Question 1. Q1. Define the term advertisement. How does advertising persuade buyers?

Answer :Delivery of the selected advertising concept has two aspects, creative and media execution. If the creative execution is not right, even a brilliant idea will not be noticed. If the media vehicles and schedule are not right, then too the campaign will not be noticed because it will not reach its target. Therefore, efficient planning of the content, media, and budget of a campaign are vital for the success of a campaign. Creative Execution David Ogilvy said it for all times to come, What you say is more important than how you say it. William Bernbach answered that execution can become content, it can be just as important as what you say a sick guy can utter words and nothing happens; a healthy vital guy says the same and they rock the world. How an advertising agency, rather the copywriters decide to express it to make it rock the world, is an intuitive process that can hardly be structured or formatted. There are some basic rules. Copy should be by and large honest, it should avoid exaggeration that actually hurts the brand in the long run, and should avoid cliches and over-used formats and concepts. Especially now, when people have so little time, the target should not be required to ponder over and do research on the message to comprehend it. Again, Bernbach has said it memorably. Why should anyone look at your ad? The reader does not buy his magazine or tune in his radio and television to see and hear what you have to saywhat is the use of saying all the right things in the world if nobody is going to read them? And believe me, nobody is going to read them if they are not said with freshness, originality and imaginationif they are notdifferent. People dont necessarily like advertisements and avoid them if possible. Therefore to do a good advertisement, you are obligated, really, to reward the reader for his time and patience in allowing you to interrupt the editorial content, which is what he bought the magazine for in the first place. So entertainment is sort of repayment. This just about sums up the copywriting techniques advertising agencies use. The creative execution has to be interesting, informative, entertaining and above all, trigger self interest in the target group. Some campaigns have become advertising legends by their sheer brilliance and brevity. Most commonly recognized are the car Volkswagens Lemon because the car defied all conventional American expectations such as speed, size, looks, prestige, etc. and therefore a lemon of a car. Except on one count Volkswagen is air cooled and does not freeze in extremely cold weather. And it was inexpensive. Just one word, Lemon. And the car became the darling of young folks for several generations. The other campaign is about Hertz and Avis, the two rent-a-car giants in the USA. The Avis campaign said, We are Number 2. We try harder. Very few companies dare to use such self-disparaging concepts as Volkswagen and Avis did. And both succeeded for different reasons. The campaign had a tremendous impact on the Avis staff because they really tried hard to improve their brand. On the other hand, this brilliant headline made readers feel as if there are only two brands of rent-a-car. As a result National, which was about the size of Avis suffered more than Hertz did simply because people forgot its existence. Number three was not advertising, see? (Batra, Myers and Aaker) However, such brilliant copy execution happens may be just a few times in a century. It is not just the copywriters skill and brilliance. It is also about how the audience perceives it. Both these campaigns just caught the imagination of its targets of the time and became timeless in appeal. Other campaigns of equal brilliance fail to grab this kind of drama and sink without a trace. Therefore it is difficult to write a doctrine about how to execute the creative concept. The copywriters and visualisers are trained in this and are highly disciplined and experienced people. They experiment constantly to get a handle on what will appeal to their target. How to do is difficult to define. Media execution How effective a campaign had been, is not easy to measure. Especially in India, where the stark differences among the target populations in terms of cuisine, religion, language, culture, daily habits, social demands, aspirations and purchasing patterns are rather drastic. Yet, they all need, and indeed, buy and use exactly the same products and services. Although India has made large strides in documenting the reach, readership and their segmented personalities and circulation of media, the available database is still far from satisfactory. To be successful, an advertiser needs nuanced information on each target segment before an optimum media plan can be executed. Due to remoteness of rural areas, huge illiteracy neo literates who just learn to sign, or even read and make up the bulk of the government literacy figures, do not necessarily read anything ever and thus out of reach for print media and lack of access to television, media access in India is limited. Consumer and trade promotion at the grassroots level is still not a regular feature and little data are available. Finding the target audience

In a country where market economy is still new, there is a severe lack of reliable data. Considering the huge differences in aspirations, culture, social demands, daily life requirements, cuisine, religion, language, peer environ, income, professional divergences in India, a nuanced profiling of target populations is absolutely essential for an optimum media selection and package but alas unavailable. There is also a big mismatch between information arrived at by the advertising agency from its own research and experience on the one hand and data made available by external organizations, media houses and the client company. There is very little reliable information available on new media, like blog, Internet, SMS, etc. as well, even on new entrants into very old media segments such as print or television. For an industrial / technical product, an appliance or capital goods, anything that needs spare parts, after sale service or replacement, a rich source of customer profile is the companys own files from the client servicing department. Customers, happy or disgruntled, write back to the company, either to seek help, to gripe and complain or to thank. Call centre records serve the same purpose. These records often contain descriptions of peoples interest, activities and attitudes, and they are all companys real customers and real people, providing a very good profiling. Media houses and advertising agencies rarely use this source. Even for the manufacturer, these people may be interested in other products of the company and can be contacted through Direct Mail. Even publishers of magazines like India Today, Femina and Readers Digest are collecting database on their subscribers all the time through little questionnaires in renewal notices, etc. These are often sold through database companies, often not. They know very well that their existing subscribers are the best targets for their other publications. Sales geography Although products may be sold over a wide area of the country, sales are never uniform in the entire territory. Advertising may be needed in areas of thin sales to increase it, or in areas where sales is reliable but can be coaxed to do better. Since nobody can afford to advertise uniformly heavily all over the country, selection of the area is important. Here sales and marketing departments have to help the advertising agency for correct media planning. Local products do not need expensive press or television advertising. Hoardings, Free Standing Inserts (FSI) in newspapers and magazines, posters in local shops, handbills are excellent media for these. They are also vastly cheaper and do a far better focused delivery of the message and can be run for a short while and changed quickly. Timing Advertising is an expensive business. At which time of the year a campaign should be released, at what frequency and for how long, is a major factor of media schedule. Vehicle sale goes up in February-March, just before the budget, because the new owner gets a full years depreciation that way. So that would be the time to advertise all kinds of cars, bikes, SUVs and commercial vehicles. Consumer use cycle decides the time and duration. For instance movies and restaurants are advertised Friday to Sunday, when people have time for entertainment. Properties are heavily advertised on weekends, when people actually have the time to read carefully to find what they are looking for. Duration How long should a campaign run? If year around presence is needed, as in property, clothes, FMCG products, an advertiser will spread his budget thinly across the year. For other products, a short burst of advertising and then nothing for months works just as well. This depends on advertising budget and above all what the competition is doing. If there is heavy traffic in competitors advertising, so must the brand in question or it will drop out of the targets mind share.

