Tag: University of Mumbai BMS Notes

The most popular terminology used for industrial advertising is Business to Business advertising. This type of advertising generally includes a company advertising its products or services for the companies which actually uses same or similar products or services or we can say that the advertising company should produce the products which the other company needs for its productions or functions. For e.g. some mineral water companies which work on a smaller scale outsource the packaging bottles, the caps for bottles, the cover with name printed on it, etc. so for this, the advertisements of the manufacturers of bottles, caps and outer packaging paper can work.

A smaller to smaller and largest of all, every company has to do industrial advertising. For e.g. if a company is making coffee powder, it will sell its powder to the distributors who in turn will sale it to the retailers and wholesalers and also to the big companies who has a coffee machine for their employees. Thus companies manufacturing any products can be advertised to the other companies, like raw materials, the machineries used by other companies, spare parts of the machines which makes it work, anything.

Role of Industrial Advertising

• It minimizes the hunt for buyers.
• It helps in increasing sales of the company.
• It helps in making more and more distribution channels.
• It makes company work more efficiently to produce the desired product or service.
• It creates awareness among the customers or other companies about the products and services.

Process of Industrial Advertising

The strategies used in industrial advertising differ from company to company, as different companies have different products to be advertised. So, a single rule cannot work for all the companies’ advertisements. But the basic process which can lead to a successful advertisement is: knowing the objective for advertising – identifying the target companies researching about the market conditions and the competitors creating the ad to be delivered selecting media to be used what should be the budget allotted execution of the advertisement getting the feedbacks from the customers.

Media types in Industrial Advertising

The media generally used in the industrial advertising is print media and direct marketing.

Print Media includes business magazines, trade publications, newspapers, technical journals, etc. To make print media work efficiently, there are some do’s and don’ts to be kept in mind:

• Visual image of the ad should be very sharp and prominent
• The ad should be so impressive that readers get attracted towards reading it
• The highlight should be on the service or product offered and not the source by which it is being offered
• Let the ad be simple to be read (with no difficult fonts)
• The picture shown should not be irrelevant with the product.
• The ad should reflect the company’s image.
• The ad should to be in logical sequence if it is of two or more pages.
• Headlines should be catchy and suiting the product image.
• And lastly, at the bottom of the page, the company name, address and phone number of the respected office should be mentioned clearly without fail.

Direct Marketing includes:

1. Direct Mail: Here, the newsletters, data sheets, and the brochures of the company are directly mailed to the customers’ postal address.
2. Telephonic Advertising: The advertising is done by calling up the customers on their telephones, giving messages on mobile phones, etc.
3. Online Advertising: Includes companies sending e-mails to the customers or other companies enclosing information about their products and services, putting online banners, providing e-shopping options, etc.

The advertisers also use other ways for promoting their products like participating in trade shows, trade expos, and fairs.

Thus, the companies can use any or every type of advertising, the important motto being increase in sales, producing best quality products, maintaining good relations with the customers, and achieving the desired goal.

Institutional advertising consists of promotional activities that aim to improve reputation, create a positive image or encourage support of an organization. The term applies to actions oriented to promote the firm itself.

Institutional advertising differs from the most common advertising because the latter has the purpose of selling a particular product or service. When promoting the organization, the activities are designed to create certain mindset about it like trustworthiness or respectability. The ultimate objective is to make people more willing to think positively about the organization. In some cases, these actions might result in higher consumer preference when deciding about a purchase.

Like any other type of advertising, the company must define a target group, a message, means or methods to communicate it and expected results. Many times, institutional advertising is reactive after an event or situation has damaged the company image. However, other firms carry out proactive, planned institutional advertising as a complement of institutional relations. Public Relations are an important part of institutional advertising.

Objectives of Institutional Advertising

1. The first and foremost objective of Institutional Advertising is to promote the image of a business as a whole rather than of a single product or service.
2. The business also tries to promote its mission, vision as well as its philosophies and principles.
3. Institutional advertising is also an effective way to create and maintain goodwill about the organization in the market.
4. Organizations also use this kind of advertising to promote good qualities such as reliability, low prices or good customer care, that distinguish it from its competitors.

Types of Institutional advertising

1. The first kind of Institutional advertising is in Print and digital media. This includes brand promotion through advertisements placed in Newspapers, magazines, emails, text messages and others.
2. The second kind of institutional advertising is on Television and Radio and consists of specially created infomercials and commercials.

Advantages of Institutional Advertising

1. Increase awareness of the organization

Building the Organization’s image through institutional advertising helps the organization build brand awareness. For example, if an organization dealing with luxury household goods wants to target customers with high income, it will craft an advertisement that has several symbols of luxury, like the fine wine or fancy homes, and thus entice its target consumers who will end up splurging on their high-end goods.

