Wednesday 23 October 2013

Children, Adolescents and Advertising.


ABSTRACT

Advertising is a pervasive influence on children and adolescents. Young people view more than 40 000 ads per year on television alone and increasingly are being exposed to advertising on the Internet, in magazines, and in schools. This exposure may contribute significantly to childhood and adolescent obesity, poor nutrition, and cigarette and alcohol use. Media education has been shown to be effective in mitigating some of the negative effects of advertising on children and adolescents.
INTRODUCTION
Several European countries forbid or severely curtail advertising to children; in the United States, on the other hand, selling to children is simply “business as usual.” The average young person views more than 3000 ads per day on television (TV), on the Internet, on billboards, and in magazines. Increasingly, advertisers are targeting younger and younger children in an effort to establish “brand-name preference” at as early an age as possible. This targeting occurs because advertising is a $250 billion/year industry with 900 000 brands to sell, and children and adolescents are attractive consumers: teenagers spend $155 billion/year, children younger than 12 years spend another $25 billion, and both groups influence perhaps another $200 billion of their parents' spending per year. Increasingly, advertisers are seeking to find new and creative ways of targeting young consumers via the Internet, in schools, and even in bathroom stalls.
THE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
Research has shown that young children—younger than 8 years—are cognitively and psychologically defenseless against advertising. They do not understand the notion of intent to sell and frequently accept advertising claims at face value. In fact, in the late 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held hearings, reviewed the existing research, and came to the conclusion that it was unfair and deceptive to advertise to children younger than 6 years. What kept the FTC from banning such ads was that it was thought to be impractical to implement such a ban. However, some Western countries have done exactly that: Sweden and Norway forbid all advertising directed at children younger than 12 years, Greece bans toy advertising until after 10 PM, and Denmark and Belgium severely restrict advertising aimed at children.
ADVERTISING IN DIFFERENT MEDIA

Television

Children and adolescents view 400 00 ads per year on TV alone. This occurs despite the fact that the Children's Television Act of 1990 (Pub L No. 101–437) limits advertising on children's programming to 10.5 minutes/hour on weekends and 12 minutes/hour on weekdays. However, much of children's viewing occurs during prime time, which features nearly 16 minutes/hour of advertising. A 30-second ad during the Super Bowl now costs $2.3 million but reaches 80 million people.

Print Media

According to the Consumer's Union, more than 160 magazines are now targeted at children. Young people see 45% more beer ads and 27% more ads for hard liquor in teen magazines than adults do in their magazines. Despite the Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco industry in 1998, tobacco advertising expenditures in 38 youth-oriented magazines amounted to $217 million in 2000.

The Internet

An increasing number of Web sites try to entice children and teenagers to make direct sales. Teenagers account for more than $1 billion in e-commerce dollars, and the industry spent $21.6 million on Internet banner ads alone in 2002. More than 100 commercial Web sites promote alcohol products. The content of these sites varies widely, from little more than basic brand information to chat rooms, “virtual bars,” drink recipes, games, contests, and merchandise catalogues. Many of these sites use slick promotional techniques to target young people. In 1998, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (Pub L No. 105–277) was passed, which mandates that commercial Web sites cannot knowingly collect information from children younger than 13 years. These sites are required to provide notice on the site to parents about their collection, use, and disclosure of children's personal information and must obtain “verifiable parental consent” before collecting, using, or disclosing this information.
MARKETING TECHNIQUES
Advertisers have traditionally used techniques to which children and adolescents are more susceptible, such as product placements in movies and TV shows, tie-ins between movies and fast food restaurants, tie-ins between TV shows and toy action figures or other products, kids' clubs that are linked to popular shows, and celebrity endorsements. Cellular phones are currently being marketed to 6- to 12-year-olds, with the potential for directing specific advertisers to children and preteens. Coca-Cola reportedly paid Warner Bros. Studios $150 million for the global marketing rights to the movie “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,” and nearly 20% of fast food restaurant ads now mention a toy premium in their ads. Certain tie-in products may be inappropriate for children (eg, action figures from the World Wrestling Federation or an action doll that mutters profanities from an R-ratedAustin Powers movie).

Under the Influence: Consumer Trust in Advertising.

Whether it’s advertising via old standbys like TV, newspapers and radio or newer media like mobile and online, earning consumer trust is the holy grail of a successful campaign, according to Nielsen’s latest Trust In Advertising report. The good news for advertisers is that consumers around the globe are more trusting now than they were several years ago. In fact, the study reveals that trust in online advertising is increasing, as is trust in ads on TV, radio and movie screens.


