UNIT-3 (10 Hours)

Marketing Communication: The Role of Marketing Communication Developing

Effective Communication: Target Audience, Communication Objectives Design the
Communication, Select the Communication Channels & Total Marketing
Communication Budget. Communication Mix & Managing the IMC Process

Advertising Management: Meaning, Nature and Scope of Advertising, Classification of

advertising, Process of Advertising, Fundamentals of Advertising Campaigns, The
Creative Brief, and Advertising Appeal. Advertising Agencies – their role, functions.
Global vs local advertising

Course: Masters of Business Administration (MBA)

Subject Name: Marketing Management

Subject Code: KMBNMK01)

Prepared by: Mr. Prince Pal Singh

College: G.L Bajaj Institute of Management and

Technology Greater Noida
 UNIT-3
Marketing Communication: Objective of Marketing Communication

The Marketing Communication refers to the means adopted by the companies to convey messages
about the products and the brands they sell, either directly or indirectly to the customers with the
intention to persuade them to purchase.

In other words, the different medium that company adopts to exchange the information about their
goods and services to the customers is termed as Marketing Communication.

The marketer uses the tools of marketing communication to create the brand awareness among the
potential customers, which means some image of the brand gets created in their minds that help
them to make the purchase decision.

Marketing communication offer solutions to the following questions:

• Why shall the product be used?

• How can the product be used?

• Who can use the product?

• Where can the product be used? And

• When can the product be used?

Marketing communication includes Advertising, Sales Promotion, Events and Experiences

(sponsorship), Public Relations and Publicity, Direct Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Word-of-
Mouth Marketing, Personal Selling. These tools of communication are collectively called as Marketing
Communication Mix.

Objective of Marketing Communication

Marketing communication objectives are long-term goals where marketing campaigns are intended
to drive up the value of your brand over time. In contrast to sales promotions, which are short-term
inducements to buy, communication goals succeed when you persuade customers through
consistent reinforcement that your brand has benefits they want or need.

(i) To Increase Awareness

Increased brand awareness is not only one of the most common marketing communication
objectives; it is also typically the first for a new company. When you initially enter the market, you
have to let people know your company and products or services exist.

This might include broadcast commercials or print ads that depict the image of your company and
constant repetition of your brand name, slogans and jingles. The whole objective is to become
known and memorable.

Established companies often use a closely related goal of building or maintaining top- of-mind
awareness, which means customers think of you first when considering your product category.

(ii) To Change Attitudes

Changing company or brand perceptions is another common communication objective. Sometimes,

misconceptions develop in the market about your company, products or services.
Advertising is a way to address them directly. In other cases, negative publicity results because your
company is involved in a business scandal or unsettling activities.

BP invested millions of rupees in advertising to explain the company’s clean up efforts to the public
following its infamous Gulf of Mexico oil in mid-2010. Local businesses normally don’t have that kind
of budget but local radio or print ads can do the trick.

(iii) To Influence Purchase Intent

A key communication objective is to motivate customers to buy. This is normally done through
persuasive advertising, which involves emphasis of your superior benefits to the user, usually relative
to competitors. It is critical to strike a chord with the underlying need or want that triggers a
customer to act.

Sports drink commercials showing athletes competing, getting hot and sweaty and then taking a
drink afterward are a common approach to drive purchase intent. The ads normally include benefits
of the drink related to taste or nutrients.

(iv) To stimulate Trial Purchase

Two separate but closely related communication objectives are to stimulate trial use and drive repeat
purchases. Free trials or product samples are common techniques to persuade customers to try your
product for the first time. The goal is to take away the risk and get the customer to experience your
brand.

Once you get them on the first purchase, you have to figure out how to convert that into a follow-up
purchase. Discounts on the next purchase or frequency programs are ways to turn one-time users
into repeat buyers and, ultimately, loyal customers.

(v) To Drive Brand Switching

Another objective closely tied to stimulating trial use is driving brand switching. This is a specific
objective of getting customers who buy competing products to switch to your brand. Tide detergent
is normally pitted against “other leading brands” in comparative ads intended to motivate brand
switching.

The advantage with this goal is that customers already buy within your product category. This means
need is established. You just need to persuade them that your product or service is superior and
induce them to try it out.

Developing Effective Communication

All marketing communications or advertising for your small business, whether delivered in person,
through promotions, or via traditional media, direct mail, or e-mail, need to accomplish the same
tasks:

• Impart information the prospect wants to know.

• Grab attention.

• Present offers that are sensitive to how and when the prospect wants to take action.

• Affirm why the prospect would want to take action.

• Offer a reason to take action.

 • Launch a relationship, which increasingly means fostering interaction and two-way
communication between you and your customer.

1) Identifying the Target Audience:

Even for the same product, the target audience may be different in different countries. For example,
certain consumer durables, which are used even by the low-income groups in the advanced
countries, may be used only by high-income groups in the developing countries. In several cases the
need satisfaction by the product varies between markets.

• Who marketers target will dictate?

• What is to say or convey?

• How it should be say?

• When it should be say?

• And where it should be say?

2) Determining Communication Objectives:

The communication objectives may also be different in some cases. For example, when the product is
in the introduction stages in a market, the emphasis of communication could be on consumer
education and creation of primary demand. In a market where the product is at other stages of the
life cycle, the communication objectives would be different.

3) Determining the Message:

The decisions regarding the message content, message structure, message format and message
source are influenced by certain environmental factors like cultural factors and legal factors. The
differences in the environmental factors among the countries may, therefore, call for different
messages so as to be appropriate for each market. In this stage companies need to focus on:

• Message Content

• Message Structure and

• Message Format

4) Budget Decisions:

The size of the total promotional expenditure and the apportioning of this amount to the different
elements of the promotion mix are very important but difficult decisions.

