands vary in their power and value that they enjoy in the market.
Some brands are hardly known to consumers while others have a
very high level of recognition. Some of the brands are highly
acceptable to consumers and some are highly preferred from among
the acceptable ones. Finally, there are those brands that command a
very high degree of brand loyalty among consumers, i.e., consumers
do not accept substitutes of that brand.
The brand that has high equity is likely to have higher brand loyalty
because consumers find it easier to interpret what benefits the brand
offers, feel more confident of it, and get more satisfaction from using
it. Because of such preferences the brand can charge a higher price,
can afford to offer lower retail incentives, can invest less to launch
brand extensions and have more effective marketing programmes.
The factors associated with the brand indicate that main objective
of an advertisement is to increase brand equity by increasing
awareness, familiarity, favourable meanings and associations with
the brand. Thus, the brand is what the consumer thinks, feels,
visualizes when he/she sees the brand name or its symbol. A
schematic representation of brand equity is shown in Figure 5.8.

Fig. 5.8 Brand equity: an overview.

The framework shown in Figure 5.8 defines a brand as having

equity not only with consumers (through high awareness and strong
associations), but also with the distribution trade, brand personality
and other proprietary associations.
Kevin Keller has argued that a brand has equity if the knowledge
that the customer has about the brand—in terms of greater familiarity
with it, and more favourable, strong, congruent, unique and
leverageable associations with it—leads to greater consumer
preference.
The framework suggested by Keller is shown in Figure 5.9. Notice
that the associations can either be about the brand’s attributes or
benefits (functional, experiential and symbolic) or attitudes towards
it.

Fig. 5.9 Consumer knowledge about a brand.

Both frameworks, shown in Figures 5.8 and 5.9, show that one of
the main tasks of advertising in increasing brand equity is to increase
consumer’s awareness of and familiarity
with it.
Brand knowledge gets enhanced through brand awareness and
brand image. The nature of associations that advertising creates with
the brand is what actually shapes the brand image.
Let’s recall that a brand is not a physical entity but instead it is
what the consumer thinks, feels and visualizes when he/she sees
the brand’s symbol or name. Stronger brands have more shape and
substance, they evoke richer, stronger and more consistent
favourable meanings and associations.
CREATIVE STRATEGY
The present day advertising is quite different from the past. A large
number of commercials of modern times seem to be completely
unrelated to selling any particular product. There appears to be great
emphasis rather obsession with feelings, emotions and images in the
advertisements and no claims are made about the product.
Once the advertiser has decided on the content of the ad, the task
of creating the ad itself is usually given to the creative people of the
ad agency.
For example, Ford Fusion has come up with a big campaign in
print media where it compares the brand with other competitive
brands like Honda City and Hyundai on various parameters such as
mileage, engine power, price, ground clearance, etc. An advertising
campaign needs to be planned well. The brand manager, ad agency
and its creative people need to spend quality time before hitting with
a great idea which can be the central theme or copy platform for a
campaign.
In their book Creative Strategy in Advertising, Jewler and
Drewniany say that an advertisement needs to contain a persuasive
message that convinces people to take action. They suggest further
that for a campaign to be creative an advertisement must make a
relevant connection with its audience and present a selling idea in an
unexpected way.
Before the writers and art directors move on to conceptualize and
create the ad, it is always helpful to decide the broad framework
within which the ad has to be created: What kind of appeal should
the ad utilize? Whether it is a competitive comparison (rational)
approach or emotional appeal (fear or humour) or uses an endorser
(expert or a likable personality).
Creative strategy is driven by the marketing and advertising
objectives and is a reflection of the product category. Some of the
products like clothes, jewellery and cosmetics are fashion items and
their advertisement needs to make a fashion statement. Some
product categories are just naturally difficult to advertise. In this
case, lot of copy testing may be required.
Some other product categories such as products used in homes,
for personal care or for sustenance are in commodity markets where
it is difficult to differentiate the products based on their features. In
these cases, the creative strategy is designed to build a distinctive
brand personality.
In addition to product category, the creative strategy is also driven
by targeting strategies. For the creative, targeting means being able
to identify with the target audience. Creativity in advertising requires
empathy and a keen awareness of the audience, i.e. how they think
and feel, what they value and what makes them take notice. This
ability to identify with the target audience delivers consumer insights
that often lead directly to the creative idea. That’s why account
planners are helpful for the creative team as they have greater
insight into the consumer that lead to great creative strategies. An
analysis of the winning ads in the Annual Communication Arts Award
indicates that agencies using account planners were more
successful in winning awards than other agencies.
Creative strategies blend the elements of creative mix: the target
audience, the product and its positioning, the communication media
and advertising mix. Advertising and creative strategy address target
audiences to effectively communicate the product positioning
through selected media.
Creative strategy determines what the advertising messages will
say or communicate and creative tactics determine how the
message strategy will be executed. The most important aspect of
creative strategy is to find or determine the big idea that will be used
as central theme of the advertising campaign and translated into
attention getting, distinctive and memorable messages. Creative
specialists find it difficult to come up with big idea that will break
through the clutter. Some of the well-known examples of campaign
with big ideas are:

Brand Big idea or theme

 Timex Watches “It takes a licking & keeps on ticking”
Thumps Up Taste the thunder
Nike Just do it
Hallmark Cards When you care enough to send the very best
Coca Cola Matlab thanda
Intel Intel inside
BMW Ultimate driving machine

A good creative strategy and execution is central to determining the

success of a product or service or reversing the fortunes of a
struggling brand. Conversely, an advertising campaign poorly
conceived and executed can be a liability. An advertising campaign
is a set of interrelated and coordinated marketing communication
activities that centre on a single theme or idea that appears in
different media across a specified time period. Determining the
unifying idea around which the campaign will be built is a critical part
of the creative process, as it sets the tone for the individual ads and
other forms of marketing communications that will be used.
A campaign theme should be a strong idea, as it is the central
message that will be communicated in the advertising and other
promotional activities. Advertising campaign plans are short-term in
nature and are generally done on annual basis. However, some
themes are usually developed for a longer period of time, for
example, ‘Intel inside’ of Intel.
Like any other area of marketing, creative theme is guided by
specific goals and objectives. A creative strategy that focuses on
what must be communicated will guide the selection of the campaign
theme and the development of all messages used in the ad
campaign. The creative strategy is based on several factors such as:
Identification of the target audience,
The basic problem issue,
Opportunity that advertising must address,
The major selling idea or key benefit the message needs to
communicate, and
 Any supportive information that needs to be included in the ad.
Once these factors are determined, a creative strategy statement
should describe the message appeal and execution style that will
be used. The flow diagram in Figure 5.10 shows the sequence of
events and interrelationships.
 Fig. 5.10 Creative strategy elements.

The above indicated elements and the key execution details are
spelled out in a document called creative brief (also called creative
platform, worksheet or blueprint). The brief is the document prepared
by the account manger to summarize the basic marketing and
advertising strategy. It gives direction to the creative team as they
search for the theme. Generally, a copy platform is prepared by the
account planner and it is approved by the marketing manager from
the client’s side. Figure 5.11 shows a sample copy platform outline
prepared by an accounts executive. It is prepared to guide the
creative process. Just as there are different names for the copy
platform, there are variations in the outline and in the level of details
included.

Fig. 5.11 Copy platform outline.

The copy platform should be understood and agreed upon both by

advertising agency and the client team. It is a simple written
statement of the most significant issues to consider and guide the
creative team in developing an advertising campaign. The copy
platform outline is indicated in Figure 5.11 can be transformed into a
more elaborated form with the use of six Ws as indicated:
Who: Who is the potential customer in terms of geographic,
demographic, behavioural and psychographics qualities? What is
the personality profile of a typical prospect?
Why: Does the consumer have specific needs and wants that
the ad message should focus upon and appeal to? There are two
broad categories of appeals: Rational and emotional. Rational
appeals are directed at the consumer’s practical and functional
 need for the product or service, whereas the emotional appeals
aim at the consumer’s psychological, social and symbolic needs.
What: Are there any special features of the product or service to
satisfy the consumer’s needs? What factors support the product
claim? How is the product positioned? What image or personality
of the brand can be/has been created? What perceived strengths
and weaknesses of the brand need to be addressed?
Where, when and how: In which market area, what time of the
year and through what media will these messages be delivered?
What: What style, approach or tone will the campaign use?
What will the copy say and how will it say (tone conveys quality,
beauty and sophistication, and brand character statements relate
to long-term descriptions of the brand’s values.)
The creative process may help the creative team bring out unique
and innovative advertising campaign. According to Alex Fosborn,
former head of BBDO, creative process involves the following seven
steps:
Orientation: Pointing out the problem.
Preparation: Gathering pertinent data.
Analysis: Breaking down the relevant material.
Ideation: Piling up alternative ideas.
Incubation: Putting the problem aside to invite spontaneous
ideas at later time.
Synthesis: Putting the pieces together.
Evaluation: Judging the resulting idea.
What constitutes creativity in advertising is probably somewhere
between the two extremes of the continuum:
However, irrespective of the agreement on the definition of an
creative ad, it is imperative that everyone involved in planning and
developing an advertising campaign must understand the
importance of balancing the “it’s not creative unless it sells”
perspective with novelty, uniqueness and impact position. Brand
managers or account executives must recognize that imposing too
many sales and marketing-oriented communications objectives on
the creative team can result in mediocre advertising, which is often
ineffective in today’s competitive, cluttered media environment. At
the same time, creative team must realize that the goal of advertising
is to assist in selling the product and good advertising must
communicate in a manner that helps the client achieve this goal.
Thus, advertising creativity is the ability to generate fresh, unique
and appropriate ideas that can be used as solutions to
communications problems. To be appropriate and effective, a
creative idea must be relevant to the needs, wants and aspirations of
the target audience.
Advertising creativity is not the exclusive domain of the creative
team. The modern business requires that creative thinking should
come from all those who are involved with the promotional aspect of
the product.
The D’Arcy, Masius Benton and Bowles agency has developed
guidelines to achieve superior creativity. The agency views a
creative advertising message as one that is built around a creative
core or power idea and uses excellent design and execution to
communicate information that interests the target audience. It has
used these principles for developing outstanding advertising
campaigns for P&G, Norelco and many other popular brands.
D’ARCY, MASIUS BENTON AND BOWLES UNIVERSAL ADVERTISING STANDARDS
Does this advertising position the product simply and with unmistakable clarity?
The target audience must be able to understand immediately about the product, whom it
is for and what’s in it for them. Creating this clear vision of how the product or service fits
into their lives is the first job of advertising. Without a simple, clear and focused
positioning no creative work can begin.
Does this advertising bolt the brand to a clinching benefit?
Advertising should be built on the most compelling and persuasive consumer benefit, not
on some unique-but-insignificant peripheral feature.
Admen must be sure they are saying the right thing. If they do not know what the most
compelling benefit is, they must find out before doing anything else.
Does this advertising contain a power idea?
Power idea is the vehicle that transforms the creative strategy into a dynamic and
creative communications concept. It is the core creative idea that sets the stage for
brilliant executions to come. The ideal power idea should:
Be describable in a simple word, phrase or sentence without reference to any final
execution.
Be likely to attract the prospect’s attention.
Revolve around the clinching benefit.
Allow us to brand the advertising.
Make it easy for the prospect to vividly experience our client’s product or service.
Does this advertising create a brand personality?
Great brands tend to have something in common: the extra edge of having a brand
personality. This is something beyond identifying what the brand does for the consumer.
Is this advertising unexpected?
Should our clients pay good money to wind up with advertising that looks and sounds like
everybody else’s in the category? They should not.
We must dare to be different, because sameness is suicide. We can’t be outstanding
unless we are different. The thing is not to emulate the competition, but to annihilate
them.
Is this advertising single-minded.
If we want people to remember one big thing from a given place of advertising, let’s not
make it more difficult than it already is in an over communicated world. The advertising
should be all about that one big thing.
Does this advertising reward the prospect?
Let’s give audience something that makes it easy and even pleasurable for our message
to penetrate: a tear, a smile, and a laugh. An emotional stimulus is that special something
that makes them want to see the advertising again and again.
Is this advertising visually arresting?
Great advertising is unusual to look at: it is often a compelling, riveting and nourishing
feast for the eyes. If you need a reason to strive for arresting work, create something
“catching or holding the attention, thought, feelings, or gripping.
Does this advertising exhibit painstaking craftsmanship?
Lighting, casting, wardrobe, direction—all components of the art of advertising are as
important as the science of it.
Source: Adapted from Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing
Communications Perspective, 5th edition, by George E. Belch and Michael A. Belch, Tata
McGraw-Hill.
MESSAGE STRATEGY
The way marketing communications are presented is very important
in determining their effectiveness. The message is often considered
as the most vital component in the communications process.
“Message is the thought, idea, attitude, image, or other information
that the advertiser wishes to convey to targeted audience”.
Brand managers must focus on what will be the message content,
how the information will be structured for communication and what
kind of message appeal would be appropriate. Message structure
refers to how the elements of a message are organized.
Advertisers go through the following three steps for developing a
message strategy:
Message generation: It revolves around major benefits and
brand offers. A customer derives four types of rewards/benefits
from the product. These are rational, sensory, social and ego
satisfaction.
Message evaluation and selection: Every advertising
campaign would have to generate a number of alternative
suitable messages. Each message would then have to be
evaluated and the most appropriate would be selected. The
message needs to be rated on factors like desirability
(interesting), exclusiveness (distinctive) and believability.
Message execution: The message’s impact depends not only
upon what is said, but also on how it is said. Some ads use
rational positioning and others use emotional positioning.
Designing message
The message should be developed using AIDA model. The message
should gain attention, hold interest, arouse desire and elicit action.
Formulation of a message requires four essential factors:
What to say (message content).
How to say logically (message structure).
How to say symbolically (message format).
 Who should say it (message source).
Message content
It is also called appeal, theme, idea and the unique selling
proposition (USP). It amounts to formulating some kind of benefit,
motivation, identification or reason for the audience to think about or
investigate the product.

The following are the three basic types of appeals that can be
used:
Rational: This kind of appeal is based on audience’s self
interest like benefits in terms of quality, economy, value,
performance, saving time, etc.
Emotional: These appeals stir up positive or negative emotions
that motivate purchase. Negative emotions are fear, guilt and
shame while positive emotions are love, humour, pride and joy.
Moral: These appeals are directed at audience’s sense of what
is right and proper. They are used more for social causes.
Message format
A message format is the sequence and the manner in which
message has to be presented for its maximum effectiveness. The
message format depends on the type of medium to be used.
 In print media, the communicator has to decide on the headline,
copy, illustration and colour.
In radio words and voice quality (speech rate, rhythm, pitch, tone,
articulation) and vocalization (pauses, sighs, yawns) matters.
In TV, words, voice quality, vocalization, body languages (non-
verbal clues) are important. The presenters have to pay attention to
their facial expression, gestures, dress, posture and hairstyle.
Message source
Message delivered by attractive sources achieves higher attention
and recall. Advertisers often use celebrities as spokesperson.
Messages delivered by highly credible sources are more persuasive.
For example, Pharma products testified by doctors have high
credibility. Three factors that mainly underlie source credibility are
expertise, trustworthiness and likeability.

Message structure
Message structure is an important aspect of message strategy. It is
the way to communicate the various message points and overcome
any opposing viewpoints that the audience may hold. The message
structure comprises order of presentation, conclusion drawing,
message sidedness, refutation and verbal versus visual message
characteristics.
Order presentation
A basic consideration in the design of a persuasive message is the
argument’s order of presentation. The decision needs to be taken on
whether the most important message points be placed at the
beginning of the message, in the middle, or at the end. In two-sided
messages, the issue is whether to present the positive argument first
(primacy effect) or last (recency effect). The decision depends on
several factors.
If the target audience is opposed to the communicator’s
position, presenting strong points first can reduce the level of
counter arguing.
If the target audience is not interested in the topic, the strong
points of the message put first create better impact on the target
audience.
If the target audience is predisposed toward the communicator’s
position or is highly interested in the issue or product, the strong
points could be saved for the end of the message.
The order of presentation can be very critical when a long detailed
message with many arguments is presented. Most effective sales
presentations open and close with strong selling points and bury
weaker arguments in the middle. There are many product and
service messages that are received by consumers with low
involvement and minimal interest. Thus, an advertiser may present
the brand name and key selling points early in the message and
repeat them at the end to enhance recalling and retention.
Conclusion drawing
It raises the question as to whether the communicator should draw a
definite conclusion for the audience or leave it to them. The best ads
ask questions and allow readers and viewers to form their own
conclusion. Research suggests that, in general, messages with
explicit conclusion are more easily understood and effective in
influencing attitudes. However, some other studies suggest that the
effectiveness of conclusion drawing may depend on the target
audience, the type of issue or topic, and the nature of situations.
 Highly educated people prefer to draw their own conclusion and
may be annoyed at an attempt to explain the obvious or to draw an
inference for them. But drawing a conclusion may be appropriate for
lowly educated audience, who may not draw any conclusion or may
infer wrongly. For highly personal or ego-involving issues, message
recipients may want to make up their mind and resent any attempts
by the communicator to draw conclusions.
The complexity of the topic is also a factor whether the audience
would like the message with conclusions drawn. Even a highly
educated audience may need assistance if the knowledge level in a
particular area is low. If the marketer wants immediate action then
the message should draw definite conclusion.
Message Sidedness
The marketer is faced with the decision whether it is going to be a
one-sided or two-sided message. Message sidedness raises the
question of whether the communicator should only praise the
product or also mention some of its shortcomings.
One sided messages mention only positive attributes and benefits.
It works best when audiences are initially predisposed to the
communication’s position. It also works better with less educated
audience.
Two-sided message present both good and bad points. Two-sided
messages are more effective when the audiences are opposed and
are better educated. Two-sided messages may enhance the
credibility of the source. A better educated audience usually knows
there are opposing arguments, so a communicator who presents
both sides of an issue is likely to be seen as less biased and more
objective. W.K. Buckley Ltd. of Canada uses two-sided message for
its brand of cough syrup “Buckley’s mixture. It taste awful. And it
works”.
Refutation
In two-sided message, the communicator presents both sides of an
issue and then refutes the opposing viewpoint. Since refutation
appeals tend to inoculate the target audience against a competitor’s
counterclaims, they are more effective than one-sided messages in
making consumers resistant to an opposing message. Refutation
messages may be useful when marketers wish to build attitudes that
resist change and defend against attacks or criticism of their
products or the company.
Verbal vs. Visual Messages
The non-verbal and visual elements are a very important part of an
advertising message. Many ads provide minimal information and rely
heavily on visual elements to communicate. Pictures are commonly
used in advertising to convey information or reinforce message
claims. Both verbal and visual portions of an ad influence the way
the advertising message is processed. Consumers may develop
images or impressions based on visual elements such as an
illustration in an ad or the scenes in a TV commercial. Pictures affect
the way consumers process the accompanying copy.
A recent study said that when verbal information was low in
imagery value, the use of pictures increased both immediate and
delayed recall of product attributes. When the verbal information was
already high in imagery value, the addition of pictures did not
increase recall.
MEDIA STRATEGY
In these paragraphs, we would study the media planning and buying
functions, where they fit in the advertising process and how media
planners set objectives and develop media strategies. Over the last
decade media planning has acquired significant role in developing
advertising campaigns. The proliferation of media choice and
increased cost has made the task of media planners very intricate.
Today, the advertisers expect greater efficiency and creativity in
media buying decision so as to derive maximum advantage.
It must be remembered that the product or service being
advertised affects the media planning decisions. Some products are
suitable to be advertised on certain media vehicles only because of
their nature and audience reach.
Basic terms and concepts related to media planning
Media planning is the process of determining how to use time and
space of the media to achieve advertising objectives. It is the series
of decisions involved in delivering the promotional message to the
prospective buyers of the brand.
Media plan is the guide for media selection. It contains specific
media objectives and media strategies (plan of action) designed to
attain media objectives.
Medium is a single form of communication (TV, billboards, radio,
online media) or it is the general category of available delivery
system.
Media mix is the combination of media to be used for delivering
message to the target audience.
Media class is a type of medium such as TV, radio, newspapers,
magazines, direct mail, etc.
Media vehicle is a single programme, magazine or radio station. It is
the specific carrier within a medium category. Times of India or
Business Today in print media, Office Office of SAB TV, Geetmala of
AIR are the examples of media vehicle.
Media option is the detailed description of an ad’s characteristics
other than the copy and the artwork used. It specifies media vehicle
and other advertising characteristics such as size (full page or half
page), spot length (15 seconds or 60 seconds), colour (black-white
or four color) and location (front page, back page or interior
positions).
Above-the-line media are such as broadcast, press, outdoor,
cinema and posters in which the advertising agency gets
commission.
Below-the-line media are such as direct mail, sales promotion,
exhibitions, merchandising, sales literature, etc. in which the
advertising agency does not get any commission.
Reach is the measure of the number of different audience members
exposed at least once to a media vehicle carrying the advertising
message within a given time period.
Coverage refers to the potential audience that might get exposed to
the ad message through a media vehicle.
Frequency refers to the number of times the audience is exposed to
the advertising message in a given period of time.
Scheduling and timings specify how media options are scheduled
over time. Among the strategy alternatives are:
Flighting: A period of total inactivity. It is on and off schedule,
Continuous: Advertising spread evenly through out the time,
Pulsing: A continuous base augmented by intermittent bursts of
heavy advertising. Pulse pattern has peaks and valleys.
Timings decisions include the selection of specific issues or time
slots. The media schedule will also specify the number of planned
insertions in each media vehicle. A more detailed media schedule
also specifies other details of media option such as size or length
and the timings of the advertisement insertions.

Developing a Media Plan

We have discussed in the previous topics about the situational
analysis and its importance. We discussed broadly the internal and
external factors, competitive strategies and the customers. While
developing a media plan, a market analysis will again be performed
focusing on the media and delivery of message. The key issues to
be analyzed at this stage are:
To whom shall we advertise?
What internal and external factors may influence the media
plan?
Where (geographically) and when should we focus our efforts?
Figure 5.12 indicates various stages involved in developing an
effective media plan.

Fig. 5.12 Developing a media plan.

The media planner works with the account planner, marketing

manager of the client and the creative director to decide which target
markets to be focused for message delivery. A variety of information
can help the media planner to arrive at this decision. Some of this
may be primary data collected through research and more can be
had from secondary (published data) sources. A large number of
organizations publish variety of data on consumers and products
used by them.
 The analysis of internal and external market factors provides a
good assessment of opportunities and the client’s strengths and
weaknesses, which is then used for developing the most suitable
media plan. Internal factors are size of the media budget, and
managerial and administrative capabilities of the agency itself. The
external factors are the economy (rising cost of media) and
competitive factors.
Companies often find it difficult to decide where to promote the
brand. It relates to geographic considerations. Some geographical
areas give excellent sales and some give poor sales of the brand.
Thus, the problem of allocating media budget whether it should be
proportionate to sales figure or according to the market potential.
The media planner can make use of some of the techniques for
making this decision. He/She may use some of the following
indexes:
The survey of buying power index (BPI)
The brand development index (BDI)
The category development index (CDI)
Establishing media objectives
Market situation analysis should lead to development of media
specific objectives, which are designed to lead to attainment of
communications and marketing objectives. Thus, media objectives
are the end results that must be accomplished through media plan
and programmes. Some of the media objectives can be:
Create 80 per cent awareness in the target market
Create favourable attitude in the 40 per cent of the target
market.
Make 15 per cent of the target market purchase the brand.

Developing Media Strategy

Media strategy relates to the choice of media category, media
vehicle, deciding reach and media scheduling. It must be kept in
mind that an advertiser has a wide variety of media and media
vehicle available to him. In the first step, he identifies various
alternative media categories and media vehicles. Then the choice of
the media and media vehicle is made on the basis of objectives
sought, the characteristics of the product or a services, the size of
the budget and the individual preferences. These factors contribute
in the decision whether a single media or a combination of it will be
used.
By choosing a media mix strategy advertisers can add more
versatility to their media strategies, since each medium contributes
its own distinct advantage. By combining media, marketers can
increase coverage, reach and frequency levels while improving the
likelihood of achieving marketing and advertising objectives.
The following criteria need to be considered in media execution
plan:
The media mix
Target market coverage
Geographic coverage
Scheduling
Reach
Frequency
Creative aspects and mood
Flexibility
Budget considerations
Like all other plans, media plan also needs to be evaluated to assess
its performance. Having decided on various issues such as media
mix, coverage, frequency, reach, scheduling and budgets, the
advertiser and the media planner set the media plans rolling. The
action takes place and the consumer is exposed to the brand
message. Putting media strategies in action where the consumer is,
the marketer and the media planner must know how far they have
been successful.
The measures of success or failure will be considered on two
factors: How well did these strategies achieve media objectives and
how well did this media plan contribute to attaining the
communications and marketing objectives.
If the media strategies were successful they must be used as base
for future media plans. If not, then they should be analyzed for
shortcomings.
However, the performance parameters of media strategy need to
be monitored regularly. It must be measured and compared with
standards. Any deviations observed must then be corrected
immediately rather than waiting for the complete duration of the plan.
The media plan helps the marketer decide in advance what he
wants to achieve and how he is going to achieve it. The marketer,
thus, decides the base against which he measures his advertising
performance at the marketplace.
There are a large number of activities and decisions that are
required to be made in the process of developing and executing
media plan. As the media plan unfolds, events may occur that
require changes. Many advertisers find it necessary to alter and
update their media objectives and strategies frequently.
The activities required to be undertaken in a media plan are given
in Figure 5.13.
Fig. 5.13 Activities in a media plan.
ADVERTISING BUDGET
The budget brings the media plan and other advertising related
activities alive. The value of an advertising strategy can be
determined by how well it delivers the message to the audience in
the lowest cost. There is a large number of factors that determine the
total advertising cost, such as media mix decision, source person,
reach, frequency, scheduling and timings, stage of product life cycle,
market share and consumer base, competition, clutter and product
substitutability.
There are generally four methods that the advertisers use in
determining the advertising budget.
Affordable rate (it ignores the role of advertising as an
investment).
Percentage of sales method (it ignores the market opportunities
and objectives of advertising).
Competitive parity method (it ignores company’s capability).
Objective and task method (depending upon what is to be
accomplished by advertising).
Broadly, two approaches are available to decide budgets:
Top-down approach: The management decides how much can
be given for the promotion of the brand. It is based on the
affordability and management’s perception of the brand and
market situation. This approach ignores market reality.
Bottom-up approach: The managers at the lower level decide
how much they need to accomplish their respective objectives. It
is an activity-based and object-oriented budget approach.
IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION
It deals with the campaign’s specific tactics. It specifies in detail
about the activities to be undertaken, people responsible for these,
time schedules and budget availability.
The advertising manager has to find answers to the following
questions:
What is to be done?
Who will do it?
When will it be done?
How will it be done?
Execution of the plan is one of the most difficult parts of the plan
because if anything wrong has to happen, it will happen, at this stage
of the plan. As the old saying goes, “Success is in details”, and there
are innumerable details in a typical advertising plan.
For successful execution of the plan, the advertising manager has
to authorize individuals responsible for execution, for expenditure so
as to bring the plan into action.
As the plan goes into action, activities start happening and results
pour in from various points. The advertising manager should now
evaluate the results. Evaluations of the advertising plan are based
on how well the advertising plan meets its objectives. Essentially, the
evaluation of the plan is done midway so that necessary corrections
may be introduced to achieve desired objectives.
INTEGRATING ADVERTISING WITH OTHER
MARKETING COMMUNICATION TOOLS
For many years, promotional activities/functions in majority of
companies were dominated by advertising. Companies, generally,
relied heavily on advertising agencies for guidance in all areas of
marketing communication. However, most marketers did use other
promotions and marketing communication tools but in an isolated
and fragmented way. Other marketing communications were handled
separately and independently with different budgets, different views
of the market and different objectives. As a result, each of the
promotional activity communicated different image of the brand. It
could not present a common communication and a consistent image.
The returns on the promotional expenditure were therefore low.
The marketers later realized the importance of integrated
communication approach. They wanted seamless communication to
achieve synergy between various promotional tools. Though
promotional tool has specific objective to achieve, it should also help
in achieving common marketing objectives. Advertising, however
creative it may be, can’t achieve desired results as a stand-alone
promotional tool. It must be understood that though we are targeting
homogenous groups, still there exist a lot of heterogeneity among
customers who are influenced by different promotional tools such as
sales promotions, publicity, personal selling, direct marketing, public
relations and advertising. Each of these promotional tools is dealt
with extensively in the later chapters of the book.
It is now evident that a systematic approach to advertising can
bring far better results for every paisa spent by the brand manager.

SUMMARY
Advertising for a brand is well thought, researched and stepwise
process leading to numerous decisions by the brand manager. In
order to create maximum impact or achieve desired results, the
advertising plan should be in synch with the marketing plan, and the
marketing plan should be in synch with the corporate plan.
A typical marketing plan should contain marketing objectives,
identified target market and strategies related to product, advertising,
media, message, creative, pricing and distribution.
An advertising plan is developed for solving a marketing
communication problem. It involves numerous tasks such as
objectives determination, target audience selection, choosing a
theme, creating a right message, media choice, arriving at correct
frequency and budget formulation. Therefore, it is a plan to say the
right things (message) to right people (target audience) through the
right medium.
An advertising campaign is developed to achieve advertising
objectives. Major decisions in advertising campaigns are related to
advertising objectives, message, money, media and measurement.
Positioning strategy influences advertising strategy significantly. It
acts like the foundation upon which all major marketing mix
decisions are made. Marketing communications is the major weapon
for acquiring a given positioning for the brand. Positioning helps in
creating a brand identity or a unique space in the minds of the
consumer. Positioning is developed through many ways such as
customer benefit, price-quality, applications, product user approach
and cultural approach.
Creative strategy of a brand is driven by marketing and advertising
objectives, product category and target market. A creative strategy
determines what the advertising messages will say or communicate
and creative tactics determines how the message strategy will be
executed.
A message strategy involves selection of message appeal,
message content, message structure, message format and message
source.
Media strategy is a very important component of advertising
planning because it involves outgo of funds and brings the brand in
contact with potential buyers. It requires the advertising agency and
the brand manager to make various decisions related to media mix
and media vehicle, reach and exposure, frequency, and scheduling
and timings.
Advertising budget brings the advertising plan into action. Budget
can either be determined by top-down or bottom-up approach.
Various methods used for determining the budget are affordable
rate, percentage of sales, competitive parity and task method.

QUESTIONS
1. Why is advertising planning important for achieving marketing
objectives? Does advertising planning help in getting better
returns on advertising budget? How?
2. What are the key factors that must be kept in mind while
developing an advertising plan? Briefly describe various
components of advertising planning.
3. Using appropriate illustrations, differentiate advertising strategy
from advertising tactics.
4. What is the basis of determining advertising objectives? List out
possible advertising objectives for Maruti Ltd. which has decided
to increase its sales by 20 per cent for the current year.
5. What is the role of positioning in advertising of a brand?
Describe various positioning approaches.
6. Differentiate between brand equity, image and personality
through appropriate illustrations.
7. What are the components to creative strategy? “Creative is the
heart of advertising.” Discuss this statement in the light of
intense competitive market situations.
8. Discuss message strategy and its relevance to the creative
strategy.
9. What are the various appeals that can be used in a copy
platform? Discuss it by taking examples of some advertisements
from Indian corporate sector.
Huge sums of money are being spent by companies on marketing
communication efforts in the hope that this expenditure would benefit
their businesses by influencing consumer choices. Too much of
money is at risk and advertisers need to have relevant, updated and
complete information about who their customers are, what they want
and like, and where they spend their media time. Research is
needed to get the required information for marketing and advertising
decisions.
 For conducting marketing research, companies develop systematic
procedures for collecting, recording and analyzing data from
secondary and primary sources to help managers in making
decisions. Marketing research helps in identifying customer needs
and market segments, furnishes information that is necessary for
developing new products and formulating marketing strategies, it
enables managers to measure the effectiveness of marketing
programmes and promotional activities, develops forecasting and
helps in financial planning and quality control.
Advertising research is a subset of marketing research. It
systematically gathers and analzses information to help develop and
evaluate advertising strategies, individual ads or an advertising
campaign. The advertiser needs to know how consumers perceive
its products or services, what are their views about the competition
and what image of the brand or the company would be the most
appropriate to build.
Advertising research primarily relates to three critical decisions that
have to be made to develop an advertising programme:
Setting objective,
Selecting the message, and
Choosing appropriate media vehicles.
As to objectives, managers would ideally want to see the payout in
terms of sales or profits or both.
In case of selecting message, advertisers decide what their
message should be. How should they present it? What copy should
they use? What headlines? What pictures and/or symbols? What
situations?
In case of choice of media vehicles, advertisers decide what they
should use: TV, newspapers, radio, magazines, billboards, etc. or a
combination thereof.
The choice is made on the following:
What programme?
What days of the week?
What time of the day?
 How many times?
To answer all these questions, it is necessary to know the number
and kinds of people making up the market and to have detailed
information about audiences of alternative media vehicles.
PURPOSE OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH
Advertising research serves numerous purposes.
It helps in arriving at an appropriate positioning decision for the
brand.
It helps in selecting target markets, advertising messages and
media vehicles.
Creative concept research is used to find out the acceptability of
creative ideas at the concept development stage itself.
Pre-testing of ads is done to diagnose any possible
communication problems before beginning an ad campaign.
Post-testing of ads is done to find out effectiveness of the
advertising campaign.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The advertiser has to find out:
Who are the customers?
Who are the customers of the competing brands?
What do these customers like and dislike about the company's
brand and the competitors’ brands.
How the company's brand is currently perceived among
customers?
What must we do to clarify and improve the customer’s existing
perceptions?
The statement clearly defines the specific and measurable
problem that the researcher had to address. All the five questions
raised above relate to relevant objectives for which the research
should provide answers needed by the decision maker. The
information generated through these questions help the marketer
decide on new positioning strategy. This would facilitate the
company in developing appropriate marketing plans, advertising and
promotion strategy to communicate the new positioning to the target
market.
We have seen and discussed that the advertising research is a
part of marketing research. Advertising research if performed
scientifically helps avoid wasting money on ineffective advertising by
doing pre-launch test and a means of monitoring the effectiveness of
a campaign while and after the campaign has ended.
Advertising research is not limited to testing creativity. There is
huge data available through independently-researched statistical
information on sales, readership and audience figures regarding all
media so that one can select the most economical and effective
media. Also, it is possible to decide the duration of appearance of an
advertisement by addressing when enough people have had the
opportunity to see the advertisement a sufficient number of times.
Advertising research can help achieve the advertising objectives
effectively and economically. The advertising is defined by IPA as
“the most persuasive selling message to the right prospects for the
product or service at the lowest possible cost”.
Let’s revisit the advertising objectives that will help in better
comprehension of why advertising research is a necessary element
in marketing decisions.
Advertising research is more specialized in that it focuses on all
the elements of advertising including advertising design, media
planning and evaluation. We have discussed in the preceding
paragraphs that information play a big role in every major advertising
campaign. The information gathered from research is always
assimilated, combined with and altered and added by the
professional and personal experience of those who plan, execute
and approve the advertising.
The research process
An effective research involves the following steps that advertisers
take to collect the relevant information:
(a) Problem definition
(b) Exploratory or informal research
(c) Determining research objectives
(d) Research design:
Sampling methods and sample size
Scaling
Data collection methods
(e) Data collection
(f) Data Tabulation and analysis
(g) Interpretation conclusion and reporting
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES
Ideally, advertising objectives should be stated in terms of sales or
profits. This is difficult or impossible given that advertising is only one
of the input variables and it interacts with other controlled and
uncontrolled variables that also impact sales and profits.
The advertising objectives must somehow relate to consumer’s
behaviour since this is what must be influenced to obtain a sale. But,
behaviour is a function of a complex process. It is not enough to say
that the objective of advertising is to trigger behaviour that will lead
to sale. Rather, what is needed is a measurement of the process by
which the desired response was achieved; i.e. the communication
must attract the attention of the target group, be understood and
convince all those concerned that the product can meet their needs
better than alternative products.
COMPONENTS OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH
Advertising research can be strategic or evaluative by nature. Also, it
has different purposes. Strategic research is an information
gathering process that enhances the design at a creative strategy
level. It covers all the issues that lead to the actual creation of
advertising. Strategic research can be thought of as collecting
relevant background information needed to make a decision. Figure
6.1 shows components of advertising research.
 Fig. 6.1 Components of advertising research.

The information related to consumers regarding what, where, why

and how consumers purchase; competitors, brand, sales, price, etc.
is collected to facilitate decision making for copy platform and media
choice. Evaluative research assesses the effectiveness of
advertising decisions. An advertisement goes through various stages
of development and evaluation takes place at each of the stage. In
evaluative research, the advertising copy is tested before it is
released to the media to judge the acceptability of the advertising
campaign. The test is conducted whether the advertisement gives
the message, which the advertiser intends to give to the target
audience. Post-test evaluates whether the advertising objectives
have been achieved or not (refer to Figure 6.2).
Fig. 6.2 Post-campaign tests as measures of advertising effectiveness.
ADVERTISING STRATEGY RESEARCH
Advertising strategy is developed by carefully blending the creative
mix for the target audience to attain an appropriate “positioning”
through the use of right media mix.
The advertising strategy components are:
Target market
Positioning
Communication media and
Creative concept
The main reason behind conducting “target market” research is to
develop a profile of brand's consumers/buyers. It is very important to
know the primary users of the product category and carefully study
their geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural
characteristics. The research may reveal the most potential market
segments and target them to achieve advertising objectives. It is
very true while introducing new products. Companies may have
budget constraints and might prefer to launch the product first in the
most potential markets and subsequently spread to lesser potential
markets.
The advertiser has to know how, the brand is perceived by the
consumers. He also has to know how competitor's brand is
perceived by the same set of consumers. The brand/ advertising
manager should have information about what qualities, features or
benefits associated with the product or service lead to initial
purchases and ultimately to repeat and consistent purchases (brand
loyalty). This set of information will help him/ her to develop an
effective positioning strategy for the brand.
Media choice is an important decision because this stage in
advertising strategy leads to outgo of funds and delivers the
message to the desired target market. Therefore, communication
media research helps develop media strategies like choice of media
vehicle from among different media class (TV, newspapers,
magazines, radio, outdoor, etc.). Lot of information on reach,
audience profile and effectiveness of different media vehicles can be
had by subscribing syndicated research services like IRS and NRS.
Advertisers undertake research to study and identify what the
consumer’s likes and dislikes are with respect to brands or products
and hope to find the big idea and develop an effective advertising
message. Researchers use concept testing to determine which
message-element option is most likely to prove successful.

Creative Concept Research

In creative concept research, creative team develops several rough
copy platforms. Researchers conduct focus group interview in the
agency’s development lab or at the market place. Focus group
interviews are combined with other quantitative techniques. A
discussion leader moderates the discussion of focus group and each
focus group is made to view the roughs (copy platform). The
reactions of these groups are measured, videotaped and observed
by researchers from behind a one way - mirror. This helps in
identifying the most promising creative concept from among many
that have been seen and discussed by the focus groups.
OTHER OBJECTIVES
There are many specific communication objectives:
Closing an immediate sale (buy now because of price)
Creating near-term sales by moving the prospect closer to a
purchase (combating competitive claims)
Building a long-range consumer franchise (establish brand
recognition and acceptance)
Contribute towards increased sales (convert non-users of the
product type)
Emphasizing a specific step which leads to a sale (induce
prospects to sample the product)
Imparting information needed to close a sale (where to buy it)
Building confidence in the company (past and present
profitability)
Building images (product quality and corporate citizenship)
Objectives may also be classified in terms of:
Informing making consumers aware of a new product, announcing
a new price and explaining how a product works
Persuading attempting to build brand preference and loyalty and
changing a consumer's attitude towards a particular brand’s
characteristics

Reminding Telling consumers where and when to buy

ATTITUDE MEASURES
In recent years, the use of attitude maintenance or shift as a
measure of advertising effectiveness has grown in importance. This
has resulted from recent work dealing with product positioning in
which product benefits serve as the basis for market segmentation.
To achieve any attitudinal objectives, the communication must
satisfy several requirements like attracting attention, being
understood and being convincing. Awareness (both aided and
unaided) is often used as a summary measure of advertising’s
success in attracting attention and being remembered and thus, can
be used as an objective.
Measuring the attitudes of target audience towards products and
then attempting to determine the effect of advertising on those
attitudes, more than a single measurement is needed since marketer
need to evaluate attitudes towards their product’s salient
characteristics as well as toward those competing brands. Such a
set of measurements should give some indication of what specific
attitudinal changes must be brought about in order to obtain sales.
The goal of advertising can be stated in terms of changing consumer
attitude with respect to selected product characteristics that means,
attitudes are predictors of behaviour and that they can be measured
with some reasonable degree of accuracy.
Idea of using attitudes as the focus of advertising effort has great
appeal because of its presumed link with behaviour. In lieu of
measurements of attitudes per se, purchase intention measures are
often used as a way of testing advertisements that seek to increase
the likelihood of purchase by changing beliefs and evaluations.
COPY TESTING
Research seeks to evaluate alternative ways for advertisers to
present their messages.
The word ‘copy is perhaps unfortunate, since it seems only to refer
to print media and more specifically to the headline and text of the ad
message. Here copy refers to an entire advertisement, including the
verbal message, pictures, colours and dramatizations, whether the
ad appears in print, on radio or television or via some other medium.

Copy-testing Measures and Methods

The methods used for copy testing depend upon the following:
 What assumptions are made about how advertising works?
What are its objectives?
If objective is to persuade, then a measure of purchase intent will
be used.
If objective is attitude shift, then a measure of scales will be used.
If objective is exposure to message overtime, then in market
controlled experiments will be used.
To test an ad copy, the researcher must know both what the
copywriter is trying to accomplish and what assumptions are being
made as to how the various copy components will contribute to this
end.
To judge an ad effectiveness, the measures dealing with
recognition, recall, comprehension, believability, persuasion and
attitude change are the most typical measures.
Copy testing is divided into two parts:
(a) Tests made before the copy is released on a full-run basis
(before testing or pre-tests)
(b) Tests done after the copy is run (after testing or post-tests)
Pre-tests are designed to determine what weaknesses exist in the
copy before too much money has been spent on the ad. After testing
or post-testing attempts to measure the combined effect of the
advertising, the media used, the scheduling, the product’s
distribution, and competitive advertising.
Before discussing these copy-testing methods, let’s see the
research needed to determine which creative strategy to adopt.

Creative Strategy Research

A product’s creative strategy is concerned mainly with determining
which message can elicit the desired response from members of the
target audience. Product’s target audience and desired response
can be specified by using attitude and market segmentation studies.
First, take a decision as to what ideas the message needs to
communicate that requires the use of marketing research to
measure the impact of the idea on which the message is based.
 Concept sort tests are used to select one or few ideas from a large
number. The ideas can be written in the form of one or two
statements and typed on a 3 5 card. Respondents proceed to sort
these cards into piles based on some evaluation criterion such as:
Intention to purchase or some descriptive scales like
uniqueness
Importance or believability
Concepts having the highest box score are developed further.
Focus group discussions can often provide insights into the relative
importance of various concepts. A skilled moderator may gain
insights into why consumers prefer one brand to another as well as
how consumers feel and think about advertising for a given product
class or type.
Pre-tests may be conducted as early as during idea generation to
rough execution to testing the final version before its implementation.
There is no sure-fire way of predicting the success of an
advertisement campaign. Advertisers and advertising agencies often
use more than one type of pre-tests to examine possible problems
before large amount of money is spent on communicating the actual
message. By using pre-testing techniques, a number of variables
can be evaluated such as the ability of the ad to attract attention,
message comprehension by the audience, recall of copy points and
the probability that the consumer will buy the product or service. Pre-
tests should be used as guide and not as final indicators of success.

Methods for Pre-testing Advertising

Print advertising
Direct questioning
Focus group
Portfolio tests
Paired comparison test
Order-of-merit test
Mock magazine test
Direct mail test
 Psychological test
Word association
Sentence completion
Depth interview
Story-telling
Physiological tests
Pupillometer
Eye-movement camera
Electro thermal response
Voice-pitch analysis
Brain pattern analysis
Hemispheric lateralization
TV and radio advertising
Central location test
Clutter test
Trailer test
Theatre test
Live telecast test
Sales experiment

Before Tests (Pre-campaign Tests)

(i) Consumer jury
It provides a “rating” given to an ad by a group of consumers who
represent potential buyers of the product. In this test, potential
consumers are found. Personal interviews may be used or a group
may be assembled and the members asked to vote on the
alternatives. The ad copy may be made up in dummy form or the
major theme placed on cards. Respondents are then asked to rank
the alternatives according to their preferences or interest in buying
the product. It is assumed that respondents will always like at least
one ad. A variation of these is sometimes used to analyse TV
programmes and commercials.
 The first step is as follows:
Expose the audience to the programme or commercial.
Let members record at specific intervals whether they liked,
disliked, or are indifferent to, what they had just heard or seen.
The same may be accomplished using an electronic machine
known as the program analyser.
The machine has two buttons; respondents press one when
they find the program interesting, the other when the program is
uninteresting for them and neither when they are indifferent.
A record machine summarizes the data and charts the
continuous reaction of the audience.
This machine does not measure the extent of feeling or reasons
for liking or disliking.
(ii) Rating scales
It may be used by advertisers or ad agency personnel for rating
alternative ads. Their use require the establishment of standards for
effective copy and numerical weights for each standard. The weights
indicate a standard’s relative worth in the overall success of the
copy. Ads are then rated in accordance with the scale values and a
numerical score obtained. If the total weight for one item, for
example, is 10, analysts might give one ad 8, if they think it above
average on that item. The total of the individual scores provides the
numerical rating for an ad. The major advantage of a rating scale is
that it provides a list against which to check an ad and helps to
single out the elements of an ad. that are good and bad. A variation
to the above has been developed by the Leo Burnett agency to
quantify the consumer’s subjective reaction to a TV commercial. It is
called VRP (Viewer Response Profile). It is different from other copy-
testing methods in which it seeks to measure a viewer’s “experience”
with a commercial on several dimensions. Scale items are evaluative
statements made by consumers about commercials in general. The
VRP focuses on the emotional component of communication effects
and provides information relative to such questions as: “Do viewers
see the commercial as confusing, entertaining or empathize with the
character and situations in commercial. Various dimensions included
in the scale are entertainment, confusion, relevancy, brand
reinforcement, empathy, familiarity and alienation.
(iii) Portfolio tests
Ads that are to be tested are packaged.
A group of ads (usually a mixture of test ads and control ads) are
in portfolio. Sometimes these ads are actually placed as dummy
copies in newspapers or magazines. In this test, respondents (being
representative of the target audience) are given the folio and asked
to go through it, reading whatever interests them and taking as much
time as they want. Then, the respondents are asked to recall (with
the folio closed) the ads that they can remember. Such recall may be
on a completely unaided basis or the interviewer may aid the recall
by asking about specific ads or ads for specific products. For each
recalled ad, the respondent is asked to play back as much of the ad
as possible. This information is recorded verbatim. Further,
additional questions may be asked about such things as the
believability of the claims in the ad, the general reaction to the ad,
and whether the respondent uses the product. Portfolio test is used
to test the merits of two or more alternative ads. Experimental design
is used in which two or more sets of folio are prepared. The only
difference between folios is that one set contains the test ad A and
another set contains the test ad B and so on. The non-test ads
(control ads) are the same in all folios and positioned in the same
order. Using small matched samples and comparing recall and play
back scores among the various groups obtain a “winner”.
(iv) Psychological tests
These tests are same as other tests mentioned above but differ in
methods used. Ad effectiveness depends on the results achieved by
the ad in the mind of the individual. Ideally, one could set up a list of
the reactions that might result from a given ad. such as self-pity,
security, fear, or nostalgia. Alternative ads could then be rated on
how readers responded with respect to these reactions. The variety
of research techniques used is word associations, sentence
completion, depth interviewing and story telling. The idea is to know
what respondents see in various ads and what it means to them.
Such studies can be taken either before or after the copy has run.
(v) Physiological tests
In these tests, use is made of special lab equipment, which records
an individual’s physiological responses to an ad. It helps achieve
objective responses to identifiable stimuli. Two important
physiological tests are galvanic skin response and the eye
movement tests.
Galvanic skin response test uses a device similar to polygraph
machine used in lie-detection work. In this test, respondents are
linked by electrodes to a monitor and are exposed to a number of
stimuli in the form of test and control ads. The monitor records the
impact of these ads on the nervous system by measuring the
amount of perspiration occurring on the hands. Advertising
effectiveness is judged on the basis of the “arousal” registered on
the monitor. The problem with the test is the small sample size and
what is being measured, since arousal does not necessarily mean
favourable reaction.
The eye movement test uses the eye camera, which is a device
that records continuously the activity of the eye both horizontal and
vertical as it reads printed material. By analyzing the route “taken” by
the eye, researchers can determine what part of the ad attracted the
initial attention, what was interesting in it, and whether there was any
part which appeared confusing. In this method, the interpretation of
the result is difficult as it is impossible to correlate eye action with
what readers are thinking -for example, when the eye lingers at one
point in the ad. Does this indicate interest or confusion?
A new machine “the pupil reader”, permits both finished ads and
those in rough draft form to be tested in a real world setting. The
machine resembles a lamp, and when respondents sit in front of it,
they are not aware that it is recording both their eyes and the reading
material at the same time. Another machine that is used measures
pupil dilation. The basis of this test is that the pupil dilates when the
respondents receive an interesting or pleasant stimulus. Conversely,
the pupil contracts when individuals receive uninteresting or
unpleasant stimulus. This machine is also called pupillometer. By
comparing the changes induced by a message against the base line
produced through the use of neutral stimuli, a measure of
effectiveness can be obtained. A disagreement exists about what the
pupillometer is measuring. A pupillary change may reflect an
emotional response to a stimulus or may result from an increase in
mental activity, regardless of whether it is pleasant or unpleasant.
Another device, the tachistoscope, permits researchers to control
the amount of time (in fraction of a second) that an advertisement
(either in rough or finished form) is exposed to a group or to an
individual. This permits researchers to study perception and
comprehension under rigid time conditions. Thus, for example, the
ability of outdoor billboard copy to impart a message can be tested
under simulated exposure conditions.

Post-testing Methods (Post-campaign Tests)

Post-testing occurs after the advertising campaign has run and is
commonly undertaken both by advertisers and advertising agencies.
Once the campaign has “run”, it is impossible to measure the effects
of message separately as results are confounded by the frequency
of media schedule, impact of medium used and other market factors:
Inquiry test
Sales test
Recall test (aided recall or unaided recall)
Recognition test
Inquiry test
Some ads. are designed to produce direct results, such as sales or
inquiries. In such cases, a basis exists for measuring accurately the
advertisement’s worth.
Inquiry tests may be handled in the following ways:
(a) The same offer may be placed in different pieces of copy
placed in different issues to the same medium.
 (b) The offers are so keyed that they can be traced to the specific
advertisement copy. Assuming that all other factors remain
constant between issues—a difficult assumption to make—the
difference in the number of inquiries received should indicate the
“pulling power” of the different pieces of copy.
(c) The same offer is placed in different ad copy that appears in
different magazines or newspapers. The assumption is that
differences between media are either negligible or can be
corrected (say, on the basis of the circulation), and that the
adjusted return will indicate the best copy.
(d) The same offer is placed in a medium that provides a split run
service. This is a procedure whereby half the copies of the
magazine or newspaper contains one piece of copy and half
contains another piece of copy. This is accomplished in a
systematic way so that the two pieces of copy reach similar
audiences.
(e) A large number of inquiries do not mean that the advertising is
successful unless inquiries are the sole advertising objective. If
the ad’s objective is to help the long term build up of a general
attitude, the number of inquiries may not necessarily be a sound
basis for judging the ad’s effectiveness.
Sales tests
This test measures only short-term effects.
The measuring instruments may not be sufficiently sensitive to
detect relatively small differences in sales; they are time consuming,
it is hard to hold all other factors constant and they are quite
expensive.
Some of the sales tests are:
(a) Use of alternative pieces of copy
In this test, consumers are exposed to alternative pieces of copy
through points of purchase displays or direct mail.
In case of POP displays, the need to test two ads would require
two matched store samples. Product sales will be measured in each
store before and after the introduction of the appropriate display. The
changes in sales between the two periods for the two store samples
would be compared, and that group with the largest increase would
be presumed to have the best copy. Similar experimental design
studies can be conducted by mail using coupons.
(b) Use of two matched groups
In this test, one group of respondents are shown a group of TV
commercials in a trailer located next to a supermarket. Another does
not see a commercial. Both groups are given tickets with a
redemption value that group members use in the supermarket to buy
whatever brands they wish in the product category involved in the
test. The store, through its check out electronic machine records the
purchases made by each group, thereby providing the data needed
to measure the effect of test commercials.
(c) Behaviour scan (a service operated by information resources inc)
It measures the effectiveness of TV advertising in a similar fashion
as described at earlier paragraphs. Such companies install UPC
scanners in all supermarkets in test areas. The company doing such
a scan identifies a panel of households. Members of a panel of
households in each of these test market areas have their purchase
recorded electronically by presenting their ID cards to the cashier.
The panels are representation of the total market and serve as the
basis for studying trial and repeat buying, purchase rates and brand
loyalty.
Recall tests
This test measures the proportion of a sample audience that can
recall an ad. There are two types of recall—aided recall and
unaided recall. It provides the cue to the respondents about the
media vehicle involved, product class and ad sponsors. In aided
recall, the respondent is prompted by showing a picture of the ad
with the sponsor or brand name blanked out. Whereas, in unaided
recall, only the product or service name may be given.
Day−after recall
It is applied to TV commercials. An exposure of the finished
commercial is given to audiences in one or two cities. After this,
several hundred viewers are interviewed by phone to determine if
they can recall the message. Based on their answers, a recall score
is derived, which is then compared with a standard or a normative
score (derived from similar studies). On this basis, a commercial is
either accepted or rejected. One major problem with such scores is
that they are an inappropriate measure of emotional commercials.
Problem of reliability
When commercials were retested, the score varied often
substantially. The scores are affected by the type of the programme
that carried the commercial.
The straight recall test described above can be modified to provide
more discriminating data pertaining to copy effectiveness.
Recognition test
Recognition test measures whether a respondent can recognize an
advertisement as he or she has seen before. This test is more
suitable to print media. This test is done by mail survey in which
questionnaires are mailed to large number of households. In
recognition test, three measures are generated for each
advertisement in a media vehicle. These measures are noted, seen,
associated and read the most. Studies show that recognition
depends on the product class, the involvement of the consumer
segment in the product class, and on variables such as size, colour,
position, copy approach, and the nature of the magazine or media.
Recognition is a necessary condition for effective advertising. If the
advertising can’t pass this minimal test, it probably will not be
effective. It may be appreciated that high recognition scores are
easier to achieve than high recall scores, since recognition requires
only a judgement about the climates and does not require as much
retrieval of information from memory as is required by recall.
MEDIA RESEARCH
It is very important as it requires outgo of funds and provides
exposure to the target audience. Any decision that is not based on
proper information can spell disaster for any advertising campaign.
The information collected through media research shall be able to
provide answer to the following questions:
What class of media should be used?
What media vehicle and media option should be used?
What should be the exposure level and how schedule it?
The major areas of research are media selection and media
scheduling.
Media selection
The goal is to select a media schedule from among the many
alternatives that will maximize same combination of the number of
people reached and the frequency with which they are reached. This
decision presupposes that advertisers have specified the market
segments they want to reach.
They must then decide the following:

1. What frequency of message exposure is desired in order to

bring about a change in behaviour that will affect the sales of
their brand favourably
2. Maximum numbers in the market segment that can be reached
with that frequency.

