¶ … communication through various advertising techniques. The writer explores newspapers, advertisements, direct mail, ecommerce and other methods of attempting to reach the potential consumer. The writer uses 12 sources to complete the paper. The development and sustaining of any company that offers products or services is heavily dependent on its ability to market and advertise. The use of advertising to communicate messages to the consumer is not a new concept. It is something that has been used for many years to entice the consumer into purchase. Communication through the use of advertising is not a new concept but there are several relatively new approaches being used today.

Many years ago before there was electricity or television there was only one way for a business to advertise and that was through print advertisements. Print ads included things such as posters, newspaper ads and magazine publications. Print ads often contained pictures of the product that the business wanted to sell and they were often artistic in design as they tried to capture the attention of the consumer.

The business that wanted to advertise its product or service paid to take out space in the local newspaper or magazine. The ad would then run for a predetermined number of publications in which it would try and communicate the message to the consumer that their product was the best. The main goal in using print ads for communicating to targeted consumers was to do two things. The first thing that print advertisements communicated to the consumer was the idea that this particular product or service was the best. This was done through carefully worded text copies as well as pictures.

The second thing the print advertisements did to communicate with the potential consumer was to try and steer the consumer away from the competitor products. This was communicated in a variety of methods including comparison charts, insults to the competitor and other means. In the days before electricity and in the days before television print ads and word of mouth were the only ways to communicate in marketing.

As time moved on there were inventions that opened an entire world of advertising that included television, radio, and eventually Internet access. These methods joined the ranks of ways that one could communicate in the field of marketing and today the world is a virtual plethora of advertising methods and communication attempts.

Since the time of print ads invention there have been millions of different ads in many different arenas all attempting to communicate a message to the consumer. Advertising is one of the most important communicators in society because of the things that it can cause to occur (Ad, 2004).

Advertising can communicate many things besides the message to purchase. Advertising communicates self-esteem messages, as well as messages about how society expects one to behave. Using print ads with ultra thin models communicated for many years that the average person is expected to be rail thin as well. It became such a problem that eating disorder treatment centers began to blame many of their patient's problems on the ads that promoted such thinking.

Television and radio ads also communicated many things besides the push to purchase a certain product or service. Through the use of cleverly written scripts the targeted consumer was made to feel bad about himself or herself if they did not purchase the product. Ads in magazine have promoted everything from chiffon adorned housewives cleaning houses to hard bodied runners who drink certain power meals (Ad, 2004). Television ads have made use of the ability to insult competitors by using brand X in mock studies as well as making fun of the competitor's claims about their product or service (Ad, 2004).

These were all various attempts at communication through the use of various advertising techniques (Ad, 2004).

Advertising has to keep an eye on past, current and future trends if it is going to be successful in its attempts to communicate to the consumer. One expert believes that advertising needs to shift the way it currently communicates if it is to continue to be the powerful tool that it has been in the past.

Functionally, we're half traditional advertising and half other marketing services. We'd like it to be one-third advertising and two-thirds other. Why? Our clients are going that way because TV advertising continues to go up in cost. We want to expand in market research and direct and Internet marketing. We call these areas quantitative aids to decision-making. People aren't going with their gut as much as they used to. Direct or interactive marketing is more measurable than traditional advertising -- so it's more pleasurable for the decision makers (Ad, 2004). "

Brand struggles seem to be cyclic in nature and this where the power of advertising...

One of the biggest pressures on our clients is the lack of inflation. A nice bit of inflation -- let's say 4% or 5% -- would give pricing flexibility. I hate to say it, but it would be good for our clients and for our industry (Ad, 2004). " (http://www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/2002/2002%20Pre-Super%20Bowl.htm)
In addition to the use of print ads to communicate it is important for marketers to determine how best to reach the targeted audience that they want to reach. This can be seen in recent statistics about advertising during the super bowl games. The advertising is a strong method of communication during this famous football game as can be seen by recent advertising statistics (http://www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/2002/2002%20Pre-Super%20Bowl.htm).

The Super Bowl is also a showcase event for advertisers who pay a premium for exposure to a large audience. According to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the competitive advertising intelligence service, the cost for a 30-second spot during the game has increased dramatically over the past six years (see chart at left). The Super Bowl XXXV telecast in 2001 contained more "lifestyle" advertisers, compared to the number of technology" commercials in 2000. In 2001, Super Bowl XXXV advertising trends were spread across many product categories, from Levi's and Target to Monster.com and Accenture Consultant Services. According to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the dot-com commercials accounted for 7% of the advertisements in 2001 versus 22% in 2000 (http://www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/2002/2002%20Pre-Super%20Bowl.htm.)"

While print ads are the most historic method of communicating through advertising, new technology has provided an online method of doing so as well (Meyer, 2000).

Technology's tireless PR machine is good at spinning promises about how the web will bring us all together (Meyer, 2000).

The truth is that with its preference for commerce over community, the Internet has left most of us scrolling alone. Now a score of emerging web sites known as education portals promise to help schools unite their physical communities in the virtual world.

They don't guarantee breakthroughs in human interaction, just an alternative way for educators, parents, and students to work, learn, and share information. Think of them as the school newsletter, cafeteria menu, professional conference, assignment notebook, parent-teacher meeting, and select list of bookmarks all rolled into one (Meyer, 2000). "

These online web sites are also used for advertising purposes to contact and communicate with the consumer or the potential consumer.

The use of ecommerce methods for the purpose of advertising has caused changes in the print and television world of advertising as well. One only has to look at a print ad or listen to a radio ad to hear about ecommerce influence in the world of advertising. Many of today's print ads simply communicate the web site address to the consumer in the hopes that the consumer will go to the site and learn about the product or service that is available.

It is widely recognized that eCommerce represents a critical resource for most business organizations (Robbins, 2003)."

The power of communication through the use of the Internet cannot be denied.

The business potential of eCommerce technologies is seemingly irrefutable given the nearly 200 million Internet users worldwide. Of these 200 million users, the largest share, 80 million or 40%, reside in the United States. Although growth in both the U.S. And abroad is expected to continue unabated, analysts predict that the U.S. share of this global market will gradually decline (Robbins, 2003)."

The use of this medium for advertising and marketing communication has exploded over the past two decades.

Online ability to communicate has provided thousands of marketing opportunities.

I am confident using our online presence with superior technology including video, audio, and real time chat, will allow us to provide our clients, and our visitors, the knowledge for which they search, without encountering boundaries (Enews, 1999). Our 'Virtual Office' will not be static or robotic, but will take relationship building to a new plane where communication is shared, intellectual tools provided, and management strategies presented.

Our vision is to include access to speeches, articles, training, even reviewing and scheduling our Pre-NCQA survey format for PPOs and Managed Care Operations and Revenue Enhancement (MCORE) programs," notes SMG president, Barry S. Scheur. Blinded since birth, Scheur states (Enews, 1999),

For me, the Internet has been a personal odyssey of discovery as it has allowed me access to information and communication…