INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS (IMC)

UNIT-1
Integrated marketing communications
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is the application of consistent brand messaging
across both traditional and non-traditional marketing channels and using different promotional
methods to reinforce each other.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) involves a strategic coordination of multiple
communication voices together to promote products and services. Instead of viewing
advertising, public relations, sales promotions, and other marketing functions as
separate, the IMC approach tries to combine and streamline them together to convey a
message or campaign with a clear, consistent, and persuasive tone. Mega-corporations
like Disney utilize IMC approaches for the promotion of their entertainment empire on
a global level.
The first definition for integrated marketing communication came from the American Association
of Advertising Agencies (also 4A's) in 1989, defining IMC as "an approach to achieving the
objectives of a marketing campaign through a well-coordinated use of different promotional
methods that are intended to reinforce each other. " The 4A's definition of IMC recognizes the
strategic roles of various communication disciplines (advertising, public relations, sales
promotions, etc.) to provide clarity, consistency, and increased impact when combined within a
comprehensive communications plan. Basically, it is the application of consistent brand
messaging across both traditional and non-traditional marketing channels.
The Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication from the Medill School of
Journalism at Northwestern University refers to IMC as "a strategic marketing process specifically
designed to ensure that all messaging and communication strategies are unified across all channels
and are centered around the customer. " IMC is used practically to allow one medium's weakness
to be offset by another medium's strength, with elements synergized to support each other and
create greater impact.
From the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University The American
Marketing Association defines Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) as a planning
process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a
product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time. [4]
A more contemporary definition states, "True IMC is the development of marketing strategies and
creative campaigns that weave together multiple marketing disciplines (paid advertising, public
relations, promotion, owned assets, and social media) that are selected and then executed to suit
the particular goals of the brand. "
Components of integrated marketing communications
IMC weaves diverse aspects of business and marketing together. These include:
Organizational culture:

The organization's vision and mission

Attitudes and behaviors of employees & partners

Communication within the company

Four P's
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Price, pricing plans, bundled offerings

Product (product design, accessibility, usability)
Promotion
Place (point of purchase, in-store/shopper experience)

Advertising
Broadcasting/mass advertising: broadcasts, print, internet advertising, radio, television
commercials
Outdoor advertising: billboards, street furniture, stadiums, rest areas, subway advertising,
taxis, transit
Online advertising: mobile advertising, email ads, banner ads, search engine result pages,
blogs, newsletters, online classified ads, media ads
Direct marketing: direct mail, telemarketing, catalogs, shopping channels, internet sales, emails,
text messaging, websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters,
outdoor advertising, telemarketing, coupons, direct mail, direct selling, grassroots/community
marketing, mobile Online/internet marketing
E-commerce
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine marketing (SEM)
Mobile Marketing
Email marketing
Content marketing
Social Media (Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, Foursquare, Pinterest, YouTube,
Wikipedia, Instagram)
Sales & customer service
Sales materials (sell sheets, brochures, presentations)
Installation, customer help, returns & repairs, billing
Public Relations
Special events, interviews, conference speeches, industry awards, press conferences,
testimonials, news releases, publicity stunts, community involvement, charity involvement
& events Promotions Contests, coupons, product samples (freebies), premiums, prizes,
rebates, special events
Trade shows
Booths, product demonstrations
Importance of integrated marketing communications
Integration has become an essential concept in marketing because technological advances have
changed how business stakeholders interact. Marketing theory that was established during the
disciplines formative years has been overtaken by the complexities of real-time, multimodal,
multi directional communication.
A few examples help illustrate the growing importance of integration:
Search marketing: When someone is considering buying a product or service they will often
conduct an online search. What they find, on Google and other search engines, as well as
information from news sites, review sites, directories, videos and place-based searches, are
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presented together, so like it or not, there is a level of integration. The online experience will
affect their attitudes towards a brand and their behavior. Marketers therefore need to concern
themselves with making sure their brand is found ahead of competitors' and then ensuring their
audience has a positive and helpful experience.
Accessibility and convenience: Consumers expect information and services that relate to a brand
to be conveniently accessible via its website. For instance when a consumer visits Virgin.com they
are able to book a flight, manage their money, top up their mobile phone plan or find up-to-date
news about the company.[11]
Aggregation of information and services: The traditional demarcation between a company, its
suppliers and customers has become confused. For instance the Apple iTunesapp store aggregates
software and information from app makers, along with reviews provided by consumers. [12] Product
promotion, delivery, service and information from many different sources are seamlessly
presented together.
Social media: Traditionally businesses were largely in control of their brand communications.
Now brand communications are multidirectional as consumers can easily share, comment and
create content. Brands can use this to their advantage by creating appealing content. For instance
Unilevers campaign for Dove, The Dove Real Beauty Sketches went viral with over 54 million
views on YouTube.[13]
Growth of mobile: The growing penetration of smart phones with fast internet connectivity
means that marketers need to take into consideration integration between the online experience
and place-based experiences. For instance when a consumer downloads the Target app they are
able to receive coupons to their mobile phone and redeem them at the checkout by presenting the
coupon barcode to the cashier.
Model and stages
Similar to the definition of IMC, models of the IMC approach vary according to the source cited.
Frequently, models stress the importance of blending various marketing tools to maximize the
customer experience and value. IMC models also often emphasize the lack of a specific hierarchy
of importance in the IMC stages: all components of the model play an equally important role and
a company may or may not choose to immediately implement any or all of the integration
strategies.
Level 1: Tactical Coordination and Marketing Communications Initial IMC focus is on the
tactical coordination of diverse marketing such as advertising, promotion, direct response, public
relations, and special events. This level focuses on delivering one sight, one sound via
marketing communication.[9]
Level 2: Redefining the Scope of Marketing Communication The organization begins to
examine communications from the customers point of view. Marketing communication begins to
give consideration to all sources of brand and company contact a customer has with the product or
service. Management broadens the scope of communication activities to encompass and
coordinate internal marketing employees, suppliers, and other business partners and align with the
existing external communication programs.
Level 3: Application of Information Technology An organizations application of empirical data
using information technology to provide a basis identity, value, and monitor the impact of
integrated internal and external communication programs to key customer segments over time.]
Level 4: Financial and Strategic Integration The emphasis shifts to using the skills and data
generated in the earlier stages to drive corporate strategic planning using customer information
and insights. Organizations re-evaluate their financial information infrastructure.
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MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Marketing communication (MarCom) is a fundamental and complex part of a companys
marketing efforts. Loosely defined, MarCom can be described as all the messages and media you
deploy to communicate with the market.
Marketing communication includes advertising, direct marketing, branding, packaging, your
online presence, printed materials, PR activities, sales presentations, sponsorships, trade show
appearances and more.
Marketing communication helps to develop brand awareness, which means that consumers
translate product information into perceptions about the products attributes and its position within
the larger market. Businesses also use marketing communication to retain the products current
customer base, and to cement relationships with customers and suppliers, notes "Reference for
Business." Marketing communication strategy defines the businesss plan for product information
dissemination and brand awareness development.
Components
Design an effective marketing communication strategy with one or more marketing
communication components. Advertising allows a business to reach a large audience through mass
market or target market appeals. Personal selling enables a company to communicate product
benefits directly to the customer, as in a retail setting. Direct marketing permits a business to reach
customers without a third party medium; examples include catalogs and direct mail. Sales
promotion provides a customer with an incentive to buy the companys product, such as a
company that makes a charitable contribution with each sale. Public relations involves a
companys outflow of information to customers, suppliers and other groups affected by company
operations.
Strategies
Businesses employ five general marketing communication strategies. Company owners often
inspire customer trust by presenting the personal story that led to the businesss creation. A
business clearly presents its products, along with projected customer benefits. The business
illustrates why its product is superior to similar competitors products. A company utilizes
customer testimonials to highlight a products value. A business often creates customer goodwill
by developing an informational sheet on a customer-focused topic.
Benefits
A well-chosen marketing communication strategy utilizes one or more components to disseminate
the companys outgoing message. A market-appropriate strategy increases the companys chances
to accurately transmit the products benefits, and to have that message positively received by the
customer. The business likely benefits from customer goodwill when the company story or
customer testimonial strategies are used.
Considerations
A business owner must utilize a marketing communication strategy appropriate for each product.
If the company sells higher-end diamond jewelry, for example, customers may value a diamond
rings cut and diamond clarity over other variables. The jewelry store does not want to use a
strategy focusing on its superiority to its competitors. This comparison may cheapen the
diamond's value for the customer. The business should focus on the benefits the customer receives
by buying the ring.
Expert Insight
Integrated marketing communication strategy begins with a focus on the customer. Marketing
professor Susan K. Jones of Michigan-based Ferris State University recommends that businesses
stop utilizing only one marketing communication component. Ms. Jones recommends that
companies analyze the customers needs, preferences and buying habits; and then introduce
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products that mesh with those needs and habits. The company should showcase those products
using marketing communication methods familiar to, and accepted by, the customer.
OBJECTIVES OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Marketing communication objectives are long-term goals where marketing campaigns are
intended to drive up the value of your brand over time. In contrast to sales promotions, which are
short-term inducements to buy, communication goals succeed when you persuade customers
through consistent reinforcement that your brand has benefits they want or need.
Following are the main objectives of the marketing communication:
Increase Awareness: Increased brand awareness is not only one of the most common marketing
communication objectives, it is also typically the first for a new company. When you initially
enter the market, you have to let people know your company and products or services exist. This
might include broadcast commercials or print ads that depict the image of your company and
constant repetition of your brand name, slogans and jingles. The whole objective is to become
known and memorable. Established companies often use a closely-related goal of building or
maintaining top-of-mind awareness, which means customers think of you first when considering
your product category.
Change Attitudes: Changing company or brand perceptions is another common communication
objective. Sometimes, misconceptions develop in the market about your company, products or
services. Advertising is a way to address them directly. In other cases, negative publicity results
because your company is involved in a business scandal or unsettling activities. BP invested
millions of dollars in advertising to explain the company's clean up efforts to the public following
its infamous Gulf of Mexico oil spill in mid-2010. Local businesses normally don't have that kind
of budget but local radio or print ads can do the trick.
Influence Purchase Intent : A key communication objective is to motivate customers to buy.
This is normally done through persuasive advertising, which involves emphasis of your superior
benefits to the user, usually relative to competitors. It is critical to strike a chord with the
underlying need or want that triggers a customer to act. Sports drink commercials showing
athletes competing, getting hot and sweaty and then taking a drink afterward is a common
approach to drive purchase intent. The ads normally include benefits of the drink related to taste
or nutrients.
Stimulate Trial Purchase :Two separate but closely related communication objectives are to
stimulate trial use and drive repeat purchases. Free trials or product samples are common
techniques to persuade customers to try your product for the first time. The goal is to take away
the risk and get the customer to experience your brand. Once you get them on the first purchase,
you have to figure out how to convert that into a follow-up purchase. Discounts on the next
purchase or frequency programs are ways to turn one-time users into repeat buyers and,
ultimately, loyal customers.
Drive Brand Switching :Another objective closely tied to stimulating trial use is driving brand
switching. This is a specific objective of getting customers who buy competing products to switch
to your brand. Tide detergent is normally pitted against "other leading brands" in comparative ads
intended to motivate brand switching. The advantage with this goal is that customers already buy
within your product category. This means need is established. You just need to persuade them that
your product or service is superior and induce them to try it out.
Decisions linking the overall objectives and strategies during the marketing planning phases help
to evaluate and fine-tune the specific activities of integrated marketing communication. Before
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selecting an IMC tool, marketing, product and brand managers must look at social, competitive,
legal, regulatory, ethics, cultural and technological considerations. One thing you want to avoid
when activating the tools of integrated marketing communication is reaching inappropriate
audiences and causing controversy. That could be damaging when trying to build brand awareness
and encourage consumer spending with your company. When marketing managers examine the
beliefs, emotions and behavior of their targeted audience towards their brand, they can influence
their beliefs to achieve product awareness, by attracting attention to their promotional campaigns.
Factors contributing to Integrated Marketing Communication
Several significant and pervasive changes in the marketing and communications environment
have contributed to its growing prominence:
Fragmentation of the media: A huge number of media options are available to marketers.
Broadcasting media now offer narrow casting so specific that advertisers can reach
consumers at precise locations, such as airports and supermarket checkout counters. The
print media has proliferated dramatically as well.
Better audience assessment through database technology: The ability of firms to
generate, collate and manage databases has created diverse communications opportunities
beyond mass media. Databases can be used to create customer and non-customer profiles.
This information is important to identify target markets.
Consumer empowerment: Todays consumers are more powerful and
sophisticated. Empowered consumers are more skeptical of commercial
messages and demand information tailored to their needs.
Increased advertising clutter: The proliferation of advertising stimuli has diluted the
effectives of any single message.
Desire for greater accountability: In an attempt to achieve greater accountability for
promotional spending, firms have reallocated marketing resources from advertising to
more short-term and more easily measurable methods, such as direct marketing and sales
promotions.
Participants in Integrated Marketing Communication
The Integrated Marketing Communication process involves participants who can be divided
into five major groups:
The Advertiser or client
Advertising agency
Media organizations
Marketing communications specialist
Collateral services
Each of these groups has specific roles in the promotional process.
1.
The advertiser or client
They are the key participants in the process. The client has the products, services or causes to
be marketed and promoted, and also provides the funds that pay for advertising and
promotions. The advertiser develops the marketing programme and makes the final decision
regarding the advertising and promotional programme to be employed. The company may
perform most of these efforts itself, either through its own advertising department or by setting
up an in-house agency.
2.
Advertising agency: most organisation use an advertising agency, an outside firm that
specializes in the creation, production and placement of the communications message and that
may provide other services to facilitate the marketing and promotions process. Many large
advertisers retain the services of a number of agencies, particularly when they market a
number of products. Proctor & gamble, for example, uses the services of 12 ad agencies and
two major media buying services companies.
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3.
Media organizations: they are another major participant in the IMC process.
Newspapers and TV channels provide an environment for a companys marketing
communications message. They should have editorial or programme content that attracts
consumers so that advertisers and their agencies will want to buy time or space with them.
Star and Zee TV network sell themselves to companies as an effective media.
4.
Specialised services : these specialists include direct marketing agencies, sales
promotion agencies, interactive agencies(the internet, kiosks) and public relations firms. A
direct response agency develops and implements direct marketing programmes, while sales
promotion agencies develop promotional programmes such as contests and sweep stakes,
premium offers, or sampling programmes. Interactive agencies are being retained to develop
websites for the internet and help marketers as they move deeper into the realm of interactive
media. Public relations firms are used to generated and manage publicity for a company and
its products and services as well as to focus on its relationships and communications with its
relevant publics.
5.
Collateral services: they provide a wide range of support functions used by
advertisers, agencies, media organizations, and specialized marketing communications firms.
These individuals and companies perform all the specialized functions that the other
participants use in planning and executing advertising and other promotional functions.
IMC Promotion Mix/ Basic Tools of Integrated Marketing Communication:
If companies are ethically planning, communicating, and following industry guidelines, they
will most likely earn the trust of their customers and target audience. There are five basic tools
of integrated marketing communication:
1.Advertising: This tool can get your messages to large audiences efficiently through such
avenues as radio, TV, Magazines, Newspapers (ROP), Internet, Billboards and other mobile
technological communication devices. This method can efficiently reach a large number of
consumers, although the costs may be somewhat expensive.
2.SalesPromotion: This tool is used through coupons, contests, samples, premiums,
demonstrations, displays or incentives. It is used to accelerate short-term sales, by building brand
awareness and encouraging repeat buying.
3. Public Relations: This integrated marketing communications tool is initiated through public
appearances, news/press releases or event sponsorships, to build trust and goodwill by presenting
the product, company or person in a positive light.
4.DirectMarketing: This tool will utilized email, mail, catalogs, encourage direct responses to
radio and TV, in order to reach targeted audiences to increase sales and test new products and
alternate marketing tactics.
5. Internet Marketing: A form of marketing communication through interactive media which
allow for a two way flow of information whereby users can participate in and modify the content
of information they receive in real time.
6. .Personal Selling: Setting sales appointments and meetings, home parties, making
presentations and any type of one-to-one communication, to reach your customers and strengthen
your relationship with your clients, initiate this IMC tool.

IMC

Top
Build-Up
Down
Budgeting
Budgeting
Fund
Allocation
Clutter
Communication
Source
Promotional
IMC
Introduction
Mix
Advertising
The
Amul
Girl
Agencies
VALS
Message
Framework
Structures
Understanding
Marketing
Process
IMC
TATA
Bournvita
Teleservices
Lil
Champs
November
Amul
(8)
-IMC
Plan
Management
&
7

Planning

Model

a.

IMC Management

Planning

Requires

Comprehensive

&

Detailed

Knowledge

Customers
Prospects
b.
c.
d.

Knowledge
about
Customer
&
Prospects
IMC
Management
Plan
Built
Around
Brand
Communications
Control
of
IMC
Management
&
Planning
Centralized
Firms
Appointing
IMC
or
Marcom
Managers

Model

of

IMC

Management

&

Planning

IMC
Model
Considers
Complete
Process:Uses
Promotion
to
Communicate
to
Target
Markets
Effectively
Deploys
Promotional
Tools
Corporate & Marketing Plans - Understood and Adopted as Part of IMC Plan
Databases
Help
Identify
&
Profile
Target
Markets
Promotional Objective - Dictate Mix of Promotional Tools to Pursue for each Target

Seven top challenges to integrated marketing

We want to explore the obstacles to integration through the lens of companies sophistication. The
working assumption was that the primary challenges would vary depending on where respondent
organizations sit on the maturity scale.
The challenges and their ranks are relatively consistent for the two groups in five cases, and
significantly divergent in two. Well look at all of them, in the order that sophisticated
companies ranked them. Rankings by the unsophisticated companies are in parentheses.
Challenge #1 (2) Management Support and Resources : No matter who you are or what your
organizations annual revenues amount to, you want more support. If youre in a marketing
department just coming to grips with integrated marketing and its component and related parts,
youre hoping for more money to put systems and technologies in place.
If youre already well on your way, then youre proving the return and want more resources to put
behind the effort, or want to add higher level resources around data, attribution modelling or
creative.

Challenge #2 (5) Cross-media Creativity :The most interesting difference between the two
groups lies with their views on creativity in integrated marketing. As we read the data, it
suggests that as organizations mature, they get past the trials of technology and data, of
process and politics. When theyve done so, theyre left with the original problem of
marketing how to engage and inspire customers with ideas and images.
Of course, digital adds some wrinkles to this challenge, because creative doesnt just mean a TV
commercial with complimentary print ads. It means all that, plus a multiplicity of paid, earned and
owned campaign elements across three major types of devices.
Unfortunately, even paid creative doesnt port well from one environment to another, let alone
social/earned media. On the other hand, good ideas themselves are not just portable but
aggressively viral. Thats the essential challenge and opportunity the sophisticated organizations
are grappling with.
The mainstream puts creative into the bottom half of challenges, because theyre preoccupied with
the plumbing of integrated marketing and digital marketing in general. What will be stored and
where? How will we segment? Can we apply what we know about a customer in one channel to
another? How do we tune our media mix as it becomes more complex?
Its easy to see why creative can be an afterthought. But thats a mistake. All of the algorithms,
processors and hi-def screens are simply vessels for ideas and the images that capture them.
The trope right ad to the right person at the right time is often used to describe modern
marketing. In the quest to perfect capabilities in identifying the right person and the right time,
many companies arent devoting their time and money to whats arguably the most important
piece the idea that makes it the right ad.
Challenge #3 (3) Unifying technology : No disagreement here, as technology is
fundamental to the rest of integrated marketing. Results are naturally limited if
organizations are without the backbone to tie the data together both before launch
for targeting and segmentation as well as after launch for results and attribution.
The good news for companies still climbing the mountain is that theyve got a wide array of
choices and a growing army of vendors who want to help them, from retooled agencies and
traditional integrators to management consultants. Of course, thats also the bad news.
Challenge #4 (1) Strategy :Along with creative, strategy is a point of divergence between
sophisticated companies and the mainstream. And it should be. Having and
practicing a real strategy could itself be a viable definition of sophistication.
Capability without direction is at best inefficient and at worst counterproductive.
For marketers working in the trenches and constantly bombarded with the new it can be easy to
be skeptical about the value of another meeting, deck or document that explores a nebulous idea
of the way forward. And if thats all the "strategy" is, theyre right to nod, smile and never think of
the thing again.
A true strategy is useful above all else. Its a set of principles that should applicable in everyday
situations. For example, a principle might be We believe that mobile is the defining trend in our
sector. From that springs the mandate We will behave like a mobile-first company.

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So even though the company is only seeing roughly 15% of their traffic from mobile devices, their
decision making when it comes to mobile analytics, for example, is from the perspective of a
company thats already getting most of its traffic or revenue from non-desktop sources.
If youre thinking about the big issues and how they apply to daily life, take a moment to read
Econsultancys updated Manifesto for Modern Marketing. Some of the principles it posits might
be helpful.
Challenge #5 (4) Unifying/Sharing Customer Data : How to collect, handle and use
customer data is intertwined with technology, and the only reason it ranks lower is
because the tech piece precedes more specific questions about how to deal with
customer information once its captured.
Those who are focused on these questions may find our recent report Business Intelligence Meets
Web Analytics: Breaking Down the Silos valuable. It looks at the connections between approach
and results, what data is most valuable and how to use it, as well as giving a number of detailed
examples.
Challenge#6 (7) International Issues : International issues rank low in general, but theres
more internal variation in the data at the bottom of this table than at the top. In
other words, international issues are relatively easy to deal with, unless theyre not.
They can be a significant thorn to integrated marketing, especially for those
organizations without local agencies to help with unique media consumption, cultural
norms and local competitive landscape.
Some of the intricacies of dealing with disparate markets are explored in The Internationalization
of Ecommerce A Best Practice Guide.
Challenge #7 (6) Unifying/Sharing Brand Assets : A bit like #6, unifying and sharing brand
assets isnt an issue for many, but is an acute one for some. The hope for
organizations that deal with a vast array of new and legacy creative assets is that
workflow tools are improving. A look at the various integrated marketing platforms
shows a new priority in the day to day processes that manage and share assets among
teams and partnering organizations.
What are your top challenges to integrated marketing? How do you deal with them? We'd love to
hear your thoughts.

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Unit-2
Advertising
Advertising is a powerful communication force, highly visible, and one of the most important
tools of marketing communications that helps to sell products, services, ideas and images, etc.
The most visible part of the advertising process is the advertisements that we see, read or hear and
praise or criticise. Many suitable adjectives are used to describe advertising depending on how an
individual is reacting, such as great, dynamic, alluring, fascinating, annoying, boring, intrusive,
irritating , offensive, etc.
Advertising is an indicator of the growth, betterment and perfection of civilisation. It is part of our
social, cultural and business environment. Not only does advertising mirror this environment but it
also affects and gets effected by our style of life. It is not at all surprising that advertising is one of
the most closely scrutinised of all business institutions.
Any paid form of non personal communication about an organization, product, service, idea or
cause by an identified sponsor.
Nature of advertising: The nature of an advertisement is to create a specified reaction or
response from the viewer(s) of the advertising. The response can be anything from changing a
personal/political view or an opinion to making the viewer/consumer purchase a product.
Advantages of advertising:
Advertiser controls the message
Cost effective way to communicate with large audiences
Effective way to create brand image and symbolic appeals.
Often can be effective way to strike responsive chord with consumers.
Disadvantages of Advertising:
High costs of producing and running ads
Credibility problems and consumer scepticism
Clutter
Difficulty in determining effectiveness
Classification of advertising
There are various approaches to classifying the vast variety of Advertising. Such as:Consumer Advertising
Most non classified advertising is display advertising and is found in newspaper and magazine
pages. It generally uses headlines, illustrations, white space, coupons and other visual devices
besides the copy text. display ads appear in all sections of the newspaper except the editorial page,
obituary page and the classifieds section. Display advertising in newspapers is of two types:
National and Local.
1. National Advertising : the term National advertising has a special connotation in that it is
not confined to any geographic area within the nation. This types if advertising is mostly
undertaken by the marketer of a branded product or service which is sold through different outlets
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in the distribution channel, wherever they may be located. Apparently the term national
advertising conveys mass marketing effort. In reality, this does not necessarily mean that the
product is sold nationwide. The objectives is to inform or remind consumers about a company or a
brand. The ad may intend to communicate brand features, benefits, advantages or use and to create
or reinforce its image so that the consumers will be predisposed to buying it.
2. Retail (Local) Advertising: the manufacturer has little concern where his product is purchased.
To that extent, the goal of the retail advertiser differs from that of the national advertiser who is
the manufacturer. The retailer advertises to encourage patronage by consumers and build store
loyalty among them. He is not particularly concerned with any specific brand. In case the retailer
shows some concern (say he wants to clear stocks of a particular brand), then the message in
effect is buy brand B at our store. The general idea behind retail advertising is buy at our
store. The sale of any specific brand is not the concern of the retailer unlike the national
advertiser.
Besides the broad classification of display advertising into national and local, some other forms of
display advertising are discussed below:

Cooperative Advertising: Manufacturers of consumer durable goods or specialty products

often show special interest in their dealers advertising. To help identify the dealers in
different geographic markets, dealers put out ads in the local media under their names . the
manufacturer often provides the dealer with the material and guidelines to develop ads for
print, television, or radio commercials. The manufacturer and the dealer usually share the
media costs and hence the name cooperative advertising.

