Unit – 1: Introduction to Advertisement

Q. What is Advertisement? Explain the nature/characteristics and scope of advertisement.    2022

Q. What is included and excluded from advertising?

Q. Explain the benefits of advertising to the various section of the society.     2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020

Q. Money spent on advertisement is wasteful.” Do you agree? Give reasons.     2014, 2017

Q. Discuss the different ethical aspects of advertisement and how untrustworthy advertisement can be controlled.       2018

Q. Explain the economic and social perspectives of advertising.       2018

Q. Explain various classes and types of advertising with their merits and demerits.     2016, 2017, 2019

Q. Write short notes on:

a) Advertising and Publicity.        2014

b) Advertising and Marketing mix.          2016  

c) Legal and ethical aspects of advertisement.         2017, 2020

When a marketer or a company develop a product to satisfy market demand after carefully analyzing the market, there comes a need for establishing contact with the target market to sell that product. Moreover, this has to be a mass contact so that the product may get maximum exposure to large number of people. The best way to reach the mass market is through mass communication. Advertising is one of the means of such mass communication along with other means, which may or may not using mass communication, like publicity, sales promotion, public relations.

The word ―”advertise” comes from the Latin word “advertere” meaning ―to turn toward” or ―to pay attention”.

Advertising is an impersonal form of promotion that is directed towards the public at large and is paid for. It is a communication tool used to influence or persuade specific group of audience to take a desired action during a particular period.

 It has been defined by various authors as:+

Philip Kotler, “Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor”.

According to American Marketing Association advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services through an identification sponsor.

Nature and characteristics of Advertising:

The nature of advertising is given below:

1. Paid Form: Advertising is an activity it is not a free of cost. It is paid form of presentation of an idea product and service an indirect way such as through the message send through media or communication. 

2. Impersonal Presentation: It is an impersonal attempt to present the message regarding product. Advertiser makes convenient to pass the advertising message to the target audience/market. In this promotion and presentation manufactures and consumers are not in personal contact with one another i.e. no direct contact involved between manufactures well as customer. 

3. Creating Awareness: Advertising is not only to promote goods and services to see to the customers. It’s also helps in social causes such as discourage smoking, conduct awareness on dangerous diseases and also donate the donations to help poor and also for natural disaster victims.

4. Identified sponsor: Advertising of identified sponsor clarifies the doubt of difference between advertising and propaganda. Advertising and propaganda is to present certain ideas, opinions to influence public actions. In case of advertising sponsor ideas, opinions are known.

5. Controlled: The advertiser controls the advertising message through direction. Advertiser says what they want to say by selecting the message through media to the target audience. In case of publicity it is not controlled under advertiser. 

6. Mass Communication: A group of audience can be reached by mass media such as news papers magazines, television, radio and outdoor displays. Through the communication of media multiple message are delivered to thousands of people simultaneously. 

7. Persuasive Act: The main feature of advertising is to present and promote the ideas goods or services to achieve the predetermined goals and objectives through the communication. 

8. It is not neutral and unbiased: Advertising cannot be said to be neutral or unbiased. All the ads that appear area controlled by the advertiser and also serve the advertiser interest in some way. 

9. Competitive Act: In today’s world of business competition is important manufactures want to push their products and services to get maximum profit and satisfies the customers. Competition is mainly focuses on quality and price and also brought to the notice of target audience. 

10. Informative Act: Each and every advertisement is a piece of information to the listeners, readers and viewers and announces the arrival of new product to explain special features and explain the best use of the product. Information helps the decision of customers to buy the product or not to buy the product.

Scope of Advertising

The scope of advertising is as follows, 

1. Message: Advertising carries a message of the product. The message may be oral or visual. It is designed in a systematic and psychological manner to influence the future customers/new customers. 

2. Media: With the help of media large number of advertising with their respective advantages and disadvantages cost and benefits of customer approachment with help of print and electronic media such as news paper, TVs and radio’s.

3. Merchandise: The person who brought and sells the products to the customers’ is called merchandise. The advertiser should demonstrate the attribute of the product and avoid the criticisms of a similar product of the competitor.

4. Advertiser: The advertiser is consider as a core institution of society and also helps the people in understanding merits and demerits of the product. So advertiser controls the message and media to benefits the society. A slight negligence on the part of advertiser should destroy the image of the product. 

5. Objectives: Advertiser has certain objectives such as increase sales, creation of awareness and interest to the customer, introducing a new product these are the objectives which are fulfilled by the advertiser. 

6. Activities: Advertiser assists the performance of certain activities of the advertiser and sponsor of the product. It also includes some of the activities are mass-communication (media), carrying messages, developing impression and build image of the particular product to the target customers.

7.  Arts and Science: Advertiser considers both art as well as science because both have the sum of some characteristics. It is an art the advertiser create his abilities and effective way of communication. Advertising is also a science based on a certain socio psychological factor which influences market decision and effective relations are made.

What is Included in Advertising?

(i) The information in an advertisement should benefit the buyers. It should give them a more satisfactory expenditure of their rupees.

(ii) It should suggest better solutions to their problems.

(iii) The content of the advertisement is within the control of the advertiser, not the medium.

(iv) Advertising without persuasion is ineffective. The advertisement that fails to influence anyone, either immediately or in the future, is a waste of money.

(v) The function of advertising is to increase the profitable sales volume. That is, advertising expenses should not increase disproportionately.

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

a) Newspapers and magazines;

b) On radio and television broadcasts;

c) Circular of all kinds, (whether distributed by mail, by person, thorough tradesmen, or by inserts in packages); 

d) Dealer help materials,

e) Window display and counter – display materials and efforts;

f) Store signs, motion pictures used for advertising,

g) Novelties bearing advertising messages and Signature of the advertiser, 

h) Label stags and other literature accompanying the merchandise.

What is excluded from Advertising?

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

(i) Advertising is not a game, because if advertising is done properly, both the buyer and the seller benefit from it.

(ii) Advertising is not a toy. Advertiser cannot afford to play with advertising. Advertising funds come from sales revenue and must be used to increase sales revenue.

(iii) Advertisements are not designed to deceive. The desire and hope for repeat sales insures a high degree of honesty in advertising.

The activities excluded from advertising are:

a) The offering of premiums to stimulate the sale of products;

b) The use of exhibitions and demonstrations at fairs, show and conventions;

c) The use of samples and activities, involving news releases and the activities of personal selling forces; 

d) The payment of advertising allowances which are not used for advertising;

e) The entertainment of customers.

Each advertisement is a specific communication that must be effective, not just for one customer, but for many target buyers.  This means that specific objectives should be set for each particular advertisement campaign. Advertising is a form of promotion and like a promotion; the objectives of advertising should be specific. This requires that the target consumers should be specifically identified and that the effect which advertising is intended to have upon the consumer should be clearly indicated.  The objectives of advertising were traditionally stated in terms of direct sales. Now, it is to view advertising as having communication objectives that seek to inform persuade and remind potential customers of the worth of the product. Advertising seeks to condition the consumer so that he/she may have a favourable reaction to the promotional message. Advertising objectives serve as guidelines for the planning and implementation of the entire advertising programme. The basic objectives of an advertising programme may be listed as below:

a)      To stimulate Sales: It aims to stimulate sales amongst present, former and future consumers.  It involves a decision regarding the media, e.g., TV rather than print.

b)      To retain the loyalty of present and former consumers: Advertising may be used to reassure buyers that they have made the best purchase, thus building loyalty to the brand name or the firm. 

c)       To increase support: Advertising impliedly bolsters the morale of the sales force and of distributors, wholesalers, and retailers, ; it thus contributes to enthusiasts and confidence attitude in the organizational. :

d)      To project an image: Advertising is used to promote an overall image of respect and trust for an organization.  This message is aimed not only at consumers, but also at the government, shareholders, and the general public. 

e)      To support personal selling program: Advertisement used to open customers doors for sales man.

f) To face competition: Light competition in the market to increase the sale between the companies.

g) To improve goodwill: Advertisement is necessary to enhance the goodwill of the enterprise by promising better quality products and services.

h) To improve dealer relations: Advertising supports the dealers in selling the products. Dealers are attracted towards a product which is advertised effectively.

Advertising is an indispensable part of the marketing strategy of any product or service. A proper advertisement has a great impact on the sales of the product. Advertising is the most important tool in the marketing of products and services. Companies all over the world universally accepted this fact. Some of the important benefits of advertisement to various section of the society are listed below:

a)      Communication with Customers: The main function of advertising is to communicate with consumer’s area to increase the sale of products and services and economy expands, the manufacturer should get profits.

b)      Contribution to economic growth: Advertising contributes to economic growth to expand the market and market segments for new products. Company invests in research and development to develop a new product and how to increase their purchasing sales. 

c)       Persuasion: Advertising is to influence the opinion of the customers to buy a product/service. The planned persuasion is to agree the customers to purchase our products in a satisfaction manner. 

d)      Catalyst for Change: Creativity in advertising leads to the discovery of new relationships can change the perception. The originality of message communicated and eventual effect on consumer’s standard of living. The ability of changes can from originality innovation and imagination of advertising. 

e)      Stimulates demand: Inform the consumers about the availability of product in the market. The general agreement of advertising has some effect on aggregate consumption. 

f)       Develops Brand Preference: Advertising develops brand preference of the product for brand trail. The products delivered the quality, service and value these should satisfy the customers. The satisfied customers develop the brand preference with strong brand preference. 

g)      Reduces Cost: Advertising is the instrumental in production and selling costs these by increasing unit sales decreases unit costs. By using advertising we should reduce the cost of the product for remove stain on the sales persons. 

h)      Lower Prices: In competitive economy the unit cost of product goes down it will effect on both internal and external factors. Then the companies should decrease the prices and it is advantage to the customers. 

i) Build Brand Image: Advertising plays an important role in building the brand image of the products. Consumers develop mental images of brand that may appeal to the different market segments. If helps in building brand loyalty.

j) Competitive weapon:  Advertising is a competitive weapon it builds a brand image and creates a value to the product for promotion. It helps to differentiate a company’s offer having the unique value having a definite identity.

k)      Innovation: Advertising encourages the innovation of the new product development. Advertising generate the product demand to attract the large number of customers and encourage the competition of the product in marketing.

l) Growth of media: Advertising plays a crucial role to the growth of media for raising the revenues. This may help in introducing more publications and it will lead to the expansion of media.

m)    Elimination of middlemen: By regular advertisement, the manufacturer can sell the goods directly to the consumers without depending on middlemen this eliminates the middlemen’s charges which leads to higher profit to the manufacturer and lower prices to consumers.

n)      Feedback from customers: Advertisement can also lead to direct feedback from consumers. It has been researched that a lot of opinions and viewpoints are received by the advertisers on their products and services, which help them in improving their products and services further.

o)      Fixed prices: As the prices are already advertised, the consumers cannot be over charged.

p)      Improving quality of goods: It helps in improvement of the quality of the goods. The consumers are attracted by the quality of the products that are advertised. If the consumer are convinced that the quality is the same that is advertised, they continue buying.

