Role of Advertising in Marketing and Process of Advertising The finest products, the most attractive price tags, and the best marketing channels are of no mean if the target customers don't know the product; and the chances of product success is low. Effective marketing communication is crucial for the success of a product or a business. In marketing communications advertising plays an important role.

Role of Advertising in Marketing CommunicationMarketing communications are the means by which organisations attempt to inform, persuade, and remind consumers about products, services, or brands. Marketing communications inform and make consumers aware about the availability of the product or service, about its usage, price and special offers. Marketing Communications attempt to persuade potential consumers to purchase and try the product. Marketing communications can also be used to reinforce experiences, or to remind consumers about their needs and their past experiences related to the product with a view to convince them for repurchases. Marketing communication also differentiate products in markets where there is little to separate competing products and brands.

Advertising is a paid form of a non-personal message communicated through the various media by industry, business firms, nonprofit organisations, or individuals. Advertising is persuasive and informational and is designed to influence the purchasing behavior and/or thought patterns of the audience.

The advertising message has to reach a billion people, speaking different languages, practicing many religions. Advertisers can reach their audiences through television, radio, cinema, print medium, outdoor advertising, sales promotion and the Internet. Hence, advertising is a form of mass communication.

Process of AdvertisingFollowing are the steps that are required to be followed for development and execution of advertising :-1. Briefing - Advertising process starts with briefing - a document confirming understanding between client and advertising agency on - what product to advertise, objective of advertising, time-frame of ad campaign, strategies to reach the audience, and total estimated cost.2. Market Research - After briefing market research will done. Research include - comparison of advertiser's product or service with competitor's product or service, consumers' perception of their brand in comparison to their competitors, study of competitors' advertising, and response of consumers to competitors' advertising.3. Identify Target Audience - Next step is to identify target audience. Using the market research, the advertising agency will identify the target audience.4. Media Selection - Using the research, the advertising agency or the media agency will select the media that should be used to reach the target audience in the most cost effective way.5. Ad Designing & Ad Creation - At this step the creative people of advertising agency will convert the advertising communication into words and pictures. The copywriter will write the copy of advertising and the art director will visually implement the copywriter's message.The advertising agency may get the filming or taping done by outside production companies.6. Decide Place & Time - This step is to decide where and when the advertisement will be shown. Traffic department within the advertising agency will ensure that the commercials are ready on time and all required legal approvals have been granted.7. Execution - Finally the advertisement will be executed.8. Performance Check - Once the advertisement is executed, the media agency will check its performance.Objectives and Importance of AdvertisingAdvertising is the best way to communicate to the customers. Advertising helps informs the customers about the brands available in the market and the variety of products useful to them. Advertising is for everybody including kids, young and old. It is done using various media types, with different techniques and methods most suited.Let us take a look on the main objectives and importance of advertising.Objectives of AdvertisingFour main Objectives of advertising are:i. Trial ii. Continuity iii. Brand switch iv. Switching back

Lets take a look on these various types of objectives.1. Trial: the companies which are in their introduction stage generally work for this objective. The trial objective is the one which involves convincing the customers to buy the new product introduced in the market. Here, the advertisers use flashy and attractive ads to make customers take a look on the products and purchase for trials.2. Continuity: this objective is concerned about keeping the existing customers to stick on to the product. The advertisers here generally keep on bringing something new in the product and the advertisement so that the existing customers keep buying their products.3. Brand switch: this objective is basically for those companies who want to attract the customers of the competitors. Here, the advertisers try to convince the customers to switch from the existing brand they are using to their product.4. Switching back: this objective is for the companies who want their previous customers back, who have switched to their competitors. The advertisers use different ways to attract the customers back like discount sale, new advertise, some reworking done on packaging, etc.Basically, advertising is a very artistic way of communicating with the customers. The main characteristics one should have to get on their objectives are great communication skills and very good convincing power.Importance of AdvertisingAdvertising plays a very important role in todays age of competition. Advertising is one thing which has become a necessity for everybody in todays day to day life, be it the producer, the traders, or the customer. Advertising is an important part. Lets have a look on how and where is advertising important:1. Advertising is important for the customersJust imagine television or a newspaper or a radio channel without an advertisement! No, no one can any day imagine this. Advertising plays a very important role in customers life. Customers are the people who buy the product only after they are made aware of the products available in the market. If the product is not advertised, no customer will come to know what products are available and will not buy the product even if the product was for their benefit. One more thing is that advertising helps people find the best products for themselves, their kids, and their family. When they come to know about the range of products, they are able to compare the products and buy so that they get what they desire after spending their valuable money. Thus, advertising is important for the customers.2. Advertising is important for the seller and companies producing the productsYes, advertising plays very important role for the producers and the sellers of the products, because Advertising helps increasing sales Advertising helps producers or the companies to know their competitors and plan accordingly to meet up the level of competition. If any company wants to introduce or launch a new product in the market, advertising will make a ground for the product. Advertising helps making people aware of the new product so that the consumers come and try the product. Advertising helps creating goodwill for the company and gains customer loyalty after reaching a mature age. The demand for the product keeps on coming with the help of advertising and demand and supply become a never ending process. 3. Advertising is important for the societyAdvertising helps educating people. There are some social issues also which advertising deals with like child labour, liquor consumption, girl child killing, smoking, family planning education, etc. thus, advertising plays a very important role in society.IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISEMENTS IN TODAYS WORLDAdvertisements are of great importance for any business activity as it attracts people to use the particular service. Most of the businessmen are using various different means of communication to reach people around the world and turn them into leads that can be further turned into potent customers. There are various ways of putting up an advertisement as per the audience to be addressed. Most people use to look for these advertisements very carefully observing carefully the specifications and efficiency of the featured product. However, its impossible for someone to get the reality check through these advertisements, so in order to get clearer idea about a particular service one must go for peoples feedback about a particular product or service and these feedbacks must also be genuine as some of them maybe done for fake publicity.Newspapers and magazines are used for advertisements to address a particular group of people. The product and services which are promoted there must be attractive enough to grasp the attention of a reader and the chances of a person using it increase eventually. Apart from newspapers and magazine, television and radio serve as a great medium to promote something over a group of people. They have a deeper impact on people as compared to newspaper and magazine and hence are more costly. Businessmen even use celebrities to appear in their advertisement so that people consider it as a fashion trend.One important and widely used advertising media across the globe is internet. People use internet to get idea about various useful things in daily life. So, it turns out to be a great place for advertisement and also it can address the population around the world at once. Many people think of it as the best and the most affordable type of advertising media. But many important factors are to be kept in mind while using them to serve as a promotional advertisement. For instance a website that is particularly used to search for people you want to communicate with in real life.But you lost their contacts over internet somehow and are unable to contact them back. In such situation a website like Mylife.com can help you to find the person you want to communicate with and this website is filled with professionals who can provide you extraordinary results at very affordable rates. If somehow you find the service not satisfying enough, you can go for Mylife.com Refund and can apply for refund and they will be giving you the refundable amount as per the terms and conditions. It is not easy to choose one service among many and one has to go for a prominent service wisely.It shows the reliability of people over the services that they have never asked for a refund without getting satisfied with the services. Like if the person you have asked for is found earlier then the period of your subscription. Then you can wait ask for the cancellation of subscription of the services and can get a refund easily and go for Mylife Refunds.Ethics in AdvertisingEthics means a set of moral principles which govern a persons behavior or how the activity is conducted. And advertising means a mode of communication between a seller and a buyer.Thus ethics in advertising means a set of well defined principles which govern the ways of communication taking place between the seller and the buyer. Ethics is the most important feature of the advertising industry. Though there are many benefits of advertising but then there are some points which dont match the ethical norms of advertising.An ethical ad is the one which doesnt lie, doesnt make fake or false claims and is in the limit of decency.Nowadays, ads are more exaggerated and a lot of puffing is used. It seems like the advertisers lack knowledge of ethical norms and principles. They just dont understand and are unable to decide what is correct and what is wrong.

