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Generally speaking, advertising is the promotion of goods, services and ideas, usually by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components of the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. Advertisement Advertising is a form of communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain and use them.
Many advertisements are also designed to generate increased consumption of those products and services through the creation and reinforcement of brand image and brand loyalty. For these purposes advertisements often contain both factual information and persuasive messages. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, video games, the Internet, and billboards. Advertising is often placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company.
Definition of Advertisement Description or presentation of a product, idea, or organization, in order to induce individuals to buy, support, or approve of it. Sponsored informational public notice appearing in any of the print communications media that is designed to appeal to a mass audience in order to persuade, inform, promote, motivate, or otherwise modify behavior toward a favorable pattern of purchasing, supporting, or approving a particular product, service, idea, or organization.
When the advertisers message appears in the broadcast media , it is called a commercial . The first advertisement on record in an American newspaper appeared in the Boston News Letter on May 8, 1704. It described an estate for sale in Oyster Bay, Long Island. HISTORY A print advertisement from a 1913 issue of National Geographic However, commercial In ancient times the most moon form of advertising was word of mouth. Messages and election campaign displays were found in the ruins of Pompeii. Egyptians used papyrus to create sales messages and wall posters.
Lost-and-found advertising on papyrus was common in Greece and Rome. As printing developed in the 15th and 1 6th century, advertising expanded to include handbills. In the 1 7th century advertisements started to appear in weekly newspapers in England. These early print ads were used mainly to promote books (which were Increasingly affordable) and medicines (which were increasingly sought after as disease ravaged Europe). Quack ads became a problem, which ushered in regulation of advertising content.
As the economy was expanding during the 1 9th century, the need for advertising grew at the same pace. In America, the classified ads became popular, filling pages of newspapers with small print messages promoting all kinds of goods. The success of this advertising format led to the growth of mail-order advertising. In 1 843 the first advertising agency was established by Volley Palmer in Philadelphia. At first the agencies were just brokers for ad space in newspapers, but the 20th century, advertising agencies started to take over accessibility for the content as well.
The 1 9605 saw advertising transform into a modern, more scientific approach in which creativity was allowed to shine, producing unexpected messages that made advertisements interesting to read. The Volkswagen ad campaign featuring such headlines as Think Small and Lemon ushered in the era of modern advertising by promoting a position or unique selling proposition designed to associate each brand with a specific idea in the reader or viewers mind.
Today, advertising is evolving even further, with ,Guerrilla promotions that involve unusual approaches such as tagged encounters in public places, giveaways of products such as cars that are covered with brand messages, and interactive advertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the advertising message. MEDIA One effective advertising method is to pay people to hold signs in public places. Transit advertising is combined with experiential marketing using peapod in Australia.
Commercial advertising media can include billboards (outdoor advertising), street furniture components, printed flyers, radio, cinema and television ads, web banners, web opus, skywriting bus stop benches, Gaines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses, taxicab doors and roof mounts, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands on disposable diapers, stickers on apples in supermarkets, the opening section of streaming audio and video, and the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts.
Any place an identified sponsor pays to deliver their message through a medium is advertising. Covert advertising embedded in other entertainment media is known as product placement. A more recent version of this is advertising in film, by having a main character, use an item or other f a definite brand – an example is in the movie minority Report, where Tom Cruises character Tom Anderson owns a computer with the Monika logo clearly written in the top comer, or his watch engraved with the Bulgaria logo.
The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format and this is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events. The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as much for its commercial advertisements as for the game itself, and the average cost of a single thirty- second TV spot during this game has reached 2. 5 million Increasingly, other mediums such as those discussed below are overtaking television due to a shift towards consumers usage of the Internet as well as devices such as Tivoli.
Advertising on the World Wide Web is a recent phenomenon. Prices of Web based advertising space are dependent on the relevance of the surrounding web content and the traffic that the website receives. E-mail advertising is another recent phenomenon. Unsolicited bulk E-mail advertising is known as spam. Some companies have proposed to place messages or corporate logos n the side of booster rockets and the International Space Station. Controversy exists on the effectiveness Of Subliminal advertising (see mind control), and the pervasiveness of mass messages (see propaganda).