 It is true to say that, “Advertising is economically beneficial but not socially justifiable”. As the Advertising is economically beneficial, it helps the businessmen to increase the demand of particular goods or services. It can search the new market and target their customers. Advertising also helps in distribution of goods and services and also reduces dependence of customer and businessmen on the middlemen or intermediaries by providing economies of scale. Advertising attracts customers for a new product and increase its sales also. Several objections have been raised against advertising and some people criticize advertising as a social waste. The main point of criticism is as follows:

a) Creates Monopoly in the Market: Advertisement leads to promotion and cover mass level of customers at a time. Sometimes it will create a monopoly in the market with the help of advertisement. Large firms can bear the advertisement expenditure but not the small firms, due to that it can eliminate the small firms from the market and creates its monopoly authority in the market. But the monopoly is only for a temporary basis as there is availability of competition in the market.

b) Higher the Prices of Product: Investment of money in advertisement leads to increase in the price of goods and services for which consumer has to face high prices and pay for it. There is positive relationship between advertisement cost and its product. Hence, more the advertisement cost- more the product cost. Whereas, decrease in advertisement expenditure leads to fall in price of product cost.

c) Misleading the consumers: Now days, advertisement misleads the consumers on false representation regarding their goods. Consumer attracts to those goods which are not necessary for them. Producers misguide the consumers by giving bogus testimonials and false representation regarding particular commodity. Thus, advertisement misleads the consumer and sale goods to them.

d) Wasteful Consumption by the Consumers: Advertisement attracts the consumers for wasteful products which are not necessary for consumers. Due to advertisement businessmen takes undue advantage from them. They sale unhealthy and artificial goods to them and exploits consumer emotions. Now days the society has become the society of chocolate, Burger, pizza and cola’s instead of juice, fruits and vegetables just because of advertising.

e) Wastage of National Resources: There will be wastage of national resources, valuable stationary, time and energy used by the people or is ignored by them. Here, Valuable resources that can be used to create new industries are wasted in the production of needless varieties and designs. Vance Packard, in his book “The Waste Makers”, gives several interesting examples on national resources.

Advertising plays a crucial role in developing the economy of the country is as follows 

1) Effect on Production Cost, Distribution cost and Price: Advertising effects on production cost, distribution cost and prices are discussed below 

a)   Effect on Production Cost: Advertising creates demand and expand market size for the product. Production results various economies such as better utilize of expenses, availability of good quality raw material at lower prices, availability of better machinery. These results the cost of production. 

b)      Effect on Distribution Cost: Advertising costs is a part of selling and distribution cost spending higher amounts on advertising increases distribution cost for distributing the products and services to the consumers. Less selling efforts are required by the salesman, personal selling’s is required. Then the sales are increased and distribution cost comes down.

c)       Effect on Price: Advertising is used to reduce the prices. Advertising results in reduction on production cost and distribution cost. So advertising increases the market share and attracting the customers, and reduce the advertiser prices. It is also helped in reducing he prices of the competitor’s products. 

2) Effect on Demand: In case of new products, advertising creates the demand and educating the audience regarding creates the demand and educating the audience regarding the usage of the product. The old products emotional appeals. So advertising creates additional demand by attracting the new customers with replacement of existing customers. 

3) Effect on Competition: Advertising promotes competition among different brands of the same product. The company offering good quality products at reasonable price in the competition. When one advertiser launches the schemes and offers other advertisers follows the same. It also promotes consumer choice. 

4) Effect on Consumer Choice: Advertising has favorable effect on consumer choice. Advertising gives information about various brands, products available in the market their features price, place and availabilities etc. Consumer can make comparative study of all such choices to purchase suitable products. Without advertising customers/consumers not able to know a built various available brands.

5) Effect on Business Cycle: Advertising helps in reducing the extent of business cycle. In period of recession advertisers increase their ad expenditure to revert their falling sales. In boom period advertisers decreases their ad-expenditure and they sell their entire production with less advertising efforts. More advertising is required in recession period and less advertisings in boom period to increase the sales.

6) Effect on Social Income: Advertising promotes demand increases productive and industrial activities promote growth in agriculture growth in service sector increase exports etc. All this results in increase in national income also promotes the standard of living of customers. But advertising creates demand promote new products expand markets promotes production and thus results in increase of national income.

7) Creation of Utility: Advertising creates time place and perception utility. In case of seasonal products it creates time utility. In case of off-seasonal products if creates demand demand utilities. In case of earlier products sold it creates the utilities demand. In case of perception utility it creates positive image of product in the minds of audience.

8) Effect on unemployment: Advertising has created both direct and indirect employment to various persons in the society. Now -a-day advertising is a big industry. It provides employment to persons in various jobs like copywriter artists, graphic designers, painter, models, music, actors, etc. At present lakhs of people working in advertising industry.

9) Effect on Production Quality: Advertising promotes competition and every advertiser wants touched in the competition. Advertising knows that for long term success in business and for effective advertises special a lot of resources on research and development work to improve product quality. 

10) Effect on standard of living: Advertising effect on standard of living of customers. Resulted in price reduction. In this advertising satisfies the all levels of customers in the competitions satisfied with the products designed with good quality of the products.

