Advertising and Brand management

 Ans 1-Advertising Definitions  - Advertising is a paid form of mass communication that consists of the special message sent by the specific person (advertiser or company), for the specific group of people (listeners, readers, or viewers), for the specific period of time, in the specific manner to achieve the specific goals.

Characteristics of Advertising:

Above stated definitions reveal following features:

1. Tool for Market Promotion:

There are various tools used for market communication, such as advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and publicity. Advertising is a powerful, expensive, and popular element of promotion mix.

2. Non-personal:

Advertising is a type of non-personal or mass communication with the target audience. A large number of people are addressed at time. It is called as non-personal salesmanship.

3. Paid Form:

Advertising is not free of costs. Advertiser, called as sponsor, has to spend money for preparing message, buying media, and monitoring advertising efforts. It is the costliest option of market promotion. Company has to prepare its advertising budget to appropriate advertising costs.

4. Wide Applicability:

Advertising is a popular and widely used means for communicating with the target market. It is not used only for business and profession, but is widely used by museums, charitable trusts, government agencies, educational institutions, and others to inform and attract various target publics.

5. Varied Objectives:

Advertising is aimed at achieving various objectives. It is targeted to increase sales, create and improve brand image, face competition, build relations with publics, or to educate people.

6. Forms of Advertising:

Advertising message can be expressed in written, oral, audible, or visual forms. Mostly, message is expressed in a joint form, such as oral-visual, audio-visual, etc.

7. Use of Media:

Advertiser can use any of the several advertising media to convey the message. Widely used media are print media (newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, booklets, letters, etc.), outdoor media (hoardings, sign boards, wall-printing, vehicle, banners, etc.), audio-visual media (radio, television, film, Internet, etc.), or any other to address the target audience.

8. Advertising as an Art:

Today’s advertising task is much complicated. Message creation and presentation require a good deal of knowledge, creativity, skills, and experience. So, advertising can be said as an art. It is an artful activity.

9. Element of Truth:

It is difficult to say that advertising message always reveals the truth. In many cases, exaggerated facts are advertised. However, due to certain legal provisions, the element of truth can be fairly assured. But, there is no guarantee that the claim made in advertisement is completely true. Most advertisements are erotic, materialistic, misleading, and producer-centered.

10. One-way Communication:

Advertising involves the one-way communication. Message moves from company to customers, from sponsor to audience. Message from consumers to marketer is not possible. Marketer cannot know how far the advertisement has influenced the audience.

Advertising is important

Advertising is an important part of trade and commerce for multiple reasons, including:

1Increases sales

Advertising's main goal is to increase the number of people who buy your product. You can achieve this by using advertisements to persuade customers that your product is high-quality, useful or desirable. An effective advertisement can convince customers to purchase your product, which may dramatically improve your overall sales.

2Informs customers

Creating an advertisement is a simple way to inform potential customers of your product and any advantages or features it may have. You can include important information such as the function of a product, where you can buy it, price and unique qualities in a short period of time. Advertising also allows you to tell your audience about promotions such as sales, special services for new customers or special events.

3Helps introduce products

When your company introduces a new product or service, you can create an ad to inform your customers about it. This allows you to show the new product to a large number of people and create an interest for the release. Telling a larger amount of people about your product release may increase the number of people who want to buy it.

4Informs you about your competition

You can use advertisements to monitor your competition and learn about any developments they make. When a competitor releases a new product or feature, they may create an advertisement to inform their customers. This gives you the opportunity to develop something new of your own or create a new advertisement detailing the features of an existing product that addresses the same challenges.

5Retains customers

Using advertising can help remind your customers about your brand and may encourage them to continue buying your product. A customer who once used your product may see an advertisement and remember their positive experience. This can motivate them to purchase that product again or try other services from your company.

6Increases employee morale

An effective advertisement may improve the morale of coworkers who see or hear about it. People may find it easier to talk to potential customers about new products or services if the customer is already slightly aware of them. A quality advertisement may also increase a person's pride in their workplace.

7Differentiates your brand

Because most products and services have multiple companies competing for customers, your company may need to find ways to distinguish itself from competitors. Advertising elements such as logos, color schemes, fonts and taglines are ways to establish a brand identity and create a difference between your product and other companies. If a customer recognizes or likes your brand design, that may increase the chances of them purchasing your product.