End product Advertising: There are many products that are rarely purchased direct by
consumers. They are usually brought as a part or ingredient in other products. For
example, branded products such as Teflon (Dupont), Pentium (Intel), Athelon (Advanced
micro Devices), and many others are used in the manufacture of other end-products.
Advertising of such products is called end-product advertising(also called brandedingredient advertising).

Direct-response Advertising: this types of advertising encourages the consumer to

respond either by providing feedback to the advertiser or placing the order with the
advertiser by direct mail, catalogues, direct-response broadcast advertising, telephone and
internet. Some of these methods, to reach the consumer, are viewed as part of sales
promotional techniques.

Classified ads: Is a substantial source of revenue for newspapers. The ads are arranged
under subheads that describe the class of goods or the needs that the ads seek to satisfy.
Such ads provide a community market-place for goods, services and opportunities of every
type-real estate, autos, matrimonial, domestic help, coaching, employment, business
opportunities, etc.

Business and Professionals Advertising

This type of advertising is aimed at re-sellers and professionals such as architects, lawyers,
doctors, etc. the media used is direct mail or professional journals.

Trade Advertising: Trade advertising is used to promote products to re-sellers,

encouraging them to stock the product. Unless the product is available with retailers,
consumers will not have the opportunity to purchase it. Manufacturers emphasise the
profitability of stocking their product to retailers and the consumer demand that will
ensure a high turnover of the product.
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Industrial Advertising: manufacturers are buyers of machinery, equipment, raw materials

and consumables in producing the finished products that they sell. The advertisements
under this category use media such as industry publications, direct mail, telephone,
internet, and trader fairs. This helps reduce personal selling costs and efforts and speeds up
sales of industrial products.

Professional Advertising: Professional advertising is directed toward people who are not
the final consumers. Many professionals such as architects, engineers, medical
consultants, etc., often make the final purchase decision on behalf of their clients. The
advertising media used for such ads are professional journals, direct mail and, in rare
instances, mass media.

Corporate or Institutional Advertising: corporate advertising is an extension of the

public relations function and does not promote any specific product or service. It aims to
build and maintain the image of a company or institution. Example- sponsorship of various
major sports events by large organisations is aimed at image building of sponsors.
Organisations and brands are meant to strengthen mutual credibility which is an essential
prerequisite for inculcating faith in the customers mind about the product or the specific
brand. Brands, by themselves, often lose their significance unless their association with the
marketer does not produce authenticity.

Non Product Advertising

1. Idea Advertising
Advertising, being a powerful communication tool, is often used to influence special interest
groups and sway public opinion. Environmental issues, population explosion, declining natural
resources, road safety measures, child labour, human rights, dowry, equal status to women and
many other issues are examples for which mass media advertising has increased in recent years.
2. Service Advertising
Marketing of services is on the increase as more and more specialists in different fields are
available. We live in a complex society that needs innumerable services. Example- there is need
for medical and healthcare services, financial services, educational services, childcare services,
hospitality services, transportation services, repair and maintenance services, psychiatric and
counselling services, domestic help and many other services. The need for a variety of services
seems to be ever increasing. Service advertising is more difficult than product advertising. What
the service provider is trying to sell is basically the expertise in some field.
Role/ Functions and benefits of Advertising
The role of advertising depends on how much importance is attributed to advertising relative to
other promotion mix elements in the companys marketing programme. This would be determined
by considering various factors such as consumer behaviour, competitive situation, product
category, etc.
The various functions of advertising can thus be listed as below:
Stimulates demands:
Develops brand preference:
Lower Prices:
Information:
Innovation:

strengthens other promotion mix elements:

Cuts costs:
Competitive weapon:
Brand image building
Growth of media:
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ADVERTISING APPROPRIATION
Advertising appropriation is an important concept in marketing which mainly focuses on
advertising expenditure or budget and their proportion with total marketing budget or
expenditure .their are many factors or elements which we should consider to explain and apply
the concept of advertising appropriation in organisation as well as academic to teach.
Definition:
Advertising appropriation is the part of the total marketing expenditure or budget that is allocated
for advertising for a specific period of time. It also can refer as advertising budget.
The portion of the total marketing budget that is allocated to advertising over a specific time
period. The advertising appropriation policy for a company may be based on any one of a number
of approaches. For example, spending an amount on advertising that is a fixed percentage of sales
or based on the ad spend level of the competition.
Amount allocated for advertising in an accounting period. It may be based on any one of
the methods given under advertising appropriation methods
Advertising appropriation methods
(1) Affordable method,
(2) Competitive parity method,
(3) Objectives and task method, and (4) Percentage of sales method.
1. Affordable method:
One of the methods of determine advertising appropriation is to find out what the company can
afford in a given business situation. It envisages that advertising appropriation is possible only
when the company has met all other a priori claims. This method helps in financial discipline.
However advertising opportunities are usually overlooked and get neglected because advertising
expenses are deemed to is unaffordable.
2. Competitive parity method:
This method envisages determination of advertising appropriation in such a way that a company
maintains parity with its competitors advertising outlays. Maintenance of competitive parity in
the appropriate levels considerably reduces the possibilities of advertising wars among the
competitors. Let us take the example of Tea and Coffee industry to analyse for this method. It can
be seen that this industry every player wants to increase his or her advertising outlay due to
intensive competition. Let us take each player in the industry:
3. Objectives and tasks method:
Advertising objectives are set for the coming budget period and the cost for achieving these
objectives are calculated in detail in terms of the tasks to be performed, the total of which
indicates the appropriation level. This method involves:
Defining advertising objectives as far as possible in quantitative terms
Outlining and listing tasks to be performed in achieving objectives and
Estimating the cost of performing these tasks.
4.Percentage of Sales method:
The relationship between the advertising expenses and sales revenue as indicated by a percentage
of sales is used in this method. The equation is as follows:
The sales on which advertising appropriation is based may be historical immediate past years or
an average of past years or anticipated, or both. Percentage figure, on the other hand, may be
arrived at on the basis of managements historical experience, judgment, or industry practice. For
example a company may appropriate Rs. 1 lacs advertising, which may be 2 percent of the
preceding years sales of Rs. 50 lacs
15

Fixed sum method:

Advertising appropriation is based on rupee sales, on the physical volume of either past or future
sales. It is calculated by multiplying the fixed sum to the number of items sold or to be sold. It is
therefore, does not consider price changes, which are reflected, in the sales revenue.
Percentage of Profit method:
The expense multiplier is related to profits instead of sales, with profit providing even more
assurance than sales as a potential reservoir from which advertising funds may be appropriated.
Advertising by companies in Tea and Coffee
Company
Ad. Spend In Rs. Crore
Consolidated coffee
9.84
Nestle India
108.51
Lipton India
21.80
Tata Tea
73.47
Returns on Investment method:
Advertising needs to be considered more as investment on which a certain return in terms of profit
may be expected. Its appropriation level may be determined. When it is determined, advertising
competes with other investment alternatives for funds. In order to determine advertising
appropriation in this manner, the present worth of the stream of profits generated by advertising
should be compared with the cost of the funds.
The Marginal model:
This model developed by Semlow in respect of salesmen may also provide a base on which
advertising appropriation may be determined. Semlows formula may be applied to advertising as:
increase the unit of advertising expenditure profitably if the sales margin obtained by the
additional units, times the expected gross profit margin of these sales, minus the additional
expenditure is greater then zero.
Where
S
P
C

= sales volume that each additional unit of advertising expenditure will be

Expected to produce
= the expected profit margin on the sales volume so generated and
= the total expenditure on the additional units of the advertisement

Decision calculus:
Computer Decision Support Systems (DSSs) such as ADBUDG help structure budget decision
systematically. Managers provide subjective input about, for example, the impact of increasing or
decreasing advertising spending by 50 percent. The computer program then estimates consumer
response and solve for optimal spending. Although using solely subjective data produces results
that are hard to sell to others. DSSs that combine judgment with data have facilitated decision
making and promise to be more useful in the futures.
ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS PROCESS OF ADVERTISING:
Advertising campaigns are the groups of advertising messages which are similar in nature. They
share same messages and themes placed in different types of medias at some fixed times. The time
frames of advertising campaigns are fixed and specifically defined.
The very prime thing before making an ad campaign is to knowWhy you are advertising and what are you advertising ?
16

Why refers to the objective of advertising campaign. The objective of an advertising campaign is
to

Inform people about your product

Convince them to buy the product

Make your product available to the customers

Here are eight steps you can follow to keep your advertising campaign on track and successful:
1.Market research: Before you even start thinking about where you might want to place an ad or
even what it could look like, its important to do at least some basic research. Even if you arent in
a position to bring in an expensive research firm, you can ask your current customers questions
about why they come back to you, as well as taking a close look at your target demographics
needs and interests.
2.Budgeting: Your business probably has a set advertising budget for the year but how do you
divvy it up between your various advertising projects? For each project youre planning, you need
to be clear on just how much money youre willing to spend. Youll almost certainly change
exactly how you divide it between costs like copy writing and design, but you can treat the overall
amount as set in stone. Write it down and put it in your project folder.
3.Setting goals: The aims you have in mind for a particular advertising project need to be written
down ahead of time. While its good to be ambitious, its also important to decide what constitutes
a successful advertising campaign for your business. Sales can be the simplest metric: if youre
advertising a particular product, how many units will you need to sell to pay for that campaign?
4.Advertising venue: The website, tv station, newspaper, radio station, magazine or other
advertising venue you place your ad with is a crucial decision. Youll need to look at not only the
cost of your preferred venues but also whether they reach your target demographic. Ad buys can
make up a significant portion of your budget. Deciding on where you will place your ads first tells
you how much money youll have left over for actually creating your ad.
5.Choosing creative: Unless youre planning to write, shoot and design every part of your ad,
youll probably need to bring in some help. Finding the right freelancers for each aspect requires
checking through portfolios and rates if you can find a business or freelancer who can handle
all aspects of creating your ad, even if that means subcontracting, it can save you a lot of time.
Youll also want to make sure that you find any talent youll need for your ad (voice actors for
radio, models for photography and so on).
6.Design and wording: While you may not have a lot of actual writing and designing to do for
your ad, during the creation process you will need to review and sign off on different stages of the
project. When starting with a new designer or other creative, make sure that you both know any
expectations for timelines and progress checks.
7.Placing the ad: Once you have a finished ad in hand, its time to actually place it with your
preferred advertising venue. You may have a few contracts to sign and a check to hand over.
Youll also want to make sure you actually see your ad once its run from a newspaper, for
instance, youll want to see the tear sheets of pages containing your ad.
8.Evaluation: Depending on your ad, how you evaluate it can vary. If it included a coupon, for
instance, you can simply count how many customers brought in the coupon. For other ads, you
may be simply comparing sales before, during and after your advertising campaign. Spend as
much time on analyzing how your advertising campaign worked as you can. That information can
point you to more effective uses of advertising in the future.
Mostly used media tools are print media and electronic media. Print media includes newspaper,
magazines, pamphlets, banners, and hoardings. Electronic media includes radio, television, emails, sending message on mobiles, and telephonic advertising. The only point to remember is
17

getting a proper frequency for the ad campaign so that the ad is visible and grasping time for
customers is good enough.
All campaigns do not have fix duration. Some campaigns are seasonal and some run all year
round. All campaigns differ in timings. Some advertising campaigns are media based, some are
area based, some are product based, and some are objective based. It is seen that generally
advertising campaigns run successfully, but in case if the purpose is not solved in any case, then
the theory is redone, required changes are made using the experience, and the remaining campaign
is carried forward.
STP STRATEGIES FOR ADVERTISING
STP Advertising is a three-step approach to building a targeted Advertising plan. The "S" stands
for segmenting, the "T" for targeting and the "P" for positioning. Going through this process
allows a business owner and advertising consultants or employees to formulate a advertising
strategy that ties company, brand and product benefits to specific customer advertise segments
Segmenting : The segmenting step is essentially a brainstorming activity. You list out all the
potential advertise segments you could target in a advertising campaign. Niche advertising
agency sometimes have only one target ad, while other advertising agencyes may have five
or 10 possible segments, or more. Cell phone providers, for instance, often separate
customers by benefits. Some buyers want high-tech gadgetry while others want dependable
communication for travel and emergencies.
Targeting : Once the consumer market has been divided into segments, the marketer proceeds to
the second step of picking exactly who he should target. The targeting stage involved
matching the abilities of the marketing plan with the needs of the consumers. Factors like
segment size, growth and investment must be considered to ensure the plan doesn't
overreach or underachieve. Return on investment is also considered in this phase to make
sure the target market is worth advertising to.
When you have multiple, distinct ad segments, you typically need to customize advertising
campaigns that appeal to each. As you go through the STP process, you select which segment to
target with your upcoming campaign. The targeting stage involved matching the abilities of the
advertising plan with the needs of the customers. Factors like segment size, growth and
investment must be considered to ensure the plan doesn't overreach or underachieve. Return on
investment is also considered in this phase to make sure the target market is worth advertising to.
Positioning : The final stage in the STP strategy is positioning the ad in the market. Positioning is
based on price, ad competition, and end-goal strategy. Positioning is how you align your ad
in the target market. The goal is to offer something that is bigger, better or more valuable
than your competitors to a particular ad segment.
Implementation : Once you have strategized using the STP process, the next step is to implement
your advertising tasks to achieve intended goals. If you want to increase ad awareness
within an emerging market, you would design ads that introduce your brand and develop an
image. You pick media commonly used by that target group. If you are a new outdoor sports
gear retailer, for instance, you would create print, radio, TV, magazine, Internet or other ads
that promote your quality or value to campers, hunters or outdoor enthusiasts.
ADVERTISING AGENCIES

18

The work of a tailor is to collect the raw material, find matching threads, cut the cloth in desired
shape, finally stitch the cloth and deliver it to the customer.
Advertising Agency is just like a tailor. It creates the ads, plans how, when and where it should be
delivered and hands it over to the client. Advertising agencies are mostly not dependent on any
organizations.
An advertising agency or ad agency or advert agency is a service based business dedicated to
creating, planning, and handling advertising (and sometimes other forms of promotion) for its
clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the
effort of selling the client's products or services. An agency can also handle
overall marketing and branding strategies and sales promotions for its clients.
The first Advertising Agency was William Taylor in 1786 followed by James Jem White in
1800 in London and Reynell & Son in 1812.
Role of Advertising Agencies
1. Creating an advertise on the basis of information gathered about product
2. Doing research on the company and the product and reactions of the customers.
3. Planning for type of media to be used, when and where to be used, and for how much time
to be used.
4. Taking the feedbacks from the clients as well as the customers and then deciding the
further line of action
Types of advertising agencies
Ad agencies come in all sizes and include everything from one or two-person shops (which rely
mostly on freelance talent to perform most functions [citation needed]), small to medium sized agencies
such as Traction (agency), large independents such as SMART and multi-national, multi-agency
conglomerates such as Omnicom Group, WPP Group, Publics, Interpublic Group of
Companies and Haves.
Full service agencies]
These agencies are involved in planning, creating, producing advertisements, performing research
and selecting media. Some full service agencies also provide non-advertising related services
including strategic market planning, direct market promotion programs, interactive marketing and
web site design, and public relations. The importance of the various functions provided by a full
service agency will depend upon the client.
Some very large full service agencies run their own marketing research departments. There are
also many professional services with local and national networks which work closely with the
agencies, do commissioned research in specific geographic areas, income levels, consumption
patterns, product groups, etc.
Creative agencies]
Creative agencies specialize in "creative" or design-based business models and are also known as
a "creative boutique". Their basic interest is in the creation of the advertisement or branding.
Other ("full-service") agencies offer design in conjunction with media buying. Media
agencies concentrate on media buying. The client who chooses to use a design only based
advertising agency must assume some of the advertising purchasing. These are activities that are
routinely handled by an agency with a media buying option.

19

Specialized agencies
These agencies specialized in a particular activity of the whole communication process. They may
specialize in certain functions (copy, art, media), audiences (minority youth) or industries (health,
computers) or in a marketing communication area (direct marketing, sales promotion, public
relation). These type of agencies may serve one client only.
In-house advertising agencies
An In-House agency is a team within a company that focuses on selling the company's product;
they will handle all aspects of the brand.
Digital agencies (formerly known as interactive agencies or new media agencies)
Interactive agencies may differentiate themselves by offering a mix of web design / web
development, search
engine
marketing, internet advertising/marketing,
or e-business/ecommerce consulting, AR Advertising. Interactive agencies rose to prominence before traditional
advertising agencies fully embraced the Internet. Offering a wide range of services, some of the
interactive agencies grew very rapidly, although some have downsized just as rapidly due to
changing market conditions. Today, the most successful interactive agencies are defined as
companies that provide specialized advertising and marketing services for the digital space.
Social media agencies
Social media agencies specialize in promotion of brands in the various social media platforms like
blogs, social networking sites, Q&A sites, discussion forums, and microblogs. The three key
services of social media agencies are:
Social media marketing
Online reputation management

Healthcare communications agencies

Healthcare communications agencies specialize in strategic communications and marketing
services for the Healthcare and Life Science industries. These agencies distinguish themselves
through an understanding of the strict labeling and marketing guidelines mandated by the U.S.
Food
and
Drug
Administration (FDA)
and
industry
group
guidelines,
notably ADVAMED and PHARMA.
Medical education agencies
Medical education agencies specialize in creating educational content for the healthcare and life
science industries. These agencies typically specialize in one of two areas:

Promotional education education and training materials tied to the promotion of a given
product or therapy
Continuing medical education accredited education and training materials created for
continuing physician and medical professional education

Other agencies
While not advertising agencies, enterprise technology agencies often work in tandem with
advertising agencies to provide a specialized subset of services offered by some interactive
agencies: Web 2.0 website design and development, Content management systems, web
application development, and other intuitive technology solutions for the web, mobile devices and
emerging digital platforms.
ADVERTISING AGENCIES ORGANISATION:
20

Organizational Structure of Advertising Agency

Advertising agency must have a suitable internal organizational structure to keep functioning
properly with a smooth workflow. All advertising agencies dont have a same organizations are
unique and their objectives, requirements, functional areas and specialized departments are not
common.

The main functional departments of the advertising agency:

21

22

23

24

25

CLIENT AGENCY RELATIONSHIP IN ADVERTISING

The client agency relationship starts when the client appoints the advertising agency for making
an ad. It continues as long as the agency provides services to the client. Such a relation should
always be cordial. There should be mutual trust, confidence and understanding between the two
parties. This is because the basic objectives of both parties are the same. i.e. to make a successful
ad.
Lack of mutual trust will be harmful to both the parties. It is therefore, necessary to maintain
cordial relations between the client and agency.

Meaningful two way communication is required for maintain friendly client agency
relationship
For maintain a good relationship both parties have to make special efforts
The approach of give and take is required for maintaining relations over a long period.
Suggestions for both
the parties (clientagency)

Client Agency
Relationship
Advice to the Ad
Agency

Guide lines for the

client (Advertiser)

Important guidelines or suggestions for maintaining a cordial client agency- relationship are
grouped under following three categories:
Suggestions for both the parties (client and agency)
Guidelines for the client (advertiser), and
Advice to the ad agency
Suggestions for both parties to maintain client agency- relationship are as follows:
1. There should be a mutual understanding between client and agency.
2. Misunderstanding or confusion, if any, between the two parties should be improved
quickly through direct talks.
3. The agency should work sincerely and honestly to bring a success to the clients and
campaign.
4. Both parties should follow the terms and conditions of the contract properly.
5. There should be a good communication between the two parties. Hence, meeting between
client and agency shall be arranged regularly.
6. There should be good relations between them.
Guidelines for the advertiser to preserve client agency relationship:
1. Treat the agency with courtesy at all times and never hurt its ego.
26

2. Provide all possible information about the product which is advertised and about the
organisation. This helps the agency to make a better ad.
3. Dont unnecessarily bargain for the fees charged by the agency.
4. Motivate the agency to do a good work . its charges such as media bills, fees and other
costs must be paid well in time. The client should not wait for the agency to remind him
about the payment dues.
5. Dont change the agency without a proper reason.
6. Approve the proposals submitted by the agency. The client should not argue without a
proper reason.
7. Give sufficient time to the agency to develop a good ad campaign. The client should not
pressurize it to work quickly. He should avoid giving deadlines.
8. Reduce disputes to a minimum.
9. Finalize in advance the charges for a particular ad campaign.
10. Give the agency all necessary information that will help it to make a good ad campaign.
Advice to the agency to keep a good client agency relationship are listempaign:
1. It should make a very good advertising plan and must implement it efficiently and
effectively. However, first it must get the approval from the client.
2. It is the duty of the account exr the client
3. Discuss the ad fees with the client in advance to avoid disputes.
ACCOUNT PLANNING
Medium to large-sized advertising agencies divide their work into various departments,
traditionally splitting functions into interacting with clients and looking out for their interests
(account management), buying advertising (media), and creating advertising (creative). The
importance of the voice of the consumer has grown over time. Around the 1980s US ad agencies
introduced a new discipline from the UK called account planning which became a primary
function in most US ad agencies in the 90s. Account planning brings the consumer into the
process of developing advertising.
Account planning
Account planning, conceived in England during the late1960s, arrived in the United States in the
early 1980s, initially at agencies such as Chiat Day and J. Walter Thompson. Account planning is
part consumer research, part strategic planning, and part account management with a good
measure of creativity. Some people (planners among them) contend that account planning makes
advertising more relevant, more credible, and more distinctive. Many argue that the job of the
planner is to represent and interpret consumer wants and needs throughout the creative
development process. Planners develop a more profound understanding of brand equities and
target customers than anyone on the agency and marketing team. They conduct firsthand research
ranging from focus groups to in-home observations to psychologically-oriented projective tests.
They lead ideation sessions. They write creative briefs. Planners work closely with creative teams
to tell the story of why a consumer should choose one brand over competition.
Planning process
It is safe to say that the way planning works varies from agency to agency, and even within an
agency, from planner to planner. A typical account planning cycle starts with a study of the brief
from the client and secondary research, meaning any research that is currently available. Then the
planner must delve into the consumer and retrieve primary research that is applicable to the client
27

brief. The planner must brief the creative on the upcoming campaign. Understanding the brand
attitudes and its individual elements is important to the diagnostic research. At this point all the
information must be funneled into a creative brief and presented to the creative team. It is
important that the account planner rationalize the advertising and its message to the client. Once
chosen or approved by the client the planner can take steps to pre-test the ads to ensure that the
research, branding, message recall and ideas of the consumer are appropriately applied and at
satisfactory levels. The account planners job never ends. Once the advertising is public the
planner must constantly evaluate the campaign for effectiveness, so that changes can be made if
necessary.
The accompanying chart illustrates one model for the account planning process. In this model,
planning begins with an analysis of the marketplace, the competition, a brands strengths and
weaknesses, pertinent demographics, psychographics and cultural trends. Analytical Ideation
refers to a method that borrows from linguistics, psychology, anthropology, traditional ideation,
and classic marketing to provide a springboard for new strategies and research questions.
Customer research may include qualitative and/or quantitative inquires. The Creative Work
Plan is the blueprint for creative development; it incorporates all of the learning and insights
generated thus far. Creative Development gives life to the analytical work upon which it is
based. An evaluative phase of strategies and creative work is often built into the account planning
process at critical junctures.

