The Basement

Lately, I've been writing about lousy advertising. It's always easier to be critical than to be constructive and I don't want to be known as the one who always says nay. So, I thought I write a bit about good advertising. Hmmmm, and there's the rub... what is good advertising?

To answer this question, I have take a small step back... I know, I know, trust me, this will get constructive in a just a second ... the thing that I don't like about the VW 120 films interactive site, the Burger King NFL spots, the subservient chicken, the Paris Hilton Carl's Jr. commercial, and all the rest of the funny-cute-clever-creative-but-completely-unrelated-to-an-actual-product ad campaigns out there is that they are about advertising... not marketing. For all of the Ad Execs who might be reading this, let me type that again real slow... Bad advertising is about advertising, not marketing.

As first blush this may appear nonsensical. It ain't. And I'm quite serious. To understand this, we have to get back to some fundamental definitions. Definitions that lots of brilliant advertising folks seem to have long forgotten.

Advertising, according to dictionary.com, is

1. The activity of attracting public attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or electronic media.

2. The business of designing and writing advertisements.

3. Advertisements considered as a group: This paper takes no advertising.

So, advertising is about attracting attention by buying media and the business thereof.

Marketing is a bit harder. Marketing is derived from the verb form of market meaning to sell. So marketing then, is any activity that results in the selling of more stuff. That's it. Nothing else.

To non-marketing types, this will sound obvious or like common sense. To marketing types, on the other hand, it will sound confusing. They've long since forgotten this fundamental principal – or at the very least they are producing advertising as if they had. So for they marketing folks, let's set the record straight: marketing is not about making people laugh, it's not about connecting emotionally with the consumer, it's not about story telling, it's not about making people feel good, or educating the customer, or winning awards, or being clever, or increasing awareness, or creating a brand identity, or inspiring evangelists or anything else other than selling more stuff... unless, of course, it helps you sell more stuff. In other word, if it ain't helping you sell more stuff, it ain't marketing.

The funny thing to me is that the average consumer completely understands this while the average marketer is trying hard to pretend it's not true. Why? Because when we feel that we are bing marketed to, we limit the amount that we trust the information. If an advertisement feels like marketing, then we tune it out. Realizing this, marketers have come up with advertising that doesn't feel like marketing. They've done such a good job that lots of advertising is no longer marketing because it doesn't help sell more stuff. Have you been to Burger King or Carl's because of the recent ads? Did you buy a Passat because of the elephant trick video? Me neither. These campaigns make consumers laugh. They win Addy's. They get downloaded 100 million times in the first hour. But they don't sell more stuff.

Now that we're clear on the concepts, let me substitute definitions for the words advertising and marketing in my assertion:

Bad attraction of public attention is about the business of designing and writing advertisements, not selling more stuff.

Firms like Crispin Porter + Bogusky are selling crap to giants like Volkswagen and Burger King based on the idea that good ads get remembered. This is true. But why would Volkswagen want to pay $400M for people to remember CP+B's product (the ad) and not theirs? These ads are about the ego of the creative director and not about the product.

Here's a test. Watch some ads on TV with friends or family. After an ad ask the open question "What did you think of that?" and point to the TV. Don't mention the product and don't use the word "ad". If the response is "That was a (good, funny, interesting, etc.) ad." then the ad wasn't marketing. If, on the other hand, the response is "That's a (cool, neat, interesting, useful, etc.) product." then it's marketing. If they actually want the thing, then it's good marketing.

This brings me to my epiphany... Good marketing is transparent.

Sure, educate, entertain, create passion, whatever but do it in respectful ways that connect with the customer. Make sure there isn't an impedance mismatch. Tell them the story, not a story. Be honest, open, and credible. Don't overstate. And above all, never forget that no matter how hard you try to pretend otherwise, the consumer knows you're marketing to them. But, when the customer feels they're getting the straight scoop, something magical happens... they listen. They don't see the marketing, they see the product. If the product is good enough, and it will help get them from where they are to where they want to be, guess what? They might buy your product.

So here's the corollary: Good advertising is about marketing.

And translated for the advertising execs: Good attraction of public attention is about selling more stuff.

In my opinion Geico, OnStar and Apple all produce good television ads. And by good, I mean good marketing. When you get done seeing these ads you say "Man, the new Nano looks cool." or "I wonder how much Geico could save me?" or "Maybe a car with OnStar would make our long road trips safer." I don't feel marketed to – even though I know I am. The marketing is transparent. In contrast, when you see the BK/NFL ads you say "Man, what a cool ad. Do you think the King was added with CG?" Think about it, have you ever watched one of the BK/NFL ads and then thought about the fries? Me neither.

Lesson to Marketers: After watching a pitch for a new campaign, ask yourself "If we run with this, will people say 'great ad' or 'great product'?" If the answer is the former, fire you ad firm and start over.

[FOOTNOTE: This post was inspired by a phone converstation with Marc Babej over at Being Reasonable. He's focused on the notions that common sense needs to return to marketing and that marketers need to remember that the purpose of marketing is to sell stuff and nothing else. Neat guy.]