5) Communication Tools / Mix Decisions:

The promotion decisions faced by export marketing management can be reduced to the following:

i) What messages?

ii) What communications media?

iii) How much effort or money to spend?

6) Feedback of communication Strategy

After all, above steps and implementing the communication strategy then companies need to get
feedback and response from targeted audience. Monitoring and feedback provide a continuous
improvement process. So marketers should regularly measure and monitor the effectiveness of
marketing communication strategy and make changes as needed.

Marketing Communication: Objective of Marketing Communication

The Marketing Communication refers to the means adopted by the companies to convey messages
about the products and the brands they sell, either directly or indirectly to the customers with the
intention to persuade them to purchase.

In other words, the different medium that company adopts to exchange the information about their
goods and services to the customers is termed as Marketing Communication.

The marketer uses the tools of marketing communication to create the brand awareness among the
potential customers, which means some image of the brand gets created in their minds that help
them to make the purchase decision.

Marketing communication offer solutions to the following questions:

• Why shall the product be used?

• How can the product be used?

• Who can use the product?

• Where can the product be used? And

• When can the product be used?

Marketing communication includes Advertising, Sales Promotion, Events and Experiences

(sponsorship), Public Relations and Publicity, Direct Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Word-of-
Mouth Marketing, Personal Selling. These tools of communication are collectively called as Marketing
Communication Mix.

Needs for Marketing Channels

Marketing channels are channels used by any company to reach their end customers. These
channels are generally interdependent on each other and interact with each other so as to ensure
that the product reaches from the company to the end customer.

Marketing Channels

Marketing Channels can be defined as the set of people, activities, and the intermediary
organizations that play a crucial role in transferring the ownership of the goods from the point of
production or manufacturing to the point of consumption. Basically, they are the various channels or
platforms through which the products reach to the consumers or the end-users. They are also known
as the distribution channels.

Needs for Marketing Channels:

1. Information Provider

The first and foremost aspect in the list of the importance of the Marketing Channels is that the
middlemen such as agents provide the vital and crucial market information to the manufacturer that
helps him to plan his production and other related business strategies accordingly. Developments in
the market such as the change in the preferences in the taste of the consumer, entry of new
manufactures in the market, shift in the government policies, and the various pricing points of the
other manufacturers are given to the manufacturer without any additional cost owing to their
relationship and working association with the manufacturer.

2. Stability of the Price

Yet another important function that is performed by the middlemen is that they maintain the
stability of price by absorbing the increment along with keeping the overheads cost low and charge
the consumers with the old price of the products. Their main motive behind this strategy is to have a
strong foothold in the market due to the completion from the other middlemen in the market.

3. Promotion

Another aspect in the importance of Marketing Channels is that the middlemen perform the function
of promoting the goods of the manufacturer by planning and designing their own sales incentive and
customer loyalty programs to attain their sales targets and increased market share objectives. This
ultimately works for the benefit of the manufacturer and all the parties involved in the process.

4. Pricing Strategy

As the middlemen and the agents are at the sales field on a daily basis and have a thorough
knowledge about the marketing dynamics and the customer preferences, many manufacturers ask
for their suggestion whilst deciding on the pricing of the various products. The pricing and the
features of the products are also customized for the different set of target markets and consumers
along with the channel of distribution.

5. Matching the Demand and Supply of the Products

The main and significant function of the middlemen and commission agents in the Marketing
Channels is to match the demand and supply of the products in the target market. They should
provide the manufacturers with the crucial information on how to assemble the goods to match the
taste and preferences of the targeted consumers that result in the ease of sales and attainment of
the sales objectives of the manufacturer.

6. Financing

Middlemen finance manufacturers’ operation by providing the necessary working capital in the form
of advance payments for goods and services. The payment is in advance even though the
manufacturer may extend credit, because it has to be made even before the products are bought,
consumed and paid for by the ultimate consumer.

7. Title

Most middlemen take the title to the goods, services and trade in their own name. This helps in
diffusing the risks between the manufacturer and middlemen. This also enables middlemen to be in
physical possession of the goods, which in turn enables them to meet customer demand at very
moment it arises.

8. Help in Production Function

The producer can concentrate on the production function leaving the marketing problem to
middlemen who specialize in the profession. Their services can best utilized for selling the product.
The finance, required for organizing marketing can profitably be used in production where the rate of
return would be greater.

9. Standardizing Transactions

Standardizing transactions is another function of marketing channels. Taking the example of the milk
delivery system, the distribution is standardized throughout the marketing channel so that
consumers do not need to negotiate with the sellers on any aspect, whether it is price, quantity,
method of payment or location of the product.

By standardizing transactions, marketing channels automate most of the stages in the flow of
products from the manufacturer to the customers.

10. Matching Buyers and Sellers

The most crucial activity of the marketing channel members is to match the needs of buyers and
sellers. Normally, most sellers do not know where they can reach potential buyers and similarly,
buyers do not know where they can reach potential sellers. From this perspective, the role of the
marketing channel to match the buyers’ and sellers’ needs becomes very vital. For example, a painter
of modern art may not know where he can reach his potential customers, but an art dealer would
surely know.

In case of the large manufacturers of the products, the manufacturers require the well aligned and
properly planned Marketing Channels so that the products reach to the end users in a convenient
and effortless manner

Methods of Budgeting

1. Incremental Budgeting
Incremental budgeting takes last year’s actual figures and adds or subtracts a percentage to obtain
the current year’s budget. It is the most common method of budgeting because it is simple and easy
to understand. Incremental budgeting is appropriate to use if the primary cost drivers do not change
from year to year. However, there are some problems with using the method:

• It is likely to perpetuate inefficiencies. For example, if a manager knows that there is an

opportunity to grow his budget by 10% every year, he will simply take that opportunity to
attain a bigger budget, while not putting effort into seeking ways to cut costs or economize.

