The Hindu Business Line : When advertising distracts and not informs

THE announcement of a 24-hour television channel launched in the UK dedicated to advertisements is an eye-opener for those of us annoyed by ads. Some people, apparently, love them!

Advertising is now a fairly sophisticated field that uses statistical models to estimate the amount of exposure that an ad will receive, and how much of that may translate into sales. On the other hand, the old saying that about half of all advertising is a waste except that the advertiser does not know which half of the money spent is wasted, is also widely subscribed. There is enough opportunity to contemplate this dichotomy as ads continue to grab our eyes and ears at every turn.

Owners of `space' view advertising as the kamadhenu that can be milked at every opportunity. The advertisers, in turn, think that they should grab every opportunity to occupy some space from which to afflict the senses of the unwary. I am not talking about the beedi manufacturer who decides to paint a slogan on the site of a shed alongside a rural road. The intrusion on an otherwise bucolic scene can be easily forgiven and quickly forgotten.

An observer from the sidelines can put organisations into two categories. Those who are careful about their advertising money and those who will paint their slogan on every inch of space they can find in the hope that half of them are effective. But as a part of the general public, we are not mere bystanders.

The Economist mentions that the average American is subjected to about 3,000 messages every day. The clever advertisers will take care to fashion that message so that it reaches the right audience. The rest will just rely on shouting as loud as possible hoping that somebody is watching or listening.

Market economies, it seems, cannot function without advertising. When a product or service is available for consumers, they need to be told about it. Even if you make an excellent product, unless you tell your potential customers about it, nobody is going to march up the path to your door.

A tried and tested means of getting your attention is to give you something free. As you wander near busy market areas in Japan, you will find free packets of facial tissues being politely offered to you on the street. No, this is not to suggest that you need to clean-up, but just a ruse to get you to read the ad that's printed on the packet as you pull out a tissue.

Giving something free in return for advertising is something that took a quantum leap with the arrival of the Internet. With the rapid spread of computers and e-mail, companies have hit upon increasingly clever means of telling you about something. Just when you thought that those annoying pop-up ads on websites are a price to be paid for free mail or access to the newspaper, Google has begun to try something quite sophisticated with their new e-mail service launched in April 2004. They offer you one gigabyte of space with a free e-mail account and no more worries of deleting e-mail to make space, or wondering if that attachment of photos will be delivered.

But in return, there is a gnome inside their server that will quietly read the contents of the mail and then decide what ad to place next to the message you are reading.

For instance, if you receive a message from your friend inviting you for a vacation, you may find ads for resorts and cruises coming up alongside as you read the message. But don't be surprised to find ads of stationery firms alongside if your friend complains about having to write reams for her term paper! After all, the gnome needs to learn.

By the way, only the receiver, who is the g-mail user, sees the ads. The company has adopted some constraints and will not display ads related to guns, drugs, sex, etc. Google is lowering the decibel level with its quiet and targeted advertising, but you are losing some privacy in the process.

Advertisers sometimes like to do a good deed while they advertise. This is when they sponsor events thereby providing funds without which the event may not take place. This is creditable and makes everyone feel good. Thus, when Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund decides to support the staging of `Hello Dolly' by an amateur theatre group in the Chowdiah Hall in Bangalore, they are helping the group raise funds for various charitable causes. In return, they got their name as sponsors prominently mentioned in the advertisements for the play, got their name on the ticket, and even got a booth near the entrance to the auditorium from where they could distribute application forms for those with money to invest in the mutual fund.

Mutually beneficial, you would say. But does that give them the right to hang huge ceiling-to-floor banners advertising themselves on either side of the stage, distracting the audience from appreciating the play? Should the executives of the Birla company wonder whether the sensibilities of the sophisticated theatre-goers in Bangalore would be offended by the banners? Did it? ING Vysya, which sponsored another play in the same auditorium a few weeks later, chose not to display its banners on stage.

The distraction of the advertising may even defeat the original intent. Increasingly, governments have figured that there is always someone willing to pay to hang a slogan, whether the location makes sense or not. When you look up to read the road sign above the traffic light on the streets of Chennai, you are often trying to figure out whether the destination is `Alwarpet' or `Sundaram Finance' since the signs are of the same colour and hang one below the other. In the process, if you lose concentration and ram into a traffic barrier, there is no need to worry. Traffic barriers have company names slapped on them too, so we are bound to notice the company as we nurse our wound. Do we blame irresponsible bureaucrats for allowing ads in these locations or unimaginative companies for distracting the public in the serious business of navigating traffic?

The All England Lawn Tennis Association has decided that they are too sophisticated to allow ads to sully their presentation. Good for them. American Express, a sponsor, is only allowed to set up a tent and run small promotions for its card users.

The company would also like to maintain the quality and character of the tournament and keep its advertising low key. On the green scoreboard, you will see just one small sign saying `Rolex' next to the time. After all, would you like to have an ad printed on the napkin when you are served strawberries and cream in fine bone china while being seen wandering around the Wimbledon courts? Doing business without advertising is like winking in the dark. That is fine. But as we turn the light on so people can see the wink, do we need subtle accent lights or should we have to tolerate a floodlight in our face?

(The author is professor of international business and strategic management at Suffolk University, Boston, US. His Internet address is cgopinat@suffolk.edu)

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