Effective Advertising - Essay Example

Effective Advertising Table of Contents What Makes Advertising Effective? 3 Introduction 3 Communication Channel Media Strategy 3 The Environment 4 The Message 4 Creativity/ Novelty 5 Conclusion 5 2. The Role of Culture in Advertising 6 Introduction 6 Cultural Aspects in Advertising 6 Conclusion 7 Reference list 8 1. What Makes Advertising Effective? Introduction Advertisements have always acted as an important tool for communicating with customers and to inform them about different products and services. They are developed in a manner such that consumers are attracted and consider buying different articles. Most organizations are seen to develop advertisement content on the basis of what consumers are actually looking for in a product. Interesting and grabbing content remains successful in gaining the attention of the consumers. Business organizations often try developing tag lines and messages which consumers easily pick upon. Hence much creativity is involved in the field of advertisements. Advertisements must also create a value proposition which facilitates overcoming completion. Customers must be given ample information and confidence to select a particular product by viewing their advertisements. Through effective advertisements, business organizations are able to attract a greater number of consumers and thereby attain revenue goals (Hawkins and Mothersbaugh, 2009). Communication Channel / Media Strategy The type of media which a company must use depends largely upon the target audience. If the targeted consumers are large and widespread, television, newspaper and online advertisements can be considered to be most suitable. On the other hand, if the targeted audience base is not so widespread or large in number, option such as local newspaper advertising, pamphlets and hoardings can be considered to be effective. Nowadays telephonic advertisements are becoming popular to approach consumers directly. This type of advertisement strategy also facilitates obtaining direct feedback from consumers. Selection of an appropriate media is highly essential so as to ensure that consumers are effectively influenced. Large organizations usually choose diverse media platforms to attract consumers (Yoo, Donthu and Lee, 2000). Such a strategy is also known as media dispersion approach. In the media concentration approach, organizations focus on selecting a few number of media platforms to advertise their products. This is usually done when the products already have a good brand image and their sales are quite high. However, if firms are concentrating upon developing a strong brand image and require enhancing the sales of their products, diversified advertisement strategy must be adopted so that all kinds of consumers who have access to different types of media can be approached (G. E. Belch and M. A. Belch, 2003). The Environment The advertising environment has undergone numerous changes since the last decade. The changes in the domain of advertising owes to technological developments. Innovative types of technologies facilitate the development of new media platforms that business organizations can use for advertising. For instance, the development of the internet technology opened avenues for online advertising for firms. The present advertisement environment is seen to be driven by technological innovations as well as creative thinking. Business organizations are seen to develop new concepts and ideas of advertising and gain competitive advantage over their rivals in attracting consumers (Flandin, Martin and Simkin, 1992). While developing new and better advertising concepts, organizations are required to take into consideration the needs of the stakeholders as well. Advertisements are required to comply with a number of rules and regulations set by the government authorities. These rules mainly state that advertisements must not directly or indirectly insult or be directed towards favouring any ethnic groups and must not contain any obscene material. Advertisements are also seen to be a tool which organizations use for indirectly criticizing the products of rivals and portray their products as superior. Many a times such competition lead to legal disputes. Hence, organization must remain careful regarding the content they use in advertisements. Advertisements play a highly important role in the present day marketing environment. It influences competitor strategies, developing product features and to spread awareness regarding innovative products (Harris, 1984). The Message Advertisement messages must be clear and informative. The message strategies which organizations use in advertisements can be broadly divided into three categories. These are cognitive, effective and conative strategies. Cognitive advertisements contain rational information. Usually cognitive advertisements contain an influential and a positive message which are directed not only towards the product but also other social values in general as well. Such a projection leads consumers to believe that the brand understands the emotions of consumers and influences them to purchase the product. Such advertisements also possess a distinctive selling proposition. They also tend to be comparative to other brands and their features. Effective advertisement strategies are seen to enhance the likeability of a product and enhance their demand in the market. Elicit emotions are expressed which influence consumers to buy products. Such advertisements normally contain direct messages and are easy to understand unlike the cognitive advertisements which are a little more complex to perceive. Conaitive strategies include portraying direct behaviours associated with the product. Most essentially, such advertisements give out information regarding the uses of the products (Barry and Howard, 1990). Creativity/ Novelty Creativity is an essential element in the success of an advertisement and attracting consumers towards buying products. Creative advertising messages and manner of presentations facilitate grabbing the attention of consumers which is then redirected towards the product. Hence, organizations nowadays are seen to spend heavily upon animation, dramatizations, influential testimonials and other graphical technologies to make advertisements a