Advertisement Management

Module-I:
Introduction: What is advertisement all about?

“Adverting is the means by which we make known what we have to sell or what we want
to buy.”

We most people use advertising at some time, either privately or in business. And we too
respond to advertisements and so enjoy the choices available to us in every sphere of life.

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Facilitating
Institutions
Control
Institutions 1.Advertising
Agency
1. Government
Advertiser 2. Media
2. Competition
3. Research
Suppliers

Markets & Consumer

Behavior

Major Institutions involved in the field of Advertising Management

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Definition: Advertisement is to persuade and sell.

A better definition is: Advertising presents the most persuasive possible

selling message to the right prospects for the product or service at the
lowest possible cost.

This professional definition emphasizes that advertising should be planned and created to
achieve the most results for the least costs.

Many accept the observation that ‘Advertising is the lubricant which helps wheels of
industries kept turning’.

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Defining Advertisement:

Don E. Schultz, an authority in advertising reported that consumers tend to think virtually
every form of commercial activity, from concert sponsorship to telemarketing, is a form
of “advertising”

John E Kennedy, an earliest copy writer year back in 1904 defined: “Advertising is
salesmanship in print”.

Since the early days attempts have been made to define advertisement. One such attempt
led to the following definition:

“The dissemination of information concerning an idea, service or product to

compel action in accordance with the intent of the advertiser.”

In 1963, the America Marketing Association proposed the following definition of

advertising:

“Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of

ideas, goods, and services by an identified sponsor.”

Many experts based on various surveys and studies observe that there is no universally
accepted single definition of advertisement. However, there are some recurring
elements in all the definations like 1. paid, 2. non-personal, 3. identified sponsor, 4. mass
media, and 5. persuade or influence. In view of this, the essence of most advertisement
can be put in a single typical example which is – advertising is a paid, non-personal
communication by an identified sponsor, using mass media to persuade or influence
an audience.

1. Paid
The paid aspect of the advertisement definition reflects the fact that the space or times for
advertising messages are bought. However, there are exceptions like media institutions
voluntarily donating space and time, and also prepare ads for certain public service
announcements and social causes.

2. Non-personal
Advertising is totally non-personal, offering no personal interaction as it is delivered
through media.

3. Ideas, goods and services

Advertising being a powerful mass communication tool not only present and promote
goods and services with intent to sell but also help promote social harmony among
different community and discourage harmful human habit like smoking, unsaved sex, etc.

4. Identified sponsor
In case of advertising, the sponsor is known.

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 5. Mass media
The large spectrum of audience can be easily reached by mass media such as print
(newspapers, magazines, outdoor displays, etc.) and electronics media (radio, television,
etc.)

6. Persuade and influence

The most important inherent objective of advertisement is to persuade and influence the
targeted audience to accept the sponsor’s ideas, goods, or services for consumption.

7. Not neutral; not unbiased

Rightly, adverting can not be claimed to be neutral and not unbiased for simple reason
that this is controlled by the advertiser and is intended to serve the advertiser’s interest.

Advertising is a very powerful communication force, highly visible, and one of the most
significant tools of marketing communication which a marketing organization can hardly
ignore. It is also strongly recognized that advertising reflects the need of the times.
Whether we like it or not it is everywhere. It has been part of human civilization. It is
there on the walls, on the back of the buses, in the play grounds, in the newspaper pages,
in the stores, and in the televisions programme. It seems it is very difficult to remain
neutral and not to take notice of present day advertisement. Again, it has been an
accepted fact that advertising reflect one civilization’s social, cultural and business
environment.

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Advertising Objectives
Advertisement objectives provide a platform to the client and the ad agency’s account
executive, the creative team members, copy writers, media specialists, media buyers and
professional advertising researchers. The other function of objective is to provide
opportunity for decision making at a time when two alternative advertising
campaigns are developed. The objective criteria helps select the most appropriate one
that will readily achieve the objective.

