Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Advertising: The Brandwagon Story

Read the complete feature at: www.competitionmaster.com

Just imagine: if one was to go to a store to buy tooth paste, soap, oil, shampoo, computer, refrigerator—all covered in drab white or brown paper reading only just as much! No idea of richness and exclusivity backing them, no appeals working on the mind. The result would be no more desire to buy something exceptional, no more hankering for a great shopping experience, no more retail therapy for the parched souls! And subsequently, limited sales, slumped markets and extremely dejected entrepreneurs. This is what an un-exciting, un-informed world would be like if there were no branding, no advertising—the two processes that work on the minds quite invisibly and lead us to the stores wanting this fairness crème or that exquisite watch even if there is no need for the same.

Advertising has played a major role in consumer marketing, and has enabled companies to meet communication and other marketing objectives. Typically, advertising is used to inform, persuade, and remind consumers. It importantly reinforces their attitudes and perceptions. Advertising has been a target of criticism for decades, as also been hailed as a capitalistic virtue, an engine of free market economy, a promoter of consumer welfare.

To begin with, an advertisement is in fact a public announcement with the avowed purpose not so much to inform as to coax the public into buying a product, subscribing to a service or accepting an idea. The origins of advertising can be traced to the times when the services of the town crier were used to convey the messages to people. The messages could be a rulers proclamations or information about the market days.

For further reading visit: www.competitionmaster.com

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