History of Advertising COMM 3444 Advertising Society History of Advertising Where did advertising come from Early History Traces back to 3000 BC Ancient signs carved in stone and wood Town criers History of Advertising in America 1600s 1850s Rural communities small towns One blacksmith One general store People were self reliant Knew how items were produced The industrial revolution Industrial Revolution US population doubled Labor force Consumer market From rural to urban society Less self sufficient individuals Mass Production Mass Communication Era Printing press 1931 ad tries to draw parallel between something familiar and something unfamiliar Industrial Revolution Branding Manufacturers begin to focus on branding Brand identity Customers ask for it by name Move beyond price competition Distinguish Perhaps the single largest triumph of advertising Quaker Oats The first cereal company to register a TM A Consumer Society Developed Enormous assortment of goods Constant change in the goods themselves Rise in income discretionary spending and leisure time Advertising efforts devoted to human desires that not directly tied to basic necessities Became the lifestyle images we have today The Culture of Consumption Advertising began to address consumers as individuals Criteria for success varied over time No longer measured against strict behavioral codes No longer measured against fixed standards of achievement and moral worth Income became most important status indicator in US An individual achievement Provides access to tokens of success that are prized at any given moment The Culture of Consumption Creating and maintaining the self became a lifetime task Self improvement personal development selling oneself self assertion A response to uncertainties introduced by urbanization Erosion of older cultures created a void in personal life Advertisers jumped in well being Linked products with imaginary states of Advertising provided guideposts for social personal identity The Consumer vs The Product Ads provide cues about new styles of personal behavior Enjoli Ads link new goods with traditional images Consumers find comfort with this Transfers positive feelings to the product Miller Christmas The 1920s Radio Radio literacy music jingles Wheaties 1926 Pepsi ads Drama Programs were branded Kraft Music Hall Colgate Comedy Hour Radio stars delivered the commercial message during the shows The 1950s Postwar marketplace surge TV took over Emotion Imagery Demonstration Early days single sponsorship model TV programs produced by advertising agencies Paid for by a single sponsor The Flintstones Winston Cigarettes Kraft Music Hall TV show Shift to participation advertising Single sponsorship struggled Don t sell whole shows to advertisers but small blocks of time Enter the commercial break Colgate toothpaste The research era From 1950 to present Cost of advertising understand what works target more precisely Parallel industry develops Marketing Research 1960s Creative Revolution The tone of adv was changing Less direct repetitive Focus on humor irony storytelling image VW Beetle Noxema shaving cream The 1980s beyond New technology Cable home video recorders Audience fragmentation End of the traditional mass market Cable Broadcasting became narrowcasting The interactive era Fewer one way messages Permission marketing Consumer targeting Brand loyalty