For many years, advertising has been viewed as an important part of marketing. Communicating information about a product or service has always remained a challenge for marketers. In the modern society, the power of customers has increased. The methods of advertising are diverse. The challenge lies in identifying those differences and choosing an appropriate advertising strategy for customers. The important questions regarding advertising includes Does a product need advertising. What kind of advertising must be chosen for a product? Does the company possess adequate resources for a particular type of advertising, What role does advertising plays in the success of a product? With much speculation, the types of advertising have become an intriguing argument. What marketers must understand is that advertising a product does not guarantee its success but the choice of a particular form of advertising is important (Hansen, Jørgen and Steen, pp. 431). The importance of advertising can be understood from the fact the advertisement expenditures of companies have been increasing with time. There are different forms of advertising including print media, broadcast media, advertising media, online advertising, social media advertising, and others ((Hansen, Jørgen and Steen, pp. 431).
The traditional forms of advertising include print media and newspaper media. Print media is also known as press advertising. The marketers must realize that this form of advertisement has become very common in the current world. The newspaper advertisement can be classified into local advertisement and national advertisement, and classified advertisement. Magazine advertisement is also a form of print advertisement. One of the strongest supporting claims regarding the benefits of print media advertisement is its selectivity. It is argued that the magazine and newspaper advertisement seems to communicate selective information about the product or a service (Hansen, Jørgen and Steen, pp. 431). However, the researchers failed to mention that this benefit is discredited because the availability of space is a significant challenge in this form of advertising. The other studies about print media advertisements have highlighted its flexibility. The magazine advertisements are flexible because they are available in different sizes, positions, and color schemes. The lifespan of newspaper advertisements is also long as compared to the other forms of advertisement (Steinberg pp. 10).
Although both newspaper advertisements and magazine advertisements come in print advertisement, magazine advertisements offer better quality than other forms of print media. It is argued that the audience reads magazine in a leisure mood. I find this argument a bit more compelling as compared to the others. It is because the studies have also revealed that customers often read magazines when they have free time (Steinberg, 2012). One of the longest standing arguments in the favor of print media advertisement is its extensive reach. This argument is convincing because newspapers and magazines cater t a large group of people. The lead-time of magazine advertisements is also long. The longer lead-time means that the message is not communicated quickly. The other disadvantages of print media advertisement are that it cannot utilize audio and video visuals (Hansen, Jørgen and Steen, pp. 431).
The second major form of advertising is broadcast media. The broadcast media is also known as the electronic media. This form of advertising has several benefits over print media advertising in such a manner (Hansen, Jørgen and Steen, pp. 431). The strongest argument regarding this form of advertisement is the use of audio and video visuals. The use of print media involves both audio and video visuals. This is a sever contrast to print media advertisement where markers cannot include audio and visual components. The vehicles of electronic media include television, radio, and others. Television is considered one of the greatest tools of advertising. The advent of the television brought revolution in advertising. The growth of television has occurred faster than other forms of advertising. There are also other arguments, which suggest that the television is the most persuasive tool used for advertising. The growth of cable network is the contributing factor towards the growth of television media. Television advertising offers a combination of sight and sound. The increased acceptance of television advertisement has increased competition among T.V. channels. The increase in the intensity of competition has resulted in a decrease in the cost of television advertisement (Hansen, Jørgen and Steen, pp. 431).
The proponents of television advertising argue that the television is an effective form of media because it has a large impact on the audience with its combination of sight, sound, and motion. Furthermore, television is also considered a persuasive medium for advertising because of its greater coverage. This argument is convincing because the audio and visual aids used in television media result in increasing persuasion. The most significant assumption made by authors is to arrive at the conclusion that the effectiveness of television media advertisement is higher than other forms of advertisements (Learmonth pp. 83). Considering the ability of television media to communicate information in a persuasive manner, it is understandable that many marketers use it to demonstrate the features of their products. There are some products, which require demonstrations in advertisements. These products can be better advertised through television advertisements.
The other important benefit of television advertisement is its wide coverage. With the passage of time, the viewership of television has been increasing. This has resulted in an increase in the market coverage of television (Rider pp. 15). The emotional appeal of television advertisement is also stronger. The advertisements, which require strong emotional appeal, can be advertised through television. There are different benefits of television advertisements over print media advertisements. In television advertisement, the message can be made more attractive than print media advertisement. The combination of audio and video visuals increases the attractiveness of messages. Similar to other forms of advertisement, television advertisement also has its disadvantages. As compared to print media, television advertisement is more expensive. The production of a television commercial is also a disadvantage of television advertisement. In this form of advertisement, the advertisers are required to first produce a TV commercial, which requires a lot of time. Nevertheless, the problem of timings is also present in print media advertisement. It is because the newspapers and magazines also require time for designing and publishing the advertisement. Similarly, newspapers and magazines are often booked for several months in advance (Hansen, Jørgen and Steen, pp. 431).