Because all agencies differ and each planner brings a personal expertise to an assignment, the
planning process is varied in content and scope. Whatever the model, with the right analysis and
insights, planners unlock potential in brands that might never be tapped without their guidance. It
is often argued that account planning, part of many disciplines and a discipline of its own, simply
makes advertising better.
Account planning and professional advertising agencies
Account planning, either as an operating philosophy or as a freestanding department, is common
to virtually every major consumer advertising agency. Given its strengths, it is surprising that
28

professional agencies have not adopted it. Yet there may be a simple explanation for why planning
is not generally found in professional agency suites. Professional ad agencies often hire account
managers with experience in pharmaceutical sales, a reasonable decision given the target of most
of their communications efforts. These managers often believe that their firsthand experience as
sales representatives provides them with a thorough understanding of their professional target.
After watching a focus group or two, they feel they have all the information they need to guide
creative work. Whether or not this assumption is valid, there is no question that this approach is
less effective when defining creative direction for campaigns targeting patients/consumers. Such
targets lead complex lives. They have heartfelt attitudes about their illness, or wellness, in the case
of vanity drugs such as Propecia for baldness. They have unique relationships with their health
care providers. This is where account planners, who specialize in accessing consumer thoughts
and emotions, bring critical value.
For account planning to work, it must be championed by top agency management and embraced
by account managers and creative personnel. Cooperation and mutual respect between agency
research managers and account planners is essential. Account planners must become leaders of the
strategic planning process and partners in the creative development process. They must also take a
leading role in new business because planners help mine insights that can win a pitch. At the same
time, account planners should not be viewed as the saviours of an agencys poor creative or
disappointing new business performance. Unreasonable expectations of account planners will
bring frustration and make it difficult for planners to do what they do best.
Account planners, strategic planners, planners
"The account planner is that member of the agency's team who is the expert, through background,
training, experience, and attitudes, at working with information and getting it used - not just
marketing research but all the information available to help solve a client's advertising problems."
- Stanley Pollitt
"Planners are involved and integrated in the creation of marketing strategy and ads. Their
responsibility is to bring the consumer to the forefront of the process and to inspire the team to
work with the consumer in mind. The planner has a point of view about the consumer and is not
shy about expressing it." - Fortini-Campbell
According to Fortini-Campbell, there are five main roles that an account planner must fulfill;

First, they must discover and define the advertising task. They have the job of organizing
information about the consumer and the marketplace from every possible source, including
the client and agency data and secondary research.

Second, they prepare the creative brief. The creative brief is the tool that the creative
department uses to conceptualize ads. Another main purpose of the brief is to define the
proper positioning of a brand.

Third, they are involved in creative development. During creative conceptualization, it is

the account planner's duty to represent the consumer. They may also interact with the
creative department through the sharing of initial consumer responses to ad ideas or
advertising approaches.
29

Fourth, they must present the advertising to the client. The planner informs the client of
"how and why a consumer will react to advertising."

Finally, they track the advertising's performance. Through their follow-up research,
account planners track reactions to the ads in the actual marketplace and provide Creative
with additional information.

The account planner is the bridge between the business side to the creative side of a marketing
campaign. On the business side, the planner works with the account manager to understand what
the client is looking for and then relate that to what the consumer wants. On the creative side, the
planner helps to create an expressive snapshot or a single-minded directional creative brief to lead
the way to the drawing board.
A good account planner is inspiring by nature, passionate for advertising and has respect for
creativity. They are intuitive and curious about consumers and relationships. Planners must be
educated in marketing and research techniques. Secretly planners must be little detectives looking
for truth and understanding. They must also be numerate, imaginative, and creditable when it
comes to translating and presenting research.
HOW TO MANAGE Ad Agency
The advertising industry is competitive and demanding, so effective advertising agency
management is essential to stay ahead of your competitors. Here are some strategies on how to
manage an ad agency.
1
Develop a strong mission statement. : Manage an advertising agency using a strong
mission statement that stresses the importance of excellence and meeting client goals according to
industry standards and trends. Emphasize this mission to employees so it influences every task
they complete.
2
Focus on client satisfaction: An advertising agency can't be successful without satisfied
clients, so maintain this as your primary management goal. Meeting the needs of individual clients
requires you and your staff to pay attention to client concerns and give each project individual
attention according to the size and nature of the project.
3
Educate employees continuously:Manage ad agency staff successfully by encouraging
them to continuously expand their skill set within the industry by taking courses and completing
further advertising education.Sign up for regular seminar sessions, like the ones offered by
Fortune and Forbes, that offer news and education about advertising industry trends and changes.
4
Recruit new talent. : Recent college graduates will provide a fresh perspective on the
advertising industry. Manage your ad agency by establishing an internship program with
colleges and universities that offer advertising or business degrees, so you can recruit fresh talent
for your staff.
5
Consider freelancers.: Freelance advertising designers can bring new talent to your
agency for specific projects. Working with freelance staff can open your agency up to dealing with
new markets and clients.
6
Stay informed about the industry.: Sign up for regular newsletters that contain
information about news and trends related to the advertising industry and ad agency management.
Educating yourself will equip you with the knowledge you need to effectively manage your team.

30

7
Establish budget guidelines. : Keep ad agency projects within a budget that is practical
for you and still meets the needs of your client. Meet with agency accounting staff regularly to
assess the firm's spending and correct any overspending.
8
Meet with staff regularly. :Hold meetings as a group or meet with individual departments
within the agency on a regular basis. This will allow you to brief the staff on news, discuss any
interoffice issues or problems and help you establish your position as a manager.
9
Focus on your clients. : Choose one market or niche group of clients to focus on.
Establishing a successful reputation for your agency in 1 or 2 key markets will allow you to
expand into larger markets and attract clients with bigger advertising projects.
10
Utilize e-mail : You can send inspirational messages, updates about important clients and
projects and obtain status reports about upcoming deadlines.
ROLE OF ADVERTISING IN NATURAL DEVELOPMENT
Advertising serves the society in the following ways.:
(i) Employment generation ; Advertising provides direct employment to a large number of
people engaged in designing, writing and issuing advertisements. Indirectly, advertising increases
employment opportunities by increasing the volume of production and distribution. By promoting
exports advertising helps the country in earning valuable foreign exchange.
(ii) Higher standard of living : Advertising improves the standard of living of the people by
promoting variety and quality in consumption. It educates people about new uses of products and
provides information for developing better ways of life. To quote Franklin D. Roosevelt, the late
President of America, "advertising brings to the greatest number of people actual knowledge
concerning useful things, it is essentially a form of education and the progress of civilization
depends on education."
(iii) Sustains the press ; Advertising provides an important source of revenue to newspapers,
magazines, radio and television. As a result public gets news at lower rates and the circulation of
newspapers and magazines increases. Press is the guardian of public opinion and by helping it to
remain independent, advertising promotes liberty and democracy in the country. By subsidizing
the press, advertising serves as a bright symbol of freedom of choice.
(iv) Stimulates research and development: Advertising can be successful only when it is backed
by new and better products. To derive maximum benefit from advertising in the competitive
market, every producer tries to differentiate his products from the competitive products. Big
business firms have research and development departments to develop new products and new
uses. Research and development becomes necessary also to maximize efficiency and to minimize
cost of production. In the absence of advertising and mass distribution, many products would
remain confined to the laboratory. By promoting research and development, advertising helps in
the process of rapid industrialization.
(v) Incentive to progress: Advertising is a great motivating force. People are induced to work
hard and earn more to buy new products brought to their knowledge through advertising.
(vi) Art and culture : Advertising promotes the creative energies of people required in designing
and developing advertisements. Commercial art is largely the creation of advertising. Advertising
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provides a glimpse of national life, a running commentary on the way people live and work.
Advertising also provides entertainment to the public. Many sponsored programs on radio and
television have become very popular due to their entertainment and aesthetic value.
MEASURING/ TESTING OF ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS
Advertising is one of the most expensive elements in the marketing mix, whether print, broadcast
or online. And because of the fickle and subjective nature of advertising, seemingly great ideas
can flop, while unexpected approaches surprise even the most experienced marketers. With all
financial investment at stake, it makes sense to gain insight into customer reaction.
There are a variety of options for advertising testing. The extent of testing depends on the
expected advertising budget-both ad production and placement.
Most experts agree on two broad types of advertising testing: concept testing and copy testing.
Concept testing is sometimes called pre-testing, and is generally exploratory using headlines,
rough layouts or storyboards. Concept testing typically uses qualitative research techniques
including focus groups or depth interviews to gain insight into effective ad concepts, identify
problems or issues, or to generate new ad concepts.
In contrast, copy testing evaluates different executions of an advertising campaign using finished
(or close to finished) ad executions. Copy testing typically employs quantitative research
techniques including surveys to measure recall or recognition. Larger sample sizes can provide a
level of statistical validity decisions that may be important with larger investments.
Whats more, you may use both types of testing for an important or expensive advertising
campaign, using concept testing for the early stages of campaign development, and copy testing to
select the final ad option.
Finally, advanced copy testing using quantitative techniques can also involve physiological
measures including eye-movement analysis, galvanic skin-response methods and brain-wave
analysis. Although I will suggest these are too complex or expensive for most requirements.
PREPARATION AND CHOICE OF METHODS OF ADVERTISING BUDGET:
Advertising Budget: The advertising budget of a business is typically a subset of the larger sales
budget and, within that, the marketing budget. Advertising is a part of the sales and marketing
effort. Money spent on advertising can also be seen as an investment in building up the
business.
In order to keep the advertising budget in line with promotional and marketing goals, a business
owner should start by answering several important questions:

Who is the target consumer? Who is interested in purchasing the product or service, and
what are the specific demographics of this consumer (age, employment, sex, attitudes, etc.)?
Often it is useful to compose a consumer profile to give the abstract idea of a "target
consumer" a face and a personality that can then be used to shape the advertising message.

What media type will be most useful in reaching the target consumer?

What is required to get the target consumer to purchase the product? Does the product lend
itself to rational or emotional appeals? Which appeals are most likely to persuade the target
consumer?
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What is the relationship between advertising expenditures and the impact of advertising
campaigns on product or service purchases? In other words, how much profit is likely to be
earned for each dollar spent on advertising?

Answering these questions will help to define the market conditions that are anticipated and identify
specific goals the company wishes to reach with an advertising campaign. Once this analysis of the
market situation is complete, a business must decide how best to budget for the task and how best to
allocate budgeted funds.
BUDGETING METHODS
There are several allocation methods used in developing a budget. The most common are listed
below:

Percentage of Sales method

Objective and Task method

Competitive Parity method

Market Share method

Unit Sales method

All Available Funds method

Affordable method

Percentage of Sales Method

Due to its simplicity, the percentage of sales method is the most commonly used by small
businesses. When using this method an advertiser takes a percentage of either past or anticipated
sales and allocates that percentage of the overall budget to advertising. But critics of this method
charge that using past sales for figuring the advertising budget is too conservative, that it can stunt
growth. However, it might be safer for a small business to use this method if the ownership feels
that future returns cannot be safely anticipated. On the other hand, an established business, with
well-established profit trends, will tend to use anticipated sales when figuring advertising
expenditures. This method can be especially effective if the business compares its sales with those
of the competition (if available) when figuring its budget.
Objective and Task Method
Because of the importance of objectives in business, the task and objective method is considered by
many to make the most sense and is therefore used by most large businesses. The benefit of this
method is that it allows the advertiser to correlate advertising expenditures with overall marketing
objectives. This correlation is important because it keeps spending focused on primary business
goals.
With this method, a business needs to first establish concrete marketing objectives, often articulated
in the "selling proposal," and then develop complementary advertising objectives articulated in the
"positioning statement." After these objectives have been established, the advertiser determines how
much it will cost to meet them. Of course, fiscal realities need to be figured into this methodology as
well.
Competitive Parity Method
While keeping one's own objectives in mind, it is often useful for a business to compare its
advertising spending with that of its competitors. The theory here is that if a business is aware of
how much its competitors are spending to advertise their products and services, the business may
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wish to budget a similar amount on its own advertising by way of staying competitive. Doing as
one's competitor does is not, of course, always the wisest course. And matching another's
advertising budget dollar for dollar does not necessarily buy one the same marketing outcome.
Much depends on how that money is spent. However, gauging one's advertising budget on other
participants' in the same market is a reasonable starting point.
Market Share Method
Similar to competitive parity, the market share method bases its budgeting strategy on external
market trends. With this method a business equates its market share with its advertising
expenditures. Critics of this method contend that companies that use market share numbers to arrive
at an advertising budget are ultimately predicating their advertising on an arbitrary guideline that
does not adequately reflect future goals.
Unit Sales Method
This method takes the cost of advertising an individual item and multiplies it by the number of units
the business wishes to sell. This method is only effective, of course, when the cost of advertising a
single unit can be reasonably determined.
All Available Funds Method
This aggressive method involves the allocation of all available profits to advertising purposes. This
can be risky for a business of any size it means that no money is being used to help the business
grow in other ways (purchasing new technologies, expanding the work force, etc.). Yet this
aggressive approach is sometimes useful when a start-up business is trying to increase consumer
awareness of its products or services. However, a business using this approach needs to make sure
that its advertising strategy is an effective one and that funds which could help the business expand
are not being wasted.
Affordable Method
With this method, advertisers base their budgets on what they can afford. Of course, arriving at a
conclusion about what a small business can afford in the realm of advertising is often a difficult
task, one that needs to incorporate overall objectives and goals, competition, presence in the market,
unit sales, sales trends, operating costs, and other factors.
ETHICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN ADVERTISING
Advertising must follow certain moral principles, certain rules and should not degrade or
adversely comment on the other products and brands. It should highlight the positive points of its
own products and be of good standard. It should not be offensive and in bad taste. It should not
predict the sex of an unborn child and keep away from the unwanted practices adopted by the
advertisers. Advertising should not be untruthful, deceptive and should not misguide the
consumers.
Following are the Ethical and Social issues in advertising:
1. In todays world of cut throat competition every organization is investing heavily in
advertising. Advertising is necessary to make anew product popular in the market and to increase
the sales of existing brands. Advertising plays an important role in brand building and informing
public about available products so that they can make informing public about available products
so that they can make informed choice among different products or brands.
2. Advertising is a powerful medium of mass communication. As advertising is a form of
mass communication and just like other popular forms it too has some social and ethical issues
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with it. However, the question is whether advertising fulfil its social responsibilities or not.
Advertisements are meant for the masses and people relate Advertisements are meant for the
masses and people relate them selves with this medium. Thus, for understanding its
responsibilities towards the public, its positive and the negative aspects is of prime importance.
3. Positive and Negative Aspects of Advertising: As like any other medium of mass
communication, advertising also have positive as well as negative aspects. Advertising increases
sales, advertising makes the product popular, advertising helps in brand formation, advertising
makes the public aware with the available brands or products. Advertising is the largest financial
source for mass media. Advertising is sometimes subjected to wide criticism. Many of the
advertisements are criticized as deceptive or manipulative. Other criticism focus on the social or
environmental impact of advertising, the effect of advertising on our value system, commercial
clutter, stereotypes, and offensiveness.
4. Deceptive advertising or false advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in
advertising. As advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that
they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false,
deceptive or misleading advertising. "Truth" refers to essentially the same concept, that customers
have the right to know what they are buying, and that customers have the right to know what they
are buying, and that all necessary information should be on the label.
5. Ethics means a set of moral principles which govern a persons behaviour or activities.
Ethics in advertising means a set of well defined principles which govern the ways of
communication taking place between the seller and buyer. Advertising benefits advertisers in
many ways; similarly it makes the public aware with the available brands so that they can make
Advertising benefits advertisers in many ways; similarly it makes the public aware with the
available brands so that they can make informed choice among the available products or brands.
But, some of the advertisement doesnt match the ethical norms of advertising, such ads causes
political, cultural, or moral harm to society. Ethical ad is one which is in the limit of decency,
makes no false claims, and doesnt lie.
6. Nowadays advertisements are highly exaggerated and a lot of puffing is used. It seems like
the main area of interest for advertisers is to increase their sales, gain maximum market share,
prove their product best in the market by presenting a well decorated, colourful, and puffed
advertisement.
7. Ethical and Moral principles of Advertising: Advertisers must have sufficient knowledge
of ethical norms and principles, so that they can understand and decide what is correct and what is
wrong. We can identify several ethical and moral principles that are particularly relevant to
advertising. We are speaking briefly of three as follows:-speaking briefly of three as follows :->>
Truthfulness in advertising;>> The dignity of the human person; and>> Social responsibility.
8. Truthfulness in Advertising: Truth in advertising promotes a highly efficient, functioning
economy by:>> Discouraging deceptive business practices;>> Encouraging the provision of
accurate and truthful information;>> Enhancing competition by ensuring a level playing field;
and>> Enabling informed consumer choice.
9. Advertising and Social Responsibility: Advertising has a strong social responsibility,
independent of its known commercial responsibility. Advertisers should have a deeper sense of
social responsibility and should develop their own set of ethical and social norms taking into
consideration the values of their society. values of their society.

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10. Meaning of Advertising Regulation: Advertising regulation refers to the laws and rules
defining the ways in which products can be advertised in a particular region. Rules can define a
wide number of different aspects such as ad placement, timing and content.
11. Regulations in different countries: United States - False advertising and health related ads
are regulated most. Sweden and Norway - Domestic ads that target children are prohibited .Some
European Countries dont allow sponsorship of children programs, no ads are targeted to children
under the age of twelve. United Kingdom - Tobacco ads on television, bill boards, or at sporting
events is banned. India - Alcohol and Tobacco ads are banned.
12. Self Regulation: The word Self refers to the actor. Here the actor can be accompany or a
group of companies acting collectively. Regulation refers to what the actor is doing. Regulation
has three components:-Legislation - to define appropriate rules, Enforcement - igniting actions
against violators, Adjudication - decision on violation and imposing an appropriate sanction.
Social & Ethical issues in Advertising -This time it seems like many of the advertisers lack
knowledge of ethical norms and principles. They dont understand what is right or wrong, and that
is by number of misleading and unethical ad is increasing. But, on the other side some advertisers
are giving importance to ethical norms and principles. When the ethical norms and principles are
followed, it makes the organization answerable for all its activities, reduces the chances of getting
pointed out by critics or any regulatory body, and helps in gaining confidence of the customer and
makes them trust organization and its products.

UNIT-3
MESSAGE DESIGN:

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A message is a discrete unit of data transmitted through various sensory abilities: sight, sound,
touch, taste, and smell. When data is received accurately, it becomes information. The transaction
is called communication. Messages are sent for a variety of purposes: to inform, to entertain, to
persuade, to anger, to soothe.
Message design is concerned with the clarity, accuracy, and conciseness of messages and their
design as a visual perception. Because so many variables exist in visualized instruction studies, a
single theory to predict learning efficiency and effectiveness is virtually impossible. The effect of
instruction seems to be a matter of types of visuals used, methods of cueing, relevant student
characteristics, methods of presentation, type of educational objectives achieved, and a whole host
of sociological, psychological and environmental factors. A need also exists to match these with
the main criteria of good message design which is a subset of instructional systems design.
Message design is the systematic and purposeful process of making decisions about
communication. This involves decisions about both the content (what) and the delivery (how)
of a message. Most of us make message design decisions either unconsciously or from habit:
whether we phone or send a note, whether we sit with our legs crossed or not, whether we speak
loudly or softly. Every decision about the messages we send, whether conscious or unconscious,
deliberate or haphazard, contributes either positively or negatively to the quality of
communication. While this approach to message design is sufficient in many situations, it is not
sufficient when the message in question is instruction.
BASIC CONCEPTS OF MESSAGE DESIGN
The concepts of message design draw from a variety of fields: psychology, cognition,
communication, applied design, fine arts, instruction, physiology and education. Since most
instructional materials are predominantly visual, concepts from the visual arts are most
appropriate.
According to Gregg Berryman, Gestalt perceptual psychology explains how the human mind
understands visual messages. It dictates seven principles of visual design:
- figure-ground (contrast facilitates perception)
- equilibrium (psychological fields move toward order, balance and efficiency)
- isomorphic correspondence (visual images recall personal experiences)
- closure (closed shapes are more stable)
- proximity (groupings are favored according to the nearness of parts)
- continuation (line of sight continues beyond a line)
- similarity (similar objects are defined by shape, size, color and direction)
Since the purpose of instruction is specific, I have modified the Gestalt principles to make them
more useful for instructional message design. The basic concepts of good instructional message
design are:
- grid-based design
- perceptibility (physiological and psychological)
- chunking and sequencing content
- spatial relationships (size and placement)
- secondary messages
- color
Grid-Based Design : The concept of grid-based design means that a consistent pattern of
organizing the components of the message underlies the presentation of the information. This
meets the human need for order and predictability, and allows the learner to focus their energies
on making sense of the instruction rather than making sense of the delivery medium. Small
differences in an established grid are perceived as annoying or sloppy. Large differences are
perceived as significant. Grid-based design applies at every level of design: to a group of
materials, to a book, to a page or to a single diagram. Consistency is a good synonym for the
concept of grid-based design. Without an obvious order to materials, learners spend their time and
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energy imposing their own sense of order on the content. When HPT professionals provide this
order, we make instruction more efficient.
Examples: Most of us know exactly where to turn in our favorite newspaper or magazine for the
feature cartoon (expository information). We know, without thinking, where to look on our pay
stub for our latest salary increase (feedback). Now, imagine how unsettling it would be for the
placement of either to change.
Perceptibility : Perception is essential for communication to occur. This means that the receiver
actually receives the message as intended. Perception has two components: sensory perception
and cognitive perception.
Sensory perception is physiological, and occurs through the senses of sight, sound, touch, taste
or smell. The term legibility, applied rather loosely here, is a good synonym for sensory
perception. It means that the receiver can see individual words or shapes, can hear sounds, or can
touch objects. Sensory perception can be distorted or blocked by various factors, primarily
problems with transmission, such as insufficient light for an overhead projector, or problems with
the receiver, such as color blindness.
Cognitive perception is mental, and occurs when the receiver understands the same meaning that
the sender transmitted. The term understanding is a good synonym for cognitive perception.
Cognitive perception can be blocked by various factors, including different meanings for the same
word or object, no prior exposure to a word or object, or inability to discern meaning.
Example: An electrical engineer for a major computer manufacturer attended a week-long process
improvement workshop at an off-site location. He returned to his job frustrated and confused. The
engineer, born and raised in the hills of Tennessee, attended a team focused workshop on Long
Island, NY with unfamiliar colleagues who were all eastern-seaboard natives. The differences in
accents and expressions was enough to hinder the engineers full participation and compromise
the benefits to him and the rest of the group. Remember that although perceptibility depends on
both the receiver and the sender, the sender has a larger degree of control over, and therefore
responsibility for, the message.
Chunking and Sequencing Content :Chunking and sequencing of content is one of the
fundamental considerations in executing an instructional strategy. Chunking refers to the
boundaries around discrete elements of instruction. Sequencing refers to the order of those
discrete elements. The importance of chunking and sequencing continues through to the
development of instructional materials. Each discrete element must make sense on its own, and a
group of elements must make sense collectively. Appropriate chunking and sequencing can be
hampered by layout or production considerations such as page limits.
Example: A popular book on instructional development provides job aids for most of the
development techniques explained in the text. Of the 87 job aids in the book, 29 are split across
pages simply to accommodate the layout of the book. Slight design modifications would reposition necessary page breaks and improve the usability and effectiveness of the remaining 58
job aids.
Spatial Relationships : Spatial relationships refer to the physical size and placement of elements
of a message. Two principles explain the perception of spatial relationships: the principle of size
and the principle of proximity. The principle of size means that the relationship of size of various
elements of a message correspond to the relationship in meaning (typically importance) of the
elements. In other words, bigger is better. The principle of proximity means that the relationship
in space of various elements of a message corresponds to the relationship in meaning of the
elements. In other words, the closer elements are in space, the closer they are in meaning.
Example: A job aid contained important definitions for a new process. The definitions were
printed in a four-column sheet of standard paper. Small line drawings accompanied many of the
definitions and provided needed clarification. Some drawings were placed at the beginning of the
definition, some in the middle of the definition, and some at the end of the definition. The lack of
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consistency, coupled with the distortion from the four-column layout, made it all but impossible to
discern which illustration accompanied which definition.
Secondary Messages : Secondary messages is a broad term that refers to the extra added
elements of a message. These secondary messages restate, clarify, strengthen or illustrate the real
message. They include graphics, pictures, sounds, models, videotapes, etc. Depending on the
nature of the message, we may refer to them as visual aids. Remember that secondary messages
should enhance the primary message, rather than replace, dominate or become the primary
message. Even statisticians understand the importance of a clear, simple message. Runyon et al.
(p. 207) warn against chart junk: superfluous visual information that is added to a chart that is
distracting and reduces the importance of the data. This has two implications: careful
consideration about what, how and when to enhance the primary message, and caution about not
confusing the primary and secondary messages. Frequently, these judgments are clouded by either
excitement about a particular media such as the newest presentation software or excitement about
a particular secondary message such as an engaging photograph.
Example: A financial services company instituted a monthly update meeting to encourage
interaction among the 80 middle managers at regional headquarters. Each month, various
managers would provide a 5-10 minute presentation to their peers, highlighting new developments
in their respective areas and answering questions from the audience. The presentations fell prey to
one-ups-man ship that resulted in elaborate computer-generated overhead slide shows with the
content presented in a full text format which were printed and distributed as a take-away for each
attendee. According to the grapevine, attendance dropped when managers realized that they could
skip the meeting but appear to stay current by simply reading the handouts of their colleagues.
Color
Human beings have the ability to distinguish subtle differences in colors which allows them to
recognize important differences among otherwise-similar elements. Color is more than a simple
and superficial decorative element. It conveys a powerful message about both physical conditions
and emotional meaning. Color has two components: the physiological component and the
emotional component. The physiological component refers to the interaction of light rays on the
surface of a material. There are two systems of color: light and pigment. Although the mechanics
of the two systems are quite different, the resulting colors interact in a similar manner. The
standard color wheel depicts the most basic dimension of color, hue, and illustrates several
relationships, or color schemes, among the basic colors.
The emotional component of color is perhaps the stronger component. Colors are perceived as
having temperature, such as warm or cool, weight such as heavy or light, and perspective, such as
receding or advancing. Color schemes are harmonious, like blue and green or exciting, like yellow
and purple. Western culture has assigned relatively standard meanings to many colors: blue ribbon
quality, green-back dollars, baby blue. Color is fun and adds interest and excitement to
instructional materials. Color must be evaluated in both its physical context and its emotional
context. At either level, color interacts with its surrounding; each influences the other. Color,
however, is rarely necessary for effective instruction. It is necessary only if color is central to the
learning objective, such as recognizing diseased tissue or learning labels for hazardous materials.
If color is necessary for instruction, the quality of the color is critical. Quality color reproduction
is expensive. If color is not necessary, it becomes simply a device for gaining or keeping attention.
Color is difficult to manage,
and because it is powerful, can easily overwhelm or distort the message. Remember, also, that
color blindness inhibits accurate reception of color in at least 10% of Americans.
Example: A utility company was developing a computer-based instructional game to teach
regulatory compliance standards. During the final prepilot review, two business unit managers
objected to some
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of the color choices. The managers were responsible for sign-off on the project and had not seen
design sketches or been involved in prior decisions. Almost 30% of the review time was
consumed by a discussion about the hair color of the female characters.
CREATIVE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT :
Its the creation of a message and design for whatever marketing piece, sales piece or
advertisement you need. It may be the idea for the theme of your next advertising campaign, the
humor behind your next banner ad, or the design and content for your marketing pieces that make
your customers sit up and take notice.
The creative concept is developed by the creative team and forms the core foundation or theme for
an advertising campaign. The creative concept is essentially the story behind the messages
presented in an ad or series of ads. It ties together the characters and elements in advertisements to
help convey a memorable and effective message that will create the desired behavioural response
from the target market. Humor, drama and action are often elements of a creative concept,
depending on what the company is attempting to communicate.
THE CREATIVE PROCESSES OF THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF IMC
The Creative Process
A number of marketing communication people have argued that creativity in marketing
communication is best viewed as a process and that creative success is most likely when some
organized approach is followed. While most marketing communication people reject and/or resist
attempts to standardise creativity or develop rules or guidelines to follow, most creative people do
follow some type of process when approaching the task of developing an advertisement.
The creative process contains five steps:
- Immersion
- Digestion
- Incubation
- Illumination
- Reality or verification
What Is Creativity?
Creativity is one of the most commonly used terms in marketing communication as those who
develop marketing communication messages are often referred to as creative types and agencies
develop reputations for their creativity. So much attention is focused on the concept of creativity
because the major challenge given to those who develop marketing communication messages is to
be creative. Creativity has been defined as a quality possessed by persons that enables them to
generate novel approaches in situations, generally reflected in new and improved solutions to
problems.
The importance of creativity in marketing communication
The creative side of marketing communication is one of its most interesting aspects. The creative
strategy used to communicate a marketing communication message is an integral part of the
promotional process and is often critical to the success or failure of the campaign. Numerous
examples or cases can be cited of how a good creative strategy was an important factor in
determining the success of a product (goods and services) or reversing the fortunes of a struggling
brand. Of course there are also many situations where companies struggle to find a creative
formula that works effectively. Attention must also be given to the issue of creative versus
effective marketing communication as many ads may be critically acclaimed from a creative
perspective but fail to help the sales of the brand.
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Marketing communication creativity

It is important to examine the concept of creativity, how it applies to marketing communication,
and the challenge firms face in developing creative and effective marketing communication.
Perspectives of Marketing Communication Creativity
Perspectives of what constitutes creativity in marketing communication vary. At one extreme are
those who argue that marketing communication is creative only if it sells the product. At the other
end of the continuum are those who judge creativity in terms of its artistic or aesthetic value and
argue that creative marketing communication must be novel, original and unique. The answer as
to what constitutes creative in marketing communication is probably somewhere between these
two extreme positions.
We are concerned with marketing communication creativity which refers to the ability to
generate fresh, unique and appropriate ideas that can be used as solutions to communications
problems. This perspective recognises that creative marketing communication ideas are those
that are novel, original and appropriate. To be appropriate a creative idea must be relevant or have
some importance to the target audience.
AIDA model considerations for creative idea Visualization

As the world of advertising becomes more and more competitive, advertising becomes more and
more sophisticated. Yet the basic principles behind advertising copy remain that it must attract
attention and persuade someone to take action. And this idea remains true simply because human
nature doesn't really change. Sure, we become increasingly discerning, but to persuade people to
do something, you still need to grab their attention, interest them in how your product or service
can help them, and then persuade them to take the action you want them to take, such as buying
your product or visiting your website.
The acronym AIDA is a handy tool for ensuring that your copy, or other writing, grabs attention.
The acronym stands for:
Attention (or Attract)

Interest

Desire

Action.
Use the AIDA approach when you write a piece of text that has the ultimate objective of getting
others to take action. The elements of the acronym are as follows:

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1. Attention/Attract
In our media-filled world, you need to be quick and direct to grab people's attention. Use powerful
words, or a picture that will catch the reader's eye and make them stop and read what you have to
say next. With most office workers suffering from e-mail overload, action-seeking e-mails need
subject lines that will encourage recipients to open them and read the contents. For example, to
encourage people to attend a company training session on giving feedback, the email headline,
"How effective is YOUR feedback?" is more likely to grab attention than the purely factual one
of, "This week's seminar on feedback".
2. Interest
This is one of the most challenging stages: You've got the attention of a chunk of your target
audience, but can you engage with them enough so that they'll want to spend their precious time
understanding your message in more detail? Gaining the reader's interest is a deeper process than
grabbing their attention. They will give you a little more time to do it, but you must stay focused
on their needs. This means helping them to pick out the messages that are relevant to them
quickly. So use bullets and subheadings, and break up the text to make your points stand out.
3. Desire
The Interest and Desire parts of AIDA go hand-in-hand: As you're building the reader's interest,
you also need to help them understand how what you're offering can help them in a real way. The
main way of doing this is by appealing to their personal needs and wants.
So, rather than simply saying "Our lunchtime seminar will teach you feedback skills", explain to
the audience what's in it for them: "Get what you need from other people, and save time and
frustration, by learning how to give them good feedback."
4. Action
Finally, be very clear about what action you want your readers to take; for example, "Visit
www.mindtools.com now for more information" rather than just leaving people to work out what
to do for themselves.
CREATIVE PLANNING:
Planning Creative Strategy
Those who work on the creative side of marketing communication often face a real challenge.
They must take all the research, creative briefs, strategy statements, communication objectives
and other inputs and transform them into an marketing communication message. Their job is to
write copy, design layouts and illustrations and produce commercials that communicate
effectively. Marketers usually hire marketing communication agencies to develop and implement
their marketing communication campaigns because they are specialists in the creative function of
marketing communication. However, it is important to point out that the development of creative
strategy also involves representatives from the client side and other people in the agency as well
as the creative staff.
The Creative Challenge
Those who work on the creative side of marketing communication have the responsibility of
developing an effective way of communicating the marketers message to their customers. The
creative person or team is often provided with a great deal of input and background information
on the target audience, such as their lifestyles, needs and motives, and communication objectives.
However, every marketing situation is different and requires a unique approach.
42

Taking Creative Risks

Many creative people in agencies argue that they often follow proven approaches or formulas
when creating ads because they are safe and less likely to fail. They note that their clients are very
often risk averse and feel uncomfortable with marketing communication that is too different. It is
important to note that companies who have very creative marketing communication are more
willing to assume some risk. However, many managers are more comfortable with marketing
communication that is straight forward in communicating with customers and gives them a reason
to buy.
Creative Personnel
It is a fairly common perception that those individuals who work on the creative side of marketing
communication tend to be somewhat unique and different from those working on the managerial
or business side. It is worthwhile to discuss some of the characteristics of creative personnel in
marketing communication and the need to create an environment that fosters, and is conducive to,
the development of creative marketing communication.
CREATIVE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
The creative process of marketing communication is guided by specific goals and objectives and
requires the development of a creative strategy or plan of action for achieving the goal. Creative
strategy development actually begins with a thorough assessment of the marketing and
promotional situation and a determination of what needs to be communicated to the marketers
target audience. Creative strategy should, however, also be based on a number of other factors that
are stated in the creative or copy platform.
Copy Platform A copy platform provides a plan or checklist that is useful in guiding the
development of an marketing communication message or campaign. This document is prepared by
the agency team or group assigned to the account and may include creative personnel as well as
the account coordinator and representatives from media and research. The marketing
communication manager and/or the marketing and product manager from the client side will also
be involved in the process and must approve the copy platform.
Marketing Communication Campaigns
Most advertisements are part of a series of messages that make up an marketing communication
campaign which consists of multiple messages, often in a variety of media that center on a single
theme or idea. The determination of the central theme, idea, position, or image is a critical part of
the creative process as it sets the tone or direction for the development of the individual ads that
make up the campaign.
The Search for the Major Selling Idea
An important part of creative strategy development is determining the central theme that will
become the major selling idea or big idea for the ad campaign. There are several different
approaches that can be used for developing major selling ideas and as the basis of creative
strategy. Some of the best known and most discussed approaches include:
The unique selling proposition
This concept, which was mentioned in the opening vignette, is described in Rosser Reeves
Reality in Marketing communication. Its three characteristics include:
each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer

the proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer

the proposition must be strong enough to pull over new customers to your brand
Creating a brand image
43

Some competing brands are so similar it is difficult to find or create a unique attribute or benefit
so the creative strategy is based on the development of a strong, memorable identity for the brand
through image marketing communication.
Finding the inherent drama
Leo Burnett believed marketing communication should be based on a foundation of consumer
benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing these benefits.
Positioning
The basic idea is that marketing communication is used to establish or position the product or
service in a particular place in the consumers mind.
COMMUNICATION APPEALS AND EXECUTION
Appeals and Execution
Once the major selling idea has been agreed upon, the creative team will then turns its attention to
determining the specific type of appeal and execution style that will be used to carry out the
creative concept.
Marketing Communication Appeals
The marketing communication appeal refers to the basis or approach used in the advertisement to
elicit some consumer response or to influence their feelings toward the product, service, or cause.
At the broadest level, these approaches can be broken down into two categories or classes which
are informational/rational appeals and emotional appeals.
1. Informational/rational appeals these types of appeals focus on the consumers practical,
functional or utilitarian need for the product (both goods and services) and/or specific reasons for
owning a particular brand. Examples of a number of product-related appeals that would fall under
the category of rational appeals are discussed including:
Feature appeals
Competitive advantage appeals
Favourable pricing appeals
News appeals
Product popularity appeals
2. Emotional appeals : These types of appeals relate to consumers social and/or psychological
needs for purchasing a product. Emotional appeals have become very popular in marketing
communication as marketers recognise that many purchase decisions are made on the basis of
feelings and emotions since rational, functional-based differentiation is often very difficult.
Another reason for using emotional appeals is to influence consumers interpretations of their
product usage experience through the use of transformational marketing communication. This
type of marketing communication creates feelings, images, meanings and beliefs about the
product that may be activated when the consumer uses it and thus transforms their interpretation
of the usage experience.
3. Combining rational and emotional appeals : Many purchase decisions are made on the basis
of both rational and emotional motives. Thus rational and emotional appeals may be combined in
the advertisement to attempt to influence both types of purchase motives.
Marketing Communication Execution
Creative execution refers to the manner in which an marketing communication appeal is carried
out or presented. A particular marketing communication appeal can be executed in a variety of
44

ways and a particular means of execution can be applied to a variety of marketing communication
appeals. Some of the more commonly used execution techniques include:

Straight-sell or factual message this type of execution relies on a straightforward

presentation of information about the product or service such as specific attributes or
benefits.
Scientific/technical evidence a variation of the straight sell where scientific or technical
evidence or information is presented in the ad to support a claim.
Demonstration this type of execution is designed to illustrate the key advantages or
benefits of a product by showing it in actual use or in some contrived or staged situation.
Comparison this type of execution involves a direct or indirect comparison of a brand
against the competition.
Testimonials many advertisers present their marketing communication messages in the
form of a testimonial whereby a person speak on behalf of the product based on his or her
personal use of and/or experiences with it.
Slice of life this type of execution is often based on a problem/solution type of format.
The ad attempts to portray a real-life situation involving a problem, conflict or situation
consumers may face in their daily lives. The ad then focuses on showing how the
advertisers product can resolve the problem.
Animation this technique used animated characters or scenes drawn by artists or on
computer.
Personality symbol this type of execution involves the use of a central character of
personality symbol to deliver the marketing communication message and with which the
product can be identified. The personality symbol can take the form of a person who is
used as a spokesperson, animated characters or even animals.
Fantasy this type of appeal is often used for image marketing communication by
showing an imaginary situation or illusion involving a consumer and the product.
Dramatisation this execution technique creates a suspenseful situation or scenario in the
form of a short story. Dramatisations often use the problem/solution approach as they
show how the advertised brand can help resolve a problem.
Humour humour can be used as the basis for an marketing communication appeal.
However, humour can also be used as a way of executing the message and presenting other
types of marketing communication appeals.
Combinations many of these execution techniques can be combined in presenting an
marketing communication message. For example, slice-of-life ads are often used to
demonstrate a product or make brand comparisons.

CREATIVE TACTICS
Once the creative approach, type of appeal, and execution style have been determined, attention
turns to creating the actual advertisement. The design and production of an marketing
communication message involves a number of activities such as writing copy, developing
illustrations and other visual elements of the ad and bringing all of the pieces together in a
finished product.
Creative tactics for print marketing communication: there are three basic components of a
print ad including the headline, body copy, and the visual elements or illustrations. These elements
are brought together through a layout.

45

Headlines the headline refers to the words in the leading position of the advertisement those
that are likely to be read first or are positioned to draw the most attention. The most important
function of a headline is to attract the readers attention and make them interested in the remainder
of the marketing communication message. There are various types of headlines including:
Direct headlines
Indirect headlines-Subheads many ads also contain a main headline and one or more secondary
headlines or subheads. These subheads usually appear in a smaller type size than the main
headline and are generally larger the type size used for the body copy. They are used to break-up
or section off large amount of body copy and highlight key sales points in the ad.
Body copy the main text portion of a print ad is referred to as the body copy. Body copy content
depends on the type of marketing communication appeal and/or execution style being used.
Visual elements another major component of a print ad is the visual elements or illustrations.
Visual components often dominate print marketing communication an play a very important role
in determining effectiveness.
Layout a layout refers to the physical arrangement of the various parts of the ad including the
headline, subheads, illustrations, body copy and any identifying marks.
Creative Tactics for Video
As with print ads, video/television commercials have several components which must work
together to create the right impact and communicate the advertisers message.
Video the video or visual elements are what is seen on the screen. Decisions have to be made
regarding the main focus of the visual such as the product, the presenter, action sequences,
lighting graphics, colour and other factors.
Audio the audio portion of a commercial includes several elements such as voice, music and
sound effects. Voices may be heard in several ways such as through the direct presentation of a
spokesperson or as a dialogue or conversation among people in the commercial. A common
method for presenting the audio portion of a commercial is through a voice-over whereby the
message is delivered or action on the screen is narrated by the voice of an announcer who is not
visible.
Music a very important part of many television commercials is music which plays various roles
and functions such as providing a pleasant background or helping create the appropriate mood or
setting. Another important musical element in both television and radio commercials is jingles
which are catchy songs about a product that usually carry the marketing communication theme
and a simple message.
SOURCE OF THE MESSAGE
Source means the person involved in communicating a marketing message, either directly or
indirectly. There are two types of sources - direct source & indirect source. Organisations evaluate
carefully before choosing the type of source. They want their message to be delivered very
clearly.
The characteristics of the source affect the advertising message and in turn the consumer
behaviour and consumer purchase decision. Herbert Kelman developed three basic categories of
source: credibility, attractiveness and power. Each influences the recipients attitude or
behaviour through a different process.
46

Source Credibility : Credibility is the extent to which the recipient sees the source as having
relevant knowledge, skill, or experience and trusts the source to give unbiased, objective
information. There are two important dimensions to credibility, expertise and trustworthiness.
Because attitudes and opinions developed through an internalization process become part of the
individuals belief system, marketers want to use communicators with high credibility.
Use of Expertise : Spokespeople are often chosen because of their knowledge, experience, and
expertise in a particular product or service area. Endorsements from individuals or groups
recognized as experts, such as doctors or dentists, are also common in advertising.
Use of trustworthiness : While expertise is important, the target audience must also find the source
believable. Finding celebrities or other figures with a trustworthy image is often difficult.
Advertisers use various techniques to increase the perception that their sources are trustworthy.
Hidden cameras are used to show that the consumer is not a paid spokesperson and is making an
objective evaluation of the product. Another way of enhancing source credibility is to use the
company president or chief executive officer as a spokesperson in the firms advertising. Many
companies believe the use of their president or CEO is the ultimate expression of the companys
commitment to quality and customer service. A very credible source is more effective when
message recipients are not in favor of the position advocated in the message. However, a very
credible source is less important when the audience has a neutral position, and such a source may
even be less effective than a moderately credible source when the receivers initial attitude is
favorable.
Source Attractiveness: A source characteristic frequently used by advertisers is attractiveness,
which encompasses similarity, familiarity, and likeability. Similarity is a supposed resemblance
between the source and the receiver of the message, while familiarity refers to knowledge of the
source through exposure. Likeability is an affection for the source as a result of physical
appearance, behavior, or other personal traits.
Use of similarity : Companies select salespeople whose characteristics match well with their
customers. Global marketers often hire foreign nationals as salespeople so customers can relate
more easily to them. Similarity is also used to create a situation where the consumer feels empathy
for the person shown in the commercial. In a slice-of-life commercial, the advertiser usually starts
by presenting a predicament with the hope of getting the consumer to think, I can see myself in
that situation.
Use of Likeability : Advertisers recognize the value of using spokespeople who are admired: TV
and movie stars, athletes, musicians, and other popular public figures. They think celebrities have
stopping power. That is, they draw attention to advertising messages in a very cluttered media
environment. They believe celebrities can enhance the target audiences perceptions of the product
in terms of image and/or performance. The main concerns here are the possible over shadowing
of the product and over exposure in the advertisements.
Source Power: The final characteristic in Kelmans classification scheme is source power. A
source has power when he or she can actually administer rewards and punishments to the receiver.
As a result of this power, the source may be able to induce another person(s) to respond to the
request or position he or she is advocating. The source must be perceived as being able to
administer positive or negative sanctions to the receiver (perceived control) and the receiver must
think the source cares about whether or not the receiver conforms (perceived concern). The
receivers estimate of the sources ability to observe conformity is also important (perceived
scrutiny). Power as a source characteristic is very difficult to apply in an on personal influence
47

situation such as advertising. An indirect way of using power is by using an individual with an
authoritative personality as a spokesperson.
MESSAGING INTEGRATION
In the context of an enterprise integration environment, "messaging" represents a communications
system whereby important packets of information or "messages" are sent to and from queues by a
software-based system known as a messaging server. The messaging server itself is a sort of
traffic cop that exchanges important information between different applications so that the
applications can interact in a meaningful way. A messaging environment is typically used for
critical information systems, as it usually comprises some sort of guaranteed delivery system.
Messaging integration allows these message-based servers to interact with and provide data for
other disparate systems within the organization.
In a typical non-messaging-based sequential programming environment, one error message caused
by a time-out or a temporary system outage can cause an entire job to fail. In a messaging system,
however, the communication protocols and error handling allow for different components to be
more independent and more fault-tolerant. If a particular step in a multi-system message-oriented
job fails, the awaiting application will remain in a queue until the prior step succeeds. A successful
return code and packet is then sent allowing the awaiting application to begin its part of the
process.
Messaging servers also allow dissimilar programs to communicate effectively across different
environments (like different operating systems and different languages) the only element that
each program needs to understand is the particular message format and protocol of the messaging
server.
ADVERTORIALS AND INFOMERCIALS:
An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is
a blend of the words "advertisement" and "editorial."
In printed publications, the advertisement is usually written in the form of an objective article and
designed to look like a legitimate and independent news story. In television, the advertisement is
similar to a short infomercial presentation of products or services. These can either be in the form
of a television commercial or as a segment on a talk show or variety show. In radio, these can take
the form of a radio commercial or a discussion between the announcer and representative.
Advertorials differ from traditional advertisements in that they are designed to look like the
articles that appear in the publication. Most publications will not accept advertisements that look
exactly like stories from the newspaper or magazine they are appearing in. The differences may be
subtle, and disclaimerssuch as the word "advertisement"may or may not appear. Sometimes
terms describing the advertorial such as a "special promotional feature" or "special advertising
section" are used. The tone of the advertorials is usually closer to that of a press release than of an
objective news story.
Advertorials can also be printed and presented as an entire newspaper section, inserted the same
way within a newspaper as store fliers, comics sections, and other non-editorial content. These
sections are usually printed on a smaller type of broadsheet and different newsprint than the actual
paper. Many newspapers and magazines will assign staff writers or freelancers to write
advertorials, usually without a by line credit.
Infomercial : An infomercial is a form of television commercial, which generally includes a
phone number or website. Most often used as a form of direct response television (DRTV),
long-form infomercials are typically between 15 and (more commonly) 30 minutes in
length. Infomercials are also known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe). This
phenomenon started in the United States, where infomercials were typically shown overnight
48

