PURPOSES OF ADVERTISING

To in form

1. Advertising serves to inform the public of the availability of a new product or service which is being sold in the market, e.g. advertising a new brand of toilet soap or announcing the opening of a new hairdressing salon.

2. This is aimed at creating a demand for the new product. The new product has to be made known to the public before the goods are actually available for sale. The advertisement also serves to induce the wholesalers and the retailers to stock up the new goods.

3. This type of advertising is called informative advertising. It is not only restricted to new products but is also used to inform people of new uses of a product, of how a product works, of new price changes, of names and addresses of retailers selling a certain product, or even of a new bus timetable.

4. What is important is that it makes no attempt to persuade but merely informs the public of the availability of the product, its uses and advantages, price, quality, terms of sale, etc.

5. Under informative advertising the following goods and services are advertised:

- Advertising in Trade and Technical Journals: These advertisements contain technical information about goods.

- Advertising of Particular Events: Trade fairs, exhibitions, concerts and sporting activities are examples of such advertising. In this type people are informed about such events and are persuaded to attend such events.

- Advertising of Employment Opportunities: In this type people come to know about the various employment opportunities available.

To persuade

1. Advertising also serves to persuade the public to buy some goods or services, e.g. a company seeks to induce the public to buy its particular brand of detergent in preference to others or a travel agency advertises the better quality of service it can provide to its customers.

2. This type of advertising is called persuasive advertising. It not only informs but also persuades the public into purchasing the advertised product by using subtle techniques. It aims at extending the demand for the good or service advertised. In other words, an advertiser aims to increase the sale of its product. By selling more, a firm increases its revenue and might pay a lower unit cost as goods are produced on a larger scale. The net profit of the firm would then increase if these benefits are greater than the costs of advertising.

To remind

1. Advertising also serves to remind consumers of existing products; that the product may be needed in the near future and where the product can be bought.

2. It is necessary for the advertiser to draw the attention of consumers to his product constantly and to keep away from other competitive brands which may be heavily advertised.

3. It aims to keep the name of the product before the public. For example, a newspaper advertisement may carry a picture of a bottle drink or a bus may carry the name of a firm. They say nothing but serve a useful purpose in reminding the public of the name of the product or service. Many products are branded to distinguish them from similar products. Brand names are registered so other competitors cannot copy them. Some brand names are so well known that advertisements often show only the brand name and the product itself is not mentioned.

4. This type of advertising is called reminder advertising. A related form of advertising is reinforcement advertising which seeks to assure current purchasers that they made the right choice.

5. Reminder advertising aims at sustaining the demand for the good or service advertised.