The client’s overall marketing plan decides promotional objectives from which
advertising objectives are derived. The promotional objectives help focus what is to be
achieved and where the advertising fit in. These situations’ focused analyses are
expected to provide relevant information and data about:

• The target market segment and the target audience profile

• The brand’s main attributes and benefits
• Market share of the client and its competitors. Besides, their product
positioning, strategies and other relevant information and data

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 • Some ideas on how the client’s brand should be positioned and behavioural
response on brand trial, repeat purchase, increased usage rate, etc.

Now, we shall discuss the objectives of different focused advertising

campaign:

1. The advertising focused at immediate sales

Objectives:

• Perform the complete selling function

• Close sales to prospects already partly sold
• Announce special reason for buying now
• Remind consumers to buy
• Tie in with special buying event
• Stimulate impulse purchase

2. The advertising focused at near-term sales

Objectives:

• Create brand awareness

• Provide information or develop attitude
• Rebut or offset competitive claims
• Correct false impressions, or wrong information
• Build familiarity and easy recognition
3. The advertising focused at long-range sales

Objectives:

• Build confidence in company and its brand

• Stimulate consumer demand
• Secure increased distribution
• Establish reputation as an innovator for lunching new products
• Establish brand recall, recognition and acceptance

4. The advertising focused at helping to increase sales

Objectives:

• Hold present customers

• Convert other brand users to client’s brand
• Convert non-user to users
• Convert occasional customers to regular users

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 • Advertise new uses and use occasions
• Persuade customers to buy more or larger sizes
• Remind users to buy
• Encourage greater use frequency or more quantity per use.

5. The advertising focused at some specific step that leads to brand sales

Objectives:

• Persuade prospect to return a coupons, enter a contest, or ask for more

information
• Persuade prospect to visit dealership and ask for demonstration
• Induce customer to try the product

6. The advertising communicating information that would help close sales and
build consumer satisfaction

Objectives:

• “Where to buy” advertising

• “How to use the product” advertising
• Announce new models, features, or package
• Announce price change
• Trade-in offers or special terms
• New policies regarding guarantee or warranties

7. The advertising aim to build confidence and goodwill for corporation

Objectives:

• Customers and potential customers

• Distributors, dealers and retailers
• Employees and potential employees
• Financial institutions
• Public at large

8. What kind of image does the company wish to build?

Objectives:

• Product quality and dependability

• Service
• Corporate citizenship
• Growth, progressiveness and technical leadership

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Functions of Advertising

Advertising is a form of mass communication. It is used by the advertisers to persuade

the consumers to buy its products or services by changing mental states. The function of
advertising is better explained in Hierarchy-of-Effects Model because, as per the
researchers, the audience members pass through a series of sequential steps leading to
purchase of product or service. From being unaware the steps lead to awareness,
knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and purchase.

Hierarchy-of-effects model

According to Jagdish N. Sheth the advertising has four sequential functions. They are: 1.
Precipitation, 2. Persuasion, 3. Reinforcement, and 4. Reminder.

1. Precipitation: The ad’s precipitation function helps stimulate needs and wants
besides creating awareness and educating consumers about the new product or
service. Ads usually highlight the product or service’s usefulness which could not
have been done, offered, or provided by any product before.
2. Persuasion: Persuasion is the ultimate goal of all product or service
advertising. In order to persuade the consumers, the ad appeal may be emotional
or rational with humor, love, fear, shame, price, quality, quantity, etc. Example:
Concept sellers mostly use these types of advertising.
3. Reinforcement: Reinforcement through feel good effect is another important
function of advertisement. It is mostly designed to reassure consumers that they

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 made the wise decision by buying a product or service. Family planning ads
displaying the concept of ‘small family; happy family’ is one such example.
4. Reminder: The reminder ads’ are mostly given to keep the company or brand
name fresh in the consumers mind so that the objective of repeat purchase is
accomplished. FMCG products advertisements are example of such
advertisements.

Other than the above function the advertisings help stimulating demand of product or
service, build brand image, develop brand preference, strengthen other promotional mix
elements, cuts costs, lower prices, and also used as competitive weapons.

