Advertising and Ethical Contracting Project – In advertising it is possible to have organization promising more than they can offer. This is considered as unethical advertisement. However, organizations use attractive information to try and entice potential consumers into buying their products and services.
The main objective of an advertisement is to convey the intention of the advertising company. The information may be about a product or a service (Dobson et al, 2012). These are informative advertisements that are aimed at ensuring that the customers are informed on the contents of a product or a service and hence help them in making an informed choice.
However, an organization may include false information in the adverts. The information may be misleading making the customer to make a decision unwillingly. They may be following the promised item rather than consume the product being advertised. Most advertising organizations are warned against misleading consumers and luring them into choosing their products and services out of misleading information (Boundy, 2010).
On the other hand, customers are warned of their being conscious when responding to offers in advertisements. They should comprehend the information being conveyed in the advert and not just make haste into getting the promise in promotional adverts (Suprapto et al, 2015).
The organization that engages in such practices can be considered to be unethical in its advertising practices. This is because the customers might not specifically choose their products but rather the rewards promised in the promotions advert. The advert remains irrelevant in the promotion and the customer does not develop a liking for the main product or service but rather focuses on winning the promised item. However, some organization will reward a prolonged usage of a product through royalty points reward programs.
Case Review Advertising and Ethical Contracting
In the case, the Soft Drink Company intended to entice its consumers into taking more of the drink and accumulate points. It had placed a high figure on the points that one needed to accumulate by consuming the soft drink in order to be considered for the reward. The consumer would take a long time to earn the points and hence they had placed the reward of a Harrier Jet just as a motivation to make the consumers take more of the soft drink.
The organization had no intention to give the reward. They had projected that probably no one will be able to accumulate the necessary points before the promotion was over. As per the calculations one would have probably consumed 190 drinks a day for a period of 100 years in order to accumulate the points. Getting 7 million points was impossible and this is what the organization considered in placing the advertisement on the media.
On the other hand, the Harrier Jet cost over $ 23 million. It was therefore illogical to place a bet worth $700,000 for an item that is over 2000% worth of the value. This made the advert to be a joke as highlighted. However, the businessman’s focus was not from the customer’s point of view but rather from the business point of view. He had envisioned himself possessing the Harrier Jet worth over $23 million for a price that was merely less than a million dollars.
In evaluating the case, the judge argued that the advert was basically a joke and the organization had not meant to give the promised Harrier Jet. In addition, the advert was basically an offer and the organization had not entered a legal agreement with the businessman that upon completion acquisition of the points, the organization would provide the customer with the promise. There was therefore no legal obligation for the organization to provide the promised reward to the customer upon accumulation of the necessary point (Suprapto et al, 2015).
There are terms and conditions in every business undertaking. The organization must have stipulated that the advertisement was meant for enhancing the consumerism of their products and not necessarily the accumulation of points. The accumulation of points was a methodology of encouraging repeated consumerism. However, the allowance by the organization for the consumers to purchase points at a price of 10 cents each was a shortcoming and this triggered the businessman to use the same to accumulate points.
Valid Contract
An advertisement is considered lesser than an offer. It is an invitation to make a deal. The organization that advertises places an open invitation to make a deal. In a valid contract, two or more parties come to an agreement to provide a service, a product or commit an act and it is enforceable by law. For a contract to be enforceable, there must be an offer then followed by an acceptance (Dobson et al, 2012).
This is followed by the creation of a legally binding agreement where the two parties consent to an agreed terms and conditions. They enter the agreement with a free will after they have understood the terms. Where force or confusing statements are used during the dealing the contract is declared illegal and void (Silver & Hochberg, 2013).
A valid contract must contain several elements. They include;
An offer that provides the details of what is to be provided and at what condition.
Acceptance to show that the two parties have consented to the agreement.
A consideration which may be money or something of value that ensures there is interest in the parties to enter or have an exchange agreement.
The capability by the parties to be able to honor the contract. The parties have to be mentally, physically and economically able to honor the agreement as stipulated.
Intent is the will to carry out the promise in the agreement.
The legal entity where the agreement is sealed using legal terms and conditions and hence be capable of legal defense in case there is a breach and a resulting breach of contract.
The parties to a contract agree on the terms after fully understanding their role in effecting their side of the contract. One may be the recipient of what the other party has to offer. For instance, in a service provision contract, the service provider is expected to agree to provide a service at an agreed level (Jones, 2022). The client will consent to pay the client upon complete provision of services. However, if the client fails to pay or the service provider fails to honor the agreement, the legal process may be induced by the arising conflict.
There are several types of contract. An express contract is a common type where the elements such as offer, acceptance and consideration are specifically stated (Silver & Hochberg, 2013). This helps the parties to understand the terms and regulation regarding the contract. An example is a tenant – landlord agreement where the tenant agrees to pay the landlord some given amount at the end of their stay.
