Since the time the first ever commercial to be aired on
television of Bulova Watch Company in July 1, 1941 many categories of
advertisements have been formed. The advertisements have become a part and
parcel of daily life and are playing a significant role in decision making of
the consumers. Such has become the power of advertisement that even a
politician cannot assure his success in election campaign in if he hasn’t
advertised on television. The different categories of television advertising
are political advertising, promotional advertising, infomercials, television
commercial donut, promo, and sponsorship.
Political advertising is nothing but reaching out to the
citizens of a particular region to capture their vote bank. It’s the most
influential advertising method and is also very important as it affects the
nation in a big way. The two main platforms to advertise for a political
campaign are television and radio known as broadcast media. This also depends
on the money raised through political campaigns. The earlier the money raised
and the more the money raised, the better the method of advertising. Usually
the candidate’s party committees contribute the money. To advertise through television specialized
consultants are be contacted to buy slots on local or national network. It has
been observed that even a candidate for local office position places an ad on
television.
Promotional ads or product placement ads are commercials
placed on television by marketers involving commercial products to increase
their sales and services. Promotional ads can be featured on television,
movies, music videos, books, websites and even video games. Good amount of
money can be saved by consulting sales executives and by renting location,
models and props.
Television commercials are popular with automobile industry
and James Bond movies are credited for promoting them. Promotion of cigarettes or any other tobacco
products in movies have always been a point of controversy as most of the State
Governments have set up a limit for promotion of such items. Authenticity of
the products and services being advertised are many times questioned by the
consumer as some of them can be misleading. To tackle this, many consumer
groups have been formed who ask for complete disclosure of the product from
companies advertising them. In case of any refusal for cooperation of any kind
these groups are liable to slam a case against the product and its company. The
product ads can be differentiated on the basis of appearances like sponsorship,
cost reduction oriented, brand integration and fee based. Sponsorship is the
contribution by the company to soaps or sports matches. Brand integration is
known as the annexing of the product in a movie or video song.
Infomercials are differentiated from other television
advertisements on the basis of time. They are usually thirty minutes long like
a regular program. They are also known as teleshopping or paid programming. One
can catch them at odd hours of the day like early morning or late in the night.
It’s actually a commercial letting out the complete information about a
particular product like expert advice on the product, how it should be used,
its cost, and where it is available. They resemble more like a talk show than
to a commercial as the advertisers communicate to viewers with the help of
catchy phrases, celebrities and experts.
Television commercial donut is a template. Its like a
blueprint and has all the necessary elements to make a finished commercial but
the actual product is missing. Usually advertisers who find producing a
commercial difficult use it. The local networks in return of purchase of
airtime on their respective channels usually provide the commercial donut. It
is a very cost effective method but it has a lack of creativity that will not
ensure customer attraction. With the advancements in video editing technology
this option is becoming increasingly popular among advertisers.
Promos or network promotional advertising involves television
advertising. The amount of commercials that are being hosted on local and
national television has been rising by the day and has featured almost
everything one can imagine in the world.
Sponsoring a program or a channel is done to promote products
or a program for a cause. The group or individual supports financially to
advertise his product, service or organization.
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