Advertising and media evaluation as a need in today’s scenerio 105 by Sanjay Gupta

SYNOPSIS DESSERTATION TITLE Advertising and media evaluation as a need in today’s scenerio

INTRODUCTION Advertising is big business and ranks among the top industries of the world along with oil, automobiles, information technology and agriculture. The growth of advertising industry in any country is in direct relation to the level of business activity and health of its economy. In fact the size of advertising industry is looked upon as a perfect indicator of the living standrd of people in a particular country and its economic development. In India the last decade of the 20th century has witnessed a phenomenal growth in advertising business. The growth record in 1990-91 was 17.1% and improved each year till 1994-95, showing a growth rate of 49.5%. this wa due to the first major economic boom in the country. Since then the growth rate has been slowing down and has settled at almost 18% in 1998-99. as the analysts believe, the growth figure of 49.5% was the outcome of an irrational response to economic liberalization. The media inflation of mid 1990s was also a contributory factor. Independent India , for whatsoever reason ,remained a protected market for a very long time. Obviously it was an idle business situation for many companies facing little or no competition. There was no real need to worry about creating or retaining the customer. Demand for many products far exceeded the supply, leaving customer with little or no choice as there were not many alternatives.for instance to own a BAJAJ scooter customers were required to book in advance and then wait for five to ten years to own one. Many eager cutomers used to pay twice the normal price to those who wanted to sell their new machines. Obviously for many companies there was no need to communicate with customers and waste money on advertising and other forms of promotion.large Indian companies bajaj auto, maruti udyog, itc tata tea, dabur, Raymond,wipro and many others are now spending heavily on advertising and other forms promotions. 1

At present there are three major sources of media information (1) National Readership Survey (2) Indian Readership Survey (IRS), and (3) Annual report of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

National Readership Survey (NRS) is conducted every two years and is the work of National Readership Council (NRSC). The council is constituted of three bodies- Advertising Agencies Association ofIndia (AAAI), the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) and the Indian Newspaper Society. The actual fieldwork with regard to survey is jointly undertaken by A C Nielsen, Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) and Taylor Nelson Sofres Mode. It has now been planned to conduct NRS every six months instead of every two years. Indian Readership Survey (IRS) is conducted by ORG-Marg. Information and Broadcasting Ministry publishes its Annual Report, which offers data mainly concerned with government controlled media, such as Aakashvani and Doordarshan. OBJECTIVE OF THE SYUDY •

The objective of the study is to find out the need of advertisement with its role, benefits and functioncs of advertisement.

•

The objective of the study is to find how advertisement works.

•

The objective is to find out the different types of advertisiment and for what they are needed.

•

The objective is to find out the different media through which advertisement is done due to its huge importance.

•

The objective is to evaluate the different media through which advertising is done to increase its effectiveness.

• The objective is the evaluation of advertising media spending efficiency.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY I will use descriptive research methodology to find out my objectives. Type of data used will be secondary data. • • •

Previous market survey reports From different books in advertising. Journals and Magazines.

OBJECTIVE OF THE SYUDY

•

The objective of the study is to find out the need of advertisement with its role, benefits and functioncs of advertisement.

•

The objective of the study is to find how advertisement works.

•

The objective is to find out the different types of advertisiment and for what they are needed.

•

The objective is to find out the different media through which advertisement is done due to its huge importance.

•

The objective is to evaluate the different media through which advertising is done to increase its effectiveness.

• The objective is the evaluation of advertising media spending efficiency.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY I have used descriptive research methodology to find out my objectives. I have also used analytical research methodology in my research. The data used is secondary data. Types of data collected from: • Previous market survey reports • From different books in advertising. • Journals and Magazines. • Internet

INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTISING

Advertising is big business and ranks among the top industries of the world along with oil, automobiles, information technology and agriculture. The growth of advertising industry in any country is in direct relation to the level of business activity and health of its economy. In fact the size of advertising industry is looked upon as a perfect indicator of the living standard of people in a particular country and its economic development. In India the last decade of the 20th century has witnessed a phenomenal growth in advertising business. The growth record in 1990-91 was 17.1% and improved each year till 1994-95, showing a growth rate of 49.5%. this wa due to the first major economic boom in the country. Since then the growth rate has been slowing down and has settled at almost 18% in 1998-99. as the analysts believe, the growth figure of 49.5% was the outcome of an irrational response to economic liberalization. The media inflation of mid 1990s was also a contributory factor. Independent India , for whatsoever reason ,remained a protected market for a very long time. Obviously it was an idle business situation for many companies facing little or no competition. There was no real need to worry about creating or retaining the customer. Demand for many products far exceeded the supply, leaving customer with little or no choice as there were not many alternatives.for instance to own a BAJAJ scooter customers were required to book in advance and then wait for five to ten years to own one. Many eager cutomers used to pay twice the normal price to those who wanted to sell their new machines. Obviously for many companies there was no need to communicate with customers and waste money on advertising and other forms of promotion.large Indian companies bajaj

auto, maruti udyog, itc tata tea, dabur, Raymond,wipro and many others are now spending heavily on advertising and other forms promotions. Economic policy changes introduced in 1990s have opened the doors for global competition and a new economic era has began .Most businesss in our country had to wake up and serious notice of the emerging changes which were threatening their survival in their otherwise well established markets. Companies are responding positively to challenges and are taking advantages of new opportunities. Some businesses are readjusting and some others are proactive in the new business and economic environment.for many it has become a matter of survival. Aggressive marketing affforts by domestic and foreign business houses are increasing. The emergence and growth of new technologies, availability of new media and media vehicles and an increase in middle classs income and aspirations have contributed to the phenomenal increase in the level of advertising and other forms of promotions. The race is to attract , create and retain customers.

DEFINING ADVERTISING Many early attempts were made to formulate a definition of advertising. One such attempt led to the following definition of advertising-

"The disseminntion of information concerning an idea, service or product to compel action in accordance with the intent of the advertiser. "It is easy to interpret that the above definition can include personal selling with persuasive selling appeal. It was considered that this definition of advertising is not as precise as it should be.

Several years ago (1963) American Marketing Association proposed the following definition of advertising"Advertising is any paid farm of non-personnl presentation and promotion of ideas,goods, and services by an identifiea sponsor."

Vintage Advertisement

John 5 Wright, Willis L Winter, and Sherilyn K Zeigler, in the Advertising, Tata McGraw-Hill, 5th ed. 1983, have expressed the following view about the AMA definition of advertising".. ..purist might well paint out thnt the AMA definition actually describes an advertisement, rather than advertising, these words deserve careful scmtiny."

These authors have recommended another definition of advertising. According to 8

them, "Advertising is controlled, identifiable information and persuasion by means of mass communications media. " John

Burnett

also

considers

that

the

AMA

definition

can

improved.According to him a better definition is

"Advertising is the non-personal communication of marketing related information to a target audience, usually paid for by the advertiser, and delivered through mass media in order to reach the specific objectives of the sponsor. "

J Thomas Russel and W Roland Lane have defined advertising in the following words: "Advertising is a message paid for by an identified sponsor and delivered through some medium of mass communication. Advertising is persuasive communication." It is not neutral; it is not unbiased; it says, "I am going to sell-you a product or an idea." (J Thomas Russel, and W Roland Lane'Kleppner's Advertising Procedure' Prentice-Hall, NJ, 13th ed. 1996)

From these definitions the reader can have an in-depth view of different aspects that have been considered in defining advertising. The definitions have used certain words or phrases that need some elaboration.

"Any paid fonn": Favourable publicity projects products, services or ideas in any media because it is considered informative and useful for the audience. For 9

publicity no payment is made by the benefited organisation. The paid aspect of the definition reflects the fact that the space or time for an advertising message generally must be bought.

There are occasional exceptions to this and that is why in one of the above mentioned definitions the words used are "usually paid for". For example, many magazines, newspapers, and other media voluntarily donate space and time, and also prepare the ads for certain public service announcements and social causes. At a somewhat different level, some magazines and newspapers include ads about their own newspapers and magazines. Many TV channels show ads to promote their own image among audiences and increase the popularity of their programmes among viewers. An ad by a Hindi daily, Oainik Bhaskar, appeared in its own issue, showing its circulation figures and compared them against another Hindi daily, Rajasthan Patrika. This ad was not paid for its space and creative work in the sense that the word "paid" is usually used. There is no denying the fact that there would be costs involved in its production and suitably recorded in the account books. The fact is that these advertising situations mentioned as examples show that all ads may not be paid for, though, they require efforts by men and women who create them. They are ads just as much as those ads designed to increase the sale of perfumes, cars, beauty parlour services, or any other product or service.

"Non-personal presentation and promotion": In case of personal selling, there is face-ta-face presentation and promotion of product or service by the salesperson. Advertising is totally non-personal, offering no personal interaction, delivered through media and often viewed as intrusion. Of course, advertising may help the salesperson in his/her selling efforts.

"Ideas, goods, and services": AdvertisiI1Ji' being a powerful masscommunication tool, is used not only to present and promote goods and services with the intent of selling them, it is also increasingly used to further the goals of public interest and social causes.

We see many ads discouraging smoking, or making people aware of AIDS, etc.

"An identified sponsor": These words clarify the difference between advertising and propaganda. Just like advertising, propaganda attempts to present certain opinions and ideas, which may influence the attitudes and actions of people. However, the source of propaganda mostly remains unknown and hence its authenticity is often doubtful. People in general do not know who the originator of these opinions and ideas is. In case of advertising, the sponsor of ideas or opinions is known.

"Controlled": The advertiser controls the content of advertising message, its time, and direction. Advertisers say only what they want to say and by selecting the appropriate medium, direct the message to the audience whom they want to receive it. In case of publicity, it is not under the control of the advertiser. The story may be presented in a manner not to the liking of the advertiser, or not at a time chosen by the advertiser.

"Mass communications media": The broad group of audience can best be reached by mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio and outdoor displays. This qualification separates advertising and personal selling. The multiple messages are delivered to thousands of people simultaneously. "Persuasion": The major objective of advertising inherent in the presentation 11

and promotion of ideas, goods or services is to achieve predetermined objectives through persuasive communication, precipitating the change or reinforcement of desired attitude or behaviour.

Vintage Advertisement

"It is not neutral; it is not unbiased": Yes, advertising is not neutral or unbiased. All ads that appear are controlled by the advertiser and are intended to serve the advertiser's interest in some way.

Advertising has gained much attention because it is the best known and most widely discussed form of promotion and a very important promotional tool. There are several reasons for this. It can be a very cost-effective method to reach a large audience. It can also be used to create images and build symbolic meanings for a company or brands. It is an important feature for companies dealing in products or services that are difficult to differentiate on functional attributes. Advertising for Marlboro cigarettes has used the cowboy to create and sustain a masculine image for the brand. It is considered as one of the most successful campaigns in the history of marketing and has made Marlboro one of the most popular brands of cigarettes in the world. Advertising alone, almost, never "sells" products, services or ideas. It "helps" to sell through persuasion. For any reason, if a product is not available in the distribution outlets, the "greatest advertisement" cannot sell this product. If the consumers perceive that the product is over priced, or does not meet their requirements, then advertising won't be able to sell such a product. No amount of 12

advertising will persuade consumers to buy a bad product a second time. Advertising cannot sell anything that is not perceived by the audience as needed, wanted, or desired.

Vintage Advertisement

BRIEF HISTORY OF ADVERTISING Modem advertising is largely a product of the twentieth century. However, communication has been a part of the selling process for almost as long as there has been the need to exchange goods from one person to another. The development of technology and research has led to increased sophistication in advertising in recent decades. During ancient and medieval times advertising was crude if measured by present day standards. However, the basic reason for using advertising was the same then as it is now. Institutions come into existence only when a need for them develops. A variety of external forces support and nourish the growth and development of an institution. To survive, the institution must be dynamic, flexible and adaptable to meet the needs in the changing conditions of the environment.

The recorded history of advertising covers a period of about 5000 years including the modem satellite and Internet age. Our knowledge of advertising in ancient times is in fragments. Nevertheless, it seems that the urge to advertise has been a part of human nature since ancient times. The diggings of archeologists in the countries rimming the Mediterranean sea have unearthed a Babylonian clay tablet of about 3000 B C, bearing inscription for an ointment dealer, a scribe and a shoemaker. Romans and their predecessors knew that "it pays to advertise." Papyri fOlmd in the ruins of Thebes (Egypt) show armouncementS offering rewards for the return of runaway slaves (about 3000 B C).

Before the invention of printing from movable type (about 1438 A D) by John Gutenberg, there were three forms of advertising.

1. Trademarks. Craftsmen in early times wanted to be identified for their skills and placed their individual marks on goods they crafted. This led to reputation building

of particular artisans by word of mouth. Buyers learnt to look for the distinctive mark just as we look today for brand names and trademarks on products.

2. Signs. Phoenicians and other traders painted commercial messages on prominent rocks along trade routes that they used. These messages highly praised the products that were for sale. This is an example of ancient outdoor advertising. Archeologists have revealed from excavations at Pompeii that little shops had inscriptions on walls near the entrance to inform the passers by whether the shop sold pottery, wine, bread, or any other goods.

3. Town criers. This system of town criers was perhaps present in all developed civilisa tions of ancient world. In Greece during the Golden Age, town criers were paid to go around spreading news and making announcements in the streets of Athens.

Epics and history books about ancient India reveal that the system of town criers was used by the rulers in India to inform the public of various public interest matters. In rural India, town criers were used till 1950s.

The first known printed advertisement in the English language appeared nearlyforty years after the invention of the movable type writer. William Caxton of London printed the first advertisement. It was a handbill of the rules for the guidance of clergy at Easter and was put on the church doors. The printed newspaper emerged from the newsletters which were handwritten by professional writers for limited circulation among the nobles and others elite classes. 15

The first ad in any language to be printed on a circulated sheet appeared in German news pamphlet in about 1525. The ad praised the virtues of a mysterious drug. It was from such beginnings that the printed newspaper emerged and the first printed newspaper in English came out in 1622, the Weekly News of London.The first advertisement appeared in an English newspaper in 1625.

DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN ADVERTISING The fact is that advertising as we know it really had its beginnings in mid 19th century. Volney B Palmer was the first advertising agent who established an office in Philadelphia. For a fee, he worked as an agent of the newspapers numbering about 1400. He sold space to advertisers throughout the country. He did not provide any creative or planning services to clients, except the media selection (Maurice J Mandell, AdverHsing, Prentice-Hall, NJ: 1968. p. 24.).

