ADPR 3100 Study Guide for Test 1 

What is advertising, and how has it evolved?

★ What is advertising, And How has it Evolved? 

● On average, people see about 3500 ads per day → they’re literally all around us. People in NYC probably see more than 3500 a day

○ These ads are often used to persuade, but sometimes they’re

used to simply create awareness, associations or build brand 

loyalty 

○ Native Advertising: ​When a brand sponsors an article (note that

sponsored articles by law have to portray that they are

sponsored!) → Ex: Kim Kardashian makes about $250,000 per

influencer ad

● The following factors heavily influence and reshape the communication environment:

○ Technology

Why have the dynamics of agencies changed over time?

○ Consumer Control

● Changing views of what ads and advertising are:

Old School View

New View

- Commercial must be paid for

- Commercial must be mass mediated - Commercial must be attempting to persuade (or make aware)

- Brands communicate with people - Brands communicate in order to make an impact

Don't forget about the age old question of What is the central dogma of biology?

● Some important terms:

○ Advertisements → specific messages designed to persuade

audience

○ Ad Campaign → integrated series of ads with a central theme

What is an example of commodification of culture?

○ Integrated Brand Promotion → coordinating promotional tools with

ads, such as podcasts, sponsorships, product placement, public

relations, etc.

● Advertisement Eras:

Pre Market Era

Before the printing press!

Mass Communication Era

1700s - 1900s (emergence of the newspaper, magazines, and radio)

Research Era

1920s - present (a lot of different factors influence ads now, as there are numerous motivations, demographics, etc. to take into account

Interactive Era

There is a new focus on CONSUMER CONTROL → today there are interactive devices, social media, real-time news, etc.

We also discuss several other topics like What is a marketer's goal?
If you want to learn more check out Define land.

● EVOLUTION of advertising:

○ Rise of CAPITALISM → There was a focus on free markets and

competition… this stimulated DEMAND and created “NEED”

○ Industrial Revolution → Mass production emerges and business realize that to sell all their products they need to stimulate demand and get

customers

○ Manufacturers pursuit of POWER → Brands finally emerge… products now have an identifiable “name” other than what they physically are (like soap is no longer just soap, it’s Ivory Soap… or beer is no longer just

beer, it’s Budweiser)

○ Rise of Mass Media → Ads begin to subsidize media (ad money drives the cost of access down for consumers), newspapers emerge, radios We also discuss several other topics like What is themeaning of heritable?

emerge in the 20s and 30s, TV emerges in the 50s and 60s, and, of

course, social media emerges (and continues to do so)

★ Let’s take a look at Agencies 

● Traditional Agency Structure:

○ It’s a very top-down structure, with Board of Directors at the top.

Then, underneath that, a bunch of vice presidents (each a leader

of some department, like creative or management or marketing).

Beneath each vice president there are people working for them,

like writers, sales promoters, office management… It’s like a very

complex pyramid.

● However, now there is much less dictation and more groups (or silos) that work together and overlap (so less like a pyramid and more like a bunch We also discuss several other topics like Why is process evaluation needed?

of circles creating a venn diagram)

○ Look up FutureX from Moxie → they use artificial intelligence to

help find brand preferences, which in turn helps other companies

○ Unit3C from Publicis Media → they specialize in understanding

consumer conversations about particular products If you want to learn more check out What does government do?

■ These companies are just part of the bigger picture of

agencies… the agency as a whole relies on every “silo”

working together to produce the best outcomes (maximize

[returning] consumers)

● Why have the dynamics of agencies changed over time?

○ In 19th century conditions, industrial production was expanding →

led to markets expanding → urban areas become heavily

populated → westward expansion and growth of new cities → new

markets in places that didn’t exist before

○ So… how do businesses handle all this?

■ Businesses didn’t quite know WHICH publications to

advertise in, frankly because there were too many of them

and no real way of telling which ones were MOST

EFFECTIVE

■ Businesses also didn’t know if the rates offered by

newspapers were FAIR

■ How could business keep track of ad revenue? How could

they increase profits?