The main area of interest for advertisers is to increase their sales, gain more and more customers, and increase the demand for the product by presenting a well decorated, puffed and colorful ad. They claim that their product is the best, having unique qualities than the competitors, more cost effective, and more beneficial. But most of these ads are found to be false, misleading customers and unethical. The best example of these types of ads is the one which shows evening snacks for the kids, they use coloring and gluing to make the product look glossy and attractive to the consumers who are watching the ads on television and convince them to buy the product without giving a second thought.Ethics in Advertising is directly related to the purpose of advertising and the nature of advertising. Sometimes exaggerating the ad becomes necessary to prove the benefit of the product. For e.g. a sanitary napkin ad which shows that when the napkin was dropped in a river by some girls, the napkin soaked whole water of the river. Thus, the purpose of advertising was only to inform women about the product quality. Obviously, every woman knows that this cannot practically happen but the ad was accepted. This doesnt show that the ad was unethical.Ethics also depends on what we believe. If the advertisers make the ads on the belief that the customers will understand, persuade them to think, and then act on their ads, then this will lead to positive results and the ad may not be called unethical. But at the same time, if advertisers believe that they can fool their customers by showing any impractical things like just clicking fingers will make your home or office fully furnished or just buying a lottery ticket will make you a millionaire, then this is not going to work out for them and will be called as unethical.Recently, the Vetican issued an article which says ads should follow three moral principles - Truthfulness, Social Responsibility and Upholding Human Dignity.Generally, big companies never lie as they have to prove their points to various ad regulating bodies. Truth is always said but not completely. Sometimes its better not to reveal the whole truth in the ad but at times truth has to be shown for betterment.Pharmaceutical Advertising - they help creating awareness, but one catchy point here is that the advertisers show what the medicine can cure but never talk about the side effects of that same thing or the risks involved in intake of it.Children - children are the major sellers of the ads and the product. They have the power to convince the buyers. But when advertisers are using children in their ad, they should remember not to show them alone doing there work on their own like brushing teeth, playing with toys, or infants holding their own milk bottles as everyone knows that no one will leave their kids unattended while doing all these activities. So showing parents also involved in all activities or things being advertised will be more logical.Alcohol - till today, there hasnt come any liquor ad which shows anyone drinking the original liquor. They use mineral water and sodas in their advertisements with their brand name. These types of ads are called surrogate ads. These type of ads are totally unethical when liquor ads are totally banned. Even if there are no advertisements for alcohol, people will continue drinking.Cigarettes and Tobacco - these products should be never advertised as consumption of these things is directly and badly responsible for cancer and other severe health issues. These as are already banned in countries like India, Norway, Thailand, Finland and Singapore.Ads for social causes - these types of ads are ethical and are accepted by the people. But ads like condoms and contraceptive pills should be limited, as these are sometimes unethical, and are more likely to loose morality and decency at places where there is no educational knowledge about all these products.Looking at all these above mentioned points, advertisers should start taking responsibility of self regulating their ads by: design self regulatory codes in their companies including ethical norms, truth, decency, and legal points keep tracking the activities and remove ads which dont fulfill the codes. Inform the consumers about the self regulatory codes of the company Pay attention on the complaints coming from consumers about the product ads. Maintain transparency throughout the company and system. When all the above points are implemented, they will result in: making the company answerable for all its activities will reduce the chances of getting pointed out by the critics or any regulatory body. It will help gain confidence of the customers, make them trust the company and their products. Social and Economical Aspects of AdvertisingEconomic role of AdvertisingValue of Products:The advertised products are not always the best products in the market. There are some unadvertised products also present which are good enough. But advertising helps increase value for the products by showing the positive image of the product which in turn helps convincing customers to buy it. Advertising educates consumers about the uses of the products hence increasing its value in minds of the consumers. For e.g. mobile phones were first considered as necessity but nowadays the cell phones come with number of features which makes them mode of convenience for consumers.Effect on Prices:Some advertised products do cost more than unadvertised products but the vice versa is also true. But if there is more competition in the market for those products, the prices have to come down, for e.g., canned juices from various brands. Thus some professional like chartered accountants and doctors are not allowed to advertise.But some products do not advertise much, and they dont need much of it and even their prices are high but they are still the leaders in market as they have their brand name. e.g., Porsche carsEffect on consumer demand and choices:Even if the product is heavily advertised, it does not mean that the demand or say consumption rates will also increase. The product has to be different with better quality, and more variety than others. For E.g., Kelloggs cornflakes have variety of flavors with different ranges to offer for different age groups and now also for people who want to loose weight thus giving consumers different choices to select from.Effect on business cycle:Advertising no doubt helps in employing more number of people. It increases the pay rolls of people working in this field. It helps collecting more revenues for sellers which they use for betterment of product and services. But there are some bad effects of advertisements on business cycle also. Sometimes, consumer may find the foreign product better than going for the national brand. This will definitely effect the production which may in turn affect the GDP of the country.The economic aspects are supported by the Abundance Principle which says producing more products and services than the consumption rate which helps firstly keeping consumers informed about the options they have and secondly helps sellers for playing in healthy and competitive atmosphere with their self interest.Social role of Advertising:There are some positive and some negative aspects of advertising on the social ground. They are as follows.Deception in Advertising:The relation between the buyers and sellers is maintained if the buyers are satisfied with what they saw in advertise and what they got after buying that product. If seller shows a false or deceptive image and an exaggerated image of the product in the advertisement, then the relation between the seller and buyers cant be healthy. These problems can be overcome if the seller keep their ads clean and displays right image of the product.The Subliminal Advertising:Capturing the Minds of the consumers is the main intention of these ads. The ads are made in such a way that the consumers dont even realizes that the ad has made an impact on their minds and this results in buying the product which they dont even need. But All ads dont impress all consumers at all times, because majority of consumers buy products on basis of the price and needs.Effect on Our Value System:The advertisers use puffing tactics, endorsements from celebrities, and play emotionally, which makes ads so powerful that the consumers like helpless preys buy those products.These ads make poor people buy products which they cant afford, people picking up bad habits like smoking and drinking, and buy products just because their favorite actor endorsed that product. This affects in increased the cost of whole society and loss of values of our own selves.Offensiveness:Some ads are so offensive that they are not acceptable by the buyers. For example, the ads of denim jeans showed girls wearing very less clothes and making a sex appeal. These kinds of ads are irrelevant to the actual product. Btu then there is some ads which are educative also and now accepted by people. Earlier ads giving information about birth control pills was considered offensive but now the same ads are considered educative and important.But at the last, there are some great positive aspects which help Development of society and growth of technologies Employment Gives choices to buyers with self interest Welcomes healthy competition Improving standard of living. Give information on social, economical and health issues.

Schramms Model of CommunicationWilber Schramm proposed the model of communication in 1954.Information is of no use unless and until it is carefully put into words and conveyed to others. Encoding plays a very important role because it initiates the process of communication by converting the thought into content. When the information reaches the recipient his prime responsibility is to understand what the speaker intends to convey. Unless and until the second party is able to understand or decode the information what the sender wants to communicate, the message is actually of no use. Thus encoding and decoding are two most important factors of an effective communication without which information can never flow between two individuals. Schramms model also revolves around the above principle. According to the Schramms model, coding and decoding are the two essential processes of an effective communication.

