LO1: Task One: purpose & impact of advertising

LO1: Task One: Purpose and impact of advertising

Purpose of advertising

• To sell and promote products – advertising is an opportunity for businesses/companies to grab the attention of potential customers.
• To inform and create awareness e.g. NHS anti-smoking campaign adverts. The NHS advert presents facts that help to create awareness to smokers and their loved ones. Businesses/companies use advertising as a marketing tool in order to create awareness of their product and therefore make a profit from sales. They are able to inform the public about their brand and any new products they may be promoting.
• To increase the awareness of a business & its brand image – Many businesses create catchy brand logos or slogans in order to create memorable images and slogans that their audience will remember. Each brand has to fight against others in order to come on top and be the best product from a certain range.
• To generate and encourage sales in order to gain profit – Many businesses provide advantageous promises, offering freebies or rewards for their customers as an incentive. An example of this is Compare the Market (a search engine), who offer a free toy to people who buy their insurance, this helps generate and encourage sales.
• To create a loyalty bond between the consumer and the brand – an example of this is Compare the Market. Compare the Market’s campaign has featured animated meerkats in more than 16 adverts. The appeal of the characters is that they have their own identity, live in human houses and have human traits. Over this series, the audience learn more about them, get to know and begin to like their characters. The scenarios are entertaining and the audience begin to pick our favourite meerkat. The opportunity to get a stuffed toy of their favourite is very appealing and has been a successful marketing tool.
• Consumers have a choice – consumers are given a choice of products. They can align themselves to a particular brand. For example: facial moisturisers are produced by a number of companies, a consumer who wants a ‘quality’ product or wants to be considered wealthy may pick a Lancôme brand as opposed to Boots own brand. Lancôme have a brand image which projects ‘quality’, ‘models use it’ and it’s posh; you have to be wealthy to buy it

Impact of advertising
Vance Packard (1960) memorably said:
"The cosmetic manufacturers are not selling lanolin, they are selling hope ... we no longer buy oranges, we buy vitality. We do not just buy an auto, we buy prestige."

• It influences the consumer’s interest in the product or public information that is being advertised – strategic language and imagery are used in adverts to help point out strengths of the product or scheme that’s being advertised. These conventions can influence purchasing decision.
• Raises awareness in brands or topics of discussion for example 'Think' for alcohol awareness
• It can change or adjust an individual’s shopping habits – some products may show statistics of how good the product is. Also, many products include awards they have received e.g. ‘which best buy’.
• It can cause word of mouth – some adverts entertain people, this can lead to people passing on the name of the brand or its products.
• Recognition of a brand or product – products that are entertaining, include catchy slogans and good music.

Unilever

This is a successful organisation, which was founded in the 1890's William Hesketh Lever for his First idea sunlight soap. The company produces a huge range of products and sells worldwide.
http://www.unilever.co.uk/

Here are some of their successful brands:

Advertising Standards Agency (ASA)

The Advertising Standards Agency is the UK’s regulating body for all advertisements and is on the side of the consumers. This agency will take action on behalf of the public if the advert is shown to misrepresent or mislead, they will review and respond to complaints. They also, take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements taking the general public as priority. They judge advertisements on the basis of the UK advertising codes; if the advertisements have breached the UK advertisement codes they are withdrawn. All adverts are passed through this regulatory body before being broadcast.

                                                   

Ofcom

Ofcom is an organization that regulates everything that is broadcasted to the general public such as media from TV and radio. Ofcom is for the benefit of the public and is not for commercial purposes. Ofcom protects the general public from scams and harm. All adverts have to adhere to the Ofcom rules, for example: adverts are not allowed to cause offence. Compare the Market was accused of mocking the accents of Eastern European people, the complaints were investigated but not upheld. Ofcom did not find the adverts racist as accused; the adverts were not withdrawn and Compare the Market continue to use the much loved Meerkat characters.

BBC: The BBC is a unique channel, as it does not broadcast any adverts. Advert revenue is used to fund channels and pay their costs; the BBC is funded by the public through the TV License, therefore there is no need for this channel to show commercial adverts. The other channels hugely rely on the revenue from adverts; this is why they are shown every 10 – 15 minutes for 3 - 4 minutes throughout the day. Advertisers will pick a particular time slot during a specific programme to target their audience. For example: during Loose Women (ITV – 10.30am)