Social Role of Advertising

a)      Advertising reflects society and society reflects advertising. At social level advertising plays upon, derives from and contributes to the social texture of a country.

b)      Various social changes are brought about or helped by advertising. Adult education, family planning and pulse polio campaign are the examples of few successful social advertising campaigns. It makes role models who can create societal change.

c)       Advertising are efficient source of information for product quality, new material or merchandise, new technology and cost.

d)     It reduces distribution costs, encourage competition and increases product quality through brand identity.

e)      It supports mass media to maintain independence from government, political parties and other special interest groups.

While advertising can be seen as necessary for economic growth, it is not without social costs. Unsolicited commercial e-mail and other forms of spam have become so prevalent as to have become a major nuisance to users of these services, as well as being a financial burden on internet service providers. Advertising is increasingly invading public spaces, such as schools, which some critics argue is a form of child exploitation. This increasing difficulty in limiting exposure to specific audiences can result in negative backlash for advertisers.

 One of the most controversial criticisms of advertisement in the present day is that of the predominance of advertising of foods high in sugar, fat, and salt specifically to children. Critics claim that food advertisements targeting children are exploitive and are not sufficiently balanced with proper nutritional education to help children understand the consequences of their food choices. Additionally, children may not understand that they are being sold something, and are therefore more impressionable. The other criticisms include the change that are brought by those advertisements on the society and also the deceiving ads that are aired and published by the corporations. Cosmetic and health industry are the ones which exploited the highest and created reasons of concern. 

Negative Impact of advertising

1) Objectionable and in bad taste: Some critics feel that advertising is objectionable because the creative effort behind it is not in good taste. Intrusive, repetitive, unreal, offensive and depressing are some of its unpleasant features.

2) Excessive fear appeal: The fear appeal in advertising creates anxiety that is supposed to be subsidized by an available product. Such appeals may create emotional disturbances in some audience members. Products like fairness cream, insurance or a germ killing toothpaste all tries to play with the fear factor.

3) Intrusiveness: An advertisement campaign moves with repetition from a period of effectiveness to acceptance, to a period of irritation.

4) Manipulation: Advertisements have the raw power to manipulate consumers. Many companies have the capacity to obtain large numbers of advertisement exposures, which is not good for healthy competition.

Positive and Negative Effects of Advertisement on Values and Life-Style

Advertising receives wide exposure as it is disseminated through mass media. It has an effects on what people buy and thus on their activities. It is a persuasive vehicle which has an impact on the values and life-style of society. The impact of advertising has its negative as well as positive side.

1) The relationship of advertising to materialism: Advertising creates or fosters materialism. Materialism is defined as the tendency to give undue importance to material interests. People buy high-end luxury products for social status. It reflects changing values and attitudes that are created by more significant sociological forces.

2) Advertising plays role in creating harmful stereotypes of women and ethnic minorities.

3) Contribution of advertising in promoting harmful products: The harmful products like tobacco, alcohol are promoted through surrogate advertising.

There are several classifications of advertising which can be used by the companies. Let us discuss them in detail. It is classified under nine heads.

1. Product advertising: A normal characteristic of advertising is to create primary demand for a product category rather than for a specific brand. It is wrongly believed that product advertising must stress on brand name. This is based on the feeling that a good image often enhances the effectiveness of product advertising. However, in practice, most companies are successful in building the product image by using the brand names (e.g., Dettol, Horlicks). In short, when the company tries to sell its product or services through advertising it is referred to as product advertising.

2. Institutional advertising: These advertisements are not always directed to consumers. Instead, it is aimed at many of the various types of public (shareholders, creditors, etc.). It is not product oriented but is rather designed to enhance the image of the company.

3. Primary demand advertising: It is intended to stimulate primary demand for a new product or product category. It is heavily utilized during the introduction stages of the life cycle of the product.

4. Selective or competitive advertising: When a product enters the growth stage of its life cycle, and when competition begins, advertising emerges and becomes selective. Here, the goal of advertising is to increase the demand for a specific product or service. Advertising may begin to stress subtle difference in brands, with heavy emphasis on ‘brand name recall’. Pricing also will be used as a key promotional weapon as products become very similar.

5. Comparative advertising: This is a highly controversial trend in today’s competitive market. Such types of advertising play a decisive role on comparative features of two or more specific brands in terms of product / service attributes. This method is adopted in the maturity stage when similar products fast appear in the market causing stiff competition.

6. Co-operative advertising: When manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers jointly sponsor and share the expenditure on advertising, it takes the form of co-operative advertising. Such advertising carry the names of all the parties involved. From the customers’ point of view this is beneficial, as they can get the articles directly from the authorized outlets.

7. Commercial advertising: It is also termed as business advertising. As the name suggests such advertising is solely meant for effective increase in sales.

8. Non-commercial advertising: These are usually published by charitable institutions preferably to solicit general and financial help (such as collection of donation or sale of tickets).

9. Direct Action advertising: Advertising that stresses and persuades immediate buying of the product is known as direct action advertising. Direct mail advertising is capable of achieving immediate action to a large extent.

Various Types of Advertising with their merits and demerits

The various types of advertising are discussed below:

1) Print Advertising: The print media has been used for advertising since long. The newspapers and magazines are quite popular modes of advertising for different companies all over the world. Using the print media, the companies can also promote their products through brochures and fliers. The newspaper and magazines sell the advertising space and the cost depends on several factors. The quantity of space, the page of the publication, and the type of paper decide the cost of the advertisement. So advertising on the front page would be costlier than on inside pages. Similarly advertising in the glossy supplement of the paper would be more expensive than in a mediocre quality paper.

