Glossary of Advertising Terms
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Ad Copy: All spoken words or printed text in an advertisement.
Ad Impressions: The number of times an advertisement is seen by audiences.
Advertising: A paid commercial message promoting the university and/or its campuses, units, programs, events, and people. An advertisement can appear in print or electronic publications, including internet sites and CDs; on radio, television, or other means of electronic distribution (such as podcasts); and on public media such as banners, billboards, kiosks, and signage in transportation hubs.
Advertising Plan: An explicit outline of what goals an advertising campaign should achieve, how to accomplish those goals, and how to determine whether or not the campaign was successful in obtaining those goals.
Advertorial: An advertisement that resembles a news article or editorial in a print or electronic communication that promotes a single program, service, or point of view.
Agency Commission: The agency's fee for designing and placing advertisements. Generally, this is calculated as 15 percent to 20 percent of the amount spent to purchase space or time in the various media used for the advertising.
B
Banner Ad: A graphic image used on websites to advertise a product or service. Banner ads come in numerous sizes but often are rectangular.
Billboard: An outdoor sign or poster. Costs for a specific billboard are determined by the board's size and the amount of traffic that passes its location.
Bleed: Allowing a picture or advertisement to extend beyond the normal margin of a printed page, to the edge of the page.
Broadcast TV: Television stations whose signals are carried to households over airwaves.
Bus Card: An advertising poster attached to the side or back of a bus.
Bus Wrap: An advertising message imprinted on high-quality vinyl adhesive that is attached to the bus exterior.
C
Cable TV: Television stations whose signals are carried to households by cable and paid by subscription.
Camera-Ready Ad: An advertisement that has been output through a high-quality laser printer and is in sufficiently finished form to be photographed for printing.
Channel: Any medium through which a message can be sent to a receiver, including oral communication, print media, TV, and the internet.
Circulation: The total number of distributed copies of a publication at a specified time.
Classified Advertisement: In print media, any advertisement that is limited to certain classifications of goods and services (such as program and events listings) and usually limited in size and content.
Closing Date: The date by which all advertising must be ordered from a specific medium in order to secure dates, times, and placements.
Column Inch: A unit of measure by newspapers whereby advertisement space is purchased by the width, in columns, and the depth in inches. For example, an advertisement that is three standard columns wide and five inches tall (or deep) would be 15 column inches.
Designated Market Areas (DMA): The geographical areas in which TV stations attract most of their viewers.
Display Advertisement: In print media, any advertisement other than a classified ad.
Double Truck: A two-page spread in a print publication, where the advertisement runs across the middle gutter.
Drive Time: The hours when the most commuters are in their cars. During "drive time," radio advertising costs more because of increased listeners.
Duration: The length of viewing/listening/broadcast time (in hours:minutes:seconds) for a radio, television, webcast, podcast, CD, video, or other electronic formatted production.
E
Editorial Calendar: The part of a magazine or newsletter media kit that describes the editorial content planned for each issue in the coming year.
F
Flat Rate: A media rate that allows for no discounts.
Full-Service Agency: An agency that handles all aspects of the advertising process, including planning, design, production, and placement.
I
Impressions: Use each news outlet's circulation number (or listenership, viewership, audience, or number of subscribers or members).
Inline Ad: An online ad located anywhere on the page that consists of a few lines of copy and/or an image together with a link or email address for action.
Insert: Advertisement or other promotional matter published by an advertiser to be inserted in a magazine or newspaper. It may be bound into the publication or inserted loose without binding.
Insertion Date(s): The day or issue month your advertisement appears in the publication.
Insertion Order: A written authorization for a publisher to run a print advertisement in a specific publication on a certain date at a specified price.
J
JPEG (.jpg): A common image file format that is very effective at displaying high color images in a compact file size. Photographs to be used on the internet often are compressed as .jpgs.
Jump Page: The page that is displayed when a user clicks on a website banner. Often this is just the homepage for a product or service, but special promotions may have more complicated pages.
L
Local Time: Radio spots available for purchase by a local advertiser.
M
Marketing Campaign: A specific series of strategies, tactics, and activities designed to get desired marketing messages to intended target markets. A marketing plan should be researched and developed to include an outline of what goals the campaign is to achieve, how to accomplish those goals, and how to measure the success of the campaign in achieving those goals.
Media Kit: Information offered to potential advertisers by publishers to help the advertisers understand the publishers rates, visitor demographics, terms, etc.
