Mad Men, a drama series set in a 1960's New York advertising agency, airs Sundays on AMC.

Advertising and promotion go back in history to the pre-Gutenberg era, when signs, placards, and town criers promoted stores and tradesmen. With the advent of newspapers and magazines, companies began to emerge which would specialize in advertising: advertising agencies.

Today's ad agencies come in all sizes: large global full-service agencies develop campaigns for national advertisers and buy time in space in all media, including network & spot TV.  Many smaller agencies and companies specializie in online advertising, local newspapers, or functions such as media buying. Ad agencies usually make their revenue from a percentage of their billing from a client.

l The research department studies the customer and how to reach her.
l The media department buys time and space, using research measurement tools.
l The creative services department formulates a strategy (copy, art, storyboards.)
l Production executes the creative strategy & works with freelancers. (Far more filmmakers work in the advertising production industry then in feature films, and directors of commercials are well paid.)
l Account executives or specialists recruit and service clients.

Since agency commisions represent a small margin of billings, losing a client can be disasterous. When a client defects to another agency, massive layoffs may follow.

Recent trends in advertising include internet advertising and related transactional marketing. The search engine Google has become a dominant force in internet advertising. Audience fragmentation and DVRs like TiVo have challenged the traditional central role of broadcast network television advertising.

Note that creative advertising isn't always effective advertising.
 

Creative Advertising

Although advertising isn't often regarded as a fine art, the cutting edge of artistic expression in many media is often found in advertising.

But artful advertising isn't always effective advertising.

What is effective advertising? Advertising that sells.  Before you can sell anything, you must "break the boredom barrier", the indifference or resistance of consumers.

What an advertiser asks himself:

• Who is my prospect?
• What is my prime prospect's problem?
• How can my product or service be positioned as the solution to my prospect's problem?
• How can my prospect be made to feel the need for my product or service, emotionally?

Some classic approaches to advertising

Questions about an ad (Benton & Bowles)

• Is there a BIG IDEA (genuine selling idea)?
  e.g. "think small" Volkswagon campaign (vw: fits in small parking spaces; small repair bills; small gas & insurance costs)
• Is it relevant (to the selling idea)?
• Is it hackneyed?
• Does it demonstrate?
• Is it believable?

Examples of creative ads from TBWA/Chiat-Day

• print ad for a secretary has a typo in it (medium as message)
• energizer battery TV ads; breaks boredom barrier; big, original idea: not hackneyed.

Ingredients of a good traditional advertising strategy

1. offers consumer benefit or solves problem
2. benefit or solution must be wanted or desired by consumer
3. brand tied directly to benefit or solution
4. benefit or solution must be communicated thru media ad

Unique Selling Proposition (Ted Bates, 1940s)

• Each ad must make a proposition to the consumer.  Buy a product, get a benefit.
•   Proposition must be one the competition does not offer.
• Proposition must be strong enough to pull over new customers.

Brand Image (Ogilvy, 1960s)

• each ad is a long-term investment in the overall make-up of the brand
• consumer buys the physical and psychological benefits which the product promises to deliver
• brand imagery changes as society evolves

Positioning as an ad strategy (Trout & Reis, '70s)
Positioning is what advertising does for the product in the prospect's mind (a foothold).  Examples:

• Avis #2 - we try harder
• Midas-guaranteed muffler
• Crest toothpaste: American Dental Assn. seal
• Schaefer Beer--the one beer to have when you're having more than one.

Doyle Dane Bernbach - Bill Bernbach:

• Make people & products close & real -- lifelike & believable
• Go to the essence of the product, simply, in terms of its best advantage; state it tangibly & memorably.
• Make merchandise an actor in the scene, not a prop.
• Make your merchandise look desirable; people like merchandise.
• Give an ad a focal center -- big dominant area.
• Apply principles properly for print and TV ads.
• Integrate art & copy, develop as a unit.
• Give ads vitality and exuberance - "personality"
•   Gimmicks or devices must tell the product's story.

Checklist for good ads & executions:

• Is it on strategy?
• Is it written to a single person?
• Is it single minded?
• Does it offers a benefit?
• Is is customer (not company) oriented?
• Is the message not overwhelmed by the execution?
• Does the ad tells the audience all it needs to know?
• Does the ad ask for the order?

Different media require different strategies

• Newspaper: get attention, rise above clutter, offer benefit (50 % OFF!), distinct look, set mood, be readable, "buy now" message.
• TV: make it visual, demonstrate product in action, be intrusive, make one sales point, achieve clear brand ID, don't let idea overpower message, be correct & honest, tell a story (beginning, middle, & end).
• Internet: engage the customer, enable interaction, collect contact data for follow-up, customize messaging and offers

Changes

• Print ads of the past were more rational. Ads of today are more emotional.  Even reasoned arguments are positioned in such a way as to make the buyer FEEL the benefits of the sales pitch.
• For an interesting take on market segmentation, read "Latitudes & Attitudes" by Michael J. Weiss.
• E-commerce is ushering in an era of targeted, customized mass communications sometimes called "microniche" marketing. Search engine advertising hits the "market of one", a reversal of the "mass market" concept.