The effectiveness of advertising - Essay Example

? The effectiveness of advertisement Table of Contents Introduction 3 Campaign Strategy 3 Evaluation of campaign strategy 5 Reference List 7 Introduction Advertising can be described as a paid non-personal communication done by an identified sponsor with the use of mass media in order to persuade and influence an audience to buy products manufactured by a company (Wells, Burnet and Moriarty, 2003). Advertisement is the means of promotion whereby companies can reach out to a wider customer base and market their products (Ramalingam, et al, 2006). According to the author, if the world is considered as ideal then every manufacturer would be able to talk one-to-one with every consumer about its product. However, this process is very exhaustive and expensive as well. In today’s world, advertising formats in print or TV, or interactive media such as the World Wide Web, has replaced the age old form of one-to-one advertising where representatives from companies had to meet with every customer individually to discuss a product or service. The modern day world has witnessed a tremendous development of the Internet technology. With more number of people becoming computer literate and the pace at which the Internet technology is reaching every household, online advertising is becoming a new culture of advertising of particular products and services. The primary reason that can be attributed to this fact is that, it can reach a large audience in a cost-efficient manner (Kim, Kwon and Chang, 2011). Broadcast media incurs a cost of time, print media incurs a cost of space and interactive and support media incurs a cost of both time and space. This cost is spread over millions of people who use these media types. The TV advertising industry, as highlighted by Ramalingam, et al (2006), is associated with three crucial advantages. Firstly, it covers a large audience base and that too in a cost efficient manner. Secondly, the sound and moving images created by these TV endorsements have a stronger impact on the audience. Lastly, it has a strong influence on the taste and perception of its target audience. In this particular report, we will be primarily focusing on TV advertising and internet advertising and their effectiveness by studying the campaign strategy of one of the most popular car manufacturing companies in the world, BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke AG). BMW, headquartered in Munich, Germany, was founded in the year 1916. Its primary line of operations include manufacture and sale of cars and motorcycles worldwide which is done in collaboration with its subsidiaries. The company belongs to the consumer goods sector and auto manufacturers–major industry. BMW’s automotive segment manufactures, assembles and sells cars and off road vehicles under famous brand names such as BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce. It also manufactures and sells BMW and Husqvarna branded motorcycles in their motorcycle division (Yahoo Finance, 2013). Campaign Strategy According to Ramalingam, et al (2006), effective advertisement’s can be characterized on the basis of two levels. The first level explains the need for the advertisers to satisfy consumer’s objectives by engaging them and delivering a relevant message. The other one emphasizes on the need for advertisements to achieve the advertiser’s objectives. An effective advertisement campaign must incorporate both this characteristics in order to formulate a near perfect strategy. Effective advertisements are generally well executed. The main strategy of an advertisement campaign is to make sure that the details, the photography, setting, printing, and the production values are finely tuned. These characteristics are now the benchmark that has been set in the advertising industry. BMW’s campaign strategies are absolutely customer specific. With BMW group campaign BMW i, which is also known as “Driving the next movement”, the company is pioneering a new path towards a revolutionary change in automobile technology and the industry as a whole. They thrive for innovation and their vision for innovation is distinctively reflected in the ad campaigns designed by the company’s marketing management division. BMW group’s primary objective behind the BMW i campaign is to provide answers to the environmental and economical challenges that prevail in this changing world thereby satisfying the interest and curiosity of audiences towards the company’s products and services. The new international campaign designed by BMW caters to highlight famous revolutions which are historically significant and also draws a similarity between the pioneering characteristics of BMW i. The company has resorted to different advertisement formats such as TV broadcasting, print ads, internet banners and social media advertising in order to reach out to a larger customer base (BMW group, 2013a). Their advertisement clearly demonstrates the use of sustainable materials and also explains the key aspects regarding how the BMW design team treats car design (DNA, 2013). The company’s vision is to shape the mobility of the future thereby reaching out to new customer base and positioning the company brand as sustainable and future oriented. The company markets its products heavily through TV clearly reflecting the enriched culture that is followed within the company as far as manufacturing superior quality cars are concerned. In addition to that, the company’s website provides flexibility to its customers to configure and modify the new BMW i3. Moreover, it provides internet users with the knowledge regarding charging, everyday driveability, technology and BMW i dealerships. It also offers customers with the facility of booking a test drive of the car (BMW group, 2013b). This is the mark of a truly world class organization whose sole objective is to satisfy its customers thereby scaling new heights of technology and innovation. The company always thrives to design interactive ad campaigns as they believe that might be the only way for customer to learn that the advertisement relates not only to a personal need but also provides relevant information for that need. In addition to that, BMW’s advertisements more often than not strengthen consumer product decisions and remind how one’s needs have been or can be satisfied. Strategy, creativity, and execution are the three broad dimensions upon which BMW’s advertisements are based. These three factors contribute significantly towards rendering an advertisement effective. The company has also adopted a global strategy approach in their ad campaigns as international advertising is a way by means of which multinational firms such as BMW can present a unified face in the overseas market (Walters, Whitla and Davies, 2008). In the modern day world where Internet technology is available to wide cross section of the population, BMW has adopted certain strategies to ensure that they stay ahead in the race against their competitors in the field of online advertising. BMW, being a large scale automobile company with heavy weight competitors such as Audi and Mercedes-Benz, has chosen to incorporate the same to its overall marketing strategies in order to outrun its competition. This is primarily because 85% of its customers conduct research over the internet before purchasing (Mbwette, 2013). BMW has invested heavily on internet, televisions and online applications, social