1. Stimulates demand: By way of informing prospective consumers about the

availability of a particular product, the ad stimulates needs. It has also been an
accepted fact that ad. has some effect on aggregate consumption.
2. Brand image building: Brand sells. Brand has a perceived value. In view of
this thinking, a consumer may choose to buy an expensive car because it
symbolizes status and wealth. A youth may buy a Royal Enfield Bullet to
demonstrate that he is really strong man. Ad is the most effective way of
nurturing a brand’s image in the long run.
3. Develops brand preference: Research has revealed that consistent and
repeated persuasive advertisements help stimulate brand trial or purchase. The
customers satisfied with promised quality and service spread an approving word-
of-mouth. Satisfied customers also develop brand preference which gets
reinforced by repeated ads. Products with strong brand franchise provide
protection against existing and up-coming competition. Brand royal customers
are otherwise unaccounted assets.
4. Strengthen other Promotion-mix Elements: Advertising is
‘salesmanship in print’, says John E. Kennedy. Being a form of mass
communication, it helps reach relatively large audience at shortest period. It too
performs the pre-selling function besides evoking quick response.
5. Cuts cost: It is often recognized that ad helps cutting down selling cost. There
is scope of selling costs decrease in view of fall in wasted calls, and less pressure
on sales people.
6. Lowers prices: During these days of liberalized and globalize economy, the
fall of unit cost of product compel companies to lower the product selling price to
the advantage of customers. This move has direct contribution in deepen market
penetration.
7. Competitive weapons: When the advertising helps build a brand image with
definite identity of its own, it provides a shield against competitors’ aggressive
marketing blitz.

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 Classification of Advertising

There are a vast variety of advertisings. And scholars have taken various approaches to
classify this. This classification helps managers both in the advertiser companies and in
ad agencies to choose the most appropriate type of advertising in order to achieve the
marketing objectives.

Broadly speaking, advertising can be classified into three categories. This is based on
target audiences. They are: 1. Advertising to general consumers, 2. Advertising to
Business and Profession and 3. Non-Product advertising.

1. Advertising to general consumers:

a) Classified Advertising
Most classified ads are simple text set in small type in newspaper pages and
telephone yellow pages. Such ads provide information about community market
place for goods, services, and opportunities like real estate, autos, matrimonial,
domestic help, coaching, employment, business opportunities, etc. Classified
ads are substantial source of revenue of print media.

b) Display Advertising
All non-classified advertising are display advertising. These types of advertising
usually have headlines, illustrations, white space, and other visual presentation
besides the copy text. As per the majority of studies on source of revenue of print
media, display advertising contribution is 70% of total revenue. Again these types
of advertising are categories into two. They are: national and local advertising.

c) National Advertising
This title itself says the advertising is meant for entire nation’s audience, not
confined to any geographical region. The term ‘national advertising’ conveys
mass marketing effort. This type of advertising is mostly persuaded by marketer
of branded product or service, available through distribution channel spread all
over the nation. Of course, the ads may have target segment, not restricted to a
particular region. Both classified and display advertising can be national. This
type of ads. mostly seen in media having whole nation circulation or telecast.

d) Local Advertising
This title itself says the advertising is meant for regional or local market,
confined to a particular geographical area. And its advertisers are marketers of
products or service available locally and local consumers as target. However,
sometimes national advertisers realize ads, and even with regional language, for
a particular region under certain marketing conditions. Media for this type of
advertising are local or vernacular newspapers, local cable channels, etc.

e) Retail Advertising

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 The standard approach in retail advertising is buy at our store. Usually, the sales
of any particular brand are not the objective of retail ads. However, there is
deviation when the retailer wants to clear a particular brand or to meet the sales
target sometimes imposed by producer in order to avail any specific retailer
related promotional incentives. The message in this type’s ad is like buy brand
‘B’ at our store. The other important objective of this type of ad is to encourage
patronage of consumers and store loyalty among them.

