Classification of Advertising – With
Categories
Advertising
can be broadly classified into the following categories:
i.
Product Advertisement:
Product
advertising focuses on a particular product or brand. Most advertising is
product advertising. It is designed to promote the sale or reputation of a
particular product or brand. For example, Bournvita, Viva, Horlicks, Lux,
Dettol, etc. Product advertisement generally describes the product’s features
and sometimes prices.
Product
advertisement is again divided into primary, selective and remainder
advertising as discussed below:
(a)
Primary Advertising (Pioneer Advertisement):
This
type of advertisement is used at the time of introducing a new product in the
market. This is mainly used during the introduction stage of the product life
cycle. It develops primary demand.
(b)
Selective Competitive Advertising:
When
a product enters growth stage of the cycle and when competition begins,
advertisement becomes competitive or selective. Thus this types of
advertisement is used where there are a large number of similar products in the
market. It specifically highlights how a product is better than that of
competitors.
(c)
Reminder Advertising:
This
type of advertisement is adopted by companies when they visualise that their
products are moved into maturity and saturation stages (or when sales are
declining). The advertiser wants to keep his product’s name before the public
and uses soft-sell advertisements, which merely mention the name as a reminder.
For example, Coca Cola, Limca, Pepsi etc.
ii.
Institutional Advertising:
When
the advertisement is to create an image reputation of the firm, it is called
institutional advertising. These advertisements are not always directed only to
consumers. Such an advertisement may be directed also at shareholders,
creditors, etc. not attempt to sell a particular product; it benefits the
organisation as a whole. For example, ITC, Raymonds, Dabur, Ranbaxy, etc.
undertake institutional advertising, also known as corporate advertising.
iii.
Comparative Advertising:
This
type of advertisement stresses on comparative features of two or more specific
brands. This method is adopted when similar product are fastly appearing in the
market.
iv.
Shortage Advertising:
When
there is short supply of product, shortage advertisement is used, e.g., oil
crisis. In this type of advertisement, new promotional objectives may be
incorporated such as (a) educating the people the most economic use of the
product, (b) making appeal to save resources, and (c) to reduce customer
pressure on the sales force.
v.
Co-Operative Advertising:
When
manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers jointly sponsor and share the
expenditure on advertising, it is called co-operative advertising.
vi. Commercial
Advertising:
This
is concerned with selling products or ideas to increase the sales volume. It is
also called business advertising.
The
following are the different forms of commercial advertising:
(a)
Consumer advertising—directed at consumers.
(b)
Industrial Advertising—used for selling industrial products.
(c)
Trade Advertising—related to trade and aimed at retailers, wholesalers and
contractors.
(d)
Professional Advertisement—related to professions (lawyers, doctors etc.)
(e)
Farm Advertising—related to farm products.
vii. Non-Commercial
Advertising:
This
is used by non-profit organisations, for inviting donations, financial aid,
etc.
Classification of Advertising – Top 15
i.
National Advertising:
National
advertising offers a product or service to the general consumer audience across
the country. Some marketers may consider the entire country as the target
market place for their offering. Therefore they select media with a countrywide
base. National advertising need not appear everywhere around the nation. But it
should be seen in more than one or two regions of the country.
Such
advertisements are created to sell a branded offering in different parts of the
country. It is also called ‘general advertising’. Generally, large established
marketers use national advertising to promote their product or service, e.g.
Hindustan Lever Ltd., Procter and Gamble, Bajaj Auto Ltd., Larsen & Toubro,
Escorts, Maruti Udyog Ltd., etc.
Mass
media like nationally circulated and TV channels are used to spread the message
across the country. Advertisements for India Indian Airlines, IBM ‘think pad’,
Gold Flake and Provogue are the advertisement which could be termed as national
advertising.
National
advertising need not appear everywhere around the nation. However, it should be
seen in more than one or two regions of the country.
ii. Local Advertising:
Small
firms may like to restrict their business to a very small geographical
area-state or a region. This region may be the target customer for the
marketer. Many a times, some firms may first localize their marketing efforts
and once success has been achieved, they spread out to wider horizons.
