Original Photo by http://wray-mccann.com
A quotation and some words of wisdom from one of my readers:
“Advertising is a tax for having an unremarkable product”.
- Chief Inspector, The Geek Squad
“Here’s to being remarkable. Not in the great new award winning ad. Not in the emotional spin. But in having a drop dead, fantastically designed product that does all the talking.”
- David Taylor, “Where’s The Sausage” blog
Thanks, David.
So what do you guys think? Aside from advertisements dealing with events, promos, special sales and non-profits, do you agree with the above statements?
David Taylor publishes the where’s the sausage blog, which also deals with all things branding. Definitely swing by there and add him to your blogroll.
Advertising is a tax for company not to be creative and stay away from innovation.
No message if no product to support it, no brand value if no value in the company product/ service.
Storytelling is just fine, but only if the company can actually help the story become true.
Contrary to what self-appointed protectors of the consumer so loudly proclaim, advertising does not cause people to buy bad products. Nothing will put a bad product out of business faster than a good advertising campaign. Advertising causes people to try a product once, but poor quality eliminates any possibility of a repeat purpose. – Morris Hite
It’s official: I may not have the most readers, but I have the smartest.
Almost everyone I meet lately all talk to each other about favorite commercials. Not marketers, mind you, but the target demographic units. It’s unnerving.
Advertising seems to serve in some populations like that one smart friend who had a cool older brother was in high school – a person to keep you ahead of your peer group in what you consumed and pretended to understand about it.
“It’s official: I may not have the most readers, but I have the smartest.”
Yes.
It’s the reason I look forward to your blog post and the comments they attract.
It’s also the reason I’m too intimidated to add to the dialogue.
Now that you’ve successfully contributed with an astute observation, I hope the jitters are gone. ;D
I’ve always been a fan of great advertising – the clever kind, that either inspires, amuses or surprises – but more as an art form than an actual sales tool. So there’s a special place in my heart for GREAT advertising.
Advertising is a complex form of communication that serves MANY purposes. Can advertising boost sales? Yes. Can it strengthen a brand’s identity? Yes. Can it help a community of users/customers celebrate their common bond with a brand? Yes it can. Can it create desire in an audience? You bet. Can it make a product or brand seem cool? Of course.
But like Jon pointed out, great marketing and advertising are not enough: Without a great product to back it up, no amount of lipstick will make that pig into anything more than what it is.
Note: Advertising can also ruin a brand or product by being cheap, stupid, offensive, loud, annoying, confusing, derivative, boring, or obviously full of doodoo. There’s nothing worse than crappy ads. They give me hives.
I love it when I get into a conversation about favorite TV ads, and one invariably comes up that everyone knows… but no one can remember what product or brand it’s for. Those moments crack me up. Millions spent on media buys, and no one can remember what the funny ad with the chimps was for. Genius.
Funny you bring up the auto industry…
In Monday’s townhall meeting we discussed out-of-the-box ideas. I harped on my usual criticism of auto ads. Why do they always yell at me? I’m not deaf! I paraphrased some current commercials, taking the names out to protect the guilty. Conversation went like this…
“I’m a car – I have four doors. I get 30+mpg on the highway. I have earned ***** ratings from all the people that matter. Who am I?” The answers I got were Ford, Honda, Toyota Hyundai, etc… No catch in the commercials – without the picture of the car, no one knew who I was referring to (Kia was the right answer).
2nd example… “people have kids with strangers just to buy me” The room exploded with emotion! A gentleman about 60 shouted out “I’ll never buy a Volkswagen – I HATE that commercial!”, But a 20-someting female thought the commercial was clever.
So what does this prove? Volkswagen is standing out by doing something totally outlandish (by American standards), people remember the brand, the vehicle, Brooke Sheilds, etc. AND – Their target (20-30 somethings) actually LIKE the commercials…
The point here is simple – be creative and say the same things in a clever, well thought way and you will get results!
Jon
The Exposure Specialist
BTW – What was the funny ad with the chimps for?