Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers

, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideas, or

services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or
service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or t
o consume that particular brand. These messages are usually paid for by sponsors
and viewed via various media. Advertising can also serve to communicate an idea
to a large number of people in an attempt to convince them to take a certain ac
tion.
Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their pro
ducts or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or
product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the
minds of consumers. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise item
s other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest g
roups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Nonprofit organization
s may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement.
Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th a
nd early 20th centuries. Mass media can be defined as any media meant to reach a
mass amount of people. Different types of media can be used to deliver these me
ssages, including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, r
adio, outdoor or direct mail; or new media such as websites and text messages.
In 2010, spending on advertising was estimated at more than $300 billion in the
United States[1] and $500 billion worldwide[citation needed].
Internationally, the largest ("big four") advertising conglomerates are Interpub
lic, Omnicom, Publicis, and WPP.

Advertising theoryHierarchy of effects model[9]

It clarifies the objectives of an advertising campaign and for each individual a
dvertisement. The model suggests that there are six steps a consumer or a busine
ss buyer moves through when making a purchase. The steps are:
1.Awareness
2.Knowledge
3.Liking
4.Preference
5.Conviction
6.The actual purchase
Means-End Theory
This approach suggests that an advertisement should contain a message or means t
hat leads the consumer to a desired end state.
Leverage Points
It is designed to move the consumer from understanding a product's benefits to l
inking those benefits with personal values.
Verbal and Visual Images

1. Introduction to Advertising

Advertising facilitates large scale marketing. It is a medium of mass communicat

ion. Manufacturers supply information about new products through advertising. Th
e fact that companies spend crores of rupees on advertising through TV, radio an
d newspapers indicates its benefits in sales promotion. Advertising is within th
e scope of promotion which is one element in the marketing mix. It is getting po
pularity in the present highly competitive and consumer oriented marketing. All
products old and new, consumer and durable, cheap and costly need extensive adve
rtising for sales promotion and consumer support. New communication techniques a
re now used for making advertising attractive and agreeable. The basic purpose o
f advertising is to give information, to attract attention, to create awareness
and finally to influence the buying behavior of consumers. Advertising is certai
nly needed in marketing but is equally important and essential in social, cultur
al and political aspects of our life.

The term 'Advertising' originates from the Latin word 'advertere' which means "t
o turn the mind towards". The dictionary meaning of the term advertising is "to
give public notice or to announce publicity". This suggests that advertising act
s as a marketing vehicle and is useful for drawing the attention of people (pros
pects) towards a specific product/service/manufacturer.

2. Definition of Advertising

Advertising is defined differently by different authorities and the institutions

dealing with the subject of advertising. The American Marketing Association def
ines advertising as "any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of
ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor." This definition suggests th
e following features of advertising. Firstly, advertisement is paid for by the s
ponsor/advertiser. Naturally, he exercises control over the advertisement. Secon
dly, advertising is non-personal selling. It is a medium of mass communication f
or large scale selling. Thirdly, advertising acts as important marketing tool fo
r presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services. Finally, advertising
needs the sponsor of the message known. Advertising will be meaningless if the a
dvertiser is not clearly identified.