In the late 1880s, John E Powers emerged as a great copywriter. He had a simple approach - he believed in "printing the news of storeno catchyheadings no brag, no pressure." J Walter Thompson, a young advertisingexecutive, signed an exclusive contract with twenty-five of the best American magazines and had an impressive list of advertisers. He is also known as the inventor of the modem advertising agency.

Albert Lasker and Claude C Hopkins got together in the last decade of the 19th century. Claude C Hopkins developed "Reason Why" approach to advertising copy. Albert Lasker made the ad agency a professional business that included the "Records of Results", the counterpart of today's research department.

The dominant approach to copy writing was "reason why" during this time. Howe\.er, a famous copywriter, Theodore F McManus of General Motors, challenged this style. He believed in producing impressionistic copy by incorporating original art, striking layouts and elegant writing, to create a positi\"e image of the company and its products.An agency, Lord and Thomas, had two remarkable copywriters, John E Kennedy (joined Lord and Thomas in 1898) and Claude C Hopkins and enjoyed a reputation for creative work. Hopkins had joined Lord and Thomas in 1907 and was regarded by many as the greatest creator of advertising who ever practiced the art (Claude C Hopkins, My Life inAdvertising, Chicago Advertising Publications: 1966. P 172.). Hopkins was particularly good at understanding the consumer and how advertising should be integrated in the total marketing effort. John E Kelmedy believed that advertising was "salesmanship in print." He tried to provide a reason why customers should buy the advertised products. During the 1920s, modem marketing research entered the world of advertising. As a result of this new development, advertising of this period started stressing on the outcome of consumer purchases such as health, happiness, status and love, etc. Advertisements contained bold headline, artwork, photography and plenty of colour. Before the severe depression of the 1920s, radio was not being used for advertising. Strange though it seems, during this period of depression love, etc. Advertisements contained bold headline, artwork, photography and plenty of colour. Before the severe depression of the 1920s, radio was not being used for advertising. Strange though it seems, during this period of depression the commercial radio emerged. However, it was not really a good period for advertising. 18

CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING Most of the growth of advertising has been after world war II. This was the time when excessive mechanised production and serious efforts to rebuild nations and economy was under way. Western Europe and the far East started to compete in world markets and advertising became an essential part of this new economy. Large corporations such as Coca-Cola, General Motors and IBM had long been active allover the world. After 1946, quite a number of medium and small companies entered the international market. Large advertising agencies of USA, Western Europe, and far East started opening their offices in several countries.

Specialists in market research, sales promotion, merchandising and public relations were running the advertising industry during 1950s. Creativity in advertising was almost non-existent and ads were mostly "me too" type of messages with great deal of worldly visualisation and little copy. Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates Agency was probably the most successful among copywriters. He originated the concept of USP (Unique Selling Proposition). His argument was that the marketer should discover one important attribute of the product which should be communicated properly and effectively to the audience and should be repeated over and over. It was during 1950s that television emerged as one of the most important stories in the history of advertising. Television showed a significant advantage over other media as it could combine sight and sound.

It was mainly beca use of the efforts of Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy and William Bernbach that creativity and soft sell were reintroduced in advertising. Burnett's contribution in late 1950s and 1960s brought drama and warmth to advertising with characters such as the Marlboro man. Ogilvy, with Hathaway shirt-man wearing an eye-patch, introduced a unique type of intelligence and class to advertising. Bernbach's contribution was combining copy, art and humour. "We 19

try harder because we are No 2" is the ad, which has been hailed as one of the most remarkable advertisements by Bernbach. It seems relevant to especially have a look at the development of Indian advertising. Two British advertising agencies, J Walter Thompson and D J Keymer, were the ones that laid the foundations of professional advertising in India in the early 1950s. J Walter Thompson is now HTA and J D Keymer became the Ogilvy & Mather. Back then, the positioning era had not dawned and it was the time of 'art in industry'. Major advertisers like Burmah Shell and Dunlop were more concerned with 'aesthetic creativity' rather than the compulsions of selling. Even in mid 1960s, advertising professionals had not heard of 'positioning'Subroto Sengupta, a well known personality in the field of advertising, a renowned teacher of marketing and author, was one of the founder directors of Clarion Advertising. He was formerly associated with D J Keymer. Another agency that flourished was OBM of Mumbai. Dattaram, Sista's and National in Mumbai and Tom and Bay in Pune were started by Indians. To start with, these agencies were only space buyers.

Kersey Katrak, an exceptionally talented advertising professional, helped in nurturing talents such as Arun Nanda, Mohd Khan and Ravi Gupta in the mid 1960s. The collapse of some agencies such as MCM and Iyer's brought on the scene many new agencies. The major trend in 1970s was professional approach and consolidation. During 1980s the economy

showed

significant

improvements

and

advertising

agencies

flourished.Advertising is rarely a stable business. It changes with business conditions, social and cultural times and technology. The ads in the pre-independence period in India were mainly addressed to the affluent class. These ads were generally for tea, gramophones, cars, hotels and restaurants and cotton goods, etc. After independence, there was abolition of princely states and zamindari system and a new middle class

emerged. With this significantly changed social, cultural and economic scenario, advertisers started paying attention to the middle class.

Advertising Club of Mumbai celebrated its silver jubilee in March 1980 and there was a workshop on twenty-five years of Indian advertising. There are now advertising clubs in all metropolitan cities and more than SOO advertising agencies. There are professional bodies that represent the advertiser, the advertising agency and the media. The names of these representative bodies are •

. The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA)

•

. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) .

•

The Indian Newspaper Society (INS)

Indian advertising has taken rapid strides and is becoming more professional by the day. The comment of former Chief Executive of Hindustan Thompson Associates, Mr Ghosal, about Indian advertising is interesting. He said, "advertising is absolutely essential. Unless a product sells, the investment made in the project is rendered 21

instructions. But the trouble with Indian advertising is that it is not rooted in our ethos. It is westernised, partIy because most of our advertising is aimed at the urban consumer. But there should be a mix so that advertising can sell and yet retain the Indian flavour."

Our advertising in the last couple of decades has made much progress in terms of technical excellence, copy and graphics. However, progress in the area of relationto customers is slow. There is a definite trend both in audiovisual and print ads to use The AIDA model which was developed in the 1920s, suggested that an effective sales presentation should attract attention, gain interest, stimulate desire and precipitate action (purchase). Ideally, an ad would prove to be really effective if it appeals that are compatble with Indian culture.

Vintage Advertisement

CLASSIFYING ADVERTISING Scholars have proposed various approaches to classifying the vast variety of advertising. An understanding of these would help managers in choosing the most appropriate type of advertising to achieve the objectives.

National Advertising: The term 'national advertising' has a special connotation that it is not confined to any geographic area within the nation. This type of advertising is undertaken mostly by the marketer of a branded product or service sold through different outlets in the distribution channel, wherever they may be located. Apparently the term 'national advertising' conveys mass marketing effort. In reality this does not necessarily mean that the product is sold nationwide. The objective is to inform or remind consumers about a company or brand. The ad may intend to communicate brand features, benefits, advantages or uses and to create or reinforce its image so that the consumers will be predisposed to buy it. This type of advertising is done by a manufacturer and is in contrast to that done by a retailer whose objectives are totally different.

National advertising often identifies a specific target audience and attempts to create an image for the product. For example, the ad for Mercedes-E class is targeting a specific segment in the Indian market. When a new manufacturer with lesser money muscle, limited production capacity and limited distribution knowhow, etc., appears on the business scene, he does not usually decide for national distribution. Instead, he tries to sell his output in limited markets and then gradually with improved conditions, gradually spreads in the remaining markets. Even well established companies often introduce new products in some selected markets only. 23

National advertisers realise that, under some conditions, it is better to advertise in regional or local media rather than mass media. As more and more national advertisers are able to identify and reach narrowly defined market segments there would appear more regional or local advertising. For example, they may select regional/local newspapers, television stations, radio, or outdoor media because of differences in the regional language. The advertiser would still be classified as national advertiser as the purpose of the ads is to encourage purchase of the advertised product at any outlet carrying the item. In the short-term, however, national advertising will continue to introduce new brands and emphasise brand loyalty to established ones. In effect, the message in national advertising says, "buy our brand." Retail (local) Advertising: The manufacturer has little concern where its product is purchased. The goal of the retail advertiser differs from that of national advertiser. The retailer advertises to encourage patronage by consumers and build store loyalty among them. The retailer is not particularly concerned with any 24

specific brand. In case the retailer shows some concern (the retailer wants to clear stocks of a particular brand), then the message in effect is "buy brand 'B' at our store." General approach in retail advertising is "buy at our store." The sale of any specific brand is not the concern of retailer unlike the national advertiser.

The retailer must compete in one of the most competitive arenas of business and move large volumes of products. Besides, the advertising must convey the image of the type of store to particularly attract certain types of consumers. To achieve these objectives, retailers often communicate price information, service and return policies and the range of merchandise available. Some retailer ads are specifically aimed at building the store traffic.

Generally, the retailer works in a narrowly limited geographic market. This allows him to focus his advertising messages to the likes, preferences and buying habits of targeted audience. The retailer advertises to precipitate relatively quicker response to most of this local advertising, while the national advertiser's prime interest is in establishing long run favourable attitudes and building brand equity.

Cooperative Advertising: Manufacturers of consumer durable goods or specialty products often show special interest in their dealers' advertising. To help identify the dealers in different geographic markets, dealers put the ads in local media under their names. The manufacturer often provides the dealer with the material and guidelines to develop ads for print, television, or radio commercials. This ensures that the message is in line with what the manufacturer wants to communicate. The manufacturer and the dealer usually share the media costs and hence the name 'cooperative advertising'.

End-Product Advertising: There are many products that are rarely purchased direct by consumers. They are usually bought a~ part or ingredient in other products. For example, there is Teflon (DuPont product), Pentium (Intel 25

Corporation), Athelon (Advanced Micro Devices) and many others. Advertising of such products is called 'end-product advertising' (also called brandedingredient advertising). This type of advertising is often undertaken by manufacturers whose branded parts or ingredients are used in producing usually other branded or unbranded Gonsumer products. Successful end-product advertising helps create demand for the ingredient that helps in the sale of another product, such as Intel promotes its Pentium processors. The sustained existence of consumer demand for such ingredients encourages companies to use them in their consumer products.

It is not easy to build end-product demand. The manufacturer must have an ingredient that is widely recognised by manufacturers and consumers and is believed to have advantages that will improve the usefulness of the finished product. Extensive advertising is required to communicate advantages to consumers because the ingredients are often not obvious in the product. Endproduct advertising may take national or international dimensions and can be very advantageous to companies who can successfully do it. For example, in the present scenario of computer market, different segments of consumers are interested in knowing whether the computer h~ Intel's Pentium processor (Celeron, Pentium II or III) or the processor is from Asus or Advanced Micro Devices (Athelon) or some others. It is no secret that Pentium is not only well known among consumers but also has the maximum market share in the world.

ADVERTISING TO BUSINESS AND PROFESSION

This type of advertising is aimed at re-se1lers and professionals such as architects, lawyers and doctors, etc. The media used is direct mail or professional journals.

Trade Advertising: Trade advertising is used to promote products to re-sellers encouraging them to stock the product. Unless the product is available with retailers, consumers will not have the opportunity to purchase it. Manufacturers emphasise the profitability to retailers and the consumer demand that will ensure the high turnover of the product. In case of mass distributed products, the manufacturer is interested in increasing the number of retail stores that stock the brand. The objective is to achieve maximum distribution. In this situation the adverting is aimed at creating brand awareness among re-sellers, which is followed by sales people or by offering some trade incentive. . There is multiplicity of brands in almost every consumer product category leading to increased competition among manufacturers to get prime shelf space in retail outlets. To accomplish this, trade advertising, coupled with some incentive, can encourage them to allocate prominent shelf position to products or cooperate in arranging displays.

Industrial Advertising: Manufacturers are buyers of machinery, equipment, raw materials and consumables etc., in producing finished products that they sell. The advertisements of this category use media such as industry publications, direct mail, telephone, Internet, and trade fairs.

Industrial advertising is directed at a specialised and relatively small-sized target audience. The buyers are few and the purchases by each one are relatively large. The audience of such ads is composed of experts in their fields and hence advertisements contain details and specifications of products meant for a specific manufacturing segment. This helps reduce personal selling costs, efforts and speeds up sales of industrial products.

Professional Advertising: Professional advertising is directed toward people who are not the final consumers. Many professionals such as architects, engineers, and medical consultants, etc., often make the final purchase decision on behalf 01 their clients. The advertising media are professional journals, direct mail and ir rare instances, mass media.

Corporate or Institutional Advertising: Corporate advertising is an extension of public relations function and does not promote any specific product or service. It is also a fairly controversial form of advertising. Corporate advertising aims to build and maintain the image of a company or institution. For example, sponsorship of various major sports events by large organisations is aimed at image building of sponsors Major changes in economic and political scenario affecting business and industry may often warrant advocacy or issue based advertising, though much of the contemporary corporate advertising serves as the support function to promote a company's products or services.

The target groups of corporate advertising are most often customers, stockholders, employees, financial institutions, political leaders and government. The objectives of corporate or institutional advertising may be to establish or boost corporate identity and, counter negative attitudes toward a company or industry or to promote and relate the company to some worthwhile social or public interest cause. 28

NON-PRODUCT ADVERTISING Idea Advertising: Advertising being a powerful communication tool is often used to influence special interest groups and sway public opinion. Environmental issues, population explosion, declining natural resources, road safety measures, child labour, human rights, dowry, equal status to women and many other issues are examples for which mass media advertising has increased in the recent years.

Idea advertising often generates controversies because many of the issues trigger heated discussions laden with emotions. There are those who do not favour use of advertising for such ideas. They believe that the message content in ads is too short and superficial to debate fully many of these issues. There are others who believe that mass advertising is the only practical way to present such messages to the masses. No matter what position one takes on the issue of idea advertising, it is clear that the media ability to target narrowly defined audiences will give more power to this type of advertising in the coming times.

Service Advertising: Marketing of services is on the increase as more and more specialists in different fields are available. We live in a complex society that needs innumerable services. For example, there is need for medical and healthcare services, financial services, educational services, childcare services, hospitality services, transportation services, repair and maintenance services, psychiatric and counseling services, domestic help and many other services. The need for a variety of services seems to be ever increasing.

Service advertising is more difficult than product advertising. What the service provider is trying to sell is basically expertise in some field. Services are intangible, inseparable and there is no transfer of ownership. Service industries 29

are so alike that it is difficult to meaningfully differentiate among competitors.