According to the argument of Stipp (2011), the publicity of products or services on television allows people to feel identified with the what marketers are selling. The advertisements on television media also cause remembrance. It is important to note that the comparisons between television and print media advertisement can also be made in terms of cost associated with them. On one side, it is argued that the use of television advertisement is highly effective because of its greater reach and interactivity (Breuer, Malte and Andreas pp. 327). However, the counter arguments say that television advertisement is not effective in terms of the cost involved. The Television channels charge huge cost for displaying advertisements. The television advertisement does not only involve cost in terms of displaying an advertisement but also for the production of ad-copy. In order to produce an ad-copy, services of various professionals is required including camera operator, copywriters, models, and directors. This increases the overall cost of television advertisement. The counterarguments related to television advertising are also associated with the notion of distrust. According to these arguments, the purpose of television advertisement is to create emotional appeal for customers. For this purpose, the advertisers often exaggerate the features of product. When consumers use the product, they often find a mismatch between the features highlighted in television advertisements and the actual features of the product. This mismatch results in creating distrust among customers (Breuer, Malte and Andreas pp. 327).
Outdoor advertising is done in the form of signboards, posters, banners, and others. The supporting argument for outdoor advertising says that this form of advertising attracts the attention of the moving public. I believe that this argument is convincing because the billboards and hoardings near bus stops and railway stations are eye-catching and attract the attention of the audience. Similarly, billboards placed near traffic signals also attract the attention of the customers. Based on these arguments, this can be agreed that outdoor advertising plays a vital role in reminding customers about the product. The life of outdoor advertising is long and it is applicable to products like soft drinks, clothes, hotels, films, and others (Spurgeon pp. 51). An important point, which must be kept in mind when using outdoor advertising is that the messages communicated through outdoor advertising are brief. It is because the lengthy sentences and too much information on billboards and banners usually confuse customers. The choice of location is significant for outdoor advertising. The place chosen for this form of advertising must be one where a large number of customers can view them. The possible locations where outdoor advertising can be placed include bus stops, railway stations, and others (Neijens, Edith and Lex pp. 73).
Neon board signs are commonly used for outdoor advertising. The big hoardings are placed on busy places to attract the attention of the audience. Posters are also used for outdoor advertising. The advantage of posters over other forms of outdoor advertising is that posters are relatively inexpensive as compared to other forms of outdoor advertising. Recently, a new form of outdoor advertising has also been observed i.e. Vehicle advertising. In this form of advertising, different public transport systems are used to convey the message to the audience. Advertisers use this form of advertisers because there are many customers who commute through public transport every day. The compelling argument regarding the benefit of this form of advertising is its high frequency. The frequency is high because customers will see it every time they travel through public transport. This suggests that the efficiency of this form of advertising is greater (Breuer, Malte and Andreas pp. 327).
Sky advertising is a modern form of outdoor advertising. This form of advertising is displayed on the top of multi-storey buildings. The sky advertising can be further classified into sky balloons, illuminating lights, smoke writing, and others. The outdoor advertising offers several benefits to advertisers. These benefits include wide coverage, low-cost and geographical selectivity. Furthermore, this form of advertising is also flexible. Advertisers can utilize this form of advertising to gain the attention of customers. As compared to other forms of advertising, the disadvantages of outdoor advertising are very limited. It is not feasible to display a detailed message through posters and billboards. The disadvantages of this form of advertising are somewhat similar to the pitfalls of print media advertising. In both print media advertising and outdoor advertising, it is difficult to find space. The advertisers compete on the strategic locations available to display the advertisement. On the other side, in print media advertisement, the advertisers compete based on space in magazines and newspapers (Breuer, Malte and Andreas pp. 327).
Online advertising is the latest innovation in the field of marketing. The Internet has reduced the boundaries present in the global business environment. The Internet media is also known as the advertising media of the new millennium. There are several arguments, which are in the favor of online advertising (Rider pp. 15). The internet sites are full of advertisement. The greatest benefit, which online advertising has provided to advertisers is the easy transmission of information to the customers. On the other side, customers have been facilitated because they can easily access information whenever they want. The increase in the use of Internet by businesses has expanded e-businesses and e-commerce. There has been an increase in the number of customers who are shopping online. This has created the need for the development of company websites. There are many companies, which are introducing their own websites. The company website is also used as an advertising medium because it communicates information about the product, latest offers, and promotions. In addition to the official website of a company, the other websites are also used as a medium for advertising. For example, banner ads are displayed on different websites. The banners are often displayed on websites, which are often visited by customers. The companies and advertisers are also relying on e-mail to advertise their products. However, the pitfall of banner ads and email-advertisement is that customers do not appreciate unwanted information. Therefore, the response rate is low (Schwaiger, Hugh and Siegfried pp. 10).
Social media advertising is a revolution in online advertising. The advent of social media has offered several benefits to advertisers and customers. There are many customers who rely on the use of social media for the purpose of gathering information about products. There has been an increase in the number of companies, which are introducing their official Facebook and Twitter pages. The greatest benefit offered by social media advertising is that it is an inexpensive form of advertising. Advertisers can market their product free-of-cost to a large audience. The response rate of social media is higher than other forms of advertisement. Furthermore, the reach of social media is also large.
The benefit of social media advertising is that it allows advertisers to get the quick feedback of customers. However, on the other side, the immediate and response could be a drawback. It is because the feedback of customers is public and if the customers’ experiences are negative, they would be compelled it to share it on social network. The advertisers must be expert on the use of social media to create a positive image of the brand. Otherwise, the social media usage could lead towards the disadvantage. The use of social media requires deeper insight of marketers and advertisers. The arguments, presented in this paper, have shown that early kind of advertising has its own pros and cons. The decision of which advertising medium to choose must be made strategically by the marketing manager. The choice for a particular medium of advertising must depend on the nature of product, available resources, and the king of target market.
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