A project report on advertising in India. This report will also help you to learn about:- 1. Meaning of Advertising 2. Objectives of an Advertising Programme 3. What Advertising Is—Activities Included 4. What Advertising is Not—Activities Excluded 5. Historic Evolution of Indian Advertising 6. Role of Advertising in Modern Business World 7. Advertising as a Marketing Tool and Other Details.
Contents:
- Project Report on the Meaning of Advertising
- Project Report on the Objectives of an Advertising Programme
- Project Report on What Advertising Is—Activities Included
- Project Report on What Advertising is Not—Activities Excluded
- Project Report on the Historic Evolution of Indian Advertising
- Project Report on the Role of Advertising in Modern Business World
- Project Report on the Advertising as a Marketing Tool
- Project Report on the Reasons (Pros) for Advertising
- Project Report on the Criticism of Advertising
- Project Report on Advertising & Public Relations
- Project Report on Advertising Both a Science and an Art
- Project Report on Advertising as a Translation of Product Concept into Consumer Benefit(S)
- Project Report on the Advertising as Information
- Project Report on the Advertising—A Tool For Consumer Welfare
Project Report # Meaning of Advertising:
Advertising is one of the five major tools companies use to direct persuasive communications to target buyers and publics. In the simplest form it can be said that the advertising is a public announcement. In the earlier times to advertise meant meanly to announce or to inform.
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Advertising can be defined as:
“Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor”. Philip kotler.
“Advertising consists of all the activities involved in presenting to a group a non-personal, oral or visual, openly sponsor identified message regarding a product, service or idea. This message, called an advertisement, is disseminated through one or more media and is paid for by the identified sponsor”. W. J. Stanton.
Basically, an advertisement is an announcement to the public of a product, service or idea through a medium through which the public has access. The medium may be print, electronic or any other. An advertisement is usually paid for by an advertiser at rates fixed or negotiated with the media.
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Advertising has become an integral part of our society. In a way it has embedded in our daily lives. Advertising is a vital marketing tool as well as a powerful communication force. It is the action of calling something to attention of the people, especially by paid announcements.
Main ideas and elements of advertising are:
(a) Paid form
(b) Non personal presentation
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(c) Ideas, goods or services
(d) An identified sponsor
(e) Inform and persuade.
Project Report # Objectives of an Advertising Programme:
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The objectives of the advertising programme includes:
1. To increase support: Advertising increases the morale of the sales force and of distributors, wholesalers and retailers. It thus contributes to enthusiasm and confidence attitude in the organisation.
2. To stimulate sales amongst present, former and future consumers. It involves decision regarding the media.
3. To retain the loyalty: To retain the loyalty of present and former consumers. Advertising may be used to reassure buyers that they have made the best purchase, thus building loyalty to the brand name or the firm.
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4. To project an image: Advertising is used to promote an overall image of respect and trust for an organisation. This message is aimed not only at consumers but also at the government, share-holders and general public.
5. To communicate with consumers. This involves decision regarding Copy.
Project Report # What Advertising Is—Activities Included:
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1. It is commercial or non-commercial communications.
2. The communication is speedy,
3. It is a mass communication,
4. The cost per person in low,
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5. Advertising is communication through identified sponsor,
6. It is non-personal communication.
Project Report # What Advertising is Not—Activities Excluded:
1. Advertising is not a toy. Advertiser cannot afford to play with advertising. They realize that the advertising funds come from sales revenue and must be used to increase sales revenue.
2. Advertising is not an exact science. An advertiser’s circumstances are never identical with those of another.
3. Advertisements are not designed to deceive.
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4. Advertising is not a game which involved win-lose situation but if advertising is done properly, both the buyer and the seller benefit from it.
Project Report # Historic Evolution of Indian Advertising:
The Indian advertising has a long back history. At the beginning of the 20th century the main medium for advertising was press especially newspapers though it was only the privilege of the upper class.
In 1930 the talkies and radio emerge as media. 1950 decade proved to be the water shed years for advertising when many industries came up, Burmah shell propagated kerosene by transit advertising on vans, cinema advertising began, Calcutta got the privilege of having India’s first advertising club in 1956, leading advertising agency press syndicate emerged.
In the decade of 1960’s the India’s first advertising convention was held in Calcutta in 1960, the movement started for the shift from production concept to product concept, Asian Advertising congress was held at New Delhi.
In 1970’s decade as the shift began from product concept to sales concept, role of promotion increased, there was a magazine boom and Asian Advertising Congress was held at New Delhi. In the decade of 1980’s marketing concept began to emerge because of intense competition and every activity began to direct towards customers.
