Writing

Express your opinion on the following (150-200 words):

a)”Marketing is vital and virtually all-pervasive element in any economy”.

b)”International marketing or trade between nations is filled with risks and problems but promises profits to those who undertake it”.

c)”The process and principles of marketing strategy are universal”.

d)”Factors that influence buyer behaviour include culture, subculture, social class, self-image and situational factors”.

Key Vocabulary

buyer seller goods stock market consumption price demands to purchase labour market wholesale market market leader market share competitor purchasing power

potential customer marketing research sample target market to charge the price price discount promotion place merchandise durable/long-lived goods staple goods resale price wholesaler

market challenger market follower market segmentation profitable niche distributor retailer to tailor to outlet channel of distribution intermediary world trade domestic customized goods

UNIT III

ADVERTISING

Lead-in

1.What is advertising?

2. What is the role of advertising in modern world?

3. What are the objectives of advertising?

2. 4. The power of an advertisement is conveyed through two channels –

3. the image shown and the language used. What is more attractive to you?

5. In what way does advertising influence your behaviour as a consumer?

Reading

Text 1

Read the following text. Speak on the stages of the development of advertising.

Historical Milestones In Advertising

An examination of the growth of advertising and promotion helps to clarify, among other aspects, their social and economic functions. Without a careful look at the history some of these may seem strange. Efforts to persuade men to buy or trade something can be traced back thousands of years; the tools, the specialization, and the institutions to carry out this intention came later and have been refined to their present state largely since 1900.

Advertising goes back to the very beginning of recorded history. Archaeologists working in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea have dug up signs announcing various events and offers. The Romans painted walls to announce gladiator fights and the Phoenicians painted pictures promoting their wares on large rocks along parade routes. A Pompeii wall painting praised a politician and asked for the people’s votes.

Another early form of advertising was the town crier. During the Golden Age in Greece, town criers announced the sale of slaves, cattle, and other goods. An early “singing commercial” went as follows: “For eyes that are shining, for cheeks like the dawn/ For beauty that lasts after girlhood is gone/ For prices in reason, the woman who knows/ Will buy her cosmetics of Aesclyptos”.

Another early advertising form was the mark that tradespeople placed on their goods, such as pottery. As the person’s reputation spread by word of mouth, buyers began to look for his special mark, just as trademarks and brand names are used today.

The turning point in the history of advertising came in the year 1450 when Gutenberg invented the printing press. Advertisers no longer had to produce extra copies of a sign by hand. The first printed advertisement in the English language appeared in 1478.

In 1622, advertising got a big boost with the launching of the first English newspaper, “The Weekly News”. Later Addison and Steele published “The Tatler” and became supporters of advertising. Addison gave his advice to copy writers: “The great art in writing advertising is the finding out the proper method to catch the reader, without which a good thing may pass unobserved, or be lost among commissions of bankrupts.”

Advertising had its greatest growth in the United states. Ben Franklin has been called the father of American advertising because his "Gazette", first published in 1729, had the largest circulation and advertising volume of any paper in colonial America. Several factors led to America’s becoming the cradle of advertising. First, American industry led in mass production, which created surpluses and the need to convince consumers to buy more. Second, the development of a fine network of waterways, highways, and roads allowed the transportation of goods and advertising media to the countryside. Third, the establishment in 1813 of compulsory public education increased literacy and the growth of newspapers and magazines. The invention of radio and later television created two more amazing media for the spread of advertising.

Text 2

Read the text and answer the questions that follow it.

Advertising

Advertising permeates almost all facets of modern life. Whenever we scan a newspaper, look at a magazine, listen to the radio, watch a TV program, open our mail, or walk down a city street, the chances are that we will be exposed to commercial messages. It is virtually impossible for anyone to escape contact with some of advertising.

The range of advice furnished us by advertisers is almost unlimited. Consider for a moment the ways in which advertisers tell people how to live. Commercial messages tell us:

1. What to eat - “the bread that’s better for you because it’s eight hours fresher”.

2. What to wear - “easy-care fabrics that need no ironing”.

3. How to care for our bodies - “with the deodorant (soap, toothpaste, shaving lotion) that keeps you fresh all day”.

4. Where to shop - “at the shopping center that’s fun for the whole family”.

5. What to drive - “the automobile with style”.

6. Where to take our vacations - “in a fun-filled paradise for the whole family”.

7. And how to get there - “on the airline that’s ready when you are”.

8. Where to put our money - at the bank that cares about you”.

9. How to provide for our retirement - “with the savings plan that lets you retire at the age of 55”.

10. And even where to be buried - “where perpetual care is guaranteed”.

Advertising is very important to society. It pays for a large part of our recreation and entertainment, lowers the cost of our newspapers and magazines, enables us to view free TV shows, and probably encourages most of us to work harder to buy things we didn’t know we needed until they were advertised. Advertising is controversial. It is criticized extensively.