8Increases customer trust

Advertisements can increase familiarity and trust between a company and its customers. If a potential customer sees multiple ads about your product, they may consider you a trusted brand. You can also use advertising to address any concerns, which further builds trust between your company and your customers.

9Reaches target customers

Using advertising can help you easily identify or market toward a particular target audience. After researching a target audience, you can release an ad that may appeal to them at locations they usually frequent. If you have more than one target audience, you can create separate ads and market to both audiences in different areas.

10 Explains company values

A company with powerful, visible values can resonate with customers and may encourage brand loyalty. Advertisement allows you to describe your company's core traits or values to a wide audience and may encourage them to try your product. Having clear company values can also increase customer trust and may strengthen a brand's identity.

Ans 3 Sales Promotion – Definition

Sales promotion is defined by the Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP) as “comprising a range of tactical marketing techniques within a strategic marketing framework to add value to a product or service in order to achieve specific sales and marketing objectives”.

A shorter definition could be- “The practice of offering a temporary additional value to a brand in order to reach specific marketing objectives”.

Sales Promotion – Concept

Many of you must be confused about promotion and sales promotion. Promotion is a comprehensive term and covers the entire gamut of advertising, publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotions.

Sales promotion is thus a part of promotion, and is restricted to direct inducements on a short-term basis given to consumers or trade so as to stimulate purchases of products and services.

Sales promotion, in other words, is a marketing activity that adds to the basic value of the product or services for a limited period of time and directly stimulates purchasing by the target audience.

Characteristics:

Special characteristics of sales promotion are listed below:

1. It is a part of market promotion. It involves all the promotional efforts other than advertising, personal selling, and publicity.

2. The primary purpose is to induce customer for immediate buying or dealer effectiveness or both.

3. It is optional. Many companies do not practice it.

4. It is directed for multiple objectives, like to maintain sales during off season, to increase sales, to face competition, to clear stocks, to improve image, to promote new products, etc.

5. It consists of offering, wide variety of tools/incentives.

6. Sales promotion efforts consist of special selling efforts for the specific time period in forms of short-term incentives and schemes undertaken at consumer level, dealer level or at salesmen level.

7. It involves the non-recurrent selling efforts. They are not a part of daily activities. They are not undertaken repeatedly.

8. Sales promotion incentives are imitative. Competitors can easily imitate them.

9. Sales promotion is expensive. It may affect adversity the profitability of company.

10. Excessive use of sale promotion may affect sales and reputation of company adversely.

11. It supports personal selling and advertising efforts. It is like a bridge between advertising and personal selling. It can increase effectiveness of other promotional efforts.

12. It includes impersonal incentives. They are offered openly to all.

Types of sales promotions

Regardless of the type of business or industry you’re in, there are a variety of sales promotion examples and techniques at your disposal that you can align with your sales needs. Some great sales promotion ideas include:

1. Competitions and giveaways

Customer competitions can be about getting the most engagement on a social media post your brand is tagged in, or a social media challenge that enters them in a giveaway. This is a fun way to both create buzz around your business and reward customers for being avid supporters and promoters of your brand.

2. Flash sale or limited-time price reduction

A flash sale is a sales promotion that offers a discount, promotion or rebate that’s only valid for a short period of time, ranging from just a few hours to a few days. Flash sales work well to create a sense of urgency, which can help nudge consumers to make a purchase decision.

Even though the buying window is short, marketers can build interest ahead of time by sharing exactly when the flash sale will occur.

3. Bundling of products or services

If you have a product set that has the potential to create more value as bundled offerings rather than standalone items, selling them as a package for a discounted rate can help to increase overall sales.

This can be highly incentivizing for customers that were struggling to choose between several of your products or services and a competitor’s and can now get both (or many) at a discounted price.

4. Free trial or demo

Free trials are a great way to get a lead to try out your product or service with no risk to or commitment from them. In practice, retailers can offer free samples at the point of purchase, and B2B or B2C services might offer a free trial or demo of their products or services so that their leads and potential customers can take the product for a spin.

To support conversion, consider pairing the free trial or demo with a limited-time discount.

5. Limited-time free shipping or transfer between platforms or services

In e-commerce, Baymard Institute estimates that nearly 70% of consumers abandon their shopping cart and 50% of those consumers attribute their cart abandonment to unexpected extra costs like fees, shipping and tax.

