Effective Advertising Strategies and Terminology

Unit 5: Advertising

Key Advertising Concepts

If a celebrity endorses a product, they state how good it is in advertisements.

Billboards, those large signs used for advertising, are often called “hoardings” in British English.

Manufacturers of toiletries and cosmetics frequently offer free samples for customers to try out their new products.

Advertising done at the place where a product is sold is called “point-of-sale advertising”.

Sponsorship of sports or arts events can be a powerful method of advertising.

If you hear about a new product from a friend or relative, this is called “word-of-mouth”.

Outdoor advertising is growing rapidly because the cost of TV commercials has risen dramatically.

Useful Advertising Verbs and Phrases

• To launch: a product / an advertising campaign
• To capture: somebody's imagination / somebody's attention
• To differentiate: between two products / one product from another
• To communicate: a message to somebody / with somebody

Customer and Competitor Analysis Questions

Existing Customers

• Who are our existing customers?
• Where are they located?
• How do we communicate with them at present?
• What is our unique selling point?

Reaching Customers

• How can we reach them through advertising?
• Who and where are our potential customers?

Competitors

• How is our range of products/services different from theirs?
• What do we know about our competitors?
• What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• How do they advertise?
• What media do they use?

Advertising Terminology Glossary

A - C

• Advertorials: Methods of advertising.
• Agency: Company that provides advertising services to other businesses.
• Aim: To choose a target (apuntar).
• An ad for: An advertisement for perfumes, cars, etc. (Important!)
• An advertising account: Contrato publicitario.
• An advertising agency: Launches/develops an advertising campaign.
• Banner ads: Methods of advertising.
• Billboards = Hoarding (valla publicitaria): Methods of advertising.
• Caption: Words underneath a photo (leyenda, pie).
• Cinema, Internet, Press (prensa), radio, television: Advertising media.
• Clincher: Text that goes above the image.
• Commercials: Methods of advertising. An advert shown on television.
• Copy: The entire text of the advertisement.
• Cost-effective: Providing value for money (rentable). Getting the best results without spending too much money.

E - P

• Encourage: Urge, support (animar, alentar, estimular, fomentar).
• Exhibition = Trade show = Feria (IFEMA): Methods of advertising. An exhibition where businesses show what they do or sell.
• Free samples: Methods of advertising.
• Glossy: Shiny and expensive-looking.
• Leaflets / Flyers: Methods of advertising.
• Mailshots: Buzoneo.
• Media: Plural for means of communication (e.g., TV is an advertising medium, singular).
• Medium-commercial / Commercial: TV/ radio advertisement (AD / ADVERT).
• Outdoor advertising: Advertising on the metro, bus, etc.
• Pop –ups: Methods of advertising.
• Posters: Methods of advertising.
• Product placement.

P - S

• Promotion: Activity to help sell a product.
• Publicity: Means of making sure that people know about a new product.
• Scent: Pleasant smell (perfume, aroma, olor).
• Seekers: Person who is looking for something (buscador, investigador).