Advertising is also important to the communication goals of a company. As the old saying goes, “Doing business without advertising is like winking at someone in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does”. However, in the marketing of most products advertising does not constitute the entire promotional program, but is simply part of the overall effort to sell the product. It is important, then, for marketing management to decide the specific role advertising should pay.

For example, although companies advertise large computers and related equipment extensively, the advertisements alone cannot be expected to make the sale. For one thing, a substantial amount of money is involved. For another, there a host of technical and financial matters that must be resolved to the prospect’s satisfaction before an order will be placed. In this example, advertising is expected to make a prospect aware of his or her needs and to make the prospective customer receptive to a visit by the manufacturer’s sales representative. In other words a company often uses advertising to make buyers aware of a product and receptive to a detailed face-to-face presentation of it. Even in the case of many convenience goods, advertising must be supplemented by point of sale displays and other sales promotion devices.

1. Speak on commercial messages given in the text. If you can add some of yours.

2. Why is advertising very important for society?

3. Why does the author say that advertising is controversial?

4. What is the role of advertising according to the text?

5. Is advertising a significant pert of the total promotional mix?

Text 3

Advertising Media

Read the text and speak on different ways of advertising.

The different outlets that present advertisements are called advertising media. The most commonly used are newspapers, television, direct mail radio, magazines, and outdoor displays.

Newspapers. Newspapers make up the largest category of the advertising media. Firms can advertise in newspapers distributed locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally. Newspapers offer good coverage for firms of any size, because there is at least one newspaper in every local market and many people read the newspapers every day. Newspapers are well suited for immediate needs since they can run advertisements with little lead time. Advertisers can choose ads of any size, from a few lines in the classified section to full pages or separate supplements. Because they reach diverse audiences, newspapers do not always allow advertisers to target their audience precisely. The life span of newspapers is very short since readers usually discard them quickly, although readers can clip or refer back to ads if they wish. Also, the quality of the paper is generally low, and the use of color is limited.

Television. Another large medium, television accounts for almost 22 per cent of advertising expenditure. Perhaps television’s greatest advantage is that it allows creative use of action, color, and sound to an extent not possible in any other medium. Television advertising also offers the capability of reaching vast audience. Firms can advertise nationally on a major network, regionally through cable networks, or locally through local stations. The major drawback of network television advertising is the high cost. To keep costs down, many advertisers now use 15-second ads, with networks running more of these shorter ads during a commercial break. At any rate, TV ads have an extremely short life, which prompts creators to use special effects, unusual sounds, music, humor, and distinctive characters to encourage viewers to remember advertisements and products. Television advertisers face difficulty in determining the audience that actually sees the commercials. Viewers in public places such as hotels, airports, restaurants, or stores are not counted. In homes, commercials play to empty rooms when viewers take breaks. Many viewers change channels when commercials begin, a habit called “zapping” that is made easier by today’s remote controls and cable systems. Some rating systems estimate that zapping cuts a prime-time commercial’s audience by 10 per cent or more.

Direct mail. Thousands of organizations send catalogs, advertisements, flyers, brochures, and fund-raising materials to homes, offices, or stores of target individuals. Nearly 18 per cent of all advertising expenditure goes for direct mail. For direct mail to effective, the material must reach the target group through up-to-date mailing lists. Advertisers can develop or purchase mailing lists that will reach nearly any target market imaginable, although selective mailing lists are expensive to buy. Direct mail’s effectiveness is easily determined by the response: customers’ orders or donations to fund-raising organizations. Even banks use direct mail. Direct mail, traditionally considered one of the less expensive forms of advertising, is becoming more costly as postal rates rise. Many firms are trimming mailing lists to include only their best customers or prospects.

Radio. About 7 per cent of all money spent on advertising goes for radio ads. Radio serves a large and various audience. Because of the wide variety of programming that caters to numerous interests - such as talk shows, all news, hard rock, classical music, jazz, oldies, easy listening - advertisers can easily pinpoint target audiences. Spending on radio advertising has grown significantly because of its low cost and its ability to reach precisely defined target audiences. Radio advertisements have the disadvantage of an extremely short life. Messages are limited because radio relies only on the sense of hearing. Listeners may keep radios turned on for background music or mere noise and ignore the advertisements.

