What is advertising?

Leon’s wondering why Lina has a long line at her lemonade stand, but there are no customers at his. It seems like people already know about Lina’s Lemonade, before they walk past. But how? Maybe, Leon, Lina advertised. What exactly is advertising?

And how can advertising lead to more customers for you, Leon, or for any company? Let’s take a walk to find out. Ah, stop here, Leon! What’s that? This big sign at the bus stop says Pineapple Computers are having a sale!

And look over there at that huge poster. We call it a billboard. Learn with Binogi. Hundreds of videos, thousands of quiz questions, new lessons every day! Both of these signs are messages, made for the public, to help sell something.

They are advertisements, or ads. Oh! And what’s this? A poster for Lina’s Lemonade! Lina’s Lemonade: Sunshine in a cup!

Is this an ad? It has a message: Lina’s Lemonade gives you a warm, bright feeling. And it’s on a lamppost, so it’s addressed to anyone who walks by — the public. And it’s trying to sell something: Lina’s lemonade. Yes, it’s an ad!

Are you beginning to see, Leon, that advertising is all around us? Bus stop ads, billboards, and posters have been around a long time along with ads in newspapers, magazines, on the radio and on television. These are all traditional forms of advertising. What was that? A notification on Leon’s phone!

Lina’s Lemonade has just posted on social media. It’s a picture of Lina’s lemonade stand with the words: Buy one get one free! Now ‘til 5pm! Ah! It looks like Lina is using a newer form of advertising, too.

Her social media post is a type of digital advertising. Social media, promotional emails, web banners, blogs, and search engine ads can all be used to advertise digitally. Just like traditional advertising, digital advertising contains a message that encourages people to buy a product or service. And like traditional advertising, digital ads are non-personal messages, made for the public... ...or rather, a particular group within the public. Both traditional and digital advertising try to reach the people most likely to buy their product.

These people are the target audience. Take a company selling science experiments kits. If the company decides its target audience is 13-16 year olds, it might put an ad in a teen magazine that young people read. Digital advertising has even smarter ways to reach its target audience. Have you ever noticed after searching the web for something, that ads pop up selling you the same or a similar thing?

That’s because when you search the web, companies collect information about you like where you are, what websites you visit, and whether or not you buy anything on them. And they use this information to decide what products you are most likely to buy, and show you ads for them. That’s why you often see ads related to your web searches. So how can all of this help Leon get more customers at his lemonade stand? Aha!

Leon has chosen a traditional form of advertising: the human sandwich board! And he’s walking around nearby streets, where his customers are most likely to come from. Nice job recognising your target audience, Leon. Customers are starting to arrive. The advertising is working!

Hope you made plenty of lemonade, Leon!