ABCA2103

Faculty of Applied Social Sciences
ABCA2103
Principles of Advertising
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

ABCA2103
PRINCIPLES OF
ADVERTISING
Muhamad Sham Shahkat Ali
Hamisah Zaharah Hasan

Project Directors: Prof Dato’ Dr Mansor Fadzil
Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Yusof Ahmad
Open University Malaysia
Module Writers: Dr Muhamad Sham Shahkat Ali

Universiti Putra Malaysia
Dr Hamisah Zaharah Hasan

Universiti Putra Malaysia
Editor: Majumin Hanum Abdul Samad

Developed by: Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

First Edition, November 2008 (HBCA4103)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM), December 2016, ABCA2103
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the President, Open University Malaysia (OUM).

TABLE OF CONTENTS W iii
Table of Contents
Course Guide xi - xvi
Topic 1: Introduction to Advertising 1

1.1 The World of Advertising 2
1.2 Definition of Advertising 3
1.3 Evolution of Advertising 6
1.3.1 The Babylonia and Egyptian Age 7
1.3.2 The Age of the Pompeii Government 7
1.3.3 The Greek and Roman Empires 7
1.3.4 The Era of the French Rule 8
1.3.5 The Age of Development of the 19th Century 8
1.3.6 The Age of Research and Development 10
1.4 A Brief History of Advertising in Malaysia 12
1.5 Types of Advertisements 15
1.6 Role of Advertisements 19
1.7 Functions of Advertising 21
1.8 Good Advertisement Features 23
1.9 Five Main Groups in the Advertising Industry 26
1.9.1 Advertiser 27
1.9.2 Advertising Agencies 28
1.9.3 Seven Elements of Measurement for Full Service
Advertising Agencies 29
1.9.4 Media 31
1.9.5 Vendor 32
1.9.6 Audience 32
1.10 Current Issues in Advertising 33
Summary 35
Key Terms 35
Self Test 1 36
Self Test 2 36
References 36
Topic 2: Advertising and Society: Ethics, Regulations and

Social Responsibilities 37
2.1 Advertising and Society 38
2.2 Advertising and Social Responsibilities 39
2.3 Issues Related to Advertising Ethics 41

iv X TABLE OF CONTENTS
2.4 Problems of Advertising Code of Ethics ă

The Malaysian Scenario 45
Summary 47
Key Terms 47
Self Test 1 47
Self Test 2 48
References 48
Topic 3: The Advertising and Marketing Process 49

3.1 Advertising Management 50
3.2 Definition of Marketing 50
3.3 Basic Concepts in Marketing 52
3.4 Marketing Communication 55
3.5 Marketing Mix 58
3.6 Advertising Agencies: The Mix Between Advertising and
Marketing 61
Summary 62
Key Terms 62
Self Test 1 63
Self Test 2 63
References 63
Topic 4: Advertising: Background, Planning and Strategy 65

4.1 Strategic Planning 66
4.2 Marketing Plan 68
4.3 Advertising Plan 69
4.3.1 Introduction 69
4.3.2 Situational Analysis 69
4.3.3 Strategies for Making Advertising Decisions 70
4.4 Advertising Research 80
4.5 Research Category 82
4.6 Consumers Research Methodology 84
Summary 87
Key Terms 88
Self Test 1 88
Self Test 2 88
References 88

TABLE OF CONTENTS W v
Topic 5: Advertising Media: Planning and Buying 90

5.1 Media Planning Process 91
5.2 Three Strategic Levels for the Media Planning Process 93
5.2.1 Marketing Strategy 94
5.2.2 Advertising Strategy 94
5.2.3 Media Strategy 95
5.3 Four Components of Media Strategy 97
5.3.1 Selection of Target Audience 97
5.3.2 Specialisation of Media Objectives 98
5.3.3 Selection of Media Vehicles and Class 103
5.3.4 Media Buying 106
Summary 110
Key Terms 110
Self Test 1 110
Self Test 2 111
References 111
Topic 6: Advertising Media: Print Media 112

6.1 Print Media 113
6.2 Print Media: Newspapers 114
6.2.1 Advantages of the Newspaper 116
6.2.2 Disadvantages of Newspapers 118
6.3 Types of Newspaper Advertisements 119
6.4 Print Media: Magazines 123
6.4.1 Advantages of Magazines 125
6.4.2 Disadvantages of Magazines 127
6.5 Types of Magazine Advertisements 128
6.6 Transit Advertising 130
6.7 Outdoor Advertisements 131
6.8 Advertisement Directory 132
6.9 Print Media Advertisement Strategy 133
Summary 134
Key Terms 134
Self Test 1 134
Self Test 2 135
References 135
Topic 7: Advertising Media: Radio, Tv and On-Line

Interactive Media 136
7.1 Broadcast Media 137
7.2 Structure of Radio 138
7.3 Radio Audience 140
7.4 Radio Advertising Expenditure 142

vi X TABLE OF CONTENTS
7.5 Types of Radio Advertisements 143

7.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Radio Advertisements 145
7.6.1 Advantages of Advertising Over Radio 145
7.6.2 Disadvantages of Radio Advertising 147
7.7 Television Structure 148
7.8 Television Advertising Expenditure 153
7.9 Television Audience 154
7.10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Television 155
7.10.1 Advantages of Advertisements on Television 155
7.10.2 Disadvantages of Television Advertisements 156
7.11 On-Line Interactive Media Advertising 159
7.12 Purposes of Internet Advertising 161
7.13 Types of Internet Advertising 162
Summary 164
Key Terms 164
Self Test 1 164
Self Test 2 164
References 165
Topic 8: Creativity and Advertising 166

8.1 Creative Advertising 167
8.2 The Concept of Creativity 169
8.3 Creative People 172
8.4 Creative Strategy 173
8.5 Features of Creative Strategy 175
8.6 The Creative Process 177
8.7 Preparing the Advertisement 179
Summary 186
Key Terms 186
Self Test 1 186
Self Test 2 186
References 187
Topic 9: Creativity in Print Advertising 188

9.1 Print Advertisement Elements 189
9.2 Headlines 189
9.2.1 Functions of Headlines 189
9.2.2 Types of Headlines 194
9.3 Sub-Headings or Sub-Heads 199
9.4 Body Copy of the Advertisement 200
9.5 Slogan 202
9.6 Design and Layout 204

TABLE OF CONTENTS W vii
9.6.1 Types of Layout 204

9.6.2 Levels of Layout 207
9.6.3 Principles of Design 208
Summary 210
Key Terms 210
Self Test 1 210
Self Test 2 211
References 211
Topic 10: Creativity in Broadcast Advertisement 212

10.1 Elements of Radio Advertisements 213
10.1.1 Voice 213
10.1.2 Music 214
10.1.3 Sound Effects 214
10.2 Purposes of Radio Advertisements 215
10.3 Radio Advertisement Format 217
10.4 Radio Advertisement Script Format 218
10.5 Television Advertisements 220
10.6 Television Advertisement Format 221
10.7 Format of Television Advertisement Scripts 223
10.8 Storyboard 224
10.9 Video Instructions 228
10.9.1 Camera Shot 228
10.9.2 Camera Angle 231
10.9.3 Camera Movement 232
10.9.4 Video Transition 233
Summary 236
Key Terms 236
Self Test 1 236
Self Test 2 236
References 237

viii X TABLE OF CONTENTS

COURSE GUIDE

COURSE GUIDE  xi
COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION

You must read this Course Guide carefully from the beginning to the end. It tells
you briefly what the course is about and how you can work your way through
the course material. It also suggests the amount of time you are likely to spend in
order to complete the course successfully. Please keep on referring to the Course
Guide as you go through the course material as it will help you to clarify
important study components or points that you might miss or overlook.
INTRODUCTION
ABCA2103 Principles of Advertising is one of the courses offered by Faculty of
Applied Social Sciences at Open University Malaysia (OUM). This course is
worth 3 credit hours and should be covered over 15 weeks.
COURSE AUDIENCE
This is a compulsory course for students taking communication programme,
however it is also intended for students specializing in Multimedia
Communications (Advertising).
As an open and distance learner, you should be able to learn independently and
optimise the learning modes and environment available to you. Before you begin
this course, please confirm the course material, the course requirements and how
the course is conducted.
STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for every credit
hour. As such, for a three-credit hours course, you are expected to spend 120 study
hours. Table 1 gives an estimation of how the 120 study hours could be accumulated.

xii  COURSE GUIDE
Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours
Study
Study Activities
Hours
Reading module and completing assignments 70
Attending 5 sessions of tutorials at the rate of 2 hours per session 10
Accessing the internet 10
Completing assignments given 15
Revising 15
TOTAL STUDY HOURS ACCUMULATED 120
COURSE OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Explain the principles, concepts, functions and strategies of advertising;
2. Discuss the ethical issues, laws and social responsibilities in advertising;
3. Identify concepts of marketing and describe the relationship between
advertising and marketing;
4. Explain the process of planning and media buying;
5. Describe the operations of advertising agencies and the relationship
between advertising and marketing;
6. Discuss the process of producing advertisements under print and electronic
media from planning to printing stages;
7. Interpret details and expand ideas both orally and through script writing,
with precision, clarity and concreteness; and
8. Apply knowledge into creative work in print and electronic media.
COURSE SYNOPSIS
This course is divided into 10 topics. The synopsis for each topic is presented
below:
Topic 1 discusses the basic aspects of advertising which include the topics of definition,
types, roles, functions and five important groups in advertising. This topic also
discusses the evolution of advertising, a brief history of advertising in Malaysia, and

COURSE GUIDE  xiii
current issues in advertising and its relationship to society. Students can obtain a
preliminary idea of the functions of advertising in todayÊs modern society.
Topic 2 discusses relationship between advertising and society. Advertising and

society are topics in existence ever since the early beginnings of advertising. These two
factors are inter-dependent. Besides reaping profits, big companies carry out various
activities in order to ensure that their companies can remain competitive and be
accepted by society. The main important topics elaborated upon here are issues related
to advertising and society, ethical issues in advertising and discussions about the
advertising industry in Malaysia from the control, regulatory and social responsibility
aspects. Students will be introduced to various ethical issues in advertising and
existing problems in advertising ethics.
Topic 3 describes the advertising and marketing process. Marketing activities are
implemented based on the needs and wants of the consumer or market. The
advertiser should produce whatever that can be sold or whatever that is required
by the market. However, marketing is not just carried out by business industries
only. Marketing is also carried out by non-business organisations, individuals,
the government, etc. This topic focuses on discussions of topics like definition of
marketing, concepts of marketing, role of advertising in marketing, marketing
methods and advertising agencies.
Topic 4 introduces students to the background, planning and strategies of

advertising. Students will be exposed to the concepts of consumerism, accounts
and research planning, advertising planning and strategies, as well as
implementation of advertising.
Topic 5 deals with the advertising media. The selection of media is one of the
complex processes of marketing communication decision-making, as there exist a
variety of choices in terms of media and schedules that have to be implemented.
This topic discusses the process of planning and media buying. Students will be
introduced to various concepts of planning and media buying. This topic also
emphasises the implementation process, strategy as well as planning design and
media buying.
Topic 6 describes the print media in advertising. Advertising is a rapidly

expanding field. It can target and influence consumers anywhere. It cannot be
denied that advertising is now a part of our daily lives ă presenting itself without
invitation and is such an influential communication medium, so much so that it
sometimes can be disturbing and stressful for consumers. In this topic, students
will be introduced to the print media. This topic focuses on types of print media,
advantages and drawbacks of print media advertising and the main factors that
need to be emphasised by advertisers to make the print media advertisements
more effective. Students are also introduced to outdoor media.

xiv  COURSE GUIDE
Topic 7 discusses the role of electronic media in advertising. Lately, the total number of
broadcast media in Malaysia is on the rise. This provides greater opportunities for the
advertisers to advertise their goods and services over the broadcast media which is
considered appropriate with advertising objectives and their target audience. The
existence of the new stations not only hugely affects the advertising expenditure
(Adex) but also affects the competitive rating of listeners. This topic introduces
students to the broadcast advertising media i.e. radio and television and the on-line
interactive media. It also discusses the pros and cons of each type of medium, structure
and audience for each broadcast media.
Topic 8 introduces the role of creativity in advertising. Creativity plays a very

important role in advertising. Creative advertisements have the ability to attract
media readers, listeners and viewers. To become creative, students should be able
to make relevant connections with the audience and display sales ideas in
extraordinary ways. Students will be introduced to the concepts of creativity,
creative strategies and processes so that they can produce a creative
advertisement which can appeal to the people.
Topic 9 discusses creativity for print advertisements. How does one produce a
print advertisement that is creative with the capacity to effectively deliver the
message within the advertisement? How about the design layout and format of
the advertisement? What are the criteria that creative directors, art directors and
copy writers need to consider before a print advertisement can be produced?
Since nowadays, there are just too many advertisements in the newspapers and
magazines, not all these advertisements will get noticed by readers. More creative
advertisements have the potential to attract greater attention. All these points will
be discussed in this topic.
Topic 10 discusses creativity of broadcast advertising, i.e. radio and television

advertising. Students will be introduced to advertising format as well as radio
and television advertisement script, types of radio and television advertisements
and how a broadcast advertisement is created. It is hoped students will be able to
produce creative advertisements at the end of this topic.
TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Before you go through this module, it is important that you note the text
arrangement. Understanding the text arrangement will help you to organise your
study of this course in a more objective and effective way. Generally, the text
arrangement for each topic is as follows:

COURSE GUIDE  xv
Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you
have completely covered a topic. As you go through each topic, you should
frequently refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously
gauge your understanding of the topic.
Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

throughout the module. It may be inserted after one sub-section or a few sub-
sections. It usually comes in the form of a question. When you come across this
component, try to reflect on what you have already learnt thus far. By attempting
to answer the question, you should be able to gauge how well you have
understood the sub-section(s). Most of the time, the answers to the questions can
be found directly from the module itself.
Activity: Like Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various

locations or junctures throughout the module. This component may require you
to solve questions, explore short case studies, or conduct an observation or
research. It may even require you to evaluate a given scenario. When you come
across an Activity, you should try to reflect on what you have gathered from the
module and apply it to real situations. You should, at the same time, engage
yourself in higher order thinking where you might be required to analyse,
synthesise and evaluate instead of only having to recall and define.
Summary: You will find this component at the end of each topic. This component
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should
be able to gauge your knowledge retention level. Should you find points in the
summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details in the module.
Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should go
through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargon used
throughout the module. Should you find terms here that you are not able to
explain, you should look for the terms in the module.
References: The References section is where a list of relevant and useful

textbooks, journals, articles, electronic contents or sources can be found. The list
can appear in a few locations such as in the Course Guide (at the References
section), at the end of every topic or at the back of the module. You are
encouraged to read or refer to the suggested sources to obtain the additional
information needed and to enhance your overall understanding of the course.

xvi  COURSE GUIDE
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
No pre-requisite is required for this course.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Please refer to myINSPIRE.
REFERENCES
Wells, Burnett, Moriarty. (2006). Advertising: Principles and practise. (7th ed.).
New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Adnan Hashim. (1994). Advertising in Malaysia. Petaling Jaya: Pelanduk

Publications.
Arens F. William. (2004). Contemporary advertising. (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill,

Irwin.
Jewler & Drewniany. (2005). Creative strategy in advertising. (8th ed.).

Thompson: Wadsworth.
Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin. (1993). Asas periklanan. KL: Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka.
TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

DIGITAL LIBRARY
The TSDAS Digital Library has a wide range of print and online resources for the
use of its learners. This comprehensive digital library, which is accessible through
the OUM portal, provides access to more than 30 online databases comprising e-
journals, e-theses, e-books and more. Examples of databases available are
EBSCOhost, ProQuest, SpringerLink, Books24x7, InfoSci Books, Emerald
Management Plus and Ebrary Electronic Books. As an OUM learner, you are
encouraged to make full use of the resources available through this library.

Topic  Introduction to
1 Advertising
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Define advertising;
2. Describe briefly the evolution of advertising;
3. Discuss the brief history of advertising in Malaysia;
4. Identify ten (10) types of advertising;
5. Discuss four (4) roles of advertising;
6. Describe three (3) functions of advertising; and
7. Describe five (5) main groups in the advertising industry
 INTRODUCTION
"Starting something is great but completing it is even greater"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 ă 1882
All of you must have heard about and used the KODAK
brand at one point in time or other. However,did you know
that George Eastman revolutionalised photography as an
art form in 1888? He used the power of advertising
successfully. The slogan ÂYou Press the Button ă We Do the
RestÊ (Figure 1.1) made KODAK a must-have product.
Figure 1.1: The

Kodak brand
2  TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTISING
The concept of the ÂKODAK GirlÊ

(Figure 1.2) used the image of a
beautiful girl and exploited the
testimonials of well-known
personalities to make KODAK a
powerful brand.
Figure 1.2: Kodak girl advertisement
Source: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/
corp/kodak/History/
Welcome to the first topic of the principles of advertising module. In this topic,
we will discuss the basic aspects of advertising which will include the definition
of advertising, the types, roles, functions and five important groups in
advertising. In this chapter we also discuss the evolution of advertising, a brief
history of advertising in Malaysia, and current issues in advertising. It is hoped
that you acquire a proper understanding of this topic before we proceed to the
next topic.
1.1 THE WORLD OF ADVERTISING

ACTIVITY 1.1
If advertising in any form (seen, heard or viewed) did not exist, then
how would this affect our lives? Try to think and reflect on this point
for a minute.
The world of advertising is growing rapidly. In the beginning, only huge

organisational conglomerates dominated advertising. Today, the advertising
industry comprises a variety of companies, such as small-sized or big-sized
companies, carrying out various business activities.
Advertising is also the conduit between advertisers and consumers or the target
audience. Through advertising, advertisers send several messages to ensure that
consumers get sufficient information about their products and services.

TOPIC 1 INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTISING  3
1.2 DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING
ACTIVITY 1.2
In general, what do you understand about the term advertising? Can we

assume that advertising is a means of keeping us informed about various
things for various purposes?
As an introduction to this topic, we will look at the assumptions made by Arens

(1999) about advertising. He defined the functions of advertising as a process of
communicating non-personal information about a product, which is structured,
paid-for and sponsored by well-known sponsors, through various types of
media.
If we refer to the definition by Arens, we will find that there is truth in this, as
sponsors like Celcom, Pepsi, etc pay for most advertising. The advertiser pays for
the advertisement space whether it is through print media like newspapers,
magazines, etc. or via electronic media like television, radio, etc. In general, we
can assume that advertising aims to persuade the consumer to either choose the
product or service that is advertised or to take the necessary action to buy the
advertised product or service.
What then is the view of the second expert?
Duncan (2005) said that advertisements are non-personal communication

that are normally paid for by well-known sponsors and broadcast in a
persuasive form, through various media.
In actual fact advertising is the dissemination of information or ideas about

products and services. For example, advertisements that appear before the Main
News on TV3 or advertisements heard on the air while you are enjoying songs
played on Radio Era. Other than the television and radio, advertisements can
also be found in newspapers and magazines. Although the form of these
advertisements may differ, their purpose is the same, i.e. to act as a form of
communication, to persuade the consumer to choose to buy the advertised
product.
In general, we can conclude that advertising is any form of communication

between an organisation and the public. Advertising is a means of liaison that a
company or organisation has with its customers. We find that advertising aims
to keep people informed about the company and its products or services. In
other words, the process of advertising endeavours to persuade the public to see,
to evaluate and to purchase the products and services advertised by the
company.
Commercial advertising is therefore an effort by sponsors to sell a product by

paying for the space. Thus, Maya Karin promoting a shampoo in the Pantene
Shampoo advertisement that is shown over television; the Omega Watch
advertisement in TIME magazine which features the Russian tennis player Anna
Kournikova and has the main caption, „Anna KournikovaÊs Choice‰, are
examples of commercial advertising. The aim of such advertising is to sell a
product.
Figure 1.3: Space usage advertisement

Source: http://wwww.123-celebrities.com/anna.koumikova
/images/omega/omega01.jpg
ACTIVITY 1.3
What do you understand about the concept of communication? Can
you list the various forms of communication that are available within
your surroundings other than advertising?
At this stage, you can assume that advertising is a means of communication.

Several scholars like Arens (1999), Belch & Belch (2003) and Wells et al. (2003)
discussed the definition of advertising and described the advertising model from
the perspective of the communication process. In Figure 1.4 below, you can see
the communication process in advertising. According to the modified model, it is
clear that there are several important elements in the advertising communication
process.

The said process involves advertisers as the source āadvertisement or

message ā through a channel ā audience, i.e. the receivers. In short, it can
be said that the advertising process begins from the source, i.e. the
advertisement from the advertisers that conveys the message through the
mass media to the audience, i.e. the receivers (Figure 1.4 (a) and (b)).
Figure 1.4 (a): The communication process in advertising
Figure 1.4 (b): The communication process

Source: Adapted from Shimp (2003). Advertising promotion, and supplemental aspects
of integrated marketing communications (6th ed.). OH South-Western.
ACTIVITY 1.4
After understanding the process of communication in advertising as

shown in the above model, try and draw a brief model of the advertising
communication process as it applies to any one product advertisement
currently available in the market.

1.3 EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING
ACTIVITY 1.5
Everything has a beginning. In your view, when and how did the
process of advertising commence?
As we know, the development of a society plays an important role in influencing

the growth of advertising. At present advertising is more powerful in
determining the marketability of products and services than before.
According to Semenik (2002), developments in information and

communications technology have made advertising very
sophisticated, and all of us have been indirectly trained to become
smart and conscientious consumers when making a decision to
purchase something.
We will find that these changes and developments have resulted in a consumer
culture that is constantly evolving with the passage of time. These changes also
affect the advertising climate. The consumer culture is the way of life that society
goes through, i.e. the practices of a particular society. This scenario refers to the
social legacy adopted by society.
OÊGuinn et al. (2006) emphasised that this situation includes the way
we eat, use products and services, dress, celebrate festivals and also the
way society lays area boundaries and position.
History shows us that advertising grew alongside developments in society. As

such, when societies changed, advertising also changed. The history of
advertising actually began with the emergence of social civilisations. This is the
effect of the natural tendencies of mankind to carry out advertising activities.
From the early era of advertising pioneered by our forefathers, i.e. the Egyptian
age, advertising grew in line with the wave of social changes. According to Arens
(1999), the history of advertising has been recorded over the last 5000 years and
now in the Age of Information and Communication Technology it is seen that
advertising has become an activity that has a significant impact on the lives of
man.
1.3.1 The Babylonian and Egyptian Age

Historically speaking, the Babylonian society had been in existence since 3000
BC. It had left behind traces of activities that involve advertising. This is
evidenced by clay sculptures that show medicine peddlers and cobblers
advertising their respective trades. The history of Egyptian advertising has led
archaeologists to discover inscriptions on papyrus, which advertised missing
slaves.
From some of these inscriptions we can infer that advertising was practised
during this age and one common form of advertising was aimed at searching for
slaves who had run away from their masters. Carvings on walls of caves were
also in the form of „Lost & Found‰ advertisements, which offered rewards to
those who could find and return slaves to their owners.
1.3.2 The Age of the Pompeii Government

During the Age of the Pompeii government, one can find carved symbols on
stone known as „terra-cotta‰ advertising goods sold by traders - thus for shops
selling meat, the symbol was a meat chop, and for shops selling shoes the symbol
of a shoe was used. Advertising also played a vital role in politics since early
times. For example during the Roman rule people were persuaded to vote for
certain leaders through political posters.
The records show that advertising was being practised from as early as 4000 BC.
However, historians can only verify early advertising in the form of symbolic
drawings or carvings. Early advertising is also linked to the discovery of several
drawings (hierographics) in the form of pictographs or ideographs carved on the
walls of caves. Evidence left behind by ancient civilizations has led early
researchers to conclude that these ancient people practised advertising.
1.3.3 The Greek and Roman Empires

Advertising developed through barter trade. During the Greek and Roman
Empires there was one form of advertising carried out by the town criers. They
were responsible for informing the people of particular products and services
with the main aim of increasing sales for their sponsors.

From that time till the end of the 19th Century, the town crier methodology was
the main channel for advertising. History records that these town criers entered
the lanes surrounding Rome and during the Grecian civilisation, they went
around the town announcing the sale of slaves and livestock and making public
service announcements.
1.3.4 The Era of the French Rule

In 1141, the town crier received royal recognition, when the French King, Louis
VII presented an exclusive charter to a group of town criers to work in the Berry
territory. Besides the task of announcing various goods and services, these town
criers also gave samples of certain products to potential users. For e.g. an inn
advertised its services by providing sample liquor to potential customers.
Different areas had different styles of town criers. Town criers in London wore
red coats whilst ringing a copper bell to announce their sponsorsÊ messages (see
Figure 1.5).
Figure 1.5: A town crier

Source: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/
read.asp?forum=1053&messages=16226934
1.3.5 The Age of Development of the 19th Century

The development of printing technology in the 19th Century dictated changes in
advertising features, especially with the invention of the printing machine. The
invention of the printing machine resulted in the introduction of the advertising
distribution card that was distributed by sponsors to advertise their respective
products and services. With the invention of the mobile typewriter by Johann
Gutenberg in around 1438 came print advertisements. It is clear that innovation
influenced the advertising landscape. After almost 40 years later, the first print
advertisement in the English language, in the form of a sheet that contained

religious rules for celebrating Easter, made its appearance. These form of
advertisements more popularly known as handbills were created by William
Caxton, and were posted on the doors of churches.
Printing also introduced handwritten posters known as si quis which meant Âif
anybodyÊ (see Figure 1.6). Those with special skills would advertise their abilities
to procure jobs or offer services to particular people. The si quis would advertise
the services or special skills of the people who were seeking employment to
others.
Figure 1.6: A si quis advertisement ă „if anybody‰

Source: http://www.uniduisburg.de/Institute/
CollCart/es/sem/s6/txt02_1h.htm
Did you know the implications of the invention of the printing

machine? This development encouraged an increase in the rate of
literacy. It also brought about significant changes in advertising
characteristics. Prior to the changes, advertising involved gathering
people together and making direct announcements to them. This
practice became redundant. The public no longer had to gather in one
place to listen to the town criers. They could instead read the messages
from advertising sponsors at any time.

1.3.6 The Age of Research and Development

In the age of research, i.e. over the last fifty years, advertising has begun to
identify better techniques and penetrated more specialised and focused target
groups. The focus was on particular groups or segments of the market. Modern
inventions and developments in manufacturing towards the end of the 19th
Century played a major part in this. For example, the development of the electric
motor and electric current (AC) helped run the factories which had previously
relied on hydro-electric power.
Indirectly, this also helped the development of transportation and population. A

good transport system facilitated the process of sending raw materials to
factories and finished products to consumers more speedily. Besides this, society
did not focus on just one area but began to venture into new settlement areas as
they were no longer isolated in terms of obtaining information, goods and
services.
In this age, there was also rapid development in the publication of printed
materials like newspapers, magazines and religious documents. In 1690, the first
colonial newspaper, ÂPublick OccurrencesÊ, was published in Boston. However,
only one issue was distributed because after this the Governor of that territory
banned this paper. Nonetheless, there emerged other cheap newspapers that
were distributed to the workers.
This development also led to the beginning of the age of the mass media
particularly with the publication of the „New York Herald‰ by James Gordon
Bennet, in 1835 (Figure 1.7). The Herald carried sensational news on sex, violence
and murder and represented a new development in the newspaper world. It
became a very influential paper for the dissemination of news and
advertisements.
Figure 1.7: New York Herald 1835

Source: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~mwolfe/
NY%20Herald.jpg

Besides this, the publication of religious documents was also an influential tool
or channel in delivering messages to the public. Moreover, this era also saw the
rise of religious awareness. In fact, the clergy had their own publications with a
wide circulation. At that time, there were about 400 religious publications
circulated to almost five million readers.
The publication of magazines began in the last three decades of the 19th Century,
as a result of the increase in literacy levels of society. Besides this, developments
in the transport system, for example the train, helped in the circulation of
magazines from publishers to all readers far and wide at little cost. Magazines
like Atlantic Monthly, Cosmopolitan, McClureÊs, LadiesÊ Home Journal, Better
Homes & Gardens, ReaderÊs Digest, etc. became tools for advertisements i.e.
they helped to transmit product and service information more widely.
Advertising continued to expand rapidly and during World War 1, advertising

emerged as a tool to fan the patriotic spirit. In fact, big advertising agencies, at
that time, like N.W. Ayer & Sons advertised the collection of donations.
Advertisements evolved to become tools for communicating ideas besides selling

products. As such, advertisers used these publications widely to advertise their
products to consumers. Table 1.1 explains in brief the evolution of advertising.
Table 1.1: Evolution of Advertisement
The Four Eras of Evolution

Important Records
of Advertising
Development of Capitalism Organisations competed to obtain materials and capital.
The beginning of the free market environment.
Industrial Revolution  1750s in England.
 Domestic production development.
 Mass-production.
 The development of transportation facilitated the
flow of raw materials and products from producers
to consumers.
 Modification process.
 Increase in population created bigger markets for
goods produced.
The Procurement of Power  When producers could control the flow of goods,
by Producers in producers could control the demand for brands.
Distribution Channels  The response of consumers towards brand names
increased production.
The Emergence of Modern  The development of the mass media influenced

Mass Media production and demand for products.

 This scenario changed business and social systems.
Source: Adapted from Oguinn et al. (2006). Advertising and integrated brand promotion
(4th ed.). OH: Thomson South-Western.
1.4 A BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING IN

MALAYSIA
ACTIVITY 1.6
In your view, when and how did advertising begin in Malaysia? Why did
you select those dates and what is your evaluation?
Did you know that advertising existed in the Federation of Malaya and
Singapore in the 19th Century, i.e. during the arrival of foreign traders to the
Straits Settlements? However, the use of media at that time was limited and
advertising techniques were not so sophisticated. Even so, advertisements still
used the basic principles of advertising to ensure the effective process of product
message delivery to consumers. At that time, most advertisements were in the
form of posters, brochures, sandwich boards and newspapers.
The development of the history of advertising in the Federation of Malaya also

progressed in line with the trade advancements in the Straits Settlements. The
first advertisement was published in 1805 in a Penang newspaper, i.e. the Prince
of Wales IslandÊs Gazette. Several advertisements that were published at that
time were in English and the advertisements often used poetry and
Shakespearean quotes. This practice was due to the influence of the English
speaking public.
Products like hair oil, alcohol and inns were advertised. These advertisements
were suitable for the target audience at that time, i.e. sailors, traders and soldiers
who were concentrated in the port areas. As such, it was appropriate if there
were advertisements on sailing information or movement of trading ships. As an
example, the advertisement on the front page of the Straits Times on 15 July 1845
was about The Dardo, a ship sailing from Spain to Manila.
Besides this, there was also an advertisement about The Anna Maria, a ship
weighing 487 tonnes that was sailing to London. Most of these advertisements
also had pictures. Meanwhile, on 26 August 1845, there was an advertisement on
the list of inns for sailors. Jensen & Company, an advertiser of inns, advertised

the Prince of Wales Hotel. It also advertised another inn as being able to provide
comfort to clients, i.e. the Superior Boarding House Hotel.
ACTIVITY 1.7
Based on early developments in advertising in the Federation of

Malaya, who was the target audience at that time, and in your view,
how influential were these advertisements?
As opposed to the current situation, advertisements published at that time, were

often advertised for several months. Besides providing information to sailors,
they advertised drugs for consumers. One type of drug produced by a well-
known company at that time, HollowayÊs Pills, was advertised in the Straits
Times on 15 July 1845. Then, on 3 April 1861, the same newspaper advertised
PerryÊs Cordial Balm of Syrianam.
The passage of time changed advertising activity and led to various products
being advertised; cars, weapons, machines, to name a few. These developments
also influenced the method and techniques of advertising with the production of
better quality advertisements. Advertisements no longer used poetic verses,
instead short but attractive phrases were used.
These developments also led to the growth of advertising agencies in Malaya

and Singapore at that time. The first company owned by J.R. Flynn Anderson
was based in Singapore. Around the 1930s, there were almost 17 advertising,
publicity and market research companies in Malaya and Singapore. During that
time advertisements were viewed as a guide towards the more effective and
efficient sale of goods to the public. The following advertisement (Figure 1.8) by
F & N a soft drinks company shows how advertisements had moved to using
short and catchy phrases at that time.
Figure 1.8: F & N Ltd. advertisement

The emergence of the Malay language in print led to the use of short phrases in
Malay. Besides the growth of the Malay speaking community, further influenced
advertising in this country.
The three prominent advertising agencies at that time were: The Business News
Agency in Kuala Lumpur, the Film News Advertising and Commission Agency
in Penang, and The Malacca Advertising and the Bill Posting agency in Melaka.
Besides these local agencies, there were also international advertising agencies
with branches in Malaya like, Grant International Incorporated. Rapid
developments in the 1960s led to the birth of several local agencies like Union 45,
City Art & Star Art, Pearl & Dean, McCann Erikson (M) Ltd and Leo Burnett.
Figure 1.9: Samples of advertising agencies
On 1 October 1987, an advertising innovation was introduced to celebrate The

Straits Times diamond jubilee celebrations. The newspaper carried
advertisements in colour that were printed by an agency in Norwich, England
called Fletcher and Son, Colour Printers.. Besides The Straits Times, the Utusan
Melayu a Malay language newspaper and the Bintang Peranakan, Khabar
Uchapan Baru, Bintang Timor and the Bintang magazineall carried print
advertisements in their publications.
The development of advertising in Malaysia further led to the establishment of

Licensed Advertising Associations which were based in Singapore. This was
followed by the setting up of the Malaya AdvertisersÊ Association in 1952. Before
the independence of Malaya, the main advertising media were the print and
radio media. Advancements in the field of advertising then led to various
advertising agencies opening branches in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, for
example Cathay, Grant, Master, Benson, Young, etc.
After the nation achieved independence and with the advent of television,
international advertising agencies like Ogilvy & Mather, Ted Bates, Lintas and
McCann-Erikson opened their respective branches here.

