Advertising doesn't sell stuff...

I was looking at the Brand Republic site and came across a blog post by a man called Dave Trott. I thought it had been written really well and was pretty much true for myself! ...

I always loved Bill Berbach’s advertising for the VW Beetle.
But I never bought one.
I loved John Webster’s Honey Monster advertising.
But I never ate Sugar Puffs.
I also loved John’s advertising the Guardian.
But I never bought it.
I loved David Abbott’s advertising for The Economist.
But I never read it.
I loved Saatchi’s advertising for The Conservatives.
But I never voted for them.
I loved Trevor Beattie’s ad for Wonderbra.
But I never wore one.
I loved Terry Lovelock’s ads for Heineken.
But I never drank it.
I liked Alex Taylor’s ads for The Army.
But I never joined it.
I like VCCP’s ads for Compare The Meerkat.
But I’ve never visited the site.
I loved BBH’s ads for Paddy Power.
But I’ve never been in their betting shops.
I liked Barbara Noakes’s ads for Dr. White’s tampons.
But I’ve never used any.
I liked Paul Arden’s ads for Silk Cut.
But I’ve never smoked them.
I liked Fallon’s Drumming Gorilla.
But I’ve never bought a bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk.
In fact there are loads of ads I love.
But often, I don’t buy the product
So where does that leave advertising?
Does that mean it doesn’t work?
Well it depends on what you think advertising’s job is.
If you think its job is to sell products to people who don’t want them then no, it doesn’t work.
If you define a great ad as making people rush out and buy something they could never imagine buying, then no, it doesn’t do that either.
So how do you define advertising?
I’ll tell you what it is to me.
It gives my client an edge over their competitor.
But that’s all it is, an edge.
And an edge can’t do the whole job on its own.
If you’re in the market for a car, maybe I can make you buy my brand.
But you’ve got to be in the market for a car in the first place.
If you’d never even consider a car, I can’t make you want one.
I can’t turn a core non-user into a core user.
Because advertising is just one of many factors involved in the process.
Factors like product quality, is it any good?
Factors like distribution, do they sell it near me?
Factors like cost, is it more expensive?
Factors like personal taste, is it available in a colour I like?
Advertising isn’t the be-all and end-all of selling something.
True, in a parity situation, advertising can give you an unfair advantage.
But advertising is just one of the factors that will influence selling.
That’s why many products sell despite bad advertising.
Because they’re good products.
Or they’re widely available.
Or they’re cheap.
Or consumers like them.
All advertising can do is influence a consumer.
But only influence.
All other things being equal, it can tip the balance.
But it can’t do the whole job on its own.
If you’ve got a good pitch for your product, advertising can get someone to listen.
It can get their attention and get your case heard.
At best it can create a ‘propensity to purchase’.
A willingness to buy, a curiosity to try.
If, it’s available where I shop.
If, the price is right.
If, it’s in my size.
If, it’s in a colour I like.
If, I like the taste.
If, I’m in the mood.
If, it’s the right time of year.
If, I’m the right age, sex, religious persuasion.
If, I have the right interest, habits, predilections.
If I tick all those boxes good advertising will work.
But most advertising doesn’t work.

Because most advertising is done by people who don’t understand that.

iHobo App

Searching through the top free apps in the App Store last night (I'm still a student - the only app I have willingly paid for is a Glee one) I came across the iHobo app, of which I downloaded. Initially finding the name of the app comical, I thought the app's contents would be the same....

iHobo is a game that takes place in real-time over 3 days. You are given a homeless man to live on your phone for 72 hours. In that time you have to be there to provide him with every need, whether it be food, money or a sleeping bag. If you're not there for him then he can turn to drugs, or even die. Annoyingly, I didn't request push notifications on this, so when my homeless man wanted something I wasn't there for him. Basically, when I checked up on him by the morning he had been mugged for his sleeping bag, didn't have any money for a hostel and had taken drugs to stop the cold. Clearly I'm not cut out for this malarkey.

The app was created by Publicis London to raise awareness of Depaul UK, a charity devoted to youth homelessness, with the aim of trying to get more young people involved in the issue. I found it to be effective in the way that it instills a sense of guilt in you when you come back to find out what's been happening with your hobo after leaving him for the night - putting the issue into an almost entertaining setting helps the user to understand what can happen when homeless, and hopefully will encourage others to think twice when they pass a real homeless person on the street.

Waitrose by Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw

I've been aware of the Waitrose advertising campaign with Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal for a while now. Using two of the countries best known chefs, particularly two from such a middle classed background, was a clever take on the Sainsburys campaign which used Jamie Oliver. Great way to personify a brand through a cook. 

Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw worked with Waitrose on the release of this campaign after the MyWaitrose website had been launched. This site focused on the closest Waitrose customers, the most active members of MyWaitrose and the most influential food bloggers. The idea was that the best advertising isn't simply just heard, its talked about. This lead the design agency to come up with a food box containing all the ingredients for Delia's first TV advert recipe and to deliver it to the most active MyWaitrose members so they could make the recipe themselves. 

The outcome was a great success and over half of the receivers wrote about it on their blogs. What had been achieved was the customers had launched the campaign for Waitrose themselves. 

Looking at more designs from Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw, I really liked the way that they had put their work under the title 'how to', such as 'how to get your customer's talking', 'how to rebrand 15 million people' and 'how to sell hope'. It really looks like they know exactly what they're doing meaning clients will be encouraged to use them.

Leeds City Museum

I have to admit that having been away from Leeds for a year has made me appreciate the city a lot more. I feel that I have become a lot more involved within university, as well as taking advantage of some of the local sites around the city. That's why during a visit into town this weekend I chose to stop by the Leeds City Museum. I particularly likes the Leeds Story gallery as I rarely think of Leeds having much history aside from being an industrial city.

The museum in Millennium Square, originally opened in 1819, but re-opened in 2008 and used to be the Mechanic's Institute. Millenium Square has recently been renovated and contains many modern bars and restaurants, so I really like the contrast between the old and new buildings within the square. When researching into it I came across a story concerning the 'Leeds Tiger', a stuffed animal within the museum. It was so loved by the locals that when the museum planned to remove it the Yorkshire Post newspaper held a campaign to keep it. What I found to be quite interesting was that it originally came to the museum as a tiger skin rug which was then combined with a number of other tiger skins to create the overall tiger effect. The museum had wanted to get rid of it as it had been stuffed with straw and had for over a century had a permanent sagginess to it, as well as the possibility of it being dangerous due to the Victorians who may have preserved it with arsenic soap.

Cadburys Chocolate Fingers

Pizza Express Test Lab

I found out about the new Pizza Express in Richmond, from a friend who lives there. The chain have opened the restaurant as a 'living lab' by testing out new opening hours (8.45am), new menus and a new service style in the form of a takeaway kiosk. The idea is that they will see what works in this restaurant, and then roll it out over the rest of the chain.

A lot of companies seem to make assumptions on what they think will and won't work so I really liked the idea of Pizza Express doing some 'real' testing with their customers. Not only are they updating the brand by bringing into light key trends, but they are also ensuring that they will work with their clientele.

Pretty Photography

Researching into my current university project to create a brand identity for a new charm jewelry range, I came across this image on another person's blog. Lace automatically reminds me of my grandma, or vintage style and the way the material is used in this image automatically makes me feel that it was taken a long time ago, but clearly wasn't.