The non-personal, persuasive, structured communications we recognize today are a progeny of advertising efforts spanning the past few centuries. Early advertising and distribution was limited to a small geographic area surrounding a vendor. Everyday advertising, such as a merchant’s signage, used symbols instead of words to indicate the type of business and product or services offered.
During the preindustrial age, advertising was reaching far beyond the simple signage and word of mouth of local merchants. Handbill, posters, and signs became popular formats for advertising. The printing press was one of the most important developments in the history and evolution of advertising.
The first newspaper advertisement appeared in 1650. While a large percentage of the population could not read, the local newspapers were becoming recognized as a medium for delivering advertising to the masses. Merchants, vendors, and manufacturers used newspapers to extend their marketing boundaries beyond the small concentrated areas surrounding their physical locations. Print advertising first appeared in America within the pages of the Boston Newsletter–published in 1704.
The postindustrial age of the 1980s through 1990s faced the challenges of marketing to an environmentally sensitive society. De-marketing techniques were used in advertising in an attempt to make consumers aware of a company’s environmentally responsible manufacturing and supply-chain methods. Consumers today are not only better informed about products and services, but also the companies that produce them. The modern consumer will research a company and absorb feedback from word-of-mouse channels such as blogs and forums to offset the positive-only hype from advertising.
Modern advertising trends are constantly changing. Mostly driven by advances in technology, advertising media is becoming broader reaching and less expensive to leverage. The Internet has evolved into an advertiser’s low-cost playground. Email campaigns are less expensive to produce than traditional print campaigns. The Internet also allows a more strategic direct and targeted approach to advertising. Email is a less formal and more personalized alternative to traditional direct mail campaigns.
Regardless of the message and media, advertisers are spending more time identifying their target audience. The advertising industry has been redefined several times. The types of advertising agencies within the industry have grown. While there have always been local, regional, and international specialists within the industry, niche or creative boutique type agencies are beginning to become prevalent.
Advertising has seen a rapid change in the last 12- 13 years .The traditional advertising medium of print & TV has given way to Digital and BTL platform. Clients’ demands are increasing and revenue sharing is going down. The famous 17.65% agency commission myth is gone. In fact the whole aura of advertising during the 80’s and the 90’s where advertisers were treated as specialized people have vanished.
The partnership between a client and agency does not exist anymore. Now clients look at advertisers as vendors – “Can you give me the job on time or else somebody else can!”….are the common words of a demanding client! But for all these, the agencies are also partially at blame. The right intent and the passion to do some good work for the clients are gone. It’s about how much revenue, timelines and awards, and no more the passion for work.
It is Creativity that comes out which makes a difference…
Let’s not forget this and work accordingly, the relationships will automatically improve. That is the reason why the traditional big agency like JWT which is known for client servicing and planning are shifting all their focus to maintain a ‘Strong Creative outlet’ because at the end, that is what sells! |
