Search
Advertising Tips
Newspaper Advertising
Advertising Career
Know how Advertising Works
The success of the advertiser depends on marketing a quality product or service that commands repeat and expanding sales, to secure maximum profits. This requires the dissemination of the most compelling message to the largest number of potential consumers at the least possible cost to achieve increasing and repeated sales. The success of the advertising agency depends on its ability to enable the advertiser to achieve its marketing and advertising objective. It is a professional approach to advertising, both by the advertiser and the advertising agency that ensures a correct balance between the perceptions of the two parties on the costs essential to achieve the communication objective necessary to reach the sales target. The success of the media owner depends on his ability to meet the communication requirements of the advertiser and to convince the advertiser and the advertising agency about it.
Similar problems of conflict of interests and complementarily of objectives exist in the relations between the advertising agency and the other service organizations and the ancillary services. The harmonization of these different interests depends on the extent to which each of these components of the advertising spectrum is able to provide full satisfaction to the advertiser through the maximum and most effective possible utilization of the services and skills available.
There can be different perceptions about how these skills and services can be utilized. With so many services available outside the advertising agency, it is tempting for the advertiser to handle certain jobs on its own without involving the advertising agency. It is doubtful how much the advertiser gains in terms of cost effectiveness, but it reduces the income of the advertising agency and to that extent its efficiency. For the advertiser it means work in terms of supervision of the work of different service organizations. The advertiser would also have to co-ordinate their activities. This means additional and specialized staff, adding to the advertiser's overheads. On the other hand, the advertising agency cannot only handle these very assignments more effectively but also at less cost. This is because the same staff would be servicing more than one advertiser.
As for the ancillary services, direct relationship with the advertiser could be profitable in so far as they would not have to pay the commission they pay to the agency at a fixed rate for the business provided. They could even share part of this potential commission by reducing the price quoted to the advertiser. In such a transaction both the advertiser and the service organization concerned would be the gainer to some extent. At the same time this would mean that whatever the ancillary service organization might have gained through a direct relationship with the advertiser, could be more than offset by the denial of business from the advertising agency. Such problems could arise with the media too.
Harmonious relationship among the diverse components of advertising business is really in the best interests of all concerned. The advertiser can sure of professional counseling, planning, execution, supervision and ensuring cost effectiveness, without have to invest in unnecessary overhead costs. The media find in the agencies the cooperation of professional expertise in marketing support. The agency can more effectively put forward the case of a particular medium to an advertiser in the specific context of its requirements. It is not possible for the media to acquire such intimate knowledge of the exact requirements of the large number of advertisers that have to be catered for. As space in or time on the media are bought by the advertising agencies on behalf of the advertisers they service they also make payment. Thus the media are relieved of the burden of collecting payments from a large number of advertisers. The commission that the media pay to the advertising agencies is really for these two services.
What is true of the media is equally true of the freelance and ancillary services. An advertising agency is a conglomeration of many talents and much expertise in different fields of advertising business. Association with such a group also helps improve the quality and efficiency of the services offered by freelancers and ancillaries. It is an accepted fact that advertising has contributed considerably, through various experiments and exacting demands, to the improvement of the quality and standard of printing in India. I recall an experience when two advertising agencies were involved in creating advertisements for the inauguration of a project, with which two organizations had been associated. Here was a challenge: Who could provide a more striking advertisement? Those were days of letterpress, when blocks had to be prepared from an artwork. One agency produced a design, which demanded very complicated processing for block making. The departmental concerned, in the newspaper selected to carry the advertisement, cooperated fully with the advertising agency in experimenting and produced the required block. Close cooperation between the agency and the media helped meet the challenge of producing a striking advertisement, involving not only imagination on the part of the artist, but also of innovation on the part of the block makers. Here was a combination of creativity at both ends. It is such situations that make advertising such a fascinating profession. Apart from being a profession, advertising is also a business and all the laws of running a business apply to all the organizations that are involved in advertising in one way or another. As it is a highly talent-intensive business, it is essential to strike a balance between professionalism and purely business interests. Because a great deal of imagination and innovation is involved, the integration between quality and business returns is very important, probably more than in other businesses. In discussing how advertising works, one must consider how it motivates people to act in a certain way. What is it in an advertisement that persuades a person to make a rational and intelligent choice between different brands? Is the choice always rational or intelligent? In other words, is the appeal always rational and intelligent? It is possible to find some answers to these questions in the findings of a study by the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), 'Delhi, in 1982 on 'Advertising and Social Responsibility'.
