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CHAPTER 3
The Evolution of Promoting Brands
PPT 3-1 here
KEY TERMS
Industrial Revolution
principle of limited
liability
branding
dailies
consumer culture
Pure Food and Drug Act
Great Depression
subliminal advertising
creative revolution
Action for Children’s
Television (ACT)
Federal Trade Commission
(FTC)
National Advertising
Review Board
infomercial
interactive media
consumer-generated
content (CGC)
e-business
branded entertainment
TiVo
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 32
SUMMARY
PPT 3-2 here
LO1 Identify economic changes that gave rise to advertising.
Advertising as we know it today is connected with the emergence of capitalistic
economic systems. In such systems, business organizations must compete for survival in
LO2 Discuss how the relationship between marketers and retailers has changed
over time.
Marketing and branding play a key role in the ongoing power struggle between
manufacturers and their retailers. Retailers have power in the marketplace deriving from
LO3 Describe significant eras of promotion in the United States, including the
impact of social change on promotion.
Social and economic trends, along with technological developments, are major
determinants of the marketing messages used in advertising and other forms of
promotion. Before the Industrial Revolution, advertising’s presence in the United States
was barely noticeable. With an explosion in economic growth around the turn of the
LO4 Define consumer empowerment and branded entertainment.
Integrated, interactive, and wireless technologies have recently been reshaping marketing
practices. The technologies present new options like videos that highlight brands. In this
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 33
LO5 Identify forces that will continue to affect the evolution of integrated
marketing communication.
History is practical. Consumers will always be affected by social and cultural change, and
CHAPTER OUTLINE
INTRODUCTORY SCENARIO: When Soap Saved Marriage
This short scenario featuring the Lux soap advertisement shown on the first page of the
chapter makes an essential point about brand promotion and the chapter content. Students
will find the tone and emphasis of this ad anachronistic—and that is precisely the point.
The points to highlight here (particularly since some students might find the ad
offensive):
• Brand promotion evolves over time and with the culture.
• Brand promotion is a reflection of a particular social and technological instant
in time. Some students will be a little slow on the uptake and challenge the
political “incorrectness” of this ad. Point out that this is precisely the point—
this ad was deemed appropriate in the 1930s but would be unacceptable in
today’s cultural environment.
This chapter begins with the basic influences—social, economic, technological—that
gave rise to the creation, delivery, and purpose of advertising as a process in a culture and
economy. Then it offers a unique breakdown of different eras of promotion, beginning
with the pre-industrialization era and concluding with the current environment.
I. The Rise of Advertising
PPT 3-3, 3-4 here
An important point to make to students is that while some historical treatments of
advertising claim that “as long as men and women have been communicating, there
Also point out that advertising as a social and economic process needs a particular
sort of fertile ground to flourish. Four basic influences gave rise to advertising as we
know it:
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 34
A. Rise of Capitalism
For advertising to become prominent in a society, the society must rely on aspects
of capitalism: organizations compete for resources, called capital, in a free
B. Industrial Revolution
• The industrialization of societies leads to advertising’s emergence as a
business and communication process. The Industrial Revolution began about
1750 in England. It spread to the United States and progressed slowly until the
early 1800s, when the War of 1812 boosted domestic production.
• The Industrial Revolution took American society away from household self-
sufficiency to marketplace dependency as a way of life. Industrialization was
a basic force behind the rapid increase in mass-produced goods that required
stimulation of demand; something that advertising can be very good at. In
addition, the railroad could facilitate large demand by expanding geographic
markets.
II. Power in Distribution Channels
PPT 3-5, 3-6 here
• If a manufacturer can stimulate sizable demand for a brand, that manufacturer
can develop power in the distribution channel and force wholesalers and
retailers to sell that particular brand. Demand stimulation causes consumers to
insist on the brand at the retail level; retailers and wholesalers have virtually
no choice but to comply with consumer desires.
• A factor that was critical to manufacturers’ pursuit of power was branding.