There are several advantages and disadvantages to using print advertising as a marketing tool:

Advantages:

1. Print advertising can be targeted to specific audiences, such as through the use of specific magazines or newspapers.

2. Print advertising has a longer shelf life than some other types of advertising, such as radio or television ads.

3. Print advertising can be more visually appealing and can include graphics, images, and colourful design elements to catch the eye of the reader.

Disadvantages:

1. Print advertising can be expensive, especially for full-page or multi-page spreads.

2. It can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of print advertising, as it can be hard to track how many people have seen or responded to an ad.

3. Print advertising can be less targeted than some other types of advertising, as it is not possible to track individual users in the same way as online advertising.

4. The audience for print advertising is generally declining, as more and more people get their news and information online.

2) Broadcast Advertising: This type of advertising is very popular all around the world. It consists of television, radio, or Internet advertising. Advertising on the televisions have large audience and are very popular. The cost of the advertisement depends on the length of the advertisement and the time at which the advertisement would be appearing. For example, the prime time ads would be more costly than the regular ones. Radio advertising is not what it used to be after the advent of television and Internet, but still there is specific audience for the radio ads too. The radio jingles are quite popular in sections of society and help to sell the products.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of broadcast advertising:

Advantages:

1. Broadcast advertising allows businesses to reach a large and diverse audience, as radio and television are still widely consumed media.

2. Broadcast advertising can be more engaging than other forms of advertising, as it combines audio and visual elements to deliver a message.

3. Broadcast advertising allows businesses to target specific demographics or geographic areas through the use of specific radio or television stations.

Disadvantages:

1. Broadcast advertising can be expensive, especially for television ads, which can be cost-prohibitive for small businesses.

2. It can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of broadcast advertising, as it can be hard to track how many people have seen or heard an ad.

3. Broadcast advertising can be less targeted than some other forms of advertising, as it is not possible to track individual users in the same way as online advertising.

4. The audience for traditional broadcast media is generally declining, as more and more people consume media online.

3) Outdoor Advertising: Outdoor advertising makes use of different tools to gain customer‘s attention. The billboards, kiosks, and events and tradeshows are an effective way to convey the message of the company. The billboards are present all around the city but the content should be such that it attracts the attention of the customer. The kiosks are an easy outlet of the products and serve as information outlets for the people too. Organizing events such as trade fairs and exhibitions for promotion of the product or service also in a way advertises the product. Therefore, outdoor advertising is an effective advertising tool.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of outdoor advertising:

Advantages:

1. Outdoor advertising can be highly visible and can reach a large audience, particularly if the ads are placed in high-traffic areas.

2. Outdoor advertising can be difficult to ignore, as it is often in the viewer’s line of sight.

3. Outdoor advertising can be an effective way to reach a target audience on the go, such as through the use of transit ads or billboards near highways.

Disadvantages:

1. Outdoor advertising can be expensive, especially for larger formats such as billboards.

2. Outdoor advertising can be hard to track in terms of effectiveness, as it can be difficult to measure how many people have seen an ad.

3. Outdoor advertising is often less targeted than other forms of advertising, as it is not possible to track individual users in the same way as online advertising.

4. Outdoor advertising can be affected by weather and other environmental factors, which can limit its effectiveness.

4) Covert Advertising: This is a unique way of advertising in which the product or the message is subtly included in a movie or TV serial. There is no actual Advertising, just the mention of the product in the movie. For example, Tom Cruise used the Nokia phone in the movie Minority Report.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of covert advertising:

Advantages:

1. Covert advertising can be subtler and less intrusive than other forms of advertising, which can make it more appealing to consumers.

2. Covert advertising can be an effective way to reach a specific audience, such as by placing products in media content that is popular with a particular demographic.

3. Covert advertising can be a more cost-effective way for businesses to get their products or services in front of consumers, as it can be less expensive than traditional forms of advertising.

Disadvantages:

1. Covert advertising can be controversial, as it can be perceived as manipulative or deceptive if it is not clearly disclosed to the audience.

2. Covert advertising can be less effective than other forms of advertising, as it may not be as noticeable or memorable to the viewer.

3. Covert advertising can be difficult to track in terms of effectiveness, as it can be hard to measure how many people have seen or been influenced by the placement of a product in media content.

5) Public Service Advertising: As evident from the title itself, such advertising is for the public causes. There are a host of important matters such as AIDS, political integrity, energy conservation, illiteracy, poverty and so on all of which need more awareness as far as general public is concerned. This type of advertising has gained much importance in recent times and is an effective tool to convey the message.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of public service advertising:

Advantages:

1. Public service advertising can raise awareness about important social issues and can motivate people to take action.

2. Public service advertising can be an effective way to reach a large audience, as it is often aired on television and radio stations at discounted or donated rates.

3. Public service advertising can have a positive impact on the image and reputation of the organization or company sponsoring the ad.

Disadvantages:

1. Public service advertising can be expensive to produce, especially for television ads.

2. Public service advertising may not be as effective at driving immediate action or sales as other forms of advertising.

3. Public service advertising can be less targeted than other forms of advertising, as it is not always possible to track the effectiveness of the ad or who has seen it.

6) Social Media Advertising: Social media advertising refers to the practice of promoting a product or service on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of social media advertising:

Advantages:

1. Social media advertising allows businesses to reach a large and targeted audience, as platforms like Facebook and Instagram have a wealth of user data that can be used to target ads.

