Why Should a Firm Cooperate with an Advertising Agency - Coursework Example

Advertising Critique Introduction It is upon a company to decide whether they employ the services of an advertising agency or not for marketing of their products. However, it is important that a company utilizes the services of an advertising agency because a part from developing an effective advertising strategy, they save the company costs of employing people with talents for advertisements as well as costs for monitoring advertising strategies. At Keller Advertising Agency we employ competitive professionals who are able to organize, create as well as place an advertisement to meet the objectives better than any company. We do extensive market research and thus we are able to build an effective advertising strategy that will help you capture the market share as well as build a stable relationship with the consumers creating customer loyalty and help in building the company brand. With our knowledge of the eReader market coupled with innovative and unique approach to the market, we are able to engage, capture the attention of the target market and enhance their interaction with the new product thus creating a relationship with the brand. At Keller Advertising we go at greater lengths to please our clients by ensuring that they have a great strategic vision that will steer them towards strategic success for their business in the global market. Our strategy is your strategy and this is what guides as to intriguing, competitive and ultimately successful campaigns. Our main aim is to inform and persuade the consumers on the new product through communicating ideas and information about the product in a way that will create a memorable experience for the consumer and enhance brand recognition. What counts most in campaigns is the message and we have talented experts who ensure creativity and logic. Finally we provide a follow up after implementation of the campaign to ensure success. Product Naming Strategy An effective product name is one which is simple and easy to remember and thus will help in selling the product during marketing. A good product name should have the following characteristics be unique and thus distinguish the product from its competitors, hold appeal for the target audience, imply the benefits of the brand, create customer loyalty through bonding with the company, motivates the customers to purchase, can buy the image of the product and name and have symbolic association which fortifies the company’s image (Barrett, 1995). Brand is an important component of an organization and a good product name gives the company a brand. It is also advisable to come up with more than one product name and then carry out a market test to determine which one the target market prefers. To start naming a product one needs to identify and understand the target market as well as the competitive landscape (Kohli & LaBahn, 1997). Then the next step in product naming is building it on the brand strategy through isolating the relevant, emotive and enduring points of difference in order to create a good and memorable brand (Bulik, 2006). For LibraTech Company the perfect name for their eReader product would be eLibra. This is because the name is simple and easy to remember. Besides it identifies with the name and the brand of the company which is LibraTech and who knows it might just become the brand of the company (Barrett, 1995). The target market for LibraTech Company is mostly students, lecturers and scholars who are interested in reading. Thus eLibra is appropriate since it sounds like a library but an electronic one which associates with the target market and thus is likely to create a lasting impact and be memorable. Research The research strategy involved observing the current market trend of eReader products and identifying the dominant brand. The research strategy also involved a look and the demographic trends of the products and the rate of technological advancements. Then researching the advertisement strategies that are used by the competitors in the eReader market and identifying which ones are effective and which ones are not and thus being able to identify the best advertising strategy that can be used to market the new product by LibraTech. With the introduction and increasing demands for tablets, eReader market is recording steady growth since the devices account for high rates of eBook downloads. Further the eBook access has been boosted by leading brand bookstore applications launch such as Kindle by Amazon and iBookStore by Apple. The Barnes and Noble model is aimed as acting as a bridge between in-stores and online purchases which greatly enhance their position in the market and increase sales. A research on the market show that adoption of EPUB3 may create new markets and enhance EBooks access for dedicated eReaders and that the prices are likely to proliferate amongst educational content (Dinham, 2011). Currently Amazon’s Kindle is the most popular and the leader of eReader market covering up to 14% of the global market. Company eReader Features Amazon Kindle E Ink Pearl, no color, 2GB, expensive, Wi-Fi, cannot be used in dark without a bright overhead, light in weight. Barnes and Noble Nook E Link, 2GB, light and compact, provide Wi-Fi and can be used in dark without a bright overhead, no online bookstore. LibraTech eLibra Full color, easy navigation, light. Canada Kobo E Ink, USB computer connection, 1GB, compact and light, use of color, low cost, link with blackberry phones, desktop software, attractive with funky look. All the companies employ online advertising as the main channel of advertisement for their products. However, other channels of advertisement are also used like videos used by Barnes and Noble to advertise the GlowLight version of Nook (Indvick, 2012). Other strategies employed for advertisement is through television, billboards, magazines commonly by Amazon and the use of celebrities such as Justin Timberlake to capture the full attention of the audience and make them build a relationship with the product. Kindle has superior