The history of advertising media

Advertising media of antiquity

Since its first beginnings in ancient times, the best-known advertising technique was word of mouth. Renowned archaeologists have found a clay tablet in Babylon, dated 3000 BC, with the inscription of a cobbler, a scribe and a seller of ointments. Already in Pompeii, advertising messages and political posters were found in the ruins. Also, small stores with inscriptions on the walls, situated near the entrances, informed pedestrians about the products and promotional items to buy. The ancient Egyptians used papyrus to advertise goods and promotional items and create wall posters. Wall or rock paintings were also a popular means, which is also practiced in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America to this day. The tradition of mural painting as an advertisement for goods can be found as another example in India, where it dates back to 4000 BC.

At 15. and In the 16th century, advertising developed rapidly, especially after Johann Gutenberg invented the book press in 1438, and books became advertising media. This was followed by a rapid increase in the growth of newspapers over the next few centuries. The first one, a newspaper called Relation, was founded by Johann Carolus and appeared for the first time in September 1605 in Strasbourg in Alsace – in this print medium advertising appeared in the form of small advertisements. These ads mostly contained announcements and promotions by importers of new products. Newspapers were also used as advertising media to sell books, which were becoming increasingly affordable thanks to the printing press, and medicines. However, advertisements from con artists became a problem that led to the regulation of advertising content.

A modern age

As the economy flourished in the 19th century, the need for advertising materials grew at a similarly rapid pace. In 1855, collotype printing emerged and became a new advertising medium. The first advertising pillars with billboards were erected in Berlin. From this point on, companies became more and more imaginative in promoting their products. Thus, classified ads in newspapers became more and more popular, offering for sale all kinds of goods and promotional items. The groundbreaking success of this particular advertising format led to a surge in mail-order advertising.

In Philadelphia, the first advertising agency was founded in 1843 by Volney Palmer, who worked for around 1400 newspapers. He only sold space to advertisers and did not offer creative or account planning services to clients. It was not until the 20th century that agencies began to take on additional responsibility for content. During the two world wars, propaganda became one of the most important means of influencing political views and public opinions.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, cable television became increasingly present. Over time, consumers became more accustomed to commercials on TV, rather than viewing them as a byproduct. Gradually, television channels devoted entirely to the promotion of products and promotional items began to appear. Marketing via the Internet, which emerged a few years later, has opened all doors for advertisers. At the turn of the 21st century, the Google search engine revolutionized the Internet once again by highlighting relevant advertising that would help, not swamp, Internet users.

We at Ebets offer you as a counterpart to the multimedia advertising world, advertising for your company by means of promotional items. Due to our in-house production, we know the challenges of different advertising applications and can offer you the best possible service for them.

Ebets is the ideal advertising partner for you – we will support you in finding the right promotional item and the ideal application of your logo by means of:

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