Journalism and Mass Communication

� Kalyani Suresh

Corporations, like all other structures in human society, are built on ideas. Their security, growth and success depend on how sensitive the executive actions are towards changes in the social, economic and political climate. Corporate communications, which includes advertising and PR, is thus an important management tool in spurring the corporations towards a turbulence-free, profitable future.

We have today moved from the �we� generation to the �me� generation. The great majority of business and industrial enterprises in the private sector have not considered, as part of their aims, any function other than increasing their profits. There has been an abdication of social responsibility by the business community, barring a few exceptions. Thus it follows that to ensure its contribution to society as a corporate citizen, to cope with competition, to harmonize the company�s economic goals and the nation�s aspirations, there is a need for a top-level management function, facilitated by corporate communications.

ADVERTISING
Advertising today is a world-wide phenomenon. It is derived from the Latin word �advertere� meaning �to turn� the attention. It is defined as a paid, non-personal communication used with persuasive intent by identified sources through various media. It is a form of paid communication, different from other forms of publicity such as press releases or public relations, which are often covered by the media free of charge. �Non-personal� distinguishes advertising from other forms of personal/door-to-door salesmanship. The advertiser is �identified� as one who has a persuasive intent in trying to alter the behaviour and attitudes of people towards a product, service or idea in a way that would be beneficial to himself/herself. Advertisements are associated with the mass media including newspapers, television, radio, magazines, cinema; and also with other forms such as billboards, posters, direct mail etc.

People involved in the advertising business are:
1. Advertisers
2. Advertising agencies (made up of copywriters, art directors, television and radio producers, media buyers, specialists in printing etc., researchers, planners, PR experts)
3. Support organizations (specialists in cinematography; film editing; music scoring; market, product and consumer research firms etc)
4. Media (depending on the target audience�s media habits, media effectiveness and reach and relative cost) and
5. Consumers

Advertising can be carried out for many purposes such as building up a company�s name (institutional advertising) and a particular brand (brand advertisement). Advertising reduces distribution cost by simplifying personal selling, encourages competition and fosters product quality through clear brand identification, adds value to the product, is a guide for consumers and builds up the morale of the company�s sales force.

ORIGIN AND GROWTH:
The colourful history of advertising can be divided into six periods:
1. The ancient times: During the time when Babylon was ruled by Hamurabi, 2000 years before Christ, merchants used hired criers or �barkers� to impress upon the quality of their products and persuade people to buy. Other forms of communications were wall signs, directing the people towards the location of sale.
2. 5th to 8th Centuries: Referred to as the �Dark Ages�, this period saw a setback in advertising with the fall of the Roman Empire. Reading and writing were the prerogative of a privileged few. Commerce and trade routes were few. Whatever advertising was done was through hand executed signals or ringing of bells to attract the attention of consumers.
3. 9th to 15th Centuries: This period saw advertising flourish. Town criers in Paris developed new gimmicks such as free samples. Gutenberg�s Movable Type Press revolutionized printing. This led to new mediums of advertising such as printed posters, handbills, signs, pamphlets, books and newspapers.
4. 16th and 17th Centuries: Newspapers in the form of newsletters and news books were introduced as a medium for advertising. Special advertising periodicals were introduced which undertook advertising on a regular basis.
5. 18th and 19th Centuries: Untruthful advertising flourished. People lost faith in advertisements and were cautious. This period saw the birth of window and counter displays, exhibitions and trade fairs and sandwich men (men hired to promote the product on the streets, sandwiched between posters both in front and back)

Illustration 1: Sandwich men

(Permission for use pending)

6. 20th Century till present day: This century saw the advent of radio and television commercials in America. While radio commercials (dialogue commercials, dramatized commercials, musical commercials etc.) with their �voice ads� had an edge over print ads, television commercials (sponsored programmes and announcements) with colourful visual effects could beat the radio ads. Outdoor advertising media such as traveling displays, neon signs, posters, sky writing etc also gained foothold. New age advertising now includes internet scroll ads.