f) Co-operative Advertising
This type of ads is also realized locally, mostly by dealers or distributors in
collaboration with manufacturer. To help identify dealers selling a particular
brand of product in particular local or regional market, dealers put the ads. The
manufacturer often provides the materials and guidelines for development of
ads besides sharing the cost of ads.

g) End-Product or Branded-ingredient Advertising

There are many products sold in the market (example: Intel Processor) which
are rarely and directly purchased by consumers. Such product advertising is
called End-Product or Branded-ingredient advertising. Manufacturer of such
products undertake advertising because successful end-product advertising helps
create demand for the ingredient that helps in the sale of another product. The
prolonged consumer demand for such ingredients encourages companies to use
them in their consumer products.

2. Advertising to Business and Profession

The target audiences of this type of advertising are re-sellers and professionals
such as masons, architects, doctors, etc. The media used is professional journals
or direct mails in which brochures and leaflets are mostly sent.

a) Trade Advertising
The target of trade advertising are retailers and distributors to keep the stock and
for wide area distribution. The objectives are to achieve maximum distribution
and so also maximum sales. This types of advertising is also sometimes
accompany incentive to retailers and distributors with a hidden objective of
getting prime shelf space in retail outlets.

b) Industrial or B2B Advertising

Industrial advertising mostly for sales of machinery, equipment and raw
materials used in producing finished products is directed at a specialized and
relatively small target audience who are mostly experts in the related field. But
the fact is although the buyers are small in numbers yet the consumption volume
per buyer is much bigger. Media used are industry publications, direct mail,
telephone, and internet and trade fairs.

c) Professional Advertising

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 Professional advertising is directed towards professionals such as architect,
doctors, engineers, tailors, etc. who are may not be direct consumers of the
products but make the final-decision on behalf of their clients. The professional
journals, direct mails, and in rare instances mass media are used for advertising.

d) Corporate or Industrial Advertising

This type of advertising is meant for corporate image that the general publics
perceive when the name of the company or its product is seen or heard. The
important objectives of corporate adverting include: to create and maintain
corporate identity in public, to counter negative attitudes towards company, to
enhance company image, to associate company with some worthwhile national
and social cause and to overcome negative company image. The target groups
of corporate advertising are consumers, stockholders, employees, financial
institutions, political leaders and government or otherwise all stakeholders.

3. Non-Product Advertising

a) Idea Advertising
Advertising is a powerful communication tool to influence the public opinion
besides reshaping public attitude towards issue concerning environment
degradation, population explosion, road safety measure, human rights, dowry,
etc. Both audio and visual media of all types are used for these types of ads.

b) Service Advertising
Services although can not be seen as physical products yet its advertising
fundamentals are same as in case of product advertising though experts defer.
Mainly the quality of service is largely depending upon the quality of company
employees. And ads highlight this aspect more emphatically besides service
networks as customers show high concern for convenient, caring, and
professional services.

c) Political Advertising
Political advertisings are mostly given in the mass media by political parties to
promote their party concern on political issues. As we have seen these types of
ads are mostly biased and attacking.

d) Social Advertising
Advertisings concerning social causes are mostly given in mass media by
different government departments and agencies, NGOs and even corporate on
some social issues in order to inform and educate the population on some issues
affecting society at large.

e) Surrogate Advertising
Surrogate means delegate. In advertising, it means the kind of advertisement
which is promoting a product, many of which are banned, using anther product.

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 Example: advertising of alcoholic drinks (Bagpiper soda, McDowell Soda, etc.) in
India.
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Advertising Agency: Functions & Structure of Modern

Agency

Functions of Ad. Agency

Advertising agency is the facilitator of advertising. It is an independent organization

which provides specialized advertising and promotional services to assist companies in
developing, preparing and executing their advertising and promotional programmes for a
cost.

