ABSTRACTThis study uses content analysis as a methodology to compare the information in 153 televised ads for professional and nonprofessional services. Variables compared include brand name strategies, music usage, message sources, quality claims and price information. The findings suggest that professional and nonprofessional service commercials significantly differ in the use of brand name strategies, music usage and message sources in television commercials, while no significant differences are found in the use of quality claims or price information. This suggests that different kinds of service firms require divergent promotion strategies, a concept which has not been emphasized in the services literature.