features than any other products like the E Ink Pearl and so its main strategy in advertising is focusing on its favourable features to attract consumers (Cambridge, 2012). The advertising strategies used have worked quite well except for the use of billboards because people are not able experience how the features functions. A good marketing strategy is one which focuses on the innovative features of the product that is unique to the competitor’s products. Therefore for advertising eReader by LibraTech, the campaign will focus on its full color feature which is quite unique to other brands and its ability to allow users to read the same detail as if they are reading a printed text. The main method of advertisement that will be employed is through online channels. This is because the target markets are people who have frequent access to the internet and thus the information will be passed to them more effectively. In addition, online advertisements are aimed at capturing people’s attention, enhancing interaction and engagement with the audience so that they can be able to identify with the product and build a lasting relationship and memorable experience with the product. Other methods will also be used such as television, magazines and other media channels. Advertising Strategy An advertising strategy is a plan developed to communicate information about products to the potential consumers so as to convince them to buy the products. An effective advertising strategy should be focused on achieving the goals of advertisement which are to promote awareness of the product, establish and modify the image of the product and the last one is to stimulate sales by attracting the customers of the consumers. In short an effective advertisement campaign informs and persuades the consumers to purchase the company’s products. Thus advertisement should reach the largest audience possible and be cost effective. In order to achieve this, as an advertising agency we need to develop an advertisement campaign plan that will buzz and capture market share from competitors. The first step in marketing strategy is identifying the target market or target audience (Adams, 1996). The language used should be appealing and appropriate to the target market. For LibraTech Company the target market comprises students, scholars and other people who are interested in reading. Generally the target market consists of high population of young people followed by middle aged and then old people. This is because young people find it easier to use modern technology than older people. This will require ads that identify with the youth and speak to them in a more personal level. For example the use of social sites such as Facebook and YouTube would be most effective for the demographic group. A look at consumer behavior shows that young people prefer getting information from electronic sources as opposed to printed sources. This is due to the modern technology which has brought so many devices into the market with many applications that allow people to access information jus by a touch of a button. The consumer market tends to be appealed by the kind of applications in a particular device and the appeal as well as conveniences that comes with it. Hence LibraTech has an advantage of taking over the market infested by competitors such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This is because their eReader offers flip page technology and full color that is not present in the competitor’s products. These features are convenient because they allow one to read easily and as if they were reading a printed version. Another element of advertisement strategy is highlighting competitive advantage of the product. This is the element of a product that makes the company superior from its competitors for example eReader by LibraTech has superior features such as full color and flip page technology which are likely to appeal to the target market. These features will be further enhanced by how the product is positioned in the target market and how the consumers will receive it. This makes a valuable advertisement which will enable the product to create a memorable experience in the market and thus attract competitor’s customers and gain competitive advantage of the eReader market (Bovee & Arens, 1989). Another strategy of advertisement is creating an image by developing a brand that will enhance the market shares of the product and put the company at a competitive advantage over its competitors. Thus an effective strategy will be able to create an impression in the market which leads to brand development and also build a relationship with the customers as well as create customer loyalty necessary for maintaining the brand and gaining competitive advantage over its competitors (Hiam & Schewe, 1992). Advertising message combines the art, product values, product values and marketing objectives and directed at a particular audience so as to achieve specific goals. Therefore advertisement message for LibraTech’s eReader will combine all these features but mostly focus on the available applications that and distinctive features of the products and the LibraTech Company. Advertising media is the means through which information and message reaches the target market. As a result, it is advisable to choose an advertising media that is effective for the specific target group, that is one where information will be relayed faster and reach as many people as possible (Hills, 1997). Forms of advertising media that we can use for advertising eReader by LibraTech include newspapers and magazines, audio and Am radios, television, videos, internet, bill boards and direct mail. All these are effective but some are effective more than the others and thus can be applied in a combination since they also play different roles in advertising. As an advertisement agency after researching on the target market, we suggest that the most effective advertising media for LibraTech’s new product would be to use a combination of newspapers and magazines, internet, videos and billboards. The newspapers and magazines