Not only the type of media selection but also the vehicle selection is
a problem.
Media selected affects—recall of ad message, ratings of its
sponsors and coupon return.
The Advertising Research Foundation suggests that following the
elimination of non-prospects, the media analyst pay attention to the
five levels at which the media vehicle operates to contribute to the
effectiveness of the ad message.
1. Vehicle distribution
It refers to the individual medium’s circulation—the process by
which, it becomes available.
2. Vehicle exposure
It refers to exposure of audience to the vehicle-reading a given issue
of a magazine or watching a particular TV programme.
3. Ad exposure
It is like the vehicle exposure but involves the ad. It requires that the
message physically come within the audience’s attention range.
4. Advertising perception
Audience has conscious awareness of the ad. Perception of print
advertising is affected by the size, colour and position of the ad. as
well as the thickness. The vehicle measures are also influenced by
product interest, past and present usage and prospect status.
5. Advertising communication
The audience receives the message in a desired context.
Media scheduling
The purpose is to determine the appropriate level of repetition. Since
advertising is forgotten (wears out) over time, there is also the
question of whether a pulsed or burst schedule should be used in
contrast to one using constant spending.
Market and sales analysis research
It includes market potential analysis, sales forecasting and sales
analysis.
Market potential analysis
It involves development of potentials for individual markets. Market
potential is used in establishing sales territories, allocating marketing
effort and setting sales quotas. It may be estimated in two ways—
through direct data or through corollary data.
Sales forecasting
Sales forecasts predict company’s sales of a specific product in a
specific market or region during a specific time period. These serve
as a guide for planning within the company. Methods of forecasting
are executive or sales force judgement, trend analysis and
regression analysis.
Sales analysis
It is useful for identifying strong and weak points in company sales
programme. Sales analysis is performed by comparing the sales and
selling costs associated with different territories, products,
customers, or order size.
Measuring advertising effectiveness
Every advertising campaign has to achieve specific objectives. The
ad agency and the advertiser have to assure that the given
campaign achieves its objectives so that every rupee spent is utilized
most effectively. The research can help in providing right information
so that right decision is taken.
Research may be applied at four different stages:
(a) A continuous analysis of past advertising experience, in search
of guidelines for an analytical framework, is a very useful first
step except in the case of new advertisers or products. Such an
analysis can provide a valuable basis for reviewing and
developing advertising strategy.
(b) Surveys of buyer behaviour and consumer preferences are
helpful in developing advertising objectives and strategy. Such
research will also be useful in monitoring changes in the target
segment.
(c) The third area involves pre-testing advertisements before their
release. Pre-testing provides an indication of the likely
acceptance of an advertisement or a campaign by the target
audience. Results of pre-testing will be used for making
improvement and changes as suggested by research.
(d) Post-test research involves testing of the reach and impact of
advertising after it has been released. Pre-production research
and post-testing are complimentary. The former is diagnostic and
 is concerned with evaluation of noticeability, recognition, recall,
comprehension and behavioural changes, if any, brought about
advertising.

Pre-placement Evaluation of Advertising

Although past experience and a ‘feel’ for the market would always
remain valuable aids for advertising executives, a systematic and
methodical approach for estimating the possible effectiveness of the
advertising before its release would be a worthwhile effort and might
also be helpful in avoiding possible adverse effects later.
The first advertising decision may require searching and screening
of suitable advertising ideas:
Quest for new ideas or for new expressions of old ones
Collection of facts about what people know or feel about a
company
Prediction of how people will probably react to a new advertising
idea
The themes, product ideas, brand names, slogans and other
elements to be included in an advertisement can thus be evaluated
by using the following methods:
(i) Concept testing
It is the basic communication concept around which a campaign may
be developed. Lipton Green Label campaign emphasized the
environmental features of the areas such as the shade of the
Himalayas and the cool mountain winds where this tree is grown.
Liril and Thumps Up concept testing would usually involve not more
than 50 to 100 respondents, using techniques such as qualitative
interviews, free association tests and various statement comparison
tests.
(ii) Theme testing
The advertising themes are as follows:
Utilitarian—emphasis on the value of the product and for
service directed towards providing satisfaction for the money or
 efforts spent on obtaining the product/service.
Focused—an extension of utilitarian themes, which will appeal
to specific market/audience segments.
Informative—emphasis only on information about the
product/service being advertised. No explicit selling message is
present.
Non-specific—a vague or diffused message which contains
only passing reference to the product or advertiser.
Achievement orientation—highlighting the achievements in
terms of sales, profits or awards won by the advertisers.
Descriptive and projective—a combination of informative and
achievement oriented themes.
New product, service scheme or idea—a new entry in the
market.
(iii) The media factor
The best of messages may fail in achieving their objectives if the
message vehicle is inappropriate or inadequate in terms of its reach
and coverage. In addition to having a major bearing on the cost of
advertising, media types and advertising effectiveness, the media
factors help in the following ways:

1. They determine in large measure the size and characteristics of

the audience exposed to advertising, i.e. how many and what
types of persons would have an opportunity to see or hear the
advertising and how often.
2. They provide an environment that is favourable, unfavourable or
neutral for advertisement to be seen or heard.
3. In interaction with copy and the audience, they determine the
overall impact of an advertising campaign—the information
communicated, attitudes formed or changed or action that may
be taken as a result of advertising.

(iv) Copy research

The basic purpose of pre-testing various possible advertisements is
to establish whether the message content and presentation are likely
to perform their allocated task efficiently, and what changes or
improvements may be helpful.

Sources of Statistics for Media Research

(a) Independent Media Surveys
A number of research organizations produce regular independent
media studies. They are independent in the sense that they have
tripartite sponsorship representing the three sides of advertising
through bodies serving the advertisers, advertising agencies and the
relevant media bodies. Some surveys are conducted continuously
with press and TV, or periodically with radio, or occasionally with
outdoor. In addition, individual media owners such as publishing
houses and TV contractors conduct their own surveys.
(b) Readership and Circulation
These provide press media data. Readership is the estimate of the
number of people who read newspapers and magazines and the
figures result from surveying a sample of the reading public.
Circulation is the average audited net sale, or the number of copies
actually sold at the full cover price (free copies not included).
Readership is estimated by means of extensive readership
surveys. Readership is not found by multiplying the circulation figure
by a given number.
Circulation figures are based on audited net sales, not field
research. In their absence, there are sometimes publishers’
statements as well. The IRS (Indian Readership Survey) and NRS
(National Readership Survey) provide these figures every year.
(c) Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC)
Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) was found to inform advertisers
and advertising agencies of the number of newspapers or
magazines, which are sold. It was created because publishers were
selling advertisement space on the basis of spurious circulation
figures, which were actually total print orders rather actual number of
copies sold.
National Readership Survey
All most all newspapers and magazines that are registered with
Indian Newspaper Society (INS) are included in the readership
survey, plus certain other specialist journals from time to time and a
very large sample of people is interviewed.
During the continuous survey, questions are asked about
individual’s TV viewing, listening to radio, cinema going, related to
readership and purchasing habits, etc. The respondents are divided
into A, B, C, D and E socio-economic classes so as to produce
demographic profile of the readership of each publication. The NRS
figures are issued every six month.
Poster
Structured power audience traffic studies are carried out by Poster
Audience Research (POSTAR). It was set up in 1996 to provide
independent on-going research into audiences for outdoor
advertising.
POSTAR provides on-going data on poster audience traffic,
coverage and frequency estimates. These indicate:
How each site is located and panel positioned;
How many people pass each panel
How they see it
This information is obtained through;
Computer-modelled traffic counts; advance visibility studies;
Extensive travel survey
ACCOUNT PLANNING
Account planning is a process that involves conducting research and
gathering all relevant information about a client’s product or service
brand and the consumers in the target market. Account planning
facilitates the creative process. It provides necessary inputs to the
creative process. Without inputs from the account planning, it may
be very difficult for the creative team to proceed with its work.
Account planning is an important link between the client and
advertising agency’s creative team. Many a times, the account
executive is the real face of the client because the kind of inputs
he/she provides becomes the basis for the creative team’s creative
work.
Account planning started in England during the 1960s and 70s and
has eversince spread across the globe including the US, Europe and
Asia. The concept has been very successful during the last two
decades, as many agencies have experienced higher success rate
with the campaigns that were developed with the help of account
planning. For example, Goodby, Siverstein and partners who have
used account planning extensively had developed many successful
advertising campaigns for many clients such as Polaroid, HP, Sega
and Nike. One of most popular ad campaign “got milk” for California
milk processor Board was also developed by the same agency.
In his book entitled Truth, Lies, and Advertising: The Art of Account
Planning, Jon Stell, Vice President and Director of Account Planning,
notes that the account planner’s job is to provide the key decision
makers with all the information they require to make an intelligent
decision. According to Stell, “Account planners may have to work
very hard to influence the way the advertising turns out, carefully
laying out a strategic foundation with the client, handing over titbits of
information to creative people when, in their judgement, that
information will have the greatest impact, giving feedback on ideas
and hopefully adding some ideas of their own.”
An account planner uses research (both primary and secondary) to
gain more information about the brand in its market place, the
consumer’s perspectives, competitor information and shares this
information to contribute directly or indirectly to develop an
appropriate advertising campaign.
Small agencies may not afford to have account planning
department or if they have the department, it may lack the expertise
for certain aspects or problems related to brand promotions. In such
situation, small agencies depend on external research suppliers. In
some of the cases, this agency-supplier relationship becomes so
strong, lasting and productive that the external supplier fulfils most of
the roles of an internal account planning and research department.

Many advertising agencies create and maintain specialized

libraries often known as information and intelligence centres that
provide access to dictionaries, encyclo-pedias, atlases, cookbooks,
book of famous quotations and trade, business and general
newspapers. A typical information and intelligence centre
(specialized) library must be equipped with people and material to
answer numerous and variety of questions as indicated below.

A sample of questions to be answered by a typical

intelligence centre (library) of an agency
What are the trends in soaps and detergents?
What information regarding the fourth of September 2004
is available at the intelligence centre?
We want to shoot our commercial at Ooty (India)? What is
the average temperature and rainfall in the months of
August and September and what is the best way to reach
there? Check the availability of hotel accommodation as
well.
Who are the leading detergent players? Provide sales and
market share data
How many Indian families have children under the age of 6
and family income above Rs 03 lac annually?
How big is the detergent market in India?
We need pictures of brand characters—original and
revised ones of Ariel, Nirma and surf.
A typical advertising campaign might be influenced, directly or
indirectly, by information from many sources. Both outside research
suppliers and agency’s own account planning department are the
major sources of information for any ad campaign. It is surprising to
note that the account planner faces the problem of plenty rather than
scarcity, i.e. he/she has too much of information available with him
from various sources. His difficulty is to sort it out and identify
meaningful and useful information out of this heap. He has plenty of
qualitative information, which provides insight into how consumers
behave and why, and the quantitative information which has
numerical information such as exposure to ads, purchases, and
other market-related information.
The account planner must sort out the potentially relevant material
from irrelevant material and put the findings into a format that
decision makers and the creative team can use. The research task
usually falls to account planners in case of agencies with internal
account planning or research departments. An account planner is
responsible for the advertising strategy formulation and
implementation in the creative work. The account planners must
thoroughly understand the client’s target market, brand and other
market-related information to develop an effective advertising
strategy. One of the most important skills possessed by the account
planner is the ability to organize huge amount of information in
relevant and useful form so as to solve the problem related to the
brand.
A large full agency will have an account planning department to
develop a meaningful interface with the client. However, agencies in
small towns and newly-formed agencies in large towns, many of the
specialist’s jobs may be carried out by the same person.
A typical organizational structure of a large agency with its
departments and functions is indicated in Figure 6.3. Various
positions shown in Figure 6.3 indicate how different specialist jobs
are performed in a full service agency. Advertising agencies may
vary in size and structure. They may operate according to plans
board system (consisting of account executive and heads of agency
departments; an account executive introduces new account and
submits his/her report to all heads who in turn discuss and a
campaign is agreed upon) or have overall account planner who
integrates the work of departments and personnel. Working closely
with the account executive, the account planner prepares the
creative brief and gets associated throughout the campaign.
Whatever may be the structure and interrelationship, the general
flow and control of work will be similar, with the account executive
maintaining liaison with the client, the agency, and the production
manager.
 Fig. 6.3 A full service agency: departments and function.

An account executive also acts as a controller to ensure that each

stage of the campaign is completed on time so that advertisements
reach the media by the deadlines or copy dates and the schedule of
release to media is adhered. It must be appreciated here that a
number of different campaigns will be progressing simultaneously at
the agency so there will be great variety of work. The account
planner has to remain constantly in touch with various departments
and accounts executives so that no confusion and interchanging
arise.
 A common mistake is to assume that advertising manager works in
the agency. He/she is, in fact, in charge of the client’s advertising
department. The agency - client relations and negotiations will be
conducted between the agency account executive and the
company’s advertising manager (or somebody else on the client’s
behalf. It may be marketing manager, sales manager, product or
brand manager or any senior manager, etc.).
VARIOUS POSITIONS AND FUNCTIONS IN A
FULL SERVICE AGENCY
Account director
He is usually one of the partners or directors of the agency. He/she
(may be several account directors in very large agency) will be
responsible for a group of accounts (clients). There shall be several
account executives working under him/her. Each of the executive
handles one or more accounts. The account director will be
responsible to Chief Executive or Board of Directors (depending on
agency structure) and his/her main concern is profitability of the
agency. The account director will lead negotiations for new and
renewal business. He decides on policy matters such as whether or
not to accept certain accounts—the accounts that are risky or
conflicting with existing accounts.
Competing accounts
It is not unethical for an agency to handle competing accounts.
Contrarily, it might provide some advantage both to the client and the
agency if it has experience in handling accounts in the fields such as
banking, insurance, automobile, telecommunications and electronics,
etc. However, an agency may not handle competing accounts on the
grounds that it is objected by the rival for security or greater intensity
of rivalry.
There are problems of conflicting accounts. It may be undesirable
to service two mutually substitute products such as tea and coffee,
and road transport and rail transport etc. There is a difference
between conflicting and competing clients.
Account executive
He/she maintains the liaison with the agency and the client. It does
not mean that he/she is just a go-between or performing the post-
office function; the account executive has to understand the client’s
needs, the business and the industry and market situation. He has to
interpret these needs and market realities and feed it to the creative
department of the agency. Conversely, the account executive has to
present the agency’s proposals, ideas and work to the client
(account). It is a delicate, diplomatic job and with the responsibility to
keep and acquire accounts.
The account executive should have a broad knowledge of
advertising and be able to work with everyone in the agency,
directing his or her efforts in the interest of the client.
Contact report
This report is also termed as call report, which is essential to good
management of an account. After every client meeting the account
executive quickly submits to the client a special form of minutes of
the meeting called contact report. It contains details of the meeting
like when and where the meeting was held, who were present, what
was discussed and what decision were arrived at and to whom in the
client’s organization and the agency the report is being distributed.
The report gives a brief statement of items reported and decisions
taken. It must be immediately distributed after the meeting, so that
there is an opportunity to make any necessary revisions and
misunderstandings, if any, are avoided. The reports are filed in the
facts books, which become a record for constant reference and also
the basis of the agency’s annual report to the client.
Role of Account Planning in development and execution of an
advertising campaign
This part of the chapter will discuss in detail the role of account
planning in successfully managing a complete campaign from initial
briefing to the final assessment of the results.
Initial briefing
As discussed earlier, before anything can be planned an account
executive from the agency must obtain complete current information
about the client’s company and the product or service to be
advertised. The client to be serviced may be regular for whom the
next campaign is to be prepared or a potential client for whom a
competitive proposition has to be assembled. In the later case,
information required may be both in width and depth. For giving
clearer picture of the client to his colleagues in the agency the
account planner would generally require the information on the
following:
The Budget
The company, product or service
Market
Distribution
What is the name
Price
Packaging
Competition
The budget
How much is the decided marketing budget and what portion will be
spend on advertising?
What is ratio of budget spending on above-the-line and below-
the-line media?
Is the agency responsible for one of the media or both or any
part of the each, etc.?
The agency needs to know that it has to plan the campaign
within the set financial limits.
There may be occasions when the agency may be asked to
undertake a campaign with certain defined objectives. In this
case, the agency has to develop the budget to achieve the
predetermined objective.
The company, product or service
Understand the company, its background and how it operates.
Some of this may be got from annual report but each company is
unique and has its own character.
The product has to be seen, understood and used or operated
for obtaining first-hand experience and detailed information
(wherever possible, take the product to the office to show other
colleagues in the agency).
The market
At whom the product or service aimed?
Who is likely to buy it?
Was it created to satisfy a particular market need?
What are the buying motives?
How satisfied or dissatisfied is the customer?
Does the client require marketing advice?
Is the agency expected to conduct market research?
Distribution
How does/will it reach to the consumer?
What is the distribution channel?
What is the client's relationship with channel partners?
Is distribution extensive or intensive?
What is the name (brand)
Has this been decided or agency has to find a name. Usually
advertising agency must be consulted as early as possible for
giving a name to the product
Price
Has this been decided or the agency's help needed for arriving
at the best selling price?
What is the selling price?
Is it a psychological, market, bargain or competitive price or is
the product pitched at a certain price bracket allied to market.
Packaging
Has this been decided or does it have to be designed by the
agency? Is research necessary? This may concern the actual
container, its type or material, the labelling, and any other form of
container like a bottle is packed in a box.
Competition
Is the product unique or does it compete within an established
product group? Or
 If it is expensive, what sort of discretionary income expenditure
does it compete with?
In many cases, it may be possible, the client would have prepared
a marketing mix and done all the marketing research. But very often,
marketing is introduced by the advertising agency, there are
specialist product development agencies which start at the
beginning. Moreover, it may be good idea to bring in the agency at
the earliest possible so that the agency could advise throughout all
the stages of the marketing mix, beginning with the new product.
Report to the agency head
Whatever may be the case, the account executive obtains all the
relevant and needed information and reports it to senior people in
the agency, may be to the managing director, accounts director or
account manager. This is essential for policy decisions. The senior
managers also need to know the progress of work, the need for
additional staff and the financial implications of the new or renewable
business, in addition, the suitability of business in terms of ethics and
business conflict is also examined by the senior managers.
Report to the departmental heads
If the account executive gets go ahead on his/her report. A detailed
report is now submitted to the departmental heads that comprise the
plans board. Each one will study the report submitted by the account
executive and discussions take place. This is done to prepare the
proposal for presentation to the client.
Preparing the campaign
The plans board meeting takes place where the product, the
company and client needs are discussed thoroughly. Lots of ideas
start flowing from various departmental heads of the agency. The
campaign starts taking shape with the assimilation of discussions by
the account executives. Even the client’s advertising manager may
be asked to join at this stage to provide initial feedback on the
campaign.
 The account executive now presents the initial campaign details to
the plans board. The discussions take place; additions and
alterations are made at this stage. Once the ideas have been agreed
upon, the campaign is now assembled for presentation to the client.
Copy platform and visuals are prepared to be shown to the client.
The media schedules are drawn and even tentative bookings for
space and slots are made wherever there is a requirement for the
lead time.
The presentation of the campaign is made to the client. It is the
campaign that has to be sold to the client. In his/her presentation,
the account executive has to justify the copy platform, the visual
treatment, layout, the choice of media and date, sizes and spot
duration recommended, media vehicle chosen, etc. At this stage,
client has to be convinced that the scheme will achieve the desired
results or at least contribute effectively to the sales target, which may
depend on many other factors. With large companies and big
accounts, the presentation could take all day, especially, if it is a
complicated campaign covering perhaps more than one product and
making use of a variety of media. It can be an occasion of great
argument. Everyone thinks they know all about advertising at this
stage. Account executive may find an ally in the advertising manager
of the client company if they have worked closely from the proposal
stage itself.
Once the client has given approval (which involves a contract of
service), the creative work and media buying can go ahead. At this
stage, time schedules for each activity is drawn elaborately like
finalization of copy, production of finished layouts, completion of
artwork and typesetting, submission to clients, return by clients,
amendments made and final copy in the desired form being
dispatched to the media. The account executive will work closely
with agency departments to oversee the preparation and production
of the campaign to assure the adherence to the time schedules.
Both the agency’s account executive and the client’s advertising
manager will study the actual appearance of the ads. Has it been
reproduced well? Has it appeared in the right position the right day
and time? What are the audience ratings (TVRs) for the programmes
when the commercial appeared on TV? The problems such as
wrong insertions, poor printing quality, missing part of the copy,
wrong spellings, etc. are to be taken care of before the ad is
released to media. The campaign has to be monitored to make sure
that the media schedules have been met.
The effectiveness of the advertising has to be measured through
recall research to test whether people saw, remembered or
responded to the ad. Later, dealer audit research will record what
effect the advertising had in moving sales and also the effect it had
on brand share and position in the product group.
The account planning has a great role to play in acquiring the
client for company and maintaining the client through client
satisfaction. Therefore, accounts executive becomes a key link
between the ad agency and the client. There needs to be a close
rapport between the client and the account executive for providing
the quality service.

SUMMARY
Advertising research generates current information on the consumer
profile, market, competition and brand, etc. Information generated by
advertising research can be used for brand positioning, developing
advertising copy, media decisions and knowing advertising
effectiveness.
Advertising research components are strategic and evaluative.
Strategic component comprises of data collection and organization
and preparing a strategy document. The evaluative component
consists of three-stage evaluations of advertisements at pre-
campaign, mid-campaign and post-campaign.
Various methods are used for pre-testing of advertisements which
are media specific. For print advertising, methods like direct
questions, focus group, portfolio tests, paired comparison test, order
of merit test, mock magazine test, direct mail test, psychological test,
word association, sentence completion, depth interview and story
telling are used. Also various physiological tests like pupillometer,
eye-movement camera, electrothermal response, voice-pitch
analysis, brain pattern analysis and hemispheric lateralization, etc.
are also used for the purpose. Methods used in TV and radio
advertising are central location test, clutter test, trailer test, theatre
test, live telecast test and sales experiment.
Account planning is a process that involves conducting research
and gathering all relevant information about a client’s product or
service brand and the consumers in the target marketing. It helps
creative process by providing necessary inputs. Account planning is
a phenomenon of large advertising agencies because small
agencies may not afford to have account planning department. Small
agencies depend on external research suppliers. An account planner
uses research (both primary and secondary) to gain more
information about the brand in its market place, the consumer’s
perspectives and competitors and shares this information with the
creative team to develop an appropriate advertising campaign.

QUESTIONS
1. Why advertising research is needed? What are its objectives?
2. Identify various components of advertising research and discuss
each in short.
3. What do you mean by creative concept research? How is it
important for an advertiser?
4. How does an advertiser decide the message to be sent to the
audience? Discuss various methods of pre-testing an
advertisement. Why is pre-testing important.
5. Can you use the same methods for pre-testing in case of an ad
copy being released in the print and in the television? Justify
your decision.
6. Do you agree or disagree with the statement “Physiological tests
are not the true indication of one’s mind”. Justify your answer.
7. How can post-testing an ad copy help the advertiser? Describe
various methods used in post-testing.
8. What do you mean by media research? How can you measure
advertising effectiveness?
 9. Describe account planning and its importance for an advertising
agency.
10. What is a full service agency? Describe various organs of such
an agency.
11. Describe the importance of initial briefing. What does it cover?
Before an ad campaign is planned and launched, it will be worth the efforts to
spend sometime on thinking about what exactly the advertising objectives
are. Advertising is a communication sent from the advertiser (brand) to the
receiver (customer/purchaser). Thus, to create an effective advertisement,
the advertiser needs to decide what kind of communications effect it needs to
achieve.
As will be discussed in this chapter in the following paragraphs, advertising
can affect consumers in various ways, and the mechanism or “route” of affect
sought in any particular situation needs to be: clearly specified and
understood before creating an ad. An advertiser has to specifically decide the
consumer elements to be influenced by advertising. Should the elements be:
generating awareness about the brand, changes in attitudes or the feelings
associated with the brand? Should certain kinds of thoughts be evoked in the
consumer’s mind or some changes in the social norms concerning the
brand? Should it be inducement for some kind of action? All these questions
can be answered better if we develop an understanding of how “advertising
works” in different types of situations. A lot of research findings are available
in the literature. The insight gained from such research findings can change
our very basic understanding of how consumers process advertising.
Advertising objectives can be set with ease if one acquires complete
understanding of various response models. The hierarchy of response model
suggests that in the first place advertisers should always create advertising to
increase awareness, follow up with a campaign to change attitude, and
subsequently strive to induce trial action. A point of debate arises here: is this
always true. If not, what implications might it have for how we design ads.
Another hierarchy model, DAGMAR (Defining Advertising Goals for
Measured Advertising Result), suggests that clear advertising objectives
need to be set for measuring the results of an ad campaign. In this approach,
advertising objectives involve a communication task that is specific and
measurable. Communications objectives based on hierarchical model are
awareness, comprehension, conviction and action. The other models like
AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action), Innovation-adoption model and
information processing model also suggest the communication effect as
hierarchical. These models are explained in detail in later part of this chapter.
We will now discuss about what kind of effect an ad should try to create
and in what kind of situation.
Early studies suggest that advertising repetition may in some situations
lead to preference, even if consumers don’t absorb information on product
benefits. Thus, keeping brand awareness at a high level should often be
considered as a possible advertising objective. This kind of brand salience or
top-of-mind awareness is especially important when the advertising is aimed
not so much at getting new customers, but at making existing customers buy
a particular brand even more frequently. The brands like ASC Ehrenberg,
Gerald Tallis and others have indicated that, for most mature brands,
advertising serves mostly to reinforce (rather than create) brand preference,
in the face of competitive advertising, and that one way of reinforcing, it is to
have high levels of reminder advertising that use frequent repetition.
A related view of the exposure effect suggests that repeated exposure
creates a conscious sense of familiarity with the brand, which then causes
liking. The concept here is that familiar, known objects are evaluated more
highly than are unknown objects with associated uncertainty. Perhaps,
uncertainty creates tension, which is undesirable, or familiarity may create
positive feelings of comfort, security, ownership, or intimacy.
Advertising researcher H.E. Krugman has pointed out that a product is
often preferred not because it is indeed better but because of “the pleasure of
its recognition—sheer familiarity”. The research review seems to suggest that
a high level of ad repetition is especially important when consumers don’t
process ads with a view to extract much information from them. When ads
are likely to be processed in such a shallow manner, a high level of ad
repetition can lead to brand preference simply because that brand is now top-
of-mind, preconsciously liked, perceived to be more believable and feels
safer, and more trusted, familiar and comfortable.
Plenty of research has been done on the concept of involvement and its
importance in determining the way in which advertising shapes consumers
attitude and behaviour. Some researchers equate involvement with the
amount of attention paid to the brand information in the advertisement, others
measure it by the extent to which the message is personally relevant to the
consumer, or the degree to which the consumer’s thoughts, while viewing the
ad, concern the brand instead of the way the ad is made. Regardless of
these conceptual differences, there is substantial agreement that the degree
to which the consumer is “involved” is of critical importance in determining
which part of the advertisement will shape the consumer’s final attitude
towards the brand. It is also commonly agreed that consumers are more
involved when they consider the message content more relevant (high
motivation), when they have the knowledge and experience to think about
that message content (high ability), and when the environment in which that
message content is presented does not interfere with such thinking (high
opportunity). The motivational involvement factor is determined both by the
individual’s intrinsic level of interest in the product category (enduring
involvement) as well as more temporary factors, such as how close the
consumer is to a purchase in that product category and the degree of
perceived risk in making a purchase in that category (situational
involvement).
Finally, for advertising managers seeking to make decisions about
objectives, the overall implication of this research on involvement is that
when consumers are in a high involvement situation, with the consumer
seeking rational or problem-solving benefits, the advertisers ought to have as
their objectives the communication of product benefits through message
content, for only that can lead to the attitude change necessary for
behavioural effects. Low-involvement situations should lead to the targeting
of greater awareness as a primary objective rather than the communication
of attitude-enhancing arguments about why the brand is better. Research by
Wayne D. Hoyer and Stevan P. Brown has shown that when subjects prefer
to economize on time and effort in making a brand choice, they give great
weight to the fact that they are already aware of a brand instead of probing
quality differences in detail.
One of the models of advertising that focuses on the role of such
involvement is the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). According to this
model, a basic dimension of information processing and attitude change is
the depth or amount of information processing. At one extreme, the
consumer can consciously and diligently consider the information provided in
the ad in forming attitude towards the advertised brand. In this way, attitudes
are changed or formed by careful consideration, thinking and integration of
information relevant to the product. This type of persuasion process is termed
the central route to attitude change. In contrast to this processing, there also
exists a peripheral route to attitude change in which attitudes are changed or
formed without active thinking about the brand’s attributes and its pros and
cons.
An advertiser who is setting objectives needs to predict whether, in a given
context, the central route is feasible and whether audience members will
actually exert the effort involved to process an advertisement with strong
arguments deeply. If this is unlikely, the consumer is more likely to form
attitude peripherally. Then the advertiser is better off creating an ad with
likeable or credible spokespeople, rather than relying on strong, logical
arguments. Consumers are more likely to process centrally when both
motivation and ability to process information are high. When either is low,
peripheral processing is more likely.
From the advertising planning point of view, the key implication of this
research stream is that the motivation and ability of the target audience are
both high, and central processing is most likely. It makes sense to try to focus
on changing attitudes through strong “reasons why” the brand is better. Thus,
an ad selling expensive office product might not be best served by using a
celebrity endorser, which will be peripheral cue. When consumers don’t really
know much about the differences between brands, it makes sense to use an
endorser for the brand.
To recapitulate the research findings:
In low-involvement situations, it may be more appropriate to create ads
that raise awareness and change brand attitudes through executional
liking and credibility.
 In high-involvement situations, it may be better for ads to provide strong
reasons, "why" the brand is superior.
Some TV commercials become very popular among the audience but such
commercials do little to affect the brand sales. So, are these creative
commercials effective if they fail to sell the product? Most people pay only a
limited amount of attention to a TV commercial or print ad, so the ad may
create little impact if the message is complicated or the brand links are
unclear, even though it is well remembered and well liked.
In this chapter, we are going to discuss and address some of these issues
and find answer for these questions. How do we decide whether an
advertisement or other marketing communication message is effective? What
these messages accomplish and how do they work to create impact?
HOW TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE ADVERTISEMENT
AND UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ADVERTISING
WORKS
Understanding of concepts related to how advertising works shall help create
an effective advertising campaign. It requires complete understanding of
various steps that are essential part of creating a workable advertisement.
Figure 7.1 indicates various sequential steps that an advertiser must follow
for creating an effective advertisement campaign.

Fig. 7.1 Steps in creating an effective ad campaign.

The first step in developing an effective campaign is finding who are the
target audiences or for whom the campaign is and how do you want them to
perceive your brand (positioning). Thereafter, decide what do you want to
accomplish through advertising. The next step is about deciding the
communication objectives, which may be awareness, interest, desire or
action. It is important for the agencies and account executives to understand
how consumers respond through a series of steps to these ads.
Knowing about what the advertiser wants to achieve and how generally
consumer responds to advertising, will facilitate the development of an
effective campaign. Deciding the theme will help bring together various
elements of the campaign. A campaign is a complex set of activities
designed to meet certain defined objectives and solve some critical problems
within a specified time period of less than a year. It is designed around a
creative theme covering a time period, different advertising vehicles or
marketing communication activities and focuses on a specific product
attribute or one set of audience or may cover variety of attributes and reach
all the audiences. A campaign basically comprises of creative strategy and
tactics, media plan and other marketing integrated communication tools.
The creative strategies in a campaign will require decision on ad appeal,
copy platform and message. This aspect of advertisement requires a lot of
thinking and brainstorming to come out with the most appropriate output that
is expected to have desired response from the consumers. A good ad copy
without good media strategy may not get desired results. Identifying the right
type of media that can carry the message to the target audience with
required exposure. Depending upon the advertising objectives, the schedule
and frequency decisions have to be taken.
Finally, the results of the campaign must be measured for comparison with
the advertising objectives.
Before discussing how to design an effective ad, it is important to discuss
how communication works? Advertising is a form of communication. In a way,
it is a conversation with a consumer about a product. It gets attention,
provides information and a little bit of entertainment and tries to create some
sort of response like a trial or a sale.
HOW COMMUNICATION WORKS
Mass communication (which is impersonal) is a process depicted in a
communication model in Figure 7.2. The model outlines the important players
and steps in the communication process.

Fig. 7.2 A basic communication model.

The model begins with a source (S), a sender (the advertiser) who encodes
the message (M), puts it in words and pictures. The prepared message is
presented to the audience through channels of communications (C) such as
TV, radio, newspapers or magazines. The message is received and
interpreted (M) by the target audience. The feedback is obtained by the
source (advertiser) by monitoring the response of the receiver. However, this
is a one-way communication (mass media). What is needed nowadays is a
two-way interactive communication in which source and receiver exchange
positions as message bounces between them. The noise in the model is due
to the sender who may be tired or garbles the message. A ‘noise’ is any
factor that interferes with or distorts the delivery of the advertising message
to the target audience. It may be due to channel or the agency itself.
The two-way (interactive) communication model is depicted in Figure 7.3.

Fig. 7.3 An interactive (two-way) communication model.

Adapted from Advertising Principles and practice by Wells, Burnett and

Moriarty; Prentice-Hall of India, 2005.
This model suggests that if advertiser wants to address the limitations of
one-way communication model (it does not provide opportunity for questions
and feedback and hence no dialogue takes place), they need to listen to as
well as send messages to customers. This may be done partly by using more
interactive forms of marketing communication (personal selling,
telemarketing, and online marketing). The advertiser can also achieve more
interactivity by providing such response devices as toll-free numbers and e-
mail addresses to open opportunities for dialogue.

How Advertising Communication Works

This model begins with the source or advertiser and its agency and
advertising objectives (what they wish to accomplish through advertising).
The advertisers usually deliver their messages through a variety of tools
termed generally as media mix. Accompanying the message is ‘noise’ from
both internal and external sources - internal means internal to the consumer
and external means in the environment. The next stage is message reception
and response where the message sent by the advertiser is seen, understood,
interpreted and responded. This step is followed by feedback section in
which the source finds out what happened to the message sent. The
effectiveness of the communication is measured through this action. The
advertising communication model is depicted in Figure 7.4.

Fig. 7.4 Advertising communication model.

Source
The advertiser and the advertising agency are the sources. Combined
together, they decide the objectives for advertisement campaign in terms of
impact they want the message to have on the consumer. In customer-
oriented marketing, all communications are evaluated in terms of consumer
response. The consumer’s response is measured to determine whether the
message have met its objectives and was effective.
The question here is: how do advertisers and their agencies evaluate the
impact of advertising. In our mind, it is the ultimate result advertising brings. It
hardly matters how creative the ad is; how attractive, funny, entertaining it
looks or if it has won some awards. It also doesn’t matter which media we
chose, the bargain we got, the frequency and reach we planned and the
endorser (personality) we used. It is simply the results that matter. We would
like to measure and assure whether the communication delivered the desired
results. Did it meet its objectives? If not, it has failed.
One of the effects of advertising is to increase sales. It is an important
behavioural objective to get consumers to buy the product. There are other
communication effects that may also be important and may lead directly or
indirectly to sales. There are other effects that are drivers of sales and may
be a better indicator of the effectiveness of the message than sales (there are
many other marketing factors besides advertising that have an impact on
sale). These communication drivers are depicted at Figure 7.5 in the
effectiveness model. These effects are perception, learning, persuasion and
behaviour which are sometimes more directly traceable to an advertising
message than sales.

Fig. 7.5 A model of key effects.

These key effects may lead to sales. At first, advertisers try to get
consumers to perceive (at least notice) the ad. Then, the advertiser hopes
consumers will either learn something or be persuaded by something in the
ad. Finally, the advertiser tries to get consumers to behave in a certain way
ideally to buy the product in the ad.
Table 7.1 explains how to determine the effectiveness of the ads and which
tools are used for creating these communication effects. In the first column,
the key categories of message effects are mentioned. The next column,
labelled “surrogate measures” refers to the way advertisers evaluate how
well the advertising has worked. The last column indicates the
communication tools that may be the most appropriate for achieving the
objectives.

Table 7.1 Message effectiveness factors

Key message
Surrogate measures Communication tools
effects

Advertising; public relations

Exposure Advertising; sales promotion
Attention Advertising; sales promotion; public
Perception
Interest relations
Memory: recognition/recall Advertising; sales promotion; public
relations

Learning Understanding Public relations; personal selling

. . Direct marketing; advertising
. Image and association Advertising; public relations, point
. Brand links of purchase ads

Attitudes: form or change

Public relations; personal selling
Preference/intention
sales promotion
Emotions and involvement
Persuasion Advertising; public relations
.
personal selling
Conviction: belief,
Personal selling and direct marketing
commitment

Trial Personal selling; direct marketing

Purchase Sales promotion, personal selling;
Behaviour direct marketing .
Repeat purchage, use more Sales promotion; personal selling;
. direct marketing

Source credibility
Another source-related factor that affects ad effectiveness is source
credibility. It is a very important factor in persuasion—you believe messages
you hear from some people more than that from others because they are
simply more credible. That’s why doctors and authority figures are used.

Noise: External and Internal

The advertising communication process is also affected by the noise, i.e. the
message to be communicated is also hindered by the noise present in the
external environment and within the customers (internal). Noise is any factor
that interferes with or distorts the delivery of the advertising message to the
target audience. The external factors that distort or interfere with the
message are the marketing strategy, other marketing communication by
competitors, general patterns of consumer trends (interest in healthy food
and exercise) and public opinion. Other external factors could be poor quality
picture or unreadable newspaper ad, lots of noise in the room where
consumer is and due to advertising clutter (audience sees an excessive
number of commercial messages).
Internal factors include those personal factors that affect the reception of
an advertisement. These factors are target audience’s needs, purchase
history, information-processing abilities and level of avoidance of advertising
in general.

Message and Media Mix Factors

What to say to the audience and then how to reach to the audience is an
important step in entire advertising communication process. The process of
deciding what to say or creating an advertising message begins with analysis
of the marketing and advertising strategy and target audience. To execute
this, the creative team designs the actual ads and produces them. The next
decision is related to media mix, which will determine the ability of a
particular advertising message to reach a target audience. The reach will
depend on the effectiveness of the media plan. The media plan indicates the
media mix decisions (media choices) that have the best chance of delivering
the advertising message to the right target audience at the right time and
place. Advertisers may require different media mix to reach different target
audiences.

The Receiver: Message, Reception and Response

The last two stages of the advertising communication process are message
reception and response and feedback. The effectiveness or success of an
advertisement depends on the target audience receiving and processing it as
accurately and completely as the advertiser intended. But it must be
remembered that no two people respond to an advertisement in exactly the
same way. So how does advertising work to create a response. It is evident
that advertising may communicate messages in number of ways and cause
different types of simultaneous responses. For example, you may understand
an ad’s copy (the learning effect) and at the same time form an opinion of the
advertised product (the persuasion effect).
In the following paragraphs, you will see how advertising meets the
challenges of perception and then examine the two responses that happen
simultaneously—the learning (cognitive) response and the persuasion
(emotion and feeling) response—and finally we look into the behaviour, or
action response. These three responses are commonly referred to as
think/feel/do. This framework is very helpful in planning advertising
objectives.
The message reception and response process is depicted in figure 7.6.
Even though no two people respond to an advertisement in exactly the same
way, there are three general responses ads elicit once perceived. These are
learning, persuasion and behaviour.

Fig. 7.6 Message reception and Response.

Perception
Breaking through perception takes place when a person notices something,
the message gets registered and it has broken through the defenses and
disinterest of the consumer and made an impression. The biggest challenge
faced by the advertiser is to get consumers notice their messages. Ads have
better chance of being perceived if they are intrusive and original. Let’s look
at the perception process and how it works. The steps in perception
(communication drivers) are exposure, attention, awareness and interest.
Exposure (making contact)
For the advertiser, exposure is mainly a media-buying task. At first, the
advertiser has to place the message in a medium that the target audience
listens to, sees, reads or watches. So look for the media vehicle used by your
target audience. For the choice of sound medium for your ad exposure is the
first requirement. However, great the message be, if your target audience
never sees or hears it or the target audience changes the channels or skips
the page, it is not at all effective.
Attention (creating stopping power)
Once the audience is exposed to the message, the next task is to get and
keep its attention. This will lead to the state of awareness. Attention means
that the mind is engaged; it is focusing on something. A trigger, something
that catches the target’s interest, arouses attention. It can be something in
the message or something within the readers or viewers that makes them get
attracted to a particular message. In print ads it may be large headings, a
starting illustration or a large blank space with small and crisp message. On
television, the trigger may be sound effects, music, an action-oriented or
visually-interesting scene or a captivating idea. The advertising message also
has to compete with other messages in the same medium whether it is print,
electronic, outdoor or internet, etc. If the objective is only a brand reminder,
then the attention level doesn’t need to be as high as it does when the
objective is the understanding of a copy point.
Awareness (making an impression)
Once the message has been perceived and has caught the attention of
consumers, the perception process moves to the next step—awareness of
the brand message. Awareness means that the message has made an
impression on the consumer, and the consumer can identify the advertiser.
When you ask a consumer in the departmental store what comes to his/her
mind when he/she thinks of soap and the response is “Lux”, then that brand
has top-of-mind awareness.
Although the awareness of advertisement gets generated first, that is not
the ultimate objective of the advertiser. As far as the advertiser is concerned,
the ultimate objective is awareness of the brand, not the advertisement.
Being aware means that the receiver has impression of something.
Awareness can evolve through public opinion, just as consumer trends catch
the attention of the public.
Interest and relevance (creating pulling power)
The next step in perception process is interest. It provides the pulling power
to an advertisement; it keeps people tuned in to the message. One of the
most important drivers of interest is personal relevance. People might have
interest in many things like the product advertised, model or star in the ad,
promises made by the ad. graphics, etc. they will pay attention to advertising
only if it is relevant to them.
Learning (Making it clear)
The second major category of effects is learning, which is an important factor
in how people receive advertising messages. There are two types of learning
that are particularly important to advertising—cognitive learning, which refers
to understanding, and classical conditioning, which explains how association
works. Through cognitive learning, advertisers want people to know
something new after they have read, watched or heard the message. Some
campaigns are specifically plan to increase understanding. In case of new
products, advertisers try to get consumers to understand how to recognize
and use the product. Whereas perception is a passive process,
understanding is an active response from the consumers and it requires
conscious mental effort to make sense of information. A cognitive response
to advertising is a series of steps. First the consumer should find the ad
interesting, then he/she learns something about it and finally form it part of
his/her memory.

Understanding is particularly important for ads that present a lot of

information (brand characteristics and features, price, how it works, when
and where to use it). The advertiser must keep in mind for the informational
advertising that the large amount of information must be clear, precise and
make relevant explanation so that the reader or viewer is able to follow the
logic, make choices, compare points of view, comprehend reasons and
arguments, synthesize and organize facts. Conditioned learning helps make
connections in mind and linking ideas termed as association.
Advertisements use association to try to get consumers to like the product
with something they aspire to, respect, value or appreciate, such as a
personality or type of person, a pleasant experience or situation, or a specific
lifestyle.
Persuasion (changing attitudes)
Persuasion is to encourage people to believe or feel something. A persuasive
message tries to establish, reinforce or change an attitude, touch an emotion
or anchor or conviction firmly in the potential customer’s belief structure.
Arguments
Its a line of reasoning in which one point follows from another, leading to a
logical conclusion. The reasons behind a statement or claim are particularly
important in persuasive communication. Ads generally focus on logic and
proof when trying to persuade the consumer to buy a product. Other
motivations, such as saving money or getting a good deal, are addressed by
sales promotion and advertising that focuses on sale prices.

Every person has unique attitude and opinions based on individual

experiences. Attitudes are underlying beliefs. Opinions are the expression of
these attitudes. Advertising that seeks to persuade us by addressing our
attitudes usually attempts to accomplish one of three things:
 Establish a new opinion where none has existed before
Reinforce an existing opinion.
Change an existing opinion.
It is a common knowledge that consumers form opinions of new products
and they modify or confirm their opinions as they use the product. No amount
of advertising and good messages can help in case a customer has had bad
experience with product. To win back the consumers, the marketer has to try
very hard by distributing sample to make them use it, by using celebrities and
experts whose opinion people trust.
 Emotions can be used for persuasion. Advertisers who touch people's
emotions with their messages have greater success in getting consumers to
remember that message.
The result of persuasion is conviction—a strong belief, such as that which
drives national allegiance and religious fervour. Attitudes, reasons, logic, and
emotion are all parts of the persuasive package that leads to belief. For many
people, seeing is believing. So a product demonstration tends to remove
doubt and increase consumer belief and conviction in the sales message.
Believability is an extremely important concept in advertising and other forms
of marketing communication. Do consumers believe the claims made by the
advertising? Do spokespeople particularly the authority figures, have
credibility? So when all other tools of integrated marketing communication
(IMC) fail to create conviction, use public relations to build conviction.
Action (motivating behaviour)
The fourth category of response to advertising is action. Every advertiser
hopes that the advertising used will lead to some behaviour, such as trying,
sampling or buying a product, which could lead to increased sales. Although
it is often difficult to prove that the advertising led to an increase in sales
because there are other marketing and situational factors that might have
contributed to the increase in sales.
The strategies used for increasing sales are to increase the usage level,
encourage repurchases and find new customers. This can happen if the
advertiser can give sufficient and valid reasons for buying. Ultimately, most
marketers strive to get customers to repurchase their products regularly. The
goal is to build strong brand loyalty, which is best measured by repeat
behaviour. Customers become loyal to company’s brands that are known for
their product quality, innovative initiatives and market leadership.
ADVERTISING RESPONSE HIERARCHY MODELS
We have discussed in the earlier part of the chapter how advertising
communication works. Advertiser’s intention to get a response from the target
audience follows certain steps. We identified these stages as exposure,
attention, interest and behaviour. Understanding this response process
(various stages) is very important for the advertiser in developing an effective
advertising programme. The objectives of the advertiser (responses of the
consumer) may be cognitive, affective or behavioural. A number of models
have been developed to explain how consumers pass through various stages
in eliciting some behaviour.
There are four response hierarchy models:
The AIDA model
Hierarchy-of-effects model
Innovation-adoption model
Information processing model
AIDA model
The AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action) model was developed by
E.K Strong (1920s). This model suggests that an effective advertisement
should be able to draw/attract attention, be interesting, create desire and
initiate action (purchase) from the consumer. Thus, the model suggests the
desirable qualities of an effective ad. See Figure 7.7.

Fig. 7.7 AIDA model

Hierarchy-of-effects model
It was developed by Lavidge and Steiner who suggest that this model
provides the basis for setting advertising objectives and measuring its
effectiveness. It further suggests that advertising produces its effects on
consumer by taking him/her through a series of stages in a sequence from
generating awareness to ultimate purchase of the brand. The sequential
order of effects indicates that the advertising effects are elicited over a period
of time and the advertising may not get results immediately because series of
effects must occur before the consumer moves to the next stage in the
hierarchy as indicated in figure 7.8.

Fig. 7.8 Hierarchy-of-effects Model.

Innovation-adoption model
This model is based on diffusion of innovations. It depicts various stages
through which a consumer moves in adopting a new product or service. The
marketer’s major task is to create awareness and interest in the product
amongst the target audience. The marketer also has to ensure that the
product is evaluated favourably so that a consumer is induced to a trial use.
Based on the experience of the consumer with the product trial, it results
either in satisfaction or dissatisfaction. If the consumer is satisfied the product
is adopted, otherwise rejected. This model is depicted in figure 7.9

Fig 7.9 Innovation-adoption Model.

Information processing model

This model assumes that in advertising audiences are information processors
and problem solvers. it was given by Willaim McGuire who divided the entire
process into three stages—presentation, attention and comprehension. See
Figure 7.10.

Fig. 7.10 Information processing model.

Yielding in this model means the liking. ‘Retention’ is unique in this model,
which is not in any other model. Retention means, the consumer accepts and
stores in memory the relevant information about the product or service.
Retention of information is important because most advertising is done for
not immediate action but for long time decisions. The retained information is
used at a later time to make the purchase decision.
Any stage in the response hierarchy may serve to establish advertising
objectives and the effects can be measured. It must be remembered that the
target audience may be at any stage of the response hierarchy; therefore, the
advertisers’ task may be different at each stage. Popular and mature brands
may require only reminder advertising to reinforce consumers’ favourable
perceptions. Now, you may realize that why such popular brands like coke,
IBM, Colgate, Pepsi, Ariel, Surf and many more need to be advertised.
Before deciding advertising objectives, an advertising research must be
undertaken to know at what stage of response hierarchy the majority of
audiences are. If the research reveals that the majority of audiences have
low level of awareness or knowledge about the brand and its attributes, then
the advertising task is to design the ad in such a way, with such contents, and
with such media decisions that the maximum awareness and knowledge
occurs respectively.
The hierarchy-of-effects models are also referred to as standard learning
models, in which the consumer is considered as an active participant who
gathers information through active learning. This type of learning takes place
when the consumer is highly involved in the purchase decision and perceives
great differentiation among competing brands. Advertising for these types of
products or services is usually very detailed and it attempts to furnish a great
deal of meaningful and important information to the target audience. This
detailed information about the brand facilitates the consumer to make brand
choices. However, this may not hold true in different product categories
where certain convenience products are consumed daily and purchased
routinely.
All the four models start with cognitive stage and then move to affective
stage and finally to behavioural stage. This is indicated below in Figure 7.11.

Fig. 7.11 Low involvement learning model.

