Signage and Billboard Advertising

The use of signs to communicate a marketers message places advertising in geographically identified areas in order to capture customer attention. The most obvious method of using signs is through billboards, which are generally located in high traffic areas. Outdoor billboards come in many sizes, though the most well-known are large structures located near transportation points intending to attract the interest of people traveling on roads or public transportation. Indoor billboards are often smaller than outdoor billboards and are designed to attract the attention of foot traffic (i.e., those moving past the sign). For example, smaller signage in airports, train terminals and large commercial office space fit this category. While billboards are the most obvious example of signage advertising, there are many other forms of signage advertising include:

Sky writing where airplanes use special chemicals to form words Plane banners where large signs are pulled behind an airplane Mobile billboards where signs are placed on vehicles, such as buses and cars, or even carried by people Plastic bags used to protect newspapers delivered to homes Advertisements attached to grocery carts

Product placement is an advertising approach that intentionally inserts products into entertainment programs such as movies, TV programs and video games. Placement can take several forms including:

visual imagery in which the product appears within the entertainment program actual product use by an actor in the program words spoken by an actor that include the product name

Product placement is gaining acceptance among a growing number of marketers for two main reasons. First, in most cases the placement is subtle so as not to divert significant attention from the main content of the program or media outlet. This approach may lead the audience to believe the product was selected for inclusion by program producers and not by the marketer. This may heighten the credibility of the product in the minds of the audience since their perception, whether accurate or not, is that product was selected by an unbiased third-party. Second, as we discuss in the Advertising tutorial, entertainment programming, such as television, is converging with other media, particularly the Internet. In the future a viewer of a television program may be able to easily request information for products that appear in a program by simply pointing to the product on the screen. With the information they may get the option to purchase the product.

As this technology emerges it is expected that product placement opportunities will become a powerful promotional option for many marketers.

Handheld devices, such as cellphones, smartphones, portable computers and other wireless devices, make up the growing mobile device market. Such devices allow customers to stay informed, gather information and communicate with others without being tied to a physical location. While the mobile device market is only beginning to become a viable advertising medium, it may soon offer significant opportunity for marketers to reach customers at anytime and anyplace. Also, with geographic positioning features included in newer mobile devices, the medium has the potential to provide marketers with the ability to target customers based on their geographic location. Currently, the most popular advertising delivery method to mobile devices is through plain text messaging, however, over the next few years multimedia advertisements are expected to become the dominant message format.

Sponsorship Advertising
A subtle method of advertising is an approach in which marketers pay, or offer resources and services, for the purpose of being seen as a supporter of an organizations event, program or product offering (e.g., section of a website). Sponsorships are intended not to be viewed a blatant advertisement and in this way may be appealing for marketers looking to establish credibility with a particular target market. However, many sponsorship options lack the ability to tie spending directly to customer response. Additionally, the visibility of the sponsorship may be limited to relatively small mentions especially if the marketer is sharing sponsorship with many other organizations.

Outdoor Advertising - Billboards, Kiosks, Trade-shows and Events It makes use of several tools and techniques to attract the customers outdoors. The most common examples of outdoor advertising are billboards, kiosks, and also events and trade-shows organized by the company. Billboard advertising is very popular. However it has to be really terse and catchy in order to grab the attention of the passersby. Kiosks not only provide an easy outlet for the company's products but also make for an effective advertising tool to promote the company's products. Organizing special events or sponsoring them makes for an excellent advertising opportunity and strategy. The company can organize trade fairs, or even exhibitions for advertising their products. If not this, the company can organize several events that are closely associated with their field. For instance a company that manufactures sports utilities can sponsor a sports tournament to advertise its products. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/different-types-of-advertising.html Covert Advertising - Advertising in Movies Covert advertising is a unique kind of advertising in which a product or a particular brand is incorporated in some entertainment and media channels like movies, television shows or even sports.

