CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTSIING

INTRODUCTION
Advertising is virtually everywhere in daily life, and its forms and roles are both
contested and admired. Some see advertising as both the mirror and the maker of culture:
its words and images reflect the present and the past even as they contribute new sounds
and symbols that shape the future. Others say that advertising is purely an economic
activity with one purpose: to sell. But most of the people agree on the fact that
advertising creates "magic in the marketplace." Advertising can be defined as a paid, non
personal communication of information about product or ideas by an identified sponsor
through the mass media in an effort to persuade or influence behavior. Advertising is non
personal as it's directed to groups of people rather than to specific individuals. Speaking
in broad term advertising communicates information about products or ideas.

DEFINITION OF ADVERTISING
The American Marketing Association defines Advertising as Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.
According to William F. Arens Advertising is the structured and composed non-personal
communication of information, usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about
products (goods, services, and ideas) by indentified sponsors through various media.
Advertising is virtually everywhere in daily life, and its forms and roles are both
contested and admired. Some see advertising as both the mirror and the maker of culture:
its words and images reflect the present and the past even as they contribute new sounds
and symbols that shape the future. Others say that advertising is purely an economic
activity with one purpose: to sell. But most of the people agree on the fact that
advertising creates "magic in the marketplace." Advertising is non personal as it's
directed to groups of people rather than to specific individuals. Speaking in broad term
advertising communicates information about products or ideas.

EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING
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Over the centuries, the evolution of advertising has been closely tied to social, economic
and technological changes that have affected the media and the message. We would study
the evolution of advertising under the following heads:
The Early Days: For centuries trades people attracted attention with public criers
and pictorial signs. Some Greek and Roman traders also used signs to advertise their
products, as people could not read. When Johann Gutenberg invented movable type and
the printing press in Germany in the mid 1400s that printed materials could be massproduced. This led to printed pamphlets being distributed and also some primitive forms
of today's billboards.
The Industrial Revolution: The Industrial Revolution and the subsequent shift
from rural to urban centres and the widening of the gap between producers and the
consumers, the businesses turned to advertising quickly to reach out their potential
customers.
Technological Changes: During and after the Industrial Revolution,
technological advance changed both the speed and form of communication. This can be
attributed to the fact that photography was invented and along with telegraph, telephone,
typewriter, phonograph, and motion pictures opened up new avenues for personal and
business communication. However, the inventions of radio and television changed the
face of advertising forever as print and electronic media expanded the use and impact of
advertising. We discuss a few of them in brief:

Print Media: This would include the magazines and the newspapers. Today's

newspapers and magazines offer advertisers the flexibility of targeting the audience
ranging from a small local area to the whole nation or the continent. By the dawn of the
twentieth century, advertising had become a social and economic fixture in the U.S. and
U.K. and all the magazines and newspapers were being filled by ads of different

companies and varied products. Today also the print media is an effective mode of
advertisement.

Electronic Media: The electronic media would include radio and the television.

The advent of the radio allowed the advertisers the liberty of using certain 'jingles' and
music, which could be associated with their brand and product.
Whereas the television brought along the visuals along with the audio effects. This was a
revolution and the print media found it being sidelined as far as advertising went. Talking
of India, the Cable TV boom in the early nineties added to the choices available to the
advertiser on a regional segment.
Growth of Advertising Organizations: Several advertising organizations came
into existence during 20th century. These include Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) in
1914 in America and later on in other countries including India; Advertising Agencies
Association of India in 1945, Advertising Agencies Association of America (AAAA) in
1917. These organizations gave an added impetus to the progress of advertising
throughout the world.

OBJECTIVES OF ADVERTISING
To Create Awareness: One of the important objectives of advertising is to create
awareness of the brand. Brand awareness is mostly required at the introductory stage.
To Build or Reinforce Attitude: Ads need to create, maintain and reinforce
attitudes in the minds of target audience. The target audience should develop a favourable
attitude towards the brand.
To Develop Brand Image: Advertising is a long-term investment to build brand
image. Advertiser needs to develop intended image of the brand through effective
advertising. The personalities used, the content of advertising message, the media
selected etc. do help to build brand image.
To Educate the Audience : Some of the ads intend to educate the audience
regarding the use of product, the handling operations, etc. Public awareness campaigns
educate the citizens.

