Meaning, Roles, Types, Methods and Concepts of Advertising

September 10, 2024 Globalinfo247

Advertising can be defined as any paid form of non-personal communication which is directed to the customers of target audience through various media in order to present and promote products, service and ideas. It is a branch of commerce which is used to create awareness for a particular product and it must be paid for.

Advertising informs, educates and persuades people to buy the advertised goods and services.

Basic Concepts of Advertising

The following are basic concept in advertising:

Theme: This is the essential message the advertiser wishes to communicate.

Target: This refers to the target audience i.e. people the advertisement is aimed at.

Advertising Medium: This is the medium which the message is passed e.g. radio, television, newspaper etc.

Frequency: This is the number of time an advert is delivered.

Reach: This is refers to the size of the audience that has seen or heard the advert.

Role of Advertising

1. To introduce new product

One of the roles of advertising is to inform customers about the existence of new products in the market i.e. creation of awareness.

2. To persuade customer to buy

Advertising helps in arousing the customers’ interest and by so doing persuade them to buy the product.

3. Creation of demand

Advertising stimulates demand by constantly reminding potential consumers about the availability of the product in the market.

4. To educate the people on the uses of a product

It educates consumers on the usage of the product and the benefits to be derived.

5. It Promotes the Images of the Firm

Advertising builds a corporate image for a company.

6. It Increases the Firm’s Turnover

Advertising facilitates sales for a firm, and as a result the turnover and profit of a business may be enhanced.

7. Development of Large Markets

Advertising creates large market segment which leads to the development of larger markets.

8. Provision of technical information about a product

Advertising provides information that is needed by the consumers. Such information as quality, price changes and special offers are provided by advertising.

9. It helps to improve the quality of goods

Research can embarked upon to improve quality of products in order to outplay competitors i.e. healthy competition can help to improve the quality of products.

10. To create brand loyalty

The Demand of the customers can be maintained by constantly arousing their interest on a particular product and this will ultimately create brand loyalty.

Types of Advertising

Meaning, Roles, Types, Methods and Concepts of Advertising

1. Informative advertising

This is a kind of advertising which aimed at disseminating information that will let consumers know that goods and services are available. Informative advertising informs the public about the existence of a product.

It also assists the customers to choose between alternative on offer. It supplies information which are useful to the consumers by calling their attention to a particular product. It also gives information about the benefits and uses of a product.

Informative advertising is good for introducing new products or job vacancies.

2. Persuasive advertising

This is a type of advertising which tries to persuade customers to buy a particular brand of a product as being different from other brands.

Persuasive advertising which is emotional in nature is used to induce or arouse consumers’ interest in order to persuade them to buy a particular product.

It sometimes lay emphasis on the distinctive characteristics of a product and appeals to people to buy and use a particular products e.g. medicine, cosmetics etc.

3. Competitive advertising

This is a type of advertising which is aimed at persuading customers to buy one brand of product in preference to another brand by another producer. It tries to woo customers to consume a product at the expense of another.

Competitive advertising is good for products with close substitutes and it is associated with clear cut competition. It emphasized on the fact that product is far better than another in terms of quality e.g. 7up and Coke.

4. Mass and specific advertising

This is a type of advertising in which manufacturers of similar products or same commodity come together to jointly advertise their products to the consuming public. They will not lay emphasis on or mention a particular product brand.

The major reason is to reduce the cost and advertising. Specific advertising provides information especially on some lines of goods or a particular brand which is unique in nature.

Methods of Advertising

1. Direct Advertising

Direct advertising is a method of advertising which is aimed at providing information to a section, target market segment or group of people with relatively similar needs.

The market will be segmented and advertising will be directed to or targeted at a particular audience or group, e.g. youths, school, hospital etc.

An advertisement on jeans for instance, must as a matter of professionalism is directed to the youths. This method gives direction to the advertising process to avoid wastage.

2. Indirect Advertising

Indirect advertising is directed to the totality or generality of the consuming public. It is not aimed at providing information to a section or a group but to advertise goods and services consumed by all categories of people e.g. advertisement on bread, salt, sugar etc.

Advertising Media

Advertising media are means through which information concerning goods and services is conveyed to the audience, target market or the general public. The various advertising media available to advertising are:

The press (newspaper, magazines/journals and books)
Television Radio Cinema
Hoarding (Billboard)
Window display
Catalogues
Exhibitions and Trade fairs
Free samples
Direct mail advertising Handbills/fliers

Others include Bell ringing, Car stickers, Neon Signs, T-Shirt, Caps, and Sign-post etc.

Merits and Demerits of Advertising

Merits of Advertising

It helps to creating job opportunity: Advertising creates job opportunities for people working with the advertising agencies and others.

It provides information about features: It helps the producer to explain the use, features and benefits of the product to the consumers.

Reduction of cost: The cost per unit of good will be reduced thereby consumers will pay less.

Increase in profit: Advertising increases the profitability of an organization.

Higher Revenue: The advertising firms also gain in terms of revenue.

Provision of information about existence of goods

Advertising provides information about the existence of a product.

Improvement in quality of goods: It helps in improving the quality of goods as a result of healthy competition.

Increase in production: Advertising can lead to increase in production as more goods will be demanded.

Creation of awareness: It helps in creating awareness for a product.

Demerits of Advertising

False and misleading: Some advertisement may be false and misleading as they make exaggerated claims.

It leads to monopoly: Heave advertising by a dominant supplier may restrict competition by preventing new entries to the market.

High cost: The high cost of advertising is passed on to the consumer in form of higher prices.

Irrational appeal: Advertising appeals mainly to the irrational motives in people.

Buyers can buy unnecessarily: Advertising encourages buyers to make unnecessary purchases.

Encourages too many brand: It can encourage too many brand names.

Wasteful: Advertising is wasteful in terms of resources.

Unhealthy competition: It can lead to unhealthy competition if an advertiser discredits the products of their rivals.

Interference with consumers free choice: It interferes with the free choice of consumers.

Advertising Agencies

Advertising agencies are specialists in the planning, creating and placing of advertisement in the media. The Agency functions between the advertiser and the media owner.

An agency is one which is able to offer client services, creative services, mechanical production and placing of advertisement.

In other words, advertising agencies are independent organizations of creative and business people who specialize in the development and preparation of advertising plans, advertisement and other promotional tools.

Function of the Advertising Agency

The agencies create advertising copy
They buy air time and media space for advert placement
The agencies advise clients on advertising strategies and the media to use
They collect market research.
They help to assist the advertiser in planning and executing its advertising programme.
An agency’s art department lays out advertising copy.

In summary, marketing is the process of resource mobilization aimed at meeting the changing needs of the customer. The elements of marketing concept include needs, exchange, value, customers and markets.

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