Advertising
| Author | Allen Truell, Michael Milbier |
| Pages | 15-20 |
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Advertising is often thought of as the paid, nonpersonal promotion of a cause, idea, product, or service by an identified sponsor attempting to inform or persuade a particular target audience. Advertising has taken many different forms since the beginning of time. For instance, archaeologists have uncovered walls painted in Rome announcing gladiator fights as well as rock paintings along Phoenician trade routes used to advertise wares. From this early beginning, advertising has evolved to take a variety of forms and to permeate nearly every aspect of modern society.
The various delivery mechanisms for advertising include banners at sporting events, billboards, Internet Web sites, logos on clothing, magazines, newspapers, radio spots, and television commercials. Advertising has so permeated everyday life that individuals can expect to be exposed to 1,500 to 3,000 different messages each day. While advertising may seem like the perfect way to get a message out, it does have several limitations, the most commonly noted ones being its inability to focus on an individual consumer's specific needs, provide in-depth information about a product, and be cost-effective for small companies.
Advertising can take a number of forms, including advocacy, comparative, cooperative, direct mail, informational, institutional, outdoor, persuasive, product, reminder, point-of-purchase, and specialty advertising.
Advocacy advertising is normally thought of as any advertisement, message, or public communication regarding economic, political, or social issues. The advertising campaign is designed to persuade public opinion regarding a specific issue important in the public arena. The ultimate goal of advocacy advertising usually relates to the passage of pending state or federal legislation. Almost all nonprofit groups use some form of advocacy advertising to influence the public's attitude toward a particular issue.
One of the largest and most powerful nonprofit advocacy groups is the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The AARP fights to protect social programs such as Medicare and Social Security for senior citizens by encouraging its members to write their legislators, using television advertisements to appeal to emotions, and publishing a monthly newsletter describing recent state and federal legislative action. Other major nonprofit advocacy groups include the environmental organization Green-peace, Mothers against Drunk Driving, and the National Rifle Association.
Comparative advertising compares one brand directly or indirectly with one or more competing brands. This advertising technique is very common and is used by nearly every major industry,
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Billboards, such as these along the Palmetto Expressway in Miami, Florida, are a popular form of advertising.
including airlines and automobile manufacturers. One drawback of comparative advertising is that customers have become more skeptical about claims made by a company about its competitors because accurate information has not always been provided, thus making the effectiveness of comparison advertising questionable. In addition, companies that engage in comparative advertising must be careful not to misinform the public about a competitor's product. Incorrect or misleading information may trigger a lawsuit by the aggrieved company or regulatory action by a governmental agency such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC; see the FTC's statement of policy regarding comparative advertising at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-compare.htm).
Cooperative advertising is a system that allows two parties to share advertising costs. Manufacturers and distributors, because of their shared interest in selling the product, usually use this cooperative advertising technique. An example might be when a soft-drink manufacturer and a local grocery store split the cost of advertising the manufacturer's soft drinks; both the manufacturer and the store benefit from increased store traffic and its associated sales. Cooperative advertising is especially appealing to small-store owners who, on their own, could not afford to advertise the product adequately. For examples of cooperative advertising programs, see the John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-10671.html) and the New Mexico Department of Tourism (http://www.newmexico.org/go/loc/department/page/dept-coop-advertising.html) Web sites.
Brochures, catalogs, flyers, letters, and postcards are just a few of the direct-mail advertising options. Direct-mail advertising has several advantages, including detail of information, personalization, selectivity, and speed. But while direct mail has advantages, it carries an expensive per-head price, is dependent on the appropriateness of the mailing list, and is resented by some customers, who consider it junk mail.
In informational advertising, which is used when a new product is first being introduced, the emphasis is on promoting the product name, benefits, and possible uses. Thus, informational advertising is used early in the product life cycle. Car manufacturers used this strategy when sport-utility vehicles were first introduced.
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Institutional advertising takes a broad approach to advertising, concentrating on the benefits, concept, idea, or philosophy of a particular industry. Companies often use it to promote image-building activities, such an environmentally...
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