Most buying occurs in environments where the customer and the client negotiate on an oral platform. In these kind of contract there are less formalities and its only at the end of the agreement when the client provides the customer with a receipt or invoice to cement an agreement. When the agreement is reached a document to document the acceptance may be used to make sure that the promise is honored (Fehr et al, 2011).
The goods are then not returnable after the customer has left the premise. An example of an oral contract is where a buyer negotiates the buying of a car with a car dealer. At the end of the sale the buyer get the documentation and leaves with the car and cannot return the vehicle to the dealer. The buyer will provide the payment immediately they reach an agreement and will exchange with the car documents.
Advertising and Ethical Contracting
Another kind of contract is an implied contract. In this type of contract, one of the parties will put themselves in a position that suggests they are ready to honor what the other may be offering. Their position is deemed as readiness to negotiate and accept the terms of the contract. For instance, when a person visits a restaurant and sit, the waiter or waitress will approach the customer and ask for their order. This is because the customer is assumed to be willing to eat or drink and pay for the same upon service.
However, the problem arises where one of the parties may not be ready to enter an agreement with the other. For instance when one is not ready to eat but still enters a restaurant. The service provider may still serve the customer and if they fail to pay after consuming the product. Such a case means that the hotel operator can sue the customer under the Quasi-Contract terms since the actions of the customer implied they were ready to be given some service (Fehr et al, 2011).
Illegal and Void Contracts
In a case like the one of the businessman, there was no contractual agreement with the soft drink company that after they accumulate the points, they would receive the reward. This was not even an offer but an invitation to deal. The businessman did not even bother to consult from the soft drink company on whether he would receive the reward upon complete accumulation of the desired points (Fehr et al, 2011). Instead he went ahead and accumulated the points disregarding additional information for him to avoid his uninformed decision.
For illegal contracts there is lack of efficient components to validate the same to make it an enforceable contract. However, when one party fails to perform their part of the contract, the other may proceed and have a legal claim for damages and hence the facts are used to enforce the contract and have the recovery of damages. This occurs for the purposes of recovering an interest or a consideration that one party had honored and the accused failed.
Recommendation and Conclusion
Looking from all aspects of a valid contract, the advertisement failed to reach the threshold. The Federal Judge at the Southern District of New York evaluated the advert and considered it a joking one. He ruled out that the firm intended to reward those that reached the said points. If the reward was based on a recorded accumulation of points, the case could have been different.
In a reward mechanism, the parties will have a written document to show parties agreed on some terms to comply with (Emerson, 2010). The customer or the user will receive a registration number or an account into which the points will be accumulated as they consumed the product. Every time they enter the customer consumes the said product points are added to their account. This is common with supermarkets, filling stations and other businesses.
Nonetheless, the kind of advertisement that was used by the company was misleading and unethical. It is always important to apply ethics and not be superstitious like the organization did. The man might have justified the ultimate action of the businessman. Organization should uphold that advertisements meet an advertisement ethical threshold (Emerson, 2010). The firms should be restricted from placing the life of a consumer at heart.
They cannot promise consumer that they are going to reward them and fail the same upon successful completion of the points’ accumulation. The desired level is stipulated at the beginning and the willing person is then registered so as to have their points added upon consumption.
Luring and misleading advertisement should attract some penalty. The firms or individuals who use false and enticing details, so as to coerce consumers into buying products or services should be held accountable to unethical and illegal practices. Nonetheless, when an organization practices such, their credibility in the market gets affected. Some of the practices may as well lead to consequences that may include expulsion by regulatory bodies.
References
Boundy, C. (2010). Business contracts handbook. Farnham, Surrey: Gower Pub.
Dobson, A. P., Stokes, R., & Dobson, A. P. (2012). Commercial law. London: Sweet & Maxwell.
Emerson, R. W. (2010). Business law. Great Claredon Street, UK: Oxford University
Fehr, E., Hart, O. D., Zehnder, C., & National Bureau of Economic Research. (2011). How do informal agreements and renegotiation shape contractual reference points? Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Silver, T., & Hochberg, S. (2013). The Glannon guide to contracts: Learning contracts through multiple-choice questions and analysis. New York: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Jones, S. (2022) Advertising and Ethical Contracting: Marketing Consulting Project. Study-Aids Research
Suprapto, M., Bakker, H. L., Mooi, H. G., & Hertogh, M. J. (2015). How do contract types and incentives matter to project performance? International Journal of Project Management. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2015.08.003
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Application of Hierarchy of Requirements by Maslow in Ads
Title: Maslow hierarchy of requirements in advertising. The pyramid of requirements was developed in the 1940s by Abraham Maslow, and its theory is still suitable today for the understanding of management guidance, personal inspiration, and personal development. Maslow ideas in the hierarchy of needs of the employer’s responsibility to offer a work environment that enables and encourages employees to have their unique potential fulfilled are more related today.
