Q&A Outdoor Advertising, Displays and Collateral Materials UNIT 2

What is outdoor advertising?

Outdoor Advertising is a term that includes a property’s sign, billboards and other methods used outdoor to put the hotel property’s name and image before the public.

What are types of outdoor Advertising?

The most common outdoor boards are:

Property Signs: It refers to the signboards on and around the hotel property. It is a welcome sight to an undecided tourist in an unfamiliar area. These can advertise the property’s restaurants, lounges, banqueting facilities and other revenue centers.

                                                                    

Points to be considered while developing a property signboard are:

Property Sign’s/Hotel name must be bigger in size

The Signboard must compliment the hotel’s design and image.

The placement of the signboard must be such so as to reach the maximum potential guest.

Reader Boards: Some property signboard features a reader board – an area on the sign set aside for temporary messages. Reader boards are used to promote –

A special rates packages of the hotel

Special facilities or services, saunas, spas, continental breakfasts etc

Bill Boards: Billboards advertising is placed away from the property at a strategic location on the mounted pillars or on the highway from where one can gain maximum advantage of advertising. Some billboards are in the form of posters and painted displays also.

Posters are sheets printed with the advertising message and then pasted like wall paper on the display boards by local outdoor advertising companies who own the boards.

Factors to be considered while purchasing or renting the billboards include:

·         Location – Highways, cross-sections and traffic light stops at 2 to 10 kms from the hotel property are what one should look for while opting for the location.

·         Size – The size of the billboard should be such so as to gain maximum attention. Like, for example – 14” X 48” feet size, which will be visible from a distance.

·         Design – It should be designed to be read quickly from left to right. The colour should be bright and contrasting to attract the prospective customers like, red in white or red in blue.

·         Message – It should have a message of not more than 5 - 10 words about the hotel. It should have list of amenities, services, eye-catching line of the property which can be referred as slogan and may contain the phone number and address of the property.

·         Maintenance – The billboard should be regularly subjected to check up for any technical faults of lighting or otherwise.

·         Contracts – The billboard should be taken on a contract or lease basis and all the terms and conditions including the price should be taken so that the hotel property can consistently get good advertising response from one location. This will also help the property to plan its future plans of billboard advertising.

Displays

It can be used for – transit advertising, trade shows and also, general advertising.

Transit Advertising – Advertising in or on buses, metros, railway stations, subways, radio cabs etc are classified as Transit Advertising. Some of the many advantages of transit advertising are:

·         Low cost: The advertiser pays for the production of the advertising card (design, type setting, printing etc) and for the rental of the transit space.

·         High Readership: Readership and the views are high. For example – many passengers or the persons in transit read these displays to relieve boredom. It is an effective medium with which to reach consumers of various kind like, middle to lower income groups and tourists.

·         Frequency: People who take same routes day after day are exposed to transit displays message on a regular basis. They become excellent word-to-mouth advertisers.

Trade shows

These are other avenues for displays. Trade shows are held for variety of sector like education, job fairs, auto expo, travel and tourism fair including travel oriented sectors. These invite lot of business, corporate, travel agents, tour operators and people who would like to stay in business and luxury class segments.

A hotel may wish to advertise at a trade show that caters to the target market segment such as business class people, doctors, IT professionals, bankers, families, women business class travelers. Display posters are used to attract delegates to a property’s stall and may picture hotel’s amenities in detail.

General Displays

It usually includes colour posters of hotel property and its features or posters describing special property promotions. The size of the poster may vary depending on the location and use of the display.

What are Collateral Materials ?

Collateral materials include printed items (fliers, tent cards and brochures) and specialty items (match boxes, key chains and other souvenirs and giveaways). Collateral materials are usually given away either by sales people or through other means like in-house promotions, leaving the items in guestrooms, handing the items to the departing guests etc.

They serve two purposes:

They get the property‟s name in front of great number of people.

They can serve as „silent sales people‟ – it helps to supplement the message of the property’s sales staff.

Fliers – They are used to aid direct mail campaigns. They can also be effective fact sheets, especially when printed with photographs of the property. A flier should contain –

·         Headline – It should be an attention grabber.

·         Headings – Feature key point of the hotel property

·         Content – The sending message which should include the best price for a package deal.

·         Photographs – Photographs should be clear and sharp, and must be captioned.

·         Logo & Signature – The property’s logo lends credibility to the flier and provides information that a reader needs to contact the property.

Tent Cards

It can be printed in one or two colours. They may be brief and precise. Many hotel chains offer tent cards or a combination package of tent cards and posters through corporate advertising departments. Simple three fold cards that advertise restaurants specialties, dessert menus, happy hours, dish of the day, cocktails and mocktails or other products and services offered by the property.

