Question

This exercise will give you some practice determining the kind of advertising that may be needed to obtain some advertising objectives. Described below are several situations in which some kind of advertising may be necessary or desirable. For each situation:

1. indicate what general (i.e., inform, persuade, and/or remind) objectives the advertising probably could be meant to achieve; and
2. indicate which of the following kinds of advertising would be most appropriate to accomplish that objective and why:

• Institutional – promotes an organization’s image, reputation, or ideas rather than a specific product.
• Pioneering – tries to develop primary demand for a product category rather than demand for a specific brand.
• Competitive – tries to develop selective demand for a specific brand
• Comparative – making specific brand comparisons using actual product names.
• Reminder – tries to keep the product’s name before the public

1. Enterprise Rent-A-Car uses testimonials from satisfied customers to differentiate itself from competing car rental services. In particular, it promotes its service of delivering a car to you—at home, at the office, or on vacation. Its slogan says, "Pick Enterprise. We'll pick you up."

Objective____________________________________________________

Type of Ad ___________________________________________________

2. The metropolitan transportation district receives a grant from the coalition of local governments to advertise bus services to promote clean air by switching commuters from single‑occupancy cars. Billboards and TV time are too expensive, so the bus company uses the money to purchase placard ads inside its own buses. The copy says: "Save gas—take the bus!"

Objective____________________________________________________

Type of Ad ___________________________________________________

3. Charter Hospitals' radio advertisement describes the symptoms and serious consequences of depression, and explains that most health insurance policies cover treatment for this condition. At the end, the ad gives a toll‑free number for Charter as the announcer encourages the friends and families of depressed people to "seek help today, even if not from Charter."

Objective____________________________________________________

Type of Ad ___________________________________________________

Answer 1

1.

a) Objective: Persuade

Reasons: It is used when there are similar kind of services and products existing in the market, offered by different brands. And it is done to persuade customers to make them change the brand and increase the market share of the company, using the persuasive strategy of advertising.

And in the above case, similar scenario exists where ‘Enterprise’, a car rental service is trying to attract the customers from other brands, by assuring them of providing better services than the current brand used by the customer

b) Type of Ad: Competitive

Reasons: Competitive because ‘Enterprise’ is trying to increase the demand of its own brand. In competitive type of advertising, the advertising company contrasts between its own services and its competitor services, thereby proving the reasons of its own brand to be better. Which is exactly done by ‘Enterprise’ in the above case.

2.

a) Objective: Informative

Reasons: It is with an Informative objective, because Government agencies generally advertise with informative purpose. Here the government is ultimately concerned for the public’s health and environment safety and hence informing the public to use bus in order to save environment, which in turn will also lead to their benefits by saving gas. Here the intention or the objective is not all to persuade customers to use a particular product. Because government don’t have any substantial personal benefits for making public use bus to commute, rather it is just for the benefits of public, who breaths the clean air.

b) Type of Ad: Reminder

Reasons: To state the reason I will use the elimination method.

This type of advertisement is not institutional because government is not trying to build its own image or reputation.

This advertisement is not pioneering, because pioneering is used for newly launched products.

It is neither competitive nor comparative, as government is not competing with any competitor nor comparing with any competitor.

Hence, it is the last option i.e. reminder type of advertisement, where the government wants public to use the bus and reminding them of the health benefits and the monetary benefits, consumers can have by using public transports.

3.

a) Objective: Informative

Reasons: Here Charter Hospitals is providing information’s and facts to help its target audience to make a purchase decision. Indeed, portraying the values of the company, which creates a positive image of company in the customer’s mind. Charter Hospital is educating its target audience; hence it is an advertisement with Informative objective.

b) Type of Ad: Institutional

Reasons: Here Charter Hospitals has manipulated the customer’s mind by stating "seek help today, even if not from Charter", this sentence shows the great amount of concern Charter Hospitals is having for its target audience and hence, the target audience will not prefer any other brand but prefer only Charter Hospitals. Charter Hospitals here is not selling directly its services but is promoting its own organization and business by building a positive image in audience’s mind and by portraying their sense of belongingness for the customers. Hence, it is Institutional type of advertisement as it is completely focused on making a good reputation in the audience’s mind.