Advertising

We define advertising as any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promo­tion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.

Product advertising is an important part of the marketing mix. Its aim is to increase sales by marketing a product or service known to a wide audience and by emphasing its positive qualities. A company can advertise in a variety of ways, depending on how much it wishes to spend and the size and type of audience it wishes to target. The most common types of advertising media include: broadcasting (TV, cinema, radio), press (newspapers, magazines), printed material (brochures, leaflets, catalogues, flyer), electronic (Internet), display (posters, hoarding/billboards, vehicles, point to sale), other (trade fairs, word-of mouth, packaging).

Different organizations handle advertising in different ways. In small companies, advertising might be handled by someone in the sales department. Large companies set up advertising departments whose job is to set the advertising budget; work with the ad. agency; and handle direct-mail advertising. Most large companies use outside advertising agencies because they offer several advantages. The design and organization of advertising campaigns is usually the job of an advertising agency.

Corporate advertising is not directly connected with increasing sales of a particular product, service, but more with brand image, or picture a company wants to present to the public. Public relations (PR) expert specialize in organizing activities and events which generate positive publicity for the companies.