The Motz from Butz: High-percentage car advertising
In addition to promotional ads for grocery chains featuring great deals, the automotive industry—which is currently pulling out all the stops to advertise—is also catching people’s attention. From “Prrrrmotion” to “200% BMW,” anything goes. Even crazy ideas. By Theophil Butz.
It's about the advertising for our beloved cars: I, as a target group, currently perceive a penetrating automotive advertising hammering at me. Already last year, Audi advertising caught my eye by trying to lure me in with 110% Audi. Now it's BMW's turn to make me like 200% BMW. I didn't understand 0% of either message.
Learned rules: If something is posted as 50%, it costs half as much. What should I do with 110% or 200% now? The attention time, if any, is only 1 second anyway. Do the AD, the copywriter, the CD, the consultant and the customer think about such facts? No, they don't. Stupid!
My theory is this: Every year - I remember this from my time working for Fiat, and later for Lexus and Landrover - the Motor Show is just around the corner. So now it's time to advertise, come hell or high water. In this advertising, everything from super interest rates, diamond leasing, best-offer bonuses to the dealer network must be packed in, if possible. The rules of good and eye-catching advertising have been forgotten. The main thing is that all models and all prices are clearly visible.
The commercials on TV are the big show for the special effects makers. They shoot paint, robots fight for market share, but I haven't yet seen that cars can also fly. Who is actually the target group that is to be addressed? I know that the decision as to which car to buy is made by the majority of partners (i.e. also wives). That's why I have now understood the stupid radio spot from Franz AG. There the wife asks her husband quite naively (in dialect): "Honey, do you know that you can now also buy Mazda at Franz AG?" He: "Of course I know that, and I've known that for 3 years ... (blah blah blah)." She: "Come on, let's go there to look then." He: "What look, buy, honey!"
At least one of the two is taken for a fool. It's the husband who wants to buy immediately. I don't think that this kind of advertising will go down well with consumers at all. It's more likely to be counterproductive.
This example is not an exception. 80% of automobile advertising has fallen into this madness of thinking that this primitive kind of advertising will do anything. Take a look at a few examples on YouTube under "funny car advertising". By the way, also from Audi.
I was upset this week that, apart from a few words of praise, no one has yet declared my Motz to be a vomit.
Theophil Butz, once a star advertiser (Ringier), now an inspirer and, as of now, a mothballer. "Not an easy role, but a necessary one, which I perform here every fortnight." Please send any relevant information to [email protected].