Magazines. The last decade of the 20-th century saw a dramatic increase in the number of magazines being published. Expenditure for magazine advertising also have grown in the last several years. They now account for about 6 per cent of total advertising volume. Magazines have a number of advantages over newspapers as an advertising medium. They are usually read in leisurely manner and often kept for weeks or months before being discarded. Another advantage of magazines is that they offer better printing and color reproduction than newspapers do. Advertisers cab choose from a wide variety of magazines. Some magazines, such as newsmagazines, appeal to a mass audience. Others are designed for specific groups of people, such as teenagers, homemakers, or amateur photographers. Certain companies advertise in trade publications, which are devoted to particular businesses, industries, or professions.

Outdoor displays. Most of the advertising on outdoor signs is placed by national advertisers. One of the main advantages of outdoor signs is that people pass by the signs repeatedly. In addition, large, colorful signs easily attract attention. However, the ads on outdoor signs must be short and simple because most passers-by see a sign for only a few seconds. The main kinds of outdoor signs are: posters, painted bulletins, electric spectaculars. Posters, commonly called billboards, consist of printed sheets of paper, which are pasted on large billboards. Painted bulletins are signs painted on buildings or billboards. Electric spectaculars consist of large illuminated displays, many feature changing messages and moving pictures. Electric spectaculars are the most expensive kind of outdoor signs.

Other ways of advertising include the use of transit signs, window displays, point-of-purchase displays, telephone directories and novelties.

Scan the text again and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Text 4

Read the following text and say which statements are false and which are true. Correct the false ones.

Sales Promotion

Sales promotion refers to promotion activities - other than advertising, publicity, and personal selling - that stimulate interest, trial, or purchase by final customers or others in the channel. Sales promotion may be aimed at customers, at middlemen, or even at firm’s own employees.

The different promotion methods can all be viewed as different forms of communication. But good marketers are not interested in just “communicating”. They want to communicate information that will encourage customers to choose their product. They know if they have a better offering, informed customers are more likely to buy. Therefore they are interested in 1) reinforcing present attitude that might lead to favourable behaviour or 2) actually charging the attitudes and behaviour of the firm’s target market.

For a firm’s promotion to be effective, its promotion objectives must be clearly defined - because the right promotion blend depends on what the firm wants to accomplish. It’s helpful to think of three basic promotion objectives - informing, persuading, and reminding target market customers about the company and its marketing mix. All are concerned with affecting behaviour by providing more information. Even more useful is a more specific set of promotion objectives that states exactly who you want to inform, persuade, or remind, and why.

Potential customers must know something about a product if they are to buy at all. Therefore, informing may be the most important objective. For example, a cable TV company found that whenever it offered service to a new neighbourhood, most of the families subscribed. The cable company’s main job was informing prospects that cable was available. A firm with a really new product may not have to do anything but inform consumers about it - and show that it meets consumer needs better than other products.

When competitors offer similar products, the firm must not only inform customers that its product is available, but also persuade them to buy it. A persuading objective means the firm will try to develop or reinforce a favourable set of attitudes in the hope of affecting buying behaviour. Promotion with a persuading objective often focuses on reasons why one brand is better than competiting brands. Ads for Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol tout it as the pain relief medicine most often used in hospitals to help consumers to buy Tylenol rather than some other firm’s brand.

If target customers already have positive attitudes about the firm’s product, then a reminding objective might be suitable. The objective can be extremely important in some cases. Even though customers have been attracted and sold once, they are still targets to competitors’ appeals. Reminding them of their past satisfaction may keep them from shifting to a competitor. Campbell’s realizes that most people know about its soup - so much of its advertising is intended to remind.

1. Sales promotion may be aimed only at consumers.

2. It’s hard to generalize about sales promotion because it includes such a wide variety of activities.

3. Marketers want to communicate information that will encourage customers to choose their product.

4. The right promotion blend depends on how the firm wants to accomplish its objectives.

5. Informing may be the most important objective.

6. When competitors are offering similar products, the firm must only inform customers that its product is available.

7. Promotion with a persuading objective often focuses on reasons why one brand is better than competing brands.

8. If target customers already have positive attitudes about a firm’s product, then a reminding objective might be suitable.

9. Even though customers have been attracted and sold once, they are not any more targets for competitors’ appeals.

And now speak on each basic promotion objectives.

Text 5

Read the following text and answer the questions that follow it.