2. Building brand identity

If institutional advertising is aimed to follow a single theme, a cohesive brand identity is built. An example here would be a brand targeting its demographic consumer the modern working. If its advertisements also include symbols of men or children, it would send a mixed signal to the demographic consumer and thus decrease the effect of its advertisement.

3. Countering Negative attitude

Institutional advertising is one of the most effective ways to counter negative perception of consumers. A large majority of firms use this kind of advertising to counter a negative image of their company. ITC is one of the best examples here. In the example mentioned above, it used institutional advertising to counter customer perception about its tobacco products.

4. Develop a subtle sales pitch

Institutional advertising also helps develop a subtle sales pitch. The target consumers, who are subjected to this kind of advertising, do not realize that they are being indirectly being attracted to the products of the company.

Disadvantages of Institutional advertising

1. Since institutional advertising only aims to promote the organization as a whole and not any specific product, some experts are of the opinion that they simply add to the advertising cost of the organization without substantial returns on investment in the short run.
2. Institutional advertising and product advertising are similar in the characteristic that they tend to mislead consumers. Hence, consumers might feel cheated by the organization.
3. Institutional advertising might sometimes lead to Monopoly in the market. When an organization of a single industry starts to aggressively pursue institutional advertising, it might lead to a situation where it starts ruling over its competitors and thus creates the monopoly. This might become dangerous for the market.

Classified advertisement is a small message or advertisement that is placed in newspapers, magazines or periodicals. These messages are generally grouped under specific headings, also called classifications, in a separate section. Classified advertisements are comparatively low-cost ads. Recent times have also seen classified advertisements on websites, social media networks such as Facebook as well as on Smartphones and Tablets.

Types of Classified advertisement

Let us now discuss different kinds of classified advertisements that consumers come across. These are:

1. Regular Classified advertisement

They are normal text advertisements and are charged per letter or line or column. They are typically a column wide, have no graphics, and are typeset by the publisher of the print media.

2. Classified Display Advertisement

These types of advertisement also include a logo or a visual image and have a border surrounding the text advertisement. They are typically priced more than the regular classifieds and are charged on per column centimeter or per square centimeter basis.

3. Display classified advertisement

This is the costliest kind of classified advertisement as it has the maximum impact. The minimum size of the advertisements is 3 centimeters and it can be of any size in height and width. Advertisers can also choose to have their display classified ads in color too.

All the above kinds of classified advertisements can further be divided into the following categories:

Types of Classified Advertising

1. Recruitment

Though recruitment advertisements are extremely popular in display advertising, it is equally popular in classified advertisement too. Advertisements under ‘Situations Vacant” heading are an apt medium for small and medium-sized businesses to attract job applicants. A spin-off of Situations Vacant is “Situations Wanted” classified ads, where job applicants describe their skills and qualifications.

2. Property

Classified advertisements are one of the most effective advertisement methods for sale, purchase or rent of houses or other properties by individual property owners, landlords or even property brokers. However, we must remember here that advertisements for Real Estate projects do not come under classified advertisements.

3. Obituary

Obituary messages are another common kind of classified advertisements, which allow advertisers to add images of the departed along with a message. Advertisers also used classified advertisements to place condolence messages, funeral invitations, and Remembrances.

4. Matrimonial

This is one of the most common kinds of classified advertisements found in India. Here, parents or a close family member places a text advertisement or a classified display that consisting of an image of the prospective bride or groom and seeks for a prospective match.

5. Business

A lot of small and medium-sized businesses choose classified advertisements to advertise. Statistics say that 80% of business promotional campaigns choose newspaper advertising as the their first choice. Common kinds of business classified advertisements are Business Proposals and offer, Sales promotions and ads seeking Business partners.

6. Announcements

Though Matrimonial advertisements are the leading type of classified advertisement, announcement classified advertisements are a close second. They include personal announcements like Name or Address Change, legal notifications, Lost & Found and marriage notices. Placed by individual advertisers, these are primarily intended for personal or government references.

7. Education

A lot of educational advertisements can also be found under the classified ad section. It is mostly used by coaching centers, who have a small budget, and thus prefer to introduce or promote their coaching classes.

8. Personal

This is the last kind of classified advertisement and includes personal messages such as Birthday wishes, messages about personal achievements, season’s greetings and others similar messages. These are placed by individuals in a personal capacity.

Advantages of Classified Advertisements

1. One of the first advantages of this kind of advertisement is its low cost when compared to other forms of advertising. This low cost might allow small and medium businesses to effectively advertise their products or service while not burning a hole in their pockets.
2. This kind of advertisement has a wide reach. Classified ads placed in newspapers or magazines can be seen by everyone reading them while classified ads placed on online websites will be seen by every website visitor.
3. Since the advertisements are short and simple, they are easy to create and need no rocket science. No need for copywriters to write these!
4. Some Online classified advertisement allows interested consumers to directly contact the advertisers, either by clicking on a link or sending a text or e-mail.

