The Scope Of Marketing Communication Marketing Essay

Advertising is a type of communication used to persuade viewers to take some action with respect to products and services. This assignment is based on the scope of marketing communication. The first segment gives brief detail about the structure, role and functions of different advertising parties (advertiser, client, ad agency etc) in the communication industry. After the identification of parties involved in communication industry, I had discussed the relationship between different parties of communication industry.

In the second section, different current trends have been discussed. I have also discussed in detail about the current trends in Pakistani market and also used different ad images with examples. I have identified the impact of current trends Micro marketing and sales promotion on advertising industry and parties of advertising industry.

In the third section, traditional response hierarchy models (AIDA, hierarchy of effects model, innovation adoption model and information processing model) have been discussed. Then I have selected two ads, one of Ufone and the other of Mobilink Jazz for evaluation considering the response hierarchy models and also confirm the response hierarchy models of these ads.

In the last and final section, I have evaluated the ads and made an effective judgment on the selected ads that weather they are developed to satisfy the hierarchy models or not.

P1: Explain the structure, role and relationship between parties in communication industry

COMMUNICATION

Communication is defined as “Two-way process of attainment mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information but also create and share meaning ( sense). (communication, 2009-2010)

(Communication process, 2010)

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Communication is the lifeblood of an organization (business). Business communication is any communication used to endorse a product, organization or service with the objective of making sale. In business communication, message is transferred through various channels of communication as well as internet, print (publications), television, radio, outdoor and word of mouth. In business, communication is considered center among business, interpersonal skills and manners.

PARTIES INVOVLED IN COMMUNICATION INDUSTRY

There are different parties involved in communication channels through which adverting takes place. These are

Advertisers

Advertising agency

Media

Clients

ROLE & FUNCTIONS OF DIFFERENT PARTIES

Advertisers

The role of advertiser is to focus on gratifying the general consumers by addressing their requirements through goods and services. As for the communication role, this refers to the mass communication purpose that advertising is capable to fulfill. It is a stunning means to inform the clients (customers) and communicate to them about the goods and services they wish to buy. Normally an advertiser’s objectives behind creating an advertisement are to generate sales. (advertiser, 1999) Also it helps the consumers to assess the value and benefits of the products.

Advertising agency

An ad agency or Advertising Agency is a service provider that works for clients to create an effectual and goal oriented advertising campaign meant at representing the organization positively in the eyes of its target customers. Companies hire advertising agencies to connect with their end customers. An advertising agency starts by getting well familiar with the client’s goals, products & target audience. This information proves beneficial in planning and making an effective advertising campaign. Once an advertising agency knows its clients’ needs, the course action of brainstorming and planning begins. This includes creating interesting attractive jingles, slogans and attention clutching body copy for advertisements. (Sinha, 2005 – 2011)

Media

Media plays a very significant role in advertising. There are different types of media for example press, outdoor advertisements, television, posters, radio, cinema, internet and mobile advertising. It helps the businesses to develop the market equity. It builds the positioning of the company and eases the image of the company which it wants to generate in the minds of the customers. It also helps to send the message to large audience. Different kinds of media’s present the different forms and concepts of advertising. Moreover, different varieties of media also improve the affordability of the companies and different advertising podiums (platforms) can be used by the companies to spread the me (Wazzan)ssage.

Clients

Clients use advertising agencies, helps them to spread a message about their product and spread knowledge through television, print media etc. There are definite roles and responsibilities of a client that the agency can do their jobs as proficiently as possible and help the client’s to make their business more successful. The role of a client is to explain his product or company message clearly; it allows advertising agency to understand better about the product and company which allows them to package and market it properly. The client should tolerantly listen to each idea of advertising agency as it is presented and decide that which campaign will draw the most concentration to the product. The client’s responsibility is to make the advertising agency come up with the best probable ideas for product or company. (Clients roles and responsibilities in advertising industry , 2010)

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT PARTIES OF ADVERTISING INDUSTRY

Advertising agencies had worked for the endorsement of product by making advertisement campaigns. The first job of advertising agency is to well-develop a brief consideration of company’s product, its potential, position in the market place and its target market. This helps advertisers to turn out effectual advertising campaigns to best publicize the product. They vigilantly study products and then guide company about the marketing strategy, which paper the ad supposed to be placed, how several times it should run etc. Keeping the client’s objectives in mind, the advertising agency able to build advertising campaigns, like slogans, jingles, etc. The campaign is built with the mean to push the sales of the company’s products, attract new customer’s belt while retaining the old ones, repeat the brand image, market the product and make brand awareness if the brand has been just forayed into the market.

