The document compares advertising strategies that are information-oriented versus more graphic and ambiguous. A survey was conducted on ads for BSNL, Tata Docomo, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson. The survey found that information-oriented ads like BSNL were better able to convey information to consumers, while more ambiguous ads like Sony Ericsson still managed to persuade consumers despite not clearly communicating the product. While graphic ads engage consumers, an optimal advertising strategy uses a balance of direct and ambiguous elements.

1. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF INFORMATION ORIENTED AND GRAPHIC ADVERTISEMENT STRATEGY Group members : Sahil Agarwal Siddhartha Nambiar S. Nikhil Siva Hosea Pradeep. K Rithvik Ramadas Suhail Sherif Advaith S

2. Purpose To examine two advertising campaigns that are information oriented and two that rely on symbolism and imagery and can be regarded as more ambiguous, and to view the consumer behaviour and attitude towards these campaigns.

3. What is a brand? The Oxford American Dictionary (1980) defines a Brand in the following way: Brand ( noun ) : a trade mark, goods of a particular make: a mark of identification made with a hot iron, the iron used for this: a piece of burning or charred wood. ( verb ) : to mark with a hot iron, or to label with a trade mark. Similarly, The Pocket Oxford Dictionary of Current English (1934) says: Brand. 1. n. Piece of burning or smouldering wood, torch, ( literary); sword ( poet.); iron stamp used red-hot to leave an indelible mark, mark left by it, stigma, trade-mark, particular kind of goods ( all of the best bb.). 2. v.t. Stamp (mark, object, skin), with b., impress indelibly ( is branded on my memory )

4. ADVERTISING: THE IMPORTANCE Brands need awareness like plants need water. If people don’t know about your brand, or if they don’t have a clear idea about what your brand is and stands for, it will never take root in their minds, which is where brands live and thrive. Good advertising Grabs attention Heightens interest Creates emotional connection Etches a positive brand image in your target prospect’s mind. Good advertising is an investment that pays off by building awareness and, as a result, equity for your brand.

5. VARIOUS ADVERTISING STRATEGIES Post-Experience Exposure Enhancing Experience Framing Perception Organizing Memory Pre-experience Exposure Cueing Branding Interpretation Sensory Enhancement Social Enhancement Expectation Anticipation Interpretation The Three Phases and Flow of the perception/Experience/Memory model of Advertising Source : Bruce F. Hall, “A new Model for Measuring Advertising Effectivness,” Journal of Advertising Research (March/April): 23-31

6. Most advertising strategies focus on achieving three general goals :- promote awareness of a business and its product or services stimulate sales directly and "attract competitors' customers" establish or modify a business' image In other words, advertising seeks to inform , persuade , and remind the consumer. With these aims in mind, most businesses follow a general process which ties advertising into the other promotional efforts and overall marketing objectives of the business.

7. Advertising Stratergy

8. BSNL Continuous innovation in product and delivery of services with the appropriate pricing Quality, customer care, and timely availability A Government company which delivers. A government company which gives service better than private could be a deadly combination, which no competitor can copy

9. Docomo Partnership with a well recognized bran TATA. NTT Docomo is a well recognized brand for its 3G and other services in Japan thus giving it a morale boost. Revolutionary pricing – the second pulse rate. The creativity in the ads is subtle and enjoyable.

10. Nokia Focused on handset manufacturing. Enhance product portfolio Increase distribution channels Adjust preference for specific markets Customer satisfaction

11. Sony Ericsson Sony is a well recognized brand well known for its range of electronics. Targetting a particular age group with maximum users i.e the youngsters. Increased distribution channels. Customer Satisfaction.

13. BSNL Consumer Survey RESULTS On comparison with the Ad campaign of a rival company, say Vodafone or Docomo, does this advertisement appeal to you more? Yes 37% No 60%

14. What, in your opinion, could have been done to make the ad more effective in its aim of communicating with the public ? 9% 37% 9% 29% 17% Change/ discard brand ambassador Make the ad more visually pleasing (lighting, ambience, colors etc.) Change the background score Make it keeping target audience in mind No changes, it seems perfect the way it is.

15. Which of these attributes of the product/service stands out in the ad campaign? Association with Bollywood Background score Good and fast internet connectivity The BSNL handset Nothing in particular 29% 6% 31% 6% 26%

16. Will you buy this product on seeing the ad? YES 23% No 77%

17. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how informative this ad was. 1 - 3% 2 - 26% 3 - 49% 4 - 14% 5 - 6%

18. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the ability of the advertisement to convey their message? 1) 9% 2) 17% 3) 43% 4) 17% 5) 11%

20. SONY ERICCSON Consumer Survey Results On comparison with the Ad campaign of a rival company, say Nokia or Iphone, does this advertisement appeal to you more? Yes 74% No 23%

21. What, in your opinion, could have been done to make the ad more effective in its aim of communicating with the public ? Change/ discard brand ambassador Make the ad more visually pleasing Change the background score Make it keeping target audience in mind No changes, it seems perfect the way it is . 4% 12% 5% 19% 56%

22. Which of these attributes of the product/service stands out in the ad campaign? Camera 1% Navigation System 1% Battery Back-UP 1% Appearance 17% Internet Connectivity 1% Ease of Access 14% Other 64%

23. Will you buy this product on seeing the ad? Yes 40% No 58%

24. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the ability of the advertisement to convey their message? 1 4% 3 32% 5 23% 2 12% 4 27%

25. TATA Docomo Consumer Survey RESULTS Yes 27% No 68% On comparison with the Ad campaign of a rival company, say Vodafone or Airtel, does this advertisement appeal to you more?