Disadvantages of Classified advertisement

Like any other forms of advertisements, Classified advertisements have their own set disadvantages too. Some of these disadvantages are listed below:

1. Since a particular newspaper or magazine is not read by everyone, businesses can miss out on potential target clients by placing their classified advertisements in a select few newspapers or magazines. Same is the case for websites which might not be visited by all target consumers. Hence, advertisers might have to place their ads on all possible newspapers/magazines or websites in order to reach a wide base of consumers and thus increase their advertisement costs.
2. The ads have to compete against their competitors – who might place their advertisements next to yours!
3. Classified advertisements have a short life as they are read only once. Hence, advertisers need to consistently keep on advertising their product or service.
4. Advertisers might be paying for advertising to people who may never be their target consumers.

The term national advertising has a special connotation that it is not confined to any geographic area within the nation. This type of advertising is undertaken mostly by the marketer of a branded product or service sold through different outlets in the distribution channel, wherever they may be located. Apparently, the term national advertising conveys mass marketing effort. In reality this does not necessarily mean that the product is sold nationwide.

The objective of national advertising is to inform or remind consumers about a company or brand. The ad may intend to communicate brand features, benefits, advantages or uses and to create or reinforce its image so that the consumers will be predisposed to buy it. This type of advertising is done by a manufacturer and is in contrast to that done by a retailer whose objectives are totally different.

National advertising often identifies a specific target audience and attempts to create an image for the product. For example, the ad for Mercedes-E class is targeting a specific segment in the Indian market. When a new manufacturer with lesser money muscle, limited production capacity and limited distribution know-how, etc., appears on the business scene, he does not usually decide for national distribution. Instead, he tries to sell his output in limited markets and then gradually with improved conditions, gradually spreads in the remaining markets. Even well-established companies often introduce new products in some selected markets only.

National advertisers realize that, under some conditions, it is better to advertise in regional or local media rather than mass media. As more and more national advertisers are able to identify and reach narrowly defined market segments there would appear more regional or local advertising. For example, they may select regional/local newspapers, television stations, radio, or outdoor media because of differences in the regional language. The advertiser would still be classified as national advertiser as the purpose of the ads is to encourage purchase of the advertised product at any outlet carrying the item. In the short-term, however, national advertising will continue to introduce new brands and emphasize brand loyalty to established ones. In effect, the message in national advertising says, “buy our brand.”

National Advertising

• Advertising done by a company on a nationwide basis or in most regions of the country and targeted to the ultimate consumer market is known as national advertising.
• The companies that sponsor these ads are generally referred to as national advertisers.
• Most of the advertisements for well-known brands that we see on TV or in other major media are examples of national advertising.
• It informs or reminds consumers of the brand and its features, benefits, advantages and uses or reinforces its images.
• However, in Indian context due to cultural and linguistic variation, different versions of advertisements are released by the advertisers.
• Example of National Advertiser are: Hyundai, Nestle, HUL etc.

Generic advertising is a type of marketing designed to promote a general product rather than a specific brand name. Such campaigns have been produced for everything from fresh milk to gemstones. This type of advertising does not mention particular brand names but attempts to build consumer support for the product in general.

The starting point to understand buyer behaviour is the stimulus-response model. Marketing and environmental stimuli enter the buyer’s consciousness. The buyer’s characteristics and decision process lead to certain purchase decisions. The marketer’s task is to understand what happens in the buyer’s consciousness between the arrival of outside stimuli and the buyer’s purchase decision.

A consumer’s buying behaviour is influenced by cultural, social, and personal factors. Cultural factors exert the broadest and deepest influence. Culture is the fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behaviours. Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide more specific identification and socialization for their members. Subcultures include nationality religion, racial groups, and geographic region.

Multicultural marketing grew out of careful marketing research revealing how different ethnic and demographic niches did not always respond favourably to mass-market advertising. Virtually all human societies exhibit social stratification. This stratification sometimes takes the form of caste system where members of different castes are reared for specific roles and they cannot change their caste membership.

More frequently the stratification takes the form of social classes, relatively homogeneous and enduring divisions in society that are hierarchically ordered and whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviour.

Social classes have several characteristics:

(a) Those within a class tend to behave more alike than persons from two different social classes.

(b) Persons are perceived as occupying an inferior or superior position according to their social class.

(c) Social class is indicated by a cluster of variables (occupation, income, etc.) rather than by any single variable.

(d) Individuals can move up or down the social-class ladder.