• It is likely to result in budgetary slack. For example, a manager might overstate the size of the
budget that the team actually needs so it appears that the team is always under budget.

• It is also likely to ignore external drivers of activity and performance. For example, there is
very high inflation in certain input costs. Incremental budgeting ignores any external factors
and simply assumes the cost will grow by, for example, 10% this year.

2. Activity-Based Budgeting

Activity-based budgeting is a top-down budgeting approach that determines the amount of inputs
required to support the targets or outputs set by the company. For example, a company sets an
output target of $100 million in revenues. The company will need to first determine the activities
that need to be undertaken to meet the sales target, and then find out the costs of carrying out
these activities.

3. Value Proposition Budgeting

In value proposition budgeting, the budgeter considers the following questions:

• Why is this amount included in the budget?

• Does the item create value for customers, staff, or other stakeholders?

• Does the value of the item outweigh its cost? If not, then is there another reason why the
cost is justified?

Value proposition budgeting is really a mindset about making sure that everything that is included in
the budget delivers value for the business. Value proposition budgeting aims to avoid unnecessary
expenditures – although it is not as precisely aimed at that goal as our final budgeting option, zero-
based budgeting.

4. Zero-Based Budgeting

As one of the most commonly used budgeting methods, zero-based budgeting starts with the
assumption that all department budgets are zero and must be rebuilt from scratch. Managers must
be able to justify every single expense. No expenditures are automatically “okayed”. Zero-based
budgeting is very tight, aiming to avoid any and all expenditures that are not considered absolutely
essential to the company’s successful (profitable) operation. This kind of bottom-up budgeting can be
a highly effective way to “shake things up”.

The zero-based approach is good to use when there is an urgent need for cost containment, for
example, in a situation where a company is going through a financial restructuring or a major
economic or market downturn that requires it to reduce the budget dramatically.

Zero-based budgeting is best suited for addressing discretionary costs rather than essential operating
costs. However, it can be an extremely time-consuming approach, so many companies only use this
approach occasionally.

Functional Areas of Marketing Communication

Marketing is all about the activities companies undertake to bring their products to the market.

What makes marketing communication so exciting and challenging is that there are so many tools
from which to choose from.

Here are the eight most Common Tools:

1. Advertising

Any paid form of presenting ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Historically,
advertising messages have been tailored to a group and employ mass media such as radio, television,
newspaper, and magazines. Advertising may also target individuals according to their profile
characteristics or behavior; examples are the weekly ads mailed by supermarkets to local residents or
online banner ads targeted to individuals based on the sites they visit or their Internet search terms.

2. Sales Promotion

Sales promotions are marketing activities that aim to temporarily boost sales of a product or service
by adding to the basic value offered, such as “buy one get one free” offers to consumers or “buy
twelve cases and get a 10 percent discount” to wholesalers, retailers, or distributors.

3. Direct Marketing

This method aims to sell products or services directly to consumers rather than going through
retailer. Catalogs, telemarketing, mailed brochures, or promotional materials and television home
shopping channels are all common traditional direct marketing tools. Email and mobile marketing are
two next-generation direct marketing channels.

4. Public Relations

The purpose of public relations is to create goodwill between an organization (or the things it
promotes) and the “public” or target segments it is trying to reach. This happens through unpaid or
earned promotional opportunities: articles, press and media coverage, winning awards, giving
presentations at conferences and events, and otherwise getting favorable attention through vehicles
not paid for by the sponsor. Although organizations earn rather than pay for the PR attention they
receive, they may spend significant resources on the activities, events, and people who generate this
attention.

5. Personal Selling

Personal selling uses people to develop relationships with target audiences for the purpose of selling
products and services. Personal selling puts an emphasis on face-to-face interaction, understanding
the customer’s needs, and demonstrating how the product or service provides value.

6. Packaging

A package is a container and conveyor of information. A package can help in brand building.

7. Events and Sponsorships

Events are highly targeted brand-associated activities designed to actively engage customers and
prospects and generate publicity.

8. Customer Service

Customer service is a company’s attitude and behavior during interactions with customers.

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC): Concepts and Process

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach used by organizations to brand and

coordinate their communication efforts. The American Association of Advertising Agencies defines
IMC as “a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication
disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum
communication impact.” The primary idea behind an IMC strategy is to create a seamless experience
for consumers across different aspects of the marketing mix. The brand’s core image and messaging
are reinforced as each marketing communication channel works together as parts of a unified whole
rather than in isolation.

Benefits of IMC

With so many products and services to choose from, consumers are often overwhelmed by the vast
number of advertisements flooding both online and offline communication channels. Marketing
messages run the risk of being overlooked and ignored if they are not relevant to consumers’ needs
and wants.

One of the major benefits of integrated marketing communications is that marketers can clearly and
effectively communicate their brand’s story and messaging across several communication channels
to create brand awareness. IMC is also more cost-effective than mass media since consumers are
likely to interact with brands across various forums and digital interfaces. As consumers spend more
time on computers and mobile devices, marketers seek to weave together multiple exposures to
their brands using different touch points. Companies can then view the performance of their
communication tactics as a whole instead of as fragmented pieces.

The other benefit of integrated marketing communications is that it creates a competitive advantage
for companies looking to boost their sales and profits. This is especially useful for small- or mid-sized
firms with limited staff and marketing budgets. IMC immerses customers in communications and
helps them move through the various stages of the buying process. The organization simultaneously
consolidates its image, develops a dialogue, and nurtures its relationship with customers throughout
the exchange. IMC can be instrumental in creating a seamless purchasing experience that spurs
customers to become loyal, lifelong customers.

