An action done to call public attention to a product via mass media. The object is to inform public enough to create interest, demand or favorable opinion for the thing advertised which then increases sales or usage.
Back in the ’50s, advertising was in the product era. In a lot of ways these were the good old days when the “better mousetrap” and some money to promote it was all you needed. It was a time when advertising people focused their attention on product features and customer benefits. They looked for, as Rosser Reeves called it, the “Unique Selling Proposition.” But in the late 50s, technology started to rear its ugly head. It became more and more difficult to establish that “USP”. The end of the product era came with an avalanche of me-too products that descended on the market. Your “better mousetrap” was quickly followed by two more just like it. Both claiming to be better than the first one. – (Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout)
Advertising must represent something that people want which they are willing to exchange something for. The ad has to tell them what it is. (Marketing Series 13 ADS AND COPYWRITING)
EXAMPLE:
When advertising, you want to make your product well thought of.
