What is advertising? Characteristics and objectives
For business
23 June 2025
Advertising is a tool without which most companies would not be able to function. It allows them to continually reach out to new customers and inform their audience or business partners about their services. What is advertising and what else is worth knowing about it?
Definitions of advertising
In his textbook on advertising, Robert Nowacki provided the most popular definition of the phenomenon, which dates back to 1948. The American Marketing Association is responsible for its authorship. According to this, it is "any paid form of non-personal representation and endorsement of goods, services or ideas by a specific broadcaster".
This definition of advertising has become one of many others over the years and with the development of marketing, as the scope of the term has also undergone updates. The Dictionary of the Polish Language distinguishes two meanings of the word:
- "An activity designed to encourage potential customers to purchase specific goods or to use specific services".
- "A poster, a sign, an announcement, a short film, etc. serving this purpose".
As can be seen, the concept refers not only to the activities themselves, but also to their effects, e.g. in the form of billboards and videos. It is worth noting the issue of non-personality, which is mentioned in the American Marketing Association's definition. In the modern world, influencer marketing plays an important role, which consists of specific, popular people introducing products or services to their audience. In this case, contact and relationship are very important.
A fairly universal definition seems to be the one proposed by the PWN Encyclopaedia, i.e. advertising is "a type of persuasive communication involving techniques and actions taken to draw attention to a product, service or idea". However, it does not specify by what means the product is to be promoted, or whether people are to be involved, or only its objects such as posters, recordings or leaflets.
What exactly is advertising?
The concept of advertising is worth supplementing with its three basic functions, which include:
- informative,
- persuasive,
- recalling.
The first refers to activities that aim to familiarise the audience with a product, brand or service. They are merely informative, without the advantages or disadvantages of the phenomenon. They answer basic questions about the thing being advertised. They help to establish brand recognition in the market.
The persuasive function is to persuade the audience to take up an offer or buy a particular product. To this end, goods and services are presented in such a way that they appear better than others available on the market. Their greatest advantages and uniqueness are pointed out.
Reminder activities serve to build lasting relationships with customers. They help to create a brand image and indicate that the brand's offerings are worth returning to. They also present the benefits of buying the products in question and point to competitive advantages. This includes regular or long-term campaigns.
What is advertising? Whatever its definition or function, it can come in many different forms. Some of the most popular include:
- TV advertising,
- radio advertising,
- plakaty in billboardy,
- leaflets,
- social media video,
- website banners,
- e-maile,
- stickers on cars.
What is advertising at InPost and what opportunities does it have?
You probably no longer have any doubts about what advertising is for. It's worth knowing that at InPost we also do marketing for other companies and help them reach new audiences. Our offer is divided into two areas: online and outdoor.
As part of our online activities, we offer the display of banner ads on our official website. You can also take advantage of PUSH notifications in the InPost Mobile app. In addition, we run a newsletter with space for your message.
As far as outdoor advertising information is concerned, the wrapping of Paczkomat® machines with promotional material is popular. In addition, static and moving content can be displayed on the screens of the machines, which users will see when collecting or sending parcels.
In addition, we also offer product sampling. You can place samples of your products in the boxes, for example. We are not limited to any industries. We are an advertiser open to all businesses. Do not hesitate to contact us to find out and arrange details.
Basic characteristics of advertising
You already know what advertising is, so it is still worth discussing its characteristics, which distinguish it from other media messages and beyond. First of all, it always has a well-defined objective. For example, it can be aimed at increasing overall sales, promoting a selected product or strengthening a brand's position in the industry.
The appearance and content of an advertisement always depend on its sender. If a shop decides to promote an item, it is its representatives who take care of the final image of the material that will appear in the media or urban space. Often, entrepreneurs use external marketers, but they still have influence over the message and no one dictates how they should act.
Advertising is a voluntary activity and usually involves an expense. In order to place promotional material on websites or billboards, you have to pay for the service from the owner of the domain or space. Social media campaigns are also subject to fees. However, such activities are an investment, as their purpose is to increase revenue from products or services.
