CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

One of the most popular forms of advertising is CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT. It refers to a strategy used by brands which involves well known and famous people who use their fame and reputation to promote a product or service.Many not for profit organizations use celebrity endorsement to raise the awareness of the people regarding a particular issue.

Companies rely on popular sportsmen, actors, singers, social media sensations to promote their product. The reason behind this is that the celebrities have a huge fan following , hence they can easily reach a large number of potential buyers. People trust the celebrities and also trust the product they endorse. In the earlier times, athletes were the main celebrity endorsers but with the passage of time, movie stars also came into the frame. Companies pay crores of rupees to the celebrities for a 2 minute ad. The fact is that this 2 minute ad helps to build the brand image of the company in the market and boost its sales. As a result, company can easily recover the money paid to the celebrity through its increased profit.

If a particular brand uses celebrity endorsement but its competitor does not, the brand enjoys an edge over its competitor. The brand can capture a large market share and dominate the market with the help of celebrity endorsement. Many startups also use celebrity endorsements to establish themselves in the market. Companies feel that the celebrities have a trustworthiness and it is transferred to the product,thereby creating a positive image of the product in the minds of the customers. Since, social media is a great platform for advertising, celebrities use Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat to promote the brands they endorse. In this way the followers of the celebrities become aware of the product and are tempted to buy it. It has a great advantage for brands as it leads to instant brand awareness. People start recognizing the brand as more trustworthy.

Celebrity endorsement helps the brands to attain new customers and retain the existing ones. The fans and followers of celebrities want to try the product which their favorite celebrity is endorsing. Customers believe that if the celebrity says the product is amazing, then it is surely worth trying. The youth look up to the celebrities and aspire to be like them one day. The companies use this emotional aspect to win over the heart of the youth by endorsing their product through a celebrity. For instance, for many youngsters, Virat Kohli is a role model. Companies are quick to recognize this and they are ready to pay hefty amount of money to Virat Kohli to advertise their product. Other popular celebrities who endorse many products are MS Dhoni, Shahrukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Deepika Padukone and many more.

Many brands invite celebrities on events to show the association of the celebrity with the brand. Such type of events are called PR events. The pictures and videos of the events are circulated everywhere and after having a look at them, the people develop a positive connection with the brand. Recently, Katrina Kaif, one of the most popular bollywood actresses attended one such event organized by KALYAN JEWELLERS. For such events as well, the celebrities charge loads of money.

To conclude, celebrities have a great influence on the consumers and their buying decisions. But at the same time, celebrities should make sure that they never promote a product that has a negative impact on the people. They should never promote unhealthy food or drinks as they also have a certain responsibility towards the society. They should use their fame and status for promoting brands that deliver value to the customer.

ETHICAL ADVERTISING

Morals and ethics exist in every sphere of life. The field of advertising is no different. In simple terms, Ethics refers to the ability to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. Ethical advertising refers to truthful and fair advertising without hiding any fact from the customer that can influence his buying decision. Every entrepreneur wants to increase and grow his business. But this growth should not be achieved by compromising the ethics of business. Every business operates within the society, hence it has certain responsibilities towards society as well. The business can fulfill its responsibilities by practicing ethical behavior.

The line between ethical and unethical advertising is very thin and the company must choose the ethical side. The main part of ethical advertising is FOCUSING ON THE TRUTH. Companies should not indulge in deceptive advertising which misleads the customers with untrue statements. Companies should deliver what they promise and should promise only what they can deliver. We often see advertisements of fairness creams which claim to enhance the color tone within few weeks. Such types of advertisements are deceptive. Deceptive Advertising might bring short term profits for the business, but in the long term, it brings only losses and failures.

Another component of ethical advertising is disclosing important information to the consumer. If an advertisement conceals any fact related to the product or its usage, it is deemed unethical. Many times, companies do not disclose the harmful ingredients present in their product. They only advertise the benefits of the product and in this way, they cheat cheat the customers.

A company should never advertise a product that may have an adverse effect on the society. For instance, Cigarettes and tobacco are never promoted as they cause cancer and other health issues. Moreover, we often see advertisements which appeal us to avoid these bad things. Even during movies as well, there is a statutory warning against these products. The consumption of alcohol is also never promoted through any channel of advertising as it may have an adverse impact, especially on the children.

Not hurting the sentiments of any social group is also a pivotal part of ethical advertising. Any advertisement that targets a particular social group or minority is deemed unethical. Such advertisements can lead to controversies and disputes. Government plays a key role in defining what form of advertisement is ethical and which one is unethical.When the government feels that a company has crossed its limits, it steps in and resolves the problem.

Many advertisements tend to make exaggerated claims. For instance, some weight loss products claim that one can loose 30 kgs in less than a month without exercise. Such type of advertisement is simple misleading. Such advertisements do not have substantial evidence to prove their claims, hence, they falsify evidence by creating fake interviews of people who claim that the product is effective.

Children aged below 15 years spend a lot of time watching television. Since television is one of the main means of advertising, children watch a lot of advertisements between their favorite programs. There are some advertisements which are violent or not appropriate for children. Watching such advertisement can have a negative impact on the minds of children. Many companies promote their edible products through TV and their target audience is mainly children. This affects the consumption patterns of children as they tend to eat a lot of packed food items after watching the advertisements and they are exposed to problems like food poisoning and obesity.

To sum up, companies should not indulge in unethical advertising to increase their profits quickly. Instead, they should deliver value to the customer and try to retain the customers. This would help the company to achieve its long term objectives.

