Advertising simply put is telling and selling the product.

Advertising Management though is a complex process of employing various media to sell a product or service

Advertising is the promotion of a companys products and services though different mediums to increase the sales of the product and services. It works by making the customer aware of the product and by focusing on customers need to buy the product. Globally, advertising has become an essential part of the corporate world. Therefore, companies allot a huge part of their revenues to the advertising budget. Advertising also serves to build a brand of the product which goes a long way to make effective sales. There are several branches or types of advertising which can be used by the companies. Let us discuss them in detail.

Classification of Advertising 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 an ad on the front page would be costlier than on inside pages. Similarly an ad in the glossy supplement of the paper would be more expensive than in a mediocre quality paper. 2. Broadcast Advertising - This type of advertising is very popular all around the world. It consists of television, radio, or Internet advertising. The ads on the television have a large audience and are very popular. The cost of the advertisement depends on the length of the ad and the time at which the ad 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. 3. Outdoor Advertising - Outdoor advertising makes use of different tools to gain customers 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. 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 ad, just the mention of the product in the movie. For example, Tom Cruise used the Nokia phone in the movie Minority Report. 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.

3. Features of Advertising

1. Advertising provides information : The basic purpose of advertising is to provide information about products/services to prospective buyers. The details of products such as features, uses, prices, benefits, manufacturer's name, and instructions to be followed while using the product are given in the advertisements. The advertising message and brand name are also given. The information supplied gives education and guidance to consumers and facilitates correct selection of goods by them. 2. Paid form of communication : The advertiser has to pay to the media for giving publicity to his advertising message. He pays for the advertisement and naturally he decides the size, slogan, etc. given in the advertisement. Advertising is a form of paid communication. 3. Non-personal presentation : Advertising is non-personal in character as against salesmanship which is personal (face to face communication) in character. In advertising, the message is given to all and not to one specific individual. This rule is applicable to all advertising media including press. However even in advertising target consumers or target market can be selected for making an advertising appeal. 4. Gives publicity to goods, services and ideas : Advertising is basically for giving information to consumers. This information is always related to the features and benefits of goods and services of different types. Advertising gives new ideas to consumers as its contents are meaningful. The aim is to make the ideas popular and thereby to promote sales. For example, advertising on family planning, family welfare, and life insurance is useful for placing new ideas before the people. 5. Basically for persuasion : Advertising aims at persuasion of potential customers. Advertising attracts attention towards a product, creates desire to have the same and finally induces consumers to visit the market and purchase the same. Advertising has psychological impact on consumers. It influences the buying decisions of consumers. 6. Target oriented : It is possible to make intensive advertising by selecting a specific market or specific segment of consumers (e.g. children, housewives, etc.) for the purpose of advertising. This selection of a specific market is called target market.

Advertising becomes effective and result oriented when it is target oriented. The waste in advertising can be minimized through such target oriented advertising. 7. An Art, Science and Profession : It is now universally accepted that advertising is an art, science and a profession. It is an art as it needs creativity for raising its effectiveness. Advertising is a science as it has its principles and rules. Advertising is now treated as a profession with its professional bodies and code of conduct for members. Advertising agencies and space brokers function as professionals in the field of advertising. 8. Important element in marketing mix : Advertising is an important element in marketing mix. It supports the sales promotion efforts of the manufacturer and makes positive contribution in sales promotion provided other elements in the marketing mix are reasonably favorable. This is natural as advertising alone is not adequate for promoting sales. Many companies now spend huge funds on advertising and public relations 9. Creativity - the essence of advertising : Advertising is a method of presenting a product in an artistic, attractive and agreeable manner. This is possible through the element of creativity which is the essence of advertising. Creativity can be introduced by creative people (professionals) in the field of advertising. They introduce new techniques for introducing creativity. Without creativity, advertising will be like a body without a soul.

Benefits of Advertising to Manufacturers

1. Large scale production and marketing : Advertising is useful as a sales promotion technique. It gives information to consumers and encourages them to purchase more. Manufacturers expand their production base due to higher market demand created through advertising. 2. Introduction of new products : Advertising facilitates the introduction of new products. Due to advertising, information about new products is given to the prospects. This creates demand and the manufacturer is able to sell new products along with the existing ones. 3. Creates new demand : Advertising spreads information and encourages consumers to purchase new products. Such advertising leads to the creation of new demand. Various concessions are offered to consumers in the initial period. This gives positive response from the consumers. Thus, advertising creates new demand from non-users. 4. Facilitates effective personal selling : Advertising creates proper background for personal selling. It gives advance information to the prospects. They visit the shop in order to purchase a particular product which they know through advertising media. The job of a salesman becomes easy as consumers develop affinity to specific products. In brief, advertising supports and supplements personal selling. 5. Builds brand image : Manufacturers introduce branding for making their products popular with distinct personality. The brands are made popular through advertising. As a result, consumers develop loyalty towards a specific brand. Advertising builds brand image and this develops consumer loyalty towards a specific brand. 6. Reduces cost of production : Advertising creates demand and promotes sales. This enables a manufacturer to conduct production on a large scale. This leads to reduction

in the cost of production and distribution. As a result, the profit margin of the manufacturer increases. 7. Facing competition : A manufacturer can face market competition effectively and can make his products popular through advertising. He can remove misunderstanding among consumers about his products through appropriate advertising. 8. Sales promotion : A manufacturer can make his sales promotion campaign successful by using the support of advertising. He can prepare proper background for the success of such campaign as advertising facilitates direct communication with consumers. 9. Goodwill builder : A manufacturer can build up goodwill and good image in the business world and also among the consumers through advertising. The social welfare programmes and community service activities can be given wide publicity through advertising. Even the progress of the Organisation can be brought to the notice of the public through advertising.