Brochures

These are the most important collateral items and must be designed and written properly to be effective.

While developing a brochure, a property should:

1.       Set objective – What is the meant to accomplish? For example – Business traveler, leisure or banquet business etc.

2.       Target the Audience – A property cannot effectively reach a number of different audiences with one brochure, example – a brochure for business travelers is of little value to a family group or a brochure for business planners has little meaning for a retired couple looking for leisure vacation.

3.       List Benefits – Benefits should be listed for each target audience based on its needs. Each brochure must answer the question “WHY SHOULD I STAY AT THE HOTEL?” The amount of information and number of photographs or artwork will determine the final length of a brochure (4, 6 or 8 panels). No matter what type of brochure is printed or designed, the property should never loose focus on quality.

Design - While creating a brochure’s design, property managers or sales people should keep the following guidelines:

4.       Match the brochure to the properties personality and character – The brochure should reflect the personality of the property. It is the personality of the brochure that will distinguish it and the hotel property from the competition. Example – A luxury hotel may have a very good quality paper, distinctive typing style and special touches like embossing and folding.

5.       Use photos to heighten the property’s image and sell the property – They say ‘A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words.’ It is indeed true and one must have excellent quality photograph to claim the message and grab the attention of the reader. Photographs that are used must justify and enhance the property’s image. Photographs without people can appear cold and lifeless. They work best when it includes people enjoying property’s amenities. When preparing a brochure for a specific target market, it is important to show people, the photographs that readers can relate and desire to be part of. For example – it can be tempting food, swimming pool, golf course, tennis court, gymnasium, spa and any other special service provided by the hotel property.

Copy

The guidelines for writing or reviewing brochure copy are:

·         Positioning the Property – It should develop short positioning statements that can be used in all of its advertising.

·         Put the property’s name and location on the cover.

·         Using headings to highlight key facts – Headings can draw the readers to the properties key features.

·         Highlight the property’s most popular features and benefits.

·         Build credibility – by showing photographs where we have sent token gifts to previous guests.

·         Tell the whole story – Give as mush information as possible into each brochure.

·         Urge the reader to take action – It should include invitations throughout the brochure to visit, call or write to the hotel reservations. Further, the process must be made simpler by including a business reply card and a toll free number.

All these elements can be incorporated into any brochure, whether it is designed by an in-house staff or an ad agency by corporate advertising staff.

Specialty items

These are also called as ‘Premiums’ and are economical tools that can be remarkably effective. Since many specialty items are small, the hotel property should develop a message that is brief. In many cases, just the names of the hotel property, name and address and telephone number appear on items. Example: Coffee Cups, Ball pens, ashtrays, matchboxes, table calendars, diaries, caps, T-shirts, jackets, towels, key chains, playing cards.

To ensure getting the most from specialty items, a property may wish to consult an advertising agency.

Specialty items which are imprinted with Toll free reservations number are most effective.

For advertising of this type to be effective, it must be carefully designed and co-ordinated to reflect the hotel’s personality and make the property stand out in the market of competitors. Even in today’s world of hi-tech advertising, outdoor advertising, displays and collateral materials play a vital role in the successful marketing of the hotel property.

Marketing by TRAVEL AGENCIES (Current Situation)

Q&A :GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING Unit 1

What is Advertising?

Advertising is an integral part of any company’s operational set up. It helps an organization to generate awareness of the product which in turn leadings to sale and more profits for any firm. Since advertising is so widely used across different hotel chains, it is importantly to know the importance, decision making, types, process and more importantly, various advantages and disadvantages of different types of advertising. Let us now understand the world of advertising.

The American Marketing Association has defined advertising as "any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor."

This definition includes the following four expressions:

i)      Paid form

ii)     Non-personal presentation

iii)  Ideas, goods and services

iv)    Identified sponsor

To comprehend this term in a more clear and concise manner, let us now study these terms in detail:

Marketing

i)  Paid form: For every advertisement, some money has to be paid to the medium which carries the message. For instance, if the message is published in a magazine, payment must be made for printing and the space used in that magazine. If the matter is printed without any charge, it will not be treated as an advertisement.

ii)   Non-personal presentation: When a salesman directly talks to the customer abut any product, it is personal presentation. If the message is communicated through mass media like radio, television, newspaper, magazine, direct mail, hoardings etc., it is called non-personal presentation. In the case of advertising, the message is conveyed through non-personal media. In other words, there is no face-to-face communication by salesmen. It implies that if the message is presented to the customer by a salesman, it would not be treated as advertising.

