• Advertising

• Advertising is the hallmark of a prosperous society, giving people with disposable income choices of how to spend their money.

• It also finances most of the mass communication system.

• It acts based on persuasion, reinforcing Milton’s marketplace of ideas theory.

• British printer William Caxton issued the first printed advertisement in 1468 to promote his book.

• Publisher John Campbell of the Boston News-Letter in 1704 started running advertisements in his newspaper from readers wanting to sell items.

• Unfortunately, as in this ad from 1713, some of those ads sold slaves.

• Benjamin Day’s penny press allowed newspapers to have mass circulation, giving advertisers a huge audience.

• When railroads began traveling throughout the country, advertisers began exploring national audiences for goods, rather than regional.

• In 1869, Wayland Ayer started first ad agency, N.W. Ayer & Son.

• Media plans – What an agency creates that lays out where a company’s ads are placed.

• CPM – Cost per thousand, determines how much it costs to reach an audience of 1,000 people.

• Each medium has its own strengths and weaknesses with advertising. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Newspapers– Strengths:

• Still capable of reaching large audience

• Can return to read again unlike TV, radio

• Can issue coupons• Readers more educated,

wealthier usually

– Weaknesses• Doesn’t reach younger

audience• Ads aren’t as sharp

looking as magazines• Short shelf life

• Magazines– Strengths:

• Longer shelf life

• Glossy, full-color that makes ad shine more

• Advertisers can target niche audiences more

– Weaknesses:• Produced months in

advance, making current topics difficult and last-minute changes impossible.

• Radio– Strengths:

• Easier to target audience with narrow radio formats.

• Cheaper

• Catchy jingles are more possible

– Weaknesses:• No visuals

• Ephemeral, meaning they fade in and out

• Listeners often change channel during ads

• Television– Strengths:

• Over time, most reliable means of getting message across visually and audibly.

• Huge audience

• Cable offers niche markets, cheaper rates

– Weaknesses• Ad clutter -- Too many

ads mean fewer sink in.

• Network ad slots are often difficult to get

• Web sites– Strengths:

• Allows you to reach advertiser’s site direct.

• Niche audiences abound.

• Relatively cheap.

• Creative formatting.

– Weaknesses• Some user-posted

material on sites allow for negative comments.

• Most sites are still not high-traffic.

• Search engines– Strengths:

• Most popular new form of advertising

• Based on hits rather than airtime

• Effective -- Google made $1.9 billion of $10 billion total spent on Web in 2004.

– Weaknesses:• Ad clutter becoming

more prevalent as more advertise on search engines.

• Gaming– Strengths:

• Reach younger, male demographic. Men over 18 make up 26 percent of gamers.

• Some messages can be changed instantly.

– Weaknesses:• Can take months to

develop, making current ads difficult

• Pre-movie advertisingStrengths: Captive audience, moviegoers remember ads seen before movie more than in most other media.

Weaknesses: Considered by some to be annoying, though one survey said younger viewers aren’t bothered by them.

• Redundancy– Hammering a message

over and over and over and over again.

– Was successful in 1970s with “Libby’s, Libby’s, Libby’s” campaign.

– Today, most effective use of redundancy is HeadOn ads.

• Viral advertising– New form of Internet

advertising that allows creative ads to be passed along from user to user.

– The idea is that the ad spreads like a virus throughout the population.

– Not limited to 30-second spot.

• Public relations– A management tool to establish beneficial relationships.

• Need for PR can be traced back to one mean ol’ man – William Henry Vanderbilt.

• Owner of New York railroad in 1880s, he didn’t care much when people complained about changing rail schedules, saying, “The public be damned.”

• Backlash against him led to more government regulation against his and others’ practices.

• Ivy Lee– Learned lessons from

Vanderbilt’s failings.

– In 1906, he was hired by coal mine operators to help win support during a strike.

– In a turnabout, he gave press ample information, access to company executives.

– The result: The strike was averted.

• Ludlow massacre– Ivy Lee put his ideas to

test when mine workers were killed by militiamen in Ludlow, Colo., in 1914.

– Rather than hide the fact, Lee had owner John D. Rockefeller Jr. tour the mines and pledge his help. Over time, he regained workers’ respect.

• Before Lee, companies didn’t so much relate to public. They just promoted.

• P.T. Barnum is best example of puffery, or inflated claims, that would mislead people into buying.

• Known for the phrase, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

• Today’s PR wants to reject that method.

• Elements of public relations– Since PR is about building relationships, four

things are important• 1. Identifying existing relationships

• 2. Evaluating those relationships

• 3. Designing policies to improve those relationships.

• 4. Implementing the policies.

• Paul Garrett– Came up with term

“enlightened self-interest” to describe how company’s actions should benefit company and public.

– Improved GM’s image during Depression by reaching out to communities.

• Modern public relations focuses mainly on eight types of services.

• 1. Publicity/promotion– Publicity: To bring

public attention to something

– Promotion: To advocate a cause or an idea.

• 2. Lobbying– Lobbying is

influencing public policy, usually through legislation or regulations.

– Lobbying has a bad reputation, but there are as many as 30,000 in Washington alone

– Plus, every state capital has them, including in Austin.

• 3. Political communication– Mostly deals with

political campaigns for office, including:

• Campaign management

• Polling research

• Publicity

• Media relations

• Image consulting

• 4. Image consulting– While this can be about

the personal image, such as fashion, hair, grooming, it’s more about a company’s image.

– Good example is training executives to handle interviews with media or speeches to various groups.

• 5. Financial PR– These are PR people

who are also experts in the world of finance.

– They are valuable in navigating the complex world of securities regulations but also in mergers, acquisitions and stock market matters.

• 6. Contingency planning– Defined as developing

programs in advance of an unscheduled but anticipated event.

– Includes crisis management, which is helping a client through an emergency situation.

• 7. Polling– Companies need data

to know what products are selling, what campaigns are working, whether money is being spent effectively.

– Polling collects information from customers, clients and potential customers.

• 8. Events coordinator– A company’s special

events have to be meticulously managed.

– Events coordinators make sure every corporate reception, awards ceremony, clients meeting or others goes according to plan.

• Tylenol case– Seen as one of the best

examples of PR– In 1982, cyanide found

in Tylenol killed seven people.

– Company responded by taking every bottle off shelf, giving away new bottles, creating tamper-proof cover

– Result is Tylenol held onto its share of market.