To Counter Competitors Claims: The advertisements often counter the claims

made by the competitors. The advertisement usually claims the superiority of the brand in
the advertisement

BENEFITS OF ADVERTISING
Advertising works for the advantage of various parties. Advertising helps the
manufacturer at the introductory stage as well as at the subsequent stages, and build a
brand image which helps the manufacturer prosper in the market. It also facilitates proper
promotion and distribution of the product. It is also beneficial to the retailers. The point
of purchase displays act as an effective tool of advertising to promote goods in the stores.
It also makes selling much easier for the retailers.
It also works to the benefit of the consumers. Advertising is the primary source of
information about the product to the consumer. It also keeps the consumers reminding
about the product. Advertising also inculcates competition which eventually benefits the
consumer as they get better quality goods. Also it saves lot for the consumer during the
actual buying process.

CHAPTER 2

INTERNET & ADVERTISING

THE ADVENT OF THE INTERNET

Internet is fast changing the way people used to do things. Naturally, the same would
have an impact on the advertisers. The Internet has been accepted as the most powerful
media for advertising due to the absence of geographical barriers. The advent of the
Internet and its subsequent acceptance has once again challenged the traditional forms of
advertising.
Advertisers are trying to use the 'net' to advertise their products and hence 'net' their
customers. Thus, with the Internet gaining prominence, advertising equations are fast
changing and we, in the subsequent chapters, would like to study the impact of Internet
on advertising from the customers as well as advertisers point of view.
Advertising on the Internet has certain unique features that differentiate it from other
forms of advertising.
Member registration helps to create database. Such a database may be used to
design promotional campaigns
Opinion polls are conducted to obtain the responses from users regarding the
firms' products and services
Regular newsletters are sent especially to registered users. These contain
information about current updations on the site and activities being performed by the
company
Contests are useful in attracting new users to websites
Coupons are used to promote sales off-line. Sending discount coupons for the
products and services of the company on special occasions can do this.

CHAPTER 3

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

ROLE OF ADVERTISING IN MARKETING MIX

Advertising and Product: A product is normally a set of physical elements such

as shape, size colour, and other features. Buyers must be informed and educated on
various aspects of the product. This can be effectively done through advertising.
Advertising and Price: The price is the exchange value of the product. If the
quality of the product is very high, then naturally the product is priced high, and the
buyers may not be willing to buy the product. Advertising can convince buyers regarding
the superiority of the brand and thus its value for money. This is usually done by
associating the product with prestigious people, situations, or events.
Advertising and Place: Place refers to physical distribution and the stores where
goods are available. Advertising is of great significance when it comes to facilitating
distribution and market expansion. Advertising helps in informing the buyers about the
availability of the product.
Advertising and Promotion: Promotion consists of advertising, publicity,
personal selling and sales promotion techniques.
Every seller needs effective promotion to survive and succeed in this competitive
business world.

FIVE M's OF ADVERTISING

Advertising is an important promotional tool for any marketing campaign. So much so
that whenever we think of marketing we think of advertising although it is just one of the
marketing tools. Today the marketing manager has a range of advertising options to
choose from - from interpersonal communication to Internet. Deciding on a correct
option calls for detailed analysis aspects like objective behind advertising (Mission),
company's earmarked budget (Money), content of communication through advertising
(Message), advertising vehicle (Media) and impact of advertising (Measurement). These
can be broadly classified in as the five Ms of advertising:

Mission
First of all the marketing manager must be clear on the company's purpose for
advertising. "Increase in sales figure" will be a very broad and to a certain extent a vague
objective. According to Mr. Philip Kotler, a renowned authority in this field, there can be
three possible objectives behind advertising:

Information - When a new product is launched, the purpose should only be to

inform people about the product.