He also emphasizes that the communication is incomplete unless and until the sender receives a feedback from the recipient. Imagine a person sharing his thoughts with his friend and his friend not responding to him. Is the communication complete? NO.Schramm believed that communication is actually a two way process between the first party and the second party.Let us understand more with the help of an exampleJennifer to Sam -Will you accompany me for a movie ?Sam kept mum and did not respond and hence the communication between Sam and Jennifer was not complete. If Sam was not interested for the movie, he could have responded or given the feedback to Jennifer about his unwillingness. According to Schramms model, whenever the information reaches the recipient, it becomes his responsibility to give the feedback and let him know if he has downloaded the message in exactly the same manner the speaker wanted. If he is not clear with anything or has any doubts, it must be cleared with the speaker. Thus when the speaker conveys any message to the listener, the listener, decodes the message and once again passes the message to the speaker after understanding it and completing the full circle.Sender

MM

Receiver

M - Stands for messageSchramm believed that an individuals knowledge, experience and cultural background also play an important role in communication. Individuals from diverse cultures, religion or background tend to interpret the message in different ways.Billy to Servant - Please bring something hot for me to drink as I am suffering from sore throat.The servant brought him a glass of lukewarm water but Billy actually wanted a cup of hot chocolate coffee. Hence different interpretation by the servant. He was not on the common grounds with Billy and failed to understand his masters information. It was neither Billys nor the servants fault but actually the differences in both their backgrounds which was to blame.To conclude according to this model of communication when a sender passes on the information to the receiver, the receiver must interpret it in the desired form the sender wants and give him the feedback or respond accordingly. Any communication where the sender does not get the feedback, the communication is not complete and thus ineffective.Two Step Flow TheoryThe two-step flow of communication or Multistep Flow Model, says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media. So according to this model, ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population. The Multistep Flow Model says that most people form their opinions based on opinion leaders that influence the media. Opinion leaders are those initially exposed to a specific media content, and who interpret it based on their own opinion. They then begin to infiltrate these opinions through the general public who become "opinion followers".[1] These "opinion leaders" gain their influence through more elite media as opposed to mainstream mass media.[2] In this process, social influence is created and adjusted by the ideals and opinions of each specific "elite media" group, and by these media group's opposing ideals and opinions and in combination with popular mass media sources. Therefore, the leading influence in these opinions is primarily a social persuasionCriticismsThe original two-step flow hypothesisthat ideas flow from the media to opinion leaders and then to less active sections of the populationhas been criticized and negated by myriad consequent studies. Findings from Deutschmann and Danielson assert, we would urge that the Katz-Lazarsfeld two-stage flow hypothesis, as a description of the initial information process, be applied to mass communication with caution.[14] They find substantial evidence that initial mass media information flows directly to people on the whole and is not relayed by opinion leaders.Furthermore, the two-step hypothesis does not adequately describe the flow of learning. Everett Rogers Diffusion of Innovations cites one study in which two-thirds of respondents accredited their awareness to the mass media rather than face-to-face communication. Similarly, critics argue that most of Lazarsfelds findings pertain to learning factors involved with general media habits rather than the learning of particular information. Both findings suggest a greater prevalence of a one-step flow of communication.However, Lazarsfelds two-step hypothesis is an adequate description to understand the medias influence on belief and behavior. Troldahl finds that media exposure is a first step to introduce discussion, at which point opinion leaders initiate the second-step flow. These findings also realize opinion leaders decisive role in the balance theory, which suggests that people are motivated to keep consistency among their current beliefs and opinions. If a person is exposed to new observations that are inconsistent with present beliefs, he or she is thrown into imbalance. This person will then seek advice from their opinion leader, to provide them with additional cognitions to bring them back into balance.In addition, this theory may be valid during the era when opinion leaders were the only ones to have easy access to media contents. Today, there is a free flow of information so that anybody could have access to media contents without relying on opinion leaders a lotWhat Is primary Demand Advertising?Primary demand stimulation refers to advertising messages that promote the merits of a product category rather than a particular brand. It contrasts select demand stimulation where advertisers pay to promote their brand as superior to competitors. Though not as common, primary demand ads do serve a purpose in specific instances.PurposeThe major purpose of primary demand ads is either to inform customers about a brand new product or technology that they are unfamiliar with, or to persuade customers that they haven't recognized the benefits of a given product. Primary demand ads are commonly paid for by industry associations made up of a number of top providers in a category. These companies recognize that for any of them to achieve individual success, the industry and products must be valuable to customers.New ProductsPrimary demand is typically used in one of two scenarios: to launch a completely new product category or to garner more attention to an under-appreciated category. The idea behind new product primary demand is that before a pioneer can promote its benefits, the product category must be explained to target customers. This is especially true in complex categories like technology, where innovative leaders must inform audiences about the new product category before investing in persuasive selective demand stimulation.AssociationsThe more obvious use of primary demand stimulation is when industries collaborate, such as with the "Got Milk?" campaign and the "Pork: The Other White Meat" campaign. Dairy makers realized that milk consumption was on the decline, and they needed to pool resources and convince people to drink more milk for overall health benefits for each company to succeed. This approach is common in struggling industries.ChallengesAccording to the 6th edition of the textbook "Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion," primary demand has generally been proven less successful over time than selective demand. This is because it lacks the same persuasive aspect of a company selling its benefits to customers who have a need. These risks are heightened in mature industries, with milk and orange juice cited as specific examples of categories where primary demand efforts have had little to no positive effects.Ways to increase "primary demand": Use "pre-emptive" marketing. Rather than wait until the day comes when your prospects discover they have a need and allow them to do their own search, hoping they find you and call you, make sure you reach them first! Ways to do this: Networking - by focusing on the problems you solve, you are likely to meet interested people - use especially when marketing to businesses Direct Mail - use your letter to 1st help the reader identify a problem or need, 2nd magnify this problem or need to how it affects his business or life, and 3rd provide a solution using your company Display Ads in newspapers - similar approach as in Direct Mail, but uses print media instead - use ads LARGE enough to get noticed Publicity - it's a great way to get people's attention...if you can first get the publicity Referrals - get referred to the people and businesses likely to benefit from your offer - many times people will be receptive to new ideas when they are referred by someone they already know and trust Telemarketing - often a "tough sell", but if you reach enough of the right people it can work - stick to telemarketing to businesses - leave consumers who are at home eating dinner alone! (Thank you!) These marketing tactics tend to work best for primary demand because they catch someone when they are "not already" considering your business or your type of product or service. Just remember, these people did NOT expect to hear from you or about you on this particular day. So you must tell them in your marketing, right up front "What's in it for them." In other words, you must use your marketing to ask probing questions, identify needs, and then educate them on how their problems can be solved using your product, service, or company.

Selective demandSelective demand is when a prospect has a need, has identified the need, and is ACTIVELY seeking out a solution. In these cases the prospect will come to you if he feels comfortable in your company's ability to solve his needs. This sounds good right? Buyers who already know what they want. No need for educating them. Just get to the point and sell. Well, it's not that easy! When someone has selective demand they are more proactive in their search for information. They usually give themselves enough time to compare the quality, value, and offers of different companies. So while they are calling you they are also likely calling others as well.

Ways to increase Selective Demand: Four Steps: 1) Determine where your prospects typically turn to for more information about your type of services or products. For example: Internet Search Engines, Yellow Pages, Classified Sections, Business Directories, Advice from others. 2) Do everything possible to gain tremendous exposure for your company in the specific places that your potential customers turn to when looking for a company like yours. If it's a form of media, (online or offline) advertise there. If it's word of mouth, identify who has strong levels of "influence" over other people's decisions and build relationships with these people. 3) Recognize your company's strongest competitive advantages and communicate them in all marketing and advertising you do. Do NOT be another "me too" company and look like everyone else. You will NOT get noticed that way. Stand out in a GOOD way. 4) Have excellent customer service and "incoming call" sales people ready to answer all questions and sell your company. If necessary, have great sales people who can meet prospects in person on appointments to close business and start new relationships.Which one should we focus on, gaining more primary or selective demand? That's a tough one, but in most cases BOTH. If you are a true "marketing hustler" who can get out there and is very proactive in marketing, you may be able to generate enough leads by generating enough primary demand. However, there are cons as well. You may find yourself spending quite a bit of time trying to sell or market to people or businesses that don't quite understand what you do and feel they have no real need. Why not at least devote a bit of your marketing budget and efforts to generate you qualified, selective demand? If your company's products and services are of much higher quality, better priced, and/or better serve customers' needs you will likely win out in a head to head advertising/marketing battle. Proudly display your company wherever customers are likely to search for you. It is probable that you will win most business anyway, especially if you have an established, strong identity. However, when you combine both approaches and appeal to both markets you A) gain a share of the "established" market - those consumers or businesses actively seeking a solution, and B) open new territories and expand into "untapped" markets by generating primary demand. DAGMAR Model DAGMAR stands for Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results. DAGMAR Model was developed byRussell Colleyin 1961 for setting advertising objectives and measuring advertising results.