There are various versions of Maslow’s pyramid of requirements explained by other scholars which have additional levels to the original model (Ciobanu and Ciobanu, 2015). The levels in Maslow’s order of needs are; safety needs, psychological needs, social needs, self-actualization needs, and esteem needs. The paper will discuss two international advertisements in relation to the Maslow’s needs Hierarchy, analysis of publications by use of market segmentation concepts, the international version of the ad, and the differences of the ads internationally, and finally the marketing and psychology aspects utilization in the advertisement for change.
Cadbury chocolate advertisements cater to the safety need in the hierarchy which is essential for making a buyer decide to purchase the product (Wells, 2015). Chocolates are known as friendship and love signs. There is social needs fulfillment in the Cadbury ads as there are special boxes provided by Cadbury used for the celebration of cultural events festivals that unite people giving a feeling of belongingness and love.
Maslow and Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola ad appeal to different needs at various levels of Maslow’s hierarchy. Coca-Cola makes its products to appear the most effective quencher of severe thirst as most of its ads are done in summer places such as baseball games, hence fulfilling the psychological need of its customers (Marlow, 2015). Coca-Cola ads portray the consumption of sodas at a family gathering of the party which emphasizes unity thus meeting the social belonging and love needs for its customers. In the Coca-Cola ads, sodas seem a famous symbol that brings respect and admiration to those who use them hence fulfilling esteem and self- actualization need.
Market segmentation is the combination of various customers into general needs and similar response to a marketing action. To segment a market there are different conducts to consider including psychographics, which looks into client’s psycho group, demographics, that concentrates on the type of client and behavior which bases on the actions of the client.
Coca-Cola organization uses consumer division of criteria and market into various clusters like profile, social and psychographic. Consumer value creation in Coca-Cola and good performance is a tragedy to convince people to buy their products. In its official website, the company outlays its pride in its partnership with the Olympic Games strengthening its reputation. In Coca-Cola ads, its seen people in summer quenching their thirst using Coca-Cola (Laudan, 2015). Its slogan of “open happiness with Coca-Cola” helps increase its sales as it shows highlights the consumption of Coca-Cola in family gatherings and parties. The Coca-Cola ads align with the company’s mission in that it refreshes an individual’s body mind and spirit, it makes a difference by creating value to customers and inspires happiness and optimism moments through actions and brands.
Maslow Hierarchy of Needs
A Coca-Cola advert takes place in Naples, Italy where Simone Rugiati famous chef creates a dining room that is flashy and invites passersby to join him. They all wait after the chef sets a makeshift table and posts a sign saying “let’s eat together” they all enjoy the Coca-Cola Happiness table.
Coca-Cola international ad “teach the world to see” symbolizes a delightful and multiculturalism that is angelic. It portrays the Coca-Cola image as uniting people. Also, Coca-Cola presents an image of individuals that are bright future-oriented and are part of the process of its success (Aeschelmann, and Carus, 2015). Although the ad was American viewers targeted it has a universal and global message that makes people feel like it was made for everyone. Marketing and psychology are utilized in the Coca-Cola ad to bring emotional change in the viewers to boost its market, for instance when the Coca-Cola company changed its ad from “open happiness” to “taste the feeling” there was maintenance if happiness focus with people connecting and engaging in activities. This portrays the feeling of belonging and love.
Evidently,Maslow’s needs hierarchy is vital in marketing advertisement as the company’s show concern in various needs of its customers as outlined in the levels of hierarchy. The Coca-Cola international ad caters for psychological, social, emotional, esteem, and self- actualization needs. Cadbury chocolate advertisements cater to the safety and social needs of its customers. When the hierarchy of needs is considered in the advertisements, the firms can meet their missions on sales and marketing.
References
Aeschelmann, F., and Carus, M., 2015. Biobased building blocks and polymers in the world: capacities, production, and applications–status quo and trends towards 2020. Industrial Biotechnology, 11(3), 154-159.
Ciobanu, C. I., and Ciobanu, O. M., 2015. The Impact of Eco-marketing in Qol Improvement. Calitatea, 16(S1), 672.
Laudan, R., 2015. Cuisine and empire: Cooking in world history (Vol. 43). Univ of California Press.
Marlow, M. L., 2015. The American Dream? Anti-immigrant discourse bubbling up from the Coca-Cola ‘It’s Beautiful’advertisement. Discourse and Communication, 9(6), 625-641.
Wells, L., 2015. Photography: a critical introduction. Routledge.
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Media Selection of Food Campaign Advertising in Thailand and the UK
This dissertation aims to examine the relevant data that is available in the food advertising in the UK and Thailand. This is done with the aim of improving the overall efficiency of food advertising in both countries. The research design is both qualitative and quantitative. It makes use of online and paper-based surveys that target consumers and professionals in the advertising industry. The online survey is focused on consumers in order to identify the important factors that influence their purchasing decisions when making food purchases.
