Three
keys of Advertising
There are ways of advertising that guarantee results and others
that guarantee failure. Some advertising agencies will tell
you advertising has to be creative, that it is an art form,
even entertainment. Actually, advertising does not have to be
creative at all - it just has to be interesting enough to make
you change your brand preference and buy the product. In short,
good advertising causes you to take action.
Consider the words of advertising guru David Ogilvy: "When Aeschines
spoke, they said, How well he speaks. When Demosthenes spoke,
they said, Let us march against Philip." Would you rather people
talk about how wonderful your ads are or for them to buy your
product?
You have the same solutions as your competitor: use all the
appropriate media at your disposal to get your name and image
in front of your target group, while spending the least amount
of money possible. Advertising or "communication" - whatever
form it may take - is the only way to sell anything! From word
of mouth to television, effective communication is the key.
To begin, you should understand and accept three keys of advertising
and increasing sales.
First, and most important, the wrong kind of advertising
will actually hurt your sales! When Coca-Cola changed the
flavor in 1985 in an attempt to increase market share, the
move backfired and caused a boycott. No company, no matter
how large and viable, is impervious to bad advice. Only proper
research can prevent such tragedies. Advertisements should
use the right appeal.
Second, realize what you are up against. If your company
is relatively unknown and you have to sell your product to
a corporate giant, then the job will be anything but easy.
The other party is ignorant of your company, the products,
customers, reputation and the company's record. Under these
circumstances, chalk out effective strategies that will help
you put across your product as attractive and worth investing
in.
Third, realize the importance of positioning. Where you
position yourself in the marketplace has everything to do
with the success of your product or service. What exactly
is positioning? Positioning is what your product does and
who uses it. The Dove bar could have been positioned as soap
for men with dirty hands, but instead it was marketed as a
toilet bar for women with dry skin. Once the product was positioned
properly, David Ogilvy masterfully created advertising to
reach the target market. Take a lesson from Ogilvy: the better
you and your advertising agency positions and promotes your
image, the more sales you can expect.
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