Der Motz von Butz: How does bad advertising come about? Chapter 1
If you deal professionally and intensively with advertising in various media, as I often have to do for fun as a mocker, you come across a high percentage of bad advertising. By Theophil Butz
Where does this unnecessary, inefficient and annoying false advertising come from? Not only is the expensive advertising money spent in vain, but it often makes the advertised product unappealing and annoying. I have tried to develop theories that could explain this phenomenon. How is it possible that many experts produce a poor or incomprehensible result from a task they are given?
Theory A: A client organizes a pitch with six agencies. The management wants the company's image to be modernized, younger and more appealing. The 40-page brief from the marketing department contains many different things. Among other things, it also states that an unprecedented, creative, bold solution is expected.
The six agencies each present three solutions: one rather conventional, one that was developed by creative team B, but which is not necessarily convincing. For the sake of agency peace, this creation is also presented as solution no. 2. The third solution is a highly creative, avant-garde, quirky campaign. Everyone involved presents three solutions because they don't know what the client really wants. This is where the problem begins. After the pitch, the client's marketing department discusses and evaluates the 18 proposals.
Problem 2: In the end, 3 solutions out of 18 are presented to the management. Among them is the solution from creative team B. The CEO judges two solutions to be far too modern. Team B is the winner, only the headlines need to be changed and the logo needs to be much larger. The result is bad advertising.
Theory B: The car dealer is plagued by sales problems and is nervous. The agency, where he is the biggest customer, has to come up with an advertising campaign to boost sales. The brief includes every conceivable advantage that needs to be communicated to consumers. From the Eurobonus to the leasing option to the coffee during a visit, everything should be presented concisely. On a third of a page for cost reasons. We know this kind of bad advertising only too well. The agency is not thrilled either. But it is their biggest customer, and the latter is satisfied.
Theory C: Many small SMEs only have a small advertising budget at their disposal. Instead of delegating the task to an advertising agency or an experienced creative team, let the young sales representative take over. After all, he knows his way around Photoshop. That way you save money and can place two additional ads. This advertising is not noticed. So you save money for nothing. More theories follow in the next issue. As an FCB fan, I don't have to tell you my pick of the week.
Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, inspirer and, for over a year and a half, also a mocker for Werbewoche readers. Please send any relevant information to [email protected]
