Chapter 3 - Principles Ads

MDA 102: PRINCIPLES OF ADVERTISING

CHAPTER 3ADVERTISING AS A COMMUNICATION PROCESS

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:

Demonstrate why communication is key factor in advertising effectiveness. Explain how a basic communication model differs from interactive communication Explain the Facets Models of Advertising Effects to snow how brand advertising works

TOPIC OUTLINES

3.1 MARKETING COMMUNICATION3.1.1 Definition review3.1.2 The STP process

3.2 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION3.2.1 The creative pyramid : AIDA model

3.3 THE COMMUNICATION MODELS3.3.1 How advertising works as a communication3.3.2 The Basic Communication Model3.3.3 An Interactive Communication Model3.3.4 Advertising Communication Model

3.4 COMMUNICATION BARRIERS3.4.1 External noise3.4.2 Internal noise

3.5 ADVERTISING SKILLS

3.6 IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING

3.7 Summary

INTRODUCTION OF THE CHAPTER

This chapter will discuss on how advertising works in a form of communication and how it delivers the message to a consumer about a product. It gets attention, provides information and sometimes a little bit of entertainment, and tries to create some kind of response, such as sale. Advertising is not a conversation and it is not as personal or as interactive as a conversation because it relies on mass communication, which is indirect and complex.


3.1 MARKETING COMMUNICATION

3.1.1 Definition reviewAs we have discussed in previous chapter, marketing communications are messages and related media used to communicate with a market. It is a management process through which an organization seeks to engage with its various audiences. To accomplish this, the organization develops, presents and evaluates a series of messages, which it sends to and receives from its different audiences.

Marketing communications uses important tools to generate beneficial relationships and reach the target audiences. The tools are advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, interactive/internet marketing, sponsorship, point-of-purchase, exhibition/ trade fairs.

3.1.2 The STP process

Before one can devise a set of marketing strategies, he must first understand the concepts of segmenting, targeting, and positioning (STP). The commercial landscape is full of diverse consumers and it is important for a marketer to divide the market into different segments and choose which of them matches its product or service well.

Segmentation –dividing a market into smaller groups of buyers, with distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviours that might require separate products or marketing mixes. It consist of :

i. Geographic segmentation : dividing market into different geographical units such as nations, states, regions, counties, cities or neighbourhoods.

ii. Demographic segmentation : based on variables like age, gender, family size, family life cycle, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation and nationality.

iii. Gender segmentation : dividing market based on gender. Eg; automobiles, deodorants, facial wash etc.

iv. Income segmentation : dividing market into different income groupsv. Psychographic segmentation : dividing a market into different groups based on social

class, lifestyle or personality characteristics.

Targeting – evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more of the market segments to enter. Our choice should generally depend on several factors:

i. how well are existing segments served by other manufacturers? It will be more difficult to appeal to a segment that is already well served than to one whose needs are not currently being served well.

ii. Secondly, how large is the segment, and how can we expect it to grow.iii. Thirdly, do we have strengths as a company that will help us appeal particularly to one

group of consumers?

Positioning – setting the competitive positioning for the product and creating a detailed marketing mix.


i. Positioning refers to the image your target audience has regarding your product or service as compared to your competitors.

ii. It is all the more essential in today's setup, where literally no sector is devoid of an oligopolistic setup.

iii. Primary, and in most cases, the ONLY objective : To highlight your product's USP(features that differentiate your product from competitive products) in the most striking manner.

3.2 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

3.2.1 The creative pyramid : AIDA modelThe creative pyramid is a model that can help the creative team convert the advertising strategy

and the big idea into the actual physical or commercial. For a frequently purchased product, the advertiser simply has to remind people of the solution close to the purchase occasion. The advertiser’s first job is to get the prospect’s ATTENTION. The second step is to stimulate the prospect’s INTEREST – in either message or the product itself. Then the ad can focus on generating DESIRE and finally on stimulating ACTION. This form into AIDA Model – Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.


