ABSTRACT
Advertising is one component of a marketing mix that includes a wide range of programs, including brand innovation, pricing, packaging, and promotions such as coupons, among other techniques, that are designed to increase consumer purchase of brands. Despite recent financial improvements, advertising agencies face major challenges in the twenty-first century. More than ever before, agencies must demonstrate their value as business partners to their clients. Anthropologists in both professions formulate hypotheses about the nature of human interaction and motivations and test their ideas in the field by interviewing and observing “informants” or “consumers.” For business anthropologists, reading and writing culture is only one component of a multiphase interactive process within the network of human relationships that comprise advertising development. In addition, an advertising agency itself operates within a larger network of interconnected professional relationships. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
