Advertising - How it has evolved over the years!

photo by pressmaster

Advertising has evolved significantly over time, adapting to changes in technology, consumer behavior, and social trends. Here are some key ways advertising has evolved over the years:

Print Advertising:

Advertising began in the form of print ads in newspapers, magazines, and billboards. The first print ad was published in a newspaper in 1704 in the United States. In the early days, print ads were mostly text-based, with simple graphics or illustrations.

Billboards

photo by david vincent villavicencio

Outdoor advertising constitutes a major part of promoting a brand all over the world. It has in itself evolved a lot from simple boards to a far more interactive and innovative Bill boards today.

Radio Advertising:

photo ron lach

With the advent of the radio in the 1920s, advertisers found a new medium to reach consumers. Radio ads were shorter and more engaging than print ads, with catchy jingles and slogans that helped build brand awareness. FM radio is a popular option today and it has its target audience of all the commuters who are travelling by cars.

m&w-studios

Television Advertising:

Television became the dominant advertising medium in the 1950s and 60s. With the introduction of color television, advertisers could create more visually appealing ads that captured the attention of viewers. Advertisers also began to use celebrities to endorse products, which helped to build trust and credibility. This is still one of the most popular ways of advertising, even though OTT platforms have been catching up.

Digital Advertising:

The rise of the internet and digital technologies has revolutionized advertising. Today, advertisers can target specific audiences based on their online behavior, interests, and demographics. Digital ads can take many forms, including banner ads, pop-ups, video ads, social media ads, and native advertising.

Personalised Advertising:

With the proliferation of big data, advertisers can now create highly personalized ads that are tailored to individual consumers. By collecting data on consumers' browsing history, search queries, and social media activity, advertisers can create ads that are highly relevant and engaging. If you are searching for a new car, Google will understand this and start showing you advertisements related to cars unless you have specified in the settings on goggle that your activities should not be followed and tracked. However, this also helps in a way that you get to know of brands which you were not aware of otherwise.

Paid Endorsements

Many articles in news papers,(Advertorial, word is mentioned in small letters somewhere, TV programs, You tube channels, Instagram and other social media platforms is actually paid by the sponsor of these videos. Sometime, these influencers mention this while talking about a particular time but sometime the message is quite subtle yet much more effective as it appears to be more genuine. For example, if the founder of a new startup is being interviewed on a TV channel, it is not a direct promotion of the brand he is building up but acts as a subtle add up to the brand value by indirectly making people aware of his /her company.

However, it does not mean that a popular influencer may not always talk about his genuine opinion about a brand or a product he is talking about based on his own experience. A CEO of a renowned brand, by appearing on a television interview may not really make much of a difference to the sales as such because it is well established brand beyond a doubt. But even a big brand based on their research and data analysis would know that their sales are declining by a certain small percentage and they must take some corrective steps. Such steps are also actively taken up when the stock prices are getting influenced due to certain reasons and the same needs to be taken care of by appearing in the media for corrective measures.

Overall, advertising has become more sophisticated and targeted over time, with advertisers constantly adapting to changes in technology, consumer behavior, and social trends.