There is no wonder that the annual average rate of growth of advertising is much higher than that of the economy. When you are out in the city, huge expensive billboards on the bustling avenues of towns grip your heart and mind through their catching imaging and text. These impressions repeatedly haunt you wherever you go (office, home or socializing) through the print and electronic media. The communication explosion has invaded every home, office or the public place with its message of consumption to promote purchasing habits. This is a healthy motivation for economy in a sense that excessive spending is a sign of thriving economy. Television channels through their entertainment programmes and advertising has introduced innovative commodities of personal use that were not part of personality in the past. Advertising today is based on the economic principle “Supply creates its own demand”. A whole new world of 21st century’s new concept of living is fast emerging as a result of rigorous advertising campaigns. This battle of the brands generated an awareness of new design and fashion which had never been imagined earlier.
The advertising moguls have succeeded in hypnotizing the consumers who watch the Indian screen idols like Kareena Kapoor wearing Firdous Lawn or Shilpa Shetty using Pantene Shampoo or Katreena Kaif taking a shower with Lux with the extreme degree of their keen interest. For a moment they forget the actual context and became pretty sure that they will also look as impressive as these models if they use these brands. This is the victory of advertising that opens up new avenues of business for the advertisers. The analysts say that it is the strong impact and deep urge of advertising that our youth speak the language of advertising, sing advertising jingles, and dress according to the fashions set by role models and stereotypes in advertising.
Advertising, rightly called the life of trade, has now become part of everyday life. It is the art of riding over the public emotions. Professionalism demands that the persuasion needs to take place within 30 seconds or even less to conquer the hearts of its viewers. Today advertising influences every day purchase decisions of all ages and genders that are consciously or unconsciously convinced by the Ads. New generation is undoubtedly the main target of advertising as the potential assets of the advertisers. Advertising, as a matter of business tactic, picks up the language and the behavior pattern of the consumer, particularly the youth. Advertising experts say that an average cost of advertising is usually 2 to 6 per cent of gross sales, which can vary according to location, local advertising rates, and industry. In America alone the advertising industry has a hefty stake of more than a trillion $ per year. According to private surveys, in Pakistan there is an annual spending of Rs50 billion involved in the advertising field that is growing further. This huge level of spending supports thousands of companies and millions of jobs. In fact, in many countries most media outlets, such as television, radio and newspapers, would not be in business without revenue generated through the sale of advertising. However the downside is that up to 50% of all advertising is wasted due to unprofessionalism. That’s a pretty steep percentage considering how many billions of dollars are spent on advertising annually.
The history of advertising is as old as civilization. Advertising in the sense of a communication link between a buyer and a seller or a producer and a consumer is not a new phenomenon. However the modern advertising, as we know it today, traces back its roots in the middle of 18th century. Then came the period of specialization where distribution of jobs was made according to the expertise and profession. In that era many new professions including advertising and marketing came to surface. As an organized profession, advertising is relatively young. During the last two decades, and particularly since the beginning of the nineties, it has reached a fairly high level of maturity and sophistication. Today Asian advertising industry is working side by side with the advanced industrialized countries. The level and direction of the progress in the field has catapulted to new heights. An overall character of advertising has also undergone a radical change during this period. This is an age of globalization and a cross-culture mix has given birth to an international culture where people speak the same language, eat the same food, observe the same traditions and ultimately buy same brands of cars, mobiles and fashion accessories. In this broader perspective, globalization has its impact on consumer aspirations, priorities and value systems. As a result of these developments, an obvious link between the advertiser and the consumer has naturally been shaped up. A more or less universal language of advertising is emerging (like international food chains), even though conditioned and modified by local usage and expressions, which are often a blend of western and local words, images, concepts and music.
Advertising campaigns by various brands has perfectly laid down the foundation of a new life style based on new products and services. The consumer is totally blind to the fact that his aspirations and assessment faculties are ‘remote-controlled’ by the advertisers. This has lead to tremendous and even fierce competition among manufacturers of these products or providers of new services. The battle of the brands is fought on many fronts including price, quality and advertising skills. Different manufacturing, marketing or services organizations are offering the same products. Thus the consumer has a wider choice to select a shampoo from a dozen of brands. It is in this context that in advertising and marketing one talks of brand names, brands or branded products. With the same product being manufactured by different manufacturers, each company has its own name for its product. Thus one brand of sunflower oil competes against another brand. If you come to services, a number of airlines offer you the return ticket to Dubai. The passengers have a choice to travel in an airline which has a better in-flight service in the same price. Suppose there are two airlines that offer the same services at the same price. Here is a challenge that people in the advertising profession face every day – how to win over a consumer for one brand against another and retain loyalty to the same brand, sale after sale? Instead of outplaying their rivals in quality, the brands focus to outweigh their rivals in advertising spree. What ultimately counts is the company’s budget earmarked for advertising. Simply speaking, the more you pay (advertising bills), the more you sell. The basic strategies of successful advertising are based on four fundamental principles. First of all, your advertising must provide a consumer benefit or solve a problem in order to be successful. Secondly, the benefit or solution must be wanted by the consumer. Thirdly, the product or service you are offering must be tied directly to that benefit or solution. Finally, the message in the advertising must be clear and unequivocal.
Highly sensitized advertising environment and wider choice of goods or services also mean increased degree of consciousness of quality and price among the consumers. Generally speaking, Pakistani consumer market is a price conscious market where low pricing is always the first choice. Competition thus becomes concerned with sensitivity to consumer expectations, his social condition and his desire to get the best bargain. It is here that advertising has to intervene and play its part in the transaction. The advertising experts say that it is the wider dimension of advertising today that offers unprecedented challenges and makes stringent demands on creativity, imagination and innovative approaches from every person in the advertising profession, whatever be his or her specific job in the communication link between the product or service and the consumer. Liberalization of economy has enabled the diversification of products or services and the expansion of the consumer market. Middle class has the biggest potential to demand new products and services. Improvement in the life of this community has increased the demand of advertised products. Arrival of foreign manufacturers and the reduction in import restrictions and lowering of excise duties have made many new products and services more easily available than before. There is a significant salaried-income class playing a vital role in strengthening the advertising front. The hire-purchase system, bank finance and credit cards are accelerating this process of consumption-orientation in the fixed income groups of the population. Advertising intervenes at every stage of this process of a desire being transformed into a purchase, of a concept of a product or service being transformed into a sale.
It is impossible to deny the role of advertisement in business promotion. Marketing gurus have lately realized that marketing and advertising is an investment, not an expense. While signing a cheque to an advertising agency, one can feel it as an expense but in today’s business climate, it is an investment. Without enough money put aside for advertising your sales can go down and you suddenly have less and less for promotion.
However, the future of advertizing is unpredictable. There is bad news for global advertising industry. In a few years, more than half of the 110 million homes in the U.S. will have technology such as TiVo DVR that will let them zap past commercials effortlessly or choose from a vast selection of commercial-free shows. That will change the economics of most TV programming and force networks and marketers alike to find new ways to reach elusive masses of ad-evading consumers.
