Advertising
Essential role in consumer
economies
Financial basis of modern
mass media
• consumer
economies
• advertising and
prosperity
• advertising and
democracy
Origins of advertising
• stepchild of
technology
– printing press
• industrial revolution
– steam powered
presses
– factories
– immigrants
• pioneers
Advertising agencies
• Agency structure
– creative
– account executives
– media buyers
– research
• Agency compensation
– three kinds: comm., fees, performance
• Advertiser role in advertising
Placing advertisements
• media plans
– CPM--cost per thousand
• media choices
• alternative media~$5billion a year
– business magazines
– gay newspaper ads
– Spanish language media
– direct mail
Pitching messages
• importance of
brands
• lowest common
denominator
• market segments
• redundancy
techniques
Redundancy techniques
•
•
•
•
•
“redundancy”=repetition
barrages--”ads in flights” or “waves”
bunching--promoting in limited period
trailing--running condensed versions
multimedia trailing--reinforce ads with
less expensive media
• saturation--target, block out competition
New advertising techniques
•
•
•
•
•
•
stealth ads
product placement
infomercials
“infotainment” advertising--games
‘zines
new site ads--sports stadiums
Research and psychology
• motivational research
– Freud and Dichter
– Goebbels
– use of fantasies, sexual innuendo
– sexual images
• subliminal advertising
– Jim Vicary, 1957
– “subception”
Conglomeration and
globalization
• acquisition binge
– deregulation in 1970s
– hands off business approach
– demassification of mass media
– fragmentation of audiences
• agency consolidation problems
– huge profits to spend on acquisitions
– financing available
Advertising regulation
• media gatekeeping
–
–
–
–
“caveat emptor”
“caveat venditor”
Edward Bok
codes of ethics
Regulation, con’t
•
•
•
•
industry self-regulation
public interest advertising
National Advertising Review Council
Codes--AAAA
– false, misleading statements/exaggerations
– testimonials from unknowledgeable people
– unfair disparaging of competitive products
– distorted, insufficiently supported claims
– offending public decency
Other regulation
• “public interest” advertising
• government regulation
– Federal Trade Commission 1914
– tobacco and liquor industries
• Seagram company
– nine other agencies
• FDA, Postal Service, FCC, SEC
• state law against fraud
Problems and issues
• advertising clutter
– #of ad messages doubled in 60s & 70s
– too many commercials during Olympics
– NAB code limited quantity; ruled unfair
• creative excesses
• advertising effectiveness--what works?
– mag. ads entice 13%; newspaper ads
15%; TV ads 25%.