According toDAGMAR Model the ultimate objective of advertising involves a communication task, intended to create awareness, impart information, develop attitude and induce action.

Advertising objective is to carry a consumer through four levels of understanding :-

1. From unawareness to awareness - consumer must be aware of product or company,2. Comprehension - what the product is and its benefits,3. Conviction - mental conviction to buy the product, and4. Action - finally buy the product.

Communication Process inDAGMAR Approach

1.AwarenessBefore the purchase behaviour is expected from target audience it is necessary to make the audience aware with the product or company.The initial communication task of the advertising activity is to increase the consumer awareness of the product or offer.

2.ComprehensionOnly Awareness is not be sufficient to stimulate a purchase, sufficient knowledge and information about product or organisation is necessary. This step involves the target audience to learn something about product, organisation, or offer. Here communication task of advertising activity is to make consumer learn about product - product characteristics, benefits, or uses.

3.Attitude or ConvictionAt this step a sense of conviction is established. By creating interest and preference, buyers are moved to a position where they are convinced that a particular product in the class should be tried at the next opportunity. At this step communication task of advertising activity is to mould the audiences beliefs about the product and this is often done through messages that demonstrate the products superiority over a rival or by talking about the rewards as a result of using the product.

4.ActionFinally, communication must encourage buyer to engage in purchase activity.How to Determine a Target Audience in MarketingYour target market is the profile of the typical customers who utilize your business. Narrowing down your target audience is key in cost-effective and useful marketing, because it allows you to tailor the marketing to appeal to those customers. A general target audience without any specific demographics is less likely to increase sales because you fail to reach the people who will actually use your product or service. Take time before you begin your next marketing campaign to figure out to whom exactly you are trying to sell.Step 1Review the products and services you have available. Consider the features and benefits to a consumer who uses your products so you are able to narrow down exactly who would benefit from them. For example, a residential cleaning service benefits customers by saving them time; thus the target audience may be busy professionals or moms who need more time to balance home and family responsibilities.Step 2Evaluate your own skills and areas of expertise to help choose a target audience. For example, a caterer with experience in large corporate events may choose to target that section of the market.Step 3Analyze your current customer files to determine who already utilizes your products or services. Look for similarities among your customers in terms of factors such as age, gender, income, education, job and ethnicity. Use this information to narrow down your target audience.Step 4Research to whom your competitors are marketing in their advertising. Look at the type of people who utilize those services and to which groups the marketing materials may appeal. Identify ways to look for slightly different target customers to attract a different segment of the market. For example, if another tutoring service markets toward families with young children who need help with math and reading, tailor your service to help high school students and those preparing to take standardized college entrance exams.Step 5Write a basic profile of the type of customers you want to target using your research. Determine the lifestyle, values, background, occupations, age and location of your ideal customers. If you offer different types of services or products, determine if a second or third target audience is a possibility for those specific items.Step 6Evaluate your target audience periodically to determine if your products or services are still best focused on that type of people. As you add new products or services, determine if you need to develop a new profile for that core audience.What is advertising creation stage in building of advertising program?

AnswerAd-creation stage consists of three stages:1. Idea Generation2. Copy-writing3. Layout1. Idea generation stage1. Orientation: First of all in the process of idea generation it is necessary to identify the purpose or objective of communication then only a proper creative idea can be decided.2. Preparation:Relevant and sufficient information is required to be gathered.3. Analysis: Once the information is collected is required to be properly organised under different heads like- technical information, consumer behaviour information, competitors' information etc.4. Ideation:Ideation is the generation of actual ideas by trying different combinations of factsand information available.5. Incubation:Once ideas are generated, they are kept aside to incubate, i.e., to let thesubconscious mind work on them for sometime.6. Synthesis:When the team arrives at this step, it is equipped with a number of ideas. In thisstage, the emphasis is on combining these ideas and evolving something substantial from it.7. Evaluation: The various ideas generated in the previous steps are evaluated here. Thecriteria used for evaluation are described here. The idea should be:i) Relevant to the communication objectives.ii) Original and capable of catching the attention of the viewer.iii) Flexible so that they can be modified or extended to other advertisements in the future.2. Copy WritingThe word 'Copy' has a specific meaning in the world of advertising. Advertisement Copy is the soul of advertisement. An Advertisement Copy is the written and spoken matter expressed in words, sentences, and figures designed to convey the desired message to the target audience.In print media the elements of an ad-copy are head line, sub-headlines, illustrations, slogans, and brand name.

Approaches to Copy WritingA copy-writer has to answer the following questions to prepare an effective advertising copy: What am I advertising? To whom am I advertising? How can I convey best the advertising message to my readers? Where and how the product is being sold? When the product is purchased and used? What legal implications are involved?3. LayoutA layout is a miniature sketch of the proposed advertisement. A rough layout is first prepared inwhich the headline and subheads are lettered in artwork and photographs are drawn or provided,and the position various elements of ad-copy is indicated. The rough layout is tested and modified to prepare thefinal layout. The final layout is appended with many explanations and mechanical designs togive a comprehensive view. It refers to specifications for estimating costs, guidance forengravers and blueprints for advertisers.

Layout means two things; in one sense, it means the total appearance of the advertisement itsdesign and the composition of its elements; in another sense, it means physical rendering of thedesign for the advertisement its blueprint for production purposes.

Functions of the Layout It Organises all the Elements It Brings Together Copy Writer and Art Director It Enables the Advertiser to Visualize his Future Advertisement. It Acts as a Guide to the Copy Specialists.

Copy TestingCopy testing is a means of measuring the communication value of advertising. As a diagnostictool rather than an evaluative tool, copy testing can be instrumental to the creative developmentprocess. There are two key objectives in a copy testing framework. One objective is to determinewhether the advertising can cut through the clutter and make people stop and notice the ad. Thesecond is to assess whether the ad communicates the intended message.UNIT 2Cognitive DissonanceCognitive dissonancerefers to a situation involvingconflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors.This produces afeeling of discomfortleading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance etc.For example, when people smoke (behavior) and they know that smoking causes cancer (cognition).Attitudes may change because of factors within the person. An important factor here is theprinciple of cognitive consistency, the focus of Festinger's (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance. This theory starts from the idea that we seek consistency in our beliefs and attitudes in any situation where two cognitions are inconsistent.According to Festinger, we hold many cognitions about the world and ourselves; when they clash, a discrepancy is evoked, resulting in a state of tension known as cognitive dissonance. As the experience of dissonance is unpleasant, we are motivated to reduce or eliminate it, and achieve consonance (i.e. agreement).