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Question 2. Explain the advertising theories and its relevance.. Answer : Like in every other area of life, advertising also has not only grown in leaps and bounds and hasbecome far more effective, in some ways it has changed its character altogether. The most important factor that directly or even indirectly influencing advertising is the demographic factors or the characteristics of the population. Even if combined with other factors such as social, political or environmental, they could be associated with demographic indicators like age, gender, family structure, migration of people, education levels, so on. Demographic changes Demographic segments and the obvious changes in them are easier to define and analyse. Let us now see how these influence advertising. Lifestyle India always had different lifestyles in different parts of the country, marked by language, food, religion, etc. But there was uniformity within that segment at least. Not anymore. Whole new lifestyles are in the market now, which cut across ethnic and local traditions. Urban Indias lifestyle is changing very fast.

Young handsome rock star gurus like Vikas Malkani who runs a hep MTV style Soul Centre in New Delhi presenting Indian philosophy in easy to follow contemporary language to tarot card reader, the interests are very different. Spirituality, naturally grown food, vegetarianism, exercise, yoga, personalized counselling and psychotherapy, dynamic meditation, Tai chi, astral travel, healthy living all have huge following. What does it have to do with advertising? All the above as well as gyms, yoga and meditation classes, aerobic dancing, etc. are all ultimately products and services which have to be advertised and need careful promotion and niche marketing. Technology India has an amazing capacity to adopt the latest technology available anywhere in the world. A country which did not have even television until late 1980s, today literally consumes the latest gadgets and gizmos with limitless appetite. In a 2007 survey carried out by Economic Times Dentsu on 3,000 correspondents across India, dependence on technology is clearly defined. Some 51% of urban Indians feel life will be difficult without a mobile, 93% feel life will be really tough without text messaging, 90% cannot do without television, and Internet dependency is universal. 32% in 18-25 years age group said life would be hard without the music and camera features on a mobile. But then, this was an online survey, so a biased one. Statistics may need to be taken with some caution, but the new dependence on technology is indisputable. Long before urban India discovered mobile telephony, fishermen in Tamil Nadu carried this wonder instrument. Way before they reached the coast after a night of fishing in the ocean, they called all the coastal wholesale markets to find out the best price of the day and headed straight for it, thus cutting out middlemen. Poverty or illiteracy is not always an impediment to adoption of new technology. How does it affect advertising? Lot of people get their information from Internet, all these high-tech products are sold and advertised on Internet. So it pays to understand this target groups age, lifestyle, aspirations, expectations, demands and needs. Aggressive middle class Indian middle class has become the object of keen observation for everybody from MNC consumer products to political campaign planners. Whole books and furious research projects are being written on this phenomenon. It is a grossly over rated class, in numbers, consumption volume and desires. Rough estimate is that there are about 50 million families in India in middle class who really do buy branded products significantly. After all, a villager who buys a branded soap or cigarette occasionally is no different statistically than an upper middle class urban family who also buy those, among other things. Yet, individually the poor villagers consumption is insignificant, while the urban middle class consumer has a regular and rising purchase profile. How does one define middle class? By government rules, a family that has one two-wheeler, one colour television, and one telephone, is middle class, which most urban maid servants families possess and covers about 20% of the country. That sounds pathetic in consumption terms. A 2007 survey pegs middle class at ` 210 lakh annual income, which are about 50 million families. But then, in a country of such reluctant income tax compliance, there is no reliable data on household income profiling. One thing all business people agree on is that middle class is aggressive, ambitious, uninhibited about their demands, self-absorbed and very busy climbing the upwardly mobile social ladder. This class has chosen its lifestyle, their image is very important to them and they will fight to retain it. And this is the class that keeps buying nonstop. Therefore this segment needs analysis and pampering. Sharia compliant banking and stock market Sharia, the laws for finance and commercial activities permitted to the believers of Islam, is mandatory for Muslims, who do not invest in alcohol; conventional banking that gives interest, insurance, entertainment, tobacco, pork, weapons, etc. India has the second largest Muslim population in the world, and Indian Sharia compliant market capitalization at 61% in 2007 is higher than in some Islamic countries like Malaysia, Pakistan and Bahrain. Sectors such as computer hardware and software, drugs and pharmaceuticals, automobiles and ancillaries are all Sharia compliant and constitute 36% of Sharia compliant stocks on NSE. Even when Sharia compliant stocks are few in number, its share of market capitalization is never below 50% of the total market capitalization. What can advertising do? Plenty. Advertise Indian Sharia compliant stock in Islamic countries and maximize opportunities. A dedicated Sharia compliant stock index advertised in Gulf countries can deliver wonders. Even in India sensitive advertising can open up a whole new world of investments to fund raisers. The USA has the Dow-Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIMI) and Pakistan has Meezan Islamic Fund Criteria. Advertising abroad As Indian companies go abroad and Indian products are sold all over the world more and more, advertising too has to adapt to that. The whole approach has to evolve to cater to more educated, sophisticated and subtle approach that will appeal to a different class of people. Long and tedious text,

