advantages of television advertising essay

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16 Television Advertising Advantages and Disadvantages

With over 1,500 commercial television stations broadcasting in the United States, with countless more broadcasting around the world, TV advertising is a fast and effective way for your message to be heard.

Television advertising offers an average reach of 85% for adults across all age demographics. With that kind of influence, the advantages and disadvantages of this marketing option cannot be ignored.

Over the years, the format of television advertising has experienced some dramatic shifts. In the 1950s, companies were using single-sponsor TV programs in the U.S. to promote their message. It wasn’t until the 1960s that commercial breaks became a standard part of the television watching experience.

Since then, the average time dedicated per hour for commercials on TV has risen from 9 minutes to 19 minutes. Even with streaming, on-demand, and other television watching options that are available to consumers today, the structure of the commercial break remains the same.

The only difference? Streaming services and some TV stations have incorporated timers to let consumers know when their show will return. That timer increases the chances for brand exposure during the commercial break.

Here are the key points to consider if you’re thinking about a TV advertising campaign.

List of the Advantages of Television Advertising

1. it is a medium which offers immediate trust to consumers..

According to regular surveys published by Nielsen, over 60% consumers in the United States say they trust television advertising when they see it. The highest percentages are found in the most lucrative groups, such as Millennials, where 2 out of 3 people say they trust TV adds. In comparison, just 48% of the people in the 65+ age demographic say that they trust television ads.

2. There is a strong penetration into targeted demographic households.

In the United States, only 2% of households say that they don’t own at least one television. The average home today owns at least two TVs. 3 out of 5 households report that the purchase cable television packages, while another 30% say they use an alternative method to watch TV, like using a satellite. With the right indoor antenna, free television is still a possibility as well. You also have TVs in bars, restaurants, doctor’s offices, local stores, and more. With that much exposure, you have a lot of potential.

3. People watch a lot of television today.

The percentage of people who say they watch TV regularly is very high. About 90% of adults in the U.S. watch television, with the average person viewing 25 hours per week. People in the coveted 35 to 49 age demographic watch about 29 hours per week, while Baby Boomers (who control about 70% of the discretionary spending in the U.S.) watch almost 50 hours of TV each week. Purchasing advertisements gets your message right in front of those who would be interested in your commercial.

4. It is an opportunity to tap into a captive audience.

The cost for television advertising during the Super Bowl is higher because the audience for the broadcast is captivated. People might be multitasking, but they will also stop to watch a commercial when a message which is valuable to them airs. That is why television advertising is such a powerful medium. Even when the data suggests that people are not watching, they are still in the vicinity of their TV. They’ll return to hear something that is interesting.

5. There are multiple ways to broadcast your message.

Unlike most advertising mediums, TV allows you to broadcast a message with two options instead of one. You have access to visual and sound influences that encourage people to see and hear your message. That combination makes it easier for people to remember the message presented to them, which increases the likelihood that your advertising will create a conversion for you at some point.

6. Unlike with streaming services, you get your cake and eat it too.

Let’s say that you want your television advertisement to be seen during a specific program. If you purchase that commercial for an NBC program in the United States, then you can expect a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) of $35 or more. Now let’s say you want to advertise on Hulu, which is partially owned by NBC, during the same show. Guess what? You can’t do it. With the online platform you can only purchase demographics. You can purchase shows and demographics still when you’re working with TV.

7. Cord cutters aren’t watching much television anyway.

There is a lot of concern in the TV world about cord cutting, but from an advertising standpoint, companies shouldn’t be worried. Most of the households which decide to cut the cord weren’t watching much TV in the first place. Compared to the hours spend watching programming for regular TV viewers, cord cutters watch 100 minutes of streaming TV per week on their tablet and 60 minutes per week on their smartphone. You’ll still reach your engaged demographics when you purchase a television advertising spot.

8. You are able to create a personality that matches your brand message.

Think about the memorable TV advertisements that you’ve seen over the past 30 years. What comes to mind? Is it the Taco Bell Chihuahua? The various GEICO commercials that always seem to make you laugh? Maybe it is the AFLAC duck. Good commercials can make a big impact, even if they haven’t been seen for awhile – and they don’t need to be funny to create a big impression. The 9-11 tribute advertisement filmed by Budweiser, when their trademark Clydesdales went through Smalltown America and across the Brooklyn Bridge to dip their heads in respect to the NYC skyline and it still makes people cry almost a generation later. That is why the power of this advertising medium cannot be ignored. If your ad is memorable, then it won’t be forgotten at all.

List of the Disadvantages of Television Advertising

1. there is no guarantee that the advertising will be viewed..

Although people watch a lot of television these days, they also have lots of options when there is a break in their show. 8% of viewers in the 55+ age demographic say that they change the channel when commercials come on the TV. There are on-demand and streaming services which allow consumers to skip commercials altogether. Even though just 2% of Millennials say they change the channel when commercials come on, 38% say that they use their smartphone during commercials until their show comes back on.

2. People can become numb to brand messages.

When people are exposed to television commercials repetitively, then the effectiveness of the message is reduced. Time limits the exposure of the message as well, especially for consumers who watch television in a linear fashion. In the 18 to 24 age demographics, a 7% drop in linear TV occurred in just one year (from 2015 to 2016). Since 2011, young adults are watching 40% less television.

3. There are limited community influences to consider.

At the local level, television advertising is most receptive when it airs during local news broadcasts or during local programming. That also means up to 30% of the local population may not be watching TV at that moment. You’re also going to pay more for these spots because they are such an effective advertising tool, even though there is no guarantee that anyone in your targeted demographics will actually see the spot. This risk is often why companies will think twice before investing into this type of marketing campaign.

4. Television advertising isn’t cheap.

In 2016, the cost of a 30-second spot on local television, during local programming or an assigned local spot during daytime or prime time viewing, ranged from $200 to $1,500. That price isn’t for the entire campaign. It is for that one advertisement to view that one time. If your company broadcast an advertisement at the national level, the average cost for a 30-second spot was $123,000. If you wanted to advertise during the Super Bowl, your placement cost might exceed $4 million some years.

5. The costs of television go beyond the air time.

For television advertising to be effective, companies must pay for the production aspects of the content first. To produce a TV ad, you might be forced to hire a script writer if no one internally can do the work. You might need to hire a spokesperson and actors to be in your spot. Film editors are required to put together the various takes which are filmed. Then you might need to work with an advertising agency to get this talent put together before you get started. Even if your local TV station has internal production capabilities, it may cost several thousand dollars to just get started.

6. It requires repetition to be effective.

Although some television advertising efforts are effective immediately with consumers, most ads require repetition to be effective. That means your 30-second spot costs must become a recurring expense. If you can source a $200 spot, then you have something which is reasonably affordable. Even at $1,500, just 10 spots will incur a cost of $15,000 without a guaranteed return.

7. Television advertising is difficult to change.

Once you have your television ad filmed and airing on local stations or national broadcasts, you will find it difficult to make any changes to it. If you run rotating discounts or have a special offer, different advertising options might provide better results. To change a television ad, you must either edit it again, film new segments, or start the process over from scratch. Just one audio hiccup can be enough to cause future customers to think that your product doesn’t offer what you promise.

8. Even with proper research, reaching your core demographics is uncertain.

Let’s say you know for a fact that people in your targeted demographic, the 18-49 age group, always watch a specific show each night. You decide to put your advertising dollars into a TV spot that runs during the critical time slot. Guess what? You still don’t know if people saw the ad. Phones ring. People need to use the restroom. The family might be having a political debate. They might be cooking dinner during the commercial break. There are so many different factors which can affect viewership that there is always the possibility you could pay hundreds of thousands of dollars on this marketing effort to receive minimal results.

These television advertising advantages and disadvantages are essential to think about as personal viewing preferences change. By the end of 2018, over 33 million people are expected to “cut the cord” for their cable or satellite television. Figures released by eMarketer suggest that viewership in 2018 declined by 3.8%, which is steeper than the 3.4% decline experienced in 2017. With streaming options expanding, TV viewership might continue to take a hit. That is why each key point here must be carefully examined to determine if this medium is right for you.

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8 Advantages of Television Advertising

Last updated on: December 13, 2023

For many years, companies have relied on television advertising to connect with their consumers and acquire visibility for new products and services. While the structure of television advertising has changed over time, its efficacy has not.

Television advertising usually entails designing a brief commercial or ad that is shown during commercial breaks in popular TV shows, news broadcasts, or sporting events. The ad is intended to capture the viewer’s attention and offer a convincing message about the product or service being marketed.

Television advertising is sometimes seen as a mass marketing approach because of its ability to reach a large and diversified audience with a single message . One of the advantages of tv advertising is that marketers frequently choose programs or channels that are likely to attract particular demographics, such as age, gender, economic level, or hobbies.

Table of Contents

Advantages of Television Advertising

Television advertising has various features that make it an excellent company marketing strategy. For starters, it has a broad reach, allowing marketers to target a huge audience at the same time. Furthermore, television advertising is a visual medium that may attract the attention of the viewer through the use of images, colors, graphics, and animation. It is also adaptable, allowing advertisers to modify their advertisements to specific marketing objectives and target audiences. 

Furthermore, television advertising boosts brands’ trustworthiness and might elicit an emotional response from the viewer. Furthermore, with technological developments, television advertising may be cost-effective, making it more accessible. Ultimately, some of the benefits of TV advertising make it a powerful tool for companies wanting to raise brand awareness and sales. Some of the benefits of television advertising are mentioned below. 

1. Audience Targeting Options

Demographic targeting is the practice of focusing on people based on their age, gender, income, education level, and other demographic traits. Marketers can utilize data from research firms or television networks to establish the demographic makeup of an audience for a certain program.

Psychographic targeting is the practice of focusing on people based on their personality traits, beliefs, attitudes, and interests. Marketers can discover the psychographic traits of a certain audience by using data from surveys, focus groups, or social media.

Geographic targeting is the practice of targeting people based on their geographic location. Marketers can establish the geographic location of a certain audience using data from census statistics, zip codes, or GPS monitoring.

2. Wider Reach

Advertising during prime time slots, such as famous TV shows or athletic events, might help you reach a larger audience because more people watch TV during these times.

Advertising across various TV networks can also serve to improve the reach of a television commercial. By selecting networks with diverse demographics, the advertising can reach a larger audience.

Television commercials may now be placed on platforms such as  Amazon Prime, and Netflix, thanks to the expansion of internet streaming services. These platforms have a large readership and can help the advertisement reach a wider audience.

3. Advertising Formats

• Conventional Commercials : This is the most prevalent type of television advertising, in which a brand or product is advertised during a program or show with a brief commercial.
• Product Placement :  A product or brand is showcased inside a television program or show, either through subtle integration into the plot or by more overt branding.
• Sponsorships :  A company or product will sponsor a whole program or show, including branding, marketing, and product placements.
• Infomercials :  Infomercials are longer-form advertising that often airs during off-peak hours and can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. They are frequently used to market items or services as well as give more detailed information about them.

4. Affordable Rates

The cost of television advertising varies based on various factors, including the time of day, the length of the commercial, the channel, reach, and viewer demographics.  Affordably priced TV advertising is accessible for new and growing businesses. Several small businesses have enhanced their brand awareness, revenue, and bottom line as a result of high-quality, low-cost tv advertising.

5. High Credibility

Television advertising has a greater level of credibility because it is frequently connected with respected media organizations and has a long history of being a trusted source of information and entertainment.

Television networks spend on producing high-quality content and have tight rules on which commercials may be shown. This helps to guarantee that the advertisements shown are of high quality and are not misleading or untrue.

Furthermore, television advertising may profit from the strength of audio-visual content, which can captivate viewers and build an emotional connection. This can assist to improve the advertising campaign’s efficacy and the credibility of the product or service being marketed. 

6. Visual and Auditory Engagement

Television commercials can convey complex messages by utilizing both visuals and sound. This combination allows advertisers to present their products or services in a multi-dimensional manner, showcasing features, benefits, and emotional appeals simultaneously. The combination of visuals, music, dialogue, and sound effects can make TV ads more memorable than those in other mediums. A catchy jingle or a striking visual can stay in the viewer’s mind for a long time, leading to better recall when making purchase decisions.

The blend of visuals and sound can evoke strong emotions, whether it’s nostalgia, happiness, excitement, or empathy. This emotional connection can influence viewers’ perceptions and attitudes towards a brand or product.

7. Swift Impact

Some TV ads, especially those promoting limited-time offers or sales, can create a sense of urgency among viewers, prompting them to take immediate action.

With the arrival of social media, viewers often react to TV commercials in real time, giving brands immediate feedback. This can be beneficial for brands to monitor the success of their campaigns or make necessary adjustments.

Brands can synchronize their TV ads with online campaigns, driving viewers to websites, social media platforms, or apps, thus maximizing the immediate impact of their advertising efforts.

8. Brand Building

Television allows brands to present a consistent brand image through recurring commercials. This consistency helps reinforce the brand’s values, message, and identity in the minds of the viewers. Being on television can provide a sense of validity for brands, especially new ones. Many consumers perceive brands advertised on TV as more trustworthy and established.

A strong TV advertising campaign can amplify other marketing efforts, such as digital campaigns, in-store promotions, or public relations efforts. When consumers see a brand on TV and then encounter it on other platforms, the combined effect can significantly boost brand recognition and loyalty.

What is TV vs Digital Advertising?

TV advertising is designing and running adverts within certain time windows on television networks. TV advertising is well-known for its vast reach and ability to reach a large number of people at once, making it an excellent medium for increasing brand recognition. TV advertising may also be costly due to the high costs of production and airtime.

Digital advertising , on the other hand, entails developing and presenting advertisements online via a variety of platforms such as social media, search engines, websites, and mobile applications. Targeting features in digital advertising enable advertisers to reach particular audiences based on demographics, interests, behavior, and other factors. Digital advertising is much less expensive than television advertising and provides greater monitoring and measuring capabilities.

The amount of involvement and engagement provided by each channel is one of the fundamental contrasts between TV and internet advertising. TV advertising is a passive medium that depends on viewers to watch and absorb the message without any direct contact, but digital advertising allows for immediate interaction and engagement through actions such as clicking on a link, filling out a form, or making a purchase.

What is TV vs CTV Advertising?

TV advertising and CTV (Connected TV) advertising are two types of television advertising. TV advertising is inserting adverts on standard television channels provided by cable, satellite, or broadcast signals. TV advertising is a well-known medium with a broad reach and the capacity to target particular groups.

CTV advertising, on the other hand, entails displaying commercials on streaming services accessed via an internet-connected TV or gadget. Streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, as well as devices such as Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast, may all be part of CTV.

CTV advertising has a number of benefits over traditional television advertising. One of the most significant benefits is that it enables more accurate targeting. Marketers may target specific audiences using data and technology based on characteristics such as geography, demographics, and viewing habits. CTV also provides greater ad style and creative execution flexibility, enabling more engaging and interactive commercials.

Benefits of Advertising on TV

1) reach a large audience.

One of the most significant advantages of TV advertising is its ability to reach a massive audience. TV shows and channels often have a diverse viewership, which means your ad could be seen by a wide range of people. This is especially beneficial if you’re looking to raise brand awareness on a large scale.