iii)   Ideas, goods and services: This implies that advertising may be intended to help selling not only goods but also ideas and services. For instance, banks, insurances, companies, airlines, restaurants, and similar organizations advertise their services and ideas underlying the usefulness of savings, traveling, eating, palatable food, etc. just as manufacturers of automobiles, soaps or hair oil advertise the usefulness of their products. Thus, the phrase ideas, goods and services explain that advertising is concerned with much more than the promotion of only tangible goods.

v)    Identified sponsor: The sponsor of an advertisement is the advertiser. The phrase identified sponsor means that the producer or seller who advertises the product should be known through the advertised message. In other words, the receiver of the message should be able to identify both of source and purpose of the advertisement. If it is not sponsored by any individual or institution, it would not come under advertisement.

What Are The Objectives Of Advertisement?

To plan an effective advertisement, we must remember few important things like –

1.      Introduction of new products

2.      Persuading potential customers to buy

3.      Reminding users

4.      To create brand image

5.      To intimate customers about new uses of a-product

6.      To highlight brand character

1.      Introduction of new products - Manufacturer introduces new products from time to time so as to compete with other manufacturers who might have succeeded in winning over customers of the existing product. Advertising the new product is necessary to that consumers know about the introduction of the product, its usefulness, where it may be available, how to get more information about the product, etc. Indeed, advertising is highly important to promote the sale of new products.

2.      Persuading potential customers to buy: Another important objective of advertising - to persuade potential customers to buy the product. Advertising is one of the best means by which the sale of an existing product can be increased. For this purpose, the advertisement should emphasize the usefulness of the product, its quality, price advantage, etc., so as to win over potential buyers and make them actual buyers. If the product is so advertised, traders expect sales to increase and keep larger stocks for sale. Thus, advertising leads to immediate buying action among customers as well as traders.

3.      Reminding users: In a competitive market new products are introduced quite frequently by different firms. All these products are advertised in the market. As a result, old brands are likely to be forgotten by the consumers. To offset this possibility, manufacturers continue to advertise their products to maintain the buyers' interest. Thus, advertisements are also designed to serve as a reminder to existing customers.

 

4.      To create brand image: Business firms very often advertise for establishing an image for the product (brand) and create customer loyalty for that product. When customers develop brand loyalty, they are not inclined to shift to other brands easily. This objective of advertising has great significance in the case of well-known manufacturers of products.

5.      To intimate customers about new uses of a product: Advertising is sometimes used to convey new uses of an existing product to the customers or to draw their attention to some new features of the product. The basic objective of advertising in this case is to convince the customers about the superiority of a product in comparison with other products in the same line.

6.      To highlight brand character: For certain products consumers feel that a particular characteristic is very important. Its existence determines the buyers' choice of a particular brand out of several brands. If the product has that feature, advertising is used to stress it and demonstrate its advantages. Similarly, if the product has a special feature which is linked with a desirable consumer benefit, advertising is used to emphasize it.

Features Relating to Consumer Reach

Apart from the message, the impact of an advertisement also depends on how well it reaches the target customers. For this purpose, the following points should be borne in mind while designing the advertisement.

1.    Appropriate media: The advertisement message should be presented through the media to which the target customers have access. For example, if the majority of the target customers do not have television sets, the message presented by TV transmission will not reach them. Similarly, if the majority of customers are illiterate, the message presented in newspapers may not reach them. So, the use appropriate media is highly important for the effectiveness of advertisements.

2.   Frequency: Frequency refers to the number of times any advertisement is repeated within a specified period of time. It also refers to the time gap between two or more advertisements. In other words, it refers to how many times and at what intervals the advertisement is repeated. The main purpose of repetition is to keep the message alive in the memory of the customers. If the frequency is less, people may not remember the message. If the frequency is more, people may get irritated and may stop giving attention to it. So, the frequency should be optimum.

3.  Timing: The specific time of advertising the message is an equally important aspect of advertisement. For example, if the advertisement appears on the T.V. when most of the customers are not viewing it, the effect will be much less as compared with the effect when a majority of the customers are viewing the T.V. program. Hence, the timing of the advertisement should be so determined that it may reach the majority of customers

Why to Advertise or the purpose of Advertising?

Hospitality firms advertise for a number of reasons.

-          Advertising reaches a vast audience.

Advertising, especially print and broadcast advertising can reach thousands of potential guests and clients.

-          Advertising is relatively inexpensive

While printing columns space and electronic media costs is not low, the cost per reader, viewer or listener can be quite low. It is important to target your advertisement at the potential user base of your product.