2. Social media advertising is relatively inexpensive, especially compared to traditional forms of advertising like television or print ads.

3. Social media advertising allows businesses to track the effectiveness of their ads in real-time and make adjustments as needed.

Disadvantages:

1. Social media advertising can be time-consuming, as it requires ongoing effort to create and manage campaigns.

2. The algorithms used by social media platforms to deliver ads can be complex and may not always deliver ads to the intended audience.

3. Social media advertising can be less effective for businesses that are targeting older demographics, as older users are less likely to use social media.

4. Social media platforms have been known to change their algorithms and policies, which can impact the reach and effectiveness of social media ads.

Marketing mix consist of four important areas of marketing i.e. 4Ps-product, price, promotion and place. Apart from the traditional 4 Ps there are also other variables, i.e. purchasing, position, and pace. Advertising is an element of promotion. However it not only assists in promoting the product but also affects the other variables of marketing mix. This can be explained as follows. 

a) Advertising and Product: A Product is normally a set of physical elements such as quality shape size colour and other features. The product may be of very high quality. At times the product is so designed that it requires careful handling and operations. Buyer’s must be informed and educated on the various aspects of the product. This can be effectively done through advertising. Thus, advertising plays the role of information and education. 

b) Advertising and Price: The price is the exchange is the exchange value of the product. A marketer may bring out a very high quality product with additional features as compared to competitors. In such a case, price would be definitely high. But buyers may not be willing to pay a high price would be definitely high. Here comes advertising. Advertising can convince buyers regarding the superiority of the brand and thus its value for money. This can be done by associating the product with prestigious people situations or events. Alternatively, when a firm offers a low price product the job of advertising needs to stress the price advantages by using hard hitting copy. It is not just enough to convince but it is desirable to persuade the buyer. Thus advertising plays the role of conviction and persuasion.

c) Advertising and Place: Place refers to physical distribution and the stores where the goods are available marketer should see to it that the gods are available at the convenient place and that too at the right time when the buyers need it. To facilitate effective distribution and expansion of market advertising is of great significance. Thus advertising do help ineffective distribution and market expansions.

d) Advertising and Promotion: Promotion consists of advertising publicity, personal selling and sales promotion technique. Businessmen today have to face a lot of competition. Every seller needs effective promotion to survive and succeed in this competitive business world. Advertising can play a significant role to put forward the claim of seller, and to counter the claims of competitor. Through effective sellers can faces competition and also help to develop brand image and brand loyalty. 

e) Advertising and Pace: Pace refers to the speed in marketing decisions and actions. It involves among other things the launch of new products or brand variations at greater speed than before. As and when new brands area launched, advertising plays an important role of informing, educating and persuading the customers to buy the product.

f) Advertising and Packaging: The main purpose of packaging is protection of the product during transit, and preservation of quality and quantity. Nowadays marketers take lot of efforts to develop and design attractive packaging as they carry advertising value. A creatively design packaging attract the attention of the customers to buy the product.

g) Advertising and Positioning: Product positioning aims at creating and maintaining a distinct image of the brands in the minds of the customers. Through advertising the marketer can convey the positioning of the brand and accordingly can influence the buying decision of the target audience.

Advertising has a responsibility within our economic system to provide information on new and existing products and services. Most of what is purchased is advertised. Thus, the economic and social well being of the buyer and other competitors is affected if the advertising is full of false claims and misleading statements. The results can be misallocation of resources, disappointment of the customers, injury to the health of the buyers and unhealthy and damaged competition. In view of above, two schools of thoughts present their idea of regulation of advertising. One school advocate government intervention and legislation in regulating the advertisement professions. The second school feel that advertising profession should self-regulate itself by following ethical values.

Regulatory Authorities in India:

There have been increasing efforts to protect the public interest by regulating the content and the influence of advertising. Some examples include restrictions for advertising alcohol, tobacco or gambling imposed in many countries, as well as the bans around advertising to children, which exist in parts of Europe. Advertising regulation focuses heavily on the veracity of the claims and as such, there are often tighter restrictions placed around advertisements for food and healthcare products. A number of institutions are involved in regulating advertising:

1) Self-regulation by the industry

2) Regulation by the government

1) Self-regulation by the industry: In 1985, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) was established as an independent body under Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). ASCI created a code of advertising practices known as ASCI code. All advertising agencies and all media channels are expected to follow this code.

ASCI Codes:

a) Ensure Truthfulness and honesty

b) Advertisements should not be offensive

c) Safeguards against promotion of hazardous products/services.

d) Observe fairness in competition.

Complaints can be made by any person or group or department against the advertiser for false, misleading, unfair or offensive ads. Independent consumers complaints council evaluates the complaints. Public pressure groups and consumer protection  group also exist. However, consumer boycott is the best form of self regulation.

2) Regulation by the government: Various laws are framed to regulate the advertisements. Competition Commission of India (CCI) looks after the  issues of unfair competition and trade practices. Some laws are listed below:

a) IPC’s provisions governs obscenity and vulgar contents.

b) The Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1956

c) The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950

d) The Incident representation of Woman Act, 1986.

Several other laws cover aspects like magic remedies, human organ transplants, cigarettes and tobacco products, cable TV network and more govern advertisement representations. Various laws were enacted to govern changes – Like radio, Televisions, Cable Network, etc.