2) Visual Impact

TV ads allow for a mix of audio and visual elements, creating an engaging experience for viewers. You can use storytelling, catchy jingles, and attractive visuals to make a memorable impression. This multisensory approach can help in creating a strong brand image and can often convey a message more effectively than other forms of media.

3) Credibility

There’s a certain prestige associated with TV advertising. Many people view TV ads as more legitimate or credible compared to other forms of advertising. This perception can be particularly beneficial for new brands looking to establish themselves in the market.

4) Targeted Advertising

With the advent of digital TV and various channels catering to specific demographics, you can target your ads more effectively. Whether it’s a sports channel for fitness products or a cooking show for kitchen appliances, you can choose where to place your ad for maximum impact.

Disadvantages of TV Advertising

1) high cost.

One of the biggest downsides of TV advertising is the cost. Producing a TV ad can be expensive, considering the costs of scripting, shooting, and editing. Additionally, the cost of airing an ad, especially during prime time or on popular channels, can be prohibitive for small businesses.

2) Short Lifespan

TV ads are often short-lived. An ad might only run for a few weeks or months, and within a limited time slot. This transient nature means you might need to invest continuously to maintain visibility, adding to the overall expense.

3) Skipping Ads

With the rise of DVRs and streaming services, more and more viewers are skipping commercials. This trend reduces the effectiveness of TV ads, as fewer people are watching them in their entirety.

4) Changing Viewing Habits

The way people consume media is changing. There’s a shift towards on-demand content and streaming services, which often offer ad-free experiences. This change in viewing habits means that traditional TV advertising might not be as effective as it used to be, especially among younger demographics.

Best Television Advertising Agency In India

The Media Ant is the top Television advertising agency since it provides a variety of services to assist businesses in reaching their target market. Strategic planning and media planning are all available. The Media Ant also has a large network of publishers, advertisers, and media sources, which allows businesses to reach a large audience. 

Furthermore, the firm has an experienced team of specialists that can give customized solutions to each business’s demands.

If you are wondering whether platforms are right for your business, then contact us and we’ll let you know!

FAQs Related to TV Advertising

What is meant by tv advertising.

The use of television as a medium to market products or services through commercials or other sorts of advertising messages is referred to as TV advertising. These advertisements can run during commercial breaks in TV shows or specific ad spaces, and they normally last between 15 and 60 seconds.

What are the advantages of television advertising?

Television advertising has various benefits such as, Wide Reach Visual Medium  Emotional appeal  Flexibility  Credibility etc

How much does it cost for tv advertising?

The cost of TV advertising in India can vary based on a number of factors, including geography, time of day, channel popularity, and duration of the advertisement. In general, the cost of television advertising in India is cheaper than in other countries such as the United States. For example, depending on the popularity of the program, the cost of a 10-second commercial spot during prime time on a major Hindi language TV station might range from INR 50,000 to INR 5,00,000 (about USD 670 to USD 6,700)

How effective is television advertising?

The success of television advertising can vary based on a variety of factors, including the target population, the time of day the commercial is shown, and the overall quality of the advertisement. Furthermore, with the advent of digital media, consumers have more entertainment alternatives and may be more prone to skip or ignore television commercials.

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Advantages & Limitations of Television as an Advertising Medium

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What Are the Benefits of Radio Advertising?

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For power and attention, it's tough to top the many advantages of television advertising. No other advertising medium combines sight and sound and has such a grand impact. But television advertising has disadvantages, too, including a glaring disadvantage: Cost. TV ads are expensive to produce and expensive to run. Weighing the strengths and weaknesses of TV advertising will help you decide if it's right for you.

Advantages of Television Advertising

Grabs attention . Imagine taking your product personally into millions of homes all over the country to show them why it's better, faster, stronger, higher or longer-lasting, and even demonstrating it right in front of them. One of the biggest advantages of TV ads is the ability to call out to your potential customers right where they are. It's akin to tapping them on the shoulder and saying, "Hey, come look at this!"

Combines sight and sound . With print advertising, you try to use compelling headlines and graphics to get people to read about your product. You can only hope they read the whole ad, look at the artwork and tie the two together to understand the message you want them to receive. Radio has the advantage of voice and sound effects, but no visuals. You're counting on them to envision your product as you want them to see it. TV ads are intrusive, capable of interrupting whatever else a viewer might be doing to watch and listen to your pitch.

Fosters emotion and empathy. Good TV ads are more than walking, talking messages. You determine how you want your audience to react. Smile. Laugh. Cry. Take action. You're putting on a skit or short play of sorts for their benefit. You can make it lighthearted or even humorous, thought-provoking or heartbreaking. You can try to do that with print, but you can't control how the words are read, with the proper emphasis and pauses for emotion. You can put the emotion into radio, but without the visual effect it's just not as powerful.

Reaches a wide, targeted audience . One of the big advantages of television advertising is the huge audience you can reach instantaneously. TV ads can be targeted to specific audiences surprisingly well, too. To reach stay-at-home or work-from-home parents, buy daytime spots. To reach a Hispanic market, you could buy air time on a Spanish-speaking network. For products that appeal to full-time workers, advertise in the evening. Toy and cereal manufacturers have known about targeting since TV began and they advertised during Saturday morning cartoons. Parents didn't always appreciate it, but the ads worked.

Weaknesses of Television Advertising

It's a big production. Even a 30-second ad or the 10- and 15-second clips of recent years, require a lot of effort. You have to hire a script writer or an ad agency, actors and a director. Rehearsing, shooting and retakes take an entire day or more. Even if you've hired an agency or producer to do these tasks for you, it's still wise for you to be at the shoot to see the action and to see how your products are being presented. Most importantly, you can interject, if things aren't going as you'd planned. It's time-consuming and stressful, but better that than to be surprised by a finished product you don't like.

Costs can be prohibitive. There's a reason national chains advertise on TV but your local boutique doesn't: Money. For all of its advantages, advertising on television is very expensive. Producing an ad is a huge expense. Buying air time to run your ad is another budget-buster. Cutting corners on production can be disastrous, producing an inferior ad that people will then associate with your product.

Frequency is essential . Just like print ads, TV ads need to run numerous times before they are remembered by an audience. That's costly with print, and even more so with TV. But if you're going to advertise on TV, it's not worth your time and money, if you can't afford to run the ad multiple times. The more your target audience sees your ad, the more they feel they know you and can trust you.

Changes are difficult and costly . Need to make a change to your ad? It's not as easy as editing your print ad. Most times, a TV ad will need to be shot again, or at least that part of it will need to be re-shot, and it's difficult to pick up action in the middle of an ad and to come away with the same feel of the ad as the first time.

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Barbara Bean-Mellinger is a freelance writer who lives in the Washington, D.C. area. She has written on business topics for bizfluent.com, afkinsider.com, Harbor Style Magazine, the Charlotte Sun and more. Barbara holds a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh and has won numerous awards in B2B and B2C marketing.

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Advertisements are becoming more and more common in everyday life Sample Essay

Updated On Dec 13, 2023

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This article contains Advertisements are becoming more and more common in everyday life sample essays.

Given below is a real IELTS Writing Part 2 Essay question. We have provided sample essays as well as an essay outline so that you can practice writing your own!

Not sure how to approach IELTS Essay questions? Take a look at IELTS Writing Task 2 Preparation Tips and Tricks !

Learn how to write the perfect essay introduction with the guide below!

Read the sample essay for Advertisements are becoming more and more common in everyday life. Is this a positive or negative development?

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Essay

Advertising is gaining more popularity in the marketing of products or services. While advertisements are considered to be advantageous, they can have numerous negative influences.

It is unquestionable that there are several benefits of advertising. By dint o f the large-scale expansion of advertising in almost every kind of mass media and nearly all hoardings , this sector is likely to generate a diversity of employment opportunities . In other words, it provides occupations for artists, painters or copywriters in designing and preparing logos, contents or ideas for advertisements. Another advantage is that advertising may enable the messages involved in products and services to reach potential customers , followed by an increase in sales for businesses. Additionally, only thanks to advertisements, can customers be kept informed about newly-launched products . Therefore, they have more choices to make about their beloved products, contributing to the enhancement of their comforts and standard of living.

However, advertising could cause several disadvantages for customers. No sooner might companies or business exaggerate or even distort the facts related to their products for commercial purposes than the customers can experience feelings of confusion about these items, making them have troubles   selecting the products to their taste. Furthermore, the facts show that the more advertising expenses increase, the higher the product price is. The reason can be that the selling price of the advertised items covers the high cost of advertisements . As a result, the advertised products can cost more than they should. Finally, when customers cannot resist the temptation of products which are advertised beyond customers’ expectations , there is every likelihood of them purchasing products which may be unnecessary. This trend could be seen as a waste of money.

In conclusion, based on the aforementioned explanations, individuals may gain both considerable benefits and drawbacks through the growing prevalence of advertisements.

Band 9 Sample Essay

Today, as is rightly said by many, is a world of marketing and endorsements. In the competitive world that we have today, advertisements and commercials are a must. This essay shall advocate the development and constructive impact of advertising.

Early-stage or mid-age startups, organizations and companies, the more we see, the more we observe the encompassing pervasion of businesses these days. One niche has typically umpteen business models. With the rising era of entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and digital nomads, the vigour and strife amongst businesses have only been exacerbated. Therefore, advertisements are of greatest essence keeping in view the current times, thereby, resulting in the increasing usage of various adver

tising channels, be it, pamphlets, hoardings, flyers, newspaper commercials, or the entire digital marketing rigmarole. The more the marketing, the more is the awareness.

Many people might not even be acknowledged to the new product line a company launches or a new product that paves its way in the market. In such a scenario, making them aware is the only perspective initially thought of. Moreover, making a new customer be a stalwart, remarketing branding and endorsing are what businesses primarily and obviously look for. During today’s time when options are many, in the pursuit of customers, a recognition of a brand evanescing is not uncalled for, reminding them of one’s existence, in such a case, is majorly solicited.

Some may argue that advertising tactics today have been misguiding, well, that’s not the case amongst those who are prudential and wakeful of the multiple sources available.

Conclusively, it could be stated that advertisement has been progressive development, and not only should it be treated as an option to ponder upon, but also considered as one of the key constituents of a business model and the relevant campaign.

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Why TV remains the world’s most effective advertising

Global figures continue to highlight how the power of television advertising remains resilient

‘The Global TV Deck’ features figures from 26 countries; a sample with the figures featured below is available to download for free here. It is designed to meet the needs of advertisers who are eager for transparent, reliable data and fresh insights. Major players in the TV industry are exchanging data and technical expertise to create this valuable databank annually for advertisers and remind them of the continuing importance of TV.

Download the charts from The Global TV Group here .

Areas covered in the global databank include TV’s reach, popularity, resilience, trust and impact, and effectiveness:

Reach: Based on the compiled data, TV reaches approximately 70.1% of Europe’s population daily and average daily viewing time is 3hrs 39mins. It is the unique combination of this reach together with the huge volume of time spent watching TV that makes it such a powerful form of advertising. For example:

• In Finland, television reaches 95.6% of the population within a month.
• Television still reaches 99.2% of the Portuguese population weekly.

Popularity: TV, in all its forms, is the world’s favourite video. On average, based on the available data, TV accounts for 90% of the average viewer’s video time. For the younger millennial audience, who are the most enthusiastic experimenters with all forms of video, it is also the largest proportion of their video time at around 73% of the total. For example:

• In Switzerland, TV accounts for 86% of all video time for the total population.
• In Ireland, TV accounts for 69.4% of all video time for 15-34-year-olds.

Resilience: Over the past decade, TV has proven remarkably resilient in an era of immense disruption. Despite the emergence of new SVOD services such as Netflix and the arrival of online video platforms such as YouTube, TV consumption has remained steadfast around the globe. Life stage also continues to be a significant driver of TV viewing. For example:

• In Austria, the average amount of time sent watching TV on a TV set has increased in the last decade from 2h33 a day in 2009 to 3h16 in 2019.

Trust and impact: TV is the most trusted form of advertising and remains most likely to make consumers laugh, move them to tears or trigger emotions. For example:

TV is by far the most trusted form of video advertising in Canada. 70% of 18-34 year olds named TV the most trustworthy compared to 12% for online video.

In the UK, 42% stated television is where they are most likely to find advertising that they trust in comparison to 6% for YouTube and 5% for social media.

Effectiveness: Advertisers invest in TV advertising because it works. Studies around the world demonstrate TV’s many effects – and the positive impact it has on other media. For example:

• In France, on average TV campaign achieves sales revenues (ROI) €4.9 per €1 invested.
• In Italy, TV generates almost three times the brand recall of Web ads (60% vs 18%).
• In the US, TV delivered the highest ROI of all media for every dollar spent at $14.34.
• In France, the traffic of an advertiser’s website during a TV campaign increases by 61%.
• TV is the media which generates the highest brand equity in Mexico, contributing a 28% share of contribution.

Ian Hampton, Senior Campaigns Manager, NHS England:

“Success depends on a fully integrated campaign... There is a time and a place for targeting through the obvious channels, digital and CRM, but there is also a time to talk to the nation and our TV campaigns do that brilliantly and successfully.”

Sharry Cramond, Marketing Director, M&S Food:

“What better way to get into the hearts and minds of Britain’s families than to team up with the biggest family show on TV. This partnership brought us into the homes of over eight million viewers each week, telling more families than ever about our great value, great quality food.”

Sarah Koppens, UK Marketing Director, Birds Eye:

“TV has been at the foundation of driving the transformation and reinvigoration of our brand. It is a mainstay of our communications strategy and plays a fundamental role in driving awareness of our key brand assets and the most important medium for driving long-term emotional connection with our brands.”

The-Global-TV-Group

PRESS CONTACTS / ABOUT:

The Global TV Group is an informal grouping of broadcasters’ and sales houses’ trade bodies in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and Latin America, whose joint objective is to promote television. www.theglobaltvgroup.com

egta is the association representing television and radio sales houses, either independent from the channel or in-house, that market the advertising space of both private and public television and radio stations throughout Europe and beyond. egta fulfils different functions for its members including regulatory issues, audience measurement, sales methods, interactivity, cross-media, new media etc. Over the years, egta has become the reference centre for television & radio advertising in Europe. egta counts 140 members in 40 countries. www.egta.com.

• Warren O’Donnell – Communications & Marketing, egta
• Phone: +32 2 290 31 38 - E-mail: [email protected]

The Association of Commercial Television (AKTV) was formed in 2017 as an association of terrestrial television broadcasting operators with the goal of defending, supporting and promoting the common interests of commercial broadcasters in the Czech Republic. The founding members of the Association are the Nova, Prima and Óčko television networks. www.aktv.cz .

• Fianová Marie - Secretary General, AKTV
• Phone: +420 724 442 935 - E-mail: [email protected]

ABMA is the Belgian Association for Audiovisual Media. www.abma-bvam.be.

Centro Internacional Television Abierta - The Broadcast TV International Center is a think tank about broadcast commercial TV industry development and promotes its relevance as a commercial and social medium. The project is supported by: RedUNo and Unitel (Bolivia); TV Globo (Brazil); Caracol and RCN (Colombia); Mega (Chile); Teletica (Costa Rica); TC Television and RTS (Ecuador); Televisa (Mexico); Medcom (Panamá) America TV and Latina (Peru). www.centrotv.org.

