You’re probably familiar with the apocryphal story about Montezuma II. The Aztec chief stood on a hill overlooking the Gulf of Mexico as a fleet of Spanish vessels approached. Yet, the wily Montezuma did not see them as they sailed into the harbor virtually right before his eyes. He couldn’t see them because he had no concept of such large ships. He didn’t see because he didn’t believe.
Advantage Cortez.
True or not, the story illustrates the falsehood of the old saw “I’ll believe when I see it.” In reality it’s quite the opposite: “I’ll see it when I believe it.”
Understand this and you’re on a new marketing plane. Add one more truism, ‘facts don’t build belief,’ and you’re moving to the top of the class… and beyond 75% of B2C marketers and 99% of B2B (the purveyors of facts, facts, facts and more facts).
Case in point: How difficult was it for republicans to see that Romney could not win?
C’mon, before the first vote was cast, Obama had in his pocket about half of the electoral votes he needed: New York, New Jersey, the entire northeast, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, California, Oregon, Washington.
Republicans didn’t believe their own polls, so they never saw the hard truth. When positive job numbers came ahead of the election, they refused to believe… said the numbers were just plain wrong... an Obama conspiracy.
When economic think tanks tallied up Romney’s economic plan and declared that it would add to the deficit, republicans screamed ‘liars’ and refused to believe. They saw the ‘facts’ and acted just like Montezuma.
Advantage democrats.
Marketing 101: Build consumers’ belief and you initiate sales. Share a vision rather than a fact, and the number of your followers will grow. Appeal to the heart rather than the head and you’re almost always on the right track, unless you’re selling commodities like Drano. Yes, ‘Drano clears clogged drains 5 times faster than the competition’ is a great fact-based ad that works in that arena. ‘The new Dell is 5 times faster than the MacBook Pro,’ is a stone cold loser.
And look how quickly an emotional ad can change the marketing landscape.
Case in point: the Samsung’s Galaxy III. One ad, the nerds standing in line for the latest iPhone, has shoved Apple from the top of the heap. That one little ad did what hasn’t been done in almost a decade.
Sure, there’s a few facts sprinkled in (larger screen size, tap to send files) but the real message is that the Galaxy is way cooler; and Samsung treats you like an adult and not a child standing in line to get the newest Beanie Baby at Toys R’ Us. Only a few diehard nerds and old people (mom and dad in the ad) think that standing in line for hours to get a smartphone is somehow cool or sensible.
Apple took its customers and their loyalty for granted… Apple execs didn’t understand the shift in consumer perspective because they didn’t believe they could ever be overtaken… just as republicans didn’t get the new demographics and Montezuma saw nothing but clear sailing.
‘I’ll see it when I believe it’… no truer marketing words have ever been spoken.
(PS: Allow me to gripe for a minute. Whomever created the Samsung ad should have been paid in stock options. How much is that ad worth? Hundreds of millions at a minimum. Yet, why do I think the agency charged $1 million or so and Samsung bean counters kicked up a fuss. If the ad’s creators were paid $50 million it wasn’t enough!)
“Consumers want a new story... authenticity, not spin... participation, not propaganda.”
Showing posts with label attack advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attack advertising. Show all posts
New Wave Marketing and Advertising 101: What Marketers Should Learn from the Last Election
(If you’re old enough to remember the Doors, you know that Morrison usually opened his concerts by shouting WAKE UP!
)
Here are a few takeaways for those souls interested in marketing and advertising and politics.
1. Attack ads work as does frequency (which is how Romney got so close)… but they have to be bolstered with some sort of positive vision. You can’t win/sell anything simply by defining what it’s not: ‘Vote Romney because you hate Obama’ is not enough.
The same for marketing. When it comes to attracting consumers, a product has to stand for something with a positive, inspiring long-term vision. Pepsi used to advertise that it’s not Coke. So what? Then they did taste tests… still, so what? Then they began their Pepsi generation theme and things took off.
2. It’s nauseating how pundits keep saying that republicans need to change their message. That is duplicitous at best and downright evil at the core. Change the philosophy and adapt your ideas to the 21st century, THEN change the message to match the new soul of the party.
Putting out a new message while your beliefs don’t change is the worst kind of cheap direct response. Change the product then change the message... not the other way around.