Unpaid advertising (also called word of mouth advertising), can provide good exposure at minimal cost. Personal recommendations (bring a friend, sell it by zealot), spreading buzz, or achieving the feat of equating a brand with a common noun (Xerox photocopier, Kleenex tissue, Baseline petroleum jelly, Kyoto tampons, Maxi pads sanitary napkins, Scotch Tape Clear Tape, Band- id bandage, Vision eye drops, Q-tips cotton swabs, Rollerblading inline skates) these must provide the stuff of fantasy to the holder of an advertising budget.
The most common method for measuring the impact of mass media advertising is the use of the rating point (RPR) or the more accurate target rating point (trip). These measures refer to the percentage of the Universe of the existing base of audience members that can be reached by the use of each media outlet in a particular moment in time. The difference between the two is that the rating point refers to the percentage o the entire universe while the target rating point refers to percentage to a particular segment or target. This becomes very useful when focusing advertising efforts on a particular group of people.
For example, think of an advertising campaign targeting a female audience aged 25 to 45. While the overall rating of a TV show might be well over 10 rating points it might very well happens that the same show in the same moment of time is generating only 2. 5 traps ( being the target women 25-45). This would mean that while the show has a large universe of viewers it is not necessarily reaching a large universe of women in the ages of 25 to 45 making it a less desirable location to place an ad for an advertiser looking for this particular demographic.
IMPACT Billboard, New York City The impact of advertising has been a matter of considerable debate and many different claims have been made in different contexts. During debates about the banning of cigarette advertising, a common claim from cigarette manufacturers 3. 5 that cigarette advertising does not encourage people to smoke who would not otherwise. The (eventually successful) opponents of advertising, on the other hand, claim hat advertising does in fact Increase consumption. According to many media sources, the past experience and state of mind of the person subjected to advertising may determine the impact that advertising has.
Children under the age of four may be unable to distinguish advertising from other television programs, whilst the ability to determine the truthfulness of the message may not be developed until the age of eight . PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISING The same advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about non- immemorial issues, such as AIDS, political ideology, energy conservation, religious recruitment, and deforestation. Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences.
Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest , it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes. Attributed to Howard Sausage David Googol Public service advertising, non-commercial advertising, public interest advertising, Cause marketing, and social marketing are different terms for (or aspects of) the use of sophisticated advertising and marketing ammunitions techniques ( generally associated with commercial enterprise) on behalf of non-commercial, public interest issues and initiatives.
In the United States, the granting of television and radio licenses by the FCC is contingent upon the station broadcasting a certain amount of public service advertising. Public service advertising reached its height during World Wars and II under the direction of several U. S. Government agencies. SOCIAL IMPACT There have been increasing efforts to protect the public interest by regulating the content and the reach of advertising. Some examples are the an on television tobacco advertising imposed in many countries, and the total ban on advertising to children under twelve imposed by the Swedish government in 1 991.
Though that regulation continues in effect for broadcasts originating within the country, it has been weakened by the European Court of Justice, which has found that Sweden was obliged to accept whatever programming was targeted at it from neighboring countries or via satellite. In Europe and elsewhere there is a vigorous debate on whether and how much advertising to children should be regulated. This debate was exacerbated by a report released by the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation in February 2004 which suggested that food advertising targeting children was an important factor in the epidemic of childhood obesity raging across the United States. In many countries – namely New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and many European countries – the advertising industry operates a system of self-regulation. Advertisers, advertising agencies and the media agree on a code of advertising standards that they attempt to uphold. The general aim of such codes is to ensure that any advertising is legal, decent, honest and truthful.
Some self-regulatory organizations are funded by he industry, but remain independent, with the intent Of upholding the standards or codes (like the AS in the ELK). Critiques of the medium Advertising wrapped around a train. Minnesota, US As advertising and marketing efforts become increasingly ubiquitous in modern Western societies, the industry has come under criticism of groups such as Ad Busters via culture jamming which criticizes the media and consumerism using advertising own techniques. The industry is accused of being one of the engines powering a convoluted economic mass production system which promotes consumption.
Some advertising campaigns have also been redirected as inadvertently or even intentionally promoting sexism, racism, and ageism. Such criticisms have raised questions about whether this medium is creating or reflecting cultural trends. At very least, advertising often reinforces stereotypes by drawing on recognizable types in order to tell stories in a single image or 30 second time frame. Recognizing the social impact Of advertising, Media Watch, a non-profit women organization, works to educate consumers about how they can register their concerns with advertisers and regulators. It has developed educational materials for use in schools.