• Otavio Bocchino - Executive Director, Centro Internacional de Television Abierta
• Phone: +556133228889 - E-mail: [email protected]

Federazione Concessionarie Pubblicità is the joint initiative representing TV sales houses in Italy. http://www.fcponline.it/

• Luca Franzoni - Responsabile Generale, FCP
• E-mail: [email protected]

ReklamKraft is the Swedish initiative representing TV sales houses in Sweden, represented by https://lennoxpr.se.

• Robert Svensson - Spokesperson, Reklamkraft
• E-mail: [email protected]

Screen Force (DACH) is the joint initiative of thirteen sales houses for television and online video in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Germany, the partners of Screenforce are representing more than 97% of the TV ad spend. www.screenforce.de.

• Andreas Kühner - Screenforce DACH
• Phone: +49 89 12 71 06 96 - E-mail: [email protected]

Screen Force Netherlands represents the strength of premium video content on all screens. Content which is measured in an accurate and transparent way. Outside the Netherlands countries like Germany, Finland, Austria and Switzerland also have a TV marketing body under the name of Screen Force. With them and also with other strong international TV markets, we always look for more cooperation and joining forces. Always with the purpose enable advertisers to achieve their marketing objectives with premium video content on all available platforms. www.screenforce.nl.

• Michel Van Der Voort - Managing Director, Screenforce Netherlands
• Phone: +31 (0)20 40 44 271 - E-mail: [email protected]

Screen Force Finland represents the four commercial television companies in Finland: MTV, Nelonen Media, Fox International Channels and Discovery Networks Finland. www.screenforce.fi.

• Sanna Wester - Screenforce Finland
• Phone: +358 40 754 4584 - E-mail : [email protected]

SNPTV (The Syndicat National de la Publicité Télévisée) is a professional organisation of the French TV sales houses (TF1 Publicité, M6 Publicité, France Télévisions Publicité, Canal + Régie, Next Régie, Lagardère Publicité, Amaury Media, Be Viacom, beIN Régie). SNPTV has for the main mission to collect the proofs, through collective studies, that the television is the undeniable media for the advertisers and their TV ads in terms of return on investment, construction of brand, fame, image, etc. www.snptv.org .

• Virginie Mary - Deputy Director, SNPTV
• Phone: + 33 (0)1 41 41 43 21 - E-mail: [email protected]

Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, in all its forms. It works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV. Its shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media, Turner Media Innovations and UKTV, who together represent over 99% of commercial TV advertising revenue through their owned and partner TV channels. Associate Members are Discovery Networks Norway, Disney, London Live, TAM Ireland, Think TV (Australia), thinktv (Canada), TVN Media (Poland),TV Globo (Brazil), TV2 (Norway) and Virgin Media. Discovery Networks UK & Ireland, and STV also give direct financial support. www.thinkbox.tv.

• Simon Tunstill - Communications Director, Thinkbox
• Phone: +44 (0)20 7630 2326 - E-mail: [email protected]

Think TV is a marketing initiative of Free TV Australia – the industry representative for all of Australia’s free-to-air metropolitan and regional commercial television broadcasters. Its mission is to maintain and grow TV advertising revenue by inspiring the advertising and marketing community to think TV. www.thinktv.com.au.

• Dominic White -Director of Communications, ThinkTV
• Phone: + 61 2 8968 7100 - E-mail: [email protected]

Thinktv is a marketing and research association dedicated to the advancement of commercial television. Thinktv works with the marketing community to help advertisers get the best out of television in all its forms. Thinktv is supported by its member companies who together represent more than 95% of commercial television advertising revenue in Canada. www.thinktv.ca.

• Laura Baehr - VP Marketing, thinktv
• Phone: +1 416 413 3885- Email: [email protected]

The Video Advertising Bureau is the leading authority on the quality and value of ad-supported TV and professionally produced video as it is distributed and viewed on every screen and device. The VAB puts the marketers first as it continually invests in industry-leading research and analysis to produce insights into consumer behavior and the power of TV programming to drive awareness, consideration, sales traffic, activation and loyalty. www.thevab.com.

• Danielle Delauro - SVP Strategic Sales Insights, The VAB
• Phone: +1 201 978 3496 - E-mail: [email protected]

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Advertising on Television: Everything You Need to Know About the TV Medium

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Wondering if advertising on television is the right fit for your brand? Explore the advantages and disadvantages and learn how to make effective TV ads.

Find out where and how to build a successful TV ad campaign

Advertising on television is one of the most popular ways to spread a brand’s message, but don’t let its ubiquity fool you: There are more ways to reach households on the home’s central screen now than ever before. Finding the right fit, whether via big-budget campaigns splashed across linear TV schedules or carefully crafted ads purpose-built to drive conversion on CTV, could make a massive difference to your success with TV commercials.

Here’s everything you need to know about advertising on television to get started, and where to learn even more.

Big Advantages of Advertising on Television

Adding TV to your media mix is a critical step for any brand that wants access to a broad, deep, and engaged audience pool. Building persuasive TV commercials has become something of an art form since the first one aired during a baseball game in 1941, and the medium has become far more potent and varied since then — especially with connected TV advertising spend projected to reach $40.9 billion by 2027.

Here are three major advantages TV commercials have over other types of advertising:

Wider reach: The national audience for television is huge, and it remains the primary mode of entertainment for a large majority of adults in the U.S. Nearly half of U.S. households have linear TV subscriptions, while more than nine in 10 of them are reachable via connected TV advertising.

Dialed-in demographics: Traditional demographic details for linear TV networks give advertisers a good idea of who their message may reach. Over-the-top (OTT) advertising goes a step further with performance marketing tools and viewer insight that allows hyper-specific targeting, even down to viewers’ ZIP codes.

Better brand awareness: Our research indicates that 46% of viewers say TV ads are the most memorable type of advertising they encounter — and they have a “halo effect” that uplifts other forms of advertising, making them a vital part of your overall media mix.

These benefits and more make advertising on television one of the best approaches for any brand looking to expand its audience. If you’d like to learn more about what makes connected TV advertising a particularly potent tool, download our free guide, The CTV Advertising Playbook .

Find even more reasons to make TV commercials part of your marketing strategy in our full article, " 5 Advantages of Advertising on Television. "

The Basics of Cable TV Advertising

While cable TV advertising has traditionally been one of the most potent means of sharing your brand, challengers in the CTV space are presenting new and potentially more cost-effective options. Still, crafting and placing the right cable TV commercials could be a worthwhile investment for your brand.

Cable TV ads are generally broken down into two categories:

Spot advertisements, which are typically cheaper and region-specific, and air on any channel the cable provider offers.

Network advertisements, which are more expensive but can target customers around the country, and are negotiated with individual channels.

Cable TV advertising is relatively inexpensive compared to broadcast advertising — compare the cost of a Sunday Night Football ad which could easily eclipse $800,000 to cable spots that can be as cheap as $5 to $500 . But we’ll get into more specifics on the cost of advertising on television, however you choose to do it, in a moment.

Learn more in our full guide, “ Cable TV Advertising: Benefits, Costs, Comparisons, and More. ”

The Cost of TV Advertising

Given the increasing prominence of OTT and connected TV advertising, marketers looking into advertising on television should be well-acquainted with their costs compared to traditional linear TV. Here’s what you need to know to make the price of placing TV commercials a well-justified expense for your brand.

Linear TV’s greatest strength is its massive reach, with an unparalleled capacity to deliver ads to audiences around the US across a range of demographics. OTT and CTV’s greatest strength is their power to target ads in a much more precise and cost-effective manner. OTT and CTV ads can also be used to extend the reach of linear TV campaigns, as well as search and social advertising.

Advertisers laid out nearly $67 billion on TV advertising in 2022 , with the median price for AdAge-tracked shows coming in just north of $80,000. In 2019, cable TV upfront advertising came to an average cost per mille (CPM) of $19.45 , while network TV upfront advertising that year had a CPM of $36 . Meanwhile, OTT and CTV advertising spending reached just under $27 billion in 2022 , with the average CPM for CTV ranging from $35 to $65.

Get a broader look at potential expenses in our article, “ TV Advertising Cost: Unpacking Linear, CTV, and OTT Pricing. ”

Benefits and Drawbacks of Local TV Advertising

While the term “TV commercials” often brings to mind the sort of splashy, expensive advertisements you might see during major sporting events, focusing your efforts on local TV may yield more cost-effective results for your brand. Here are some of the pros and cons of advertising on television locally:

Pros of Local TV Advertising

• Wide local reach: Depending on your chosen area, local linear TV ads may still provide a huge number of potential exposures. For instance, advertising in San Francisco will be more expensive than other regions, but it will still put your ad in front of millions while costing less than a national ad.
• More precise targeting: Demographic data tied to local station viewership will make it easier to find more relevant audiences for your brand, rather than the broad metrics available at the national linear level.
• Affordability: Running a 30-second ad on a national network could easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, whereas a medium-sized local market may have a CPM of $15 to $25 .

Cons of Local TV Advertising

Lack of flexibility: The terms of a TV advertising campaign are typically set as soon as it begins, with little room for optimization or course correction. If any major changes are required mid-campaign, your brand may be in for a major headache.

Unclear attribution: It can be difficult to track a customer from a local TV ad to purchase, which makes measuring campaign success more of a challenge than in some other mediums.

Suboptimal metrics: While it’s easier to find definitive performance metrics for local TV than on national TV, they are still not as detailed or instantaneous as in CTV and OTT video.

Find more benefits, drawbacks, and other key information to consider in “ Local TV Advertising: The Complete Guide. ”

How to Compare TV and Radio Advertising

The first radio advertisement aired more than a century ago for real estate development in New York City . Since then, radio has stood as a stalwart of advertising in the US, persisting even after the emergence of television as Americans continued to tune in during commutes, road trips, and more. Now evolving consumer behaviors mean the boundaries behind those formerly well-defined domains are blurrier than ever before.

While TV ads can capture audiences with attention-grabbing effects and instantly recognizable celebrities, radio ads only have listeners’ senses of hearing to target. That said, the digital age means consumers are likely to experience either type of ad while multitasking on their phones or other personal devices. Keeping ads simple yet creative is one way to help cut through the noise, whether audio or visual.

Building radio into your media mix is an important avenue for diversification, especially since the common run-of-schedule method of ad placements means you can save costs at the expense of controlling exactly when your ad will play. Production costs are an even greater point of differentiation, with radio advertisements generally being much cheaper and faster to create than TV ads of similar quality.

Complete your research with our guide, “ TV vs. Radio Advertising: A Comparison for the Digital Age .”

The Growing Role of Addressable TV

Rather than standing as its own means of watching television like linear TV or CTV, addressable TV is a powerful advertising methodology that can be used in conjunction with OTT viewing. It’s based on the principle that not everyone watching the same show will have the same interests, and it uses targeting capabilities and viewer data that is inaccessible on linear TV to serve better-tailored advertisements.

But how do you know if addressable TV campaigns are successful? Here are three key performance indicators to keep in mind:

Reach and frequency: Reaching a higher number of unique viewers is one of the most fundamental goals for ad campaigns — however, the next point is what makes it truly valuable.

Conversion rate: The percentage of viewers who, having seen the ad, take the desired action (making a purchase, signing up for a free trial, and so on) within a particular period.

• Return on ad spend (ROAS): By dividing the revenue generated from the ad campaign by the total ad spend, you can determine how much of an impact your TV commercials made on your bottom line.

Learn more about how to make the most of this ad methodology in our primer, “ What Is Addressable TV?”

How TV Measurement Works

The most valuable spots for advertising on television typically go alongside the most popular programs, since they stand the best chance of getting a brand’s message in front of the most people possible. But how do we know which TV programs are the most popular? That’s where TV measurement comes in.

One of the pioneers in the field of TV measurement was Nielsen, which initially sent viewer diaries and special screen-capturing devices called Audimeters to a representative sample of U.S. households. While Nielsen’s methods have evolved to keep up with the times, the company has recently suffered some blows to its reputation as the last word in linear TV measurement.

One of the most promising modern methods of TV measurement is automatic content recognition (ACR), which tracks what viewers are watching, then transmits that data to TV and set-top box manufacturers. When implemented with consumer privacy in mind , ACR can be an unparalleled measurement source of data for advertisers and broadcasters alike.

Get the full introduction in “ TV Measurement: Past, Present, and Future. ”

Power Up Your TV Advertising Plans

It’s clear that connected TV advertising is an unmatched destination for brands that want to reach wider audiences and the most engaged viewers possible. But not all means of CTV advertising are equally effective.

By partnering with tvScientific, you’ll unlock access to the only CTV platform that was purpose-built for performance marketers. Our outcome-based CTV advertising solution will help you increase reach, lift, and ROAS by targeting the right audience at the right time, then hone the value of your campaigns with best-in-class analytics that measure the true performance of your ads. Request a demo today to see what we can do for your brand.

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TV Advert Archives

Reviewing the world's best and worst TV advertisements

Advantages and Disadvantages of TV Advertising

For decades, it’s been widely accepted that television advertising is an effective way to get your company’s message across to the masses, but what are the other advantages of television advertising? In addition to this, television advertising isn’t always the best way to promote your business. We take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of TV adverts. 

Advantages of Television Advertising

National coverage.

A big advantage of television advertising is of course the opportunity to gain national coverage of your TV advert. Provided that a viewer is watching the TV channel at the time of your advertising slot, they’ll be able to see your TV advert no matter their age, gender or location in the country. This can be a big advantage if your company appeals to a mass market, with television advertising being one of the easiest ways to reach a wide audience quickly. 

Full Attention

Unlike alternatives such as social media advertising, magazines and advertising on search engines, when your advertisement is on TV, you have the viewer’s full attention. You’re not competing with other advertisements at the same time, and in a lot of cases, you’re on a very large screen in the main room of the house. If the viewer is waiting for their programme to start or continue, they’re very likely to be giving your advertisement their full attention. 

Brand Awareness

Sometimes with other methods of advertising, with less advertising space and the need to make an instant impact, a company may need to choose between displaying key selling points to boost sales, or showcasing their brand via a brand awareness campaign. With a lengthy 30 second TV advertising slot, companies can combine the two, demonstrating the benefits of a particular product or service, as well as showing their brand identity, logo and colours. 

Building Trust

When a company has enough advertising budget to advertise on national television, there is the assumption that they are the real deal. Whilst viewers may not be aware of this, there are a number of approval stages and barriers involved to getting your advertisement shown on television, so, with the exception of rare cases, only genuine businesses who can deliver on what they’re promoting are allowed to buy a TV advertising slot. With all this in mind, being able to advertise on television is a trust signal, and may result in a viewer using that company instead of competitors who do not have that television presence. 

Monitor Impact

A benefit of television advertising is that you can, to some extent, monitor the impact of the adverts on sales and brand awareness. Companies such as TVSquared can help businesses to analyse and monitor subsequent commercial performance as a result of the advert being shown. Television advertising is highly likely to result in dramatic increases in online searches for the brand, so it’ll be pretty easy in programmes such as Google Analytics to see the surge in traffic to a company’s website at the same time an advertisement is shown. 

