The History of Advertising - Essay Example

History of Advertising What is advertising Advertising is the mirror of the modern world. Sometimes you see an ugly figure and sometimes a beautiful one; the image keeps changing with the changing occurrences, culture, people and society providing 'excitements and allure' (Nicholl, 1978) and vehement criticisms. The fact remains that it always reflected a virtual image of what is seen around and thus invited criticisms related to culture, politics, and even language. Today there is practically no field which has not got reflected in its powerful mirrors. It has become an 'integral and essential part of the modern society.' (qtd. in Nicholl, 1978). Advertising today is totally integrated with the term marketing, that it has become an activity similar to mass selling. In this respect it has to be distinguished from other activities intended to persuade the public, like propaganda, publicity and public relations. The techniques of advertising range in complexity from the publishing of simple notices in the classified-advertising columns of newspapers to the integrated marketing communications, involving the concerned use of advertising in newspapers, magazines, television and radio and on the internet as well as direct response, sales promotion and other communications vehicles in the course of a single campaign. From its humble beginnings in the ancient times, advertising had grown into a worldwide industry, with billions of dollars spent every year to influence the purchase of products and services. New age advertising Advertising has also changed not only in spending but by its nature, scope and components over the years. The channels (media), research, techniques of persuasion, industry structure, economic and social effects and regulation are the factors that have contributed to its change over the years. Today advertising messages are disseminated through numerous channels. The television, newspapers, direct mail, radio, yellow pages, magazines, business publications, outdoor advertising and farm publications were the traditional channels. But miscellaneous media such as window displays, free shopping news publications, calendars, blimps, sky writing by airplanes, sandwich boards carried by people walking the streets, delivery trucks painted with product messages, wrapping paper and shopping bags etc are employed to reach the advertisements to the potential buyers. The new information age has contributed the advertising industry with its new channels like the internet, gleaming with pop-up messages and e-mail alerts; the mobile phones with the SMS messages and the net savvy gadgets that download the entertainment along with the ad promos. Research is another factor that has contributed to the growth of the sector. It was only possible to approximate the effectiveness of various advertising a century ago. Today prospective advertisers were guided almost solely by estimates of magazine and newspaper readership. Advertising and market research has become so much sophisticated that advertisers and agencies frequently conduct extensive and expensive surveys to determine the potential acceptance of products or services before they are advertised nationally at costs that may amount to millions of dollars. Techniques of persuasion has also changed, most of them circumscribed only by the ingenuity of the creative mind, the limits of various channels of communication, by certain legal restrictions and by the standards self imposed by the industry. Modern advertising employs an astonishing variety of persuaders. Among these are humorous and entertaining television and radio commercials, appeals to the sense of smell by use of perfumed ink on paper, endorsements of products by celebrities, appeals to parents to give their children a better life and future, appeals to children to 'ask mommy' to buy certain break fast cereals and the controversial use of 'scare copy'. The advertising industry has also changed. Today we see a great transition from the old space brokerage to the new age big-budget advertising. The growth of radio and television as advertising media necessitated the creation of new departments devoted to the purchase of network and local station time including spots on news reports, sports and entertainment shows, and other types of programs. Advertising has also become an increasingly important international business practice. Modern advertising plays an integral role in the development of markets for the low-cost goods made possible by the high productivity of the industries of the developed economies. Advertising also supplies the most of the operating funds of the principal communications media. Advertising is one of the most strictly regulated industries around the world. Several advertising trade associations are concerned with the maintaining high standards. They feel it is good business practice to do so, in as much as advertising that weakens public confidence damages the impact and influence of all advertising. History Advertising is an indispensable, crucial form of communication, ad as soon as man could grunt he began to advertise. According to his grimace, primordial man advertised to his neighbors that he was happy or angry. His war paint advertised his tribe, the plumage of his head-dress told his rank and style. Tombs of Chou Dynasty in the China of eleventh century B.C. advertised by their grisly contents; the number of the buried chariots and the quantity of skeletons from funeral sacrifices advertised how important the entombed rulers were. Nine hundred years earlier on the other side of the world, the Pharaohs with their Pyramids had done much the same. They advertised to earth and to heaven. They advertised to the present and the future. Down to more mundane levels the ancient Egyptians circulated 'lost' an found' notices inscribed on papyrus- what we would today call classified ads- and one can still see on the excavated walls of Pompeii Roman advertisement of A.D.70 annoucing the fun and games to be had at the local baths. It's a wonder som of these advertisements did not precipitate a discussion for law to curb indecent advertisements. Here in the fllor tiles can still