Ever wonder about that little philosophical exercise?
It’s probably easier to figure out how many seed
ticks there are in a Virginia field after a mild winter.
The point of all this is to get a better understanding
of your advertising, especially its impact.
Too often a
marketer places ads or runs commercials that are about
as common and pedestrian as a blue uniform in
a Yankee army (and some are about as tasteless). These
advertisements fall into the category of “clutter” because
that’s what they do: clutter the pages of newspapers
and magazine, clutter the airwaves, and generally serve
as “filler”. These are the ads that no one
sees or hears. They are the trees falling in the forest.
How do you step away from the thundering herd? Creativity,
of course. But there is a fine line between creativity
that works and creativity for the sake of being creative.
One separates you from the crowd, identifies why you and
your products are right for the people your trying to sell
to, and produces a positive return on investment; the other
may well separate you from the crowd but rarely accommodates
the other requirements.
Ever sit in on an advertising agency
presentation? Most will identify their point of differentiation
as their creative
product and, in so doing, indicate the number of awards
their advertising has received. Bully! Kind of like McClellan
- looks good on parade but can’t fight worth a darn.
And most of those awards are received for “pro bona” accounts
that get the work for free, or out-of-pocket expense, in
exchange for creative latitude. Unfortunate too, many of
the pieces that win awards do so without regard to actual
budget, actual cost, marketing objectives, media schedule,
or results.
Now, let’s jump this fence and attack
the problem head-on. To put some creativity into your advertising
program
really requires that you do some very basic things: step
away from your business and look at it objectively; look
at your business from the eyes of your customers; look
at competition and really understand what they are doing; “talk” to
your customer in their own language; give your customer
the benefit of the doubt -that they are intelligent ... discriminating ...
not prone to hyperbole, pressure
or misdirected pathos; remember that your customers are sensitive to product
quality, value received for dollars spent, and complementary,
supportive service; that you value their business and you
recognize that they are responsible for your success;
think a little harder, stop and ask yourself if your ads
or commercials
would get you to buy your own product
or shop in your store - and answer honestly.
Now
all you have to do is incorporate these elements into your advertising. Results-oriented
creativity is difficult to do consistently. It is like Lincoln
trying to find a general who could fight Lee and win. A tough job to fill.
In the final analysis it’s all quite simple. It
comes down to having a real understanding of the people
you are
doing business with, or those you
want to do business with. It boils down to understanding your market and
talking to them in their own language. Not yours.
Let me
add that as we enter the 90’s we are starting to
see some interesting shifts in the marketplace. Marketers
who miss some of these signals are going
to be left in the dust.
Consumer perceptions and attitudes are more cautious,
pensive and practical. With the operative word being “practical”.
Quality, value and service will serve as the watchwords
and the guidelines for the next decade - and perhaps
beyond.
