Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign or marketing campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication. An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and concepts into one large media base. Advertising campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time frame and target identified audiences.
The campaign theme is the central message that will be received in the promotional activities and is the prime focus of the advertising campaign, as it sets the motif for the series of individual advertisements and other marketing communications that will be used. The campaign themes are usually produced with the objective of being used for a significant period but many of them are temporal due to factors like being not effective or market conditions, competition and marketing mix.
Advertising campaigns are built to accomplish a particular objective or a set of objectives. Such objectives usually include establishing a brand, raising brand awareness, and aggrandizing the rate of conversions/sales. The rate of success or failure in accomplishing these goals is reckoned via effectiveness measures. There are 5 key points that an advertising campaign must consider to ensure an effective campaign. These points are, integrated marketing communications, media channels, positioning, the communications process diagram and touch points.
Integrated marketing communication
Integrated marketing communication is a conceptual approach used by the majority of organizations to develop a strategic plan on how they are going to broadcast their marketing and advertising campaigns. Recently there has been a shift in the way marketers and advertisers interact with their consumers and now see it as a conversation between Advertising/ Marketing teams and consumers. IMC has emerged as a key strategy for organizations to manage customer experiences in the digital age, since organizations can communicate with people in more ways than those typically thought of as media. The more traditional advertising practices such as newspapers, billboards, and magazines are still used but fail to have the same effect now as they did in previous years. Current research shows that no other form of commercial communication shares the same essential elements as the mobile forms, making it unique in its advertising impact.The importance of the IMC is to make the marketing process seamless for both the brand and the consumer. IMC attempts to meld all aspects of marketing into one cohesive piece. This includes sales promotion, advertising, public relations, direct marketing, and social media. The entire point of IMC is to have all of these aspects of marketing work together as a unified force. This can be done through methods, channels, and activities all while using a media platform. The end goal of IMC is to get the brand's message across to consumers in the most convenient way possible.
The advantage of using IMC is that it can communicate the same message through several channels to create brand awareness. IMC is the most cost-effective solution when compared to mass media advertising to interact with target consumers on a personal level. IMC also benefits small businesses, as they are able to submerge their consumers with communication of various kinds in a way that pushes them through the research and buying stages creating a relationship and dialogue with their new customer. Popular and obvious examples of IMC put into action are the likes of direct marketing to the consumer that the organization already has a knowledge that the person is interested in the brand by gathering personal information about them from when they previously shopped there and then sending mail, emails, texts and other direct communication with the person. In-store sales promotions are tactics such as '30% off' sales or offering loyalty cards to consumers to build a relationship. Television and radio advertisements are also a form of advertising strategy derived from IMC. All of the components of IMC play an important role and a company may or may not choose to implement any of the integration strategies.
Media channels
Media channels, also known as, marketing communications channels, are used to create a connection with the target consumer and influence the behavior. Traditional methods of communication with the consumer include newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, telephone, post, and door to door sales. These are just a few of the historically traditional methods.Along with traditional media channels, comes new and upcoming media channels. Social media has begun to play a very large role in the way media and marketing intermingle to reach a consumer base. Social media has the power to reach a wider audience. Depending on the age group and demographic, social media can influence a company's overall image. Using social media as a marketing tool has become a widely popular branding method. A brand has the chance to create an entire social media presence based around its own specific targeted community.
With advancements in digital communications channels, marketing communications allow for the possibility of two-way communications where an immediate consumer response can be elicited. Digital communications tools include: websites, blogs, social media, email, mobile, and search engines as a few examples. It is important for an advertising campaign to carefully select channels based on where their target consumer spends time to ensure market and advertising efforts are maximized. Marketing professionals should also consider the cost of reaching its target audience and the time.