A
classic example could be ‘Dainik Bhaskar’, which was initially advertised and sold
only in Madhya Pradesh and later entered other states e.g. Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh and Haryana. Retail stores also undertake local advertising. Local
advertising directs consumers to the shop where a variety of products can be
purchased, or where a service is offered. The advertising announces products
that are available locally. The area to be covered would generally be a city or
a town and media would be selected which principally relates to that area.
In
such instances, local advertising also known as retail-advertising, tries to
create a distinctive image for the shop. The emphasis on price, availability
and location. The aim of the advertiser is not only to promote a particular
brand but to inform the consumers about where to get the merchandise, the stock
or variety available, prices and the new offers. The emphasis is laid upon “Buy
Brand A from our Store” rather than stressing “Buy Brand A”; as in the case of
national advertising.
iii. Global Advertising:
Multinational
firms treat world as a global village. The whole world is considered to be
their target markets. In such instances, advertising may be made for all the
countries where the product is selling, with minor differences made with
respect to the culture and legal factors.
Big
firms like Procter and Gamble and Nestle may put their advertising on global
media to be viewed by audience across the globe. With the Internet revolution,
global advertising has also got an impetus Advertisement placed on the world
wide wed announces to the audience, cutting across the national boundaries, the
availability of products or services.
Periodicals
like times and reader’s digest are among the print media vehicles which could
be used by the global advertisers.
iv. Consumer
Advertising:
This
is also called end product advertising. Such advertisements are primarily
directed at consumer. These are the advertisements which are most prominent as
a very substantial portion of the total advertising budget is directed to
potential buyers of consumer products through mass media. As we know, consumers
are the set of people who finally use the product and customers are the set of
people who actually buys the product. Therefore consumer advertising is directed
towards both customers and final consumers who either purchase the products or
uses it.
These
advertisements are intended to promote sale of the advertised products by
appealing directly to the buyers for consumer’s goods. The fact that the number
of buyers of consumer items are generally very large and are widely distributed
over a large geographical area further, enhances the importance of consumer
advertising as a marketing tool. Products such as detergents, cosmetics, soft
drinks, fabric, etc. are some examples that follow the route of consumer
advertising to promote the product to the target consumers.
v. Industrial
Advertising:
Industrial
advertising refers to those advertisements which are sponsored by the
manufactures or country distributors and is aimed at the buyers of the
industrial products. The producers of industrial goods use such advertising in
which appeals are directed to create demand for their industrial goods by
urging industrial users to purchase the advertised product.
Purchase
of industrial products is a complex process in most companies, particularly due
to the high cost of such products. So advertising here does not seek to sell a
product directly. Moreover, since the number of industrial buyers is not very
large, industrial sellers rely more on personal selling industrial advertising
only opens avenues of growth and give identity to the industrial sellers. Also,
the sellers seems to rely on this form of promotion mainly out of fear that
their competitors may benefit, if they stop advertising.
In
industrial advertising, the basic appeal should be rational and largely
factual. The claim made in the advertisement should be specific and provable.
Trade journals are most commonly used media, followed by catalogues, direct
mail communication, exhibitions, general management publications etc.
Because
of the unique characteristics of industrial buying decision process, the amount
spent on industrial advertising is comparatively lower than the amount spent on
consumer advertising. Industrial advertising may be done for a number of
reasons according to the firm and the situation.
Generally
Industrial Advertising is done to:
i.
Establish recognition for the firm or its products.
ii.
Inform the users of the industrial products technological and other
developments
iii.
Induce inquiries about the quality, price etc. of the product from the
industrial buyers
iv.
Communicate to the decision influencers in the buyers organization whom the
salesperson cannot reach
v.
To provide support to the sales men and reduce the costs of personal selling.
vi. Professional Advertising:
There
are certain products for which the consumers themselves are not responsible for
the buying choice. For instance, pharmaceuticals are the products brought on
the recommendation of the doctors by the patients. Therefore, professional
advertising is directed towards people who are not the actual users of a
product buy influence the purchase decision of the ultimate consumers.
To
elaborate, doctors are told of new medicines and medical equipments, architects
are offered new construction materials and so on. If a doctor prescribes a
certain brand of drugs, the patient will not buy any other brand. Consequently,
doctors make the final purchase decision for their customers i.e. the patients.
