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| Why Some Ads Are Not Effective |
| Thursday, 18 March 2010 15:38 |
She is pretty and 36-24-36 sexy. He is tall, hunky and drop dead gorgeous. Until they spoke. No matter how good an ad is made, it cannot give advertisers an assurance of a profitable bottom line. It all boils down to what is being advertised. The product. All things must start from a good product. A product that not only answers a need but also surpasses people’s expectations. A product that eventually becomes a brand immortalized by millions of satisfied consumers. A brand that becomes iconic, revered by generation of users. The best advertising cannot make people buy a bad product. Yes, it will induce trial but not gain critical mass. When product claims perform below standards a loyal consumer base cannot be built. The hype will only continue to expose its weaknesses and ultimately, speed up its timely death on the shelves. A good product is born from years of extensive research and continuous improvements as the world continues to change. A great product inspires good advertising. Ad agencies will come knocking and lining up at client’s door and the best result, consumers themselves will build your brand without you asking for it. Be creative Many marketers believe that the more hard sell gimmicks they do the greater chances they will get to attract consumers. In doing so, they go overboard, overdo it and fall into the trap of the overkill. In going over-the-top, some sales men and even secretaries dictate the look and substance of an ad. In the realm of the bizarre, marketers become art directors, copywriters or creative directors, invoking creative ‘democracy’ and proclaiming themselves as sole ‘guardians’ of the brands. How many print ads do you see every day, badly art directed and written and coming literally off the page of an advertising strategy statement? How many ads have we seen looking every inch like catalogues? How many ads have we seen that have gone haywire and lost their sense of aesthetics? While advertising is not an art, certainly it should not lose its balance, taste and graphic prudence. In his speech, “Do Award Winning Commercials Sell?”, Donald Gunn, author and chronicler of the Annual Gunn Report that lists the best creative advertising in the world, presented the results of his research in Cannes a few years back. The study scrutinized 200 of the most awarded tv commercials from 36 competitions held around the world from 1992 and 1993. The man who previously believed that award-winning commercials cannot be effective was surprised at what he found out: 86% or 172 of the 200 had marketplace triumphs. New York Times quoted him as saying “I’m comfortable with the implication that, all other things being equal, advertising with award-winning qualities will outsell mediocre ads in the same product category,” Gunn said. Who are you talking to? The moms or the kids,, yuppies or headbangers, decision makers or the rank-and-file? While focusing on market successes of award-winning ads, Gunn also touched on failures. He cited many factors that have added to the fate of award-winning ads. He pointed the finger on bad demographics and poorly identified creative strategies as main culprits. Some supposed-to-be-creative ads are off-strat, created without due respect to the brand character, personality and core values. Worst, they target the wrong market: award judges – thus continuing the repetitious cycle of scam ads. Some tips to get you results: Build an attractive identity that can make your brand easily recognized wherever people go. Highlight and put your one glaring advantage to make the competition look less desirable. Advertise in the right places. Know when to strike best and find out when and where your target is most receptive to your advertising. Make your product the hero, not anyone else. If you are selling food make it look delicious and oozing with lots of appetite appeal. If you are selling beauty products choose the best talent you can possibly find. Hire the best cinematographer to make your product shots look great. Use people. People relate to other people and that makes your brand human. Entertain, amuse and make people laugh. Make them sing, dance or cry with joy. Play on people’s emotions rather than be overly pontificating. Most importantly, make a call to action for important messages and get real. |
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