Advertisement as a service – Реклама, как вид услуги

Advertisements, ads for short, as a means of products promotion existed even before our era. One of the first ads is considered to be  an Egyptian papyrus which informed of a slave sale. The first ancient service ad was found  in the ruins of the ancient Memphis city which was engraved in the rock and had the following information:” I, Rhino from the  Create island, interpret nights dreams thanks to the God’s will”.

The most popular were the inscriptions scratched on the walls with paint. In ancient Greece and Rome ads were either written on  wooden boards, engraved on copper plates or bone, or announced loudly on the squares or other places where many people gathered.

Even those days, ads’ forms included various wording, sounds, written and visual forms, which created advertisement images of the advertised products. The goal of any ad was to actively penetrate potential buyers’ psycho, to attract their attention and by this means to persuade them to buy necessary products. The same goals we see in ads industry today.

When a printing machine was invented by Guttenberg in 1450 mass media communication started its development and it was a boost in advertisement industry and especially in its quality. The first printed ad is dated to 1472 and it was stuck to the church door in London, informing people of the Prayers Book sale. Doctor Theophrastus is considered to be the founder of printed ads in Europe. The first ad published in a newspaper is considered to be the ad , informing of the award for showing the place where 12 stolen horses were. This ad was published also in one of London newspapers.

Later newspapers started publishing ads of merchandise character, mainly connected with wholesale and retail sale of tea, coffee and other food products. Then step by step ads changed and ads designers started using not only the information character but also various types of scenes and pictures.
In the USA Benjamin Franklin launched the ads industry in 1729. In Russia ads appeared in the X-XI th century.

Even those days, sellers understood that ads could bring them more profit. Little by little advertisements changed and when in 1839 photos came into people’s life they were used for ads too. Goods producers understood the value of ads as a tool to penetrate new sales markets and to get maximum profit and from that time on they use various types of ads in their favor.    

 They started creating ads to meet the interests of different layers of the society. Now you can find ads specifically created for housewives, ads created for business people, ads created for adults and kids and ads specifically devoted to elderly people. The secret is very evident:  different categories of people having different psychos, accept different type of information and ads are made in such a way so as to hit this or that specific category. People have got used to the ads though very often it is becoming very annoying.

Advertisements are printed in newspapers and magazines, commercials are broadcasted by radio and shown on TV and the impact of the whole advertising industry on a single person is immense. Advertising industry absorbs vast sums of money but nevertheless it is useful to the community.

What are the functions of advertisements? The first - is to inform. A lot of the information people have about household devices, cars, building materials, electronic equipment, cosmetics, detergents and food is largely derived from the advertisements they read.

The second - is to sell. The ads show only best products’ qualities, even if it is hardly true, and this information hits potential buyers, who then subconsciously choose those products in the shops. Even cigarettes, sweets or alcohol, thanks to the ads, are associated with good values of human life such as joy, freedom, love and happiness, and these associations make a person buy cigarettes and alcohol not thinking of their harmful influence of their health.

The aim of any advertisement is to create a consumer demand by all means: eye catching color, attractive wrapping, small things to go with the product free etc. Children are a good example as they usually want a particular kind of chocolate or toy or chewing-gum which was advertised and which has a very attractive cover.

However there are also  types of ads which are connected with employment, education and property sale. They help people to find a better job or a better employee, to sell or to buy their property and find necessary services or learn about educational facilities, social events such as, concerts, theatre plays, football matches.