○ This is the reason AD AGENCIES ​came into existence

■ However, ad agencies worked for “both sides of the

spectrum” or, in other words, for businesses AND for the

media companies

○ What ad agencies did:

For businesses

For media companies

- Manage ad placement

- Take over billing

- Sell audiences to advertisers

● Important name: GEORGE ROWELL → This man was the influence behind two major changes in the purpose of ad agencies:

○ Though he made profit off of both sides, he changed ad agencies to

something that worked specifically for business and

○ Created OPEN CONTACTS → meaning he published the cost for ad space and now ad agents work ONLY for business

○ Then in 1880 copywriters and freelancers were hired specifically for

CREATING the ads (writing, designing, producing)

Quick note: ​there’s a chart from the slides that shows how from 1870 to 2000 advertisements increased as subscriptions decreased (so it’s not good to have too many ads in a publication because it just turns into a boring Craigslist!)

● By the early 20th century, there were a bunch of departments that worked together to make ads that influenced the dynamics of agencies today:

Original

What they did

Foreground for today

Editorial Bureau

Write ads

Creative

Art Bureau

Design ads

Creative

Engraving Bureau

Produce ads

Creative

Detail Bureau

Coordinate departments

Project Management

Production Bureau

Keep track

Account Management

★ Advertising in Capitalist Markets 

● Some ASSUMPTIONS about the function and role of advertising:

○ 1.) ​Advertisements are powerful forces in shaping consumer

preferences

■ This is true when considering advertising as a whole, but

it’s not always true. Ads CAN be very powerful, but it’s

important to remember that the media environment has

changed over time, and it’s harder to grab and keep our

attention…

■ Not every brand can be NIKE.

■ Usually ads that are engaging and promote involvement

have more lasting impacts (consider ALS ice bucket

challenge video vs. a boring informational commercial

about muscular dystrophy)

○ 2.) ​Even if advertising seems ineffective, stopping it could be dangerous

■ MUST you advertise to survive? Well, there are nuances involved → what category is your product in? Is it luxury, how competitive are brands with similar products, what’s the market share the brand maintains?

■ You don’t see ads for Ferraris.. But you see them for Toyotas. Why? Perhaps because luxury items appeal to a very specific and relatively small audience, and more generic cars appeal to the larger middle-class

■ Coke vs. Pepsi → Perhaps they advertise a lot because they both have huge market shares in similar products… competition

○ 3.) ​Advertising is highly profitable

■ Many people think as ad money increases (and thus ad intensity [amount of times the ad is shown or amount of ads for particular product in general] increases) so does profit… in a LINEAR fashion

■ There is, however, an eventual PLATEAU… so initially ads will increase profit at a steady rate, but then people

become used to the product and the ads mix into the competitive clutter (profits may be higher than initial profits, but they’re no longer going any higher even if more money is being spent on ads)

○ 4.) ​Logic / argument is the most effective advertising appeal ■ Research shows EMOTION is more effective because it’s more relatable, interesting, easily remembered and prone to lead to action

■ Though people like to think they’re rational thinkers, they tend to dislike when objectivity is thrown at them because they think they’re being persuaded

○ 5.) ​Advertising is “amoral” in its practice and corrupts people’s values

■ First, “amoral” means without morals… it’s not the same as “immoral” which means bad morals… so do advertisers create negative impacts without understanding what

they’re doing?

■ Not necessarily… the advertisement world is a very LARGE institution, so it does bear and realize at least SOME responsibility… though many ads are controversial

★ COnsumer Society 

● Dimensions of emergence for rise of consumer society:

○ Thanks to the Industrial Revolution → there was a transition from

an agrarian-based society to a manufacturing society

■ 1890 = 40% in rural, 60% in cities → 1940 = 20% rural and

80% families… why? Because more jobs were available in

the industry which dictated where they lived

○ There was also an increase in EARNINGS and SPENDINGS =

Age of Prosperity - Golden Era of Advertising

● All of the above translates to a greater NEEDS to buy (because people were no longer farmers and couldn’t sustain themselves) and a greater MEANS to buy (because people were making more money)

● Ways of BUYING: 

○ Traditionally, there was only the General Store, or the country store where you could buy everything you needed but there was only one type of each thing… no variety in products. Soap was soap. You didn’t spend ten

minutes trying to decide between Dove or some fancy organic brand.