Thanks to a large variety of forms of promotion, you can tailor your brand message to your target customer. Internet tools remove all territorial restrictions and allow you to reach your audience even worldwide. Advertising is sometimes just an element of the overall strategy that companies undertake to reach their customers. It is often combined with brand communication and is kept in the same tone as the brand's social media, for example.
History of advertising
The aims and tasks of advertising have been known to people for centuries. The first activities in this area appeared in ancient times. At that time, wall paintings or word of mouth were used to spread information about one's goods. Then, with the development of new possibilities, the ways of informing about products and services changed.
Much was changed by the invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg. It was thanks to this that marketing messages could be put into magazines and reach a wider audience. People increasingly understood how advertising worked, so the first agencies were also established to help prepare promotional materials.
The next milestones were made with the advent of radio and television. The latter medium contributed to the development of, among other things, programmes dedicated solely to promoting products, which was very popular only a few years ago. Telemarketing also developed on a large scale and is still in operation today. Salespeople call customers and personally encourage them to take advantage of specific offers.
The development of the Internet has revolutionised the whole world, including the marketing industry. Thanks to it, new forms of advertising are constantly appearing, which are more effective than all previous methods. The web also makes it possible to create campaigns that reach up to millions of recipients in a short space of time. 
What are the objectives of advertising?
What is advertising for? One of its main purposes is to increase product sales. It can refer to both new and long-established goods. It is intended to boost the profits of a company so that it can thrive.
A frequent aim of advertising is also to increase brand awareness among consumers. When shopping, consumers are more likely to use products from companies they know. When they are confronted with, for example, a company's spots on a daily basis, it becomes one of their first choices when shopping.
Advertisements for products or services are sometimes elements of a branding strategy. With the right choice of measures, a business can be made to look, for example, innovative, luxurious, accessible to everyone or targeted at specific audiences.
For children's toy companies, colourful adverts with fairytale characters can become one of the elements of an action policy. They should be consistent with, for example, the brand's events for children, social media messages or packaging design. Companies with a uniform, distinctive image are better perceived by consumers.
What distinguishes good advertising?
Entrepreneurs strive to answer the question of how advertising is done, but there is really no universal recipe for an effective campaign. There are some rules of thumb that are worth sticking to so that the message has a chance of achieving its goals.
- Creativity - achieving this aspect in modern marketing is not the easiest thing to do, but professionals regularly prove that it is still possible to create content that has not been done before. These are the ones that best capture the attention of the audience.
- Clarity of message - the content of the message must be simple to understand. Advertising must not be an intricate puzzle, as this will significantly reduce the group of people who will want to comprehend the message. Complicated campaigns tend to have a negative reception.
- A CTA - call to action - is a call to action for the recipient. Marketing materials should include a direct message to the recipient that encourages them to make a purchase or take advantage of an offer, as well as drawing their attention.
- Tailoring to the target audience - the content, form and placement of the message must fit with the people you want to reach. Before planning an advert, an analysis of the brand's target audience should first be carried out.
- Aesthetics - everyone has their own taste and different design may appeal to them. However, it is important that the advertising material is aesthetically designed. The number of elements should not interfere with the perception of the content and the lettering must be easy to read.
Modern versus traditional advertising
Traditional advertising is the marketing activity undertaken by companies to promote their products and services in the traditional media space. These include television, press, radio or billboards. Such behaviour is mainly characterised by entrepreneurs who target their offer to people using these forms of media. They are usually priced higher by advertisers than modern ways.
Today's ways of convincing consumers of products and services are primarily carried out online. These include sponsored articles, website banners, social media content or newsletters. This is an ideal way to creatively reach consumers using mobile devices. Such forms of promotion are usually cheaper than, for example, TV advertising, and sometimes they can even be used for free (RTM content on social media).
The difference between traditional and modern advertising is that in the former case there is no option to measure exactly how many recipients it has reached. Online material provides ample opportunity to create statistics and then improve one's actions on the basis of these.
Advertising your company with InPost? Always a good idea!
Take a minute to leave your contact details and we’ll prepare a tailored offer for you.
There are plenty of possibilities:
- Branding on Parcel Locker machines
- Ads displayed on Parcel Locker screens
- Sampling of promotional products
- Banner ads on the InPost website
- Advertising in the InPost newsletter
- Push notifications in the InPost Mobile app
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