Sales promotions that use free shipping and free returns can help eliminate one of the obstacles that cause people to abandon their cart. If you are a B2B or SaaS brand, the final hurdle for purchase might be your customer’s resistance to deal with the challenge of switching providers.

6. Limited-time freebies

If you can’t be flexible on price, you can still generate a sense of urgency by creating a limited-time offer for a free product added to an order.

For example, you could offer an existing product or service alongside a free bonus feature or add-on. This adds perceived value without hurting your bottom line or constraining your resources.

7. First purchase coupon

If someone becames connected to your business in a way other than making a purchase, such as a free trial, it might take time for them to warm up to becoming a paying customer.

To speed up the process, offer a discount on their first purchase. In fact, some brands even offer discounts on first purchases in their welcome email as a way to thank their new customer or lead for joining their community. For best results, limit the offer to a couple of days. Even if they don’t use the coupon, they may browse your products or services and learn more about your business.

8. Buy one, get one free

“Buy one, get one free” (also called BOGOF), or “Buy two and get the third free” are commonly-used sales promotion tactics. These campaigns are useful when you want or need to sell several products at once.

This type of promotion can also work to build brand awareness, as your customer may share the extra items with a friend or family member.

9. Coupon or voucher code

Coupons are versatile because they can be delivered in a variety of ways, such as via your website, social media, or print materials like on your receipts or product packaging. Coupons are a great way to thank current customers or incentivize first-time customers to return.

10. Tripwire (upsell)

Tripwire refers to the idea of offering an entry-level product or service to a potential customer. By doing this, your salespeople can get them into your ecosystem or sales CRM and begin nurturing them through the buyer’s journey.

Once you build trust, you can show them why upgrading to a higher-priced offer is in their best interest.

11. Recurring sale

If it suits your business, you might consider becoming known for your one-time or biannual sale. A recurring sale can help build anticipation so that when it does finally come around, people are ready and excited to spend.

12. Portion of purchase goes to a charitable cause

Running a sales promotion that dedicates a portion of your purchase to an important cause or charity can be a great way to spark business. Your customers will feel good about their purchase, and you’ll be able to enhance your brand image by associating it with an important cause. This is also an easy way to build customer loyalty with leads who support that cause themselves.

Ans 1

Ans2 Factors Governing the Choice:

1. The nature of product:

A product that is needed by all will encourage mass media like print, broadcast, telecast, outdoor and the like. A product needing demonstration warrants television and screen advertising. Industrial products find favour of print media than broadcast media. Products like cigarettes, wines and alcohols are never advertised on radio, television and screen.

2. Potential market:

The aim of every advertising effort is to carry on the ad message to the prospects economically and effectively. This crucial task rests in identification of potential market for the product in terms of the number of customers, geographic spread, income pattern, age group, tastes, likes and dislikes and the like.

If the message is to reach the people with high income group, magazine is the best. If local area is to be covered, newspaper and outdoor advertising are of much help. If illiterate folk is to be approached, radio, television and cinema advertising are preferred.

3. The type of distribution strategy:

The advertising coverage and the distribution system that the company has developed have direct correlation. Thus, there is no point in advertising a product if it is not available in these outlets where he normally buys. Similarly, the advertiser need not use national media if not supported by nationwide distribution network.

4. The advertising objectives:

Though the major objective of every company is to influence the consumer behaviour favourably, the specific objectives may be to have local or regional or national coverage to popularize a product or a service or the company to create primary or secondary demand to achieve immediate or delayed action to maintain the secrets of the house.

If it wants immediate action, direct or specialty advertising fitting most. If national coverage is needed, use television and news-paper with nationwide coverage.

5. The type of selling message:

It is more of the advertising requirements that decide the appropriate choice. The advertisers may be interested in appealing the prospects by colour advertisements. In that case, magazine, film, television, bill- boards, bulletin boards serve the purpose.

If the timeliness is the greater concern, one should go in for news-paper, radio, posters. If demonstration is needed there is nothing like television and screen media. If new product is to be introduced, promotional advertising is most welcome.

6. The budget available:

A manufacturer may have a very colourful and bold plan of advertising. He may be dreaming of advertising on a national television net-work and films. If budget does not allow, then he is to be happy with a low budget media like his news-paper and outdoor advertising.

