What's the Role of Advertising?

by Steve Fodor

I was participating in a discussion group on one of the social networks recently. The discussion was on B2B print advertising and a lot of good comments and points of view were shared. One participant’s question, though, kind of stuck out to me.

This participant was lamenting over the fact of how he never sees any good examples of print advertising in trade journals. He followed his comment with this question: “Is the purpose of a good ad to drive sales or increase brand awareness?”

Now, the reason I say this kind of “stuck with me” is because I would respond to that question with this question: Aren’t sales pretty much dependent on brand awareness? If your brand awareness is low or nothing, how can you expect to drive sales? Or, more specifically, how can you expect to drive sales that deliver a higher margin if your brand has no perceived value other than price, especially in B2B marketing where the purchase decisions are not simple “impulse” buys? And I would say this applies to any medium, not just print advertising.

What’s the role of advertising? I don’t even like that question. I’d rather ask, what’s the role of marketing? Because if you’re only looking at your marketing situation in terms of a medium, or a tactic, I’d suggest that you may not have a grasp on your brand’s position in the marketplace. How is your brand perceived? What is your brand’s awareness? What is your brand awareness and understanding relative to your competition? How does your target audience gather information to make decisions? What information sources do they trust? What branded content solutions can you develop to fulfill the unmet information needs of your target audience?

So, is the purpose of a good ad to drive sales or increase brand awareness? Yes to both. And I would also suggest that you better go back and do some homework on your marketing situation and your brand’s marketing and message strategy. Advertising alone is not a marketing strategy. It’s only a medium to deliver a message.

Flickr Photo Credit:Beverly & Pack