In the eyes of some, advertising is irrelevant and serves but entertainment in the case of a product has good quality and can satisfy customer demands. I am against this opinion considering the benefits advertising could bring to companies and customers and its role as a driver of economic growth.
Advertising is necessary since it benefits both companies and customers. Companies and brands would be incapable of accessing customers without advertising. An explanation for this argument is that most companies have used advertising as a competitive advantage, which changed how the market works in favor of advertised products and companies spending part of their revenue on advertising. As a result, companies that do not follow or adapt to this tendency will lag behind and soon face reduced sales. Also, advertising helps customers make better purchasing decisions. Thanks to advertisements, customers could be more well-informed, thereby making better comparisons including comparing products of different brands and weighing their needs against their buying desire. Therefore, they can purchase wisely and balance their expenditures.
As advertising is a driver of economic growth, it is far from serving entertainment purposes. First, advertising could create more jobs. This new source of jobs is not only confined to the economic sectors; instead, it includes other sectors, ranging from technology to entertainment. For example, the process of collecting and modeling data requires data engineers or tech-savvy employees; the process of analyzing modeled data requires data analysts to provide brands with insights about the dominating of the market; the process of using these insights to access target customers employs influencers or key opinion leaders (KOLs). On a larger scale, increasing advertising could accelerate consumerism. This is because advertising is aimed to stimulate shopping demand, thus increasing manufacturing activities and reducing the rate of unemployment. As a result, the economic pie will be expanded and people could become richer, then have a higher standard of living.
In conclusion, advertising is necessary considering its benefits to companies and customers. Also, the economic pie, not serving entertainment purposes only.