A – Attention : to breakthrough consumers’ physiological screens to create the kind of attention that leads to perception and to trigger the ad’s boom factor. Example for a print media; headline that expresses the big idea with dynamism, include dynamic visuals, unusual layout, vibrant colour or dominant ad size. Example for electronic media; include special effects, music, animation or unusual visual techniques.

I –Interest : the ad must keep the prospect excited or involved as the information becomes more detailed. To do this, the copywriter may answer a question asked in the attention step or add facts that relate to the headline. To maintain audience interest, the tone and language should be compatible with the target market’s attitude.

D – Desire : the writer encourages prospects to picture themselves enjoying the benefits of the product or service. Essentially, they are invited to visualize. Example in printed media; phrases like ‘’Picture yourself’’, ‘’Imagine’’ or ‘’Feel it’’. Example in the TV, the main character pulls a sparkling clean T-shirt from the washer, smiles and says ‘’ Yeah, it works!’’ However, in print advertising, the desire step is one of the most difficult to write, which may be why some copywriters omit it.


A – Action : the purpose is to motivate people to do something – send in a coupon, call the number on the screen, visit the store, visit the website , or at least, to agree with the advertiser. The call to action may be explicit – ‘’Call for more information’’ – or implicit: ‘’Fly the friendly skies’’.

Refer to the Pizza Hut ad below, look at how the ad applies the AIDA model :

3.3 THE COMMUNIATION MODELS

Attention :

‘’A HEAVILY LOADED MASTERPIECE’’, the images fresh pizza, the colours applied.

Desire: instruction to picture themselves enjoying the benefits of the product. ‘’Enjoy ten different layers of juicy.................’’

Action : the instruction ‘’Find us on Facebook’’. “Check out the Pizza Hut Malaysia page on Facebook.’’


3.3.1 How advertising works as a communication

Advertising is a form of communication and it is a message to a consumer about a product. It gets attention, provides information and sometimes a little bit of entertainment, and tries to create some kind of response, such as sale. Advertising is not a conversation and it is not as personal or as interactive as a conversation because it relies on mass communication, which is indirect and complex.

3.3.2 The Basic Communication Model

i. The sender, or source of a communication: the person or organization that has information to share with another person or group of people. Process begins when the source selects words, symbols, pictures. And the like, to represent the message that will be delivered to the receiver

ii. Encoding : a process involved putting thoughts, ideas, or information into a symbolic form. The sender’s goal is to encode the message is such a way that it will be understood by the receiver – using words, signs or symbols that are familiar to the target audience.

iii. Message : may be verbal or nonverbal, oral or written, or symbolic. Messages must be put into a transmit-table form that is appropriate for the channel of communication being used. Channel is the method by which the communication travels from the source or sender to the receiver. Channels of communication are of two types: personal and non-personal

iv. Decoding : the process of transforming the sender’s message back into thought. This process is heavily influenced by the receiver’s frame of reference or field of reference, which refers to the experiences, perceptions, attitudes, and values he or she brings to the communication situation. Effective communication occurs when the message decoding process of the receiver must match the encoding of the sender: means the receiver understands and correctly interprets what the source is trying to communicate

v. Noise: Throughout the communication process, the message is subject to extraneous factors that can distort or interfere with its reception – unplanned distortion


vi. Response/Feedback: The receiver’s set of reactions after seeing, hearing, or reading the message is known as a response.

-Receiver’s responses can range from non-observable actions such as storing information in memory to immediate action such as dialing a toll-free number to order the product advertised in television. -Marketers are very interested in feedback. That part of the receiver’s response that is communicated back to the sender.

3.3.3 An Interactive Communication Model

It is a conversation or dialogue and the source and receiver change positions as the message bounces back and forth between them.

It is a two-way communication, a dialogue.

