Advertising and Marketing Campaigns and Strategies
Encyclopedia of Major Marketing CampaignsISBN: 9780787630423Online. An annual publication that profiles important marketing campaigns of the 20th century. Search using product, brand, or company names for information on marketing campaigns and branding for a particular product or company.
Encyclopedia of Major Marketing StrategiesISBN: 9781414499215Online. A continuation of Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns (1999 and 2007), this new volume expands its international coverage through its 100 essays covering some of the top global and emerging brands that appeared from 2010 to 2013. Search using product, brand, or company names for information on marketing campaigns and branding for a particular product or company.
- International Directory of Company Histories
Provides histories of companies that are a leading influence in a particular industry or geographic location. For students, job candidates, business executives, historians and investors.
Journal Articles
- Fusion
Fusion allows you to search, in one place, the majority of the library’s books, articles, videos, etc. It includes all the materials in our library catalog Ignacio, as well as the content of the majority of our many databases. - Opposing Viewpoints
"Pro" and "con" arguments on controversial issues. Includes full-text materials drawn from print series such as Opposing Viewpoints, Current Controversies, At Issue, Contemporary Issues Companion, and Gale Information Plus series. It also provides full-text periodicals, newspapers, journals, pamphlets, primary source documents, statistics, images, web sites, and student research tools. - ProQuest One Business
A comprehensive business database containing millions of full-text items across scholarly and popular periodicals, newspapers, market research reports, dissertations, books, videos and more. Includes the full text of the Wall Street Journal. Formerly called ABI/INFORM Collection - Ethnic NewsWatch
Ethnic NewsWatch covers 1990 to present and includes newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives. The publications offer both national and regional coverage
Books and Ebooks
- Ignacio: Library Catalog
The library catalog lets you search across the holdings of Gleeson Library and Zief Law Library, including books, videos, and other materials. - Gale eBooks
A great place to begin your research, Gale eBooks offers thousands of authoritative articles published in academic encyclopedias, and written by subject experts. Gale eBooks provides information you can not only trust, but cite in a paper as well. Formerly called GVRL: Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Industry Information
Company Research Hints
When researching a company, keep in mind the following:
- Do you know the exact name of the company? For example, the drug store chain is called Walgreen’s, but the actual company name is Walgreen Co. Also, make sure you are searching for a company, not a brand name. For example, Crest is a brand of toothpaste produced by the company Proctor & Gamble.
- Is the company public or private? Private, or closely-held companies, do not sell stock to the public, and are not obligated to disclose information about themselves. For this reason it may be more difficult to obtain information about private companies. Articles and the company’s own web site may be the best sources of information for private companies. More on public vs. private companies.
- Your company may be part of more than one industry, and it is very helpful to do some industry research to see how your company is doing in its industry and sector, and among its competitors. Try our industry research guide.
Company Overviews
Start with your company's web site: Press releases, media, products, company history, and other information.
Then try:
- ProQuest One BusinessA comprehensive business database containing millions of full-text items across scholarly and popular periodicals, newspapers, market research reports, dissertations, books, videos and more. Includes the full text of the Wall Street Journal. Formerly called ABI/INFORM Collection
- PrivCo
Private company information! PrivCo.com is the premiere source for business and financial research on non-publicly traded corporations, including family-owned, private equity-owned, venture-backed and international unlisted companies.
Registration Required! The first time you access PrivCo, you will be asked to create an account. Register with your academic email address (@usfca.edu). With your own account, you will be able to save your searches and track companies in your personalized watchlist. Your account provides 1,000 profile views, 1,000 exported records, and 500 deal views per year. - Nexis Uni
Use the Menu pull down in the upper left corner to select Company Dossier, which allows you to search for company reports that include financials, news, analysts' reports, and other company information. Public companies: lots of information. Private companies: Very limited.
- EDGAR Company FilingsThis is the web site of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the US, public companies must file information with the SEC. A 10-K is the annual filing a company must make. Search by company name (or part of a name), ticker symbol, or search by industry to create a list of companies. If you find reports in EDGAR, that means the company is public.
- Statista
Easy to use statistics search engine with access to more than a million statistics and facts. - Business Source Complete
You can use Business Source Complete to find company profiles and company SWOT analyses. When you are on the main search page, look to the right of the screen for Company Profiles and SWOT Analyses. Click on the one that you want, then search for your company by name or with the alphabetical list. - Ignacio: Library CatalogThere may be a book about your company that can give great overviews. Give it a try!
Advertising Spending and Statistics
- StatistaEasy to use statistics search engine with access to more than a million statistics and facts.
Market Share ReporterProvides the market share for many companies within an industry, shown with pie charts and graphs. Each entry features a descriptive title; data and market description; a list of producers/products along with their market share. To search: Use the search box on the right that says, "Search within publication." You can search products, companies, brands, industries.