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Expansion of advertising agencies started and TV emerged as a powerful advertising medium with the advent of color transmission in 1982. TV medium was expanded and it was made available to more than 50% of the population. There was a media boom and different types of magazines emerged to cater the needs of various groups. Concept of sponsored programmes started.
With the entry of multinationals, the 1990’s decade is proving a crucial year for Indian Advertising. Because of intense competition, every marketer used to try to push his products and used promotion vigorously. Each medium is used to reach to the target customers.
The advent of cable TV proved a turning point for Indian advertising. CNN was the first electronic channel to be beamed to India besides that other private channels emerged as Zee TV, El TV, Star Plus, Star Sports, ESPN, Sony, NEPC, Home, Jain TV, Asia music, Zee cinema, Movie Channel by Doordarshan etc.
As these TV channels were reached to middle as well as upper income group people, a lot of money was spend by marketers to inform, persuade and remind the customers about their products or services by the different types of promotional mix and through different media exclusively as well as collectively.
Project Report # Role of Advertising in Modern Business World:
Advertising is a tool of marketing for stimulating demand and for influencing the level and character of the demand.
Manufacturer’s Need of Advertising:
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1. It creates customers for products
2. Widens the market
3. It backs up the company salesman and makes the retailer’s job easier.
4. Enables to inform about the changes in products or services.
Retailer’s Need for Advertising:
1. It gives the retailer a local personality
2. Advertising gives him a quick turn over
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3. It does a selling job for the inefficient retailer.
Consumer’s Need for Advertising:
1. Time is saved in shopping
2. Tells from where the goods can be obtained
3. It equips the customers with the facts he needs to make an intelligent choice
4. It has educative value
5. It also do reminder function
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6. Impels the consumers to aspire for better standard of living.
Project Report # Advertising as a Marketing Tool:
a. Advertising persuades potential customers that a particular product is superior to competing products.
b. Advertising helps to educate the market in the new ways of using the product or using the product more often.
c. Advertising builds a positive image of the company that sells the product. Advertising helps in getting dealer and retailer support.
d. Advertising helps in sustaining the market share of the established product and by reinforcing the benefits or continued product usage increases the market share of the product.
e. It helps in introducing a new product in the market.
f. Advertising is useful in securing sales leads.
g. Advertising in many cases, inform the target market about special features of a product.
Project Report # Reasons (Pros) for Advertising:
1. As the advertising creates competition, it encourages the R & D for new and better products.
2. Advertising encourages price competition by giving the consumer a free choice of products and services.
3. Advertising supports the communication media. Many useful and educational programmes have been sponsored by companies that advertise.
Project Report # Criticism of Advertising:
Advertising is not free from criticism. Though advertising is criticized on many front but criticisms are not absolute in nature. These become criticism when advertising is used in a wrong and unethical way.
The common criticism of advertising are:
1. Advertising persuades people to buy products that they don’t really need.
2. Advertising is not always truthful, it relies on misleading claims and sometimes engages in deceptive advertising to sell products.
3. Advertising adds to the cost of product and services which is then passed on to the consumers.
Advertising does not encourage competition—in-fact it reduces it.
4. Advertising affects inter-personal relationships by perpetuating stereotyped sex roles.
5. Advertising in a way pollutes the atmosphere and the environment.
Project Report # Advertising & Public Relations:
Public relations refers to, “the company’s communication and relationships with various sections of the public—customers, suppliers, shareholders, employers, government, media and society at large. P R may be formal or informal. P R is personal as advertising”.
1. The ultimate aim of Public Relations is to develop a favourable image in the eyes of the public.
2. Public Relations is low cost then advertising.
3. Public Relation is a form of persuasive communication.
Four Elements of Public Relation:
(i) The message to be transmitted
(ii) An independent third party endorser to transmit message.
(iii) A target audience that it is hoped will be motivated to buy whatever is being sold, and
(iv) A medium through which the message is transmitted
1. Advertising has a greater role when we are selling a tangible product. Public relations has a greater role in service industry and industrial product marketing as the product is in tangible or purchased in large quantities.
2. Public Relations has now slowly evolved into an integrated approach called corporate communications.
Project Report # Advertising Both a Science and an Art:
It is indeed true that advertising is both a science and an art. Correct use of the science of psychology is not all that is needed to assure better advertising. Equally important is that art of expressing the advertising idea; and when the forces of science and art are combined, they help the advertiser to prepare advertising and so obtain better results. Either science or art, going it alone, would provide less effective advertising.