3.3.4 Advertising Communication Model

Sender

Advertiser

Encoding:Agen

cy

MessageMedi

a Channel

/ Medi

a Mix

Decoding: Consumer

Receiver: Consumer Reception and Response

Response

Feedback

Noise /

Barrier:

InternalSender

Communication

Receiver Communication

Noise /

Barrier:

External


Advertising translates the standard parts of a communication model into the advertising context.

It begins with the advertiser (source) and ends with consumer or target audience (receiver). The advertiser objectives are focused on the receiver’s response; they predict the impact the

message will have on the target audience. Impact is what we measure to determine whether the message met its objectives and was

effective. Effectiveness of the massage is from the response of the consumer.

3.4 COMMUNICATION BARRIERSCommunication barriers are aspects or conditions that interfere the effective exchange of messages, ideas or thoughts. Communication barriers can be in a form of external noise and internal noise.

3.4.1 External noise

External noise sometimes referred to as physical noise, interferes with a person’s ability to interpret the message received. External noise can be divided into two :

External noise (Macro Level) includes consumer trend: health trend harm the reception of fast food messages-and problems with the product’s marketing mix (product design, price, distribution, marketing communication)

External noise (Micro Level) as bad radio or TV reception or clutter: it is the multitude of messages all competing to get your attention. Many/massive ads get less attention from the audience.

3.4.2 Internal noise

Includes personal factors that affect the reception of an advertisement, such as target audience’s needs, purchase history, information-processing abilities and level of avoidance of advertising in general.

3.5 ADVERTISING SKILLS

There are two skills in advertising:

1. Creative Skill: Used to make press/print advertising larger than life, e.g. big type, slogans, size of space, dramatic pictures. Successful advertiser will be the individual who can create a commercial message that the consumer will remember.

2. Newspapers and magazines reach either mass or specialist readerships relatively and efficiently. Reach means the percentage of different homes or people exposed to media vehicles at least once during a specific period of time.


3.6 THE IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING

i. Advertising helps to keep the consumers informed about whatever new products or services are available in the market at their disposal. It helps to spread awareness about products or services that are of some use to consumer and potential buyers.

ii. From a company perspective, the ads achieve the company’s marketing objectives, usually related to growth and sales and contributed to the success of the business.

iii. Advertising is of great importance in our world of competition. It is important for both seller and buyer. Even the government cannot do without it. First, of all, advertising introduces new products to general public. For example, the public come to know about useful new medicines for some diseases. We often learn about new machines for agriculture and industry for ads.

iv. Advertising introduces different brands of same product. Advertisement tells about qualities of each brand and we can easily select.

v. Government can very profitably advertise its schemes and policies. It can tell general public what it might do for good of nation.

3.7 Summary

In order to communicate effectively with the public, the advertiser/organization should set a marketing strategies and understand the concepts of segmenting, targeting, and positioning (STP).

Segmentation is dividing a market into smaller groups of buyers, with distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviours that might require separate products or marketing mixes.

Targeting is evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more of the market segments to enter.

Positioning is setting the competitive positioning for the product and creating a detailed marketing mix.

To communicate effectively and efficiently, successful advertisers use the AIDA model – Attention, Interest, Desire and Action

Advertising is form of communication and it is a message to a consumer about a product. It gets attention, provides information and sometimes a little bit of entertainment, and tries to create some kind of response, such as sale.

Communication barriers are aspects or conditions that interfere the effective exchange of messages, ideas or thoughts and it is divided to internal and external noises.

Involving in the advertising industry must associated with creative skills and know the reach.

REFERENCES


George E. Belch, Michael A. Belch, 2007 Advertising & Promotion, An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective, 7th International Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Wells, Moriarty & Burnett 2006, Advertising – Principles and Practice, 7th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall Education, New Jersey.

William F. Arens, 2006, Contemporary Advertising, Tenth International Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Timothy A. Porchers, 2005, Persuasion in the Media Age, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

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Chapter 3 - Principles Ads