Too much Contemporary Airline Advertising is Dishonest, Boring, Stereotyped and Sexiest - Essay Example

?Too Much Contemporary Airline Advertising Is Dishonest, Boring, Stereotyped and Sexiest Table of Contents Too Much Contemporary Airline Advertising Is Dishonest, Boring, Stereotyped and Sexiest 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Advantages & Disadvantages of Print Advertising for Airlines 4 Importance of Advertising 4 Effectiveness of Print Advertisements & its Advantages 5 Disadvantages of Print Advertising 7 The Recent Press Advertisements 9 Reasons for Supporting & Refuting 14 Conclusion 16 References 17 Introduction Advertising is believed to play an integral part in the economy as well as in the society. Advertising holds immense importance in today’s constantly altering business environment and competitive market for various reasons. Organisations or firms keep witnessing and encountering intense competition in any considered industry. In such a tough competitive scenario, the organisations need to grab and hold on to the attention of the consumers in order to ensure their sales. The medium of advertising is made use by the companies in order to form a way of communication with the intended consumer groups regarding their respective brand names, services offered along with keeping them updated about the latest offers and changes (Goel, 2009). The different mediums of advertising facilitate the firms to keep up the channel of communication with regard to the consumers competently as well as promptly as and when required. Therefore, it could be well comprehended that advertising is considered to be vital to ensure the effectual operations of the markets with regard to the competitive industries. Advertising is also regarded as a chief way with the help of which the consumers are kept informed regarding the fresh or enhanced products as well as services (Tellis, 2004). The profits of the airlines or rather the complete industry is believed to be intensely associated with the effectiveness of the advertisements (Goel, 2009). Advantages & Disadvantages of Print Advertising for Airlines Importance of Advertising The principal objective with regard to the concept and use of advertising is not just to bring in changes in the curve of demand but it also needs to move it upwards indicating a rise in the demand for the intended product or service. It can also be stated in this context that with regard to the airlines industry on the whole, advertising is required for the reason of luring consumers towards availing the intended services who or else would not avail the service. The factor of advertising would also help in making certain of availing the services related to the airlines industry more regularly or even increasingly severely in longer periods. In case of a particular airline in such an intense competitive market, an augmentation in relation to its requirement for services might also accumulate from a transfer of passengers or consumers away from their respective competitors in the industry (Kraft, 1965). The consequence related to competitive advertising might even tend to direct towards a need that all the existing airlines companies with regard to its operating market make use of the advertisements simply for the reason of holding on to their respective share. These kinds of advertisements which are developed devoid of the intention of giving rise to a fresh requirement in suitable amounts are considered as economic waste. The majority of the advertisements with regard to the airlines companies chiefly focuses or attempts in offering the possible traveller with definite information regarding rescheduling and especially about the nature of prices related to the services offered (Kraft, 1965). Therefore, it implies that most of the information regarding the services offered by the airlines is provided to the consumers with the help of advertisements. It becomes essential to mention in this context that the airline companies thus, requires offering the accurate information to the consumers and keeping away from making attempts to mislead the consumers with the help of the advertisements. Advertising is believed to prove advantageous as it helps in increasing the demand which benefits a particular industry and is also applicable for the airlines industry as well (Goodstein & et. al., 1993). Effectiveness of Print Advertisements & its Advantages The ascertainment of the effectiveness of advertisements for the airlines industry has been successfully established above. However, the most important aspect related to advertising is considered to be the advantages as well as the disadvantages of the different mediums used in advertising. With regard to the airlines industry or rather the companies, advertising endeavours are required to be done in all the mediums available that is electronic, print and digital media in order to reach out to a wider base of consumers or rather travellers (O’Guinn & et. al., 2011). Print advertising is considered to be an effective medium as it is believed to influence the rational or reasonable part of the human brain. Print advertising is measured to be effective as it helps individuals or in this context the travellers to recall for information from the print advertisements (Wells & et. al., 2007). The other major advantage with regard to the print media is stated to be the factor of broad area of circulation. For instance, in case of newspapers, the region of circulation is considered to be quite broad which implies that a particular advertisement in any of the newspapers can help the companies or the intended brand to strike a channel of communication with a vast number of consumers. Therefore, with regard to the airlines companies, it can be stated that they can provide information regarding their offered services with the