4.2 Benefits of Advertising to Consumers

1. Information and guidance : Consumers get information and guidance from advertising. They can study the advertisements of competitors and select the products which are profitable to them. This avoids their cheating and exploitation at the hands of middlemen. 2. Acts as reminder : Advertising acts as a reminder to consumers. They remember what is urgently required to be purchased through advertising. 3. Special attraction to consumers : Advertising leads to competition among manufacturers and retailers. They have to offer something special in order to attract consumers. Such attraction offers benefits to consumers. For example, manufactures have to bring down the price in order to attract customers. They have to supply quality goods in order to attract more customers. All this is beneficial to consumers in terms of price and quality of goods. 4. Raises living standards : Advertising raises the standard of living of people by supplying information about goods and services which can offer convenience and pleasure to them. Advertising guides consumers in the selection of most suitable goods for their daily life. Thus advertising provides higher standard of living to consumers as a social group 5. Effective product use : Consumers get information about uses/benefits of different products through advertising. They also get guidance as regards the right manner of using the product. This avoids possible damage of the product purchased. Even the product can be used for different purposes because of the information supplied through advertisements. 6. Removes misunderstanding : Advertising helps consumers in removing their misunderstanding about certain products. They change their attitudes towards certain products and services due to advertising.

Five Ms of Advertising

An advertiser has to take decisions on the following aspects: 1. Mission : This refers to the purpose/objective behind advertising. The objectives behind advertising are varied in character. They include sales promotion, information and guidance to consumers, developing brand loyalty, market goodwill, facing market competition effectively, making the products popular/successful and introduction of a new product. Decision in regard to mission is a basic one as other decisions are to be adjusted as per the mission or objective or purpose of advertising decided. For consumer products like chocolate, tooth paste, soap, the mission/objective include facing market competition, sales promotion and making the product popular in the market. 2. Money : This refers to the finance provided for advertising purpose (advertising budget). It means the budget allocation made by the company for advertising. Money provided is a limiting factor as effectiveness of advertising, media used, coverage of advertising, etc. are related to the funds provided for advertising purpose. Advertising is costly and companies have to spend crores of rupees for this purpose. Advertising should be always within the limits of funds provided. Naturally, decisions on advertising package should be adjusted as per the budget allocation for advertising. It may be noted that consumer products like tooth paste or chocolate are highly competitive with many substitutes easily available in the market. Naturally, extensive advertising on TV, newspapers, radio, etc. is required. These media are costly. Naturally, the manufacturing/marketing company will have to provide huge money for advertising purpose. 3. Message : Message is provided through the text of advertisement. The message is given through written words, pictures, slogans and so on. The message is for the information, guidance and motivation of prospective buyers. Attractive and meaningful messages give positive results and the advertising becomes resultoriented. The services of creative writers, artists, etc. are used for giving attractive message to the consumers. Here, the advertiser has to decide the message to be given, the media to be used for communicating the message, the extent of creativity, the specific customer group selected for giving the message and so on. The message is also related to the decisions taken as regards mission and money provided for advertising. For advertising consumer product like chocolate, the message is important. The buyers are mainly children and others of lower age groups or for the benefit (pleasure and satisfaction) of younger generation. The advertising message should be simple and easily understandable with the help of picture or slogan. It should be also attractive and agreeable to younger generation. The pictures or slogans used should be short and impressive. 4. Media : Media of advertising are already noted previously. The advertiser has to take decision about the media to be used for advertising purpose. Media differ as regards cost, coverage, effectiveness and so on. The selection of media depends on the budget provided, products to be advertised, and features of prospective buyers and so on. Wrong decision on media may make advertising ineffective and money spent will be wasted. This suggests that media should be selected properly and decision in this regard is important and critical. For advertising popular and extensively used consumer items like chocolate, the media should be selected properly. TV advertising particularly a cartoon channel,

advertising in children books or newspaper supplements for children, advertising on radio programmes for children, etc. 5. Measure : Measure relates to the effectiveness of advertising. An advertiser will like to make evaluation of advertisement in order to judge its effectiveness. If an advertisement is not effective /purposeful, it will be modified or withdrawn. This is necessary for avoiding expenditure on the advertisement which is not effective or is not likely to give positive results. An advertiser has to measure the effectiveness of his advertisement programme/ campaign and take suitable decisions. This decisionmaking as regards effectiveness of advertising is equally important and essential. Such testing facilitates introduction of suitable remedial measures, if required.