(e) Social classes show distinct product and brand preferences in many areas.

(f) Social classes differ in media preferences. There are also language differences among them.

In addition to cultural factors, a consumer’s behaviour is influenced by such social factors as reference groups, family, and social roles and statuses A person’s reference group consists of all the groups that have a direct (face-to-face) or indirect influence on his/her attitudes or behaviour. Groups with a direct influence on a person are called membership groups.

Some memberships groups are primary such as family friends, neighbours, and co-workers with whom the person interacts fairly continuously and informally. Some membership groups are secondary groups such as religious and professional groups that tend to be more formal.

People are significantly influenced by their reference groups in at least three ways. One, they expose an individual to new behaviours and lifestyles, influencing attitudes and self-concepts (how one views oneself). Two they create pressures for conformity that may affect actual product and brand choices Three, people are also influenced by groups to which they do not belong aspirational groups are those a person hopes to join, associative groups are those whose values or behaviours an individual rejects. The buyer evaluates these elements together with the monetary cost to form the total customer cost.

Manufacturers of products where group influence is strong must determine how to reach and influence opinion leaders in these reference groups. An opinion leader is a person who through informal, product-related communication, offers advice or information about a specific product or product category Marketers try to reach opinion leaders by identifying demographic and psychographic characteristics associated with opinion leadership, while also identifying the media preferred by the opinion leaders.

Buying roles and buying decisions constitute consumer decision-making behaviour. A customer can adopt various buying roles like initiator, influencer, decider, buyer, preparer, maintainer and disposer. A buyer’s decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics.

These include the buyers age and stage in the life cycle; occupation and economic circumstances; personality and self-concept; and lifestyle and values. Each person has personality characteristics that influence his or her buying behaviour. Kotler has defined brand personality as the specific mix of human traits that may be attributed to a particular brand.

Jennifer Aaker identified the following five traits:

1. Sincerity (down-to-earth)
2. Excitement (daring)
3. Competence (reliable)
4. Sophistication (upper class)
5. Ruggedness (outdoorsy).

Consumers choose and use brands that have a brand personality consistent with their own self-concept. Although in some cases the match may be based on the consumer’s ideal self-concept (how he would like to view himself), in certain cases they are influenced by others’ self-concept (how he thinks others see him).

A lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in activities, interests and opinions. Lifestyle portrays the whole person’ interacting with his or her environment. Marketers search for relationships between their products and lifestyle groups. Lifestyles are shaped partly by whether consumers are money-constrained or time-constrained. Consumers who lack time are prone to multitasking.

This is a marketing model designed to demonstrate how a consumer transitions from being unaware of a brand, to forming attitudes and understanding of that brand, to ultimately becoming an end customer.

There are many versions of this hierarchy of effects model found in textbooks, but let’s start with a very basic three-step model of hierarchy of effects.

the concept of hierarchy of effects is quite simple the consumer is initially unaware of the brand over time they gain some awareness of the brand, which may then build into an understanding of the brand (attitudes and beliefs), and then may finally result in some sort of purchase behavior.

It is referred to as a hierarchy because it is a ladder system starting at the bottom with awareness and building towards becoming a loyal customer at the top.

As already mentioned, most marketing textbooks will have a slightly different approach to the steps in the hierarchy of effects model, but they essentially explain the same concept of taking the target market through various stages of initially thought and then onto some form of purchase or referral action.

The Kotler approach to hierarchy of effects

One of the more common textbooks in the marketing field is by Philip Kotler, and his approach to the hierarchy of effects model is as follows:

• Awareness
• Knowledge
• Liking
• Preference
• Conviction
• Purchase

The first stage is simple awareness: Where the consumer has now heard of the brand, but still has very limited understanding of the brand.

The second stage is knowledge: Where the consumer is generally aware of what the brand is/does – e.g. the consumer may know that the brand that it is a type of laundry detergent suitable for tough stains.

This is followed  by the liking stage: The word ‘liking’ should NOT be confused with an emotional attachment in this case, liking refers to the consumer seeing some positive benefits associated with the brand. For example, “it is convenient”, “it seems like a good product”, “it’s a healthy product” and so on.

Preference is the fourth stage of the hierarchy of effect model. This occurs when the consumer sees the overall brand/product as a suitable option for a future purchase. That is, the product enters the consumer’s evoked (consideration) set of brands.

The next stage is conviction. In this stage the consumer’s attitude further forms from preference to a ‘decision’ to purchase the brand in the future. As an example, the consumer may think, “I will try that brand next time”.

The final stop on the hierarchy of effects is purchase. Obviously this is where the consumer buys the brand/product for the first time (which is usually referred to as a ‘trial purchase’.)

