Forms of advertising

• Product advertising is the art of establishing a relationship between a product and its potential consumers.
• Product advertising creates the need in the consumers, gets them interested in its features and directly or indirectly informs them as to how the product is better than those of its competitors.
• By its nature, product advertisements concentrate on building up the personality or individuality of the products through attractive associations in the mind of the consumers.
• Product advertisements can use a multiplicity of media and a repertoire of techniques to achieve this.
• Product advertisements can use celebrities to form glamorous and credible associations with the products.
• An eminent sportsperson advocating a sports gear or sports wear or an energy drink will form an instant and appropriate equation.
• A mature person with high status endorsing a product like suiting will lend dignity to it.
• Every campaign 'pitches' itself at a level depending upon its purpose.
• If it is the introducing a new product in a competitive market, then it will be an aggressive campaign, one that is aimed at catching everyone's attention by creating a buzz in the market about the new product.
• If it is an already well established product then it may take a less aggressive tone and may be will seek to appeal in a familiar way to the consumer.
• Product advertisements will seek to renew the already established bond in an innovative way.
• The audio-visual strategy or the nature of images and text will depend upon the pitch that has been set.
• Institutional advertising is substantially different than the 'hard sell' that is involved in selling a product.
• The basic purpose of institutional advertising is to promote the image of the company.
• Often, progressive causes like support to community based programmes, environment, and gender issues are taken up as a part of the values of the company.
• Sometimes, institutional advertising may promote a novel business idea that would benefit many businesses.
• Alignment with a positive cause helps create a good image of the company in the public's mind.
• In case, any company has received some negative publicity for whatever reasons, image promotion through advertising helps reduce the impact of it.
• It may also help in improving the image of the company once again.
• Public Service Advertising is also known as Public Awareness Advertising, Social Service Advertising and Social Awareness Advertising.
• Public Service Advertising typically involves generating and transmitting short and precise messages regarding a cause or a problem.
• The messages in Public Service Advertising have to be dramatic to seek immediate attention and for impact creation on the viewer/ reader.
• Public Service Advertising usually will have a strong appeal to discontinue wrong practices and/or inculcate new ones.
• The stress in Public Service Advertising is always on positive communication that believes in a better tomorrow.
• While planning the advertisement in Public Service Advertising, a thorough understanding of the target group must be the starting point.
• The term advocacy has become an important concept and practice in social activism.
• Advocacy has been institutionalized by NGOs, Government agencies, and UN agencies.
• Advocacy is an activity by an individual or by a group that seeks to influence public opinion on matters of public importance such as electoral reforms.
• The goal of advocacy is to raise a public debate within Governmental institutions through media.
• Sometimes advocacy may have a perspective to influence public-policy and political decisions.
• Sometimes advocacy seeks to modify resource allocation within the socio-economic sector.
• Lobbying, conducting public events, publishing research and articles, and advertising can become a part of the advocacy process.
• Advocacy advertising is normally thought of as any advertisement, message, or public communication regarding economic, political, or social issues.
• The ultimate aim of all advocacy is to influence political and economic decision making in the interest of society at large or certain groups within it.
• Comparative advertising compares one brand directly or indirectly with one or more competing brands.
• This type of advertising is particularly resorted to by companies that are introducing a new product in a competitive market.
• The underlying idea to be told to the consumers in comparative terms could be how their new product is superior to all the existing ones.
• Normally the competitor's product is never named directly, but implied.
• Manufacturers have to be careful about not misinforming the public about their competitor's product as it may attract a lawsuit.
• Comparative advertising is legal in Europe, United States, Canada, Australia and many other developed countries, but some countries do not allow it.