How Attitude Change Takes PlaceAccording to cognitive dissonance theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (i.e., beliefs, opinions). When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance.Dissonance can be reduced in one of three ways:First, individuals canchange one or more of the attitudes, behavior, beliefs etc. so as to make the relationship between the two elements a consonant one. When one of the dissonant elements is a behavior, the individual can change or eliminate the behavior. However, this mode of dissonance reduction frequently presents problems for people, as it is often difficult for people to change well-learned behavioral responses (e.g. giving up smoking).A second (cognitive) method of reducing dissonance is toacquire new informationthat outweighs the dissonant beliefs. For example, thinking smoking causes lung cancer will cause dissonance if a person smokes. However, new information such as research has not proved definitely that smoking causes lung cancer may reduce the dissonance.A third way to reduce dissonance is toreduce the importance of the cognitions(i.e. beliefs, attitudes). A person could convince themself that it is better to "live for today" than to "save for tomorrow." In other words, he could tell himself that a short life filled with smoking and sensual pleasures is better than a long life devoid of such joys. In this way, he would be decreasing the importance of the dissonant cognition (smoking is bad of ones health).Notice that dissonance theory does not state that these modes of dissonance reduction will actually work, only that individuals who are in a state of cognitive dissonance will take steps to reduce the extent of their dissonance. One of the points that dissonance theorists are fond of making is that people will go to all sorts of lengths to reduce dissonance.The theory of cognitive dissonance has been widely researched in a number of situations to develop the basic idea in more detail, and various factors that been identified which may be important in attitude change.This research can be divided into three main areas:1. forced compliance behavior,2. decision-making,3. and effort.Question:What Is Cognitive Dissonance?People tend to seek consistency in their beliefs and perceptions. So what happens when one of our beliefs conflicts with another previously held belief? The termcognitive dissonanceis used to describe thefeelings of discomfortthat result from holding two conflicting beliefs. When there is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in order to eliminate or reduce the dissonance.How exactly does cognitive dissonance work and how does it influence how we think and behave?Advertising Campaigns - Meaning and its ProcessAdvertising campaigns are the groups of advertising messages which are similar in nature. They share same messages and themes placed in different types of medias at some fixed times. The time frames of advertising campaigns are fixed and specifically defined.The very prime thing before making an ad campaign is to know-Why you are advertising and what are you advertising ?Why refers to the objective of advertising campaign. The objective of an advertising campaign is to Inform people about your product Convince them to buy the product Make your product available to the customers

The process of making an advertising campaign is as follows:1. Research: first step is to do a market research for the product to be advertised. One needs to find out the product demand, competitors, etc.2. Know the target audience: one need to know who are going to buy the product and who should be targeted.3. Setting the budget: the next step is to set the budget keeping in mind all the factors like media, presentations, paper works, etc which have a role in the process of advertising and the places where there is a need of funds.4. Deciding a proper theme: the theme for the campaign has to be decided as in the colors to be used, the graphics should be similar or almost similar in all ads, the music and the voices to be used, the designing of the ads, the way the message will be delivered, the language to be used, jingles, etc.5. Selection of media: the media or number of Medias selected should be the one which will reach the target customers.6. Media scheduling: the scheduling has to be done accurately so that the ad will be visible or be read or be audible to the targeted customers at the right time.7. Executing the campaign: finally the campaign has to be executed and then the feedback has to be noted.Mostly used media tools are print media and electronic media. Print media includes newspaper, magazines, pamphlets, banners, and hoardings. Electronic media includes radio, television, e-mails, sending message on mobiles, and telephonic advertising. The only point to remember is getting a proper frequency for the ad campaign so that the ad is visible and grasping time for customers is good enough.All campaigns do not have fix duration. Some campaigns are seasonal and some run all year round. All campaigns differ in timings. Some advertising campaigns are media based, some are area based, some are product based, and some are objective based. It is seen that generally advertising campaigns run successfully, but in case if the purpose is not solved in any case, then the theory is redone, required changes are made using the experience, and the remaining campaign is carried forward.ADVERTISING BUDGET The advertising budget of a business typically grows out of the marketing goals and objectives of the company, although fiscal realities can play a large part as well, especially for new and/or small business enterprises. As William Cohen stated in The Entrepreneur and Small Business Problem Solver , "In some cases your budget will be established before goals and objectives due to your limited resources. It will be a given, and you may have to modify your goals and objectives. If money is available, you can work the other way around and see how much money it will take to reach the goals and objectives you have established." Along with marketing objectives and financial resources, the small business owner also needs to consider the nature of the market, the size and demographics of the target audience, and the position of the advertiser's product or service within it when putting together an advertising budget. In order to keep the advertising budget in line with promotional and marketing goals, an advertiser should answer several important budget questions: 1. Who is the target consumer? Who is interested in purchasing the advertiser's product or service, and what are the specific demographics of this consumer (age, employment, sex, attitudes, etc.)? Often it is useful to compose a consumer profile to give the abstract idea of a "target consumer" a face and a personality that can then be used to shape the advertising message. 2. Is the media the advertiser is considering able to reach the target consumer? 3. What is required to get the target consumer to purchase the product? Does the product lend itself to rational or emotional appeals? Which appeals are most likely to persuade the target consumer? 4. What is the relationship between advertising expenditures and the impact of advertising campaigns on product or service purchases? In other words, how much profit is earned for each dollar spent on advertising? Answering these questions will provide the advertiser with an idea of the market conditions, and, thus, how best to advertise within these conditions. Once this analysis of the market situation is complete, an advertiser has to decide how the money dedicated to advertising is to be allocated. BUDGETING METHODS There are several allocation methods used in developing a budget. The most common are listed below: Percentage of Sales method Objective and Task method Competitive Parity method Market Share method Unit Sales method All Available Funds method Affordable method It is important to notice that most of these methods are often combined in any number of ways, depending on the situation. Because of this, these methods should not be seen as rigid, but rather as building blocks that can be combined, modified, or discarded as necessary. Remember, a business must be flexibleready to change course, goals, and philosophy when the market and the consumer demand such a change. PERCENTAGE OF SALES METHOD Due to its simplicity, the percentage of sales method is the most commonly used by small businesses. When using this method an advertiser takes a percentage of either past or anticipated sales and allocates that percentage of the overall budget to advertising. Critics of this method, though, charge that using past sales for figuring the advertising budget is too conservative and that it can stunt growth. However, it might be safer for a small business to use this method if the ownership feels that future returns cannot be safely anticipated. On the other hand, an established business, with well-established profit trends, will tend to use anticipated sales when figuring advertising expenditures. This method can be especially effective if the business compares its sales with those of the competition (if available) when figuring its budget. OBJECTIVE AND TASK METHOD Because of the importance of objectives in business, the task and objective method is considered by many to make the most sense, and is therefore used by most large businesses. The benefit of this method is that it allows the advertiser to correlate advertising expenditures to overall marketing objectives. This correlation is important because it keeps spending focused on primary business goals. With this method, a business needs to first establish concrete marketing objectives, which are often articulated in the "selling proposal," and then develop complimentary advertising objectives, which are articulated in the "positioning statement." After these objectives have been established, the advertiser determines how much it will cost to meet them. Of course, fiscal realities need to be figured into this methodology as well. Some objectives (expansion of area market share by 15 percent within a year, for instance) may only be reachable through advertising expenditures that are beyond the capacity of a small business. In such cases, small business owners must scale down their objectives so that they reflect the financial situation under which they are operating. COMPETITIVE PARITY METHOD While keeping one's own objectives in mind, it is often useful for a business to compare its advertising spending with that of its competitors. The theory here is that if a business is aware of how much its competitors are spending to inform, persuade, and remind (the three general aims of advertising) the consumer of their products and services, then that business can, in order to remain competitive, either spend more, the same, or less on its own advertising. However, as Alexander Hiam and Charles D. Schewe suggested in The Portable MBA in Marketing , a business should not assume that its competitors have similar or even comparable objectives. While it is important for small businesses to maintain an awareness of the competition's health and guiding philosophies, it is not always advisable to follow a competitor's course. MARKET SHARE METHOD Similar to competitive parity, the market share method bases its budgeting strategy on external market trends. With this method a business equates its market share with its advertising expenditures. Critics of this method contend that companies that use market share numbers to arrive at an advertising budget are ultimately predicating their advertising on an arbitrary guideline that does not adequately reflect future goals. UNIT SALES METHOD This method takes the cost of advertising an individual item and multiplies it by the number of units the advertiser wishes to sell. ALL AVAILABLE FUNDS METHOD This aggressive method involves the allocation of all available profits to advertising purposes. This can be risky for a business of any size, for it means that no money is being used to help the business grow in other ways (purchasing new technologies, expanding the work force, etc.). Yet this aggressive approach is sometimes useful when a start-up business is trying to increase consumer awareness of its products or services. However, a business using this approach needs to make sure that its advertising strategy is an effective one, and that funds which could help the business expand are not being wasted. AFFORDABLE METHOD With this method, advertisers base their budgets on what they can afford. Of course, arriving at a conclusion about what a small business can afford in the realm of advertising is often a difficult task, one that needs to incorporate overall objectives and goals, competition, presence in the market, unit sales, sales trends, operating costs, and other factors. MEDIA SCHEDULING Once a business decides how much money it can allocate for advertising, it must then decide where it should spend that money. Certainly the options are many, including print media (newspapers, magazines, direct mail), radio, television (ranging from 30-second ads to 30-minute infomercials), and the Internet. The mix of media that is eventually chosen to carry the business's message is really the heart of the advertising strategy. SELECTING MEDIA The target consumer, the product or service being advertised, and cost are the three main factors that dictate what media vehicles are selected. Additional factors may include overall business objectives, desired geographic coverage, and availability (or lack thereof) of media options. SCHEDULING CRITERIA As discussed by Hiam and Schewe, there are three general methods advertisers use to schedule advertising: the Continuity, Flighting, and Massed methods ContinuityThis type of scheduling spreads advertising at a steady level over the entire planning period (often month or year, rarely week), and is most often used when demand for a product is relatively even. FlightingThis type of scheduling is used when there are peaks and valleys in product demand. To match this uneven demand a stop-and-go advertising pace is used. Notice that, unlike "massed" scheduling, "flighting" continues to advertise over the entire planning period, but at different levels. Another kind of flighting is the pulse method, which is essentially tied to the pulse or quick spurts experienced in otherwise consistent purchasing trends. MassedThis type of scheduling places advertising only during specific periods, and is most often used when demand is seasonal, such as at Christmas or Halloween.

