CHANGE IN ADVERTISING

How Advertising has changed between 1995 and now?

How Advertising has changed between 1995 and now?

Introduction

Commercial advertising, a crucial institution in contemporary media is undergoing massive change. In this “Post-television Age” (Cappo, 2003), the way advertising works is changing (Auletta, 2005). Traditional advertising is said to be losing ground to viral marketing gaming, on demand viewing, long-form content and other “new marketing”. The literature has been describing this crisis for a while now. The idea itself of “advertising's death” is present in several major titles since Ries & Ries and Zyman (2002).

Advertising and Advertising Medium

Brands are not built around the 30-second commercial anymore: consumers' alienation with cluttered media has become a factor. The “2005 Best Global Brands special report” at Business Week underlined the industry turnaround: “the best brand builders are also intensely creative in getting their message out. Many of the leading and well-known brands, from Coke to Marlboro, achieved their global heft decades ago by helping to pioneer the 30-second TV commercial. But the world is no more static, it is far different from the previous one.

The Internet is expected to attract close to $8 billion from national advertisers this year, still fairly modest but up 15% from 2004. So 'offline' media companies are increasing their online efforts, and Madison Avenue is scrambling to cope. Advertising remains a very powerful economic force and advertisers are spending more than ever to “push” markets. But much of the growth occurs in California, in the headquarters of companies like Google and Yahoo.

Advertisers are indeed exploring many new avenues. Billboard advertising is being used in innovative ways: Out-of-home advertising, long considered a backwater on Madison Ave., is getting tougher to ignore as it branches out beyond the old-fashioned billboard.

Table 1, and 2, Advertising expenditures by medium in United States and United Kingdom (1995-2005)

Table 1: United States

1995

2000

2005

% Change 1995-2005

Dailies

34,1

29,8

26,5

-7,6

Magazines

11,2

10,3

9,3

-1,9

Network TV

10

8,8

9

-1

Cable TV

5,3

8,6

12,1

6,8

Radio

10,2

11,2

10,5

0,3

Outdoor

1

2,6

2,9

1,9

Internet

0

4,2

7,4

7,4

Table 2: United Kingdom

1995

2000

2005

% Change 1995-2005

Dailies

38,4

37,6

32,8

-5,6

Magazines

16,2

15,1

12,6

-3,6

Terrestrial TV

28,2

25,5

21,3

-6,9

Cable/Sat. TV

2

4,1

6,1

4,1

Radio

3,1

4

3,5

0,4

Outdoor

4,3

5,2

6

1,7

Internet

0

1,1

9,1

8

Source: The European Advertising and Media Forecast, October 2005, July 2006.

Despite the car industry's stranglehold on the nation's airwaves (863m was spent on automotive advertising in 2001, second only to retail expenditure), there are remarkably few established effectiveness cases. The category's purchase cycle is typically made scapegoat: the fact that cars are bought infrequently and after much consideration means that car advertising expenditure is unlikely ever to pay ...