Is advertising a means or an end?
Given that it is created to be noticed, it’s little wonder that advertising is one of the most visible business models. For some, it’s the way we learn about products and services, while for others, it’s tiresome and relentless.
Many years ago, Jeff Bezos described advertising as “the price you pay for having an unremarkable product or service.” For several years now, the product Bezos created, Amazon, has become the world’s largest advertiser by volume, which means either that Bezos decided at some point to contradict himself, or that Amazon is the world’s most unremarkable brand, even if it’s a household name on every continent.
The fundamental problem with advertising is that it’s both a means and an end. What is the end of a newspaper? Most people would say the purpose of a newspaper is to inform, to educate, and in some cases to express opinions or set an agenda.
But most newspapers depend on advertising to finance their activities, and given that advertising has low operating costs and high margins, we might ask when does a newspaper cease to be an informative medium and simply a succession of advertisements with some news stories in between?
Take the example of Spain, where the television advertising cake is mainly shared by two channels. Many of us must have wondered, during their interminable…
