Advertising: Meaning, Nature, and Key Characteristics

Introduction of Advertising

The word advertising is derived from a Latin word advertising which means to turn attention toward a specific thing. Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by identified sponsor. Advertising can be cost effective way to disseminate messages, whether to build a brand preference or to educate people. In developing an advertising perform, marketing manages must always stand by identifying the target market and buyer motives.

Then they can make the five major decisions, known as "the Five M5.

1. Mission: what are own advertising objectives?
2. Money: How much can we spend?
3. Message: What ménage should we send?
4. Media: What media should we use?
5. Measurement: How should we evaluate the results?

Meaning and Definition of Advertising

Meaning of Advertising

Advertising work as a source of communication between the customer the user of product and service and the advertiser. Advertising is the means of informing and influencing a vast audience to buy a product or service though visual or seen, oral and written messages. Advertising is the action of calling public attention.

Definition of Advertising

1. According to Kotler - Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation not for an individual and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.  
2. According to advertising association of the UK- Advertising is any communication, usually paid for specifically intended to inform and or influence one or more people.
3. According to Wheeler - Advertising is any form of paid non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services for the purpose of inducing people to buy.

Characteristics of Advertising

1. It is non-personal communication to specific audience or consumers.
2. It is a paid form of communication.
3. It may be visual spoken or written.
4. It presents the massage about the product.
5. It is the promotion of idea, goods and services.
6. It stimulates sales or patronage for the product.
7. It helps indirectly for position the product in the market.
8. It persuades people to buy a product.

Nature of Advertising

1. Attention seeker – The term advertising brings from the Latin word advertere meaning to turn the attention each piece of advertising attempts to hunt the eye of your audience towards a product or service.
2. Has a unique selling proposition – Usually, the advertiser needs to have a unique selling proposition (USP). This unique selling proposition makes the merchandise or service stand out of the gang. Advertising attempts to influence the audience through different kinds of appeals.
3. Consumer Oriented – Advertising expends the knowledge of consumers. With this nature of advertising, consumers can have the skills to know the products, brands or service that exist within the market. Every product or service is made for consumer satisfaction.
4. Uses various media – Alone from print platform like newspapers and magazines its presence can now even be seen in audio, visual platforms like films, hoarding, banners, flags, promotional campaigns, nowadays the internet, web so on.
5. Paid From – Only that attempt of the seller on which he or she has spent some money to communicate information to the consumer is called advertising. Whatever may be the media each medium and media vehicle cost the advertiser.

Scope of Advertising

1. Mass communication of consumers, user, manufactures e.tc
2. Providing support to the dealer distributer whole seller & the sale force.
3. Maintenance and development of brand image and loyalty amongst the customer
4. Increasing the area of advertising from local to regional, national and international fields.
5. Evolution & development of different media of advertisement

Feature of Adverting

1. Paid form – Only that attempt of the seller on which he or she has spent some money to communicate information to the consumer is called advertising. Whatever may be media each medium and media vehicle cost the advertiser. For example – if an editor of some magazine on his own publishes news about a particular product it will convey to the consumer necessary information regarding that product but no expenditure has been incurred by the seller for this publication. As such it cannot be called advertising it may be called propaganda or publicity. Thus, any information about a product communicated free of cost cannot be termed as advertising.
2. Impersonal Presentation – Advertising is non personal of information. In other words, it is not for an individual. Advertising cover mass population.
3. Speedy and Mass Communication – Advertising is a speedy medium of communication beside being speedy its operational area is extremely vast. In other words, it reaches many people or location simultaneously.
4. Target Oriented – Advertisement focused upon the needs and want of target customers and markets. Advertisement depicts target customer and market. For example, protein health drinks like Horlicks, complan etc. are targeted towards children, focusing upon parents’ emotions, pointing towards excelling in studies, sports and beating the competition. 