Manufacturers had to develop brand names so that consumers could focus
their attention on a clearly identified item particularly once the railroad
starting delivering products long distances from manufacturers’ sites.
Manufacturers began branding their products in the late 1800s, with Levi’s
(1873), Maxwell House Coffee (1873), Budweiser (1876), Ivory (1879), and
Coca-Cola (1876) among the first.
A. Modern Mass Media
• With the invention of the telegraph in 1844, a communication revolution was
set in motion.
• Most important to advertising was the rise of mass-circulation magazines. The
ads in these magazines began reaching a more diverse audience, and national
brands were projected into the national consciousness.
• Also, for the most part, mass media in the United States are supported by
advertising.
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 35
III. Evolution of Promotion
PPT 3-7, 3-8, 3-9, 3-10, 3-11, 3-12, 3-13, 3-14, 3-15, 3-16 here
Several periods can be identified that give us various perspectives on the process of
brand promotion.
A. Preindustrialization (before 1800)
Advertising did not flourish before industrialization and the creation of
concentrated urban markets, but it still existed in a variety of simpler forms:
• Handbills, which were printed on engraved wood or copper, were used to
announce the availability of grocery products, household goods, druggists’
wares, and other commodities and services.
• Early printed advertisements appeared in newsbooks (the precursor to the
newspaper). The messages were informational and appeared on the last pages
of the tabloid.
• Pennsylvania Gazette was the first newspaper to separate ads with lines of
white space and was the first to use illustrations in advertisements.
B. Industrialization (1800–1875)
• Advertisers in this era tried to cultivate markets for growing production as the
population dramatically increased. A middle class, spawned by the economic
windfall of regular wages from factory jobs, began to emerge.
• Newspaper circulation was fostered by the railroads.
• Advertising was not universally hailed as an honorable practice. Without
formal regulation, advertising was considered an embarrassment by many
segments of society. This image wasn’t helped by the advertising for patent
medicines, the first products heavily advertised on a national scale that
promised a cure for nearly everything.
C. P. T. Barnum Era (1875–1918)
• During the years from about 1875 to 1918, advertising ushered in what is
known as consumer culture, or a way of life centered around consumption.
• This was a time of advertising legends: Albert Lasker, head of Lord and
Thomas in Chicago, possibly the most influential agency of its day; Francis
W. Ayer, founder of N. W. Ayer; John E. Powers, the most important
copywriter of the period; and Charles Austin Bates, another brilliant
advertising copywriter.
• Until 1906, advertising went completely unregulated. In that year, Congress
passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, which required manufacturers to list the
active ingredients of their products on the labels.
• The ads of this period were bold, carnivalesque, garish, and often full of dense
copy that hurled fairly incredible claims at prototype “modern” consumers—
thus the “P. T. Barnum” description.
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 36
D. The Twenties (1918–1929)
• The 1920s were prosperous times. Americans enjoyed a previously unequaled
standard of living. It was an age of hedonism, and the pleasure principle was
appreciated, openly and often.
• Ads of the era exhorted consumers to have a good time and enjoy life.
Consumption was not only respectable, but also expected. The average citizen
had become a “consumer.”
• Ads from the 1920s emphasized themes of modernity, the division between
public workspace (the male domain of the office) and the private, “feminine”
space of the home. Science and technology were the new religions of the day,
and ads stressed the latest scientific offerings.
• The style of the 1920s ads was much more visual and far less wordy. They
showed slices of life or lessons in what historian Roland Marchand called the
social tableau—lessons about how to fit in with the smart crowd.
E. Great Depression (1929–1941)
• The Great Depression was brutal, broke lives and families, and made people
think differently about government, business, saving, and advertising.
• As sure as advertising was heroic in the 1920s, it was villainous in the 1930s.
It was part of big business, and big business, big greed, and big lust had gotten
America into the great economic depression.