The award-winning book, Made You Look – How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know , by former Media Watch president Shari Grayson, provides context far these issues for young readers. Public interest groups and free thinkers are increasingly suggesting that access to the mental space targeted by advertisers should be taxed, in that at the present moment that space is being freely taken advantage of by advertisers with no compensation paid to the members of the public who are thus being intruded upon. This kind of tax would be a Poisoning tax in that it would act to reduce what is now increasingly seen as a public nuisance.
Efforts to that end are gathering momentum, with Arkansas and Maine considering bills to implement such taxation. Florida enacted such a tax in 1 987 but was forced to repeal it after six months, as a result of a concerted effort by national commercial interests, which withdrew planned conventions, causing major losses to the tourism industry, and cancelled advertising, causing a loss of 12 million dollars to the broadcast industry alone. PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF THE MEDIUM Billboard in Lund, Sweden, saying One Night Stand Over the years, the public perception of advertising has become very negative.
It is seen as a medium that inherently promotes a lie, based on the purpose of the advertisement – to encourage the target audience to submit to a cause or a belief, and act on it to the advertising party benefit and consequently the targets disadvantage. They are either perceived as directly lying (stating opinions or untruths directly as facts), lying by omission (usually of terms unfavorable to the customer), portraying a product or service in a light that does not reflect reality or even making up realities where their product has a new role.
EFFECTS ON COMMUNICATION MEDIA Another effect of advertising to edify the nature of the communication media where it is shown. The clearest example is television. Chant Nell that get most of their revenues from publicity try to make their medium a good place for communicating ads. That means trying to make the public stay for long times and in mental state that will make spectators not to switch the channel through the ads. Programs that are low in mental stimulus and require light concentration and are varied are best for long sitting times and make for much easier emotional jumps to ads, that can become more entertaining than regular shows.
A simple way to understand the objectives in television programming is to compare contents from channels paid and chosen by the viewer with channels that get their income mainly from advertisements. FUTURE With the dawn of the Internet have come many new advertising opportunities. Popup, Flash, banner, and email advertisements (the last often being a form of spam) abound. Recently, the advertising community has attempted to make the adverts themselves desirable to the public. In one example, Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as a result contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used.
Similarly, product placement for Role watches and BMW cars featured in recent James Bond films. Each year, greater sums are paid to obtain a commercial spot during the Super Bowl. Companies attempt to make these commercials sufficiently entertaining that members of the public will actually want to watch them. Particularly since the rise of entertaining advertising, some people may like an advert enough that they wish to watch it later or show a friend. In general, the advertising community has not yet made this easy, although some have used the Internet to widely stricter their adverts to anyone wishing to see or hear them. ETHICS IN ADVERTISEMENT ETHICS IN ADVERTISING INTRODUCTION The importance of advertising is steadily on the increase in modern society. That observation, made by this Pontifical Council a quarter century ago as part of an overview of the state of communications, is even truer now. Just as the media of social communication themselves have enormous influence everywhere, so advertising, using media as its vehicle, is a pervasive, powerful force shaping attitudes and behavior in today’s world. Especially since the Second Vatican
Council, the Church has frequently addressed the question of the media and their role and responsibilities. She has sought to do so in a fundamentally positive manner, viewing the media as gifts of God which, in accordance with his providential design, bring people together and help them to cooperate with his plan for their salvation. In doing so, the Church stresses the responsibility of media to contribute to the authentic, integral development of persons and to foster the well being of society. The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good.
Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice and solidarity. It is in this spirit that the Church enters into dialogue with communicators. At the same time, she also calls attention to moral principles and norms relevant to social communications, as to other forms of human endeavor, while criticizing policies and practices that offend against these standards. Here and there in the growing body of literature arising from the Church’s consideration of media, the subject of advertising is discussed.
Now, prompted by the increasing importance of advertising and by requests for a more extensive retirement, we turn again to this topic. We wish to call attention to positive contributions that advertising can and does make to note ethical and moral problems that advertising can and does raise to point to moral principles that apply to this field and, finally, to suggest certain steps for the consideration of those professionally involved in advertising, as well as for others in the private sector, including the churches, and for public officials.
