Text 2. Advertising

Advertising is one of the largest industries. Business can spend billions of dollars on advertisement of its products. As consumers are the main target of business, companies pay special attention to the methods of advertising. Advertising is one of the promotional tools in the hands of sales companies for achieving their main goals –that is to make us to buy more and more. Advertising can be informative, persuasive, reminding and supporting. All these kinds of advertising have different functions. Thus, informative advertising provides customers with information about the product and its advantages, while remonstrative advertising tries to make customers buy the products of the particular company but not of a competitor’s one. Advertising often results in lower prices helping companies reduce costs on their goods. Advertising steps up competition and helps the economy of the country by stimulating consumer demands. Due to the new technology, advertising has shifted from television and print media to the Internet and has started to get its audience. Viral web ads spread from computer user to computer user. With people, spending much time on the Net, and many using video-friendly high-speed connections, it seems highly likely that viral video advertisements will become mainstream before long. And, as competition for on-line user attention increases, companies will be forced to do more to ensure their ads are watched.

However not everybody thinks that advertising benefits the economy. Some critics have the opposite point of view and consider advertising the greatest evil of our days. They say that information contained in advertisements does not inform but misleads the consumer. Consumers spend money for products they do not really need. The radio and TV are not free because they are dependent of advertising and sales companies who pay big money for advertising time and dictate their will to different channels and programmes. To make the advertising company successful, each organisation should consider an advertising plan as part of its marketing plan. Companies should have their own advertising departments or they can turn for advice to special agencies.

Answer the questions:

1. How much does business spend on advertising?

2. Who is the main target of sales companies?

3. What types of advertising can you name?

4.What does informative advertising provide customers with?

5. What is the aim of remonstrative advertising?

6. What is the role of advertising in the economy of the country?

7. What has happened to advertising due to the new technology?

8. What do critics say about information contained in advertisements?

9. What do critics think of the modern radio and TV?

10. What should a company do to make advertising successful?