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The saying, "it pays to advertise," still holds true today.
Advertising not only helps to sell goods and services, but it also creates a
demand for new products. The competition among big producers in the home
computer industry is a prime example of this. Advertising is a vital part of
modern society, and its development can be traced back at least three
centuries to the publication of early journals like The London Gazette,
Tatler, and Spectator in England. Advertising began on a local basis, and as
the factors like mass-production, rail communication, transport, and
printing developed, it expanded to a national and international level.
Advertising is everywhere the public goes: on walls, shop fronts, hoardings,
railway stations, buses, business vehicles, and more.
However, the overkill of advertising can be counterproductive. People get
fed up with being over-pressurized, especially intelligent individuals. The
effectiveness of advertising depends on the assessment of the consumer's
motivation for buying a product and a direct or indirect appeal to that
motivation. The soft sell works best when appealing to the very rich. In
contrast, the hard sell becomes counterproductive for intelligent
individuals. Most Western advertising works in a competitive market, where
the variety of brands is matched by the consumer's power of choice.
The creation of human motivation is another technique used by advertisers.
In a market with poverty, the only effective appeal is based on cheapness,
reliability, and product effectiveness. For mixed or affluent communities,
the field is wide open. Most people know that a small group of products is
the best in their field, and advertising merely keeps them in the public
eye. Apeing celebrities is another line of attack that works, and if a
famous heavyweight uses a particular deodorant or a great actress a
particular shampoo, good sales result. Snobbery also plays a role in the
effectiveness of advertising, and it still works as people tend to mimic the
behavior of their affluent neighbors. Comic ads amuse some, repel others,
but in either case, people keep the brand name in mind.
However, there are countless ways of disobeying the spirit, if not the
letter, of the law. Most countries today have a statutory body that seeks to
maintain advertising to certain basic standards. Ads must be morally decent,
truthful, and legal. The advertising of foodstuffs has been improved by the
introduction of 'sell by' dates and statements of contents. Subliminal
advertising has rightly been banned.
In conclusion, advertising is big business, and advertising firms employ
some of the best minds in their respective fields. The effectiveness of
advertising depends on the product and the target audience. However,
advertisers must ensure that their ads meet certain basic standards, and
overkill should be avoided. When used effectively, advertising can sell
goods and services, create demand, and keep a brand name in the public eye. |
