Comprehensive Guide to Advertising and Public Relations

1. COM3708 ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Examination preparation

2. THE EXAMINATION • The COM3708 examination will consist of one two-hour paper (of 60 marks) that will include short questions and essay type questions. • It will consist of TWO SECTIONS: • Section A (Advertising) and Section B (Public Relations). • If you have studied Advertising, you will complete Section A. You will be provided with three questions and then choose and answer any two questions from Section A. • If you have studied Public Relations, complete Section B. You will be provided with three questions and then choose and answer any two questions from Section B.

3. Section A – AdvertisingChapters 8,9 and 10 (10.11 – 10.11.3)Do not focus only on the content covered in this presentation. All content covered in your study material is important for the examination.

4. Defining Advertising Advertising is the persuasive and influential communication of messages to a specified segment of an audience by an identified advertiser who pays forunmodified messages to be delivered through the mass media.

5. Paid communication For commercial advertising messages, the advertiser is allowed to provide any information on the product, service or idea advertised because it is paid for by the advertiser.

6. Mass media The advertising message is usually communicated to the target audience by means of mass media, which include newspapers, magazines, outdoor advertising, radio, television, cinema and the Internet. The messages are impersonal and advertisers receive delayed feedback from members of the audience.

7. Identified advertiser The advertiser is introduced by the advertising message, the main purpose of which is also to identify the advertiser’s product, service or idea. The advertisement should also orientate the audience positively towards the advertiser and the product, service or idea advertised.

8. Specified segments of audiences Advertising messages are aimed at specific individuals and not at every individual consumer. Certain products or services are advertised only to those audience members whose needs and wants will be satisfied by using it.

9. Persuasive/influential message Message also aims to persuade consumers to buy a specific service, use a specific product, or believe a specific idea. The message should therefore be influential in nature in that a response or reaction should be elicited from audience members.

11. Unmodified message No gatekeeper may alter the advertising message. The message should convey only the information that the advertiser wants the target audience members to receive.

12. It is clear that over the years the advertising phenomenon has evolved enormously

13. Classification of advertising Advertisers try to reach various audiences by means of numerous advertisements. It is thus crucial for them to develop a system for the classification of advertisements.

14. Advertisements can be classified according to: • purpose, • target audience, • geographic area • and medium, they provide a framework for structuring the different ways in which advertising is used to communicate a diverse spectrum of messages.

15. Classification by target audience Consumer advertising (page 271) - Entails any advertising aimed at the consumer who buys the product or uses the service to his or her benefit Business-to-business advertising (page 272) - Industrial advertising - Professional advertising - Trade advertising

16. Roles of advertising Advertisers prepare different types of advertisements for different types of audience segments. Different products, services and causes furthermore require diverse advertising messages. This taken into consideration, it is apparent that advertising also plays different roles in business and society.

17. Ethics of advertising • Advertisings social influence – advertisers must constantly strive to act ethically and responsibly towards the society they function in. • Ethics are moral principles and values that govern the actions and decisions of an individual or group. • The role of advertising in society has been debated for centuries, especially in terms of shaping norms and values, overcommercialisation, untruthful and deceptive messages and advertising to children and vulnerable groups. Page 295

18. Advertising management and the advertising agency

19. Advertising clients select advertising agencies based on the nature of the product or service to be advertised; the envisaged target audience; their available budget and media considerations Types of advertising agencies The advertiser can appoint different types of independent advertising agencies to fulfil different needs. The following types of advertising agencies are available to the advertising client:

20. The full-service agency The full-service agency has four major staff functions, namely account management, creative services, media planning and buying, and research.

21. has its own accounting department; • a traffic department which internally tracks the progress and completion of projects and regulates the flow of work in the agency; • a human resources department; • and departments for broadcast and print production.

22. Specialised agencies Numerous advertising agencies do not act as full-service agencies but instead specialise in certain areas, for instance, creative or media buying; and appealing to a specific target audience or industry. Let us look at the following specialised agencies:

23. Industry-focused agencies

24. Industry-focused agencies concentrate on certain fields or industries, such as agriculture, medicine and pharmaceuticals, health care, and computers. Their expertise is to the advantage of a variety of clients within that field of specialisation.

25. Minority agencies Minority agencies are structured in a similar way to the full-service agency but focus on an ethnic group in which they specialise in terms of media selection and communication.

26. Creative boutiques A creative boutique is usually a relatively small agency that concentrates exclusively on achieving the creative execution of their clients’ communications.

