广告是一种有偿的产品和服务推介或促销形式。一般不是个人行为，做广告者的身份必须在广告中显示出来。广告的作用是通过为一种产品或一项服务创造一个正面积极的形象来影响目标消费者的行为。要进行广告宣传活动，首先需确定以下项目：
Form 形式
National: advertising a copyrighted product or service across the national footprint. Identifies brand name and emphasizes national presence.
Retail: advertising by outlet emphasizing image and variety.
Direct: advertising directly to customers to avoid middlemen and response delivery costs.
Advocacy: public communication that uses a perspective on a recognized controversial issue.
Style 风格
Humorous: light-hearted.
Comparative: compares one product to another, highlighting strengths and benefits over a competing product.
Emotional: creates a mood, arouses feelings, tries to meet psychological needs.
Lifestyle: associates brand/product/service with the way people live and work.
Testimonial: affidavit of support by a customer or celebrity.
Reason why: touts the benefit and necessity of a product to avoid adverse situations.
Slice of life: typically focuses on an average family and everyday or common setting.
Media传播媒介
Television: most expensive, audio-visual impact, reaches a mass audience, easily and effectively targeted based on well-known viewer demographics.
Newspaper: most widely used medium, rapid and flexible coverage, ads easily changed, less expensive than television. Short attention span, poor reproduction quality, usually no color, not easily targeted.
Direct mail: less expensive than TV or newspaper but higher advance costs, audience easily selected, demographics of percentage of serious recipients can be predicted in advance.
Radio: fairly inexpensive, mass audience, audiences are largely segmented and easily targeted. Only audio, brevity doesn't allow for educating viewers about complex products, audience less attentive.
Magazine: relatively inexpensive, huge variety provides a high level of market segmentation, lots of space for detailed product information, excellent graphical reproduction, long life span, repeat exposure to multiple readers. Not quickly modifiable, long lead time before printing, no guarantee of placement within the magazine.
Outdoor: inexpensive, little competition for customer attention, high repeat exposure. Limited information, little control over target audience.
Internet: potential mass audience, but no control and little targeting capability. Difficult to control reader's attention, some delivery problems.