Advertising and communications

Advertising is non-personal communication directed at target audiences through various media in order to present and promote products, services and ideas, the cost of which is borne by an identified sponsor or sponsors. Advertising in banking alerts a potential user that a service or product will help him to reach an objective, for example, somewhere to keep his money safely or borrowing to buy a new house.1 The basic definition of ‘communication’ is to succeed in conveying one’s meaning to others, but within the context of marketing this can be done in a variety of ways, using a variety of media. We will use communications in the marketing sense, that is, as a means of persuasion that results either in some desired action — such as buying a particular product or service — or in a change of attitude or behaviour that is likely to lead eventually to the desired action. The main techniques used for communications are personal selling, promotion and publicity (public relations), all of which will be dealt with separately.