The role of advertising in the success of the company - Assignment Example

31 July 2007 Assignment on Marketing Communication Business organizations are irrefutably competing in a hypercompetitive landscape. This more intense rivalry necessitates the establishment and execution of more efficient marketing strategies. In line with this, companies need to generate more information about their customers in order to come up with creative advertisements to capture their target audience. Advertising is one of the primary tools employed by business organizations to create an image for their product. The ads published in different media significantly reflect what the company is and what type of products and services it offers. Advertising often requires the employment of wit and creativity in the part of the marketer. In order to do these, advertisements are embedded with a subtext, a n underlying which is not stated directly. Looking at the current style of marketers, the subtext is often implied or suggested through the use of symbols, characters, words, images, music, and special effects to complement or even contrast the underlying message. Advertisements are also made in consideration to the company's intended message, particular objective, and the target market. In order to illustrate this, this paper will look at four print advertisements Tide Detergent Tide is a detergent manufactured by Procter and Gamble. The product takes pride of its reputation as one of the leading brands due to its capability of removing tough stains. With this, Tide is a premium product taking care of the cleanliness and purity of clothes. Instead of focusing on the industrializing India, the advertisers chose to utilize the image of the traditional India and its connection with the laundry detergent. The Ganges River and the Taj Mahal are two important places in the Indian culture. It should also be noted these significant places became major attractions to tourists worldwide. Looking closer, the Ganges River and Taj Mahal is directly associated with purity to Indians according to their religious beliefs. Thus, the communication objective of this advertisement is to make Tide as the detergent which can cleanse and purify stained clothing the same as how Ganges River purifies the soul and how Taj Mahal portrays pure, unblemished love. This advertisement appears on the magazine Good Housekeeping. This channel is rational because it is most read by housewives who can be more interested on how their household tasks can be made easier by various products. Thus, Procter and Gamble opted to advertise Tide in order to capture this target market. The advertisement shows no definite source but the message is clear-Tide is superior in eliminating stains and whitening fabrics. The execution of the advertisement is really profound and mystifying. It should be noted that an ordinary individual which has no knowledge on Ganges River and Taj Mahal will be unable to understand what the Tide advertisement is all about. Chanel This simple ad features a blown up image of the beautiful and captivating Eugenia Volodina wearing the new sparkling glasses of Chanel which exudes sophistication and elegance. The advertisement's objective is to inform customers of Chanel's new offerings as well as persuade them to purchase the new product. From its establishment in the early 1910s, Chanel has become an icon of elegance with the brand being synonymous to elegance, wealth, and elitism. Chanel became the ultimate sign of high French class, catering to the needs of elite women. The global popularity of the brand has now made it a top choice for elegant women with very high purchasing power. Thus, the appearance of the ad in Vogue which is recognized as one of the most influential force in shaping fashion and culture is warranted by Chanel's quest of capturing the elite niche. It should be noted that Vogue caters to the same intellectually sophisticated and fashionable females that Chanel are also targeting. The advertisement conveys numerous messages. First, Chanel sunglasses are symbols for beauty, sex appeal, and luxury. This brand is a status symbol, that is, those who wears their products are only those who can afford to be in a certain group. The source is obviously the model Eugenia Volodina and the channel is Vogue magazine. The advertisement of Chanel stands out because of the strategic way that the picture is captured. The contrast among the colors-red, brown, and black-draws the attention of the audience to the sharp color of the shade. It can also be seen that almost half of the blown-up photo shows the shade. Eugenia Volodina uses only minimal makeup so that the glasses are emphasized. With these elements, it is the eyeglasses, which first captures the attention of a beholder. Even though the Chanel is also known for its makeup, it is obvious that Chanel is promoting the eyeglasses and not their other products. Oral B Capitalizing on its popularity of being the most recommended and most used toothbrush among dentists, Oral B's print advertisement aims to communicate the newest addition to its innovative toothbrushes. This advertisement appears at the international magazine Good Housekeeping. The print advertisement shows Oral-B's Pulsar, which it promotes to give the "just from the dentist clean feeling" with regular use. This innovative product features gentle pro-soft bristles that gently stimulate gum and clean teeth providing dentist recommended benefits. The message of the advertisement is clearly plain and simple-customer should use the product in order to attain that clean feeling. Oral-B also uses its strong brand equity in supporting this statement because of its worldwide recognition. Even though the company does not claim that this recommendation of their product comes directly from dentists themselves, its reputation becomes adequate in becoming a credible source of the message. The magazine Good Housekeeping becomes channel of the message. It should be noted that this magazine does not just circulate in the United States but other foreign countries as well. Oral-B is different from other toothbrush manufacturers because it emphasizes product quality at a cost. The company manufactures products which are bought at a premium because of their innovativeness and important features. The target market for this advertisement, as suggested by the channel, message, and source used are housewives who are willing to pay more for added benefits. The Oral-B advertisement is simple in terms of execution. The advertiser uses blue and white in order to convey that fresh and clean feeling communicated by the ad. In order to highlight innovativeness and product feature, the ad also shows the bristles of the Pulsar toothbrush which differentiates it from its rivals. Canon The advertisement of Canon features the new Powershot TX1 from the high end line of the company. Being new in the market, Canon's primary objective is to introduce its product to the customers while emphasizing its efficiency relative to competitors. The channel of the message is one of the most famous magazines, Times magazine. It should be noted that as the primary channel of being informed about international news and current events, Times magazine targets the high end market. Thus, it becomes clear that Canon's target market through this advertisement is the same as Times'. The message of the advertisement is the innovativeness and superiority of its new product. Being new in the market, Canon communicates the features of TX1 to the market. There is also no particular source for the product but the authority of the Times magazine. The overall execution of the advertisement is striking and bold. The image of the camera as featured in the advertisement defines the message that it convey. The use of color highlights the product's value and image. References Ganges River. Retrieved 31 July 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges_River#The_Ganga_in_Hinduism Taj Mahal. Retrieved 31 July 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal Wells, W. et al., 2006, Advertising: Principles and Practice, New York: Prentice Hall Read More