“HOW TO REACH CONSUMERS:ADVERTISING!!”
BY:
PROF.ASHOK SINHA
&
PROF.. NISHA SINGH
Today we are being flooded with a variety of advertisements all around us ,so much so that sometimes we do feel to take a break .The advertising industry as of today is pegged at a rate of almost Rs. 21000 crore, A major chunk of which amounting to almost 48% lies with print media. It is then followed by TV media which commands a share of 40 %. The remaining formats command a minor share of 12 % which includes OOH, DIGITAL, INTERNET, etc. Though print and television media command the largest share, its effectiveness is depleting day by day and due to which marketers today are desperately striving to an effective way, to capture sizeable avenues to advertise and ensure that there exists best possible way, to reach customers more qualitatively than concentrating on the quantitative numbers.
Hither to, the traditional advertising industries are now giving a vent to various new formats of advertising like the celebrity endorsement, events sponsorships, commercial cinema advertising, etc. Marketers today are striving to make sure that they place their products/ brands. Commercial cinemas are yet another avenue for their advertisers and marketers to promote their brands.
Product placement is the practice of including a brand name, product, package, sign or other trademark merchandise within a motion picture, television or other media vehicles for increasing the memory of the brand and for instant recognition at the point of purchase. The common practice has been that advertising has been inserted within breaks, 30 seconds or 10 seconds commercial, but with increasing number of channels and media clutter, the target audience is not properly exposed to the message. The tendency of the audience is to change the channel whenever an advertisement appears. But by subtle placement of products in the settings of the Movie or a TV serial, the promotional message can be effectively put across the target audience.
The art of placing your product can be implicit or explicit, depending on the marketers requirement and the scene/plot, where the Product has been placed. The motive of placing product can be different for different brand and marketer. Sometimes the medium is used to launch a new product, sometimes it can be used to demonstrate the long tradition of a brand. It can also be used negatively (by portraying competitors product in a negative context) and at times the use of a particular product or service in a particular movie, reinforces the brand image or its positioning message.
The placement of product is an effective way of advertising as has been found by many researchers. But the effectiveness is a function of variables like context (of the plot), match of product with type of movie, audience profile (age, sex, education, literacy, language, religion, culture, access to technology, media interests, hobbies), emotional appeal, program involvement and liking for a star. Product Placement technique is a very effective technique for getting a message through. So it can be effectively used for positioning and repositioning. Marketers can choose this medium, for positioning their product to larger target customer, at a relatively lower cost. The key word is that the medium is effective. Placing of the appropriate product/brand which suits the profile of both the product as well as that of the genre of the movie, will prove to be effective.