International Graduate School Exhibit Shows

International Graduate School Exhibit Shows Introduction One of the most popular marketing communications campaigns of promoting a masters degree program to potential students has been through the use of educational exhibits that are done in cooperation with the British Council.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Graduate School Exhibit Shows specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The British Council (not to be confused as a government entity) is an international education marketing service that enables schools within the UK (and other countries as well) to connect with potential students around the world. This is done through education exhibits wherein various schools have booths that showcase what programs potential students can go for, what amenities can they expect from their respective universities and whether one particular type of program is better than another. Thus, from the perspective of students, the British Council marketing campaign can be c onsidered as one of the best methods of learning what particular program would be best for them. However, despite the advantages showcase by this particular method of direct promotion, it must be questioned whether such a marketing initiative is effective at all given that several of the locations that the British council has campaigned in have students that would not be able to afford the high tuition fees associated with learning within a U.K. based school. International Advertising International advertising initiatives such as those done by the British Council in countries such as Indonesia, Ghana and the Philippines all attempt to target new markets within foreign countries due to flat growth in their main consumer markets (i.e. the U.S.) They do this by utilizing print ads and television advertisements in order to create an association between education and success (i.e. if a person learns at a particular university in the UK they will become wealthy) which results in a far gre ater degree of students applying.Advertising Looking for essay on advertising? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In this case, this is a form of informative advertising wherein companies seek to create greater awareness for their products/services. The research methodology behind this form of advertising is basically one which involves creating an association between a new product and a given benefit. For example, advertising campaigns tend to associate the use of some beauty creams as a means of getting a more â€Å"youthful† look. Targeting the Correct Market Segment What must be understood is that the ultimate goal of advertising is to be able target products to the consumers who want to buy them. As such, in order to create sales for a company what is needed is to examine the current market and customers and determine why a product or service is not selling and revise strategies accordingly in order to targe t the correct market segment. Companies in such situations can approach their relationships with consumers through the use of a systematic, rigorous process of segmentation, targeting and positioning which should result in the company being able to determine which consumer segment to approach and how to properly position itself to create sales and maximize profit (Shankar 1999). In the case of many of today’s advertising agencies, this comes in the form of traditional advertising strategies (i.e. print ads, television commercials or sponsorships) or non traditional methods of advertising which take the form of online ads and viral video campaigns which are becoming increasingly popular as a means of reaching millions of people with a relatively small budget. When examining the case of the British Council campaign in promoting UK based educational institutions, it must be questioned whether their strategy of expansion in various Asian markets is a smart one given the limited f unding of local populations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Graduate School Exhibit Shows specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For example, when examining the locations where the British Council has been holding its educational fairs, it can be seen that they have events occurring within Indonesia, the Philippines, Nigeria, Ghana and Mauritius. While it is not the intent of this paper to disparage the potential such locations have for producing high quality students, the fact remains that these locations have income levels that are far below the UK norm. Even though there would be willing students, it is unlikely that they would even be able to afford the tuition even if significant levels of financial assistance were provided. As such, this calls into question the viability of the target market approach that the British Council educational institution promotion strategy is employing. One aspect to take i nto consideration when it comes to this type of advertising is the fact that at times certain products become a tough sell. In such cases what is needed is to frame an offer to get rid of the objection so as to entice consumers to purchase the product once more despite the market environment dictating the complete opposite type of buying behavior. This process in effect creates a buying situation where the consumer observes the perks of buying a particular product and neglects to take into account the possible negative implications of the sale. Such a situation would normally be possible in market segments that have the excess liquidity to actually buy a product yet are unable to do so. However, within the context of the British Council campaign, despite the efforts of the organization to promote the product (i.e. education in the UK) the fact remains that relatively few people within some of the countries that the campaign advertises in actually have students that can afford the pr oduct they are offering.Advertising Looking for essay on advertising? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More One strategy that is often utilized in advertising is the use of discounts when selling particular products such as various services (i.e. advertising).What you have to understand is that people love a bargain and, as such, it is at times necessary to lower prices in order to have some form of income rather than none at all (Grà ¸nhaug, Kvitastein Grà ¸nmo 1991). Such a tactic contributes significantly towards the agency’s advertising strategy since this enables consumers to perceive that they are getting their money’s worth when it comes to purchasing the company’s services. As such, if the British Council were to offer partial scholarships to lower the cost of education for particular educational institutions, then it may be possible to actually create a market situation where there would be actual buyers instead of mere onlookers. Present Day Advertising Strategies using the Internet One of the methods that the British Council has utilized in order to prom ote its various education fairs has been through the use of the internet. The