UNIT 4Advertising Agencies - Meaning, its Role and Types of AgencieAdvertising Agency is just like a tailor. It creates the ads, plans how, when and where it should be delivered and hands it over to the client. Advertising agencies are mostly not dependent on any organizations.These agencies take all the efforts for selling the product of the clients. They have a group of people expert in their particular fields, thus helping the companies or organizations to reach their target customer in an easy and simple way.The first Advertising Agency was William Taylor in 1786 followed by James Jem White in 1800 in London and Reynell & Son in 1812.

Role of Advertising Agencies1. Creating an advertise on the basis of information gathered about product 2. Doing research on the company and the product and reactions of the customers. 3. Planning for type of media to be used, when and where to be used, and for how much time to be used. 4. Taking the feedbacks from the clients as well as the customers and then deciding the further line of action All companies can do this work by themselves. They can make ads, print or advertise them on televisions or other media places; they can manage the accounts also. Then why do they need advertising agencies? The reasons behind hiring the advertising agencies by the companies are: The agencies are expert in this field. They have a team of different people for different functions like copywriters, art directors, planners, etc. The agencies make optimum use of these people, their experience and their knowledge. They work with an objective and are very professionals. Hiring them leads in saving the costs up to some extent. There are basically 5 types of advertising agencies.1. Full service Agencies Large size agencies. Deals with all stages of advertisement. Different expert people for different departments. Starts work from gathering data and analyzing and ends on payment of bills to the media people. 2. Interactive Agencies Modernized modes of communication are used. Uses online advertisements, sending personal messages on mobile phones, etc. The ads produced are very interactive, having very new concepts, and very innovative. 3. Creative Boutiques Very creative and innovative ads. No other function is performed other than creating actual ads. Small sized agencies with their own copywriters, directors, and creative people. 4. Media Buying Agencies Buys place for advertise and sells it to the advertisers. Sells time in which advertisement will be placed. Schedules slots at different television channels and radio stations. Finally supervises or checks whether the ad has been telecasted at opted time and place or not. 5. In-House Agencies As good as the full service agencies. Big organization prefers these type of agencies which are in built and work only for them. These agencies work as per the requirements of the organizations. There are some specialized agencies which work for some special advertisements. These types of agencies need people of special knowledge in that field. For example, advertisements showing social messages, finance advertisements, medicine related ads, etc.The Structure of an Advertising AgencyAdvertising agencies come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small boutique shops that have just a few people. Others are giants that employ thousands of people in offices all around the world.But, however large or small the agency, there is a basic structure that most advertising agencies stick to. In the smaller agencies, some people will perform more than one role. One person my actually be the entire department. But the fundamentals are the same, and it's because this model was born out of necessity and it works.There are SIX major departments in any advertising agency. These can be split into other sub-departments, or given various creative names, but the skeleton is the same.These departments are: Account Service Account Planning Creative Finance & Accounts Media Buying ProductionLarger agencies may also separate out the following departments: Human Resources & Facilities Research Web development TrafficLet's take a look at the breakdown of those six major departments.Account ServicesThe account service department comprisesaccount executives, account managers and account directors, and is responsible for liaising with theagency's many clients. This department is the link between the many departments within the agency, and the clients who pay the bills. In the past they were referred to as "the suits," and there have been many battles between the account services department and the creative department. But as most creatives know, a good account services team is essential to agood advertising campaign. Asolid creative briefis one of the main duties ofaccount services.Account PlanningThis department combines research with strategic thinking. Often a mix of researchers and account managers, the account planning department provides consumer insights, strategic direction, research,focus groupsand assists helps keep advertising campaigns on target and on brand. Chris Cowpe described account planning as "the discipline that brings the consumer into the process of developing advertising. To be truly effective, advertising must be both distinctive and relevant, and planning helps on both counts."CreativeThis is the engine of any advertising agency. It's the lifeblood of the business, because the creative department is responsible for the product. And an ad agency is only as good as the ads the creative department puts out. The roles within the creative department are many and varied, and usually include: Copywriters Art Directors Designers Production Artists Web Designers Associate Creative Directors Creative Director(s)In many agencies, copywriters andart directorsare paired up, working as teams. They will also bring in the talents of other designers and production artists as and when the job requires it. Sometimes, traffic is handled by a position within the creative department, although that is usually part of the production department. Everyone within creative services reports to theCreative Director. It is his or her role to steer the creative product, making sure it is on brand, on brief and on time.Finance & AccountsMoney. At the end of the day, that's what ad agencies want. And it's what their clients want, too. At the center of all the money coming into, and going out of, the agency is the finance and accounts department. This department is responsible for handling payment of salaries, benefits, vendor costs, travel, day-to-day business costs and everything else you'd expect from doing business. It's been said that approximately 70% of an ad agency's income pays salary and benefits to employees. However, this figure varies depending on the size and success of the agency in question.Media BuyingIt is the function of the media buying department to procure the advertising time and/or space required for a successful advertising campaign. This includes TV andradio time, outdoor (billboards, posters, guerrilla), magazine and newspaper insertions, internet banners and takeovers, and, well, anywhere else an ad can be placed for a fee. This usually involves close collaboration with the creative department who came up with the initial ideas, as well as the client and the kind of exposure they want.This department is usually steered by amedia director.ProductionIdeas are just ideas until they're made real. This is the job of the production department. During the creative process, the production department will be consulted to talk about the feasibility of executing certain ideas. Once the ad is sold to the client, the creative and account teams will collaborate with production to get the campaign produced onbudget.This can be anything from getting original photography or illustration produced, working with printers, hiring typographers and TV directors, and a myriad of other disciplines needed to get an ad campaign published. Production also works closely with the media department, who will supply the specs and deadlines for the jobs.In small to mid-sized agencies, traffic is also a part of the production department. It is the job of traffic to get each and every job through the various stages of account management, creative development, media buying and production in a set timeframe. Traffic will also ensure that work flows through the agency smoothly, preventing jams that may overwhelm creative teams and lead to very long hours, missed deadlines and problematic client relationships. Traffic keeps the agency's heart beating.