• Advertisers responded to this attitude by adopting a tough, no-nonsense
advertising style. The stylish and aesthetic ads of the 1920s gave way to
harsher and more cluttered ads.
• The themes in advertisements traded on the anxieties of the day: losing one’s
job meant being a bad provider, spouse, or parent, unable to give the family
what it needed.
• During World War II and again during the 1950s, the economy continued to
improve, and the consumption spree was on again. There was great concern
about the rise of communism. The issue of “mind control” became an
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 37
American paranoia, and many people suspected that advertising was a tool of
mind control.
• Stories began circulating in the 1950s that advertising agencies were doing
motivation research and using a psychological sell, which served to fuel an
underlying suspicion of advertising.
• During this period, Americans began to fear they were being seduced by
subliminal advertising. The key figure in the subliminal advertising scare—
James Vicary—turned out to be a crook and disappeared before his
controversial movie theater research could ever be verified. A point to
emphasize with students here is that no study has ever been able to replicate
his results. Further, while subliminal communication is detectable, there is no
evidence that persuasive commercial information can be communicated
subliminally.
• The fifties were also about sex, youth culture, rock ’n’ roll, and the emergence
of television to portray those images. Nothing like television had ever existed
before within U.S. households; advertisers took advantage of this opportunity.
G. Creative Revolution (1960–1972)
• Advertising was slow to respond to the massive social revolution going on all
around it. The nation was struggling with civil rights, the Vietnam War, and
the “sexual revolution,” but advertising was often still portraying women and
minorities in subservient roles.
• Advertising did experience a creative revolution in which the “creatives” (art
directors and copywriters) had a bigger say in management. The emphasis in
advertising turned from ancillary services to the creative product and from
science and research to art, inspiration, and intuition.
• The look of advertising during this period was clean, minimalist, and sparse,
with simple copy and the use of humor.
• Advertising as an industry became aware of its role in consumer culture: it
was an icon of a culture fascinated with consumption.
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 38
H. The Seventies (1973–1980)
• This was the age of polyester, disco, and driving 55. Advertising retreated to
the tried-and-true but hackneyed styles of earlier decades with a return to the
hard sell.
• Advertisers actually started to present women in new roles and to include
people of color in ads for a wide variety of products.
to bolster its look).
• The most positive aspect of this period was the contribution of technology to
the process of advertising. The growth in communications technology was
unprecedented. Consumers began to surround themselves with communication
devices. The development of the VCR, cable television, and the laser disc
with viewing options like ESPN, CNN, TBS, and Nickelodeon.
I. Designer Era (1980–1992)
• The average American had twice as much real income as his or her parents
had at the end of WWII.
• The country made a sharp right turn, and conservative politics were the order
of the day.
• This was also the age of the infomercial—a long advertisement that looks like
J. E-Revolution (1993–2000)
• This was Stage I of the Web revolution in advertising, and it ended with
mixed results.
• Big advertisers, like P&G and Sprint were warning ad agencies that they must
confront a “new-media” future that wouldn’t be driven by traditional
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 39
advertising. Nineties ads were generally more visually oriented and much
more self-aware.
IV. Consumer Empowerment (2000–Present)
PPT 3-17, 3-18, 3-19 here
This section puts the “consumer control” issues raised in Chapters 1 and 2 into historical
perspective.
• Technological changes continued to progress even as many dot-coms declared
bankruptcy.
• Phase II of the e-revolution (Web 2.0) has been much more successful than
Phase I in the late 1990s.
• Consumer control emerges in this era. The issues of consumers “co-creating”
ads is raised here and defined as consumer-generated content (CGC).
• Alert students to the very important, though less visible, business-to-business
promotion on the Web referred to as e-business.
• On-line shopping and advertising are making a major comeback. Ad spending
will continue to grow online due to further growth in interactive, wireless, and
broadband technologies.
• Web advertising growth will be fostered by further growth in interactive,
wireless, and broadband technologies.