Instead of colour print in magazine, he may be forced to go in for black and white. Thus, it is the resource constraints that decide the choice.

7. Competitive advertising:

A shrewd advertiser is one who studies carefully the moves of his competitor or competitors as to the media selected and the pattern of expenditure portrayed. Meticulous evaluation of media strategy and advertising budget paves way for better choice.

It is because, whenever a rival spends heavily on a particular medium or media and has been successful, it is the outcome of his experience and tactics. However, blind copying should be misleading and disastrous.

8. Media availability:

The problem of media availability is of much relevance because; all the required media may not be available at the opportune time. This is particularly true in case of media like radio and television; so is the case with screen medium. Thus, non-availability of a medium or a media poses a new challenge to the media planners and the people advertising industry. It is basically an external limit than the internal constraint.

9. Characteristics of media:

Media characteristics differ widely and these differences have deep bearing on the choice of media vehicle.

Ans 3 Sales promotion tools for consumers (Consumer promotion tools) –
The marketers need to choose the right sales promotion tool to reach its audience. Below are the major promotion tools directed towards consumers –

1) Free samples – The manufacturer offers free samples to consumers in various ways doing door-to-door visits, at retail stores, malls, attached to another product, etc. For example, attaching a sample of a shampoo sachet with a bottle of a beauty lotion. The purpose is to gain new customers or enter into a new market.

2) Exchanges – Customer are asked to submit the old product and a new product is offered at a new price. The organisations sometimes asks to submit the old product manufactured by them, but sometimes, the exchange rolls over to a product from any brand. For example, most of the mobile phones are sold with exchange offers for any brand on the ecommerce site – Flipkart.

3) Sales promotion letters – Sent to buyer’s homes and offices giving information on promotion activity or information on the products.

4) Coupons – These are certificates by which a buyer can buy a product at a reduced price. These are mailed, accompanied with other products, with newspapers or magazines, or even direct mail. This helps consumers and also the dealers as they are required to stock the product because of a possibility of increase in demand. These help in introducing a new product, encourage trials, etc.

 

Ans 5 Brand Management

Branding is at the heart of marketing. There are different elements of brand management that help position a brand in the market. Brand management is a concept that encompasses strategizing, analyzing, and evaluating brands to target customers and establish a robust brand image. Important Concepts of Brand Management 

Brand management includes several key concepts that help understand the brand management process better. Let us look at them one by one. 

Brand 

A brand is defined as a name, symbol, sign, or combination of all these that customers buy. It is essentially a product or service that identifies with the goods of the company and differentiates it from its competitors in the market. A brand may also be something offered by the company that signifies the source of the product and render responsibility to the manufacturer.

Customers remain loyal to brands that consistently fulfill their expectations and perform in the desired manner. Some examples of successful brands include Sony, Dell, Coca-Cola, American Express, and so on. From the seller’s point of view, a brand signifies a way to increase revenue, get a competitive advantage, or way of bestowing quality products to the customers. 

Brand Attributes

Brand attributes refer to key brand characteristics that tell about the nature of the brand and highlight its physical aspects to create a robust brand identity. A solid brand includes these key attributes:

Sustainable: A sustainable brand drives the business and gives profitable returns in the long run.

Consistency: A consistent brand is rooted firmly in its core proposition to the customers. 

Relevancy: A strong brand must be relevant and meet its customer’s expectations. It should also evolve with time to deliver customer expectations in the best possible manner. 

Credibility: The brand is considered credible when it delivers on its promises. It should not exaggerate the claims and be honest with the customers in setting the right expectations.

Unique: A strong brand should be unique from its competitors and capture the attention of its customers in the niche market. 

Appealing: The brand should be attractive to different types of customers and known for the value it delivers. 

Brand Identity

Brand identity is how the brand wants to be perceived by the customers in the market. In the retail industry, different brands hold different identities based on their offerings. While some brands are on the top of their game and keep creating a buzz in the market, others may lack similar exposure. Through solid brand management, marketers can establish a unique brand identity so that the company can communicate rightly with its prospective customers. Brand identity should focus on the inherent features of the brand and reflect the brand value being promised by the company.