Importance of Advertising

1. Spreading Awareness – Advertisement aware people about or existing products and services in the markets that will accomplish their needs or solve their problems. A typical advertisement will tell you what the service or product is where it can be bought for how much by whom why it should be bought so on.
2. Popularizing a Brand – Think about all the famous manufactures or brands or products you recognize which includes coca cola or McDonalds’s. These manufactures come out of the group and make their name a brand because they applied the phenomenon of advertising nicely.
3. Increasing Demand – the target customer of advertisement is typically big, whether you are advertising in Newspaper, magazines, billboards, radio or television. A well maid or delivered advertisement will satisfy the public that they should buy the product or try it at once.
4. Increased profit – Advertisement is displayed too large groups of people at the same time. This means, even with a low conversion rate, many people will end up buying your product eventually. If you execute your advertisement well you will get a good conversion rate and great sales. Increased sales of course mean increased profits.
5. Maintains the existing market – A forward company or going concern always has its eyes on future business prospects that it cannot be going to lose a place in the current position. A company’s success is shown not only in creating a market but also in its maintaining and expansion as per the changing environment.
6. It acts as salesman – sometimes advertising has been rightly described as salesmanship. What a travelling salesman does he sells goods and service at the doorstep by convincing the customer that is why most retail organization do not employ a large army of the traveling salesman as they advertiser their products to their customers.
7. Reduce his burden of job – in case the salesman alone is asked to accept the challenge of selling it goes very difficult in the absence of advertising he forced to play a double role one role is advertising another is selling. Advertising produces public interest wins confidence and promotes strong faith with such a ready background the salesman can perform his task easily.
8. It is a driving force in decision making – in the present-day products and services are complex there is a large number of products and service available in the market. The largest possible varieties of products to such an extent that the consumers are confused to decide which product will be better for them. Further, each producer claims that his products are the best. 

Objective of Advertising

1. Introduce a product – Advertising is most commonly used for the introduction of a new product in the market. There are so many advertisements for the latest phone, refrigerator television etc. it does not matter that there is a new or existing company they all need advertising to launch their new product.
2. Spreading awareness – Advertisements aware people about new or existing products and services in the market that will accomplish their needs or solve their problems. A typical advertisement will tell you what the service or product is where it can be bought for how much by whom why it should be bought so on.
3. Brand building – Think about all the famous manufacturers you recognize which includes coca cola or McDonald’s. these manufactures come out of the group and make their name a brand because they applied the phenomenon of advertising nicely.
4. Maintains the existing market – A forward looking company or a going concern always has its eyes on future business prospects that it cannot lose the place in the current position. A company’s success is shown not only in creating a market but also in its maintaining and expansion as per the changing environment.
5. Acquiring Customers – The objective of advertising is not only to introduce the product or create awareness about a new product but also to acquire more customers for company growth. Acquire the customer is not an easy task because they are already habitual of other products. So, the advertisers have to pass a strong message to the customer to switch customer brands.
6. Value creation – Creating value is not an easy task. It requires time and lot of effort from the company. The company can sell out their product with the help of advertisement but a company that provides a quality product at less price can create its value in front of its customer. 

Functions of Advertising

1. To differentiate the product from their competitors - It includes the ability of advertising to differentiate a product so that it has its own unique identity or personality. This creates an awareness of the product & chooses the advertised product over other products this creates an awareness of the product Example: GARNIER FRUTICS (shampoo) bottle has the different color from all other shampoo.
2. To urge product used - advertising is to induce consumers to try new products and to suggest reuse of the product as well as new uses; this is the persuasion function becoming the base on which they shape their future decisions. Sampling in the way to urge the product using Example: Neutrogena acne treatment cream will remove your pimple is 24 hours. NEUTROGENA say no to pimples!!
3. To expand the product distribution - When the consumer comes to know about the particular product from the advertisement, he/she wants to try that new product. They go to shops to buy the product; if the new product is not available in a shop, then the shopkeeper consults the distributor to make that product available in his shop.
4. To increase brand preference and loyalty - When the product delivers the promised quality, service and value. Satisfied customers also develop brand preference; each product features and uses are written on the product. Example: 99% girls who are not married will not look at the ad of pampers or any milk powder for children but when they will get married their interest will automatically move towards such ad'
5. Brand loyalty – It is a long-term customer preference for a particular product or service. It can be produced by factors such as customer satisfaction with the performance or price of a specific product or service. For instance, when one buys a tube of Colgate toothpaste and finds it ok, one will not have to spend any valuable time on looking for other toothpaste brands.
6. To reduce overall sales cost - When a product is selling you have to teach the people about the product. Like if we would advertise through newspapers, TV, broachers & internet, it would cater huge sum of masses and if you do individually it would be more costly & time consuming.
7. Creates new demands - Each year new products, including line extensions and new brands are introduced into groceries and drugstores. Example: Wateen telecom is offering wireless internet chips, video conferencing and WIMAX services as they are introducing new services in market it creating new demands.