H.E. Krugman of General Electric in his research work pointed out that
comparative advertising on television is not feasible since the commercials
on TV can’t be slowed down or stopped for the consumer’s convenience.
Thus, the consumer has a very little opportunity to think deeply about them.
Television is a low-involvement medium where consumer hardly has a
chance to evaluate the commercial. So not much of meaningful information
can be provided on the television but TV ads appear to enhance brand
preference due to repeated exposure, such as brand name, ad slogan or the
ad theme. This information is considered sufficient enough while making
purchase decision whenever shopping occasion arises. In other words,
repetitions of ads on TV can give reliability to a brand that can create
preferences.
Research work done at Stanford university by Micheal Ray and others on
low involvement learning revealed that when the products are of low-
involvement category (low risk, inexpensive or low interest) for the consumer
and ads are shown on television, this does not lead to change in consumer’s
attitude to induce to product trial based on information in the ad. In actuality,
the ads are able to induce trial because of the top-of-mind recall or
awareness. The product trial may then lead to a change in attitude depending
upon the experiences with the brand.
The low-involvement sequence of advertising effect is different from the
standard learning models. In low-involvement situation, consumers engage in
passive learning and random information gathering. The ad agencies and
advertisers must appreciate that music, symbols, endorsers, slogans etc.
(non-message elements) are more important than actual message content.
Repetitions of ‘simple product claims’ advertisements increase consumers’
recall and belief in those claims as found in a study by S. Hawkins and S.
Hoch and they concluded that it may be highly advantageous for advertisers
to go for repetitions of ad for low-involvement products rather than lengthy
messages with plenty of information on features, technical and operational
aspects.
To conclude, for low-involvement products, the advertisers’ objectives must
be to generate greater awareness rather than attempting to influence the
consumers’ attitude by rational basis. Wayne Hoyer and Steven Brown in
their study have indicated that TV as a mass medium is not an appropriate
choice for high-involvement products as information processing is passive.
They have further added that brand awareness rather than comparative
differences is given greater weightage when the consumer is short of time
and effort.
Deciding the theme
Having decided what kind of communication effects the advertiser needs and
then knowing how consumers respond to advertising, the next logical step is
to choose a theme so that appropriate response from the consumer is
elicited.
 Advertising theme is the core advertising message or a great advertising
idea about the brand that will place the brand in a better position vis-à-vis
competitor brands. This core idea shall be used to develop the entire
campaign.

How Do We Come Up with Such Ideas

It is the job of the creative department of the agency to generate alternative
advertising ideas and ultimately to pick one or few that will go to the
production. The creative process is concerned with taking the broadly stated
marketing proposition, usually derived from marketing research
and indicated in manufacturing specifications and turning it into powerful and
persuasive idea to be conveyed to the consumer what the brand does for
them and why it should matter to them.
A powerful “big idea” can add immeasurably to the effectiveness of an ad
campaign, and the presence of such an idea must be the first thing you look
for in evaluating a proposed ad campaign.
To get the big “Idea”, the process could start as follows:
(a) Fact finding
(i) Problem definition: picking out and pointing out the problem
(ii) Preparation: Gathering and analyzing the pertinent data
(b) Idea finding
(i) Idea production: thinking up tentative ideas as possible leads
(ii) Idea development: selecting from resultant ideas, adding others and
reprocessing by means of modification, combination and so on.
The process begins with fact finding—picking out and identifying the problem
and gathering and analysing the pertinent data. The raw material for ideas is
information—information from all sources. The creative team should become
immersed in as much factual information about the company, the product,
competition and the target audience (their language, needs, motivations,
desires) as possible.
Sometimes, it is worthwhile to get first-hand knowledge of the consumer.
The advertising agency people should go out in supermarkets and homes to
meet consumers and discuss the products. Focus group interviewing can
also help generate useful ideas and appropriate words and phrases for use in
developing copy. The theme provides necessary ingredients to writing a
creative copy and developing illustrations.
The following examples will provide an idea how theme can be a base for
writing creative:
 In creative process that brings a good theme and equally good creative
copy alive, we go through the steps indicated below:
Creating idea (idea generation)
Generation of written copy (copywriting)
Art work of various kinds (illustrations)
A preliminary and comprehensive vision of ad (layout)
DEVELOPING ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
A campaign is a systematic effort to accomplish some pre-determined
objectives where as creative strategy concerns what message to deliver to
the audience to accomplish the objectives.
Some of the big and successful campaigns launched by various companies
are as under:

Campaign Company/brand

Just do it Nike
Intel inside Intel
Yeh Dil Maange More Pepsi
Coca cola enjoy Coca-cola
Let’s do the dew Mountain dew

Compaines that create one ad at a time and constantly change the core
message do not use a campaign.
A campaign is a complex set of interrelated and coordinated activities
strategically designed to meet a set of objectives and to solve some critical
problem within a specified time period, usually a year or less. A campaign is
designed around a creative theme that extends across time and different
advertising vehicles or marketing communication activities. A campaign may
focus on the single specific product attribute or one audience or it may cover
a variety of attributes and reach all the audiences.
A campaign plan summarizes the marketplace situation, the underlying
campaign strategy, main creative strategy and tactics, media and other
marketing integrated communication tools.
Advertising campaign plan differs from advertising plan in a way that it is
more lightly focused on solving a particular marketing communication
problem. The advertising plan and the campaign plan are similar in outline
and structure. These plans are the responsibility of the account manager. An
advertising campaign matches the right audience to the right message and
presents it in the right medium to reach that audience consistently over a
specified period.
The following three elements are the heart of an advertising campaign:
Targeting the audience: Whom are you trying to reach?
Message strategy: What do you say to them?
Media strategy: When and where will you reach them?
 An advertising campaign is guided by the promotion and advertising plans
which evolve from marketing objectives and strategy. The ad campaign is
normally a commitment to a creative strategy that usually lasts for one year.
The term campaign is used to describe many different systematic efforts
such as a political election campaign, or a campaign to raise money for some
social or charitable cause, or a systematic effort to promote a product or
service. Thus, a campaign theme should be a strong idea, as it is the central
message that will be communicated in all the advertising and promotional
activities.
According to Dunn and Barban:
“An advertising campaign includes a series of ads, placed in various media,
that are designed to meet objectives and are based on analysis of marketing
and communication situations”. (S. Watson Dunn and Arnold. M. Barban,
Advertising: Its Role in Modern Marketing, 7th ed., p. 232, Dryden Press,
New York).
Advertising campaign plans are short term in nature and, like marketing
and IMC plans, are done on an annual basis. However, the campaign themes
are usually developed with the intention of being used for a longer period.
Unfortunately, many campaigns last only a short time, because they are
ineffective, or market conditions or/and competitive developments in the
marketplace change. Some successful campaigns have been there for years.
Philips Morris has been using the “Marlboro country” campaign for nearly 40
years and BMW has used the “ultimate driving machine” campaign since
1974.
Like any other arena of marketing and promotional process, the creative
aspect of advertising and the development of the campaign theme is guided
by specific objectives as discussed earlier. A creative strategy that focuses
on what must be communicated will guide the selection of the campaign
theme and the development of all messages used in the ad campaign. The
creative strategy is based on various factors like identification of the target
audience, the basic problem, issue or opportunity the advertising must
address: the major selling idea or key benefit the message needs to
communicate and any other supporting information that needs to be included
in the ad. Once these factors are determined, a creative strategy statement
should describe the message appeal and execution style that will be used.
Many ad agencies outline these elements in a document known as the copy
or creative platform.
The two critical components of the copy platform—major selling idea and
creative strategy statement—form the basis of the advertising campaign
theme. For example, for a Polaroid ad, the major selling idea was “the picture
is only the beginning”, and the resulting campaign theme built around this
idea was “see what develops”. The creative strategy statement was to have
each ad in the campaign tell a story in which a Polaroid camera sets off a
chain reaction.
A typical advertising campaign development is shown as a series of steps
in Figure 7.12.

Fig. 7.12 A typical advertising campaign plan.

DECIDING ADVERTISING APPEAL
Advertising appeals are used to communicate and influence the purchase
and consumption behaviour of existing and potential customers. Choice of a
right appeal is one of the most critical decisions for creative strategy in
advertising.
After an advertiser decides on the content of an ad —the “what to say”
decision—the task of creating the ad itself is usually handed over to the
creative people at the ad agency. Before the creative team proceeds to
conceptualization and creation of the ad, it is pertinent to give a thought to
the broad framework within which the ad should be created: What kind of
appeal should the ad utilize? For instance, should the ad attempt a
competitive comparison (a “rational”) approach? Or, should it use some type
of emotional appeal, such as fear or humour? Should it use an endorser, and
if so, what kind of endorser-an expert in that product category, or a likable
celebrity?
Thus, the advertising appeal refers to the approach used to attract the
attention of consumers and/or to influence their feelings toward the product
or their wants or needs and excites their interest. The creative execution is
the way a particular appeal is transformed into an advertising message
presented to the consumer.
According to William Weilbacher: “The appeal can be said to form the
underlying content of the advertisement and the execution is the way in
which that content is presented. Advertising appeals and execution are
independent of each other; that is, a particular appeal can be executed in a
variety of ways and a particular means of execution can be applied to a
variety of advertising appeals. Advertising appeals tend to adapt themselves
to all media, whereas some kinds of executional devices are more adaptable
to some media than others.”

Types of Advertising Appeals

Basically all types of appeals can be categorized into three:
(a) Informational/rational/logical appeal
(b) Emotional appeal
(c) Moral appeals
Informational/rational/logical appeal
It focuses on the consumer’s practical, functional or utilization need for the
product or service and emphasize features of a product or service and/or the
benefits or reasons for owning or using a particular brand. The contents of
such messages emphasize facts, learning and the logic or persuasion.
Rational appeals, through the use of information, attempt to convince the
consumers that a particular product or service has particular attribute(s) or
provides a specific benefit, which satisfies their needs.

There are large number of rational motives such as comfort, health,

sensory benefits, quality, dependability, efficiency, performance, durability,
convenience and economy etc., which can be used as a basis for advertising
appeals. However, the particular benefits, features or evaluative criteria vary
among target markets as well as from one product or service category to
another.
Weilbacher identified various advertising appeals that can be put under the
category of informational or rational appeal. Such appeals are feature appeal,
competitive advantage appeal, favourable price appeal, news appeal and
product/service popularity appeal.
 .

Emotional appeals
It is related to the consumer’s psychological and/or social needs for
purchasing a product or service. Many purchase motives of consumers relate
to emotions and feelings about a brand, which can be more important than
attributes, functions and features.

Emotional appeals can be put into two categories—positive emotional

appeals and negative emotional appeals, depending on what kind of
emotions are to be triggered. Some of the positive emotional appeals are
love, affection, joy, pride, humour, prestige, status, etc. Examples of negative
appeals are shame, guilt, fear, rejection, embarrassment, etc. Such appeals
motivate the consumers to do things that they should do such as using after
shave lotion (Denim Shave Lotion), or stop doing things they should not such
as smoking, chewing tobacco and eating edible oils which are not refined,
etc.
Advertisers can use emotional appeals in their commercials by using the
concept of emotional integration in which they portray the characters in the
ad as experiencing an emotional benefit or outcome from using a product or
service. Ads using humour, sex and many other appeals are very
entertaining, arousing, upbeat, and/or exciting that can influence the
emotions of the consumers and put them in a favourable frame of mind. The
brands like Hallmark, Maruti, Nokia, Kodak, AT&T etc. often create
commercials that evoke feelings of warmth, nostalgia and/or sentiment.
Marketers use emotional appeals in anticipation that the positive feeling
they evoke will transfer to the brand and/or company. Research shows that
positive mood and feelings created by advertising can have a favourable
effect on consumer’s evaluations of a brand. Studies also show that
emotional advertising is better remembered than non-emotional messages.
Some of the feelings that can be used as emotional appeals are listed
below:
 Safety Affection Sentiment Pride Achievement
Pleasure Security Happiness Excitement Accomplishment
Ambition Comfort Fear Joy Arousal/stimulation
Self-esteem Recognition Status Love Nostalgia
Sorrow/grief Actualization Respect Involvement Embarrassment
Affiliation belongingness Rejection Acceptance Approval

Moral appeals
Moral appeals attempt to draw audience attention to what is “right”. These
appeals are generally used to urge people to support or show concern to
social causes such as AIDS prevention, polio eradication, environment
protection, population control, donation to support victims of natural calamity
or prevention of child labour or equal rights for women, etc.

Combining Rational and Emotional Appeals

This situation arises in many advertising situations as consumer purchase
decisions are often made on the basis of both emotional and rational
motives. Thus, attention must be given to both elements while developing
ads. McCann-Erickson Worldwide along with Prof. Michael Ray developed a
well-known research technique known as emotional bonding which
evaluates how consumers feel about brands and the nature of any emotional
rapport they have with a brand compared to ideal emotional state they
associate with product category.

According to emotional bonding, consumers develop three levels of

relationships with brand. The basic relationship is product benefits, which
indicate how consumers think about brands in respect to product benefits.
Consumers at this level often switch brand, as they are not yet brand loyal.
This can be measured through how well advertising communicates product
information.
In the next level, the consumer assigns a personality to the brand, say a
brand may be thought as aggressive, proud, self-assured and modern, etc.
rather than timid, outdated and poor. The consumer’s judgement of the brand
has, at this stage, moved beyond attributes and benefits. In most cases,
consumers judge the personality of a brand on the basis of an assessment of
overt or covert cues found in its advertising. The strongest relationship that
develops between a brand and the consumer is based on feelings or
emotional attachment to the brand. Consumers develop a positive
psychological movement towards a brand once an emotional bond gets
developed with it. Prominently used emotional appeals are fear, humour and
sex.
Fear appeal
Fear is an emotional response to some actual or perceived threat or danger.
It is used in certain situations to evoke the desired emotional response and
motivate the audience to take certain action to remove fear. Some of the
product categories that generally use fear appeal are life or general
insurance, mediclaim policies, toothpaste, deodorants, helmets, water filters,
edible oils, anti-dandruff shampoos. Ad appeals using fear has been used
extensively for social causes as well in cases of AIDS, drugs, smoking and
drinking, driving two wheelers without helmets, etc.

Fear appeals are, generally, useful for products or services that do not
interest consumers, or are considered burdensome. The research points out
that neither mild nor high intensity fear appeals generate any required
response from the consumers. Only fear appeals of moderate level work
because they provide sufficient motivation and do not activate perceptual
defense mechanism leading to message acceptance and attitude change
among consumers.
It is necessary for the advertiser to know how fears operate, what level of
fear to use in advertising and how different types of audiences respond to
fear appeals. However, there are number of factors that may influence how
consumers respond to a given fear appeal. Some of them are source
credibility, audience characteristics, the message context and the type of fear
appeal used.
Humour appeal
Humour has the power to have an effect on information processing for
making purchase decision by way of attracting attention, generating pleasant
mood, improving brand name recall and reducing the chances of counter
arguing. Since humour generates feelings of pleasure and amusement, it has
potential for the feelings to become associated with the brand and may
influence consumer attitudes towards the brand and probably its image.
However, critics argue that humourous ads do draw attention to the
amusement and funny aspect of the ad but it may also distract the audience
from the brand and its better attributes.
Marc Weinberger and Charles Gulas have extensively reviewed ads using
humorous appeals and concluded that humour in ads does enhance
audience attention and liking for the ads but less likely to increase message
comprehension and persuasion. Humour appears to work best for “low-
involvement” and “feel” category of products but not for “high-involvement”
and “think” kind of products.
Some of the positive aspects of humour ads are as follows:
(a) Humour enhances attention and liking.
(b) Humour enhances source credibility.
(c) Humour may also enhance audience attitude towards the ad.
(d) Humour may help diminish the chances of counter arguments because
it distracts the audience from making cognitive responses.
The ads shown below are based on humour appeals.
 While creating humour appeal, understanding of target audience is
important because what appears humour to one person may sound silly or
irritating to another person. Humour ads can be created by using jokes,
anecdotes, satire, understatements, puns and irony, etc. The use of humour
is culture bound and the taste for it varies considerably.
Sex appeals
Ads based on Sex appeals have attention-arresting magic. The sex appeal is
coming to be used because there are too many advertising claims and
increasing competition from new products. There is a tremendous advertising
clutter. So, to draw audience attention sex is heavily used from blatant nudity
to subtle devices. Advertising themes related to sex appeal may attract
audience attention but they rarely generate any curiosity and interest in the
product being advertised. It is believed that audience interest stops with sex
only and the ad message is hardly, if ever, processed deeply.
 The advertiser wishing to use sex appeal must ensure that the product, the
ad, the target audience and the sexual message themes and other elements
all match up. If sex is relevant to the product, it can be an extremely strong
copy theme. The ads of Kamasutra and Moods condoms are excellent
examples of ads using sex appeal in relation to product and their
functionality.
ADVERTISING EXECUTION
Once the advertising appeal, as the basis, for the message has been
decided, the creative team begins its execution. Creative execution is the
way or style an advertising appeal is presented. In advertising, it is not just
enough “what you say”, but it is equally important how do you say what you
say.
An advertising message can be presented or executed in numerous ways:
(a) Straight sell or factual message
(b) Animation
(c) Scientific/technical evidence
(d) Personality symbol
(e) Demonstration
(f) Fantasy
(g) Testimonial
(h) Dramatization
(i) Slice of life
(j) Humour
(k) Combinations
MEDIA MIX DECISIONS
The first step in media mix decision is to decide what media to be used.
Whether it is going to be single media or combination. The next step is to
choose media vehicle i.e. specific media that will carry the message. The
media to be choosen depends upon the following factors:
(a) Target audience
(b) Type of product category
(c) Message appeal
(d) Execution style and
(e) Budget
Before discussing how to choose the most effective media, let’s discuss
some relevant terms that will help us in understanding media strategy and its
related aspects.
Clutter
A large number of advertising messages are carried by media vehicle.
Therefore, drawing attention is a big task. Clutter is number of
advertisements in a medium. It is of concern because there are so many
messages vying for the audience attention.
Fleeting message
The commercials are becoming shorter and shorter because of the
increasing demand for a limited amount of broadcast time. Increasing media
costs are forcing advertisers to consider shorter commercials for keeping
media costs low. The commercial duration of 30 seconds and 15 seconds is
the order of the day. So nothing tangible is left for the audience to examine or
consider. The commercial appears to be a fleeting moment in time.
Zapping
It refers to changing channels to avoid commercials. Zapping is likely to
occur because commercial breaks are so long and predictable. Zapping has
also been fuelled by the emergence of 24-hour continuous format
programming on cable channels and DTH (Direct to Home).
Zipping
It occurs when customers fast-forward through commercials as they play
back a previously recorded program.
Scheduling strategy
It is of three types—pulsing, continuity and flighting.
Pulsing
It alternates between high and low levels of advertising. It has peaks and
valleys.
Continuity
It spreads the advertising continuously and evenly over the length of the
campaign.
Flighting
It alternates between intense and no advertising.

How To Make Effective Media Choice Decision

The first thing is to establish media objectives and then to develop suitable
media strategy to achieve the objectives. Examples of media objectives could
be: use broadcast media to provide coverage of 80% of the target market in
next 6 months, reach 60% of the target audience at least three times over the
next 3 months and concentrate on the heaviest advertising in winter and
spring and lighter emphasis in summer and monsoon. In modern times,
plethora of media alternatives and media vehicles are available. Small
companies generally use single media whereas large companies use a
number of media alternatives and vehicles.
The media mix decision is influenced by factors such as:
(a) Product characteristics
(b) Media objectives
(c) Media budget
(d) Individual preference of the media planner
The Media planner’s objective is to reach as many member of the target
market as possible. So, the starting point for developing a media strategy is
to define coverage in terms of geographic area and percentage of target
audience.
The media strategy will decide issues such as reach, frequency, scheduling
and media vehicle choice, etc.

How Scheduling Decision is Made

Media schedule is the calendar of advertising plan and is concerned with
timing insertion of advertisements in the selected media. Scheduling decision
is based on the assumptions regarding how the target audience will respond
to the presence or absence of the advertising messages with respect to the
set advertising objectives like brand recall or attitudes. Basically, there are
three approaches of scheduling—continuity, flighting and pulsing. This
decision is based on the product category and media planner’s
understanding of the promotional requirement of the brand, buying cycles,
budget, advertising decay and competitive spending.

How To Decide on “Reach”

Achieving awareness requires reach, i.e. exposing potential buyers to the
message. New brands or products need a very high level of reach, since the
objective is to make all potential buyers aware of the new entry. High reach is
also desired at the trial stage of adoption hierarchy, a promotional strategy
might use discount coupons or free samples. The media planner calculates
the reach of a media schedule according to research estimate that forecasts
the unduplicated audience. If the ad is placed on two shows, the total number
of exposed once is unduplicated audience.
Some of the research tools that can be used in “deciding reach” are
disucssed below.
Programme rating
Programme rating is a number expressed as a percentage. It is a measure of
potential reach of broadcast media industry such as TV or radios.

For example, in the city of Jaipur there are total 1 million households that
own TV sets and “Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani” on Star Plus is viewed by 3 lakh
households. Then the programme rating is given by

Gross rating point (GRP)

The media buyer would like to know how many potential audience may be
exposed to a series of commercials. The sum of the total exposure potential
expressed as a percentage of the audience population is called gross rating
point (GRP). The GRP is calculated by dividing the total number of
impressions by the size of the audience and multiplying by hundred. It is a
summary measure that combines the programme rating and the average
number of times the home is reached during this period (frequency of
exposure).

Target rating point (TRP)

It refers to the number of people in the primary target audience that the
media buy will reach and the number of times it will reach them. Unlike GRP,
TRP does not include waste coverage. In other words, it refers to the number
of times (frequency) and the number of individuals in the primary target
audience that the media will reach. One TRP is equal to one percent of the
total TV audience (here audience means the total number of members on the
panel for research purpose who watch TV and record the data). If a TV
programme has 50 TRPs, it means that 50% of the panel members watched
the programme in that week.

Deciding Effective Frequency

The rate of exposure of a programme or number of times it is exposed, is
called its frequency. “Effective Frequency” is the number of exposures, in an
advertising cycle, assumed to be able to maximize the member of target
audience members’ disposition to act. In media planning, ‘frequency’ is the
number of times one is exposed to the media vehicle, not necessarily to the
ad itself.
No one really knows the exact number of exposures necessary for an ad to
make an impact. There are three general approaches to problem. The first is
“linear approach”, according to which each additional exposure adds as
much purchase probability as the one preceding it. This approach favours
greater frequency. The second approach, “decreasing return approach”,
assumes that the first exposure is the strongest in terms of impact and each
succeeding exposure is less effective. This approach favours low frequency
levels. The third, “learning curve approach”, suggests that the effectiveness
of each exposure increases more than an equal amount only up to a certain
point and any additional exposures beyond this do not add much.
Determining media budget
While evaluating media alternatives, the cost of media is an important
component that is considered. The advertising manager tries to arrive at
optimal delivery by balancing cost with reach, frequency and availability of
media exposures. For evaluating alternatives, advertisers must compare the
relative costs of media as well as vehicles within these media. Relative cost
refers to the relationship between the price paid for advertising time or space
and the size of the audience delivered. It is used to compare media vehicles.
Absolute cost of the medium or vehicle is the actual total cost required to
place the message. Some of the terms related to media budget are
discussed below.
Cost per Thousand (CPT)
It is used for magazines as a media vehicle. It is a cost breakdown on the
basis of cost per thousand people reached.

Even if the absolute cost of a magazine is higher, it may provide a more

cost-effective buy. A comparison of two magazines, India Today and
Business Today, is given below.

India Today Business Today

Per-page cost Rs. 50,000 Rs. 40,000

Circulation 4,00,000 3,00,000
CPT calculation 50,000 1000/ 4,00,000 40,000 1,000/3,00,000
CPT Rs. 125 Rs. 133

Though India Today appears to be a more costly magazine than Business

Today in absolute terms, its relative cost is lower than that of Business Today.
Cost per Rating Point (CPRP)
The broadcast media provide a different comparative cost figure, referred to
as cost per rating point or cost per point (CPP).

Daily inch rate

For Newspapers, cost effectiveness is based on daily inch rate. Earlier
newspapers sold space in cm column. Nowadays, most of the newspapers
sell space in cm square.

Where Do You Get Media Related Information

Presently, three major sources are available for media information. These
are:
(a) National Readership Survey (NRS)
(b) Indian Readership Survey (IRS)
(c) Annual report of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
National Readership Survey (NRS) is conducted every two years by the
National Readership Council (NRC). This council comprises of Advertising
Agencies Association of India (AAAI), Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) and
Indian Newspaper Society (INS). The actual fieldwork is undertaken by
research agencies like A.C. Nielsen and Indian Market Research Bureau
(IMRB). Currently NRS is conducted every six months rather than every two
years. Indian Readership Survey (IRS) is conducted by ORG-MARG. The
annual data published by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
contains information related to government-controlled media such as
Aakashwani and Doordarshan.
The space in newspapers and magazines is bought based on the NRS and
IRS data. The survey data can help find the most effective print media. TV
time buying is different from print space buying. The main point to consider in
time buying is selecting the right time period and appropriate programme to
carry the ad message. Advertisers are more concerned about cost per rating
point (CPRP) and not just the number of spots. The cost of television
advertising time varies depending upon the time of the day and the particular
programme.
There are few research agencies that supply data on audience
measurement to facilitate the decision of selecting a particular channel and
programme. The techniques used to gather audience measurement
information include diaries, personal interviews and electronic meters or
recorders (In India, the use of people meters is limited to less than a dozen
cities including metros). These audience measures are important to media
planners in deciding to buy commercial time on a programme.
Bringing an advertisement to life requires plenty of decisions by the
advertiser, account planner, creative team and the media planner. An
effective ad would be possible only if all these three put their heads together.
In each of the areas of advertising, research plays an important role, as it
provides accurate and timely information to the concerned manager for
making decision. An effective advertisement or a working ad. can be created
if all decisions are made right. The major areas of decision making are:
deciding target audience, brand positioning, advertising objectives,
communication effects needed, deciding theme and appeal, execution style,
message strategy, media mix and scheduling decisions. If these decision are
taken based on the information provided by research, it is more likely that an
ad campaign will be effective.

SUMMARY
An advertiser should decide in advance what specific communication effects
are desired on the target audience. All ads are created keeping the “desired
effects” central to all decisions. An audience when exposed to the brand
communication moves through a series of responses. Two important
response models are AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire and Action) and
DAGMAR (Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Result).
An advertiser must understand the situation to determine the kind of
advertising effect he/she wants to create. Repeated exposures create a
conscious sense of familiarity with the brand which then causes liking and it
is especially important when consumers do not process ads with a view to
extract much information from them. In case of high involvement situation,
consumer seeks rational or problem-solving benefits. The advertiser sets
attitude-change as its communication objectives and highlights the product
benefits in the ads.
Understanding of concepts related to how advertising works shall help
create an effective advertising campaign. An advertiser needs to know series
of steps essential before an effective workable advertisement is created.
These steps are identifying target audience and positioning, deciding
advertising objectives, deciding what kind of communication effects are
needed, knowing how consumers respond to advertising, deciding the theme,
developing an advertising campaign, deciding the advertising appeal,
developing copy platform, deciding the message, making media mix
decisions and deciding schedules, frequency and pattern of ad release.
Advertising theme is the core advertising message or a great advertising
idea about the brand. The theme provides necessary ingredients to writing a
creative copy and developing illustrations. An advertising campaign is a
systematic effort to accomplish some predetermined objectives. A campaign
plan summarises the marketplace situation, the underlying campaign
strategy, main creative strategy and tactics, media and other marketing
integrated communication tools.
Advertising appeal refers to the approach used to attract the attention of
consumers and/or to influence their feelings towards the product or their
wants or needs. All types of appeals in advertising can be broadly
categorized as rational/logical appeals, emotional appeals and moral
appeals. Advertising execution is the way or style an advertising appeal is
presented (how to say what to say).
Media mix decisions involve choosing types of media and media vehicle.
Media scheduling is the way ads are released. These are pulsing, continuity
and flighting.

QUESTIONS
1. What do you mean by communication objectives? What are different
types of communication objectives? How communication objectives are
set?
2. High level of ad repetition is important when consumers do not process
ads. Critically evaluate this statement.
3. What are various steps in creating an effective ad campaign?
4. Through illustration, explain how communication works. Also compare it
with advertising communication.
5. Explain the model of key effects. How is it related to advertising
communication objectives?
6. Compare and contrast the AIDA model from the Hierarchy-of-effects
model.
7. What is an advertising theme? How is it different from creative copy?
Bring out the differences clearly through examples.
8. How an advertising campaign is developed? What are different elements
of an effective ad campaign?
9. What do you mean by advertising appeal? What are different types of
appeals? Take few ads from Indian context and relate the same to
various appeals that are used by advertisers.
10. What is creative execution? Explain in brief the numerous ways an ad
campaign can be executed.
11. What do you mean by media mix decision? How do you select an
appropriate media?
12. Explain the following terms:
(a) Clutter
(b) Zapping
(c) Zipping
(d) Fleeting message
(e) Frequency
(f) TRP
(g) GRP
13. What do you mean by media scheduling strategy? Explain in detail
various scheduling strategy.
14. What do you mean by media reach? How is “reach” decision made?
 CASE STUDY: MERCEDES-BENZ
Mercedes-Benz has developed a new concept, CAR inspired from the box fish.
The box fish: great rigidity and low weight—a growth principle designed by the
nature.
Despite its boxy, cube-shaped body, tropical fish is, in fact, outstandingly streamlined
and, therefore, represents an aerodynamic ideal. With an accurately constructed model
of the boxfish, the engineers in Stuttgart were able to achieve a wind drag coefficient of
just 0.06 in the wind tunnel.
 The Boxfish, the aerodynamic model for the concept car, is also a prime example of
rigidity and light weight. Its skin consists of numerous hexagonal, bony plates which
provide maximum strength with minimal weight and effectively protect the animal from
injury.
Daimler Chrysler researcheers examined this bionic structure and transferred this
principle to the Mercedes-Benz bionic car study with the help of a special calculation
process. The process is based on the principles of bone formation and for instance
allows up to 40 per cent more rigidity to be achieved in the external door panelling than
would be possible with conventional designs. If the entire body shell is calculated
according to this bionic principle, the total weight is reduced by around one-third with
undiminished strength and crash safety.

Now here is the car:

B. Krishna Kumar says in The week: “Imagine a half-open
matchbox as the logo for an international meet of highly
creative brains. A no-impact visual? Think again. There is so much
packed into that little utility tool. Rub it the right way, it could light up
a stove or a ciggy or dark pathways during those ‘power-cuts’. In
wrong hands, it becomes a deadly weapon to burn people and
places.”
 This is what the power of creativity is. The ideas exist, but you give
it a different perspective while interpreting an advertisement.
Advertising is the principal reason why the businessman has come
to inherit the earth. The present day business is so heavily
dependent on advertising that no one can afford to neglect it. But,
even then, the advertising sector has never grown, compared to its
proportion of importance in business, especially in India. Therefore,
more importance is given to creative ideas by announcing special
awards to highly creative ads.
The commercials we watch on TV or hear on radio and the print
ads we see in magazines and newspapers are a source of
entertainment, motivation, fascination, fantasy, information and
sometimes irritation. Ads and commercials appeal to, and often
create or shape, consumers’ problems, desires and goals. From the
marketer’s perspective, the advertising message is a way to tell
consumers how the product or service can solve a problem or satisfy
desires or achieve goals. Advertising can also be used to create
images or associations and position a brand in the consumer’s mind
as well as transform the experience of buying and/or using a product
or service. Many people who have never driven or even ridden in a
BMW perceive it as “the ultimate driving machine”. It is only because
of the impact of advertising.

There are a myriad of ways to convey an advertising message.

Underlying all of these messages, however, are a creative strategy
that determines what the advertising message will say or
communicate, and creative tactics for how the message strategy will
be executed.
As Piyush Pandey, the Jury President at the Cannes Lions Festival
and Executive Chairman and National Creative Director of Ogilvy &
Mather, Mumbai, answered the question,
“What kind of advertising do you like? The great kind—something
that delights the consumer first and the jury later.”
A great ad is not only the source of enjoyment but it also informs
the viewers aptly. The cost incurred on advertisement is huge. Many
companies see this as money well spent. They realize that the
manner in which the advertising message is developed and
executed is often critical to the success of the promotional
programme, which in turn can influence the effectiveness of the
entire marketing programme. Good creative strategy and execution
can often be central to determining the success of a product or
service or reversing the fortunes of a struggling brand. Conversely,
an advertising campaign that is poorly conceived or executed can be
a liability. Therefore, the advertisers should be cautiously and
meticulously work on an ad before launching it.

Many companies have solid marketing and promotional plans and

spend substantial amount of money on advertising, yet have
difficulties coming up with a creative campaign that will differentiate
them from their competitors. For example, Burger King has changed
its advertising theme 11 times in the past 15 years and changed
agencies 6 times in search of a campaign that would give the chain a
strong identity in the fast-food market. During many of these
campaigns, market share dropped and franchises were unhappy
with the company’s inability to come up with an effective campaign.

Just because an ad or commercial is creative or popular does not

mean it will increase sales or revive a declining brand. Many ads
have won awards for creativity but failed to increase sales. In some
instances, the failure to increase sales has cost the company a great
deal. Let us find out first what creativity is
WHAT IS CREATIVITY
People tend to give different meanings for creativity based on the
context. So let us start with the dictionary meaning of ‘creative’.
Create: To cause to exist, Bring into being, Originate, To give rise to,
Bring about, Produce, To be the first to portray and give character to
a role or part (appropriate to creating fictional characters and writing
stories).
Creation: An original product of human invention or imagination.
Creative: Characterized by originality and expressiveness,
imaginative “Being creative is seeing the same thing as everybody
else but thinking of something different”.

There are many aspects to creativity, but one definition would

include the ability to take existing objects and combine them in
different ways for new purposes. For example, Gutenberg took the
wine press and die/punch and produced a printing press. Thus, a
simple definition of creativity is the action of combining previously
uncombined elements from art, music and invention to household
chores, this is part of the nature of being creative. Another way of
looking at creativity is as playing with the way things are interrelated.
Creativity is the ability to generate novel and useful ideas and
solutions to everyday problems and challenges.
 Creativity involves the translation of our unique gifts, talents and
vision into an external reality that is new and useful. We must keep
in mind that creativity takes place unavoidably inside our own
personal, social and cultural boundaries.
The more we define our creativity by identifying with specific sets
of values, meanings, beliefs and symbols, the more our creativity will
be focused and limited. The more we define our creativity by
focusing on how values, meanings, beliefs and symbols are formed,
the greater the chance that our creativity will become less restricted.
In the creative process, there are always two different (but
interrelated) dimensions or levels of dynamics with which one can
create. The system consists of a particular medium (e.g. oil painting
or a particular musical form), or a particular process (like a problem-
solving agenda). The creative person manipulates that means to a
creative end. The second dimension is described by the conceptual
“content” which the medium describes. Again, the creative person
depicts changes, manipulates and expresses somehow the idea of
that content.
There is no definition of creativity that everyone can agree with.
Creativity researchers, mostly from the field of psychology, usually
claim that being creative means being novel and appropriate.
Subsumed under the appropriateness criterion are qualities of fit,
utility and
value.
At least the following three aspects of creativity have drawn much
attention:
The creative process, receiving the most attention, focuses on
the mechanisms and phases involved as one partakes in a
creative act.
The second aspect of creativity is the creative person. Here,
personality traits of creative people are central. The
environmental atmosphere and influence are concern of a third
aspect, the creative situation.
Lastly, the criteria or characteristics of creative products have
been sought. This area is of particular importance because it is
the basis of any performance assessment of real world creativity
and may provide a window on the other aspects of creativity.
CREATIVITY AND ADVERTISING
“Creating a distinct message, new markets and creating innovation
with results is what we call creativity. Creativity is at the heart of
everything we do. Our ability to translate strategic thinking into ideas
enables us to develop creative communications that work in the
marketplace. Whether it’s a print, radio or television ad, a corporate
brochure or an annual report, creativity makes our work stand out in
the crowd.”—Pressman Advertising.

Advertising that people like and that wins awards is very satisfying,
but advertising that sells the product is much better. Widespread
scepticism exists concerning creativity in advertising, such as: “I
know the ad looks great, but will it actually sell?” and “Are the award-
winning commercials great advertising?” Often, great advertising
concerns issues other than gold medals. Considering the ultimate
objective of advertising—sales—creativity should not stand alone in
advertising. Creativity must be harmonized with every element of
advertising to achieve the final goal. See the ad of Coca Cola for
instance.
Perspectives on what constitutes creativity differ. At one extreme
are people who argue that advertising is creative only if it sells the
product. For them, an advertising message or campaign’s impact on
sales counts more than the fact whether it is innovative or wins
awards. At the other end of the continuum are those who judge the
creativity of an ad on the basis of its artistic or aesthetic value and
originality. They contend that creative ads can break through the
competitive clutter, grab the consumer’s attention and have some
impact.
To break through the clutter and make an impression on the target
audience, an ad must be unique and entertaining. A major
determinant of whether a commercial will be successful in changing
brand preferences is its “likeability” or the viewer’s overall reaction.
TV commercials and print ads that are well designed and executed
and that generate emotional responses can create positive feelings
that are transferred to the product or service being advertised. Many
creative people believe that this type of advertising can come about
only if they are given considerable latitude in developing advertising
messages. But ads that are creative only for the sake of being
creative often fail to communicate a relevant or meaningful message
that will lead consumers to purchase the product or service.
Ultimately, everyone involved in planning and developing an
advertising campaign must understand the importance of balancing
the “it’s not creative unless it sells” perspective with the
novelty/uniqueness and impact position. We have to answer the
question “Is there a direct correlation between creativity and success
in the market place?”
To believe that creativity decides on the life and death of a brand is
to take yourself too seriously. You are a team member in the
process. Sometimes the team loses and you see that you scored a
home run each time you went in to bat. Sometimes the team wins
and you had actually done nothing to contribute. So keep doing the
most relevant creative work and learn to keep quiet.
Advertising creativity is the ability to generate fresh, unique and
appropriate ideas that can be used as solution to communication
problems. To be appropriate and effective, a creative idea must be
relevant to the target audience. Many agencies view a creative
advertising message as one that is built around a creative core or
power idea and uses excellent design and execution to communicate
information that interests the target audience.
 Creative people in advertising agencies, i.e., copywriters and art
directors usually believe that creativity is necessary for effectiveness,
that creativity can push the advertising message into the viewer’s
mind. However, there is also a negative opinion about creativity in
advertising. Some critics define creativity as bothersome, costly, and
time-consuming. Sometimes it is believed that creative advertising
may be an award winner, but may have little to do with advertising
effectiveness.
Despite these criticisms, conventional wisdom holds that there is a
positive relationship between creative/award winning advertising and
sales effectiveness. Creativity is still considered the most important
element of the advertising business because it is almost impossible
to get the consumer’s attention with trite or commonplace
advertisements. Creativity is the one area that can put a company far
ahead of the fierce competition. From this perspective, it is valuable
to stress creativity in the advertising business.
ELEMENTS OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING
A characteristic of the creative personality is an ability to appeal to
consumers and to catch their attention. This is the conventional
belief that most advertising people, both creative side and account
side, are supposed to know. Nevertheless, it is not as easy as to say
to execute real advertising plan since continuous conflicts exist
between the advertising executives responsible for sales
effectiveness and the creative people viewing the effectiveness as
the outcome of creativity. There is no clear distinction between
creativity and effectiveness. Some creative commercials are
effective, some effective ads are creative, and other ads are neither
creative nor effective.

Commonly, successful campaigns result from pinpointing an idea,

a nuance, an insight, or a nugget of information gleaned from
research or sometimes from an intuitive understanding or quickness
of human nature. Successful creative strategies are based on such
gems.
Unlike other businesses, advertising is ultimately a people’s
business. Thus creative advertising that sells is the result of three
ingredients—people, information and environment.
KEY FACTORS IN SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING
Team work, effectiveness and communication are the key factors in
successful advertising campaigns, and the agencies must strive for a
balance between them. ‘Team Work’ is essential simply because a
group of creative thinkers put together can be more creative than a
single one, even if he/she is a genius at that. Among the three
factors, communication could be the most important factor from the
consumers’ point of view. For advertising to be useful,
communication between the company that originates the
advertisement and the potential customer must take place. The real
communication is a two-way process requiring active participation by
both the sender and the receiver of the message to facilitate the
transfer of meaning.
 When the recall communication occurs, the other two factors,
creativity and effectiveness, could be worthy of it. Otherwise, no
matter how great the creativity or effectiveness is, it won’t be useful,
at least in advertising business. This suggests several important
characteristics of creativity in advertising. Most of all, it should be
different from the creativity of universal meaning.
Here are four unbreakable rules of creativity:

1. Make the product relevant to the customer.

2. It should be promise to the customer.
3. Don’t let it stand alone.
4. Always put the product in the center of the commercial.
PLANNING CREATIVE STRATEGY
Those who work on the creative side of advertising often face a lot of
challenges. They must take all the research, creative briefs, strategy
statements, communication objectives and other inputs and
transform them into an advertising message, which should effectively
communicate the central theme on which the campaign is based.
Rather than simply stating the features or benefits of a product or
service, they must put the advertising message into a form that will
engage the audience’s interest and make the ads memorable.
The job of the creative team is difficult because every marketing
situation is different and each campaign or advertisement may
require a different creative approach. As copywriter Hank Sneiden
notes in his book Advertising−Pure and Simple:
“Rules lead to dull stereotyped advertising, and they stifle
creativity, inspiration, initiative and progress. The only hard and fast
rule that I know of in advertising is that there are no rules. No
formulas. No right way. Given the same problem, a dozen creative
talents would solve it in a dozen different ways. If there were a sure-
fire formula for successful advertising, everyone would use it. Then
there’d be no need for creative people. We would simply program
robots to create our ads and commercials and they’d sell loads of
products to other robots.”
TAKING CREATIVE RISKS
Many creative people follow proven formulas when creating ads
because they are safe. Clients often feel uncomfortable with
advertising that is too different. Bill Tragos, former chairman of
TBWA, the advertising agency, noted for its excellent creative work
for Absolute vodka, Evian, and many other clients, says, “Very few
clients realize that the reason that their work is so bad is that they
are the ones who commandeered it and directed it to be that way. I
think that at least 50% of an agency’s successful work resides in the
client.”
It is important for clients to take risks if they want a breakthrough
advertising that gets noticed. Not all companies or agencies agree
that advertising has to be risky to be effective, however. Many
marketing managers are more comfortable with advertising that
simply communicates product or service features and benefits and
gives the consumer a reason to buy. They see their ad campaigns as
crores of investments whose goal is to sell the product rather than
finance the whims of their agency’s creative staff. They argue that
some creative people have lost sight of advertising’s bottom line—
Does it sell?

An example of a company that has begun taking more creative

risks with its advertising is Wrigley. For many years, the company,
which has long dominated the market for chewing gum, was very
conservative with its advertising and relied on more traditional,
attribute—focused messages. However, in recent years, Wrigley has
taken a more dynamic approach in its ads. For example, advertising
for the company’s Big Red brand used the tried and true “Kiss a
Little Longer” campaign, featuring smooching couples, for many
years. However, in 2000, Wrigley decided to develop a new image
for the brand and began using a new campaign that focuses on the
product’s bold cinnamon taste and little “wisdoms” regarding fresh
breath.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Some advertising people say that creativity in advertising is best
viewed as a process and creative success is most likely when some
organized approach is followed. This does not mean that there is an
infallible blue - print to follow to create effective advertising. Many
advertising people reject attempts to standardize creativity or
develop rules. However, most do follow a process when developing
an ad.
James Webb Young, a former creative vice president at J. Walter
Thompson agency, developed one of the most popular approaches
to creativity in advertising. Young said, “The production of ideas is
just as definite a process as the production of Fords; the production
of ideas, too, runs an assembly line; in this production, the mind
follows an operative technique which can be learned and controlled;
and that its effective use is just as much a matter of practice in the
technique as in the effective use of any tool.” Young’s model of the
creative process contains five steps:

1. Immersion—Gathering raw material and information through

background research and immersing you in the problem
2. Digestion—Taking the information, working it over, and wrestling
with it in the mind
3. Incubation—Putting the problems out of your conscious mind
and turning the information over to the subconscious to do the
work
4. Illumination—Having the birth of an idea.
5. Reality or verification—studying the idea to see if it still looks
good or solves the problem; then shaping the idea to practical
usefulness

Models of the creative process are valuable to those working in the

creative area of advertising, since they offer an organized way to
approach an advertising problem. Many agencies are now using a
process called account planning to gather information and help
creative specialist as they go through the creative process of
developing advertising.

Background Research
The creative specialist should learn as much as possible about the
client’s product or service, the target market, the competition,
general trends, conditions and developments in the marketplace.
Some informal fact-finding techniques have been noted as follows:
Reading anything related to the product or market—books, trade
publications, general interest articles, research reports
Asking everyone involved with the product for information—
designers, engineers, sales people, and consumers
Listening to what people are talking about. Visits to stores,
malls, restaurants etc.
Using the product or service and becoming familiar with it
Working in and learning about the client's business to
understand better the people you’re trying to reach

Qualitative Research Input

In addition to various quantitative research studies, qualitative
research techniques such as in-depth interviews or focus groups can
provide the creative team with valuable insight at the early stages of
the creative process. Focus groups are research methods whereby
consumers (usually 10 to 12 people) from the target market are led
through a discussion regarding a particular topic. Focus groups give
insight as to why and how consumers use a product or service, what
is important to them in choosing a particular brand, what they like
and don’t like about various products or services, and any special
needs they might have that aren’t being satisfied. Another form of
qualitative input that has become popular amongst advertising
agencies is ethnographic research, which involves observing
consumers in their natural environment.

Creative Strategy Development

Most ads are part of a series of messages that make up an
advertising campaign, which is a set of interrelated and coordinated
marketing communication activities that centre around a single
theme or idea that appears in different media across a specified time
period. Determining the unifying theme around which the campaign
will be built is a critical part of the creative process. A campaign
theme should be a strong idea, as it is the central message that will
be communicated in all the advertising and other promotional
activities.
While some marketers change their campaign themes often, a
successful campaign theme may last for years. Philip Morris has
been using the “Marlboro country” campaign for over 40 years;
Santoor has positioned its bathing soap as “no one can guess my
age from my complexion” for decades, and BMW has used the
“ultimate driving machine” theme since 1974. Some popular themes
are given below:

Company or brand Campaign theme

1. DeBeers Diamonds are forever.

2. Nike Just do it.
3. Coca Cola The pause that refreshes.
4. Amul Taste of India.
5. Avis We try harder.
6. Colgate The ring of confidence.
7. BPL Believes in the Best.
8. Onida Neighbours envy, owner’s pride.
9. L’Oreal Because I’m worth it.
10. Canon Delighting you always.

Marketers have also developed their campaign themes based on

another famous theme. One of immediate recall is the visual
featuring a desolate cowboy standing next to his fallen horse.
Piyush’s creation for the Cancer Patient’s Aid Association made
more impact than the original ‘cowboy-horse’ ad and even die-hard
nicotine addicts would stop to take a look and think about the
consequences of a dalliance with the cancer-stick.

The Search for the Major Selling Idea

An important part of creative strategy is determining the central
theme that will become the major selling idea of the ad campaign.
For an ad campaign to be effective, it must contain a big idea that
attracts the consumer’s attention, gets a reaction and sets the
advertiser’s product or service apart from the competitions. The real
challenge to the creative team is coming up with the big idea to use
in the ad. Many products and services virtually offer nothing unique,
and it can be difficult to find something interesting to say about them.
The late David Ogilvy, generally considered one of the most creative
advertising copywriters ever to work in the business, has stated:
“I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big
idea. I am supposed to be one of the more fertile inventors of big
ideas, but in my long career as a copywriter I have not had more
than 20, if that.”
“Every Burnett employee knows that it is not enough to produce
advertising that works. We have to stretch farther and deliver brand
miracles.” says Mr. Arvind Sharma, Managing Director of Leo
Burnett.
It is difficult to pinpoint the inspiration for a big idea or to teach
advertising people how to find one. However, several approaches
can guide the creative team’s search for a major selling idea and
offer solutions for developing effective advertising. Some of the best
known approaches are as follow:

1. Using a unique selling proposition

2. Creating a brand image
3. Finding the inherent drama
4. Positioning

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Rosser Reeves, former Chairman of Ted Bates agency, developed
the concept of the unique selling proposition. Reeves noted the
following three characteristics of unique selling propositions:

1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer.

Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window
advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: “Buy
this product and you will get this benefit”.
2. The proposition must be the one that the competition either
cannot or does not offer. It must be unique either in the brand or
in the claim.
3. The proposition must be strong enough to move the masses,
that is, pull over new customers to your brand.

Creating a Brand Image

In many product and service categories, competing brands are so
similar that it is very difficult to find or create a unique attribute or
benefit to use as the major selling idea. The creative strategy used to
sell these products is based on the development of a strong,
memorable identity for the brand through image advertising.
 Image advertising has become increasingly popular and is used as
the main selling idea for a variety of products and services, including
soft drinks, liquor, cigarettes, cars, airlines, financial services,
perfumes/cologne and clothing. Many consumers wear designer
jeans or Raymond shirts or drink certain brands of beer or soft drinks
because of the image of these brands.
Finding the inherent drama
Advertising campaign can be engrossing if it has an inherent drama
in it. The advertisement of Mirinda revolves around the drama where
the mother is so much fascinated by the taste of the drink that she
doesn’t even recognize her lost son. People believe the story as it
doesn’t cross the boundary. On the other hand, a notable opinion
about advertising strategy and integrity is that advertising insults the
intelligence of an average consumer. This lack of trust could affect
consumers’ response to advertising and the total creative
environment.
 This is an ad by Spa. The customer is supposed to figure out what
the ad says through just a picture. Looks like it’s definitely not for
getting slim! Or is it that he is just playing with us by stating the
opposite of usual purpose of a gym? Sometimes the real meaning is
hidden in the name of creativity.
Of course, there are also some advertisements, which are vague
and befitting, but that is not necessarily result of great creativity.
However, when creativity exists without regard for the consumer, the
creative ad might insult the consumer more easily than the ad using
uncreative ideas. To some extent, creative advertising can be more
dangerous than demonstration or testimonial advertisement.
Therefore, advertising people must consider the intelligence of the
consumer or suffer the consequence of building a less than desirable
brand image.
As Mr. Sharma says, “I genuinely believe that human beings
ultimately choose good sense. I’m, therefore, for freedom of speech.
Internet is finally demonstrating the futility of censorship every day.
Those who still don’t buy it, will buy in a couple of years. Advertising
is still the most fun you can have with your clothes on. It challenges
a man’s capability to solve amorphously defined problems in creative
ways. It is the stuff of human life!”
Positioning
Any product creates a position of itself in the market. The process,
which determines what place will be occupied in the given market
with the ongoing products, is called positioning. This process, which
creates a niche for the product makes a position similar to the
segmentation process, which produces alternative market segments
and finally target markets.
The markets can position a product, service and ideas in the
following ways:
By price (Nirma by claiming the same cleaning in lesser price).
By attributes (Surf Excel can save two buckets of water).
By its ability to surpass the competition (Harpic cleans better
than other toilet cleaners).
By application (Fair and lovely can make the skin fairer in
fourteen days only).
By product users (Rasna is a favourite drink of all children).
By product class (Tropicana juice is the real fruit juice).
It is quite true that both marketing and advertising separately relate
the product positioning to the target market. Hyundai positioned
Sonata as high quality and high price product. Advertising certainly
reinforces the campaign position through the choice of copy, music,
media and spokesperson. The advertisement of Titan is a good
example for choosing the appropriate spokesperson, music and
media.
THE STYLE: HARD SELL OR SOFT SELL
The style of selling can be decided according to the nature of the
product, the competition and the target audience. The style of each
agency and individual campaign differs. Some want to be noticed
without screaming. Leo Burnett emphasizes that their style is
straightforward without being flatfooted, warm without being
mawkish.
Hard sell advertising is almost, as it sounds, coaxing the
receivers with the immediate demand to buy the product. This is
done by using the phrases like ‘buy now’ or by promising being the
exceptional, the best, amazing and the most wonderful product in the
universe. The screaming of the house dealer is an appropriate
example, which is used when the price is the most important criteria
for buying decision. Remember not to confuse hard sell with well-
crafted ads that have lot of persuasive and cajoling passion. The
remarkable feature of hard sell ads is to put a unintermittent
pressure to buy immediately.
 Soft sell advertising is just opposite to the hard sell as it takes
wider approach to persuade and motivate the reader to create a
desire to buy the product. It does not bank on exhortations of ‘buy
now’, in fact, not even urge people to buy at all but has a very subtle
approach of advertising. It simply creates a situation in audiences’
mind that will inadvertently lead them to buy the product. Soft sell
advertisements are equally effective as the hard sell advertisement,
in fact, sometimes more as they don’t irk the customer.
It is the market scenario which influences the advertiser’s style
choices. During the natural disasters, the gaudy style and luxurious
style might be toned down to avoid offending people who might be
facing financial crunch.
THE APPEALS
The most successful advertisement will be able to appeal the people
who view, read or listen to it. The advertising appeal is a trial to draw
some synergy between the product advertised and some desire that
is felt by audience. This audience is motivated by reducing the gaps
in their lives—the way they perceive thing to be and they way the like
things to be. This appeal will announce that this product will meet
your need and fulfill your desire. Therefore, to be successful, the
appeal should be in congruence with the customer’s buying process.
The appeals can be categorized into logical and emotional
appeals. The logical appeal is also known as rational appeal as it is
based on reasoning while emotional appeal tries to sell the product
by giving the customer satisfaction after buying the product.
Suppose, if you have to advertise for a Xerox machine, then logical
appeal will be more appropriate. If you have to advertise for a talcum
powder, it is safe to opt for emotional appeal. In fact, if you advertise
for a product like diamond, the appeal strategy changes according to
the audience need. If it is to be used as the jewellery, the obvious
appeal used is emotional but if the purpose is for industrial use, the
appeal will be logical.
Consider the tag like for Amul Chocolate which says ‘a gift to some
one you love’ has a strong emotional appeal that draws a connection
between the product and the need for love and commitment. On the
other hand, the products, which are for industrial/business use like
the advertisement for HP, have logical appeal.
 The definitions do talk about these appeals separately but seldom
will you find each appeal in isolation. Most of the advertisements will
have mixture of both the appeals. For example, if you advertise for
something you consider logical as a photocopier as a piece of office
equipment, it will appeal to emotions. As a decision to buy this
equipment might be intertwined up with the concern about the job
performance, quickness of results or being mocked at if the results
are not exact. Human beings will remain the same throughout the
world and will have same sentiments and feelings. All have feelings
of hopes, apprehensions, desires and dreams regardless of their
profession. Even a highly technical ad can appeal to emotions as the
perfection in the office can reduce the stress and increase the
chances of success or satisfy your other emotions.
It is very important to put an emotional appeal in the product being
advertised. It is not just enough to roil the emotions of love, anger,
friendship and security but those feelings should be translated into
purchase decision. Otherwise making an ad will be an exercise in
sentiments and not selling. The Vicks advertisement has done it very
well. When the child has gone out in the rains and caught cold, he
just showed how much he loved his mother and had gone in awful
weather conditions to get flowers for his mother. Mother in return
gave him a hug and massaged Vicks to make him fine.
Advertisers can employ different kinds of appeals which can be
named as logical, emotional or combination of the two. The most
common types of appeal are based on price, quality star
identification, ego, anger or fear or five senses, sex, love and
novelty.
Price appeal
Dabur glucose-D is now 33% free, Now you will be getting 5% extra
in the same price is what is the price appeal or the other way is to
lower the price and give the same amount as was done by HLL for
their detergent powder. In some situations, you keep the price and
the product same but common people still try as the product is worth
the price they pay.

