PROJECT REPORT ON

ADVERTISING
Project Submitted to the Department of Commerce Shivaji College, University of Delhi In fulfillment of the requirement of B.COM. (HONS.)-3rd Year

By:
MANOJ KUMAR ROLL NO.- 927082 B.COM (HONS.) 3RD Year

UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF

SHIVAJI COLLEGE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI DELHI 1100027

DECLARATION
I, Manoj Kumar, declare that this project work has been written and completed based on my own understanding of the Share Market subject learnt from various sources and has not been copied from a published source or website. In partial fulfillment of the guidelines provided by the Shivaji College, Department of Commerce, Delhi University, and with the approval of my mentor, I have selected option B (term report) of Paper XXXVII of the B.Com. (Hons.) Syllabus.

My report is titled,

ADVERTISING

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere thanks and deep felt gratitude to my mentor whose help

and support and encouragement has been instrumental for the completion of this project. My sincere thanks to , Principal,

Shivaji College, for the necessary departmental assistance and support. I am also grateful to my parents for their generous help and support in conducting the research

Manoj Kumar

TABLE OF CONTENT 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Introduction of Advertising Importance of Advertising Uniqueness of Various Advertisements Ethics in Advertising Advantages & Disadvantages 1 3 6 26 of 34 36 38 40 41

Advertising Broadcasting Advertisements Advertising and India Conclusion Bibliography

INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTISING
Imagine a day in the life of an average urban Indian male living in an apartment by himself. He wakes up early in the morning to the sound of a hi tech alarm (which he has recently bought, thanks to the ad of an alarm clock he seen on TV). He jumps out of bed and switches on the radio (to hear some good music on FM punctuated with some news headline). The TV is then switched on (to the channel on Aerobics while he woks out with those slim women who promise a sexy physique in just a couple of months). With a brush in his mouth (of course with Close Up toothpaste for greater confidence and so that beautiful girls may say Talk to me), he scans the news paper for a quick update while he prepares some breakfast (the fast and highly nutritious Kellogs which once again he purchased because of the attractive ad). After a warm bath (with Dettol soap for greater skin protection and Head and Shoulders Shampoo so that he is never embarrassed because of dandruff), and a cool shave (with the very cool Gilette Shaving foam as shaving cream is out and shaving foam is in, and the Mac3 - for the closest shave), he bathes his cheeks with an after shave (Old Spice for that macho feeling). He dashes off to work (whizzing past posters, billboards, hoardings all bombarding him with different

messages, schemes, offers etc.). His bus and train journey are never boring as he always carries the latest India Today to keep him abreast of the latest happenings. He is on the field working when he feels thirsty (but he cannot make up his mind whether to have a Thums up as he is grown up, or to have a Pepsi because he wants to live young forever; any way he decides to play safe and have a Bisleri). His mobile suddenly buzzes. Its a programmed call, reminding of his date. He realises he is late. At the shopping center close by he buys his date a card (an Archies Im sorry Card of course, because no one can say it better than Archies). Obviously his date reacts as she is expected to by giving him a hug (just like the ad). After the great date they return home. After some TV snacking, he sets the mood with some soft music, spruces himself (any guesses with what? yes with the sexiest, irresistible, AXE deo spray). And the lights go out. (Hey wait a second, I forgot to mention the extra soft. Kurlon mattress he had recently purchased thanks to the special Diwali offer). That was Media and Advertisings influence for you.

The word advertising originates from a Latin word advertise which means to turn to. The dictionary meaning of the term is to give public notice or to announce publicity. Advertising as a term is used by many to cover almost any

topic in the promotional area of marketing. Advertising is a marketing vehicle that is designed for the masses. The American Marketing Association defines advertising as any paid form of non personal presentation and promotion of Ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.