Word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family, often referred to as earned advertising, are still the most influential, as 84 percent of global respondents across 58 countries to the Nielsen online survey said this source was the most trustworthy. Trust in advertising on branded websites increased 9 percentage points to 69 percent in 2013 as the second most trusted format in 2013, a jump from fourth-place ranking in 2007. Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents indicated that they trust consumer opinions posted online, which ranked third in 2013, up 7 percentage points from 2007.

“Brand marketers should be especially encouraged to find owned advertising among the most trusted marketing formats,” said Randall Beard, global head, Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen. “This form of advertising is trusted by nearly 70 percent of consumers globally, which emphasizes the notion that marketers maintain the ability to control the messages about their brands in a way that consumers consider credible. This perceived credibility is a key component in advertising effectiveness.”


In addition to an increase in trust in messages on branded websites, more than half (56%) of respondents said they trust consumer-consented email messages, an increase of 7 percentage points since 2007.

For other online advertising, almost half (48%) said they trust ads in search engine results, online video ads and ads on social networks. More than four in 10 (42%) trust online banner ads, up from 26 percent in 2007. This is good news for advertisers, who spent 26 percent more on this form of advertising in the first quarter of this year. Forty-five percent of respondents in Nielsen’s 2013 survey believed display ads on mobile phones were credible, and 37 percent trusted text ads on mobile phones, up from 18 percent in 2007.

Ads on television, in newspapers and in magazines continue to be among the most trusted forms of paid advertising. Trust in television ads increased from 56 percent in 2007 to 62 percent in 2013. Six-in-10 respondents trusted ads in magazines, a rise of 4 percentage points from 2007. Newspaper ads were the only format to decline in the six-year period—61 percent of respondents found newspaper ads credible in 2013, down from 63 percent in 2007. Although global ad spend grew only a marginal 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013, traditional paid media continues to own the majority share of spend, with TV in the top spot owning 59 percent, according to Nielsen’s most recent Global AdView Pulse Report.

Ads on radio (57%) and before movies (56%) both gained consumer trust as well, reporting increases of 3 and 18 percentage points, respectively, since 2007. Trust in brand sponsorships (61%) increased 12 percentage points from 2007. Trust in billboards and outdoor advertising (57%), TV program product placements (55%) and editorial content such as newspaper articles (67%), an earned form of traditional advertising, were not included in Nielsen’s 2007 survey.

“While TV remains the front-running format for the delivery of marketing messages based on ad spend, consumers globally are also looking to online media to get information about brands,” said Beard. “On the flipside, earned advertising channels have empowered consumers to advocate for their favorite brands, something that shouldn’t go unnoticed by brand advertisers.”

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Key Areas of Advertising.


Target Market


Identify the Target Market


Target markets are groups of individuals separated by distinguishable and noticeable aspects.

Target markets can be separated into:
  • Geographic segmentations (address, their location climate region)
  • Demographic or socioeconomic segmentation (gender, age, income, occupation, education, household size, and stage in the family life cycle)
  • Psychographic segmentation (similar attitudes, values, and lifestyles)
  • Behavioral segmentation (occasions, degree of loyalty)
  • Product-related segmentation (relationship to a product)
In addition to the above segmentations, market researchers have advocated a needs-based market segmentation approach to identify smaller and better defined target groups. A seven step approach proposed by Roger Best is as follows:
  • Select the target audience - The customers are grouped based on similar needs and benefits sought by them through the purchase of a product.
  • Identify clusters of similar needs - Demographics, lifestyle, usage behavior and pattern is used to differentiate between segments.
  • Apply a valuation approach - Market growth, barriers to entry, market access, and switching is used to valuate segments.
  • Test the segments - A segment storyboard is created to test the attractiveness of each segment’s positioning strategy.
  • Modify marketing mix - The segment positioning strategy is expanded to include all aspects of the marketing mix.