Illustration 2: Sample Copy, Town Talk: �Emergence of Advertising in America� -

Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
(scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/.../B02/ B0268/B0268-01-72dpi.jpeg)

CONSTRUCTING AN AD
The formulation of the advertising message involves designing the ad copy and structuring the layout so that the product�s USP (unique selling proposition) may be effectively presented to the target audience.
The first creative process is visualization (seeing in the �mind�s eye�). After the idea to be presented is created, the copy is thought, illustrations sketched and copy elements laid out. The final form is in the shape of some sketch work called a �doodle� that contains the tentative headline, theme and illustration. It is to be noted that visualization is different from �layout�. The former is the work of copywriters and artists concerned with the creation of the idea, whereas the later involves arranging headlines, illustrations, text matter, slogan, trademark and brand name- to deliver the idea effectively. Visualization tells �what� and layout tells �where�.

According to advertising executive Alex Osborne, the founder of the Creative Education Foundation in America, who, in 1939, led a team that coined the word �brainstorming� visualization involves 4 steps:
1. Orientation: which lets the visualizer address the advertising problem and get acquainted with the company�s product, history, philosophy, policies etc.
2. Preparation: implies gathering a reservoir of information related to the advertising problem, to prepare the mind to create ideas.
3. Analysis: a refinement process wherein the collected information is thoroughly examined and those ideas which are irrelevant to the problem are done away with.
4. Ideation: process of piling up various alternatives as to work towards a solution to the problem.
5. Incubation: �Sleeping� on the idea or the hatching of ideas. Some term this the �a-ha� stage, as something unique is generated and the solution is born.
6. Synthesis: where various ideas relating to headlines, sub-headlines, text matter, illustration, slogan, trade mark and logo type are synthesized as a single meaningful whole.
7. Verification: is the evaluation process, where the idea is tested by a panel of experts to judge its real worth and necessary changes for improvement can be implemented.

The Ad Copy
Copy is the soul of an ad. It refers to all the written and spoken matter in an ad expressed in words, sentences and figures. A good copy is like a well thought out plan for a building. A good copy is clear, brief, apt, personal and honest.
The copywriter should take into consideration the following questions:
1. what am I advertising?
2. to whom am I advertising?
3. how can I convey the best message to the target audience?
4. where and how is the product sold?
5. when is the product purchased and used?
6. what legal implications are involved?

TYPES OF AD COPY
Prof. H.K Nixon, in his �Principles of Advertising� states that an effective ad copy is one that arrests, informs, impresses and impels the reader. There are innumerable types of copy, such as �reason why� copy(wherein the ad offers reasons as to why the consumer should purchase the product or service and promotes the product by magnifying its superiority), institutional copy(where the name of the business house or the advertiser and not the product or service is sold, and the philosophy, ideology and policies of the organization or seller are highlighted to increase goodwill), human interest copy(which appeals to emotions- humour, fear, predicament etc- rather than the intellect), educational/teaser copy(in case of a product/service introduction) etc.

STRUCTURE AND LAYOUT
A typical ad contains the following:
1. Copy headline: This stands out by the size or style of type in which it is set, the prominence of its location or the white space surrounding it. It tells the gist of the copy (selling message) in a few words. It attracts the reader�s attention by being provocative, informative, selective etc.
2. Copy sub headline: These expand on the main headline to carry the reader�s interest further into the copy.
3. Slogans: This is a brief, unchanging word or phrase used by the advertiser regularly to impress upon the consumer, the basic idea about the product or service. It increases the recall value of the ad and sometimes even replaces the headline.
4. Body Copy: This is the text that amplifies the ideas in the headline.
5. Copy illustration: maybe a drawing, photograph, painting or diagram used to garner attention and bring about a behaviour change in the consumer. This is also called art work. The advent of computer graphics has enabled this activity to be more creative.
6. Identification marks: includes trade name, trademark, logo etc.

The layout of an ad may be either crude or carefully developed. Depending on the extent of refinement, they are classified into �thumbnails�, �roughs� and �comprehensives�. A good layout usually adheres to the principles of balance, rhythm, emphasis, proportion, unity and simplicity.

EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING
Advertising has a direct as well as indirect effect on the socio-economic scenario of a country. It touches and influences all irrespective of age, sex, class, creed, colour, religion, political ideology etc. Advertising has often been accused of being unnecessary, wasteful, untruthful and misleading and also that it often creates monopolies and increases the price of products.
Advertising has effects on production costs, distribution costs and consumer prices. The cost of advertising is passed on to the consumer, but proper use can directly affect unit sales and thus bring down the cost of production, distribution and the product itself. Advertising is a marketing tool that assists producers in informing maximum number of people cheaply and quickly about his/her product.