(usually 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.), outside of peak prime time hours for commercial
broadcasters. Some television stations chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the
former practice of signing off. By 2009, most infomercial spending in the U.S. occurs during
the early morning, daytime and evening hours. Stations in most countries around the world
have instituted similar media structures.
While the term "infomercial" was originally applied only to television advertising, it is now
sometimes used to refer to any presentation (often on video) which presents a significant amount
of information in an actual, or perceived, attempt to promote a point of view. When used this way,
the term may be meant to carry an implication that the party making the communication is
exaggerating truths or hiding important facts. Often, it is unclear whether the actual presentation
fits this definition because the term is used in an attempt to discredit the presentation. Hence,
political speeches or conventions may be derogatorily referred to as "infomercials" for a specific
point of view.
The word "infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words "information" and "commercial". As in any
other form of advertisement, the content is a commercial message designed to represent the
viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor. Infomercials are often made to closely
resemble standard television programs. Some imitate talk shows and try to downplay the fact that
the program is actually a commercial message. A few are developed around storylines and have
been called "storymercials". However, most do not have specific television formats but craft
different elements to create what they hope is a compelling story about the product offered.
Feature-program length (usually 15 to 30 minutes duration) commercial presented more as a talk
show than a promotion. Aired normally at fringe times (late night to early morning),
infomercials aim at building awareness of a product or service by demonstrating its use
and benefits. Typically, they include an attractive direct response offer (with toll-free
numbers) designed to elicit on-the-spot orders. Its print equivalent is advertorial.
EVALUATION OF CREATIVE STRATEGY/WORK
Evaluation Guidelines for Creative Output Is it consistent with marketing objectives? Is it
consistent with creative strategy/objectives? Does it communicate what its supposed to? Is the
approach appropriate for the audience? Is the message clear and convincing? Is the message
overwhelmed by execution? Is the message appropriate for chosen media? Is the ad truthful and
tasteful?
Evaluation and Approval of Creative Work Guidelines for Evaluating Creative Output Consistent
with brands marketing objectives? Consistent with brands marketing objectives? Consistent with
brands advertising objectives? Consistent with brands advertising objectives? Consistent with
creative strategy, objectives? Consistent with creative strategy, objectives? Does it communicate
what its suppose to? Does it communicate what its suppose to? Approach appropriate to target
audience? Approach appropriate to target audience? Communicate clear, convincing message?
Communicate clear, convincing message? Does execution overwhelm the message? Does
execution overwhelm the message? Appropriate to the media environment? Appropriate to the
media environment? Is the advertisement truthful and tasteful? Is the advertisement truthful and
tasteful?
CAMPAIGN PLANNING
Successful campaigns depend on careful planning. Before you begin, you need to create our
message, choose your audience, decide on the best media choice, establish a budget, create a
49

schedule and then work your plan. Campaign measurement, which helps gauge your success, also
provides
the
data
you
will
need
to
complete
your
Phase-II
permits.
Creating a media campaign is much like planning a journey. Before you set off, a little planning
about where you want to go, on what budget and how you plan to get there can make all the
difference!
Planning :Once youve established your purpose to inform or persuade you are ready to start
planning your campaign.
Media Choice :All media choices come with benefits and costs.
Media Options: Print, TV, Electronic, Radio, Outdoor, Collateral and Events.
Campaign Costs: Because so many communities are required to educate on the same topic,
economies of scale are available by collaborating on media purchases.
Purchasing Media: The more you know about your audience, the better you can reach them.
Free Media : Municipal entities have special status as nonprofit entities that for good or ill
can be considered newsmakers. This special status is a tremendous advantage when seeking free
media mention
Media Planning : A year-long plan is recommended
Push & Pull Marketing : Printed materials, especially direct mailers or brochures, are often
tempting to use, but be cautious in how they are presented
Campaign Measurement : You have chosen your message, decided on a budget, planned your
campaign and now it is being delivered. How do you know if the message went through?
Planning
Once youve established your purpose to inform or persuade you are ready to start planning
your
campaign.
A mix of media that deliver the same message over time is the most effective. Media costs can be
prohibitive, but there are resources that Phase II communities can use to make campaigns more
affordable.
Because many Phase I NPDES communities have already been mandated to conduct storm water
outreach and awareness, a wealth of pre-produced messages exist. Once permission by the owner
has been obtained, these can be adapted for use in your community. This group of materials is
currently available, but you may wish to create your own or use some from other sources.
Creating your own flier, print, radio or TV ad is more expensive than using other materials, but
local messages carry strong appeal. Scenes depicting local water bodies can be used along with
local residents or celebrities. Many radio, newspaper and TV stations are capable of producing
public service announcements. Advertising agencies and public relations companies can also
perform this service.
Media
Choice
All media choices come with benefits and costs. Most of these revolve around two basic marketing
tenets: reach and frequency. Reach refers to audiences - how many people you can reach using a
50

given media. TV, newspapers, radio, billboards and some Web sites reach large numbers of people
around the clock. Trade shows, agriculture magazines and speeches at Rotary or Lions Clubs
reach fewer people, but they may be precisely the target audience you need to reach. General
media usually deliver broad appeal messages most efficiently.
Frequency refers to how many times your target audience receives your message. Often called
impressions, research shows that audiences need to hear messages a minimum of three times in
order to remember them. The impressions can be made up of a mix of different media, but the
messages should be consistent across media to enhance the chance your audience remembers your
message.
Media Options
Print: Newspaper, free-standing inserts; press releases, guest editorials, news stories
TV: PSAs and sponsorships on network, cable, public access; public affairs shows, news stories
Electronic: Web,
Radio: PSAs

and

e-mail,
sponsorships;

PowerPoint,
public

affairs

CD/DVD,
shows,

talk

streaming
shows,

news

video
stories

Outdoor: Billboards, signs, sides of buses, bus shelters, taxis, window signs, storm drain stencils,
kiosks,
exhibits
Collateral Brochures, direct mail, mail inserts, bag stuffers, bumper stickers, point-of-purchase
displays, specialty items (e.g. key chains, mugs, magnets), colouring books, mascots, tray-liners,
exhibits
Events: Fairs, trade shows, demonstrations at schools, libraries and clubs; speeches, stream and
beach cleanings, storm drain stenciling, wetland and rain garden plantings, essay, poster and
garden contests, dog park openings
CampaignCosts
Because so many communities are required to educate on the same topic, economies of scale are
available by collaborating on media purchases. Recent media industry buyouts left relatively few
companies controlling a variety of media outlets across the state. Specialty advertising items - like
keychains, notepads and drink cups are more affordable when purchased in bulk.
Messages designed to produce a public benefit are classified as public service announcements,
or PSAs, by the media industry. Most media outlets continue to run some free PSAs, but ensuring
your message is heard enough times by enough people usually requires paying just like any other
advertiser.
If you plan to offer donor announcements or logo placement, here are a few tips. Before you
request donations, have in place a method that applies all mentions equally. For logo placement,
specify a certain percentage of the space allowed for this use, per donor. The same applies with
time devoted to audio mentions in radio or TV ads. If you plan to offer logo placement on your
Web
site,
determine
a
way
to
evenly
distribute
the
logos.
Doing this planning ahead of time has two major benefits. First, you will know exactly what you
can offer your sponsors, based on their contributions. Second, it helps your organization avoid
accusations of favoring one donor over another.
51

PurchasingMedia
The more you know about your audience, the better you can reach them. TV, radio and
newspapers in particular have a wealth of data to locate segments of their audiences. Different
messages lend themselves to certain segments of the audience, just as some audiences use one
form
of
media
more
or
less
than
another.
Age is often an important consideration. So are education, marital status, economic conditions and
career choice. Every group differs, but youth generally prefer music radio, while talk radio attracts
older listeners. Homeowners, a target for lawn fertilizer application messages, probably dont
watch too many cartoons. And while many people subscribe to newspapers, consider which
section your audience reads most; is it sports, news or the feature articles? Sales representatives
from various media outlets can help guide your choices, but here are a few bits of research to get
you going. As with all market research, there are no hard rules merely an increased likelihood
you will find a match between a given activity or interest and within thatgroup.
Most media outlets require new clients to fill out a credit application, so you will need to have
some basic financial data to fill out the forms. Picking the schedule, in the case of broadcast media
or print, is often the next step. Like most products, broadcast time and print space costs vary
according to how often you use the service and the size of the purchase. One-time advertisers can
expect to pay more than those who advertise each week of the year. Prime time and drive time
cost ads cost more than those that run in the middle of the night, just as large rads in the front
section of the paper generally cost more than a simple classified ad.
FreeMedia
Municipal entities have special status as nonprofit entities that for good or ill can be
considered
newsmakers.
This special status is a tremendous advantage when seeking free media mention.
News releases, press conferences about local stormwater events, guest editorials and speeches
about stormwater facts and related news items make materials for news and feature stories. Some
possible topics and samples with North Carolina background information are available here.
Your organization probably already has a Web site, so add pages with general stormwater
information and local statistics, news and events. A childrens section and teacher resources help
attract schools. Here are some pages to link to or you can create your own.
Contact your local new outlets so you know where to send information. Dont forget local
weeklies geared toward entertainment news or those geared to parents, older residents and sports
enthusiasts. At minimum, many feature calendars that can list your events.
Regulatory workshops for professional, trade and crafts people are often an excellent way to reach
targeted audiences. Here, presentations can be geared to specific audiences requirements and
usually
are
more
technical
in
nature.
Media
Planning
A year-long plan is recommended. The larger your media buy, the more negotiating power you
possess. Approach media competitors within your market separately and encourage them to
compete
for
your
business.
If you know your campaign budget already, distribute expenditures through the 12-month period.
Messages repeated consistently have a stronger chance of being remembered. If your funds are
insufficient to run a campaign with enough frequency to make audiences remember, isolate your
ad runs to those times most important to your area. If over-fertilization is a local problem, run
PSAs during peak lawn fertilizing times. Limit car wash and pet walking messages
52

to summer months. It is more effective to run an effective campaign for a few months than to run
one
commercial
per
month
over
a
year.
If you plan to rely on fundraising for part of your budget, plan ahead where you will put the funds
as they become available. Media plans like these can be an important fundraising tool, because
they
show
donors
how
and
where
their
funds
will
be
used.
Plan to use a mix of media wherever possible to reach the largest amounts of people. We all know
someone who never watches TV, reads the paper or listens to radio, but chances are they do not
avoid all three. Using a mix of media gives you a greater chance of reaching everyone in your
community.
While broadcast media may make up only a segment of your campaign, many Phase II
communities
state
they
lack experience purchasing this commodity. Because an in-depth EPA survey shows that
individuals prefer to get environmental information from TV, radio and outdoor sources, many
Phase
II
communities
should
consider
their
use strongly. Despite the high costs associated with broadcast media, it appears, to be both an
effective
and
preferred
source
for
many
community
residents.
Free outlets like public affairs shows and speeches are important campaign elements, too, and
should not be neglected if broadcast media is chosen as a campaign element. They all make up a
part of an integrated outreach and awareness media campaign
Push&PullMarketing
Printed materials, especially direct mailers or brochures, are often tempting to use, but be
cautious in how they are presented. Brochures mailed or picked up and cast away unread only
benefit
the
printer!
If your goal is to inform, make sure your message shows how the data will be of benefit to the
reader. If your message is to persuade a behavior change, it is best to make sure your audience is
informed before asking them to act on data they may not have received or remembered. Better yet,
state your change message in such a way that residents want to learn more. This type of marketing
is called "Push and Pull marketing that presents an unsolicited message, as in a TV commercial.
Pull marketing asks the audience to visit a Web site for more data, sign up for a newsletter, call
a toll-free number to learn more or request a mailing. Once an audience takes these steps, you can
be
fairly
safe
assuming
they
want
the
materials
requested.
Campaign
Measurement
You have chosen your message, decided on a budget, planned your campaign and now it is being
delivered. How do you know if the message went through? What will you enter on that section of
your
permit?
Discovering if the message was delivered is fairly simple with paid, broadcast media. Outlets
know how many persons subscribe to a given paper or are likely to be watching or hearing a given
show. Your media or ad agency sales representative can give you these numbers. Getting numbers
for
public
broadcast
outlets
can
be
a
little
more
difficult

an area station or ad agency may be able to assist you with statistics.

Other media outlets require more a bit more work to determine audience numbers. If you give
speeches, workshops or demonstrations, take attendance! If you mailed an insert with a utility bill,
ask the utility company how many people received it. If you delivered tray liners to an area
restaurant, ask how many were used. Each time someone sees your message counts as one
53

impression. This includes trade show attendees, listeners to shows or participants in events like
stream or beach cleanings even if they are not your events

Message creation
Now that weve discussed the thinking, planning and steps behind creating a message strategy,
lets look at a few helpful tips you may want to use while youre in the trenches.
Ten Message Strategy Basics:
1. Never forget the KISS principle (Keep it Short and Simple). Messages should be clear,
crisp and easy to understand.
2. Use bullet lists whenever possible to encourage brevity (this includes both your key
messages and your supporting data)
3. Be benefits-oriented (try to talk less about what you do and more about how it impacts
others and how broadly and deeply)
4. Use powerful, action-based words and phrases whenever possible (e.g. things like timesaving, values-driven, cost-effective, market-leading, etc.)
5. Keep acronyms, slang and other hard to understand terminology out of your main
messages. Certainly you may have very industry-specific terminology you must use to
further illustrate certain concepts and gain credibility, but remember that you will need to
tell your story to many types of stakeholders, and each will have a different level of
understanding or knowledge. Always start simple and then prepare to build messages
outward as needed for specific key audiences.
6. The Rule of 3. You should never have more than three key messages. You can certainly
have sub-messages or sub-categories (for instance, if you offer a variety of different
products or services they will each have their own set of messages that describe them), but
you should always be as brief and succinct as possible.
7. 25-50-100. It can be useful to create a brief elevator description of your organization (or
product/service) that can be used as an everywhere descriptor or boilerplate. There will
be times when you only get 25 words to make your case, so start small and focused, and
then build on this, perhaps up to 250 words. This type of document would include your top
line positioning and key messages written out in paragraph form, and can be a very
powerful tool for you when you are applying for funding, building your website, writing
press releases, drafting partnership agreements, speaking to reporters, etc.
8. Test your messages on friendly (and non-friendly, if theyre willing) stakeholders. Ask
them what appeals to them, what resonates and what doesnt. Check for perceptions,
understanding and impact, and alter messages as needed.
9. Feel free to use metaphors, analogies and descriptive examples (but use them sparingly!).
If you have a complex topic or product, try to find ways to make your story come to life in
terms that others can already relate to.
10. Have fun and be creative. Dry, boring, statistics-laden key messages do not catch or keep
peoples attention and tend not to translate well (in the case of an international
organization). Dont get too cute or edgy (unless your industry and audience warrant it)
and always be relevant and understandable, but definitely think outside the box when you
can.
Copywriting
Copywriting is writing copy for the purpose of advertising or marketing. The copy is meant to
persuade someone to buy a product, or influence their beliefs.

54

Copywriting is in the first instance the creative process of conceptualising advertisements and
marketing devices such as events and other platforms promoting brands or services.
Copywriters are used to help create direct mail pieces, taglines, jingle lyrics, web page content
(although if the purpose is not ultimately promotional, its author might prefer to be called
a content
writer),
online
ads, e-mail and
other Internet content, television or radio
commercial scripts, press releases, white papers, catalogs, billboards, brochures, postcards, sales
letters, and other marketing communications media pages.

Giving birth to the Big Idea : Copywriters are tasked with conceptualizing or "hatching"
the Big Idea. Coming up with a creative concept that sells is a very involved and energy
consuming process. It's more than just writing a few words; it is a lot more complicated
than churning out a quick headline and a few paragraphs of body copy.
Copywriting and the Golden Thread : Good copywriting features the so-called Golden
Thread, the one characteristic that brings cohesion and a level of uniformity to an
advertising campaign. The Golden Thread makes an ad instantly recognisable as part of a
greater campaign and enables the audience to develop a framework of reference regarding
the advertised brand and its values.
Copywriting glossary : Copywriting speak includes phrases like concept and copy,
concept crafting, conceptualisation, proofing, layouts, colour proofs, and final signoff.
Then there is also on-strat and off-strat, creative review, traffic, status and creative awards.
Copywriting and creative awards : The latter is what fuels the ambition of any
copywriter, and awards like the Loeries, Assegais and the Pendorings for Afrikaans
copywriting are some of the biggest accolades a South African copywriter can earn. So, in
short, copywriting is concept and copy, it is jingles, slogans and headlines, it is payoff
lines and nasty deadlines, it's creativity in motion and it's a tool in service of sales... but it's
also a whole lot more!

ROLE OF CREATIVITY IN COPYWRITING

Creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas in order to create something. It is also an Art.
The advertisement must be creative, innovative and must have something unique and special
about it. It should also be appealing and credible. The creation of an advertising message
commences with the overall marketing and advertising goals and also with the objectives of the
advertising-campaign.
Purchase-Proposition
The first step in creative strategy is the purchase proposition. What are you offering the consumer,
is not only the product, but the brand as well as the appeal! Less differentiated products like
Cherry Blossom Boot Polish and Kiwi Boot Polish use different approaches.
Cherry
Blossom: Did
you
cherry
blossom
your
shoes
today.
The ad shows an attractive girl and the can of polish with the announcement something special is
coming your way, whereas the kiwi stress on Kiwi care.
Positioning
Positioning is done in the minds of the consumer. How a consumer perceives the product. It can
be positioned on the plank of economy i. e. , Rasna and these products are low in price. Rin Soya
Milk is positioned as a health drink with low cholesterol, Amul powder is a substitute for milk.
Limca is a thirst quenching soft drink. 2 minutes noodles is positioned on the ease of cooking, and
Oberoi Hotel on luxury and exclusiveness. Vicks Voporub was first positioned as a remedy for the
common cold through the application on chest and neck. This was again repositioned for a wider
usage as a pain reliever. Positioning can be done in term of price, product, advertising etc. Ad of
55

Mountain Dew putting the hand in the tigers mouth and taking out the drink. Another ad of the
same product Mountain Dew is a man fighting with the Mountain deer to snatch the drink. This is
the creativity in the ad and ads value to the drink. In a creative approach we must give importance
to the message, choice of words and the relationship of copy to the media.
For creativity in Ads the following principles should be followed:
- Positioning of the product with clarity.
- It should project and show the benefits of the product.
- It should have a power idea. Power to attract attention.
- It must be different to catch the eye and hold the attention of the audience. Differentiations
important.
- It should revolve round a single thing, a big thing and a big idea.
- The ad should reward the prospect and give him pleasure, a smile, a tear or a stimulus to
see it again and again.
- It should catch or hold the attention of the audience.
- It should match with the personality of the prospect.
- It should be supplemented by music, visuals lighting and other effects.
- It should be able to dramatize the audience.

56

Unit-4
MEDIA MANAGEMENT
Media management is seen as a business administration discipline that identifies and describes
strategic and operational phenomena and problems in the leadership of media enterprises. Media
management contains the functions strategic management, procurement management, production
management, organizational management and marketing of media enterprises.
Media management is a term used for several related tasks throughout post-production. In general,
any task that relates to processing your media is considered to be media management, such as
capturing, compressing, copying, moving, or deleting media files. However, media management
also refers to keeping track of your media files via clip properties such as log notes, comments,
scene number, shot/take number, and so on.
Definition: In the following a number of definitions are provided.
Media Management consists of (1) the ability to supervise and motivate employees and (2) the
ability to operate facilities and resources in a cost-effective (profitable) manner.
The core task of media management is to build a bridge between the general theoretical
disciplines of management and the specifities of the media industry.
Media and internet management covers all the goal-oriented activities of planning, organization
and control within the framework of the creation and distribution processes for information or
entertainment content in media enterprises.
Types and characteristics of media
In terms of overall advertising expenditures, media advertising is still dominated by Press and
television, which are of comparable size (by value of 'sales'). Posters and radio follow some way
behind, with cinema representing a very specialist medium.

57

Print Out : In the United Kingdom, spending is dominated by the national & regional
newspapers, the latter taking almost all the classified advertising revenue. The
magazines and trade or technical journal markets are about the same size as
each other, but are less than half that of the newspaper sectors.

Television : This is normally the most expensive medium, and as such is generally

only open to the major advertisers, although some regional contractors offer
more affordable packages to their local advertisers. It offers by far the widest
coverage, particularly at peak hours (roughly 7.0010.30 p.m.) and especially
of family audiences. Offering sight, sound, movement and colour, it has the
greatest impact, especially for those products or services where a
'demonstration' is essential; since it combines the virtues of both the 'storyteller' and the `demonstrator'. To be effective, these messages must be simple
and able to overcome surrounding family life distractions especially the TV
remote.

Radio : Radio advertising has increased greatly in recent years, with the granting of

many more licenses. It typically reaches specific audiences at different times

of the dayadults at breakfast, housewives during the day, and commuters
during rush hours. It can be a cost-effective way of reaching these audiences
especially since production costs are much cheaper than for television, though
the lack of visual elements may limit the message. In radio advertising it is
important to identify the right timing to reach specific radio listeners. For
instance, many people only listen to the radio when they are stuck in traffic,
whereas other listeners may only listen in the evenings. The 24-hour
availability of radio is helpful to reach a variety of customer sub-segments. In
addition, it is a well-established medium to reach rural areas.

Cinema : Though national audience numbers are down, this may be the most
effective medium for extending coverage to younger age groups, since the
core audience is 15 to 35.

Internet/Web Advertising : This rapidly growing marketing force borrows much from
the example of press advertising, but the most effective useadopted
by search enginesis interactive. Internet marketing is more the matter of
choice.[1] Each day passing,the internet users are increasing. First data
available of internet users is from 1995 which totaled the number at approx 16
Million. Over the Period of 10 years it increased to 1018 Millions. As of March
2014, the number of internet users across the globe is 2,937 millions. [2] The
other perspective to look at these numbers is that 10 years ago, a brand or
company could reach out to 1018 million people and today they have the
opportunity to tap 2937 people through internet. World has truly become
aGlobal Village. Companies have allocated their budgets to the Internet
marketing or making their brand visible on internet. The term is called Search
engine optimization (SEO).

Mobile Advertising : Personal mobile phones have become an attractive advertising

media to network operators, but are relatively unproven and remain in media
buyers' sidelines.[3] Marketers have realized the significance of tapping the cell
phone as advertising tool due to the rapid growth of cellular industry growth.
Survey shows the number of cellular users in year 2014 is touching 4.5 Billion
people.[4]

Different types of Mass Media are Television, Radio, Cinema, Internet, Newspapers, Magazines,
Journal, Other Print Media (like pamphlets, brochures and posters) and Outdoor Media (which
includes bill boards, signs, flying billboards, skywriting and blimps).
58

SETING MEDIA OBJECTIVES

Media objectives are formulated to help accomplish the advertising communication task and
marketing objectives. Media objectives are translated to specific goal for the media program

Use print media to coverage of 80% of target market over a six months period starting jul.
Reach 60% target audience at least 3 times in this 6 months period.

