The History of Advertising

Long Long ago….

 …in 3000 BC, it all started in the city of Babylon
The first form of advertising appeared in the form of
clay tablets which bears the inscription of an
ointment dealer, a scribe and a shoemaker...
 …and in Pompeii
where a clay tablet of a butcher shop was retrieved.
The 3 periods of Advertising

• The Pre Marketing Era

• The Mass Communication Era

• The Research Era

 The Pre - Marketing Era

Days of Barter system

• Ancient: Papyrus - Ad for slaves

• Greeks: Town Criers - Arrival of ships
• Romans: Inn signs
 The Pre - Marketing Era
Days of Print
• 1438 : Johann Guttenberg invents the movable
type
• 1478 : William Caxton printed the first paper
• 1523 : First printed Advertisement
• 1622 : 1st printed Newspaper - London
‘The Weekly Newes of London’
• 1625 : 1st Ad in an English Newspaper
• 1704 : 1st Ad in an American Newspaper
‘Boston Newsletter’
• 1890 : Birth of Magazines
 The Mass Communication Era

From the mid 1700’s advertisers reached mass

audiences through the print media and later with
the invention of the Radio
 The Research Era

Last 50 years advertisers have methodically

improved the techniques of identifying and
reaching their audiences with specific messages

Great assistance with Electronic Media and now the

Internet
 The Evolution of the Agency
• The Space Salesman

• The Space Wholesaler

• The First Rate Directory

• From an Agency to the Creative Inputs

• The Curtis No-Rebating rule

 The Space Salesman

• In 1840, Volney B Palmer contacted publications

and sold advertising space for a commission of
50%, but often settled for less
Palmer was very successful and soon opened up
offices in Philadelphia, New York and Boston

The Space Agent - Agency

 The Space Wholesaler

• In 1850, George Powell bought large blocks of

spaces and sold them in the form of ‘squares’ - one
column wide and sold them at a retail price, his
own ad read...

‘An inch of space a month in 100 newspapers for

one hundred dollars’
 The First Rate Directory

• In 1869, Powell shocked the advertising fraternity

by publishing a directory of Newspapers and their
rates along with the estimation of their circulation
 Agency to Creative Inputs

• Charles Austin Bates, a writer, began writing and

selling his service to whoever wanted them.

• In 1867, ex-Navy man James Walter Thompson

sold space and from the commission he would
write copy for the Client.
 Agency to Creative Inputs

• Calkin and Holden did more than write, they

brought in copy, art and planning all under one
roof paving the way for an agency to function.
 The Curtis No-Rebating Rule

• In 1891, Curtis Publishing Company, USA announced that

it would pay commissions to Agencies only if they agreed
to collect the full price from the Advertisers
Agency Commission ranged from 10-25%

• In 1917, this got fixed to 15% which stands true till date
Advertising is all about Great Ideas

and behind all of them are some great minds and

their reasons and philosophies
 The Advertising Heroes
and their ground breaking
work
 Arnold Lasker

Had a talent for spotting talent, responsible for

making people see that creating advertising is a
talent and needs passion
 Claude Hopkins

‘If you want people to buy a product, you’d better

give them a very good reason why.’
Driven towards Rationality
 James Walter Thompson

Father of one of the largest agencies in the World

today (JWT) - sold his business to his employees
Stanley and Helen Greser for US$ 10,000 in 1920
 John Watson

Propounded the theory ...

If Consumer attitude X changes to Y due to a Advertising
Stimulus then there will be a difference of Z in Sales
Turnover
Stimulus most important
 Gerard Lambert

Was one of the founders to address the issue of

creating category need advertising
Advertising in 1924 did create a cure but first it had
to create the disease.
 Michael Gallop

Formalized the first ever commercial market

research and tracking consumer behaviour
 Leo Burnett

Deviated from the Watson Theory

Introduced Image Advertising as opposed to reason
why
This theory failed initially...
 Rosser Reeves

Proposed that the human mind needs to focus on one

single parameter of a product - the theory of
rationality
As choices grew this theory also had its limitations
 David Ogilvy

~ Tried to balance Reason and Emotion create Branding

Pick up insights from people
 William Bernbach

~ Whilst you need to balance emotion and reason,

the advertisement must entertain.
 George Gribbin
Must get people interested in your advertising for the brand
to be successful. This requires ingenuity.
Saying it differently yet simply.
 Alyque Padamsee

An Advertiser is a Performer

Liril Girl
Kama Sutra
Surf - Lalithaji
Cherry Charlie
What is Advertising ?
 ‘Advertising’
originates from the Latin Word ‘ad vertere’
which means ‘to turn the mind towards’
There are many definitions to ‘Advertising’ including the one
in the dictionary, but the all time favourite is ….
‘Advertising is the use of media to inform consumers
about something and/or to persuade them to do
something in effect. It brings products/brands and
consumers together and then modulates the
relationship between them’

- The Economist
 In short...

… Advertising is a key part of Marketing, but far

from being (as is often assumed) the sum total of
it.
 The Advertising Agency

Manages products (in the from of Brands) and

Consumers