Advertising: Is IT A Necessary Evil or A Flawed Blessing?

Advertising clutter and consumer apathy has been discussed at length in many research papers. The inspiration for the present research paper has come from the innovative and strategic use of advertisement money by Virgin Group (USA) for better promotion and placement of their products; against giant international competitors well entrenched in their own markets. This success must inspire companies to fight temptation to add to the clutter and waste a lot of corporate and mostly public funds with no tangible evidence of increasing their company sales and profitability. If we can dispassionately look at some of the recent TV commercials; For example tooth paste products; some brands claim different benefits for their own marginally different versions and others invent newer benefits and previously unheard of virtues and health benefits: the point of concern is-does the advertisement really pays off? OR can such big money be used for better products or customer service? This paper attempts to critically evaluate the efficacy of advertisements in the present crowded environment of advertisement space. Still some companies pursue an aggressive advertising plan-is it really paying? These questions will be increasingly relevant where corporate profits are continuously under pressure and global organizations are trying to figure a way out of this unhealthy and unprofitable advertisement race.