The dissertation based survey is used solely in the UK and targets the advertising professionals in order to identify which factors can improve advertising efficiency. The research findings show that there is a strong correlation between child advertising and obesity in both the UK and Thailand. It also shows that responsible food advertising can contribute to healthy eating in both countries among children and adults. The limitations of the study are that qualitative data from advertising professionals in Thailand could not be availed and this compromises the overall quality of the study.
Media Selection Food Advertising
The main recommendation is that there should be less government and more peer-to-peer regulation. This will reduce the advertising on children that promotes obesity while also improving the overall health of the adults. This study has value by contributing to the overall knowledge of food advertising in the UK and Thailand. This is important when considering the scarcity of information about food marketing in Thailand.
The impact of advertising is important in the food industry in influencing the choices that consumers will make with regards to the food they will purchase. Advertising is able to change the perceptions on what is healthy and appealing and also in stimulating the desire to purchase some certain foods. Consumer eating habits have been changing over the years and this has been significantly influenced by the images and pictures they are exposed to through advertising. The main objective of this research paper is to study the influence of media and advertising on the consumer in terms of the interest it elicits to purchase certain foods.
It will try to identify which media used is the most effective. This will be important in suggesting ways in which food companies based in the UK and Thailand can increase their efficiency in marketing.
Research Questions
What is the most appropriate advertising for a food campaign in Thailand and UK?
What is the best media which can motivate the consumer to purchase food in Thailand and the UK?
How does a buyer decide to buy food in Thailand and the UK?
What are the main factors that the consumer considers in selecting media in Thailand and the UK?
How can the efficiency of advertising be increased in Thailand and the UK?
Dissertation Contents
1 – Introduction and Background
Background
Objectives of the study
Research Questions
Conclusion
2 – Literature Review
Theories of advertising
Advertising Communication Models
AIDA Model of communication
Hierarchy-of-effects model of advertising Communication
The Innovation-Adoption Model
The high-low involvement model
Consumer Behavior Models
Anatomy of Purchase theory
Cognitive-dissonance theory
Cognitive-response theory
Stimulus-Response theory
Effects of advertising on children
Advertising Repetition
Characters in advertising
Pester power
Food and beverage advertising for children
Advertising Industry in the UK
Effects of food advertising on adults in the UK
Effects of food advertising on children in the UK
Advertising industry in Thailand
Effects of food advertising on adults in Thailand
Effects of food advertising on children in Thailand
Literature Review on the food industry
Classifications of innovations in the food industry
The effect of advertising on the efficiency of food distribution
UK Food industry
Food industry in Thailand
3 – Research Methodology
Research Design
Procedure
Limitations
4 – Findings
Analysis of research questions
Findings of Quantitative Method
The time spent on food advertising
Strategies used in food advertisement
Promotion channels for food advertising
Discussion
5 – Summary and Conclusion
Limitations
Recommendations
I hope you enjoyed reading this post on media selection and how it affects food advertising in Thailand and the UK. There are many other titles available in the Marketing Dissertation Collection that should be of interest to marketing students and practitioners. There are many dissertation titles that relate to other aspects of marketing such as branding, corporate advertising, marketing strategy and consumerism to name a few. I would be grateful if you could share this post via Facebook and Twitter. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you.
Different Brand Advertising Campaign: Case Study of P&G
P&G Brand Advertising Campaign: As prescribed by different researchers and organizations, the cost of doing business is in the recent years is increasing (Amyx 2005; Williams and Page 2009). This is as a result of increasing competition within the market environment, where different businesses are doing everything possible to woo as many customers as possible. As a result of this, consumers of different products are the beneficially since all the extensive researches conducted are geared toward improving the quality of different products; hence, enhance consumer satisfaction. To achieve such objective, while still remaining relevant and competitive, the organizations need to formulate resilient strategies that build on distinctive competencies and provide a lasting competitive advantage.
On the same right, the said strategies ought to be sensitive and dynamic so as to encompass any eminent changes that are inevitable in any competitive market. Among the market strategies that different organizations are engaging in is the different brand advertising campaign. Advertising, as different researchers have claimed plays a key role in determining the success of a given product in the market. In regard to a different brand advertising campaign, the emphasis is on product differentiation, where the company tries to convince their customers, and other potential ones that their products are superior to similar products offered by their competitors. This is specifically done, in a bid to increase sales, command the market share and win new customers for increased profitability. Nevertheless, adopting a different brand advertising campaign is not a smooth ride but there a variety of handles that the marketers need to contend with at different levels. This is even true when a firm is facing competing rivals who also keep strengthening their advertising and product strategies with an aim of dominating the market (Brewster and Palmer 2001).
The study work at hand intends to explore some of the potential problems that a marketer may experience in his/her bid of using a different brand advertising campaign as his/her ultimate marketing strategy. To achieve the intended objective, the study will use P&G as its case study and will explore some of the challenges, and benefits it has achieved by employing the said marketing strategy instead of using the conventional advertising strategy. In addition, the research will propose some of the methods that can be employed to override those problems.
