Source Marketing Direct: The elephant in the Strategy Room

  • AUTHOR: Source Marketing PR
  • 7th May 2019
Source Marketing Direct: The elephant in the Strategy Room
Source Marketing Direct: The elephant in the Strategy Room

“Marketers delude themselves into believing consumers like ads,” states our Managing Director Hector Montalvo, somewhat controversially – or is it?

When was the last time you saw an advert on TV or interrupting your Instagram scrolling and thought – ‘wow, this is sick’?

We’re not saying that doesn’t happen – we love many of the Super Bowl adverts, for example, but the vast majority fall short and simply annoy people.

Why? Well, we think because they are copy and paste jobs, and are extremely generic – often found lacking in terms of an emotional backbone.

We must admit we obviously work in engaging face to face interactions, so of course, we’re going to be critical of digital marketing as a whole – but we understand its importance in today’s connected world. That’s why we believe it’s essential to make adverts memorable, not annoying!

Just as we believe people do not enjoy adverts, I’m sure some don’t enjoy being approached by us. We’ve spoken to 75% of London’s population during the last 10 years – we’re bound to receive some negative headlines online and on social media!

However, by accepting that people don’t like adverts or being approached – we can better understand how to make an effective interaction.

“People don’t hate advertising. They hate bad advertising. Deal with the reality. Welcome it. Plan for it. Say it at conferences. Accept the underbelly of what you do. It will make you a better marketer.”- Mark Ritson of Marketing Week.

He’s got a point, doesn’t he? A lot of advertising companies and similar businesses to ours are living off past glories. This next paragraph is therefore extremely poignant;

“Arguing that a single favourite ad proves people like advertising is like suggesting that because you once briefly tapped your foot to ‘Baby’ you think that Justin Bieber and his whole back catalogue is fantastic. A stopped clock gives you the right time twice a day. An awful, unpopular medium produces a likable ad every 20 years or so.”

So, what do we suggest in response? Well, we’re pursuing realism as the route to better brand management and more success. We highlight our mistakes and our shortcomings as much as our successes – how else can we expect to improve and deliver a high quality service to our clients?

Advertising is a murky industry, but we’re fortunate to work in the face to face arena. Who knows, maybe it could work for your firm too.

-End.

Source: https://www.marketingweek.com/2019/04/11/mark-ritson-people-hate-ads/

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