Advertising is a form of communication that is sponsored and has a message promoting or selling or trying to sell a product or service or an idea. It is classified as a form of marketing communication.
Thomas J. Barratt is known as the father of modern advertising. Guest in London he was working for Pears Soap Company. He devised an effective advertising campaign for the product which involves the use of images slogans phrases and catchphrases possibly the first time.
One of the slogans “Good Morning! Have you used Pears’ soap?” was very popular in its day. Since then advertisement has expanded and grown exponentially. Today there are different forms and methods of advertisement which are utilized by marketers to promote or sell their product or service. Let’s take a look one by one.
10 Types of advertising
1) Online Advertising
Online advertising or digital advertising as a form in which the message is conveyed via the internet. For every website ads are a major source of revenue. Advertising online has become very popular in the last decade and has surpassed the expectations of most of the advertising experts. 60% revenue of Google is generated from ads and the same goes for Facebook.
Online advertising has become so effective that a particular ad can be targeted to a specific person of specific age of a specific location on a specific time. In terms of pricing advertising online is very cheap compared to all other forms of advertising.
The major disadvantage of online advertising is at times people do not click on the ads and the message does not reach the targeted audience. Also setting up online and requires technical expertise which may not be possible for everyone. Digital Advertising and Online Advertising is one of the fastest growing Types of Advertising.
Ads on youtube, Facebook Ads, Ads displayed on Google search results page are an example of Online Advertising.
a) SMS advertising
SMS marketing is the major source of mobile advertising. Users are informed about the product or service in 160 or fewer characters. This was when the internet was not available on mobile phones. Once mobile phones got access to internet all internet advertising flowed to mobile and experts suggest that mobile advertising will be the only major advertising strategy for almost every company in near future.
The reach from mobile advertising is fast personalized and effective and just like online advertising it comes for a very little cost. The difference between online ads and mobile advertising is that online ads can be accessed from any device like computer or laptops, mobile advertising is only via mobile.
2) Television Ads
About a decade ago television was the most popular form of advertising. Events like the super bowl, international cricket games, Olympics where the top attractions for advertisers to advertise about their products. To some extent, it still is effective for most advertisers but with the advent of online streaming of television on mobiles, marketers have now moved from television to online as their preferred advertising medium.
Another form of television and infomercial. An infomercial is a specially designed advertisement for information and awareness of the public. The term information comes from the combination of words information and commercial. Ads of almost all products are shown on television. Although it is costly, Television Ads are till date one of the best types of advertising and have the most fantastic reach for a large audience.
3) Ads in Theatres
The advertisements in movie theatres before all the movies start or during the intimation are called movie ads. These are one of the costliest forms of advertising since people cannot skip it change the channel or move away. Many of the companies have started opting for movie ads since it ensures that the entire message reaches the audience and unlike online advertising, the audience cannot interfere till the advertisement is over. Movie ads are different from placement ads.
4) Product Placement
Product placement is called covert advertising wherein a product is quietly embedded in the entertainment media. Most of the times there is no mention of the product although the audience sees the product. Movies are the major places where product placement is done.
They could be a few TV shows where product placement has been used but the effectiveness is observed more in movies than TV shows.
Will Smith is seen playing with his Converse shoes in the movie I Robot. Several brands of beer are advertised in How I met your Mother. In popular shows like Family Guy, humorous advertisements are placed all over the TV show like Red Bull, Sony, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and many more.
With so many people subscribing to Netflix and Amazon prime, Product placement is increasingly being used and is one of the popular Types of Advertising.
5) Radio
Radio advertisements are the ones that are broadcast it through radio waves and heard on radios all over the place. These mostly consist of audible advertisements or jingles. While some consider this to be an ineffective form of advertising there are still many followers listen to the radio every morning.
Advertisement for almost every product can be found on the radio. Every single feature and benefit of the product have to be explained on the radio, unlike other sources where the customer can see the product for inside.
6) Print Advertising
Printing is the slowly decreasing form of advertising. There were days before the evolution of television when printing was a major source of advertising and considered to be one of the most effective media. But since the explosion of television usage, print advertisements have taken a backseat.
The main disadvantage of print advertising is the shelf life of the ads is short . However, because its reach is solid, Print advertising is one of the most expensive and most effective types of advertising. Following are the few Print Types of Advertising:
A) Magazine advertising
These are also known as periodical advertisements in which a weekly fortnightly or monthly magazine are used for advertising. Ads are printed in the corners or on the entire page of the magazine and sometimes even an extra page might be inserted simply for advertising. Ads are categorized and segregated according to the magazine category for example business magazines will feature ads from Rolex watches, while entertainment magazines will feature ads from high branded apparels.
B) Brochures or handouts
Brochures are specific advertising materials used to promote a particular product usually given at a point of sale are handed out at different locations. Brochure advertisings do not use any base like magazine advertising and are independent.
C) Newspaper advertising
Newspapers display a huge number of ads in them, right from matrimonial services to job hunt, to the notifications and circulars from the Governments. Newspapers were the extremely popular form of advertising in the early 20th century and to some extent it still is. But with the advent of the Internet and digital advertising newspapers have moved to tablet pcs and that is where the advertisements are now being displayed.
7) Outdoor advertising
Outdoor advertising consists of displaying large posters banners or hoardings with the advertisement. These are displayed on the side of the road, on the glass of large buildings, or on specifically targeted places that have huge inflow from the public. While earlier printed ads were used for outdoor advertising recently, they have been replaced by digital boards. These boards display the advertising without the hassle of getting ads printed.
8) Global Advertising
Google advertising is more of a strategy that the type of advertising but some have classified these as a separate type of advertising. In Global Advertising, a single Ad runs throughout all the countries where the product is present, irrespective of the audience and their language. Apple ads are known to be the most effective global ads. They also are known for not endorsing any celebrities to promote the product. The ads are homogeneous and run through the entire world in the English.
9) Outdoor Blank Space Advertising
It is a newer form of advertising which ensures a large reach of audience. Occupying the empty spaces for advertisements is known as space advertising. Examples include the spaces of metros, buses, cabs, flight seats & movie theatre seats (where advertising is done on the removable seat covers) etc. Since a huge number of people use these facilities and they have a long shelf life, they have proved very effective.
10) E-mailers
While some have classified this under internet advertising E-mailers have gained a separate category owing to the fact of personalization. The emails sent from companies have a personalized message including a personalized greeting makes E-mailers more effective than most of the forms of advertising. Companies work hard so that mail reaches the inbox of the customer rather than junk mail and thousands of dollars are spent to ensure that.
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