-          Advertising prompts direct response

Coupons, Telephone numbers, email addresses, website details etc can be given to see the response of the advertisement. The inquiries lead to conversions which lead to sale, finally ending with the profit for the company.

-          Advertising demonstrates competitiveness

The advertisement gives a chance to the users to compare benefits of the competitors. A hotel property that can present superior benefits in an advertisement and listens to client’s needs has a better chance of gaining that marketing edge.

What are the different Types Of Advertising ?

The types of advertising that hospitality firm’s use include print, broadcast, electronic, direct mail, outdoor, collateral and alternative media.

PRINT ADVERTISING

News papers

Print advertising media include news papers, magazines, and directories. News papers are used by the hospitality industry more than other advertising mediums for a number of reasons.

High Readership

There are many cities and towns where one newspaper dominates, providing easy access to targeted markets in specific areas. These are widely read and so they are an ideal medium to reach the local community.

Targetable

Sections in newspapers allow the advertisers to reach there target market segment. Women section are often given preference for beauty products, the sports page will often feature an ad by a famous motor cycle manufacturer, or a national electronics leader will always feature in the additional magazine section of the newspaper.

Flexibility

Newspapers allow the choice of ad sizes as per the opportunity to promote the product. The special offers on new products are often seen on the front main page or the magazine section, to grab maximum attention. It is easier to schedule newspaper advertising. An opportunity to reach the masses in shorter duration makes it an ideal vehicle for the sponsor.

Low advertising rates

Low rates in the print advertising, helps to have more frequent placement of ads. Many newspapers offer bulk rates, on offers for advertising for a month or so. This enables a hotel property to place more ads with a national daily.

Magazines

Magazines are an excellent advertising option, since many consumer and trade magazines target specific reader ship. Other advantages include

-          Production Quality

-          Specific Audience

-          Credibility

-          Long life

Directories

Directories fall in to three categories. They are general, hotel, trade etc.

BROADCAST/ELECTRONIC ADVERTSING

Both broad cast and electronic advertising media have the potential of reaching large no of consumers at one time.

Different methods of Electronic Advertising

1.      Radio – Radio is heard by almost 83% of the public daily.

Advantages:

It has many advantages like:

^Ø   It costs less to reach potential guests (on a cost per person basis) than through newspaper advertising.

^Ø   It allows frequency of advertising and image building among the local population and the target market segment.

^Ø  It is extremely flexible medium.

^Ø   It is one of the most effective medium in terms of reach and instant recognition and retention of a slogan or message.

Disadvantages:

^Ø  Many channels poses the threat of message not being heard by enough listeners.

^Ø   No visual image to back the message.

^Ø   It cannot be saved like print ads and so cannot be referred to at a later time.

2.  Television –

Advantages:

^Ø  It is both seen and heard and so is more appealing to the potential customers.

^Ø   Can be influential while spreading the message at an appropriate time.

^Ø   Creates an immediate impact on the viewers.

^Ø   Most influential medium in all advertising media.

Disadvantages:

^Ø  High cost of advertising slots and production value.

^Ø   No guarantee of the message being reached to the target viewers.

^Ø   Almost impossible to target the potential customers, however, frequent ads gives favorable results in the long run.

Internet, CD ROMS and internet are some of the other ways of reaching out to the potential clients.

DIRECT MAIL ADVERTISING

Direct mail is one of the most popular forms of hospitality advertising because it is

-          Targeted at particular market segment

-          Personal

-          Flexible

-          Designed for prospect involvement action

      -          Easily cost controlled

-          Easily tested and measured

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

Methods of out door advertising

-          Signs

Sign can be a simple as a painted board or as standing board with the atmosphere of the place.

-          Bill board

Signs appear on the grounds of the hotel or restaurant, but billboard advertisement are placed away from the property at strategic location on well traveled streets and highways

-          Displays

Displays can be used both in house and off property to promote products and services.

Collateral Materials

Virtually all hospitality firms use collateral materials in one form or another. It includes materials, such as brochures, poster, fliers and tent cards and specialty items designed to promote your product and services.

ALTERNATIVE MEDIA ADVERTISING

In addition to these common advertising options, three are several alternative media advertising options. These include

-          Movie theater advertising

-          Sponsor ship advertising

-          In flight advertising

-          Insert in billings

-          High flying advertising

-          Retailer tie ins

How To Develop An Advertising Plan ?

No matter what strategy is used, your advertising must promote your firm in a memorable and cost effective way. Four characteristics reach; Frequency, consistency, and Timing play important roles in all successful advertising strategies.