After the campaign is prepared, the advertiser looks for media medium to popularize / publicize the product. The campaign may be publicized in a range of media agencies like, television, print, radio, depending on the client’s budget. For company’s advertising needs, advertising agency chooses newspaper as the best mode of advertisement. Through its keen page, which appears as a colored addition in four to eight (depending on company’s budget) leading newspapers and magazines, it reaches its clients’ services to a huge readership of approximately 5 million viewers. Advertising agency also helps in choosing the right newspaper to help company to market their product so that it reaches utmost viewers in the most effective way and in the end it’s the duty of the supplier to allocate the product where the company wants.

That’s how; the parties in advertising agencies perform their roles to communicate the company’s message to the end customer.

P2: Identify the trends in advertising and promotion and evaluate (advantages and Disadvantages) of their impact

CURRENT TRENDS IN ADVERTISING

Current trends are a general direction in which something tends to move. For a long period now, advertising have been used as a strategic tool to endorse product awareness and build up brand preference, thereby increasing sales, as well as to promote customer loyalty by building customer relationships. The current trends in advertising are smart phones, internet (websites, banner ads, pop-ups or pop-behinds which stays an ad behind your windows, email promotions, sponsored links (like Google ads, community media such as you tube and my space.), social networks, TV, games, radio and print media.

Micro marketing

Micromarketing is designing, forming and manufacturing products, marketing and advertising campaigns for the benefit of very precise geographic, demographic, or psychographic segments of the consumer market. A marketing strategy, in which advertising efforts are, centered a small set of highly-targeted customers. Micromarketing requires a company to barely define a particular audience by a particular characteristic, job title and modify campaigns for that particular segment.

Now a days marketing is done on internet, smart phones and TV. If a new local company wants to launch its product and can’t afford the expense of e-ads. So they can use print media which is effective and of low cost for advertising their product.

Brand proliferation

Brand proliferation is defined as “when one company introduce new brands in the same product lines and hence try to cover each and every market segment for that product line”. (Wazzan)

For example: Huggies, a firm, owned by Kimberley-Clark. Huggies is well known for manufacturing disposable diapers, and has different product lines such as Little Swimmers and Pull-Ups. 7up also comes up with diet and lemon flavor.

Sales promotion

Sales promotions are short-period incentives to encourage the sale of a product or service. Sales promotion includes a number of communications activities that attempt to give added value or incentives to customers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to encourage immediate sales. These efforts can effort to stimulate product interest, test or purchase. Examples of devices used in sales promotion include samples, premiums, coupons, point-of-purchase displays, rebates, contests and sweepstakes. (Sales promotion, 2000 – 2011)

Sales promotion strategies

There are three types of sales promotion strategies.

1) Push

A push strategy engages convincing trade intermediary channel members to “push” the product through the distribution channels to the final consumer via promotions and personal selling efforts. Trade-promotion goals are to persuade retailers or wholesalers to carry a brand, promote a brand in advertising, give a brand shelf space, and/or push a brand to final consumers. Typical strategies employed in push strategy are: allowances, free trials, contests, specialty advertising items, buy-back guarantees, displays, discounts and premiums.

2) Pull

Pull strategy efforts to get customers to “pull” the product from the manufacturer through the marketing channel. Consumer-promotion objectives are to attract consumers to try a new product, attract customers away from competitors’ products, hold & reward loyal customers, get consumers to “load up” on a mature product and build customer relationships. Typical tactics employed in pull strategy are samples, cash refunds and premiums, coupons, advertising specialties, rebates, loyalty programs, contests, games, sweepstakes, and point-of-purchase (POP) displays.

3) Combination of the two

Car dealers often offer a good example of a combination strategy. If you give attention to car dealers’ advertising, you will frequently hear them speak of dealer incentives and cash-back-offers.

CURRENT TRENDS IN PAKISTANI MARKET

Advertisement is one of the most significant tools for bringing awareness in people about products. In Pakistani market, we have generally seen two types of advertising trends of micro marketing and sales promotion. Especially sales promotion trend is normally more in from the last 2 to 3 years. It’s because of the economic condition of the people, that’s why the companies try to attract people more on sales promotion.

