A Comprehensive Analysis of Advertising Strategies in the 20th Century

This essay provides an overview of the evolution of advertising strategies during the 20th century. It begins by outlining the early forms of advertising, such as word-of-mouth and the advent of print media, and then progresses to the development of advertising agencies and their role in creating and placing advertisements across various media platforms. The essay discusses the use of newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and direct mail as key advertising channels, highlighting their respective strengths and target audiences. It explores how advertisers leveraged consumer behavior, demographic analysis, and branding techniques to effectively reach and persuade their target markets. Furthermore, the essay examines the emergence of outdoor advertising, the impact of literacy, and the incorporation of the internet and social media into marketing campaigns. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of creative messaging and strategic positioning to distinguish products and influence consumer purchasing decisions.

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Advertisement
Advertisement is important in sensitizing and persuading consumers to gain interest to
the certain opinion, product, and services that are being advertised. Advertisements in the recent
past have been used in a variety of activities for example goods promotion, political
campaigning, and warnings. The advertisement has become an important and significant service
industry that is even a primary source of income for the media including, newspapers,
magazines, televisions and radio stations. In the ancient time's advertisements were done by
word of mouth, but with the development and invention of printing in the 15th and 16th century,
when modern advertising was born where newspapers began to carry advertisements. This paper
will discuss the various strategies that have been used by advertisers in order to convince,
educate or bring their target audience into attention of their various products in the 20th century.
The expansion of the adverting industry expanded primarily in the 19th century where in
some countries, for example, the United States there was the establishment of the advertisement
agencies who acted as brokers of space in the newspapers and magazines (McGregor and Sue,
38). In the 20th century, the companies later became the producers of the advertising message,
where they were to oversee the research and creation of the advert, undertake the advertising
campaigns and ensure the placement of the advert in the various media.

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Advertisement grew over a variety of media with newspaper and magazine being the
most basic and favorable among advertisers as it offered a large circulation and readership in a
given region. However, the magazines were being used to target a specific audience, for
example, those interested in literature, technology, and sports which offered the manufacturer of
products that are of interest to such audience a chance to make contact with their most likely
customers (Lotz and Rachel, 38). In the western, radio and television became the most
convincing media. However, most of the television and radio stations were state-run and did not
accept adverts in others advertisers were able to secure spots to showcase their products often a
few minutes or seconds in duration. The advertising spots are broadcasted during or even
between regular programs or as specified by advertisers as they were interested in capturing a
vast of the audience in showcasing their products. The advertisers were interested in the
composition and the size of the audience which also determined the cost of the advertisement as
the bigger the audience captured, the higher the charges to advertise.
Direct mail is another advertisement platform that has been in use, it's easy, cheap, can be
detailed and creates a personalized appeal to the target audience. With many people being in
possession of computers or ease of access to the computer and smart phones either at work or in
office hence one can open a mail sent to them at any time. The use of mail is also advantageous
as a consumer interested can send the enquiry and seek clarification from the manufacturers
through the mail platform.
For effective advertisement, the production and placement of the advertisement are based
on knowledge of the public and skilled use of media (Jones and Carl 213). Agencies undertaking
the advertising serve to orchestrate complex campaigns where they first learn about the

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consumer behavior and demographic analysis of the market area considering aspects like age,
gender, and income of target population.
Outdoor posters and billboards were also put in to use in the 20th century. Being
strategically placed in highways, malls and other places where there is traffic, the billboards and
posters catch the attention of many passersby as intended by the advertisers. The advertisers
learned the art of using adverts that their target audience can relate or associate with in their day
to day activities. For example, many adverts were done by women as they were considered to be
responsible for the many purchases that are done in the household. The posters can also be put on
public transportation for example in buses and cabs, depending on the location of the target
population.
Advertisers can create desires to the audience and send a message that will be attractive
to the consumers and ends up buying or using the services advertised if they meet their needs.
Many manufacturers embraced the art of advertisement and started branding their merchandise in
decorative packages that look attractive to the consumers. With the increase of the literate
majority, the advertisers also were able to tap into it and use it to the advantage by marketing
their products in written form to the people reading the publications and other media.
The internet, which over time has attracted many individuals where many of business
transaction are carried out, and use of many social media platforms many advertisers were able
to take up the opportunity and used the internet to market their products and services. Many
people can access the internet and any place in the world hence a vast majority is reached and
can read in details about a given product. The promotion of a product by different websites has
been used where consumers can also research about a product before they make any purchases

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Advertising calendars and dealer displays are also catchy and attract the attention of the
audience. The calendars are handed in a social gathering or malls and supermarkets after the
purchase of certain goods, the content contained in the calendars is meant to educate the
consumer about a given product or a supplementary product that is of the same caliber and is
advantageous or cheaper and one that may interest the customer. Dealer displays in the streets
are also important as they catch the attention of passersby and ends up checking the product to
see if it fits his or her needs. The dealer displays mostly are t=strategically placed near the
dealership of a given goods or service to reduce ease of access to the product.
In conclusion, advertisers have over time become creative to come up with a positioning
statement distinguishes the products being advertised to other products already on the market.
For example, the images and message content used should be in association with the product. It,
therefore, has a message to the consumer as to why they should buy that particular product.
Advertisers have been able to distinguish the different target consumers which include the buyers
of the product, those who may be influenced to buy the product in certain situations or those who
influence the purchase of certain products for example children (Bugge and Annechen 16). Many
advertisers or manufacturers have come up with slogans and unifying thematic images to achieve
coherence especially if multiple channels are being used in advertising.

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Works cited
Lotz, Rachel. "Color Associations as Advertising Strategies: An Analysis of Consumer Attitudes
Toward the Healthfulness of Energy Bar Packaging." (2016).
Moriarty, Sandra, et al. Advertising: Principles and practice. Pearson Australia, 2014.
Asquith, Kyle. "Knowing the Child Consumer through Box Tops: Data Collection,
Measurement, and Advertising to Children, 1920–1945." Critical Studies in Media
Communication 32.2 (2015): 112-127.
Jones, Carl w. "advertising tools and techniques appropriated to construct the global brand Mr.
clean." TICS (2017): 554.
McGregor, Sue LT. "Framing consumer education conceptual innovations as consumer
activism." International journal of consumer studies 40.1 (2016): 35-47.
Patel, Neha Chirag, and Supriya Rahul Bhutiani. "A Semiotic Approach Through Print
Advertisements." Global Observations of the Influence of Culture on Consumer Buying
Behavior (2017): 146.
Bugge, Annechen Bahr. "Food advertising towards children and young people in
Norway." Appetite 98 (2016): 12-18.