The appeal is more often than not psychological or emotional. Of the total number of advertisements sampled, only about 3.3 per cent were factual and informative about the product without any emotional or psychological appeal. The most popular appeal was ego satisfaction in over 50 per cent of the advertisements of consumer goods. Certain stereotypes are associated with certain types and particular brands of consumer goods. You find this appeal very pointedly in non-durable consumer goods, such as clothes, leather goods, cosmetics and toiletries and other personal care articles. Then you have the popular appeal of just fun and relaxation. This is very much evident in advertisements aimed at the young, the teenagers-foods, soft drinks, coffee, biscuits, chocolates, etc. Cigarette advertisements use a wide variety of appeals from the strong outdoor stereotype to the happy relaxed mood.
Health is another area of emotional and psychological appeal. This approach has been found particularly suitable for baby foods, health foods and drugs and pharmaceuticals advertisements. This is also a powerful appeal in baby care products, such as toilet soap and massage oils. Toothbrushes and toothpastes also use the same appeal. In advertising all such products, the emphasis often is on maternal love and care. On the other hand, a whole range of products are stereotyped as status symbols and are associated with public personalities like sportspersons, film stars, and stereotypes of people in high places, at economically and socially higher levels.
Advertising basically appeals to the elemental human emotions. But this is not enough, although it provides a very strong appeal. The emotional appeal needs to be linked with information about the benefits to be derived from the product or service backed by convincing arguments. This becomes difficult when there is very little difference between the different brands of products on the market. In such a situation there seems to be no other alternative but to try to win consumer support by flattering his or her ego or resorting to a whole range of basic psychological and emotional appeals including the most primordial, i.e. sex appeal.
The IIMC study reveals that only 1.4 per cent of the total advertisements studied used relevant information about the product to persuade a purchase. Among these were baby foods, certain books such as dictionaries, certain health foods and personal care articles. The largest percentages of advertisements were found to be low on information but very high on motivation through psychological and emotional appeals. A little over two out of five advertisements fall on this category. What are important however, are that such categorizations as informative and emotive are not always mutually exclusive. In most cases the approach is a combination of both these elements. It is usually a question of which way the message is tilted-i11fonnative to persuade or appeals to the emotions to motivate. Sometimes it is difficult to draw the line, for instance, a baby care consumer goods.
Having discussed the various kinds of appeal that advertising uses to influence consumers, it is worthwhile finding out how far these kinds of approaches really work. Significantly, the IIMC study reveals that almost all the consumers sampled believed that advertising exercised a powerful influence on lifestyles and value systems. At the same time, the credibility of advertising seemed to be rather low. A substantial number of the consumers, covered by the study, felt that many a product failed to match the quality claimed in the advertisements. The majority suggested that advertisements should be checked for the validity of the claims made. Nevertheless, they admitted that, by and large, the advertisements provided enough information for the consumer to make a rational and intelligent purchase decision. Even so, at least half the consumers surveyed believed in only 50 per cent of the claims made in advertisements for food and toilet items. Yet most of them had tried many of these items after seeing the advertisements. It is interesting that 65 per cent of the consumers believed half the claims made about clothing and domestic appliances. This shows how lifestyle advertising or status symbols advertising works, because advertisements for clothing have very little relevant information about the product, except creating an environment around it. Surprisingly, according to the survey, the credibility of advertising using testimonials from celebrities was found to be very low. Although it was admitted by nearly half the consumers covered by the study that sex in advertising helps to sell goods, three out of four of them felt, that such advertisements should be avoided.