Remember that price in isolation is not an effective appeal and no

one would be ready to buy bad quality of goods in lower prices. If the
quality is maintained then only the lower price can make an appeal.
Price is used as the extra punch in appeal. When you offer good
quality product at reasonable price, then may be it attracts the
potential buyers.
Quality appeal
The obverse side to price appeal is the appeal to quality. An ad for
Arvind Mills mentions its quality products for the last 100 years and
also challenges the others. It cannot do unless it has quality of the
right level. The audience is sceptical of such claims. Therefore, you
ought to support it with right kind of information to build the trust.
Star appeal
The audience has great fascination for superstars in films and sports
and that is why you will find every second advertisement being
endorsed by the celebrity. Endorsement by a celebrity has become
very popular these days in India and abroad. Amitabh Bacchhan,
Aishwarya Rai, Sachin Teldulkar, Preity Zinta, Amir Khan, Rani
Mukherjee, Sharukh Khan, etc. are seen in most of the
advertisements. An ad with the star endorsement has a greater
appeal and recall value.

A related appeal is testimonial, in which a real user of the product

uses the product and claims it to be the best. It need not be a
celebrity but can be any real user who will tell about the benefits got
by using the product. For example, N. Kartikeyan, the fastest car
driver, was given an ad for Bridgestone tyres. One ought to be
careful about the legal issues involved in this type of appeal but if it
is rightly executed, it becomes very powerful as the message comes
from the satisfied customer.
Ego appeal
An appeal to the personal quality of an individual always have an
indelible effect whether it is related to intellect, appearance, sense of
humour or any other trait. The appropriate example for the appeal is
for L’oreal where Diana Hayden claims “b’coz I am worth it”. At later
stage, it, was changed to “b’coz you are worth it”. She accepts that it
is quite expensive but the statement touches the ego of the potential
buyers goading them to think about the same product for
themselves. The ego appeal is something that happens in private
and, therefore, is not embarrassing.
Fear appeal
The greatest fear human beings have is the fear of death, distortion
of figure and face, or mutilation of body parts. The extreme case of
this appeal was used in antismoking ad where the complete
advertisement is shown in black which depicts that you are
embracing death, if you smoke. The other example is the
advertisement for LIC policy, where a lady dreams that she is bereft
of her husband and had nothing left to support her. It is very scary
and that cajoles her to go for LIC policy. Certainly, it has a very
strong appeal.
Sensory appeal
Some of the ads aim at one or more of five senses of touch, taste,
vision, hearing and smell. For example, Tata Tea gold has banked on
its aroma and those who refuse to take this tea, rue later on. Toyota
has its signature line as the touch of perfection. The appeal in
Apsara pencil is the well-crafted handwriting which is visual appeal.
In fact, the advertisers use one of these appeals in advertisement
either through words or pictures.
Sex, love and social acceptance appeals
This is another very common appeal which is communicated
explicitly or even implicitly. The wide gamut of feelings is revealed
through personal interaction whether it is social acceptance,
friendship, love and sex. In the advertisement for a crack cream, the
lady is embarrassed because of her cracked heels. An Itch Guard ad
shows a man tempted to itch his private parts because of the
problem. So to avoid such situation of embarrassment, the Itch
Guard is sure a solution. The advertisement of GenX
undergarments, Calvin Klein’s , Obsession perfume, Kamasutra
condoms and Levis jeans has used sex and love to appeal the
audiences. In some situations, sexy images are too suggestive to
offend the readers and viewers.
Novelty appeal
When the advertisements are mushrooming at such a pace, to be
different is challenging. Just to make an advertisement is not
enough, but to make it really catchy and strange is the need of the
time. “Thanda matlab Coca cola” was certainly different. The Fevicol
advertisement in which the bus was moving in the terrain of dessert
which is fully loaded with the wonderful music at the backdrop had its
impact, for the campaign was novel. It is not necessary that you will
buy the product but surely viewers will not forget the visual.
TOO MUCH OF CREATIVITY
People say it is easier to create a memorable advertisement than it
is to create an advertisement that makes the product memorable. A
number of tests have proved that people often remember a
commercial, but not a product. This problem is called vampire
creativity. It occurs primarily with advertisements that are too
entertaining, original, involving or provocative. The selling story of
the advertisement can be so mesmerizing that it obscures the
product quality. Using humour or celebrity in advertisement can
cause this problem. But under one condition, vampire creativity could
be effective. When people are exposed to that kind of commercials
not just once but several times (higher frequency), the effectiveness
could be relatively higher than the commonplace advertisements.
However, it is crucial that the ads establish a strong link between the
message and the product so that remembering the commercial
means also remembering the product. See the ad of Smirnoff shown.
Is this height of vagueness or creativity? At the most, one might be
able to guess that it’s a liquor ad and the rest is left to imagination.
CREATIVITY VERSUS PROFIT
In a commercial environment, within a business, the only judge of
creativity is the fact how much money it eventually makes or saves.
Of what use is a very beautiful ad if it doesn’t sell? So creative artists
should first make sure that the message is driven home and then
add all the creative stuff they want without spoiling the prime
purpose.
Some TV advertising campaigns are memorable works of art as
they are glued to our imagination. They can brighten up our days or
evenings. They give a common currency to pub and office talk.
Adverts form a small but fond part of almost everybody’s childhood
memories. They reach our eyes and ears in the first place because a
marketing manager inside a large company put together a proposal
that his/her company should spend from a few hundred thousand to
millions of rupees to create and buy the broadcast time for the
advertisement. The company approved that expenditure.
 The companies which advertise most are public companies and
have shareholders to account for their expenditure, so their rationale
has to be pretty tough—creative advertisements must usually pay
dividends by improving product sales or the “brand value” of
products. There are quite a few loopholes, which allow creative
advertisements to get through unchecked. Sometimes the ad
agencies do the work as showcase work, not as “commercial” or
“profitable” work, only to win the awards. In the process, the essence
of advertising is lost and a fortune of money is wasted just to show
make beautiful art in the name of advertising.
In 1991, Subaru and American Express rolled out major creative
ad campaigns. However, none has revived lagging sales. Subaru
sales remain flat. American Express has failed to reinvigorate its
charge card with its new slogan, “The Card. The American Express
Card.” All the results are surprising because the campaigns come
from agencies renowned for their creativity.
AWARD-WINNING ADVERTISING
Many people agree that creative awards are one of the best
benchmarks of pure creative excellence. Creative awards are
motivating and stimulating to creative people who operate for more
than just money. They are the tools for an industry to set high
standards. For the most part, however, advertisers are unconvinced
of the value of creative awards. Some argue that it is not right to
judge advertising without considering business results. Many people
view creative awards with a great amount of scepticism. In the
awards, ads are frequently judged on their artistic rather than selling
merits. Some critics express negative opinions about creativity in
advertising. They say that creativity is unpredictable and can upset
the appearance of stability and predictability.

The creativity is judged by the jury on very simple criteria. They

specify “impact” and “relevance” as two parameters to evaluate or
judge creativity. Obviously, only creative people should be called
upon to judge creativity. Shorn of its niceties, one school of thought
lays out a case where creators of creativity are the best judges of it.
The second school of thought advocates the inclusion of marketing
people who, in any case, judge the creativity of agencies every day
in the real world and decide what actually goes out to the ultimate
consumer.
Firstly, when you have only eminent creative directors judging
creative work, you tend to look for what the supposedly creative
mind recognizes as truly creative. You end up with a view that almost
none, or at least a very small proportion, of the work entered
deserves to be awarded for creativity.
Well, judging from the Indian victories at Cannes, the
overwhelming majority of the few pieces of work that have been
hailed by the international creative community is work done for
NGOs. Even if it is work done for a brand, it is probably some
environmental message from the company, not its regular
advertising.
So what does that mean? Why is it that there are a growing
number of global majors increasing their advertising through a large
number of global agency alliances and India could not get one single
gold Lion at the Cannes advertising festival? Meanwhile, the bronzes
India picked up are for everything other than “regular” advertising of
large advertisers. At the risk of causing several others to quiver with
indignation, we may say that Indian creativity was rewarded, as it
richly deserved to be. Indian advertising was not.
What we have been winning is certainly not representative of
Indian advertising. The ‘Even second-hand smoke kills’ hoarding
with the Marlboro horse lying dead was a fantastic idea. The
communication was seen in editorial space by Indians not as a
solitary hoarding that came up at Worli, Mumbai. Why is it that all the
big brands that are being advertised—Ponds or Dettol or Surf or
Pepsi or Asian Paints or any of the other big-budget campaigns that
advertisers choose to support on the wisdom of their experience and
the evidence of their market research—are nowhere among the big
awards?
It is predominantly the NGOs which are thrilled to bits to get free
creatives and so do not ‘interfere’, that sweep the accolades. What
does this mean? Does it mean that advertisers do not take the leap
of faith that cutting-edge creative needs? Our spenders would do
well to ponder upon this.
However, there was a fundamental problem which should not be
ignored; no single set of criteria could be applied to judging
effectiveness because each commercial had its own goal and
standard, from raising sales to image and awareness.
In conclusion, an award-winning ad is more likely to sell the
product than one that is not award-winning. This result seems to
show a strong and positive relationship between creative
commercials and sales, based on statistical figures, even if the
objectives of the commercials are not just sales.
Now the questions remain: “Does creative advertising sell? Does
‘effective’ mean ‘creative’ ?” The success of ads doesn’t seem to be
directly influenced by creativity itself, even though, statistically,
creative/award-winning advertising is about two-and-a-half times
more likely to sell than uncreative advertising. Even if creative or
award-winning advertising may sell more than uncreative or non-
award-winning advertising, it is more valuable to note that creative
advertising doesn’t always sell. Creative commercials—the ads that
are well liked by the ad industry and ordinary people, hailed in the
press and recalled most frequently in surveys of television viewers—
don’t always work. They may provoke smile and laughter or warm
memories of wonderful moments, but they frequently do not increase
sales.
As mentioned above, we should not evaluate the creativity of the
ads according to the universal definition of creativity. Applying it to
the advertising business, we might get the above results. Therefore,
it’s time to redefine creativity to reflect new ways of reaching
customers and building brands. Creativity has to include not only
brand communication but also brand experiences which are
collected over a period of time. It should embrace not only
compelling words and visuals but also consumer-catching ideas that
add value to the brand and generate action around it. Creativity
needs to do more than please our sensibilities and win awards. It
must reinforce the brand’s image and materially augment the
movement of the brand through its distribution channels and
increase the information in the consumer’s hands.
Based on this new definition, the creative advertising that doesn’t
sell is not creative advertising any more, regardless of its
performance. Creative advertising must sell the products or brands.
This should be the one condition of evaluating creativity in
advertising. No doubt great creativity has the power to evoke
purchases. The most profitable outfits and the most creative ones
are one and the same. And if there is ‘Creativity,’ one-time exposure
is enough to appeal to and convince customers.

SUMMARY
Creativity is always a fascinating and challenging area in advertising.
The interpretation of an ad depends on the perception of the
individual. While creating an ad, you should remember that the
objective of advertising is just not to sell product but also to create
images in the mind of prospective buyers so that they can transform
experience of buying or using product or services. It is the creative
strategy and creative tactics which will decide the advertising
message. Sometimes the advertisement is creative but it doesn’t
have an impact on the sale of the product. Creativity is defined as
doing something which is different from others. It is the old wine in
the new bottle. Creativity is ability to generate novel and useful ideas
and solutions to everyday problems and challenges. For advertising
to stand distinct, creativity is must and should be blend with it.
Advertising creativity depends on people, information and
environment.
While working on creative strategy, one should not only try to make
it memorable but communicate message very clearly. The job of the
creative team is arduous as every market situation is different.
Therefore, each campaign may require a different creative approach.
Advertiser should be bold enough to take risk while developing a
campaign. The creative process contains five steps—immersion,
digestion, incubation, illumination and verification. Any ad message
is developed around a big idea. Some marketers change their theme
fast while others take a while.
There are different appeals in the advertising which can be to the
head, heart or combination of both. The four best approaches for
developing an effective advertising are using unique selling
proposition, creating a brand Image, finding the inherent drama and
positioning. Too much of creativity is bad as it makes the viewers
remember the product but that doesn’t necessarily make them buy it.
This is called vampire advertising. Some advertisements are
primarily made for winning awards.

QUESTIONS
1. What is more important in an advertising campaign—picture or
the words?
2. What do you understand by creativity? Do you think advertising
rules are antithesis to creativity?
3. What is the role of teamwork in developing an ad campaign?
4. Explain the five steps of creative process in advertising.
5. Differentiate between hard selling and soft selling in advertising.
Give examples for each.
6. Discuss various types of appeals used in advertising. Which
appeal according to you has the most recall value and why?
7. Vampire creativity is a problem faced by many advertisements.
Give some examples of ads which you think were affected by
vampire creativity. What were the steps taken to remedy this?
8. Take a marketing positioning statement, based on a situation
analysis for a brand and product category that you may have
worked on for some marketing project and attempt to come up
with five different creative ideas that could be used in creative
advertising for the selected brand.
9. Does the freedom of speech give the marketers full right to
unleash ideas that may be termed obscene by the public and
 “creative” by the marketer?

10. Critically examine the ad given below and justify the reasons for
finding it creative.
 CASE STUDY: CULTURE SHOCK
The power of culture has a great influence in all decisions, and cultural creativity works
the ultimate magic with consumers. Semiotic analysis is a form of focused desk
research, which is done before touching base with consumers. One examines the
communications of both the client and competitors—advertising, products, packaging,
retail environments, promotions, historical and current. By analysing the data one can
find out the cultural “body language” unconsciously coded into brand messages. This
allows one to see how consumers (consciously and unconsciously) use contexts, codes,
 myths and metaphors to make those all important cultural connections with the brand
and its spectrum of marketing messages.
Titoo Ahluwalia, Chairman, ORGMARG, while making a presentation in the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) marketing summit held in Delhi recently, said,
“The rational and psychological levels in communication can be probed using
conventional research techniques but the cultural level is more difficult to access. That is
because the culture is ‘encoded’
in everyday living and the average consumer cannot decode his own culture”. When the
hypotheses are developed by the semiotic analysis, one has an infinitely sharper and
more focused set of questions when one does get to talk to people. It helps market
researchers in analysing and understanding the data much better. Says Sonia Pal,
Group Project Manager, MBL, RCG, “Semiotics is used frequently in interpretations of
the research we do. Even if there is no formal semiotic research phase in the study, we
use semiotics to help us understand data better”.
Semiotics looks at things through the other end of the marketing telescope, the cultural
end. It bases the interpretation of ‘what it sees’ firmly on the theory that consumers are
not independent spirits, articulating their original opinions and making their own
individual buying decisions. By and large, consumers are products of the popular culture
in which they live. They are constructed by the communication of that culture.

Certain phrases stick firmly in our minds and we are not quite sure
why. “Just do it”, we may say as a way to motivate ourselves to take
on a difficult task. “There is nothing official about it!” we may tell a
friend during a heated debate.
But if we think for a moment where these phrases and catchwords
actually originated, we may dimly recall that they were once slogans
used in advertising campaigns for athletic shoes (Nike’s “Just do it”)
or the cold drink( Coca Cola’s “There is nothing official about it”).
The purpose of such appealing messages in advertisements is to
motivate people to buy
the advertised goods and services. Copywriters who do this job
dexterously create such
messages. Advertising copywriters are the people who wrote these
and other slogans, carefully crafting succinct and punchy phrases to
cajole us into buying the deluge of products and services.
ROLE OF COPYWRITER
Advertising copywriters write the slogans for advertisements in
newspapers, magazines and billboards, radio and television
commercials and internet pop-up ads. Their catchy pitches
(described by advertisers themselves as a mixture of flattery and
threats) help companies gain exposure, publicity and prestige. In this
era of consumerism, every day new products and services are
making their way in the market. Competition is increasing and the
outlook of customers is also changing. Since long business
organizations have been depending on advertisements to lure
customers in order to make their business and market share grow.
But now the role of advertisements has become much more
significant mainly because of the growing competition.
Not only we get to see more advertisements now but also the style
of advertisements is changing very rapidly. In this environment, the
requirement of copywriters has increased and their job has become
more arduous. Even the simplest of well-timed campaigns can
generate excitement and unprecedented sales for a company since
millions of people watch, read and listen to these ads each day.
Indeed, for most of us in this media age, advertisements of any kind
are hard to escape. In addition to their work on ads, advertising
copywriters also write press releases which are distributed to news-
gathering organizations as well as promotional information and trade
journal articles about products and services. Their goal is always to
write interesting and original copy that will get people appreciating
and buying. Depending on the needs, inputs like humour, family
values, etc. are included in the advertisement copy.
Copywriters work in a creative partnership with an art director to
conceive, develop and produce effective advertisements. While the
art director deals mainly with the visual images, it is the copywriter
who provides the verbal or written aspect. This involves writing
‘copy’, i.e. coming up with the original catch phrases, slogans and
signatures lines. It also includes writing all the wording in any type of
advertising such as:
 Posters
Press
Leaflets
Brochures
Radio or television scripts
Copywriters are often involved in the production process, which
can include casting actors for voice-overs and dealing with
production companies and directors or typographers, designers and
printers.
A copywriter’s work, depending upon the type of agency, may
include:
Meeting with the account management team to discuss client
requirements and background to the product
Working in a close-knit creative partnership with the art director
to generate workable concepts and ideas
Writing clear, persuasive and original copy
Submitting ideas and discussing progress with the creative
director
Amending and revising campaigns according to feedback from
the creative director or clients
Working on several campaigns at once, under pressure and to
tight deadlines
Carefully proofreading copy to check spelling and grammar
Overseeing campaigns through the production stage to final
completion
Casting actors for TV and radio work, listening to voice tapes
Liaising with production companies, photographers,
typographers, designers and printers
Keeping up to date with popular culture and trends
Advising ‘would be’ creatives and reviewing portfolios
In smaller firms, advertising copywriters often do more than just
write. They find new clients and do market research. They often work
for a diverse group of clients and must be versatile enough to adjust
to each new product they work with and each new medium they write
for.
Copywriting is a job that is often perceived as creative, stimulating
and even glamorous. Copywriters help develop names for new
products, often travel in the course of work and are offered free
samples by companies whose products they pitch. Some even get to
participate in the filming of television ads. Because their words can
move people to buy products worth crores of rupees, it is a
profession that can also be relatively lucrative. On the other hand, it
is often stressful work, since being creative on a tight schedule isn't
all that easy. The task of the copywriters include
Writing ads for various media
Analysing market data
Consulting with clients
Consulting with other members of the creative team
Editing and rewriting copy
The skills, abilities and personal characteristics of a copywriter are
as follows:
Writing creatively and persuasively
Working under pressure
Meeting deadlines
Working in team
Working cohesively with clients
Keeping abreast of market trends and research
Translating clients’ preferences into a finished product
Presenting one’s work to others for evaluation
Working on several different projects simultaneously
Having amazing sense of humour
Being a wordsmith
Copywriters may also write publicity releases, promotional or
informational booklets, sales promotion materials, or they may work
on merchandising campaigns. They sometimes write radio and
television commercials or trade journal articles about products or
services. At times copywriters may be called upon to edit or rewrite
existing copy. Copywriters may be assigned to a variety of accounts
and must be versatile enough to adjust to each new product and
medium and to vary the language and tone of each message.
Agency copywriters may also work on annual reports, sales
brochures, point-of-purchase materials, instructional manuals and
press releases. Some broadcasting stations employ copywriters to
prepare advertising material and station announcements.
Irrespective of the size of the operation, copywriters must be
knowledgeable about copywriting, art and layout, space and time
buying and selling copy.
IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE
Language has a powerful influence over people and their behaviour.
This is especially true in the fields of marketing and advertising. The
choice of language to convey specific messages with the intention of
influencing people is vitally important.
Visual content and design in advertising have a very great impact
on the consumer, but it is the language that helps people to identify a
product and remember it.
First let us have a look at the various components of an
advertisement. See Figure 9.1.

Fig. 9.1 Anatomy of an advertisement.

Parts of an advertisement:
(a) Headline: to grab attention
 (b) Illustration: to retain interest
(c) Body copy: details and sales pitch
(d) Signature line: brand name, slogan, and trademark
(e) Standing details: address of firm
As you see, except for the ‘illustration’ part of it, rest of it is
language in which you want to communicate. So the language we
use in an advertisement has a major role to play.

Most of the ads we see today are in English language and English
is known for its extensive vocabulary. Where many other languages
have only one or two words, which carry a particular meaning,
English may have innumerable.
Moreover, the meanings of some words may differ very slightly and
in a very subtle way. It is important to understand the connotation of
a word. Connotation is the feeling or ideas that are suggested by a
word, rather than the actual meaning of the word. Couch, for
example, suggests comfort, whereas chair arouses no particular
feelings. The target audience, of course, also puts its own meaning
into certain words. Different people sometimes interpret language in
different ways.
Both the mass media, when reporting news items, and marketing
and advertising personnel have to consider the emotive power of the
words they use. First, they should make a decision about what to
communicate and what to withhold.
One way in which advertisers use language is to take compound
words and use them as adjectives. These compounds often later
become widely used in normal situations. Examples of these
compounds, which have become part of the English language, are
top-quality, king-size, chocolate-flavoured, feather-light and longer-
lasting.
The language of advertising is, of course, normally very positive
and emphasizes why one product stands out in comparison with
another. Advertising language may not always be “correct” language
in the normal sense. For example, comparatives are often used
when no real comparison is made. An advertisement for a detergent
may say “It gets clothes whiter”, but whiter than what.
A study of vocabulary used in advertising listed the most common
adjectives and verbs in order of frequency. They are:

Adjectives Verbs

1. new 1. make
2. good/better/best 2. get
3. free 3. give
4. fresh 4. have
5. delicious 5. see
6. full 6. buy
7. sure 7. come
8. clean 8. go
9. wonderful 9. know
10. special 10. keep
11. crisp 11. look
12. fine 12. need
13. big 13. love
14. great 14. use
15. real 15. feel
16. easy 16. like
17. bright 17. choose
18. extra 18. take
19. safe 19. start
20. rich 20. taste

The adjectives good and new were over twice as popular as any
other adjective.
 The common questions about the advertising language with which
an individual grapples are:
Is advertising language normal language?
Does advertising language sometimes break the rules of normal
language?
These questions relate to the place of advertising language in the
context of the readers' general knowledge of language (we will
presume that the language is English). In order to answer them, we
must have some conception of what is meant by “normal language”.
The English language has evolved to have many different kinds of
functionality, each of which corresponds to different situation and
style of use. From an analytic point of view, it seems to make the
most sense to understand “normal language” to include the variety of
styles of English that mature speakers and readers control. This will
form the backdrop of everyday language in its many functions,
against which we can view advertising language.

Weasel Words
Advertisers often use special words or phrases. These words or
phrases are often misleading. These words are called weasel
words. Examples of weasel words are “helps”, “virtual”, “new and
improved” and “like.”

“Helps”
People often think “help” means stop. Advertisers use it so that they
can say things that are not necessarily true. Legally, help means to
aid or assist. For example, a product can “help” cure indigestion. In
fact, the product does not cure indigestion.
“Virtually”
To advertisers, “virtually” means “not really” or “not in fact.” If you see
an ad that says this cold medicine relieves virtually all symptoms, the
ad could really mean it does not relieve any symptoms.
“New and improved”
A product can only be considered new for six months. Any small
change in a product will make it new. Often, this change does not
make a product better. Yet, the change often makes it more
expensive. “New” is often used with “improved.”
“Like”
“Like” can mean “not in fact”. Some products claim they work “like
magic”. Like often takes the audience’s attention off the product.
Think of “like magic”. If things are like magic, they are not magic.
“Presupposition”
An important aspect of any communication involves the
presuppositions that are present. Presuppositions may be even more
critical in television advertising (see Geis 1982) than in print
advertising. However, even in print advertising, presuppositions are
an important component of the overall message. As the name
implies, a presupposition is a necessary precondition for the
processing of any communication.
 Presuppositions typically involve the existence of some object or
idea.
The adjoining ad presupposes that there are leglines, curves and
compliments, and thereby implicates that these things are related.
A further example of presupposition, of a fact or proposition, is
evident in this text from an ad of Apple Computer:
“I used to think it was my fault that Windows didn’t work properly”.
Presuppositions are a crucial part of advertising as they can cause
the reader to consider the existence of objects, propositions, and
culturally-defined behavioural properties. For example, “Have you
had your daily vitamins” presupposes that you take or need “daily
vitamins”, thereby creating and perpetuating the idea that the
behaviour of taking vitamins daily is part of our culture.
RHETORIC OF ADVERTISING
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current
English, ‘rhetoric’ is the art of persuasive or impressive, speaking or
writing, language designed to persuade or to impress. Cuddon
(1977) also gives a similar definition: “Rhetoric is the art of using
language for persuasion, in speaking or writing”. As the main aim of
advertising is to persuade the customer to buy the product, the
copywriter often uses different kinds of rhetorical devices to put forth
an effective copy. Some such devices which use the figurative
language of advertising and share it with poetry are rhyme,
alliteration, simile, metaphor, parallelism, etc. These provide a
foregrounding effect as they do in poetry. Most of these figures of
speech involve repetition or recurrence of identical units, which need
a well-defined context for their interpretation. Rhetoric thus plays a
vital role in effective communication.
The effective language provides the copywriter multiple
opportunities to be novel and original and the customer reads this
language to derive aesthetic pleasure by going through figurative
language. Finally, he is imperceptibly persuaded to examine and
perhaps to buy the product which has been advertised. The
copywriter disregards the literal meaning of words in order to show
or imply a relationship between two or more things—the relationship
may be direct or implied or may emphasize contrast. Certain
figurative or rhetorical expressions used in advertisements have
become a part of our daily vocabulary. We tend to forget that their
usage is not normal. For example, in “Taste the Thunder”, the
signature line for Thums-up ad is not taken literally. We interpret it in
the figurative meaning of a word. In the baseline “Taste the
Thunder”, the copywriter has used thunder inappropriately. Taste has
been added to thunder, which is an abstract noun and not edible for
a dramatic effect of adventure. It is, therefore, clear that poetic
expression can be employed in advertising “solely for the purpose of
communicating clearly, or making almost tangible the described
product or situation, of transmitting the most reasonable facsimile
possible of what is described” (Weir, 1960).
Advertising language is at times quite standard and unobtrusive,
but more often it attracts attention to itself by being highly colourful
and imaginative. Further, as pointed out earlier, it involves stretching
or breaking the rules or conventions of ‘normal’ usage. The rhetorical
figure is the mechanism which gives flexibility to move from normal
usage to specialized usage. It is quite obvious that what has been
said in figurative terms can always be expressed in more direct and
simple language. The headline of Cathay Pacific ad says, “The best
way to the Big Noodle”. Big Noodle is used in figurative sense which
can be easily substituted by Hong Kong or China. But to create
better impact, it is stated in this manner.
Let us now turn our attention to the frequently used rhetorical
devices that we discovered in our sample of advertisements. We
shall take on each device and examine its impact on the potential
buyer.
Metaphor
It is a figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of
another. This is a basic figure of speech in poetry. In metaphor, a
comparison is usually implicit, whereas in Simile, it is explicit. “In a
metaphor, a word, which in standard (or literal) usage denotes one
kind of thing, quality or action, is applied to another, in the form of a
statement of identity instead of comparison” (Abrams 1970). For
example, the poem of Burns: ‘O my love is a red, red rose’ is a
metaphor. It should be noted that metaphors can be analysed into
two elements. I.A. Richards introduced the term ‘tenor’ for the
subject to which the metaphoric word is applied and the term
‘vehicle’ for the metaphoric word itself.
A creative copywriter frequently uses metpahors. A metaphor, like
a simile, declares an identity, but assimilates comparison. Metaphors
are of real value to a copywriter as they can suggest those emotive
associations for the product which is wished by the copywriter.
The signature line of Videocon reads “Bring home the leader, bring
home the emotion”. Leader and emotion are both equated to the
television. Leader rightly points out that it is the top quality in the
market and emotion gives it a sentimental value. Some more
examples are:
MRF: The tyre with muscles.
Samsung: Talk in colour.
Goldflake: It’s Honeydew Smooth.
Fiat Punto: If your son drives like an animal, put him in this cage.

Heineken: How Refreshing. How Heineken.

Simile
In this figure of speech, one thing is linked to another, in such a way
as to clarify and enhance an image. It is an explicit comparison
recognizable by the use of words ‘like’ or ‘as’. It is equally common in
advertisements as it links two objects through a comparison. A
copywriter tries to bring together his/her product and the would-be
consumer with the use of a simile. Copywriters take care that in the
simile the comparison is apt, fresh and meaningful to the reader. In a
simile, as there is an overt comparison, it is more explicit than a
metaphor. The use of a simile not only helps the copywriter to catch
the immediate attention of the reader, but also keeps the attention
captivated for some time.
Some examples of simile are given below:

.
Personification
In this figure of speech, there is impersonation or embodiment of
some quality or inanimate objects. Personification is inherent in
many languages through use of gender, and it appears to be very
frequent in ads. There are innumerable illustrations of personification
in all types of ads but they are frequently used in the textile and
cosmetic ads. A few illustrations of personification are given below
against the product name.
Servo Kool Plus: Let your car enjoy winter round the year.
Fiat Sienna: Power dressing just acquired a stylish new accessory.
Oxymoron
It is a figure of speech which combines incongruous and apparently
contradictory words and meanings for a special effect. In advertising,
the use of this figure of speech is limited. There is juxtaposition of
two expressions which are semantically incompatible.
Ford Ikon: The josh machine provides a very welcome departure.
DCM: DCM textile has chaotic symmetries that screwball the eye.
Onomatopoeia
It is the formation of a word using sounds that resemble or suggest
the object or action to be named. It is capable of contributing to the
magical effect of writing. See the examples below.
HYATT Regency: Feel the HYATT touch.
Digital Globalsoft: Where the similarities end, the value differential
begins.

Alliteration
It is a figure of speech in which consonants, especially at the
beginning of words or stress syllables, are repeated. Alliteration and
rhyme are the most favourite figures of speech of the copywriter and
he/she uses them lavishly to create an impression of his/her slogan
on the reader’s memory. By doing so, he/she draws the attention of
the reader quite effectively to the product. Here’s one of the oldest
example: “Vini Vidi Vici” Julius Caeser ( I came, I saw, I conquered).
Rhyme
There is an echo in a rhyme and so it is a source of aesthetic
satisfaction. There is pleasure in the sound itself and in the
coincidence of sounds, and this pleasure must be associated with
the sense of music, of rhythmic and beat; the pulse sense which is
common to all human beings. Rhyme is a rhythmical device for
intensifying the meaning as well as for ‘binding’ the slogan together.
Advertising men have discovered that rhyme, especially phrases tied
together with rhyme, can be very effectively used in their slogans.
The baseline for Park Avenue products, “A quest for the best,” gives
an example of a rhyme. It is a short and crisp slogan for an effective
impact. Usually a copywriter makes use of a rhyme in the headline
as it helps to catch the attention of the readers and thereby arouse
their interest. As the first element of the ad, most of the readers do
not fail to read it. It is also observed that the copywriter makes use of
old songs to make them a basis of writing an ad. They create more
impact and are easy to memorize.
Allusion
It is usually an implicit reference, perhaps to another work of
literature or art, to a person or an event. It is often a kind of appeal to
the reader to share some experience with the writer. An allusion may
enrich the work by association and give it depth. When using
allusions, a writer tends to assure an established literary tradition, a
tradition and an ability on the part of the audience to ‘pick up’ the
reference. A copywriter makes use of an allusion with the point of
view of expressiveness with economy. Sometimes the brand name
itself is an allusion as in the case of Hotel Taj and Hotel Ashoka,
where the name evokes all the splendour, grandeur and luxury of the
royal courts.
 The above ad of McDonald uses the popular equation of energy
from school science and relates it with the logo of the brand name.
Topical allusions are also the copywriters’ favourite. They exploit the
latest interest of the reading public and use it as a theme in their ads.
Parallelism
This refers to a very common device consisting of phrases or
sentences of similar constriction and meaning placed side by side,
balancing each other. This is one of the figures of speech which a
copywriter uses without hesitation. Parallelism is the opposite of
deviation. In a deviation, there are aberrations from normal usage,
while by use of parallelism, language is organized in a regular
pattern. In rhyme and alliteration, there is a phonological parallelism
where there is repetition of sound patterns. In syntactic parallelism,
there is a repetition of sound structures which makes language
neatly organized. To a copywriter, parallelism is a technique to
enhance the memorability of his message. Parallelism may be either
syntactic repetition of structure or verbal repetition. A syntactic
parallelism may establish a relationship of similarity or of contrast
(anti-thesis). Some examples of parallelism are given below:
Ford Ikon: Go green, Go Ford.
 Coca-Cola: Always the real thing, always Coca-Cola.
Air India: Take a big holiday on a small budget. (Contrasting
Parallelism)
Mercedes Benz: Sometimes, the “other woman” is not a woman at
all.

We may point out that what was considered to be advertisers in full

measure are now using the preserve of imaginative literature. The
great diversity in the exploitation of the communication potential of
language is really remarkable in the language of advertising.
LINGUISTIC DEVIATIONS
It is not very uncommon in our daily life to come across situations
wherein we mean to say something and end up conveying
something else. In advertising world also, it is the same story. The
only difference is that here advertisers try to take advantage of this
ambiguity in the name of creativity. But why would anyone try
anything unless he/she has been appreciated for the same thing
before? Linguistic deviations have been used very effectively in
advertising and it is very important that we know about ins and outs
of this aspect of advertising.
It is the copywriter who is assigned the task of composing the
textual part of an advertisement in congruence with the professional
involved with the illustration part. The copywriters are well known for
playing with words and manipulating or distorting their everyday
meaning. Catching the attention and imagination of the readers and
aiding the memory are perhaps the primary functions of the
advertising language. Advertising language, where creativity is of the
utmost significance, gives the copywriter a license to deviate from
the traditional rules and conventions just as a poet takes liberties
with the language on in order to enrich his/her expression. An
advertisement should not only given information about the product
but also incite curiosity, create understanding, build conviction and
develop the urge to investigate. The copywriters have come in for a
certain amount of criticism from grammarians and others who want
the rules of English grammar to be followed strictly in all writings
intended for reading by the general public. Most copywriters are
good writers and know the rules of grammar. Occasionally, however,
writing and grammar rules are broken deliberately for better effect, in
the same manner as poets break rules to achieve their effect.
The task of the copywriter is more challenging, as he/she knows
nothing about the receiver’s frame of mind. Also it is very difficult to
code one message that suits the diverse needs and choices of
different individuals. It is neither accurate nor representative of the
actual overall effect. In his/her writings, the copywriter, therefore,
adheres strictly to some of the rules of grammar. Other rules, which
he/her implements, are especially adapted to the writing of
advertising copy in order to achieve the first aim of an advertisement,
that is, to catch the attention of his/her reader. The different kinds of
deviations are phonological, graphological, grammatical, lexical,
semantic and typographical. A system analysis and classification of
these deviations in the language of advertising are discussed further.

Phonological Deviations
Advertising language does not give much scope for phonological
deviations. It takes into consideration only those advertisements
where the pronunciation of words is different from the accepted
pronunciation. For example, in the advertisement for Lakme
Mascara, the product promises EYE-MANCIPATION for the today’s
girl. Here the pronunciation of initial phoneme /i/ has been changed
to the diphthong /ai/. The deviant spelling and pronunciation is for
the purpose of highlighting the target of the product—the eye. See
the ad of Mother Dairy on the next page which reads ‘Very
thundamental Funda!’

See the ad below. The brandname COINTREAU is joined with

‘versial’ to be read as ‘CONTROVERSIAL’ just to catch attention.
Similarly, Hole of fame (in place of ‘hall of fame’) is used in the ad of
Polo.

The word “Fast” in fast aid (Dettol) is pronounced as ‘first’ and

water relief (Cello water bottles) is pronounced as ‘what a relief’
(from heat). Volvo’s ReVOLVOlution is taken as revolution.

Graphological Deviations
These violations are more frequent in advertising than in any other
register. The copywriter can make almost unlimited use of change in
spelling keeping the pronunciation intact. For example, in Cadbury’s
KRISP brandname, the initial consonant of “CRISP”, is
phonologically and graphologically similar to that of the
manufacturer’s brandname, which has been changed for the sake of
originality in spelling. Similarly, in the barndname ‘electron’, the
consonant ‘c’ of the word ‘electron’ has been replaced by ‘k’.
The use of lower case letters where upper case is normally used is
another orthographic device to draw immediate attention of the
reader.
 Some examples of graphological deviations found in the
advertising language are as follows:
Uncertain-tea to safe-tea. General Insurance Corp of India.
Just Fa-bulous! Fa-Soap.
Creating a new gold’smyth -Alapatt fashion jewellery.
Krack Foot Cream.
Tata Fone.
Kurl-on.
Servo Kool

Grammatical Deviations
It has been found that in most of the advertisements, there is
deviation from the normal system of rules in using the language for
writing the advertisement. This deviation can be explained in terms
of rule omission or suspension, rule change or rule addition. Some
examples of this deviation are given below:
VIP skybags: It speaks the world of you.
Maurya Sheraton Hotel: The finest technologists put their heads
together. So yours can rest easier.
BPL TV and Video: Unmatched picture quality.
 Foursquare Cigarette: Live life king-size. Foursquare kings—all the
taste, all the way.
Liberal use of disjunctive grammar is made where minor and non-
finite clauses are independent. Geoffrey Leech says, “Disjunctive
language is primarily associated with headlines, subheads and
signature lines” (Leech 1966). Some of the examples of disjunctive
grammar from advertisements are:
Philips sound system: Because it speaks the language of
excellence you understand.
Promise tooth paste: Tackling the germs that attack and cause bad
breath.
Amul Milk Powder: With Amul Milk Powder, you have pure, rich,
creamy milk mixed and ready in minutes.
 Moderana seating system: Designed ergonomically for maximum
comfort.
In subheads, disjunctive grammar is much more infrequently
employed. Sometimes subheads carry on disjunctive language the
message of the headline. For example, Kissan’s Tomato Chilly
sauce’s headline, “a wicked chilly woos the luscious tomato” is
continued in the subhead as “And irresistible things begin to
happen.”
Likewise, the signature lines very often make use of disjunctive
grammar as shown in the examples given below:
Today: A woman’s very personal contraceptive.
Farex-veg: A tastier way to grow.
Nivea: Soft, gentle skin care for every age.
Yamaha: An international favourite.
In all the above-mentioned examples, the name of the product is
followed by one of its most inviting qualities, the purpose apparently
being to associate the name with a tag line which can be easily
remembered.

Lexical Deviations
Copywriters take unlimited advantage of lexical deviations for their
creative copy as this constitutes one of the richest sources of new
expressions for them. The three types of lexical deviations, which
are observed in advertisements are:
(a) Functional conversion
(b) Neologisms and nonce-formations
(c) Anomalous lexical collocation
Functional conversion
It is also known as ‘zero affixation’. According to Geoffery Leech, “It
consists in adapting an item to a new grammatical function” (1969).
Since the order of words in a sentence is more or less fixed,
functional shifts within the sentence do not endanger intelligibility
greatly. When one part of speech operates as another part of
speech, the language acquires fresh vitality and variety. A few
examples of functional conversion as observed in a few
advertisements are as follows:
Less oil is more health....................................(n-adj)
Queen-size.........................................................(n-adj)
In an international blister packing.................(n-adj)
Perfectly partnered............................................(n-verb)
Have you gold spotted today...........................(n-verb)
Adjectives posses a dominant position in the vocabulary of
advertising. So a copywriter formulates new epithets by his/her
imagination. These are the multiple hyphenated adjectival groups
which are placed before headwords. Some examples are given here:
Rallifan: Built-in
Optrex eye lotion: Refreshed-in-a-minute
Neologisms
Here the copywriters share with poets the prerogative to coin new
words, most of which remain nonce words, made up for a few
occasions, and unabsorbed by the standard language. So these
neologisms widen the possibility of expression. These are formed by
compounding, affixation, composition or derivation. A few examples
are cited below under each category.
Compounding:...........................................Brandname
Glycerin-rich................................................Pears
Once in a lifetime......................................LIC
Wholly owned............................................Thai
Skin care.....................................................Lakme
Tea times....................................................Marie
Liril freshness.............................................Liril
Fast-working................................................Anacin
Affixation:
De-laminate.................................................Bhutan board
Pre-lubricated..............................................Yamaha
Non-stick.....................................................Khaitan Press
 Adjectival derivatives:
Munchy.......................................................Biscuits
Zing thing...................................................Gold-spot
Lime n lemoni...........................................Limca
Anomalous lexical collocation
When a copywriter is in search of a striking new adjective or a noun,
anomalous lexical collocation comes to his/her aid. This deviation
consists of an unrestricted choice of nouns where only a noun from a
limited list of nouns is normally used. The deviation which occurs is
in contrast to the expected occurrence. A few examples follow:
Limca: Love appears at thirst site.
Thirst appears in the place of first.
Cinkara: Jo Peeta Wohi Sikandar.
Peeta appears in place of Jeeta.

Semantic Deviations
Illogical, unqualified comparatives and role borrowing are few of the
techniques of semantic deviation used by a copywriter. To quote
Geoffery Leech, it is “a piece of language at odds with the immediate
situation in which it occurs” (1966).
Some examples are given below:
Lipton: A flavour that’s pure Darjeeling.
Brookebond: Help yourself with some happiness.
Halo shampoo: Halo spells beauty all the world over.
Unqualified comparatives
These are the comparative adjectives with nothing in the contact—
either in the text or in the visual layout to compare them with. This is
done in order to show the superiority of the product. A few examples
are given below:
Promise toothpaste: Healthier teeth and gums.
Diamond super: Longer life.
Promise toothpaste: Fresher breath.
Role borrowing
In this deviation, the linguistic features of one role are employed in
another. A few examples of role borrowing are as follows:
Hotshot: Just aim and shoot.
Bisleri: Its slim neck provides truly admirable singing support by
allowing for maneuverability in your mouth.

Typographical Deviations
This discussion would not be complete without a reference to the
departure from the usual way or using the fonts in print. To draw the
attention of readers, the copywriters have devised a number of
methods to present the printed matter. In this section, let us briefly
look at this device.
The type of font used in advertisements plays a significant role. A
study is made to know the calligraphic designs.
Calligraphic designs
It has been observed that font in advertisement plays a significant
role. The dictionary meaning of calligraphy is “the art of beautiful
handwriting/handwriting in general”. We also presume that such a
definition involves the intricacies which play a significant role.
Font
With the advent of word-processing, many and varied fonts are
available for use to the innovative copywriters. Ranging from the
Anglo-Saxon period to the most modern computer age, these fonts
come in quite unpredictable shapes and sizes. Their use and the
resulting effect is interesting to observe and study.
The direction of slope of font attracts attention. For example, in
general, a right sloping font is more comfortable with right hand
people and the left sloping one is popular with the gauche. The kind
of font used, in terms of the configuration of the letters and their
protrusions, fluidity of motion, etc., are key factors that convey the
user’s attitude and value to the observer. Old fonts like the Gothic
font and the old English font denote dainty, staid behaviour and
faithfulness. Fonts without the frills denote a forthright intention and
formality. Convoluted fonts denote complexity of thought and
mystique iconoclasm. Modern fonts like the lettering in LCD displays
hint at a taste not unlike distilled water-purely functional in nature but
without much aesthetics.
See the ad below, for example, in two different fonts. One has its
baseline in italics and the other one in regular font. Which one looks
more emphatic?

Multiple font usage

The idea is to signify diversity and also to convey the view that the
product/service is tailored to suit the needs of everyone. The
technique is to combine the latest miscible fonts and format them by
reducing or enlarging font size adding the magic touch of a generous
splash of colour. Softel ice cream caused ripples when they put out
their ADD FIZZ and cream to your corporate gifts advertisement
using this concept. It boosted the image of the product and its use.
By using different fonts, it can be proved that a rather uninteresting
and hard selling product could be turned into a chart topper.
Tremendous potential lies in the deviations made use of here.
Innerletter spacing
Though compromised with justifiable excuse of economy, and rarely
paid serious attention to, the spacing between letters is of great
subconscious importance. Well-spaced lettering shows generosity,
abundance, surfeited ideas and sense of security and establishment.
Cramped letters, on the other hand, display ill planning somewhere.
A classic example of the complete exploitation of this concept is
found in the Wrangler Jeans ad featuring a man with a horse. The
spacing goes very well with the product advertised.
Word orientation
See the ad of Coca-Cola on the next page. The orientation of the
words is such that it clearly depicts the mood of the person in the ad.
Coca-Cola: It’s not because of a woman. It’s because of 11 men.
Thus we see that the linguistic deviation at different levels is one of
the most frequently used devices to meet the demands of a specific
situation. There is a great deal of diversity and what we have
touched upon in this Chapter simply provides a sample of the use of
this important method of attracting the attention of the readers.
Coupled with the linguistic deviation is typographical deviation, which
we have referred to in the discussion above and also given a few
examples for illustration.

SUMMARY
In any advertisement, language plays a pivotal role. Though it is said
that a picture is worth thousand words, it is not true in advertising as
it fails to convey the meaning in isolation sans language. It is here
that the role of copywriter becomes very important. A copywriter has
the job of writing the advertisements in the newspaper, magazines,
billboards, radio, television commercials and also for the Web. The
role of a copywriter is very challenging because of the ever-
increasing competition. To make the product superior than others
he/she has to take full liberty with the language. He/she has to
create excitement and unprecedented sales for the company.
After making the survey about the product and the psychology of
the target audience, a copywriter he gets into copywriting. To lure the
potential customer, copywriters use the rhetorical language.
Rhetorical language is helpful in persuading the audience as it has
several devices. Some such devices which the figurative language of
advertising uses and shares with poetry are rhyme, alliteration,
simile, metaphor, parallelism, etc. Of course, it has been observed
that there is great diversity in the exploitation of the communication
potential of language in advertising.
A copywriter also has license to deviate from the traditional rules
and conventions of the language in order to enrich expression.
He/she has the prerogative to be away from the criticism of
grammarians. Occasionally, rules of writing and grammar are broken
deliberately for better effect, in the same manner as the poets break
rules to achieve their effect. The different kinds of deviations are
phonological, graphological, grammatical, semantic and
typographical. With the help of these deviations, copywriters make
the text exciting and alluring.

QUESTIONS
1. Pick up ten advertisements at random. Study them carefully and
analyse them in terms of the language and picture. Which one is
the most important? Give reasons.
2. What is the job of a copywriter? What is the groundwork
copywriters have to indulge in before they write an
advertisement?
3. What are the skills and abilities possessed by a copywriter?
Does a copywriter require formal training to acquire these
abilities?
4. What are the weasel claims? Illustrate each one of them.
5. What do you understand by the term rhetorical devices? Why do
copywriters use rhetorical devices in advertising? Give
examples of metaphors in advertising.
6. Deviations are very common in advertising copy. Why does a
copywriter take liberty to deviate from the normal pattern of
language? Give examples of disjunctive grammar.
7. In an advertisement, which part is more important—headline or
the signature line? What is the role of each in an advertisement?
8. Look at the advertisement given below. Interpret its meaning
based on the font used.
In advertising, the term media refers to communication vehicles such
as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, direct mail,
and the Internet. Advertisers use media to convey commercial
messages to their target audience, and the media depend, to varying
degrees, on advertising revenues to cover the cost of their
operations. The media are usually classified into either mass or
niche media. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio are
considered mass media because they deliver messages to a
widespread, anonymous audience. The wide coverage of the mass
media makes them ideal vehicles for advertisers who need to reach
a large audience. Advertising media such as cable television and
direct mail are often viewed as “niche” media because they reach a
narrowly defined audience with unique demographic characteristics
or special interests.
Advertising in print media constitutes a major part of any
advertising campaign. It is usually backed up by television ads and
serves mainly as a reminder to the customers. While television ads
are volatile and more expensive at the same time, print ads are
relatively less expensive, and have a good reach. Moreover, ads in
print media can be designed keeping in mind the kind of audience
the magazine or newspaper is expected to be read by. Television
ads, on the other hand, are universal and less plausible to be
subjected to changes for different audiences. So a group of
audiences watching an ad meant for a different group is bound to get
bored. For example, ads meant for small kids are bound to bore the
youth. So in more than one ways, print media has an upper hand in
an advertising campaign and it is essential to know about all the
technicalities involved in print advertising.
STEPS INVOLVED IN THE PREDESIGNING
PHASE OF AN AD
1. Decide on your communication objective. The communication
objective is the essence of a message. If you want to tell people
not to drive fast because it is dangerous, then that is your
communication objective. Though, perhaps, it is the most
important step in the pre-design phase of an ad, it is also the
one that most of the beginners tend to neglect. A precise and
well-defined objective is crucial to a good ad. If your objective
isn’t right on, then everything that follows will be off as well.
2. Decide on your target audience: Who is your message intended
for? If you are speaking to kids, then your language and
arguments should have the lingo and mood of the kids. On the
other hand, if you are speaking to high-income earners (for
example, writing an ad to dissuade people from wearing fur
coats), then your language should be sophisticated. So define
who your target audience is because that will decide how your
message is conveyed.
3. Decide on your format: Is it going to be a poster, a half-page
magazine ad or a tiny box in the corner of a newspaper? Make
this decision based on the target audience you’re trying to reach
and the amount of money you can afford to spend. If you’re
talking to kids, posters in one high school wall will not only cost
less but will actually reach more of your target audience than a
full-page ad in the biggest paper in town. When it comes to
deciding on the size of an ad, more the size, the more
expensive it will be to produce and run. Don’t let that discourage
you. You can do a lot with a small ad as long as it is strong,
clear and properly targeted.
4. Develop your concept: The concept is the underlying creative
idea that drives your message. Even in a big ad campaign, the
concept will typically remain the same from one ad to another,
and from one medium to another. Only the execution of that
concept will change. So, by developing a concept that is
effective and powerful, you open the door to a number of very
compelling ads. Therefore, take your time developing a concept
that’s strong.
Now that we are done with the important steps in conceiving the
idea of our ad, let us see the contents of an ad and learn how to
develop them.
COMPONENTS OF A PRINT AD
The normal advertisement will have the following components but
many a time, you will find slight variation. The reasons are obvious—
to be different in the crowd, the advertisement is designed with
anomalies.

1. Visual
2. Headline
3. Copy
4. Slogan
5. Logo

Visual
Though you don’t absolutely require a visual, it will help draw
attention to your ad. Research indicates that 70% of people will only
look at the visual in an ad, whereas only 30% will read the headline.
So if you use a visual, then you are already talking to twice as many
people as you otherwise might. Another suggestion is to use
photographs instead of illustrations whenever possible. People tend
to relate to realistic photographs more easily than unrealistic ones.
But whether you choose a photograph or an illustration, the most
important criterion is that image should be as interesting as possible.
 See the ad for Calvin Klein below. It uses a very attractive visual
and that is all. The ad is for spectacles and the copy has only one
line: ‘eyewear’. But the visual itself is so impressive that the creator
didn’t feel the need for more text, lest it might dilute the effect of the
visual.

