Active Participant in Advertising

The following are a group of people who are actively involved in advertising.

1. Advertiser : Seller who manufacture and market consumer products are the prominent group of advertisers. Unilever , proctor and gamble, Seimen and Larson and Toubro are examples of advertisers. Also the retailers are the second prominent segment among advertisers. They stock the products . and sell them to the ultimate consumers. Government and social organizations are also active participant in this category.

2. Target audience : It refers to the recipient of the advertising message. Every message is either directed to a mass audience and class audience. Advertising desire to cover this target audience for promoting sales. Advertising message intends to cover the potential user and non-user who may purchase the product in the future. The messages are also directed to the user of the competitor's product so that they switch over the advertiser's products.

3. Advertising Agencies : An advertiser has two options viz. (i) to design, develop and produce and advertising message and get it placed in desired media directly through his own sales or advertising department, or (ii) to entrust the entire job of advertising to a team of highly professionalized, specialized, independent, the advertising agency. An advertising agency is composed of creative people, who conceive the design, develop and produce, advertising message with creative ideas and place it in the desired advertising media, for and on behalf of its client (the advertiser). The advertising agencies usually charge a commission of 15% on the media bills from the media owners. In addition, they charge out-of-pocket expenses to their clients, i.e. the advertisers. They employ copywriters, artists, photographers. Typographers, layout designers, editors and such other creative people.

4. Advertising Production People (Artists) : The production of impressive and persuasive advertisements is possible only with the active help and creative spirit of artists like copywriters, artists, photographers, typographers, layout designers, editors and such other creative people. Such people are usually employed by ad agencies or, their services may be hired by ad agencies on a job basis.

5. Target Audience (Readers, Listeners, Viewers and Present and Future Buyers) : Advertising messages are given about product services and ideas to readers, listeners, viewers and actual and potential buyers, who are known as the audience. The target audience may be classified into the following three categories, viz.,

(i) existing or, current consumers, who are reminded and influenced to continue their patronage and to increase the volume of their buying,

(ii) consumers, who buy and use, a competitor‟s brand; hence they are persuaded to buy the advertised brand, instead of the competitor‟s brand; and

(iii) those consumers, who do not use any such product; and even then, are persuaded to buy the advertised product.

6. Mass Media : Advertising messages are communicated to the target audience through different mass media, such as,

(i) Print Media : They consist of newspapers, magazines, journals, handbills, etc.

(ii) Electronic Media : They consist of radio, television motion pictures, video, multi-media and the internet.

(iii) Outdoor Media : They consist of posters, hoarding, handbills, stickers air balloons, neon sing billboards, local cinema houses, and transit media.

(iv) Direct Mail : It consists of brochures, leaflets, pamphlets, letters and returns cards addressed to consumers.

The advertising agencies guide their clients (advertisers) in the selection of the most appropriate advertising media, which is known as „media planning‟. Each medium has its own merits and demerits.

7. Government Authorities : The business of advertising is regulated by the government department. The government adopts law and regulation which have a direct or an indirect bearing on the advertising. Apart from this ASCI (Advertising standards council of India) and ABC (Audit Bureau of circulation) are also some of the authorities regulating advertising.

8. Advertising Production Firms: Advertising production firms are the support agencies which help in the production of advertisement. This includes copywriters, artists, photographers, typographers, producers, editors. These are the people who transform ideas into a finished form Thus the success and failure of the advertisement depend on these people.