Posts Tagged ‘Brand Awareness’

Advertising forms an integral part of the communication process. The strongest campaigns are made up of a series of integrated themes and messages, developed with a strategic direction in mind. As well as and in alignment with marketing, public relations and various other communication techniques used to create awareness for brands and services, advertising can be used as an extremely effective communication medium.

For a business that has something to sell or deliver, advertising performs many functions and the effects on a business from this can be considerable. Some of the advantages of advertising include:

Creation of brand awareness – People who have seen advertising for a certain product or service are more likely to remember this when they come to make a purchasing decision.

Boosting sales – Ads run in the right publications and areas increase awareness and will lead to increased sales.

Speeding up the buying cycle – People are more likely to be receptive to advertised products and services increasing the probability that they will take notice of other information from that company.

Enhances prestige – Businesses that advertise are more likely to be seen as credible.

When done badly however, advertising can create confusion and even hostile feelings towards brands and services. The following are some advertising don’ts to look out for.

Making the branding and product shot too small – This will create confusion about what the product/ service is and who the company providing it is. The aim of advertising is to make this information easily available and clear to those viewing the ad.

Including too much information – Too much information will cause people to dismiss the ad. Often there is limited time to get the advertising message across; therefore this message needs to be succinct and straightforward.

Being too clever – Being too clever in advertising may also cause the ad to be dismissed by the audience. People tend to not spend too long on something they can’t understand. Remember to keep the message clear.

Weak imagery and boring creative – We have all heard about cut through. As there are so many adverts around everybody every day, your advertising message needs to break through the clutter. To do this you will need effective imagery, catchy, easy to remember messages and interesting creative.

Bad Placement – If your advertisement is not in the correct place to reach your target market, it is not going to have any impact. This also applies to the ad’s timing and the length of time it is available for the target market – if it is lost in the clutter it will not be effective.

Advertising is an extremely effective communication medium, although when executed badly it can form negative results in the minds of consumers. When advertising has been developed with strategic direction in mind and is used in line with other communication processes, the benefits on businesses and brands can be far reaching.