As in all countries where advertising has developed as an essential technique in the distribution of mass produced goods, in New Zealand it was regarded by most early practitioners merely as a vehicle for puffing their own wares and attacking rival products without much concern for truth or taste. These dubious practices have affected the prestige of advertisers and advertising even up to the present day, and the fact that most laymen remain ignorant of the great advances in standards, efficiency, and honesty must to a great extent be blamed on the failure of organised advertising either to publicise its impressive progress or to make available the data on which a more favourable estimation might be based. In the last few years some effort has been made by the Association of New Zealand Advertising Agencies to acquaint the public with the benefits of advertising, but their own operations are seldom discussed. This is in sharp contrast to the American scene where agencies and advertisers freely supply data on the amount of money being spent each year on particular products, the volume of sales that results, the salary scales of the people employed in the advertising industry, and so on. The inaccessibility of specific information concerning the New Zealand advertising scene makes discussion on anything but the mechanical organisation and the visible results of the industry extremely difficult. The great bulk of advertising in New Zealand is prepared either by advertising agencies or by the advertising departments of retail stores.
In the past advertising agencies were concerned with selling space for newspapers. Modern agencies, however, have no direct connection with any specific publication and are in fact, if not in theory, much more closely connected with the clients for whom they prepare advertisements. But agencies still rely for income on commissions allowed them on space bought by them in newspapers and periodicals on behalf of clients. It is not open to anyone who thinks himself capable of carrying on the business of advertising to set up an agency and automatically draw commission for space bought. He must be accredited by the Newspaper Proprietors' Association of New Zealand. Accreditation which, if granted, must be renewed annually, carries with it a number of obligations, the most important from the public's point of view being to ensure that every advertisement issued by him shall be clean, honest, and truthful, and in compliance with the statutes of New Zealand. Secondly, that an agent shall not submit any advertisement which, either by direct statement or by innuendo, disparages any competitor of the advertiser or the goods or services sold by any competitor of the advertiser. The Newspaper Proprietors' Association can and occasionally does refuse advertisements which, in its opinion, infringes these regulations.
While the first obligation deserves to be commended, it is questionable whether the second is, or ever can be, observed. Every advertisement which contains claims of superiority must to some extent disparage all other products of a similar type. It is debatable whether such disparagement should not be allowed provided the claims are true, but modern advertising, like politics, is more temperate than it was formerly. Over and above the control exercised by the Newspaper Proprietors' Association, regulation of the content of advertising prepared by agencies (but not by retailers and local dealers) is carried even further by the Association of New Zealand Advertising Agencies, to which all but one or two of the 30-odd agencies in the country belong. No member shall prepare or handle advertising containing or including, amongst other things, false statements or misleading exaggeration or distortions of detail; unwarranted claims which directly or indirectly disparage competition; claims as to price which are misleading; scientific or technical claims not adequately supported by accepted authority, and fake testimonials. These counsels of perfection are not always followed to the letter, but the general standard of advertising prepared by agencies is remarkably high and the association does take its members to task for infringements.
Advertising in certain fields is also rigorously controlled by statute. The Medical Advertisements Act, policed by the Health Department, and the Pure Food and Drugs Act are generally successful in restricting false claims. Even more rigorous, the Stock Remedies Act requires approval before an advertisement can be printed. The Trading Coupons Act, the Gaming Act, and the Companies Act also play their part in maintaining a high standard of advertising in New Zealand. The latest in the list of organisations which act as watchdogs over advertising has been the Government-subsidised Consumer Council . Primarily concerned with testing goods offered for sale, it also comments on advertising claims. Unfortunately it tends to represent what, for want of a better term, must be called the “intellectual' section of the community, emotionally antagonistic to all forms of advertising, however good.
The bulk of advertising expenditure went for many years to the daily press. Without receipts from advertising, the newspapers as we know them could not survive, nor could the magazines and other periodicals which are playing an increasingly influential role on the New Zealand publishing scene.
For the past quarter century, however, radio advertising has been making substantial inroads into allocations available for advertising, and the advent of television has both complicated the situation and intensified competition for the advertising pound. Most New Zealand advertisers are handicapped by the smallness of the market and do not have sufficient money available to use all three of the major media to the extent needed for adequate results. They must, too, on the advice of their advertising agency, make adequate allocations for all the other devices necessary for sales promotion, including salesmen's literature, pamphlets, posters, various kinds of point-of-sale material, screen slides, hoardings, and suchlike. Again, because of the smallness of the country, little money is available for research, and decisions have to be based on past experience and guesswork rather than on specific information. Although enormous sums are spent overseas on research there is no really convincing evidence that without it New Zealand advertisers are any worse off than their British or American counterparts. It appears to be an extremely useful but not infallible guide.
As in other countries, the quality of the advertising in New Zealand ranges from the crude, meretricious, and vulgar to productions that can hold their own with the best in the world. The country contains a few first-rate commercial artists and writers and a rather larger number of thoroughly competent ones. American advertising–both good and bad–sets the standard and strongly influences those people directly involved in producing advertising for all media.
Finally, although there is not space here to develop the subject, it may be worth while pointing out that the money spent on advertising not only maintains the artists, writers, and other specialist staffs of advertising agencies and makes low-priced newspapers and periodicals possible, but also keeps in existence large numbers of printers, plate and blockmakers, photographers, film and recording companies, and even the commercial radio and television services.
by John Eliot Blennerhassett, Advertising Executive, Wellington.