Your Target Market and Your Target Audience Might Differ


In marketing and advertising, a target audience is a specific group of people within the target market at which a product or the marketing message of a product is aimed at. (Kotler 2000).
For example, if a company sells new diet programs for men with heart disease problems (target market) the communication may be aimed at the spouse (target audience) who takes care of the nutrition plan for her husband.
A target audience can be formed of people of a certain age group, gender, or marital status. A combination of factors can also make a target audience, as in the case with men aged 20 to 30. Other groups, although not the main focus, may also be interested.
Discovering the appropriate target market(s) and determining the target audience is one of the most important activities in marketing management. The biggest mistake that it's possible to make in targeting is trying to reach everybody and ending up appealing to no one.

Consumer Influence
Marketing organisations must facilitate the consumer to act on their purchase intentions. The organisation can use a variety of techniques to achieve this. The provision of credit or payment terms may encourage purchase, or a sales promotion such as the opportunity to receive a premium or enter a competition may provide an incentive to buy now. The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with purchase decision is integration. Once the integration is achieved, the organisation can influence the purchase decisions much more easily.
Increasingly, marketers are finding that consumers are influenced by the purchasing decisions of other consumers. A recent study found that 10% of consumers are influencing the buying decisions of a large chunk of other consumers, making them top influencers. Much of this influence is through online means such as social media. As a result, marketers usually find and target these 'top influences' and ensure that they do their bit in influencing the behavior of other consumers.
There are 5 stages of a consumer buying process. It shows the complete process that a consumer will most likely, consciously or unconsciously, go through when they go to buy a product. These stages are:
  1. The problem recognition stage, meaning the identification of something a consumer needs.
  2. The search for information stage, which means searching one's knowledge bases or external knowledge sources for information on the product.
  3. The possibility of alternative options stage, which means checking whether better or cheaper products are available.
  4. The choice to purchase the product stage
  5. The actual purchase of the product stage
The Hierarchy of Effects Model - Effective advertising will aim to influence consumer behaviour at each and every stage of the consumer buying process. There are many different types of advertising that firms can employ to do this:
  1. Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate certain qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers.  The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as the most prominent advertising event on television. The average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached US$3.5 million (as of 2012). Some television commercials feature a song or jingle that listeners soon relate to the product. The Budweiser Frogs are three life-like puppet frogs named "Bud", "Weis", and "Er", who began appearing in American television commercials for U.S. Budweiser Beer ( Figure 1) during Super Bowl XXIX in 1995. The commercial is one of the most popular international beer and alcoholic beverage advertising campaigns.
  2. Radio advertising is a form of advertising via the medium of radio. Airtime is purchased from a station or network in exchange for airing the commercials. While radio has the limitation of being restricted to sound, proponents of radio advertising often cite this as an advantage. Radio is an expanding medium that can be found not only on air, but also online. According to Arbitron, radio has approximately 241.6 million weekly listeners, or more than 93 percent of the U.S. population.
  3. An infomercial is a long-format television commercial, typically five minutes or longer. The main objective of an infomercial is to create an impulse purchase, so that the consumer sees the presentation and then immediately buys the product through the advertised toll-free telephone number or website. Infomercials describe, display, and often demonstrate products and their features, and commonly have testimonials from consumers and industry professionals. 


Focus of Advertisements

Advertisements make propositions to consumers. They are not just words, product puffery, or window dressing. Each advertisement must say: "Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."
The proposition must be one that the competition cannot or does not offer. It must be unique, relative to the brand, or make a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising. It must differentiate. The proposition must be strong enough to move the masses, pulling new customers to the product. This is known as the "unique selling point or proposition."


The Unique Selling Point or Proposition


The Unique Selling Point or Proposition (USP) is a marketing concept that was first proposed as a theory to understand a pattern among successful advertising campaigns of the early 1940s. The term was invented by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company and states that certain campaigns make unique propositions to customers to convinced them to switch brands. Today the term is used in other fields to refer to any aspect that differentiates one object from similar objects.
The term USP has also been largely replaced by the concept known as a Positioning Statement. Positioning determines what place a brand (tangible good or service) should occupy in the consumer's mind in comparison to its competition. A position is often described as the meaningful difference between the brand and its competitors.

Focus on the USP


When preparing an advertisement, the product's USP must be defined. To find a USP, ask "How is this product different?" By making a list of the product's pros and cons the message that the ad should communicate will become clear.
Positioning is an attempt to place a product into a certain category in consumers' minds. Types of positioning are BestAgainst (Hertz vs. Avis, 7-Up vs. Coke), Niche(a sub-division of a category), New, and Traditional.