3. Let me repeat for the umpteenth time: after September, 2008 everything has changed: consumer expectations, middle class incomes, trust in banking, the role of government, belief in technology, levels of consumption, demographics and YES, THE AMERICAN NARRATIVE ITSELF.
4. You’ve heard all about the demographics, but let me add one more: each month, 50,000 Hispanics turn 18 and are eligible to vote. Do the math for 2016.
5. The American belief in self-reliance, perfectly defined by Emerson’s famous essay of the same name, has changed... only angry white guys have missed this watershed moment.
Want proof?
The republican mantra is built on individual hard work, an independent, entrepreneurial spirit and a refusal to take handouts from the government.
Think for a second: this philosophy is strongest in Asian and Hispanic communities. These folks work and work and work (more than most white communities), so they should be prime republicans, but they’re not.
Over 70% of Asians and Hispanics voted democratic.
Why?
Because the republican, classic American belief that small government is best for the individual is not shared by immigrants. Most don’t see government as the villain; rather, they see big, greedy business as the obstacle to their success, as it tilts the playing field against them, barely pays a living wage and sends jobs overseas.
Bottom line: marketing and politics are both about telling a story with vision, one that corresponds with consumer/electorate desires and is in step with their core beliefs. Anything else, and you’ll spend billions for frequency and market share and still lose to a smarter, more passionate, more in-tune competitor.
And... when you try to sell anything with a story that runs counter to the prevailing meta-narrative (core, unquestioned beliefs) you will fail, just as the republicans did… and you will continue to fail until you change more than your marketing message.
A new tag line won't do it... you have to change your heart.
Here are a few takeaways for those souls interested in marketing and advertising and politics.
1. Attack ads work as does frequency (which is how Romney got so close)… but they have to be bolstered with some sort of positive vision. You can’t win/sell anything simply by defining what it’s not: ‘Vote Romney because you hate Obama’ is not enough.
The same for marketing. When it comes to attracting consumers, a product has to stand for something with a positive, inspiring long-term vision. Pepsi used to advertise that it’s not Coke. So what? Then they did taste tests… still, so what? Then they began their Pepsi generation theme and things took off.
2. It’s nauseating how pundits keep saying that republicans need to change their message. That is duplicitous at best and downright evil at the core. Change the philosophy and adapt your ideas to the 21st century, THEN change the message to match the new soul of the party.
Putting out a new message while your beliefs don’t change is the worst kind of cheap direct response. Change the product then change the message... not the other way around.
3. Let me repeat for the umpteenth time: after September, 2008 everything has changed: consumer expectations, middle class incomes, trust in banking, the role of government, belief in technology, levels of consumption, demographics and YES, THE AMERICAN NARRATIVE ITSELF.
4. You’ve heard all about the demographics, but let me add one more: each month, 50,000 Hispanics turn 18 and are eligible to vote. Do the math for 2016.
5. The American belief in self-reliance, perfectly defined by Emerson’s famous essay of the same name, has changed... only angry white guys have missed this watershed moment.
Want proof?
The republican mantra is built on individual hard work, an independent, entrepreneurial spirit and a refusal to take handouts from the government.
Think for a second: this philosophy is strongest in Asian and Hispanic communities. These folks work and work and work (more than most white communities), so they should be prime republicans, but they’re not.
Over 70% of Asians and Hispanics voted democratic.
Why?
Because the republican, classic American belief that small government is best for the individual is not shared by immigrants. Most don’t see government as the villain; rather, they see big, greedy business as the obstacle to their success, as it tilts the playing field against them, barely pays a living wage and sends jobs overseas.
Bottom line: marketing and politics are both about telling a story with vision, one that corresponds with consumer/electorate desires and is in step with their core beliefs. Anything else, and you’ll spend billions for frequency and market share and still lose to a smarter, more passionate, more in-tune competitor.
And... when you try to sell anything with a story that runs counter to the prevailing meta-narrative (core, unquestioned beliefs) you will fail, just as the republicans did… and you will continue to fail until you change more than your marketing message.
A new tag line won't do it... you have to change your heart.
