Introduction
Product promotion is one of the major aspects of marketing. For a long time, marketing had been viewed as an operational function under the production department. However, as the competition started to rise, many firms came to realize that marketing is one of the main strategic functions of a company. It is the only way that a firm can manage to stay above the competition in a given market.
They came to appreciate the need to promote their products so that it may be more popular in the market when put against other firm’s products. One of the main fronts of advertising is through product promotion. Product promotion refers to all the activities that a firm may do to make its products popular within a given market. Popularizing the products may come on many fronts.
Advertising comes as a major front in product promotion. There are three major roles in advertising. The first role of advertising is to create awareness in the market about the existence of a new product. Such an advertisement is meant to inform the public that a specific product that was not in existence before is now available in the market. Another reason for advertising is to inform the market of changes that might have been undertaken in a given product. This can be a change in product features or the pricing of the product. The third reason for advertising is to maintain awareness of a given product in a particular market. In this regard, a firm would advertise its products to a market that already knows of its existence to ensure that the product remains relevant in this particular market.
In international marketing, advertising is one of the main tools that a firm can use to gain a competitive edge over other firms. With emerging technologies, the world has been reduced into a global village. The world markets are now available to any firm that is willing to conduct large scale commerce and has the capacity to do so. As such, many large firms find themselves in the same markets with similar products or close substitutes. The market forces are very harsh and only the best of the firms can succeed. Because of the injurious effects of such strategies as price reductions, advertising has been the main way through which a firm, operating both locally and internationally, can gain and retain market share in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Concept and Means of Advertising
The word Advertise comes from a Latin word which means to draw the attention of a specific group of persons to a specific item. It refers to the creation of publicity at a given fee. As Sanchez (2003, p, 90) says, advertising is an expenditure whose rationale is to increase sales of a given product by making it’s brand popular within a given market. Advertising is a persuasive message to a given section of the market that is expected to convince them to make a purchase of a given product.
Advertising comes in various means. Some of the ways through which advertising can be done are given below.
Mass Media Advertising
Since its relevance was determined, advertising has mainly been done through mass media. According to SIBA (2011, p. 23), serious commercial advertising originated from the United States when soap manufacturers were competing for the American markets. They realized that many of the Americans would watch the dramas that were aired in the evenings as they relaxed after their jobs. They saw this as an opportunity to reach out to this population for they were the target group for their products. They started sponsoring the shows and in between the episodes, their products would be featured.
This became so popular and these shows gained the name, Soap Oprah. This was because they would advertise various soap brands that were available in the market. Another popular form of mass media through which advertising can be done is through the radio. This mass media is very popular even in developing countries because radios are relatively cheap to purchase for the customers. The daily and weekly or monthly publications like newspapers and magazines are other popular forms of advertising in mass.
Social Media Advertising
Social media has become another popular means of advertising in the near past. Social media is very popular, especially among youths. Facebook has a following of about seven hundred million users across the world. These are loyal users who frequent this media almost on a daily basis.
International marketing stands to gain a lot from this media. A firm that has branches in numerous countries across the world can develop a single advert and through this channel, reach out to the customers in different locations around the globe. Besides Facebook, YouTube has also become very relevant. YouTube has become very popular because it allows users to share heavy graphics like movies. It has a following close to that of Facebook and it is expanding very rapidly.
Pepsi Cola has proven that this media is one of the best means of advertising. It has developed various television commercials targeting different market segments, but instead of using television channels to air them out, it has preferred to use YouTube to reach out for the market. This was motivated by the fact that many of the target market, which is basically the youths, have become popular visitors of this media. Tweeter is another very popular form of social media that multi-national corporations have considered using.
Advertising through Websites
Other than the mass and social media, another form of advertising has been through websites. A firm may develop its own websites through which it can reach out for the customers with certain desirable messages. Such message may include introduction of new products into the market or adjustments of the prices messages. As Kotler (2003, p. 45) notes, such websites are always very interactive and they would make the visitors identify the desired message with ease.
Through such websites, a firm would be in a position to inform the customers of the changes that could have been done on specific products that were already in existence in the market. The websites can also direct customers to the nearest stores where such products are available. Other than the company’s own websites, some firms use other popular websites that are not their own to reach out for the desired customers. Such popular sites as the FIFA websites would carry advertisements of other firms at a fee because many of the football lovers would always frequent it.
Dynamics in Advertising
The world is fast changing, and with it comes numerous other changes in commerce. Technological changes are completely redefining the way firms are doing business in the global market. According to Tellis (2004, p. 89), technology is like a double edged sword. On one end, it brings a lot of benefits to a firm. Such benefits include the global market and the increased ease of doing business. On the other end however, it brings a lot of challenges. Such challenges include a market that is characterized by a lot of competition because of the open market where any firm can access.