Most
customers re not aware of how professional advisors decide on the various
brands of professional products and services them recommend. However, the same
can be used effectively by the marketer to communicate with decision
influencers in professional fields about products and services.
vii. Trade Advertising:
Before
consumers have an opportunity to purchase a product, it must be available in
retail stores. To influence the intermediaries to keep a company’s product in
their shelves is the task performed by Trade Advertising. Manufacturers use
trade advertising to promote their products to wholesalers and retailers. The
purpose of such advertising is therefore to secure distribution that is to
‘sell in’ to the trade. In trade advertising the emphasis is more on the
product’s profitability to the intermediaries.
The
intermediaries store only whose products which have a good demand by the
customers. They prefer to stock goods of several producers to satisfy their
customers, though they are limited in shelf space and short of funds for
inventory.
viii. Institutional Advertising:
Institutional
advertising is also called corporate advertising. This type of advertising is
done by institutions to build-up an image of itself in the public mind. It is a
public relations-relations-approach advertising. This type of advertisement is
sometimes aimed at general audience to explain a company or institution and to
suggest its positive attributes.
There
May Be Various Goals For Doing Institutional Advertising:
i.
Image building
ii.
Build confidence
iii.
Advocacy.
Institutional
advertising does not attempt to sell anything directly. However, it does a lot
of good to the organization as a whole. It forcefully tells how the
organization is a socially responsible institution. It also tells about the
nationalistic leanings of the organization. It may also show how its actions
are consistent with the overall national objectives like environmental
protection, employment generation, literacy, health for all etc.
This
type of advertising is integrated to public relations function of the
organization. Institutional advertising may be addressed either to consumers or
other groups like governments, suppliers, financial institutions etc. it could
be informative, persuasive or reminder-oriented.
ix. Primary
Demand Advertising:
By
primary demand we mean the demand of a class of product or service and not the
demand for a particular brand. Primary demand is the demand for the whole
product category. The main purpose of primary demand advertising is to
stimulate the overall demand of the whole product category. It is most useful
when a new type of product is introduced in a market or when a product is in
the introductory stages in a given market. Such type of advertising is done to
inculcate the habit for the product among people in general and to get a favour
for it so that a permanent demand can be created in the near future.
Ordinarily,
the sponsor of such advertising is either the first to introduce a new product
or it’s an organized group such as a trade association jointly aiming to
stimulate the demand for the product. The main objective of this type of
advertising before the sponsor is to inform the existence of such product in
the market and convince them of the benefits flowing from its use. Later, when
primary demand has been stimulated and competitor have entered the field, the
sponsor may like to direct the demand towards his brand, which is called
selective advertising.
x. Secondary
Demand Advertising:
As
against the primary demand, secondary demand is the demand for a particular
brand in a product class. Therefore, secondary demand advertising refers to the
advertising which aims to stimulate the demand for a particular brand in a
product class. As against primary demand advertising which tries to convert the
non-users into users, secondary demand advertising aims to convert the
non-users into users, secondary demand advertising aims to convert the users of
brand ‘X’ into users of the brand of the advertiser.
The
advertiser involved in selective demand advertising attempts to establish a
differential advantage to acquire a sizable share in the market place. The
advertiser may highlight some features or benefits of the brand, as against the
competitors, which are of importance to the customers. Such appeals are
designed to establish ideas regarding the product quality or performance which
will induce ready acceptance or even preference for the brand.
However,
it should be noted here that most selective demand advertising is likely to
have an effect upon the total demand for the product class in which the
advertised brand falls.
xi. Direct
Action Advertising:
Advertising
that stresses and persuades immediate buying of the product is known as direct
action advertising. Advertising for consumer items requires immediate attention
response from the customers in the form of sending orders for the goods
advertised or requests for further information.
Many
a times, sales promotion schemes are also communicated through advertising.
Such advertising where the message is designed to spur up the level of sales
immediately are also called direct action advertising.
Such
advertising may contain the coupon for a free gift or a discount which could be
redeemed at once at one of the sales outlet, or the advertiser arranges a draw
at a fixed date offering certain prices. Numerous mail order marketers attempt
to induce consumers to order at once on order to avail a limited time offering.
