How do you define advertising?

Advertising has been around since the beginning of time. Archaeologists have found many paintings in diverse cultures around the world that clearly announced an event or pointed to trade/the opportunity to acquire goods. I think that’s pretty cool. Even in pre-historic times, folks were trying to influence behavior through published messages. I wonder how the owners of the walls or rocks charged for the use of their medium.

To help frame the discussion in this blog, I want to answer the question, "What constitutes advertising?" I'll start this short discussion by presenting some definitions:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advertising

• Main Entry: ad·ver·tis·ing
• Function: noun
• Date: 1751

1 : the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements
2 : advertisements {the magazine contains much advertising}

3 : the business of preparing advertisements for publication or broadcast

Jeez. Is that it? Can advertising be adequately described in so few words. This isn’t Twitter, so let’s delve a little deeper.

The Marketing Dictionary:
http://www.answers.com/topic/advertising

Paid form of a nonpersonal message communicated through the various media by industry, business firms, nonprofit organizations, or individuals. Advertising is persuasive and informational and is designed to influence the purchasing behavior and/or thought patterns of the audience. Advertising is a marketing tool and may be used in combination with other marketing tools, such as sales promotions, personal selling tactics, or publicity.

OK, this is better, and in general, I think it captures the spirit of the term. Yet, the definition made me think, “How blasé. Dictionary definitions can be real snoozers!” They lack the appeal, pizazz and sham-wow that advertising can engender.

I prefer a broader and more chromatic definition of what constitutes advertising:

Every attempt to secure the sale of a product or service is advertising. The wares of the primitive merchant displayed invitingly in front of his booth is advertising. A want ad, to secure a job or an employee, is advertising. An inscription on a wall, the barker in front of a side show, the promises of an internet marketer, the announcement of a new online technology, membership in an affiliate program, wearing a peculiar shirt or distinctive sticker in your car - all these are forms of advertising in that they seek to attract attention to a product or a service that is for sale. For a product or a service of general use, rich and poor, high and low, men, women and even children, must be appealed to.

Works for me! Thanks to Fidel Prida, work@home entrepreneur, for breathing life into the definition of advertising. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-definition-of-advertising.html

Does this definition work for you? Let me know your thoughts.

Later on, I intend to challenge the notion that advertising is confined to the promotion of products and services, or the acquisition of votes. Hmmm, could be salacious.