Modern day implications for the advantages & disadvantages of traditional media channels
In the rapidly changing marketing and advertising environment, exposure to certain consumer groups and target audiences through traditional media channels has blurred. These traditional media channels are defined as print, broadcast, out-of-home and direct mail. The introduction of various new modern-day media channels has altered their traditional advantages and disadvantages. It is imperative to the effectiveness of the Integrated Marketing Communication strategy that exposure to certain demographics, consumer groups and target audiences is anticipated to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact.Print media
Print media is mainly defined as newspapers and magazines. With the transition in around 2006 – 2016 to digital information on phones, computers and tablets, the main demographic that is still exposed to traditional print media is older. It is also estimated that there will be a reduction of print material in the coming years, as print media moves online. Advertisers need to consider this; in some cases, they could use this to their advantage. The advantages of newspaper advertising are that it is low cost, timely, the reader controls exposure, and it provides moderate coverage to the older generations in western society. Disadvantages are the aging demographic, short life, clutter and that it attracts less attention. Magazines are similar in some cases, but as they are a niche product they increase segmentation potential; they also have high information content and longevity. Disadvantages are that they are visual only, they lack flexibility and a long lead time for advertisement placement.Broadcast media
Traditional broadcast media's primary platforms are television and radio. These are still relatively prominent in modern-day society, but with the emergence of online content such as YouTube and Instagram, it would be difficult to anticipate where the market is headed in the next decade. Television's advantages are that it has mass coverage, high reach, quality reputation, low post per exposure and impacts human senses. Disadvantages would be that it has low selectivity, short message life and high production costs. Alternatively, radio offers flexibility, high frequency and low advertising and production costs. Disadvantages to radio are that its audio only, low attention-getting and short message.Out-of-home (OOH) media
This is a broad marketing concept that is no longer confined to large, static billboards on the side of motorways. More current and innovative approaches to OOH media range from street furniture to aerial blimps and the advance of digital OOH. As the world changes, there will always be new ways in which a campaign can revitalize this media channel. Its potential advantages are accessibility and reach, geographic flexibility and relatively low cost. Disadvantages to OOH media are that it has a short life, is difficult to measure/control and can convey a poor brand image.Direct mail consists of messages sent directly to consumers through the mail delivery service. It is one of the more "dated" media channels. In the modern day it has few advantages, except that it can be highly selective, and has high information content. Disadvantages are that it promotes a poor brand image and has a high cost-to-contact ratio.
Target market
When an organisation begins to construct their advertising campaign they need to research each and every aspect of their target market and target consumers. The target consumers are the people who are most likely to buy from an organisation. They can be categorized by several key characteristics: mainly gender, age, occupation, marital status, geographical location, behavioral, level of income and education. This process is called segmenting customers on the basis of demographics.Target market
Defining the target market helps businesses and individuals design a marketing campaign. This in turn helps businesses and individuals avoid waste and get their advertisements to likely customers. While attempting to find the correct target market it is important to focus on specific groups of individuals that will benefit. By marketing to specific groups of individuals that specifically relate to the product, businesses and individuals will more quickly and efficiently find those who will purchase the product. Businesses and individuals that monitor their existing data will find it easier to define their target market, and surveying existing customers will assist in finding more customers. Avoiding inefficiencies when finding a target market is equally as important. Wasting time and money advertising to a large group of potential customers is inefficient if only a handful become customers. A focused plan that reaches a tiny audience can work out well if they're already interested in a product. Over time target markets can change. People interested today might not be interested tomorrow, and those not interested in the present time might become interested over time. Analysing sales data and customer information helps businesses and individuals understand when their target market is increasing or decreasing.There are many advantages that are associated with finding a target market. One advantage is the "ability to offer the right product" through knowing the age and needs of the customer willing to purchase the item. Another advantage of target marketing assists businesses in understanding what price the customer will pay for the products or service. Businesses are also more efficient and effective at advertising their product, because they "reach the right consumers with messages that are more applicable".
However, there are several disadvantages that can be associated with target marketing. Firstly, finding a target market is expensive. Often businesses conduct primary research to find whom their target market is, which usually involves hiring a research agency, which can cost "tens of thousands of dollars". Finding one's target market is also time-consuming, as it often "requires a considerable amount of time to identify a target audience". Also focusing on finding a target market can make one overlook other customers that may be in a product. Businesses or individuals may find that their 'average customer' might not include those that fall just outside of the average customers "demographics", which will limit the sale of their products. The last disadvantage to note is the ethical ramifications that are associated with target marketing. An example of this would be a "beer company that may target less educated, poorer people with larger-sized bottles".