product of creativity. It is perceived that artistic and innovative advertisement concepts created by organizations reflect the creative element which lies within the organization. Creativity in advertising is required so that companies can effectively portray the superiority of their products as compared to others in a meaningful manner. Creativity in advertisements is required to be exercised continuously as consumers get easily reluctant when the same types of advertisements are presented to them again and again. Companies are hence required to frequently change the manner in which they present their products through advertisements (Smith, 2001). Conclusion Advertisement strategies depend upon the needs of the organization and the type of consumers they target (Smith, 2001). Aligning the characteristics of the target population with the product features and the needs of the organizations are considered to be essential in developing effective advertisements. A large amount of investments are also required and therefore the financial condition of firms must be considered before choosing different types of advertisement platforms. The message, the product features and the appeal created by advertisements must be positive and direct towards inducing purchasing intentions. 2. The Role of Culture in Advertising Introduction Culture influences a number of dimensions of marketing, including advertising. Culture impacts the manner in which advertisements are developed and projected to the targeted consumers. The products purchased by individuals, the values they associate with different brands and how they perceive different advertising messages depend upon their cultural background. This is one of the reasons behind why international organizations develop different advertisements for different regions worldwide. As culture varies, the acceptability of advertisement messages and strategies also vary. Hence, in order to produce compelling communication processes, organizations must consider developing advertisements after considering the ethnicity, religious beliefs, languages, attitudes, social values and the level of understanding of the targeted consumers. Since advertisements involves a creative element and depict social emotions, the aesthetic values of the targeted nation such as music, designs, brands and fashion must also be understood carefully (Sriram and Gopalakrishna, 1991). Organizations must remain sensitive towards the needs of the target society. Cultural Aspects in Advertising It is essential to understand that cultural thoughts and values do not entirely and always influence purchase decisions. It is therefore essential to know the extent to which different values influence the purchase pattern of consumers. Consumer behaviour can often be traced to cultural values depending upon the level of modernity or traditionalism existing amongst the people. One of the most common deviations caused in advertisements due to culture is language. Consumers in different nations speak differently and so it becomes essential to translate advertisements when being telecasted in a foreign nation (Banerjee, 1994). Advertisements develop a greater impact when the characters presented in them are of the same nationality. For instance, Coca-Cola uses different actors and famous personalities to perform in their advertisements in different nations (De Mooij, 2013). Hence an actor who does television commercials in the U.S will be less preferred in India and vice versa. After language and the characters used, culture also impacts the messages which are put across. For instance, an advertisement which speaks about the power and growth of women might not be accepted in a male dominant and masculine society such as which exists in many nations of the Middle East. Hence, organizations must develop themes which suit the characteristics of the society individually. However, advertisements which are simple and are less related to particular social setting can be easily telecasted in different nations, such as the zoozoo animated advertisements by Vodafone (De Mooij, 2013). Conclusion Globalization and the constant interaction of different societies have reduced the cultural gap existing in different nations hugely. International advertising concepts are therefore becoming popular whereby firms identify common interests and develop advertisements accordingly. For instance, irrespective of culture, music is equally appreciated and accepted by all nations in the world. Hence, music can be used as an effective and common advertising strategy in many nations. Similarly dance, cartoon and fictional characters are used in advertisements of many international brands. However, while developing logos and brand slogans, cultural understanding is essential. Reference list Banerjee, A., 1994. Transnational advertising development and management: An account planning approach and a process framework. International Journal of Advertising, 13(2), pp. 95-124. Barry, T. E. and Howard, D. J., 1990. A review and critique of the hierarchy of effects in advertising. International Journal of Advertising, 9(2), pp. 121-135. Belch, G. E. and Belch, M. A., 2003. Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective. New York: The McGraw− Hill. De Mooij, M., 2013. Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. London: Sage Publications. Flandin, M. P., Martin, E. and Simkin, L. P., 1992. Advertising effectiveness research: a survey of agencies, clients and conflicts. International Journal of Advertising, 11(3), pp. 203-214. Harris, G., 1984. The globalization of advertising. International Journal of Advertising, 3(3), pp. 223-234. Hawkins, D. and Mothersbaugh, D., 2009. Consumer behavior building marketing strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill. Smith, W. R., 2001. Product differentiation and market segmentation as alternative marketing strategies. The Journal of Marketing, 1(1), pp. 3-8. Sriram, V. and Gopalakrishna, P., 1991. Can advertising be standardized among similar countries? A cluster-based analysis. International Journal of Advertising, 10(2), pp. 137-149. Yoo, B., Donthu, N. and Lee, S., 2000. An examination of selected marketing mix elements and brand equity. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 28(2), pp. 195-211. Read More