Advertising and Marketing
Year 10 Media GCSE Essay 1: Advertising and Marketing
Marketing is the technique that is used to attract, persuade and satisfy consumers in order to buy a product. Marketing is not about providing products or services; it is essentially about providing changing benefits to the changing needs and demands of the customer. Firstly an organization or Brand first determines what its potential customers would like, and from that, they make the product. This can be called Market Research, as they gather in all the possible desires of a potential customer, before making a decision on how to make the product from what they have gathered. An Organization will then find a way for their product to be seen or known of by a potential customer, by promoting it. In media terms, potential customers are called the 'Target Audience'. Advertising is the technique used for promotion as it attracts the target audience to the product. It is a good way to reach them and catch their attentions on the specific product. This is a key factor for marketing to be successful, as the more people are interested in the product, the more people will buy them, which means the more profit and success. Finally marketing has to control the cost of a product wisely as it is vital that the chosen price satisfies the Target Audience otherwise, less products will be sold.
As I have stated before, the 'Target Audience' is an identifiable group of people that could benefit from purchasing your product. You can define your target audience(s) according to some combination of behaviour, demographics, psychology, and/or social influences. You are likely to have several potential target audiences; focusing on those you can most profitably help. Marketing to a target audience involves understanding of how you can help them, developing effective messages, and then reaching them via appropriate tactics. By using this approach you can focus your resources on tactics that are most likely to increase sales for your business, hence earning the greatest return from your marketing activities.
In order to find a target audience or promoting a product successfully, the business will need to complete market research.
Market research is a collection of data, the aim of which is to understand better what is happening in the market place. Various methods of market research are used to find out information about markets, target markets, their needs, competitors, market trends, customer satisfaction with products and services, etc. Businesses can learn a great deal about customers, their needs, how to meet those needs and how the business is doing to meet those needs. The 2 main types of research are Quantitative, and Qualitative research. These two types of research are needed to decide your target audience, and how you should adapt the marketing mix to satisfy them. Quantitative research involves the measurement of quantity or amount, whereas qualitative research relies on reasons behind various aspects of behavior. Unlike quantitative research, it does not include numerical figures.
In order for your business to sell its products and services as successfully as possible, you need to look at what products you are selling in detail to ensure they will be attractive and needed; the price to ensure it is not too cheap or too expensive; where you are best distributing your product; and finally, how you can create interest and awareness for your products. All these elements need to be targeted at the right people at the right time. In order for your business to tackle this correctly, you need to get the right type of ...
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In order for your business to sell its products and services as successfully as possible, you need to look at what products you are selling in detail to ensure they will be attractive and needed; the price to ensure it is not too cheap or too expensive; where you are best distributing your product; and finally, how you can create interest and awareness for your products. All these elements need to be targeted at the right people at the right time. In order for your business to tackle this correctly, you need to get the right type of marketing mix (also known as the 4 P's); the mix should include the four main elements: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. By carefully examining each one of them and adapting them to your customer's needs, you will continue to produce the correct products and services which are appropriate, suitable, and relevant to the target audience, whoever they may be. The word 'Product' is included in the 4 P's because you need to firstly identify who will be interested in buying your products and services. This should be identified once you have analysed the results of the market research. Your market research data will be able to look more closely at what your market wants and then look at your products to see if they are satisfying your customer's needs. Examples include, examining your packaging design, the materials used, the size, and the quantity. By analysing the market and its requirements, you will be able to change the product or develop the product in order to match the requirements of the Target Audience. The word 'Place' is also in the 4 P's. Place simply refers to how you will sell your products to your customers. Depending on what it is you are selling, will directly influence how you distribute it, and it mainly affects those businesses that are in production. The chosen 'Price' is also a very important tactic in the marketing mix. When setting a price for your products, you need to ensure that you can recoup any overheads, compete with rival companies, and charge a price your customers are willing to pay. If not, then less of your products will be sold, which is the complete opposite of what you want. 'Promotion' is the last word in the 4 P's. There are many methods of promotions today, but when advertising was first introduced on television it was a big issue. Advertisements were being seen from a new point of view. Instead of just billboards or posters that the businesses used to promote their products, there was a moving life form on screen. This way the businesses could get more information across to the viewer, because there was movement, visual and audio involved. The first advertisements were dull and uncreative. The connotations, and impressions that were automatically formed, were that the products were unattractive, and just as bad as their advertisements. This was a cause of concern and it is what started the marketing trend of which it is today. The main forms of advertising are: Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, videos, posters, cinemas, and the Internet. Advertisements can not just be made in anyway; they have to be made in a way to be catchy to the target audience. This helps the popularity to grow even more. Brands think about what the connotations of an advertisement may be. This helps them to have some idea of how a potential customer may think of it. This helps a brand to make advertisements in a certain way, with certain denotations, as they will know how they can make them appealing. Connotations are the surrounding emotional feelings associated with a feature. These features are called Denotations, for example, if someone sees the colour red (Denotation), the words hot and danger may automatically come to mind (Connotation). So advertisements have to contain the correct features in order to successfully attract the target audience to the product.
A Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of all used to uniquely identify a product. It can be an organization that creates a product, for example Nike is a brand that makes trainers which is a product. Another example is Umbro which is a brand that makes football kits which are products. It is a Brand which does marketing so that their products can be successfully satisfying to the target audience. These two brands have been successful because their marketing has been successful, as they have successfully used the 4ps. Before Nike begins marketing, they think of how their products will look like, for example the colors, the design, the style, and packaging, as well as the name. They base their choices on the target audience because if the target audience dislikes all the product's features, then they won't buy it. Nike also takes price into consideration, as they think about what would be the suitable price for their target audience. Why would they make trainers priced at £300 if their target audiences are unemployed people? It is very important for a brand to take the target audience in consideration when setting the price. Nike or any other Brand would think about the possible locations for where their products can be bought. This is important as it has to be a place that is popular and linked to the Target Audience. Nike trainers can be bought at popular places such as JJB and Sports World where most of their target audience go, which means that they will be easily accessible to the product. Finally a brand must think about how their products are going to attract the target audience. Brands do this by promotion. Adverts, Magazines, TV, or newspapers are ways to promote a product. This is helpful to a brand's marketing as it will increase the popularity of their products. In conclusion, brands such as Nike are responsible for the selling of their products, as they attempt to make it successful, by marketing. They always take the 4ps into consideration as it is really helpful to help the selling of their products.
Advert Analysis
Here are two examples of adverts created by two different brands, to help attract potential customers to their products.
This is an advert that advertises a new Hugo Boss Fragrance. The purpose of the advert is to attract the Target Audience to the product. The advert uses a variety of techniques to achieve its purpose. For example: the use of colour, the body language of the woman, the denotations, the connotations etc. Denotations are features of the advert whereas connotations are what the denotations may show or mean and what may come to mind upon being seen by the Target Audience. For example the woman is wearing a black men's shirt (denotation), which is to show that a main theme of the advert is for women to have an independence from men (connotation). This is because of the associations we make with the colour 'Black' which includes the word 'Independence'. The woman also has red fingernails as she has a look on her face (denotation), which shows that she is evil, with desire and passion (connotation). Her fingernails are red, because of the associations we make with the colour 'red' of evil, and desire. Her facial expression, also reinforce the point that she is evil. Moreover, the woman is leaning on a couch with her legs wide open (denotation) to show that she is ready for sex but she is kind of blocking the path with a torch, showing that no one can go in that direction (connotation). Her body language is the main reason for why we think this. The advert has the perfume bottle on her left (denotation) which shows that it is that perfume which is acting on her, which means that if the audience has quite a similar appearance to the woman in the advert, then you should get the perfume the next time you go shopping (connotation). The woman is also looking directly at you, and so is her torch (denotation) as this shows that her full attention is on you, as she uses bright light to take a good look at you (connotation). The camera angle is facing up towards her (denotation), this gives us a better view of her sexy body (connotation). All of these Denotations and Connotations get us to know who the Target Audience may be, as it becomes obvious that they are Egoist Female Adults who may probably be very outgoing and who may want to make themselves look very attractive and sexy. Egoists like to seek pleasure, as these female adults may like to seek the pleasure of having sex. In conclusion, this advert contains all the correct features in order to successfully achieve its purpose of attracting the Target Audience to the product.
This is an advert that advertises a new J'adore Dior fragrance. The brand that made this advert also thought about which Denotations with their Connotations to be on this advert. Doing that helped them know how to make the advertisement in order for the specific audience to be attracted to it. The color theme of the whole advertisement is obviously gold, as this may be used to explain that the perfume is precious or is aswell as expensive.