Commercial advertising is represented in print media, television and radio. Commercials have always been produced to increase sales. From the direct commercials that influence by their representation of edible delights to the indirect ad which titillates the consumer by suggesting how their lives would change if they drive a high end sports car, the commercial ad drives sales.
This is why for every venue in the shopping industry, commercial advertising is prominent.
The shopping industry consists of brick and mortar shops, malls, catalogs and classifieds and internet shopping. Each relies heavily on the consumer’s awareness of the product line that is available for purchasing. Without commercial advertising this awareness would be extremely limited relying only on word of mouth information. In many instances, a picture is truly worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to the sale of food products.
Nothing is more appealing than the hot sizzling appearance of a juicy burger that’s shown with the juice oozing out of it when bitten by a satisfied customer. The consumer is motivated by the apparent enjoyment the actor is gaining from eating that burger. Now the consumer wants to buy hamburger meat or ground turkey to make their own mouth-watering burger. The seed has been planted in the consumers’ mind and they want to experience the manifestation of their desires for dinner that night.
This type of advertising could spur the shopper to buy a meal from a sit-down restaurant or fast food restaurant or to buy the elements for that meal from the grocery. However the consumer decides to make his desire into reality requires that he go shopping and that is the sole purpose of commercial advertising. Commercial advertising sets the stage for the development of impulses to buy products or services.
Commercial advertising has several inherent functions. Each brand uses commercial advertising to establish brand distinction. It’s important that the difference between each product can be identified. The product markets are very competitive and consumers would be very confused if they had no way to judge one product over another,
Another function of commercial advertising is to give the consumer important product information. The advertisers point may be to simply create interest as consumers are very astute and rarely take advertising claims at face value. But, many are willing to try something new with a discount or claim that it offers better nutrition or other better traits than similar competing products.
Yet another characteristic of commercial advertising is to grow product distribution. Consumers who shop for a particular product notify the store buyers of their disappointment in not finding the product. The store’s buyer then seeks out the distributor and the distribution is expanded to include yet another outlet.
The establishment of brand loyalty is set when the consumer tries a new product and discovers he likes the way the product tastes or enjoys wearing it and likes its characteristics when laundered. He may decide he prefers this brand over previous brands he has purchased. Now he wants to buy the same brand in different colors and similar styles. Brand loyalty has just been created.
Commercial advertising is essential for creating new demands. Successful advertising is exemplified by new technology which is devised by the cell phone and computer companies. No one needed a tablet computer until it became the latest release of the computer companies.
Smartphones gained in demand after their release. The flash drive is everywhere now. Before 2005 we all used floppy disks, now the flash drive is used instead. It is now an essential element used by school children and adult professionals alike for saving documents.
The shopping industry gets a new boost every time a new product of genuine use is produced. The new product may even outpace the sales of products like Apple’s iPhone which sold 35.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012. That’s an example of a product brand which has definite brand loyalty and demand that didn’t exist before the first one was released in 2007. Commercial advertising was the key in promoting sales of this and almost every product that’s released on the market.
As with this product and many others just like it, the shopping industry benefited. Outlets from technology stores to internet shopping sites make money selling the products commercial advertisers promote and they always will.