26. What, in your opinion, could have been done to make the ad more effective in its aim of communicating with the public ? Change/ discard brand ambassador Make the ad more visually pleasing (lighting, ambience, colors etc.) Change the background score Make it keeping target audience in mind No changes, it seems perfect the way it is. 5% 20% 2% 51% 20%

27. Which of these attributes of the product/service stands out in the ad campaign? Association with bollywood Background score Good and fast internet connectivity The BSNL handset No changes, it seems perfect the way it is. 10% 51% 15% 2% 15%

28. Will you buy this product on seeing the ad? Yes 15% No 83%

29. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how informative this ad was. 1. 22% 2. 24% 3. 29% 4. 20% 5. 2%

30. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the ability of the advertisement to convey their message? 1 29% 2 27% 3 27% 4 5% 5 10%

31. NOKIA Consumer Survey RESULTS On comparison with the Ad campaign of a rival company, say HTC or Iphone, does this advertisement appeal to you more? Yes 44% No 54%

32. What, in your opinion, could have been done to make the ad more effective in its aim of communicating with the public ? Change/ discard brand ambassador Make the ad more visually pleasing Change the background score Make it keeping target audience in mind No changes, it seems perfect the way it is. 5% 45% 11% 21% 17%

33. Which of these attributes of the product/service stands out in the ad campaign? Camera 24% Navigation System 23% Battery Back-UP 9% Appearance 7% Internet Connectivity 13% Ease of Access 15% Other 9%

34. Will you buy this product on seeing the ad? Yes 24% No 74%

35. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how informative this ad was. 1 2% 2 7% 3 47% 4 32% 5 10%

36. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the ability of the advertisement to convey their message? 1 5% 2 10% 3 43% 4 30% 5 11%

37. OBSERVATIONS BSNL vs Tata DOCOMO Q. Was the information conveyed better by the information oriented campaign than by the more ambiguous campaign? A: In a single word, yes. Around 50% of people rated the BSNL ad 3/5 in “how informative was the ad” whereas only 29% felt the same for the Tata ad. Also, in the question “Please rate, on a scale of 1-5, the ability of the ad to convey its message”, 43% gave the BSNL ad 3/5 as compared with a 27% for Tata.

38. Q. What, in your opinion, could have been done to make the ad more effective in its aim of communicating with the public? A: This question gave us an interesting, and slightly unexpected result. 51% of the people felt that the TATA Docomo AD should have been made keeping the target Audience in mind. This can lead us to a clear conclusion. That Tata Docomo has, in fact, been unable to associate or connect with the consumers. This indicates that the Brand Loyalty present for Docomo has only been out of the fact that it is something new and because of being the first to introduce the 1p per second scheme. BSNLs result on the other hand was slightly more expected. 37% of the consumers felt that the Ad should be more visually pleasing, thus stressing on the fact that a visually pleasing AD would have gone a long way in improving consumer expectations.

39. NOKIA vs SONY ERICCSON Q . Was the information conveyed better by the information oriented campaign than by the more ambiguous campaign? A: Again, yes. Atleast that is what we deduce from the empirical data that we gathered. For the Nokia ad, majority of the people gave the ad a 3/5 for “informative-ness” while the majority went for 2/5 in the case of the more ambiguous Sony Ericcson ad. .

40. Q. What, in your opinion, could have been done to make the ad more effective in its aim of communicating with public? A: Another surprise. 56% of the consumers that were surveyed felt that the Sony Ericcson AD was perfect the way it was. And yet, when asked about what product the AD was trying to sell, we obtained varied responses with a majority being mp3 player. This indicates that despite not being able to actually tell people what the product was, Sony effectively managed to persuade people to like the ad, thus improving Brand Peception

41. Q: Which attribute of the phone stood out in the AD campaign? A: The numbers of responses were sufficient and varied for Nokia’s ad, indicating that they were able to convey the information that wanted to, effectively. In Sony Ericcson’s case, 64% voted for ‘Other’. This indicates that none of the attributes actually stood out in Sony’s ad. This is to be expected, if people were unable to decide what product they were trying to sell. The information-oriented AD that we chose, of Nokia, provided us with a result that 45% of the consumers feel that the AD should be made more visually pleasing. Also 44% of the consumers stated that this AD did not appeal to them over say, HTC or iPhone. 74% Felt that they would not buy the product after watching the AD.

42. CONCLUSIONS Q. Were consumers more likely to project themes and messages not actually in the ads into the more ambiguous communications? Q: Does an information oriented AD go further than a Graphic Ad in appealing to the consumers senses?

43. Greater interest in watching the advertisements of the Handset Manufacturers rather than the Service providers, which leads us to believe that these Ads are more popular and captivating. Nokia - long standing Mobile Handset Provider. – has seen sharp decline in sales and popularity - can be owed to the emergence of imported Phones from China and other Indian Brands like Micromax. According to our study, the Advertising campaign of Nokia seems drab and lifeless. Nokia, BSNL should strive to make the AD more visually pleasing and connectable with the consumers. Sony Ericcson and TATA Docomo - unable to actually convey to the consumers information about their product - able to connect with the consumers and persuade them to be loyal to their Brand. At the end of the day, according to us, an ad which has an optimized ratio of direct and ambiguous elements to it will be more successful in enticing consumers than an ad based solely on one of the 2

44. Thank You