The effect of a single advertisement, or of an advertising campaign, will depend on the total impression that the advertisement or the campaign creates. It is not just the specific point made in the head line that determines the effect.
The effect depends also on the feeling suggested by the picture or the word imagery that has been used to arouse an emotional response. It is the total effect that determines how great and long lasting an impression the advertisement makes on the reader or listener.
These are reasons why advertising will remain in large part as an art. It is the artistry of the creator which welds together all the elements the creator combines a knowledge of psychology with creativity to produce the advertisement. When the creator combines well, the result is advertising that attracts, that interests, that communicates, and that sells ideas and products.
Project Report # Advertising as a Translation of Product Concept into Consumer Benefit(S):
The role of advertising is that changes the consumer’s perception of product by endowing a benefit that relates to consumer needs. Thus, the basic task is to translate the product concept into a consumer benefit. The basic assumption is that consumers do not buy products; they by satisfactions or benefits. Product become desirable to consumers only when they are perceived in terms of the benefits they provide.
Regarding product advertising in this manner has three values:
(a) It shifts the attention of advertising from the product to the product benefit—a shift wholly compatible with the marketing concept.
(b) It is consistent with the other definitions of product advertising that have be reviewed, recognising the importance of relevant consumer information and the concept of advertising as a substitute for the personal sales person.
(c) It is an extension of value added theory because it identifies the nature of the value that is added.
Project Report # Advertising as Information:
Advertising as information is a point of view widely held by economists and by critics of advertising. According to this definition, advertising’s only purpose is to provide consumers with information that will reduce the time they spend searching for commercial products and enable them to make more intelligent buying decisions.
Information is generally limited to objective data—product, performance, price and product quality. Persuation is undesirable because it tends to obfuscate consumers, judgments, causing them to make non-objective decisions.
The value of this point of view is its emphasis on truth in advertising, a proposition subscribed to by most advertisers who seek a long term relationship with customers. This concept is limited, however, by its narrow definition of what constitutes information and the restrictions it imposes on the use of persuation.
For most consumers, information is more than objective data on price, performance and quality; it involves such product dimensions as style, prestige and status. For most producers effective advertising involves persuation or showing the product in its most favourable light.
Since persuation is an acceptable practice in most areas of human endeavor, it is a probable that the objective information definition of advertising is unduly restrictive.
Project Report # Advertising—A Tool For Consumer Welfare:
Martin Mayer (USA) has stated that advertising perceptional utility as manufacturing add form utility, transportation adds place utility and warehousing adds time utility. Advertising is useful for buyers—both ultimate as well as industrial. It provides the news of new products; their prices, new development research. It increases competition.
About the social system or social influence though it cannot change values.
It reflects the value system of a society. Advertisers want to fit the advertisements with the value systems of audience.
Advertising promotes consumer welfare by encouraging competition and leading to improvements in product quality and reduction in price for him.
“Advertising outstanding contribution to consumer welfare comes from its part in promoting a dynamic expanding economy”. NEIL. H. BORDON
Adding Value through Advertising:
Value added theory, proposed by Martin Mayer in Madison Avenue, U.S.A. is based on the proposition that advertising’s suggestion power creates a value not inherent in the product itself. In short, advertising adds a new value to the one that exists. According to Mayer, this added value is relatively slight because advertising is highly effective in times of economic affluence, but relatively ineffective during a recession.
Thus, when money is plentiful a slightly more attractive product may seem worth the cost, but advertising does not change the product, as Mayer suggests. However, it may change the perception of the product and thereby, add value to it.
The contribution of value added theory is the recognition that advertising, in addition to providing information about a product, transforms a product into something more appealing to consumers than the physical object to produce in the factory. However, one weakness of this theory is its inability to explain how this transformation takes place.
Advertising is a missing link between brand attributes and the customer’s perception, between product features and need fulfillment, between benefits and value.
Even if the product or service has been designed to target the customer’s wants, it is only through communication with the customer in general, and advertising as its most potent form in particular that will inform to consumer, how you are trying to provide value to him.
That’s why it is not enough that the product differentiation to be distinctive for our positioning to be peerless, for our selling proposition (SP) to be unique (U).
Our advertisement too must stand out from the crowd. While the clever use of media can cleave a path through the clutter for the advertising message, it must be unique enough in its own right to make statement. Advertising is the creativity that builds the brand.