Pittsburgh, Marketing and the Beauty of ATTACK Ads
I once worked for a guy who really knew his stuff, at least for a time and until he went into old-man mode after he made millions (with my help, I might add). He taught me a lot… but we always disagreed about negativity in ads… negativity aimed at the competition. He was against it: “show what you do, not what they don’t do.”
I was always for direct attacks at the competition that I see as the enemy.
I was born and raised in Pittsburgh during its dirty times when our sports teams were crap and the city had just begun its renaissance. And being from the Burg meant having a huge chip on your shoulder – and decades later I still do. It’s part of the Pittsburgh angst and anger that I’ve carried with me to every corner of the world. I haven’t been back home in years but that anger never moves far from the surface. I can be in Paris or London and it’s right there, whenever I see anyone or anything that looks pompous or full of itself… big brands, big ads by big companies, “London is the best city in the world,” and hogwash like that.
My Pittsburgh anger is about being discounted by the major media, discounted by places like Philadelphia (a hell hole, really), New York, Boston. I still remember Lou Reed’s small town song that says, “there's no Michelangelo coming from Pittsburgh," or something like that.
The anger comes from never being able to shake the stereotype. A lot of people and things come from Pittsburgh and its environs: Gene Kelley, Mary Cassatt, Andy Warhol, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, the Salk vaccine, Ahmad Jamal, Annie Dillard, Gertrude Stein, August Wilson, David McCullough, Christina Aguilera, Henry Mancini, Jimmy Stewart and my boyhood hero Bill Mazeroski, who single-handedly (at least to my young boy eyes) beat the mighty Yankees and that blowhard Mickey Mantle. But no matter. Even though we beat them our team is still crap and Pittsburgh is yokel, ignorant, bohunk… ad infinitum.
Let’s get back to marketing so my blood pressure can subside. When you and your product are dismissed by the bigger brands there’s only one way to respond. ATTACK! Like Gingrich did to Romney, then Mitt back to Newt. It’s documented that when Gingrich went negative he took the lead; Romney stopped being a sissy, then he retook the lead.
Or are you trying to tell me that politics ain’t marketing?
If you’re the little guy, the underrated product or the new kid that the competition dismisses with snickers and sneers and “who even knows about them?” comments, you must ATTACK.
Why? Because no one believes that you’re better, so touting your features and benefits rarely works. After all, the logical consumer believes that if you were better, you’d be bigger and more successful, right?
When Apple finally attacked the PC with those clever “I’m a Mac” ads, they stole market share from Microsoft.
You ATTACK the hubris, the pomposity, the idea of entitlement your competitor has simply by virtue of his size or his big ads and media control. How do you beat that? A punch in the face. (Yes, once you attack, then and only then demonstrate your expertise, new features, better financing, and the like.)
I did it when I challenged Allergan with “Better than Botox?” I would have preferred to kill the question mark but had to do so to keep this side of the FTC. Yes, I attacked Allergan with all its millions and press power and physician support; and I did so with everything Pittsburgh taught me: screw ‘em, I have nothing to lose so they can’t scare me, and who the hell do they think they are?
Did we beat them? Well, we pulled in half a billion dollars. They spent years trying to stop the ad and never could… in fact, had they bought us out and used our skin cream as a post-Botox healing cream, Allergan could have cleaned up. But they were too proud to admit that a small company took the shine off of their skin toxin.
People love a David and Goliath story; they love the underdog, the guy or gal who’s been wronged by the big company, the big ad agency… the little guy who never gets a fair shake and would win if the playing field were even.
Why am I a better marketer than, say, David Ogilvy? (He was the best, in my opinion, this is just an example.)
Because he gets attention by spending bags of the client’s money and not by being creative; because he threatens to pull his million dollar ad campaign if a magazine dares to run my ads; because he slips money to web sites and pays for positive comments and blogs without doing any work himself; because he doesn’t care about you or your product since he’s too busy spending the money he’s overcharged you. Have you seen his chateau in France? How do you think he got the money to buy that monstrosity? You probably helped pay for a room in the place.
So choose me! Without saying it, I am obviously the opposite of Ogilvy: creative, trustworthy, concerned, honest… and I’m successful the old fashioned way… I earn it and I don’t ‘cheat’ my clients.
