The Importance of Advertising
Publication: The i newspaper
Businesses rely strongly on advertising in order to promote and distribute products. Any type of business- online or offline- needs customers in order to experience a good business turnaround.
“Once a business advertises about its products and services, it is able to run in a competitive environment.” (Adarmy, 2019)
Advertising and marketing both play key roles in business. However, there is a difference between the terms:
The latter is an umbrella term for all advertising and promotional efforts of a company. Businesses employ marketing as a process or system to share their products, services, and ideas.
The former falls under the marketing process, the same way that public relations, market research, social media, content marketing, selling, and brand management are also considered subjects of marketing.
“Advertising is the what, where, why, and how the company shares its story to its audience. It supports marketing by creating interest and evoking awareness in the minds of a company’s target audience.” (Loggie, no date)
Examples of traditional advertising include billboards, newspapers, magazines, TV and radio and custom direct mail. Billboards, being one of the oldest methods of public advertising, are still in use today. In magazines, and on TV and radio, advertising is also still going strong. Over the last two decades, these old styles have faced rivalry from digital (and modern) advertising. Examples of digital advertising include online, search engines, social media, video streaming services, and websites. Despite these advanced methods of marketing continually on the rise, the classic techniques may still be around for the time to come.
“Digital spending is a top priority for marketers, but not lacking behind, with 60% of those surveyed, offline media advertising like TV and radio is also labeled as a priority, including the 14% who labeled it their “top” priority.” (Dimitrioski, 2019)
So just why is advertising important? In today’s age, the majority of major brands and companies are desperately trying to grab the attention of consumers. Disney, Microsoft, Coca Cola, Nike, and Gap; these are just a few of the big name organisations for whom advertisements are seen everywhere we look. With new products released every year, they rely heavily on advertising so that members of the public might take an interest.
One of the busiest times for brands and companies is the run-up to Christmas and they rely on advertising to full extent throughout that period. Popular brands often create a popular advert and/or campaign and keep it in place for a long time. A particular example is Coca-Cola’s long running ‘Holidays are Coming’ advert. On our screens during the festive period since the 1990’s, it features a long row of Coca-Cola trucks, adorned in lights, snaking their way through a wintery background. The advert has become so popular to this day, in 2019 The Sun voted it “the nation’s favourite advert series of all time.”
An advertising campaign that has become extremely popular over the last decade is the Compare the Meerkat series of adverts, which feature the character meerkat Aleksandr Orlov. Originally created for the price comparison website comparethemarket.com, the adverts show Aleksandr and his family and friends getting into various adventures. The adverts have become so successful, they managed to generate merchandise, including stuffed toys and a mock autobiography of Aleksandr. Various celebrities (including Arnold Schwarzenegger) have appeared in some of the adverts.
“Orlov has captured the hearts and minds of the public; hundreds of thousands follow him on Facebook and Twitter. He has even achieved that rarefied accolade of being turned into a cuddly toy- a feat achieved by advertising icons such as ITV Digital’s monkey and Levi’s Flat Eric. He was due to go on sale in Harrod’s for £19.95 until excessive demand prompted Mohamed Al-Fayed to give the entire stock to children’s charities.” (Sweeney, 2010)
Films are a major reason as to why advertising is crucial. Many big name Hollywood actors and directors utilize it so that people will take interest in their films and go to watch them at the cinema. Several popular film franchises have had immense success and managed to produce global merchandise. Possibly the biggest-selling film franchise to this date is Star Wars. Ever since the original film was released in 1977, marketing has been huge. Following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, the company behind the films, in 2012, and the announcement that a new trilogy of films was to be made, the series’ popularity surged. All types of merchandise has been made available, including toys, clothing, posters, books, comics, bedding, cutlery and much more.
Some old-school Star Wars fans however, weren’t too happy about Disney’s purchase of the franchise. In his article in The Guardian, Russell (2012) states “Star Wars may have lost much of its magic for die-hard fans as a result, but it makes Lucasfilm seem much more suited to acquisition by Disney. The unexpected handmade charm of the original trilogy has been replaced by a glossy veneer of commerciality that defines many Disney products today.” While opinions are certainly divided over the latest trilogy and the prequel trilogy released between 1999–2005 (prior to Disney’s acquisition), it wouldn’t be fair to say that Disney has killed Star Wars completely. Thanks to global marketing and merchandising, the series is enjoyed by fans of all ages today and most likely will be for years to come.
Sports events are another motive as to why advertising is essential. When London hosted the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2012, sports brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Puma provided sponsorship. Other companies (including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, British Airways, BMW, Panasonic, and Kelloggs) also featured as sponsors of the games. Several of the athletes from Team GB (including Jessica Ennis-Hill, Tom Daley, and Mo Farah) appeared in campaigns by some sports brands for the games.
A few of the companies that sponsored the games garnered some success following their involvement. One such was Proctor and Gamble (P&G). The company is known for specializing in personal health and care products. In addition, they took advantage of their victory to let people know just how important their products are. Cave (2015) discusses in his report in The Telegraph “Proctor and Gamble, a worldwide partner of the International Olympic Committee, says its association with London 2012 increased sales by £320 million, while enabling the company to talk to a clearly defined target audience of five billion consumers about what its brand and products stand for.”
Advertising is important so that people can be aware of specific products that they need for everyday use. It also helps people get introduced to something that they will want to enjoy for a long time.
References:
Adarmy (2019) Why Advertising is Important in Today’s Economy. Available at: adarmygroup.com/2019/07/why-advertising-is-important-in-todays-economy/
Cave, A. (2015). How London 2012’s sponsorship model changed the game. Available at: telegraph.co.uk/investing/business-of-sport-/london-2012-sponsorship model/
Dimitrioski, Z. (2019). Traditional Advertising, A Thing Of The Past? Not According To This Report. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zarkodimitrioski/2019/06/24/traditional-advertising-a-thing-of-the-past-not-according-to-this-report/
Loggie, N. (no date). Why Advertising is Essential to Any Kind of Business. Available at: adlibweb.com/why-advertising-is-important-to-any-kind-of-business/
Russell, J. (2012). Star Wars: Why Disney was destined to buy Lucasfilm. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/oct/31/star-wars-disney-destined-lucasfilm
Sweeney, M. (2010). How meerkat Aleksandr Orlov helped increase the market for TV ads. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/jan/16/aleksander-orlov-price-comparison-ads
The Sun (2019) Coca-Cola’s ‘holidays are coming’ TV ad has been voted the nation’s all-time favourite. Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/9350535/coca-cola-holidays-are-coming-britains-favourite-tv-ad/