1.5 TYPES OF ADVERTISEMENTS

In this section, we will discuss the different types of advertisements. It is hoped
this discussion will help you to better understand the types of advertisements
available in Malaysia.
(a) Consumer Advertising

This type of advertising is also known as brand advertising. It is directed at
individuals or consumers who buy products for personal use or household
use. This form of advertising is sponsored by the manufacturer of the
product or the wholesaler or retailer who sells the goods or products. Most
of the advertisements, whether through the TV, radio, newspapers or
magazines, are consumer advertisements.
This advertisement is normally intended for consumers of the product or

service or for people who buy it for the use of others. However, in
particular circumstances, the advertisement is directed at the buyer and not
the user. For example, the advertisement on Friskies cat food (Figure 1.10),
is an advertisement for cat-owners but the product itself is consumed by
the pet.
Figure 1.10:
Advertisement for non-consumable purchase
(b) Business Advertising

This form of advertising can be classified as commercial, industrial or
professional advertising. It is sponsored by the manufacturer who wants to
encourage wholesalers and retailers to buy and stock its products for re-sale
to consumers.
Industrial advertising is sponsored by manufacturers or distributors of

machines, construction equipment, ready-fit parts and other industrial
goods. It is intended for industrial companies that purchase raw materials
for the use of factories or production plants, transportation, etc.

Manufacturers who want to suggest or recommend goods to consumers

sponsor professional advertising. For example, the advertisements of
medicines to medical experts or other products and services that are
directed at architects, engineers, lawyers or teachers.
Most of the advertisements in the form of consumer advertisements are

published in the consumer mass media. On the other hand, specialised
businesses or professional journals, business associations or business
expositions are used for certain kinds of business advertisements.
Figure 1.11: An example of a professional journal

„Pemikir‰, published by Utusan Melayu
(Malaysia) Berhad
(c) International Advertising

This form of advertising is intended for the international or foreign market.
For example, advertisements on holiday venues, airline services and
products aim to encourage demand from foreign individual consumers or
industries.
The Pepsi drink advertisement which shows the versatility of MalaysiaÊs

singer Siti Nurhaliza on stage, is directed at the Malaysian market. On the
other hand, the same product may be used in the USA using American
celebrities like Beyonce Knowles, Tiger Woods etc. Then again the Pepsi
advertisements in Arabic countries, would be modified to suit their social
culture. What do you think is the suitable form for advertising Pepsi in
Arabic countries?

Figure 1.12: Types of international advertising
Table 1.2 below shows fifteen highest international advertisements based on the
total media expenditure (in USD billion):
Table 1.2: Fifteen Highest International Advertisers
Highest Advertisers from the United States of America in the American foreign
market
Unilever 2.98
Procter & Gamble 2.61
Nestle 1.56
Toyota 1.35
Volkswagen 1.29
Coca-cola 1.18
Ford 1.13
General Motors 1.09
PSA Peugeot Citroen 1.00
Fiat .988
Renault .914
LÊOreal .913
Kao Corp .715
McDonaldÊs .694
Mars Inc .694
Source: Duncan, T. (2005). Principles of advertising and IMC. (2nd ed). NY: McGraw Hill.

(d) National Advertising

This form of advertising is intended for consumers throughout the nation.
The media used is also the national media, i.e. the broadcast covers in all
geographical areas. If you view advertisements on TV during the main
news, most of the products and services advertised are for consumers
throughout the nation. For example, if the product to be marketed is for the
whole Malaysian market, then the advertiser must use national advertising.
This means the use of mass media, which can reach the masses.
Figure 1.13: An Example of national advertising ă National services programme
(e) District Advertising

This form of advertising concentrates on a particular area only. The area
may comprise several states in that country. This kind of advertising, may
be shown to the people living in a specific area only, using media
distributed for those residing in that area only. District advertising is
carried out by distributors or retailers in one big area and is smaller than
national coverage. The advertisements are also only intended for
advertisers or companies who operate in only that area.
(f) Local Advertising

This type of advertising is also known as retail advertising because it is
often paid for by retailers, who have customers around the area or areas
close to the retailer. For example, the brochures printed by the Billion
Supermarket in the Serdang area will only be distributed in and around
Serdang. This form of advertising also uses various appropriate media for
purposes of conveying the message to the local residents of that area.
(g) Print Advertising

Advertisements issued in the print media like newspapers, magazines,
books, brochures, etc. depending on the kind of sponsorship.

(h) Broadcast Advertising

Broadcast advertising depends on the radio, TV, cinema, etc. Nowadays,
the electronic media is an important and effective advertising channel.
(i) Direct Mail Advertising

This form of advertising uses letters, one-sheet cards, folders, postcards,
catalogues, annual reports, brochures, leaflets and company information.
(j) Outdoor Advertising

This form of advertising is also known as alternative media. Normally, you
can see outdoor advertisements on buses, taxis, LRT, commuter trains,
billboards, posters, etc.
SELF-CHECK 1.1
1. List the advertisements you come across in a day.

2. How would you classify those advertisements?
3. What type of advertisement do you regard the most common?
1.6 ROLE OF ADVERTISEMENTS
ACTIVITY 1.8
You have been exposed to several definitions of advertisements and

different types of advertisements. Try to reflect and make notes on your
views about the role of advertising today. Compare your notes with the
facts below.

Figure 1.14: Role of advertisements
Advertising has an important role to play in the following four areas (Figure
1.14), i.e. Marketing, Communications, Economy and Social.
(a) Marketing
Marketing is a business process, which aims to fulfill customer needs and
wants by availing a product or service. Advertisers carry out specialised
marketing activities for the target market.
There are four main tools used for marketing a product and service, i.e.:
(i) Product
(ii) Price
(iii) Place or method of delivering product and
(iv) Promotion or method of conveying product message. These four
elements constitute marketing.
Advertisements which aim to increase sales and profits are also marketing
tools. The companyÊs marketing strategy may be to integrate and uses
various marketing techniques. This form of integrated marketing provides
several choices and is categorised according to production, price, place and
promotion. Advertising is therefore often referred to as an activity, which
promotes sales or market demand for products and services.
In general, the role of advertising in marketing aims to focus on the ability

of the advertisement to communicate the brand message to the target
market. Since consumers like to seek various types information before
exercising their decision to buy, advertisers need to identify what must be
emphasised to the consumer.

(b) Role of Communication

Advertising communicates the message widely through the mass media.
Various types of marketing information are conveyed to the buyer by the
seller through communication. Advertising aims to convey information
about products and services and create a transformation regarding the
image of the product. Advertising plays the role of a communication tool.
This activity begins when the manufacturer or producer of a product who
feels proud of his work places a price tag to enable the buyers to make a
purchase. Besides this, advertising is used as a way through which
manufacturers communicate with the consumers.
(c) Role of the Economy

Advertising introduces a particular service or product and enhances the
business. Advertising is a form of information provision for existing goods
or new products which have just been introduced. Besides this, advertising
helps boost the economy by increasing commerce.
(d) Social Role

Advertising is an important factor that helps to improve and uplift the
societyÊs standard of living. Advertising avails opportunities from the
materialistic, social, cultural and consumerism aspects, besides encouraging
an increase in productivity management and labour. Advertising is also an
incentive for the consumer to buy as a result of the after-effects of
advertising a product or service. Besides stimulating sales, advertising is
also a source of income for the mass media.
1.7 FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING

Advertising has three main functions, i.e.: preparing information about product
and brand, availing incentives for the action and preparing reminders as well as
reinforcing memory (see Figure 1.15).
Figure 1.15: Functions of advertising

(a) Preparing product and brand information

Under this first function, although advertisements that are produced do not
contain a lot of information about the product or service, nonetheless, here
we find that the advertisement acts as a provider of information about the
product or service to the consumer. However, the information provided
depends on the wants and needs of the consumer.
Information prepared through advertisements as well as various

promotional tools aims to enlighten the public about the product or service.
Compared to other promotional tools, advertisements play a vital role in
persuading the target audience to use a product or service.
We are also aware that advertisements can enlighten and educate the
consumer. As an educator, advertising can expedite the process of
acceptance of something new, expedite technological advancements of the
industry as well as enhance standards of living so that life can be more
meaningful. Besides this, this aspect of advertising also refers to the process
of educating consumers about product information like manufacturing
costs, purchasing cost as well as features of the product itself.
Of late, we find the credit card market to be among some of the competitive
markets. As a consumer, we find that most of these credit cards are similar in
terms of the benefits, etc. As such, advertisers need to ensure that they are
aware of the differences that exist between one credit card and another to
persuade the consumer to choose a particular credit card.
(b) Availing incentives for the action

Consumers are often reluctant to change their behaviour even though, at
times, they are less than satisfied with a product or service. This is because
consumersÊ attitudes and norms are difficult to change. In addition,
acquiring knowledge of a new product takes time and is sometimes,
complicated. Therefore, advertising is used to provide the consumer with
information and reasons to switch to a new brand. For this purpose,
advertising uses a variety of approaches to attract the attention of the
consumer. For example, the use of the services of a celebrity, the lowering
of the price of a product, or providing the consumer with other forms of
convenience to name a few.
(c) Preparing reminders as well as reinforcing memory

Advertisements that are shown regularly not only introduce the product
and service to the consumer but also remind the consumer about a
particular product or service and reinforce this in the minds of the
consumer.

The broadcasting slot for Samarinda on TV3 is sponsored by Pantene

Shampoo. For each episode that is aired for 28 minutes, advertisements are
inserted three times. This drama is aired every Tuesday till Thursday night.
Therefore, for three nights, the Pantene advertisement is aired nine times. If the
show is aired for a month, i.e. 12 times, the Pantene advertisement comes on
the air 36 times. This kind of repetitive advertising will definitely leave a
lasting impression in the minds of the consumer.
Table 1.3 below provides a brief overview about advertising; it highlights types
of advertising, role of advertising and functions of advertising.
Table 1.3: Types, Role and Functions of Advertising

Types of Advertising Role of Advertising Functions of Advertising
Consumer/brand Marketing Prepares product information
Advertising
International Advertising Communication Provides incentives
National Advertising Economy Prepares reminders and
reinforcement
District Advertising Social
Local Advertising
Printed Advertising
Broadcast Advertising
Direct Mail Advertising
Outdoor Advertising
1.8 GOOD ADVERTISEMENT FEATURES

ACTIVITY 1.9
In your view, what are the good features of advertisements? Should

those good features focus on the product to be marketed or on the
advantages that can be obtained by consumers from the said product?
Advertising has now become a part of our lives. It is estimated that children in
the USA, on average, watch television, in the region of 1300 hours a month.
According to a study by Belch & Belch (2000), children are exposed to
approximately 20,000 advertisements monthly. The average adult is more
widely exposed to advertisements.
With the rapid developments in advertising, advertisers should ensure the

production of the best advertisements to attract the public. Nonetheless, the

question that has been raised now is how does one ensure the production of a
good advertisement? What are the features of good advertisements?
We are all aware that every advertisement produced must follow the guidelines
set by the advertisers. These set the objectives of advertising. Advertisers should
bear these objectives in mind so as to ensure effective and attractive planning,
production and execution of advertisements. The public will be the critics of
these advertisements. However, what in your view, is a good advertisement?
There are several features of good advertisements. A good advertisement can be

divided into two levels. The first level is the ability of the advertisement to fulfill
the objectives of the consumer by conveying and communicating the best and
relevant advertising message. At the same time, the advertisement should also
satisfy the sponsor, i.e. the advertiser. Figure 1.16 illustrates this process.
Figure 1.16: The process between consumer and advertiser

Sources: Wells et al. (2000). The Dual Process of Great Advertising: Reaching Objectives.
Advertising Principles and Practice. (5th ed.). NJ: Prentice Hall.

Based on Figure 1.16 above, we find that advertising effectiveness must fulfill
two levels, i.e. the meeting of objectives of the consumer in the way the relevant
message is conveyed as well as the objectives of the advertiser.
In the early stages, consumers were attracted to an advertisement because of its

entertainment value. However, if the advertisement is entertaining it will
definitely be remembered. At this level, the consumer will relate it to needs and
wants on an individual basis. Maybe, the advertisement also provides incentives
to us all to take risks to change, i.e. to act to buy the product or service being
advertised.
On the other hand, the objectives of the advertiser differ from that of the consumer.
The main objective of the advertiser is that the consumer buy the product or
service advertised. To make the consumer buy, the advertiser must persuade and
influence the consumer. How can the advertiser achieve this level? There are three
important dimensions which must be emphasised by the advertiser to achieve this,
i.e. strategy, creativity and execution. Figure 1.17 below describes the three
dimensions needed to create an effective advertisement.
Figure 1.17: Creating effective advertisements

Source: Wells et al. (2003). Advertising Principles and Practice. (6th ed.). NJ:
Prentice Hall.
(a) Strategy
Any good advertisement needs a good strategy. An advertiser advertises to
meet certain needs. Each advertisement is meant for a specific audience and
the implementation of the advertisement is to deliver a message to that
specific group. The advertiser must ensure the advertisement is released in
various mass media.
(b) Creativity
The concept of creativity is the main idea in any advertisement produced.
Through this main idea, the advertiser aims to ensure the advertisement
remains in a consumerÊs memory. The whole process of implementing an

advertisement requires creativity, be it in terms of research, procurement of

space via the mass media or through the use of the mass media.
(c) Implementation
An effective advertisement is one that is implemented well and efficiently.
This means every detail related to the advertisement is carefully looked
into. For example, in terms of photography, layout, printing and print
quality. A good advertiser knows it does not suffice for an advertiser to just
deliver a message to the consumer, but the way the message is sent is also
important.
Here, we can conclude that good advertising is an integration of all three

dimensions, i.e. strategy, creativity and execution. An advertisement is
released not merely to draw the attention of the audience but also to create
interest and subsequently ÂinstructÊ the consumers to re-act, i.e. to make up
their minds to buy the product or service being advertised.
During every festive season, organisations like Celcom, Petronas, Perodua,

etc. will show all sorts of corporate advertisements, which do not promote a
product or service, but which aim to sell the image of the organisation. Most of
these types of advertisements not only successfully entertain us, but also leave
an impression on us, for instance, awareness, individual values, etc. Try to
recollect such advertisements. Are the three dimensions mentioned above
present in those advertisements?
1.9 FIVE MAIN GROUPS IN THE ADVERTISING

INDUSTRY
Advertisers have a variety of important tasks and responsibilities that need to be
implemented well so as to ensure that the advertisement that is released is
effective and can influence the consumers. These tasks, roles and responsibilities
consist of specialised tasks as well as responsibilities which include all aspects
from producing to releasing the advertisement.
Whether we agree or not, we must admit that advertising is an important field in

the new world of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). To
understand the world of advertising, it is important that we understand the
structure of the advertising industry. Understanding this will assist us to know
who amongst them play the major roles. To facilitate your understanding of this
structure, a brief structure of the advertising industry is provided as shown in
Figure 1.18 below:

Figure 1.18: Structure of the advertising industry
1.9.1 Advertiser
An advertiser can be an individual or an organisation with a message that has to
be sent to the target audience. An advertiser also makes the final decision about
the target audience and selects the media which will convey the said message.
Among local advertisers are Celcom, Petronas, Toyota, Maxis, etc., whilst
international advertisers are as listed in Table 1.4.
Table 1.4: Expenditure by International Advertising Companies

Total Advertising
Position
Advertiser Headquarters Expenditure in USD
(2000)
(2000)
1 General Motors Corp. Detroit 3,934.8
2 Philip Morris Cos. New York 2,602.9
3 Procter & Gamble Co. Cincinnati 2,363.5
4 Ford Motor Co. Dearborn, Michigan 2,345.2
5 Pfizer New York 2,265.3
6 PepsiCo Purchase, New York 2,100.7
Aurburn Hills,
7 DaimlerChrysler 1,984.0
Michigan
8 AOL Time Warner New York 1,770.1
9 Walt Disney Co. Burbank, California 1,757.5
10 Verizon Communications New York 1,601.2
New Brunswick,
11 Johnson & Johnson 1,601.2
New Jersey
Source: Wells et al. (2003). Advertising Principles and Practice. (6th ed.). NJ: Prentice Hall.

1.9.2 Advertising Agencies

Try to refer to the telephone directory. If one is not available, get it from the
nearest Telekom Shop. When referring to your telephone directory to find an
advertising company, you will discover a long list of such companies to choose
from. For example, over 100 advertising agencies are listed. However, if you
contact these advertising companies, you will find that some of these companies
offer only particular services.
Nonetheless, from this list, we will find that there are agencies that do not
produce advertisements but only offer consultancy services. Actually, the said
list aims to provide information about advertising agencies that basically can be
divided into the following types:
(a) Agencies that provide a whole range of services

These advertising agencies offer the whole range of communication
services like advertising, public relations and promotions. Most agencies
that offer the full range of services need to register with the Accredited
Advertising AgenciesÊ Association (4As). However, a majority of the
advertising agencies provide separate advertising and non-advertising
services.
Advertising services refer to planning, creating and producing the

advertisement. Normally, agencies avail themselves of the full range of
services that are quite specific to advertising from accounts management
tasks to research, whilst non-advertising services refer to tasks like
preparing promotional materials, publicity, annual reports, expo
management, exhibitions and training.
(b) Creative Boutiques

Creative boutiques are organisations which operate with minimum staffing,
i.e. with only two to three up to ten staff. This kind of organisation focuses
on the implementation of creative advertising. As an example, a company
that has one or two copywriters, artists and a few staff in other creative
units.
Small organisations are referred to as creative boutiques. They normally

provide expertise that focuses on crafting creative ideas and products like
copywriting and other artistic services. OÊguinn et al. (2000) referred to
these creative boutiques as „idea factories.‰

(c) Media Buying Services

There are organisations which specialise in buying space or time for
advertisements via the mass media like radio, TV or print media. This kind
of agency is responsible for providing media scheduling for advertisers.
(d) Interactive Agencies

The new ICT era opens the way for new agencies, i.e. interactive agencies.
These agencies aim to help advertisers provide information through new
types of media like the internet, compact disc, interactive TV, etc. Workers
in these agencies help advertisers to facilitate consumers to use the new
sophisticated media.
1.9.3 Seven Elements of Measurement for Full Service

Advertising Agencies
Figure 1.19: Seven elements of measurement
Did you know that there are seven items listed by the American Association of
Advertising Agencies in 1918 as a benchmark to measure whether an advertising
agency can be referred to as a full services agency or not? The suggested items
are as follows:
(a) Product Research

Let us look at this first element. This emphasizes the need for an agency to
be able to carry out research about a product, service or idea that is to be
advertised. This requires the agency to look for information as to whether
the product or service to be advertised is appropriate or not. The research

also aims to identify the pros and cons of the said product or service. This
research can be conducted by gathering primary or secondary data.
(b) Study Existing and Potential Markets

The second element emphasizes the need for the agency to gather data to
create a database on consumers like target audience, production limitation
and factors influencing the market.
(c) Understand Dissemination

This third element is important for agencies to understand the
dissemination system and provide advertisers advisory services about
reaping profits. For example, by collecting information from customers to
give advice on the best distribution system for advertisers.
(d) Understand the Media

Agencies must have an in-depth knowledge and understanding about the
media. Agencies can then better guide advertisers on the best ways to
convey a message to consumers. What the most effective and profitable
media channels are is one of the aspects emphasised by this fourth element.
(e) Express the Advertising Plan

In this element, agencies must have an advertising plan. An advertisement
plan is a plan of activities given by the agency to a client. This plan outlines
suggestions as follows:
(i) The estimated market
(ii) Change in distribution
(iii) Change in price
(iv) The media channel to be used
(v) Advertisement appeal/approach to be used
(vi) Advertisement message to be used
(vii) Commercial factors to be studied
(viii) Expenditure allocation for execution of the advertisement
(ix) Objectives of the advertisement plan
(f) Implementation of Plan

When the recommended plan is accepted and approved by the client, the
agency will prepare several advertisements, contract for space and time via
the selected media as well as distribution of advertisement materials to the
media.

(g) Co-operation with Other Marketing Units

In this final element, as part of marketing, advertising needs to be carried
out in congruence with other marketing divisions because a full-service
agency must understand the role of advertising in the companyÊs overall
marketing plan. To assist clients, agencies will prepare public relations
materials, promotions, sales brochures and carry out publicity work.
Advertisers need the services of advertising agencies as these agencies have the
expertise and the full range of services. Advertisers may have the funds and
resources, but since advertising needs expert services, advertisers may not be
able to carry out some tasks on their own.
1.9.4 Media
The media is the communication channel that conveys the advertisement
message about a product or service to the audience. There are print and
electronic media. Each medium functions in its own way to deliver a message
about a product or service to the consumer. The following are examples of
current advertising media.
Figure 1.20: Examples of electronic media
Figure 1.21: Examples of print media

ACTIVITY 1.10
Try to list the electronic and print media available in this country. In
your view, of the listed media, which is the most effective in conveying
an advertisement message? Why?
1.9.5 Vendor
ACTIVITY 1.11
What is your understanding regarding the role of vendors? How does

it contribute to the development of advertising?
Vendors are groups of companies or organisations that provide support services

to advertisers. This group comprises consultants, professionals, photographers,
artists, script writers, etc. Vendors and Creative Boutiques carry out similar
functions.
Vendors are necessary in the advertising industry to fill the gap as advertising
agencies may not have the complete range of expertise.
1.9.6 Audience
The advertising industry structure and the communication flow processes will
not be completed without an audience or public. The audience can be divided
into two groups - consumers and organisations. The consumer audience refers
mainly to the individuals in society. A majority of these are receivers of daily-use
products like food, drink, washing substances, etc. The organisational audience
is from the private and public sectors.
ACTIVITY 1.12
After reading this introductory topic, try and draw a brief mind-map to
explain this topic.

1.10 CURRENT ISSUES IN ADVERTISING

Advertising is a dynamic general platform to discuss important aspects like
commerce, creativity, consumer needs and government guidelines. Although
advertising may be a profitable economic resource, it can still raise a number of
social criticisms.
Advertisements, as one source of persuasive communication, often use tactics

that have elements of influence, incentives, propaganda and appeal to attract the
interest of consumers to the product or service being advertised. Although as
consumers, we often claim that we are not easily influenced, but the reality is,
without our knowledge, we are ever so easily influenced by advertisements. As
such, it may not be surprising that we often decide to buy a product that we do
not need, only because we have been drawn to that product after viewing the
relevant advertisement.
Lately, one key issue often discussed in advertising is the problem of using
sexual, obscene and violent approaches. Besides this, the discussion also centres
on the exploitation of women and children in advertising.
(a) Stereotype
Stereotype refers to a particular social group and the process of attaching a
label to that group. This also includes negative perceptions about that
group. The stereotype issue is often in reference to women i.e. where they
are looked upon as having traditional roles. In other words, women are
merely viewed as mothers, wives or daughters without any recognition of
their other capabilities.
ACTIVITY 1.13
List several types of shampoo advertisements aired on the samarinda

slot. How many of the models in those advertisements are women?
How many of them are male models?
(b) Women and Advertising

We can make an early assumption that using women in advertisements is
more negative than positive. Women are often viewed as beautiful objects
and nothing more. If a successful career woman is shown, then advertisers
will try and portray her as being incapable on the domestic front. This is
due in part to casting women into stereotype roles i.e. as being weak in
managing time for the multi-roles in society. Women are also often shown
as being irrational.

We can all admit that the negative portrayal of women in advertisements is

not something new. Advertisers tend to get carried away in giving women
a negative image in order to enhance the sales of their products and
services. For example, the advertisement on the luxury car, Bufori, released
in 1985, shows the materialistic attitude of a beautiful women seeking a
partner and proudly declaring that the man she will choose needs to only
own a Bufori!.
Advertisers also have a preference for using the sexual approach in relation
to women. At one time, as an example, Calvin Klien used the famous
international actress, Brooke Shields, to model his jeans in a very
provocative manner. In fact, Klien used the slogan, „Nothing comes
between me and my jeans‰ which had deep hidden meaning.
Women are said to be trapped in consumer culture which results in them

being so easily influenced by advertisements. At the same time, many
advertisements that promote luxury goods will use this approach to
persuade buyers.
Take note that many advertisements on cosmetic beauty products use

women even though the products may be used by both men and women.
Try and study the insignificant number of shampoo advertisements that use
male models although the shampoo is used by both men and women. The
same applies to facial wash soap; men are equally concerned with facial
care but only women seem to be used to sell the product.
(c) Children and advertising

Advertising and children is a very controversial topic. It is estimated that
children, on average, spend more than 1300 hours watching television a month
and this means they may be exposed, to about 20,000 advertisements (Belch &
Belch). This is a worrisome trend for parents because children, at a young age,
are incapable of making critical and smart evaluations of whatever messages
they receive. This massive exposure makes them become easily influenced by
advertisements. In fact, Belch & Belch (2004) in reference to the study carried
out, stressed that children, especially those of pre-school age, are incapable of
differentiating between advertisements and TV programmes. This is also
related to their inability to think cognitively, at this early age.
Harris (1994) stated that advertisers make children the targets of

advertisements because the profits that could be reaped are many-fold. Try
and look at the advertisements about snacks aired by the mass media
currently. It is estimated that about 82% of the advertisements for children
are mainly regarding snack food. Wells (2003) showed that advertisers in
America were particularly fond of using all sorts of gimmicks to advertise

breakfast meals. In fact, there are more than 216 types of cereals that are
advertised with children as the target audience.
Stereotype advertising messages are a reflection of society. In fact, the

attitude of advertisers that overuse stereotype methods to persuade the
consumers has become a societal norm. Besides this, the use of hidden
messages is also a negative way of advertising to influence consumers.
Overall, this topic introduced a discussion on advertising by explaining the

definition of advertising, types of advertising, role of advertising, etc.
Besides this, this topic also focused on identifying good advertising
characteristics as well as introduced the advertising industry, i.e. the five
main groups that drive the advertising industry.
 Although the general view is that advertising aims to educate and raise the
standard of living of consumers, advertising also gives rise to several
stressful social criticisms. Briefly, we find that advertising constitutes all sorts
of hidden messages with the intention of attracting consumers to buy the
advertised product. Also, uncontrolled advertising can lead to wastage. There
is so much competition that advertisers tend to compete to release all kinds of
advertisements using huge budgets. When the advertisement fails to achieve
the objectives, this becomes a loss to the advertiser.
 You, as a consumer, may not need a certain product, but if a repetitive

process of advertising a product occurs, you may feel compelled to buy that
product. This is also wasting from the viewpoint of the consumer. The effect
of this is to make consumers more materialistic. Society will focus more on
material aspects and people will start competing with one another to buy the
products and services are advertised.
Audience
Creative boutique
Vendors

1. Explain briefly the evolution of advertising.

2. Discuss briefly the history of advertising in Malaysia.
3. List the issues related to advertising.
4. What are the current issues in advertising?
5. What is the definition of advertising?
6. What are the elements in the advertising communication process?
1. What are the differences between the role and functions of advertising?
(5 marks)
2. List the five main important groups in the advertising industry.
(5 marks)
3. Explain briefly each of the above five groups.
(10 marks)
Total (20 marks)
Arens, W. F. (1999). Contemporary advertising (7th ed.). Boston: Irwin-McGraw Hill.
Belch, G. E. & Belch, M. A. (2004). Advertising and promotion: An Integrated

Marketing Communications Perspective. (6th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill.
Duncan, T. (2005). Principles of advertising and IMC (2nd ed.).NY: McGraw-Hill.
Harris, R. J. (1994). A cognitive psychology of mass communication. NJ: LEA.
Mohd Sidin Ahmad Ishak & Noorbathi Haji Badaruddin. (1993). Asas
Periklanan. KL: DBP.
OÊGuinn, Allen & Semenik. Advertising and integrated brand promotion. OH:
Thomson South-Western.

Topic  Advertising and
2 Society: Ethics,
Regulations and
Social
Responsible
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Identify three (3) roles of advertising in society;
2. Discuss six (6) important issues in advertising;
3. Explain the aspects of control, regulations and social
responsibilities in the advertising industry;
4. Identify five (5) guidelines for ethical advertising; and
5. Express nine (9) out of thirteen (13) technical specifications of
publishing advertisements in Malaysia.
 INTRODUCTION
„Success cannot be measured by the status attained by an individual but by the
obstacles that were overcome when climbing the ladder of success‰
Brooker T. Washington 1856 ă 1915

38  TOPIC 2 ADVERTISING AND SOCIETY: ETHICS, REGULATIONS AND SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITIES
Figure 2.1: Role of advertising and society

Source: Utusan education portal
www.tutor.com.my/tutor/interaktif.asp?sp=kartun
I am sure you have seen the television advertisement on the above. In this case
we can assume that advertisements do not just serve a business purpose, but also
involve social responsibilities. In the first topic, you were exposed to the basics of
advertising and the advertising environment. In this second topic, you will be
exposed to discussions on issues related to advertising and society, to some
ethical issues in advertising, as well as the advertising industry in Malaysia, in
terms of control, regulations and social responsibilities.
2.1 ADVERTISING AND SOCIETY
ACTIVITY 2.1
In your view, if a certain government adopts a closed door policy, can
advertisements play a role in society? What is their importance in
shaping that society?
Issues of advertising and its effect on society are issues that have been in
existence ever since advertising was introduced? Both these issues are inter-
dependent. The objectives of many big companies are to reap huge profits and to
ensure that their companies remain competitive in society. At the same time their
activities may also include contributing towards various aid programmes and
collection of donations.
Although there are several guidelines formulated to check the broadcast of

advertisements there are several ethical issues that are still not adhered to by the
advertisers. This is because although guidelines are provided, their interpretation
remains vague and advertisers are free to make their own interpretations about

TOPIC 2 ADVERTISING AND SOCIETY: ETHICS, REGULATIONS AND SOCIAL  39
RESPONSIBILITIES
ethical issues. There are also certain situations where the advertiser masks
controversial issues as creativity.
2.2 ADVERTISING AND SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITIES
ACTIVITY 2.2
Social responsibility is often considered as a responsibility that has to be

borne by the government for the people. In your view, to what extent is
the role of advertising involved in bearing this social responsibility?
As you are aware advertising has a significant relationship with business,

creativity, consumer needs, and government guidelines that must be adhered to.
In daily life people view all sorts of advertisements. Advertising does not just
aim to introduce a product or service but also to enlighten society; this is
something that not everyone is aware of.
In your view, how does advertising help in elevating social and economic status?
Did you know that the demand for a product and service results in producers
ensuring a higher level of production and competitiveness? At the same time, the
advertising activity that occurs will also generate competitiveness. Indirectly,
producers must ensure their products specify to high quality standards in order
to survive and stay competitive. In discussing this issue, we will concentrate on
three items as shown in Figure 2.2 below:
Figure 2.2: Ethics in advertising

RESPONSIBILITIES
(a) Core of Advertising

In general we can say that the aim of advertising is to persuade consumers
to do something. This aim by itself clearly shows that advertising is not
objective in nature when rightly, the purpose of an advertisement should be
to deliver, provide information and be neutral. On the contrary,
advertisements tend to be more persuasive in nature in order to sell a
product or a service. The main thrust or core of advertising should be to
focus on public issues.
(b) Accuracy
One of the ethics in advertising is accuracy. Accuracy is an issue that is
often debated upon in the message of the advertisement. Many
advertisements air messages for public perception. For example, when we
watch, read, hear or see an advertisement, our mind will be influenced to
obtain that product or service being advertised because we feel that if we
do not do so, we will loose out.
For example, the advertisement on Chanel Number 5 perfume used by

Cindy Crawford may give the hidden message that only those who are of
the same status as Cindy Crawford should use this perfume. You might
buy this perfume to be in the same league as Cindy Crawford, or especially
if you are a fan of this beautiful model. Therefore, the message hidden
behind this advertisement becomes an ethical issue.
(c) Desire for Ownership

Advertisements are said to be symbols of high materialistic desires in
society. Consumers are exposed to various new and attractive products all
the time and this creates a desire for ownership. On the one hand,
advertising can be said to provide consumers with choices, but at the same
time, through advertising, the thoughts and wants of consumers are
manipulated to buy everything that is new and that is being advertised.
ACTIVITY 2.3
Try and access the webpage for Omega products.

www.omegawatches.com. In this webpage, we can see ambassadors
who play the role of promoting this companyÊs products. What is your
view on this?

RESPONSIBILITIES
2.3 ISSUES RELATED TO ADVERTISING ETHICS
ACTIVITY 2.4
The Hallmark web page is a pioneer for greeting and festival cards.
You are encouraged to visit this website at www.hallmark.com. What
can you learn from this website?
(a) Manipulative and Deceptive

Advertisers are fond of claiming that the advertised products or services
are the best. They usually achieve this by using convincing language to
deceive the consumer. Some of the criticisms leveled against
advertisements are that advertisements psychologically manipulate the
public to buy things they do not really need.
Normally, advertisers will make all sorts of false claims to defend

themselves. For example, it is said that when a person wishes to send a nice
greeting card, the selection should be a card with the Hallmark brand
because this card is widely accepted as being the best. This kind of
advertising is also called puffery advertising, i.e. advertisers use language
that over-extol the virtues of a product.
(b) Taste and Advertising

People have their own differing tastes Sometimes it is difficult to draw a
line between creative and offensive ideas. There may be times when a
creative advertisement is not acceptable by the target public as the display
of that advertisement may touch on the religious beliefs held by society.
Something that is tasteful for one person may be offensive to another. This
raises difficulties in advertising, as advertisers cannot take into
consideration everyoneÊs feelings, thus resulting in the advertisement being
generally criticised.

