Advertising scenarios worldwide are changing rapidly. Traditional medium of mass advertising have changed over the years. Firms are increasingly adopting various ways to advertise their products and services. Celebrity endorsement, games and sport sponsorships, blogging, social networking etc are tried and tested.

Despite a slowdown in the US economy, firms are increasing their advertising spending, at least the big spenders. A report by TNS Media reveals that the top 10 advertisers in the first quarter of 2008 spent a combined total of $4,425.5 million, a 1.6 percent increase from last year. In US market the top 10 advertiser list is filled with conglomerates companies, automotive and Telecom firms who are generally less affected than financial institutes.

The top spender list is below:

  • P&G
  • GM
  • Verizon
  • AT &T
  • News Corp
  • Time Warner
  • Walt Disney
  • PepsiCo
  • Johnson and Johnson
  • Ford Motor

An effective adverting campaign is a challenge. When I say effective it means low campaign cost, high conversion ratio. After adopting mass media approach, firms are quick to realize that, their advertising spending is not generating enough sales. An approximate estimate will reveal that 50% add spending will not provide any ROI to the firms. But challenge is to measure which 50% will generate a potential sales and which 50% is just a waste of hard earned dollars.

Managers are quick to realize that and started innovative and more targeted approach. Advertisers studied and implemented various methods. They caught people on their bottleneck and put ads on toilet papers. That may have generated few sales. But the question still remains the same. What are the efficient ways out there? Probably this question is enough to generate hundred more PhD thesis.

My industry software services faces a unique challenge. These companies don’t have any product to show off to the client or to advertise on the media. Here Marketing and pre-sales people generally sells a promise. This is a promise to client to reduce cost or to increase execution efficiency. What for they advertise? Probably to increase firms brand values and to attract more talents. Accenture associates with Tiger Woods to position itself as a high performer. Do clients look at Tiger Woods’ high performance as a reference before awarding a contract to Accenture? Probably no. Neither a fresh graduate joins Accenture because of Tiger’s association with Accenture. So does it mean this ad campaign is a waste of time and money?