TECHNIQUES OF ADVERTISING

A successful advertising campaign facilitates in spreading the word about your products and services, attract customers and also generate sales. Whether you are trying to encourage new customers to buy an existing product or launching a new service, there are a number of advertising techniques you can choose from.

The most suitable advertising option for your business depends upon your target audience. Another factor to be considered is the most cost effective way to reach as many of them as possible. The advertising decision should also reflect the appropriate environment for your product or service. For instance, if you know that your target customer is looking for a particular feature in smartphones, you should advertise that.

Below are some of the most prominent advertising techniques used by businesses around the globe.

Newspaper

Newspaper advertising can help to promote your business to a wide range of potential customers. Every day we observe number of advertisements listed in newspapers. From local to national, all newspapers are used for advertising by companies. Companies operating on a small scale tend to use local newspapers like Ajit, Jagbani while big companies use newspapers like Times of India, Hindustan Times, Tribune etc.

Magazine

Advertising in a popular magazine can help to reach your target market in a considerably short span of time and that also with less efforts. Readers tend to read magazines in their free time and keep them for longer, giving your particular advertisement more than one chances to attract attention. Some of the popular magazines are Vogue, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Forbes etc. 

Advertisements in magazines appear too attractive that a reader is tempted to have a look at it. The more number of times he reads the magazines, the more likely he is to see the advertisement and buy the product or service. 

Radio

Advertising on the radio is a traditional way to reach the target audience. Although this advertising technique has become a bit old fashioned but it is still effective.

Some of the popular radio channels in India are RED FM 93.5 and BIG FM 92.7 . If you can identify the popular radio channels in a particular area and advertise your product there, it is highly likely that the product will experience a rise in its sales. Its disadvantage is that people do not usually remember what they hear while they are driving. The best way to overcome this disadvantage is the repetitive advertisement of the same product to reach the potential customer.

Television

Television has an wide reach and advertising on television is appropriate if you cater to a large market in an area. Television advertisements have a great advantage of visuals combined with sound.  As we saw earlier that radio is not effective as it does not have any visuals. Customers tend to retain the visuals more than the sound. Through television advertising, one can illustrate what the product is all about and how is it different from other similar products.

Television advertising is very expensive as compared to radio. The cost of advertising also depends upon the channel and program you choose. For instance, Advertising in the INDIA vs PAKISTAN match incurs huge amount of money.  Only the big players in the market can afford that.

BILLBOARDS

Billboards are an effective means for OUT OF HOME advertising. They are often located at prime locations to attract the attention of the public. Billboards can also be seen on the sides of buildings on the highways or stadiums. Billboards are so huge that anyone passing by is tempted to have a look at it. Many movies are also advertised through billboards. 

Online

Online advertising has experienced significant growth in the recent years. Through online advertising, you can reach a large audience in a short span of time. Nowadays, people spend a significant amount of time using their smart phones and laptops. Companies have taken this fact into consideration, thereby focusing a lot of attention on online advertising. 

The key to success of any business-ADVERTISING

In the contemporary era, advertising plays a crucial role in every business. It has become an indispensable part of any business. Advertising is like an investment which you make in business to reap lucrative returns in the future.

In the beginning of the 20th century, advertisement was given negligible importance . But with the passage of time, the perception of businessmen changed and now advertising has occupied a significant position in every business. Before going further, let us discuss what advertising is and why is it given so much importance.

Advertising in layman's terms is communicating your product or service to the potential customers. Potential customer here means a person who has sufficient resources and willingness to buy a product. For instance, potential customers for a branded lipstick would be the young women of upper class or the rich middle class. For the purpose of communicating the product, various advertising channels and techniques can be used. Some of them are social media, word of mouth, television, newspapers, digital marketing etc. The channel and technique of advertising to be used depends on the type of business. To exemplify, a small scale business which operates only locally will not use television for advertising. The reason behind this is that first of all advertising through television is very expensive. In addition, its potential customers are only the people living nearby. Hence, word of mouth, brochures and pamphlets would be a more practical and feasible option for such a business which operates on a small scale with a low investment.

There are still some businessmen who consider advertisement as a loss of money and they don't feel the need to do it. But the truth is that advertising is not a loss, in fact, it is a sort of investment. Businessmen who do not advertise their product or service have limited scope of expansion and growth. They remain confined to a certain number of customers and they never try to explore the market beyond that.

Another reason behind the ever increasing role of advertising in business is that the modern business environment is very competitive. Through advertising, you can convey to your potential customers about the USP of your product or service. USP refers to what different thing your product or service offers as compared to other similar products.You can read more about what USP in a business means on https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/unique-selling-point-USP . Nowadays, competition is so much prevalent in the market that without advertising, you will find it almost impossible to survive in the market. Without advertising a business cannot capture a desirable share in the market even if it is offering the best product in the market. Until you don't advertise, people are not aware of your product or service. Advertising assists the business in getting an edge over its competitors and helps it to flourish and prosper.

Advertising is important from the customer's point of view as well. Through advertising, customer becomes aware of the latest offerings in the market and he makes his buying decision accordingly. If there would be no advertising, customer will have a limited knowledge about the latest products and services and he would find it difficult to make a decision. Customer is considered the 'King' in the present business world,hence,all the latest information must be available at his disposal and that is only possible through advertising.

For a new business or company, the role of advertising further increases. It sets the foundation for the business by facilitating the penetration of the business in the market. Advertising creates the required hype about the new product and customers get curious to know more about the product and its features. When the product finally arrives in the market, customers tend to buy that product as they are strongly influenced by its promotion. Such type of advertising strategies are used by VIVO and XIAOMI. Even before the product enters the market, they create so much hype about the product that customers are inclined to buy their mobiles.