RESPONSIBILITIES
(c) Product Category and Taste
ACTIVITY 2.5
Do you remember that sometime ago, there were advertisements on

different cigarette brands on Malaysian TV? Each brand tried to
promote its product as the best in taste. Why is it that advertisements of
cigarette brands no longer appear on the main channels and what
impact does this have on consumers and producers?
One dimension of taste is the product category itself. For example, there are
products which are inappropriate for advertising over TV like underclothes
and health products for men and women. The public may not be
comfortable watching underclothes being publicly displayed on TV.
Wells et al. (2003) listed six main issues in advertising. They are:
 Puffery;
 Subliminal;
 Advertising and stereotype;
 Women in advertisements;
 Ethnic and racial stereotyping; and
 Children in advertisements.
(i) Puffery
Sulaiman Masri (1977) interpreted puffery as advertisements that
over-extol. Such advertisements may give an inaccurate message.
For example, the use of words like „the best product in the
world.‰ The use of such language can result in the customer
making certain wrong assumptions about the product. Figure 2.3
is an example of puffery in an advertisement.
Figure 2.3: Puffery type of advertisements

RESPONSIBILITIES
(ii) Subliminal Advertisements

In general, the advertisement should not be see or heard to
have a hidden message. Advertisers should be explicit about
the product or service message that needs to be conveyed.
However, some advertisements may unknowingly contain
certain hidden messages. Usually cigarette and alcohol
advertisements use this kind of tactic to relay the message to
the public.
(iii) Advertising and Stereotyping

The issue of stereotyping in advertisements is not a new
issue. Stereotyping refers to the way in which certain groups
in society are portrayed like for example women, racial
groups and the elderly. The question is what are the
stereotype advertisements? Whether it is the advertisements
that create this view or whether it is only a reflection of
society has now become an increasingly important and
critical topic.
(iv) Women in advertisements

The use of women in advertisements is an interesting topic
of discussion. Most advertisements show women as being
primarily occupied with their beauty or doing domestic
chores and as being only being suitable mothers or
homemakers. Of course, the responsibilities of a mother and
housewife are noble, but the problem is such stereotyping
showcases women as just being good at those kinds of tasks
and nothing else.
ACTIVITY 2.6
Try and remember how women were portrayed in advertisements

about 10 to 15 years ago. What comparisons can you make about the
roles given to women in advertisements today? Can we say that
advertisements have begun to showcase more healthy and ethical
(v) Ethnicity and race in advertisements

Western critics have raised a lot of issues about ethnicity and
race in advertisements. The portrayal of certain ethnic
groups in an advertisement clearly shows stereotyping. This
would include advertisements that make fun of minority

RESPONSIBILITIES
groups or show them in bad light. At present American

advertisements include more African- American people but
their role is still limited.
In Malaysia, there are local advertisements that only use

actors of a particular race or descent for particular products,
although the product is used by all races.
(vi) Children and advertisements

Advertising and children has become a most controversial
issue. One study in 1998 reported that on average, children
are exposed to more than 20,000 television advertisements in
a year. The fact that children are being exposed to so much
advertising when they do not have any purchasing power
and the fact they are incapable of differentiating between
advertisements and TV programmes, is a talking point.
Although there are several limitations and guidelines, it is

clear that it is difficult to control this issue. Advertisers still
target many advertisements at children as this brings in
profits for them.
Figure 2.4: The Role of advertising on children

RESPONSIBILITIES
2.4 PROBLEMS OF ADVERTISING CODE OF

ETHICS – THE MALAYSIAN SCENARIO
ACTIVITY 2.7
Are you aware that you may be indirectly subject to certain codes of
ethics? For example, the television advertisement that tells the viewer
how he should behave whilst driving on the road. Is this a form of
advertisement? How would you interpret the message behind this?
The advertising code of ethics is only an approximate guide highlighting the dos
and donÊts of advertising. The advertisers are free to make their own
interpretations about what is suitable and what is not. Moreover, many people
have differing views and opinions; so this problem can only be overcome if there
are clearer guidelines.
Advertising in Malaysia must follow the guidelines provided in the advertising

code of practices which was designed by representatives of advertisers,
advertising agencies, the media, the Malaysian Advertising Quality Control
Authority, the Accredited Advertising Agencies Association, the Malaysian
Advertising Association, TV3, Malaysian Outdoor AdvertisersÊ Association, etc.
The said guidelines are as follows:
(i) Advertisements must be in keeping with Malaysian culture and take into
consideration the aspects contained in the ÂRukun NegaraÊ as their core.
(ii) Advertisements must adhere to certain regulations i.e. they must be honest,
truthful, not obscene and not violate any national laws.
(iii) Advertisements must avoid showcasing western values and culture.
(iv) Advertisements must depict Malaysian values, attitudes, and etiquette.
(i) Advertisements cannot showcase extreme or materialistic lifestyles.
These guidelines also stress that before an advertisement is aired on radio or TV

the advertiser must apply to book airtime by submitting an application to the
Commerce Division, Ministry of Information, at least fourteen (14) days before
the first advertisement is aired. The Commerce Division also has the right to
reject any commercial advertisements that have been submitted and also
withdraw any approvals that may have been granted.
Advertisements that are released in the mass media in Malaysia must take into
consideration the following aspects; politics, religion, culture, morals, Malaysian
RESPONSIBILITIES
identity, models, the role of women and children in advertisements, the use of
professionals, etc.
Table 2.1 highlights the technical specifications which need to be complied with
when producing advertisements in Malaysia. Each specification has been so
designed with the aim of monitoring the advertisement output and its role in
society.
Table 2.1: Specifications for Advertisements in Malaysia
(a) Politics/ Advertisements cannot represent or touch on religion.

Religion Advertisements also cannot represent any political party.
(b) Culture The adaptation or showcasing of a foreign culture be it in the
form of a slogan, dressing, or behaviour is not allowed.
(c) Morals Advertisements which are aired must not have pictures or
symbols which are offensive and which oppose morals. It must
show the national social culture. Dressing and hairstyles of
artistes must adhere to guidelines of Radio Television Malaysia
(RTM). Female artistes or models cannot expose their body.
(d) Malaysian All advertisements must obtain a certificate of recognition
Identity through FINAS. However, if an advertiser needs to include
international visuals, the limit is only for the broadcasting of
two footages and he must obtain the prior approval of the
Ministry before any such inclusion.
(e) Models/ Models/Artistes must symbolise the Malaysian people.
Artistes Advertisers must use the services of models/actors who are
Malaysian citizens.
(f) Role of Advertisements must showcase the involvement of both men
Women and women. Advertisements must portray positive values of
women.
(g) Advertising Using children in advertisements is not encouraged except for
and children childrenÊs products. Advertisements must not attempt to
influence children.
(h) The use of Advertisements cannot use the professional groups to influence
professional the public to buy a product/service.
groups
(i) Shoving of Advertisements cannot thrust any individual into the limelight
individuals without his/her permission.
(j) Testimony Advertisements in the form of testimonials cannot be aired for
more than three years. All testimonials must obtain the written
approval from the writer/actor.
(k) Product The package must follow the Trade Act.
clarification

RESPONSIBILITIES
(l) Product focus Advertisements must focus on the main product and not on the
promotions.
(m) Advertisement Advertisements cannot raise fears in the consumer.
approach Advertisements also cannot demean an individual or an
organisation. Advertisements also cannot make comparisons or
demean the quality of other product brands.
You are encouraged to access the following web page

www.mva.com.my/adcodes/ to help you enhance your knowledge about this
topic.
 The topic advertising and society involved a discussion of the ethics, regulatory
control and social responsibility of advertising. Ethics is an important topic in
advertising because the guidelines provided allow advertisers to understand their
limits or boundaries when producing an advertisement. This is important as an
advertisement is a source of information for the public. If there are no clear
limitations or boundaries, advertisers may broadcast advertisements based on
their own wants and creativity.
 Ethics and law that form the basis of these guidelines are not intended to
control creativity but to protect public interest.
Puffery
Stereotyping
Subliminal advertisements
1. Discuss briefly how you understand the topic ÂAdvertising and Society.Ê
2. In your view, how important are ethics and regulatory control in
advertising?
3. List three items that have been discussed in advertising and social
responsibility.

RESPONSIBILITIES
1. List the issues related to advertising ethics. Briefly discuss each issue.
(20 marks)
Belch, G. E. & Belch, M. A. (2004). Advertising and promotion: An integrated

marketing communications perspective (6th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill.
Harris, R. J. (1994). A cognitive psychology of mass communication. NJ: LEA.
Mohd Sidin Ahmad Ishak & Noorbathi Haji Badaruddin. (1993). Asas periklanan.
KL: DBP.
OÊGuinn, Allen & Semenik. Advertising & integrated brand promotion (3th ed.).
OH: Thomson South-Western.

Topic  The Advertising
3 and Marketing
Process
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define marketing;
2. Explain the seven (7) basic concepts of marketing;
3. Describe the relationship between marketing and advertising; and
4. Discuss the methods of marketing.
 INTRODUCTION
"Recognition and rewards will go to those who
show high quality in their actions"
Aristotle
Figure 3.1: The Role of Advertising and Marketing

Source: www.tutor.com.my/tutor/interactif.asp?sp=kartun

50  TOPIC 3 THE ADVERTISING AND MARKETING PROCESS
Please see Figure 3.1. This scene of the marketing process shows how an
advertisement can build an image in the mind of the consumer. Such repeated
advertising and marketing by the advertisers can cause the image to be retained
in the consumerÊs memory.
In this topic, we will focus on marketing and marketing concepts, the role of
advertising in marketing, marketing methods and advertising agencies.
3.1 ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT
ACTIVITY 3.1
Before you start reading this topic, attempt to define what you
understand by marketing. What is the difference between marketing
and advertising?
For your information, advertising management is the activity which involves

analysis, planning, control and decision making. You have to understand that to
carry out these objectives, advertisers allocate and provide financial resources to
plan, buy space and airtime in the media, and all other activities related to
advertising campaigns.
Advertisers usually deal with several agencies and organisations to formulate

and manage the advertising campaigns. These agencies include advertising
agencies, the media, research agencies, government departments, as well as their
own competitors. The advertiser will obtain preliminary assistance from
advertising agencies, the media, research agencies, etc. In addition to this the
advertiser needs to carry out certain management tasks effectively and
efficiently. To achieve this the management must not only understand, but also
establish good communication relationship with consumers.
3.2 DEFINITION OF MARKETING

Marketing can be defined in several ways but we will focus on the views of three
experts. The first expert is Shimp (2003). He considered marketing to be a set of
activities implemented by advertisers, marketers, or organisations to create a
process of transferring value from advertisers to consumers. Arens (1999) said
that marketing is a business process that is planned and implemented for the
purpose of enhancing product or service sales.

TOPIC 3 THE ADVERTISING AND MARKETING PROCESS  51
Nik Rahimah Nik Yaakob (et al. 1992) defined marketing as a specialised activity
that enables individuals and groups to obtain their wants and needs through the
exchange of a value.
Figure 3.2: Example of a promotional brochure
You must have all received brochures about sales discounts or stock clearances.
Advertisers normally implement various activities as a part of their marketing
efforts. One of such popular marketing activities is the promotion of brochures.
The aim of issuing brochures as shown in Figure 3.2 is to inform the consumer
about the availability of a product or service. The brochure will contain
information that will increase the consumerÊs awareness about the product or
service.
Most marketing activities are implemented to suit the wants or needs of the
consumer or the market. Advertisers must release whatever can be sold or
whatever meets the market needs. However, marketing is not only carried out
by business organisations but also non-business organisations, individuals, the
government, etc. In general, when discussing marketing, there will be obvious
differences in terms of who the marketer is, what is to be marketed, and who is
included in the potential market.
ACTIVITY 3.2
Based on the above information, what in your opinion must be done to

start a tourism agency business?

It is true that the aim of marketing is to create an exchange that will satisfy the
consumerÊs needs and wants. In this respect, advertising is one of the various
promotional tools used by the marketer.
3.3 BASIC CONCEPTS IN MARKETING

In this section, we will discuss marketing. There are seven (7) basic concepts that
make up the core of marketing. Figure 3.3 below briefly outlines the basic
concepts in marketing.
Figure 3.3: Basic concepts in marketing

Source: Adapted from Kotler & Armstrong (1991). Principles of marketing (4th ed). NJ:
Prentice Hall.
The seven (7) basic concepts of marketing go towards ensuring a proper

understanding of marketing. The seven concepts are; needs, wants, demands,
production, exchange, business and markets. You are encouraged to make brief
notes regarding these seven factors to reinforce your understanding of each of
these factors.
(a) Needs
This most basic concept refers to the needs of a person as a buyer and user
or consumer. People have varied needs. Their main needs however, would
include physical needs like food, drinks, clothing and security as well as
social needs like the need to be loved. Their other secondary needs might
include the need for knowledge and self-actualisation. These are known as
natural needs.

Figure 3.4: Needs-based advertisement
ACTIVITY 3.3
The advertisement in Figure 3.4 shows a special type of shoes that

need to be worn by those who work in mining areas. This shows a
need for that product. Please submit a list of products or services that
you have bought or used that are based on the concept of this kind of
need.
Besides a list of survival needs we also have a list of products and services
which are used for cultural, social, and psychographic purposes.
(b) Wants
Sometimes our wants may cause us to forget the price of the product. In
such cases the wants are human needs which are based on the culture and
personality of an individual. As such, wants are described as objects which
satisfy needs. Because cultural factors and the individualÊs personality play
a role in influencing wants, the result is that every individual creates his or
her own wants.
ACTIVITY 3.4
Have you ever had differing opinions, for example, your wants for
owning a certain car being different from the wants of your friend?
You may desire to own an Optra-Five from Chevrolet because it is
new in the market, but your friend may want to drive a Hyundai
Tucson. How can this happen?

Because of the differences of opinion, the marketer is often confused in

differentiating needs and wants. For example, the car salesperson may
observe that consumers need a car but consumers may wish to fulfill certain
self-values by wanting to own not just any car but a sophisticated car.
(c) Demand
Every individual has unlimited wants but resources may be limited. As
such, the consumer may be only able to select certain products or services
which are capable of giving them maximum satisfaction vis-à-vis the
amount of money they have.
When a person has wants and the ability to buy, the wants become a
demand. In seeking profits, the size of the demand and not the size of the
want will determine the selection.
(d) Production
In your view, what brings about the mass production of a certain product?
We can say that the existence of needs, wants and demand dictate the
decision to produce an output that can fulfill that demand. An output is
something that is offered to the market for the attention, ownership or use,
which will subsequently meet a need or want.
We probably can agree that output is not just limited to physical objects per
se but also includes non-physical things. For example, to meet the demands
for beauty, there are various things like clothing, shoes, cosmetics etc.
(e) Exchange
Marketing occurs when a group of consumers decide to satisfy their needs
and wants through a process of exchange. This process is an action on your
part as a consumer to procure a desired object from another person by
offering a certain return.
We can say that to allow an exchange to occur, several conditions have to

be met, i.e. it must involve two parties who each have something of value to
exchange. Both these parties wish to enter into an agreement and have the
freedom to receive or reject each othersÊ offer. Each party must be able to
communicate and fulfill the promises they make.

(f) Business Dealings
ACTIVITY 3.5
I believe that you understand the concepts of output and exchange.

What then is the relationship between these two factors in a business
transaction?
When an exchange occurs, the parties to the exchange have entered into a
business transaction. For example, if you pay RM150 for a suit from a
boutique in Sogo, you have entered into a business transaction that involves
the exchange of money. However, if only an exchange of goods occurs, this
exchange is known as a barter system.
3.4 MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Marketing is a method of communication among marketers/firms/advertisers/
producers on the one hand and consumers on the other. There are four important
elements in marketing communication (see Figure 3.5).
Figure 3.5: Elements of marketing communication
(a) Advertising
As a student, you may have to plan and outline something for a specific
purpose. Advertising is a marketing programme that is formulated to assist
advertisers to direct and control market action by consolidating competition
and also products, services or the image of the organisation. However,
advertising is not the core of the marketing plan.
We cannot deny that there are marketing plans that have succeeded
without the assistance of advertisements. However, if advertisements had
been used, advertisers will ensure the advertising has certain features that
will facilitate the success of marketing the said product or service.

ACTIVITY 3.6
You are required to look at an example of a type of advertising in a
magazine as shown in Figure 3.6 below. Try and examine the features of
this kind of advertisement. Try and think how this kind of
advertisement can help in the success of the marketing programme.
Figure 3.6: Marketing through an advertisement form
(b) Personal Selling

An interpersonal communication
between a salesperson and the buyer
aims to meet the needs of the buyer.
According to Duncan (2005), personal
selling is a form of interactive
communication between individuals for
the purpose of persuasion. You must
understand that the personal selling
method is used depending on the kind
of product and service that is being
offered. Normally, personal selling is
used together with advertising in
specific communication campaigns.
Personal selling is an important
facilitator in promotional campaigns of
many organisations.
Figure 3.7: Personal selling

ACTIVITY 3.7
Try and list the products and services that you have bought through
personal selling. Why have those products and services been successfully
sold through personal selling? List the well-known companies which
implement the personal selling method for marketing products.
(c) Sales Promotion

Sales activities which combine direct selling and
marketing aim to assist the execution of a more
effective sales technique. Sales promotion is also
a marketing activity which uses various tactics
with the aim of increasing the sales of a product
or service. Among sales promotion activities
often implemented are; the use of coupons, price
slashing packages, competition, samples, trade
exhibitions, premiums, bonus, demonstrations,
consumer education services, etc.
An interesting example of sales promotion is the

use of coupons as shown in Figure 3.8. As a
consumer, you can obtain coupons that are Figure 3.8: An example
issued by the company and use them to buy of sales promotion &
products at a price lower than the normal price. advertisement
ACTIVITY 3.8
List the types of sales promotions that you have used. What kinds of
products normally use sales promotion? Can you save by using sales
promotions?
(d) Publicity
Publicity is unplanned media coverage about a product, company or
personality. The publicity message is channeled through the print and
electronic media. Duncan (2005) defined publicity as stories relating to
products and services. Normally, these stories are broadcast through the
mass media on a complimentary basis.
Let us look at this scenario. If you are a fan of a male artiste, you may not
wish to hear gossip about that artiste and another female artiste publicised

over the mass media. To you, comments about the female artiste are merely
for her to get free publicity and to share the limelight with the male artiste.
However, if you are a fan of the female artiste, then to you, the male artiste
is trying to deliberately create stories that he is friendly with that female
artiste. If a new song by the male artiste is coincidentally being circulated in
the market, then distributors will get automatic publicity because such
stories may encourage sales of the album by the male artiste. Nonetheless,
sometimes such publicity can have a negative effect.
3.5 MARKETING MIX
ACTIVITY 3.9
When you buy electrical equipment like a radio, TV, etc., do you ever
read the user manual before you use the equipment? What is the main
purpose of preparing the manual for buyers or consumers?
In marketing all business activities have specific goals. These goals are as follows:
(i) To identify the customers and their wants and needs.
(ii) To create or produce an output to fulfill those wants and needs.
(iii) To deliver the required product into the hands of the consumer.
This activity is implemented to help companies increase their business profits.

Companies which operate on a marketing concept focus on producing goods
which meet the needs of a consumer and do not force the consumer to buy a
product or use the service that is being offered.
In accordance with this, the concept of marketing must focus on fulfilling your
demands as a consumer and at the same time, respecting your views. In the
implementation of a marketing plan, there are four elements that play an
important role and these are referred to by most scholars as the 4 PÊs (Product,
Price, Place and Promotion). The four elements are as shown in Figure 3.9.

Figure 3.9: Elements of marketing concepts
(a) Product
A product is what represents value or satisfaction to the consumer
depending on the needs and desires of that consumer. The satisfaction that
a consumer enjoys can be viewed from a functional, social or psychological
point.
Product also refers to an object that is advertised with the intention of being
marketed. For the product to have an impact on the consumer, the
advertiser must ensure that the features of the product are translated in the
best possible way to appeal to the consumer.
Figure 3.10: Products
(b) Price
Did you know that the price of the product includes the cost of processing
the product as well as the cost of marketing it? Besides this, the producer
also considers the profit from that product. Other than that, psychological
factors also come into play in influencing the price of the product.
At times the price is viewed as a comparative value of a product or service

to the seller and buyer. The value of a product or service involves both the
tangible and intangible factors. For example, a tangible marketing factor is

product packaging. The cost of the packaging is included as a production
cost. Meanwhile, non-tangible marketing is like creating a product image.
Producers spend money to create an image for the product and this cost is
included under the intangible marketing cost.
The price determines the profit of an organisation which is the core of that
organisation over the long-term. The price influences profits. The price also
leaves a psychological impact on you and your friends as consumers. As
such, producers can use the price as a symbol to show product quality.
Price determination should also be related to the total facilitation of the
marketing process.
(c) Place
Market placement of products refers to how a product is viewed by a user
based on important product features. It represents the relative position of a
product compared to another competitive product in the mind of the
consumer.
To place a product, the producer can choose from among several placement
strategies. For example, the placement of products is based on output
features. If the product is a kind of food, is that product more nutritious
than that of a competitor?
Besides placement based on product features, a producer can also decide

where to place his products based on utilisation. As an example, cosmetic
products like facial wash creams, lipsticks, etc. are differentiated according
to how suitable they are to the customer. For example, Asian women with
darker complexions may look for cosmetics that are more suitable to their
skin type and they may not choose cosmetics that are preferred by western
women who have fairer complexions.
(d) Promotions
We often find that there are more sales promotions campaigns like price
cuts, discounts, coupons, free samples, etc. during festive seasons. Sales
promotion is a sales activity that supports direct selling and marketing.
This process combines direct selling and marketing to ensure more effective
sales.
As opposed to an advertising strategies, sales strategies are intended for

short-term profits. The function of a sales promotion is to inform or
announce a price cut or other promotional material to stimulate sales. The
effect of a sales promotion is almost instantaneous. Besides increasing sales

promotions it also encourages the use of new products. It increases market

awareness by urging acceptance of new products in the market.
Among the popular promotion activities are premiums, competitions,

„point-of-purchase‰, etc. Through these sales promotions, producers can
draw consumers away from the competitors and encourage the consumers
to purchase their items at promotional prices which are usually cheaper
than the prices offered by their competitors. In short, promotions are tools
to expedite sales.
ACTIVITY 3.10
Try and list examples of sales promotions that are often carried out in
shopping centres in your area. Do these activities succeed in increasing
sales?
3.6 ADVERTISING AGENCIES: THE MIX

BETWEEN ADVERTISING AND
MARKETING
Advertising agencies are responsible for preparing the advertisement and
promotions of the advertisement. When an advertiser uses the services of an
advertising agency, that agency is responsible for
translating and interpreting the wants and needs
of the consumer. If you own an advertising agency,
then such an agency must act to provide value to a
product or service. The aim of communications in
an agency is to develop product personality,
product image and give the product uniqueness
vis-à-vis a competitorÊs product.
A producer may use the services of an advertising

agency because that agency is able to provide
professional services. In addition, an experienced
agency may be able to provide the best service as it
has professionals and experts in the advertising
field. Besides, these agencies may have the
equipment and expertise to produce a better
advertisement about the product than the
producer of the product.
Figure 3.11: Services of
advertising agencies
A producer can choose the services of any one of many advertising agencies. This
is because there are many types of advertising agencies. There are agencies
which provide the full range of services; specialised agencies; agencies which buy
media space and also virtual agencies. Advertising agencies also differ from one
another in terms of size.
In every agency, there are many divisions performing various specialised

functions. Among the important departments in each agency are the Accounts
Management Department, the Creative and Production Department, the Media
Department and the Accounts and Research Planning Department. Each
department has its own area of focus in ensuring the overall success of the
advertising agency.
ACTIVITY 3.11
What is the kind of promotion being carried out in Figure 3.11? Have
you participated in such a promotion? List the names of companies
involved in such a promotion.
 In brief, the emphasis in this topic is on advertising and marketing

communications. The advertising process involves creating, executing and
managing advertisements. The advertiser analyses the situation and
environment as best possible to ensure the effectiveness of the
implementation of advertising and marketing plans. The advertising process
must be planned based on clear objectives with precise and concise
instructions about how the advertisement is to proceed in achieving its long-
term objectives.
 Both the advertising and marketing activities are carried out by the producer
to convey a message about a product or service to the consumer and also to
increase sales of that product or service.
Marketing Promotions
Personal selling Sales promotion

1. Discuss briefly your understanding about advertising management.

2. List the types of promotions.
3. Define marketing.
4. Explain the purposes of marketing.
1. List the four main elements in marketing communication.

(12 marks)
2. Explain the following elements:

Product
Price
Place
Promotion
(8 marks)
Total (20 marks)

Duncan, T. (2005). Principles of advertising & IMC. (2nd ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.
Kotler, P. Armstrong, G. (1991). Principles of marketing. (4th ed.). NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Mohd Sidin Ahmad Ishak & Noorbathi Haji Badaruddin. (1993). Asas periklanan. KL:
DBP.
OÊGuinn, Allen & Semenik. Advertising & integrated brand promotion. OH: Thomson
South-Western.

Shimp, T.A. (2003). Advertising, promotion & supplemental aspects of integrated

marketing communications. (6th ed.). OH: Thomson South-Western

Topic  Advertising:
4 Background,
Planning and
Strategy
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define strategic planning;
2. Identify effective advertising strategies and planning;
3. Describe the marketing and advertising plans;
4. Identify three (3) types of research on advertising; and
5. Express five (5) research categories.
 INTRODUCTION
"You cannot invent experience.
You must undergo it".
Albert Camus
Figure 4.1: Advertising planning and

strategy
Source: Utusan Malaysia, 6 July 2006

66  TOPIC 4 ADVERTISING: BACKGROUND, PLANNING AND STRATEGY
Welcome to Topic 4 which will focus on advertising planning and strategy. In

Topic 3, you were exposed to the advertising and marketing processes. Please
look at the above newspaper cutting. It is most likely that you or your friends
might have experienced a similar event. This is one of the plans, strategies and
tactics to ensure success in advertising.
The planning process not only involves objectives, strategies and tactics but also
includes the marketing and advertising plan. You will learn about all this and
also understand creative plans and strategies of copywriters in this topic.
4.1 STRATEGIC PLANNING
Strategic Planning is a process of identifying objectives (what is to be

achieved?), making a decision on the strategy to be used (how to
achieve the objectives) and implementing the chosen tactics (execution
of plan)
You must understand that the process of strategic planning is done within a
specific time-frame. Imagine you have a product you wish to market which
requires the help of experts. The advertiser you appoint will make a decision on
the marketing and advertising strategy to be employed. This decision will be
based on several alternatives that best suit you. To make a wise decision the best
method or approach must be selected. Difficulty in making the best decision can
even occur among experienced people or experts.
It is important for advertisers to understand the goals of implementing an

advertisement. A strategy can be defined as the way in which the objectives are
to be achieved. If the purpose of the advertisement is to introduce a new product
in the market, then the advertiser will implement the advertisement and the
appropriate marketing tactics to introduce that product.
From this it is apparent that the advertiser needs to understand the objectives of
advertising, which need to accord with the wishes of the producer of the product,
make a decision on the appropriate strategy for the product and implement the
best and most effective tactics for its success. Normally, in any strategic planning,
there are several elements that must be emphasised, i.e. strategic business plan
and marketing plan. This can be seen in the Figure 4.2 below.

TOPIC 4 ADVERTISING: BACKGROUND, PLANNING AND STRATEGY  67
Figure 4.2: Strategic planning
The strategic business plan begins with the advertising party planning the
business objective statement. This statement helps the organisation with its
organisational mission and objectives. At the same time, the organisation will
carry out an environmental analysis. For example, a competitive analysis to
know about the potential challenges faced by the product. The organisation will
also analyse the strengths of the product or service of the company.
It is important for the organisation to understand the strengths and weaknesses

of the product to be marketed as well as the current market situation. All these
considerations will enable the product advertised to compete successfully in the
market.
When management has an understanding of both the internal and external

environments, then the next thing that must be focused upon is outlining the
advertising or marketing objectives. Figure 4.3 adapted from Wells et al. (2000)
explain in detail the strategic business planning process.
Figure 4.3: Strategic business planning process

Source: Wells et al. (2000). Advertising principles and practice (5th ed.). NJ: Prentice Hall.

4.2 MARKETING PLAN
ACTIVITY 4.1
You have learnt about strategic planning. There are two (2) plans in
strategic planning, i.e. the strategic business plan and the marketing
plan. What do you understand by the marketing plan?
A marketing plan is a document which outlines the strategies that will be used.
The marketing plan is also a type of working paper to help the marketing
process. There are several steps in preparing the marketing plan, i.e. collect all
important facts about the organisation, establish collaboration of the managers in
all the divisions of the organisation and prepare goals and objectives for a
specific time period. Figure 4.4 below explains in detail how a traditional
marketing plan is implemented by an organisation.
Figure 4.4: Marketing plan
From Figure 4.4, we can see that from an early stage, i.e. the situational analysis
stage, the organisation will create a statement about the current organisational
situation. Among relevant facts included are an analysis of the history of the
organisation, developments, total sales, sales of products and services, shares,
company capacity and weaknesses.
At the next stage of setting marketing objectives, the management will put
forward marketing information, i.e. the needs of specific target groups and
purposes of the sales.

The marketing strategy level requires the company to meet the marketing
objectives. A strategy is the directional plan of the company that has been
identified through the integrated marketing elements of the company.
4.3 ADVERTISING PLAN

An advertising plan is a plan that puts forward suggestions on the best strategy
to be adopted to capture a large market. Besides this, the advertising plan also
includes the advertising message and media implementation.
The advertising plan must ensure that the message created is suitable for the
right audience and that the right media is selected. There are three basic elements
that explain advertising strategy, i.e.; target public, message strategy and media
strategy (see Table 4.1).
Table 4.1: Three Basic Elements of Advertising Strategy
Element Strategy
Target Public Who is the target market for the product?
Message Strategy What is the message to be sent?
Media Strategy When and where will the target market be reached?
There are several items that need to be included in the discussion about
advertising plan, such as; introduction, situational analysis, decision-making
strategy, creative planning, media planning, communication planning,
implementation as well as assessment and budget.
4.3.1 Introduction
An introduction is a summary of the plan being prepared. In this section, the
focus is on the main elements that are presented.
4.3.2 Situational Analysis

As with the marketing plan, an advertising plan also requires a situational
analysis through research and evaluation. Through this analysis, the
management must determine that there is sufficient information. Besides this, a
situational analysis also requires an analysis of the competitors.
One way of doing a situational analysis is by understanding the problems which

are related to marketing the product and also identifying advertising

opportunities. There are many strategies that can be utilised by agencies

depending on the method adopted.
However, advertising can only solve problems related to the product message
like image, consumer perception, product price, etc.
4.3.3 Strategies for Making Advertising Decisions

There are several important decisions which need to be made in creating a
marketing strategy. For example, the setting of objectives and identifying the
target market, product concept or brand image as well as brand personality,
implementation and evaluation.
(a) Advertising Objectives

An objective statement for an advertisement is the result of a combination
of problems as well as opportunities that can be obtained through
advertising planning. In general, the purpose of advertising is to convey the
product or service message to the consumer. Normally, also, advertisers use
all sorts of models like the AIDA model, the hierarchy-of-effect model and
the DAGMAR model to ensure the effective implementation of
advertisements.
(i) AIDA Model

The AIDA model or approach (attention, interest, desire, action) was
created around the 1920s. This approach shows that buyers go
through the levels abbreviated as AIDA, i.e. attention, interest, desire
and action. If the public is not aware of a particular good, then the
task of the advertiser is to create the awareness.
This can be done by various means, for example, repeating a brief

message to get the attention of the customer. This attention will
develop into interest. If attention is successfully obtained, then what is
their feeling towards that product? Advertising planners and others
like script writers, visualisers, etc. must try and build a positive
attitude and good feeling for that product so that further interest can
be generated.
The public may be interested and like a product but sometimes, they
may make other choices which are deemed better. As such, desire
must be created so that they select that particular product. This will
then involve aspects like quality, values, presentation and other
features that need to be portrayed in the advertising campaign.

Finally, the AIDA model states that the final effort that must be taken
is to encourage the public to take action to buy the product that is
being advertised.
In fact, the AIDA model is based on the assumption that buyers go

through the cognitive, affective and behavioural stages.
(ii) Hierarchy Model

Another approach is the hierarchy-of-effect model, the innovation-
adoption model and the communication model. These models
postulate that buyers go through the stages of awareness, knowledge,
interest, choice and finally action (Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi
Badaruddin, 1993).
Wells et al. (2000) outlined five stages in the hierarchy-of-effect model

as explained in Figure 4.5.
Figure 4.5: Hierarchy-of-effect model

Source: Adaptation from Wells. (2000). Advertising: Principles and practice.
(5th ed.). NJ: Prentice Hall.
Referring to the above model, the setting of advertisement objectives

will be done by taking into consideration the level of the objective to
be achieved by the advertiser. As an example, the advertiser may
release the advertisement with the objective of exposing the audience
to a 75 per cent awareness level.
(iii) DAGMAR Model

Besides the above models, advertisers also use the DAGMAR
(Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results)
Model. The DAGMAR approach was introduced by Russel H. Colley,
in a book, sponsored by the United States National Advertising
Association in 1961.
The title of the book is ÂDefining Advertising Goals for Measured
Advertising ResultsÊ and the contents of the book introduced the

DAGMAR method of advertising planning. Colley stated that the

tasks of the advertiser are divided into four (4) as in Table 4.2 below.
Table 4.2: Tasks of an Advertiser According to Colley
No. Task
1. To create awareness about the existence of a brand or company;
2. To build consumer understanding of the good;
3. To develop an attitude that they feel they have to buy; and
4. To encourage so that they act.
Colley came up with several questions that could be referred to by

advertisers to define the purposes of an advertising campaign. By using a
five-point scale, and giving probable answers, Colley put forth important
questions that must be addressed as shown in Table 4.3 below:
Table 4.3: Important Questions According to Colley
No. Questions
1. To what extent does advertising aim to achieve quick sales?
2. Is the aim of advertising to achieve sales by activating a step-by-step sales
prospects?
3. Does advertising aim to build a long-term user franchise?
4. Specifically, how can advertising contribute to sales?
5. Does advertising use specific measures to achieve sales?
6. To what extent are side-benefits in advertising important?
7. Does advertising aim to disseminate information needed to create sales and
give customer satisfaction?
8. How far does advertising intend to build the confidence and good name of the
company?
9. Specifically, what is the kind of image the company wishes to develop?
ACTIVITY 4.2
LetÊs say that you are a woman who wears a scarf and has dandruff
problems. One day, you come across a shampoo advertisement
especially for women wearing scarves who have dandruff problems. This
advertisement will definitely interest you. As a result, you might end up
buying that shampoo. What is the process you went through?

(b) Target Audience or Target Market

The target audience is the specific market that an advertisement hopes to
reach. Target audience can be categorised as retailers, consumers,
wholesalers, public and private organisations, etc.
The advertiser will obtain the profile of the consumer to facilitate market
specialisation, as an example, for the mobile telephone advertisement in
Figure 4.6 below. Also, the goods or services produced will be specific to
consumers according to age, race, gender, etc.
Figure 4.6: Advertisement for target audience
ACTIVITY 4.3
By referring to the demographical aspects of the consumer, in your view,

who is the target audience for this advertisement? Why do you say so?
Knowledge about the target audience is the foundation for advertising

planning and strategy. Some products have a universal appeal, however
some products are directed at a group of consumers who share certain
similarities.
Determining the target audience, the market or market segmentation is an

important process. It is a process of dividing the market into smaller groups
or boxes. The main aims are as shown in Table 4.4 below.
Table 4.4: Purposes of Market Segmentation

No. Purpose
1. Determining the target audience
2. Deciding the needs of this group
3. Formulating and planning products that satisfy the needs of the audience
4. Developing or promoting the goods for this audience in a specific manner

A market can be segmented into four main categories as follows:
(i) Geographical
Geographical location can be made the basis for effective market
segmentation. Geographical location includes urban and rural areas,
as well as the west and east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. For a small
nation like Malaysia, this factor is not as important when compared to
big countries like the USA and China that comprise numerous states
and target audiences that differ from one area to another.
Figure 4.7: An example of an advertisement aimed for hispanics in

certain areas in america
(ii) Demographic Factor

Market segmentation can also be done according to the demographic
characteristics of the audience like age, income, education level, sex,
occupation, etc. These factors are important for the advertiser to
market their products accurately.
As an example, who is the group who will buy beauty cream products
and pre-paid packs of telecommunication companies? How about
baby milk powder and shaving cream? Demography provides
important statistical details about the audience.

