It is a well-known fact that advertising informs consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and attempts to persuade them to buy them.
Large companies could easily set up their own advertising departments, but they tend to hire the services of an advertising agency. The client company in the first place decides on its advertising budget, the amount of money it plans to spend in developing its advertising and buying media time or space. Next it provides a brief or a statement of the objectives of the advertising, and finallyit gives an overall advertising strategy concerning what message is to be communicated. The choice of how and where to advertise (newspapers and magazine ads, radio and television commercials, cinema ads, posters on hoardings (GB) or billboards (US), point-of-purchase displays in stores, mailings of leaflets, brochures or booklets, and so on), andin what proportions, is called a media plan. The advantages and disadvantages of each medium must be weighed up becauseeach medium has its own characteristics and covers different areas of a potential market. More than thatwhen a firm has selected the means of delivering the message it must decide on the number of times the advert should be displayed.
The set of customers whose needs a company plans to satisfy, and thereforeto expose to an advertisement is known as the target market.
In general the advertising of a particular product or service during a particular period of time is called an advertising campaign.
Favourable mentions of a company's products or services, in any medium read, viewed or heard by company's customers or potential customers that are not paid for, are called publicity.