TYPES OF ADVERTISING
Advertising could mean the life and death of a product in today’s society. Good advertisement is can draw the attention of consumer in with actions, feelings, and emotions. The better the Advertisement is presented the higher the sales of the product could possibly be, but to make a successful advertisement the marketers should have the idea of what type of advertising they should try to pursue.
There are three different types of advertising:
• brand advertising,
• retail or local advertising,
• direct-response advertising,
Brand advertising is aimed at the consumers. When it is successful it can create a demand among buyers so that retailers put pressure on suppliers to supply more of the brand in order to meet the demand of consumers. To build a good demanding brand the company has to have a brand the trade and the consumers recognize, but they also should be able to convince them that the brand is better than the other brands. Next is, retail or local advertising which is connected with large, medium, and small retailers who try their best to bring customers into their stores. This type of advertising usually sends a message about the product that is available in local stores. “Retail advertising often includes price information, service and return policies, location of the store and hours of operation.” These types of advertising try to focus on encouraging large number of customers and busy stores and creating a certain image for the seller. Next advertising type would be direct-response advertising which has become more popular over time, because customers didn’t had time for in store shopping. So they moved on to the easier access of shopping through the mail, by telephone, or online. The internet is one of the main medium which helped direct-response advertising to be more popular, because more and more people are starting to use the internet to shop. There are seven different types of advertisings.
The first is pure informational advertising, which conveys straightforward information about the product that it is being used to promote. For example, if the product is a certain type of vehicle, then the advertising will present factual information about the vehicle in question, such as its top speed, its costs, and its safety rating.
The second type of advertising is deceptive advertising which presents information about the product as giving true information, which in turn, is the false information according to the advertiser. Take cigarettes as an example, they are advertised as being good for its smokers’ health when the advertiser believed that smoking is harmful, such advertising would be called deceptive advertising.
The third type of advertising that is possible is that termed “puffery”, which consists of hyperbolic promotional claims about the product advertised. For example, a hamburger chain might indicate in its advertisements that its staff are customer-friendly or the advertiser of a certain brand of soda might use animals to promote their product, they might indicate through its promotional material that its soda is so tasty that even gorilla would enjoy it.
The fourth type of advertising is name recognition advertising. Through this advertisers try to expose as many consumers as possible to their advertisements for a particular product for as long as possible. The aim for this type of advertising is to put this in mind of consumers’ that if they want to buy a certain product, then they should buy the advertised brand of that product. But in marketing, type of advertising refers to the primary “focus” of the message being sent and falls into one of the following four categories:
1. Product-Oriented Advertising
2. Image Advertising
3. Advocacy Advertising
4. Public Service Advertising
Most advertising spending is directed toward the promotion of a specific good, service or idea, what we have collectively labeled as an organization’s product. In most cases the goal of product advertising is to clearly promote a specific product to a targeted audience. Marketers can accomplish this in several ways from a low-key approach that simply provides basic information about a product (informative advertising) to blatant appeals that try to convince customers to purchase a product (persuasive advertising) that may include direct comparisons between the marketer’s product and its competitor’s offerings (comparative advertising). However, sometimes marketers intentionally produce product advertising where the target audience cannot readily see a connection to a specific product. Marketers of new products may follow this “teaser” approach in advance of a new product introduction to prepare the market for the product. For instance, one week before the launch of a new product a marketer may air a television advertisement proclaiming “After next week the world will never be the same” but do so without any mention of a product or even the company behind the ad. The goal is to create curiosity in the market and interest when the product is launched. Image advertising is undertaken primarily to enhance an organization’s perceived importance to a target market. Image advertising does not focus on specific products as much as it presents what an organization has to offer. In these types of ads, if products are mentioned it is within the context of “what we do” rather than a message touting the benefits of a specific product. Image advertising is often used in situations where an organization needs to educate the targeted audience on some issue. For instance, image advertising may be used in situations where a merger has occurred between two companies and the newly formed company has taken on a new name, or if a company has received recent negative publicity and the company wants to let the market know that they are about much more than this one issue. Organizations also use advertising to send a message intended to influence a targeted audience. In most cases there is an underlying benefit sought by an organization when they engage in advocacy advertising. For instance, an organization may take a stand on a political issue which they feel could negatively impact the organization and will target advertisements to voice their position on the issue. In some countries, not-for-profit organizations are permitted to run advertisements through certain media outlets free-of-charge if the message contained in the ad concerns an issue viewed as for the “greater good” of society. For instance, ads directed at social causes, such as teen-age smoking, illegal drug use and mental illness may run on television, radio and other media without cost to organizations sponsoring the advertisement.
