2.1 What is Advertising?
“It may be the most powerful art form on earth”, says award-winning American copywriter Mark Fenske. And he’d probably be right, though describing advertising as “art”
is still in contention.1 Because of the advancement in industrialization nowadays, the supply of goods is more than the demand for it. In these cases when supply comes first, it is up to a good advertisement to create the demand, to tell us we need something even before we think we do.
The economic impact of advertising has pervasively invaded practically every aspect of our lives, quietly proliferating across every available surface and airwave our senses can detect, and touches just about every industry there is. Oftentimes the supply comes first.
But it is up to a good advertisement to create the demand, to tell us we need something even before we think we do.
That is the power of advertising.
2.1.1 Definition of advertising
The word “advertise” originates from the Latin word advertere2, meaning to turn toward or to take note of. Indeed, one of the main purposes of advertising is intended to attract attention and generate some response from then viewer. It is highly pervasive, especially in today’s consumerism-driven society. Everywhere we go, we are unlikely to escape some form of advertisement.
Early 20th century adman John E. Kennedy expounded an axiom that advertising is “salesmanship in print, driven by a reason why”. His colleague, Albert Lasker - the man generally regarded as the father of modern advertising, advocated it throughout his illustrious
1 (Kirkpatrick, 2007, p. 94) Some contend that advertising is not art because, while certain elements of art are used in the development of ads, unlike art, advertising “does not project its creator’s metaphysical value judgments”, therefore, the standards of good art should not be applicable to advertising.
2 Oxford Dictionaries gives the etymology of the word “advertising” as thus: Late Middle English: from Old French advertiss-, lengthened stem of advertir, from Latin advertere 'turn toward'.
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career.3 Times were much simpler then, there was only print ads, no radio, no TV, and no internet. But the essentials of his definition remain significant: advertising, for all intents and purposes, is “salesmanship…driven by a reason why”.
Advertising, as we know it today, has been defined as “the nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.” 4 (Bovée, 1994) The American Marketing Association currently defines advertising as thus: “The placement of announcements and persuasive messages in time or space purchased in any of the mass media by business firms, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and individuals who seek to inform and/ or persuade members of a particular target market or audience about their products, services, organizations, or ideas. “5
Robin Landa, in her book “Advertising by Design: Creating visual communications with graphic impact”, also states that advertising “differentiates brands and causes, ultimately sells brands, and calls people to action.” It should “inform, persuade, promote, or motivate people on behalf of a brand or social cause.” 6 (Landa, Advertising by Design: Creating visual communications with graphic impact, 2004)
Advertising is any controlled form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor that is used to inform and persuade the selected market. (Bolen, 1981)
From these statements we can conclude that:
Advertising is the communication of non-personal commercial messages.
Non-personal because the seller (or ad agency) is not advertising to the consumers face-to-face. These information are aimed at mass audiences or specific target market, not at specific individuals. It is done in a creative manner to attract and retain the attention of its targeted audience.
3 Citing John McDonough, “FCB: From One-Man Fiefdom to Global Powerhouse,” Advertising Age, Commemorative section: “FCB at 20,” December 13,1993. (Arens, Schaefer, & Weigold, Essentials of Contemporary Advertising, 2nd Ed., 2008, p. 4)
4 Bovée,C. & Arens, W. (1994). Contemporary Advertising 5th Edition (The Irwin Series in Marketing). Boston:
Irwin, 1994, p.6.
5 http://www.marketingpower.com/_layouts/dictionary.aspx?dLetter=A
6 Landa, R. (2004). Advertising by Design: Creating visual communications with graphic impact. p.3, Wiley; 1 edition (June 9, 2004).
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It is communicated through any form of media, which include print media (newspaper, magazines, flyers, posters), broadcast media (radio, television), outdoor media (billboards, bus ads, transit ads, etc.) and internet (email ads, pop-up ads).
It is usually paid for or sponsored by business corporations or institutions.