■ Then variety came! This was the beginning of the DEPARTMENT

STORE (more brands, more volume, more nationally

manufactured goods)

■ Because of new variety, people were now developing brand

preferences

■ Shopping was no longer just a functional thing, but an enticing

EXPERIENCE

○ Branding = response to oversupply and a booming consumer society ■ Think of Lydia Pinkham’s mix of roots / herbs/ and alcohol…

People LOVED it… and it was HEAVILY advertised → sales did

so well at one point that she decided to stop advertising it, but

shortly after cutting ads there was a significant cut in her sells…

so she started advertising again and sales went back up.

■ Hygiene products were very popular (there was a new stress on

appearance and cleanliness… again, creating DEMAND)

■ Ads were no longer just simple announcements… now they were

“stunningly provocative pictures”

○ There’s a new concept: Brand LOYALTY → Brands are a good way to communicate what other people think of you

■ You wear certain clothes because you think they reflect your style, or your persona, or what you stand for… just who you are as a

person in general

● Because we live in a consumer society, we’re living in a world where commodities become more important than human values or people

○ Like diamonds… it’s a way of showing love towards another human, rather than giving them “the real thing”

○ Or Budlight… this brand tries to seem synonymous with “fun” or “good times” when in reality human interaction and activity is what makes an event a “good time”

○ This is known as commodification​ ​→ process of stripping an object of all its values EXCEPT its value for sale to someone else

Also note the definition of socially responsible ads → when ads latch onto a positive society idea, re-package it and sell it to you as something can have or consume (think of patriotism… buy American flags, or Valentine’s Day… buy chocolate or cards, or environmentally friendly… buy shirts that show you support a movement… the list goes on and on)

★ Commodification of Culture 

● Some more examples of commodification of culture:

○ The Bic “For Her” pen → Bic tried to re-package girl power and

feminism and sell it to women but it didn’t quite work… came off

as a bit sexist

○ Lucky Strike commercials → they’re very consistent, show a LOT

of smoking, and they associate good times with smoking

■ These commercials also merely describe to the reader why

they should get the product → because Lucky Strike is

“smoother, cleaner, better” and the tobacco is “toasted.”

■ All other cigarette brands toast the tobacco, too… but

Lucky Brand was the first to say it → this is called reason

why advertising ​or UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

● Producer-led Paradigm ​was about COMPANY CONTROL

○ Note that “paradigm” = an approach or a way of looking /

understanding something

○ This was popular in the 1950’s → Companies believed in the

following:

■ Customers are predictable and controlled

■ Emphasis on mass production (think of Henry Ford and his

idea of a perfect design or a “one size fits all”

■ Ads are formulaic (they’re consistent, simple)

○ It was the 4 Ps 

■ PRODUCT

■ PRICE

■ PROMOTION

■ PLACE

- ^Consumer consideration didn’t exist…Companies and ads believed one message could control everybody and influence everyone’s behavior → this idea is known as MAGIC BULLET THEORY 

- Design / product functionality was more important than style

● Reason why ads →

○ A concept created by CLAUDE HOPKINS​ (snake oil business) who reasoned that ads should have or be:

■ Rational / logical appeals

■ Producer-led

■ He also believed products could truly solve problems and that ads are a science (there is some method to the

madness!)

● Unique selling proposition

○ Created by Rosser Reeves

■ Producer-led

■ Repetition / continuity / single, simple message

■ Pre-emptive (meaning if you’re the first to do it or say it, all other competitors who try to do or say it too will look stupid and the ad won’t be as effective)

■ For example, Colgate was the first toothpaste brand to claim that it gives fresh breath… so do all other

toothpastes, but now they can’t say it

● DAVID OGILVY ​→ huge player in the transition to creative revolution… he was the first to realize that people aren’t robots, and he believed: ○ Ads should appeal to people but also TELL the TRUTH ○ Cleverness was no good

○ Ads could use EMOTION and BIG IDEAS

■ He created in the 50s-70s a successful campaign for the drip-dry shirt… this was the first “Dos Equis Most

Interesting Man in the World”

