Brand and product advertising uses a wide variety of media, such as newspapers, radio, television or websites to create needs and trigger interest. Below are listed the main forms of media advertisements:

Online Advertising

On websites there are advertising banners that use colour effects, sounds or changing content. On social networks, advertising is usually displayed in a personalised form between the postings or at the edge of the page, while audiovisual advertising clips are inserted upstream and downstream in videos. On social networks there are certain forms of advertising that are deliberately designed so that they are not immediately recognised as advertisements, they seem to be part of the content/news feed and have just small print saying, for example, ‘sponsored’.

On social networks like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, there are certain people, that are branded as ‘influencers’ that usually advertise certain brands, services, etc. This advertising might also not be explicitly labelled and such and even adults could be confused whether this is part of the content or advertisement. On You Tube there are also similar advertising strategies, as used in the social networks. 

There is also this popular practice of ‘unboxing’ where these influencers show their shopping hunts. This could also be a form of advertising if certain brands pay to the influencers to do unboxing with their goods. Read the article Why Teens Are the Most Elusive and Valuable Customers in Tech that we have linked in our resources section to learn more about the importance for online advertising for this age group.

Advertising in Apps

In free apps one can often find advertisements in the form of faded-in pictures, as recorded videos or as small advertising banners. The full paid versions are usually without advertising. A separate form of advertising in apps are the so-called "in-app purchases" or "in-app items". This means that, for example, in a free game app, additional materials can be purchased to help the player reach the goal of the game faster. While big advertisements in apps such as banners, videos or pop-ups can usually be identified by differences in appearance and content, corresponding purchase recommendations for in-app items can usually only be identified by careful reading of the message and are therefore often not clearly perceived as advertising by children.

When selecting apps for children, care should also be taken to ensure that they are free of advertising. Children usually find the interruption caused by advertising windows annoying, e.g. during a game. More serious, however, are the risks associated with app advertising. On the one hand, children could acquire and pay for digital offers without realising and without their parents' consent. On the other hand, there is the danger that advertising may present unsuitable topics.

Of course, there is also Television Advertising, Print and Poster Advertising and Radio Advertising. You can find more information on this topic in the Kit@ course about advertisement that we have linked in the resources section or in our advertising course for children from 2 to 6.