Advertising usually constitutes a part of the marketing efforts of an organisation. Advertising is undertaken by organisations in order to attract the attention of people towards products and services.
Thus, the basic aim of advertising is to create awareness in the minds of people, about the availability of products and services and influence them to buy the same.
The ultimate aim is to enhance the sales of the organisation. Therefore, advertising complements and supplements the company’s selling efforts. The main purposes of advertising are as follows:
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1. Communicates information:
One of the most important functions of advertising is to convey or communicate the information to others. In the modern day world, where science and technology contributes to new innovations and inventions, every now and then new goods and improvisation of the existing goods and services are entering into the market. If their use or knowledge is restricted to a limited number of people, social advancements cannot take place.
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Consumers are, therefore, provided the information about new products and services which enter the market, through advertising. Besides, the demand for existing products and services has to be maintained as well as enhanced with the help of advertising. The ultimate purpose is to enhance sales either by creating or increasing demand for goods and services.
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2. Creates ground for personal selling:
Since the main purpose of advertising is to create and sustain demand for products or services and expand the market, the prospective buyers automatically become interested to buy such products and services. In this way, advertising supports the efforts of the sales force of an organisation and creates ground for the salesmen to approach the prospective buyers.
3. Educates people:
Advertising serves another important purpose of educating people about products and services. As consumers are not aware of the use of several products and services, advertisements provide adequate knowledge to the people at large about the usage and utility of several products and services.
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For example, as consumers, we are not aware of the composition of baby food, health drink, etc. which are made known to us by advertisements only. In fact, advertisement provides us knowledge of various aspects of products and services which really benefits and educates consumers in making wise purchase decisions.
4. Creates and extends demand:
By arousing interest of the people and attracting their attention, advertising seeks to create and sustain demand for a product or service and expand the market for the same. Thus, advertising is a two-edged weapon. It creates demand for products and services and also helps to maintain and extend the demand. As a matter of fact, there are innumerable wants which lie dormant within us. Advertising and publicity try to bring out the hidden want within us and create demand for goods and services. Thus, new demand within the population is created and consumers are encouraged to buy more.
5. Creates image for the product or service:
Another important purpose of advertising is to create an image both for the product as well as for the organisation. This is done by emphasising the distinctive features of the products or services through advertisements. Similarly, the reputation and goodwill of the organisation can also be emphasised in advertisements.
Further, some advertisers also communicate information about new discoveries, new ideas and new products and thereby create good image of their firms. They also highlight their high points like low prices, special discounts, customer services, etc. which contribute to build a favourable image of the organisation.
6. Builds goodwill:
Advertising serves the purpose of promoting goodwill for the organisation. Many advertisements aim at impressing the consumers that the firm is patriotic, progressive, imaginative and very much concerned with quality. This creates goodwill in the minds of the general public about the firm. This goes a long way in creating a favourable impression about the organisation on the prospective buyers.
7. Obtain dealer support:
Dealers dealing with products and services need constant support from the manufacturer in the form of advertising. In other words, advertisements make products and services quite familiar with the prospective buyers.
As a consequence, products and services are pre-sold through advertising. Such products and services become quite familiar with the consumers. Dealers also prefer stocking those products and services which are well-advertised and having a constant demand in the market.
8. Counters competition
In the present day competitive marketing environment, a firm cannot escape the responsibility of spending on advertising. To counter the competitor’s advertisement campaign, every firm has to undertake advertisement of its own. Therefore, competitive forces compel firms to spend on advertising.