27. Media-buying services These services consist of media experts that acquire media space at the lowest possible rates. For instance, once the advertisement has been created by a creative boutique, the advertiser will use a media-buying service to plan or purchase media space.

29. Vendors Vendors assist advertisers, advertising agencies and the media and are called freelancers, consultants and self-employed professionals.

30. Virtual agencies A virtual agency operates in the same way as a freelancer. Modern technology plays a significant role in the trend towards abandoning conventional office space. Personnel in a virtual agency do not have permanent offices as they work at home, in their cars, or at their clients’ offices.

31. The advertising campaign Campaign strategy • Solving the key problems. • Specifying the target audience(s) of the campaign. • Positioning of the product in the market. • The scheduling and timing of the different phases of the campaign activities. Page 323

32. Communication strategy The communication strategy of the advertising campaign deals with the development of the advertising message, the creative theme and some creative strategies and executions: • Message development research – copy testing • Creative theme – series of advertisements built around one central theme

33. Creative Strategy and Implementation

34. Creative roles Copywriters and art directorsboth develop the creative concept and implement the advertising idea. They usually work in teams.

35. The person who shapes and sculpts the words in an advertisement is known as a copywriter. Convey a tailor-made message to the client’s target audience. Have a good visual imagination and excellent writing skills. Copywriters are also open to new experiences and these new experiences can manifest into writing or coming up with innovative ideas.

36. The art director is responsible for the graphic image of the advertisement and creates the visuals in both print and video; he or she also lays out the advertisement elements in print. Often artists might do specific illustrations but the art director is the head designer. The art director therefore has a huge responsibility in the development of an effective advertisement.

37. Broadcast directorscan also be part of the team when a television commercial is created. Manages the creative process and plays an important role in maintaining the focus of the advertising strategy and to ensuring that the creative concept is strategic.

38. The creative brief (pages 324-325) • The creative strategy and how it will be executed are detailed in a document known as the creative brief(or copy platform). • The account planner usually prepares the creative brief. • Details the elements that should be included in the advertising campaign and, • Create a focus for the creative team.

39. This is the starting point in the whole creative process to develop a sales message or Big Idea.

40. The selling idea (Page 324) The selling idea can be obtained in a number of ways, for instance: by means of positioning by identifying the benefits that only that product can offer; and by means of the unique selling proposition (a concept that assists in the creation of the major selling idea).

41. The creative execution and the advertising appeal The creative executiondetermines how the advertising message will be communicated - involves developing the appeal and execution. The advertising appealis a specific procedure that the advertiser uses to capture the attention of the target audience. These attempts to elicit a reaction, that is, the nature of the appeal, can be functional, practical, emotional or rational.

42. Online advertising

43. To explain the nature of online advertising, the definition below will be used for the purposes of our discussion: Online advertising consists of inexpensive, borderless, persuasive, continuous and information-intensive online communication messages—sent out to a globally diverse audience that voluntarily accesses unmodified messages on the Internet—from an identified sponsor who directly receives feedback in an interactive manner.

44. In order to ensure effective communication and to fulfil the primary purposes of online advertising, organisations should adhere to four fundamental pillars of effective communication—namely dialogue, borderless communication, inclusive communication, and continuous communication. These four fundamentals are particularly applicable —in the online communication environment, and they should be adhered to concurrently

45. 1 Dialogue: The process of online communication begins with dialogue, because, in essence, communication is a process of exchange. The online environment allows for the exchange of communication messages between advertisers and consumers. Direct feedback from consumers - enables advertisers to adapt their advertising messages to the needs of the target audience.

46. Borderless communication: Through the strategic planning of messages, communication can be borderless and delivered consistently across cultures and time zones at the same time. Borderless communication also necessitates that communication messages must be consistent across any organisation’s advertising, marketing and public relations (marketing communication) activities in both the real and online world.

47. 3 Inclusive communication: Inclusive communication should reach both internal and external audiences. Organisational communication messages should be integrated and communicated to all stakeholders in the same manner. Inclusive communication includes employees, consumers and any other stakeholders.

48. The integrated manner in which messages are communicated creates synergy in any organisational communication strategy. Because online advertising is integrated with online marketing and public relations messages, each message aimed at internal and external organisational stakeholders should be inclusive.

49. 4Continuous communication: Marketers and advertisers should ensure that communication messages are communicated to different stakeholders on a continuous basis. All stakeholders should be updated and informed of any new developments regarding products and services, as well as any organisational decisions that might influence them.

50. Types or forms of online advertising