Brief description of P&G
William Procter and James Gamble are credited as the founders of Procter and Gamble (P&G) business that has in the recent past expanded to the international market; both in developed and developing countries. It has been regarded as one of the Fortune 500 American multinational corporations that have established its roots far and beyond its boundaries of Cincinnati where it was first established. The industry is supposedly the American biggest producer of household products and pharmaceutical goods. In particular, company is credited for providing over 250 brands that are grouped into six distinct categories. These groups include laundry and detergents, paper products like toilet papers, beauty care, food and beverages, sanitary towels and health care products.
In addition, the company also makes other products like pet food and PUR water filters and chemicals that are used internally and also by other chemical processing companies. As a way of attracting and retaining new clients, especially female consumers, the P&G also engages in production and sponsoring of Soap Operas that serves to distinguish its brand advertising strategies (A Company History: 1837- Today 2006). In fact, P&G is among business that have been credit with successful business innovations especially on brand management such as Connect and Develop innovation. According to Nielsen Company, P&G business is also among those companies that spend a fortune in advertisements alone. It is said to have had the highest advertising budget of all companies listed in United States by 2007 (Johnson 2012).
Brand Advertising
Despite all these positive aspects, the company also faces some challenges that demand prompt actions. Among such challenges is the continuous demand for new innovative and brands differentiation. The pressure originates from stiff competition that is posed by other small and larger competing companies. In addition, advancement in technology and new demands for new brands, the company is in a dilemma in deciding which brands to retain and those to discard. For instance, though soap and candle were the main products that the company produced in its initiation stages, candles have become obsolete due to the invention of electric lights among other products that rendered it irrelevant. Attracting, retaining and satisfying the clients are the main challenge that the company contend with all the time.
To handle this challenge effectively, the company has come up with different strategies that are also sensitive to the increasing cost of production in the company. In regard to this fact, as was observed by Jeff Neff of Ad Age, the company had even lost its usual top post in shopper magazine ranking. The failure to retain the top slot went on for three years making shareholders wary. The challenge is thought to have been as a result of effective advertising by its competitors like Unilever (Neff 2013).
In regard to its budget, as per its 2010 annual report indication, P&G is said to be spending cash amounting to over $10 billion in advertisements alone. According to the report, the percentage of Ads as a portion of sales for the said years was approximately 11.3%. This is an increase from the previous years’ where the same ratio was 10.9% and 9.8% in 2010 and 2009 respectively (Johnson 2012). Such increasing figures in advertising is said to have its toll on company’s inability to reward its faithful shareholders effectively (Edwards 2011).
Psychology of advertising
Advertising, since time in memorial, has been used in different circumstances by business to build powerful business force. In definition, as proposed by Brewster & Palmer, 2001, advertising may be referred to the purchased publicity conducted in a pre-planned way to seduce potential clients to act, think or behave as per the advertisers’ desires. According to Robert Hearth, advertisement is a tool that is most effective in persuading any potential and existing consumers to consumer certain products. According to him, companies that use advertising are amongst the most successful ones in the world (Heath 2012).
The same claim is echoed by Krugman’s idea who asserted that TV advertising has a direct influence on individuals even when processed inattentively. This is what is supposedly referred to by a number of individuals as subconscious seduction. Advertisers take advantage of this fact, first, to influence individuals’ mind and secondly, to influence their decision making in regard to certain products. Some psychologist believes that advertisements have both negative effects and positive effect on different individuals of a society. They also believe that the presence of advertisements on available media; whether television, newspapers, magazines, journals, radio and internet among others make all individuals target. They thus believe that advertisements have subliminally stimulated the way different individuals react in different situations (Amoto and Laudati 2001).
Richard Pollay, in his book, The Distorted Mirror: Reflection on the Unintended Consequences of Advertising claim that advertising seem to pop up in every part of the society, include the intimate space of customers’ homes. According to him, advertisements are created to attract attention, cause a change of attitude and influence consumer behavior toward certain ways (Pollay 1986). Nevertheless, some researchers still hold the idea that, though, advertisements has almost direct influence on individuals viewing them, businesses and individual marketers need to formulate their advertisement perfectly so as to inform customers of their products; hence, woo them toward buying (Hansotia and Wang 1997).
According to researchers, customers are highly responsive to advertisements, especially those that are aimed at informing them of new products in the market. Such advertisements are said to carry information persuading the customers to purchase a certain brand of products due to their superiority in quality and customer friendly prices. Depending on the response of the customers on product differentiation message contained in the adverts, firms are said to take appropriate actions; whether to increase or decrease their sizes. In cases where the customers’ responses are deemed positive, firms are said to increase their market size appropriately as they also adjust the prices of their products accordingly (Ferguson 20012).
