We're Over Here! Pay Attention to us!

It really grinds my gears that advertisers continue to compose campaigns with their clientele in mind, and not the consumers. Yeah, that company will buy your end product, but how about advertising to the people who, you know, buy your clients products.

There are a ton of components to make a good advertisement, however, that's not today's topic. Today's topic is how to advertise TO your consumer instead of AT them. You know what I mean: annoying pop-ups, general statements, cliche scenarios. So here are a couple ways to engage your consumer instead without annoying them.

- Use your own photos or footage - for the love of all that's good, we're sick of seeing the same damn stock photos and generic footage. If you care about your ad, maybe we will too.

- Know your target and aim accordingly - I am not in the market for new rims for my 2000 Toyota Camry. Have you ever seen 20inch rims on a Camry? No. That's ridiculous. Even if I could afford them. Which I cant, but I digress. Know your target audience and advertise to them in order to be successful.

- If you try to be funny, BE funny - This one seems relatively self explanatory, but we see it all the time. What focus group laughed at this? Are you paying them for positive reactions? That ad wasn't funny. I'm talking about you Esurance. Topical is funny if your ad isn't funny...it was just sad.

- Make me want to see more - When you tell me to "see more at blank blank .com" I should actually want to see more. If I changed the channel or closed your ad before I got to that point, chances are I don't want to see more. You failed.

- Grab my attention...and keep it - If this doesn't grab your attention, then I'm not sure what will.

Well, those are just a few things that advertisers may want to consider in order to get our attention. I know if you're anything like me, you've probably already ignored those links. But seriously, watch the link right above this paragraph. Its sick, borderline cruel, and unbelievably effective. I'm going to wait for you to watch that ad...so until then...

Top 5 Things I Hate About Online Advertising

There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to complain out loud. Thankfully for me, despite losing my voice I can still rant online.

Confined to my home, I need to find some way to entertain myself. 

In early October, my current obsession "Arrow" returns for a third season. This time on my ass has given me a perfect opportunity to catch up on the end of season 2. Needless to say, I'm excited. 

On my way to catch up on what I missed in the world of Oliver Queen (our protagonist), I was distracted by a few things that seriously pissed me off along the way. Now here comes the rant of the day.

Top 5 Things I Hate About Online Advertising

5) That ad is not a part of your content - I'm not dumb. I'm annoyed. If you continue to shove advertisements masquerading as content in my face I will ignore you. Have some dignity. Tell me its an advertisement and make it grab my attention. 

4) Long ads for short videos - If I'm trying to watch a quick summary of an episode, I do not need to sit through an ad of the same length. When I seriously want to know what happened, I just don't care what you have to say before I'm told what I want to hear. 

3) Ads I can't stop or mute - This is just not fair to the viewer. Plain in simple. We don't care, and you cant make us.

2) Asking for my email to view a video - Even if you ask for my email you won't get an account I use. Everyone has email accounts strictly for spam, and if you ask for any other details I'm leaving your page. Other websites will offer the content I want without asking for my first born child in return. This is a free market, people.

1) Anything that auto plays - Why is it that during the climactic scene of every episode, audio from some ridiculous ad starts playing in the background? You aren't making me listen to your advertisement, you're simply making me replay the last portion of the episode. This is the internet and I can do that. I came to your site to catch up on my show and I shouldn't have to be interrupted against my will. We live in a society. If you wouldn't interrupt me in a movie theater, don't interrupt my show online.

These are just some glaring issues about online advertising which fell into my lap. I assure you that I have many, many more, but I just don't have the time. Arrow awaits and I have advertisements to dodge. So until next time...

A Grain of Truth?

The next big thing is already here. Better luck with your next generation Apple.

Shots have been fired by Samsung with their newest advertisements claiming that Apple is simply mimicking features which already exist on Samsung handsets. 

But wait, how can Samsung continually insult Apple by claiming that they're out of original ideas and that they are always a step behind without legal repercussions? To answer this question, lets look into negative advertising and its regulation. 

Wikipedia has this to say,

 Critics of negative campaigns sometimes contend that negative ads are not always used for the stated reason. In some cases, negative campaigning presents twisted or spun information under the guise of bringing hidden negatives into the light. Sometimes those who practice negative campaigning and publicity also denounce the approach when used against their side by telling the attacker to be nice, be civil, stay clean, be positive, not hurt others, not get personal, not to scare people, etc.

However, I think Wikipedia's entry should look something like this...

Critics of negative campaigns sometimes contend that negative ads are not always used for the stated reason. In some cases, negative campaigning presents twisted or spun information under the guise of bringing hidden negatives into the light. Sometimes those who practice negative campaigning fail to realize that if their claims are not facts, they may be sued for libel. Virtually any negative campaign can be run without fear of prosecution if the campaign makes factual claims.