Images and Examples of Advertisements
- Clio AwardsThe Clio Awards are an annual recognition of excellence in advertising
- Ad*Access Duke University Libraries Repository Collection and ArchivesOver 7000 US and Canadian advertisements from 1911-1955
- Ads of the WorldOperated by Clio Awards, LLC, this site has the following criteria for ads..."The campaign needs to be one of the following things: creatively inspiring, informative about a big brand or agency, demonstrates original thinking to solve a communication problem, or represents a culturally interesting subject" (from the FAQ page).
- Vintage Ad BrowserA collection of thousands of vintage ads worldwide, from a variety of sources and on numerous topics.
- Atlantic Magazine Archive
The Atlantic Magazine Archive contains indexing, abstracting, and full text (including Covers and advertisements) of this leading monthly magazine beginning in November 1857 and ending April 2014. - Ebony Magazine Archive
Digital version of Ebony Magazine, a monthly magazine with a focus on news, culture, and entertainment targeted at the Black community. Coverage includes its first issue in 1945 through 2014. This full-text archive of more than 800 issues provides analysis on Black business, history, politics, entertainment, fashion and culture. - Esquire Magazine Archive
The Esquire Magazine Archive, 1933-2014, delivers cover-to-cover content of the award-winning American men’s magazine in the areas of politics, men’s fashion, entertainment, fiction and pop culture. - LGBT Magazine Archive
Archival runs of 26 of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering LGBT interests. Includes the pre-eminent US and UK titles – The Advocate and Gay Times, respectively. Chronicles more than six decades of the history and culture of the LGBT community. Some publications may contain explicit content. Coverage: 1954 - 2015 - Life Magazine Archive
Life Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the famed photojournalism magazine, spanning its very first issue in November, 1936 through December, 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. - New Republic Archive
The New Republic is considered one of the country's leading journals of opinion on politics and the arts. It features award-winning writers and critics from many fields and from most political viewpoints. Available from 1914 to the present. - People Magazine Archive
People Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the prominent, popular magazine dating from its very first issue in March, 1974 through December, 2000, in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. - Sports Illustrated Magazine Archive
Sports Illustrated Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the popular sports magazine dating from its very first issue in August, 1954 through December, 2000, presented in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. - Harper's Bazaar Archive
A comprehensive, searchable archive of every page, advertisement, and cover of the Harper's Bazaar US and UK editions, from 1867 to the present. The issues are reproduced as high-resolution color page images and supported by fully searchable text and article-level indexing. This resource comprises a chronicle of American, British, and international fashion, culture, and society, supporting researchers by offering unique insights into the events, attitudes, and interests of the modern era. Coverage: 1867 - current - Time Magazine Archive
The Time Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the prominent weekly news magazine dating back to its first issue in March 1923 through December 2000, presented in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. - Vanity Fair Magazine Archive
The Vanity Fair Magazine Archive contains indexing, abstracting and full text (including Covers and Advertisements) beginning in September 1913 to February 1936 and March 1983 to October 2015. - Vogue Archive
American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month, reproduced in high-resolution color page images. Every page, advertisement, cover and fold-out has been included, with rich indexing enabling you to find images by garment type, designer and brand names. The Vogue Archive preserves the work of the world's greatest fashion designers, stylists and photographers and is a unique record of American and international fashion, culture and society from the dawn of the modern era to the present day. - Women's Magazine Archive
Full backfiles of leading women’s interest consumer magazines. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period. Among the research fields served by this material are gender studies, social history, economics/marketing, media, fashion, politics, and popular culture.
Citing Your Sources
Whenever you do research, you will need to cite the information sources that you use. Most business scholars use APA style. Here are some tools that can help you with this task:
Gleeson Library's guide to citations: How? Why? When?
- APA 7th Edition Citations for Business SourcesAn excellent guide to using APA 7th edition style for popular business sources. Scroll through the guide to find an example for the business source you are using in your research. Compiled by librarians Naomi Schemm, Marcia Dellenbach, Zachary Grisham, Marianne Hageman, Natalia Tingle, Matt Trowbridge, and Amanda Wheatley
- Citing Business Databases in APA: Michigan State University GuideThis guide was created to help with citing some common business databases
- Citing Business Databases from the University of North Carolina at GreensboroThis guide has some additional business database examples in APA style.
- MLA Business Citations: Youngstown State UniversityScroll down the page to see citations for specific business web sites, reports, and databases cited in MLA style.
- Purdue OWLOur favorite style guide web site is the OWL from Purdue University.
- RefWorks
RefWorks allows users to create personal databases to manage, store, and share the information citations/references. Users can automatically insert references from their database into their papers and generate formatted bibliographies and manuscripts in seconds. See our RefWorks Guide for information about creating accounts, adding references, and using add-ons.
Getting Help!
There are several ways to obtain assistance with your research. Read on!
You have your very own librarian! She is Penny Scott, and you can contact her for help.
Her contact information is: email: plscott@usfca.edu * phone: 415-422-5389
It is best to email ahead, or make an appointment, to make sure she is available! Appointments are available virtually via Zoom, or in person, and are great for groups or individuals. If you don't see a time that works for you, email Penny.
If Penny is not available, or any time you need help, you can always get help, just Ask a Librarian!
You can also take a look at our Research Guides on many topics!