Importance of Advertising Back in 1950s, it was said that doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark; you know you what you are doing, but nobody else does. The message was: 'Come on, turn on the light, it pays to advertise'. Today, in this complex world amidst heavy rush or everything, having a densely crowded scenario of multiple ads even winking in broad daylight goes unnoticed. Since everyone is advertising, the idea is to do it with innovation. Advertising is of immense utility both to large and small business. There can be no doubt that advertising efforts would result in creation of additional sales. All forms of promotion of sale of goods is in one way or the other, supported by extensive advertising campaign. It is not possible to imagine survival of any business, which is in the business of "make and sell" in the absence of advertising efforts. Advertising has extended its coverage to include non-business enterprises also e.g.. Public Water Works advertises the need to preserve precious water and to cultivate the habit of drinking clean water free from any form of pollution. Countless illustrations can be provided wherein non-business enterprises have recognised the importance of advertising and their use it as a tool to promote ideas and services.

Advertising

is

an

economic

activity

and

it

generates

employment. Thousands of men and women are directly or indirectly, employed in professional advertising. Advertising is an economic proposition. People who invest their money in advertising anticipate positive results. Hence, advertising must be result-oriented. Every newspaper or magazine survives on the advertisements that it receives. Advertisements are definite source of revenue to the publishers. Because of the advertisements inserted in newspapers and magazines, they are sold at lower price, which can be afforded by the public. Advertising is of paramount importance because it creates better-informed public by making available innumerable publications at an affordable price. Considering the response that advertisements generate, it can be stated that "advertising does not cost too much". In older to cut down production cost per unit there is a need to increase the total sales turnover. When overall sales increase, production cost per unit is automatically slashed and more people buy the goods. Apart from towering production costs, advertising also pays for entertainment and education through use of media like radio and TV.

Consumer is the king in the market. He cannot be compelled to buy anything. At the most, he can be persuaded to patronise a certain brand. It is here that advertising plays a prominent role. There is no standard format to be followed to make advertising liked by every person. Advertising is a creative field. Individual likes and dislikes determine success of advertising or its failure. Advertising scores over personal selling because it provides freedom of choice to the consumer. Decision to make purchases is independently arrived at by the consumers. No civilised society can record constant progress and ensure better standard of living to its people in the absence of information and education provided by advertising. The various companies big or small employ the services of various advertising firms to make for them advertisements and headlines which reflect the purpose or the standards of a company, for this purpose various projects are prepared and work upon which is continued for days and days and then the final results or fruit in the form of advertisement comes out. Since Advertising has direct influence upon the audience, therefore it is prepared with great care and hard work and in a very precise manner so that it directly appeals the audience and persuades them to buy the product the company wants to sell.

However as stated the consumer is the king of the market, therefore he cannot be forced but indeed be educated about the availability of different products in the market. So, that out of million choices he can buy the one which suits his/her needs.

UNIQUENESS OF VARIOUS ADVERTISEMENTS

The various companies prepare luring advertisements so that there product sells "the best out of the rest." Some of these uniquely prepared advertisements are discussed below: 1. Automotive: Mecedes-Benz E-Class

Headline: - Harmony. In heart and soul. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is an embodiment of the latest that automotive engineering has to offer - elegant, safe, powerful and comfortable. Perfection that is timeless. Baseline: - The furure of automobile. Company: - Mecedes-Benz
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2. Beverages >> Romanov

Headline: - Vonamor | Romanov I vonamor everything I vonamor fame I vonamor freedom I vonamor dreams I vonamor flashbulbs Company: - UB Group

3. Business Products >> Xerox

Headline: - There's just one problem with today's paperless office. Subhead: - Too much paper. Twenty years after someone invented the phrase 'the paperless office', it's paper that more companies are spending more money on. Which is why, Xerox presents the intelligent way to manage documents. The Xerox WorkCentre Pro 320. A digital, fully integrated, multifunctional A4/A3 printer and copier in one economical, space saving, document simplifying machine. Now documents can be scanned just once, and copied as many times as equired. And 600 X 1800 dpi, with 256 level of grayscale, guarantee exceptional digital print/copy results. Pre-loaded with all the necessary software, the Xerox WorkCentre Pro 320 arrives ready to print. (Other options include Network printing and
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USB support). And with Xerox's Full Service Maintenance Agreement (FSMA*), you needn't worry about replenishing cartridges, inventories or annual maintenance contracts. The Xerox WorkCentre Pro 320. Until the paperless office becomes a reality, it's the best thing that's happened to the managing paper. Baseline: - The Total Document Machine Company: - The Document Company Xerox

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4. Corporate Larsen & Toubro Limited

Details: - For a petrochemical plant: It's heart For the customer: A world-class reactor. For industry: Plastics For China: 'Made in India.' For us: Imagineering, as usual. Baseline: - It's all about Imagineering. Company: - Larsen & Toubro Limited

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5. Household Products >> V.I.P.

