Marketing Communications

Chapter 9 : Other Issues in Advertising

Comparative Advertisement

Advantages of Comparative Advertisements
Disadvantages of Comparative Advertisement

Corporate Advertising

Advantages of Corporate Advertising
Disadvantages of Corporate Advertising

Web Advertising
Organization of Advertising Function

The Advertising Agency

Functions of the Ad Agency

Types of Advertising Agencies

Full-service Agencies
Limited-service Agencies
Specialized Agencies

Agency Compensation

Media Commissions
Markup/Percentage Charges
Fees
Incentive Based Compensation.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of comparative, corporate and Web advertising. Comparative advertisements refers to commercials in which the advertisers compare their product with that of the competitors. The comparison is with the market leader and can be direct or indirect.

In corporate advertising, instead of promoting a brand, the message is about the company, its values and image. The various types of corporate advertising are: image advertising, advocacy advertising and cause-related advertising. Image advertising is aimed at building a particular image of the company in the minds of viewers.

In advocacy advertisements, the company conveys its views about social, business and environmental issues. In cause-related advertising, the company associates itself with a social cause and works towards it. Advertising on the Internet is termed Web advertising. An advertisement is the result of the combined efforts of the advertiser and the advertising agency.

The agency can be centralized, decentralized or an in-house agency. In a centralized structure, all the advertising activities of a company are handled by a centralized advertising department. In a decentralized system, different departments are set up to handle the advertising activities of different divisions or different brands.

Depending on the kind of services provided by the advertising agency, it is classified as a full-service agency, limited-service agency and specialized agency. Full-service agencies are one-stop shops for advertisers to make a commercial. All the services required for the creation and production of the commercial are provided by them.

The limited-service agencies offer only a limited number of services to advertisers. Creative boutiques, media buying services, sales promotion agencies, etc. are examples of limited service agencies. Specialized agencies offer all advertising related services for a particular segment or market. Some examples of specialized agencies are business-to-business and ethnic agencies. An agency can be compensated by the advertiser in the form of media commissions, markups, fees or incentive-based compensation.

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