There is a "Five Forces Model" that acts on any Social Media product/ brand/ company, in the following, they are listed.

1. The threat of entry: competitors can enter from any industry, channel, function, form or marketing activity. How best can the company take care of the threat of new entrants?

2. Supplier power: what is the power of suppliers in this industry? How will their actions affect costs, supplies, and developments? If there are a few suppliers, power is in their favour and cost of switching may be prohibitive; vice versa for a situation with lots of suppliers. There may be too many buyers from too few suppliers.

3. Buyer power: there may be few buyers for the product, which could mean that they would drive down prices and dictate business terms. What is their effect on the business? If there are many buyers, sellers could decide not to supply to a few, because other buyers will step in.

4. Threat of substitutes: can another substitute the product? Tea for coffee; email for fax? What is the likely possibility of this and what is its impact?

5. Competitive rivalry: all the four forces may come together to produce this force. All the resources at a company's disposal may be put in to maintain market shares and sales. How intense is competitive action, can it be countered?

What is the meaning of 'Advertising'

Advertising is a means of communication with the users of a product or service. Advertisements are messages paid for by those who send them and are intended to inform or influence people who receive them, as defined by the Advertising Association of the UK.

Advertising is always present, though people may not be aware of it. In today's world, advertising uses every possible media to get its message through. It does this via television, print (newspapers, magazines, journals etc), radio, press, internet, direct selling, hoardings, mailers, contests, sponsorships, posters, clothes, events, colours, sounds, visuals and even people (endorsements).

The advertising industry is made of companies that advertise, agencies that create the advertisements, media that carries the ads, and a host of people like copy editors, visualizers, brand managers, researchers, creative heads and designers who take it the last mile to the customer or receiver. A company that needs to advertise itself and/or its products hires an advertising agency. The company briefs the agency on the brand, its imagery, the ideals and values behind it, the target segments and so on. The agencies convert the ideas and concepts to create the visuals, text, layouts and themes to communicate with the user. After approval from the client, the ads go on air, as per the bookings tobe done by the agency's media buying unit.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor