Chapter 2:

2. Advertising an Introduction
i. History of advertising
ii. Definition, features and role of advertising
iii. Relationship of advertising with other promotional mixes and marketing mix elements
iv. Various forms of Advertising
a. National
b. Retail
c. Cooperative
d. Trade
e. Industrial (financial, corporate, public services, political) f. Global

ADVERTISING - AN INTRODUCTION. When a product is manufactured, its existence needs

to be made known to the general public, otherwise the product will not sell. Advertising
draws the attention of potential consumers to a product. Advertising is a way persuading
potential customers to buy the product.

Sab Pade Sab Bade. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan!

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan or the Education For All programme of the government of India.
So it is easy to remember and recall the name of this Education initiative programme. This
is where actually due to the role of advertising.
Basically advertising is a public announcement to inform and persuade people to buy a
product, a service or an idea.
An advertisement would include any notice, circular, label, wrapper or any other document
or any announcement made orally, or by means of producing or transmitting light, sound
or smoke.
Have you read about people using smoke signals to pass on messages?
Everyday, we see and hear hundreds of advertisements. Let us consider a few of them.
Posters informing us about the latest Bollywood film to be released.
Big hoardings telling us which toothpaste would give us the cleanest and
strongest teeth.
The RJ, or radio jockey, asking us to buy things from the big shop in the
centre of the city for the most fashionable clothes..
The huge wall carrying the name and address of the local beauty parlour,
which will make even the most ordinary lady look as glamorous as a film star!
Wouldn’t you like to know more about this fascinating process?

OBJECTIVES
After studying this lesson, you will be able to do the following:
trace the origin of advertising ;
explain the history of the advertisement industry in India ;
classify different kinds of advertisements based on the medium ;
differentiate between various types of advertising.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

Can you imagine two people with drums walking down the streets of
Mohenjodaro, the city of the Indus Valley Civilization you read about in your
history lesson in previous classes, shouting their own and other’s messages? People would
stop and listen , just as you do when you stop to read an advertisement on the road, or
watch an advertisement on television! Then there used to be signs on shops or drinking
houses to indicate the name of the shop or the shop owner. The highly urbanised cities of
Harappa and Mohenjodaro employed signs to sell the many types of art and craft items that
our ancient civilizations were famous for.
In the Indian subcontinent, during Emperor Ashoka’s reign, stones or pillars were used for
making public announcements.
There have always been advertisements of some sort or the other. The form of advertising
for the transmission of information dates back to ancient Greece and Rome, when town
criers, drummers and signs were used to carry information for advertising goods and
services. Excavations in the ancient Roman town of Pompeii have shown evidence of some
form of advertising.
One advertisement found in the Latin language reads as follows :
‘A copper pot has been taken from this shop. Whoever brings it
back will receive 65 cesterces. If anyone shall hand over the thief,
he will receive an additional reward.’
The ancient Romans painted notices of theatre performances, games, entertainments and
public events on the walls of the busy centres of the town. Roman dairies had a sign outside
with a goat on it and their schools had a picture of a boy being whipped. These signs were
often used because many people could not read. Which sign will you use for a school? It
was much later that public notices were placed in the ‘Acta Diurna’, a wall newspaper that
provided daily news of politics in ancient Rome in 131 BC. Lost-and-found advertising on
papyrus was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

Egyptians made sales messages and wall posters on papyrus-paper. Paper

made from the papyrus plant by cutting it in strips, was used by ancient
Greeks and Romans too.
Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been discovered in the ruins of
ancient Arabia.

Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another example of an ancient

advertising form, which is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South
America.

The tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock-art paintings that date back
to 4000 BC.
Do you remember reading about handbills, posters and pamphlets in your first module on
communication? Do you know that modern advertising was made possible due to the
success of the printing industry? Handbills, posters, pamphlets and leaflets were printed in
large numbers and distributed throughout the city, and also put up on walls in public
places.
Advertising soon became a powerful tool to market the products produced in the factories -
from safety pins to sewing machines. Newspapers began selling space to advertisements.
Soon there was more advertisement than news!

The first modern ‘advertising agency’ started operating around 1875 in the
United Sates of America, when Mr N. W. Ayer and Sons of Philadelphia
offered to produce advertisements and also to contract for space in
newspapers. The field of advertising was revolutionized with the advent of radio and
television as popular media of communication in this century. While the press would cover
only the literate population, the radio and television have widely covered both literates and
non-literates. Television and radio remain the most popular media in urban as well as rural
areas. During the 1990s, the arrival of satellite television and internet has resulted in
significant changes in the field.

ADVERTISING IN INDIA
The history of advertising in India parallels the history of the Indian Press. You would have
learnt in the module on print media that the first issue of the first newspaper of the Indian
subcontinent, was the ‘Bengal Gazette’ or the ‘Calcutta General Advertiser’, started by
James Augustus Hicky on January 29, 1780. Did you know that it carried a few
advertisements? During the early years the newspapers announced births, deaths,
appointments, arrival and departure of ships and sale of furniture. By the beginning of the
19th century the pattern of advertising revealed a definite change. Even the daily
newspapers announced themselves through advertisements in existing periodicals. The
power of advertising increased rapidly with the growth in trade and commerce.
Which newspaper does your family read? Does it have many advertisements?
By 1830, around three dozen newspapers and periodicals were being published on a
regular basis from India. With the rise of new industries, advertising, even from British
companies, increased. The growth of advertising in India is also linked to the Swadeshi
movement (1920-1922), which gave impetus to Indian industries.
Do you remember the names of some of the freedom fighters associated with the Swadeshi
Movement? Mahatma Gandhi described Swadeshi as “a call to the consumer to be aware of
the violence he is causing by supporting those industries that result in poverty, harm to
workers and to humans and other creatures.” Swadeshi Movement was an attempt to take
economic power from the British by the use of domestic made products. Spinning the C
harkha and wearing Khadi became a very powerful tool to fight the British government.
Let us now find out how modern Indian advertising developed. Do you know
when the Indian advertising agencies started operating? The first Indian ad agency,
the Indian Advertising Agency, was launched in the very early years of the 20th
century. On the other hand, B Dattaram & Co, located in Girgaum in Mumbai and
launched in 1905, also claims to be the oldest existing Indian agency! This was
followed by the launch of the Calcutta Advertising Agency in 1909. By the 1920s
a number of Indian agencies were working from the major Indian cities, the most
important being the Modern Publicity Company in Madras, Central Publicity Service
in Bombay and Calcutta and the Oriental Advertising Agency in Tiruchirapalli. In
1931, the first full-fledged Indian ad agency, the National Advertising Service,
was established. During the post independence era, the advertising business was
well on its way to growth and expansion. The Indian Society of Advertisers was
formed in 1951 and in May 1958, the Society of Advertising Practitioners was
established and advertising clubs came up in Bombay and Calcutta to promote
higher standards of work.
Market research and readership surveys led to further professionalisation of the
advertising industry. Television Rating Points, popularly known as TRP
measurements, provided ad agencies with statistical data on consumer/ viewer
likes and dislikes and helped them create effective media plans and ad campaigns.
Do you know which television news channel has the highest TRP?

The introduction of multi-colour printing, improved printing machines and the

development of commercial art gave the ad business a further boost. The advertising
agencies expanded their services and this was due to the phenomenal growth in
media. Besides selling space in newspapers and magazines, they began to offer art
works, organization of fairs and exhibitions and market research.

SOME IMPORTANT YEARS IN ADVERTISING HISTORY

1780-Modern advertising history began with classified advertising.
Ads appeared for the first time in print in Hickey’s weekly newspaper, the Bengal Gazette.
Newspaper studios trained the first generation of visualizers and illustrators to produce
advertisements for the print media.
1905-B Dattaram & Co, one of the early companies making advertisements for newspapers
was launched in Mumbai.
1920 – 1922-Years of the Swadeshi movement
1920 – 1929-The first foreign owned ad agencies were set up.
1931-The first ad agency, the National Advertising Service was
established.
1951-The Indian Society of Advertisers was formed.

CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERTISEMENTS ACCORDING TO

VARIOUS MEDIA
There are different ways to categorise advertising. The most popular will be a classification
based on the media of advertising.

Let us discuss about the different forms of advertisements found in media.

Print: This is one of the most popular forms of advertising. Print ads can have many
forms - newspapers and magazine ads, bills, wall posters, banners, calendars. As we have
discussed before, the rise of print advertising is linked to the rise of the newspaper
industry. The installation and success of the first linotype printing machine by the
Statesman in Calcutta in 1907 proved to be a great impetus to the industry.
In a few years other newspapers too installed this machine. Printing became cheaper,
quicker and better. The first ad agency was established around this time.

Print ads can be categorized as Classified and Display ads.

Classified ads provide valuable information in a very direct and often dry manner.
They contain only basic facts. You must have read information about property markets,
shares, matrimonials, detective agencies, housing, births and deaths in the classified pages
of most national dailies.

Display ads are bigger and take more space. They are often very colourful and contain
attractive images. Glossy magazines usually carry many display ads.

Electronic: Electronic ads are usually more vibrant. They can be heard on radio and seen on
television. The rise of the television industry was a great impetus to the advertising
industry - so much so that very often people find ads more interesting than television
programmes.
Did you know that a TV ad is also called a commercial? It is called a commercial because the
company which advertises its product pays money to generate business through the
advertisement.

New media
If you have used a cell phone, you will be familiar with different ads asking you to
download popular film songs or vote for your favourite candidate in a television show!
There is a new phase in advertising with the coming of the internet and popularity of cell
phones. Computers and cell phones are becoming cheaper and more accessible. These are
the new platforms of advertising for the 21st century. Do you think the ads that keep
popping up on websites are annoying?
If you haven’t seen internet ads, visit a cyber cafe if possible, and ask the computer
operator to show you some ads.
Let us summarise what you have learnt about the classification of advertisements based on
different media. Look at the table given below:

DIFFERENT MEDIA OF ADVERTISING

Print
Electronic
Digital/ New Media
Newspaper
Televison
Internet websites
Radio
CD and
DVDs of films and music
Cable
Network
Cell Phones
Banner (paper, cloth)
Pamphlet
Brochure
Books
Magazines

Handbill: A small sheet of paper carrying an advertisement message distributed by hand.

Handbills are very often white, pink and yellow. Students and newspaper dealers do the
work of distributing handbills.

Poster: A sign posted in a public place as an advertisement. A poster may carry only words,
or it may have graphic images and photographs.
A poster may be stuck on a wall with glue or fevicol.

Leaflet: A small book usually having a paper cover. It usually has very few and thin pages.

Ad: An advertisement is also called an ad.

SOME ADVERTISING TERMS TO REMEMBER

Tagline
A tagline is a creative, often witty, ad slogan that helps people remember a particular
product. Can you think of any popular taglines?
Brand
Brand is the name of a product or service that is very easily recognizable. People
buy the product because of the brand name. Some famous brands are Dettol,
Pepsi cola, Parle G, Hawkins pressure cooker, Bajaj scooter, Yamaha motorbikes,
Cadburys chocolate, Ponds soap, Sunsilk shampoo, BandAid, Dalda, Hamam soap, Lifebouy
soap.

Campaign: An advertisement campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a

single idea and theme which together make up an advertisement strategy for a
product, service, or institution. Advertising campaigns appear in different media
across a specific time frame.
An example of an advertsing campaign is the ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ ( wake up,
consumer) campaign initiated by the government of India to create consumer
awareness and protect the rights of the consumer across the country.

