Advertising and the Marketing Concept

Advertising is the activity consumers most associate with the term marketing. Advertising is defined as a marketing communications element that is persuasive, nonpersonal, paid for by an identified sponsor, disseminated through mass channels of communication to promote the adoption of goods, services, persons, or ideas.

Effective advertising can present information about new or existing products, demonstrate meaningful uses of the product, and establish or refresh the brand’s image. It can reach a diverse or wide audience with repeated communications and gives a company the opportunity to dramatize its products and services in a colorful way.

Advertising stimulates demand, helps build brand success, develops and shapes buyer behavior, and gives the seller a measure of certainty about the level of sales. In addition, it informs buyers about product characteristics and availability and makes markets more competitive.

In many markets, first-time purchasers are rare. Here advertising is critically important in affecting brand shares by inducing switching or retaining customers who otherwise might switch. Brand switching is generated from advertising through building brand awareness or altering consumer beliefs about brands.

Advertising performs other functions as well. Some advertising supports personal selling efforts. For example, many companies advertise to increase consumer awareness of products, making later personal selling efforts easier. Such advertising, if executed effectively, generates sales, leads and communicates product advantages to prospective buyers.

It is important to remember that advertising is expensive and must be targeted effectively to achieve a firm’s objectives. Firms do not have unlimited budgets; thus, the allocation of these funds must be made with a clear view of target markets and, hence, the audience of the organization’s advertising. Further, conceiving product offerings on the basis of consumer needs and benefits is not sufficient without some form of communication, frequently advertising. That is, communication (advertising) and desired product attributes are both integral aspects of the marketing concept. Advertising is a huge industry, with annual global expenditures close to 300 billion dollars worldwide. Many advertisers hire advertising agencies to create ad campaigns and to purchase media time and space. Ad agencies employ creative people who develop unique advertising messages and media specialists who provide media planning and scheduling.

Comprehension questions:

1. How is advertising defined?

2. What can effective ad present?

3. What functions does ad perform?

4. What are the aspects of marketing concept?

5. What do advertising agencies do?