International Marketing - Essay Example

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING ADVERTISEMENT (Degree for which this dissertation is being submitted) Submitted in part fulfillment of the Date of Submission Information Is Name Of The Game Information is considered to be a most valuable resource in the present economy and society. The availability of information is more or less a right of the society because it stimulates all economic activity and growth. In case of marketing also passing of information is of vital importune. Because a business is separated from its customer in distance, time, socio economic gaps, information and interests. For effective and efficient marketing these gaps must be bridged. The various promotional methods are primarily meant for losing these gaps. The American Marketing Association has defined advertising as “ Any paid form of non personal presentation and promotion of goods, services or ideas by an identified sponsor.” (Committee on Definitions, p.9) Advertisement is meant to pass on information to the prospective customers. It is one of the most powerful elements in international marketing. It is stated that advertisement though impersonal in character, could create profound influence in persuading prospects to become customers. It is true that advertisement carries only a message to the consumers and does not substantiate the consumers with any physical attributes. ADVERTISEMENT Nowadays, advertising is becoming exceedingly important in everyday life. The use of the Internet has augmented the importance of advertising as advertisements about a specific brand or product reach people easier. Moreover, Jones (1995), states that “Advertising is capable of a sharp immediate effect on sales” which plays a main role in enhancing the brand name. Furthermore many advertisements have deeper meanings than when seen at first sight especially in magazines where the main goal of the advertisement is to convey a message to the readers through the use of text or symbols. Central to much of modern day advertising in glossy magazines is the use of the metaphor. (Proctor et al, 2005). Metaphors are often used to broaden the way of understanding things. They also lead to a high level of ambiguity in the metaphoric form. Advertisers are finding it more and more difficult to persuade consumers about a specific product. Some reasons for that is the higher educational levels and wide experience of using the products. As a result, some advertisers have moved towards creating advertisements that are out of the ordinary by using double meanings ‘polysemy’ or by integrating ration with emotion. The account of the phenomenon of Integrated Marketing Communication by Aaker, Batra and Myers (1992) constitutes a fair working explanation of the phenomenon: . . . advertising and sales promotions operate together in their impact on the consumer. When designed and run in tandem, they yield power synergies that magnify their individual effects. In the modern world advertising has an awesome impact in its ability to influence lifestyles, attitudes and priorities of millions. It has the power to create demand and make people believe they must have something, which they would have never dreamed of before. Newer and newer devices are being adopted for the purpose of advertisement. The ambiguity centered on the definition of IMC has created complexity in assessing the operational efficiency of the process. There are many levels of integration, which produces problems collectively as well as individually. The ideal execution of IMC calls for the sharing of the entire organization. "Perhaps advertising is the side of international marketing with the greatest similarities from country to country throughout the world. Paradoxically, despite its many similarities, it may also be credited with the greatest number of unique problems in international marketing" Modern advertisement is a skillful way of blowing one’s own trumpet. To speak highly of one’s goods has been raised to the level f the dignity of fine art. The most successful businessman is he, who knows the secret of effective advertisement. Advertisements invade our daily lives in every aspect by means of different media, such as television, radio, Internet, and magazine. Whether we notice or not, advertisements influence us to accept or buy a specific product designated to be sold. Large corporations in the world spend millions of dollars on advertisements to make sure that they are perfect to meet the interest of target audiences. The real worth of an article is of little importance; what matters is the way in which public attention is drawn towards it. Men do not part with their money easily, but the clever advertiser can draw it out of the pockets of even the most cautious and miserly customers. To make successful advertisements, which connect with target audiences to consume after seeing it, advertisers use various tactics and one of them is an appealing product to aim for target’s lifestyle. Benefits Of Advertising From consumer point of view Educate Consumers. It educates consumers about the new products and their uses, which is helpful in increasing the utility of existing product and better decision-making. For example, it reminds children to brush their teeth with toothpaste. Makes shopping easier. It makes buying easier for the consumer as with the help of advertising consumer knows various products, their source, availability, uses and their prices. Improves standard of living. It enables consumers to enjoy better standard of living. Advertisement is done through brands. Producers try to create and establish brand by providing better quality and special features of their products. Fair prices. Consumers get products at fair prices due to advertising. Effective advertising reduces costs due to large-scale production and elimination of wholesalers. As a result customers get goods at lower prices. Competition created by advertisement also helps consumers to pay only fair price. Consumer’s Satisfaction. Advertisement brings the consumers closer to the manufacturer and both can fully appreciate the needs of the other. Such understanding helps in increasing the satisfaction of the consumers. Advertising is essentially about informing customers about product availability and prices. Every