Advertising

Abstract

Advertising is both a function of and tool used in strategic communication. Narrowly defined, advertising involves the purchase of paid space or time in newspapers, magazines, radio, television, out‐of‐home media, the World Wide Web, or mobile apps to communicate strategically crafted messages to targeted audiences. More broadly, it can include direct response, sales promotion, and elements of publicity and staged events. Advertising can be produced by either an advertising department or an advertising agency. Advertising strategy includes both creating effective messages and deploying them in media to optimize efficiency and effectiveness. Advertising faces a variety of challenges as a strategic communication tool, including high costs, concerns about credibility, the internationalization of brands, criticisms about its truthfulness and the values communicated, and rapid changes in media technologies.