Advertising

Nonpersonal

Advertising is not written for a specific person (although the good ones make you think they are written just for you), but rather is written for a large, mass audience. The reason it feels so personal is because the target audience all have similar characteristics that make them the ideal user of the product.

Paid

Advertising must be paid for by someone. The client provides the money necessary to buy the media where the ads will run. Even Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are paid for—either by a sponsoring organization or through donated time or space.

Persuade or Influence

Again, this is the purpose of advertising, to persuade or influence consumers to do something like purchase the product or to get them to respond in a certain way.

Local Advertising

Also known as retail advertising, local advertising is used by retail and department stores, convenience stores, fast food, etc. This advertising is directed at local customers who live in a specific location near the reseller. The most common media used for local advertising includes local newspapers, magazines, direct mail, pamphlets, signs, social media, and promotions.

Business-to-Business Advertising

B2B is similar to consumer advertising but this advertising is aimed at other businesses and professionals (e.g., physicians, lawyers, dentists, and architects) rather than consumers. The products that are advertised are typically for products businesses and professionals need to keep their businesses running (office supplies, phone services, computer software, manufacturing parts, etc.)

Creative

Creative is the key to great advertising. Great ads must be new, exciting, attention getting, and interesting. The ads must grab the consumers' attention and stick in their minds. Boring ads that do the same old things that have always been done are ignored and fail to provide the sales the client needs to stay in business.

Dichotomous Questions

Dichotomous questions are used when there are only two different choices and the subjects are asked to select one of the two alternatives. Examples include questions that ask for a Yes or No, a True or False, or an Agree or Disagree.

Institutional Advertising

Institutional advertising is designed to build a businesses' reputation in the minds of the public. The advertising message tells about the company: its people; its contribution in promoting social activities; in promoting consumer satisfaction; its achievements in technology; its philosophies; the economic progress of the company, and so on. This type of advertising does not bring benefits in the form of higher sales immediately, but provides a strong base for the company in the future through an enhanced image.

National Advertising

National advertising is used by brands that want to advertise their messages to consumers throughout the country (e.g., detergents, soaps, toothpastes, cosmetics, scooters, cars, and home improvement). Mass media with a national reach such as magazines, television, and the Internet are used for national advertising.

Regional Advertising

Regional advertising has greater coverage than local advertising—typically one or more states are defined as a marketing region. It is considered to be an ideal form of advertising for launching a new product in a specific region.

Media

Selecting media that will be viewed by the greatest number of people is essential to the success of the campaign. It doesn't matter how good the strategy is or how creative the advertisements are—if the consumers never see the ads, the campaign will fail.

Mass Media

The mass media, which includes all forms of media, must be used to relay the sponsor's message to consumers.

Execution

The old saying, "The devil is in the details" is true. It's often the small things in the campaign that make all the difference. The graphics, photography, copy, print quality, layout, design, and all other aspects of the advertisements must be of the highest quality in order to have a winning campaign.

Strategy

The strategy is the central idea of the campaign—it's your game plan. You must have a sound strategy that takes into consideration the marketing objectives, the target market, the creative concept, and the necessary media.

Audience

There must be receivers of the message for there to be advertising. Someone has to hear or see the message.

Print Advertising

This advertising appears in newspapers, magazines, journals, handbills, and so on. Print media advertising, even today, is popular for retail and local advertising. The magazine industry still continues to stay strong because of the revenue they make from print advertising.

Identified Sponsor

This is the purpose of the advertisement—to communicate sponsor information to the consumer so they will purchase the product. Advertisers always put their client's name on the advertisement. They want the audience to know who is doing the advertising.

Electronic or Broadcast Advertising

This type of advertising appears on radio, television, motion pictures, video, and the Internet. Electronic and broadcast advertising is expensive but can produce very large audiences.

Professional Advertising

This type of advertising is directed at professionals such as physicians, professors, engineers, and accountants who, in addition to using the products for their businesses, are expected to recommend or prescribe the products to consumers. The advertising used most often for this type of advertising is direct mail, pamphlets, the Internet, and magazine display ads.

Consumer Advertising

This type of advertising is directed to the ultimate consumers of the products, that is, the individuals who buy, use or consume the products or services. These types of products need continuous and extensive advertising to continue to drive consumer purchasing.

Close-Ended

Unlike open-ended questions, close ended question require subjects to choose from a limited number choices predetermined by the researcher. These questions provide more consistent answers, which makes them easier to analyze and quantify.

Advertising

paid, non-personal communication from an identified sponsor using mass media to persuade or influence an audience.