be seen the earliest surviving examples of the most familiar ad ever written: 'CAVE CANEM' or 'Beware of the Dog'. In the medieval times word of mouth praise of products gave rise to an effective form of advertising, like the use of town criers. They were citizens who read public notices aloud and were also employed by merchants to shout the praises of their wares. Later they became familiar figures on the streets of colonial America. The criers were forerunners of the modern announcer, who delivers radio and television commercials. Although graphic forms of advertising appeared early in history, printed advertising made little headway until the invention of the movable type printing press in Europe about 1440. The trademark, a two or three dimensional insignia symbolizing a company or industry, dates from about the 16th century, when trades people and guild members posted characteristic symbols outside their shops. Among the best known trademarks from early modern times are the stripped pole of the barber and the three-ball sin of the pawnbroker. In terms of both volume and technique, advertising made its greatest advances in the United States and Europe. In the early stages of American advertising nationwide promotion was impractical because the nation itself was underdeveloped and lacked transcontinental transportation, distribution and communications systems. Eventually however, certain types of manufacturers conceived the idea of bypassing wholesalers and retailers and reaching the consumer through direct advertising, mainly by means of catalogs. The pioneers in this field were seed companies and book and pamphlet publishers. Mail-order houses selling general merchandise appeared on the scene in the 1870's. Patent-medicine companies loomed large in newspaper and magazine advertising starting in the late 1870's. They found a ready market because doctors and reliable pharmacists were scarce outside the populated areas, and the frontier settlers and farmers had to do much of their own doctoring. Railroads and steamship lines were early users of advertising in the United States not only to praise the luxury and comfort of their modes of travel but also to publish their schedules and rates. Late in the 19th century many American firms began to market packaged goods under brand names. This development initiated a new era in the history of advertising. The soap makers were early advertisers of packaged and branded produscts. The first 'household name' soap brands, which date from about 1880, include Ivory, Pears', Sapolio, Colgate, Kirk's American Family, and Packer's. Soon afterward such brands as Royal Baking Powder, Quaker Oats, Baker's Chocolate, Hire's Root Beer, Regal Shoes, and Waterman's Pens were nationally advertised. Shortly after the turn of the century Americans began to be aware of such brand names as Bon Ami, Wrigley and Coca Cola. After World War I advertising developed into a business so big that it became almost a trademark of America itself in the eyes of the world. The expanding industries inspired innovations and improved techniques that benefited other facets of business in the nation. The invention of electricity le to the illuminated outdoor poster; photoengraving and other modern printing inventions helped both the editorial and advertising departments of printed journals. Advertising was used increasingly by public relations specialists as an important means of communication. The advent of radio in the 1920s stimulated a new technique of selling by voice. During the World War II the American advertising industry founded the War Advertising Council, a non-profit public-service organization that employed the resources of modern advertising to strengthen the American war effort. After the war the organization continued, as the Advertising Council, to function in the public interest. Many advertising agencies contribute their creative services to Advertising Council campaigns. The most significant development since World War II has been television, a medium that provides extraordinary opportunities for the advertising industry to sell products and services through visual devices as well as by voice. More problematic for the industry has been the proliferation since the 1980s of videocassette recorders(VCRs) in American homes, that allowed viewers to edit out commercials when recording or speed past them when viewing a taped show. During the mid 1990s the advertising industry began exploring the possibilities offered by the Internet. By the end of the decade, interactive advertising messages were commonplace on the World Wide Web (www) and consumers could use their computers to place orders for numerous products or services or to request further information about them. To an increasing extent, companies employed web sites as an integral part of their advertising strategies. The future of advertising The future of advertising lies in the hands of information technology and its advancements. Research and developments in information technology has put more electronic and internet savvy communication gadgets in the hands of the consumer. Miniaturization has become a strategy in the global consumer electronic and telecommunication market. This has given more and more channels for advertising to explore. The future of advertising there fore lies with internet and its application, because it serves not only as a communication channel but also enables transaction and distribution. No other medium can accomplish these marketing functions instantly, without resorting to other means. Internet is by nature interactive, making possible to carry transactions over it. Finally it has the capacity of multimedia content. The multimedia nature of internet is suitable for high-impact advertising. Works cited 1. Nicholl Shelley David, Advertising, Its Purpose Principles and Practice, London, Macdonald and Evans, 1978 2. Nath, J, Advertising Art and Production, Bombay, Vakil and Sons, 1987 3. Puri, G.K., Public Relations for All, New Delhi, IIMC, 1986 4. Dewitt.A.Eugene, Advertising, Funk and Wagnall's New Encyclopedia, 2005 5. Advertising, www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/do_history/advertsing/index.cfm Read More