Brand Character


A brand character statement sets the tone for an entire campaign. A simple way to start preparing an advertisement is with this statement: "Advertising will (A) (B) that (C) is (D). Support will be (E). Tone will be (F)." In this case, A is a verb, B is a target demographic, C is the product, D is an adjective or phrase, E is the core of the ad, F is the "attitude." For example, "Advertising will convince artistic types age 18-35 that Apple computers are hip and cool. Support will be two men discussing Macs and PCs. Tone will be humorous."
The next part of this strategy statement is the target audience. Advertisers use many methods to gain information about this group, including demographics, psychographics (how the target thinks), and focus groups.
Next is the product itself. Important questions to ask are "Why would anybody buy this?" "What is the product's advantage?" and "What is the client's image?" The last one is important to consider in order to make sure the ad coincides with the public perception the company has created for itself. For example, hip or edgy ads probably won't go over well with a company that has a public image of being "conservative" and/or "family friendly."
Support is anything that demonstrates or otherwise backs upthe premise presented in the first sentence. Some examples are facts, images, or a scenario, such as the following:
  • Reason Why: How a product delivers a benefit.
  • Combination: Two or more benefits are demonstrated.
  • Permission to Believe: A clever story or characters make claims that are believable.
  • Nine-Wheel Logic: Specious support used when real support would be too awkward.
  • Image: An attitude or lifestyle that advertiser attempts to link to product.

Advertising Focus Models


Several models help define the focus of advertisement. The FCB Grid, created by Richard Vaughn, categorizes messages as "thinking" and "feeling", "low" and "high."

  • Low Feel commercial demonstrates the pleasure obtained by using the product. This approach is popular for foods.
  • High Feel commercial emphasizes how the product makes the consumer hip or cool. This approach is popular for advertising products like clothing, shoes, or sports cars.
Tom Harris created the Harris Grid for measuring a product's level of interest in consumers versus the level of interest in mass media.

 The Ladder type of advertising messages are arranged in a hierarchical ladder, based on what perspective they use to discuss the product.


The Communication Process
The most basic form of communication is a process in which two or more persons attempt to consciously or unconsciously influence each other through the use of symbols or words to satisfy their respective needs. Likewise, integrated marketing communications uses this communications process to persuade target audiences to listen and act on marketing messages. Our ability to receive, communicate, and process information from other communicators and outside stimuli enables us to perceive the advertising and promotional messages central to integrated marketing communications.

Audience Roles


People play different roles – friend, parent, boss, client, customer, or employee – depending on the exchange during the communications process. The nature of the role directly affects the nature of communication. Communication theory points to the fact that each communicator is composed of a series of subsystems. The input subsystem permits the communicator to receive messages and stimulus from external sources as well as from other communicators. It involves the reception of light, temperature, touch, sound, and odors via our immediate senses. These stimuli are evaluated and recognized using our ears, eyes, skin, nose, and taste buds. Thus, we input and perceive advertising messages – a television commercial or a salesperson’s pitch – using this process of perception.
Thus, organisations must keep in mind the different subsystems of their target audiences when devising integrated marketing communications strategies. Companies must also consider other consumer stimuli such as past experiences, education, health, and genetics when developing communications for certain target markets. Some people may process the humor in a company advertisement more quickly than others due to factors such as age or culture.
Communication systems also exist within an environment such as a corporate office or school. The environment is everything internal and external to the communication system that can affect the system (family, school, competing advertisements, and so on). Each of the factors within the environment interacts with the communication system to a different degree. As a result, where and when consumers interact with company advertisements and promotional tools will also affect their perception of the brand.

Relationship Marketing & Management

Relationship marketing is a form of marketing that shifts focus away from sales transactions to emphasise customer satisfaction. It refers to a short-term arrangement where both the buyer and seller have an interest in providing a more satisfying exchange. This approach tries to disambiguiously transcend the simple post-purchase exchange process with a customer to make more truthful and richer contact by providing a more holistic, personalised purchase. Thus, relationship marketing uses this experience to create stronger ties between buyer and seller. Relationship marketing is cross-functional, in that it is organised around processes that involve all aspects of the organisation. It can be applied when there are competitive product alternatives for customers to choose from, and when there is an ongoing and periodic desire for the product or service. Examples of markets in which relationship marketing can be crucial include:

  • Internal markets
  • Supplier markets
  • Recruitment markets
  • Referral markets
  • Influence markets
  • Customer markets
With the growth of the internet and mobile platforms, relationship marketing has continued to evolve and move forward as technology opens more collaborative and social communication channels. This includes tools for managing relationships with customers, which go beyond simple demographic and customer service data. The practice of relationship marketing has been facilitated by several generations of customer relationship management software that allow tracking and analysing of each customer's preferences, activities, tastes, likes, dislikes, and complaints. Relationship marketing extends to include inbound marketing efforts, public relations, social media, and application development. It is a broadly recognized, widely implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with clients and sales prospects. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service.

