To give you an idea of how big the industry is -- that is, how much money is involved -- take a look at the top 10 advertisers (according to Advertising Age magazine) for 1998. Click on the image and a larger one will appear in a new window. The figures show are in thousands of dollars; General Motors, for instance, spent $2.9 billion on advertising in 1998.

The main points of the lecture are:

• Advertising is a means of selling a product.
• Advertising writing is a complex process that sometimes has very little to do with creativity.
• Advertising copywriters need to think about four things in formulating copy: product, audience, purpose, medium
• Research helps develop key facts, advertising problems and advertising objectives.

More lecture notes, etc.

Readings

Read Chapter 8 of Writing for the Mass Media. Make sure you understand all of the concepts and practices discussed there.

Reading room