Motivation Research is grounded in the means-end theory of decision-making, used by some of the best marketers and communicators in the world for more than 50 years to build powerful and persuasive campaigns. Means-end theory embodies the two key dimensions of persuasion: understanding the target audience’s personal values and understanding the emotional links that tie those values to a specific decision.

Well grounded in academic research and marketing literature, the means-end theory asserts that people make choices about a product, service or issue in a manner that taps into four dimensions: attributes, benefits, emotions and personal values.

Motivations are based on both rational and emotional elements and driven by personal relevance. A decision becomes more personally relevant when people perceive that the decision will help them realize their values. Artemis Strategy Group’s Motivation Research approach enables clients to achieve effective persuasive communication by tying a “rational-emotional” connection to a particular decision or call to action.

The means end theory states that an advertisement must contain a message or means that leads the

consumer to a desired end state. It is a basis of a model called MECCAS = means end conceptualization of Components for Advertising Strategy. The five elements stated in the model are as follows:

• Products Attributes
• Consumer Benefits                                                                   
• Leverage Points
• Personal Values
• Executional Framework

Types of personal values

E.g.: Means-End Chain for Milk

Verbal vs. Visual Imaging

1. Verbal: The greater emphasis is given on words in some of the advertisements in order to evoke the response from the target market
2. Visual: The visual imagery is considered to be more effective than the verbal message. Visual imagery is stored both as pictures and words in brain and this dual processing increases recall level. Also the visual imagery is considered to be a universal language for the advertisers as an image will depict the same thing for audience belonging to different geographical and cultural settings. However the meaning of a word maybe different for different people. In this respect, the visual imagery is very effective.

Puffery

In everyday language, puffery refers to exaggerated or false praise. In law, puffery is a promotional statement or claim that expresses subjective rather than objective views, which no “reasonable person” would take literally. Puffery serves to “puff up” an exaggerated image of what is being described and is especially featured in testimonials.

Puff piece is an idiom for a journalistic form of puffery: an article or story of exaggerating praise that often ignores or downplays opposing viewpoints or evidence to the contrary.

Puff piece

Puff piece is an idiom for a journalistic form of puffery: an article or story of exaggerating praise that often ignores or downplays opposing viewpoints or evidence to the contrary. In some cases, reviews of films, albums, or products (e.g., a new car or television set) may be considered to be “puff pieces”, due to the actual or perceived bias of the reviewer: a review of a product, film, or event that is written by a sympathetic reviewer or by an individual who has a connection to the product or event in question, either in terms of an employment relationship or other links. For example, a major media conglomerate that owns both print media and record companies may instruct an employee in one of its newspapers to do a review of an album which is being released by the conglomerate’s record company.

The financial relationship between the product company or entertainment firm and the reviewer is not always as obvious as a cash payment. In some cases, a small group of reviewers may be given an exclusive invitation to test-drive a new sports car or see a new film before it is released. This privileged access to the product may lead the reviewer to do a biased review, either out of a sense of obligation, or because of a concern that the failure to produce a “puff piece” will lead to the loss of future preview privileges. In some cases, the potential for bias in invitation-only preview sessions is substantially heightened when the reviewers are flown in to the location for the review, given fancy hotel rooms, and provided catered food and drinks during the actual review. The most egregious cases of this situation occur when, instead of inviting the reviewers to the company headquarters or another logical venue, the company gives all-expense paid tickets to Hawaii or Mexico, and holds the preview screening of the film or the product launch there.

A particular use for puff pieces may be in health journalism. Providers of alternative medicine may be unable to make claims due to laws against false advertising, but they may be able to place stories and testimonials with journalists who can write as they wish under press freedom laws. Recruiting health journalists to write puff pieces may be a lucrative way to build the reputation of a product that has no effect.

Shock Ads

Shock advertising or Shockvertising is a type of advertising that “deliberately, rather than inadvertently, startles and offends its audience by violating norms for social values and personal ideals”. It is the employment in advertising or public relations of “graphic imagery and blunt slogans to highlight” a public policy issue, goods, or services. Shock advertising is designed principally to break through the advertising “clutter” to capture attention and create buzz, and also to attract an audience to a certain brand or bring awareness to a certain public service issue, health issue, or cause (e.g., urging drivers to use their seatbelts, promoting STD prevention, bringing awareness of racism and other injustices, or discouraging smoking among teens).

This form of advertising is often controversial, disturbing, explicit and crass, and may entail bold and provocative political messages that challenge the public’s conventional understanding of the social order. This form of advertising may not only offend but can also frighten as well, using scare tactics and elements of fear to sell a product or deliver a public service message, making a “high impact.” In the advertising business, this combination of frightening, gory and/or offensive advertising material is known as “shockvertising” and is often considered to have been pioneered by Benetton, the Italian clothing retailers which created the line United Colors of Benetton, and its advertisements in the late 1980s.

