Introduction to the organisation
Having been started in 1984 as a
one-product company in Stanford, Cisco has grown to become the industry leader
in the global telecom industry (Ho and Farhoomad, 2009). The company offers
networking solutions through products and services to organisations around the
world hence satisfying the much-needed networking technologies for enhanced
operational efficiency. Its products have been categorised in clusters
corresponding with their main purposes including application network services,
optical networking, wireless, network management and automation, data centre
switches, routers, servers-unifying computing, networking software, routers and
security among others (Cisco, 2012). It also provides services along each of
the product categories noted.
Cisco has a strong
brand that is associated with reliability and quality and this has enabled it
to rise to be the market leader in the global telecom industry. It mainly
serves organisational markets with some of its main customers being global conglomerates
and government institutions (Ho and Farhoomad, 2009). This has been made
possible by effective marketing and branding in markets where it has a
presence.
Description of management issue
The effectiveness of advertisements is
determined by the fit between the advertising designs and the characteristics
of the target audience. This calls for understanding of market and their
reactions to different forms of advertisements. The advertisement designs must
consider elements such as simplicity, comprehensiveness of information,
contribution to brand awareness and others. Their designs should also be
determined by consumer behaviour as relates to information search attitudes and
other factors influencing their decisions. This applies to both the mass market
and organisational markets.
Literature review
Advertisement design management is a
process that integrates research finding on market characteristics into
advertisement designs and messages in a manner to ensure that marketing efforts
by organisations are effective. There has been plenty of literature that has
been focused on changing realities in the field of marketing as pertains to
consumer perceptions, the role of the internet and others. In their evaluation of how consumers react to
incomplete information in print and apparel advertising, Hsu and Mo outline the
consumer decision making process and single out the information search
attitudes as critical in determining the effectiveness of advertisements
(2009). Apart from making the observation that advertisements should be
comprehensive enough to provide the information sought, they also appreciate
that the time and space allocated by advertisements may be insufficient hence
making it imperative that the advertisements induce the audience to seek to
find out more about what may not have been displayed. McAfee reiterates the
importance of the information search process among consumers and observe that
in the era of the internet, consumers are increasingly intolerant about
incomplete information (2011). This implies the need to ensure that
advertisements both online and offline should be accompanied by plenty of
information about the products on the website and other easily accessible
points.
Also crucial in
advertisement management is the art of ensuring that advertisements capture the
attention of consumers. Pieters, Wedel and Zhang outline measures that
organisations can use to ensure that advertisements stand out in the clutter
associated with numerous advertisements that are usually present in Feature
advertisements in print media (2007). Even though this is dedicated to the
print media, analysts are unanimous that the same principles are applicable to
internet advertising where the average internet user is bombarded with lots of
information and advertisements that make it necessary for advertisers to come
up with ways of ensuring that they capture the attention of the market. This
also calls for the use of sounds and tones that can easily attract the
attention of the target audience. Chou and Lien examine the effect of songs in
advertisements and observe that the same play a major role in capturing the
attention of the target audience especially where a popular song accompanies an
advertisement (2010). Songs add to the memorability of the advertisements even
though critics view it as an unnecessary distraction that could potentially
take attention away from the brand. Sharp sounds and tonal balances can also be
done in a manner that brings out the intended message while capturing maximum
attention from the market.
Consumer perception on
the brand is also crucial in determining the effectiveness of advertisement
messages. When designing messages, it is important to take into account the
probability that the consumers will go out to search for more information about
the products or company (Leonidu, 2011). Studies indicate that incomplete
information in advertisements is likely to be dismissed in the case of little
known brands. On the other hand, consumers tend to make further enquiries to
get more information where the brands are known. This brings to the fore the
question of branding and the contribution of advertisement design and
management on brand awareness with analysts recommending that advertisements
should centre on using company colours and giving prominence to the brand image
and slogans for better emphasis (Clayton and Heo, 2011). Apart from its
positive contribution to the effectiveness of marketing, brand awareness is
known to promote brand equity which in turn translates to the willingness of
consumers to pay higher prices for products (brand premium).
Branding is often done through a
combination of different approaches to marketing including advertising, public
relations, promotion, and direct marketing among others. Advertisement design
should therefore be viewed as an integral part of the marketing process aimed
at reinforcing other marketing efforts for better effectiveness (Roels and
Fridgeirsdottir, 2009; Schultz and Wedel, 1998). Studies indicate that
advertisements work best when complimented by other approaches to marketing
with companies whose marketing activities are restricted to advertisements
tending to yield the poorest results. Good marketers should therefore be able
to identify and tell when and how advertisements should be combined with other
promotion mix elements.
