The Internet as One of the Best-Sophisticated Way of Advertising - Research Paper Example

Advertising has emerged as the most important instrument in today’s modern world. It is the most effective medium of reaching to a huge mass. The success of any business lies in the way you market the product. For marketing the product advertisement has a lion’s share. While defining the term advertisement Julian Petley in his book “Advertising,” says, “Advertising is the means by which goods or services are promoted to the public.” (Petley Pg. 4)Advertising is one of the major tools to attract the prospective customers. For the advertising of any product or service, the use of mass media is inevitable as it catches the huge audience. Advertisement is not at all a modern concept but it was there in ancient time though the forms were different. Mouth to mouth publicity had been one of the types of ancient advertising. People used to advertise with the use of papyrus, wall or rock paintings. After the advancement in print technology, the newspapers, journals and other printing material became popular means of advertising. The emergence of electronic media changed the entire structure of advertising. Radio followed by television became the major means of advertising. The more technological advancement took place with the advent of internet and the scope of advertising also expanded. Advertising as we know today has become very complicated with lots of creativity, and innumerable options of media. The major media used for advertising are print media and electronic media. In print media the major means of advertising are newspapers, magazines, hoardings, pamphlets, brochures, banners, posters etc. In electronic media advertising can be done through radio, television, mobiles, and internet. Scope of Internet: Internet is called as new media whereas rest of others are called conventional media. According to the marketing segments the company chooses the best option for advertising its product or service. The channel of media for advertising product also is decided by the type of audience. If the customers are gathered in a small Geographical area, TV, radio and other forms of print media can be effective to catch the consumers. It is because the television and radio are the representatives of the concerned community. The local companies have a wider scope for advertising their product on television. Television is definitely still the dominant medium of reaching maximum number of audience. It is because television has reached to everywhere, it has captured the villages as well as remote areas. Hence for catching homogeneous mass television, radio, newspapers are still dominant. But if the mass is dispersed geographically and if it belongs to the diverse cultures, the company has to think of an internet. If the product and service need to be promoted globally then there is no choice for internet advertising. Internet marketing has been spreading rapidly in all segments of the society. It is because the number of internet users is increasing day by day. So in near future internet will the first priority of the advertisers. In the phase of globalization the consumers are scattered all over the world, hence internet has become an effective way of reaching to them. In this paper the focus is given on internet advertising which has occupied significant amount of consumers. The advertisement medium is decided by what kind of product you are selling. If there is a question of advertising the agricultural related products, the conventional media will be more useful. Internet cannot work here. But again in the wide range of products how much percentage of products and services has been made for agricultural purpose. For how much product the target customer will be from agricultural or rural area? They are very few products. The number is comparatively less. Why internet advertisement is preferable? To support the argument of why internet is the best option for advertising, I would like to give you some data regarding the advertising revenue of internet. According to the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Universal McCann, Internet advertising revenues (“revenues”) in the United States totaled $23.4 billion for the full year of 2008, with Q3 accounting for approximately $5.8 billion and Q4 totaling approximately $6.1 billion. Internet advertising revenues for the full year of 2008 increased 10.6 percent over 2007. (Internet Money Monday 18, 2009) Like television, internet also has become the major instrument for the advertisers. More and more people getting attracted towards internet for various purposes. Previously the monopoly of using internet had been accumulated in the hands of fistful elite urban class as only these people could afford internet. But now it is widely used by middle class society. It has become day today activity. So the surfing of various sites for getting information, for making new friends, for being in touch with old friends, people are using internet. The post offices have been replaced by internet because most of the correspondence is done via mails. The social networking sites such as Modern world is a world of media which is invasive and overriding. Significant number of people is involved in blog writing, article writing, online journalism etc. We open our account on social networking sites such as twitter, face book, you tube and upload our posts our comments, our videos and thus we constantly get in touch with the people. Some social networking sites are designed exclusively for managing your professional identity for example; Linkedin, Yorz, Ecademy, Ryze, Xing are the sites where the person can be in touch for business purpose. Business contacts can be expanded through such sites. Some people are active users of internet and they try to be in focus constantly on internet. They participate actively in commenting, chatting, replying, sharing personal photos, videos etc, People are involved in internet banking, online shopping, online ticket booking, hotel booking, and downloading the stuff they want. The children also enjoy various online games. The small children are becoming computer wizards and use internet very comfortably. The number of students is taking online training of various courses. They are getting degree through online education. All these activities have made internet a hot place not only for the youngsters but for all age group. So for all types of advertising internet is open. According to Marketer principal analyst David Hallerman, “As consumers continue to increase their time spent online and as the resurgent economy continues to bolster ad budgets, we’re going to continue to see an influx of dollars toward the internet. More ad formats, such as video, and more channels, especially social media and mobile, are also key contributors to the spending gains.” (“Online Advertising Market Poised to Grow 20% in 2011, June 8 2011) Thus on internet the company can find all kinds of potential customers. “Marketers increasingly see the internet as a place where brand advertising, especially in the form of video advertising, is effective,” said Hallerman. “Combined with greater targeting and measurement than marketers get with TV ads, the growing consumption of online video has done more to attract brands than any other online ad format.” Though internet has been emerging as a powerful instrument for advertising, it is a general perception that internet is still in its infancy phase. It has not yet been percolated through the lower section of the society. It is a situation especially in underdeveloped nations, where the accessibility of internet is not available. The people leaving in remote area cannot get access to internet. So in such case it is difficult to reach the product or service to them. But if we observe the rapid growth of internet users it is possible difficult to bring the weaker section of the society in the main stream. In near future it would be possible to get high speed internet connection. “Contractors recently began laying 170 miles of fiber-optic cable across Whitman County as part of a $14 million network that will bring high-speed Internet access to rural communities throughout the region.” (Fiber Optic cable will reach into Spokane, William Spence Lewiston Tribune, )“According to the latest figures from CNNIC, the number of Internet users in China rose to 420 million at the end of June, 2010, an increase of almost 36 million users in the first six months of year 2010 and including 115.1 million users in the rural areas.” (China Internet Market Brief – July 16, 2010, Internet World Status,) Cultural Factors in Internet Advertising: Any advertisement aims at long term goal. For a company advertising does not just mean to inform the consumers about the product and service and thus catch more and more people. Rather this is a short term goal. The long term goal is to establish the brand name. For this, it is necessary to follow the cultural values of the country to build an image of the company. So while considering a particular customer there are some essential cultural factors need to be considered. 1. Language 2. Signs and symbols of the culture 3. Giving respect to the cultural traits of the nation. Being an active section of globalization, the corporate world is very well aware of this fact. So it has been essential for the company to know the native language where they want to sell their product. The small scale or native companies also have to face this problem due to the multi-linguistic culture of the same nation. For example, Indian society is heterogeneous, and multi-lingual. In India around 150 languages have been spoken. In such circumstances if the foreign company wants to win the minds of the consumers they need to convey their message in regional language only. “Firms considering global e-business must recognize that e-business in foreign markets are likely to be different than domestic e-business. First and foremost is the language issue. Even if the foreign target audience understands English, it may be important to have its home language available on your site, making users feel welcome and signal that you are truly interested in serving them.” (Hossein Bidgoli, Pg.815 “The Internet Encyclopaedia, volume 2) The companies also know that even if the customers know English they will be comfortable if the communication happens in regional language. They will accept the product or service as if it is their native company. While putting up some symbols or colours on their website, the company personnel have to be well aware of their cultural meaning and if they are not provoking any sensitive issues. The concerned business before starting its internet advertising campaign has to acknowledge the culture of the nation in which its prospective customers are located. The internet advertisements need to be absorbed the respective culture then only the customers start to establish a feeling of integrity. The advertisers know the fact and accordingly they are appearing in a local form in front of their customer via internet. If the customer is not ready to pay by credit card due to the security point of view, the company thinks of some another options. Achieving customer’s trust is the most important things which is maintained in online advertising. Like developed nations, developing nations like China, India also are also embracing internet technology very rapidly. In near future the internet will be a used to thing for the people. The above discussion will prove that the internet advertising has immense potential to be the wide-ranging mode of communication though not like television. It is one of the best sophisticated way of advertising. References: 1. Julian Petley “Advertising,” pg 4 2. Internet Money 18th May 2009 “Internet Advertising Growing Faster than any medium in history http://www.biostheoretikos.com/internet-advertising-growing-faster-than-any-medium-in-history/ 3. “Online Advertising Market Poised to Grow 20% in 2011, June 8 2011http://www.emarketer.com/PressRelease.aspx?R=1008432 4. Fiber Optic cable will reach into Spokane, William Spence Lewiston Tribune, http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/aug/28/rural-areas-getting-high-speed-internet/ 5. China Internet Market Brief – July 16, 2010, Internet World Status, http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/cn.htm 6. Hossein Bidgoli, Pg.815 “The Internet Encyclopaedia, volume 2 Read More