Advertising
Advertising is an integral part of marketing. Because of cut-throat competition in present times, good advertising is inevitable. What is the role of advertising for brand and for society?
We see a number of advertisements on TV, newspapers, billboards on streets, etc. Many advertisements come on radio as well. Even buses, taxis and rickshaws carry advertisements on them. The internet which is an inseparable part of our lives today also has many advertisements popping up on different websites.
Features of advertisements
- They help in drawing our attention to the product advertised.
- They describe the positive aspects of the product so that people become keen to buy them.
Building Brands
The term branding in layman's terms refers to stamping a product with a particular name or sign. Advertising mainly involves building brands. The main purpose of branding is to differentiate it from other products in the market. Since there are a range of products available in the market, making one's product stand out in the eyes of customer, is very crucial. This is done by branding of products.
Example of Branded Pulse
Pulses, commonly known as daals, are generally sold loose in the market. We know daals by their types like urad daal, tuar daal, moong daal etc. These are types of daal and not brand names of daal. When a type of daal is packed and put in a packet by a company, it has to be given a special name. The name should be catchy. This naming is done so that the customers do not get confused the particular daal with the daal that is sold loose. An example of a branded daal is Golden Harvest Tuar Daal.
This naming of the product tuar daal with the brand name Golden Harvest is an example of branding.
Role of advertising
Simply branding a product i.e. giving it a name is not enough. It in itself does not convince people to buy the product. It, at the outset, differentiates the product from the unbranded products. But there are a number of brands available in the market. It is very important to differentiate one brand from another. This is where the role of advertising comes in. Advertising helps in
- Differentiating the product from that of the competitors.
- Convincing people to buy the concerned product.
Building brand values
Advertisers project the special values for their brand so that their brand is given preference over others. For example, one brand of daal can be highlighted as being healthy for our kids and the other brand can be highlighted as serving guests well. Both these aspects: health of kids and serving guests well are used by brands to create brand values. These brand values are conveyed by way of visuals and words.
Use of good visuals and words create a positive image of the product in the minds of people and make the product appealing.
Brand values and social values
Advertisements have a significant place in our social and cultural life. We discuss the advertisements we watch/hear or read and also tend to judge people based on the brand of products they use. In fact some products are remembered purely in terms of the words or visuals used in their advertisements.
Influence of advertisements
Branded products cost much more than the products that are sold loose/ non-branded ones. This is because of the cost incurred in packaging and advertising.
For example, the Golden Harvest tuar daal mentioned above is manufactured and packaged by Future Agrovet Ltd. Because of higher costs, many people cannot afford branded products. Advertisements have a miraculous role in changing the thinking and preferences of the people. Over a period of time, people will start thinking that the daal (for example) that comes in a sealed packet is much better than the ones sold loose. They will be persuaded to buy packaged daals only. Though, in reality there is little difference between branded daal and daals that are sold loose.