The sales of product in the market depend upon advertising which is one of the factors that boosts the sales of the product in the market. Advertising can be in the form of print advertising, banner advertising, advertising on Television, radio advertising and of course advertisement on Internet. Over the last several years internet has emerged as a strong and successful platform for advertising a product by using different ways and methods to attract the attention of the customers. There are various ways to capture the thought process, which runs in the minds of the customers, and it is done on a regular basis through the medium of advertising. The purpose of running an advertising campaign is to generate the interest of new customers into the product, and to sustain the interest of regular customers in the product, so that there mind remains focused on the brand name and image of the product.
Thus the advertisement of the same product can be seen simultaneously at many different places. Cadbury's advertisement can be seen during the late evening hours when different soap opera are broadcasted. Then on switching on the laptop to check the emails received during the day, the advertisement of Cadbury can be seen again, but of course, this time the form of advertisement i.e. size of advertisement is small, it looks like a teaser and the medium is different, here internet playing an important role. At weekend while going
to attract the customer's attention, theme of the advertisement also been a part of the poster, advertisement campaign that was been done for the Sun feast biscuits by putting stalls at different places, where maximum number of customers come regularly, like for instance there was a stall of Sun feast biscuit at an exhibition which was been held on a ground, where there were number of different stalls and at the end when the customers are about to leave the exhibition there are different food stalls and refreshment stalls.
Amongst the various different stalls in the exhibition, one stall was that of Sun feast biscuits and there were sizable number of customers, who were keen and eager to know more about Sun feast biscuits and some were even purchasing the biscuits.
A few days later the same stall was seen at a shopping mall and now the number of customers were more than before. The reason being advertisements of Sun feast biscuits been shown on TV. Later on Shah Rukh was roped in for the advertisement of Sun feast biscuits and now Sun feast is a known to a large number of customers. Thus initially for any brand name it is important to gauge and know the customer's reaction, their opinion and views, and then slowly introducing the product in the market for the customers on a regular basis.
So advertising here also plays a major role, banners and dangles must be attractive at the time of initial launch of the product.
While advertising on the internet there are many customers, who visit the Cybercafe and obviously they also comes across the advertisements. So there are different ways to grab the attention of these customers. Many times prominent websites like MSN, Yahoo and
other big names related to websites are roped in and then there is a different format which is used to make sure that the customers make a note of the advertisement and pay attention to the product details. Like for instance there is a Contest which is been conducted wherein the customer will have to fill in the small form which requires his Full Name, mobile number, Address and email ID. Once these details are filled in the customer has to make sure that he has given the correct answer to the question and then submit the form. This is where Cybercafe customers are concerned.
Many a times during movies and during cricket matches there are online contests, which are conducted where the customer has to select the right answer by clicking on one of the four different options provided to him i.e. A, B,C and D and then SMS the right answer on the given mobile number. There are mobile compaines who have conducted these kind of contests, recently MicroMax has done this contest during cricket matches.
Thus customers are always there, each individual customer has his own purchasing capacity, but when it comes to decision making by the customer with respect to brand names many times advertising plays an important factor in the process of purchasing the product.
This happens at the time when the customer makes a final decision.
Many brand names re-launch their products in the market depending upon the previous reaction received and upon the fact that what were the additional features that were required in the product because of which sales dropped.
It is important that the customer knows about different brand names irrespective of the fact, which product, he buys at the end of the day. This is where advertising and promoting a product in the market plays a dominant role.
Media Advertising- Use of available media channels, meaning cinema, TV, radio,
the product is not suitable for age below 15 and not advisable for pregnant women. This way the competition will keep their mouth shut and their will be no post launch negativism in Singapore. This will be done a month before the launch.
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning
Segmentation, targeting, and positioning together comprise a three stage process. We first (1) determine which kinds of customers exist, then (2) select which ones we are best off trying to serve and, finally, (3) implement our segmentation by optimizing our products/services for that segment and communicating that we have made the choice to distinguish ourselves that way.
It involves finding out what kinds of consumers with different needs exist. In the auto market, for example, some consumers demand speed and performance, while others are much more concerned about roominess and safety. In general, it holds true that “You can’t be all things to all people,” and experience has demonstrated that firms that specialize in meeting the needs of one group of consumers over another tend to be more profitable.
Generically, there are three approaches to marketing. In the undifferentiated strategy, all consumers are treated as the same, with firms not making any specific efforts to satisfy particular groups. This may work when the product is a standard one where one competitor really can’t offer much that another one can’t. Usually, this is the case only for commodities. In the concentrated strategy, one firm chooses to focus on one of several segments that exist while leaving other segments to competitors. For example, Southwest Airlines focuses on price sensitive consumers who will forego meals and assigned seating for low prices. In contrast, most airlines follow the differentiated strategy: They offer high
priced tickets to those who are inflexible in that they cannot tell in advance when they need to fly and find it impractical to stay over a Saturday. These travelers—usually business travelers—pay high fares but can only fill the planes up partially.
Targeting:-In the next step, we decide to target one or more segments. Our choice should generally depend on several factors. First, how well are existing segments served by other manufacturers? It will be more difficult to appeal to a segment that is already well served than to one whose needs are not currently being served well. Secondly, how large is the segment, and how can we expect it to grow? (Note that a downside to a large, rapidly growing segment is that it tends to attract competition). Thirdly, do we have strengths as a company that will help us appeal particularly to one group of consumers? Firms may already have an established reputation. While McDonald’s has a great reputation for fast, consistent quality, family friendly food, it would be difficult to convince consumers that McDonald’s now offers gourmet food. Thus, McD’s would probably be better off targeting families in search of consistent quality food in nice, clean restaurants.
Positioning :-
The term “positioning” is widely used within the marketing and advertising communities today, and its meaning has expanded beyond the narrow definitions of Trout and Ries. Positioning is often used nowadays as a broad synonym for marketing strategy.
However, the terms “positioning” and “marketing strategy” should not be used interchangeably. Rather, positioning should be thought of as an element of strategy, a component of strategy, not as the strategy itself.
The term “positioning” is, and should be, intimately connected to the concept of
“target market.” That is, a brand’s positioning defines the target audience. For example, an
destinations, which then defines the target audience as all travelers between those two markets. The second positioning reaches out to a much larger target audience