help of the newspapers which would assist them to not only reach out to a considerable amount of travellers but would also help the airline companies to create a significant impression on their memories which would help the travellers to easily recall the advertisements. The most noteworthy and major advantage related to the print advertising is believed to be the aspect of expense. The expenses associated with print advertising, for instance in newspapers is believed to be quite low compared to the other forms of advertising owing to the wide publication (Keller & et. al., 2011). Print advertising in the form of newspapers also proves to be advantageous because of the daily publications. Therefore, it can be stated in this respect that print advertising would prove to be beneficial for the airlines companies as it would not only bring down the degree of expenses incurred but would also provide the benefit of repeating the advertisements regularly which would significantly help in catching the attention of the potential travellers (Mooij & Hofstede, 2010; Wells & et. al., 2007). Print advertising is also considered to be quite flexible in comparison to the others as the advertisements could be provided at quite short notices and offer the facility of making last minute alterations as well. Print advertisements also facilitate the companies to publish their advertisements in various regions as well as languages. Therefore, it could be well inferred that print advertisements offer increased number of options to the companies for the reason of approaching the intended region, market and readers with the help of regional or local language of communication. Therefore, print advertising is considered to be beneficial and gainful for the airlines companies as it is able to reach out to a much wider market and also helps in manipulating the decisions of the probable travellers to a large degree irrespective of the language barrier. Therefore, it can be stated that print advertising proves to be effective and rewarding for the airlines for quite a number of significant beneficial factors. The advantages related to print advertising can thus be effectually availed by those airlines that entail it as a part of their respective marketing communication strategy (Wells & et. al., 2007). Disadvantages of Print Advertising However, it needs to be mentioned in this regard that apart from the advantages there are certain disadvantages as well that are associated with print advertising. The major disadvantage related to this form of medium is learnt to be its short lifespan. For instance, in case of newspapers the life span is estimated to just last for a day which makes it necessary for the advertisements to be repeated. The airlines companies need to indulge in publishing regular advertisements in order to hold on to the attention of the probable travellers which raises the expenses for the companies. The other disadvantage related to print advertising is that the mediums that are made use for this particular purpose i.e. newspapers or periodicals are usually considered or preferred for news by the individuals and therefore the advertisements in these forms fail to attract significant attention. The other major disadvantage in case of print advertisements is stated to be the restriction of words. The advertisements are usually required to be drafted within a specified word limit which at times makes it difficult for the companies to provide the desired information owing to the constraint of words and which might even appear to be misleading at times (Plessis, 2005). The advantages as well as the disadvantages related to print advertising with regard to the airlines companies have been lucidly discussed. Therefore, it is required for the airlines companies to choose the form of advertising based on the kind of information that is intended to be communicated. However, it can be inferred in this context that print advertising would prove to be advantageous for the airlines that use it as a part of their marketing communication strategy (Wells & et. al., 2007). The Recent Press Advertisements Source: (Publicis Chemistry, n.d). This particular print advertisement was made by Emirates Airlines with the intention to focus on the superior quality of service provided to its Business, Economy and First class travellers. The press advertisement displays the onboard experience as well as the service of the airlines by putting forward a question ‘Why doesn’t everyone fly this way?’ (Publicis Chemistry, n.d). Press Advertisement of Virgin Atlantic Source: (Durrani, 2010). This particular print advertisement was intended to display the style, comfort and glamour that are associated with the services of the airline. The mentioned factors were highlighted in the advertisement to indicate them as the distinguishing factors that set it apart from the other airline companies (Durrani, 2010). Press Advertisement of Qatar Airways Source: (Mashaheermedia, 2010). This particular press advertisement was created to highlight the vital features of the airlines that make it one of the finest brands. The tagline attached to this particular advertisement read as ‘The world’s 5-star airline’ (Mashaheermedia, 2010). Press Advertisements of South African Airways Source: (South African Airways, 2012). The press advertisement attempts to display the quality of service and the superior quality of wine provided by them along with displaying the satisfaction of the travellers as well (South African Airways, 2012). Press Advertisements of airBaltic Source: (AirBaltic, 2012). The collage of the various advertisements of airBaltic attempts to provide a complete picture of the services offered to their respective passengers along with the available facilities. The advertisements also try to picturize the care and concern with which their