-          Reach

It refers to the no of different individuals or homes exposed to an advertising message at least once during a specified time period.

-          Frequency

It is a measure of how many times the average person in the target market is exposed to the advertising message over a specified time period?

-          Consistency

It plays an important part in consumer recognition of your hotel or restaurant. Your advertising will be far more effective if it has a consistent look and, in the case of broad cast media, a consistent sound

-          Timing

It involves scheduling advertising for those times when it will be most effective. The news paper advertising bureau recommends timing advertisements to coincide with seasonal sales patterns –promoting summer vacation packages just before the season.

What Do Mean By Advertising Strategies ?

An important part of any advertising plan is deciding on advertising strategies. The three strategic options are:

Differentiation

Segmentation

A Combination of Two

In Differentiation, you emphasize how your hotel is different from others. The advertising must aim at some meaningful differences like uniqueness of location, consistent and reliable service, theme based restaurants are positive USPs that you can use to start the advertisement campaign.

In Segmentation, your strategy can be to target a specific segment which has been left untapped under a particular marketing segment like – Women business travelers under business travelers, which can be used to start the advertising campaign.

Combination – In this strategy, both the differentiation and segmentation strategies are selected to form the advertising plan. A specific market segment is selected to advertise and an attempt is made to differentiate your property from other properties by offering unique benefits that will be of interest to the selected segment.

RECIPROCAL ADVERTISING

It is the exchange of hospitality product or services (rooms, food and beverages etc...) for advertising space or airtime. This type of advertising can be especially effective for firms with limited budget

  

What are way of Measuring Advertisement Effectiveness ?

There are three ways to monitor the cost-effectiveness of your advertising

1.      cost per thousand

2.      cost per inquiry

3.      cost per conversion

CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions)

Stands for "Cost Per 1,000 Impressions," and is used in online advertising. CPM defines the cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 impressions of an advertisement, such as a banner ad or other promotion. An impression is counted each time an advertisement is shown.

Cost per thousand refers to the cost for reaching one thousand potential buyers, and is calculated as follows

Cost of advertisement

CPM

*   1,000

Vehicle circulation

Cost per inquiry can be used evaluate both the response to a specific advertisement and the cost of soliciting each potential customer. CPI can determine as follows.

Cost of advertisement

CPI

Total inquires generated

Inquires don’t always result in sales, so to determine the actual value received for the cost of advertising ,actual sales must be measured.

Cost of advertisement

Cost per conversion

Total conversions

Cost per conversion is an advertising and marketing term, describing the cost of acquiring a customer, typically calculated by dividing the total cost of an advertising campaign by the number of conversions. The definition of "conversion" varies depending upon the situation; it is sometimes considered to be a lead, a sale, or a purchase.

Cost of advertisement

Eg:    Cost of sales

Total sales

What Are Advertising Agencies ?

Advertising Agency is defined as independent business composed of creative and business people who prepare and place advertisement in media for clients seeking to find customers for their products and services.

Advertising agencies can be extremely helpful in making media decisions that will cut through media clutter and make the best use of your advertising money.

Advertising agencies typically offer these designations and professionals. Some of them are:

Copy Writers

Art Directors

TV and Radio producers

Media Buyers

PR Experts

Advertisement planners etc

There are different types of Advertisement Agencies which are catering to different type of clients. Lets study them further are :

1.      Full Service Agencies

2.      Creative Shops ; and

3.      Media Buying Agencies

Full Service agencies provide all services for clients which are divided into four major departments, like –

Creative Department – handles the development and production of Ads Media Department – selects specific media and places the Ads

Research Department – determines the characteristics and wants of the targeted audience Business Department – handles agencies business affairs like handling existing clients and looking for new clients who can be profitable to the company.

When selecting an advertising agency, it’s important to consider these factors

-          The agency longevity, reputation and experience with hospitality firms

-          Who will handle your account and his experience

-          The number of accounts the agency handle

-          The services the agency provides and how it would work with your firm

-          The number of and types of media with which the agency experienced

-          Staff Strength which includes the number of employees in the agency and their experience in the industry

-          Research – the ability to copy research, product placement, motivation research and package the product so as to appeal to the maximum customers.

-          Merchandizing – Evaluation of ideas and materials that can provide to make all forms of selling.

-          Production – this is an evaluation of the agencies resources to produce or supervise production of all types of advertising, promotional and merchandizing material

So, in this unit you have learnt all the basics related to Advertising. While reading notes, you must elaborate as much as possible keeping in mind the definition and core concepts. Further, list the examples related to the field of hospitality.