Majority of advertising is commercial, as the primary purpose of advertising is to make profit. The exception to this is non-commercial advertising. This is sometimes used by politicians and public figures to gain political support or promote ideas. It is also used by interest groups, religious and civic organizations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations to advance a certain cause, raise funds and influence the actions of its audience. Called public service announcements, this kind of advertisement is usually sponsored by the media itself.
It is used to provide and convey fundamentally truthful information, to increase awareness of a brand, product or cause, and ultimately to persuade and motivate people into action.
It is used to establish brand identity and build brand loyalty.
2.1.2 Basic Classifications of Advertising
Different factors affect the importance and efficacy of an ad on its audience, hence advertising can be classified by different criteria. Some of the most basic ones are:
I. By purpose. Based on this criterion, advertising is classified into commercial (sometimes called product-related advertising) and non-commercial advertising (or public service advertising). The majority of advertisements today are commercial advertising, which is to sell products or services for the purpose of making a profit.
Commercial advertising is further divided into the following:
o Product Advertising. Product advertising accounts for the majority of advertising expenditures. This may be advertisements and promotions for new, existing, or revised products, and mostly emphasizes the features or functions
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of a product. If the intent is to sell ideas, then it is called non-product advertising.
o Retail Advertising. Most of the time, but not always, retail advertising is local, focusing on a store where a particular service or selection of products may be offered or purchased. In the case of retail chain stores, they advertise nationally.
This kind of advertisement puts stresses details such as price, availability, location, chain or in-store promotions, and operating hours.
o Corporate Advertising (or Institutional Advertising). Many people believe that corporate advertising does not have a direct effect on sales. Corporate advertising doesn’t ask the viewer to buy their products. Rather, the main purpose is to increase awareness and enhance the company’s image in the eyes of the people. However, a series of marketing research studies sponsored by Time Magazine came out with evidence to the contrary.78 (Doves, 2011) It is, therefore, considered as “indirectly commercial”. (Barron, 2012, p. 61)
The other type of advertising in this classification is its opposite, the non-commercial advertising (or nonprofit advertising), whose primary objective is to promote a message to change attitudes, behavior, or belief for the benefit and social welfare of the public at large, instead of making profit. Types of noncommercial advertisements include:
A. Public Service Advertising (PSA). Public service advertising are advertisements done in the public’s interest and to promote welfare. These advertisements are usually created by professionals in the advertising field in cooperation with local TV and radio stations for free. The most
7 The research was conducted by the research firm Jankelovich, Kelly & White. In the first of these studies, researchers evaluated ten companies, five of which were doing corporate advertising at the time of the research, and five that were not. The respondents were 700 middle- and upper-management executives in the top 25 U.S. markets. Their research findings show that:
“…the companies using corporate advertising registered significantly better awareness, familiarity, and overall impression than companies using only product advertising. In fact, the five corporate advertisers in the study drew higher ratings in every one of 16 characteristics measured, including being known for quality products, having competent management, and paying higher dividends.”
(Doves, 2011)
8 An even more interesting aspect of the findings that the research uncovered was that, the five companies with no corporate advertising spent considerably more in total advertising than the firms doing corporate advertising.
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commonly seen PSAs are for charity organizations, health awareness organizations, and social and civic organizations that promote a certain cause (e.g. the “don’t drink and drive” ads, or the against drugs and violence ads)
B. Advocacy Advertising. Similar to the public service advertisement in nature, advocacy ads focuses on the propagation of ideas, as well as the clarification of controversial social issues of the times, like conserving wildlife, energy and protecting the environment, etc. (Lee & Johnson, 2005, p. 10) In recent times, many firms have incorporated advocacy for social causes to their advertising strategy, which is, in a way, a corporate advertisement.
C. Political Advertising. As the name implies, political advertisements are used by politicians to convince voters to cast their vote in their favour. It is sometimes called campaign advertising, and are used to sway voters, convey their political message and agenda, and in many of the cases, to attack the opposing candidate (called “attack ads”).