The main reason of companies using the services of advertising agencies is because the
later provide the more specialized and highly skilled services which the companies may
not have in-house. All most all ad agencies whether small or large may have personnel
comprising writers, artists, media specialists, market research specialists, etc. with
specific knowledge. Besides, there are some agencies which may have industry specific
expertise.

A Full-service Agency comprises department like Creative Services, Account Services,

Marketing Services, and Office Management and Finance for accomplishing various
functions designated, and ultimately, to serve clients better.

Creative Services Department:

Usually this department of the agency is headed by a Creative Director whose

responsibilities comprises production of advertisements, supervision of copywriters and
artists works besides setting the creative philosophy and standard of the organization. To
a great extent the success of ad agency depends on creative services department
responsible for the creation and execution of the advertisements. The experts in the
department conceive the ideas for the ads and write the headlines, subheads and the body
copy keeping in mind the basic appeal of the advertising campaign.

Creative services department has functional sub-departments like art, production and
traffic departments.

Creation of ad message is the work of copywriters. The Art Departments how the ad
should look with the message placed. The arts director and the graphic designers
coordinate their work and prepare the layouts for print ads. The layouts for TV
commercial is a sequence of frames showing the commercial in still form and is called
storyboard. Production Department takes over the work after completion and approval
of the copy, layout, illustrations and mechanical specifications. Sometimes, the

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production department hires outside experts to transform the creative concept into a
commercial. The Traffic Department responsibility is to coordinate all phases of
production and ensure that the ads are completed on time in order t meet the media
deadlines.

Account Services Department

This departments and its staff main responsibility is to keep relationship between the
agency and the clients. The account executive working under the department head
represent the client and explain the client’s view to all the agency personnel working on
the account and also the agency’s point of view to the client. This job requires high
degree of knowledge on functioning of advertising agency along with diplomacy and tact
because any misunderstanding and communication gap may lead to loss of the account or
client. Other important responsibility of the account executive is to obtain the client’s
approval for media schedules, budget, and rough ads.

Marketing Services Department

This department is sub-divided into Research, Media and Sales Promotion department.
Research Department main responsibility is to gather relevant marketing data from all
sources like published data (secondary data), primary data through field observation and
survey, and from independent research firms. Besides, the researchers in the department
also conduct ad’s pre-launch copy testing to learn how the ad is likely to be interpreted
and perceived by the audience. After gathering the data, the research personnel analyses
and interpret the data and furnish the same to the account department which places the
same before the client or advertiser.

The Media Department develops media plan to reach target audience effectively.
Besides it does analysis, selection, and contract media times and spaces for delivery of ad
message in a cost-effective manner. Media specialists are supposed to consider the media
reach and frequency, their rates, and media habits of audiences before actually making
purchase decision because a significant amount of client’s budget is spent in this activity.

Many ad agencies provide additional services like Sales Promotion to clients. In it

includes designing contest and publicity materials, packaging materials, and even web-
sites.

Office Management and Finance

This is mostly an in-house activity department which is to provide logistic support to

above three departments so that they can perform their work smoothly. Some of its
functions are finance, accounting, human resource and office management.

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 Structure of Modern Agency
There are two types of structures are seen in Modern advertising agencies. One is
Departmental System and other is Group System. There is no hard and fast rule on the
part of agencies to adhere this or that. The selection of one structure or other depends on
organization work philosophy envisioned by the promoter.

Departmental System

In this system, the departments are grouped around designated functions. For example,
creative services unit is asked to prepare copy writing, layouts, and production services
for all clients. These types of practice existing in medium and large size agencies provide
exposures to employees in the department to develop expertise in servicing different
types of clients.

Group System

The Group System structure is very popular in the large agencies. Individuals with client
specific expertise are drawn from different functional areas and work under account
executive in a group to serve particular client. Agencies using group system believe that
employees become very knowledgeable about client’s business and there is continuity in
serving the account.

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 Functions of the Advertising Department and
Advertising Manager
Usually in large business concerns, there may have an exclusive Advertising Department
headed by an Advertising Manager or Marketing Manager with advertising department
responsibility. This department’s primary responsibility is advertising, publicity and sales
promotion.