TRENDS IN ADVERTISING:
Digital Convergence
Advertising is changing rapidly. Some say that the change has affected advertising more than any other marketing function. For instance, while many different media outlets are available for communicating with customers, the ability to distinguish between outlets is becoming more difficult due to the convergence of different media types. In advertising convergence, and more appropriately digital convergence, refers to a growing trend for using computer technology to deliver media programming and information. Convergence allows one media outlet to take advantage of features and benefits offered through other media outlets. For instance, in many areas around the world television programming is now delivered digitally via cable, telephone or satellite hookup. This delivery method uses the same principles of information delivery that is used to allow someone to connect the Internet.
The convergence of television and Internet opens many potential opportunities for marketers to target customers in ways not available with traditional television advertising. For example, technology may allow ads delivered to one household to be different than ads delivered to a neighbor’s television even though both households are watching the same program. But convergence is not limited to just television. Many media outlets are experiencing convergence as can be seen with print publications that now have a strong web presence. The future holds even more convergence opportunities. These include outdoor billboards that alter displays as cars containing geographic positioning systems (GPS) and other recognizable factors (e.g., GPS tied to satellite radio) pass by or direct mail postcards that carry a different message based on data that matches a household’s address with television viewing habits.
Audience Tracking
The movement to digital convergence provides marketers with the basic resources needed to monitor users’ activity, namely, digital data. Any media outlet that relies on computer technology to manage the flow of information does so using electronic signals that eventually form computer data. In simple form, electronic data is represented by either an “on” or “off” electronic signal. In computer language this is further represented by two numbers “0” and “1” and, consequently, is known as digital information. All digital information can be stored and later evaluated. For media outlets delivering information in digital form, the potential exists for greater tracking and matching this with information about the person receiving the digital data. And tracking does not stop with what is delivered; it also works with information being sent from the customer. For instance, as we noted earlier, by clicking on their television screen viewers will soon be able to instantly receive information about products they saw while watching a television show. This activity can be tracked then used in future marketing efforts.
While media convergence offers marketers more options for tracking response to advertisements, such activity also raises ethical and legal concerns. Many consumers are not pleased to learn their activities are being monitored when they engage a media outlet.
Ad Skipping and Blocking
As noted above, television recording devices offer marketers tremendous insight into viewers’ habits and behavior. Yet from the consumer side, the DVR is changing how people view television programs by allowing them to watch programming at a time that is most convenient for them.
Viewer convenience is not the only advantage of the DVR. The other main reason consumers are attracted to the DVR is their ability to quickly skip over commercials. Of course this presents major issues for advertisers who are paying for advertisements. As more DVR devices with ad skipping or even ad blocking features are adopted by mainstream consumers the advertiser’s concern with whether they are getting the best value for the advertising money becomes a bigger issue. Advertisers who feel frustrated with television ad-skipping may opt to invest their promotional funds in other media outlets where consumers are more likely to be exposed to an advertisement.
Changing Media Choices
There is a major cultural shift occurring in how people use media for entertainment, news and information. Many traditional media outlets, such as newspapers and major commercial television networks, are seeing their customer base eroded by the emergence of new media outlets. The Internet has become the major driver of this change. In particular, a number of important applications tied to the Internet are creating new media outlets and drawing the attention of many, mostly younger, consumers.
For marketers these new technologies should be monitored closely as they become accepted alternatives to traditional media outlets. While these technologies are currently not major outlets for advertising, they may soon offer such opportunity. As these technologies gain momentum and move into mainstream acceptance marketers may need to consider shifting advertising spending.
Marketers should also be aware that new media outlets will continue to emerge as new applications are developed. The bottom line for marketers is they must stay informed of new developments and understand how their customers are using these in ways that may offer advertising opportunities.
The change in trends of online marketing as well as advertisements on the World Wide Web is huge. What started off as free advertising has now gone on to become one of the best advertising platforms. Advertisements now come equipped with links to popular social networking sites and also collect feedback from its viewers. As a viewer you also get to interact by participating in polls and contests and also share information. All said and done, Social Media Advertising compliments your brand. At the end of the day your brand sells only if it manages to meet the consumer’s expectation. Advertisements on social networks can bring the horse to the stable, but it does not guarantee that the horse will eat.