Changing consumer
perceptions should also be considered when designing advertisements. For
instance, the increased environmental awareness in the market makes it
necessary for advertisers to highlight the contribution of their products to
the sustainability agenda (Leonidou, et al., 2011). However, increased emphasis
on sustainability is beginning to generate scepticism with many consumers
viewing the emphasis as untruthful (Anderberg and Morris, 2006; Leonidou, et
al., 2011). The advertisements should therefore remain objective and avoid
unnecessary exaggerations to ensure that they inspire the trust intended. The
sustainability agenda is especially very useful to organisations which tend to
be focused on reducing their energy consumption and finding durable products
that do not need frequent replacements.
Effective advertising
should focus on the firm’s internal strengths and how value can be enhanced
with the most common choices among international companies being between a
localisation strategy and a globalisation strategy. Verity examines the success
of advertising activities in line with the resource based view of the firm in a
case study dedicated to interpreting Shell BPs successful transformation of its
marketing activities (2005). Advertisements
should highlight the best of the organisations and the products in question.
Companies such as Cisco have been able to remain dominant in the market despite
rising competition from upcoming multinationals in Asia and other parts of the
world by ably highlighting the functionality and high quality of its products.
This literature review
covers aspects of advertisement design and management that enhance the
effectiveness of designs including the choices on the content of advertisement,
consumer perceptions towards incomplete information, need to capture the
attention of consumers in the midst of clutter, and the focus on the brand.
These are some of the crucial perspectives that must be considered in ensuring
that advertisements are effective.
Literature gap and significance
Much of the literature that exists on
advertisement design and effectiveness presume that the target market comprises
of individuals. There has been little emphasis on organisational markets.
Organisations tend to have a peculiar characteristic when it comes to attitudes
towards incomplete information. As a matter of fact, most organisations will
have peculiar needs that will often need special solutions and this has them
accustomed to the habit of conducting extensive search for information which
often extends to them calling for more information from competitors.
There also exists
insufficient research on the intensity of advertisements vis-à-vis other promotion
mix elements such as direct selling. A combination of the different elements is
crucial in organisational markets especially where a company wishes to enter
into a large contract.
The influence of the
internet and technology should also be examined in terms of its influence on
the effectiveness of advertisements for networking solutions. Even though
numerous studies are dedicated to showcasing the influence of the internet on
advertising, much of the studies focus on mass market commodities with
organisations presumed to play a more active role in looking for solutions and
relying less on advertisements.
Focus on organisational markets is
essential in enabling companies mainly serving such markets to ensure that
their marketing endeavours (including advertising) are effective.
Research questions
-
How does organisational markets differ
from individuals in consumer purchasing behaviour
-
How do the differences influence
advertising design and management?
-
How does advertising compare to other
promotion mix elements in terms of effectiveness in organisational markets?
-
How does increased use of the internet
impact effectiveness of advertising in organisational markets; and how does
this differ from individual consumers?
References
Anderberg, J., Morris, J., 2006. Authenticity and
transparency in the advertising industry: An interview with John Morris. The Journal of Management Development,
25(10), pp. 1021-1023
Chou, H., Lien, N., 2010. Advertising effects of
songs' nostalgia and lyrics' relevance. Asia
Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 22(3), pp. 314-329
Cisco, 2012. Products
and services. (Online) Available at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/index.html (Accessed 5 November 2012)
Clayton, M., Heo, J., 2011. Effects of
promotional-based advertising on brand associations. The Journal of Product and Brand Management, 20(4), pp. 309-315
Ho, P., Farhoomad, A.F., 2009. Case 11: Huawei:
Cisco’s Chinese Challenger. In R. Duane., Hoskisson, Robert E., Hitt, Michael A. Hitt., The management of strategy : concepts & cases. Mason, Ohio:
South-Western Cengage
Hsu, J.L., Mo, R.H., 2009. Consumer responses to
incomplete information in print apparel advertising. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 13(1), pp. 66-78
Leonidou, L., et al., 2011. Evaluating the green
advertising practices of international firms: a trend analysis. International Marketing Review, 28(1),
pp. 6-33
McAfee, R.P., 2011. The Design of Advertising
Exchanges. Review of Industrial
Organization, 39(3), pp. 169-185
Pieters, R., Wedel, M., Zhang, J., 2007. Optimal
Feature Advertising Design Under Competitive Clutter. Management Science, 53(11), pp. 1815-1828
Roels, G., Fridgeirsdottir, K., 2009. Dynamic
revenue management for online display advertising. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 8(5), pp. 452-466
Schultz, P., Wedel, M., 1998. Culture, Identity and
Image Consultancy: Crossing Boundaries between Management, Advertising, Public
Relations and Design. Corporate
Reputation Review, 2(1), 29-50
Verity, J., 2005. Interpreting the successful
transformation of Shell's advertising activity 1997-2002. Management Decision, 43(1), pp. 72-85
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