networks in order to conduct e-marketing. The company uses Internet as a means for publishing online advertisements, marketing public relations, direct marketing, promotions and improving customer relations. The contents that are hosted over the web help the company to provide rich marketing information to its customers on time and at a low cost through e-magazines, e-newsletters, emails, online broadcasts and text messages. Evaluation of campaign strategy The most important characteristic of an effective advertisement is that it implements a sound strategy. The sole objective of an advertiser is to develop the advertisement in such a way that it meets specific objectives such as targeting a certain audience base, speaking to the respective audience’s most important concerns thereby delivering proper messages, and running it in media like TV, print or the internet. In this way, those ads will reach its audience most effectively. The underlying concept behind advertisement is to grab consumer attention and stick it to their memory (Ramalingam, et al, 2006). After studying the campaign strategy of BMW, it can be said that they follow the same concepts as described above as far as their advertisement strategies are concerned. As far as TV advertisements are concerned, BMW’s campaign strategy can be best evaluated using the ANN (Artificial Neural Network) model which takes into account thirteen factors that are essential for measuring advertising effectiveness (Ramalingam, Kalyanaraman and Arulmozhi, 2004). BMW’s campaign strategy always includes interactive advertisements that are affective. There advertisements focus on body language, brand name and repetition of certain verses that affects the viewer and influences them into buying the products which are being promoted. The second characteristic that can be attributed to BMW’s campaign strategy is that they grab the viewer’s attention almost immediately by introducing humour in those advertisements. BMW’s advertisements are of superior technical quality and graphics that attracts the viewers and creates a desire within them to buy the product. The company also makes sure that their advertisements clearly highlight the customer benefits, knowing which will instigate the viewers to buy the product. In addition to that, BMW’s advertisements also include trail offer and survey results in order to give the audience a clear view of how their products are being accepted in the market. The campaign manager always makes sure to exclude certain factors in their advertisements that might trigger negative emotions within the audiences. BMW’s advertisements always include attributes such as novelty and catchy caption that instigates the view to purchase their product. Their advertisements are associated with high level of acceptability among their existing customer base. This creates a bridge for them to target their next potential customer base. BMW’s ad campaigns also includes properties such as customer feedback and cultural norms that attempts to move, affect or determine a customer’s purchasing decision. They also cater to providing information based advertisements that create mass awareness. As far as BMW’s online advertisement campaign strategy is concerned, the company has designed its website in such a way that customers will be attracted by the variety of things offered in the portal such as brochures, newsletters and online magazines. Their websites offer interactive tools (BMW configurator) that enable its customers to build their ideal BMW car thereby estimating costs as well as placing orders (BMW lifestyle, 2013). BMW’s idea to acquire and retain their customers has tempted them to offer services such as registrations, online assistance and direct access to local dealers via their website. The BMW international website is worth nearly $167,755 recording daily average view of 76,811 and generating daily ad revenues of nearly $230 (Getwebsiteworth, 2013). However, the company’s website has certain additional features which, according to 6% users, are difficult to understand. This may be due to the structure of the website (Yandalo, 2013). BMW has strategically used tablets, computers and other mobile devices for the purpose of e-marketing due to their increasing popularity and rapid advertisement (BMW, 2013). In order to market their products effectively over the web, the company has partnered with online affiliates such as WCRS with the underlying idea that it will encourage brand awareness, purchase intent, ad recall, and draw more visitors to its website (BMW Education, 2011). BMW’s e-marketing strategy also includes social networks such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. That is particularly because these websites have tremendous potential of reaching a greater customer base at a relatively low cost. In addition to that, social networks allow interactive communication with a large number of customers enabling the company to conduct communal, viral and influenced marketing campaigns (Mbewette, 2013). Conclusion and Recommendations BMW is no doubt an established company. A part of its worldwide establishment can be attributed to its ongoing campaign specific marketing strategies. From a thorough research of BMW’s campaign strategies, it has been observed that the company has a well structured integration of offline and online marketing communication which contributes significantly towards its success in marketing strategies. This is primarily because their campaign strategy is directed towards identifying, acquiring, anticipating, satisfying and retaining their customers. The company’s campaign examples have shown marketing strategies to be relatively efficient and cheap. However, the company must take into account macro and micro environment factors when implementing its marketing strategies. In addition to that, the company must develop their websites with contents which are easily understandable; otherwise, complex tools might trigger negative effects on the customers. Reference List BMW education., 2011. BMW education programme. [online] Available at: < http://www.bmweducation.co.uk/coFacts/views.asp?doclD=47> [Accessed 30 October 2013]. BMW group., 2013a. “Driving the Next Movement” - BMW Group campaign for a revolution in mobility. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 October 2013]. BMW group., 2013b. BMW i3 launch campaign. [online] Available at: https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/pressclub/p/pcgl/pressDetail.html?title=bmw-i3-launch-campaign&outputChannelId=6&id=T0144257EN&left_menu_item=node__809 [Accessed 30 October 2013]. BMW lifestyle., 2013. BMW shop. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 October 2013]. BMW., 2013. BMW magazine online. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 October 2013]. DNA., 2013. Driven by design. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 October 2013]. Getwebsiteworth., 2013. Site audit: bmw.com. [online] Available at: < http://www.getwebsiteworth.com/bmw.com> [Accessed 30 October 2013]. Kim, C., Kwon, K. and Chang, W., 2011. How to measure the effectiveness of online advertising in online marketplaces. Expert Systems with Applications, 38, pp. 4234-4243. Mbwette, K., 2013. BMW e-marketing analysis. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 October 2013]. Ramalingam, V., Kalyanaraman, S. B. and Arulmozhi, K. T., 2004. 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