Why Advertising Really Matters

I always loved telling a little story that happened to me around 7 years ago, as I only was a junior high school student. At this time, once a week, we had to attend technology class where we mostly would have had fun using SolidWorks. One day, our teacher asked us to work in groups and create a virtual case for a machine that could be now compared to an Arduino. Then, we were asked to promote it through any medias — posters, oral presentation or even both. Finally, the whole class would have to decide which one’s the best. So obviously at this time, we all knew in my class how to model the case, as we’ve been practising this a lot. However, only a few among us knew how to use a graphics editor. Hopefully, I knew. So we all started to work, and I came up with a pretty neat poster for promoting our case. Other groups didn’t have such a great one but their cases were way better than ours. Yet, when each group had to vote, they all voted for the one we presented. I really remember the teacher’s face that knew that our case wasn’t the best at all, asking the class: “but why did you choose this one?”, and all the students simply answering: “because of the poster, it looks cool”.

What I really want to do with this short essay, is trying to show you how really important advertising is, whether it is for your future company or some products and services you might want to sell someday.

Why (and how) are we doing this?

We’ll start with that simple question: why do we advertise? What’s the point? And how do we do it? The first definition we could give is that advertising:

“Let the people know about a company, products & services.”

Nike, they’re doing shoes. Apple, they’re selling computers. Nintendo, it’s all about video games.

Now you have two main different ways of creating advertisements. The difference mainly comes between the ads that will let you know about products or services — the ones we all know — , and the others that are doing something else.

Let’s take Nike one more time as an example: most of their advertisings are just about the “why” of their company, not on the “what” aspect for a single second. They will show you athletes, great people, that are doing amazing things in sports or in their lives, and that’s it. You will barely know anything else. At this point, the ad is kind of introducing the company’s way of thinking, rather than showing any products. Just to let you know that yes, they’re here, and that’s how they think. That kind of advertisement is not showing you anything materialistic, but is directly talking to you.

Generally speaking, what really matters with your advertising is when it has a real impact on the viewers.

Ads are affecting us, so your customers

As Burger King’s slogan used to say in 1982, “Aren’t You Hungry for Burger King now?”. There’s many chances that you would be ready to pay right away for that burger now, especially if meal time is coming for you. Yet, only ten seconds before, you wouldn’t have thought about it.

Actually, advertisings are not only showing you pictures, they often also want to share ideas or messages, getting through your mind in a way. That’s when they really have a power on you. Let’s take that famous company’s motto: Have a break…? Yes, “Have a KitKat”. What is amazing is that to us it even sounds like a song, we like it, but that is only just one company’s motto, selling chocolate bars as much as Mars. Yet, it feels different. Eating KitKat when having a short break looks now more natural than taking any other snacks.

So now you might start be thinking that, if you someday want to start your own business, advertising might bring you a bunch of customers. Because in one situation, the advertisement can be a decision-maker for your potential client. Indeed, through advertising, you can sometimes make people think different in that one given situation. I know this may sounds stupid but to be honest, we have to admit it that most of us are influenced by these advertisings in our daily routine choices.

So yes, maybe taking that advertising path for your business could be the solution to gather more and more customers. Yet, something not really good for you is really growing these days as ads are now pretty much everywhere around us.

We hate ads…sometimes

I do. I am among the Adblock and Disconnect users, that really start hating advertising…at least sometimes. Let me explain.

Actually, as soon as we are subjected to advertising, we really see it as something negative and restrictive, as it pops out in our environment whether it is in our cities, on the internet, newspapers, tv,…everywhere. Basically, when it is clearly in an advertising context, we don’t like it.

However, when it comes to advertise each one of us, we don’t really have any problem with that. Why? Because we are asking for it. Let’s say you’re asking your friend: is the new Mcdonalds burger worth it? Or, what are the new features with the latest iPhone? Why should I give my car to this garage, are they cheaper? You’re asking for that information that advertising is supposed to tell you. And within that context, we’re completely okay with advertising. It’s all good, because no one is forcing me to know, that’s my question. And that point is really important, because it points out the thing that advertising is also something we’re often asking for: getting information on products and companies which is literraly advertising’s role.

“Then, do we still need to pay for commercials if now the people can be considered as ‘living’ ads, why should we spend money on that?”

That’s not quite true because that kind of advertising, recently came up under a different form on social networks and is now as you all know it, a brand new advertising market.

A game changer called social network

Social networks today: instagram for promoting clothes, product placements around many corners on facebook, youtube for gaming and makeup,…but how?

Of course companies are now paying for people to show or talk about products. That’s when it comes to sponsored content when we’re lucky enough to know about it because way too often, they keep that quiet. But why all these “online celebrities” are gold mines for companies? Well, some influent people start talking about products and because most people feel confident to listen to them, then a few other persons are talking about it too and here starts the whole chain reaction. Eventually, the entire world will soon be talking about it.

And it is exactly at this moment we definitely become ”hidden ads”: we make each other willing to buy or use something they didn’t plan to at first, just like tv commercials would do.

Okay I thing you got it now but maybe we should come back to the main question: why advertising really matters?

Google interlude

Right before that — I swear this is the last one this time — , I want to ask you something very simple: what’s the point of googling things? Well, to find something. Good. Actually, Google shows you a way through the Internet. It lets you know about what is available to you, and that’s all it does.

And what Google does is in a way exactly the same thing that what ads are doing: let the people know about what is available on the market. So as much as Google is showing you what is available to you, ads are there to say “hey, I’m here, and if you want Ketchup, you better buy Heinz ketchup”. Again, that’s all it does, it’s only a different way of doing it. And that behavior, want it or not, is what you need if you run your own business so people can know about you.

Yes, we need ads to know about companies (and new stuff)

The why the advertising exists is mostly about your company’s why.

The most common thing likely to happen if you have your own company, is that you will have products, services, tons of things to sell. What’s the point of a company if it sells nothing? So the why the company exists is only because people will have to know about you, and about what you do so then they’ll become your clients when they start paying. How does it work? Advertising, marketing, word of mouth, whatever it is: it always starts somewhere, and this might be with ads for you. As long as you will sell things, and this is much of your company’s purpose, you’ll need advertising, so you can definitely keep your company alive.

And that’s why to me advertising looks so important, even if maybe you can’t all admit it as we all like to think it can always work without it, which is right too. Advertising is mainly here to help, so when it’s done the right way, you can grow even more your business.

Whatever you might be thinking now, I want to end with a quotation I like really much that comes from the amazing Mark Twain which says:

“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”

Good luck to you, creating the ad might now be the next step.

Note: I really want to thank the ones that will have read these thoughts. This was originally a short presentation I did on the topic for school purpose. I am still pretty young and have no real experience with advertising so you might disagree on some — or many — points. Feel free to share your opinion on the subject right below, I would be glad to know about them as this is the only way to grow up for the better. :)