product can be distinguished fro its rivals with the help of advertising, thus helping the customer to exercise choice. Advertisement serves the society in the following ways Provides employment. Advertising provides direct employment to a large number of people engaged in designing, writing and issuing advertisements. Indirectly, advertising increases employment opportunities by increasing the volume of production and distribution. Improves standard of living. Advertising improves the standard of living of the people by promoting variety and quality in consumption. It educates people about new uses of products and provides information for developing better ways of life Sustains the press and other media. Advertisement provides an important source of revenue to newspapers, magazines, radio and television. As a result public gets news at lower rates and the circulation of newspapers and magazines increases. Press is the guardian of public opinion. Art and Culture. Commercial art is largely the creation of advertising. Advertisement provides a glimpse of national life, a running commentary on the way people live and work Incentive to progress. Advertisement is a great motivating force. Advertising nourishes the consumer power of man. It creates a desire of better standard of living. People are induced to work hard and earn money to buy new products brought to their notice through advertisement. Advertisement has been subjected to a lot of criticism also. Advertising has been subjected to a wide range of public disapproval. They say, “ advertisement is socially undesirable”, “it is a social waste” or “it is unnecessary activity and a wasteful expenditure”. The critics of advertising give the following reasons: Burden on consumer. This is the most serious objection that adverting costs are passed on to the consumer in the form of high prices as the price of the product is determined after considering all costs (cost of production, office and administration cost, selling and distribution costs, including advertisement). This is true. No manufacturer pays for the advertising out of his own pocket. Undermines social values. The main objection to advertisement is that it degrades ethical and social values through indecent language and photographs. Sale of inferior and dubious products. All kinds of products are produced for sale in the market. Competition means that diverse products will be offered to the public. Advertising persuades people to buy inferior products also. With the help of advertisement almost anything can be sold in the market. Manufactures produce duplicates of certain products or dubious products. With the help of advertising they make false claims about the utility of he products to buy such dubious products. Advertising confuses the consumer. These days there are so many advertisements, which people are exposed to one after the other. For example, on TV five out of ten advertisements may be on detergents or toothpaste –each brand claiming to be better than the other. How does one distinguish? Critics argue that consumers get confused and find it difficult to take a decision. Life Style Notions and Advertisements There is enough evidence that advertisements influence the life style changes. Consumption of alcohol as essential ingredient of a wealthy life style has influenced many people to take to the bottle in developing countries. Advertised brands of tobacco are heavily consumed the world over by the young. The advertisements exploit the adolescent boy-girl meet experience and one of the most widely used motives is the desire to appear macho before the girl. Tobacco, bottle and the appendages of a rugged life style in visual presentation lasts in the mind of the young and the world over the youth have a tendency to acquire the image of the macho. The dominant image of smoking is the creation of the tobacco companies. Smoking is shown as the action of glamorous, sexually attractive, offbeat, healthy, thin, macho, and dynamic people (Altman, Slater, Albright, & Maccoby, 1987). The reach and influence of advertising is truly mind-boggling as its tentacles reach into every home and heart, today. Competition to sell goods and services through a relatively new medium, the Internet and the web, is developing at a tremendous speed and is sure to extend the boundaries of advertising manifold. It has also become an attractive hunting ground for the unprincipled operator as there are far too many obstacles to the enforcement of codes and self-regulation becomes doubtful. Now the question of societal responsibility of the media is relevant. In a society when all actions are geared towards generation of wealth, the end indeed justifies the means. The best check on the behavior of advertisement media is the acceptance of a philosophy by the society that chooses the ends of human action on ethically guided principles. Despites its limitations, advertising is an essential marketing function in modern business. Advertisement by itself is not a social taste because it has usefulness for the business as well as consumers. It becomes objectionable and undesirable, if it is unscientific and is used dishonestly for anti social ends. References Aaker, David A., Rajeev Batra , and John G. Myers. Advertising Management, 4th Ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Simon & Schuster, 1992 Altman, D. G., Slater, M. D., Albright, C. L., & Maccoby, N. (1987). How an unhealthy Product is sold: Cigarette advertising in magazines, 1960–1985. Journal of Communication, 37(4), 95–105. Committee on Definitions: Marketing Definitions: A Glossary of Marketing Terms, p.9 Fill Chris. Marketing Communications: Frameworks, Theories, and Applications. Prentice Hall, London, 1995. Jones, J. (1995), When Ads Work, Lexington Books, New York, NY. Katz Helen. The Media Handbook: A Complete Guide to Advertising Media Selection, Planning, Research, and Buying. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mahwah, NJ. 2003.P. 36. Perse Elizabeth M. Media Effects and Society. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mahwah, NJ. 2001. Page Number: 164. Proctor ,T; Proctor, S & Parasolomou, I. (2005), “Visualizing the Metaphor”, Journal of Marketing Communications, 11(1) – 55-72. Verma M C. Business Studies.S.Chand Publication. New Delhi. 294-299 Read More