Figure 4.8: Example of an advertisement targeting the whole family
(iii) Psychographics
Psychographic marketers divide the audience into specific groups
according to certain characteristics. For example, William D. Wells
divided male consumers into eight main boxes as shown in Table
4.5(a).
Table 4.5 (a): Division of Consumers (Male)
No. Type Characteristics

1. Family men  This kind of man prefers to be by himself, is shy and earns
who keep to just enough for the family.
themselves  He is seldom involved with society and community life.
 His life is more for the children and wife and simple jobs.
 His education and status levels are not high.
2. Traditionalist  This kind of man has strong life values, has dignity and
men adheres to the conventional.
 He is respected; considers himself as being altruistic and is
interested in the welfare of others.
 As a buyer, he is conservative, prefers popular brands and
well-known goods.
 His education and status levels are not high.
 He comes from the older generation.
3. Men who are  This kind of man is seen as being dissatisfied with his job.
not satisfied  He feels left behind, dreams of better jobs, higher income
and stronger security.
 As a buyer, he is cautious about price.
 In terms of education and social status, he originates from
the lowest level and is from the older generation.

4. Educated and  This kind of man is very concerned and sensitive to the
ethical group needs of others.
 Basically, he is satisfied with his family life, with friends
and colleagues. He is interested in art, culture, religion and
social renewal.
 As a buyer, he is interested in quality and sometimes
spends huge amounts.
 His education level is high and is grouped in the middle or
high economic status and is of mid-age.
5. Enjoyment-  This kind of man displays macho characteristics and rejects
orientated things which are seen as soft and feminine.
men  He sees himself as a leader and is self-centred and does not
like his job too much.
 As a buyer, he is impulsive and is inclined to buy Âmale-
imageÊ products.
 His education and socio-economic status are not high.
 He is in the young or middle age group.
6. Men who  This kind of man works hard is committed and dedicated
work hard towards success, social prestige, power and money.
 He likes to travel, prefers tasty food, good music, etc.
 As a consumer, he values status and is cautious.
 His education and social status are high and he is young.
7. Macho men  This kind of men likes to be involved in society, is action-
oriented, is smooth and likes to seek life that is interesting
and dramatic.
 He considers himself capable and dominant; is single and
sometimes, although married, still behaves like a bachelor.
 Goods bought by him are self-expressive, especially in the
dimension of ÂsmoothÊ guys.
 His education and economic status are high and he is among
the youthful.
8. Sophisticated  Normally, this kind of man is an intellectual, is concerned
men about social issues, appreciates others who have achieved
high artistic and intellectual values, has wide interests and is
cosmopolitan in nature.
 He aspires to become dominant.
 As a buyer, he is attracted to all things unique and stylish.
 His education and economic status are high and he is among
the youthful.
Besides the male group, Wells also segmented the females and the
psychographic segmentation as shown in Table 4.5 (b).

Table 4.5 (b): Division of Consumers (Female)
No. Types
1. Conformist women
2. Hard-working women who are dissatisfied
3. Women who spend freely
4. Neutral and satisfied women
5. Pampered women
6. Women who aspire to achieve their ambitions
7. Career women
8. Puritan women
ACTIVITY 4.4
In terms of psychographics, under which group would you label yourself?
(iv) Behaviouristic
Marketers are also inclined to view the public from the behaviouristic
aspect. This segmentation is based on the relationship of the
consumers and the goods, i.e. their knowledge about the goods.
Among the variables that can be determined are as in Table 4.6, which
include:
Table 4.6: Behaviouristic

No. Variables Characteristics
1. Time of Buyers may be differentiated through the period they make and
Purchase use the purchases.
When do consumers buy the goods? While traveling? In the
morning? At night? On the way home from work?
So it goes with the time of using the goods.
Used at work? At night? While relaxing?
Buyers purchase goods based on quality, price, status, image,
appeal, taste, packaging, etc. These are the benefits that a
consumer looks for, and as such, producers come up with a
product that satisfies the needs and wants of the consumer as well
as the benefits sought.

2. Consumer In terms of the status of the consumer, advertisers can segment

Status the audience into the following groups:
 Non-consumers
 Former consumers
 Potential consumers
 New consumers
 Normal consumers
3. Rate of In terms of the rate of usage, they can be divided into:
Usage
 Light/mild users ă i.e. consumers who buy and use a product
slightly as they do not really need it.
 Medium users ă this group needs the goods slightly more
than the above group.
 Heavy users ă consumers who often use a product and use it
heavily. Cigarettes are a good example.
(c) Product Concept

Advertisers will try and create a product concept by including special
product features as a point of focus for that product. The creation of a
product concept is important to differentiate between brands. No two
product advertisements are completely the same.
Every entity that is advertised has its own differences and normally,
advertisers focus on the unique features of the product. This concept is
based on creative philosophy and is known as the unique selling
proposition (USP) or unique offer. This was the inspiration from Rooser
Reeves when he was the Chairman of the Ted Bates & Company
advertising agency. The definition of USP can be further explained within
three divisions as shown in Table 4.7.
Table 4.7: Definition of USP According to Rooser Reeves
No. Features
1. Every advertisement must make a specific proposition to clients. The
proposition is not mere words or general offers, but something that is unique
and special.
2. The offer must be different from the offer made by competitors. It must be
unique and special.
3. The offer must be resilient enough till it can trigger the audience, i.e. to change
the attitude of the consumers towards purchasing the product.

The creation of a product concept is also linked to the creation of a product

personality. The creation of a personality may be influenced by product
price or quality, packaging, physical features, etc. Consumers should be
able to use product personality to differentiate between brands.
ACTIVITY 4.5
We often see many brands of shampoo in the market. LetÊs say you use
the Head & Shoulders brand of shampoo. Why do you use this brand
and not others like Sunsilk, Pantene, Johnson & Johnson, etc.?
(d) Implementation
The final stage of the advertising plan is implementation. At this stage,
advertisers ensure that items like budget, the effectiveness of advertisement
evaluation techniques, etc, are outlined in detail.
(e) Evaluation
At this stage, evaluation is carried out to monitor the effectiveness of the
advertisement. Various research techniques are carried out.
ACTIVITY 4.6
Think of a product you purchased recently. How was it advertised?
What was the strategy used by the advertiser? Did the advertisement
convince you to buy that product? Why or why not?

ADVERTISING PLAN
1. Situational Analysis
 Background research
 SWOTs: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
 Main advertising plans to be resolved
2. Main Strategic Decision
 Advertising objectives and strategy
 Target public
 Brand position
 Brand Image and Brand Personality
 Budget
3. Media Strategy
 Media objectives
 Media selection and budget allocation for each media selected
 Media schedule
4. Message Strategy
 Key consumer insight
 Selling premises
 Big idea
 Executions
5. Advertisement Effectiveness Evaluation
Source: Wells et.al. (2006). Advertising: Principles and practice (7th ed.). NJ: Prentice
Hall.
4.4 ADVERTISING RESEARCH

According to Johan Arndt, advertising research basically is a systematic study of
human beings as senders or receivers of non-personal paid-for communication,
which aims to increase and facilitate sales. William M. Weilbacker stated that
advertising research is an effort which specifically and generally assists in
determining what is to be conveyed in an advertisement; help in identifying the
target audience; help in evaluating the extent to which the implementation of the
advertising communication was successfully delivered; and help in evaluating
the extent to which the budget for advertising was spent beneficially and
effectively.

To Weilbacker, advertising research is an input to advertising plan, matched with

advertising creativity, advertisement evaluation and campaign, as well as
theories about how an advertisement functions.
Normally, research is carried out to assist managers to make decisions and help
resolve problems like study of effectiveness of advertising, appropriateness of
media, pattern of audience as well as other short-term problems. Some of the
main types of research are:
(a) General or Theoretical Research

To find out the principles for strategy creation or advertising schedule. For
example, research on exposure to advertisements, research on the memory
of viewers of an advertisement that they have seen or research on an
advertisement script.
(b) Exploratory Research

Researchers try and find the relationship among various marketing or
advertising variables. For example, researchers intend to look for the
similar features in award winning advertisements.
(c) Predictive Research

Researchers test hypothesis about things that will probably occur as a result
of an action. It could be done at the pre-test stage before the actual
advertisement is released or used in the market for the purposes of gauging
its effectiveness.
In terms of materials used, research can be divided into two, i.e. primary research
and secondary research. Primary research involves the use of pure or original
data collected by the researchers themselves. Secondary research involves the use
of data that exists or that was collected by certain agencies or associations or
other forms of data from books, journals, magazines, etc.
Advertising Research is normally customised research or syndicated research.
Customised research is carried out by specific agencies or advertisers for the
purpose of obtaining specific information. It can be conducted by any agency or
organisation upon the instructions of an advertiser or agency.
This is different from syndicated research whereby the research is conducted by

research agencies like AC Nielsen and Frank Small Associates in Malaysia. There
is also the Audit Bureau Circulation that provides important information to
advertisement planners and marketers. This Bureau comprises media companies
and its board of directors is composed of representatives of advertising agencies,
advertising companies and representatives from the media.

4.5 RESEARCH CATEGORY

In general, research can be categorised into five main categories as listed below:
(a) Target Market Research

The target market comprises many people who use a product or service,
especially those who are considered as heavy users. Among the main
purposes of this research is to obtain information about the target market as
follows:
(i) Product-using stage (like user category)
(ii) the important determining factors (like demographic, geographic and
psychographic factors)
(iii) the pattern of using the media
When all this important information has been obtained, advertisement

planners can define and determine the best prospects for that product, and
select the media that has the most effective potential to deliver the message
in the advertisement.
(b) Competitive Activity Research

The aim of this type of research is to find out how much is spent by
competing companies for advertising, what media they use, what is the
frequency of advertisement, what is the creative strategy adopted and how
this is implemented.
When this information is obtained by advertisers on competitorsÊ activities,

then maybe they can carry out similar activities or use other methods to
avoid confrontation or produce an advertising strategy or message that is
far better than the competitorsÊ. Normally, this type of research is in the
syndicated form as it requires complex research work.
(c) Positioning Research

Positioning research aims to obtain information about the opinions and
thinking of consumers about an existing product in the market, a new
product or a competitorÊs product. This type of research normally questions
users on benefits they look for, how they use the product, etc. The findings
can help advertising strategists to create an appropriate advertisement for
that product.
(d) Advertising Message Research

In this type of research, they are two main kinds of research i.e. pre-test
message research and post-test message research. Pre-test research is

implemented to determine more effective advertising and marketing

strategies. As an example, a marketer may wish to carry out a pre-test on
several direct marketing strategies to determine which is more efficient and
effective in creating greater awareness and sales.
Pre-tests are far better than directly implicating a strategy without pre-
testing of a specific small sample in the market. In determining printed or
TV advertising messages, advertisements which have not been released yet
will be viewed by a pilot group and through them, it will be decided which
of the advertisements gives the most preferred impact.
Post-test research is carried out after an advertisement is released to see its

effectiveness and whether the strategy used succeeded in reaching the
target audience. Some post-test advertisements evaluate an advertisement
by asking the respondents whether they saw that advertisement or read
about it the first time it was released, get their reaction if it motivated them
sufficiently to buy the product and to what extent they remember that
advertisement.
For an awareness campaign, the preferred approach is to measure the

awareness level before and after the campaign. Any gaps that are found
will be the findings of that campaign.
(e) Public Research

This research aims to obtain information about the size and composition of
the audience for a specific media channel. This information is vital to
determine which medium needs to be selected and considered effective to
convey the advertisement or campaign message.
Assessment of the audience is important because it can determine the

extent to which the message can be circulated. So it goes with demographic
and psychographic information. Deciding the audience is important as each
advertisement message is directed at a group that has specific and probably
differing characteristics.
This kind of research is normally carried out by surveying a wide audience

and involves complex tasks. It is normally carried out by advertising
agencies and managed via a syndicate. As an overview, these five
categories are shown in Figure 4.9..

Figure 4.9: Research categories
4.6 CONSUMERS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The main functions of research are to:
(i) Determine the internal analysis of the market situation,
(ii) Obtain information about consumers and their thoughts for the audience
determination process,
(iii) Obtain information about the existing media so that the process of
determining the audience and media can be implemented, and
(iv) Develop message strategy and study its effectiveness.
In advertising planning, there are several consumer research methodologies that

are used to understand consumer behaviour and thinking, prospective market,
and non-users of a particular brand. Qualitative and quantitative research
methods can be used for this. From this research, the audience segmentation can
be identified and profiles determined. The following are several consumer
research methodologies that are often used as shown in Figure 4.10.

Figure 4.10: Types of advertising research
(a) Survey Research

In survey research, questionnaires are used to get information about
consumer behaviour, knowledge, use of media, and exposure to certain
messages. Survey research is a quantitative method which uses structured
interviews by using the same set of questions for a large number of
respondents.
Selected individuals can be representative of certain groups, or population,

or just a representative sampling of a wider populace. Scientific methods
are used to carefully select suitable samples to ensure the selected sample is
truly representative of the wider population.
(b) In-depth Interviews

In-depth interviews a one-on-one quantitative method which is conducted
using open-ended questions which require the respondents to give their
own answers for questions asked.
The kind of questions asked differs from that under the survey method as it
is in a non-structured form. Questions like these can be asked in an in-
depth interview: ÂWhat do you like or dislike about this product?Ê ÂWhat
kind of television programmes do you prefer to watch?Ê ÂWhy did you
change to product X?Ê

From answers given, the interviewer can ask follow-up questions like:
ÂWhy did you say so?Ê ÂCan you explain in greater detail?Ê ÂWhat is so
special about product X compared to other productsÊ, etc. The sample size
of in-depth interviews is small.
(c) Focus Group

Another qualitative method is the use of a focus group which involves
groups of between 8 ă 10 consumers or up to 15 prospective consumers of a
product, which is carried out simultaneously in front of the researcher.
Among topics often discussed are topics involving brand, product category
and advertising.
The main objective is to start a discussion and obtain as much information

as possible about a product. The researcher will observe the interaction and
dialogue among the participants while at the same time, supervise the
group by giving them guides and directions through a set of questions
which can enable the participants to put forth their views according to their
own perceptions.
This method can be used in every stage of the planning process but it is
more often used in the early stages of gathering information, to find out
more about consumer behaviour and thinking. It can also be used when the
product is being advertised. It can study the effectiveness of an advertising
message or idea and identify various other alternatives in developing
message strategy.
ACTIVITY 4.7
If you are a researcher for the MAXIS telecommunications Company,
what are the possible questions you may ask a focus group? In your
view, can such a session help MAXIS in improving its strategy?
(d) Observation Research

Observation research studies the actual behaviour of consumers like where
they live, what their occupations are, where they shop, where they spend
their leisure time, etc.
Consumer behaviour observation research can be carried out to observe

where consumers shop, use a product or select a product. This research can
be conducted by video or audio recording or by actual observation in the
home or shop (with the consent of the consumer).

ACTIVITY 4.8
How long do you take to read all the information that is contained in a
product? How many times do you read the information when you wish
to buy a product from the shop? Do you remember the product brand?
Do you know that this kind of information is vital for researchers in
observation research?
(e) Ethnographic Research

This method is almost similar to the observation research but it requires the
researcher to be part of the daily life of the respondent. This method is often
used by anthropologists to study the meaning, language, interaction and
behaviour of man within a particular cultural group.
This method is important to see the true picture of consumers going about
their daily lives. Well known companies like Harley-Davidson and Coca
Cola are among the main companies which currently use ethnographic
research.
(f) Diaries
The diaries method requires consumers to record all their activities in a
diary. This is important especially for media researchers as it provides
specific information to media planners about what programmes and
advertisements are being viewed by consumers when the research is being
conducted.
ACTIVITY 4.9
Take one day in a week. List all the television programmes that you saw
on that day. List all the advertisements that you saw. Compare your list
with your classmateÊs.
 This topic briefly discussed the planning and market research processes and
also advertising. In ensuring that the advertisement produced is effective,
advertisers will need to outline in detail various measures.

Advertising planning
Market planning
Strategic planning
1. What is meant by strategic planning?

2. Explain what is meant by market planning.
3. What are the AIDA and DAGMAR approaches?
4. Write down the definition of advertising planning.
5. What is the purpose of advertising research?
6. Explain the elements in the hierarchy-of-effect model.
7. Explain FIVE (5) main research categories.
1. Explain the main types of consumer research methods.

(10 marks)
2. What is the main important decision that must be implemented in formulating an

advertising strategy?
(10 marks)
Total (20 marks)
Arens, W. F. (1999). Contemporary advertising. (7th ed.). Boston: Irwin-McGraw Hill.

marketing communications perspective. (6th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill.
Duncan, T. (2005). Principles of advertising & IMC (2nd ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.

Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (1991). Principles of marketing (4th ed.). NJ: Prentice-Hall.
KL: DBP.
OÊGuinn, Allen and Semenik. Advertising & integrated brand promotion. OH:
Thomson South-Western.
Shimp, T. A. (2003). Advertising, promotion, & supplemental aspects of

integrated marketing communications. (6th ed.). OH: Thomson South-Western.

Topic  Advertising
5 Media: Planning
and Buying
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define of media planning;
2. Explain the media planning process;
3. Identify three (3) stages of the media planning process;
4. Identify four (4) elements in media planning strategy; and
5. Explain the pattern of media planning.
 INTRODUCTION
„Man does not plan to fail,
He fails to plan‰
William J. Siegel
Figure 5.1: Media Choices

TOPIC 5 ADVERTISING MEDIA: PLANNING AND BUYING  91
Have you ever wondered how advertisers decide which medium to select to
release their advertisement messages? Why choose to advertise on TV rather than
on radio? Why choose to release the advertisement in the Berita Harian? In this
topic we will be discussing the planning and media buying process.
Figure 5.2: Media planning process
5.1 MEDIA PLANNING PROCESS

Media selection aims to create long-term brand stability. Media selection is a
complex process of making a marketing communication decision as several
choices in terms of media and scheduling have to be made.
A media planner is not just responsible for selecting the media category that
should be used, for example, TV channel, radio or magazines, but is also
responsible for making specific choices of each media type and determining the
expenditure required.

92  TOPIC 5 ADVERTISING MEDIA: PLANNING AND BUYING
Besides this, a media planner must also think about when the advertisement
should be aired, which geographical location should be used and how the
advertising expenses need to be allocated throughout the period of the
advertising campaign.
The media planning process can also be defined as an activity which creates or
directs action to show how advertising time and space are used to achieve the
marketing objectives of a product or service.
Figure 5.3: Definitions of media planning process
Bovee & Arens (1994), Arens (1999) and Wells et al. (2003) were also of the
opinion that media planning is a process of effective and creative use of the
media to deliver an advertising message to the target audience at an appropriate
time and place. If we refer to Belch & Belch (2004), the media planning process is
defined as a series of decision-making processes that involves the sending of the
marketing communication message about a product to potential and existing
users.
Media planning is said to be a continuous activity that involves several decision-

making processes that may have to be changed, discarded or continuously used
throughout the implementation of the planning process.
Media planning is one of the components in a marketing plan that is

comprehensive and is linked to other elements in the plan. These elements are,
for example; product features, distribution channels, promotions mix, packaging
and price determination policy.
This complex media selection process was emphasised by Shimp (2000) who said
that advertisers who, even if they wished to select a simple advertisement

schedule for a magazine for each monthly issue, must only make a decision after
looking at various types of magazines. Once the media has been selected, the
advertiser must than select the time-frame for the advertisement to be released.
Figure 5.4: Media planning purposes definitions
Media planning is a complicated process and involves the design of a plan or

schedule which shows how advertising time and space contribute to the
achievement of the marketing objectives. The media planning process needs to be
co-ordinated at three strategic levels.
5.2 THREE STRATEGIC LEVELS FOR THE

MEDIA PLANNING PROCESS
Figure 5.5: Strategic levels in media planning

5.2.1 Marketing Strategy

Overall, the marketing strategy consists of knowing the target market and
selecting the right market mix. This process provides a guide and direction for
advertisers to select advertising and media strategy. This framework is usually
prepared annually with an expenditure budget to implement the overall
marketing programme for that year. Marketing strategy also requires a certain
amount of financial resources which can be allocated for media planning.
Figure 5.6: Marketing strategy
There are several other elements that influence the media planning process like;
product features, distribution channels, price fixing policy and promotions mix.
Since marketing strategy represents the stage of introduction of products to the
target market, advertisers need to nurture awareness about the products among
the target audience.
5.2.2 Advertising Strategy

Advertising strategy encompasses aspects like advertising objectives,
expenditure, media strategy and advertising message. Advertising strategy is
also divided into three categories; product concept, selection of target market and
selection of message (Overholser, 1971). Product concept is defined as identifying

products that are going to be marketed to the target market. Market selection is
defined as identifying customers.
Figure 5.7: Advertising strategy
Normally, consumers prefer to make comparisons among products before

deciding to buy a particular product. As such, advertisers must ensure that the
product supplied can entice the customers to make a purchase. Message selection
is a process of ensuring the appropriate message for the target market.
5.2.3 Media Strategy

The third stage in the media planning process is media strategy which is dictated
by the advertising strategy and which plays an important role in conveying
market information. Media strategy obviously plays an important role in
determining the reach and frequency of message delivery to the public. As such,
media strategy that is used needs to be carried out according to specific formats,
be it continuously, in pulses or by schedule.
Conventional media strategy emphasises the determination of reach and

frequency. In fact, for more than 50 years now, media planners and directors
have been using reach and frequency decisions to choose the most effective
media to convey the advertising message to the target audience.
A study to survey 200 main advertising agencies in the USA found that in 1982,
87.9 per cent of the advertising agencies used the reach model and 74.5 per cent
used the frequency model. This study inferred that advertisers are more inclined
towards the reach and frequency models to select the media (Leckenby & Kim,
1994).

However, in implementing new media strategy, advertisers are more inclined to

ensure the advertisement is released continuously and is always up-to-date. In
this way, consumers, who are now more sophisticated, will be able to obtain
information about products and services more easily and quickly. The difference
between releasing of advertisements in new media compared to the traditional
media is that, via the new media, consumers act independently in seeking
product information.
Through the traditional media, more aggressive advertisers thrust forward the
product information to the consumers. The use of new technology media in the
field of advertising has also changed the concept of push and pull, whereby
advertisers no longer play the role of pulling the consumers towards the
advertisement but consumers themselves are attracted to the advertisement. For
example, with the introduction of internet advertising nowadays, consumers
who wish to obtain product or service information can make a self-search of the
information required via the internet.
Since media strategy explains how advertisers can achieve media objectives,
these objectives emphasise how the media is utilised?, where it is used?, what the
frequency of usage is?, and when it is used?. Media planners may also use
several media mix in ensuring that the advertising message is delivered
efficiently and effectively.
Figure 5.8: Media strategy
There are five elements which play an important role in formulating an effective
media strategy: market, money, media, mechanics and method. Market refers to
the various media planning market targets, be they commercial organisations,

consumers, local, international, national and district markets or specific groups of

society.
Subsequently, creative media planners must also think of the expenditure factor
i.e. how much money is needed, which media is more costly, etc. Media planners
have to decide the amount to be spent for broadcasting the advertisement on TV,
radio, newspapers, magazines, etc.
With the presence of several kinds of communication media, the task of media
planners becomes more complex. They can choose between the electronic and
print media as well as several other alternative media. A smart media planner
will integrate the various types of media now available. The use of media mix
can help reduce costs while at the same time, achieve the advertising objectives.
Media planners must assess the media elements in a critical and creative way.
This is especially so in the light of existing complex forms of advertising and
message media mechanisms. For example, advertisements using the electronic
media are measured in various units, whilst print media advertisements are
referred to in terms of size and style. Even though the various media have their
own mechanisms, it is obvious that the task of media planning challenges the
creativity of the planner. At the same time, media planners have to also identify
selection methods and media scheduling well so that the advertisement message
can be sent effectively.
5.3 FOUR COMPONENTS OF MEDIA

STRATEGY
Media strategy comprises four components which are closely linked to one
another. They are as follows:
(i) Selection of target audience
(ii) Specialisation of media objectives
(iii) Selection of Media vehicles and class
(iv) Media buying
5.3.1 Selection of Target Audience

The success of media strategy requires the advertiser to identify the target
audience. Failure to do so will result in a loss in exposure i.e. the advertisement
that is shown is targeted at people who are not buyers as well as potential buyers
not being exposed to the advertisement. For purposes of media strategy,
advertisers consider four main factors in segmenting the target audience;

(i) Geographic
(ii) Demographic
(iii) Product users
(v) Psychographics/life styles
Information on product use is the basis for the segmentation of the right
audience. In general, the geographical, demographic and psychographic factors
are integrated in defining the target market.
5.3.2 Specialisation of Media Objectives

The creation of marketing objectives and strategy are factors which help in
selecting appropriate media planning processes. The media objectives must suit
the marketing and advertising objectives, particularly in determining who the
target market is and where they are located. Besides this, media planners must
think of the appropriate advertising media and channel to convey the message.
Briefly, the media objectives mean the preparation of specific objectives to select
the advertisement channel. The aim is to reach the target market, identify the
reach of the location of the target audience and the total number of advertisement
messages to the target market.
These guidelines help media planners to know the number of people who are
exposed to the advertisement, the level of the exposure and the efficacy of the
advertisement. It is vital for the advertisers to ensure the effectiveness of the
advertisement that has been released. The effectiveness of the advertisement can
be measured by the impression method, reach, frequency and gross rating points.
(a) Impression
Impression is defined as the chances for a person to be exposed to a
programme, news or magazine. Impressions can measure the size of the
audience whether for a particular media or a mix of media. As an example,
if the Scenario programme is viewed by 100,000 viewers, then each time an
advertiser uses this slot for an advertisement, the impression value is 100,000.

Figure 5.9: Impression
If an advertiser releases the advertisement four times, then the impression value
will be 100,000 multiplied by four which equals a value of 400,000. However, an
advertiser normally will adhere to the gross impression i.e. the total audience for
all media channels for one air-time. This kind of calculation is done because
advertisers refer to the gross total without considering the number of times a
person was exposed to that advertisement.
Understanding the impression element facilitates media planners to estimate

whether the advertisement released during a particular space or time will get the
attention of the audience or otherwise. This is an important factor as exposure of
the advertisement to the audience is the initial step in attracting the interest of the
audience to get information about the product or service being advertised.
Total Messages
Media Vehicles Target Audience Impression
Used
TV3 Samarinda 140,000 15 15 x 140,000 = 2,100,000
Figure 5.10: An example of calculating Impression for Brand X
The following example also shows a simple way of calculating impression. To

calculate the total exposure to a media advertisement.

Media Programme Total

Senario 4,500,000
TV WWF Championship 16,250,000
Perdana News 7,350,000
Total TV Exposure 28,100,000
Newspaper The Sun 450,000

The Star 1,900,000
Total newspaper exposure 2,350,000
Total Impression Exposure 28,100,000+

2,350,000
30,450,000
(b) Reach
Reach is defined as a part of the total population who are exposed to an
advertisement message at least once within a specific time frame. Normally,
advertisements will be released for a period of four weeks. Reach can also
be referred to as the percentage of the target audience who are exposed to
the advertisements. There are several factors that determine the reach of an
advertising campaign. In general, if more than one media is used for the
advertising campaign, then more people can be reached.
Using various media also provides greater opportunities for exposing the
audience to an advertisement message. For example, advertisers who
advertise a product more frequently in only two magazines give lesser
exposure compared to an advertisement that is released in various
magazines.
In short, reach refers to the total number of different audiences who are
exposed to an advertising schedule in a specific period. Reach is calculated
as the percentage of unduplicated viewers who are exposed at least once to
an advertisement message. Reach measures the ability of the media to
attract the attention of different individuals in the target audience.
Total Advertisement Viewers

Reach =
Total TV Viewers

(c) Frequency
Frequency refers to the average total time that the audience is exposed to
the media, i.e. the time in which a message reaches a home or the same
individual in a specific time. Frequency measures the specific media
schedule intensity. Normally, frequency is calculated as the average
number of times an individual or a household is exposed to an
advertisement message.
Frequency is effective in determining the range, i.e. maximum or minimum

time of repetitive exposure to an advertisement message. However, as a
replacement for average frequency, media planners use frequency
distribution as this shows the minimum number of times potential users are
exposed to an advertisement message and also the maximum number of
times they are required to measure the effectiveness of the advertisement
message.
As such, frequency distribution is considered as being the more effective

measure. Still, what complicates matters for media planners is to obtain
this frequency distribution as this requires special study, is time consuming
and costly.
Frequency can also be explained in two ways: as a direct average or as a

distribution. If frequency is said to be, on the average, 3.0, this means that
the number of times that potential viewers are exposed to the
advertisement message is three times within a time period of four weeks of
advertisement release. However, not all prospective consumers are exposed
three times as there may be some who are exposed more than three times
and some less.
ACTIVITY 5.1
Try and think about the following example:

The Celcom advertisement aired over a TV programme has a rating of
20 per cent and that advertisement is aired for four weeks. If that
programme has a reach of 43 per cent, the frequency = (20 x 4)/43 i.e.
1.9. This means the audience has the chances at the rate of 1.9 times to
be exposed to that advertisement.

To further understand the calculation of frequency average, try and think of

this problem. For example, if 4000 out of 10,000 TV viewers see the Waja
advertisement three times for a period of four weeks and 4000 more viewers
see it five times, than the average frequency is calculated as follows:
Frequency Average = Total reach exposure

= (4000 x 3) + (4000 x 5) x
8000
= 4
Gross Rating
Frequency Average = Points
Frequency
20
= x 4 = 1.9
43
This means the target audience has the opportunity to see that
advertisement an average of 1.9 times.
(d) Gross Rating Points (GRP)

It is easier for an advertiser to remember the percentage of exposure of the
audience than remembering gross impression. Gross rating points are
calculated by multiplying the reach stated in percentage by the frequency
average.
For example, if 80 per cent of families who have radio are exposed to the
Celcom advertisement four times on average over a period of four weeks,
then the calculation of the gross rating points is as follows:
Reach x Frequency = Gross Rating Points

(80) x (4) = 320 gross rating points
The gross rating points is the total reach multiplied by the frequency and is
used to explain the total message influence for one media schedule without
taking into consideration the audience duplication throughout that period.
In short, Gross Rating Points (GRP) can be seen in Figure 5.9 below.
Simple example of GRP (in percentage)
Media Vehicles Reach Frequency GRP

Friends 20 4 80
Majalah Tiga 25 4 100
180

Figure 5.11: Gross rating Points
5.3.3 Selection of Media Vehicles and Class

The release of advertisements through media vehicles and class is very costly.
This factor sometimes results in media planners having to make smart and
cautious choices. They may probably not be able to meet all the objectives of
media planning. For example, it is difficult for media planners to ensure that the
media planning process is implemented by fulfilling all the reach, frequency and
continuity objectives.
Because of this pressure, media planners may have to select one of the said
objectives, for example, minimising reach and maximising frequency. This means
media planners select one of the two options, whether to ensure the
advertisement is released frequently or reaches out to a far greater target
audience. Therefore, media planners have to make the best choices.
However, if the brand of product is new, and the responsibility of the advertiser
is to educate the consumer, then the advertisement has to be released more
frequently. If a product is already well known, a wider reach is required.
The selection of media vehicle and class will be executed when a media planner
has identified his advertising strategy. In selecting the appropriate media, a
media planner will carefully evaluate several specific criteria like; benefits of
using the print media over electronic media, advantages of TV over radio, if the
magazine channel is used, what are the factors to be considered.
The process of selecting advertising media vehicles and category is one

important selection task in media planning. Media vehicles ensure the use of
specially selected programmes to air the advertisement. For example, whether an
advertiser chooses to use advertising space during the main news or the WWF

programme. The media class or category is when the advertiser selects the main
media like TV, radio, newspapers and magazines.
Media planners must think of the overall objectives and strategies of the
advertising campaign, size and characteristics of the audience for each channel
used, interest, exposure, and motivational value of each channel and cost
effectiveness. In the preliminary stages of media selection, media planners have
the responsibility to evaluate the kind of product or service to be advertised,
strategy and objectives that are to be achieved and the main target audience.
Understanding product features enables media planners to accurately select the

media. For example, if the product to be advertised is Chanel # 5 perfume, the
media planner must ensure the use of a media which can reinforce the image of
that perfume. Based on this example, an appropriate media would be an
exclusive magazine for women. In selecting media, media planners must make
precise decisions by understanding the wants and needs of the audience of a
particular media.
Besides this, by studying in detail the contents of the media, media planners can
identify the appropriate media for releasing the advertisement. This knowledge
assists media planners to know who that media's audience is. The contents of a
media channel also determine the kind of audience. For example, entertainment
programmes like Melodi or Senario will have a huge teenage following. Thus, it
would be suitable for media planners to advertise products that appeal to the
youth during these programmes. Having this knowledge is vital, therefore, in
your view, is it appropriate if a media planner chooses the National Geographic
magazine to advertise cat food, for example?
The audience is the total number of individuals or households who are exposed
to a media channel. It is important for media planners to understand the
frequency of exposure of the audience to the channel of their choice, whatever
the media class or category, like the electronic or print media or through media
vehicles like certain radio or TV programmes, or the magazine or newspaper
spaces.
Media planners must ensure that the media selected not only exposes the
audience to the advertisement but also draws their attention and motivates them
to buy the product advertised. To understand the concept of exposure, think of
the size of the audience that is Âbeing seenÊ by an advertisement.

Figure 5.12: Media selection
This is because if exposure is referred to as the total number of people exposed to

an advertisement, the exposure value has still not been determined, since a
viewer may be watching TV but may not be paying attention to the
advertisements aired. A person may be said to be reading a certain magazine, but
can it be ascertained that he is reading all the contents of that magazine including
the advertisements or is he merely reading selected articles?
Media planners must also focus on the aspect of audience interest. The creation
of interest among the audience is also an important factor in determining the
effectiveness of an advertisement that is released. A consumer, who is not, for
example, interested in beauty products, will not remember the advertisement for
those products. In contrast, a person who is interested in and likes beauty
products will definitely remember the advertisement about them. As such, media
planners must select media channels and categories wisely to release their
advertisements.
Consumers who recollect advertisement campaigns that have been executed will
be more motivated to make a decision to buy as opposed to those who do not. To
ensure the success and effectiveness of an advertisement, motivational levels of
users have to be enhanced to choose the products that are advertised when they
make decisions of what to buy.
Media planners should not be merely interested in attaining cost efficiency for
each advertising media, although, generally, cost efficiency is important. In the
process of buying media, the general term used is Cost Per Thousand (CPT) i.e.
the cost that is required for the advertisement message to reach 1,000 people in
the target audience.