Concentrate heaviest advertising between Oct and Dec with lighter emphasis in earlier
month

CONSIDERING KEY MEDIA CONCEPTS

Five Core Concepts
All media messages are constructed.
Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.
Different people experience the same media message differently.
Media have embedded values and points of view.
Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.
Core concept#1. All media messages are constructed.
The first is the simple but profound understanding that media texts are not natural although they
look real. Media texts are built just as buildings and highways are put together: a plan is made,
the building blocks are gathered and ordinary people get paid to do various jobs. Whether we are
watching the nightly news, passing a billboard on the street or reading a political campaign fl yer,
the media message we experience was written by someone (or probably many people), images
were captured and edited, and a creative team with many talents put it all together.
The second insight is that in this creative process, choices are made. If some words are spoken;
others are edited out; if one picture is selected, dozens may have been rejected; if an ending to a
story is written one way; other endings may not have been explored. However as the audience, we
dont get to see or hear the words, pictures or endings that were rejected. We only see, hear or read
what was accepted! Nor does anybody ever explain why certain choices were made. The result is
that whatever is constructed by just a few people then becomes normal for the rest of us. Like
the air we breathe, media get taken for granted and their messages can go unquestioned. Media are
not real but they affect people in real ways because we take and make meaning for ourselves out
of whatever weve been given by those who do the creating.
The success of media texts depends upon their apparent naturalness; we turn off a TV show that
looks fake. But the truth is, its all fake even the news. That doesnt mean we cant still enjoy
a movie or sing along with a favorite CD or tune in to get the news headlines.
The goal of Key Question #1 is simply to expose the complexities of medias constructedness
and thus create the critical distance we need to be able to ask other important questions.
Five Key Questions That Can Change the World 14#
Guiding Questions:
Core Concept #2 : Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.
The second Key Question explores the format of a media message and examines the way a
message is constructed, the creative components that are used in putting it together words,
music, color, movement, camera angle and many more. The goal of Key Question #2 is to help
students build an internal checklist that they can apply to any media message anytime. To build
this checklist, we have to, first, begin to notice how a message is constructed. Through the
activities in this unit, students will grow in understanding how all forms of communication
59

whether magazine covers, advertisements or horror movies depend on a kind of creative

language: use of color creates different feelings, camera close-ups convey intimacy, scary music
heightens fear.
What do you notice. . .? is one of the most important questions to ask in the media literacy
classroom. And, of course, all answers are acceptable because different people notice different
things. (More about this in Key Question #3.)
Because so much of todays communications, including the news, comes to us visually, it is
critical that students learn the basics of visual communication lighting, composition, camera
angle, editing, use of props, body language, symbols, etc. and how the use of these techniques
influences the various meanings we can take away from a message. Understanding the grammar,
syntax and metaphor system of media, especially visual language, not only helps us to be less
susceptible to manipulation but also increases our appreciation and enjoyment of media as a
constructed text. Just as writing improves not only ones reading skill but also ones
appreciation for good writing, the best way to understand how media are put together is to do just
that make a public service announcement, create a website, develop a marketing campaign for a
school activity. The more real world the project is, the better. Digital cameras and computer
authoring programs provide easy ways to integrate creative production projects in the classroom
from writing and illustrating their own stories in kindergarten to creating a personal video
documentary in the upper grades.
The four major arts disciplines music, dance, theatre and the visual arts can also provide a
context through which one gains skills of analysis, interpretation and appreciation along with
opportunities to practice self-expression and creative production.
What do you notice(about the way the message is constructed)?
Colors? Shapes? Size?
Sounds, Words? Silence?
Props, sets, clothing?
Movement?
Composition? Lighting?
Where is the camera?
What is the viewpoint?
How is the story told visually?
What are people doing?
Are there any symbols?
Visual metaphors?
Whats the emotional appeal? Persuasive devices used?
What makes it seem
Core Concept #3 : Different people experience the same media message differently.
How do audiences interact with the media in their lives? Our bodies may not be moving but in our
heads, were constantly trying to connect what were hearing, seeing or reading with everything
else we know.
Key Question / Core Concept #3 incorporates two important ideas: first, that our differences
influence our various interpretations of media messages and second, that our similarities create
common understandings.
When you think about it, no two people see the same movie or hear the same song on the radio;
even parents and children do not see the same TV show! Each audience member brings to each
media encounter a unique set of life experiences (age, gender, education, cultural upbringing, etc.)
which, when applied to the text or combined with the text create unique interpretations.
The line of questions in Key Question #3 turns the tables on the idea of TV viewers as just passive
couch potatoes. We may not be conscious of it but each of us, even toddlers, are constantly
trying to make sense of what we see, hear or read. The more questions we can ask about what
we and others are experiencing around us, the more prepared we are to evaluate the message and
60

to accept or reject it. And hearing multiple interpretations can build respect for different cultures
and appreciation for minority opinions, a critical skill in an increasingly multicultural world.Our
similarities are also important to understanding how media makers target different segments of
the population in order to infl uence their opinion or, more typically, to sell them something. The
concept of target audience will be explored more deeply in Key Question #5.
Core Concept #4 : Media have embedded values and points of view.
In looking at the content of a media message, it is important to understand that there are no valuefree media and never will be. All media carry subtle messages about who and what is important.
Because all media messages are constructed, choices have to be made. These choices inevitably
reflect the values, attitudes and points of view of the ones doing the constructing. The decision
about a characters age, gender or race mixed in with the lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours that
are portrayed, the selection of a setting (urban? rural? affluent? poor?), and the actions and reactions in the plot are just some of the ways that values become embedded in a TV show, a
movie or an ad. Even the news has embedded values in the decisions made about what stories go
fi rst, how long they are, what kinds of pictures are chosen, and so on. Sometimes, like us, media
makers are careless and turn a generalization (a flexible observation) into a stereotype (a rigid
conclusion). We should expect them, however, to strive for fairness and balance between various
ideas and viewpoints. But we also need to know how to locate alternative sources of both news
and entertainment and to be able to evaluate the alternatives as well for their own embedded
values. Whats signifi cant about Key Question / Core Concept #4 is not that ideas and values are
embedded in media messages but that the values of mainstream media typically reinforce, and
therefore, affirm, the existing social system.
This explains two of the major complaints many people have about media:
1) Less popular or new ideas can have a hard time getting aired, especially if they challenge longstanding assumptions or commonly-accepted beliefs;
2) Unless challenged, old assumptions can create and perpetuate stereotypes, thus further limiting
our understanding and appreciation of the world and the many possibilities of human life.
Core Concept #5 : Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.
With Key Question #5, we look at the motive or purpose of a media message and whether or
how a message may have been influenced by money, ego or ideology. To respond to a message
appropriately, we need to be able to see beyond the basic content motives of informing,
persuading or entertaining.
Much of the worlds media were developed as money making enterprises and continue to operate
today as commercial businesses. Newspapers and magazines lay out their pages with ads fi rst; the
space remaining is devoted to news. Likewise, commercials are part and parcel of most TV
watching. What many people do not know is that whats really being sold through commercial
media is not just the advertised products to the audience but also the audience to the advertisers!
The real purpose of the programs on television, or the articles in a magazine, is to create an
audience (and put them in a receptive mood) so that the network or publisher can sell time or
space to sponsors to advertise products. We call this renting eyeballs. Sponsors pay for the time
to show a commercial based on the number of people the network predicts will be watching. And
they get a refund if the number of actual viewers turns out to be lower than promised.
Exploring how media content, whether TV shows, magazines or Internet sites, makes viewers and
readers of all ages receptive target audiences for advertisers creates some of the most enlightening
moments in the media literacy classroom.
Examining the purpose of a message also uncovers issues of ownership and the structure and infl
uence of media institutions in society. Commercially sponsored entertainment may be more
tolerable to many people than, say, a commercial infl uence over the news. But with democracy at
stake almost everywhere around the world, citizens in every country need to be equipped with the
ability to determine both economic and ideological spin. But theres more. The issue of message
motivation has changed dramatically since the Internet became an international platform through
61

which groups and organizations even individuals have ready access to powerful tools that can
persuade others to a particular point of view, whether positive or negative.
The Internet provides multiple reasons for all users to be able to recognize propaganda, interpret
rhetorical devices, verify sources and distinguish legitimate websites from bogus, hate or hoax
websites.
key concepts

Identity is a socially and historically constructed concept. We learn about our own identity
and the identity of others through interactions with family, peers, organizations,
institutions, media and other connections we make in our everyday life.
Key facets of identitylike gender, social class, age, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity
play significant roles in determining how we understand and experience the world, as
well as shaping the types of opportunities and challenges we face.

Social and cultural identity is inextricably linked to issues of power, value systems, and
ideology.

The media uses representationsimages, words, and characters or personaeto convey

specific ideas and values related to culture and identity in society.

MEDIA PLANNING
Media Planning is the art and science of ensuring that the adverts that our clients want to place
appear in the right place and at the right time to ensure they reach the correct target group.
When we are briefed to plan a media campaign for our clients, first of all we set out to
understand as much as possible about the target audience, what motivates them and what types
of media they consume.
Media planning is the process of using this information to identify the most appropriate
platforms and most appropriate types of messages that we can use to communicate our clients
message. In today's complex media environment, media planning means considering options
such as sponsorship, social search or even encouraging brands to create their own content.
Media planning is generally the task of a media agency and entails finding media platforms for a
client's brand or product to use. The job of media planning is to determine the best combination of
media to achieve the marketing campaign objectives.
In the process of planning, the media planner needs to answer questions such as:

How many of the audience can be reached through the various media?
On which media (and ad vehicles) should the ads be placed?

How frequent should the ads be placed?

How much money should be spent in each medium?

Choosing which media or type of advertising to use is sometimes tricky for small firms with
limited budgets and know-how. Large-market television and newspapers are often too expensive
for a company that services only a small area (although local newspapers can be used).
Magazines, unless local, usually cover too much territory to be cost-efficient for a small firm,
although some national publications offer regional or city editions. Metropolitan radio stations
present the same problems as TV and metro newspapers; however, in smaller markets, the local
radio station and newspaper may sufficiently cover a small firm's audience.
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Components of a media plan

Define the marketing problem. Where is the business coming from and where is the
potential for increased business? Does the ad need to reach everybody or only a select
group of consumers? How often is the product used? How much product loyalty exists?
Translate the marketing requirements into media objectives. Must the ad reach people in a
wide area? Then mass media, like newspaper and radio, might work. If the target market is
a select group in a defined geographic area, then direct mail could be best.
Define a media solution by formulating media strategies. For example, the rule of thumb
is that a print ad must run three times before it gets noticed. Radio advertising is most
effective when run at certain times of the day or around certain programs, depending on
what market is being reached.

Media planning some major steps that include:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Targeting .
Environmental Scan
Understand the audience
Determination of content
Control

Advertising media includes

Social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.)

Television ( TVC, television commercial)

Radio (AM, FM, XM, Pandora, Spotify)

Newspapers

Magazines (consumer and trade)

Outdoor billboards

Ambient experiential

Public transportation

Direct mail (DM)

Digital advertising (such as web-based, mobile and mobile applications)

Search Engine Marketing (SEM, keyword marketing in search engines)

Specialty advertising (on items such as matchbooks, pencils, calendars, telephone pads,
shopping bags and so on)
Other media (catalogs, samples, handouts, brochures, newsletters and so on)

Factors to consider when comparing various advertising media

63

Reach - expressed as a percentage, reach is the number of individuals (or homes) to

expose the product to through media scheduled over a period of time.
Frequency - using specific media, how many times, on average, should the individuals in
the target audience be exposed to the advertising message? It takes an average of three or
more exposures to an advertising message before consumers take action.

Cost per thousand - How much will it cost to reach a thousand prospective customers (a
method used in comparing print media)? To determine a publication's cost per thousand,
also known as CPM, divide the cost of the advertising by the publication's circulation in
thousands.

Cost per point - how much will it cost to buy one rating point the your target audience, a
method used in comparing broadcast media. One rating point equals 1 percent of the target
audience. Divide the cost of the schedule being considered by the number of rating points
it delivers.

Impact - does the medium in question offer full opportunities for appealing to the
appropriate senses, such as sight and hearing, in its graphic design and production quality?

Selectivity - to what degree can the message be restricted to those people who are known
to be the most logical prospects?

Reach and frequency are important aspects of an advertising plan and are used to analyze
alternative advertising schedules to determine which produce the best results relative to the media
plan's objectives.
MEDIA STRATEGIES
Media planners make three crucial decisions: where to advertise (geography), when to advertise
(timing), and what media categories to use (media mix). Moreover, they make these decisions in
the face of budget constraints. The actual amount of money that an advertiser spends on marketing
communications can vary widely, from billions of dollars for multinational giants such as Procter
& Gamble, to a few thousand dollars for local "mom-n-pop" stores. In general, companies spend
as little as 1% to more than 20% of revenues on advertising, depending on the nature of their
business. It is the job of media planners to formulate the best media strategies -- allocating budget
across media categories, geographies, and time. Let's look at each of these three decisions in turn,
and then consider cost effectiveness.
Media Mix Decisions
Which media should the advertiser use? Media planners craft a media mix by considering a
budget-conscious intersection between their media objectives and the properties of the various
potential media vehicles. That is, they consider how each media vehicle provides a cost-effective
contribution to attaining the objectives, and then they select the combination of vehicles that best
attain all of the objectives.
When making media mix decisions, planners look to a whole spectrum of media, not just to
traditional media vehicles such as TV, radio, and print. That is, media planners consider all the
opportunities that consumers have for contact with the brand. These opportunities can be nontraditional brand contact opportunities such as online advertising, sweepstakes, sponsorships,
product placements, direct mail, mobile phones, blogs, and podcasts. The scale and situations of
media use are especially important when evaluating suitable brand contact opportunities.
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Mix Strategy: Media Concentration vs. Media Dispersion

A media planner's first media mix decision is to choose between a media concentration approach
or a media dispersion approach. The media concentration approach uses fewer media categories
and greater spending per category. This lets the media planner create higher frequency and
repetition within that one media category. Media planners will choose a concentration approach if
they are worried that their brand's ads will share space with competing brands, leading to
confusion among consumers and failure of the media objectives. For example, when Nestle
launched its 99% fat-free cereal Fitnesse, the similarity of ads actually increased the sales of the
competing Kellogg's Special K Cereal.[26]
Media planners can calculate or measure share of voice to estimate the dominance of their
message in each category of media they use. Share of voice is the percentage of spending by one
brand in a given media category relative to the total spending by all brands that are advertising in
that media category.
Media Category Selection
Whether media planners select media concentration or media dispersion, they still must pick the
media category(ies) for the media plan. Different media categories suit different media objectives.
Most media options can be classified into three broad categories: mass media, direct response
media, and point-of-purchase media. A media planner's choice will depend on the media
objectives. If the media planner wants to create broad awareness or to remind the largest possible
number of consumers about a brand, then he or she will pick mass media such as television, radio,
newspaper and magazine. If the media planner wants to build a relationship with a customer or
encourage an immediate sales response, then direct response media such as direct mail, the
Internet and mobile phone are good choices.
Geographic Allocation Decisions
In addition to allocating advertising by media category, media planners must allocate advertising
by geography. In general, a company that sells nationally can take one of three approaches to
geographic spending allocation: a national approach (advertise in all markets), a spot
approach (advertise only in selected markets), or a combined national plus spot approach
(advertise in all markets with additional spending in selected markets).
Media Schedule Decisions
Having decided how to advertise (the media mix) and where to advertise (allocation across
geography), media planners need to consider when to advertise. Given a fixed annual budget,
should all months receive equal amounts of money or should some months receive more of the
budget while other months receive less or nothing? Media planners can choose among three
methods of scheduling: continuity, flight, and pulse.
Continuity scheduling spreads media spending evenly across months. For example, with an
annual budget of $1,200,000 a year, continuity scheduling would allocate exactly $100,000 per
month. This method ensures steady brand exposure over each purchase cycle for individual
consumers. It also takes advantage of volume discounts in media buying. However, because
continuity scheduling usually requires a large budget, it may not be practical for small advertisers.
The flight scheduling approach alternates advertising across months, with heavy advertising in
certain months and no advertising at all in other months. For example, a board game maker like
65

Parker Brothers might concentrate its advertising in the fall when it knows that many people buy
board games as gifts for the holidays. Or, with the same budget of $1,200,000, for example, a
different brand could spend $200,000 per month during each of six months -- January, March,
May, July, September and December -- and spend nothing during the other months, in hopes that
the impact of advertising in the previous month can last into the following month.
Pulse scheduling combines the first two scheduling methods, so that the brand maintains a low
level of advertising across all months but spends more in selected months.
For example, an airline like United Airlines might use a low level of continuous advertising to
maintain brand awareness among business travellers. United Airlines might also have seasonal
pulses to entice winter-weary consumers to fly to sunny climes. In budget allocation terms, a
consumer goods brand may spend $5,000 in each of the twelve months to maintain the brand
awareness and spend an additional $10,000 in January, March, May, July, September and
December to attract brand switchers from competing brands. The pulse scheduling method takes
advantage of both the continuity and flight scheduling methods and mitigates their weaknesses.
However, this does not mean it is good for all products and services. Which method is the most
appropriate for a given campaign depends on several important factors.
MEDIA BUYING
Media buying, a sub function of advertising management, is the procurement of media real estate
at an optimal placement and price. The main task of media buying lies within the negotiation of
price and placement to ensure the best possible value can be secured for an advertisement. The
type of people who negotiate the price of these advertisements are labelled "Media Buyers" in the
workplace. Increasingly, the job of a Media Buyer online is being done in real-time with advanced
algorithms.
Buyers
Media buyers are the individuals responsible for negotiating and purchasing time and advertising
space for the purpose of advertising. When planning what to buy, they must evaluate factors based
on but not limited to station formats, pricing rates, demographics, geographic,
and psychographics relating to the advertiser's particular product or service objectives. The media
buyer needs to optimize what is bought and that is dependent on budget, type of medium (radio,
internet, TV, print), quality of the medium (target audience, time of day for broadcast, etc.), and
how much time and space is wanted. Media buyers can purchase spot, regionally, or nationally.
National media buyers might have to factor in determinates based on a state by state basis. Rates,
demand of leads, space, and time, and state licenses will vary from state to state. National media
buyers will need national media planning to generate national media marketing strategies and
national media advertising that can be adaptable from area to area but also work on a national
level.
Its a term that you might have heard thrown around in a corporate boardroom, but youre not
really sure what it means. What exactly is media buying and how is it relevant in the modern
Internet marketing realm? Lets find out.
Buying Media Intelligently
If you want to get the word out about your company, product, or service, it makes sense to
consider advertising in several different venues. This can help with brand exposure and it can help
get more people to know about what you have to offer. However, it is not in your best interest to
buy this advertising so broadly and blindly. Theres no sense in wasting hundreds, thousands, or
even millions of dollars on advertising that doesnt target the right demographic.
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And

thats

where

media

buying

comes

into

play.

According

to Wikipedia:

Media buying is the procurement of the best possible placement and price of a piece of media real
estate within any given media.
CROSS MEDIA CONCEPT
Cross-media : The term Cross-Media is often explained as something that includes the
distribution of content (e.g. music, text, pictures, video etc.) amongst different media. One
frequently used combination is television, newspapers/magazines mobile devices and Internet.
Cross media is usually seen as the use of traditional media along each other in an innovative way.
However, the term can be used in a variety of ways; cross-medial concepts are not only formed by
means of a commercial purpose (including marketing campaigns and broadcasting arrangements)
but also depend on the personal lives of consumers. In the current media-land scape consumers
control the use of media; they decide when and where they wish to access specific media and
content. The cross media sector itself defines the term as follows:
The cross media-sector provides multimedia products and services by using radio, television,
Internet, mobile devices, print and events simultaneously along each other.
Cross Media Concept:
Cross Media Concepts gives you a place in the helicopter. You get an overview of the media and
platforms that are quite advanced today. But you also come down to earth and get the tools you
need to work across - both now and when the media landscape is changing again.
You will be presented with strategies, methods and trends. We review successful cases and
analyze how to make them even better. And then you get an invaluable insight into how the user
acts, and not least, how to do the business.
Cross Media Concepts is a solid foundation if you need to develop and organize concepts across
media and platforms. The course gives you new abilities optimize existing and equip you to
optimize cooperation between the many different disciplines.
MEDIA RESEARCH
Marketing and Media Research: There are aspects of marketing that are and some that are very
scientific. Market and media research are two of those more mathematical pieces of the marketing
pie. So any campaign using any media kicks off with a hypothesis that X group of people will be
best reached via A, B, and C media and the best way to engage them is with Z message. Hence
going with your gut and testing marketing hypotheses with a huge budget may have worked
well for the Mad Men of the 60s, but its insanity in todays media and economic climate. Thats
why we build any creative message and marketing plan on solid research. Fluid Drive Media has
all the latest tools for fine tuning markets, refining strategic approaches, and engaging your next
customer. It only makes sense to know where youre going before you leave town. Granted, a
spontaneous road trip to wherever can be fun, but we have too much respect for your budget and
your goals to run your campaign on a whim and a prayer.
Find how we can help you reach more new customers more effectively and efficiently today. Give
us a call or drop us an email. Wed be glad to hear from you.
This all may seem simple, but it requires a lot of sweat and support to make it happen
successfully. And thats why were here to help you maximize the impact of your campaign every
step of the way. Find out how far you can go. Fill out our contact form or email us today.
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Efficiently and effectively reach your buyers

In depth research behind every strategy
Reach more prospects faster for less
We also offer meaningful award winning creative that works

Unit-5
SPONSORSHIP
Sponsor or sponsorship may refer to a person or organization with some sort of responsibility for
another person or organization:
To sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization
financially or through the provision of products or services. A sponsor is the
individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor.

Definition
Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically in sports, arts, entertainment
or causes) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that
property, according to IEG.
While the sponsoree (property being sponsored) may be nonprofit, unlike philanthropy,
sponsorship is done with the expectation of a commercial return.
While sponsorship can deliver increased awareness, brand building and propensity to purchase, it
is different from advertising. Unlike advertising, sponsorship can not communicate specific
product attributes. Nor can it stand alone, as sponsorship requires support elements.
Theories of sponsorship
A range of psychological and communications theories have been used to explain how
commercial sponsorship works to impact consumer audiences. Most use the notion that a brand
(sponsor) and event (sponsoree) become linked in memory through the sponsorship and as a
result, thinking of the brand can trigger event-linked associations, while thinking of the event can
come to trigger brand-linked associations.
One of the most pervasive findings in sponsorship is that the best effects are achieved where there
is a logical match between the sponsor and sponsoree, such as a sports brand sponsoring a sports
event. Work by Cornwell and colleagues however, has shown that brands that dont have a logical
match can still benefit, at least in terms of memory effects, if the sponsors articulates some
rationale for the sponsorship to the audience.
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Selling sponsorship
The sales cycle for selling sponsors is often a lengthy process that consists of researching
prospects, creating tailored proposals based on a companys business objectives, finding the right
contacts at a company, getting buy-in from multiple constituencies and finally negotiating
benefits/price. Some sales can take up to a year and sellers report spending anywhere between 15
hours researching each company that is viewed as a potential prospect for sponsorship.
Leveraging sponsorships and activation
These are the terms used by many sponsorship professionals, which refer to how a sponsor uses
the benefits they are allocated under the terms of a sponsorship agreement. Leveraging has been
defined by Weeks, Cornwell and Drennan (2008) as the act of using collateral marketing
communications to exploit the commercial potential of the association between a sponsor and
sponsee while activation has been defined as those communications that promote the
engagement, involvement, or participation of the sponsorship audience with the sponsor.[7]
Money spent on activation is over and above the rights fee paid to the sponsored property and is
often far greater than the cost of the rights fee.
Principles Governing Sponsorship
All sponsorship should be based on contractual obligations between the sponsor and the sponsored
party. Sponsors and sponsored parties should set out clear terms and conditions with all other
partners involved, to define their expectations regarding all aspects of the sponsorship deal.
Sponsorship should be recognizable as such. The terms and conduct of sponsorship should be
based upon the principle of good faith between all parties to the sponsorship. There should be
clarity regarding the specific rights being sold and confirmation that these are available for
sponsorship from the rights holder. Sponsored parties should have the absolute right to decide on
the value of the sponsorship rights that they are offering and the appropriateness of the sponsor
with whom they contract.
Categories

Title sponsor is highest status of sponsorship. It characterizes the most significant contribution
to a company in organizing and hosting an event. Often the name of such sponsor is placed
next to the name of competition, teams, individual athletes and is associated with it (for
example, the logo of a title sponsor is placed on a uniform of football club teams).

General sponsor is a sponsor that makes one of the largest contributions (in absence of a title
sponsor - usually more than 50% of all sponsorship funds raised) and that receives for it the
right to use the image of competition as well as extensive media coverage. If necessary, the
status of the general sponsor may be supplemented by the general sponsors for certain
categories, as well as the main sponsor.

Official sponsor is a sponsor that makes a certain part of raised funds (within 20-25%).
Typically, the given status may be granted by category (official insurance partner, official
automotive partner, etc.).