There is no commercial advertising as such in the entertainment but the brand or the product is subtly (or sometimes evidently) showcased in the entertainment show. Some of the famous examples for this sort of advertising have to be the appearance of brand Nokia which is displayed on Tom Cruise's phone in the movie Minority Report, or the use of Cadillac cars in the movie Matrix Reloaded. Pay attention next time, you're sure to come across a lot of such examples. Surrogate Advertising - Advertising Indirectly Surrogate advertising is prominently seen in cases where advertising a particular product is banned by law. Advertisement for products like cigarettes or alcohol which are injurious to health are prohibited by law in several countries. Hence these companies come up with several other products that have the same brand name and indirectly remind people of the cigarettes or alcohol of the same brand by advertising the other products. Common examples include Fosters and Kingfisher beer brands, which are often seen to promote their brand with the help of surrogate advertising. Public Service Advertising - Advertising for Social Causes Public service advertising is a technique that makes use of advertising as an effective communication medium to convey socially relevant messages about important matters and social causes like AIDS, energy conservation, political integrity, deforestation, illiteracy, poverty and so on. David Ogilvy who is considered to be one of the pioneers of advertising and marketing concepts had reportedly encouraged the use of the advertising field for a social cause. Ogilvy once said, "Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest - it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes.". Today, public service advertising has been increasingly used in a noncommercial fashion in several countries across the world in order to promote various social causes. In the United States, radio and television stations are granted to bidders on the basis of a fixed amount of public service advertisements aired by the channel. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/different-types-of-advertising.html

Display Advertising
The taking of advertising space in the editorial sections of magazines as opposed to the classified sections, which are not that expensive, and usually lower performing method. All significant publications will be pleased to provide you with their 'Media Pack', which give details of all the types of display advertising available, for how much, together with lots of information about their readership profile. If you are generating a direct response from display advertising you may need to feature a coupon of some kind. Or else display advertising is concerned with image-building and creating awareness. Other advertising methods, using of Free-phone telephone numbers and Free-post addresses all increase rapidly the response rates.

Directories - Local Directories, Yellow Pages, Thomson

These kinds of directories remain very useful for only local, domestic, consumer and household products and services suppliers. A business telephone line generally gives free Yellow Pages and Thomson's entries under a single classification in your local books. They are published annually, at different dates throughout the country. These directories are very effective for generating enquiries for consumer businesses, but are not suitable for all types of business-to-business sectors. Consider and seek out local smaller directories and trades booklets also. The increasing ease of publishing means that production of good quality small-scale local directories is now very easy for publishers and most towns now have at least one local directory or a small booklet listing local suppliers which is distributed to all households in the area.

Directories Internet
Internet directories and experts search engines are an increasing rapidly effective way to advertise and market your services, as so many customers now use these listings to find suppliers. Many listings are free. Some work well, some doesnt. Some listings are not free. Again some work well and others don't. Ask other similar suppliers what works for them. To discover what website listings and directories you should appear on, search for your own products and services using Google. Include the area or other geographical descriptions in your keywords - in as many different ways as you think your customers would.

Brochures, Leaflets and Printed Material

Brochures and leaflets can be used for different purposes, and can be distributed in different ways. A good printer can provide examples and costings, and the easiest way to learn what works and what doesn't is to look at other people's material. The brochure target for generating new business through providing information in a way that appeals to the reader. The AIDA (attention interest desire action) should be the basis of its design. Some brochures and leaflets are pleasing pieces of art, but they don't attain anything for the business, so avoid falling into this trap. If you work with a designer make sure to control any fanciful tendencies and keep the message and style to the point. When producing leaflets and brochures think about the way that they are to be distributed. If it needs an envelope try to avoid using a non-standard envelope size, which will add cost uselessly. Various lamination processes add more quality and more cost. The print process is actually a number of separate stages 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Design this is the design for the look Reprographics this produces camera-ready-artwork and the film from which the printing plates are made Plate-making or electronic equivalent this is for low quantities, digital print processes now enable high quality printing direct from a computer Printing this is the printing process Finishing this is the stapling, folding, etc if relevant

Digital printing methods are suitable for low volumes, and fast becoming viable for higher volumes. There are variety of printing processes, which are essential for different purposes and especially volumes. Ensure that the process is suitable for your application. As a rule colour is more expensive than just black and white, even though digital printing is not so sensitive to colour/price differences.

