Introduction to advertising
Definition
In the broadest terms, advertising can be defined as the way in which the vendor or producer of a product communicates with its potential consumers. However, definitions do vary.
For example, the Oxford English Dictionary defines advertising as: "A bringing into notice; spec. by paid announcement in a printed journal, by prominent display of placards, etc."
Merriam-Webster's definition is similar: "The action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements."
But Wikipedia's interpretation is rather more partisan: "Advertising is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service."
Why companies advertise
Unless a company has a monopoly on the sale of a unique product or service that is constantly in demand by large numbers of consumers it will typically need to carry out some form of promotional activity.
In a crowded marketplace a company needs an attention grabbing method to differentiate its product from competitor products in some way, usually by emphasising benefits such as quality or price, although there are many other ways to create a unique niche.
Consumers are more likely to buy products they are aware of, and are more likely to be aware of products that have been advertised, they are also more likely to buy from companies they trust and are more likely to trust companies who have a constant visible public presence. By paying for the right to present information about a product or brand to a known audience, a vendor can hope to influence consumers into choosing their product.
Branding
Branding has become probably the most important part of a company's advertising and marketing activity. Modern advertising campaigns are often designed to build a brand rather than sell an individual product, and consumers tend to be more familiar with brands than their products. Branding reduces a company to a set of values, which may have no real foundation in the real world, which are easily associable to a symbol or name. The sum of these brand values is known as brand identity.
The primary components of brand identity are:
- » Brand essence - Sums up the brand in one simple sentence
- » Brand slogan - Usually used with logo to identify the brand
- » Brand personality - Personification of the brand
- » Brand values - What the brand stands for or against
- » Brand appearance - Not just the look of a brand, but also its sound and taste if applicable
- » Brand heritage - Historical factors such as longevity of a brand and its customer base
- » Emotional benefits - How use of brand reduces pain or increases pleasure for consumers
- » Hard benefits - Ways in which the brand is superior to its competitors such as price or quality
What makes an advert good?
In the simplest terms an advert is good if it achieves the aims intended by the advertiser in their original brief. The quality of a campaign can only be accurately gauged by its effectiveness.
If an advert is intended to increase product awareness and it does so it is good; if an advertisement is intended to increase sales and it does so it is also good; however, if an advert wins both popular and critical acclaim, is brilliant in its own right, wins awards, but fails to link itself to the product or service it is promoting in the mind of the consumer, it most assuredly is not good.
Any advertising campaign that brings a previously low profile brand to national or international prominence has to be considered a great success, even if the perceived quality of the ads themselves is low. In fact, tactics like this have been employed successfully many times in the past. If through its quality (or apparent lack of it) an advert starts getting parodied by comedians, commented on by the news media and mimicked by the public at large, it gains the advertisers a great deal of free media exposure. These same benefits also apply to controversial ads, as Benetton so successfully illustrated, although there is more risk in this strategy.
Where can I advertise?
You can advertise absolutely anywhere. Anything that is visible is a potential advertising medium, from mints to entire buildings. Ads can be placed on anything including: billboards, magazine pages, walls, the radio, internet sites, emails, mobile phone screens, cinema tickets, football shirts, urinals and people.
Lightning Bug work across the full spectrum of above and below the line media to achieve our clients' objectives.