Advertising agency related terms Part - II

In-house agency: An in-house advertising agency is owned and operated by its one and only client: the advertiser. Instead of a company outsourcing its advertising to an agency, its ad campaigns are mainly handled by its own in-house agency. The best example is Mudra which started off as an in-house agency for Reliance Industries and later went on to become one of India’s best known advertising agencies.

The big issue that a company has to address is: should it save the 15% commission by having its own in-house agency or should it try to maximize its 85% of its advertising spend by making its campaign open to all the advertising agencies. Once outside agencies are given a chance the survival of the fittest principle would kick in and the company will get a great advertising campaign. Some advertising may still be directed to outside agencies, usually on a per-project basis.

Bleed advertisement: Reproduce a drawing or photograph so that it covers the entire page (or poster), leaving no margin. An advertisement that runs to the edge of a page is called a bleed advertisement. It may bleed on three sides, two sides, or one side, leaving the white space on the other side(s) open for copy. Whether the ad bleeds on one, two, three, or four sides, most magazines charge a 15% premium for its use, since the size of the plate needed to print a bleed ad is necessarily larger than that for typical advertisements. Designed to get attention, a bleed ad allows the artist greater flexibility in expressing the advertising concept, because the printing space is larger.

Teaser campaign: Brief advertisement designed to tease the public by offering only bits of information without revealing either the sponsor of the advertisements or the product being advertised. Teaser advertisements are the frontrunners of an advertising campaign, and their purpose is to arouse curiosity and get attention for the campaign that follows. In order for a teaser campaign to be effective, the advertisements must have great visibility in print, broadcast, and out of home media so as to reach a great many people. Teaser advertisements are often used in the introduction of a major motion picture or a new product.

ASCI: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) (1985) has adopted a Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising. It is a commitment to honest advertising and to fair competition in the market-place. It stands for the protection of the legitimate interests of consumers and all concerned with advertising - advertisers, media, advertising agencies and others who help in the creation or placement of advertisements.

Deceptive advertising: is defined as "a representation, omission or practice that is likely to mislead the consumer" and "practices that have been found misleading or deceptive in specific cases include false oral or written representations, misleading price claims, sales of hazardous or systematically defective products or services without adequate disclosures, failure to disclose information regarding pyramid sales, use of bait and switch techniques, failure to perform promised services, and failure to meet warranty obligations.

Advertising agency related terms - Part - I

ABC: Audit bureau of circulation: of North America is a non-profit circulation auditing organization. It is one of several organizations, operating in different parts of the world that audits circulation, readership, and audience information for the magazines, newspapers and other publications produced by their members.

Rate card: Information cards provided by both print and broadcast media, which contain information concerning advertising costs, mechanical requirements, issue dates, closing dates, cancellation dates, and circulation data, etc. Rate cards are very creatively made as they have to catch the eye of the creative people in the advertising agencies. The media planning department in the advertising agency compares the rate cards of different publishers and broadcasters and prepares a competitive media plan which can maximize the advertising spend of its client. As a rule the publishers are not supposed to furnish the rate cards directly to the final customer but this rule is only being observed only in the breach.

Agency commission: the money paid to advertising agencies by the media (broadcast or print) for purchases of time or space made on behalf of clients. Since the ad agency saves the media the expense of direct sales and billing, the media allows the agency a 15% discount (16.67% for outdoor advertising), based on the gross advertising rate billed to the client. (The discount also serves as incentive to the agency.)

For example: If a company spends Rs 1,00,000 on advertising placed through a recognized ad agency, the agency commission is Rs 15,000 and the balance of Rs 85,000 is paid to the media. The agency commission system represents the basic financial structure of the ad agency business. The company has nothing to lose as it would have paid 1,00,000 whether it approaches the media directly or through the advertising agency.

INS: Indian news paper society: acts as the central organization of the Press of India, an independent body authenticating circulation figures of newspapers and periodicals in India. It is an organization which plays a major role in protecting and promoting the freedom of press. The society was founded in 1939. Its headquarters are at Rafi Marg, New Delhi.

INS membership comprises the owners, proprietors and publishers of print media who discusses and suggest various measures to the government regarding the problems related to the newspaper industry. It is a kind of pressure group which works to protect the interest of newspaper industry in particular and print media in general.

Accredited advertising agency: All the advertising agencies have to be accredited with the Indian Newspaper society. Accreditation is very important as it confers some special status and benefits to the concerned advertising agency. All accredited agencies get the full 15% commission that is paid by the publisher. They also get 60 days of credit from the concerned publisher. Accreditation is very important as blue chips, Government managed organizations like Indian railways and public sector companies get their advertising work done only by accredited agencies. Accreditation is the route a small agency takes to announce that it has arrived and joins the big league of national level advertising agencies.