What is Surrogate Advertising?

Have you ever thought “Why is Kingfisher, an alcohol brand, marketing drinking water?” It is because of the phenomenon called ‘Surrogate Advertising’.

Suurogate Advertisement

Surrogate advertising, uses the advertisement of a brand or product, to convey a message which is related to another brand or product. This is done due to various reasons. Primary reason is to circumvent the ban on advertising for a particular type of product(s). For example advertising for alcoholic beverages and cigarettes are banned in India. However, Such brands advertise through other products like mineral water or music. Surrogate advertising may also be used in cases where the use of a product is linked to a service. In such cases, the service is advertised widely, and the service provider uses only the product in question.

Trends before Ban in advertising

  • “Wills” a cigarette brand of ITC, used to sponsor the Indian Cricket Team/Matches
  • Tennis Tournaments were sponsored by “Gold Flake”, another cigarette brand
  • “Manikchand”, manufacturers of ghutka, sponsored the Filmfare Awards for a considerably number of years

Advertising post imposition of Ban

However after the imposition of a ban on advertising for liquor/tobacco and related products, brands are increasingly using surrogates for advertising. Here are a few examples

BRAND SURROGATE
Seagrams Music
McDowells Water and Soda
Bagpiper Water, Soda, and Music
Red and White Bravery Awards
Bacardi Music
Kingfisher Water and Calendars
Wills Lifestyle Apparels, Accessories
Smirnoff, Aristrocrat Apple Juice

Continue reading here: What is Product Life Cycle (PLC)?

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Readers' Questions

  • karly fleming
    What is surrogate advertising with example?
    1 year ago
  • Surrogate advertising is a type of marketing that promotes a product indirectly by using an alternative brand or product. It is often used when direct advertising is not allowed, such as with alcohol or tobacco. For example, cigarette companies may use a "brand extender" product such as t-shirts to indirectly advertise its brand without actually making a direct reference to the product. Another example of surrogate advertising is when an energy drink company might advertise a video game console to indirectly promote its product.