Why Marketers And Advertisers Are Not Trusted

Seriously we are not. Nothing killed me more than the scene in the beginning of the Last Days of Disco when Kate Beckinsdale (Charlotte) finds out Mackenzie Austin (Jimmy) is in Advertising and the response is he is lower than a Used Car Salesman when it comes to potential dating partners. As well as Jimmy taking clients later in the movie to the Disco only to have the Club Owner ban him for bringing lame people.

Think about it. We often get paid to lie to consumers. Weren't most of the Superbowl Ads technically lies? Aren't Chryslers poor quality cars? But someone was paid to make this dramatic spot about Detroit. Totally lying about 25 years of crap pumped out by Chrysler to make it seem like they were something they were proud of? Do people physically assaulting others with cans of Pepsi Max really say anything about the product?

It also doesn't help that Marketers create all this nonsensical spin that we believe and pass on to each other. Yesterday I blogged about the Sentiment Measuring of the Superbowl Spots having technically Zero Value. It was a neat exercise the Brand Bowl, but really didn't say anything about the Brands or Products or future Sales. It was very murky based on what was being measured.

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Who really cares if I like a commercial? Seriously, there are many commercials I will watch over and over for humor or entertainment and never buy their product. Why give kudos to an Ad Agency for that? For Branding something I will never buy? And if I already buy something do you need to craft funny ads for me? Teach me something. Then we are getting somewhere.

This week this Infographic was tweeted by some pretty heavy hitters in Social Communications whom I shall not name:

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I immediately, being a champion of Mobile Communications more than Social Communications, jumped all over it claiming if it was true Facebook is worth 2 cents. Then I did the math. 200Trillion SMS Texts per day? That comes out to over 14,000 per person per day in the U.S. including babies, toddlers, etc. The rest of the info while maybe is correct, how can I believe it? What if a Mobile Agency used this data to convince a client to run SMS text campaigns?

Then I saw this article yesterday about Yelp! on EMarketer written by a fairly well known Social Communications and SEO person.

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I am a fan of Yelp! btw. I have used it's Mobile app and really like it. It is one of the best Apps for finding information about local businesses I have come across. But I had to comment because the data sounds so impressive. A photo is uploaded to Yelp! every 30 seconds. Wow! Sounds like a lot. Which comes out to 57 Photos per US State per day. And 3.2 Million users is a very small group nationally. Nothing to sneeze at. But only 64,000 per state.

A better write up would of just stuck with showcasing how easy it is to use the App, check In to places, write reviews from your phone, and upload photos, without the claims of 'universal overwhelming usage'.

Everyday we see Advertising and Marketing that is shallow, biased, white lies, fibs, to outright deceitful. And we do it to each other as well! Most of the Ad Age Top 50 marketing blogs I do not read because they are just BS. That is why I often say Marketers are the biggest suckers. But whether it is the Brand's fault or the Agency's fault it does our industry no help for our image. 

And to tell you the truth Charlotte wound up shagging Jimmy in the film, even though he was such a shallow loser. But so was.

This hilarious scene discussing in depth Lady and the Tramp is a much watch for all creatives who tell stories.

Social Tuesday - Why Social Sentiment and Ad Interest is a False Measure

 

This is the snapshot from the Brandbowl Website that was created by Radian6, Boston.com and Mullen Agency. It captured all the tweets using the #brandbowl hashtag to judge sentiment.

Basically shows number of tweets. And the difference between Positive and Negative sentiment. So VW at this point had 9505 Tweets and a plus 30 sentiment. But what does it mean? We liked the Ad? The Brand? The Product? No one knows. Unless VW sees an increase in searches or website hits, calls to dealers, and sales does this mean anything except: Thanks for the great commercial?

What about Negative Sentiment. Does it mean I dislike the Spot, the Brand, the Product? Does Lipton and Best Buy know that I will not spend a nickel with them for 1 full year because they used M&M and Bieber? Do they know that many people thought the Pepsi spots were classless and often showing bodily assault? Or the Groupon spots also being a bit uncouth and strange? (Yes Alex Bogusky it's ok for you to be smug today!)

Edward Boches , Mullen's Chief Innovation Officer has a few posts on the Brandbowl: LINK   LINK

BTW I loved the VW commercial. And ironically they had 12.5 Million views on YouTube before the game! But all I know of the Passat is I can start it from my key chain! That said I did enjoy participating in the Brandbowl.

