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History of Advertising:
One of the first known methods of advertising was an outdoor display, usually an eye-catching sign painted on the wall of a building. Archaeologists have uncovered many such signs, notably in the ruins of ancient Rome and Pompeii. An outdoor advertisement excavated in Rome offers property for rent, and one found painted on a wall in Pompeii calls the attention of travelers to a tavern situated in another town.
Advertising in medieval times:
In medieval times a simple but effective form of advertising was very popular. Merchants employed so called "town criers" which shouted the praises of the merchants’ wares. Printed advertising played no big role until the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1445. Now the printers and later the merchants used little flyers to advertise their products. These flyers often contained characteristic symbols of the guild members and the trades people and were also used as a poster on walls. This form of advertisement lasted for a very long time.
Advertising in early America:
In terms of volume and technique, advertising made its greatest early advances in the United States of America. In the early times, the nation was underdeveloped and had a lack of transcontinental transportation and communication systems. That's why nationwide promotion was impractical. But clever manufacturers had the idea of reaching the consumer directly through catalogues. The first American mail-order houses appeared in the early 1870s.
New era of advertising:
In the 1880s a new era of advertising began: New methods of manufacturing led to greatly increased output and decreased the costs for the producers of consumer goods. The products now could be packaged at the plant. Moreover the telegraph network was in place and the continent had been crisscrossed by a network of railroads. All these were assumptions that now allowed nation-wide distribution and nation-wide advertising. This state necessitated the growth of advertising agencies and dictated their activities.
The most widely advertised consumer products at this time had been patent medicines. In 1893 more than half of over a hundred firms spending more than fifty thousand dollars annually on advertising were patent medicine manufacturers.
But only 20 years later, most of these firms were not patent medicine manufacturers anymore but manufacturers of food, soap, cosmetics and automobiles. These firms began to market their packaged goods under brand names. Some of the first brands were firms like Ivory, Colgate, Wrigley and Coca Cola. Previously such everyday household products like milk, sugar, soap, rice and candles had been sold in neighbourhood shops from bulk packages.
The advertising boom:
In the 1920s advertisers and their agents had come to realize the radio's possibilities. With its drama and immediacy, radio could convey their message directly to the consumer who would not need to purchase a publication or even need to be literate.
In the 1950s came television, which developed
quickly into the number one advertising
resource. Now advertisers could demonstrate the use of their products and present well-known figures to praise it. They also could arrange emotions through television.
Today advertisers spend millions of dollars for their campaigns, although they don't always know how effective their advertising dollars really are. Frank W. Woolworth once said:
"I know that half of my advertising budget is wasted. The problem is that I don't know which half"
(Source: "Advertising," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2003)
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