The Motz from Butz: Why I Motz

This is where the split thinking about the advertising industry, and indeed the entire communications world, begins. What is at stake here? About how, when and how much advertising, social media or public relations can take. This is a secret recipe and unfortunately is not written in any book. So my question: Why am I grumbling about bad advertising? Quite simply because I experience it every day, far too much of it. As an outsider to the "big scene", I would like to use this opportunity to encourage advertising managers, advertising directors, creative directors and advertising agency owners not to simply fulfill their tasks to the best satisfaction of the client.

I can only make this encouraging statement because I am confronted with this jumble of hideous and often incomprehensible advertising on a daily basis. As a trained graphic designer, I am sensitive and interested in this tangle and cannot ignore it, so I always succumb to the urge to grumble about it. I have also praised it. Before I decided to criticize fortnightly, I didn't bother with advertising at all. This lack of interest can be found in the average population. Nobody cares and nobody looks. I once saw a Philip Morris consumer in a market research survey who had no idea about the advertising for a product worth 15 million francs a year.

My theory: A new era is beginning here. Imagine that nobody watches advertising any more. And now the task is: How do I get everyone to talk about me? By continuing to advertise in the same rut, perhaps with a pinch of pepper, but at the same pace, or by running advertising that the world is talking about. Sometimes I get the feeling that 90 percent of my advertising spend is thrown away. In any case, I only get around 10 percent, at most! I am an attentive observer because, as a mocker, this is a must for me. On the other hand, I'm also discovering small successes with a campaign that I grumbled about in an earlier column: the new Coop-tschtsch commercials, for example. I'm thinking of the three guys who turn the barbecue into a TV set for the sake of football. An optimization of this campaign. I hope my criticism has helped. I won't be able to write up my post of the week until tonight after the match at 10.45pm.

Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, inspirer and, for the past three years, also
Motzer for Advertising Week readers. Please send any relevant information to [email protected]