Price promotion

Sales promotion stands on a price discount offer. It’s a promotion of a product by momentarily reducing its price. The price decline may be at, or below, cost, but it will have to be important enough, relative to challenging products, to persuade customers to purchase the product.

In Pakistan, in 2010 Service Shoes offers discounts (discount ki barsaat up to 50% off) all over the country to attract more & more customers in order to gain market share, customers and increase their sales.

Gift with purchases

This strategy to buy a service (product) by using trade loaders or a gift with purchase dates back to the very sunrise of marketing itself. It’s a idea that still working today. Many companies and retail shops used this strategy to attract customers towards their products.

IN Pakistan, ZONG is using gift with purchase technique to attract customers towards their product. By this technique they are going to increase their sales and gain market share.

Coupons

Coupon is just like a legal paper which can be exchanged for some sort of discount or special offer when buying a product. Coupons technique can be used by organizations to attract prize conscious by convincing them to purchase more by giving away a small prize discount.

In Pakistan, K & n is offering membership cards to customer’s on purchasing of more than Rs. 3000 and gives them discount on 10 to 20% discount.

Samples

Sampling is the practice of offering little quantity of product free of cost or at a very low price so that customers can experience their service or product at first hand.

In Pakistan, this technique is basically practiced by pharmaceutical companies.

IMPACT OF CURRENT TRENDS ON ADVERTISING

Impact of Micro marketing

The impact of micro marketing on advertising industry is that it effects user-initiated like product awareness, purchase intent, consideration and consequent consumer on online behavior. The impact of micro marketing on advertising industry is that to rightly target a very specific segment and it increased the media population year by year (newspaper, TV, internet, billboards and sites visitors etc). New medium is brought up in advertising due to which the micro marketing impact, old one is getting decreased day by day like internet marketing, online marketing etc. Due to current impact, many companies launched their product sites or company sites for customer’s awareness with some innovation and creation, which makes difficulties for the advertising industries.

Impact of sales promotion

Increasing Competition

The first impact of sales promotion on advertising companies is that it increases the competition in the market. Due to raise in competition, this makes difficult for the advertising agencies to compete. Therefore, they are choosing more innovative techniques.

Customers Have Become More Price Sensitive

Sales promotion increased price sensitivity as the result of inflation. Due to economic recession consumers and dealers become more perceptive towards prices because they want value for their money. So it’s become difficult for the advertising agencies to set price of the product.

Advertising Has Become More Expensive & Less Effective

The advertising media have turn out to be pretty expensive. Audio-visual medium may cost in excess of Rs. 1 lakh for a 10 second exposure during prime time which is considered as the most effective for short-duration ads. In many cases, consumers have reached a point of monotony due to unnecessary advertising on TV. Sales promotion is a more gainful promotion method to generate sales results for small companies which cannot compete with big companies.

Sales Promotions Maximize Profits

Sales promotion maximizes profit for companies, sales promotion department and advertising agencies as well. Sales promotion allows a finest brand to compete with a lower level brand amongst price sensitive consumers.

P3: Use any two response hierarchy models on the two ads selected by the students

HIERARCHY RESPONSE MODELS

THE AIDA MODEL

AIDA model was offered by Elmo Lewis to explain how personal selling works. It shows a set of stair-step phases which describe the process (procedure) of leading a potential customer to buy. The phases are attention, interest, desire, and action, form a linear hierarchy.

It reveals that customers must be aware of a product’s existence.

Be attracted enough to give attention to the product’s features/benefits.

Have a desire to advantage from the product’s offerings.

Action, the fourth stage, would come as a natural result of movement through the first three phases. Although this idea was elementary, it led to the later rising field of customer behavior research.

HIERARCHY EFFECT MODEL

Among advertising theory, the hierarchy-of-effects model is prime. Hierarchy can be briefly explained with the assist of a pyramid. First the lower level objectives such as awareness, knowledge are achieved.

Succeeding objectives may hub on moving prospects to higher levels in the pyramid to draw out desired behavioral responses such as associating feelings with the brand, trial or regular use etc. It is easier to achieve ad objectives positioned at the base of the pyramid than the ones towards the peak. The % of potential customers will decline as they move up the pyramid towards more action leaning objectives, such as regular brand use.