A newer feature on television adverts is to include QR codes for users to scan and use, this can also easily be used to track users who have visited the website from viewing the advert. 

More accessibility for smaller businesses

Think that television advertising is just for the large companies? Think again. With companies such as Sky Adsmart emerging, it’s becoming easier for smaller sized businesses to advertise on television. Of course, you perhaps wouldn’t be able to get a prime time nationwide television slot, but you could get coverage for specific areas, demographics and interests. Thanks to Sky’s data collection from Sky boxes, they can provide much more precise targeting for television adverts. Theoretically, this form of television advertising could therefore be cheaper and more effective. 

Creating a long-lasting impression

With famous television advertising slogans staying with viewers’ minds for decades, and television advertising transforming a business from local to international, television adverts can definitely give a long lasting impression. Whilst possible, it would be unlikely for a magazine advert or email newsletter to provide the same impact, making this a key benefit of television advertisements. 

Disadvantages of Television Advertising

Television advertising is one of the most expensive forms of advertising available. Looking at TV advertising costs , a prime time slot on ITV can cost up to £30,000, and that’s just for one showing. Whilst as previously mentioned, companies such as Sky Adsmart can offer cheaper alternatives, but this still doesn’t include production costs, hiring well-known faces and/or actors to promote the brand onscreen. Also, if you don’t have a good idea for an advert, and no idea how to put one together, you’re going to need to pay a specialised agency to do this for you. 

Difficult to accurately monitor results

Whilst monitoring the impact of television advertising has improved, including the use of specialised analytics software, QR codes and other forms of tracking. It may not be possible to have a completely accurate account of who has visited your website or purchased a product from being shown the television advert. This isn’t the only method of advertising that has this issue of course, as you could not know for sure who saw a magazine advert or heard a radio broadcast, but when television advertising is as expensive as it is, you are to some extent blind about the impact of your campaign. 

Advertising approval

It’s not enough to have the funds to purchase TV advertising slots, the TV advert produced needs to adhere to a lot of guidelines in order to appear on television. This includes technical requirements such as quality and aspect ratio, and legal guidelines to make sure the advert does not put forward false claims or offend. Even when this is done, there is still a risk of adverts receiving complaints and getting banned. 

Risk of harming the brand image

An advert broadcasted on television doesn’t necessarily mean that your business is guaranteed to encounter success. If your desired audiences don’t like your advert, find them offensive, or if your advert simply doesn’t impress, then you can risk that becoming a long-lasting impression. 

Skipping Ads

When a company has spent so much time and money on a television advertising campaign, do viewers actually want to see it? With the rise of on-demand TV services such as Netflix and AppleTV, and options to pay a little extra to skip ads, it seems that what viewers of television really want is to skip ads altogether. Whilst no one really wants to be sucked in by advertising to buy products they don’t need, it might become increasingly difficult in future years to reach anyone at all by the once wide-spread advertising tactic.  

Final thoughts

Whilst businesses seem to be paying more attention to social media advertising, influencers and CSR as a means of advertising, the power of the television advert still remains. The advantages and disadvantages of TV advertising highly depend on what a company needs to get out of it. The main question must be, will television advertising remain as powerful, or will the surge of on-demand television reduce its influence on the mass market? 

What are your thoughts on television advertising? Let us know in the comments.

One thought on “ Advantages and Disadvantages of TV Advertising ”

It’s great that you talked about how television advertising could give the opportunity to gain national coverage of the TV advert. I went to an advertising convention last weekend and one of the booths there was all about TV advertising. From what I’ve heard, it seems there are companies that offer targeted TV advertising services now too.

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The power of storytelling in advertising

5 Minutes with Eunjin Kim

Television advertising is constantly evolving to create connections with potential consumers. One recent trend has been away from the traditional second-person type of commercial, where the actors pitch directly to the viewer, toward a third-person approach, where the actors tell a story. What’s behind this trend toward more narrative advertising, does it work, and why?

These are the kinds of questions that Eunjin “Anna” Kim , who joined USC Annenberg as an assistant professor in the public relations program this fall, has built her academic career exploring, first as a doctoral student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and then at her previous position as an assistant professor in the Temerlin Advertising Institute at Southern Methodist University.

For most of their existence, TV commercials have been like, “Hey, buy this product! It’s faster, cheaper, more efficient!” It’s kind of annoying — even the tone of the voices. Then, around 2012, I started to see an increase in commercials that tell stories. They don’t always talk about the “selling point,” which was always a big deal in advertising: Why do you have to buy this product? Instead of simply telling you about the benefits of the product, they show how the advertised product can help you achieve your consumption goals. It doesn’t really say anything directly about the product, but still it’s very persuasive. 

It’s more about a feeling, and a narrative, right?

Yes, it touches a human emotion and makes a connection. The power is that it’s not really intrusive. People don’t always react well to being told to buy a product. But, structural elements in the narratives, such as the presence of a main character in a story and their actions in the plot, enable a viewer to relate to the story in the ad, which in turn generates more positive feelings in the viewer. Such connection is known to promote vicarious learning through the main character’s feelings, thoughts and beliefs, and is likely to lower the viewer’s resistance to the ad story. 

The growing popularity of such storytelling ads has spurred a lot of research interest in narrative persuasion. Researchers have found a positive relationship between story ads and advertising persuasion, and offered various explanations, but the insights generated by previous research were a bit fragmented and overlapping.  So, I wanted to come up with an integrated framework to determine why a story ad is more persuasive than a non-story ad. That was my dissertation.  

The second aspect was, okay, now we know story is more effective than non-story, but not all stories are equally effective. What makes some stories more effective than others, and when and how is one story more likely to be effective than another? You create a great story that is entertaining, fun and credible, but if a brand is not well integrated into the story, your ad may not do much for claims about the benefits of the brand. Then you are kind of wasting money. If you go too far, and there’s a crazy story, and then at the end of the commercial, there's a weird voice-over, followed by a brand logo, it can be awkward.

So, brand integration is still critical?

Branding is a process of creating meaning, and attaching that meaning to the brand, and then building a relationship between that brand and the viewer. There are three kinds of relationships: functional, emotional and symbolic.

For example, let’s say, this ibuprofen really helps you recover quickly from your headache. The ad shows a woman suffering from a headache, and then she feels a lot better — that's the functional relationship. An emotional relationship is when a brand makes you feel good about using or owning the brand. Think about one of Budweiser’s famous Super Bowl commercials, “Puppy Love,” which tells a touching story about a friendship between a cute golden retriever and a Clydesdale. Finally, the symbolic relationship would be that Audi commercial from a few years back: A dateless high school student was reluctant to go to prom, and his dad gave him the keys to his new Audi, which gave the teen confidence. That’s symbolic — the car is aspirational, a symbol of who you are, or who you wish to be.

There’s a lot of talk about the power of “influencers” in advertising and marketing now. How do you see them fitting into companies’ overall strategies?

Influencer marketing has become one of the hot topics nowadays. But actually, we know that using the influencers as a marketing tactic can sometimes backfire, particularly with media-savvy millennials. As with any other approach, it’s really important to convey the authenticity of the story you’re telling.

What classes are you teaching now, and what is your favorite part of teaching them?

This semester, I am teaching two undergraduate classes, Introduction to Advertising (PR 340) and PR Research Methods (PR 463). In both classes, I love the energy, diversity, curiosity and enthusiasm brought by my students. 

I take my role as an instructor/mentor seriously. Students are living in a world of hyper-competition, which creates feelings of insecurity, anxiety, and self-doubt in spite of their high achievements. I believe one positive encounter can make a big difference in their life. So, I strive to nurture relationships with my students by keeping my communication lines open and making myself available so that I can provide support. 

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12.1 Advertising

Learning objectives.

• Describe important eras in the history of American advertising.
• Analyze the overall effects of government regulation on advertising.
• Identify the types of advertising used today.
• Describe the impact of advertising on American consumerism and cultural values.

Advertising is defined as promoting a product or service through the use of paid announcements (Dictionary). These announcements have had an enormous effect on modern culture, and thus deserve a great deal of attention in any treatment of the media’s influence on culture.

History of Advertising

Figure 12.1

Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikimedia Commons – public domain; Vanguard Visions – Search Engine Online Advertising – CC BY 2.0.

Advertising dates back to ancient Rome’s public markets and forums and continues into the modern era in most homes around the world. Contemporary consumers relate to and identify with brands and products. Advertising has inspired an independent press and conspired to encourage carcinogenic addictions. An exceedingly human invention, advertising is an unavoidable aspect of the shared modern experience.

Ancient and Medieval Advertising

In 79 CE, the eruption of Italy’s Mount Vesuvius destroyed and, ultimately, preserved the ancient city of Pompeii. Historians have used the city’s archaeological evidence to piece together many aspects of ancient life. Pompeii’s ruins reveal a world in which the fundamental tenets of commerce and advertising were already in place. Merchants offered different brands of fish sauces identified by various names such as “Scaurus’ tunny jelly.” Wines were branded as well, and their manufacturers sought to position them by making claims about their prestige and quality. Toys and other merchandise found in the city bear the names of famous athletes, providing, perhaps, the first example of endorsement techniques (Hood, 2005).

The invention of the printing press in 1440 made it possible to print advertisements that could be put up on walls and handed out to individuals. By the 1600s, newspapers had begun to include advertisements on their pages. Advertising revenue allowed newspapers to print independently of secular or clerical authority, eventually achieving daily circulation. By the end of the 16th century, most newspapers contained at least some advertisements (O’Barr, 2005).

Selling the New World

European colonization of the Americas during the 1600s brought about one of the first large-scale advertising campaigns. When European trading companies realized that the Americas held economic potential as a source of natural resources such as timber, fur, and tobacco, they attempted to convince others to cross the Atlantic Ocean and work to harvest this bounty. The advertisements for this venture described a paradise without beggars and with plenty of land for those who made the trip. The advertisements convinced many poor Europeans to become indentured servants to pay for the voyage (Mierau, 2000).

Nineteenth-Century Roots of Modern Advertising

Figure 12.2

Early penny press papers such as the New York Sun took advantage of advertisements, which allowed them to sell their issues for a penny or two.

Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

The rise of the penny press during the 1800s had a profound effect on advertising. The New York Sun embraced a novel advertising model in 1833 that allowed it to sell issues of the paper for a trifling amount of money, ensuring a higher circulation and a wider audience. This larger audience in turn justified greater prices for advertisements, allowing the paper to make a profit from its ads rather than from direct sales (Vance).

P. T. Barnum and Advertising

The career of P. T. Barnum, cofounder of the famed Barnum & Bailey circus, gives a sense of the uncontrolled nature of advertising during the 1800s. He began his career in the 1840s writing ads for a theater, and soon after, he began promoting his own shows. He advertised these shows any way he could, using not only interesting newspaper ads but also bands of musicians, paintings on the outside of his buildings, and street-spanning banners.

Barnum also learned the effectiveness of using the media to gain attention. In an early publicity stunt, Barnum hired a man to wordlessly stack bricks at various corners near his museum during the hours preceding a show. When this activity drew a crowd, the man went to the museum and bought a ticket for the show. This stunt drew such large crowds over the next 2 days, that the police made Barnum put a halt to it, gaining it even wider media attention. Barnum was sued for fraud over a bearded woman featured in one of his shows; the plaintiffs claimed that she was, in fact, a man. Rather than trying to keep the trial quiet, Barnum drew attention to it by parading a crowd of witnesses attesting to the bearded woman’s gender, drawing more media attention—and more customers.

Figure 12.3

P. T. Barnum used the press to spark interest in his shows.

trialsanderrors – The marvelous foot-ball dogs, poster for Barnum & Bailey, 1900 – CC BY 2.0.

Barnum aimed to make his audience think about what they had seen for an extended time. His Feejee mermaid—actually a mummified monkey and fish sewn together—was not necessarily interesting because viewers thought the creation was really a mermaid, but because they weren’t sure if it was or not. Such marketing tactics brought Barnum’s shows out of his establishments and into social conversations and newspapers (Applegate, 1998). Although most companies today would eschew Barnum’s outrageous style, many have used the media and a similar sense of mystery to promote their products. Apple, for example, famously keeps its products such as the iPhone and iPad under wraps, building media anticipation and coverage.

In 1843, a salesman named Volney Palmer founded the first U.S. advertising agency in Philadelphia. The agency made money by linking potential advertisers with newspapers. By 1867, other agencies had formed, and advertisements were being marketed at the national level. During this time, George Rowell, who made a living buying bulk advertising space in newspapers to subdivide and sell to advertisers, began conducting market research in its modern recognizable form. He used surveys and circulation counts to estimate numbers of readers and anticipate effective advertising techniques. His agency gained an advantage over other agencies by offering advertising space most suited for a particular product. This trend quickly caught on with other agencies. In 1888, Rowell started the first advertising trade magazine, Printers’ Ink (Gartrell).

In Chapter 5 “Magazines” , you read about McClure’s success in 1893 thanks to an advertising model: selling issues for nearly half the price of other magazines and depending on advertising revenues to make up the difference between cost and sales price. Magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal focused on specific audiences, so they allowed advertisers to market products designed for a specific demographic. By 1900, Harper’s Weekly , once known for refusing advertising, featured ads on half of its pages (All Classic Ads).

The Rise of Brand Names

Figure 12.4

In the early 1900s, brand-name food items, such as this one, began making a household name for themselves.

Stuart Rankin – Payn’s Sure-Raising Flour – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Another ubiquitous aspect of advertising developed around this time: brands. During most of the 19th century, consumers purchased goods in bulk, weighing out scoops of flour or sugar from large store barrels and paying for them by the pound. Innovations in industrial packaging allowed companies to mass produce bags, tins, and cartons with brand names on them. Although brands existed before this time, they were generally reserved for goods that were inherently recognizable, such as china or furniture. Advertising a particular kind of honey or flour made it possible for customers to ask for that product by name, giving it an edge over the unnamed competition. 1

Figure 12.5

Department stores such as Sears, Roebuck and Co. reached consumers outside of the city through mail-order catalogs.

Nesster – 1961 Sears: Mail Order Envelope – CC BY 2.0.

The rise of department stores during the late 1800s also gave brands a push. Nationwide outlets such as Sears, Roebuck & Company and Montgomery Ward sold many of the same items to consumers all over the country. A particular item spotted in a big-city storefront could come to a small-town shopper’s home thanks to mail-order catalogs. Customers made associations with the stores, trusting them to have a particular kind of item and to provide quality wares. Essentially, consumers came to trust the store’s name rather than its specific products. 2

Advertising Gains Stature During the 20th Century

Although advertising was becoming increasingly accepted as an element of mass media, many still regarded it as an unseemly occupation. This attitude began to change during the early 20th century. As magazines—widely considered a highbrow medium—began using more advertising, the advertising profession began attracting more artists and writers. Writers used verse and artists produced illustrations to embellish advertisements. Not surprisingly, this era gave rise to commercial jingles and iconic brand characters such as the Jolly Green Giant and the Pillsbury Doughboy.

