The advertising, especially the car advertising, becomes more and more homogeneous
Poster and print ad campaigns for the automotive industry are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from one another, rendering them ineffective and virtually invisible. By Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, source of inspiration, and—for over a year and a half now—also a complainer for *Werbewoche* readers. Please send relevant comments to [email protected].
I n every industry, elaborate, creative ideas are used to attract attention. A wine shop celebrates its anniversary with tattooed wine bottles in a church. Coop lands on the hit parade with its organic song. In order to be seen on television, not only Bohlen is needed, but also Michelle and Gottschalk. Red Bull is involved in all the weird sports. At the Formell 1 even in the double pack. H&M attracts attention with Lagerfeld, Madonna and now Versace. With exceptions like Toyota's Waku Doki, silence and restraint are the order of the day in national automobile advertising.
My theory for good and successful advertising is still the same as it was 20 years ago, with one small but important change: Concept, attentive creation, continuity.
At the moment, the automotive industry is again inactive on small to large billboards. I only noticed these posters because there are so many of them. The fact that they are different brands became clear to me only after closer and more intensive observation.
All of them had more or less the same layout, unattractive headlines, lots of glue and guarantees, low prices of 1 to 3 model illustrations and, for some, lots of small print. All on one billboard, and this in the age of the World Wide Web. The car advertising has not improved at all since my moaning a year ago, rather the opposite is the case. All posters are enlarged advertisements. If you don't understand the message on a poster within one second at the most, the advertising money is gone.
But the automotive industry is not the only one that has forgotten that advertising should be eye-catching, original, pared down and humorous to the consumer. Cosmetics suppliers, cigarette advertisers, furniture makers, the electronics industry - to name just a few - are sick in the same hospital. I don't understand why such actionitis and unadvertising culture could spread. Everyone I know from the advertising scene is known to me as intelligent and humorous women and men. Someone should explain to me how such a task or briefing reaches the agency and then results in such an advertising output. The opener of the week is that I was allowed to write this column last Friday here in Zurich in the garden in shorts, topless and in glorious sunshine and 20°. No reason to grumble.
