Advertising Features, Benefits

important features of advertising are listed below:

1. Paid Form:

Only that attempt of the seller on which he/she has spent some money to communicate information to the consumer is called advertising. If without incurring any expenditure some information relating to some product or service is published, it will not be called advertising.

For example, if an editor of some magazine, on his own, publishes news about a particular product, it will convey to the consumers necessary information regarding that product but no expenditure has been incurred by the seller for this publication.

As such, it cannot be called advertising. It may be called propaganda or publicity. Thus, any information about a product communicated free of cost cannot be termed as advertising.

2. Impersonal Presentation:

Advertising is non-personal presentation of information. In other words, the advertiser and the consumer do not come into personal contact. Advertising is a monologue and not a dialogue.

3. Speedy and Mass Communication:

Advertising is a speedy medium of communication. Besides being speedy, its operational area is very vast. In other words, it reaches millions of people simultaneously.

4. Identified Sponsor:

Another feature of advertising is that its sponsor can be identified. Whenever we come across an advertisement, its sponsor is easily recognized. Obviously, its sponsor can be either the seller or the producer of that product or service. If due to some reason it is difficult to identify the sponsor, then that information cannot be called advertising. It will be called propaganda or publicity.

Important benefits of advertising are listed below:

(1) Introduces a New Product in the Market:

Advertising plays significant role in the introduction of a new product in the market. It stimulates the people to purchase the product.

(2) Expansion of the Market:

It enables the manufacturer to expand his market. It helps in exploring new markets for the product and retaining the existing markets. It plays a sheet anchor role in widening the marketing for the manufacturer’s products even by conveying the customers living at the far flung and remote areas.

(3) Increased Sales:

Advertisement facilitates mass production to goods and increases the volume of sales. In other words, sales can be increased with additional expenditure on advertising with every increase in sale, selling expenses will decrease.

(4) Fights Competition:

Advertising is greatly helpful in meeting the forces of competition prevalent in the market. Continuous advertising is very essential in order to save the product from the clutches of the competitors.

(5) Enhances Good-Will:

Advertising is instrumental in increasing goodwill of the concern. It introduces the manufacturer and his product to the people. Repeated advertising and better quality of products brings more reputation for the manufacturer and enhances goodwill for the concern.

(6) Educates The Consumers:

Advertising is educational and dynamic in nature. It familiarizes the customers with the new products and their diverse uses and also educates them about the new uses of existing products.

(7) Elimination of Middlemen:

It aims at establishing a direct link between the manufacturer and the consumer, thereby eliminating the marketing intermediaries. This increases the profits of the manufacturer and the consumer gets the products at lower prices.

(8) Better Quality Products:

Different goods are advertised under different brand names. A branded product assures a standard quality to the consumers. The manufacturer provides quality goods to the consumers and tries to win their confidence in his product.

(9) Supports The Salesmanship:

Advertising greatly facilitates the work of a salesman. The customers are already familiar with the product which the salesman sells. The selling efforts of a salesman are greatly supplemented by advertising. It has been rightly pointed out that “selling and advertising are cup and saucer, hook and eye, or key and lock wards.”

(10) More Employment Opportunities:

Advertising provides and creates more employment opportunities for many talented people like painters, photographers, singers, cartoonists, musicians, models and people working in different advertising agencies.

(11) Reduction in the Prices of Newspapers and Magazines Etc:

Advertising is immensely helpful in reducing the cost of the newspapers and magazines etc. The cost of bringing out a newspaper is largely met by the advertisements published therein.

(12) Higher Standard of Living:

The experience of the advanced nations shows that advertising is greatly responsible for raising the living standards of the people. In the words of Winston Churchil “advertising nourishes the consuming power of men and creates wants for better standard of living.” By bringing to the knowledge of the consumers different variety and better quality products, it has helped a lot in increasing the standard of living in a developing economy like India.