■ Connected human emotions and interest with quality of the shirt, time-saving aspect of the shirt (allows for a

“man-on-the-go)... one of the first big ads to truly reach

deeper into the feelings of humans

★ CReative Revolution 

● People started experiencing a growing sense of STYLE:

○ Style became economically valuable (yes, it was turned into a

commodity just like everything else)

○ People were also becoming more cynical about consumerism →

they didn’t like being beat over the head with reasons to buy

things all the time

An example of style (over functionality):

- Streamlining → ​this was a science-oriented concept used in the design of airplanes in the 1960s (to make them go faster)

- It was very sleek-looking, curved and smooth

- Could be found in the design of bikes, cameras, kitchen appliances, etc. - It wouldn’t make any of the above-named products faster, but it did give them a sense of style and “uniqueness”

● Keyword: Planned Obsolescence→ this is when manufacturers PLAN to make an existing product OBSOLETE after a certain amount of usage or time

○ Great example = AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY (do we have to buy a new car every 4-5 years? No! Cars can usually last more than 15-20 years, yet manufacturers come out with new designs all the time in order to stay in

business)

■ Advertisers create the impression that new versions of products

are much better

■ Sometimes manufacturers will actually design products to

physically break down (like car companies making parts of the car

rust quickly or iPhone sending out secret viruses to older iPhones

to make them run slowly)... however this method usually just ruins

a company’s reputation

■ People also want to stay “in style!” Having a car from the mid 90s

is just “not stylish”

● Regarding consumer cynicism →

○ People thought marketers were nefarious (evil)

○ Especially during the Great Depression, because people wanted

someone or something to blame (so they pointed fingers at businesses and their controlling, non-truthful ads)

○ Books written about the “corruption and terribleness” of advertising ■ Vance Packard (The Hidden Persuaders)

■ David Riesman (The Lonely Crowd)

● So we see a big shift from a Producer-led Paradigm to a → Consumer-led Paradigm ○ James Vicary’s experiment in the 1950s initially supported the idea of SUBLIMINAL advertising (he put flashes of Coke and popcorn in one movie group and no ads in the second movie group, and the ad movie group saw a huge increase in concession sales)... but it turns out this was completely NOT TRUE and the data was FALSIFIED → so flashing ads at people doesn’t work… what does work?

■ Advertisers had to start getting more creative and focus on the

CONSUMERS… focus on people’s emotions and bigger ideas than just spitting out “buy this product because it’s great and better than all the other products similar to it.”

● Important names in the “NEW AD ERA”

David Ogilvy

Drip-dry shirt and original XX Most Interesting Man in the World

Bill Bernbach

Volkswagen Campaign (funny, sarcastic, made fun of itself)

Mary Wells

She co-founded the Wells​ Rich Greene advertising​ agency, which became noted for its campaign for Alka Seltzer (‘Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz’)

○ New ads rarely showed people, were full of wry humor, much simpler in design and there was NO “AD TALK” (no garble about why the product is better than others)

■ (Note: “9 Ways to Improve an Ad​” was a satirical piece that

pointed out everything “wrong” with the popular Volkswagen ad…

it was made to portray the “stupidity” of the resistance to new

ads… there’s always gonna be someone who dislikes progressive

thinking)

○ Another thing that changed was the ORGANIZATION of the ad agency: ■ Instead of consisting of separate departments, now each

department was much more CLOSE-KNIT → instead of having

someone from the art director panel send a draft down to

copyright, not you had the art director in the SAME ROOM as the

copyrighter (so they could work on the same idea simultaneously,

rather than doing it ASSEMBLY LINE style)

A quick overview:

Producer-led Paradigm

Consumer-led Paradigm

Product (focus on what the product is, its qualities / functionality and why it’s the best option)

Commodity (re-package consumer values and sell them, not the product technically)

Price (focus on the actual market value)

Cost (focus on the human factor of the product, how much the product means to the consumer)

Promotion (show the ad a lot, everywhere… make sure people see it)

Communication (focus on bigger ideas, emotion, involvement, drawing consumers in through various appeals)

Place (ads go near stores, check-out lines, in ad spaces in newspapers)

Convenience (make the product easy for consumers to access- think of Amazon and how it can ship EVERYWHERE)

● Today we live in a CONSUMER-LED ERA:

○ Meaning that advertisers do a TON of research on us, trying to figure out our thought patterns, what makes us loyal, what makes us “us.”