Headline
Headline is the first component of the advertisement. Let the name
of the product be used in the headline for better recall value. The
most important thing to remember here is that your headline must be
short, snappy and must touch the people who read it. Your headline
must influence the readers emotionally, by making them laugh,
angry, curious or think. If you can’t think of a headline that does one
of these four things, then keep thinking. Here’s a little tip that might
help. Try to find an insight or inner truth to the message that you’re
trying to convey, something that readers will easily relate to and be
touched by. “Will India’s power needs be met by wind or water?” Ask
IDFC. This is an example of a headline which makes an average
reader curious to go further. From that inner truth, you might arrive at
the headline—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
Of course, the headline doesn’t have to be biblical, though that in
itself will add meaning and power for many people. Finally, whenever
possible, avoid a headline longer than fifteen words. People just
don’t read as much as they used to. It has been observed that the
most commonly used words in the headlines are exceptionally,
exorbitant, new improved, revolutionary, never before, introducing, at
least, just arrived, etc.
Types of headlines
The headlines are used with variations depending on the advertising
strategy. The basic aim of a headline is to present the big idea
succinctly. These headlines can be classified according to the type of
information they convey. They are benefit, information, provocative,
humour, question and command headlines.
Benefit headline promises the audience that by using the product
or service advertised, they will be certainly gaining experience. It
need not have pun in it and should give a simple statement about
product’s benefit. For example, “Italian elegance and style—
experience in our business class the ‘made in Italy’ lifestyle”
promises the audience a new experience. Another example is a
Clearsil ad which says, “ If you do not get the pimple free skin in 5
days, take your money back”. Both of these headlines highlight the
benefits of using the product and not the features of the product.
Information headline informs the reader about the unknown fact
or announces a news. The information must be credible, though. “
For the Elevators. For the Escalators. For the Corporate. Ladder that
suddenly seems to be child’s play”, the headline for Digjam Suitings
and “This IT staff is armed and ready” for Microsoft are the
appropriate examples of this category.
Copywriters use provocative headline mainly to provoke the
readers’ curiosity by roiling their thought process. For example, the
headline for Philips TV “You’ll never go back to ordinary TV” will
make you curious to learn more about the product by reading the
body copy. Sometimes the reader is lazy not to go further to read the
body copy. In that case, let your visual be vivid and clear so that it
can provide story appeal.

Humour headline is used in order to give the reader the light

moments. “Penis mightier than sword” was written in this way to
evoke humour. The Amul butter ad uses pun in the headline to
sprinkle humour lavishly.
A question headline encourages the readers by asking question
so that they can search for the answer in the body copy. This is a
very good strategy to enthrall the reader. “Can you spot 14 servers in
this picture?” the headline for IBM piques the curiosity of the readers.
But if the headline asks a question, which readers can quickly
answer in negative, it will not get attention. For example, in case of
the headline “Are you looking for a better Kitchen,” reader might say
“No” and turn the page.
A command headline orders the reader in a way that might seem
negative and impossible. This is a very good technique to have
reader’s attention. “ Cut costs. Replace your inkjet printer (Xerox)” is
an appropriate example of a command headline. Sometimes the
headlines are combined to achieve a better impact. It is important
how the headline is used and not which type has been used.

Copy
This is second major category which constitutes the text of an ad.
Here’s where you make the case. If you have compelling arguments,
make them. If you have persuasive facts, state them. But don’t
overwhelm the ad with information. Two strong arguments will make
more of an impression than a dozen weaker ones. Finally, be clear,
precise and honest. Any hint of deception will instantly detract from
your entire message.
The importance of body copy varies according to the nature of the
advertisement. It states the sales message, develops argument,
gives proof and provides explanation. Sometimes it is continuation of
the headline while other time, it relates to the visual to get across the
point. Some people think body copy is simply a waste as no one
reads it but this is not necessarily true in all situations. The decision
of the number of words to be used depends on the type of product
advertised. For example, Nike shoes advertisement does not use
long body copy while the advertisement for car will have a long body
copy as it ought to have technical details for the serious buyers.

Styles
Like the headline, body copy also has different styles. Straight-line
copy is continuation from the headline and is written in the words of
an anonymous or unacknowledged source. Narrative copy, on the
other hand, is used to tell a story in first or third person. It persuades
the same selling point in different context. This is ideal for a
copywriter as he/she creates a situation and then at the climax,
resolves it by using the product or service being advertised. In most
of the insurance company ads, this strategy is used. Dialogue lets
the reader listen to the conversation of the characters that are in the
ad. This makes the advertisement more believable as the characters
portrayed in the print ad speak from their own experience. The
copywriter though should be extra cautious for not making the
dialogues dull and drab. Explanation gives the details how the things
work and what are the precautions observed while using the product.
 Picture and caption copy banks on the illustration and picture to
communicate the message. It is particularly useful when the product
has multifarious variety and varied uses.

The Lakme and Bajaj Pulsar ads shown here use the ‘copy’ to
drive the idea home. The visuals are smoothly blended with the
pictures. So an effective and interesting copy is a must whether you
have a good visual or not to support it.

Slogan
The other name for slogan is theme line or tagline. It sums up the
advertisement. Slogans are equally important as the headline as it is
not only used for advertising but for salespeople and the company
employees. It is the component of the ad which has maximum recall
value. Coca Cola kept its slogan ‘Always Coca Cola’ for several
years but has changed it now. Can you recollect these slogans: ‘The
new sign of success’, ‘Think different’, ‘Everyone is invited’, ‘City
never sleeps’ and ‘Don’t leave home without it’.

Logos
Logo is symbolic representation of a company. It can be picture,
letter or combination of both. Sometimes its significance is so much
that the advertisers relies on the logo completely. The Airtel logo can
be recollected by anyone because of its colour and fonts. Before
designing a logo, lot of research is done as it should be of profound
significance. While designing the logos, the researchers take a
decision if they have to use just the picture, fonts, human beings,
colours or the combination of all. The logo of Pepsi given on the
previous page has changed a great deal
since 1898.
THE LAYOUT
There are many possible layouts and we will see the most prominent
one among them. First let us highlight some general and basic tips
while deciding on the layout. Your visual, headline and copy might be
really good on their own when viewed or read separately, but what is
the effect they are carrying when they are all put together. So
enough hard work is to be done so that we have a very good overall
effect.
Since many more people will look at your visual than read your
copy, make your photograph or illustration at least half of your ad
whenever possible. Keep your headline near the visual so that the
reader’s eye will flow to it naturally from the visual. If your headline is
in an unusual place, it will probably never be read. Position your
copy beneath the headline, laid out in two blocks two or three inches
in length. Only about 5% of people will read your copy, whereas 30%
will read your headline. By positioning your copy near your heading,
you create a visual continuity, which will draw more people to the
information you want to convey. Use a serif typeface for your copy
whenever possible. Those little lines and swiggles on the letters
make the reading easier and more pleasing to the eye.

Layout Stages
While designing an advertisement, the final development undergoes
four stages. The designer uses thumbnails, roughs, dummies and
comprehensives to establish the ad look and feel. In the next stage,
he/she works in tandem with the artist to prepare mechanical, which
is the final phase incorporating the visuals.
Thumbnail sketch
This is the first stage where the artist uses the rapidly produced
sketches to visualize the very basic approach to position the various
elements of ad. The objects are represented with boxes or squiggly
lines to indicate the placement. From here, they are then developed
to the next stage.
Rough layout
In this stage, the artist draws the actual size of the ad but ignores the
details. It is used to make the decision. It is more like visualization
which suggests the place of headline. Illustration and photographs
are sketched and body copy place is finalized. Roughs are shown to
the clients for cost estimation.
Comprehensive
The comprehensive layout or comp in short is the replica of the
advertisement. It is quite elaborate with accuracy of the final ad,
coloured photo and a glossy look. Comprehensive layouts are used
for a formal presentation by the clients when they need a close-to-
final version to show to persons who have to give the final approval.
Art directors create a dummy, a mock-up for brochures, flyers and
point-of-purchase displays serving the same functions as comp
serves for print ads.
Mechanical
Once the ad is approved by the clients for the format and contents,
the art director moves ahead with mechanical. This is the final stage
of the ad where the ad is reproduced and colour keys, prints and
films of the finished ad are created. The mechanical is referred to as
paste-up as earlier in absence of computers, the ad was manually
pasted indicating the hue and positioning of colour. Now this is done
on computer.
At this time, the ad is ready for the production. Anytime during the
designing process, before the final ink is put, the changes can be
made. Some concepts of the print ad can be applied to television
advertisement but with some modification.
Alignment
It refers to lining up the top, bottom, sides, middle of text or graphic
elements on a page. Horizontal alignment includes flush-left (also
called left-justified or ragged right), flush-right (also called right-
justified or ragged left), centred and fully justified. With vertical
alignment, elements can be aligned vertically—top, bottom or middle
(centre).

Balance
It is a principle of design that places elements on the page so that
the text and graphic elements are evenly distributed. In layouts with
an even balance, the graphics don’t overpower the text and the page
doesn’t seem to tilt to one side or the other.
Ragged alignment
Ragged alignment of text normally refers to lines of text that are
allowed to end naturally, leaving varying amounts of white space at
the end of lines rather than forcing it to line up flush with the margin.
Ragged right is the most common ragged alignment.
Bleed
When an image or element on a page touches the edge of the page
leaving no margin, that image or element is said to bleed off the
page.
Bleed allowance
To allow for any deviations in cutting the paper to the finished page
size, an element that bleeds off the page is typically extended about
1/8” beyond the trim lines (corner or crop marks). The inset image
(Park Avenue ad) shows the bleed allowance for this two page
spread. Notice that the full page bleed extends beyond the corner
marks at the top, bottom, and left but not the center. But the problem
arises is that for the elements that bleed off the page can sometimes
add to the cost of printing if the printer uses a larger size of paper to
accommodate the bleed allowance.
Caption
It is a phrase, sentence or short paragraph describing the contents of
an illustration such as a photograph or chart. The illustration on the
next page shows a few ways that captions might appear.
Significance of captions
After headlines and graphics, captions are the third most looked at
portion of most of the printed pages. Captions give you an
opportunity not only to explain the illustration but to summarize the
story or article they accompany. A well-written caption gives the
editor/publisher one more opportunity to pull the reader into the
publication.
A few ways to make captions more readable and to keep them from
being mistaken for body copy are as follows:
Use contrast (smaller typeface, sans serif captions with serif
body copy, short centred captions, captions in colour)
Set apart with spacing (keep separate from body copy but close
to illustration, use rule lines to separate, place captions in
margins)
Group illustrations and captions (number the illustrations or
provide a familiar pattern such as “left to right” or “clockwise from
the top”)
Keep it short (edit carefully, avoid long captions under wide
paragraphs, if very long captions with very wide photographs is
necessary consider using two columns with a sufficiently wide
gutter for the caption text)
Be consistent (same type, colour, alignment, etc. throughout a
publication)
If you have lots of copy, break it up with interesting subheads. This
will make your ad more inviting, more organized and easier to read.
This is where the name of the organization belongs, along with the
address and phone number. If you don’t have an organization, then
think of a name that will help reinforce the message you’re trying to
convey. This isn’t dishonest. Your organization doesn’t have to be
incorporated or registered for it to be real.

Types of Layouts
First, let us understand the meaning of page layout.
Page layout (verb) is the process of placing, arranging and
rearranging text and graphics on the page to produce documents
such as newsletters, brochures, books, etc.
Page layout (noun) refers to the actual document page and its
composition.
One method of making sure your ad gets read is to arrange
elements in the order from top to bottom. However, your ad should
also lead with its strongest element. Sometimes the visual may be
secondary to the headline. In that case, you may decide to put the
headline first. A caption may not be necessary at all times and often
you want to include additional elements such as secondary
illustrations or a coupon box.
Perhaps, we just cannot do without mentioning the name of Mr.
Ogilvy while talking of any aspect of advertising. He had come out
with some basic variations of a standard layout. We will have a look
at them with examples and then see other technical aspects of
layout and design. While this isn’t the only way to design an ad, it is
an easy way to implement successful formula for many types of
products or services.
Layout#1
This is the basic design that follows the same 5 elements outlined
below. From this basic layout, other variations are derived.
 1. Visual should at the top of the page. If you are using a photo,
bleed it to the edge of the page or ad space.
2. For photos, place a descriptive caption below.
3. Put your headline next.
4. Follow with your main ad copy. Consider a drop cap as a lead-
in.
5. Place your contact information (signature) in the lower right
corner. That’s generally the last place a reader’s eye gravitates
to when reading an ad.

Layout#2
This is the basic Ogilvy design but with copy in a three-column
format and the addition of a coupon. Coupons attract attention and
can increase response to your ad. It includes the following steps:
 1. Visual should at the top of the page.
2. Place the Caption below the photo.
3. Put the Headline next.
4. Place main ad copy in first two columns of a three-column grid.
Place your contact information (signature) at the bottom of the
middle column.
5. In the third column put a coupon. Placing the coupon in the
outside corner of your ad makes it easier to clip out.

Layout#3
This is the basic Ogilvy design but with copy in a two-column format
and the headline moved above the visual. Use this variation when
the headline is the most important element of the message. It has
the following steps:
 1. Put the headline first. When your headline packs a bigger
punch or is more important than the photo, put it at the top to
grab the reader’s attention first.
2. Place the visual next.
3. Place the caption below photo.
4. Place the main ad copy in two columns.
5. Place your contact information (signature) at the bottom of the
second column in the lower right corner

Layout#4
This is the basic Ogilvy design but with copy in a two-column format
and the headline moved to the right side of the visual. This format
equalizes the visual and headline as well as making more room for
longer headlines or vertical images. It has the following steps:
1. Place the Visual first to the left. If the visual lends itself to a
more vertical arrangement or if you want to equalize the
importance of the visual and headline, try this.
2. Place the headline next to the right of the visual. When you
break your headline up into several lines like this, you’ll probably
want to avoid headlines that are too long.
3. Put the caption below the photo.
4. Place the main ad copy in two columns. You might want to use
a drop cap as a lead-in.
5. Place your contact information (signature) at the bottom of the
second column in the lower right corner.
SOME MISTAKES TO AVOID
The most common mistake committed in designing an ad is visual
clutter. Less is always better than more. So if you’re not certain
whether something is worth including, then leave it out. If your ad is
chaotic, people will simply turn the page, and your message will
never be read. The second most common mistake committed is to
have an ad that’s unclear or not easily understood (haven’t you ever
looked at an ad and wondered what it was for?). The best way to
safeguard against this is to do some rough sketches of your visual
with the headline and show it around. If people aren’t clear about
your message, then it’s probably because your message is unclear.
However tempting your ad looks, don’t argue with them or assume
that they’re wrong and your ad is fine. You’ll be in an unpleasant
surprise. Proofread your ad, then give it to others to proofread, then
proofread it again. Typographical errors diminish your credibility and
have an uncanny habit of creeping into ads when you least expect it.
BE DIFFERENT
Use different fonts and sizes only to make it stand out in the crowd.
Have a look at the ad below and then compare it with the
advertisement that follows.

Probably a reader would look twice at this ad. Sure we have a little
contrast with that reversed headline, but other than this it says just,
ignore me. Small space ads need to grab attention. Now look at the
advertisement below.
 Isn’t it that nice script face a more elegant and appropriate choice?
The two-tone frame overlapped by the graphic lends a slightly 3D
effect to the ad — helping it to grab attention on a crowded page.
While the vertical arrangement works for some ads, in our Elegant
Eyes ad (above) we lose vital information in those monotonous lines
of small centred text. Both size and placement help direct the reader
to the most important information and organize the ad. Here are
some ways we accomplish in our makeover ad:
Placing the descriptions of the brand name sunglasses,
coloured contacts and special frames directly below the ‘custom
eyewear’ (and near the top of the ad) shows exactly what type of
product is being offered.
Emphasis on ‘by appointment only’ conveys an ‘exclusive and
uptown’ image (as well as provides critical information to would-
be-drop-in patrons).
The typeface choices and emphasis on elegance better conveys
the upscale image of this business, attracting their target audience.
The correct typeface choice can make or break an ad. In the yellow
pages ad, the typefaces are not necessarily inappropriate for the
business but the multiple styles and lack of clear contrast make the
ad look disorganized and amateurish.

Following the Reader’s Eye

Because of conditioning received during your early school years,
you’re used to see a printed page in a certain way. Typically, a
reader views a page from the upper left to the lower right. Consider
the ad of CompuBurger Software. The ad is well laid out, allowing
the reader’s eye to start where it would naturally fall on the page,
and from there, provides a path to follow through to the bottom.
 This rule changes a bit, however, if an ad comprises more than just
one page. When you see an ad that is a two-page spread, for
instance, your eye will usually first see the information on the right-
hand page. Check out the ad for DaVinci Coachworks, a two-page
spread. These types of ads are best laid out using different rules
from their one-page counterparts. Here, the tag line and the product
(limousines) were deliberately placed on the right side of the ad and
the reader’s eye follows it off to the left. Similarly, as you flip through
a magazine, note how your eye will generally first focus on the right
side of any spread. Now you might look at the center-fold in India
Today in a more matured way.

Maintaining Spread Consistency

The trick to maintain consistency over a two-page spread is to forget
that there are two pages. Treat the spread as if it were a single full
page. If you don’t do this, you could end up with two single pages
that might look fine on their own, but which work against each other
when forming a spread. Again, avoid these problems by assuming
that the spread is actually one complete page rather than “two single
pages put together”.

The Direction of Your Images

Which direction your image faces may play a role in how your reader
sees your layout. Look at the layout below. Notice that the person in
the picture is facing away from the rest of the layout, the reader’s
eye is drawn away from the main message—the eye follows the
player’s gaze upwards into the basketball and then off the page.
Correct this by simply flipping the picture around, and having the
basketball player face the other direction—towards the page, as in
the ad below . Now, the reader sees what the basketball player sees
—the main article. A reader’s eye, while tending to follow a fairly
obvious trail from the upper left to lower right of a page, can be
distracted and take a detour by the power of a graphic facing the
wrong direction.

Boxes, Rules and Fonts

Shaping text boxes
It is easy to get carried away with all sorts of goofy-shaped text
boxes. Use these box shapes at your discretion, but be careful not to
get too “cute”. Different shaped boxes can get old very quickly and
make your page difficult to read. If you are going to use an odd-
shaped box, consider whether or not you have sacrificed readability
for creativity. The ad below shows that when the custom box is too
constraining, it becomes a bit harder to read.
 Try to use shaped boxes for copy when the shape serves a
specific purpose. In the ad below, the shape of the box helps to
mould the overall message of the page and becomes part of the
design.
Using horizontal rules
Deciding on the best length for your rules can often be more of a
creativity issue that can really enhance the look and feel of your
layout. Although tastes will always differ, you’ll probably find more
success if your rule lengths are deliberately set to work with each
other or with other parts of your page—not randomly or haphazardly
sized.
For example, the ad on the left side below shows two places
where horizontal rules are used under the headline and above the
product name. In both the areas, the rules seem to be of random
length and are not placed in conjunction with anything else on the
page. They don’t necessarily detract from the page, but they’re not
adding much, either. The ad on the right side shows the same page
with both the horizontal rules constrained to the body of text; this not
only helps to separate off the central portion, but also adds a
decorative addition to the layout.
Too many fonts
One of the detriments of having so many fonts on the market is that
when they’re in the hands of over-zealous designers, there can be
an explosion of bad taste. As the newsletter cover below
demonstrates, when too many fonts are added to the mix, attention
can be drawn to different styles, detracting from the underlying
message. As a general rule, try to avoid using more than three fonts
on any page or spread. This will help keep the focus on the message
and off the design.

The importance of white space

There is something to be said about the power of white space. White
space is simply an area or areas on your piece in which there is no
type or image—the page is left blank. White space can draw
attention to an area or relieve tension from crowded area. Check out
the original brochure page on the extreme left. It’s very crowded and
cramped. Not only is it tough to find the message, but also it’s
difficult to just look at it.

Adding white space to this image, however, can improve the

overall appearance. The brochure page in the centre has kept the
basic layout the same, but has added white space around many of
the elements. This gives the headlines, body copy and images some
breathing room, and a chance for the reader’s eye to focus more
clearly on the topic at hand.
The brouchure page on the extreme right uses significantly more
white space to bring emphasized attention to each subhead that
appears in the body copy. The bottom line: The entire page is now
far more legible, all as a result of a little more white space.

SUMMARY
The print advertising constitutes major part of any advertising
campaign. Before designing any advertisement, the advertisers
identify the following steps:
Decide on your communication objectives
Decide on your target audience
Decide on your format
Develop your concept
An advertisement constitutes of the visual, headlines, body copy,
slogan/signature line and logo. While selecting the visual, you have
to choose the picture carefully. The size of picture should be in
consonance with the complete layout. It has been found that 70%
people just look at the visual and 30% will read the headline. You
can communicate only with the visual if required. Headline is the first
written component of an ad, therefore, should be succinct and
catchy. There are various types of headlines like benefit, information,
provocative, humour, question and command headlines. Choose the
one according to the type of product and the audience to which the
ad caters to. The copy is the next text of ad. Put the strong argument
clearly, precisely and honestly. The importance of body copy varies
according the nature of advertisement.
Like headlines, they also have different writing styles. Straight line
copy, narrative copy, dialogue, picture and caption copy are some
significant style of the copywriting. Slogans sum up the
advertisement and the other name for slogan is theme line or tagline.
Logo is the symbolic representation of the company which can be
picture, words or combination of both. There are many possible
layouts. One should be chosen which can create the maximum
impact. The layout stages begin with thumbnail sketches, then the
rough layout, comprehensive, dummy and mechanical. Alignment
refers to the lining up from all the sides. It can be balance, ragged,
bleed, bleed allowance, etc. Even for the layout, different options are
available. Five types of outline are discussed in this chapter.
Avoid writing too much clutter in an advertisement. The power of
white space is immense as white space can draw attention to an
area or relieve tension from crowded area.
 QUESTIONS
1. What are the prerequisite steps for making an ad campaign? Do
you think that the audience for which the ad is targeted can
make any impact on the decision?
2. How is visual important for an advertisement? Give two
examples of the ads where there is no body copy.
3. What type of headline will best suit the baby food? Give reasons
to support your argument.
4. Humour plays a vital role in advertising. Give some examples to
corroborate your answer.
5. What are different styles of writing a body copy? Enumerate all
the styles with suitable examples.
6. How does a different stage of layout lead to make an effective
print advertisement? What are the first and last stages? What do
you understand by roughs?
7. Design an advertisement for sunglasses with centre alignment.
Choose the brand name also.
8. What is the importance of white space in an advertisement? If it
is so important, then why do all advertisements not rely
completely on white space?
9. What is appealing in the advertisement of Ariel below?
 CASE STUDY: BASS ATTACKS
Rusty Johnson has had a lifelong love for fishing of all types. He has been on the ocean,
numerous lakes and streams, and occasionally, he has made trips to small ponds in the
area just to catch small catfish. Having made a fairly significant amount of money in his
real estate career, Rusty is looking for a new challenge. He decided to manufacture and
sell bass fishing boats in the lake Ponchartrain area of Louisiana.
Fishing in southern Louisiana takes two forms. First, some anglers like going into the
swamps and bayous to get near underwater foliage, where some kind of bass crappie
hide. Others enjoy getting out on the larger lake, using radar equipment to identify bigger
fish resting in the deeper and cooler areas of water in the summertime.
The swamp fisherman requires a maneuverable boat with a small hull, so it does not get
hung or scratched in the shallow waters. The large lake fisherman wants more stability
and a larger boat to negotiate waves in the deeper open areas. Both wanted a boat that
made it easy to pull fish in, with a live well holding tank. Other accessories could then be
added depending on the tastes of the fishermen.
Rusty created two kinds of boats in response to the marketplace. He designed the first,
the Bass Attack Prowler, for smaller spaces. He named the larger boat the Bass Attack
Mastercraft, figuring that Bass Attack sounded quite a bit like Bass Tracker, the leader in
the field. He also believed that the name was unique enough for the seasoned fishermen
who would know the difference.
As the company completed the development of a manufacturing site and production of
the initial run of boats, it was time to advertise. Rusty knew the real estate advertising
market quite well, but he did not feel confident about reaching the fishermen. He faced
the problem of geographic dispersion. Beyond the locals in the area, bass fishermen
were spread out through the entire state of Louisiana and across the country. They came
from a wide variety of backgrounds—some wealthy, some quite poor. Rusty’s goal was to
get some of the locals to consider his boat instead of the higher-priced, better known
model offered by Bass Tracker.
In the first year of operation, Rusty’s company budgeted $200,000 for local advertising
and more for “want ads” in some large outlets such as Internet sites, fishing magazines,
and possibly, some travel magazines or newspapers. He also considered billboards and
other low-cost possibilities. He knew he had a quality product. Now the goal was to get
the word out and generate some sales.
1. Which media should Bass Attack use? Which media should the company eliminate
and why?
2. For each of the following media, identify four specific outlets that Bass Attack could
use for advertising. For instance, for magazines, a logical outlet would be Field and
Stream; for television, ESPN Fishing shows.
(a) Magazines
(b) Radio
(c) Television
(d) Internet
3. What kind of ad do you think will be successful for this company? Defend your answer.
ADVERTISING MEDIA
Regardless of how well-designed and appropriate a particular
advertisement is, its success is continuously dependent upon
whether it is transmitted through the best media, given a particular
target market. Selecting the appropriate media, or combination of
media, is an extremely complex process. It involves the development
of a comprehensive media plan that attempts to match the
advertisement and the target consumer with the appropriate media
mix and media schedule. Media planners must possess a great deal
of knowledge in order to successfully develop the media plan. First,
they must have a thorough understanding of the workings of all the
media relevant to their particular situations. This includes the
capabilities, limitations, trends, and terminology associated with each
medium. Second, they must be familiar with the components that
constitute a media plan. This involves the factors such as selecting
media objectives, evaluating media in terms of target market
characteristics and timing media, to name a few.
In this chapter, we will discuss various types of print media
available for the media planners and how they can be effectively
used. We will also deal with the hoarding and transit advertising.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESS
The power and dominance of the press is explained by the following
special characteristics.
In-depth coverage and permanence
Both radio and television are ephemeral and usually brief, but
newspapers and magazines can provide detailed reports that can be
read, re-read and retained, if required. This is true even though the
life of a city newspaper may be only a few hours, but many
publications survive for some time, and items can be cut out and
kept. Magazines have a large pass-on readership and are read
almost everywhere.
Variety of subjects covered
Newspapers represent class-political, religious, ethnic and language
groups. Magazines represent every sort of special interest. This is
perhaps where the press best demonstrates its strength because by
selecting the right journals, it is possible to reach particular and well-
defined sections of the reading public. This cannot be done with
mass media like radio and TV.
Mobility
Newspapers and magazines can be carried and read almost
anywhere, for example in the house, while travelling, at the place of
work, in a waiting room or a library.
Results assessable
By using coupons and by the traditional use of ‘keys’ or codes (which
identify from which publication the coupon was clipped), it is possible
to measure the pulling power and cost-effectiveness of different
journals. Evaluation is possible by dividing the cost of space by the
number of replies received.
Statistics available
In industrialized countries, and increasingly in others, net sales are
audited and readerships are researched so that a wealth of statistical
information about a large number of newspapers and magazines
exists. The media planner can confront the media salesman with
computer calculations to justify his/her media schedule of
recommended space and airtime bookings.
Improved printing
The majority of newspapers and magazines are printed offset-litho.
Picture quality, even in black and white, is nowadays very good since
the dot screen used in offset-litho is usually nearly twice as fine as
that formerly used for letterpress printing. Magazines printed in
offset-litho are usually better printed than those produced by
photogravure, halftones being produced more sharply and the paper
being better finished.
CATEGORIES OF PRESS

Newspapers
During the past few decades, the newspaper industry has had to
cope with an avalanche of change. The emergence of radio and
television, restructuring of magazines as a result of the growth of
special interest publications, dramatic growth of community
newspapers, inserts, shoppers and total market coverage
publications.
Despite the increasing changes that newspapers will have to go
through in order to survive, they remain an important advertising
vehicle. Daily and Sunday newspapers account for approximately 30
per cent of total advertising expenditure, four-fifths of which come
directly or indirectly from the retailers.
Newspapers have a high level of credibility. Readers rely on
newspapers for factual information in stories giving newspapers
great credibility. Newspaper readers also hold high interest level in
the articles they read. They tend to pay attention to advertisements
as well as news stories. The increased audience’s interest allows
advertisers to provide a lot of copy detail in their ads. Newspaper
readers take their own time to read a copy, unless simply too much
information is jammed in a small space.

Newspaper advertisers receive volume discounts for buying large

column inches of advertising space. Many newspapers grant these
volume discounts, called cumulative discounts, over one-month,
three-month or even year-long time period. This potentially lowers
the cost-per-exposure, because larger and repeated ads are more
likely to garner the reader’s attention.
 Many local consumers rely heavily on newspaper advertising for
information about grocery specials and other similar price discounts.
Many local merchants use newspaper coupons. Newspapers also
provide other special response features. For example, “Mention our
ad in today’s newspaper, and receive 10% off”.
Kinds of newspaper advertising
One classification system based on the newspaper advertising rates
separates advertising into the categories of classified, retail, national
and reading notices.
Classified advertising
While classified advertising may be used by national or local
advertisers, the bulk of the classified section of newspapers, referred
to as want ads, is local in nature and placed by local firms or
individuals. These ads are arranged by subject matter for the
convenience of readers, and generally do not include headlines or
illustrations. There is a form of classified advertising, known as
classified display, which uses different type sizes, white space to
attract attention and simple illustrations.
Retail advertising
As the name implies, retail advertising is placed by retail merchants
and other local businessmen. Normally, it is of two types—sales
promotion advertising, based on price features, sales or specials;
and —image advertising, designed to position a retail store or
business so that it appeals to a particular group of consumers. Retail
advertising may be paid for entirely by the retailer or shared by a
manufacturer. This latter form of advertising is also called
cooperative advertising. It is run under the name of the local
retailer in order to encourage retailer support and take advantage of
local rates, which are lower than national advertising rates.
National advertising
National advertising is used by manufacturers and producers to
support their products. This advertising is part of the manufacturer’s
national advertising plan and is used to intensify coverage in a local
area. National newspaper advertising is often used to introduce new
products in test markets, assure widespread consumer recognition
and aid in gaining retail distribution.
Reading notices
Reading notices are advertisements that are designed to resemble
editorial material. They are charged at a higher rate than retail
advertising. To prevent reading notices from being confused with
news stories or editorial material, the word ‘advertisement’ must
appear at the top of the notice.
Newspaper advertising rates
The major terms used to refer to newspaper advertising rates are
flat, open, discount, short, combination, position charges, colour
charges and split runs.
Flat rate
When the line rate is fixed, regardless of the volume of the
advertising, it is designated as flat rate.
Open rate
If a newspaper offers discounts, the open rate is the price charged to
advertisers who do not purchase a sufficient volume to qualify for a
discount.
Discount
Many newspapers have established discount levels for advertisers
who use an unusual amount of advertising space. While these
discounts are initially negotiated, they become established, are
published and are applied to any future advertisers offering a similar
volume of linage. Discount practices vary significantly among
newspapers. For example, while discounts on large purchases of
advertising are commonplace, a number of newspapers offer no
quantity discounts to national advertisers.
Short rate
When newspapers offer volume discounts, the advertisers estimate
the amount of space that will be used during the next 12-month
period and contracts for that amount at the discount earned, subject
to the year-end adjustments.
Combination rate
Combination rates are discounts for advertising appearing in the
morning and evening editions of the same newspaper, combining a
weekday insertion with a Saturday or Sunday insertion, or
advertising in more than one newspaper in a newspaper group. At
one point, some newspaper policies forced advertisers to use the
combination of insertions or newspapers. However, courts have
ruled against this practice and such combinations are now optional.
Position charges
Advertisers may place their advertisements R.O.P. (Run of Paper).
The R.O.P means that:
(a) The newspaper editor can place the advertisement anyplace;
the advertiser has no control over where the advertisement will
appear.
(b) The advertiser may specify a position on the page or within a
particular section of the paper. Higher rates, depending on the
newspaper involved and the nature of the preferred position, are
generally charged for such preferred positions.
Colour charges
Normally, newspaper advertising appears in black and white. Colour
advertising is available in many newspapers on a R.O.P. basis and
can be used in any paper through the use of preprinted inserts. The
R.O.P. colour does not provide dependable quality because of high-
speed presses, porous paper stock, and problems of off-register
reproduction. (Off-register is a term used to describe a situation in
which colours overlap and demarcations between the colours are not
clear). For this reason, the R.O.P. colour is used sparingly for making
ads distinctive with bold backgrounds, designs or colour headlines.
When the R.O.P. colour is used, there is an extra charge, and
newspapers usually have the minimum space requirement.
Split runs
Many newspapers offer split runs at a slight extra charge. The
simplest form of split run is when an advertiser prepares two ads of
the same size differing in headline, illustration, coupon value or even
product. The plate for one ad is put on one press and that for
another ad is put on another press. Both presses feed alternatively
into a common stacking of newspapers so that the two ads appear in
the alternate copies of the newspaper.
Advantages of newspapers

1. Newspapers are flexible in the following ways:

(i) Space for advertising ranging from one inch to multiple pages
can be used.
(ii) Advertisements can be scheduled on any day of the week.
(iii) The closing dates are short, so ads may be prepared on
extremely short notice.
(iv) Provide geographical flexibility, allowing the advertisers to
pinpoint their advertising pressure in terms of their advertising
needs.
2. Advertising is relatively cheap as compared to other media on
cost per thousand basis.
3. Newspapers are excellent vehicles for cooperative tie-ins.
4. They have high reader interest and broad coverage reaching 80
per cent of the adults.
Disadvantages of newspapers

1. Do not provide audience selectivity except on a geographical

basis.
2. Their high waste circulation makes them too expensive to use
on a national basis.
3. The life of a newspaper is short, i.e. unlikely to be put aside and
read later like magazines.
4. They have poor colour reproduction and the inability to use fine
artwork.
5. They have competition from retail advertising, which often
distracts the readership of national ads.

Magazines
The glamour of television has overshadowed magazines for a long
time. For many advertisers, magazines have always been a second
choice. Recent research, however, indicates that in some cases,
magazines are actually a better option than television. A study by the
A.C. Neilson Company revealed that people who viewed ads in
magazines were 2 per cent to 37 per cent more likely to purchase
the product then the people who viewed the ads in TV.
Also, a study by Millward Brown, examining the cost effectiveness
of magazine advertising, revealed promising information for
magazines. The study suggested that magazine advertising is three
times more effective than television advertising.
A major advantage of magazines is the high level of market
segmentation available. Magazines are highly segmented by topic
area. Specialized magazines are much more common than general
magazines with broad readerships. Even within certain market
segments such as automobiles, a number of magazines exist.
Magazines are so highly differentiated that high audience interest
becomes another advantage. People reading magazines also tend to
view and pay attention to advertisements related to their needs and
wants. Often, readers linger over an ad for a longer period of time,
because they read magazines in waiting situations or during leisure
time. This high level of interest, segmentation and differentiation are
ideal for products with precisely defined target markets.

Magazines, both trade and business journals, are a major medium

for business to business marketing. Businesses can target their
advertisements. The copy provides a great level of detail about
products. Readers, if interested, take time to read the information in
an ad. Ads can provide toll-free telephone numbers and web
addresses, so the interested parties can obtain further information.
Magazines offer high-quality colour and sophisticated production
processes, providing the creative team with the opportunity to
produce intriguing and exciting advertisements. Motion, colour and
unusual images can be used to attract attention. Magazines such as
Glamour, Elle and Cosmopolitan use scratch and sniff ads to entice
women to notice the fragrance of a perfume or cologne. Even car
manufacturers have ventured into this type of advertising by
producing a piece of leather in certain ads.
 Magazines have a long advertising life, lasting beyond the
immediate issue because subscribers read and reread them. This
means that the same advertisement is often read by more than one
person. It is not unusual for an avid magazine reader to examine a
particular issue several times and spend considerable amount of
time with each issue. This appeal is attractive to advertisers because
they know the reader will be exposed more than once and likely will
pay more attention to the ad. In addition, magazine ads last beyond
the current issue. Weeks and even months later, other individuals
may look at the magazine. In the business-to-business sector, trade
journals are often passed around to several individuals or members
of the buying centre. As long as the magazine lasts, the
advertisement is still there to be viewed.
Advantages of magazines

1. Magazines can be selected to appeal to a variety of

temperaments.
2. Have high quality reproduction on paper enabling the use of
unusual space units so that interesting effects and high impact
can be achieved.
3. Exposure life is long as they have pass-along readership.
4. Lend prestige to their products because of the education and
relatively affluence of magazine readers.
Disadvantages of magazines

1. They have lack of penetration, thus selectivity of the medium is

lost.
2. It is generally difficult to advertising pressure geographically with
magazines.
3. Closing dates are often two or three months prior to the date of
issue, thus precluding moving quickly to take advantage of
market opportunities.
4. The production costs for magazines are relatively high because
of high quality colour in production.
DIRECTORY ADVERTISING
Directories are a useful form of advertising for consumer product
companies with limited distribution and industrial firms that market
industrial supplies and equipment. Directory advertising may consist
merely of the name of a firm or product, along with an address
and/or telephone number; or it may consist of display advertising.
There are an infinite number of local, regional and national
directories, ranging from industrial buying guides to the classified,
Yellow Pages of the telephone book. From the standpoint of
consumer use, the best known directory is the Yellow Pages book.

Yellow Pages Advertising

The Yellow Pages book is the one constant in print advertising. If you
need to find out who does what in a particular product or service
category, the Yellow Pages book provides a listing and phone
numbers of those companies that offer that product or service. But
not too much information should be crammed into Yellow Pages as it
won’t attract people’s attention.

Unlike other forms of print advertising, Yellow Pages advertising is

sold on an annual basis. A basic one-line listing comes with your
business telephone service. You can upgrade that listing and
purchase a variety of ad sizes, ranging from just setting your listing
in boldface type to a large full-page advertisement. You might add a
second colour to emphasize a logo, graphic or line of type.
 The cost for advertising in the Yellow Pages, obviously, depends
upon the type of listing or advertising space you contract for as well
as the circulation size of the book you will be listed in. A large
metropolitan Yellow Pages book commands a much higher rate per
ad than does a small-town book.
When considering Yellow Pages advertising and the type of listing
or ad you want to have, remember that the competition will be brutal
among some types of popular businesses—beauty salons, for
instance.
You can support your Yellow Pages listing or ad with other types of
advertising media. One small telecommunication firm, for example,
supported its one-line Yellow Pages listing with image advertising.
The basic premise to their strategy was that it was alright if people
threw away their direct mail flyers without ordering a product or
service. What counted was name recognition. When the time did
come and the consumers were looking through the Yellow Pages for
a telecommunication company, they would, at least, remember the
name of the firm. The awareness factor would give the company an
edge against the competition.
DIRECT MAIL ADVERTISING
Another major advertising medium is direct mail. Many companies
send ads directly to target markets of consumers through mailing
lists or blanket a region for more general products. Wal-Mart, Kmart,
Target, Sears and other major retail chains often send
advertisements to consumers through mail. Credit card companies
are notorious for sending out enticements to apply for their cards,
especially to lower-income families and college students. Major
restaurant chains (Pizza hut, KFC, etc.) also mail directly to potential
buyers. These firms mail free samples, coupons, and other special
features to potential customers on a daily basis.

The major advantage of direct mail is that it normally lands in the

hands of the person who opens the mail, who usually makes a
significant amount of family purchasing decisions. Many mail offers
include direct-response programmes, so results are quickly
measured. Direct mail can also be targeted to geographic market
segments.
The primary disadvantage of direct mail includes cost, clutter and
the nuisance factor. To be noticed, direct mail advertising usually
requires a colour brochure, making the mailing quite expensive to
produce. As postage rates continue to rise, so do costs of direct
mail. Mailings tend to clutter post office boxes and become more
prevalent during key seasons such as Diwali, Christmas, Id, etc.
Many people are genuinely annoyed by “junk mail” and actively seek
to have their names taken off the mailing lists, especially for
catalogue type operations.
Some people find direct mail to be the least “reputable” form of
advertising, because many mail-fraud scams have arisen in the past
few decades. Direct mail best suits well-known local or national firms
seeking a more immediate response (e.g. coupon redemption) or
when the company wants to reinforce ads presented in other media.
Direct mail reaches some customers who do not buy newspapers.
Record clubs, book clubs, and others have used direct mail
effectively over the years. It is likely that many firms will continue to
use the mail in the future.
Direct mail remains a favourite marketing tool for business-to-
business marketers. It provides a method of bypassing gatekeepers
when the names of actual members of the buying centre can be
obtained. Direct mail can be one method of reaching businesses
when they are in a rebuy situation and open to calls by salespeople.
Even if the direct mail is ignored when it is received, many people
often file it away for future use. Although the cost per contact is high
for direct mail, so is the response rate as compared to other media.
The key to success for businesses is to make sure that the direct-
mail piece gets into the hands of the right person in the buying
centre and is attractive enough to grab attention.
OUTDOOR ADVERTISING
Outdoor advertising is the oldest established form of advertising, and
evidence of its use has been found on Greek and Roman remains.
This is not surprising because even in those days public
announcements had to be made, and a wall was as good a place as
any on which to carve a message. One of the earliest forms of
outdoor advertising was the inn sign which has remained in use to
the present day. It is believed that the spread of the Great Fire of
London in 1666 was assisted by the wooden signs which reached
across the narrow streets of the City from one building to another.
In the 1930s, the well-designed posters on the hoardings were
nicknamed the “poor man’s art gallery”. Among the wonderful “art
gallery” posters of the 1930s were those of Pears Soap, especially
the one of a filthy tramp writing a letter, the opening words being
“Since using your soap, I have used no other”. There was a man in
blue pyjamas astride a large jar of Bovril which was floating on the
sea, and the message was “Bovril prevents that sinking feeling”.
Cigarette posters often had beautiful sunset screens. Humour and
artistry were characteristics of those posters sixty years ago. Today,
they seem to depend on clever wordplay and the oblique attempts by
one advertiser to avoid encouraging people to smoke!
Billboards along major roads are the most common form of
outdoor advertising. Billboards, however, are only one form of
outdoor advertising. Signs on cabs, buses, park benches and sports
arenas are other types of outdoor advertising. Some would argue
that even a blimp flying over a major sporting event is a form of
outdoor advertising.
Outdoor advertising has changed its image from “booze and butts”
advertising to a legitimate medium over the past few decades.
Earlier outdoor advertising mainly constituted of tobacco and alcohol.
However, it has changed over the period of time. Today outdoor
advertising is for varied products, ranging from soap and shampoos
to jewellery and mobile phones.
 Currently, retailers account for approximately 10 per cent of
outdoor advertising and media outlets for another 8 per cent. Other
ads feature upcoming movies, video stores, broadcast television
networks, newspapers and radio stations. Other fast growing outdoor
programmes are from the fashion industry. The Gap, DKNY, Calvin
Klein and Ralph Lauren regularly buy outdoor space.
One primary advantage of billboard advertising is its long life. For
local companies, billboards are an excellent advertising medium
because the message is seen only by local audience. Local services
like restaurants, universities, hotels, resorts, service stations, and
amusement parks are heavy users of billboards. Billboards provide
an effective way to communicate a firm’s location to travellers.
Individuals who want to eat at a particular restaurant while on the
road can normally spot a billboard for that restaurant.

In terms of cost per impression, outdoor advertising is a low-cost

media outlet. Outdoor advertising also offers a broad reach and a
high level of frequency if multiple billboards are purchased. Every
person who travels by a billboard has the potential of being exposed
to the message. Many companies using billboards provide “rotation”
packages in which an ad moves to different locations throughout a
town during the course of the year, thereby increasing the reach of
the ad.
Billboard ads can be large and spectacular, making them major
attention-getting devices. A billboard’s large size creates the
impression that the product and the message are important.
Movement and lighting can add to the attention-capturing qualities of
a billboard.
A major drawback of outdoor advertising is the short exposure
time. Drivers must pay attention to the traffic as they speed by an
outdoor ad. Most either ignore billboards or give them a brief glance.
Ironically, in large cities, along major arteries the cost of billboard
spots is increasing. The reason: traffic jams. People stuck in slow
moving traffic spend more time looking at billboards. If this space is
not available, a firm can seek billboard locations where traffic stops
for signals or at stop signs.
Billboards provide limited opportunities for creativity. The short
exposure time means the message must be extremely brief. People
usually ignore a complicated or detailed message. Further, billboards
offer limited segmentation opportunities because a wide variety of
people may not view the billboard’s message. To help overcome this
problem, some companies use geodemographic software
technologies to identify the profile of individuals who will pass by a
billboard in a specific neighbourhood. Such an approach works well
on local streets of cities and towns but is not very effective along
major highways, with local and long distance traffic.
In the past, outdoor advertising was seldom considered in a media
plan. Now, it is an additional tool to reach consumers. To illustrate,
Procter & Gamble in as late as 1994 spent virtually no money on
outdoor advertising; today, this budget is magnanimously high.
Billboard ads can be combined with other advertising media to
repeat and reinforce messages for audience.
TRANSIT ADVERTISING
Transit advertising consists of paper posters placed inside or on
transit vehicles and in transit stations. Transit advertising is a healthy
and growing medium. Under the impact of the energy crisis and the
apparent need for more public transportation, the industry will
probably continue to grow.

Types of Transit Advertising

The most common types of transit advertising are car cards,
exterior displays and station posters.
Car cards
Car cards are used as interior displays in overhead racks and other
locations in subway trains, buses, commuter trains and other rapid
transit systems. The standard car card size is 11 inches high, with
width of 28, 42 and 56 inches. “Square” cards, measuring 21 by 22
inches, are also used at the ends of rail transit vehicles, and
miscellaneous sizes are available for special positions such as over
doors.

Exterior Displays
Exterior displays are waterproof posters appearing on the outside
buses and other transit vehicles. There are a number of standard
sizes specified by the transport departments but there is no limit to
creativity in these as can be seen from the transit advertisements
given below:
Station Posters
Although smaller in size, station posters are similar to outdoor
posters and are displayed on and in stations of subways, rapid
transit systems and suburban railroads. Although similar to outdoor
posters, they are sold by the same firm selling car cards because of
which they are located. Since waiting passengers have more time to
read advertising copy than drivers of cars, station posters often carry
more copy than the larger outdoor posters.
Other forms of Transit Advertising
In addition to these common forms of transit advertising, there are
also floor exhibits, diorama displays and clock spectaculars located
in train and airline terminals. Even when these are on a smaller
scale, they are usually custom designed for advertisers and similar
to advertising spectaculars.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Transit Advertising

Transit advertising is selective only in a geographic sense. Since
large number vehicles carry transit advertising in densely populated
areas, it has a potential for broad reach in these markets. Transit
advertising also offers high frequency because transit riders repeat
their trips frequently. Its cost-per-thousand is extremely low.
On the negative side, transit advertising is limited to urban areas,
and there is little validated information on its effectiveness.
Essentially, it is a supplementary medium for national advertisers,
although it may be used as the primary medium for local firms.

SUMMARY
To place an advertisement in the appropriate media is extremely
important task. A media planner must possess a great deal of
knowledge in order to successfully develop the media plan. Media
planning includes the factors like media objective evaluating media
in terms of target market characteristics and timings to place it.
It has been observed that press is very powerful in terms of
coverage and permanence, mobility, picture quality and availability.
Newspapers are the oldest media for advertising which has
undergone lot of changes. There are different kinds of newspaper
advertising, which includes classified, retail, national and reading
notices. Newspaper advertising rates depend on several factors and
are flat rate, open rate, discount, short rate, combination rate,
position rate, colour charges and split runs. There are many
advantages of newspaper advertising like flexibility, broad coverage
and cheapness but then there are disadvantages too. The life of a
newspaper is short, the print is not refined and then there is lot of
competition.
Magazines, on the other hand, have better quality of printing,
although the glamour of TV has overshadowed magazines for long
time. Magazines have their own advantages and disadvantages.
They have long exposure life and cater to the better audience as
compared to newspaper. However, they have lack of penetration and
production cost is very high. Directories are also useful form of
advertising for consumer product companies with limited distribution
and industrial firms that market industrial supplies and equipment.
The best known directory is the Yellow Pages. Another major
advertising medium is direct mail. The advantage of direct mail is
that it normally reaches the person who takes significant amount of
family purchasing decision. The primary disadvantage includes cost,
clutter and nuisance factor. The outdoor advertising is the oldest
established form of advertising. Billboard ads in cities are large and
spectacular. They not only catch attention but also create
impression. The last form of the advertising is transit advertising
which consists of paper posters placed inside or on transit vehicles
and the transit stations. The most common types of transit ads are
car cards, extension displays and station posters.

QUESTIONS
1. What is the oldest form of print advertising? What was the
impact of Guttenberg’s press on print media?
2. What are the advantages of newspaper advertising over
magazine advertising. For the institutional advertising, which
media will you prefer and why?
3. How is the rate decided for advertising space in a newspaper?
Would you use white space in your advertisement when you pay
so heavily for the small space? Support your answer with
appropriate examples.
4. What factors let you decide to place your advertisement in a
magazine? Do you think if your product is a tennis ball, the right
magazine to place the ad is SportStar? If yes, why and if no,
then why not?
5. Few years back, a gruesome accident took place at the crossing
of busy Hyderabad road. The reason for that was the placement
of an obscene hoarding at the crossing. Do you blame the
planners for such decision or is it the masses to be blamed?
6. What do you understand by transit advertising? Make a transit
advertisement to propagate the cultural festival which is going to
be organized in your institute the next month.
7. In which category, will you put the advertising which is done
indirectly when you move wearing a T-shirt embossed with the
name and logo of your institute? Is this a form of advertising?
 CASE STUDY: CAUTIONARY POSITION
What is mineral water all about? Well, about a germ-free, safe offering. And what
happens when a brand that has become generic to mineral water in India wants to drive
a subtle message? Well, it is bound to be noticed. In fact, Bisleri’s latest 45-seconder
(with an edited 30-second) gives the concept of safety a new, subtle, yet playful, twist.
The film opens with a couple sitting on a beach around a bonfire. The girl gives a ‘come
hither’ look, suddenly gets up and runs off with the guy in hot pursuit. She then
collapses on the sand, a la Hindi film song. The guy follows, trying to kiss her, panting
excitedly. Very romantic, very passionate, very heated up. Just then she demurs and
whispers something in his ear which sends him rushing back to the bonfire, to look
through the bags and the car. Has he got the safe formula? Very progressive. But no, he
hasn’t got it. So, he zooms off to the nearest 24-hour chemist (where else?). The boy
makes a desperate request to the chemist. The chemist’s wife gives the boy a coy,
knowing smile. The chemist returns with a huge carton (!) and hands it to the boy. Back
at the beach, he rips open the carton to reveal… 500-ml Bisleri bottles. The girl glugs
down the water, almost in ecstasy, as the boy watches her, comically. Then comes the
caption: ‘play safe’.
The commercial was specifically created by Ambience D’arcy for the 500-ml pack which
Parle Bisleri Ltd claims is a hit with the younger generation. As Mohana Mogre, Brand
Manager, Parle Bisleri Ltd, elaborates, “We wanted to communicate with the young
audience of the MTV and Channel (V) kind. This category prefers to be daring,
adventurous and sportive.” The spot, which costs around Rs. 30 lakhs to make, has
been conceived by Elsie Nanji and directed by White Light Productions. It is being aired
on various channels like Sony, ETC, the Star channels, Channel [V], Zee News, Alpha
Marathi, Sun TV and others.
Will the light-hearted approach compromise Bisleri’s image of reliability? Mogre feels
that the ad is in sync with the brand proposition of ‘pure and safe’. Which is why it is
being aired with Bisleri’s other spots. In fact, Bisleri can probably talk about health
issues, beyond just clean water. After all, health is not just about safe water, but also
safe sex. So, however comical the setting, the ad is dead serious in its message. The
ad does manage to do its bit for responsibility and for the cause of safe living. Bisleri
being Bisleri, will still be taken seriously.
TELEVISION ADVERTISING
Television provides the ability to communicate sight, sound, motion
and emotion. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a moving picture
is worth ten thousand words. The viewer can instantly see the
product, view it in a variety of situations, determine how it can be of
benefit to their application and leave them with a lasting impression
of the business.
Television gives a product a “larger than life” image and by virtue
of being on television, it is sometimes enough to set a business apart
from its competitors. Small businesses get benefitted from this
immensely, and they can create an impression that they are a “big”
company having their own television spot. This can be a great
advantage for them when consumers are making their decisions
about whom to do business with.
A dominant source of news is also, obviously, the best place for an
ad-campaigner to place his/her ads for good reach. Despite a
growing array of options, more people find out about what’s
happening in the world from television than from all other sources
combined. Not only is TV the most dominant news source but also is
considered to be the most credible news source. See Figure 12.1.

