A Brief History of the Evolution of

Advertising

Advertise originally meant

“to announce”

Advertising exists to solve a problem: the presence of more goods than are needed
Mass Advertising

 Technology of printing
 Industrial Revolution
 Literate customers
Information Age – pre-1800’s

 Ads only informational

 Price lists signs on walls,

printed announcements
 Calls of town crier
Handbills

 Precursors to newspapers
 Combined ads with news
 Printers hired agents to sell ads

First advertisers
Attention Stage – start of 1800’s

 Factories were turning

out goods that need
public attention
 Used borders,
headlines, and white
space to draw attention
 Canning and bottling
allowed for BRANDS!

1857 directory
Repetition Stage – 1850 to 1930

 Newspapers objected to large type

 Advertisers used repetition to get the attention
of consumers
 Think of some ads that use repetition
 Jingles invented to remind listeners. What
jingles do you remember?
Top Ten Jingles

You deserve a break today (McDonalds)

Be all that you can be (U.S. Army).
Pepsi Cola Hits the Spot (Pepsi Cola).
M'm, M'm good (Campbell's).
See the USA in your Chevrolet (GM).
I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener (Oscar Meyer).
Double your pleasure, double your fun (Wrigley's Doublemint gum).
Winston tastes good like a cigarette should (Winston).
It's the Real Thing (Coca Cola).
Brylcreem-- A little dab'll do ya
Association Stage – end of 1800’s

 Posters created by
Aubrey Beardsley,
Toulouse-Lautrec, and
Edward Penfield
 Pictures of attractive
people create pleasant
associations for the
product
Brands that have been around
Kellogg’s All Bran - 1927
Product Benefit Stage – 1950’s

 Every ad must present

the product as unique.
(unique selling
proposition -USP)
 Gardol in Colgate
Motivation Stage – end of 1930’s

 People bought products not just because

they physically needed them. There were
also various hidden psychological needs.
 A brand could make them more powerful,
more loved, or more socially acceptable.
Don’t sell milk–
Sell cool
Don’t sell a car–
Sell luxury
Don’t sell a seat on a plane –
Sell an adventure
Entertainment Stage – late 1950’s

 Doyle Dane Bernbach agency realized that

ads could be entertaining
 What ads are the most entertaining to you?
 But no matter how entertaining an ad is, the
bottom line is - does it sell?
Joy of Pepsi with Britney Spears

http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/advertisingtricks/whatsinanad_pepsi.html#
Behavioral Stage – 1980’s

 Better educated and

more critical consumers
 Agencies study
consumer needs and
buying patterns to
create a product image.
 More ‘scientific manner
of targeting
 Low-carb ads