3. Features of Advertising

1.Advertising provides information : The basic purpose of advertising is to prov

ide information about products/services to prospective buyers. The details of pr
oducts such as features, uses, prices, benefits, manufacturer's name, and instru
ctions to be followed while using the product are given in the advertisements. T
he advertising message and brand name are also given. The information supplied g
ives education and guidance to consumers and facilitates correct selection of go
ods by them.
2.Paid form of communication : The advertiser has to pay to the media for giving
publicity to his advertising message. He pays for the advertisement and natural
ly he decides the size, slogan, etc. given in the advertisement. Advertising is
a form of paid communication.
3.Non-personal presentation : Advertising is non-personal in character as agains
t salesmanship which is personal (face to face communication) in character. In a
dvertising, the message is given to all and not to one specific individual. This
rule is applicable to all advertising media including press. However even in ad
vertising target consumers or target market can be selected for making an advert
ising appeal.
4.Gives publicity to goods, services and ideas : Advertising is basically for gi
ving information to consumers. This information is always related to the feature
s and benefits of goods and services of different types. Advertising gives new i
deas to consumers as its contents are meaningful. The aim is to make the ideas p
opular and thereby to promote sales. For example, advertising on family planning
, family welfare, and life insurance is useful for placing new ideas before the
people.
5.Basically for persuasion : Advertising aims at persuasion of potential custome
rs. Advertising attracts attention towards a product, creates desire to have the
same and finally induces consumers to visit the market and purchase the same. A
dvertising has psychological impact on consumers. It influences the buying decis
ions of consumers.
6.Target oriented : It is possible to make intensive advertising by selecting a
specific market or specific segment of consumers (e.g. children, housewives, etc
.) for the purpose of advertising. This selection of a specific market is called
target market. Advertising becomes effective and result oriented when it is tar
get oriented. The waste in advertising can be minimized through such target orie
nted advertising.
7.An Art, Science and Profession : It is now universally accepted that advertisi
ng is an art, science and a profession. It is an art as it needs creativity for
raising its effectiveness. Advertising is a science as it has its principles and
rules. Advertising is now treated as a profession with its professional bodies
and code of conduct for members. Advertising agencies and space brokers function
as professionals in the field of advertising.
8.Important element in marketing mix : Advertising is an important element in ma
rketing mix. It supports the sales promotion efforts of the manufacturer and mak
es positive contribution in sales promotion provided other elements in the marke
ting mix are reasonably favorable. This is natural as advertising alone is not a
dequate for promoting sales. Many companies now spend huge funds on advertising
and public relations
9.Creativity - the essence of advertising : Advertising is a method of presentin
g a product in an artistic, attractive and agreeable manner. This is possible th
rough the element of creativity which is the essence of advertising. Creativity
can be introduced by creative people (professionals) in the field of advertising
. They introduce new techniques for introducing creativity. Without creativity,
advertising will be like a body without a soul.

4. Advantages of Advertising

The advantages of advertising can be divided into two main groups. One group den
otes benefits to manufactures and other group denotes benefit to consumers. Let'
s find out how each of them gets benefited by advertising.

4.1 Benefits of Advertising to Manufacturers

1.Large scale production and marketing : Advertising is useful as a sales promot

ion technique. It gives information to consumers and encourages them to purchase
more. Manufacturers expand their production base due to higher market demand cr
eated through advertising.
2.Introduction of new products : Advertising facilitates the introduction of new
products. Due to advertising, information about new products is given to the pr
ospects. This creates demand and the manufacturer is able to sell new products a
long with the existing ones.
3.Creates new demand : Advertising spreads information and encourages consumers
to purchase new products. Such advertising leads to the creation of new demand.
Various concessions are offered to consumers in the initial period. This gives p
ositive response from the consumers. Thus, advertising creates new demand from n
on-users.
4.Facilitates effective personal selling : Advertising creates proper background
for personal selling. It gives advance information to the prospects. They visit
the shop in order to purchase a particular product which they know through adve
rtising media. The job of a salesman becomes easy as consumers develop affinity
to specific products. In brief, advertising supports and supplements personal se
lling.
5.Builds brand image : Manufacturers introduce branding for making their product
s popular with distinct personality. The brands are made popular through adverti
sing. As a result, consumers develop loyalty towards a specific brand. Advertisi
ng builds brand image and this develops consumer loyalty towards a specific bran
d.
6.Reduces cost of production : Advertising creates demand and promotes sales. Th
is enables a manufacturer to conduct production on a large scale. This leads to
reduction in the cost of production and distribution. As a result, the profit ma
rgin of the manufacturer increases.
7.Facing competition : A manufacturer can face market competition effectively an
d can make his products popular through advertising. He can remove misunderstand
ing among consumers about his products through appropriate advertising.
8.Sales promotion : A manufacturer can make his sales promotion campaign success
ful by using the support of advertising. He can prepare proper background for th
e success of such campaign as advertising facilitates direct communication with
consumers.
9.Goodwill builder : A manufacturer can build up goodwill and good image in the
business world and also among the consumers through advertising. The social welf
are programmes and community service activities can be given wide publicity thro
ugh advertising. Even the progress of the Organisation can be brought to the not
ice of the public through advertising.