Advantages of Television Advertising

Television has numerous advantages over other media, which
includes the following:
creativity and impact
coverage and cost-effectiveness
captivity and attention
selectivity and flexibility
Advertisers can generate trust, emotion and excitement that cannot
be created as well through any other medium. This can help create a
long lasting and memorable brand and corporate image.
Creativity and Impact
Perhaps the greatest advantage of TV is the opportunity it provides
for presenting the advertising message. The interaction of sight and
sound offers tremendous creative flexibility and makes possible
dramatic, lifelike representations of production services. TV
commercials can be used to convey a mood or image for a brand as
well as to develop emotional or entertaining appeals that help make
a dull product appear interesting.
 Television is also an excellent medium for demonstrating a product
or service. For example, print ads are effective for showing a car and
communicating information regarding its features, but only TV
commercial can put you in the driver’s seat and give you the sense
of actually driving the car. See the images of a TV ad of LML
Freedom given below. The visuals are so impressive that one would
want to drive it immediately. Had it been a print ad, on the other
hand, the ad would have only appealed to the logical sense of the
customer effectively about the advantages of buying the product.
There would have been nothing like the video showing the vehicle in
action in beautiful backgrounds, may be a beautiful girl could have
been added for selling them.
Coverage and cost-effectiveness
Television advertising makes it possible to reach large audience.
Nearly everyone, regardless of age, sex, income or educational
level, watches TV at least for some time. Most people do so on a
regular basis. Marketers selling products and services that appeal to
broad target audience find that TV lets them reach mass markets,
often very cost-effectively. Because of its ability to reach large
audience in a cost-effective manner, TV is a popular medium among
companies selling mass-consumption products. Companies with
widespread distribution and availability of their products and services
use TV to reach the mass market and deliver their advertising
messages at a very low cost per thousand. Television has become
indispensable to large consumer package-goods companies,
carmakers and major retailers. Companies like Procter & Gamble
and Coca-Cola spend more than 80% of their media-advertising
budget on various forms of TV-network, spot, cable and syndicated
programmes.
Captivity and attention
Television is basically intrusive in that commercials impose
themselves on viewers as they watch their favourite programmes.
Unless we make a special effort to avoid commercials, most of us
are exposed to thousands of them each year. The increase in
viewing options and the penetration of CD players, remote controls
and other automatic devices have made it easier for TV viewers to
avoid commercial messages. People learn through their senses. The
combined power of sight, sound, motion and emotion creates a
synergistic effect that is more effective than when individual senses
are stimulated.
.
 Above is a popular ad for cooking oil. The colours of the dishes,
smiling faces, in short, the all-pervasive festive mood created in the
house drives the ad home easily.
 What is more effective than actually showing the night-vision that
the bike sports.
The low-involvement nature of consumer learning and response
processes may mean TV ads have an impact on consumers simply
through heavy repetition and exposure to catchy slogans and jingles.
Selectivity and flexibility
Television has often been criticized for being a non-selective
medium, since it is difficult to reach a precisely-defined market
segment through the use of TV advertising. But some selectivity is
possible due to variations in the composition of audiences as a result
of programme content, broadcast time and geographical coverage.
For example, Sunday morning TV caters to children; Saturday and
Sunday afternoon programmes are geared to sports-oriented male;
and week-daytime shows appeal heavily to homemakers.
With the growth of cable TV, advertisers refine their coverage
further by appealing to groups with specific interests such as sports,
news, history, arts or music. Advertisers can also adjust their media
strategies to take advantage of different geographic markets through
local or spot ads in specific market areas. Ads can be scheduled to
run repeatedly or to take advantage of special occasions. For
example, companies such as Pepsi and LG are often major
sponsors for cricket mega events, which allow advertising heavily. In
short:
Television has the highest daily and weekly reach among all the
media.
Television has an aura of importance. It is a prestigious medium,
enhancing the advertisers’ image by its use.
Television appeals to the consumers’ senses more than any
other medium.
Television can create a powerful and emotional impact.
Television can create high impact with viewers by offering
dynamic and visual messages.
Television has power to create moods and images for brands.

Limitations of Television
Although television is unsurpassed from creative perspective, it has
several disadvantages that limit or preclude its use by many
advertisers. These problems include high cost, lack of selectivity,
fleeting nature of TV commercial, commercial clutter, limited viewer
attention and distrust of TV ads.
Costs
Despite the efficiency of TV in reaching large audience, it is an
enormously expensive medium to advertise. The high cost of TV ads
stems not only from the expense of buying airtime, but also from the
cost of producing a quality commercial. More advertisers are using
media-driven creative strategies that require production of a variety
of commercials, which drive up their cost. Even local ads can be
expensive to produce and often are not of high quality. The high cost
of producing and airing commercials often price small- and medium-
size advertisers out of the market.
Lack of selectivity
Some selectivity is available in television through variations in
programmes and cable TV. But advertisers who are seeking a very
specific, often small, target audience find the coverage of TV often
extending beyond their market, thus reducing its cost-effectiveness.
Geographic selectivity can be a problem for local advertisers such as
retailers, since a station bases its rates on the total market area it
reaches. Audience selectivity is improving as advertisers target
certain groups of consumers through the type of programme or day
and/or time they choose to advertise. However, TV still does not offer
as much audience selectivity as radio, magazines, newspapers or
direct mail for reaching precise segments of the market.
Fleeting message
Television commercials usually last only 30 seconds or less and
leave nothing tangible for the viewer to examine or consider.
Commercials have become considerably short as the demand for a
limited amount of broadcast time has intensified and advertisers try
to get more impressions from their media budgets.
The ad below comes hardly for 10 seconds. What effect can it
have on a potential customer in that short period of time. At the
most, it can inform the viewer that such a product exists. Is spending
so much of money worth just this objective?
 An important factor in the decline in the commercial length has
been the spiralling inflation in media cost over the past decade. A
15-second spot typically sells for half the price of 30-second spot. By
using 15- or even 10-second spots, advertisers think they can run
additional spots to reinforce the message or reach a large audience.
Many advertisers believe that short commercials can deliver a
message just as effectively as long spots for much less money.

Clutter
The problems of fleeting messages and shorter commercials are
compounded by the fact that since the advertiser’s message is only
one of many spots and other non-programming material seen during
a commercial break, it may have trouble being noticed. One of the
advertisers’ greatest concerns with TV advertising is the potential
decline in effectiveness because of such clutter.

One cause of clutter is the use of short commercials and split-30s,

3-second spots, in which the advertiser promotes two different
products with separate messages. The above ad is just a collection
of three short scenes and such small ads, impressive nevertheless
for products like chocolate, are primarily responsible for clutter.
Clutter also results when the networks and individual stations run
promotional announcements for their shows, make more time
available for commercials and redistribute time to popular
programmes.

Limited viewer attention

When advertisers buy time on a TV programme, they are not
purchasing guaranteed exposure but rather the opportunity to
communicate a message to large number of consumers. But there is
increasing evidence that the size of the viewing audience shrinks
during a commercial break. People leave the room to go to the
bathroom or get something to eat or drink, or they are distracted in
some way during commercials.
Getting consumers to pay attention to commercials has become a
great challenge in recent years. The increased presence of remote
controls has led to the problems of zipping, zapping and grazing.
Zipping occurs when customers fast-forward through commercials
as they play back a previously recorded programme. Zapping refers
to changing channels to avoid commercials. Grazing is the use of
remote control to scan number of channels in search of something
interesting to watch. To tackle this problem, advertisers are using
several new techniques like humour, suspense and excitement.

Deception in Television Advertising

When we examine television advertising, we once again find art and
technology being used to create simulations that tell stories in an
effort to evoke desired reaction from the audience. But in advertising,
we see a strange new cultural creation—the 20-second “cinematic”
production full of dancing, singing and joke-telling characters playing
physicians, housewives and car salesmen, with ultra-abbreviated
plots and quick resolutions of conflict in which the characters
overcome obstacles and fulfil their desire in record time with the help
of the product. Unlike movies, which will evoke the wrath of the
audience if unfolding of the story is interrupted, in commercials, there
is virtually no story to interrupt. The entire commercial is a dynamic
and graphic field composed of images, music, theatrical
performances, superimposed illustrations, narration and other
elements, which reinforce each other to achieve their effect.
Like other complex simulations, these inventions of sound-bite
television are typically made up of a great many individual forms of
fakery and illusion. For example, they display products that are
cosmetically altered to look more appealing to viewers. Raw turkeys
are made to look baked and delicious with food colouring. Gelatin
deserts are made denser than the real thing to look firm and
symmetrical, while the sizzle of cooking food turns out to be a sound
effect added during editing. These sensory deceptions are
supplemented by exaggerated claims, to create a false identity for
the product. Television commercials also include another kind of
simulation in the form of digitally-manipulated images, which are
used to portray another realm of fantasy in which the limits imposed
by the physical world no longer seem to be in effect. As a result, they
are full of talking dogs, children who grow to giant size, products that
zoom into space, dancing credit cards and scenes that suddenly
become two-dimensional screens, which spin out of existence,
creating a virtual world that surpasses anything.
Television commercials take these three elements—visual fantasy,
deceptive images of the products and false claims—and weave them
into their various approaches. There are, perhaps, half a dozen kinds
of approaches that they rely on and put together in different ways,
just as the theme parks, video games, television and news fall into a
few basic categories. Some present trivial product information as if it
is of momentous importance. Others use glamour or sex, or try to
evoke a sense of empathy and sincerity in an effort to melt the
viewers emotionally into buying the product. A great many use
humour to win over the viewers and reduce the pretentiousness of
the message, since pretending to be absurd is the best camouflage
for something that really is absurd.

Network Versus Spot

A basic decision for all advertisers to take is allocating their TV
media budget to network versus local or spot announcements. Most
national advertisers use network schedules to provide national
coverage and supplement this with regional or local spot purchases
to reach markets where additional coverage is desired.
Network advertising
Network advertising is a common way advertisers disseminate their
messages by purchasing airtime from a television network. A
network assembles a series of affiliated local TV stations, or
affiliates, to which it supplies programmes and services. These
affiliates, most of which are independently owned, contractually
agree to preempt time during specified hours for programming
provided by the networks and to carry the national advertising within
the programme. The networks share the advertising revenue they
receive during these time periods with the affiliates. The affiliates are
also free to sell commercial time in non-network periods and during
station breaks in the preempted periods to both national and local
advertisers.
A major advantage of network advertising is the simplification of
the purchase process. The advertiser has to deal with only one party
or media representative to air a commercial nationwide. The
networks also offer the most popular programmes and generally
control prime-time programming.
Spot and local advertising
Spot advertising refers to commercials shown on local TV stations,
with time negotiated and purchased directly from the individual
stations. All non-network advertising done by a national advertiser is
known as national spot advertising. Airtime sold to local firms such
as retailers, restaurants, banks and auto dealers is known as local
advertising. Local advertisers want media whose coverage is
limited to the geographic markets in which they do business. This
may be difficult to accomplish with TV, but many local businesses
are large enough to make efficient use of TV advertising.
Spot advertising offers the national advertiser flexibility in adjusting
to local market conditions. The advertiser can concentrate
commercials in areas where market potential is greatest or where
additional support is needed. This appeals to advertisers with
uneven distribution or limited advertising budget as well as those
interested in test marketing or introducing a product in limited market
area. National advertisers often use spot television advertising
through local retailers or dealers as part of their cooperative
advertising programmes and to provide local dealer support.
 The decision facing most of the national advertisers is how to
combine network and spot advertising to make effective use of their
TV advertising budget. Another factor that makes spot advertising
attractive to national advertisers is the growth in syndication which
is nothing but advertising on shows that are sold or distributed on a
station-by-station, market-by-market basis.

Developing an Effective Campaign

Television is an influential medium for advertising. It gives a powerful
opportunity to create a message bold enough to grab the viewers’
attention, yet simplistic enough not to turn the viewers off. It’s a 30 to
60 second “window of opportunity” to share a message with
important target audience and create a lasting impression that
ultimately leads the viewer to take action. The key to successfully
executing a TV advertising campaign begins and ends with research,
with a whole lot of strategy and creativity sandwiched in between.
For any new TV advertising campaign, the creative process begins
with our knowledge of what works best for television campaigns.
Consumers respond best to television commercials that employ one
of the following elements:

1. Celebrities
2. Humour, especially a surprise or twist
3. A storyline
4. A simple concept
5. Many layers, especially visually, so they notice different
elements every time they see the commercial

These elements have been consistently favoured across

demographic factors such as age and race, so it is a safe starting
point for a consumer-oriented campaign. The challenge is to
communicate one message that would embrace a diverse group,
without alienating any of them.
The research process continues throughout the creative phase of
ad campaign development, as the messages and various elements
of the ads are tested to ensure their optimal effectiveness. This is a
critical step that should not be overlooked or eliminated to save
money, as some organizations are inclined to do.
Another major consideration in a television campaign is media
placement. The importance of the media buying function is
sometimes underestimated, until your ad runs multiple times during a
show that no one is watching because your target audience is tuned
in to a cricket match on a competing network. The initial research
phase of TV campaign development includes analysis of the media
and determination of the best opportunities to reach your target
audience.
It is better to spend more to make a high-quality, good-looking
commercial, if you are selling an expensive product or service and
you are offering quality and prestige. But if you are selling a bargain-
priced local service, an expensive commercial may actually work
against you, by making your service look expensive. But daytime
and late-night spots in local markets can be surprisingly inexpensive.
Therefore, we have to explore all the avenues before taking the final
leap in order to reach a good number of right audience for the money
being spent.
After the campaign runs for its first season, research is again
conducted to determine the results of the programme and to assess
the need for any adjustments to our approach. Television is a
powerful tool that has the ability to legitimize a product or service.
The fundamental approach is to remember that television is an
intrusion in people’s lives, and therefore, each layer of the story
being told must be carefully analysed so that the finished product
makes a memorable statement for the viewer.
Effective TV commercials merge video and audio into a powerful
sales tool. But never think that one is more important than the other.
Audio and video must synchronize to create a right impact. For
example, turn down the volume on any commercial. The benefits of
purchasing a product just from the video can be identified. The same
holds true for audio. Close your eyes and listen to the announcer. If
the audio doesn’t explain the product in detail, then the commercial
isn’t effective. Potential customers should be able to hear the
message even if they’re not in the room to see it. So usage of a
strong audio and video combination is strongly advised.
The video must match audio to drive home the selling points. For
instance, one wouldn’t want to see video of a woman struggling with
a large vacuum cleaner while the audio claims, “Our handheld
vacuum cleaner is great for cleaning the inside of your home!”. The
message gets distorted. The viewer gets confused and you lose the
sale.
Television should be thought of as an intimate medium. Combining
sight and sound should spark the viewers’ emotions and help them
identify themselves with the product. If they can identify themselves
with the product, the job is done!
RADIO ADVERTISING
Radio may not be considered as glamorous as television. This
makes it difficult to attract talented creatives to prepare ads. At the
same time, a well-placed, clever ad appeals as being a one-on-one
message (announcer to driver in a car stuck in traffic). Many smaller
local companies still heavily rely on radio advertising, and most radio
ads are produced locally and with small budgets.
Radio offers several advantages to advertisers. Skilful radio
advertisers help the listener remember the message by creating a
powerful image to visualize or through repetition. It is important to
help the consumer move the ad from short-term to long-term
memory. Various sound effects and lively memorable tunes assist in
this process. Through repetition, a person hears an advertisement
often enough to assist in recall, just like by repeating a phone
number or an e-mail address, you remember the numbers or letters.
Radio stations tend to have a definable target markets based on
their formats. Certain formats attract similar audience. This means a
firm that wants to advertise on pop stations in a particular region can
find similar stations across the country.
Radio stations offer considerable flexibility and a short lead time.
Commercials can be recorded and placed on air within a few days
and sometimes within hours. Ads can be changed quickly. This is
especially in volatile markets or in the retail sector wherein
companies want to change the items featured on sale. Radio also
helps a national company that wants to modify each advertisement
to local conditions. In other words, a manufacturer can develop one
national advertisement and change it for each dealer or retailer that
carries the manufacturer’s merchandise. The modification can be as
simple as providing an address, phone number or web address for
each local outlet.
One major advantage of radio is intimacy. Introduction of radio
Mirchi, FM, etc. have really given boost to radio advertising.
Listeners can develop a proximity to the DJs and other radio
personalities. This closeness grows over time. Listening to the same
individual becomes somewhat personalized, especially if the listener
has a conversation with the DJ during a contest or when requesting
for a song. The bond or the intimacy level gives a radio personality a
higher level of credibility and an edge to products and services the
radio celebrity endorses. No other medium offers this advantage.
Besides intimacy, radio is mobile. People carry radio to the beach,
park, workplace and picnic. They listen to radio at home, at work and
on the road in-between. No other medium stays with the audience
quite like the radio.
Radio also has some disadvantages. One is the short exposure
time of an ad. Like television advertisements, most radio
advertisements last only 15 or 30 seconds. Listeners involved in
other activities, such as driving or working on a computer, may not
pay attention to the radio. Further, people often use radio as a
background to fade out other distractions, especially at work.
For national advertisers, covering a large area with radio
advertisements is challenging. To place a national advertisement
requires contacting a large number of companies. Few large radio
conglomerates means contacts must be made with multiple stations.
Because of this independence, negotiating lower rates with individual
stations based on volume or because it will be a national
advertisement does not occur. In fact, local advertiser can negotiate
better rates than a national advertiser because of the relationship the
local radio stations develop with the local firms over time.
In large metropolitan areas, another problem is target duplication.
Several radio stations may try to reach the same target market. For
instances, in any city, there are many radio stations and advertising
on all of them is not financially feasible, yet reaching everyone in that
target market is not possible unless all the stations are used. The
radio stations have loyal listeners who do not prefer to listen to other
stations.
Finally, because many ads are locally produced, a common
problem with radio ads is putting too much information into one ad. It
overloads the consumer and very little is retained.
Radio advertising is a low-cost option for a local firm. Ads can be
placed at ideal times and adapted to local conditions. The key to
radio is the careful selection of station and time and construction of
the ad. Tests can be carried out to see if ads effectively reach
customers. Immediate response techniques, contest entries and
other devices provide information about whether customers heard
and responded to ads. Radio remotes occur when the firm
broadcasts from a business location. Remotes are a popular method
of attracting attention to a new business (restaurants, small retail
shops, etc.) or to a company trying to make a major push for
immediate customers. Effective radio promotions can be combined
with other media (local television, newspapers, etc.) to send out an
integrated message.
For business-to-business advertisers, radio provides the
opportunity to reach businesses during working hours, because
many employees listen to the radio during office hours. More
importantly, radio can reach businesspeople while in transit to or
from the work. Both radio and television usage has increased for
business to business marketing.

SUMMARY
Television has tremendous impact on the viewers as it provides the
ability to communicate sight, sound, motion and emotion. The
inclusion of so many channels has further fuelled the scope of
television advertising. Television has got innumerable advantages
over other media such as creativity and impact, coverage and
effectiveness, captivity and attention and selectivity and flexibility.
Despite its unsurpassed advantages from creative perspective, this
medium has some disadvantages also. These problems include high
cost, lack of selectivity, fleeting nature of commercial clutter, limited
viewers’ attention and distrust of TV advertisements. Deception in
television advertising is another drawback as the elements of visual
fantasy, deceptive images, and false claims are blended in various
approaches. Some very measly information is projected as if it is of
momentous importance.
A basic decision for all advertisers to take is allocating their TV
media budget to network versus local or spot announcements.
Television is an influential medium and provides an opportunity to
create a bold message to grab the attention of viewers. The
advertisement employs celebrities, humour, storyline, simple concept
or visual attention. The sound and picture must synchronize to
create a good impact.
Radio advertising might not be considered glamorous but has
picked its importance with the introduction of new stations like Radio
FM, Radio Mirchi, etc. Before the advent of television in 60s and late
70s, radio was quite popular. The listeners mitigated in 80s, but
since the turn of the century, radio has regained its lost listeners.
One major advantage of radio is intimacy, which no other medium
offers. It is mobile and handy too. The major disadvantage, on the
other hand, is the short exposure of an ad.

QUESTIONS
1. How is television advertising different from print advertising?
How does the strategy for developing advertisements vary in TV
and print media and why?
2. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of
television advertising. Have you ever felt that TV advertising is
more of a nuisance than entertainment? Exemplify.
3. What are the factors that have led to the encroachment of
deception in television advertising? How can you weed them
out? Is deception permissible?
4. Define zipping, zapping and grazing. How can you stop the
viewers from indulging in these three activities? What is the
main factor responsible for these problems?
5. Design an ad campaign for an energy drink for children to be
run on television. What strategy will you adopt to captivate the
maximum number of viewers?
6. Which advertisement has greater recall value—television or
print? Give adequate reasons to support your answer.
7. What is the major advantages of radio advertising? Write a
script for a radio advertisement for Tina talcum powder.
 CASE STUDY: IBM COMBS THE GLOBE FOR E-BUSINESS
When is a computer just not a computer? Well, in IBM’s way of thinking about
things, that would be when a computer is an e-business tool. Faced with potent
competitors such as Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and Dell, IBM needed a way to
reposition its laptops and PCs to accelerate its sales. Building on its own much-
mimicked e-business concept, it was logical for IBM to pursue a repositioning of
these products as e-business tools. The marketing strategy was to launch a
revamped product line designed specifically to help companies get on the Internet
and other networks to boost their business. A carefully orchestrated ad campaign
could help consumers see IBM computers in this light.
The e-business campaign was launched with extravagant eight-page insert in
various national newspapers. This was followed by giant IBM posters plastered on
construction sites, in airports and in subway stations in major metropolitan markets,
along with magazine and TV ads and the ever-present website promotion. To add a
touch of style and grace to its campaign, IBM employed a photographer who
previously specialized in glamour shots for Clinique cosmetics. These stylish black-
and-white photos of products such as the IBM ThinkPad were common throughout
the various media used in this repositioning campaign.
How much to spend on a campaign to promote e-business tools around the world?
In the year 1998 global campaign was funded at the $ 100 million level. Gee, $ 100
million here and $ 100 million there, and all of a sudden, you are talking about some
real money. IBM spends in the order of $ 750 million each year on advertising.
Source: Raju Narisetti, “IBM Blitz to introduce e-business tools”, Wall Street Journal,
April 15, 1998, B4.

While a 30-second commercial on TV or radio can only begin to tell a

company’s story, the Internet serves as an integrated tool to help tell
the rest of the story. Most of the traditional paper ads are printing
web addresses of advertisers for finding lot of information the
prospective consumers require. In fact, every ad has a website
address posted to it. Online or web advertising can be defined as
the promotion of products or services by advertising through the
Internet media.
IMPORTANCE OF ONLINE ADVERTISING
With the advent of technology, the Internet has positioned itself as
one of the very few media alternatives that can be used for almost all
advertising purposes across all possible market segments.
The growing popularity of the Internet and the mass media hype
surrounding its commercial potential has triggered an avalanche of
interest in using this new tool for marketing and advertising. In fact,
the Internet has taken only few years to achieve a critical mass of
almost 50 million users. The radio, television and cable have taken a
lot more years to achieve this number than the Internet took. This
suggests the rapid acceptance of the Internet as a medium of
connectivity and commerce. As the Internet gained popularity,
marketers began to explore if this medium was lucrative to advertise
on and found that it gave them more than what the other media
could offer. The Internet provided their customers with interactivity—
consumers could now interact with their product and build their own
experience with it. The marketers believed that this form of brand
conditioning would enhance the consumer’s brand experience. The
rate of technological change in the marketing environment is an
important factor that influences the marketing success. The growth
of the Internet as a provider of standard global access to systems
and networks all over the world is an area of huge interest currently
and will very soon become a major consideration for the marketing
departments of most Indian organizations marketing to consumers
and businesses.
In the initial stages, Internet advertising was essentially done
through news groups, e-mail, insertions in newsletters and e-zincs,
and distributed via list servers. Classified ads have long been a part
of the Internet scene but it was only in 1994 that the advertisements
for the Internet, as we know it today, started.
Comparison of online advertising with traditional advertising
Online advertising is very interactive compared to the other forms of
traditional advertising. The consumers can pick and choose the
information, sales message and buying modes that fit their individual
needs.
Online advertising offers the best of push and pull advertising in
that merchants can pull consumers in based on their advertising and
push material out to them once they have created a relationship.
Because users select the sites they visit, advertisers are almost
guaranteed highly qualified prospects.
Impact of interactive ads
Interactive ads have a great impact on brand awareness and a
single exposure to a web banner generates greater awareness than
a television or a print ad. It is estimated that the number of new web
advertisers will grow at a faster rate than the number of web viewers.
It is possible to target specific consumer segments based on
geographical location, while they are online, etc., with relevant ads.
In addition, the Net has the capability to compile statistics regarding
how many people viewed each advertisement on an hourly, daily and
monthly basis (reach), and for how long each viewer actually looked
at an advertisement (exposure time), which helps companies track
down the effectiveness of their advertisements in terms of the
number of purchases. This mechanism is more effective than
advertising in magazines or on television.
OBJECTIVES OF ONLINE ADVERTISING
Online advertising can be used to achieve the following four basic
objectives:
Build brand
Many Fortune 500 companies, from Kodak to IBM, use the Internet
to tell the world about their products, support their deal channels and
educate the public about their companies or products.
Drive traffic to the website
Online advertisements offer a proven way to steer interested buyers
to the website, where one can know more about the products and
services.
Develop qualified leads
While at the website, the best copywriting and photographs can
convince the prospects and provide good business. How best one
follows each qualified prospect determines the business.
Conduct sales
As the prospects become warm, one can close sales either online or
direct the buyers to their dealer channel, if that is the seller’s sales
strategy.
CASE STUDY: HOTEL DISCOUNTS
Hotel Discounts, www.hoteldiscounts.com sells hotel rooms via the Internet. To stimulate
traffic to its site, it created a contest in which business travelers were asked to write about
their “Trip from Hell”. The prize was a weekend vacation in Boca Raton, Florida.
More than 13,000 people either entered the contest or read the entries. All entries were
posted online. The site was so popular that 50 people a day still visit the site even though
the contest ended months ago.
The contest helped the company create a brand name and increased traffic, which resulted
in sales.
“It was so successful, we will do it again”!, said Larry Chase, President of Chase Online
Marketing Strategies.
They intend to run banner ads on the search engines with the head line: “Just when you
thought it was safe: Trip from Hell 2”.
TYPES OF ONLINE ADVERTISING
Web advertising comes in many types with the ultimate objective of
attracting the attention of the browser. Some of the forms are
discussed further.

Banner Ads
Banner ads are rectangular boxes of a pre-specified size by the
Internet Advertising Bureau that appear on websites communicating
the marketer’s message. These ads generally provide a link to
another website where the marketers provide further information of
their products or services.
Logos
Company logos are very famous these days. A logo which is placed
at the top of the website ads credibility to the site. A well known
company can be easily identified with the help of its logo. Logo really
have recognition and are part of advertising campaign of the
companies. A logo of a company generally depicts the motto or
operations of the company. A few logos of very famous companies
are shown below:
 Logos can be changed depending on the period of the year.
Several companies like Google, Yahoo, etc. release their special
logos depending on the eve.
Given below are some of the special logos of the Google site:
E-mail Ads
E-mail advertising belongs to the first generation of interactive
advertisements. By creating compelling e-mail experiences,
marketers hope to convey their messages in a better way.
A sample e-mail copy is given below:

Keywords on Search Engines

Advertisers can buy keywords on search engines to increase their
exposure. When a consumer types in a keyword like computers,
airplanes or hotels, he/she sees a banner ad paid for by a company
that sells the respective products, along with the related sites
available in the library. This proved to be a great concept as the
users identify themselves as being in the market for those products
at that time.
There are two parts of this strategy. The first is that the consumer
sees the banner advertisement and the second part occurs when the
user clicks the banner, thereby linking to the specific page of the site.
A search engine claims of getting more click-through rates than the
banner ads. Search engine ads work because search engine is the
website that people visit with the explicit goal of finding someplace
else to go. Thus, if users see an ad for what they are looking for,
there is a high probability that they’ll click that ad. Advertisers can
satisfy a user’s immediate needs because they target ads based on
the user’s query terms. (This also explains why ads on search
engine homepages do not work: it is impossible to target the ad to
the user’s current quest until the server knows what that quest is.)

Classified Ads
Classified ads work because as far as users are concerned, they are
content, not advertising: people actively seek out the classifieds
when they are looking to buy. This explains the success of eBay,
Monster/Hot Jobs and many such sites. The superiority of Web
classifieds portends dire times ahead for traditional printed
newspapers, as their most lucrative income source continues to
migrate online.
 .

The picture below shows a classified ad for Harley bikes and a

subsequent click through the link gives the next picture with all the
details of the bike including its cost (see the picture on the next
page). The photo aids the customer to know even the condition of
the bike.

Interstitials
An interstitial ad is one that pops up when the user loads a new
page. In other words, when the user hits a button to link to a new
page, the interstitial is displayed. It disappears and the new page is
loaded. This type of ad begins to follow the format used in television
advertising in that you see content that you want to see and then
they throw in an ad before letting you see more of what you want to
see.
 Interstitial began showing its ugly head in early 1997 and is not
widely used yet. People see these ads as annoying and even leave
sites that have them at times. They hate the slowness of the Internet
and attribute it to these interstitial ads.
But interstitials can be twice as effective than the traditional online
banners if they are presented properly to the consumers. See the
following ad:

Websites
Websites can be viewed as anchors to all types of online ads
discussed earlier. In the end, each of these ads is linked to its home
page or specific links on the company’s website. So it is important to
have an effective and impressive website that urges the user to buy
that specific product or service. Many giants like Nike, Adidas, etc.
are having websites that are full of dynamic effects, flash animations
and creativity, of course. These websites contain all the information
about the company. We can even see the web addresses coming up
in the company’s advertisements in the traditional media, hinting the
users that they can always visit the website for more information.

Push Technologies or Web Casting

The biggest headlines these days seem to be reserved for push
technologies or web casting. This model tries to mimic television in
that consumers subscribe to “channels” published by advertisers,
who send information and ads to the consumer on a schedule
determined by the consumer. In other words, one can subscribe to a
news channel and read business news updates every half an hour
and the ads will come along with the news. The consumer can
receive targeted ads also which means the ads are published
according to the interests of the consumer.
This technology will allow almost any website to become a channel
that delivers information to the desktop. Web users will be able to
subscribe to any site and specify when they would like the
information to be sent over the web.

Sponsored Mailing Lists

Mailing lists offer advertisers highly targeted audience that gather to
discuss specific interests. Even the rates tend to be very low when
compared to other ways of online advertising. These give it a bit of
advantage over other types of online advertising but many of them
are left unread by the receivers. This is a major drawback for these
lists.
Sponsored mailing lists may lead to several problems like spam or
unwanted mail, Internet frauds due to innocence on the part of the
consumers, etc.
Spam
To begin with, your e-mail is just that—yours. In most cases, it is a
resource that you must pay for as part of the cost of connecting to
the Internet. Reading and responding to your e-mail also represents
an investment of your time and as such, has a value attached to it.
 If someone sends a junk mail through one’s e-mail account, he/she
is wasting the time and money. If we are busy on the Net for some
personal work, we will never like to pay attention to any number of
advertisements which pops up in different ways. Our daily snail mail
is buried in flyers for supermarkets we will never shop at and health
clubs we will never sweat in. We have just as much right to feel
abused when we receive e-mails which we did not request, never
gave anyone permission to send and do not want.
Receiving one or two such messages a day is annoying. Receiving
hundreds of them is a large drain on one’s time and resources, and
one should not put up with it. Unlike traditional junk snail mail, it is
not even good for use as kindling.
Some types of commercial spams are discussed further.
Spam from suits
One of the most prevalent sorts of junk e-mail is commercial
advertising. A few years ago, most of it originated from spammers
who were essentially ignorant of the prerogatives of users of the
Internet. Judging by the content of most of these messages, their
perpetrators had all just signed up with an Internet access provider
and were given complimentary copies of one of the many “How to
Make Lots of Money on the Internet” books. Some of them were
genuinely inconsiderate of the rights of other users of the Net. The
bulk of them, however, were merely confused, deluded and ignorant.
Spam from grunts
It must be said that the foregoing marginal − if misguided −
businesspeople have largely been supplanted in the hearts, minds
and spam filters of the Net by spammers several levels lower in the
food chain. A huge volume of spam is generated by stupid people
hoping against hope to find “customers” with fewer working brain
cells than they have. The odds against this happening make even
state-run lotteries look promising by comparison, but spam is
essentially free to send, and it is a safe bet that none of these guys
can deal with large numbers.
Spam from viruses
The third common manifestation of unsolicited e-mail is generated by
viruses attempting to propagate themselves across the Internet.
Depending upon the intent of the author of a virus, having your
computer infected with one might entail it becoming the source of a
great deal of virus-laden e-mail, sent to every e-mail address stored
on your system. This is not likely to endear you to your friends,
colleagues and business contacts. Viruses can also attempt to
compromise your personal information to third parties—several of
them have appeared of late to steal credit card information. There
have been a number of viruses which have been designed to turn
the systems they infect into “zombies”, to be controlled by the virus
authors, typically to send out more spam. A few viruses have been
the work of malicious vandals who just want to nuke the machines
they infect.
Remedies for spam
Despite the relatively unpoliced nature of the Internet, there are
steps you can take to reduce the amount of unsolicited e-mail you
receive. They are by no means completely effective. However, if you
undertake them, you will probably keep your junk e-mail down to a
reasonable level of hugeness. If you do not, you will eventually get
swamped by it. These steps are discussed briefly below:
When you receive unsolicited commercial e-mail, reply to it with
a message which states unequivocally that you are not amused.
Never open an attachment to e-mail unless you are really
certain you know where it has come from. Attachments with the
extension .EXE, .COM, .PIF, .BAT and .SCR are especially nasty.
Use a virus checker to scan your hard drive at frequent intervals
and keep its virus database up to date.
Here is another bit of interaction with spammers you will want to
avoid. Some spam messages include ostensible opt-out
functions—links you can click on to remove yourself from the list
that sent you the spam in question. Do not use these removal
functions. In most cases, what they are really there for is to verify
that your e-mail address is valid and its mail is being read by a
 live human being. Using a spam removal function will typically
guarantee that you will receive a lot more spam.
Use a Filter. Regrettably, some spam just will not go away
voluntarily. There are spam generators who feel that flooding the
inboxes of the known universe with advertisements for the
unthinkable, unnamable and unwanted is an inalienable right, or
something they are just entitled to get away with. Perhaps, more
to the point, there are spammers who take a long, long time to
appreciate that no one is buying their stuff, even though they
blast out tens of millions of e-mail messages a week. Finally,
there are spam advertisers who have gone to considerable
lengths to defend themselves from the outrage of their victims,
and as such rarely appreciate that they are making few friends in
cyberspace.
A mail filter will watch your incoming mail, search it for indications
of unsolicited content and act as a gatekeeper. Properly thought-out
and maintained, a mail filter can substantially reduce the volume of
spam you have to address. Your best defence against unwanted e-
mail is an understanding of the people who send it, and of the nature
of the parties who run the servers which make up the Internet.
THE FIVE MUTABLE LAWS OF WEB MARKETING
The following five laws form the backbone of present-day web
marketing lore.
The law of the dead-end street
The law of giving and selling
The law of trust
The law of pull and push
The law of the niche

The Law of the Dead-End Street

The first law goes like this: Setting up a website is like building a
storefront on a dead-end street. If you want any shoppers, you must
give them a reason to come.
The most wonderful site in the world is wasted unless people stop
by to admire and purchase. It is because of the same reason that
most great craftsmen are not millionaires. They have learned to
make a great product, but do not have a clue about marketing. Give
visitors good reason to visit you and they will never disappoint you.

The Law of Giving and Selling

An important element of web culture is “free stuff”. The law of giving
and selling says: Attract visitors to your site by giving away
something free, and then try to sell something additional to those
who visit. “Give them something free, then try to sell them
something”.
CASE STUDY: WILSON INTERNET SERVICES
In mid-1995, Wilson Internet Services launched their website design business with a
goal of attracting business nationally via the Web. At that time, even local website
designers were considered oddities. How could they succeed at a national level? First,
they identified the most likely customers: small-to medium-size businesses. Second,
they asked, “What do the customers want to know?” Of course, the people wondered
how to construct a website. But that was what they wanted to sell them. The customers
 also wanted to know how to market their business on the Web, as the Wilson people
reasoned.
So they scoured for the rather sparse offering of articles on web marketing available at
that time and made a link list of about 20 articles and resources. Then every month,
without fail, these people would scour the Web again for more materials. The Web
Marketing Info Center (http://www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/) grew into a resource
containing links to 2000+ articles and resources, the largest collection of information of
its kind on the Web. In addition, they began to write articles explaining to small
businesspeople how to market their site. Some of those articles were linked to by major
sites and brought many visitors. This became a destination Site—a portal site to the
literature on web marketing—and their business prospered.

Here is the simple strategy. Attract people to your site by giving away
lots of free information. Then let people know about your products
and services. Learn this rhythm of giving something away and selling
something. The strategy works. But to sell, you need to master a
third law.

The Law of Trust

When the products or services are priced competitively and are of
good quality, the most significant sales barrier is trust. Trust is the
essential lubricant of Web business; without trust, business grinds to
a halt.
In case of small business, one can not afford such trust-building
advertising campaigns. Alternatively, one can build trust by selling
well-known brand name products, by displaying clear shipping and
return policies, joining nationally-respected organizations and
offering guarantees. Gain credibility by having a professionally-
designed site.

The Law of Pull and Push

The fourth mutable law of web marketing is: Pull people to your site
by your attractive content, and then push quality information to them
regularly via e-mail.
Getting an invitation to send e-mail to your visitors is the key to this
strategy. Include a form that will collect their e-mail address. To
convince your visitors to give you their e-mail addresses, however,
you need to promise two things—you will e-mail them something of
value and that you will not sell or rent their addresses to another
company, hence the need for a clear privacy policy. But once the
visitor has given you permission to e-mail additional information, you
have wonderful marketing leverage.
A way to use this strategy is sending a newsletter to the customer
in regular intervals, thereby building trust among them. But a regular
newsletter will give a tremendous boost to your business and will
build your trust level with customers as well as bring them back to
your site again and again.
This law, too, has its own rhythm. Pull the customer to your
website by attractive power, and then push good content and offers
to the customer via e-mail to draw them back to your site.

The Law of the Niche

This last law is the most important as it can not be ignored. Big
businesses like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart have the money and
clout to own whole segments of the marketplace. Small businesses
succeed by finding niches that are either unfilled or only partially
filled and filling them with excellence.
The key to this kind of savvy niche marketing is to carefully write a
business plan that defines the Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
This is best stated in a sentence or two. It defines what makes the
business unique from every other competitor in your field. It spells
out the precise niche you seek to fill, and how you aim to fill it. The
law of the niche is not any more or less important than the other
immutable laws of Web marketing. They are all important. Together,
they offer you a path towards creating a successful business on the
Web.
INTEGRATING ONLINE ADVERTISING WITH
TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Major corporations as well as small businesses and home offices
should consider using the Internet as a part of their integrated
marketing programme. Because paid advertisements on TV and
radio and in the newspaper can tell only so much about the product,
the best they can hope is create interest. Traditionally, that interest is
intended to stimulate a consumer to call the company or visit a store
to find out more about the product and buy it. Online marketers know
that they can save time and money by using their traditional ads to
steer traffic to their websites, where consumers can read and hear
about the products when it is convenient for them. If the website is
designed and written properly, it can do an admirable job of playing
the role of sales-person. When the consumers are ready to buy, they
can order in the manner they are most comfortable with—online, by
phone or by visiting the merchant’s store.
Examples of this tight integration can be seen daily on TV and
radio and in newspaper displays and classified ads placed by nearly
every type of company. Movie studios run ads on TV and always
include the web address for that movie. Business-to-business
companies place the web address and e-mail address in print ads in
trade publications. Consumer companies do the same with their
newspaper advertising. Even smaller consultants, tax consultants
and home-based businesses use their classified ads to draw people
to their websites.
INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF BANNER ADS
Banner ads work best when the advertising brand can be closely
associated with the information available on that site. The real goal
of an ad is to entice a potential customer to seek out more
information. There is a general belief that banner ads are too small
to create any brand recognition, brand awareness and brand equity.
In addition, there is a notion that click-through of a banner ad is the
only way to measure its effectiveness. Mere exposure to banner ads
may not push the message irrespective of the audience interest.
Good click-through rates can be obtained through creative thinking.
If the advertiser knows the background colour of the main site the
company ad runs on, he/she can use this information to make an
effective banner ad. The reason for using a news banner on a news
site is that the viewers are looking for new stories. As we know that
the speed of viewing the Web changes dynamically with load factors,
even if we are using the fastest technology at the server end, ads
have to be cleverly and compactly designed. The economics of
banner ads is based on the lifetime value of the customer.
MORE RELEVANT ADS
Relevance, or the ability to target ads to the most interested
consumers, was a big selling point for advertisers when they began
to flock online in the late 1990s. But it turns out that although many
advertisers have been collecting data about consumer behaviour
and purchasing patterns, they have not been making good use of it.
According to Forrester Research, 74% of marketers placed ads
based on audience demographics. Despite the fact that when asked
for the most effective way to reach their target audience, almost
three times as many marketers preferred sites where consumers
research purchases over sites with a demographic profile that suits
the brand. It is not easy to put together complex “action profiles”,
which analyse when a consumer is motivated or ready to buy.
Moreover, advertisers are used to design a one-size-fits-all plan, not
a series of ads that must be tested and retested to target consumers
at each stage of the purchasing process. Still, those who take the
time will reap the rewards. A particular Agency Avenue reports that
one of its clients achieved a 162% improvement in sales when it
targeted based on actual purchases instead of solely on
demographics and click behaviour.
TEXT-ONLY ADS
Text-only advertisements work far better than banners. Search
engine text ads will retain their superiority over time, but text ads on
other sites will work only if they focus on directly meeting users’
needs. Text-only ads on search engines have become particularly
successful in recent years, and non-search sites are now
experimenting with this format in hope of replicating that success.
However, it is doubtful that their efforts will work because non-search
sites lack the equation’s crucial element—users’ single-minded goal
to leave the site as quickly as possible. Text-only ads might continue
to work better than traditional graphics-based ads for some time to
come. Web users have long exhibited strong banner blindness and
avoid anything that looks like an advertisement. Text-only ads do not
resemble the designs that people have trained themselves to screen
out, and the resulting visibility surely contributes to the success of
text-only ads.
Also, text-only ads are benefitted from a temporary novelty effect,
as does any new advertising format that people have not yet learned
to ignore.
LINK EXCHANGES
An effective and low-cost (or free!) way of driving traffic to your site is
to get other websites to link to you. Not only will you get the traffic
that results from people clicking on those links, but having a number
of high-quality related sites linked to you will also help your site rank
higher in Google’s search listings. Link exchange programs make it
easy for advertisers to find others ready to share the respective links
with them.

Tips for Link Exchange

Send the other website the exact text you would like them to use
—this is a form of marketing and you should treat it like one.
Use the keywords you think people will type in search in your
link exchange text.
Links are most effective when they are from high-quality or
established related sites.

Tools
Macromedia Flash MX
Macromedia Flash MX is the professional standard authoring tool for
producing high-impact Web experiences. Whether you are creating
animated logos, website navigation controls, long-form animations,
entire Flash websites, or web applications, you will find the power
and flexibility of Flash ideal for your own creativity. There are many
ways you can create interactive motion with Macromedia Flash.

Flash MX enhances creativity by providing designers with a high-

level of control and expanded integration capabilities with a rich set
of design tools. Macromedia Flash MX movies are graphics, text,
animation and applications for websites. They consist primarily of
vector graphics, but they can also contain imported video, bitmap
graphics and sounds. Flash movies can incorporate interactivity to
permit input from viewers.
Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop 7.0 rounds off its comprehensive toolset with new
capabilities that help you meet every creative challenge, master
every production demand and handle any image-editing task
efficiently. It delivers new and enhanced tools to help you achieve
your creative best. Experiment with sophisticated painting effects
and patterns to turn your ideas into images that stand out. It provides
new controls and security settings for superior images, precise
output and worry-free file sharing. With its comprehensive set of
retouching, painting, drawing, and web tools, Photoshop helps you
complete any image-editing task efficiently. With features like the
history palette and editable layer effects, you can experiment freely
without sacrificing efficiency.

Java
Java is being extensively used in the Internet media these days. We
can see the presence of Java applets in most of the major websites.
These applets are ready-made packages mostly used for graphics
and other interactive applications. The cookies concept in Java is
also being exploited by the advertisers to give a personal touch to
the site. The example which follows corroborates how the sale of the
company can be boosted by use of these packages.
Example
James is a prospective dealer for a major electronic goods company.
With the expansion in his business, he was badly in need of an extra
computer for maintaining his accounts. He visited the site of Dell
Computers and gave an order for a PC of his choice. He was also
asked his details like name, location, etc. along with the credit card
number and the delivery point. Later, when he again visited the site
to learn about the maintenance of the PC, he was greeted by a
message, “Welcome James!! You have bought a PC for $ 2000 with
this configuration. In case of any complaint, follow the red link, for
learning about and in case of a fresh purchase, follow the green link.
You will be given a discount of 10% for any fresh purchase you
make”. James was taken aback to see the message and was a bit
thrilled to be greeted personally. He was also amused to be offered a
discount. He even referred this site to many of his friends that
ultimately enhanced the sales of the company.
Here the cookies actually performed the magic and it resulted in
augmenting the sales. They are small capsules of information stored
in the browser memory of computer that accesses that particular
web page so that when the site is visited again, the data is retrieved
from them and used accordingly. Here in this case, the information
that James filled while purchasing was stored in the form of cookies
in his computer itself so that when he opens the page again his
details were extracted and a greeting message was displayed.
HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language is very useful in creating web pages. It
is very simple to use and very easy to learn, which makes it one of
the most popular tools for web advertising.
DHTML
It is the dynamic form of the pre-existing HTML. With its extensive
features, it is being more widely used than the HTML, which is static
in nature to some extent. It allows changes in the existing patterns
as per the need.
ASP and JSP
Active Server Pages and Java Server Pages are the latest
technologies being used in making interactive web pages, with the
former being the more recent and extensively used these days. They
are more advanced than the HTML and DHTML, which are simple
with limited flexibility.
CHALLENGES OF ONLINE ADVERTISING
Online advertising has its own challenges apart from the vast
number of advantages it enjoys with the other types of media.

Marketing Challenges
Online advertising faces a number of marketing challenges. One of
these is the need for simpler language and where it is practical, we
should use the same language. There is also the need for selling the
Internet in a simpler way. The third challenge is to obtain and
distribute accurate figures about the size of the online audience. This
involves collating research about online penetration and
attentiveness.

Educational Challenges
The infancy of the online media brand remains a challenge.
Advertisers are less familiar with the Internet brands and Internet
media properties than the media properties of traditional channels.
This situation can be changed through a range of education
initiatives, such as showing advertisers the boost that online
advertising can provide to their brands and also stressing the major
impact that Internet advertising can have when used in a cross-
media campaign with TV, radio and press. What is required is the
education of the client when they first encounter the Internet in order
to counteract lack of understanding of cross-media optimization.
There is a need to focus on the way agencies present the option of
online advertising. There is also a lack of awareness and visibility of
great online creativity in most of the ads that are uploaded in the
sites.

Structural Challenges
At present, the planning process presents a particular challenge.
Budgets remain small and the planning and agency costs are often a
relatively higher proportion of total budget than they are in other
media channels. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standards
and best practice would reduce these costs.

Filler Available
Personal filters
People might not want to see ads, or act on them. Just as another
media, only a small percentage of people will ever buy the product.
The solution is to target the message so that people who are
interested in the product will buy it.
Technology filters
Software programs like Internet Fast Forward, www.privnet.com, are
being created to filter out advertisements such as banner ads.
Because of all these, that particular ad might never reach its target.

Lack of Good Writing or Marketing Techniques

Many websites do not use the tried-and-true methods of selling off
the page. Merely presenting features and benefits is not enough to
sell in the online world. You must make a compelling offer that is
irresistible to the prospective consumers.

Holding the Internet to a Higher Standard than

Other Advertising Media
To expect the Internet to be the all-in-one answer is almost
impossible. Its efficiency can be measured with different yardsticks
like response rates for cold calls, walk-in traffic. Subsequent
remedies have to be taken to gain upper hand over other media.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ONLINE ADVERTISING
Better Metrics
Now that the advertising industry is starting to break free of the
ubiquitous number-of-unique-visitors and click-through metrics, it
expects to see many other measures of success. Online advertisers
are beginning to use traditional testing to gauge the effectiveness of
their ads, including brand-awareness and intent-to-purchase studies.
The new metrics already are bringing optimism to the business.
Greater use of sound in advertising and customer support
With so many computers sold as multimedia systems with high-
speed modems and stereo sound speakers, the market is ripe for
advertisers to put audio on their web pages. Audio can be used in
the sales cycle to create the right frame of mind for a person entering
the page, thus setting a convenient atmosphere for effective
presentation. Audio technology will help customer support operations
as people will be able to hear responses to their questions, record
them, and play them back when needed. Combined with video, it can
do miracles to the field of interactive online advertising.
A new wave of measurement techniques and standards
Publishing sites must offer verifiable demographics of their viewers
for marketers to become truly comfortable spending large dollars on
the Web. Because publishers want to make that day come sooner
than later, they will be creating measurement tools and devising
ways of identifying consumers and their demographics.
Initiatives
Manufacturers will begin to see the value in advertising on the
Internet and will open cooperative advertising programmes to include
funding of websites, banner ad advertising links back to the
manufacturer’s home page and new techniques that will evolve.
Customized websites
Creating individual websites on the fly for customers based on their
registration numbers will become increasingly important for
companies and is even expected by the customers. Greeting a
customer personally like “Hi Sanjay! Welcome to your shopping site”
on loading the page and asking him to visit the page again or
thanking him for visiting the page on logging out makes the customer
feel at shop.
Integration of help desks and information centres with the Internet
Companies that use software to distribute their products or services
will tie the consumer’s computer into an online service for support
services such as help systems, programme updates and
announcements. This process will help cut the delivery cost of new
products and information and give consumers access to the latest
help files available. This application would work well for any
company that publishes information that quickly goes out of date.
The field of online marketing is new and constantly changing. As
new tools develop and evolve so will the strategies marketers use to
win new customers and build long-lasting relationships with existing
consumers.
It is creativity and efficient usage of all available tools and means
that matters a lot, for making good ads in the online media. Internet
advertising has marked its own boundary in the advertising industry
and is even competing with the traditional media.

SUMMARY
Web advertising is another name for e-advertising or online
advertising, which has changed the face of advertising tremendously.
Web advertising is defined as the promotion of product or services
by advertising through the Internet media. As the importance of the
Net grew, the scope of e-advertising triggered. The extra feature of
e-advertising is providing the customer with interactivity. It offers the
best of push and pull advertising. Interactive advertising has a
greater impact on brand awareness than a television or print
advertisement. The main objective of online advertising is build
brand, drive traffic to the website, develop qualified lead and conduct
sales. There are different types of web advertising possible. They
are banner ads, logos, e-mail ads, interstitials, websites,
push technologies or web casting and sponsored mailing lists. The
main drawback of
e-advertising is spam mails which are of different nature. To combat
this problem, the users are advised to use filters.
Major corporations as well as small businesses should consider
using the Internet as part of their integrated marketing programme.
There are several tools available for developing advertisements for
the Web. You require special skill for making these ads. The several
tools for making web ads are Macromedia Flash MX, Adobe
Photoshop, Java, HTML DHTML, ASP and JSP. Online advertising
has its own challenges apart from the vast number of advantages it
enjoys with the other type of media. These challenges are marketing
challenges, educational challenges, structural challenges, filters
available and lack of marketing techniques. But the new metrics,
greater use of sound and customer support and initiatives already
are bringing optimism to the business.