careless grammar and Indian English or Hinglish have to make room for concise and clear copy and indirect approach. With growing confidence, Indian retailers and products abroad now use Indian themes, models and sets in advertising and are doing just fine. But it has to be handled with sensitivity, so that the local targets are not confused by too much of Indianness and can relate with both the product and promotion. In 2003, Walkers Chips, a brand of crisps by Krispwallah, a corner chip shop in the UK, used Gary Linekar, former English footballer and television personality, and MeeraSayal, an Indian actress, as models and a very garish Indian wedding as theme and did very well. At least this was an Indian product, manufacturer and advertiser. In 2003, Peugot used an Indian small town set, an Indian model and a purely Indian environment to advertise their product. The story was about how a poor Indian young man who dreamed of owning a Peugot 206, banged an old Ambassador in the shape of a Peugot by hammering, reversing it into a solid wall with a bang, and finally being sat on the bonnet by an elephant. The product, manufacturer, advertiser, media, target, retailers all were non-Indian. As we are told endlessly, this is the Indian century. True or false, this new Asian is cool development gives Indians a tremendous opportunity. Indeed, many international campaigns are now conceived and executed in India by the Indian branches of international advertising agencies. This gives Indian agencies an opportunity to learn first-hand how to communicate with targets and cultures alien to us. Mall culture Every technical, social or economic development in the west comes to India about ten years later, in fully developed form without going through the evolutionary stages and then goes through exactly the same life cycle. Mall culture is no different. When Indian economy was opened up, organized retailing and malls spread quite quickly across the country. As early as 2006, India had around 450 malls and not all of them in the metro cities. Now not only there are malls everywhere, with increasing disposable income mall crawling has become a youth culture and part of urban life. Enough parking place, childcare facilities or at least opportunity to leave children free safely, mouthwatering food courts, pleasant ambience make these shopping complexes a leisure destination for people with money and time, instead of parks, museums and public places. Open seven days a week, malls are now favourite family outings, youth hangouts and meeting places. According to international statistics, 40% of mall visitors all over the world, especially the lonely older people in cold countries and aimless youth with time on their hands are just spending idle time in the air conditioned / heated space. What about advertising? With this social and behavioural change, the advertising and promotional materials must change too. Competition is very intense and crowded together, many shops selling pretty much the same luxury goods and brands. Therefore advertising is different here. More in-store and inmall material, banners and danglers, more seductive displays to combat competition and outdoor advertising just outside the mall are needed. As people hang around and while away their time, they do see all kinds of advertising. The giant flexes, digital displays are impossible to ignore and hopefully have a subliminal effect on their purchasing decisions. Retail outlets India has over 15 million retail outlets, big and small and huge domestic and international corporates are moving in to cash in on this visible result of rising incomes. Birla, Reliance, Wal-Mart are some of them. Retail mania assumes that huge supply will automatically create huge demand, not necessarily proven in reality. Retail is a business with very thin margin of profit, usually 2-3% only. How is it advertised? A retailer can make money only if he seduces with some very compelling offer to a very interested set of customers. Or people will stick to their neighborhood shops only, since those have always met all their daily needs very nicely indeed. So it is back to consumer segmentation, customer loyalty, customer pull and not just creatively designed stores, attractively stocked shelves. And this is created by advertising for every individual retailer. Sharpening advertising strategies which includes better functioning, brand positioning, trade and consumer promotion as well as high level of consumeradvertising are needed. Retailers often forget how much it is necessary to maintain advertising pressure to sustain high volume of sale, which in turn creates economy of scale to keep prices low and still protect margins. Both mall and retail advertising need short, medium and long term advertising strategy for sustainable sale. Short term advertising fights off the daily poaching threat from competition and mid and long term promotions build up brand image. There is very little or no loyalty for retail outlets at all in either low priced products of daily use or branded products which are the same everywhere. A customer will just go to the next shop for a few rupees less, and rightly so. Customer loyalty can be created and held only when he feels he is getting a good deal.

