Brand Defenders - The Truth Behind Advertising

 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.

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Brand Defenders - www.complaintremover.com