Persuasion Persuading people to actually go out and buy the product. This

objective is of paramount importance because of cutthroat competition. Any

advertisement must be persuasive in nature, attracting consumers towards the brand.

Reminder - This objective is relevant for well-established companies. These types

of advertisements only try to remind the consumer of the brand existence.

Money
After the objective has been decided upon, the next step is to decide upon the budget.
There are several methods for deciding on the advertising budget. The most common
among them is percentage of sales method. Under this method, a certain percentage of
sales are allotted for advertising expenditure. Though this method is used widely, there
are some problems with this method. The first issue is what percentage the company
should take? Even if a company somehow decides a percentage figure, this would mean
increase in advertising expenditure when sales are up and less spending when sales are
down. This in some ways is quite paradoxical, because logically the reverse should
happen. The company needs to spend more on advertising when sales are down. But this
method uses circular reasoning and views sales as cause for promotion! In fact sales are a
result of promotion.

Message
The message, that company wants to convey, should be put in a manner that will arouse
interest. Moreover it should convincingly highlight upon the product's USP. What is said

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is definitely important but what is more important is how it is said. The tone should be
appealing. Words used should be catchy and retentive (memorable). These days both
electronic as well as print media are overflowing with ads. People have no time to read or
see them, and therefore they have to be attractive enough to catch the target audience's
attention awareness and consequently brand preference.
Media
Selecting the proper media vehicle for communicating the message goes a long way in
the success of any kind of advertising. Each media vehicle has its positive and negative
points, with a different reach and impact. Therefore, a company has to be very clear about
its target audience. Choices available are Internet, television, newspapers, magazines,
direct mails, radio and hoardings.
Measurement
It is necessary that effectiveness of any advertising be judged. Only on the basis of this
measurement, can further decisions regarding continuation or termination of the
particular advertising campaign be taken. An ad can be judged on the basis of its reach
and impact on sales. Good advertising is one that generates brand awareness and
consequently brand preference.
Thus a systematic and balanced understanding of these five Ms of advertising (Mission,
Money, Message, Media, and Measurement) will help in designing better advertising
campaigns that create a favourable impact on the target audience.

ROLE OF ADVERTISING IN PRODUCT LIFE-CYCLE

A product like people has a life cycle. A product is subject to ups and downs during its
life cycles. A product passes through 5 stages namely:

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Development: At this stage the company invests in R&D and the product may be
test marketed. If the company is sure of introduction of the product in the market, then it
may undertake advertising to generate interest in consumers and dealers.
Introduction: The product enters the market at this stage. At this stage sales pick
up slowly. To ensure the survival or to enhance the sales, it is very much necessary to
develop brand awareness. Advertising at this stage plays a vital role in creating brand
awareness and ensures smooth distribution of goods. This stage requires heavy
advertising and promotion expenditure.
Growth: During this stage, the product is poised for growth. The product survives
competition in the market. This might be due to efficient marketing and advertising
strategy. The intensive and extensive advertising brings new customers and it rapidly
Maturity: At this stage the product is well settled in the market along with the
competitors. The brand is well known and the customer is made more brand conscious.
At this stage expenditure on advertising is made to ensure and maintain present position.
It is called retentive advertising.

Decline: In the last stage, sales decline due to the entry of new and improved
products or due to change in consumer preferences or habits. Sales continue to fall and
they continue to fall below the level where it is no longer profitable to continue. The
manufacturer many modify or withdraw the product. In this stage advertising plays an
insignificant role in keeping the product or brand alive in the minds of loyal users.

