Monday, January 18, 2010

Types of Advertising


Advertising is the promotion of a company's products and services provided primarily to increase sales of products and services but also to build a brand identity and communicate changes or new products / services to customers. Advertising has become an essential element of the corporate world and hence the companies allot a significant portion of revenues as their advertising budget. There are several reasons for advertising, some of which are as follows:

To increase sales of the product / service

Creating and maintaining a brand identity or image.

Dissemination of a change in the existing product line.

Introducing a new product or a service.

Increasing the buzz-value of the brand or company.

So are several reasons for advertising and the like, there are different mediums that can be effectively used for advertising. Based on these criteria, there may be several branches of advertising. Mentioned below are the different categories or types of advertising:

Print Advertising - Newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers:

The print media has always been a popular advertising medium. Promotional products through newspapers and magazines are a common practice. Besides this, also the print media offers opportunities as promotional brochures and flyers for promotional purposes. Often newspapers and magazines sell advertising space for the area occupied by the advertisement, the location of the advertisement (front / middle of page), and readership of publications. For example, an ad in a relatively new and less popular newspaper would cost far less than placing an advertisement in a popular newspaper with a large readership. The cost of print ads will also depend on the allowances which they occur, for example, an ad in the glossy additional costs way higher than in the newspaper supplement which uses a poor quality paper.

Outdoor Advertising - Billboards, Kiosks, fairs and events:

Outdoor advertising is also a very popular form of advertising that makes use of several tools and techniques to attract the customers outdoors. The most common examples of outdoor advertising are billboards, kiosks, and also several events and fairs organized by the company. Billboard advertising is very popular in spite of this is to be really succinct and catchy to grab the attention of the passers. The kiosks not only provide an easy outlet for its products, but also an effective advertising tool to promote its products. Organizing multiple events or sponsoring them, making it an excellent advertising opportunity. The company can organize fairs, exhibitions or even to promote their products. If not this, the company can organize several events that are closely related to their area. For example, a company that produces sports utility companies can sponsor a sports tournament to advertise its products.

Broadcast advertising - television, radio and the internet:

Broadcast advertising is a very popular advertising medium, which constitutes one of several branches, such as television, radio or Internet. TV advertising has been very popular ever since they were introduced. The cost of television advertising is often dependent on the duration of the advertisement, time of the broadcast (prime time / peak time), and of course the popularity of the channel where the advertisement is broadcast. The radio may have lost its charm because of the new media age, however, the radio continues to be the choice of small advertisers. Radio jingles have been very popular advertising media and have a great impact on the audience, which is evident in the fact that many people still remember and enjoy the popular radio jingles.

Covert Advertising - Advertising in movie:

Surreptitious advertising is a unique form of advertising where a product or a particular brand is included in some entertainment and media channels such as movies, TV shows or sports. There is no trading in entertainment, but the brand or product is discreet (or sometimes apparently) showcased in the entertainment show. Some of the most famous examples of this type of advertising has to be the appearance of the Nokia brand, which is shown at Tom Cruise's voice in the movie Minority Report, or use of Cadillac cars in the movie Matrix Reloaded.

Surrogate advertising - Advertising Indirect:

Surrogate advertising is clearly seen in cases where advertising a particular product is prohibited by law. Advertising for products like cigarettes or alcohol which are harmful to the unit is forbidden by law in several countries and thus these companies will have to come up with several other products that may have the same brand and indirectly remind people of cigarettes and beer bottles of the same brand. Common examples include Fosters and Kingfisher beer brands, which are often seen to promote their brand through surrogate advertising.

Public Service Advertising - Advertising for social reasons:

Public service advertising is a technique that makes use of advertising as an effective means of communication to provide socially relevant messaged the major issues and social causes such as AIDS, energy, political integrity, deforestation, illiteracy, poverty and so on. David Oglivy considered to be one of the pioneers of advertising and marketing concepts had reportedly encouraged the use of advertisements within a social cause. Oglivy once said, "Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest - it is too strong a tool to use solely for commercial purposes.". Today, public service advertisements have been increasingly used in a non-commercial way in several countries throughout the world to promote various social causes. In the U.S., radio and television stations operate on the basis of a fixed amount of PSAs aired by the channel.

Celebrity Advertising:

Although audiences are smarter and wiser and today's consumers get immune to the exaggerated claims made in a majority of advertisements which are part of advertisers who are still knocking on celebrities and their popularity to promote their products. Using celebrities for advertising involves enrollment celebrities for advertising campaigns, which consists of all forms of advertising, including television ads, or even advertisements.

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