Role of advertising

1. Manufacturers –
• It makes mass selling possible
• It helps easy introduction of products in the market
• It protects from unfair competition
• It helps in creating brand image & goodwill.
2. Wholesaler & Retailers –
• It ensures economical selling
• It enables them to have production information
• Its facilities selling
• The reputation created by advertising is also shared by wholesaler & retailers.
3. Consumer –
• It helps in decision making (selection)
• It helps the consumer to know where and when the products are available.
• It acts as an informative service and educates the consumers.
• It enhances consumer's satisfaction.
4. Sale Force –
• It makes the task of the salesman easier and simpler
• It makes the introduction of the product quite easy and convenient for sales man
• It helps in establish permanent relations with the customers.
5. Community or Society –
• It creates employment directly or indirectly.
• It is responsible for higher standard of living of the people.
• It is educative in nature.
• It makes newspaper e.tc alive
• It promotes art and initiative

Benefits of Advertising

1. Launch of new product – Advertising plays a highly significant role in the introduction of a new product on the market. It encourages people to buy or know about a new product without the help of advertising no one will be aware of the new product launched in the market.
2. Increase markets – it helps the manufacturers to expand their markets. It opens the horizons for new markets for the product or service. Advertisement not only create new customer but it also helps to expend the new locations for the company.
3. Mass Sales – Advertising facilities the mass production of goods that ultimately results in a raised volume of sales. There is a direct link between advertisement and sales. The more advertisement we do the more sale will take place.
4. Keeps the competitive spirit alive – Advertising helps in keeping the competitors at the end. It keeps a regular check on the performance of the brand or product. Advertising help the company to come out of the group and help to create its own brand. A perfect advertisement helps the company to uplift its brand from its competitor.
5. Create goodwill – Advertising builds goodwill for a brand. Adverting is a central root through which the audience gets to know about a brand or product. If a company is spending on the advertisement. it means they want to make their consumers aware. This increases the goodwill of a brand.

Limitation of Advertising

1. Deferred revenue expenditure – It is a deferred revenue expenditure as the results are not immediate as advertising occupies a substantial portion of the total budget of the organization hence, investing a large sum in it does not necessarily yield immediate results thus limiting its utility.
2. Misrepresentations of facts – A major drawback of advertising is the misrepresentation of facts regarding products and services. Advertisers usually misrepresent the unreal or false benefits of a product. They come to realize later that the description given in the advertisement was something else whereas the actual product was quite different from it.
3. Increased cost – An organization has to spend a large cost on advertising. It increases the expense of the products.to meet this expenditure the price of the product is increased. No manufacturer of goods or services pays for the advertising expanses out of his pocket therefore advertising leads to an unnecessary rise in prices of goods or services. Advertising costs are passed on to consumers in the form of high prices.
4. Advertising helps to sell bad products – Usually, miracle products that claims they can cure rapidly everything from bad breath are heavily advertised. Consumer choice is greatly affected by the advertisement. Advertisement reduces competition among the competitor because not every company can advertise their product. Big industrialists and manufacturers have a huge budget with them so they can advertise easily.
5. Waste of national resources – Products have their life period. Day by day new products gets launched by the company with minor changes. These products attract the customer to buy the new one in place of the old product. Sometimes the product is changed before the end of its normal period of usefulness.

Difference between Advertising and Marketing

ADVERTISING	MARKETING
Advertising is just one slice of the marketing	Marketing includes advertising and other factor also
Advertising includes promotion of product	It is the process of create, communicate, delivers value to customer.
Short term	Long term
Aware and create interest to buy the product	Attracts customer organically
Create awareness	Generates sales

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