The Truth Behind Advertising
Author: Jonathon Hardcastle

Advertising is more than just the means of disseminating
product information. It is a primary communications tool of our
economic system. Moreover, aside from its diverse role as a
persuasive communication tool, it is also part of the everyday
culture of virtually everyone. Actually advertising is a part of
our social, cultural, and business environment.

The specific reasons that a company chooses to advertise at a
particular level is often difficult to determine. However, there
are a number of situations that usually dictate a higher
proportion of advertising to sales than might otherwise be used.
First, it introduces a new product of service; to enter the
marketplace against established competition, extra weight is
needed. Second, to encounter competition; some industries are
engaged in price wars and have far more competition than others,
especially when nobody is a real leader in the field. Third, to
maintain a leadership position; companies decide to spend in
advertising investing in promoting their brand names. Fourth, to
emphasize price; among all competitive pressures, price is
probably the most usually used feature that gets heavily
promoted. Finally, to keep up with a fast growing industry; in
fierce competitive fields it is vital to spend more on
advertising to prevent others from surpassing your offer.

Advertising primary strength is that it reaches a large mass
audience to intensify broad-based demand for a product. As
specialists support, advertising can build brand awareness,
create long-term brand images and positions, and increase brand
knowledge effectively. It can furthermore, alter the image of an
existing product and act as a reminder mechanism. Finally,
advertising acts also as a memorability mechanism through
message repetition.

Regarding new product launch, advertising is considered of
vital importance as it can provide the necessary information to
the targeted audiences and increase their awareness levels. It
moreover can act as an Awareness-Identification-Desire-Action
tool since it can provide all the incentives needed for a trial.
As far as the action stage is concerned, advertising can become
the element through which a prospect will decide upon purchasing
the product or service. Coupons, free samples, discounts, and
many other promotional mechanisms can become the reason behind a
new product's success. Penetrating any market is a matter of
well-planned integrated marketing program and in order for a new
product's or service launch to be successful, advertising can
serve as a valuable tool for the company's future goals and
current sales increase.

Advertising has limits, however. Consumers often tend to
believe it is intrusive, and try to avoid it by changing the
TV-channel, radio station or page. Because of the abundant of
products and services in today's world, clutter issues can
threaten advertising, as the more advertisements exist, the more
frustrated the consumer becomes. Another major drawback of
advertising is that of lost impressions. Due to its high
penetration, the mass market is not always the right target to
which the messages are directed.

Regarding new product launch, advertising is valuable only to
companies if it creates consumer identification, is
differentiated from clutter, and in the long run its success is
measured by repeat purchase. If a product or service stays
viable for a longer period than its competition, it is due to
its penetration to customer minds and homes.

Concluding, advertising should be used in the marketing
communication mix to maximize its strengths, which should be
analyzed relatively to other marketing communication tools.


About The Author: Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for
http://1stconsumerinfo.com/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes
articles for http://businessworldnow.net/ and
http://yourealestatesource.com/