Advertising and Its Drivers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Advertising and Its Drivers - Essay Example So exactly what is an advertisement or what can we understand by the term advertisement. Their have been different views regarding the concept of advertisement. According to John Burnett, "Advertisement is a non-personal communication of marketing related information to a target audience, usually paid by the advertiser and delivered through mass media in order to reach specific objective of sponsor". However according to the critic of advertising, Judith Williamson (1978, p.57) states that it's "the most ubiquitous form in which we encounter commercial photography" which means advertising is the 'official art' of the advanced industrial nation of the west. (Hackley, 2005)It occupies the newspapers and is covered all over with urban environment, it is highly systematize organization involving many artist, writer and film directors, and consist of a large amount of output of the mass media. Advertisements promote and affect the idea and value which are crucial to a particular economy s ystem. Thus a good advertisement is that, which we should not lose interest in their ideological functions, which is connected to their economic functions (Dyer, 1995 p.2). Another definition by (Longman, 1971) 'Advertising attempts to inform and persuade a large number of people with a single communication'. Therefore in its simple sense the word 'advertising' means capturing the attention to something or telling or advising somebody of something. (Dyer, 1995 p.2). Thus advertising can be seen as a medium for communicating or providing knowledge to the customers from a recognized authority or person. This range of activities also qualifies as marketing communication or marcoms. KEY DRIVERS OF MARCOMS ACTIVITIES Perception: Creating Shopping Power When something has been perceived, then it has been noted and the message is recorded. In the words of psychologist, W. H. Ittelson and F. T. Kilpatrick, perception can't be definite, of 'what is'. Rather what we perceive is created by ourselves, which is mostly based on past experiences (Bogart, 1995). Also people's perceptions of brand are governed by some factors which are personal and public (Fletcher, 1999 p.163). It is one of important challenges for an advertiser trying to reach the customers, either by any form of mass communication like newspaper, or television ad so that they could notice it. Even sometimes the consumer miss out some messages directed to them. So the main thing is to give them exposure. (Wells, Burnett and Moriarty1992, p. 241). For example if all the ads are in colors then a black and white will be noticed, which is what Chanel did with their Nicole Kidman glossy ad for Chanel Perfume which would be place at the back cover of magazines like Cosmopolitan so as to give covert instead of ostensive communication. So by this the customers attention can be taken. (Hackley, 2005) This can be seen in the use of a ground breaking issue to position an advertisement. An example of this may be found in the 'Torches of Liberty Contingent' campaign aimed at expanding cigarette sales manifold by encouraging women to smoke. This campaign was launched and executed by Bernays in 1929. He was inspired by Sigmund Freud's view that actions are crystallised by the subconscious motivations. Another line of thought that he followed was based on the theory of psychoanalyst Brill, who held that women equated smoking as an expression of their freedom. Bernays campaign prompted women to start smoking during the Easter Day parade of 1929. While this enjoyed mixed reactions and extensive media reactions, the combination of liberation and democracy - both of which were emerging trends of the time - helped Barnays earn a place in history besides