What is Advertising?

Case breakdown: Movie Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya

The scene that you just saw shows a meeting taking place in an advertising agency. This agency is headed by Mr. Oberoi (Played by Kader Khan). He clearly mentions that the advertisement is for a car from DC Alpha. Another employee called Pooja Sinha (played by Kirti Reddy) comes up with an idea for the advertisement.

In this blog, learning Perspectives will explore the meaning of Advertisements.

What is Advertising?

Adverting is communication that can be personal or non-personal to sell a product or an idea. This communication happens through channels such as TV, print advertisements, online ads, etc.

Ads generally seek to generate sales through ‘branding‘ which leaves an impression on the minds of the consumer. The impression could be in terms of a positive image, quality, and name of the product. Similar to the scene that we saw, it showed how the ad narrated by Pooja Sinha wants to cash in the name of the brand. (DC Alpha). That the car can run even without an engine just on its name.

When companies decide to spend on advertising a product or service, they incur advertising costs. This cost is usually shown under the Selling & general administration costs (SG&A) in the income statement of the company.

Types of Advertising:

Television:

TV advertising is the most popular form of advertising. This form of advertising is considered the most expensive too. Different channel networks charge a high amount of money to display seconds of ads. As of 2021, advertising on Star plus cost Rs. 2,700 per second, Rs. 4,500 on Zee TV, and  Rs. 2,300 on Sony TV. Other channels aren’t so high and the cost starts from Rs. 200 for a 10-second ad. The duration of a good ad can range from 30 seconds to 45 seconds. Some ads can go up to a minute. Product placement is another strategy that is used to advertise different products.

Radio:

Radio advertising is another popular medium in India. This is a highly targeted and cost-effective method. Over 6,500 companies market their products on Radio Mirchi, a popular FM channel launched in 2000. Advertising can be done in many ways on radios. It can take the form of content, quizzes, or radio jockey mentioning the product, service, or company. FM advertising cost varies from Rs. 50 for 10 seconds ad to Rs. twenty-five hundred for ten seconds.

Online Advertising:

Another cost-effective way of advertising includes running online ads. Google ads, Facebook, Youtube, etc. are some of the popular ways of advertising. Facebook and Google give extremely good tools to the target audience and connect your business with the right audience. This is again, a cost-effective and targeted way to reach a larger pool of people. One can start advertising for as low as Rs. 400 while there is no upper limit.

Print:

This form of advertising means ads printed in newspapers, journals, magazines, etc. Major newspapers have a broad readership, hence one can target a large pool of readers. To target narrowly, people advertise in ‘classifieds’. This form helps in reaching the right consumer as they are published in local newspapers and journals. If one needs to advertise in ‘Times of India’, the main edition, rates start from Rs. 60 per sq cm. If one needs to advertise in City times, the cost is Rs. 48 per sq cm. Different newspaper editions have different rates.

Outdoors:

These are the big ads that you witness while driving or the large billboards that catch your attention during shopping. The cost of billboard advertising differs according to the city. Delhi’s billboard advertising cost would be higher compared to Chennai or Mumbai.

References:

https://www.themediaant.com/digital

https://www.ads2publish.com/publications/times-group/times-of-india