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Question 3. Explain the factors that have an effect on Indian advertising. Answer: Demographic changes are just basic factors that influence advertising. The influences of consumer groups or segments, the type of segments, their behaviour, attitude changes, buying patters, consumption style, aspirations, the amount of disposable income in hand, their choices all these factors will definitely have an impact on advertising, advertising budget, message structure, media vehicle used so on. The consumer and his/her buying decisions will make industries more competitive in order to grab their share of the market. Let us see what type of newer consumer segments are evolving. These consumer groups may go through several transition phases that involve their psychological, behavioural, economical and environmental factors. The sunshine economy and Generation Me In 2008-09 Indian economy along with the rest of the world is very quiet when buying is cautious and restrained. But this is a passing phase and does not change the fundamental shifts in personality and aspirations of people in general. Ordinarily evolution does not go backwards. Purchases get postponed, that is all. The last decade had seen rapid rise in disposable income and relaxing of parental control over young people. Nuclear families have only one or two kids and they are the centre of the universe for their parents. A very large percentage of Indian population, like 55% is between 18 34, where the highest income and consumption are. These young Indians will create the destiny of the country for the next three decades. They are hardworking, ambitious, have global aspirations in both career and acquisitiveness and they are going to get it. They have no doubt about it. The disposable money in the hands of high school and college students at a certain segment is any businessmans delight. Branded jeans like Levi Strauss Signature and Newport University, Lee Coopers Beatles collection of T-shirts are just ordinary wear. This generation is pro-money and does not care where it comes from. It is this bulging youth profile that will set the buying pattern and volume now. They also have a great ego which needs to be catered to in promotional and advertising activities. Confident youth Aware of the decision taking power in the hands of very young people, companies and advertisers pamper them by creating commercials directed at them. For consumer durables, ready-to-eat food items, branded clothes, startlingly expensive electronics and entertainment equipment, music, computer games, etc. it is the young people who occupy the mind of the art directors of advertising agencies. Parents now accept their childrens choice even in the products which really have nothing much to do with children, such as cars, holidays, computers and electronic equipment. Fathers are no longer the feared patriarchs and feel the pressure to provide the luxuries advertised on Cartoon Networks, even though they know that children are highly selfish, pleasure seeking, irresponsible and inexperienced in both products or brand selection and decision making. It triggers severe imbalance in family equations and sociologist feel it is creating a whole generation of selfish kids who will become equally selfish adults. But this social development is here to stay now and advertising has adjusted to it rapidly. Brat power The kids are now the new age customers and very conscious of their pester power over their parents. They have perfected the art of shopping and know all about the launch of branded products. Since 30% of Indian kids are now below 15, these cartoon kids are now the target of marketers and advertisers. From Walt Disney to Cartoon Network, everybody is doing brand extension to cover footwear, eyewear, and watches and so on. Pogo Wheels of Cartoon Networks plans apparel. Gifts, novelties are designed exclusively for rich kids worldwide, India included. Even movie makers are running after this age group, knowing their money clout. Koi Mil Gaya, Krishh, Hanuman were specifically made for young children, even though they delighted adults as well. A survey by Walt Disney Co. and a media investment management group in 2006 found that kids under 12 now influence purchasing decisions of cars which they cannot drive or pay for and computers they only dimly understand. With parents increasingly indulgent of their precious one or two kids allowing them to make their purchasing decisions, the brat power can only grow. Various surveys show that even small children understand when they are being bluffed, teased or talked down to and see through false advertising claims very quickly. As always, advertising not only should show due respect to its target, it has to be responsible and ethical. Children are easily swayed, incapable of seeing the difference between fantasy, imagination and reality. Manipulating, twisting or teasing a small childs emotions is not only irresponsible, it is immoral and distasteful. Papa, I wont kiss you (if you do not buy brand X) this is a real ad headline - is not exactly the best way to sell an adult product. Assertive working women A joint study in 2008 by Nasscom and Mercer found that 30-35% of Indian workforce is women, among the highest in the world. Only 20% of them are in urban areas. There are more women engineers, doctors, pilots and professionals now. They earn well, retain at least partial control over their personal income and take their own decisions about savings, investments and financial planning. The working

women unhappy home clich is fading and they are a social and economic force in their own rights. They now have the freedom to succeed and spend. This is the glamorous side. Majority of Indian women are still economically dependant, socially inferior and controlled by the family. Yet, even at that level, rebellion is in action and they are increasingly assertive, with which comes independent and assertive buyers. Many earn more than their husbands. They control the purchase of family necessities as well as luxuries like cars, insurance, retirement plans, expensive holidays and properties. More and more young women stay single longer and are consumers of these categories in their own rights and for their own needs. The providers of these services and products, ranging from special bank loan schemes for women to cover marriage to jewellery, orchid pink coloured light-weight scooters, special health insurance, all-women group holidays abroad, slim long cigarettes to look great in delicate feminine hands which unfortunately crashed, all the way to womens special buses in peak office time are rapidly adjusting to it. They are actually creating these special products for women of independent means and doing highly focused and narrow-targeted advertising. The percentage of women who really want to remain homemakers is falling rapidly. All this translates into huge disposable money in the hands of women, a much desired state for the advertising industry. Surveys carried out all over India from 2005-2010 show: 7-10% growth in beauty care products 8% growth in ` 1,700 crore skin care market hair care market is over ` 1,500 crore Womens apparel market is ` 29,000 crore Home textile dcor market is ` 15,000 crore 30% Reebok revenue comes from womens products such as track pants, workout gear 20% growth in colour cosmetics market of ` 600 crore The womans income now pays for vacations, higher education, better house, retirement plans They hire housekeepers, full-time maids, child minders, cleaners, cooks, drivers, gardeners, all the way down to dog walkers because they are not home. This pushes in new money into the system, which supports many more people Women are getting disabled by their jobs just like men. That means they buy accident and health insurance, better quality medical care. All these are advertised products and services, and they need different treatment of the buyer. These women are no whimpering helpless dependants but strong confident people who can take their own decisions, pay for their purchases and expect to be kept informed correctly by advertising and promotions. Attitudes are changing too. A study of 3,400 women in 9 cities surveyed by EvesDropping study of Trikaya Grey found that 51% wanted to live for today gone are the days when even working women lived for their family and spent every rupee of their earnings on them, leaving nothing for themselves, their image or future. A growing number of women put themselves first now. Over 60% women held money as critical to show success. DINK family DINK refers to Double Income, No Kids family pattern that is slowly emerging and even seen in Indian scenario. Here, husbands and wives earn, spend and save without having to worry about raising kids. They adopt a lifestyle of being without children and basically look after each other or their parents if involved or their own selves. In the age of globalization, where husband may work for a MNC and wife may have to constantly travel on work, there is very little time left for them to stay home or even raise kids. Besides, cost of living and expenditures may lead to couples voluntarily deciding not to have kids. Even, live-in relationships constitute the need for sharing expenses, household chores but ideally they cannot be termed as family. Socially, it would be considered as an adjustment without much commitment. It should be remembered that DINK family style may not include those married couples who would like to have kids but due to certain reasons cannot bear children. In such cases, advertising helps to seek information regarding cure, therapies, medical help, adoption centers in case the couple decide to adopt a child. Word of Mouth also plays a major role here.