FUNCTIONS AND BENEFITS OF ADVERTISING Virtually all business establishments, including large and small retailers, use advertising in some form or the other depending on their objectives and resources. A survey of the top 200 companies by A & M reveals that these companies spent Rs 3,941.7 crores in 1998-1999. These figures, taken as a pointer, suggest tha t even after excluding companies that did not advertise, the total expenditure on advertising by all the businesses would reach an astronomical figure. The leading three spenders on advt;rtising during 1998-1999 have been HLL (Rs 668.95 crores), ITC (Rs 201.24 crores) and Colgate-Palmolive (India) (Rs 163.87 crores). Advertising expenditures have risen faster than the growth in sales.

The role of advertising depends on how much importance is attributed to advertising relative to other promotion mix elements in the company's marketing programme. This would be determined by considering various factors such as consumer behaviour, competitive situation and product category etc. In most advertising situations, it is unrealistic to expect that an ad would directly produce sales. Advertising is known to facilitate sales rather than accomplish the complete selling function. This helps in making certain important assumptions. . Most advertisements help in producing psychological effects and can helpin changing only mental states of audiences and predispose them toward purchase of advertised product or service. Advertising is essentially a form of communication and its basic responsibility is to deliver desired information to the targeted audience.

Functions of Advertising: In its role as a form of mass communication, advertising delivers relevant messages to target audiences and by changing mental states, it can perform a number of functions. Research findings in the area of consumer behaviour and communication have led many scholars to view the functions of advertising in terms of HiQrarchy-of-Effects model. Communication models implying that audience members pass through a series of sequential steps, leading to purchase of a product or service, are termed as Hierarchy-of-Effects model. According to this model, ads can move consumers step by step forward toward the final step - that is from being unaware of a product or service to finally purchasing it. An advertisement is considered effective if it propels the consumer a step further along in this process. This is how the function of advertising is viewed.

A number of hierarchy models have been proposed. One version of hierarchy model developed by Robert Lavidge and Gary Steiner (A Model for Predictive Measurement of Advertising Effectiveness, Journal of Marketing, 25 (October 1961): 59-62), has stood the test of time well. It has close links with social psychological theory and the model includes six stages. From being unaware the steps lead to awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and purchase. Further division of this model represents three components of social psychologist's concept of an attitude system. The first two stages in the model are awareness and knowledge and represent the cognitive component of attitude. The next three stages -liking, preference, and conviction represent the affective component of attitude and the last stage in the model, purchase, represents the or behavioural component of attitude. The distance between any two adjoining steps is not necessarily equal. Consumers can move up several steps in one go. The consumer's level of involvement in a particular product category influences her I his path through the steps. In case of high involvement situations, consumers take longer to go through the process. 31

The research reveals that hierarchy models do not apply to low involvement purchases because the consumer's lack of interest in the product category may lead the consumer to becoming aware after paying attention and make purchase.

Jagdish N Sheth (Measurement of Advertising Effectiveness: Some Theoretical Considerations, Journal of Advertisillg 3, no. 1 (1974): 8-11) has suggested a broader framework for advertising functions. He has described four primary sequential functions Precipitation

Persuasion Reinforcement, and

Reminder. The ad performs precipitation function by stimulating needs and wants and crea tes general awareness. The aim of some ads, such as comparative advertising, is persuasion. Persuasive advertising may often lead consumers to purchase. The purchase may result in a short or long period because of many reasons. The route to persuasion may be the outcome of emotional or rational appeals such as humour, love, fear, shame, economy and quality etc. Ads are also designed to reassure consumers that they have made the wise decision by buying a product or service. This makes consumers feel good and serves the function of reinforcement. Many ads show consumer reports or other testimonials confirming fuel economy and performance of two-wheeler autos or a weU-known personality is shown using a certain brand. Family planning ads often show happy and cheerful members who adopted family planning methods. The aim of reminder ads is to keep the company or brand name always fresh in the target audience's memory. A good number of ads are repeated frequently to accomplish this function. Ads of Pepsi, Coke and Maggi, etc., are some examples. A very important function of advertising is to increase the perceived value of a brand by giving it a symbolic meaning that makes it more valuable to consumers. 32

According to this thinking, a consumer will choose a brand of sports shoe for its ability to C<1mmunicate fitness, or purchase an expensive car because it symbolises status and wealth. For example, Lux is the beauty soap of film stars, Aramask is the soap of virile male, Marlboro is the cigarette of rugged males, Vorion-6000 is the beer of real strong men. This function has acquired important dimensions because so many brands in almost all the product categories often confuse consumers and lead them to believe that more and more brands are similar. This is especially true in product categories where any meaningful differentiation is becoming increasingly difficult. Advertising is the most effective method of nurturing a brand's image in the long run. Its different functions are summed below. . Stimulates demand. By informing consumers about the availability of a product in the market, advertising stimulates latent needs, and reinforces the aroused needs. There is general agreement that advertising has some effect on aggregate consumption. . Strengthens other promotion mix elcmcnts. Advertising does the pre-selling of the product and makes the job of sales people easier. Advertising reaches a relatively large audience and makes them favourably predisposed. Ads carry the sales promotional messages and often produce quick sales response. . Dcvelops brand preference. Consistent and persuasive advertising often induces brand trial or purchase. When the product delivers the promised quality, service, and value, it creates satisfied customers who become instrumental in spreading a favourable word-of-mouth. Satisfied customers also develop brand preference which gets reinforced by repeated ads. Products with strong brand franchise offer some protection against the competition. Resellers develop confidence and do not hesitate in stocking strong brands. Brand loyal customers are an important asset for the company and are less likely to be influenced by competitive moves.

•

Cuts costs. Advertising may be instrumental in cutting down the production and selling costs. Increasing unit sales decreases unit costs. Selling costs also may decrease because there would be fewer wasted calls 33

and less strain on sales people. •

Lowers prices. In any market based and competitive economy, when unit cost of a product goes down, there are external and internal pressures which compel companies to lower prices to the advantage of consumers. This often leads to deeper market penetration.

•

Competitive weapon. Advertising, by itself and coupled with other promotion mix elements, maY prove to be an extremely potent weapon to counter competitive moves. Advertising has an established role in creating brand personality and image. It helps differentiate a company's offer in a manner that the product may be considered as something with unique value having a definite identity of its own

BENEFITS OF ADVERTISING Basically advertising is an economic institution. It performs important economic function for the advertiser, affects economic decisions of audience and is an integral part of the entire national and international economic system. . Infonnation. One cannot debate the importance of information for consumers about various products, services and organisations to make advantageous economic decisions. The decisions made in the absence or with insufficient information may produce negative and undesirable consequences. Because of ignorance the consumer may purchase inferior product or pay higher prices and may not even know that the product exists. Through ads the information reaches a large number of audience in the shortest possible time. . Brand image building. There is hardly any disagreement on this issue. Advertising plays an important role in building the brand image. Consumers develop mental images of brands that may appeal to different market segments. These images may have their root in real or assumed features of the brand. Favourable images help in buildLr1g brand loyalty. A brand name identifies the source and is a promise of a certain level of consistent quality, service, warranty, 34

and other benefits. Attached with the brand is the prestige of the manufacturer and the middlemen who work as channel partners. . Innovation. Advertising encourages innovation and new product development, and reduces risk. Advertising may generate sufficient product demand to offset the cost of innovation and is the most economical way to reach a large number of audience who become aware about the availability of any new or improved product. New and improved products encourage competition and offer more choices to consumers. The effects of increased business activity expand and improve the economy, create more jobs and investment opportunities. Improved economy raises the standard ofliving of the population. Growtll of media. The acceptance of advertising by different media enhances the potential for raising revenues. This may help in introducing more publications and cater to the needs of different and special interest groups. This would lead to expansion of media. It is no secret that. advertising provides more than 60% of the cost of magazines, more than 70% of the cost of newspapers and nearly 100% of the cost of TV and radio.

ADVERTISING RESPONSE PROCESS (HOW ADVERTISING WORKS)

Advertising, being a form of mass communication, reaches numerous people simultaneously. Because it is highly visible and touches our lives, almost everyone has some pet views about it. Advertising produces both intended and unintended results. The intended results serve the objectives of the advertiser such as increasing brand awareness or producing profitable sales. Roland Berman has made the following observations "Advertisements do //lore than inform or persuade. They eloquently translate feelings and opinions. Through adpertising and the media we receive an enormous amount of silent information: how to act in relation to people, property and ourselves. And that information is a barometer, attuned to social change." Roland Burman, "Advertising and Social Change," Advertising Age, April 30, 1980, p. 18. Much has been researched and written about how advertising works and the effects it produces. However, at the very outset, it is important to appreciate that the nature of subject is such that there are few definitive answers. Perhaps everyone associated with advertising has something to say on this subject. The persuasion process presented in part-1 (Figure 1.7), can occur as a consequence of exposure to an advertisement. The exposure can result in creating awareness and a feeling of familiarity about the brand. Exposure to an ad can also lead to relevant information about the product's attributes and, more importantly, the resulting benefits to the consumer. Ad exposure can often generate feelings positive or negative -which consumers begin to associate with the brand. Use of testimonials or brand endorsers can help create an image or brand personality. Ad exposure can also create an impn?ssion that the brand is in fashion and favoured by friends and acquaintances, etc. These effects can lead to liking, preference, conviction and, finally, purch3.se of the product or brand. 36

Understanding the response process that the consumers may go through in moving o'r eliciting a behaviour, as a result of exposure to advertising, is perhaps the most important aspect in developing an effective advertising programme. The objectives of the advertiser may relate to cognitive, affective, or behavioural aspects. A number of models have been developed to explain how consumers may pass through various stages in eliciting some behaviour. One such model developed by Lavidge and Steiner has been shown in Figure 1. 8.

EXPOSURE AND FAMI LlARITY MODEL

Many ads are just repetitive and have very little information content but manage to be effective in changing the consumers' attitudes, more so with increased repetition. R B Zajonc proposed that simply repeated exposure, with no associated cognitive activity, can develop preferences in the audience. The results of research conducted to understand this effect imply that exposure effect occurs at some preconscious level. Some aspects of ads such as domination by pictures, text, or colour can create feelings of like or dislike among us at a preattentive level without any awareness of

these effects. These studies suggest that even when consumers do not pay attention to product related information, advertising repetition itself may create liking or preference for a product in some situations. The implication is that the advertiser may consider maintaining high levels of brand awareness as a possible objective. This is of particular importance when the objective is to increase brand purchase frequency among existing consumers rather than to attract new ones. According to Ehrenberg, Tellis and others, advertising serves mostly to reinforce brand preference rather than create brand preference in case of most mature brands. When competitive advertising is intense, high levels of reminder advertising, with frequent repetition, perform the reinforcing function. This is 37

often referred to as creating top-of-mind awareness or recall. Another view suggests that repeated exposure can lead to familiarity with the advertised brand and, subsequently, liking for it. Ob\'iously, consumers are often inclined to evaluate known and familiar products favourably as compared to the unknown ones. A feeling of uncertainty is often associated with unknown products and can create tension in consumers. Tension is undesirable and unpleasant in most cases. On thE: other hand, a feeling of familiarity is soothing and associated with comfort and security, etc. There is evidence that people can actually perceive objects with which they are familiar, pretty quickly. Amna Kirmani and Peter Wright suggest that consumers' perceived amount of advertising, judged by advertising frequency and the size of print ad etc., is sometimes used by them as an indicator of the brand's quality. Consumers reason that because of high quality, the marketer is backing the product with high degree of marketing effort. Implications for Managers: The research suggests that in situations when consumers do not process advertisements with an intention of gaining meaningful information, increased levels of ad repetition are important to create brand preference by building familiarity and top-of-mind recall.

RESPONSE HIERARCHY MODEL The AIDA model which was developed in the 1920s, suggested that an effective sales presentation should attract attention, gain interest, stimulate desire and precipitate action (purchase). Ideally, an ad would prove to be really effective if it takes this route, however, in the real world of advertising, rarely ads take the consumer all the way from awareness through purchase. This model, however, suggests the desirable qualities of an effective ad.

Hierarclzy-of-Effeds Model: As pointed out earlier in Part-l, hierarchy-of-effects 38

model developed by Lavidge and Steiner is the best known. This model helps in setting advertising objectives and provides a basis for measuring results. It also suggests that advertising produces its effects by moving the consumer through a series of steps in a sequence - from initial awareness to ultimate purchase of product or service. This sequential order indicates the basic premise that advertising effects are elicited over a period of time and that advertising may not precipitate the desired effects immediately because a series of effects must occur before the consumer possibly moves to the next stage in the hierarchi.

MEDIA EVALUATION At present there are three major sources of media information (1) National Readership Survey (2) Indian Readership Survey (IRS), and (3) Annual report of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

TELEVISION Television is believed to be the most authoritative, influential and exciting medium. It is often said that television is the ideal medium for advertising because of its ability to combine visual images, sound, motion and colour. These characteristics present the advertiser with maximum opportunity to develop the most creative and imaginative ad messages than any other medium. However, in spite of se\.eral advantages over other media, television does have certain problems that limit or even prevent its use in specific situations.

.ADVANTAGES

Creativity and Impact: The greatest advantage of TV is its ability to present the advertising message in the most unique way. The integration of sight, sound, motion and colour offers extraordinary flexibility to make dramatic and lifelike portrayals of products and services. The commercials can effectively communicate an image, or mood associated with the brand. It can also help build an emotional association, or create entertaining messages that might make an otherwise unexciting and common product seem interesting. Television is quite adept at communicating humorous, serious, realistic, or tongue-in-cheek commercials. If the nature of the product is such that a demonstration would convey the ad message more effectively, TV is the most suitable ad medium. Although print ads of products such as autos, TVs, and microwave ovens, etc., can show the product and provide information about their features and benefits, a TV commercial can put the audience in a position to virtually sense driving or operating the gadget. This can definitely lead to an impact not possible by any othei ddvertising media. People generally rate television as the most credible source of information. Advertisers gain a qualitative edge because television enjoys the most positive image of all media. Coverage and Cost Effectiveness: Advertising on television makes it possible to reach a large number of audiences. Doordarshan claims to have its terrestrial reach to 70 million households in India, including rural areas. It is estimated that over 191 miliion television audiences are urban, and 171 million viewers are located in rural ai'eas. In villages, with a population between 1000 to 5000/ average time spent in viewing TV ranges between 24.6 to 32.0 minutes per working day. The same in metros and cities ranges between 32.1 to 36.8 minutes per working day. Cable and satellite channels (C & S) reach 20 million homes, mostly urban. BBC Worldwide reaches a claimed 261 million homes around the world. Television is a home and family entertainment medium. Regardless of location, income, age, sex, or educational level, most people watch at least some TV. A significant number of audiences watch TV programmes on a regular basis. Television is credited as being the single biggest factor in opening up the huge rural market to a variety of consumer products. The simple rural people of India 41

reaIised that there is a world outside, very different in many ways. Television has been instrumental in raising the level of aspirations of the Indian middle class.