Headline: - Surprisingly light bags. Bye bye coolies. Details: - Featured: Zer-G. World's lightest bag* Durable polypropylene shells Central combination lock. Baseline: - Happy journey. Company: - V.I.P.

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6. Fashion and Lifestyle >> DTC

Headline: - Remember when your favourite place to bring in the New Year, was in her arms? Details: - Was it years ago? Or was it just last year? But when there was a time when New Year's was the eve of tucking away little surprises for her. When your sole new resolution was to find a new way of telling her how much you love her. You know there was a time when the joy on her face that one night was enough to make you smile through the coming year. Remember those nights? Remember those stars? Remember that passion? If you do, show her that passion again. Show it with a diamond. Baseline: - Pyaar ko lage heere ki umrr

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Company: - DTC 7. Textiles and Apparel >> Tamariind

Headline: - What's on your mind is on your body Subhead: - power flavour fusion flavour cool flavour flash flavour lounge flavour flavoursories Details: - It's time to turn your ideas inside out, from head to toe. Ideas about who you are, what you wear, and how. Ideas about life, with 'Total Wardrobe Solutions' from Tamariind. Treat yourself to Power Flavour, Cool Flavour, Fusion Flavour, Flash Flavour, Lounge Flavour and Flavoursories.

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Baseline: - The flavour you wear Company: - Tamariind 8. Financial Services >> Visa

Headline: - Ghumo, phiro, shopping karo. Subhead: - Cash ke bina aish karo. Details: - Apne bank account ka power dikhao. Visa Debit Card chalao.

Visa Debit Card offers you the convenience of not having to carry cash. Use it to pay for shopping, dining or travelling and for all your everyday needs. The amount you pay is directly debited to your bank account, so you don't have to

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worry about overspending. Accepted at over 13 million merchant outlets worldwide, it gives you the power to shop without cash. Baseline: - All it takes. Company: - Visa 9. Food Mother Dairy

Headline: - My ice cream, CRY and Me. Together, we ensure that all children are loved and protected. Details: - Mother Dairy contributes to CRY for every ice cream you buy. Ensuring children their right to live, learn and grow, thereby enabling them to lead a secure and happy childhood.
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Company: - Mother Dairy

10. Computers and IT Related >> Windows XP

Headline: - What's a PC without an Operating System? Details: - No writing. No printing. No mixing. No surfing. No emails. No downloads. No graphics. No colours. No animation. No designing. No games. No music. No

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movies. Your PC can do nothing without an Operating System. And when it comes to choosing one, Windows is the preferred choice worldwide. It lets you do all this and more in a secure environment. If you are buying a PC today, insist on genuine Windows to go with it. Company: - Microsoft

11. Household Durables Blue Star

Headline: - Temperature. Humidity. Electricity bills. All kept under strict control. Details: - You needn't worry about an airconditioner bringing down your bank balance along with the temperature
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and humidity. The power-saver compressor in a Blue Star airconditioner actually saves you 10-15% on your power bills. The way it consumes electricity, you'd say it hates the stuff. Baseline: - Breathe easy Company: - Blue Star

12. Services >> CRY-Child Relief And You

Headline: - Be part of a new freedom movement for children. Send a Cry card.

