What Is Advertising?Why study Advertising?2015 (estimated):$603 billion spent on advertisingrelevant for scholars and for careerRelevant throughout the universityAdvertisingBusinessesMarketingPromotion; communicationAdvertising, PR, direct response, personal selling, viral selling, events, packaging, promotions, sponsorshipsSociety>Industry>AdsFuture, present and pastRoles of advertisingDefinitions of effectivenessPerspectives for explaining effectivenessBehaviorismRationalismCulturalismEffectiveness?Advertisers’ goal is effectivenessWhat is effectiveness?PossibilitiesEffectiveness meansCause you to buy (powerful)Persuade you to buy (not powerful)Pressure you to buy (potentially powerful)1. Cause you to buy (POWERFUL)behaviorismneeds, urges, and instincts we cannot controlfood, water, and shelter, etc.romance, aggression, fear, etc.can be controlledConditioningClassical conditioningModification of involuntary reflex behaviorIan PavlovBehaviorist view of advertisers’ roleCreate stimuli (ads) to condition responses that benefit the product/serviceOvertSubliminal (ads are used to appeal to the subconscious)Theory of representationSymbolismIsolated textual characteristic= specific meaningE.g. long cylindrical shape always phallicBehaviorismInnate drives and urges can be conditioned to certain stimuliSymbols (ads) as universal stimuliAdvertising is powerful2. Persuade you to buy (NOT POWERFUL)RationalismNeeds and wishes individual, known, and controllableRational self-interest, rational choice“Enlightenment” individual“everyone is in control of their own destiny”Rationalist view of Advertisers’ roleDeliver dependable, truthful informationRepresentationDenotationIntrinsic information“reason-why” advertisingRationalismRational choicesDependable information (ads) crucial for informed decisionsAdvertising is not powerful3. Pressure you to buy (POTENTIALLY POWERFUL)CulturalismBorn into and taught general ways of understanding the worldAssumed to be “natural” and commonsenseTaken for granted“Pressure”negative; positiveCulturalismRepresentationSignificationMeaning not in the messageMeaning made through associationsTextual and socialWe learn and internalize the meaning of particular associationsAssociational MeaningCulturalismLive in a sea of learned, often taken-for-granted meaningsAds select and remake meaningsAdvertising can potentially be powerfulNo guaranteeRoles of AdvertisingNotices and announcements throughout recorded human historyEarly capitalist societies: merchants began to organize publicity to sell goodsConsumer society created need and means for an advertising industryAdvertising a recent developmentAdvertising is an integral part of a particular kind of society*Has there always been advertising?Notices and announcementsChange medieval/modernSocial StatusPurpose of lifeGetting goodsEmerging ProblemProductionMake a bunch of goods they want to sellDistributionSet out so people buyConsumptionMerchants pay and cover your expenses and get a little extraADVERTISING, MAIN PURPOSE: pressure//persuade people to buy your product.Emergence of consumer societySociety whose job is to get people to buy productsBeginning of jobs in advertisingRecorded HistoryNotices/announcements; persuasionCapitalism:Messages paid for by merchantsConsumer Society:Industry that makes the messagesNotices and announcementsPaid for by merchantsIndustry that makes the messagesAll 3 = “advertising”Very recent development, only been around for 150 yearsCapitalism/advertisingRecorded human history= notices and announcementsPre- and early capitalist societies =+Paid notices/announcementEmergence of consumer society=+ Need and means for advertising industryAdvertising is a recent developmentAdvertising is an integral part of a specific kind of societyAdvertising RhetoricDefinitionVisual RhetoricAllegoryMimesisA ShowNarrative RhetoricEpigramAdviceParableMedieval to ModernChangesContinuitiesImages and stories in advertisingAdvertising is a modern inventionBut reuses ancient ways of picturing the world and telling storiesRhetoricClassical definitionTechniques that speakers use to connect to audiencesRhetoric as applied to advertisingTechniques that ads use to connect us to productsVisual rhetoric, narrative rhetoricVisual RhetoricAllegorySymbols that reveal the nature of the worldPresents basic truths about the worldMimesisImages as “windows on the world”Perspective SystemHorizon lineOrthogonalVanishing pointObservationMimesis in adsReality; trueMore compellingA ShowMusic/dance productionFlattery; put on just for usEntertainment put on just for usNarrative RhetoricVisual rhetoric: Ways of showingNarrative rhetoric: Ways of tellingNarrative: EpigramShort paradoxical statement of surprising insightLittle strokes/ fell great oaks. –Ben FranklinTo define the beautiful is to misunderstand it. –Fernando PessoaI can resist everything except temptation. – Oscar WildeArt is a lie that makes us realize the truth. – Pablo PicassoReveal hidden, surprising truthNarrative: AdvicePersonal interactionThey care about you individuallyThey want what is best for usNarrative: ParableA story that teaches a lessonLearn a basic truthImportance of the product  Importance of the truthCombinationsRhetoric and acceptanceEffective advertising depends on people accepting the messageEffective rhetoric encourages acceptanceAdvertising uses age old rhetoricHow agencies solved problems for business and mediaEmergence and changing roles of ad agents and agenciesExample: N.W. Ayers & Co.19th c. conditionsexpanding industrial productionexpanding marketsAdvertising problems for businessesWhich publications to advertise in?20,000 nationallyno central listtelegraph and mail onlyAdvertising problems for mediaHow to keep track of advertising revenueUp to 300-400 separate advertisers per issueHow to increase profitsIncrease price?Increase quantity?Ad agenciesFor businessesManaged advertising placementFor media companiesTook over billingCreated a new revenue source: Sell audiences to businessesIncreased importance of advertising revenueTwo ChangesOpen contractsPublicize cost for ad spaceNo secret dealsAgents worked only for businessesBought space onlyN.W. Ayers & CoBegan as a space-brokerDevised open contractsAdded creative servicesBeginning in 1880, prepared ad copy, tooFree lance journalists and writersBy 1892, one full time copywriterPatterns of businessSpecialized rolesEditorial Bureau- wrote adsArt