Process of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

1. Get organizational buy-in

Integrated marketing requires co-ordination between various functional silos within marketing —
media planning, buying, marcom, PR, sales, advertising agencies, PPC & SEO agencies and so on.
Ensure the organization recognizes the need for integrated marketing and impresses this need upon
all involved parties for smooth execution. Get ideas from different functional teams on their ideas
and how they can contribute to an integrated marketing program. Set up clear collaboration
processes and zero in on tools to help you do the same.

2. Do a SWOT analysis of your brand

A soul searching process that will tell you exactly where you stand in terms of your brands strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities that can be explored and competitive and market forces that pose a
threat to your brands growth. Identify your products key features that give it an edge over
competition and how you can leverage the same to gain market share.

3. Choose the Best Communication Tools

Based on what you intend to achieve with your communication and what kind of media consumption
habits your target audience displays, pick the right type of communication tools to reach out to your
audience. This means choose between advertising, PR, direct marketing, sales promotion and
personal selling. Whatever options you zero in on, need to work in tandem and complement each
other. This synergy between promotion tools is what gives integrated marketing its edge over regular
marketing.

Within each type of communication tool, drill down to the actual media vehicles that will carry your
message most effectively. So if you decided to go with advertising and direct marketing, decide what
media you will advertise on, whether you will go with brochures or fliers or email campaigns to
achieve your objectives.

Media mix decisions also depend on your budgets and the estimated ROI you hope to achieve from
each media vehicle. Create exact budgets for each media vehicle to guide media buying decisions.

4. Test and Execute

Once you have decided on your messaging and media mix, its finally time to test your
communication and roll it out to your target audience.

Communication testing can be done in many ways, depending upon the platform being tested.
Website communication can be tested with multiple online tools, emails can be tested on the email
marketing software that you use before being sent out, TV commercials can be shown to test
markets to test effectiveness, conduct group discussions with the sample groups to see if your
communication hits bulls eye.

Once testing is complete, fix any issues that you unearthed. Once the fixes are made, roll out your
campaign across all platforms. Or in Nikes immortal words, Just Do It.

5. Measure Results and Track Progress

There is no way to know how well a campaign performed without measuring the results achieved
against the objectives set out in the beginning. Obsessively track every step of your marketing
campaign to see if your marketing efforts have moved the needle and how significant is the
difference that the campaign has made to organizational goals.

Tracking and measurement against numeric objectives is even more important in the case of
marketing communication as sometimes, communication is well received and appreciated by the
target audience but it may or may not show concrete results.

Advertising Management: Nature & Scope of Advertising

Advertising management is a planned managerial process designed to oversee and control the
various advertising activities involved in a program to communicate with a firm’s target market and
which is ultimately designed to influence the consumer’s purchase decisions. Advertising is just one
element in a company’s promotional mix and as such, must be integrated with the overall marketing
communications program. Advertising is, however, the most expensive of all the promotional
elements and therefore must be managed with care and accountability.

Marketers use different types of advertising. Brand advertising is defined as a non-personal

communication message placed in a paid, mass medium designed to persuade target consumers of a
product or service benefits in an effort to induce them to make a purchase. Corporate advertising
refers to paid messages designed to that communicate the corporation’s values in an effort to
influence public opinion. Yet other types of advertising such as not-for-profit advertising and political
advertising present special challenges that require different strategies and approaches.

Nature of Advertising
(i) Advertising is a tool of marketing that disseminates information about a product which is aimed at
a large number of people at the same time using purchased space or time in various mass mediums.

(ii) Advertising messages are delivered through variety of media; television, radio, newspaper,
magazine, billboards, direct-mail campaigns, Internet, clothing lines with messages printed on them,
telemarketing programs, and even messages heard while someone is on hold on the telephone.

(iii) Advertising intends to sell and at the same time create an aspiration towards a certain product,
which ultimately leads to a vital and persuasive distinction, that makes the product a brand.

(iv) It is a tremendous challenge for advertisers to design a message which must give an advantage in
a highly cluttered world where customers are becoming increasingly proficient at simply tuning ads
out.

Scope of Advertising

Advertising is often regarded as the most important means of marketing a company’s services and
tools. The scope of advertising is to communicate a message to current customers or potentially
target new customers. It helps a company get a message or a piece of information across to their
customer base regarding a new product or special deal.

1. Scope of advertising by budget

There is always a budget allocated for advertising and promotion within the marketing budget. The
budget allocated should be in coordination with the type of advertisement the organization wants.
The resources and other requirements are to be kept in mind for the budget allocation.

2. Scope of advertising by deliverables

Once the budget is decided, the marketing plan can be projected further. A detailed scope of work
that deliverables require can be outlined. Agencies can now develop a proposed resource plan.

3. Scope of advertising by allocating deliverables

For creative work, allocating the type of deliverables (TV, online, mobile, press, magazine,etc.) based
on the previous campaign requirements can be more insightful after the previous plan.

4. Scope of advertising by strategy

Once the deliverables are allocated, advertising agencies can define the strategic requirements by
brand or category and develop a scope of work based on past requirements and remuneration for
similar strategic deliverables.
Classification of Advertising

Different classifications of advertising are as follows:

1. Primary vs. Selective Advertising

One way of classifying advertising is into primary as against selective demand advertising. The
objective of commercial advertising is generally to stimulate demand for the goods or services of the
company placing the advertisement.

Demands are of two types namely, primary demand and selective demand. The demand for a generic
product of a whole industry is described as primary demand such as the demand for motor cars,
television receivers, etc.