The emerging technologies have redefined advertising as a promotional means. Initially, advertising would be defined in terms of mass media. However, this has since changed. The social media is fast becoming the preferred means of advertising. The cost of advertising is also getting adjusted upwards. A marketer must be in a position to understand all these dynamics in order to be in a position to manage market competition. Some of the factors that should be considered in advertising are as follows.
Advertising and Economic Fluctuations
The world economy is in constant fluctuation. A country like Saudi Arabia majorly depends on oil as the main source of income. The fluctuation of the price of oil in the world market heavily affects the economy this country. The international economic conditions always fluctuate. Many firms would prefer to cut down on the expenses on advertising during harsh economic times. This action is rational because the funds that are spared by this move would be directed to other projects of the firm.
However, care should be taken because this move is very dangerous. Inasmuch as a firm may need to cut down on its recurrent expenditures, it would be very dangerous if it tries to limit its publicity. Casswell and Maxwell (2005, p. 345) argue that during tough economic situations, the best marketing strategy would be to increase advertising.
This is because it is during such times that a firm stands a better position to overtake others which would apply poor strategies in marketing. By increasing the rate of advertisement, such a firm would be making its products more relevant in the market, a fact that would make it capture a larger percentage of the existing market even if its purchasing power is reduced. Economic fluctuations have direct bearing on advertising. Because of the cost consequences associated with advertising, a prosperous economy is able to support a greater level of advertising, and vice versa holds.
Emerging Technologies and Advertising
Technological changes heavily affect advertising in many fronts. As stated above, emerging technology has changed the way of advertising. The cost of advertising using new technologies is relatively cheaper compared to when a firm uses the mainstream mass media. Laudon and Laudon (2006, p. 34) say that for a firm like Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia to advertise on Facebook, it would take very little effort.
It would only require that bank to open up a Facebook page and get as many ‘friends’ as possible. It can then post desirable messages to such ‘friends’ at a given interval. This has two main advantages for this firm. The first advantage is that the firm would spend a lesser amount of finance to reach out for a larger percentage of the market. To reach such a large population using the mass media, it may require the firm to use multiple channels and this would have serious financial consequences. Because the advert is sent as a message, the firm would be certain that the target audience would be reached. This not only saves the firm of financial constrains, but also time because only one message can be sent to numerous target audience from different corners of the world.
The other advantage of such social media is that it creates a strong bond between the firm and the target audience. The firm creates a community of ‘friends’. These friends would approve the friendship request of the firm before being considered members of this community. For this reason, they would view the messages of this firm as relevant information that should be read, and not junk information. These community would view this firm as part of the extended ‘friends’ and therefore would develop a special positive attitude towards its products. This would be a basis of developing a very strong loyalty with the customers towards a given brand.
Advertising and Morality
One of the main concerns in advertising has been issues regarding the morals of the adverts. The western culture is fast taking shape in many corners of the world, especially among the youths. It seems so attractive because of the freedom it claims to offer to the children, the youths and women. This has seen some habits that are not acceptable in some societies become very popular in many regions across the world.
For instance, some communities do not allow women to take any form of alcohol or cigarette. However, the western cultures have no such restrictions. An American firm, keen on tapping on the Huge Saudi market with majority of the populace being women, would put an advert with a woman taking a glass of beer, or cigarette. Back in America, this advert would attract sales because ladies view such habits as cool. However, this would be a complete abomination in Saudi Arabia.
Putting such an advert, though it may convince a portion of the market that taking such product is normal and cool, would be a direct insult to the culture of this community. By advertising what they prohibit as being cool, it would be a direct rebuke to the culture of that particular society and the long term consequences that this firm may face can be adverse.
Another concern of advertising is exposure of the adult content to the underage. Many of the international channels would advertise products that are meant for adult consumption at very wrong hours. Products like contraceptive always carry adult content. For this reason therefore, ethics demands that such adverts be made late in the night in order to avoid cases where it reaches a wrong audience. Truthfulness has always been another issue. Any advertisement should be a true reflection of the reality about the product. The quality, quantity, price, delivery methods, availability and such other aspect that is advertised should be the same as what the real product would offer.
Other concern that has recently been put forth is the biased towards a certain gender. Some activists have questioned the rationale behind the popular usage of the young girls as a model for advertisement. To them, this is making female populace feel that they are objects for advertisement. They advocate of equality in advertising.
Theories of Advertising Effectiveness
Advertising is a very expensive venture. Many large firms spend as much as ten percent of their profits, which amounts to several millions of dollars to advertise their products. In every advert, there is an objective that a firm hopes to achieve. It is therefore necessary that the advert be effective enough to satisfy the needs of the firm concerned. Because of this, a lot of interest has been developed by many researchers about effectiveness of advertising. As such, theories that explain effectiveness of advertising have been developed.
One such theory is the Distinctiveness Theory and Advertising Effectiveness. This theory holds that the world has several societies with their own cultures. Each culture is distinct to itself. This uniqueness of cultures would therefore demand that each culture be targeted with its own advertising message and strategy. As Rauch (2011, p. 1073) explains of this theory, many firms fail to get the desired results from the advertisements because they of generalizing their advertisements.