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Details: - This year, when you're looking for a greeting card, pick a CRY card. You'll be part of a movement that restores children's basic rights to food, shelter, healthcare and education. Also available: desk calendars | diaries | telephone & address books | note books | personal organisers Organisation: - CRY-Child Relief And You

13. Media >> DNA Sport

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Headline: - It's not a game. It's cricket. Subhead: - DNA Sport World Cup'07 Baseline: - On the stands at 8.30 am. Re.1 only. Company: - DNA

14. Media >> Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM

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Headline: - Doosri ladki pe maari line. Subhead: - GirlFriend boli "I am fine". Details: - Mirchi sunnewaale, always khush. Baseline: - It's hot! Company: - Radio Mirchi

15. Personal Care >> Dove

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Headline: - A refreshing drink for your skin. Details: - New Dove Fresh Moisture with its uplifting fragrance of green tea essence and cucumber is the coolest way to refresh your body. Its 1/4 hydrating milk gives your skin just the right amount of moisturization it needs in the summer. So, don't be surprised when every inch of your body yearns for more. Baseline: - Don't scratch, just scrub Comapny: - HLL

16. Childrens Products >> Cerelac

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Headline: - Now 100g more Cerelac. At no extra cost. Details: - Now with every 400g refill pack of Cerelac Wheat and Cerelac Wheat-Apple,you'll get 100g more--balanced nutrition for your baby to remain healthy and active. Active enough to do... more. Company: - Nestle

17. Pharmaceuticals >> Chyawanprash

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Headline: - Why does your wife need Dabur Chyawanprash? Try living a day in her life. Details: - If you feel your wife doesn't need Dabur Chyawanprash we have a suggestion for you. Try living a day in her life. That would involve waking up the earliest in the morning, getting your children ready for school, preparing their tiffin- and yours as well, helping them in their homework, taking care of the house and then preparing dinner. Phew! That doesn't sound easy. That's why she would require Dabur Chyawanprash, a gift of Ayurveda, increases 'Androoni Shakti' and keeps common ailments at bay. At the same time, it gives strength and stamina. It contains: Amla: One of the richest source of Vitamin C, Amla increases our immunity against common ailments. Karkashringi: Guards against recurring common cold and cough. Bala: Provides strength to the body and helps fight weakness. What's more, Dabur Chyawanprash has healthy mix of many other herbs that immensely benefit the young and old alike. Surely, now you know why your wife needs Dabur Chyawanprash. Right? Baseline: - Zaroorat Hai!

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Company: - Dabur

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18. others :- Asian Paints Royale

Details: - A friend. A comrade. The brother I never had. Through sunshine and storm I kept my calm. Eight notes to the rescue. Like a soothing touch. Day and night my tireless fingers carried on. And in return I was the caring one. Sheltered it like a newborn every time. Eighteen years on my shoulder it rested. Eighteen years on its shoulder I rested. Life's most treasured possessions deserve an equally treasured wall. Royale Luxury Emulsion. A wall-paint with a smooth coat, perfect sheen and richest colours that last as long as your memories. Baseline: - Some things in life deserve a Royale wall. Company: - Asian Paints

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ETHICS IN ADVERTISING
Advertising is big business. Billions of dollars are spent each MONTH on advertising. Many industries exist solely due to the influx of money advertising brings in. The cable TV industry, magazines, newspapers and many other media and non-media industries would be drastically changed if they couldn't sell advertising space. Plus we wouldn't know what to buy. Because of these facts, companies try all sorts of tactics to get our attention and money. Sometimes these attempts involve illegal, underhanded or dirty tricks. Some examples of illegal tricks involve the old bait and switch. This tactic requires placing an ad for an item at tremendous value. Upon reaching the store, the shoppers finds that the item is "no longer available" and in order to alleviate their sorrow at missing the deal they are directed to a similar item that, while not as good of a bargain (sometimes no bargain at all) closely matches what they came in for. An example would be an ad for a brand new computer with P3 1.2 Gig processor, 256 megs of Ram, 60 Gig hard drive, DVD, cd-writer and free software for only $599.95. What a bargain! As soon as you inquire: "I'm sorry, we're all sold out of that amazing deal, but since you need a computer, I can show you this one. It only has half as much processing power, ram or hard drive, but that sale item was probably too big for you anyway. It's a steal at just $600. If you need the DVD, I can have one installed for only $99..." and off you go being sold an item that you didn't initially want. Why is this advertising method illegal? For two reasons.
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It relies on false information It works way too well