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CHAPTER 4

MEDIA

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VARIOUS MEDIA
The various media are the non-personal channels of communication that people have
invented and used and continue to use. These include newspapers, magazines, radio,
television, billboards, transit cards, sandwich boards, skywriting, posters, anything that
aids communicating in non-personal way ideas from one person or group to another
person or group. Thus, to repeat "Advertising is the non-personal communication of
information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or
ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.
Pros & Cons

Pros

1) Flexibility allows focusing on a small, precisely defined segment (School

newspapers) or a mass market.
2) Cost efficient-reach a large number at a low cost per person, allows the message to be
repeated, and can improve public image.
3) Allows for repeating the message-lets the buyer receive and compare the messages of
various competitors.
4) Very expressive, allows for dramatization.
5) Also used to build a long-term image of a product.
6) Trigger quick sales, Sears advertising a weekend sale.

Cons

1) Absolute Rs outlay very high, make a national TV ad. Approx 150,000, local ad.
60,000. 30 second spot, Superbowl 1.1 m 1995
2) Rarely provides quick feedback, or necessarily any feedback
3) Less persuasive than personal selling
4) Audience does not have to pay attention
5) Indirect feedback (without interactivity)
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MEDIA PLANNING

Media Planning is a very important component of the marketing Strategy of an

organization. Media Planning is defined as "Process of designing a scheduling plan that
shows how advertising time and space in selected media and vehicles contribute to the
achievement of marketing objectives in an advertising campaign". Media planning, in
general terms, is a tool that allows the advertiser to select the most appropriate media to
communicate the message in sufficient frequency towards the maximum number of
potential customers at the lowest cost. The two most basic words in Media Planning are:
Medium: A medium is a carrier and deliverer of Advertisements. It is a broad
general category of carries such as Newspapers, Television, Radio, Internet, Outdoor,
Direct Mail, etc.
Vehicle: It is a specific carrier within a Media category. So a Zee TV would be
the vehicle in the category of TV. Many a time a specific programs or sections within a
medium may be termed as a vehicle.

TYPES OF MEDIA USED IN ADVERTISING

Traditional or Mass Media: TV, Radio.-Idea to reach large audience.

Niche Media: Cable TV, Direct mail, etc.-Reach the target audience with specific
demographics, narrowly defined target audience.
Non-Conventional Media: Internet.

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MEDIA PLANNING PROCEDURE

As mentioned earlier, Media planning is a component of the Marketing strategy of the
organization. Therefore, marketing considerations must precede Media Planning. Media
planning on the whole answers a lot of questions like "How many prospects do I need to
Reach? "In which medium should I place the Ads? etc.
In the media strategy the target audience must be defined more clearly and thoroughly.
Target audience and advertisement must fit each other.

Kind of argumentation, aesthetics, used language etc.

Appropriate prominent endorsers (e.g., Shah Rukh Khan for Pepsi)

Advertising might communicate to different target audiences with different

objectives, e.g., Increase product sales in group 14-29, Increase brand awareness
and image in group 30+
Reaching target audiences by mass media advertising means: matching...

Target audience of advertisement and

Factual audience of vehicle

SOME ESSENTIAL TERMS IN MEDIA PLANNING

The main objectives of Advertising are: Inform Persuade and Remind. Media Planning is
the subset of the Advertising Strategy, which in turn is the subset of the overall Marketing
Strategy. In the field of Media Planning one encounters the following terms quite often:
Reach: The proportion of the audience should be reached with the advertising
message during a specified period. It is the number of different recipients exposed to at
least one advertisement during the specified period of a campaign (usually four weeks)

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Frequency: How frequently are the recipients being exposed to message? In other
words it is the average number of times an advertisement reaches each recipient in a
given period.
Weight: The amount of total advertising is needed to accomplish advertising
objectives.
Continuity: The amount of advertising budget being allocated over the period.
There are basic types of ways in which the advertising budget is allocated: Continuous
Scheduling, Pulsing and Flighting.

