Marketing Communication - Assignment Example

Introduction Product promotion includes sales promotion, personal selling, advertising, branding, publicity and various methods of brand, product or company promotion. Marketing communication aims at breaking down the strategies that are involved with messages for marketing into categories that are based on objectives of each message. One powerful way of effecting market communication is through advertising. Advertising may simply be described as the means through which services and goods are promoted to the general public. The main role of advertising is to increase make higher sales of the services and goods by drawing public attention to them and by showing them in a favorable way. History of Advertising In the olden days advertising was done using means that are little being used today. Today’s advertising is much more elaborate and complicated sometimes involving thousands of individuals with different skills in writing, marketing, photography, public relations, film making, graphic design and others (Thomas & Metz, 2004). Some of these advertising methods are however still in use today. At the dawn of 19th century magazines and newspapers were less important for advertising than handbills, posters, trade people’s cards, “advertising engines” and “sandwich men”. However, during the mid 1800s magazines and newspapers fast stated becoming main sources ways of advertising just like radio and television commercial did during the 29th century (Vink, 1992). Today’s advertising is image-saturated and accounts for a remarkable portion of media barrage. Researchers in the United States of America have estimated that from childhood to the age of 18, the average American sees close to 350,000 commercials. Media advertisements take different forms other than radio and television (Thomas & Metz, 2004). In magazines and newspapers, large, bold adverts are displayed to promote services and products of well–known commercial brands and names. There are also numerous “small ads” or “classifieds” for houses, cars and other products which are less conspicuous (Porter & Guy, 2006). Ads are practically placed on every corner; on fences, building walls, at the sides of taxis and buses and many more. Today the computer screen, eye catching advertisements blink and wink colorfully on almost every internet web page (Joseph & Phelps, 2004). In shopping centers, flyers and signs are used to give direction to particular stores and other specific places. Advertising agencies have played an important role in advertising products on behalf of businesses and organizations since their introduction in the 18th century (Porter & Guy, 2006). Objectives, Advantages and Functions of Successful Advertising Advertising is done with four main objectives; to maintain demand for goods, introduce new/unknown products, increase demand for products and to create awareness (Ian & Merlin, 2004). Successful advertising has several functions and advantages. Advertising is used mainly with the intention of maximizing sales, for publicity, brand building, to persuade buyers, to introduce new products, enable market leadership, inform changes, face competition, enhance goodwill and to counteract competitors’ advertisements. Requirements for advertising The existence of advertising depends on four main factors which include: 1. Services and goods to be advertised 2. Competition between a two or more providers of the same products for which a potential market exist 3. A means through which advertising is cheaply accomplished to reach a large population 4. A population that is sufficiently educated to an extent of being able to comprehend advertising messages Advertising Theory Real developments have been witnessed in methodology and in the comprehension of advertising and the thoughts that surround its development. Advertisers have to realize that consumers are faced with an enormous array of alternatives, all of which are taken to contain suspect and incomplete. In order to be aligned with the customer’s decision to buy a product, three main mechanisms are used with the purpose of making majority of these decisions to be made at the lowest possible level of conscious attention: Habituation, imagery and clustering (Ian & Merlin, 2004). Habituation involves making buying decisions a routine. Patterns of activity are known to be reasonably satisfactory when fixed upon and become almost automatic with time. Imagery -there is a general belief that information related to products is normally not processed piece-by-piece in an orderly or systematic fashion. Masses of impressions are drawn on in form of images or broad pictures which can be “recalled” and compared with other options. Clustering – buying decisions are often taken in clusters and not as single units. This can better be explained by considering a housewife who decides to serve a given menu. From this menu, subsequent buying decisions will flow in amore-or-less automatic fashion. Customers develop “flexible strategies” for unloading the task of decision making while seeking to maintain reasonable results. In other words, people tend to develop a routine approach to every market which makes them able to deal with decisions to purchase at a low conscious level without fixing on rigid behavioral patterns which may prevent from exploiting changes that occur to local circumstances. Customers’ images and habits tend to evolve loosely towards a good fit with a long-term objective reality. However, they generally do not worry, in short-term, about goodness of fit provided that the products or brands they buy perform well enough. It is realized hence that consumers often act inconsistently and irrationally. How Customers Work For the customer, decision making is by nature a stressful and painful process especially if there is insufficient information upon which to base judgments or if the decisions are too many to the extent of denying the ability to perform proper evaluation (Hedge, Sally & Mary, 2000). These conditions are present in typically in a wide range of purchasing situations. Many purchasing decisions made by consumers are objectively trivial. This actually means that the potential risk from the “wrong” decision is often minimal. Rigid habituation, although not satisfying, tends to prevent an individual from dealing with variations in local situations from time to time. People therefore tend to develop strategies that are flexible for dealing with specific markets which at the same time may help relegate their decision making process to a lower level of consciousness while allowing them to gain adequate satisfactions from it (Thomas & Gruen 2006). It is realized that in most markets the consumer tends to purchase a number of brands (different) rather remaining to one specific brand loyal. In certain markets, this reflects the need for variety. It is hence generally misleading to say brand “users” as though they are permanent and exclusive users of the particular brand. Consumers generally do not have logically structured and clearly defined needs. Most products are purchased for a complex combination of reasons which buyers are largely unable to disentangle and unaware of. Consumers are also rarely interested in maximizing or optimizing their purchasing. Advertising Approaches Successful and effective advertisement required adequate preparation. Proper preparation takes a number of steps which include: market research, setting out aims, budgeting, choosing of media, choosing of actors, design and wording, co-ordination and testing results. Advertising is a process of extreme complexity, and different campaign options “work” in different ways (Hedge, Sally & Mary, 2000). One fact that must be remembered at all times regarding advertising and other promotional activities is that the customer’s perspective should be taken rather than that of the agency or advertiser. Customers, from the advertiser’s telescope, are often seen as orderly, rational and goal oriented with intentions of improving decision-making performance in advertising. How advertising works Remembering advertising is not a necessary prerequisite of effective advertising. Advertising works at very different levels on the consumer’s conscious. At the lowest level it can create simply a sense of familiarity – the feeling that the brand exists. This engages not the customer’s emotion or intellect and usually happens much below the threshold of consciousness (Hedge, Sally & Mary, 2000). On a next level, advertising surrounds the brand with specific associations, feelings, emotional colors or moods. Potent emotions are however unlikely to get aroused since they would be not be proportionate in most cases either to the subjects or the ads themselves. On yet another level, advertising conveys information about the brand. The information will range from mere fact o9f brand existence to its price, function among others. It is sometimes important that the pieces of information about brand are precisely registered in their own right. On other occasions, they may merely need to contribute to a general atmosphere or impression. There is a level at which advertising attempts to set across rational arguments – conclusions and statements of premises that follow from them. At this level, the customer’s consciousness will most likely be needed. Generally, advertising works over time as it gradually changes or evolves the individual’s perceptions of a product and how it is related to other brands. The effect of an isolated advertising will more likely be minimal in several markets. Predisposition to buy particular brands and not others depends on two main factors: the identities of similar brands and the way these brands seem to relate to people’s specific wants and needs. Advertising affects both factors (Hedge, Sally & Mary, 2000). For example advertising could be objectively designed to give an impression that a particular product is durable. Conversely, advertising may also be designed to emphasize the importance of the product. Generally it has been discovered that it is much easier to change people’s perceptions of brand identity than to affect their evaluation of personal needs with some exceptions. The notion of identity may be divided into three parts: The salience or prominence of the brand – how readily it springs to the mind, the distinctiveness or clarity of the brand’s identity – how pronounced and clear are its properties and characteristics, and its natural identity – the feeling, belief and thought people have concerning it. The first two parts tend to be related and can be well regarded as the same idea in different facets. Also, advertising may be designed to sharpen, bring out or point up the identity of the brand on one hand, or on the other hand to modify