A Study of Corporate Philosophy as Expressed in Domestic Advertising

- Based on A Survey of Domestic Corporate Newspaper Advertising in the 1980s-

by Park, Chong-Kyu

Graduate School of Hanyang University

October 1991

The study was based on a survey of newspaper advertisements by four major domestic corporations as a major reflection of their respective corporate strategies during the 1980s. The survey was conducted in consideration of the liberalization of the domestic advertising industry during the 1990s, and the results of the survey hopefully provide a comparison as to how advertisements and advertising methods will be changing as a result of this new liberalization.

The period after the 1970s was chosen since this is when corporate advertising became systematic strategies among the large corporations. The four corporations selected for study and analysis were: Daewoo Corporation because it was first to serialize advertisements: Ssangyong because of the high public controversy concerning its advertisements; SunKyung because of its emphasis on public prosperity; and IBM Korea because it was the only domestic corporation to advertise as a multi-dimensional entity.

The study captures the strategic approaches of the corporations in establishing good will through public advertisement, the factors surrounding these approaches, the relationship between product and corporate advertisements: and before analyzing the advertisements of the four corporations, defines such integral ingredients as layout, contents, and format.

The survey is divided into five chapters. The second chapter provides the theory behind conducting the surbey, describing the meaning, the circumstances surrounding, and the types of corporate advertisements.

The third chapter covers a description of the contents of analysis of the advertisements relevant to the description. Centering on advertisement headlines and copy as verbal presentations, and theory based on visual layouts, repetition and illustrations concerning the visual presentations. This covers the advertising format and related typographical contents. The chapter also provides an abbreviated analysis of corporate advertising contents of the four corporations as well as trends which reflect the times.

The fourth chapter also examines the form of communication which the advertisements take as well as the effectiveness of the advertisements themselves and the effectiveness of projecting the corporate images.

The fifth chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of the findings of the survey, conclusing, and recommendations for new approaches to advertising for the new century.