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Advertising & forecast Strategic play and competitive market play Large market availability Adverting prospects Market hazards Selling concepts

The crucial event in the marketing process is the sale. Within the context of the corporate mission, every component of the marketing strategy is intended to bring it about. But it must be brought about in a way which assures customer satisfaction. This places a special burden on advertising, personal selling, sales promotion ,and to a lesser extent, public relations, which are the principal avenues through which direct contact with the customer is made. As a component of marketing strategy, the effective use of advertising is dependent upon knowing the tasks it can best perform and matching the various elements of the advertising plan to them. These elements include the sales appeals to be used, the media best suited to convey them, the message in which they will be incorporated, and the budget support required by the total endeavor.

ADVERTISING FUNCTIONS :-

Disseminating information :- A primary function of all advertising is to inform people about the products and services of the advertiser. This function is particularly important in industrial marketing because purchases are so frequently made on the basis of facts and logic.

Identifying new customers:- Generating inquiries through advertising is a widely practiced method of identifying new customers. A very common procedure in dealing with such inquiries is first, to reply by mail or by whatever other means of communication the inquiry is received, and then to turn them over to the salesmen or distributors from whose territories they originated for personal follow -up. it is obviously meaningless to invest in such advertising without a plan for aggressively following up the sales leads it generates. Such a plan should be developed when the advertisement is planned.

Establishing recognition:- When an industrial goods manufacture moves into a new market or introduces a new product to be sold to a new group of buyers, one of the fist promotional tasks is the advertising department faces is to get the company's name in the resource files of as many firms in the new market as possible. Advertisements with well- researched copy in the appropriate trade journals are usually an effective way of accomplishing this end. Another from of recognition that is important to the industrial seller is that associated with trademarks. In order to increase sales, the company embarked on an advertising program with two objectives in mind: (1) build an image of product reliability comparable to that enjoyed by its most important competitors, and (2) gain recognition as a leader in the technical development.

Supporting salesman :- Advertising can also be effective in preparing prospective customers for salesman, in reaching personnel inaccessible to them, and in over coming prejudice about the company or its product.

Motivating distributors :- The industrial goods producer who sells through distributors or manufacturer's agents must convince them to devote sufficient time and energy to his product to sell them successfully. Advertising can be used in several ways to aid a manufacturer competing for middleman (distributor) time.

Stimulating primary demand :- It is sometimes profitable for the manufacturers to promote demand for the product of his customers and prospective customers.

Sales appeals :- Once the decision has been reached regarding the function, or functions, advertising is to fulfil, the advertiser must choose the appeals that will be most effective in implementing them. A sales appeals is an argument, in fact, an idea, or an expression of an attitude or emotion that the advertiser thinks will induce a prospective buyer to react favorably to his message. This appeal is unlikely to have the desired effect unless it promises to help the buyer achieve his own objectives.

ADVERTISING MEDIA:- These are basically attributed into two types:

  1. Electronic media :- Internet, Television , Cable-tv, Glow sign boards, Radio.
  2. Print media:- Magazine, News papers, Brochures, Pamphlets, Hand bills, Information tags, Guarantee tags, Price tags, Stickers & Posters, Banners & Hoarding.
  3. Publicity :- Publicity through electronic/print media otherwise oral publicity, Seminars & presentations, Demonstration camps.
  4. Scoop :- The best way to win customer's attentions is an scoop.
  5. Gifts & contests :- Gifts offered with the product, Gift coupons, Seasonal bonanza, Gift hampers, Draw schemes.
  6. Other promotional tactics:- Servicing camps, Loan fair, Exchange schemes, Some time refinance schemes, Festival offers.
  7. Arial advertising :- The concept is based on sky-ads. A banner is hanged through a small aircraft above the ground, depending upon the population zone.
  1. Air-port advertising:- Advertising at Airports is mainly done through glowsigns and show windows. While the former offers us the benefits of color, light and motion, the letter are used for demonstrating the products at prominent places at the airport. On an average, a passenger has to wait at the airport for more then an hour -- a captive audiences for the marketers.
  2. Railways advertising :-Railways occupy its place in the mind of media planners as the most important vehicle in 'transit-advertising'. The product mix of railway advertising.

X. Tele-advertising:- advertising through telephone could be purchased, in which the advertiser supplies the company with relevant sales points. They can be taped, introduced by a live-pitch person, or both. "where to buy" telephone services identify retailers of specific products from customers' inquiries.

XI. Off-the-wall media:- above described options score over others in terms of negotiability and creativity. Relatively speaking, only recently, the Indian promotion experts have begun to work on Off-the-wall media. However, it is restricted to A & B class towns, besides the metros.

XII. coptermedia :- this method uses thousands of light bulbs mounted on a 40X8 foot billboard frame on a slow-flying helicopter. The effect is that of a brilliant flying electric sign floating about 500 feet above the ground.

Media habits :-

The medium of print has always held the pride of place in the world and India is no exception. The power of written words has been recognised since the era of shared information. In the recent years, when press and print medium in general felt threatened by the onslaught of 'visual' medium, in particular the television, several leading exponents of print medium began on concerted exercise to woo back its audience and, by implication, advertisers and advertising revenue. Nonetheless, press still enjoys top position as a promotional medium vehicle.