Brand Image

While brand identity focuses on the key features of the brand, brand image is all about how customers perceive the brand. It reflects the current view/perspective of the customers and their set of beliefs about the brand. Brand image is a mental image of the brand and is essentially accumulated by observation by the people outside of the brand. Strong brands encourage an overall positive impression of the brand so that the brand remains sustainable in the long term. For instance, the brand Volvo is associated with safety. It is the mental feedback from customers whether they buy the brand or not. A positive brand image enhances goodwill and loyalty among customers and leads to repeat business.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness refers to the degree to which customers associate themselves with the brand and its specific product or service. It indicates the probability of familiarity of customers with the brand. If consumers recognize a particular brand and its offerings, they can differentiate it from its competitors in the market. Building brand awareness is of utmost importance for the companies for brand equity. It is usually done through media channels, advertisement, word-of-mouth publicity, events, and more. 

Brand awareness needs consistent work as the brands evolve. It can be improved through brand management to make the products offered by the brand relatable to the prospective customers. In the context of brand awareness, it is also important that the brand message is delivered clearly so that customers can get easily acquainted with the brand. 

Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is a measure of customer satisfaction and to which extent customer keeps buying the same product from the company. It also implies that customers will be reluctant to buy a similar product from a different brand in the market. In a retail scenario, brand loyalty is dictated by repeat business, word-of-mouth publicity, reference, customer satisfaction, brand trust, etc. When customers remain loyal to a specific brand, they establish an emotional connection with the brand. This emotional connection is translated into the form of loyalty. Loyal customers do not buy from competitive brands in the same category.

Higher loyalty levels lead to higher repeat business and revenue. Brand loyalty is crucial to the success of any business – online or offline. A brand with higher loyalty will have greater sales and a consistent stream of revenue along with less advertising or marketing costs. To inculcate brand loyalty, companies should identify their niche market, target customers, anticipate their needs, and deliver value to them. By bringing consistent innovation to the product, brands can expect increased sales and repeat business.

Brand Promise

Brand promise refers to what a company promises to the customers and what they deliver. A strong brand should deliver value to the customers and demonstrate brand promise. Brands that do not adhere to their brand promise will not have a sustainable future. At the core of brand promise lies the ability to recognize customer expectations. If a brand can anticipate customers’ needs ahead of time, it is easy to satisfy customers. While delivering the brand promise, companies should also focus on delivering a positive experience to the customers.

Even if the customer has a negative experience, the brand should be able to convert that into a positive one and reassure the customer by delivering a swift resolution. For instance, if you have a restaurant business, it is important to work on the smallest detail to stay ahead of your competitor. You should also implement a system where customers can exchange their feedback and expect to get a resolution for their concerns. This ensures that your customers remain loyal to your brand and they do not go anywhere. You can also hire or train the best staff that can deal with different types of customers and be able to change terrible experiences to positive or near positive ones. 

Brand Equity

Brand equity is defined as the value of the brand that decides its worth. This concept exists as the function of customer knowledge of the particular brand in the marketplace. Brand equity is influenced by various factors such as brand awareness, brand loyalty, and brand association. By measuring the returns and evaluating earnings in the long run, brand equity can be determined.

Ans 1

Ans 2 Social Media Marketing for Businesses

Social media marketing is a powerful way for businesses of all sizes to reach prospects and customers. People discover, learn about, follow, and shop from brands on social media, so if you’re not on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, you’re missing out! Great marketing on social media can bring remarkable success to your business, creating devoted brand advocates and even driving leads and sales.

Ans 3 The three types of media are commonly known as news media, social media, and web media, but you might also see them referred to as earned media, shared media, and owned media. Some other forms of modern media are print media, television, movies, and video games. 

Ans 4 Advertising copywriters use the written word to help sell goods and services. From catchy headlines to compelling copy to the call to action, copywriters can be the key to turning viewers and listeners into buyers. Read on to find out more about the field of advertising copywriting.

Ans 5 What Is Advertising Budget?

An advertising budget is an estimate of a company's promotional expenditures over a certain time period. More importantly, it is the money a company is willing to set aside to accomplish its marketing objectives. 

An advertising budget is part of a company's overall sales or marketing budget that can be viewed as an investment in a company's growth. The best advertising budgets—and campaigns—focus on customers' needs and problems and on providing solutions to these issues, not company problems such as an overstock reduction.