Roland T. Rust and Richard W. Oliver
False alert. The days when Advertising was limited to television and newspaper impressions are long gone. As it is, new and more innovative methods of advertising goods and services have sprung up, and no human advancement has helped this upward surge more than technology. People are now looking for new types of advertising appeals that they can target. Many of these new-age advertising methods are a result of the advent of the Internet, while some of the trends are just novel ideas that have transformed mundane advertising media into brilliant and witty methods! Here are some modern advertising methods that are being used to advance brands the world over and with much success:
Web Banner Advertising
If billboard
advertising is used on roads, then a similar type called banner advertising is
used on the web. Have you noticed the horizontal advertisement strips that are
seen at the top of almost every web page? These are web banners. Web banners
are usually constructed using images, or JavaScript, or any other multimedia
objects and animation. Web banners are usually linked to web pages that are
related to the content on the existing website.
Bandwagon Advertising
This is nothing
but a propaganda advertising technique, which aims at convincing the user that
everyone else is using the products or everyone in the customer base, is in
favor of the brand and so he must do so too. This compels the consumer to at
least think about buying that product and check what everyone else is raving
about and in turn 'jump on the bandwagon'. Bandwagon advertising is a strategy
that is based on consumer psychology and hence, is an effective technique which
can be used via any media be it print, electronic or broadcast. GTB has somehow
been most successful in this regard in my opinion; with almost everyone you
meet sold on the feeling that it is “The Bank”.
Promotional Advertising
Promotional
advertising involves the use of promotional give-away items or promotional
media events, which help to garner public attention and are an effective way of
advertising. Handing out promotional freebies is a modern advertising technique
that is innovative and very effective as well. A lot of brands utilize this a
lot in Nigeria, and it works! People love free stuff, and they will always
remember where they got it from.
Testimonials and Endorsements
A lot of people
are of the opinion that using popular local actors, musicians and celebrities
helped the GLO brand to carve a
niche for itself as “the only Nigerian GSM company”. An endorsement from a
celebrity or a public figure is reason enough for a large number of Nigerian
customers to try a particular product or brand. Such testimonials or
endorsements are a great way to advertise particular products and services.
Another evolved version of this being a new type called covert advertising,
involves the use of brand names or actual products in movies or television
shows in an indirect form of advertising.
Contextual Advertising
Do you notice how
Google generates ads that are relevant to your search query? Or more recently,
have you noticed the Google ads that show up next to your emails in the Google
mail service? Well, if you are one of those people who still haven't noticed
this, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee. Google Adsense was the
first contextual advertising venture. Contextual advertising is a very
specifically targeted form of Internet marketing in which the advertisements
are selected by automated systems based on the content being viewed by a
particular user. The automated system scans the text of a website for keywords
and sends advertisements that match the content which the user is viewing. Many
search engines also make use of contextual advertising for displaying ads on
the search result pages, such that the ads match the things that the user is
looking up on the web. After Google started this trend, there were many others
like Yahoo! and Microsoft who followed suit.
Keyword Advertising
Commonly, keyword
advertising is also known as pay per click advertising or cost per action
advertising. Although Yahoo was the first company to venture into keyword
advertising, it is Google Adwords program which is now most popular for its
keyword advertising. Some of the popular search engines, which are into keyword
advertising, include Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft adCenter, Facebook etc.
Blog Advertising
So you thought
that a blog was nothing but an online journal of an amateur writer,
photographer or gossip columnist? Well that’s not true in the least bit. Owing
to the tremendous popularity of blogs, advertisers have wisely started using blogs
as effective advertising and marketing tools. Bellanaija, Lindaikeji and so
many others are some of the more popular blogs that brands and companies are
using to spread the word about them in Nigeria. Also corporate blogs such as
Ndani Tv run by GTB are an excellent way for companies to reach out to their
customer base on the Internet.
Mobile Advertising
Yes, as annoying
as it might be for you to receive advertisements on your cell phone, it is now
a fact that mobile advertising or cell phone advertising is one of the most
effective ways of advertising. Statistics show that a vast majority of web
users in Nigeria, access the web via smart phones and other types of
cellphones.
A sub-category of
this is SMS Advertising where
advertisers build (or often times buy) a database of mobile numbers of existing
customers as well as a list of phone numbers of people who might be potential
customers. A message on the mobile phone rarely goes unnoticed and hence,
qualifies as an effective marketing or advertising tool!
Public Relations Advertising
Maintaining and
developing good public relations has been a marketing tool for companies to
maintain goodwill amongst employees as well as clients since time immemorial.
It is not only a way to be in the public eye, but also a great way to build and
maintain a particular brand image and identity. Public Relations as such, is a
great advertising tool which is used by companies to reach out to their
investors, employees and of course, their existing and potential customer base.
As is evident from
these methods highlighted, the field of advertising has, and continues to
evolve; reaching the masses in ways that were perceived to be unimaginable a
decade ago. All thanks to huge developments and innovations in the field of
technology, advertising is now present almost everywhere we go, in almost every
form we can imagine. You still doubt this? Well just look around you!
If you are thinking of using any of the above advertising strategy to promote your product and services in Nigeria, we can help you identify your market and reach them. We apply both BTL and ATL strategies to project our clients’ brands to the right audience. We can do same for you at very affordable price. Contact us today for your advertising campaign using BTL, good luck in your advertising campaign.
Edward Israel-Ayide
Business Development Manager
PoiseMedia Communications Ltd
