The Motz from Butz: New does not mean better

What it's all about: SonntagsBlick's new magazine has been out since April. How long this new concept will be allowed to remain in the midst of life is uncertain. After all, its predecessor was launched exactly four years ago. And its predecessor, Sie + Er, only lasted two years. We experience similar rebirths in advertising and logo design. However, these often have an even shorter lifespan. What is going wrong here?

My thesis is as follows: The customer has contact with his advertising campaign several times a day and after a certain time has the feeling that he has seen enough of it. His consumers, on the other hand, see this advertising campaign at most in a year as often as he does in a day. It is a mistake to believe that something new is needed now. Another mistake arises when a new head of marketing appears. He not only changes the campaign, but also the agency if possible. And yet another mistake when the competition comes up with something new: "We absolutely need a celebrity as an advertising medium." Or a modern logo or even: "We need a product zero."

In the last six years, Ringier has completely changed the SonntagsBlick magazine three times. But for me, different is not better. Unfortunately, there are also many examples of this in advertising. In practice, you see such erroneous decisions again and again. BP is one of the prime examples where a lot of brainpower, qualitative and quantitative studies, design and marketing communication were used to replace the old optimal logo with a much weaker solution.

In 1985, one such change agent also tried to turn the long word Coca-Cola into simply "Coke". A fatal mistake, as it turned out.

I well remember the funny Rivella campaign, where sympathy or an order was expressed with an outstretched index finger. Today, apart from the memory, everything is new, more modern and worse.

The Dalmatian dog was an ideal eye-catcher for Vögele shoes for years, at shoe height, cute and fashionable. The poor animal was killed. Today, models have to squeeze into a shoe box or stretch their legs through two holes in the wall. The jingle for Migros, which everyone has in their head or can even sing spontaneously, has disappeared for a long time. I was told that the Suisa fees for Mr. Schachten, the composer, were too expensive. If that's the case, then the decision was simply moronic. But thank goodness someone dug up the jingle again.

Marlboro proves that you can turn a good concept into a global success with a strong visual realization. But the strongest thing about the whole thing was the continuity. I don't know exactly how long, but for 30 years they never bored us with it.

I experienced first-hand how Philip Morris wanted to change the New York Skyline campaign after a successful test launch. This wish came up again every two years. I persisted. After this campaign had been running for over 20 years, the management was also satisfied with the success of having the third-largest brand in Switzerland, with a very high level of awareness. Unfortunately, then came the advertising ban. So also be stubborn, courageous and persistent. My sermon is in the lead. The fact that the asparagus looks the same every year, is still called asparagus and tastes even better this year with Inge's olive oil mayonnaise with a little fresh wild garlic.

Theophil Butz, once a star advertiser (quote from Ringier), now an inspirer and, from now on, a mocker. "Not an easy role, but a necessary one, which I perform here every 14 days". Please send any relevant information to [email protected].