This is the final top 4. As you can see Chrysler took the top spot. But sentiment wasn't as positive. Part of the rankings took in chatter. Now using a polarizing Celebrity like M&M will cause chatter.

But focusing on Chrysler. Old car lineup. They showed nothing new. They have horrible quality ratings. Does a great commercial mean a car will not fall apart? Does it make up for an old lineup. I know they have new cars coming out soon, but not sure Fiat is stellar for quality either. But what does the commercial change? 

Now the social media aspect is interesting. Brands can technically see if people like their commercials outside of focus groups almost instantly. Even if it doesn't connect with Sales immediately and then pray. Still most chatter is off line or out of sight and there still needs to be work connecting long term success.

Lastly Media Curves did their own traditional assessment with each spot having a sentiment line as the spot progresses. And guess what? They have Chrysler ranked 40th!

Except for a very few Ad Spots in the last 15 years very few moved Beer as much as chatter either. Personally I felt this spot was ok. But why the high sentiment? Puppies earn high sentiment!

Now the big disconnect is between successful Ads which make people like the Ad, and Sales. Which if there is no sales increase the Creative Agency will still say 'Mission Accomplished' if sentiment was high/positive. Technically in some cases they can do that. It's not an Agency's fault if a product is bad. Though that reduces the public's trust in Advertising as a whole. 

My view for  the Superbowl is major brands like Coke, Pepsi, Bud kind of pay us back for having to endure Advertising overload all year long. For new brands and products it is a great launch pad and worth the investment/risk. But overall it's kind of like a boat...you know that hole in the water that takes all your money. 

Would Bud or Coors or Pepsi sell less product in 2011 if they didn't buy commercial time at the Superbowl? Nope. Not at all.

Mobile Monday - To App or Not to App that is the Question

In 2010 there was a mad rush to make branded Apps. And with the release of Android and Blackberry Markets there are a few hundred thousand Apps out there. The question is does making a Branded App make sense?

First let me discuss finding an App. Unless you advertise using Traditional Methods chances of your App being found and downloaded is slim. There are just too many! And such a small screen. And the Market is crowded! I found 20 Flashlight Apps for my Droid2!

Next question is why would I use your App? Most Apps get downloaded and then never used. I need value. I have downloaded since August about 40-50 Apps. I use only a few regularly:

MobiNews - Free Economist, NY Daily News, New Yorker, Guardian UK

New York Times - HootSuite - Twitter for Android

Gowalla/FourSquare - GPS Navigator -ESPN Score Center

BBC News -Double Twist (my music player) - Soundcloud (stream music)

Yelp - Huffington Post - Skyfire Browser - and a few games

Most others I barely use. But they are nice to have if needed. Like a currency converter, or Google Translate. And the Apps I do use as far as I know are not making money from me. Some pitch the annoying AdMob banner ads, but I haven't clicked on one or seen anything of interest since August. What if you spend money to make an App that is never used or benefits your Brand or Business long term? Why waste the money!

As you can see each screen can only hold a few Apps. So if you are a heavy App user screen space is limited. So why an App? What will I get from your App that will 1] want me to use it regularly and 2] benefit your Brand or Business in a way to make you or save you money?

I recently blogged about App integration and how not doing so hurts you. LINK 

This costs money. But it can cost you more money not doing this. But I can see the HuffPost or New York Times willing to give me some free content just so I do not seek elsewhere and maybe find someone I wind up liking better. 

The small screen is an inhibitor for shopping:

You won't get a view of 10's or 20's of products at once. You will get 3-5. (Just like the App Stores). And search can be clumsy. So this is an area that ease of use is critical. And of course you have to format your store front for mobile. If you have the resources to do this it can be a big pay off. Amazon has sold well over $1 billion in product via mobile. I know Pizza Hut and Dominoes have well regarded Apps to order Pizza.

The question is are you capturing sales you would never have gotten? Are sales just migrating like the Pizza Apps seem to be doing? Is this lowering costs? All these things have to be taken into account to make the proper decision.

In summary:

1] Do you have the money to create an App?

 

2] Are you ready to promote it off Mobile (in your store, online, traditional)

3] Are you willing to ensure it is a seamless experience including how it integrates with other Apps or Software? 

3] What is the benefit for the consumer to want to use it?

4] What is the benefit to your Brand or Business?

The worst decision is to create an App just because you want to have an App or feel it's important to be seen as a company that has an App with no Strategic, Financial, or Customer Service benefit for you or your customers! 

And if it is your Agency pushing this ask them why? Besides giving them a reason to make more in Billings!