Customer Relationship Management


Customer relationship management (CRM) is a widely implemented model for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. Once simply a label for a category of software tools, today CRM generally denotes a company-wide business strategy embracing all client-facing departments and beyond. When an implementation is effective, then people, processes, and technology work in synergy to increase profitability and reduce operational costs. A CRM system may be chosen because it is thought to provide:
  • quality and effeciency
  • a decrease in overall costs
  • an increase in profitability
Successful development, implementation, use, and support of CRM systems can provide a significant advantage to the user, but often there are obstacles that obstruct the user from using the system to its full potential. A CRM attempting to contain a large, complex group of data can become cumbersome and difficult to understand for ill-trained users. The lack of senior management sponsorship can also hinder its success. Stakeholders must be identified early in the process and a full commitment is needed from all executives before beginning the conversion. Additionally, an interface that is difficult to navigate or understand can inhibit the CRM’s effectiveness, causing users to pick and choose which areas of the system to use and which to push aside. This fragmented implementation can cause inherent challenges, as only certain parts are used and the system is not fully functional.


Customer Retention


A key principle of relationship marketing is the retention of customers through varying means and practices to ensure repeated trade. This is accomplished by satisfying customer requirements more effectively than competing companies through a mutually beneficial relationship. Customer retention involves counterbalancing new customers and opportunities with current and existing customers as a means of maximizing profit. Many companies in competitive markets will redirect or allocate large amounts of resources or attention towards customer retention. In markets with increasing competition, it may cost five times more to attract new customers than it would to retain current customers.

Demographics

Demographic Changes


Demographics describe the observable characteristics of individuals living in the culture. Demographics include our physical traits, such as gender, race, age, and height; our economic traits, such as income, savings, and net worth; our occupation-related traits, including education; our location-related traits; and our family-related traits, such as marital status and number and age of children.
It is important that marketers understand the demographic segment that they are focusing on. One differentiation is by generation--two of the biggest demographic groups are the baby boomers and generation X. These historically have been of great importance and focus to marketers. More recently, generations Y and Z have emerged, and marketers must ensure they understand how to target them most effectively. One challenge with the younger generations is that many of them are yet to understand their own tastes and desires.
Demographic trait compositions are constantly changing, and no American, Japanese, or Brazilian is "typical" anymore. There is no average family, no ordinary worker, no everyday wage and no traditional middle class. Still, marketing managers must understand consumers intimately. As we see next, some trends are old, others are new. For instance, the aging of the population has been going on for several decades, but births and birth rates in recent years have been much higher than expected. Immigration is also greater than predicted, and so is the backlash against it. In the US, interstate migration to the south and west are old trends. What is new is heavier movement in the US from the northeast rather than from the midwest and rapid growth in the mountain states.
Consider the following demographic changes and how they affect marketing:
  • Households are growing more slowly and getting older. About half of all households are aged 45 and older and growing at an annual rate of one percent compared with nearly two percent in the 1980s. Marketing communicators must plan for a greater number of middle-aged households, consumers who are experienced and have a better understanding of price and value. These consumers have an interest in high-quality household goods and in-home health care.
  • The traditional family barely exists now. Married couples are a slim majority of US households. Only one-third of households have children under 18, and nearly one-fourth of households are people who live alone. However, married couples dominate the affluent market, as the vast majority of very high-income households are married couples. The long-term trend of high growth in nontraditional types of households and lack of growth among married couples can only mean further segmentation of an already segmented marketplace.
  • The continued increase in education. Most adults in the United States still have not completed college (approximately 67 percent), but that number continues to decline. An increasing number of people have attended some college or have an associate or technical degree. More skilled workers mean more knowledgeable and sophisticated consumers who expect more information about product attributes and benefits before making a purchase.
  • Jobs that do not require physical strength keep growing in number. Also, the extremely high cost of employee benefits suggests that the use of temporary workers and independent contractors will continue to grow. Marketing managers must assess whether consumers who do not have corporate benefits will become more risk-averse because they lack the safety net of company-provided pension plans and medical insurance (related: see Figure 1).
  • People in the US are moving south. More than half (54 percent) of US residents live in the ten largest states, and more than half of US population growth between 1990 and 1999 occurred in these ten states. New York had the largest population of all states in 1950, but in the 1990s, fast-growing Texas pushed the barely growing New York to number three. Why? More than half of the four million immigrants that located in the United States between 1990 and 1995 moved to California, Texas, or Florida.
  • The share of aggregate household income earned by the middle 60 percent of households has shrunk from 52 percent in 1973 to 49 percent 25 years later. Meanwhile, the share of such income earned by the top 20 percent (average income USD 98,600) increased from 44 percent to 48 percent. In other words, the total purchasing power of the top 20 percent of US households now equals that of the middle 60 percent.