A. Branded Entertainment
No aspect of the evolution of advertising is more important than branded
entertainment: the blending of advertising and integrated brand promotion with
entertainment, primarily film and television programming. A subset of branded
entertainment is product (brand) placement—the significant and prominent placement
of brands within film or television programs.
• Examples are Tom Cruise wearing Ray Bans or asking for a Red Stripe beer
during a film, the Chapter 2 example highlighting Coke’s placement of Coke
cups on the desk of the American Idol set, and the BMW Web film series.
• Beyond just placing brands within a film, large projects, like Pirates of the
Caribbean, are considered hour-long advertainment efforts. It is argued that this
film is simply a 90-minute ad for Disney theme parks.
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 40
• If advertainment goes too far, consumers may turn more aggressively to TiVo
and similar devices to shield themselves from the onslaught of advertising and
promotion.
V. Does History Matter?
PPT 3-20 here
It is important to leave students with this main thought: As exciting as new
technologies are, the fundamental purpose of brand promotion has not changed. To
understand brand promotion in an evolutionary perspective is to appreciate the
reasons for its use in a modern, industrialized society.
• Advertising was spawned by a market-driven system and grew through self-
interest in capitalistic, free enterprise market economies.
• Efficient methods of production made advertising essential as a demand
stimulation tool.
• IMC strategies and tactics evolve as marketers attempt to find new ways to grab
and hold consumers’ attention. A good example of this: P&G has developed
dozens of websites to take advantage of new technology, but still spends over $3
billion per year on mass-media advertising.
SOLUTIONS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. As formerly communist countries make the conversion to free market economies,
brand promotion typically becomes more visible and important. Why would this be the
case?
As formerly communist countries shift to capitalistic economic systems, brand
2. Explain why there is a strong relationship between increasing urbanization and per
capita spending.
As population densities rise in urban areas, the effectiveness of brand promotion will
rise, because many different media can easily reach audiences in well-defined
3. How do manufacturers gain or lose power in the channel of distribution? What other
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 41
parties are involved in this power struggle?
Manufacturers rely on wholesalers and retailers to supply their brands to the market;
it is these channel partners that decide which products and manufacturers will get
shelf space. If a manufacturer can stimulate consumer demand through brand
4. Describe the various factors that produced an explosion of advertising activity in the
“P. T. Barnum era.”
The dramatic increase in advertising during the P. T. Barnum era was a result of
several factors. Rapid population growth and the simultaneous growth of urban areas
5. The 1950s were marked by great suspicion about marketers and their potential
persuasive powers. Do you see any lingering effects of this era in attitudes about brand
promotion today?
Consumers remain apprehensive about the motives of advertisers, and concerns about
6. The “creative revolution” that handed more authority to agency art directors and
copywriters in the 1960s led to key shifts in the appearance and message of mainstream
advertising. Describe these changes and how they continue to influence advertising
today.
As the creative forces within major advertising agencies gained greater authority
during the 1960s, the advertising process shifted from science and research to art,
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 42
7. There were many important developments in the 1970s that set the stage for
advertising in the Reagan era. Which of these developments are likely to have the most
enduring effects on advertising practice in the future?
Many important developments that can be traced to the 1970s will have continuing
8. Ed Artzt, then chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble, made a speech in May 1994
that rattled the cages of many advertising professionals. What did Artzt have to say that
got people in the ad business so excited?
9. Review the technological developments that have had the greatest impact on brand
promotion. What new technologies are emerging that promise more profound changes for
marketers in the next decade?
Many technological developments have had a major impact on advertising practice,
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 43
10. What creative trends in brand promotion have emerged in the period from 2001 to the
present?
