In 1704, the first newspaper advertisement, an announcement seeking a buyer for an Oyster Bay, Long Island, estate, is published in the Boston News-Letter. This set the stage for advertising as we know it.
In the United States, on November 2, 1920, KDKA aired the first commercial broadcast. Advertisers flocked to the medium trying their hand at the art of producing radio ads.
The first official, paid television advertisement was broadcast in the United States on July 1, 1941 over New York station WNBT. Following this infamous broadcast, advertising agencies scrambled to find production partners to help them execute a campaign on the hottest medium in advertising: television.
As technology developed, we found new mediums to reach our audiences. Smartphones, tablets, and mobile devices rose to power giving us mobile ad networks, multimedia advertising, and turned our focus to digital.