Advertising can be defined as a form of particular content broadcasting to a wider range of audience; the form could be in various types and the intended message could vary from each other with different genres. An advertised material could be in print, radio, TV, digital formats and the goal for each format could be different.

Advertising is a type of communication used to influence an audience to purchase or be aware of the product. The goal is to have consumers that are viewers, readers and listeners to react or take action in response to the advertising that is broadcast. Advertising messages typically promote creative ideas, products and business ventures. Political advertising is a common practice in major developing and developed countries and they are used to advertise a candidate, achievements, announcements and general information to keep the public aware and informed about the developments and future plans.

Historically, advertising industry has risen from many obstacles and challenges. The various techniques and forms of persuasion have evolved with maturity. In various forms of advertising, press advertising is the oldest which included ads placed in newspapers and magazines, for example- press advertising would be advertising in the classifieds section of a newspaper. Commercial advertising is one of the major drivers of growth, and it is often used to promote products through branding.  Commercial advertising includes billboards, fliers, wall paintings, banners, in flight advertising, newspapers, radios, television and many other locations when a sponsor is billed to pay for the product to be advertised. The advertising professionals use communication as a tool to influence consumer behavior and promote products, services and businesses. Since few decades, the advertising industry has gone mainstream and is one of the biggest contributor to the ever changing taste in the society.

The mainstream medium such as TV and radio are the major sectors that generate a lot of revenue and advertise a huge amount of messages, promotions, ideas and products. With digital age today, advertising has reached greater length to innovate and influence huge change. There is a huge opportunity and potential for newer entrants with the increase in number of industries looking for advertising agencies to promote them and create awareness or derive sales; so, the opportunities are vast with digital medium, from mail, blogs, social media to delivering the advertised content to portable devices such as mobile devices. Mobile marketing and advertising is one of the fastest growing industries due to the ubiquitous presence of wireless network and smartphones across the world. Internet has evolved rapidly, so is the method of reaching out to larger audience in the online world; from making your product be viewed by a larger demographic to a smaller audience that the product is specifically known due to its regional influence. In the coming years, mobile and digital advertising is expected to account for a huge share of the total advertising market.

2 . Advertising Industry Current Trends

The advertising industry has matured over the years and as the economic outlook brightens, advertising budgets expand and companies will begin to invest in new campaigns with the help of advertising agencies. The global advertising industry continues to experience growth as the emerging markets and digital media are opening up a lot of avenues for new entrants and creative entrepreneurs. Driven by increasing corporate profit and advertising budgets, the global advertising industry is expected to climb to US $113 billion by 2015, according to MarketLine. F&B and personal care are the major industries that utilize advertising as an appropriate tool to achieve larger consumer base; for which in return generates over 25% of total revenue for advertising revenue share. The North American demographic is the leading sector with more than 42% of advertising industry revenue.

Digital advertising in particular is expected to rise to 20.0% of total advertising spending in 2013, and according to estimation by Global Industry Analysts, the global online advertising market will reach almost $73 billion by 2015, with market growth fueled by widespread internet penetration across developed and developing countries. With digitization playing a huge role in advancement and improvements, more and more companies are opting for online advertising solutions to benefit from the medium’s simplicity and cost-effectiveness. The global online advertising industry continues to take advantage of the market and current scenarios as the decline in print advertising has benefited many digital advertising agencies to emerge in the newer markets. The biggest advantage that an online advertising campaign has over any form is the economic recession does not affect or result in companies' budget cut backs on advertising costs as compared to traditional mediums such as TV, radio and print, digital advertising offers cost efficient advertising solutions.

3 . Major Advertising Industry Players

Major global advertising industry players are O&M, Saatchi & Saatchi, Mudra, Lowe Lintas, Omnicom Group Inc, WPP Group PLC and The Interpublic Group of Companies.