Advertising

Effective Advertising in the Modern Marketplace

Advertising to Reach Your Target Market

Advertising is a multiple billion dollar industry in which everyone is the target market of some product or another. From clothing to food to recreation, business to lifestyles, every facet of daily life is has a product or service to enhance, support or benefit it. Advertising is a company’s number one tool for reaching consumers and the presence of advertising never stops. Whether it be a vice president making an appearance at a golf tournament, a picture on a billboard or a simple cafe coffee cup, advertising continually offers products and services to suit the needs of consumers.

Effective advertising most often depicts real life situations – from the mother who needs to clean the kitchen floor to the man who wants to smell “manly: when going out on the town. For decades, advertisers have believed that the number one way to reach a consumer is to relate to them. The second most effective way to reach consumers is to entertain them. Here is a brief overview of some of the most universal advertising construction tactics:

Emotional Appeal

Advertisers commonly use one of, or a combination of, human emotions and feelings to speak to consumers about their products or services. Appealing to the finer senses, the underlying fear and the secret dreams of a consumer is a tactic that is fine tuned depending on the type of product or service being advertised.

Appeal to Authority

Advertising may be the most effective with a celebrity spokesperson – someone consumers already look up to. For example, Michael Jordan would a much more effective tool to sell basketball shoes than would an unknown model or actor. This is because the consumer wants to ‘Be Like Mike’ and will purchase a product based on his word alone.

Prestige vs. The Average Joe

Advertising effectively categorized many people into groups based on how they relate to the world around them. For example, if a consumer wants to join the ranks of the elite, then they will most likely purchase a product that promises them the prestige they crave – for example, a Cadillac. Oppositely, there are others who want nothing to do with prestige and will purchase a product based solely on the fact that is used by everyone else. It helps them to trust it.

Sex Appeal and The Bandwagon

Sex sells, probably more than anything else does. It sells to men and women alike. Women want to be as sexy as what they see, while men will purchase a product because they like what they see. Trends are similar and advertising will follow popular trends in fashion, music and toys to draw in consumers who want to go with the flow.

Low Price, Superior Quality and Performance

Products that are advertised as a ‘superior value’ – giving the same performance for a low price (Wal-Mart) appeal to the consumers who are watching their budgets while other may not mind paying the higher prices for a product that is advertised as giving more, lasting longer or worker better than a lower priced item. Ease of use, or performance, may also prompt consumers to ignore the price if advertisers can convince them a product has the kind of performance they are looking for – such as a pen that writes smoothly or a detergent that removes grass stains every time.