Advertising - How To Succeed 5

History: Part 3

The concept of Guerrilla marketing was conceived as an unconventional promotional system that centres on time, energy and imagination in place of huge marketing budgets. It is a recent advertising innovation that involves creative approaches such as staged interactions in public places, giving away product in the street including cars that are covered with brand messages, a variety of public relations gimmicks, and any unconventional promotion that is focused on achieving maximum results from limited resources (such as interactive advertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the advertising message). Further innovative approaches to guerrilla marketing make use of cutting edge mobile digital technologies to fully involve the consumer and generate a pleasurable brand experience.

Product placement, otherwise known as embedded marketing, is an advertising variant in which branded goods or services are included in a vehicle which would normally be lacking in any form of advertisements, such as movies, television shows, or even news programmes. The inclusion of the product placement is usually not disclosed when the product or service is featured. Product placement came to the fore in the 1980s.

Such a feature is indicative of a growing trend for interactive and "embedded" ads whereby consumers register their votes by way of text messages from their mobile phones. This has even been extended to include numerous innovations which make use of social networking websites, such as MySpace.

In the late 1990’s, Paul McManus, Creative Director of TBWA, expressed a view that successful Advertising was based on a clear perception of the brand, product or service that was being portrayed, together with empathy for the people, in terms of their aspirations, concerns and requirements, who would be its focus. He summed it up by saying that “successful advertising is reflected in the creative interpretation of such a perception”.

Outdoor Advertising

A Billboard, also known as a billing board, is a large advertising structure, normally situated in the open, and commonly positioned in high traffic areas, such as beside a busy road. They act as a means of presenting imposing advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers. Billboard advertisements are created to catch attention and quickly generate a memorable impression about the advertisement after having driven past it. They need to be read whilst the motorist passes at high speed. Therefore, the desired format should incorporate the minimum of words, in large print, and a humorous or eye-catching image in bright colours. Such billboards will be highly visible in metropolitan areas.

Bulletins represent the largest form of billboards and, as such, create the greatest impact. They are positioned almost exclusively on major highways where they command high-density exposure to passing motorists. Apart from their size, bulletins can offer the greatest impact since there is the facility for individual creativity by way of physical extensions and modifications.

Billboards are a cost-effective form of business advertising since, rather than searching for customers, the advertising will convey the appropriate message to the target audience.

Another popular type of billboard advertising is the poster which is normally located in commercial and industrial regions as well as main and secondary roads. Posters are physically not as large as bulletins and tend to be seen primarily by residents, commuter traffic and some pedestrians.

Advertising – How To Succeed