. FIGURE 4. 9

Television viewership by region (figures in million)

West

South

East

North

Total

Urban

52.3

60.2

37.7

41.2

191.4

Rural

38.5

45.4

37.3

49.5

170.7

Others

33.4

24.7

28.3

3'.0

117.4

Total

124.2

130.3

103.3

121.7

479.5

(Source: Doordarshan 1999) Advertisers selling products and services appealing to broad target audiences find that by using television they can reach mass markets in a cost-effective manner. This is a major reason that television has become a particularly popular medium among advertisers of mass consumption products. Companies having intensive distribution arrangements for their products such as Hll, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co/ Nirma and OTC remedies etc., use TV advertising to reach large audiences at a relatively very low cost per thousand. Attention: Television commercials are intr..lsive in nature as they are imposed on viewers while watching their favourite programmes and except for those viewers who make a deliberate effort to avoid them, they are exposed to thousands of commercials each year. Those who don't avoid are exposed to many advertising messages and are quite likely to pay some attention. We have already discussed' the muure of low-involvement learning and response process (part - II, Advertising Response Process), which may mean that simply the repetition of ad slogans and jingles on television with moderate to heavy frequency may produce an impact on consumers. Readers can recall the high frequency of some TV commercials, such as those of Baccardi Rum, Axe Deo Spray, and many detergents, etc. Selectivity and Flexibility: A frequent criticism of television as an advertising medium is that it lacks selectivity because it cannot reach a specific target audience. This criticism has only limited value. Television offers some selectivity through regional coverage, broadcast time and programme content Doordarshan's satellite based regional services cater to eight states in the language of the state. 42

Programmes such as Disney Hour, Sunday Disney (Zee TV), Top Gear, Wheels {BBC), Job Shop, Style Police (Channel V) etc., cater to different classes of audience. ESPN, Star Sports and DO Sports are particularly popular among young male population and sports enthusiasts. Doordarshan and Bhaskar TV show educational programmes specially meant for students. IFB Star Sunday Lunch (Star Plus) appeals heavily to homemakers. Advertisers are refining their audience coverage by appealing to groups with specific interests such as news, sports and music etc. Animal Planet (Discovery channel) focuses solely on animal and nature lovers. Commercials can be scheduled to take advantage of festive seasons and special occasions such as Diwali, Christmas, World Cups, Tennis Grand Slams and many other occasions. Men constitute the primary market for Gillette products and for this reason Gillette sponsors during World Series of baseball and advertises heavily. Likewise marketers of famous brands of sports gear sponsor many sports events. .LIMITATIONS Costs: Though television offers unsurpassed creativity and reaches large audiences, it is an expensive medium to advertise. Besides the high cost of media time, the cost of producing good quality commercials is quite high. Readers would recall the cost of 60-second Macintosh commercial during Super Bowl 1984 was $500,000. Besides the airtime costs, considerable costs were involved in producing that the commercial. Even local ads can be expensive to produce and often are not of high quality. High costs associated with TV advertising discourage small budget companies. Lack of Selectivity: Advertisers, who are interested in delivering their message to a very specific, narrowly defined, often small, target audience, find that TV leads to overexposure, reducing its cost effectiveness. For example, it would be difficult to reach only the vegetarian population. Any TV commercial is bound to extend far beyond the target audience. Though, advertisers are attempting to improve selectivity, yet TV still does not offer as much selectivity as radio. magazines, newspapers and direct mail. Short-lived Message: Most TV commercials last for 30 seconds or less and just about a single sales appeal can be presented in this duration. Besides, nothing tangible is left for the audience to examine or consider. The commercial appears 43

to be a fleeting moment in time. Commercials are becomino shorter and shorter because of the increasing demand for a limited amount of broadcast time. Increasing media costs are forcing advertisers to consider shorter commercials as the only way to keep their media costs in line. Advertisers think that by-using shorter commercials they can manage additional spots to reinforce the message or reach a larger audience. Many of them even believe that shorter commercials can deliver an ad message just as effectively as the longer ones at a considerably reduced cost. Clutter: A commercial may face trouble being noticed for a number of reasons such as fleeting messages, shorter commercials, non-programme material presented during commercial break and because the advertiser's message is only one of many other spots. For any TV programme, the number of viewers decreases during commercial breaks. If the number of commercials increases, the viewership decreases for the duration. Advertisers are more interested in placing their commercials during popular TV programmes leading to insertion of many short duration spots and causing more clutter. It is easy to understand why the viewer gets confused or often annoyed and unable to recall or clearly identify the advertised product or service. Limited Attention by Viewers: Buying time on television does not guarantee exposure. It only offers the advertiser an opportunity to communicate the ad message to a large number of audiences. As already mentioned, the size of the programme viewing audience decreases during a commercial break. Viewers move away from the TV set for one or the other reason to avoid seeing commercials. With the increase in the number of commercials, getting the audience to pay attention is becoming an increasingly powerful challenge. Audience members find themselves comfortably armed with remote controls that make zapping and 44

zipping convenient (The reader may refer to Part - IT, Attention, Comprehension, and Recall for detailed discussion). Zapping refers to changing channels to avoid commercials. John J Cronin's observational study found that in the US, as much as a third of programme's audiences may be lost to zapping when commercials appear. Probably, the incidence of zapping in India would not really be very different either.Zipping refers to fast forwarding through commercials as they appear when viewing a previously recorded movie or some other programme. Another study by John J Cronin found that most viewers watching previously recorded programmes fully or partially zipped commercials. Some advertisers are of the opinion that producing different executions of a campaign theme may succeed in holding viewers' attention. Others maintain that the most effective way to combat zapping and zipping is to produce creative advertising messages that will attract and arrest the audience's attention. At best, these approaches seem nothing more than wishful thinking because an increasing number of audience members seem to be developing an aversion toward an ever increasing onslaught of commercials. People primarily watch television because of its entertainment value and not because they 'Vish to be bombarded by commercials. Negative evaluation: Many critics consider TV commercials as being intrusive and consumers are defenseless against the bombardment of ads. TV v;.ewers are in no position to exercise any control on the transmission of message and what becomes visible on their screens. According to Linda F Alwitt and Parul R Prabhakar, audience dislike TV advertising when they believe it to be offensive, uninformative, or shown too frequently, or when they do not like its content. Many people generally distrust TV commercials more than other forms of advertising.

.BUYINGTVTIME Television is not a homogenous medium and reaches a variety of audiences. It is a constant companion to some users, to others it is a source of news or occasional entertainment. It is a complex medium that occupies so much of audiences' time and substantial amounts of advertising money.

There is no strictly uniform method of buying TV time across countries. Television networks mainly function as suppliers of programn:es to local stations. They sell commercial time to offset their costs of buying shows and pay a fee to stations to carry their programming. Buying Network Time: Network television advertising is concentrated among few large advertising agencies and advertisers who spend huge sums of money. There are three basic elements to buying TV network time. Negotiation. There are no rate cards, unlike most other media, for network television advertising. Buying agencies and networks bargain to reach a cost figure for the upcoming schedule. Agency comes to the bargaining table with a fair idea of what level of cost per rating point they can pay, because the difference of just a few rupees per rating point is significant when the agency is buying hundreds of commercials. Networks too have some gross monetary figure in mind for their upcoming schedule. Each party knows that there will be some give and take. These negotiators are quite experienced and know the parameters within which the final deal will be struck. 2. Scatter plans. Networks offer agencies a list of programmes with predicted household and demographic ratings. Agencies are greatly interested in placing the commercials of their clients in the most popular shows that meet the predetermined demographic criteria. The negotiations for highly rated programmes are tough. Similarly, commercials during major sports events command a higher cost. 3. AiJailability. TV commercial time is limited, particularly on highly popular programmes. While negotiating with agencies or advertisers, a major issue for networks is to spread out the select spots in the scatter plans of their largest and most important clients. It is a major exercise because the number of potential advertisers is more than the number of premium spots. A situation may arise that 46

the advertiser wants to buy a spot, but it may not be available. In such situations, the advertiser's total investment on a particular network and the price the advertiser is willing to pay are taken into consideration. Scatter plans allow the networks to reach an agreement with agencies to place commercials across their total schedule, whereby each advertiser has to accept some relatively low rated but demographically acceptable spots in order to get the choice spots. UP-Jrar:~ Buys: Network buying period in US was divided into two distinct periods - up-front buying session, and quarterly scatter buying session. Up-front buying in\'olves the largest network advertisers who plan their media schedules and often purchase TV time as much as a year in advance. Large ad spenders, who use heavy TV advertising, force large agencies to make up-front buys. Upfront buyers are given certain important concessions, such as lower prices and cancellation options. Spot Televi.sion: When national advertisers buy local station time, this is known as spot buys. It is also referred to by other names such as spot advertising, or spot television. J\etv.;ork schedules offer blanket coverage and spot advertising is meant for certain markets covered by the station. There are two types of spot advertisers - those that use spots advertising only and others who use spots to augment their nen-.'ork buys. Some major reasons for using spot advertising are: 1. Inadequate budget for'network or unei1en product distn1mtion. Often some national companies lack the funds to purchase time on national TV basis, and by in:elligent buying of spots in markets where they can get maximum returns, they can compete more successfully in selected areas. Often products have une\"~l distribution and national coverage creates unacceptable waste coverage. 2. . Targeting geographic markets. Brands often do not have a consistent sales pattern in every market. Spot advertising offers the advantage of building local TV weight in markets with most potential and complementing the national advertising effort.

3. Local identity. Audiences in different markets have unique viewing habits and tastes. and nen-.'orks cannot deal with these aspects easily. Some programmes or local nature are often more popular in terms of demographic fit. National ad.\'ertisers, through spot advertising, can more closely identify with the local J:\arket preferences. 4. . Flexibility. Jr, case of network advertising, commitments are made far in advance. Spot buys allow advertisers to react at short notice to changing market conditons. Spot TV can also be used in test marketing and to introduce a product by markets. 5. Syndication: TV advertisers may also reach audiences by advertising on syndicated programmes which are distributed or sold on a station-by47

station or market-by-market basis. 6. Off-network syndication refers to shows which were run on networks and are subsequently bought and run by individual stations. Some examples of such shows are, Home Improvement, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cheers, etc. Firstrun syndication refers to those programmes that are specifically produced for syndication market. Wheel of Fortune, Highlander and Star Trek are examples of first-run syndication shows. All these shows in India were beamed on Cable and Satellite channels. 7. Off-network syndication programmes are very important to local stations as they provide quality shows with an established audience. Syndication is also important to studios that produce programmes and sell to networks. Advertiser supported or barter syndication refers to the practice of selling shows to stations, and in return getting a portion of commercial time in the show with or without some cash payment. The commercial time so gained is sold to national advertisers. The station sells its own portion of time to local and spot advertisers. The audience for such shows is generally rural, and older. Sponsorship: Under this arrangement, advertisers sponsor the shows produced by independent production studios and sold to networks or produced by the networks themselves. For example, 'Reporter,' was a sponsored programme, and 'Kaun Banega Karorepati,' is a sponsored show. Advertisers also sponsor popular movies shown on TV. There are a number of reasons why advertisers sponsor shows on television. Sponsorship allows the advertiser to take advantage of the prestige associated with a high quality programme, benefiting the image of the company and its products. By sponsoring a programme, the advertiser gets more control over the number, placement and contents of its commercials. The high costs of sole sponsorship limit the use of this option to very large spenders only. Participation: Airtime on TV is quite expensive and most advertisers cannot afford the costs associated with sole sponsorship. Most of the network advertising time is sold on participa tion basis and several advertisers buy commercial time or spots on a particular programme. Advertisers have no financial responsibility for programme production costs which are borne by the network or the individual station that sel\s and controls the commercial time. This is particularly advantageous to small budget advertisers. Even larger advertisers do not have long-term commitment to a programme and can spread their budget over a

number of programmes. The disadvantage of this system is that the advertiser 48

may face the problems of availability of spot and any control over the ad placement, because preferential treatment is given to those who commit to numerous spots. Another disadvantage of participation is that when there are too many sponsors, to save on time, the announcer starts rapidly firing the names of different sponsoring advertisers. In such a situation, the confused viewers, probably miss almost all the names.

TIME PERIOD AND PROGRAMMES SELECTION

An important consideration in buying TV time is selecting the right time period and appropriate programme to carry the ad message of the client. Advertisers are more concerned about cost-per-rating-point (CPRP) and not just in terms of the number of spots. A large number of spots over programmes that do no actually translate into target audience do not serve the advertiser's purpose. The cost of television advertising time varies depending on the time of day and the particular programme. These are the two important factors on which the size of the audience depends. TV time is divided into day parts, which constitute specific periods of a broadcast day and vary for different stations and channels. The nature and size of audience attracted varies according to day parts and for this reason the advertising time rates are also different. Certain time segments are classified as "prime time," and draw the largest audiences. The rates for prime time TV are very high compared to other time segments and this day part is dominated by large advertisers. Audience size and their demographic composition also varies depending on the programme. For example, Baywatch is popular among younger male audience, IFB Star Sunday Lunch attracts women of educated, urban middle class. Daytime programmes attract more women and BBC News reach has increased among business decision makers and affluent adults.

In India, cable television is not an organised activity so far, unlike USA where about 80 cable networks reach more than 60 million households. Probably, in India too, cable television will become more organised and a popular medium for advertisers in the coming years. Cable delivers TV signals through wire instead of airways.

Subscribezp of cable TV pay a monthly fee to the cable operator and receive roughly 50 channels, including the local network programmes. Cable TV offers more programme options to the advertiser as well as the viewers such as all news, music, sports, movies, science fiction, comedy, cartoons, health and nutrition, world travel, and youth interest, etc. Many cable systems also carry independent local stations that use satellites to send signals nationally to cable operators who make them available to subscribers. Such superstations also carry national advertising. The most basic advantage of cable TV is its ability to reach more precisely defined specific geographic markets and target audiences. It is also less expensive and offers more flexibility than networks. It costs much less to produce a programme for cable Tv. Audiences of cable TV in the US tend to be younger, more affluent, better educated and with more purchasing power. For example, ESPN is highly popular among advertisers who are interested in male sports enthusiasts, MTV reaches teenagers and young adults. Infomercials are somewhat lengthy commercials, ranging between 3 to 30 minutes, and are commonly used by direct response advertisers on cable TV. Advertisers describe their products or services and encourage consumers to place their orders on telephone during the commercial. Because of its low costs, the medium is quite popular among local advertisers and there is an increasing trend of shifting ad spending fro~ radio, newspapers and magazines to cable TV.