The household cleaner Sapolio produced advertisements that made the most of the artistic advertising trend. Sapolio’s ads featured various drawings of the residents of “Spotless Town” along with a rhymed verse celebrating the virtues of this fictional haven of cleanliness. The public anticipated each new ad in much the same way people today anticipate new TV episodes. In fact, the ads became so popular that citizens passed “Spotless Town” resolutions to clean up their own jurisdictions. Advertising trends later moved away from flowery writing and artistry, but the lessons of those memorable campaigns continued to influence the advertising profession for years to come (Fox, 1984).

Advertising Makes Itself Useful

World War I fueled an advertising and propaganda boom. Corporations that had switched to manufacturing wartime goods wanted to stay in the public eye by advertising their patriotism. Equally, the government needed to encourage public support for the war, employing such techniques as the famous Uncle Sam recruiting poster. President Woodrow Wilson established the advertiser-run Committee on Public Information to make movies and posters, write speeches, and generally sell the war to the public. Advertising helped popularize World War I on the home front, and the war in turn gave advertising a much-needed boost in stature. The postwar return to regular manufacturing initiated the 1920s as an era of unprecedented advertising. 3

The rising film industry made celebrity testimonials, or product endorsements , an important aspect of advertising during the 1920s. Film stars including Clara Bow and Joan Crawford endorsed products such as Lux toilet soap. In these early days of mass-media consumer culture, film actors and actresses gave the public figures to emulate as they began participating in popular culture. 4

As discussed in Chapter 7 “Radio” , radio became an accepted commercial medium during the 1920s. Although many initially thought radio was too intrusive a medium to allow advertising, as it entered people’s homes by the end of the decade, advertising had become an integral aspect of programming. Advertising agencies often created their own programs that networks then distributed. As advertisers conducted surveys and researched prime time slots, radio programming changed to appeal to their target demographics. The famous Lux Radio Theater , for example, was named for and sponsored by a brand of soap. Product placement was an important part of these early radio programs. Ads for Jell-O appeared during the course of the Jack Benny Show (JackBennyShow.com), and Fibber McGee and Molly scripts often involved their sponsor’s floor wax (Burgan, 1996). The relationship between a sponsor and a show’s producers was not always harmonious; the producers of radio programs were constrained from broadcasting any content that might reflect badly on their sponsor.

The Great Depression and Backlash

Unsurprisingly, the Great Depression, with its widespread decreases in levels of income and buying power, had a negative effect on advertising. Spending on ads dropped to a mere 38 percent of its previous level. Social reformers added to revenue woes by again questioning the moral standing of the advertising profession. Books such as Through Many Windows and Our Master’s Voice portrayed advertisers as dishonest and cynical, willing to say anything to make a profit and unconcerned about their influence on society. Humorists also questioned advertising’s authority. The Depression-era magazine Ballyhoo regularly featured parodies of ads, similar to those seen later on Saturday Night Live or in The Onion . These ads mocked the claims that had been made throughout the 1920s, further reducing advertising’s public standing. 5

This advertising downturn lasted only as long as the Depression. As the United States entered World War II, advertising again returned to encourage public support and improve the image of businesses. 6 However, there was one lasting effect of the Depression. The rising consumer movement made false and misleading advertising a major public policy issue. At the time, companies such as Fleischmann’s (which claimed its yeast could cure crooked teeth) were using advertisements to pitch misleading assertions. Only business owners’ personal morals stood in the way of such claims until 1938, when the federal government created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and gave it the authority to halt false advertising.

In 1955, TV outpaced all other media for advertising. TV provided advertisers with unique, geographically oriented mass markets that could be targeted with regionally appropriate ads (Samuel, 2006). The 1950s saw a 75 percent increase in advertising spending, faster than any other economic indicator at the time. 7

Single sponsors created early TV programs. These sponsors had total control over programs such as Goodyear TV Playhouse and Kraft Television Theatre . Some sponsors went as far as to manipulate various aspects of the programs. In one instance, a program run by the DeSoto car company asked a contestant to use a false name rather than his given name, Ford. The present-day network model of TV advertising took hold during the 1950s as the costs of TV production made sole sponsorship of a show prohibitive for most companies. Rather than having a single sponsor, the networks began producing their own shows, paying for them through ads sold to a number of different sponsors. 8 Under the new model of advertising, TV producers had much more creative control than they had under the sole-sponsorship model.

The quiz shows of the 1950s were the last of the single-sponsor–produced programs. In 1958, when allegations of quiz show fraud became national news, advertisers moved out of programming entirely. The quiz show scandals also added to an increasing skepticism of ads and consumer culture (Boddy, 1990).

Advertising research during the 1950s had used scientifically driven techniques to attempt to influence consumer opinion. Although the effectiveness of this type of advertising is questionable, the idea of consumer manipulation through scientific methods became an issue for many Americans. Vance Packard’s best-selling 1957 book The Hidden Persuaders targeted this style of advertising. The Hidden Persuaders and other books like it were part of a growing critique of 1950s consumer culture. The U.S. public was becoming increasingly wary of advertising claims—not to mention increasingly weary of ads themselves. A few adventurous ad agencies used this consumer fatigue to usher in a new era of advertising and American culture (Frank, 1998).

The Creative Revolution

Burdened by association with Nazi Germany, where the company had originated, Volkswagen took a daring risk during the 1950s. In 1959, the Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) agency initiated an ad campaign for the company that targeted skeptics of contemporary culture. Using a frank personal tone with the audience and making fun of the planned obsolescence that was the hallmark of Detroit automakers, the campaign stood apart from other advertisements of the time. It used many of the consumer icons of the 1950s, such as suburbia and game shows, in a satirical way, pitting Volkswagen against mainstream conformity and placing it strongly on the side of the consumer. By the end of the 1960s, the campaign had become an icon of American anticonformity. In fact, it was such a success that other automakers quickly emulated it. Ads for the Dodge Fever, for example, mocked corporate values and championed rebellion. 9

This era of advertising became known as the creative revolution for its emphasis on creativity over straight salesmanship. The creative revolution reflected the values of the growing anticonformist movement that culminated in the countercultural revolution of the 1960s. The creativity and anticonformity of 1960s advertising quickly gave way to more product-oriented conventional ads during the 1970s. Agency conglomeration, a recession, and cultural fallout were all factors in the recycling of older ad techniques. Major TV networks dropped their long-standing ban on comparative advertising early in the decade, leading to a new trend in positioning ads that compared products. Advertising wars such as Coke versus Pepsi and, later, Microsoft versus Apple were products of this trend. 10

Innovations in the 1980s stemmed from a new TV channel: MTV. Producers of youth-oriented products created ads featuring music and focusing on stylistic effects, mirroring the look and feel of music videos. By the end of the decade, this style had extended to more mainstream products. Campaigns for the pain reliever Nuprin featured black-and-white footage with bright yellow pills, whereas ads for Michelob used grainy atmospheric effects (New York Times, 1989).

Advertising Stumbles

During the late 1980s, studies showed that consumers were trending away from brands and brand loyalty. A recession coupled with general consumer fatigue led to an increase in generic brand purchases and a decrease in advertising. In 1983, marketing budgets allocated 70 percent of their expenditures to ads and the remaining 30 percent to other forms of promotion. By 1993, only 25 percent of marketing budgets were dedicated to ads (Klein, 2002).

These developments resulted in the rise of big-box stores such as Wal-Mart that focused on low prices rather than expensive name brands. Large brands remade themselves during this period to focus less on their products and more on the ideas behind the brand. Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign, endorsed by basketball star Michael Jordan, gave the company a new direction and a new means of promotion. Nike representatives have stated they have become more of a “marketing-oriented company” as opposed to a product manufacturer. 11

Figure 12.7

In the 1990s, Nike was the target of protests due to its questionable labor practices.

WBUR Boston’s NPR News Station – Protest – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

As large brands became more popular, they also attracted the attention of reformers. Companies such as Starbucks and Nike bore the brunt of late 1990s sweatshop and labor protests. As these brands attempted to incorporate ideas outside of the scope of their products, they also came to represent larger global commerce forces (Hornblower, 2000). This type of branding increasingly incorporated public relations techniques that will be discussed later in this chapter.

The Rise of Digital Media

Twenty-first-century advertising has adapted to new forms of digital media. Internet outlets such as blogs, social media forums, and other online spaces have created new possibilities for advertisers, and shifts in broadcasting toward Internet formats have threatened older forms of advertising. Video games, smartphones, and other technologies also present new possibilities. Specific new media advertising techniques will be covered in the next section.

Types of Advertising

Despite the rise of digital media, many types of traditional advertising have proven their enduring effectiveness. Local advertisers and large corporations continue to rely on billboards and direct-mail fliers. In 2009, Google initiated a billboard campaign for its Google Apps products that targeted business commuters. The billboards featured a different message every day for an entire month, using simple computer text messages portraying a fictitious executive learning about the product. Although this campaign was integrated with social media sites such as Twitter, its main thrust employed the basic billboard (Ionescu, 2009).

Figure 12.8

Google billboards targeted commuters, creating a story that spanned the course of a month.

Danny Sullivan – Ask Versus Google In Billboards – CC BY 2.0.

Newspapers and Magazines

Although print ads have been around for centuries, Internet growth has hit newspaper advertising hard. A 45 percent drop in ad revenue between 2007 and 2010 signaled a catastrophic decline for the newspaper industry (Sterling, 2010). Traditionally, newspapers have made money through commercial and classified advertising. Commercial advertisers, however, have moved to electronic media forms, and classified ad websites such as Craigslist offer greater geographic coverage for free. The future of newspaper advertising—and of the newspaper industry as a whole—is up in the air.

Print magazines have suffered from many of the same difficulties as newspapers. Declining advertising revenue has contributed to the end of popular magazines such as Gourmet and to the introduction of new magazines that cross over into other media formats, such as Food Network Magazine . Until a new, effective model is developed, the future of magazine advertising will continue to be in doubt.

Compared to newspapers and magazines, radio’s advertising revenue has done well. Radio’s easy adaptation to new forms of communication has made it an easy sell to advertisers. Unlike newspapers, radio ads target specific consumers. Advertisers can also pay to have radio personalities read their ads live in the studio, adding a sense of personal endorsement to the business or product. Because newer forms of radio such as satellite and Internet stations have continued to use this model, the industry has not had as much trouble adapting as print media have.

TV advertisement relies on verbal as well as visual cues to sell items. Promotional ad time is purchased by the advertiser, and a spot usually runs 15 to 30 seconds. Longer ads, known as infomercials, run like a TV show and usually aim for direct viewer response. New technologies such as DVR allow TV watchers to skip through commercials; however, studies have shown that these technologies do not have a negative effect on advertising (Gallagher, 2010). This is partly due to product placement. Product placement is an important aspect of TV advertising, because it incorporates products into the plots of shows. Although product placement has been around since the 1890s, when the Lumière brothers first placed Lever soap in their movies, the big boom in product placement began with the reality TV show Survivor in 2000 (Anderson, 2006). Since then, product placement has been a staple of prime-time entertainment. Reality TV shows such as Project Runway and American Idol are known for exhibiting products on screen, and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey made news in 2004 when she gave away new Pontiacs to her audience members (Stansky, 2008). Even children’s shows are known to hock products; a new cartoon series recently began on Nickelodeon featuring characters that represent different Sketchers sneakers (Freidman, 2010).

Digital Media

Emerging digital media platforms such as the Internet and mobile phones have created many new advertising possibilities. The Internet, like TV and radio, offers free services in exchange for advertising exposure. However, unlike radio or TV, the Internet is a highly personalized experience that shares private information.

As you read in Chapter 11 “The Internet and Social Media” , new advertising techniques have become popular on the Internet. Advertisers have tried to capitalize on the shared-media phenomenon by creating viral ads that achieve spontaneous success online. Fewer than one in six ads that are intended to go viral actually succeed, so marketers have developed strategies to encourage an advertisement’s viral potential. Successful spots focus on creativity rather than a hard-selling strategy and generally target a specific audience (Fox Business, 2010). Recent Old Spice ads featured former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa in a set of continuous scenes, from a shower room to a yacht. The commercial ends with the actor on horseback, a theatrical trick that left viewers wondering how the stunt was pulled off. As of July 2010, the ad was the most popular video on YouTube with more than 94 million views, and Old Spice sales had risen 106 percent (Neff, 2010).

Social Media

Social media sites such as Facebook use the information users provide on their profiles to generate targeted advertisements. For instance, if a person is a fan of Mariah Carey or joined a group associated with the singer, he or she might see announcements advertising her new CD or a local concert. While this may seem harmless, clicking on an ad sends user data to the advertising company, including name and user ID. Many people have raised privacy concerns over this practice, yet it remains in use. Free e-mail services such as Gmail also depend on targeted advertising for their survival. Indeed, advertising is the only way such services could continue. Given the ongoing privacy debates concerning targeted Internet advertising, a balance between a user’s privacy and accessibility of services will have to be settled in the near future.

Mobile Phones

Mobile phones provide several different avenues for advertisers. The growing use of Internet radio through mobile-phone platforms has created a market for advertisements tapped by radio advertising networks such as TargetSpot. By using the radio advertising model for mobile phones, users receive increased radio broadcast options and advertisers reach new targeted markets (Marketwire, 2010).

Another development in the mobile-phone market is the use of advertising in smartphone apps. Free versions of mobile-phone applications often include advertising to pay for the service. Popular apps such as WeatherBug and Angry Birds offer free versions with ads in the margins; however, users can avoid these ads by paying a few dollars to upgrade to “Pro” versions. Other apps such as Foursquare access a user’s geographic location and offer ads for businesses within walking distance (Fairlee, 2010).

Figure 12.9

Free smartphone apps often contain ads to help pay for the service.

David Berkowitz – Beck’s Campaign on Pandora iPhone App – Music Screen – CC BY 2.0.

Government Regulation of Advertising

Advertising regulation has played an important role in advertising’s history and cultural influence. One of the earliest federal laws addressing advertising was the Pure Food and Drug Law of 1906. A reaction to public outcry over the false claims of patent medicines, this law required informational labels to be placed on these products. It did not, however, address the questionable aspects of the advertisements, so it did not truly delve into the issue of false advertising. 12

The Formation of the FTC

Founded in 1914, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) became responsible for regulating false advertising claims. Although federal laws concerning these practices made plaintiffs prove that actual harm was done by the advertisement, state laws passed during the early 1920s allowed prosecution of misleading advertisements regardless of harm done. 13 The National Association of Attorneys General has helped states remain an important part of advertising regulation. In 1995, 13 states passed laws that required sweepstakes companies to provide full disclosure of rules and details of contests (O’Guinn, et. al., 2009).

During the Great Depression, New Deal legislation threatened to outlaw any misleading advertising, a result of the burgeoning consumer movement and the public outcry against advertising during the period (Time, 1941). The reformers did not fully achieve their goals, but they did make a permanent mark on advertising history. The 1938 Wheeler-Lea Amendment expanded the FTC’s role to protect consumers from deceptive advertising. Until this point, the FTC was responsible for addressing false advertising complaints from competitors. With this legislation, the agency also became an important resource for the consumer movement.