explain in details about the features of the eReader as well as provide attractive and appealing pictures that will be able to capture the target audience. However these channels do not allow demonstration of the features and thus can not create a memorable experience. Besides not many people especially the young audience read newspapers and magazines and thus the information is not likely to reach a large crowd. Billboards also display attractive and appealing pictures of the product maybe showing a person using it which create interest and capture the attention of the audience and if placed strategically are likely to reach a large crowd. Internet and videos are the most effective because a part from reaching the target market that uses the technologies most frequently, they provide demonstrations and displays which are able to engage and interact with the target audience. This creates a memorable experience that is likely to stay with the audience for quite a long time. This forms of media also provide detailed information about the products and thus the target audience is able t learn as much as they want about the product. These kinds of advertising when done frequently will be able to create a relationship with the audience and thus build customer loyalty and develop a brand name. Creating an art work for the product is an important strategy in advertising because it will determine how appealing and attractive the product is likely to be to the target audience. However the meaning and logic should not be lost in trying to be creative. Since we are dealing with majorly a population of young audience for the new eReader product by the LibraTech Company, it is advisable to use graphics and catchy illustrations that will able to supplement the text thus make it visually inviting and at the same time easy to understand (Keri, 1998). It is also advisable to diversify the advertisement that it spread it as much as possible so that it can reach a bigger audience. An effective advertisement should be able to run for a long time to ensure that the target market is exhausted and build a relationship with the consumers. We cannot talk about a successful advertisement without talking about money since money is the core and is involved at every level of advertisement strategy. Hence there is need to create an advertising budget depending on the resources available for advertisements. An effective advertisement will cost money and even though a cost effective budget is required during planning for advertisement, the main aim should not be to save money. Several approaches can be considered to ensure that the objectives of advertisement are met with no overspending on the particular strategy. These include competitive approach, market share, all available funds, percentage of future sales and objective or task approach. Finally after developing this campaign plan, we will need to carry out a test to ensure its effectiveness and keep monitoring it to ensure that the objectives are met. This involves carrying out the test on a group of people before rolling it out to determine if they accept and understand the message of advertisement. This can be done by use of questionnaires and will give an insight on how and where can be improved to make it more effective. After rolling out the advert it should be constantly monitored so as make sure it is working and identify the most effective elements of the advert as well as the most favourable media to use for advertising purposes (Nucifora, 1998). Monitoring ads is important in measuring the results by carrying out surveys to find out whether the strategy is really working and possibly identify the weak points in the strategy and improve them for effective results. A successful strategy do not lack both it good side and the unfavorable side. Some of the disadvantages of this strategy is that is very expensive, requires extensive planning that is a lot of time spent on market research and planning before execution of the plan. Since it deals with introduction of a new product in a market which already has its owners, a lot of patience is needed to persuade and convince the competitor’s customers of the good features of the new product and consequently win them over. On other hand the advantages of this product is that it will definitely lead to success and help the company buzz the new market and win competitor’s customers. This is because the strategy focuses on the distinctive features of the product which gives the company competitive over its competitors. Because of extensive market research, the strategy is able to identify the demographic groups, target audiences and effective media channels which all contribute to the success of the strategy. References Adams, B. (1996). Streetwise Small Business Start-up. Adams Media Corporation. Barrett, F. (1995). Names That Sell: How to create Great Names for Your Company, Product, or Service. Bovee, C., & Arens, W. F. (1989). Contemporary Advertising. Homewood. Bulik, S. B. (2006). What’s in a name? More than you might think, study says:Ad Age. Cambridge. (2012). Jumptap November MobileSTAT Report: Kindle Fire Traffic Leaps 270%. Retrieved from eReader Information Blog: http://www.ereaderinformationblog.com Dinham, P. (2011, December 2). eBook Market Surges with Popularity of Tablets . Retrieved from Australian for Information Technology: http://www.itwire.com Hiam, A., & Schewe, C. D. (1992). The Portable MBA in Marketing. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Hills, G. (1997). Market Opportunities and Marketing." The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Indvick, L. (2012, May 4). Barnes and Noble Says Kindle's Not That Good in Bed. Retrieved from Mashable Business: http://mashable.com/2012/05/03/nook-simple-touch-glowlight-ad Keri, J. (1998). Doggone Creative. Washington Business Journa. Kohli, C., & LaBahn, D. (1997). Observations: Creating effective brand names: a study of the naming process. Journal of Advertising Research, 37. Nucifora, A. (1998, October 23). Getting the Most from Your Media Purchase. LI Business News. Read More