Targeting Consumers

Target Consumers Where they Spend Time


Since an exchange involves two or more people, it is natural to think of the market in terms of people, individuals, or groups. Clearly, without the existence of people or businesses to buy and consume goods, services, and ideas, there would be little reason for marketing. Since people create markets, it is essential to target clusters of people and the locations they visit to better implement marketing strategies. The World Wide Web has become an important, albeit virtual, location where companies are spending more time and money to target and influence consumers.

The Rise of Social Media


The Internet, or more specifically, the World Wide Web, has eliminated time and geographic constraints for both consumers and businesses looking to connect regardless of physical location. Social media sites have further aggregated user content around similar topics, tasks and people, creating online communities that have proven to be lucrative targets for online advertising. As of December 2012, Facebook boasts over 1 billion active users, with over half accessing the social network via a mobile device. Personal information ranging from birthdays and profession, to family photos and multi-user gaming yield insightful intelligence for marketers looking to improve promotion to niche and hard-to-reach markets.


Targeting Digital Natives and Other Technology Users


Besides the rapid adoption of Internet technologies among consumers and businesses, the world is now seeing a generation of people born after the emergence of the commercial web come into adulthood. Often dubbed, "digital natives," these individuals have only known a world with the Internet, and are just as or more comfortable interacting with brands in online rather than offline environments. More importantly, they understand the value of digital technology and use it to seek out opportunities, whether to initiate friendships, judge a brand or make a purchase.
Consumers are also increasingly accessing information from mobile devices, versus desktop or laptop computers. Busy and hectic schedules are prompting people to view and access brand messaging on the go from their Smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles. The growing legion of mobile users, as well as the increasing sophistication of online purchasers and their preference for relevant, digital content, will continue to push marketers to produce targeted, messaging for the web.

Target Market Characteristics
The different characteristics of a target market are geographic, demographic, psychographic, behavioral, and product related.


Geographic


A geographic target market can be consumers in a city, state, or country. This is often important when it comes to international advertising. Some products may do well in some countries but not in others. For example, in Japan where they don't have ovens, companies such as Betty Crocker would not focus their products in this geographic target market.

Demographic/Socioeconomic
A demographic or socioeconomic target market would focus on a specific gender, age group. income level, or education level. For example, Plato's Closet, a consignment store for young adult clothing, would focus on the teen and young adult demographic. Irish Spring would focus on a male demographic.

Psychographic


A psychographic target market would be a market that has similar attitudes, values, or lifestyle. For example, the televisions station G4 is aimed at men but also gamers in the age 16-34 demographic.

Behavioral


The behavioral target market focuses on occasions and degree of loyalty. Facebook marketing is often focused on loyal customers with specials they can claim by getting a code on Facebook. There are also discount cards available that offer discounts by allowing shoppers to collect points each time they shop at their store.

Product Related Segmentation


Product related segmentation describes a target approach for customers who already own a specific product. For example, accessories for people who own cell phones, tablets, computers, iphones, or gaming systems. Determining a target market approach to sales has many benefits. It can create a more specific marketing campaign, increase sales, and decrease the number of competitors in the market.



Thursday 10 October 2013

Advertising Persuasive Techniques Research.


Avante Garde
The suggestion that using this product puts the user ahead of the times e.g. a toy manufacturer encourages kids to be the first on their block to have a new toy.