Metrosexual Just as economy and society are changing very fast, so are images and emotions. On the one hand film stars and young boys are into body building to develop unreal muscles, on the other hand men young and old are paying great attention to their looks, which used to be considered being a sissy, a feminine quality. Now women of taste and elegance dress more like men well-cut, excellent quality, stylish but comfortable and unfussy clothes and very little make-up or jewellery. And men are into selfadornmentand fashion manicured hands, blow-dried designer haircut, gold and silver jewellery and very ornate clothes. It is not shameful for women to show strength and dress practically and for men to show feelings and enjoy beautiful clothes. These are human qualities and not gender-linked. What has this social development got to do with advertising? A lot When we have a relevant product, such as party / evening / wedding wear for men, or a slim cigarette, light motorbike or a special insurance product designed for women, how do we position them? What kind of model to choose, what sets and script, what mood to create? Strong men do not relate with what they consider a feminine image. A strong woman does not like to be patronisedor talked down to. Yet they both will buy wedding clothes and handy motorbikes. Now men take paternity leaves and women pilots fly Air Force cargo planes to combat areas. Great caution has to be taken to create the right image, so as not to alienate either group. A new consumer group created entirely by media hype is the metrosexual men living in cosmopolitan metro cities who are sensitive, in touch with their feelings, attractive and yet strong. According to many surveys carried out in the past few years, such conflicting messages confuse many men, and rightly so. If it is any help, it confuses women too. A survey of 2,000 men in 13 countries found that 60% of men see themselves either as power seekers who crave professional advancement or family patriarchs who believe ruling a family is the most important thing. The remaining 40% are busy in the metrosexual debate. Marlborough Man, the ultimate symbol of a macho cowboy created by Leo Burnett Advertising Agency, is having a severe identity crisis. Recently the same Leo Burnett ran a world-wide survey. Results say that half the men in most parts of the world do not know what is expected of them, and of them think images of them created in advertising is way out of touch with reality. Image creation is a delicate business. It is confusing times, not just for men, but for marketers and advertising professionals too. The ultimate decision and thus image building will depend on the product and the market segment chosen. And as always, should be done with responsibility and sensitivity. A super sweet cloying image built for male targets in the name of metrosexuals can actually turn a man off the brand for life. Elderly population In 1950, 5.6% of Indias population was above 60. Projected by informal surveys based on 2001 census, in 2004 it was almost 8% or over 8 million people, with another 60 million between 55-60 years, many of whom have crossed 60 now. It is still a small percentage, but in absolute numbers 77 million. In tradition-bound India, old people are not considered a commercially high priority target, but it will be foolish to ignore this segment. Largely due to break up of joint families where adult children have moved away quite far or due to the end of the times when extended families lived in separate homes but close to one another, older parents now often live on their own. This generation has finished paying for their homes and child rearing, and they had planned and saved for an independent old age. They are in control of their lives and money now. And they do not plan to leave their lifes savings for their children only. Grandmas do not sit in rocking chairs and knit sweaters which nobody ever wears and grandpas do not doze and cough in a sunny veranda corner. They take Tai Chi lessons, practice sudarshankriyas, go to gym, wear expensive clothes and new jewellery, swim, party and go for international holidays and cruises. Retirement is not withdrawal from life, but merely starting another phase of life. It is a very complicated series of social, economic and cultural demographic shift that has changed the way we must look at older people, because they demand so. This group now has considerable economic power and they know it. Just like the very young. What advertising does with this new phenomenon? Plenty. They spend on high end clothes, jewellery, consumer durables, holidays, club memberships, travel, collectibles like paintings and antiques, gifts, entertainment, things they never could afford when they were young, or dared to spend on. And now they are also buying smaller cars and apartments to move out of the big houses they no longer need or can maintain. Many widowed older people are marrying again and setting up new households, just like young newly-marrieds do, with exactly the same purchase pattern. It is a great market with rising consumption, and elders pay exactly the same price as the young do, but they make full down payments and are not into hire/purchase or consumer loans. This segment just has to be cultivated differently.

In April 2006, a survey carried out to choose Indias sexiest man listed John Abraham as number one, followed by Amitabh Bachhan, then 63. Clearly something very strange is happening and marketers better take note.