Children and Electronic Media ; Children as Consumers: Advertising and MarketingMarketing and Advertising According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit an organization and its stakeholders.3 Using the Four Ps of marketingproduct, place, price, and promotionadvertisers use paid public presentations of goods and services in a variety of media to influence consumers' attention to, and interest in, purchasing certain products.4Television has long been the staple of advertising to children and youth.5 Children view approximately 40,000 advertisements each year.6 The products marketed to childrensugar-coated cereals, fast food restaurants, candy, and toyshave remained relatively constant over time.7 But marketers are now directing these same kinds of products to children online.8Targeting YouthAlthough the kinds of products marketed to children have remained much the same, the buying power of children and adolescents has increased exponentially over time.9 The affluence of today's children and adolescents has made youth a market eminently worthy of pursuit by businesses. Youths now have influence over billions of dollars in spending each year.10 In 2002, U.S. four- to twelve-year-olds spent $30 billion.11 American twelve- to seventeen-year-olds spent $112.5 billion in 2003.12 In 2003, 33 million U.S. teens aged twelve to nineteen each spent about $103 a week.13 According to one report, parents supply 87 percent of young children's income. That share drops to 37 percent for teens, who have more of their own discretionary income.14Youths also shape the buying patterns of their families.15 From vacation choices to car purchases to meal selections, they exert a tremendous power over the family pocketbook. Experts estimate that two- to fourteen-year-olds have sway over $500 billon a year in household purchasing.16 Thus, to influence youth is to influence the entire family's buying decisions.Rapid growth in the number of television stations and online venues has also led advertisers to market directly to children and youth.17 Because children and youth are heavy media users and early adopters of newer technologies, media marketing and advertising campaigns using both television and newer media are efficient pathways into children's homes and lives.18 Although television is still the preferred medium for reaching children and youth, marketers are exploring how to reach this age group online using cell phones, iPods, game platforms, and other digital devices. Banner ads, for example, which resemble traditional billboard ads but market a product across the top of an Internet page, appear on most webpages.19 And advergames integrate products such as cereal and candy into online video games to sell products to youth.20In 2004, total U.S. marketing expenditures were estimated at some $15 billion to target products to children.21 Reliable estimates of spending in the newer media are not available. 22 Newer forms of marketing are a small share of the overall marketing budget spent on traditional print, broadcast, radio, and online advertising, but the share spent on these newer forms is growing.23 Indeed, online venues can reap large returns for relatively small investments. For example, Wild Planet Toys spent $50,000 for a four-month online promotion that was associated with a doubling of Wild Planet's yearly revenues. A comparable buy for a television advertising campaign would have cost $2 million.24 And a recent Nabisco World game and puzzle website designed to increase awareness of Nabisco's cookies and crackers cost only 1 percent of the company's advertising and marketing budget.25 Advertising on online games was expected to grow from $77 million to about $230 million between 2002 and 2007.26Marketing TechniquesMarketers use a variety of techniques to attract audiences to increase product purchases. Traditional marketing techniques in television commercials include repetition, branded characters, catchy and interesting production features, celebrity endorsements, and premiums (free merchandise that accompanies a product).In recent years advertisers have begun to experiment with new techniques. One such technique is stealth advertising, in which marketers attempt to conceal the intent of an ad.27 The theory behind the new technique is that advertising is most effective when consumers do not recognize it as advertising.28 If consumers' guards are down, they will be more open to persuasive arguments about the product. Using this approach, marketers try to blur the line between the advertisement and the content. Stealth advertising is allowed only in media like online venues, however.29 In children's television advertising, clear markers must separate commercial content and program content.30Marketers who practice stealth advertising embed products within a program's content, use so -called viral (word-of-mouth) marketing, enable children to interact with online characters who promote specific brands, disguise advertisements as video news releases, and collect information from youth at online sites.31 All these practices are designed to create or enhance branded environments that foster user loyalty.32Repetition. Repetition involves simply repeating the same commercial message over and over. The idea is that familiarity with a product increases the likelihood of purchasing and using it.33Attention-getting production features. Attention- getting production features are designed to attract children's interest in commercial content.34 Such features, which are heavily concentrated in children's television advertisements, include action and movement, rapid pacing, sound effects, and loud music.35Branded characters and premiums. Successful marketing campaigns often use branded charactersthat is, media characters that are associated with a company, and hence promote its brand namethat appeal to children and youth.36 Rights to use popular television cartoon characters like Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, who are licensed for a fee to various companies, help sell products ranging from cereal to vacations, while animated characters such as Tony the Tiger are spokesmen for a specific product, in this instance Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. Similarly, the Ronald McDonald character is used to sell the McDonald's brand, including Happy Meals, and has recently taken on a new role as a physical fitness guru. Marketers associate the products and activities they want to sell with entertaining characters to increase interest in those products.37 They use the same characters in online marketing campaigns and in television advertisements. They also use premiums, such as a small toy in a McDonald's Happy Meal, to increase product purchases by children online and on television.38Celebrity endorsements. Celebrity endorsements also help sell products.39 Athletes are depicted on cereal boxes and appear onscreen wearing and using specific athletic clothes and gear. Children who like those celebrities are expected to purchase these products.Product placement. Product placement was first recognized as a successful marketing technique when the character E.T. in Steven Spielberg's 1982 movie of the same name ate Reese's Pieces, resulting in a national spike of 66 percent in product purchases.40 In television programs or movies, brands are not only used by characters, but even become characters. For instance, Charlie the Tuna, Twinkie the Kid, and Mrs. Butterworth fight against the evil brand X products in a film titled FoodFight!.41 Such marketing exposure increases a consumer's familiarity with a product and can result in a favorable opinion of a brand.Another form of product placement involves websites whose sponsors put their logo on the page. For instance, Bolt, a popular website for teens, had a Pepsi logo on its music page.42 Every time users go to the music page, they are spending time with Pepsi, thereby increasing their brand awareness. Corporations typically retain a product placement agency for an annual fee; they pay additional fees for each placement, with the cost dependent on whether the product simply appears or is used and labeled.43Marketers also use product placement in gaming. Traditional console games cannot be changed, making them an expensive venue for product placement.44 But online games, which can be updated frequently, are more suited for product placement.45 Although gaming has historically been more popular with boys than with girls,46 many companies are now trying to get girls to play branded games as well.47To appeal to this now extensive gaming audience, advertisers have developed advergames, online video games with a subtle or overt commercial message where the use of product placement is common.48 In advergames, marketers not only ensure that users' eyes are on the embedded advertisement, but also know how long the user is engaged with the brand and can track the user's exact behavior. For example, whenever players run over Coke cans in an arcade-style basketball advergame called Live the Madness, their performance is enhanced: they can run faster, for example, or dunk the basketball.49 The implicit message is that Coke will make you a better athlete.One of the most popular sites on the Web is Candystand, sponsored by Kraft Entertainment. Fruit Stripe Photo Safari, the most popular game in Candystand, allows players to take photos of wildlife as the company promotes Fruit Stripe gum. These photos go into an online album, and children gain bonus points for taking good pictures.50 While fun for children, the point of the game from the marketers' perspective is to create a website where children will continue to play the game and have extensive exposure to the products on the website. Sites like neopets.com, which are popular with preadolescent, or tween, girls, also let children buy foods, such as Uh Oh Oreo cookies, to feed their virtual pets using points that they have earned by playing games.51 All of these stealth techniques foster immersive branding, potentially creating favorable views and memories of specific products.52Marketers are increasingly building brand awareness and loyalty through video games.53 A successful game means a successful product as the consumer is engaged, interested, and focused on the product.54 Now that games can be downloaded, marketing can be transmitted by cell phones and other digital devices.55Viral marketing. Viral marketing is the buzz created when people talk about a product to one another, either in real or virtual conversation. 56 Marketers use various forms of viral marketing, including capitalizing on the spontaneous talk about a popular website. They also pay alpha kids to use a product so that others will notice and want to buy it.57 The human touch by friends also escalates sales. For instance, e-mail sent by friends forwarding information about a freebie from a website is ten times more likely to be opened than is unsolicited e-mail.58 Online chat and other kinds of viral marketing are also used to get the trust of gamers.59 Viral marketing is especially effective with teens, particularly if it involves big discounts, attractive products, and meaningful freebies.60Online interactive agents. Online interactive agents are a virtual form of stealth advertising. Marketers program robots, or bots, to reply to surfers who initiate a conversation.61 Such bots are programmed to respond to users in a one-on-one relational way that builds brand loyalty, as for instance, with virtual bartenders who talk to those who visit their sites.62 These alcohol-related websites feature humor, games, and hip language to appeal to minors.63Video news releases. Video news releases, in which companies circulate stories about their products, are a form of virtual advertising that is used on television by every single news organization.64 For instance, General Mills will send out a news story about Cheerios featuring a factory tour and a giant Cheerio made just for the occasion.65 Video news releases, which are cheaper than traditional advertisements, are neither presented nor labeled as advertisements, thus potentially breaking down the more critical stance that older viewers take when viewing an advertisement that they understand is trying to sell them a product.Integrated marketing strategies. Another new marketing trend is the use of integrated marketing strategies, particularly with branded characters driving interest across media platforms. 66 Companies charge advertisers a fee for licensing popular children's characters for multimedia applications in TV, books, CD-ROMs, games, and movies to sell products.67 Integrated marketing will use, for example, SpongeBob the television character, who becomes a movie character who markets Burger King products with SpongeBob premiums as rewards for product purchases.68 Toys, both large and small, are key to such marketing campaigns.69 These strategies integrate different media, as well as different product lines by tying food to toys.Tracking software and spyware. Not surprisingly, marketers want to know who is visiting their websites to find out how effective their marketing strategies are. Using so-called cookies, or electronic bits of data placed on a computer from a website, coupled with registration forms to those sites, marketers can create an extensive data file about each individual user's preferences for places and products.70Bolt has pioneered such activity by using communication tools to enable users to interact with others or to create content. Three million teens, 70 percent of whom live in the United States, registered with their site in just three years. Bolt uses supercomputers to analyze the data provided by users and then forecasts trends for marketers.71 Bolt also sends information that individual teens want at their website to their wireless devices such as cell phones and pagers.72Bolt users are aware of these data collection practices, and Bolt does not sell individual data to marketers. Other companies, however, have been less scrupulous in their business practices with their online visitors. Some marketers spy on their users by tracking what they do online. Spyware is installed when files are downloaded; these files are then inserted on the user's hard drive and send information back to the marketer. In Netspeak, these are called E.T. applications because they phone home to report back what they learn about the user. Such information, which can be detailed and intrusive, includes the person's name, address, phone number, ad clicks, and buying patterns. Adam Cohen describes these applications as Trojan horses: they violate the privacy of users, commandeering their own computers to spy on them without their knowledge. Applications that spy on users include zBubbles, which helps users make consumer decisions, DoubleClick, and even SurfMonkey, a program that is supposed to protect children when they are online. A program called RealJukebox, which allowed users to transfer music from the Web and CDs to their PCs, also surreptitiously sent information back to RealNetworks about the kind of music the person liked. This practice violated the privacy of minors even though it was not technically illegal. Privacy concerns were also raised when DoubleClick purchased Abacus Direct and attempted to link online knowledge about consumers with traditional marketing techniques where targeted product offers would be delivered by the postal service.73Marketers publicly say that user information is used only in an aggregate form as supercomputers take all this data and analyze it for consumer trends to get an advantage over the market. Nevertheless, a company can use this information to inform marketing strategies. For instance, the company can send individual users different ads rather than the same ones repeatedly, thereby avoiding overexposure and maximizing interest and potential sales. Moreover, some websites state that their privacy policies can change without notice.In summary, although television is still the dominant venue for advertising, marketers are exploring new ways to market to children and adolescents through online media and wireless devices, often using stealth techniques whereby consumers are immersed in branded environments, frequently without knowing that they are being exposed to sophisticated marketing campaigns. Marketers carefully analyze children's and adolescents' interest patterns, focusing on games for tweens, as well as communication software for teens. Tracking these patterns provides extensive information that marketers now analyze in aggregate form, but that can, in the future, be used for one-on-one relational marketing strategies directed at specific individuals.Role of Consumer Behaviour in AdvertisingMarketers need to understand the buying behaviour of consumers while designing their advertisements for the desired impact. Advertisements play an essential role in creating an image of a product in the minds of consumers. Advertisements must be catchy and communicate relevant information to consumers.Understanding the needs of the consumer is really important when it comes to creating the right advertisement for the right audience. Remember it is only through advertisements; individuals are able to connect with your brand.Identify your target audience. The advertisement in some way must touch the hearts of the end-users for them to buy the product.It is really essential to show what the consumers like. Meet your target audience and find out what they expect from your product and brand on the whole. Do not show anything which might offend any religious group or community. Make sure the message is relevant and crisp. Overload of information nullifies the effect and the advertisement might go unnoticed. Dont try to confuse the consumers. They will never buy your product. Understand their psychologies well.