■ Think of the Sony Walkman → in 1979, producers listened to consumers and realized they wanted something that would allow them to have music at all times

■ So they created the Walkman, and eventually the Sports Walkman (for people at the beach or in more rough, outdoor environments)

■ This is just one of the many examples of how we talk and producers

listen… producers want us to have preferences, and they want us to fit

into a certain lifestyle… once producers can figure out who we are, then

they can figure out how, where, and when to design / advertise their

products

■ Be familiar with: HIP CONSUMERISM ​→ basically sums up everything above (people want to STAND OUT and NOT CONFORM)

★ READING NOTES 

● CHAPTER 1 Notes:

○ Know the four major eras of advertising →

■ Pre-marketing Era = before 1700’s, when there were just

clay tablets and town criers that moved news around

■ Mass Communication Era = 1700s to 1900s, when printing

press, newspapers, radio and TV allowed for faster flow of

information

■ Research Era = early 1900s to present, when advertising

agencies research the consumers in order to create

effective ads

■ Interactive Era = now the consumers (us) have most

control over the content and products we choose to view

and use, and we have the power to provide constant

feedback

○ Names to know:

■ John Wanamaker (founder of one of the first ad agencies)

and John Powers (first copywriter)

■ John Watson (father of BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH)

■ Alfred Sloan Jr. (surpassed Henry Ford’s success by

making the “one-size-fits-all” car into a luxury idea… not all

cars are equal anymore) → think of planned obsolescence

○ Newspapers

■ Know the word “siquis” which were just very early notices

in papers posted by clergy seeking positions (very early

form of ad)

■ Johannes Gutenberg!! 1440!! Movable type! Printing press!

○ Magazines

■ Started off as local pamphlets but a few expanded to the

national level (thanks to Postal Act of 1879 which reduced

mail costs) and eventually became one of the only ways

companies could advertise across the nation

■ Know concept of specialized interest (magazines became

specific to one group, such as fitness, cooking, etc)

○ American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA provided

creative services, media placement and research, and today is a

global association)

○ Some important acts:

■ The Food and Drug Act in 1906 (did protect people’s safety but failed to completely address the lies told by ads… such as what ingredients were in a product)

■ Federal Trade Commission in 1914 (began restricting large monopolies and enforcing that ads make “reasonable”

claims)

■ Council of Better Business Bureaus (also deals with things similar to FTC)

○ After World War 1, there was huge consumer demand (it had taken a backseat to the war)... eventually Great Depression discouraged any type of business or consumerist actions again… there was a revival of consumer interest with the rise of the radio and after World War 2 when War Advertising Council​ was created by Thompson (and used for campaigns like Rosie the Riveter) → then TV arises and shushed radio, political

commercials became a thing (thanks to Rosser Reeves against Eisenhower)... TV ads (commercials) became very popular

○ Fragmented advertising appeared in the 1980s mainly due to ■ audience fragmentation

■ new technologies

■ consolidations of ad agencies and companies

■ and the concept of credit (which eventually led to

bankruptcy in many companies)

● CHAPTER 2 Notes:

○ Know the difference between national advertising a​ nd retail advertising

■ You can buy groceries, get a haircut and rent a movie all under one roof, like Walmart… so how do you advertise for a place that’s not quite retail, but holds retail within it? →

big ramifications for newspapers… do they nationally

advertise Walmart or retail advertise the smaller units

within Walmart?

○ End-product advertising ​= promoting consumer demand by promoting ingredients in a product

■ Think of Teflon (DuPont used this in its cooking materials, then eventually anything that had the Teflon seal was

considered a premium product)

○ Direct-response advertising ​= think of mail orders or 800 numbers or being able to subscribe to magazines thanks to little

pamphlets hidden inside them… you directly respond to the offer by being interactive

■ Will do great right now and in the future because of the internet and our growing ability to provide feedback and respond extremely quickly via social media or websites