Ads of this period have become even more self-aware and self-referential—very
SOLUTIONS TO EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
1. The practice of brand promotion has steadily evolved over the past century, adapting
to the culture’s social and economic changes. Following the directions below, analyze
distinctions between some of the key eras in brand promotion inside the United States
using the online database
http://www.adflip.com
, which features advertisements from the
1940s to the present.
a. Browse Adflip’s extensive database, and select two ads from different decades of
advertising history. Briefly describe the ads and explain how they fit the general
characteristics of other advertising during that era as defined in the chapter.
b. Select an ad from the site that does not seem to reflect its era’s general
characteristics. How does it differ from ads typical of this period? If it would it fit better
in a different era, what might have been the intentions of the advertiser?
2. Many current well-known advertising campaigns are marked by irony and quirky,
self-referential attempts at humor with a wink. Select three prominent ads from television,
radio, or the Internet, and analyze the content and themes used in the ads to
communicate the brands. For each, answer the following questions. Does the theme rely
on high fashion, comedy, patriotism, or pop-culture trends? How well does the ad
communicate the value of the brand? In what way is the ad a product of the times in
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 44
which we live?
Understanding the evolutionary and historical perspectives of advertising and
3. During the period from 1980 to 1992, half-hour television product demonstrations
known as infomercials emerged to help sell a variety of products, from diets and cosmetic
to housewares and body-training equipment. While some viewers question the integrity of
these advertisements, they have earned respect for their success in eliciting spontaneous
purchases from broad target audiences.
Working in small teams, identify three common products or brands that are promoted
through infomercials, and evaluate why this type of advertising proves successful for the
product. In your analysis, identify what the product or service is, what the likely target
audience is, and whether other forms of advertising could be equally effective.
4. As early as the 1920s, marketers recognized that women had authority over as much
as 80 percent of household purchases. From that point forward, women have been
primary targets for brand promotion—even in product categories that might traditionally
be viewed as male oriented.
To evaluate how that remains true today, locate a prominent brand promotion
message for a product or service in each of these three categories: home improvement,
automotive, and financial. For each message, identify how the brand is appealing to
women and why. Do you believe the campaign is likely to be successful in attracting
female consumers? Why or why not?
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 45
POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS
Use the Instructor PowerPoint files to pace your instruction and provide class notes on
key ideas and themes. Each presentation provides a slide-by-slide coordination with the
chapter’s learning outcomes, definitions, and visuals. Encourage students to use the
accompanying Student PowerPoint presentation to align and reinforce classroom
instruction with studying outside of the classroom.
VIDEOS
To view the two videos for this chapter, go to the PROMO book companion website,
www.cengage.com/login.
(*) Indicates the correct answer in the multiple-choice video questions.
Patrick Jean
1. Patrick Jean “Pixels” video depicts which of the following?
2. The book discusses various levels of advertising, technology, and media regulation in
history. In your view, does the video from Patrick Jean: “Pixels” reveal a positive or
negative view of media and technology?
The Patrick Jean “Pixels” video uses a playful approach to a disaster scenario. The
3. The Patrick Jean: “Pixels” video portrays technology as something that:
*a. Can be a destructive force out of our control
b. Can be a force that will liberate people all over the world
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Promoting and Advertising Brands ❖ 46
c. Will be a positive force that will transform deserts into lush fields
d. Will be a force for intrusive government control
4.“Pixels” uses which two images (among others) in the video?
5. Patrick Jean “Pixels” might be best characterized as:
Samsung: The Truth in Old Masters
1. Samsung: The Truth in Old Masters is a video that is seeks to:
2. The book points out how changing values in society affect advertising and brand
promotion and discuss how some advertising has been regulated because of concerns
about effects on children and others. After viewing Samsung: The Truth in Old Masters,
would you argue that this type of video should be regulated or controlled, especially for
children? What are your reasons?
3. The book argues that brand promotions must “convey a perceptive understanding of
the contemporary social scene.” What does the Samsung: The Truth in Old Masters video
suggest about innovation and technology in contemporary society? Why?
4. Samsung: The Truth in Old Masters is a video that uses which image or element?
5. Samsung: The Truth in Old Masters uses which major device to get and keep audience
attention?
