Advertising Strategies

Introduction

Advertising is a form of promotion (one of the marketing mix four Ps) that aims to increase product sales through promoting the company's brand and its products.

Advertising Mediums and Forms

Advertising has evolved over time. The most common advertising mediums in the past were television and newspapers. However with the popularity of the internet a greater number of advertising is now taken online on sites such as YouTube, Instagram Facebook and Google Adwords.

Types Of Advertising

Advertising strategies take two forms;

1. Above the line advertising

Parts of the promotional budget for the firm is spent on television, newspapers, magazines and other mass media.. It is called above the line because the advertising medium has very high reach, but it is very costly. It is likely that a large national organisation would use an above the line strategy.

2. Below the line advertising

Here the promotion budget is spent on advertising mediums which are lower cost and have a lower reach. Examples of below the line advertising include leaflets,  brochures and point of sales material or use of samples. It is likely that a small to medium size business would use below the line advertising.

Summary

The decision where to advertise will come down to the budget of the firm. A large organisation may be able to afford the cost of above the line advertising, where as a smaller firm is more likely to use below the line.