Bait must taste fish
Frank Lowe doesn't like agencies that only work for clients
Frank Lowe doesn't like agencies that only work for clientsSir Frank Lowe has dedicated more than 40 years of his life to advertising. A long time, indeed. It's also a lot of wisdom. So much that it has just found its way into a beautifully designed book: "Dear Lord Leverhulme..." is the title of the private edition that Lowe gave himself for his agency's 21st birthday. Sir Frank is indeed a capable man. Today, his agency employs around 9,000 people in over 80 countries and is one of the five largest in the industry worldwide.
Sir Frank is convinced that he has solved Lord Leverhulme's problem. The co-founder of the Unilever Group is known to have said that he knew that half of his advertising worked, he just didn't know which half. A problem with which Henry Ford was already plagued.
The agency owner is unperturbed in his search for the right half. His credo can be summed up in a few words: His focus is on the consumer. Advertising must appeal to them, because ultimately they should buy the product or service. Good advertising costs no more than ordinary advertising. "But in the long term, it is priceless." Regardless of whether this advertising is emotional, humorous, long or short, it must always meet two criteria: "It must be as simple as possible and good."
But times are not so good for advertising, says the ennobled advertiser. In fact, people are becoming increasingly indifferent and suspicious of advertising, "especially as it comes to them in an increasingly strange and incomprehensible way, via a growing number of media channels and for products that are increasingly similar".
For Lowe, communicating alone is therefore no longer enough. "You could just as easily talk to yourself." For him, the form that communication takes is much more important. It has to make people "look at advertising and convince them to buy the things we offer".
Lowe believes that "most advertising makes little or no effort to win the trust and affection of consumers". In various chapters, the advertiser therefore returns several times to his core statement that many agencies have mistakenly shifted their target market from the consumer to the customer.
A good ad is one that has kept or won an order. "This attitude may trigger a euphoric mood in the corridors after the meeting. But it won't lead to the sales success that customers actually pay us for," Lowe is convinced.
Andreas Panzeri
Sir Frank is convinced that he has solved Lord Leverhulme's problem. The co-founder of the Unilever Group is known to have said that he knew that half of his advertising worked, he just didn't know which half. A problem with which Henry Ford was already plagued.
The agency owner is unperturbed in his search for the right half. His credo can be summed up in a few words: His focus is on the consumer. Advertising must appeal to them, because ultimately they should buy the product or service. Good advertising costs no more than ordinary advertising. "But in the long term, it is priceless." Regardless of whether this advertising is emotional, humorous, long or short, it must always meet two criteria: "It must be as simple as possible and good."
But times are not so good for advertising, says the ennobled advertiser. In fact, people are becoming increasingly indifferent and suspicious of advertising, "especially as it comes to them in an increasingly strange and incomprehensible way, via a growing number of media channels and for products that are increasingly similar".
For Lowe, communicating alone is therefore no longer enough. "You could just as easily talk to yourself." For him, the form that communication takes is much more important. It has to make people "look at advertising and convince them to buy the things we offer".
Lowe believes that "most advertising makes little or no effort to win the trust and affection of consumers". In various chapters, the advertiser therefore returns several times to his core statement that many agencies have mistakenly shifted their target market from the consumer to the customer.
A good ad is one that has kept or won an order. "This attitude may trigger a euphoric mood in the corridors after the meeting. But it won't lead to the sales success that customers actually pay us for," Lowe is convinced.
Andreas Panzeri