Selective demand refers to demand for a particular brand such as Fiat motor cars. Generally, primary
demand advertising is indulged in by trade associations to create a general demand for the products
of the industry concerned. Selective demand advertising is loaned by the companies who are
interested in selling their own products.

2. Product vs. Institutional Advertising

The commonest type of advertising is product advertising, where the company tries to sell its
product or service through advertising. At times however, the objective of the company is to create a
good image or sell ideas.

This is referred to as institutional advertising to distinguish it from product advertising. For example,
institutional advertising may be of the “patronage institutional advertising” type. Here the objective
is to sell the idea to the reader to patronize particular producer or shopkeeper or retailer for reasons
mentioned such as wider selection, reliability, etc.

As against this, there is also “public relations institutional advertising” indulged in more today to
create a better image to the public. For example, when there is a strike which affects the community
both the employer and at times even the employees advertise in the papers to justify their own
stand.

These are illustrations of public relations institutional advertising. A slight variation of this is called
the “public service institutional advertising”, where the company attempts to create the image that it
is conscious of social service and indicates how it helps the community such as developing a village
and so on.

3. Institutional Sports Sponsorship

Another form of Institutional Image Advertising is the modern trend of companies sponsoring sports
events. The two outstanding illustrations are (i) The “Charminar Challenge” sponsorship by Vazir
Sultan Tobacco Company and (ii) The “Reliance Cup” sponsorship of the 1987 World Cup Cricket
Championship by Reliance Industries Ltd.

Under the Charminar Challenge umbrella, VST sponsors a wide variety of events ranging from cricket,
badminton, table tennis and golf to car-rallying.VST sports sponsorship budget is estimated at Rs.1.5
crores per annum.

The Ranji Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy and all one-day internationals for the period 1986-89 will be
Charminar Challenge championship matches, which ties up the domestic circuit pretty
comprehensively. “Charminar” is the identity of the company.

The word “challenge” is inspiring, competitive and adventurous. This gives the way for a suitable
image for VST and is close to the identity of the company’s products.

This is therefore an “entertainment-related corporate image and brand advertising” concept.

Reliance Industries Ltd. paid a mammoth sum of Rs.4.8 crores. This sponsorship was done to ensure
that an Indian company sponsored the prestigious 1987 World Cup Cricket event.

This “patriotism” certainly improved the company’s image. The Reliance Cup extravaganza focused
attention on the commercial and promotional potential inherent in the corporate sponsorship of
sports.

4. Commercial vs. Non commercial Advertising

Commercial advertising is concerned with selling a product or an idea to help a commercial

institution. It may consist of “consumer advertising” aimed at the ultimate consumer or “business or
industrial advertising” aimed at industrial producers inducing them to purchase the product.

It may even include “professional advertising” directed at professionals such as doctors, lawyers, etc.
Non-commercial advertising is advertising indulged in by non-profit organization such as the
government or charitable institutions to support ideas, solicit donations, etc.

The methods used for preparing the advertisements are however the same whether one is
concerned with commercial or non-commercial advertising.

5. Classification by Media

Advertising can also be classified in terms of the media used such as window dressing in case of
shops, press advertising, outdoor advertising and the use of advertising literature.

The several forms media will now be detailed in the subsequent chapters followed by discussions on
preparation of an advertisement as well as an advertising campaign.
Process of Advertising

“Mass demand has been created almost entirely through the development of Advertising”

For the development of advertising and to get best results one need to follow the advertising process
step by step.

The following are the steps involved in the process of advertising:

Step 1 – Briefing: The advertiser needs to brief about the product or the service which has to be
advertised and doing the SWOT analysis of the company and the product.

Step 2 – Knowing the Objective: One should first know the objective or the purpose of advertising.
i.e. what message is to be delivered to the audience?

Step 3 – Research: This step involves finding out the market behavior, knowing the competitors,
what type of advertising they are using, what is the response of the consumers, availability of the
resources needed in the process, etc.

Step 4 – Target Audience: The next step is to identify the target consumers most likely to buy the
product. The target should be appropriately identified without any confusion. For e.g. if the product
is a health drink for growing kids, then the target customers will be the parents who are going to buy
it and not the kids who are going to drink it.

Step 5 – Media Selection: Now that the target audience is identified, one should select an
appropriate media for advertising so that the customers who are to be informed about the product
and are willing to buy are successfully reached.

Step 6 – Setting the Budget: Then the advertising budget has to be planned so that there is no short
of funds or excess of funds during the process of advertising and also there are no losses to the
company.

Step 7 – Designing and Creating the Ad: First the design that is the outline of ad on papers is made
by the copywriters of the agency, then the actual creation of ad is done with help of the art directors
and the creative personnel of the agency.

Step 8 – Perfection: Then the created ad is re-examined and the ad is redefined to make it perfect to
enter the market.

Step 9 – Place and Time of Ad: The next step is to decide where and when the ad will be shown.

The place will be decided according to the target customers where the ad is most visible clearly to
them. The finalization of time on which the ad will be telecasted or shown on the selected media will
be done by the traffic department of the agency.

Step 10 – Execution: Finally the advertise is released with perfect creation, perfect placement and
perfect timing in the market.

Step 11 – Performance: The last step is to judge the performance of the ad in terms of the response
from the customers, whether they are satisfied with the ad and the product, did the ad reached all
the targeted people, was the advertise capable enough to compete with the other players, etc. Every
point is studied properly and changes are made, if any.

If these steps are followed properly then there has to be a successful beginning for the product in the
market.
Fundamentals of Advertising Campaign

Advertising campaigns are the groups of advertising messages which are similar in nature. They share
same messages and themes placed in different types of medias at some fixed times. The time frames
of advertising campaigns are fixed and specifically defined.

Why you are advertising and what are you advertising?

