ABSTRACT
Introduction 245 What is advertising? 245 How does the process of advertising work? 245 What makes advertising effective? 249 The importance of ‘ad liking’? 255 The role of the creative brief in effective advertising 256 Evaluation of an advertising campaign 257 Legal limitations, industry guidelines and ethical issues 258 Summary 259 Review questions 259 Recommended reading 259 Case study 11.1: Taxi insurance 260 Case study 11.2: Key 103 – radio station 267 Notes 279
After studying this chapter, you will be able to:
• Understand the concept of advertising and explore its role within the wider communications mix
• Appreciate the process of advertising and understand the strengths and weaknesses of a range of models of how advertising has been assumed to work
• Understand the factors that affect the effectiveness of advertising
• Appreciate the components of an effective advertising brief
• Understand how to evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising campaign
• Understand the legal and ethical limitations associated with advertising
Introduction
The basic concept of advertising has been around almost as long as the concept of com-
merce itself. Wherever a buyer-seller relationship had the potential to exist, so did the
potential for advertising. The earliest evidence of advertising has been found as far back
as 3000 BC in the form of a Babylonian clay tablet that lists information relating to the
services offered by an ointment dealer, a scribe and a shoemaker.1 Furthermore, there is
also significant evidence that tradesmen of the early civilizations of Greece, Egypt, Rome
and Mesopotamia used signs to communicate the existence of their wares to potential
customers.2
