Marketing communications include advertising, public relations work, sponsoring, sales promotion through discounts, offers, competitions, fairs and sales work, which happen between the representative of the corporation and the customer.

Advertising is a very common form of marketing communications. Advertising is paid, target-oriented communications, which is often aimed at a large audience. Advertising persuades the audience to consume, increases market shares and makes corporations grow. Advertisements can be used to inform the audience of items, services, causes or people.

Advertising is often done through different media and social media channels. Advertisements are present in newspapers and magazines, on the radio, on television, at cinemas and on the internet. Social media has also given space for influencer marketing, where celebrities and micro-celebrities endorse products.

An advertorial is an advertisement made in journalistic style, visually and content-wise resembling a regular magazine article.

A rather topical form of advertising worth mentioning here is an advertorial. An advertorial is an advertisement made in journalistic style, visually and content-wise resembling a regular magazine article. When advertorials first appear in the pages of magazines or newspapers, it was often difficult to distinguish between them and the journalistic content of the magazine. That’s why many ethical guidelines have now clear instructions about how this type of content marketing should be separated clearly so as not to mislead the reader.

Publishing advertisements in the media involves two parties. The advertiser associates the publication with the corporation behind the advertisement, and sometimes with troubles concerning its reputation. From the advertiser’s point of view, buying media space from different magazines, newspapers and media is affected by the content, alignment, readership and image of the media in question. The advertiser is associated with these factors by publishing an advertisement in the said media. The advertisement can affect the corporation’s image if the content of the media that supplied the advertising space is deemed questionable by the public.

Media advertising may have problematic side effects in terms of the reliability of journalism. Media channels that sell advertising space are sometimes more careful than those that finance their activities solely through subscription or support fees or taxes. For example, the media outlet not necessarily dare to criticise corporations that buy advertising space from them.

Media advertising may have problematic side effects in terms of the reliability of journalism.

Influencer marketing has become a key tool in marketing communications. Celebrities are individuals who are well-known because of their careers or some other reason. So-called micro-celebrities, on the other hand, are individuals who have worked to increase their online value, for example through the number of followers they have on their social media accounts or other significant media exposure. In influencer marketing, both are used by brands and organisations to increase sales or advance a cause.

For example, in 2019 one of the world’s most famous micro-celebrities, Kim Kardashian West, was able to earn up to half a million dollars through one endorsement campaign due to her position as one of the most followed individuals on Instagram. Micro-celebrities can be used locally, nationally or globally depending on their value and reputation.

Propaganda is (media) advocacy with the purpose of affecting people’s thoughts, emotions, attitudes and behaviour. Propaganda techniques can include, for example, aggravation, exaggeration and keeping quiet about alternatives. Propaganda often includes partial and loaded information, sometimes downright lies.

Propaganda techniques can include, for example, aggravation, exaggeration and keeping quiet about alternatives.

A straightforward definition of propaganda is difficult, partly due to its bad reputation. The act of definition carries with it the risk of bias: the opinions of the opposing side are often labelled as propaganda. For example, the election posters of a certain party can be considered propagandistic by their opponents.

States often regulate what can be advertised. The advertising of something – a product or an idea or even a human right – can be forbidden altogether.