Role Of Media In Advertising

1. Role of Media in Advertising

2. Advertising at a glance • The world of advertising is vast and omnipresent. • From the newspaper you read in the morning to the television channels you watch to the social media you browse throughout the day, you are bound to notice the presence of advertising. • So what exactly is advertising? What makes it an omnipresent phenomenon and nearly indispensible, particularly in with the level of competitiveness progressing day by day?

3. Advertising is defined as "the activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services". • To put it simply, advertising is a way of presenting products and services to the public in such a way that not only attracts their attention, but maintains it and may encourage them to try or continue buying that product or service. • Good advertisements inform the public about the product, its benefits, and its value and instil a sense of trust among the consumers about the company and its offerings.

4. Objectives of Advertising • Advertising has 3 main objectives: • To Create Awareness: • Ads are a way to make the public aware of a brand and its products or services and increase the presence of the brand in the target market. • To Encourage: • Another prominent objective of advertising is to persuade the target customers to place their faith in the brand and its products or services. • To Improve Recall: • It is not enough to just raise awareness about a product or service to the public; it is imperative that the customers are able to remember and recall the brand and its benefits when it comes to making a purchase decision and this is what advertising strives to achieve. Advertising helps a brand to retain a place in the minds of the consumers and give them an edge over the competition.

5. Apart from these 3 primary objectives, there are several secondary objectives of advertising including: • Brand building • Improving sales • Creating customer demand • Customer engagement and more

6. Media and its role • Imagine the process of advertising as a car journey. In order to carry out the journey, certain elements are necessary; a starting point, a vehicle, a path and a destination. • In this scenario, you, the company and your product/service, are the starting point. The path you will be taking is the entire advertising process, the actual journey that is going to lead you to your destination - your customer. What remains is the vehicle that is going to carry you on your journey to the ultimate goal, and this is where the role of media lies in advertising.

7. In other words, advertising media are the various channels which are going to help your product or service reach the attention of your customers. • Advertising media gives a company the power to build a strong brand, create awareness and enthusiasm about the products or services being offered and presents the benefits the customers can avail by placing their trust in the product or service.

8. Types of advertising media • There are numerous types of media a company can use in their advertising efforts, based on their objectives, the reach, their target market and much more.

9. Types of media used in advertising include: • Television - Using the television platform to reach the public. • Radio - The use of radio spots to increase awareness of the product or service. • Outdoor - The use of outdoor media like hoardings, sign boards, flexes, etc. • Print - Advertisements through printed media like newspapers, magazines, brochures, leaflets, etc. • Mobile - Advertisements designed to be viewed on mobiles and other portable devices. • Online - Promotion through a digital platform using social media, browsing platforms, blogs, online paid advertisements and more.

10. To better understand how the use of media in advertising is important, let us consider the example of an advertising campaign carried out for real estate company Amit Enterprises Housing Limited, to increase awareness about their residential projects in Undri and Ambegaon.

11. About Amit Enterprises Campaign • Amit Enterprises Housing Limited carried out a campaign titled "Bache Hue 10 Lakh Ka KyaKaroge?" to promote their residential projects in Undri and Ambegaon, Pune. • The objective of the campaign was to inform customers about the reduction in prices of homes thus enabling customers to benefit from savings of 10 Lakhs on their new homes.

12. The campaign was aimed towards generating more interest about the projects in the minds of the target audience and thereby increasing the number of leads generated for home booking. • To run this campaign successfully, Amit Enterprises used a number of different media, so as to get maximum possible exposure and to reach as many of their target customers as possible.

13. Outdoor Media • Outdoor media, i.e. hoardings, banners, signboards, kiosks, etc are a common method of advertising. • This type of advertising media works well to target the population of certain geographical areas. Most often, an outdoor sign is the first thing a potential customer sees. • Outdoor signs must be attractive, eye catching and be easily readable as these sings are usually read during commute, so they must not be too text heavy.

14. Amit Enterprises has made use of various outdoor media, most notably hoardings and banners to run their campaign of "Bache Hue 10 Lakh Ka KyaKaroge?“ • Through the use of hoardings, they targeted specific areas in Pune where they can easily reach potential customers and subsequently generate interest and awareness of the campaign among the general public.

