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This issue of the Rants is
gonna upset some people.
I've entitled it
a controversial "Why Advertising
Is a Frickin' Waste of Money",
and I did it on purpose to wake up
some of my subscribers sluggish
brains.
Now hold on a 'sec... before you
jump down my throat and tell me how
effective advertising is... how much
it's needed in an overly medicated
and fat society like America... how
your Uncle Bernie's sister made a
ton of money advertising her Swedish
massage parlor... et cetera, et
cetera... let me illustrate a point.
Here's a quick
story for you.
Last year, Coca-Cola spent the sweet sum of $1.7 billion on
advertising towards adults. Pepsi
coughed up $1.3 billion. I'm talkin'
newspaper advertising, online
advertising, internet advertising,
advertising agencies, advertising
promotion, TV commercial
advertising... you name it.
And
if that kind of
money isn't mind boggling enough,
then...
Ask
Yourself This Simple
Question Amigo:
-
"Has any of
that money really influenced my
Coke or Pepsi drinking habits?
If you're honest, then your answer
is "hardly." If you're
dishonest and argumentative because
you're an advertising executive
yourself, then get the frick out
of here... I have no patience for
your brainwashed self.
Anyhow,
most people still
drink the same soft drinks they
drank as teenagers.
Now ask yourself: why are all of those corporate gurus in
Atlanta, GA and Purchase, NY
spending all of that money trying to
influence adults?
Why not direct
advertising towards teenagers and
save the millions of dollars spent
trying to reach adults?
In fact, both companies are *G*, guilty, of committing three
serious errors. Hark unto me as I
reveal them to you. These are
universal errors that people in
business make... no matter if
they're handling a billion dollar
budget or a few bucks for Uncle
Bernie's sister and her "girls."
-
Error 1:
Advertise because everyone else
is doing it.
-
Error 2:
Advertise to overcome
company apathy and complacency.
-
Error 3:
Advertise to compensate for
*your feelings* that people
don't perceive your value or
understand what you do.
The fact is, you can keep wasting
your money with noisy, expensive ads
that
interrupt people all day long --
like Coke and Pepsi. Or you can work
to build
permission to market to people, and
sit backand collect more sales and
more checks.
Which
Situation Would You Rather Enjoy?
Sit
back and watching the checks roll
in. Or have a bunch of creative
artsy-fartsy types tell you how your
ad had a certain "personna" about it
after they ask for a check from you
for ten-thousand bucks?
People today
have advertising backwards. What
really is the purpose of
advertising? The answer: to building
permission to stay in touch.
Think about it.
And here's two other better questions to ponder:
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How do I
build permission with my
prospects and persuade
them
to act and do business with me?
If you think you know the answer,
shoot me an email at info AT
strategic-impact.com (AT=@)
The first correct sbscriber with the
right answer wins $500.00 cash,
courtesy of little 'ol me. That's
five (5) crisp, green American
Franklins.
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