Definition of Advertisement by different authors

According to Wheeler, “Advertising is any form of paid non-personal presentation of ideas,

goods or services for the purpose of inducting people to buy.”
Richard Buskirk, “Advertising is a paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or
services by an identified sponsor.”
According to Philip Kotler, “Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation &
promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.”
According to William J. Stanton, “Advertising consists of all the activities involves in presenting
to a group, a non-personal, oral or visual, openly sponsored message regarding disseminated
through one or more media and is paid for by an identified sponsor.”

Need for advertisement

1. Advertisement help to inform about an individual (such as political figure) or organization
(business or government), so as to build up a strong relationship with its network of
public. Central government or local government units may want to inform the public
about new law or new services. Business seek to inform the public about the new
venture.
2. Advertisement also help to persuade by promoting products, services and ideas and to
help achieve commercial/business goals. Businesses create awareness about their
brand and to make their new products known.
3. Advertisement is an investment. It increases the opportunity to expose your product and
brand which will change the way you do business. The key to the heart of customers is
the proper mixture of good product and effective media ads.
4. Advertising drives economic growth.
Without advertising is would not be possible to tell people about new products and
services, innovation would grind to a halt and there would be remarkably few products
around. It would be near impossible to innovate in a world where it's not possible to tell
people efficiently about what you have done.
5. Advertising helps people choose
People like having information to hand to be able to make informed decisions, people
like the concepts of brands and buying into a belief system and not just a product.
Rightly or wrongly, brands give people a sense of joy.
6. Advertising allows some business models to function.
Advertising is what allows TV, Magazines, Newspapers most of the internet to exist.
Without advertising all these media would either be hugely expensive or simply not exist.
Advertising also allows bus stops to look nicer, public transport to be subsidized and
more.
7. Advertising allows us to express ourself.
The notion of branding is actually liked by people, people like to wear certain brands and
use this to express themselves. In a world with no advertising, there can be no brands.
8. Advertising in some ways (oddly) is good for the environment
makes people spend money on intangible things and not simply more and is therefore
more environmentally friendly than we may think.
 9. Raised Revenue
10. The goal of advertising is to boost the business's bottom line. Advertising achieves this
objective in direct, yet often subtle ways. For instance, one technique of advertising is
instilling a sense of inadequacy in the consumer that can only be rectified when he
purchases the company's good or service.
11. Advertising also serves to inform the consumer about a product's features, purpose and
functionality. This is especially crucial for companies unveiling new and innovative
products. Companies purveying technical items with complicated features often release
advertisements of individuals exploiting the use of these items.
12. Another reason for advertising is to increase the company's market share of a given
industry. Upon increasing the number of loyal consumers, the company has flexibility
with the product's price elasticity.

Limitations of advertisements

(1) Adds to Costs:

An organisation has to spend large amount on advertising. It increases the cost of the products.

To meet this expenditure, price of the product is raised. No manufacturer pays for the

advertising expenses out of his pocket. Advertising, therefore, leads to unnecessary rise in

prices. In this reference it is said that advertising costs are passed on to the consumers in the

form of high prices.

(2) Undermines Social Values:

Advertisement is a sort of day-dreaming for the people. These days it is taking the people away

from reality and into the realm of artificiality. Through its medium people get information about

new products.

(3) Confuses the Buyers:

Many a time distorted version of reality is shown in the advertising. Believing in advertising,
consumers buy the product. On its use, they feel cheated.
(4) Encourages Sale of Inferior Products:

Every manufacturer projects his product as superior one in the advertisement. Therefore, the

buyer is unable to decide as to which product is really good.

(5) Some Advertisement is in Bad Taste:

Many times, foul language and objectionable pictures are used in advertising in order to attract

a particular class. They may be insulting to a particular class. It causes decay of social values.

6. Encouragement of Monopoly

Advertisement restricts competition among products. Big industrialists and manufacturers can
use advertising to increase their monopolistic control over the market against the public interest.
Advertising increases awareness about a few products but causes all other options to be
overlooked.

7. Small Businesses Have Restricted Access

Small businesses cannot properly advertise their products due to limited resources. The entire
market for many goods and services is dictated by the whims of large advertisers. This makes it
virtually impossible for small businesses to compete, so they eventually disappear from the
market.

8. Misdirection of Purchasing Power

Advertising high-priced luxury goods influences the purchasing power of consumers. This
results in some people using unscrupulous means to increase their income for the purpose of
getting things they perceive as necessities of life. Thus, unnecessary advertising creates
societal corruption.

9. Dangerous Distractions
Billboards, posters, and electronic moving pictures are placed around important intersections,
which distract drivers and pedestrians. Glaring neon lights and signs are hazards and have
potentially deadly consequences.

10. Unfulfilled Desires

Another disadvantage of advertising is that it influences the mind of the public and creates a
desire and taste for new products that are not necessities and that most cannot afford. Thus,
advertising fosters unrequited desire and causes unhappiness.