ADVERTISING BUDGET
The term advertising budget in essence in nothing but planning the advertising
expenditure. Advertising budget helps in keeping a check on advertising expenditure,
provides direction for drafting of ads, helps in media selection etc.
The advertising budget is usually prepared by the advertising agency depending upon the
clients requirement. Once the budget is prepared, the approval of the client i.e. the top
management of the company is taken, and is revised if it needs to be.
There are various factors that determine the ad budget. These factors include objective of
the ad campaign which may be creating brand awareness over a large market area, or to
create brand awareness over a limited area. Competitor's ad budget, Type of target
audience i.e. if the target audience belongs to the lower income group then there is no
need to go for expensive computer graphics, rich locations etc and therefore the budget
amount will be lower than otherwise, Frequency of ads, Type of media i.e. for example if
the advertiser makes use of the broadcast media then the budget will be higher than
compared to the use of newspaper , Type of product which may be cosmetics, textiles,
toothpaste, soaps etc i.e. FMCG products require more advertising compared to industrial
products.

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Product life cycle, i.e. the five stages of the product namely development, introductory,
growth, maturity and decline. Introduction of the product requires huge sums of money
because the healthier the introductory stage, the longer will be the products life. Size of
market area, and most importantly availability of funds, increases the sales. Repeat
purchases are made and buyers become loyal. Profits and sales starts increasing and
opens more distribution avenues and intensifies advertising.

ADVERTISING RESEARCH
Advertising research can be defined as the systematic gathering, recording and analysis
of date relating to the various aspects of advertising. To achieve maximum effectiveness
of advertising it is necessary that the advertised message should reach effectively to the
greatest number of prospects at the minimum possible cost.
Advertising research helps in identifying the target audience, in devising a proper media
mix, revealing the Unique Selling Point (USP), helps in proper media planning,
minimizing errors, selection of the right agency, creating a competitive advertisement etc.

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CHAPTER 5

ADVERTSING AND PEOPLE

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THE MYTH OF ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS

It's ironic that advertising can be so expensive while yielding such poor results. The
argument made by the proponents of advertising is almost pathetically simple-minded: If
you can measure the benefits of advertising on your business, advertising works; if you
can't, then your measurements aren't good enough. Or you need more ads. Or you need a
different type of ad. It's much the same type of rationalization put forth by the proponents
of making yourself rich by visualizing yourself as being prosperous.
Paradoxically, even though some small-business owners are beginning to realize that
advertising doesn't work, many still advertise.
Why? For a number of reasons: because they have been conditioned to believe that
advertising works, because there are no other models to follow, and because bankers
expect to see "advertising costs" as part of a business proposal. It's important to real wed.
You've heard countless times that advertising works. To look at advertising objectively
may require you to re-examine some deeply held beliefs.

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF ADVERTISING

Because its so visible, advertising gets criticized frequently, for both what it is and what
it isnt. Many of the criticisms focus on the style of advertising, saying its deceptive or
manipulative. Collectively we might refer to these as short-term manipulative arguments.
Other criticisms focus on the social or environmental impact of advertising. These are
long-term macro arguments. Because its so visible, advertising gets criticized frequently,
for both what it is and what it isnt. Many of the criticisms focus on the style of
advertising, saying its deceptive or manipulative. Collectively we might refer to these as
short-term manipulative arguments. Other criticisms focus on the social or environmental
impact of advertising. These are long-term macro arguments.

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The Effect of Advertising on Our Value System

A related long-term argument, often voiced by certain professional criticssociologists,
journalists, consumer advocates, and government regulatorsis that advertising degrades
peoples value systems by promoting a hedonistic, materialistic way of life. Advertising,
they say, encourages us to buy more cars, more CDs, more clothing, and more junk we
dont need. It is destroying the essence of our citizen democracy, replacing it with a
self-oriented consumer democracy. Critics claim advertising manipulates us into buying
things by playing on our emotions and promising greater status, social acceptance, and
sex appeal. It causes people to take up harmful habits, makes poor kids buy expensive
sneakers, and tempts ordinary people to buy useless products in the vain attempt to
emulate celebrity endorsers. They claim advertising is so powerful consumers are
helpless to defend themselves against it. The very amount of advertising we witness
every day seems to suggest that every problem we have can be solved by the purchase of
some product.
The Use of Stereotypes in Advertising
Advertising has long been criticized for insensitivity to minorities, women, immigrants,
the disabled, the elderly, and a myriad of other groupsthat is, for not being politically
correct. This long-term argument also addresses externalities because the very presence
of advertising affects the nature of our culture and environment, even when we do not
want it.
Since the 1980s, national advertisers have become more sensitive to the concerns of
minorities and women. Latinos, African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, and others
are now usually portrayed favourably in ads, not only because of pressure from watchdog
groups, but also because its just good business; these consumers represent sizable target
markets. In national advertising, the image of women is also changing from their historic
depiction as either subservient housewives This may be partially due to the increasing
number of women in managerial and executive positions with both advertisers and
agencies.