INNOVATION ADOPTION MODEL

This model has significance to new product openings and mainly useful for adoption of non-commercial services. The phases of assessment and trail before adoption are considered important in the design of advertising program. The result in favor of making an evaluation is probably to be influenced by information accessible from various sources including advertising. Evaluation comprises a major step towards the adoption of the product or service.

INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL

The procedure by which we create that skill selection is through the information processing system. This system is also known as the DCR process. We detect information, evaluate it with previous experiences and then react. Wellford’s model proposes that we get in information through our senses and for the time being store all of these inputs previous to sorting them out. The inputs that are seen as related to the decision are then stored in the quick-fix memory. A decision is made by evaluating the information in the short-term memory with preceding experiences stored in the long-term memory. With position to the long term memory for the necessary action the decision is carried out. The action and the results are stored for future reference.

The two ads are taken for the analysis of customer response hierarchy. These are

Ufone Internet ad

Now the four steps of AIDA model will be applied on this ad.

Attention:

In this ad, Ufone is trying to attract people attention about their new internet packages. In this ad to get customer’s attention, Ufone is showing a girl having mobile in her hand which is happy to use internet service.

Interest:

In this ad, a fast moving bike and a little blur wave’s shows about the fast speed of internet to gets people’s interest. Ufone is also showing social networks page (face book), yahoo, gmail and youtuube etc.

Desire:

In this ad, by showing fast moving bike, yahoo, skype and face book, shows the speed of internet which is directly the desire of people to use fast net in order to be connected with friends.

Action:

The given extra information about different internet packages encourages customers to take action.

Mobilink Jazz ad

Now the six steps of Hierarchy of effect will be applied on this Ad.

Awareness:

In this Ad, Mobilink has used model, the hero of Asian games and SAF game gold medalist Naseem hammed for their campaign. Actually in Pakistan, most people are not familiar with Naseem hammed. But Mobilink has used to Naseem hammed because people in Pakistan loves their national heroes and they follow them. Secondly in Pakistan, women are in majority so this factor is also making good awareness.

Knowledge:

The target audience might have product awareness but not know much more; hence this stage involves creating brand knowledge. In this step, Mobilink has provided little information about their services but there is not so much information about the model. The information is limited which will produce sometimes difficulty for customers. The message is that great people of Pakistan use Mobilink.

Liking:

As in this Ad, information is added which results in liking because in Pakistan, people follows their heroes. So this Ad is creating liking.

Preference:

As Mobilink is market leader, so they are preferred mostly because of good signal quality. As Naseem hammed is hero for most of young women’s, so she is followed. So the product of Mobilink is preferred over other companies.

Convince and purchase:

When customers are convinced by the services, then they buy the services.

M1: Make an effective judgment on the ads selected whether you think the ads are appropriately developed to satisfy the hierarchy models. Give reference to books or internet sources used.

Analysis of Ufone ad:

In Pakistan, currently there are many cellular companies working, for example Telenor, Mobilink, Zong and Warid. There is a tough competition between these companies; are trying to gain market share by lowering the charges and offers best services (packages) to their customers. In this ad, Ufone is informing customers about new packages and fast working internet services to makes people interest desire people with low rates and unlimited downloading. In this ad, Ufone is showing their existence in the market by giving good services to customers and offer best packages. The ad is overall good to attract people. They make their customers aware, informed them about their services and created interest. In this ad, they did not highlight the main package offer of their service. In my opinion, Ufone have to highlight the price and package on the top of ad, which can more attract customers towards their service and make it desire. They also did not highlight this sentence (ye slow motion ka nahi….. balky fast action ka zamana hai), by doing this they can attract more customers because majority internet users is youth which is the target market of all the cellular companies.

Analysis of Mobilink Jazz ad

In this ad, Mobilink used Naseem Hameed, who is the champion of Asian games and SAF game gold medalist as a model to show their market existence and attracts people towards their services. Approximately, they had covered all the six steps of hierarchy of effect model. It is an innovation and creativeness in the ad by bringing up the female hero which makes people awareness, liking, knowledge, preference and convince them to purchase. By this ad, they are taking competitive advantage over the other companies. The ad is overall good to attract people and to gain market share but I think some more Improvement can be done in this ad. The information about the model champion should be there and they should have to highlight that statement “Himmat aur yaqeen ki sachi kahani….. khwab se tabeer tak” and the timings of the show should be prominent(large font).

BIBILIOGRAPHY

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