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Question 4. Is it important to have communication objectives in advertising? Why or why not? Answer : .: Importance of communication objectives :

Current Prospect Awareness/ Interest Level Lack of Awareness

Desired Communication Outcome

Sample Communication Objective

Heightened awareness;

company/product/brand

Measurable shift in awareness levels;

Requests for additional information Lack of Interest Heightened awareness of product benefits and value proposition;

X% increase in website visits, store traffic, enquiries, requests for information Measurable shift in perceived product attributes and company reputation; Increased customer involvement, measured by event and demonstration attendance, acceptance of trial offers or samples, etc.

Product trial through events, samples, demonstrations, etc. Measurable positive shift in consumer opinions and attitudes.

Misperceptions

Corrected impressions;

Improved target prospect knowledge

Interest but perceived lack of need

Heightened knowledge of value proposition; understanding of unique benefits; trial through introductory offers. Stimulate desire with time-sensitive and limited-quantity offers or shortterm purchase incentives. Overcome barrier with easy-to-accept obstacle removal option. Successful sales transaction

Measurable increase in serious buyer prospects, measured by requests for estimates, proposals, in-person presentations, introductory offers, etc. Measurable positive response to incentives and promotional offers, etc.

Interest but lack of motivation to buy

Interest and motivated to buy, but facing purchasing obstacles Interested, motivated, serious prospect

Convert one of three reluctant prospects to purchasers. Closure rate of one sale out of every three presentations to motivated prospects.

Triangle of Communication: The process of advertising communication may be succinctly expressed in the form of the eternal triangle of communication. The advertisers objective is to communicate with the

audience in order to obtain the desired results arising from the responses of the audience.

1) Advertiser: The advertiser is commonly interpreted as a commercial organization, which has the paramount objective of making profits out of business activities. Profits are usually generated through marketing or trading activity, apart from the financial investments. Even in the last case, marketing has a role to play as the yield for investments in order companies and assets will, in turn, depend on the marketing activity of the latter. The communication logic will, however, also apply to the types of advertisers, which may have a societal or political objective. Advertising for family planning, road safety and the like, and election campaigns are no way different in this respect.

2) Audience: The team audience has to be interpreted with care. Readers of newspapers of magazine, listeners to the radio, or viewers of cinema or television would not necessarily constitute the audience for an advertiser. The audience for specific advertising has to be defined and idea segmentation, which would help in defining and identification of the target audience, is no way less important for noncommercial advertising. The concept of target audience will, therefore, be applicable in all situations whether an advertising campaign or a detailed advertising programme for a product or service is under consideration.

3) Media: The third element of the triangle of communication is the media and that is where advertising tends to differ from other forms of communication. Advertising, as a rule, will not control the media. Hence, they will have to depend on the availability of media, and its appropriateness, to reach their target audience.

4) Dynamic Concept: Thus the triangle of communication consists of advertisers who are trying to convey advertising message to their target audience through media which are independent of advertisers. The basic concept, however, is not constrained to a static situation. First, the triangle may be interpreted both at the micro and macro levels, i. e. for an advertiser or for one campaign and collectively for several advertisers in a community or a country. More importantly, all three elements of the triangle are subject to continuous change. Audiences alter their patterns of behaviour under the influence of factors such as education, occupation, mobility and so forth. Definitions of target audience invariably need revision. Advertisers produce and market products and services, which may cater to the needs and tastes of their clientele. Primarily audiences to whom they have to relate influence the media, serving as the link. The cost economics of media, at the same time, involves advertising revenues. Both advertisers and media are ultimately dependent on the mass of buyers from amongst who both select their respective target audience.

5) Choice and Competition: The creative aspect of advertising comes into play when an advertiser formulates an appropriate message to be beamed across to its target audience for a specific campaign. Even if we assume that segmentation has been efficiently done, it will be necessary to formulate the message and present it in such a way that it should appeal to the audience. This is essential when there is choice, and correspondingly, competition. The importance of appeal will obviously be less when there is little or limited choice, unless the advertiser has the objective of market development.

6) Advertising Agency: An advertising agency, working in unison with the advertiser, lends its professional services to the advertiser for formulation and presentation of message. However, it is the media, which provides basic sustenance to the advertising agency by allowing 15% commission (as in India) on the billing of advertisers. The system obviously has its origin in free market operations arising from competition within the media. The agency makes its recommendation as to whether a specific media vehicle is suited to the target audience and the advertising message.

7) Matching Message with the Media: The media has two major roles. First, it is the question of matching audience to media, the type of person who constitutes the readership, listener ship and viewer ship of the media vehicles. The second dimension is that of the frequency with which a specific media vehicle can put across the message to the target audience and the choice available to the advertiser.

Both these dimensions are combined with the concept of exposure, which is translated into Opportunity To See (or hear), commonly known as OTS. A further dimension of the suitability of certain types of message to a specific media, whether print, audio or audio-visual, should also be kept in mind.

The achievement of an advertisers objectives is dependent on the appeal of the message to the target audience and the reach of the media. The qualitative aspects of creation of advertising and the quantitative estimation of exposures, which each unit of the target audience is subject to, must also have to be considered. It must also be pointed out that the reception of the advertisers message is also dependent to a great extent on various distractions and disturbances operating on the audience. These are inherent in the process of advertising communication. People select media primarily according to their interest and preferences. Advertising which may appear in these media is per se peripheral to the audiences criteria of selection of media.

