The history of advertising can be traced to ancient civilizations. It became a major force in capitalist economies in the mid-19th century, based primarily on newspapers and magazines. In the 20th century, advertising grew rapidly with new technologies such as direct mail, radio, television, the internet, and mobile devices.
Between 1919 and 2007 advertising averaged 2.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product in the United States.
Pre-modern history
Egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages and wall posters. Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of Pompeii and Arabia. Lost and found advertising on papyrus was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another manifestation of an ancient advertising form, which is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. The tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock art paintings that date back to 4000 BCE.Bhatia (2000). Advertising in Rural India: Language, Marketing Communication, and Consumerism, 62, 68
In ancient China, the earliest advertising known was oral, as recorded in the Classic of Poetry (11th to 7th centuries BCE) of bamboo flutes played to sell candy. Advertisement usually took the form of calligraphic signboards and inked papers. A copper printing plate dating back to the Song dynasty used to print posters in the form of a square sheet of paper with a rabbit logo with "Jinan Liu's Fine Needle Shop" and "We buy high quality steel rods and make fine quality needles, to be ready for use at home in no time" written above and below.Eckhardt, G. and Bengtsson, A., "Pulling the White Rabbit Out of the Hat: Consuming Brands in Imperial China," Advances in Consumer Research, [European Conference Proceedings] Vol. 8, 2008; Eckhardt, G. and Bengtsson, A., "A Brief History of Branding in China," Journal of Macromarketing, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2010 It is considered the world's earliest identified printed advertising medium.Hong Liu, Chinese Business: Landscapes and Strategies (2013), p. 15.
In Europe, as the towns and cities of the Middle Ages began to grow, and the general populace was unable to read, instead of signs that read "cobbler", "miller", "tailor", or "blacksmith" would use an image associated with their trade such as a boot, a suit, a hat, a clock, a diamond, a horseshoe, a candle or even a bag of flour. Fruits and vegetables were sold in the city square from the backs of carts and wagons and their proprietors used street callers (town criers) to announce their whereabouts for the convenience of the customers. The first compilation of such advertisements was gathered in Les Crieries de Paris (Street Criers of Paris), a thirteenth-century poem by Guillaume de la Villeneuve.Aimeé Boutin, "Sound Memory: Paris Street Cries in Balzac's Pere Goriot," French Forum, Volume 30, Number 2, Spring 2005, pp. 67–78,
Three major forms of advertisement existed during the pre-printing period (before the 15th century); those forms were trademarks (moon, stars, etc.), town criers and sign boards:
Trademarks: The practice of attaching seals or marks to products was widespread in antiquity. Around 4,000 years ago, producers began by attaching simple stone seals to products which, over time, were transformed into clay seals bearing impressed images, often associated with the producer's personal identity.Wengrow, David., "Prehistories of Commodity Branding," Current Anthropology,Vol. 49, No. 1, 2008, pp. 7–34 Some of the earliest use of maker's marks, dating to about 1,300 BCE, have been found in India.Khan, M. and Mufti, S.U., The Hot History & Cold Future of Brands, Journal of Managerial Sciences, vol. 1, no. 1, 2007, pp. 75–87, http://qurtuba.edu.pk/jms/default_files/JMS/1_1/5_saif_ullah.pdf Online:] Another example are the Ulfberth swords from the years around 1,000 AD that had the trademark of the manufacturer inlaid in them. By the medieval period, hallmarks were applied to high value goods such as precious metals, and assayers were appointed by governments to administer the system and ensure product quality.Dodd, E.C., Byzantine Silver Stamps, [Dumbarton Oaks Studies] Vol. 7, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1961, pp. 23–35
Town criers: In ancient towns and cities, where the majority of citizens were illiterate, town-criers were appointed to call out official announcements and general news. Before long, private individuals began to employ public criers to act as auctioneer.Sampson, S., A History of Advertising from the Earliest Times, Chatto and, Windus, 1875, p. 35 At the same time, itinerant hawkers developed a system of street cries to promote their goods and services.Kelley, V., "The Streets for the People: London's Street Markets 1850–1939, Urban History, June, 2015, pp. 1–21, These street cries provided an essential public service before the advent of mass media.Garrioch, D., "Sounds of the City: the soundscape of early modern European towns," Urban History, 2003, Vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 5–25, abstract
