In its literal sense, advertising means communicating a sales message to potential customers. As simple as that may sound, at times it turns out to be a huge expense and not every company can afford to indulge heavily into it. Often times for companies as well as the society, advertising has been a debatable topic with its tendency to cause a bit of harm. How people deal with it, is solely based on their own interests.
Even though advertising is expensive, can it be considered an investment?
With all actions, clear goals must be defined and same is the case with advertising. The company must first define what it wants to achieve through its advertising campaign and then based on market results, define whether it was an investment or not.
Brand managers are given a certain budget for marketing of their brand and how much to spend on advertising can be a difficult question to answer. The company or brand has to look into its dynamics and work accordingly for it to feel that its marketing efforts were an investment rather than a waste. Companies through sales figures before and after an advertising campaign can judge whether the message was successfully communicated or not. Advertising to sales ratios would be useful here. Similarly margin oriented brands play on the perception that they have built into consumers’ minds and that is the power that advertising possesses. Coke has been in business for so long now and people might argue how it hasn’t withered away. It’s positioning statement which is built on ‘happiness’ has always worked wonders for the company. The value of Coke will testify that advertising, if done right, is an investment (McKee, 2009).
Should advertising to children be even more restricted than it is at present?
It is only when we get older and come out of fantasies that we realize that advertisements might not be telling the truth. However for kids it is completely different. They tend to believe their favorite cartoons or superheroes if they talk to them over the television set. By becoming advocates of products they see on tv and taking those consumption habits into their future, children are affected much more by ads than people realize.
It seems a major cause of obesity is the content children are exposed to when watching tv. As the study in Quebec illustrates, fast food advertisements play on younger minds and make them want things they don’t necessarily need or even crave. Same is the case with cereals where children don’t realize the amount of sugar intake they indulge in. Even though parents might realize all this, children with their increased power, as compared to past generations, have a way of getting their wishes fulfilled. For these reasons it has become vital that if parents can’t control the content their children are fed, then it’s time to tackle the source and get tougher with restrictions (Musemeche, 2012).
Works Cited
McKee, Steve. What should you spend on advertising. Bloomberg Businessweek, 10 Feb. 2009. Web. 16 Nov 2013.
Musemeche, Catherine. Ban on advertising to children linked lower obesity rates. The New York Times, 13 Jul. 2012. Web. 16 Nov 2013.