RADIO Radio has undergone considerable changes in the past nearly twenty five years. It used to be the premier mass medium for audiences and advertisers. Families gathered around the radio and tuned to Cibaca Geetmala, Eveready Ke Humsafar, or Vividh Bharati. The voice of Ameen Sayani, I S Johar, Froukh Sheikh and many others thrilled radio listeners. These and other audience entertainment programmes were supported by major advertisers of the day. The audience scenario has undergone a change. In the evenings, most urban households are tuned to television. In the rural areas, nearly 37 per cent population still gets information through radio listening. The well-known radio personality, Ameen Sayani, has commented that TV has not killed radio anywhere in the world. Both TV and radio have advantages and neither can replace the other. Radio can deliver ad messages to a very large number of audiences across the length and breadth of our country. An estimated 104 million households in the country own radios. Akashvani (All India Radio) reaches 97.3 per cent population and coverage by area is 90 per cent. It has 198 stations, 310 transmitters (Medium wave 144, Short wave 55, and VHF 111). External Services Division covers about 100 countries in 26 languages (Indian languages 10, and foreign languages 16). Commercial services of All India Radio include 30 Vividh Bharati centres, 76 local radio stations, and 4 FM metro channels. National channel of All India Radio, started in May 1998, also accepts commercials. Radio time in India is sold in spots of 7, 10, IS, 20 and 30 seconds. The ads are interspersed amongst the programmes, and a spot capsule contains a maximum of 4 spots not exceeding a total of 75 seconds.

ADVANTAGES Radio offers a variety of features to advertisers and many of the medium's characteristics seem to be important to advertisers.

"In some ways, radio listeners act more like magazine subscribers than television viewers. They tend to listen habitually, at predictable times, to stations with narrowly targeted formats. They are loyal, identifiable and cheaper t{J reach than are TV audiences. "

(Rebecca Piirto, "Why Radio Thrives," American Demographics, May 1994, p. 43.) Of all the mass media, radio is believed to be the most personal medium and offers advantages over other media like selectivity, cost efficiency, flexibility and mental imagery. Selectivity: Radio offers a high degree of selectivity through geographic coverage by a large number of stations and various programme formats. More than 70 per cent of Indian population lives in villages and the literacy rates are low. Advertisers can focus their ad messages on specific a~diences who speak different languages in different areas, which otherwise may not be accessible by means of other media. Cost efficiency: Cost advantages are quite significant with radio as an advertising medium. Radio time costs far less than TV and the commercials are' quite inexpensive to produce. They require only a script of the commercial to be read by the announcer, or a prerecorded message that the station can broadcast. Advertisers can uSe different stations to broaden the reach and frequency within a limited media budget. Flexibility: Among all the media, probably radio is the most flexible as it has a short closing period. Radio commercials can usually be produced in a relatively 53

short time and if required, the ad message can be changed almost just before broadcast time. Same ad message can be adjusted in different languages to suit market conditions. Mental Imagery: Radio advertising uses sound, and a major advantage of this situation is that it encourages audiences to use their imagination in creating

images while processing the ad messages. According to Verne Gay, radio can reinforce images crea ted by televisipn commercial through image transfer. In this technique, the same spoken words or jingles are used in radio commercial as on television. For instance, the jingle of "Videocon Washing Machine", or "Washing Powder Nirma" broadcast on radio can create image transfer of ads shown on TV. Image transfer means that when consumers hear the same ad message or jingle on radio, they connect it to the TV commercial and visualise images. Thus, radio and TV ads reinforce each other. LIMITATIONS Like any other medium, radio too has certain limitations. These include lack of a visual element, audience fragmentation, limited research data, limited listener attention, and clutter. These are important factors and media planners must consider them because radio is not an ideal medium for every type of advertising objective. Lack a/Visual Element: The most fundamental problem associated with radio is lack of a visual element. The radio advertiser cannot show or demonstrate the product, or make use of any other visual appeal. As discussed earlier, in creating brand awareness, package identification often is critical for many advertisers considering the increasing number of large retail stores in cities with self-service. In rural markets, where the literacy rates are quite low, package identification plays a major role in brand selection. Audience Fragmentation: Large number of radio stations create audience fragmentation. The number of audience tuned to any particular station is usually quite small. Advertisers who want to reach broad market areas through radio, with language differences, have to buy time on a number of stations reaching specific geographic areas. 54

Limited Research Data: All India Radio has an Audience Research Unit (ARU) to gather data on prime time listening, programme preferences and radio audiences' qualitative assessment of programmes. NRS also collects data on radio audience. However, the research data on radio is limited compared to television, newspapers, and magazines. Limited Listener Attention: It is difficult to attract and retain radio listeners' attention to commercials. Programme switching is frequent among listeners and they often miss all or some of the commercials. Possibilities of distortion in radio

broadcast are high and this irritates the listeners - the result commercials are missed. Clutter: With the increasing intensity of advertising, clutter has become a problem in advertising media, and radio is no exception. Commercial channels carry many ad messages every hour and it is becoming increasingly difficult for ad messages to attract and retain audiences' attention. Much depends on the precision of script writing, accompanying sounds and level of distortion.

FM RADIO CHANNELS

FM broadcast in India started in 1980 and was opened to private producers in mid 1993. It is primarily a music channel (mainly Western) and attracts youngsters from upwardly mobile families. FM broadcast is available in a very limited area (according to Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting figures 1998 -1999, FM stereo service is available in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta and Panji. Jalandhar has FM mono service). A 10- second spot on FM costs between Rs 250 to Rs 750. Most radios in India do not have FM bands, only the expensive ones have this facility. An estimated potential FM audience is about 5 million. Most households with FM sets also own TVs. Maximum number of households with FM sets are in Mumbai and Delhi. Advertisers seem to be cautious and have not shown much enthusiasm in using FM broadcast because reliable audience data is not available.

NEWSPAPERS In the last nearly 200 years, newspapers and magazines have remained a very important mass media for advertising. With the appearance of radio, and subsequently television, there has been some change in the reading habits of people. TV presented a combination of some very desirable characteristics, not offered by any other media, and became a primary source of entertainment, news, and other types of information for a very large number of people. Print media has successfully met the challenge posed by television because it has certain advantages not offered by broadcast media. In spite of tremendous popularity of TV as an advertising medium, newspapers and magazines command a position of significance among advertisers. Newspapers and magazines are an important part of our everyday life and a major source of information for a large number of readers. Newspapers and magazines are available to the masses at a fraction of their cost because advertising revenues from large to small advertisers support them. Without such tremendous advertising support from business firms and others, newspapers and magazines would not survive. The role of newspapers and magazines is different in the media plan of the advertiser than television or radio. They allow the presentation of detailed messages that can be processed at the readers' own convenient pace. According to Herbert E Krugman, newspapers and magazines are high-involvement media, because the reader is generally required to devote some effort in reading the advertising message to have some impact. Television and radio are considered as intrusive because the ads appear and go and the audiences have no control over their pace. Newspapers are the major form of print media and the largest of all advertising media. Newspapers are quite important to national advertisers and are an especially important advertising medium to local advertisers. As of 31 December 1997, the total number of newspapers and periodicals was a whopping 41,705 published in India as compared to 39,149 in 1996. The number of dailies in different languages was 4,719, weeklies 14,734, and monthlies 11,505. 57

Newspapers are published from all states and union territories. The total circulation figure of Indian Press was 10,57,08,191 copies in 1997.

According to the recent readership survey (NRS and IRS 1999 figures differ, hence both are mentioned), the total number of major national and regional/local dailies in 12 Indian languages and English is 117 (IRS), 96 (NRS). Maximum number of dailies is in English - 22 (IRS), 18 (NRS). Second largest figure of

dailies is in Hindi, numbering 26 (IRS), 23 (NRS). In the regional languages, Marathi and Gujrati dailies have the largest number - 23 (IRS), 15 (NRS), and 14 (IRS), 11 (NRS) respectively.

MAGAZINE Magazines published in the latter half of the nineteenth century were targeted towards special interest audiences and carried very little advertising. Most magazines of this time were either literary, or religious in content. Before the advent of radio, magazines were an important advertising medium for many businesses. Magazines are considered as the most specialised of all the advertising media. The magazine industry has often been described as "survival of the discriminating." The number of magazines has increased steadily to serve the educational, informational, entertainment and other specialised needs of consumers, business and industry. There are some general interest magazines with mass appeal such as India Today, Reader's Digest, Olltlook, The Week, and Frontline, but most magazines are targeted at specific interest audience in terms of demographics, interests, activities, lifestyle, or fascination. For example, Femina, Society, Savvy and Women's Era are women's magazines targeted at specific audience segments based on demographics and lifestyle. Business India, Business Today, Business World and Intelligent Investor target audiences interested in business and investment. Availability of a wide variety of magazines makes them quite an appealing medium to a very large number of advertisers. Magazine advertising is equally popular among large and small companies. Their higl1 interest readers are usually willing to pay a premium for the magazines. As pointed out earlier, the role of magazines is different in the media plan of an advertiser. Magazines allow the presentation of detailed ad messages along with beautiful reproduction of photographs, graphics and colours. Magazines are comparatively a more high-involvement form of print medium than newspapers, as they are read in a leisurely manner and are not dumped or thrown after reading as happens in case of newspapers.

Some recent magazine success stories are the result of economic policy changes progressively introduced in India since the early 1990s and include publications

related to business, education and new technologies, such as Computers Today, Chip, Business Today, Business India, A & M, Overdrive, Auto India, and others. According to National Readership Survey 1999 (NRS, IRS), the total number of magazines in 13 languages is 165 (IRS), 108 (NRS). Figure 4.12 presents the number of magazines published in English and some Indian languages.

Number 01 magazines published in 9 languages according to IRS and NRS 1999 Eng.

Hindi Bengali Gujarati

Kannad Malayalam

Marathi

Tamil

elugu

IRS

NRS

English magazines are more in number but circulation figures of Hindi magazines are much higher than English magazines. Region-wise circulation figures of top three English and Hindi magazines

Region-wise circulation 01 lop three English and Hindi magazines English magazines

All India

North

East

West

South

India Today

55.8

17.24

8.3

10.18

20.08

Filmfare

49.6

8.03

9.19

13.3

19.08

Reader's Digest

37.25

6.37

5.47

43.8

8.47

16.94

Hindi magazines 6.19

Saras Salil

80.67

30.68

Grihshobha

67.35

38.89

6.87

21.59

Manohar Kahoniyon

64.07

40.33

8.88

14.86

It is interesting to note that in spite of high circulation figures, all the three Hindi magazines have no worthwhile presence in South Indian states. To deliver the advertising messages through magazines in South India, media planners will have to choose one or more of the magazines published in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, or Kannad Magazines can be classified in various ways but the most important classification can be in terms of their editorial appeal or the type of readership they attract.

MAGAZINES CLASSIFICATION

Consumer Magazines: These magazines are bought and read by general public for entertainment or information. Consumer magazines represent the major part of the magazine industry and attract the largest share of total money spent in magazine advertising. This group of magazines is particularly suited to advertisers who want to reach general consumers of products and services and are also very suitable to reach specific target audiences. The most frequently advertised product categories include cosmetics and toiletries, laundry products, dress materials, fashion garments, consumer durable goods, and business and consumer services. Magazines of this class can also be put under categories, such as. General interest magazines (India Today, Reader's Digest, Frontline, Outlook). Advertising scene in consumer magazines is dominated mostly by large national advertisers but they are also important to smaller firms dealing in specialised products and services such as mosquito repellents, handmade paper, specialised protective lighting equipment for computer users, slimming and beauty care services, etc. Special interest magazines target groups of audience with similar interest or lifestyle and attract advertisers who desire to reach them efficiently with little waste circulation. For example, developers of computer games would do well by advertising in Computer Gaming World. Marketers of herbal beauty care products would find women and glamour magazines more suited for advertising. The editorial content of such specialised magazines is very appropriate in creating a suitable advertising environment for related products and services.

Business Publications: Business magazines incltlde publications such as trade journals meant for specific businesses, industries, or occupations. They are different from consumer publications and are distinguished by the editorial focus. The readership is mainly composed of business managers and executives, businessmen and business schools, etc. Business publications can be grouped in the following categories General business publications . Professional publications Trade publications Industrial publications Institutional Publications There are several business publications focused at different target groups, such as Indian Tradc Joumal, Industrial Product Finder, Purchase, Chemical Product Finder, Fertilizer Joumal of tllc lllstitute of Ellgincers, British Medical Journal, ManagemclJt, Harvard Bushzess Revicw, Fortulle, Data Quest, A & M, Advertising Age, Popular Photography, and many others. The issue frequency ranges from weekly to monthly, or even quarterly. These publications are focused on professional people within a particular field of interest and provide relevant information about occupation, careers, or industry. They are important to advertisers in reaching a precisely defined target market such as decision makers in business and industry. or industrial buyers.

