ABSTRACT
The main function of advertising today is to persuade customers to buy one of a number of products of similar quality and price, and the only advertising which is useful and justifiable is that which informs people (a) of the existence of a product and (b) what it can do. Advertising can help us to choose by informing us of what is available. It is said that advertising is wasteful and that the cost of it raises prices. A good agency should not only have a first-class art department and media manager but also a market research section and a section for advertising research, by which it can test the effect of its advertising. The key man in an advertising agency is the ‘account executive’. Bound up closely with advertising is public relations and the building of the ‘company image’. Public relations can take a number of forms and is becoming a specialist function conducted by professional experts.