Loose and Bound Iinserts

You have to produce the materials to be used as inserts which draw printing costs, and then pay the publication a charge for insertion. There is a big effect from economies of scale. Charges change according to how the publication is itself distributed, weight of insert, volume, how many inserts per publication, the narrowness of the circulation profile. Response rates from inserts are almost always lower than direct mail, but inserts are a very flexible and cheap method of distributing an advert to a target audience. Bound-in inserts cost extra, require longer lead-times, and are favoured by some advertisers as they don't fall out and as a result are seen by more of the total readership, which can be two or three times greater than the circulation.

'Door to Door' Leaflets and Advertising Distribution

Large quantity leaflet drops to consumer households and business addresses, without the need for envelopes or normal postal charges, can generally be arranged through the postal services, so that the leaflet is delivered at the same time as the normal post. Other specialized household distributors provide similar services, sometimes incorporated within local newspaper deliveries. Details can be obtained from various door-to-door distribution services providers, and the UK Direct Marketing Association.

Posters Sites (Hoardings, Ttaxi-Cabs, Buses, Roadside Fields)

For advertising considered as public information a variety of poster sites are free to the advertiser, so it makes sense to use these freely, supported by some record system so you keep them up-to-date and utilised. Other sites vary according to nature and cost, from large roadside hoardings to buses, taxis and sports grounds. Anywhere that people pass or gather in large numbers is a potential poster site, and as with printed media, audience profile information is usually available. New sites are being discovered and exploited all the time, such as supermarket trolleys and floors, table napkins, public conveniences, and the media extends now into continuous video at post offices and filling stations forecourts, etc.

Local Radio, TV, Cinema and the Internet

Other forms of targeted media advertising, and now TV and radio are increasingly used by smaller local businesses, although tight geographical targeting is obviously difficult. Producing your own information and managing e-commerce on the internet is now viable for even very small businesses. For consumer businesses, the on-line shopping boom began several years ago If you are supplying consumer products that can be shipped easily through the post or a carrier and you are not yet selling via the internet I would urge you to catch up with your competitors and start doing so, because many of your competitors will already be doing it.

Web Presence
All business-to-business organizations should now have a web presence. If you are large organization then you will likely already have had this in place for several years. If you are a small business you might imagine that having a presence on the internet is not important. Particular styles and origination are required for a good website, and the medium is no longer passive, so you need to think about integrating promotion and advertising to attract people to your site. If you want technical information on the really esoteric stuff like search engine optimization, then an excellent free resource is at deadlock.com.

Guide Books, Hand-Books and Newsletters

Publishing your own information material is potentially very effective, and costs can be reduced by incorporating relevant supporting advertising from other organizations wishing to be associated with your services and to target your audience. Guidelines for Newsletters follow later. (Remember now that electronic media is able to extend the use and potential of newsletters far beyond traditional printed media.). Alternatively you can advertise in a relevant guide book produced by another organization. However, be careful to ascertain accurate details of circulation and profile if considering small or unproven publications.

Open Days and Exhibitions

The advantage of personal contact is that you actually get to talk to your potential customers, which dramatically increases the chances of getting your message across. But there is a limit to how many people you can target and access using these methods. Costs of preparation and organization can be big, and are rarely transparent at the outset so beware. Events of this nature do nevertheless offer good possibilities for follow-up PR activity, which can contribute greatly to building a customer-friendly image.

Word of Mouth
Personal referral is an absolute advertising tool. It costs nothing and is the most believable type of 'advertising of them all. Encouraging word of mouth referral is therefore a good reason for sustaining excellent customer services and relations. You can encourage word of mouth referrals through the use of discount vouchers and coupons, loyalty and 'friends and family' schemes, introduce a friend incentives, and any other mechanism that encourages people to spread the word on your behalf.

Networking and Clubs

Using business networking methods to develop contacts and introductions is essential cost-effective marketing method for consumer services and products, and more particularly for business-to-business services. A variety of networking opportunities exist in all sectors and regions, including networking websites, trades associations, clubs, chambers of commerce and trade, societies, and anywhere that potential customers and influencers gather, and the systems within which they communicate and socialize. Always be prepared to speak to others enthusiastically about your business - the world is full of potential customers.