One of the main problems is that often times, these underhanded techniques work all too well. They're based on deception, misdirection and other highly refined but sharply unethical techniques. In many ways, and especially on the internet, the porn industry has had its share of unethical advertising. One of the most common tactics used by the porn industry websites is to create pages that rank well for unrelated but "free" stuff. You are searching for something, say information on the latest Angelina Jolie movie, on the search engines and you see a search result offering free videos of Ms. Jolie. Sounds cool of course and you head to a page which flashes tons of banner ads (Which the owner gets paid for if you click on any of them. Another unethical practice.) The page offers secret pictures and videos of Ms. Jolie completely naked. Just click this link. You click and go to another dizzying array of ads before finding another link. You end up at a page that offers plenty of sexy naked women. All you have to do is fill in your name and credit card number... And there you are, tempted to pay for pictures that have nothing to do with Angelina Jolie (Or if they do, they are often her face placed on top of some nude model.) but there you are anyway. You most likely don't even remember what you were searching for in the first place. (Info on her latest movie ring a bell?) Does this technique work? Would the entire industry use it if it didn't? Sometimes, the advertising attempt is covered in a veneer to make it sound OK to people with objections. They say they are just trying to

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offer "relevant content" to people that may want it, or say that all they have to do to stop receiving the ad is... If you receive e-zines with ads on them and don't want the e-zine anymore, sometimes it involves an act of congress and a true sighting of Godzilla to get off their list. Advertising works best when it's aimed at "people who would most likely use the product". Because of this many unethical attempts are done to place ads in places they shouldn't be. Let's say that Nike created an ad campaign of spray painting ads onto sidewalks. After all, people who are walking obviously need shoes, and they'll want the latest from Nike, right? Hey, this isn't defacing property. This is a major corporation simply marketing it's products to it's customers. That shouldn't be a problem, right? Never mind that they didn't pay the owners of the sidewalks for ad space. That's no big deal. (NOTE: To date, I'm not aware of Nike or anyone else doing this kind of ad campaign.) I'm waiting for the day when someone creates prescription glasses that the wearer gets for free. The glasses simply flash occasional ads on the bottom right hand portion of the lens. Would this be unethical? What if you weren't told about the ads until after you got the glasses? Where to draw the line? So what line can we draw to tell unethical advertising from ethical advertising? The simplest method is: Does the ad campaign rely on misinformation or misdirection? If the ad lies to the customer promising one thing but then tries to deliver something else, that is unethical. Period. How much further can advertising go? I think I found it.

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The bottom of the barrel? A company that I have found recently is guilty of many unethical practices, all at the same time. That company is Ezula. They have a made a program that creates link ads on all webpage you view. They sell particular words or phrases to companies as advertising fees. This browser plug-in reads the words on the webpage you're reading and if it finds one of these words/phrases, it creates a link out of it that goes to the paying customer. For example, if the webpage you're reading has the phrase "hotel reservations" and you have this plug-in, then it creates a link out of that phrase that points to expedia.com. Nevermind that I, as a web designer didn't want that link there. That money making link shows up whether I like it or not. You don't even have to download this program. It comes with another popular, but unrelated program: Kazaa. A program to find and download mp3's. Kazaa has raised in popularity with Napsters demise. So let's see what's happening:
The company Ezula creates a browser plug-in that can make links on every webpage you view based on a database of phrases. If the phrase is in the database, the link is made. Since it's a browser plug-in, they don't have to adjust anyone's HTML coding. It doesn't affect the computer next to you or the one next door, it just adjusts the computer it's installed on. Ezula then "sells" these phrases, or rather sells the link. When we click on this link, they pay money to Ezula.

Let's see just how many unethical practices this entails: Stealing ad space

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They are selling the phrases on MY website and they aren't paying me a dime. I, as a website developer get nothing from this. They are selling ad space on my site, and not paying me. If I created a device that could be placed on the TV cable outside your home and inserted little ads into your TV shows that the cable company didn't authorize, I could then sell advertising space. Of course, what I was doing would surely be found illegal and they would make me stop.

