Advertising Response

I've always been interested in advertising, and I'm still considering it as a career path; therefore, Monday's presentation was very intriguing to me.


I found the transitions of different ads over the year very fascinating. The earlier ads tried really hard to promote a product with lots of detail and information, while today's advertisements are all very simplistic. It's funny to me how a very simple, almost elementary graphic can manipulate people into buying something without any words. Obviously, the quality of photographs and computer-generated graphics have improved the world of advertising, but it also reminds me just how competitive the field must be today. Which leads me to wonder how these ideals will change in the coming years.


I also thought it was crazy how much the social media outlets have influenced the industry. Clearly, the majority of the world's population is using some form of social networking sites. But then I think about myself, and how I almost always completely ignore the almost irritating banner ads on Facebook and Twitter. I've actually gotten to use and analyze social media sites for marketing purposes for my internship, and I am responsible for promoting my company's national event all over Facebook and Twitter. However, I will still dumbfounded earlier this morning when I received a weekly marketing newsletter at work. The email informed me that Facebook has now ranked #1 in the most effective advertising mediums. Google and Yahoo followed behind. So apparently the future of advertising DOES lie in the realms of social media.


Lastly, I especially found he Daniel Boorstin quote the group presented to be very thought provoking: 
"We read advertisements... to discover and enlarge our desires. We are always ready - even eager - to discover, from the announcement of a new product, what we have all along wanted without really knowing it."
This quote really sums of the true meaning of advertising. It is insane and almost scary to think how companies subliminally put thoughts, ideas, and desires in our heads. But at the same time, it's intriguing and riveting to me, which is why I might pursue a career in it.