Bandwagon
A form of propaganda that exploits the desire of most people to join the crowd or be on the winning side, and avoid winding up the losing side. Few of us would want to wear nerdy cloths, smell differently from everyone else, or be unpopular. The popularity of a product is important to many people. Even if most of us say we make out own choice when buying something we often choose well-advertised items- the popular ones. Advertising copywriters must be careful with the bandwagon propaganda technique because most of us see ourselves as individuals who think for themselves. If Bandwagon commercial is to obvious, viewers may reject the product outright.
Bribery
Bribery seems to give a desirable extra something.  We humans tend to be greedy. e.g. Buy a burger; get free fries.

Card Stacking
The propaganda technique of Card-Stacking is so widespread that we may not always be aware of its presence in a commercial. Basically, Card-Stacking means stacking the cards in favor of the product; advertisers stress is positive qualities and ignore negative. For example, if a brand of snack food is loaded with sugar (and calories), the commercial may boast that the product is low in fat, which implies that it is also low in calories. Card Stacking is such a prevalent rational propaganda technique that gives us only part of the picture.

Diversion
Diversion seems to tackle a problem or issue, but then throws in an emotional non-sequitor or distraction.   e.g. a tobacco company talks about health and smoking, but then shows a cowboy smoking a rugged cigarette after a long day of hard work.

Ethos
An advertisement using ethos will try to convince you that the company is more reliable, honest, and credible; therefore, you should buy its product. Ethos often involves statistics from reliable experts, such as nine out of ten dentists agree that Crest is the better than any other brand or Americas dieters choose Lean Cuisine. Often, a celebrity endorses a product to lend it more credibility: Catherine Zeta-Jones makes us want to switch to T-Mobile.

Exigency
Creating the impression that action is required immediately or the opportunity will be lost forever.

Facts and Figures
Statistics and objective factual information is used to prove the superiority of the product e.g. a car manufacturer quotes the amount of time it takes their car to get from 0 to 100 k.p.h.

Glittering Generalities
The glittering generalities technique uses appealing words and images to sell the product. The message this commercial gives, through indirectly, is that if you buy the item, you will be using a wonderful product, and it will change your life. This cosmetic will make you look younger, this car will give you status, this magazine will make you a leader-all these commercials are using Glittering Generalities to enhance product appeal.

Innuendo
Causing the audience to become wary or suspicious of the competition by hinting that negative info may be kept secret.

Logos
An advertisement using logos will give you the evidence and statistics you need to fully understand what the product does. The logos of an advertisement will be the "straight facts" about the product: One glass of Florida orange juice contains 75% of your daily Vitamin C needs.
Magic Ingredients
The suggestion that some almost miraculous discovery makes the product exceptionally effective e.g. a pharmaceutical manufacturer describes a special coating that makes their pain reliever less irritating to the stomach than a competitor’s.

Pathos
An advertisement using pathos will attempt to evoke an emotional response in the consumer. Sometimes, it is a positive emotion such as happiness: an image of people enjoying themselves while drinking Pepsi. Other times, advertisers will use negative emotions such as pain: a person having back problems after buying the “wrong” mattress. Pathos can also include emotions such as fear and guilt: images of a starving child persuade you to send money.
Patriotism
The suggestion that purchasing this product shows your love of your country e.g. a company brags about its product being made in America and employing American workers.

Plain Folks
The suggestion that the product is a practical product of good value for ordinary people e.g. a cereal manufacturer shows an ordinary family sitting down to breakfast and enjoying their product.

Repetition
Repetition

Simple Solutions
Avoid complexities, and attack many problems to one solutions. e.g. buy this makeup and you will be attractive, popular, and happy.

Snob Appeal
The suggestion that the use of the product makes the customer part of an elite group with a luxurious and glamorous life style e.g. a coffee manufacturer shows people dressed in formal gowns and tuxedos drinking their brand at an art gallery.

Testimonial
A famous personality is used to endorse the product e.g. a famous basketball player (Michael Jordan) recommends a particular brand of skates.

Transfer
Words and ideas with positive connotations are used to suggest that the positive qualities should be associated with the product and the user e.g. a textile manufacturer wanting people to wear their product to stay cool during the summer shows people wearing fashions made from their cloth at a sunny seaside setting where there is a cool breeze.

Weasel Words
Used to suggest a positive meaning without actually really making any guarantee e.g. a scientist says that a diet product might help you to lose weight the way it helped him to lose weight.

Wit and Humour
Customers are attracted to products that divert the audience by giving viewers a reason to laugh or to be entertained by clever use of visuals or language.