Possible problems associated with advertising
As describe above, advertising is one of the strongest and most effective tool that businesses can adopt to reach their targeted customers. Nevertheless, in the process of designing, formulating, implementation and monitoring a myriad of potential problems may haunt the business. Such challenges are the center of interest in the succeeding discussion. The problems may include, but not limited to cost implication, consumer attitude, stiff competition from competing businesses, and product differentiation among others.
Cost implications
According to a discussion paper prepared by Kyle Bagwell of University of Columbia, Department of Economics on The Economic Analysis of Advertising, advertising is a sizeable business. According to him, in the year 2003, major companies like General Motors $3.43 billion, Procter and Gamble $3.32 billion and Pfizer $2.84 billion among other companies experienced such greater advertising expenses (Bagwell 2005). The high costs of advertising are to some extent influenced by the stiff competitions that exist in the market. In the case of P&G, though the company was the pioneer of so many products like cleaning detergents, health care products like shampoos and chemicals, a large number of potential competitors like Unilever have come up with similar products. In some instances, such competitors are said to outdo P&G Company in terms of quality of some products. They also do well in reaching out for consumers through their effective advertising and rebranding strategies.
In regard to adopting a different brand advertising campaign like it has been done by P&G, the cost of selling the idea would mean adjusting the advertisement budget upward. In a conventional advertising budget, the cost would be influenced by a number of factors such as the frequency of advertising, competition and clutter, market share of the brand being advertised and the product life cycle stage. In regard to frequency of advertisement, advocating for a different brand would mean that the cost would be relatively higher than that of already established products. The need for increasing the frequency of advertising is to try and ensure that the target consumers are convinced that the target product is superior to the ones being offered in the market (Brewster and Palmer 2001).
A company using a different brand advertising campaign is also expected to bear more financial burden in regard to competition and clutter. Clutter in this case refers to number advertisements that are run in a given media. P&G is expected to incur extra cost since it requires having more clutter than its competitors. In addition, the cost of designing such advertisement would cost them more than that of an already established product that have already been accepted widely and can still dominate the market even without the need for an advert.
Selling a different brand will also require the company to emphasis on the quality of the product it is selling. According to psychologists, consumers are always looking for a product that would not only satisfy them in terms of financial implication, but also one that meet their quality expectation. This will auger well with how well the product has gained ground in terms of market share. In addition, a new brand will demand that the advertisement be of high quality and eye catching and unique. To achieve all these, the company will require engaging experts in its production lines who will ensure that the quality of the product is not compromised. They should also ensure that their packaging line is managed by individuals who are experienced and understand how the markets work. The packaging material should also be appealing and unique so that it can stand-out amid competition. All the above objectives are only achieved if the company’s advertising budget is relative higher than that of the competitor.
In some instances, companies, including P&G are bound to rebrand their products in the form of product differentiation. This will mean that even an existing product, which has undergone such changes, would look as new product. To convince the existing consumers and also the potential consumers that the products are the same or relatively better will call for serious and extensive campaign. In order to reach all the clients, the company would not trust only one form of media, but would opt for a number of them that would be accessible by the target clients. For instance, in a bid to remain relevant and competitive in the sale of women product, P&G is said to be producing and supporting some soap operas both in TV and Radio. This means that its advertisement budget is higher than that of its competitors. With increased advertising budget together with other running expenses that companies incur in their bid remain competitive and attract to both customers and potential and existing investors, the company may fail to meet its long-term objectives.
For instance, it is said that P&G had in some years failed to provide substantial returns to its shareholders due to increasing cost of production and running costs. Here, with a quick glance at the 2012 P&G annual report, the company’s net earnings reduced from $ 15,495 to $13, 292 despite an increase in net sale to $83, 680 from $81,104 in the year 2011 and 2012 respectively. This led to a decrease of $ 0.73 in net earnings per common share from continuing operations (P&G 2012; Johnson 2012). The increase in sales may be attributed to the progressive and active advertisement, but this lead to increased operation costs that have lead to reduction in net earnings. With the company failing to satisfy its shareholders, some are bound to withdraw their support while others may invest in competing companies. Such a move would be detrimental to the company and its products.
Consumer attitude and perception
Psychologically, individuals are said to react with a lag of diverse period in terms of changing their decision due to changes in certain issues (Gujarati 2007). In regard to the question at hand, individuals would also be cautious to jumping into buying new or rebranded products due to the natural nature of human being of the fear of unknown. In addition, as expressed in the previous section, customers are subjective to seduction borne in different advertisements. In cheer realization that other competing companies are as well striving toward winning more consumers, such companies are bound to benefit more when a company decide to go beyond the usual products. In addition, some researchers have argued that, the relevance and importance of a certain ad would be determined highly with how the consumer has interacted with ads In cases where the consumer do not have access to the ad, it would mean that they would be blind to the product being targeted (Rubin 1981). On the same note, the different brand advertising campaign may not encompass enough information to change the decision of the clients as Fernandez and Rosen (2000) found out in his research on goal-oriented consumer’s response.