Direct action advertising aims at generating behavioural action directly
through exposure and attention to a given brand.
xii. Indirect
Action Advertising:
Indirect
action advertising, as against direct action advertising does not attempt to
bring about an immediate behavioural response. Rather, it attempts to create a
favourable attitude towards the sponsor and his products of services. The main
objective of such advertisement is to build up the reputation or goodwill of
the brand in the marketplace and to enhance want ability of the branded product
offered through building mental associations relating to them. Such
advertisement aims at attaining long term objectives.
Based
on Non-Product Advertising:
The
advertisement may be classified as non-product advertising which means
advertising for intangible goods. When certain services, ideas etc. are
advertised, they take the form of non-product advertising. Broadly speaking,
there are four sub-groups under which non-product advertising could be
understood.
xiii. Idea
Advertising:
Not
all advertising is designed to sell a product or service. Both companies and
non-profit organization often use advertising to convey idea about some topic.
Public service advertising, for example, communicates a message on behalf of
some good cause, such as environment protection or prevention of child labour.
Such
kind of advertising is done as a part of social responsibility by the
advertising agencies or business organization or government or social service
institutions. It seeks to promote important social issues. It is credit to
promote greater awareness of public causes.
Though
public service advertising is identified with national causes, there is some
amount of public services even in product advertising like the promotion of
soaps-for hygiene, banking and insurance habit- for savings etc.
xiv. Service
Advertising:
Services
are activities, benefits or satisfactions offered for sale. They are
intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable. In recent years, service
sector has expanded quite fast and the major service industries like banks,
airlines and hotels advertise heavily. Advertisements for services differ from
those for commodities, because of the difference in the way the two are
marketed. Services are basically people enterprises.
xv. Financial
Advertising:
An
organization is concerned with, not only communicating with its target
customers, but it also has to communicate with an important set of population
i.e., investors and the financial intermediaries. Public limited companies
invite the general public to subscribe to the share capital of the company.
Since
the market is fiercely competitive, a small part of the investor community can
always be motivated and won with advertising campaign that understands their
aspirations and respect their intelligence. Some private and public limited
companies invite people to deposit money in the company as a loan or sell bonds
and debentures to the general public.
This
type of advertising is called financial advertising. The media used for
financial advertising are, mainly the print media especially the press and to
some extent specialized magazines.
xvi. Personal
Advertising:
One
finds a clutter of advertisement in newspapers, especially on weekends,
relating to personal messages by individuals and families. The advertisement
relate to matrimonial matters, greetings obituary, sale and purchase of old
furniture, goods and various other subjects. No serious research has, however,
been done in this country to know the quantum of business generated by such
advertisement.
But
looking at the face value in some of the mainstream newspapers, pages are
devoted to personal advertisements especially on Sundays. Occasions like
Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day etc. are promoted by newspapers in
advance. For getting the messages for such occasions, personal advertisement
counters have been opened by some of the newspapers in different parts of big
cities. Such advertisements can also be booked over telephone.
According
to Harry L. Hansen that advertisement could be classified on the basis of:
i)
Person- to whom the advertisement is directed e.g. consumer, industries,
retailers, wholesalers, etc.
ii)
Product – consumer good, industrial goods
iii)
Media – print, radio, TV, mail, internet, outdoor
iv)
Business institutions (Advertisers) – manufacturer, marketer, retailer
v)
Advertising appeal – rational or emotional
vi)
Objectives – awareness, attitude or action
Cundiff
and Still opines that advertising may be classified in the following nine
categories-
i)
Geographical area – national, regional and local
ii)
Prospects (Audience) – consumer, industrial, trade
iii)
Message advertised – product, institutional advertising
iv)
Result intended – quick action or delayed action
v)
Sponsorship – manufacturer, middlemen, co-operative advertising
vi)
Demand – primary, selective
vii)
Targeted audience – mass class
viii)
Stage of PLC – pioneering (for new product), competitive (for growth and
maturity stages), retentive (for maturity and declining stage)
ix)
Type of appeal -rational, emotional
