Chapter 11 Summary
Early Developments in American Advertising The first newspaper advertisements in America can be traced to colonial times, and by the mid– 1800s most magazines contained ads as well. About 80 percent of these early advertisements dealt with three topics: land sales, transportation announcements, and runaway slaves. But it was the Industrial Revolution, and the mass production of goods and products for sale, that created a need for more elaborate and coordinated advertising. The first American ad agencies were known as space brokers, individuals who purchased space in newspapers and sold the space to advertisers. The first modern ad agency opened in 1869 and worked primarily for advertisers and companies rather than for newspapers. One of the goals of advertising was to create a brand identity to differentiate products that might actually be very similar, thus creating consumer demand for a specific product. This meant manufacturers could, in turn, demand higher prices. It also helped transform society from a producer–directed to a consumer–driven culture, and promoted technological advances. The advertising industry did come under fire in the 1940s for promoting consumer needs that people didn’t even know they had, and also for dictating values along with stimulating the economy. In response, the War Advertising Council was developed, which later morphed into the Ad Council. While many more consumer items were being advertised by the end of the 1800s, patent medicines and department stores dominated the print ad market. It was because of ads making wild claims of health benefits for these patent medicines, many of which contained dangerous amounts of alcohol or even narcotics, that some of the first efforts were made to crack down on false advertising. These concerns would result in the formation of a number of watchdog organizations, which would target fraudulent or misleading ads, dangerous consumer goods, and even subliminal advertising. The Shape of U.S. Advertising Today Starting in the 1960s, ad campaigns shifted from being slogan driven to focusing less on words and more on the use of images (an “MTV aesthetic”) and polished musical performances. More recently, the Internet and multimedia devices have influenced the visual design of advertising. Both mega–agencies and smaller boutique agencies use a similar business structure. This structure is generally divided into four departments: market research, creative development, media selection, and account services. The market researchers use a variety of tools to study consumer behavior, including demographics, psychographics, focus groups, and the Values and Lifestyles (VALS) strategy. Teams of writers and artists create the ads, sometimes using a rough blueprint called a storyboard for a television commercial. The creative team also designs several different types of digital media, including viral marketing—short videos or other content that marketers hope will gain widespread and quick attention. Media buyers match clients with the types of media they think will be most effective, and may suggest a plan like saturation advertising. Account executives bring in new business, manage the contracts of current clients, and handle clients’ account reviews. Online advertising is currently poised to become the fastest–growing part of the advertising industry and appeared on the scene in the mid–1990s. Banner ads, video ads, pop–up ads, pop–
Chapter 11 Summary
under ads, interstitials, spam, and paid search advertising (currently the dominant format) are all forms of Web advertising. Search engines like Google and Bing are aggressively moving into the advertising arena—in fact, Google has surpassed traditional ad agencies in terms of online ad revenue. Major advertising firms have added digital departments and shifted their budgets and ad campaigns to focus on digital media. Meanwhile, privacy advocates are concerned by the various ways marketers are gathering information about individuals who use the Web. Marketers use data–mining techniques such as cookies to watch what Web sites consumers visit, what they buy, and what information they share on social media sites. Marketers can then send targeted ads to customers that directly correspond to their interests. They are then also able to track ad impressions (how often an ad is seen) and click–throughs (how often an ad is clicked on). Marketers have also begun to use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to further refine their ability to send targeted ads to specific, interested users. Another major goal is to turn their paid media (ads they buy on social media sites) into earned media, that is, when users promote products on their own initiative. Persuasive Techniques in Contemporary Advertising While ad agencies and product companies maintain that the main purpose of advertising is to inform consumers about available products, most consumer ads merely tell stories about products without revealing much information about how a product was made, how it compares with similar brands, or what the price is. There are a variety of common persuasive strategies advertisers use to tell these stories and attract customers. They include the famous–person testimonial, plain–folks pitch, snob–appeal approach, bandwagon effect, hidden–fear appeal, and even irritation advertising. Advertisers may also try to link a product with a positive cultural value or image (the association principle) or distance it from something like an unpopular corporate parent (the disassociation corollary). Ad agencies will also use product placements to get their clients’ goods to be seen in movies, television, or other works outside of actual commercials. Some critics feel that this practice has gotten out of hand—that what started out as subtle appearances in realistic settings has now evolved into the product almost becoming another cast member. Advertising can be understood using myth analysis, which provides insights into how ads work at a general cultural level. According to myth analysis, most ads feature mini–narratives with social conflicts that are resolved by the end of the ad, usually by using the product advertised. Commercial Speech and Regulating Advertising Whereas freedom of speech refers to the right to express thoughts, beliefs, and opinions, commercial speech—any print or broadcast expression for which a fee is charged—refers to the right to circulate goods, services, and images in the marketplace of products. While advertising can be credited with helping to raise the standard of living and supporting media industries, serious concerns over the impact of advertising remain. Child advocates worry about the vast amounts of advertising aimed at children and teenagers, some of it coming in the form of full– length child cartoons developed to sell toys. Another source of concern is the Channel One initiative to provide televisions to schools in exchange for having students watch twelve–minute current affairs programs including two minutes of commercials.
Chapter 11 Summary
The ad industry also has been criticized for fostering unrealistic body images, encouraging negative female stereotypes, and promoting tobacco and alcohol consumption. Ads for prescription drugs, which are often too brief to discuss a full range of side effects, also worry health experts. These concerns have spawned action from advertising watchdog groups such as the Federal Trade Commission and other groups who develop their own advertising to compete against messages from harmful products like tobacco. Advertising, Politics, and Democracy While the pervasive nature of advertising can be argued to have a wide–reaching effect on society, it is perhaps in the realm of political advertising that the impact to democracy is most clearly felt. It is common to see politicians use powerful images and attack other candidates in thirty– or sixty–second ads that distract viewers from real campaign issues. This raises a few questions, such as: Do repeated attacks on a rival’s character undermine citizens’ confidence in the electoral process? How will alternative but poorly financed political voices get heard? With billions of dollars flowing to broadcasters during election years, there is little incentive for those businesses to lead the fight against the current system of political advertising.