Shock advertisements can be shocking and offensive for a variety of reasons, and violation of social, religious, and political norms can occur in many different ways. They can include a disregard for tradition, law or practice (e.g., lewd or tasteless sexual references or obscenity), defiance of the social or moral code (e.g., vulgarity, brutality, nudity, feces, or profanity) or the display of images or words that are horrifying, terrifying, or repulsive (e.g., gruesome or revolting scenes, or violence). Some advertisements may be considered shocking, controversial or offensive not because of the way that the advertisements communicate their messages but because the products themselves are “unmentionables” not to be openly presented or discussed in the public sphere. Examples of these “unmentionables” may include cigarettes, feminine hygiene products, or contraceptives. However, there are several products, services or messages that could be deemed shocking or offensive to the public. For example, advertisements for weight loss programs, sexual or gender related products, clinics that provide AIDS and STD testing, funeral services, groups that advocate for less gun control, casinos which naturally support and promote gambling could all be considered controversial and offensive advertising because of the products or messages that the advertisements are selling. Shocking advertising content may also entail improper or indecent language, like French Connection’s “fcuk” campaign.

Advertisers, psychiatrists, and social scientists have long debated the effectiveness of shock advertising. Some scientists argue that shocking ads of course evoke stronger feelings among the consumers. One finding suggests “shocking content in an advertisement significantly increases attention, benefits memory, and positively influences behavior.” The same study also shows that consumers are more likely to remember shocking advertising content over advertising content that is not shocking. Shock advertising could also refer to the usage of emotional appeals such as humor, sex or fear. Humor has for a long time been the most frequently used communication tool within advertising, and according to branch active people it is considered to be the most effective.

The effects of shock advertising could also be explained by the theory of selective perception. Selective perception is the process by which individual selects, organizes and evaluates stimuli from the external environment to provide meaningful experiences for him- or herself. This means that people focus in certain features of their environment to the exclusion of others. The consumer unconsciously chooses which information to notice and this kind of selection is dependent of different perceptual filters which are based on the consumer’s earlier experiences. One example of this kind of filter is perceptual defense. Perceptual defense is the tendency for people to protect themselves against ideas, objects or situations that are threatening. This means that if a consumer finds a certain kind of advertising content threatening or disturbing, this message will be filtered out. An example of this a heavy smoker who could be filtering out a picture of cancer sick lung since the content could be perceived as disturbing and uncomfortable.

Subliminal Advertising

A subliminal message is a signal or message designed to pass below (sub) the normal limits of perception. For example it might be inaudible to the conscious mind (but audible to the unconscious or deeper mind) or might be an image transmitted briefly and unperceived consciously and yet perceived unconsciously. This definition assumes a division between conscious and unconscious which may be misleading; it may be more true to suggest that the subliminal message (sound or image) is perceived by deeper parts of what is a single integrated mind.

In the everyday world, it has often been suggested that subliminal techniques are used in advertising and for propaganda purposes (e.g. party political broadcasts).

The term subliminal message was popularized in a 1957 book entitled The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard. This book detailed a study of movie theaters that supposedly used subliminal commands to increase the sales of popcorn and Coca-Cola at their concession stands. However, the study was fabricated, as the author of the study James Vicary later admitted.

Subliminal perception or cognition is a subset of unconscious cognition where the forms of unconscious cognition also include attending to one signal in a noisy environment while unconsciously keeping track of other signals (e.g one voice out of many in a crowded room) and tasks done automatically (e.g. driving a car).

In all such cases there has been research into how much of the unattended or unconscious signal or message is perceived (unconsciously), i.e is the whole message sensed and fully digested or perhaps only its main and simpler features? There are at least two schools of thought about this. One of them argues that only the simpler features of unconscious signals are perceived; however please note that the majority of the research done has tended to test only for simpler features of cognition (rather than testing for complete comprehension). The second school of thought argues that the unconscious cognition is comprehensive and that much more is perceived than can be verbalized.

Various types of studies of subliminal perception have been conducted. For example, of whether anaesthetized patients are completely unaware whilst apparently completely asleep/unconscious. Although the patients themselves report no knowledge of events whilst they are anaesthetized, more indirect methods of examining what they can recall confirm that information is perceived without any conscious awareness.

Similarly, studies of patients with neurological damage show that patients who claim e.g. not to be able to see certain stimuli nevertheless respond on the basis of information received from those stimuli. For example, in the case of the syndrome known as blindsight patients can be unaware of receiving information within an area of their visual field that they believe to be damaged.