ADVANTAGES Some characteristics are peculiar to magazines and make them very attractive to advertisers as a medium. The advantages include their selectivity, excellent reproduction quality, creative flexibility, permanence, prestige, high involvement of readers and services they offer to advertisers. Selectivity: A major advantage of magazines as a medium is the selectivity or their ability to reach specific target audience. Except for direct mail and Internet, magazines are considered as the most selective of all media. Usually magazines are published for audiences with special interests. For example, within the last few years a number of new magazines have been introduced which are targeted at new interests and trends such as Computer Gaming World, Chip, Computers @ Home, etc. as a result of increasing usage of computers and popularity of electronic games played on computers. Other than interest-based selectivity, magazines offer demographic selectivity and can reach specific target segments because of their editorial content and focus on well defined demographic characteristics. For example, Femina or Women's Era are the magazines mainly read by women. A significantly large number of readers in this category lie in the 25 - 34 age group. Cricket Today, or Sports tar are predominantly read by men. A very high percentage of students in the age group of 19 - 24 read Competition Success Review. Film magazines are read by a large number of teenagers in the age group of 15 - 19 years. Magazines also offer geographic selectivity. Indin Today, Filnifare, Readers' Digest, are read by more people in South India than in the East Indian states. Saras Salil, GrihsJlObha and Manohar Kalzaniyan (see Figure 4. 13) draw a high percentage of readers from Northern region. Geographic selectivity permits the advertisers to target ads in certain cities or regions. Magazines published in South Indian languages have extremely high readership in those states. In India there are

a number of magazines published in regional languages and provide advertisers an excellent medium to reach regional markets. Besides English and Hindi languages, magazines are published in 12 more languages. A number of magazines have high readership figures mainly in urban areas and others have significant readers both in urban and rural areas. National or regional advertisers can use maximum selectivity in reaching markets of their choice through appropriate selection of magazines. National advertisers can use regional language editions to test-market products or alternative advertising campaigns in various regional markets. Reproduction Quality: From the advertisers' point of view, a highly desirable and valued attribute of magazines is the reproduction quality of advertisements. Magazines are generally printed on high quality paper. The printing processes used are modern and provide equally superior reproduction both in colour and black and white. This is quite an important feature for a visual medium like magazines because photographs and illustrations are often a dominating part in ads. The reproduction quality in almost all respectable magazines is far too superior compared to what is offered by newspapers, particularly in colour. Special newspaper supplements are an exception, which are produced on superior

glossy paper. Use of colour in ads is particularly important for advertisers when a product's visual elements are important in creating an impact. Creative Flexibility: Advertisers can take advantage of a great deal of flexibility in terms of the type, size and placement of advertising material in magazines. There are options of special facilities that help advertisers in making the ad more noticeable and readable such as gatefolds, bleed pages and inserts. Multiple-page advertising in magazines takes many forms. The most common advertising of this form uses two page or three page spread and inserts. A spread increases impact. of the message and removes any competition to reader's

attention. Gatefolds is a form of multiple-page insertion and uses a third page that folds out and gives the ad extra large spread. It is used by advertisers to make a striking presentation and are often found at the inside cover of magazines, or on inside pages. BPL has used gatefolds on the inside pages of some issues of Reader's Digest and Chip magazines for its televisions. Raymonds, Canon and Wipro, also have used gatefolds in Reader's Digest. Gatefolds are expensive and must be booked well in advance. Only a limited number of magazines offer the facility of gatefolds as they can add to the bulk of the magazine. In case of bleed pages, the ad extends all the way to the edge of the page without leaving any margin of white space surrounding the ad. Bleed creates an impression about the ad that it is large and produces a dramatic effect. Most magazines charge some extra percentage for bleeds. Other than gatefolds and bleed, creative options through magazines include unusual page sizes and shapes. Occasionally one comes across unique ads that jump off the magazine pages. These are complex three-dimensional pop-up ads that attract reader's immediate attention. Inserts of different types include return cards, booklets, CDs coupons, etc. Taking a cue from magazine advertisers of developed countries, probably the time is not far when magazine advertisements might occasionally include samples of certain products such as fragrances, or deodorants whose scent is important. All these techniques in magazine advertising are attempts to break through the advertising clutter and grab the attention of readers. Perll/allcnce: As mentioned earlier, a limitation of newspapers is that they are generally dumped or thrown after being read. Similarly, TV and radio ads typically deliver fleeting messages that have a very short life span, only magazines are an exception in this regard. People generally read magazines over several days and retain them at home for reference longer than any other medium. Many readers refer to magazines on several occasions and can be exposed to ads

on multiple occasions. Magazines are often read by more family members than one and are also passed on to friends and acquaintances. Magazine reading is less hurried and offers an opportunity to examine any ad more thoroughly. For ads of expensive, complex, risky, or ego-intensive products or services, which are categorised as high-involvement informational or transformational, advertising can use long and detailed copy to communicate effectively with consumers.

Prestige: Some magazines enjoy a very credible and qualitative image among audiences and the product or service advertised in them may gain prestige in consumers' perception. Quite a good number of products and services rely heavily on perceived quality, image and reputation, and for this reason they are advertised in publications that are considered credible and prestigious. High quality editorial content of magazines is recognised as an important element in creating a favourable environment. Reader opinion surveys furnish objective data in this regard but the image and prestige of a magazine largely depends on subjective estimates of media planners based on their experience. The ultimate evaluation of magazines is whether they can deliver the right audience, at the right cost, and in the right environment. RI'.ader Involvement: Readers generally purchase magazines for their information value. The ads furnish additional information about products and services that may prove to be valuable in making purchase decision. The more highly educated a reader, the more thorough is the reading of a magazine. Reader involvement is related to the credibility and content relationship readers develop with their preferred magazines. Unlike ads in broadcast media, magazine ads are non intrusive and the reader can always ignore any of them without effort. Magazines are considered as a more reliable source of information and consumers read ads with interest. Services: Some magazines offer an important service facility of split runs in which two or more versions of an ad are printed in alternate copies of a

magazine's particular issue. This is very helpful to advertisers who want to pretest the comparative ability and effectiveness of two ads in generating the desired response.

LIMITATION As an advertising medium, magazines offer many valuable advantages to advertisers. However, there are also problems that must be considered by media planners. These problems include high costs of advertising, their limited reach and frequency, long lead time for placing the ads and the problem of increasingly heavy advertising competition and clutter. High Costs: Magazines are among the most expensive media on CPM basis and in a valued mass circulation magazine, such as India Today or Reader's Digest, advertising can be quite expensive. Many advertisers use quality magazines as niche supplement in their media schedule. The cost of ad space in magazines varies according to the size of audience they reach and the degree of selectivity. Ad\"ertisers with limited budgets may be interested in the absolute costs of ad space and costs of producing quality advertisements for such publications. Limited Reach and FrequCIIC1j: Quite a few magazines in India (both Hindi and English) have higher circulation figures than English dailies. Magazines published in English have their reach in all the regions. Hindi and some regional language magazines have large circulation but their readership is confined to certain regions only. To reach a broad market area, media planners must make media buys in a number of magazines.

AN EVALUATION OF ADVERTISING MEDIA SPENDING EFFICIENCY USING DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS ABSTRACT

Despite prevalent doubts as to how efficient or optimal advertising may be, it is nonetheless difficult to measure such efficiency or the potential loss of sales caused by the inefficient use of advertising dollars. Consequently, it is vital to measure, maximize, and benchmark the efficiency of advertising media expenditures. This paper evaluates the advertising practices of top U.S. advertisers, using Data Envelopment Analysis. The goal is to identify best practices and to test the efficiency of the advertising in each of three media types: print, broadcast, and the Internet. The results reveal inefficiencies in each area, relative to the money spent by the advertisers, and also show that the efficiency of Internet advertising for these advertisers is less than that for print or broadcast expenditures.

INTRODUCTION The pioneering retailer, John Wanamaker, is famous for the saying attributed to him: “Half of every dollar spent on advertising is wasted; the problem is I just don’t know which half.” For a long time, advertising practitioners have been very aware that their practices might not be as efficient as they had originally theorized (e.g., Aaker and Carman 1982; MacNiven 1980; Simon and Arndt 1980; Tull et al. 1986). Bass’ (1979) observations revealed that much of the spending on advertising is wasted, and that, for some companies, the level of waste could reach up to 407% of the net income. Nonetheless, in 2003, the leading national advertisers increased the level of their advertising expenditures by 9%, to $90.31 billion. Given the huge amounts of money spent on advertising, practitioners are concerned about possible inefficiency in their use of advertising money, about how to uncover such inefficiency, and how to improve the efficiency of their advertising. Since “efficiency” is usually signified by the ratio of outputs to inputs, then, in the realm of advertising, the input can be the advertising media expenditures, and the output, the sales attributed to the advertising expenditure. Despite the widespread belief that the money spent on media advertising is not being used optimally, or perhaps even just efficiently, there has not been developed an easy way to measure possible inefficiency or the potential sales losses due to inefficient use of advertising dollars. Effective means to measure and benchmark the efficiency of advertising media spending need to be developed. As an indicator of the above, one of the world’s most powerful advertising practitioners, Sir Martin Sorrell, recently opined in the Wall Street Journal on the importance of establishing accountability for advertising expenditures (Patrick 2005). In an article entitled, “Econometrics Buzzes Ad World as a Way of Measuring Results,” Sorrell noted that practitioners needed to re-discover econometrics as a way of relating advertising to sales to serve as the foundation of accountability to clients. He noted that the WPP (Wire and Plastic Products) group’s econometric unit had grown from just a few people several years ago to over 200 people today. He was not specific in his statement regarding particular techniques; however, the thrust

of his argument was that rigorous quantitative methods were required to attack the accountability issue. From the late 1960’s to the present, the research efforts to empirically evaluate advertising efficiency and to offer ways to increase that efficiency have been minimal. Previous research on the response to advertising had primarily looked at the shape of the response function (Aaker and Carman 1982; Simon and Arndt 1980; Mesak 1999), the dynamics of advertising effects (Simon 1978), and the interaction of advertising with other promotional mix elements (Winder and Moore 1989; Wildt 1977). In 2001, Luo and Donthu applied DEA – Data Envelopment Analysis – to the question of how to measure the efficiency of the advertising in the traditional media. Developed by management scientists (Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes 1978), DEA is a popular methodology for benchmarking in other fields. It may be the case that DEA is a tool which can help in Sorrell’s call for enhanced advertising expenditure accountability. In a DEA application, the choice of the input and output variables plays a very important role. As Internet advertising has been in constant evolution since its debut in the early 1990’s, it, as well as traditional media advertising, needs to be considered an important input variable. Dou, Nielson, and Tan (2002) suggest that the Internet should be automatically considered part of a company’s strategic media mix. In reality, the Internet is a medium that can work with other consumer touchpoints (e.g., TV, radio, magazines) to achieve marketing goals. Because it is the newest of the media types, however, it is often isolated under a spotlight of the highest intensity, and has not been included in the break-down of advertising spending into print, broadcast, and outdoor, which was commonly used in previous research (e.g., Luo and Donthu’s study 2001). Although the rising popularity of Internet use has created a new channel for advertising – i.e., Internet advertising – there is no publicly available study of which the authors are aware that formally has used the DEA model in the Internet medium environment to assess its effectiveness.

Thus, this study uses recent developments in DEA (Seiford and Zhu 1999; Chatzoglou and Soteriou 1999) to evaluate the top 50 U.S. advertisers’ advertising expenditures in order to identify best practices and the efficiency in each media choice: print, broadcast, outdoor, and the Internet. The primary research questions underlying this study are threefold: (1) What are the best advertising practices among the top advertisers in 2003? (2) What are the inefficiencies of advertising spending in each major medium, including the Internet, relative to the best advertising practices? (3) How can inefficient advertisers enhance the advertising efficiency in their spending for each medium? The purpose of this study is to test the advertising efficiency performance of the top advertisers and, in particular, to address Internet advertising expenditure efficiency.

DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS (DEA) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been proven an effective tool in identifying the empirical frontiers and in evaluating relative efficiency (Zhu and Norwell 2003). The CCR model, the basis for all subsequent developments in DEA, was introduced by Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes (1978). The CCR introduced the generic term ‘Decision Making Units’ (DMUs) to describe the collection of units which have common inputs and outputs and which are being assessed for efficiency (Norman and Stroker 1991). Subsequently, the CCR was modified into other models such as the BDD, AR-DEA, IDEA, AR-IDEA, BCC, etc. (Banker, Charnes, and Cooper 1984; Thanassoulis and Allen 1998; Cooper, Park, and Yu 1999; Kim, Park, and Park 1999). There is a paucity of research, however, on applying DEA to investigating and analyzing efficiency in the marketing areas (Luo and Donthu 2001). The few eminent examples include the study of Boles, Donthu, and Lohtia (1995), who proposed DEA to evaluate salesperson performance. Horsky and Nelson (1996) benchmarked salesforce size and productivity by using DEA. Thomas, Barr, Cron, and Slocum, Jr. (1998) evaluated retail store efficiency, and Donthu and Yoo (1998) assessed the popularity of retail stores with a DEA approach. Luo and Donthu (2001) employed DEA to evaluate traditional advertising spending efficiency. DEA is a linear programming formulation developed by management scientists, based upon economics principles. It is a nonparametric approach for evaluating the efficiency of individual units within a given population. The units, referred to as Decision Making Units (DMUs), may be any set of objects transforming comparable inputs into comparable outputs (Thomas, Barr, Cron, and Slocum, Jr. 1998). For example, DEA may be used to define a nonparametric relationship between multiple media spending inputs and outputs.

Advertisers desire to know how many outputs they are creating for the given inputs; they also desire to know how well they are working on a practical basis, compared to other advertisers in their industry (Luo and Donthu 2001). However, the measurement of advertising efficiency becomes even more difficult when the relative efficiency of these inputs/outputs are considered. The term ‘relative efficiency’ is used because each DMU’s efficiency is estimated relative to other units in the sample (Thomas, Barr, Cron, and Slocum, Jr. 1998, p.489). Advertisers are efficient if no other advertiser or linear combination of advertisers equals or exceeds the quantity of their output (given inputs) or expends as little or less of every input (given outputs) (Farrell 1957). Unlike ordinary econometric analyses, there is no assumption required in DEA of functional form connecting the inputs and outputs. Therefore, each advertiser’s efficiency is calculated relative to that of all other advertisers, the simple restriction being that all the advertisers must lie on or below an “efficient frontier” (Luo and Donthu 2001, p.9). An “efficient frontier” is developed by DEA in the following manner: DEA methodology deals with multiple inputs and multiple outputs and calculates a DMU’s efficiency by determining the minimum possible inputs needed to capture a set of outputs or by determining the maximum possible outputs that can be generated from a given set of inputs (Parsons 1992). The efficient advertisers are set an efficiency score of one, while the inefficient advertisers’ efficiency scores are less than one but greater than zero (Zhu and Norwell 2003).

RESEARCH FRAMEWORK A research framework is constructed to estimate the relative efficiency of advertising campaigns in various media – print, broadcast, outdoor, and the Internet. This study uses advertising expenditure data for the top 50 U.S. advertisers in 2003, obtained from Advertising Age. Advertising Age provides advertising spending on magazines, newspapers, outdoor, TV, radio, and the Internet for the top U.S. advertisers. Print spending includes the spending on magazines and newspapers. The amount of broadcast spending is the aggregation of TV and radio spending. Outdoor estimates and Internet estimates are directly obtainable from the company profile reports of Advertising Age’s leading national advertisers report. This study includes these four variables – Print, Broadcast, Outdoor, and the Internet – as inputs in the DEA analysis. 2

If an increase in a unit’s inputs does not produce a proportional change in its

outputs, then the unit exhibits variable return to scale. This would mean that, as the unit changed its scale of operations, its efficiency would either increase or decrease (Zhu and Norwell 2003). Proposed DEA Model Drawing upon the DEA literature, this study employs a “BCC model,” to which we accord the “input-oriented” objective (Banker, Charnes, and Cooper 1984). The objective of this model seeks to minimize the inputs through linear programming methods; hence, the name “input-oriented.” This study keeps the current empirical level of outputs constant and attempts to minimize the inputs. Variable return to scale2 and input/output slacks are considered. The model is specified as follows:

where DMUjo represents one of the n DMUs under evaluation, and and are the ith input and rth output for DMUo, respectively. And and represent input and output slacks. Andis nonArchimedean, which allows minimization over . By solving model (1), we get optimal solutions of and . If the efficiency scoreequals 1, the current input levels are optimal (efficient), which means that the DMUs are on the efficient frontier. If the efficiency scoreis less than 1, the current input levels are inefficient, which means the DMUs are in the area dominated by the efficient curve. Such an inefficient DMU should reduce the current inputs to the level of its reference sets, represented by. Therefore, it can be determined whether each DMU is efficient or not by solving model (1).