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EVALUATING ADVERTISEMENT EFFECTIVENSS

Evaluating advertising effectiveness refers to the process of finding out the effect of
advertising i.e. whether it will or it has achieved the advertising objectives. The advertiser
may undertake pre-tests to fins out whether the advertisement will be in a position to
achieve its objectives. These tests are conducted before the campaign in launched in the
market. The advertiser may conduct post-tests to find out whether the ad campaign has
achieved its objectives. These tests are conducted during the running of the ad campaign
or after the completion of the ad campaign.
The pre-tests help in finding out the communication effect, technical errors, the effect and
impression of the ad, and helps in reduction of wastage in advertising. This method
includes:
Check List Method : it is the simplest method of testing. The list contains items
that are commonly found in all types of ads. The researchers job is to put a tick mark
against the item appearing in the ad.
Consumer Jury Test: A group of consumers is selected to obtain the preference
for one or two out of many being considered by the advertiser. The jury members are
asked to rate the ads, and are asked various questions like which of these ads would you
notice first, which of these ads interest you the most, which of these ads can be easily
read and understood which of these ads are more believable etc. First the members of the
jury are selected, then the ad and the questionnaire is prepared, and then the test is
conducted by showing the ads to the jury members, and then they are asked to fill the
questionnaire. Then the reports are analyzed, and ad is selected and the campaign is run,
and finally the review is obtained.
Sales-Area-Test : In this method, an ad campaign is run on a small scale to find
out its effectiveness before running the ad over the entire market,
The post-tests helps in finding whether the ad has been seen, read or heard, if the ad was
understood by the target audience, finding out the relative effectiveness of the ad, impact

22

of the models or personalities and the appeals, and finally, if the audience believed the
claims made in the ad. This method includes:
Recall Test: In this method the audience is requested to recollect the ads which
they read, heard or saw. The interviewer may request the respondent to recall the
personality which endorses the brand, the illustration used, the type of location used for
filming the ad etc. This test is conducted to find out the depth of impression which an ad
leaves on the minds of the audience.
Readership Test
Attitude Measure Test
Inquiry Technique
Sales Technique

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CHAPTER 6

CASE STUDY

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A CASE STUDY ON THE ADVERTISING STRATEGY OF ASIAN

PAINTS
Background of the company
Asian Paints, established in 1942, is India's largest paint company and the third largest
paint company in Asia. The company operates in 21 countries and has 29 paint
manufacturing factories servicing 65 countries. The company operates several
subsidiaries such as Berger International Limited, Apco Coatings, SCIB Paints and
Taubmans. The company manufactures paints for decorative, industrial, and motor
applications. Asian Paints produces a wide range of paints for decorative and industrial
use. It services the automotive coatings segment through its alliance with PPG Industries
USA. The alliance with Protech Chemcials, Canada, helps in catering to the powder
coatings market.

Position in the market

Asian Paints is the market leader in the highly fragmented and highly competitive Indian
paint Industry. Asian Paints realized the need for brand building even during sixties. The
brand focused on mass and rural market. These efforts made the brand a leader during the
late sixties. That was the result of the mass segmentation adopted by the brand. Rightly so
because the industry was driven by channel driven promotions, building a brand at that
time was" uncommon sense".
Ad Campaign of Asian Paints
The Asian Paints creative portfolio is handled largely by Ogilvy & Mather Advertising.
The brand now has an iconic status in the industry thanks to some blockbuster big ideas
from O&M. The brand once positioned as a mass market brand has evolved itself to a
higher plane.