69

Technical sponsor is a sponsor which promotes organization of sporting events through the
partial or full payment of goods and services (e.g., medical equipment, fitness, organization of
transportation and lodging).

Participating sponsor is a company, the sponsorship fee size of which usually does not exceed
10% of total raised funds.

Informational sponsor is an organization that provides informational support

through media coverage, conducting PR-actions, joint actions, etc.

Supportive Communication
Supportive communication is an interpersonal communication that helps you communicate
accurately and without putting at risk interpersonal relationships, especially in difficult situations
and times. Supportive communication builds and strengthens relationships when delivering
negative feedback or when you have to point out few shortcomings of another person. It seeks to
preserve or enhance a positive relationship between two people while still addressing the issue. It
allows you to communicate information to others that is not complimentary but rather that
strengthens the relationship.
Supportive communication is a style of communicating that has a specific set of goals and
techniques. The primary goal of supportive communication is to resolve conflict or achieve
change in a situation while preserving, even strengthening, the relationship between the
communicating individuals. This style of communication is used in many types of interpersonal
interactions, such as those including a power differential, as is found between manager and
employee, teacher and student, or parent and child.
There are eight principles of supportive communication
1. Problem-oriented, not Person-oriented.
Problem-oriented communication focuses on problems and solutions rather than on personal traits.
Person-oriented communication focuses on the characteristics of the individual, not the event.
Problem-oriented communication is useful even when personal appraisals are called for because it
focuses on behaviours and events, whereas person-oriented communication can send the message
that the individual is inadequate. Statements such as you are dictatorial and you are
insensitive describe the person, while I am not involved in decisions and we dont seem to see
things the same way describe problems.
2.Congruence, not incongruence.
Rogers (1961) argues that the best interpersonal communications, and the best relationships, are
based on congruence, that is, exactly matching the communication, verbally and nonverbally, to
what an individual is thinking and feeling. One kind of incongruence is a mismatch between what
one is experiencing and what one is aware of. For example, an individual may not even be aware
that he or she is experiencing anger toward another person, even though the anger is really
present. A second kind of incongruence, and the one most closely related to supportive
communication, is a mismatch between what one feels and what one communicates. For example,
an individual may be aware of a feeling of anger but deny having that feeling. Congruence relates
to matching the content of ones words to your manner and tone of voice.
3. Descriptive, not evaluative.
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Evaluative communication makes a judgment or places a label on other individuals or their

behaviour: You are doing it wrong, You are incompetent. Such evaluation generally makes
the other person feel under attack and respond defensively. Probable responses are, Im not doing
it wrong, or I am as competent as you are. Arguments, bad feelings, and a weakening of the
interpersonal relationship result. An alternative to evaluation is descriptive communication.
Descriptive communication reduces the tendency to evaluate and perpetuate a defensive
interaction. It involves three steps:
Step 1: Describe objectively the event, behaviour, or circumstance.
Example: Three clients have complained to me this month that you have not responded to their
requests.
Step 2: Focus on the behavior and your reaction, not the other persons attributes.
Example: Im worried because each client has threatened to go elsewhere if we arent more
responsive.
Step 3: Focus on solutions.
Example: We need both to win back their confidence and to show them you are responsive. For
example you could do a free analysis of their systems.
4. validates rather than invalidates individuals.
Communication that is invalidating arouses negative feelings about self-worth, identity, and
relatedness to others. It denies the presence, uniqueness, or importance of other individuals.
Communication that is superiority oriented gives the impression that the communicator is
informed while the others are ignorant, adequate while others are inadequate, competent while
others are incompetent, or powerful while others are impotent. Indifference is communicated
when the other persons existence or importance is not acknowledged. Imperviousness means
that the communicator does not acknowledge the feelings or opinions of the other person. They
are either labeled illegitimateYou shouldnt feel that way or Your opinion is incorrector
they are labeled as naveYou dont understand, Youve been misinformed, or (worse yet)
Your opinion in uninformed.
Validating communication helps people feel recognized, understood, accepted and valued. It
is respectful where others are treated as worthwhile, competent, and insightful and emphasizes
joint problem solving rather than a superior position. It is flexible, it means communicating
genuine humilitynot self-abasement or weaknessand openness to new insight. It involves
two-way communication where others are asked questions and given air time to express their
opinions. It identifies areas of agreement before areas of disagreement, acknowledges important
points of the other person before trivial ones, and provides complements before criticisms,
advantages before disadvantages.
5. Specific (useful), not global (useless).
Specific statements avoid extremes and absolutes: You have no consideration for others
feelings, You either do what I say or Ill fire you. Extreme and either-or statements deny
alternatives. The possible responses of the recipient of the communication are severely
constrained. To contradict or deny it generally leads to defensiveness and arguments. In general,
the more specific a statement is, the more useful it is. For example, the statement You have
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trouble managing your time is too general to be useful, whereas You spent an hour scheduling
meetings today when that could have been done by your assistant provides specific information
that can serve as a basis for behavioural change. Your communication needs to improve is not
nearly as useful as a more specific In this role play, you used evaluative statements 60 percent of
the time and descriptive statements 10 percent of the time.
6. Conjunctive, not disjunctive.
Conjunctive communication is joined to previous messages in some way. It flows smoothly.
Disjunctive communication is disconnected from what was stated before. Communication can be
disjunctive in three ways. First, there can be a lack of equal opportunity to speak such as when
one interrupts another or dominates air time. Second, extended pauses are disjunctive. Third,
topic control can be disjointed such as when one person decides unilaterally what the next topic of
conversation may be (as opposed to having it decided bilaterally). A communicators statement or
question is most conjunctive when it refers to an immediately preceding statement; It is
disjunctive when it refers to nothing that has been said or that the parties share in common.
7. Owned, not disowned.
Taking responsibility for ones statements and acknowledging that the source of the ideas is
oneself and not another person or group is owning communication. Using first person words such
as I, me, mine, indicates owning communication. Disowning communication is suggested
by use of third-person or first-person-plural words: We think, They said, or One might say.
Disowned communication is attributed to an unknown person, group, or external source (e.g.,
Lots of people think). The communicator avoids taking responsibility for the message and
therefore avoids investing in the interaction. This conveys the message that the communicator is
aloof or uncaring about the receiver or is not confident enough in the ideas expressed to take
responsibility for them.
8. Listening, not one-way message delivery.
The previous seven attributes of supportive communication focus on message delivery. Listening
and responding effectively to someone elses statements is at least as important as delivering
supportive messages. People do not know that they are being listened to unless the listener makes
some type of response. In general there are four types of response that range on a continuum from
most directive and closed to most nondirective and open. Closed responses eliminate discussion
of topics and provide direction to individuals. Open responses, allow the communicator, not the
listener, to control the topic of conversation. The four types of responses are:
An advising response provides direction, evaluation, personal opinion, or instructions. Such
responses imposes on the communicator the point of view of the listener, and it creates listener
control over the topic of conversation.
A deflecting response switches the focus from the communicators problem to one selected by
the listener. The listener changes the subject.
A probing response asks a question about what the communicator just said or about a topic
selected by the listener. The intent of the probe is to acquire additional information, to help the
communicator say more about the topic, or to help the listener foster more appropriate responses.
Four types of probes can be used: elaboration probe (e.g., Can you tell me more about
that?); clarification probe (e.g., What do you mean by that?); repetition probe (e.g., Once
again, what do you think about that?); reflective probe (e.g., You say you are discouraged?).
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A reflecting response mirrors back to the communicator the message that was heard and
communicates understanding and acceptance of the person. Reflecting the message in different
words (paraphrasing) allows the speaker to feel listened to, understood, and free to explore the
topic in more depth.
Open responses (reflecting) are generally useful during early stages of discussion.
Closed responses (advising) are generally useful during later stages of discussion, or when they
are requested by the communicator, or when one is in position to offer direction (e.g., an expert).

ROLE OF E-COMMERCE IN MARKETING COMMUNICTION

Marketing Communication E-Commerce

In the current market the manner of communication between an organisation and its customer can
be a significant factor of competitive advantage. According to Hughes (2002) marketing
communication is not only a source of competitive advantage but also an essential factor to
survive in the market. Traditionally marketing communication involves two key players producer
and customer.
Mercer (1996) suggests that marketing communication is a two way process of communication
between producer and customer through the activities of promotion and market research. First
aspect of marketing communication is market research through which various organisations
identify the requirements of the market. And once the needs are identified and product or services
are ready to deliver, they are delivered through promotion which is second aspect of marketing
communication. However according to Mercer (1996) the traditional process is not complete as it
does not involve feedback which makes communication complete.
However the emergence of e-commerce has a huge influence on the process of marketing
communication and the channels through which it takes place. Many authors suggest that due to ecommunication the structure of traditional marketing communication is highly transformed.

Accessibility at any time and place which is core characteristic of internet had a huge
impact on marketing communication. Due to this in contrary to traditional way the
marketing channels can be accessed at any location and any time (Li, 2004).
E-communication provided organisations the capability to expand the target market
without any limitation of location across the globe. And due to unique characteristic of ecommerce the customers can be treated individually without any differences (Darby,
2003).
However besides the positive aspects on other hand e-communication provides majorly
only one medium of communication based on messages in the form of text. But depending
on various contexts sometimes marketing communication need other medium like dialog,
which is a limitation of e-communication (Duffy, 2005).

The influence of e-commerce on marketing communication can be positive as well as negative as

demonstrated in above discussion. Hence it is very essential to critically analyse the role of ecommerce in marketing communication and identify various advantages and challenges. Further
the case analysis of amazon.com will trough more light on the role of e-commerce and its
influence on marketing communication, also supports to identify the future trends.

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Literature Review:
As the new developments in e-commerce, e-business and widely spread network of internet across
the globe have completely transformed the face of marketing communication. As cited in Rowley
(2001) e-commerce is defined as "doing business electronically across the extended enterprise
which covers any form of business or administrative transaction or information exchange that is
executed using any information and communications technology". As suggested in definition ecommerce is doing business technically using electronic mediums of communication which are
rapid easy to use and cost effective, hence e-commerce have huge influence on business at present
as well as in future (Rowley, 2001).

The core objectives of e-commerce are:

Developing corporate image.

Growing the visibility of the organisation.

Improving customer services.

Maintaining and increasing the market share.

Synchronizing the supply chain.

Performing secure and quick transactions.

Reducing cost.

Increasing profitability.

Penetration of new market places.

The core objectives of marketing are:

Providing the information to the market.

Improving the sales.

Increasing market share.

Creating a Brand.

Making marketing as a source of competitive advantage.

According to researcher Leong et al (1998) introduction of e-commerce can satisfy not only all the
core objective of marketing efficiently but also have higher advantage to the business by
satisfying both the set of objectives.
E-commerce can efficiently provide the information and create a brand. Also making customers
aware of business policies, resolving customer complaints and taking the feedback can be quicker
and authentic through use of e-commerce (Leong et al, 1998).
Further Berthan et al (1996) suggest that various researchers have argued the role of e-commerce
in context of marketing communication based on the different objects of the two concepts.
The enriched literature on various aspects of marketing communication, e-commerce and
amazon.com can lead to a highly effective critical analysis of e-commerce as a principle form of
marketing communication and practice diagnosis of various theories through amazon.com case
74

study. This critical analysis can be highly useful to various practitioners and academic experts in
the field of e-commerce and marketing communication at present and in future.

Corporate communication
Corporate communication is a set of activities involved in managing and orchestrating all
internal and external communications aimed at creating favorable point of view among
stakeholders on which the company depends. It is the messages issued by a corporate
organization, body, or institute to its audiences, such as employees, media, channel partners and
the general public. Organizations aim to communicate the same message to all its stakeholders, to
transmit coherence, credibility and ethic. Corporate Communications help organizations explain
their mission, combine its many visions and values into a cohesive message to stakeholders. The
concept of corporate communication could be seen as an integrative communication structure
linking stakeholders to the organization.

Corporate Communication is a total communication activity generated by a company, body,

and institute to its public in order to achieve its planned objective. Corporate
Communications External Internal Agencies, Channel Partners, Employees, Stakeholders,
i.e. Media, Government, Industry Share and Stock holders Bodies, Educational Institutes and
General Public
In simple words: Corporate communication includes advertising, marketing
communications, marketing, and public relations, but they all function under a managed
perspective Corporate communication is managing an organizations internal and external
communications

Methods and tactics

Three principal clusters of task-planning and communication form the backbone of business and
the activity of business organizations. These include management communication, marketing
communication, and organizational communication.

Management communication takes place between management and its internal and
external audiences. To support management communication, organizations rely heavily on
specialists in marketing communication and organizational communication.[citation needed]
Marketing communication gets the bulk of the budgets in most organizations, and
consists of product advertising, direct mail, personal selling, and sponsorship activities.
Organizational communication consist of specialists in public relations, public affairs,
investor relations, environmental communications, corporate advertising, and employee
communication.

The responsibilities of corporate communication are:

to flesh out the profile of the "company behind the brand" (corporate branding)
to minimize discrepancies between the company's desired identity and brand features

to delegate tasks in communication

to formulate and execute effective procedures to make decisions on communication

matters
to mobilize internal and external support for corporate objectives
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to coordinate with international business firms

Most companies have specialized groups of professionals for communicating with different
audiences, such as internal communication, marketing communication, investor relations,
government relations and public relations.
Forms of Corporate Communications
Internal Communication:- Regular meetings with employees- Keep employees interested
and satisfied: newsletters fun at work initiatives RnRs, get-togethers, etc.- Keep
employees invested in the companys way of thinking and operating- Employees are part of
the company; so that they identify the companys success with their own
Consumer Communication:- Influencing consumer spending- Outreach to the target
audience must be consistent and ongoing- Enhance companys reputation through
Advertising, Sponsorships and Charitable Relationships etc.- Improve the life of the
consumer
Media Communication:- Fundamental element of managing brands reputation- Media
coverage creates more credibility than only advertising- Mostly used to increase product
name recognition, establish abrand identity and to align with the target segment- different
tactics for different audience
Crisis Communication:- Must be implemented quickly in order to be effectiveCommunication and message changes dramatically- Target audience may differ or expandMessage is of corporate responsibility, awareness and action
Responsibilities of Corp. Comm.- Managing communication or fulfilling the communication
management function- Dealing with controlled and uncontrolled media- Serving both internal and
external audiences- Proactive communication planning- Advocating communication strategies and
tactics- Dissemination of persuasion and information- Branding images and reputation
Branding products and services- Monitoring the responses from audiences and marketsCounselling and advising senior executives- Managing issues and responding to crisis
situations- Lobbying for favourable stances for the organization- Organizational image
creation and maintenance- Organizational presence building and monitoring
Minimize discrepancies between the companys desired identity and brand featuresIndicate who should perform which task in the field ofcommunication- Formulate and
execute effective procedures in order tofacilitate decision making about matters
concerningcommunication- Coordinate with international business firms
.Media Relations-The always increasing role of the electronic media(Internet,
newspapers, magazines, radio, andtelevision) has created a special importance formedia
relations- In fact, the news media have become dependent on PR for news, and PR has
become dependent upon the news media for publicity.
Employee Relations- Internal communication is the key: informed employees are happy
and they spread the good news through their families and friends- Never surprise
employees; make them a part of the planning process and keep them informed.
Government Relations- Building meaningful relationships with government officials is
essential to industry success in todays political world- Lobbying - the legal influencing
of public officials on stands appropriate for industry- Public Affairs - stances on
controversial issues of public concern is imperative for business success today
.Relations with Special Interest Groups- There are several special interest and activist
groups in the country today- If theres a cause, some group will pick it up- Defending
company from frivolous lawsuits and harassment from these groups has become a full
time job in itself
Stakeholder Relations- It is important to recognize stakeholders- Its not only socially
responsible to deal effectively with these stakeholders, it pays in good will and financial
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stability- Monitoring and managing key issues and moving to offset crisis and emergency
situations in a pro-active way is very essential today
Advertising Relations- Copy writing and production is usually outsourced today- Market
analysis is imperative; ratings, circulations, visits are all important- Reach and frequency
are important- Media Buying is an important part of Corp. Comm.- Sufficient advertising
knowledge and skill are essential fora professional communicator today.

PUBLIC RELATIONS
public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual
or an organization and the public.[1] Public relations may include an organization
or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items
that do not require direct payment. [2] This differentiates it from advertising as a form of marketing
communications. The aim of public relations is to inform the public, prospective customers,
investors, partners, employees, and other stakeholders and ultimately persuade them maintain a
certain view about the organization, its leadership, products, or of political decisions.
Public relations specialists establish and maintain relationships with an organization's target
audience, the media, and other opinion leaders. Common activities include designing
communications campaigns, writing news releases and other content for news and feature articles,
working with the press, arranging interviews for company spokespeople, writingspeeches for
company leaders, acting as organization's spokesperson by speaking in public and public officials,
preparing
clients
for press
conferences,
media
interviews,
and
speeches,
writing website and social media content, and facilitating internal/employee communication.[3]
Definition
Ivy Lee and Edward Louis Bernays established the first definition in the early 1900s as follows: "a
management function, which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures, and
interests of an organization... followed by executing a program of action to earn public
understanding and acceptance.
According to Edward Bernays, the public relations counsel is the agent working with both modern
media of communications and group formations of society in order to provide ideas to the publics
consciousness.
In August 1978, the World Assembly of Public Relations Associations defined the field as
"the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling
organizational leaders, and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both the
organization and the public interest."
Public Relations Society of America defined public relations in 1982 as:
"Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other."
Public relations can also be defined as the practice of managing communication between an
organization and its publics.
Public relations is the management of public opinion in order to earn the good will and
understanding of the public. The public for a museum is not just its visitors but also the staff and
volunteers, members, government officials and potential sponsors.
Who are our public?

The general public

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Board or management committee

Members and volunteers
The travel industry
Employees
Sponsors
The media
Government
Education providers

Four types of public relations activity

Internal relations
Special interest group public relations
General public relations
Corporate and community public relations

Internal relations: Staff need open communication and reward for their efforts. These can be
achieved by newsletters, regular staff meetings, social outings, use of notice boards, training and
staff job rotation. It is important for everyone to feel a valued part of the organisation.
Special interest groups : Museums can reap the rewards by establishing good relationships with
government departments, schools and other special interest groups. Approaches can include:
Personal meetings
Printed information
Public presentations
General public : We can do things to directly influence what people think of us:
Media campaigns
Direct marketing
Special activities and events
Displays or signs
Association with others
Use celebrities
International visitors or museum experts
Corporate and community : A museum is an important and visible part of a community.
Corporate public relations activities may include:

sponsorships
training opportunities
corporate support
corporate membership of professional associations.

SALES PROMOTION

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Sales promotion is one of the five aspects of the promotional mix. (The other 4 parts of the
promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations.)
Sales promotions can be directed at either the customer, sales staff, or distribution channel
members (such as retailers). Sales promotions targeted at the consumer are called consumer sales
promotions. Sales promotions targeted at retailers and wholesaleare called trade sales
promotions. Some sale promotions, particularly ones with unusual methods, are
considered gimmicks by many.
Sales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to provide added value or
incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to stimulate
immediate sales. These efforts can attempt to stimulate product interest, trial, or purchase.
Examples of devices used in sales promotion include coupons, samples, premiums, point-ofpurchase (POP) displays, contests, rebates, and sweepstakes.
Sales promotion is needed to attract new customers, to hold present customers, to counteract
competition, and to take advantage of opportunities that are revealed by market research. It is
made up of activities, both outside and inside activities, to enhance company sales. Outside sales
promotion activities include advertising, publicity, public relations activities, and special sales
events. Inside sales promotion activities includes window displays, product and promotional
material display and promotional programs such as premium awards and contests.
Consumer sales promotion techniques

Price deal: A temporary reduction in the price, such as 50% off.

Loyal Reward Program: Consumers collect points, miles, or credits for purchases and
redeem them for rewards.

Cents-off deal: Offers a brand at a lower price. Price reduction may be a percentage
marked on the package.

Price-pack deal: The packaging offers a consumer a certain percentage more of the
product for the same price (for example, 25 percent extra).

Coupons: coupons have become a standard mechanism for sales promotions.

Loss leader: the price of a popular product is temporarily reduced below cost in order to
stimulate other profitable sales

Free-standing insert (FSI): A coupon booklet is inserted into the local newspaper for
delivery.

On-shelf couponing: Coupons are present at the shelf where the product is available.

Checkout dispensers: On checkout the customer is given a coupon based on products

purchased.

On-line couponing: Coupons are available online. Consumers print them out and take
them to the store.

Mobile couponing: Coupons are available on a mobile phone. Consumers show the offer
on a mobile phone to a salesperson for redemption.

Online interactive promotion game: Consumers play an interactive game associated with
the promoted product.
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Rebates: Consumers are offered money back if the receipt and barcode are mailed to the
producer.

Contests/sweepstakes/games: The consumer is automatically entered into the event by

purchasing the product.

Point-of-sale displays:1.

Aisle interrupter: A sign that juts into the aisle from the shelf.

2.

Dangler: A sign that sways when a consumer walks by it.

3.

Dump bin: A bin full of products dumped inside.

4.

Bidding portals: Getting prospects

5.

Glorifier: A small stage that elevates a product above other products.

6.

Wobbler: A sign that jiggles.

7.

Lipstick Board: A board on which messages are written in crayon.

8.

Necker: A coupon placed on the 'neck' of a bottle.

9.

YES unit: "your extra salesperson" is a pull-out fact sheet.

10.

Electroluminescent: Solar-powered, animated light in motion.[2]

Kids eat free specials: Offers a discount on the total dining bill by offering 1 free kids
meal with each regular meal purchased.

Sampling: Consumers get one sample for free, after their trial and then could decide
whether to buy or not.

Trade sales promotion techniques

Trade allowances: short term incentive offered to induce a retailer to stock up on a

product.
Dealer loader: An incentive given to induce a retailer to purchase and display a product.

Trade contest: A contest to reward retailers that sell the most product.

Point-of-purchase displays: Used to create the urge of "impulse" buying and selling your
product on the spot.

Training programs: dealer employees are trained in selling the product.

