Advertising or an advertisement can be defined as a marketing communication which serves the main aim of promoting or selling a new product, idea, or service. Advertisements should ideally be non-personal messages which are openly sponsored. In this definition, a sponsor could be any business or organization which wishes to promote the sales of any particular product or service. It is important for an individual to always remember that there is a very clear and pronounced difference between advertisements and public relations. The main difference is that when it comes to advertisements, the advertiser has full control over the entire content of the advertisement. This allows the advertiser to control the kind of message which is able to make its way through to the viewers or the targeted audience. According to some recent reports, it is now believed that an average individual actually ends up viewing almost 2 to 3 million television commercials alone! This statement coupled up with the fact that organizations actually spend twice the amount of money of advertisements in comparison to research one can easily fathom the importance of advertisements. Advertisements can have a very powerful impact on all viewers.
An Introduction to Advertisements
As it was mentioned above, an advertisement can be defined as a type of marketing communication, which is openly sponsored and contains a non-personal message, which is intended to improve the sale of various products, services, or ideas. Advertisements should not be confused with personal selling as advertisements should not contain a personal message while personal selling often works because of the presence of a personal message. There can also be many different sources through which advertisements can be broadcasted to the targeted audience. And some of those different sources include newspapers, television, magazines, outdoor advertising, radio, direct mails, blogs, websites, text messages, phone calls, and various social media platforms.
The Five Important Factors of a Good Advertisement
Creating a good quality advertisement is not just a difficult and time-consuming task but it also requires a lot of efforts and thoughts. This is why many experts have come up with the five main factors which all good advertisements must have. And those five main factors of a good advertisement are mentioned below.
- The Factor of Being Paid
The most common and obvious feature or characteristic of a good advertisement is that it’s a paid form of communication. This means that all types of advertisements are commercial in their very nature and approach. Because of this feature, one can easily differentiate between an advertisement and a promotion. Promotion is not paid for but an advertisement is paid for.
- The Non-Personal Representation
All advertisements must contain a non-personal representation. This simply means that the entire message of the advertisement is not just targeted towards a particular individual but is instead aimed at a larger population. It is important to remember that this might not necessarily mean that an advertisement cannot have a personal appeal. Instead, a good advertisement is always designed in a way that it provides the viewer with an impression of a personal appeal.
- Promotion or Selling of Different Ideas, Services, or Products
Advertisements must sell or promote different physical goods, services, or even ideas. This clearly shows that advertisements have a very large scope.
- Identifying the Sponsor
Most advertisements have an easily recognizable sponsor. This does not mean that the sponsor cannot choose to remain anonymous.
- Persuading and Informing at the Same Time
Advertisements must both inform and persuade readers to opt for a particular service, product, or idea at the same time.
The Power and Influence of Advertisement
Readers must now understand that advertisements are considered to be very important. This is because of the simple fact that these advertisements possess the ability to exert some sort of power over the viewers or the targeted audience. A list of certain and benefits and drawbacks have been prepared which can allow an individual to understand exactly the kind of power which any good advertisement possesses. And that list is mentioned below.
- The Easy Introduction of New Technology and Products
During the last couple of decades, the entire world has gone under some tremendous changes. New technologies have now become a daily part of almost everybody’s life and this has also changed the world. These days it is important to keep up with the world and advertisements provide one of the most effective ways of doing so. With the help of advertisements, consumers can now quickly learn about new technologies and products which are available to them.
- The Increase in Sales
According to different reports, a good advertisement can improve the overall sale of any product or service by a total of 60%! This is a very large number that goes to show the kind of psychological effect advertisements can have on viewers.
- Educating the Consumers
An advertisement needs to stand out if it wants to appeal to the crowd. And what better way to do that than by creating advertisements which are relevant to the current times? These good quality advertisements allow the viewers to be quickly educated about new topics or things which are going on in the world.
- Better Employment Opportunities
When advertisements are put into place then the sales of any particular product or service jumps up. This means that there is more demand for the production of that product or service. This further implies that the local population gets to have better access to employment opportunities. This provides individuals with easier access to a higher quality of life.
- The Pushing Away of Small Businesses
For creating a good quality advertisement a business must spend a lot of money. Sadly, small businesses lack that sort of money and this is why advertisements could end up pushing those businesses out of the frame as customers would tend not to prefer them over the brands which they get to see regularly on their screens or around them.
- Misleading the Consumers
It is easy to spread information through advertisements. Similarly, it is also easier to spread rumors. Organizations can often advertise false claims in their campaigns which can mislead the customers.
- Easier Access to Opportunities for Cheating
Individuals hardly tend to question the claims which many organizations tend to make during the advertisements. This opens up the consumers to the possibility of getting duped or cheated. This is also one of the most negative points about advertisements. This is why it is important for consumers to question the claims which are made by organizations within the advertisement campaigns.
- The Manipulation for Spending More
A perfect example to understand this point will be that of Apple products. Advertisements are designed in a way to entice viewers. This means that one would be encouraged to spend more than his or her pocket would allow. This can create further financial issues for consumers.
The Conclusion:
An advertisement is a type of marketing or business communication which serves the main aim of improving the sales of any particular ideas, product, or service with the help of a sponsor and a non-personal message. A good advertisement always has five different factors including a properly paid form, the non-personal representation, and the promotion of the product, a sponsor, and the ability to persuade. Advertisements can be very powerful. And some of the ways in which an advertisement can be powerful are manipulating consumers to spend more money which is outside their budget, getting rid of small businesses, spreading false information quickly, creating a higher quality of living, and many other ways.