Here is the modern version of advertising’s dirty little secret: Social media marketing is not for you. OK, that is not entirely accurate – let me temper the statement a bit: Most likely, social media marketing is not for you. It is time to put the brakes on the rush to go social – at least it should be, but with the projections of companies increasing their their investment in social media marketing by 34% over the next five years, such a pause for a reality break is not likely.
Clorox Fashionably Clean : Featuring : Thao – Bag Of Hammers
I fall for it every time. There is no denying the fact that it is cheating, but I still fall for it: A commercial rolls onto the screen and it carries a friend of mine along with it, and I’m hooked. I connect. Advertising that works is all about connecting. People don’t really want to be sold anything, but they do want to feel like they are a part of something larger than themselves. A vibe. A coolness. So, being a people, I fall into this trap when a clever advertiser borrows an artist’s hard-earned cool for a commercial.
This is how my thinking goes:
“(gasp) How did they know about that song? It’s such a cool/indie/obscure/totally-not-radio-friendly-omagodiloveit song! And someone at Clorox likes it, too! Clorox gets me! They understand me! I love Clorox!”
Rational? There is not an ounce of lucidity in that stream of consciousness. It wears off, eventually, but now I have a new affinity for the product when I’m shopping. Employing cool songs for instant connection is one of my favorite advertising shortcuts. Here is a collection of a few well-flaired cheating song commercials that are currently airing in living rooms across America: … Read More
Flairification’s AdFeed
No, The Client Is Not Always Right.
Why does it feel so wrong to say the client is not always right? Take a job in advertising, and if you don’t learn this fact by the end of your first month, you are probably too much of a people pleaser and you should move on to another career. I’m not trying to be caustic, it really would be for your own good.
When it comes to their business objectives and goals, the client is most definitely right – except for when they’re not right there either, and in those cases Darwin’s Law seems to work things out. The role of a marketer is to help the client achieve their goals through strategic creative executions. (As I typed that last line, In my head I could hear John Cleese reading it aloud with his mocking tone, chastising me for falling into MBA speak.) Read More »