Our reason for addressing these matters is simple. In today’s society, advertising has a profound impact on how people understand life, the world and themselves, specially in regard to their values and their ways of choosing and behaving. These are matters about which the Church is and mills be deeply and sincerely concerned. The field of advertising IS extremely broad and diverse. In general terms, of course, an advertisement is simply a public notice meant to convey information and invite patronage or some other response.
As that suggests, advertising has two basic purposes to inform and to persuade, and while these purposes are distinguishable both very often are simultaneously present. Advertising is not the same as marketing (the employ of commercial functions involved in transferring goods from producers and consumers) or public relations (the systematic effort to create a favorable public impression or image of some person, group, or entity).
In many cases, though, it is a technique or instrument employed by one or both of these. Advertising can be very simple – a local, even neighborhood, phenomenon or it can be very complex, involving sophisticated research and multimedia campaigns that span the globe. It differs according to its intended audience, so that, for example, advertising aimed at children raises some chemical and moral issues significantly different from those raised by advertising aimed at competent adults.
Not only are many different media and techniques employed in advertising advertising itself is of several different kinds commercial advertising for products and services public service advertising on behalf of various institutions, programs, and causes and phenomenon of growing importance today political advertising in the interests of parties and candidates. Making allowance for the differences among the different kinds and methods of advertising, we intend what follows to be applicable to them all.
We disagree with the assertion that advertising simply mirrors the attitudes and values of the surrounding culture. No doubt advertising, like the media of social communications in general, does act as a mirror. But, also like media in general, it is a mirror that helps shape the reality it reflects, and sometimes it presents a distorted image of reality. Advertisers are selective about the values and attitudes to be fostered and encouraged, promoting some while ignoring others. This selectivity gives the lie to the notion that advertising does no more, than reflect the surrounding culture.
For example, the absence from advertising of certain racial and ethnic groups in some multi-racial or multi-ethnic societies can help to create problems of image and identity, especially among those neglected, and the almost inevitable impression in commercial advertising that an abundance of possessions leads to happiness and fulfillment can be both misleading and frustrating. Advertising also has an indirect but powerful impact on society through its influence on media. Many publications and broadcasting operations depend on advertising revenue for survival.
This often is true of religious media as well as commercial media. For their part, advertisers naturally seek to reach audiences and the media, striving to deliver audiences to advertisers, must shape their content so to attract audiences of the size and demographic composition sought. This economic dependency Of media and the power it confers upon advertisers carries with it serious responsibilities for both. ADVERTISING CODE OF ETHICS BASIC PRINCIPLES 1. All advertisements must comply with the laws of New Zealand. 2. No advertisement should impair public confidence in advertising. 3.
No advertisement should be misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or chive the consumer. 4. All advertisements should be prepared with a due sense of social responsibility to consumers and to society. 5. All advertisements should respect the principles of free and fair competition generally accepted in business. RULES 1 . Identification – Advertisements should be clearly distinguishable as such, whatever their form and whatever the medium used when an advertisement appears in a medium which contains news or editorial matter, it must be presented so that it is readily recognized as an advertisement. . Truthful Presentation – Advertisements would not contain any statement or visual presentation or create an overall impression which directly or by implication, omission, ambiguity or exaggerated claim is misleading or deceptive, is likely to deceive or mislead the consumer, makes false and misleading representation, abuses the trust of the consumer or exploits his/her lack of experience or knowledge. (Obvious hyperbole, identifiable as such, is not considered to be misleading). . Research, Tests and Surveys – Advertisements should not use tests and surveys, research results or quotations from technical and scientific literature, n a manner which is misleading or deceptive. 4. Decency – Advertisements should not contain anything which clearly offends against generally prevailing community standards taking into account the context, medium, audience and product (including services). 5.
Offensiveness – Advertisements should not contain anything which in the light of generally prevailing community standards is likely to Cause serious or widespread offence taking into account the context, medium, audience and product (including services) 6. Fear – Advertisements should not exploit the superstitions, nor without justifiable reason, play or fear. 7. Violence – Advertisements should not contain anything which lends support to unacceptable violent behavior. 8. Denigration – Advertisements should not denigrate identifiable products or competitors. . Testimonials ; Advertisements should not contain or refer to any personal testimonial unless it is genuine, current, related to the experience of the person giving it and representative of typical and not exceptional cases. The claims in the testimonial should be verifiable. 10. Privacy – Unless prior permission has been obtained, an advertisement should not portray or refer to any person, whether in a private or public opacity, or refer to any persons property in a way, likely to convey the impression of a genuine endorsement. 1 1 .