Social networking is the biggest trend in advertising right now. Companies are using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networks to advertise. Some companies put their commercials on YouTube, thus getting an extra bang for their buck. Companies also create Facebook pages and “talk” to their customers this way. Twitter is also a useful way to tell customers about upcoming sales and new products. The latest innovations are largely based on use of and communication technology. A lot more use is being made of Internet advertising as compared to other media such as print media, TV and outdoor hoardings. Within the Internet advertising, the new developments are making the advertisement more and more interactive and customized to the profile of each Internet user. The first trend for 2012 is integration of original branded content into broader marketing campaigns. Larger marketing campaigns will be more integrated with creating and distributing original videos, not just the repurposing of TV spots. One of the most successful brands to merge 30-second TV spots with longer, online content is that of Old Spice. We should see more brands attempting this feature coming in 2012. The companies will be using TV spots to advertise for their longer, online advertisements. The second trend for 2012 will feature sites with more organic video experiences. Social video has major potential next year, and as publishers realize how much potential is there, they will look to integrate the content into their website experience. Native monetization’s such as YouTube, Promoted Videos, Twitter Promoted Tweets, and Facebook Sponsored Stories have exploded onto the scene. The trend will increase as more experiences merge with brand video content, with social video advertising expanding next year all over the web. The third trend for 2012 is that of improved media science. Earned media directors, pretty much a new position at advertising agencies these days, are being hired more often now than in the past in an effort to develop the firms’ understanding of the value of earned media and its ability to increase results. There are added services being offered by firms that will help companies gauge their social influence on the internet. The fourth trend for 2012 is that of widespread adoption of CPV pricing. The cost-per-view pricing model has become a more widely adapted segment of the industry over the past year. The adaptation has occurred because it has been market driven, employed by the major media buying companies in the United States. CPV is very common to cost-per-click, or CPC, in the advertising world. Advertising agencies find this method easier when it comes to engaging target audiences when compared to CPM purchasing, which is the more traditional method used in the industry. The fifth and final trend in the advertising and marketing industries for 2012 is that of dedicated social video budgets. Dedicated budgets for social videos will be developed as advertisers become well-trained in creating these original videos and then distributing those videos through social websites. Social video advertising campaigns, mostly experimental in the past, were usually included in the budgets that include pre-roll and displayed advertising purchases. Now, social video programs have moved to their own budgets and programs that boast specific viewership and earned media goals.
Some of the trends that are very successful from last few decades are:
1. Paid Search Rules:
Google ruled the past decade with paid search advertising. There is still no better, more effective form of advertising on the Internet. Keywords are becoming expensive, but if you know what you are doing, you will still be able to find cost-effective ways of acquiring customers using PPC.
2. Organic Search Gains Momentum:
Increasingly though, marketers are starting to understand the importance of organic search. Almost 90% of the entire Web’s search traffic flows through organic search, yet the search marketing industry is generally obsessed with PPC. This decade, some sanity and rationalization will take the place of this weird dichotomy.
3. Display Advertising and Vertical Ad Networks:
The best trend I have spotted during the past decade is the rise of vertical ad networks like Glam Media, Federated, Hot Chalk, Travel Ad Network, and others that focus on specific verticals. This is pretty much the only way for advertisers to do brand advertising across the fragmented spectrum of blogs and other online hangouts for audiences, including social media. In the coming decade, vertical ad networks will get better at providing more value to advertisers through advanced technology for audit, measurement, analytics and optimization, as well as richer engagement capabilities like interactive and video ads.
4. Social Media Advertising:
Social networks, especially the big ones like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, have a lot of information about individuals. They have not yet figured out ways to monetize this information and create a safe, non-intrusive, yet personalized framework through which advertisers can do high-precision targeting. This is definitely coming in the next few years.
5. In-Game Advertising:
Consumers are spending inordinate amounts of time online playing games. I foresee a significant uptick in in-game advertising this decade.
6. Advertising Apps and Games:
Now that apps have taken over the mobile web, and is even coming on to PCs, advertising apps and games are a natural progression. Marketers will see it is obvious that instead of a 30-second prime-time advertising slot, a branded app or game that can engage users for three minutes is a far better use of ad dollars.
7. Interactive Infomercials:
Television infomercials are an effective way to market products. But the Internet offers significantly more cost-effective and targeted ways to market using the same concept, but delivered through display ad networks, viral videos, and so on.
8. Video Advertising:
Whether they are about political campaigns or consumer brands, YouTube videos have a viral power, and everyone knows it. This decade, we will see a huge amount of creativity deployed on this art form.
9. Mobile Advertising:
The rise of the mobile Web – through mobile apps on smartphones and tablets in the West, and through the avalanche of cell phone adoption in the emerging markets from Brazil to Indonesia – opens the door for mobile advertising as a category to gain tremendous momentum this decade. In particular, location-based advertising, coupons, and special offers at highly targeted and precise moments – all look very promising.