Subliminal Messages in Advertising

A form of subliminal messaging commonly believed to exist involves the insertion of “hidden” messages into movies and TV programs. The concept of “moving pictures” relies on persistence of vision to create the illusion of movement in a series of images projected at 23 to 30 frames per second; the popular theory of subliminal messages usually suggests that subliminal commands can be inserted into this sequence at the rate of perhaps 1 frame in 25 (or roughly 1 frame per second). The hidden command in a single frame will flash across the screen so quickly that it is not consciously perceived, but the command will supposedly appeal to the subconscious mind of the viewer, and thus have some measurable effect in terms of behavior.

As to the question of whether subliminal messages are widely used to influence groups of people e.g. audiences, there is no evidence to suggest that any serious or sustained attempt has been made to use the technology on a mass audience. The widely-reported reports that arose in 1957 to the effect that customers in a movie theatre in New Jersey had been induced by subliminal messages to consume more popcorn and more Coca-Cola were almost certainly false. The current consensus among marketing professionals is that subliminal advertising is counter-productive. To some this is because they believe it to be ineffective, but to most it is because they realise it would be a public relations disaster if its use was discovered. Many have misgivings about using it in marketing campaigns due to ethical considerations.

Weasel Claim

A weasel word, or anonymous authority, is an informal term for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. Examples include the phrases “some people say”, “most people think”, and “researchers believe”. Using weasel words may allow one to later deny any specific meaning if the statement is challenged, because the statement was never specific in the first place. Weasel words can be a form of tergiversation, and may be used in advertising and political statements to mislead or disguise a biased view.

Weasel words can soften or under-state a biased or otherwise controversial statement. An example of this is using terms like “somewhat” or “in most respects”, which make a sentence more ambiguous than it would be without them.

Forms

A 2009 study of Wikipedia found that most weasel words in it could be divided into three main categories:

1. Numerically vague expressions (for example, “some people”, “experts”, “many”, “evidence suggests”)
2. Use of the passive voice to avoid specifying an authority (for example, “it is said”)
3. Adverbs that weaken (for example, “often”, “probably”)

Other forms of weasel words may include these:

• Non sequitur statements
• Use of vague or ambiguous euphemisms
• Use of grammatical devices such as qualifiers and the subjunctive mood
• Glittering or vague generalizations

Surrogate Advertising

The term “surrogate advertising” refers to duplicating the brand image of one product extensively to promote another product of the same brand. Surrogate products like playing cards, soda water bottles apple juices etc. often being used to promote liquor and tobacco related brands normally do not actually exist or even if they exist, they are manufactured as “limited edition” i.e. in very small numbers.

The concept of surrogate advertising is believed to have started from UK, where the housewives protested “Siql advertisements as they felt that those ads were weaning their husbands away from them- in order to combat this resistance, the liquor manufacturers started advertising harmless products like fruit juices, sodas under the same brand name as that of popular liquors.

Currently tobacco and liquor ads are banned from TV and radio in India. The print media allows only tobacco ads with statutory warning of “cigarette smoking is injurious to health.” The Government of India amended Cable TV Act in order to curb advertisements, which promoted directly or indirectly the promotion, sales or consumption of cigarettes, other tobacco products like gutkha, pan masala, liquors like wine, alcohol, any other intoxicants, breast milk substitution products like feeding bottle or infant food.

This led to increase in surrogate advertisements of liquor and various tobacco-related products. Surrogate advertisements mostly pay the role of reinforcing brand recall rather than inducing consumption and help major tobacco and liquor brands to remain alive in the minds of the consumers.

Sand Piper Malt Beverage:

ASCI also upheld a suo motu complaint against United Breweries for an advertisement for Sand Piper Malt Beverage created by Triton Communications. This was obviously surrogate advertising for a liquor brand.

Tobacco Products:

When the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) withdrew its code to regulate tobacco products, consumer activists were concerned over the impact of the move.

The issue has taken a new twist with the Central Government deciding to ban tobacco companies from sponsoring sports and cultural events. Similar curbs have been enforced on advertising of liquor products Apart from a ban on smoking in public places, sale of tobacco products to minors will be prohibited, once the proposed bill is passed.

However, experts believe that the ban won’t work, firstly – because it is not clear how surrogate advertising will be checked and secondly because the agencies, which can implement these measures, including NGOs, lack enough teeth.