8) Distractions for the Audience: The following two factors aggravate the disturbances and distractions operating on the audience:

a. Competition between media: A number of media vehicles would normally compete for the attention of the audience.

b. Situational setting: Reception of the advertising message may also be affected by the time and occasion of reading, listening or viewing of the audience.

Considering the data available on exposures, for audiences in the USA and India, may indicate the cumulative effect of the above features. According to an estimate presented by Edwing W. Abel, Vice President and Marketing Director of General Foods Corporation, to the West Cost Meeting of the Association of National Advertisers, a typical metropolitan family in the USA would be exposed every day to 1518 advertising message. Such a family, i. e. husband, wife and children, would spend the national average amount of time on newspapers, magazines, home and car radios and television. On an average day, Adel as below estimated the estimated exposures:

Display advertisements in their specific newspapers read by a commuting husband and an active suburban wife. Radio commercials heard at breakfast, lunch or in the car. Advertisements in two specific national magazines read by the wife. TV commercials from dinnertime to 10.30. Subway (underground train and stations) posters and car cards along the husbands route. Advertising in comics read by the couples children.

In India, Clasrion Mc Cann Advertising Company obtained similar estimate of possible advertising exposures for the city of Bombay in 1965. An educated man commuting to work to the commercial center of the city or suburb may be subject to exposures of about 300 advertisements. Admittedly, the average for non-metro cities and towns, to say nothing of rural areas, would be lower.

The above estimates, although somewhat out of date, bring forth the following observations: An average person belonging to the target audience of an advertiser is subject to a rather large number of advertising exposures. As a corollary of the above, the number of advertisements actually seen or head, in full or part are likely to be much smaller than the maximum possible Opportunities To See (OTS), ranging from about 300 per person in India to about 700 in the USA, according to the above data.

9) Resource Constraints: Completing the cycle of communication, it is obvious that advertisers have their own resource constraints, both of funds as well as time. They can only afford to spend a certain amount of money on advertising in accordance with their marketing and advertising appropriation. The preparation of advertisements needs time. Finally, the feedback from the audience is an important input

for the advertisers.

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Question 5 . Examine the role of visual strategies in ad copy design. Give suitable examples. Answer : Freelance designers who produce marketing materials will know that design and copy should be developed together to work well. But sometimes there arent enough budgets for teaming with a copywriter. Or the client needs a project in a hurry. Thats when being able to produce concept and copy in addition to design can be a powerful business advantage. It goes without saying that an ability to write is fundamental. But you dont have to be a copywriter to produce strong concepts and write copy for many smaller projects. Think of the concept as a hook, a lead-in that will grab readers attention and persuade them to read on. Think of the copy as a fulfillment of the concepts premise, the fleshing out of the product story. Avoid trying to do too much, bombarding readers with multiple copy and visual messages. For any piece to be persuasive and memorable, its design, headlines, visuals, and copy must work together to communicate one single and strong message. As idea starters, below are thirteen simple concept/copy approaches. Each has been proven to help deliver sales results.

1. Focus on a particularly persuasive benefit. This is a fail-safe approach to communicating the product message in advertising. Brainstorm a list of product benefits and focus on the benefit your reader will find most appealing. Product: Beds. Headline: Turn your back on aches and pains. Visual: Profile of woman, back to camera, lying comfortably on a mattress.

2. Create a needthen show how the product fulfills it. A proven way to position a product is to show how it solves a need or a problem. The problem can be real Product: Kitchen appliances. Message: Everyone knows showers are more efficient than baths. So why do dishwashers work like baths? Visual: Photo of shower cubicle alongside product. Or the problem can be imagined Product: Teaching (recruitment drive). Headline: Children have an energy and spontaneity that just arent found in many office jobs. Visual: Happy child contributing in a classroom activity.

3. Focus on the products Unique Selling Point. The product youre selling doesnt need to fill an obvious gap in the market to have a Unique Selling Point (USP). A USP can be a fact about the product (such as sales history, brand reputation, or product origination) Product: Muesli. Headline: The original Swiss muesli. Visual: Idyllic Swiss landscape. A USP can be a product feature (something the product has that no other product has) Product: TV. Headline: Color like no other. Visual: Bright-colored paint splashing across a television set. Or a USP can be a product benefit (something a product does that no other product does) Product: Educational textbook. Headline: At last, a course book that puts you in control of your lessons. Visual: confident looking teacher walking into the classroom..

4. Associate the product with a connected idea, feeling, or emotion. Metaphor is commonly used in consumer advertising, corporate-identity, and brand-building publicity. It can be particularly effective in activating an archetype that connects an emotion with the brand. Product: Cognac. Headline: Let the conversation flow. Visual: Glass of cognac in focus; a group of people in conversation after dinner out of focus.

5. Prove how popular the product is. People trust popular products because they are seen as reliable and imply good quality. Popularity messages also respond to deep emotional needs to feel part of a community. Product: Telecommunications. Headline: Thousands of people are coming back to XYZ Telecom. Visual: Woman opening door to friendly telecom engineer.

6. Use a case study. Case studies prove validity by showing how people have already benefited from the product in the past. They are particularly useful for highlighting success stories, before-and-after, or for demonstrating the versatility and universality of the product. Product: Weight-loss milkshake. Headline: I lost 18 pounds in just one month on the Thin Quick Plan! Visual: Before and after photos of individual alongside close-up of product.