10. Better Analytics, Optimization, and Targeting:
Powering all this and more, we will see a vastly more sophisticated analytics, optimization, and targeting infrastructure that doesn’t quite exist today. There will be innovation in affordable tools to optimize mobile advertising, social media advertising, and every other conceivable online customer acquisition method.
It has been predicted that the Internet will have 5 billion users in 2020. I cannot hold back my excitement at the potential of entrepreneurs being able to tap into this vast population and create value. I also cannot suppress my excitement at how thrilling all this will be for our One Million by One Million entrepreneurs. The world becomes accessible at our fingertips.
FEATURES OF GOOD ADVERTISING
A good copy of advertisement should possess the following characteristics or qualities or values-1. Attention value,
2. Suggestive value,
3. Memorizing value,
4. Conviction value,
5. Sentimental appeal value,
6. Education value,
7. Instinctive value,
Attention Value:
An advertisement copy must attract the attention of the potential consumers. If it fails in this mission, the whole money and efforts will go waste though it possesses all other values because everything else follows this. So, it must have display value. The copy should be planned, drafted and displayed so ingeniously that it may compel even the most casual or involuntary reader to notice it and read it with interest. It should be designed in such a fashion that the attention of a busiest person may be drawn immediately.
Suggestive Value:
The next task would be to offer a suggestion about the use and the utility of the product that may remain inscribed on the mind of the reader even when he forget where he really saw the advertisement. Slogans, Pictures, phrases and suggesting may be used for this purpose. They should be drafted and used as to drive home to the reader the utility of the product in everyday situation.
Memorizing Value:
The copy of the advertisement should be so drafted and laidout that the product will stick to the mind of the individual reader. Repetition of advertisement with slogan is an effective method of creating a memorising value.Pictures and photographs confirming to the suggestion will have tremendous memorizing value.
Conviction Value:
An advertisement copy can prove effective and achieve the desired end when the suggestion contained in it is backed by convincing arguments. The advertiser must be careful to include the statement in the advertisement copy which does not conform to the product.
Sentimental Value:
Sentiments play a very important role in advertising, particularly in the case of food articles. Sentiments reflect the personal feelings and attitudes of an individual towards various things. They indicate reactions of a person in favor or against a particular product. The advertiser or manufacturer should make a sincere attempt to make an appeal to the sentiments of as many prospects as possible.
Educational Value:
A good copy of advertisement must possess educative value because the object of modern advertising is not merely to satisfy the existing demand but to create future demand. So a good copy of advertisement should educate the general public about the uses of the new product or the new uses of the same product. It will certainly increase the demand of the product and demand creation is one of the most important objectives of the advertisement.
Instinctive Appeal:
Value Human thoughts and actions are guided by instincts and inclination. All that one thinks or does has its roots in one instinct or the other. Instincts are the underlying forces which compel the men to act in certain ways. The most important function of an advertisement copy is to induce, persuade and motivate the prospects to think’ well of a product and to take to its use. Advertising, essentially, is the motivation of the potential consumer and for this purpose; the advertiser should attempt to make an appeal to some basic instincts to get success in motivating the prospects
Some of the other characteristics of advertising are as follows:
1. Advertising must be an extension of a good marketing communication strategy. If it differs from the other components of the strategy, then it is not meeting the goals of the strategy and perhaps creating unintended results or messages. Therefore, when you create advertisements you should try to keep the message consistent with the message of the marcom strategy.
2. Advertising needs to be relevant to the consumer’s needs, wants, and values. Marketers often create advertising that is stated in a way that relates to the marketer’s needs, wants and values, instead of the consumers. It is essential to find what the consumer needs and then to direct your advertising messages to those needs.
3. It is getting harder and harder to get a consumer’s attention these days, therefore, you should design your advertisements in such a way that it cuts through all the other things that are trying to get the consumer’s attention as well. Consumers tend to block out advertisements, so you need to try and find a unique way of getting them to pay attention. There are many ways of doing this. You can use humor, sound, lack of sound and many more. I plan on doing some blog entries on getting consumer’s attention in the future, so check back for those.
4. Advertising should be truthful. If your advertisement says your car can go 0 to 60 in 1 second, then your product better be able to meet that promise. Being honest is not only ethical, it is also the intelligent way of doing business. No one likes being deceived, and if deception occurs, the consumer will have a negative view of the company. Your business will make it a lot further with positive attitudes towards your company then with negative ones.
5. Sometimes advertisement creators get so caught up in designing a creative, cool advertisement that they fail to effectively deliver a message that will facilitate the success of their marketing communications strategy. The final outcome of your advertising efforts should be to sell your products, not to have advertisements that look amazing and win all kinds of awards. The awards for your creativity won’t sell your innovations.