It is often said that the consumer is the king. If that be so, the consumer's views on advertising should be respected. The IIMC survey report points out towards the end: "The consumers were asked to state what, in their opinion, should a 'good' ad contain. About one-fifth of the respondents felt a good ad must be informative. A fair proportion stated that ads were not concentrating on the product as much as they should, and the emphasis should be on the product being advertised. Some expected a good overall presentation, while some felt that an ad must be attractive, entertaining and refreshing.
This brings us to the issue of the social responsibility of advertising and business ethics. Advertising is a very powerful weapon. To what purpose it is used depends on the user, that is the advertiser. In a fierce battle for domination of the market, advertising or marketing communication can be used in such a way as to harm the consumer's interest. Those who are creating advertisements, those who are responsible for marketing communications can fall victim to their own enthusiasm in the heat of the battle and produce unethical advertisements. They can also be victims of their business interests, doing something at the behest of the advertiser, for fear of losing valuable business. The media too at times show the same cynical disregard for ethics in search of more business.
There are two dimensions to ethics in advertising. This is evident from some of the findings of the IIMC study, particularly consumer reactions. First is the aspect of the, creditability of the advertiser. When exaggerated claims made in an advertisement cannot be translated into actual benefits derived from the product or service concerned, the producer of the product or service loses credibility. Once lost, it is virtually impossible to regain credibility. Unethical advertising destroys the reputation of the advertiser. This is also true of the media that carry such advertisements.
The second dimension is more serious. Through false claims or through the suppression of likely harmful effects of a product, a consumer might be persuaded to use it and then come to some harm. There are a number of such examples. For many years Listerine was sold as an antiseptic mouthwash. It was a false claim, which might not have done any harm directly but certainly did so indirectly, to the extent that it failed to how the effect it claimed.
In 1970, in the United States, 40 well-known breakfast cereals were found to do little to prevent malnutrition" as claimed. More recently the claim of baby food to replace mother's milk has been found to be false. Use of baby foods had become such a common practice as a substitute for mother's milk that 'an advertising campaign had to be launched internationally to create the awareness that there is no substitute for mother's milk. Sometime back, Burroughs Wellcome advertised, a product based on paracetamol, which pointed out the harmful side effects of aspirin, without of course mentioning such effects of paracetamol. The matter was referred to the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission. It restrained Burroughs Wellcome from using this advertisement.
Such incidents raise the issue of social responsibility of advertising. However persuasive you might be, you have a responsibility to the consumer also. Advertising is expected to provide such information as would pulp the consumer make a rational and intelligent choice from among competing brands. The credibility of an advertisement and of the advertiser depends on the satisfaction derived from the product or service as claimed in the advertisement. What is more important, however, is the responsibility of advertising to ensure that the use of an advertised product or service should not cause harm to the consumer. At least the consumer should be made clearly aware of such a danger, so that he or she can make. his or her own decision after that.
There is another area of social responsibility of advertising. There are certain generally accepted norms of public behavior and decency in every society. Such norms might differ from one society to another. If an advertisement goes against such norms, it is likely to put off the consumer. This is a very delicate area of decision. Social norms change. Advertising can itself be a catalyst of such change. In such a category comes the question of sex in advertising or gender stereotypes and discrimination. In a country such as India, with immense diversity of customs, behavior patterns and social and cultural norms, advertising has to be very careful not to hurt the sensibilities of the people. This is going to become a major concern as Indian advertising responds more and more to globalization of the economy and integrates with western advertising.
It is in this context that the question of consumer protection has assumed such importance. The consumer protection movement is not concerned merely with adulterated or fake goods and false weights, but also with unethical advertising in all its dimensions. The advertising profession itself is aware of such evils. Efforts are being made for self-regulation. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has been set up to inculcate awareness of a code of ethics and advocate self-regulation. Although the ASCI has limited legal powers, it tries to administer a code of ethics. It can persuade an advertiser or an advertising agency not to flout the code. Its main approach is that the truthfulness of the claims made must be assured; no offence should be given to generally accepted norms of public decency; sufficient safeguards must be taken against the promotion of hazardous products; and the competition between brands should be fair, avoiding unethical practices, to ensure that the consumer is provided with the information necessary to make a rational and intelligent choice between competing brands.
