The History of Advertising
A General Overview
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Advertising has not always been as
glamorous as it seems to be in this day
of mass media in America.
The most reliable source of advertising
in the old days (before print) was word
of mouth.
The town crier was the source of most
information, and this was one of the
early ways that people advertised.
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The History of Advertising
In 1704, the first newspaper
ad was published.
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It was an announcement about
a house for sale in the Boston
Newsletter.
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The History of Advertising
In 1729, our forefather Benjamin
Franklin began the advertising
tradition in America.
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His Philadelphia Gazette had a full
page of advertisements.
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The History of Advertising
Ben Franklin also started
magazine advertising in 1749
with his General Magazine.
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The first successful newspaper
(after our founding as a nation)
was in 1784, also in
Pennsylvania. It was even
called the Advertiser!
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The History of Advertising
1833: New York Sun
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The first successful “penny
newspaper” founded by Benjamin Day.
Revolutionized distribution by selling
lots of 100 to boys to sell on the street.
By 1837, circulation reached 30,000!
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The History of Advertising
The first Advertising Agency
opened in 1843.
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It was also in Philadelphia! A
man named Volney Palmer was
the first true ad agency man.
He was in charge of brokering
space for advertising more than
for the actual creation of the ads.
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The History of Advertising
In 1873, there was a
convention of advertising
agents in New York.
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A few years later, James Walter
Thompson created the position of
“account executive” for himself
and went into the business of
general magazine advertising.
This was the beginning of creative
advertising in this country.
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The History of Advertising
1880 – First full-time retail
advertising copywriter
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In 1880, department store
founder John Wanamaker
became the first retailer to
hire a full-time advertising
copywriter, John E. Powers
who is considered the father
of modern creative
advertising.
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The History of Advertising
In 1882, the first “big budget”
client spent $11,000 on
advertisements.
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This company’s main product
was soap!
Selling soap was big business
in America!
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The History of Advertising
In 1893, a cola company
got the first registered
trademark.
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The company bookkeeper
came up with the original
first mark for the brand.
His name was Frank
Robinson.
Can you guess which
company this was?
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The History of Advertising
In 1900, N.W. Ayer started a “Business
Getting” Department in their agency.
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This department was based on the
marketing needs of their clients. Marketing
in America now had a name. “Business
Getting” was what it was all about.
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The History of Advertising
In 1906, the first million
dollar advertising client
was born.
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Can you guess which
company broke the million
dollar barrier to promote its
cereal products?
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The History of Advertising
In 1916, outdoor billboard
ads were mostly under the
control of a group of
representatives from many
different agencies that
formed a new entity.
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The National Outdoor
Advertising Bureau controlled
about 75% of all outdoor ads
during this time.
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The History of Advertising
The first sponsored radio
show aired in 1923.
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In 1924, other companies
began sponsoring radio
programs, and the age of
radio advertising was in full
swing.
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The History of Advertising
1929: Stock Market Crashes
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Advertising revenue plummeted
from a high of $3.5 billion.
Stock Market revenue only
reached $1.5 billion by 1933.
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The History of Advertising
In 1936 a magazine published
over $100 million dollars in ads.
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It was the most financially
successful magazine the country
had ever seen, primarily due to ad
revenues.
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The History of Advertising
Advertising Media changed
again in 1938.
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Radio surpassed magazines as
the dominant form of advertising.
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The History of Advertising
1941: Television’s first
broadcast ad!
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It was an ad for a watch that
ticked for 60 seconds.
7500 televisions in New York
were tuned in to see it… the thrill
of watching a watch on TV.
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The History of Advertising
1954: Television makes history!
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Color came into the picture, and the
world was set on its ear. Everyone
had to have a color television!
Which station do you think was the
largest advertising medium in the
world at this time?
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The History of Advertising
In 1967, Mary Wells became
the first woman to head a
major advertising agency.
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In the heat of the Women’s
Movement, we saw the impact
of women having a great deal
of influence on the direction
advertising was taking in
America.
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The History of Advertising
In 1971, Congress banned
cigarette advertising via
broadcast media.
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Cigarette companies felt the
bruises from the advertising
restraint and re-channeled all of
their ads into magazines and
billboards.
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The History of Advertising
Music TV debuted in 1981.
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A new, frenetically paced
style of television advertising
tried to emulate the music
videos that young people
were coming to expect.
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The History of Advertising
1993 brings the Internet to over
5 million people worldwide and
changes the way ads are
delivered yet again.
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Ads pop up, pop under, and
become a general nuisance to
most computer users.
Special software programs are
written to help eliminate unwanted
ads from the computer screen.
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The History of Advertising
1999: Regulating Internet
Advertising
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This occurred as billings for
internet advertising neared the
$3 Billion mark.
Do you know which company
moved to standardize all
Internet advertising?
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The History of Advertising
With the new millennium,
advertising product placement
has become quite common.
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Next time you buy a movie ticket
or tune in to a commercial
television program, watch your
favorite stars and see what they
are they wearing, drinking, eating
and driving. It’s all advertising.
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The History of Advertising
Other new topics
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Virtual placement – most commonly used at
sporting events and on electronic billboards
Crowdsourcing
Niche marketing
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Usage tracking
Customer profiles
Social networking sites
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The History of Advertising
Where did all of this start?
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Most modern advertising can
essentially trace its roots to the
invention of the Gutenberg printing
press with moveable type back in 1441.
The rest of it is almost a natural
evolutionary process. With new
inventions come new ways to
advertise. So the next time you sit
down with that paper, realize that it was
print advertising that revolutionized the
way things are done.
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