The advertisement must show what the product is all about. It should, in a way give some kind of information about its price, benefits, usage, availability and so on.Consumers perceive Women Horlics as a health and energy drink which is a must for all working women as well as expecting mothers for their overall well -being. A Horlics advertisement with a male model does not make sense as the target audience would never be able to connect with the product. A lean and inactive office going female drinking Womens Horlics and thereafter beaming with energy and confidence would be the ideal concept for the advertisement. Through advertisements, the company actually tries to win over the confidence of consumers who would not mind spending on their product.A Tag Heuer, Omega, Mercedes, I phone advertisement ought to be classy for people to recognize these products as status symbols. Use expensive props, unique concepts and well known faces for all premium and exclusive brands.Advertisements meant for younger people (college goers, young professionals) ought to be colourful and trendy for them to be able to relate themselves with the product. Serious advertisements do not go very well with the youngsters. It is essential to understand the mindsets, attitudes and preferences of target audience.Advertisements for insurance plans, medical benefits, hospitals ought to be sensible as they convey much serious information and target a mature segment of individuals altogether.The time slot of commercials also needs to be taken care of. Advertisements for products meant for children should ideally be aired during afternoon or early evening hours as this is the time when they watch maximum television. Understand the lifestyle of your target audience. Prime time commercials are the ones which are viewed by maximum people.Choose the right theme for your advertisement. The advertisements ought to create the need among the consumers for them to buy the product. Commercials ought to give complete information to the consumers. All tobacco and alcohol commercials must show the warning message.How to Change Consumer Behavior Through AdvertisingThe basic foundation of advertising is to control and drive consumer behavior toward a product or service. Slipping sales numbers, reduced customer enthusiasm for new products and customer hesitancy to commit, have the potential to harm your bottom line. Changing consumer behavior through advertising is one method to correct these issues. A well-written, strategically placed advertisement has the power to change consumer behavior if you advertise consistently and deliver what your ad promises.Step 1Point out the problems. Sales are often driven by the need to solve a problem. Whether it is being out of a household cleaner, not having a car or deciding to quit smoking, advertising must remind the consumer that a problem needs to be resolved.Step 2Do the research for the consumer. Advertisements that draw attention to studies in which experts support a product or idea lead the consumer to a desired conclusion regarding your product or service. Comparison pricing between your product and the competition's product also provide research for the consumer. Furthermore, it helps keep the consumer out of the competitor's arena.Step 3Ask for the sale. At some point, consumers make a purchasing decision. You have illuminated the problem, offered a solution and completed the research for the consumer. Asking for the sale through expiring coupons, buy-one-get-one-free promotions or other methods changes consumer behavior in your favor.Step 4Keep the customer hooked through post-purchase behavior lures. Offering warranties and referral bonuses in future ads keeps the consumer coming back. Satisfied customers will potentially tell their friends about your business.Step 5Place ads strategically. An ad for plumbing repairs doe not belong in a pet store newsletter. A hardware store flier, newsletter or magazine is a much better choice. Place your ads where your customers will see them. Advertise consistently enough to have your company recognized by readers, so when they need a