When the primary purpose of an ad is to promote a social cause, then it may be considered as noncommercial advertising. The biggest difference between commercial and noncommercial advertising is the expectation from expenses incurred in advertising by the advertiser. Commercial advertising prompts immediate action (which hopefully will result in sales), while noncommercial advertising promotes awareness (provides information about a certain cause). (Mohan, 1989, p. 344)
II. By target audience. Advertising is categorized into consumer and business advertising: consumer advertising is designed to reach the consumer or end-user, and business advertising is aimed at industrial users, resellers and professionals.
III. By medium. The most common form of classification, advertising here is categorized into print advertising (which includes newspaper ads, magazine ads, posters, flyers, etc.), broadcast advertising (radio and television ads) and outdoor advertising (billboards, transit ads, ambient ads).
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IV. By demand influence level. This criterion is divided into two: Primary demand stimulation is used to create a demand for a product category, or an entire industry or class of product, rather than a specific brand when a product is new and without competition in the market. It is usually introductory in nature and is in the first emphasis on the specific brand. 9 (Mandell, Advertising, 1980, p. 14)
V. By appeal models. In advertising, appeal models refer to the ways of persuasion of an ad. This is categorized into rational and emotional appeal.10
Rational appeal, also known as hard sell advertisement, utilitarian appeal or functional appeal (Sirgy, 1991), refers to left-brain ads that reach out to the consumer by presenting detailed information and hard facts, statistics and numbers, informing them of one or more key benefits that are perceived to be highly functional or important to target consumers. Rossiter and Percy (1987) referred to this as "informational advertising."
Emotional appeal, also known as soft-sell, value-expressive (image) or symbolic appeal (Sirgy, 1991), on the other hand, persuades the consumer by appealing to their emotions with images, abstract ideas and feelings. These result in the so-called right-brain ads, which involves building a "personality"
for the product or creating an image of the consumer (Ogilvy 1963). Rossiter and Percy (1987) referred to this as "transformational advertising."
VI. By geographic area. There are four classifications based on the area of operation:
local, regional, national, international. A restaurant or retail store will use local advertising in its immediate area of business operation because that’s where most
9 Mandell explains that, categorizing advertisements based on this classification is done “theoretically”, because in actual practice, there is often an element of primary demand in a selective demand advertisement, and vice versa. Hence, classification is done only by determining the relative degree of primary or selective demand in an ad. (Mandell, Advertising, 1980, p. 52)
10 Percy (Percy, 2012) counters that “All advertising is ‘emotional’” because emotion is an essential part of rational decision-making and behaviour, “therefore the rational versus emotional” argument is erroneous.
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of their customers are, while national companies tend to place their advertisements nationwide.
2.1.3 Functions of Advertising
From the first town criers of ancient Greece and through to the Middle Ages, who went about advising the public of news, sales and important events, one of the main functions of advertising is, without doubt, to provide information. Being the main tool of marketing communication between marketers and consumers, the potential of advertising was greatly heightened by the advent of the printing press, as marketers recognized the latent possibilities of this new media.
Print ads became the main form of advertising for hundreds of years, but encountered one main hurdle that was difficult to overcome. Most newspaper ads are usually composed of texts accompanied by some graphics, the efficiency and effectiveness of newspaper ads are dependent on the literacy of the consumer, which, in the 16th century is a privilege of the nobility, the rich and the bourgeois.
During the last century or so, two other main forms of advertising evolved along with technology: radio and television. Not only did radio and TV obliterate the problem of literacy, its vast reach over the masses also makes it more powerful, having both auditory and visual appeals with graphic imagery and sound to carry the message across even more effectively. They have, in fact, taken on the role of the modern-day town crier. The last two decades also saw a new form coming into prominence – the internet.
Despite the different medium used, all of them have more or less the same functions and purposes. It is a tacit and accepted fact that advertising is a marketing instrument to help companies sell their products or services. Some argue that advertising has two separate but “central and correlative functions”, one of persuading and one of informing consumers, and suggests its differences on the basis of morality. (Santilli, 1983) Regardless of that, none of the functions of advertising exists exclusively without at least another of its functions to complement it. The most basic functions of advertising are:
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To provide information. An advertisement offers information and details about new innovations and products, enlightening them about the different characteristics and key benefits of their products and/or brands. Through advertising, a business conveys its sales intent and consumption concept to customers. Thus, consumers have a wide range of choices. This establishes awareness, and is the first step in the process of creating a brand image.
