Advertising

Advertising is any paid form of promotion of ideas, goods and services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio or websites by a business.

At Black Grace we believe there are five main stages in a well-managed advertising and promotion campaign.

Stage 1: Set Advertising & Promotion Objectives

An advertising objective is a specific communication task to be achieved with a specific target audience during a specified period of time. Advertising objectives fall into three main categories:

(a) To inform - e.g. tell customers about a new product

(b) To persuade - e.g. encourage customers to switch to a different brand

Stage 2: Set the Advertising Budget

We must remember that the role of advertising is to create demand for a product. The amount spent on advertising should be relevant to the potential sales impact of the campaign. This, in turn will reflect the characteristics of the product being advertised.

For example, new products tend to need a larger advertising budget to help build awareness and to encourage consumers to trial the product. A product that is highly differentiated may also need more advertising to help set it apart from the competition - emphasising the points of difference.

Setting the advertising budget is not easy - how can a business predict the right amount to spend? Which parts of the advertising campaign will work best and which will have relatively little effect? At Black Grace we will develop budgets in conjunction with your team that achieve the desired outcomes as well as being affordable for your business.

Stage 3: Determine the key Advertising Messages

At Black Grace we believe that spending all your financial reserves alone on advertising does not guarantee success. The clarity of the advertising message is generally more important than the actual amount spent. We ensure the advertising message is carefully targeted to impact the target customer audience on an appropriate level.

At Black Grace we provide meaningful, distinctive and believable advertising messages suitable for your business. It’s about selling, not merely taking up space and time.

Stage 4: Decide which Advertising Media to Use

As you know, there is a myriad of advertising media to choose from. Depending on the strategy and budget we will develop a campaign that may use one or more of the media alternatives including television, radio, signage, newspapers, magazines, etc. To determine the best and most suitable media we evaluate key factors including reach, frequency, media impact and timing.

Stage 5: Evaluate the results of the Advertising Campaign

At Black Grace we ensure the evaluation of an advertising campaign focuses on two key areas:

- The Communication Effects - is the intended message being communicated effectively and to the intended audience?

- The Sales Effects - has the campaign generated the intended sales growth?

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