What can advertising really do for brands?

Abstract

AbstractThe past few years have seen the development, primarily by Professor Ehrenberg, of the related views that advertising is, in general, a 'weak force' and that brands are simply 'large' or 'small', never 'strong' or 'weak'. This has led to the promulgation of the proposition that the main role for advertising is to use whatever creative means are at its disposal to maintain 'salience'. This seems to be a seriously over-simplistic view, and one that is based on an unwillingness to accept the insights of psychology and, in particular, of qualitative research. The arguments, on both sides, are reviewed, and a more elaborated view of how brands work, and how advertising relates to and influences this, is put forward. Additional informationNotes on contributorsRoderick WhiteRoderick White is head of research at Lansdown Conquest. He started his career at J Walter Thompson as a marketing trainee, and for a time ran the agency's marketing consultancy group. He is the author of the advertising textbook Advertising: What It Is And How To Do It and editor of Admap.