Effect of competition on advertisement
According to economists, companies come up with advertisements for various reasons that are all directed to customers. On the same note, economists believe that marketers and advertisers retain ultimate right to decide on the content of advertisements, and customers have no option but to take the information carried by the ads. For this reason, consumers do not all the time openly accept the information. Instead, they are said to interpret advertisements differently. Therefore, adopting a different brand advertising campaign is bound to experience more challenges than the conventional way. In addition, since advertisements are bound to affect pricing of different products before consumers are fully persuaded that the different products are superior and selling at fair prices, the company may experience low growth as consumers opt to buy from their competitors (Kirmani 1990). Similar assertion are echoed by Sutton (1991) who said that though advertising is bound to improve customer perception toward a certain brand; hence, creating some barrier to entry, it is bound to increase competition; thus, forcing some firms to reduce their expenditure to avoid the ultimate effects of fierce price competition.
Economists, to some extent, agree that advertising is majorly adopted by monopolistic firms, to gain product differentiation and achieve market control. With product differentiation objective achieved, the firm is as well said to have gained some ground in controlling the market. In the study’s case scenario, P&G Company is not a monopolistic but is surrounded by able rivals and even potential entrant. For this reason, convincing the customers that their products are superior would mean increasing its advertisement clutters; adopt alternative campaign strategies among other ways. Different brand advertising campaign may also, instead of increasing awareness of the product increase the demand for a rival company’s product at the expense of the marketer.
On the same right, such advertising strategy would reversely lead to a decline in consumer value especially in developed market due to increased commodity prices to counter the extra financial experiences trigger by the ads. For instance, P&G sponsored the US Olympic Team and had an advert dubbed ‘Thank you Mom’. Inasmuch as the ad had gained popularity in the US, P&G Company may have not scored properly due to the high cost of running the advert. According to a report released by the company in 2012, the ‘Thank you Mom’ advertisement required the company to think globally. This would involve formulating a communication objective that would cut across board; hence, requiring an expansive and expensive plan to articulate (P&G 2012).
Product differentiation
One of the key pillars toward a successful advertisement campaign is price differentiation. Firms and companies that have successfully managed to persuade their customers that their products are overly different from others in terms of quality, outcomes and costs are said to have been rewarded with unequivocal market share and dominance. In regard to product differentiation, a firm opting to conduct a different brand advertisement campaign is bound to employ either the horizontal or vertical differentiation. In definition, horizontal differentiation consumers are said to differ in what they prefer in a product. That is; the characteristics like color, taste, and sources bestowed on a given product. On the other hand, in regard to vertical differentiation, the emphasis is on product characteristics that make consumer go for quality. Therefore, a problem of ensuring that the products under scrutiny in different brand advertising campaign are purely different from other may arise.
In regard to P&G, as documented in its 2012 annual report, its main objectives is to have brands with strong equities in the minds of consumers, those that retailers are demanding and those that are platforms for innovation. Achieving such objectives is not a significant challenge to P&G since it has financial, technological and manpower strength. Nevertheless, the same notion is sure in its rival competitors’ agenda. The only sure way to ensure that its product retain their reputation is to ensure total differentiation, which in part is supported by effective and extensive advertisement (Barroso and Llobet 2011).
In this right, Roberts and Lattin (1991) found out consumers reaction toward consuming a certain brand is more influenced by their choice sets later than their awareness sets. According to them, the consumers’ awareness is highly influenced by such things like advertisements while the choice set is determined by the consumers purchasing decisions. Therefore, a firm that is determined to employ a different brand advertisement strategy should emphasis on influencing both awareness and choice set factors, something that may be problematic to balance and achieve as (Goeree 2008) found out.
Shon Ferguson (2012), in his study on Endogenous product differentiation, market size and price stated that consumer love for diversified brands leads them to becoming more sensitive to product differentiation efforts by different firms; hence, uncontrollable increase of differentiated products in the larger market. In respect to this, he argued that expansion of market base by firms through product differentiation and advertisement may eventually lead to higher prices of such products. If this does happen, consumers are then said to divert their attentions to other similar commodities that are offered at lower prices. This is because, with polarized market, consumers have a wide variety of commodities that they can choose from; hence, the notion of consumer loyalty does not hold (Ferguson 20012).
This is true even to the case of P&G Company that, though having been among the market pioneer is competing with so many other late entrants. In addition, as some researchers have argued, so much concentration on the need for price differentiation would eventually lead to a compromise in terms of prices or quality (P&G 2012). Therefore, the most appropriate advice that researchers have offered is for firms to remain cognizant of the consumers’ need and marshal toward satisfying them by and large.
Grossman and Shapiro while investigating the effect of informative advertising realized that advertising help the elasticity of demand faced by each participating firm. According to them, the lower the cost of advertising, the more the advertisement clutter will increase and the better informed the consumer will become (Amoto and Laudati 2001). In such instances, where the customers are well informed, and more firms are engaged in advertisements, a firm that spend more money in advertisements is bound to suffer since advertising in a market where consumers have full knowledge of the market does not necessary mean increasing your customers.