16. Advantages & Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages Can be overlooked as people may disregard them during their commute. They are stationary and thus are limited to a certain place. Since they cannot be circulated, in order to transmit the message to other areas, the number of media has to be increased. The effectiveness of the campaign cannot be directly measured as there is no accurate measure of how many people have seen the advertisement. • Good for mass attraction. The number of people reached is higher. • More cost effective than print media. • Scope for creativity, as hoardings have to be eye-catching and concise in order to draw maximum attention. • They have a relatively longer life. Hoardings can be used to display the same message for long periods of time which in turn improves recall value.

17. Print Media • Another effective and popular media in advertising is print media. Print media or press media includes advertising through the means of newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. Print media has been widely used for commercial advertising. • Print media has a good reach and since newspapers are a common find in almost every household, advertising through print media is one of the most lucrative ways to make your product/ service known to the target audience. • Print media has more scope to provide detailed information about the products and services and also has the added advantage of reaching more people thanks to vernacular local publications in addition to English newspapers.

18. Amit Enterprises made good use of newspaper advertising by releasing ads in popular news publications like Times of India and Maharashtra Times to promote their campaign in multiple languages. • Through the use of print media, Amit Enterprises was able to reach a wider audience and raise awareness regarding their campaign.

20. Advantages & Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages Ads may be overlooked or ignored. This type of media is not suitable for interactive live demonstrations or fine quality images. There is a risk of the advertisement getting lost or overshadowed by other advertisements in the publication. • Easy medium to spread awareness to a larger number of people at a time. • Immediate or quick conveyance of message. • The response to the advertisement can be measured immediately. • It is a very flexible advertising media due to the varying timings, languages, regions etc.

21. Direct or mail advertising • According to Wikipedia, direct marketing is a form of advertising where organizations communicate directly to customers through a variety of media including cell phone text messaging, email, websites, online adverts, database marketing, fliers, catalogue distribution, promotional letters, and more. • This type of advertisement is most often sent personally either through the medium of post and courier services. In the current scenario, fax, e-mail, and cell phone SMS, WhatsApp messages, etc are also popular methods to directly reach the target customers.

22. Amit Enterprises has used direct advertising mediums like mailers, whatsapp mailers and leaflets to promote the "Bache Hue 10 Lakh Ka KyaKaroge?" campaign. • This medium has given them a more direct reach to their target customers and has also given them the opportunity to give more detailed information ot the customers regarding the campaign, their projects and the benefits.

24. Advantages & Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages Costlier than other means of advertising as the message is personally targeted. The reach is limited as it is not possible to personally contact masses at a time. People have a tendency to dislike direct advertising methods and may disregard or ignore such messages. • Direct and personalized reach to the target audience. • More flexibility to adapt to the preferences of different types of customers. • This media can provide detailed information of the campaign and explain the benefits in depth.

25. Audio Visual Media • Media that makes use of visuals, sound effects, vocals, etc are known as audio-visual media. • These types of advertisements are typically seen/heard and are carried by media vehicles such as radio, television, short films, etc.

26. In addition to the other means of advertising, Amit Enterprises also had a radio campaign on popular radio channels of Pune, where they promoted their campaign by broadcasting the testimonials of their buyers who had gained benefits from their campaign and offer.

27. Advantages & Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages The message is broadcasted in a short period of time, and since it is not in writing the message may be forgotten. Mostly, advertisements appear in between interesting programmes, either on radio or on TV. In this case, people may disregard the advertisements in their anticipation for the programme they are looking forward to and may not absorb the message that the advertisement wants to convey.  • Cost effective and has a wide reach among the population. • Due to its frequency, the recall value of the message can be significantly increased as the customers are exposed to the ads at regular intervals. • It is also a useful medium to reach people who are unable to read.

28. Other types of media • In addition to the media mentioned above, advertising uses a number of media vehicles to carry messages across to the target audience. • Internet and online advertising is rapidly gaining traction thanks to the increasing use of digital platforms. • Advertising through online channels like social media, paid advertisement campaigns, email marketing, etc is becoming more and more popular as people spend majority of their time online.

29. There are many other supplementary means of advertising including: • Window displays • Trade shows • Special displays and shows • Showrooms • Posters and wall paintings • Vehicle advertising • Specialty advertising (giveaways, merchandising, etc)

30. Advertising media are vast and plenty. So it's natural for the question to arise: "Which media is best suited for my product or service?"

31. The answer is: • There is no one sure fire media to successfully advertise your product or service. The trick is to find the vehicle which will most effectively convey your message to your customers in a cost-efficient manner. • In order to do this it is vital to explore and experiment with different advertising media and select the ones that completely in sync with your product or service and will present it to the public in the most effective way possible. • As David Ogilvy says, "Never stop testing and your advertising will never stop improving".

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