Webster’s dictionary defines advertising as “techniques and practices used to bring products, services, opinions, or causes to public notice for the purpose of persuading them to respond in a certain way.” () In other words, advertising is difficult to define but it is an integral part of our daily lives, and it influences not just what we purchase, but our opinions and beliefs. Some ads do attempt to persuade audiences to buy certain products or services, but they also educate and inform the public so they can make appropriate choices. Advertisements may also promote causes, charities, health care information, and political candidates. Yes, products, services and ideas are sold and influenced through a variety of advertising media, such as, newspapers, flyers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, theaters, street furniture, shopping carts, buses, bathroom stall doors, backs of tickets, banners, skywriting, blimps, mobile phone screens, and web popups. Advertising is important to our society and should be better understood by consumers and the public.
Advertising began ages ago with the first form being sales people at markets shouting out prices and what goods they had for sale. In the 15th and 16th centuries, handbills were the main form of advertising. Within the 17th century, newspapers became the avenue for promoting. The 18th century saw industries producing goods in massive quantities and the business of advertising increased as a result. In the 19th century, the U.S. exhibited a vast amount of economic growth, which was contributed to mail-ordering catalogs and the invention of radios and televisions. The total advertising budget grew from about $200 million in 1880 to nearly $3 billion in 1920. Advertising became a creative art form, where only the best and brightest and most talented employees were hired. The 1960s saw ads targeting particular groups for specific products and brands.
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In 1990, the use of cable expanded the television audience, which positively influenced the world of advertising. Some channels, such as QVC and home shopping network were just used for advertising and selling. In-store advertising, which included placing products at eye-level, at checkout lines and putting displays at the end of aisles, became popular techniques. Companies paying customers to advertise through blogs, wikis and forums also became popular. Today, due mainly to the ease of computer use, mass distribution capabilities and cost effectiveness, the World Wide Web is replacing the printed form of sales and ideas. Some websites, including the search engine Google, caused a change in online advertising by emphasizing ads, which were based on an individual's browsing interests. Currently, Social network advertising, online classified advertising, and e-mail marketing are just a few internet advertising strategies. Movies have included forms of advertisements for many years, but a big advertisement technique now being used is for the famous actors or actresses to either wear, refer to or emphasize in some way certain brands and products, which increasing the items popularity and thus increases sales.
The Main purposes for advertising are to attract new customers, to keep existing customers, to establish a desire for merchandise or service, to announce new products and programs, to boost a company’s image and to convince consumers that its services or goods are the best. Advertising helps to keep customers informed about new product or service available in the market, and it educates consumers as to the choices available to him. Advertising helps businesses to grow and the economy to prosper. One of the main objectives of advertisements is to create a positive environment for maintaining or improving sales. Another objective is to beat out the competition, although this can be difficult once a consumer is convinced a certain brand is the best.
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Free product sampling or