OBJECTIVES AND IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING

Advertising Objectives

Each advertisement is a specific communication that must be effective, notjust for one customer, but for many target buyers. This means that specific objectives should be set for each particular advertisement campaign. Advertising is a form of promotion and like a promotion; the objectives of advertising should be specific. This requires that the target consumers should be specifically identified and that the effect which advertising is intended to have upon the consumer should be clearly indicated. The objectives of advertising were traditionally stated in terms of direct sales. Now, it is to view advertising as having communication objectives that seek to inform persuade and remind potential customers of the worth of the product. Advertising seeks to condition the consumer so that he/she may have a favourable reaction to the promotional message. Advertising objectives serve as guidelines for the planning and implementation of the entire advertising programme.

The basic objectives of an advertising programme may be listed as below:

• To stimulate sales amongst present, former and future consumers. It involves a decision regarding the media, e.g., TV rather than print.
• To communicate with consumers. This involves decision regarding copy.
• To retain the loyalty of present and former consumers. Advertising may be used to reassure buyers that they have made the best purchase, thus building loyalty to the brand name or the firm.
• To increase support. Advertising impliedly bolsters the morale of the sales force and of distributors, wholesalers, and retailers, ; it thus contributes to enthusiasts and confidence attitude in the organizational. :
• To project an image. Advertising is used to promote an overall image of respect and trust for an organization. This message is aimed not only at consumers, but also at the government, shareholders, and the general public.

Importance of Advertising

Generally, advertising is a relatively low-cost method of conveying selling messages to numerous prospective customers. It can secure leads for salesmen and middlemen by convincing readers to request more information and by identifying outlets handling the product. It can force middlemen to stock the product by building consumer interest. It can help train dealers salesmen in product uses and applications. It can build dealer and consumer confidence in the company and its products by building familiarity. Advertising is to stimulate market demand.

While sometimes advertising alone may succeed in achieving buyer acceptance, preference, or even demand for the product, it is seldom solely relied upon. Advertising is efficiently used with at least one other sales method, such as personal selling or point-of-purchase display, to directly move customers to buying action.

Advertising has become increasingly important to business enterprises – both large and small. Outlay on advertising certainly is the voucher. Non-business enterprises have also recognized the importance of advertising. The attempt by army recruitment is bases on a substantial advertising campaign, stressing the advantages of a military career. The health department popularizes family planning through advertising Labour organizations have also used advertising to make their viewpoints known to the public at large. Advertising assumes real economic importance too.

Advertising strategies that increase the number of units sold stimulate economies in the production process. The production cost per unit of output is lowered. It in turn leads to lower prices. Lower consumer prices then allow these products to become available to more people. Similarly, the price of newspapers, professional sports, radio and TV programmes, and the like might be prohibitive without advertising. In short, advertising pays for many of the enjoyable entertainment and educational aspects of contemporary life.

Advertising has become an important factor in the campaigns to achieve such societal-oriented objectives such as the discontinuance of smoking, family planning, physical fitness, and the elimination of drug abuse.

Though in India, advertising was accepted as a potent and recognized means of promotion only 25 years ago, its growing productive capacity and output necessitates the finding of consumers and advertising plays an important role in this process. Advertising helps to increase mass marketing while helping the consumer to choose from amongst the variety of products offered for his selection.

In India, advertising as a profession is in its infancy. Because of this fact, there is a tremendous scope for development so that it may be productively used for the benefit of producers, traders, consumers, and the country’s economy.

WHAT ARE INCLUDED AND EXCLUDED FROM ADVERTISEMSNT ?

What is Included in Advertising?

• The information in an advertisement should benefit the buyers. It should give them a more satisfactory expenditure of their rupees.
• It should suggest better solutions to their problems.
• The content of the advertisement is within the control of the advertiser, not the medium.
• Advertising without persuasion is ineffective. The advertisement that fails to influence anyone, either immediately or in the future, is a waste of money.
• The function of advertising is to increase the profitable sales volume.
• That is, advertising expenses should not increase disproportionately.