Recommendation
To avoid the potential problems that are associated with different brand advertising campaign effectively, marketers would need to take a number strategic measure. First, as it has extensively been discussed in the previous section, the marketers should constrain their budgets in such a way that they adhere to the company’s objective. This can be done by ensuring that the advertisements are perfectly formulated to reach the target group effectively while at the same time, minimizing the cost of running those adverts in different media.
In regard to consumer perception and attitude, the adverts should carry exceptionally, convincing and persuasive messages that reflect, if possible, the actual reality of the brand being advertised. This would auger well since customers who have had the potential to purchase the product can pass the same information to them that are aware of the brand but have not made a positive choice of purchasing them. In addition, this would give the company a competing edge against its potential rivals and potential entrants.
The company should also formulate its advertisement with cheer realization that the advert can have an anti-competing outcome, where it promotes the products of the competing firms. The company should also have its shareholders and investors in mind; hence, it would continually receive financial and other forms of supports even in times of turmoil.
Conclusion
P&G Company, like many other large and small companies, engages in intensive advertisement in a bid to weather down any potential competition. In fact, Procter and Gamble is said to be the leading company in terms of advertisement. This is true even with the fact that it is always in the top three of the most profitable multinational company. The need for regular advertising, where it is reported to collaborate with other firms and sponsor is said to emanate from the need to inform its customers regularly of its superior brands that have dominated the market. In a bid to advertise, like any other companies, it faces challenges that drag down its objectives.
Among the advertising strategies that a company adopts, different brand advertising campaign is one that can lead to greater success in reaching customers. Nevertheless, there are a myriad of challenges that are attached to the strategy as discussed in the previous section. In particular, the campaign would be more expensive than the conventional methods employed by many companies. It requires maximum time to convince the customers that truly, the brand the company is selling is superior and better than the similar ones in the market. Again, the customers may not be fully convinced; hence, though having the awareness of the product may opt to consume those offered by competitors. The strategy is also said, sometime, to work against the company where it indirectly promotes the products of its competitors. Therefore, as much as the company would love to use this strategy, it should be wary of the challenges; hence, plan appropriately. The advert should be formulated in such a way that all the unnecessary costs are avoided while at the same time, targeting to reach all the potential customers.
References
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I hope you enjoyed reading this post on the brand advertising campaign of P&G. There are many other titles available in the marketing dissertation collection that should be of interest to marketing students and practitioners. There are many dissertation titles that relate to other aspects of marketing such as branding, corporate advertising, marketing strategy and consumerism to name a few. I would be grateful if you could share this post via Facebook and Twitter. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you.
Impact of Television Media Advertising on Consumer Buying Behavior
Dissertation Title: Impact of Television Media Advertising on Consumer Buying Behavior. Advertisements play a huge role in altering the behavior of consumers towards the products shown in the advertisements. In recent times, an increase in advertisements per brand has been observed. Advertisements have huge influence in purchasing decision of customers for particular brands. It is a ubiquitously accepted fact that advertisements can bestow special attributes upon a product or service that it may have lacked otherwise. This work focuses on identifying the influence of advertisements on the consumer behavior and attitude.
Television Media Advertising Dissertation
The Researcher utilized survey Research Design in the collection of the data. This was due to the simplicity involved in seeking people’s opinion using Questionnaire. Stratified Sampling Method was used to get the sample size for this study is 250. Data gathered from the study were analyzed, tested and interpreted using sample percentage frequency table. The collected data were analyzed in tables and simple percentages, while the hypotheses were tested using the chi square technique. Hypotheses were tested critically to reveal the authenticity of responses by the respondents to the research questions.
In the final analysis, attempts were made to bring to summary the tested research hypotheses and two major conclusions were made. By virtue of this study, it was discovered that television advertising positively shapes a consumer’s perception about a product. Advertising is expensive, its outcome is usually uncertain, and most times it takes long before having any effect on consumers’ buying behavior. It is due to these reasons that many companies find it appropriate, intermittently to decrease expenses on advertising or to totally exclude it. On the other hand, some organizations sometimes consider it needless to advertise when their products are already enjoying great patronage without advertisement. Such behavior indirectly fails to reflect the fact that advertising is not just a present expense but a future investment.
Dissertation Objectives
To study the impact of television advertisements on the consumer segments
To study the impact of television advertisements on the consumer buying segments
To study factors affecting the consumer buying process with respect to television advertisements
I hope you enjoyed reading this post on Impact of Television Media Advertising on Consumer Buying Behavior. There are many other titles available in the marketing dissertation collection that should be of interest to marketing students and practitioners. There are many dissertation titles that relate to other aspects of marketing such as branding, corporate advertising, marketing strategy and consumerism to name a few. I would be grateful if you could share this post via Facebook and Twitter. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you.