sheer proliferation of social media platforms such as blogs, wikis and online forums has created an unprecedented opportunity for advertising services like the British Council to take advantage of this new social trend in order to promote particular products and services via online social platforms. Nearly 22% of all online activity within the U.S. alone is spent on social networking websites and as such is indicative of the consumer market share that social media platforms could potentially provide to the company should it utilize such an advertising tool. Furthermore it has been proven that using social media programs such as viral advertising initiatives results in a certain degree of hype being generated for a particular product or service yet only cost a fraction of a standard advertising campaign. Thus from a cost-benefit standpoint the utilization of social media platforms as advertising tools is no t only advantageous for an advertising agency in terms of brand promotion and gaining a certain degree of market penetration into potentially untapped consumer segments but it can do so at a relatively low cost and as such presents numerous potential avenues of approach by which an agency can generate consumer awareness of its clients products. One way in which the British council has been utilizing social media in advertising its various university fairs was to create a Facebook fan page for the company in order to help better connect itself with its current customer base. What must be understood is that by creating a fan page this allows subscribed Facebook fans to receive updates from the company in the form of fair launch dates, overall service availability, performance and other factors that can contribute to its sale. In fact a fan page creates a human face for the company in that by posting daily news regarding the particular industry the company is in. This helps consumers t o better understand the British council and thus create a greater degree of awareness for the various fairs which translates into a higher likelihood of service patronage. It is also interesting to note that through the fan page the company can also better facilitate particular promotions such as discounts, special contests and other such methods of promotional advertising that are meant to entice greater public interest. Various companies ranging from the alcoholic beverage maker Jack Daniels to the computer manufacturer Asus have Facebook fan pages and this has enabled them to create a larger consumer fan base since instead of the company merely being a nameless entity that consumers buy products or services from, it is subsequently transformed into an entity with particular views, positions on current events and even a sense of humor when it comes to posting its daily wall posts Effective Use of Advertising While advertising is an effective means for a UK based university to comm unicate with its potential students and deliver its intended message, this does not mean that all types of advertising are suitable for delivering a message for a particular type of company or a specific kind of product (Proctor, Proctor, Papasolomou-Doukakis 2002). Since most students can be considered as being rational consumers they would of course tend to patronize a product that they believe is within their price range, is of exceptional quality and has a higher degree of total utility compared to similar products within the market. This would result in students having a greater likelihood of going for a particular university that they saw through informative advertising since for them it fulfills all the prerequisites needed for effective consumption. However, it should be noted that within the context of college education promotions, persuasive advertising is utilized as a means of changing a consumers mind by presenting a need that did not previously exist. For example, whe n going to these fairs people initially have no idea that they need to take up a masters degree, however, after the various presentations given by schools and by the British Council itself, this creates the desire for a masters degree due to the supposed advantages of having one. This can come in the form of showing potential career advantages that come with a master’s degree, how obtaining one would result in more opportunities in the future and lastly how it would actually be fun to take up advanced education in another country. Conclusion Based on the examination of the British Council campaign that was examined, it can be seen that advertising is a way in which a company generates interest in a particular product line in order to encourage greater sales within specific markets. It also acts as a method to generate a certain degree of â€Å"hype† and product patronage for the products/services that the company is offering (Hirschman Thompson 1997). In some product markets, certain types of consumer goods and services require an extra push so to speak when trying to conduct normal business operations. In such instances, if customers are not buying, more often than not, it is an indication that a company is targeting the wrong people (Hirschman Thompson 1997). Taking this into consideration, it can be assumed that in cases where a hard to sell product is involved it is not that the company is experiencing a situation where the consumer does not want to be a customer but rather the company is merely targeting the wrong consumer market. It is in such instances that techniques such as informative, reassuring and persuasive advertising are utilized in order to gain the patronage of the market segment that the company is aiming for. Based on the various examples that have been presented, it can be seen that despite various forms of consumable media in the form of print ads, billboards, commercials, online advertising campaigns and a plethora of oth er types of advertising initiatives being present in the world today, not all techniques utilized in their creation are applicable to particular companies, products or services. At times it requires a specific type of advertising initiative whether informative, persuasive or reassuring in order to reach the ultimate goal of advertising which is to be able target products/services to the consumers who want to buy them and retain their patronage for as long as possible. Reference List Grà ¸nhaug, K, Kvitastein, O, Grà ¸nmo, S 1991, Factors moderating advertising effectiveness as reflected in 333 tested advertisements, Journal Of Advertising Research, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 42-50, Hirschman, E, Thompson, C 1997, Why Media Matter: Toward a Richer Understanding of Consumers Relationships with Advertising and Mass Media, Journal Of Advertising, vol.26, no.1, pp. 43-60 Proctor, S, Proctor, T, Papasolomou-Doukakis, I 2002, A post-modern perspective on advertisements and their analysis, Jo urnal Of Marketing Communications, vol.8, no. 1, pp. 31-44 Shankar, A 1999, Advertisings imbroglio, Journal Of Marketing Communications, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1-15