Why refers to the objective of advertising campaign. The objective of an advertising campaign is to

• Inform people about your product

• Convince them to buy the product

• Make your product available to the customers

• Fundamentals of advertising campaigns

1. Consider who you are Targeting

Before one considers what type of advertising might work best to reach your desired target, you first
must settle on who your target market is. Are you attempting to reach existing customers to inform
them about improvements to your product? Are you trying to reach potential prospects who should
be interested in your products? If you are considering a print component to your campaign, leaf
through some of the industry publications. The type of editorial and ads in the publication should
clue you in as to how others are approaching the market. Make sure the copy and message of your
ad is consistent with the target you are trying to reach, i.e. engineers look for more technical copy
whereas top management might prefer a “less is more” approach.

2. Make sure you Measure

This will be a fundamental aspect of almost every tactic we’re going to discuss in this series. It’s no
secret that we are living in an era of accountability. Do not accept the idea that advertising, including
print advertising, cannot be measured. In fact, there are numerous ways to track how your
advertising campaign is performing. With our own clients, we’ve seen the use of special landing
pages – URLs that can only be accessed by typing that specific URL into a browser. By tying a special
URL to a specific ad, you can track with greater accuracy how many potential leads that ad is driving.
With CRM software and web analytics, you can track the behavior of that special URL visitor and
determine how many leads convert to sales. We’ve also seen clients use a dedicated email address
and even unique phone numbers.

3. Have an objective

Too often, ads appear in a way that can best be described as haphazard, either in terms of the ad’s
design, the ad’s placement, or where the ad links to if it’s an online ad. Make sure you have a clear
objective that you want your advertising to fulfill. If you are introducing a new product, perhaps you
want to set a goal of your ad creating a certain number of sample requests. If you are promoting a
white paper or a webinar, make sure that your creative and your ad placement appeal to the people
in your audience who would want that kind of content. Your objective will guide every important
decision you will ultimately make about the ads you use in your campaign.

4. Understand the importance of selecting audited publications

When considering the print part of your campaign, remember the importance of selecting audited
publication where possible. Audited publications (BPA Worldwide and ABC are the two leaders)
provide the confidence of knowing that the target audience you are trying to reach actually qualify
for and receive the publication.

Even if your ad showcases the best creative in the industry, if the right people are not seeing it, it will
not do you any good. Rather than advertise in publications just because they have the lowest cost or
the largest circulation, advertise in the publications that offer the BEST circulation for your specific
audience.

5. Weighing the benefits of frequency versus dominance

Some advertisers like to pepper away at their audience on a monthly basis to make sure their
message gets through (we call that frequency). Others like to do the big splash (think Super Bowl).
We call that dominance. Both approaches have merit.

Typically, if you have to choose between the two, general advertising principles dictate that a strong
program built on frequency is better use of your budget than a big splash but if your big splash is
around the biggest trade show of the year where all of your customers and prospects are going to
be, than dominance may be the right prescription. As with most things in life, this issue is not black
and white. Each case must be reviewed on the merits of each approach to see which is right for your
company.

In the online world, remember that impressions are not the magic number you are looking for, even
though that is a number many publications will promote to you. Impressions are simply the number
of eyeballs that saw your ad. To accurately measure an online advertising campaign, it’s again helpful
to dedicate a special landing to the advertising effort and then track that person’s behavior as they
navigate through your website.

The Creative Brief

A creative brief is the very foundation of any advertising/marketing campaign. Making a simple (but
relatable) analogy, the briefing is the metaphorical treasure map that creatives follow. The brief
shows the creative professionals not only where to start digging to find the golden ideas but also
how to open the treasure chest.

By definition, a creative brief (or creative briefing) is a document produced by the requesting party
(the customer) with the goal of establishing the defining aspects of a creative piece of work, such as
a print ad or website banner. The term is often heard in the advertising market where it represents
the first step in the journey of producing all sorts of material such as promotional videos, websites,
etc.
Why should I develop a Creative Brief?

As stated above, the creative brief’s main function serves as a guide written by the person requesting
a creative service (the customer) to the responsible for the activity in order to clearly define what’s
expected of the deliverables as well as the communication strategy it should be aligned with.

Great creative briefs have one primary function — to inspire your creative team to come up with the
most brilliant and effective communications response to solve a particular problem. While a
collection of facts, the brief should put your creative team in the right frame of mind to come up an
innovative and creative solution.

Having a well written, compelling briefing is essential for guiding creative professionals towards
developing messages and materials that not only fit within the company’s communication strategy
but also make it as successful as it could possibly be.

It’s safe to say that normally, under the usual circumstances, developing a creative brief is not a one
man job. It takes a small team of professionals from various fields to thoroughly explain the message
the creative piece should convey.

The reason why it’s so important to have more than one person from different work areas working
on a creative briefing is that it ensures it won’t convey a single person’s point of view and,
consequently, be less accurate. It also ensures that the definitions and concepts within are clear
enough for the receiving team to understand.

If there’s only one person responsible for writing a creative brief, his or her personal opinions can get
into the way and make the briefing less clear and detailed as it should be.

All creative briefs must be developed after a thorough situation and audience analysis. The reason
why it’s so important to analyze the context for the campaigns is simple: as cliché as it may sound,
knowledge is power and the more knowledge you have, the more specific you can be about what’s
expected from the service provider.
Appeals in advertising, Message Tactics

Appeals in advertising refer to the central themes or messages designed to attract the target
audience’s attention and elicit a specific response or action, such as making a purchase or changing
a perception. These appeals tap into various human emotions, desires, and needs, aiming to
resonate deeply with viewers or listeners on a personal level. Common types of appeals include
emotional, which connect with feelings of happiness, fear, or nostalgia; rational, which focus on the
product’s practical benefits or features; and moral, which appeal to the audience’s sense of right and
wrong. By effectively leveraging these appeals, advertisers can create compelling messages that
enhance the attractiveness of their products or brands, encouraging the target audience to engage in
the desired behavior.