QUESTIONS
1. Google.com has released the following logo on the occasion of
Einstein’s birthday.
Google celebrates Einstein’s birthday—March 14, 2003

Prepare a logo for Google.com for the occasion of 2007 Cricket

World Cup.
2. The Travelex Company offers tour packages across Europe and
America. It has recently introduced a package of 40 days across
Africa. The trip costs $7999 and it includes most of the important
 places in the African continent. Prepare a sample e-mail to be sent
to the company’s previous customers, describing the package.
3. Read the following case study carefully and answer the questions
that follow it:
CASE STUDY
1800 FLOWERS is one of the most successful direct sales
businesses on the Internet. The site also supports the company’s
integrated marketing programme. The website URL is
www.1800flowers.com. The consumers are greeted by the
message “welcome to our world” and an equally cheery image of
an entrance to a nursery when they open the company Web page.
They can select shop the company’s store. In that section, they can
choose from four main categories.
1. Season’s best, an assortment of bouquets, with enticing names
like “Fields of Europe”, “Fresh Noble Fir Wreath” and “Dried Floral
Winter Centerpiece”.
2. Shop by occasion, including birthday, anniversary,
congratulations, best wishes, thank you, new baby, get well and
sympathy.
3. Shop by product category such as flowers, roses, plants, gift
baskets, gourmet items, balloons and decorative keepsakes.
4. Shop by price range, from under $25 to $65 and over.
Each product is accompanied by a photo and enticing descriptive
catalogue copy. Each arrangement can be ordered in small,
medium and large sizes. Prices and shipping charges are clearly
visible.
To purchase, customers select the product and quantity. They then
click the Ad button. After each selection, an invoice pops up
showing the products ordered, total price and service charge.
When they have finished selecting, consumers click the Go to the
Checkout lane button to pay for their purchases by filling in their
home, address, phone number and credit card information. If they
make mistakes, they can reset the form to empty their shopping
basket.
 The company allows purchases through Netscape’s commerce
server and a standard protocol for people who do not use
Netscape. It has a joint marketing arrangement with United Airlines,
so members can get 300 miles for purchases over $29.95.
Based on the above case study, answer the following questions:
1. What was the mission of 1-800-FLOWERS in going online?
2. What role does the site play in promoting the sales of the
company?
3. Why do you think the company made a marketing arrangement
with United Airlines and is offering 300 miles for purchases over
$29.95?
4. What additional steps can the company take for promoting its
sales using the online media?
4. The Rajasthan BSNL management wants to launch extensive
publicity drive for its Excel prepaid service. Prepare suitable ads for
both print and online media and compare the elements of
interactivity in them. Discuss the merits and demerits of
implementing these strategies in Rajasthan (for example,
Rajasthan shows less literacy rate and hence
e-advertising may not be successful). Suggest any other better
medium for publicity and brand awareness.
5.

The above figure shows the logo of the networking giant, AT&T.
Discuss the prominence of the globe and the caption in the logo.
Suggest any other suitable caption for the company.
6. List 5−10 action call statements that are apt for web advertising.
(For example, “Hurry up!! Available only for this spring”, etc.)
7. Give the rough sketch of the website of Nike sports and suggest
some improvements in the existing site stating the reasons why you
think they are required.
For many years companies have heavily relied on advertising
agencies for promotion of their products and services. However,
most marketers did use additional promotional tools but all such
tools like sales promotion, direct marketing, packaging and personal
selling, etc. were used only as auxiliary tools. Marketers planned and
managed those tools separately and independently with different
budgets, views and objectives. The problem with such separate
approach is that the company fails to project a unified and consistent
image to the consumer. In this case, each promotional tool
communicates separate identity and image.
During the 1980s, many companies realized the need for
integrating their promotional tools. The companies started moving
towards the process of integrated marketing communications (IMC),
which involves coordinating the various promotional elements and
other marketing activities that communicate with the firm’s
customers. Many advertising agencies realized the need of bringing
various promotional tools under their folds to comprehensively offer
all types of specialist services to their clients.
American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) developed the
first definition of integrated marketing communications (IMC) as
follows:
“Integrated marketing communications is a concept of marketing
communication planning that recognizes the added value of a
comprehensive plan that evaluate the strategic roles of a variety of
communication discipline—for example, general advertising, direct
response, sales promotion and public relations—and combines
these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum
communication impact”.
The 4As definition focuses on the process of using all forms of
promotion to achieve maximum communication impact. However,
another advocate of the IMC concept, Don Shultz of Northwestern
University, argue for an even broader perspective that considers all
sources of brand or company contact that a customer or prospective
customer has with a product or service.
Shultz and others note that the process of integrated marketing
communications calls for a “big-picture” approach to plan marketing
and promotion programmes and coordinate the various
communication functions. It requires that firms develop a total
marketing communication strategy that recognizes how all of a firm’s
marketing activities, not just promotion, communicate with its
customers.
Consumers’ perceptions of a company and/or its various brands
are synthesis of the bundle of messages they receive or contacts
they have, such as media advertisements, price, package design,
direct marketing efforts, publicity, sales promotion website, point-of-
purchase displays and even the type of store where a product or
service is sold.
The integrated marketing communications approach seeks to have
all of a company’s marketing and promotional activities project a
consistent and unified image to the marketplace. It calls for a
centralized messaging function so that everything a company says
and does communicates a common theme and positioning. A large
number of companies have adopted this broad perspective of IMC.
They see it as a way to coordinate and manage their marketing
communication programmes to ensure that they give customers a
consistent message about the company and/or its brand.
The IMC approach helps companies identify the most appropriate
and effective methods for communicating and building relationships
with their customers as well as other stakeholders such as
employees, suppliers, investors, interest groups and the general
public.
Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarty observe that IMC is a new-
generation marketing approach being used by companies to focus
their efforts in acquiring, retaining and developing relationships with
customers and other stakeholders. They have developed a
communication- based marketing model that emphasizes the
importance of managing all corporate or brand communications, as
they collectively create, maintain or weaken the companies’
relationships with the customers and stakeholders that drive brand
value. Message can originate at three levels—corporate, marketing
and marketing communications—since all of a company’s corporate
activities, marketing-mix activities and marketing communication
efforts have communication dimensions and play a role in attracting
and keeping customers.
At the corporate level, various aspects of a firm’s business
practices and philosophies—such as its mission, hiring practices,
philanthropies, corporate culture and ways of responding to inquires
—all have dimensions that communicate with customers and
stakeholders and influence relationships
 At the marketing level, companies send messages to customers
and other stakeholders through all aspects of their marketing mix,
not just promotion. Consumers make inferences about a product on
the basis of elements such as its design, appearance, performance,
pricing, service support and where and how it is distributed. For
example, a high price of a product may symbolize quality to
customers, as may be its shape or design its packaging, brand name
or the image of the stores in which it is sold.
At the marketing communication level, Duncan and Moriarty
observe that all messages should be delivered and received on a
platform of exceptional and strategic consistency in order to create
coherent perceptions among the customers and stakeholders. This
requires the interaction of various marketing communication
messages and the functions of various promotional facilitators such
as ad agencies, public relation firms, direct-response specialists and
interactive agencies. The goal is to communicate with one voice,
look and image across all the marketing communication functions
and to identify and position the company and/or the brand in a
consistent manner.
Many companies are realizing that communicating effectively with
customers and stakeholders involves more than traditional marketing
communication tools. Many marketers, as well as advertising
agencies, are embracing the IMC approach and adopting total
communication solution to create and sustain relationships between
companies or brands and their customers.
The IMC approach is proving to be a permanent change that offers
significant value to marketers in the rapidly changing communication
environment they are facing in the new millennium.
WHY IMC IS GAINING IMPORTANCE
The IMC approach in marketing planning and strategy has been
gaining popularity since 1990s and is being adopted by both large
and small companies. It has gained immense popularity for
companies engaged in consumer durable as well consumer non-
durable goods. By coordinating their marketing communication
efforts, companies can avoid duplication, take advantage of synergy
among various promotional tools, and develop efficient and effective
marketing communication programmes. Proponents of IMC argue
that it is one of the easiest ways for a company to maximize the
return on its investment in marketing and promotion.
Marketers’ shift towards integrated marketing communications
indicates an adaptation by marketers to a dynamic environment,
especially with respect to consumers, technology and media.
Significant changes that have occurred among consumers are with
respect to demographics, lifestyle, media use and buying and
shopping patterns.
The advancements in technology is creating new ways to reach to
customers but these are affecting the traditional media. Television,
radio, newspapers and magazines are now getting fragmented and
reaching less number of and more selective audience than in the
past. Other problems faced by marketers are poor response by
consumers to the traditional advertising, new and interactive media
availability, cluttering of advertisements and high advertising pitch
from the competitors.
Some of the reasons for growing importance of IMC include the
following:
Marketing budget is being shifted from advertising to other forms
of promotion, particularly consumer and trade promotions.
Retailers are becoming more powerful and dominating than the
manufacturers.
New tools of marketing communication are emerging that are
economical and target specific rather than the mass media.
 The Internet and e-commerce have emerged which have
redefined the way business is done and the way companies
interact and communicate with consumers.
Companies are giving emphasis on communication with the
consumers.
Advertisers are emphasizing more accountability on the part of
the ad agencies and the change is taking place in the way ad
agencies are compensated.
There is rapid growth and development of database marketing.
THE PROMOTIONAL MIX: THE TOOL FOR IMC
Every aspect and interaction of a business organization with the
consumer and stakeholder communicates and every element of
marketing mix implicitly communicates about the company and its
brand. But most of an organization’s communication with
marketplace happens through carefully planned and controlled
promotional programme. The tools used to accomplish an
organization’s communication objectives are referred to as
promotional mix. The promotion has been defined as the
coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up channels of
information and persuasion to sell goods and services or promote an
idea.
Promotional mix has various elements that need to be
appropriately chosen to design an integrated marketing
communication campaign. The elements that comprise IMC are
advertising, direct marketing, public relations, sales promotions,
publicity, personal selling interactive/Internet marketing. Each of the
elements has certain advantage over the other. The elements are
indicated in Figure 14.1.

Fig. 14.1 Elements of IMC.

Each of the elements of IMC is a tool in the integrated marketing

communications and plays a specific and distinctive role in an IMC
programme. All elements may not be suitable for achieving a given
communication objective. It is also required to understand that a
given communication objective may require more than one or more
element.
THE PROMOTIONAL PLANNING PROCESS
A promotional plan provides the framework for developing,
implementing, and controlling the organization’s integrated marketing
communication programmes and activities. It must be remembered
that promotion is only one part of marketing plan. Therefore, the
promotion plan must be integrated to the overall marketing plan. The
individuals responsible for planning promotional strategy must
specify the role and function of each element of the promotional mix.
They need to develop strategies and implementation tactics for each
of the element.
A graphical representation of IMC planning process is indicated in
Figure 14.2.
 Fig. 14.2 The IMC planning process.

The process of integrated marketing communication begins with

the review of marketing plan. The promotional manager/marketing
manager must understand where the brand has been, its current
position in the market, where it intends to go and finally, how it plans
to get there. The review of marketing plan shall update the marketer
about all these issues.
Thus, a marketing plan is a written document that describes the
marketing strategy and programmes developed for a brand or
product line. Basically, a marketing plan contains the following
information:
Market situational analysis based on internal and external factors
Internal analysis covers assessment of company’s promotional
capabilities, review of company’s previous promotional programmes
and results, assessment of brand image and assessment of brand’s
or product line’s relative strengths and weaknesses. External
analysis covers customer analysis, competitor analysis and any
trends and developments in the environment that might affect the
promotional programme.
Specific marketing objectives
These objectives provide direction and a time frame for marketing
activities and mechanism for measuring performance.
Marketing strategy
It includes the selection of target market(s) and the decisions related
to marketing mix.
An action programme (tactics)
It is required for implementing the marketing strategies, including
determining specific tasks and responsibilities.
Evaluation and control mechanism
It involves evaluating performance and providing feedback so that
necessary control activities can be introduced and necessary
changes can be made at the required places to assure that the
objectives are met.
In reality, a promotional plan, in majority of the firms, is an integral
part of the marketing strategy. The promotional manager must know
the specific roles being played by advertising and other promotional
mix elements in the overall marketing strategy. Promotional plan is
developed based on the marketing plan and using detailed
information contained in marketing strategy.

Promotional Programme’s Situation Analysis

Situational analysis, here, focuses on those factors that influence or
are relevant to development of a promotional plan. It includes both
internal and external factors. Internal factors analysis assesses
product/service offered, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the
product/services, strength and weakness of the firm, capabilities and
abilities of the firm to develop and implement promotional
programme. External factor analysis focuses on factors such as
characteristics of firm’s existing and potential customers, impact of
positioning strategy, competitors and other relevant environment,
socio-eco-legal factors, etc.

Establishing Communications Objectives

Communications objectives are derived from marketing objectives.
Communications objectives are what the firm seeks to accomplish
with its promotional programme. These are generally stated in terms
of nature of the message to be communicated or what specific
communication effects are to be achieved. Communications
objectives should become a guiding force for development of the
objectives for each promotional mix.

Budget Determination
Determining how much to be spent for achieving what needs to be
achieved is the next big question to be answered by a promotional
manager. In practicality, promotional budgets are often determined
on the basis of how much money is available for the purpose or
percentage of company’s or brand’s sales revenue or what must be
done to accomplish communications objectives. The next question is
how this money is to be allotted among various elements of
promotion mix. This decision is based on the role and function of
each of the element of the promotion mix or how much contribution
each element makes for achieving communications objectives.

Developing the Integrated Marketing

Communications Programme
As discussed earlier, each element of promotional mix has certain
advantages and limitations. Each of these elements is suitable and
effective for a specific product category and situation. At this stage of
the process, the promotional manager must review marketing
objectives and strategy to understand what has to be accomplished
and how it must be accomplished so that decisions can be made
regarding the roles and functions of elements and their coordination
with one another.
As indicated in Figure 14.2, each element is now specified in terms
of objectives, strategies and action plan based on the role and
function assigned to it by the promotional manager. While doing so, it
must be ensured that there is no over lapping of objectives and
programmes and necessary synergy is established for getting
maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Control

Once the implementation of various elements of promotional mix
starts, a flurry of activities begins to take place and results start
rolling. At this stage, it is important to determine how well the
promotional programme is meeting communication objectives and
helping the firm accomplish its overall marketing objectives. The
manager needs to decide what to measure, where to measure, when
to measure and who will measure the results or performance. The
actual measured performance is then compared with the standard
performance (communications objectives). Any deviation observed in
actual performance needs to be immediately corrected with required
programmes and activities.
ELEMENTS OF INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
Promotion is the coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up
channels of information and persuasion to sell goods and services or
promote an idea. These efforts may be in various forms and are to
be carefully planned and controlled. All the tools and techniques
used to promote the goods or services of an organization are
referred to as elements or components of promotion or also known
as promotional mix. These are as follows:
Advertising
Direct marketing
Sales promotion
Publicity
Public relations
Personal selling
Interactive/Internet marketing
Each of these components is discussed further in detail.
ADVERTISING
Advertising is defined as any paid form of non-personal
communication about an organization, product, service or idea by an
identified sponsor. The paid aspect in this definition reflects the fact
that the space or time for an advertising message generally must be
bought. The non-personal component means advertising involves
mass media (e.g. TV, radio, magazines, newspapers) that can
transmit a message to large groups and an individual, often at the
same time. Also, there is no opportunity for immediate feedback from
the message recipient. Advertising is the most used and practised
form of promotion for companies manufacturing mass consumption
goods.

The advertisements of Ariel and Coca-Cola shown here indicate

the power of advertising to catch attention and influence the
consumers as desired by the companies.
There are valid reasons why advertising is so important for
marketers. These are as follows:
A cost-effective medium to reach vast audience.
 Very effective medium for generating awareness, providing
knowledge and changing attitude.
A highly used tool for creating brand images.
Extensively used as a tool for creating differentiation among
various brands.

Advertising as a component of promotional tool has been

discussed in depth throughout this book in many chapters.
DIRECT MARKETING
Direct marketing is the use of consumer direct channels to reach
and deliver goods and services to customers without using
marketing middlemen. It is a fast growing method in modern
economy in which marketers communicate directly with target
customers to generate a response and/or a transaction.
Direct marketing not only includes direct mail and mail order
Catalogues but includes a number of activities like database
management, direct selling, telemarketing, direct-response ads,
websites, kiosks, interactive TV and radio, mobile phone devices.
Direct marketing is becoming one of the fastest means of serving
customers and growing in demand. Today, the direct-marketers use
it for building long-term relationship with customer (customer-
relationship marketing). Airlines, hotels and other businesses build
strong customer relationships through frequency award programmes
and club programmes. They send birthday cards, information
materials or small premiums to select customers.
The companies like Amway and Tupperware, etc. do not use any
other distribution channels and rely heavily on independent
contractors to sell their products directly to consumers. Companies
like Dell Computers and Gateway have been very successful by
selling products through direct selling.
A typical sales letter, an important tool for direct marketing, is
shown below.
 One of the major tools of direct marketing is direct response
advertising, whereby a product is promoted through an ad that
encourages the consumer to purchase directly from the
manufacturer.

Factors Causing Growth of Direct Marketing

Direct marketing has been around for the past many centuries. This
medium was in use since eighteenth century. Introduction of
Catalogue marketing provided the impetus to the direct marketing.
However, there are many other reasons that led to increased interest
in direct marketing. These factors made direct marketing a highly
attractive medium for both buyer and seller. These are discussed
further.
Consumer credit cards
Huge amount of credit and debit cards is in circulation in India. A
large amount of shopping centres, hotels, petrol pumps, retail shops
are accepting payment through cards. This makes it feasible for
consumers to purchase both low and high value items through
direct-response channels and assure the sellers that they will be
paid.
Direct-marketing syndicates
Companies specializing in list development, statement inserts,
Catalogues and sweepstakes have opened many new opportunities
to marketers. The number of these companies continues to expand,
creating even more new users.

Changing structure of the society and the market

The people world over have become economically well off and time
poor. The salaries have grown rapidly, new jobs have emerged and
families with dual income are growing. People now less prefer
shopping because of paucity of time and this increased the
attractiveness of direct purchases.
Technological advances
The rapid technological advancements in media and computers has
made it easier for consumers to shop and for marketers to
successfully reach the desired target market.

Other factors
Various other factors have contributed to the increased effectiveness
of direct marketing. These factors are sophisticated marketing
techniques, changing values, industry’s improved image, etc.. These
factors will continue to ensure the success of direct marketing in the
future.
Many companies rely solely on direct marketing to generate
consumer response, whereas in case of many others, direct
marketing is an integral part of IMC programme. In this case, direct
marketing may have different role to play than sales objectives.

Direct Marketing Process

Direct marketing has number of elements that are required to be
used appropriately. The various elements and their relationship is
shown in Figure 15.3.
 Fig. 14.3 Various elements of direct marketing process.

Operationalizing Direct Marketing

The first step in operationalizing direct marketing is to establish
objectives for direct marketing. Decide what is the role of the direct
marketing in an overall promotional planning of the brand.
The second step is to collect database of the target audience.
The database source must be identified.
Decide what information related to the customers is needed.
Assure that the information obtained is complete, correct and
current.
 In the third step, decide the media to be used. Is it going to be
direct mail, broadcast media, catalogues, telemarketing, electronic
teleshopping or print media.
In the fourth step, decide the message to be sent to the customers.
In case of direct mail and print media decide what do you want
to say— the quality of paper, envelop, words and message, etc.
In case of telemarketing, choose right kind of people and train
them well.
In the fifth step, decide how you are going to handle responses,
queries and orders.
Finally, measure and evaluate the response or effect of direct
marketing efforts with respect to the intended objectives.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct

Marketing
Advantages of direct marketing
Direct Marketing has the following advantages:
Personalization
It is the biggest advantage of direct marketing as this medium has
the capability to personalize the message to the target audience. No
other medium can do it so well. The message can be adapted for
use depending upon the age, sex, education, purchase habits and
lifestyle, etc.
Cost
Though the cost per thousand (CPT) may be high in absolute terms
and a relative basis, its ability to specifically target the audience and
eliminate waste coverage reduces the actual CPT. Also, the cost per
sale is much lower than in other media. It is because, the cost of
media being low, each sale costs less.
Measures of effectiveness
Since the feedback is immediate, direct and accurate, the
measurement of effectiveness is far better than any other advertising
medium.
Selective reach
Direct marketing makes possible to pinpoint the target audience and
send message to them, thereby eliminating waste coverage. It is
possible to target the audience that has a very high potential.
Segmentation capabilities
The marketers today can purchase the data such as a list of
students who have appeared in CBSE class 12 examination in 2005,
people who have purchased car, credit card holders club members,
etc. The list so obtained allows a marketer to segment on the basis
of geographic location, age, income level, educational qualification
and occupation, etc. This can help the marketer to develop effective
segmentation strategies.
Frequency
Depending upon the medium used, it may be possible to build
frequency levels. Since direct-response TV advertising is very
economical to use, a marketer can afford to purchase repeat times.
But direct mail may not offer frequency, as consumers may be
annoyed to receive the same mail repeatedly.
Flexibility
Direct marketing can use a variety of forms—a simple letter,
videotape, brochure or any other creative promotional material.
Timing
Direct-response advertising takes less time to conceptualize and
execute. It can quickly be assembled and sent to the audience.
Disadvantages of direct marketing
Some of the disadvantages of direct marketing are as follows:
(1) Image factor: Direct mail is generally considered as junk mail.
Many people consider unsolicited mail promotes poor quality
products. Some people do not like being solicited.
(2) Accuracy: The accuracy of database is doubtful. Lot of people
move away, change occupation or change telephones.
If the list were not kept current, the response rate would be poor.
(3) Rising Costs: The postal and stationery cost is increasing day
by day which directly impacts the profit.
(4) Content Support: The effectiveness of communication
depends upon the contents. Creating the content that is attention
grabbing and interest generating is a difficult task as far as direct
mail and online is concerned.
SALES PROMOTION
In modern times, marketers have realized that advertising alone is
not always enough to move their products off the store shelves into
the hands of the ultimate buyer. Therefore, companies use sales
promotion activities targeted both at consumers and trade partners.
In addition, most companies also include in their integrated
marketing communications programmes, the activities like direct
marketing, advertising, publicity, public relations and personal
selling.
 Sales promotion is defined as “a direct inducement that offers an
extra value or incentive for the product to the sales force, distributors
or the ultimate consumer with the primary objective of creating an
immediate sale.

Important Features of Sales Promotion

1. Sales promotion involves some type of inducement that
provides an extra incentive to buy.
 2. The incentive is the key element in a promotional programme. It
may be coupon or price reduction, the opportunity to enter a
contest or sweepstakes, refund or rebate, an extra amount of
product or a free sample, etc.
3. It attempts to add value to the product or service while
advertising appeals to the mind and emotions to give the
consumer a reason to buy. Sales promotion appeals to the
“value” (pocket) and provides an incentive for purchasing a
brand.
4. It provides an inducement to marketing intermediaries. A trade
allowance or discount gives retailers a financial incentive to
stock and promote the company’s product.
5. It acts as an acceleration tool. It is designed to speed up the
selling process and maximize sales volume. It gives an
inducement to the consumer to speed up his/her buying
decision.
6. Sales promotion activities can be targeted at different parties
with different types and levels of incentives.

Types of Sales Promotion Activities

There exists a plethora of activities that are practised by marketers
to attract both consumers and retailers to maximize its marketing
effectiveness. All sales activities can be divided broadly into two
categories:
Consumer-oriented promotion: Activities like, samples, coupons,
premiums, refunds/rebates, contests/sweepstakes, bonus packs,
price off, frequency programmes, event marketing.
Trade-oriented promotion: Activities like contests and dealer
incentives, trade allowances, point of purchase displays, training
programmes, trade shows, cooperative advertising.
Consumer-oriented sales promotion: Consumer-oriented sales
promotion programmes are directed at consumers to induce them to
purchase the marketer’s brand. It is also called pull strategy. It
includes all the promotions and activities done by the marketers to
attract the buyers to stores or dealers’ place. Consumer-oriented
sales promotion includes coupons, price off, extra quantity, bonus
packs, frequency programmes, refunds, contests and sweepstakes,
premiums, free samples, etc. This strategy works along with
advertising to encourage consumers to purchase a particular brand.
Consumer promotion is used by retailers to encourage consumers to
buy in their showrooms. Many stores/retailers use their own coupons
or sponsor contests and other promotions to increase store
patronage.

Trade-oriented sales promotion

Trade-oriented sales promotion programmes are directed at dealer
network of the company to motivate it to sell more of the company’s
brand than other brands. The company designs programmes to
motivate the dealer network to push the company’s brand to the
consumer. The assumption is that if the dealer network is provided
greater incentives, it is likely to push company’s brand on priority in
comparison to competitor’s brand. It is also known as push
strategy, which is directed at dealer network so that they push the
brand to the consumers by giving priority over other competitor
brands because the brand offers greater pay back or more return on
their money and efforts invested.
Trade-oriented sales promotion includes deal contests and
incentives, trade allowances, point-of-purchase displays, sales
training programmes, trade shows, cooperative advertising, etc. It is
designed to motivate distributors and retailers to carry the additional
stocks of the brand and make an extra effort to push it to their
customers.
Many marketing programmes include both trade and consumer-
oriented promotions since motivating both the groups maximizes the
effectiveness of the promotional programme.

Why Sales Promotion is Gaining Importance

Though sales promotion has been part of the marketing process for
a long time, its role and significance in integrated marketing
communication programme has gained immense popularity during
the 1990s. The total money on sales promotion has since then
increased manifold, and also percentage of marketer’s budget
allocated to promotion has grown as well.
However, the allocation of marketing budget by an industry or
company among consumer promotions, trade promotions and media
advertising varies. It is also worth noting that a significant amount of
the money that marketers allocate to media advertising is spent on
ads that deliver promotion messages regarding contest, games,
sweepstakes and rebate offers.
Some of the reasons for sales promotion gaining importance are
discussed further.
Growing power of retailers
There is a shift at the marketplace from manufacturers to retailers. In
the past, manufacturers of all major brands had great power and
influence; retailers were just passive distributors of the brand. The
retailer relied heavily on the manufacturers for everything. With the
advent of new technology, intense competition, information explosion
and consolidation of store, the retailers have now started dictating
terms.

Declining brand loyalty

Over the last few years, the brand differentiation on functional and
quality parameters has vanished. Thus, the brand loyalty is on the
decline and the customers are purchasing more on the basis of
price, value and convenience. However, some consumers always
buy their preferred brand irrespective of promotional offers. But,
there are many consumers who always look for coupons and deals
when they make a purchase. When they view all brands equal, they
may shift from one brand to another. The brands are essentially
viewed as satisfactory and interchangeable.
Brand proliferation
The market has become saturated with new brands across all
product categories. Often new brands lack any significant
advantages that can be used as the basis of an advertising
campaign. Thus companies increasingly depend upon sales
promotion activities to encourage consumers to try these brands.
Sales promotion techniques can be used as part of shaping process
to lead the consumer from initial trial to repeat purchase at full price.
Marketers are relying more on samples, coupons, rebates, premiums
and various other promotional tools to achieve trial usage of their
new brands and encourage repeat purchase.
Competition
To maintain competitive advantage, manufacturers are increasingly
using sales promotion. The markets for many products are stagnant
and mature and it is becoming very difficult to boost sales through
advertising. Thus, companies have started reworking their
promotional budgets. Rather than spending money on running off
repeated dull advertising campaigns, the companies have started
diverting a good portion of their budget to sales promotion.
 Many companies are using co-marketing (account specific
marketing), a recent development whereby a manufacturer
collaborates with an individual retailer to create a customized
promotion that accomplishes mutual objectives.
Increased accountability
The companies have started asking their brand managers the
returns they get for their promotional expenditures. Results from
sales promotion are easier to measure than those from advertising.
A large number of companies are demanding measurable,
accountable ways to relate promotional expenditures to sales and
profitability. It is a tendency of the product/brand manager, who is
being held responsible for results, to often use price discounts or
coupons, since these produce quick and easily-measured increase
in sales. Also, at the same time, marketers are facing pressure from
powerful retailers who demand sales performance from their brands.
Short-term focus
A good number of managers view consumer and trade promotions
as the most dependable way to generate short-term sales,
particularly when they are price-related. The dependence on sales
promotion is high in mature and slow-growing markets, where it is
difficult to stimulate consumer demand through advertising. The
brand managers receive requests from sales force, retailers and
wholesellers for sales promotion activities to meet short-term targets.
Fragmentation of the consumer market
Marketers are turning towards more segmented and highly-targeted
approaches as the consumer markets are getting fragmented and
mass media advertising is becoming less effective. The companies
are trying to tailor their offerings and promotional efforts to the
specific needs of the market. A large number of marketers are also
using sales promotion techniques to target ethnic markets. The
marketers try to host grassroot events at stores and have tie-ins with
local festivals.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public relations is an important element of the overall communication
programme of a business corporation. However, it may not have any
specific objectives of product and service promotion. These activities
are designed more to change attitude towards an organization or an
issue than to promote specific products or influence behaviour
directly.
Public relations is defined as “the management function which
evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of
an organization with the public interest and executes a programme
of action (and communication) to earn public understanding and
acceptance”.
Public relations involves the following steps:
Determination and understanding of public attitudes
Identification of policies and procedures of the organization that
are offending the public interest and attitudes
Designing and implementing the communication programme to
bring about necessary changes in public understanding and
attitudes

Role of Public Relations

Public relations (PR) must be viewed as a continuum because of the
way companies use it in modern times. Public relations has two
types of function—marketing and non-marketing.

Marketing Functions
According to Thomas L. Harris, marketing public relations (MPR)
functions are the PR activities designed to support marketing
objectives. Some of the marketing objectives that may be aided by
PR activities include raising awareness, informing and educating,
gaining understanding, building trust, giving consumers a reason to
buy and motivating consumer acceptance.
MPR plays the following roles in integrated marketing
communication:
Building marketplace excitement before media advertising
breaks
Creating advertising news where there is no product news
Introducing a product with little or no advertising
Providing a value-added customer service
Building brand-to-customer bonds
Influencing the influential
Defending products at risk and giving consumers a reason to
buy
Non-marketing PR functions
As a non-marketing function, the primary responsibility of a PR
executive is to maintain mutually beneficial relationship between the
organization and the publics, employees, community, investors,
government, customers and other interest groups. At the other end
of the continuum, PR is primarily considered to have marketing
communication functions. In this, all non-customer relationships are
perceived as necessary only in a marketing context.
 Cutlip, Centre and Broom have noted that marketing and public
relations are complementary functions, “with each making unique
and complementary contributions to build and maintain many
relationships essential for organizational survival and growth.” To
ignore one is to risk failure in the other. This relationship is consistent
with our thinking that PR is an important part of integrated marketing
communication process, contributing in its own way but also in a way
consistent with marketing goals.
Integrating PR into the promotional mix
Since PR has broader responsibilities, the issue is how to integrate it
into the promotional mix. As discussed earlier, PR plays multiple
roles at each of the extreme of the continuum. Marketing or PR can
be the dominant function or both can be equal but have separate
functions, or two can perform the separate roles.
Whether public relations takes on traditional role or a marketing-
oriented one, PR activities are still tied to specific communication
objectives. Assessing public attitudes and creating a favourable
corporate image are as important roles as promoting products or
services directly.

The Process of Public Relations

The PR process comprises of numerous series of steps in which PR
is integrated with promotional mix and implemented. These are
discussed below.
Determining and evaluating public attitudes
Because attitude may affect sales of a firm’s product and no
company wants to be perceived as a bad entity determining and
evaluating public attitudes becomes a necessary part of a PR
process. It has the following advantages:
Provides input into the planning process
Serves as an early warning system
Secures support internally
Increases the effectiveness of the communication
Establishing a PR plan
It involves the following steps:
Define public relation problems
Plan the programme
Take action and communicate
Evaluate the programme
Developing and executing the PR programme
It involves determining the relevant target audience—internal and
external.
Internal audience includes employees, shareholders and investors,
members of the local community, suppliers and current customers.
External audience includes the people who are not closely
connected with the organization—media, educators, civic and
business organizations, governments and financial groups.
Implementing the PR programme
Once the research has been conducted and the target audience
identified, the PR programme must be developed and delivered to
the receivers. The tools used may be:
Press releases
Press conferences
 Exclusives
Interviews
Community involvement
Internet

Advantages of PR
Credibility of the corporation increases as PR is not perceived
as paid communication.
Cost of PR is very low when effects are considered.
It avoids clutter. Since PR communication is perceived as news
item, PR messages are not subject to the clutter of ads.
Public relations facilitates lead generation. Information about
technological innovations, medical breakthroughs and others
results into large number of inquiries. These inquires may give
the firm some good leads.
Public relations has the ability to reach specific groups.
It facilitates image building. Effective public relation helps to
develop a positive image for the organization. A strong image
helps a lot against later misfortunes.

Disadvantages of PR
Public relations has the potential for not completing the
communication process.
Though PR messages can break through the clutter of
commercials, the receiver may not make the connection to the
course. Many a time, PR efforts are never connected with their
sponsors in the public mind.
It may also misfire as a result of mismanagement and lack of co-
ordination with the marketing department.
When marketing and PR departments operate independently,
there is a danger of inconsistent communication, redundancies in
efforts, etc.
PUBLICITY
Publicity refers to the creation of news about a person, product or
service that appears in broadcast or print media. To many, publicity
and PR are synonymous. In fact, publicity, in reality, is a part of
public relation. However, publicity is different from public relations on
issues like being a short-term strategy. While PR is designed to
provide positive information about the firm and is usually controlled
by the firm or its agent, publicity is not always positive and is not
under control of, or paid for by the organization. Publicity, both
positive and negative, often originates from sources other than the
firm. Generally, publicity is controlled and disseminated by the PR
department.

The Power of Publicity

The power which publicity wields is the important factor that
separates it from other elements of IMC programme. Unfortunately,
for the marketers, this power is not always realized in the way they
would like it to be. Publicity can make or break a product or even a
company.
Why Publicity is So Powerful
The following factors make publicity a powerful element of IMC
programme:
Publicity is highly credible, as it is not usually perceived as being
sponsored by the company. Therefore, consumers perceive
publicity information as more objective and place more
confidence in it than information given by other elements of IMC
programme.
Publicity information may be perceived as endorsed by the
medium in which it appears.
Its news values and the frequency of exposure it generates also
makes it powerful.
Finally, publicity is news, and people like to pass on information
that has news value. Publicity, thus, results in a significant
amount of free, credible, word-of-mouth information regarding
the firm and its products.

The Control Over Publicity

Unfortunately, the control of publicity is not in the hands of the
company. Companies can not do much to stop media from releasing
negative information. When publicity becomes news, it is reported by
the media, sometimes, despite the efforts of the firm. However,
publicity must be managed like any other promotional tool. Marketers
must have control as much as possible over the time and place
where the information is released. One of the ways is to have video
news release, the video produced by the concerned organization, so
that stations can air it as a news story.
There are courses offered and books written on how to manage
publicity. The coverage includes: how to make a presentation, whom
to contact, how to issue a press release and what to know about
each medium addressed.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Publicity

Advantages of publicity
Publicity provides numerous advantages including:
Credibility
News value
Significant word-of-mouth communication
A perception of being endorsed by the media
Disadvantages of publicity
Publicity has the following disadvantages:
It has potential for negative publicity.
Timing is not always completely under the control of the
marketer. Unless the press thinks the information has very high
news value, the timing of the press release is entirely up to the
media. Thus, the information may be released earlier than
desired or too late to make an impact.
Press release is the major source of publicity. Unfortunately,
information sometimes gets lost in translation, i.e. it is not always
reported the way the provider wishes it to be. As a result,
inaccurate information, omissions or other errors may result.

Personal Selling
Personal selling is face-to-face selling and it involves direct person-
to-person communication. In this the manufacturers directly sell their
products to the customers. Personal selling establishes direct
contact between the seller and the buyer, thereby reducing the need
for intermediaries such as distributors, dealers and retailers. The
functions of the intermediaries are now performed by the members
of the sales team.
 To get results from an effective promotional plan, the roles and
responsibilities of the sales force must be integrated with overall
communication programme. In most of the organizations, personal
selling falls under the authority sales manager’s and plays very
important role in overall promotions effort. The importance varies
from company to company depending upon the following factors:
The nature of the product or service being sold
Size of the organization
Type of the product
Belief of the corporation in personal selling
 The responsibilities and specific tasks assigned to sales team may
vary depending upon the objectives decided by the company for
personal selling. Therefore, we can say that personal selling is an
integral part of IMC as a partner, not a substitute for any other
promotional mix element.
Generally, the companies involved in producing low-priced
consumer non-durables do not emphasize on personal selling.
However, small firms producing such goods do use personal selling
heavily to sell their product at the initial stage by employing
salespersons on commission basis.

Differences between Personal Selling and Other

Forms of Promotional Elements
1. In personal selling, the message flows from the sender
(salesperson) to the receiver (customer) directly.
 2. The direct and interpersonal communication in personal selling
process allows the sender to immediately receive and evaluate
the feedback.
3. It permits the sender to modify and change its communication
and market offer immediately based on the results of feedback
evaluation to cater to the specific needs and wants of the
receiver.
4. Personal selling offers greater opportunity for tailoring the
message and more personalized communication than any other
type of promotional element.
5. It has the ability to focus on identification and solution of specific
problems, whereas a standard communication sent using any
other promotional element does not measure up to the
consumer’s expectations.
6. Personal selling is important not only in industrial goods market
but also in consumer non-durables and durables market as it
helps in motivating intermediaries to stock and promote the
product.
7. It reduces the distance between the company and the customer
substantially and the salesperson is the face of the company
who is believed to offer all solutions to the problems of
consumer and the intermediaries.

Assigning the Role to Personal Selling

How do you determine what you want to accomplish through your
sales team? What specific tasks these members of the sales team
must attain for the company?
A head of the marketing function in a corporation must raise a few
questions and find answers before identifying the role and
responsibility for the personal selling in a promotional programme of
the company.
A manager may be guided by the following questions before the
role and responsibility is assigned to personal selling:
What communication objectives should be accomplished?
A salesperson may have variety of communication objectives to
accomplish such as creating awareness of the product or service,
demonstration of product benefits for attitudinal change, initiating trial
use and/or closing the sale. He/she may also have to answer
numerous questions, counter preconceived notions and identify
unmet needs of the consumer.
What are various alternative ways to accomplish communication
objectives?
Various promotional mix elements offer specific advantages over the
others depending upon the category and nature of the product. While
developing promotional mix, advantages and disadvantages of each
element or promotional mix may be considered. Personal selling
offers certain specific advantages in some situations and less
appropriate in others.
How effective is each of the element in accomplishing
communication objectives?
The effectiveness of each alternative must be evaluated based on
criteria selected. It may be evident that personal selling is highly
effective in many situations but other elements may be found more
attractive in many other situations. Some of the major criteria that
may be used for evaluating the alternatives are:
The cost
Benefits/returns
The reach
Uniqueness and consistency of message
How cost effective is each element?
Personal selling is a costly affair as it involves people who directly
reach out to the customers. The overall cost per sale is much higher
in consumer goods but it may turn out to be cost effective for
industrial products. The cost of communicating the message is high
in personal selling than in any other media.

Role and Responsibility of Personal Selling

The role and responsibility assigned to a salesperson varies from
company to company and it also depends, to some extent, on the
product category. For example, the role played by a salesperson
selling industrial goods will vary from that of selling consumer non-
durable goods.
Some of the roles or responsibilities of a salesperson are
described below. However, it is not an exhaustive list.
Prospecting
It is the process of locating new customers. It involves the search for
and qualification of prospective customers. A salesperson should
generate leads and follow them. Leads may be generated from
friends, existing customers, referrals, Yellow Pages or cold calls.
Through leads, the salesperson identifies prospects (those who
needs the product or service) and checks if those prospects are
qualified, that is whether they have ability and willing to buy the
product.
Identifying customer needs and wants
A salesperson gathers more information on the prospects and
decides how to reach the potential customer. Through well-planned
communication, salesperson identifies the exact need of the
customers and assists them in determining their needs.
Providing solution to the customer’s problem or need
Here the salesperson acts as an advisor who offers the potential
customers various alternatives to solve their problems. The
salesperson may provide the customers with information, which they
may be unaware of or educate them on various aspects of a problem
and its solution.
Attitude change
At this stage, a salesperson tries to influence the
customers/prospectives favourably by showing them the capability of
the firm and the product. He/she assures the customers that the
company’s product will satisfy their needs better than others. His/her
task becomes easier in case the company has good corporate image
(created through advertising and other promotional tools).
Closing the sale
Getting the sales order from the customer is one of the most difficult
roles of a salesperson. Many salespersons make excellent
presentation but hesitate in asking the customer to order for the
product. The salesperson must be trained for closing the sale
because after having done all the hard work, he/she must not
stumble at this crucial stage.
Follow-up
Responsibilities of a salesperson do not end with sale. He/she must
monitor the satisfaction level of the customer. Follow-up calls are
important for maintaining good customer relationship, generating
repeat sales and getting the opportunity to cross sell. Also, keeping
the existing customer is more economical than finding a new
customer.
The biggest advantage of a salesperson is the direct access
he/she has with the customer. He/she can assess the situation first-
hand and adapt the message accordingly. No other promotional tool
provides this opportunity. A smart salesperson continuously analyses
the situation, interprets the feedback from the customer and design
the message to specifically meet the customer’s needs.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Personal

Selling
The nature of personal selling provides certain advantages over
other promotional tools. Some of these advantages are given below:
(a) Possibility of two-way interaction
(b) Tailoring the message
(c) Lack of distraction
(d) Involvement in decision process
(e) Adaptability to the situation
Some of the disadvantages associated with personal selling are as
follows:
(a) Inconsistent message
(b) Sales force/management conflict
(c) High cost
(d) Poor reach
INTERNET MARKETING
An incredible media got developed across the world in 1990s. It has
become so popular that the entire global youth is hooked to it. It is
growing at an astounding rate. The Internet is a worldwide means of
exchanging information and communicating through a series of
interconnected computers. The main component of the Internet is
World Wide Web (WWW) but there are other features as well like e-
mail, telnet, file transfer protocol, client server, hypertext transfer
protocol (http) and gopher, etc.
The Web (Internet) has both users (customers) and the marketers
(who want to reach out to users like sponsors, people engaged in e-
commerce and advertisers, etc.). Over a period of time, the Web has
widened a lot and there are sites developed that are targeted to
consumers and sites for business to business (B-to-B) and business
to customers (B-to-C).
 The phenomenal growth of the Internet has been due to numerous
reasons like continued economic prosperity, Internet innovations,
heavy investment by corporations and the changing lifestyle of the
people (between the age group of 15−40 years). The demographic
profile of the Internet users is also changing.

Why Companies Use the Internet

The Internet is a mixed media. It is a communication medium for
companies to create awareness, provide information and influence
attitudes and also pursue other communication objectives. It is also a
direct-response medium, allowing the user to both purchase and sell
products through e-commerce.
Basically, companies use the Internet for various communication
objectives described briefly below.
Disseminate information
The Web is primarily used for providing in-depth information about a
company’s products and services. The customers, nowadays, expect
a company to have a website which can provide them with detailed
information about its products or services.
Create awareness
Advertising on the Web can be useful in creating awareness of an
organization as well as product or service offerings.
Research
Marketers use the Internet for collecting information on the
competitors and marketplace and also the customer profiling is
possible.
Create an image
Companies design websites for building their image.
Stimulate trial
Many companies encourage visits to their sites through advertising
and also offer electronic coupons.
Improve customer service
Customer-oriented companies offer opportunities to their customers
to seek information, file complaints and get solutions through the
Internet.
Increase distribution
While some companies use their websites to sell theirs products and
others use them to distribute e-coupons and samples. Some
companies even cross sell each other’s products.

Advertising on the Net

The advocates of the Internet predicted death for the traditional
media and closure of large outlet chains because the companies will
move their advertising budget to the Internet and the customers will
use e-commerce extensively. But fortunately, the traditional media as
well as retail chains are alive and kicking. In fact, the Internet has
come to be yet another media to be used by the corporate world.
Now companies have started using it as an integrated part of IMC
programme.
It is important to note that the Internet supports advertising and
also relies on advertising for its own success. The Internet
companies have been a boon to the traditional media as it spends
huge amount of money to promote their sites. Like any other media,
the Internet has become an important media for advertising products
and services.
Advertising on the Internet may take a variety of forms such as
banners, sponsorship, pop-ups, interstitials and push technologies.
Banners
Banner ads are the common form of advertising, which accounts for
almost more than half the total budget for the Internet advertising.
Banner ads are mainly used for creating awareness or recognition or
for direct marketing purpose.
Sponsorship
Mainly, two types of advertising—regular and sponsorships—occur
when a company pays to sponsor a section of a site. In content
sponsorship, the advertiser not only provides money but also
participates in providing the content itself.

Pop-ups
Whenever a net surfer accesses the Internet, a small window
appears which is known as pop-up. Pop-ups contain the advertisers’
message. These are usually larger than a banner but smaller than a
full screen.

Interstitials
Interstitials are those ads that appear on the screen while the surfer
waits for a site’s content to appear on the screen.
Push Technologies
This technology allows the companies to push a “message” to
consumers rather than waiting for them to find it. It dispatches web
pages and news updates and may have sound and video created to
specific audience.

Sales Promotion on the Internet

Sales promotion is the most often used tools on the sites. The sites
encourage the surfers to revisit again and again because it is the
measure most sites use to charge money from the advertisers and
sponsors.
 Websites offer everything as sales promotion from the client. The
offers such as free e-mail, sweepstakes, discounts, gifts, coupons,
etc. are available. All kinds of companies use the Internet for sales
promotion activities. If you visit sites of airlines, automobile
companies, telecommunication, etc., you could find the same.

Direct Marketing on the Net

Direct marketing on the Internet can be seen from two perspectives
—one as a tool for communication objectives and other as e-
commerce. Many direct marketing tools like direct mail, database
marketing, infomercials have been adopted on the Internet. This
method is found to be very cost effective and prompt. E-commerce
or as it is called direct sales, has really taken off well. The use of e-
commerce is expanding in India not only in volume but also on
varieties of products offered. Consumers buy more and more items
online. Most of the products purchased on the Internet are CDs,
books, travel packages, air tickets and stocks, etc. Many other
products like clothing, automobiles and computers, etc. are finding
their way to the Internet purchase.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet
Advantages
The Internet provides a number of advantages over other traditional
media used for marketing communication. Some of them are as
follows:
Target audience
The Internet has the greatest ability to target the specific individuals
or groups with a minimum cost and time. The companies are making
their sites more tailored to meet the customer’s needs and wants.
Message factoring
Ability to target the customers helps design the message as per the
specific needs of the target audience.
Interactive capability
The interactive capability of the Internet enhances the consumer
involvement and satisfaction as it immediately provides the
feedback.
Information access
The Internet is a big information house. The Internet users can find a
large amount of information on a particular topic or issue of interest.
Getting relevant information is made very easy, fast and economical.
Sales potential
The potential for sales is very big in the Internet marketing. It
provides sufficient information for making sales decision. The
consumer needs to visit the seller’s place for buying.
Speed
It is the quickest means of acquiring information and also making a
transaction.
Economical
The Internet is great medium to economize expenses for small
companies selling their goods. It also reduces the cost of operation
of the buyer.
Disadvantages
The Internet though have many advantages, it also has certain
disadvantages. Some of the disadvantages of the Internet are as
follows:
Chances of fraud
Hacking is creating lot of problems for the Internet. Many sellers
attempt to dupe the buyers through false promises and delivery.
Internet snarls
Increasing number of users is causing slowdown in the speed of the
Internet. Downloading of information takes a long time. At times,
many sites become inaccessible due to large number of visitors or
technical snags.
Clutter
There are chances that an advertisement may not be noticed due to
excessive proliferation of ads.
Costs
Though use of the Internet is cheap, it is getting costlier with its
increasing demand.
Other major problems related to the Internet are measurement of
effectiveness and audience characteristics.
The Internet as a medium is emerging as a powerful tool which
often marketing managers overlook. But what is important here is
how to fit the Internet into an IMC programme. A marketing manager
should have to decide what exactly are the objectives that the
Internet can meet. This medium will become an integral part of IMC
in the near future and may garner a great share of total IMC budget.

SUMMARY
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) uses all forms of
promotion to achieve maximum communication impact. The IMC
would require a firm to develop a total marketing communication
strategy that emphasizes not just the promotion but also how all of a
firm’s marketing activities communicate with its customers. It seeks
to have all of a company’s marketing and promotional activities
project a consistent and unified image to the marketplace.
The growing importance of IMC is because of the growing power
of retailers, emerging communications tools which are economical
and target specific, growing database marketing and greater
accountability demanded by advertisers from the ad agencies. The
process of integrated marketing communications starts with
marketing situation analysis, review of marketing plan, establishing
communication objectives and choosing elements of promotional
mix.
The IMC has a mix of elements such as advertising, direct
marketing, public relations, sales promotions, publicity, personal
selling and Internet marketing.
 Advertising is any paid form of non-personal communication about
an organization, product, service or idea by an identified sponsor.
Direct marketing is the use of consumer direct channels to reach and
deliver goods and services to customers without using marketing
middlemen. Sales promotion is a direct inducement that offers an
extra value or incentive for the product to the sales force, distributors
or the ultimate consumers with the primary objective of creating an
immediate sale. Public relations is a management function, which
evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of
an organization with the public interest and executes a programme
of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. Publicity is
the creation of news about a person, product or service that appears
in broadcast or print media. Personal selling is face-to-face selling
and it involves direct person-to-person communication. Internet
marketing is a mixed medium. It is a communication medium for
companies to create awareness, provide information and influence
attitudes and also a direct-response medium, allowing the user to
both purchase and sell products through e-commerce.

QUESTIONS
1. Discuss various reasons why IMC has become so popular
among marketers over the last one decade?
2. Do you think the growth of IMC will continue in the future? If yes,
why? If no, why not?
3. Analyse the role of integrated marketing communications in the
marketing airline services and health care products in India?
4. Why has direct marketing become so significant at the
marketplace for the last few years?
5. Discuss how the following companies might employ database
marketing: A hotel company, an industrial goods company and a
finance company.
6. Why is the Internet gaining popularity in media planning of
marketing managers? What kind of product category is the
Internet best suited for?
 7. Identify some advantages and disadvantages that an
automobile company might have while using the Internet for its
brand promotions.
8. How consumer-oriented and trade-oriented sales promotions
differ from each other? How these can fit into IMC of a
consumer goods company?
9. Identify the reasons that have led to the shift of marketing
budget from traditional advertising media to sales promotion.
Discuss the impact of this shift.
10. Why public relations should be a part of IMC? Describe
advantages and disadvantages of use of public relations in IMC.
11. Explain how personal selling is a cost-effective and high result-
oriented activity. What advantages it might provide to an
automobile company?
12. Identify role of a salesperson. How can a salesperson become
more effective in his/her role?
 CASE STUDY: RELEVANCE OF KISS RULE IN GLOBAL ADVERTISING
Years ago, a management guru said, “Keep It Simple, Stupid”, giving birth to the KISS
rule in American management philosophy. Well, it turns out that KISS has a place in
global advertising as well.
Over the last decade, advertisers have been getting better and better at creating
advertising campaigns that succeed on a global level. The International Advertising
Festival at Cannes demonstrates this fact annually. Every year, more and more of the
winning campaigns are found to the global campaigns, not just domestic market
campaigns. They work as well in Boston as they do in Brussels. Another demonstrated
 fact annually is that these winning campaigns are actually quite simple in terms of
message theme and visual structure. Certainly, some product categories lend
themselves more readily to a global stage than do others. Lifestyle products such as
soft drinks, jeans, sneakers and candy translate well across cultures. The brands like
Nike, Pepsi and Levi’s speak to the world and each has been the subject of memorable
award-winning campaigns. But what makes these brands as well suited to a global
audience—even beyond the natural fit of lifestyle product category?
The campaigns that work best on a global scale are those where the brand and its
imagery are inextricably one and the same. Innovative product demonstrations or
images where the pictures tell the story are the foundation of effective global
advertising. Advertising that succeeds in the global arena draws on four constants—
simplicity, clarity, humour and clever demonstration. Simplicity, clarity, humour and
clever demonstration (SCHC) does not exactly spell KISS, but the reason that global
ads that highlight these qualities can bridge the complexities and distinctiveness of one
culture to other is simple. Granted, what is funny to a Brit may be lost on a Brazilian, but
the key is to find not the culturally-bound humour in a demonstration, but the culturally-
shared humour. When it comes to copy, simplicity and clarity rule. Apart from their
inherent value, their ability to communicate across the cultures is quite, clear. In short,
actually trying to bridge cultures may be just the thing that complicates the situation.
Reducing a brand and its message to the simplest and most common human values
has a great chance of succeeding. (Source: Jay Schulberg, “Successful Global Ads
Need Smplicity Clarity”, Advertising Age, June 30, 1997, 17)

In this chapter, we will look at international advertising and the

various issues advertisers must consider while communicating with
consumers around the globe. We will examine the cultural
environment of international advertising and how companies often
must adapt their messages to conditions in each country. We will
review the debate over whether a company should use a global
advertising approach or tailor it specifically for various countries. We
will also consider the new medium of global adverting, i.e. the
Internet.
EVOLUTION OF INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING
For most companies, industrialized nations represent the greatest
marketing and advertising opportunities. But most of these countries
have stable population bases, and their markets for many products
and services are already saturated. Many marketers are turning their
attention to parts of the world whose economies and consumer
markets are growing. In the early to mid-1990s, many marketers
began turning their attention to the “four tigers” of Asia—South
Korea, Singapore, Honk Kong and Taiwan—which were among the
fastest growing markets in the world. However, in 1997, the Asian
economy crisis hit, and these countries, as well as other parts of
Asia, experienced a serious recession, which resulted in major
decline in consumer spending. Latin America also has been
experiencing a severe economic crisis over the past several years.
The global economic slowdown that began in 2001 has created
problems for most multinational companies and has led to reductions
in advertising spending in most countries. The economies in many
countries are stagnant, making it difficult for companies to meet their
growth objectives. However, a number of multinational companies
are focusing on markets experiencing stronger economic growth,
such as those in China. Many companies are also turning their
attention towards third-world countries where consumer markets are
slowly emerging.
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Companies are focusing on international markets for a number of
reasons which are discussed further.