The ASCI, even while admitting the sensitivity of the issue, feels the government has overreacted. A couple of years ago, when the strong tobacco lobby opposed the Council guidelines, it had hastily withdrawn them inviting activists’ ire. They felt that the ASCI virtually surrendered to the whims of the industry by abdicating its responsibility and allowing manufacturers to resort to unfair advertisement techniques, sans any checks. According to them, India has failed to initiate a comprehensive tobacco- control strategy in keeping with the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

Tobacco Institute of India (TII), the representative body of tobacco farmers, exporters, cigarette manufactures and ancillary industries, contended that it would stick to its own code. A watchdog body, comprising experts from all fields, was to overview its observance. Curiously, the code bore resemblance to the ASCI code. The industry showed scant respect for it and it was violated often, an ASCI member reveals. Contrary to the provisions, a cigarette manufacturer featured a leading film star in its campaign with a slogan ‘Red & White smokers are one of its kind’.

Consumer activist, N G Wagle, says, “The ASCI works in tandem with the media to build pressure on advertisers to follow fair practices. If the tobacco industry was really serious about following any norms, they would have let the earlier code continue. Why was a new code needed, when ASCI had one?” he asks.

Opinions are divided regarding the Government’s latest ban move. The fine of mere Rs.100 is just not enough, some say, whereas advertising agencies have taken a stance that it’s unfair to ban advertising, since the product itself is not banned. “If the product will continue to be produced and marketed, there is no point in restricting its advertising,” they generally feel.

Also, as stated above, there are no means to check surrogate advertising. Tobacco major, ITC has come up with Gold Flake ‘expression greeting cards’. Wills has registered its sportswear as a new business entity.

TII states that tobacco, being a legal product, freedom of commercial expression should be permitted and that the consumption of tobacco products should be an informed personal choice for adults only.

“Tobacco Product” means leaf tobacco or any product containing tobacco which is sold in India and includes bidis, chewing tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, cheroots, chutta, gutka, khaini, snuff, pan- masala with tobacco, zarda, kiwam, gadaku, hand rolled tobacco, hookah tobacco, so on and so forth.

There is a growing public concern regarding increasing consumption of tobacco, its health implications and the need to prevent access to minors and non-users.

Some Quick facts:

Cigarettes cause about 6.35 lakh deaths in India every year.

About 33 per cent of cancer cases are attributed to tobacco consumption.

However, cigarettes alone account for roughly 10% of excise collections.

Tobacco trade is a major contributor to the national exchequer.

So obviously, there is clear conflict between health and economic interests of the country.

Before the ban on advertising and on smoking in .public places? various approaches have been adopted to address these concerns, ranging from legislation of varying degrees of severity to voluntary codes and self-regulation, but they have seldom worked. Activist point out that the recent advertisement- monitoring panel formed to implement the ban on transmission of tobacco advertisements on TV channels, including private ones, was ineffective in fulfilling the task.

As stated above, TII wants to stick to its self-voluntary code and going by that, keeping a tab on tobacco advertising is not going to be easy.

Comparative Advertising

Comparative advertising or advertising war is an advertisement in which a particular product, or service, specifically mentions a competitor by name for the express purpose of showing why the competitor is inferior to the product naming it. Also referred to as “knocking copy”, it is loosely defined as advertising where “the advertised brand is explicitly compared with one or more competing brands and the comparison is obvious to the audience.”

This should not be confused with parody advertisements, where a fictional product is being advertised for the purpose of poking fun at the particular advertisement, nor should it be confused with the use of a coined brand name for the purpose of comparing the product without actually naming an actual competitor. (“Wikipedia tastes better and is less filling than the Encyclopedia Galactica.”)

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defined comparative advertising as “advertisement that compares alternative brands on objectively measurable attributes or price, and identifies the alternative brand by name, illustration or other distinctive information.” This definition was used in the case Gillette Australia Pty Ltd v Energizer Australia Pty Ltd. Similarly, the Law Council of Australia recently suggested that comparative advertising refers to “advertising which include reference to a competitor’s trademark in a way which does not impute proprietorship in the mark to the advertiser.”

Comparative advertisements could be either indirectly or directly comparative, positive or negative, and seeks “to associate or differentiate the two competing brands”. Different countries apply differing views regarding the laws on comparative advertising.

Comparative advertising has been increasingly implemented through the years, and the types of comparative advertising range from comparing a single attribute dimension, comparing an attribute unique to the target and absent in the referent and comparisons involving attributes unique to both brands. The contributing factors to the effectiveness of comparative advertising include believability, which refers to the extent a consumer can rely on the information provided in comparative advertisements, the level of involvement, and the convenience in evaluation, provided by spoon feeding the consumer with information that does not require extra effort in recall.

Comparative advertising is generally coupled with negativity, as evidenced by early industry condemnation. Stating reasons such as participation in comparative advertising damaged the honour and credibility of advertising. Studies have suggested that negative information can be stored more effectively, thus generating the impact that any advertisement is purposed for, and more importantly, strong recall. On the contrary, such negativity can either be transferred directly to the brand and the consumer’s impression of the brand, various studies through the years have proven that comparative advertising has been responded to negatively.