Whether or not you agree with communications guru Marshall McLuhan that advertising was the greatest art form of the twentieth century, it is a big part of modern culture. Shared references feed

Module 6

TEXT 2

Advertising

Whether or not you agree with communications guru Marshall McLuhan that advertising was the greatest art form of the twentieth century, it is a big part of modern culture. Shared references feed into it and it in turn feeds into daily life: advertising catch phrases turn up in TV comedy sketches and everyday conversation. And we become 'ironic' about advertising, perhaps to show that we think we are able to resist it.

TV advertising is still the most glamorous, even if its heyday is over with the proliferation of channels and the saturation of the markets (at least in advanced economies) of the consumer goods it normally promotes. But the other media are not to be ignored: radio, cinema and the press, while hoardings (BrE) and billboards (AmE) are an integral part of the urban landscape. All these will be around for some time, despite Internet advertising and its promises of online shopping. Some people find pop-up advertisements have become a major source of irritation, but others find them a useful source of information. While there are still shops there will be point-of-sale displays designed, among other things, to prevent last minute changes of mind about what brand to buy.

Advertising can be continued by other means, with sponsorship of particular events or product placement in films. This latter is where the product's makers negotiate for their products to appear and be used by the film's characters. A related phenomenon is product endorsement, where a celebrity is used in advertising a particular product. This can be dangerous if, for whatever reason, the celebrity falls from favour.

Some very creative minds come up with seductive combinations of sound, image and words, but tests show that we often don't remember the brand being advertised. Quantifying the effect of advertising is very difficult and there has been a backlash against it in favour of other, supposedly more targeted, forms of communication. This usually means direct marketing, otherwise known as direct mail but, as those living in apartments who receive mailshots for gardening products know, the targeting can still be ludicrously imprecise.

Advertising agencies may offer to run direct mail campaigns, but what they are best at is creating traditional advertising campaigns. When a client becomes dissatisfied and the agency loses the account this is major news in the advertising industry and means a big loss of revenue (and self-esteem) for the agency. Agencies develop a creative brief for clients, with proposals on the ideas to be used in the campaign. One key problem is reaching the right target audience (for example, young women between 18 and 30), so the selection of media (the right TV channels, magazines, etc.) is very important. And the advertising must fit into the company's overall marketing strategy - its plans on how it will compete and succeed in particular markets.

Until recently, agencies took 15% of the advertiser's budget, and what they did not spend on advertising (designing ads and media buying: buying time on TV and space in the press for the ads to be run) they spent on 'free' services in pack design, corporate identity (a unified look in all of a company's communication, from its advertising to its letterhead, perhaps with the use of a logo), market research, and even strategic advice. These ancillary activities are below-the-lineactivities. Today, most of these are undertaken by specialist organisations, leaving agencies to concentrate on their core activity, creating advertisements.

Despite all these activities and all this expenditure, the ultimate in advertising is word of mouth: friends and colleagues are often our most reliable sources of information. This form of advertising is usually free. All the advertiser can do is hope that it is positive.

Find equivalents to the underlined words:

закупка средств рекламы; противостоять; распространение; потребительские товары; продвигать, раскручивать; рекламная кампания; СМИ; реклама в Интернете; покупать (покупка) через Интернет (в режиме онлайн); спонсорство; размещение скрытой рекламы (в фильмах); маркетинговое исследование; публичная поддержка(продукта знаменитостями); притягательный, соблазнительный; расцвет, лучшая пора; мощная обратная реакция группы людей (обычно негативная); целенаправленный; прямая почтовая рассылка; рекламное письмо; рекламное агентство; снижение дохода; смехотворно неточный; прямой, персонализированный маркетинг; самоуважение; фирменный стиль; сводка, резюме; целевая аудитория; всплывающая реклама; маркетинговая стратегия;; дизайн упаковки; шапка на фирменном бланке; вспомогательные виды деятельности; под чертой (здесь: рекламные мероприятия, выполняемые самой компанией, а не заказываемые на стороне); трата денег; молва, сарафанное радио; рекламный щит; надежный источник.

Answer the questions:

1. What are the means of advertising?

2. What advertising agencies are best at?

3. Is it easy to quantify the effect of advertising?

4. What are the best ways of reaching the target audience? Is it difficult?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-05