I am an avid reader. But to wind down, I read marketing/business books. And because of my predisposition for such reading, people think I'm smart. I don't think so. What goes in for me, do not always come out. It's a kind of intellectual indigestion.
So, I figured I might as well attempt to force it out of me. Let's choose a type of laxative.
Advertising.
My definition : A communication created by an Agency that provides information and ultimately, persuades a group of consumers to buy a certain product or service.
Consumers
My definition : A group of people who are already predisposed to buy a certain product or service or already using said product or service.
Here's what I think about advertising.
1) Traditional advertising is dead. Long live digital!
2) Machine gunners = random shooting. Snipers = targetted shooting.
3) Consumers are smarter than we think. But marketers didn't get the memo.
4) Advertising should tell the truth. If your product/service has no compelling benefit, don't try to advertise it using untruths.
5) I've got a few seconds to digest your ad....don't make me think!
6) NOTE TO CREATIVES : Advertising is not supposed to be works of art. If it is, it's only a btw. If I wanted works of literature, I'd get a book. If I wanted works of art, I'd get a painting.
7) ADDITIONAL NOTE TO CREATIVES : Advertising should not allow for different interpretations. You're talking to a bunch of buyers who are supposed to think only either 2 things about the ad; either "I want to buy that" or "I don't want to buy that". Plain and simple.
8) Thematic ads are dead. It's the worst kind of lying and a complete waste of money. It's not in the show-offing, guys. It's in the doing. It's in the CSR activities, it's in the service provided, it's in the intuitive products being created.
I sound so negative, don't I? I am in the advertising industry. But I have not read, watched, listened to an ad in a long time.
Why?
I'm always a consumer first. If I wanted something, whether to find out more information or to buy a plane ticket or consider a mutual funds investment, I search for it. Because I'm already in the right frame of mind to receive information. This mode is not dependent on when the ad breaks. Whether the product ad appears on TV at 10.20pm on a Wednesday night or on radio on Friday at 8am...that is immaterial to me. Because when I want something, it should not be dictated by those who are selling.
Sure, as a marketer, you need to tell people if you've got something new. But not everyone is gonna see your ad...so, like any marketer these days worth their salt, they put it on the net.
And like so many of them, they put it on the net and make it difficult for you to find anything.
That's the thing about marketers these days. They don't seem to realise that :
1) I ain't always gonna see your ad
2) I ain't got the time to see your ad
3) I ain't got much time so don't make me think when I see your ad
4) I ain't got much time so when I do want to consider your product/service, don't make me look for information on it like I'm searching for a goddamn treasure with no map.
5) I ain't always gonna pay attention to your ad. Do you really think that I'm gonna see your billboard when I should be paying attention to my driving? Am I really gonna see that lightbox when I'm rushing for a train or a bus? Am I really gonna read thru that DM pack you sent me?
Sometimes I think that ad agencies are the ones guilty of perpetuating these beliefs. We're the ones that convince the marketers to still use the same old weapons in the communication arsenals.
So, what exactly am I trying to say?
What I'm trying to say is, don't spend too much time on a communication piece that only has a very limited chance of getting seen or heard. Why do we spend too much time fighting over the correct color tone of red when the person who's gonna see your ad is not even gonna question whether it's the right red or not.
Why does the preparation of such communications have to be so labour and time-intensive when consumption of such ads are done in a passing glance?
Communicating the obvious is logically easier. And the obvious should be and must be the primary modus operandi of marketers and advertisers alike.
What have I learned from all those marketing books that I've read? That all of us including experts alike fail to understand that all that a consumer or target audience wants is just an obvious choice.
And we are not making it any easier for them to choose.
Or perhaps, we understand only too well....so while we provide a service to the client, we are not actually helping the public at large.
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