4.2 Benefits of Advertising to Consumers

1.Information and guidance : Consumers get information and guidance from adverti
sing. They can study the advertisements of competitors and select the products w
hich are profitable to them. This avoids their cheating and exploitation at the
hands of middlemen.
2.Acts as reminder : Advertising acts as a reminder to consumers. They remember
what is urgently required to be purchased through advertising.
3.Special attraction to consumers : Advertising leads to competition among manuf
acturers and retailers. They have to offer something special in order to attract
consumers. Such attraction offers benefits to consumers. For example, manufactu
res have to bring down the price in order to attract customers. They have to sup
ply quality goods in order to attract more customers. All this is beneficial to
consumers in terms of price and quality of goods.
4.Raises living standards : Advertising raises the standard of living of people
by supplying information about goods and services which can offer convenience an
d pleasure to them. Advertising guides consumers in the selection of most suitab
le goods for their daily life. Thus advertising provides higher standard of livi
ng to consumers as a social group
5.Effective product use : Consumers get information about uses/benefits of diffe
rent products through advertising. They also get guidance as regards the right m
anner of using the product. This avoids possible damage of the product purchased
. Even the product can be used for different purposes because of the information
supplied through advertisements.
6.Removes misunderstanding : Advertising helps consumers in removing their misun
derstanding about certain products. They change their attitudes towards certain
products and services due to advertising.

5. Role of Advertising in Selling Consumer Durables

The following points suggest the role of advertising in selling sales promotion
of consumer durables.

1.Advertising is useful for giving information and guidance to prospective buyer

s of consumer durables. Here, advertising gives the details of special features,
benefits, price discount, and other concessions offered, etc. to the purchasers
of consumer durables and encourage interested customers to take initiative in p
urchasing the durable articles.
2.Effective advertising of consumer durables creates proper background for perso
nal selling. An attraction is created in the minds of consumers and they are enc
ouraged to visit retail shop in order to see the article or look at the demonstr
ation of its working. Here, the salesman can use his skills and see that the art
icle is purchased by his visitors.
3.Advertising of consumer products enables a manufacturer to face market competi
tion effectively. He can give special features of his product and also suggest h
ow his product is superior to that of his competitors. This is useful for sales
promotion of consumer durables. Even consumers can make appropriate selection of
a suitable product by studying the advertisements of competitors.
4.Advertising of consumer durables during the festival period acts as a reminder
to consumers. They remember to purchase a useful product on the eve of the fest
ival. This technique facilitates sales promotion during the festival period.
5.The seller of consumer products (manufacturing company) may like to offer attr
active gift or price discount to interested consumers. Here, advertising can be
made effectively. This encourages consumers to purchase a durable product. Such
advertisements are common during festivals. Even local dealer may offer certain
concession to his customers. He can make suitable advertisement of such concessi
on for large scale selling at the local level.
In short, effective advertising of consumer durables is necessary and useful for
regular selling, for providing information and guidance to consumers and finall
y for sales promotion.

6. Types of Advertising Media

Advertising media are as noted in the chart given below:

It may be noted that advertising media have their special features, merits, limi
tations and suitability. An advertiser has to consider his advertising budget an
d select the most appropriate advertising media and use them for advertising pur
pose.

7. Decision-making in Advertising

While undertaking advertising campaign or while organising an advertising progra

mme for products : consumer products, (tooth paste, chocolate, soap, face powder
, skin cream, etc.) or durable products, (car, TV, etc.) or industrial products,
(machine, etc.) concerned company has to take certain decisions and adjust the
advertising activity accordingly. Such advertising decision-making is a five-ste
p process (Five Ms of advertising) consisting of mission, money, message, media
and measurement. In other words, evaluation and broad decisions need to be taken
in regard to these five areas while organising an advertising programme/campaig
n. Five Ms of advertising are five basic considerations which need to be given p
roper attention so as to have positive/favorable effect of advertising efforts.
These considerations are particularly applicable to consumer product marketing s
uch as tooth paste, face powder, body creams, soaps, chocolates and so on.
Advertising will be effective/result oriented when it is made with proper planni
ng and appropriate decisions as regards the objectives, media used, funds provid
ed and so on. In short, advertising activity needs appropriate decision-making o
n various matters. Such decisions constitute the steps in the advertising.