it. Identity as indicated above is critically important. Basically, it distinguishes products that are branded from those that are not. It is the one that enables customers to easily handle brands in their minds. Measuring the Effectiveness of Advertising Advertisements usually work as a whole as opposed to working in parts. This however does not mean that ads cannot be considered in separate pieces or cannot be usefully researched in parts. What it means is that it is in ultimate totality that the advertising will work. In order to be considered effective, the advertising must be in harmony with the product, its packaging and with other tools using in the marketing activity. It simply cannot work in a vacuum. Advertising can fail in three main ways; first, because it lacks the effect it ought to have. In this case, the advertising lacks impact or fails to give the impression that it was intended to give (Smith, 2005). Secondly, it may fail as a result of its side effects. These side effects may be positive but not the kind that it was intended to have. For example, an advert showing an electronic appliance to be high-tech and sophisticated could also convey an impression that the appliance is difficult to use and complicated. Also, it could be intended that the advert give an impression that a drug is powerful and effective but it ends up giving the implication that the drug is very dangerous. Lastly, advertising may fail after achieving its core objectives simply because it is irrelevant to the targeted consumers (Smith, 2005). The consumers may as intended learn and feel just like the advertiser wants them to, but the assumption that this would drive them to buy or use the brand may be wrong. It is also possible that for wrong reasons, an advert could succeed. Its side effects may motivate the audience without its main objectives being ineffectively achieved. This could happen often but is quite difficult to plan for and avoid. Advertising is meant to stimulate purchase or use of products. How much purchases are purchased or used largely depend on the type of product being advertised; in some markets, sales would be more beneficial when people are exhorted to use the product rather than by exhorting people to make purchases. The most probable objective of advertising is to generally increase product sales. Increase in this case may be measured in terms of value, volume or market share – many times it is in terms of all three. It cannot however be assumed that advertising is not effective if increases are not being witnessed. This is true especially if it is considered that advertising keeps static sales of a brand which otherwise would be steadily declining, or turning a rapid decline into one that is more gentle. Conversely, it cannot be assumed that advertising is effective by the mere fact that sales are on the rise since other factors could well be playing in favor of the brand. It is quite difficult to separate the effects of other activities and market conditions from the effects of advertising. Conclusion Advertising should be viewed as a two-way communication path. The advertiser “speaks” to the public through advertising appealing for the consideration of the advertiser’s brand. The public on the other hand communicates to the producer directly through buying or failing to buy the product, or indirectly through research, complaints, letters and sometimes through organized pressure groups. The advertising process works best when its outcome is satisfactory to the consumer and the producer – a mutual relationship that favors both parties. Today it remains an impossibility to test the effectiveness of a commercial advert in a laboratory setting in advance of practical exposure. The selling effectiveness of marketing communication is determined at the time of planning. Although advertising may be designed to influence immediate purchasing, this may not really be the case. References Hedge A Sally H Mary S 2000 Testing to destruction – A critical look at uses of research in advertising Belgrave London Joseph E and Phelps 2004 Viral Marketing or Electronic Word of Mouth Advertising Examining Consumer Responses and Motivations to Pass Along Email Journal of Advertising Research; Dec vol. 44 Issue 4 p334-347 Porter L and Guy J 2006 From subservient chickens to brawny men A comparison of viral advertising to television advertising Journal of interactive advertising Spring vol. 6 issue 2 p31-40 Scope concepts and drivers of international marketing 2002 http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:W_6UelyiKCcJ:faculty.washington.edu/giambatt/mktg470/Lascu_Chapter_01.ppt+countering+ethnocentrism+in+international+marketing&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk Smith J 2005 New marketing the traditional way Marketing management vol. 14 Issue 2 p56 Thomas Jr. Metz G 2004 Building the buzz in the hive mind Journal of Consumer Behavior Vol. 4 Issue 1 p63-75, Thomas W and Gruen 2006 The impact of customer to customer online know how exchange on customer value and loyalty Journal of Business Research Apr vol. 59 Issue 4 pp450-456 Ian S and Merlin S 2004 Agents of change - how young consumers are changing the world of marketing Qualitative Market Research An International Journal Vink J 1992 Historical perspective in marketing management explicating experience. 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