Advertising: The Lipstick On A Pig?
Sorry my digital friends. Today I would like to share just a small portion of my frustration with you. Please watch our protest trailer Advertising: the lipstick on a pig? first. If you also work in the interactive industry, there’s a slight possibility you might recognize this feeling? If not yet, please read along…
I do not think that advertising is the only way into modern consumers’ hearts and wallets anymore. Modern consumers do expect brands to listen to their needs as well. Brands need to provide them smarter products and better service.
Sorry my marketers: it’s not only about delivering great brand promises through advertising. Your brand experience should be in better balance with the promises you make. And here many brands need to work on severe load balancing. Load balancing is a computing term and means: the increase reliability through redundancy. Better explained at Wikipedia here.
Concrete and tangible message to marketers: under promise and over deliver! That might get you back on track with advertising.
Another reason why advertising can be the lipstick on a pig? If you have bad products or poor services, do you really expect consumers to buy them from you? Consumers simply don’t buy pigs. Not even the fancy pigs with lipstick.
So save your money and get back in the value chain. Stop shouting for a while and start listening. Marketing is as simple as relationships! If you only shout at your partner and never listen: he or she will leave you!
A few other reasons why I need some supportive words from you?
Very recent research amongst marketers shocked me: marketers did not embrace the internet yet. Since they felt internet would not offer them sufficient measurability. What??? Sorry ladies and gents, that’s the biggest bullocks ever. Do you feel that? Or have you tried it?
Internet is by fact the most measurable and accountable “medium” ever. How do I know? I’ve been a CMO for 7 years. At listed companies. Very big spenders. Really big! I did not feel. I tried. But I also tapped into the IAB in 1997. Even chaired their NL division for 5 years. So I pretend to know a bit about online accountability.
With internet you can measure it all: clicks, UV’s, leads, sales and cost per sales. So credit crunch surviving tip: switch 20% of your budget to online. It will bring you accountability and proof of return on investment. Or don’t and just pray that your competitor is as ignorant as you are. But don’t count on that.
And what you cannot measure on the internet is brand equity. There’s a simply solution to change from: feeling into knowing by fact. It’s called brand tracking or cross media tracking research. At i.e. Metrixlab.
All our brands do it. And to due this proof all the marketers’ internal stakeholders drink the Kool-Aid thirsty. Brands that don’t: again pray that your competitor is as ignorant as you are.
Or don’t do the study. So you can feel, assume and hide another year or more. Here’s a good reason for you: that study was a bit too expensive for us. Next, feel free to pump another Million into a GRP’s and Print. That’s really accountable, right? I hope you will survive the credit crunch, so you can duck and dive your companies’ responsibility for another decade by “feeling” it might not work for you…
Lately I’ve read a lot of media agencies saying they want to become the director of the communications strategy and marketing value chain. It might be a smart idea if it’s meant authentic. Not if it’s a cheap proposition change to survive the credit crunch.
Why would a CMO believe their media agency can do that the coming years? Since most media agencies have been very reactive and not very innovative and pro-active the last decade. Are they the ones that can move-up the value chain the next 5 years or sooner? Or is it “learning monkeys how to climb” on your own expenses?
Most media agencies have been focusing on buying the last 30 seconds (TV Airtime in GRP’s) for the last 10 years and have neglected performance marketing, measurement, eCRM, eCommerce, consumer knowledge and other steps in the communications and marketing value chain in full.
The advertising agencies. Will they bring the solution? What have they done the last ten years? Focused on the last 30 seconds (TVc) since it was their last standing cash cow? Or do you believe them in being your best partner in “directing and guiding” the communications process? I think the advertising agencies were pronounced dead when they gave the “media buying” to the media agencies 10 years ago…
Is there or a solution to my frustration? Well listening programs or eCRM might be the best step into consumer knowledge and loyal customers! Unthink: keep advertising but do start a conversational tracking program or consumer connectivity program soon.
My advice to marketers. I do believe in advertising. Don’t worry. So, please keep shouting all you want. But please promise me you’ll start listening too!
Tap into that conversational tracking program for a year. Start a consumer connectivity program for a year. But mind you: I said program of one year. Not tracking or connecting for just one campaign or product launch. I promise you: it will drive both your brand equity and sales!
Need examples how to save brand equity and drive sales at the same time? Look at Starbucks and Dell.
My digital friends. Today I really need your support. Just a few simple and kind words from an interaction pro or peer could keep me motivated for another year. Just a simple “one day, it will be fine” would be sufficient!! I will support you back.
Maybe we can even start the “interactive group hug” here. Invite all interaction “passionistas” you know. And let’s share our frustration in a few lines. I think we would all feel much better… Deal?
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Igor, I feel your pain.
And actually blogged about this problem – I Heart Pig Lipstick – why gimmicks don’t drive word of mouth.
The thing is – it’s a lot easier to make a mediocre product. To design features (instead of solutions). And then to yell about them.
But customers are much more savvy now. They have many more options to tune out the yelling.
Smaller, more nimble companies are, and will, adapt.
And the larger companies, will go extinct.
@ Bolaji
Thanks for your support!
Yes mediocre products with mediocre campaigns will certainly extinct. I hope soon, than the others will get their wake up call
Cheers
Igor
I agree with most of what you say but not all.
Definitely agree: It is vital that a brand promise is delivered. It is even better if a brand finds ways to go further and delight consumers – by listening, exciting, surprising, , etc.
Tend to disagree: With all comments about media agencies (Mind you, I work for one so guess I’m bias).
@ Andrew
Indeed the balance between brand promise and also delivering a great brand experience is what makes a brand.
Don’t get we wrong. We work with splendid media agencies as well. But I have been a marketer for almost 10 years and not all traditional agencies were really aligned with realizing goals.
There’s more in the marketing value chain than producing award winning TV commercials and reaching people. Engaging people and drive them into the sales funnel should be the logic next step.
And that partnership from agencies, being aligned with driving business objectives I still miss sometimes.
Cheers
Igor