Functions

1. Party to major policy decision

The department and its head participate and is party to major policy decisions in
the company like new product launch, modification in existing product, changes
in distribution methods, entry into new markets or market segment, etc. They are
also responsible for product pre-tests and test marketing exercises to decide
whether the product, the marketing strategy or the advertising media and
techniques are likely to be successful. In large company, the advertising manager
use to work with marketing and market research executives; in smaller company
he himself initiate market research work.

2. Interpreter of the company policy to advertising agency and other service

providers
This is a very delicate function. Without having intimate inside knowledge of the
company and its policies, it is very difficult on the part of concern person in the
department to present in easy and understandable terms the company’s objectives
to service providers. The wrong presentation may cause huge financial loss as
well as damage company image in the public.

3. Advertising budget preparation or appropriation

Alike many other department, this department has to prepare the budget and
submit the same for approval of the top executive or board. While preparing the
same the aspects like competitors advertising, percentage of anticipated turnover,
cost per head of target population, corporate evaluation, ideal campaign plan, new
product investment, gross margin, etc. are taken into consideration. There is no
text book practice in preparing the ad. company’s budget.

4. Expenditure control
With expenditure spread over a diversity of campaign, media and techniques, the
advertising manager and his department has to be master of budgetary control. In
doing so they use face conflicting challenge mostly from product managers.

5. Coordinating with Ad Agencies

Agencies are not miracle workers. They can not work in vacuum. The advertising
department and its staff from manager to executives must be responsive in feeding

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 the agency with all the facts, samples and other back ground materials on which
agency can go to work. Works visits, invitations to sales conferences, and social
functions and regular supply of the house journal can help to foster good agency
relation.

6. Production of Ad Materials
They control the production of all other advertising materials like packaging
materials, competition coupons, stationeries, gifts, etc., not assigned to the
agency.

7. Media relation
This activity in majority of organization is done by the PRO who work under the
overall supervision or in close consultation of Ad Manager.

These seven responsibilities indicate something of the breadth of the ad manager and
his department functions. It calls for a liberal education, business experience and
sound traing in advertising. The cry today is for cost-effectiveness and he has to
know what he is recommending and buying.

Client – Agency Relationship

Business partnerships play a significant role in the preparation of the strategy of
leading firms, large or small. Success of business partnership highly depends on trust,
confidence and understanding among the parties. The parties are supposed to be pro-
active to sustain the relationship, which is very complex in the business environment,
for mutual benefit.

The state of Business Partnership today:

In spite of mutual agreed promise, many partnerships fail to meet the expectation.
This fact has confirmed by numerous studies which have been conducted on the issue.
The trend in client-agency relationships is to terminate those that under-perform. In
1984, the average tenure of client-agency relationship was 7.2 years. It reduced to 5.3
years by the end of 1997. Many forecast if the above trend will continue then by 2010
every client on an average will search for new agency in every 4 years.

Why do clients terminate agency relationships?

• Change at the top level in client’s organization

• Lack of understanding of client’s business
• Lack of synergy in company strategy and advertisement creativity
• Outgrowth of one of the partner
• Research score consistently below norms

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 • Creative stubbornness and arrogance
• Mandated consolidation
• Loose attention to budget

Distinguishing Qualities of great clients:

Evidently, every successful and profitable relationship is not one way traffic. Both the
client and agency have to exert all the efforts available to them. There are a large
number of simple attitudes and behaviours that facilitate proper communication and
create a long-term and successful clients-agency relationship.

• Inspire a spirit of partnership

The best advertising is only created in the absence of fear. Avoid the
superior/subordinate relationship and fear of dismissal while dealing with an
ad agency. A successful joint effort is achieved only through mutual respect of
intelligence and expertise.
• Agree on a clearly defined objective of the advertising

The clients must come up with clear answers to the three questions before
briefing the agency:

a. What precisely is the client asking the agency to do?

b. What kind of information does the agency need?
c. What questions is the agency mostly to ask?