Ethics means “Good Conduct” or “Conduct which is right in view of the society and the time period”. By common consent, various modes of behaviour and conduct are viewed as “good” or “bad”.

In other word, we can say that Ethics are moral principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individual group. Ethics is a choice between good and bad, between right and wrong. It is governed by a set of principles of morality at a given time and at a given place and in a given society. Ethics is related to group behaviour in ultimate analysis, thus setting norms for an individual to follow in consistence with the group norms.

A particular action may be within the law and still not be ethical; Target Marketing is a good example for this. There is no law to restrict tobacco companies from promoting their brands to Africans & American, though it is in India but for Doordarshan only. Similarly the alcoholic – beverage companies promote their brands & target not only college students but underage drinkers as well. These advertisements have increased alcohol related problems. Advertisements exposing pornography is another serious issue in advertising industry today. Advertisements promoting permissiveness & objectifying women are heavily criticized in the society.

Therefore, even advertising has ethical value. The mixing of Art and facts in advertising communication are subservient to ethical principles. In today’s competitive and buyer’s market, an advertisement have to be truthful and ethical. If an advertisement is misleading, the credibility of the organization is lost. To view the truth in advertisement, it has to be seen from to consumer’s point of view rather than from legal point. The advertising industry has been frequently criticized for putting out misleading or exaggerated claims in respect of product, goods and services advertised. It is also perceived as guilty of glorifying certain habits or tendencies regarded as undesirable and encouraging consume rest culture. However, it is very difficult to demarcate a clear line of difference between what is true and what is untrue. But the advertisement as such is judged by its impact, and by its acceptance by the consumers. The product must fulfill its advertised claims.

Social criticism and responsibility of advertising

Advertising contributes to have both negative & positive influence on society. It is criticized for encouraging materialism, manipulating consumer to buy things they do not need; stereotyping, fraudulent & so on. Let’s discuss the various criticisms concerning the influence of advertising on society:

1. Puffery/Fraudulation: Very often we hear that advertisement exaggerates about the product qualities. Now a days ‘puffery’ i.e. “metaphor of idea” forms to be main element in advertising. On the one hand critics accuse it, while on the other defenders i.e. advertisers and advertising professionals opined it as a helping agent to differentiate their brands from the competitors. Puffery is considered to be an ‘opinion’ and not a ‘factual information’. Advertisers claim that the consumers are intelligent enough to distinguish between truth and exaggeration. Moreover they are not blindly going to believe everything as such presented in an advertisement. E.g. In the advertisement of ‘Force 10’ shoes the copy is “I am walking on air”. This metaphor that tells the lightness of the shoes, is unbelievable that one can “walk an air”. But the studies reveals that often many people start believing them & buy those products that have exaggerated claims in their advertisements.

2. Untruthful or Deceptive: A number of studies have shown a general mistrust of advertising among consumers. Deceptiveness is defined as not only as false and misleading statements but also as false impressions conveyed, whether intentional or not. False and subjective claims about the products, is sometimes believed but are untruthful and misleading. The problems of untruthful or fraudulent advertising exists more at the local level and in specific areas such as mail order, telemarketing and other forms of direct marketing. Advertisement should be informative and should be use puffery or embellished messages. The following acts are considered unfair or deceptive practices : a) False promises b) Incomplete Descriptive c) Misleading Comparisons d) Bait and Switch Offers e) Visual Distortions f) False Testimonials g) False Comparisons h) Partial Disclosures i) Small – Print Qualifications j) Laboratory Application

3. Offensive or in Bad Taste: Another one of the major complaints against advertisements is offensive, tasteless, irritating, boring, obnoxious & so on. Taste is subjective i.e. what is good taste to one may be bad for some one else. Tastes changes with time even as what is offensive today may not be tomorrow. Consumers can be offended by advertising in a number of ways. The type of appeal or the manner of presentation often irritates consumer. E.g. Fear Appeal in Deodorants, Mouthwash & Anti-dandruff shampoo ads are criticized to create anxiety & fear to be rejected in the society.

4. Creates Materialistic Demand: Advertising provides a variety of alternatives to choose from people have needs. Advertising creates derives and fantasies for the consumers. Some people crave for material possessions and others for cultural and spiritual enhancement. Here Advertisers at the both end of the spectrum. Many critics claim that the advertising encourages materialism. Few critics attribute to advertising that

a) Seeks to create needs rather than merely showing how a product or service fulfils them;

b) Surrounds consumers with the images of good life and convinces how the materialistic possessions leads to happiness in life.

c) Portrays these possessions as symbol of status, success, social acceptance, popularity and so on. Formerly we did not have house with garages, but now everyone wants a garage or two. Advertising differentiated between simple & formal sandals. It informs us about twin-pack razors, Leo & Barbie range of toys. Advertising keeps pace with dynamic market. It is a motivating force to exert harder to create and satisfy our new & novel needs.

5. Makes people buying the goods that are not needed: Advertising creates artificial needs. Advertises motivates and persuades consumers to buy the things that are not needed even. According to many critics advertising should not persuade by playing with consumers emotions, anxieties, psychological needs & desires such as status, self esteem, attractiveness & others but should just provide information useful in making purchase decisions such as price, performance & other objective criteria. Critics say persuasive advertising foster discontent among consumers & encourage them to purchase products & services to solve deeper problems.