8. Five Ms of Advertising

An advertiser has to take decisions on the following aspects:

1.Mission : This refers to the purpose/objective behind advertising. The objecti

ves behind advertising are varied in character. They include sales promotion, in
formation and guidance to consumers, developing brand loyalty, market goodwill,
facing market competition effectively, making the products popular/successful an
d introduction of a new product. Decision in regard to mission is a basic one as
other decisions are to be adjusted as per the mission or objective or purpose o
f advertising decided. For consumer products like chocolate, tooth paste, soap,
the mission/objective include facing market competition, sales promotion and mak
ing the product popular in the market.
2.Money : This refers to the finance provided for advertising purpose (advertisi
ng budget). It means the budget allocation made by the company for advertising.
Money provided is a limiting factor as effectiveness of advertising, media used,
coverage of advertising, etc. are related to the funds provided for advertising
purpose. Advertising is costly and companies have to spend crores of rupees for
this purpose. Advertising should be always within the limits of funds provided.
Naturally, decisions on advertising package should be adjusted as per the budge
t allocation for advertising.
It may be noted that consumer products like tooth paste or chocolate are highly
competitive with many substitutes easily available in the market. Naturally, ext
ensive advertising on TV, newspapers, radio, etc. is required. These media are c
ostly. Naturally, the manufacturing/marketing company will have to provide huge
money for advertising purpose.
3.Message : Message is provided through the text of advertisement. The message i
s given through written words, pictures, slogans and so on. The message is for t
he information, guidance and motivation of prospective buyers. Attractive and me
aningful messages give positive results and the advertising becomes result-orien
ted. The services of creative writers, artists, etc. are used for giving attract
ive message to the consumers. Here, the advertiser has to decide the message to
be given, the media to be used for communicating the message, the extent of crea
tivity, the specific customer group selected for giving the message and so on. T
he message is also related to the decisions taken as regards mission and money p
rovided for advertising.
For advertising consumer product like chocolate, the message is important. The b
uyers are mainly children and others of lower age groups or for the benefit (ple
asure and satisfaction) of younger generation. The advertising message should be
simple and easily understandable with the help of picture or slogan. It should
be also attractive and agreeable to younger generation. The pictures or slogans
used should be short and impressive.
4.Media : Media of advertising are already noted previously. The advertiser has
to take decision about the media to be used for advertising purpose. Media diffe
r as regards cost, coverage, effectiveness and so on. The selection of media dep
ends on the budget provided, products to be advertised, and features of prospect
ive buyers and so on. Wrong decision on media may make advertising ineffective a
nd money spent will be wasted. This suggests that media should be selected prope
rly and decision in this regard is important and critical.
For advertising popular and extensively used consumer items like chocolate, the
media should be selected properly. TV advertising particularly a cartoon channel
, advertising in children books or newspaper supplements for children, advertisi
ng on radio programmes for children, etc.
5.Measure : Measure relates to the effectiveness of advertising. An advertiser w
ill like to make evaluation of advertisement in order to judge its effectiveness
. If an advertisement is not effective /purposeful, it will be modified or withd
rawn. This is necessary for avoiding expenditure on the advertisement which is n
ot effective or is not likely to give positive results. An advertiser has to mea
sure the effectiveness of his advertisement programme/ campaign and take suitabl
e decisions. This decision-making as regards effectiveness of advertising is equ
ally important and essential. Such testing facilitates introduction of suitable
remedial measures, if required.
For measuring effectiveness of chocolate advertising, the post advertising sale
is one major consideration. Demand creation in new market segments or in new age
groups is another consideration for the measurement of advertising effectivenes
s. Even success of sales promotion programme is useful for measuring advertising
effectiveness.
In brief, like other areas of marketing management, decision-making is necessary
in advertising. This relates to Five Ms - mission, money, message, media and me
asurement

political advertising
advertising whose central focus is the marketing of ideas, attitudes, and concer
ns about public issues, including political concepts and political candidates. T
he essential task of political advertising is to gain the confidence of the peop
le for their acceptance of ideas and, in the case of political campaign advertis
ing, to influence their vote. Political advertising differs from commercial adve
rtising in that the product is either a person or a philosophy rather than goods
and services, and, in addition, the advertising objectives must be met within a
specific time frame. Also, political advertising carries a moral implication, b
ecause the results have potentially far-reaching effects on the population at la
rge. Political advertising raises many controversial social questions concerning
the funding of political campaigns, the truth or reality of political claims, a
nd the likelihood of slanderous or libelous claims made by political candidates