A multinational corporation like General Electric may be tempted to use a given advert that was popular in the United States market in India. Because of the sharply contrasting cultural values of the two countries, it is most likely that this advertisement would fail to deliver the expected result. This theory therefore recommends that each society should be targeted with distinct advert that is unique to it and that which adheres to the requirements of the culture of that society.
Another popular theory is the Attribution Theory and Advertising Effectiveness. According to this theory, different people will respond differently to different stimulus. People who are of the same community, or even family, practicing similar cultural values would be affected differently to different stimulus. What is amusing to one individual may be annoying to the other. Robinson and Lader (2009, p. 18) explain that this theory puts a lot of pressure to the advertisers.
Although it accepts the fact that a given society (where a society is defined using various demographics) may have a generally accepted principles and way of behaving, the individuals have some distinctiveness from each other. Advertising is moving away from a message for mass consumption, to custom made information targeted at specific individuals. As such, there is need to develop a strategy that would enable a firm appeal to specific customers in the market.
Ways of Measuring Effectiveness of Advertising
There is a claim that almost up to half of all the advertising is not effective. This brings the question of how effectiveness of advertising can be measured. Generally, a firm would say that a given advertising strategy has been effective if it translates to sales of the product that is marketed. However, Kotler (2003) explains that this is a narrow view of how effectiveness of advertising can be looked at.
According to this scholar, advertising is meant to create a positive awareness of a given product or brand, and develop attachment with a given target market segment. This may or may not translate to immediate sales. Therefore, effectiveness of advertising can be measured in many fronts, increased sales being one of them. Another front would be how well known a given product or brand is within the targeted region after some time. If the product is positively known in the market, it would most certainly be purchased in a near future and therefore advertising would be said to be effective.
Advertising at Mahmood Saeed Collective Company: A Case Study
Mahmood Saeed Collective Company is one of the leading firms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This firms deals majorly in perfumes and cosmetics, among other brands. Its brand is one of the strongest in the region, with its product known to offer quality. It is such a company that Tellis (2004. p. 48) would describe as well established within this region. A keen analysis of this firm shows that one of the strongest tools that have propelled this firm to its current heights is advertising.
Cosmetics industry is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Although it is considered one of the oldest, this industry has been so dynamic, with different products coming into the market so frequently. As such, competition is very stiff. In order to manage this competition, a firm cannot do without proper advertising.
Mahmood Saeed Collective Company has therefore devised advertising strategies that have seen it become very popular in Saudi Arabia. Its cosmetics are targeted at both men and women. Understanding the culture of this society, this firm has developed commercials for both men and women. Most of the products meant for men are positioned as being assertive. On the other hand, female products are positioned as being feminine. The firm has also been keen to ensure it respects the culture of this society. This is an Islamic country. The position of men and women are distinctive.
Applying the distinctive theory of advertising, this firm has ensured that it targets both male and female customers differently. The perfumes are so popular in this country. For the cosmetics for women, they are positioned to be making users more attractive.
This firm is also doing well in its beverages products. It has designed its adverts for the beverages to reflect qualities of the society. Its non-alcoholic beverages are targeted to the general populace. This is because the products can be used by any member of the society, regardless of age or gender. Because the carbonated drinks are not prohibited by law, it is at liberty to make such a generalized advert because it would be adhering to the law ethics. This has seen the firm prosper in this market.
Conclusion
Advertising is one of the most important marketing tools. International Marketing requires advertising for there to be success. It is important to note that advertising is the best tool that a firm can use to create publicity about its products. Advertising can be done to inform the market of the introduction of a given product in the market. It can also be used to inform the market of the adjustments in the prices, quality or quantity of a given product.
A firm may also consider advertising to maintain awareness about a given product. A number of scholars have developed theories to help explain effectiveness of advertising. It can be seen from the reports of many of these scholars that although advertising is undoubtedly an effective tool of increasing sale of a given product, it requires some degree of accuracy in order to be successful. A given advert should be targeted at a specific market, bearing in mind values of the society involved.
List of References
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Kotler, P 2003, Marketing management, 11th edn, Prentice Hall, New York.
Laudon, KC & Laudon, JP 2006, Management information systems: Managing the digital firm. 10th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall Inc, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Rauch, F 2011, ‘Advertising expenditure and consumer prices’, CEP Discussion Paper, p. 1073.
Robinson, S & Lader, D 2009, Smoking and drinking among adults. General household survey 2007, Office for National Statistics, Newport.
Sanchez, R 2003, Knowledge management and organizational competence, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
SIBA 2011, Local beer: Brewing industry report 2011. SIBA 2011 Report.
Tellis, GJ 2004, Effective advertising: Understanding when, how, and why advertising works, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.