To pique interest, stimulate demand, and arouse desire to buy. In a time when the public has become impervious to the thousands of commercial messages they are inundated with every day, creativity goes a long way in rousing the interest of an ad-weary market. One of the most classic example of this was the “Think Small” campaign by Doyle Dane Bernbach for the Volkswagen Beetle, which changed the face of advertising all around the world, and is considered arguably the best advertising campaign of the 20th century 11.
To persuade, induce, or influence the consumer to into taking an action, whether it is to buy your product, or to call a number or join an activity, etc. To do this, an advertisement must create demand, either primary or secondary, and emphasize the need for taking an action. The two most common approaches used in advertising to influence consumer behavior might be described as value-expressive (image) or symbolic appeal and utilitarian (functional) appeal (Park, Jaworski, and MacInnis 1986; Snyder and DeBono 1985).
To provide identification and alter perception. This includes the ability of
11 Advertising Age created a list of what they considered as the Top 100 Advertising campaigns of the 20th century. Ranked first is the Volkswagen, "Think Small", Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1959, followed by No.2 Coca-Cola, "The pause that refreshes", D'Arcy Co., 1929; No. 3 Marlboro, The Marlboro Man, Leo Burnett Co., 1955; No.4 Nike, "Just do it", Wieden & Kennedy, 1988; No. 5 McDonald's, "You deserve a break today", Needham, Harper & Steers, 1971. (Complete list:
http://adage.com/century/campaigns.html)
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establish a desired niche in the market. This function creates brand awareness and brand recognition, and provides the basis for consumers to prefer this product over the others, helping in the long-term marketability of the brand.
A good example of this is Nyquil. When Vick’s developed its cold remedy medicine Nyquil, they became aware that it made people drowsy. To most people this must seem like a disadvantage, and some would probably have just thrown the formula into the garbage can, but they resourcefully turned this into a marketable and unique feature, using it to establish their brand identity, and even monopolized the nighttime cold remedy market for many years.
To support and work in tandem with other marketing efforts. Although advertising is only one element in a company’s overall marketing program, it is the most visible one. (Wells et al, 1989) Because advertising can reach a wide audience, it “pre-sells” the product, making the audience favourably predisposed to it, and enhances the message of the other marketing tools such as promotion materials, POPs, and product packaging.
To remind consumers and create salience. With a barrage of products out there, it is easy for a product to get mired in the flood of advertising after a product is introduced to its target audience. Advertising serves to remind the target audience about its existence, and the advantages and benefits of your product.
Salience, meanwhile, is a psychological term for the prominence of certain things in our thoughts. In advertising, the term salience can be defined as “the probability that something will be in the conscious mind at any given moment.” (Sutherland, 2009) It is used to describe what happens when a consumer ties a certain product with a certain situation. Advertising can increase this probability through repetition, which generates imperceptible impression which in time builds up to significant effects. The cumulative effect becomes noticeable as it increases familiarity for your brand and heightens perceived differences between your brand and others in the market. Thus, the salience of the brand is increased in our minds.
2.1.4 DNA of an Effective Advertising
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A good advertisement can reap rewards that will reflect the future of a product or brand. The effectiveness of an advertisement can only be evaluated by employing a “pre-post”, which is testing it on a focus group of their target market base prior to exposure, and another one after exposure. While there is no absolute or universal method of creating the most effective advertisement, to the most basic standards it would generally mean one that is able to catch the attention and hold the interest of the consumer, convey vital information about a service or product, persuade the consumer to take action (whether it is to make a purchase or to invite them to do something) or, if necessary, change his mind about certain things, and leave a strong impression on them to ease the way for future sales through brand recognition.
Through these three broad dimensions, we can characterize good advertisements in general.12 something to somebody rather than say nothing to everybody” rings true in every
Through these three broad dimensions, we can characterize good advertisements in general.12 something to somebody rather than say nothing to everybody” rings true in every