What is an integrated advertising approach and why is it important to go for it?

If one were to define advertising, it would be to bring things to people’s notice by using various means like print media be it indoors or outdoors, radio & TV advertising and these days, digital communication. But in a crowded market where everyone does everything (or so it seems!), how do you advertise such that people remember? In other words, how do you generate recall value?

You generate recall value by hammering it in; by ramming it down people subconscious memory such that they remember it even in their sleep! Like a student who keeps revising for the right recall at the right time, advertisers need to keep sending messages to register a brand in people’s minds. And it HAS to be done day in and day out, rain or shine, hell or high-water.

There was a time when concentrating on one form of advertising could give desired results. The earliest form of advertising was print. With the advent of airwaves came radio advertising which has developed into well-meaning jingles. To hammer it further came outdoor hoardings which in its earlier avatar meant artists actually drew the entire advertisement! Yes, they drew it. Technology took the painters off and brought in the printer. With the proliferation of the net, cyberspace and digitization, things have gone in a completely different tangent. Now, one campaign with just one interface suffices across various gadgets right from mobile-phone screens to hoardings! Radio advertising is now more FM-based and ears now have another source to contend with: podcasts!

If you think the scenario reminds of a maze, well it is. With no stones remaining unturned to give the consumer the ultimate sensory experience, every sense is now tapped into to send in the message. Eyes and ears are passé. It is now the turn of the nose and the fingers too! Yes, digitization is tapping into this as-yet untapped area to give folks the most intimate of ideas.

All this takes us right back to our original question. What is an integrated advertising approach and why is it important to go for it?

Imagine a family of three generations staying under one roof. The oldies would stick to their time-tested newspaper advertisements and TV jingles. One odd flyer/brochure and an occasional glance at a road-side billboard can also be thrown in. In this category, there could be those (thought their numbers would be low) who access the net, have a smart phone and are regular on social-media. The middle-aged though tech-savvy, would stick to their preferred forms of gaining information which could include all the traditional advertising platforms + digital platforms + mobile-phone mediums like WhatsApp. GEN Y and beyond, glued as they are to their cellphone with the ubiquitous headphones almost stuck to their ears, couldn’t care for anything other than mobiles advertisements.

In the scenario of the day where every segment of the society is well-off economically with everyone making the all-important buying decision and competition being the way it is, can an advertiser and their clientele afford to advertise selectively? Unless the product is meant ONLY for a particular segment, like adult diapers (imagine the sight of a GEN Y seeing an ad for the same on his/ her mobile!), no one can afford to keep their advertising to only a few mediums. Clearly, they would be asking to be left out.

Like a well-oiled piece of machinery with all its parts in perfect sync, an integrated advertising campaign has to have its impact on every segment it set out to address. This brings us to the most important aspect of advertising: Audience analysis and segregation. The bottom-line of every advertisement campaign, integrated or otherwise is that the advertiser first understand what the product, its likely audience and then design integrated campaigns for that audience. In the case of the “adult diaper” scenario mentioned above where it is fairly clear who would want to see advertisement of such products, a campaign to address the geriatrics and their care givers across all the mediums accessed by them would have the ideal impact instead of focusing only on one medium.

On summing up our understanding of integrated advertising, the following becomes obvious:

• The most important activity which would save time, money and a client’s patience would be to first understand the product and its intended users.
• Audience analysis. Who should the campaign address in terms of age, sex, economic and social status etc.
• Mediums likely to be accessed by the selected audience
• Type of advertising content which selected audience is likely to view (a lot differs across age and economic status)

Agreed “Integrated Advertising” is the need of the hour but equally important is the fact that budgets are limited and competition breathing down our neck. One has thus to play cautiously with eyes wide, wide open. And of course, a fair bit of common sense!