The ASCI cannot take any action on its own, It can only take action on the basis of complaints received. It has a complaints cell, whose members include top marketing and advertising professionals, doctors, material and social scientists, journalists and media chiefs. Advertising professionals have also got together to set up the Advertising Council of India for the same purpose.
There are a number of laws, which have an impact on advertising. The government has also formulated a code for advertising. This is particularly applicable to the media controlled by it-radio and TV. According to this code, advertising must conform to the laws of the country and must not offend the morality, decency and religious susceptibility of the people. Certain categories of advertising have been listed as not permitted. These include such advertisements:
1) Which deride any race, caste, color, creed 'or nationality, except wherein such usage would be for the specific purpose of effective dramatization, such as combating prejudices;
2) Which are against any of the objective principles, or provisions of the Constitution of India;
3) Which tend to incite people to crime or to promote disorder, violence or breach of law; and
4) Which present criminality as desirable or furnish details of crime and so on.
Advertisements for certain services are also prohibited. These include money lending, chit funds and savings schemes other than those conducted by nationalized or recognized banks or the post office; matrimonial agencies; unlicensed employment services; fortune-tellers or soothsayers, etc. Advertisements containing false claims, which are incapable of being established, are also prohibited.
The code pays special attention to children. It says: "No advertisement is allowed which leads children to believe that if they do not own the product advertised they will be inferior in some way to other children or that they are liable to be condemned or ridiculed for not owning it."
If we recall some of the advertisements that we see on TV it should be obvious that most of these prohibitions are observed more in the breach than otherwise. This is what gives advertising a bad name. In this context, it might be worthwhile to refer to the IIMC survey. Some of its findings are indeed very significant. In consumer advertisements, one out of every five, using human models, featured a woman. In a large number of cases the female models had no direct relevance to the product advertised. They were made relevant indirectly. Another finding of the survey is that our of every 20 advertisements studied, at least one featured sexually provocative models; one out of every 50 advertisements had sexually suggestive copy. What is important is that it is the female body that is more often exploited in sexually provocative advertisements.
The other findings about gender discrimination in terms of role portrayal of women are equally significant. Of the total sample of 1,366 consumer advertisements studied, 40 per cent featured female models. One-fifth of the advertisements showed the woman as a traditional housewife and another one-fifth as modem, independent persons moving on equal footing with men. One out of every advertisement featuring women projected them as mere decorative sex objects.
As far as value systems and lifestyles are concerned, the study reveals a distinct trend of encouraging the western lifestyle, especially among teenagers and the youth. This trend is likely to increase in the fast developing environment, as India becomes more and more an integral part of the global market. The study also reveals that approximately 16 per cent of the total sample of advertisements studied made exaggerated claims about the benefits. of the products, without any substantiation. The claims could neither be proved true nor false.
Some stereotypes have developed over the years about the motivations that advertisements must appeal to. These stereotypes have developed in the advanced countries. With the total integration of the Indian economy with the global market, dominated by the advanced countries, these stereotypes are likely to become an integral part of marketing communication or advertising in India. Bearing in mind perceptions of the urban Indian consumer, the challenge for those of you, who would be entering the advertising profession at this stage of its development in this country, would be how to strike a balance between western stereotypes and Indian value systems, in this period of transition from a sheltered to an open society. The question is: Is it possible to integrate with the western market and yet retain an Indian ethos? After all a global market means a homogenized approach to advertising. The same message the same motivations, the same value systems associated with particular products or services have to be projected all over the world. Meeting this challenge would demand a more intimate knowledge of Indian society and the people, particularly the rural people who are suddenly going to be opened up to a whole new world, very different from their traditions and experience of many generations. Based on this knowledge and understanding you would have to use a tremendous amount of imagination and innovativeness to create advertisements that would be credible and would motivate people to make a rational and intelligent choice, to make advertising work. How to do so in a fiercely competitive market is the question that you would have to answer in your days in advertising in the years to come.