Advertising includes the following forms of messages: The messages carried in-

• Newspapers and magazines;
• On radio and television broadcasts;
• Circular of all kinds, (whether distributed by mail, by person, thorough tradesmen, or by inserts in packages);
• Dealer help materials,
• Window display and counter – display materials and efforts;
• Store signs, motion pictures used for advertising,
• Novelties bearing advertising messages and Signature of the advertiser,
• Label stags and other literature accompanying the merchandise.

What is excluded from Advertising?

Advertising is not an exact science. An advertiser’s circumstances are never identical with those of another; he cannot predict with accuracy what results his future advertising efforts will produce.

• Advertising is not a game, because if advertising is done properly, both the buyer and the seller benefit from it.
• Advertising is not a toy. Advertiser cannot afford to play with advertising. Advertising funds come from sales revenue and must be used to increase sales revenue.
• Advertisements are not designed to deceive. The desire and hope for repeat sales insures a high degree of honesty in advertising.

The activities excluded from advertising are:

• The offering of premiums to stimulate the sale of products;
• The use of exhibitions and demonstrations at fairs, show and conventions;
• The use of samples and activities, involving news releases and the activities of personal selling forces;
• The payment of advertising allowances which are not used for advertising;
• The entertainment of customers

DEFINITION OF ADVERTISISNG

The word advertising originates from a Latin word advertise, which means to turn to. The dictionary meaning of the term is “to give public notice or to announce publicly”.

Advertising may be defined as the process of buying sponsor-identified media space or time in order to promote a product or an idea.

The American Marketing Association, Chicago, has defined advertising as “any form of non-personal presentation or promotion of ideas, goods or services, by an identified sponsor.”

What Advertisement Is?

Advertisement is a mass communicating of information intended to persuade buyers to by products with a view to maximizing a company’s profits.

The elements of advertising are:

• It is a mass communication reaching a large group of consumers.
• It makes mass production possible.
• It is non-personal communication, for it is not delivered by an actual person, nor is it addressed to a specific person.
• It is a commercial communication because it is used to help assure the advertiser of a long business life with profitable sales.
• Advertising can be economical, for it reaches large groups of people.
• This keeps the cost per message low.
• The communication is speedy, permitting an advertiser to speak to millions of buyers in a matter of a few hours.
• Advertising is identified communication. The advertiser signs his name to his advertisement for the purpose of publicizing his identity.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ADVERTISING

It has been wrongly assumed that the advertising function is of recent origin. Evidences suggest that the Romans practiced advertising; but the earliest indication of its use in this country dates back to the Middle Ages, when the use of the surname indicated a man’s occupation. The next stage in the evolution of advertising was the use of signs as a visual expression of the tradesman’s function and a means of locating the source of goods. This method is still in common use.

The seller in primitive times relied upon his loud voice to attract attention and inform consumers of the availability of his services. If there were many competitors, he relied upon his own personal magnetism to attract attention to his merchandise. Often it became necessary for him to resort to persuasion to pinpoint the advantages of his products. Thus, the seller was doing the complete promotion job himself.

Development of retail stores, made the traders to be more concerned about attracting business. Informing customers of the availability of supplies was highly important. Some types of outside promotion were necessary. Signs on stores and in prominent places around the city and notices in printed matters were sometimes used.

When customers were finally attracted to the store and satisfied with the service at least once, they were still subjected to competitive influences; therefore, the merchant’s signs and advertisements reminded customers of the continuing availability of his services. Sometimes traders would talk to present and former customers in the streets, or join social organizations in order to have continuing contacts with present and potential customers.

As the markets grew larger and the number of customers increased, the importance of attracting them also grew. Increasing reliance was placed on advertising methods of informing about the availability of the products. These advertising methods were more economical in reaching large numbers of consumers. While these advertising methods were useful for informing and reminding and reminding, they could not do the whole promotional job. They were used only to reach each consumer personally. The merchant still used personal persuasion once the customers were attracted to his store.

The invention of hand press increased the potentialities of advertising. By Shakespeare’s times, posters had made their appearance, and assumed the function of fostering demand for existing products. Another important event was the emergence of the pamphlet as an advertising medium. The early examples of these pamphlets disclose their sponsorship by companies want to generate goodwill for their activities. The low cost of posters and handbills encouraged a number of publishers to experiment with other methods.