CPT can compare costs of the various types of media used. CPT is important
because it can be used to decide the most effective programme in terms of
advertisement cost and size of target audience.
ACTIVITY 5.2
Have you have thought about why an advertisement over television is

aired at the same time? For example, if an advertisement is aired after the
Samarinda slot over TV3, then TV2, TV1 and maybe NTV 7 will also air
advertisements at the same time.
5.3.4 Media Buying

There are several costs to be considered and spent when an advertiser chooses to
release an advertisement via a particular media. Each type of media has a specific
rate of payment that is influenced by several factors. The type of media itself
influences advertising costs, for example, buying media space for advertisements
over TV and cinema is more expensive when compared to other types of media.
So it goes with black and white advertisements which are cheaper in terms of
media space compared to full colour advertisements in magazines or
newspapers.
Production cost is only one of the many aspects that need to be considered by an
advertiser in the media buying process. When deciding to buy media, the
advertiser is responsible for ensuring the selected media is the best and most
appropriate. However, in the process of deciding media buying, media planners
often do not have the capability of controlling several factors which influence the
media planning process. For e.g., the media planning scope, differing potential
markets, competitorsÊ strategy, consumersÊ buying patterns and other elements
related to the media.
Normally, media planners limit their advertisements to the area where the
product is sold. For e.g., if an advertiser decides to sell a product in only
particular areas, then the local media plan will be used. Meanwhile, for the
national market, a more comprehensive media plan should be used. Problems
may also arise if a product of a nation is sold in the international market.
Each country has its own telecommunications ethics. Advertisements suitable for
western countries may not be appropriate for media release in Asian countries.
To overcome this problem, media planners must prepare an appropriate media
plan.

Several factors influence the media buying process in the process of media
planning. The variables that influence media buying are as follows:
Media Vehicles Factors Which Influence Rate & Cost

(i) Broadcast Broadcast area
TV Multi-channels
Local/district//national/international Audience size
Air-time
Duration of advertisement
Total advertisements
Radio SponsorsÊ package

Local/district/national/international Production costs
(ii) Print Type of advertisement

Newspapers Place of advertisement- page
Local/district//national/international Advertisement layout ă colour,
Daily/weekly graphics, text, etc.
Magazines Advertisement size ă one page, half

Local/district//national/international page, etc.
Weekly/Monthly/Annually Number of entries ă frequency
Consumers/business/commerce Size and type of audience
Male/female Printing/Advertisement costs
Associations/clubs/companies Product quality
Technical/professional Production costs
Media planners must also think about the precise and suitable media strategy to
ensure the effectiveness of the advertisement being released. There are many
media strategies like continuous, pulsing as well as advertisement flighting.
(a) Continuity
Continuity refers to the way advertising is scheduled through a time-frame
for one campaign period. Continuity is also the technique and strategy used
to schedule the time-frame of the advertisement during the advertising
campaign. This term refers to the period of the advertising campaign and
overall pattern of sending messages during that period. Advertisements in
the newspaper and TV may be scheduled simultaneously within a period of
one year or just concentrated during particular seasons only.
Continuity is also the way in which certain media are used. Continuous
scheduling of the same media results in repetitive reaction from the same
audience. Changing the type of media will result in a wider coverage. To
schedule on a continuous basis, advertisers can use three methods i.e.,
continuous, pulsing and flighting.
(b) Continuous Schedule

This can be done when advertising costs are relatively stable during the
advertising campaign. When using this method the factors to be considered
are the advertising costs as well as considerations such as the type of
product being advertised and its product usage cycle. Advertisers need to
carry out a continuous advertising campaign for daily use products in order
to help users in their decision-making.
The stable and continuous implementation of the advertising campaign can

also create brand loyalty. However, if it is too frequent, it may be too costly.
At the same time, if advertising is rarely done, then its effectiveness will be
lost. The example in Figure 5.13 below shows the continuous pattern.
Figure 5.13: An Example of continuous schedule
(c) Pulsing
Pulsing is a term that refers to an advertising schedule based on time and
space and which is not scheduled in a continuous manner but in pulses. It
maintains a low level of advertising activity followed by a period of
intensive activities. Pulsing is a popular alternative under the continuous
advertising pattern due to limited advertising costs.

Figure 5.14: Pulsing
(d) Flighting
In this type of schedule, advertising is carried out in several stages.
Advertisers may implement an intensive schedule of activities and this will
be followed by a lull in advertising. Products and services that have
fluctuating demand use the flighting schedule.
Figure 5.15: Flighting schedule

 Media planning which includes analysis, planning, implementation and

monitoring, is vital in ensuring the success of marketing communications.
Since the media is the message channel to the target audience, the selection of
precise and appropriate media requires understanding of the media and
programme content so that the advertiser can make the best possible
selection. The main principle for using the media is to reach a specialised
audience who will then make decisions whether to buy the products being
advertised. The effective use of the media will not only reach the right
audience, but also the precise audience, leaving a high impact and incurring
low costs, without compromising the message. As such, the tasks of a media
planner can be quite burdensome.
 Nowadays, with the use of sophisticated ICT, the media planning and buying
processes are becoming more difficult. To create a suitable media strategy,
media planners need to integrate the various types of media. This method
does not only save costs but also allows a wider audience reach.
Continuity Impression
Continuous schedule Pulsing
Flighting Reach
Gross rating points
1. What is media planning?

2. Define an impression?
3. Explain what reach means.
4. What is meant by frequency?
5. Define ÂGross Rating PointsÊ (GRP).

1. What are the stages in the media planning process?

(6 marks)
2. List four components in media strategy

(6 marks)
3. List three types of strategy for media buying

(8 Marks)
Total (20 marks)
Arnold, M. B. et al. (1975). Asas perancangan media. (Penterjemah: Mohamad

Md Yusoff). KL: DBP.

Bovee, L. C. et al. (1995) Advertising excellent. USA: McGraw-Hill.
KL: DBP.
O'Guinn, T. C., Allen, C. T. & Semenik, R. J. (2000) Advertising. USA: South-

western college.
Overholser, E. C. (1971). Advertising strategy for consumer research.
Shimp, T. A. (2000). Advertising promotion (5th ed.).USA: Dryden Press.
Wells et al. (1998). Advertising principles & practices (4th ed.). NJ: Prentice Hall.

6 Media: Print
Media
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe the different types of print media;
2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the newspaper as an
advertising media;
3. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of magazines as an
advertising media;
4. Explain the main factors which must be emphasised by advertisers
to make the print media more effective; and
5. Discuss what is meant by outdoor advertising and factors which
must be taken into consideration by advertisers before making
decisions to advertise.
 INTRODUCTION
"A weak spirit results in greater failures compared to a lack of wisdom or
skills"
Flower A. Newhouse
The field of advertising is fast expanding. The effects of advertising can be felt at
any time ă while walking, driving, alighting from a bus, reading a magazine or
newspaper, listening to the radio, watching television or surfing the internet. It is
an undeniable fact that advertising is increasingly becoming a part of our daily
lives ă presenting itself uninvited and is such a convincing communication
medium that sometimes, it can be disturbing and stressful for the audience.

TOPIC 6 ADVERTISING MEDIA: PRINT MEDIA  113
Therefore, it is not surprising that annually, advertising expenditure (Adex) is

experiencing a continuous growth. Based on data in 2005, Adex (printed)
contributed about 63 per cent or RM 644.98 million, an increase of 6 per cent
compared to the same period in 2004, whereas Adex (television) captured 28 per
cent of the market. This topic introduces you to the print media as one of the
mediums of advertising.
6.1 PRINT MEDIA
ACTIVITY 6.1
List the print media available in Malaysia. Which print media carries the
most number of advertisements? What types of advertisements are often
advertised in the newspapers and what types are advertised in
magazines?
Print media advertising includes advertisements in newspapers, magazines,

brochures, and other printed documents like posters, direct mailing, directory,
transit advertising and notice boards.
Readers can spend more time and be more cautious when reading messages in
an advertisement released in the print media, because its format differs from
advertisements aired over broadcast media which are subject to limited air-time.
Print media advertisements provide more detailed information and clearer
images. As such, advertisers will choose newspapers and special magazines to
reach their target audience.
As an example, advertisers for interior decorators may select magazines such as

Impiana and Anjung Seri to advertise their products and services, whereas
advertisers advertising beauty products and beauty aids may select magazines
such as Jelita and Wanita to advertise. Advertisers, who wish to place automobile
advertisements like Proton, Toyota, Honda, etc., may choose the main local
newspapers as their target audience will then be wider.
Advertisers can also choose to advertise in several ways. For example,

advertisers can display car models in various attractive positions and include as
much information as possible about the car and the advantages of owning it.
These advertisements could either be full or half page advertisements, and they
could be in colour or black and white. Otherwise, advertisers can also choose to
advertise in the form of an advertorial.

114  TOPIC 6 ADVERTISING MEDIA: PRINT MEDIA
6.2 PRINT MEDIA: NEWSPAPERS
ACTIVITY 6.2
In your view, which has the greater number of advertisements,

newspapers or magazines? What is the reason for your view?
Newspapers are an important medium as they

satisfy all the basic requirements for any
advertising activity. In any country a majority of
the people read the newspapers daily. Newspapers
are also read systematically and almost all the
pages get the attention of the readers.
Newspapers are also considered a very flexible

medium and help in advertising creativity as advertisers can advertise their
products and services in black and white, spot colour or full colour. Advertisers
can also advertise in various sizes and forms as set by the newspaper companies.
The total number of newspapers in Malaysia is not always constant. Many new
newspapers often make an appearance while some others just drop out of the
picture. The Media Guide Magazine 2005, provides the following information
about the total readership and distribution of newspapers by language in 2004
(See Table 6.1).
Table 6.1: Total Readership and Distribution of Newspapers by Language in Year 2004
Language Total Readership Total Distribution

English Language 1, 536, 000 613, 426
Bahasa Malaysia 4, 035, 000 660, 698
Chinese Language 2, 890, 000 777, 207
(a) English Language

The Star was the most read English language daily newspaper (969,000),
followed by the New Straits Times (307, 0000) and the Sun (307,000). The
Nielsen Media Index in 2005 showed an increase in terms of readership of
the Star to 1,161,000, the New Straits Times to 331,000 and the Sun to
331,000.

(b) Bahasa Malaysia

The Bahasa Malaysia daily newspaper, Utusan Malaysia recorded the
highest readership in 2004 (1,489,000) followed by the Berita Harian
(1,417,000) and the Harian Metro (1,129,000).
The Nielsen Index Report, 2005, recorded a drop in readership of the

Utusan Malaysia to 1,463,000; the Berita Harian recorded an increase to
1,506,000 and thus became the newspaper with the highest readership in
2005.
(c) Chinese Language

For Chinese language papers, the highest readership in 2004 was for the Sin
Chew Daily (1,113,000) followed by the China Press (705,000) and the
Guang Ming Daily (424,000).
In 2005, the Sin Chiew Daily remained the Chinese language newspaper
with the highest readership recording an increase to 1,144,000, followed by
the China Press with a readership of 731,000. The Guang Ming Daily
recorded a decrease in readership to 386,000.
Advertisers always prefer to advertise in newspapers which have the highest

readership so that their message reaches as wide an audience as possible. Table
6.2 shows the biggest advertisers in 2004 (Source: Nielsen Media Research ADEX)
Table 6.2: Highest Advertisers in Newspapers in the Year 2004
Position Advertiser Expenditure (RM Ê000)

1 Maxis Communication 68,813
2 Celcom 58,802
3 Digi Telecommunication 56,768
4 Citibank 25,273
5 Petronas 19,387
6 Malaysia Airlines 19,207
7 Telekom Malaysia 17,750
8 Panasonic 16,964
9 Tourism Malaysia 15,938
10 Measat Broadcast Network 15,417
ACTIVITY 6.3
In your opinion, why are telecommunications companies the three biggest

advertisers in 2004?

6.2.1 Advantages of the Newspaper

The newspaper has several advantages over other types of media as an
advertising medium. As such, the newspapers are still the main choice of
advertisers to advertise their products and services. Newspaper advertisements
also recorded the highest yearly advertisement expenditure.
The advantages of the newspaper are as follows:

(a) Newspapers can penetrate all segments of the society, because almost all
users regardless of age, sex, religion or occupation, read the newspapers.
(b) Newspapers are published daily. As such, there are wide market
opportunities for advertisers.
(c) Newspapers are printed in two measurements, i.e. normal measurement
and tabloid measurement. Advertisers can choose the right size for their
advertisements.
(d) Newspapers offer flexibility. Newspapers allow advertisers to select the
appropriate size for their advertisements, like a full page, half page or a
quarter pages. They can also choose to advertise in black and white, spot
colour or full colour. Besides this, newspapers also allow advertisers to
advertise a teaser before the actual advertisement. This flexibility has
succeeded in attracting advertisers to market their products with greater
ease.
(e) A newspaper can be read more than once and by more than one person. As
such, there is a greater opportunity for individuals or more people to get
what the advertising message is.
(f) Advertisers can insert a coupon in the advertisements and in this way,
feedback can be procured easily.
(g) Newspapers allow advertisers to include as much information as possible
about their products and services. Advertisers not only can showcase their
products but can also give detailed information about the product being
advertised.
(h) The price of the newspaper is cheap and it can be easily purchased
anywhere. This increases the number of buyers. The comparative costs with
other media are low when viewed from the aspect of its wide reach.
(i) Each newspaper has a different target audience and advertisers can choose
appropriately. For example, The Star, Utusan Malaysia, Nanyang Siang Pau
and Tamil Nesan have different clientele.

(j) Newspapers provide accurate and precise reach as they are published
daily. On the first day of publication the target market already knows about
the advertised product or service.
(k) The same newspaper may be published in different editions. For example,
there may be the national edition, central edition, southern edition and
northern edition. As such, advertisers can choose the national or local
edition. For instance, an advertiser who wishes to advertise a housing
project to be sold in Penang can advertise in the northern edition as most of
the buyers may be in the north.
(l) Newspapers also differ in terms of publication according to their type, i.e. a
national newspaper like the New Straits Times or a local newspaper like the
Malay Mail. Advertisers who wish to advertise a job vacancy around the
Kuala Lumpur area may choose to do so in the Malay Mail as most of its
readers are from KL. The same applies to newspapers in Sabah and
Sarawak where local advertisers might prefer these newspapers for
advertisement purposes.
(m) Newspapers have high credibility. Research has proven that advertisements
in newspapers are more believable.
(n) Newspapers have permanent records. Newspapers can be kept and
referred to in future.
Figure 6.1: Advantages of newspapers

6.2.2 Disadvantages of Newspapers

At the same time, newspapers also have certain disadvantages. The
disadvantages would include the following:
(a) Short life-span. As newspapers are printed daily, therefore, the life-span of
a newspaper is only for a day or for 24 hours. News carried in one dayÊs
newspaper becomes stale and is considered irrelevant the next day. As
such, the advertiser needs to continue advertising if he wants to relay the
advertising message.
(b) There are too many advertisements in newspapers. There is stiff
competition from other advertisers and sometimes, some advertisements
seem to be shrouded by other more showy or appealing advertisements.
(c) Less exposure to achieve certain target levels. Since most newspapers target
a wide audience, it becomes difficult for some advertisers who only wish to
draw the attention of a particular target group to meet their advertising
objectives. For example, Dome Café may be targeting the professional high
income group, but if they advertise in a newspaper that has a wide
readership of differing socio-economic status then, the cost of their
advertisement is relatively high.
(d) The quality of the newsprint is not suitable for high quality colour
advertisements when compared to the paper quality of magazines
(e) Duplicative distribution. Some readers read more than one newspaper. As
such, advertisers have to bear high costs in terms of readers who have
already read a particular advertisement in another newspaper.
(f) Lack of monitoring on the choice of location or position for the
advertisement. Advertisers have no knowledge of which page or part the
advertisement will be printed in, therefore, sometimes, they have to pay
more for special pages.
(g) Limited exposure for certain groups of society. Even though newspapers
have a wide audience, some readers are not permanent. For example,
traditionally, newspapers on the whole, are considered as not being
successful in reaching the target audience who are below 20 years of age.
(h) The advertisement layout and graphics may have to be changed to be
included in the newspaper as the newspapers vary in size and format.
(i) There is wasteful distribution as advertisers are not able to accurately
estimate the target market who will read the newspaper in any one day.

ACTIVITY 6.4
Think of several different consumer products in the market. If you wish
to advertise those products, which newspaper will you choose? Why?
Figure 6.2: Disadvantages of newspapers
6.3 TYPES OF NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS

The main newspaper advertisements can be organization as display advertising,
classified advertising, public notices and pre-printed inserts. The price of
newspaper advertisements depends on the size and space used.
(a) Display Advertisements

The main types of advertisement in newspapers are display
advertisements. Display advertisements are advertisements of differing
sizes displayed in any page except the front page and the editorial column.
Display advertisements often have headlines, a body copy, illustrations or
photographs, coupons or other visual components. Display advertisements
normally comprise general advertisements, business advertisements and

public advertisements. Display advertisements are in black and white or

full colour, with illustrations or without any illustrations.
Figure 6.3: Example of a display advertisement
Some display advertisements involve the co-operation of product

distributors and sellers. This is known as co-op advertising. As an example,
the facial cream beauty product Total Effects by Olay which is marketed by
the Guardian Pharmacy is advertised in the newspapers. The advertising
costs are shared by both the Olay distributor and the Guardian Pharmacy.
This helps save advertising cost.
Sometimes, there are display advertisements in newspapers that are

entitled Advertorial. This kind of advertisement gives as much information
as possible about a product or is a public service message.
(b) Classified Advertisements

Classified Ads refer to advertisements that are displayed in specific pages.
These advertisements are numerous and in small sizes ranging from job
vacancies to home rental, land sale, mortgage/loans, vehicles for sale,
computer repair services, maid services, catering, etc. Normally, each of
these type of advertisements is placed under a specific heading. The main
headings for classified ads differ from newspaper to newspaper.
For example, the Berita Harian newspaper refers to its classified ads column
as IKLANEKA, whereas the Utusan Malaysia refers to it as
RAMPAIIKLAN. The cost of the classified ads also varies between
newspapers. For example, the Berita Harian charges RM33.60 for the first
four lines of an advertisement.

Figure 6.4: Example of a classified advertisement
There are also small display advertisements that are advertised in the
classified ads column. The size of this small display advertisement is bigger
than the classified ad and sometimes includes illustrations, border, and
colour.
Figure 6.5: Example of a small display advertisement
(c) Public Notices

Newspapers also display all kinds of public notices that are charged a
certain fee by newspaper companies. These public notices often contain
information about changes in organization structure or business, apologies,

legal information, treasury reports, bank or private organization financial

reports, public association meeting reports, etc.
(d) Pre-printed inserts

Like magazines, newspapers also display inserts. Pre-printed inserts are
included in the newspaper and appear to be a small separate part of the
newspaper. Advertisers pay a small amount for pre-printed inserts as it
does not include any space in the print media.
Advertisers can also print pre-printed inserts in various measurements and

sizes. Normally, the inserts are printed by the advertiser and sent to the
newspaper company to be inserted. Examples of pre-printed inserts include
inserts from fast food restaurants like McDonalds, Dell Computer
Company, Watson Pharmacy, etc.
It is very rare for pre-printed inserts to be inserted in all the areas in Kuala
Lumpur or all the Malaysian states at the same time. Advertisers normally
choose specific areas to enter an insert at a particular time. The main aim of
advertisers in inserting pre-printed inserts is to save costs and convey the
message to the specific target audience.
Figure 6.6: Example of Iklaneka form

The various types of newspaper advertisements are further illustrated in Figure

6.7 below:
Figure 6.7: Types of newspaper advertisement
SELF-CHECK 6.1
1. Explain the four main types of newspaper advertisements.

2. Bring to class one example of an advertisement for each type listed
above.
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of
newspaper advertisement stated above?
6.4 PRINT MEDIA: MAGAZINES

There are hundreds of magazines of various languages and categories in
Malaysia. This includes agriculture based magazines (for e.g. Agroworld), annual
trade magazines (e.g. Corporate Agriculture Directory), automobile magazines
(e.g. Auto World), computer magazines (e.g. PC Magazine) and club magazines
(e.g. Malaysia Tatler).
There are also educational magazines (e.g. Dewan Siswa), childrenÊs magazines
(e.g. Kuntum), entertainment magazines (e.g. Majalah Hiburan), general
magazines (e.g. Astro Guide), comics (e.g. Gila-Gila), health magazines (e.g.
MenÊs Health), medical magazines (e.g. MMA News) and menÊs magazines (e.g.
Maskulin).

There are also fashion magazines (e.g. Rias), magazines on interior decoration
(e.g. Anjung Seri), childcare magazines (e.g. Baby care), sports magazines (e.g.
Football World), tourism magazines (e.g. Libur), womenÊs magazines (e.g. Her
World), etc.
Most local magazines are published by private companies. Besides local

magazines, there are several foreign magazines in Malaysia like the ReaderÊs
Digest, Time, Newsweek, Asiaweek, Vogue, GQ, Femina, Wallpaper, etc.
Figure 6.8: Examples of foreign magazines
ACTIVITY 6.5
If you wish to advertise fast food, washing powder, cosmetics, shaving

cream, laptop computers, childrenÊs clothing, ladiesÊ maternity
clothing and a high-class café, which magazine would you choose?
Why?
The variety of magazines available within the country and overseas gives a wide
choice to advertisers to advertise their products and services, in accordance with
their target audience. There are also magazines which are not distributed for
public consumption.
As an example, the magazine published by Malaysia Airlines Going Places is an

in-flight magazine and is aimed for flight passengers only. The Nielsen Media
Research ADEX, 2004, shows the highest number of advertisers in Malaysian
magazines for that year. (See Table 6.3)

Table 6.3: Highest Advertisers in Magazines in the Year 2004
Position Advertiser Expenditure (RM Â000)

1 LÊoreal Malaysia 9,785
2 The Rolex Centre 3,041
3 Tung Pao 2,889
4 The Swatch Group 2,815
5 Johnson & Johnson 2,497
6 Lambang Padu 2,074
7 UMW Toyota Motor 1,862
8 LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics 1,782
9 Diethelm 1,506
10 Redual Cosmetics 1,421
6.4.1 Advantages of Magazines

As with newspaper advertising, advertising in magazines also has its
advantages. They are as follows:
(i) Magazines are selective media and have specific readers. These readers can
be identified from their demographic and psychographic aspects. As there
are many kinds of magazines of different categories and genre, the target
audience is more easily identifiable. For e.g., there are magazines especially
for those who like fashion or sports, or those who are anglers, car
enthusiasts, businessmen, like child care, computers, etc. Advertisers, who
want to advertise a marketing business on the internet, will definitely
choose business magazines like Business Today, Brand Equity, Malaysian
Business, etc. to advertise these opportunities. In this way, advertisers can
reach their target audience with greater ease and accuracy.
(ii) Magazines have a high level of audience receptivity. The editorial in a
magazine gives it authority and credibility. Many magazine publishers
state that advertising in their magazines would give prestige to the brand
and product. As such, magazines can transfer their image to the advertiser
which in turn benefits the product or service advertised in a magazine that
has a good image.
(iii) Magazines have a long life span and are often kept for a long time by
buyers. Unlike newspapers, magazines are not published on a daily basis.
There are magazines which are issued on a weekly, bi-weekly, monthly,
quarterly, yearly or bi-annual basis. This allows advertisers to do careful
market planning when choosing a magazine. There are also reference

magazines, like ReaderÊs Digest, Media Guide, TV Guide, etc. often referred
to by students and professionals.
(iv) Magazines have the potential to change hands from one reader to another
reader. Since magazines are not published daily, therefore, readers tend to
continue reading one magazine till the next issue is published.
Opportunities for advertisers to reach a far wider audience are greater as
magazines are often borrowed by other family members, friends,
colleagues, etc. Readers also read magazines slowly over several days, and
this often makes them read the body copy of the advertisement in detail.
Figure 6.9: Advantages of magazines
(v) Magazines have a unique format. Magazines allow advertisers to print ads
on the outside back cover, inside front cover, outside front cover or any
magazine page (run-of-book). Advertisers also print on gatefold pages. This
unique format nurtures creativity in advertising. Besides this, magazines
also allow inserts, provide sample products, coupons, bookmarks, etc.
(vi) The quality of the magazine paper is far better than newspapers. Even
when it is heavily rubbed against, the colour does not come off. This high
quality enables coloured advertisements to be printed with sharp and
attractive images. Advertisers of fashion and cosmetic products always
prefer the quality of magazine paper. As such, we tend to find these
advertisements in magazines rather than newspapers.
(vii) Long text can be used. Advertisers can include as much information as
possible about the product or service in the magazine in colour or in black
and white.

6.4.2 Disadvantages of Magazines
ACTIVITY 6.6
What magazine do you always read? Have you realized what type of
advertisements are often found in that magazine? Is the magazine a
suitable vehicle for those advertisements? Why do you say so?
Although magazines have several advantages, they also have the following
limitations:
(i) Magazines are limited in terms of flexibility. Advertisements must be

submitted very much earlier than the date of printing. Magazines also limit
the choice of location or position of the advertisements. The main locations
like the back page or the first front page are often sought after by
advertisers and they always have to book such spaces several months in
advance.
(ii) A magazine cannot remain dominant because of the existence of stiff
competition in the magazine publishing industry. For e.g., there so many
magazines for women in Malaysia (like Churian, Cleo, Eh!, Female,
Feminine, Fu Ni, Her World, Jelita, Marie Claire, Nona, Rias, Wanita,
NuYou, Nayanam, Mingguan Wanita, etc.)
(iii) High costs for advertising in magazines. Some advertisers are reluctant to
advertise in magazines because of the high costs involved as compared to
the smaller reach of the target audience. For e.g., for one advertisement in
the back page of the Her World or Jelita magazines, advertisers have to pay
advertising costs of RM8,140 whereas the total distribution of both these
magazines is only about 35,000 copies.
(iv) Reduced exposure among the readers. Some readers may keep the
magazine for a few days after purchase before they start reading it. As
such, the advertised message does not reach the reader instantly.
Advertisements in magazines sent by postal service like the Astro Guide or
ReaderÊs Digest will not reach the readers if they just keep the magazines
without reading it. Even though these magazines can be kept by the readers
for months, advertisers continue to hope that readers will read them
immediately upon receipt.
(v) Distribution problems. There are few magazines which are difficult to find
in the market and readers can only obtain them from specific shops. In the
United States alone, there are more than 2,500 magazines which are not
marketed throughout the country.

ACTIVITY 6.7
Try and think about other advantages and disadvantages of advertising

in magazines apart from those already mentioned.
Figure 6.10: Disadvantages of magazines
ACTIVITY 6.8
1. Compare the advertisements available in three magazines for men

or three magazines for women within the same month.
2. Are the same advertisements available in all three magazines
selected? Discuss in class.
6.5 TYPES OF MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS

The uniqueness of magazines allows advertisers to print several kinds of
advertisements through mechanical and technical means. Among the types of
advertisements often used are (see Figure 6.11).

(a) Cover Page Advertisement

Since the cover pages are thicker than the inside pages, some advertisers
choose the cover pages to advertise their products or services. The first
page of a magazine is the front cover. Advertisers are not allowed to take
up a full page advertisement on the front cover page.
Advertisers can advertise on the inside front cover i.e. the page
immediately after the cover page. Other cover pages are the outside back
cover and inside back cover.
(b) Folded Page

This page is also known as the gatefold, and it allows advertisers to use a
wider page which is then folded inside into two, three or four folds.
Figure 6.11: Types of magazine advertisements
(c) Double-page Centre Spread

Advertisers can also advertise in two pages side by side on the left and
right of the two pages. This is known as double-page centre spread. For
example, the Tag Haeur watch advertisement displays a full page of actor
Brad Pitt wearing the watch and the other page shows a visual of that
watch. Advertisers buy two side-by-side pages in the centre to advertise
their products.
(d) Bleed
If the background of a coloured or black and white advertisement exceeds
the borders, then it is said to be a bleed advertisement. The colour of the
advertisement is not confined by any borders or boundaries around the
page. Normally, advertisers have to pay 10ă15 per cent more for bleed
advertisements. The advantage of bleed advertisements is that it gives
flexibility to the artist to state his ideas, use a bigger print space and create a
more dramatic effect.

Figure 6.12: Example of a magazine advertisement
6.6 TRANSIT ADVERTISING

Transit advertising refers to advertisements in buses, trains, LRT and in transit
areas like bus stations, railway stations, LRT stations, monorail stations, airports,
etc. Transit advertisements can be placed on the inside or outside of vehicles or
transit areas.
Transit advertising is a form of reminder advertising. Transit advertisements can

be divided into two types, i.e. internal and outdoor transit. The target audience of
internal transit advertisements are users of the transport network. Transit
advertisements are also found inside the station or platform.
Outdoor transit advertisements refer to advertisements on taxis, buses, trains,

airplanes, etc. The target audience of this type of ads need not necessarily be the
commuters or passengers but the whole public who can see the ads.
Figure 6.13: Transit advertisement in KL Sentral

6.7 OUTDOOR ADVERTISEMENTS

Outdoor advertisements are billboards seen along roads and highways. It also
includes posters in public places like shopping centres. In the USA, outdoor
advertising takes up an annual expenditure exceeding USD$5 billion.
Figure 6.14: Example of outdoor advertising ă billboard
According to the NMR Adex Report in Malaysia in 2004, the annual expenditure
for the various categories of outdoor advertising exceeded RM 68,936,276 with
the highest advertiser being telecommunications companies (RM 6,868,408)
followed by banks (RM 3,529,781), insurance companies (RM 3,447,120), mobile
phones (RM 3,413,360), computers (RM 2,673,654) and ladies clothing brands
(RM 2,731,058). Outdoor advertising is becoming the preferred means as it can
become a landmark and has a hard-to-ignore structure.
Figure 6.15: Examples of transit advertisements ă monorail and bus

SELF-CHECK 6.2
What are the advantages of transit and outdoor advertising?
6.8 ADVERTISEMENT DIRECTORY

Directories are books like the Yellow Pages which display information like names
of individuals or companies, telephone numbers and addresses of advertisers.
The directory is for the users. Directories are often called directional advertising
as they inform the public about where they can go if they intend to obtain a
product or service.
In the USA, the famous pizza restaurant, Pizza Hut uses the directory widely. In
fact, its expenditure in the Yellow Pages is the second highest in television.
Figure 6.16: Yellow Pages Malaysia

6.9 PRINT MEDIA ADVERTISEMENT

STRATEGY
You already know about the types of print media as well as their advantages and
disadvantages. As such, it will be simpler for you to identify how to use the
media effectively. Advertisers need to constantly contact media planners in
advertising agencies to get the costs of each medium, identify the ability of that
medium to get maximum exposure, its capacity to deliver the message and how
to target the right audience.
The question is when is the right time to use print media? According to Wells,
Moriarty and Burnett (2006) in their book, Advertising Principles and Practices,
the decision to use the print media needs to be done premised on the factors
shown in Table 6.4 below:
Table 6.4: Print Media Advertising Strategy
Use newspapers if Use magazines if Use out-of-home if Use directories if

Local business or
Well-defined target Local business that
Local business can serve local
audience wants to sell
customers
Regional or national
Want extensive Want to reinforce or Want to create
business that wants
market coverage remind action
to remind
Allow
Your product is Must show the Product requires little comparisons or
consumed in a product accurately information and provide inquiry
predictable manner and beautifully demonstration and purchase
information
Need to relate
Do not need to Small to moderate Small to moderate
product
demonstrate budget budget
information
Moderate to large Moderate to large
budget budget
ACTIVITY 6.9
What are the media habits for the four print media stated above? What
are the implications on the advertisers who wish to advertise in all the
above print media?

 The whole of this topic introduced the types and features of print media
which often become the main choice for advertisers to market their products
or convey an idea or advertising message.
 Students should have a preliminary picture about which medium should be

used for advertising a certain product or service so as to reach the desired
audience. Every newspaper or magazine has its own advantages and
disadvantages and media planners and advertisers need to make wise
choices.
Classified advertisements
Display advertisements
Transit advertisements
Instructions: Answer all questions in 15 minutes.

1. Explain the types of magazine advertisements
2. What do you understand by:
(a) Public Notices
(b) Pre-print inserts
(c) Outdoor advertisements
(d) Directories
3. When do advertisers need to make decisions to advertise in newspapers,
magazines or use outdoor advertisements?

Instructions: Answer the following questions in 30 minutes.

(a) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using the newspaper as an
advertising medium.
(10 marks)
(b) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of choosing to advertise in

magazines.
(10 marks)
Total (20 marks)
Adoi Magazine. (2006). Sledhehammer Communications.
Adnan Hashim. (1994). Advertising in Malaysia. Pelanduk Publications.
Arens, F. W. (2004). Contemporary advertising. McGraw Hill, Irwin.
Jewler & Drewniany. (2006). Creative strategy in advertising. Thompson:

Wadsworth.
Aitchison, J. (2003). Cutting edge radio. Prentice Hall.
Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting edge advertising II. Prentice Hall.
Media Guide. (2005). Perception. Media Sdn. Bhd.
Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin (1993). Asas periklanan. Kuala Lumpur:
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Wells, Burnett, & Moriarty. (2006). Advertising: Principles and practise. (7th ed.).