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Defacing property There is also the fact that they are defacing my site, in terms of adjusting it without my consent, or even knowledge. There is the argument that web designers already don't have much control over how a webpage is presented because different browsers can show the same webpage in slightly (in some cases drastic) ways. Therefore, they shouldn't complain that some program might alter the look their sight. However website developers care very much about how their site is presented. We care so much, that we often remake our entire site in three or four ways then use methods to send browsers to the correct version so the viewer will get what we want them to get. But what do I do about this? I would have to search all my entire sites for ezula-linked words and change my wording. This is impossible since some of the words Ezula links are simple ones like "sports" or "mortgage". These words are hard to skirt around all the time. Gambling with people's honor Then there's the matter of honor in terms of content. If I write an article about gambling, links would be created that point to websites that I don't endorse. If someone doesn't understand that I didn't place that particular link and they get angry at me thinking that I am endorsing something that I'm not, what can I do? My reputation depends on making sure certain ethical standards aren't crossed. One page on a site I work on focuses on kid friendly links. Parents trust that page and expect me to keep it very clean. If a sentence like "I'm

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betting this will work." shows up and the term betting creates a link to an online gambling casino, I'm in trouble.

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Back door installation This program comes piggybacked almost hidden in Kazaa's program. there is nothing on Kazaa's website that even remotely suggests that this program will also be downloaded and installed along with the program you intend to get. This in itself is unethical, although an increasingly common tactic. Ezula claims that all you have to do is opt-out when you install Kazaa. There is one (and only one) screen where you can choose to not have Ezula's program installed. You are barely even told what the program does. As we have already mentioned, not everyone on the internet is computer savvy. To get a program installed is quite a feat, much less install just the correct one's when multiple programs are added. When you install Internet Explorer, it installs some programs that are associated with it, such as Macromedia Flash plug-ins. The Ezula program has nothing to do with Kazaa's program

whatsoever. Shame on Kazaa for installing this, and three other unrelated, programs. Even though I am computer savvy, if I didn't know about this program, I would have installed it too without thinking about it. The only reason anyone would be given to not install it would be because of bad publicity like this program deserves. Changing identities This program used to be called Toptext, this is the name most who know this situation still call it, but right after the bad news came out, they have changed the name of the program. In fact they have

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changed the name four times. There program has been called TopText, HOTtext, DesktopDollars and now ContextPro. The only reason for doing this that I can think of would be to escape the bad publicity this program is generating.

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Hacking in the name of corporate business They are hacking sites, in the sense that they are altering the look of the sites without my consent. If I somehow could place ad links on all the government sites that they didn't authorize, how soon do you think they would label me a hacker and shut me down? It wouldn't matter if I hacked into their site, or created a browser plug-in and gave it secretly to tons of users. But, since this is done in the name of business I guess it's OK. If I created a company called Duplitech Inc. and grabbed a bunch of popular and expensive software programs and hacked them so anyone could install them without having to register them and offered the hacked versions for sale at $5 each or 5 for $20, I would make tons of money. Since this is done in the name of business I guess it's OK. (NOTE: Some of you might think this is at odds with my article on hacking, but re-read it and you'll see it's not.) Opting out takes trust In Ezula's defense, they have a system where they can place domains on a "do not place links here" list. Being on this list keeps links from showing up on your site. So anyone who doesn't want links can just place their sites on this list and everything is OK, right? Of course not. I dare you find out how to get on this list. There's no information about it on their website. There's information about this list in their install information, privacy policy, terms of use, nothing. There is no public place that tells you how to be placed on this list. If you can't find the list, you can't get off of it.

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OK so you finally find out that in order to get on the list you must email support@ezula.com with a list of the domains that you want no links to appear on. Well, now you have to wait and see if they place your domains on the list. What if they "forget"? Then you have to contact them again, and again and... Also, what if someone downloads a local version of your site? Or what if a cached version of the page appears, such as in Google's Cache section? The links show up again and there's nothing you can do about that one ever. Hypocrites in action This is by far the crowning piece of unethical advertising. Ezula claims that this marketing action is not intrusive to any website. They claim it's not hurting anyone to place these simple links on other people's site. Oh Really? One of the phrases currently being sold is "online business", which happens to be on their own site at http://www.ezula.com/news/media_coverage.asp. But if you have their program and look at that page, you'll find that phrase isn't linked. Well, maybe it somehow doesn't meet the link criteria. Maybe there's two spaces between the words so it doesn't match. Let's look at google's cached version of that page. Since the cached page is at google.com which isn't on the list. Low and behold the link appears. Let's go back to their page and download a local version and look at that. Gee, there's the link again.