For these reasons, Samsung enables their advertising campaigns to appear to bash Apple while they are simply reciting facts in an unsavory light. If they did not comply with this regulation, Samsung would be taken to court and charged with libel (a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.). 

So we all may think that Samsung is just being cruel, while they are really running an unbelievable effective campaign. Well played Samsung...Well played.  

Do You Know This Pig?

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." - A brilliant man with terrible grammar.

Whenever somebody gets the chance to walk into an advertising agency and share this tidbit of wisdom, we will all really appreciate it. Too many times agencies take something that's working and decide they need to mix it up to draw a bigger response, but they wind up alienating the same consumers who were on their side. 

Now I'm not saying that they need to stay static in their advertising ploy, because in many instances that could be the kiss of death for a brand. However, when a company decides they want to go in another direction they need to analyze the perspective response, and then commit full board. Running multiple campaigns with different brand characters just confuses and frustrates consumers into turning their heads or changing the channel. 

Remember this bloke?

Of course you do. Not that I need to tell you, but the gecko in question is the Geico gecko. We know him. We love him. His image has become synonymous with the brand. Brilliant marketing. But time and time again companies prove that sometimes we can't leave well enough alone. There's always something better. Something more relevant. Something more...

Maxwell! 

"Yeah JD?"

Get off of my television!

This pig did nothing but annoy me as a consumer. Do I understand where they were coming from? Yeah...actually, no, not at all. 

You have your own talking animal already, why borrow one from a children's rhyme? This idea probably should have gone wee wee wee all the way back to the drawing board.  

In most cases I would explain how terrible I think it is that they couldn't commit to their new potential brand character, but thankfully someone at Geico decided to keep one foot on the ground. If not for the continued use of the gecko, Maxwell would tarnish the brand image. Of course I would be remiss if I said that I didn't like any of the Maxwell commercials. Pig in a blanket? Definitely comical. But can he stand on his own? Absolutely not. Nor should he ever. 

A valiant effort Geico, but I think its time that little piggy goes all the way home. Geico needs to stick to what they know best: small British lizards and their infamous "Did You Know?" commercials. 

They've found the formula for success, and until it ceases to be successful, my vote is to keep it going. Hopefully they will, but only time will tell. So until then...

Cows Might be Educated Too

Don't yew love when companies mispell werds on perpose? No. Nobody does. It was annoying just to write that, let alone read it. I find it insulting that I have to see things written like that on a daily basis. Much like many of you, I have attended some level of schooling so that I might be able to read and write like an intellectual, and you know, fit into society.

In recent years, companies have taken a new approach to getting noticed, and this initial concept became wildly popular. When the concept first came about, consumers were caught off guard. But isn't that the idea of advertising? To catch the attention of the consumer? Yes, fellow consumer, that is the goal. Unfortunately, seeing the same "attention grabbers" over and over and over is like being beaten to death with the same mildly entertaining joke.

Some companies have taken a hard stance and built an entire advertising campaign around the concept of purposely misspelling the words in their ads. Not to pick on any one company, but just as Roger Goodell makes examples of players, we will pick a company to sacrifice on the alter of advertising "no-no's." Enter Chick-fil-a. 

Everybody loves a good anthropomorphic (It has human characteristics) animal, and I'm not any different than any other consumer. I put my pants on one leg at a time, and laugh at a good talking cow or two. The difference is that once my pants are on and the laughs have passed, I get sick  of watching companies abuse intentional misspelling. 

Don't get me wrong. The idea is cute - cows producing advertisements for a company which specializes in chicken based food. This could potentially be the best marketing effort in the history of cowkind, or a desperate, and rather horrific, attempt at self preservation, but that's neither here nor there. Bottom line is that these ads were original...five years ago. As social media and advertising have progressed, consumers have grown weary of reading the same misspelled words. These are no longer attention grabbers, but instead just another annoying variation of the same ads. 

Continuing with the Chick-fil-a ads, maybe eventually these cows will be wearing graduation caps and sharing their information in an educated fashion. Will that be the next concept behind the advertising campaign? Doubtful, but I'm just spit-balling. The ads are affective and they serve their purpose. They make money. I'm not taking anything away from them, I just think the misspelled words are them beating a dead horse and its time for a change. 

All in all, a big thank you to Chick-fil-a. We needed a scapegoat and they flawlessly served our purposes. The only other thing I wan't to fault them for is closing on Sundays, but unfortunately I'm pretty sure the next time I eat Chick-fil-a on a Sunday will be in my dreams. They are only one of many companies using this strategy and eventually I'm sure we'll see them head in a different direction. Will we educate these heffers? The world may never know, but I'm eagerly awaiting the day they improve both their grammar and penmanship. So until that happens...

-JD

Warning: Questionable Advertising Ahead.

