Advertising is the Effective Means of Communication.

“Advertising is the Effective Means of Communication.”

Mandavi, Dr. Ashutosh

HEAD, Dept. of Advertising & Public Relations, Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism & Mass Communication

Raipur, Chhattishgarh 492013, India

Email – ashutosh.mandavi@gmail.com 

            Communications comes from the Latin word ‘communis’, means ‘common’. We deliberately communicate ideas, information etc. to establish a ‘commonness’ with others. The essence of communications is to bring about understanding between the receiver and the sender. The messsage bring about intended behaviours as well. Newspapers, films, radio, television etc. are used to convey messages to the general public. Communication makes the people understand each other and share joys and sorrows, problems and responsibilities. Communication is a planned and organized activity.

            Wilber Schramm in his article “ How communication works”  identified three elements of communication, namely, the source, the message and the destination. Today we are living in the world of communication. Nothing moves without communication. It makes human life very convenient. Communication is power. An eminent communication scientist Everett. M. Rogers observes: “Wherever change occurs, there flows communication.” We cannot imagine our lives and society without communication. It helps people and society grow together and further. In reality communication should be perceived as “human communication”. Therefore the phrase “mass communication” has been used by the communication scientists. Mass communication deals with the communication which is of the people, by the people and for the people in the democratic sense.

            Advertising is a “ Means of communicating information pertaining to product, services or ideas by other than direct personal contact and on an openly paid basis with an intent to sell or otherwise obtain favourable consideration.” Informative advertising enables consumers to secure relevant and adequate information about all rival products and their relative merits. Thus, advertising helps consumers to exercise their right to choose and buy a product of service intelligently. Advertising enhances the decision making by providing  information and by supporting brand names. It provides an efficient means to communicate. By generating various product association, advertising can add to the utility a buyer receives from product. Advertisement increases sales and consumption of product by either introducing new articles in the market or by familiarizing people with the new uses of the old articles. It attracts attention, creates interest and awareness and arises and maintains consumers demand. It influences the buying behavior of the prospective customers. It widens the market for a product. It encourages mass production and enables a businessman to enjoy the large scale economics. It reduces per unit production and distribution costs. Optimum utilization of resources reduces costs and increases profits.

            Advertising is a form of commercial mass communication designed to promote the sale of a product or services. Advertising in the sense of communication link between a buyer and a seller or a producer and a consumer is really as old as civilization itself. As we know from the beginning in India . It was also known that the Bengal gazette or hickey’s gazette was the first newspaper in India published on 29  january 1780 after its founder editor, james Augustus Hickey and it carried advertisements. As an organized Profession in India, advertising is relatively young. The first advertising agency was set up in 1907. Within the brief span of years advertising in India has made rapid progress. During the last two decades, and particularly since the beginning of the nineties, it has reached a fairly high level of maturity in the advanced industrialized countries. Not only has its progress been very fast in few years but its character has also undergone a radical change.

            In recent years various big and notable changes have been witnessed in the field of communication and media. Many new concepts popped up and new media advertising is one of them. India is new to new media advertising but this concept has been around for quite a long time now. By the latest trend we come to know that new media advertising is the emerging and hottest medium of advertisement. New media advertising is synonym of online advertising and has taken web media with a stride. Now people instead of going for traditional advertising trend to give more weightage to online advertising. This is mainly due to fact that it is more targeted maximum exposure. New media advertising has got a bright future. The advantage of new media advertising is that it is relatively cheaper in comparison to other media and can also be done in an attractive manner. Moreover, various small and upcoming businesses can easily go for new media advertising because it has emerged as one of the most convenient way to promote any product and services..      

            In this communication age, advertisement bloomed to its full form with the liberalization policy, technological advancements and introduction of various modern electronic media, made advertising not only more fascinating and income generating but also socio-cultural influencing. Thus we can say that advertisements have become the part of life for every one through various mass media. In the present era of information explosion and media influence,  advertising play a major role in changing the society. Thus, the impact leads to cultural and social changes to a great extent through mass media.

Author Introduction -      My Self is Dr.Ashutosh Mandavi. I have completed my Graduation(B.A.) from Barkatullah University, Bhopal in  year 2001 and Post Graduation (M. A. Advertising & Public Relations) from Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication year 2003. I have done My Ph.D from Guru Ghasidas Central University, Bilaspur, Chhattishgarh. At present I am teaching at  the Department of Advertising & Public Relations Studies  in Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism and Mass Comunications, Raipur, Chhattishgarh. I have a interest in Reading & Writing.