Integrating Skills Reading PLANNING AN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

The planning of an advertising campaign usually begins long before the product is introduced to customers. Advertisement professionals meet with representatives of the company to discuss how the product should be presented and promoted. Large companies may have their own advertising department, but most companies choose to hire an independent advertising firm. In the first few meetings, the people who make the product and advertisers discuss not only how the product should be marketed, but also how the design of the product might be changed in order to attract as many customers as possible.
Once the general strategy is decided, the advertising firm begins planning the campaign. The firm collects as much information as possible about the product and the customers who might buy it. The person at the advertising firm in charge of the project then holds a meeting. Present will be a person to think up an idea for an advertisement, and a person to buy space in newspapers or time on TV. There will be a writer to write the text and a designer to design the ad, using pictures or photographs and the text.
The advertising team must also decide how and where the ads will be shown. Billboards, or poster boards, are relatively cheap and can reach a lot of people travelling by car, bus, train or subway in cities. A large, well-designed poster can attract new customers and inform them about a new product. However, posters are usually seen from a distance and only for a short time, so the ads cannot provide detailed information. Ads for products that must be explained are usually more effective if they are placed in newspapers and magazines. People spend more time reading newspaper ads than posters, so the ads can give more information about the product. However, the ads can only be seen by those who buy the paper or magazine. Therefore, they may not reach as many consumers as poster ads.
Ads broadcast on the radio or TV are more expensive but can i-each very large audiences. If an ad is broadcast during a popular radio or TV programme, it can be seen or heard by millions of listeners or viewers. Radio and TV ads also have the advantage of being very powerful. Radio ads use words and music to promote a product, and TV ads combine words, images, sound and music to persuade consumers.
The Internet is a relatively new medium for advertisements. Different kinds of ads are found on websites offering services and information. Some Internet ads are similar to traditional ones: "banner ads" are placed above or to the side of the content of a website. Perhaps the most exciting feature of Internet ads is that they are "interactive", ie potential customers can click the ads to find out more about a product or service they are interested in. Customers can also send in questions and comments to the company. Interactive ads can also change depending on your interests and habits. For example, if you often visit websites containing information about a certain hobby, sport, or lifestyle, the computer can keep track of your visits and send you ads about products you are likely to be interested in. As a result, two people who visit the same website may see different ads.
New technology also allows ad-makers to reach customers in new ways. "Pop-up ads" open in a small square when you visit a website. These ads can be annoying when you are trying to read or access information on a website. The least popular type of Internet ad is called "spam". It refers to advertisement messages that are sent via'e-mail to thousands of customers at a time. Spare is so unpopular that most e-mail services offer software that blocks unwanted messages. Spam also causes many problems, so some governments have made laws to limit spam.
Messages that we are not directly aware of are often the most powerful. Because we don't know that we are receiving a message, we are not as critical as we should be. When we walk down the street, watch a TV programme or a film or surf the Internet, we come across hundreds of ads that we may not notice. In fact, many of the pictures we see in newspapers and TV programmes are filled with ads. This method of advertisement works by showing products in a programme or film without telling the audience that it is an advertisement. For example, an action hero might drink a special kind of soda, drive a certain car, or use a product as part of the film. The company who makes the product pays the makers of the film to show the product and the brand name.
Whatever advertisement method a company chooses, the advertising team will design the campaign and prepare a strategy. When the advertisement is ready, it is shown to the company. If the company agrees, they may try it out in a small part of the country to see if product sales increase as a result of the advertisement. If they do, then it will be used throughout the country. Otherwise, the whole programme will be reviewed. Researchers will go out and interview possible customers to find out the reasons for the failure.
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