Advertising often suffers from wrong targeting (giving the advertising message to a market segment which is not interested in the product), wrong media selections, ill-timed advertising, lack of policy co-ordination and sub-standard quality of communication.

Advertising is as much a social phenomenon as it is an economic one. It creates utility value. In the modern marketing system, consumer is the king. Today�s consumer is well-informed and choosy and not the traditional kind of purchaser who is easily persuaded to buy what is not of utility value to him. The consumer makes sure he/she gets his/her money�s worth. Advertising thus is the best guide for wise decision-making.

Ironically, just as the consumer is king, he is also the slave of the market. What is of use to one is not necessarily so for the other. Consumer welfare and consumer protection laws (self-regulation and government regulation) have thus come into existence to shield the consumer who is often not given enough attention.

Advertising also influences the standard of living of the society as it indirectly affects the consumer�s tendency to consume by increasing their desire to work hard, earn more and meet their objectives.

Ethics in advertising is a major topic of discussion in any talk about advertising. What is the extent to which an advertiser should be allowed to go to promote his/her product�can advertising be at the cost of ignoring the cultural, ethnic, social and aesthetic limits that a society sets for itself? Should untruthful and misleading information about a particular product or service be allowed just because it is the manufacturer�s prerogative to sell his/her product the best way he/she can? These questions have been addressed time and again when �bad ads� ruffle a few feathers. Undue sexism, suggestive words, unwarranted use of women models to promote products totally unconnected with women, ignoring social taboos, promoting products whose excessive use is injurious to one�s health (cigarettes, alcohol) etc are elements that modern ads suffer from today. Thus a right mix of self regulation and government regulation is the need of the day.

PUBLIC RELATIONS (PR)
The first use of the phrase �public relations� was by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807. While drafting his �Seventh Address� to the Congress, he replaced the words �state of thought� with �public relations�. Efforts to communicate and influence people�s behaviour in the process can be traced back to early civilizations. Public Relations were in use much earlier by people who did not know they were practicing it. Greek and Roman theorists studied the importance of public will. The Romans gave birth to the expression �Vox Populi, Vox Dei� i.e. the voice of the people is the voice of God. Machiavelli held the belief that people must either be caressed or annihilated. Archaeologists found a farm bulletin in Iraq dating back to the 1800�s informing farmers how to sow and irrigate and harvest their crops. The very popular Queen Elizabeth I of England controlled the country for 45 years and elevated it to a first rate power. Hers was a first class example of a successful PR campaign. PR began in America in the 16th century when Sir Walter Raleigh persuaded people from various parts of America to settle in rural Virginia. The first organized attempt at PR was for winning public opinion for the American Revolution. In 1900, the first PR consultancy known as �Publicity Bureau� was formed in Boston. In 1915, Ivy Lee made his declaration on the truthful recording of facts on behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for handling rail-road accidents. With a tremendous growth of publicity, propaganda and PR in the following period, businesses realized the need for an effective PR system to explain their contributions to the economy. The Second World War saw the armed forces taking interest in PR.

PR Defined
The word �public� refers to any group of people who share a common interest. Some publics such as employees of an organization are called �internal public�, and those who buy the product or the services offered by the company are the �external public�. �Relations� is the mutual understanding born out of the sharing of �common interests�. Thus the combination of �public� and �relations leads to the management function called �Public Relations�.

Peter Biddlecombe in his �International Public Relations Encyclopedia� published by Grant Helm gives definitions coined by many experts in the field. One such is :

Frank Jefkins ,in his book �Public Relations for Marketing Management� (Studies in Marketing Management) - �PR means what it says - relations with the public. It is practically a self-defining term. It aims to create and maintain confidence. It is a system of communication to create goodwill. It produces that intangible quality or asset - goodwill, and earns credit for achievements.�

K.R.Balan in his �Applied Public Relations and Communication� defines PR as �a deliberate, planned, and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics�

PR brings about an opinion change. The governors of this opinion change are culture, family, religion, school, economic and social class and race to name a few. People are also influenced by opinion leaders, other members of the group, or from persons outside the group.

