TEXT 1. Advertising as a Trade

Advertising is the techniques and practices used to bring products, services, opinions, or causes to public for the purpose of persuading the public to respond in a certain way toward what is advertised. Most advertising involves promoting goods that are for sale, but similar methods are used to encourage people to drive safely, to support various charities, or to vote for political candidates. In many countries advertising is the most important source of income for the media through which it is conducted.

There are eight principal media for advertising. Perhaps the most basic medium is the newspaper, which offers advertisers large circulations. Magazines, the other chief print medium, may be of general interest or they may be aimed at specific audiences (such as people interested in outdoor sports or computers or literature).

In Western industrial nations the most persuasive media are television and radio. Although in some countries radio and television are state-run and accept no advertising, in others advertisers are able to buy short “spots” of time, usually a minute or less in duration. Advertising spots are broadcast between or during regular programs, at the moments sometimes specified by the advertiser.

The other advertising media include direct mail, outdoor billboards and posters, transit advertising, which can reach the millions of users of mass-transit systems, and various media, including dealer displays and promotional items such as matchboxes or calendars.

For an advertisement to be effective, its production and placement must be based on the knowledge of the public and skilled use of the media. A strategy will combine creativity in the production of the advertising messages with canny scheduling and placement, so that the messages are seen by the people the advertiser most wants to address.

There is no dispute over the power of advertising to inform consumers of what products are available. In a free-market economy effective advertising is essential to a company’s survival.

(“Encyclopedia Britannica”)

TEXT 2. Advertising & Market Research

Advertising affects the consumer in the following ways:

a) Information. A distinction is often made between informative and persuasive advertising. Informative advertising announces a product and gives potential buyers the details they need.

b) Persuasion. All advertisements contain both persuasive and informative elements. The advertising of many consumer goods is almost entirely persuasive in character. The information given is small, but all possible pressure is put on the consumer to buy the advertised product.

c) Maintenance of demand. Without the prodding of the advertisers, consumers would settle for a lower standard of living and far less energy would be put into the task of increasing material well-being.

d) Creating mass markets. The use of mass-production methods often results in lower unit costs. Large-scale production requires large markets, however, and forceful advertising and sales promotion can provide those markets, thus permitting large-scale production, lower costs and eventually lower prices.

e) Quality. The fact that the product has been widely advertised may compel a manufacturer to maintain high standards of quality.

Advertising may be used as a weapon of competition, particularly in a situation where there are only a few sellers, each of whom is trying to increase his share of the market.

Advertising today is not carried out in an accidental way. An advertising campaign is planned with a certain market in mind. If the product is one which is more likely to be sold to young married people in the 25-30 age group, then the campaign will be directed towards that group.

The means through which the advertisement is transmitted to the public is known as the advertising medium. A campaign is normally based not on a single medium, but on a selection of media. The choice of appropriate media is the subject of careful study and analysis.

The main advertising media are:

a) The press (national and local newspapers, general magazines, specialist magazines);

b) Television and radio;

c) Outdoor and transport advertising (billboards and posters in public places, trains, buses, underground stations);

d) Window and point-of-sale displays;

e) Exhibition and trade fairs;

f) Direct mail advertising (circulars and catalogues);

The final choice of media used in a campaign will depend on:

- the social class (socio-economic group) and the age group to which the medium appeals;

- the geographical area covered by the medium;

- the cost of using a particular medium; the number of people reached by the chosen medium.

(L.W.Stafford, “Modern Commercial Knowledge”)