Designing a Print Advertising for a Product - Literature review Example

Name: Institution: Tutor: Date: Designing a Print Advertising for a Product Introduction A form of marketing communication tool that has significantly been employed in encouraging, persuading, or manipulating consumers to take or continue using a product is advertising. Present-day business is heavily dependent on this kind of marketing communicationtool that no one can afford to disregard it.Most commonly; the anticipated outcome is often to drive consumer behaviour relating to a commercial offering. Advertisements are found in many forms. Among the various forms of advertisements is print advertising, which comprises those advertisements printed on some form of paper handled by the prospective audience. Fig 1.1: An illustration of a print advertisement promoting pork sandwiches Problem That Can Be Solved By Communication According to Shah (2012, p.55), marketing communication managers often use details from a marketing plan that are important in developing a promotional strategy. During the situation analysis, a number of problems that are to be addressed by marketing communications are identified. As such, marketing communication solves issues such as lack of awareness/knowledge, scanty coverage of consumers, misconception regarding a product, lack of motivation to act, as well as negative attitudes.Marketing communication can also help other marketing tools by focusing interest on or away from them, or by defending /justifying them. For instance, a print advertisement can clarify the decreased product price or steal attention away from the increased price of a product by concentrating on the superior or improved features of the product. Target Audience and Key Insights into Their Attitudes and Behaviour Identifying and influencing what shapes consumers’ attitudes and behaviour forms one of the toughest challenges for marketers. Traditionally, managers have depended on both quantitative data from surveys and qualitative analysis of interviews and focus groups. However, with print advertisements, marketers ought to earlier decide on the particular communication effects preferred by the target consumers. Often, consumers when exposed to a product advertisement move through a sequence of responses. A marketer must therefore comprehend a situation in order to ascertain the kind of advert effect that he wants to create(Sharma & Singh, 2006, p.249). For instance, with print advertisements, the element of creativity plays a significant role in not only appealing to consumers but also catching their attention. On the other hand, to be appropriate and effective, a creative idea ought to be applicable to the targeted consumers. In this case, a creative print advertisement ought to be developed around a major idea besides using excellent design and implementation to convey information that interests the target audience. Brand position and other branding decisions, such as personality and image As highlighted by Sharma & Singh (2006, p.267), any product or brand can generate a position of itself within the market. This process (positioning), which develops a niche for the brand/product creates a position akin to the process of segmentation, which then creates other market segments and ultimately target markets. Marketers can position a brand/product in a number of ways including: By product consumers, for instance, a product targeting only children By price (offering a similar product at a lesser price) By the product’s or brands ability to surpass competition (if a product is doing extremely well than others in the market) By product/brand class By attributes By application As for creating a brand image, there are normally many competing brands/products that are often very similar that it becomes difficult to find a distinctive attribute to employ as the main selling idea. In this case, the creative strategy that can be employed to sell such products is to develop a strong, memorable identity for the product/brand through the use of image advertising. Communication Objectives That Specify the Desired Response to the Message by the Target Audience Communication objectives often emerge from an organization’s marketing objectives. While marketing objectives imply the whole marketing program, which are outlined with respect to market share targets, sales, or profitability, communication objectives of a print advertisement points out specific communication missions that ought to be realized. These missions are listed in relation to the attitude and behavior that is to be created, awareness that is to created, image that is to be created, and the information/knowledge to be conveyed, among many others. On the other hand, since having a high quality and creative idea is significant, the next question is to ask how this can be realized. According Ang (2014, p.163), there is no fixed formula; however, a number of principles can increase the possibility of an advertisement achieving its missions. These principles may include: Looking for astounding facts regarding the product/brand or organization: Astonishing facts about a product will without a doubt rouse the curiosity of the audiences/consumers targeted by the print advertisement as they are naturally interesting. Seek correctinput: This particular principle implies that the information being conveyed by the print advert ought to be correct. This is due to the fact that truthfulness forms the basis for subsequent principles. Entertain Exaggerations: This principle can seem weird and funny, but is always very effective as it is clearly connected to the gains Employing the use of instinctive cues: Human beings tend to be naturally attracted to particular cues. The most common of these are sexual cues, which create approach tendencies in them. Sexual cues are very common in advertisements and are more often than not seen in advertisements for perfumes or underwears. Proposition or Selling Idea That Will Motivate the Target to Respond Effective print advert communications ought to appeal to not only the needs but also the wants of recipients. They ought to offer the recipient an incentive or motivation to act, besides generating connection with the conveyed message by means of probing questions that leave the message communicatedincomplete (Lehman & DuFrene, 2013, p.40). This means getting individuals to embrace an idea or transforming behaviour, which can be realized through charming their cognitive processes. One ought to stimulate a desire, point out a need, or provide a logical justification as to why they (the recipients) ought to cooperate. On the other hand, one has to take note that not all recipients may be attracted to a rational approach, as such, in these particular situations, emotional appeals can be used. The idea, the theme or the appeal exceptional selling proposition is what a marketer should use to reach the audience so as to acquire a desired response. Media Considerations about Where and When the Message Should Be Delivered The media choice might be informed or determined by a number of factors such as the objective of communication. For instance, in a situation where the major objective is mainly to establish a relationship or communicate concern, a person to person meeting might provide the most convenient choice to realize this goal(Lehman & DuFrene, 2013, p.41). Consumer analysis can also provide information that specifies it has preference for a given medium of communication, for instance, in the case of a print advert; a newspaper can be the preferred medium of communication for consumers. Common media choice considerations include: Time needed for a feedback: Just like we may want to contact an individual as soon as possible, we may also want a quick response from that individual. Often, individuals and corporate cultures can have preferences for given communication channels as well as different communication practices. The most rapid communication forms are largely electronic. Richness versus leanness: some communication channels offer more information compared to others. Commonly, the richest communication channels offer non-verbal information. Requirement for interpretation: some communication channels seem to be more ambiguous or unclear and therefore require an interpretation of the message. The non-verbal communication channels are probably the most ambiguous as they require the recipients to interpret almost the whole message. Because of this, the non-verbal code may relay a number of meanings. Amount of information conveyed: The best communication channel for relaying huge information amounts is normally the written one. A reason for this is because n most of us are normally poor listeners. As such if the message to be communicated is long and complex, then it is best conveyed via a written channel compared to the oral one. Cost: This also forms acommon media choice consideration Conclusion In conclusion, print adverts are an important kind of marketing communication employed in persuading consumers to support an action or continue a particular action, usually pertaining to a product offering. On the other, as revealed, for any organization seeking to market their products or services through the use of a print advertisement, the task is usually more challenging and difficult. Nonetheless, there are various principles that if followed, lead to the achievement of the objectives of that communication. Work Cited Ang, Lawrence. Principles of Integrated Marketing Communications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, Pp.163-165 Lehman, Carol & DuFrene, Debbie. BCOM 5: Engaging 4ltr Press Titles for Communication, Edition 5, revised, .Boston: Cengage Learning, 2013, Pp.40-41 Sharma, Sangeeta & Singh, Raghuvir Advertising: Planning and Implementation.New Delhi: Phi Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2006, Pp. 247-269 Shah. Advertising n Promotion. Noida: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2012, Pp.55-63 Read More