Appeals in advertising Types:

• Emotional Appeal

Focuses on the consumer’s emotions, such as happiness, fear, love, or sadness, to build a connection
with the brand or product.

• Rational Appeal

Uses logical arguments or factual evidence to highlight product benefits, emphasizing quality, value,
or utility.

• Moral Appeal

Appeals to the audience’s sense of right and wrong, often used in social marketing campaigns to
promote public welfare issues.

• Fear Appeal

Creates a sense of fear or threat to motivate consumers to take action to avoid a negative outcome.

• Humorous Appeal

Incorporates humor to capture attention, create a memorable message, and foster positive
associations with the brand.

• Scarcity Appeal

Highlights limited availability or time to induce urgency and prompt immediate action.

• Bandwagon Appeal

Suggests that “everyone is doing it” to tap into the consumer’s fear of missing out (FOMO) and
encourage them to join the trend.

• Snob Appeal

Targets the desire for exclusivity and prestige, suggesting that the product is a luxury or status
symbol.

• Health Appeal

Focuses on health and wellness benefits, appealing to consumers’ desire to improve or maintain
their health.
 • Adventure Appeal

Suggests excitement and adventure, appealing to consumers seeking thrills or new experiences.

• Nostalgic Appeal

Evokes a sense of nostalgia, appealing to consumers’ longing for the past or their fond memories.

Advertising Message Tactics

Advertising Message Tactics are the strategic approaches and techniques used to design and deliver
messages that effectively communicate with a target audience, persuade them, and ultimately guide
them towards a desired action. These tactics are pivotal in shaping how an advertisement is
perceived and can significantly impact its success.

• Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Focuses on a unique benefit or feature that sets the product apart from competitors, highlighting
why it’s the best choice for the consumer.

• Call to Action (CTA)

Directly instructs the audience on the specific action you want them to take, such as “Buy Now,” “Call
Today,” or “Sign Up,” making it clear and easy for them to proceed.

• Storytelling

Incorporates narratives that connect with the audience on an emotional level, making the brand or
product more relatable and memorable through stories that resonate.

• Social Proof

Utilizes testimonials, reviews, influencer partnerships, and user-generated content to show that
others have had positive experiences with the brand or product, leveraging the power of peer
influence.

• Scarcity and Urgency

Creates a sense of limited time or availability, prompting quick action from consumers who fear
missing out on an opportunity.

• Repetition

Involves repeating the key message or brand name across various mediums and within the
advertisement itself to enhance brand recall.

• Comparative Advertising

Directly compares the brand’s product with competitors, showcasing its advantages to persuade
consumers why it’s the better choice.

• Emotional Appeal

Taps into a wide range of human emotions – from joy, love, and humor, to fear and sadness – to
create a bond with the audience and influence their perception and behavior.

• Rational Appeal
Presents logical arguments or evidence (such as specifications, features, or financial benefits) that
appeal to the audience’s sense of reason.

• Problem-Solution

Highlights a common problem or pain point that the target audience faces and then presents the
product or service as the perfect solution.

• Lifestyle Integration

p style=”text-align: justify;”>Associates the product with a particular lifestyle or identity that the
target audience aspires to, suggesting that using the product will enable them to achieve it.

Advertising Agencies: Their Role and Functions

Advertising Agencies

“The work of a tailor is to collect the raw material, find matching threads, cut the cloth in desired
shape, finally stitch the cloth and deliver it to the customer.”

Advertising Agency is just like a tailor. It creates the ads, plans how, when and where it should be
delivered and hands it over to the client. Advertising agencies are mostly not dependent on any
organizations.

These agencies take all the efforts for selling the product of the clients. They have a group of people
expert in their particular fields, thus helping the companies or organizations to reach their target
customer in an easy and simple way.

The first Advertising Agency was William Taylor in 1786 followed by James “Jem” White in 1800 in
London and Reynell & Son in 1812.

Role of Advertising Agencies

1. Creating an advertise on the basis of information gathered about product

2. Doing research on the company and the product and reactions of the customers.

3. Planning for type of media to be used, when and where to be used, and for how much time
to be used.

4. Taking the feedbacks from the clients as well as the customers and then deciding the further
line of action.

All companies can do this work by themselves. They can make ads, print or advertise them on
televisions or other media places; they can manage the accounts also. Then why do they need
advertising agencies? The reasons behind hiring the advertising agencies by the companies are:-

• The agencies are expert in this field. They have a team of different people for different
functions like copywriters, art directors, planners, etc.

• The agencies make optimum use of these people, their experience and their knowledge.

• They work with an objective and are very professionals.

• Hiring them leads in saving the costs up to some extent.

10 Major Functions of Advertising Agency

 1. Attracting clients

Advertising agency needs clients (advertisers). Without them, it cannot survive.

2. Account Management

Within an advertising agency the account manager or account executive is tasked with handling all
major decisions related to a specific client.

The account manager works closely with the client to develop an advertising strategy.

3. Creative Team

The principle role of account managers is to manage the overall advertising campaign for a client,
which often includes delegating selective tasks to specialists.

Advertising agency put the advertising-plan into action under its creative function. Creation of ads is
the most important function of an ad agency.

These jobs are done by experts like copy writers, artists, designers, etc. These people are highly
skilled and creative. They make an advertisement more appealing. Attractive ads help to increase the
sales of the product.

