FIVE M’s OF ADVERTISING

- Mr. Akash Acharya

Advertising is an important promotional tool for any marketing campaign. So much so

that whenever we think of marketing we think of advertising although it is just one of the
marketing tools. Hitherto only companies with a profit motive went in for advertising.
But today government bodies as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) go for
high profile advertising campaigns. The purpose here is not to increase the sales figure
but to increase the awareness of people regarding the relevant topics.

Today the marketing manager has a range of advertising options to choose from - from
interpersonal communication to Internet. Deciding on a correct option calls for a detailed
analysis aspects like objective behind advertising (Mission), company’s earmarked
budget (Money), content of communication through advertising (Message), advertising
vehicle (Media) and impact of advertising (Measurement). These can be broadly
classified in as the five Ms of advertising.

MISSION

First of all the marketing manager must be clear on the company’s purpose for
advertising. "Increase in sales figure" will be a very broad and to a certain extent a vague
objective. According to Mr. Philip Kotler, a renowned authority in this field, there can be
three possible objectives behind advertising:

i. Information - When a new product is launched, the purpose should only be to inform
people about the product.

ii. Persuasion – Persuading people to actually go out and buy the product. This objective
is of paramount importance because of cutthroat competition. Any advertisement must be
persuasive in nature, attracting consumers towards the brand.

iii. Reminder - This objective is relevant for well-established companies. These types of
advertisements only try to remind the consumer of the brand existence. For instance
whenever we hear or read yeh dil mange more, we tend to think about Pepsi. Same way
we tend to associate "two minutes" with Maggie noodles.

The marketing manager should establish a clear goal as on the purpose of advertising -
information, persuasion or reminder.

MONEY

After the objective has been decided upon, the next step is to decide upon the budget.
There are several methods for deciding on the advertising budget. The most common
among them is percentage of sales method. Under this method, a certain percentage of
sales are allotted for advertising expenditure. Though this method is used widely, there
are some problems with this method. The first issue is what percentage the company
should take? Even if a company somehow decides a percentage figure, this would mean
increase in advertising expenditure when sales are up and less spending when sales are
down. This in some ways is quite paradoxical, because logically the reverse should
happen. The company needs to spend more on advertising when sales are down. But this
method uses circular reasoning and views sales as cause for promotion! In fact sales are a
result of promotion.

Another method suggests that a company should spend as much as its competitors are
spending. This method claims that it would prevent promotional wars. But then like each
individual each company is also different. It may not make any sense in spending like
your competitor because competitor might be on a different footing.

MESSAGE

As a common experience, we love some advertisements, while the others just irritate us.
An appealing ad will win consumers and will consequently induce them to purchase the
product. On the other hand, irritating ads will create an adverse effect. This is why many
companies hand over this task to advertising agencies, which has professionals to make
impact-making ads.

The message, that company wants to convey, should be put in a manner that will arouse
interest. Moreover it should convincingly highlight upon the product’s USP. What is said
is definitely important but what is more important is how it is said. The tone should be
appealing. Words used should be catchy and retentive (memorable). These days both
electronic as well as print media are overflowing with ads. People have no time to read or
see them, and therefore they have to be attractive enough to catch the target audience’s
attention. This is the job of message.

MEDIA

Selecting the proper media vehicle for communicating the message goes a long way in
the success of any kind of advertising. Each media vehicle has its positive and negative
points, with a different reach and impact. Therefore, a company has to be very clear about
its target audience. Choices available are Internet, television, newspapers, magazines,
direct mails, radio and hoardings. Every one of this has its advantages and disadvantages.
Companies often go in for a media mix, i.e. they select more than one of the available
choices. Timing is of greatest significance here. Many industries face seasonal
fluctuations and pass through cycles. Therefore advertising should be timed that way to
take care of these fluctuations. A limited budget should be prudently allocated among
these media vehicles.

MEASUREMENT

It is necessary that effectiveness of any advertising be judged. Only on the basis of this
measurement, can further decisions regarding continuation or termination of the
particular advertising campaign be taken. An ad can be judged on the basis of its reach
and impact on sales. Good advertising is one that generates brand awareness and
consequently brand preference.

How much of sales can be attributed to advertising, is a difficult question to answer.

Sales are influenced by many factors besides advertising. It is not easy to isolate the
impact of advertising on sales. Nonetheless there are some advanced statistical techniques
available, that can be used with the help of computer softwares like SPSS.

Thus a systematic and balanced understanding of these five Ms of advertising (Mission,

Money, Message, Media, and Measurement) will help in designing a better advertising
campaigns that create a favourable impact on the target audience.

(Mr. Akash Acharya is a MBA student at SGU, Surat)