1. Many companies recognize that their domestic markets offer

them limited opportunities for expansion because of slow
population growth, saturated markets, intense competition
and/or an unfavourable marketing environment. The rates of
annual population and household growth for North America,
Western Europe and Japan have slowed down to 2 or 3 per cent
per year.
2. Many companies must focus on foreign companies to survive.
Most European nations, which are relatively small in size and
without foreign markets, would not have the economies of scale
to compete against large US and Japanese companies.
3. The mature markets of developed countries in America and
Europe are becoming even more price-competitive (and less
profitable) for major brands, with an increasing number of
consumers preferring to buy cheaper private label brands. On
the other hand, consumers in the rapidly-developing markets of
Asia (and elsewhere) are showing a voracious appetite for
branded goods, which often serve a need to reflect rapidly-
changing social aspirations.
4. The crumbling of political, economic and customs barriers in the
last few years has made it much easier for companies to
operate in a truly global manner, instead of merely
multinationally or in a multidomestic manner. For instance, the
increasing integration of western European economies and
formation of the European Union and the opening up of the
eastern European markets to the West, means that companies
can now more easily consolidate their production facilities for
Europe in one country instead of producing locally in every
European country, thus realizing economies of scale. This has
 led to the increased attention to the need to create truly global
brands that can take advantage of such economies.
5. The growth of global media has led both to the increasing
homogenization of consumer tastes across the world and the
increasing use of standardized or global advertising campaigns
which can be seen simultaneously in many different countries.
6. Since international advertising sells essentially the same
product in multiple countries, a global company can invest far
more resources in research and development than smaller local
competitors. The R&D expenses of a global company can be
amortized over its much larger sales volume. Also, it can exploit
good ideas on a worldwide basis and introduce products quickly
into various world markets.
7. International advertising also ensures a consistent international
brand and/or company image.
8. It also leads to simplification of coordination and control of
marketing and promotional programs.

The argument for global commonality of tastes was made very

strongly by Harvard Marketing professor Ted Levitt, who wrote in
1983 that nothing confirmed such globalization more than “the
success of McDonald’s from the Champs Elysees to the Ginza, of
Coca-Cola in Bahrain and Pepsi-Cola in Moscow and of rock music,
Greek salad, Hollywood movies, Revlon cosmetics, Sony televisions
and Levi jeans everywhere.” Levitt argued that such homogenization
of tastes allowed perceptive global marketers to market very similar
products worldwide at lower cost than small-scale local producers.
 Gillette used global advertising in the early 90s to launch its sensor
shaving system, which became one of the most successful products
in the company’s history. The advertising theme for the global
campaign was “The Best a Man Can Get.” At the end of the decade,
Gillette launched the Mach3, its new triple-bladed shaving system,
and once again used a global campaign built around the high-tech
theme of the product and retaining the same tagline. Prior to the
introduction of the new product, Gillette launched the Mach3.com
website, which was supported by online advertising to educate
prospective customers about the intricacies of the triple-bladed razor.
The Web campaign was followed by a $200 million global media blitz
that helped make the Mach3 the number one selling shaving system
after less than a year on the market.
INTERCULTURAL ADVERTISING
There is the reality, of course, that consumers in every country are
still somewhat different from each other, with different habits, tastes
and preferences. Therefore, the product or brand that works in one
market may not work in other. For example, while Americans like to
drink orange juice for breakfast, French consumers do not.
Generally, people living in different countries often belong to different
cultures and cultures may even vary widely within a large and
multiethnic country (such as India). Every culture is a complex web
of social relations, religious beliefs, languages and consumption
attitudes and habits, all of which will obviously impact on how
communications are delivered and received. It is a basic principle in
communication theory that, for any communication to be successful,
the sender of the message must understand the frame of reference
of the receiver of the message. Obviously, therefore, a multinational
advertiser must understand the cultural nuances of a local market in
order to be successful, because it may vary substantially from the
culture of the “home” market.
There are many ways to contrast cultures, such as their degree of
traditionalism versus secularization, the degree to which they rely on
explicit and verbal information (so-called low-context cultures) versus
implicit and nonverbal information (called high-context cultures), and
the degree to which they are individual-oriented versus
interdependent or relational. For instance, researchers classify North
America and West European cultures as relatively more secular, low-
context and individual-oriented, compared to Asian cultures, with
Hispanic cultures falling somewhere in between. Given the
demonstrated differences across cultures on these and other
dimensions—including level of economic development—it seems
entirely logical that consumers in different countries may have
different ways of deciding which brands to buy, different levels of
involvement towards the same product categories, different attitudes
towards advertising and so on.
 Certain product categories such as food and beverages, have a
high degree of cultural grounding, where such cultural differences
make global standardization more difficult than in other categories.
Media availability and distribution arrangements are often very
different and government regulations also vary. Consumers have
different expectations and preferences concerning colours (purple is
a death colour in Brazil, whereas white is the colour of funerals in
Hong Kong). And the competitive environment for a particular brand
may vary dramatically; it may be the leader in one market, but a
minor brand in another. It may face brands that follow very different
positioning strategies across these many markets. It may even be at
different stages of the life cycle in different markets—new in one,
mature in another—so that having a standardization advertising
approach makes little sense.
Finally, advertising campaigns that are standardized and so can be
used in multiple markets, if not the whole world, have the obvious
disadvantage that they may be aimed at the lowest common
denominator and may end up not appealing strongly enough to any
particular market. As Laurence Hagan, the London-based Director of
Marketing Development for J. Walter Thompson, put it, “The greater
the audience for any message, the more bland and general, the less
specific and compelling, that message will be.”
We will now discuss in detail the various factors in international
environment which influence international advertising.
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
A country’s economic conditions indicate its present and future
potential for consuming, since products and services can be sold
only to countries where there is enough income to buy them.
Developed countries have the economic infrastructure in terms of the
communications, transportation, financial and distribution networks
needed to conduct business in these markets effectively. By contrast,
many developing countries lack purchasing power and have limited
communication networks available to firms that want to promote their
products or services in these markets.
Advertising also can be, and often is, a tool of the “phenomenon of
consumerism,” as Pope John Paul II delineated it when he said, “It is
not wrong to want to live better; what is wrong is a style of life which
is presumed to be better when it is directed towards ‘having’ rather
than ‘being’, and which wants to have more, not in order to be more
but in order to spend life in enjoyment as an end in itself.”
Sometimes, advertisers speak of it as part of their task to “create”
needs for products and services, -that is, to cause people to feel and
act upon cravings for items and services they do not need. “If a
direct appeal is made to his instincts—while ignoring in various ways
the reality of the person as intelligent and free—then consumer
attitudes and life-styles can be created which are objectively
improper and often damaging to his physical and spiritual health.”
This is a serious abuse, an affront to human dignity and the
common good when it occurs in affluent societies. But the abuse is
still more grave when consumerist attitudes and values are
transmitted by communication media and advertising to developing
countries, where they exacerbate socio-economic problems and
harm the poor. It is true that a judicious use of advertising can
stimulate developing countries to improve their standard of living. But
serious harm can be done to them if advertising and commercial
pressure become so irresponsible that communities seeking to rise
from poverty to a reasonable standard of living are persuaded to
seek this progress by satisfying wants that have been artificially
created. The result of this is that they waste their resources and
neglect their real needs, and genuine development falls behind.

Similarly, the task of countries attempting to develop types of

market economies that serve human needs and interests after
decades under centralized, state-controlled systems is made more
difficult by advertising that promotes consumerist attitudes and
values offensive to human dignity and the common good. The
problem is particularly acute when, as often happens, the dignity and
welfare of society’s poor and weak members are at stake. It is
necessary always to bear in mind that there are “goods which by
their very nature cannot and must not be bought or sold” and to
avoid “an ‘idolatry’ of the market” that, aided and abetted by
advertising, ignores this crucial fact.
DEMOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT
Major demographic differences exist among countries as well as
within them. Marketers must consider income levels and distribution,
age and occupation, distributions of the population, household size,
education and employment rates. Demographic data provides an
insight into the living standards and lifestyles in a particular country
to help companies plan ad campaigns. It also reveals the market
potential of various foreign markets.
Tendencies towards globalization of tastes and of trends, are
especially apparent when one looks at particular demographic
subcategories. Teenagers the world over, for example, are more
exposed than adults to cultural influences from other countries,
through fashions, music, clothing, food, personal appearance, and
sports. While regional and national differences still persist, teenagers
the world over increasingly watch the same TV channels and
movies, listen to the same music, idolize the same music and sports
stars, and play the same videogames. Their lives and aspirations are
shaped worldwide by the same global trends of increasing divorce
among parents, a fear of AIDS and environmental concerns. Teens
typically travel abroad more than their parents and are more likely to
know a foreign language, especially English. Not surprisingly,
teenagers are less likely to be parochial and nationalistic, and more
likely to identify with pan-national organizations (such as a feeling of
being an “European” and not simply “German” or “French”).
 It should be noted, by way of warning, that it is entirely possible
that the trend towards more homogeneous brand preferences we are
seeing is not one of true globalization but rather simply one of the
increasing popularity in the rapidly-developing parts of the world
(such as China, India, South America and Eastern Europe) of the
brands and cultural symbols that imply a larger-than-life “western” or
even “American” lifestyle—such as Coca-Cola, Marlboro cigarettes
(with its Marlboro man cowboy imagery), Levi jeans, Nike shoes and
so on. Thus, it is possible that the apparent increase in demand for
certain well-known brands is largely because they are seen by
consumers in many newly-opened markets as symbols of the
freedom and affluent lifestyles of the West, and not because they are
seen as global brands per se.
Much advertising directed at children apparently tries to exploit
their credulity and suggestibility, in the hope that they will put
pressure on their parents to buy products of no real benefit to them.
Advertising like this offends against the dignity and rights of both the
children and the parents. It intrudes upon the parent-child
relationship and seeks to manipulate it to its own base ends. Also,
some of the comparatively little advertising directed specifically at
the elderly or culturally-disadvantaged seems designed to play upon
their fears so as to persuade them to allocate some of their limited
resources to goods or services of dubious value.
Communicators also can find themselves tempted to ignore the
educational and social needs of certain segments of the audience—
the very young, the very old, the poor—who do not match the
demographic patterns (age, education, income, habits of buying and
consuming, etc.) of the kinds of audience advertisers want to reach.
In this way, the tone and indeed the level of moral responsibility of
the communication media in general Calvin Klein: Universal appeal
are lowered.

All too often, advertising contributes to the invidious stereotyping of

particular groups that places them at a disadvantage in relation to
others. This often is true of the way advertising treats women; and
the exploitation of women, both in and by advertising, is a frequent
deplorable abuse. They are often treated not as persons with an
inviolable dignity but as objects whose purpose
is to satisfy others’ appetite for pleasure or power.
How often is the role of woman as wife and mother undervalued or
even ridiculed? How often is the role of women in business or
professional life depicted as a musculine caricature, a denial of the
specific gifts of feminine insight, compassion, and understanding,
which so greatly contribute to the ‘civilization of love’?” Women world
over are seeking to actively participate in workplace success and
identify less closely than before with the traditional female roles of
mother/nurturer and wife/homemaker.
CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
Advertising also can have a corrupting influence upon culture and
cultural values. We have spoken of the economic harm that can be
done to developing nations by advertising that fosters consumerism
and destructive patterns of consumption. Consider also the cultural
injury done to these nations and their people by advertising whose
content and methods, reflecting those prevalent in the first world, are
at war with sound traditional values in indigenous cultures. Today
this kind of “domination and manipulation” via media rightly is “a
concern of developing nations in relation to developed ones,” as well
as a “concern of minorities within particular nations.”
Cultural variables which the marketers must consider include
language, customs, tastes, attitudes, lifestyles, values and
ethical/moral standards. Marketers must be sensitive not only in
determining what products and services they can sell to foreign
cultures but also in communicating with them.
International advertisers often have problems with language. The
advertiser must know not only the native tongue of the country, but
also its nuances, idioms and subtleties. They must be aware of the
connotations of words and symbols used in their messages and
understanding how advertising copy and slogans are translated. For
example, Pepsodent toothpaste was unsuccessful in Southeast Asia
because it promised white teeth to a culture where black and yellow
teeth are symbols of prestige. An American ad using various shades
of green was a disaster in Malaysia, where the colour symbolizes
death and disease.
Tastes, traditions, values and customs are also important parts of
cultural considerations. The customs of a society influence what
products and services its people will buy and how they must be
marketed. Cultural values are beliefs and goals shared by members
of a society regarding ideal end states of life and modes of conduct.
Society shapes consumers’ basic values, which influence their
behaviour and determine how they respond to various situations.
Values such as ethnocentrism, which refers to the tendency for the
individuals to view their own group or society as the centre of the
universe, or nationalism often influence the way consumers in
various countries respond to foreign brands or even advertising
messages.
Religion is another aspect of culture that influences norms, values
and behaviours. For example, in many Arab countries, advertisers
must be aware of various taboos resulting from conservative
applications of the Islamic religion. Alcohol and pork cannot be
advertised. Human nudity is forbidden, as are pictures of anything
sacred such as images of a cross or photographs of Mecca. The
faces of women may not be shown in photos, so cosmetics use
drawings of women’s faces in ads. In conservative Islamic countries,
many religious authorities are opposed to advertising on the grounds
that it promotes Western icons and culture and the associated non-
Islamic consumerism.
POLITICAL AND LEGAL ENVIRONMENT
The political and legal environment in a country is one of the most
important factors influencing the advertising and promotional
programmes of international marketers. Regulations differ owing to
economic and national sovereignty considerations, nationalistic and
cultural factors and the goal of protecting consumers not only from
false or misleading advertising but, in some cases, from advertising
in general. Government regulations and restrictions can affect
various aspects of a company’s advertising programme, including
the types of products, content or creative approach, media, amount
of advertising a single advertiser may use in total or in a specific
medium, use of foreign languages, use of local versus international
advertising agencies, specific taxes levied against advertising and so
on.
A number of countries ban or restrict the advertising of various
products. Cigarette advertising is banned in some or all media in the
United States, Argentina, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland and now in India. The Australian government has
restricted tobacco advertising to point of purchase and excludes
tobacco companies from sponsoring sporting events.
In Europe, there has been a long-standing ban on advertising for
prescription-drug products, which is designed to keep government-
subsidized health care costs under control. The European Union has
argued that advertising increases the marketing budgets of drug
companies and results in higher prices. Also, margarine cannot be
advertised in France, nor can restaurant chains. Earlier, the French
government restricted travel advertising because it encourages the
French to spend their francs outside the country.
Many countries restrict the media advertisers can use. Greece has
banned toy adverting on day-time television, so advertisers can
advertise toys on TV only during the evening hours. Commercial TV
advertising did not begin in Sweden until 1992, and both Sweden
and Denmark limit the amount of time available for commercials.
Advertising aimed at children is not legal in Sweden. In Saudi Arabia,
commercial advertising is allowed on its national TV, but not on the
state-run radio system. Advertising in magazines and newspapers is
subject to government and religious restrictions.

There are also rules and regulations that affect the advertising
message. For example, comparative advertising is legal and
widely used in the United States and Canada, but is illegal in some
countries like Korea and Belgium. Many Asian and South American
countries have started accepting comparative ads. However, Brazil’s
self-regulatory advertising codes are so strict that few advertisers
have been able to create a comparative message that has been
approved. Many countries restrict the type of claims advertisers can
make, the words they can use and the way products can be
represented in ads. In Greece, specific claims for a product, such as
“20 per cent less calories” are not permitted in an advertising
message. Copyright and other legal restrictions make it difficult to
maintain the same name from market to market. For example, Diet
Coke is known as Coca-Cola Light in Germany, France and many
other countries, because of legal restrictions prohibiting the word
diet.
Most countries allow the use of foreign languages in print ads and
direct mail. However, some do not allow foreign language
commercials on TV or radio or in cinema ads, and some restrict
foreign ads to media directed at foreigners in their country. Some
countries also restrict the use of foreign-produced ads and foreign
talent.
These restrictions are motivated primarily by economic
considerations. Many countries require local production of at least a
portion of commercials to build local film industries and to create
more jobs for local producers of print and audiovisual materials.
Nationalistic and cultural factors also contribute to these restrictions,
along with a desire to prevent large foreign ad agencies form
dominating the advertising business in a country and thus hampering
its development.
In some countries, steps are being taken to ease some of the legal
restrictions and other barriers facing international advertisers. For
example, the Maastricht Treaty was designed to create a single
European market and remove many of the barriers to trade among
the 12 member nations of the European community.
INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING
The global versus local debate is really pointless, because, in reality,
the issue is not one of whether an ad campaign for a brand can be
completely globalized, but rather of the extent or degree to which a
global brand’s campaign can be standardized across the world.

Such advertising standardization can vary on a continuum, if one

breaks up an ad into its message strategy and tactical execution
components. At one extreme, an advertiser could totally standardize
both the advertising message strategy and the tactical message
executions. Next on the continuum would be a standardized strategy
with translated executions, followed by standardized strategy with
modified executions, to totally localized strategy and executions on
the other extreme. The extreme of having the same strategy and
identical execution in every country implies a nonverbal presentation
(to get around language barriers).
Standardization appears to be more common for television
advertisements than for print advertisements, among business-to-
business and high-tech product categories (like computers, audio
and video equipments, cars) and among emotion-, image- and
fashion-oriented (so-called high-touch) product categories.
Standardization strategies and campaigns appear more appropriate
and effective when the product is utilitarian and the message is
informational, or when the brand’s identity and desirability are
integrally linked to a specific national character (e.g. Coca-Cola and
McDonald’s). Ad campaigns for food and beverage products are
often the hardest to standardize, since eating and drinking habits
and beliefs are often very culture-bound. It is easier to standardize
advertising for a new brand than for an old and established brand,
which may multiple hard-to-reconcile images in different local
regions of the world and may be at different life-cycle stages in
different markets, thus facing incompatible marketing challenges.
Table 15.1 Ten well-known international advertisers
Advertiser
S. Primary Countries in which
(parent Headquarters
No. business spending was reported
company)
Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, France,
Procter & Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia,
1 Cincinnati Soaps
Gamble Mexico, Netherlands, Pan Arabia, Puerto Rico,
Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada,
Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy,
2 Unliever Rotterdam/London Soaps Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Pan Arabia,
Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Spain,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA.
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Britain,
Vevey, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,
3 Nestle SA Food
Switzerland Netherlands, Pan Arabia, Portugal, Puerto Rico,
Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA.
Toyota Canada, Finland, Japan, Norway, Taiwan,
4 Toyota City, Japan Automotive
Motor Corp. Thailand, USA.
5 PSA Paris Automotive Argentina, Austria, Britain, Denmark, France,
Peugeot
 Citroen
Germany, Netherlands, Pan Arabia, Portugal,
SA
Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, USA.
Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, Mexico, South
Volkswagen Wolfsburg,
6 Automotive Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand,
AG Germany
USA.
Nissan Austria, Britain, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Pan
7 Tokyo, Japan Automotive
Motor Co. Arabia, Switzerland, Thailand, USA.
Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech
Coca Cola
8 Atlanta Soft drinks Republic, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, Peru,
Co.
Romania, Slovak Republic, Turkey, USA, Vietnam.
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Britain,
Philip Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong,
9 New York Food
Mortis Cos. Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Pan Arabia,
Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, USA.
General
10 Detroit Automotive Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, UK, USA.
Motors

The advancement of international advertising is an immediate

outcome of economic liberalization in South Asia—the advent or
resurgence of some truly global brands such as IBM, McDonald’s,
Sony, Ray Ban, Coke, Pepsi, Arrow, Lacoste, Marlboro, Ariel. And
this we are assured is just the beginning. There is something in
these very names to fuel the fires of populist political debate.
However, the days of “either - or” choices between local and
international brands are mercifully behind us. The customers will
become more discerning and demanding as they realize what they
have been missing in terms of world-class quality. Manufacturers
must stop thinking that there is something patriotic in accepting the
second best! They ought, instead, to get on with the more serious
business of delivering to the consumer—a housewife, the working
man or even a company—competitive value and something
approaching world class.

Appropriateness of Globalization
While globalization of advertising is viewed by many in the
advertising industry as a difficult task, some progress has been
made in learning what products and services are best suited to
worldwide appeals. These are as follows:
 1. Brands or messages that can be adapted for a visual appeal,
avoiding the problems of trying to translate words into dozens of
languages.
2. Brands that are promoted with image campaigns that play to
universal appeals such as sex or wealth.
3. Hi-tech products and new products coming to the world for the
first time not steeped in the cultural heritage of the country.
4. Products with nationalistic flavour, if the country has a reputation
in the field.
5. Products that appeal to a market segment with universally
similar tastes, interests, needs and values.

Brands are not built in a day. Some have evolved over centuries,
as can be seen in Table 15.2.

Table 15.2 Historic brands

Brand Country of origin Product category year

1. Schweppes UK Soft drinks 1798

2. Colgate UK Toothpaste 1806
3. Levi’s USA Jeans 1850
4. Nestle Switzerland Beverages 1866
5. Coca-Cola USA Soft drinks 1886
6. Omega Switzerland Watches 1894
7. Martini Italy Liquor 1896
8. Fiat Italy Automobiles 1899
9. Gillette UK Razor blades 1902
10. Max Factor USA Cosmetics 1909
 11. Hitachi Japan Domestic goods 1910
12. Marlboro USA Cigarettes 1924

It is, of course, possible to compress the time it takes to establish a

new brand, by investing heavily in promotions in a short burst. This
may accelerate the attainment of a peak level of trial and market
share, but sustained repurchase, which reflects loyalty, can only be
gained over time. Great spending power does not automatically
ensure success—a lesson which both Procter & Gamble and Pepsi
have learnt at great cost recently in India.
INTERNET ADVERTISING
The Internet is revolutionizing the way companies and individuals
interact. Some people view it as another form of publishing
marketing material. Others think that the potential of the Internet
goes way beyond this. It revolutionizes the company-customer
relationship by offering a new way to make transactions and access
information. Company websites have a number of roles, only one of
which is advertising. However, websites are the new customer
interface. Advertising on the Internet can be carried out externally
from the company website. The most popular method is advertising
banners on other sites. Other methods include sponsorship of sites,
classified ads and sending e-mails to potential customers.
The Internet penetration in India and other developing countries is
increasing at a very fast rate. Currently many Indian households
have access to the Internet. The Internet penetration in the majority
of countries all over the world has dramatically increased in the past
few years due to the introduction of free access. Previously, Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) charged a monthly subscription fee.
However, the market has become increasingly competitive and there
are now around 200 free ISPs in operation. Their revenue is gained
from advertising, telephony revenue sharing and transaction
revenues based on sales over the Internet. The introduction of the
free access model emphasizes the importance of advertising
revenue to ISPs. The Internet advertising market has so far been
dominated by computing and financial advertisers. Indeed, the
primary advertising spenders on the Internet are still IT corporations
such as Microsoft and IBM and financial service organizations
(FSOs) such as Prudential. However, consumer brand advertising is
increasing on the Internet. Many customer brands experimented with
Internet advertising in 1998, notably during the football World Cup as
many brands used campaigns linked to this event. This
experimentation is now developing into use of the Internet as an
ongoing integrated part of marketing activity. Online advertising
largely generates traffic to websites and then offers consumers the
opportunity to make purchases online. The development of secure
electronic transaction (SET) protocols has enabled payment for
goods and services by credit card over the Internet (electronic
commerce). The development of electronic commerce has not
simply been a matter of technological advances. It has also been
influenced by the acceptance of the new media by a wider audience.
Online demographics are changing and the frequent Internet users
are not only the young single early adopters but also older
professional ABs with a young family.

Currently the most active e-commerce markets are those of

computer hardware and software, books, music and entertainment
products. However, clothing, sports and leisurewear are set to follow.
In the US, high Internet penetration and a greater willingness to
adopt the Internet as a regular part of the marketing mix has led to
rapid growth in the Internet advertising market. This growth is
slowing down now compared to growth rates in the UK and other
European countries, although this reflects the greater maturity of the
US market. The expenditure on the US online ad is very
concentrated amongst the top ten Web properties and this is a
characteristic likely to develop in Europe in the future.

The main sites on which advertising banners are placed are web
portals which are the starting point for users on the Internet. These
are high traffic sites, although one criticism of their value as ad
space is that users do not necessarily spend much time looking at
the content of these sites. Development of portal site content has
been one of the main Internet phenomena for the past few years.
Early portal sites were search engines such as Yahoo! and Excite.
Realizing their transitory usage, these sites developed content and
charged for ad space. Some portal sites developed e-commerce
operations.

Advantages of Web Advertising

The three categories that we see dominating the Internet advertising
going forward are considered purchases, highly varied items and
services and electronic delivery services.
Considered purchases
These are goods or services that require research before a purchase
is made. Automobiles and travel are two such areas, as consumers
are apt to do extensive research before purchasing these high-cost
items.
Highly varied items and services
Items for which many different variations exist are likely to be
advertised heavily on the Internet. Jobs fit this category, as
consumers can use the Internet’s search abilities to dig deeply into
databases to find what they are looking for.
Electronic delivery services
Services that can be conducted electronically will also be big
advertisers on the Internet. Financial services, insurance and credit
card issuers fit this category.
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the
interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or
practices. In interpreting Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has
determined that a representation, omission or practice is deceptive if
it is likely to:
mislead consumers and
affect consumers’ behaviour or decisions about the product or
service.
In addition, an act or practice is unfair if the injury it causes, or is
likely to cause, is:
substantial,
not outweighed by other benefits and
not reasonably avoidable.
The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising in any
medium. That is, advertising must tell the truth and not mislead
consumers. A claim can be misleading if relevant information is left
out or if the claim implies something that is not true. For example, a
lease advertisement for an automobile that promotes “$0 Down” may
be misleading if significant and undisclosed charges are due at lease
signing.
In addition, claims must be substantiated, especially when they
concern health, safety or performance. The type of evidence may
depend on the product, the claims and what experts think necessary.
If your ad specifies a certain level of support for a claim—“tests show
X”—you must have at least that level of support.
Sellers are responsible for claims they make about their products
and services. Third parties, such as advertising agencies or website
designers and catalogue marketers, also may be liable for making or
disseminating deceptive representations if they participate in the
preparation or distribution of the advertising or know about the
deceptive claims.
 Advertising agencies or website designers are responsible for
reviewing the information used to substantiate ad claims. They may
not simply rely on an advertiser’s assurance that the claims are
substantiated. In determining whether an ad agency should be held
liable, the FTC looks at the extent of the agency’s participation in the
preparation of the challenged ad, and whether the agency knew or
should have known that the ad included false or deceptive claims.
To protect themselves, catalogue marketers should ask for
material to back up the claims rather than repeat what the
manufacturer says about the product. If the manufacturer does not
come forward with proof or turns over proof that looks questionable,
the catalogue marketer should see a yellow “caution light” and
proceed appropriately, especially when it comes to extravagant
performance claims, health or weight loss promises or earnings
guarantees. In writing on ad copy, catalogue marketers should stick
to the claims that can be supported. Most importantly, catalogue
marketers should trust their instincts when a product sounds too
good to be true.
Apart from this, there are other factors for which the advertisers
should be careful. These are as follows:
Disclaimers and disclosures must be clear and conspicuous.
That is, consumers must be able to notice, read or hear, and
understand the information. Still, a disclaimer or disclosure alone
usually is not enough to remedy a false or deceptive claim.
Demonstrations must show how the product will perform under
normal use.
Refunds must be made to dissatisfied consumers—if you
promised to make them.
Advertising directed at children raises special issues.
Children may have greater difficulty evaluating advertising claims
and understanding the nature of the information you provide than
adults. Sellers should take special care not to misrepresent a
product or its performance while advertising to children. The
Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of
 Better Business Bureaus has published specific guidelines for
children’s advertising that you may find helpful.

Laws Related to E-mail Marketing

E-mail marketing provides companies with an efficient low-cost
channel to reach consumers. An unfortunate side-result of e-mail
marketing is the abuse of the channel. Very often, the most offensive
marketers are those that transmit bulk e-mail messages to recipients
with whom they do not have a prior relationship and whose
messages are often of a prurient nature. While consumers and
consumer groups have attempted to stop these marketers from
engaging in such practices, the most vocal group has been the ISPs,
those entities that bear the cost of carrying these messages. E-mails
sent in bulk quantities and without the permission of the intended
recipient occupy valuable storage space of these third-party facilities,
which have been suing bulk e-mailers on a variety of legal theories.
Governing laws
State regulation
Several states have enacted anti-spam legislation. State
requirements vary, but generally marketers are required to include
“ADV:” or, in the case of adult-related material, “ADV: ADLT”, in the
subject line. In addition, the laws prohibit falsification of the sender’s
contact information and require certain disclosures and opt-out
notices. Other states prohibit using a third party’s Internet address or
domain name without permission, or using false or missing routing
information or a third party’s name for the return address without
permission. Some states permit ISPs to block unsolicited commercial
e-mail or otherwise, prohibit a marketer from violating an ISP’s
posted policy.
Central/Federal regulation
There is no existing federal regulation expressly relating to e-mail
marketing. Over the past few years, several bills are considered, but
no legislation has been enacted.
General list considerations
Mailing a third-party list
Third-party lists can be obtained directly from another company, a list
broker or a marketing partner. There are many types of lists to
choose from, with varying degrees of specificity to a marketer’s
particular target audience. Lists created with an opt-in model are
typically expensive. Mailing a third-party list carries certain regulatory
and reputational risks, as the intended messages may very well be
considered by the recipients to be unsolicited.
Third-party opt-in lists
Before renting or purchasing a third-party opt-in list, try to determine
how and when the list was compiled and what type of notice, if any,
was provided to the consumers on the list at the time they provided
their information. For example, what were consumers told when they
provided their personal contact information, such as “May we share
your information with our partners?” or the more specific “May we
provide your contact information to a partner that may offer you
special deals on exercise products”
e-mail transmission
After you have determined to whom you will send your e-mails,
consider whether any of the state laws described above apply to
your campaign. If you intend to mail to a house list, you may qualify
for a “pre-existing relationship” exemption under many state’s laws. If
you have bought or rented a third-party opt-in list, you will not enjoy
the pre-existing relationship exception and it is questionable whether
you have the consent of the intended recipients. A question that
often arises in these situations is whether the consent purportedly
granted to the list developer extends to subsequent purchasers of
the list. Consider whether a header notice (“ADV:” or “ADV: ADLT”)
or any other additional information is required by statute, and
whether there are any further policies of the Internet service provider
that must be followed. Do not use false headers, subject lines,
originating addresses or misleading routing information. E-mail
solicitations should clearly identify the purpose of the message and
the sender. Include a notice at the beginning of the message
informing recipients why they are receiving the message. Include a
notice in the e-mail informing recipients of their right to opt-out or
unsubscribe from future messages and the method for doing so.
Honour all opt-out requests.
FUTURE OF GLOBAL ADVERTISING
Though it is always difficult to predict the future of such a drastically
changing phase of advertising, certain trends can be predicted. What
was observed in the last decade is an implication of the following
observations:

1. The rapid advancement in technology and full satellite

deployment will open new media options for global advertisers.
2. Large nations like India and China will make lot of difference to
the advertising by providing viable markets as their buying
powers increase steadily.
3. After getting expertise in global advertising, advertising
professional will succeed better in foreign countries than in their
native country.
4. New technologies like computer interfacing, electronic mail and
radio frequency identification technology (RFID) will offer lot of
creative challenges.
5. Relaxation in trade barriers will increase the competition among
the nations.
6. Advertising expenditure is likely to increase manifolds worldwide
and the face of web advertising too will change.

It might happen with such fierce competition that satiating point

reaches fast and advertising is completely obliterated from the
society.

SUMMARY
The most significant reason for the emergence of international
advertising is the cut-throat competition amongst the multinational
companies. For most of the companies, industrialized nations
represent the greatest marketing and advertising opportunities. As
the trade laws become less stringent, the boundaries for the world
get seamless and the scope for international market increases,
thereby increasing the advertising. There are a number of reasons
for the companies to focus on international market. Many companies
emerged because of their global campaigns.
While designing an ad campaign for any country, it is must to study
the social, cultural, political and educational norms. It is observed
that these parameters vary a lot and therefore, are to be put into
consideration. To take economic environment into consideration is
important as a country’s economic conditions indicate its present and
future potential for consuming. Demographic differences exist among
countries as well as within them.
Tendencies towards globalization of tastes and trends are
apparent when one looks at particular demographic subcategories.
The advertisements directed at children and women are different in
different nations as the sentiments and the laws vary. The cultural
environment is an important parameter for consideration, which
includes language, customs, tastes, attitudes, values, ethics and
moral standards. The political and legal environment in a country is
one of the most important factors influencing the advertising and
promotional programmes of international marketers.
For international advertising campaign, the advertisers have to
think globally and act locally. They can have standardized strategy
with modified execution, to totally localized strategy and execution at
the other end. The globalization is appropriate because of the
several benefits. Today, we do not even realize which Internet
advertising has revolutionized the way in which companies and
individuals are doing marketing. Internet advertising is instrumental
is bringing the world together. There are laws and regulations, which
monitor the advertising which is likely to be deceptive and
misleading. We can predict the future of global advertising after the
observation in the trend since the last decade. New technology has
opened new vistas for advertising to mushroom in ever increasing
pace.
With the growing importance of the Internet, this, however, is not
required, as we can have a truly global brand and ad campaign, as
the world is becoming a common marketplace, where people have
the same basic needs, wants, desires and tastes, no matter where
they live.

QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the challenges companies face in marketing their
products to the world’s poorest consumers. How do they have to
adapt their advertising programmes in selling to these
consumers?
2. What is meant by the “think global, act local” approach to global
advertising? Discuss some of the ways marketers can adapt
their advertising to local markets.
3. Do you agree that North American and western European
cultures are relatively more “secular”, “low-context” and
“individual-oriented” as compared to Asian cultures? Why or
why not?
4. From a strictly moral point of view, is it right to enforce a foreign
culture on another culture by implying that the foreign culture is
more open-minded, rich and aesthetic? Is it right to knowingly
lead large masses away from their culture, towards an unwritten
path, where they will be caught in a trap between their
indigenous culture and the foreign culture, as in the case of
MTV?
5. Why do you think the advertisement below is globally suitable?
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 INDEX
Above-the-line media, 167
Absolute cost, 247
Account executive, 81, 204
Account planner(s), 81, 157
Account planning, 200
Action, 26, 30, 31
Ad (see advertisement)
Adjectival derivatives, 302
Administration (FDA), 58
Adobe Photoshop, 385
Advertisement(s), 17, 39
appeal, 215
banner, 372, 375, 383, 389, 431
billboard, 349
campaign, 233, 460
copy, 215, 282
direct-action, 27
effectiveness, 187
e-mail, 389
main copy, 320, 321, 322
repetition, 212
socially responsible, 43, 64
suggestive, 42
want ads, 337
Advertiser, 11, 218
Advertising, 5, 8, 10, 34, 86, 211, 215, 249, 403, 437
advocacy, 63
agencies, 79, 80, 83, 218, 457
appeal, 234, 249
banners, 455
budget, 172
business, 28
campaign plan, 232
campaign, 135, 157, 214, 249, 281, 310
clutter, 220, 242
commercial/non-commercial, 27
comparative, 147, 229, 449
consumer, 28
cooperative, 337
copywriters, 281
corporate, 26, 63
creative, 278
creativity, 160, 259
directed at children, 457
e-advertising, 389
effectiveness, 259
effects, 228
execution, 250
gendered, 47
global, 440, 442
goals, 25
hard sell, 269
indirect-action, 27
industrial, 28
informational, 223
international, 28, 440
language, 287, 297
local, 28, 362
message, 220, 278
national, 28, 338
spot, 362
network, 362
non-product, 26
objectives, 137, 138, 211, 217
online, 370, 378
outdoor, 344
personnel, 286
plan, 135, 136
planning, 87
print, 310
product, 26
professional, 28
public service, 62
push and pull, 370
radio, 366
regional, 28
research, 177, 178, 229
retail, 337
review council, 57, 58
rhetoric of, 288
sales promotion, 337
 shock, 52
soft sell, 269
spot and local, 362
standards, 59
surrogate, 55
theme, 230
trade, 28
traditional, 370
transit, 335, 346
vampire, 278
vehicles, 215
Web, 369, 389
word-of-mouth, 17
Advertising Review Council, 57, 58
Advertising Standard Authority, 57, 59
Advertising Standard Council of India, 60
Affective
choice, 123
component, 118
interpretation, 107
motives, 114
Affixation, 302
Affordable rate, 172
AIDA, 26, 211
Alignment, 317
Alliteration, 289, 293
Allusion, 295
Ambiguity, 296
Animated logos, 384
Anomalous lexical collocation, 301, 302
Ansoff’s model, 79
Appeals, 269
competitive advantage, 236
ego, 272
emotional, 234, 237, 270
favourable price, 236
fear, 239, 240, 272
feature, 235
humorous, 240
informational/rational/logical, 235, 236, 270
moral, 238
negative, 238
news, 235
novelty, 274
positive emotional, 238
 price, 271
quality, 271
sensory, 273
sex, 242
star, 271
universal, 453
Appearance, 13
ARC, 58
ASA, 59
ASCI, 60
ASP, 390
Association, 223
Attention, 26, 30, 104, 222
Attitude(s), 117, 225
change, 213
Attitude-based choice, 123
Attitudinal objectives, 185
Attribute-based choice, 123
Attributes, 213, 268
Awareness, 222
set, 123

Balance, 317
Banner blindness, 384
Baseline, 7
Basic relationship, 239
Behavioural component, 118
Below-the-line media, 167
Benefit, 312, 328
headline, 312
Big idea, 278
Billboards, 346
Bleed, 318
allowance, 318
Body copy, 328
Bottom-up approach, 172
Brand, 6, 16
associations, 153
attributes/benifits, 155, 213
awareness, 7, 150
differentiation, 416
equity, 154
extensions, 153
image, 151, 152, 268
loyalty, 154
 personality, 115, 152, 153
preference, 211, 212
and loyalty, 29
proliferation, 416
reminder, 222
salience, 211
value, 275
Branding, 150
Buyer
behaviour, 94
potential, 271
Buying, 7

Call report, 204

Calligraphic designs, 303, 304
Campaign, 25, 215, 232, 278
theme, 157, 233
Caption, 318, 320, 321, 322
copy, 329
Car cards, 349
Catalogue marketers, 457
Catchy
pitches, 282
slogans, 357
Central
route, 213
theme, 156
Children’s Advertising Review Unit, 57, 59, 457
Cinematic production, 361
Circulation, 199
Classical conditioning, 223
Classified, 18, 348
ads, 375
advertising, 337
Clutter, 243, 360
Cognitive
component, 117
interpretation, 106
learning, 110, 223
motives, 114
Command headlines, 312, 313, 328
Commercial clutter, 357
Commercials, 47
Communicating information, 353
Communication(s), 5, 8, 10, 35, 182, 218
 channels of , 215
drivers, 218
human, 12
objectives, 211, 402
objectives, 215, 262
potential, 307
Compensation in agencies, 82
Competitive
clutter, 258
parity method, 172
Components of advertising research, 180
Composite agency, 80
Composite of sales force opinion, 78
Compound words, 286
Compounding, 302
Concept sort tests, 188
Concept testing, 183
Conditioning, 110
Confessions of an Advertising Man, 150
Consumer behaviour, 94, 107
Consumer-oriented promotion, 413
Consumers, 6
Contact report, 204
Content, 375
cultures, 443
sponsorship, 432
Continuity, 244, 245
Continuous, 168
Conviction, 226
Copy, 233, 311, 321
platform, 156, 158, 215, 233
testing, 187
Copywriter, 30, 31, 259, 281, 282, 307
Copywriting, 232, 283, 371
Corporate level, 397
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), 61, 62
Cost per point (CPP), 248
Cost per rating point (CPRP), 248
Cost per thousand (CPT), 247
Cost-effectiveness, 352, 358
Coupon, 321
Coverage, 167
Creative
agency, 80
briefs, 158, 262
 copy, 231
copywriter, 290
director, 283
execution, 242
person, 258
platform, 233
process, 258, 265
products, 258
strategy, 156, 157, 158, 215, 232, 233, 234, 255
tactics, 157
team, 29, 81, 220
theme, 215
Creatives, 31
Creativity, 5,255, 256, 268, 276, 277, 278, 352
in advertising, 156
researchers, 257
Credible spokespeople, 213
Cultural
benefits, 40
boundaries, 257
grounding, 444
Culturally-defined behavioural properties, 288
Culture(s), 98, 99
high-context, 443
interdependent, 443
low-context, 443
rational, 443
Cumulative discounts, 336
Customers, 5, 9
potential, 307

DAGMAR, 211
Day-after recall, 194
Deception, 366
Deceptive, 460
images, 361, 366
Decision, 7
Decreasing return approach, 247
Delphi technique, 78
Demographic
differences, 460
patterns, 447
Demographics, 26
Demonstrations, 457
Design and execution, 259
Designers, 283
and printers, 282
Desire, 26, 30
Deviation(s), 302, 318
Dialogue, 314, 329
Digestion, 263, 278
Direct mail, 344
Direct action, 27
Directories, 342
Directors, 282
Disclaimers, 457
Disclosures, 457
Disjunctive grammar, 300
Disjunctive language, 300
Dummy, 317

Economic, 15
benefits, 40
environment, 460
Effective frequency, 246
Effectiveness, 277
Ego defensive function, 117
Elaboration likelihood model (ELM), 213
Elaborative activities, 112
Emotion(s), 112, 116, 351, 354, 366
Emotional
attachment, 239
bonding, 239
integration, 238
Encodes, 215
Endorser, 218, 234
Environment, 260
Environmental-oriented values, 99
Episodic memory, 112
Ethics, 50, 56
Ethnocentrism, 448
Evoked set, 123
Execution, 234
Exposure, 104, 221
effect, 212
Extended decision making, 120
Extension displays, 349
External
analysis, 401
environment analysis, 75
 factors, 96, 220
Eye movement test, 191

FDA (Food and Drug Administration), 57, 58

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 57, 58
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 57, 58, 59, 61
Feedback, 215, 217
Figurative language, 288
Figures of speech, 289
Flash
MX, 385
websites, 384
Flexibility, 366
Flighting, 168, 244, 245
Focus group interviews, 183
Follow-up, 428
Frequency, 168, 215, 246
Full service agency, 80
Functional conversion, 301

Galvanic skin response test, 191

Geographic area, 35
Global
adverting, 440, 442
brand, 460
media, 442
Globalization, 6
Grammatical deviations, 297, 308
Graphlogical deviations, 308
Grazing, 360
Gross rating point (GRP), 246
Growth motives, 114

Handbills, 18
Headline, 30, 311, 312, 316, 320, 321, 322, 328
Hierarchy-of-effects model, 227, 229
High involvement, 120
learning situation, 108, 213
Hoarding, 335
HTML, DHTML, 390
Humour, 312, 328
headline, 313
Hyperbole, 50
Iconic rote learning, 110
Identification influence, 102
Identified sponsors, 8, 17, 35
Illumination, 264, 278
Illustration, 232, 316
Immersion, 263, 278
Imperceptible differences, 15, 16
Incubation, 263, 278
Indian readership survey (IRS), 248
Indirect action, 27
advertising, 27
Individual factors, 106
Induced differences, 16
Inept set, 123
Inert set, 123
Information, 13, 260, 312, 328
and environment, 278
headline, 313
processing model, 228
search, 122
Information and broadcasting ministry, 60
Informational, 284
booklets, 284
influence, 101
/rational/logical appeal, 235
Inquiry test, 192
Institutional, 26
learning, 110
Intangible products, 26
Integrated marketing communications (IMC), 396
Intellectual shock, 52
Intensification, 79
Interactive
capability, 435
communication, 216
Interest, 26, 30
Internal
analysis, 401
characteristics, 96
environmental analysis, 76
influence, 102
International
advertising, 28, 440
brands, 387
Internet, 26, 369, 429, 440
 marketers, 460
marketing, 437
media, 387
snarls, 436
Interpretation, 106
Interstitials, 376, 389, 433
Involvement, 212
purchase, 120
Iron maiden, 45

Java, 390
Jingles, 357
JSP (Java script programming language), 390

Knowledge function, 117

Laws and regulations, 460

Layout, 232, 316
stages, 316
Learning, 107, 109, 223
curve approach, 247
effect, 220
Legal restrictions, 54
Lexical, 297
deviations, 301
Lifestyle, 96, 103, 119
Limited decision making, 120
Linear approach, 247
Local or spot announcements, 366
Local radio stations, 365
Logo, 311, 315, 328, 373, 389
Long-term memory, 112
Low involvement, 120, 212
learning situation, 108
medium, 229

Macromedia Flash MX, 384, 385, 390

Adobe Photoshop, 390
Magazines, 26, 28
Maintenance rehearsal, 112
Major selling idea, 266, 267
Manufacturer, 13
Market, 35
development, 79
 penetration, 79
segmentation, 140, 141
segments, 268
Marketing, 67
communication level, 397
communication, 216, 265
customer-oriented, 218
decisions, 95
direct, 405, 437
level, 397
mix, 135
objectives, 137, 401
plan, 76, 77, 86, 133, 401
planning, 134
public relations, 419
stimuli, 107
strategy, 98, 133
Maslow’s theory, 113
Mass communication, 215
Mass media hype, 369
McGuire’s psychological motives, 113
Mechanical, 317
Media, 8, 28, 35, 310, 335
briefing, 85
budget, 247
class, 167
decisions, 220
independent, 80
mix, 167, 217, 220, 243, 250, 335
non-selective, 357
objectives, 244
option, 167
plan, 220
planners, 335
planning, 167, 348
print, 335
research, 182
schedule, 245
scheduling, 250
strategy, 169, 215, 233, 244, 245
used, 35
vehicle, 167, 221, 243
Memory, 111
Merchandising campaigns, 284
Message, 162, 215
 appealing, 281
commercial, 52
comparative, 450
content, 163, 230
environmental, 276
execution, 162
factoring, 435
fleeting, 244, 358
format, 164
sidedness, 166
strategy, 233, 451
structure, 162
two-sided, 165
Metaphor, 289
Metaphoric word, 289
Metrics, 388
new, 390
Mission, 132
Modified executions, 451
Moral and religious benefits, 41
Moral standards, 40
Motion, 351, 354, 366
Motivation, 112, 115
Motive, 112
Multiple font usage, 305

Narrative copy, 314, 329

National advertising, 28, 338
National Advertising Division (NAD), 61
National Advertising Review Board (NARB), 61
National Advertising Review Council (NARC), 61
National Readership Survey, 248
Nationalism, 448
Neologisms, 302
and nonce-formations, 301
Newspapers, 26, 28
Niche, 310
Noise, 216, 220
Nominal decision making, 120
Non-personal communication, 8, 10, 17, 35
Normal language, 287
Normative influence, 102
Norms, 99
Novelty effect, 384
Objectives, 132, 218
and task method, 172
Offensive strategy, 147
Onomatopoeia, 292
Operant conditioning, 110
Opportunity, 132
Order presentation, 165
Other-oriented values, 99
Oxymoron, 292

Page layout, 320

Parallelism, 289, 295
Parity products, 16, 17
Percentage of sales method, 172
Perceptible, 15
Perception, 223
process, 221
Peripheral route, 213
Personal selling, 8, 9, 424, 437
Personality, 112, 115, 150
Personality to the brand, 239
Personification, 292
Persuasion, 223
effect, 220
process, 213
Phonological deviations, 297, 308
Parallelism, 296
Photograph, 316
Physiological tests, 191
Picture, 329
and caption copy, 314
Planning, 130
Policy, 133
Political benefits, 40
Pop-up(s), 376, 433
Portfolio tests, 190
Positioning, 141, 142
strategy, approaches to, 143
Post-purchase dissonance, 126
Post-testing, 187
methods, 192
Posters, 18
Pre-tests, 187, 188
Preservation-oriented motives, 114
Price discounts, 337
Primacy effect, 165
Primary demand, 27
Problem-solving benefits, 212
Product development strategy, 79
Product positioning, 268
Production house, 82
Products/services/ideas, 14
Programme rating, 245, 246
Promotion, 399
Promotional
mix, 399
plan(s), 256, 399
programme, 255
Prospecting, 428
Provocative headlines, 312, 313, 328
Public Service Advertising (PSA), 62
Psychological
meaning, 107
needs, 39
tests, 191
values, 15
Public relations (PR), 14, 226, 418, 437
departments, 14
Publicity, 422, 437
releases, 284
Puffery, 14, 50, 51
Pull strategy, 413
Pulsing, 168, 244, 245
Pupillometer, 191
Purchase
decisions, 344
motive, 100
power, 41
Push
strategy, 414
technologies, 377, 389, 433

Quality, 271
appeal, 271
Question, 312, 328
headline, 313

Radio frequency identification technology (RFIT), 459

ROP (run of paper), 339
Radio, 28, 30
advertising, 366
Ragged alignment, 317
Rating scales, 190
Rational
appeal, 236, 270
approach, 234
Rational choice theory, 123
Reach, 167, 220, 245
Readership, 199
Reading notices, 348
Reality/verification, 264
Reasoning/analogy, 111
Recall, 230
tests, 194
Recency effect, 165
Recognition test, 194
Reference group, 101
Refunds, 457
Refutation, 166
Regulatory bodies, 41
Reinforce, 211
Relative cost, 247
Repetitions, 230
Research, 249, 262
ethnographic, 264
process, 179
Response
hierarchy models, 227
process, 227
Retail, 348
advertising, 337
sector, 364
Retention, 229
Rhetoric of advertising, 288
Rhyme, 289, 293, 294
Rhythmical device, 294
Role borrowing, 303
Rough layout, 316

Self-concept, 119
Sale, closing the, 428
Sales
advertising, 337
effectiveness, 260
 message, 9
promotion, 27, 412, 413, 437
trade-oriented, 413, 414
Sales tests, 193
Sales people, 315
Satisfaction, 31
Schedule, 215
Scheduling
and timings, 168
strategy, 244
Search engine text, 384
Secularization, 443
Secure electronic transaction (SET), 455
Selective demand, 27
Selectivity, 352, 366
Self-concept, 96, 103, 119
Self-oriented values, 99
Self-regulation, 60
Self-selected, 104
Semantic, 297, 308
deviations, 303
meaning, 107
Services or ideas, 8
Shock, 52
advertising, 52
Short-term memory, 112
Sight, 11, 35, 351, 354, 366
Signature, 320, 321
Significance of captions, 318
Simile, 289
Situational
analysis, 402
factors, 106
Slogan/signature, 311, 315, 328
Slogan/signature line, 328
SMART, 132
Social
causes, 7
institutions, 41
issues, 29
values, 7
Soul shock, 53
Sound, 10, 35, 351, 354, 366
and sight, 10
Source, 215
 credibility, 219
Spam, 378
Sponsor, 17
Sponsored mailing lists, 378, 389
Sponsorship, 432
Standard learning models, 229
Standardized campaign, 450
Station posters, 349
Stereotyping, 48, 447
Stimulus factors, 105
Straight line copy, 314, 329
Strategic
implementation, 133
planning, 130
process, 131
totally localized, 451
Strategy, 132
statements, 262
Strengths of a company, 132
Subception, 54
Subliminal, 54, 55
Substantiated claims, 457
Surrogate measures, 219
Survey of buying intention, 78
SWOT analysis, 75, 132
Syndication, 362
Syntactic parallelism, 296

Tachistoscope, 192
Tactical execution, 451
Tactics, 133, 215
Tagline, 315
Target, 35
audience, 28, 35, 259, 307
market, 140, 141, 182, 335
Target rating point (TRP), 246
Team work, 260
Television, 28, 30
Federal Communications Commision (FCC), 58
Iron maiden, 44
Theme, 231
line, 315
Threat, 132
Thumbnail sketch, 316
Tools
 qualitative, 77
quantitative, 78
Top-down approach, 172
Traditionalism, 443
Transit, 28
Translated executions, 451
TV, 26
Typographers, 282, 283
Typographical deviations, 297, 303, 308

Unduplicated audience, 245

Unique Selling Proposition (USP), 382
Utilitarian
function, 117
influence, 102

Value-expressive
function, 117
influence, 102
Vampire creativity, 274
Verification, 278
Vicarious learning/modelling, 110
Violate markets, 364
Vision, 132
Visual, 274, 311, 312, 320, 321, 322, 328
fantasy, 361, 366

Weaknesses of a company, 132

Weasel
claims, 53
words, 287
Web
advertising, 369
casting, 377, 389
portals, 455
Website, 377, 389, 430
designers, 457
White space, 327, 329
Wholesalers and retailers, 28
Working memory, 111

Yellow Pages, 343, 349

advertising, 343
book, 343
Yielding, 229

Zapping, 244, 360

Zipping, 244, 360