Truth in Advertising

In 1971, the FTC began the Advertising Substantiation Program to force advertisers to provide evidence for the claims in their advertisements. Under this program, the FTC gained the power to issue cease-and-desist orders to advertisers regarding specific ads in question and to order corrective advertising. Under this provision, the FTC can force a company to issue an advertisement acknowledging and correcting an earlier misleading ad. Regulations under this program established that supposed experts used in advertisements must be qualified experts in their field, and celebrities must actually use the products they endorse. 14 In 2006, Sunny Health Nutrition was brought to court for advertising height-enhancing pills called HeightMax. The FTC found the company had hired an actor to appear as an expert in its ads, and that the pills did not live up to their claim. Sunny Health Nutrition was forced to pay $375,000 to consumers for misrepresenting its product (Consumer Affairs, 2006).

In 1992, the FTC introduced guidelines defining terms such as biodegradable and recyclable . The growth of the environmental movement in the early 1990s led to an upsurge in environmental claims by manufacturers and advertisers. For example, Mobil Oil claimed their Hefty trash bags were biodegradable. While technically this statement is true, a 500- to 1,000-year decomposition cycle does not meet most people’s definitions of the term (Lapidos, 2007). The FTC guidelines made such claims false by law (Schneider, 1992).

Regulation of the Internet

The FTC has also turned its attention to online advertising. The Children’s Online Privacy Act of 1998 was passed to prohibit companies from obtaining the personal information of children who access websites or other online resources. Because of the youth orientation of the Internet, newer advertising techniques have drawn increasing criticism. Alcohol companies in particular have come under scrutiny. Beer manufacturer Heineken’s online presence includes a virtual city in which users can own an apartment and use services such as e-mail. This practice mirrors that of children’s advertising, in which companies often create virtual worlds to immerse children in their products. However, the age-verification requirements to participate in this type of environment are easily falsified and can lead to young children being exposed to more mature content (Gardner, 2010).

Consumer and privacy advocates who are concerned over privacy intrusions by advertisers have also called for Internet ad regulation. In 2009, the FTC acted on complaints against Sears that resulted in an injunction against the company for not providing sufficient disclosure. Sears offered $10 to consumers to download a program that tracked their Internet browsing. The FTC came down on Sears because the downloaded software tracked sensitive information that was not fully disclosed to the consumer. Similar consumer complaints against Facebook and Google for their consumer tracking have, at present, not resulted in FTC actions; however, the growing outcry makes new regulation of Internet advertising likely (Shields, 2010).

Advertising’s Influence on Culture

Discussing advertising’s influence on culture raises a long-standing debate. One opinion states that advertising simply reflects the trends inherent in a culture, the other claims advertising takes an active role in shaping culture. Both ideas have merit and are most likely true to varying degrees.

Advertising and the Rise of Consumer Culture

George Babbitt, the protagonist of Sinclair Lewis’s 1922 novel Babbitt , was a true believer in the growing American consumer culture:

Just as the priests of the Presbyterian Church determined his every religious belief…so did the national advertisers fix the surface of his life, fix what he believed to be his individuality. These standard advertised wares—toothpastes, socks, tires, cameras, instantaneous hot-water heaters—were his symbols and proofs of excellence; at first the signs, and then the substitutes, for joy and passion and wisdom (Lewis, 1922).

Although Lewis’s fictional representation of a 1920s-era consumer may not be an actual person, it indicates the national consumer culture that was taking shape at the time. As it had always done, advertising sought to attach products to larger ideas and symbols of worth and cultural values. However, the rise of mass media and of the advertising models that these media embraced made advertising take on an increasingly influential cultural role.

Automobile ads of the 1920s portrayed cars as a new, free way of life rather than simply a means of transportation. Advertisers used new ideas about personal hygiene to sell products and ended up breaking taboos about public discussion of the body. The newly acknowledged epidemics of halitosis and body odor brought about products such as mouthwash and deodorant. A Listerine campaign of the era transformed bad breath from a nuisance into the mark of a sociopath (Ashenburg, 2008). Women’s underwear and menstruation went from being topics unsuitable for most family conversations to being fodder for the pages of national magazines. 15

Figure 12.10

Advertisements for deodorants and other hygiene products broke social taboos about public discussion of hygiene.

Classic Film – 1964 Beauty Ad, Yodora Deodorant – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Creating the Modern World

World War I bond campaigns had made it clear that advertising could be used to influence public beliefs and values. Advertising focused on the new—making new products and ideas seem better than older ones and ushering in a sense of the modernity. In an address to the American Association of Advertising Agencies in 1926, President Coolidge went as far as to hold advertisers responsible for the “regeneration and redemption of mankind (Marchand, 1985).”

Up through the 1960s, most advertising agencies were owned and staffed by affluent white men, and advertising’s portrayals of typical American families reflected this status quo. Mainstream culture as propagated by magazine, radio, and newspaper advertising was that of middle- or upper-class White suburban families (Marchand, 1985). This sanitized image of the suburban family, popularized in such TV programs as Leave It to Beaver , has been mercilessly satirized since the cultural backlash of the 1960s.

A great deal of that era’s cultural criticism targeted the image of the advertiser as a manipulator and promulgator of superficial consumerism. When advertisers for Volkswagen picked up on this criticism, turned it to their advantage, and created a new set of consumer symbols that would come to represent an age of rebellion, they neatly co-opted the arguments against advertising for their own purposes. In many instances, advertising has functioned as a codifier of its own ideals by taking new cultural values and turning them into symbols of a new phase of consumerism. This is the goal of effective advertising.

Apple’s 1984 campaign is one of the most well-known examples of defining a product in terms of new cultural trends. A fledgling company compared to computer giants IBM and Xerox, Apple spent nearly $2 million on a commercial that would end up only being aired once (McAloney, 1984). During the third quarter of the 1984 Super Bowl, viewers across the United States watched in amazement as an ad unlike any other at the time appeared on their TV screens. The commercial showed a drab gray auditorium where identical individuals sat in front of a large screen. On the screen was a man, addressing the audience with an eerily captivating voice. “We are one people, with one will,” he droned. “Our enemies shall talk themselves to death. And we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail (McAloney, 1984)!” While the audience sat motionlessly, one woman ran forward with a sledgehammer and threw it at the screen, causing it to explode in a flash of light and smoke. As the scene faded out, a narrator announced the product. “On January 24, Apple Computer will introduce the Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984 (Freidman, 1984).” With this commercial, Apple defined itself as a pioneer of the new generation. Instead of marketing its products as utilitarian tools, it advertised them as devices for combating conformity (Freidman, 1984). Over the next few decades, other companies imitated this approach, presenting their products as symbols of cultural values.

In his study of advertising’s cultural impact, The Conquest of Cool , Thomas Frank compares the advertising of the 1960s with that of the early 1990s:

How [advertisers] must have rejoiced when the leading minds of the culture industry announced the discovery of an all-new angry generation, the “Twenty-Somethings,” complete with a panoply of musical styles, hairdos, and verbal signifiers ready-made to rejuvenate advertising’s sagging credibility…. The strangest aspect of what followed wasn’t the immediate onslaught of even hipper advertising, but that the entire “Generation X” discourse repeated…the discussions of youth culture that had appeared in Advertising Age , Madison Avenue , and on all those youth-market panel discussions back in the sixties. 16

To be clear, advertisers have not set out to consciously manipulate the public in the name of consumer culture. Rather, advertisers are simply doing their job—one that has had an enormous influence on culture.

Advertising Stereotypes

The White, middle-class composition of ad agencies contributed to advertisements’ rare depictions of minority populations. DDB—the agency responsible for the Volkswagen ads of the 1960s—was an anomaly in this regard. One of its more popular ads was for Levy’s rye bread. Most conventional advertisers would have ignored the ethnic aspects of this product and simply marketed it to a mainstream White audience. Instead, the innovative agency created an ad campaign that made ethnic diversity a selling point, with spots featuring individuals from a variety of racial backgrounds eating the bread with the headline “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s.”

During the 1950s, stereotypical images of African Americans promulgated by advertisers began to draw criticism from civil rights leaders. Icons such as Aunt Jemima, the Cream of Wheat chef, and the Hiram Walker butler were some of the most recognizable black figures in U.S. culture. Unlike the African Americans who had gained fame through their artistry, scholarship, and athleticism, however, these advertising characters were famous for being domestic servants.

During the 1960s, meetings of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) hosted civil rights leaders, and agencies began to respond to the criticisms of bias. A New York survey in the mid-1960s discovered that Blacks were underrepresented at advertising agencies. Many agencies responded by hiring new African American employees, and a number of Black-owned agencies started in the 1970s. 17

Early advertising frequently reached out to women because they made approximately 80 percent of all consumer purchases. Thus, women were well represented in advertising. However, those depictions presented women in extremely narrow roles. Through the 1960s, ads targeting women generally showed them performing domestic duties such as cooking or cleaning, whereas ads targeting men often placed women in a submissive sexual role even if the product lacked any overt sexual connotation. A National Car Rental ad from the early 1970s featured a disheveled female employee in a chair with the headline “Go Ahead, Take Advantage of Us.” Another ad from the 1970s pictured a man with new Dacron slacks standing on top of a woman, proclaiming, “It’s nice to have a girl around the house (Frauenfelder, 2008).”

An advertising profile printed in Advertising Age magazine gave a typical advertiser’s understanding of the housewife at the time:

She likes to watch TV and she does not enjoy reading a great deal. She is most easily reached through TV and the simple down-to-earth magazines…. Mental activity is arduous for her…. She is a person who wants to have things she can believe in rather than things she can think about (Rodnitzky, 1999).

The National Organization for Women (NOW) created a campaign during the early 1970s targeting the role of women in advertisements. Participants complained about the ads to networks and companies and even spray-painted slogans on offensive billboards in protest.

Representation of minorities and women in advertising has improved since the 1960s and ’70s, but it still remains a problem. The 2010 Super Bowl drew one of the most diverse audiences ever recorded for the event, including a 45 percent female audience. Yet the commercials remained focused strictly on men. And of 67 ads shown during the game, only four showed minority actors in a lead role. Despite the obvious economic benefit of diversity in marketing, advertising practices have resisted change (Ali, 2010).

Advertising to Children

The majority of advertisements that target children feature either toys or junk food. Children under the age of eight typically lack the ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, and many advertisers use this to their advantage. Studies have shown that most children-focused food advertisements feature high-calorie, low-nutrition foods such as sugary cereals. Although the government regulates advertising to children to a degree, the Internet has introduced new means of marketing to youth that have not been addressed. Online video games called advergames feature famous child-oriented products. The games differ from traditional advertising, however, because the children playing them will experience a much longer period of product exposure than they do from the typical 30-second TV commercial. Child advocacy groups have been pushing for increased regulation of advertising to children, but it remains to be seen whether this will take place (Calvert, 2008).

Positive Effects of Advertising

Although many people focus on advertising’s negative outcomes, the medium has provided unique benefits over time. Early newspaper advertising allowed newspapers to become independent of church and government control, encouraging the development of a free press with the ability to criticize powerful interests. When newspapers and magazines moved to an advertising model, these publications became accessible to large groups of people who previously could not afford them. Advertising also contributed to radio’s and TV’s most successful eras. Radio’s golden age in the 1940s and TV’s golden age in the 1950s both took place when advertisers were creating or heavily involved with the production of most of the programs.

Advertising also makes newer forms of media both useful and accessible. Many Internet services, such as e-mail and smartphone applications, are only free because they feature advertising. Advertising allows promoters and service providers to reduce and sometimes eliminate the upfront purchase price, making these services available to a greater number of people and allowing lower economic classes to take part in mass culture.

Advertising has also been a longtime promoter of the arts. During the Renaissance, painters and composers often relied on wealthy patrons or governments to promote their work. Corporate advertising has given artists new means to fund their creative efforts. In addition, many artists and writers have been able to support themselves by working for advertisers. The use of music in commercials, particularly in recent years, has provided musicians with notoriety and income. Indeed, it is hard to imagine the cultural landscape of the United States without advertising.

Key Takeaways

• Advertising has existed since ancient times but began to take on its modern form during the Age of Exploration. By the 19th century, newspapers and magazines had begun printing advertising to generate needed revenues.
• Although many considered advertising to be lowbrow or immoral up to the early 20th century, it saw greater acceptance after its use during World War I to encourage support for the war.
• Up to the mid-20th century, advertising featured stereotypical affluent White families and was sale driven. Criticism of advertiser manipulation became the basis of a new style of advertising during the creative revolution of the 1960s.
• The rise of the Internet has caused print advertising revenues to decline but allows for personally targeted ads. Such tracking practices have aroused concern from privacy groups.
• The Federal Trade Commission is charged with ensuring that advertisements make verifiable claims and do not overtly mislead consumers.
• Advertising has infused American culture with mass images and ideas, creating a nation of consumers and shaping how people view themselves and others.

Please answer the following short-answer questions. Each response should be a minimum of one paragraph.

• What are the important eras in the history of American advertising?
• How does government regulation affect advertising?
• What types of advertising are in use today?
• What influence does advertising have on American consumerism and culture?
• How has advertising affected newspapers?

1 Mierau, 42.

2 Hood, 28–51.

3 Fox, 74–77.

5 Fox, 121–124.

6 Fox, 168.

7 Fox, 173.

8 Fox, 210–215.

9 Frank, 60–67, 159.

10 Fox, 324–325.

11 Klein, 12–22.

12 Fox, 65–66.

13 Hood, 74–75.

14 O’Guinn, Allen, and Semenik, 131–137.

15 Fox, 95–96.

16 Frank, 233–235.

17 Fox, 278–284.

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Ashenburg, Katherine. The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History (Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2008), 245–247.

Boddy, William. “The Seven Dwarfs and the Money Grubbers: The Public Relations Crisis of US Television in the Late 1950s,” in Logics of Television: Essays in Cultural Criticism , ed. Patricia Mellencamp (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990), 110.

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Fox Business, “Old Spice and E*TRADE Ads Provide Lessons in Viral Marketing,” March 17, 2010, http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/old-spice-etrade-ads-provide-lessons-viral-marketing/ .

Fox, Stephen. The Mirror Makers (New York: William Morrow, 1984), 41–46.

Frank, Thomas. The Conquest of Cool (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), 41.

Frauenfelder, Mark. “Creepy Slacks Ad From 1970,” Boing Boing , (blog), May 12, 2008, http://boingboing.net/2008/05/12/creepy-slacks-ad-fro.html .

Friedman, Ted. “Apple’s 1984 : The Introduction of the Macintosh in the Cultural History of Personal Computers,” http://www.duke.edu/~tlove/mac.htm .

Friedman, Wayne. “Product Placement in Kids’ TV Programs: Stuff Your Footwear Can Slip On,” TV Watch, September 16, 2010, http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=135873 .

Gallagher, James. “Duke Study: TiVo Doesn’t Hurt TV Advertising,” Triangle Business Journal , May 3, 2010, 20advertising http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/05/03/daily6.html .

Gardner, Amanda. “Alcohol Companies Use New Media to Lure Young Drinkers: Report,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek , May 19, 2010, http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/639266.html .

Gartrell, Ellen. “More About Early Advertising Publications,” Digital Collections, Duke University Libraries, http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa/printlit.html .

Hood, John. Selling the Dream: Why Advertising Is Good Business (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2005), 12–13.

Hornblower, Margot. “Wake Up and Smell the Protest,” Time , April 17, 2000.

