I often write about the
causes of advertising failure. I repeatedly claim that 95% of all
advertising is wasted, failing to accomplish any measurable return on
investment. Over the next few weeks we'll take a look at why
this is true. There are issues on both sides of the table. Both the
clients and the advertising reps/agencies are responsible for the
ineffective glut of advertising in America today. Let's take a
more detailed look at why it breaks down.
If 95% of advertising
in America is ineffective it's because so much of it revolves
around guesswork, greed or compromise. Let's look at the issue
of guesswork first.
Advertising effectively
takes a rare combination of business savvy and creative excellence.
In my experience this has been a difficult combination – the
motivations for each tend to be very different from one another. Yet
the only people that consistently make advertising work are those
that bring those two worlds of marketing and creative together.
"Marketing
without creative is invisible - Creative without marketing is
irrelevant"
I am utterly amazed at
the lack of training in the actual business of advertising. In my
experience I've found that more often than not a marketing
degree has very, very little to do with learning the fine art of
advertising. It's a great base but it does not properly equip
any student with the tools to help the business community get a
return on an investment. In most cases I have to undue what's
been learned in college.
The plain fact of the
matter is that most advertisers view advertising as an expense when
it should be treated as an investment. Most business people lack
confidence in their creative and marketing team and therefore end up
doing it themselves. They write their own copy, cast their own
actors (their kids, dog and/or sales manager) and even schedule it
based on which station rep has the most freebies to giveaway that
month. Talk about prescription without diagnosis. This isn't
advertising, it's throwing your money away. It's nothing
more than the blind leading the blind.
The client and the
advertising team should work closely together, though there should be
a level of trust and confidence in the ability of the advertising
team. Trust comes from a demonstrated ability to formulate a plan
based on proven principles. At least start there. Make sure
whomever is handling your advertising has a sound plan. You'll
know it when you see it. Trust your instincts and walk away if it
smells like a rat. Start by demanding competence and don't
settle until you feel like you've got a committed team behind
you.
Keep Climbing,
Jake
