Advertisement is a paid form of notice or public announcement to promote or publicize products, services, events, etc.
Advertising refers to the commercial activity of creating and making available the advertisements to the public.
Purpose of advertising: To advertise means to make known publicly. Tradesmen advertise their goods to find a ready and wide market.
In the past, there was not much need of advertisement. Goods were taken to the market places. Buyers and sellers met there. Goods were seen and were bought and sold.
Now with the advance of science the whole world has become the market for business. The physical contact with direct customers is less as the customers are spread over long distances.
Moreover, different producers turn out things of similar nature. Rubber goods, glasswares and other things of daily use are of different makes and qualities. Therefore, there is much competition in the market. Advertisement has become part of good salesmanship.
Types of Advertisements
- Advertisement appears in newspapers. That is the commonest form of it. Most men read newspapers and see advertisements.
- Posters, handbills, hoardings in the streets are used for advertisements.
- Sometimes advertisements appear in neon lights or on the screen in multiplex and cinema houses.
- Businesses advertise on televisions and radios to get mass coverage.
- Today, a large number of companies prefer to reach target audience through online advertising. They make use of contextual advertising methods to display advertisements to only those customers who are interested in related products.
Uses
Advertisement has great value in business.
- Customers often do not know where first class goods are available. They come to know of them from advertisement.
- Even goods that are widely known and much used must still to be advertised. If they are not advertised to attract notice, sales drop off.
- New goods produced cannot find a place in the market unless they are advertised.
- Advertisement is an appeal to the customers to choose the goods so advertised. It, therefore, brings money to traders. It also helps buyers to buy the things they need.
Abuses
At times, there is abuse of advertisement.
- Some advertising agencies design advertisements to mislead the innocent public. They create artificial demand for useless stuffs and sell these items at huge prices. Thus, the innocent middleclass people are often mislead into buying unnecessary goods and wasting money.
- Sometimes indecent advertisements are displayed that do not serve the interest of the society.
These abuses should be checked.