6. Comparative Advertising: Comparative advertising is another unethical practice of advertising besides fraudulent and deceptary advertising. E.g.: The advertisements of Pepsi of Coca Cola: Both the brands try to compare their brands & the series try to cut the features shown in their advertisements. Severally, the ads of captain Cook Salt & Tata Salt. The new introductory brand ‘Captain Cook Salt’ presented the advertisements in a humorous way. In the reply, Tata Salt’s ad talked about the brand loyalty & nationalism. This led to an ad-war between the two brands.

7. Stereotypes: Advertising is often criticized of creating & perpetuating stereotypes through portrayal of women, ethnic minorities & other groups. It involves presenting a group of people in a pattern or manner that lacks individuality. In our society, we have many stereotypes like South Indians are intellectuals; Punjabi’s are boisterous & so on. Mother-in-law & daughter-in-law always fight, father out of house management etc. Women: The most controversial of the stereotypes portrayed in advertisements is that of women & failing to recognize the changing role of women in our society. Critics accuse advertisers to often depict women as preoccupied with beauty, household duties and motherhood or show them as decorative objects.

8. Improper Language: One of the major complaints against advertising is that the advertising copy is too breezy, too casual i.e. improper. It is believed that the advertisements have destroyed the dignity of the language. The research on advertising shows that consumer’s better responds to the simple and down to earth language than to the more dignified & formal copy. A successful copy is that which is descriptive, colourful and pictures are as warm, human & personal.

9. Excessive: In today’s world on an average are exposed to 1000 commercial messages per day. The advertising clutter is even worrying the advertising professional about the negative impact of advertising proliferation. With the increase in brand and the mass media options to choose from, there is a boom in advertising industry today.

Basis	Advertising	Personal Selling
Form	These are Personal.	These are impersonal.
Message	These are uniformity of message which means that the message is the same for the entire customer.	This message has no uniformity which means it can be changed keeping in view the behavior of the customer.
Flexibility	It lacks flexibility.	It is completely flexible.
Cost	It is relatively less costly method.	These are a most costly method.
Time	It takes a little time in conveying any information to the customer.	It takes more time in conveying any information to the customer.
Media	TV, radio, newspaper & magazine.	Through salesman.
Feedback	This gives no information about the reaction of the customer.	The reaction of the customer becomes immediately affect.

Distinguish between advertising and publicity.

Basis	Advertising	Publicity
Meaning	The activity of generating advertisements of products and services to commercialize them is known as Advertising.	The activity of providing information about an entity, i.e. a product, an individual or a company to make it popular is known as Publicity.
Given by	It is done by company and its representative.	It is done by third party.
Cost	It is a paid form of communication.	It is unpaid form of communication.
Credibility and reliability	Credibility and reliability is more as compared to publicity.	Credibility and reliability is less.
Control	There is complete control over advertisement.	There is no control over publicity.

Distinguish between advertising and Sales Promotion.

Basis	Advertising	Sales promotion
Meaning	The activity of generating advertisements of products and services to commercialize them is known as Advertising.	Sales promotion refers to short term use of incentives or other promotional activities that stimulate the customer to buy the product.
Strategy	It is permanent strategy.	It is a limited time promotion strategy.
Cost	It is highly expensive.	It is cost effective.
Best suited for	It is best suited for medium and big enterprises.	It is suitable for all enterprises.
Objective	Its main objective is to build brand image and boosting sales.	Its main objective is short term sales push.

Short Notes

Buying Motives: A consumer buys a particular product, because of certain motives. ‘Motive’ is the strong feeling, urge, instinct, drive, desire, stimulus, thought, emotion, that makes the buyer to react in the form of decision to buy. Just as every activity of human being has a motive behind, so also is the case with buyers. A person does not buy simply because he is forced but what is required is that of an inner feeling or urge that arouses interest in him to purchase a commodity or enjoy a service at a price. Prof. D.J. Duncan has defined ‘buying motives’ as “those influences or considerations which provide the impulse to buy, induce action or determine choice in the purchase of goods or service.” A study of consumer buying motivation, therefore, tells us as to – Why the consumers have the attitudes? Why they act in a particular way? Why consumers buy a particular commodity or commodities.

DAGMAR: DAGMAR defines an advertising goal as a communication task to be accomplished among a defined audience in a given time period. DAGMAR outlines a specific approach to measuring whether advertising goals have been achieved. The approach emphasizes communication task as against a marketing task, specific goal against undefined and unmeasurable goal among a defined audience in a given time frame.

Communication Task. An advertising objective involves a communication task which intends to create awareness, Impart information, develop attitudes or induce action. In the DAGMAR approach, the communication task is based on a hierarchy model of the communication process involving unawareness, awareness, comprehension, conviction (or attitude formation) and action.

Measurement Procedure. The DAGMAR approach needs to be made specific when actual goals are formulated. For example, when a new brand is to be introduced, DAGMAR approach needs to indicate what exactly is to be communicated about the brand, how its impact can be measured etc.

Bench Mark. A basic aspect of establishing and achieving a goal is to first know where we are and then developing right strategy to achieve the goals. Bench marking can suggest how a certain goal can best be achieved and a benchmark is a pre requisite to the ultimate measurement of results. In fact, the key to the DAGMAR approach is generating well- conceived benchmarks before advertising goals are determined. Once this is achieved, rest of the approach with flow smoothly.

Target Audience. Yet another aspect of DAGMAR approach is that the target audience be well defined. Once the target audience have been identified, bench mark measures can be developed and campaign can be accordingly developed and execution will be dependent upon the identity of target segment. For example, target audience and be people within the age group of 20-30 years who are either married or would soon become so.

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