(a) Advantages of advertising to manufacturers :
1. The increase in demand caused by advertising makes possible the installation of latest plants and introduction of technological improvement. This results not only in improved quality of the product but in the reduction of the cost per unit.
2. Through advertising the manufacturer can create a demand for his product and maintain it throughout the year and thereby reduce the seasonal slumps in his business.
(b)
(i) Advertising : Advertising is defined as any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor. It is a way of mass communication. It is the most popular and widely practiced tool of market promotion. Major part of promotional budget is consumed for advertising alone. Various advertising media – television, radio, newspapers, magazines, outdoor means and so forth, are used for advertising the product.
(ii) Sales promotion : Sales promotion covers those marketing activities other than advertising, publicity and personal selling that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness. Sales promotion mainly involves short-term and non-routine incentives, offered to dealers as well consumers. The popular methods used for sales promotion are demonstration, trade show, exhibition, exchange offer, seasonal discount, free service, gifts, contests, etc.
(c) Non-traditional markets are :
• Catalogue market
• In-house market
• Mail-order market
• Automatic vending machines
• Tele-market
Catalogue market : The seller prepares catalogues of products and sells directly to the customer. Samples of the products are also kept at the selling place of the seller which can be seen, tested or examined by the customers.
Avon is a good example of a company successfully using this channel to sell its range of cosmetics. In-house market: In this type of market, sales persons visit doorto-door in the locality and offer products to the people at their houses. This is an effective method and offers good discounts to the customers. Dictionaries, visual books are sold in this manner.
Mail-order market : In this type of market, the seller mails the catalog of the products and other publicity material to the prospective buyers. Customers place orders after reading the publicity material. Goods are dispatched through courier or VP.P. This market is however being replaced by online shopping firms like Flip kart, Amazon.
Automatic vending machines : These machines are installed in the premises of malls, workplaces, schools and public places. Customer puts the coins/cash in the machine and collects the product. Vending machines for selling cold drinks, tea, coffee, soups can be seen at various places. Tele-markets: The product is advertised on television channels and in the newspapers. Toll-free numbers are provided in the advertisement for placing the orders. Orders are executed through couriers.
