|
Great businesses of today
have learned how to
effectively market by communicating directly
with customers. Modern marketing goes beyond application of the
standard tools of effective marketing mix. It calls for more than just
developing a good quality product to pricing it attractively, and making
it accessible. Communication with the present and
potential stakeholders and the general public is also important. For
most companies, the problem is not whether to communicate but
rather what to say, to whom to say, and how often. This gives rise to a
very fundamental question; whose responsibility is it to create
or initiate the conversation? Is it the responsibility of the
customer abiding by their needs, wants and demand or is it the responsibility
of the company keeping in mind the business interests?
From a marketing perspective, taking into account the
global economic scenario at present, it can easily be inferred that it is
primarily the responsibility of the seller, rather than the buyer. This
is because a customer (buyer) has many product options and
service alternatives available in the market for choosing or even has a
preference for any one of them in particular. Thus, it is evident that
companies should try and devise the ways of initial communication in such a
way that a potential customer gets lured or feels the urge to enquire
about the product or services delivered by the company and strikes
the conversation at the first place. Therefore, it increases the
chances for the rest of the customer life cycle -starting from knowing, liking
and buying the product to repeat purchase and product
advocacy. The major core marketing concept associated with this type
of consumer behavior is popularly known as `pull' marketing,
i.e., persuading the customer to try out a product or service and
continue using it. One of the most powerful tools in `pull' marketing is
an effective advertising strategy which is ideally considered as
the primary way by which a company can initiate a
communication. Furthermore, the easiest and cheapest possible way for this
is outdoor advertising. The following discussion and analysis
focuses particularly on outdoor advertisements as a means
of initiating an effective communication with
potential customers and how they feel
about it.
The very essence of outdoor advertising triggers the vision
of colorful billboards and glowing neon lights alongside the
streets, highways or on building tops. Included in the
`outdoor' classification are also benches, posters, signs and even
transit advertising (the advertising on buses, roads, subways, taxicabs
and trains). Outdoor advertising, in fact, reaches its audience as
an element of the environment itself. Unlike newspaper, radio
or television, it does not require an `invitation' to your home.
Neither does it interrupt something that the customer is otherwise engaged
with, nor does it require any sort of entertainment to sustain
its audience. |