Ionescu, Daniel. “Google Billboard Ads Gun for Microsoft and Promote Google Apps,” PC World , August 3, 2009, http://www.pcworld.com/article/169475/google_billboard_ads_gun_for_microsoft_and_promote_google_apps.html .

JackBennyShow.com, “Jell-O,” Jack Benny Show, http://jackbennyshow.com/index_090.htm .

Klein, Naomi. No Logo (New York: Picador, 2002), 14.

Lapidos, Juliet. “Will My Plastic Bag Still Be Here in 2507?” Slate , June 27, 2007, http://www.slate.com/id/2169287 .

Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 1922), 95.

Marchand, Roland. Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920–1940 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), 7–9.

Marketwire, “TargetSpot Enters the Mobile Advertising Market,” news release, SmartBrief , February 23, 2010, http://www.smartbrief.com/news/aaaa/industryMW-detail.jsp?id=4217DD5E-932F-460E-BE30-4988E17DEFEC .

McAloney, Curt. “The 1984 Apple Commercial: The Making of a Legend,” Curt’s Media, http://www.curtsmedia.com/cine/1984.html .

Mierau, Christina B. Accept No Substitutes: The History of American Advertising (Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 2000), 7–8.

Neff, Jack. “How Much Old Spice Body Wash Has the Old Spice Guy Sold?” AdvertisingAge , July 26, 2010, http://adage.com/article?article_id=145096 .

New York Times, “How MTV Has Rocked Television Commercials,” October 9, 1989, http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/09/business/the-media-business-how-mtv-has-rocked-television-commercials.html .

O’Barr, William M. “A Brief History of Advertising in America,” Advertising & Society Review 6, no. 3 (2005), http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/asr/v006/6.3unit02.html .

O’Guinn, Thomas, Chris Allen, and Richard Semenik, Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion (Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2009), 133.

Rodnitzky, Jerome. Feminist Phoenix: The Rise and Fall of a Feminist Counterculture (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1999), 114–115.

Samuel, Lawrence. Brought to You By: Postwar Television Advertising and the American Dream (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2001), 88–94.

Schneider, Keith. “Guides on Environmental Ad Claims,” New York Times , July 29, 1992, http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/29/business/guides-on-environmental-ad-claims.html .

Shields, Mike. “Pitching Self-Regulation,” Adweek , February 15, 2010.

Stansky, Tanner. “14 Milestones in TV Product Placement,” Entertainment Weekly , July 28, 2008, http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20215225,00.html .

Sterling, Bruce. “More Newspaper Calamity,” Wired , March 15, 2010, http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2010/03/more-newspaper-calamity/ .

Time, “The Press: Advertising v. New Deal,” September 1, 1941, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,850703,00.html .

Vance, Jennifer. “Extra, Extra, Read All About It!” Penny Press , http://iml.jou.efl.edu/projects/Spring04/vance/pennypress.html .

Understanding Media and Culture Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Essay on Television for Students [100, 150, 200, 350 Words]

Essay on Television: Television is one of the most influential innovations of modern times. In this article, you are going to learn to write a paragraph or essay on Television (100, 150, 200 and 350 Words). You’ll learn what are the uses and abuses of television or what are the advantages and disadvantages of television. So, let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Short Essay on Television: 100 Words

Television is based on a highly sophisticated science of vision and sound. A man can see as far the horizon. He hears as far as the sound is audible to him. But television takes his vision to a place far beyond his horizon. He sees a thing or person long beyond his actual physical reach. It brings to him also sound from a very remote place.

In fact, television brings vision and sound together from a distance which is beyond the range of human sight and hearing. It is a powerful and very useful invention of modern science. It has conquered space for human eye-sight. It has brought about a great development in the science of communication. It can well be used for entertainment and knowledge.

Television Essay: 150 Words

One of the latest wonders of science is Television. It is an effective medium of communication and entertainment. We can watch live important political, sports and other events happening at distant places. This enables us to have a direct knowledge of the things, places and events far away. TV has thus brought the whole world into the drawing room.

Television is also a powerful medium of mass education. Educational programmes on healthcare and family planning, general knowledge can be sent to millions of viewers through audio-visual presentation in the TV. It also keeps off loneliness.

But TV has its bad effects too. Watching TV sometimes becomes an addiction, People remain glued to the TV and it makes them idle- particularly the students and young people. They neglect sports and games and their studies. Too much of viewing affects our vision. Programmes, if not properly selected, cast bad effects on young minds. Social visits become very rare and people become unsocial.

Also Read: Paragraph on Computer

Essay on the Television: 200 Words

No other thing is as familiar as Television in our present times. It was invented by John Baird in 1925. It first appeared in India in 1959. It is really a wonder of science today. It is a two-in-one. It is the radio on one side and the cinema on the other. Television is a very useful instrument in many ways. It is a powerful medium for education and recreation. It gives lessons on the subjects like science and mathematics and also on geography and history.

It shows us cinema and live telecast on games and sports. On its screen we have a delightful scenery of nature and thrilling sights of animals roaming in the jungles and in the deep waters of the seas. We can amuse the shows of serials. It is also a mighty medium of advertisement.

Sometimes it has bad effects on children. In most cases, they sit tight with it to witness their favorite items which captivate them greatly. Sometimes they neglect their bounden duties as students. They try to copy the most interesting show-style. In some cases they even face their death. Many things are very good with television but its price is very high and the poor cannot benefit by it.

Also Read: Newspaper Essay in English

Television Essay in English: 350 Words

Television is a modern invention. When television was first invented, people of the world were very happy because they had the scope to know the world around them and to entertain themselves in the best possible ways. Television is no doubt something which ushered progress of civilization. Some electronic media like BBC took over the most important role to make the people of the world aware of the society to which they were belonging and the environment by which they were being nourished. It is quite well known that, BBC produced all of the plays of Shakespeare as films. Even this world famous electronic media focused on the two World Wars so much so that people of the world came to know how horrible was war and warfare. Thus social consciousness was an important factor that was first aroused by the aid of television.

But this television is now being abused constantly by some commercially debased people. In West Bengal, television is so abused that the young generation is now misguided. The young people follow the bad culture and become oblivious of the hoary tradition of our country. Mere entertainment has been presented on the different television channels. Meaningless serials and reality shows are heart-throbbing without any moral impact. Crimes and social disorder are presented so crudely that the minds of the young people are overwhelmed with frustration, dilapidation, and despair. It seems that there is no escape from despair. The ultimate result is social alienation which brings about moral dilemma.

Yet, the concerned authority is really callous to the problems. Advertisement, sponsors, etc. are the sources of the economic structure of the different channels. Thus, the producers intend to draw the attention of the businessman by claiming the popularity of the channels. The inevitable result of this kind of commercial debasement is of Course disintegration that causes serious disbelief in the sphere of culture and education. Therefore, we must be conscious of the fact that television is not merely a media for entertainment; rather it is a source of important social and cultural messages.

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17 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

Advertising is the profession or activity of producing consumer marketing messages for commercial products or services. Although there are times when companies can advertise for free, this tactic typically involves paying another agency for space to promote something specific. The goal of this investment is to reach as many people as possible who are likely to pay for the items suggested in the ads.

When businesses start advertising, then it is essential for each firm to find their ideal customer. It is cheaper to create ads that work with a specific population group instead of working with generalized data. Companies can look at gender, age, education, income, and a person’s geographic location to determine if there is a strong likelihood that someone will become a customer.

Advertising can occur in a variety of ways. Outlets include television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. Some companies use billboards, the sides of buildings, or product packaging. Internet options continue to expand.

That’s why the advantages and disadvantages of advertising require a careful review. It could be a way to expand the influence of a brand, but this investment could also be a waste of money if not approached correctly.

List of the Advantages of Advertising

1. Advertising is what sets companies apart from each other. Advertising is the fastest way for an organization to prove the expertise it offers in its industry. This marketing approach allows a company to look at the specific pain points its goods or services address so that customers can independently decide if there is value available to consider. The free-market system allows consumers to make choices based on their needs for innovation, so the advantage here is that improved communication occurs from the business to the consumer.

2. Companies can reach multiple markets and population groups simultaneously. Advertising is one of the most straightforward ways to contact multiple demographics simultaneously. This investment helps a company to discover who their primary consumers are in better ways, along with the demographics to which they belong. Marketing through paid and unpaid platforms contributes to data that enables prospect duplication.

Advertising also allows a company to reach out to multiple new markets to judge how influential their marketing messages can be in the future.

3. Businesses can concentrate their advertising on a single population group. Advertising enables a company to target one population group specifically. We see this benefit daily through direct mail efforts, email marketing blasts, and television commercials. When you can time these messages to correspond with times or circumstances where a consumer feels a pain point, then a successful conversion is more likely to happen. It forms a natural networking opportunity that helps prospects engage with a brand message because they can acknowledge the created value proposition.

4. Advertising creates economic benefits at every level. The advertising economy in the United States is responsible for almost 20 million jobs. It is available in every market at each level, from ultra-local to international campaigns. This industry provides opportunities for almost every skill, ranging from sales-based approaches to creative careers like graphic design or writing. When successful outreach efforts occur, then businesses increase revenues. That creates even more jobs that support other companies at every level.

This cycle repeats itself every time a new advertising campaign occurs. Although there are no guarantees for success, a company must make itself known to its community for customers to become aware of its goods or services. That means there’s always a place for it.

5. The advertising industry creates a global culture. Every global event that involves participation, goods, or services requires advertising content to increase exposure. The budget for the Olympic Games in each cycle is several billion dollars. Companies use sponsorships, naming rights, and other strategies to increase brand awareness in a variety of ways. It gives us an opportunity to work together to support the common good at every level.

Even a group of businesses that support a youth soccer league get to take advantage of this benefit. Although the benefits are more localized with that support, it’s still creating a global culture within that community.

6. It gives an opportunity to create niche expertise presentations. The prevalence of PDF downloads, ebooks, whitepapers, and similar written content is a form of advertising that businesses use to prove their expertise. Advertising is moving toward a place where the value to the consumer is the priority instead of what the customer can do for the business. This benefit works for B2B and B2C firms because it shows people what can be done for them instead of telling them what can happen.

That’s why this form of advertising is so effective. It builds loyalty by focusing on relationships instead of relying on logo recognition or a tagline to stay at the top of the mind of possible consumers.

7. Advertising helps a customer make positive choices. Each customer has a different preference for specific products or services based on the pain points they encounter in life. Some choices are going to be more appealing than others, which is why businesses promote what they offer proactively. If someone can compare value propositions in real-time situations to determine what options provide the best value, then that ability increases the likelihood of a transaction taking place.

Businesses can provide specific or broad data about their goods or services to each demographic in unique ways to encourage this advantage. It is a benefit that can lead to tremendous growth opportunities when handled appropriate.

8. It is a straightforward way to support moral or social issues. Companies can support the public good by producing advertising campaigns that can bring more awareness to specific societal issues. Homelessness, cyberbullying, and similar concerns receive exposure in ways that wouldn’t be available to consumers without this marketing effort. Even though there are production costs to consider with this advantage, the value that occurs through increased revenues and economic activities from helping others more than makes up for the initial investment.

List of the Disadvantages of Advertising

1. Everyone is advertising. The average person gets exposed to over 2,000 brand messages every day because of advertising. That makes this marketing effort less effective unless there is a way for a company to rise above all of that noise. This disadvantage is the reason why you see businesses like Geico take unique approaches to this investment, using a mix of humor and character development to create something memorable.

Most people spend less than five seconds to determine if an advertisement is worth their attention. If that content fails, then the remainder of the ad gets forgotten.

2. Advertising cannot produce guaranteed results. Businesses take a gamble when they pay for advertising. This marketing effort doesn’t come with a guarantee. The companies that purchased TV spots during the 2020 Super Bowl were paying over $5 million for a segment. That’s a massive investment in something that may not produce additional revenues.

Although there is value in brand recognition, that outcome only translates to investment when it creates an eventual conversion. Having someone know that Flo represents Progressive isn’t beneficial if that person always uses public transportation. That’s why most small businesses focused on targeted, localized ads as a way to create results.

3. The cost of advertising can be a disadvantage to small businesses. The cost of TV advertising at local television stations is at least $5 for every 1,000 viewers during a 30-second commercial. Then you have the cost of creative development when taking this marketing approach to consider. By the time the first spot hits the air, a company has likely spent at least $10,000 to create the materials and purchase the airtime.

National spots are much more expensive. Businesses that purchase a 30-second television ad on a national broadcast spent an average of $115,000 per slot in 2019.

4. Potential customers may be on multiple platforms. If brand recognition is the goal of an advertising effort, then a business may need to invest in multiple platforms to gain the levels of familiarity they require. You can advertise in printed publications, online blogs, television, radio, Internet ad services, and all of the other traditional methods. A company might find over 100 different ways to reach their customers. When an advertising budget is financially limited, then finding out where most people are consistently becomes a top priority.

5. Advertising requires interesting materials to be useful. The best advertising efforts create memorable experiences for targeted consumers. If you’re a science-fiction fan, then you probably remember all of the exposure Taco Bell paid for itself in the movie Demolition Man. If you’re a fan of older superhero movies, then you may remember the giant Coca-Cola billboard blowing up in Superman. If a business can’t create such an experience, then the entire message gets forgotten.

This disadvantage means that every business must continuously invest in innovative marketing approaches to stay relevant. It’s also the reason why you see brands trying to copy the success that others find in this arena.

6. The “Fake News” movement tarnishes the reputation of advertisers. Politics in the United States has become a fractured, cantankerous space where anyone who doesn’t agree becomes an enemy. If a business advertises through a traditional media outlet that promotes a political agenda or news stories that someone finds to be disagreeable, then that company’s brand becomes directly tied to that experience. Although the people who agree will be more likely to purchase goods or services, those who don’t will boycott the agency indefinitely.

7. Advertising increases the risk of a brand message getting tarnished. Advertising can be memorable for all of the wrong reasons sometimes, leaving viewers to wonder what a business was thinking when putting a spot together. Qiaobi often receives credit for putting together one of the most racist commercials in history by having a Chinese woman forcing a black man into her washing machine after he whistles at her. Once the washing cycle is finished, a winking Asian man emerges.

Miracle Mattress put together a local advertising spot that mocked the events of 9/11, including having two stacks of mattresses fall on workers. Burger King unleashed a regional spot for their Texican Whopper that had the tagline of “The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican” – and the add featured a tall American cowboy and a short Mexican wrestler.

8. Most people consider advertising to be a nuisance. Extravagant advertising may have a positive effect on the economy. Still, it tends to harm consumers when the same promotions happen repetitively. This disadvantage occurs in the United States every two years during the election cycles when political ads take over the television and radio. It can also happen when spots frequently occur within the same broadcast or publication.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising may get spent on a single election, exposing populations to competing messages that get monotonous and bothersome when they air several times per hour.

9. The targeted consumers may not see the marketing message from an advertising effort. New technologies make it easier than ever before for consumers to proactively opt-out of viewing advertisements. Popup blockers for Internet browsers can eliminate almost every ad that might display when users are online. Families can fast-forward through ads on broadcast networks when they record shows to watch. Some providers even offer tech that eliminates this marketing effort automatically.