• Agency must be given the opportunity to be totally absorbed in client’s

product, people and culture
• Create an environment of experimentation and be prepared to pay for
failure

• Be cautious of change for change’s sake

The success in advertising is achieved by finding a long-term positioning and
sticking with it
• Treat agency people well
Great clients know it is human nature for people to work harder for friends
than for business associations.
• Great clients are honest in their praise and polite in their disapproval.
Be honest. If you don’t like something, say so.
Be specific. Don’t ask for a new execution simply because this one ‘does not do it for
me’.
• Make the agency responsible for the advertising and give them the
authority it needs to do it.
Too much involvement consistently denies the agency the ability to realize its
vision. Some clients use lack of involvement to avoid sharing responsibility
for a poor end result.

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 Great clients tell precisely why they disagree, then challenge the agency to
find a solution both the parties can agree upon.
• Make sure the agency makes a fair profit.

• Performance evaluations of each other at least annually

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Selection of Agency
Selection of Agency by the Advertisers is not simple act. This is one the most difficult
assignment on the part of the Advertising Manager, and the Advertising Department he
heads in the advertiser’s company. A wrong choice may cost dearly to the advertiser in
many ways including damage to brand image and sales. And in the process, helps in
providing winning edge to competitor who so far hard fought for a space for survival, and
for the advertiser, a never recovering situation.

The selection of ad. agency can be made on the basis of following questions:

1. Does the ad agency understand your business objectives?

The advertising agency’s understanding of the client’s business objectives briefed
by the client in the initial discussion must be reflected in the agency’s response
and strategy developed. If response is not matching the objectives it may be due
to absence of right people with right kind of experience in the agency for the
assignment.
2. Can the ad agency differentiate your business?
Every client has its own differentiation quality and core essence. Can the ad
agency develop big idea to fulfill client’s brand potential. Can the agency produce
a single-minded proposition that your target audience will find irresistible.
3. Is the ad agency producing results for its existing clients?
Verification of the agency’s existing client’s help in great extent in this regards.
4. Does the ad agency have the right credential?
Does the agency have clients and brands that fit the advertiser’s profile?
5. Will you be dealing with the directors of the ad agency?
Ensure with whom in the agency the clients will deal with after the deal is
finalized. Whether the agency people assigned by the agency to deal with client
matter while important issues like creativity, media decision, etc. are finalized.
6. Will your account be important to the ad agency?
It is important that the client’s account is seen as being significant and special on
every level.
7. Does the agency realize that advertising is not always the ‘solution’?

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 “Advertising is the solution, now what is the problem” is a widely held view
accepted by the traditional agencies. A modern, and progressive advertising
agency must demonstrate that it has full working knowledge of the most
appropriate options available to meet the objectives of its clients in present
context and in future too.
8. Is the agency capable of integrating traditional and new media?
In the present scenario, a single media agency might not help the clients achieves
the desired result. In fact, media mix strategy defer from product to product and
from objective to objective.
9. Does the agency offer high level strategy and creativity?
The strategy and creativity are two interdependent disciplines. Within a campaign,
there must have proper synergy between strategy and creativity.
10. Is the agency’s motivation to take your business to the next higher level or to
win awards?
Check whether the agency is enthusiast with the assignment.

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Module – II:

Advertising as Mass Communication

Mass Media through mass communication have an important role in modern society as
the main channel of communication. Competition has become increasingly keen in the
area of the mass media as they keep fighting for the attention of the readers, listeners, and
TV-viewers.

Newspapers get more than half of their revenues from advertisers, and most radio and TV
stations get all their revenues from advertising and sponsoring. Obviously, the advertisers
have a strong influence on news contents. Such an influence is usually considered
unethical, but is nevertheless difficult to avoid. In order to attract advertisers, the media
often generate a “buying mood” by discussing topics of relevance to the advertised
products and avoiding any criticism of commercial products or of consumerism in
general.