passengers are treated (AirBaltic, 2012). Press Advertisements of Air France Source: (Bonnier Corp, 2012). This advertisement is intended to depict the element of style. It displays the logo of the airlines on the portion of the trajectory of the flight that blends with the attire of a passenger (Bonnier Corp, 2012). Reasons for Supporting & Refuting The press advertisement of Emirates cannot be termed as dishonest as Emirates is believed to excel in the field of comfort as well as service. However, the advertisement can be termed as stereotyped and boring as it appears similar to the advertisement of other airlines where the focus is given on the comfort factor. The advertisement can be referred as sexiest as it does entail such element in its advertisement to some extent. The press advertisement of Virgin Atlantic can be termed as dishonest, boring, stereotyped along with being sexiest. This is owing to the reason that the advertisement does not give a true representation of the airlines interiors. It has been stated to be boring and stereotyped as no particular feature has been chiefly highlighted. It also appears to have an element of being sexiest owing to the complete appearance and depiction of the advertisement. However, the advertisement of Qatar Airways does not comply with the considered aspects as the advertisement has been designed and developed in a quite simple and unique way. Therefore, regarding the press advertisement of Qatar Airways it cannot be stated that it is dishonest, boring, stereotyped and sexiest. The press advertisement of the South African Airways can also be stated to be different from the other similar airlines’ advertisements. It cannot be stated to be dishonest as it is believed to serve quite superior quality wines in their flight which is depicted in the advertisement. However, it can be stated as boring and stereotyped to certain extent as these features are learnt to be highlighted by most of the airlines. It cannot be stated to be sexiest as the advertisement contains no such element. The advertisements of airBaltic can be stated to be dishonest to some extent as the authenticity regarding the depiction of the services remains to be ascertained. The advertisement cannot be stated to be boring or stereotyped. On the contrary, the concept of collage can be regarded as quite unique in such advertisements. It cannot be stated to be sexiest as well as the advertisement remains devoid of any such factor. The press advertisement of Air France can be stated to be dishonest, boring, stereotyped and sexiest as the intended message does not seem to come across the advertisement. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be well comprehended that advertisement holds immense importance for airlines companies. The advantages as well as the disadvantages of print advertising has been lucidly explored above which would prove to be helpful for the airlines companies while developing print advertisements. The ways by which print advertising could be made use of by the airlines companies has also been discussed. Various examples of press advertisements of airlines were explored and it was found that most of them failed to communicate the intended message to the targeted group. The assessment of the advertisements reveals that most of the advertisements appear to be similar with the comparable kind of representation. Therefore, it can be agreed with the statement that too much of contemporary airline advertising is dishonest, boring, stereotyped and sexiest. References Air Baltic, 2012. Advertising at airBaltic. Home [Online] Available at: http://www.airbaltic.com/public/advertising_possibilities.html [Accessed March 15, 2012]. Bonnier Corp, 2012. Annals of Advertising: Air France’s Sexy Sojourns. News. [Online] Available at: http://www.popphoto.com/news/2008/11/annals-advertising-air-frances-sexy-sojourns [Accessed March 15, 2012]. Durrani, A., 2010. Virgin Atlantic Launches ?10m Global Ad Campaign in the UK. News [Online] Available at: http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1025285/ [Accessed March 15, 2012]. Goodstein, L. D. & et. al., 1993. Applied Strategic Planning: A Comprehensive Guide. McGraw-Hill Professional. Goel, S., 2009. Airline Service Marketing. Pentagon Press. Keller, K. L. & et. al., 2011. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. Pearson Education India. Kraft, G., 1965. The Role of Advertising Costs in the Airlines Industry. The National Bureau of Economic Research, pp. 95-120. Mooij, M. & Hofstede, G., 2010. The Hofstede Model: Applications to Global Branding and Advertising Strategy and Research. International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 29(1), pp. 85-110. Mashaheermedia, 2010. Other Articles. Home. [Online] Available at: http://english.mashaheermedia.com/category.php?idissue=15&idcat=6 [Accessed March 15, 2012]. O’Guinn, T. C. & et. al., 2011. Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion. Cengage Learning. Plessis, E. D., 2005. The Advertised Mind: Ground-Breaking Insights into How Our Brains Respond To Advertising. Kogan Page Publishers. Publicis Chemistry, No Date. Chemistry Creates Brand Campaign for Emirates. Latest & Thinking. [Online] Available at: http://www.publicischemistry.com/en/LatestAndThinking/News/Emirates-Masterbrand.aspx [Accessed March 15, 2012]. South African Airways, 2012. Top Traveler Magazine has Awarded South African Airways With the “Best Airline to Africa”. News. [Online] Available at: http://www.southafricanairwaysuk.org.uk/news/top-traveler-magazine-has-awarded-south-african-airways-with-the-best-airline-to-africa [Accessed March 15, 2012]. Tellis, G. J., 2004. Effective Advertising: Understanding When, How, and Why Advertising Works. SAGE. Wells, W. D. & et. al., 2007. Advertising: Principles and Practice. Pearson Education India. Read More