7. Endorse the product.

People trust respected figures in society. Your lead copy could be a published testimonialor have the client pay a respected figure to put his/her name to the product. Product: Rowing machine. Headline: The Gold Standard. Visual: Snapshot of Olympic rower presenting product, with his signature.

8. Tell the products story. A product with an interesting background has real news value, and news makes for an attention-grabbing message, appealing to the readers sense of curiosity. Product stories can also initiate desire for the product by developing the readers emotional attachment to the brand. Product: French Beer. Headline: When Edmund Williams created Bertillon Noir, he didnt just break the mould. He broke the law. Visual: Melodramatic black-and-white photo of character nervously hiding behind a door.

9. Put the product to the test. You can test the product to highlight its key features such as convenience, strength, and versatilityor to show how the product compares with the competition. Product: Battery. Headline: Duromax lasts up to three times longer than conventional alkaline batteries. Visual: Battery-powered toy rabbit beating his competitors in a race.

10. Announce something new. The word New is one of the most powerful words in advertising copy. Sometimes the most effective message is simply to announce the products newness. Product: Cat food. Headline: Introducing new finest cuts from Feleba. Visual: Plate of gourmet cat food hidden by a silver cover.

11. Guarantee the product. A guarantee quickly dissolves any scepticism your reader has about the reliability of the product. Guarantees can be based around results, quality, durability, strength, customer satisfaction, a commitment on behalf of the company, fixed price promises, and lowest price claims. Product: Golf clubs. Headline: Guaranteed! Cut six to eight strokes off your game or your money back! Visual: Product photo overlaid with guarantee stamp.

12. Announce how much and where to buy. If the product is particularly good value for money, you cant go wrong with the three Ps: show the Product, show the Price, and show where to Purchase. Product: Clothes. Headline: Back-to-school sweat-shirts from just $4. at Berkleys (opposite MacDonalds). Visual: Photo of mothers and children choosing sweatshirts in-store, with map of where

the shop is.

13. State the offer. People are always looking for a bargain, which is why the word Free is another powerful word in the advertisers lexicon. If you have a good offer to tell readers about, lead with it. Product: Newspaper. Headline: Get a free Mozart CD in tomorrows Sunday Bugle. Visual: Huge FREE flash alongside product.

This list of advertising concepts is hardly exhaustive, but can be used as a framework for brainstorming ideas. Whatever your concept, ask yourself this: Am I effectively communicating the product message through my headline, visual, and body copy? If youre not, the chances are your concept is too complicatedyou need to strip it down and focus on just one thing.

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Question 6. What is sales promotion? Explain in detail. Answer: Sales Promotion: A total business communications strategy includes advertising, sales promotion and personal selling. The cohesiveness and effectiveness of these efforts is what achieves sales and profit objectives. Promotional strategy is the function of informing, persuading, and influencing a consumer decision. Following are the functions of sales promotion: 1.To provide information In the early days of promotional campaigns, when many items were often in short supply, most advertisements were designed to tell the public where they could find a product. Today, a major portion of U.S. advertising is still informational. Promotional campaigns designed to inform often target specific market segments. 2.To differentiate Marketers often develop a promotional strategy to differentiate their goods or services from those of competitors. This strategy is called positioning. The idea is to communicate to customers meaningful distinctions about the attributes, price, quality, or usage of a good or service. Market research is a valuable tool for positioning since it helps to identify what consumers want and what attributes are important to them. 3.To increase sales Increasing sales volume is the most common objective of a promotional strategy. 4.To stabilize sales Advertising is another tool that can stabilize sales. A stable sales pattern has several advantages: it evens out the production cycle, reduces some management and production costs, and makes it easier to do financial, purchasing and market planning. 5.To accentuate the products value Some promotional strategies are based on factors that add value, such as warranty programs and repair services. Advertising: Advertising is a paid, non-personal sales communication usually directed at a large number of potential buyers. Types of advertising include: 1.Informative advertising Advertising approach intended to build initial demand for a good or service in the introductory phase of the product life cycle.

2.Persuasive advertising Used in the growth and maturity stages of the product life cycle to improve the competitive status of a product, institution or concept. 3.Comparative advertising Persuasive advertising approach in which direct comparisons are made with competing goods or services. 4.Reminder-oriented advertising Method used in the late maturity or decline states of the product life cycle that seeks to reinforce previous promotional activity by keeping the name of the good or service in front of the public. The following are some of the most popular forms of advertising media: 1.Newspapers Can be costly so you want to reach the exact audience that will buy your product or service. Avoid using small print if possible. You may be able to place an ad in the more affordable weekly papers where you can run your ad by zip code. 2.Television and radio Are typically expensive. The most popular stations are typically expensive. Be sure to know your target audience and study the media kits to determine if the station reaches that audience. 3.Direct mail Can be either generated by you individually or can be a part of a co-op program such as Val-Pak. 4Magazines and trade journals Many have space available regionally. 5Outdoor advertising including billboards and transit ads (buses, cabs) 6Yellow pages This is possibly the first type of advertising you should purchase. A large ad is not necessary; a listing is sufficient to let your potential customer know you are a valid company, not a flyby-night. The downfall with Yellow page advertising is that it takes the customer directly to your competition! Have a listing but be careful while promoting it. 7 Internet Website or banner advertising. Some lower-cost advertising opportunities include co-op advertising programs where there is a cost sharing arrangement between the manufacturer and the retailer, cable TV advertising, and targeted direct mail postcards.

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