Push money: also known as "spiffs". An extra commission paid to retail employees to
push products.
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Types of Sales Promotions

Sales promotions are used as a way to attract attention to your business or provide an incentive for
a customer to take a desired action. Sales promotions typically last for a specified time period and
are designed to achieve a defined purpose like helping to launch a new business or luring
customers away from a competitor. A variety of sales promotion types are available to small
business owners.
Demos and Sampling
According to the Business Owner's ToolKit website, 51 percent of shoppers purchased
a product they normally would not have purchased when given a free sample. Samples are most
commonly used in grocery stores to introduce a new food product. A demo is another form of
sampling when a product or service is demonstrated during actual use. A small business owner
such as a home improvement contractor could work with a local hardware store to demonstrate a
home improvement project.
Coupons
Coupons can be used as a way to attract new customers or to develop customer loyalty. Mail
coupons to targeted households as an incentive for someone to shop at your store or purchase your
product. You can also place them on products on your store's shelves to provide
customers with an immediate savings at the cash register. The latter method encourages customers
to keep coming back to your business.
Price Reduction
A price reduction allows customers to buy your products at a lower price for a specified period of
time. A price reduction may take the form of a sale or an in-store event like an unadvertised
special on certain items. A price reduction may also be used to take attention away from a
competitor. For example, if you operate a dry cleaning business and a new dry cleaner opens a
store down the street, you can offer a price reduction to lure customers away from the new
store's grand opening event.
Free Products
Giving something away is another way to lure customers to your place of business. For your grand
opening event, you can provide everyone who attends with free food or drink or free merchandise.
You can also give away items containing your brand or slogan such as coffee mugs or t-shirts.
Another idea is to give away prizes to the first 25 people who enter your place of business on a
given day.
In the Sales Promotion tutorial we saw that promotions can be classified into three main areas:

Consumer Market-Directed
Trade Market-Directed

Business-to-Business Market-Directed

In this tutorial we look more deeply into each of these classifications by examining the different
types of promotions that fall into each. As we will see much of what is covered is very familiar to
even those who are new to marketing as it involves promotional methods consumers are exposed
to nearly every day. For marketers, it is important to understand the value each type of sales
promotion holds for helping them meet their promotional objectives.
Difference Between Advertising and Sales Promotions/ Relation between sales promotion
and Advertising:

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Advertising and sales promotions are two marketing terms that are often used interchangeably by
marketers. But they are different and they both have distinct definitions and uses. It is important to
understand the role each plays in reaching today's ever more elusive consumer.
Advertising Defined
Advertising positions a product or service against that of competitors to convey a brand message
to consumers and to enhance its value in the consumer's eyes. A television commercial for a brand
new automobile emphasizing the car's new features and styling is an example of advertising.
Sales Promotion Defined
Sales promotions include a variety of strategies designed to offer purchasers an extra incentive to
buy, usually in the short-term. Examples of sales promotions include cents-off coupons, two-forthe-price-of-one sales and double coupons at the grocery store, all for a limited period of time,
PUBLICITY
Publicity is the movement of information with the effect of increasing public awareness of a
subject. The subjects of publicity include people (for example, politicians and performing
artists), goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.
Publicity is gaining public visibility or awareness for a product, service or your company via the
media. It is the publicist that carries out publicity, while PR is the strategic management function
that helps an organization communicate, establish and maintain communication with the public.
This can be done internally, without the use of media.
From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one component
of marketing. The other elements of the promotional mix areadvertising, sales promotion, direct
marketing and personal selling. Examples of promotional tactics include:

Art people
event sponsorship

Arrange a speech or talk

Make an analysis or prediction

Conduct a poll or survey

Issue a report

Take a stand on a controversial subject

Arrange for a testimonial

Announce an appointment

Invent then present an award

Stage a debate

Organize a tour of your business or projects

Issue a commendation

Publicists

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A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a product, public figure,
especially a celebrity, or for a work such as a book or movie or band. Publicists could work in
large companies as in little companies.
Though there are many aspects to a publicist's job, their main function is to persuade the press to
report about their client in the most positive way possible. Publicists are adept at identifying and
pulling out "newsworthy" aspects of products and personalities to offer to the press as possible
reportage ideas. Publicists offer this information to reporters in the specific format of a magazine,
newspaper, TV or radio show, or online outlet. The third aspect of a publicist's job is to shape
"stories" about their clients at a time that fits within a media outlet's news cycle.
TYPES OF PUBLICITY
The follow According to the Handbook of Journalism and Mass Communication, we can broadly
categorize publicity into seven types:
(1) News: The most common type of publicity is news of local, regional or national interest.
There are two types of news publicity - spontaneous news and planned news. Spontaneous news
publicity originates from an unplanned event, such as a strike in an organisation, major accident,
fire, explosion, flood or drought etc.
News media are notified and they may send reporters, photographers and camera crew to the news
source. Planned news publicity originates in the day-to-day developments and occurrences within
organization, which may be of news value and public interest. News releases are prepared and
distributed by public relations staff at the headquarters.
(2) Business feature Articles: Business feature articles are an important type of publicity
published by business, trade and technical media, prepared by industrial firms to support their
marketing objectives. A business feature defines problems common to an industry and describes
solutions to these problems. A business feature may be developed from speeches discussing
product applications. Independent, or freelancers, writers and photographers, whose work is
coordinated by a member of the public relations staff, prepare many business features.
3) Service Feature Article: Service Feature Article is written to provide newspaper and magazine
readers with information, advice and suggestions on home, fashion, health, food, beauty and care
etc.
4) Financial publicity: Financial news releases feature, annual and quarterly reports, annual
meetings, new products and other financial news, which are the examples of many news releases
and feature articles appearing on the financial pages of daily newspapers and financial magazines,
these are a kind of financial publicity.
5) Product publicity: Product publicity gives information about complex technical product or
service to the consumers to enable them to choose intelligently from the wide variety of products
on the market.
6) Pictorial Publicity: It is a publicity through pictures in still photographs by newspapers and
magazines. Many companies maintain cameramen for photographic covering of special events.
(7) Emergency Publicity: To ensure proper handling of media relations during an emergency, the
Public Relations department should prepare, in advance, a carefully considered emergency
publicity programming sections list numerous means by which you can publicize events. One of
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these ideas will be familiar to you while others will hopefully provide you with insight into
innovative and more creative ways of effectively publicizing programs.
INEXPENSIVE PUBLICITY TECHNIQUES
Posters: The essential purpose of a poster is the rapid telling of a single simple message using a
limited number of elements. Posters are viewed more rapidly than other methods of
advertisement. Their message must be strong, simple, and brief.
Table Tents: Table tents should be made of thick or heavy grade of paper that will stand firm.
Table tents can be placed in visible locations including lounges, lobby, dining hall, and on desk
tops.
Invitation: A personal touch can be added to your publicity by distributing invitations for your
program. These can be placed in mailboxes or handed out or slipped under room doors.
Calendar: A large calendar of activities located on your bulletin board or distributed individually
is a particularly effective technique. Students will have at least one consistently identifiable source
for information and activities. The smaller calendars of activities can be copied and put into
mailboxes or slid under doors.
Balloons: You can write a message on the balloon or put the message on a piece of paper inside
the balloon. Balloons can be tied with string to student's door knobs, handed out at the entrance of
the building or handed out in dining hall lines.
Tickets You can purchase printed tickets or make your own. Free tickets, and invitations, can be
placed in mailboxes, handed out, or slipped under doors. A variation of the ticket concept is to
distribute coupons. The coupon might entitle the person to a prize or free refreshment item.
Coupons can be included on flyers or on printed schedules and this may prevent your
advertisement from falling victim to the trash can.
Billboards: Place a large poster in the central lobby of Goodwin Hall. For a more unusual effect,
make a human billboard by hanging posters on the front and back of someone and have them
walk around.
Banners: A large extension of the poster, these can be hung outside the hall or in the mailroom or
in a lobby. A bed sheet or old shower curtain will make a good size banner.
Word of Mouth: And of course, there is the time-honored word-of-mouth technique. This is
perhaps the oldest, yet most effective way to get the word out. Its effectiveness should not be
underestimated. Go door to door and personally inform people of the activity; and remind them
frequently Newspaper - The basic medium for conveying a message to the general public is the
daily or weekly newspaper. We will make a closer study of their operation, and the preparation of
news releases, later.
Magazines - Another form of the print medium, but secondary in importance for the community
booster club except where special circumstances apply.
Radio and Television - These are extremely effective media for communications. An "in-depth"
account of your club's activity can be especially useful on radio or TV, and we'll discuss how to
set that up.
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Displays - Here is a very effective and often overlooked source of publicity. You can promote a
"Booster Club Week" and, as a part of the program, obtain from a merchant (or merchants) the use
of a showcase window to tell your story. Sporting goods stores are naturals for this. And don't
forget the county fair booth and church bazaars. You might consider appointing a special
committee just to work on displays. Most malls welcome community groups to set displays.
Direct Mail - Here is the sure-fire way of getting your full story told in a one-on-one situation.
Preparation and distribution of the message can be somewhat costly, but it's worth it if the
message is written well and designed to catch attention. The cost of mailing can also be lightened
if student volunteers can be recruited to distribute flyers to neighbors. < , so that they don't forget.
OTHER PUBLICITY TECHNIQUES
Networking sites Mass e-mails Bags
Bookmarks Bull Horns Bumper Stickers
Computer Letters Door Hanger Door Prizes
Footprints Fortune Cookies Free Tickets to event
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY
Advertising and publicity are two very different communication tools, even though both employ
the mass media as a vehicle for reaching large audiences.

Traditionally, most marketers placed heavy reliance on advertising and only occasionally
used publicity.
On the other hand, public relations practitioners have primarily relied on publicity--or, as
they sometimes prefer to call it, media relations--and only rarely used advertising.

This does not mean that advertising should be seen only as a marketing tool and that publicity
should be seen only as a public relations tool. Thoughtfully used, both tools are valuable for both
functions.
Advertising is primarily a one-way communication whose purpose is to inform the potential
customers about products and services and how to obtain them. Every major media including
television, radio, movies, videos, the internet, billboards etc. is used to deliver these messages.
The print media includes newspapers, magazines, brochures, pamphlets and all printed materials
that fall under the purview of advertising. The concept of advertising agency, different types,
activities and functions of advertising agencies, role of ad manager and the concept of marketing
etc.
The publicity is to reflect the performance and get public acknowledgement and appreciation.
Many organizations of the new era use publicity to promote their ideas, concepts or products.
Publicity has become an essential function of PR. PR executives to the media provide the contents
of news. The media decision makers may or may not use these sets of information. PR expert
Cutlip defined publicity as information from an outside source that is used by the media
because the information has news value. It is an uncontrolled method of placing messages in the
media because the source does not pay the media for placement. Good public relations start with
good performance as viewed by the public. The function of publicity is to reflect the performance
and get public acknowledgement and appreciation for it. It is a communication tool, which is
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concerned with dissemination of information about an organization to attract attention, to gain

recognition, to build image and to win the approval of the target public..
Advertising buys its way into the media.
An advertiser purchases air time on a broadcast medium or page space in a print medium and then
uses that media time/space to deliver whatever persuasive messages the advertiser chooses to the
media's audiences. Presumably, a smart advertiser will purchase ad space in only those media
whose audiences are known to be consistent with the target audiences the advertiser wants to
reach.

Most often, advertising messages are inducements to purchase a product.

However, advertising space can be used for non-product oriented messages.
o

"Adver-torials," for instance, are advertising messages which take sides and present
a specific view or opinion about public issues.

"Image ads" are those which provide favorable information about an organization
and its policies that would not normally be considered "newsworthy" enough for
the media to report it of their own volition.

The biggest advantage of advertising is that it gives the organization total control of the message
that will be presented to the audience. The advertiser, not the media's editors, control the content,
the timing, and the amount of time/space given to the advertising.
The biggest disadvantages are the high price of advertising and the skepticism with which
audiences sometimes view advertising that they know is unedited opinion of the advertiser.
Publicity is presented by the media because it's "newsworthy."
A publicity-seeker tries to "make the news" -- i.e., to convince reporters/editors to present news
coverage about a particular person, organization, or event -- by saying or doing something that the
news media will choose to report of their own volition as part of their usual task of informing the
public. The publicity-seeker's intent is to gain free and hopefully favorable editorial coverage.
Other people and organizations who are fearful of receiving negative or harmful publicity will
employ public relations practitioners to try to suppress or counteract negative media coverage.
Publicity-seekers are entirely at the mercy of the media's editors and other staff members. The
editors, not the individual or organization who wants the publicity, decide whether or not anything
will be reported in the media. And, even when something is reported, it's the media staff who
decide how it will be reported and how much attention it will be given. It's very possible that
information which an organization offers the media in a positive and flattering news release could
show up in a news story that casts a negative or critical light on the organization that supplied it.
For years the conventional wisdom was that the biggest advantages of publicity were the lack of
direct cost and the apparent "third-party endorsement" effect.

It's not necessary to buy media space/time, but publicity is not totally free. There are salary
and production costs involved in having someone prepare news releases or perform other
publicity work.
Media audiences often give information presented as publicity more credibility than if the
same information were presented in an ad. That's because they know that presumably
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objective editors decide what's included in the news whereas self-serving organizations
decide what to put in their ads.
PERSONAL SELLING
Personal selling is a promotional method in which one party (e.g., salesperson) uses skills and
techniques for building personal relationships with another party (e.g., those involved in a
purchase decision) that results in both parties obtaining value. In most cases the "value" for the
salesperson is realized through the financial rewards of the sale while the customers "value" is
realized from the benefits obtained by consuming the product. However, getting a customer to
purchase a product is not always the objective of personal selling. For instance, selling may be
used for the purpose of simply delivering information.
In the language of sales and marketing, "personal selling" singles out those situations in which a
real human being is trying to sell something to another face-to-face. One might well ask what
other type of genuine selling there is. The answer is that personal selling has a functional
equivalent. The modern differentiation between "personal" and other selling arises from the fact
that a very substantial volume of ordinary purchasing of food, textiles, household goods,
entertainment, travel, subscriptions, fuel, books, etc., takes place without the presence of a live
facilitator. The only human contact is usually the check-out clerk; and corporations are laboring
hard to replace even this humble functionary by machines that read barcodes and recognize credit
cards. In the vast majority of these situations whatever persuasion has been applied to the shopper
has been delivered by disembodied images on television, radio, in print, by coupons, by signage,
and by packaging. Thus "impersonal selling" is by advertising, sales promotion and public
relations.
TYPES OF PERSONAL SELLING
Sales positions or their equivalents range between the sales clerk with minimal selling skills up to
the chief executive officer in public and in private enterprises. At the bottom of the sales-pyramid
the primary skill is taking an order and guiding customers to the product; at the top great ability to
present complex, often controversial and abstract cases persuasively, usually as just a part of other
functions, is required. Most personal selling takes place in the middle.
Sales positions are classified as "inside" and "outside."
Inside sales above the clerk level involve telephone sales, mainstream retail sales in stores where
product knowledge and presentation skills are required, and auto sales and similar equipment sales
where customers visit the dealership. Inside sales may be combined with other functions such as
scheduling and early information gathering for an outside agent.
Outside sales take place either at the prospective client's residence or place of business or in a
third-party location: real estate sales have this form. Outside sales may be combined with
estimating tasks as in the case of bidding on construction work; it may also be combined with
product delivery. The driver-salesperson has a stocking function sometimes combined with sales
responsibilities. A special category is the sales engineer highly skilled in some aspect of industrial
operations and thus able both to understand requirements and to provide technical support.
The Reps
An important category of personal selling is provided by manufacturers' representatives, usually
called rep organizations or selling agents. These individuals, sometimes working in groups, are
independent sellers representing a manufacturer, usually in exclusive territories, compensated by
commissions only. Hiring a rep firm allows a small business to avoid the cost of an in-house sales
force. In addition, an established rep may provide the business instant access to an established
sales territory. Agents are particularly helpful for businesses with seasonal sales; the rep is only
paid when sales are made. The chief disadvantage of selling agents is that they usually work for
several different firms and do not devote all of their time to one client.
Trends
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A broad movement is discernible in modern commerce to replace personal selling in all areas
except those in which the service is indispensable or pricing permits its continuance: because
personal selling is expensive. Packaging, promotion, and lower-cost and lower-skill clerks are
replacing the sales person even in technical fields. An example of this is the distribution of
computers and software. More and more such products are sold in standard packaged forms, even
in retail outlets; the sales function is reduced to clerking aimed to help customers findnot to
understandproducts. Servicing products (including their installation) is being transferred
overseas to lower labor-cost markets; the service is provided by telephone. Private selling remains
central in selling financial products, real estate, and major consumer durables (autos, appliances,
boats, furniture, carpeting, etc.).
Personal selling is thus used either where it cannot be avoided or where it is paid for as a service
but as part of the product. The absence of attentive sales assistance itself constitutes a kind of
hidden demand in the economy which some small businesses have learned effectively to exploit.
But doing so requires products able to carry its costs. Paradoxically, one might say, selling itself
has to be sold as part of an ambiance or shopping experience. But it can be a hard sell. The erosion
of personal selling owes as much to the collusion of the consumer (who is willing to put up with
impersonal sales environments in order to save a little money) as to the cost-avoidance reflex of
those intent on maximizing profits.
DIRECT-MARKETING AND DIRECT RESPONSE METHODS

Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising which allows businesses and

nonprofit organizations to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques that
can include cell phone text messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display
ads, database marketing, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, targeted television
commercials, response-generating newspaper/magazine advertisements, and outdoor advertising.
Amongst its practitioners, it is also referred to as Direct Response.
Direct marketing messages emphasize a focus on the customer, data, and accountability. Hence,
besides the actual communication, creation of actionable segments, pre- and post-campaign
analytics, and measurement of results, are integral to any good Direct Marketing campaign.
Characteristics that distinguish direct marketing are:

A database of names (prospects, customers, businesses, etc.), often with certain other
relevant information such as contact number/address, demographic information, purchase
habits/history, company history, etc., is used to develop a list of targeted entities with some
existing common interests, traits or characteristics. Generating such a database is often
considered part of the Direct Marketing campaign.
Marketing messages are addressed directly to this list of customer and/or prospects. Direct
marketing relies on being able to address the members of a target market. Addressability
comes in a variety of forms including email addresses, phone numbers, Web browser
cookies, fax numbers and postal addresses.

Direct marketing seeks to drive a specific "call to action." For example, an advertisement
may ask the prospect to call afree phone number, mail in a response or order, or click on a
link to a website.

Direct marketing emphasizes trackable, measurable responses, results and costs from
prospects and/or customersregardless of medium.

. The demonstrable result of Direct Marketing is the reason for its increasing popularity.

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Direct marketing is attractive to many marketers because its positive results can be measured
directly. For example, if a marketer sends out 1,000 solicitations by mail and 100 respond to the
promotion, the marketer can say with confidence that campaign led directly to 10% direct
responses. This metric is known as the 'response rate,' and it is one of many clearly quantifiable
success metrics employed by direct marketers. In contrast, general advertising uses indirect
measurements, such as awareness or engagement, since there is no direct response from a
consumer..
Online tools
With the expansion of digital technology and tools, direct marketing is increasingly taking place
through online channels. Most online advertising is delivered to a focused group of customers and
has a trackable response.

Display Ads are interactive ads that appear on the Web next to content on Web pages or
Web services. Formats include static banners, pop ups, videos, and floating units.
Customers can click on the ad to respond directly to the message or to find more detailed
information. According to research by eMarketer, expenditures on online display ads rose
24.5% between 2010 and 2011.[12]
Search: 49% of US spending on Internet ads goes to search, in which advertisers pay for
prominent placement among listings in search engines whenever a potential customer
enters a relevant search term, allowing ads to be delivered to customers based upon their
already-indicated search criteria.[13] This paid placement industry generates more than $10
billion for search companies. Marketers also use search engine optimization to drive
traffic to their sites.
Social Media Sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, also provide opportunities for direct
marketers to communicate directly with customers by creating content to which customers
can respond.

Mobile
Through mobile marketing, marketers engage with prospective customers and donors in an
interactive manner through a mobile device or network, such as a cellphone, smartphone, or
tablet. Types of mobile marketing messages include: SMS(short message service)marketing
communications are sent in the form of text messages, also known as texting. MMS(multi-media
message service)marketing communications are sent in the form of media messages.
Telemarketing
Another common form of direct marketing is telemarketing, in which marketers contact customers
by phone. The primary benefit to businesses is increased lead generation, which helps businesses
increase sales volume and customer base. The most successful telemarketing service providers
focus on generating more "qualified" leads that have a higher probability of getting converted into
actual sales.
Voicemail marketing
Voicemail marketing emerged from the market prevalence of personal voice mailboxes, and
business voicemail systems. Voicemail marketing presented a cost effective means by which to
reach people directly, by voice. Abuse of consumer marketing applications of voicemail marketing
resulted in an abundance of "voice-spam," and prompted many jurisdictions to pass laws
regulating consumer voicemail marketing. More recently, businesses have utilized guided
voicemail (an application where pre-recorded voicemails are guided by live callers) to accomplish
personalized business-to-business marketing formerly reserved for telemarketing. Because guided
voicemail is used to contact only businesses, it is exempt from Do Not Call regulations in place
for other forms of voicemail marketing.
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Direct response marketing

Direct response marketing is a type of marketing that elicits a specific, measured response
resulting from a consumer's direct response to a marketer. Direct response marketing facilitates
the delivery of a call to action and outcome via direct or online interaction for immediate feedback
and
response.
Direct response marketing differs from direct marketing, where an advertiser directly contacts
potential buyers.
Direct Response Marketing is designed to generate an immediate response from consumers, where
each consumer response (and purchase) can be measured, and attributed to individual
advertisements.[18] This form of marketing is differentiated from other marketing approaches,
primarily because there are no intermediaries such as retailers between the buyer and seller, and
therefore the buyer must contact the seller directly to purchase products or services. Directresponse marketing is delivered through a wide variety of media, including DRTV, radio, mail,
print advertising, telemarketing, catalogues, and the Internet.
Direct response mail order
Mail order in which customers respond by mailing a completed order form to the marketer. Mail
order direct response has become more successful in recent years due to internet exposure.[19]
Direct response television
Direct marketing via television (commonly referred to as DRTV) has two basic forms: long form
(usually half-hour or hour-long segments that explain a product in detail and are commonly
referred to as infomercials) and short form, which refers to typical 30-second or 60-second
commercials that ask viewers for an immediate response
Forms of direct response marketing on television include standard short form television
commercials, infomercials and home shopping networks. Short-form direct-response commercials
have time lengths ranging from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Long form infomercials are typically 30
minutes long. An offshoot of the infomercial is the home shopping industry. In this medium, items
can potentially be offered with reduced overhead.[20]
Direct response radio
In direct response radio, ads contain a call to action with a specific tracking mechanism. Often,
this tracking mechanism is a "call now" prompt with a toll-free phone number or a unique Web
URL. Results of the ad can be tracked in terms of calls, orders, customers, leads, sales, revenue,
and profits that result from the airing of those ads.
Direct response magazines and newspapers
Magazine and newspaper ads often include a direct response call-to-action, such as a toll-free
number, a coupon redeemable at a brick-and-mortar store, or a QR code that can be scanned by a
mobile devicethese methods are all forms of direct marketing, because they elicit a direct and
measurable action from the customer.
Other direct response media
Other media, such as magazines, newspapers, radio, social media, search engine marketing and email can be used to elicit the response. A survey of large corporations found e-mail to be one of
the most effective forms of direct response.[21]
Direct mail
The term advertising, or direct mail, is used to refer to communications sent to potential
customers or donors via the postal service and other delivery services. Direct mail is sent to
customers based on criteria such as age, income, location, profession, buying pattern, etc. Direct
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mail includes advertising circulars, catalogs, free-trial CDs, pre-approved credit card applications,
and other unsolicited merchandising invitations delivered by mail to homes and businesses. Bulk
mailings are a particularly popular method of promotion for businesses operating in the financial
services, home computer, and travel and tourism industries.
EVENT MANAGEMENT
Event planning is the process of planning a festival, ceremony, competition, party, concert,
or convention. Event planning can include budgeting, establishing dates and alternate dates,
selecting and reserving the event site, acquiring permits (alcohol permits, insurance licenses, etc),
coordinating transportation and parking, developing a theme or motif for the event, arranging for
speakers and alternate speakers, coordinating location support (such as electricity and other
utilities), and arranging decor, event support and security, catering, emergency plans, aid stations,
and cleanup. Event management is the application of project management to this process.
Event management is considered one of the strategic marketing and communication tools by
companies of all sizes. From product launches to press conferences, companies create promotional
events to help them communicate with clients and potential clients. A number of elements such as
music, live entertainment or even the particular venue may be used to influence the tone and
atmosphere of an event.
Event manager
The event manager is the person who plans and executes the event, taking responsibility for the
creative, technical and logistical elements. This includes overall event design, brand building,
marketing and communication strategy, audio-visual production, scriptwriting, logistics,
budgeting, negotiation and client service.
Sustainable event management (also known as event greening) is the process used to produce an
event with particular concern for environmental, economic and social issues. Sustainability in
event management incorporates socially and environmentally responsible decision making into
the planning, organization and implementation of, and participation in, an event. It involves
including sustainable development principles and practices in all levels of event organization, and
aims to ensure that an event is hosted responsibly. It represents the total package of interventions
at an event, and needs to be done in an integrated manner. Event greening should start at the
inception of the project, and should involve all the key role players, such as clients, organizers,
venues, sub-contractors and suppliers.
Technology : Event management software companies provide event planners with software
tools to handle many common activities such as delegate registration, hotel booking, travel
booking or allocation of exhibition floor space.
Education : There are an increasing number of universities which offer courses in event
management, including diplomas and graduate degrees. In addition to these academic
courses, there are many associations and societies that provide courses on the various
aspects of the industry. Study includes organizational skills, technical knowledge, P.R.,
marketing, advertising, catering, logistics, decor, glamor identity, human relations, study of
law and licenses, risk management, budgeting, study of allied industries like television,
other media and several other areas.

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