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh** we don't need." - Brad Pitt 'Fight Club 1999.' Brad, or Tyler Durden for my film enthusiasts, was onto something here. Advertising has us chasing cars, clothes, and even a lifestyle - agreed. We as consumers buy a lot of sh** we don't need - again, agreed. We work jobs we hate - that one's probably on us but that's not the point. Bottom line is that advertising gives us the opportunity to buy things we need and see things we want, however, I want to stress a totally different point.

Now that I have your attention, lets break down this ad. Provocative? Yeah, probably. Does it objectify women? Definitely, but we'll come back to that. Effective? You better believe it.

Most of us couldn't afford an Aston Martin if we wanted to, but this is advertising perfection. To make a great advertisement, often times you have to step on some toes. I couldn't count how many people this ad pissed off. Simply by likening an attractive woman to one of their cars, they have successfully associated their product with a lifestyle.  At the same time, they more than likely just alienated a large amount of women who previously only saw an Aston Martin as a high end vehicle, who now see it as an object which objectifies their gender. Such are the calculated risks of the advertising industry. A group of people got together and decided that the reward outweighed the risk in running this ad, and I don't have the data, but I would guess their risk payed off.

This is just one of many issues I have with the advertising game. I feel like it is just that: a game. In order to win, you have to find that "wow" factor. You have to stop people in their tracks with something flashy, sexy, or just plain wrong. As a consumer base, we're drawn to anything of this nature because its a step outside our comfort zone. Ads like this are going to continue, and if I had to guess, I would say we will see them more frequently in the near future. Its about time to cozy up to the unusual, provocative, questionable, and sometimes uncomfortable ads we'll inevitably see in the years to come. If you stand by your morals and refuse to see the humor in these ads, kudos to you and your steadfast nature. But while you're busy bashing one ad after another, the rest of us will be busy laughing at you and each new ad that pushes the limits of what we see as "acceptable."

Now back to the ad at hand. Some people want her. Some people want to be her. Some people like Tyler Durden refuse to be sold an image by advertising. But no matter what we want - her, the car, the lifestyle, or none of the above - every one of us noticed that ad. So until next time...

- JD

Why Me?

We all find ourselves wondering the same question from time to time: Why me? Well allow me to explain. Now that I've spent a fair amount of time in the advertising industry, I've begun to understand exactly why many advertisers do what they do, whether we like it or not. This is something I'll touch on for the foreseeable future, but right now let me tell you why I should be your authority on all things which make us wonder, "Why would they do that?"

I like to consider myself an intellectual and a keen observer, you may disagree, but that's not my problem. Being a part of the advertising industry makes me no different than every other everyday consumer, but seeing the moving parts behind the ads gives me a unique perspective. Every time I see an ad that irritates me, I briefly think, "why?" and then I realize there was a reason behind it. We may not understand it. We may not like it. But its there. Hopefully I can shed a little light on what we find irritating and why it makes sense in one way or another.

A quick Google search will tell you what you probably already know, many people are annoyed by ad after ad on a daily basis and almost nobody likes advertising. This is where it gets interesting. Many people think that they don't like advertising and that these things that bother them simply serve no purpose. But the truth is we all buy shit. At the end of the month we all will have bought a bunch of shit, most of it we probably never needed.

So what exactly am I saying? Advertising is effective. No matter how annoyed we are by a company's advertisement, how many times has it actually stopped you from consuming that product? Chances are good that answer is zero. We can hate on advertising as much as we want, and I promise, it has its issues and we will discuss them in due time; however, when you see what we see, you can realize that you're going to grind some gears, but at the end of the day consumers need advertising. From the funniest, to the most irritating, to the, "What in the sam hell does that have to do with me?" we're going to have some fun talking about all of the things advertisers do that make us scratch our heads. So until next time...and we will dive into it next time..

-JD

You're a Consumer Too. Now Cut the S***

Here we go. First off, my name's Jack and I will henceforth be referring to myself as JD...for tracking purposes. I'm just an everyday consumer who spends my days in an advertising office where I get to track both sides of a 2 way mirror. I say that for the simple fact that advertisers want to study consumers like ants in a maze, but here's the kicker: they still irritate consumer after consumer.

Spending my time at an advertising agency for the last 4 months I've racked up my fair share of things that irritate me from a consumer perspective, and I'm pretty sure you'll feel the same way. Sometimes there's a rhyme or reason for what that agency is doing, but who cares? If its redundant, in your face, annoying, intentionally misspelled - seriously, that's getting old fast but I digress -, or just plain wrong, it sucks to have to see every day. We're consumers too. Even the people that make ads are consumers. So why don't companies hire that one guy who just says, "No. Don't do that. That shit pisses me off?" The answer isn't always clear, but it seems that advertisers forget that they're consumers too. Somewhere, for some product, they are somebody else's target audience.

Over the next few months I plan on sharing with you guys all the "necessary evils" and sometimes unnecessary bull that for some reason they continue to pull, which gets me heated. With a unique perspective and a view from both sides, this could get interesting. So until then...

- JD