Advertising is a non-personal form of mass communication, paid for by an identified

sponsor. Advertising through mass media communicates information to a large number of
recipients. It has three main aims:

1. To pass on information
2. To develop attitude
3. To provoke action beneficial to the advertiser

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An advertisement for motor bike is paid for by the manufacturer to achieve greater sales;
an advertisement on insurance promote the benefit of policy while in distress; an
advertisement with slogan “Small family; happy family” educate people advantage of
small family; a party broadcast aims to increase votes. It must be remembered that
advertising is only one element of the communication mix, but it does perform certain
parts of the communicating task faster and with greater economy and volume than other
means.

What significant role advertising as an element of mass communication does play

depends on the nature of the product and its frequency of purchase. It contributes the
greatest part when:

1. Buyer awareness of the product is low

2. Industry sales are rising rather than remaining stable or declining
3. The product has features which are not clear to the buyer
4. The opportunities for product differentiation are strong
5. Discretionary incomes are high
6. A new product or new service or idea is being launched

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The Communication Mix
Communication is crucial to the success of any organization. The advertisers need to use
the different elements of the communication mix to communicate their message, their
product value and any benefits to customers.

The main elements that make up the communication mix include:

1. Advertising: General information of interest to the wider customer groups

(a) Radio, (b) Newspapers & Magazines, (c) Leaflets, (d) Directories, (e)
Packaging, (f) Posters, (g) Trade magazines, (h) Brochures and (i)
Internet.

2. Direct Mail: Information to a specific audience.

(a) E-mails and (b) Letters.

3. Direct Response: Designated to solicit a direct response, which is specific and

quantifiable, direct from the customer to specific product.
(a) Questionnaire, (b) Surveys, (c) E-mail, (d) Letters, (e) Conference, (f)
Seminars, (g) Workshops, (h) Meetings.

4. Word of Mouth: Communicating directly with individual and specific groups of

customers.

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 (a) Personal communication (telephone, visits & interviews), (b)
Presentations and (c) Meetings.

Steps to develop a Communication Programme include:

A) Identify target audience

Who? Where? What do they require?
B) Determine communication objectives
Possible objectives for the communication may be to create awareness, obtain
enquires, obtain information and improve product’s image.
C) Set communication budget
This must be realistic; it must be affordable. It is very important to allocate the
budget wisely; money spent on a bad communication is worse than spending no
money on communication.
D) Decide suitable timeframe
A decision must be reached on the timeframe of the communication process. This
will depend on the specific objectives of the project, the medium used and allocated
budget.
E) Design the message

What to say? How to say it? Where to say it?

The ‘AIDAS’ model can illustrate this process:

Attention Interest Desire Action Satisfaction

Ideally the message should get the attention of the customers and take them through
the stages until satisfaction reached. In practice few messages take customers
through the whole process, but are pitched at a certain level that meets the required
objective.

The message content should include benefit, information, etc. that appeals to the
audience. This appeal could be: rational (show benefit such as quality, economy,
and value that is proposed changes in a product or in service), emotional (stir up
positive emotion that will motivate action) and moral (directed to the audience’s
sense of what is right that is anti-social behavioural action).

The message format depends on the communication medium used. For printed ads,
the careful decision for headline illustration, colour, etc. For personal selling,
decision as to choice of words, portfolio, dress and body language.

F) Deciding on the Communication Mix:

Each element of the mix has a different communication capacity, is effective at

different stages in the communication process and we have a different level of control
over each one. Therefore, the decision for choice of communication mix will depend
upon:

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 1. Who the target audience is
2. The agreed objectives
3. The timing of the communication
4. The complexity of the product
5. Legal restraints
6. Monetary restraints

G) Carry out Communication Plan

Implementation, coordination and control of the entire communication plan.

H) Measuring and Analyzing Results:

It is important to measure the effectiveness of each communication campaign. This

should be done against the objective(s).

Measuring and analyzing the outcome of a specific interaction will help in the
development of future communications and in evaluating the best methods to use.

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