The above definition excludes such activities as exhibiting at trade
shows, use of premiums, samples, and free goods, and
miscellaneous activities, and regards these activities as constituting sales
promotional effort rather than advertising proper. Sales promotion
commonly includes such functions as the preparation of direct mail pieces
for distributors and dealers. point of purchase display materials,
promotional aids, and sales portfolios for salesmen.
We advertise to acquaint a selected body of people without
to sell our products, ideas and / or services, our
business story background and our prestige.
The manner of advertising, of course, differs from organisation to
organisation, from topic to topic and from product to product. Advertising
must be tailor-made to be fully effective. The scope, too, is determined by
individual circumstances. The concern producing goods, largely for an
industrial market with a limited domestic appeal, would not wish to
embark on a big comaign aimed to attract the attention of the country’s
housewives. neither would they embark on prestige advertising on a national scale. There is no set formula for success in advertising. Advertising is,
in fact, the essence of individualism, although its appeal is directed to the
masses, very often through repetition.
As we are examining the purpose and function of advertising, it
might be instructive if we followed the advertising policy of a group of
companies, which sell a wide range of packaged goods to grocers and
chemists, and hundreds of bulk products to the industries.
price advantage is not the motivating force of an organization’s
sales appeal, then clearly emphasis must be laid on such all important
factors as quality, packaging, service and any outstanding characteristics
which competitors do not possess.
NATIONAL ADVERTISING.
The scope of activities of a business demands national advertising
on two main fronts home and international. We must reach the
housewife and others interested in our domestic consumer goods, and we
must see that our important range of industrial products is kept constantly
before consumers. In addition, we are concerned with maintaining the
prestige of the group of companies in the eyes of the general public. From
this, our advertising and publicity appeal breaks down into four main
heads:
1. Domestic consumer goods
2. Industrial products
3. Group and prestige
4. Public relations
We build our advertising and publicity plan under these heads:
In the domestic consumer field we are selling an extensive range
of packaged goods to the housewife, to the businessman, to the man in the
street, to the athlete
potential is very wide. Our advertising must tell the story of our products.
Its basic appeal may be the same, but the shades, and variation of the sales
message must match the variety of the products. The sales approach must
practically everyone; and of course, the sales
be light and popular, but yet retain enough responsibility to ensure full
.message to the consumer. Is this to be based on price, quality packaging,
acceptance. An important aspect is the primary sales appeal of the
service or new advantages? where there is no price advantage and the o highlight quality. This is
product is not new, it is always worthwhile to
factor which attracts the consumers in any field.
1. To ensure that every potential customer is made aware of the
sets out to do two jobs:
nature and advantages of our products.
2. To create in the customer an urge to buy.
Herein lies the magic of good advertising through words and
visual image it creates in the minds of many a desire to buy particular
assessed. product in preference to a number of others. It is upon the successf
creation of this urge to buy, that the worth of advertising is a
The house-wife, however, is not the only person one has to
about when creating advertising for domestic consumer goods.
There is the all important retailer – the man who finally sells
satisfactory, advertising in retailer’s trade papers need no more than
goods. If the products themselves are right and the service to the retailer is
inform the retailer about the products and the service. But this form of
advertising does provide a direct and vital link between the firm and the
vidence that he does have a place in the selling plans of the firm, and his
position as principle salesman for the product is being acknowledged. This
type of advertising not only helps sales, but builds and maintains retailer
goodwill – a vital factor in successful selling.
While dealing with advertising in the domestic consumer field,
mention may be made to point-of-sale and packing, both of which are
highly successful advertising aids to selling. Display Advertising: Point-of-
sale display reinforces that vital urge to buy, created by our initial
publicity. This form of display does, in fact, carry the last selling word to
the customers, before he actually leans over the counter to deliver his
order to the grocer. Here is a unique selling opportunity which no
salesman worth his salt would dream of missing, if personal salesmanship
at this juncture were both acceptable and practicable.
Why, then, do so many firms treat the creation of point-of-sale
display material as worthy of little more than second hand interest? The
answer lies in the fact that the pulling power of this publicity medium has and manufacture. There can be no doubt, however, of the effectiveness of
still not yet won universal recognition, despite recent advances in design
counter and window display.
What are the ingredients of a good display piece? They are
originality, sincerity and quality, in. that order. Originality because the
display must, above all else, be eye-catching’; sincerity because its sale-
message must win home to the heart of the reader; and quality because a
cheap and shoddy display reflects directly on the status and prestige of the
company producing the product advertised.
There is one further important point in connection with displays
which is often overlooked – and that is, one display can only be effective
for a certain period. Allow it to remain too long and customers will not
even notice, it will have become part of the shop fittings. Variation and
change – therein lies the secret of successful point-of-sale display, allied
with the qualities listed earlier.
Packaging, in many respects, is akin to point-of-sale display and
is, of course, vitally important. Essential facts again are originality,
sincerity and quality. The packet of the product is a constant advertisement
and, as such, requires closest consideration in design and production. it
should be pleasing, durable and allow easy access to the product.
In the last few years, great strides have been made in package
design, and today some of the best creative artists of the publicity world
are engaged in the sphere of packing designs.
The Industrial Marketing Advertising: Leaving the domestic
market, we move on to our second advertising field the industrial
market. Selling here differs greatly from selling in the domestic consumer
field. Industrial buys are precisely informed about their needs and
generally about the range of products that are available for them to choose
from. The products are not bought over the counters, but are ordered from
visiting representatives, frequently supported by technical experts, with a
comprehensive knowledge of the particular industry being served. Some
industrial commodities are bought on speed fiction, so in theory, there
should be little difference between the products of competing suppliers.
Where, then, does advertising enter into our sales plan? To answer this,
we must first establish what we want our advertising to do. It is manifest
that no advertisement can ever do the whole job of selling an industrial
product. Industry knows exactly what it wants any why, and so that main function of our advertising is to help the sales representative in his job of
selling. The advertising should give aid in two chief ways:
1. By recommending the product itself.
2. By recommending the supplying firm in point of status, reliability
and service.
If any advantage over competing products can genuinely be
claimed, then these should be publicized in a responsible manner.
The note of responsibility and authority should be apparent in all
industrial advertising, and no attempt should be made to sacrifice strict
accuracy for the sake of a bright copy-line. Prestige Advertising: Our
third promotional activity is prestige advertising, which is valuable if the
status of the organisation justifies this form of publicity. There are no
convenient yardsticks for determining status, but it is obvious that the firm
must, either through leadership in its particular sphere, or long years of
service to the consumer, or both, occupy a special place in the minds
the public at large, or of the buyers in its traditional selling markets. The
primary function of the prestige advertising is to promote the organisation
rather than its products, and to build confidence in the firm. Much fine
prestige advertising can be characterised as educational, as it sets out to
inform the public and not sell them on any given product. The fact
prestige advertising might indirectly help to improve sales is something no
sales officer is likely to overlook when planning his advertising, but this is
essentially a secondary consideration, and in no way weakens the prime
motive of the advertising. Prestige advertising is concerned with educating
the public on the size and scope of a company’s operations and informing
them of the extensive service it gives – both the industry and the home.