7 Media: Radio,
TV and On‐line
Interactive
Media
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Discuss the structure of radio, how it is managed, its use as an
advertising medium as well as the advantages and disadvantages of
radio advertising;
2. Discuss the structure of television, how it is managed, its use as an
advertising medium as well as the advantages and disadvantages of
television advertising; and
3. Discuss the interactive media, its structure and use as an advertising
medium and identify the advantages and disadvantages of interactive
advertising.
 INTRODUCTION
"If you want to do something, you will find a way.
If you do not want to do something, you will find excuses"
Arabic Proverb

TOPIC 7 ADVERTISING MEDIA: RADIO, TV AND ON-LINE INTERACTIVE MEDIA  137
This topic introduces you to broadcast media advertising, i.e. radio and
television, as well as the on-line interactive media or internet. Of late, the number
of broadcast media in Malaysia has been on the rise. This provides a greater
opportunity for advertisers to advertise their products and services in the
broadcast media provided this choice of advertising suits their advertising
objectives and reach a wider target audience.
The existence of new TV and radio stations not only hugely impacts the growth
of advertising expenditure (Adex) but also focuses on viewer or listener rating
competition.
7.1 BROADCAST MEDIA

The broadcast media is another medium that is often used and considered
effective by advertisers in conveying their message. This media constitutes
television and radio. The messages conveyed over the broadcast media are
different from the print media as it involves different senses. The broadcast is
more dynamic as advertisements are aired in the form of time (seconds, minutes).
Television advertisements have audio and visual effects while radio

advertisements only involve audio. This differs from the printed advertisements
which only display static pictures which do not play much with the emotions of
the audience. However, if compared to other media, the radio gives the most
limitations to advertisement writers.
It is quite difficult to deliver an advertising message for a product without

showing the visual of that product. Here, scriptwriters have a vital role to play in
thinking more creatively and wisely exploiting voice and sound to achieve

138  TOPIC 7 ADVERTISING MEDIA: RADIO, TV AND ON-LINE INTERACTIVE MEDIA
maximum effects. However, the radio is still considered to be an effective

medium as it has several other advantages.
7.2 STRUCTURE OF RADIO

The structure of radio is divided into six forms, i.e. satellite radio, AM/FM, cable,
lower power FM (LPFM), public and web radio. The radio structure varies
slightly among countries. In Malaysia, the main choice of broadcast organization
is radio FM. The different structures allow advertisers to make the choice to
advertise more cautiously.
Every radio station prepares a different programme format and programming.

This is important in creating an identity for a station and for advertisers to
advertise in a station which can reach the target audience. Table 7.1 below shows
16 main commercial radio formats in the USA according to the total number of
available radio stations.
Table 7.1 : Commercial Radio Format

Format AM FM Total
Country 643 1,491 2,134
News/Talk 1,141 621 1,762
Oldies 308 508 816
Religious 347 387 734
Adult contemporary 116 592 708
Spanish 386 309 695
Contemporary Christian 116 564 680
Top 40 8 496 504
Variety 47 416 463
Hot adult contemporary 8 396 404
Sports 369 22 391
Classic rock 7 375 382
Soft adult contemporary 74 269 343
Classic hits 12 250 262
R&B 22 187 209
Modern Rock 3 163 166
Source: M Street Radio Directory, June 2002

ACTIVITY 7.1
What is the format of the Bahasa Melayu and English language radio
stations available in Malaysia? List the names of these radio stations and
state their format.
In terms of their organizational structure, almost all radio stations, regardless of

their size have almost similar structures. If an advertising agency has three main
departments, i.e. media, creative and accounts departments, radio stations have
four main departments, i.e. operations, programming, marketing and engineering
departments. Each department is inter-related to ensure the smooth airing of
programmes.
Figure 7.1: Organisational structure of radio stations
The Operations Division, which is also known as the Traffic Department is

responsible for ensuring that the advertisements are slotted according to the date
and time of buying as per the contractual agreement signed by the advertiser. The
Programming Division, headed by a Progamme Manager is responsible for the
content of the programmes. This includes the decision about songs which will be
played and co-operation with the announcer to determine the presentation
pattern.
A radio station with a music format always has a music manager to ensure the
smooth progress and implementation of the programming. A radio station with a

news/talk format will probably have a news manager who will carry out the
tasks of procuring news and editing it before airing. The Marketing or Sales
Division plays the role of carrying out promotional activities and secures
sponsorship and advertisement spot buying. The Engineering Department
headed by a Chief Engineer will ensure that programmes go on air with good
audio quality with no interferences during the broadcast.
7.3 RADIO AUDIENCE

Every radio station has its own target audience. There are some stations that
target the whole society, school children, the youth, women, adults, the Malays,
Chinese, Indians, etc. In general, in most countries, there are three main radio
industry structures, i.e. commercial radio, public broadcaster radio and
community radio.
For commercial radio stations, advertisements play an important role in ensuring

its continued survival. Without advertisements, it may not be possible for a
station to continue its operations. This is different from public broadcaster
stations which can still continue to operate even without advertisements as the
operational costs are borne by the government.
The three main radio networks in Malaysia ă AMP (Airtime Management &
Programming), RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) and THR (Time Highway
Radio) operate more than 30 broadcast stations in Bahasa Malaysia, English,
Mandarin, Cantonese and Tamil.
The Media Prima has emerged with two radio channels, i.e. Fly.FM in English in
2005 and Hot.FM in Bahasa Malaysia in 2006. The Star Publications has come up
with the Suria FM radio station using Bahasa Malaysia as its medium. The
emergence of all new stations not only affects the increase in the advertisement
expenditure (Adex) but also focus on listener rating competition.
The ASTRO satellite television station operates 17 channels including channels

which play Arabic and Hindi songs, thereby targeting specific audiences. The
ASTRO stations are:
 Era.FM  Jazz
 Hitz. FM  India Beat
 My. FM  Osai
 Light & Easy  XFresh FM
 Mix FM  Nostalgia
 Sinar FM  Opus

 Melody  MusiqÊa
 Classic Rock  Raaga
 Golden Oldies
ACTIVITY 7.2
Try and listen to all the ASTRO radio channels stated above and list the
language medium of each station. Who is the target audience? Explain in
detail.
Radio Malaysia (RTM) operates 17 channels in West Malaysia. Five of its channels
which record the highest number of listeners are Musik FM, Kedah FM, Kelantan
FM, Minnal FM and Ai FM. The table below shows the number of Radio Malaysia
listeners in 2005.
Table 7.2: Total Number of Radio Malaysia Listeners in 2005
Station Listeners Coverage Language

Nasional FM 309,000 National B.Malaysia
Muzik FM 1,232,000 National B.Malaysia
Traxx FM 109,000 National B.Inggeris
Ai FM 450,000 National Chinese
Minnal FM 640,000 National Tamil
KL FM 392,000 Federal/Selangor B.Malaysia
Perlis FM 162,000 Perlis B.Malaysia
Negri FM 106,000 N.Sembilan B.Malaysia
Selangor FM 131,000 Federal/Selangor B.Malaysia
Kedah FM 732,000 Kedah B.Malaysia
Kelantan FM 675,000 Kelantan B.Malaysia
Perak FM 429,000 Perak B.Malaysia
Mutiara FM 238,000 Penang B.Malaysia
Melaka FM 139,000 Melaka B.Malaysia
Johor FM 304,000 Johor B.Malaysia
Pahang FM 277,000 Pahang B.Malaysia
Terengganu FM 425,000 Terengganu B.Malaysia
Source: Radio Diary Sweep 1, 2005

ACTIVITY 7.3
In your opinion, why must a media planner know about all the radio
channels available in the country and the number of listeners of each of
those channels? What is the connection to advertising planning?
Table 7.3 below shows the number of weekly listeners of radio stations in Sabah
and Sarawak for 2004.
Table 7.3: Total Number of Weekly Listeners of Radio Stations in Sabah and Sarawak in 2004
Sabah Radio Stations Total Listeners

RTM Sabah ă Rangkaian Biru 73,000
RTM Sabah ă Rangkaian Hijau 24,000
Radio Tawau 18,000
Radio Sandakan 6,000
RTM Sabah ă Rangkaian Iban 6,000
Radio Muzik 385,000
Radio 5 73,000
Radio 4 67,000
Sarawak Radio Stations Total Listeners

Radio Miri 66,000
Radio Sibu 41,000
RTM Sarawak ă Rangkaian Nasional 41,000
Radio Sri Aman 33,000
RTM Iban 25,000
WOW 16,000
Radio 1 58,000
Radio 4 66,000
Radio Muzik 309,000
Cats Radio 117,000
7.4 RADIO ADVERTISING EXPENDITURE

In 2005, advertisements in radio stations focused more on the younger generation
those in the 15 ă 35 years age group. Advertisements about the
telecommunications industry, personal care products, medicine, automation,
food and drinks and media and entertainment based advertisements dominated
the total Adex, i.e. by about 50 per cent of the whole radio Adex for 2005, totaling
RM1.8 billion. The years 2005 and 2006 saw an increase in the number of radio

stations and the process of rebranding. Therefore, it is not surprising that

annually, the advertising expenditure continues to record an increase. Table 7.4
below shows the ten top advertisers for the year 2004 compared to 2003.
Table 7.4: Highest Radio Advertisers ă ADEX
Position in Position in 2003 RM 2004 RM

Advertiser
2003 2004 Â000 Â000
6 1 KFC Holding 2,410 5,108
8 2 Maxis Communication 2,038 4,944
1 3 Nestle 4,594 4,302
31 4 Digi Telecommunication 736 3,454
3 5 Telekom Malaysia 3,062 2,812
2 6 Measat Broadcast Network 3,433 2,540
7 7 Celcom 2,282 2,317
9 8 Ambank Group 1,839 2,105
5 9 Sara Lee 2,671 1,925
14 10 Tourism Malaysia 1,424 1,853
Source: Nielsen Media Research ADEX
7.5 TYPES OF RADIO ADVERTISEMENTS

Radio advertisements are normally produced and recorded much earlier, but not
all of them. There are also advertisements sent to the radio station in the form of a
script but which are unrecorded. In these cases, the advertiser does not give the
task of producing the advertisement to an advertising agency but submits it to
the radio station itself to produce it. Radio stations will normally use the voice of
their announcers to do the voice over. There are also advertisers who do not
submit the script to the radio station, what is sent is only a creative brief which
provides the main sales information, target audience, objectives and importance
of the product. Advertisers give the job of producing the script and recording of
the whole advertisement to the radio station.
According to Mohd Sidin and Noorbathi Badaruddin (1993), in general, there are
four main types of radio advertisements (see Figure 7.2).

(a) Creative Brief

A creative brief is used if the radio station has an announcer with a strong
personality. Information in the creative brief will be read directly by the
announcer when he hosts a show. The time for this kind of advertisements
is already fixed, but the announcer, may exceed the time without being
aware of it.
The announcer has more right to determine how the advertisement will be
inserted into the programme. If the announcer is keen to promote the
product, then he may try to create the right impact. However, if the
announcer is not too concerned, then the advertisement may not produce
the desired effect. Advertisers do not have the option of deciding how an
advertisement should be presented on air.
(b) Direct Script

Direct script is like the creative brief but the advertisement is written in
proper text, and is not just information about the product and its
importance. The direct script is useful for local advertisers who wish to
disseminate their advertisement quickly without going through the process
of production or recording. In this type of advertisement also, the advertiser
does not have much say on how the advertisement will be presented on air.
(c) Mix of Direct Script and Taped Music

Advertisers probably may only release a music tape with or without a
singer for the advertisement. In the middle of this tape, the music will be
muted to give time for the insertion of the statement about the product
which will be done directly by the announcer. Advertisers will send the
complete script to show the actual format of the advertisement and at what
point in time, the announcer should read the text.
(d) Tape
Most advertisements which are sent to the radio stations in taped form are
ready to be aired. It has undergone a process of recording and editing and
the tape contains a voice over which provides advertisement information,
music, sound effects, etc.

Figure 7.2: Types of radio advertisements
7.5 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF

RADIO ADVERTISEMENTS
Although broadcast advertising is considered effective, radio advertising is not
suitable for all advertisers. As such, it is important to list the advantages and
disadvantages of radio advertising.
7.6.1 Advantages of Advertising Over Radio

(a) Reach
The greatest advantage offered by the radio is the ability to reach the target
audience via programming determined by the radio stations. The radio is a
popular medium and can be listened to at all times regardless of the activity
being carried out at that time.
In addition, most of the radio stations can be received in different parts of

the country and have the capacity to reach a large audience at different
times throughout the day.
For example, most radio stations target the working people through the
breakfast show segment between 6.00 to 10.00 am. This is the time the
working people are preparing to go to work and are most probably driving
in to work at this time.
It is at this time that that the radio plays an important role by airing vital
information like headlines in newspapers (since the working people have

not had the opportunity yet to read the papers by this time), discuss
interesting issues or topics and air as many advertisements as possible to
draw the attention of the target audience. Many advertisers prefer to
advertise in the breakfast show segment.
(b) Cost Efficiency

The cost of advertising is far cheaper compared to advertising costs in the
newspapers and via television. This is because radio announcers can read
the scripts and the advertisements can be produced by the radio stations
themselves without the advertisers having to resort to the assistance of an
advertising agency. The cheaper advertising costs and the reach of the
target audience make the radio an exciting channel to convey advertising
messages.
(c) Frequency
Since advertising costs over the radio are far cheaper than advertising in the
printed media and television, therefore, most advertisers can advertise
repeatedly. For example, advertisers need only pay RM510 for an
advertising spot of 30 seconds in the Radio Era Station on working days
(MondayăFriday) and RM255 on weekends (Saturday and Sunday). The
radio can provide reach, frequency and media selection at a low cost.
(d) Mental Imagery

Radio allows the listeners to imagine. The radio uses dialogue, sound effects
and music to enable listeners to visualize. It is because of this that the radio
is sometimes known as the theatre of the mind.
(e) High Acceptance Rate

Another advantage of the radio is its high acceptance rate. The radio is able
to air an advertisement several times in a short span of time and this can
motivate the listeners. In fact, radio is considered soothing to the ears.
Most listeners have their own favourite radio stations and announcers.
Advertising messages and public service announcements aired by these
stations and announcers has a high probability of being accepted and
followed.
(f) Flexibility
The radio allows for flexibility. They are many formats for radio
presentation with specific audiences and areas which in turn give several
options to advertisers. Advertisers, who may only wish to advertise in
Perlis for example, can select Perlis FM, for this purpose and this will not
incur a high cost.

Besides this, compared to other media, one can send tapes or scripts to the
radio even at the last minute. Scripts can still be sent on the same day on
which the programme is aired. This flexibility allows advertisers to change
the script at the very last minute to suit the current moment, like market
situation, or maybe even the weather. For example, sellers of mouth and
nasal masks can change their scripts and relate it to the weather, when they
know about the current haze level on a particular day.
Figure 7.3: Advantages of radio advertisements
7.6.2 Disadvantages of Radio Advertising

(a) Lack of focus from listeners
Since the radio can only be heard and not viewed, the radio message might
be overlooked or forgotten by listeners. This limits the effectiveness of the
advertisements especially for goods or services that need to be visually
shown to get maximum impact. Many listeners are of the view that the
radio only facilitates and provides for listening but listeners may not give it
their full attention.
(b) No Visuals
Producing a radio advertisement that encourages the listeners to visualize a
product can be a challenge. For a product that needs to be demonstrated or
that needs to show the effects of usage, the radio is not a relevant medium.
As such, other methods need to be used. Advertisers believe that humour,
music and sound effects are the most effective means of achieving
visualization.

(c) Clutter
The increasing number of radio stations requires radio advertisements to be
segregated to reach the audience. This is because the listeners tend to listen
to the radio whilst carrying out other tasks like reading, driving, cooking,
etc. As such, they may be several similar advertisements being repeatedly
aired, resulting in high cluttering over the radio.
(d) Difficulty in planning and buying

An advertiser who wishes to reach a wide audience needs to purchase
advertising time concurrently in several different radio stations. This
complicates advertisement planning and analysis.
(e) Lack of control

Since some advertisements are read spontaneously by the announcers, and
the advertisement is not recorded, there is the probability of error occurring.
Nowadays, most radio stations use computers to record the advertisement
before airing it, but still, there are some radio stations which read the
advertisements live. It is difficult to control the way the announcers read the
script as this often depends on the mood of the announcer on a particular
day
Figure 7.4: Drawbacks of radio advertisements
7.7 TELEVISION STRUCTURE

The existence of new stations not only hugely impacts the increase in advertising
expenditure (Adex) but also involves the viewer ratings competition.

According to Wells, Moriarty, Burnett (2006), television can be divided into six
main categories, i.e. interactive, network, public television, cable and subscription
television, local television, specialty and syndication.
Since the number of television stations is increasing, it is becoming more difficult
for advertisers to target their advertisements for a large audience. The audience
has more options from government owned stations, private stations to satellite
stations. Table 7.5 below shows the change in viewer ship numbers for the final
episode of the four main television series in the USA which are also aired on
Malaysian TV.
Table 7.5: Total Numbers of Viewers for the Four Main Final Episodes of the Television Series
Programme Station Date of Broadcast Viewers (Â000)

M*A*S*H CBS February 1983 105,467
Cheers NBC May 1983 80,401
Seinfeld NBC May 1998 76,260
Friends NBC May 2004 50,000
Source: Wall Street Journal, 27 April 2004
Figure 7.5: Television structure

Source: Wells, Moriarty, Burnett (2006). Advertising: Principles and practice

The Structure of TV Industry in United States

 Networks
- A network exists when two or more stations can broadcast the same program
from a single source
- Networks can be over-the-air or cable
- Currently four over-the-air TV networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.
- Affiliates are privately owned stations that sign a contract to carry network
programs during parts of the day
 Public Television
- Public stations have leeway to air some commercial messages
- Reaches affluent, educated households
 Cable and subscription television
- 2 of 3 homes subscribe to cable
- Cable programming
 About 8 percent from independent cable networks and superstations
- Cable scheduling
 Network cable ads run to the entire subscriber group simultaneously
 Local cable schedules run commercials to restricted geographic audiences
 Local television
- Local stations carry both network and their own programming
- Costs vary depending on the size of the market
 Specialty television
- Low power television is authorized by the FCC to serve minorities and
underserved communities
- Multipoint distribution systems (MDS) and subscription television (STV)
deliver limited programming without cable
 Television syndication
- Syndicated shows are purchased by independent stations to fill time in open
hours
- Syndicated shows may be:
 Off-network: reruns of network shows like Seinfeld
 First-run: shows produced strictly for syndication
 Interactive television
- TV set with computer capabilities
 Video-on-demand (VOD) including pay-per-view
 Recording and time shifting devices such as TIVO
 Simulcast: transmits digital information in conjunction with a broadcast
Sumber: Wells, Burnett, Moriarty (2006)

The terrestrial and paid television services in Malaysia currently are RTM1,
RTM2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9 and ASTRO.
The ASTRO satellite station offers 24-hour programmes in various languages and
from different countries. This is illustrated further in Table 7.6 below.
Table 7.6: ASTRO Channels
Format Rancangan Saluran

Malay Ria
India Vaanavil, Sun Network
Chinese AEC, Wah Lai Toi, TVBS Asia, Phoenix, TVB 8, TVB Xing He,
Shuang Xing
Sports Astro Super Sport, Star Sports, ESPN
News Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, Al Jazeera, BBC World
Movies Hallmark, HBO, Cinemax, Star Movies
Documentaries Discovery Channel, Discovery, Travel & Living, Animal
Planet, National Geographic
Entertainment AXN, Star World
Music MTV, Channel V
Children Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network
Others TV1, TV2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV, Prima, TV Pendidikan, TVIQ,
Channel 15, Channel 16, Channel 20, Channel 21, NHK World,
Channel 500.
Normally, advertisers prefer to advertise in programmes or channels that have

higher viewer ratings. Advertisers have to advertise in the right medium and
programme so that the advertising message reaches the viewers at the right time
and place. The higher the rating for a programme, the more expensive the cost of
advertising time.
Programmes that recorded the highest viewers for ten non-Malay ASTRO
channels in one day are as shown in Table 7.7 below.

Table 7.7: Total Number of Daily of Viewers of ASTRO Channels (Ê000)
Source: Nielsen media research mid year 2004 media index
There are several ways for advertisers to buy advertising time in television
stations. They can sponsor a particular programme, participate in the programme
or choose spot announcement (see Figure 7.6).
(a) Sponsorship
Advertisers can sponsor a programme once-off or en-block. Programmes
frequently sponsored by advertisers include entertainment programmes,
sports programmes, documentaries or news programmes. For example, the
entertainment programme, Akademi Fantasia in ASTRO is sponsored by
Hotlink, the Malaysia Cup Football by Telekom Malaysia, Nona on TV3 by
Olay and the TV3 main news by Petronas. This kind of programme
sponsorship is very expensive.
(b) Participation
Advertisers who sponsor a programme or a segment of a programme can
participate in the programme. For example, the product Sendayu Tinggi
sponsors the programme Wanita Hari Ini on TV3. The sponsors will appear
in one segment of the programme to talk about their products besides
giving advice to the viewers. The participation of advertisers in a
programme will further enhance the confidence of the viewers for that
product and the message it conveys.
(c) Spot Announcement

Spot announcement advertising is far less expensive than the above two
types. It is aired during commercial breaks in a programme or between two
programmes. Spot advertisers can buy 10, 20, 30, 40 or 60 second slot times.
Among the more popular spot announcement advertisements are shampoo
advertisements, advertisements by telecommunication companies,
carbonated drinks, compact discs and washing powder.

Figure 7.6: Types of TV advertisements
7.8 TELEVISION ADVERTISING EXPENDITURE

Overall, television advertising expenditure is far more expensive compared to
radio advertising expenditure. In 2004, companies which recorded the highest
advertising expenditure included shampoo companies, telecommunication
companies and womenÊs beauty care products companies. Table 7.8 below shows
the ten highest advertisers in 2003 and 2004 in Malaysia.
Table 7.8: Television Advertising Expenditure
Position in Position in 2003 2004

Advertiser
2003 2004 RMÊ000 RMÊ000
1 1 Procter & Gamble 53,950 99,975
3 2 Maxis Communication 29,622 70,453
2 3 Unilever Malaysia 43,290 53,324
7 4 Nestle 25,805 40,153
8 5 Celcom 24,780 26,870
11 6 Colgate Palmolive (M) 16,240 24,814
6 7 KFC Holdings 25,840 23,734
12 8 Reckitt Benckiser 12,151 20,933
20 9 Digi Telecommunications 9,939 19,529
4 10 TM Net 29,032 19,441
Source: Nielsen media research ADEX

7.9 TELEVISION AUDIENCE

The television audience differs slightly from the radio audience. Not all audiences like
to listen to the radio compared to viewing television that can attract the attention and
interest of societies of various ages and religions. Programming prepared by television
stations target audiences of various races regardless of age or sex. Every television
station determines its own target audience.
As an example, the TV9 which is owned by Prima Media targets the Malays. Through
TV9, many bahasa Malaysia programmes are aired. For example, Destinasi Budget,
Enak Rasa and Kompas. This differs from the TV8 station which is also owned by
Media Prima but its main target are the Chinese. Through TV8, Chinese programmes
like Project Superstar, My Lovely Sam Foo and Green Rose are aired. The TV3 station
focuses on mass audiences i.e. all Malaysian society, regardless of age, religion or race.
Every television station has its own programmes that record the highest ratings.
Normally, the highest rating are for the various programmes aired around the Perdana
or Prime Time news. For example, among programmes with the highest ratings in TV3
are 999, Senario, Cerekarama and Buletin Utama.
The Table below shows five progammes that recorded the highest rating in the NTV7
station. Two of the highest rating programmes in this station are cartoon programmes
followed by childrenÊs programmes. Both these programmes are slotted on Saturdays
between 7.00 to 8.00 pm.
ACTIVITY 7.3
Try and identify the target audience for all the television stations
available in Malaysia.
Table 7.9: NTV7 ă Five Main Programmes

Viewers
Programme Language Type
(Â000)
Doraemon BM Cartoon 952
Anugerah Era BM Entertainment 789
(programme produced by
ASTRO and also aired over
TV7)
Caryon Shin Chan BM Cartoon 756
My Siasat Chinese Documentary/Magazine 691
Weekend on 7 ă English Cinema 654
Spy Kids 3D
Source: Nielsen media research (October 2004)

7.10 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF

TELEVISION
7.10.1 Advantages of Advertisements on Television

Television has three main advantages over other types of mediums.
(a) Persuasiveness
Most homes have a television set and some homes have more than one.
Television is often viewed the whole day. As such, the television has the
capacity to influence the daily lives of the people, from the current topics or
issues to be discussed to the latest fashion, home décor tips, lessons from
the religious programmes and forums up to methods of bringing up
children.
The impact of television is huge and can be used as a daily guide. Many
television programmes in Malaysia carry out social responsibilities and the
education of society.
(b) Cost-efficiency
Most of the advertisers look upon television as a medium to optimise costs
as the message can reach a large audience throughout the country. By just
advertising one advertisement for 30 seconds, the message can be conveyed
to many.
(c) Impact
Television has a very high impact. The interaction of the visual, sound and
colour effects, use of models, dramas shown, etc. is able to play with the
emotions of the audience. As an example, the Petronas advertisement
shown during festival seasons often leaves a deep impact on viewers.
At the end of the Petronas advertisements, the audience obtains touching

valuable lessons. This differs from the radio and newspapers which find it
difficult to touch the hearts of the audience. Television also enables
advertisers to clearly demonstrate the use of a product.

Figure 7.7: Advantages of television advertisements
7.10.2 Disadvantages of Television Advertisements

Although the television is the preferred advertising medium of some advertisers,
it also has some disadvantages.
(a) Production Costs

High production costs impede television advertising. To produce a
television advertisement, requires the involvement of many parties.
Advertisers are often forced to recruit advertising agencies to produce an
advertisement.
Advertisers also need to fork out high payments to actors, for props,
editing, directing, etc. Using famous celebrities also involves high costs.
(b) Air-time costs

The costs of air-time in television stations are also more expensive than air-
time costs over radio stations. In Malaysia, for a 60 second television
advertisement in a progamme which has the highest rating in a local
station, the advertiser needs to pay between RM 20,000 to RM 40,000 for one
spot. This means that if the advertiser wishes to advertise for seven times
throughout one week, then the total costs come up to about RM100,000.
In the USA, most 30 second advertisements are in the range of about

USD$185,000. Advertisements in special programmes like Super Bowl, Miss
Universe, Academy Awards, etc. charge exorbitant prices. Super Bowl 2004,
for e.g. charged USD$2.25 million for just one 30 second advertisement spot.

(c) Clutter
As with the print media, the television has similar drawbacks. Too many
advertisements are shown over the television screen so much so it tends to
looked cluttered. When there are too many advertisements, then the level of
visibility and persuasiveness among the viewers goes down.
Television advertisements are also considered as invading the programmes

as they are shown during the programme itself. The TV3 news bulletin has
a special segment for its sponsor, Petronas, and for some viewers, this is a
disruption of their viewing.
The level of disruption of television advertisements is greater when

compared to other mediums. As such, there will be advertisements that do
not succeed in reaching their target audience, as viewers may switch
channels when the advertisement is aired. Since the television audience is
very wide, there may be differing levels of disruption. There are
advertisements which do not get the attention of customers or which do not
meet the characteristics of the target audience.
(d) Not flexible

A television advertisement takes a long time to produce beginning with the
pre-production process to production and post-production up to the
process of getting the broadcast approval. Besides this, the television
advertisement spot needs to be bought much earlier and no last minute
changes are allowed. This is different from radio and newspaper
advertisements which are more flexible.
Figure 7.8: Disadvantages of television advertisements

ACTIVITY 7.4
Try and think about the advantages and disadvantages of advertising on
television besides the examples given above. Discuss in class.
Programmes produced by government and private owned television stations can

also be viewed via the ASTRO satellite station. From the five channels which
recorded the highest viewership, three are government and private owned
channels. This indirectly is profitable to advertisers as these channels can also be
viewed over the ASTRO satellite station. The programmes which recorded the
highest number of viewers are illustrated in the Table below.
Table 7.10: Main Channels in the ASTRO SatelliteTelevision ă 2005
Channel Viewers
TV3 1,246
Astro Wah Lai Toi 1,179
NTV7 866
TV2 812
Astro Vaanavil 603
National Geographic 579
Astro Ria 497
Star Phoenix 497
Star Sports 463
Discovery Channel 426
ACTIVITY 7.5
In your view, what kind of advertisements are suitable for television and
what kind are not? Give reasons for your views.
When is the appropriate time to use the broadcast advertising media? Wells,
Moriaty and Burnett (2005) answered this question in their book, „Advertising
Principles & Practice.

Table 7.11: When to Use radio or Television
Use radio if ⁄.. Use television if ⁄..

You are a local business. You want to reach a wider mass audience.
You need a highly targeted local Your audienceÊs interests align with
audience. a certain type of cable television program.
You want to build frequency. You have relatively good advertising
budget.
You know the timing when your You have a product that needs both sight
audience is considering the purchase. and sound, such as emotional message,
a demonstration, or a drama.
Your audienceÊs interests align with You want to prove something so the
certain types of music, advice programs, audience can see it with their own eyes.
or talk shows.
You have a personal message that uses You want the halo effect of a big TV to
the power of the human voice. impress other stakeholders, such as dealers
and franchisees.
You have a message that works well in a You need to create or reinforce brand
musical form or one that is strong in image.
mental imagery.
You need a reminder message. You need to create or reinforce brand
personality.
7.11 ON-LINE INTERACTIVE MEDIA

ADVERTISING
The interactive media refers to a communication system which allows the
implementation of two-way communication like telephone calls and sending of e-
mails (Wells, Moriarty and Burnett, 2006). By using the Internet, there is the
possibility that a viewer uses this medium to contact the advertiser to obtain a
more personal answer, while interacting with the information provided in the
home page.

Figure 7.9: On-line advertising
Internet advertising is still considered new and is growing steadily. It is

considered as the best medium to reach the target audience who seldom reads the
newspapers or watches television. The Internet is deemed to be interactive as
consumers involve themselves in the process of collecting data and can be in
touch with the advertisers on-line.
Since the Internet can convey advertising messages electronically and has the
capacity to display moving images as well as good audio quality, what is
achieved through the newspapers, radio and television can be accessed as well
via the Internet. As such, Internet is an integration of both the print and electronic
media.
In the USA, the Bureau Census explained that from data accumulated from 2000
census, 50per cent of the households in America had computers and 42 per cent
surfed the Internet at least once a day. Although this figure is expected to
continuously increase, the Internet is still way behind in terms of penetration
level compared to the newspaper, radio and television. It is just another form of
media mix that can be selected by advertisers.
In 2004, the total Internet expenditure in the USA was estimated at around
USD$6.5 billion, which was a 15.7 per cent increase compared to the previous
year. More than 90 per cent of the Internet advertising came from a small group
of large organisations, new influential media news home pages like
NYtimes.com, WSJ.com and ESPN.com, as well as several main search engines
and service providers like Google and Yahoo.
Since these media have a good reputation and know how to use the Internet to
advertise, they became the pioneering organisations in Internet advertising
development.

ACTIVITY 7.6
Surf the Internet and list the web pages that use Internet advertising in
Malaysia. What are the products or services advertised? Do the same
advertisements appear in other media? Discuss in a forum
7.12 PURPOSES OF INTERNET ADVERTISING

On-line advertising has three main purposes (see Figure 7.10).
(a) As a brand reminder to users who surf the Internet often.
(b) It functions in the same way as the traditional media and conveys
information or persuasive messages.
(c) Tries to shift users to using the advertisersÊ websites by clicking on the
banner displayed on the website. This is known as driving traffic to a web page.
Figure 7.10: Purposes of internet advertising

Figure 7.11: Example of a web page used by advertisers
EXERCISE 7.7
List the advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet as an

advertising medium. You are encouraged to discuss this topic in your
tutorial class.
7.13 TYPES OF INTERNET ADVERTISING

What kinds of internet advertising are available today? Wells, Moriarty and
Burnett (2006) explained in their book Advertising Principles and Practice.

(a) Banner Ads

IBM introduced banner ads in 1994. Banner ads are small ads in other
Web pages on which people can click to move to the advertised Web
site. They are easy to create and are usually placed on a Web site
featuring complementary products or related topics. While banner ads
were very popular when they first appeared, the overall click-through
rate has dropped to 0.3 percent. For a collection of funny banners,
check the Web site www.valleyofthegeeks.com
(b) Skyscrappers
The extra-long, skinny ads running down the right or left side of a Web
site are called skycrappers. The financial site CBSMarketWatch.com, for
instance, regularly runs this kind of ad. Response rates for skysrappers,
which began to be used aggressively by more companies in 2000, can
be 10 times higher than for traditional banner ads.
(c) Pop-Ups and Pop-Behinds
Pop-up ads burst open on the computer screen either in front of or
behind the opening page of the Web site. Companies like Volvo and
GlaxoSmith-Kline (for its Oxy acne medicine) use these forms to
present games and product information.
(d) Minisites
Minisites allow advertisers to market their products without sending
people away from the site theyÊre visiting. The General Motors minister
will appear on the Shell Oil site, and the consumer can access and
enlarge it later. This type of advertisement gets a higher click rate:
Around 5 percent of the people who see the sites click on them,
estimates portal About.com.
(e) Superstitials
Unveiled by online marketer Unicast in 1999, these are thought of as
„the internetÊs commercial,‰ designed to work like TV ads. When you
go from one page on a Web site to another, a 20-second animation
appears in a window.
Source:Wells, Moriarty, Burnett (2006).

 Overall, this topic introduced students to radio, television and Internet

advertising. Each medium used has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Advertisers must choose the medium most appropriate to their advertising
objectives so that the message being conveyed is accepted by the target
audience.
Creative brief
Direct script
Tape

1. State the types of radio advertising.
2. What are the types of Internet advertising?
3. What are the purposes of Internet advertising?
4. Provide three television stations which target different audiences in Malaysia.
Who are their audiences?
5. What do you understand by the term ÂaudienceÊ?
Instructions: Please answer the following questions in 30 minutes.

1. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the radio as a medium of
advertising.
(10 marks)
2. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of advertising on television.
(10 marks)
[20 marks]

Adoi Magazine. (2006). Sledhehammer Communications
Arens, F. W. (2004). Contemporary advertising. McGraw-Hill, Irwin.

Wadsworth.
Aitchison, J. (2003). Cutting edge radio. New York: Prentice Hall.
Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting Edge Advertising II. Prentice Hall.
Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin. (1993). Asas periklanan. Dewan Bahasa
dan Pustaka.
Wells, Burnett & Moriarty. (2006). Advertising: Principles and practise. (7th ed.).

Topic  Creativity and
8 Advertising
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define creative advertising;
2. Discuss how creative advertising is related to the Big Idea;
3. Explain the characteristics of creative people and the creative process;
4. Identify the important elements in creative advertising;
5. Design the main framework for a creative brief; and
6. Explain how creative advertising is linked to advertising effectiveness.
 INTRODUCTION
"A person who makes a mistake and does not correct it
has made another mistake"
Confucius
Creativity plays a very important role in advertising. Creative advertisements can

attract the attention of the readers, listeners and media viewers. In the book,
Creative Strategy in Advertising, the writer says that an advertisement „must
contain a persuasive message which can convince the masses to act." To be
creative, writers insist that an advertisement "must have a relevant relationship
with the audience and display sales ideas in unexpected ways."
This topic introduces you to the concept of creativity, creative strategy and the
creative process so that you will be able to create an advertisement that is creative
with the capacity to attract the masses.

