The History of Advertising A General Overview Advertising has not always been as glamorous as it seems to be in this day of mass media in America. The most reliable source of advertising in the old days (before print) was word of mouth. The town crier was the source of most information, and this was one of the early ways that people advertised. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  1

The History of Advertising In 1704, the first newspaper ad was published. It was an announcement about a house for sale in the Boston Newsletter. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  2

The History of Advertising In 1729, our forefather Benjamin Franklin began the advertising tradition in America. His Philadelphia Gazette had a full page of advertisements. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  3

The History of Advertising Ben Franklin also started magazine advertising in 1749 with his General Magazine. The first successful newspaper (after our founding as a nation) was in 1784, also in Pennsylvania. It was even called the Advertiser! Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  4

The History of Advertising 1833: New York Sun The first successful “penny newspaper” founded by Benjamin Day. Revolutionized distribution by selling lots of 100 to boys to sell on the street. By 1837, circulation reached 30,000! Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  5

The History of Advertising The first Advertising Agency opened in 1843. It was also in Philadelphia! A man named Volney Palmer was the first true ad agency man. He was in charge of brokering space for advertising more than for the actual creation of the ads. Your Ad goes here Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  6

The History of Advertising In 1873, there was a convention of advertising agents in New York. A few years later, James Walter Thompson created the position of “account executive” for himself and went into the business of general magazine advertising. This was the beginning of creative advertising in this country. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  7

The History of Advertising 1880 – First full-time retail advertising copywriter In 1880, department store founder John Wanamaker became the first retailer to hire a full-time advertising copywriter, John E. Powers who is considered the father of modern creative advertising. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  8

The History of Advertising In 1882, the first “big budget” client spent $11,000 on advertisements. This company’s main product was soap! Selling soap was big business in America! Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  9

The History of Advertising In 1893, a cola company got the first registered trademark. The company bookkeeper came up with the original first mark for the brand. His name was Frank Robinson. Can you guess which company this was? Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  10

The History of Advertising In 1900, N.W. Ayer started a “Business Getting” Department in their agency. This department was based on the marketing needs of their clients. Marketing in America now had a name. “Business Getting” was what it was all about. DEPARTMENT Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  11

The History of Advertising In 1906, the first million dollar advertising client was born. Can you guess which company broke the million dollar barrier to promote its cereal products? Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  12

The History of Advertising In 1916, outdoor billboard ads were mostly under the control of a group of representatives from many different agencies that formed a new entity. The National Outdoor Advertising Bureau controlled about 75% of all outdoor ads during this time. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  13

The History of Advertising The first sponsored radio show aired in 1923. In 1924, other companies began sponsoring radio programs, and the age of radio advertising was in full swing. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  14

The History of Advertising 1929: Stock Market Crashes Advertising revenue plummeted from a high of $3.5 billion. Stock Market revenue only reached $1.5 billion by 1933. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  15

The History of Advertising In 1936 a magazine published over $100 million dollars in ads. It was the most financially successful magazine the country had ever seen, primarily due to ad revenues. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  16

The History of Advertising Advertising Media changed again in 1938. Radio surpassed magazines as the dominant form of advertising. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  17

The History of Advertising 1941: Television’s first broadcast ad! It was an ad for a watch that ticked for 60 seconds. 7500 televisions in New York were tuned in to see it… the thrill of watching a watch on TV. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  18

The History of Advertising 1954: Television makes history! Color came into the picture, and the world was set on its ear. Everyone had to have a color television! Which station do you think was the largest advertising medium in the world at this time? Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  19

The History of Advertising In 1967, Mary Wells became the first woman to head a major advertising agency. In the heat of the Women’s Movement, we saw the impact of women having a great deal of influence on the direction advertising was taking in America. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  20

The History of Advertising In 1971, Congress banned cigarette advertising via broadcast media. Cigarette companies felt the bruises from the advertising restraint and re-channeled all of their ads into magazines and billboards. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  21

The History of Advertising Music TV debuted in 1981. A new, frenetically paced style of television advertising tried to emulate the music videos that young people were coming to expect. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  22

The History of Advertising 1993 brings the Internet to over 5 million people worldwide and changes the way ads are delivered yet again. Ads pop up, pop under, and become a general nuisance to most computer users. Special software programs are written to help eliminate unwanted ads from the computer screen. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  23

The History of Advertising 1999: Regulating Internet Advertising This occurred as billings for internet advertising neared the $3 Billion mark. Do you know which company moved to standardize all Internet advertising? Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  24

The History of Advertising With the new millennium, advertising product placement has become quite common. Next time you buy a movie ticket or tune in to a commercial television program, watch your favorite stars and see what they are they wearing, drinking, eating and driving. It’s all advertising. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  25

The History of Advertising Other new topics Virtual placement – most commonly used at sporting events and on electronic billboards Crowdsourcing Niche marketing Usage tracking Customer profiles Social networking sites Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  26

The History of Advertising Where did all of this start? Most modern advertising can essentially trace its roots to the invention of the Gutenberg printing press with moveable type back in 1441. The rest of it is almost a natural evolutionary process. With new inventions come new ways to advertise. So the next time you sit down with that paper, realize that it was print advertising that revolutionized the way things are done. Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2013. All rights reserved. Images and other multimedia content used with permission.  27