METHOD Data

Advertising expenditure data for the top 50 U.S. advertisers in 2003 were obtained from Advertising Age’s leading national advertisers report. The top 50 advertisers were selected from the 250 largest advertisers, based on media spending in the United States in 2003. However, in the company profiles, only 47 marketers had data of our two output variables – worldwide sales (the total amount of the marketer’s sales in the world) and worldwide earnings (the total amount of marketer’s profits in the world). Thus, the effective sample size for the study is 47. Company profiles are also available from Advertising Age. For 2003, company profiles include Internet advertising expenses as well as print, broadcast, and outdoor. Print spending is the amount aggregated by magazines, Sunday magazines, local magazines, business publications, newspapers, and national newspapers.

Broadcast spending is the summation of network TV, spot TV, syndicated TV, Spanish-language TV, network radio, and national spot radio spending. Data Analysis This study uses four independent variables – print, broadcast, outdoor, and Internet advertising – and employs two variables as outputs – worldwide sales and worldwide earnings – since DEA methodology can simultaneously deal with multiple inputs and outputs. An advertiser’s efficiency is calculated relative to that of all other advertisers, with the limitation that all the other advertisers must lie on or below the efficient frontier. The correlations between each factor (input and output) and all other factors (inputs and outputs) are calculated. The result of this is the ability to identify input factors that are closely correlated to other input factors, and similarly for outputs (Norman and Stoker 1991). It would not be a helpful model that allowed an ‘increase of inputs’ to be reflected in a ‘decrease in outputs’ (Norman and Stoker 1991). Thus, it is worth indicating that the relationship between inputs and outputs should be positively correlated in the DEA analysis (Luo and Donthu 2001).

Table 1 reports the correlation coefficient for the top advertisers in 2003; the table shows a negative correlation between outdoor advertising spending and worldwide earnings. Because of this, the correlation matrix is re-calculated with only three independent variables – print, broadcast, and the Internet. Table 2 reports the correlation coefficients for the top advertisers in 2003 with only the three input variables of print, broadcast and the Internet. All correlation coefficients are positive, making these three types of media spending – print, broadcast, and Internet – eligible for DEA analysis. The same two dependent variables — worldwide sales and worldwide earnings—are employed in the analysis.

Broadcast

Outdoo r

Interne t

Worldwid e Sales

1.00

Broadcast

0.15

Outdoor

0.13

Internet Worldwid e Sales Worldwid e Earnings

Worldwid e Earnings

0.45 0.10 0.21

1.00 0.29

0.33 0.37 0.12

0.30 0.06

0.14

1.00

0.23

1.00

0.29 0.43

1.00 1.00

Table 1. Correlation Matrix of Media Spending (Print, Broadcast, Outdoor, and internet)

Table 2. Correlation Matrix of Media Spending (Print, Broadcast, and Internet) Print Broadcast Interne Worldwide Worldwide t Sales Earnings Print 1.00 Broadcast 0.15 1.00 Internet 0.45 0.33 1.00 Worldwide Sales 0.10 0.37 0.29 1.00 Worldwide 0.21 0.12 0.23 0.43 1.00 Earnings The data analyses require three steps: DEA analysis, congestion analysis and slack analysis. First, DEA analyses were performed to obtain efficiency scores for the top 47 advertisers in 2003. The results provide the efficiency scores for all companies, based on each company’s combination of inputs and outputs, compared to those of the others in the sample. Efficient DMUs all receive scores equal to one in the DEA analysis (Thomas, Barr, Cron, and Slocum, Jr. 1998). As a result, 13 advertisers were identified as efficient, and 34 advertisers were identified as inefficient. General Electric Co., Merck & Co., Home Depot, Microsoft Corp., AT&T Wireless, Novartis, Estee Lauder Cos., IBM Corp., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Cendant Corp., ConAgra Foods, Yum Brands, and Wal-Mart Stores were identified as efficient with a 100 percent efficiency score (or an efficiency score of one). The least efficient company is Walt Disney Co., ranked as the seventh-largest advertiser, based on

total U.S. advertising spending in 2003, whose efficiency score is 13.83 percent. Figure 1 presents a view of the distribution of efficiency scores for all 47 companies. Figure 1. Score Distribution Window

Figure 2. Reference Comparison for Walt Disney Co.

Figure 2 displays the various inputs and outputs bars to represent the use by the displayed unit (Walt Disney Co.), and the reference unit. The values of the Walt Disney Co. are displayed as whites, and they always scale to 100%, so that the relative use is more obvious. The reference unit is shown as black bars. The reference unit is the efficient unit that has the most similar input/output orientation to the inefficient unit and therefore provides examples of good operating practices for the inefficient unit to emulate (Zhu and Norwell 2003). As shown in Figure 2, all the inputs and outputs are very different. There may be a considerable problem in the advertising strategy of Walt Disney Co. in terms of Internet advertising and traditional media advertising. Second, to get the input congestion, the input congestion liner programming was executed by DEA Excel Solver (Zhu and Norwell 2003). Input congestion refers to reducing the level of an input, while holding other inputs constant, to improve one or more outputs. This is an economic concept that has been researched extensively (e.g., Byrnes et al. 1984). Input congestion could boost efficiency, because reduction of the input would result in a higher relative output. In the advertising efficiency context, if broadcast advertising, for instance, is found to be congestible for a particular advertiser, a reduction of the congestible amount of the broadcast expenses could bring in more sales. Seiford and Zhu (1999) originally

proposed that input congestion could be determined by solving a DEArelated linear programming problem, which is also used in this study. The input congestion results for the 34 inefficient advertisers are reported in Table 3. It appears that four companies could congest on print media; three companies could congest on broadcast, and five companies could improve advertising efficiency through input congestion on Internet advertising. Overall, the 34 inefficient advertisers among the top 47 advertisers were less efficient with Internet advertising than with the other media – print and broadcast. DEA provides not only the efficiency results but also slack analysis, by which guidelines for the optimum level of media spending can be derived for each marketer. That is, each advertiser could have its media spending set up at the optimum level – the original level minus the inefficient and slack amounts from DEA results (Luo and Donthu 2005). Table 4 reports the results of slack analysis. The slack entries are positive, implying that advertising spending in various media is in excess, compared to the efficient advertisers. The slack analysis suggests that many of the advertising expenditures could have been reduced while maintaining the same outputs – worldwide sales and worldwide earnings in this case – thus improving the advertising efficiency. For example, Federated Department Stores would have to cut down $2.3 billion in print media, $68 million in broadcast media and $7 million in Internet spending, and still obtain the same worldwide sales and worldwide earnings in order

to be called an efficient advertiser, when compared to the other 46 advertisers in the sample.

Table 3. Input Congestion Analysis for the 34 Inefficient Advertisers DMU DMU Name 1 General Motors Corp. 2 Procter & Gamble Co.

Print 0.00000 0.00000

3 4 5 6 7 8

Time Warner Pfizer DaimlerChrysler Ford Motor Co. Walt Disney Co. Johnson & Johnson

0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Sony Corp. Toyota Motor Corp. Verizon Comm. Sears, Roebuck & Co. GlaxoSmithKline SBC Communications McDonald's Corp. Unilever Altria Group Nissan Motor Co.

0.00000 0.00000 1283609035.52 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000

Broadcast Internet 0.00000 0.00000 851309200.2 0.00000 0 0.00000 23393303.23 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 266367125.1 0.00000 3 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000

19 20 21 22

Viacom L'Oreal PepsiCo Honda Motor Co.

0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

Nestle 0.00000 Target Corp. 783807095.71 Sprint Corp. 1917274939.05 News Corp. 0.00000 General Mills 0.00000 Hewlett-Packard Co. 0.00000 Best Buy Co. 0.00000 Wyeth 0.00000 Anheuser-Busch Cos. 0.00000 Diageo 0.00000 Federated Dept. Stores 1910475800.85 American Express Co. 0.00000

0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 124377556.3 2 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000

0.00000 0.00000 8857692.94 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 230474.71 0.00000 200231.37 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 299622.84 0.00000

Table 4.Slack/Inefficiency for the 34 Inefficient Advertisers

DMU 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

DMU Name General Motors Corp. Procter & Gamble Co. Time Warner Pfizer DaimlerChrysler Ford Motor Co. Walt Disney Co. Johnson & Johnson Sony Corp. Toyota Motor Corp. Verizon Comm.

Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Print Broadcast 3210217000.00 1195064000.00 1075260155.38 519736978.85 1056339403.07 189219227.08 467192000.00 602680999.99 802890000.00 676255999.99 2221166999.99 797748000.00 904702790.78 134843590.14 3159644812.43 433079789.51 1449442845.32 247996706.16 3713530000.00 547205999.99 1491911520.97 256971741.37 1 1146672106.22 226301154.07

Internet 47977999.99 12468495.16 7364882.10 11798000.00 21760000.00 25773000.00 5378577.29 11227802.05 12775758.97 47895999.99 10643205.19 7820941.87

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

GlaxoSmithKline SBC Communications McDonald's Corp. Unilever Altria Group Nissan Motor Co. Viacom L'Oreal PepsiCo Honda Motor Co. Nestle Target Corp. Sprint Corp. News Corp. General Mills Hewlett-Packard Co. Best Buy Co. Wyeth Anheuser-Busch Cos. Diageo Federated Dept. Stores American Express Co.

2040260000.00 4495749999.99 242750000.00 1151178628.95 4032249999.99 2696219999.96 1068137274.57 2829639999.99 750773214.47 1480185305.86 1317300000.00 1316810083.77 1926788576.08 816810066.80 372539983.48 3173469999.96 1247629925.23 656690000.00 451700000.00 834610000.00 2351097168.10 1602300000.00

414817000.00 518511000.00 500029000.00 337748010.24 367324000.00 588678999.99 108330979.82 296857000.00 398339105.80 335880885.30 282627999.99 174947241.81 219245243.08 128501447.22 375832502.05 124918000.00 70534605.97 210035000.00 300084000.00 54623000.00 68592981.83 125014000.00

14067000.00 12529000.00 1125000.00 4910511.42 26639999.99 5053000.00 7027034.96 2442000.00 7951455.80 7265164.85 7027000.00 9976443.94 4174164.78 6389544.98 3150844.43 42309000.00 11521165.75 8801999.99 3732000.00 5240999.99 7347918.86 14369999.99

Figure 3 is a pie chart showing the relative percentages of potential improvement for each advertising media channel spending. This is achieved by adding up the potential for improvement for each unit. No weightings are applied. If a variable’s slice of the pie is large, then it is something which has a lot of potential improvement, and is worth investigation. In the present analysis, Internet advertising is worth investigating and offers an area where there is potential for improvement.

CONCLUSION A firm undertakes advertising to improve its sales and/or profits. Nonetheless, numerous marketing scholars have theorized the possibility of inefficiency in advertising expenditures (Aaker and Carman 1982; Bass 1979; Simon and Arndt 1980). The present study offers DEA – Data Envelopment Analysis – a widely accepted management technique, to calculate and benchmark the efficiency (or lack thereof) in advertising spending. The special merits of the DEA technique are that it is capable of handling multiple inputs and multiple outputs, and that it calculates the efficiency of advertisers relative to each other. The current study analyzes the advertising expenditures of top U.S. advertisers in the three areas of print, broadcast, and the Internet, and determines the capability of each of the

advertisers to generate sales and profits, relative to their expenditures. The overarching results indicate that some inefficiencies are indeed present. Overall, the Internet advertising efficiency of the top advertisers is lower than that for either print or broadcast advertising. This study incorporated two recent innovations in DEA – input congestion and slack analysis. Since the most important consideration in DEA application is the selection of input and related output variables (Donthu and Yoo 1998), the choice of which advertising channel is the input variable is important to DEA analysis. So far, however, no media study has adopted the DEA model to address the efficiency of advertising in the Internet medium environment. It is meaningful that Internet advertising is included in the present DEA analysis, because Internet advertising has become one of the major advertising channels. However, there has been a lack of attempts to empirically investigate the efficiency of Internet advertising through application of the method employed in this study. This study finds that the selected top 47 advertisers were less efficient on Internet advertising than on other media – print and broadcast. The outcomes of this DEA analysis provide useful information on how the media spending and sales/earnings should be adjusted to transform inefficient advertisers into efficient advertisers for the Internet medium as well as traditional media. In sum, this advertising efficiency analysis holds the promise of advertisers being able to assess Internet advertising performance, as well as that of traditional media advertising, and then to take steps to improve that performance.

Advertising Analysis PICTURE-BASED ADVERTISEMENT ANALYSIS

The advertisement chosen is for Wedding Stationery. The only text in this advertisement is located at the top of the page and reads "Make an Impression". It is the image chosen that is important.

The background is all black, and then there is a daisy with one petal plucked but still in the picture. The daisy is white, which perhaps is to make a reference to purity and innocence, since the daisy is a simple, innocent flower, and the beauty of the flower represents the feminine beauty. The flower is put in the center, in focus, just as the female wedding participant is the "object of attention", the object of the male gaze (M. Corston-Oliver; "The ‘white wedding’: Metaphors and advertising in bridal magazines"). The black background then is a contrast to the white daisy, quite the opposite. This could possibly symbolize the immorality of not getting married, of "living in sin". The black and white image serves as a representation of opposites, such as black and white, yes and no, good and bad. Black and white are also the traditional colors of a wedding, white as the wedding dress and black as the groom’s suit.

Children are often used as symbols of innocence. The daisy reminds us about what children do, they pluck the petals off the daisy one by one counting "he/she loves me, he/she loves me not" to see which of the two statements the final petal carries. This is supposed to tell whether in fact the person in question is in love or not. It is a childish, innocent little game, but it carries deeper implications.

