The Way Advertising Is Used

Advertising is in reality the machine, or bulk, method of selling. It takes a large portion of the public and, directing them to matters of fundamental interest, turns these matters to the advantage of the product and firm involved. It is the mass action of selling, selling to the group, handling the sales question wholesale.

It is used, therefore, either to supplant the personal selling force, to supplement it, or act upon it. In some cases the printed method of selling in bulk is the only method used. This is the method employed by the many internet companies, which secures its business by Pay-Per-Click advertising and through search engine optimization. In this case the personal selling force is eliminated, and the whole proposition is put up to the customer, his approval secured and his order placed without the personal representative of the seller having been called in at all.

In this case, the advertising is used by directing the consumer to the product in question, and instituting discrimination among the consumers in favor of the product being sold or their acceptance of its quality and reliability.

Advertising as a Control

That part of any business organization which comes in contact with the public is the one upon which the good-will of the business depends, and the one which can be controlled only with the greatest difficulty. The work of the agent or representative can be controlled only to a very minor degree, as his time is spent where there is no check upon his actual methods of doing business. He may exaggerate, change his arguments, guarantee and do other things not consistent with the house policy, and so long as these matters do not assume vital importance, may be allowed to continue.

Theoretically the principal is responsible for all the acts of his subordinates in business, but there are a great many small minded men, and the individual methods of each of these representatives cannot effectively be held to the policy which the principal desires. Advertising aids the central control upon the conditions of sale and does this very definitely. It takes the claims, the advantages, and factors of service, puts them into the most carefully worded phrases, and, by printing them gives them a definite .character and record, which may be quoted against the concern in question at any time.

The statement of the salesman is no longer the only statement of the house; another statement is found in the printed messenger of the organization. This statement, moreover, is authoritative because it is printed, definite, and limited. A measure of comparison is set up by this printed message by which the statements of the representative and the character of the service can be equally measured. This measure of comparison acts as a control upon the condition of sale in all its phases by fixing the estimate placed by the principal upon the services of his product, and consequently obliging all other conditions to come to this.

About the Author:
Donald "DonOmite" Hammond has been a freelance webdesigner and programmer for over 10 years. He has done marketing of himself and his products as well as customers' products on their websites.
Article Submitted On: November 30, 2006
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/