Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 02, 2009
For sale
Bill James
WmJamesJr@aol.com
I was never a marketing major. I do not recall ever taking a marketing class, although I am sure I touched on it once in some class in college. I don’t even think that I have read a book about marketing. Nonetheless, I like the idea of marketing and I take great interest in the way that people and things market themselves.
How many times do you hear an ad for a company on the radio and the location of the business is not part of the ad? Why would you advertise a business and not tell people where it is? Maybe, if you are Coca Cola, you don’t need to tell people where you are, but if you offer a service you would like people to come and buy from you, you should probably tell people where you are located.
Of course, maybe the folks you are advertising to are not smart enough to find you anyway. How about the packaging you find on many products in the grocery store.
“Fifty percent more than our smaller size” is second only to “NEW LOOK!” as the most meaningless information you can give me as a consumer.
That is not to say that I do not appreciate good advertising. How about that money with the googly eyes attached to it? I love that concept. I will probably never buy that insurance, but I love that ad campaign and the fact that it unquestionably adds to the name recognition of a particular insurance company. It is so good, you know what the ad is before a word is spoken.
There is a company that sells free credit reports and uses a guy singing about bad credit in order to get you to sign up. I used to like that ad campaign until I learned that the guy in the commercials is not even singing, he is just a guy that knew somebody. I used to like those ads, now I do not.
I heard an ad on the radio the other day referencing the aforementioned insurance company and noticed that the Gecko was speaking with a much thicker Australian accent than in earlier ads. I do not like it when I have to strain even the slightest in order to understand. So, by definition, I do not like that ad and will object to any further use of that particular accent in the ads.
I have to admit, I have been taken by an ad or two in my life. I once bought a fan out of the SKYMALL magazine that connected to your car window and keep your car cool in the summer by the use of solar power. It was not worth the effort that it took to open the package and did not work at all. Even worse, was the fact that I actually bought a box of SHAM-WOW. No, I was given a box of SHAM-WOW by my family. I think I got it for my birthday. Let’s just say you should use a paper towel.
There is not really a point to all of this, just some comments I have been saving up and wanted to get off my chest. If there was a point for consumers, it should be buyer beware. If there is a point for sellers, it should be buyer beware. Bad advertisement usually costs more than bad products. A cute jingle and a pretty girl don’t always add up to a quality product and even if they do, it does no good if you don’t know where to buy it. That is true, even in the CHEAP SEATS!
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