Changing trends of advertising

Earlier, advertisements showcased male and female in rural setup admiring a particular brand
for its worth and quality. But today the objectives and priorities have changed. In the Nescafe
advertisement casting Deepika Padukone made crystal clear of the coming back of a trend the
"to-becontinued-ads". These are advertisements whose stories are not completely revealed in
the first look, but fairly manage to keep up the audience interest (Twitchell, 2000). These
advertisements are very popular amongst the new generation of consumers. The trend does not
stop at this point but go all out to make one believe in the craze, the immensity and the drive
that that particular brand represents. In 2011, when India won the World Cup Cricket, the Nike
company advertisement came up with the slogan "Bleed 6/ue"which was a big hit. Showing the
cricketers playing on top of buses in a crowded area, the advertisement focused on the
passionate of our country for cricket. Advertisings have no longer been restricted to the
newspapers or hoardings. They are all over around us and in every direction we look at.
Recently, for the promotion of their movie "Tanu weds Menu", the actors chose to gatecrash a
wedding. This publicity gimmick fetched them the much demanded limelight- just what a film
needs before its release date. Along with it, the new age advertising also focuses on
competitions to keep a viewer interested- not only for the company's sake- but also for the sake
of the attractive gifts offered.

Advertising influencing the mind of people

Comforting rituals

When we’re feeling stressed, rituals are comforting and help us relax — like having a glass of
wine with dinner or pulling on comfy sweatpants. Advertisers know this, and they exploit it by
manufacturing rituals to go with their products. Take the tradition of putting a lime wedge into
the top of a Corona bottle. You might think it’s an age-old Mexican tradition that enhances the
beer’s flavor, but it probably only dates back to 1981. That’s when a bartender reportedly served
the beer this way in a bet with a friend about whether he could start a new trend. He did indeed,
and it wasn’t long before Corona swept past Heineken to become the top-selling imported beer
in the United States.

Heavy duty

As technology progresses, our computers, cameras and phones keep getting smaller and
lighter. That’s a good thing, right? Yet despite our affinity for compact, sleek electronic gadgets,
we seem to be biased toward believing that heavy things are more valuable. We like the feel of
solid, weighty objects in our hands, whether they’re forks and knives or MP3 players. I tested
this theory once by asking consumers for their opinions on two remote controls — one heavier
and one lighter. Without fail, people thought the lighter one must be broken. Companies know
this, and that’s why many modern-day remote controls and music players are actually weighted
down with useless metal inside — to give them more heft and make people feel that they’re
worth the price.

Music to shop by

It’s well known that music plays to our emotions and can influence us in a variety of ways, but
you might be surprised at how much thought goes into the selection of the music that plays in
your favorite stores. Tempos faster than the human heartbeat encourage quick shopping but
also result in fewer purchases. When the background music has a slower tempo, customers
tend to take more time to look around and are more likely to buy. Some stores have taken it a
step further by playing music with embedded messages, such as “Imagine owning it” and “Don’t
worry about the money” to encourage purchases and “Don’t take it; you’ll get caught” to
discourage shoplifting. One vendor that broadcasts this music says it has seen thefts fall by 58
percent and sales increase by 15 percent.

Location, location, location

Knowing where a product comes from often affects our decision about whether to buy it. What if
I offered you the choice of two identical cars — one manufactured in Turkey and one built in
Switzerland? Most people would choose the Swiss car, because they associate it with high
standards and excellent craftsmanship. I came across a similar dilemma when I was working
with a perfume company that was struggling to regain market share. Unlike many of its
competitors, which touted Rome or Paris on their bottles, this company’s containers listed some
smaller cities, including Dallas and Milwaukee. While these are fine cities, they don’t exactly
evoke romance or sophistication. Because this company actually did have offices in New York,
London, Paris and Rome, I suggested adding those city names to the bottles in a prominent
place. Amazingly, this one change led to an almost instantaneous increase in sales. Location
matters.

Conclusion

Advertisement in brief

“Advertising consists of all activities involved in presenting to a group a non-personal, oral or

visual, openly sponsored identified message regarding a product, service, or idea. The

message, called an advertisement, is disseminated through one or more media and is paid for

by the identified sponsor”-William Stanton.

The world has become a global market. Modern market is more dynamic, competitive, and

consumer-oriented. Entire marketing process is aimed at satisfying consumers more effectively

than competitors. Consumer satisfaction can be achieved by receiving information from market

and sending information to the market.

In order to inform, attract, and convince the valued customers, a marketer undertakes a number

of promotional means. Advertising is one of the powerful means to inform about company’s total

offers. Advertising is a dominant element of market promotion. Many times, the entire

promotional efforts are replaced by advertising alone.

Major portion of promotion budget is consumed by advertising alone. Advertising is so powerful

and popular that it is taken as equal to marketing!! Mass media are used intensively to advertise

various products. Marketing without advertising seems to be impossible. Advertising works like

a magic stick to actualize marketing goals!