Even if someone is watching live TV, an advertisement break creates an opportunity to walk away from the television. Companies can pay millions without ever knowing if their intended audience is available to watch what they’ve put together.

Advertising messages are an effort to persuade people to purchase specific goods or services. This outcome is also the goal of B2B transactions. A person must become convinced that one item is better over another. That’s why each ad offers a headline, subheading, body copy, image, and a call-to-action. It’s like a 30-second speech that shows how much value something has to a potential client.

Advertising isn’t the only way to get a message seen or heard. It can be more expensive to utilize than other marketing opportunities. That’s why it tends to be more popular with large corporations than sole proprietors and other small businesses.

The advantages and disadvantages of advertising balance cost with the opportunity to increase revenues and consumer awareness. Although there are no guarantees for success, this marketing option can produce immediate and memorable results.

Essay on Television for Students and Children

500+ words essay on television.

Television is one of the most popular devices that are used for entertainment all over the world. It has become quite common nowadays and almost every household has one television set at their place. In the beginning, we see how it was referred to as the ‘idiot box.’ This was mostly so because back in those days, it was all about entertainment. It did not have that many informative channels as it does now.

Moreover, with this invention, the craze attracted many people to spend all their time watching TV. People started considering it harmful as it attracted the kids the most. In other words, kids spent most of their time watching television and not studying. However, as times passed, the channels of television changed. More and more channels were broadcasted with different specialties. Thus, it gave us knowledge too along with entertainment.

Benefits of Watching Television

The invention of television gave us various benefits. It was helpful in providing the common man with a cheap mode of entertainment. As they are very affordable, everyone can now own television and get access to entertainment.

In addition, it keeps us updated on the latest happenings of the world. It is now possible to get news from the other corner of the world. Similarly, television also offers educational programs that enhance our knowledge about science and wildlife and more.

Moreover, television also motivates individuals to develop skills. They also have various programs showing speeches of motivational speakers. This pushes people to do better. You can also say that television widens the exposure we get. It increases our knowledge about several sports, national events and more.

While television comes with a lot of benefits, it also has a negative side. Television is corrupting the mind of the youth and we will further discuss how.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

How Television is    Harming the Youth

Additionally, it also makes people addict. People get addicted to their TV’s and avoid social interaction. This impacts their social life as they spend their time in their rooms all alone. This addiction also makes them vulnerable and they take their programs too seriously.

The most dangerous of all is the fake information that circulates on news channels and more. Many media channels are now only promoting the propaganda of the governments and misinforming citizens. This makes causes a lot of division within the otherwise peaceful community of our country.

Thus, it is extremely important to keep the TV watching in check. Parents must limit the time of their children watching TV and encouraging them to indulge in outdoor games. As for the parents, we should not believe everything on the TV to be true. We must be the better judge of the situation and act wisely without any influence.

{ “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “FAQPage”, “mainEntity”: [{ “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “How does television benefit people?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “Television offers people a cheap source of entertainment. It saves them from boredom and helps them get information and knowledge about worldly affairs.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “What is the negative side of television?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”:”Television has a negative side to it because it harms people’s health when watched in excess. Moreover, it is the easiest platform to spread fake news and create misunderstandings between communities and destroy the peace and harmony of the country.”} }] }

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• Essay On Advantages And Disadvantages Of Television

Essay on Advantages and Disadvantages of Television

500+ words essay on advantages and disadvantages of television.

In today’s world, communication is a crucial aspect of life. Technological advancements made communication more accessible and cheaper. Among all the communication devices such as smartphones, radios, and emails, television is the prominent and common medium for communication. We get to see television in every household. It is an integral part of our society that significantly impacts our social, educational, and cultural life. It reaches a mass audience and provides information about the daily happenings in the world. Furthermore, it is a common source of entertainment among family members.

John Logie Baird invented the television in the 1920s. The word “tele” means distance, and “vision” means to see, which means to watch it from a distance. When television was invented, it showed only pictures of low resolution. But, later on, televisions were modified with the latest technologies. Televisions that we purchase today come with multiple features. We can connect our phone, laptop, tab, and internet access various online apps, HD/UHD quality pictures, 4k-8k resolutions, etc.

We can also watch various educational channels on television. It also keeps us updated by providing news about the world through different news channels. Along with information, it also entertains us with movies, serials, dramas, reality shows, music channels, yoga channels, etc.

So, having a television at home seems to be a great advantage, but the disadvantages are also threatening. The time it consumes from our day-to-day life is more. You can see people going out of routine or postponing schedules if they become addicted to watching television.

Here, in the essay, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of watching television.

Advantages of Television

Television comes with enormous advantages. The most important is it gives us information about current affairs and events across the globe. This information is broadcasted through various news channels, which helps us to keep ourselves updated about recent happenings. It also shares information about multiple programmes or facilities launched by the government. The government also take the help of news channels to communicate with the mass.

We can watch daily soaps, reality shows, music channels, movies, etc. We can also watch food channels and try out recipes at home. During the morning time, if you switch on the television, you will get to watch telemarketing ads. Specific channels broadcast only ads for multiple products, and people can also buy them.

Children can watch various cartoons on the television. Some cartoons teach children about moral values and lessons. It also keeps us informed about the economic condition and the stock market. We also get to watch various fashion shows and keep updated about the latest trends on television.

Earlier, television was costly, but now it comes at an affordable price with multiple features. Now, we get the option to subscribe to our favourite channels and only need to pay for those channels. Educational programmes are also available on television. We can also watch live cricket shows and cheer for our country. Television also telecasts interviews of various political leaders, celebrities, influencers, famous personalities, etc. We can also gain knowledge by watching various quiz programmes.

Television provides opportunities to spend time with our family and friends. We can enjoy watching a movie together. Various channels telecast comedy shows that help us keep positivity in our lives. We also watch movies in different regional languages like Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, etc. It helps us connect with people from diverse backgrounds.

Nowadays, we can also play games on the television and watch agricultural programmes specially designed for the farmers. It promotes national integration.

Disadvantages of Television

There are advantages of watching television, but it also comes with disadvantages. Watching too much TV affects our mental and physical health. When we watch television continuously, it affects our eyes and makes us lazy. Even there are some programmes which are not suitable for kids. We even compromise our sleep to watch TV. Children lose their concentration on their studies by watching too much television. Children prefer to watch TV over reading books to spend their leisure time.

Conclusion of Essay on Advantages and Disadvantages of Television

There are advantages and disadvantages of television. If television is helpful, it is harmful too. One should not watch television excessively.

We hope you found this essay on the advantages and disadvantages of television helpful. Check BYJU’S for more such CBSE Essays on different topics. You can also find CBSE study materials and resources for Classes 1 to 12.

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10 Advantages of Social Media Advertising Over Traditional Advertising

Table of Contents

Social media advertising v/s traditional advertising, 10 advantages of social media advertising as compared to traditional advertising, key takeaways.

The internet might have started as an innovation, but it has seamlessly invaded all aspects of our lives today. With the increasing number of gadgets, the internet has become increasingly accessible and widely used. From mobile phones to tablets and smart TVs, reaching people has never been easier. The ease, inclusivity, and comfort of social media have made it one of the main communication channels today. This has led to the inception of social media marketing.

Marketing is an aspect of business that you cannot ignore. It is no surprise that most marketers have started to identify the advantages of social media marketing over traditional marketing and have begun to set aside a significant amount of the budget for internet marketing. They leverage the popularity of these social media platforms to promote their business and products. However, the debate of advertising on social media v/s traditional marketing is intense, and we are here to break it down for you.

Marketing is the act of reaching your target customers to convince them to engage and purchase with your brand. Traditional advertising includes conventional means of advertising such as newspaper flyers, billboards, radio and television ads, etc. But a marketing strategy is only as significant as the impact it has. 

The trick here is to connect to your customers at the right time and the right place. This is where the social media advertising advantages over traditional forms of marketing shines through. We exist in a digital age now, which means that millions of people worldwide spend a lot of time online. And that is exactly why social media is extremely relevant and effective today. The social media space is essentially a standard ground of target audiences for marketers to leverage. The advantages of social media advertising are so huge that the ones missing out on it are refraining from a huge opportunity for marketing exposure. This industry has grown exponentially in the last couple of years. If you are still confused, below are ten advantages of social media marketing over traditional advertising.

1. Targeted and focused with a wide reach

Social media, by its sheer nature, is a medium of maximum and indefinite reach. Being a wide reach low cost medium is one of social media’s biggest advantages. Conventionally, the traditional advertising methods would give you a mere 1-2% return offline in terms of reach. On the other hand, social media advertising makes reaching, targeting, and focusing on your target audience easier.

2. Low cost

Advertisement cost is one of the biggest burdens on every marketing budget. This is especially the case with traditional advertising. Though it might not be that much of a hardship for bigger businesses, small businesses might find it difficult to set aside thousands of rupees for marketing and advertising.

The biggest advantage of social media advertising is that it is possibly the most cost-effective medium of marketing. Signing up on a social media platform is free for most platforms, and paid advertisements are much more flexible and low-cost than other marketing tactics. 

3. High return on investment

Another advantage of social media marketing over traditional is that it aids the consequent growth of the advertising budget. Since the investment cost in social media advertising is less, it shows a greater return on investment. With the amount of traffic on social media, you can expect significant results with low-budget advertisements as well. This aspect makes it a relatively safe ground for marketers to test and try content repeatedly till they strike the right chord.

4. Real-time insights and analysis

This is one of the most valuable advantages of social media advertising over traditional forms of marketing. The measurable impact of traditional advertising is usually made in the long term. On the other hand, with social media, you can instantly measure and gauge an advertisement’s impact. Further, it allows you to interact with your customers and target audiences directly. This allows brands to capture marketplace insights like never before. Using social media as an extended research tool can help marketers better understand their niche and apply that knowledge to advertising campaigns and strategies. 

5. Increased brand awareness

The number of people present on social media is huge! And thus, it is the perfect ground to establish your brand identity online strongly . Executing a marketing strategy on social media will considerably improve your brand recognition since your brand will be exposed to a broad audience of buyers. As you begin to utilize social media advertising advantages, people will start engaging with your content. This mere activity will increase your brand awareness and establish your brand’s reputation in the digital space. Consistent and strategic use of social media can help your business significantly. 

6. Easy to share and repost

Social media internet communication concept. Signs of apps on the labels. 3d illustration

The share and reposting feature of social media platforms is one of the biggest advantages of social media marketing over traditional marketing in so many ways. Your content gets a second lifecycle when reposted or shared by one or many of your target customers. What is even better is that sharing on social media is almost effortless. So if your content is valuable or relatable in any sense, your target audience will be encouraged to share it and get you more leads and brand awareness for your business.

7. Easy to adjust

Ever thought about redistributing or restrategizing a newspaper ad or a radio ad immediately after you publish it? It, at the very least, is costly and inconvenient, if not impossible. However, fortunately for us, social media advertisements can be fairly adjusted. But if a social media ad is not delivering as anticipated, it can be adjusted proportionately. You can also delete your promotion, edit your reach, target audience, region, etc., and publish the ad again.

Traditional advertising methods are, to a great extent, location-centric. The area that your radio ad, billboard, or newspaper ads cover is limited. Even television ads cover a limited national and international audience. However, with social media advertising advantages, your reach knows no bounds. Your piece of advertising content can be accessed and shared globally throughout multiple regions and time zones.

9. Better engagement

The world of social media is getting noisier day by day. The amount of competition in any niche today is incomprehensible. The key to staying relevant amongst your target audience is by constantly engaging with them . The absolute correct way to do this is to be where they are, and as for the current decade, that place is social media. Due to the popularity and inclusiveness of these platforms, the advantages of social media advertising  provides active engagement on published content. Thus, new-age marketers have a huge opportunity to interact with their target audience and understand their developments constantly.

10. Humanizing your brand

The digital space is clearly taking over various aspects of our lives. Thus, it becomes extremely important for brands to approach the digital space competitively without losing their human touch. Social media provides brands with this opportunity as social media content can have a voice of its own. It also allows customers and brands to engage with each other directly, giving both parties a moment to demonstrate compassion and personality in public.

It is evident that this is the age of social media advertising and that it has immense advantages over traditional advertising. And there is no way around it; social media is here to stay. Thus, this is the right time for brands to leverage the advantages of social media advertising before they are washed away ruthlessly by their competitors.

• Advertising on social media vs traditional advertising has some advantages. It allows the business to spread word amongst a target demographic and has a wider reach. 
• Another advantage of social media advertising over traditional marketing  is that you will get real-time feedback from your audience . 
• Traditional marketing would cost more money and resources. 
• The ability to foster constant engagement and take your business to global levels are also some social media advertising advantages over traditional marketing. 
• The low cost in production and higher engagement leads to a higher revenue count in social media advertising than traditional marketing. 

It is no secret that there are many advantages of social media marketing over traditional marketing. The biggest  social media advertising advantage is that it requires low cost. If you are displaying a billboard, the cost of hiring workers and paying for their labour would cost plenty more than creating social media posts for different platforms. Another advantage of social media advertising is that it gets better engagement and real-time feedback from the audience. Having a social media presence would certainly boost your business. 

Facebook advertising is one of the most popular forms of social media advertising that has many advantages over traditional marketing. It is the process of using paid ads to promote your products and services on the Facebook social networking platform. It is one of the best ways to market your business on Facebook. The trick is to create ads that are relevant to your target audience and promote your business effectively.

One of the biggest advantages of social media advertising over traditional marketing is that it gives businesses an immense creative opportunity to foster engagement. An Instagram ad is a form of advertising that appears on the Instagram platform when users use the app to post or view media on the app. Creative campaigns tend to do very well on Instagram.

All social media platforms are equally effective when used appropriately. You must understand your target audience well enough to know which social media platform they are likely to use and for what purpose. Overall, Facebook is the most popular platform for businesses to reap the advantages of social media marketing. Twitter and Instagram Ads also continue to deliver splendid results in terms of social media advertising over traditional marketing. .

Tracking relevant metrics is the best way to find the success of your social marketing campaign over traditional marketing stints. For example, you can track the engagement rate, reach, and conversions over a specific period, etc., for a social media campaign. The real-time feedback, whether negative or positive would help you in gauging customer demands. 

Keeping in mind the ten advantages mentioned above of social media advertising, it is pretty clear why social media should be an integral part of your marketing strategy. With a huge user base, social media offers your business the opportunity to reach potential customers worldwide. It fosters real-time interaction and helps the business have a global reach.

Digital Marketing is growing exponentially day by day. According to Statista, the global internet/digital advertising industry was worth $319 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow to $1,089 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 17.2% from 2020 to 2027. Maybe we would still see billboard advertisements. But, it is no longer possible to deny the advantages of social media advertising over traditional marketing.

The 4 Ps of social media marketing or advertising are:  1. Product 2. Price 3. Place  4. Promotion It refers to selecting the right product, presenting it at the right price on the right platform, and selecting the correct promotion method.

The advantages of social media advertising has led it to become one of the best ways for businesses to boost their presence. If you want to create a strong relationship with your customers, use social media. By using social media, you can interact directly with your customers. This means that you can ask them questions about what they think of your product and give them information about new features. This can not only result in more sales but greater customer retention.

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