Advertising Analysis Media employ specific techniques to construct believable stories. They hook our attention through psychological devices and technical effects. The techniques are vast and many, but some common ones are easily recognizable and are identified here. Remember, advertisers will use many techniques not listed. Add to this list as needed.

Technical effects: Camera angles enhance perspective, such as low angles that give the subject power. Close-ups provide emphasis. Sound effects animate products, giving them emotion. Mise-en-scene (set and setting inside camera frame) creates cultural and ideological context. Is the set a concert, a mansion, a shopping mall? Accessories enhance the product. What's being associated with the product, such as clothes, props, models? Lighting is used to draw your eye to certain details. Happy and attractive people are made-up and constructed to enhance the message. What kinds of people are in the ad? Music, popular songs and jingles create pneumonic devices to program or trigger your memory (some songs are used for nostalgic reasons, while others are used to cross promote products, i.e. cars and Moby's latest album). Products are sold using three main emotions: fear, sex and humor. (See below for more examples). Ads appeal to our emotions through emotional transfer and are rarely dependent on intellectual analysis. Special effects bring inanimate things to life and make them exciting.

This is especially true with children-targeted ads. Editing is used to pace and generate excitement. Notice how military and video game ads have very fast cuts, usually a scene change every second.

Common Attention-Getting Hooks: Emotional Transfer is the process of generating emotions in order to transfer them to a product. For example, a Coke ad shows happy, beautiful people but tells us nothing about the product. The point is to make you feel good and to transfer that feeling to the brand or product. This is the number one and most important process of media manipulation.

Sex sells, without exception. Fear messages are directed at our insecurities, such as "no one will like you if you have dandruff," or "bald people are losers." This is a very common technique and extra attention is required to resist these messages.

Symbols are easily recognized elements from our culture that generate powerful emotions, such as flags and crosses.

Humor is often used because it makes us feel good and is more memorable. Notice how the majority of Super Bowl commercials are funny.

Hype, don't believe it. Be skeptical of exaggerated claims, such as "America's favorite burger." Statements like these are meaningless and vague, but sound good.

Fitting In is a very common technique that tries to influence us by stating that if everyone else is buying the product, so should you. This is often seen in beer commercials, which promotes a "big lie" that everyone drinks (alcoholics are the main consumers of alcohol).

Cute. Children and animals always steal the show. Family and “girl next door” also fit this category.

Vague Promises like "might," "maybe," and "could" are red herrings that divert our attention. "Super Glue may heal cuts better than bandaids," sounds absurd, but you will often hear claims as preposterous as this and it would still be true (because it can't be disproved).

Testimonials are statements by people explaining why certain products are great. Famous or plain folk, or actors can do them. This is more powerful when someone we really like or respect endorses a product (such as Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan). “Beautiful” people are usually used to glamorize merchandise, especially unhealthy products like alcohol, tobacco and junk food. Models and actors generally have rare body types, and don't represent average people, but idealized notions of beauty that are constantly changing (compare, for example, Marilyn Monroe's body to a contemporary actress or model).

Famous People such as Michael Jordan make products appealing and attractive through association.

Ordinary People are people that might be like you or me. This is common in ads that stress community or family, like Wal-Mart.

It's Easy. Simple solutions are often used to convince us that a product will solve our problems, such as "bald spot hair spray will get you a date," or "doorknob disinfectant wipes keep us healthy." Larger ideological messages are common as well, such as "cars enable us to conquer nature."

Macho is generally used to appeal to males, but not exclusively. It demonstrates masculinity and male stereotypes; these are common in military and tobacco ads.

Femininity is another gender stereotype used in a variety of ads, from teen make-up commercials to alcohol ads.

Repetition is done to reiterate a sales pitch over and over again, like the phone ads that repeatedly display and annunciate the phone number to access their service (for example the Carrot Top ATT ads).

Big Lies are exaggerated promises that are impossible to deliver, such as, "This is America's best all-whether vehicle" (also see hype). More subtle examples include "eating Sugar Corn Flakes will make you as strong as an Olympian."

Exotic. This is the appeal of the “other"; it could be a beach location,tribal person, something strange or unknown. This is often meant to hook you through presenting something that is out of the ordinary or beyond our everyday experience.

Flattery is used to make you feel good about you as a consumer and that you are making the right choice when you chose a product. "Smart people like you always buy premium aquariums when purchasing exotic fish…"

Social Outcasts generally represents a put-down or demeaning comment about a competing product or cultural group. This is not limited to ads, but is common in propaganda as well ("they don't believe in God," etc.).

Free Lunch offers you something in addition to the product such as "buy one, get one free" or tax cuts. Freebies constantly hook us, but there are always hidden costs. Rarely is a thing truly free.

Surrealism. Commercial media employ some of the brightest minds of the media world and often require cutting edge artists to keep their material fresh (e.g. MTV). Often, as a reflection of how unreal the fantasy world of media is, you will see juxtapositions and dream-like imagery that make no sense because the advertiser is trying to get your ttention by presenting something strange and different.

The Good Old Days. Images, fashion, film effects and music depicting specific eras or subcultures are meant to appeal directly to the demographic represented in the ad (e.g. VW bus, classic rock music, sepia tone effects).

Culture. Niche marketing is more common as advertisers hone their messages for specific cultural groups. Latino-targeted ads, for instance, might have family scenes or specific uses of language.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc.

Theme: Am I missing out? Target Audience: Professionals, Business Community-at-large Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the Community Engagement and LifelongLearning Center (CELL) at UVI provides lucrative options to professionals seeking advanced professional training. Key Message: With advanced professional training, it’s possible to improve your employment status and overall outlook. Description: Stock photography is used here; however, CELL students and participants can be used as well. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: These brand materials can be placed in local Territory business publications, federal publications, employee publications, and souvenir journals, as well as select San Juan print publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory and Puerto Rico. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Successful People Target Audience: Professionals, Business Community-at-large Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning Center (CELL) at UVI provide lucrative options to professionals for advanced professional training. Key Message: Regardless of your professional/personal interest, the Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning Center (CELL) has advanced professional training options for everyone. Description: Stock photography is used here; however, CELL students and participants can be used as well. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: These brand materials can be placed in local Territory business publications, federal publications, employee publications, and souvenir journals, as well as select San Juan print publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory and Puerto Rico. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Imagine how good life could be with more training! Target Audience: Professionals, Business Community-at-large Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning Center (CELL) at UVI provide lucrative options to professionals or advanced professional training. Key Message: By thinking strategically and proactively about your life’s goals, the Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning Center (CELL) has advanced professional training options for everyone. Description: Stock photography is used here; however, CELL students and participants can be used as well. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: These brand materials can be placed in local Territory business publications, federal publications, employee publications, and souvenir journals, as well as select San Juan print publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory and Puerto Rico. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Grooming businesses to take on the world Target Audience: Professionals, Small Businesses, Business Community-atlarge Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that UVI’s Small Business Development Center is a tremendously valuable resource to small businesses. Key Message: UVI’s Small Business Development Center’s services help small businesses grow and prosper. Description: Stock photography is used here; however, CELL students andparticipants can be used as well. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: These brand materials can be placed in local Territory business publications, federal publications, employee publications, and souvenirjournals, as well as select San Juan print publications. Radio spots can beplaced on local radio stations in the Territory and Puerto Rico. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced.

Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Sometimes the best businesses come in small packages. Target Audience: Professionals, Small Businesses, Business Community-atlarge. Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that UVI’s Small Business Development Center is a tremendously valuable resource to small businesses. Key Message: UVI’s Small Business Development Center is committed to growing small businesses. Description: Stock photography is used here; however, CELL students and participants can be used as well. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: These brand materials can be placed in local Territory business publications, federal publications, employee publications, and souvenir journals, as well as select San Juan print publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory and Puerto Rico. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Your success is our passion Target Audience: Professionals, Small Businesses, Business Community-atlarge Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that UVI’s Small Business Development Center is a tremendously valuable resource to small businesses.

Key Message: This testimony from an existing business owner ommunicates that UVI’s Small Business Development Center is effective in grooming small businesses. Description: Stock photography is used here; however, CELL students and participants can be used as well. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad.

Media Placement: These brand materials can be placed in local Territory business publications, federal publications, employee publications, and souvenir journals, as well as select San Juan print publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory and Puerto Rico. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: A Legacy of Leadership Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the University of the Virgin Islands has a stellar legacy in producing leaders while grooming students in a unique tropical setting. Key Message: UVI alumni enjoy success in a number of professions and are proven leaders in their disciplines. Description: Stock photography is used here, but photos of successful alumni can be substituted or used in conjunction with stock photography. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Heritage

Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the University of the Virgin Islands is proud of its heritage in educating minority students as well as its rich legacy of being a historically black college and university. Key Message: UVI is among the many elite historically black colleges and universities. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Proud to be at an HBCU Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the University of the Virgin Islands is proud of its heritage in educating minority students as well as its rich legacy of being a historically black college and university. Key Message: UVI is among the many elite historically black colleges and universities. .Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations.

Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Embrace the one-of-a-kind Virgin Island lifestyle Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the University of the Virgin Islands is about PLACE: higher education in an extraordinarily beautiful location. This ad showcases UVI’s diversity, appealing to the Caucasian market. Key Message: UVI offers a unique educational experience in a tropical setting. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: “I deserve it!” Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To speak to the soul of the individual who feels that he/she needs, deserves and can acquire a superior education in spite of life difficulties and hardships.

Key Message: UVI’s financial aid department is a valuable resource to all students in need of assistance. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: What does it take to make a family’s dream come true? Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To speak to the soul of the individual who feels that he/she needs, deserves and can acquire a superior education in spite of life difficulties and hardships. Key Message: Be the first in your family to receive a college degree Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: I’m on a mission

Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that students must go beyond getting a high school diploma to become successful in today’s market place. Key Message: UVI offers a quality education in a competitive college setting. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Location! Location! Location! Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the University of the Virgin Islands is about PLACE: higher education in an extraordinarily beautiful location. Key Message: UVI offers a competitive educational experience in a unique tropical setting. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced.

Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Thinking about going to college! Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To address the group of students who are seeking a college degree and to invite them to consider attending UVI. Key Message: UVI offers a competitive educational experience in a unique tropical setting. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Take in some rays Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To demonstrate that the University of the Virgin Islands is about. PLACE: higher education in an extraordinarily beautiful location. This ad showcases UVI’s diversity, appealing to the Caucasian market. Key Message: UVI offers a competitive educational experience in a unique tropical setting. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad.

Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: My experience at UVI Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To personalize the unique educational experience at UVI. Key Message: UVI offers a competitive educational experience where you can build lifelong friendships and relationships. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

Advertising Analysis Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: Where can I find out about scholarships? Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, alumni, corporations, general community. Language: English Strategy: To address a subject matter that is near and dear to practically every college student: financial aid and scholarships. Key Message: UVI’s financial aid department is a valuable resource to all

students in need of scholarship information and financial assistance. Description: Select lifestyle photos of UVI students are used here, complemented by stock photos. 30-second radio spots and outdoor billboard/banners complement this print ad. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting. ADVERTISING ANALYSIS Produced By: Sahara Communications Inc. Theme: College Student Check-List Target Audience: Students, prospective students, parents of potential students, two-year college students, general community. Language: English Strategy: To reach the “Every-student” by calling attention to their everyday lifestyles and habits. This ad will be easily relatable to the EchoBoomer generation. Key Message: Everyday experiences go hand-in-glove with a college lifestyle. Description: A stock photo is used here, but photos of a UVI student can easily be substituted. Media Placement: This print ad can be placed in publications such as Blacks in Higher Education, The Education Highway, Ebony, JET, VIBE, The Source, New York Times, Washington Post, Black Enterprise and local publications in the Territory as well as Puerto Rico and other Eastern Caribbean island publications. Radio spots can be placed on local radio stations in the Territory as well as on nearby Eastern Caribbean island radio stations. Notes: The use of one picture keeps the print ad uncluttered and balanced. Pantone colors are taken from the UVI “Brand Identity Style Guide.” They are bold, commanding and inviting. The print and radio ad themes are short, balanced and attention getting.

RECOMMENDATIONS

 Advertising should be used by every company to create an awareness of the product.  The new product launched by the company should invest huge amount on advertising to capture the market.  Advertising rating methods should be used to find out the efficiency of advertising.  Some times advertisement creates a negative impact over the product and hence it should be taken care of.  There are many medias through which advertising can be done but the appropriate media should be adopted.  The cost involving the media of advertising should be taken into consideration to increase profit.  Advertising through inappropriate media will increase the chance of loss.  Advertising does not always increase sales of the product which should be kept in mind.  TV advertisement is costly but showing more effective than other medias.  Internet is now also used as a media for advertising and is a growing media.  Advertising industry is growing at a high rate and could succeed if it produce good advertisements.  The advertising agencies have to handle competition through good ideas .  There are many limitations of advertisements which should be taken care of.

CONCLUTION

Advertising is big business and ranks among the top industries of the world along with oil, automobiles, information technology and agriculture. Advertising has gained much attention because it is the best known and most widely discussed form of promotion and a very important promotional tool. There are several reasons for this. It can be a very cost-effective method to reach a large audience. It can also be used to create images and build symbolic meanings for a company or brands. It is an important feature for companies dealing in products or services that are difficult to differentiate on functional attributes. Advertising for Marlboro cigarettes has used the cowboy to create and sustain a masculine image for the brand. It is considered as one of the most successful campaigns in the history of marketing and has made Marlboro one of the most popular brands of cigarettes in the world. The role of advertising depends on how much importance is attributed to advertising relative to other promotion mix elements in the company's marketing programme. This would be determined by considering various factors such as consumer behaviour, competitive situation and product category etc. Television is believed to be the most authoritative, influential and exciting medium. It is often said that television is the ideal medium for advertising because of its ability to combine visual images, sound, motion and colour. Though television offers unsurpassed creativity and reaches large audiences, it is an expensive medium to advertise. In the rural areas, nearly 37 per cent population still gets information through radio listening. FM broadcast is available in a very limited area .Most radios in India do not have FM bands, only the expensive ones have this facility.

LIMITATIONS

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It is always not possible to find and analyze the whole thesis from this perspective.

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Since the thesis has been done on secondary data so the accuracy level may not be perfect.

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I tried to cover as much as possible but some part may be missed due to lack of knowledge.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books: • Marketing Management by Phillip Kotlar Past survey reports. Magazines: • Business World • Business India • Business Today • Pitch • Career Economy • Business & Economy by IIPM Newspaper: • Business Standard • Economic Times • The Hindu Libraries: •

IME Library

Websites: • • •