Given the most cogent, appealing, captivating, entertaining and memorable advertising can still fail to enhance customer value if it cannot improve the customer’s understanding of the need real or emotional that the brand being advertised will fulfill. For that the advertising must provide information telling the customer something that he does not know.
It must raise the customer’s interest level and it must induce a change in the customer’s attitude which can be translated by additional marketing inputs into a reinforcement of existing behaviour or a change in it so that customer buys our brand.
Only if it meets these criteria the advertising will raise the brand above the level of all competing products undifferentiated from one another. Advertising is what give the product its life cycle and creates it into a brand.
Interactional Advertising:
Undifferentiated advertising is usually a one way communication between the company & the customer where the customer is the silent listener.
It is just this passivity inducing quality of conventional advertising make the advertising below the line activity, whereas the scope for interactive communication is much higher thus, smart advertising can induce the feed-back loop, boosting customer value by offering the potential buyer the opportunity to sample the product and participate in the process of expressing a response, marketers can steal a march over their competitors in the value race.
For interaction comments a company’s relationship with the customer, adding to the latter’s sense of receiving value added benefits by offering emotional add-ons. And advertising can achieve this by introducing the element of interaction.
A Classic Example:
The campaign used to launch HLL’s Surf Excel, the latest extension to its Surf brand of detergent powders. The value that HLL wanted Surf Excel to provide to the customer, Superior washing powder.
The focus, therefore, was not on specific attributes such as better dirt fighting ability or a whiter wash, but all round performance that delivers the greatest value among all brands in the market for every paise spent. However, the company and its ad agency, Lintas, concluded that simply making a claim of superior value would not suffice; customers would have to be given the chance to test it for themselves.
According, the advertising used the interactive format from the very beginning. The first commercial announced the imminent launch of a new detergent brand, accompanied by shots of unbranded cartons, and asked viewers to write in to an post office box number for a free sample.
The objective was not to generate a stream of requests, but to kindle interest and create a sense of interaction among potential customers, and to assure them, implicitly, that their response would be factored into the product formulation. In the second Ad, the company introduced a money back offer for dissatisfied customers now revealed as Surf Excel, once again setting the sense for two way communication (Ad 10.1).
To capitalize on the initial involvement that the advertising had build up, the third commercial went on to depict the feedback from real life users who declared their delight with surf excel. While depicting the feedback the advertiser should choose carefully the people who would represent as a customers.
Emotional Advertising:
When the value that product delivers is tangible, the real differentiator may lie in the emotional condition that it generates in the customer’s mind. Crucially.it is advertising that can be used to bridge the gap between the solid benefit and its emotional extension. For example consider the heart stopping commercial for saffola cooking oil created for the Rs.348 crore Merico Industries in 1992 by Ambience advertising.
Probing customer concerns, Marico realised that the benefit of offering protection to the heart could be traced backwards to a feeling to comfort that this protectiveness generates in the mind. And the greater the sense of worry, the stronger the value of the protection that saffola could offer.
Realising that the apprehension was highest among the wives of men over 30 years leading stressful lives—which, they knew, was the classic condition for a heart attack—Merico and Ambience decided to fulfill the need for comfort of this particular customer.
So, the advertising that they devised addressed, in stark black and white images, the apprehension of the wife. A series of shots, depicting a middle-aged man being rushed to hospital and wheeled into the operating room after he had a heart attack while his panic-stricken wife waits fearfully, drove home the message.
And the reference to saffola’s product benefit—the voice over announces: There are many things in your husband’s life that you cannot control. Saffola: It’s your life insurance struck up an immediate association with safety and relief.
How much our advertisement is creating value the product, the market must try to find out the answers of the following questions:
(a) Is our advertising creatively differentiated from that of competitors?
(b) Does the benefit offered by our advertising match our product U.S.P.?
(c) Are we using, imaginary to establish the associations of our brand?
(d) Is our advertising being designed to evoke an emotional response?
(e) Is our advertising encouraging the customer to interact with it?
If the answer of these questions is yes than we are probably going in right direction and our advertisements are able to add value to the tangible product.
Following principles can be followed to add value to the advertising which would lead to the long term impact and help in achieving the organisational objectives:
1. Use interactivity to provoke customer participation as HLL used its opening ad for surf excel to solicit requests for free sample from customers.
2. Use imagery that consures up a parasinable experience as cadbury’s commercials for its milk chocolate depicted adults behaving spontaneously.
3. Use advertising to translate your product benefit into an emotion as Marico Industries ads for saffola focused on a women fear for her husband’s health.
4. Use contrasts to clarify the value proposition as DCW’s ads for captain cook salt poked.