Q.12 Make a precise of the following passage in about one-third of its length:
The chief object of the repetitive form of advertisement is to help people to remember the product. The general principle is similar to that followed by Bajaj Automotives Ltd: “You just can’t beat a bajaj”. The repetition of a phrase, the inclusion of a trade name or a trademark in every advertisement; is intended to impress upon the mind of the reader / listener that name or phrase or picture. The response sought by the advertiser is achieved when a customer enters a shop for, say, toothpaste. To the shop-keeper’s question, “particular brand, please?, the customer gives the reply that is in his mind, not necessarily because he has arrived at a decision by any process of reasoning, nor because some strong feeling has been aroused for some particular brand, but simply because he has repeatedly seen the name, and it is associated in his mind with the idea of a good toothpaste. Some trade names become so common that they displace the true name of the commodity itself, such as ‘vaseline’, the well-known trade name for ‘petroleum jelly’. Advertisements which have relied on repetition have, in the past, proved very powerful, b”t with the increased variety of proprietary articles and products intended for the same purpose, this kind of advertising is losing some of its value because of the confusion of names that arise in a customer’s mind when he wishes to buy, say, cigarettes, tobacco, soap, chocolates, tea and other goods which are widely used. (248 words)
Ans – ADVERTISING BY REPETITION
The use of repetition is the simplest form of advertising. In advertisements, repeated use of a particular phrase or trade-mark aims to make such an impression on the customer that he will tend to buy that product. Indeed, some trade-names, ‘vaseline’ for example, have become so well known that they are used instead of the real name of the products. Owing to the large number of consumer articles and products now in the market, advertising by repetition is less effective than it was in the past. (87 words)