could benefit from — and possibly
get along with one another better with — a little perspective.
For instance:
- Not all highly creative ads are intrinsically irresponsible.
- Not all response-oriented ads are fated to bore.
- If an ad campaign fails to meet its objectives, its level of creative
quality — or lack of it — is moot.
- Not all ad campaigns have hard sales objectives. Sometimes the objective
is to change an advertiser’s image, as IBM does with upbeat ads to shed
their once stodgy look and feel. (Not that it always works. Witness
Oldsmobile.) Sometimes the objective is to effect behavior change, as
with anti-smoking campaigns. Sometimes the objective is merely to make
people like a company, in order to decrease the likelihood
of waking up one day to find headquarters surrounded by protesters.
Shell, for instance, runs ads showing how it buries pipelines and leaves
pristine land behind. Sometimes the objective is to please or attract
shareholders.
- On the other hand, sometimes the sole advertising objective really
is to make cash registers ring, without regard for the impression the
ad leaves behind. But more often, objectives call for some balance,
which is why an increasing number of direct marketing campaigns are
as attractive and charming as they are productive and accountable.
- Certain creative approaches work well for some objectives, and poorly
for others. If you want to convince people that your wrench is more
reliable than others, you’re going to need some straightforward sales
talk about what it’s made
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from, how many pounds of torque it can take, how easy it is to grip, and
more. Some might call the resultant ad long and boring, but a mechanic
in need of a serious wrench will drink up every word. On the other hand,
if you want to convince people that you have the hottest night club in
town, chances are a glitzy, fast-paced TV spot with hard-driving music
will serve you better than a detailed description of the materials that
went into the dance floor.
You may have noticed something these
points have in common: they center around the importance of considering
the objectives behind your advertising. Indeed, objectives are
a good thing to establish long before you mull creative approaches. Objectives
are also the standard by which you should evaluate proposed concepts, and
by which you should measure a campaign’s success.
If you think the importance of establishing objectives should be
obvious, I’d have to agree: it should be. But you’d be surprised how often
advertisers overlook establishing objectives to guide their work and, later,
overlook returning to objectives to evaluate it. More than one company has
restricted its ad agency to image-enhancing campaigns and, when sales didn’t
promptly rise as a result, threatened to stop advertising altogether. You
don’t paint your house to beautify it only to declare house paint a waste
of money because you still have termites.
* * *
If you’re wondering whether your company
should go with traditional or direct response advertising, review your objectives.
If awareness, recognition and public favor are essential parts of your marketing
plan, consider awareness |
advertising. If your goals include quantifiable
leads, inquiries, sales, or dialog with customers and prospects, you should
take a look at direct response. If your objectives fall in both areas,
you may need a little of both. |