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Ezula claims their links don't cause any harm to anyone, but they don't allow the links on their own site!! If I sold some unethical product and claimed it was perfectly safe for everyone, but refused to use it myself, what would people think? Is Ezula the bottom of the barrel? Unfortunately not. Will people and businesses stoop to lower depths? Yep. But as long as we let obviously unethical and illegal actions go unpunished, these actions will get larger and more invasive.

THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ADVERTISING

Advertising is the name given to the process of commercial promotion of goods and services in order to increase its sales. Advertising can be done by means of a number of mediums like television, newspapers, wall paintings, billboards, magazines, Internet, by the word-of-mouth and in many other ways. Advertising informs the buyers about the availability of a certain product or service in the market and encourages them to buy it. The main objectives of advertising are: * Increasing the usage of a certain product and hence acquiring more orders. * Creating new customers and increasing brand recognition. * To obtain feedback from customers regarding a certain product. * To indicate introduction of new products or replacement of old ones.

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Advertising has a number of uses. Apart from promoting commercial goods, advertising can also be used to educate and motivate the public about non-commercial issues such as AIDS, deforestation, family planning, etc. It is a powerful media which is capable of reaching to the far out masses. Now a days we find many ads on the internet also. These ads in most cases, have been successfully in connecting the user with the information he requires. To prevent complete commercialization of electronic media, some countries have made it mandatory for broadcasters to air some advertisements related to consumer interest. These public advertisements educate people of that country on a number of social and moral issues. However, some people are very keen on exposing the negative side of advertising. The impact that advertisements cause depends on the state of mind of an individual and his past experiences. For instances, young kids will be easily attracted by the false claims made in advertisements. People are also arguing about the increase in consumption of substances like alcohol and cigarettes after viewing the ads. Excessive advertising has become a nuisance in most cities of the world. Manufacturers easily make false claims about any product and influence the minds of the people. To confront this problem, companies are being asked to withdraw any false and negative claims made in their ads and also being made to pay a fine for these false claims.

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RECENT REVENUES AND PROFITS OF NEWS CHANNELS BROADCASTING ADVERTISEMENTS

For companies in the news broadcast business, the quarter to September 2009 has been an uneventful one. Only broadcasters with a regional focus were able to report profits, while those competing for a pie of the English news segment continue to struggle. Among six listed news broadcasters , only Zee News and TV Today reported a net profit in the second quarter. While other broadcasters, including NDTV, IBN Broadcast, Television Eighteen reported India and UTV Software Communications losses.

For the September quarter, Zee News the countrys largest broadcaster in Hindi and regional languages reported 26% YoY jump in net sales to Rs 155 crore, thanks to higher advertising revenues. Its net profit rose 10% to Rs 12.6 crore compared with the year-ago period. Considering the tough phase that the media industry had to undergo in the first two quarters of this financial year, it is remarkable that Zee News didnt resort to any cut in total expenditure. TV Today Network, which owns Aaj Tak, one of the countrys leading Hindi news channels, gained from the general election early this year followed by assembly elections in some key states which boosted viewership and ad revenues.

The company reported a 40% increase in net profit to Rs 10.6 crore in the September 2009 quarter against Rs 7.5 crore a year ago.

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However, companies in English language news broadcasting continue to struggle with insufficient advertising revenues coupled with relatively high cost. For instance, TV 18, Indias advertising revenues, dropped by close to 20% YoY to Rs 63.7 crore in the September 2009 quarter. Given the relatively high debt on the books of TV 18, NDTV and UTV at the end of FY09, revenue growth this fiscal would be critical to these companies to help them service the debt. Most companies in the broadcast business have been struggling to break-even and this trend has been prevalent for nearly three years now.