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The campaign "Celebrate with Asian Paints" was launched after Asian Paints undertook a
consumer research which revealed that Consumers felt that paints could change the mood
of the space and it was a sign of festival and plenitude. From this insight came the
campaign of Asian Paints associating itself with festivals.
The birth of a wonderful positioning strategy was created by O&M. The insight was that
the brand is about people and homes and homes reflect the people living in it. Hence
Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai" translated to Every Home has a story to tell". This
campaign is a perfect example of a brand laddering up and connecting to a higher level in
the mind of the customer. The campaigns reinforced the brand as a premium emotional
brand.
Along with the campaign Asian Paints also ran parallel ads for its sub brands. Saif Ali
Khan endorsed the premium brand Royale.
Asian paints Apcolite
The brand here is Asian paints Apcolite. The following ads were placed in different
regions in India, depending on the popularity of the particular festival.
The target audience here is that certain class of people, Hindus mostly who paint their
houses every year during festive occasions.
The ads relate to three festivals that is Holi, Diwali and Uttarayan. These are the ads with
which any Indian can easily relate with as these use those festivals which are the most
celebrated and awaited for.
For example, though Uttarayan or kite flying festival is observed in most parts of India
but is predominant in the West (Gujarat & Maharasthra). Here, during the kite flying
festival he 'phirki' is rested on an open can, with 'U' shaped grooves ut in at either end. So
thatthe 'phirki' is free to move. This is done for the ease of flying kites single-handedly.
His ad which has a 'phirki' a top the Asian paints container is imagery
which people of that region would easily identify with.

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27

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Asian Paints Royale

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Here the brand is Asian Paints Royale. The following ads show that the paint does not
whither off with time that is it means from 1902 to 2006 the paint has not been
discoloured it is in the same way as it was when it was first applied.

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31

Emotional connection with the customers

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Asian Paints wanted to stimulate a deeper emotional connection for customers with
different paint colors. Using mobile interactivity as an integral part of the creative for the
nationwide television campaign helped achieve this.
A SMS based contest element was added to the television campaign creative. Consumers
were asked the question What is the color of love? they were then asked to SMS Red,
Blue or yellow to the short code 3636 to participate in the contest.
Over an 8 week period the campaign generated over 9000 SMS responses

CONCLUSION
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The ads are strategic in nature, being a part of the Asian Paints campaign promoting
Asian Paints as the brand with the largest range of colours and one that will satisfy the
consumer and is able to give him precisely what he wants. The advertising through the
campaign is single-minded and focussed in its proposition, communication and target
audience.
At the time, Asian Paints had 13 brands with over 1,100 shades, targeting different
niches. They were beginning to realise that though some brands like Apex emulsions,
Royale interior emulsion, Apcolite and Touch Wood had high recall; none except Tractor
distemper were almost generic. Therefore, they decided to promote the corporate image
and the various brands under their umbrella brand Asian Paints through their
communication, pushing the generic Asian Paints brand instead of pumping in investment
on individual brands. This leveraged on the advantage that Asian Paints was the one
company in this low-involvement segment where people actually asked for the paint by
brand, breaking away from the earlier tradition where consumers were not known to be
very brand-conscious in this low-involvement segment and, more often than not, relied
on what the painter bought for them within the budget allocated, being more specific
about the colour than its source.
Advertising reflected different cultures to connect with consumers in their own language.
In the South it was Pongal while Diwali in the North.
The success of Asian paints is primarily attributed to the marketing acumen. The
company has made excellent use of electronic and print media, besides publishing
informative brochures for all its products. The companys mascot Gattu (created by the
cartoonist R.K.Lakshman in 1954) created to give an ethnic touch has almost become
synonymous with generic product.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Advertising Michael Vaz

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