The Concept of Advertising in Small Business

Advertising consists of those activities by which visual or oral messages are addressed to selected public for the purpose of informing and influencing them to buy products or services or to act to be inclined favourably toward ideas, persons, trademarks or institutions featured. As contrasted with publicity and other forms of propagandas advertising messages are identified with the advertiser either by signature or oral statement. Further, advertising is a commercial transaction involving pay to publishers, broadcasters or other media which are employed.

From the above definition, advertising indicates that:

1. Written or oral messages are addressed to selected customers.
2. It influences the general public to buy products or services.
3. Advertising messages are identified with the advertiser.
4. It is a commercial transaction that forces the advertiser to pay the publishers or broadcasters whose media is used.

I. MEANING

Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, good or services by an identified sponsor. It includes all the activities involved in presenting to a group of persons a non-personal or visual, openly sponsored message regained a product. The term advertising is used to give expression to all non-personal methods of stimulating sales and of increasing or retaining patronage of dealers and customers. It may be defined as the mass method of selling which supplements the voice and personality of the salesman.

The committee on definitions of the American marketing association gave the following definition of advertising:

Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor. It involves the use of such media as following: magazine, newspaper space, motion pictures, outdoor direct mail, novelties, radio, television, cards, catalogues, directories, references, programmes, memos and circulars.

II. ADVERTISING AND ADVERTISEMENT

The messages are known as advertisement. Advertisement is nothing more than a message. Advertising is a process. It is a programme or series of activities necessary to prepare the message and bring it to the intended persons or market. The reader knows who is behind the advertising, as the sponsor is openly identified in the advertisement itself. Payment is made by the sponsor to the media, who carry the message.

III. FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING

We may group the various functions of advertisement in two (a). Primary functions and (b) Secondary functions

• Primary functions - Among primary functions the following are important:

1. To increase sales of the product by securing greater consumption, attracting new buyers or introducing new users for a commodity.
2. Persuasion sales of the product by securing greater consumption, attracting new buyers or introducing new users for a commodity.
3. It helps the dealers to sell the advertised product.
4. Advertising is effectively used to increase the per capital use of the commodity by its constant repetition.
5. The receptiveness of new product or new model increases if producer has earned a name as a producer of good quality products. This is done by advertisement.
6. Advertisement creates insurance for the manufacturer's business.
7. The buyer's dependability on well advertised goods it's increased because he knows its quality.
8. Advertisements help eliminating or lessening essential fluctuations.
9. Advertisement creates brand image and brand loyalty.
10. It raised the standard of living of the public by investigating the desire to purchase better and qualitative things.

• Secondary functions – Such functions include the following:

1. Advertisement encourages the salesman and lends them moral support in facing a difficult customer.
2. Necessary information's are furnished to salesman, dealers and customers about the product. The printed word is manufacturer's guarantee.
3. It creates a feeling among executives and administrative staff that they are working in a company having public response.
4. The workers of company as to a well advertised goods feel themselves secured. It means steady work and consequent prosperity. There is feeling in the minds of workers that their job is permanent and is likely to be promoted.
5. It helps the company to secure better employees-executives salesmen and workers.

IV. MEDIA OF ADVERTISING

• Press Advertising

1. Newspaper
2. Magazines and journals

• OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

1. Posters
2. Boards
3. Electric Sign Display
4. Stand with Board advertising
5. Bus, trams and train advertising
6. Sky advertising
7. Others

• Direct Mail Advertising

1. Circular
2. Business Reply Envelopes and cards
3. Catalogue
4. Leaflets and Folders
5. Booklets
6. Novelty
7. Personal letters
8. Price list
9. Others

• Miscellaneous Advertising

1. Radio and television
2. Cinema and Cinema slides
3. Fairs and exhibitions
4. Loud speakers
5. Demonstration
6. Posts and Telegraphs Department.

V. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING

Advertising is concerned with presenting the information about the product in such a way that it touches the buying motives of the potential customers situated far and wide. By making new products acceptable to the consumers and users it helps in the expansion of industrial activities. Good produced in anticipation of demand are made known to their potential buyers and their confidence in the suitability and usefulness of the products is created. Thus advertising helps in sustaining and increasing employment. Increased employment brings additional income to the community which stimulates further demand for existing and new products. Advertising has become an integral part of our modern day marketing in particular and economy in general.

Advertising is an inseparable and indispensable adjunct to the newspaper at the price for which it is sold.

Advertising creates mass demand and thus makes production profitable by coordinating distribution with production.

It has made more goods available to the consuming public at a price they can pay. Motor car is an example. By creating large demand, production of cars of cheaper price was made possible.
It has created demand for a variety of articles many of which are regarded as necessities in civilized societies. Radio sets and refrigerators are the examples of one time luxuries entering into the list of necessities for many of us.

It has educative value also. More and more people use soap and tooth brushes now than a few decades before. Dietary habits of people have also undergone changes.

Advertising of branded goods in effect guides public to choose products of standard quality.

Social and economic significances of advertising can also be understood from the advantages derived from it.

VI. ADVANTAGES OF ADVERTISING

Chief merits of advertising as means method of impersonal selling are that it supports the efforts of salesman, it helps to reach people inaccessible to salesmen, improves relations with the dealers, introduces new product, open up new market for the existing product and stimulates repeated sales. This is advantageous to both the manufacturers and consumers.