The situation is more or loss similar in other companies only the magnitude of loss differs. It is difficult to make an assessment as to when English language broadcasters would be in a position to breakeven considering their niche audience and smaller reach in comparison to channels that serve the regional language speakers.

On the other hand, the regional language channels are positioning themselves to take advantage of the growth in their genre. Recently, Zee News announced a corporate restructuring under which it proposes to divest the regional entertainment channel bouquet (RGEC) to Zee Entertainment Enterprises. This will become a pure play regional language news broadcaster. The management at its analyst meet had stated that regional news channels would maintain a growth of at least 25%, going forward. This hiving off of entertainment channels from pure news focus channels makes sense.

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ADVERTISING AND INDIA

NEW DELHI: As the CEO of Zenith Optimedia Worldwide, Steve King feels that new and emerging advertising markets like India and China will power the global industrys recovery, on the back of positive signals from developed markets like US, Europe. India, with an approximate 10% growth, will certainly be in the top ten advertising markets in absolute dollar terms by 2015, he told ET.

Zenith Optimedia, the worlds third largest media-buying agency and an enterprise under the Paris-based Publicis Group is upbeat about India. Fresh from bagging new business worth $100 million in the country this year, it is commemorating five years in India by announcing a slew of promotions among its top brass. While the companys India CEO Ambika Srivastava has been promoted as the chairperson of Zenith Optimedia, Satyajit Sen, MD- North, has been promoted as the agencys India CEO.

India figures amongst Zenith Optimedias 20 largest markets globally, but over the past five years, it has been among the top three fastest growing ones. Most of our markets are between 15 to 20 years old, so despite being here for only five years, this market has responded very well. Our focus here will be on winning local clients, apart from the international ones. By the next five years, we will have considerably closed the gap on the top two market leaders here, King said.

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In October this year, the agency had forecast the Indian advertising industry to grow at 10% next year. It is also close on the heels of launching a clutch of new tools to aid consumer research. Despite flat revenues, our groups media buys have increased thanks to fragmentation in media. So we need to drive greater standardisation and automation in India. With this in mind, we have made a series of acquisitions of technological services like Click To Sales and Performex, which is the search agency of Google. No other group is investing so much in technology and systems, as we are, King added. Commenting on the global advertising outlook, King was of the view that advertising had seen off its worst ebbs. World advertising spends will be down 10% this year. While the downturn is not over, the rate of decline has stopped deteriorating further, which is very significant, he said. Next year, because of the indicators in US, Europe and Asia, we see a flattening out or even a growth of about two per cent for global advertising in the 2010 calendar year, King added. He painted a pretty picture, so far as forecasts for the Indian media market go. While we expect the Indian advertising to grow at 10% next year, within this we expect newspaper advertising to grow by 7%, making this among the very few markets where newspapers continue to grow," he signed off. There is reason for King to bet big on India as the agency enjoys a healthy growth rate in this market. This year, it has had a good run, bagging the media-buying duties for brands like Videocon, Uninor (joint

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telecom venture of Unitech and Telenor), e-Bay and Motorola, among others.

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CONCLUSION

In this project the meaning, benefits and ill effects of advertising have been discussed and also the relationship of advertising with the society has been elucidated. It is clear that advertisements have a wide reach and mass impact in todays world, they affect everyone - be it the young or old, poor or rich. Therefore also the way they are strategically prepared has been discussed above. Hence the question of ethics in advertising arises. Advertisers now must be aware of their responsibility towards the society; they should be truthful and regard the dignity of the human person. To ensure that all advertisements are ethical, the Advertising Standards Council of India(ASCI) plays a vital role . The main goal of ASCI is to maintain and enhance the publics confidence in advertising. The Consumer Complaints Council of the ASCI examines and investigates the grievances and

complaints received from the consumers and general public

Although

there

are

various

organizations

to

ensure

that

advertisements are ethical , the main responsibility lies with the advertiser, to ensure that the advertisements do not hurt the

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sentiments or corrupt the thoughts of anyone in the society . To conclude it can be said that since advertising is a mass media , the media must self regulate and try not to hurt anybody in the society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The research has been done through the following sources :-

www.google.co.in

www.wikipedia.com

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