UNDERSTANDINGADVERTISING 199
at thepointofsale. Personnelresponsibleforthephysicaldistributionactivitiesmustensure
thatadequatestocksoftheproductareavailablein alloutletsprior to thestartofthecam-
paign. Finally,peopleworkinginpublicrelationsmust be constantly keptawareofnew
products,productdemonstrations,newproductapplications,andsoforth.Ofcourse,it is
e)(tremelyimportanttoprovideenoughleadtime so that the publicrelationseffortcantake
advantageofoptimumtiming.
UnderstandingAdvertising
Undoubtedly, advertising is thepromotionaleIeC1entthat mostconsumersfeeltheyknow
thebestandholdstrongopinionsabout.Thisisa resultofthevisibilityandintrusiveness
of advertising.Infact, mostpeople havelittleunderstandingofadvertising.
TheOrganizationofAdvertising
Therearewithintheadvertisingindustry awidevariety')fneansbywhichadvertisingis
createdandplacecinmedia.At oneextreme, anindividualmightwriteandplacehisown
classifiedaC:vertisemeatsina newspaperinthehopeofsellinghisdaughter'scanopybed.
Attheotherextreme,theadvertiseremploys afull-serviceadverti singagencytocreateand
placetheadvertisement,retainingonly thefunctionoffinalapprovalofplansdeveloped
bythatagency. Significantspecialization is developedwithinthefull-serviceadvertising
agencytodiscourageclientsfromhiringanyoutsidevendorsorotherpartiestoperform
anyofthevariousfupctionsinvo'vedin planningandexecutingadvertisingprogramsfor
thevarious advertisers that theagency serves.Another organizational possibilityis a fuIl-
scale, in-houseadvertis:ngdepartment.This department mayhavetotalresponsibilityfor
allaspectsoftheadvertisement,orsomeofthetasks might beoptionedouttoadagencies
or othertypesofspecialtyorganizations, e.g.,production,taIen~,mediapiacement.Itisnot
unusualfora largecorporationtoemployallof t hesepossibilitiesortousedifferentagen-
ciesfordifferentproducts orfordifferent parts of the country.
·.Vhetherornottheadvertiserusesan advertising agency,doeshisadveltisingin-house,
orusessomecombinationof thetwodepends upona hostoffactors uniquetoeachorgan-
ization:availablefunds,levelofexpertise, expediency,andsoforth.Regardlessoftheinflu-
encingfactors,a numberofbasicfunctions mustbeperformedbysomeoneifcreativeand
effectiveadvertisementsaretobeplaced:
oWhatproducts,institutions,orideas aretobe advertised
- Whoistoprepareadvertisingprograms
- WhotheorganiLationengages and givesDolicyandotherdirectiontotheadver-
tisingagency,ifanyagencyis used
- Whointheorganizationhastheauthoritytodevelopadvertisingworkancl/orapproves
theadvertisingprogramspresentedbytheadvertisingagency
- Whopaystheadvertisingbill
- Whodeterminestheextentto whichadvertisemei1ts helpreachthestatedobjectives^3
TheAdvertisingDepartment
A companyadvertisingdepartmentcanrange froma one-persondepartmenttooneemploy-
ing 500 ormorepeople. Regardlessofthesize,advertisingdepartmentssharesimilar
responsibilities:
