Advertising: Function, Types, Structure, Features And Characteristics

We explain what advertising is, what its functions are and how it is classified. In addition, its general characteristics, structure and more.

What is the Advertising?

Advertising is understood to be the forms of written, visual and multimedia communication that seek to generate in the public a particular interest in a specific brand of consumer products or services.

This is achieved through a positioning or a visibility of the brand in its competition market , according to a strategic and pre-established promotion plan, which uses feelings, identifications and other psychological and cultural resources in the viewer.

Advertising, in a similar way, may aspire to forge unfavorable opinions or feelings regarding a product or service (the competition, for example), discouraging its consumption or alerting the public about its characteristics. Of course, the context of what is allowed and what is considered ethical in the framework of advertising messages is normally regulated by law .

Advertising is considered, at present, one of the sources of daily messages most present in the life of the human being , and there is a constant debate regarding the limits that should be imposed on advertising or the mechanisms of responsibility that should be attributed to its users. creators.

Advertising concept

Advertising as a concept must be distinguished from propaganda , even though the latter also seeks to persuade the public in some precise sense.

They are distinguished in their scope of action, while propaganda advocates (or attacks against) an ideology or a specific pattern of thought , advertising tries to affect the consumption patterns of the population , regardless of their specific way of thinking.

Advertising function

The main function of advertising is to persuade , to convince that one product or service is better than another, that there is a need to buy it, or that it is something new or original that will improve the life of the consuming public . This is achieved through various strategies, which can be summarized as:

• Create an identification between the product and its consuming public.
• Provide testimonials and arguments in favor of the purchase of the product.
• Establish key differences regarding the product or service compared to your commercial competition.
• Generate the need to purchase the good or service through warning of possible risk scenarios without them.
• Make the existence of a product or brand visible in the midst of those that make up your market or competition.

Types of advertising

• Branded. It focuses its efforts on the visibility of a brand in general, rather than a specific product.
• Local or retailer. Focuses your information on the potential buyer's environment, creating a distinctive image of a store or commercial premises contained in the determined geographical area.
• Direct response. Focused on generating a specific sale, going directly to question the potential buyer.
• Business to Business (B2B). "Business-to-business" advertising, which stimulates commercial interaction between two companies or a company and a store, etc.
• Institutional. Also called "corporate identity", it does not seek to enhance a product or directly affect sales, but rather to promote the values of the company or the store and distinguish it from others in the industry.
• Non profit. Advertising of NGOs or other types of non-commercial organizations, which are promoted among the interested public for their altruistic causes and motivations .
• Of public service. One that tries to spread a message of public interest among the people of the community , instead of inciting a specific commercial transaction.

Differences between advertising and propaganda

The distinctions between propaganda and advertising lie in the fact that the former seeks to influence the ideology and way of thinking of the population , for example, trying to convince about an electoral decision or even to implant certain norms of conduct in the population or eradicate some considered harmful.

The publicity, however, does ignore case to the mindset of the public as possible because it is interested only in promoting the purchase of a product or visualize the values of the company that manufactures it .

Advertising structure

• Advertisers. Those who wish to make use of advertising to make their work visible or promote to the public.
• Advertising agencies. They are responsible for conducting a sociological and psychological study of the target audience of the product or service to be sold, and then proposing an advertising strategy to achieve the objective of positioning the brand.
• Media agency. Agencies responsible for managing produced advertising and media communications that issue, and who specialize in the trading and management of these spaces.
• Media. The various mass communication devices available for the broadcast of advertising.
• Consumer. The target audience for advertising.

Advertising customization

One of the trends of advertising through the years has been the hiperpersonalización, that is, direct your ads so each less general and ample time , and more towards a target audience or target , based on their specific consumer needs.

Types of media

Advertising uses numerous means to reach the target audience, through written, visual, sound or audiovisual advertisements. We can distinguish them as follows:

• Writings. Such as press announcements, flyers, posters, etc.
• Visuals They combine the text with photographs , drawings or sculptures of various kinds to capture attention.
• Sound. Typical of radial transmission.
• Audiovisual. Like advertisements that appear on television or on the Internet .
• Experiential. Free product trials, person-to-person promotion, etc.

Advertising ethics

There are codes of advertising ethics that are sanctioned by law, and that establish the direct responsibility of advertising creatives and their agencies with respect to the advertising issued. It is considered that this should not be offensive or discriminatory towards any social sector, that it should not be fallacious (openly lie about the product) and that it should not incur public moral offenses of any nature.

Jingles

It is known as " jingles " to the witty and catchy phrases that advertising used often to identify a product, sometimes as labels, songs or just phrases repeated fixing in the memory of the public and bring up the product.

Principles of advertising

• Attention. Advertising would have to be eye-catching and grab the public's attention, or it will be ignored and ineffective.
• Interest. Then you must generate interest in what is offered, or you will lose the attention immediately. It must be convincing.
• Desire. It must awaken a desire for acquisition or consumption in the public.
• Action. It must encourage reaction, that is, it must mobilize the public towards purchase.

The above content published at Collaborative Research Group is for informational and educational purposes only and has been developed by referring reliable sources and recommendations from experts. We do not have any contact with official entities nor do we intend to replace the information that they emit.