Target audience
Target audience or target group is the primary group of people that something,
usually an advertising campaign, is aimed at. A target audience can be people of a
certain age group, gender, marital status, etc. (example: teenagers, females, single
people, etc.) A certain combination, like men from twenty to thirty is often a target
audience. Other groups, although not the main focus, may also be interested.
Without knowing your target audience, advertising and the selling of a particular
product can become difficult and expensive.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING
Advertisements can be categorized according to theme or content. Broadly
speaking, there are four types:

Types of Advertisement

• PRODUCT ADVERTISING

• CONSUMER ADVERTSING

• BRAND ADVERTSING

• RETAIL OR LOCAL ADVERTSING

• CO-OPERATIVE ADVERTISING

• FINANCIAL ADVERTISING

• SERVICE ADVERTISING

• PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISEMENT

• RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING

• POLITICAL ADVERTSING
 • DIRECTORY ADVERTSING

• DIRECT REPOSNSE ADVERTSING

• INDUSTRIAL or B TO B ADVERTISING

• INSTITUTIONAL / CORPORATE ADVERTISING

• SURROGATE ADVERTISEMENT

• NATIONAL AND GLOBAL ADVERTISING

• COMPARATIVE ADVERTISING

• ADVERTORIAL ADVERTISING

• PRIMARY AND SELECTIVE DEMAND ADVERSTISING

Product Advertising
Have you seen how small children want to drink the same soft drink as their
favourite cricketer and film star? This is the impact of product advertising and is
the most common type of advertising as it is most easily identified.
A product is something produced in large numbers by human beings, machines or
by a natural process.. Products advertised therefore range from fruits and
vegetables to pickles and jams and scooters and cars.
The main focus of the ad in this case is the product and not the company or
manufacturer. These ads usually have a playful approach. They are low on
information about the product but are high on style. Ads of soft drinks, shoes,
cars, cell phones and food products belong to this category
FINANCIAL ADVERTISING

Broadly speaking financial advertising includes that for banks, savings, mortgages,
insurance and investments. In addition to advertising addressed to customers or clients, it
can also include company reports, prospectuses for new share issues, records of
investments in securities and other financial announcements.

Service Advertising
Here the focus is not on a factory manufactured item or product but a company
providing a service. This could be a bank, the railways a call centre or travel
agency. The ads usually show the company as a leading service provider in its
particulars field.
Let us consider the example of the Indian Railways. In order to keep the public
interested in the Railways and familiarize them with their services, advertisements
are issued from time to time. You may look for these advertisements in the
newspapers and the websites of Indian Railways.
Similarly, banks are found to advertise their saving schemes and loan facilities that
they offer for buying homes and vehicles.
Can you think of other kinds of services, which are advertise?

Public Service Advertising

This is also called social service advertising or development advertising. Here the
focus is on issues that impact society on a larger scale, such as family planning,
national integration, polio eradication, and pollution control. The main purpose is
to create public awareness through hard-hitting direct messages. These ads do
not sell products and services but ideas.
Let us take the example of the polio eradication campaign. Advertisements are
issued through various mass media such as newspapers, radio and television to
create awareness on polio eradication. This was to motivate parents to take their
children for immunization and enable them to be given polio drops
Institutional Advertising
These ads are directed at creating a good public image of a company. The ads
focus on the organization’s work in areas of research, development and quality
control. Often the ads concentrate on the social work done by the company by its
sponsorship of educational, cultural and sports events. The purpose of these ads
is to sell a positive image of the company rather than a product manufactured by
the company.
The TATA Steel ads in the 1980s with the tag line – ‘Ispat bhi hum banate hain’ or`
we also make steel’, is a good example of institutional advertising.
SOME POPULAR
ADVERTISEMENT SLOGANS
SAIL [Steel Authority Of India Ltd]
There’s A Bit Of SAIL In Everybody
DELHI POLICE
With you, For you, Always
INCREDIBLE INDIA
Celebrate Rajasthan !
ENCHANTING TAMILNADU
Experience Yourself !
KARNATAKA
One State,. Many Worlds.
BSNL ( Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited)
Connecting India
HANDLOOM MARK
The Assurance of Real Handloom Creations.
India’s Rich Heritage. Use handloom products with pride.
INDIAN OIL XTRA PREMIUM
The best your vehice can get.
DELHI 2010 XIX COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Come Out And Play
ONGC ( OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORPORATION)
making tomorrow brighter

SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN

( Education for All )
Sab Pade Sab Bade
PULSE POLIO CAMPAIGN -PULSE RAVIWAR
Two drops of life