Counsellor Earl Newsom has stated the principle of public opinion as:
1. Identification principle: People will ignore an idea, opinion or point of view unless they see clearly that it affects their personal fears or desires, hopes or aspirations - your message must be stated in terms of the interest of your audience.
2. Action principle: People do not buy ideas separated from action. Unless a means of action is provided, people tend to shrug off appeals to do things
3. Principle of Familiarity and Trust: People buy ideas only from those they trust, are influenced by, or adopt only those opinions put forward by individuals, corporations or institutions in whom they have confidence.
4. Clarity principle: The situation must be clear to the people, not confusing. To communicate, one must employ words, symbols, or stereotypes that the receiver understands and comprehends.

PR is also �human relations�. It requires the skills of empathy, persuasion, dialogue and personal contact. A good Public
Relations exercise guarantees the following:
1. Favourable image
2. Product and service promotion
3. Goodwill of employees//stockholders/suppliers/government/industry/customers
4. Solution to labour problems
5. Crossing hurdles of misconceptions and prejudices
6. garnering the best personnel
7. educating the public about the product/service
8. formulation of policies and guidelines
9. directing course of change
10. meeting crisis situations

An example of good and bad public relations may be best described through actual events that happened to two United States Presidents, William Taft and Bill Clinton.

When the word got out of the Clinton-Lewinski affair, and a federal investigation was launched, Clinton publicly denied ever having any relationship with her. When the evidence showed the contrary, he reluctantly admitted his error, but the damage had been done. His popularity nation sunk to the lowest level of any U.S. President in history. It still remains low. On the other hand President William Howard Taft, a strong businessman and president, was publicly accused of fathering a child out of wedlock. In his era, 1909-1915, such an act was one of the most immoral in polite society. Taft publicly admitted that he had a �love child�. He humbly asked Americans for their forgiveness. who readily forgave him and lauded his honesty.

PR is a hard-nosed operation. A PR person is not a magician who can whitewashes a dirty image in minutes. It is unfair to expect the world out of him/her. A PR person can be termed a catalyst that brings about a positive change suing various tools available to him/her. Some of these artistic tools are: News releases and backgrounders (written art); radio and TV talk shows and news (dramatic arts); presentations (visual and speaking arts); media and analyst tours (the same); Internet news (graphic art); and media relations (all the arts, including entertainment and relationship building). This process cannot be achieved through stunts, but has to be built on hard facts to win confidence. What a management defines, PR person refines. It has been said that a true PR professional raises his hat to the past but takes his coat off to the future.

Illustration 3: The PR Process: www.workinpr.com/images/industry/ whitepaper_persuasion.gif
Source: www.workinpr.com/.../research/ pra_whitepaper_persuasion.asp
(Permission for use pending)

SOME SAMPLE ADS

Sample 1: Humorous Copy

California Linear Devices Launches New Ad Campaign
New campaign features humorous depiction of solutions to linear motion problems
Carlsbad, Calif. -- Naturally, the goal of every ad campaign should be to get the company or product noticed. And our new ad campaign has not only done that, it's created attention by making the subject of linear motion fun.

Source : www.calinear.com/newads.html
(Permission for use pending)

Sample 2

This is basically a good ad. The headline boldly stands out, and promises a benefit (a Deal) although to some people the Deal sounded more like the tone of an auto dealer, not a piano store. The price is prominently shown. The ad is well designed, balanced. The illustration shows a choice of two models. The copy is authoritative and honest. Here�s the copy: We�ve surveyed the market and we know of no other piano that can compare with the value and quality of these outstanding instruments at anywhere near the price. Thanks to Schmitt�s volume truckload purchasing, you can now have an affordable piano that combines beauty and elegance along with outstanding performance. Your choice of two striking decorator styles-Queen Anne Cherry or Traditional Oak-both the same price.
The price, $2588 largely visible, and is qualified with a caption in fine print at the right, under the bench: Only $68 per month.
The framed block of copy toward the bottom carries a run-on list of FEATURES THAT ASSURE PERFORMANCE & LONG LIFE. There are about a dozen features, such as a solid spruce soundboard, laminated hard maple bridges and a beautifully finished including matching bench.

Source: Lynne Meena�s Ad Clinic - www.retailreporting.com/ pubs/LMStory.html
(Permission for use pending)

Sample 3: Institutional Advertising

( The above campaign was created & inserted by EGD&P in The Washington Business Journal for Sigal Construction, Washington, D.C., 1991 through '92 )
Source : www.michaelenfield.com/ sigal.gif

Sample 4: Social Service Advertising

Source: www.avert.org/ graphics/worldaidsday.jpg

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