Media Outlet: A publication or broadcast organization that transmits information, news, entertainment, and advertising messages. Media outlets can include print publications, electronic newsletters, websites, billboard, radio stations, as well as broadcast and cable TV stations.
Medium (plural, Media): A vehicle or group of vehicles—such as newspapers, websites, television, cable television, radio, billboards—used to convey information, news, entertainment, and advertising messages to an audience.
O
Out-of-Home: OOH is advertising that reaches the consumers while they are outside their homes and would include advertisements placed on billboards, buses, shopping area directories, etc.
P
PDF (Portable Document Format): An open file format used to create or view documents. PDF files can be used to review and approve ads. In some cases, they also can be used as the final file format sent to the media outlet.
Podcast/Podcasting: A media file that is distributed over the internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers.
Pop-Up: An ad that appears in a separate window either on top of or underneath the user's current webpage.
Preferred Position: A position in a printed publication that is thought to attract more reader attention and is sold at a higher rate; for example, the back or inside front cover of a magazine.
Prime Time: Highest level of TV viewing (8 to 11 p.m. EST).
Proof: Copy of the advertisement distributed for changes or corrections prior to final approval.
Public Service Announcement (PSA): Announcement on television or radio serving the public interest typically run by the media at no charge.
R
Rate: The amount charged to an advertiser based on unit of space or time purchased. The rate may vary from national to local campaigns, or it may be a fixed rate based on a specific market.
Rate Card: Information cards provided by both print and broadcast media that contain information about advertising costs, mechanical requirements, special issues, closing dates, cancellation dates, circulation data, etc.
Reach: The total number of people or households exposed to an advertisement during a specified time. Reach measures the true extent of audience exposure to a medium and is usually expressed as a percentage of the total market.
Reservation Date: The day you request that a publication set aside space for your organization because you will be advertising in a particular issue. Typically, advertisement space must be reserved a number of days in advance of the insertion date.
Run Date: The day your advertisement appears in the publication; also known as insertion date.
Run-of-Press (ROP): A newspaper publisher's option to place an advertisement in whatever section is available rather than in a preferred section, such as business, education, or classifieds. Also known as run-of-paper.
Run-of-Schedule (ROS): A broadcast station's option to place an advertisement in any time slot they choose; also known as run-of-station.
Run-of-Site: A website's option to place an advertisement on any webpage of the targeted site.
S
Sandwich Board: Two hinged boards with advertising messages that are placed at an advantageous location.
Sidebar Ad: An online ad (also known as a skyscraper ad) that is vertically oriented and positioned on the left or right edges of the webpage.
Space Reservation: Notification to a media vendor, either written or verbal, of intentions to run an ad.
Spot (Spot Announcement): 15-, 30-, or 60-second radio or television commercial.
Spot Color: The technique of coloring for emphasis some areas of basic black-and-white advertisements, usually with a single color.
Spot Television (or Radio): Time slots purchased on a market basis rather than through a network and allowing for greater flexibility for advertisers.
Storyboard: A series of panels roughly depicting scenes, copy, and shots proposed for a television commercial. The storyboard provides a good representation of the concept for a commercial before extensive production charges are incurred.
Submission Date: Date by which advertisement must be provided to the medium in order to appear on or in a specific date, time, or place.
Subway Card: Advertising poster attached to the interior of a subway car or train.
Syndication Feed: A form of syndication in which content on a website is made available for other sites to use.
T
Target Audience: A specific audience or demographic group for which an advertising message is designed.
Time Slot: A specific time bought for airing a commercial on radio or television.
Total Audience Plan (TAP): A radio advertising package rate that guarantees a percentage of spots in the better parts of the day.
U
URL (Uniform Resource Locator): The URL is the internet "address" of a website or webpage. A browser requires this information in its location box in order to load a webpage.
V
Voice Over: A recorded narrator who is heard but not seen in a television commercial, or narration that is distinct from the scene portrayed in a radio commercial.
Volume Discount: A price discount offered to advertisers willing to commit to a certain quantity of advertisements at a certain rate.
W
Webcasting: The process of delivering audio and/or video online. Audio or video webcasts can be delivered live (as an event happens) or on-demand (at the user's convenience). They can be streamed (delivered progressively as it is viewed) or downloaded (delivered in its entirety before it can be played) by the user. Advertisements can be inserted at the beginning of the webcast.