TOPIC 8 CREATIVITY AND ADVERTISING  167
8.1 CREATIVE ADVERTISING
ACTIVITY 8.1
Try to think about the advertisements that you have read about, heard
or viewed. In your view which advertisements can be considered
creative? Why do you say so? What is your definition of creative
advertising?
What is creative advertising? According to the DDB Needham advertising

agency, an effective advertisement is one that is relevant, original and has impact.
It is often known as ROI or RELEVANT, ORIGINAL AND have an IMPACT. In
other words, an advertising idea must be relevant and bear certain meaning for
the audience. The meaning of the advertisement must be clearly understood by
the audience and not be confusing.
An advertisement is said to be original when it is one of a kind. This means

readers, listeners and viewers must not have seen a similar advertisement
concept prior to this. An original advertisement can take the audience by surprise
and grab their attention.
For an advertisement to be effective, the idea must create an impact. A creative

advertisement is not just one that can get oneÊs attention, but one that can be
retained in the memory of the viewer. Such advertisements can stand out
compared to other advertisements. Such advertisements are said to have
stopping power having originated from ideas that never occurred to anyone
before this. This is said to be creative.
Figure 8.1: Requirements of creative

advertising

168  TOPIC 8 CREATIVITY AND ADVERTISING
In your view, what is the advertising idea shown in Figures 8.2 and 8.3?
Figure 8.2: Advertising campaign „Got

milk?‰ in the USA
Every effective advertisement should

have a big idea, i.e. the creative concept
which applies the advertising strategy
so that the message can grab the
attention of the viewer and be
remembered. In the advertising
campaign Got Milk? , by the California
Milk Board, the main idea is that when
people drink milk they like to eat a slice
of cake or some biscuits. The big idea is
Figure 8.3: The Campaign „Got Milk?‰
the idea conveyed visually and verbally.
Showing the Celebrity, Britney Spears
Got Milk? is a question, but in most of
their campaigns, this is reiterated or reinforced by using the picture of a
personality, particularly a celebrity with a visual showing a white milk
moustache. This concept won several awards in the USA and is considered
creative.
Big idea involves a mind shift. It must display something from a different angle.
Looking for unique creative concepts is called creative leap, i.e. a process of
transferring the strategic statement into an idea that can convert the strategy in an
attractive and unique way.
Creative ideas must be original (different and unexpected) and strategic (suitable
to the product and target audience). Advertisers must be willing to take risks
every time they want to create a new idea. Since all advertising creative ideas
carry a risk element, therefore, copy testing is often carried out, to test the idea
before it is released to gauge its effectiveness.

8.2 THE CONCEPT OF CREATIVITY

Creativity cannot be easily defined. Creativity also means the ability to invent.
Donald W. Mackinnon considered creativity as an ability to create an original and
important response in a realistic and proper form towards problems or issues
faced. Rollo May, author of the book, Love and Will, defined creativity as a
process of creating or inventing something new.
The well known psychiatrist, Erich Fromm, considered creativity as the ability to
perceive and respond. In his book, Guiding Creative Talent, E. Paul Torrence,
defined creativity as a process of finding information gap problems, creating an
idea or hypothesis, testing or adapting the hypothesis and stating the findings.
(Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi, 1993).
Based on these definitions, creativity can be said to be the mental ability or

capacity within a person to create something new, original and valuable; the
ability to see new links and the ability to use the imagination.
According to Jewler & Drewniany (2005), the components of creative definition

include the following:
(a) Creative advertisements have a relevant relationship between the brand

and the target audience
Brand encompasses more than just an attractive name, logo or slogan. It is a
collection of memories existing in the minds of users. For example, the
Disney advertisement reminds viewers that magic is important to every
individual.
The second Disney advertisement shows a mother with her young
daughter. They enter a lift full of people whom they do not know and the
small girl starts relating her experiences when she visited Disneyland. She is
so enthusiastic about the visit that it seems like she had just returned from
her visit. However, her mother explains that the visit occurred a year ago.
This small girl continues to tell how they bought several souvenirs for all
the people, including her baby brother. All of them smile. The mother ends
the advertisement by saying "We all had a good time".
(b) Creative Ideas display sales ideas

The sales idea can be in a tangible form, like the washing powder Dynamo
which ensures that your clothes are pure white, or it can be in an intangible
form, for instance, as to how ballet dancing can change your life. This
method of conveying sales ideas can be in rational or emotional form or a
combination of both. Since competitors can copy all products and services,

the sales idea that uses emotional persuasion is more bound to leave an
impact over rational persuasion.
(c) Creative Advertisements are unexpected

An advertisement is considered creative if the idea is original and
unexpected. For example, most advertisements about washing powder are
expected. We are always shown visuals of children playing, then there are
stubborn stains, followed by the appearance of the washing powder which
can wash away stubborn stains, and finally, the problem is solved.
This kind of advertisement is no longer considered original and is totally

predictable. In an advertisement featuring the string of the Stren brand, it
shows the visual of a man fishing and the back of his torn trousers having
been stitched using the Stren string.
The message that this advertisement is trying to convey is that this string is
very durable. If the advertiser instead shows the visual of a huge fish being
successfully caught using the .string, this kind of idea has already been used
and as such, is not original.
According to advertising experts, John Eighmy (Wells, 2006), about 50 per

cent of the advertisements in the USA currently are copycat advertising, i.e.
a copy of the ideas already used by others. These advertisements may be
modified, but the main idea comes from the original advertisement and so
is not original. In Malaysia, we are shown several Petronas advertisements
during the festival seasons. Most messages with an emotional touch reach
the audience and leave a deep impact. It is relevant, original and has an
impact.
ACTIVITY 8.2
Carefully look at both the advertisements below. What is the advertiser

trying to sell in these two advertisements? What is the big Idea in these
advertisements? In your view, are these advertisements creative? Why?

Figure 8.4: Creative advertising

Source: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/friends_adult_diapers_car
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/friends_adult_diapers_theater
ACTIVITY 8.3
Look at the advertisement in Figure 8.5. What is the message that
the advertiser is trying to convey through this advertisement? If
you wish to use this idea in Malaysia, who do you think is the most
suitable person to be the advertiser? Explain why. Who is the target
audience? What is the message sent to them?
Figure 8.5: Creative Advertising

Source:
http://adsoftheworld.com/
media/print/anti_smoking_gun

In advertising, all activities involve creative ability. Creativity is required from

the early stages of creating the main idea and concept up to copywriting,
direction, production, promotion and all other advertising activities. According to
Bernbach (Advertising Age, 1971), Â⁄.the core of creativity is discipline‰. He
divided the discipline into four activities as follows:
(a) Discipline to seek the advantages of goods and services;
(b) Discipline to create a sophisticated and aesthetic advertisement;
(c) Discipline to manage; and
(d) Discipline to create social awareness and to be responsible to the public.
In advertising creativity, there are six important themes you should know. The
first is known as creative strategy, and the second as creative tactics. Creative
strategy refers to Âhow an advertising message will be conveyedÊ and creative
tactic refers to Âensuring how the message strategy will be executedÊ.
Both of these play an important role in any kind of advertising. The ability to
come up with refreshing, unique and appropriate ideas which can be used to
solve communication problems is known as creative advertising.
You can surf the following web page to get advertising ideas:
GoCreate.com: www.gocreate.com
Creative Think: www.creativethink.com
8.3 CREATIVE PEOPLE

Do you consider yourself a creative person? Why?
In Asas Periklanan written by Mohd Sidin and Noorbathi Badaruddin (1993), the
authors clarified that in 1946, a group of psychologists with the Carnegie
Corporation grant began a national research about creative people. This study
involved a total of 600 people who were found to be very creative through an
interview method. The findings reported to Donald MacKinnon showed that
creative people had the skills and will to record experiences. They could make
differentiation, were always cautious and handled abstract matters easily. They
gave less emphasis to responses, were less interested in what others were
thinking of them; they were not conformists nor were they non-conformists. They
were free. This differed totally from non-creative people. They appreciated
recognition, no matter how small. They also had higher egoistic feelings and were
passionate.

According to Ron Hoff, creative people had four similar values, i.e.:
(i) They were compulsive observers of a person;
(ii) They preferred to create a case to influence others;
(iii) They saw things from a different perspective from others; their tastes were
normal but stated in extraordinary ways;
(iv) They wanted people to see what had been accomplished.
Advertising agencies have three main departments, i.e. Accounts Department,

Media Department and the Creative Department. The department for producing
creative advertisements is the Creative Department comprising a Creative
Director, Copywriter, Art Director, Graphic Designer, Artist, etc. Each of them
must have high creative abilities to carry out their respective tasks effectively.
Figure 8.6: Leonardo DaVinci and Albert Einstein:

Examples of creative geniuses
For more information on creativity in advertising, surf the following web site:
Clio Awards: www.clioawards.com
8.4 CREATIVE STRATEGY
Strategy is a carefully designed plan to murder the competition. Any promise that
lacks a killer instinct is not a strategy. Any premise that doesnÊt reflect or include a
consumerÊs crying need is not a strategy. Any premise embalmed in stiff, predictable
language is not a strategy. Any premise that addresses the whole world, women 3 to
93, is not a strategy. Any premise interchangeable with that of another product is not a
strategy. The true test of an advertising strategy is to let another human being read it.
If that person canÊt say yes, thatÊs me, or yes, I need that, or yes, thatÊs my problem ă
throw it away.
John Lyons, Guts: Advertising from Inside Out (New York: AMACOM, 1987) m.s.124
In advertising, strategy is related to the way of selling. It is an invention to

achieve a certain purpose and this purpose is never ignored. It always orientates
around decision or output and in advertising, the desired outcome is something
that cannot be separated from the efforts to create awareness, stimulate attempts
and finally create sales.
Strategy in advertising is an art ă not a science. Even so, to begin a strategy, we

must be cautious of the facts, and the facts referred to are related to goods,
competition for that good, the direction of the market competition, and in-depth
knowledge of potential customers (Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin, 1993).
Creative strategy is the integrated part of the advertising plan. What is the
purpose? The aim is to provide direction to create an advertisement when
planning is carried out. Creative planning is based on all kinds of decisions and
pre-information obtained by advertising agencies through studies and research.
Research plays an important role as information about the audience (audience

research), competitorsÊ services (competitor activities research), information of
target markets (research on target markets), information about thoughts and
views of users towards existing products (positioning research) and
advertisement message research, i.e. pre and post-message tests towards
advertisements which have never been shown or proposed advertisements to be
release can be studied.
William M. Weilbacher explained that advertising research is an effort which

specifically and generally decide items that need to be conveyed in the
advertisement; help in determining the target audience; help in evaluating the
extent to which the execution of advertising communication was conveyed
successfully; and help in assessing the extent to which the money for advertising
was spent beneficially and effectively.
To Weilbacher, advertising research is an input to advertising planning, a guide

to advertising creativity, assessment of the advertisement and advertising
campaign, and theories on how advertising works (Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi
Badaruddin, 1993).
Several questions need to be addressed when studying strategy. Is the strategy

used relevant to the target market? Is it original or almost similar to other brands
within the same product category? Does it have impact? Will it bring about good
returns?

STRATEGY STATEMENT FORMAT

1. Who is our target? Give brief lifestyle/attitudinal descriptions. Include some
demographics, but this is not as important for most products. Users, heavy
users, nonusers, users of competitive brands relationship to other
product/service usage?
2. Where are we now in the mind of this person? They donÊt know us, but donÊt
use us. They prefer another brand because ⁄They donÊt understand what we
can do. They donÊt use us for enough things. And so on.
3. Where is our competition in the mind of this person? Use the same approach
as above but focus on the competing brands.
4. Where would we like to be in the mind of this person? Product is positioned
as ⁄Product is the best choice because ⁄ Now they know product will ⁄
5. What is the consumer promise, the „big idea‰? State the major focus of your
campaign. Not a slogan or tag line at this stage, but an idea in simple
language that will serve as the basis for a tag line ă a brief statement that sums
up what the campaign is all about.
6. What is the supporting evidence? Draw on consumer benefits to strengthen
and elaborate on what you chose in item 5. Build benefit in support of your
big idea.
7. What is the tone of voice for the advertising? Decide on the appropriate tone ă
warm, family values, startling, hi-tech, sobering fact, mild guilt, humor, and so on.
Jewler & Drewniany, Creative Strategy in Advertising (2005)
ACTIVITY 8.4
By using the strategy statement shown in the above box, write your
strategy for a product or service or organisation.
8.5 FEATURES OF CREATIVE STRATEGY

There are four main features of creative strategy. They are as follows:
(a) Simple
A creative strategy must be simple to understand especially by the
customers. An easily understood strategy can deliver the advertising
message clearly and at the same time, reinforce the desired impact.

(b) Specific
A specific strategy states its intention directly. In this way, the advertising
message is more easily understood and the target audience does not try and
interpret the advertising message that is being conveyed. The failure of the
audience to understand the advertising message might lead to the failure of
the product or campaign that is being executed.
(c) Be worthy of being advertised

The advertising campaign is an important component that must be given
due attention. The advertisement must clearly explain to the customers how
important the product or service is. For example, when customers buy a
certain product, they must be convinced that they are getting value for their
money, like high quality, good taste, durability, endurance, firm colour, etc.
(d) Long lasting

Extraordinary and special strategies can still be used and improved upon
from time to time so that they are more attractive and refreshing through
new emphasis or changes. A long lasting strategy will be more powerful
and more successful in achieving its objectives.
Figure 8.7: Features of creative strategy

ACTIVITY 8.5
What kind of creative strategy is often used by fast-food restaurants in
Malaysia? Who is the main target audience of these fast-food
restaurants? In your opinion, why has a baby been selected for the
McDonald advertisement below?
Figure 8.8: An example of a McDonald

advertisement
8.6 THE CREATIVE PROCESS

When you are assigned to do an advertisement, where should you begin?
According to Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin (1993), the following
processes or steps need to be considered before an advertisement can be
produced.
(a) Determine the Prospects

From the beginning, knowledge about the masses needs to be prioritised.
We must know who they are, what is required by them and why they need
it. Customers can be defined by interest, their actual or potential relative
inclination towards a product or service that is being offered. For example,
there are stated prospects about the actual people who need our products.
Besides this, there are disguised prospects, about people who need the
products or services. Some of them do not even know the product exists in
the market till advertisements catch their attention. There is also the non-
prospective group. No matter how useful or attractive and cheap the
product being advertised is, they will not be interested in that product.
For example, we will not sell products like ladies clothing and other needs
to men. In this respect, a customer survey must be carried out. The profiles
must be written down clearly and specifically. The clear definition of
prospective customers must be made according to the geographic,
demographic and psychographic aspects.

(b) Analyse the Product or Service Being Advertised

Before we start writing about the product or service, we must find out as
much as possible about that product or service. We must have a fact sheet
about the product including the specifications, test results, sales record and
general information about the company producing the product.
Ideally, we should study and use the product ourselves first. Ask for the
views of salespersons, pharmacists, distributors and anyone who can give
useful feedback. Go to the library and obtain the product category as well as
competitive products available in the market. Read commercial books and
journals.
Write to the industrial groups to obtain reports and research findings. Get
information about the advantages and disadvantages of the product
compared to competitive products. Study the sales methods of competitors,
advertising techniques and market objectives.
In addition to this secondary research, carry out a primary study, i.e. a

direct research and analysis of customers including interviews and surveys.
Normally, the purpose of the research is to find out why customers use or
do not use a product.
(c) Determine the Objectives

From the very beginning, we must decide the objectives that we wish to
achieve through the advertisement. If it is part of a larger advertising
campaign or plan, we must determine what the role of the advertisement is
in the overall master plan.
The more specific our decision, the easier it will be for us to write the
advertisement script. Objectives can be broad or narrow, general or specific.
We can relate it to the long or short-term planning. It can involve products,
services, ideas or image. Examples of normal objectives are to:
(i) Introduce new goods;
(ii) Build the company image;
(iii) Announce product renewal;
(iv) Link product network;
(v) Convey product advantages and specialties;
(vi) Attract customers to the shop; and
(iv) Attract new customers.

Figure 8.9: Advertisements can be in the form of a storyboard as part of

the creative process
8.7 PREPARING THE ADVERTISEMENT

In the process of executing creative strategy, advertisement writers or
copywriters have several different choices but three basic steps that must be
implemented are:
(a) Write the copy platform

(b) Form the concept
(c) Select the approach
The form and content of the advertisement must be decided after research on a
product has been carried out in-depth, the prospects have been identified
precisely and the advertising objectives or communication has been specifically
defined.
(a) Copy Platform

All advertisements must have a copy platform first. Sometimes, this copy
platform has been prepared by the advertisers. If a copy platform is not
provided, then the advertising agency needs to prepare it. A copy platform
is a written statement about the objectives as well as other vital information
for an advertisement that is going to be created.
Copy platform is known by several other terms like creative brief or

blueprint. There are many ways of writing a copy platform, but basically,
the important elements like objectives, target audience, concept, benefits to
the customer and the creative strategy statement need to be included in the
copy platform.
The logical beginning for an advertising plan is to determine the purpose,

goals and expectations. What is the purpose of the advertisement? Is it to
create awareness towards the product brand or the campaign being
implemented, change the existing image, protect the existing personality or
inform the customers about the new benefits from using the product? Or
does it intend to carry out positioning of the products in a new way which
is more unique so that it can stand out from the other competing products?
Whatever the purpose of the advertiser, every purpose selected must be
specific and comprehensive. Vague or unclear purposes for example to sell
a product, to increase sales and attract more customers, must be avoided.
The target audience must be defined accurately and clearly. It is almost

impossible for us to create an advertisement and try to target all groups in
Malaysia, like the young, old, women, men, children, etc. An advertising
plan that is appropriate and acceptable is one that tries to reach individuals
who are representative of good prospective customers.
Normally, advertisers will try and target their advertisements to the heavy
users, i.e. customers, who on average use the product more than others.
When explaining the target audience, the characteristics can be categorised
from the demographical (age, sex, education level, income, marital status,
race, number of children, etc.), psychographic (psychological features of

users and their value systems), geographical (area of residence); and

behaviouristic aspects (relationship between the audience based on
knowledge, attitude and usage).
The overall main core of the advertising plan is a unique selling proposition
which is also known as the key consumer benefits. It is not an idea for an
advertisement but a guide to an advertising campaign. The main benefits of
a product must be the best, most fantastic or strongest selling proposition to
the customer.
It is in the form of claims with the most meaningful and wide ranging
attraction. As soon as this message can be decided, ensure that it is truly
powerful, special and durable to remain as the main issue in every
advertisement for the whole advertising campaign that is planned.
Sometimes, there is stiff product competition and it is impossible to put
forth a unique claim as existing competitive products in the market have the
same features.
In this respect, advertisers can possibly carry out positioning for their
products. This positioning can display the differences in the minds of the
customers about a product (for e.g. between the shampoo Pantene, Rejoice,
Sunsilk) and services (like Maxis, Celcom and Digi).
Figure 8.10: An example of a positioning Colgate advertisement
In addition to the main proposition the advertisement should also stress the
importance of the product. All the many possible advantages of the product
starting from the most important to the least should all be listed. In the process of

listing all the possible benefits, we will familiarise ourselves more with the
product and subsequently think of more effective strategies.
The strategic statement is also an important part as it determines the success or

failure of the copy platform. The strategy must clarify the tactics that are being
planned to be used to convince the audience. This strategy need not be explained
specifically but it is the basis of the overall campaign; it provides an idea of the
things that will be done and how the message can be conveyed directly from the
main idea and in several other ways.
The following is an example of a copy platform.
Example 1:
ADVERTISEMENT COPY PLATFORM: DESA MOTEL
Objectives
This advertising campaign is carried out to provide information about the Desa Motel
as a practical and cost-saving service. It prioritises important features as opposed to
hotels which are luxurious but not functional. Amenities provided are truly necessary
and other services are not provided as they are not necessary. The provision of such
amenities is wasteful in terms of time and money. This campaign aims to change the
mind-set of the masses from opting for a luxury hotel and settling for a more practical
one.
Target Audience
This campaign is formulated to reach the audience comprising small budget travellers,
tourists, and people wishing to go on holiday, but who need high quality services.
These people include families with children, travellers who are cost conscious and
groups of travellers who prefer low rental accommodation like the YMCA. This target
group does not include business people who value luxury to enhance their image.
Main importance to Customers

The main concept that needs to be sold is the budget-conscious concept, i.e. a person
can get better value for his money. This includes cheaper room rates compared to other
economical accommodation, amenities like air-conditioning, swimming pool, carpeting
and room cleanliness.
Other Benefits
(i) Special treatment by hotel staff
(ii) Free from noise and disturbances during busy times
(iii) Availability of all kinds of local and foreign food with wide selection and
reasonable prices

(iv) Television, radio and cassette players can be rented at minimum prices for those
requiring such amenities
(v) Easy reservation
(vi) Can use credit card
(vii) Late check-out can be discussed without additional payment
Creative Strategy Statement

This campaign must give Desa Motel an image as a hotel chain that is practical and
comfortable. Amenities provided are really necessary and affordable. This gives a
reflection of greater value for money. This campaign must show an environment that is
practical, maybe showing a satisfied family travelling happily and comfortably.
(i) Creating a Concept ă the copy platform for an advertisement does not clarify what
information will be used and how we can implement the objectives. As such, we
must create a concept or an idea or thought which will help us to make choices
and arrange the advertisement materials. This concept may be based on the
contributions which may focus on psychological needs (food, protection, rest) or
physiological needs (security, status). It can also be linked to comfort,
effectiveness or quality. Besides this, it can also be linked to the relationship
between the product and feelings like love, success, freedom and happiness.
(ii) Select method ă The selection of the advertisement method depends on whether
our purpose is to inform, persuade, entertain or a mix of these purposes. The
methods selected involve tones (factual, emotional, funny); styles (dramatisation,
demonstration, presentation); or use of gimmicks, i.e. with extraordinary aspects
or tools like poetry, clichés, handwriting, foreign languages, etc.
(iii) Tones ă Factual tone is objective, logical or descriptive. Emotional tone draws on
feelings like sadness, hope, joy and happiness. The fun tone aims to create interest
through entertainment.
(iv) Style ă Dramatisation or stories are normally emotional or funny. It can instill
interest or desire, by creating a certain environment like nostalgia, escapism, etc.
Under demonstration, the tone is often factual. It shows how a product or service
is used, for example, a step-by-step explanation of the operation of a product. In
presentation, the features or benefits of the product are presented and not
dramatised or demonstrated. Most presentations are factual, but it can also be
funny especially over the broadcast media which often uses comedians or actors.
Recommendations or testimonials of users are the hallmark of presentation. The
aim of customer recommendation is to build trust.
(Extract from Buku Asas Periklanan , Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin, DBP, 1993)

Example 2:
COPY PLATFORM: memPRO
Product
MemPro is a prescription medication to prevent and treat mild-to-moderate
AlzheimerÊs disease.
Campaign Goal:
Increase brand awareness
Bring drug to the top of the mind of 18% of Hispanic target market by the third
quarter of 2005.
Educating
Educate target audience about the devastating disorder that attacks the brainÊs
nerve cells and impairs memory, recognition, and behavior that ultimately leads to
death, as well as offer a viable solution to those even slightly at risk.
Key Selling Attributes
 Prevents memory loss
 Allows one to maintain his or her lifestyle
 Allows patient to enjoy the lives of his or her family members (children,
grandchildren)
 Only FDA approved drug that treats mild-to-moderate AD and also prevents it
Target Market
Demographics:
 Hispanic women ages 45+
 Average income of US$25,000 +
 With parents or loved ones that have been affected by AD or are at high risk of
developing AD.
Psychographics:
 Highly values family
 Often takes care of family members who become ill
 Frequently take part in traditions and family oriented events
Competitor
(i) Aricept
(ii) Exelon
(iii) Reminyl

Overall Our Competition is⁄

 Using affective advertising
 Approaching the target audience directly with fear tactics
 Targeting traditional markets not including Hispanic market
 Frequently targeting family members and caregivers
 Using integrated brand promotional campaigns featuring websites and giveaways
Creative Strategy
 Unique Selling Proposition
 No other drug helps prevent AlzheimerÊs and prevents the development of the
disease for those who have already been diagnosed.
 Affective
 family, children, lifeÊs most precious memories
 Appeals to Maslovian levels
 Safety
 Love & belonging
Ends with strong call to action „Ask your doctor about MemPRO.‰
Figure 8.11: Example of A copy platform advertisement

 Overall, this topic introduced the students to the creative concepts, roles,
processes, strategies and implementation in advertising. Creative advertising
is important to advertisers and should be one in which the advertising
message can be accepted by the audience. The next section will expose
students to the ways of preparing print and broadcast media advertisements.
Big idea
Copy patform
Creative advertising

1. What is meant by creativity concept?
2. What is meant by creative strategy? Explain the features of creative strategy.
3. What is meant by copy platform?
4. State three (3) important requirements for creative advertising.

(a) What are the three basic steps required in preparing an advertisement?
Explain.
(6 marks)
(b) What is meant by the creative process? Describe the steps that need to be
considered before an advertisement can be produced.
(14 marks)
[20 marks]

Arens, F. W. (2004). Contemporary advertising. Boston: McGraw Hill, Irwin.
Jewler & Drewniany. (2006). Creative strategy in Advertising. Thompson:

Wadsworth.
Aitchison, J. (2003). Cutting edge radio. New York: Prentice Hall.
Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting edge advertising. New York: Prentice Hall.
Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin. (1993). Asas periklanan. Kuala Lumpur:
Wells, Burnett & Moriarty. (2006). Advertising: Principles and practise (7th ed.).

Topic  Creativity in
9 Print
Advertising
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Explain the important elements in print advertisements;
2. Explain the types of headlines in print advertisements;
3. Explain the design of print advertisements; and
4. Produce a creative print advertisement.
 INTRODUCTION
This topic will discuss creativity in print advertisement. How do you produce a
print advertisement that is creative and that is able to convey the advertising
message effectively? How about the design layout and form of the
advertisement? What are the criteria that must be considered by the creative
director, art director and copy writer before an advertisement can be produced?
Nowadays, there are many print advertisements in newspapers and magazines

but not all advertisements will get noticed by the readers. More creative
advertisements have a better potential of attracting the audience to read them.
"Examples from our surroundings are the most important

lessons that can be learned by children"
Chtysostomus

TOPIC 9 CREATIVITY IN PRINT ADVERTISING  189
9.1 PRINT ADVERTISEMENT ELEMENTS

In print advertisements, several important elements need to be considered. The
selection of a headline is very vital. The headline is the main element in a print
advertisement which conveys the main message. Seldom do we read the whole
brief about the advertisements that we come across. We are more attracted to an
interesting headline.
Besides the headlines, other elements which are important are the body copy,
visuals, design, layout and slogan. It must be remembered that not all advertisements
use all these elements. Advertisers use the elements for different advertisements
and for different purposes.
9.2 HEADLINES
The headline is the sentence or word that functions as the introduction to an
advertisement. The headline conveys the main message of the advertisement.
The aim is to draw the attention of the readers and encourage them to read the
whole body copy. The headline must be understood by just one glance and must
be able to convey a precise idea.
In a study involving 2,000 print advertisements, most advertisement headlines

were found to contain about eight words only (Arens, 2004). There are also
advertisement headlines with only one word (e.g. one of the headlines of the
AirAsia Advertisement is „RM9.99‰ or the Volkswagen advertisement with the
headline „Lemon‰). According to David Ogilvy, the headline is the most
important element in print media advertisements.
The best headline of a print advertisement produced by Rolls Royce contained

the following 18 words:
„At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in the new Rolls-Royce

comes from the electric clock‰
9.2.1 Functions of Headlines

The following are some of the functions of headlines:
 Provide information about a product or service
 Raise questions among readers
 Raise interest about the claims

190  TOPIC 9 CREATIVITY IN PRINT ADVERTISING
 Offer certain benefits

 Abridge the sales message
 Influence the readers to read the whole body copy
 Stop readers or draw their attention
 Reinforce brand name
 Explain visuals
 Make emotional connection with readers
Figure 9.1: The headline of the print

advertisement
The advertisement message should be sent in clear and easily understood

language. This is because the headline must send the sales idea in a
comprehensive manner. It is wasteful if the advertiser does not sell his product or
service in the headline. As copywriters, you can come up with the headline first
followed by the body copy or vice versa. The following are a few examples of
print advertisements that are considered creative (See Figures 9.2 till 9.4.; Note
the headlines).
Figure 9.2: The headline of

the print advertisement of
Volkswagen Beetle ă „If you
were really good in a past
life, you come back as
something better.‰


advertisement of British Airways -
„London... Singapore‰

advertisement campaign of ÂStop
drinking alcoholÊ ă „ABSOLUTE
CIRRHOSIS.‰

ACTIVITY 9.1
Discuss all the print advertisements above in class. What is the message
that is being conveyed? In your view, what is the function of the
headline?
A good headline must be capable of drawing the attention of the reader. The
reader should also be able to relate to it. It should also explain the visuals, invite
the readers to continue reading the body copy and present a sales message, all at
the same time. When readers respond „this is interesting, I wish to know more‰,
then the headline has succeeded in its mission. As an example, a headline like
„THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE⁄.‰, will create a feeling of
curiosity among readers.
One popular way of writing headlines is by using a bigger font size from the
body copy font. This technique will attract the readers. Research also shows that
most readers only read headlines. As such, the headlines must state something
about the product or service in a creative way so that the audience stops for a
moment to read the whole advertisement.
You can also state the product benefits in the headlines (e.g. „Head & Shoulders
Shampoo gets rid of dandruff and itchy scalp‰), relate to the readers (e.g.
„Smoking is a colourful habit‰ by showing a visual of filthy coloured teeth) or
explain the visual (e.g. „Be careful where you point it‰ with a visual of a vacuum
cleaner wrongly directed and sucking in a manÊs wig).
There are several factors which must be considered by copywriters in their efforts
to get the attention of the masses. Among these, the body copy must link the
product to the benefits or importance of the product. For example:
 SAY GOODBYE TO STUBBORN STAINS

 EVERTHING YOU DESIRE IN A NEW CAR
 EXPERIENCE THE FANTASTIC BROADBAND
 BRING BACK FEMINITY AND BEAUTY
 THE RIGHT MIX FOR STYLE AND EASE
Headlines which have news value can also attract the audience because news
contains current, new and sometimes surprising aspects. For example:

 7,109 MYVI WERE SENT IN MARCH.

 INTRODUCING OUR NEW LOAN SCHEME.
 NOW, PROTON WAJA FOR ONLY RM56, 000!
 MAXIS 3G NOW IN PENANG.
 GET SUBSIDISED DIESEL FROM ANYWHERE IN MALAYSIA
 100,000 COMPLIMENTARY SEATS!
Some headlines also contain recommendations/testimonials or spokespersons.

For example:
 AT FIRST, I DID NOT BELIEVE, BUT NOW⁄.

 MY SKIN HAS BECOME FAIRER IN 14 DAYS.
 MY WHOLE FAMILY PREFERS IT.
 GOOD FOR MOTHER, GOOD FOR ME.
 HOW YOU CAN SAVE RM199.
 NOW, NO MORE TRACES OF AGEING.
Figure 9.5: Functions of headlines

Figure 9.6: Headlines which use testimonials
9.2.2 Types of Headlines

Headlines can be divided into two types, i.e. direct and indirect headlines. Direct
headlines are straightforward and informative while indirect headlines do not
provide much information but may be better at influencing readers to read the
rest of the body copy.
There are many types of headlines. There are some that are informative in nature,
persuasive, informative, issue warnings or cautions or are teasers. The following
are the types of headlines often used by advertisers.
(a) Presentation of News

Since most audiences always read the newspapers or watch television, the
element of news often grabs the attention of readers. The masses are always
interested in finding out about new products in the market, changes made
to existing products and services by advertisers, or where the product can
be obtained. Words frequently used by advertisers in headlines include:

„introducing‰ ă „introducing the latest Toyota model‰

„now‰ ă „Now, you can pay via maybank2u.com‰
„finally‰ ă „Finally, no more vigorous scrubbing‰
„now‰ ă „Buy now, and save RM5000‰
Figure 9.7: The main headline of LEVIS

advertisement - „THE CLASSICÊS MEN 501
NOW RE-CUT FOR WOMEN‰
(b) Raise Questions

A headline which puts forth a question encourages readers to read further.
A good advertisement headline is one that raises questions. Readers will
keep asking for the answers to the questions put forth or ask what will
happen, how it will happen, when it will happen, etc. which in turn will
force readers to stop for a moment, think and examine the contents of the
body copy to get the answers. As an example:
 Why do mothers choose Ladies Choice?

 IF YOU WERE TWO YEARS OLD, COULD YOU TELL THE
DIFFERENCE?
 Test climb, anyone?
 Why pay more?
 Do you want more pleasure?

However, the questions forwarded need not provide the answers to the
questions posed; they only require readers to think. Avoid writing
headlines which will allow readers to think fast. As an example, the
headline: „Do you want to purchase insurance?.‰ If the readerÊs answer is
„No‰, then he will turn to the next page and not read the rest of the body copy.
(c) Make claims

Headlines in the form of claims need strong, reinforced, firm and convincible
statements. Many readers are suspicious of claims of advertisers. As such, the
message conveyed must be trustworthy. A headline which makes a claim can
motivate the reader to try out the product or service.
The AVIS Car Rental Company successfully won over the readers with the
headline „WeÊre #2. We try harder.‰ This headline is more convincing than
boasting about the company with a headline like „WeÊre one of the nationÊs
leading car rental companies.‰ Among headlines in the form of claims are:
 100% original juice. No preservatives.

 No 1 in Malaysia and the World.
 The first Gymnasium in Malaysia with a swimming pool. Do you want
more pleasure?
(d) Give warning

In this type of headline, advertisers frequently warn or give advice as to
why you should use their products and not the products of others.
Awareness campaigns mainly use this kind of headlines. For example:
 90% of drug addiction begins with smoking. DonÊt start!

 DonÊt drink and drive!
 LOOK THE SAME. BUT ONE OF IT IS NOT THE ORIGINAL?
(e) Give instructions

In this type of headline, an advertiser makes a strong statement, politely
instructing users to do something. For example:

 Hire us to paint your house and you wonÊt need this newspaper.
 Celebrate your ValentineÊs Day in the Concorde Hotel.
 Please donÊt squeeze the tissue.
 Buy your books at MPH!
(f) Present challenges

This type of headline tries to challenge a person to participate or try
something. For example:
 Test drive today. Only for the brave!