VII. IS ADVERTISEMENTS A WASTE?

Although the benefits of advertising are numerous it is one aspect of marketing that is subjected to a very severe criticisms. When the objectives of an advertisement are not realized, then the amount spent on advertising is a waste. If it is so, this amount can be utilized for some beneficial purposes improving the quality or other services. One should consider all relevant factors taking a decision on its usefulness or wants. The aim of advertisement is to promote sales of products or service. Advertisement awakens the public at large. The cost of advertisement is included in the price.

Advertising is mobilizing marketing wheels, on which marketing moves.

Advertisement may be wasteful if the resources are wasted for no meaningful objectives. Here the resources are either the advertising space or time unproductive expenditure. Again, the possessive appeal of advertisement may make people buy one thing for another and thus make resource allocation in a society. To the extent the persuasive power is successful in making a better allocation of resources; the advertising is a beneficial tool to the society.

It is well known that any unproductive expenditure is a waste and advertisement is not an exception. Waste can be avoided by following clearly drawn principles and plans. But considering the other uses and advantages of advertising it can be said that advertisement is not a waste but a creative work. The various objections against advertising are listed below:

1. Economic objection
2. Special objections
3. Ethical objections

VIII. ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

A firm wants to advertise its products have to develop an advertising campaign. An advertisement campaign is a planned coordinated series of advertisements build.

First the goals to be achieved are established. Then the central theme of the advertisement is decided.

Appeals to be stressed are thought of in the light of the buying motives of the consumers to be covered. Then media is selected, finally, individual advertisement are created and produced.

Selection of the media is usually based on the following:

1. Objective of the advertisement.
2. Circulation of the medium i.e. whether it reaches the market to the covered or not.
3. Requirements of the message i.e. the medium should be suitable for the presentation of the message to the market.
4. The cost of the medium.
5. Co-operational promotion aids offered by the medium.

Methods of organizing advertising campaign

There are four alternative methods for organizing an advertisement campaign. These are as follows:

1. The firm may have its separate advertising department.
2. The work may be done by the sales department of the firm.
3. The firm may decide to use an advertising agency.
4. Combination of the own advertising department of the firm and advertising agency.

Relatively small firm uses its sales department to organize its advertising campaign. Large retailing and manufacturing firms prefer to have separate advertising department for the purpose.

Many manufacturers combine efforts of their own advertising department and advertising agency. In such a case advertising acts as liaison between the advertising agency and the firm. Advertisement department is responsible for the preparation and administration of the advertising budget. It also approves the plans and advertisements prepared by the advertising agency for the firm. The advertising department is also responsible for undertaking direct mail advertising, dealer displays and other activities not undertaken by the advertising agency.

IX. COPYWRITING

The full text of an advertisement is known as copy and the person who prepares or writes the copy is known as copy writer. The copy of an advertisement has to be drafted with great care, skill and imagination. A copywriter should draft his copy bearing these objectives in mind.

Qualities of a good advertisement copy

An advertisement copy should bridge the gap between the advertiser and the readers, if it is to be effective. A great deal has been written and spoken about the science or the art of copy writing and his qualities necessary for an effective copy. The following are considered to be the attributes that should present in an advertising copy:

1. Advertising is the business of the art or providing a substitute for talking to some one about something.
2. What must be clear must also be important.
3. It must have a personal appeal.
4. It should bring out the personality or the advertiser in terms of quality.
5. It must be reasonable but never dull.
6. It should be imaginative but never misleading.

A good advertisement copy shall have the following characteristics features:

1. Attention value.
2. Suggestive value.
3. Memorizing value.
4. Conviction value.
5. Sentimental value.
6. Educational value.
7. Instinctive value.

X. ADVERTISING AGENCY

An advertising agency is a group of experts on various phases of advertising and relates marketing areas. It is an independent company set up to render specialized services with regard to advertising. They are independent companies and are not agents as the term suggests.

Reasons for using advertising agent

There are several reasons for a company getting the services of an advertising agency when it does not have a good advertising department. (1) Company does not have specialists as the agencies have (2) An agency can give the company an objective outside law point. The agency representative can give their frank opinion of the product which a company advertises find it difficult to do. (3) Company can benefit from the agency's experiences with its many products and clients. (4) Agency feels a greater pressure than the company's own departments for effective results (5) Because of the manner in which the agencies are compensated the use of an agency may not cost advertiser anything.

XI. ADVANTAGES OF ADVERTISING

Advertising creates a demand for the goods. Increased demand expands production by modern means and methods which ultimately reduce the cost of goods. It is beneficial to manufacturers, retailer and also to consumers at large. Its advantage is explained below:

1. The increase us caused by advertising stimulate production by improved means and methods. This improves quality and also reduces the cost per unit of goods.
2. Continuous advertising remains a constant remainder of the existence of the particular goods in services.
3. Advertising tends to stabilize the selling price and thereby creates confidence in the minds of the public.
4. Salesmanship is a slow and expensive method of pushing goods to individual consumers. Advertising serves the mass and comparatively it is less expensive method.
5. Through advertising, the improvements made in the products are made known to the public quickly and easily.
6. Advertising makes possible mass production advertising acts as a stimulus to mass selling and which again acts as a stimulus to mass production.
7. Mass production again leads to reduction of cost per unit of product and hence the price of goods.
8. It ensures better quality of the products. The various advertisements speak about the quality of products.
9. It has got educative values. It acts as information services and educates the consumer. It makes it possible for the consumer to know exactly their wants and where to go the relevant goods. Thus it gives a wide choice to consumers.
10. New products can be better marketed through advertising.
11. Mail order business can be carried out only by advertising.
12. It creates good will. It popularizes the name of the manufacture. Thus reputation and is popularity are very significant in successful business.