whatisadvertising
Communications Overview
Advertising
Dr Brenda Murphy
What is Advertising?
Advertising is 2 things:
1. It has traditionally been a means by which we sell goods, services, and corporate identity. In recent years however it has become even more sophisticated and now is also used to sell image, ideas and ideals.
2.
3. It is also a cultural phenomena - it is a way of tracking and tracing societies developments both economically, politically, socially and culturally. 4.
A brief historical overview of Advertising’s growth
Advertising is considered by some to be as old as the system of exchange itself and used in more or less the same manner as its first examples of it.
A system of communication
Gillian Dyer (1992) talks about the first adverts being in the form of ‘word of mouth’ - coming from a more oral society. In ancient Greece and Rome the public crier shouted out the wares of local traders. In print form it was probably first seen in the form of a piece of papyrus nailed to a tree announcing the reward of a runaway slave.
Advertising, as we recognise it, first appeared in print; the oldest form of mass communication. The 17th Century saw newspapers circulate information, for example the arrival of a supply of silk to the local fabric store would be announced or the shipping times and dates for departure and arrival of merchandise, would appear as ‘classified’ adverts.
As technology developed so to did advertising. It moved from being text only, in classified form, to being in what we now recognise as ‘display’.
Developments in technology facilitated alternative column widths, and more importantly the inclusion of graphics. (Of course we must remember that the term ‘mass’ meant something a little different then to now - Up to the 18th C, literacy was still low but was increasing steadily. It wasn’t until the 19th C that we really saw the emergence of ‘mass’ media, as we understand it today.)
2007 Dr Brenda Murphy
1
Pre
Advertising
Dr Brenda Murphy
What is Advertising?
Advertising is 2 things:
1. It has traditionally been a means by which we sell goods, services, and corporate identity. In recent years however it has become even more sophisticated and now is also used to sell image, ideas and ideals.
2.
3. It is also a cultural phenomena - it is a way of tracking and tracing societies developments both economically, politically, socially and culturally. 4.
A brief historical overview of Advertising’s growth
Advertising is considered by some to be as old as the system of exchange itself and used in more or less the same manner as its first examples of it.
A system of communication
Gillian Dyer (1992) talks about the first adverts being in the form of ‘word of mouth’ - coming from a more oral society. In ancient Greece and Rome the public crier shouted out the wares of local traders. In print form it was probably first seen in the form of a piece of papyrus nailed to a tree announcing the reward of a runaway slave.
Advertising, as we recognise it, first appeared in print; the oldest form of mass communication. The 17th Century saw newspapers circulate information, for example the arrival of a supply of silk to the local fabric store would be announced or the shipping times and dates for departure and arrival of merchandise, would appear as ‘classified’ adverts.
As technology developed so to did advertising. It moved from being text only, in classified form, to being in what we now recognise as ‘display’.
Developments in technology facilitated alternative column widths, and more importantly the inclusion of graphics. (Of course we must remember that the term ‘mass’ meant something a little different then to now - Up to the 18th C, literacy was still low but was increasing steadily. It wasn’t until the 19th C that we really saw the emergence of ‘mass’ media, as we understand it today.)
2007 Dr Brenda Murphy
1
Pre
Bibliography: Brierley S., 1995, The Advertising Handbook Routledge, London. Jones J. P. 1999, The Advertising Business Routledge, London. 2007 Dr Brenda Murphy 11