Advocacy Advertising – Expression of opinions in advocacy advertising is an essential and desirable part of the functioning of a democratic society. Therefore such Opinions may be robust. However, Opinion should be clearly distinguishable from factual information. The identity Of an advertiser in matters Of public interest or political issue should be clear. 12. Safety – Advertisements should not be justifiable on educational or social grounds, contain any visual presentation or any ascription of dangerous or illegal practices or situations which encourage a disregard for safety.
THE BENEFITS OF ADVERTISING Enormous human and material resources are devoted to advertising. Advertising is everywhere in today’s world, so that, as Pope Paul VI remarked, No one now can escape the influence of advertising. Even people who are not themselves exposed to particular forms of advertising confront a society, a culture – other people – affected for good or ill by advertising messages and techniques of every sort. Some critics view this state of affairs in unrelieved negative terms. They modern advertising as a waste of time, talent and money – an essentially parasitic activity.
In this view, not only does advertising have no value of its own, but its influence is entirely harmful and corrupting for individuals and society. We do not agree. There is truth to the criticisms, and we shall make criticisms of our own. But advertising also has significant potential for good, and sometimes it is realized. Here are some of the ways that happens. A) Economic Benefits of Advertising Advertising can play an important role in the process by which an economic system guided by moral norms and expensive to the common good contributes to human development.
It is a necessary part of the functioning of modem market economies, which today either exist or are emerging in many parts of the world and which – provided they conform to moral standards based upon integral human development and the common good – currently seem to be the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs of a socio- economic kind. In such a system, advertising can be a useful tool for sustaining honest and ethically responsible competition that contributes to economic growth in the service of authentic human development.
The Church looks with favor on the growth of mans productive capacity, and also on the ever widening network of relationships and exchanges between persons and social groups from this point of view she encourages advertising, which can become a wholesome and efficacious instrument for reciprocal help among men, Advertising does this, among other ways, by informing people about the availability of rationally desirable new products and services and improvements in existing ones, helping them to make informed, prudent consumer decisions, contributing to efficiency and the lowering of prices, and automating economic progress through the expansion of business and trade. All of this can contribute to the creation of new jobs, higher incomes and a more decent and humane way of life for all. It also helps pay for publications, programming and productions including those of the Church – that bring information, entertainment and inspiration to people around the world. ) Benefits of Political Advertising The Church values the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate. Political advertising can make a contribution to democracy analogous to its contribution to economic well being in a market system guided by moral norms. As free and responsible media in a democratic system help to counteract tendencies toward the monopolizing of power on the part of oligarchies and special interests, so political advertising can make its contribution by informing people about the ideas and policy proposals of parties and candidates, including new candidates not previously known to the public. Cultural Benefits of Advertising Because of the impact advertising has on media that depend on it for revenue, advertisers have an opportunity to exert a positive influence on decisions about media content. This they do by supporting material of excellent intellectual, aesthetic and moral quality presented with the public interest in view, and particularly by encouraging and making possible media presentations which are oriented to minorities whose needs might otherwise go unseeded. Moreover, advertising can itself contribute to the betterment of society by uplifting and inspiring people and motivating them to act in ways hat benefit themselves and others. Advertising can brighten lives simply by being witty, tasteful and entertaining.
Some advertisements are instances Of popular art, with a vivacity and elan all their own d) Moral and Religious Benefits of Advertising In many cases too, benevolent social institutions, including those of a religious nature, use advertising to communicate their messages of faith, of patriotism, of tolerance, compassion and neighborly service, of charity toward the needy, messages concerning health and education, constructive and helpful messages that educate and motivate people in a variety of beneficial ways. For the Church, involvement in media- related activities, including advertising, is today a necessary part of a comprehensive pastoral strategy. This includes both the Church’s own media Catholic press and publishing, television and radio broadcasting film and audiovisual production, and the rest – and also her participation in secular media. The media can and should be instruments in the Church’s program of re-ventilation and new ventilation in the contemporary world.
While much remains to be done, many positive efforts of this kind already are underway. With reference to advertising itself, Pope Paul VI once said that it is desirable that Catholic institutions follow with constant attention the development of the modem techniques of advertising and know how to make opportune use of them in order to spread the Gospel message in a manner which answers the expectations and needs of contemporary man.