I won’t convince everybody, but I guarantee you I’ll get more clients than simply touting my capabilities and being the nice guy. “Shucks, we’re a good agency that does good work at a good price.” Good luck with that one.
I was always for direct attacks at the competition that I see as the enemy.
I was born and raised in Pittsburgh during its dirty times when our sports teams were crap and the city had just begun its renaissance. And being from the Burg meant having a huge chip on your shoulder – and decades later I still do. It’s part of the Pittsburgh angst and anger that I’ve carried with me to every corner of the world. I haven’t been back home in years but that anger never moves far from the surface. I can be in Paris or London and it’s right there, whenever I see anyone or anything that looks pompous or full of itself… big brands, big ads by big companies, “London is the best city in the world,” and hogwash like that.
My Pittsburgh anger is about being discounted by the major media, discounted by places like Philadelphia (a hell hole, really), New York, Boston. I still remember Lou Reed’s small town song that says, “there's no Michelangelo coming from Pittsburgh," or something like that.
The anger comes from never being able to shake the stereotype. A lot of people and things come from Pittsburgh and its environs: Gene Kelley, Mary Cassatt, Andy Warhol, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, the Salk vaccine, Ahmad Jamal, Annie Dillard, Gertrude Stein, August Wilson, David McCullough, Christina Aguilera, Henry Mancini, Jimmy Stewart and my boyhood hero Bill Mazeroski, who single-handedly (at least to my young boy eyes) beat the mighty Yankees and that blowhard Mickey Mantle. But no matter. Even though we beat them our team is still crap and Pittsburgh is yokel, ignorant, bohunk… ad infinitum.
Let’s get back to marketing so my blood pressure can subside. When you and your product are dismissed by the bigger brands there’s only one way to respond. ATTACK! Like Gingrich did to Romney, then Mitt back to Newt. It’s documented that when Gingrich went negative he took the lead; Romney stopped being a sissy, then he retook the lead.
Or are you trying to tell me that politics ain’t marketing?
If you’re the little guy, the underrated product or the new kid that the competition dismisses with snickers and sneers and “who even knows about them?” comments, you must ATTACK.
Why? Because no one believes that you’re better, so touting your features and benefits rarely works. After all, the logical consumer believes that if you were better, you’d be bigger and more successful, right?
When Apple finally attacked the PC with those clever “I’m a Mac” ads, they stole market share from Microsoft.
You ATTACK the hubris, the pomposity, the idea of entitlement your competitor has simply by virtue of his size or his big ads and media control. How do you beat that? A punch in the face. (Yes, once you attack, then and only then demonstrate your expertise, new features, better financing, and the like.)
I did it when I challenged Allergan with “Better than Botox?” I would have preferred to kill the question mark but had to do so to keep this side of the FTC. Yes, I attacked Allergan with all its millions and press power and physician support; and I did so with everything Pittsburgh taught me: screw ‘em, I have nothing to lose so they can’t scare me, and who the hell do they think they are?
Did we beat them? Well, we pulled in half a billion dollars. They spent years trying to stop the ad and never could… in fact, had they bought us out and used our skin cream as a post-Botox healing cream, Allergan could have cleaned up. But they were too proud to admit that a small company took the shine off of their skin toxin.
People love a David and Goliath story; they love the underdog, the guy or gal who’s been wronged by the big company, the big ad agency… the little guy who never gets a fair shake and would win if the playing field were even.
Why am I a better marketer than, say, David Ogilvy? (He was the best, in my opinion, this is just an example.)
Because he gets attention by spending bags of the client’s money and not by being creative; because he threatens to pull his million dollar ad campaign if a magazine dares to run my ads; because he slips money to web sites and pays for positive comments and blogs without doing any work himself; because he doesn’t care about you or your product since he’s too busy spending the money he’s overcharged you. Have you seen his chateau in France? How do you think he got the money to buy that monstrosity? You probably helped pay for a room in the place.
So choose me! Without saying it, I am obviously the opposite of Ogilvy: creative, trustworthy, concerned, honest… and I’m successful the old fashioned way… I earn it and I don’t ‘cheat’ my clients.
I won’t convince everybody, but I guarantee you I’ll get more clients than simply touting my capabilities and being the nice guy. “Shucks, we’re a good agency that does good work at a good price.” Good luck with that one.
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