Advertising Campaign

Definition: An advertising campaign or ad campaign is a systematically planned course of action that aims to promote a company, cause, person, idea, product or service. In the advertising industry, an ad campaign is a short-term communication programme that makes use of different media directed towards a specific group of people.

It encompasses a group of promotional messages. They have a common point or idea, placed in multiple media, resulting in an Integrated Marketing Communication or IMC. IMC is nothing but a single idea which is expressed in various media forms. An advertising campaign is expected to inform and persuade the audience. It must raise the public profile of the brand and also improve the image of the advertiser. It is a time-bound programme.

In finer terms, an advertising campaign is an array of independent and linked advertisements which are broadcasted through various media platforms. Further, the individual advertisements that result in a campaign would appear similar. This is because the unified theme gives it a psychological continuity for the whole campaign. Also, the visual and oral resemblance gives it physical continuity. Hence, the ad campaign focuses on a single message, targeting a specific segment of the population to increase conversions.

Designing an advertising campaign does not mean giving it a beautiful layout for the purpose of creativity. It has to be meaningful too. It must be thoughtfully planned after a lot of brainstorming sessions. When we talk about a message, it is a set of various elements, i.e. typography, packaging, illustration, logo and slogan, which are put together into a theme.

What is an Ad Campaign Theme?

The theme of the campaign is the central idea that is often highlighted during promotional activities and remains the ultimate focus of the advertising campaign. It involves the identification of business goals and researching such keywords that help in effectively reaching and representing the target audience.

The most difficult part of an advertising campaign is to ascertain the campaign theme. This is because it prepares the tone for individual advertisements. The theme of the ad campaign is the essence that is communicated in all promotional activities. The advertising agency develops a campaign theme with the objective of using it for a substantial period of time. However, most of the themes do not survive for a long time. The reason being competition, market conditions, trends, etc.

Characteristics of Advertising Campaign

• Organization at the national, regional or local level.
• Essential for facing market competition.
• Costly because of the hike in media rates.
• Use of multiple channels like television, radio, mail and newspaper for the execution of advertising campaigns.
• Meant for the entire organization and not just for a single department.

Also Read: 5 M’s of Advertising

Types of Advertising Campaigns

Do you know different advertising campaigns are designed for different reasons and objectives? The two types of advertising campaigns are: Product Campaigns and Non-Product Campaigns:

1. Product Campaign: It is one where the company advertises a product or service. It includes campaigns like:
   • Product Promotion Campaign: For promoting a product or service. The ultimate goal of this campaign is to sell the product.
   • Service Campaign: To promote the service which the company promises to render for a price.
2. Non-Product Campaign: As the name suggests, it does not promote any product or service. It promotes ideas, people, businesses or events. It can be::
   • Political Campaign: For the purpose of winning the elections.
   • Local Campaign: For promoting business in a limited geographical area.
   • Social Awareness Campaign: To create social awareness on an issue.
   • Fund Raiser Campaign: To raise funds for helping someone or to seek help from others.
   • Corporate Campaign: To create and maintain a corporate image.

Objective of Advertising Campaign

You can also call it an organized marketing effort or strategy that runs across different media channels so as to get the desired outcome. The desired outcome can be in the form of:

• Brand awareness
• Increase the volume of sales or market share
• Generating leads
• Improvement in communication
• Increasing demand
• Inform and educate public
• Change the perception of people concerning a brand
• Increasing the frequency of use
• Creating a new long-term habit

Also Read: Media Planning

Duration of Ad Campaign

When it comes to the length of time, one ad campaign differs from another. That is to say, while some campaigns run for only a season, broadcasting of some campaigns takes place throughout the year. So, it may last from a couple of weeks and months to years. The duration of an ad campaign depends on a number of factors, including:

1. Competitor’s advertising media policies
2. Seasonal sales curve of the products
3. Advertising budget
4. The objective of the campaign
5. Nature of the marketing programme

A Word from Business Jargons

Above all, the advertiser carries out an ad campaign to meet immediate goals or long-term objectives, which are divided into a number of milestones. It is developed in accordance with the marketing program and targeted at the consumers. During the period of the ad campaign, a range of individual advertisements are published via multiple media so as to get the desired response.