4. Researchers

Full-service advertising agencies employ market researchers who assess a client’s market situation,
including understanding customers and competitors, and also are used to test creative
ideas. Advertising agency gathers information related to the client’s product. It collects following
information about a product under its research function: –

• Features, quality, advantages and limitations of a product, Present and future market
possibilities, Competition in the market, Situation in the market, Distribution methods,
Buyers’ preferences, so on

• Ad agency analyses (studies) all this collected information properly and draws conclusions for
its research. It helps in planning an advertising campaign, selecting proper media and
creation function.

5. Media Planners

Advertising agency helps an advertiser to select a proper media (ad platform) to promote his
advertisement effectively.

Media selection is a highly specialized function of an ad agency. It must select the most suitable
media for its client’s ad.

Advertising agency plans the entire ad campaign of its client. Advertising planning is a primary
function of an ad agency. It is done when its research function is completed. That is, after analyzing
the client’s product, its competitors, market conditions, etc. It is done by experts who use their
professional experience to make a result-oriented advertising-plan.

Once an advertisement is created, it must be placed through an appropriate advertising media.

Each advertising media, of which there are thousands, has its own unique methods for accepting
advertisements, such as different advertising cost structures (i.e., what it costs marketers to place an
ad), different requirements for accepting ad designs (e.g., size of ad), different ways placements can
be purchased (e.g., direct contact with media or through third-party seller), and different time
schedules (i.e., when ad will be run). Understanding the nuances of different media is the role of a
media planner, who looks for the best media match for a client and also negotiates the best deals.

6. Advertising Budget

Advertising agency helps an advertiser to prepare his ad budget. It helps him to use his budget
economically and make the best use of it.

Without a proper advertising budget, there is a risk of client’s funds getting wasted or lost.

7. Coordination

Advertising agency brings a good coordination between the advertiser, itself, media and distributors.

8. Sales Promotion

Advertising agency performs sales promotion. It helps an advertiser to introduce sales promotion
measures for the dealers and consumers. This helps to increase the sales of the product.

9. Public Relations

Advertising agency does the public relations (PR) work for its clients. It increases the goodwill
between its clients and other parties like consumers, employees, middlemen, shareholders, etc. It
also maintains good relations between the client and media owner.

10. Non-advertising functions

Advertising agency also performs many non-advertising functions:

It fixes the prices of the product, It determines the discounts, It designs the product, It also designs
its package, trademarks, labels, etc.

Global vs Local Advertising

Global and international advertising are alternative communication strategies that companies
employ to drive demand for goods and services in foreign markets. International advertising
strategies are tailored to reflect regional, national, and local market cultural differences and
preferences. Global advertising embraces standardized strategies in which advertising content is the
same worldwide under the premise that the entire world is a single entity.

Standardizing Advertising

Global vs Local Advertising

6 Aug 2019

Global and international advertising are alternative communication strategies that companies
employ to drive demand for goods and services in foreign markets. International advertising
strategies are tailored to reflect regional, national, and local market cultural differences and
preferences. Global advertising embraces standardized strategies in which advertising content is the
same worldwide under the premise that the entire world is a single entity.

Standardizing Advertising

Globalism as a concept in marketing and advertising was first introduced by the late Ted Levitt,
marketing professor at Harvard Business School. In a 1983 “Harvard Business Journal” article entitled
“The Globalization of Markets,” Levitt observed that despite deep-rooted cultural differences, people
were becoming globally homogenized. In consequence, he proposed a new paradigm: standardize
products and advertise globally to take advantage of what he saw as huge economies of scale.
Companies would gain sales volume and market shares. Consumers would enjoy lower prices.

Levitt foresaw globalization as giving companies economies of scale in both production and
distribution. Centralized marketing command and control would simplify the coordination and
execution of marketing and advertising programs to decrease costs while delivering a consistent
brand or company message worldwide.

Think and Act Locally

Despite the allure of global advertising benefits, market variances do exist in terms of cultural
differences, differing rates of economic and market development, media availability, and legal
restrictions. Many companies, upon producing unwanted results from executing global campaigns,
have reverted back to international advertising strategies. For example, Douglas Daft, former Chief
Executive Officer of Coca Cola, was quoted: “The world was demanding greater flexibility,
responsiveness and local sensitivity, while we were further consolidating decision making and
standardizing our practices.”

Upon assuming the Coke leadership in 2000, Daft introduced a new regime, “think locally and act
locally,” which is the essence of international advertising. Local market managers were empowered
to introduce new products, set pricing, and adapt advertising campaigns to host cultures.

When Global Advertising Works

Marketers generally agree that global advertising can work under certain conditions. Philip Kotler,
marketing professor at Northwestern University, says that global strategies work best in categories
where the trend toward global integration is strong and local cultural influences are weak, such as
the consumer electronics market. According to an international marketing study guide from Villanova
University, global advertising may be appropriate for brands that use image campaigns with universal
appeals based on similar tastes, interests, needs and values.

Global Advertising

Many multinational marketers embrace a compromise between global and international advertising,
which is often called “glocal” advertising. Glocal advertising is best captured in the phrase, “think
global and act local.” Glocal marketers standardize certain core elements of the advertising strategy
while incorporating local cultural influences into advertising executions. According to Wind,
Sthanunathan and Malcolm in their “Harvard Business Review” article, “Great Advertising Is Both
Local and Global,” an effective glocal strategy requires a global appeal that inspires universal
motivation, a brand vision “that respects local nuances,” and an organizational structure that
encourages collaboration between the global advertising strategists and local implementers.

Small-Business Implications

When transitioning your business into the global economy, develop a comprehensive understanding
of the influences in your host markets that could shape your marketing strategies and advertising
content. Always use local market experts — people who understand your business and the
referenced cultures. Adjust your management structure to have the flexibility to make marketing and
advertising modifications as required.