Sign-boards: The use of commercial signage has a very ancient history. Retail signage and promotional signs appear to have developed independently in the East and the West. In antiquity, the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks were known to use signage for shop fronts as well as to announce public events such as market days.Beard, F.K., "The Ancient History of Advertising: Insights and Implications for Practitioners: What Today's Advertisers and Marketers Can Learn from Their Predecessors," Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 57 no. 3, pp. 239–244 China also exhibited a rich history of early retail signage systems.Moore, K. and Reid., S., "The Birth of the Brand: 4000 years of Branding," Business History, Vol. 50, 2008. pp. 419–432. In Medieval Britain and France and much of Europe, innkeepers were compelled to erect a sign-boardRoth. D., The History of Retail in 100 Objects, 2014, Online: http://www.davidroth.com/history-retail-100-objects-signage/ The practice of using signs spread to other types of commercial establishments throughout the Middle Ages.Stuart, H., "Employee Identification with the Corporate Identity," International Studies of Management and Organization, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2002 Sign-boards applied to inns and taverns have survived into contemporary times across Britain and much of Europe.Martin, J., Stanley Chew's Pub Signs: A Celebration of the Art and Heritage of British Pub Signs, Images Booksllers, 1993
16th–19th centuries
Modern advertising began to take shape with the advent of newspapers and magazines in the 16th and 17th centuries. The very first weekly gazettes appeared in Venice in the early 16th century. From there, the concept of a weekly publication spread to Italy, Germany and Holland.McIntyre, J., "The 'Avvisi' of Venice: Toward an Archaeology of Media Forms." Journalism History 14#2, 1987, p. 68 In Britain, the first weeklies appeared in the 1620s, and that country's first daily newspaper, The Daily Courant, was published from 1702 to 1735.Clarke, B., From Grub Street to Fleet Street: An Illustrated History of English Newspapers to 1899 (Ashgate, 2004; Hunt, M., "Hawkers, Bawlers, and Mercuries: Women and the London Press in the Early Enlightenment", Women & History, Vol. 3, no. 9, 1984 pp. 41–68; Maxted, U., 'Mallet, Elizabeth (fl. 1672–1706)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) accessed 27 May 2015 Almost from the outset, newspapers carried advertising which contributed to the cost of printing and distribution.Barrès-Baker, M.C., An Introduction to the Early History of Newspaper Advertising, [Brent Museum and Archive Occasional Publications, No. 2], Brent Heritage Services, 2006, The earliest commercial advertisements promoted books and quack medicines, but by the 1650s, the variety of products being advertised had increased markedly.Turner, E.E., The Shocking History of Advertising, New York, Ballantine Books, 1980, p. 16.
Advances in printing allowed retailers and manufacturers to print handbills and trade cards. For example, Jonathon Holder, a London haberdasher in the 1670s, gave every customer a printed list of his stock with the prices affixed. At the time, Holder's innovation was seen as a "dangerous practice" and an unnecessary expense for retailers.Sampson, S., A History of Advertising from the Earliest Times, Chatto and, Windus, 1875, p. 25 The earliest trade cards were not cards at all, instead, they were printed on paper and did not include illustrations. By the 18th century, however, they were printed on the more substantial card and typically bore the tradesman's name and address. Before street numbering came into common use, trade cards often included long-winded sets of directions on how to locate the store or premises. With the advent of commercial engraving and lithography, illustrations became a standard feature of even the most humble trade card. Eventually, trade cards evolved into business cards, which are still in use ."Trade Cards," in The Encyclopedia of Ephemera: A Guide to the Fragmentary Documents of Everyday Life for the Collector, Curator, and Historian, Maurice Rickards (ed), Psychology Press, 2000, pp. 6–7, 334–335
In June 1836 the Paris newspaper La Presse - edited by Émile de Girardin - became the first to rely on paid advertising to lower its price, extend its readership and increase its profitability. This formula was soon copied by the competition.
Early print advertisements were used mainly to promote books and newspapers, which became increasingly affordable with advances in the printing press; and medicines, which were increasingly sought after as modern people rejected traditional cures. However, false advertising and "quackery" became common. British newspapers in the 1850s and 1860s appealed to the increasingly affluent middle-class that sought out a variety of new products. The advertisements announced new health remedies as well as fresh foods and beverages. The latest London fashions were featured in the regional press. The availability of repeated advertising permitted manufacturers to develop nationally-known brand-names that had a much stronger appeal than generic products.Beverley Ann Tudor, "Retail Trade Advertising in the 'Leicester Journal' and the 'Leicester Chronicle' 1855–71." European Journal of Marketing 20#9 (1986) pp. 41–56.
A leadership position in British advertising was held by Cope Bros & Co tobacco company, founded in Liverpool in 1848 by Thomas and George Cope. Smoking, of course, had been common for centuries, but Cope Bros innovated with brand names, heavy advertising, and market segmentation according to class. An innovative appeal was to health consciousness; the ads directed at the middle-class men promised that "smoke not only checks disease but preserves the lungs". A rugged heavy taste was pitched to working men, soldiers and sailors, while "delicately fragrant" was part of the appeal to the upper-class. The packaging was attractive, posters were omnipresent to show that smoking was a normal part of English life; lobbying was used to undercut the anti-tobacco lobby.A. V. Seaton, "Cope's and the Promotion of Tobacco in Victorian England." European Journal of Marketing (1986) 20#9 pp. 5–26.
Advertising agencies
Great Britain