 Take part in our challenge and feel the difference.
 Give 10 reasons why you need to say no!
ACTIVITY 9.2
The following are two headlines. One of the headlines provided is far
better than the other one.
 Have you made the following mistake in your English?
 Are you afraid of making mistakes in English?
If you wish to advertise an English language tuition centre, which of the
above headlines will you select? Why?
 Just Do It.
 LEVIS.
 Drink Coca Cola.
 BML Noveaux Visages ă Beauty is the Right of Every Human Being.
(g) State product name

This type of headline is more appropriate for products that are well-known
or which have been in the market for some time. For new products, this
method is not so suitable. This type of headline can be made by just using
one word, phrase or slogan. For example:

Figure 9.8: A headline which uses brand name
(h) Repetition
Repetition can strengthen the message that is being conveyed. For example:
100% customer service

100% quality
100% choice
0% finance
Say no to drugs
Say no to drugs
Say no to drugs
We donÊt hire White.

We donÊt hire Black.
We donÊt hire Jews.
We donÊt hire Hispanics.
We donÊt hire Man.
We donÊt hire Woman.
⁄⁄⁄⁄⁄⁄⁄⁄⁄..
WE HIRE PEOPLE.

Figure 9.9: Types of headlines
SELF-CHECK 9.1
Provide 3 examples of headlines for each type of headline stated above.
9.3 SUB-HEADINGS OR SUB-HEADS

Sub-heads are additional topics that are always placed below the headlines. Sub-
heads placed above the headlines are known as kickers or overlines and may be
underlined. Sub-heads can also appear in the advertisement body copy.
Normally, the size of a sub-head is smaller than the headline. There are also sub-
heads that are in italics or boldface or in a different colour. As with headlines, the
main purpose of subheads is to convey the main sales message quickly.
Since the majority of the audience focuses more on the headlines, the sub-head
placed below the headline gives an idea of the body copy that is going to be read.
However, the sub-head is considered to be less important than the headline. Not
all headlines have sub-heads.

9.4 BODY COPY OF THE ADVERTISEMENT
The body copy or body text of an advertisement is the text or

advertisement copy. Normally, the font size is smaller than the
headlines and sub-head. The main function of the body copy is to attract
the readers.
Besides this, the body copy of an advertisement can explain the sales ideas or
points, give information, make comparisons, provide evidence, state the
advantages of a product, explain how to use it, change the mind-set of users,
state the importance and uses of a product or service. The body copy has no
word limitations. The longest body copy ever written was for the Nike
Advertisement and was 11,000 words long.
Since the body copy is only read by one out of 10 readers, copywriters need to
produce a body copy that will maintain the interest of the readers while
explaining how that product or service can satisfy them. There are many
different ways of writing a body copy, but some of the more frequent used are as
follows:
(a) Straightforward
The creative brief is normally straightforward and written in words without
quoting any sources.
(b) Narrative
Tells a story, with an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Stories can be
in the form of a testimonial.
(c) Dialogue
Dialogue is the conversation text between two or more individuals. This
format enables readers to ÂlistenÊ to the conversation.
(d) Explanation
Explains about a product or service, how to use it, explains an event, etc.

Figure 9.10: Subhead „USE RINSO AND

FOLLOW THESE EASY DIRECTIONS‰
Figure 9.11: Advertisement body copy ă

PRUDENTIAL Insurance Company

Figure 9.12: Longest body copy of Nike

advertisement contained 11,000 words
Figure 9.13: Body copy of British Council ă

uses brief body copy
2.1 SLOGAN
A slogan refers to words or phrases or a short expression, easily remembered and
frequently used. An effective slogan is always easy to say and repeated in verbatim. It
is a symbol that gives a specific picture to the audience. For effective slogans,
every time we come across it, we tend to acknowledge it and look positively at
the product and the sponsor (Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin, 1993).
The main function of a slogan is to build the memory of the masses, so that they
can easily recognise the product when they come across the slogan. Besides this,
slogans also:
(a) Give continuity to an advertising campaign, for example for a specific time
period or for various other kinds of media;
(b) State the main idea related to a product or service;
(c) Close the advertisement in an attractive, strong and effective manner.
In general, there are two forms of slogans frequently utilised. The first type is the
one that focuses on rewards (e.g. Dunhill ă Style, Quality and Elegance). The
second type emphasises an action that must be taken (e.g. Nike ă Just Do It).
Normally, slogans are used over a long period. But there are slogans used briefly
(like certain government, NGO or private sector campaigns).
ACTIVITY 9.3
1. What are the slogans used by Malaysia Airlines, Telekom Malaysia,

KFC, Nokia and Proton?
2. Try and match all the company slogans stated below.
 Who knows you better (a) Time
 The Best a Man Can Get (b) HSBC
 LifeÊs Good (c) Air Asia
 Now Everyone Can Fly (d) Honda
 The Power of Dreams (e) Gillette
 Segalanya di tangan anda (f) LG
 Untuk Senyuman yang (g) Maybank
Lebih Menawan
 Kerana Dirimu Begitu (h) Celcom
Berharga
 Ada kelebihannya (i) Loreal
 The worldÊs local bank (j) WrigleyÊs Chewing Gum

Figure 9.14: A print advertisement that contains all the elements: Headline, Sub-head,
Body Copy, Visual and Slogan
9.6 DESIGN AND LAYOUT

According to Wells, Moriarty and Burnett (2006), a layout is „a plan that imposes
order and creates an arrangement that is aesthetically pleasing‰, whereas design
is „an arrangement of ad elements so that they make sense and attract attention -
this is a challenge.‰
Every design and layout that is produced will need to clearly identify its purpose
first. Both design and layout depend on creativity and play an important role in
achieving maximum impact.
9.6.1 Types of Layout

According to Wells, Moriarty and Burnett (2006),
the main types of layout are as follows:
(a) Picture window

This is one of the most popular layout types.
Visuals play a dominant role by taking up
about 60 to 70 per cent of the whole
advertising space. The headline and body
copy are placed below the illustration.
Figure 9.15: Example of a picture

window layout advertisement
(b) All art

This kind of layout displays a visual that occupies the whole body copy and
sometimes the text is placed on the visual.
Figure 9.16: Example of all art layout

advertisement
(c) Panel or Grid

Uses several visuals of similar or different sizes. Visuals can also be placed
side by side.
Figure 9.17: Example of panel or

grid layout advertisement
(d) All Copy

This layout displays text which occupies the body copy space with big font
title, long body copy, small illustration or no illustration. Sub-heads are also
often used to break the text.
Figure 9.18: Example of all copy layout

advertisement

(e) Circus
This pattern combines several elements so that it looks crowded, with a lot
of images. This kind of advertisement is designed to create happy feelings.
This kind of advertisement is used mainly for supermarkets (eg. Giant,
Tesco, Carefour) and pharmacies (eg. Guardian and Watson).
(f) Non-linear
A contemporary layout that can be read at any point in the image.
Figure 9.19: Example of non-linear layout advertisement
(g) Grunge
A layout style that does not emphasise the formality of art, layout, design,
typography, illustrations, etc. This kind of advertisement is also known as
ÂGeneration XÊ advertisements.
Figure 9.20: Example of grunge layout advertisement

9.6.2 Levels of Layout

Before the printing stage, the layout has to go through several levels or stages.
The complexity or difficulty of an advertisement will determine the number of
levels it has to go through. The following are examples of levels that advertisers
often have to go through (see Figure 9.21).
(a) Thumbnail sketches

A preliminary picture of how the advertisement will be seen. Normally,
several sketches will be done and from this, the artist will select the best.
(b) Rough Layout

This is the stage of drawing using actual measurements. At this stage, the
important elements in the advertisement will be roughly sketched; like
headline, body copy, slogan, visual and logo. This gives a rough idea of
how the advertisement will appear while giving a personality to the
product.
(c) Finished Layout

At this stage, the layout will be presented to the customer to obtain a
decision. The whole layout is similar to the actual output that will be
produced.
(d) Comprehensive
At this stage, all elements are affixed in the right spaces.
Figure 9.21: Stages of layout

Figure 9.22: An example of creative layout process
9.6.3 Principles of Design

According to Wells, Moriarty and Burnett (2006), the principles of design involve
eight (8) basic aspects. These are as follows:
(a) Direction
Normally, when we read or look at a
page, our eyes move from one place to
another, especially from top to bottom
and then from left to right. As such a
good design can control eye movement
so that it can move from one important
direction to another important
direction so as to allow the reader to
capture the meaning. The Figure below
shows the direction of eye movement.
(b) Dominance
Normally, the dominant element, i.e.
the element which is the focal point is
the visual. But it could also be the
headline if it is in big font size and in
bold. In the Dove advertisement below,
the main focus is the visual (the model)
as this is more dominant than the body Figure 9.23: Design principle
copy. which involves eye movement

Figure 9.24: Example of a dominant design

advertisement
(c) White space

The layout space that is not used by illustrations or body copy is called
white space. A white space that is utilised well can give a quality image to
the product being advertised. Advertisements on perfume often exploit this
concept.
(d) Contrast
Contrast makes one element
stand out more than the others
and shows its importance.
Contrast can be achieved
through application of size
(big or small) and tone (bright
or dull colours), form, texture
and direction.
(e) Balance Figure 9.25: Perfume advertisements often

When artists decide to place an exploit white space
element, they will manipulate
the balance. There are two kinds of balance, i.e. formal and informal
balance. Formal balance refers to equal optical weight age which results in
an image that looks stable or conservative.
Elements that look symmetrical are called formal balance. Informal balance
refers to the placing of elements that are different in size, form, colour or
tone in unequal distances from the optical centre.

(f) Proportion
Proportion refers to the relationship of one element to another or with the
design in total, at a proportion which reflects size and strength. Some
portions are more attractive than others.
(g) Simplify
Most art directors feel that less is more. Normally, too many elements
which clutter the body copy reduce the impact of the advertisement
compared to an advertisement with fewer elements, which have a greater
impact.
(h) Unity
With unity, the individual elements must be linked with each other as well
as with the overall design so as to create a linked impact. Without unity and
linkage, the advertisement cannot give a unique and comprehensive picture
(Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin, 1993).
 This whole topic introduced students to the creative elements of print media
like preparation of headlines, body copy, slogan, visual, layout and design.
All these play an important role in producing a creative print media
advertisement.
Body copy
Headlines
Sub-heads

1. What do you understand by the term slogan?
2. State the types of layout.
3. Explain the stages of layout.
4. What is the method often used when writing the body copy of an
advertisement?


1. What are the main types of headlines? Give examples of each type.
(5 marks)
2. Explain the main functions of headlines.
(5 marks)
3. Describe the principles of design.
(10 marks)
[20 marks]
Adnan Hashim. (1994). Advertising In Malaysia. Petaling Jaya: Pelanduk

Publications.
Arens, F. W. (2004). Contemporary advertising. Boston: McGraw-Hill, Irwin.

Wadsworth.
Aitchison, J. (2004). Cutting edge advertising II. New York: Prentice Hall.
Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin. (1993). Asas periklanan. Kuala Lumpur:
David, O. (1985). Ogilvy on advertising. New York: Prentice Hall.
Wells, Burnett & Moriarty. (2006). Advertising: Principles and practise (7th ed.).

Topic  Creativity in
10 Broadcast
Advertisement
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain three (3) important elements of radio advertisements;
2. Explain three (3) important processes involved in the production of
television advertisements;
3. Describe the format of radio and television advertisements;
4. Compare the styles of copywriting between radio and television
advertisements; and
5. Apply all the guidelines that have been discussed to produce a
creative radio and/or television advertisement.
 INTRODUCTION
"People who distance themselves from mixing with others will not achieve
success. Mixing activates and generates memory"
Aristotle
Advertisements normally aim to expose viewers and listeners to a product or

service. Advertising is a method of further promoting products more widely. As
such, copywriting should avoid clichés and be innovative and creative.
Information conveyed to viewers or listeners must be clear and easily understood
as they only have a few seconds to understand that message.
The task of a copywriter is to include as much information as possible within a

short time period so that the viewers can be exposed to the advertising message.
This topic will discuss broadcast advertisements creativity, i.e. radio and

TOPIC 10 CREATIVITY IN BROADCAST ADVERTISEMENT  213
television advertisements. What is the format of radio and television

advertisements? What are the types of radio and television advertisements?
These questions will be addressed in this topic.
10.1 ELEMENTS OF RADIO ADVERTISEMENTS
ACTIVITY 10.1
Before we go into this topic, try to imagine yourself in the following

situation:
You are visually impaired. You now feel nervous because you have
been left alone by your friends in the jungle. You remember the words
of an experienced jungle trekker that you should look for a river if you
are in such a situation.
By only using your hearing senses, try and think of the elements that
can guide you to the nearest river.
The above scenario can be related to the creativity power that a radio
advertisement must have in order to convey any product or service message
effectively. You surely know that radio advertisements only involve one sense,
i.e. the sense of sound or hearing. As such, the message conveyed must be clear
and understood upon the first listening.
Creating a concept for the broadcast media is similar to the print media. It must
begin with a big idea. Then, the creative director, art director and copywriter
must decide on the format to be used for the advertisement. The important
elements in radio advertisements are voice, music and sound effects.
10.1.1 Voice
The most important element in radio advertisements is the voice. Voice is used
for jingles, dialogues and announcements. Most advertisements have announcers.
If not used as the main voice, they are normally used at the end of the
advertisement to convey the product or service message.

214  TOPIC 10 CREATIVITY IN BROADCAST ADVERTISEMENT
Dialogue on the other hand uses the voices of characters to send an image of the
announcer like children, elderly women, sick people, football players, singers, etc.
Copywriters of radio advertisements will imagine these voices when writing the
script to see how far the message can be conveyed.
For example, in an AIDS awareness campaign in Malaysia, the advertiser used

the voice of a male child named Haiman who said that he did not mind if his
friend had HIV. This campaign conveyed the message that if small children like
Haiman did not discriminate against HIV patients, why should you?
10.1.2 Music
An art director and copywriter must use music so that the dramatic impact can be
enhanced in a radio advertisement. Music can be used as the background for an
advertisement to give a different mood. Whatever the mood, be it the joy of
shopping which uses lively music to a dinner which uses sentimental music,
moods can be created through music.
Advertisers also often use music from songs and jingles created specially for an
advertisement to send their messages. One factor which must be considered by
advertisers who wish to use music in their advertisements is the issue of
copyright. Advertisers need to obtain copyright clearance before using any kind
of music.
10.1.3 Sound Effects

Sound effects are often used by advertisers to create an image in the minds of the
audience besides giving an idea of the location and action. The sounds of birds
chirping, people quarreling, sounds of an accident, noises in a supermarket,
sounds of a clock, heartbeat, waves, etc. are used to give a deeper impact to an
advertisement.
Extraordinary or discomforting sounds can grab the attention of a listener. Sound

effects can comprise of self-created sounds (e.g. recording of children crying) or
taken from a sound effect compact disc in the library (e.g. loud sound of
explosion).
All three elements of radio advertisements (see Figure 10.1) stated above play an
important role in advertising and each element has its own functions. An art
director and copywriter must use these elements wisely so that the advertising
message can be effective and memorable.

Figure 10.1: Elements of

radio advertisements
10.2 PURPOSES OF RADIO ADVERTISEMENTS

In general, programme inserts over radio can be divided into three categories, i.e.:
 Advertisements
 Promotions
 Public Service Announcements
(a) Advertisements
These involve products and services. Advertisements must be paid for.
Prices and time span of advertisements differ between stations. The more
popular a station and the programme, the more an advertiser has to pay.
The frequently used time span for a radio advertisement is 20, 30 40 or 60
seconds.
(b) Promotions
Can be divided into two, i.e.:
 In-house promotions
 Sponsored promotions
In-house promos are promos done by the radio station. It aims to inform
about its programmes being aired or the personality selected by the
producer. Besides this, it aims to publicise the station in the event and
activity promos.
Sponsored promos involve programmes or segments that are sponsored.

Promos aired in the relevant station will announce the name of the sponsor.

(c) Public Service Announcements (PSA)

Such announcements involve information and current messages including
campaign messages which bring about awareness. They do not bring any
income to the radio station. Examples of PSA are as follows:
 AIDS Awareness Campaigns
 The Do Not Want To Smoke Campaign
 The Recycling Campaign
ACTIVITY 10.2
Try to listen to the Breakfast Show programme between 6 ă 10 am in the

Hitz.FM and Era Radio stations. Which programmes or segments have
sponsorship? Who are the sponsors?
Whatever the kind of programme inserts (advertisements, promos or PSA) that

are going to be implemented, it must address 12 important questions. The four
important factors that must be present in insert programmes are the following:
 Aim
 Target Listeners
 Persuasive Appeal
 Structure
The following are important questions for the four factors above:
(a) Aim
(i) What is the long-term objective of the sponsor?
(ii) What is the main objective of this announcement? Does it differ from
the long-term objective of the sponsor? How?
(iii) What are the support materials needed for the campaign ă other
media, salespersons, exhibitions, public relations, special promotions?
(b) Target Listeners

(i) Who is the audience targeted by the sponsor?
(ii) Can this target audience be reached through programmes or stations
where the advertisements, promos or PSA are placed, and when is the
time and day of its broadcasting?

(c) Persuasive Appeal

(i) What is the form of persuasion that can motivate listeners to react
according to the needs of the sponsor? Are gimmicks required? Are
dramatic methods needed? Does humour help? How about sound
effects and music?
(ii) Is this kind of appeal suitable for the target listeners? Is it related to
the advertisement objectives, promos and the PSA?
(d) Structure
(i) What is the method used to grab the attention of the listeners?
(ii) Is there a limit to the kind of concept that will be used?
(iii) Will any kind of multi-structure be used?
(iv) Will a special mood be created?
(v) Should any form of climax be included?
There are several main aims for an advertisement, promo and PSA to be
implemented. Figure 10.2 gives ten (10) main aims:
Figure 10.2: Purposes of radio

advertisements, promos and
PSA
10.3 RADIO ADVERTISEMENT FORMAT

The content of a radio advertisement can be presented in several ways. It is
important to draw and maintain the attention of the listeners from the beginning.

According to Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin (1993), the basic format of a
radio advertisement can be divided into the following (see Figure 10.3).
(a) Musical
Musical advertisements contain singing and music. There are many
variations of musical advertisements. The whole advertisement message
may be sung, music may be inserted into certain parts or an orchestra may
play a musical symphony. Musical advertisements are popular over radio
but are not a guarantee of success. However, some popular advertisement
tunes are often whistled by the public.
(b) Slice of Life

This format is produced in the form of a short drama about lifeÊs problems.
Goods advertised can help resolve those problems.
(c) Announcements
Announcement advertisements maybe very easy to script and produce. It is
presented by an individual, with or without music. If music is used, it is
only played in the background. The presenters may be the programme
announcer, famous actor or singer or an ordinary person.
Figure 10.3: Radio

advertisement format
10.4 RADIO ADVERTISEMENT SCRIPT FORMAT

There are many ways of writing a radio script. It is normally one page in length
and the page is divided into two parts, i.e.:
 First part contains information about the presenter, actor, music, sound
effects, etc.
 Second part contains the script or dialogue copy to be presented, instructions
about music and sound effects that will be inserted.

The following are several examples of radio scripts
Figure 10.4: AIDS

advertisement script
Figure 10.5: Giardani

advertisement script

Figure 10.6: Pawn advertisement

script
ACTIVITY 10.3
Create a script for an advertisement and a PSA. You are free to choose
your own product and campaign. The time span of the advertisement is
40 seconds.
10.5 TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENTS
ACTIVITY 10.4
Think about a television advertisement that had a positive impact on you.
Discuss the elements in that advertisement that enabled it to successfully
deliver the advertising message to the viewers.
Television advertisements include audio and video. As such, its impact is far
greater than radio advertisements. Viewers do not only listen to the message but
also see the visual clearly. Print media copywriters use all sorts of elements like
main chapter, body copy, slogan, etc. when writing the text. The time span of
television advertisements is about the same as for the radio. The most frequently
used time span is 10, 20, 30, 40 and 60 seconds. Like radio advertisements,
television advertisements also include three kinds of insertions, i.e.
advertisements, promos and PSA.

Television advertising involves three processes, i.e.

 Pre-production
 Production
 Postproduction
At the pre-production stage, all forms of advertisement planning needs to be

done. This includes meeting the client, creation of concept, script, storyboard,
budget, logistics, etc.
The production stage involves video recording, i.e. single camera production or
multi-camera production. The director must decide whether to do indoor or
outdoor recording.
The final stage is post-production which includes off-line and on-line editing as
well as audio dubbing.
10.6 TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT FORMAT

Like print and radio advertisements, television advertisements have their own
format. Sometimes, this format is a mix to get a better output. The following are
six formats which are frequently used by advertisers (see Figure 10.7).
(a) Slice of Life

Advertisers frequently use this format. In the early stages of the
advertisement, a problem will be displayed. Then, a solution to that
problem will be suggested. At the end of the advertisement, that problem is
successfully resolved. A slice of life is normally used to picture daily life
problems like stubborn stains on clothing, bad breath, pimpled skin, teeth
problems, dish washing liquid, etc.
For example, in the beginning, the Dynamo washing powder advertisement

displays a mother showing stubborn stains on her childrenÊs clothes to her
close friend. She looks worried as she does not know what to do. Then, her
friend recommends Dynamo and the mother tries it. At the end of the
advertisement, we can see the happy face of the mother and the stain free
clothes.
(b) Demonstration
This format is normally used for a product or service that needs
demonstrating to show how to use it or to prove the advantages of that
product. As an example, the Smart Shop exercise equipment ad shows how
the products are used to get the maximum output.

(c) Dramatic
This format often uses persuasion or appeal which plays on the viewersÊ
feelings. It is done in the form of a story by relating a story and finally the
ending. Good examples are the Petronas advertisements during festival
seasons. This kind of advertisement mainly relies on emotional appeal and
leaves a deep impact on viewers. The advertising message is clearly felt by
them.
(d) Spokesperson
This format often obtains the services of a skilled or famous person to
convey the information about the product, service or campaign, in order to
convince viewers. For example, the actress, Wardina, is the spokesperson
for Sunsilk Shampoo. For awareness and health campaigns, the
spokespersonÊs credibility plays a vital role. The public will be more
convinced of a campaign message delivered by a spokesperson who has
high credibility. For the Youth Despises Drugs campaign, the singer, Mawi
was selected as the spokesperson based on his popularity and clean image.
For breast cancer and AIDS campaigns, a doctor with high credibility would
be an ideal spokesperson.
(e) Comparison
This format makes comparisons between products of competitors. The aim
is to show that the product of the advertiser is far better than that of the
competitor. As an example, two dolls with batteries are placed side by side.
One of them uses the Duracell battery and the other Battery X. After a short
while, the doll using Battery X begins to slow down and stop but the doll
with the Duracell batteries still functions well. This kind of demonstration is
sometimes exaggerated by advertisers to give a clear idea but may not be
acceptable.
(f) Testimonial
This format clarifies that I use this product and you should use it too.
Testimonials must be true and based on the experience of individuals who
have used the product or service. The Dove and Imedeen Advertisements
use the testimonial format by showing several women who have used those
products.
ACTIVITY 10.5
Create the script for a television advertisement and a PSA by using one of
the formats stated above. The time span for the advertisement is 30
seconds.

Figure 10.7: Television

advertisement formats
10.7 FORMAT OF TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT

SCRIPTS
Before you write a television advertisement script, you need to answer several
important questions as follows:
(a) What is the big idea you want to relay? Within a short time span, it is
difficult to include as much information as possible. Do you want to send
the message by using visuals only? Or visuals and audio? Or in the form of
a dialogue? You need to decide on this before starting to write the script.
(b) What is the benefit of the big idea and to whom? Besides thinking about
what the target market wants to hear, you also need to think about what
they want to see.
(c) How can you transfer the benefits in the form of visuals which will be
retained in the viewersÊ memory? What kind of format should you use? Do
you want the story to be in the form of an emotional appeal or appeal in the
form of humour, or appeal by instilling fear etc?
After you have decided on the above three questions, you can begin to write the
script. The television script must be divided into two spaces. On the left is the
video space and on the right is the audio space. Each part is numbered for ease of
identification. The following is an example of a television script.

Figure 10.8: ÂReasonsÊ advertisement

script
Did you know that in Malaysia, the ADOI magazine published by Sledgehammer
Communications (M) Sdn Bhd is an advertising and marketing communications
magazine that discusses various issues on advertising?
Please surf the following website to know in greater detail about issues discussed
in this magazine:
www.adoimagazine.com/
10.8 STORYBOARD
A storyboard is produced based on the script. From this storyboard, the story
concept is presented. A good storyboard contains all that is in the script. The
storyboard format is more or less similar to the television advertisement script.
What is different is the visual element.
Visual elements must be placed in boxes in a ratio of 1:1.85 width and put into the
left side of the script. The visual part of the video that will be produced must be
drawn by hand or be graphically drawn. Each storyboard panel must be
numbered.

Each number refers to a shot. The visual presentation of images which will be
produced need to have an explanation of the action, dialogue, music and sound,
camera movement and editing techniques or video transition that will be used.
Actually, there is no specific standard for preparing a storyboard, because every

advertising or production company has its own way. A storyboard plays a vital
role as the illustrations of the storyboard will act as a guide to the director and
cameraman. The use of a storyboard also saves time as the scene has been
planned and recording can progress smoothly. Production costs can also be
reduced.
However, it is not very rigid as several minor changes can still be made while
filming is done. The storyboard will be shown to the client first to be approved
before recording commences. A storyboard must also be sent to the Information
Ministry for approval. Figures 10.9 and 10.10 show two examples of a television
advertisement storyboard.

Example 1 Example 2
Figure 10.9: Petronas television advertisement storyboard

Figure 10.10: Example of Toyota Vios television advertisement storyboard

10.9 VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS

Before you prepare a storyboard, you need to know the types of video
instructions. As a script/copywriter, you also need to include video instructions
in the script. The video instructions can help the director and cameraman to get
the best shot. The following types of video instructions will be discussed:
 Camera Shot
 Camera Angle
 Camera Movement
 Video Transition
10.9.1 Camera Shot

A camera shot will determine how big or from how far the visual will be
displayed. Among the frequently used camera shot sizes are the following:
(a) Long Shot (LS)

Shows a visual taken from a far. It often shows a location or an object like a
house, aerial view of a building, hospital, university, interesting places, etc.
Figure 10.11 shows an example of long shot.
Figure 10.11: Long shot
(b) Full shot (FS)

Shows a shot taken to display the whole object. For human characters, it
shows the person in full, from head to toe.
Figure 10.12: Full shot

(c) Medium Long shot (MLS) shows the part from the head or hair to the knees
of the person.
Figure 10.13: Medium long shot
(d) Medium shot (MS)

Shows a person from the waist up. If two characters are having a discussion
in the same scene, then it is known as a two-shot.
Figure 10.14: Medium shot

(e) Medium close up (MCU)

Shows the person from the chest up.
Figure 10.15: Medium close

up
(f) Close-up shot (CU)

Very popular in television advertisements as it can show the facial
expression of the actor clearly. It is from the shoulder and above.
Figure 10.16: Close up
(g) Extreme Close-up Shot (ECU)

Only shows a certain part of the characterÊs face. The whole space will be
filled by showing the nose, eyes, mouth, lips, ears, etc.
Figure 10.17: Extreme close up

(h) Over Shoulder Shot (OSS)

Involves two characters where the camera is placed behind one of them.
OSS is often used in talk shows like the Oprah Winfrey Show, etc.
Figure 10.18: Over shoulder shot
10.9.2 Camera Angle

The camera angle refers to the position of the camera according to the directional
view of what is to be recorded. Scriptwriters should be aware of this element
before creating the storyboard. There are three camera angles, i.e.:
(a) High Angle

The camera is placed above the eye level, pointing downwards. The
example is as in Figure 10.19 below.
(b) Eye Level

This is the most frequently used camera angle. The view of an object is the
same or in line with the eye level.
(c) Low Angle

The camera is placed below the eye level, pointing upwards.
Figure 10.19: High angle Figure 10.20: Low angle

10.9.3 Camera Movement

There are many types of camera movement which are frequently used in
advertisement production. Some of these movements are explained below:
(a) Zoom In and Zoom Out
This refers to moving towards and away from the subject. For example,
when the shot taken moves from Full Shot (FS) to Close Up (CU), this is
known as zooming in and when the shot moves from Extreme Close Up
(ECU) to Long Shot (LS), it is known as zooming out.
(b) Pan Left and Pan Right
Panning movements involve movements from left to right or vice versa. The
camera moves from one direction to another but the camera tripod remains
in the same place. It is as if the camera is observing the action before it.
(c) Tilt up and Tilt Down
The camera moves from the top to the bottom of an object or character or
vice versa. For example, moving from the eyes of the character to the feet.
(d) Dolly In and Dolly Out
This movement is almost similar to the zoom but for the dolly movement,
the camera lens is not changed. Only the camera moves forward and
backwards on a track which is normally pushed by an assistant.
(e) Track Left and Right
This movement is almost similar to panning, i.e. from left to right and vice
versa. For tracking movement, the camera lens is not changed. The camera
moves on a track which is very effective in terms of recording as the camera
can follow the object.
Figure 10.21: Types of camera movements

10.9.4 Video Transition

There are four types of video transition often used. Video transition is done
during the editing process. This is important because the airtime is short and not
all visuals recorded will be used. As such, video transition can decide which parts
will be retained and what is to be taken off. The four main types of video
transition are as follows:
(a) Cut
Cut is a transition technique most frequently used. It does not involve any
transition effects from one visual to another. The term cut begins with video
editing when one scene is physically cut and the remaining part is joined to
the rest.
(b) Dissolve
Dissolve is a soft transition from one image to another. It must involve two
or more visuals. The new image emerges slowly and replaces the old image
and during image dissolution, both the visuals will overlap. This saves time.
As an example, the first scene shows Jason waiting for the lift. The second
scene shows Jason opening the front door of his home. If we want to show
both these scenes, it may take more than two minutes. Therefore, the
dissolve technique will be used to save time. Starting with the scene of Jason
waiting for the lift, the dissolve technique is used and we straightaway see
the scene of Jason opening the door next.
(c) Wipe
This technique is the vertical or horizontal exclusion of images as if the
images are wiped out from one part to another. Try and imagine how car
wipers function during rain.
(d) Fade In and Fade Out

Fade functions as a curtain in the cinemas. It looks like dissolve but the
transition from one visual to another will be accompanied by a black frame.
For fade in, we see a black frame in the beginning followed by the visual.
For fade out, the first visual will slowly fade and disappear followed by a
black frame and then slowly, a new visual will emerge.
As an example, the first visual shows Pulau Redang then followed by a

black screen with no pictures and slowly the second visual appears, i.e. of
Pulau Perhentian. The use of fade in and fade out can create a soft and
romantic atmosphere and shift our view from one scene to another.

Figure 10.22 shows an example of a script and a complete storyboard.

Figure 10.22: Example of script and story board for a television advertisement

ACTIVITY 10.6
Create a storyboard for an advertisement using all the camera shots that
you have studied.
 After completing this topic, it can be concluded that creativity plays a very
important role in broadcast media advertising. Advertisements produced
must be different from those produced previously. Each advertisement must
first have a script and storyboard before it can be recorded and edited.
A slice of life
Storyboard
Testimonial

1. State the important elements in a radio advertisement.
2. Explain the format of radio advertisements. Give examples for each format.
3. Explain the format of television advertisements. Give examples for each format.

1. State five (5) purposes of a radio advertisement. Give examples for each.
(5 marks)
2. What do you understand by the term storyboard?
Explain the important camera shots which are often included in the
storyboard.
(5 marks)

3. Create a script and storyboard for a television advertisement to promote

Malaysia. The time span of the advertisement is 60 seconds.
(10 marks)
[20 marks]
Adnan Hashim. (1994). Advertising in Malaysia. Petaling Jaya: Pelanduk

Publications.
Arens, F. W. (2004). Contemporary advertising. Boston: McGraw-Hill, Irwin.

Wadsworth.
Aitchison, J. (2003). Cutting edge television. New York: Prentice Hall.
Mohd Sidin & Noorbathi Badaruddin. (1993). Asas Periklanan. Kuala Lumpur:
David, O. (1985). Ogilvy on Advertising. New York: Vintage Books.
Wells, Burnett & Moriarty. (2006). Advertising: Principles and Practise. (7th ed.).
New York: Prentice Hall.

MODULE FEEDBACK
MAKLUM BALAS MODUL
If you have any comment or feedback, you are welcome to:
1. E-mail your comment or feedback to modulefeedback@oum.edu.my
OR
2. Fill in the Print Module online evaluation form available on myINSPIRE.
Thank you.
Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

(Pusat Reka Bentuk Pengajaran dan Teknologi )
Tel No.: 03-27732578
Fax No.: 03-26978702


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Faculty of Applied Social Sciences

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Module Writers: Dr Muhamad Sham Shahkat Ali

Dr Hamisah Zaharah Hasan

Editor: Majumin Hanum Abdul Samad

Developed by: Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

First Edition, November 2008 (HBCA4103)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 1: Introduction to Advertising 1

Topic 2: Advertising and Society: Ethics, Regulations and

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

2.4 Problems of Advertising Code of Ethics ă

Topic 3: The Advertising and Marketing Process 49

Topic 4: Advertising: Background, Planning and Strategy 65

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 5: Advertising Media: Planning and Buying 90

Topic 6: Advertising Media: Print Media 112

Topic 7: Advertising Media: Radio, Tv and On-Line

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

7.5 Types of Radio Advertisements 143

Topic 8: Creativity and Advertising 166

Topic 9: Creativity in Print Advertising 188

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

9.6.1 Types of Layout 204

Topic 10: Creativity in Broadcast Advertisement 212

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 2 discusses relationship between advertising and society. Advertising and

Topic 4 introduces students to the background, planning and strategies of

Topic 6 describes the print media in advertising. Advertising is a rapidly

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 8 introduces the role of creativity in advertising. Creativity plays a very

Topic 10 discusses creativity of broadcast advertising, i.e. radio and television

TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

Activity: Like Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various

References: The References section is where a list of relevant and useful

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Adnan Hashim. (1994). Advertising in Malaysia. Petaling Jaya: Pelanduk

Arens F. William. (2004). Contemporary advertising. (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill,

Jewler & Drewniany. (2005). Creative strategy in advertising. (8th ed.).

TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Figure 1.1: The

The concept of the ÂKODAK GirlÊ

1.1 THE WORLD OF ADVERTISING

The world of advertising is growing rapidly. In the beginning, only huge

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

1.2 DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING

In general, what do you understand about the term advertising? Can we

As an introduction to this topic, we will look at the assumptions made by Arens

What then is the view of the second expert?

Duncan (2005) said that advertisements are non-personal communication